past semesters:
Special Topics for Spring 2005
Special Topics for Fall 2004
Special Topics for Spring 2004



Special Topics for Fall 2005

AAS 392 Social Science Topics in Asian and Asian American Studies
Topic for Fall 2005: Introduction to Chinese Linguistics

ANP 403 Problems in Physical Anthropology
Topic for Fall 2005: Social Evolution in Primates

ANT 310 Ethnography
Topic for Fall 2005: Indonesia

ANT 360 Topics: Middle Eastern History
Topic for Fall 2005: Ancient Mesopotamia
Ancient Mesopotamia was the first place on earth in which civilization and written records appeared, and offers rich historical and archaeological sources for more than two thousand years of human interaction before the Bible was written. This course is an overview of the organization and development of social, economic, political, and religious systems in ancient Iraq and adjoining areas from the beginning of the Neolithic (ca. 8000 BCE) through the end of the Persian Empire (330 )BCE. Emphasis is given to the formative phases of Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian civilizations. There will be three text books and additional readings posted on Blackboard. Grading will be based on two midterm exams (15% each), a final exam (50%), and a research paper (20%). For Fall 2005, this course is offered as both HIS 330 and ANT 360.

CCS 401 Senior Seminar in Cinema and Cultural Studies
Topic for Fall 2005: "Rip it up!” An Introduction to Post-Serialist Thinking and Theorizing on American Literature, Film, and Culture
This seminar will provide an introduction to key terms and concepts of poststructuralist theory and will articulate what poststructuralism is and how it works. Theoretical texts include selections by Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva, Slavoj Zizek, Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault. In order to find alternative ways to read seemingly incoherent and fragmented artistic constructions, we will apply relevant theoretical concepts to literary texts (Bret Easton Ellis: Less Than Zero, Glamorama), movies (Harmony Korine: Gummo, David Lynch: Lost Highway), art (Paul McCarthy, Cindy Sherman), and music (Matmos: A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure, Aphex Twin: Come to Daddy), as well as to music videos (Chris Cunningham: Aphex Twin: Windowlicker).

CLT 220 Non-Western Literature
Topic for Fall 2005: Twentieth-Century Chinese Diasporic Fiction
A survey of the major themes and forms of non-Western literature, such as Asian, Indian, and African. Semester supplements to this Bulletin contain descriptions when the course is offered. May be repeated as topic changes.

CLT 361 Literature and Society

Section 01 Topic for Fall 2005: Incest Motif in Literature
This course will examine the incest motif in classical and modern literature. The first part of the semester will explore the relationship between parents and children: the conflict between father and son, including the psychology of patricide, the castration complex, and the relationship between fathers and daughters in various myths, folktales, legends, and literature. The second part of the semester will be devoted to literature involving siblings, including the significance of the sibling complex, defense against and enactment of sibling incest, and fratricide.

Section 02 Topic for Fall 2005: Emotion in Literature
An inquiry, interdisciplinary in nature, into the relationsip between the events and materials of political and social history and their effect on the form and content of the literature of a period. Also subsumed under the rubric Literature and Society is the topic Literature and Psychology. Semester supplements to this Bulletin contain descriptions when the course is offered. May be repeated as the topic changes.
Prerequisite: U3 or U4 standing

Section 01 Topic for Fall 2005: Comparative Slavery
This course examines slavery in the Atlantic World – in the dozens of countries and colonies in Europe, Africa, and the Americas that traded and communicated across the Atlantic Ocean. The class begins with the origins of the African slave trade in the fifteenth century and oncludes with emancipation in the Americas in the late nineteenth century. It pays particular attention to the ideological and economic impulses that drovethe development and eventual decline of the institution in the New World. In addition,the course considers the political and social consequences of slavery and emancipation fordiverse actors (masters, slaves, traders, free people of color, native peoples, and women, among others).

Section 02 Topic for Fall 2005: Popular Music and Society
This course will examine the relationship between popular music and its social context by concentrating on six music forms: blues, soul, hip hop, dancehall, Afrobeat, and Afro-Brazilian. Readings will focus on: (1) concepts such as audiences, the music industry, cultural infrastructure, youth culture, and race; (2) processes such as urbanization, demographic change, globalization, and politicization of popular music. Course requirements: regular attendance, participation, three exams, and a short paper.

Section 03 Topic for Fall 2005: Women, Utopia, and Dystopia
The focus of this course will be on the place of women in the numerous attempts to create utopia, a place of ideal perfection. We will concentrate on a select group of real life experiments, primarily in the 19th and 20th centuries, and imaginative novels by feminist writers. The historical place of women in theory and practice in communities that practiced pantagamy (Oneida), free love (Modern Times), polygamy (Mormons), and celibacy (Shakers), will be compared with communes of the 1960's and 1970's and some fictional utopias and dystopias including science fiction.For Fall 2005, this course is offered as both HIS 396 and WST 396.

Section 04 Topic for Fall 2005: Law, Lawyers, and Lawlessness in U.S. History 1620-1877
This course examines the interaction between law and society in America from European colonization through the late 19th century. Some of the themes we will examine are: the adoption and adaptation of European law, particularly English law, to the circumstances of the American colonies and nation; the development of the profession of law; the relationship between law and economic growth; the definition of “crime” and evolving penal practices; changes in women’s legal status and its relationship to everyday practices and possibilities for women; transformations in the law of servitude, slavery, race, and emancipation. Murderers, judges, women, abortionists, lawyers, bankrupts, laborers, Native Americans, and slaves are some of the groups we encounter in assessing the forces that shaped American legal culture and its institutions. Reading averages 60-80 pages each week and consists of both documents written by those who lived through the period and essays and books written more recently by historians looking back at the transformations in law and society. Three assignments (exams and papers based on class reading and lectures) and unscheduled class quizzes. Students should be prepared to participate in discussions and in-class exercises.

HIS 398 Topics in History of Science and Technology
Topic for Fall 2005: Mapping Globalization: From Third World to Third Worlds
This class will focus on the changing global geography of poverty from the 1950s to the present. In the 1950s, the “Third World” was located in Africa, Asia, and Latin America; today, the “third worlds” are global. Our working hypothesis will therefore be that globalization has deterritorialized the so-called third world.We will first investigate the various technical and technological advances in the social and natural sciences that have enabled global information in the course of the twentieth century. Second, we will use global information sources to reconstruct the metageography of the “third world” around 1950 and again at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Third, we will try to map this historical change with an advanced mapping technology (ArcView 9 with ArcGlobe). Frequent research reports and either a mapping assignment, or, alternatively, a research paper.
Prerequisites for Fall 2005: At least six credits in nineteenth and twentieth century history, some computer-literacy; permission of instructor

HIS 399 Topics in U.S. History

Section 01 Topic for Fall 2005: The Long Decade: The 1960s
Much has been examined about America during the 1960’s at the time and since, by those who lived through it (and some who didn”t) and by those who weren”t even born yet. Most accounts stress the turmoil and the hopefulness, the violence amidst the quest for peace, and the various movements that sought political, economic, and social change, some which succeeded, some which did not. It was a decade that lasted more than ten years and, in some ways, continues to shape our world today. It was a period of frustration as well as accomplishment but as SDS co-founder Carl Oglesby later remarked, “We had us a time!”. Through readings, videos, and music, this course will attempt to unravel this tumultuous time and the impact it continues to have on us today. Course work will include a midterm, a final, and a short research paper

Section 02 Topic for Fall 2005: Race, Religion, and Gender in the U.S. Since 1900
After a brief segue into the seventeenth century, we will focus on the role of belief in the twentieth-century political development of United States. Through readings, lectures, films and regular class discussions, we will see how social differences and religious priorities are translated into politics, the role of political parties, the immigrant experience, government policy, efforts to exclude groups from political participation and movements to enfranchise excluded groups. After undertaking an overview, we will return to specific moments, like the Civil Right movement and the suburban origins of the new Conservative movement. Classes will generally be divided into a lecture and discussion. Students will be assigned to help lead the class discussion. Grading will be based on student performance on two examinations, a paper on the course material, and participation in class discussions. Readings include Mary Dudziak’s "Cold War Civil Rights" and Lisa McGirr’s "Suburban Warriors". Note: course may contain disturbing content and a few films.

Pre- or Corequisite for Fall 2005: History 250; permission of the instructor

HUE 269 Topics in Contemporary Slavic Culture
Topic for Fall 2005: Terrorism in Literature
An exploration of literary texts dealing with terrorism in social-political and aesthetic forms. Works by Dostoevsky, Mayakovsky, Joseph Conrad, and others will be analyzed in terms of their historical context and their relevance to the present modern engagements with terrorist values and ideas.

HUE 392 Topics in Slavic Studies
Topic for Fall 2005: Carnival in Literature
This course will explore the transposition and transformation of carnival and carnival masks and rituals into literature. Particular attention will be devoted to the traditional masks of the fool, rogue, and clown and their capacity to undermine conventional discourse. Reading will be culled from the works of Rabelais, Shakespeare, Sterne, Gogol, Dostoevsky and Nabokov, amongst others. May be used to satisfy English major requirements with permission of major department.

HUM 220 Cross-Cultural Encounters
Topic for Fall 2005: World Cinema and Diaspora
This course examines diasporic moments on screen from the African diaspora to recent Korean cinema. This course will lead the students to understand the cultural clashes and the necessity of mutual understandings in the world village. We will watch a variety of different films from different traditions.

HUR 341 Russian Literature and the West
Topic for Fall 2005: Dostoevsky and the West
This course will explore Dostoevsky as a central presence in intellectual and cultural history both in his own conjunctions with Western and Russian thought (early socialism, Left Hegelianism, religion) and as a writer who has helped shape modern literature. Major texts read in the course will include Notes from the Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov. May be used to satisfy English major requirements with permission of major department.

ITL 441 Free Seminar
Topic for Fall 2005: The Italian Short Story
An examination of the nature and literary evolution of the Italian short-story from 19th to 20th century , with special emphasis to the stylistic and thematic aspects of the works considered. Particular attention will be given to the interdisciplinary aspects through which the modern Italian "racconto" developed itself in the context of European culture.

LHD 401 Advanced Seminar in Human Sexual and Gender Development
Topic for Fall 2005: What's So Funny About Sex?
The politics of sexuality and gender in standup comedy, popular sitcoms, and contemporary film.

LIN 425 Special Topics in Linguistics
Topic for Fall 2005: Second Language Phonology

LIN 426 Special Topics in Linguistics
Topic for Fall 2005: Language and Gender

PHI 308 19th-Century Philosophy (I)
Topic for Fall 2005: Nietzsche

PHI 309 20th-Century Philosophy (I)
Topic for Fall 2005: Wittgenstein

PHI 384 Advanced Topics in Feminist Philosophy (III)
Topic for Fall 2005: Feminist Ethics
For the most part Western ethics is regulated by a concept of universality based in the logic of fraternity and the idea of man’s “common sense.” Rarely, is sexual difference taken to be of importance in the development of basic ethical concepts. Does gender matter to ethics? Does it matter that in this tradition the concepts of ethics are drawn from male experience and function to regulate male social relations? Is ‘man’ really generic, an unproblematic equivalent of the human? Or, is ethics undermined by this reliance on ‘man?’ Would taking sexual difference into account condemn us to ethical relativism? Or, might ‘woman’ provide a paradigm of a universal experience? Should ethics focus on human rights, or is there a need for different rights for each sex? Focusing primarily on the work of the French philosopher Luce Irigaray, we will consider these conceptual questions in the context of the history of ethics, as well as their relation to specific practical issues, including civil rights, war, health, work, poverty, and the legal regulation of sexuality. The course will require a midterm essay, as well as a paper focused on the relation of feminist ethics to some contemporary issue. Students may work collectively or independently on the latter project and will be asked to present their results to the class. This course is offered as both PHI 384 and WST 384.

PHI 390 Topics in Philosophy
Topic for Fall 2005: Interpersonal Relationships
A study of philosophical writings on the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Readings include authors (Freud, Merleau-Ponty) who write about parent-child relationships, as well as authors (Heidegger, Sartre, Marcel, Irigaray) who write about the general nature of relating to others. Much of the course is devoted to readings on the dynamics of different kinds of concrete relationships, such as friendship, competition, trust, love, and play. Readings may also include literature such as Goethe's Elective Affinities and Joyce's Dubliners.

PHI 402 Analysis of Philosophic Texts (I)
Topic for Fall 2005: Husserl’s Transcendental Phenomenology
There are few philosophers whose own philosophical development anticipates as it captures the movement of an entire century. Edmund Husserl was such a figure. Each of our seminar session will be divided into two parts: the first will focus on the nature of Husserl’s phenomenological method, tracing its development from its emergence in the Logical Investigations (1901) through its transposition into a transcendental phenomenology in his Ideas I (1913), to his efforts to develop a genetic phenomenology in his later works; the second will take the form of a workshop and consist of an in-depth reading of one of Husserl’s seminal texts, such as Ideas II (1912 into the 1920’s) , Formal and Transcendental Logic (1929), or The Crisis (1930’s). This seminar is designed for undergraduate philosophy majors who are willing to work hard on difficult materials Students will be responsible for leading one of the workshops as well as a midterm and final exam.

PHI 435 Senior Seminar
Topic for Fall 2005: Philosophy of Biology
Philosophy in general asks what there is and why it matters. In this course we will focus on these questions as they bear on life and living things. What distinguishes living things from other things in the natural world? Is life in fact a natural process? Are some living things better or higher than others? Has there been a climb up the hierarchy as higher things evolved from lower ones? How does the idea of "natural selection" explain this climb, if it does? Can even the beings at the top of the heap,the human beings, be ranked by "race," or are races no more than a "social construction"? We'll read both historical and contemporary works that deal with these and related issues.

POL 401 Seminar in Advanced Topics
Topic for Fall 2005: America at War(3)
The seminar examines the experience of war on the battlefield and at home. The material comes from memoirs of soldiers in combat, accounts that rely on first-hand recollections, interviews with family members back home as well as critics of the war and protesters. Questions of military strategy and top-level political decisions will be addressed only insofar as they help illuminate the wartime experience of ordinary Americans. The meetings of the seminar will be devoted to discussing the following readings, supplemented by movies. May be repeated as topic changes.
Prerequisites for Fall 2005: one 300-level POL course; permission of instructor

POL 403 Seminar in Advanced Topics
Topic for Fall 2005: Leadership and Rhetoric (3)
Readings in classical rhetorical theory and examination of some classical examples will be followed by close study of speeches by several significant political leaders, such as Lincoln, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, King and others. We will focus on such rhetorical topics as campaign rhetoric, apologies, women politicians, policy change, and social movement leadership. Every student will write papers, lead discussions and prepare and deliver a short political speech.
Prerequisite for Fall 2005: one 300-level POL course

SPN 410 Theory in Contexts
Topic for Fall 2005: Spanish Women Writers--Reading Testimonio in Latin America and Spain
Readings of testimonio texts from Latin America (Menchú, Barrios de Chungara) compared with testimonios produced in Spain in the 1900’s. Special emphasis on questions of truth versus fiction, and authored versus edited discourse.

SPN 415 Hispanic Cultures in Contact
Topic for Fall 2005: The Spanish Empire
The Nature of Spanish imperialism, as compared to its classical predecessors and subsequent Dutch, British and North American counterparts. The fires encounters between the indigenous peoples and the early Spanish Conquistadores and settlers. We will be studying the accounts of the Indians (“el reverse de la Conquista”) and texts by Columbus, Cortés, Diaz del Castillo, Frey Bartolomé de las Casas, Alonso de Ercilla and others.

SPN 435 Topics in Latin American Literature from the Colonial Period to the Present
Topic for Fall 2005: The Short Story in the Latin American Tradition
We will study the development of the genre from its modern origins in Romanticism to the present. We will study the transformation of the "cuadro de costumbres" into the short story, and read texts by some of the 19th and 20th centuries masters in the Latin American tradition (De Palma, Quiroga, Borges, Garcia Marquez, Monterroso, Cortazar and others). (Readings and writing assignments in Spanish).

SPN 465 Topics in Hispanic Linguistics
Topic for Fall 2005: Spanish in the Americas: Origins and Properties
This course will describe the origins and peculiarities of the different dialects of Spanish spoken in the Americas. We will describe how Spanish interacted with the different native American and African languages, the creation of “creols” and the interaction between Spanish and English in the U.S. For this course, the students will also learn how to interview and elicit linguists information from native speakers of the language.
Prerequisites for Fall 2005: SPN 321, SPN 393, LIN 101

THR 353 Special Topics in Dance Performance
Topic for Fall 2005: Body Narratives: When the Sea Dies

WST 384 Advanced Topics in Feminist Philosophy (III)
Topic for Fall 2005: Feminist Ethics
For the most part Western ethics is regulated by a concept of universality based in the logic of fraternity and the idea of man’s “common sense.” Rarely, is sexual difference taken to be of importance in the development of basic ethical concepts. Does gender matter to ethics? Does it matter that in this tradition the concepts of ethics are drawn from male experience and function to regulate male social relations? Is ‘man’ really generic, an unproblematic equivalent of the human? Or, is ethics undermined by this reliance on ‘man?’ Would taking sexual difference into account condemn us to ethical relativism? Or, might ‘woman’ provide a paradigm of a universal experience? Should ethics focus on human rights, or is there a need for different rights for each sex? Focusing primarily on the work of the French philosopher Luce Irigaray, we will consider these conceptual questions in the context of the history of ethics, as well as their relation to specific practical issues, including civil rights, war, health, work, poverty, and the legal regulation of sexuality. The course will require a midterm essay, as well as a paper focused on the relation of feminist ethics to some contemporary issue. Students may work collectively or independently on the latter project and will be asked to present their results to the class. This course is offered as both PHI 384 and WST 384.

WST 394 Special Topics in Medicine, Reproduction, and Gender
Topic for Fall 2005: Social Issues in Human Reproduction
In this course we will discuss a variety of controversial issues in the area of human reproduction. All the issues we will choose have been argued on both sides by substantial numbers of people, and we will try to understand the arguments on both sides. During the first third of the course we will also review the basis biology of human reproduction so that our discussions will not be based on misapprehensions. Current headlines will have some effect on the topics covered, but likely/possible topics include the myriad aspects of abortion, sex education in the schools, the social pressure to reproduce, various aspects of high tech pregnancies (e.g., surrogate mothers, sperm and egg donation, “elderly” mothers), cloning, abortion, transracial/ethnic adoption, “pregnancy police”, public breastfeeding, post paternal death conception, and stem cell research, to name just a few.

WST 395 Topics in Global Feminism
Topic for Fall 2005: Feminist Theory in Global Context
In this class we will explore the variety of feminisms that have emerged in local contexts across the globe. We will consider the ways that sisterhood has been forged through "concrete historical and political praxis," but we will also discuss situations in which women have not been able to achieve sisterhood. In this course, we will attempt to challenge rigid and simplistic structures of belonging that frame our concepts of nation, and how those structures of belonging construct the binaries of self/other and citizen/foreigner. We will also consider feminism in relation to transnational processes and structures, including global capitalism, migration, displacement, and the continuing effects of colonialism and war. Throughout the course, we will investigate specific feminist forms of resistance to oppression through community, national, and international activist movements.

WST 396 Special Topics in the History of American Women
Topic for Fall 2005: Women, Utopia, and Dystopia
The focus of this course will be on the place of women in the numerous attempts to create utopia, a place of ideal perfection. We will concentrate on a select group of real life experiments, primarily in the 19th and 20th centuries, and imaginative novels by feminist writers. The historical place of women in theory and practice in communities that practiced pantagamy (Oneida), free love (Modern Times), polygamy (Mormons), and celibacy (Shakers), will be compared with communes of the 1960’s and 1970’s and some fictional utopias and dystopias including science fiction. For Fall 2005, this course is offered as both HIS 396 and WST 396.

WST 398 Topics in Gender, Race, and Ethnicity
Topic for Fall 2005: Race and Gender in Opera
Commonly understood as one of the most elite art forms in western culture, opera functions as a rich site for analyzing cultural anxieties around gender, race, and class in the 19th and 20th centuries. This course pursues a feminist analysis of the scripts of western imperialism, compulsory heterosexuality, and white supremacy embedded in opera's high notes, elaborate sets, opulent costumes, and diva worship. We will listen for the counter-narratives of anti-racism and queer liberation that women performers and critics bring to opera. We will also examine the social and economic conditions that shape opera as a cultural insitution. The voices of divas of color (Anderson, Price, Battle, Graves, etc.) will inform our understanding of the complex relationship between experiences of marginalization and the elite world of the opera house.
Additional prerequisites for Fall 2005: One 300-level WST course; MUS 101

WST 401 Seminar in Women's Studies
Topic for Fall 2005: Maternal and Fetal Medicine
Exposure to, and experience in, clinic and hospital practice of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine as well as normal Nursery and NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit will give insight into the practical importance of the research projects designed during this course. Gain experience in dealing with the Institutional Review Board, informed consent, statistics, chart review, data base management, laboratory methods, and the concepts of translational research and clinical relevance under the guidance of several MD’s. Seminars will include chairman rounds and grand rounds in the department of Obstetrics/Gynecology.

WST 402 Seminar in Women's Studies
Topic for Fall 2005: Maternal and Fetal Medicine
Exposure to, and experience in, clinic and hospital practice of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine as well as normal Nursery and NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit will give insight into the practical importance of the research projects designed during this course. Gain experience in dealing with the Institutional Review Board, informed consent, statistics, chart review, data base management, laboratory methods, and the concepts of translational research and clinical relevance under the guidance of several MD’s. Seminars will include chairman rounds and grand rounds in the department of Obstetrics/Gynecology.



Special Topics for Summer 2005

AFH 421 Topics in Africana Studies
Topic for Spring 2005: Contemporary African American Women’s Literature
This course offers an examination of the works of Black Women Writers whose narratives uncover the struggles and triumphs of contemporary African American women. The course is structured around three major themes: construction of racial identity; demythologizing black women’s sexual deviancy; and black women and the feminist agenda. For Spring 2005, AFH 421 and EGL 570 will meet together.
Additional prerequisites for Spring 2005: AFH 206, AFH 329, or two introductory courses in literature.

AFS 422 Topics in Africana Studies
Topic for Spring 2005: From Melting Pot to Transnationalism: U.S. Migration In the Context of Globalization
The modern conditions of inter-cultural communication, the ease with which people travel, and the growing international interdependence bind the various communities around the world into a global ecumene. Yet, in spite of this modern trend, once immigrants come to the United States they are expected to sever all ties with their homeland and assimilate. In reality, many immigrants continue their relationship with their ancestral home even after they have taken American citizenship. By analyzing the historical processes through which the various immigrant groups have adapted to their new milieu and by exploring the ways in which they have positioned themselves in their new country, this course illuminates the various ideologies of immigrant processes of adjustment to the United States, from the Melting Pot orientation to that of Transnationalism. To do so, the course begins with an exploration of the history of modern migration to the United States. Next, it presents new understanding of ‘place,’ ‘space,’ and ‘belonging’ in the context of perpetually shifting, genderized, and racialized populations. Finally, it explores the forces that shape the immigrants’ processes of adaptation to their new milieu from full and total assimilation to transnational adaptation and the formulation of a newly emerging adaptive strategy, that of transborder citizenship.
Advisory Prerequisites for Spring 2005: AFS 239 or 240 or other courses in the social sciences

ECO 351 Special Topics in Economics
Topic for Spring 2005: Topics in Microeconomics
This course will build on the notions introduced in intermediate microeconomics and cover several special topics in some detail. Topics to be covered include (1) input markets, (2) monopoly and price discrimination, (3) introduction to game theory, (4) application of game theory to different models of oligopoly (Cournot, Bertrand, Stackelberg), (5) social choice, (6) provision of public goods (Clarke- Groves mechanism), (7) expected utility and risk aversion
Additional prerequisite for Spring 2005: C or higher in ECO 303

ECO 352 Special Topics in Economics
Topic for Spring 2005: Economics of Migration and Immigration
This course aims to provide a comprehensive study of economics of migration and immigration and demonstrate how economic theory can be used to evaluate population movements. Among the topics covered are internal migration in developed and developing countries, international migration, and urban-rural migration. We study the macroeconomic issues (namely, the economic consequences of the loss and gain of population; the effect of globalization on labor markets) as well as the micro issues (such as who migrates and why). Special emphasis is given on U.S. experience. The main goal of this course is to encourage students to think critically like economists about various migration issues. For this purpose, students are expected to develop migration topics for intense study, write their own research papers and give oral presentations.
Additional prerequisites for Spring 2005: C or higher in ECO 303 and 305

ECO 353 Special Topics in Economics
Topic for Spring 2005: to be determined

ECO 354 Special Topics in Economics
Topic for Spring 2005: Economics of Information
We often encounter situations involving informational asymmetry. In the market of used cars, a seller knows the true quality of the car, but a buyer does not; in the job market, an applicant knows her true skill, but a potential employee does not. This course will formally analyze economic situations involving informational asymmetry. Topics to be covered include (1) principal-agent problems, (2) models of signaling: (a) market for lemons, (b) education as signal, (3) value of information, (4) theory of auctions and (5) provision of public goods.
Prerequisite for Spring 2005: C or higher in ECO 303

HIS 300 Global History
Topic for Spring 2005: History of Human Rights Law
This course will trace the origin and rise of the modern international law concept of "human rights". After a brief review of the foundations of international law in 17th and 18th century political and intellectual history, we will take a close look at some of the first international crimes (such as piracy) and some of the first international causes (such as the abolition of slavery). How did the articulation of international human rights intersect with the developing doctrine of state sovereignty and with the parallel development of "rights" within the new national constitutions? Why have some human rights violations won universal condemnation (such as torture) and others only partial (such as poverty, subordination of women)? Where did the 20th century crime of "genocide" come from and who determines whether it is being committed? What is the relationship between the Geneva Conventions and the customary "laws of war"? We will explore these questions through secondary materials (probably two books and a course pack) and through primary materials, mostly cases (some on-line, some in the course pack). There will be a field trip to New York City and at least one guest lecturer. There will be debate and discussion every class and attendance is mandatory. Your grade will be based on participation, a few quizzes and a research paper.

Section 01 History and Culture of the Ancient Near East
An overview of the development of world’s first civilization, from invention of writing to the conquests of Alexander the Great (ca. 3500-323BCE). Ancient Mesopotamia, in which Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians developed their distinctive culture, will be the central focus, but other Near Eastern peoples, such as the Hittites, Israelites, Phoenicians and Persians, will be covered as well. Special topics include the early history of cities, the first experiments with empire, the development and spread of writing, and the emergence of history itself. Archaeological evidence will be considered in conjunction with written documents. There are no prerequisites. This is a lecture course, illustrated with slides, but questions from the class will be welcomed and discussion encouraged. There will be two textbooks. Additional readings will be posted on the internet. Grading will be on the basis of quizzes, a midterm exam, a research paper, and a final exam.

Section 02 History and Culture of the Ancient Near East
A comparative study of processes of cultural evolution from simple agricultural societies to the achievement of civilization in different parts of the world. Emphasis is on current theories of state formation and how these theories are supported by cultural evidence, especially from the six “pristine” states of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, China, Mesoamerica, and Peru. There are no prerequisites. This is a lecture course, illustrated with slides, but questions from the class will be welcomed and discussion encouraged. There will be two textbooks. Additional readings will be posted on the internet. Grading will be on the basis of quizzes, a midterm exam, a research paper and a final exam. For this semester, ANT 330.02 is also offered as ANT 358.

Section 01 Anglo-Saxon England
The world of Anglo-Saxon England (500-1100) has come down to us through a rich body of written materials and a wealth of archaeological findings. This course will focus on both: chronicles, biography, poetry, saints’ lives, private documents, and more – along with modern discussions of material culture as they have been unearthed and interpreted. No field trips, alas, but a number of papers and (size permitting) team reports on some controversies and historical puzzles. The course will satisfy requirement the History major’s upper level writing requirement.

Section 02 The First Civilizations

Section 01 Women of Color in the U.S.
In what ways is the history of race in America a gendered history? This course will focus on the creation of the modern color line in American history by analyzing the 20th century cultural productions of African American, Asian American, Native American, and Latina/Chicana women. We will explore autobiographies written by women of color such as Zitkala-Sa and Elaine Brown. We will examine the careers of racial minority actresses such as Dolores del Rio and Anna May Wong. Our central concern will be the ways in which race has been historically constructed as a gendered category. Readings will average 150 to 200 pages a week. Attendance and class participation are mandatory and students will be required to facilitate class discussion at least once during the semester. Students will take two midterms and will complete a 5 to 8 page final essay on race, gender, and twentieth-century American culture.

Section 02 The Industrial City in the U.S.
In size and in complexity, American cities grew dramatically in the nineteenth century. So did the challenges, problems, and advantages of urban life. This course explores the evolution of urban population centers from the walking cities of the early national period, to the cities within cities and streetcar suburbs of the early twentieth century. It focuses on the environmental challenges of industrialization and population concentration, such as supplying the city with energy, food, and water, disposing of its refuse, and reshaping its terrain for housing, industry, and urban infrastructure. These developments were closely linked to wealth and ethnicity, and the course examines, too, the evolution of ethnic neighborhoods, working-class culture, suburban enclaves, and urban politics. Reading averages 100 pages each week and consists of both documents written by contemporaries and essays and books written more recently by historians looking back at the nineteenth century. Exams and short papers; unscheduled class quizzes; in-class discussions.

Section 03 History of New York City
How much do you know about the island just west of Long Island? This course focuses on the social, political, cultural and economic development of New York City from New Amsterdam to the Big Apple. We will explore development of the city's image,how various groups lived, how public institutions like the police took shape, as well as urban growth and diversification over 300 + years. Readings will consist of two or three books and a course pack, about 100-150 pages per week. Written work will consist of two take-home essay exams and a research paper of about 8pp. answering a specific question (TBA) about the city's development.
Prerequisite: HIS 102-103.
Section 04 Popular Music and Society
This course will examine the relationship between popular music and its social context by concentrating on six music forms: blues, soul, hip hop, dancehall, Afrobeat, and Afro-Brazilian. Readings will focus on: (1) concepts such as audiences, the music industry, cultural infrastructure, youth culture, and race; (2) processes such as urbanization, demographic change, globalization, and politicization of popular music. Course requirements: regular attendance, participation, three exams, and a short paper.

Section 01 History of Science in America
We will explore the social, economic and political contexts that have shaped the institutions, funding and personnel of the research communities across the sciences in the United States from the early nineteenth century to the advent of biotechnology and the Internet. Topics we will explore include (I) who did the science, how and where (ii) science in times of war (iii) science in the economy (iv) the Cold War and science (v) the new realities for scientists in the 1980s and 1990s. The course grade will be based upon, assigned readings, class participation, and the completion of three short and one longer written assignment
Section 02 Biography: Uses and Abuses in History
Written images of the famous, infamous and others have existed in western societies since the Ancient Greeks. We will focus on the conjunctions of social, cultural and political forces in the forging of posthumous memoirs since the 18th century. We will follow the biographical careers of a few famous individuals and see how their \biographers remake those images as conditions change. We will delve into a range of such people, including those whose reputations lie in intellectual endeavor (scientists, literary figures) politics or of social or cultural importance. We will include self-biographies--i.e., the image that you wish to leave to posterity. Students must have a background in History courses in the 18th, 19th, or 20th century American or European History. Course requirements: Consistent reading of the materials. Term Paper.

Section 01 East Asian Syntax
Section 02 Case
Section 03 DPs

Section 01, Topic for Fall 2004: Introduction to Indian Philosophy
For Fall 2004, AAS 391.01 and PHI 391 meet together.
Section 02, Topic for Fall 2004: Epics of India
Section 03, Topic for Fall 2004: Appreciating Indian Music
Section 04, Topic for Fall 2004: Sikhism

Section 01, Topic for Fall 2004: Desis: Indian Diaspora
Section 02, Topic for Fall 2004: India and Globalization

Section 01, Topic for Fall 2004: Culinary Anthropology
The course will consider the cultural and cross-cultural significance of food and drink. Topics considered in relation to food with include religion, stratification and gender.
Additional prerequisite for Fall 2004: permission of instructor

Section 02, Topic for Fall 2004: Reproductive Ecology
Reproductive Ecology is an upper division undergraduate/graduate seminar that is organized around current debates in reproductive ecology. Key issues include the timing of human growth and development, factors that determine the age at sexual maturity, the relationship between nutrition, work levels and fertility, environmental and cultural factors that shape family size, and cross cultural patterns in child survival. Given this foundation, the course will turn to the effect that modern economic transitions have on fertility and mortality. The course is interdisciplinary and draws on readings from reproductive biology, behavioral ecology and cultural anthropology, with a focus on cross cultural study of preindustrial populations. A must for students with an interest in health or fertility issues or who plan to work in the field of public health, demography, international development, cultural survival or human rights.
Additional prerequisite for Fall 2004: permission of instructor

Section 01, Topic for Fall 2004: Wealth and Inequality in Corporate America
This course delves into the corporate origins of American wealth and the inequities that have flowed from it. Since big companies came to dominate the economy in the late nineteenth century, affluence has hinged upon the distribution of incomes and goods that these companies make possible. Part of the course will chart the rise of corporations and their later transformations, from the robber barons to the dot.com-ers. In their structure and the jobs they offered, corporate workplaces had important impacts on the kinds of distinctions Americans saw among themselves. The course also offers an overview of the struggles that resulted, from the rise of the labor movement to its latter-day fall. Finally, the history of mass consumption and its impact on the experience of class difference in America will be explored. Requirements will include a midterm, one short and one medium-length paper, and a final.

Section 02, Topic for Fall 2004: The Middle Period: 19th-Century America
This course looks at American history from 1812 to 1877, a period when democratic politics and capitalist economics transformed the American countryside and cityscapes east and west, and shaped the progress of American society in contradictory ways. After the War of 1812 and until the end of the Reconstruction, an egalitarian ethos dominated American economic, political and cultural life. With access to national markets came the widening of suffrage to include most white men, and with this widening came a new style of politicking that empowered ordinary people. Obsessed with popular rule, newly enfranchised citizens and other mid-century Americans established their own businesses, institutions, and authority, and applied the idea of democratic equality to their everyday lives. But along with market expansion and democratization also came geographic dislocations, economic instability, and new forms of social ranking and oppression: separate spheres for men and women; the removal of Native Americans and the entrenchment of chattel slavery; the rise of nativism; the degradation of productive labor; and Civil War. Through lectures, readings, and discussion, this course will explore these contradictory events and the ways in which economic, social, and cultural activities of middle-period Americans were extensions of their political understanding. Classes consist of lectures that incorporate written, aural, and visual sources; in-class discussions and one written quiz per week on assigned readings; and one ten-page final paper.

Section 03, Topic for Fall 2004: Women, Utopia and Dystopias (offered with WST 396.01)
The focus of this course is on the place of women in the numerous attempts to create utopia (a place of ideal perfection). Concentration is on a select group of real life experiments, primarily in the 19th and 20th centuries, and imaginative novels by feminist writers. The historical place of women in theory and practice in communities that practiced pantagamy (Oneida), free love (Modern Times), polygamy (Mormons), and celibacy (Shakers), is compared with communes of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as some fictional utopias and dystopias including science fiction. For Fall 2004, HIS 396.03 meets with WST 396.03.

Section 04, Topic for Fall 2004: Race, Inequality, and the American City Since 1945
This course explores the dynamics of race and class in American cities during the post-world War II period. Readings and discussions will focus on suburbanization, the decline of central cities, conflict over the use and definition of urban space, and the globalization of urban processes. Most of the readings represent the latest approaches to the study of cities. Attendance and participation in class are required. One 10-page paper, which satisfies the upper-division writing requirement, as well as several shorter writing assignmentsare required.

Section 01, Topic for Fall 2004: Crime and Police
The development of police, courts, prisons, criminal law, and crime from the 17th century to the present is the focus of this course, which covers the changing nature of crime and criminals, creation and change in the institutions of criminal justice, and how people have perceived and responded to crime over time. Readings: four or five books and a course pack including general histories, literature, and newspaper items. Written work consists of several one-page reading-reaction papers, two take-home essay exams and a ten-page paper. The paper will satisfy the department’s upper-division writing requirement. The class consists of two lectures and one discussion section; participation in the section is essential.
Additional Prerequisite for Fall 2004: HIS 103, 104, or 268

Section 02, Topic for Fall 2004: Race, Religion & Ethnicity in U.S. Politics 1900-Present
This course examines the roles that different groups and their beliefs have played in the political history of the United States, including the ways in which certain groups have tended to vote as blocs. Through readings, lectures, films and regular class discussions, topics such as the ways in which social differences and religious priorities are translated into politics, the roles of political parties, the immigrant experience, government policy, efforts to exclude groups from political participation, and movements to enfranchise excluded groups will be studied. Close attention is paid to racial segregation, immigration before the 1920’s and after the 1960s, the New Deal era, and the Civil Rights movement. Classes will generally be divided into a lecture and discussion. Students will be assigned to help lead the class discussion. Grading will be based on student performance on two examinations, a paper on the course material, and participation in class discussions.

Section 01, Topic for Fall 2004: Globalization and its Discontents
Today's world is caught up in the process of globalization and its ensuing traumas. Yet globalization is hardly a process unique to the present times. In this course readings will include a number of literary works -- Eastern and Western, ancient and modern -- to get a variety of perspectives on the implications of cross-cultural encounters.

Section 02, Topic for Fall 2004: Body and Thought: East and West
This course intends to trace an alternative history of the body in Western and Asian cultures. Rather than follow the established historical categories such as classical, medieval, enlightenment, romantic, etc., we will look for different narratives, historical and otherwise, that the experience of the body itself suggests. Authors who can help us with this project include Michel Foucault, Antonin Artaud, Gilles Deleuze, and some of the Christian mystics. After we have considered how people in the West thought about and "through" the body, we will move on to comparable traditions in the East, especially those rooted in Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism.

Section S01, Topic for Fall 2004: 20th-Century U.S. Latina Literature
This course is designed to survey literature written by Mexican-American women (Chicanas), Cuban-American women (Cubanas), Puerto Rican-American women (Puertoriqueñas) and Domincan-American women (Dominicanas). We will discover and examine some of the key themes raised by these writers, and examine the ways in which they examine and represent these themes. Themes will include: border identities, nationalism, Revolution, and sexuality. This literature will be read in the context both of U.S. history, and significant historical Latino movements and literary traditions. All texts and discussions are in English.
Prerequisites have been revised as of Fall 2004:
Prerequisite: WST major or minor, or WST 102 (formerly SSI/WST 102), or WST 103, or 6 credits of WST or related classes in other departments (approved list in the WST office)

Section S02, Topic for Fall 2004: Italian American and African American Women Writers
For Fall 2004, EGL 369, HUI 390, and WST 398.S02 meet together.