Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: FRESHMAN SEMINAR: SOCRATES: THE MAN AND HIS PHILOSOPHY

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This discussion-style seminar will consider how Socrates practiced philosophy, how Plato represented Socrates and Socratic philosophy in writing, and what effect Socrates had on Athens and his fellow Athenians. Readings will consist mainly of Plato's Socratic dialogues, with emphasis on the Apology and Gorgias. In addition to papers, each participant will make one presentation and lead one discussion. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: CLAS 101.

Long Title: LANGUAGE, GENDER AND SEXUALITY

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This course examines the role that gender, biological sex, and sexuality play in the language varieties that people use. We will see that although all cultures have specified gender roles, and all cultures mark gender through language varieties, those differences are not, I promise, what you think they are. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: LING 105.

Long Title: LITERATURE AND DEMOCRACY

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Course examines how writers respond to the developments and problems of democratic societies. Topics include: civil disobedience and just dissent; the civil war and the extension of the franchise; cruel and unusual punishment exercised by governments; and the relationship between privacy and individuality. Requirements: two essays and one class presentation. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: HUMA 110.

Long Title: MUSICAL LIVES

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Musical biography tends to follow stereotypical patterns that depict composers as heroes who rebel against authority and live on the margins of society. This seminar will focus on the life stories and music of selected 18th and 19th century composers. No musical background necessary. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: MUSI 111.

Long Title: GREAT LITERATURE IN GREAT MUSIC

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: A study of six famous literary works, from classical civilization to expressionism, and their incarnation in famous musical compositions. Authors include Vergil, Shakespeare, Beaumarchais, Pushkin, Goethe, and Buchner; paired pieces include operas by Berlioz, Verdi, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Gounod, and Berg. No technical or reading knowledge of music is required. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: MUSI 112.

Long Title: FROM KAFKA TO THE HOLOCAUST: DISCOURSE IN ALIENATION

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: The beginnings of modernity have to be seen in the context of the sociopolitical and intellectual upheavals at the end of the 19th century. Whereas extreme reactionism eventually led to fascism, progressive literature advocated artistic experimentation as manifested in a discourse of alienation (expressionism, dada, Kafka). Holocaust literature reflects the ultimate clash between progressiveness and reactionism. The primary readings will be from Wedekind, Trakl, Kaiser, Hesse, Remarque, Brecht, Celan, Werfel. Taught in English. This course is limited to first year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: GERM 121.

Long Title: HISTORY THROUGH GERMAN CINEMA

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: The course presents an overview of German history via contemporary German feature films from World War I, through the Weimar and Nazi periods, the postwar years as a Divided Germany into East and West and finally a look at the new generation in Post-unification Germany. Taught in English. All films are subtitled in English. This course is limited to first year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: GERM 122.

Long Title: THROUGH TIME AND SPACE: EUROPEAN TRAVEL STORIES

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: A travel story stands at the beginning of European Literature: Homer's Odyssey. Since ancient times, literary travel accounts of all sorts, to all destinations, by all means and undertaken with a wide range of different purposes have kept Europeans on the move. First attracted by the exotic and the unknown in the far distance, the interest moved ever closer to the self, and the exploration of the human mind became the most exotic and intriguing journey. Readings include Homer, Swift, Voltaire, Goethe, Heine, Twain, and Verne. Taught in English. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: GERM 123.

Long Title: LAW, MORALITY, AND SOCIETY

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: A historical introduction to central themes of legal and political thought in the Western tradition from Immanuel Kant to John Rawls, this freshman seminar provides an overview of trends and controversies in modern political thought and society. Topics discussed include "civil rights", "morality", "liberalism", "natural law", "political theology", and "freedom". Taught in English. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: GERM 124.

Long Title: BETWEEN RESISTANCE AND COLLABORATION: INDIVIDUALS RESPONDING TO NATIONAL SOCIALISM

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Focus on individuals' behavior in Nazi Germany/Austria. Issues of ideology and ethics as Germans and Austrians faced them between 1933-1945. Reflection on values such as courage, civil disobedience, and human rights in today's global society. Taught in English. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: GERM 125.

Long Title: THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: In the 1100's people began writing down stories of Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin, and the Knights of the round table using sophisticated techniques of literary composition. Today, these stories count among the great writings of Europe. This course examines the spectrum of medieval stories and histories of Arthur that arose in England, France, and Germany from the beginning to the age of printing, plus some recent revivals. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: GERM 126, MDST 126.

Long Title: IN THE MATRIX: ON HUMAN BONDAGE AND LIBERATION

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Using the film "The Matrix" as a point of reference, this course presents celebrated explorations of servitude and emancipation -- from religious mysticism to Marxism and artistic modernism. Texts by Lao Tzu, Farid ud-Din Attar, Plato, Freud, Marx, Beaudelaire, J.S. Mill, Proust, de Beauvoir, Malcolm, Baudrillard. Course taught in English. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: FREN 127.

Long Title: THE CULTURE OF WAR: VIOLENCE, CONFLICT AND REPRESENTATION

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Focusing on the experience and representation of war in German and European literature, theory, and visual arts. Covers the period from 17th-20th century. Special emphasis on the First World War. Not for the faint-hearted, topics included: destruction, ruins, refugees, massacres, terrorism, victims, spaces of battle, the logic of war. Taught in English. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from the course. Cross-list: GERM 128.

Long Title: LITERARY LOVE AFFAIRS, LOVE AND PASSION IN EUROPEAN LITERATURE

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Love-stories are usually about a young man who seeks the ideal girl, finally gets her, and becomes as good a Philistine as others. Students examine this philosophical wisdom by reading stories and theoretical texts about love and passion by European authors from the time of Shakespeare to the present. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: GERM 129.

Long Title: WOMEN AND NATIONAL SOCIALISM

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Introduction to the Nazi idea of "womanhood" and the actual roles women played during National Socialism. Female perpetrators, Mitlaufer, a multiplicity of victims, and to resistance fighters. The course will be taught in English. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: GERM 130, SWGS 130.

Long Title: NO HAPPY ENDINGS: TRAGEDY IN LITERATURE AND FILM

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Tragedy stages the sufferings and fall of a hero. It excites pity and fear. Why, then, do we take pleasure in tragedy? This course explores the importance of tragedy in Western culture through a reading of plays by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Racine, and Ibsen. Films include works by Robinson and Schlondorff. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: CLAS 131, FREN 131.

Long Title: AMERICA THROUGH FRENCH EYES

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: The United States has always been a source of fascination -- both attraction and revulsion -- for the French. This course aims to understand American culture and identity as revealed by transatlantic encounters with the French. We will study French intellectuals' observations from Tocqueville to Simone de Beauvoir as well as images of America in French popular culture. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: FREN 133.

Long Title: WOMEN AND PERFORMANCE IN MODERN LITERATURE AND CULTURE

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Lecture

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Through close readings of a wide variety of literary texts as well as film and visual media, this course examines images of femininity in German literature and culture since the Enlightenment, while reassessing the significance of women as performers, writers and spectators. This course will be taught in English.

Long Title: THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Seminar traces the history and politics of the Arab-Israeli conflict, delving into both Palestinian and Israeli understandings of the past and present using books, documentaries, and films. The course seeks to understand how and at what costs Israeli and Palestinian nationalism's have been constructed and analyzes U.S. involvement in the conflict. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: HIST 144.

Long Title: LATIN AMERICAN SHORT FICTION (EMPHASIS ON BORGES AND CORTAZAR)

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Readings of classic works of short fiction by modern Latin American masters, with special emphasis on the stories of Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar. Close reading, interpretive essays. Taught in English. Open to first-year students only, any others will be removed. Cross-list: SPAN 150.

Long Title: FRESHMAN SEMINAR: THE HERO AND HIS COMPANION FROM GILGAMESH TO SAM SPADE

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: How does presentation of heroic action illustrate the basic values of society? Historical sources including ancient texts, modern mystery stories, and two "western" movies, show the development of a style of community service linking heroism with alienation. The extent to which women participate will be traced. Cross-list: HIST 151.

Long Title: THE HISPANIC ESSAY

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Readings in English from major modern Spanish and Latin-American essayists, including Miguel de Unamuno, Jose Ortega y Gassset, Maria Zambrano, Jose Marti, Jose Enrique Rodo, Alfonso Reyes, Victoria Ocampo, Gabriela Mistral, Jorge Luis Borges, and Octavio Paz, et al. Close reading and appreciation of essays will be the focus of discussion, presentations, and short interpretive papers. Taught in English. Open to first-year students only, any others will be removed. Cross-list: SPAN 152.

Long Title: DON QUIXOTE (IN ENGLISH)

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: The class will involve close reading and interpretation of Cervantes's immortal novel, "Don Quixote de la Mancha," voted "the best book of all time." This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: SPAN 153.

Long Title: FRESHMAN SEMINAR: THOMAS JEFFERSON, THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, AND THE USES OF THE PAST

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Seminar will focus on three dimensions of Thomas Jefferson's life and legacy: first, what he said and did in the American Revolution; second, how he has been understood by historians; and third, how his words, ideas, and actions have been used by successive generations of Americans. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: HIST 160.

Long Title: THE USES OF THE PAST

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Seminar analyzes how selected historical events are interpreted at different times and contexts. Sources include history books, novels, movies, court cases and political debates. Specific events studied will vary according to student interest from ancient times to the present. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: HIST 161.

Long Title: FRESHMAN SEMINAR: BROWN V. BOARD

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: A first year seminar examining the origins and legacies of the civil rights case that all but defined the parameters of modern American society and race relations. Where did the case come from? How was it argued and decided: What have been its consequences? This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: HIST 163.

Long Title: WHO IS (NOT) A JEW?

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Explore problems with identity--ethnic, political, spiritual-- in the case of the other Jew. Consider themes of anti-semitism and philosemitism, insider and outsider, tradition and innovation. Examine competing views purveyed through diverse media such as literature, film, art, and music. Selected texts from St. Paul, Shakespeare, Dickens, Marx, George Eliot, Freud, Chagall, Cynthia Ozick, Bob Dylan, and Woody Allen. This course is limited to first year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: RELI 164.

Long Title: FRESHMAN SEMINAR: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: HISTORIES AND LEGACIES

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Freshman seminar will focus on the French Revolution and the era of Napoleon Bonaparte, 1789-1815. Lectures address three main topics: the history of the Revolution and its main actors; the diverging interpretations offered by historians; and the multiple legacies of the revolutionary period in the modern era. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: HIST 165.

Long Title: FRESHMAN SEMINAR: RELIGION AND VIOLENCE

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: Seminar explores the nexus of religion and violence as it appears in sacred traditions, as it played out historically, and as it occurs in the contemporary world. Discussions and readings include sociological, psychological, philosophical, and political approaches to religion itself, to violence in general, and particularly religious violence. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: HIST 170, RELI 170.

Long Title: FRESHMAN SEMINAR: SOUTHERN REBELS

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: The "South" is often understood to be the most conservative region in the U.S. Seminar will use selected autobiographical texts by "southern rebels" to challenge that idea, and examine the tradition of dissent in the culture and history of the American South. This course is limited to first-year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: HIST 173.

Long Title: FRESHMAN SEMINAR: TERROR AND AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

Department: Humanities Division

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Distribution Group: Distribution Group I

Credit Hours: 3

Description: From the Murder of James Byrd. From the early 1880's to 1978, lynch mobs murdered nearly 5,000 African-Americans Terror and black responses to it have shaped nearly every aspect of African American history. Seminar examines black society, politics, gender, and culture in the 20th century America against the backdrop of racial violence. This course is limited to first year students only, any others will be removed from this course. Cross-list: HIST 176.