Fall 2024

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.

Examination of the ways that different nations and cultures have remembered the Vietnam War or the American War as it is called in Vietnam. (Duplicates credit in former AMST 377)

Examines how U.S. sexual identity and experience are represented in the 20th and 21st century and introduces the interdisciplinary field of LGBTQ Studies.

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

Examines political and cultural change in the United States during the decade of the 1960s.

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

Ancient Roman values, ideas, and institutions of relevance to later periods of civilization.

A broad introduction to the great works of Western culture from antiquity to 1800.

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.

Studies of the presence and influence of Zen Buddhism and Daoism in Asian literature, with a focus on China and Japan.

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.

Introduction to the major humanities traditions of China, Japan, and Korea through an examination of representative works drawnfrom literature, aesthetics, philosophy, religion, and historicalwriting.

Japanese literature from the earliest times to the present; development of prose, poetry and the novel; evolution of theatre; Japanese literature under Western influence. Conducted in English.

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.

An introduction to Sinophone literatures and cultures (in English translation) from the Asia-Pacific region, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Southeast Asia, and North America.

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.

Women as writers and as subjects, with special emphasis on feminist and liberationist traditions and on changing female images after 1800.

Novels, stories, essays, poems, and plays written in and about California from the Gold Rush to the present.

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.

Study of post-colonialism as a ferment for literary creation in the literature of French expression from Africa, the Caribbean and Canada. Conducted in French.

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.

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

History of South Asia from the tenth century to the present day; examines imperialism, capitalism, nationalism, and immigration.

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

Analysis of the Divina Commedia and other works. Conducted in English. (Duplicates credit in former ITAL 450)

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 Jewish participation in the social, cultural, political and economic life of the modern Middle East.

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

Explores questions about human beings and their place in nature, including questions about knowledge, mind and body, freedom and determinism, and the existence of God.

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

Explores writings of ancient philosophers who first raised, and continue to influence our thinking about, fundamental questions concerning nature, knowledge, justice, happiness and death.

Critical study of controversial social issues such as abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, war and terrorism, sexual morality, affirmative action and economic justice.

Explores philosophical questions about the human mind and consciousness, and how they relate to the brain and to the physical world more generally.

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.

Survey of the changing beliefs and practices of the Christian religion from its origins through early modernity (100 CE - 1500 CE), with special attention to different varieties of Christian literature.

Explores a variety of sophisticated theories and practices from India relating to the mind, body, medicine and religion.

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

Analyzes works by different artists -- writers, filmmakers, painters -- in order to understand the significant contribution that the Jewish experience in Eastern Europe has made to Jewish communities worldwide.

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.