GCS/SOC 175 Introduction to Global Cultural Studies
An introduction to the critical analysis of contemporary global cultural circumstances with special emphasis on developing an appreciation of the complex character of human cultural patterns the world over as well as a global perspective on the dynamics of power and privilege.
FREN/HIST 215 French Culture
The history and contemporary life of France and the French-speaking world. Provides an introduction to French culture through selected texts, current newspaper clippings, videos and film. Presented in English.
SPAN/HIST 216 Spanish Culture
An introduction to Spanish culture and history from the medieval era to the present. Selected historical and literary texts are used to give a panoramic view of Spanish culture. Presented in English. Dual listed as HIST 216.
GCS/SOC 225 Anthropology of Belief
This course will provide a survey of the position of belief in the lives of humans the world over. Particular attention will be paid to the critical analysis of organized religions as economic and political institutions as well as the contemporary and historical ramifications of the forms of cultural colonization that they have and continue to inspire.
GCS/POL SCI 295 Pol Geo of the Middle East
This course is oriented around the major political geographies within the Middle East and between the Middle East and the rest of the world. Key topics include the uneven historical-geographic diffusion of different religions, the Middle East in the eyes and arms of the West, the geographies of natural resources, and the intra and inter regional geopolitics that shape some of the world's most explosive conflicts. Students examine general profiles of Middle Eastern countries and engage in discussions about provocative reading assignments from a diversity of perspectives. In addition to scholarly texts, the class examines films, maps, news reports, and other primary and secondary sources.
GCS/SOC 295 Anthropological Approaches
Anthropology is the attempt to understand humanity in all its manifold complexity. The subfield of cultural anthropology is concerned with the analysis and understanding of contemporary human existence. We will focus on two questions in this course: 1) What specifically is cultural anthropology?; and 2) Why is cultural anthropology a valuable subject of study? To answer the first question we must employ an anthropologist's appreciation of the importance of historical development; that is, to understand where we are, we must understand from where we have come. With that in mind this course will provide a survey of the various research methods and theoretical applications that cultural anthropologists have employed in their work over the last century. To answer the second question we will pay particular attention to recent scholarship to demonstrate the ways in which anthropology is relevant to the interpretation of life in the early 21st century.
HIST/SOC 312 Regional Studies: Africa
An inter-disciplinary course examining the history, religions, geography, politics, economics, social structure and customs of the various regions of Africa from the dawn of the human race to the present.
GCS/SOC 315 Modern World Systems
A study of the ongoing dynamics of the Modern era (15th Century to present) that have fostered the emergence of the current world system; particular attention will be paid to the contemporary character of our "globalizing" world, including such aspects as the increasing global division of labor, neoliberalization, corporatization, etc.
GCS/SOC 335 Revolutions
This course focuses on "revolutions" as globalizing forces in human history; it begins with a discussion of the European Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolutions and proceeds through the American and French revolutions to the Bolshevik Revolution incorporating ancillary "revolutions" along the way, including discussions of some or all of the following: European colonial expansion, the Bolivarian liberation, Fordist production, consumerism, Vietnam, postindustrialization/post-Fordism, postmodernity, neoliberalism, etc.
ENG/SOC 415 Women in Global Perspective
This course looks at the meanings of gender in different societies. Ethnographic and personal accounts are used to understand women's belonging in diverse cultures as well as women's oppression. We examine the interconnections between gender and other forms of inequality such as race, class, ethnicity, caste, etc. Women's activism on issues relating to the economy, environment, war, indigenous peoples rights, minorities and globalization is discussed.
