102. First Year Seminar in American
Studies. Only first-year students, including those with sophomore
standing, may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission
of instructor. (3). (SS).
Section 001 - Politics and Culture of Race in Post-1945 United States. This
course will examine how changing ideas of race and race relations have affected
life in the United States over the past fifty years. Students will consider
a wide range of texts - from government reports and historical analyses
to novels, movies, and popular music - to understand the role that debates
over the meaning of race have played in recent political, cultural, and
social movements. (Countryman)
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150. First Year Seminar in Asian
Studies: Civilizations of Asia. No knowledge of Asian Languages
required. Only first-year students, including those with sophomore standing,
may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of
instructor. (3). (HU). May be repeated with permission of instructor.
Section 001 - Language in Asia. Through hands-on exercises and investigations,
students in this course will explore aspects of language and its place in
Asian societies. Topics will include the relationships of Asian languages
to each other, linguistic clues to early history and prehistory, Asian scripts
and their development, Asian languages in the computer age, and the interaction
of language and culture. Emphasis will be on direct investigation of actual
examples from a wide variety of Asian languages, including minority languages.
(Baxter)
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124. College Writing: Writing and
Literature. ECB writing assessment. (4). (Introductory Composition).
Section 006 - The Satirical Smile. Many authors share a satirical smile
with their audiences, using irony or sarcasm to ridicule a person, a vice,
or a literary genre. The author of a satire forges an uneasy relationship
with her audience, for the reader, while laughing (or smirking) at others'
follies, risks seeing herself reflected in the same funhouse mirror. In
this section, we will focus upon the techniques employed to establish credibility
and an "appropriate" audience response. Texts may include: poems
by Aphra Behn, Rochester, Alexander Pope, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu;
Books 1 and 3 of Gulliver's Travels; Persuasion; Gilbert and Sullivan's
Patience; Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead;
Russell Baker's essays; and Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm.
Course requirements: active participation in class discussions, four essays
and one in-class essay, a library project, and a final group presentation
in which you will have the opportunity to extend our discussion to contemporary
fiction or film. (Widmayer)
Sections 011 and 012. In this section, we will read fiction, poetry, and essays and discuss how language is used to create as well as reflect meaning. The readings will be connected by a number of themes. In the latter half of the course, we might read three to five literary texts that have influenced the idea of the American Midwest, possibly including novels by Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, and Toni Morrison. By comparing the readings, we will think about what counts as the Midwest and what issues the term addresses in a shorthand fashion. You should read for themes that interest you and be prepared to bring your own issues to the seminar table in the form of response papers, other texts, and class discussion. Assignments include two 2-3 page and three 5-7 page papers that practice definition, textual analysis, narrative, and argument, workshop responses, and participation on email and in class. (Palmer)
Section 020 - Reading For Meaning. In this course we shall read a variety of texts and then write out interpretations. Why do we interpret? What is so important about finding meaning? Just consider for a moment how unpleasant it is when you admit "I don't understand," or "What does it mean?" A lot of our life is spent figuring out what something or someone means. Literature gives us a good training in making sense, in constructing meaning, in interacting with a text so that our minds become more familiar in dealing with what is complex and difficult. We can also apply these strategies for reading to our own writing. What do I want to say? How can I develop this argument? What is the best way persuade my reader? Writing assignments will include weekly responses, about twenty-five pages of polished prose, and a final. (Swabey)
Section 021 - Our Culture, Ourselves. Writing is a critical tool that we will all sooner or later need in order to convey our thoughts, intentions, and ideas to loved ones, graduate programs, and prospective employers. By the end of this term, we should all have successfully refitted our writing, argumentative, and analytical skills to better meet the standards and needs of the University and future circumstances, whatever they may be. This class will focus on popular culture and consumption, and their participation in the construction of social behavior and assumptions. Readings will include Du Maurier's "Trilby," Childress' "Like One of the Family," Dick's "Ubik," and several critical essays. These will be complemented by screenings of "Roger and Me," "History and Memory," and perhaps episodes of "South Park" and "The Simpsons." This course necessitates a commitment to writing (expect four papers of varying lengths totaling 20-30 pages of polished writing) and an open mind. (Silva)
Section 023 - Literature and Loss. This course will examine the ways in which twentieth-century writers have dealt with the concepts of loss and death, and with the challenges of living in a world bounded by the fact of mortality. Because all living persons are (by definition) alive, writing about death becomes an exercise in probing the unimaginable, the traumatic, and the taboo. By examining the variety of strategies that authors have developed to discuss this most elusive of subjects, we will explore - and write frequently about - such issues as mourning; memory; generational, familial, and cultural connectedness; and the responsibility of the living to the dead. We will focus on novels (William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping, and Toni Morrison's Beloved,) but will also study a nonfictional account (Elie Wiesel's Night) and a small selection of poetry and essays. Students will write and revise four papers (3-6 pages each), participate in critiques of one another's work, and submit periodic short writing assignments. Though our subject is weighty, conversation should be lively and engaged; to that end, you should come to each class prepared to participate in discussion. (Egger)
Section 024 - The Ethics of Writing: Virtues and Vices. This composition course will use literature - primarily short fiction - as an avenue for improving critical thinking, reading, and writing. We will focus on the ethics of written discourse, or the virtues to display and the vices to avoid in our expository and argumentative strategies. Virtues that peer revision groups will explore in both the literature and, more importantly, each other's papers include reliable narration, sound analysis, and responsible argumentation. We will also develop effective rhetorical techniques relating to purpose, audience, organization, voice, style, evidence, documentation, and academic conventions. Assignments will include four formal, revised essays of varying lengths (3-8 pages), peer critiques of each formal paper, several shorter exploratory papers, in-class exercises, and large and small group discussions. Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, Richard Wright, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Sandra Cisneros are among the authors we will read. (O'Keefe)
Section 032 - The Avant-Garde of Composition: Essays and Fictions. During our term together, we will explore essays, novels, short, fiction, poetry, and live performance in order to understand the ways in which writers communicate within their historical, cultural, and philosophical contexts. Moreover, we will examine how one particular community of writers and artists - the "avant garde" - have tried to change those contexts in their poetry, paintings, and performance. In addition to "nuts-and-bolts" exercises in punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary, we will also explore the specific techniques that avant-garde writers, painters, and performers have used to communicate effectively and try to discover ways to make their techniques work in our own writing. We will read from a diverse number of experimental literary and creative traditions, including work by Jonathan Swift, Leslie Silko, Edgar Allan Poe, and Yoko Ono, in addition to essays on city design, aesthetic theory, and guerrilla warfare. There will also be a fair amount of music and live performance - and, of course, a lot of writing. (Sell)
Section 060. This section is restricted to students in the 21st Century
Program. Exploring diverse cultural practices and behaviors requires
that we imagine otherness as individual experience (privately) and as a
collective position (publicly). To this end we will read a range of fictional
texts that reflect this diversity. By considering the ways these stories,
poems, and essays represent ethical conflict we will ask how individual
identity politics - ethnicity, race, gender, religious difference - complicate
the moral judgments that inform our interpretations. By looking at particular
characters in specific situations we will attempt to develop a broader description
of the personal and social issues these stories present. Our goal will be
to better understand how the idea of mutual tolerance connects with the
ability to imagine and describe otherness and its context, both orally and
in writing. Required Texts: Threshholds: Literature Based Composition
Required Work: Five 4-6 page essays, regular attendance and thoughtful conversation.
(Tessier)
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125. College Writing. ECB
writing assessment. (4). (Introductory Composition).
Section 004 - Writing and Thinking about Language. We all constantly
use our knowledge of language to communicate, and do so rather automatically.
In this course we will step back and take a closer look at what language
is by reading, writing, talking, and thinking about it. Our course materials
consist of readings and movies on the following topics: Animal communication
vs. human language; child language acquisition; language and the mind; American
Sign Language; language vs. dialect; African American Vernacular English/Ebonics;
sexist language; and/or any language-related topics students would like
to cover. Students will write short 1-2 page peer-reviewed response papers
to the readings/movies, as well as 20-30 pages of graded polished prose.
At the end of the term students will hand in a portfolio with all of their
written work. This portfolio together with classroom involvement (active
participation and peer critiques) will determine the final grade. (Toebosch)
Sections 012 and 073 - Writing and Modern Critical Thought. This course will introduce students both to the art of expository writing and to some of the main currents of modern critical thought in philosophy and the social sciences. Readings will consist almost exclusively of short works by some of the most controversial authors of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe, such as Jeremy Bentham, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Max Weber. The course will aim in part to give students a good basic understanding of each author's project and of its historical significance. At the same time, the investigation of these projects will be used as a springboard for learning to write in a clear, critical, and informed manner about societies and cultures, whether in a European past, an American present, or a post-modern and post-colonial future. Course requirements will include 3-4 formal essays, totaling 20-30 pages, as well as a number of more informal (but nonetheless important) assignments, such as several brief 1-2 page papers reacting to the readings; written and oral critiques of the writings of other students; and active participation in small and large group workshops sessions. (McEnnerney) Section 019. We discover ourselves through thinking, and discover our thought by writing. The goals of this course are three - to develop critical reading, complex thinking, and good writing. Each of these is a process, so time spent on each will also mean time spent re-reading, re-thinking, and revising, working with peers to question, challenge, and support one another as writers. Throughout, we'll be considering the ways that we communicate - how do the choices we make as writers help us enter a discussion, make a point, and convince an audience? Plan on doing a lot of writing - graded and ungraded, with assignments of varying length and focus, as you try out different voices and styles. (Lavetter-Keidan)
Sections 020 and 035 - The City and Society. This course will consider urban culture by examining music, films, and a variety of readings about city life. We'll begin with stories defining your hometown, and consider how those relate to urban/suburban values expressed through movies such as Do the Right Thing and My New Gun. We'll study scholarly and popular readings to better analyze the source of urban tensions. Musical influences such as George Clinton, the Velvet Underground, and Puff Daddy will help us see how artists are celebrating their environments, while at the same time questioning the status quo. We'll participate in group discussions, critique the writing of other students, and revise papers before turning in the final drafts. Expect to write a total of 20-30 pages of revised, graded prose by the end of the term. (Aitken)
Section 021 - Expository Writing and the Environment. In this course you will be asked to write four revised, polished arguments or expository essays ranging in length from 5-10 pages, and while they must involve argumentation, these assignments do not specify a topic. In addition to these essays, you will be asked to write peer reviews or critiques and several response papers on the assigned readings. Although the theme of the course is the environment, we will spend the majority of class discussing argumentation: What is an argument? What makes an argument work well? By analyzing mostly non-fiction texts that are loosely based on or related to the environment and by analyzing the work of your own peers, we will discuss the conventions writers follow and do not follow in order to argue a thesis and present their ideas effectively. (Moses)
Section 023 - The Anthropology of Sports. Through readings, videos, television, and fieldwork exercises we will consider sports from an anthropological perspective. Specifically we will: investigate the function of sports, both professional and amateur, in various cultures; explore their unification and/or devisive nature; explore issues of class, ethnicity, and gender; discuss the issue of cultural relativism as it relates to sports throughout the world; and investigate anthropologically some of the issues facing the sports world today. Students will write 1-2 page peer-reviewed reading response papers each week. Formal papers will vary in length, with a total of 20-30 pages of revised, polished prose assigned which will receive instructor and peer comments, but will not be given letter grades. Letter grades will be assigned to portfolios due at mid-term and at the end of the semester. Final grades will be assigned based on the quality of the portfolios, class participation, and writing improvement throughout the semester. (Mayfield)
Section 030. "In America, everybody is, but some are more than others." -Gertrude Stein. Graceland. Strip malls. Hollywood. The leader of the free world for some, the Great Satan for others. What is America at the end of this millennium? Is the American dream alive and well? Are you living it? Writing it? Framed by such question, this course has two primary goals: to develop the critical thinking skills that are vital not only to your college work, but to maneuvering life itself, and to enhance your enjoyment of the writing process. We will engage in a variety of writing exercises, discuss readings about the American identity, and examine artifacts such as the Pledge of Allegiance, the writing of Columbus, and American music and film. These materials will encourage you to articulate and defend your position within this great melting pot - or tossed salad - that is America today, yesterday, and tomorrow. Students will be expected to write and revise persuasive, expository, and creative narratives and to actively participate in paper workshops. Required texts: a coursepack; The Little Brown Handbook; Tim O'Brien's The Things they Carried. (Carpenter)
Section 036. - Writing on Environmental Issues. In writing on environmental issues, students will improve their ability to write about complex issues, with articles and films on environmental topics providing the material for in-class discussions and writing assignments. Some of the issues covered will be global warming, pest control, and species introductions. Assignments will include five short essays, a longer research paper, a group project, plus numerous in-class writing exercises. The importance of revision is a major theme of this course, and several drafts will be required for each assignment and reviewed by both peers and the instructor. The ultimate goal of this course is to provide students with the tools needed to critically analyze their own writing and recognize good writing independently of teacher feedback. (Allison)
Section 037 - Writing and Discovery. To think is to explore and to write is to discover. The process of writing offers an opportunity to think and learn about ourselves, our world, and our constantly changing relationship to it by practicing how to express our perceptions effectively. As you enter the very new world of Michigan to celebrate the independence and excitement of collegiate life, you will explore how your academic or personal experiences can help you determine the way you see the world. In this course, we will actively discuss and write about selected essays, music, art, and film to develop skills and techniques to help you successfully complete written assignments for college level humanities, social science, and science courses. We will spend a significant portion of the semester working together in class workshops to help one another learn to use these techniques which will make writing easier and more enjoyable. (Sutaria)
Section 039 - The Ethics of Critical Reading and Writing. This composition course will focus on critical thinking, reading, and writing, with an emphasis on the ethics of written discourse. The course entails identifying and exploring ethical questions involving such topics as civil rights, the media, and the educational system. We will practice identifying multiple points of view on an issue; generating and developing our own perspectives and positions; articulating our thoughts in convincing sentences, paragraphs, and essays; and summarizing, documenting, and responding to others' texts responsibly. Peer revision groups will study numerous pieces of writing, some by professional writers, many by classmates. In the process, we will develop effective rhetorical techniques relating to purpose, audience, organization, voice, style, evidence, and academic conventions. Assignments will include four formal, revised essays of varying lengths (3-8 pages), peer critiques of each formal paper, several shorter exploratory papers, in-class exercises, and large and small group discussions. (O'Keefe)
Section 040 - Engaging Our Processes and A World of Ideas. This section hopes to foster thought and discussion about the multiple ways in which we can read and write the world in which we live. To do this, students and instructor will work collaboratively in examining essays from our course text and related material (i.e. films, music, works of art) that offer differing perspectives on issues such as justice, culture, and poetics. As developing learner-writers, students will be expected to add to these discussions by writing on issues they deem relevant. This expectation operates from the belief that English 125 should assist students in developing reliable methods for generating ideas and composing written work. Therefore, class activities may include producing short reflection pieces examining individual approaches to reading and writing, collectively analyzing writing strategies such as evaluating evidence in an argumentative essay, and participating in workshop/peer review sessions. Since students will be asked to apply these strategies as they engage the broader subjects mentioned above, three (workshop) essays of varying lengths and 1-2 page in-class, reader-response assignments will comprise the writing for this section. The ultimate goal of this section is to provide students with practical experience in critical thinking, reading, and writing on the college level. (Christian)
Section 042. How would an alien society evaluate our popular culture if given the chance? What would they think of the Nike Swoosh, of the Wu Tang Clan, of the Lilith Fair, or of a well-read copy of Huckleberry Finn? This course will improve both your analytical reading skills and your argumentative and persuasive writing skills by examining and analyzing the unnoticed popular culture that constantly surrounds us - our clothes, music, TV, books, films. We will be using email extensively in our responses to the assigned readings, and by the end of the semester you will be able to analyze your cereal box and will possess a portfolio of 20-30 pages of brilliant, well-polished, argumentative prose. (Frantz)
Section 044 - The Sexual Revolution and Contemporary American Culture. This course explores the post-WWII Sexual Revolution as an historical phenomenon that resonates in contemporary American culture. Readings, viewings, and class discussions will offer an introduction to sexuality studies and cultural criticism, while providing the foundation for a variety of practical and provocative writing experiences. Course materials will include scholarly and popular, print and audio-visual texts on a number of topics: Sexual regulation; sex activism; multiculturalism and sexualities; alternative sexualities; shifts in sexual attitudes and behaviors; reproductive issues; erotica; sexual harassment, assault, and rape; the commercialization of sex; sex symbols; sex scandals; and related campus and local community issues. Three revised essays (totaling 20-30 pages) will be required, as well as several brief, directed response papers. Each student will maintain a field notebook on a contemporary sexuality topic of his or her choice, in preparation for a culminating essay situating the issue in historical relation to the Sexual Revolution. (Pagni)
Section 045. Writing, as a means of expressing yourself, is a vital skill. To make yourself understood to others and as a means to better understand yourself, writing offers a self-reflective medium which requires patience, skill, and practice. This course will attempt to help you exercise and polish your writing techniques. We will be working from the anthology Ways of Reading, which covers numerous writing styles, after which we will discuss and reflect upon these readings and apply them by creating texts on a variety of formal and informal topics. There will be a requirement of three or four formal, polished essays, peer reviews of others' writings, and journal assignments. This class will also require active participation in discussion. The goal of this section will be to make the student comfortable with numerous styles and a variety of topics in their writing. (Gorman)
Section 049. How do you see the world around you? How do you communicate what you do, see and understand, both to others and yourself? This course is designed to develop critical writing and reading skills to help you convey to others what you see, how you see, and why you see the world around you in the way you do. This course stresses writing and reading as a method for critical and thoughtful thinking. We will concentrate on various forms of writing to help you to develop critical analytic and argumentative skills in the art of personal and professional persuasion, which will serve you throughout your college years and beyond. In this course you will be expected to write 20-30 pages of revised and polished prose, learning versatile skills in writing essays varying from 1-7. Other course requirements will include participation in class discussions and thoughtful peer critiques. (J.Y. Lee)
Section 050 Whether you become a philosopher or a physicist, a painter or a pediatrician, you will write: a speech, a professional paper, a letter to a gallery, a resume. The skill with which you dress your ideas in words will determine your success. Our focus in this class will be on honing your critical thinking and improving your rhetorical dexterity. To that end, you will write and revise three short (4-5 page) essays and one long (7-10 page) essay on a topic of your choice, be it the stock market or Marrakech, the joys of bullriding or the question of animal welfare in rodeos. In addition, you will complete several shorter assignments, peer reviews, and a writing journal with responses to readings, explorations of your ideas, and reflections on your writing process. Readings will include works by Alice Walker, Adrienne Rich, and John Berger. (Cooley)
Section 053. The principle objective of this course is to introduce students to the basic writing skills necessary to do well in most university courses and, beyond that, in their careers. The course will establish a practice of writing based on the principle that good writing requires practice, revision, and the ability to communicate effectively in other mediums besides the written word. The opportunity to practice writing and re-vising will present itself chiefly in the production of four polished 4-6 page essays. The development of effective communication skills will be aided by group discussion of selected readings relating to contemporary cultural concerns. In addition to this, a good portion of the class will be devoted to discovering the ways in which electronic media and technology can facilitate writing, communication, and our understanding of the world. (Miserocchi)
Section 056. Effective writing begins with one's own unique point-of-view. It's this ability to express our individual narratives, observations, analyses, to participate in the discourses of various disciplines, that makes writing so enjoyable. But, like any endeavor, writing clear and sophisticated prose takes work. It's my hope, though, that interesting and fun writing assignments will encourage and inspire students to believe in their abilities as writers. Students will have the opportunity in this course to learn to write more skillfully - to translate their unique voices and perceptions into written words, to put their thoughts and ideas down on paper in a logical fashion, to formulate complex and coherent arguments - via in-class writing assignments, freqent one-page response papers, and four 4 to 6 page papers. Students will workshop their essays (have them critiqued by their peers) as a step toward that essential process of revision. We will also discuss the essays and articles of a diverse group of published authors, especially the formal elements that make them so effective. (Hogan)
Section 057. Words are like trees: it is easy for a writer to get lost in them, particularly if he or she feels compelled to impress a reader. In this course we will attempt to maintain sight of the forest - the main idea and its logical development in the essay - but we will not abandon our attention to the individual tree - to the efficacy of the single word. Language is a medium: it is yours to choose, craft, discard, and extend. During the semester we will explore the ways in which other writers and artists have shaped their media in the service of their messages; a selection of essays, films, poetry, and visual artworks will form the basis of our group discussions and may provide inspiration for your essays. Class time will be devoted to collaborative activities (analysis, peer revision, workshops, presentations) and individual efforts (pre-writing, impromptu compositions). Producing 4-5 pieces of polished prose is one of our goals; another and perhaps more important goal is developing an appreciation of the rough edges that all good writing presupposes. (Carlson-Federhofer)
Section 058. Whether the writers we like to read are nineteenth-century poets or contemporary political columnists, their finished writings seem inspired, natural, and uncannily clear. But the process by which writers arrive at their finished products often seems mystical to the rest of us. How, exactly, do they do it? The aim of this course is to help you to become more rigorous, logical, and persuasive writers. We will demystify the writing process by breaking it down into its parts, writing and experimenting with various forms (description, analysis, and researched synthesis, for instance), and thinking about how each piece of writing we read works to achieve its goal. You can expect to be writing on a very regular basis and working in peer groups to develop your skills. This course will also help you to develop your abilities as strategic readers, since the practice of rigorous writing is inseparable from the practice of rigorous reading. 20-30 pages of writing will be required. (Clenfield)
Section 069 - Ancient Mexico Before Columbus. Students will explore the trajectories of cultural development in Mexico leading up to the period of European contact initiated by Columbus in 1492. Moving from the earliest hunter-gatherers to the great empire of the Aztecs, we will investigate the important cultural changes that led to the formation of the great civilizations of ancient Mexico. Some of the other groups that will be discussed in class include the Zapotecs, Olmecs, Maya, and Mixtecs. Students in the class are required to write three formal, revised essays of varying lengths (essay #1 = 5-6 pages; essay #2 = 10-12 pages; and essay #3 = 6-8 pages). Students are also required to write short, critical responses (1-2 pages) for each reading assignment. There will also be a series of in-class writing exercises and workshop sessions. At the end of the term each student will hand in a portfolio with all writing assignments from the term. (Glew)
Section 072 - Write Well. Get Read! The goal of this course is to help you join the academic conversation by learning how to write scholarly analyses in response to what you read. We shall therefore focus on how to read analytically, how to decipher rhetorical strategies in different texts, and how to draft, revise, and polish a piece of writing so that it engages the reader. We shall also become familiar with some of the library's resources so that we can incorporate criticism into our writing. Students will write 20-30 pages of polished prose, including weekly responses, and we shall spend lots of time drafting and revising writing. Writing isn't easy, and certainly not natural, but in this class we will face the difficulties together, and celebrate moments of victory. (Swabey)
Section 074. This class will ask how readers and writers use language to see themselves and to define the world around them. All writers imagine different kinds of audiences for their written words; we will explore ways of projecting ourselves into that imaginary discourse both as readers and writers. We will cover the fundamentals of effective college writing, with special attention to the thesis paragraph and the use of examples and evidence. We will analyze professional writers' style and the structure of their arguments. Throughout the semester students will write and revise drafts in order to develop a clear understanding of the writing process. (Young)
Section 076 - Books and Beyond: Writing and the Real World. In this course, you will become a versatile writer - you will acquire the tools to write about anything from novels to shopping malls. We will begin by examining the essay form and focus on how arguments are made. Then we will see how arguments are advanced - and often disguised - in narratives, poetry, and even films. We will take as our premise that culture is a text: the world in which we live can be read and translated into the essay form. With this in mind, as the term progresses, your essays will emerge out of your experiences in the real world. Interview your roommate; construct a family history. Write an essay on the culture of football games at the U of M. The possibilities are endless; I will require, though, that you write a lot and that you write often. Assignments will include four formal essays, critiques of your classmates' writing, and a final portfolio of your work. (Tischler)
Section 078. In what sense is language communal? How do we "translate" our own signature ways of thinking into the "dialects" of different discourse communities? How does a writer define and authorize the spaces between these "dialects" as he or she enters ongoing critical conversation? In this class we will investigate what happens to language in the process of "translation" between and across academic disciplines, genres, and styles. Possible readings include selections from Sir Philip Sidney, John Milton, Gloria Anzaldua, Adrienne Rich, Mary Louise Pratt, and Buchi Emecheta. By drafting and polishing four essays, as well as writing responses to readings and completing several shorter assignments, students will gain a sense of revision as another mode of "translation," one which enables them to develop fluency, flexibility, and greater grace in their writing. (Balla)
Section 081 - Clambake Noche. In Clambake Noche, we'll look at writing as a cool and interesting way of experiencing ourselves and the world. We'll see writing as a means to explore our own little islands and bring us together at the end of the day to talk with other "islanders" about their journeys. As we relate our travels, triumphs, travails, etc. I like to compare it to a nighttime beach clambake. In the process, we'll try to abandon the idea and practice of writing as a last-minute grind. To help out, we'll break the writing process down into four steps: brainstorming, blue-printing, composing, and revising. Among other things, and with the help of our reading, we'll also examine the form and flow of logical argumentation, race, class, and gender issues, and the machinations of the human mind and heart. We'll write four papers: a personal narrative, a behavioral/psychological analysis, a classification of people or things, and one that's up to you. (Gallagher)
Section 096. This section is restricted to students in the Undergraduate
Research Opportunity Program.Contact Virginia Reese in LS&A Academic Advising
for an electronic override. This class will ask how readers and writers
use language to see themselves and to define the world around them. All
writers imagine different kinds of audiences for their written words; we
will explore ways of projecting ourselves into that imaginary discourse
both as readers and writers. We will cover the fundamentals of effective
college writing, with special attention to the thesis paragraph and the
use of examples and evidence. We will analyze professional writers' style
and the structure of their arguments. Throughout the semester students will
write and revise drafts in order to develop a clear understanding of the
writing process. Your written work will conclude with a substantial research
project that builds on our previous work with incorporating outside sources
and points of view. (Young)
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Times, Location, and Availability
239. What is Literature?
Prerequisite for concentrators in the Regular Program and in Honors.
(3). (HU).
Section 010. What is literature? The answer (if there can be any one
answer) to this question surely lies in the process of textual production
and reception. These moments of creation and consumption have themselves
been the subject of many literary works. The focus of this class will be
on texts from diverse places, periods, and genres which address in some
way the complex process of how texts come to be and the implications of
what texts do in the world. In other words, we will be reading and writing
about texts concerning reading and writing. Works coming under our scrutiny
will range from the Prologue of Chaucer's Legends of Good Women
to the film Il Postino. To focus our analysis and direct our inquiry,
we will read relevant historical, critical, and theoretical works along
the way. Writing assignments will include brief response papers, 3 essays,
and a final exam. (Warren)
Section 011. What pleasure or profit do we seek from texts that advertise themselves as "literature" (as opposed to other texts)? Is there such a thing as enduring literary value? If so, how can we identify it? According to prominent literary critic Terry Eagleton, "Literature, in the sense of a set of works of assured and unalterable value, distinguished by certain shared inherent properties, does not exist." In this course, we will test Eagleton's provocative thesis against works of fiction, drama, and memoir drawn from both inside and outside the canon of "great literature" to see if we agree with him. Our reading list will include Shakespeare's King Lear, Jane Austen's Emma, Sigmund Freud's Dora, D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, Frederick Douglass' Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior, Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, and Tim O'Brien's In the Lake of the Woods. Written assignments will include a midterm, final, and two 5-6 page essays. Please note that attendance and vigorous class participation are requirements of this course. (Sofer)
Section 012. This section is restricted to students of the Lloyd Hall Scholars Program. This course will explore the elusive nature of literature. We will try to find (or create) the "truth" about literature and its interpretation. A main focus will be the narrative perspective, or point of view, from which literary discourse flows - e.g. the reliability of narrators and the extent of their power over the reader (and other characters or voices). We will also broaden our discussion to the ethics of narrative situations in general. Issues of narrative authority will be linked to your own writing to foster more informed and effective rhetorical strategies relating to purpose, style, and evidence. In addition to studying a variety of literary genres and historical contexts, we will investigate some "literary" characteristics of painting, sculpture, and film. Assignments will include group discussions, several exploratory reactions (1-2 pages), two short analysis papers (3-4 pages), a longer argumentative paper (6-8 pages), and a final exam. (O'Keefe)
Section 013. In this class, we will examine the relationship between literature and memory. More specifically, we will investigate the ways in which authors create identities - for characters, readers and themselves - by telling and remembering stories. In the texts we will read, memory refers not to a clear and stable past, but to a narrative that is open to more than one interpretation. Can we decide on a reliable history in such cases, or are we left only with more questions? In addition to these issues, we will cover the fundamental methods of literary interpretation. Our discussions will cover shifts in historical period (we will begin in Renaissance, move to the nineteenth century, and spend considerable time in the modern and postmodern periods) as well as differences in genre. Finally, we will focus on texts both as abstract representations of ideas and as physical artifacts, so the historical context of a book's publication will sometimes by of importance to our discussion. (Young)
Section 014. This section of "What is Literature?"
focuses on the ways in which literary texts can be seen to rewrite, reinterpret,
and respond to one another. Beginning with the assumption that it is very
difficult - if not impossible - to pinpoint the original creator of any
narrative, trope, or theme, we will instead consider authors as figures
who borrow from, transform, and play off each other's efforts. Focusing
on pairs of related texts, we will read William Faulkner's Absalom,
Absalom! alongside Toni Morrison's Beloved, both of which
examine race, history, and the power of the dead; Charlotte Bronte's Jane
Eyre and Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, which address women's
place in society; George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and David Mamet's
Oleanna, which explore the power relations between teacher and
student; and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Francis Ford
Coppola's film Apocalypse Now, which problematize the concepts
of civilization and barbarism. Coursework includes 3 papers and 5 quizzes.
Cost:2 (Egger)
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231. Elements of Mineralogy. Prior
or concurrent enrollment in Chem. 125/130 or 210/211. Those with credit
for GS 232 may elect GS 231 for only 2 credits. (4). (Excl). (BS).
This course is a comprehensive introduction to the nature, properties, structures,
and modes of occurrence of minerals. The first three-fourths of the course
(three lectures per week) considers the general features of minerals and
includes topics such as introductory crystallography, crystal chemistry,
and introductory phase equilibria. During the last portion of the course,
the principal rock-forming minerals such as feldspars, pyroxenes, and olivines
are individually reviewed with respect to properties, structures, genesis,
and other characteristics. The laboratory (one three-hour laboratory each
week) is divided into three sections: (1) three weeks of morphological crystallography;
(2) six weeks of systematic mineralogy during which students become familiar
with the properties and associations of approximately seventy-five significant
minerals; and (3) four weeks of introduction to the use of the polarizing
microscope as applied to both crushed mineral fragments and rock thin sections.
There is one required field trip. Introductory optical mineralogy is covered
in five of the recitation classes. Geology 231 is a prerequisite
to the professional concentration program in the Department of
Geological Sciences. Cost:3
WL:3 (Peacor)
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195. The Writing of History. (4).
(Introductory Composition). This course may not be included in a history
concentration.
"The Writing of History" courses offer students the opportunity
to learn writing through the study of historical texts, debates, and events.
Each "Writing of History" section will study a different era,
region, and topic in the past, for the common purpose of learning how history
is written and how to write about it. Students will read the work of modern
historians as well as documents and other source materials from the past,
such as historical novels, letters, diaries, or memoirs. In each case the
goal will be to learn how to construct effective arguments, and how to write
college-level analytic papers. History 195 satisfies the first-year writing
requirement. Each section will enroll a maximum of twenty students.
Section 006 - "Tribe" and "Tradition" in 20th
Century Africa. Our class will introduce students to a variety of perspectives
and issues relating to two fundamental topics in modern sub-Saharan African
history: "tribe" and "tradition". A principal goal
of our class will be to investigate the prevailinig "common wisdom"
about these two issues in Africa. We will approach these issues from a
number of different perspectives: colonization, attempts at colonial rule
and control, African rebellion, economic change, social changes, and urbanization.
In doing so, we will examine how ethnic identity and affiliation can alter
depending on changing events and circumstances, and how this affects our
interpretation of African history and current events. We will also have
lessons on writing techniques, on analyzing texts and on formulating and
supporting an historical argument. (J. Shapiro)
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196. First-Year Seminar. Only
first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register
for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3).
(SS).
Section 005 - Politics and Culture of Race in Post-1945 United States.
For Fall Term, 1998, this section is offered jointly with American
Culture 102.001. (Countryman)
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194. First Year Seminar. Only
first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register
for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3).
(HU).
Section 002 - Art and Life in Nineteenth-Century America. This seminar asks what the study of art history and American history can tell us about each other through an intensive focus on a complex period in the past. The nineteenth century saw the transformation of the United States from a rural to an industrial, urban nation; a Civil War that divided the country, Westward expansion that enlarged it, and waves of immmigration and border movement that changed its population; and the emergence of women into public and professional life. American artists and architects sought to rival their European comtemporaries and eventually produce distinctive works that responded to national trends, culminating in such icons as the landscape photographs of Carlton Watkins, the realist paintings of Winslow Homer, and the Impressionism of Mary Cassatt, and the rise of a new architectural form: the skyscraper.
Through hands-on research in archives and visits to see original works
of art in museums, we will examine both developments in the fine arts and
the impact of historical change on the material and popular culture of everyday
life in America. Among the topics to be investigated are: the role of art
in creating an image of America as "nature's nation"; machine-made
art and machines-as-art; the West as viewed from the painter's easel, the
photographer's lens, and the frontier homestead; the interaction of Native
American artists, Anglo settlers, and the tourist trade; the creation of
Civil War monuments; parlors and the ideology of the Victorian home; the
brooding psychology in the Gilded-Age paintings of Eakins, Homer, and Cassatt.
Reading assignments include historical sources and recent critical interpretations
of nineteenth-century American art. Requirements: informed participation
in class discussion; two research projects using collections on campus and
on-line. The class will include field trips to the Detroit Institute of
Arts, the Henry Ford Museum, and possibly to the Cassatt exhibition at the
Art Institute of Chicago. (Zurier)
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296/HJCS 296/Rel. 296. Perspectives
on the Holocaust. (4). (HU).
See HJCS 296. (Ginsburg)
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296/Judaic Studies 296/Rel. 296.
Perspectives on the Holocaust. (4). (HU).
A study of the Holocaust as a historical event and its impact on Jewish
thought and culture. We first survey the historical context: the European
Jewish community on the eve of the destruction, and the events leading up
to and culminating in that destruction. We will then focus on inner Jewish
(and gentile) reactions to the Holocaust, and broader philosophical and
ethical implications. We ask: What are the problems (moral, emotional, conceptual)
in reading and writing about the Holocaust? What are its implications for
those of us who come "after"? The course is also a meditation
on visions of the Other, on ethnic-religious hatred, tolerance, and healing.
Memoirs, poetry, fiction, psychological literature, as well as conversations
with survivors. Take-home midterm; final exam; 5-8 page paper; journal.
Cost:3-4
WL:1
(Ginsburg)
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196. First Year Seminar. Only
first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may pre-register
for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor. (3).
(HU).
Section 005 - Logic and the Study of Meaning. It has been over a hundred
years since systems of logic were developed in order to provide a theory
of mathematical proofs. One of the most exciting later developments has
consisted in working out how these theories could be used to approach meaning
in natural language and to common sense reasoning. This work has been important
not only in Philosophy, but in Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology, and Computer
Science. This course will provide an introduction to some of the most important
and basic ideas of the information age. We will use instructional software
to provide a quick, informal introduction to logic. We will discuss how
the logical ideas can be used to model the meanings of English sentences,
and to account for several types of everyday reasoning. This course can
serve as the basis for further work in Philosophy and the many other fields
that make use of ideas from logic. The course will meet Fridays, 10:00 am
- 1:00 pm. WL:1 (Thomason)
114. Honors Introduction to Psychology.
Open to Honors students; others by permission of instructor.
No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in 111, 112,
113, or 115. (4). (SS). May not be included in a concentration plan in psychology.
Students in Psychology 114 are required to spend five hours outside of class
participating as subjects in research projects.
Section 010. Psychology 114 surveys the field of psychology - including
such topics as biopsychology, cognition, motivation, personality, social
psychology, developmental psychology, psychopathology, and research methods
used by psychologists to gain a better understanding of human behavior and
experience. The course requirements include (in addition to understanding
a textbook) participation in class discussion, keeping a weekly journal
of reading and observations, and carrying out a research project with other
students. There will be occasional quizzes, a midterm, and final examination.
(McKeachie)
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120. First-Year Seminar in Psychology
as a Social Science. Only first-year students, including those
with sophomore standing, may pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others
need permission of instructor. (3). (SS). May not be included in a concentration
plan in psychology. May be repeated for a total of six credits.
Section 014 - Diversity and Coming of Age in the U.S. Preparing for
an adult role in one's society is clearly a universal goal. But, there are
economic, psychological and social circumstances, as well as family and
individual characteristics, which can make the experience different. This
seminar for first-year students explores the impact of various factors in
the process of becoming an adult. We will examine the coming of age process
and how the experience differs for girls, as compared to boys, particularly
for persons of different races, ethnicities, or social statuses. We will
also discuss how the process of preparing for adulthood is represented in
the media, how the process may be facilitated (or impeded), and the variety
of outcomes that are possible to accomplish. The assignments will include
biographies and theories of developmental psychology, as well as fiction
and films. (Trotman-Reid )
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102. Contemporary Social Issues:
An Introduction to Sociology. Open to first- and second-year
students. Juniors are strongly encouraged and seniors must take Soc. 400
or 401. No credit for seniors. (4). (SS). Credit is granted for a combined
total of eight credits elected through Soc. 102, 202, 203, and 401, provided
that the course topics are different.
Section 001. Social inequalities - that is, inequalities in economic
resources and opportunities, prestige or status, cultural capital, civil
rights and political power - have been a central concern of sociology from
its inception. This course introduces students to sociology as a mode of
inquiry by examining the most important questions that sociologists have
asked about social inequalities, their answers to these questions, and the
ways in which they have tried to assess the merits of competing answers.
We begin with the classics - Marx, Weber, and Durkheim - in order to identify
the fundamental issues and key concepts. We also examine the way in which
theories of social inequality fit into larger conceptions of social order,
conflict, and change. We then turn to studies that explore the causes and
consequences of growing economic inequality, as experienced by different
groups in the United States over the last 20 years. (Robinson)
Section 009. (Harris-Reid)
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195. Principles in Sociology (Honors).
Open to first- and second-year students admitted to the Honors Program,
or other first- and second-year students with a grade point average of at
least 3.2. Juniors are strongly encouraged and seniors must take Soc. 400.
Credit is not granted for both Sociology 195 and Sociology 100 or 400. No
credit for seniors. (4). (SS).
Introduction to sociology through the study of class, race and gender. Basic
principles of sociology as developed by Marx and Weber through their analyses
of capitalism as a social system applied to the fundamental forms of inequality
in modern society. Although basic concepts will be stressed recent controversies
in class analysis, critical approaches to race and feminist theory will
be introduced. Readings inclde Wright, Class Counts; Luker, Politics of
Motherhood; Roediger, Wages of Whiteness; Sayer, Capitalism and Modernity,
and basic texts by Marx and Weber. Brief essay assignments, final paper.
Seminar (Paige)
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150. First-Year Humanities Seminar.
Only first-year students, including those with sophomore standing, may
pre-register for First-Year Seminars. All others need permission of instructor.
(3). (HU). May be repeated for credit with permission of department.
Section 004 - The French Philosophical
Novel. What can novels say or teach about how to live? About love,
money, and morals, about ethical and political choices, about the pursuit
of happiness and responsibility for evil? How can we learn from fiction,
and what can we do with it - how should we respond to it in our own thinking
and writing? These are some of the central questions called for by the French-language
philosophical novels that we will read and study in English translation
in this seminar. We will begin with a few short works from the heyday of
philosophical and critical fiction in the years before the French Revolution,
then continue with more modern versions of the form down to the present
day. Works studied will include Voltaire, Candide; Graffigny, Letters
of a Peruvian Woman; Denon, No Tomorrow; Balzac, The Wild
Ass's Skin; Camus, The Fall; and Kundera, Slowness.
Active class participation expected, including brief individual and group
presentations. Three essays or experimental writing projects of moderate
length; one oral examination. (Paulson)
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