References and information for student workers in the Civic Engagement Center.
- Professor: Ruth Janisch
- Professor: Derek Johnson
- Professor: Sedric McClure
- Professor: Rachel Weeks
- Professor: Samuel Wegner
Categoria: Miscellaneous
Macalester Moodle
Resultado da procura: 294
MATH
- Professor: Robert Angarone
- Professor: Andrew Beveridge
- Professor: Kristin Heysse
- Professor: Alireza Hosseinkhan
This course introduces students to the science and the art of negotiation to address environmental problem-solving opportunities. Through the lens of negotiations, psychology, and organizational behavior we will examine challenges that arise in environmental policy-making, natural resource management, and community decision-making. Students will develop a personal toolkit of negotiation skills through participation in weekly simulations while simultaneously building and defining a portfolio of effective communication and leadership capabilities.
- Professor: Takeo Kuwabara
What is college writing? How do different academic disciplines create, perform, and share knowledge through writing? What is considered “good” writing in the academy, and who gets to decide? In this course, students will develop a theory and practice of writing that can assist them in their academic careers and beyond. To do so, we will study how writing functions and is evaluated in various contexts. Particular focus will be placed on analyzing rhetorical situations and genre conventions of academic writing from various disciplines to demystify and open the troublesome evaluation of “good” vs. “bad” writing/writers. Reading, writing, and in-class discussion will be the primary work of the course, and emphasis will be placed on writing as a process: students will engage in regular informal writing exercises, practice drafting and revising for major writing assignments, and receive consistent feedback on their writing from the instructor and their peers. By the end of the course, students will complete at least 20 pages of formal academic writing.
- Instructor: Alyssa Lawrence
Ancient Egyptians invested immense resources in beautifully designed and crafted artworks and architectural spaces, many of which have survived today presenting spectacular views to contemporary beholders. Why this society assigned such a high value to art? What was its purpose and meaning? Who were the patrons and the intended audience? This course will explore the making, function, and reception of Egyptian art and architecture in its socio-economic and political contexts from pre-dynastic times (ca. 5300–3000 BCE) to the advent of Alexander the Great (332 BCE). The lectures and class discussions will focus on concepts of design, representation and aesthetics in Egypt, and explore the uses of art objects and monuments in politics, religion (both state and private cults), and burial practices. Addressing various topics such as pharaonic ideology, imperialism, gender, and afterlife, this course will help you comprehend the fundamental place of art and visual culture for the creation and sustenance of one of the oldest civilizations in the world.
- Professor: Serdar Yalçin
These days, there is a lot of talk about the changing terms of formal employment, and related concerns have only intensified amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Entrepreneurs, gig workers, online contractors and now an unprecedented number of telecommuters are challenging conventional models of the nine-to-five job. But nine-to-five has hardly been the norm throughout history, nor does it describe the typical work experience around the world today. This course takes an anthropological approach to consider the contemporary diversity of working worlds and worker experiences, as well as important historical shifts that have brought us to this moment, are currently underway, and will carry us into new working futures. Gender, race, class, and age are all deeply implicated in unequal systems here, as are powerful environmental, economic and political forces. Who has to work? Who gets to work? Who is able to work safely? Who is empowered by it and who is exploited? Why do we work? What/Whose work is most valued? When will the robots come for our jobs? …What might a world without work look like? Drawing on examples from around the world, and materials ranging from ethnographic writing and film to popular media, u/dystopian fiction, as well as our own personal experiences, we will take a comparative approach to these and other pressing questions raised by today’s diverse and shifting worlds of work.
This course qualifies for the U.S.I.D. or Internationalism designation.
This course qualifies for the U.S.I.D. or Internationalism designation.
- Professor: Hilary Chart
In 1947, India embarked upon one of the world’s most ambitious experiments in postcolonial democracy. This course surveys the history of the Indian state and society in the decades following the formal end of colonial rule, as the country sought to rebuild its economy, institute a new political system, and usher in large-scale social change. Given India’s immense cultural and social diversity, this was no easy task. It required answering a range of questions: How would the state ensure the rights of the country’s minorities? How would the country’s model of economic growth address wide-ranging demands for social equality? Which of India’s many languages would be designated its official language? Underlying all these questions were debates concerning the history, present, and future of Indian society.
In this course, we will consider postcolonial India from its “margins”, that is, by centering the perspectives of migrant workers, Dalits, women, and/or revolutionaries. We will use the ideas and practices crafted by these groups as our guides in assessing the political record of the Indian state.
While surveying this history, we will also study recent shifts and challenges confronting Indian democracy. Today, India is one of the fastest growing economies; it is also a country with some of the most extreme forms of social inequality. According to a recent report by Oxfam, 10% of the Indian population holds 77% of the country’s national wealth. However, reports of social inequality in India, such as the one cited above, exist alongside celebrations of its status as the “world’s largest democracy” in the national press and in global media. Considering this, what does it mean to call India a “democracy”? How do we assess the successes and failures of Indian democracy?
The challenges we will discuss are not unique to Indian democracy. Democracies everywhere struggle to balance the claims of freedom for individuals with the promise of social equality for all. India’s paradoxical, complex, and contradictory encounter with democracy has produced a rich archive of debate and contestation on this issue. This course will not only introduce you to key events, ideas, and issues shaping postcolonial Indian history, but also provide you with conceptual resources to investigate political ideas like democracy in a global, historical perspective.
Through a combination of secondary texts and a range of primary sources from postcolonial Indian history, we will develop a complex picture of the relationship, often contradictory, between the promises of democracy, development, and decolonization in postcolonial societies. You do not require any prior knowledge of Indian history or languages for this course.
In this course, we will consider postcolonial India from its “margins”, that is, by centering the perspectives of migrant workers, Dalits, women, and/or revolutionaries. We will use the ideas and practices crafted by these groups as our guides in assessing the political record of the Indian state.
While surveying this history, we will also study recent shifts and challenges confronting Indian democracy. Today, India is one of the fastest growing economies; it is also a country with some of the most extreme forms of social inequality. According to a recent report by Oxfam, 10% of the Indian population holds 77% of the country’s national wealth. However, reports of social inequality in India, such as the one cited above, exist alongside celebrations of its status as the “world’s largest democracy” in the national press and in global media. Considering this, what does it mean to call India a “democracy”? How do we assess the successes and failures of Indian democracy?
The challenges we will discuss are not unique to Indian democracy. Democracies everywhere struggle to balance the claims of freedom for individuals with the promise of social equality for all. India’s paradoxical, complex, and contradictory encounter with democracy has produced a rich archive of debate and contestation on this issue. This course will not only introduce you to key events, ideas, and issues shaping postcolonial Indian history, but also provide you with conceptual resources to investigate political ideas like democracy in a global, historical perspective.
Through a combination of secondary texts and a range of primary sources from postcolonial Indian history, we will develop a complex picture of the relationship, often contradictory, between the promises of democracy, development, and decolonization in postcolonial societies. You do not require any prior knowledge of Indian history or languages for this course.
- Professor: Niharika Yadav
Let's get started *Applying Developmental Psychology to 21st Century Challenges!*
Developmental psychology has generated theories, research evidence, and scientific tools for fostering resilient societies where children and families from diverse backgrounds can thrive. This course will apply insights from developmental psychology to understand major societal trends impacting the developing child, including pandemics, migration, racial justice movements, mental health, and climate change. Students will survey the latest research on these topics and critically analyze every step of the scientific process, from grant funding, to choosing ethical and effective research methods, to the communication of scientific findings to the public and policymakers.
Developmental psychology has generated theories, research evidence, and scientific tools for fostering resilient societies where children and families from diverse backgrounds can thrive. This course will apply insights from developmental psychology to understand major societal trends impacting the developing child, including pandemics, migration, racial justice movements, mental health, and climate change. Students will survey the latest research on these topics and critically analyze every step of the scientific process, from grant funding, to choosing ethical and effective research methods, to the communication of scientific findings to the public and policymakers.
- Professor: Sarah Gillespie
This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts, techniques and practices of drawing. Through a variety of exercises and projects, students will explore line, shape, form, perspective, composition and value using various drawing materials with the goal of developing freehand drawing skills.
- Professor: Brandon Chambers
- Professor: Georgia Akins
- Professor: Mary Heskel
- Professor: Zade Alafranji
- Professor: Stotra Chakrabarti
- Professor: Anika Bratt
- Professor: Annalise Gallagher
- Professor: Sarah West
- Professor: Zak Yudhishthu
This course is an introduction to a particular method of ethnographic data collection known as Ethnoscience. This is not the only method that anthropologists use, and not all anthropologists use it. It is, however, ideally suited to the research requirements of the undergraduate classroom: the need to complete a high quality research project in the course of a single semester. The aim of ethnoscience is to determine how different societies classify and categorize their worlds, and how these systems of classification provide them with guidelines for behavior and a framework to interpret experience. Ethnoscience thus seeks to elicit in a systematic and replicable way the native categories or folk terms of a culture, and to show how these terms (symbols) relate to each other in a system of meaning. Drawing on the interviewing techniques of ethnoscience, this course provides students with an opportunity to develop skills in the area of ethnographic field interviewing—a methodological staple of the discipline of anthropology and the domain of qualitative research. Students will develop these skills in the context of a field research project, which they initiate. The course revolves around generating, analyzing and reporting the data from this project. The interactive format provides weekly opportunities for students to develop and polish their oral presentation skills.
- Professor: Arjun Guneratne
Students will explore the development of clothing from ancient civilizations to the present. We will consider global influences that shaped changing styles and engage critical thinking with regards to the functions of dress in socio-political contexts, cross-cultural influences, identity expression, and as an art form. As we study the history of dress, we will consider who tells these stories, who is represented and who is absent in them, and how do we know this information.
- Professor: MaryBeth Gagner
Over the past several decades, Indigenous healing and well-being has become an emerging area of psychology and related disciplines (e.g., anthropology, public health, etc.). In this course, we will examine a range of topics pertinent to the health, healing, and well-being of Indigenous Peoples in the U.S. This includes answering questions like: What historical and contemporary factors influence the health of Indigenous Peoples in the U.S.? What are the health and mental health experiences of Indigenous Peoples in the U.S.? What are traditional modalities of healing among Indigenous Peoples in the U.S.? Though we will focus on the perspectives of Indigenous Peoples in the U.S., we will also include global perspectives occasionally. We will draw on local examples of Indigenous healing through a course partnership with the Native American Community Clinic in Minneapolis, which we will take field trips to.
- Professor: Jill Fish
We will use Moodle primarily for keeping track of grades. Your work will be submitted to the Google Drive instead of Moodle. Please check there for schedules.
- Professor: Kelly Tuttle
Intermediate Spanish 1 extends the use and awareness of linguistic functions in Spanish, and it broadens the understanding of the history and culture of Spanish-speaking countries.
The class meets three times a week with the professor and one extra hour with the Lab Assistant. The labs begin on Tuesday, September 19th. Since the course is interactive, attendance is required for all four sessions, including the Labs.
The class meets three times a week with the professor and one extra hour with the Lab Assistant. The labs begin on Tuesday, September 19th. Since the course is interactive, attendance is required for all four sessions, including the Labs.
- Professor: Fernando Contreras
This course is an introduction to qualitative research methods used in sociology to understand the social structures behind people’s actions by conducting systematic participant observation and analysis. We will focus our attention on ethnography and in-depth interviewing (or ethnographic interviewing). In case you would like to learn other qualitative research methods such as visual analysis, text analysis, or focus groups, I will be happy to guide your reading outside of class.
In most sociology classes, we read scholars’ research. In this case, we will learn how to use qualitative research methods and conduct our research in the Macalester – Groveland neighborhood in St. Paul. Each of the group projects will compose a mosaic of the neighborhood where Macalester College is located, including campus locations and the “Macalester bubble.” The thread that will connect your research is the concept “racial grammar” (Bonilla-Silva 2012). By using the same concept, you will learn how to employ theory to analyze empirical data and make an argument. Thus, this course provides you with an opportunity to learn how to collect information and interpret the information. Further, as we will work in small groups throughout the semester, you will hone your group and collaborative skills.
Furthermore, conducting qualitative research often requires a great deal of discussion of the problems, joys, and challenges one faces in the field, which broadens our base of knowledge. We need to listen, devise strategies, and learn about ways others react to similar events or situations we may encounter in the field. Therefore, please feel free to bring up any issues you are experiencing in conducting your research.
In most sociology classes, we read scholars’ research. In this case, we will learn how to use qualitative research methods and conduct our research in the Macalester – Groveland neighborhood in St. Paul. Each of the group projects will compose a mosaic of the neighborhood where Macalester College is located, including campus locations and the “Macalester bubble.” The thread that will connect your research is the concept “racial grammar” (Bonilla-Silva 2012). By using the same concept, you will learn how to employ theory to analyze empirical data and make an argument. Thus, this course provides you with an opportunity to learn how to collect information and interpret the information. Further, as we will work in small groups throughout the semester, you will hone your group and collaborative skills.
Furthermore, conducting qualitative research often requires a great deal of discussion of the problems, joys, and challenges one faces in the field, which broadens our base of knowledge. We need to listen, devise strategies, and learn about ways others react to similar events or situations we may encounter in the field. Therefore, please feel free to bring up any issues you are experiencing in conducting your research.
- Professor: Erika Busse-Cárdenas
This course surveys the visual and material culture of Europe and Western Asia from the beginning of the Neolithic (ca. 10000 BCE) through the late Medieval period (ca. 1400 CE). We consider the material remains from ancient Western Asia, Egypt, the Aegean, Greece, Etruria, and Rome; early Christianity, Judaism and Islam; and Early Medieval, Romanesque and Gothic Europe from a contextual perspective. Our main goal will be to recover the meanings of works of art and architecture within the cultures that produced them. How did images and architecture work in the pre-modern world? Who were the patrons of art and architecture in different cultures and what were their motivations in commissioning those works? Who were the intended audience? In addition to these main questions, we will discuss the ethics of appropriating and displaying art objects and images in modern museums and private collections.
- Professor: Serdar Yalçin
East Asia encompasses the incredibly varied modern states of China, Japan, and Korea. In many ways, it is a difficulty and arbitrary geographic distinction rather than any sort of a unified cultural or political unit. However, in some ways it is also a useful distinction, and it is these aspects which we will focus on. Students will gain a broad‐based historical and cultural understanding of East Asia in its global context, beginning with the origins of this culture, and including its inter‐regional connections and its encounters with the West. In this way, this course addresses the preconception that East Asia existed unchanged until the arrival of Europeans. The theme of this course is “Contact and Change,” which will afford an opportunity to examine two of the principal challenges facing historians: accounting for change and understanding people and societies separated from us by space and time.
- Professor: James Coplin
Encompassing a vast and diverse region that includes the present-day states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Bhutan, South Asia is home to a fourth of the world’s population. What was political, social, and cultural life in this region like before modernity? How did the plural religious, linguistic, and social identities that shape everyday life emerge? How did the encounter with colonialism reshape the contemporary trajectories of South Asian cultures? Proceeding chronologically, we will explore important themes that continue to inspire a rich historical scholarship, namely: processes underlying the integration of diverse cultural traditions across the Indian Ocean; the emergence, and consolidation of Indo-Persian kingship and attendant forms of socio-cultural life; changes wrought upon this landscape by the arrival of European colonial rule; and the postcolonial trajectories of South Asian societies.
We will explore these changes by engaging with sources and scholarship on different genres and mediums of communication ranging from art, architectural practices, music, film, fiction, and ethnography. This course will not only introduce you to critical issues for understanding contemporary South Asia but also to cultural practices and modes of representation unique to the region. By examining the past with an eye to its contemporary relevance, we will investigate why premodern identities and histories remain at the center of debates about politics and culture in contemporary South Asia.
We will explore these changes by engaging with sources and scholarship on different genres and mediums of communication ranging from art, architectural practices, music, film, fiction, and ethnography. This course will not only introduce you to critical issues for understanding contemporary South Asia but also to cultural practices and modes of representation unique to the region. By examining the past with an eye to its contemporary relevance, we will investigate why premodern identities and histories remain at the center of debates about politics and culture in contemporary South Asia.
- Professor: Niharika Yadav
Symbolic logic is the formal study of reasoning, inference, and proof. This course will focus on deductive logic, including the formal analysis of statements and arguments, sentential and quantified logics, formal semantics, and logical proofs. We will also explore some philosophical questions about logic (e.g., is there only one correct system of logic?) as well as philosophical issues arising within our study of logic.
During this course, you will:
1. master concepts and technical vocabulary that will enable you to think clearly about arguments;
2. become proficient at translating sentences from English into formal languages;
3. master basic techniques for testing arguments for validity;
4. develop your pattern recognition skills, which will permit you to tell good arguments and reasoning patterns from bad ones; and
5. explore philosophical questions about logic as well as other philosophical issues arising within our study of logic.
During this course, you will:
1. master concepts and technical vocabulary that will enable you to think clearly about arguments;
2. become proficient at translating sentences from English into formal languages;
3. master basic techniques for testing arguments for validity;
4. develop your pattern recognition skills, which will permit you to tell good arguments and reasoning patterns from bad ones; and
5. explore philosophical questions about logic as well as other philosophical issues arising within our study of logic.
- Professor: Elliott DeWitte
- Professor: Max Dresow
- Professor: Adrien Wright
Formal logic is the formal study of reasoning, inference, and proof. This course will focus on deductive logic, including the formal analysis of statements and arguments, sentential and quantified logics, formal semantics, and logical proofs. We will also explore some philosophical questions about logic (e.g., is there only one correct system of logic?) as well as philosophical issues arising within our study of logic.
During this course, you will:
1. master concepts and technical vocabulary that will enable you to think clearly about arguments;
2. become proficient at translating sentences from English into formal languages;
3. master basic techniques for testing arguments for validity;
4. develop your pattern recognition skills, which will permit you to tell good arguments and reasoning patterns from bad ones; and
5. explore philosophical questions about logic as well as other philosophical issues arising within our study of logic.
During this course, you will:
1. master concepts and technical vocabulary that will enable you to think clearly about arguments;
2. become proficient at translating sentences from English into formal languages;
3. master basic techniques for testing arguments for validity;
4. develop your pattern recognition skills, which will permit you to tell good arguments and reasoning patterns from bad ones; and
5. explore philosophical questions about logic as well as other philosophical issues arising within our study of logic.
- Professor: Elliott DeWitte
- Professor: Max Dresow
- Professor: Adrien Wright
To the average reader, the field of publishing can seem somewhat opaque. How does a novel go from scribbled notes to finished paperback? What goes into editing, printing, and marketing a short story collection? This course will aim to shed light on this exciting field through a combination of readings, talks with local publishing professionals, in-class discussion, and hands-on work. We will learn about publishing by tracing the literary work from the hands of the author, through the processes of acquisition, editing, production, marketing, and distribution, and into the hands of the reader. Additional topics will include recent trends in technology, magazine and book editing, and the roles of the literary agent, the independent publisher, and the book reviewer. We will take advantage of the extraordinary publishing resources in the Twin Cities through guest speakers and field trips. Assignments will include writing brief book reviews, presenting publisher profiles, editing projects, and writing a final paper on publishing issues. This course is designed for readers who want to know how the magazine or book they’re holding got into their hands, for writers who want to know what happens when they send their works to publishers, and for those interested in publishing as a future career.
- Professor: Steven Woodward
Medieval mysteries and magic abound in historical British literature. What creature really kidnapped the infant son of Queen Rhiannon? What was Margery Kempe’s greatest, shameful secret? Did Shakespeare really write his plays? Social questions arise too: how did magical legends affect the development of the “normative” Anglo-American society we see today?
We will investigate these questions and more as we read poetry, stories, and plays from British history. One of our main tools will be etymology—the study of words and how they developed over time. By investigating the history of words like “man” and “wife”, we will trace meaning and change in both literature and society.
Along the way, we will pay special attention to tracing the footsteps of individuals who were prohibited from participating in mainstream literary society: low-income workers, women, LGBTQ* folk, and BIPOC groups. Literary investigation and etymology will help us learn from our cultural ancestors who lived on the margins of their societies.
We will investigate these questions and more as we read poetry, stories, and plays from British history. One of our main tools will be etymology—the study of words and how they developed over time. By investigating the history of words like “man” and “wife”, we will trace meaning and change in both literature and society.
Along the way, we will pay special attention to tracing the footsteps of individuals who were prohibited from participating in mainstream literary society: low-income workers, women, LGBTQ* folk, and BIPOC groups. Literary investigation and etymology will help us learn from our cultural ancestors who lived on the margins of their societies.
- Professor: Coral Lumbley
Since the invention of film, audiences have been fascinated by fantastic depictions of the Middle Ages on screen. Audiences love escaping into mysterious worlds of adventure with kings, warriors, and princesses. But how much do these movies really have to do with the historical Middle Ages? Do they illuminate truths or manufacture lies? Was this time period really as exciting, romantic, and dangerous as we imagine? In this class, we will dive into medieval movies and use actual historical sources to see how “accurate” the movies are. In the end, we will find out what modern movies say not just about medieval societies, but how they are actually a mirror for modern-day viewers.
As a First-Year Course, this class will familiarize you with college-level materials and methods, including seminar discussions and written analysis. The class will also introduce you to various resources on campus, from health services to tech rentals.
Learning Outcomes:
Develop analytical skills and critical vocabulary using film and text
Generate profound ideas using community knowledge-weaving
Learn how the Middle Ages get translated for modern audiences
Demonstrate understanding in analytic writing and creative film-making
As a First-Year Course, this class will familiarize you with college-level materials and methods, including seminar discussions and written analysis. The class will also introduce you to various resources on campus, from health services to tech rentals.
Learning Outcomes:
Develop analytical skills and critical vocabulary using film and text
Generate profound ideas using community knowledge-weaving
Learn how the Middle Ages get translated for modern audiences
Demonstrate understanding in analytic writing and creative film-making
- Professor: Coral Lumbley
In this course, we will consider philosophical questions arising from close scrutiny of the natural sciences. These questions include, what (if anything) is the scientific method? What can history tell us about the nature of science and the process of scientific change? What role/s should social and political values play in scientific inquiry, if any? And what should we make of the problem of “trust” in science?
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
1. deploy philosophical resources (concepts, arguments, ways of thinking) to interpret and critique scientific practices and products;
2. recognize the interplay of epistemic and non-epistemic values in scientific practice and especially in scientific controversies;
3. write precise and cogent descriptions of your views on a range of philosophical topics arising from a scrutiny of science and its broader context; and
4. describe the relevance of philosophy of science for important issues in contemporary society.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
1. deploy philosophical resources (concepts, arguments, ways of thinking) to interpret and critique scientific practices and products;
2. recognize the interplay of epistemic and non-epistemic values in scientific practice and especially in scientific controversies;
3. write precise and cogent descriptions of your views on a range of philosophical topics arising from a scrutiny of science and its broader context; and
4. describe the relevance of philosophy of science for important issues in contemporary society.
- Professor: Max Dresow
Course Description:
This course examines and critically analyzes various approaches to the study of how different individuals and communities in particular historical and cultural scenarios in contemporary Latin America create meanings about their past experience with political violence. The course addresses questions related to the tension between remembering and forgetting, the presence of conflicting memories and truths and how these are negotiated or not through distinct forms of representation. The cultural analysis of different means of representation: human rights and truth commissions’ reports, testimonials, film, art and memorials will be the basis for class discussions on different notions of truth and different forms of truth-telling. A close examination of these forms of representation will reveal the extent to which they can conflict with each other while at the same time feed on each other, creating “effects of truth” and leaving room for secrecy as a mode of truth-telling. Finally, the course will also compel students to think about what the consequences the politics of memory have for the future in Latin America.
The content and discussion in this course will necessarily engage with historical contexts and personal testimonies of violence that include arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, sexual violence, genocide, massacres, extrajudicial execution and disappearances. Much of the material will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will do our best to flag especially graphic or intense content that discusses or represents violence and will do our best to make this classroom a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically and thoughtfully with difficult content every week.
This course examines and critically analyzes various approaches to the study of how different individuals and communities in particular historical and cultural scenarios in contemporary Latin America create meanings about their past experience with political violence. The course addresses questions related to the tension between remembering and forgetting, the presence of conflicting memories and truths and how these are negotiated or not through distinct forms of representation. The cultural analysis of different means of representation: human rights and truth commissions’ reports, testimonials, film, art and memorials will be the basis for class discussions on different notions of truth and different forms of truth-telling. A close examination of these forms of representation will reveal the extent to which they can conflict with each other while at the same time feed on each other, creating “effects of truth” and leaving room for secrecy as a mode of truth-telling. Finally, the course will also compel students to think about what the consequences the politics of memory have for the future in Latin America.
The content and discussion in this course will necessarily engage with historical contexts and personal testimonies of violence that include arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, sexual violence, genocide, massacres, extrajudicial execution and disappearances. Much of the material will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with. We will do our best to flag especially graphic or intense content that discusses or represents violence and will do our best to make this classroom a space where we can engage bravely, empathetically and thoughtfully with difficult content every week.
- Professor: Olga González
Climate change is no longer a distant, hypothetical threat. Yet, though more than half of Americans are “concerned” or “alarmed” about global warming, few are taking significant personal action in response, and only a small minority are involved in civic action to address the issue.
This course will take a broad psychological perspective on the questions, “Why are we not doing enough to address global climate change?” and "What will catalyze the social movement necessary to address the issue?" The class will explore psychological theories and studies that help explain why people respond to the climate crisis in the ways they do, and what psychological research tells us about how to shift that response.
This course will take a broad psychological perspective on the questions, “Why are we not doing enough to address global climate change?” and "What will catalyze the social movement necessary to address the issue?" The class will explore psychological theories and studies that help explain why people respond to the climate crisis in the ways they do, and what psychological research tells us about how to shift that response.
- Professor: Christie Manning
Reading Plays guides students in close readings of dramatic literature, in particular of plays that are typically left out of the traditional theatrical canon.
Students will learn about the socio-historical context of each play, and in-
class exercises will introduce them to the foundation of script analysis: they will
examine the play's given circumstances, dialogue, dramatic action, characters, and style. Students will read a new play every week; assignments include weekly in- class writing exercises and short critical papers. This course introduces students to contemporary Indigenous theatre and performance (writ large) produced and performed in what is now known as Canada and the United States, and to the theoretical frames provided by Indigenous scholars and artists to engage with these works. While in no way exhaustive, this broad survey includes theatre, dance, film, and music and begins in the 1960’s and ends with current productions.
Students will learn about the socio-historical context of each play, and in-
class exercises will introduce them to the foundation of script analysis: they will
examine the play's given circumstances, dialogue, dramatic action, characters, and style. Students will read a new play every week; assignments include weekly in- class writing exercises and short critical papers. This course introduces students to contemporary Indigenous theatre and performance (writ large) produced and performed in what is now known as Canada and the United States, and to the theoretical frames provided by Indigenous scholars and artists to engage with these works. While in no way exhaustive, this broad survey includes theatre, dance, film, and music and begins in the 1960’s and ends with current productions.
- Professor: Sam Mitchell
Course Description
Like Latin and Greek in Europe, Sanskrit is a highly inflected language of scholarship, and revered in India as the perfect medium for discourse on everything from science and sex to philosophy and religion. (In modern Hindi, sanskriti means “culture.”) It flourished in its classical form after the age of the Buddha (5th century BC) and served as a scholarly lingua franca in India until the Islamic period and beyond. This course serves as an introduction to the grammar and script of Sanskrit, and we will advance to a point of reading simplified texts from the classical epic Ramayana. Students will be expected to attend class regularly and spend six hours a week outside class studying the grammar and vocabulary. Without this sort of effort, no progress is possible in such a complex language. In addition to the rigorous study of the language, we will consider both the role of the language in classical Indian culture and religion, and some texts from the Ramayana, looking at both English translations and Sanskrit originals.
Like Latin and Greek in Europe, Sanskrit is a highly inflected language of scholarship, and revered in India as the perfect medium for discourse on everything from science and sex to philosophy and religion. (In modern Hindi, sanskriti means “culture.”) It flourished in its classical form after the age of the Buddha (5th century BC) and served as a scholarly lingua franca in India until the Islamic period and beyond. This course serves as an introduction to the grammar and script of Sanskrit, and we will advance to a point of reading simplified texts from the classical epic Ramayana. Students will be expected to attend class regularly and spend six hours a week outside class studying the grammar and vocabulary. Without this sort of effort, no progress is possible in such a complex language. In addition to the rigorous study of the language, we will consider both the role of the language in classical Indian culture and religion, and some texts from the Ramayana, looking at both English translations and Sanskrit originals.
- Professor: James Laine
Self-defense is, by its simplest definition, the act of keeping oneself safe. Our curriculum covers a continuum of scenarios and actions, from a no-contact interaction to a full-blown physical attack. We will discuss body language, awareness, and using one’s voice assertively. We will also explore physical resistance options and how to create the maximum amount of force possible in any given scenario. Warmups are included in all but the first class. Classes, except for the first class, will be conducted in bare feet unless other accommodations are made.
- Professor: Gina Wood
- Professor: Brad Belbas
Categoria: Miscellaneous
- Professor: Artyom Tonoyan
- Professor: Matt Burgess
- Professor: Megan Vossler
- Professor: Lauren Henry
- Professor: Arushi Nair
- Professor: Jenna Rice Rahaim
- Professor: Erik Davis
- Professor: Ginny Moran
- Professor: Myrl Beam
- Professor: Nora de Rege
Description
This course has been an ongoing experiment. Students have often asked why our department does not offer a basic course on the religions of the world. They have sought a kind of classic survey, to give them a certain cultural literacy in the world’s major religions (on “literacy,” cf. S. Prothero, Religious Literacy. Also look at https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/what-we-do/our-approach/what-religious-literacy and https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/what-we-do/our-approach/core-principles as well as the Pew survey http://www.pewforum.org/2010/09/28/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey/). At the same time, several critics have raised questions about the whole project of defining, locating, and comparing the major religious traditions, often accusing the authors of world religions textbooks of western biases and masked theological agendas. Meanwhile, a revised version of Huston Smith’s 1958 book Religions of Man is continually reprinted and continually outsells far more sophisticated textbooks. When reading a world religions textbook, one should ask if the author is trying to make a particular religion look good, or, more likely, trying to make certain versions of all religions look good.
Our goal will be to try to comprehend just what cultural literacy would mean when studying the major religious traditions of the world, while at the same time developing an appreciation for some of the blind spots and problems in this enterprise. To a large extent, we will do some serious construction before we feel ready for de-construction. Most weeks, we will cover one of five major areas (South Asia, East Asia, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and students will read a different authors’ treatment of this material. We will have a general discussion of the material covered in the variety of books we are considering, to get a sense of the different authors’ choices and to shake our confidence in the idea that there are simple facts that any objective observer would record. At the end of each area, we will have a short quiz on some of the agreed upon “facts.”
The final paper will be the student’s critical reading of their chosen textbook, in light of the issues raised throughout the semester and the questions raised by theorists in the study of religion (e.g.,Masuzawa, Nongbri, Laine et al. …and take a look at Religion for Breakfast: https://religionforbreakfast.com/ .
This course has been an ongoing experiment. Students have often asked why our department does not offer a basic course on the religions of the world. They have sought a kind of classic survey, to give them a certain cultural literacy in the world’s major religions (on “literacy,” cf. S. Prothero, Religious Literacy. Also look at https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/what-we-do/our-approach/what-religious-literacy and https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/what-we-do/our-approach/core-principles as well as the Pew survey http://www.pewforum.org/2010/09/28/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey/). At the same time, several critics have raised questions about the whole project of defining, locating, and comparing the major religious traditions, often accusing the authors of world religions textbooks of western biases and masked theological agendas. Meanwhile, a revised version of Huston Smith’s 1958 book Religions of Man is continually reprinted and continually outsells far more sophisticated textbooks. When reading a world religions textbook, one should ask if the author is trying to make a particular religion look good, or, more likely, trying to make certain versions of all religions look good.
Our goal will be to try to comprehend just what cultural literacy would mean when studying the major religious traditions of the world, while at the same time developing an appreciation for some of the blind spots and problems in this enterprise. To a large extent, we will do some serious construction before we feel ready for de-construction. Most weeks, we will cover one of five major areas (South Asia, East Asia, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and students will read a different authors’ treatment of this material. We will have a general discussion of the material covered in the variety of books we are considering, to get a sense of the different authors’ choices and to shake our confidence in the idea that there are simple facts that any objective observer would record. At the end of each area, we will have a short quiz on some of the agreed upon “facts.”
The final paper will be the student’s critical reading of their chosen textbook, in light of the issues raised throughout the semester and the questions raised by theorists in the study of religion (e.g.,Masuzawa, Nongbri, Laine et al. …and take a look at Religion for Breakfast: https://religionforbreakfast.com/ .
- Professor: James Laine
- Professor: Robert Angarone
- Professor: Andrew Beveridge
- Professor: Adam Schroeder
- Professor: Issaka Van't Hul
- Professor: Adrien Wright
This course is a survey of cultural production of and about Blackness. Not only will students "look" at the work of artists, filmmakers, and theoreticians, we will also analyze and produce images that consider the relationship between the Blackness and racialization. We will read works by Tina Campt, Michael Gillespie, and Teju Cole and think about how the production of images has shifted form the 19th century to now. Also included in this class are canonical films like Marlong Riggs "Ethnic Notions" and D.W. Griffiths "Birth of A Nation," however we will also look at contemporary visual projects like Beyoncé’s "Cowboy Carter," and Garrett Bradley’s "America." While the course is focused primarily on the US, we will also talk about racial formations beyond the US and how cultural workers outside the US have engaged Blackness as a way of seeing, a way of listening, and a process of being.
- Professor: Tia-Simone Gardner
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- Professor: Walter Greason
In this interdisciplinary course, we will explore how cultural producers draw upon knowledge from a range of disciplines to understand, critique, and intervene in power structures. Shifting between cultural *studies* and cultural *work*, this class encourages students to think critically about their role as creators and the impact of their work on society. Focusing on the ways that difference impacts politics and culture, we will examine the theorization of difference and its implications for power relations and meaning-making. Students will engage with foundational and contemporary scholarship in critical race and ethnic studies, technology studies, and social media. By analyzing various forms of media—including print, digital, film, television, and social media—students will learn how these mediums contribute to cultural consumption and the administration of difference.
Through practiced-based and theoretical work, students will develop the skills to create art and media that challenge and transform existing power dynamics. The course aims to foster a deep understanding of the intersection between cultural production and power, preparing students to become thoughtful and impactful cultural producers.
Through practiced-based and theoretical work, students will develop the skills to create art and media that challenge and transform existing power dynamics. The course aims to foster a deep understanding of the intersection between cultural production and power, preparing students to become thoughtful and impactful cultural producers.
- Professor: Tia-Simone Gardner
ENGL
- Professor: Penelope Geng
THDA
- Professor: Randy Reyes
MATH
- Professor: Alexander Beaudreau
- Professor: Paul Herstedt
- Professor: Kai Sih
MATH
- Professor: Dave Ehren
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- Professor: Michael Anderson
- Professor: Julia Brandfonbrener
- Professor: Anika Bratt
- Professor: Stotra Chakrabarti
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- Professor: Michael Anderson
- Professor: Anika Bratt
- Professor: Seth Lorenzen
em-image.pngPHYS
- Professor: Anna Williams
PHYS
- Professor: James Doyle
HIST
- Professor: Jess Pearson
FREN
- Professor: Joëlle Vitiello
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- Professor: Reece McKee
- Professor: William Moseley
- Professor: Meira Smit
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- Professor: Brigetta Abel
- Professor: Laurie Adamson
ART
- Professor: Ellie Barnes
- Professor: Erin Paradis
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- Professor: kt shorb
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- Professor: Randy Reyes
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- Professor: Cynthia Kauffeld
INTL
- Professor: Earle Cheshire-Wood
- Professor: Nadya Nedelsky
ART
- Professor: Jennifer Awes Freeman
East Asia encompasses the incredibly varied modern states of China, Japan, and Korea. In many ways, it is a difficulty and arbitrary geographic distinction rather than any sort of a unified cultural or political unit. However, in some ways it is also a useful distinction, and it is these aspects which we will focus on. Students will gain a broad‐based historical and cultural understanding of East Asia in its global context, beginning with the origins of this culture, and including its inter‐regional connections and its encounters with the West. In this way, this course addresses the preconception that East Asia existed unchanged until the arrival of Europeans. The theme of this course is “Contact and Change,” which will afford an opportunity to examine two of the principal challenges facing historians: accounting for change and understanding people and societies separated from us by space and time.
- Professor: James Coplin
PHIL
- Professor: Rotem Herrmann
- Professor: Xinyang Li
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- Professor: Toni Dorca
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- Professor: Niharika Yadav
FREN
- Professor: Andrew Billing
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- Professor: Arthur Mitchell
POLI
- Professor: Della Zurick
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- Professor: Rachel Kelly
- Professor: Satoko Suzuki
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- Professor: Andrea Kaston Tange
RELI
- Professor: Ahoo Najafian
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- Professor: Daniel Coral Reyes
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- Professor: Emily Bruce
- Professor: Jerald Dosch
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- Professor: Georgia Barnes
- Professor: Lesley Lavery
- Professor: David Moore
GEOG
- Professor: Laura Smith
RELI
- Professor: Nicholas Schaser
THDA
- Professor: Mina Kinukawa
ENVI
- Professor: Megan Butler
ART
- Professor: Jacob Eisensmith
ENVI
- Professor: Louisa Bradtmiller
GERM
- Professor: David Martyn
SPAN
- Professor: Toni Dorca
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- Professor: Linda Sturtz
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- Professor: Brittany Landorf
- Professor: Jenna Rice Rahaim
PSYC
- Professor: Rebecca Bigler
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- Professor: Myrl Beam
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- Professor: James von Geldern
- Professor: Eliot Berk
- Professor: Stotra Chakrabarti
SPAN
- Professor: Toni Dorca
HIST
- Professor: Maria Fedorova
ANTH
- Professor: Ron Barrett
THDA
- Professor: Randy Reyes
MATH
- Professor: Andrew Beveridge
- Professor: Alexander Hanhart
- Professor: Michael Anderson
- Professor: Anika Bratt
- Professor: Hannah Morrow
- Professor: Michael Anderson
- Professor: Jerald Dosch
FREN
- Professor: Joëlle Vitiello
- Professor: Tim Delventhal
- Professor: William Moseley
RELI
- Professor: Susanna Drake
INTL
- Professor: Milo Clarkson
- Professor: Nadya Nedelsky
- Professor: Serdar Yalçin
RELI
- Professor: Nicholas Schaser
- Professor: Satoko Suzuki
GERM
- Professor: David Martyn
SPAN
- Professor: Daniel Coral Reyes
All processors made today are ‘multicore’. Large amounts of data are routinely analyzed using clusters of machines ‘in the cloud’. Good software designers must know how to effectively use these architectures to solve almost all problems they will encounter and systems of software they will design and build. To prepare you for this reality, this course will enable you to understand different types of architectures, learn common patterns found in software developed by experts, and enable you to master some of these patterns by building parallel and distributed applications.
- Professor: Libby Shoop
THDA
- Professor: kt shorb
GEOG
- Professor: Laura Smith
- Professor: Xavier Haro-Carrión
- Professor: Oliver Matus-Bond
- Professor: Mina Kinukawa
- Professor: kt shorb
- Professor: James McConnell
- Professor: Daniel Trudeau
PORT
- Professor: J. Ernesto Ortiz Díaz
LING
- Professor: Christina Esposito
ENVI
- Professor: Megan Butler
ENVI
- Professor: Louisa Bradtmiller
- Professor: Brian Lush
POLI
- Professor: Wendy Weber
RELI
- Professor: Erik Davis
- Professor: Ginny Moran
ANTH
- Professor: Olga González
MATH
- Professor: Ori Friesen
- Professor: Kristin Heysse
- Professor: Andrew Billing
- Professor: Ginny Moran
Categoria: Miscellaneous
What will this Intro to the Library lab cover?
How do I find books and articles I need for my classes? How do I navigate library research at the college level? What resources does the college provide for me that can save me money and time? What do all these different databases even DO? Becoming familiar with Macalester College's online and physical collections during your first semester at college can be a tremendous help later in your academic career. This "lab” is designed to introduce you to college-level research strategies, and complement the many skills you already bring to your academic work. This three-week online "lab" uses Moodle for communications and content.
- Professor: Samuel Asarnow
- Professor: Jackie Beckey
Categoria: Miscellaneous
- Professor: Will Mitchell
- Professor: David Martyn
- Professor: Randy Bauer
- Professor: Victoria Malawey
- Professor: Jerald Dosch
- Professor: Taran Palli
Centuries before the advent of industrialized travel, the Silk Roads network connected creators and consumers in lands as distant as Iceland, West Africa, and China. Medieval travelers recorded their experiences and encounters and left their legacies imprinted in archaeological records. This course invites students to read along the Silk Roads, tracing cross-cultural encounters made possible by these remarkable networks. We will read first-hand accounts of Arab travelers in medieval Russia, Mali, Somalia, and Indonesia. Moving into the Christian world, we’ll read texts like Marco Polo’s praise-filled account of the Mongolian Kublai Khan, who ruled lands from Iran to Korea. Finally, we will read Larissa Lai’s queer historic-fantasy novel When Fox is a Thousand, confronting contemporary questions about identity, diaspora, and our own histories.
The class fulfills the (1) Medieval period requirement for English major, (2) Writers of Color requirement for English major, (3) Internationalism req for the college, (4) WA req for the college.
The class fulfills the (1) Medieval period requirement for English major, (2) Writers of Color requirement for English major, (3) Internationalism req for the college, (4) WA req for the college.
- Professor: Coral Lumbley
Here is the course syllabus. All updates to course content will be made to this doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19jihnNLQtgclxVFusJ8RaVmZ0IVLMteo4kQzWa3F9WY/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19jihnNLQtgclxVFusJ8RaVmZ0IVLMteo4kQzWa3F9WY/edit?usp=sharing
- Professor: John Kim
Embark on a transformative journey at the intersection of tradition and innovation in this dynamic course. Applied Anthropology and Human-Centered Design unite to empower you with the knowledge and skills to address pressing social issues. From Anthropology, you will draw on essential and time-honored qualitative research methods such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups to unravel the intricacies of the human experience. But that’s just the beginning. As a change-maker, you will also embrace the practical world of Human-Centered Design (HCD). You will learn to generate insights, fostering creativity through brainstorming and crafting prototypes. These multidisciplinary skills will not only prepare you for making a meaningful impact with empathy and precision but will also position you for life after college with highly sought-after, job-market-relevant abilities to address real-world challenges. Throughout the course, you will refine your storytelling acumen, enabling you to effectively thread your research findings and design solutions into compelling narratives. It will all come together as you work in teams to research a local issue, design a solution for it, and present it in an innovative pitch at the end of the semester. Are you ready for this fusion of classic anthropology and HCD to set the stage for meaningful change and professional success?
- Professor: Allan Martinez Venegas
HIST 294-06 (30433)
Age of Atlantic Revolution - From Stono to Haiti
Between 1729 and 1804, people in the interconnected Atlantic world sought to reconfigure social, economic, and political relations through collective resistance and revolution. The most momentous movements were led by subjugated peoples, including enslaved Africans and white workers. This course examines the practices that revolutionaries deployed; how political thought, spiritual beliefs, food diplomacy, and ecological transformation guided actions; and how exiles, refugees, and forcibly transported persons reshaped the wider Atlantic World from New Orleans and Cuba to Sierra Leone and London.
Fields for History Major: Gender; Colonization and Empire; Law and Social Justice; Race and Indigeneity.
Gen Eds: Internationalism
Age of Atlantic Revolution - From Stono to Haiti
Between 1729 and 1804, people in the interconnected Atlantic world sought to reconfigure social, economic, and political relations through collective resistance and revolution. The most momentous movements were led by subjugated peoples, including enslaved Africans and white workers. This course examines the practices that revolutionaries deployed; how political thought, spiritual beliefs, food diplomacy, and ecological transformation guided actions; and how exiles, refugees, and forcibly transported persons reshaped the wider Atlantic World from New Orleans and Cuba to Sierra Leone and London.
Fields for History Major: Gender; Colonization and Empire; Law and Social Justice; Race and Indigeneity.
Gen Eds: Internationalism
- Professor: Linda Sturtz
History 229 is an introductory course focused on African-American women’s history and the narratives it inspired. We will examine the ideological, political, economic, and cultural make-up of the Black musical traditions in the United States. The basic themes of this course will include: Black feminism; womanism; jazz art and design; African-American literature; intersectionality; and Afrofuturism.
- Professor: Walter Greason
What is an artists' book? Are they works of art that belong on display, or should they be "read" in a library? Using Macalester's artists' book collection as the foundation for exploration, we will study the forms and functions of these works. Starting in the 1950s and continuing to the present, this course will consider how this genre was formed and what influences it. We will review selected artists’ books, survey popular book types, and briefly discuss the genre’s obsession with terminology. In considering artists’ books, we will focus on such questions as these: Why is it a book? Why this medium? How is it a book? We will discuss artistic strategies and techniques as we consider how to determine if a book is successful or not. We will explore basic book-making techniques using traditional and modern forms, culminating in a final book project in which you synthesize your knowledge of materials and form by making your own book. The course covers content development, object design, integration of various media, digital and low-tech image making processes, and the functionality of various bookmaking materials, culminating in an exhibit of the completed artists' books.
- Professor: Ginny Moran
What are the different types of political systems? How did the state evolve? What is the relationship between the structure of political systems and the processes of political action? Are societies lacking political authority vested in an individual or an institution necessarily anarchic? How do different types of political systems maintain social order and resolve disputes? What issues of law and justice arise in plural (multicultural) societies? These are some of the questions that confront the twinned sub-disciplines of political and legal anthropology that we will explore in this course.
While political anthropology is the study of how power is distributed and wielded in a society, the anthropology of law concerns itself with the way social order is maintained and how “law” — as distinct from custom — is formulated and applied. This course examines the meaning of law and politics in cross-cultural perspective. The first half of the course examines how anthropologists have approached the study of politics and the state, from the structural functionalism of the 1940s and 50s to more processual approaches that emphasize the role of agents. In the second half of the course, we examine how people in different places at different times have understood the concept of law, how their understanding has been concretely manifested in the formulation of rules governing social relations and how those rules have been enforced. Role playing in a mock court, where the class puts on trial a Comanche medicine woman for practicing medicine without a license, will be used to understand how law works in a culturally complex society.
- Professor: Arjun Guneratne
This is a team-taught class that combines sociology and anthropology decolonial theories to provide a critical examination of global perspectives that tend to be associated with modern institutions that emerge in the Global North. More importantly, through a decolonizing lens, we will delve into an alternative understanding of the global rooted in the perspective of the Global South and discuss its liberatory possibilities. To better grasp the “coloniality of power” (Quijano 2000) we will focus on how this is manifested in intergovernmental organizations like the United Nations and educational and arts institutions. The course will introduce students to subaltern practices and movements in the Global South that have the potential to unsettle the Western hegemony that dominates international organizations, and the fields of education and the arts in the Global North. A decolonial approach to global perspectives also requires an inquiry into the cultural and racial differences embedded in local-global contexts. Finally, the course will allow students to learn new ways of thinking about power, responsibility, and ethics in the context of globalization, and become aware of organizing experiences that have engaged in decolonization processes.
- Professor: Erika Busse-Cárdenas
- Professor: Olga González
- Professor: Vanessa Phelan
- Professor: Michael Anderson
- Professor: Jerald Dosch
- Professor: Taran Palli
- Professor: Claire Wiley
The following is an outline of the course. The syllabus is a binding contract between students and the instructor. Students should familiarize themselves with course requirements, policies, and calendar of the class. Students are responsible for the understanding of the content presented in this syllabus.
Course Description and Objectives
SPAN 101 is the first elementary Spanish course in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The course objectives are:
a) To introduce students to the Spanish language and culture(s)
b) To help students develop the necessary skills to be able to communicate in Spanish at a novice-mid/novice-high level
c) To acquire proficiency in all four communicative skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing
d) To challenge students to think and react to questions and situations which require them to draw on their own background and experience
e) To begin to familiarize them with the Latinx communities in Minneapolis and Saint Paul
SPAN 101 meets MWF with the instructor. There is one extra hour with the Laboratory Instructor(s). Since the course is interactive, attendance is required and mandatory to all sessions, including the labs.
Note: Spanish and Portuguese Department policy requires that students achieve a grade of C (73%) or higher in order to be able to continue on to the next level (i.e. from SPAN 101 to SPAN 102).
Course Description and Objectives
SPAN 101 is the first elementary Spanish course in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The course objectives are:
a) To introduce students to the Spanish language and culture(s)
b) To help students develop the necessary skills to be able to communicate in Spanish at a novice-mid/novice-high level
c) To acquire proficiency in all four communicative skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing
d) To challenge students to think and react to questions and situations which require them to draw on their own background and experience
e) To begin to familiarize them with the Latinx communities in Minneapolis and Saint Paul
SPAN 101 meets MWF with the instructor. There is one extra hour with the Laboratory Instructor(s). Since the course is interactive, attendance is required and mandatory to all sessions, including the labs.
Note: Spanish and Portuguese Department policy requires that students achieve a grade of C (73%) or higher in order to be able to continue on to the next level (i.e. from SPAN 101 to SPAN 102).
- Professor: Daniel Coral Reyes
The following is an outline of the course. The syllabus is a binding contract between students and the instructor. Students should familiarize themselves with course requirements, policies, and calendar of the class. Students are responsible for the understanding of the content presented in this syllabus.
Course Description and Objectives
SPAN 101 is the first elementary Spanish course in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The course objectives are:
a) To introduce students to the Spanish language and culture(s)
b) To help students develop the necessary skills to be able to communicate in Spanish at a novice-mid/novice-high level
c) To acquire proficiency in all four communicative skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing
d) To challenge students to think and react to questions and situations which require them to draw on their own background and experience
e) To begin to familiarize them with the Latinx communities in Minneapolis and Saint Paul
SPAN 101 meets MWF with the instructor. There is one extra hour with the Laboratory Instructor(s). Since the course is interactive, attendance is required and mandatory to all sessions, including the labs.
Note: Spanish and Portuguese Department policy requires that students achieve a grade of C (73%) or higher in order to be able to continue on to the next level (i.e. from SPAN 101 to SPAN 102).
Course Description and Objectives
SPAN 101 is the first elementary Spanish course in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The course objectives are:
a) To introduce students to the Spanish language and culture(s)
b) To help students develop the necessary skills to be able to communicate in Spanish at a novice-mid/novice-high level
c) To acquire proficiency in all four communicative skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing
d) To challenge students to think and react to questions and situations which require them to draw on their own background and experience
e) To begin to familiarize them with the Latinx communities in Minneapolis and Saint Paul
SPAN 101 meets MWF with the instructor. There is one extra hour with the Laboratory Instructor(s). Since the course is interactive, attendance is required and mandatory to all sessions, including the labs.
Note: Spanish and Portuguese Department policy requires that students achieve a grade of C (73%) or higher in order to be able to continue on to the next level (i.e. from SPAN 101 to SPAN 102).
- Professor: Daniel Coral Reyes
In this course, we will examine the value and moral status of non-human entities: other animals, plants, “natural spaces,” etc. We will also explore the nature and extent of our obligations to these things. Our ultimate goal will be to answer the oldest question in philosophy: how should we live? But whereas traditional moral philosophy focuses on our dealings with other people, we will cast a wider net. Special topics include animal welfare, the idea of “nature,” conservation, environmental displacement, food sovereignty, technological optimism, and hope and loss.
- Professor: Max Dresow
Global change – or planetary-level changes to land, oceans, and the atmosphere – is one of the most critical societal challenges of the 21st century. In this course, students will use multiple forms of science communication to explore the ‘global’ part of global change, including by writing a new Wikipedia article for a BIPOC scientist, highlighting a solution to a global change challenge for a pop science audience, and practicing scientific technical writing by proposing a global change biology experiment. We will work through different global change “modules” that look at climate change, land use change, biodiversity loss, and environmental health, with a strong interdisciplinary link to environmental justice issues throughout. We aim to focus on environmental problems and solutions on a changing planet while pointing a spotlight at regions that will be impacted first and most severely by global change. Prerequisite(s): BIOL/ENVI 170
- Professor: Christine O'Connell
Is caste a centuries old mode of organization or is it a modern construct produced by colonialism? Is it a structure, an object, or a practice? Does caste exist only among Hindus in South Asia or is it a practice that shapes the lives of billions of people across the globe?
In this course, we will unpack caste as a practice. We will study the ways in which caste works by producing and policing knowledge and by adapting to new historical contexts through its intersections with other hierarchies such as race, gender, and sexuality. We will also track how caste moves across conceptual and physical borders and boundaries. We will scrutinize how knowledge about caste is produced in sources such ethnographies, censuses, and legislation. We will juxtapose these readings with the scholarly and artistic production of anti-caste struggles that have challenged dominant paradigms. In doing so, this course will introduce you to a range of textual and visual archives for examining caste in a global historical context.
Starting in the 19th century, we will study how colonial rule remade existing hierarchies of caste and created possibilities for marginalized communities to resist Brahmanical authority. We will also look at the formation of new caste practices among diasporic communities in the Afro-Caribbean. Finally, we explore the new forms of caste based social mobility and marginalization engendered by contemporary global migrations and movements. In sum, this course will introduce students to new frameworks and primary sources for a global history of caste
In this course, we will unpack caste as a practice. We will study the ways in which caste works by producing and policing knowledge and by adapting to new historical contexts through its intersections with other hierarchies such as race, gender, and sexuality. We will also track how caste moves across conceptual and physical borders and boundaries. We will scrutinize how knowledge about caste is produced in sources such ethnographies, censuses, and legislation. We will juxtapose these readings with the scholarly and artistic production of anti-caste struggles that have challenged dominant paradigms. In doing so, this course will introduce you to a range of textual and visual archives for examining caste in a global historical context.
Starting in the 19th century, we will study how colonial rule remade existing hierarchies of caste and created possibilities for marginalized communities to resist Brahmanical authority. We will also look at the formation of new caste practices among diasporic communities in the Afro-Caribbean. Finally, we explore the new forms of caste based social mobility and marginalization engendered by contemporary global migrations and movements. In sum, this course will introduce students to new frameworks and primary sources for a global history of caste
- Professor: Niharika Yadav
This course explores the intersections of politics and economics on a global scale, consisting of three parts: 1) global trade, 2) international finance, and 3) the outcomes of globalization. The first part examines the determinants of trade from individual, institutional, and political regime perspectives, explores the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in governing global trade, the rise of regionalism in trade, and the (changing) role of China in global trade. The second part focuses on international finance, exploring the politics of currency exchange and money markets, international financial governance, the new financial actors, such as the BRICS nations, and the role of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in development. In the final part, the course addresses how globalization has led to environmental challenges, transformed immigration patterns, exacerbated socioeconomic inequalities, and stimulated illicit economic activities. Alongside a theoretical and empirical foundation, the course provides students with hands-on experience in navigating the complexities of global economic governance through simulations of the WTO and World Bank. By the end of the course, students will gain a critical perspective on the interplay between global politics and economics and be equipped with the analytical tools to interpret the evolving global economic landscape.
- Professor: Ibrahim Oker
What is “madness”? Can the concept of mental illness be a valid one? What assumptions underlie attempts to classify mental disorders? And can we be justified in compelling people to submit to psychiatric treatment?
In this course we will examine these and other questions raised by mental disorder and our attempts to understand and treat it. We will also address ethical issues like the social implications of clinical categories, the proper aims of clinical discourse and practice, and the prospects of alternative models (besides the medical model) for conceptualizing mental “dysfunctions.”
In this course we will examine these and other questions raised by mental disorder and our attempts to understand and treat it. We will also address ethical issues like the social implications of clinical categories, the proper aims of clinical discourse and practice, and the prospects of alternative models (besides the medical model) for conceptualizing mental “dysfunctions.”
- Professor: Max Dresow
The Middle East has often been portrayed as a stronghold of entrenched authoritarian leadership and a nexus for intense ethnic and religious conflict, including political violence. This course seeks to dissect the underlying reasons for the endurance of such perceptions and to investigate the motivations that have propelled citizens throughout the region to challenge and attempt to dismantle autocratic regimes. It probes the extent to which colonial legacies have contributed to and sustained these political quandaries. Furthermore, the course interrogates the ascendancy of Islamist movements in numerous Middle Eastern nations and examines the causes behind the surge in sectarian conflict. The course is crafted to provide a nuanced understanding of Middle Eastern politics, blending in-depth analysis of essential questions with a comprehensive examination of particular events and patterns across different countries within the region. The course addresses themes such as the endurance of authoritarianism, the dynamics of Political Islam, the patterns of sectarian conflict, the trajectory of economic growth and stagnation, as well as the catalysts and underpinnings of the Arab Spring(s) and Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- Professor: Ibrahim Oker
History 394 is a discussion-based seminar course. We will examine the ideological, political, economic, and cultural changes the digital representations of African Americans in the twentieth century United States. The basic themes of this course will include: search parameters, digital semiotics, radio representations, comedy and comedians, sports and professional athletics, evolution of television, film and movie influences, literature and short stories, historical stereotypes and their origins, economic and political effects of these images.
- Professor: Walter Greason
- Professor: Ernesto Capello
- Professor: Kalei Ganser
- Professor: Ginny Moran
This course draws on the Reproductive Justice framework (Sister Song 1994) to anchor the experiences of marginalized and racialized bodies that gestate in the Americas. Thus, the focus of the class goes beyond access to abortion to include comprehensive sex education, the right to have children and to parent them in safe and sustainable communities. While we will start out with analyzing the U.S. case and then move to learn about the work in other countries of the Americas, the guiding question will be: what can the U.S. learn from the feminist movements in the Americas? In so doing, the readings and class discussions will pay particular attention to feminist movements and the coalitions they have formed to fight for social justice in the region.
- Professor: Erika Busse-Cárdenas
- Professor: Vanessa Phelan
- Professor: Vanessa Phelan
- Professor: Khaldoun Samman
The course focuses on access to water as a case to learn about how racialized populations have been historically marginalized in the Twin Cities. In doing so, the class will study the ways Latinx women navigate and resist such marginalization in their role of caring for others in their families. Theoretically, we will engage with the concept of “environmental suffering” (Auyero and Swistun 2007) and extend it to analyze racial marginalization to analyze how racialization constrains Latinx women’s life chances, and of their families. The course will include two visits to Latinx neighborhoods to learn about local women’s stories. Also, we will partner with COPAL MN to learn about the experiences of current Latinx communities’ experiences regarding women’s water use. Specifically, we will support COPAL MN’s storytelling work in the Twin Cities. Thus, as part of their final project, students will complete an oral history project that will be part of the archive COPAL MN is compiling.
- Professor: Erika Busse-Cárdenas
- Professor: Vanessa Phelan
Making Theatre is a messy business. In this studio course there are no scripts, no lines and no stage directions. We will invent everything ourselves by learning how to play with skill. We will explore improvisation, games, object manipulation, masks and the haphazard world of the clown. Training includes basic acrobatics, balancing and juggling. The goal of the course is to encourage curiosity, and to engage the student as creator, designer, and performer.
- Professor: Robert Rosen
- Professor: Summer Hills-Bonczyk
- Professor: Marie Peterson
- Professor: Pamela Klasova
- Professor: Andrew Overman
The specter of colonialism continues to loom large in contemporary society. Aiming to unpack this persistent influence, this course offers an in-depth examination of its enduring impacts. Utilizing scholarly debates and a curated selection of films, it offers a comprehensive exploration of colonialism’s multifaceted legacies, integrating academic and cinematic perspectives for deeper understanding. The first half of the course delves into theorizing the colonial experience and expansion, while the second half critically examines colonialism’s profound shaping of various aspects of today’s international order. This analysis includes a focus on the United Nation’s role in creating and perpetuating global inequalities during the decolonization process, alongside an exploration of colonialism’s impact on democracy, development, human rights, the environment, and ethnic conflicts. Ultimately, this course is not just an academic study; it is a journey into understanding the enduring influence of colonialism, revealing the persistent historical shadows that continue to shape our present and future.
- Professor: Ibrahim Oker
In this topic-based course, students develop linguistic and cultural skills to move from “advanced low” proficiency to “advanced high” proficiency in Mandarin. Subjects studied include gender relations, education reform, population control, and housing.
This course places a special focus on reading. Students are encouraged and helped to further advance their oral proficiency while developing reading and writing skills. Students learn to expand their speaking repertoire from topics of everyday routines and interest to more intellectually and linguistically challenging topics such as social issues and current events. The combination of writing exercises after each lesson, discussions in class, debates and presentations as a group provides ample of opportunities for students to practice, and improve both language and interpersonal skills.
This course places a special focus on reading. Students are encouraged and helped to further advance their oral proficiency while developing reading and writing skills. Students learn to expand their speaking repertoire from topics of everyday routines and interest to more intellectually and linguistically challenging topics such as social issues and current events. The combination of writing exercises after each lesson, discussions in class, debates and presentations as a group provides ample of opportunities for students to practice, and improve both language and interpersonal skills.
- Professor: Pei-Wen Fang
- Professor: Lulu Qiu
Music is a ubiquitous part of our daily lives. Your Uber driver wants to know if you’d like to listen to it. It’s playing while you bag up avocados, try on pants, eat a burger. It’s playing while you stretch in the seventh inning or wait in the waiting room. There’s a whole segment of it just for elevators. But sometimes a song cuts through this opaque din. Touches our hearts, soundtracks our lives, makes us want to scream wildly in a room with 20,000 strangers. So what makes a song stand apart? Well, a bit of magic, for sure. But Harlan Howard wasn’t wrong when he said the recipe for any great song is “three chords and the truth”. Strip a song down to its essential elements and you have lyrics, melody, and structure. In this class, we’ll be focusing on these pillars: how to tell a great story (from the personal to the universal), how to write a melody that sticks, and how form can shape the listener’s experience. We’ll examine the modus operandi of prolific songwriters, explore the tricks of the trade for getting started and finishing strong, and work collaboratively to write an album’s worth of hits! To take this class, basic knowledge of a musical instrument, such as guitar or piano, is preferred, but not required. You must simply be able to compose and sing melodies. You will be required to share your compositions with the class, either live or via basic audio recording.
- Professor: Kerry Alexander
History 294 is an advanced seminar focused on the historical understanding of the world economy. We will examine the ideological, political, economic, and cultural of both the economics and historical professions since the late nineteenth century. The basic themes of this course will include: macroeconomic theory; industrialization; social capital; Milton Friedman; late globalization; digital markets; colonialism; segregation; and stratification economics.
- Professor: Walter Greason
- Professor: David Martyn
POLI
- Professor: Andrew Latham
RELI
- Professor: Susanna Drake
GERM
- Professor: Ross Shields
MATH
- Professor: Robert Angarone
- Professor: Andrew Beveridge
- Professor: Stotra Chakrabarti
- Professor: Yuelia Chang
BIOL
- Professor: Michael Anderson
- Professor: Stotra Chakrabarti
- Professor: Jerald Dosch
- Professor: Timna Nevo
- Professor: Ellie Sablak
- Professor: Michael Anderson
- Professor: Anika Bratt
- Professor: Corinne Byus
- Professor: Stotra Chakrabarti
- Professor: Jerald Dosch
- Professor: Mary Heskel
ECON
- Professor: Thomas Durfee
ECON
- Professor: Thomas Durfee
GEOG
- Professor: I-Chun Catherine Chang
HIST
- Professor: Walter Greason
RELI
- Professor: Erik Davis
RELI
- Professor: Susanna Drake
- Professor: Holly Barcus
THDA
- Professor: kt shorb
ENGL
- Professor: Sarah Ghazal Ali
ENGL
- Professor: Coral Lumbley
- Professor: Xavier Haro-Carrión
- Professor: Oliver Matus-Bond
SOCI
- Professor: Vanessa Phelan
- Professor: Khaldoun Samman
ENGL
- Professor: Emma Törzs
- Professor: Matt Burgess
- Professor: Megan Vossler
POLI
- Professor: Wendy Weber
THDA
- Professor: Wynn Fricke
- Professor: Erika Busse-Cárdenas
- Professor: Kate Nozal
- Professor: Vanessa Phelan
FREN
- Professor: Andrew Billing
From slinky silks to latex and leather, textiles are key ways that humans design and display our identities. This hands-on course is a deep-dive into how writing, film, and identity-creation intersect with the history of fashion. We will focus on how clothing and textiles have been used to both express and subvert gender expectations, encountering figures like Anne Lister (“the first modern lesbian”), Eleanor Rykener (the earliest documented trans woman in England), and Susan Stryker (contemporary trans theorist and activist). Additionally, we will work with visual media, from RuPaul’s DragRace to Gentleman Jack. Come ready to play with fabric and historical fashion, no prior experience required! In this class, we will learn the basics of sewing, giving us tangible insight into the long history of clothing and “women’s work”. Students will develop a multimodal portfolio, including written work, design sketches, and wearable garments.
The class fulfills the college-wide requirements in Humanities and Writing as Argument.
The class fulfills the college-wide requirements in Humanities and Writing as Argument.
- Professor: Coral Lumbley
- Professor: Brad Belbas
Categoria: Miscellaneous
J.R.R. Tolkien had a “secret vice”: creating imaginary languages based on medieval languages.
Come learn how Tolkien drew on the Welsh language and medieval Welsh literature to craft the world of Middle-Earth and the language of the Elves. As we read our way through medieval Wales, we will encounter sorcerer-bards, goddesses, magical treasures, and mysterious creatures (who are rarely what they seem). Studying the basics of the Welsh language will allow us to be enchanted by the strange and poignant stories of the Mabinogion and the Book of Taliesin. By the end of the course, we will see why Tolkien believed Welsh to be one of the most beautiful languages in the world.
Come learn how Tolkien drew on the Welsh language and medieval Welsh literature to craft the world of Middle-Earth and the language of the Elves. As we read our way through medieval Wales, we will encounter sorcerer-bards, goddesses, magical treasures, and mysterious creatures (who are rarely what they seem). Studying the basics of the Welsh language will allow us to be enchanted by the strange and poignant stories of the Mabinogion and the Book of Taliesin. By the end of the course, we will see why Tolkien believed Welsh to be one of the most beautiful languages in the world.
- Professor: Coral Lumbley
Welcome to the 2023 - 2024 academic year, writing tutors! We’re thrilled to have each of you as part of this year’s Writing Support cohort in the MAX Center. Your position as a writing tutor is intended to be an ongoing learning experience. We each begin this year together with different sets of experiences–some have been tutoring writing for over a decade, some for several semesters, and some will begin this work for the first time. We’ll bring a variety of expertise, and through collaborative inquiry and reflection, we’ll be prompted to ask questions about and imagine new possibilities for writing and writers.
To that end, Alyssa, Jake, and Britt have designed an education program to help facilitate this learning. Our Learning Outcomes and our Statement of Purpose for Writing (the latter found in the Writing Tutor Manual) inform each month’s theme and corresponding set of motivating questions for us to explore together. We’re excited to embark on this work alongside you.
- Professor: Brigetta Abel
- Professor: Cori McKenzie-Read
- Professor: Jake Mohan
Categoria: Miscellaneous