Search Results
Your search for courses · during 24FA, 25WI, 25SP · meeting requirements for CX, Cultural/Linguistics · returned 27 results
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ARBC 222 Music in the Middle East 6 credits
The Middle East is home to a great number of musical styles, genres, and traditions. Regional, ideological, and cultural diversity, national identity, and cross-cultural encounters–all express themselves in music. We will explore some of the many musical traditions in the Arab world, from early twentieth century to the present. Class discussions based on readings in English and guided listening. No prior music knowledge required, but interested students with or without musical background can participate in an optional, hands-on Arab music performance workshop, on Western or a few (provided) Middle Eastern instruments throughout the term.
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ARTH 101 Introduction to Art History I 6 credits
An introduction to the art and architecture of various geographical areas around the world from antiquity through the “Middle Ages.” The course will provide foundational skills (tools of analysis and interpretation) as well as general, historical understanding. It will focus on a select number of major developments in a range of media and cultures, emphasizing the way that works of art function both as aesthetic and material objects and as cultural artifacts and forces. Issues include, for example, sacred spaces, images of the gods, imperial portraiture, and domestic decoration.
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ARTH 102 Introduction to Art History II 6 credits
An introduction to the art and architecture of various geographical areas around the world from the fifteenth century through the present. The course will provide foundational skills (tools of analysis and interpretation) as well as general, historical understanding. It will focus on a select number of major developments in a range of media and cultures, emphasizing the way that works of art function both as aesthetic and material objects and as cultural artifacts and forces. Issues include, for example, humanist and Reformation redefinitions of art in the Italian and Northern Renaissance, realism, modernity and tradition, the tension between self-expression and the art market, and the use of art for political purposes.
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ASLN 111 Writing Systems 6 credits
The structure and function of writing systems, with emphasis on a comparison of East Asian writing systems (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) to Western alphabetic systems. Topics covered include classification of writing systems, historical development, diffusion and borrowing of writing systems, and comparison with non-writing symbol systems.
- Spring 2025
- CX, Cultural/Linguistics SI, Social Inquiry
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CAMS 212 Contemporary Spanish Cinema 6 credits
This course serves as a historical and critical survey of Spanish cinema from the early 1970s to the present. Topics of study will include the redefinition of Spanish identity in the post-Franco era, the rewriting of national history through cinema, cinematic representations of gender and sexuality, emergent genres, regional cinemas and identities, stars and transnational film projects, and new Spanish auteurs from the 1980s to the present.
Extra Time required. Evening Screenings.
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CAMS 236 Israeli Society in Israeli Cinema 6 credits
This course will introduce students to the global kaleidoscope that is Israeli society today. Since the 1980s the Israeli public has increasingly engaged with its multicultural character, particularly through films and documentaries that broaden national conversation. Our approach to exploring the emerging reflection of Israel's diversity in its cinema will be thematic. We will study films that foreground religious-secular, Israeli-Palestinian, gender, sexual orientation, and family dynamics, as well as Western-Middle Eastern Jewish relations, foreign workers or refugees in Israel, army and society, and Holocaust memory. With critical insights from the professor's interviews with several directors and Israeli film scholars. Conducted in English, all films subtitled. Evening film screenings.
In Translation. Extra Time required for Evening Screenings.
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CHIN 240 Chinese Cinema in Translation 6 credits
This course introduces to students the drastic transformation of Chinese society, culture, and politics over the past three decades through the camera lens. We will examine representative films from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Particular attention will be paid to the entangled relationship between art, commerce, and politics, as well as the role digital technologies and international communities play in reshaping the contemporary cultural landscape in China. This class requires no prior knowledge of Chinese language, literature, or culture.
Extra time for film screenings
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CLAS 123 Greek Archaeology and Art 6 credits
This course explores the archaeology and art of the Ancient Greek world. Beginning with prehistory, we will track the development of the material culture of Ancient Greece through the Classical and Hellenistic periods, and conclude by discussing aspects of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires that followed. We will focus throughout on aspects of archaeological practice, material culture and text, art and society, long-term social change, and the role of the past in the present.
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CLAS 214 Gender and Sexuality in Classical Antiquity 6 credits
In both ancient Greece and Rome, gender (along with class and citizenship status) largely determined what people did, where they spent their time, and how they related to others. This course will examine the ways in which Greek and Roman societies defined gender categories, and how they used them to think about larger social, political, and religious issues. Primary readings from Greek and Roman epic, lyric, and drama, as well as ancient historical, philosophical, and medical writers; in addition we will explore a range of secondary work on the topic from the perspectives of Classics and Gender Studies.
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CLAS 240 Rome: From Village to Superpower 6 credits
This class will investigate how Rome rose from a humble village of outcasts and refugees to become the preeminent power in the entire Mediterranean. We will trace Rome’s political evolution from kings to the Republic, alongside their gradual takeover of the Italian peninsula. We will study how Rome then swiftly overpowered what had been the most powerful kingdoms in the Mediterranean and established themselves as dominant. Who were these Romans and what were their political, military, religious, and social systems that enabled them to accomplish so much? What critical events shaped their development and ultimately led to total political control of the Mediterranean world?
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GERM 153 Nations and Nationalism: A New, Old Idea 6 credits
“Nationalism is not the awakening of nations to self-consciousness: it invents nations where they do not exist” (Ernest Gellner, 1964). What are nations if nationalism invents them? When does nationalism ally itself with progressive ideologies, and when does it appear alongside reactionary ones? Is the German case typical or particular? How can works of art create or disrupt national identity? In this course, we will discuss nationalism’s complex legacy by centering on a core of German literary and theoretical texts, visual media, and select non-German sources from the late eighteenth century to the present. Taught in English.
In Translation
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GERM 221 Modern Love: Sex, Gender, and Identity in Austria-Hungary around 1900 6 credits
We explore literature, music, and the fine arts of German-speaking countries around the topics of gender and sex(uality). We focus on the years between 1880 and 1920 in Austria-Hungary, but also venture into more recent times and other localities. How did images of men and women change over time? How did science factor into these images? What was/is considered “normal” when it comes to sex(uality) and gender, and what German-speaking voices have been pushing against those norms? How did these voices use literature, music, and the fine arts to reflect or criticize such norms? Taught in English.
Taught in English
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GERM 240 Half-Lives: Science, Protest, and Nuclear Power in Germany 6 credits
Why did a country known for ground-breaking scientific research decommission its final nuclear power plant in 2023? What historical factors inform Germany’s resistance to nuclear power? And how have literature, poetry, theater, and film responded to scientific progress in the Atomic Era? In this course, taught in English, we will explore the role of science and research in Germany and learn about the country’s singular and volatile response to nuclear power. Key topics include environmental activism, policy responses, and current events that impact Germany’s energy grid. In tandem with this historical inquiry, we will analyze works of literature, theater, and other media that depict the narrative fascination with nuclear physics, including the blockbuster Oppenheimer and the Netflix series Dark. In translation. Taught in English.
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GWSS 240 Gender, Globalization and War 6 credits
We are surrounded by images, stories and experiences of war, conflict, aggression, genocide, and widespread human suffering. In this course we will engage with the field of transnational feminist theorizing in order to understand how globalization and militarism are gendered, and the processes through which gender becomes globalized and militarized. We will examine hegemonic ideals of security and insecurity and track how they are gendered. You will learn to conduct and analyze in-depth interviews focusing on the militarization of civilians/ordinary people so as to understand how all our lives have been shaped by the acceptance and/or resistance to globalized militarism.
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HIST 153 History of Modern China 6 credits
This course examines major features of the trajectory of China’s recent past spanning from the seventeenth century through the present. Students will analyze deep socio-cultural currents that cut across the changes in socioeconomic as well as political arenas. Themes for discussion will include state formations, social changes, economic developments, religious orientations, bureaucratic behaviors, and cultural refinements that the Chinese have made. Students are also expected to develop skills to frame key historical questions against broader historiographical contexts by engaging in analyses of many different types of primary sources.
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HIST 161 From Mughals to Mahatma Gandhi: An Introduction to Modern Indian History 6 credits
An introductory survey course to familiarize students with some of the key themes and debates in the historiography of modern India. Beginning with an overview of Mughal rule in India, the main focus of the course is the colonial period. The course ends with a discussion of 1947: the hour of independence as well as the creation of two new nation-states, India and Pakistan. Topics include Oriental Despotism, colonial rule, nationalism, communalism, gender, caste and race. No prior knowledge of South Asian History required.
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HIST 170 Modern Latin America 6 credits
This course focuses on some of the principal challenges that Latin Americans have confronted over the first two centuries of post-colonial existence (ca. 1820-2020). Case studies will highlight themes and concerns still pertinent today, such as: political instability and authoritarianism, economic underdevelopment and poverty, neo-colonial challenges to national sovereignty, deeply ingrained socioeconomic and racial inequalities, and popular struggles to attain meaningful political, economic, and cultural rights, among others.
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HIST 233 The Byzantine World and Its Neighbors, 750-ca. 1453 6 credits
The Byzantine world (eighth-fifteenth centuries) was a zone of fascinating tensions, exchanges, and encounters. Through a wide variety of written and visual evidence, we will examine key features of its history and culture: the nature of government; piety and religious controversy; art and music; the evolving relations with the Latin West, Armenia, the Slavic North and West, and the Dar al-Islam (the Abbasids and Seljuk and Ottoman Turks); gender; economic life; and social relations.Extra Time for special events and a group project (ecumenical council).
Extra Time for special events and a group project (ecumenical council).
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MELA 230 Jewish Collective Memory 6 credits
Judaism emphasizes transmitting memory from one generation to the next. How have pivotal events and experiences in Jewish history lived on in Jewish collective memory? How do they continue to speak through artistic/literary composition and museum/memorial design? How does Jewish collective memory compare with recorded Jewish history? We will study turning points in Jewish history including the Exodus from Egypt, Jewish expulsion from medieval Spain, the Holocaust, and Israeli independence, as Jews in different times and places have interpreted them with lasting influence. Research includes work with print, film, and other visual/ performative media.
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MUSC 140 Ethnomusicology and the World’s Music 6 credits
This course introduces the discipline of ethnomusicology and its history, theory, methods, and contemporary critiques. Centering the social and cultural analysis of music, the course explores case studies of global popular, vernacular, and classical musics. We will expand our skills as listeners while also considering key issues, such as the “world music” market; ethnographic methods; gesture, dance, and embodiment; copyright and repatriation; the role of media forms and AI technologies; and the politics of representation. No musical experience necessary.
Sophomore Priority
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PSYC 234 Psychology of Language 6 credits
This course will cover a range of aspects of language use. We will spend time discussing language production and comprehension, discourse processing, the relationship between language and thought, and language acquisition. Additionally, we will touch on issues of memory, perception, concepts, mental representation, and neuroscience. Throughout the course, we will emphasize both the individual and social aspects of language as well as the dynamic and fluid nature of language use. Concurrent registration in PSYC 235 is optional, but strongly recommended. A grade of C- or better must be earned in both Psychology 234 and 235 to satisfy the LS requirement.
Concurrent registration in PSYC 235 is optional but strongly recommended.
- Fall 2024
- CX, Cultural/Linguistics LS, Science with Lab
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Student has completed any of the following course(s): PSYC 110 – Principles of Psychology with a grade of C- or better or received a score of 4 or better on the Psychology AP exam or received a score of 6 or better on the Psychology IB exam.
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RELG 227 Liberation Theologies 6 credits
Is God on the side of the poor? This course explores how liberation theologians have called for justice, social change, and resistance by drawing on fundamental sources in Christian tradition and by using economic and political theories to address poverty, racism, oppression, gender injustice, and more. We explore the principles of liberationist thought, including black theology, Latin American liberation theology, and feminist theology through writings of various contemporary thinkers. We also examine the social settings out of which these thinkers have emerged, their critiques of “traditional” theologies, and the new vision of community they have developed in various contexts.
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RELG 287 Many Marys 6 credits
The history of Christianity usually focuses on Jesus: the stories and doctrines that have revolved around him. This course will focus on Mary and the many ways she has contributed to the various lived traditions of Christianity. We will, for example, consider the mother of Jesus (Miriam, as she was first called) as she has figured in literature, art, apparition, and ritual practice around the world. We will also consider Mary Magdalene, her foil, who appears in popular discourse from the Gnostic gospels to The Da Vinci Code. Case studies, texts, images, and film will be our fare.
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RUSS 266 The Brothers Karamazov 3 credits
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s last novel, The Brothers Karamazov, is many things: a riveting murder mystery, a probing philosophical treatise, one of the best known novels in world literature, and a complex book worth reading and discussing with serious readers of diverse backgrounds. We will familiarize ourselves with the historical and philosophical context in which it was written, while grappling with the fundamental questions it raises: What does it mean to act morally? Why do humans so often act against their own best interest? How do we reconcile a world of chaos and suffering with the notion of a benevolent god? Conducted entirely in English.
1st 5 weeks, in translation
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RUSS 267 War and Peace 3 credits
Against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, Lev Tolstoy challenges readers to confront some of the most confounding questions of human existence: How can we reconcile the notion of free will with the seemingly ineluctable forces of history? Is individual moral action possible in war? How can we live a meaningful life in the face of inevitable death? And what might lie after death? In this course we read War and Peace in its cultural and historical context, while also considering how it continues to be relevant to our lives today. Conducted in English. No knowledge of Russian literature or history required.
2nd 5 weeks, in translation
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SOAN 110 Introduction to Anthropology 6 credits
Anthropology is the study of all human beings in all their diversity, an exploration of what it means to be human throughout the globe. This course helps us to see ourselves, and others, from a new perspective. By examining specific analytic concepts—such as culture—and research methods—such as participant observation—we learn how anthropologists seek to understand, document, and explain the stunning variety of human cultures and ways of organizing society. This course encourages you to consider how looking behind cultural assumptions helps anthropologists solve real world dilemmas.
Sophomore Priority.
- Fall 2024, Winter 2025, Spring 2025
- CX, Cultural/Linguistics IS, International Studies SI, Social Inquiry WR2 Writing Requirement 2
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SOAN 262 Anthropology of Health and Illness 6 credits
An ethnographic approach to beliefs and practices regarding health and illness in numerous societies worldwide. This course examines patients, practitioners, and the social networks and contexts through which therapies are managed to better understand medical systems as well as the significance of the anthropological study of misfortune. Specific topics include the symbolism of models of illness, the ritual management of misfortune and of life crisis events, the political economy of health, therapy management, medical pluralism, and cross-cultural medical ethics. The department strongly recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses numbered 200 or above.