Synthesis Course Descriptions

This is a comprehensive list of all synthesis courses that have been approved by the Liberal Studies Committee. To determine which courses are being offered during a specific semester, go to the URSA website, or the courses link on the Liberal Studies home page.

To view a description of a particular synthesis course, click on the alphabetic breakdown corresponding with the first letter of the course title.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

~A~

Advocacy or Prejudice? Disabilities in Film and Media

Many opinions about individuals with disabilities are formed by the media. Recent films, I Am Sam and A Beautiful Mind, are sure to form opinions about mental retardation and mental illness. These opinions will be influenced by the agenda, knowledge, or ignorance of the filmmakers. The purpose of this course is to stimulate synthesis among future professionals concerning media portrayal of individuals with disabilities and its effects on society. This will be done through film viewing, discussion of case histories, and group presentation. You will be expected to watch one film independently in addition to films shown in class. Assignments: (1) Journal recording your reflections; (2) Outline paper for case studies; (3) Group PowerPoint presentation of independent film viewing; and (4) Synthetic essay. Typical Readings: None, other than short handouts provided by instructor to prepare outline papers.

Aging in America

What is it like to grow old in America? What are the issues facing the elderly? Are you prepared to deal with the psychological, social, economic, and health concerns of the aging American population? Students will have the opportunity to develop an appreciation for what it is like to age in American society and confront issues facing the elderly. Through service learning activities, class readings, reflections, and other in-class activities, students enrolled in Aging in America will confront issues that older persons face. Typical Readings: Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie; McGowin, Living in the Labyrinth; selected reprinted articles, governmental publications, websites pertinent to the field of gerontology.

Apocalypse and Beyond

Why have many people through history and even today thought the world was going to end in their time? Why have especially marginalized religious groups thought their problems could only be solved by violent supernatural or divine intervention? This course will explore the history and development of apocalyptic literature and the apocalyptic mindset of early Judaism and Christianity as found in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and then examine apocalypticism in many of its forms as it has impacted religious and secular culture ever since. You will be expected to read widely and join in class discussions. Assignments may include 1) journals recording your reflections; 2) short essays based on readings; 3) oral presentations either in pairs or alone using expertise from your major; and 4) a synthetic essay which you will write and revise. Typical Readings: "The Book of Daniel" and "The Apocalypse of John" in the Bible; Keller, Apocalypse now and then: a feminist guide to the end of the world; Robbins and Palmer, Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem; Mitchell, A Guide to Apocalyptic Cinema; Hunt, Christian Millenarianism; Rosenthal, et al., Apocalypse: Beauty and Horror in Contemporary Art; Lindsey, The Late, Great Planet Earth.

Appalachian Culture

What are Appalachia and Appalachian culture? How does the way we think of Appalachia affect the way we respond to it? In what ways is Indiana County inextricably part of Appalachia? This course allows us to address these questions from the perspectives of American literature and history, music, geography, sociology, political science, and other disciplines; we will also view films (such as Harlan County, USA and Coal Miner’s Daughter) and video and audio clips (lots of bluegrass and mountain music). You will be expected to participate and read actively. Evaluations based on (1) synthesis journal responses to readings, films, and video and audio clips [40%]; (2) first synthesis essay [20%]; (3) second synthesis essay [25%]; and (4) participation, including reports [15%]. Typical readings: John Alexander Williams, Appalachia: A History; Edward Abbey, Appalachian Wilderness; Richard Chase, ed., The Jack Tales; Jean Ritchie, Singing Family of the Cumberlands; Lee Smith, Fair and Tender Ladies; James Still, Sporty Creek; and Gurney Norman, Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories.

Asian American Culture

In this course you’ll learn there’s more to Asian-American culture than Charlie Chan and scholastic overachievers. You’ll discover that Asian Americans have a cultural heritage distinct from Asia as well as America. You’ll learn why and when Asians came to America; what kind of problems they’ve had--and are having--concerning assimilation; and how they’ve been characterized in literature, film, and the media. And depending upon your major, you can explore other areas of interest in Asian American culture. In addition to readings and films, class work and assignments include oral reports, written responses to the readings, one long essay and one short one, and a research project. Typical Readings: Okada, No-No Boy; Wong, Fifth Chinese Daughter; Kingston, China Men; Tan, Joy Luck Club.

The Atomic Bomb and Its Impact

In terms that everyone can understand, we will explore the revolutionary new physics that predicted nuclear power, and we will follow the story of the scientific and technological miracle at Los Alamos where the first bomb was made. Then we will discuss the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and study the bombing’s biological, social, and political consequences. We will also look at how literature was influenced by and influenced the atomic age. Assignments: (1) journal for taking notes and recording thoughts [15%], (2) oral reports on subtopics of your choice using the perspective of your major [20%], (3) short, informal essays on reading assignments [30%], and (4) a synthetic essay written and revised based on group discussions and instructor’s comments. Typical Readings: Feynman, Surely You Are Joking, Mr. Feynman; Anderson and Beason, The Trinity Paradox; Smith, Stallion Gate. Other selections from Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb; Fogelman, Hiroshima: The Decision to Use the Bomb; and Hiroshima and Nagasaki--The Physical, Medical, and Social Effects of the Atomic Bombing.

~B~

The Battle for Perfection

Note: Students may not enroll in this course if they have taken the corresponding elective FDNT 475
Why do many people, especially women, think that they’re too fat and embark on a never-ending quest to lose weight? Is being fat really a health risk? What about being too thin? How do societal norms dictate our eating behaviors? Where do eating disorders come from, and how do they differ from disordered eating? How can you help a friend who has an eating disorder? This course explores these and other issues with readings, class discussions, videos, and guest speakers. Students will present articles and book reviews from a wide variety of professional and popular literature and will develop course projects relevant to their chosen field of study. Typical Readings: Berg, Afraid to Eat: Children and Teens in Weight Crisis; Dixon, Love the Body You Were Born With; Piper, Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls; Gaesser, Big Fat Lies: The Truth about Your Weight and Your Health; Tribole & Resch, Intuitive Eating: A Recovery Book for the Chronic Dieter.

Biology and Society

This course will use the concept of evolution to explore a fascinating new approach to the study of human social life known as sociobiology. Sociobiologists attempt to determine the extent to which the various features of human society are shaped by human biology. It is an approach that has been applied to such diverse social phenomena as human sexuality, gender roles, family patterns, crime, mental disorder, violence (including war), social inequality, the biochemistry of the human brain, and human morality and ethics. Included among the adherents and practitioners of sociobiology are sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and other social scientists, so it is very interdisciplinary. The class will start with four weeks of background lectures and then give way to student presentations and discussion. Students will take two exams, give one oral presentation, and write one paper. Typical Readings: Mayr, One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought; Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker; one general work on sociobiology yet to be determined.

Birth and Parenting: A Biocultural View

How do mothers and fathers adapt to the unique event of birth? Since childbirth is both a biological and cultural event, it is important to investigate parental adaptation from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Using research from biology, psychology, and anthropology, this course will discuss theories related to specific topics such as pregnancy, postpartum depression, the transition to fatherhood, domestic violence and childbearing, perinatal substance abuse, gender differences in child rearing, and extremes of parental age. The course will promote synthesis thinking skills to understand and solve problems linked to parental adaptation. Typical Readings: Thevenin, Mothering and Fathering: Gender Differences in Child Rearing; Lederman, Psychosocial Adaptation in Pregnancy; articles from the Journal of Nurse Midwifery; and others.

The Blues in American Culture

Undergoing renaissance, the Blues longtime played a major role in American life. This course studies the Blues in social and cultural history by extensive listening to diverse forms—from Mississippi Delta to Urban Blues—and by wide reading of memoirs, histories, criticism, and fiction about blues. The fertile ground of African-American experience and expression in tension and negotiation with white popular culture industries, the Blues raise important questions of race, gender, and culture in America. Special attention is given to major female blues vocalists; Black diaspora; the roots of Rock n’ roll, Jazz, and Folk; and music business. Participants need no music training, but must want to read deeply, listen carefully, and discuss and write about this vibrant expressive tradition. Typical Readings: Dixon, I am the Blues: The Willie Dixon Story; Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues; Jones, Blues People; and others.

Bonnie Yank and Jennie Reb: Discovering Women in the American Civil War

Between 1861 and 1865 America’s most devastating conflict raged and women participated in significant ways. In this course students will discover through lecture, film, discussion, and their own research, the experience of women during the Civil War. Students will consider how war impacted women of all races and classes, how women contributed to the conflict, how they dealt with wartime changes and challenges, and how the wartime experience led to changes in postwar lives. Students will build their skills in information location, use, and evaluation in this course. Typical Readings: Culpepper, Trials and Triumphs: The Women of the American Civil War; Edwards, Scarlett Doesn’t Live Here Anymore: Southern Women in the Civil War Era; and various articles, book chapters, and films.

Building 3D Models for the Web

Prerequisites: basic computer literacy (word processing and e-mail)
Combine forces with creative students from other disciplines to build your own virtual worlds. Learn the basics of three-dimensional (3D) computer multimedia and use Virtual Reality Modeling Language to publish interactive 3D models on the Web. Possible multidisciplinary projects are: theater set designs, fly-through sculptures, manufacturing process designs, walk-through urban environments, virtual tours of living organisms, reconstructed archaeological sites, restaurant and other commercial interiors, and animated molecular models. Students from a variety of majors are encouraged to enroll so that diverse viewpoints can be applied to the projects. See Building 3D Models for the Web.

Business and Society

Note: cannot receive duplicate credit for MKTG 432 or MGMT 432
Different views regarding the role of business emanate from history, economics, political science, philosophy, management and other business disciplines, and several other fields. Applying concepts associated with corporate social responsibility, ethics, and management, issues will be explored including the environment, regulation, marketing and advertising, product safety, minority policies, etc. Classes are discussion-based and “informal,” consisting of selective "lecturing," Q & A, case analyses and discussion of readings. Typical Readings/Cases: Exxon Corporation: Trouble at Valdez; The Case of the Firestone 500; Wal-Mart; The Ford Pinto; others. Videos include An Inconvenient Truth; Sicko; Black Gold (Starbucks); Supersize Me; Johnstown Flood; Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez; others.

Business and Society (Summer Only)

Note: cannot receive duplicate credit for MKTG 432 or MGMT 432
Different views regarding the role of business emanate from economics; political science; philosophy; management, marketing, finance & other business disciplines; and several other fields. Applying concepts associated with corporate social responsibility, ethics, and strategic management, issues will be explored including the environment, regulation, marketing and advertising, product safety, etc. Classes are discussion-based and “informal,” consisting of selective "lecturing," Q & A, case analyses and discussion of readings. Typical Readings/Cases: Exxon Corporation: Trouble at Valdez; The Case of the Firestone 500; Wal-Mart; The Ford Pinto; others. Videos include An Inconvenient Truth; Sicko; Super Size Me; Johnstown Flood; Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez; Pinto Fires; others. A portion of the class will be conducted online (Class only meets three days a week)

~C~

Can Machines Think?: A Study of What Is Involved in Intelligent Behavior

We will explore human intelligence analyzing our thought processes, our problem solving skills, our creativity, and what is considered to be intelligent behavior. Then we will look at how this can be duplicated by machines. Computers can talk, hear and understand what is said to them as well as solve many different kinds of problems. Does this make them intelligent? To assess the impact of intelligent machines on our society, we will look at robots in science fiction, particularly movies. We will examine the threat, the dangers, and the opportunities that they represent not only in terms of technological progress but from the different perspectives of philosophy, psychology and the arts. No previous knowledge of robots or computing is necessary. Typical Readings: Connor, Love Among the Rabbits; Firebaugh, Artificial Intelligence; Fischler and Firschein, Intelligence: The Eye, the Brain, and the Computer; Gould, The Mismeasure of Man; Schlebinger, The Mind Has no Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science; plus films and television shows.

The Caribbean: Beyond the Beach

Many of us think of the caribbean as a place for fun, sun, romance, and adventure. But is that all the region has ever been? In this course, we will explore the Caribbean as a crossroads of the world, where peoples, products, and ideas converge and disperse, often in dramatic ways. By studying topics such as colonialism, tourism, and migration we will better understand the forces that continue to shape the Caribbean. The course will include readings and films mainly from the perspectives of history, sociology, and literature, but there will be opportunities to make connections with other fields. Typical Readings:A Brief History of the Caribbean: From the Arawak and the Carib to the Present, Rogozinski; film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and others.

Childhood and Death

Everyday children encounter dying and death through the media or personally through the death of pets, relatives or friends. We’ll investigate how children understand, react to and cope with dying and death. Besides traditional studies from thantology we will also use children’s literature, music, and art to help us understand this topic. Strategies to aid children will be explored. Typical Readings: Fitzgerald, The Grieving Child; Remembering My Special Person, A Taste of Blackberries, Children Mourning/Mourning Children, Talking About Death; and curriculum guides and other educational materials.

Childhood in America: Problems and Issues (Fennimore)

This course provides an overview of the experience of childhood in the United States of America. Students in the course are encouraged to think carefully about their future as parents or active citizens in a nation in which the needs of so many young children are unmet. Topics include brain development and issues in early care, cost of child care, violence and abuse, media manipulation of children, family economics, men and fatherhood, gender equity issues in work and parenting, divorce and custody, sharing parenting responsibilities after a marriage ends, addiction, homelessness, public school equity issues, and legislative initiatives connected to children and families. A course project will help students in any major to explore a topic related to childhood with active inquiry and direct experience as well as investigation of the legislative process as it relates to the interests of children. Typical Readings: such as Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment by James Garbarino, Savage Inequalities by Jonathon Kozol, and Fathers and Early Childhood Programs by Jay Fagan and Glen Palm.

Childhood in America: Problems and Issues

For many American children today, childhood is a struggle for basic survival. They may face hunger, homelessness, or violence; families and schools sometimes fail. We will examine childhood, from a variety of disciplinary perspectives; among the topics will be child-rearing practices, poverty and homelessness, aesthetic experiences, formation of attitudes toward racial and cultural groups, and the impact of violence upon children. We will be interested in advocacy for children and in the legal and social policies that affect them. Class discussion, individual and group projects, and debates. Typical Readings: Children’s Defense Fund, The State of America’s Children; Kozol, Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America; National Commission on Children, Beyond Rhetoric: A New American Agenda for Children and Families; Erikson, Childhood and Society.

Children and Television in the United States

It’s about kids and commercials, Looney Tunes and Trix. Why do parents want to protect them from the evil "tube." Does television viewing really increase violent behavior? How much TV is too much? Become a more aware potential parent or teacher by joining this exploration of children and television. The course will rationally examine the why’s, where’s, and how’s of children’s TV programming. It will equip students with a set of tools for evaluating the content and entertainment value of children’s programming. Some of the areas to be included are: child development, economics, politics, media criticism, and television production. Typical Readings: Berger, Media Analysis Techniques; Berry and Asamen, Children and Television; Junn and Boyatzis (eds)., Annual Editions: Child Growth and Development; Liebert and Sprafkin, The Early Window; and Millerson, Effective TV Production.

Christianity in America Today

When judged by certain standard indicators, the United States appears "more religious" than any other large, modern nation. What does this mean? What are the implications for our personal and public behavior? You will explore these and other questions by focusing on how the various denominational and cultural forms of Christianity, our nation’s most widespread religion, affect the way Americans think and live. Assignments: personal journal recording your reflections; oral reports; various short, informal papers on readings; and a synthetic essay which you will write and revise. Typical Readings: Eck, A New Religious America; Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity; Wuthnow, The Struggle for America’s Soul: Evangelicals, Liberals, & Secularism; Kennedy, Tomorrow’s Catholics, Yesterday’s Church; plus photocopied selections, videos, and music.

Civilization in Crisis: Arts and Society in the Early Twentieth Century

Our culture is in the midst of a sweeping (some would say dangerous) transition. Can we begin to understand where we are going by understanding where we have come from? What is happening to our civilization? How does its crisis affect us as individuals and how should we respond? We will explore these questions through the mirror of artistic and philosophical thought in the early twentieth century, particularly the period including the two world wars. Class activities: discussions of readings, videos, concerts, and theater. Assignments: short written and oral reports relating your own major or interest to our topic and a final synthetic essay based on your personal experience of cultural change. Typical Readings: Oppenheimer, The Birth of the Modern Mind; Jung, Man and His Symbols and Synchronicity; Alley, Portrait of a Primitive: The Art of Henri Rousseau; Menuhin, Man and His Music.

Classical Italy: A Study Tour

This course includes a tour of Italy, beginning in Rome and ending in Milan. Sites will be visited which represent the best of the arts in Italy, covering a period from Ancient Rome to the late Renaissance. Emphasis will be on performance architecture and the related arts of sculpture, mosaics, painting and theory of architectural space. A week of classes will precede and follow the tour for a total of four weeks. Academic requirements include readings, journals, discussions during and after the tour, and a synthesis paper. The course is open for credit to all IUP students who have 73 credit hours. Typical Readings: Ault, "Francesco Piranesi’s Reconstruction of the Ancient Theatre at Herculanium"; Bergman, Bettina & Condoleon, Christine, Eds., The Art of Ancient Spectacle; Burkhardt, The History of the Renaissance in Italy; Fletcher, revised by Palmer, A History of Architecture; Janson and Janson, History of Art: A Survey of the Major Visual Arts from the Dawn of History to the Present Day.

Classicism and Romanticism: Two Ways of Looking at the World through the Arts

The Classic and Romantic: two timeless and widely applicable perspectives from which we may view the arts and our world in general. We will begin with an historical/cultural overview of the 18th and 19th centuries, Greek and Roman civilizations, and the Middle Ages for the purpose of giving meaning and substance to our idea of the Classic and Romantic. Next, we will examine briefly the world of late 18th century (Classical) and 19th century (Romantic) art music. Then students will choose other topics to explore and further illuminate the Classic/Romantic dichotomy. Among the possibilities are art, literature, architecture, politics, philosophy, science, and others limited only by the creativity and interests of the class. Typical Readings: Sporre, The Creative Impulse, plus recorded musical examples, slides, general articles on selected topics.

Climbing Your Family Tree

Kimberly Powell (2006) in The Everything Family Tree Booknotes that 73 percent of adults have an interest in family history. Family history research extends genealogy research by seeking greater understanding through the development of a context for one’s genealogy. In this course, the students will use social science research methods and Internet and traditional library resources to explore their ancestral roots and revisit relevant segments of American politics and history to develop a context for their family history. Typical Readings: Babbie, Earl (2006), Social Science Research Methods, Thousand Oakes, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.; Bolton, Charles Knowles (1910), Scotch Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America, Boston: Bacon and Brown.

Colonial Williamsburg

Life in eighteenth-century Virginia was a mix of the traditions of European culture and the spirit of freedom and community cooperation of the American frontier. We will explore this mix in its political, economic, social, and cultural aspects. Our journey back to colonial times begins with an archaeological examination of the earliest settlements and continues with an examination of the distinct way of life the settlers created--their occupations, homes, clothes, food, gardens, music, art, and recreation. In addition to common readings and discussions, each student will complete a project of individual interest. Typical Readings: Guidebooks and materials produced by Colonial Williamsburg; articles from American Heritage and the William and Mary Quarterly; Watson, Reign of George III.

Concentration Camps

In the twentieth century, more people may have died in government-sponsored concentration camps than military combat in two world wars. Utilizing a variety of methodologies, you will compare three major internment programs (German, Soviet, and U.S.) to ascertain the rationale for such institutions and their effects upon society. Students will emphasize the techniques of their majors in producing three video critiques (45%), three quizzes (30%), and a final synthetic essay (25%). Typical Readings: Conquest, Kolyma: The Arctic Death Camps; Hata, Japanese Americans and World War II; Remak, The Nazi Years: A Documentary Study.

Contemporary Social and Political Revolutions

Lenin accurately predicted that the 20th century would be a century of wars and revolutions. This shows no sign of abating as revolutions in the late 20th century continue to re-shape the politics, social structures, economies, and cultures of various nations around the world. Why do people rebel? What are the psychological, social, and political causes of revolutions? Is the women’s movement a "revolution"? What are the moral bases and limits of a "right to rebellion", the right claimed by the American colonists over 200 years ago? This course examines rival approaches for analyzing contemporary social and political revolutions such as the revolutions in eastern and central Europe, various revolutions in the Third World, and equal rights movements of women and ethnic minorities. Typical Readings: Callinicos, The Revenge of History; Ash, The Magic Lantern; Malraux, Man’s Fate; Tong, Feminist Thought.

The Contemporary University: Its Place in Society

We will examine the contemporary university as an institution effected by historical processes which cause constant refocusing and restructuring. Your higher education "home" will gain new meaning as we consider current issues as the impact of racism, gender equity, sexual harassment, the consequences of national, state, and institutional funding decisions on the university community, and so on. Assignments: 1) introductory essay (5%); 2) journal recording your unfolding thoughts and reflections (15%); 3) topical essays on course themes (40%); and 4) revised synthesis essay (40%). Typical Readings: Henderson, Higher Education in American Society, Riesman, Academic Values and Mass Education; Veblen, The Higher Learning in America; plus other readings in a copy-packet or on library reserve.

Couscous, Coca-cola, and Escargots: Cultures of France Today

Couscous: A popular North African dish now widely available in France; Coca-cola: An icon of American culture recognized around the world; Escargots: Snails in garlic sauce, a symbol of Frenchness. This course will address questions of identity: What is Frenchness? To what extent is France a melting pot? Does the popularity of Coca-cola in France jeopardize the consumption of French wine? Is it fair that the French government imposes quotas on American films? Does the presence of Arabic-speaking immigrants in France pose a threat to the French language? In short, what is the identity of France today? Typical Readings: Gaspard, A Small City in France; Kuisel, Seducing the French: The Dilemma of Americanization; selected articles from French Today; examples from film, music, television commercials.

Creation Myths: Cross-Cultural Explorations in Origins and Existence

A creation myth at once reflects and determines a people’s experience of reality and possibility in the world. It’s not merely told and heard but enacted on many levels: the social, psychic, physical, and spiritual planes of existence. In this class we will explore several myths of creation from a number of cultures and across a huge span of time. In discussion and class presentation, students will interpret these primal myths both within the culturally conditioned works of the narratives and in reference to contemporary life, while employing the methods of many disciplines including, religion, philosophy, psychology, history, and anthropology. Typical Readings: Long, Alpha; Sproul, Primal Myths; Brown, The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian; Christ, Womanspirit Rising; Dundes, Sacred Narrative; Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil.

Cross-Cultural Communication with Asia

If you are interested in other cultures, or can imagine yourself traveling to Asia, this course is an opportunity. Taught by an American professor who lived in Thailand, China, and Japan for ten years, it will compare North American and East/Southeast Asian cultures--their ways of communicating, living, and thinking. How can we improve communication between our cultures? How can we better understand ourselves and others as cultural human beings? Assignments: Six take-home essay style reaction papers to course content and in-class cross-cultural activities. Typical Readings: Fieg, Thais and North Americans; Finkelstein et al., Transcending Stereotypes: Discovering Japanese Culture and Education as well as photocopied packet plus films/documentaries, guest lectures, simulation activities, and demonstrations. [Will also fulfill Non-Western Culture requirement, if needed.]

The Culture of Our National Parks: History, Literature, Politics

The Grand Canyon, Old Faithful in Yellowstone, Arches, the giant redwood trees in Sequoia, the Smokies--all offer images of the strength and endurance of the land we have laid claim to as the United States. All are now national parks and among our most sacred places. They are places where we can see, feel, touch, and know particularly beautiful environments and their peoples. They are also ecosystems requiring our commitment to preservation, and therefore, we must be aware of the relationship between environment and government. Since many of them are far away from Pennsylvania, we will "visit" them through videos, photographs, literature, and history. How can we understand and protect our national parks? This synthesis course is devoted to the national parks as an interdisciplinary cultural "laboratory." We will focus largely on the history, literature, and politics of the parks, while also drawing on such resources as Ansel Adam’s famous marvelous photographs of them. Typical Readings: Abbey, Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness; Runte, National Parks: The American Experience; and others.

Death in the Human Experience

In your lifetime you will deal with numerous deaths (of family members, friends, pets), encounter personally at least two life threatening medical situations, and see literally thousands of deaths in the media. This course will focus on how your thinking about, coping with, and reacting to death is affected by culture, religion, race, experiences, and personality. The many ways humans have viewed death through music, the visual arts, and literature will also be explored in contemporary and historical perspectives. Class and group discussions and projects, guest speakers and role play activities will be structured to aid student insight. Typical Readings: Aries, Western Attitudes Toward Death; Becker, The Denial of Death; Kubler-Ross, On Death and Dying; Rando, Grieving: How to Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies.

~D~

Diversity in the Business Environment

The dramatically new composition of America’s work force has created great challenges, opportunities, and conflict in the business arena. Areas that a generation ago were almost exclusively white male preserves are now kaleidoscopes of colors, sexes, differently abled, national origins, and lifestyles. Drawing from disciplines like law, business, ethics, sociology, psychology, and history, we will explore the dynamics of diversity. What are its implications for America’s economic competitiveness? What are its implications for you as future employees and employers? Among the topics considered are affirmative action, sexual harassment, conflict resolution, business management techniques, ethics and the profit motive, and portrayals of diversity in the media. Typical Readings: Tannen, You Just Don’t Understand; Faust, Company Man; Cortese, Ethnic Ethics.

Doctors and Their Patients

A healthy body and mind are the requisites of a happy and productive life. To achieve this state of health, we depend on doctors and psychiatrists. Often our link between life and death, we rank doctors high on our list of professionals. But at the same time, we have conflictual views about them; our perceptions run the gauntlet from saint to rapscallion. An examination of the medical profession and our relationship to it will cover a mix of disciplines: literature, film, history, economics, psychology and law. Activities will include reading plays, stories and articles; group projects, and interaction with area doctors. Typical Readings: Ehrenreich, For Her Own Good: 150 Years of the Expert’s Advice to Women; Clark Hine, Black Women in White; O’Neill, A Long Day’s Journey into Night; Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper"; Williams, Summer and Smoke.

Dreams and Nightmares: Experiences and Interpretations

Prerequisite: 6sh Psychology and/or Religious Studies courses or permission
Dreams are a subject of constant fascination--both for the dreamer and for the psychologists, neuroscientists, theologians, artists and social scientists who attempt to understand the dreamworld. In this course we ask the following questions: Why do we dream and what factors determine the content of dreams? Is the dream an unconscious state or a heightened form of consciousness? What is the cause and meaning of the nightmare? What are lucid dreams, waking dreams, and when is a dream considered a vision? In short, what do humans make of their nightly journeys into the world of dream? Typical Readings: Joseph Campbell, ed., Myths, Dreams and Religion; Freud, On Dreams, among others.

~E~

Eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall

Why did the Berlin Wall fall? Why did the Soviet Union collapse? Do Eastern European revolutions signal the demise of communism? How have historical, cultural, political, and economic events shaped the fate of Eastern Europe? How should the U.S. respond to the division of Eastern Europe? What economic policies should Eastern Europe adopt? What measures would reduce ethnic conflict in Eastern Europe? What will happen now that the Berlin Wall has been replaced with the Berlin Mall? These and other problems related to contemporary Eastern European events will be addressed through the discussion of novels, films, and articles. Typical Readings: Glenny, The Rebirth of History; Hoffman, Exit into History; Filipovic, Zlata’s Diary; Gjelten, Sarajevo Daily; Bender and Leone, Eastern Europe and The Breakup of the Soviet Union; articles from Foreign Affairs.

Ethnic Music and Culture

For generations, ethnic and folk cultures have poured their souls into music. What can we learn about this music and the people who created it? How do culture and music relate? How do professional "ethnomusicologists" study this relationship? We will examine the major disciplinary approaches to music and culture, and then survey musical instruments, styles, behaviors, and cultures around the world. Grades will be based on two exams, a paper based on fieldwork, a musical instrument project (you don’t have to play one!) and class participation. Typical Readings: Blacking, How Musical is Man?; Diagram Group, Musical Instruments of the World; Herndon and McLeod, Music as Culture; May, Musics of Many Cultures; Merriam, The Anthropology of Music; Rahkonen, The Kantele Traditions of Finland; Southern, Music of Black Americans; Titon, Worlds of Music.

Exploring Science with a Computer

Prerequisites: Open to all qualified and interested students; this section is intended for students with strong science backgrounds; minimum of two one-semester laboratory science courses.
This laboratory course, informal and highly interactive, is intended to develop creativity and critical thinking skills, and promote an interest in science. Through a hands-on approach, students explore a variety of fundamental experiments from the areas of biology, chemistry, geoscience, physics, and general science using the computer to collect and display the data. Topics dealing with the future use of computer technology will be discussed. Students participate in class presentations of experiments, reports, and library searches. Typical Readings: Selections from American Journal of Physics, Physics Education, Physics Teacher, American Biology Teacher, Journal of Chemical Education, Journal of Geology, Scientific American, Science Teacher, Bioscience, American Scientist, National Geographic Research.

~F~

Family and Art

Artists in theater, dance, photography, sculpture, and painting have provided a view of individuals and families throughout history. What have the artists "said" about families? Do family scientists and artists "see" families in the same way? When you look at old "family" pictures what do you see? What photographs or childhood drawings describe your family? How would you portray today’s "family?" In fact, what is today’s "family?" You need no artistic talent, just a curiosity about all types of families. Typical Readings: Aries, Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life; Ozment, When Fathers Ruled: Family Life in Reformation Europe; Richardson, The World of Art: Families Through the Eyes of Artists; and other selected readings.

Feast Here Awhile

This course goes beyond the fact of food as a necessity for survival or eating as the satisfying of a person’s appetite. Instead, it focuses on some of the meanings of food and eating across cultures, with particular attention paid to how cultures as well as individuals define themselves through food. Our discussions will include why we eat certain types of food and reject others, why we prepare food a certain way, what rituals or traditions are involved, and what emotional values food holds. In addition to the reading of fiction and nonfiction and viewing films, class work and assignments include group discussions, oral reports, written responses to the readings and films, a short paper, and a synthesis paper. Typical Readings: de Jesus, Child of the Dark; Gibbons, Ellen Foster; Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate; Wong, Fifth Chinese Daughter; Flag, Fried Green Tomatoes.

Female and Male/South and North: Gender Roles in Private and Public Life in the Americas

We will focus on patterns and changes in social interaction in contemporary Latin America and the United States, with an emphasis on gender roles in private and public life. Influences of socio-economic, political, and philosophical concerns will be explored primarily through literature, but also through readings in the humanities and the social sciences. In addition, you will be encouraged to develop a project pertinent to your own areas of interest; you may use a variety of media, ranging from the written text to film and the fine arts. Typical Readings: Allende, Of Love and Shadows; Argueta, One Day of Life; Piercy, Vida; and short stories, poetry, and other excerpts.

Fin de Siecle Vienna I (honors)

During the years 1880-1910, Vienna briefly reigned as a major center for the latest in medicine, psychology, architecture, social theory, and the arts. What do developments in those fields say about the larger culture, its ideals, values, and possible delusions? How do we reconcile this with Vienna as the capital of a monarchy on the verge of destruction? This course will call upon you to read a great deal before the week of intensive class at IUP which prepares you for a three-week sojourn in Vienna as HNRC 481. See Dr. Goebel for permission to register and further details of the course. Typical Readings: Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams and Female Sexuality; Herzl, The Jewish State; Mahler-Werfel, My Life; Vergo, Art in Vienna, 1898-1918; and Schnitzler, several plays in translation.

Food and Culture

Note: cannot receive duplicate credit for FDNT 470.
Did you ever wonder why young teenage girls starve themselves to death, thousands of children in Ethiopia starve to death, thousands of American males die of heart disease, or anyone would ever eat liver and onions for dinner? The reasons why individuals and groups consume the foods they do are varied and complex and dependent on many disciplines: agriculture, economics, sociology, psychology, nutrition, and many others. Student will be expected to read in these disciplines and arrive at positions on the world food crisis issues. Assignments include fifteen take-home exam questions and a project (eight to ten pages). Typical Readings: Fieldhouse, Food and Culture; Bryant, The Cultural Feast; Lyman, A Psychology of Food.

French Cooks, Italian Lovers…

This class will explore your future--personal, professional, cultural. First, we’ll identify students’ career goals, personal learning style and their feelings about their ethnic or American national identity. Then, focusing on France, we’ll consider ethnic and national identities in modern-day Europe and how they influence the international dimension of communications, the economy, popular culture and other areas. Finally, we’ll try to compare your personal way of pursuing your chosen profession in the American context to similar practices in the European Union. Interaction with European students will help you see your own place in the modern international world. Typical Readings: Hall, Understanding Cultural Differences; de Toqueville, On Democracy in America; Wood, et. al., The Emerging European Union; Zeldin, The French.

~G~

Geeks Bearing Gifts

Technology has changed society. This course looks at the effects crime through technology has on society. The definitions of common words have changed. A virus is no longer simply a medical threat, spam isn’t food, and a Trojan horse isn’t“Greeks bearing gifts,”its“Geeks bearing gifts.”Farming is now pharming, and fishing is now phishing. Your personal information is more vulnerable now than in any other time in history. Privacy vs Security. Do we lose privacy to become more secure? This course will delve into these electronic crimes and their impact on society. Typical Readings:TheArt of Deception, Mitnick; Cyberlaw, Legal Principles of Emerging Technologies, Helewitz; Cybercrimes, DeAngelis; and other readings on electronic library reserve.

Genji to Godzilla: Japan through Art and Film

When you think of Japan, what images are called to mind? Beautiful women in colorful kimonos? Horror films with farcical monsters? Pokemon cards? High-tech electronics? For many, Japan still embodies a complex mixture of Western-style modernity with the unfamiliar "exotic" East. This course uses visual culture to expand your understanding of Japan and what it means to be Japanese. You will learn about Japanese history, religious thought, and contemporary society through the media of pictorial handscrolls, popular prints, and films of the 20th and 21st centuries. Our sources include illustrations of the world’s first novel, colorful scenes of early Tokyo, and landmark films by renowned Japanese directors, include recent anime (Japanese animation). Students will compose several short response papers integrating a variety of approaches, discuss readings selected from several disciplines, and choose a Japanese film to investigate in depth, and present their findings to the class in a short report. Typical Readings: Addis, "Two and a half worlds; Humans, Animals and In-between"; Davis, Picturing Japaneseness; Grigsby, "Sailormoon Manga (Comics) and Anime (Cartoon) Superheroine Meets Barbie: Global Entertainment Commodity Comes to the United States"; Napier, "Vampires, Psychic Girls, Flying Women and Sailor Scouts: Four Faces of the Young Japanese Female in Japanese Popular Culture"; and Shapiro, "Amaterasu, Hiruko, and the Japanese Family in Godzilla vs. Mothra."

Global Survival

What will be the state of the world in the future? Will it be a world torn with famine, environmental collapse, and political instability or will it be a world characterized by global sustainability and peace? Current changes demand anticipatory thinking if the mounting problems of the next century are to be managed adequately. Students will address the changing global society, analyze some global problems, and consider possible solutions to these problems in order to create and manage a sustainable society. Assignments: (1) journal entries, (2) essays on reading assignments, and (3) group presentations. Typical Readings: Brown, et al., State of the World; Jackson (ed.), Global Issues.

The Global Village: People, Planet, and Profits

Sustaining people, planet, and profits in a global context is essential in today’s interconnected world. Sustainability means meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. “Needs” broadly include an individual’s needs and the needs of the society (people), the environment that nourishes him (planet), and the organizations that support and provide the need (profits). This course introduces the key elements of sustainability—environment, empowerment of the people, and economics/profits—in the global context and frames the issues that emerge in an ethical and moral values perspective. Several diverse and inclusive contexts such as sustainability of indigenous cultures, ecoDesign, and Sustainable Affluence will be discussed using case studies and articles. Typical Readings: Hart, Capitalism at the Crossroads, Pearson Education; Edwards, The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift, New Society Publ.; Green Business Strategy, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School Press

Recent years have brought rapid expansion of world trade and investment. Do the present network of trade agreements produce a high quality of life for all the world’s citizens? The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the complexities of world politics and global economic institutions. We will discuss the effects of globalization on the distribution of wealth, labor conditions, human rights, public health, and the environment. You will be encouraged to think about the implications of these distant events for your own future. You will be asked to develop your own proposals for an ideal global trade policy. Typical Readings: Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree; Wallach and Sforza, Whose Trade Organization?; plus selected articles and Internet sources.

Goddesses, Artists, and Women Warriors: Asian American and Asian Diasporic Women’s Literature

Introduces the unique and dynamic literary tradition of the twentieth century Asian Americanand Asian Diasporic Women’s Literature, which refers to the literature created by the Asian diasporic or Chinese, Filipina, Korean, Japanese, Indian, and Hawaiian American women writers. Typical Readings: Kingston, The Woman Warrior; Kogawa, Obasan;Mukherjee, Jasmine; Cha, Dictee; Yamanaka Blu’s Hanging.

~H~

Heroes, More Than Just a Sandwich

Question: What does Homer (the Greek poet, not Simpson) have in common with Blimpies?
Answer: They both create heroes (but Homer omitted the mayo).
Do you have a hero? Do you know what a hero is or what it takes to be a true hero? Is there a shortage of heroes in America today, and who needs heroes anyway? Through readings in both classical and contemporary literature, interviews, discussions, and projects (written and oral), you will explore what it means to be a hero and discover the hero within. Typical Readings: Sophocles, Antigone; Lewis, The Mammoth of Heroism; Seaward, Health and the Human Spirit; excerpts from the Odyssey, Bulfinch’s Mythology, Plutarch’s Lives; excerpts from biographies of Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, Joan of Arc, Chico Mendez and other contemporary social heroes.

HIV, AIDS & Society

This course will investigate the challenges that have been created by the existence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Our approaches to this topic include biological, medical, social, economic, ethical, public policy, and legal perspectives. After studying the basics about this virus and syndrome, we will address how HIV/AIDS became such a significant problem and political issue during the 1980s and how it is now a worldwide chronic disease. Recognizing that AIDS is a global problem of major proportions, we will explore the variety of policies, educational programs and treatment responses that exist within a variety of nations. Finally, by "humanizing" HIV/AIDS, we shall attempt to gain insight into the psychological and emotional responses that this syndrome places on those who have contracted the virus, as well as on their families, partners and friends. Typical Readings: Shilts, And the Band Played On; Bethel, AIDS: Readings on a Global Crisis and an additional ethnography or journal

The Hollywood Film: Its Artistic, Economic, and Social Aspects

This course is designed to help students understand how films are intertwined with our culture and daily lives. Therefore, we will be exploring why filmgoing has changed over the course of this century and how the films of several decades have related to their times. Specifically, to keep our focus on how Hollywood films depict us as Americans, we will be concentrating on movies that present images of American politics. Films to be studied will include Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), His Girl Friday (1940), Citizen Kane (1941), The Candidate (1972), The Godfather, Part II (1974), and Taxi Driver (1976). We might also take a look at how politicians use film. Students will probably be writing a pair of essays and a final exam and participating in a project for presentation. Required Texts: Gomery, Shared Pleasures: A History of Movie Presentation in the U.S.; Quart and Auster, American Film and Society Since 1945.

Housing the Homeless and Feeding the Hungry

Has the United States forgotten the plight of its hungry and homeless? Who is going hungry in this country? Who are the homeless, and why are they homeless? These are only a few of the questions we will attempt to answer; we will seek to understand not only the nature and extent of hunger but also the existing housing and feeding systems, agencies, and individuals assisting the indigent and homeless. Two class hours per week plus commitment of approximately 35 hours over the semester in a service organization that assists the hungry or homeless. Typical Readings: Kozol, Rachel and Her Children: Savage Inequalities; Children’s Defense Fund, Wasting America’s Future; Lavelle (ed.), America’s New War on Poverty; Coleman, et.al., The Creative Spirit; Shore, Revolution of the Heart.

~I~

Images that Shaped America

What images from the past century (1900-1999) have become icons or have shaped and changed American history/culture as we know it? This will be explored in-depth from the technological, historical, psychological, sociological, economic, and mass media perspectives; online and optional text material will be used. As a culminating course activity, students will find images from their chosen disciplines (since 2000) they feel have become icons or have changed American history. Typical Readings: Life Magazine, "100 Photographs That Changed the World"; WebCT course materials; and others.

Interactive Products and Usability

How many interactive products are there in everyday use? How many are actually easy, effortless, and enjoyable to use? Many products that require users to interact with them to carry out their tasks have not necessarily been designed with the user in mind. While many work effectively from an engineering perspective, it is often at the expense of how the system will be used by real people. The aim of this course is to address this concern by bringing usability into the design process. This course is about developing products that are easy, effective, and enjoyable to use from a user’s perspective. This is NOT a technical course. Assignments: (1) journal recording your reflections; (2) synthetic reports; (3) usability study report; (4) design presentation; and (5) report. Typical Readings:The Design of Everyday Things, Norman; Click Here, You Idiot, Veen; Why Good Design Comes from Bad Design, Berkun;others and photocopied packets.

Indigenous Peoples

We will learn about the fascinating cultures of a variety of indigenous ethnic minority peoples who live by hunting and gathering, pastoralism, and simple forms of agriculture. Combining anthropology, history, and the environmental sciences, we will study the lifestyles of indigenous peoples, the impact of European colonialism on their cultures, and the contemporary political, economic, and environmental problems that threaten their ability to survive in the modern world. Classes will emphasize discussion and you will be expected to read assignments carefully and participate regularly. Final grades will be based on essay exams, class participation, and a term research project. Typical Readings: Bodley, Victims of Progress; Eder, On the Road to Tribal Extinction. . . the Batak of the Philippines; Fagan, Clash of Cultures; Stearman, Yuqui: Forest Nomads in a Changing World; Bates and Plog, Human Adaptive Strategies.

Iraq: What Lies Ahead?

This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to explain Iraq’s history, geography, economic conditions, ethnic and sectarian make-up, and regional and international balance of power. The course will focus on the on-going war and the United States intervention since 2003. Students will use their disciplinary perspectives to suggest options to end the military conflict. Typical Readings: Kelidar, The Integration of Modern Iraq; Abdulghani, Iraq & Iran: The Years of Crisis; Tripp, A History of Iraq.

~J~

Journalistic Portraits of America: America and War

"The war to end all wars." "Make the world safe for democracy." "Peace with honor." "Make love, not war," "Enduring Freedom." Each of these slogans presents a different attitude toward and perspective on American wars. Why are some wars popular and others not? How are these attitudes formed? By examining attitudes toward the Civil War, the two world wars, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Bosnian Conflict and the War on Terrorism presented in the news media, fiction, film, music, art, and by the government, students will explore the process by which opinions are formed. Classes will be informal; short and long writing assignments. Typical Readings: Crane, The Red Badge of Courage; O’Brien, The Things They Carried; Hersey, Hiroshima; Mailer, Armies of the Night; Terkel, The Good War; among others.

~K~

The Kennedy Era

The Kennedy Era is a multidisciplinary study of the social and political role and impact of President John F. Kennedy on the American society during one of the most widely talked about turbulent decades of the 1960s. The course will also separate myths and realities of the Kennedy Era against the background of the influence of TV in constructed mediated reality (CMR) of political leaders and events. Typical Readings: Web-based readings will be posted on the course webCT site.

The Kennedy Years: Rhetoric and Reality

Thirty years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, questions remain about every aspect of his presidency. Does the virtue and style of the Camelot image reflect the reality of Kennedy’s thousand days? Was JFK the reason why the Bay of Pigs was a fiasco? Was the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis brilliant strategy or a lucky nuclear gamble? Was he killed by Lee Harvey Oswald? We will study the Kennedy Presidency from his historical family roots through the most recent investigations of his assassination and compare his public statements with the process and substance of his decisions. Typical Readings: Barber, The Presidential Character; Campbell, Deeds Done in Words; Giglio, The Presidency of John F. Kennedy.

~L~

Labor Relations: Hope or Hopeless?

The picture of labor-management relations in America has often been blood red and painful to behold. Why has this been so? What is the current state of the relationship? Why is management so resistant to unions? Why do unions seem to risk economic suicide by striking? What challenges face unions and corporations as they end the twentieth century and begin the next? Who do the unions actually represent? Can labor and management learn to cooperate? We will draw on the disciplines of history, law, ethics, politics, economics, and business to seek answers to these and other questions. Typical Readings: Spencer, Blue Collar; Harty, Table Talk; plus guest speakers and films (Norma Rae, American Dream, and Matewan).

Language and Politics

"Collateral damage" or "dead civilians"? The choice of words is just one way that politicians may attempt to obscure issues and manipulate public opinion. In reality, the relationship between language and politics is much more complex. In this course we will closely examine speeches, policy statements, press conferences, etc., to reveal the ways in which language is used to construct and reflect different, and often contradictory, political realities. Typical Readings: Cohn, Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals; Orwell, Politics and the English Language; Silberstein, War of Words: Language, Politics and 9/11.

~M~

Making Healthcare Decisions

Healthcare is the single most challenging issue confronting the United States today. Can President Clinton and Newt Gingrich balance the Federal Budget and avoid further governmental shutdowns? The only hope is to reform Medicare and Medicaid. What are our choices, and are we making efficient decisions? How good is American healthcare now? Who gets care and who doesn’t? How should medical caregivers and patients make decisions about appropriate care? How much care is enough? How much should it cost? Who should pay? These are some of the questions we will discuss form multiple perspectives--economic, ethical, legal, and medical. Typical Readings: Fuchs, Who Shall Live?; Coile, The New Medicine: Reshaping Medical Practice and Healthcare; Health Economics and Social Choice; Jacobs, Biomedical Ethics; Pozgar, Legal Aspects of Healthcare Administration.

Mass Media and American Society: Issues and Controversies

The United States today is rich in media technology and everyone recognizes pervasiveness of television, radio, film, and other forms of mass media. However, many Americans are uneasy about the media’s influence on our lives. We will examine the mass media and some of the issues and controversies surrounding it. Are American values shaped by the mass media? Is television harmful to children? Are media messages about women improving? Do presidential TV ads manipulate voters? Do ratings serve the public interest? Students will do research and report on these and other issues. Typical Readings: Alexander, Taking Sides; Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death; Faludi, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women.

The Mayas: Culture, Literature and Numbers

Prior to the discovery by the“civilized”culture of Europe in 1492, an advanced culture existed in the Americas, creating a sophisticated calendar and writing system. In this course, students will gain knowledge of the advanced culture of the Maya. Geographic Mayan regions will be analyzed along with Mayan time and space in relation to their cosmovision. Students will be exposed to cultural ideological Myan ritual concepts through literary readings and will be introduced to the Mayan number system, their calendar, and their writing. After each reading there will be a hands-on project. Typical Readings:The Maya, Coe; A Forest of Kings: the Untold Story of the Ancient Maya, Schele and Freidel; The Creation of the Suns in Ancient Mexico, Inigo Dehud; Arithmetic in Maya Numerals, Anderson;Before the Conquest, Ascher.

Men and Masculinities

What does it mean to be male? What does it mean to be masculine? Who defines masculinity? Is there only one form of masculinity? This course is about the image, the range, and the way of being male that is constructed by society. It is about thinking well about male-ness, what it means, how society images men, and what it means for men, for women, and for those who don’t fit either category very easily. The course explores the myths of masculinity, the shifts and shapes of the way men (and boys) are in society, as well as the sexuality, emotionality, physicality of masculinity. Using feminist analysis, we draw on literature, art, sociology, psychology, history and the politics of gender to deconstruct masculinity, inviting students into a rich exploration of a topic that influences us all. Typical Readings: Bornstein, Gender Outlaw; Faludi, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man; Kimmel and Messner, Manhood in America: A Cultural History; Kupers, Revisioning Men’s Lives; Miller, Death of a Salesman; Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye; Walker, The Color Purple.

Mind and Brain

The human mind: is it the last frontier of science or is it a limit to what science can comprehend and explain? What is the nature of my consciousness? Can my consciousness survive the death of my body? Can I understand the consciousness of another human? Could a robot be conscious, feel pain, fall in love? Are animals conscious? Can there really be a science of the mind and what would be its methods and perspectives? Do men and women think in different ways? These are some of the questions to be explored in the course. The course will be taught by both a philosopher and a neurobiologist, and each instructor will be struggling along with the rest of the class to understand the perspectives of the other. Typical Readings: Churchland, Matter and Consciousness; Hofstadter and Dennett, The Mind’s I; selections from Shephard, Neurobiology.

Modern Ireland

How have so many famous writers and great leaders and so much political controversy come from a place so small? Ireland is about the size of West Virginia, and its population is less than half that of Pennsylvania. In Ireland, poets have been politicians, politicians have written short stories, and university professors have led revolutions. Different fields are always in synthesis there. Our focus will be on modern Ireland since about 1800: its history, politics, literature, language, economics, religion, and other intertwined subjects. We will give some special attention to the Easter Rising of 1916, when three of the seven leaders were published poets, and Northern Ireland today, where authors of both Catholic and Protestant backgrounds write about conflicts there; one must understand the region’s particular economics, sociology, and history in order to grasp what "Catholic" and "Protestant" mean. Typical Readings: Darby, Conflict in Northern Ireland; Foster, Modern Ireland, 1600-1972; O’Casey, Three Plays; Thompson, The Imagination of an Insurrection; and others.

Multiculturalism in Hispanic America

What does it mean to be of more than one racial or ethnic background? How do racial and ethnic labels affect one’s sense of identity and one’s way of life? What are "race" and "ethnicity," anyway? This course will explore all of these questions through a focus on the highly diverse societies of Hispanic America, which are home to peoples of indigenous, African, and European descent. The course will also consider how Hispanic Americans deal with issues of self-identification when they migrate to the United States. Students will engage with these topics through readings, films, documentaries, music, and art, and primarily through disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Typical Readings: Wade, Race and Ethnicity in Latin America; Minority Rights Group, ed., No longer Invisible: Afro-Latin Americans Today; Seider, ed., Multiculturalism in Latin America: Indigenous Rights, Diversity, and Democracy; current newspaper and magazine articles on related topics.

~N~

New Orleans: Perspectives on a Multicultural City

New Orleans--known around the world for its Mardi Gras, brass bands, French Quarter, Creoles, Basin Street blues, jazz, seafood gumbo, and voodoo--is at once a charming and exciting city. One important characteristic of America today is its successful amalgamation of diverse nationalities and cultural traits. New Orleans has long been acclaimed as a pioneer and splendid illustration of this multiculturalism. Its roots include French, Spanish, African-American, Anglo-American, Irish, and German. We will explore New Orleans’ rich cultural diversity through its history and traditions, celebrations, architecture, cuisine, religious customs and beliefs, festivals, waterways, and, of course, its spirited rhythms and music. Typical Readings: Garvey and Widmer, Beautiful Crescent: A History of New Orleans, and a selection from such works as Starr, New Orleans Unmasked; Castellanos, New Orleans As It Was; Tallant, Voodoo in New Orleans; Hirsch and Logsdon, Creole New Orleans: Race and Americanization; Huber, Mardi Gras; Kmen, Music in New Orleans; Lomax, Mister Jelly Roll; Saxon, Gumbo-ya-ya.

The 1960s: A Decade of Protest

"I can’t get no satisfaction" railed the Rolling Stones in the number one hit of 1965, reflecting in popular music some of the frustration felt by African-Americans, women and students in America. Using the critical perspectives provided by history, economics, political science, theology and culture, we will explore the nature and content of the movements formed to protest the position of African-Americans, women and students during the turbulent decade of the 1960s. Assignments include two essay exams and two short synthetic papers (three to five pages) based on readings and your own critical analysis. Typical Readings: Evans, Personal Politics; Farber, Chicago ’68; Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X; and King, Why We Can’t Wait.

1912-1913: R.M.S. Titanic, Proust and the Romanovs

What do the events of 1912-13 have to do with our time? Is there a common ground between the last change of century and our own? We will consider this period in the English-speaking world (the Titanic disaster and reaction), in France (Proust’s novel), and in Russia (the last Romanovs). We will want to see how our understanding of the period is increased by looking at different parts of the world in these two years. We will also consider each event from the perspectives of several points of view (recent oceanographic discoveries and computer models of the Titanic combined with survivor testimony, for example). Evaluation: Class participation in group and class discussion, journals, essays. Typical Readings: Lord, A Night to Remember; Winocur, ed., The Story of Titanic as Told by Its Survivors; Proust, Swan in Love; Massie, Romanovs: The Final Chapter.

~O~

Other and Another: Ecology, Gender, and Culture

We hear such expressions as "Mother Earth," while hurricanes are now given female and male names. Are there connections between gendered depictions of nature and attitudes about women’s roles in society and nature? Are women closer to nature than men as some people claim, or are these constructs designed to justify the oppression and exploitation of women and nonhuman nature? This course will combine theoretical, critical, and creative works from gender studies, ecology, history, architecture, and environmental literature to consider what reading, research and experience can teach us about cultural practices and the perceptions of gender and ecology that they reveal. Typical Readings: Weisman, Discrimination by Design; Adams, Ecofeminism and the Sacred; Plant and Plant, Turtle Talk; Gaard, Ecofeminism; Kingsolver, Animal Dreams; Anderson, Sisters of the Earth.

~P~

Perspectives on Evolution and Creation

This course is an investigation of the creation/evolution controversy in contemporary American society. What is this controversy about and why has it been so commonly raised in the U.S.? First we will study what is being said by creationists and evolutionary scientists. Second, we will look at the history of the controversy. Third, we will focus on the sociocultural aspects of contemporary creationism. Students will write a series of papers on the readings and a final synthetic paper. Typical Readings: Futuyma, Science on Trial: The Case for Evolution; Larson, Trial and Error: The American Controversy over Creation and Evolution; Numbers, The Creationists: The Evolution of Scientific Creationism; and Toumey, God’s Own Scientists: Creationists in a Secular World.

Perspectives on the Third Reich

The Third Reich is a synthetic analysis of the forces which resulted in, and propelled forward, the Nazi seizure of power. Specifically, we examine the political, economic, psychological and sociological forces. The town of Nordeim, Germany is analyzed as a case study in the conversion from democracy to Nazi totalitarianism. The exact nature of a totalitarian state is analyzed. Since the Nazi state was above all else a racist, anti-Semitic state, the racist philosophical and ethical underpinnings are analyzed. Nazi propaganda is analyzed utilizing the films of Leni Riefenstahl as well as other primary, documentary films produced by the Third Reich. To foster synthetic thinking, parallels are suggested among Third Reich violations of civil rights and U.S. violations of civil rights. Typical Readings: Allen, The Nazi Seizure of Power; Arendt, Totalitarianism; Hitler, Mein Kampf; Peukert, Inside Nazi Germany; plus additional titles on reserve at Stapleton.

Philosophy-Fine Arts: Human Awareness United

This course seeks to overcome "the ancient war of philosophy and poetry." Its fundamental assumption is that human awareness functions synthetically. Disciplinary differences are political and unreal because humans engage the world multiperspectively--in more than one way at once. Human experience is not limited to the intellectual or cognitive; it includes the emotive and affective, intuition and insight, critical awareness and scientific exploration. Intellect, science, myth, and language unite in a global awareness. We will explore the cultural evidences for this, particularly those in philosophy, literature, and the fine arts; we will also try to understand its implications for our lives. Typical Readings: Selections from authors like John Cage, John of the Cross, Shakespeare, Joyce, Wallace Stevens, Whitman, Hegel, Freud, and W. H. Auden, plus films, slides, recordings and the TV series The Shock of the New.

Pittsburgh: A City and Its People

Pittsburgh during its two hundred year history was an incubator of modern industrial society. The growth of an incredibly productive, innovative manufacturing center and its subsequent decline provides a rich subject for a variety of approaches and perspectives. History, economics, technology, political science, religion, literature, art, music, and architecture provide windows on aspects of the story. The challenge is to grasp the underlying unity of the evolution of a great city through facets revealed by specific disciplines. This course will be particularly useful to anyone teaching, working, or living in Western Pennsylvania. Typical Readings: Students choose one book in each of three periods (18th, 19th, 20th centuries). Choices include Wright and Corbett, Pioneer Life in Western Pennsylvania; Bell, Out of this Furnace; Butler, Women and the Trades; Fitch, The Steel Workers; Wallace, Indians of Pennsylvania; Weber, Don’t Call Me Boss and others.

Poetry and Song

What is a song? What happens when words and music come together? Find out from a professional singer of wide experience how a new creation emerges from the meshing of different artistic media. While a song is brief, it is nonetheless a complete work of art for voice and piano (guitar, lute, etc.). Poetic and musical creations of western and non-western cultures will be analyzed and discussed by the teacher and students--and occasionally performed during class by the teacher and guests. No ability to read music or to understand foreign languages is required. Typical Readings: Philip Miller, The Ring of Words, and selected articles from the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

Politics and the Global Economy

In today’s increasingly interdependent global system, politics and economics are inescapably connected. One recent illustration is how Japanese auto exports can swing votes in an American presidential election. Conversely, America’s international political influence can be affected by the strength of its domestic economy. These are only two examples. We will look at North-South relations, foreign aid and the debt crisis, oil cartels, the international monetary system, multinational corporations, and the future of the global economy. Class discussions of current issues and assigned readings are very important. Evaluation: class participation (15%), two position papers (each 25%), and a comprehensive, take-home final (35%). Typical Readings: Spero, The Politics of International Economic Relations; Blake and Walter, The Politics of Global Economic Relations; Crane and Amawi, The Theoretical Evolution of International Political Economy; national newspapers and magazines such as New York Times, Newsweek, or Time.

Popular Culture: Spaces, Places, and Posers

This course will take a look at the territories that popular culture inhabits and thrives. We will study and experience popular culture both on line and in actual locations (otherwise known as firstspace: Soja, 1996), its attraction for the viewer, and its underlying sociopolitical agendas in constructing identities. We will explore its many faces in the media, reality TV, film, Soap operas, hip-hop, tattooing, SLAMS, syphers, cyberculture, graffiti art, cafes, and other hot spots. For instance, we will visit a SLAM, a form of competitive spoken-word poetry, and analyze the implications of such an event on the identities of those who attend. We will also look at how popular cultures create subcultures such as raves, goths, punks, and countercultures. Students will have the opportunity to reflect and synthesize on each of these countercultures as it relates to their lives and expand their sense of what it means to live in a world that is saturated by a plethora of ever-evolving popular culture choices. Assignments will provide students the opportunity to taste each of these areas as they attend diverse events, reflect on them through journals, and do a final projecton pupular culture and what it means for our futures. Typical Readings:Speaking of Soap Operas, Allen; Visual Intelligence: Perception, Image, and Manipulation in Visual Communication, Barry; Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Comtemporary America, Gamson; Defining Visual Rhetoric, Hill & Helmers; Eloquent Images: Word and Image in the Age of New Media, Hocks & Kendrick; Not Teflon, Keyton.

Pornography: Critical, Behavioral and Legal Approaches

Consideration of various definitions of pornography. Analysis of its content from the perspective of critical theories of the ideologies it expresses. Examination of the results of social scientific research on the effects of pornography on the behavior and attitudes of consumers and their implications for social policy. Study of the First Amendment, the history of freedom of speech in America, and the current status of the pornography debate. Opportunity to clarify your own attitudes and values toward pornography and censorship. Students with a variety of opinions about pornography are welcome. You should be willing to examine and discuss texts and videos considered to be pornographic. Typical Readings: Donnerstein, et al., The Question of Pornography; Dwyer, ed., The Problem of Pornography.

Poverty in America

Our study of the poor and the processes which cause poverty will include consideration of the status of women, minorities, and children as well as the forces of overt and institutional discrimination. The course will also attempt to increase your awareness of social problems caused by poverty, including hunger, poor health, homelessness, illiteracy, low expectations, substance abuse, and crime. We will also examine policy options to alleviate poverty and the problems caused by poverty. Typical Readings: Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings; Kotlowitz, There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America; Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath; plus photocopied packet, videos, and portions of Erickson and Wilheim, Housing the Homeless; Schiller, The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination; Levitan and Shapiro, Working But Poor; Rodgers, Poor Women, Poor Families.

The Power of Words

Why do men and women so often misunderstand each other? How can a moment’s silence or a single word end a long and happy friendship? How do corporations manage to persuade millions that their product is indispensable, or to command them to "hurry" into a purchase they may not need? How does language make or break political leaders? How can a verb tense or an eye movement make the difference between acquittal and conviction for an accused murderer? This course explores these and many other issues, using multiple perspectives to analyze the power of language in everyday situations. Typical Readings: Lakoff, Talking Power: The Politics of Language in Our Lives; Farb, Word Play: What Happens When People Talk; Eschholz, Rosa, Clark (ed.), Language Awareness, a collection of articles.

Problem Posing and Problem Solving

During your educational career, you have often been asked to learn facts and procedures and to answer other people’s questions. However, most problems usually cannot be solved by just repeating what you learned in textbooks. This course will look at a variety of strategies for solving problems and for posing new problems. You will be asked to find out what the underlying problems and methods of solution are in your major. After thinking together about these approaches, we will then look at various other strategies, including some from non-traditional perspectives on solving and posing problems. Typical Readings: Ascher, "A River-Crossing Problem in Cross-Cultural Perspective"; Brown, Art of Problem Posing; Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development; Zaslavsky, Africa Counts: Number and Pattern in African Culture.

Public Architecture as Social Metaphor

This course reviews public architecture, mainly western, from antiquity to our own times. How public architecture expresses our belief systems, including economics, politics and religion is observed and discussed in an historical context. Modes of observation will include mythology, iconography and design. The class is strongly visual, employing videos, slides, walking tours and visits to local museums. Evaluation is based on three exams, class projects and a ten page research paper. Students in the arts and humanities will find this course a close ally to their interests. Typical Readings: Hellman, Architecture for Beginners; Yarwood, The Architecture of Europe.

Puppetry and Masks—Signs of Life

This hands-on studio course applies the discipline of puppetry and masked performance to an exploration of human creativity. Students will examine their own creative nature through the process of initiating, constructing, writing and performing their own performance. Parallel study of a psychological perspective on human creativity wiill frame student reflection on their discoveries. Typical Readings: Bell, Puppets, Masks and Performing Objects; Bell, Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History; LeCoq, The Moving Body; Wilsher, The Mask Handbook.

~Q~

The Quest for Peace

You will study the quest for peace through the themes of "Non-violence," "War and the Warrior," and "From Self to Society," that is, from individual to societal responsibility in addressing war and peace. These themes will be considered from literary, historical, and religious perspectives, taught by three professors, each specializing in one of the perspective areas. The recurrence of the three themes, the writing assignments, and large group activities will synthesize the course into a whole. Typical Readings: Gandhi, My Experiments with Truth; Aristophanes, Lysistrata; Heller, Catch 22; Berrigan, The Trial of the Cantonsville Nine; plus other literary, historical and religious readings in a copy-packet or on library reserve.

Questions of Identity in Horror Films

Horror films are almost as old as the motion pictures themselves. Yet, throughout their history, they have changed considerably as artists have used this genre both to entertain new audiences and to express their concerns. Films such as Georges Melies’ A Trip to the Moon (1902), Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), James Whales’s Frankenstein (1931), Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) provide critical mirrors of the times and cultures in which they were produced and deserve our serious attention. Therefore, in this course, we will study these films and others to learn more of what they are telling us about our world and ourselves while we are being entertained. Typical Readings: Paul, Laughing, Screaming: Modern Horror and Comedy; films including those mentioned above; Browning’s Dracula; Kubrick’s The Shining; and others.

Questions of Identity in Horror Literature

What does horror literature say about us and our culture? Whether it be "classic"--like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein--or "popular"--like Stephen King’s The Shining--horror literature can be viewed as reflecting and magnifying fears and desires that are key elements in identity. Although each time the course is offered the theme question is slightly different (i.e., “What does it mean to be possessed?” “How has the vampire changed in the last 200 years?”), the general idea is always the same: examining horror fiction for what it reveals about personal, cultural, social, political, gender, ethnic, and class identities. You will be reading widely and participating in class discussions. Typical Readings: Shelley, Frankenstein; Stoker, Dracula; King, The Shining, Danse Macabre; and others.

~R~

Regarding Animals

Do you love your cat? Dog? Horse? Hedgehog? All animals? Do you know someone who doesn’t share your feelings? Is even afraid of animals? Ever wonder why? Utilizing the disciplines of psychology, rhetoric, and sociology, we’ll consider the role of animals in human society as well as focus on the representations of animals in symbols, stories, and material culture of humans, past and present. We’ll also ponder the differences that animals have made in human societies and the differences humans have made on the lives of animals—and we’ll discuss what each of us believes these differences to be. Typical Readings:Regarding Animals, Arluke & Sanders; Violent Love: Hunting, Heterosexuality, and the Erotics of Men’s Predation, Luke;"Psychological Mechanisms in the Human Use of Animals", "Cats as Women/Women as Cats",Plous; Pets and the Development of Positive Attitudes towards Animals, Serpell & Paul.

The Rhetoric of Popular Culture

Do you ever wonder why people think Paris Hilton is“hot”or why you care what happens to Nick and Jessica (or not)? Or more important still, do you ever feel vaguely uneasy about how you are being conditioned by popular culture, wondering why you talk the way you do and dress the way you do? Utilizing the disciplines of psychology, rhetoric, and sociology, we’ll consider the role popular culture plays in shaping U.S. culture, especially in relation to ethnicity, gender, and social class. We will analyze Hollywood films and television shows, as well as music videos, and dissect the stories they tell and the myths they create. We will debate the influence these myths and stories have on us individually and as a society, and we will end the semester by creating popular culture documentaries of our own, using IUP’s media resources. Typical Readings:Fame, Fortune and Failure: Young Girls’ Moral Language Surrounding Popular Culture, Einerson; Through a Glass, Darkly: The Dynamics of Fan-Celebrity Encounters, Ferris; Destabilizing Ethnic Stereotypes: The Early Comedies of Cheech Marin, List; and others.

Rock and Roll and Society

This course focuses on a cross-disciplinary assessment of the influence of rock and roll on the American society. Using three theoretical frameworks, agenda setting, gratification and Marshall McLuhan’s thesis on popular culture and cultural studies, students will examine the influence of rock and roll on society from popular cultural, racial, gender, political, and economic perspectives. Typical Readings: Berger, Narratives in Popular Culture, Media and Everyday Life; Carney, Fast Food, Stock Cars, and Rock ‘n’ Roll: Place and Space in American Pop Culture; Friedlander, Rock and Roll: A Social History; Negus, Producing Pop: Culture and Conflict in the Popular Music Industry.

~S~

Sacred Space: Bringing the Heavens to Earth

In the last few decades exciting discoveries in archaeoastronomy have opened up new perspectives on some of the most spectacular monuments ever created. By means of videos, slides, digital images, and Internet resources, this class will explore a set of wide-ranging structures from the vantage point of the most recent findings. Could the cosmological and astronomical aspects of Mayan structures share points of comparison with Angkor Wat in Cambodia? Questions like these will be considered as we examine sacred spaces from Chaco Canyon to Chartres cathedral. Required: several readings, one position essay, two hour exams and a final, a map of the IUP campus as a site studied in class, class attendance according to IUP guidelines, and a timely submission of assignments. Typical Readings: Aveny, Stairway to the Stars: Skywatching in Three Great Ancient Cultures; Burl, The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany; Krupp, Skywatchers, Shamans and Kings: Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power; Sullivan, The Secret of the Incas: Myth, Astronomy, and the War against Time; Ulansey; The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries.

Safe Living: A Challenge in Modern Societies

How safe are our homes, foods, water, automobiles, airplanes, hobbies, and personal habits? We will use historical, social, religious, and behavioral perspectives to examine risks to safe and healthful living, and to assess the implications of safety for our economy and overall quality of life. Class discussions will be based on readings and your anecdotal observations. Assignments: journal recording your reflections and analysis (15%), oral report using the perspective of your major (20%), several short essays on assigned readings (30%), and a synthetic essay which you will write and revise (35%). Typical Readings: Compes, Safety--If Only for Economic Reasons; Cralley, et al., Health and Safety Beyond the Workplace; Thomas, Safety, Work, and Life: An International View; Stack and Elkow, Education for Safe Living; National Safety Council, Accident Facts-1991.

Saving Our Planet Earth

Our purpose is to explore methods that may help solve the crisis facing our planet. What is the relationship between humans and the environment? How do the workings of the private market affect the environment? What is an appropriate basis for government intervention and what alternative policies are available? How do the technical, physical, biological, and economic aspects link together? How are environmental issues related to population and economic growth? Finally, what does the future hold, and what can we, as individuals, do to help? Resources include scholarly references, the press, children’s books, and videos. Typical Readings: Selections from fiction and non-fiction environmental literature, newspapers, environmental magazines, and the World Wide Web.

Science and Science Fiction

Prerequisite: 8 sh of introductory natural science courses
Can science fiction predict future scientific breakthroughs, or reveal how our society will change as a result of them? Does the current public perception of science suffer as a result of the ways in which scientific advances are portrayed in science fiction books and movies? This course will explore the ways in which science fiction reflects the concerns of our current society while also attempting to predict future social changes. Each week, we will view current and historical science fiction films such as Forbidden Planet and Gattica and read both classic and cutting-edge science fiction stories such as "The Cold Equations" and "The Extra." Class discussions and presentations will be emphasized in evaluation; weekly in-class writings and attendance of one weekend field trip are also required. One science fiction novel must be reviewed from a list including Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale; Brin, Earth; Gibson, Neuromancer; Stephanson, The Diamond Age; or Asimov, The Caves of Steel.

Science, Technology, and Public Policy

In the twentieth century, and especially since World War II, America has been a world leader in science and technology. How has government policy contributed to this leadership? How has it shaped the direction of innovation? How have science and technology, in turn, affected economic growth, trade policies, and environmental regulations? What policies do we need now to retain leadership in a global marketplace? How do our values affect science policy? Emphasis will be on public issues, not science content. Grading: (1) participation in class discussion of regular reading assignments, (2) short essays, and (3) synthesis essay explaining your thoughts and reflections on U.S. science policy in relation to your major. Typical Readings: Articles from current magazines plus selections from Lowrance, Modern Science and Human Values; Smith, U.S. Science Policy Since World War II.

Screen Cuisine: A Multicultural Feast

Would you like to learn more about different cultures by watching movies? Are you interested in tasting a wide variety of foods not typically available locally to identify opportunities to enhance your traditional eating patterns? Have you ever noticed how integral food is to human interactions? Do you ever identify a cultural/ethnic group by association with foods thought to be commonly consumed? How food marks our sameness and differences; its mythic and symbolic importance; the joy of plenty; the fear of famine and deprivation; what we eat and the ceremonies surrounding it are all topics to be examined in this course. Both documentary (e.g., A Moveable Feast, Les Blank Films such as Yum, Yum, Yum and Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers) and contemporary films (e.g., Babette’s Feast, Tampopo, Chocolat) will be viewed. Typical Readings: In addition to films, typical readings include excerpts from: Boggs, The Art of Watching Films; Kittler, Food and Culture in America; Poole, Reel Meals, Set Meals: Food in Film and Theatre; Flandrin and Montanari, Food: A Culinary History from Antiquity to the Present; Schlosser, Fast Food Nation.

So, Who’s Perfect?

At your age you are more likely to become disabled than you are to die. If you were disabled, would you be the same person? How would your career change? Who would help you? The population of people with disabilities is growing at a rapid rate. Where does the moral responsibility of one person to help another begin and end? How many sacrifices in other needed programs and services will a community be willing to make in order to comply with federal regulations about accessibility for people with disabilities? You will go into the community to talk with people with disabilities. The class will look at cases studies, explore different options, and utilize synthetic thinking to derive possible ways to integrate all people into communities. Typical Readings: Condeluci, Interdependence: The Route to Community; personal accounts--Cassie, So Who’s Perfect!; Wagner, How Do You Kiss a Blind Girl?; other books and articles.

Social Change: Making It Happen

Are you interested and/or involved in a social cause? Have you wondered about what it takes to bring about social change successfully? Whether your concern is violence in America, homelessness, illiteracy, or teen pregnancy, this course brings to focus the relationships between marketing techniques and current efforts to create social change. Part of this process involves an understanding of how change occurs in the individual. This knowledge of change in individual beliefs, attitudes and behavior will be used to develop the strategies for social change in the social marketing plan. Typical Readings: Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy; McMahon, Coping With Life’s Stressors and The Portable Therapist.

The Spirit of Africa in Art and Literature

What are the spiritual and aesthetic essences of traditional African art and literature? What parallels exist between visual art, literature, music and dance in Africa? How have African arts influenced twentieth century European, American, and African-American cultures? How have individuals of African origin, including women, struggled for human dignity and self-expression through the arts? Focused through the lens of the arts, but embracing aspects of other disciplines, this course examines these and related questions synthetically. Evaluation will be through class participation, journals, two group presentations and a synthetic project. Typical Readings: Chanda, African Arts and Culture; Shostak, Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman; Rozelle (Ed.), Black Art: Ancestral Legacy: The African Impulse in African-American Art; Achebe, Things Fall Apart; Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Sport:A Microcosm of Society

Sport is a topic that permeates virtually all aspects of our society.This course will investigate sport as it relates to other disciplines of study, namely religion, business, media, and the social sciences.Students will investigate various theories and cultural issues influenced by sport, (for example, disability, business, media, gender, racism, drugs, gambling, violence, and hazing) and synthesize these specific disciplines to their interaction with sport.Typical Readings:Woods, Social Issues in Sport; Powell, Souled Out?How Blacks are Winning and Losing in Sport; Rowe, Sport, Culture and the Media: The Unruly Trinity.

Sport and Exercise: Issues of Gender and Race

Sport is one of the most popular cultural practices in American society. It is woven into the patterns of all the major social institutions--politics, economics, education, mass media. We will examine the many facets of the sport’s "phenomenon" and use a feminist framework with which to provoke careful and critical thinking about both American society and American sport. We will incorporate a comprehensive, multidisciplinary analysis of sport and exercise in the American culture with specific focus on issues associated with gender, race, class, and sexuality. Emphasis on historical, sociocultural influences. Typical Readings: Sample Readings: Messner & Sabo, Sex, Violence and Power in Sports; Nelson, The Stronger Women Get, the More Men Love Football

Surviving the World of Work: Labor Relations

As students prepare themselves for a career, few are ready to tackle the diversity of issues that face them once they are employed. Concerted activities, collective bargaining, compensation and benefits, employment law, or diversity within the workplace are issues employees/employers of the future will have to face. This course will explore the history behind these employment issues, the impact on the parties involved, and how the results of the past have influenced the working environment of today through labor laws, bargaining practices, affirmative action, and trends in labor relations. Typical Readings: Bell, Out of This Furnace; Fisher & Ury, Getting to Yes; Player, Federal Law of Employment Discrimination: In a Nutshell.

~T~

Technocracy: Crisis, Challenge, and Celebration

Technology is reshaping our culture and our lives. We live in a world typified by grocery store scanners, voice mail and fax machines, computerized workplaces, and hi-tech homes. Some writers use the word "technocracy" to describe our technologically dominated culture. Not everyone agrees that the changes have been beneficial. While some celebrate the advantages of technology, others see a culture challenged, even in crisis. We will explore these issues, looking especially at the power of computer technology in various dimensions of our lives. Class activities include readings, discussions, videos, outside speakers, group projects, and debates. Evaluation will be based on written essays, project performance, journal reports, and class participation. Typical Readings: Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology; Boyell and Cohn, Workplace 2000: The Revolution Reshaping American Business; Toffler, Power Shift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century; and Computerization and Controversy: Value Conflicts and Social Choices.

Technopoly: The History and Future of Society with Technology

Students will be challenged to describe, interpret, evaluate, and synthesize the power of computer technology on the world in the fields of sociology, psychology, communication, computer science, medicine, business, and education. Students will read case studies, journal articles, and other reflective papers in both historical and current literature. Students will work in small groups and discussion groups to address technological issues. Typical Readings:Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, Postman; ProPacket booklet containing contemporary readings, journal articles, case studies, etc.

Time and Place in the North American Landscape

How did the North American landscape develop? What aspects of the natural environment influenced settlement patterns? How have Native Americans, European colonists, immigrants, and native-born citizens each impacted landscape patterns? We will explore questions like this from historical, geographical, environmental and economic perspectives. Beginning with the natural landscapes we will examine how people have altered North America to suit their needs at different points in time. Possible assignments: (1) colonial essay, video reactions and maps; (2) journal on America Firsthand; (3) group presentations and paper on a settlement topic/book; (4) reports on field trips; (5) participation; (6) final exam on group reports. Typical Readings: Marcus, Burner and Marcus, America Firsthand; Wood, The New England Village; Aiken, The Cotton Plantation South; Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee; Stars, Let the Cowboy Ride; Handlin, The Uprooted; Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier.

Toxic Tales: Social Justice and the Environment in Literature and Film

This course will explore the relationship between environmental issues and social justice, especially as interconnected themes in literary works. The study of literature will be the basis for thinking through the socioeconomic and historical dimensions of environmental issues, and thus students will engage literary texts as springboards toward cross-disciplinary inquiry. A main aim of the course will include an inquiry into how social forces such as gender, race, and class have structured environmental injury and degradation, both within the United States and internationally. At the same time, the course will investigate to what extent environmental and social crises are twin outcomes of predominant paradigms of industrialization and development. Thus, the inherent connections between labor, environmental issues, and poverty will necessarily be central to the concerns of the course. As part of this inquiry, the course will also explore the critical knowledge developed by social movements of ecofeminism and environmental justice that have challenged disproportionate environmental burdens and destructive industrial development. Our ultimate goal is to search our readings for alternative paradigms that rethink and "revoluntionize" destructive patterns of social organization toward a green and just future. Typical Readings: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring; Ramachandra Guha, Environmentalism: A Global History; Bill McKibben, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future.

~U~

U.S. Hispanic Minority Studies

Prerequisite: Spanish 102 or equivalent
Did you know that the Hispanic minority is the fastest growing minority group in the U.S.? In this course, you will come to understand the impact Mexican-Americans are making on American culture. You will also begin to sense what it feels like to be alienated through language, customs, and values. For these informal classes you will read sociological studies as well as literary art of Mexican-Americans, and be prepared to contribute to class discussions. Assignments: Brief essays on readings (30%), oral report using expertise from your major (20%), mid-term essay (20%), and final synthetic essay which you will write and revise (30%) Typical Readings: Duran, Chicano Studies: A Reader; Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima; Chavez, Shadowed Lives: Undocumented Workers in American Society; Galarza, Barrio Boy; Gonzales, I am Joaquin/Yo soy Joaquin.

~V~

Values and Education in a Pluralistic American Society

The USA is among the very first nations to be truly pluralistic, to understand itself as pluralistic, and to address the challenges and to take pride in that pluralism of ethnicity, race, religion, and physical/mental ability. What are the skills and values needed by an educated person to live in such a nation? What is your role as an individual? These issues will be addressed by the disciplines of literature, philosophy, education, and religious studies. Evaluation: active class participation, three four-page reports, and one synthetic essay. Typical Readings: Wurzel, Toward Multiculturalism; Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being; Coward, Pluralism: Challenge to World Religions.

~W~

Wilderness in American Culture

This course explores the dynamics of civilization and wilderness in American history and culture. From the Puritans to the Earth First Movement, the American wilderness has animated and aroused American communities; rarely has it been merely a neutral terrain. Through history, film, literature, anthropology, and biography we will explore the values attached to wildness and wilderness. We will look at the various wildernesses Americans met, and more importantly, imagined—those of the white man, the Native American, and women pioneers, for example, all of whom helped to define the values we today associate with wilderness. You will do one major project and a number of smaller ones, selected according to your interests and curiosity about wilderness. Typical Readings: Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind; Turner, Rediscovering American: John Muir in His Time and Ours; Kroeber, Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America; Snyder, The Practice of the Wild; Erhlich, The Solace of Open Spaces.

Wisdom: Way and Goal

Both individuals and cultures value wisdom and look for advice to those who are considered wise. This course will examine wisdom from a wide variety of viewpoints. Among the topics it will examine are the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, ancient Egyptian wisdom, eastern and African wisdom, the wisdom of a conqueror who became a benevolent ruler, the pseudo-wisdom that masks the horrors of war, folly masquerading as wisdom, racism, sexism, and wisdom on survival in debilitating culture. The course will also use drama, art, film and music. Assignments will not include traditional examinations, but a variety of novel written assignments and discussions. The course does not seek to define wisdom, but to explore its mysteries and possibilities. It is designed for the adventurous and curious—the student who wishes to be enriched by the openness and infinitude of the topic. Typical Readings: Job; Twain’s The War Prayer; The Edicts of Asoka; Bhagavad Gita; Lao-Tzu; Rilke; Auden; Wollstonecraft; African poems and proverbs.

Women in Science

Find out why you hate and/or love science! Many students are disaffected by science--what it has meant to them, how science is taught--by the time they reach university. In our increasingly technological age, it is imperative that we all understand how scientists know what they know and how they use that knowledge. Specifically, this course studies how women scientists have been included or excluded by the scientific community which is dominantly male (and white). Students will actively participate in this course by understanding how society/culture/history shape science and how science is collaborative and multidisciplinary like this course. Typical Readings: Bleier, Science and Gender; Sayre, Rosalind Franklin and DNA; Manning, Black Apollo of Science: The life of Ernest Everett Just; Keller, A Feeling for the Organism.

Women in the Future

What will women’s lives be like in the future? Women are absent from most projections and depictions of the future. We will attempt to expand those portraits of the future to include women. Projections generated from the perspectives of sociology, anthropology, history and demography will be critiqued for gender inclusiveness and for gender implications. We will discuss how literary and film depictions of the future portray women and gender relations. Students will be encouraged to develop their own visions of the future, and to explore how what we do today affects tomorrow. Typical Readings: Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale; Butler, The Parable of the Sower; Boneparth and Stoper, Women, Power and Policy: Toward the Year 2000; Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time; McCorduck, The Futures of Women; Starhawke, The Fifth Sacred Thing.

Women Who Compose: Past and Present Contexts

Few students can list even a handful of women composers and even less have heard their works in the concert hall. Most can easily identify Bach and Beethoven, but this course will bring to light names like Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Ethel Smyth, Francesca Caccini, Ruth Crawford, Cecille Chaminade, and Mary Lou Williams. Topics will focus on women’s contributions in music from Kassia in ancient Greece to the present, including music in Europe, the Americas, non-western music, and the creativity of African-American women. Student projects will include interviews with women composers and will focus on synthesizing their musical practices from various perspectives including aspects of texts, programs, social/cultural contexts, aesthetic concerns, related arts, and activities in other disciplines. Typical Readings: Pendle, Women and Music: A History; Jezic, Women Composers: The Lost Tradition Found; Faludi, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women; Heller, Women Artists; and others.

Wonders of the Natural World

Investigates awesome components of the natural world, as well as current environmental issues and problems from a Science, Technology, and Society (STS) perspective. Among the topics to be investigated will be making maple syrup, the study of native plants and their uses, water purification, and wildlife habitats. Field study is a major component of the course. Three full days of on-site fieldwork are required (days of the week will vary and will include at least one Saturday). Typical Readings: Carson, Silent Spring; Wigginton, ed., The Foxfire Book; Selections of poetry and short stories from library reserve: Frost, The Road Not Taken; Brennder, ed., The Earth is Painted Green; Fleishman, Poems for Two Voices; current newspapers and periodicals as sources of information on global STS issues.

Work Without Choice: Forced Labor Across Cultures Through History

Many of our ancestors worked without being able to choose either the hours or conditions of their work. Some were slaves, others were indentured, while others were compelled to work without choice due to taxation by an oppressive state. "Work Without Choice" presents techniques used through history to extract labor without the full consent of the laborer. To provide a contrast for analysis, theories defining the economics of free labor are explored. Students then apply theories of coercion and exploitation to specific cases of forced labor using role playing, simulation, case study methods, and panel presentations. Typical Readings: Most readings will be included in a packet of photocopies. Current copyrighted material will be on reserve in the library.

Working Together Using Information Technology

Prerequisite: Some past successes at using computers, but no specific knowledge required. (You don’t even have to LIKE computers.)
When there is an important decision to be made in an organization or an important task to be done, a group is likely to be assigned to it. No one works completely independently. This takes its toll in scheduling problems, communication costs and errors, political conflict, and meetings that are inefficient or counterproductive. Can technology help us work together? It offers promising alternatives to phone calls and face-to-face meetings, but these alternatives require difficult choices. We will experiment with group tasks using different forms of information technology, evaluate the pros and cons of these group processes, and seek guidelines for matching people, tasks, methods and technology. Typical Readings: Baecker, Groupware and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: Assisting Human-Human Collaboration; plus supplementary readings from psychology, business, sociology, computing, and science fiction; videotapes and selected scenes from current films and television.

~Y~

You Have Rights!

Examines the concept of human rights from a comparative, multi-disciplinary perspective. Explores the nature and history of the concept of human rights; examines existing laws and institutions (both domestic and international) designed to protect rights; uses multi-disciplinary analytical frameworks (from fields such as political science, law, philosophy, sociology and anthropology) to assess the relative effectiveness of human rights instruments; and considers non-western counterparts to rights. Typical Readings: Donnelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice; plus documents such as the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the UK’s Human Rights Act of 1998.

Your Financial Future in Mathematics

How does finance impact individuals, families, and societies? Are there ways to take control of your financial status? We will explore these issues from the perspectives of psychology, economics, finance, mathematics, and criminology. Literature, videos, role-playing simulators, and applets will be used. In addition, we will highlight the use of mathematical models in predicting the market and searching for optimal strategies. Assignments may include: (1) synthetic project on investment; (2) synthetic project on evaluation of others investment report; (3) various short, informal essays on class discussions, videos, or reading assignments; (4) oral presentations.

• Liberal Studies Program
• Stabley Library, Room 103
  429 South Eleventh Street
  Indiana, PA 15705
• Phone: 724-357-5715
• Fax: 724-357-2281

• Office Hours
• Monday through Friday
• 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
• 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.