Fall 2023

The description and analysis of various forms of visual culture, including both mass media and "high" art representations, both Western and non-Western images.

A broad survey, covering some 8,000 years and focusing on the material culture of the ancient world in a historical and social context.

Examines the relation between U.S. national culture, race, and popular culture.

Introduction to an interdisciplinary study of American political, cultural and social life with a particular emphasis on the Western United States as a region. Recommended preparation: HIST 200, ENGL 263

Political, ethical, and ideological aspects of classical WesternAttitudes towards human diversity. Relationship between classicaltradition and contemporary discussions of diversity and unity.

Comparative study of works from a broad range of cultural traditions that originate from, and provide insight into, vital global locations outside the Western sphere.

Survey of literary and other cultural texts from the 19th to the 21st centuries, with emphasis on the individual and social change.

Introduction to African cultural history by way of a comparative study of major literary works and intellectual thought from representative regions and countries in Africa.

An issues-based introduction to critical theory in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, especially as it relates to philosophy, art, design, and visual culture.

A critical history of art, design, visual culture, and visual theory since 1960, addressing through a postcolonial/decolonial lens the concepts and practices of "global" art.

Fundamentals course on the elements of scene writing, story structure, and character development.

Exploration of dance as an art form in its artistic, political, and socio-cultural climate. Studies of the continuum of dance within its historical context.

Examination of the transnational production and circulation of Chinese-language cinema. Analysis of the larger sociocultural significance of films by engaging their historical context.

Comparative approach and general introduction to literature and cinema from the four major nations of maritime Southeast Asia (Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia).

The history of Korean literature and culture from the ancient to the modern era. Recommended preparation: HIST 105g.

Characteristics and aspects of Chinese civilization;interpretation of philosophy, literature, religion, art, music.Conducted in English.

Introduction to the pleasures and power of poetry, exploring elements drawn from high-points of English poetry, and the lives and works of major poets. (Duplicates credit in ARLT 101g)

An exploration of the culture, vibrance, heritage, mythology, variety, and pathology of a city that was born in hopes and captured the worlds imagination. Duplicates credit in ARLT 101g.

Close study of Shakespeare's plays and poems to introduce his language, stagecraft, literary "genius," social and literary contexts, precursors and rivals, and legacy.

Intensive reading of major writers to 1800.

Intensive reading of major writers, 18001950.

Intensive reading of representative writers.

Introduction to major forms, styles and theories of narrative, with attention to characterization, plot, genres, ethics, empathy, perspective, audience and social conditions.

An introduction to the close reading of fiction and the understanding of the genre as an aesthetic and historical phenomenon.

A study of literature and literary theory through the themes and theories of wonder, magic and the uncanny in English literature before 1800.

Literature was central to India's independence movement. Through novels, manifestos, poems, short stories and films, well explore topics like Gandhism, violence, caste, communalism and partition.

Literary travel using novels to explore regional culture and unify the study of literature, history, geography, politics and social studies.

Study of prose written in English since 1945, principally fiction of the past two decades.

Study of poetry written in English since 1945, with special emphasis on the last two decades.

Selected British, Irish, and American drama from the post World War II period (1945 to the present).

Study of African migration to Europe and the formation of 'black'/African communities in Europe, focusing on France and Italy. Conducted in English.

Study of difference as represented through French, Francophone and related narratives of disability and illness, with attention to race and gender. Conducted in English.

Interpretation and analysis of works of the imagination, exploring language, thought, and cultural traditions in relation to one another. (Satisfies GE-B, Humanistic Inquiry) Open only to Freshmen.

Critical appreciation of various forms of human expression, evaluating works of literature, philosophy, and the arts to enable informed opinions about ideas and values. Offered by a professional school.

The social, political, religious, intellectual and cultural landscapes of Europe and the Mediterranean, c. 300 to c. 1400.

Political, intellectual, and cultural developments in Europe,1300-1815. Renaissance and Reformation; absolute monarchy,scientific changes, and Enlightenment; French Revolution andNapoleon.

Introduction to Latin American history and cultures, providing tools to grasp the importance of the region within the larger Americas and the world.

Introduction to Armenian history and its connections with the region and the world.

A thematic approach to California history from precontact to present; focus on peoples, environment, economic, social, and cultural development, politics, and rise to global influence.

An interdisciplinary introduction to the literary, artistic, and political movements which contributed to the shaping of modern Italy. Taught in English.

Interdisciplinary exploration of gender and sexuality in Italian renaissance literature and visual arts by male and female authors and artists from the fourteenth through the sixteenth century.

Major ideas, personalities, and movements in Jewish history from antiquity to the present in light of the interaction of the Jews with the general culture.

Explores contemporary Iranian society through the study of social tensions created by poverty-wealth, tradition-modernity, masculinity-femininity, and notions of religio-political authority as reflected in the literature and films of the country.

A topical study of critical issues and cultural relationships found in music from antiquity to the present and across musical genres and styles.

Introduction to the central ideas of philosophy, science, politics and economics in western European history between 1450 and 1800.

Exploration of basic questions about the nature of reality. Topics may include personal identity, freedom and determinism, causation and laws of nature.

Explores the nature of justice, and how apparently conflicting ideals, such as freedom and equality, are to be balanced within a just society.

A study of existentialist philosophy and its influence in 19th and 20th century culture, including both literature and film. Focus on works by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre, Beauvoir, Dostoevsky, Godard, and others.

Explores various conceptions of morality and what makes actions right or wrong, together with the implications of these views for concrete ethical issues.

The trials of Socrates, Joan of Arc, the Salem witches, Galileo, Scopes and the Nuremberg and Eichmann trials; their social and cultural consequences.

Historical investigation of New Testament characters, events, ethics and theology in relation to its social, intellectual, and religious contexts in the Jewish and Greco-Roman world.

Examination of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in their origins and their development in relation to Western civilization.

Introduction to Islam, emphasizing its historical and cultural development since the seventh century C.E., and the basic teachings of Islam.

Survey of religious responses to colonial encounter in the Americas. Emphasis given to study of religious innovations of Amerindians, Africans and Europeans.

Russian cultural identity from its beginnings until today. The Eastern Orthodox tradition, its traumatic confrontation with Western culture, and their continuous interaction.

Dostoevsky's novels as psychological and philosophical analyses of modern alienated man. Readings in Dostoevsky and selections from Gide, Kafka, Camus, and Sartre. Conducted in English.

Introduction to the cultural history of Spain, Portugal and Latin America with a focus on literature and visual works from the early-modern period to the twenty-first century.

History and theory of global feminist movements; case studies in bodily autonomy; labor rights; gender justice.

Emergence of feminist thought from the Enlightenment to the present; historical development of female subjectivity; advancement of womens rights; feminisms from alternative ideological perspectives.