Courses

ETHNIC STUDIES ELECTIVES:  SPRING 2012

SOCIAL SCIENCES COURSES

IA 232  Southeast Asian Politics                   MWF 12:40-1:40pm   
Cari Cole
Political and economic context of contemporary Southeast Asian states using a comparative perspective. Topics may include the effects of colonial and Cold War legacies on state development; the relationships among ethnicity, religion, and conflict; political transition and democratization; economic development policy; regional environmental issues; and Southeast Asian economic integration.

RHMS 340  Media Across Cultures              M 3:00-4:30; Th 3:30-5:00pm    
Peter Christenson
Theoretical perspectives on the political and social role of mass communication in developed and developing nations. Mass communication organizations, content, regulatory models, audiences in diverse cultures. Implications of public versus private ownership of mass media. Evaluation of claims of U.S. cultural imperialism. Minority and ethnic media.

RHMS 406  Race, Rhetoric, and Resistance        T 6:00-9:00 pm  
Mitch Reyes
Role of rhetoric in social conflicts regarding issues of race. Theories and strategies of resistance and the implications for political action. Examination of major race and resistance texts.

SOAN 266 Social Change in Latin America           M 3:00-4:30; Th3:30-5:00pm    Sarah Warren
Examines dynamics of social change in Latin America, with a particular focus on revolutionary transformations. The course engages in a comparative analysis of social change in Cuba, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, and other countries. Students are introduced to key concepts from development theory, social movements research, cultural studies, and political economy analysis.

SOAN 498  Politics Gender in Latin America          TTh 1:50 - 03:10    
Sarah Warren
Analysis of the role of gender in politics and culture in multiple Latin American countries. The interconnections between the state and gender in both policies and ideologies. The ways in which gender plays a role in cultural practices—in the dominant societies and within racial and ethnic groups, especially indigenous people. How groups use expectations about gender in making political claims on the state.

ARTS & HUMANITIES COURSES

ART 207 Pre-Columbian Art                                     MWF 11:30AM - 12:30PM      
Matt Johnson
Overview of the art of the Aztec, Maya, and Inca civilizations, other major early Central and South American cultures. Examination of architecture, sculpture, ceramics, painting; how the arts played a key role in developing a sense of continuity within these societies across time and distance.

ART 451 Special Topic Curatorial Study               TTh 1:50 – 3:20 PM                
Linda Tessner
Reading and critical analysis organized around themes or problems in art history. Focus varies depending on instructors teaching and research areas. May be taken twice for credit.

FREN-450 Special Topics                                      MWF 10:20-11:20 am                         Isabelle DeMarte
Special topics or issues of French/Francophone literature and culture. Emphasis on stylistics and fine points of idiomatic usage. Extensive oral and written work culminating in a research paper written and presented in French.                          

HIST 142 Modern Latin America                           MW 11:30-1:00 pm     
Blair Woodard
 Confrontation with the complexity of modern Latin America through historical analysis of the roots of contemporary society, politics, and culture. Through traditional texts, novels, films, and lectures, exploration of the historical construction of modern Latin America. Themes of unity and diversity, continuity and change as framework for analyzing case studies of selected countries.

HIST 217   Emergence of Modern South Asia             MWF 9:10-10:10 am          David Campion
The social, economic, and political history of the Indian subcontinent from the 18th century to the present. The cultural foundations of Indian Society; the East India Company and the expansion of British power; the experience of Indians under the British Raj; Gandhi and the rise of Indian nationalism; independence and partition; postcolonial South Asian developments in politics, economy, and culture. Thematic emphasis on the causes and consequences of Western imperialism, religious and cultural identities, and competing historical interpretations.

HIST 222  Brit: Age Revolution 1688-1815            MWF 11:30 am-12:30 pm     David Campion
A history of Britain and its people from the Glorious Revolution to the end of the Napoleonic War. The end of absolutism and the rise of the constitutional monarchy; the Augustan Age: arts, letters, and religion; the Atlantic world and British overseas expansion; the Enlightenment and scientific revolution; the American Revolution and its aftermath; union with Scotland and Ireland and the creation of the British national identity; the revolution in France and the wars against Napoleon; the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.

HIST 400 Reading Colloquium US-Lat Rel           TTh 11:30am-1:00 pm       
Blair Woodard       
For over 200 years the United States has maintained relations with Latin America. The United States has tended to consider Latin America and the Caribbean as its own ‘backyard’ and has thus treated its southern neighbors with a different set of rules than it has with other nations. The U.S. has been notoriously vacillated between obsessing and ignoring the nations south of the  Rio Grande. Latin America on the other hand has found it almost impossible to ignore ‘the northern colossus.’ During the course of the semester we will examine the evolution of U.S. involvement in Latin America. Through the reading of both classic and contemporary texts, we will explore the elements that have shaped the U.S. presence in region and the myriad forms that this encounter has taken over the last two centuries. In addition to studying the political, economic, and military history of this encounter, this course will also pay special attention to the social and cultural forms of this interaction.

HIST 450 History Seminar: Victorians                TTh 9:40-11:10 am                 
David Campion
Work with primary documents to research and write a major paper that interprets history. Topical content varies depending on instructor’s teaching field. Recent topics: the Americas; the United States and Asia; European intellectual history since 1945; women in American history; Indian policy on the Pacific Slope; World War II, the participants’ perspectives; the British Raj; cultural nationalism in East Asia. May be taken twice for credit. Enrollment preference given to history majors and minors.

MUS 302 Jazz History                                            TTH 9:40-11:10 am               
Franya Berkman
Jazz as an American art form, exploring musical and social developments throughout its history from the turn of the century to the present.  Musical styles of performers from each period of the development of jazz.

SPAN 370  LatinAm/Spain: Enlightment-Present     MWF 1:50 - 2:50pm      
Wendy Woodrich
Introduction to major trends in Latin American and Spanish literature from the Enlightenment period to present day. Selected works from Latin America and Spain read in the context of cultural and historical events.