ENROLL

Charisse Burden-Stelly

This course explores the activist roots of Africana Studies. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, students organized hundreds of protests that sparked a period of unrest, retaliation, negotiation, and reform that fundamentally reshaped college campuses across the United States. Black students, along with their “Third World” and progressive white allies, demanded that academe serve their communities and provide a “more relevant education.” The course will consider the influence of various movements, including Black power, anti-war, second wave feminism, and decolonization, on the creation of interdisciplinary fields including Black Studies, Ethnic Studies, and Women and Gender Studies.

Christopher Elias

What does it mean to be an American and how has that definition changed over time? This course examines how individual Americans have explored the relationship between their selves and their country’s recent history. We will read memoirs and autobiographies to explore American identities through a variety of lenses, including race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, citizenship status, region, and ability. Key texts will include works by Alison Bechdel, Audre Lorde, Malcolm X, and Mine Okubo.

Serena Zabin

Introduction to some of the animating debates within American Studies from the 1930s to the present. We will study select themes, theories, and methodologies in the writings of a number of scholars and try to understand 1) the often highly contested nature of debates about how best to study American culture; and 2) how various theories and forms of analysis in American Studies have evolved and transformed themselves over the last seventy years. Not designed to be a fine-grained institutional history of American Studies, but a vigorous exploration of some of the central questions of interpretation in the field. Normally taken by majors in their junior year.

Prerequisite: American Studies 115 or instructor permission

Judith Howard

Dance is an art of the body in time and space and culture. This course will look at dance as a symbolic system of meanings based on bodily display. The investigation of the body as a “text” will be anchored by, but not limited to, feminist perspectives. Topics include Native American concert dance and the Africanist base of American Modern dance. Through reading, writing, discussing, moving, viewing videos and performances the class will “read” the gender, race, and politics of the dancing body in the cultural/historical context of Modern, Post Modern and Contemporary Dance.

Anita Chikkatur

Sophomore Priority

Waitlist for Juniors and Seniors: EDUC 110.WL0 (Synonym 47815)

Kathryn L Wegner

Teaching is a political act. Each decision a teacher makes has the power to reinforce or disrupt dominant social hierarchies. In this course, we will explore this premise to understand how teachers navigate power and politics in and out of their classrooms. Students will read educational research in critical pedagogy and critical policy studies, interact with guest speakers, and take field trips to meet teachers in their classrooms. Topics may include racial justice, climate change, and teachers’ unions.

Extra Time Required

Michael Kowalewski

Extra Time required.

Annette Igra

George Vrtis

Prerequisite: History 205 or instructor permission

Spring Break OCS Program Course. ENTS 307 required for Spring Term registration.

Thabiti Willis

In this course students participate in peer-led conversations about diversity and community at Carleton. Students complete readings and engage in experiential exercises that invite them to reflect on their own social identities and their attitudes toward race, gender, class, and sexuality. By taking risks and engaging in honest conversations and self-reflection, students work together to understand differences and to explore how to build communities that are welcoming and open to diversity. Students keep a weekly journal and write two reflective essays that are graded by faculty members. Required application form: https://apps.carleton.edu/dialogue/.

Thabiti Willis

In this course students participate in peer-led conversations about diversity and community at Carleton. Students complete readings and engage in experiential exercises that invite them to reflect on their own social identities and their attitudes toward race, gender, class, and sexuality. By taking risks and engaging in honest conversations and self-reflection, students work together to understand differences and to explore how to build communities that are welcoming and open to diversity. Students keep a weekly journal and write two reflective essays that are graded by faculty members. Required application form: https://apps.carleton.edu/dialogue/.

Thabiti Willis

In this course students participate in peer-led conversations about diversity and community at Carleton. Students complete readings and engage in experiential exercises that invite them to reflect on their own social identities and their attitudes toward race, gender, class, and sexuality. By taking risks and engaging in honest conversations and self-reflection, students work together to understand differences and to explore how to build communities that are welcoming and open to diversity. Students keep a weekly journal and write two reflective essays that are graded by faculty members. Required application form: https://apps.carleton.edu/dialogue/.

Thabiti Willis

In this course students participate in peer-led conversations about diversity and community at Carleton. Students complete readings and engage in experiential exercises that invite them to reflect on their own social identities and their attitudes toward race, gender, class, and sexuality. By taking risks and engaging in honest conversations and self-reflection, students work together to understand differences and to explore how to build communities that are welcoming and open to diversity. Students keep a weekly journal and write two reflective essays that are graded by faculty members. Required application form: https://apps.carleton.edu/dialogue/.

Mike Flynn, Catherine Fortin

This course examines the nature of the endangered language Dakota, which was once spoken on what is today Carleton land. We will study several aspects of the language, including phonology, morphology, and syntax, with the assistance of speakers of the language from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation. The goal of the course is to produce an array of careful, accurate, and clear descriptions of parts of the language, working towards a new pedagogical grammar of the language to be used in the construction of teaching materials for Dakota children. 

Prerequisite: Linguistics 216 and 217

Andy Flory

A survey of American music with particular attention to the interaction of the folk, popular, and classical realms. No musical experience required.

Melinda Russell

Explores the historical bases of musical style, the role of recorded music, the social construction of a "folk music" milieu, and the music of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, et al. No musical experience necessary; you need not read musical notation. Includes one day per week of applied instruction: Section 1 (beginning folk guitar--instruments provided) only for those with zero guitar experience; Section 2 (folk workshop --provide your own instruments) if you have any experience on guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, ukelele, Dobro, viola, cello, or bass.

No Guitar Experience

Melinda Russell

Explores the historical bases of musical style, the role of recorded music, the social construction of a "folk music" milieu, and the music of Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, et al. No musical experience necessary; you need not read musical notation. Includes one day per week of applied instruction: Section 1 (beginning folk guitar--instruments provided) only for those with zero guitar experience; Section 2 (folk workshop --provide your own instruments) if you have any experience on guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, ukelele, Dobro, viola, cello, or bass.

Provide your own instrument or borrow one from the Music Resource Center

Andy Flory

Claire M Griffin

Sex is a pervasive feature of our individual lives and of contemporary political debate, yet has until recently has rarely been subject to sustained philosophical scrutiny. In this course we will investigate the ethical, political, and conceptual issues surrounding sex, critically reflecting on our own assumptions about sexed bodies, sexual pleasure, sexual conduct, and sexual and gender identities. What is sex? How do others identify us and how do we come to identify ourselves as sexual beings along the intersecting axes of gender, race, class, orientation, and ability? Can sex and pleasure become sites for personal liberation or ethical existence with others? We will take an intersectional approach to a variety of issues, including consent, casual sex, sexual objectification and commodification, sexual violence, normative medical and legal discourse about sex, gender, and reproduction, and the struggle for political recognition by sexual and gender minorities.

Christina Farhart

Christina Farhart

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories, hold on to misinformed beliefs even in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, and/or spread political and social rumors that may have little basis in fact? Who is most vulnerable to these various forms of misinformation? What are the normative and political consequences of misperceptions (if any)? This course explores the psychological, political, and philosophical approaches to the study of the causes, consequences, and tenacity of conspiracy beliefs, misinformation, and political rumors, as well as possible approaches that journalists could employ to combat misperceptions.

Kimberly Smith

Richard Keiser

Barbara Allen

Mara G Block

How can we best understand the role of religion in the world today, and how should we interpret the meaning of religious traditions -- their texts and practices -- in history and culture? This class takes an exciting tour through selected themes and puzzles related to the fascinating and diverse expressions of religion throughout the world. From politics and pop culture, to religious philosophies and spiritual practices, to rituals, scriptures, gender, religious authority, and more, students will explore how these issues emerge in a variety of religions, places, and historical moments in the U.S. and across the globe.

Sonja Anderson

This course introduces students to the structure, history, and theology of the Catholic Church through the lens of gender and power. Through a combination of readings and conversations with living figures, students will develop the ability to critically and empathetically interpret Catholicism in its various manifestations. Topics include: God, rituals, salvation, the body, women, materiality, sex; the authority of persons, texts, and tradition; conflicts and anxieties involving masculinity, feminist theologies, the ordination of women as priests, the censuring of heretical theologians, and the clerical sex abuse crisis. Conditions permitting, this course will include trips to local Catholic sites.

Liz Raleigh

What makes a family? How has the conception of kinship and the 'normal' family changed over the generations? In this introductory class, we examine these questions, drawing on a variety of course materials ranging from classic works in sociology to contemporary blogs on family life. The class focuses on diversity in family life, paying particular attention to the intersection between the family, race and ethnicity, and social class. We'll examine these issues at the micro and macro level, incorporating texts that focus on individuals' stories as well as demographics of the family.

Sophomore Priority

Ahmed S Ibrahim

The state of Minnesota, like the rest of the U.S., has been formed by the migration and settlement of peoples from across the world at different historical moments. Though often hidden from public view, the state is home to peoples with diverse cultural and religious practices, making Minnesota a microcosm of the global. This course will provide an anthropology of Minnesota by examining the different migration histories and experiences of Minnesota’s varied population groups. Through a study of the making of Minnesota and its population groups, the course will examine borders and movement from a global and historical perspective, as well as explore the presence of different cultural and religious groups in Minnesota and the social relations they form. This course will help students see Minnesota and the people that call it home in new ways.

Annette Nierobisz

This course examines contemporary criminological issues from a critical, sociological perspective. Our focus is on the United States with topics under examination including white collar crime, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, mass incarceration and other transformations in punishment, prisoner reentry, and the risk of recidivism. In addition to understanding both classic and contemporary sociological research and theory, we will seek answers to questions like: What is crime? Who is considered a criminal? What social changes drove the United States to get "tough" on crime?  What effects does incarceration have on prisoners, their families, their neighborhoods and communities? What happens when prisoners return to society? 

Prerequisite: The department strongly recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses numbered 200 or above

Oscar Clemente

Thinking about the importance of cultivating skills such as envisioning and critical viewing, this course will have two objectives divided into two parts.  Week one: Classes focusing on both theory and practice will serve as an introduction to the central topic of the environmental crisis and will allow for the evaluation and analysis of popular imagination of climate change. Week two: In the second part, students will be responsible for generating imaginative and sustainable alternatives/visions that will include their own visions. This work will be screened at a public presentation and an exposition of visual media.

Prerequisite: Spanish 205 or higher

Two week course January 15-26. Add deadline: 1-16-18. Late Drop Deadline: 1-19-18. Extra Time required.

Meryl Puetz-Lauer