Most RC courses are open to LS&A students and may be used to meet distribution requirements.
RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE WAITLIST PROCEDURES: Unless otherwise indicated, waitlists for all Residential College courses are maintained in the Residential College Counseling Office, 130 Tyler, East Quad. When a course fills, students should come to the RC Counseling Office to be placed on a waitlist. Policies and procedures for the waitlist will be explained then. Residential College students are given priority in all Residential College courses.
Written and Verbal Expression
334. Special Topics. (4). (Excl).
Math for Poets. Mathematics is among the more recondite subjects
of study in our culture. It is socially acceptable to be illiterate
in it; vast numbers of otherwise well-educated people lump it
together with science and technology as a subject unfit for humane
consumption, dismissing it with phrases like "I never liked
math much" or "Math was always my worst subject."
Despite popular belief to the contrary, however, mathematics is
not a science; being entirely based on social and aesthetic perceptions, it is much closer to the Humanities than we might suspect. Rather than trying to produce yet more mathematicians, this course adopts
a consumer-oriented viewpoint on mathematics. What topics in math
can be appreciated or understood by someone interested in the
Humanities? What relevance does mathematics have for everyday
life? How can it make one's life more interesting and beautiful?
What unexplored regions lie beyond the Tropic of Calculus? Mathematical
topics explored (though not necessarily "covered") include: the nature of numbers, number systems, geometry, topology, infinity, recursion, proof, logic, set theory, and functions. No prior math
beyond high school algebra required, though students with more
extensive math backgrounds are also welcome. Class work will include
readings, homework problems, papers, participation (in class and in a computer conference), take-home exams, and a term project
(which may be done in groups). Texts include: David and Hersh,
THE MATHEMATICAL EXPERIENCE; Hofstadter, GOEDEL , ESCHER, BACH; Rucker, MIND
TOOLS. (Lawler)
Language Courses
Intensive Language Courses meet in lecture and discussion twice a day four days a week (five days per week for
Russian). The language programs have language lunch tables, coffee
hours, and other social events. There is a language laboratory
in the College, and the language teachers are available for counseling
and additional help. If a student begins a new language, proficiency
is usually attained in one year through the Residential College
program.
Core 190, 191, 194. Intensive French, German, Spanish I. The goal of this course is to provide the student with a basic but solid knowledge of grammatical structures and syntax, a functional vocabulary, familiarity with intonation patterns and native pronunciation, and practice in speaking and writing. Upon completion of this course, the student can understand simplified written texts of short spoken passages without the aid of a dictionary, and can carry on a short, elementary conversation.
Core 290, 291, 293, 294. Intensive French, German, Russian, Spanish II. The goal of this course is to expand vocabulary and to master grammatical structures and syntax to the level of competency required to pass a proficiency exam. This entails developing the ability to communicate with some ease with a native speaker, in spoken and written language. Students must be able to understand the content of texts and lectures of a non-technical nature and of general (non-literary) interest.
320. Seminaire en français. Proficiency
test. (4). (Excl). May be repeated for credit.
Section 001. Literature and Identity. This course will study the problem of identity in a group of selected French texts from the 18th to 20th centuries (one play, one tale, and two novels)
and in a recent French movie. We will approach this question from
two complementary perspectives. First, we will examine the different
ways literature portrays the identity of characters. What role
do such elements as body, language, memory, social class and history
play? Second, we will examine the function of literature in questioning/reformatting/consolidating the identity of the reader. In what way is the act of reading
a part of our own sense of identity? Students will be asked to
write a short essay on each of the texts and movie for a total
writing assignment of approximately 25 pages. Regular participation
in class discussions is expected. Required readings: Marivaux: LE JEU DE L'AMOUR ET DU HASARD; Flaubert: LA LEGENDE
DE SAIT JULIEN L'HOSPITALIER; Robert Sabatier: TROIS
SUCETTES A LA MENTHE; Patrick Modiano: RUE DES BOUTIQUES
OBSCURES. Movie: Louis Malle: AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS
(Kavanagh)
Section 002: Fatal Attractions: Representations of Love in French Culture. In this seminar we will trace the evolution of the representations of love through novels, fairy tales, comics, songs, movies. We will also read some criticism on the representation of love. Our first question will be: can love be represented? Or does love exist only through its representation? (As Rougemont suggests: would we still be in love if we had never read any love stories?) What is the function of the writing of the love story? Do we agree with Alain Finkielkraut when he declares that "la representation est le privilege (ou la fatalite) de celui qui n'aime pas" and that "puisque l'arte, c'est le t ri, l'amoureux n'est pas – et ne peut etre – artiste." On the other hand could we say that the writing of the love story becomes the love story since it excludes the loved one and is precisely where the Other is not? (Savoir qu'on ecrit pas pour l'autre, savoir que ces choses que je vais ecrire ne me feront jamais aimer de que j'aime, savoir que l'ecriture ne compense rien, ne sublime rien, qu'elle est precisement la ou tu n'es pas – c'est le commencement de l'ecriture.") We will also analyse the implications of the identity of a lover/love story: can there be such a thing as a "straight" love story? Are all love stories straight? To answer such questions we will examine one LAI by Marie de France; two fairy tales; two short epistolary novels: LES LETTRES PORTUGAISES and LES LETTRES DE MISTRIS FANNI BUTLERD (Riccoboni) and excerpts from LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES (Laclos); short stories by Colette (LA FEMME CACHEE) and excerpts from LA PUR EL L'IMPUR; L'AGNEAU LES FEMMES! and FOUS D'AMOUR (Reiser) and by Claire Bretcher; songs by Piaf, Daho, Indochine, Goldman (suggestions?); two movies (choice to be discussed); LES NUITS DE LA PIEINE LUNE and TRIP BELLE POUR TOI. There will be short presentations and a "Final", more personal response paper. I do not think it is possible for me to know now what you will write. Let's set an ideal: you should be able to formulate what you are in love with (or why you cannot formulate it). Creative writers, welcome! (Mainil)
Section 003. L'Etrange et l'etranger dans le Roman Africain de langue Francaise. The history of the relationship between Africa and France has mainly consisted in the production of stranger and strange things. From the form of the literature to the form of the culture, it is apparent that the African is struggling to make familiar that which is fundamentally strange and is at odds with having become himself a stranger. The purpose of this class is to acquaint students with the cultural political and economic challenge facing Africa as instantiated by its literature. In each novel we will look at the individual response to close attention to the writer's literary concern vis-a-vis the kind of reality which weighs on him/her. We will emphasize the relationship between writing and the strange, and between writer and the stranger ( or as a stranger) in an attempt to pinpoint what francophone literature is all about. Texts: MIRAGE DE PARIS by Ousmane Souce; L'AVENTURE AMBIGUE by Cheikh Hamidou Kane; LE MANDAT by Ousmane Sambene; UN NEGRE A PARIS by Bernard Dadie; LE VIEW NEGRE ET LA MEDAILLE by Ferdinand Oyono; MISSION TERMINEE by Mongo Beti; UNE VIE DE BOY by Ferdinand Oyono. (Somé)
324. Readings in Spanish. Proficiency
test. (4). (Excl). May be repeated for credit.
Section 001. Tres novelas latinoamericanas. En
esta clase se leeran tres novelas contemporaneas de America Latina.
Del escritor peruano, Mario Vargas Llosa, QUIEN MATO A PALOMINO
MOLERO? (1986); de Gabriel Garcia Marquez, escritor colombiano, se leera CRONICA DE UNA MUERTE ANUNCIADA (1981) y de
Isabel Allende, escritora chilena, se leera DE AMOR Y DE SOMBRA
(1984). Estas novelas tienen algo en comun, la memoria cumple
un papel importante en la reconstruccion de hechos ya sucedidos
que no peuden ser cambiados. Sin embargo, la memoria no es siempre
fiel a los hechos, y el recordar es, en cierta forma, querer saber
y entender, pero tembien luchar con el pasado y re-ordenario, desde la perspectiva del narrador y de multiples informantes.
A traves de la lectura y comprension de los textos, trataremos
de descifrar el codigo que rige las acciones de los personajes
y el poder que maneja sus acciones. Mientras Vargas Llosa y Garcia
Marquez trabajan con la noticia, el anuncio, (la anunciacion)
como punto de partida, Isabel Allende centra su narracion en el
rescate y la preservacion de un hecho sucedido, pero re-creado
para salvarlo del olvido. (Moya-Raggio)
370/French 370. Advanced
Proficiency in French. RC Core 320, or French 362, or permission of instructor. (3). (Excl).
Advanced Proficiency in French is especially but not exclusively
designed for students who intend to study in France (such as students
who have applied to the Michigan Junior Year in Aix Program).
This course includes development of speaking skills in informal
and formal contexts, and initiation into writing formats and styles
customary in French universities. A rich cultural component will
prepare students socially and mentally, as well as technically
and intellectually, for living and studying in France. Emphasis
will be put on modern France and current events. Students will
write daily exercises and weekly papers of various lengths. Among the techniques practiced will be: the French "dissertation,"
"contraction de texte," and "commentaire compose:"
how to write an introduction, a conclusion, a paragraph, a text
with logical development with the use of cohesive devices, precise
and accurate wording and syntax. Directed as well as liberated
practice of oral production will activate a wide range of functional
expressions. Formal discourse such as "l'expose" will
also be practiced. Training in reading intricate current newspaper
prose and aural comprehension of lectures with note-taking will
be included. Final exam; a short "expose", a brief conversation, and a written French style essay ("dissertation"). (Carduner)
N.B. RC students have enrollment priority in RC Arts classes.
285. Photography. (4). (Excl). Materials
fee.
This course introduces students to the medium of photography from the perspective of the artist. It includes an overview of photography's
role in the arts, the development of an understanding of visual
literacy and self-expression as they relate to the photographic
medium and the development of basic technical skills in black
and white and color photography. A visual emphasis is maintained
in both presentation and course work, and the student works with the medium towards a goal of personal expression. There will be
a studio fee. (Hannum)
286. Sculpture. (4). (Excl).
The focus of this studio course is an exploratory, experimental
approach to textile techniques. Students will learn and employ
traditional techniques such as basketry, tapestry, surface design
and felt-making, and also will be encouraged to develop their
own experimental techniques. Traditional fibers such as wool, cotton, and linen will be combined with unconventional materials
in the creation of innovative works. Exposure to traditional and contemporary textile work will provide a background for class
projects. Slide lectures, museum and gallery visits, critiques, and studio projects help students develop a knowledge and appreciation
of the discipline. (Savageau)
287. Printmaking. (4). (Excl). Materials
fee.
Developing an understanding of the art and history of printmaking through lectures, demonstrations, practical studio experience, and individual and group discussions. The course will focus on
creating original prints, exploring images, visual ideas, and the possibilities of self-expression. Emphasis will be placed
on linoleum cut, wood block, and screenprinting techniques. Field
trips to area museums and gallery exhibitions will be part of the class experience. Approximately eight projects will be assigned.
A sketchbook/notebook is required. Class attendance is mandatory, as is lab time spent outside the scheduled class period. There
will be a studio lab fee. (Cressman)
288. Beginning Drawing. (2). (Excl).
The work of drawing is rich and varied. This course will explore the many aspects and various approaches that exist today, both
contemporary and historical. Emphasis will be on the eye (seeing)
and the hand (doing). Basic techniques and methods will be covered
including work with the figure. Class attendance is mandatory
as well as course work outside the scheduled class time. (Cressman)
289. Ceramics. (4). (Excl). Materials
fee.
This course presents basic problems in forming clay, throwing
and handbuilding techniques, testing, preparing and applying glazes, stacking and firing kilns, and operating a ceramics studio. Students
are required to learn the complete ceramic process, and the assumption
of studio responsibilities and regular class attendance are mandatory.
The theory, practice, and history of ceramics are integral parts
of this study and are used to encourage individual sensitivity
to the material. There will be a studio fee. (Crowell)
389. Ceramics Theory and Criticism. RC
Arts 289 or permission of instructor. (4). (Excl).
Advanced Ceramics: Studio, Theory, and Criticism. In this
course we will combine studio work in clay with the history, aesthetics, and criticism of ceramics. In the studio, we will develop content, style, form and surface, through the expansion of forming skills
and decorative techniques. Concurrently, we will go beyond "craft", confronting, through critique, analysis, reading, and writing, the intellectual material of ceramics. We will read Garth Clark'
CERAMIC ART: COMMENT AND REVIEW 1881-1927, and then Phillip
Rawson's CERAMICS. Subsequent reading from journals – "American
Ceramics", "The New Art Examiner", and others – will
enable us to enter the discourse of ceramics in twentieth century
art. There will be a studio fee. (Crowell)
257. Visual Sources. (4). (HU).
The purpose of this course is to develop and sharpen students'
visual skills by examining the world of images in which we live.
We will analyze selected examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, television, film and dance. The works studied will not necessarily
be considered in chronological order and we will not restrict
ourselves to those works that are labeled "great" by
art historians and critics. We will include images of popular
and commercial art both from the past and the present. The materials
used in creating a work of art will be discussed. (In the case
of film, for example, we will consider the differences between
black and white and color film, we will consider the current colorization
controversy and we will investigate what happens to our perception
of moving pictures when they are integrated with sound.) Images
considered will also be studied both as expressions of the person
(or persons) who created them and the culture from which they
have emerged. We will also explore the impact and effect of our
immediate visual environment on our psychological state (campus
architecture, for example, including student living spaces, classrooms, and local restaurants). There will be several short papers and students will be asked to keep a log of their encounters with, and ideas about, the visual arts that they encounter in their
day to day experiences or in which they are especially interested.
(Genne)
275. The Western Mind in Revolution: Six Interpretations
of the Human Condition. (4). (Excl).
This course will treat six major reinterpretations of the human
condition from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries generated
by intellectual revolutions in astronomy (Copernicus: the heliocentric theory); theology (Luther: the reformation); biology (Darwin:
evolution of the species); sociology (Marx: Communism); psychology
(Freud: psychoanalysis; and physics (Einstein: the theory of relativity).
All six reinterpretations initiated a profound revaluation of
Western man's concept of himself as well as a reassessment of the nature and function of his political and social institutions.
Since each of these revolutions arose in direct opposition to
some of the most central and firmly accepted doctrines of their
respective ages, we will study: 1) how each thinker perceived the particular "truth" he sought to communicate; 2) the problems entailed in expressing and communicating these truths;
and 3) the traumatic nature of the psychological upheaval caused
by these cataclysmic transitions from the past to the future – both
on the personal and cultural level. If the function of humanistic
education is to enable the individual to see where he stands in
today's maelstrom of conflicting intellectual and cultural currents, it is first necessary to see where others have stood and what
positions were abandoned. The emphasis of this course will not
be upon truths finally revealed or upon problems forever abandoned, but rather upon certain quite definite perspectives that, arising
out of definite historical contexts, at once solved a few often
technical problems within a specialized discipline while unexpectedly
creating many new ones for Western culture as a whole. Texts:
Copernicus, ON THE REVOLUTION OF THE HEAVENLY BODIES (1543); Luther, APPEAL TO THE CHRISTIAN NOBILITY OF THE GERMAN NATION (1520), OF THE LIBERTY OF A CHRISTIAN MAN (1520); Darwin, THE ORIGIN OF
THE SPECIES BY MEANS OF SELECTIONS(1859); Marx, ECONOMIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL
MANUSCRIPTS (1844), DAS KAPITAL (1867, 1885, 1894); Freud, THE
INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS (1900), THREE ESSAYS ON THE THEORY OF
SEXUALITY (1905); and Einstein, RELATIVITY, THE SPECIAL AND THE
GENERAL THEORY: A POPULAR EXPOSITION (1921). Three examinations
and one term paper required. (Peters)
312/Slavic 312. Central European Cinema. A
knowledge of Russian is not required. (3). (HU).
See Slavic 312. (Eagle)
333. Art and Culture. One History of Art
or Arts and Ideas course, or permission of instructor. (4). (Excl).
Section 001: The Western. Until recently, the Western – films
about the American west – was the most important and popular of
film genres, comparable to Greek drama in its formal and mythic
qualities. This term we will see and analyze some of the greatest
Hollywood westerns, e.g., STAGECOACH, RED RIVER, OX BOW INCIDENT, 3:10 TO YUMA, HIGH NOON, THE SEARCHERS, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE, THE GUNFIGHTER, ONE EYED JACKS, RIO
BRAVO, and some foreign-made westerns, e.g., YOJIMBO, ONCE UPON
A TIME IN THE WEST, MAD MAX II. First and foremost, we will critique these films as dramas. Then we will examine the conventions, the
structures, and the ideologies they embody, and how they present/create the real and mythic west, the western hero, women, and Indians.
We will also look into why and how these powerful films appealed
to and influenced the thinking not only of Americans, but of people
world wide. Our films will be shown on Wednesday nights, and discussed
Thursday in class. There will be a midterm, final examination, and two papers. A lab fee will be assessed. (H.Cohen)
Section 002: Narratology, Cinematography and Audience. What is unique about television and the perspectives it gives us on the world? What is unique about the presence of television in our lives? Social analyst Raymond Williams reminds us that public forms of discourse/communication have evolved through a series of forms: repertory companies, commercial theatres, motion pictures, and television. In each of these cases, he observes "there has been a new sharing and integration of languages, at least of gesture or of some system of signs. Moreover, these fresh inter-relationships are not merely available; in the course of communication, they are themselves developed, and the means of communication with them." The challenge to the analyst/critic of television is to acquire relevant critical methodologies plus distance from the text to read meanings afresh and accurately. Too much of what is said about television is superficial and fundamentally without substantiation other than personal opinion. To develop methods for accurately interpreting the meanings in the text, and for exploring various audience members' relations to that text and the reasons for those relationships, we will be reading about and applying systematic research procedures as evidenced in the work of Fisks and Harley, Gerbner, Radway, Barthes, Rosen, Morris, and others (who have chosen to explore such diverse genres as news, dramas, soap operas, sports, commercials, etc.). There will be three weekly short papers and a final research paper. Everyone logs and reports on genres of text watched outside of class. At the close of the term, each student presents the findings of her/his research to the class. (Morris)
363/Phil. 363. Philosophical
Bases of Communism, Fascism, and Democracy. One Philosophy
Introduction. (4). (HU).
In this course the three major political philosophies of the twentieth
century will be examined in series. Students will read philosophical
works ranging from early classical accounts of each system to
contemporary criticisms and defenses of each. The aims will be:
to provide a full and fair statement of important, conflicting
political philosophies, to promote deeper understanding of them, and to encourage independent, critical judgment in this sphere.
(C. Cohen)
472. Arts and Ideas Senior
Seminar. (4). (Excl).
Classical Mythologies/Renaissance Bodies. Myths are a way
of structuring or explaining the world and their narrative significance
changes over time. This course will explore the "after life"
of classical mythologies in both text and image by focusing on
a moment in European history when a "classical revival"
reshaped culture. Texts such as Botticelli, Mantegna and Titian
are our chief documents. The course investigates the syncretism
whereby elements thought incompatible, like paganism and Christianity, were fused through a reinvigorated interest in mythology. Neoplatonic
notions of a spiritual hierarchy, for instance, aided Christian
readings of the flayed Marsyas or the transported Ganymede, the
latter also a sign for homosexual love. The very fictionality
of myth made it an apt vehicle for the figuring of Creativity.
The stories of Narcissus, Prometheus and Pygmalion treat acculturation
and artifice. The rest of the course focuses on the construction
of femininity and masculinity. Female bodies were located in the
discourses of heterosexuality, usually to the end of fertility
and sexual allure, especially with figures like Venus and Flora.
The idealization of chastity also highlights tensions in the control
of the female body. Many women attract Jupiter's attention and his numerous metamorphoses assert his phallic presence amongst
mortals. Key moments in many stories focus on sexual encounters.
Hercules is an especially interesting example of male action.
A masculine hero who can be effeminized when under thrall to a
woman, his struggle with Antaeus might also suggest homosexual
contact, so that a mythic figure can be multifaceted and complex.
The idealized character embodied control and reason but mythology
also enabled the representation of their feared yet desired opposites.
Throughout the course we will consider issues of power and ideology, especially about gender and sexualities, but also concerning such
matters as the artist's status, the philosophy of humanism and the values of the Church. History of ideas and an attention to the construction of mythic structures will hence be placed in
a particular social context. Since classical myths are fundamental
to Eurocentric traditions, critical attention to their historical
and ideological specificity aids a reassessment of those traditions.
Students other than Arts and Ideas seniors are welcome. Text to
be purchased include: Ovid, METAMORPHOSES (Penguin);
James Hall, DICTIONARY OF SUBJECT AND SYMBOLS IN ART
(Revised ed., Icon Editions, 1979). (Simons)
475/Chinese 475/Hist. of Art 487/Asian Studies 475/Philosophy
475. The Arts and Letters of China. (4). (HU).
See Chinese 475. (Feuerwerker)
310. Medieval
Sources of Modern Culture. Sophomore standing or
permission of instructor. (4). (HU).
The Glorious Body. During the Medieval period, a major revision
of the representation of the body in Western art took place. The
Classical paradigm, in which the body occurs as a mathematical
canon, an idea, or an illusion, is subverted, stood on its head, sometimes repudiated altogether. Instead, the concrete physicality
of the body – interior space as well as surface, internal organs
as well as external appearance – becomes the starting point for
such literary genres as confession, song, narrative, and meditation.
Very often, the body is projected into these genres as the imaginative
landscape within which they unfold. Even more, the body and its
organic transformations become the site of verbal and visual figuration; they generate a rhetoric. This refigured body does not always
observe the syntax assigned to it by Classical convention. Instead, it begins to speak an extravagant language: the skin is a book, tongues of fire burst from every side, hearts have ears, bellies
have mouths, and genitals flourish an array of musical instruments.
Nor are the well-bred hierarchies of Classical decorum preserved:
humiliation, decay, and the collapse of the body under the blows
of villains, disease, and time, are all rhetoricalized with the
intensity usually reserved for displays of power and invulnerability.
In Medieval Sources we will explore this new representation of the body in both literature and the visual arts. This interdisciplinary
approach will involve the close reading of texts and careful analysis
of images. Syllabus includes: Plato, PHAEDO; THE SAYINGS OF THE
DESERT FATHERS; THE LIFE OF ST MARY THE EGYPTIAN; early Christian
art of the Eastern Empire: Egypt, Syria, Constantinople; St. Augustine, THE CONFESSIONS; Byzantine art: Ravenna; Anglo-Saxon lyric poetry;
Iro-Celtic book illumination; Hildegard von Bingen, SONGS AND
SEQUENCES; Romanesque portal sculpture: Moissac; Romanesque sculpture:
reliquaries; THE THRONE OF WISDOM; Marie de France, LAIS; gothic
sculpture: the portal program of Chartres; Julian of Norwich, REVELATIONS OF DIVINE LOVE; Matthias Grunewald, THE ISENHEIM ALTARPIECE.
(Sowers)
318. Critical Approaches to Literature. (4).
(HU).
Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Literature and the Visual Arts:
Freud and Lacan. This course will address the problem of the psychoanalytic interpretation of literature and the visual
arts. We will base our study on selected works by Sigmund Freud
and his most creative recent interpreter, Jacques Lacan. Beginning
with two important case histories, THE WOLF MAN and DORA, we will
derive a method of interpreting literary texts and visual images
from Freud's method of dream analysis. We will go on to explore the opening out of the psychic landscape onto the historical implied
in Freud's theory of the death instinct and its relation to sexuality.
Finally, we will address the contribution of Freudian psychoanalysis
to contemporary critical theory, especially the work of Jacques
Lacan. In what way is the human being constituted by language?
What is the relation between language and the unconscious? Does
a text or an image have an unconscious? How do we know? If it
does, how can we disclose its presence, discover the direction
of ground between literature and the visual arts? Can we discover
in the halting voice and in the marked hand a deep link between the vision and the work? The following texts will be used: D.H.
Lawrence: THE PRUSSIAN OFFICER; Sigmund Freud, THE WOLF MAN; Ivan
Turgenev, FIRST LOVE; Freud: LEONARDO DA VINCI AND A MEMORY OF
HIS CHILDHOOD, DORA: AN ANALYSIS OF A CASE OF HYSTERIA, BEYOND
THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE; Emily Brontë, WUTHERING HEIGHTS; Jacque
Lacan, SPEECH AND LANGUAGE IN PSYCHOANALYSIS; Mary Kelly, THE
POST-PARTUM PROJECT. We will also study paintings of Edvard Munch
and Georgio de Chiric. (Sowers)
340. Four Interdisciplinary Studies in 19th and 20th
Century Intellectual History: Psychoanalysis, Mysticism, Nihilism
and Marxism. Junior/senior standing, or permission
of instructor. (4). (HU).
This course will compare and contrast the presentation in four
disciplines (political science, philosophy, theology, and psychology)
and three literary genres (drama, novel, and short story) of several
ideas that have fundamentally redefined western man's concept
of himself in the last 100 years. These ideas center upon the
rise of the totalitarian state, the emergence of "psychological
man," and the destruction of the concept of God as well as
of all absolute value systems. How do the styles of each discipline
and genre differ according to the writer's aim and intended effect
upon the reader? Can we isolate and describe the particular techniques
(discursive and metaphoric) used, respectively, by the political
scientist, philosopher, theologian, and psychologist to explain
and convince? In particular, how does literature as a genre differ
from the four other disciplines in its function as a "living
laboratory" for the exploration of and experimentation with
new visions of the self and society? 1) LITERATURE AND POLITICAL
SCIENCE: COMMUNISM IN THE DRAMA. The ethics and psychology of
Communist revolution and terrorism. Texts by Marx, Lenin, Brecht, Sartre. 2) LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY: EXISTENTIALISM IN THE NOVEL.
Nihilism and the concomitant destruction of Christian morality
and the Western concept of the self. Texts by Nietzsche, Camus.
3) LITERATURE AND THEOLOGY: THE IRRATIONAL IN THE NOVEL. Man's
religious, mystical impulse in conflict with the logic of science
and the demands of rational self-interest. Texts by Kierkegaard
and Dostoevsky. 4) LITERATURE AND PSYCHOLOGY: PSYCHOANALYSIS IN
THE SHORT STORY. The ethics and psychology of communist revolution
and terrorism. Texts by Marx, Lenin, Brecht. Mid-term and final
exams are required. (Peters)
410. Upperclass Literature Seminar. (4).
(HU). May be repeated for credit.
Section 001: Moral Issues in the Novel. We will look into
some questions about the nature of moral actions and the process
of moral growth and we will try our answers to these questions
on some novels. The idea is to bring fiction out into the practical
world to some extent and also to bring some non-aesthetic ways
of seeing from the practical world to the world of art. Emphasis
on character, and on characters' awareness of self and of actions, rather than on plot. We will read selections from Aristotle's
NICHOMACHEAN ETHICS, and perhaps include selections from recent
writers on moral and cognitive growth. Novels include LORD JIM
by Joseph Conrad; Robert Penn Warren's ALL THE KING'S MEN; PORTNOY'S
COMPLAINT, by Philip Roth; SURFACING, by Margaret Atwood; THE
FALL by Albert Camus; A FLAG FOR SUNRISE by Robert Stone; INVISIBLE
MAN, by Ralph Ellison, and one, two or three others. There will
be four or five short papers, lots of in-class writing and an
hour exam late in the term. Whether or not there is a final depends
on the performance of the class as a whole. Since the class emphasizes
discussion, attendance is obligatory. The reading load is moderately
heavy. Open to sophomores by permission of instructor only. (W.
Clark)
Section 002. Ethnopoetics: Cross-Cultural Approaches to Verbal Art.. For Winter Term, 1992, this course meets together with Anthropology 473. (Bierwert)
417/MARC 417. Epic and Saga.
(4). (Excl).
Voices of Epic: Heroic Narrative in Living Performance. Epics
live. Ancient heroic narrative songs of struggles for the sake
of a community, epics are still orally composed during performance
today – probably on every inhabited continent. This interdisciplinary
course studies four current epic traditions from four diverse
cultures: SUNDIATA, Mali, West Africa; THE BALLAD OF GREGORIO
CORTEZ, Mexico; STAR STORY, the Lushootseed-speaking people of
Puget Sound; and the MAHABHARATA as adapted to Indonesian shadow
drama. We read each epic in multiple versions in English as transcribed
oral literature, come to know it as musical performance on tape, sometimes through guest performance as well, and study both forms
in interaction. From these, though we learn by analogy about Homer, we learn primarily that epic is far broader than the Greek mode, and that to editorially smooth living epic to fit Western European
expectations makes it, as one student noted, "fade to black."
Performance brings a dimension to understanding a narrative. "Texts"
change dramatically from performance to performance depending
upon medium, upon individual and upon audience. An instrument
may connote nobility (the Kora that accompanies the SUNDIATA
epic) or a particular religious affiliation (the gamelan ensemble
or Java with its ties to pre-Islamic Hinduism). In many cases the performer is believed to have supernatural powers. Thus music
and narrative together give us a new way to approach meaning, while we add structural and oral-traditional interpretation and cultural information. As well as listening, writing is central
to our approach. A "listening" journal: and music quizzes
as we go, varied writings in class, and a final comparative paper
are part of the learning process. For RC and MARC students, this
course may be used to satisfy the ECB Junior-Senior Writing Requirement, and two further papers will be due in stages. No prerequisite
courses, but MARC majors will want to be familiar with Western
epic. (Becker, Clark)
452/Russian 452. Survey of Russian Literature. A
knowledge of Russian is not required. (3). (HU).
See Russian 452. (Bartlett)
Creative Writing
220. Narration. Permission of instructor. (4). (Excl).
Suggested assignment: 1250 words of prose fiction every two weeks.
Rewriting is emphasized. The class meets as a group up to two
hours per week. Collections of short fiction by established writers
are read. Every student meets privately with the instructor each
week. (Hecht)
221. The Writing of Poetry. Permission
of instructor. (4). (Excl).
The amount of poetry each student is required to submit is determined
by the instructor. The class meets three hours per week as a group.
In addition, each student receives private criticism from the
instructor every week. Contemporary poetry is read and discussed
in class for style. Students are organized into small groups that
meet weekly. (Mikolowski)
320. Advanced Narration. Hums. 220 and permission of instructor. (4). (Excl).
This course is designed for writers of longer fiction who can
benefit from instruction and peer feedback. Three 15-20 page short
stories or three 20-25 page segments of longer works are due at
evenly spaced intervals during the term. Everyone in the class
reads everything submitted. The class meets three times a term, as a workshop, to discuss everyone's work. Each student meets
with the instructor each week for private discussion of work both
completed and in progress. This course satisfies the Junior-Senior
writing requirement for RC Creative Writing majors only. Enrollment
is limited to a maximum of six students, usually students who
have completed Narration and/or Tutorials. Permission of instructor
is required. (Hecht)
322. Advanced Creative Writing for Children and Young
Adults. Hums. 222 and permission of instructor. (4).
(Excl).
This course provides students with an opportunity to continue
work on stories, novellas, picture books or other media intended
for young audiences. It will expand the skills and techniques
already developed in RC Hums 222. Class meetings, a manuscript
exchange, and private conferences with the instructor provide the structure, critical skills, and peer support that aid the
writing process. The seminar will meet as a workshop on alternate
weeks throughout the term. Students will also meet privately with the instructor by appointment. Readings, revisions, and critiques
of fellow students' work will form the basis for evaluation/grade.
Enrollment is limited to eight. (Balducci)
325, 326, 425, 426. Creative Writing Tutorials.
Tutorials provide an opportunity for students who want to write, no matter how sophisticated their work, to have their efforts
recognized with constructive criticism and academic credit. Reading
may or may not be assigned, depending upon the background needs
of the individual student. Tutorial students meet privately with the instructor each week. Permission of instructor is required.
This course satisfied the Junior-Senior writing requirement
for RC Creative Writing concentrators only. (Hecht, Mikolowski, Balducci, Levin)
Drama
280/English 245/Theatre 211. Introduction to Drama and Theatre.
(4). (HU).
See Theatre and Drama 211.
(Cardullo)
282. Drama Interpretation I: Actor and Text. (4).
(Excl).
The Commedia dell'arte & the Roots of Improvisational Acting.
Though a performance workshop in a non-text-based performance
style, (16th and 17th century Italian commedia dell'arte) this
course will focus a great deal of energy on the analysis of extant commedia scenarios and secondary literary sources as
tools in the development of character and improvisational action.
The development of critical thinking skills will be at least as
important as the development of juggling and gymnastic ones. Course
work in the first half of the term will concentrate on the familiarization
and exploration of historical materials. The second half of the
term will be directed toward the collaborative creation of an
original scenario to be publicly performed in April. Additional
requirements will include a number of (usually brief) written
assignments (critical and creative), one exam and extensive outside
of class rehearsal. Prerequisites: Intro to Drama (RC Hums 280/English
245/Theatre 211) or advance permission of instructor absolutely
required. (Brown)
381. Shakespeare on the
Stage. Hums. 280 or permission of instructor. (4).
(HU).
Varieties of Shakespearean Comedy. A survey of Shakespeare's
comic modes with an emphasis on stagecraft and the process of theatrical interpretation of the texts. Scene-work and exercises
in physical and verbal comedy will complement quizzes, two short
papers, and in-class discussion and experimentation. The course
will pay particular attention to the University Players' winter
term production of AS YOU LIKE IT. (A Monday evening
workshop session will be required periodically to help prepare
for in-class scenes.) Syllabus: (a) Roman and Medieval Roots (COMEDY
OF ERRORS, TAMING OF THE SHREW; (b) Romantic comedy (AS
YOU LIKE IT, TWELFTH NIGHT ); Excursus: the "Jig"
and the "Droll" and other low entertainments of Shakespeare's
time; (c) Comedy as Counterpoint (HENRY IV ); (d) Tragicomedy
( ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, MEASURE FOR MEASURE ); (e)
Magic Comedy (MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, THE TEMPEST ).
No prerequisites. Freshpersons may consider this an entry level
course for the RC Drama Concentration and the equivalent of Introduction
to Theatre and Drama. (Walsh/Brown)
386/MARC 421. Medieval Drama.
Hums. 280 or permission of instructor. (4). (Excl).
The Comic Tradition from Late Antiquity to the COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE.
A survey of major types of medieval drama with an emphasis
on secular performance traditions and the symbiosis of sacred
and profane. Practical work in iconographical research and theatrical
reconstruction will complement quizzes, two short papers and class
discussion. The course will also be involved with two experimental
performances (a 12th-century Latin, and three 14th century Dutch
farces) in the course of the term. Syllabus: (a) Learned and Popular
Traditions (the fifth century QUEROLUS; the Terence MSs., early Christmas and Carnival theatre); (b) Comic Tales into Farces
(the fabliaux tradition in narrative and dramatic forms: Latin, French, English, German; (c) Comic Character and Incident in the
Mystery Plays (Noah's Wife, Joseph's Troubles about Mary, grotesques
around the Passion, etc.) (d) Grotesque Comic in the Morality
Play and interlude (MAGNYFYCENCE, MANKIND, WIT AND SCIENCE, JACKE JUGELER ) (e) Survival (?) of the Comic Mask: The Italian COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE. No prerequisites, but students with
some background in medieval civilization, art history, or theatre
before 1700 are especially encouraged. (Walsh)
390. Special Period and Place Drama. Hums.
280 or permission of instructor. (4). (Excl). May be repeated
for credit.
Irish Dramatic Movement. Theatre was reborn in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century – in France, in Germany, in Moscow, and even in England. In Ireland, in 1897, W.B. Yeats and Lady
Augusta Gregory began to formulate ideas about what was to become
of the Irish National Theatre. Its aim, according to Yeats, was
to present, for the first time – both in Ireland and abroad – Irish
plays about Irish themes, using Irish actors. In 1981, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney, and the actor Stephen Rea founded something called
Field Day. In part it is a theatre company, and as a theatre company, it is to the present what the first years of the Irish National
Theatre were to the beginning of this century, politically as
well as culturally. Friel is Field Day's main dramatist; Heaney
and another poet, Tom Paulin, have contributed one play each.
In its first years the Irish National Theatre – known, popularly, as "the Abbey", after its playhouse – produced plays
in both Irish and English. We will limit our study to what was
done in English. We will study the plays of Yeats, Lady Gregory, and John Synge from the first generation of the Irish Theatre, and then several of the plays of Sean O'Casey, and finally five
plays by Brian Friel. That will take us from the opening night
in 1904 to the spring of 1991. We will then look at the work of
some other contemporary Irish dramatists, including Tom Murphy
and Thomas Kilroy, and at the plays of Paulin and Heaney. We will
attempt to understand the social, cultural, and political significance
of the Irish National Theatre and that of Field Day as well as
read and "see" some twenty plays. At the beginning of the term we will put on – for ourselves – several one-act plays
by Lady Gregory, Synge, and Yeats. As the term progresses we will
experiment with scenes from various plays, and will conclude the
term with a genuine production that will be worthy of the Abbey
itself. Students will be expected to write (a) critiques of two
of our in-class dramatic presentation; (b) two brief analyses
of scenes from plays; (c) a brief study of a single character;
and (d) an essay (5-10 pages) on two or three plays by one of
our Irish dramatists. (Hornback)
485. Special Drama Topics. Sophomore standing.
(1-2). (Excl). Offered mandatory credit/no credit. May be repeated
for a total of 4 credits.
Toronto Medieval Performance Project. A mini-course attached
to the production of the 15th century Dutch morality play, MARY
OF NIJMEHJEN (a female version of the Faust legend), which
will be taken to the University of Toronto's International Medieval
Drama Festival at the end of May (two previous performances in
Ann Arbor as well). Students will engage in all the dramaturgical
research necessary for understanding this complex work of late
medieval dramatic art, will participate in production design and practical problem-solving, and participate in some capacity in the production itself. (N.B. Class members wishing to go to Toronto
as either cast or crew must be free to rehearse from the end of
classes through to the weekend of May 23-25.) Course begins immediately
after Spring Break. Prerequisites: Introduction to Theatre and Drama plus one other drama course or permission of instructor, or majoring in the MARC Program or other areas of medieval studies.
(Walsh)
Music
250. Chamber Music. (1). (Excl). Offered mandatory
credit/no credit.
Section 001 – Madrigal Groups, Section
002 – Instrumental: Chamber Orchestra and Small Ensembles,
All students who are interested in participating in small vocal
and instrumental ensembles can enroll for one hour of credit.
Ensembles have included: madrigal singers; mixed ensembles of
strings and winds; brass quintet and intermediate recorder ensemble;
string quartet; woodwind quintet, and some other duos and trios, including piano and harpsichord. Responsibilities include three
to four hours of rehearsal time per week (some individual and some group rehearsal), and participation in one or more chamber
music concerts per term, if appropriate. No audition required.
Course may be used to fulfill the RC's Arts Practicum Requirement.
(Kvamme/Kardas-Barna)
252. Topics in Music. (4). (HU).
Section 001 Music in Popular Culture. Music is one of the
most powerful and personal ways in which individuals and cultures
can define themselves. This course will examine the way both popular
and art music function in American film and television. Although the emphasis will be on the past decade or so, historical factors
will be taken into account. Required texts are UNDERSTANDING
POPULAR CULTURE by John Fiske and CHANNELS OF DISCOURSE
edited by Richard Allen. (Stilwell)
Section 002 Bells, Gongs and Drums Through the Ages. The class studies the history and past and present-day uses of bells, gongs and drums. There will be field trips to see and play a gamalan, a carillon, and percussion instruments, and guests will come to class to demonstrate and talk about certain instruments. The emphasis is on doing: students will design and make a drum and notate and perform drum and bell pieces. There will also be a final project. No previous music skills are required. Course fulfills RC Arts Practicum requirement. (Halsted)
253. Choral Ensemble. (1). (Excl). Offered
mandatory credit/no credit.
The Residential College Singers is a choral ensemble open to any
interested member of the University community, including but not
limited to Residential College students, CEW students, and residents
of East Quad. The class focuses on improving singing and music
reading skills, interpreting choral works, and preparing music
for performance. The course may be elected each term for credit
and will satisfy the RC's Arts Practicum requirement. Grades are
not given; credit is based primarily on regularity of attendance.
No audition or prerequisites are necessary. (Kvamme)
350. Creative Musicianship. (4). (HU).
In that improvisation is spontaneous composition, this course
explores composition through the development and refinement of
improvisational skills. Class time will be divided between improvisation – where
ideas such as linear organization, motivic development, and form
are explored – and the performance of composition. Assignments
based on playing done in class. The course deals with notation
and music theory as they seem necessary to bridge improvisation
and composition. Twenty students will be accepted who have at
least a beginning level of proficiency on an instrument, although
no prior understanding of improvisation or composition is necessary.
The course meets for four class hours and one should plan to spend
eight to ten hours per week practicing and preparing materials.
The accompanying lab (Humanities 351) is required unless excused
by the instructor. (Mygatt)
351. Creative Musicianship Lab. Hums.
350. (1-2). (Excl).
This is a required lab course to be taken with Humanities 350.
It will deal with the three basic elements of music (melody, harmony, rhythm) through music reading, writing, singing, the use of ear-training
tapes, and computer programs. The lab will be divided into three
sections according to ability and experience levels. The intermediate
level section must meet from 4-5:30 and will be arranged the first
day of class. Each section meets together as a group and students
will also work individually and with a lab partner. It may be
elected for either one or two credits, depending on the amount
of work one chooses to do. (Mygatt/Staff)
262/University Courses 262. AIDS: The Challenge to
Society. (4). (Excl).
See University Course 262.
(Sloat and Ostrow)
351. Special Topics. (2). (Excl). Offered
mandatory credit/no credit. May be repeated for a total of 8 credits.
Section 001: Patterns of Development in Young Adulthood.
Drawing on psychological theory, interview data, and interactive theatre, this course explores patterns of personal development
during young adulthood. Major topics include: "leaving home"
and changing relationships with family, development within friendship
and romantic relationships, identity and social context, and the
development of integrating life purposes. For each major topic, there will be three types of classes: (a) REFLECTION classes in
which relevant theory and concepts are discussed, (b) OBSERVATION
classes in which we shall test theory against interviews that
will be conducted by students in this course, and (c) REPRESENTATION
classes in which we shall create role plays that, almost literally, bring theoretical and conceptual issues "to life". This
course, then, requires active participation by those who undertake
it. (Greenspan)
450. Science and Social Responsibility. (4).
(Excl).
The power of modern science to intervene in natural processes
and to redirect them for human purposes has generated major social
and ethical problems and continues to do so. This course examines the social response to the types of problems that have emerged
since World War II and explores in particular the questions of the roles and responsibilities of scientists, the producers of the knowledge and techniques that form the basis of this new social
power. A complicating factor is that the nature of scientific
inquiry itself is currently being debated, with positions ranging
from claims that science merely discovers the natural world (traditional
empiricism) to claims that science also shapes and constructs the object of its inquiry (social constructivism). The course
will begin by examining these positions and their implications
for the roles and responsibilities of scientists. The military
sponsorship of physics after World War II will be used as a case
study that exemplifies these social and philosophical issues in
a particularly acute manner. The second part of the course will
examine the recent history of policies for the promotion and control
of science in the United States. In particular, we will examine the organization and funding of American science, support for
research and development by the military, and regulatory policy
in the 1980's and 1990's. The final part of the course will use
several case studies to examine social and ethical issues associated
with the development of science: the SDI initiative; the use of
science in the development of foreign policy (the "yellow
rain" issues); military use of the biological sciences; the
long-term environmental impact of modern technology; scientific
fraud. The course will be organized as a seminar. Participants
will undertake a guided research project that uses primary source
materials. The course is open to all students but is especially
intended for juniors and seniors who have taken at least one college-level
science course. Readings (tentative list) include: David Dickson, THE NEW POLITICS OF SCIENCE (1984); Sheila Jasanoff, THE FIFTH
BRANCH: SCIENCE ADVISERS AS POLICY MAKERS (1990); Joel Primack
and Frank von Hippel, ADVICE AND DISSENT: SCIENTISTS IN THE POLITICAL
ARENA (1974); Susan Wright (ed.), PREVENTING A BIOLOGICAL ARMS
RACE. (Wright)
260. Science and Societal Issues: The Immune System.
Introductory science course or permission of instructor.
(4). (NS).
This course introduces students to the field of immunology and to some of the societal issues that derive from this active area
of scientific research. The course focuses on the biological basis
of the immune response; an understanding of biological concepts, in turn, serves as the basis for examination of societal and ethical
issues that accompany contemporary scientific and biomedical research.
The course is intended for students who want to gain knowledge
about a field of science and better understand and make decisions
about the use of scientific knowledge. The topics include autoimmunity, immunization, tissue and organ transplant, allergic responses, AIDS, and the impact of funding and policy decisions on the direction
and progress of scientific research. Throughout, emphasis will
be on the acquisition of scientific knowledge, the nature of the
scientific process, and the interrelationships between science
and society. Student evaluations will be based on two examination, a short paper, a research paper/project, and class participation.
(Sloat)
270. New Biotechnology: Scientific, Social and Historical
Perspectives. High school biology or permission of
instructor. (4). (N.Excl).
This course examines the development of genetic engineering and other new biogenetic technologies that provide powerful methods
for controlling and modifying life forms. The principal goal of the course is to provide a broad historical perspective on the
emergence and development of a new "high-technology"
field, one that emphasizes the contexts in which the field has
evolved, the forces that have affected both promotion and control
of the field, and the terms on which the field has advanced. The
introductory sessions examine the underlying theory of molecular
biology that provides the concepts and models on which biogenetic
technologies are based. Later sessions examine details of the
techniques and the history of their development. Finally, the
course explores the social and ethical issues associated with
industrial, agricultural, medical and military applications of these fields. Required Readings: James Watson and John Tooze (eds.)
THE DNA STORY: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF GENE CLONING (San Francisco:
W.H. Freeman, 1981); David Freifelder (ed.), RECOMBINANT DNA:
READINGS FROM SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN (San Francisco, W.H. Freeman, 1978); Sheldon Krimsky, GENETIC ALCHEMY (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press, 1982); Edward Yoxen, THE GENE BUSINESS (New York: Harper
and Row, 1983); Marc Lappe, THE BROKEN CODE (San Francisco: Sierra
Club Books, 1984). There will also be a course pack of selected
readings. (Wright)
220/Soc. 220. Political
Economy. (4). (SS).
This course develops an analysis of social systems from a political
economic perspective. The first part of the course will focus
on modern capitalism, especially as it has developed in the United
States. The writings of a variety of social scientists will be
explored and discussed with an emphasis on recent work by radical
political economists. The second part of the course will concentrate
on potential alternatives to capitalism for contemporary economically
developed societies. Students will be encouraged to explore their
own interests and ideals about alternative social institutions
as well as to develop their capacities for insightful political
economic analysis. (Thompson)
290. Social Science Basic Seminar. (4).
(Excl).
This seminar is designed for students at the sophomore level or
above who are seriously considering a Social Science concentration
in the Residential College. The seminar is a requirement in the
Social Science program; its purpose is to prepare students to
pursue a concentration program in the Social Sciences at the Residential
College. Seminar sessions will introduce students to the RC Social
Science faculty and teach them how to turn general interests into
problems that can be investigated systematically. Early on students
will begin working on their own with guidance from faculty whose
interests match theirs in order to complete the principal goal
of the seminar: to design a coherent, individualized program of
study for the Social Science concentration. (Weisskopf)
306. Environmental History and Third World Development.
(3). (SS).
For Winter Term, 1992, this course is jointly offered with History 346. (Tucker)
310/Geography 310. Food, Population, and Energy. Sophomore standing or permission
of instructor. (4). (Excl).
During the past three Development Decades (1960-1990), national
governments and international organizations such as the World
Bank have drastically changed localized traditional farming systems
into industrialized agriculture. These development efforts have
decisively altered the dynamic balance between population, food, and energy supplies in many countries. In this course, we will
study such changes, the controversies that have accompanied them, and the alternative systems that have been proposed and developed
in response. We will look at their sensitivity to the welfare
of the farmers, men and women, and of their families and the environment
as well. We will appraise the advantages and shortcomings of both
American commercial agribusiness and the recently discredited
Communist planned agriculture which have served as models for the world-wide transformation of farming. Next, we will study the ways in which governments have implemented agricultural change
in Turkey and other countries of the Middle East. We will look
particularly at the traditional systems which government agricultural
policies have worked to replace, contrasting them with the modern
agricultural systems which have been developed. Finally, we will
consider alternative agricultural movements as written about in
Lappe and Collins' FOOD FIRST: BEYOND THE MYTH OF SCARCITY, Wes
Jackson's NEW ROOTS FOR AGRICULTURE, and Fukuoka's ONE STRAW REVOLUTION.
We will also consider critically the framing economic concepts
on which agricultural transformation has been based using the
arguments of Schumacher, SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL: ECONOMICS AS IF PEOPLE
MATTERED and Daly and Cobb, FOR THE COMMON GOOD: REDIRECTING THE
ECONOMY TOWARD COMMUNITY, THE ENVIRONMENT AND A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.
The course will be conducted as a collaborative seminar. We will
follow a discussion format with occasional lectures and comparative
papers and one longer research paper. (Larimore)
357. A History of Crime and Punishment in the U.S.
(4). (Excl).
This course seeks to put contemporary issues of crime and punishment
in historical perspective. Rather than attempt a sociology of
crime, or engage in philosophical debates about the nature of
human depravity, we will focus instead on the concrete means of
punishment and their development, in particular on the history
of the penitentiary, and build on this basis an analysis of the
interaction between political economy of crimes and the means
of state retribution. We will begin with recent debates about
crime and its causes, examining underlying assumptions about who
criminals are and what makes them misbehave, and then read some
of the major formulations of the problem of punishment (Foucault, Radzinowicz, Rusche and Kirchheimer). We will then move to an
historical treatment of punishment, concentrating on the evolution
of the American prison since the mid-19th century. While our focus
will be on the prison itself – everyday life behind bars, social
organization and administrative order, movements for reform, and movements of rebellion – our concern will be to understand how the world of the penitentiary is continually shaped and reshaped
by changes in the society producing criminals and by changes in
political priorities and dominant ideologies. We will make use
of memoirs, first-hand accounts, and prison literature, as well
as standard histories, and students will be encouraged to take
up independent work on this material. While the course will involve
lectures and guest talks, students will find that considerable
emphasis is placed on reading and participation in class discussions.
Everyone will be required to do a seminar presentation, a book
review, and a term paper. (Bright)
360. Social Science Junior Seminar. Upperclass standing. (4). (Excl). May be repeated for credit.
Section 001: Women in the International Division of Labor. What is meant by such terms as "the new international division of labor", "global restructuring", "structural adjustment", and even revitalized notions of "free trade"? What is "globalization"? What is the nature of participation in this trend? Who are its agents? Who are its beneficiaries? And who are its victims? Or – might this be our change to all share happily in the postmodernist construction of new, eclectic, "global" identities – beyond class, beyond nation, beyond "race", beyond gender? We want to address these questions in relation to gender, class, and nation (and/or ethnicity) before looking closely at women's labor in four or five areas of the global economy: offshore assembly-manufacturing; sex tourism or international sex services; the "informal sector"; industrial homework; minority and immigrant women's labor "niches" in the First World. We will also examine women's lives as the "nodes" of intersection between the global and the local, and as they are impacted by the co-existing local, national, and international levels. Course requirements are two short papers, a group presentation, and a final research paper. (Green)
Section 002. Contemporary American Health Care: Problems, Trends, Issues. (Heirich)
Section 003: Social Science Research Methods from a Feminist Perspective. This course will offer the student a broad perspective with which to evaluate and/or engage in social science research. It will focus on a variety of methodological and procedural problems and controversies discussed in the social science literature. Although the reading material for the course will derive primarily from the feminist literature, application will be made to numerous areas in social science. Topics to be covered include: a brief overview of social science research methods; explanation and evaluation of various research methodologies and procedures; the power, abuse and value of research; qualitative vs. quantitative controversy; issues of bias and objectivity; research and social policy; media coverage of research; social responsibility of the researcher; politics and research; defining feminist research. Two papers and a media evaluation project are required. Although there are no prerequisites, some statistical knowledge is helpful in understanding much of the course material. (Jayaratne)
388. Transitions to Capitalism. A 200-level
Social Science course. (4). (SS).
The course examines one of the most basic transformations in economic
and social history first by a close reading of a social theoretical
work – Marx's Capital – and then by comparison of two cases:
England from the late 17th century through the early phases of the industrial revolution and southern Africa in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. The first is the classic case of the
development of capitalism, the second an instance of change in the context of an already developed and expansionist European
economy. Yet in both instances, cultivators who had complex rights
in land and varied obligations to landlords lost many of those
rights and ties to individual landowners, and wage labor became the central feature of agricultural organization. In both areas, changes in agriculture were closely related to industrialization.
Yet the social structure and economic context out of which both
transitions arose were vastly different, and the meaning of race
and class in the economies that emerged from the transition periods
were equally distinct. Those differences will form a way of getting
at the most basic questions of what the concept of capitalism
signifies, and how theory can be both used and critically examined.
There will be some lecturing in the course, but the emphasis will
be on reading and discussion. Students will write a short essay
on the reading plus a longer one on a topic of their choosing.
(Cooper)
460. Social Science Senior Seminar. Senior
standing. (4). (Excl). May be repeated for credit.
Section 001: Research Seminar on Cultural Politics of Class in
Southeast Michigan. In this course we shall carry out research
projects on the changing class structure of Southeast Michigan, giving particular attention to the emerging "economic corridor"
between Detroit and Ann Arbor and to the experiences of those
who live at the bottom of this economy. We shall consider, among
other things, how the local class structure has changed over the
last two decades, what forms of cultural discipline have accompanied this change, which groups now occupy the lower rungs of the system, and how they make sense of their conditions. This course fulfills the Residential College Social Science research requirement. (Rouse)
Section 002: Research Seminar on Asian-American Communities in the Midwest. For Winter Term, 1992, this course is jointly offered with American Culture 496.006. (Nomura)
Section 003: Research Seminar on Contemporary Russian Politics and Culture. For Winter Term, 1992, this course is jointly offered with History 396.004. (Burbank)
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