Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of Asian American fiction written by Americans of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, South Asian and Southeast Asian ancestry. Regular writing assignments required. Meets the Ethnic Studies requirement. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (ES)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examines the literatures of people in Africa and the Caribbean. Establishes the theoretical, historical, cultural and imagistic framework within which that literature operates. Thematic analysis of the literatures with respect to both their comparative experiences and their specifically different backgrounds. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of selected works by contemporary Black women writers, including Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Ntozake Shange and Maya Angelou. Themes explored include correcting the images, movement from masking to self-revelation, male-female relationships and search for wholeness. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Introduction to the study of folklore from a cross-cultural perspective, including major forms such as folktale, legend, ballad, joke, riddle, proverb and festival, and the theories used to interpret them. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. An introduction for the non-Art major to the relationships between art and mass culture. Illustrated lectures explore the development, techniques, and ideas underlying the contemporary visual environment, including the media arts of photography and advertising, as well as painting, sculpture and architecture. Art majors may not count this course in the major. (Available for General Education, C1 Arts.) (IC)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of the cultural, instrumental and musical aspects of predominant regional musical styles of Mexico from Pre-Cuauhtemoc to contemporary times. Meets the Ethnic Studies requirement. (Available for General Education, C1 Arts.) (ES)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Comparative historical study of Mexican Catholicism and American Protestantism and their influence on Chicanas/os in the U.S. Examination of issues involving church, religion, and politics in Chicana/o communities including analysis of theologies of liberation, faith-based community organizing, and feminist, queer, and indigenous spiritualities. Meets the Ethnic Studies requirement. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (ES)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of the intellectual life of Mexico from its indigenous pre-Colombian roots through the Spanish and European influences up to its own distinctive present-day perspectives and philosophical outlook. Meets the Ethnic Studies requirement. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (ES)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of major Chicana/o writers. Includes an analysis of Chicano novels, short stories, theater and poetry. Students develop analytical skills through class discussions, written assignments and readings. Meets the Ethnic Studies requirement. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (ES)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Introduction to the literature produced by contemporary Chicana writers. Reading and discussion of narrative works, poetry and drama, as well as socio-historical criticism, literary theory and biography. Socio-critical and textual analysis. Regular written assignments required. Meets the Ethnic Studies requirement. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (ES)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of the myths of Greeks and Romans, and of their impact on the literature of the Western world. Conducted in English. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Survey of the art of the cinema in order to establish a unique visual literature with its own critical standards. Feature films of various types and from diverse sources are screened. (Available for General Education, C1 Arts.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Preparatory: Upper division standing. Study and analysis of selected major works of fiction, poetry, drama and major authors since approximately the end of World War II in England and America. Critical writing required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Preparatory: Upper division standing. Introductory study of representative poems and plays. Attendance at performances and/or films is required. Critical writing required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of comics, including comic strips, comic books and graphic novels, from literary and cultural studies perspectives. Emphasis on both history and form, including image-text relationships. Topics also may include fan culture, particular genres of comics and connections between comics and other forms of visual text. Critical writing required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Preparatory: Upper division standing. A study of the short story, beginning with careful examination of some classics in the genre, followed by analysis of more contemporary works. Critical writing required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. No background of Italy or knowledge of the language required. This course offers students an in-depth study of major Italian literary masterpieces (fiction, poetry and drama) and aesthetic theories developed during the period of Humanism and Renaissance (1380-1550). Such a study allows students to appreciate the importance of new literary, spiritual and human values that emerged at that time and the unique role played by Italian Humanism and Renaissance on European literature and civilization. Conducted in English. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. This course will examine different individuals within the Italian-American experience, exploring their contributions in the fields of cinema, literature, philosophy and classical music, and how through each we see an additional paradigm offered in and to the mainstream artistic and humanistic endeavor in the U.S. Conducted in English. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (IC)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examines historical and contemporary issues surrounding the diversity of women living in the U.S. and other cultures. Gender, race, socioeconomic class and sexuality are presented as central theoretical concepts and as conditions of experience that affect all women and men, as well as being primary categories of social relations for us all cross-culturally. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities or D1 Social Sciences or F Comparative Cultural Studies.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Intended to introduce upper division students to the concepts and unresolved problems that have shaped the development of Western Civilization prior to 1500. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Themes in the institutional, political, socioeconomic and cultural development of Western Civilization since 1500. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examine American history from early indigenous societies to the U.S. Civil War. Learn about Native American cultures, European and African migrations, and regional patterns of settlement. Understand the development of slavery, democracy, women’s rights, capitalism, and westward expansion. (Available for General Education, C3 American History, Institutions and Ideals.) (IC)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Deepen your understanding of modern American history by delving into issues such as immigration, migration, urbanization, and suburbanization. Examine social movements and civil rights from Reconstruction to the twenty-first century. Investigate political and economic tensions in America and the rise of the U.S. as a global superpower. (Available for General Education, C3 American History, Institutions and Ideals.) (IC)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. This class explores how ancient and medieval Jews expressed themselves in literature, art and architecture, law, music, philosophy and science. It also explores how distinctive Jewish genres, styles and creative processes are related to similar expressions in non-Jewish cultures. Regular written assignments are required. (Available for General Education, C1 Arts or C2 Humanities.) (IC)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Corequisite: KIN 380L. History, aesthetics, performance forms, musical forms, cultural and racial heritages, and contemporary directions of dance in education and art. Dance is examined as a performing art, ritual, social/recreational activity and subject for scholarly investigation and analysis. Students participate in dance techniques related to content presented in the classroom. (Available for General Education, C1 Arts.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Survey of the development of Jazz, with emphasis on the influence of historical and socioeconomic factors. Includes stylistic analysis of Jazz and its musical elements in order to develop musical awareness. (Available for General Education, C1 Arts.)
Prerequisites: Completion of the lower division writing requirement; 3 units of Philosophy. Introduction for upper division students to such central philosophic problems as knowledge, truth, reality and mind. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. An introduction to the history of American philosophy with an emphasis on American pragmatism and its intellectual precursors, especially in Native- and African-American thought. Key themes include the relationship between the individual and community, pluralism and democracy, economic and social freedom, and the pragmatic conception of truth and meaning, with an emphasis on how diverse philosophies of resistance and social critique have shaped American institutions and ideals. Attention is also paid to the contemporary landscape of American political philosophy. (Available for General Education, C3 American History, Institutions and Ideals.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. The course addresses philosophical issues central to biological sciences, including the creation/evolution debate and other social implications of contemporary biological theories. It also introduces basic concepts in philosophy of science, such as demarcation, scientific explanation and the scientific method, which are necessary for examining the above issues. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Analysis of the concepts reality, knowledge, mind and theory that attempts to answer the question: What is the character of the scientific picture of human beings and nature? (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examination of the conceptual problems religious claims pose and arguments regarding knowledge of God, evil, miracles, death and survival, religious experience, religion and morals, faith and reason. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities or E Lifelong Learning.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Philosophical examination of the concepts, values and arguments relevant to understanding and evaluating practical social and political issues central to current public debates concerning such matters as civil and political rights, social and economic inequality, the environment, biotechnology, economic policy and global trade, and the national defense. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (IC)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of representative works of the major existentialists, with the aim of discovering the fundamental tenets of existentialism. Emphasis placed on existentialism’s influence on and relevance to contemporary thought. Regular written assignments will be required. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Widely acknowledged as forefathers of existentialist philosophy, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are among the most important figures of 19th-century European thought. This course takes a close look at their lives and writings, comparing their views on issues of central importance to both thinkers. Questions addressed in this course may include: What is the role of the individual in society? What does it mean to lead a meaningful life? What is the relation between science and religion? Is there such a thing as objective truth? (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Examination of religious views of women in oral and literary cultures, focusing on the roles, symbols and concepts of women within an international and historical framework. Also addresses women’s own perspectives on religion, as reflected in historical sources and in contemporary theology and religious life. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (IC)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. The study of the influence of religious traditions on the formation of American culture and the modification of religious traditions by the American context. Also addresses major American religious thinkers and movements, and religion’s role in shaping American thought, literature and ethos. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Study of literature to discover to what extent a religious tradition or the lack of one influences an author’s understanding of human existence. Writers who reflect religious traditions, as well as those who are informed by humanism or atheism, are read and interpreted. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Study of selected major writings in religious thought, with the aim of analyzing representative modern approaches to such questions as God and the world, faith and self-understanding, and belief and social consciousness. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Emphasizes the development of skills in critical thinking through analysis of such contemporary ethical issues as abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering, sexual behavior, racism, gender bias, punishment, animal rights, the environment and the relationships between religion and morality. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. This course examines the intersection between race, power, and religion through the lens of colonialism. The main subject of inquiry will be the role that religion plays in the construction of the dominant ideas and politics of race and racial relations in the colonial/post‑colonial social contexts. Particular attention will be paid to ways in which both religion and race (racialized subjects) are “created” and how they inform and shape power relations that constitute colonialism and colonial ideology. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. This course examines how religious beliefs and practices contribute to humans’ protection, utilization and/or damage of the natural world. Students explore the resources for environmental sustainability within at least two world religious and in new “green” theologies, nature mysticism and radical environmentalism. Particular attention will be paid to land and food ethics, and issues of gender, race, and class. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. Not open to Theatre majors. Introduction to the theatre through the experience of attending performances, preparatory lectures and post-performance discussions and critiques. Critical writing assignments required. (Available for General Education, C1 Arts.)
Prerequisite: Completion of the lower division writing requirement. This class is a survey of Western musical theatre history, drama and practices from late 19th century through modern day. Students will analyze the role of musical theatre in the culture of the United States by examining the context of changes and trends in American musical theatre from the 1890s to the present. Students will evaluate American history as it is reflected in musical theatre and the effects of multicultural historical events on the theater. Students will study musical theatre’s elements and structure through the lens of major librettists, composers, lyricists, designers, directors, choreographers, and performers. (Available for General Education, C2 Humanities.) (IC)