Provisional University Bulletin (2025-2026)

The oral communication requirement recognizes that students need to be prepared for a variety of ways to communicate effectively in various fields of study including oral presentations, interviews, active debate, critique, and performances.

For students entering Brandeis beginning fall 2019, the oral communication requirement will be fulfilled for most students through coursework taken in the completion of their major, or through other options described in the requirements for the major. Please see the Requirements to Complete a Major for information on fulfilling oral communication for a specific major.

For students entering Brandeis prior to fall 2019, courses that satisfy the requirement in a particular semester are designated "oc" in the Schedule of Classes for that semester. Students must satisfactorily complete one writing-intensive course, and either a second writing-intensive course or an oral communication course.

AMST/ENG 47a Frontier Visions: The West in American Literature and Culture
[ hum oc ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took ENG 47a in prior years.

Explores more than two centuries of literary and visual culture about the American West, including the frontier myth, Indian captivity narratives, frontier humor, dime novel and Hollywood westerns, the Native American Renaissance, and western regionalism. Authors include Black Hawk, Cather, Doig, Silko, Turner, and Twain. Usually offered every third year.

AMST/MUS 35a Rock, Country, and Hip-Hop: History of American Popular Music
[ ca oc ]

Formerly offered as MUS 35a.

Examines the historical context, stylistic development, and cultural significance of rock and roll and other closely related genres, spanning the 1950s through the present. Close attention is paid to how political and social changes have interacted with technological innovations through commercial music to challenge, affirm and shape ideas of race, gender, class and sexuality in the United States. Usually offered every third year.

AMST/MUS 39b Protest Through Song: Music that Shaped America
[ ca oc ss ]

Open to music majors and non-majors. Does not fulfill the Main Currents in American Studies requirement for the major.

Examines 20th and 21st century protest music to better understand the complex relationships between music and social movements. Through class discussions, reading, writing, and listening assignments, and a final performance students will discover how social, cultural, and economic protest songs helped shape American culture. Usually offered every second year.

AMST/MUS 55a Music in Film: Hearing American Cinema
[ ca oc ]

Formerly offered as MUS 55a.

Examines the aesthetics and the history of music in film. Through lecture, class discussions, screenings, and readings, the course teaches students how to critically read image, script, and music as an integrated cultural text, ultimately helping one understand and appreciate the progression of film and sound technology from the 1890s to the present. Usually offered every third year.

ANTH 61b Language in American Life
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Examines both language-in-use and ideas about language varieties in the United States from an anthropological perspective. Explores how language-in-use emerges from and builds relationships, social hierarchies, professional authority, religious experience, dimensions of identity such as gender and race, and more. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 62a Archaeology in Politics, Film and Public Culture
[ oc ss ]

Examines the use of archaeology in national politics, popular culture, and continued international debates revolving around issues of cultural patrimony. After a brief look at the history of the field and its inception within colonialism, this course centers on the contemporary uses of archaeology, including archaeology in totalitarian Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Italy, nationalist projects and the establishment of nation-building narratives (such as in Israel, Egypt, China and Mexico), and portrayals of archaeology in popular films and modern hoaxes. Importantly, this course also focuses on national and international laws concerning cultural objects and sites, and the ethical dilemmas of stewardship, repatriation, and looting. Usually offered every third year.

ANTH 81a Conducting Ethnographic Fieldwork: Methods and Practice of Anthropological Research
[ oc ss wi ]

Formerly offered as ANTH 181aj.

Examines principal issues in ethnographic fieldwork and analysis, including research design, data collection, and ethnographic representation. Students will develop a focused research question, design field research, and conduct supervised fieldwork in a variety of local settings. Usually offered every second year.

BIOL 18b General Biology Laboratory for Biology Majors
[ oc sn ]

Prerequisites: BIOL 15b, sophomore standing, and a declared biology major. Yields full-course credit. This lab is time-intensive and students will be expected to come to lab between regular scheduled lab sessions. In order to accommodate students with time conflicts it may be necessary to re-assign students without conflicts to another section of the course. Students' section choice will be honored if possible.

Provides firsthand experience with modern molecular biology techniques and illustrates basic approaches to experimental design and problem solving in molecular and cellular biology including applications of biochemical techniques. Usually offered every year.

BIOL 39b Biology of Global Climate Change
[ dl oc sn ]

Prerequisites: ENVS 2a, BIOL 16a or BIOL 17b.

Examines the biology of global climate change from how biology informs understanding climate change to the evolutionary and ecological responses to climate change. This course includes an exploration of the primary literature. Usually offered every spring.

BIOL 53a Introduction to Animal Science and Nutrition
[ oc sn ]

Prerequisites: BIOL 14a and BIOL 15b.

Designed for students interested in learning the fundamentals of animal science. The course is intended for students who are familiar with central dogma, cellular structure and genetic inheritance, but have not yet applied those concepts in animal systems. Usually offered every second year.

BUS 47a Business Communication
[ oc ss wi ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. Enrollment limited to Business Majors.

Success in today's competitive corporate world stems from an individual's strong communication skills. As a future professional, you will be asked to organize, develop, and deliver concise presentations and write business specific that meet a range target audiences' needs in a variety of business contexts. This course will help you prepare and develop your written, oral, visual, and digital communication skills, as well as your critical and analytical thinking skills. Emphasis will focus on real business cases, my personal business experiences, and communication styles and techniques represented in the business community. By the end of this class, you will understand how to communicate professionally using various business communication techniques and applications based on the audience you are communicating with and in what context through practice and feedback from both professor and peers will be an important part of this course. Usually offered every year.

CHEM 88a Communication and Career Skills in Chemistry
[ oc ]

Prerequisites: A satisfactory grade (C- or better) in CHEM 25b and 29b, or the equivalent. Does not count as one of the lecture or lab courses for the chemistry major.

A course focused on honing skills for effective scientific communication and career development in chemistry. Students will practice presenting chemical information, learn about various career paths in chemistry, and gain insight into standard safety and ethical protocols in science. Usually offered every second year.

CHIN 40b Advanced Intermediate Chinese
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: CHIN 30a or equivalent. Four class hours per week.

Continuation of CHIN 30a. Usually offered every spring.

CLAS 45a Practicum in Oral Communication
[ oc ]

Corequisite: One course in Classical Studies and permission of the instructor. Yields half-course credit. Fulfills the oral communication requirement for Classical Studies majors under the Brandeis Core.

Provides students with discipline appropriate training in viewing and designing oral presentations. Usually offered every semester.

COML/ENG 21a The Literature of Walking
[ hum oc ]

Explores genres of pedestrianism—rambles, strolls, promenades, treks, pilgrimages, marches. Students will take and design walks as well as read major works on the subject. Usually offered every fourth year.

COSI 45a Effective Communication for Computer Scientists
[ oc ]

Prerequisite: One 100-level COSI elective. Yields half-course credit.

Teaches the basics of good oral communication and presentation, such as structuring a presentation, body language, eye contact, pace and appropriateness for the audience. It will cover, with practice, a range of speaking engagements majors might meet in academia and industry including: presentation of a research paper, software architecture proposal, business elevator pitch, research funding proposal, and so on. Students will present a project already created for a 100-level COSI elective. They will give the presentation in class, receive feedback based on the practices taught and then have a chance to give the presentation a second time. Usually offered every semester.

ECON 25a Oral Communication in Economics Practicum
[ oc ]

Prerequisite: ECON 80a. Course may be taken as a corequisite. Yields half-course credit.

Introduces students to techniques of public speaking in economics using microeconomic applications. Teaches students to explain real-world economic problems to an audience using economic reasoning. Usually offered every semester.

ECON 35b History of Taxation
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a.

Traces taxation from the origins of coinage (560 BCE) to the proposed global minimum corporate tax (2021+). We examine taxes within the supply-and-demand model, including discussions of deadweight loss and allocative efficiency. Additionally, the course focuses on the political economy, welfare, and equity impacts of taxation. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 55a American Economic History
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a. Formerly offered as ECON/HIS 55a.

Analyzes the sources of American economic growth from colonial times until the end of the twentieth century. Topics include immigration, land policy, industrialization, and the increasing role of government in shaping economic performance. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 57a Environmental Economics
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a.

Investigates the theoretical and policy problems posed by the use of renewable and nonrenewable resources. Theoretical topics include the optimal pricing of resources, the optimal use of standards and taxes to correct pollution problems under uncertainty, and the measurement of costs and benefits. Usually offered every year.

ECON 69a The Economics of Race and Gender
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a.

The role of race and gender in economic decision making. Mainstream and alternative economic explanations for discrimination, and analysis of the economic status of women and minorities. Discussion of specific public policies related to race, class, and gender. Usually offered every second year.

ENG 11a Close Reading: Theory and Practice
[ hum oc ]

Examines the theory, practice, technique, and method of close literary reading, with scrupulous attention to a variety of literary texts to ask not only what but also how they mean, and what justifies our thinking that they mean these things. Usually offered every third year.

ENG 17b Climate Fictions
[ hum oc wi ]

Examines fictional narratives addressing climate change. Asks how authors from around the world imagine a future in which sea levels, animal populations, temperatures, access to food, and/or weather patterns are significantly different from those of the present. Usually offered every third year.

ENG 20b Literary Games
[ deis-us dl hum oc ]

Course includes a mandatory lab and yields 6 credits.

Addresses a long durée history of the games through the lens of transmedia. This then is the start pointing to examine how transmedia theory may help unpack issues in what I call 'literary games' from the medieval chess board, dice game, to digital multi-player video games now. Within a discussion of transmedia we will address the various theories about narrative and play that have animated discussions about games from the Middle Ages to contemporary media. This class will also center race, gender, sexuality, disability, class in thinking through the issues of transmedia and the gaming cultures that have most recently been in the political mainstream news in relation to far-right politics. Usually offered every third year.

ENG 32a 21st-Century Global Fiction: A Basic Course
[ djw hum nw oc ]

Offers an introduction to 21st-century global fiction in English. What is fiction and how does it illuminate contemporary issues such as migration, terrorism, and climate change? Authors include Zadie Smith, Amitav Ghosh, Chimamanda Adichie, Mohsin Hamid, J.M. Coetzee and others. Usually offered every third year.

ENG 33b Shakespeare Now
[ hum oc ]

This introductory Shakespeare course will be structured around the relationship between Shakespeare’s plays and issues of central relevance to our world today. We will be reading a small number of plays, leaving time to work on contemporary adaptations and uses of each of the plays we study. Topics to be explored include (but are by no means limited to) misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism, and colonialism. Usually offered every year.

ENG 43b Medieval Play: Drama, LARP, and Video Games
[ djw hum oc ]

Works with a selection of medieval mystery plays, medieval-themed video games and participatory live-action role play to explore: play structures and design; alternative-world creation by way of immersion; the significance of gender, race, disability, and sexuality in performance. Usually offered every third year.

ENG 52a Refugee Stories, Refugee Lives
[ deis-us djw dl hum nw oc ]

Examines the functions of storytelling in the refugee crisis. Its main objective is to further students' understanding of the political dimensions of storytelling. The course explores how reworking of reality enable people to question State and social structures. Usually offered every third year.

ENG 60a Storytelling Performance
[ hum oc ]

This experiential course is a workshop for students to craft and perform stories for live audiences at Brandeis and elsewhere in the Boston area. Through a series of collaborative exercises and rehearsals, students will develop a repertoire of several kinds of stories, including autobiographies, fictions, folk tales, and local history. We will tell our individual and group stories, as a team, at youth programs, open mics, and other public spaces. Usually offered every second year.

ENG 62b Contemporary African Literature, Global Perspectives
[ djw dl hum nw oc ]

What is "African" in African literature when the majority of writers are somehow removed from the African societies they portray? How do expatriate writers represent African subjectivities and cultures at the intersection of Diaspora and globalization? Who reads the works produced by these writers? Usually offered every third year.

ENG 64a Queer Readings: Before the Binary
[ hum oc ]

Explores vectors of desire, intimacy, and relationality prior to 1800 that do not always neatly line up with post-Enlightenment taxonomies of gender, sexuality, race, and humanness. We will read works by Austen, Behn, Marlowe, Phillips, Rochester, Shakespeare, and others, asking: What possibilities of pleasure, intimacy, love, friendship, and kinship existed alongside male-female reproductive sex and marriage before 1800? What possibilities for non-binary gender identifications and presentations? Without firm taxonomic distinctions among classes of people, between human and nonhuman animals, or even between the human and the thing, how did early moderns understand what counted as fully human? Usually offered every third year.

ENG 73a Witchcraft and Magic in the Renaissance: From Scotland to Salem
[ hum oc ]

Focuses on the representation of witches, wizards, devils, and magicians in texts by Shakespeare, Marlow, and others. Historical accounts of witchcraft trials in England and Scotland are read and several films dramatizing these trials are viewed. Usually offered every third year.

ENVS 42b Climate Science
[ oc qr sn ]

Recommended prerequisite: A high school course in chemistry or physics.

Provides an overview of the physical and chemical processes governing climate change. There will be an emphasis on quantitative problem solving using real-world climate data. Students will become adept at orally defending climate science to skeptics. Usually offered every year.

HIST 52b Europe in the Modern World
[ oc ss ]

Explores European history from the Enlightenment to the present emphasizing how developments in Europe have shaped and been shaped by broader global contexts. Topics include: revolution, industrialization, political and social reforms, nationalism, imperialism, legacies of global wars, totalitarianism, and decolonization. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 66a History of South Asia (2500 BCE - 1971)
[ djw nw oc ss ]

Introduces South Asian history from the earliest civilizations to the independence of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Surveys the formation of religious traditions, the establishment of kingdoms and empires, colonialism and its consequences, and post-independence political and economic development. Usually offered every second year.

JAPN 40b Advanced Intermediate Japanese
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 30a or the equivalent. Meets four days per week for a total of four class hours per week and one half-hour tutoring session per week.

Continuation of JAPN 30a. Further refining of a student's four language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Japanese through various classroom activities, workbook, audio, video, and writing essays. Usually offered every spring.

LACLS 1a Introduction to Latin American/LatinX: Cultures, Histories, and Societies
[ nw oc ss ]

Provides a broad overview of the histories, cultures, and politics that continue to shape the Americas; specifically of the vast regions and populations of what came to be labeled as "Latin America," "the Caribbean" and what we now call "Latinx " populations in the USA. The class provides an introduction to Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies. It draws from different disciplines and fields of study that compose this field, such as history, anthropology, literature, visual arts, film, political science, among other perspectives and methodologies. Usually offered every year.

LGLS 10a Introduction to Law
[ oc ss ]

Surveys the nature, process, and institutions of law: the reasoning of lawyers and judges, the interplay of cases and policies, the impact of history and culture, and the ideals of justice and responsibility in a global context. Usually offered every fall.

LGLS 89a Law and Society Internship and Seminar
[ oc wi ]

Prerequisites: LGLS 10a and one other LGLS course or permission of the instructor. To obtain an internship, students must discuss their placements with the LGLS internship director by April 15 for fall term internships or by November 15 for spring term internships. This course may not be repeated for credit.

Course consists of regular class meetings, a supervised law-related internship in a public agency or nonprofit organization, and a related research paper. Students must work between 10 and 15 hours per week at their internship placement site. Examples of internship activities include investigating discrimination cases, negotiating between consumers and small business, and attending criminal and family courts. Internships are arranged in consultation with the Internship Director and the Program Administrator for Legal Studies. Usually offered every semester.

MATH 16b Applied Linear Algebra Practicum
[ dl oc ]

Prerequisite: MATH 15a or MATH 22a. Yields half-course credit.

Introduces fundamental skills for both computing and oral communication in the context of applied linear algebra problems. Includes basics of Python, numpy, and matplotlib. Usually offered every year.

MATH 40a Introduction to Applied Mathematics
[ dl oc sn ]

Prerequisites: MATH 15a or MATH 22a and MATH 20a or MATH 22b.

Introduces the problems and issues of applied mathematics, with emphasis on how mathematical ideas can have a major impact on diverse fields of human inquiry. Usually offered every fall.

MUS 37a Community Engagement Through Music
[ ca oc ]

If you make music in any way, whether you play guitar in your bedroom by yourself or perform piano recitals onstage, your music has the potential to help you develop impactful personal connections with the greater Waltham community. In this experiential learning course, we will explore community engagement through music, creating interactive musical storytime performances for children and adaptable performances for senior/rehabilitation centers, seeking input from our partner organizations and our peers at every step of the way. Bring your musical creativity and your community spirit- we have the opportunity to be ambassadors for Brandeis in the Waltham community while having a lot of fun along the way. Proficiency on a musical instrument is not required to participate in the course, but all students will be expected to bring their musical curiosity to the class, as well as willingness to push outside their comfort zone and get a little silly at times! Openness to a variety of perspectives, on an off campus, will also be a vital part of the learning process. Usually offered every second year.

MUS 56b Romanticism in European Music and Literature: Breakups, Breakdowns, and Beauty
[ ca oc ]

Open to Music majors and non-majors.

Romantic art abounds in depictions of hallucinators, madwomen, obsessives, and other individuals whose thoughts and behaviors deviate sharply from societal norms. This semester, we'll seek to understand the cultural and historical significance of the ways in which late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century music and literature portray exceptional emotional, mental, and physiological states. We'll investigate the connections among madness, genius, physical illness, and the supernatural in the Romantic imagination, and also think about the artistic techniques contemporary writers and composers used to represent 'extreme' psychology. Our approach to this material will be comparative rather than strictly historical: we'll look at works written in different countries and different time periods within the period, grouped together by theme. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 25a Introduction to Talmud
[ hum oc ]

Prerequisite: A 30-level Hebrew course or the equivalent is recommended.

An introduction to Treatise Bava Metzia, on the subject of labor law. Topics include: payment for commuting time, eating on the job, benefits a worker can expect from their employer. The course introduces the Babylonian Talmud. Attention is paid to modes of argument, literary form, and development of the Talmudic text. No previous study of Talmud is presupposed. Usually offered every second year.

NPSY 28a Learning and Memory
[ oc sn ss ]

Prerequisite: PSYC 10a or MATH 10a or permission of the instructor.

Introduces the study of learning and memory. The course will survey various types of memory (e.g., explicit memory, implicit memory, conditioning, short-term/working memory), including strategies, mechanisms, and brain systems. It will encompass disorders and applied aspects of memory. Usually offered every second year.

PHYS 39a Advanced Physics Laboratory
[ oc qr sn wi ]

Prerequisite: PHYS 20a. This course may be repeated once for credit with permission of the instructor. This course is co-taught with PHYS 169b.

Experiments in a range of topics in physics, possibly including selections from the following: wave optics, light scattering, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, numerical simulation and modeling, phase transitions, laser tweezers, chaotic dynamics, and optical microscopy. Students work in depth on three experiments during the term. Usually offered every year.

POL 89a Political Science Internship
[ oc ]

Students in the course examine political issues alongside professionals in the field. Students will evaluate the applicability of political science theories and concepts to real-world politics. Seminar meetings and assignments provide perspective and a substantive basis for the internship experience. Usually offered every year.

PSYC 36b Adolescence and the Transition to Maturity
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: PSYC 10a.

Examines the core issues (identity, intimacy, sexuality, spirituality, etc.) that define development during adolescence and the transition to young adulthood. Heavy emphasis is placed on integrating research and theory in understanding adolescence and young adulthood. Usually offered every year.

THA 2a Theater Foundations: Process, Production, and Performance
[ ca oc ]

Intended as an entry level course for majors, minors, and interested students with little to no theater experience. May count towards the major or minor in Theater Arts.

An introduction and investigation of theater in its many aspects. This course will acquaint the student with the theatrical elements of production and performance and familiarize the student with the role of artist and audience. Usually offered every year.

THA 10a Theater as Collaboration
[ ca oc ]

Develops the student's ability to read a theatrical text through the lens of the collaborative theater artist. Reading, discussions, papers, and exercises about acting, directing, movement, design, dramaturgy, technical theater, and management will constitute the bulk of this course. Intended as the entry level course for majors, minors, and interested students with a background in theater. Usually offered every year.

THA 15b Public Speaking: The Art of Oral Communication
[ oc ]

Does not meet the requirements for the major or minor in Theater Arts. May not be used to satisfy the Creative Arts distribution requirement.

Introduces the basic concepts and techniques of making presentations to groups of people. Students explore the principles of human communication and apply them to various situations and forms of spoken discourse. Students develop a process for analyzing the audience and situation; for choosing, limiting, and researching a subject; for developing effective habits of vocal delivery; and for writing their own speeches. Usually offered every year.

THA 16b Genius in Small Group Communication: Theory and Practice
[ oc ]

Does not meet the requirements for the major or minor in Theater Arts. May not be used to satisfy the Creative Arts distribution requirement.

The study of small group communication centers on placing the self as secondary and the group as primary, implementing the art of compromise and collaboration. This course develops critical skills in communicating in public and within a small group context. Course meetings introduce theoretical frameworks around small group communication and students will immediately put ideas into practice in class. Requires group work inside and outside of class. Usually offered every second year.

WGS 5a Women, Genders, and Sexualities
[ deis-us dl oc ss ]

This interdisciplinary course introduces central concepts and topics in the field of women's, gender, and sexuality studies. Explores the position of women and other genders in diverse settings and the impact of gender as a social, cultural, and intellectual category in the United States and around the globe. Asks how gendered institutions, behaviors, and representations have been configured in the past and function in the present, and also examines the ways in which gender and sexuality intersect with many other vectors of identity and circumstance in forming human affairs. Usually offered every fall.

AAAS 104a Colorism in Paradise
[ djw dl oc ss ]

Introduces the concept of colorism, its relationship to racism, and consider the prevalence of color over race as a preferred identity and socio-political category across Latin America and the Caribbean. The course requires students to read interdisciplinary academic texts and utilize critical race and social praxeology theory to interrogate specific, national contexts within the Latin American and Caribbean region. Special one-time offering, Fall 2021.

AAAS 120a African History in Real Time
[ djw nw oc ss ]

This information literacy-driven course equips students with the skills to place current events in Africa in their historical context. Collectively the class builds 5-6 distinct course modules which entail sourcing and evaluating current news stories from a range of media outlets, selecting those that merit in-depth historical analysis, and developing a syllabus for each one. Usually offered every second year.

AAAS 124a After the Dance: Performing Sovereignty in the Caribbean
[ hum oc ss ]

Utilizing short fiction, essays, plays, poetry, and the visual arts, this class theorizes movement and/as freedom in the spectacular or mundane movements of the region, including annual Carnival and Hosay celebrations. Usually offered every third year.

AAAS 128b Contemporary Africa
[ djw oc ss ]

A broad synopsis of the dynamic character of contemporary Africa and key current issues dominating the continent. Designed for students from all disciplines, the course will emphasize the utilization of critical thinking skills to consider the place and future of Africa in today's highly globalized world. Usually offered every second year.

AAAS 138a Africa and the World: Recentering Africa in Global History and Politics
[ dl oc ss ]

A wide-ranging survey of transnational history to the present, linked throughout by the thread of African connections to the global. The course is a nuanced and specific interrogation of African presence, influence, agency, and impact on aspects of the past, present, and future of the world as we know it, from human origins to slavery, the World Wars, globalization, feminism, environmentalism, global popular cultures, Afropolitanism, and global social justice campaigns such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter. Usually offered every year.

AAAS/WGS 136a Black Feminist Thought
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Formerly offered as AAAS 136a.

Critical examination of the historical, political, economic, and ideological factors that have shaped the lives of African-American women in the United States. Analyzing foundation theoretical texts, fiction, and film over two centuries, this class seeks to understand black women's writing and political activism in the U.S. Usually offered every second year.

AAPI/WGS 126a Asian American and Pacific Islander Women
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Asian American and Pacific Islander women’s history is an interdisciplinary field of study at the intersections of national and global histories of the United States; women’s, gender, and sexuality studies; Asian American and Pacific Islander studies; Native American and Indigenous studies; and more. This course introduces students to seminal works in the field of Asian American and Pacific Islander women’s history, covering a broad range of topics and ethnic groups. We will explore important historical figures, feminist writers and scholars, activists, cultural producers, popular icons, and historical events in our quest to understand AAPI women’s positions and movements within the US social formation. While the experiences of AAPI women vary greatly over time and space, common themes we will explore include globalism and transnationalism; exclusion, empire, and colonialism; gender and intersectionality; agency, resistance, and resilience; and culture and identity. Usually offered every second year.

AAPI/WGS 130a Critical Adoption Studies
[ deis-us djw oc ]

Although adoption has a storied past spanning a range of diverse cultural, geographic, and temporal settings, the adopting of children across national boundaries is a relatively new phenomenon—one that emerged in tandem with America’s postwar expansion into Asia. Today, international adoption is a normalized and accepted institution that helps to express dominant US ideologies of humanitarianism, internationalism, and multiculturalism. But American’s sudden and unprecedented desire to adopt children from abroad was anything but natural, informed instead by the dynamic geopolitical imperatives of the early Cold War years. Since then, the discourse surrounding international adoption in the United States has been dominated by American social workers and adoptive parents, rather than adoptees themselves or those who lose children in adoption. This course interrogates the knowledge production about international adoption that has historically privileged perspectives from the receiving country or that of adoptive parents in particular. Instead, we investigate the cultural, ethnic, and racial experiences of transnationally, transracially adopted individuals as well as their birth families long overlooked in adoption studies. Usually offered every year.

AAPI/WGS 137b Performing Asian/American Women on Screen and Scene
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Examines performances of Asian/American women and how they have changed over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We analyze American film, television, and stage performances to trace the shifting, yet continuous participation of Asian/American women on screen and scene in the United States. Important issues include Orientalism and representation, race and racism, immigration and diasporas, militarism and hypersexualization, yellow face practices then and now, as well as assimilation and resistance. We ask: what have dominant representations of Asian/American been like from the silent film era to the current digital age? How have the figures of the lotus blossom, the dragon lady, the trafficked woman, the geisha, the war bride, the military prostitute, the orphan, among other problematic tropes emerged to represent Asian/American women? How has the changing political, social, and cultural position of Asian/Americans shaped their participation in media production, as well as their media representations in the United States broadly speaking? Students will leave this course with a strong understanding of how media and culture shapes the racial and sexual formation of Asian Americans, as well as how to interact with that media and culture beyond just consumption but instead towards analysis and critique too. Usually offered every second year.

AMST/JOUR 113a Long-form Journalism: Storytelling for Magazines and Podcasts
[ dl oc ss ]

What makes for a great story? This course will examine the hallmarks of successful narrative nonfiction, in both written and audio form. Students will analyze award-winning magazine stories as well as reporting-based podcasts that have injected new energy and financial success into the journalism world. They will learn story structure and techniques to capture and hold the audience's attention. And they will learn by doing, producing their own podcasts and written pieces. his course fulfills the Reporting requirement of the Journalism minor. Usually offered every year.

ANTH 114a Anthropology of the Military and Policing
[ oc ss ]

Explores cultural dimensions of military and policing organizations, including institutional, embodied, linguistic, and ritualistic instantiations of military and policing ideologies. Topics include experiences of military and police service, social and cultural dynamics in military and policing organizations, gender and LGBTQ issues, and the Human Terrain Team controversy. Usually offered every third year.

ANTH 115a Therapy, Care, and Governance: Listening and Society
[ oc ss ]

Politics, power, and even a sense of self are frequently identified with having a voice. Creating such a voice, however, is not solely up to speakers. Far from being a passive activity, listening can be evaluative and even coercive, guiding people to speak and act in certain ways. It plays a part in the creation of political ideologies and is an important tool that states use to govern people. It can also be a means to sympathetically connect to people, though such listening tends to be unequally distributed and can create burdens for listeners and speakers alike. In this class, we will critically analyze ways that listening shapes relationships between people. Using data from various parts of the world and a wide range of settings including cities, deaf communities, places of suffering, legal hearings, and prisons, we will explore the broad social effects of different ways of listening. Usually offered every fourth year.

ANTH 117a Global Migration and Transnational Communities: Anthropological Perspectives
[ oc ss ]

Explores the profound impacts of global migration on the social, cultural, and economic landscape of societies around the world from an anthropological perspective. Centering on migrants' subjective experiences, the course explores why people move and how they navigate and interact with other individuals, diverse social networks, the state, and structural inequalities. Topics include race, ethnicity, citizenship, nationalism, transnationalism, diaspora, identity, gender, social class, labor, capitalism, globalization, violence, and memory. Usually offered every third year.

ANTH 122a Chinese Diaspora: Anthropological Perspectives
[ djw oc ss ]

Provides an anthropological perspective into understanding the global Chinese diaspora. It explores diasporic Chinese and their communities within a holistic framework that takes into consideration complex historical, economic, socio-political, and cultural contexts. Through the lens of the Chinese diaspora, the course is aimed at engaging with broader contemporary themes and debates including identity politics, race and ethnicity, gender, nationalism and transnationalism, colonialism, capitalism, and globalization. Usually offered every fourth year.

ANTH 135b Culture and Horticulture: Gardens and Worldmaking
[ oc ss wi ]

Explores anthropological and historical perspectives on gardening and horticulture, with an emphasis on how gardening occasions forms of self-fashioning and world-making in diverse contexts. Topics include gardening and cosmologies in small-scale societies, divinity in microcosm; gardens, capitalism, and modernity; and gardens from the margins, including gardening in utopian communities, displaced persons’ gardens in military topographies, and homeless persons’ gardens in their places of abode. Usually offered every third year.

ANTH 142b Global Pandemics: History, Society, and Policy
[ djw nw oc ss ]

Takes a biosocial approach to pandemics like HIV/AIDS, SARS, Ebola, and COVID-19 as shaped by culture, economics, politics, and history. Discussion focuses on how gender, sexuality, religion, and folk practices shape pandemic situations. Usually offered every fourth year.

ANTH 159a Museums and Public Memory
[ oc ss ]

Explores the social and political organization of public memory, including museums, cultural villages, and memorial sites. Who has the right to determine the content and form of such institutions? Working with local community members, students will develop a collaborative exhibition project. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 164b Cancer and Community
[ djw oc ss ]

Addresses the biophysical and sociocultural dimensions of cancer: how can this dreaded disease be both alienating and associated with new forms of solidarity and social connection? We also consider how vulnerability to cancer is mediated by structures of social inequality. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 166b Queer Anthropology: Sexualities and Genders in Cross-Cultural Perspective
[ djw oc ss ]

When held together, “Queer Anthropology” might name something akin to a systematic way of cross-culturally studying human sexuality, gender, and desire that runs against the grain of dominant, socially held beliefs of normalcy (or what we now call normative/heteronormative). Sitting with this definition, we will chart the different worlds that Queer Anthropology might enable us to see and imagine. From transfeminine women who claim to experience pregnancy to sex between straight white Frat brothers to lesbian women finding community through anonymous love letters, this course moves between different scales and registers for talking about sexuality, gender, bodies, and difference. Together, we will trace Queer Anthropology's origins, examine its present moments, and speculate on its potential futures. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 167a Sports and Society
[ oc ss ]

Examines sports from an anthropological perspective. Students will study sports cultures globally and historically. Topics include: sports and colonialism, doping controversies, gender, nationalism, spectacle, pain and ideas of the body. This course also emphasizes hands-on research and documentation of diverse sports cultures through writing and film. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 182b Applied Anthropology
[ oc ss ]

This course is about using anthropology to solve real-world problems. We will explore how anthropological research and approaches are used to address practical issues related to the environment, urban planning, government services, healthcare, cultural heritage, and user experience in industry. The course gives students the skills in using anthropological concepts and theories in a variety of settings, an understanding of the ethics of applied qualitative research and hands-on experience doing ethnographic research oriented towards solving problems. Usually offered every second year.

BCHM 103b Advanced Biochemistry: Cellular Information Transfer Mechanisms
[ oc sn ]

Prerequisites: One year of organic chemistry with laboratory and BCHM 100a or equivalents. BIOL 14a or the equivalent is recommended.

Molecular mechanisms of information transfer in biological systems. Topics include nucleic acid biochemistry, processing of genetic information, and signal transduction. Each section will focus on the chemistry and regulation of a selected example from these fundamental processes. Lectures will be complemented by reading assignments and student presentations on articles from the original research literature. Usually offered every year.

BIOL 134b Topics in Ecology
[ oc sn ]

Prerequisites: BIOL 23a, or permission of the instructor. Topics may vary from year to year. Please consult the Course Schedule for topic and description. Course may be repeated once for credit with permission of the instructor.

Annually, a different aspect of the global biosphere is selected for analysis. In any year the focus may be on specific ecosystems (e.g., terrestrial, aquatic, tropical, arctic), populations, system modeling, restoration ecology, or other aspects of ecology. Usually offered every year.

CBIO 101a Chemical Biology
[ oc sn ]

Prerequisites: A satisfactory grade (C- or better) in BIOL 14a, BIOL 15b, and CHEM 25a and b, or the equivalent.

Explores how scientific work in chemistry led to fundamental understanding of and ability to manipulate biological processes. Emphasis is placed on chemical design and synthesis as well as biological evaluation and utility. Content based on scientific literature readings. Usually offered every second year.

CHEM 199d BA/MA Research
[ oc ]

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor and Undergraduate Advising Head; open only to BA/MA candidates. Does not meet the major requirements in chemistry. A designated library training component must be completed as soon as it is offered. At the end of the first semester, the introduction to the research thesis with extensive bibliography is due.

A year-long course focused on a research project with a member of the department. Successful completion of the course involves writing a detailed report on the project. Usually offered every year.

CHIN 100a Introduction to Chinese Literature: Desire and Form
[ hum nw oc ]

Taught in English. No Chinese language capabilities required.

Introduces Chinese literature, focusing primarily on Chinese "classical" literary traditions and their metamorphosis in modern times. Usually offered every second year.

CHIN 105a Advanced Conversation and Composition I
[ fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in CHIN 40b or the equivalent.

Designed for advanced students who wish to enhance and improve their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing through listening and reading authentic or slightly modified materials, discussing and writing on various topics of Chinese society and culture. Usually offered every fall.

CHIN 105b Advanced Conversation and Composition II
[ fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in CHIN 105a or the equivalent.

Designed for advanced students who wish to enhance and improve their speaking proficiency and writing skills. Speaking skills will be developed through guided conversation, discussion of texts and films, and oral presentation. Exercises and essays will be used to improve students' writing skills. Usually offered every spring.

CHIN 126a Advanced Conversational Chinese
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: CHIN 105b or equivalent.

For advanced students of Chinese, this course further develops their Chinese speaking proficiency in both information and formal styles. The course is conducted entirely in Chinese and is designed for students who want to improve their communicative ability in Chinese. Focuses on significant expansion of vocabularies, grammars, and genuine expressions used by Chinese in their daily life, as well as enhancing students' understanding of Chinese society and culture. Usually offered every year.

CHIN 165a Chinese for Life Science: Study of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Herbs with Contemporary Science
[ fl oc ]

Prerequisite: CHIN 105b or equivalent. Does not meet the requirement in the school of humanities.

Helps students increase Chinese proficiency in the fields of life science such biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, and medicine, especially the skills of reading life science papers in Chinese; and widens and deepens students' knowledge of life science by learning the most important discoveries of Chinese scientists in applying contemporary western science to the studies of traditional medicinal herbs. Although this course is not just limited to biology, neuroscience, or chemistry majors, good knowledge of life science will be essential to success. Usually offered every year.

COML 100a Introduction to Global Literature
[ dl hum oc ]

Core course for COML major and minor.

What is common and what is different in literatures of different cultures and times? How do literary ideas move from one culture to another? In this course students read theoretical texts, as well as literary works from around the world. Usually offered every year.

COML/ENG 191a Environmental Aesthetics
[ djw hum oc ]

Explores major schools of thought about nature, ecology, and art. Usually offered every third year.

COSI 159a Computer Vision
[ oc sn wi ]

Prerequisites: COSI 165b.

Designed for undergraduate and graduate students majoring/minoring in computer science, the course covers core topics in image/video understanding, such as, object detection/recognition/tracking (with applications in face detection, gesture detection, pose detection), image segmentation (saliency detection, semantic segmentation, co-segmentation), image enhancement (super resolution, image recovery), visual relationship mining (spatial relationship, kinship), 3D reconstruction, image generation, optical flow, and video segmentation. It will also touch several advanced computer vision topics, such as, multi-view image clustering, image captioning, image generation from text, and visual question and answering. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 134b Public Sector Economics
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 80a and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

The effect of tax and expenditure policies on economic efficiency and equity. Topics include externalities and public goods, public choice, cost-benefit analysis, income redistribution, social security, and health care. Also discussion of the U.S. tax system, public debt, and state and local finance. Usually offered every year.

ECON 136b Economics of Digitization
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 80a and ECON 184b.

Studies how technological advances fundamentally change how markets function, leading to novel firm strategies and consumer harms. Topics include: pricing digital goods, review/ratings platforms, advertising, search platforms, resale of digital goods, etc. Usually offered every year.

ECON 148b Introduction to Machine Learning with Economic Applications
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 83a. Prior experience with Python recommended. Cannot be taken by students who completed COSI/ECON 148b or COSI 104a.

Provides an understanding of machine learning techniques, considers how to evaluate their performance, and demonstrates how they can be used to solve real-world problems in economics and business. The course involves hands-on experience applying/implementing machine learning models using Python. Usually offered every year.

ECON 178a Empirical Analysis of Labor Market Institutions
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 184b.

Uses real-world data and empirical analysis to examine how labor market structure and policies can shape workers’ career and life trajectories and inequalities. Offers first-hand quantitative data analysis experience using various labor market data to measure the effect of technological innovation, immigration, minimum wage, and policy changes. Learns how to develop predictions from microeconomic theory on labor market and worker outcomes and critically evaluate applied microeconomic papers. Usually offered every year.

ECS 100a European Cultural Studies Proseminar: Modernism
[ dl hum oc ]

Explores the interrelationship of literature, music, painting, philosophy, and other arts in the era of high modernism. Works by Artaud, Baudelaire, Benjamin, Mann, Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Kandinsky, Schiele, Beckett, Brecht, Adorno, Sartre, Heidegger, and others. Usually offered every fall semester.

ED 155b Education and Social Policy
[ oc ss ]

Examines the various functions that schools perform in a community, with special attention to the intended and unintended consequences of contemporary policies such as special education, desegregation, charter schools, and the standards/accountability movement. Usually offered every second year.

ED 161b Religious Education in America
[ hum oc ]

No principle stands more sacred in American public education than separation of Church and state. Public schools pride themselves as neutral playing fields when it comes to matters of religion. But this position belies a more complicated history. American public schools were initially founded by protestant leaders concerned with an influx of non-protestant immigrants during the middle of the 19th century. Indeed, despite lip service to ideas like separation of Church and state, American educational leaders long saw schools as a vehicle for promoting a Protestant inflected American culture. This course begins from the premise that American education and American religion have always existed in relationship. Religious groups have sometimes tried to use the public schools as vehicles to advance their religion, sometimes, they have created supplemental schools, and sometimes they have created whole parallel school systems. But in all cases, education and religion in American are intertwined. This course asks when education is religious and when religion is educational. It examines a series of case studies drawn from different faith communities including Judaism, Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, and Islam. Usually offered every second year.

ED 165a Reading (and Talking Back to) Research on Education
[ dl oc ss ]

Open to education studies majors only.

In this required capstone course for education studies majors, students will review quantitative and qualitative research through disciplinary lenses. Students pursue some topic of inquiry by either reviewing and synthesizing educational research, or conducting some empirical research. Usually offered every year.

ED 170a Race, Power, and Urban Education
[ deis-us oc ss wi ]

Examines the nature of urban schools, their links to the social and political context, and the perspectives of the people who inhabit them. Explores the historical development of urban schools; the social, economic, and personal hardships facing urban students; and challenges of urban school reform. Usually offered every year.

ENG 109a Poetry Workshop
[ hum oc wi ]

Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Enrollment is by instructor permission after the submission of a manuscript sample. Please refer to the schedule of classes for submission information. May be repeated for credit.

A workshop for poets willing to explore and develop their craft through intense reading in current poetry, stylistic explorations of content, and imaginative stretching of forms. Usually offered every year.

ENG 109b Fiction Workshop: Short Fiction
[ hum oc wi ]

Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Enrollment is by instructor permission after the submission of a manuscript sample. Please refer to the schedule of classes for submission information. May be repeated for credit.

This workshop will focus on short fiction--stories ten pages and under in length. We will use writing exercises, assigned readings, and essays on craft to discuss structure, character development, point of view, and other elements of fiction. While appropriate for all levels, this workshop might be of special interest to writers who want a secure foundation in the basics. Usually offered every year.

ENG 113b Performing Climate Justice
[ deis-us dl hum oc ]

Considers justice in relation to our ordinary and collective actions as these recreate or transform our social and material realities as human drivers of the Anthropocene. How can the embodied creation and transmission of knowledge and skills, by creative workers and change agents, help us imagine and create new, translocal ways of being and acting together no longer driven by fossil fuels? What happens to notions of the human, human civilization, and human history if we adopt a non-anthropocentric and biocentric approach to climate justice and climate ethics? Usually offered every fourth year.

ENG 119a Fiction Workshop
[ hum oc wi ]

Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Enrollment is by instructor permission after the submission of a manuscript sample. Please refer to the schedule of classes for submission information. May be repeated for credit.

An advanced fiction workshop. Students are expected to compose and revise their fiction, complete typed critiques of each other's work weekly, and discuss readings based on examples of various techniques. Usually offered every year.

ENG 139a Publishing Workshop: Literary Editing and Publishing
[ dl hum oc ]

Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of an introductory letter including student's major, writing/editing experience, why publishing is of interest to them, any experimental literary publications/performances they've experienced. This course fulfills a workshop requirement for the Creative Writing major and minor. Please refer to the Schedule of Classes for submission formats and deadlines within the Registration periods.

Editing and publishing a literary journal -- either digital, print, or in more experimental forms -- can be an important component of a writer's creative life and sense of literary citizenship. This experiential learning course will engage students with theoretical and historical reading as well as provide practical hands-on tools for literary publishing. Broadsided Press (www.broadsidedpress.org) will be used as a case study. A group publishing project will be part of the coursework, and this can be tied into journals already being published on campus. By the end of the semester, students will have a fuller sense of the work, mindset, difficulties, strategies, and values of a literary publisher. Usually offered every second year.

ENG 139b Screenwriting Workshop: Intermediate Screenwriting
[ hum oc wi ]

Prerequisites: ENG 79a. Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Enrollment is by instructor permission after the submission of a manuscript sample. Please refer to the schedule of classes for submission information. May be repeated for credit.

In this writing-intensive course, students build on screenwriting basics and delve more deeply into the creative process. Participants read and critique each other's work, study screenplays and view films, and submit original written material on a biweekly basis. At the conclusion of the course each student will have completed the first draft of a screenplay (100-120 pages). Usually offered every year.

ENG 143a The History of Mediascapes and Critical Maker Culture
[ deis-us dl hum oc ]

Class has a required lab component and yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation.

To consider how to decolonize book history and “maker culture,” the class examines colonial erasure, colonial knowledge production, race, gender, disability, neurodiversity, sexuality in making an alternative book history that includes khipu, girdle books, wampum, pamphlets, zines, and wearable media technology. Usually offered every third year.

ENG 170b Contemporary Theatre and Performance: Between Rights and the Post-Human
[ hum oc ]

Students will explore two pressing questions: How do contemporary theatre artists work to rehumanize those denied humanity? During a global climate emergency, how can the theatre, which is traditionally defined by the co-presence of humans, relocate the human as only one of many lifeforms--not the center of everything but rather entwined with other organic, inorganic, and spiritual agencies? Usually offered every second year.

ENG 188b Capitalism and Nature
[ hum oc ]

Investigates the vision of nature offered in pro-capitalist and anti-capitalist narratives from around the world. Usually offered every third year.

ENVS 107b Foundations of Global Environmental Diplomacy
[ oc ss ]

Examines international environmental diplomacy through a historical lens up to 1992. Specific topics range from wildlife conservation and transboundary air pollution to the trade in hazardous materials and climate change—along with many others. The course primarily aims to answer the overarching question: What can international actors do to protect the environment and environmental amenities? Usually offered every year.

FA 118a Studio Seminar
[ ca oc ]

Introduces students to crucial facets of a successful studio practice that happen concurrently, and in dialogue with art making. Writing, reading, communication, and professional practices will be explored as ways of bolstering students' understanding of their own studio practice within the wider history of art and particularly within the context of contemporary art. Usually offered every year.

FA 178b Seminar on Chinese Calligraphy and Practice
[ ca nw oc ]

Prerequisite: Some knowledge of reading Chinese. May not be taken for credit by students who took FA 191a in prior years.

Introduces the major scripts and canonical works of Chinese calligraphy. Besides studying historical developments, students gain hands-on experience with producing their own works. The class combines theory and practice to advance understanding of the aesthetic, critical language, and the functions of this enduring art. Usually offered every second year.

FA 191b Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Art
[ ca oc wi ]

Preference to Fine Arts majors and minors, Italian Studies minors, and Medieval and Renaissance minors only. Topics may vary from year to year; the course may be repeated for credit as topics change.

Usually offered every third year.

FA 192a Studies in Modern and Contemporary Art
[ ca oc ]

Topics may vary from year to year; the course may be repeated for credit.

Usually offered every third year.

FA 193a Studies in Modern and Contemporary Architecture
[ ca oc wi ]

Topics may vary from year to year; the course may be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor.

Usually offered every third year.

FA 194a Studies in Latin American Art
[ ca djw oc ]

Builds a theoretical foundation and art historical background for discussing art and theories coming from Latin America. The subject matter (specified in the topic that accompanies the title) in this seminar may vary depending on the instructor and year. Examples of topics include: Indigenous Art; Women Artists, Latinx Art, and Colonialism and Geopolitics.Usually offered every third year.

FA 197a Studies in Asian Art
[ ca nw oc ]

Topics may vary from year to year; the course may be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor. Usually offered every third year.

FILM 110a Film Production I
[ ca dl oc ss ]

Preference given to Film,Television and Interactive Media majors and minors.

An introduction to the basic principles and techniques of fictional narrative motion picture production. Each student will produce three short films. The films will emphasize dramatic development and creative storytelling through image composition, camera movement, editing, and sound. Usually offered every year.

FILM 110b Motion Picture Editing
[ dl oc ss ]

Preference given to Film, Television and Interactive Media majors and minors.

Students will develop visual literacy through a study of the editor's role in cinematic storytelling. The course provides an overview of the craft's history and theory and offers practical training in editing digital video with Adobe Premiere Pro. Usually offered every year.

FILM 120a Cinematography
[ ca dl oc ]

Gives students the ability learn lighting, media capture techniques, camera and subject movement choreography in both analog and digital formats. They will gain knowledge of axis and frames, dynamic editing points and creating a motion picture as an essay tapestry. Usually offered every year.

FREN 110a Cultural Representations
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

A foundation course in French and Francophone culture, analyzing texts and other cultural phenomena such as film, painting, music, and politics. Usually offered every year.

FREN 111a The Republic
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: FREN 106b or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

The "Republic" analyzes how the republican ideal of the citizen devoid of religious, ethnic, or gender identity has fared in different Francophone political milieux. Course involves understanding how political institutions such as constitutions, parliaments, and court systems interact with reality of modern societies in which religious, ethnic, and gender identities play important roles. Usually offered every year.

FREN 112b Anti-Semitism in France from the 1789 Revolution to Today
[ djw fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: FREN 106, or an equivalent course.

Examines how manifestations of anti-Semitism, which concern religious differences as well as economic, social, cultural, and political differences, first appeared in France and have changed in form and context from the 1789 Revolution to today. After contextualizing the notion of anti-Semitism in contemporary France after October 7, 2023, we will focus on three turning points in the history of anti-Semitism ion France: the Revolutionary period when Jews were granted full citizenship rights, the Dreyfus Affair when the place of Jews in the Republic was called into question, and the consequences of the Vichy regime in anti-Semitism in France today. Usually offered every third year.

GECS 188b Human/Nature: European Perspectives on the Climate Crisis and What to Do About It
[ djw hum oc wi ]

Open to all students.

Introduces European attitudes towards climate change as reflected in policy, literature, film, and art, with a focus on workable future-oriented alternatives to fossil-fueled capitalism. Usually offered every second year.

GER 103a German Culture Through Film
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: GER 30a.

Approaches an understanding of contemporary German culture through film by focusing on one of the most fascinating and turbulent of national cinemas. Landmark films from the 1920s to the present and pertinent essays, articles and studies will provide a historical perspective on decisive social and cultural phenomena. Major themes include Vergangenheitsbewältigung, multi-ethnic societies, terrorism, life in the GDR, and cultural trends at the beginning of the 21st century. Students learn also about the technical side of filmmaking and produce their own short film under professional guidance. Usually offered every second year.

GER 105b Survey of German Literature from Its Beginnings to the Present
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: GER 30a.

Examines the relationship between individual and their society throughout history on the basis of fictional and nonfictional German texts (poetry, philosophical texts, short prose, and plays), films and artifacts (photographs, paintings, monuments, coins and tools). While this course focuses on the work of German-language writers, it offers also insights into German social history and the socio-political changes accompanying the transformation of a medieval God-given society into a multi-ethnic society of the 20th and 21st century. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 121a Israeli Society and Post-Trauma: Family Dynamics Through a TV Series
[ dl fl oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Enhances students' oral communication skills by analyzing and discussing family dynamics, fostering empathy and ethical reflection. Develops cultural awareness by examining Israeli societal values, trauma, and conflict resolution, promoting a nuanced understanding of diverse perspectives based on popular Israeli television series "In Treatment." Usually offered every year.

HBRW 121b Life Challenges of an Israeli Family through a TV Series
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced-intermediate conversation course for students who wish to improve their speaking skills. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities develop conversational skills for various situations. Reading and discussion of contemporary texts, based on the popular Israeli TV series, "Yellow Peppers", assist in vocabulary building. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 144a Plays and Drama in Israeli Society
[ ca djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Focuses on critical reading and analysis of authentic and contemporary Israeli short plays and studying the comparison between plays in Israel and those in the U.S. We will examine theories in aspects of drama and implement drama techniques including improvisation, movement, and creative expression. Readings cover topics such as social diversity and justice, as well as human rights and awareness of world identities. The course culminates in the writing of an original scene or one-act play in Hebrew.

HBRW 164b Israeli Theater Within the Framework of U.S Cultures
[ ca deis-us djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Promotes cultural awareness and global understanding through the reading and analysis of plays. Student creativity develops through participation in acting and creative writing assignments. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 192b Latin American Global Film
[ djw hum nw oc ]

May be taught in English or Spanish.

We will study the dynamic between local and global imagination and forces in the production, circulation, and reception of films from and/or about "Latin America." Local productions, traditional topics and genres are now refashioned for international audiences. Some film directors and actors have gained mainstream global visibility; U.S.-based ‘platforms’ finance local productions for international markets. How are all these new and old images and narratives mobilized? What are all these forces and projections doing? Analysis of visual representation and film techniques will be combined with an attention to socio-cultural backgrounds. Usually offered every second year.

HISP 198a Experiential Research Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies
[ dl hum oc ]

May be taught in English or Spanish.

A research seminar in which each student has the opportunity to become an 'expert' in a Hispanic literary or cultural text/topic that captures her or his imagination, inspired by a study abroad experience; an earlier class in Hispanic Studies; community-engaged learning; etc. Instruction in literary/cultural theory, researching a subject, and analytical skills necessary for developing a scholarly argument. Students present research in progress and write a research paper of significant length. Usually offered every year.

HIST 109b A Global History of Sport: Politics, Economy, Race and Culture
[ deis-us djw nw oc ss ]

Examines soccer, boxing, baseball, cricket and other sports to reflect on culture, politics, race, and globalization. With a focus on empire, gender, ethnicity, this course considers sport as the battleground for ideological and group contests. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 113b Crazy Rich Europeans: Wealth and Inequality in Modern History
[ djw oc ss ]

Brings together insights from modern European and Asian history, business, economics, and sociology. We will investigate the changing role, power, and composition of social elites in history and how they impacted workers, colonial populations, women, and urban landscapes in the past two centuries. We will study how actors as diverse as fashion models, Russian oligarchs, and powerful bankers gain their status and influence. We will also discuss the origins of global social inequality, including the ‘great divergence’ debate on Chinese and European modernization. How do we get from ‘Crazy Rich Europeans’ to ‘Crazy Rich Asians’? Usually offered every year.

HIST 126a Early Modern Europe (1500-1700)
[ oc ss ]

Survey of politics, ideas, and society in Western Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Focuses on the changing relationship between the emerging modern state and its subjects. Topics include the development of ideologies of resistance and conformity, regional loyalties and the problems of empire, changing technologies of war and repression, and the social foundations of order and disorder. Usually offered every third year.

HIST 128a A Spatial History of the Modern U.S.
[ dl oc ss ]

What happens when we approach American history through categories of place rather than periods time? Organized around contemporary categories of land use, this seminar explores how the United States’ landscape came to be. Usually offered every third year.

HIST 135b Get Up, Stand Up: A Century of Revolutions in the Middle East
[ djw nw oc ss ]

An examination of the various revolutions that have shaped the modern Middle East since the late 19th century. The course focuses on four different revolutionary moments: The constitutional revolutions of the turn of the century, the anti-colonial revolutions of mid-century, the radical revolutions of the 1970's, and most recently, the Arab Spring revolutions that have affected the region since 2011. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 136b Global War and Revolutions in the Eighteenth Century
[ djw oc ss wi ]

Surveys global conflicts and revolutions and examines exchanges of idea, peoples, and goods in the eighteenth-century Atlantic World. Explores the legacies of inter-imperial rivalry and the intellectual borrowings and innovations of the American, French, and Haitian revolutions in comparative perspective. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 147a Russian Empire: Gender, Minorities, and Globalization
[ djw dl oc ss ]

Examines the processes and problems of modernization--state development, economic growth, social change, cultural achievements, and emergence of revolutionary and terrorist movements. Usually offered every year.

HIST 147b Twentieth-Century Russia: Revolution, Nationality, Global Power
[ dl oc ss ]

Russian history from the 1905 revolution to the present day, with particular emphasis on the Revolution of 1917, Stalinism, culture, and the decline and fall of the USSR. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 187b Unequal Histories: Caste, Religion, and Dissent in India
[ djw dl nw oc ss ]

Examines the religious, political, and social dimensions of discrimination in India. In order to study caste, power, and representation, we will look at religious texts, historical debates, film, and literature from the Vedic Age to contemporary India. Usually offered every second year.

HIST/IGS 180b Modern India: From Partition to the Present
[ djw dl nw oc ss ]

Examines the history, culture, and economy of modern India (1947-2019) with a focus on key concerns, such as the environment, urbanization, gender/sexual relations, and the transformations of democratic politics. Usually offered every second year.

HIST/WGS 120b Queer History in the United States
[ deis-us dl oc ss ]

Traces shifting concepts and practices of gender and sexual deviance in the United States from the colonial period to the present. We will treat queer identity and experience as a topic of historical inquiry as well as a theoretical problem, following the way that currently distinct concepts of sex, gender, and sexuality historically defined each other in shifting configurations. Topics include: queer life and concepts of gender and sexuality before Stonewall; the emergence of the categories of heterosexuality and homosexuality, and later transgender identity; the dependence of gender and sexual categories on class and racial categories; the mechanisms of state and informal policing of gender and sexual norms; the creation of social movements around queer an0d gender-nonconforming identities; attitudes towards gender nonconformity in the gay rights and feminist movements of the seventies; the AIDS Crisis and activist responses to it; and the politics of contemporary representations of the history of queer and transgender struggle. Usually offered every year.

HSSP 110a Integrative Seminar on Health
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: Senior status in the HSSP major.

The capstone course is required for all HSSP seniors and is designed to integrate their academic coursework and fieldwork/laboratory experiences across a range of health-related disciplines. Section topics vary from semester to semester at the discretion of the instructing faculty member. Refer to the Schedule of Classes for specific topics. Usually offered every semester.

HSSP 118b Viewing Medicine and Health Policy Through the Lens of Literature
[ oc ss ]

Literature–fiction, memoir, poetry, and drama–offers a powerful lens for studying key health policy issues. By harnessing the power of authors' imaginations, insights and compelling stories, students can gain deeper insight into topics including: patient centered care, ethics in research, access to healthcare, obesity and hunger, role of the pharmaceutical and tobacco, aging policy, disability, and clinicians' roles and training. Usually offered every second year.

IGS 104a Seminar in International Order
[ oc ss wi ]

Prerequisites: IGS 8a and IGS 10A recommended.

Critically appraises the institutions known as the “international order.” We examine threats to this order and consider how it may evolve or erode with the renewed influence of rising powers and perturbations to the balance of power. Our interaction with the scholarly debate is interspersed with sessions on research methods to enable students to conduct research on related topics. Usually offered every year.

IGS 106a Seminar in Global Health and Development
[ djw oc ss wi ]

Explores the fields of global health and development through the critical debates and theories that frame the field. We examine its discourses and critique its practices through critical engagement with specific areas of the field. Usually offered every year.

IGS 108a Seminar in Law, Justice, and Human Rights
[ djw oc ss wi ]

Explores international justice and human rights regimes along with concepts and prominent theories that inform the field. We examine specific cases carried out in different national settings and critique the utility and efficacy of international human rights institutions. Usually offered every year.

IGS 165a Revolution, Religion, and Terror: Postcolonial Histories
[ djw nw oc ss ]

Examines religious conflict, revolutionary violence, and civil war in modern South Asia. It looks at Jihad, Maoist militancy, rising fundamentalism, and political violence. Usually offered every second year.

IGS 175a Digital Asia: Democracy in the Internet Age
[ djw dl nw oc ss ]

Analyzes the transformative potential of the internet as an agent of development and as a mechanism for disrupting social and political orders in Asia, home to the world's largest democracy and also the world's largest authoritarian regime. Usually offered every second year.

IGS 177a Antisemitism on Social Media
[ dl oc ss ]

Studies show a rise in antisemitism in the US in recent years, and social media have a lot to do with it. In this course, we review the precursors of modern antisemitism, how antisemitism has evolved and adapted over the years, and how to combat antisemitism on social media today. Special one-time offering, fall 2023.

ITAL 105a Italian Conversation and Composition
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: ITAL 30a or the equivalent. Students enrolling for the first time in an Italian Studies course at Brandeis should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#italtest.

This course is designed for students interested in continuing the study of the Italian language, culture, and literature beyond the intermediate level. The development of oral and written proficiency is emphasized through the expansion of vocabulary and activities aimed to improve analytical, interpretive, and presentational skills. The course uses the UN Sustainable Developments Goals to frame important aspects of contemporary Italy. Through a series of activities that practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Italian, students reflect on the social impact of our environmental behavior, the importance of art and music in translating experiences, changing opinions, and instilling values, the social impact of the internet in raising voices, creating awareness and calling for social change, how activism ensure inclusion and equality. Usually offered every spring.

ITAL 106a Storia e storie d'Italia: Advanced Italian through Narrative, Film, and Other Media
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: ITAL 30a, ITAL 105a, or the equivalent. Students enrolling for the first time in an Italian Studies course at Brandeis should refer to www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/testing.html#italtest.

Aims to prepare students for upper-level courses and to advance language fluency through the practice of all language skills at different ranges of advanced proficiency, grammatical structures, and vocabulary. This course offers a close study and analysis of representative Italian literary texts and films to further improve proficiency in Italian through analytical, interpretive, and presentational activities. Each year, emphasis will be given to a specific theme, such as women writers and Italian history through short stories. Reading and listening activities followed by in-class discussions and presentations are designed to strengthen communication and reading skills. Usually offered every other fall.

ITAL 110a Introduction to Italian Literature: Love, Intrigues and Politics from Dante to Goldoni
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: ITAL 105a or 106a or permission of the instructor.

Surveys the masterpieces of Italian literature from Dante to Goldoni's stage. Students will explore different themes such as love, conflict, and politics in Italian early masterpieces by analyzing and comparing genres, historical periods, and schools of thought. Since Oral communication skills are the core of methodology and pedagogy for Italian 110, students will work on primary texts through dynamic and guided discussions, interpretative textual analysis, and different styles of presentations. Usually offered every second year.
 

ITAL 128a Mapping Modern Italian Culture: Inherited Conflicts
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: ITAL 105a or 106a or permission of the instructor. Conducted in Italian with Italian texts.

Covers a broad and significant range of cultural topics that exemplify creative responses to historical events and social dilemmas that have shaped contemporary Italian culture including economic changes, the new face of immigration in Italy, and the social fight against the Mafia and Camorra through literature and cinema. Usually offered every second year.

JAPN 105a Advanced Conversation and Composition I
[ fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 40b or the equivalent. Four class hours per week.

Continuation of JAPN 40b. For advanced students of Japanese who wish to enhance and improve their speaking proficiency as well as reading and writing skills. Students will develop their proficiency in reading and speaking through texts, films, videos and discussions on current issues on Japanese society. Various forms of writing will be assigned to improve students' writing skills. Usually offered every year.

JAPN 105b Advanced Conversation and Composition II
[ fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 105a or the equivalent. Four class hours per week.

Continuation of JAPN 105a. For advanced students of Japanese who wish to enhance and improve their speaking proficiency as well as reading and writing skills. Students will develop their proficiency in reading and speaking through texts, films, videos and discussions on current issues on Japanese society. Various forms of writing will be assigned to improve students' writing skills. Usually offered every year.

JAPN 120a Topics in Contemporary Japanese Culture and Society
[ fl hum nw oc wi ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 105b or the equivalent. May be repeated for credit.

Further enhances advanced students’ proficiency in four skills through discussion, reading, writing, presentation, and group work. Usually offered every fall.

JAPN 120b Readings in Modern Japanese Literature
[ fl hum nw oc wi ]

Prerequisite: JAPN 120a or the equivalent.

Students read, analyze, discuss, and write about Japanese short fiction by a wide range of modern and contemporary authors. Screening of film adaptations and television programs complement class discussion, which is conducted in Japanese. Usually offered every year.

JAPN 165a The Tale of Genji
[ hum nw oc ]

Often called "the world's first novel," The Tale of Genji has captivated readers with its narrative of love, rivalry, friendship, and loss for centuries. This class explores what has given the text its prominent place in Japanese and world literature. Usually offered every third year.

KOR 105a Advanced Conversation and Composition I
[ fl hum oc ]

A continuation of Korean 40b (Advanced Intermediate Korean). Students who did not take Korean 40b at Brandeis are required to take a placement test prior to enrollment.

Students further develop the range of communicative language skills with advanced-level reading exercises involving complicated grammar patterns and vocabulary. Majority of class conversations and discussions as well as compositions are connected with in/outside classroom readings. By the end of the semester, students will be able to read and write a variety of advanced-level Korean texts, demonstrate the ability to narrate and describe autobiographical topics, and speak and write on the topics of current events and community interest. Designed to further develop students’ Korean proficiency with the integration of aspects of culture such as films, literature (e.g., poems, novels), and formal presentations and compositions. Usually offered evert year.

LGLS 126a Forced Migration Clinic
[ deis-us djw oc ss wi ]

Prerequisite: LGLS 123b and instructor permission. May be repeated once for credit.

In the Forced Migration Clinic, students represent migrants who have fled persecution or torture in their home countries and seek refuge in the United States, as well as support immigrant communities in addressing human rights violations in the United States (and abroad), out of our storefront offices in Waltham. Students handle every aspect of representation in cases and causes that determine, for example, whether a client will be granted asylum or face deportation, under the close supervision of faculty. The principal learning model for this course is reflection on planning, experience, and witnessing, so students will have multiple opportunities to try out different forms of the skills, concepts, values, and attitudes required for competent legal representation and effective and accountable social change, but they will also experience how legal systems operate from the inside and so to understand the roles of law in constructing societal conditions and expectations. Students will have the opportunity, but not the obligation, to seek Department of Justice immigration representation accreditation before, during, or after this course. Usually offered every year.

LGLS 130a Conflict Analysis and Intervention
[ oc ss ]

Examines alternatives to litigation, including negotiation and mediation. Through simulations and court observations, students assess their own attitudes about and skills in conflict resolution. Analyzes underlying theories in criminal justice system, divorce, adoption, and international arena. Usually offered every second year.

LGLS 132b Environmental Law and Policy
[ oc ss wi ]

Provides a basic survey of environmental law. You will learn essential tools of legal reasoning and argument. Through in-class discussion, cases, and reading on environmental history and ethics, we will cover a range of environmental issues, including: climate change, water rights, the Keystone XL pipeline, our national parks and monuments, and much more. You will reflect on the tradeoffs, contradictions, and inequities baked into our core environmental laws, and think about ways to apply those laws in more equitable ways. Usually offered every year.

LGLS 133b Criminal Law: Liberty and Justice For All?
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

Far from the typical lecture-based experience, this course will be conducted more like a series of hands-on workshops designed to have students learn criminal law by actively doing as opposed to passively listening. Students will have fun while building a practical understanding of how the legal system actually works. Usually offered every third year.

LGLS 161b Advocacy for Policy Change
[ oc ss wi ]

This hands-on course invites students to address concrete social problems through public policy reform. It provides background in theories, advocacy skills, networks, and key players that drive the legislative process. Focusing on policy change at the statehouse level, students engage with elected officials and community organizations to advance key legislation affecting social welfare, health, education, and economic justice. This course is supported by ENACT, the Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation. Usually offered every year.

LING 121b Syntax II
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: LING 120b.

Continues the study of modern generative syntactic analysis begun in LING 120b, focusing especially on wh-movement, other types of A-bar movement, and anaphora, and including data from a variety of languages. Usually offered every second year.

LING 131a Semantics II
[ dl oc sn ]

Prerequisite: LING 130b or COSI 135b, or permission of the instructor.

Continues the study of formal modeling of language meaning begun in LING 130, focusing especially on meaning and use of interrogative and imperative clauses, implicature and speech acts, information packaging, focus, and pragmatics of dialogue. Usually offered every second year.

LING 140a Discourse and Pragmatics
[ dl oc ss ]

Prerequisite: LING 100a or enrollment in the Master of Science in Computational Linguistics program.

Assuming a theory of sentence-level linguistic competence, what phenomena are still to be accounted for in the explication of language knowledge? The class explores topics in language use in context, including anaphora, deixis, implicature, speech acts, information packaging, and pragmatics of dialogue. Usually offered every second year.

LING 195a Introduction to Research in Linguistics or Computational Linguistics/Natural Language Processing
[ dl oc ss ]

Prerequisite: Junior standing or higher, and either (a) LING 120b plus one of LING 110a, 130a, or 140a, or (b) COSI 115b and concurrent enrollment in COSI 231a.

Introduction to researching a topic of interest from the primary literature and doing independent research in linguistics or computational linguistics/natural language processing. In short assignments, class presentations, and a final research paper, students gradually complete the initial stages of a research project. In the process, the course explores scholarly and scientific approaches to research in various areas of linguistics and computational linguistics/natural language processing, including the relevant terminology, concepts, and procedures associated with academic writing and research in these areas. Usually offered every year.

LING 197a Language Acquisition and Development
[ dl oc ss ]

Open to all students.

The central problem of first language acquisition is to explain what makes this formidable task possible. Students will learn about the acquisition and development of phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics in child language.  Additional topics to be covered include the brain and language development, experimental methods for evaluating the linguistic knowledge of children, second-language acquisition, bilingualism, and heritage language and heritage speakers.The overall goal is to arrive at a coherent picture of the language learning process. Usually offered every second year.


MUS 136a Critical Listening
[ ca oc ]

Required for music majors.

Designed to build a variety of listening skills (apart from ear training) and to study the historical and cultural role of listening in various times and places. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 123a Maps, Graphs and Timelines: Technology and Design in Historical Research
[ dl hum oc ]

Learn the practical skills to represent data digitally as graphs, maps, timelines and other models. Students will develop their own research projects in topics of their interest and learn to think critically about the opportunities and pitfalls that digital methods pose, for scholarship, inclusion and for social justice. The course will include extensive practical instruction. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 123b Gender, Species, and Ethnicity in Early Judaism
[ djw hum oc ]

Being "human" is defined by distinguishing between and ordering different beings according to race, gender, disability and species. This privileges some in society while diminishing the value of others. This course introduces the main texts of rabbinic literature around fundamental questions of what is a legal "person" and what is not. Usually offered every year.

NEJS 153a Between Ecstasy and Community: Hasidism in Jewish Thought and History
[ hum oc ]

Explores Hasidism, from the 18th century until today, as one of the dynamic forces in Jewish life, mixing radicalism and reaction, theology, storytelling and music, thick community and wild individualism, deep conformity and spiritual abandon. Usually offered every third year.

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 184b Disability Cultures: Art, Film and Literature of People with Disabilities
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores cultural representations of disability in Israel, Europe, and the US. By focusing on literature, film, dance, and visual art, it explores physical, mental, and emotional disability experiences, and their relations to gender, sexuality, nationalism, and identity politics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS/WGS 110a Sexual Violence in Film and Culture
[ deis-us djw hum oc ]

Explores the effects of sexualized violence in society. While exploring representations of gender-based sexual violence in documentaries and features, stand-up comedy, memoirs, poetry, and visual art, this course will offer a critical discussion on Rape Culture in the 21st century, with particular attention to the intersections of gender, race, sexuality, class, and disability in the construction of sexual violence. Usually offered every second year.

NPSY 121b Alzheimer's Disease Resilience and Risk Factors
[ oc sn wi ]

Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing. Open to majors in one of the following programs: psychology, neuroscience, or HSSP. Also open to graduate students in psychology and neuroscience.

Provides an overview of Alzheimer’s disease, and the factors that may accelerate disease progression and those factors that may be protective. We will cover a broad array of topics including: neuroimaging and blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease in humans; aging versus preclinical Alzheimer’s disease; modern definitions of Alzheimer’s resilience, reserve and brain maintenance; role of stress and psychopathology as risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease; relationships between Alzheimer’s pathology and cognitive function. Usually offered every year.

NPSY 139a Memory and the Brain
[ oc ss wi ]

Prerequisite: NBIO 140b or NPSY 11b, or permission of the instructor.

Explores the nature and organization of memory in the brain. Readings from primary literature will give a deeper understanding of how the brain orchestrates memory, and the role of memory in learning, behavior and cognition. Usually offered every second year.

NPSY 170a Decision Neuroscience
[ oc sn ]

Prerequisites: NBIO 140b/NBIO 240a or NPSY 11b and NPSY 22b, or permission of the instructor.

This course will provide an overview of how animal and human nervous systems generate decisions, with a particular focus on decisions for rewards. We will cover a broad array of topics, including: basic methods for measuring decisions and decision-related neural activity; how predictions about rewards are learned through error-driven processes; the dual systems hypothesis of behavioral control; computation of values for simple choices; the effect of emotion on choices; social decision making; temporal discounting; and deficits in decision-making in human clinical populations. Usually offered every year.

NPSY 174b Visual Cognition
[ oc sn ss ]

Explores complex processes of visual perception. Topics include art and visual perception, visual perception by machines, visual imagery in everyday life, visual basis of reading, visual search, perceptual learning, computational models of visual perception, and face recognition. Usually offered every second year.

NPSY 176b Constructing Reality
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisites: NPSY 11b, NPSY 12a, NPSY 16a, NPSY 17a, NPSY 22b, or NPSY 199a and junior or senior standing.

How do our brains and minds construct our reality? For answers, the course will draw on insights from scientific psychology, neuroscience, and medicine, particularly how damage to the nervous system can disorder our sense of reality. Special consideration will be given to the nature of perception, evaluation of evidence, and decision making. Usually offered every second year.

NPSY 180a Social Neuroscience and Culture
[ djw oc sn ss ]

Prerequisites: PSYC 10a, 51a, and 52a, or NBIO 140b/NBIO 240a, or permission of the instructor. May not be taken for credit by students who took PSYC 213a in prior years. Formerly offered as PSYC 180a.

Introduces empirical research on a breadth of social neuroscience topics-- including the self, stereotyping, and moral reasoning--with a more focused coverage of culture. Emphasis will be placed on literature comparing Eastern and Western cultures. Usually offered every second year.

NPSY 182a Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience: Infancy through Adolescence
[ oc ss wi ]

Prerequisites: NPSY 22b or PSYC 33a, or permission of the instructor.

Current research and methods in developmental cognitive neuroscience are surveyed through analysis of journal articles on language, memory, attention, executive functions, and social cognition. Infancy through adolescence are covered in both typically and atypically (Autism, ADHD, etc.) developing populations. Usually offered every second year.

PHIL 130a Causation and Explanation
[ hum oc ]

PHIL 6A is recommended but not required.

Examines in-depth two topics central to the philosophy of science; the nature of causation and the nature and aim of scientific explanation. Is explaining something a matter of identifying its cause? If not, what is an explanation? Usually offered every third year.

PHIL 134b Philosophy of Perception
[ hum oc ]

Could our sensory experiences be exactly as they are if we were brains in vats, or trapped in The Matrix? Do our senses put us into direct contact with the external world? If not, can we still come to know what the world is like on the basis of our senses? Usually offered every year.

PHIL 168a Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
[ hum oc ]

Prerequisite: PHIL 1a or permission from the instructor.

An attempt to understand and evaluate the main ideas of the Critique of Pure Reason, the subjectivity of space and time, the nature of consciousness, and the objectivity of the concepts of substance and causality. Usually offered every year.

POL 111a The American Congress
[ oc ss ]

The structure and behavior of the Congress. Emphasis on the way member incentives for reelection, power on Capitol Hill, and good public policy shape Congress. Usually offered every second year.

POL 139a Seminar: The Radical Right: From Ballots to Bullets
[ deis-us oc ss wi ]

Radical right and far-right are umbrella terms used to refer to political parties and militant subcultures that differentiate themselves from mainstream conservatism. Students will be introduced to case studies of far-right groups and parties in Western Europe and the United States. We will discuss their ideologies and tactics, the different subcultures and the legal restraints that countries have used to control extremist groups linked to violence. Students will also learn about political science theories about the causes of far-right extremism. Usually offered every second year.

POL 148b Seminar: Dynamics of Dictatorship: Authoritarian Politics in the 20th and 21st Centuries
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: POL 11b.

Despite the world-wide advance of democratization over the past half century, authoritarian regimes continue to govern the vast majority of humanity around the world. Dynamics of Dictatorship aims to provide an analytic grounding in the logic and dynamics of authoritarian politics. What are the different flavors of authoritarian rule? How do authoritarian regimes sustain their control over society? Why do most people obey? How and when do people resist? Has technological advance enhanced the power of authoritarian regimes? What role do international forces play in authoritarian regime survival? When do authoritarian regimes collapse? This course will explore leading theoretical research on authoritarian politics and it will ground that theory in historical and contemporary cases of authoritarian rule found in Russia, Germany, Venezuela, Chile, China, Iraq, Syria, North Korea, Zaire, Zimbabwe, and beyond. Usually offered every second year.

POL 161b Good Neighbor or Imperial Power: The Contested Evolution of US-Latin American Relations
[ djw oc ss wi ]

Studies the ambivalent and complex relationship between the U.S. and Latin America, focusing on how the exploitative dimension of this relationship has shaped societies across the region, and on how Latin American development can be beneficial for the U.S. Usually offered every year.

POL 167b Russian Foreign Policy
[ oc ss wi ]

Surveys Russian foreign policy in the contemporary world, with particular attention paid to the deep historical context for its attitudes and goals in international relations. Topics include relations with the larger post-communist region, the Muslim world, its ongoing antagonistic relations with America and the West, the rise of disinformation warfare on the internet, in addition to the distinct Russian perspective on geopolitics. Usually offered every year.

POL 173a Seminar: U.S. Foreign Economic Policy
[ oc ss wi ]

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or above.

Presents the history and politics of the foreign economic policy in the United States. Emphasis is on political and economic considerations that influence the domestic actors and institutions involved in the formulation of policy. Usually offered every second year.

PSYC 128b The Psychology of Deafness and Blindness
[ oc sn ]

Prerequisites: PSYC 52a and either NPSY 11b, NPSY 22b, or NPSY 199a. Instructor permission required.

Considers the developmental consequences of congenital deafness and blindness. We will first discuss how the senses interact in typical development, then consider the implications of deafness and blindness for brain and behavioral development. We will cover topics including sensory, motor, spatial, language, and social development. We will discuss cross-modal plasticity and compensatory plasticity as mechanisms of developmental change across the lifespan. Finally, we will discuss how blindness and deafness affect cultural affiliations and how those affiliations impact decisions about education, rehabilitation and equity. Usually offered every year.

PSYC 130b Life Span Development: Early and Middle Adulthood
[ dl oc ss ]

Prerequisites: PSYC 10a, PSYC 51a, and PSYC 52a, plus one of the following: PSYC 31a, PSYC 33a, PSYC 36b or PSYC 37a, or permission of the instructor.

Seminar on advanced topics in life span developmental theory and methodology. Substantive emphasis will be on cognitive, personality, social, and physical changes that occur in early adulthood and midlife. Usually offered every second year.

PSYC 132b How People and Contexts Interact: To Be or Not To Be Yourself
[ oc sn ]

Prerequisite: PSYC 10a, PSYC 31a, PSYC 34b, PSYC 51a, or PSYC 52a.

Why are some people better at lying than others? Why does one person experience sadness, whereas another feels anxious after viewing the same film? Why do certain individuals make better leaders, and in what situations might having “leadership” traits make people worse off? In this course, we will explore the wonders of context effects -- the powers of situations to change how individuals behave -- from the lens of modern personality psychology. Specific situations covered will include deception, emotion regulation, power, deindividuation, and relationships (both romantic and friendship). Through readings, activities, and discussions, we will grapple with conceptual explanations for how and why the situations we find ourselves in can dramatically shape the way we behave and make decisions in the short term, and the longer-term lasting effects that prolonged exposure to these situations can have. Special one-time offering, spring 2025.

PSYC 153b Psychology of Trauma and Adversity
[ oc sn ]

Prerequisites: PSYC 10a and either PSYC 31a or PSYC 32a.

Explores theoretical and empirical foundations for understanding trauma and adversity as a psychologist, as well as current advances in the evidence-based treatment of traumatic stress and trauma-related conditions. Usually offered every year.

PSYC 160b Seminar on Sex Differences
[ oc ss wi ]

Prerequisite: PSYC 10a, 51a, 52a or permission of the instructor.

Considers research evidence bearing on sex differences in the cognitive domain and in the social domain, evaluating this evidence in light of biological, cultural, and social-cognitive theories as well as methodological issues. Usually offered every year.

RECS 135a Russian Short Fictions: Where is Justice in This World?
[ djw hum oc ]

Open to all students. Conducted in English. Students may choose to do readings either in English translation or in Russian.

Focuses on the great tradition of the short story as practiced by Russian writers and the connection and divisions among them. This genre invites extreme stylistic and narrative experimentation ranging from the comic to the tragic, as well as being a vehicle for striking expressions of complex social, philosophical, and religious themes. Usually offered every second year.

RECS 144b Tolstoy and Dostoevsky: Confronting the Novel
[ hum oc wi ]

Where do Tolstoy and Dostoevsky fit in the theory and history of the novel? Students will engage in close readings of two of the greatest novels of all time: War and Peace and The Brothers Karamazov. We will explore the genesis of each work, its cultural backdrop and critical responses. Usually offered every third year.

RUS 106b Advanced Russian Language through Film
[ dl fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: RUS 39b or RUS 40b with a grade of C- or higher, or the equivalent as determined by placement examination. Taught in Russian.

For advanced and heritage students of Russian who wish to enhance their proficiency and accuracy in speaking, listening, and writing. Course activities will focus on discussions of contemporary Russian feature films and documentaries. Usually offered every fourth year.

RUS 150b Advanced Russian Language through 20th Century Literature
[ dl fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: RUS 39b or RUS 40b or the equivalent, or instructor permission. Taught in Russian. Course may be repeated for credit with instructor's permission.

A seminar for continuing students of Russian who wish to enhance their proficiency and accuracy in speaking, reading and writing. Focusing on the close study of Russian literature in the original Russian and the development of Russian oral and written language skills needed for the close reading and discussion of literature. Usually offered every second year.

SOC 112b Social Class and Social Inequality
[ oc ss ]

Presents the role of social class in determining life chances, lifestyles, income, occupation, and power; theories of class, inequality, and globalization; selected aspects of social class and inequality; and connections of class, race, and gender. Usually offered every second year.

SOC 116b Social Inequalities in the Media
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Using sociological theories of media, students will examine how difference is constructed across race, gender, and sexuality and how those representations are connected to larger processes of inequality. Students are expected to complete a research project on media representations. Usually offered every second year.

SOC 124a Gender, Sexuality, and Globalization
[ djw oc ss ]

Introduces theories of gender, sexuality, and transnational feminism. Uses sociological research to examine labor, social movements, politics, and culture in global perspective, emphasizing Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Usually offered every second year.

SOC 127a Religion, Ethnicity, and Nationalism
[ nw oc ss ]

Examines three sources of identity that are influential in global affairs: religion, ethnicity and nationalism. Considers theories of the relationship among these identities, especially "secularization theory," then reviews historical examples such as Poland, Iran, India, and Pakistan. Usually offered every second year.

SOC 130a Families, Kinship and Sexuality
[ oc ss ]

Counts toward the completion of the joint MA degree in Sociology & Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Investigates changes in the character of American families over the last two centuries. A central concern will be the dynamic interactions among economic, cultural, political, and social forces, and how they shape and are reshaped by families over time. Particular attention is paid to how experiences of men and women vary by class, race, and ethnicity. Usually offered every year.

THA 138a The Business of Show Business
[ ca oc ]

Provides students with an overview of the many different facets of what it takes to produce live theater in America today. With an emphasis on non-profit theater, students will learn about organizational structure, aesthetic and artistic goals, facilities management, budgeting and revenue streams, public relations/marketing/advertising and communication. From brainstorming to barnstorming, this course will give students the step-by-step process of delivering live, professional theater. Usually offered every second year.

THA 138b Creative Pedagogy
[ ca oc ]

Explores the individual discovery in human creativity and how this journey impacts the quality and inclusivity of teaching and learning both inside and outside of educational spaces. Students will dig into their own educational experiences and their relationship to creativity in this creativity-engaged space. Using the theoretical stages of creativity, students read research, reflect on their own experiences, try new creative endeavors, and engage in creative collaboration with others with the lens towards inspiring and supporting learning. Students are asked in the course to expand their own creative reach and risk-taking capabilities. Usually offered every second year.

THA 199a Senior Seminar: The Professional Experience
[ oc ]

Open only to Theater Art majors. Instructor permission required. Yields half-course credit.

Professional field exploration and preparation for all seniors graduating with a degree in Theater Arts, covering a variety of topics through in-depth seminars with working professionals, faculty, and staff. Students will be exposed to all of the possibilities awaiting them within the professional field and will gain skill in presenting their own work In theater. Students in the seminar will work extensively on their oral communication skills in professional and presentational settings. Usually offered every year.

WGS 105b Feminisms: History, Theory, and Practice
[ deis-us oc ss ]

Prerequisite: Students are encouraged, though not required, to take WGS 5a prior to enrolling in this course.

Examines diverse theories of sex and gender within a multicultural framework, considering historical changes in feminist thought, the theoretical underpinnings of various feminist practices, and the implications of diverse and often conflicting theories for both academic inquiry and social change. Usually offered every year.

WGS 135b Postcolonial Feminisms
[ hum oc ]

Examines feminist theories, literature, and film from formerly colonized, Anglophone countries in South Asia, the Caribbean, and Africa. It takes the shared path of decolonization and postcoloniality to discuss the development of feminist discourse and the diverse trajectories of gendered lives. Usually offered every third year.