Community, Nation,
and World Seminars

Washington College: Your Revolution Starts Here

World Seminars

International politics panel

CNW 201-13: Nature Writing - Pen and Environmental Policy

Professor Donald Munson

Major environmental writings from national and international perspectives will be read and discussed. Among the authors to be analyzed will be Edward Abbey, Garrett Hardin, Farley Mowat, Henry Thoreau, and E. O. Wilson. With these writings serving as background, significant current environmental issues will be discussed. Issues to be discussed will include loss of biodiversity, human population concerns, and large mammal management.

CNW 202-12: Bunraku & Bowie, Kabuki & Kiss: Traditional Asian Performance and Contemporary Culture

Professor Dale Daigle

The traditional performing arts of Asia have had a profound influence on contemporary art and culture. It is difficult to find any form of expression anywhere in the world that does not borrow from these traditions in some way. The course will survey a variety of these traditions and look at the effect they have had on contemporary art and culture.

CNW 206-10: Post Colonial Literature

Professor Richard Gillin

Writers from former British colonies such as South Africa, Australia, Nigeria, and the West Indies will be studied.

CNW 214-10: European Imperialism in the New World, 1500-1800

This course is designed to introduce students to the vast realm of comparative colonial history. It does not pretend to be an exhaustive survey of all of North and South America in the colonial era. It seeks instead to acquaint the student in broad outline with the development of the more important institutions and policies of imperialism developed by various European nations in seeking to extend their influence to the Western Hemisphere. The course will emphasize the differences in the various colonial endeavors in the New World undertaken by the Iberians, the Dutch, the French, and the English and attempt to answer in part why these differences occurred. The course will explore fundamental aspects of colonialism whose impact has cut across the histories of substantially all American peoples, including the indigenous populations and slaves.

Issues to be considered include a comparative study of the histories of pre-conquest Amerindians; the European context of expansion; the motives and methods of the conquistadors; the impact of disease and other biological factors; post-conquest cultures and immigration; religious syncretism; race mixture; the development of administrative, social, and economic structures of the colonial world; and the legacy of colonialism in the Americas. The course ends with the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century rebellions that separated most American territories from their mother countries

CNW 226-10: Emerging and Evolving Pathogens

Professor Kate Verville

This biologically oriented course will focus on emerging microbial pathogens, such as HIV, as well as the resurgence and changing faces of historically significant microbial diseases, such as tuberculosis. Discussions will focus on associated ethical dilemmas in America, such as mandatory testing, reporting, behavior modification, vaccination, and drug trials and availability.

CNW 227-10: The Experience of Work: Historical & Cultural Perspectives

Professor Michael Harvey

What is work? That question is the starting point of this World CNW course. The course will broaden students' understanding of what work means in a variety of settings. We will pay attention to economics, politics, history, culture, and gender-the human context from which work takes its meaning, and which it helps to shape. The point of the course is not to propound a particular view of what work is or should be, but to develop students' critical understanding of work's rich cultural and personal significance.

The course will survey work experiences in different economic systems-traditional societies, feudalism, command economies, early industrial capitalism, post-industrial capitalism, and capitalism in contemporary developing nations. As this list suggests, we will spend considerable time trying to understand how diverse understandings of work can grow within the overarching logic of a single economic system, capitalism.

The course will also explore how, within a given culture, work has different meanings for different people. We will read many different stories and perspectives of work, among them those of Aristotle, Locke, Smith, Marx, Dickens, Studs Terkel and other, less familiar recorders of human toil. We will also incorporate personal narratives by area residents, and visit at least one local workplace.

Since this is a CNW course, an important course objective is to develop effective study habits. We will include course sections on library use, computers and online research, and other study skills. Writing, naturally, will be a major focus of course work. My writing text will be the course style guide, and will serve as the basis for in-class discussion of writing.

CNW 229-10: Feminism & The Third World

Professor Ruth Shoge

In this course students will explore the growth of the nascent feminist movement in the developing countries of Africa, South and Central America, and the Caribbean. They will examine critically how the philosophy, theories, and principles of the Western feminist movement have impacted on cultures which are intrinsically different in their social, political, and economic values and structures. Hopefully, their exploration will lead them to discover, the present attitude of women in the developing world regarding feminist ideology ; their expressed need for change and the means and methods of executing such changes; and feminist theories and ideologies as developed by the feminist intelligentsia, especially in non-Western countries. Feminist theories, such as liberalism, radicalism, cultural difference,womanism, and postmodernism will provide the framework within which the examination and analysis of feminism in the developing countries will be discussed.

CNW 239-10: The History and Philosophy of the Olympic Games: Ancient Greek Religious Rituals to Modern Athletic Showcases

Professor T. Finnegan

This course is designed to provide both the historical and philosophical background, which has influenced both thedevelopment and impact of the Olympic Games on ancient and modern world cultures. The course incorporates the religious, social, political, educational, and economic factors, which have contributed to the worldwide popularity of the Olympic Games at all, levels of society. Focusing on the World Olympic movement, this course examines the sociological, literary, historical, and philosophical implications of the Olympic Games on various cultures throughout the world. The major theme of the course is an examination of the Olympic Movement as a phenomenon that either promotes or detracts a sense of world community or citizenship.

Additional themes include: the number and diversity of contributions to the Olympic movement which developed from the customs of many countries and societies; how the Olympic Games in our present day culture have come to symbolize the "good life" as the potential for future fame, notoriety, and wealth based upon a successful Olympic performance in various world cultures; the gradual inclusion of women as participants and their contributions to the games; the spirit of nationalism throughout the history of the games; the issue of drug use to achieve higher levels of Citius, Altius, Fortius; finally, the confluence of industrialization, technology, and media in the adaptation and development of our modern Olympic Games from leisure exercise, religious rituals and warrior games to the professional multi-million dollar industry that exists today.

The course will use the Olympic Games as the starting point to include non-Western attitudes toward sports. The course will provide a short history of the ancient Greek Olympic games emphasizing the ancient Greek empire's proximity to Asia Minor, which initially reflected a non-Western attitude toward athletic ritual and competition.

With the advent of the modern era (1896-present) the course will expand to include both Western and non-western athletic cultures as they participated in the modern Olympic movement: former Soviet Union, China and Japan, India, emerging African nations from colonialism, and Australia. Through the venue of the Olympic movement the course will focus on the non-Western involvement in the games with respect to cultural sporting preferences as well as social barriers that exist toward female participation (i.e. Moslem women) and non-Western interpretation of these international athletic games with respect to national pride, national economic commitment and investment in their Olympic teams, whether their national team are amateur or professional, and which sports have higher significance due to their cultural heritages.

CNW 241-10: Human Nature: Sources of the Modern Self

Professor Peter Weigel

Classic and contemporary readings in the philosophy of human nature introduce important ideas and debates shaping modern views of the self. Consideration is given philosophical problems in personal identity, mind / body relations, freedom of the will, ethical dilemmas, the individual in society, as well as death and immortality. Readings are from Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, Freud, Sartre, and others. The course introduces students to the discipline of philosophy and its characteristic habits of thought. Those completing it can take upper division courses in philosophy.

In keeping with the aims of all CNW seminars, this introduction to philosophical thinking seeks to develop the skills of a) inquiry, b) research, c) argumentation and d) expression - in both their written and oral forms. The goal is that we begin to think about these kinds of issues for ourselves and are able to appreciate their significance. Active discussion and debate are central to individual assessment of the ideas in the course.

CNW 242-10: World Poverty and Inequality

Professor Lisa Daniels

This course will examine issues related to world poverty and inequality. For example, why does three-quarters of the world population live in poverty? Why did a minority of countries develop much faster than the rest of the world? Topics will include the definitions of poverty and development, similarities and differences among developing countries, colonialism, population growth, education, U.S. foreign aid, trade, public debt, free markets, and the role of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Most of the course will focus on developing countries. Poverty in the United States, however, will also be examined. By the end of the course, students should be able to hold an informed conversation about some of the causes of poverty and attempts to alleviate poverty.

CNW 245-10: The History of Dance

Professor K. Smith

Dance has always been an integral part of society from pre-historic times to the present. From ritualistic and religious expression during the pre-Christian cultures, it became an art and entertainment form that was, and still is, constantly changing as it reflects the social trends and events of the times. Dance history traces the development of dance and its relationship to music and other art forms. An historical survey of dance through the ages, this course will trace the role of dance as religious ritual, art form, or popular entertainment--viewing it in relation to the social context of each period and culture and to other major art forms.

Dance history does not exist in isolation from society, so the course will focus on dance as social form, the dance forms of diverse cultures, and the cultural, political, and social forces at work and how they influence artists. The artificial boundaries (often class distinctions) will be collapsed in order to consider social and popular dance forms alongside the so-called "high art" forms.

Course Content:

CNW 246-10: From Casablanca to Cairo: North African Mysteries, Fantasies, and Reality

Professor Pamela Pears

North Africa is a region steeped in history and tradition, an area of the world that has captured imaginations for centuries. Cities and landscapes from Casablanca to Cairo have served as backdrops to an endless number of novels and films, intriguing audiences and sometimes leading to gross misunderstandings. In this course we will explore North Africa through the eyes of Europeans, Americans, and North Africans. Using a critical approach to both literature and film, we will discuss how artists, writers, and filmmakers have represented North Africa through the years. Ultimately we will come to an understanding of the reality of contemporary North Africa.

Required reading for this course will include: Mohamed Choukri, For Bread Alone, Tahir Wattar, The Earthquake, Fatima Mernissi, Scheherazade Goes West, Naguib Mahfouz, Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth, and Tahar Djaout, The Watchers.

Required viewing will include: Michael Curtiz, Casablanca, Alfred Hitchcock, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Stephen Sommers, The Mummy, Brigitte Rouan, Overseas, and Gillies MacKinnon, Hideous Kinky

CNW 248-10: Meaning and Management of National and International Heritage

Professor Julie Ernstein

In recent years America has seen the rise of a heritage industry centered on heritage areas, heritage tourism, and the careful packaging of the past. Other nations are equally interested in their history and heritage. This course explores national and international aspects of heritage management, including common practices, challenges, and the ethics of establishing and protecting heritage sites. Topics to be explored include history vs. heritage, contested versions of the past, looting of archeological materials, national preservation strategies, the role and efficacy of the National Register of Historic Places, and international heritage agreements.

CNW 249-10: Ethnobotany: Plants, People, and Culture

Professor Pat Gladu

Throughout history, most people and cultures have gotten medicine from plants rather than scientifically engineered drugs. This course looks at some of the ways different cultures have used plants medicinally, including the medieval European "Doctrine of Signatures," Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Native American medicine wheels, and the Shaman of the Amazon. We will compare indigenous and European medicinal systems, and explore the roles plants play in modern medicine.

CNW 250-10: With Pen and Passport: The Writer as Traveler

Professor Adam Goodheart

Travel—whether to farthest India or just down a country road in Kent County—can open a writer's eyes to new experiences, scenes, and characters. In this class, we will read some of the great nonfiction travel literature of the past hundred years, from Sir Wilfred Thesiger among the Arabian nomads to Hunter S. Thompson in Las Vegas. We will then take what we have learned from these master writer-explorers and set out in their footsteps. On group field trips and individual excursions, students will research and write their own travel essays about the Eastern Shore: perhaps a visit to a country auction, or a kayak trip up a tidewater creek, or an evening at a minor-league ballgame. Some of the student essays will be published in a forthcoming book.

CNW 251-10: Leadership in Literature and Art

Professor Michael Harvey

This course looks at how leadership has been explored in world literature and art from ancient times to the present. From Gilgamesh to George Washington to Mao Zedong, leadership is a favorite subject for writers and artists from all cultures. In ancient times leaders were often depicted as heroes; in modern times they are just as often criticized and ridiculed—but they are never ignored. We will read plays, poems, stories, and novels, and study paintings, sculpture, movies, and even cartoons to enrich our understanding of the dynamics of leadership. The course includes a field trip to Washington or New York to visit a museum and watch a play.

CNW 252-10: Food and Culture

Professor Deborah Taub

Food is a medium to begin experiencing cultures. Food is tied to ritual, myth, and taboos that help form cultural identities. It is also a source of power and contention, for instance through the use of hunger as a weapon or the effects of Genetically Modified Foods on developing nations. Through readings, visits, and guest lectures, students will gain an understanding of the cultural, political, and economic effects aspects of food in their own lives and around the world.

CNW 253-10: Science Fiction and Film

Professor Beverly Wolff

This course begins with an introduction to the literary genre of science fiction and the close connections between science fiction and the medium of film. The international medium of film is itself a reflection of a rapidly developing technology and the integration of form and content that continues to provoke questions about human curiosity and the limits to science and knowledge. Science fiction films unite an increasingly scientific medium with content that reflects our fears, our weaknesses, and our dreams. Reading and viewing texts and films from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Fritz Lang's Metropolis to Ridley Scott's Bladerunner, students will be expected to become active viewers of film and to develop critical writing, reading, and thinking skills.

CNW 254-10: The Afterlife in Literature and Culture: Haunting(s) from the Other Side

Professor Sandra Hiortdahl

This course explores the phenomena surrounding death and "survival of death" as presented in fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and drama. Through a wide variety of reading assignments and writing projects, students will explore ideas about spirits, ghosts, and angels, including the importance of such "beings" in cultures around the world, and how they help shape perceptions of human life. Readings include Dickens' "A Christmas Tale," Poe's "The Raven," Shakespeare's Hamlet, and selections from American Indian and Greek mythos, as well as tales told by a local storyteller.

The Afterlife in Literature and Culture taught by Prof. Hiortdahl is an Information Technology Intensive section. Students will be instructed in the use of PowerPoint for creating outlines, in digital video for interviewing, and for use of video in communication. These are all linked to writing projects and not extraneous to them; however, hours in Beck Lab and the Media Center, outside of class, are expected. Please email Prof. Hiortdahl with any questions or concerns.

CNW 256-10: Wars Against Idols

Professor Donald McColl

Why did the ancient Romans obliterate images of their enemies? Why, in the sixteenth century, did Muslim leaders in India have a river diverted in order to destroy a prominent Hindu temple? Why did the early twentieth-century Melanesians of New Ireland burn or leave to rot images that took months to make? More recently, why did a person feel compelled to attack Rembrandt's Danae (St. Petersburg, Hermitage) with acid and a knife, and why did American soldiers take such pains to destroy publicly a sculpture of Saddam Hussein in the heart of Baghdad? These and similar questions lie at the heart of this course, which revolves around the phenomenon of iconoclasm (from the Greek words "icon," or likeness, and "breaking"). Drawing on the work of art historians, historians, economists, anthropologists, psychologists and biologists, we will endeavor to understand the kinds of acts cited above, not as some sort of individual or collective pathology, as has too often been the case--in part because those who have written the history of art so value "art" and those who make it--but rather as often carefully considered responses to complex historical circumstances, with their own theory and conventions. What does one make of iconoclasm in sixteenth-century Zurich, for instance, when one considers that the wood taken from the devotional images of saints adorning churches was given to what parishioners argued was the true image of Christ, the poor?

We will take field trips to the Smithsonian Institution's Freer and Sackler Galleries (together, the National Museum of Asian Art), National Museum of African Art and newly completed National Museum of the American Indian; explore the Internet; use recently developed resources, such as ARTstor, a digital database of hundreds of thousands of Western and non-Western images; hone our writing skills through the writing of response papers to periodical articles and individual cases of iconoclasm, all the while taking full advantage of the Writing Center; hone our public-speaking skills; and learn how to use Miller Library.

Students who successfully complete the course will not only become acquainted with a wide variety of Western and non-Western ideas and images, but will better be able to understand the status of the visual image in a wide variety of cultures, as well as the ways they are currently used and understood.

CNW 257-10: Enemies, Terror, and Paranoia

Professor Clayton Black

From the spy craze that gripped England in the years before the outbreak of World War I, to terror in Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia, to the McCarthyist fear of Communist infiltration, to the current anxiety over terrorism, the modern world seems obsessed with conspiracies by those who are "out to get us." This course examines the ways that societies imagine enemies and manipulate their images for cultural and political ends. Using methods taken from psychology, anthropology, literary studies, political science, and history, we will evaluate not only our own understandings of the forces that threaten our lives but also the ways that others, such as Iranians, Palestinians, or North Koreans, see us. We will attempt to move beyond simplistic explanations of human animosity as contests of absolute good and evil and to develop a more nuanced understanding of fear and conflict.

CNW 258-10: World Cinema

This course is an exploration of non-western films from the following regions: Asia, Africa, India, the Middle East and Latin America. Rather than compare these films to European cinema, we will attempt to examine them on their own terms. Special attention will be paid to the different conditions of production, generic conventions and cultural contexts of so-called "Third Cinema." Students will write five analytical papers in process form with drafts and revisions. In addition there will be group presentations based on Internet research and an experiential learning component using digital filmmaking. Films to be studied will include:

Latin America:

How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (1971) Brazil- dir. Nelson Pereira dos Santos
The Silence of Neto (1994) Guatemala- dir. Luis Argueta
Amores Perros (2000) Mexico- dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Middle East:


Alexandria... Why? (1978) Egypt- dir. Youssef Chahine
Wedding in Galilee (1986) Palestine/Israel- dir. Michel Khleifi
Crimson Gold (2003) Iran- dir. Jafar Panahi

Africa:

Yeelen (1987) Mali- dir. Souleyman Cisse
Daresalam (2000) Chad- dir Issa Serge Coelo
Wooden Camera (2003) South Africa- dir. Ntshavheni Wa Luruli

India:

Mother India (1957) dir. Mehboob Khan
BombayI (1995) dir. Mani Rathnam
Salaam Bombay! (1988) dir. Mira Nair

Asia:

Rashomon (1950) Japan- dir. Akira Kurosawa
To Live (1994) China- dir. Zhang Yimou
Cyclo (1995) Vietnam- dir Tran Anh Hung

CNW 260-10: Happily Ever After: Transformation and Subversion in Fairy Tale Tradition

In this course, we will explore the fairy tale from its folk origins to its first literary manifestations to its modern re-writings. As the title of the course indicates, our main concern will be the ability of these archetypal tales to take new shape and new meaning in the hands of different authors in different cultural contexts.

Our investigation will be framed with a particular interest in dominant fairy tale characters (beasts, virgins, wicked stepmothers) and recurring themes (for example, family conflict and physical transformation). Over the course of the semester, we will consider these characters and themes not only in European fairy tales, but also in folk tales from Asian, African, and North American traditions.

CNW 261-10: Music as Culture

This course addresses music's role in societies including such realms as identity (race, gender, ethnicity), politics, economics, ritual, healing, belief systems, and religion. Using music as an entry into a variety of sub-cultures, ethnic groups, social classes, and immigrant populations, this course introduces students to experiences, perspectives, and values different from those found among the dominant, mainstream populations of the United States. Such a comparative, or cross-cultural, perspective enables students to critically examine the construction of their own cultural realities.

Through a combination of readings, field trips, and guest speakers, we will study and use the tools that ethnomusicologists employ in their research on the interrelatedness of musical form and cultural experience. In the process, we will develop descriptive and analytical skills that will permit us to observe and discuss musical and social events from different points of view.

CNW 263-10: Discoveries of the World in 17th-century paintings

During the 17th century, world travel had in the first place the purpose of discovering new territories. At this time, the newly independent nation of the Netherlands created a far-flung network of trading posts and settlements, from Nieuw Amsterdam (now New York) to Brazil, western Africa, India, and Indonesia.

In the first place, in 1602, the Dutch East India Company had a monopoly on the trade in the East Indies. During its history of 200 years, the VOC became the largest company of its kind, trading spices like nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and pepper, and other consumer products like tea, silk and Chinese porcelain. Many of these objects are depicted in Dutch paintings. Factories or trade centers that were then world famous: Desjima in Japan, Mokha in Yemen, Surat in Persia and of course Batavia, the Company's headquarters on Java.

In the second place we will look the tulip trade which had originated in central Asia, primarily in Armenia, Persia and the Caucasus. Tulips were particularly popular in the Turkish courts of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-66). Via complicated channels the tulip was brought to Holland and by the 17th century, horticultural experimenting created many new breeds of tulips, which became symbols of power and prestige. We will look at Dutch paintings of flowers that - contrary to popular belief—many of which were not authentic to Holland.

Thirdly we will follow the travels of Prince Maurits of Nassau as governor of the Dutch territory in Brazil. It is one of the most carefully documented expeditions to Brazil, when the Dutch attempted to establish a thriving sugar industry, as well as a capital city. Prince Maurits brought with him a group of artists, map makers, and scientists to record this new world. We will look at the paintings of Frans Post and Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, the artists who came along with the prince to Brazil and saw these exotic landscapes firsthand. They introduced armadillos, tapirs, anteaters, and other such exotic animals to the European art loving public.

Field trips to

  1. the National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.

CNW 264-10: Sponges to Starfish: The Spineless and Society

Invertebrate animals make up the vast majority of species on Earth, and have influenced human society in fundamental ways. This course will cover various groups of invertebrates and the ways each has affected world societies. Topics will include:

There will be a field trip to a museum of natural history as well as experiential learning opportunities (e.g. establishment of aquaria, production of wampum) in a lab setting. Readings will be from popular literature such as National Geographic and Scientific American.

CNW 265-10: Ancient Myths & Mysteries from Around the World

How was the world created? Who were our ancestors? Why are there so many differences between peoples in different places? These are questions that have puzzled people around the world for generations. A variety of explanations have emerged, some that are remarkably wide-spread, such as a global belief in a great flood, and others that are unique. In more recent years, additional puzzles have emerged. Why did people in so many parts of the world build pyramids? Is there a connection? How could ancient cultures have constructed so many remarkable feats of engineering? Why are some of these structures, such as the lines of Nazca or American mounds recognizable only from the air? Did ancient astronauts teach our ancestors secrets that have long since been forgotten, or are there other explanations?

These are just a few of the questions about our past that intrigue people world-wide, sell millions of books, and spawn countless documentaries. This course will examine these and other mysteries, and see what modern archaeological science and history can tell us about the past. We will try to evaluate which of these mysteries are truly mysterious and which have probable explanations. We also will examine the differences between science and pseudoscience, and explore why people often are ready to accept the wildest and most outlandish of claims. Do we need to be concerned when people are willing to embrace myth more readily than science, or is this simply the way things have always been?

CNW 266-10: Japan in the Western Visual Imagination

Aileen Tsui

Through the examination of a variety of media in art and visual culture, this course explores a series of case studies in the modern European and American fascination with "Japan," both as an actual nation with rich artistic traditions largely distinct from those of the West and as a distant land of exotic alterity onto which Western fantasies and desires could be projected. While we will give primary attention to how images of and from Japan have functioned within the history of modern European and American art and visual culture, we will also learn about select aspects of Japanese art.

The largest segment of the course will explore the variable facets of Japonisme, the Western fascination with Japanese art from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Topics in Japonisme to be studied include the following: porcelain, lacquer, and silks in James McNeill Whistler's productions; the role of Japanese fans in Impressionist painting in France and in popular Aestheticism in England; ukiyo-e prints, photography, and modernism; the kimono and fashion; and Japanese influences on Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture.

The course will then move into the second half of the twentieth century, ending with a consideration of contemporary art. We will examine the characteristic themes, designs, and dynamics of Japanese anime as a form of visual culture growing in popularity, both with children and adults, in the U.S. in recent years. The last sessions in the course will consider how themes of national identity and East-West relations are expressed in examples of contemporary art from Japan. Having examined the myths and fantasies of "the East" in nineteenth-century European and American art, we will now explore the play of myths and fantasies of "the West" in Japanese art, as well as investigating how contemporary Japanese artists engage with historical and artistic traditions from their positions today in modern Japan.

The class will take a field trip to the Freer Gallery in Washington DC in order to see the Peacock Room and other works by J. M. Whistler and to explore the collections of Japanese art at the gallery. The course material will also include a general introduction to methods and practices in the study of the history of art.

CNW 267-10: Human Nature: Sources of the Modern Self

Prof Weigel

Classic and contemporary readings in the theory of human nature help us investigate how modern views of the self emerge from previous eras going back to the Ancients. Topics include: the nature of the person, mind and body, theories of the human psyche, individuals in society, death and the afterlife, free will and meaning, computing machinery and human intelligence. Readings are from Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Freud, Sartre, and a variety of contemporary thinkers. The seminars emphasize careful discussion of the readings as well as active written and oral inquiry into various conceptions of the person. This course also introduces students to the character of philosophical thinking and presupposes no previous experience with it.

CNW 268-10: Stories That Could Be True: Literature of Witness

Kathy Wagner

The literature of 20th century America can be thought of as a literature of witness. In this course we will focus on texts in prose, film, poetry, and drama that bear witness to past and present social and historical events of some magnitude: the AIDS epidemic, World War II and the Holocaust, the plight of the Native Americans, Aparteid, the Vietnam War and Colonialism. Writers have often found that the only way to "respond" to such events is through an imaginative and creative use of language. Although some class time will be devoted to a discussion of the historical and factual background and history of these events, a majority of our discussions will revolve around the literary and aesthetic dimensions of the works.

Great Figures in the History of Freedom in Western Culture

Professor Thomas Finnegan

The objective of this course in the Great Figures in the history of freedom in Western Culture is to emphasize the similarities between the concepts, issue and obligations of individual and societal freedom from ancient models up to our present decade. Throughout Western history the concept of Freedom has been both greatly debated and analyzed by great historical figures. Each of these individuals has advanced the concept of Freedom in their respective historical perspectives. This course will engage in discussing the significant contributions that these Great Figures have made in the evolution of Western Freedom.

CNW 270-10: 1607 and All That: Jamestown, the Chesapeake, and America's Global Origins

Adam Goodheart

Four hundred years ago, the cultures of three continents—Europe, North America, and shortly thereafter, Africa—came together at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to form the nucleus of a new society. In the spring of 2007, the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the continent's first permanent English settlement, will be celebrated nationally and internationally. This class will explore both the roots and the legacy of Jamestown. We will look at history, archaeology, literature, landscape, and legend (such as the much-retold, much-debated story of Pocahontas) to investigate the ways that a tiny outpost on the edge of a vast wilderness shaped the identity of the future American nation.

Rock Music & Global Pop Hist.

Ken Schweitzer

This course examines the history of Rock and Roll from a global perspective. Though rock music is generally regarded as "America's Music," its history is better understood when we explore its connections to musical trends in Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The semester will begin with a discussion of the musical roots of Rock and Roll, including: African Music, European Ballads, Minstrelsy, Ragtime, Blues, Jazz, and 1950s Rhythm & Blues. The course will also examine post-WWII America and the true emergence of Rock and Roll in 1955 as both a musical and social revolution. It will focus on how American music is viewed in Britain, continental Europe and throughout other regions of the world. This is followed by discussion of the Folk Revival of the late 50s and early 60s, the British Blues Invasion, and Vietnam-era Folk Rock. Finally, the course concludes with examples of Rock-influenced Global Popular Music. We will look at bands from Germany, Turkey, China, Japan, Vietnam, Cuba and many other points around the globe.

CNW 275-10: Exploring Asia

Andrew Oros

This course will explore the tremendous cultural, economic, political, and social diversity of contemporary East Asia—a region of the world that comprises 40% of the world's population and global extremes of rich and poor. Shared exploration will include reading of fictional and political work of Asian writers, viewing of Asian film and art, and discussion of how Americans have viewed East Asia in the past and how they have come to view East Asia today. Students also will be asked to "explore" East Asia on their own—via the internet, field trips to museums, interviews, and in writings of Asian authors—and to make engaging, multi-media presentations to the class about what they discover.

CNW 276-10: History of Classical Guitar

Anthony Harvey

Why did Augustine Barrios—one of history's most virtuosic guitarists—have to don a grass skirt and headdress to perform in Paraguayan concert halls? This course will explore everything from the racism Barrios faced to the spectacular success of Mauro Giuliani, who rubbed elbows with Beethoven and performed for Vienna's royalty. We will study how culture has shaped the guitar throughout history.

CNW 277-10: Multicultural Counseling

Sheila Barry

What is this profession called 'counseling' and how does it differ within different populations and countries throughout the world? This is the question that will be examined from several different perspectives during the semester. Through the use of films, research and presentations the professor and students will together explore the concepts of diversity, multiculturalism, prejudice and their effects on the counseling relationship. We will learn how to prepare to work with client populations which differ from us significantly in a number of ways including age, gender, culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and educational background. We will also look at who is the therapist in different countries and what is that therapist's role.

There will be one field trip during the semester possibly to the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore which features creative works from diverse populations.

CNW 278-10: Culture Clash

Joshua Furst

As nations in our global economy become more interdependent, cultures around the world have begun to change. Both major industrialized countries and developing countries must now face questions about the relationship between their traditional ways of life, their national heritage, and the burgeoning cosmopolitanism sweeping the world. Through examinations of literature, film, music and the visual arts, we'll explore how writers and artists from around the world are responding to these changes. Specifically, we'll look at the effects of these changes on the work of artists from India, China, the Middle East and Russia, as well as our very own U.S. of A.

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