ENROLL

Zaki Haidar

Arabic literature is a vibrant and humane tradition. At the same time, several Arab societies have experienced periods of exceedingly violent conflict throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first centuries. In this course, we will investigate the ways these two currents—war and the literary—converge in several Arab societies. As members of societies at war, but also as literary artists, how do authors represent these conflicting narratives? What sorts of war stories do they tell, how do they tell them, and what sort of literary practice is produced? We will study the birth of the Lebanese Civil War novel as a bona fide genre in the 1970s and 80s, how literature informed anti-colonial struggles in Palestine and Algeria from the 1950s to the present, and read some works of genre-bending horror and science fiction that have appeared in the wake of Iraq’s recent destruction. Taught in English, no knowledge of Arabic is required.

In translation

Jenny Bourne

Prerequisite: Economics 111

Prathi Seneviratne

Prerequisite: Economics 111

Michael Hemesath

Prerequisite: Economics 110

Paul Petzschmann

It has become commonplace to say that Europe is in crisis--yet what does that mean? It is difficult to overestimate the importance of crises considering that the European Union played a large part in overcoming Europe’s “Long Civil War” between 1914 and 1945. The collective decision-making processes created by European treaties are often credited with bringing peace and prosperity to Europe. Yet they have also instituted idiosyncrasies, asymmetries and inequities that stand in the way of solving the continent’s most pressing problems. We will examine decision-making processes in the European Union and the much-debated “democratic deficit” of its institutions. These debates about the foundations of the Union will be rounded off by an overview and brief history of Euroscepticism. The course will include a discussion of a number of case studies that confront member states of the European Union across the board: the reconstruction of the welfare state, immigration and the refugee crisis, and the rise of the far right. 

Susannah Ottaway

Seungjoo Yoon

This survey course of twentieth-century China examines how ordinary people interacted with Mao, the chief architect of Communist China. We will scrutinize social change over time by looking at patterns of contestations and negotiations between Mao and his rivals among peasants, workers, students, women, intellectuals, ethnic minorities, and local cadres. Topics include the operation of the new democracy, social classification and distribution, food and famine politics, the changing meaning of family and education, body and biomedicine, mass science and archaeological projects, and Mao’s exhibition culture. Students will engage with images, memoirs, autobiographies, interviews, oral histories, films, “garbage materials,” and archival sources.

Thabiti Willis

George Vrtis

Adeeb Khalid

Thabiti Willis

This course deepens understanding of the causes, manifestations, and implications of warfare in modern Africa by highlighting African perspectives on colonialism's legacies. Drawing from cases in South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Algeria, and Sudan, the course questions whether Britain's policy of indirect rule, France's direct rule, and South Africa's apartheid rule were variants of despotism and how colonial rule shaped possibilities of resistance, reform, and repression. Students also will learn how different historical actors participated in and experienced war as well as produce an original research paper that thoughtfully uses primary and secondary resources. 

Asuka Sango

Wes Markofski

Does social difference always lead to conflict and inequality? Can we forge common ground with justice across deep differences? What forms of respect, recognition, reciprocity, and redistribution do democratic citizens owe one another? We will explore these and related questions through a roughly equal mix of democratic theory and empirical studies of race/class/gender/religion diverse grassroots democratic movements in the U.S. We will consider the demands and challenges of "different types of difference" (racial-ethnic, gender-sexuality, class-culture, citizenship, language, and religion) for fighting inequity and pursuing ethical democracy in the United States (and beyond). 

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

Not open to students who took SOAN 350

Constanza Ocampo-Raeder

This course explores the origins and development of contemporary lived experiences in Latin America as interpreted through ethnographic works in anthropology. We will examine and analyze the structural processes that have shaped contact among indigenous, European, and non-European immigrants (e.g. African and Asian peoples) in Latin America since the Conquest and through colonial periods to understand today's Latin American societies. We will pay special attention to the impacts of global capitalist expansion and state formation, sites of resilience and resistance, as well as the movement of Latin American peoples throughout the world today. Course themes will address gender, identity, social organization, indigeneity, immigration, social inequality and environment.

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

Not open to students who have taken SOAN 250