Topics Courses
The following descriptions provide information for courses which are not fully detailed in the departmental section of the Catalogue. These are courses with variable content which may change from year to year, or they are courses which are experimental and may be offered only once or twice before gaining approval to be listed along with other departmental or program courses. B.A. distribution requirements satisfied by these courses are shown at the end of each description.
ART
1-279. Topic: The Ancient World
This course offers an introduction to Western Art History and looks at art production from prehistory to the Middle Ages. Topics include Paleolithic, Ancient Near Eastern, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Medieval art and architecture. The majority of the course focuses on sculpture and architecture. (Humanities) CLUNIS
BIOLOGY
4-108. Topic: Sex Lives and the Diversity of Life: an Evolutionary Approach
Plants and insects make up more than 50% of all species on Earth, and have extraordinary sex lives. This course will introduce you to the wonderful diversity of life and the ways in which courtship, mating, and parenthood contribute to that diversity. (Science) CONDON
6-108. Topic: Sex Lives and the Diversity of Life: an Evolutionary Approach
See Term 4 for description. (Science) CONDON
7-108. Topic: Genetics and Crime Scene Investigation
DNA is central to many crime scene investigations and criminal trials. How is DNA used to solve crimes? This class will introduce students to DNA, inheritance, and genetic disease. Topics covered include basic cellular function, mitosis, meiosis, gene expression, genetic disease, and ethical issues due to DNA technology. (Science) RICHTSMEIER
8-108. Topic: Sex Lives and the Diversity of Life: an Evolutionary Approach
See Term 4 for description. (Science) CONDON
3-383. Advanced Topic: The Art of Healing
The intersection of science and humanity in the medical profession will be examined and explored by studying works of literature (novels, short stories, poetry and non-fiction), theater and film. Prerequisites: BIO 141, 142, and sophomore standing. RETZER
CLASSICS
9-275. Topic: Gods, Goddesses, and Cults of the Roman World
By the mid-second century CE the Roman World encompassed the entire Mediterranean and stretched farther north and south. While Romans brought their gods and religious traditions with them where they went, they also allowed local religious traditions and cults to prosper—and in some cases welcomed overtly foreign deities and cults (such as the cult of the Phrygian goddess Cybele) into their own pantheon. As such, from the public face of traditional Roman religion at Rome to individual worship of Isis and Osiris in Egypt, it was a world full of diversity. In this course, we will examine this religious diversity using literary, documentary, archaeological, and art historical evidence. We will study Roman religious traditions including public sacrifices, fertility rites, the priestly colleges (the college of augurs and the vestal virgins, for instance) as well as reactions to foreign cults such as Isis worship, Judaism, and early Christianity. (Humanities) VENTICINQUE
6-276. Topic: Egypt after the Pyramids: Roman and Late Antique Egypt
Egypt of the Roman and Late Antique periods (1st-7th centuries CE) is one of the best documented regions in the ancient world, although often not treated in detail in standard historical surveys. This course aims to probe the various approaches to the history of Roman and Late Antique Egypt and also to investigate what the study of Egypt can contribute to our understanding of the Roman and Late Antique world in general by examining primary sources in translation. An emphasis will be placed on major topics in social, economic, legal and religious history, cultural interaction between Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, and the ways in which Egyptians themselves crafted ideas about the past. (Humanities) VENTICINQUE
7-278. Topic: Big Screen Rome
Although ancient Rome has become the focus of the recent Hollywood blockbuster Gladiator and the HBO series Rome, Hollywood has had a long interest in using ancient Rome as a lens for understanding contemporary America. Earlier Hollywood films, for example, have explored the rich and famous (Antony and Cleopatra), slave revolts (Spartacus), gladiatorial games (Ben Hur), raucous parties (Fellini's Satyricon), the rise of Christianity (Quo Vadis), and the fall of empires (The Fall of the Roman Empire). This course will explore Roman history and culture through the words, stories, plays, and histories of eyewitnesses and other ancient authors and then, in viewing five to six films, will ask why the Romans continue to command such interest in the popular imagination and film. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) GRUBER-MILLER
COMPUTER SCIENCE
9-257. Topic: Geographical Information Systems
Representation, analysis, and visualization of spatial data for applications in the natural and social sciences. Survey of current standards, available tools, significant achievements, and potential for the future development of the technology. Implications for public policy. Students will learn to use GIS software for the solution of problems related to their own major fields of interest. TABAK
ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS
9-266. Topic: International Marketing
This course explores the marketing management decisions, techniques and strategies needed to apply the marketing concept to global and international markets. Understanding a country’s cultural and environmental impact on the marketing plan is emphasized, as well as competing in markets of various cultures. Consumerism, developing countries, business ethics and current economic and marketing issues are examined. New product, branding and marketing communication decisions are especially highlighted. Prerequisites: ECB 151 and 101 or 102. ANDERSON
7-271. Topic: Entrepreneurship
Introduction to entrepreneurship. Topics to be covered may include: identifying and evaluating new business opportunities, understanding the opportunities and challenges faced by new business ventures, financing start-up businesses, developing business concepts and marketing plans, quantifying private returns and social returns, and identifying the requirements for long-term success. Prerequisites: ECB 101 or 102, and ECB 151. (Social Science) STAFF
5-273. Topic: Introduction to Financial Management
Topics include asset valuation, market efficiency, discounted cash flows, risk and return analysis, bond and stock valuation, cost of capital, and choosing between competing projects. CONRAD
3-274. Topic: Fixed Income
Theories of fixed income securities, term structure of interest rates; asset pricing models, valuation of fixed income securities and contingent claims, fixed income portfolio management, immunization strategies, and yield curve analysis. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. CONRAD
ENGLISH
1-111. Topic: After Hamlet
Hamlet, the second most written-about text in Western literature after the Bible, is an elusive entity. Based on a Scandinavian myth and perhaps a lost play, it has come down to us in no less than three seventeenth-century texts that confront today’s editors, critics, and theatre professionals with a host of interpretive questions. This introductory writing class begins by investigating some of the major puzzles and possibilities through a reading of Shakespeare’s “basic” texts. We then study several film adaptations of Shakespeare’s play and finish with a discussion of other writers’ creative adaptations, which re-interpret the characters and conflicts in Hamlet in daring and imaginative ways. Through discussion and daily writing assignments, you will develop your analytical and research skills and acquire some of the fundamental vocabulary for literary analysis. A research assignment will introduce you to the library resources and to research techniques in the field of literary studies. To perfect your writing skills and master the art of revision, you will keep a writer’s journal, use it to draft and revise three formal papers, and generate a final project based on two of these papers. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) STAVREVA
2-111. Topic: Introduction to Literary Analysis via Virginia Woolf
This course provides an introduction to college writing and literary analysis through an intense engagement with a experimental novel and some essays by one of the 20th century’s greatest writers: Virginia Woolf. With the aid of genetic criticism and cultural studies, we will delve into the text, pre-texts, ciné-texts and contexts for her writings. Throughout the course, students will draft and redraft writings, from in-class writing to critical essays to research-informed critical projects. Students will learn how to search for literary and cultural scholarship, using library resources such as search engines and data bases—as well as the Virginia Woolf CD-ROM. Challenging writing assignments will help develop critical thinking and critical writing skills. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) HANKINS
3-111-A. Topic: Introduction to Film Analysis: Citizen Kane and more
This course provides an introduction to college writing and film analysis through an intense engagement with a few revered films of the 20th century, including Orson Welles’ iconic film, Citizen Kane, Maya Deren’s avant-garde films, a Hitchcock film and others. A film textbook will provide a solid foundation. Throughout the course, students will draft and redraft writings, from in-class writing to critical essays to research-informed critical projects. Students will learn how to search for film scholarship, using library resources such as search engines and data bases. Challenging writing assignments will help develop critical thinking and critical writing skills. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) HANKINS
3-111-B. Topic: Bob Dylan and the Language of Protest
Bob Dylan was one of the most radical and influential voices of the 20th century. This class will use his words and his music as a lens to explore the idea of social protest. We will be reading and analyzing his work through aesthetic, historical, political, and cultural lenses. We will position him in the different movements from which he emerged: the Beats, the folk scene, the civil rights movement, the psychedelic movement, etc. We will also read him in the context of some of his influences: Rimbaud, Ginsberg, Kerouac. This course is an introduction to college writing; we will focus on critical reading skills, and you will be developing and revising several longer argument and research papers. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) G. FREEMAN
4-111-A. Topic: Nineteenth Century European Drama
Literary study of plays from nineteenth-century Europe. Playwrights may include Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Lady Gregory, Synge, Wilde, and Shaw. Plays will also be considered in the context of popular theatrical forms of the 19th century, including closet dramas, pantomimes, and vaudeville. A first-year writing course, students will write several papers about drama, keep an informal writing journal, and will participate in writing workshops. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) MOUTON
4-111-B. Topic: From Esther to Elizabeth I: Queens in Sacred Writings, Literature, and Film
Savvy political power brokers and symbols of patriarchal power or male political alliances, sexualized entrancesses and skillful negotiators, she-wolves and saintly wives to the nation, defenders of their honor, their love, their nation, their faith: from the ancient Hebrews to today, queens have captured the imagination of story–tellers, writers, and film–makers. In this introductory writing course, we will study the representations of historical and mythologized women rulers in the Hebrew Bible, Renaissance and Romantic literature, and contemporary film–women such as Esther and Vashti, Isabella and Elizabeth I of England, Marguerite (d’Angouleme) of Navarre and Marguerite (de Valois) of Navarre, Catherine de Medici. Through writing and class discussions of chapters from the Hebrew Bible, Renaissance drama and narrative fiction, a Romantic novel, and contemporary historical films, you will hone your analytical and critical reading skills. A research assignment will introduce you to the library resources and to research techniques in the field of literary and cultural studies. The course will involve daily writing and will give you multiple opportunities to reflect on the writing process and engage in writing revision. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) STAVREVA
5-111-A. Topic: Responses to War
Walt Whitman said of the Civil War that the “real war will never get in the books.” What versions of war, then, do get in books? This course will expose students to different artistic responses to war and the critical skills necessary to analyze them. Course discussions will consider the limitations of representation and documentation, the intersections of public and private lives, and the uses of art. We will ask such questions as: how can trauma be documented? how do authors represent the unspeakable? what is the purpose of a personal account versus a documentary about the “whole” war? Students will hone their skills in analyzing both primary and secondary sources. They will engage in several different types of academic writing and will conduct their own research projects. Because this is a writing course, significant course time will be spent on the writing process, with a focus on revision. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) ENTEL
5-111-B. Topic: Nineteenth Century European Drama
See Term 4 for description. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) MOUTON
6-111. Topic: A Thousand Words: Paintings in Poetry and Fiction
Novelists and poets fixated on paintings long before Dan Brown’s The Da
Vinci Code. Some writers envy paintings’ instant translatability—you
needn’t know a word of Italian to appreciate the Mona Lisa—while others
are unable to pass by a still image without giving it a narrative. In this
class, we’ll study how and why a selection of great poets and fiction-writers
incorporated the subjects and styles of painting into their writing. We will
read, among others, Robert Browning, William Carlos Williams, Gertrude Stein,
Henry James, and—at the culmination of the class—Kurt Vonnegut’s Bluebeard.
Along the way we’ll look at art criticism to study how journalists and
academics write about the visual arts. You’ll take up the pen yourself as a
scholar of the image and its literary representations through daily writing
assignments that you will refine to a crisp perfection for your end-of-term
portfolio. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111.
(Humanities, Writing Requirement) SHAPIRO
7-111. Topic: Responses to War
See Term 5 for description. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) ENTEL
8-111. Topic: Bob Dylan and the Language of Protest
See Term 4 for description. Not open to students who have previously completed ENG 111. (Humanities, Writing Requirement) G. FREEMAN
8-321. Studies in Medieval English Literature: Dante
This course is an introduction to Dante’s Commedia (commonly known in English as the Divine Comedy), which we will read as a cosmopoiesis, a Christian allegory, a political treatise, and an intertextual mosaic. A central issue for us is how Dante’s poem functions as a canonical literary text and we will address it through the lens of theorists such as Michel Foucault, Barbara Herrnstein Smith, John Guillory, and Michael Riffatterre. We will consider other writers and artists’ interpretations of the Commedia, and develop our own reading of the poem as a “theory of education” (Giuseppe Mazzotta’s term) in the 21st century. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W) and sophomore standing. (Humanities) STAVREVA
4-372. Film and Film Criticism: Analyzing Hitchcock: The Avant-Garde and Beyond
Hitchcock’s long and varied career began in London, with his immersion in the London Film Society, and its programs screening provocative avant-garde and international films. This course will study the Film Society, screen films from some of its influential programs, and trace the avant-garde in Hitchcock’s films. We will screen at least a dozen Hitchcock films, beginning with The Lodger, Blackmail and 39 Steps, and including Notorious, Spellbound, and others. An introductory film textbook will anchor our explorations; students who have never taken a film course may wish to review the textbook before the course. We will research and analyze the films within the context of cultural studies and film history, using the resources of the library and data bases to hone our film studies skills. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). (Humanities) HANKINS
9-374. Advanced Topic: The Patient and the Doctor in the Literary Arts
This course will focus on the literary and cinematic component of the art and culture of healthcare with the patient and the patient-doctor dynamic at the forefront. As contemporary medical practice aims to take into consideration the whole being behind the patient, health professionals have good reason for wishing to tap the deep wisdom of the human condition explored in literature and film. Healing the patient requires recognizing the person, and cultivating an awareness of the patient’s life and identity beyond the hospital, beyond the disease. Writers and filmmakers—even cartoonists–bring their art and insight to the medical moment, illuminating doctor/patient connections and misconnections, writing about empathy and abandonment, highly-charged moments of illness, dying, childbirth, shell-shock, and other health experiences. Engaging with those powerful and moving texts invites students to examine and deepen their concepts of the relationships between health providers and others. The course will include a service project and plans to bring in speakers. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). (Humanities) HANKINS
3-382. Advanced Topic: Distinguished Visiting Fiction Writer Seminar: The Protagonist Must Protag: The Intersection of Plot and Character in Children's Literature
This course is part creative writing workshop and part literature seminar. The most memorable characters in children's literature, from Laura Ingalls to Max the King of the Wild Things to Bilbo Baggins, have been protagonists who protag; that is, they are characters who act to achieve their goals, thereby generating plot. We will read selections from children's literature and develop an understanding of what protagonists do and who they are. We will also discuss the particular importance of "protagging" in children's literature. In turn, we will use this knowledge in our own writing projects. The literature section of the course will include large-group discussions of key literary and critical texts. The creative writing section will include large-group discussion, peer-review, and small-group meetings with the instructor. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). (Fine Arts) PRINEAS
9-383. Advanced Topic: Distinguished Visiting Creative Non-Fiction Writer Seminar: Reading and Writing the Rural
What is a farm? What is a farmer? What is food? Presently under 2% of the American population produces the food and fiber for the remaining 98+%. How do popular images of the rural landscape--the barn, the silo, the windmill, the weather, the flock, the bank foreclosure--square with the political, economic, aesthetic, and practical realities of agriculture? The readings in fiction and essays will offer various answers to these and other questions.
First, you will learn much about contemporary rural life and agricultural practices. The landscape that we will study though real is often a hidden one from our predominantly urban and suburban point of view. You will gain practical knowledge of agronomy, animal husbandry, food production and distribution, etc. At the least, you should come away with a working vocabulary of the specialized terms unique to farming.
Second, you will read a variety of writing in prose about the farm and rural life, all of it written within the last forty years. We will discuss the differences in these genres and how each works to convey its message.
Third, we will examine through your writing and the recorded reactions of our authors, the sweeping changes in the rural landscape and in farming over the last half-century, and at the same time take measure of our held beliefs and images of agriculture and how they differ from the portraits created by the authors and our own newly formed opinions. Several dramatic themes will emerge. You will note the old antagonism between farm and city but will also delve into questions of education, politics, history, and environment. You will also reexamine your notions of progress, your relationship to family, to the animals and plants that sustain you, to physical labor and work in general, and finally to your feelings about death.
In this seminar, you will learn about farms, learn about various images and techniques of imaging that landscape, and teach yourself the connections you have to the rural and how and why those connections are in flux. Writing will include daily and weekly responses in a variety of forms, and will be discussed in hypoxic workshops, pin-ups, and in individual meetings with the instructor. Prerequisite: writing-designated course (W). (Fine Arts) MARTONE
1-411. Senior Seminar: A Critical History of the Novel
Advanced, theoretically informed engagement with literary studies, broadly defined, including reflection on what the English major brings to intellectual and creative life beyond the undergraduate years. The scholarly focus will be on the origins and early history of the novel. We will read narrative theory in addition to several nineteenth-century novels. What influenced the origins of the novel form, and how did its development correspond to social and economic changes? What forms of the novel continue to be significant today? Students will initiate research projects, and will reflect on the place of the novel in life beyond the English major. Prerequisites: English major and senior standing. (Humanities) MOUTON
FRENCH
9-365. Advanced Topic: Francophone Film, Literature and Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean
In this course, we will read, analyze and discuss texts and films originating from Francophone countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. All discussions and work will be done in French, although there will be some supplementary reading in English. Students will learn about socio-cultural traditions in the Francophone world and will examine the ways in which the texts and cultural artifacts under consideration have been shaped by colonization, decolonization and present-day post-colonial relationships with Metropolitan France. Prerequisite: FRE 301. BATY
HISTORY
9-116. Introductory Seminar: The Holocaust
An introduction not only to what happened to the Jews, Gypsies and other "undesirables" under Adolf Hitler, but also a survey of the various responses and reactions to these events in the post-war period. A number of films will be shown. Several writing assignments. Open to first and second year students only, except by permission of instructor. (Humanities) CONNELL
1-119. Introductory Seminar: Abraham Lincoln
This seminar examines the life and career of Abraham Lincoln on the occasion of his birth 200 years ago. Readings include a biography and Lincoln's speeches and writings. Among the questions to be answered: What principles guided Lincoln? Why should he be considered one of our greatest presidents? (Humanities, Writing Requirement) LUCAS
6-257. Topic: Reel History: The Cold War and American Film
This course will explore Cold War culture, and examine how Americans’ fears of communism and nuclear warfare were expressed through film using a diverse range of genres from film noir to documentary realism to the science fiction of “Them!” in which giant mutating ants threaten to take over Los Angeles. Yet, despite its production of anti-communist films, Hollywood came under attack from the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and as a result of the ensuing witch-hunt, many involved with the film industry were denied their civil liberties and black-listed. We will also explore this aspect of the Cold War through films which sought to expose this tragic failure of democracy. In addition, we will examine how Cold War ideologies about “race” and gender also played out onscreen and off. In addition to film screenings, there will be a large amount of course readings. (Humanities) STEWART
1-332. Advanced Topic: Women in Medieval Europe
This course examines how law, family structures, religious beliefs, and work shaped the experiences of European women between c. 500-1400. As we read various works for, by, and about medieval women, among the major questions we'll examine are: What ideas about women's bodies, minds, and social roles shaped women's lives? What factors allowed women more or less agency to choose their own life's course? Prerequisite: junior standing. (Humanities) HERDER
9-335. Advanced Topic: Persecution, Tolerance, and Violence in the Middle Ages
Did a "persecuting society" develop in medieval Europe, as some scholars have suggested? Were heretics, Jews, and homosexuals persecuted for the same reasons? What was the role of violence in shaping interactions between minority and majority? This course will explore these questions while examining the experiences of Jews, Muslims, heretics, disabled people, and other people set apart from "normal" Christian society. Prerequisite: junior standing. (Humanities) HERDER
5-349. Advanced Topic: Authoritarianism and Dictatorship in South American History
This course will study the origins and development of civil and military traditions in South America. After setting this background, the course will exam in detail “national security” regimes from the 1970s. Countries studied include Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Same course as LAS 349. Prerequisite: LAS 141 or HIS 141. (Humanities) CASAL
LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES
5-349. Advanced Topic: Authoritarianism and Dictatorship in South American History
This course will study the origins and development of civil and military traditions in South America. After setting this background, the course will exam in detail “national security” regimes from the 1970s. Countries studied include Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Same course as HIS 349. Prerequisite: LAS 141 or HIS 141. (Humanities) CASAL
MUSIC
5-272. Topic: Electronic Music Composition
Introduction to electronic music composition using a computer. Topics covered include basic synthesis types, digital effects, music form and structure, and the study of important works in the genre. Ability to read music and familiarity with at least one digital audio synthesis program suggested but not required. CHAMBERLAIN
PHILOSOPHY
5-261. Topic: Applied Ethics
This course will deal with ethical questions and dilemmas which arise in areas such as medicine, biotechnology, business, or the environment. It will emphasize the application of ethical theory to specific issues in one or more of these areas. (Humanities) LEIBOWITZ
8-364. Advanced Topic: Truth and Reality
Discussion of the realism/anti-realism debate. Do real things and truths about them exist independent of our thought, or are reality and truth a product of that thought? Prerequisites: junior standing and declared Philosophy major or minor. (Humanities) WHITE
POLITICS
3-352. Advanced Topic: Education Policy in America: Dollars, Sticks, or Carrots?
This course will focus on analyzing contemporary education policy in the United States. We will explore the motivations, goals, and outcomes of major educational policies. Have they achieved what they intended to accomplish? Why or why not? We will also consider issues concerning the role of education in society, the presence and impact of inequality in education, and the role of the federal government in guiding education policy. Throughout the course we will return to an underlying question that permeates many of today’s education policy debates: What is the proper use of incentives and/or sanctions in maximizing student achievement, teacher quality, or social benefits from education? Prerequisite: POL 262 or 282. (Social Science) HEMELT
PSYCHOLOGY
4-257. Topic: Cultural Competence: Melting Pots and Salad Bowls
An exploration of the diversity of cultural and ethnic behaviors, attitudes and values; how cultural sensitivity, awareness, and knowledge differ from competence. Survey of research and interventions aimed at increasing cultural competence specifically within the healthcare setting. (Social Science) BUSHA
7-261. Topic: Culture, Gender, and Public Policy in Japan
This course will examine the interconnections between Japanese cultural traditions, gender roles, and contemporary public policy. Class members will visit historical, cultural, educational, employment, and religious settings in order to gain a foundation for understanding Japanese traditions, values, and everyday life. Students will also explore contemporary culture by observing and interacting with Japanese citizens and hearing from guest lecturers. These experiences will provide an orientation to enduring historical and cultural foundations that inform contemporary life in Japan. Although a major goal of this course is to provide a broad introduction to Japanese culture, it will place special emphasis on gender and public policy. Specific topics will be selected from the following areas: gender and employment patterns, work and family life balance, education, sexuality, reproductive and fertility concerns, gender and interpersonal violence, developmental and aging issues, immigration and human rights issues, popular culture, and current challenges faced by young adults in Japan. The course will include travel to and within the Tokyo (Kanto) and Kyoto-Osaka (Kansai) regions of Japan. Prerequisites: Permission of instructor and one of the following: PSY 161, SOC 101, WST 171, or EST 123. (Social Science) ENNS/DAVIS
7-354. Advanced Topic: Adolescent Risk Behavior
Exploration of the range and types of risky behaviors that occur during adolescence. An examination of the application of developmental, learning and personality theory related to risk behavior. Topics will include: health-related risk behaviors that contribute to morbidity and mortality, intervention strategies aimed at reducing these behaviors, and the role of heredity and environment. Emphasis will be placed on a critical review of literature on the measurement and prediction of risk behavior and intervention strategies. Prerequisite: any 200-level Psychology course. (Social Science) BUSHA
RELIGION
7-267. Topic: Hindu Goddesses, Ancient and Modern
Hinduism is one of the very few “great world religions” in which conceiving the Divine in feminine terms has always featured prominently. This course will examine, through both readings and films, some of Hinduism’s ancient or mythological goddesses, such as Durga, Kali and Lalita, as well as a few modern women whom many Hindus believe to be “living goddesses,” including Sri Sarada Devi and Mata Amritanandamayi. (Humanities) MOLLEUR
1-367. Advanced Topic: Advanced Readings in Biblical Hebrew
This course provides an introduction to interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in the original language. Students will reinforce their comprehension of Biblical grammar, and read from the Hebrew Bible in conversation with critical and traditional commentaries. The course will examine the problems raised in Biblical interpretation, and will illuminate the interpretive possibilities of the Biblical text. Prerequisite: REL 266 or comparable background in Hebrew. (Humanities) SACKS
6-369. Advanced Topic: Islam in Africa and the Americas
This course investigates the history of Islam in Africa and the Americas, with an emphasis on the latter. Introduced by merchant activity in the eighth century CE, Islam by the fifteenth century had become the religion of ruling elites throughout much of the western Sudan, and was the foundation for significant urban development in East Africa. A sustained period of Islamic reform ensued in the western Sudan from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, coterminous with the transatlantic slave trade, and the course examines the influence and legacy of African Muslims exported to the Americas via that trade. Specifically, the African Muslim experience and legacy in North America will be featured, which includes a consideration of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, and the impact of Islam on hip-hop culture. Islam in Latin America and the Caribbean will also be discussed. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. (Humanities) GOMEZ
RUSSIAN
2-316. Topic in Russian Literature: Diaries
Reading and analysis of selections from a variety of diaries, including those of professional writers such as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, as well as those of "regular citizens," such as survivors of the Blockade of Leningrad during World War II. Lectures, readings and discussions in Russian. Prerequisite: RUS 301 or 303. (Humanities) IKACH
SOCIOLOGY
7-256. Topic: Culture, Gender, and Public Policy in Japan
This course will examine the interconnections between Japanese cultural traditions, gender roles, and contemporary public policy. Class members will visit historical, cultural, educational, employment, and religious settings in order to gain a foundation for understanding Japanese traditions, values, and everyday life. Students will also explore contemporary culture by observing and interacting with Japanese citizens and hearing from guest lecturers. These experiences will provide an orientation to enduring historical and cultural foundations that inform contemporary life in Japan. Although a major goal of this course is to provide a broad introduction to Japanese culture, it will place special emphasis on gender and public policy. Specific topics will be selected from the following areas: gender and employment patterns, work and family life balance, education, sexuality, reproductive and fertility concerns, gender and interpersonal violence, developmental and aging issues, immigration and human rights issues, popular culture, and current challenges faced by young adults in Japan. The course will include travel to and within the Tokyo (Kanto) and Kyoto-Osaka (Kansai) regions of Japan. Prerequisites: Permission of instructor and one of the following: PSY 161, SOC 101, WST 171, or EST 123. (Social Science) DAVIS/ENNS [Identity]
4-351. Advanced Topic: Sociology of the Body
This course addresses social, cultural and political perspectives on the body, with a focus on body modification. As both material and symbolic, the human body is influenced by, and influences, our understandings of gender, sexuality, class, race and ethnicity, among other factors. Further, the practices of body modification concretely illustrate the negotiation of the self within various social conditions, contexts, and ideologies. We will explore the construction of ‘normal’ bodies (linked to medicine, technology, nationalism, and other institutions) as well as the construction of ‘deviant’ or ‘transgressive’ bodies, and think through body modifications as social practices. Prerequisite: SOC 101. (Social Science) DAVIS [Identity]
2-353. Advanced Topic: Cultural Sociology
Theoretical and sociological investigation of the concept of "culture." Explores the connections between culture, structure, and society as a whole; specifically addresses the ways that symbols, language, and other forms of knowledge work to create meanings, constitute power, and form the basis for understanding social life including relationships, politics, sexuality, and work. Considers the creation and reception of culture; the relationship between culture and inequality; issues of domination and resistance, and the connections between culture and social/historical change. Prerequisite: SOC 101. Recommended prerequisite: one additional course in Sociology beyond 101. (Social Science) BARNES-BRUS [Identity]
6-354. Advanced Topic: Social Control and Deviance
Explores the idea that social boundaries separate “normal” or “acceptable” behavior/groups from those deemed “deviant” or “abnormal.” Examines various theoretical perspectives on deviance and investigates the social organization of specific deviant behaviors. Examines societal efforts to maintain social order and encourage conformity through an investigation of a variety of formal (coercion) and informal (ridicule) social control methods. Formal institutions of social control such as the criminal system/prisons, the mental/medical health system, and the education system may be considered. Prerequisite: SOC 101. (Social Science) BARNES-BRUS [Institutions]
THEATRE
5-317. Advanced Topic: Acting Methodology: Meisner
This advanced acting course will introduce students to the life and work of Sanford Meisner and his method of training for the actor. Designed as an opportunity to explore more fully the act of listening and responding between actors, the course seeks to embrace the concept that the foundation of acting is the reality of doing. Students will study the principles of Sanford Meisner’s approach, take part in the exercises of Meisner training both inside and outside of class, and practice one two-person scene chosen by the instructor. A journal must be kept. Prerequisites: THE 115 and one other acting course (THE 215, 260, 310, 315, 319), or instructor’s permission. VAN VALEN
2-373. Advanced Topic: History of Theatre Design
Examination of the emergence and recognition of the theatre designer as a distinct artist in the theatrical production process. Special focus given to 19th and 20th century American Theatre, as well as the development of sound design, video design and other "new" areas of specialization. Prerequisites: writing-designated course (W) and one adjunct course in Theatre (THE 715, 751, 752, 753, or 754). (Humanities) OLINGER
WOMEN'S STUDIES
8-259. Topic: What Is Sexual Orientation?
This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to the question of what constitutes sexual orientation. Usually we think of sexual orientation as simply describing whether someone is attracted to men, women, or both. But is attraction to male bodies the same for a man as it is for a woman? Does the identity of "lesbian" indicate more than with whom one likes to have sex? Could pedophilia and sexual masochism and even asexuality be thought of as sexual orientations in and of themselves? And what do we make of the fact that foot fetishism seems to show up in many different cultures, but is mostly a sexual interest of men, regardless of culture? What do we make of the fact that the rate of various forms of transgenderism seems to vary from culture to culture? Can you choose to be queer? Can a doctor or a priest "cure" homosexuality? Should parents be allowed to try to engineer their children's sexual orientations? Why are scientists interested in the evolution of sexual orientation, and should scientific findings shape legislation which denies or protects the rights of sexual minorities? These are some of the topics we'll cover in this course as we explore the nature, history, and politics of human sexual orientation. This course will draw on work in women's and gender studies, history, philosophy, genetics, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, medicine, anthropology, and more. We will engage in open, respectful, and frank discussions of many different kinds of human sexuality. (If you are very squeamish learning and talking about sex, this would not be the course for you.) Students should prepare to leave this course far more educated but with many more questions about human sexuality. DREGER
2-305. Advanced Topic: Utopian Visions of Sex, Gender and Sexuality
Visions of future or alternative societies in which physical sex, gender arrangements, and/or sexualities are dramatically different from our own. Novels and short stories allow writers to invent freely social orders that challenge our preconceptions. Prerequisite: WST 171 or 271. (Humanities) CROWDER