Summer 2009 Course Guide

Course TitleDescription

ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL ERAS
 

Classic and Modern Literature 
56:606:501:B6
Cross-listed: 56:350:594:B6
May 26 to June 30
T/Th 6:00 – 9:40 pm 
Professor Joseph Barbarese

What is a “classic “? What do we mean when we compare a classic to a modern or contemporary text? The course will examine these questions by constant comparisons of the literature of the ancient and pre-Modern eras to contemporary adaptations that in some way were influenced by or emerged from the past. Readings, in whole or excerpted, will  include Homer’s Odyssey, Dante’s Inferno, Chretien’s Perceval (the earliest mention of the Holy Grail), a play of Shakespeare, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Christopher Logue’s War Music,  Margaret Atwood’s  The Penelopiad, and Sandor and Birk’s recent graphic-novel adaptation of The Divine Comedy. Two short papers and a culminating exercise. Look for a downloadable syllabus at https://crab.rutgers.edu/~barbares/index.html early in the spring.
 

STUDIES OF IDEAS
 

Topics in Psychology: Cognitive Development 
56:606:601:D6
Cross-listed: 56:830:674:D6
June 22 to July 16 
M,T,Th 6:00-9:40 pm 
Professor Sean Duffy

 This course will explore the development of intellectual abilities from infancy to adulthood. Through the lens of various theories of cognitive development, we will examine topics such as how children acquire language, categorize objects, develop mathematical skills, reason about the spatial orientation of objects, learn to use symbolic systems like maps, and develop a theory of mind.
   

ARTS AND LITERATURE
 

American Literature: Child, Family, Nation 
56:606:611:A6
Cross-listed: 56:352:593, 56:163:698,50:050:201 and 50:352:492
May 26 to June 18 
M,Tu,Th 6:00pm-9:40pm
Professor Carol Singley

We explore major themes in American literature (for example, “closeness,” individualism, opportunity) with attention to how kinship, childhood, and ethnic and racial minority status help to shape American identity. How do ideas about American values form, and how do families, children, and minorities figure in these constructions? Readings range from Puritan poet Ann Bradstreet to romantic Walt Whitman and realist Edith Wharton to modern and contemporary writers Robert Frost, William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, and Gish Jen.
   

POLITICS AND SOCIETY
 

Criminology
56:606:621:A6
Cross-listed: 56:202:513:A6
May 26 to June 18 
M,T,Th 6:00 – 9:40pm
Professor Gail Caputo

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.
   

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
 

Topics in Religion: Sex in the Bible 
Advanced Undergraduate Course 
56:606:641:A3
Cross-listed: 50:840:393:A3
May 26 to June 18 
M,Tu,W,Th 1:40-4:20pm
Professor Aron Dunlap

From the nakedness of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to the Whore of Babylon in the Book of Revelation, the topic of sex is central to many of the episodes in the Bible. In this class we will read passages from the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament that deal directly with sex and sexuality. The class is discussion based and the students are encouraged to offer their own interpretations and arguments. Though most of the readings will come from the Biblical texts we will also look at select commentaries.

 
   

RESEARCH IN LIBERAL STUDIES
 

56:606:689:01
Professor John Wall

 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 
Professor John Wall