Class Schedules

One of the most significant trends of the current era has been globalization: the shrinking of distances, the greater interpenetration of the world's peoples, and the rise, perhaps, of a so-called global culture. Yet it is too simple to say, "it's all a big mix," for the questions of how the mixing is done, and who mixes, are complex. The study of literature illuminates these questions. By reading important recent texts, this course tackles "world" questions: what does it mean to be from a certain place? what is a culture? and who are we in it? We'll work to link our own personal readings with the texts in dialogue with the world. Texts will be drawn from U.S. multicultural, "world," and travel literature, and rich theoretical readings. Open to first- and second-year students, or permission of the instructor. Prerequisite(s): Open only to First Year students and rising sophomores.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

A dominant feature of the 21st century has been globalization: the shrinking of distances, integration of economies, greater interpenetration of the world’s peoples, and rise of global cultures in everything from family arrangements to cuisine. But global life is not a shapeless mix: longstanding forces of nationality, religion, race, language, gender, history, and the environment shape global experiences in distinctive ways. This course explores the dynamics of globalization through works of fiction, film, and landmark essays drawn from a half dozen academic disciplines, each of which explore the world and our varied places in it.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Open to first- and second-year students. This course develops a base of knowledge, concepts, and analytical skills for engaging with International Studies' multi-dimensional concerns. Ranging across disciplines but with an emphasis on social science, we study global theories of interaction and conflict between human groups and explore sites and implications of increasing encounter. Focusing on culture, people flows, nationalism and ethnicity, democratization, contending interests, security, religious fundamentalism, gender, and modes of community integration, we examine how particular cases reflect broader processes. Open to first- and second-year students, or permission of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course will examine the developments of contemporary art beyond traditional centers of gravity in Europe and the United States. Using a series of case studies, it will examine how globalization impacts artistic production in different parts of the world, including Asia, Africa, India, Latin America, Russia, Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. While analyzing a diverse range of artistic practices in these regions, the course will critically explore key discourses around the topic of globalization, including hybridity and diaspora, from post-modern and post-colonial perspectives. No background in art history necessary.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course offers a theoretical and practical introduction to the study and promotion of human rights. Using broad materials, it focuses on the evolution and definition of key concepts, the debate over "universal" rights, regional and international institutions, core documents, the role of states, and current topics of interest to the human rights movement.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course examines the Qur'an and hadith, and other authoritative texts that ground Islamic jurisprudence, and explores the diverse ways in which Muslims have understood and interpreted these teachings in locations across the world (i.e. Indonesia, the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and the United States) and at various points in history.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
Internationalism OR U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to the history, politics, and aesthetics of Middle Eastern cinema. Over the course of the semester, we will examine the development of both local and regional cinematic traditions; the role of cinema in the production of the collective memory of conflict and war; the international circulation of film as a form of soft power; and, not least, the profound discursive power of cinematic humor. Readings will offer an introduction to methods of film analysis as well as to the political and artistic history of the modern Middle East

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

'Us vs. Them: the Cold War and its Culture' explores the politics, cultural exchanges, and ideological battles that defined the Cold War era, 1945-1991. Perspectives on the decades-long standoff will include not only the superpowers in the East and the West but also the socialist bloc of nations and the peoples and states shaking off the chains of colonialism.Discover how the intense rivalry and the specter of nuclear annihilation shaped global politics, economics, and societies, from the space race and the arms race to proxy wars fought on foreign soils. This course delves into the fears, strategies, and motivations that drove the actions of the United States, the Soviet Union, their allies, and the newly independent nations, providing a nuanced understanding of their interrelations.However, the Cold War's legacy is not solely one of political and military maneuvers; it also sparked significant cultural exchanges that influenced music, literature, film, and art, leaving an indelible mark on contemporary culture. During this period, culture became a frontier for competing ideologies, and it shaped how individuals and communities across different political and ideological spectrums navigated this complex era of suspicion and cooperation.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Europeans were by no means the first peoples to explore new territories and human populations. Renaissance scientific methodology, however, led European travelers to meticulously document each New World encounter in writing and develop new tools with which to navigate and represent space, devices that subsequently became weapons of colonial domination. But as Nature and indigenous populations refused to be subjected to European epistemology, failure and disaster were frequent events: shipwrecks left Old World survivors stranded among unknown lands and peoples in the Americas; Amerindians rejected the imposition of a foreign culture and religion, murdering colonists and missionaries; Africans rebelled against slavery and escaped to mountains and jungles to form autonomous communities. An examination of maps, exploration logs, missionary histories, travel literature, historiography and colonial documents will provide the foundation for this course on the ambivalent reality of the Old World's encounter with the Americas, in which Europeans were often the losers. This course satisfies the Area 1 requirement for the Spanish major. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 305 or SPAN 306 (though SPAN 307 recommended) and another 300-level Spanish course, or consent of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course will examine the historical origins and political contours of global capitalism through a focus on the international relations of colonialism and empire. We will analyze how concepts, institutions, and social relations such as private property, commodity production, markets, and free labor have been central to the construction of capitalist modernity. We will analyze these pillars of the global economy beyond the commonplace assumption of their emergence in Europe and examine how they have been shaped by global relations of conquest, indigenous dispossession, slavery, racialized exploitation, imperial war, and forms of social control such as policing and incarceration. We will trace the afterlives of these structures beyond formal decolonization and further explore abolitionist and anti-colonial modes of structuring political-economic life.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

From Italian Mafia dons to famous American philanthropists; from the knitting of "trauma teddies" in Helsinki to gift shopping in London; and from ceremonial exchange rings in Melanesia to the present day global refugee crisis: this course will investigate how generosity is understood and practiced in global perspective. We'll begin the semester by examining key debates surrounding reciprocity, gifts, and exchange, theories of altruism and generosity, and patron-client relations. We'll then explore the birth of the "humanitarian spirit," and the complicated ethics and politics of humanitarian intervention. We will compare diverse religious traditions' approaches to giving, including Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Jainism. And we'll explore contemporary debates surrounding volunteerism within sectarian and neoliberal political regimes.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Traces the development of theoretical accounts of culture, politics and identity in Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean and related lands since the 1947-1991 decolonizations. Readings include Fanon, Said, Walcott, Ngugi and many others, and extend to gender, literature, the U.S., the post-Soviet sphere, and Europe. The course bridges cultural, representational, and political theory. Prerequisite(s): Prior internationalist and/or theoretical coursework strongly recommended.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Drawing on several disciplines, this course confronts global hatred from three angles. The first is the hater's internal world and looks at how human nature, genetic structure/instincts, and individual psychology may foster hatred. The second is external, exploring the role history, culture, ideology, social structure, religion, and mass psychology play. The third seeks to apply the insights gained from the first two, asking: how might we break the devastating cycles of hatred so present in our world? Prerequisite(s): Senior standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Can we all live by one set of rules? This course investigates the broad field of global studies by addressing fresh and age-old issues in international law from the personal to the global, including borders, sources and enforcement of international law, law of the sea, immigration and asylum, post-national federation, colonization, world order, and global citizenship. Readings include case studies, memoirs, fiction, and other texts focusing on individuals, cultures, and states. Open to first- and second-year students, or permission of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Can we all live by one set of rules? This course investigates the broad field of global studies by addressing fresh and age-old issues in international law from the personal to the global, including borders, sources and enforcement of international law, law of the sea, immigration and asylum, post-national federation, colonization, world order, and global citizenship. Readings include case studies, memoirs, fiction, and other texts focusing on individuals, cultures, and states. Open to first- and second-year students, or permission of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Global media collectively have tremendous influence in how many see and comprehend the world and therefore on the information and beliefs upon which they feel or act. While media are central to the continued production of a sense of "the world" at large or the "global" scale, media industries are situated geographically, culturally and institutionally. Even if they promise worldwide coverage or are multinational companies, there is much to be gained from studying how media are produced and distributed differently according to specific social, political, economic and historical conditions. This course considers media industries around the world with a focus on the relationships between the labor and infrastructures behind representations in a broad range of media (television, radio, cinema, news, telecommunications, internet).

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Global media collectively have tremendous influence in how many see and comprehend the world and therefore on the information and beliefs upon which they feel or act. While media are central to the continued production of a sense of "the world" at large or the "global" scale, media industries are situated geographically, culturally and institutionally. Even if they promise worldwide coverage or are multinational companies, there is much to be gained from studying how media are produced and distributed differently according to specific social, political, economic and historical conditions. This course considers media industries around the world with a focus on the relationships between the labor and infrastructures behind representations in a broad range of media (television, radio, cinema, news, telecommunications, internet).

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

In this course, learners will explore key topics in adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH). Topics will range from the impact of adolescent physical, sexual, and social development on sexual behavior to policy and programmatic issues influencing ASRH outcomes in low-resource communities around the world. Emphasis will be placed on the social, economic, environmental, behavioral, and political factors that affect adolescent's sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Important clinical topics such as contraception, adolescent pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted infections will be discussed from the United States and international perspective. Upon successfully completing this course, learners will be able to identify a range of issues important to adolescent sexual and reproductive health and understand key policy topics pertinent to adolescent sexual and reproductive health both in the United States and around the world.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

During the last three decades, a global indigenous rights movement has taken shape within the United nations and other international bodies, challenging and reformulating international law and global cultural understandings of indigenous rights. The recognition of indigenous peoples' rights in international law invokes the tensions between sovereignty and human rights, but also challenges the dominant international understandings of both principles. In this course, we examine indigenous peoples' movements by placing them in a global context and sociologically informed theoretical framework. By beginning with a set of influential theoretical statements from social science, we will then use indigenous peoples' movements as case studies to examine the extent to which these theoretical perspectives explain and are challenged by case studies. We will then analyze various aspects of indigenous peoples' movements and the extent to which these aspects of the movement are shaped by global processes.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course introduces and explores the major health problems facing developing countries, and the main approaches to remediation. The course considers the social determinants of health, and the need for public health programs to address the root causes of health inequities as well as illness itself. Focus is at the country, international-organization, and donor levels. Attention will be given to major indicators, recent trends, policies, and metrics for monitoring progress. A case study, such as international tuberculosis control, will be used as an applied analysis.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

From c.1850-1950 the world's cities transformed as never before. Across the globe, these burgeoning metropolises were reconstituted as massive stages for the economic and cultural transformations of the day - the sites of industrialization, centralized planning, mass transport, and the locus of global migration. This course will trace the broader history of global urbanization during this period with an emphasis on how these processes were represented and imaged by nineteenth and twentieth-century urbanites. How was the modern city conceived as it transformed beyond all recognition? How did the global scope of the modern city impact these images? How were new technologies incorporated into this radical re-imagining of the modern city? And how did these images travel across the globe, themselves spurring further urbanization as they went? Geographically, the class introduces the radical transformation of urban morphology that began in mid-19th century European cities such as Manchester, London, Paris, Vienna and engages the transfer and reinterpretation of such processes on global cities from Kolkata to Moscow to Mexico City to Rio de Janeiro to Chicago and back, often to Paris. The class also engages classic and contemporary urban theory, artistic representations, and other narratives of the modern city.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course explores ethnic nationalism's causes and consequences in Eastern Europe. Drawing on several disciplines, we begin by examining the core concepts and theories in the contemporary study of nationalism. We then explore both the historical roots of Eastern European nationalisms, and their implications for democracy, minority inclusion, regional stability, and European integration.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

From notions of the "pure self" to teenage ganguro ("face-blackening"), Japanese culture is rife with instances of ideology and performance that reflect a deep complexity in its engagement with issues of identity and foreignness. This course traces the roots of this complexity back to Japan's beginnings as a modern nation and examines its cultural development into the present day. Works of fiction will be paired with readings in history and criticism to explore the meanings of identity, race, and ethnicity as they are expressed and contested in Japanese culture. The course will cover the literature of Korea and Taiwan, the experience of domestic minorities, and the contemporary cultures of cos-play ("costume-play") and hip-hop. No prior knowledge of Japanese required.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course considers surveillance as a social formation, inseparable from the theory and exercise of power. On the one hand, it takes up the pressing questions surveillance raises, from the development of cutting-edge technologies to the complex work of international regulation. On the other hand, it situates surveillance historically as central to projects of imperial conquest, state formation, and colonial rule. Engaging with theoretical works, primary sources, empirical studies and artistic renderings, students will grapple with problems of surveillance and power across geographic and historical contexts.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course explores the rapidly evolving field of transitional justice, examining how and why regimes respond to wide-scale past human rights abuses. Drawing on examples worldwide, it asks why states choose particular strategies and examines a variety of goals (truth, justice, reconciliation, democracy-building), approaches (trials, truth commissions, file access, memorialization, reparation, rewriting histories), actors (state, civil society, religious institutions), experiences, results, and controversies. Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Leadership is among the deepest features of associational life, pervading every profession and institution, especially in the age of complex global change. Thus this seminar explores leadership. We begin with the relationship between structure and agency, and then focus on vision and invention, integrity and legitimacy, flexibility and decisiveness. Readings draw from Western, Islamic, and Indian sources. The main paper will focus on a major individual from any century or locale, chosen by the student. Prerequisite(s): Open to all but first year students.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The great African American writer Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is best known as the poet laureate of the Harlem Renaissance. But his career was vaster still. He was a Soviet screenwriter, Spanish Civil War journalist, African literary anthologist, humorist, playwright, translator, social critic, writer of over 10,000 letters, and much more. This course engages Hughes-s full career, bridging race and global issues, politics and art, and makes use of little-known archival materials. This course fulfills the U.S. writers of color requirement for the English major.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism OR U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This is an introductory course about Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) intended for students interested in adding it to their repertoire of effective approaches to understanding and addressing social and health disparities locally and globally. We will explore topics such as the purpose and applications of CBPAR; partnership formation and maintenance; issues of power, trust, and social justice; researcher positionality; conflict resolution; ethical issues; CBPAR's relationship to cultural knowledge systems, and the advantages and disadvantages of CBPAR. We will be visited by CBPAR practitioners and, if funding permits, visit several important community partners throughout the Twin Cities. Independent readings and reflections will be expected between sessions. Students taking the course for credit will complete a final individual or group project of their choosing. As a model of the participatory approach, the course content will be responsive to needs and expressed interests of students, within the broad categories of topics aligned with course objectives, and within reason. This is not a methodology course. CBPAR is an approach to conducting research that is amenable to a variety of research designs and methodologies. This course focuses on the approach and will cover only a few methods that are more commonly used in CBPAR.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Globalization has helped the international community to come together with an unprecedented immediacy. It has also enabled individuals and on-state actors to assume powers and duties formerly exclusive to state. The dispersion of state prerogatives can be liberating, as when oppressed people use new communication technologies to overthrow their masters. It can also provide opportunities for criminal enterprises and other agents of disorder to act with impunity. Our senior seminar will explore the tensions between the centripedal forces that bring us together, and the centrifugal forces that tear the global community apart. The state will most often be the law. The Westphalian sovereign state has often been declared vanquished by globalization, yet it is still very much alive, and has proven creative in deriving new means to control its subjects. It must do so because those subjects have proven equally creative in resisting state control; and globalization, in both its modern and older forms, has provided those subjects with many tools of resistance. Prerequisite(s): Senior standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Capitalism, for many, is synonymous with the "natural" exchange of goods and services through "the free market." But fuller examination shows capitalism to be neither natural, free, nor limited to economic transactions. Capitalism more precisely is a historical social system and a way of being which now penetrates all forms of life: cultural, ecological, civic and more. This senior seminar aims to identify capitalism's origins and development, and interrogate its contemporary status. Thinkers such as Smith, Marx, and Braudel will loom, but readings will focus on works by Beaud, Weber, Tawney, Kotz, Wallerstein, and others. The course concludes with a significant research paper on a topic, relevant to the theme, of a student's choice. Prerequisite(s): Senior standing or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials