Studies of the Early Modern Era

56:606:511:01 Shakespeare
Cross-listed: 56:350:545:01
Th 6-8:40 pm
Professor Fitter

Historians have long recognized that the 1590s, with their disastrous wars, catastrophic harvests, spiraling inflation, economic dislocation, and intermittent impositions of martial law, were one of the harshest periods for commoners in English history. The first decade under the new king was but slightly better. In these conditions, Shakespeare rejected the possibility of life as a poet of aristocratic patronage to write instead for the popular theater, which was paradoxically thriving in the margins of an authoritarian society. Defining his dramatic meanings in terms of stage, not page, this course will seek to discover how Shakespeare outwitted the censor through the potentialities of contemporary stagecraft. Each student will be asked to choose one play and think it through in historicized terms.

Studies of the 20th Century

56:606:531:01 20th Century American Art
Cross-listed: 50:082:268:01
Advanced Undergraduate Course
T/Th 9:30-10:50 am
Professor Reade

Course descriptions will be updated as they become available.

Studies in Cultural Diversity

56:606:541:01 African-American Literature: Harlem Renaissance
Cross-listed: 56:352:540:01
M 6-8:40 pm
Professor Green

This course offers an extended investigation of the prolific writing and cultural forms produced by blacks in America from the 1820?s through the 1830?s, better known as the Harlem Renaissance. Often considered the first self conscious flowering of African American belles-lettres, the Renaissance remains a touchstone for contemporary African American cultural production. The course will explore the social and historical conditions that made this era possible as well as the modes of expression and thematic concerns that animated its literature. Representative authors include Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen, Countee Cullen, Alain Locke, and Jessie Redmond Fauset. A long research paper, shorter papers, and oral presentation are required.

56:606:541:02 Justice, Forgiveness, and Reparations
Cross-listed: 50:730:390:01, 50:840:394:02
Advanced Undergraduate Course
T/Th 4:30-5:50 pm
Professor Ibn-Ziyad

Course descriptions will be updated as they become available.

Studies of the Arts and Literature

56:606:611:01 Introduction to Literary Theory
Cross-listed: 56:350:573:01
M 6-8:40
Professor Habib

Is there a correct way of interpreting a piece of literature? Should we just read the “words on the page” as suggested by some critics in the early twentieth century or should we take into account the author’s biography, social class, psychology and audience? What is the purpose of literature? Moral? Political? Simply pleasure? How should women read works written by men? What ideological assumptions do we bring to the study of literature? In what degree are philosophical strategies and literary-critical techniques operative in the exegesis of scripture, as in the interpretation of the Qur=an and the Bible? These are some of the questions posed by the greatest thinkers from Plato and Aristotle through al-Farabi, Aquinas, Ibn Rushd, al-Ghazzali, Hegel and Marx; they have been raised in somewhat different and more modern contexts by critics adopting the perspectives of Psychoanalysis, Feminism, Reception Theory, “New” Historicism, Deconstruction, Gender theory and Postcolonialism. This class will cover selectively the history of Western literary
criticism from Plato to the present day. Two papers and one examination. In preparation, students may read Book X of Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Poetics.

56:606:611:02 Poetry in Media and Performance
Cross-listed: 56:352:541:01
T 6-8:40
Professor Rosal

In this course, we will consider the making and reading of poetry in both conventional print and innovative multimedia/performance forms. We will spend much of our time examining varieties of remixed poetry and sound. We’ll consider the ways in which racial and postcolonial identities engage in public discourse through the art of monstrosity, hybridity, and collage.

56:606:611:03 Special Topics in Rhetoric: Research Methods in Composition and Literacy
Cross-listed: 56:842:565:01
T 6-8:40 pm
Professor Fitzgerald

This practical course serves as an orientation to diverse motives and methods for researching literate activity in the classroom and other social spheres. It will prepare you to conduct valuable research in composition and literacy studies by introducing you to methods for analyzing texts and contexts in the teaching and practice of writing. Specifically, we will explore methods and methodologies for archival research, qualitative and quantitative analysis, ethnography and case studies. You will learn to locate and interpret historical material; to identify and collect qualitative data through interview and observation; to code qualitative data using grounded-theory methods; to support textual analysis through historical and empirical data. Above all, you will learn how to develop a meaningful research question and consider the means to approach it. In addition to several short exercises that allow you to practice discrete research methods, you will, as a final project, produce a rationale for a larger study related to your research interests, one that might serve as a starting point for a thesis or future dissertation or a scholarly contribution to writing studies. Current and future teachers of writing and literature will find this course especially useful as an opportunity to “think like a researcher” in analyzing and composing texts.

56:606:612:01 Writing Short Non-fiction
Cross-listed: 56:842:566:01
Th 6-8:40 pm
Professor CapuzzoCourse descriptions will be updated as they become available.

56:606:611:90 From Bop to Pop: History of Jazz
Online
ECollege Platform
Professor Leach

From Bop to Pop: History of Jazz is a graduate course designed to introduce and survey the origins of jazz from New Orleans to the music of today. Topics covered will trace the social and historical context that gave birth to jazz styles as well as the related genres and musical inventions. From Dixieland and Folk to Big Band to Rock, students will investigate landmark artists, songs, and movements, which explore the connections between the music they listen to and the artists who have pioneered that progress

International Study Abroad (3 Credits)

56:606:613:I1 Nature as a Metaphor: Nature and her Emotions
Cross-listed: 50:080:393:I1
Advanced Undergraduate Course
Hours by Arrangement
Professor Amdur

Learning abroad course with required trip to Iceland. Travel Dates 5/26/14-6/8/14. Learning abroad courses may require additional course fees and special class meeting schedules. More details may be posted here as they are received.

56.606.613.I2 Photographing South Africa
Cross-listed: 50:080:393:I2, 50:082:397:I1
Advanced Undergraduate Course
Hours by Arrangement
Professor Hohing

Learning abroad course with required trip to South Africa. Travel Dates 3/12/14-3/24/14. Learning abroad courses may require additional course fees and special class meeting schedules. More details may be posted here as they are received.

56:606:613:I3 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems in South Africa
Cross-listed: 50:202:375:I1
Advanced Undergraduate Course
T 11 am-12:20 pm
Professor Bush-Baskette

Learning abroad course with required trip to South Africa. Travel Dates 3/15/14-3/29/14. Learning abroad courses may require additional course fees and special class meeting schedules. More details may be posted here as they are received.

56:606:613:I4 The British Invasion: Britain’s Influence on American Culture and Mass Media
Cross-listed: 50:350:390:I1, 56:350:505:I1
Advanced Undergraduate Course
W 6-8:40 pm
Professor Capuzzo

Learning abroad course with required trip to England and Scotland. Travel Dates 3/14/14-3/23/14. Learning abroad courses may require additional course fees and special class meeting schedules. More details may be posted here as they are received.

56:606:613:I5 Amsterdam: Writing About Place
Cross-listed: 50:350:389:I1, 56:350:506:I1
Advanced Undergraduate Course
Hours by Arrangement
Professor Zeidner

Learning abroad course with required trip to Amsterdam. Learning abroad courses may require additional course fees and special class meeting schedules. More details may be posted here as they are received.

56:606:613:I6 Quebec Today: Culture, Politics and Exchange
Cross-listed: 50:420:387:I1
Advanced Undergraduate Course
Hours by Arrangement
Professor Belanger

Learning abroad course with required trip to Quebec. Travel Dates 6/15/14-6/25/14. Learning abroad courses may require additional course fees and special class meeting schedules. More details may be posted here as they are received.

56:606:613:I7 London Theater
Cross-listed: 50:965:375:I1
Advanced Undergraduate Course
T 4:30-5:50 pm
Professor Elliot

Learning abroad course with required trip to London. Travel Dates 5/23/14-6/2/14. Learning abroad courses may require additional course fees and special class meeting schedules. More details may be posted here as they are received.

Studies of Politics and Society

56:606:621:01 Prejudice and Racism
Cross-listed: 56:830:674:01, 50:830:461:01
Advanced Undergraduate Course
T/Th 4:30-5:50 pm
Professor Chan

Course descriptions will be updated as they become available.

56:606:621:02 Community Psychology
Cross-listed: 56:830:674:01, 50:830:457:40
Advanced Undergraduate Course
Th 6-8:40pm
Professor Ragusa

Course descriptions will be updated as they become available.

56:606:621:90 Politics of Terrorism
Online
ECollege Platform
Professor Snow

An analysis of the use of terror as a form of political expression and strategy. The course will investigate terrorism from institutional and historical perspectives, focusing on the level of threat to the United States from domestic terrorists and Al Queda, as well as tactics, weapons, aims, and the rationality of terror. Other topics include state-sponsored terrorism, and the consequences and tactics of counter-terrorism.

56:606:622:01 Health Matters: Health and Health Policy in the United States, Past and Present
Cross-listed: 56:834:609:01
M 6-8:40 pm
Professor Marsh

This course is designed for graduate students interested in health and health policy in the United States. Subjects to be covered will include a range of twentieth century public health topics from both historical and contemporary perspectives, including a focus on the century-long attempt to provide universal health care in this country. The controversies surrounding the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act will serve as a lens for an examination of contemporary issues in American health care policy.

56:606:622:02 Criminology
Cross-listed: 56:202:513:01
Th 6-8:40 pm
Professor Tuthill

Explanation of crime and delinquency in American society. Topics include deterrence theory, biological explanations for crime, sociological theories, and conflict-based theories. Emphasis on social causes of crime.

56:606:622:03 Victimology
Cross-listed: 56:202:540:01, 50:202:340:40
Advanced Undergraduate Course
T 6-8:40 pm
Professor Meloy

Study of the role and treatment of victims in the criminal justice system with a particular focus on the victimizations that disproportionately affect women and children. Emphasis on risk factors and impact of crime on victims.

Studies of Philosophy and Religion

56:606:641:01 Anti-Semitism and Genocide
Cross-listed: 50:840:332:01
MALS seminar
T 6-8:40 pm
Professor Charmé

An investigation into the nature and historical development of anti-Semitism in general and Nazism in particular. Examination of specific stages of Nazi genocide as well as implications for modem religion, theories of human nature, and situations we may confront in the future. Integrates material from history, psychology, ethics, theology, and literature in order to evaluate possible responses.

56:606:641:02 Philosophy of Law
Cross-listed: 50:730:320:01
Advanced Undergraduate Course
T 6-8:40 pm
Professor O’Hanlon

The purpose of this course is to give a broad introduction to important issues surrounding legal philosophy. Legal issues are commonly discussed in the American media and in everyday life. It is, therefore, useful to understand at least some of the theoretical underpinnings of law in order to determine the legitimacy of law making and judicial decisions.

This is a course in philosophy so ideas will be at a fairly abstract level. Nevertheless, the relation between the ideas discussed and everyday legal and political issues should be readily apparent. The main topics for discussion will be American constitutional theory, the legitimacy of punishment in criminal law, free speech, the relevance of moral issues in law, economic efficiency in legal decision making, and when one could be justified in disobeying the law.

56:606:641:03 Biomedical Ethics
Cross-listed: 50:730:349:01
Advanced Undergraduate Course
T/Th 4:30-5:50 pm
Professor Gentzel

An examination of ethical theories and their application to such issues as abortion, cloning, physician-patient relations, genetic manipulation, and health-care justice.

56:606:641:04 Children’s Rights
Cross-listed: 56:163:520:01
T 6-8:40 pm
Professor Wall

This course examines children’s rights from a range of theoretical, practical, historical, cultural, and global perspectives. It asks what it means to speak of children as having rights, how considerations of childhood challenge human rights groundings, how actual children’s rights have changed over time, what key struggles for rights are emerging today, how children participate in such struggles, and how children’s rights face issues of cultural difference, power, and implementation.

56:606:641:90 Contemporary Moral Issues
Online
ECollege Platform
Professor Young

This course will focus on the study of articles written on a broad range of contemporary issues of ethical concern. These issues potentially include but not limited to capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, sexuality, animal welfare, and poverty. Studying the works of respected thinkers on these matters will afford students an opportunity to think more thoroughly and systematically about these issues than would otherwise be likely.

Major western ethical theories, potentially including but not necessarily limited to those authored by Bentham, Mill, Aquinas, Kant, and Aristotle will also be studied. Representing the most widely studied attempts to bring unity to our particular judgments of right and wrong under a more general ethical perspective, they are not only the basis of many of the articles we will study, but are also useful in revealing inconsistencies in our own views.

Women, Gender and Sexuality

56:606:662:01 Women and Art
Cross-listed: 50:082:305:01
MALS seminar
W 5:30-8:10 pm
Professor Rosenberg

“Women and Art” is a feminist art history course which deals with all aspects of women’s contributions to art and visual culture within specific cultural and historical contexts. We consider both how issues of gender affect our views of art, and how art shapes our views of gender.

Studies in Historical Analysis

56:606:671:01 Colloquium in US History: 1820-1898
Cross listed: 56:512:506:01
M 5-7:40
By permission of Instructor
Professor Shankman

Course descriptions will be updated as they become available.

Research in Liberal Studies

56:606:689:01 Research in Liberal Studies
Professor Stuart Charmé

Independent study of a special interest to the student, under supervision of an advisor chosen in consultation with the program director.

56:606:690:01 Research in Liberal Studies
Professor Stuart Charmé

Independent study of a special interest to the student, under supervision of an advisor chosen in consultation with the program director.

Matriculation Continued

56:606:800:01 Matriculation Continued
Hours by Arrangement
Professor Stuart Charmé

Continuous registration may be accomplished by enrolling for at least 3 credits in standard course offerings, including research courses, or by enrolling in this course for 0 credits. Students actively engaged in study toward their degree who are using university facilities and faculty time are expected to enroll for the appropriate credits.