Fall 2025

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.

Tragedies and comedies of the ancient world; later influences.

Democratic Institutions and practices, empire building, and cultural innovations of fifth and fourth century B.C. Athens using historical, rhetorical, dramatic, philosophical, and artistic sources.

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.

Introduction to works of major women writers from the Middle Ages to the 20th century in their literary, social and cultural contexts.

Study of the structures through which we shape our experience in religion, philosophy, literature, music, and the visual arts, and of competing theories of interpretation. Students may not take this course on a P/NP basis.

Systematic reasoning about values and ways of living; close reading of great literary and philosophical works from a range of classical traditions to the present.

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.

Introduction to the civlization, art and literature of pre-modern China through the lens of the cultural products of identity.

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

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.

Highlights of Chinese civilization from ancient times to the present, both in their original historical context and how they influence China and the United Sates today.

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.

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, 1800-1950.

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.

Study of literary modes of narrative and their uses in medical understanding, character formation, social identity, and relations between mind and body.

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

Historical survey of the traditions of lyric poetry from Shakespeare to the contemporary, examining the genre's multiple forms of literary, visual, and aural expression.

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

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

Questions of gay and lesbian identity, expression and experience in a variety of literary and cultural forms; emphasis on sexual politics, equality and difference.

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).

Literary studies in the relationship between fiction and drama and their adaptation as films.

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 health, the body and medicine through literature and culture in comparative fashion. Taught in English.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Investigates the engagement in war by Judaism, Christianity and Islam by examining history and theology and looks at religious justifications and condemnations of war.

Trends and genres in Arabic literature from the classical (pre-modern), through the modern and contemporary periods. In English.

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

The philosophical foundations of modern political and economic thought, including economic rationality, neoclassical economics, free-market vs. socialist economies and behavioral economics.

Topics include economic models of human behavior and their limits; models of justice, morality and law, and the politics and administration of institutions.

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

Feminist perspectives on various political problems; evaluate and apply different analyses of complex social phenomena like patriarchy, misogyny and intersectionality.

Philosophical theories of law and applications to controversies of importance to society and our legal system, such as free speech, civil disobedience, and selfdefense.

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.

Explore the nature of interpersonal conflict: war, polarization, abuse, silencing, public reason, democracy, cancel culture and resistance.

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.

Historical and thematic survey of Chinese religious history from earliest times to the present.

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

Examines the representation of gender and sexual discourses and the intersection with wider social, political and theoretical issues in Latin American and Spanish cinema. Taught in English.

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.