Course Guide – Camden Campus – Summer 2011

Course TitleDescription

STUDIES OF IDEAS

   
Psychology Through Documentary Film 
56:606:601:D6
Cross-listed: 50:830:463:D6
MTuTh 6/27-7/21
6:00 – 9:40 PM 
Professor Sean Duffy 
seduffy@camden.rutgers.edu
In this course, we will explore psychological topics through the medium of documentary film. In the class, we will watch various documentaries and evaluate supplementary readings that provide a context for understanding both the art and science of documenting psychological issues. We read texts from various disciplines in order to try and understand, in both an inter- and multi-disciplinary way, how film can be used to further our understanding of how the mind works. We also discuss how documentary film works, and in general, how cinema capitalizes on various perceptual, conceptual, and memory processes. Some of the films we will explore include Errol Morris’ Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, to illustrate the psychology of agency; Reggio’s Koyaanisquatsi, to address the interaction between nature and humanity; Balmes’ Babies, to illustrate the role of culture in development; and Steele’s The Bridge, to discuss the social impact of suicide, among others.
   

ART AND LITERATURE

 

Studies in American Literature from Colonial Period to 1900 
56:606:611:D6
Cross-listed: 56:352:509:D6; 50:050:201:D6; 50:352:391:D6 
MTuTh 6/27-7/21
6:00 – 9:40 PM 
Professor Carol Singley 
singley@camden.rutgers.edu

American literature from the colonial period to 1900. We explore major themes, genres, and cultural as well as literary developments. Readings will closely follow the M.A. Comprehensive Exam list and include early American writers Bradstreet, Rowlandson, and Franklin; nineteenth-century Romantic writers Emerson, Douglass, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and Fuller; poets Whitman and Dickinson; and realist Kate Chopin. Students will be required to do one or two short papers, an oral presentation, and a final paper or project.

   

POLITICS AND SOCIETY

 

Criminology
56:606:621:A6
Cross-listed: 56:202:513:A6
MTuTh 5/31-6/23
6:00 – 9:40 PM 
Professor Gail Caputo 
gcaputo@camden.rutgers.edu

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.

   

Politics and Culture 
Advanced Undergraduate Course 
56:606:621:D2
Cross-listed: 50:790:304:D2
MTuWTh 6/27-7/21
10:50 AM – 1:30 PM 
Professor Kim Shienbaum 
shienbau@camden.rutgers.edu

Note: Web-enhanced course with limited in-class sessions. 
Examines the interrelation between politics and cultural change. Analyzes how the development of various modes of artistic expression, such as the novel, reflect and affect changing sociopolitical values.
   
Social Equity in Governance 
56:606:622:D6
Cross-listed: 56:834:605:D6; 50:975:489:D6
MTuTh 6/27-7/21
6:00 – 9:40 PM 
Professor Christine Brenner 
ctbrenn@camden.rutgers.edu
This course will examine “the fair, just, and equitable management of institutions serving the public directly or by contract and the fair, just, and equitable distribution of public services, and implementation of public policy (National Academy of Public Administration). We will review a different topic each evening, trace its historical background in US policy and explore the 21 st century ramifications of the poolicy, including how these policies impact urban areas in the United States. Examples of topics include: social construction of social quity, poverty and social welfare, resource allocation and environmental sustainability, economic development, emergency management, health disparities, and education.
   
9/11 and 9/11 Revisionism 
Advanced Undergraduate Course 
56:606:622:J2
Cross-listed: 50:790:490:J2
MTuWTh 7/25-8/17
10:50 AM – 1:30 PM 
Professor Kim Shienbaum
shienbau@camden.rutgers.edu
Note: Web-enhanced course with limited in-class sessions. 
Course counts towards the National Security minor. After the shock and surprise of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 9/11 Commisson Report investigated and reported on the perpetrators: a shadowy Islamist organization called Al Qaeda. Nevertheless, soon after and ever since Sptember 11, 2001, there have been many voices, some in academia and the media, who disagree with the Report’s conclusions. This web enhanced course investigates in detail the history of Al Qaeda and the rise of Islamism/Jihadism, and critically evaluates the evidence both for and against the conventional wisdom.