Academics

Past First-Year Studies Course Descriptions

These following is a comprehensive list of current and past First-Year Studies courses and their descriptions.

102 Physics I Laboratory
Kinematics and Newton’s laws of motion,  conservation principles, gravitation, oscillations and waves, thermodynamics. Physics 110 uses algebra and trigonometry, and meets for three lectures and one laboratory per week for one course credit. Physics 120 has Mathematics 110 (Calculus I) as a corequisite, and meets for three lectures and one laboratory per week for one course credit. (Cross-listed as Physics 110, 120.)

105 Music in Chicago
Chicago has played a critical role in the history of American music, especially the blues and jazz. The city's musical life has been enriched by the contributions of immigrants from around the world. Chicago also has a vivid history of classical music performance through such organizations as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera, and the Ravinia Festival. Using Chicago's rich musical culture as a backdrop, this course enhances critical listening skills, unlocking the secrets of rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, and form through in-class work and attendance at concerts in Chicago and on campus.

106 Medical Mysteries: Neuroscience  in Chicago
This course is designed to excite beginning students about how neuroscience, one of science’s most active research fields, connects human society, using Chicago as a local example. Knowing how our brains work is one of the final frontiers for scientific exploration. Neurological and psychiatric illnesses are fast becoming the major twenty-first-century health concern of the United States. Students will explore basic biology of the human nervous system and investigate how brain dysfunction causes devastating, mysterious medical illnesses. Students will debate ethical dilemmas that face society as scientists race toward solving such mysteries and will experiment using brain cells, dissect real human brains, and organize a campus-wide “brain awareness” week. The course meets for two lectures and one 2-hour laboratory per week. Addtionally, three Chicago trips are planned. Those with natural science, psychology, and pre-health interests may be particularly interested in the course. High school biology and chemistry are required prerequisites.

107 Environmental Worldviews
This course will introduce students to a wide range of topics in environmental biology, including, but not limited to, global climate change, loss of biodiversity, ozone depletion,  desertification, human population growth and tropical deforestation, from a global perspective, The course will utilize discussion with an international panel of guest speakers, independent student research projects and interviews to examine environmental issues through the eyes of people living in other countries.  We will explore the obstacles people face with their own and our own governments, the power of multinational corporations for good and ill, the tensions created by ecotourism of wealthy people in desperately poor places and the perceived irrelevance of ‘the environmental movement’ to saving the world, from a truly international perspective.   Note: students completing this course will not be able to earn credit for Biol 108, Environmental Worldviews.

108 Nature in Chicago
Unbeknownst to many of its residents, Chicago is located at a great ecological transition zone, on the boundary between the Great Lakes and the Great Plains, between forests and prairies, and on the southernmost edge of the Wisconsonian ice sheet's advance during the last ice age. All contribute to an impressive array of different ecosystem types that can be found within “Chicagoland.” Most of the three-hour, once-per-week meetings of this course will be spent in the field exploring this ecological diversity as we discuss the species diversity, basic ecology, recent anthropogenic changes, and ongoing efforts toward the conservation and restoration of various types of ecosystems in the Chicago region.

109 Euclid’s Elements: Book I
Written some 2000 years ago, Euclid’s Elements (ca. 300 B.C.) remains the standard geometry text throughout the world.  The 13 books of the Elements are not just of interest to the mathematical community; their importance to Western civilization is rivaled only by the Bible.  Book I of the Elements codifies the foundations of plane geometry.  In this course, we will examine the 48 propositions of Book I, culminating with Euclid’s proof of the famous Pythagorean Theorem.

110 The World Wide Web: A Computing Platform
This course explores the World Wide Web as a platform for computing.   The course begins with an introduction to the architecture of the Internet.  Next, the concept of markup languages is explored as students develop a proficiency with the HTML programming language.  With that in place, the course turns to client-side programming using JavaScript.  In the process, fundamental concepts of computer programming are introduced:  variables, conditionals, loops, functions, objects, and other concepts.  The course culminates with an introduction to server-side programming using PHP.  This facilitates the understanding of the World Wide Web as being not merely a vast reservoir of data, but as an extensive Web of distributed computer programs.  No previous programming experience is assumed.

113 The History and Science of Sailing
For centuries, humankind has been drawn to the sea. History is rich with famous sailors, shipwrecks, and tales of exploration, navigation, and survival. The science is equally rich, encompassing Newton’s laws, Bernoulli’s principle, vectors, 3D triangulation, and more. This course will investigate both, by reading novels and articles on the subject, visiting the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, and sailing on Lake Michigan. Students will be expected to write a number of papers, participate in classroom discussions, pull lines, and take a turn at the wheel.

114  Evolution, Adaptation, and the Origin of Species
This course will examine the fundamental concepts of evolution as expressed by Charles Darwin and scientists that followed him.  We will discuss the historical development of ideas about evolution; how natural selection can lead to adaptations and the sometimes astonishing features of organisms; how evolutionary process have produced the millions of radically different kinds of organisms on earth; the application of evolutionary theory to the evolution of humans; and a discussion of the applicability of “intelligent design” and other supernatural explanations for the diversity and complexity of living things.  Classes will include lectures, discussions and student presentations.

115 General Chemistry Laboratory and Chicago’s Water
This course is a special laboratory section of General Chemistry (Chemistry 110) that focuses on the fundamentals of chemistry and the ways scientists think and make decisions. Knowledge and problem-solving skills developed in this course are essential to the further study of chemistry, biology, and environmental issues. The laboratory experience correlates closely with lecture topics. Laboratory experiments emphasize chemical reactions, spectroscopy, gas chromatography, computational chemistry, and molecular modeling, In addition, this special laboratory section will addresss issues of water quality, availability, and equity through experiences in the Chicago metropolitan area and through laboratory exercises.  Co-requisite: enrollment in a Chemistry 110 lecture section.

116 General Chemistry Laboratory and Medicine
This course is a special laboratory section of General Chemistry (Chemistry 110) that focuses on the fundamentals of chemistry and the ways scientists think and make decisions. Knowledge and problem-solving skills developed in this course are essential to the further study of chemistry, biology, and medicine. The laboratory experience correlates closely with lecture topics. Laboratory experiments emphasize chemical reactions, spectroscopy, gas chromatography, computational chemistry, and molecular modeling. Co-requisite: enrollment in a Chemistry 110 lecture section.

117 Science, Religion, and Searching for Humanity
Today, science and technology provide a dominating backdrop of our lives.  Does that help or hinder us in understanding our development as whole human beings who have a moral sense and a sense of good possible futures?  Throughout history, religions have been a primary route for considering such questions.  Today, a burgeoning interdisciplinary academic area known as “Religion and Science” has been concerned with looking again, closely and objectively, under the hypothesis that important human issues have spilled away somewhere as thinkers leap between their awarenesses of the secular, technologically infused world and of religions.  Are science and religion at war?  Recently, much good writing treats scientific and religious ways of thinking as comprising a lively conversation.  We accept the opportunity offered by these writings to think deeply, in mutually tolerant and mutually interested ways, while surveying selected scientific issues in brain science, psychology, and evolution.  Occasional laboratory experiences.

118 Go Figure: Quantitative Reasoning in Today’s World
People are constantly bombarded with claims and arguments that involve numbers, graphs, and statistics and must make decisions about important matters in the face of such claims.  This course will help students learn to understand and evaluate arguments that are supported by quantitatively-based arguments.  We shall study a little logic; graphs, maps, and other ways of representing data; basic descriptive and inferential statistics; and ways of using quantitative tools to construct persuasive arguments.  Bu the end of the course, students will appreciate the importance of quantitative reasoning, be able to evaluate the use of quantitative arguments by others, and effectively use numbers, graphs, and statistics in their writing and speaking.

125 Chicago in the Global Economy:  A Cross-Cultural Perspective
With more than 130 consulates and foreign trade offices, and headquarters of many international companies, Chicago provides an excellent opportunity for assessing potential benefits and concerns of global business activities. Course emphasis will be on the influence of Chicago-based businesses, trade organizations, and  government agencies on economic development and improved quality of life around the world. Chicago resources will provide speakers, visits, research sites, and reference materials. Visits to cultural centers, museums, and retail establishments will enhance awareness of varied cultures. Instructional activities will include team projects, interviews, and field observations to address issues related to influences of international trade activities for emerging markets.

126 The Funding of Public Education in Chicago
The funding of public education is a leading civil rights issue in the United States.  In this course, we will study education policy with particular emphasis on taxation and funding.  We will read historical and philosophical writings on the need for and benefit of public education.  We will study how federal and state governments distribute funds, and how local school districts spend their funds.  We will study and evaluate the principles, objectives, and financing of No Child Left Behind.  And we will read various opinions concerning present-day strategies for funding and administering public education, including vouchers and school choice.  We will also work with Illinois data to learn how spending differs across districts, and how states attempt to redistribute monies from rich to poor districts.

128 Robots and Brains: Fantasies and Facts
Will computers ever become conscious? Will there ever be robots with the degree of sentience described in science fiction stories or shown in films? These questions naturally evoke those regarding what it means to be a human being. How, with the workings of the human brain, does the human mind emerge? In what ways is our brain different from, and the same as, the brains of other animals? How are such “wet brains” different from, and similar to, the “dry brains” of computers? Readings will include introductory materials on the brain and the mind, science fiction stories on robots (including two science fiction classics, Karl Capek’s 1920 R.U.R., from which the work “robot:” originated, and Isaac Asimov’s 1940-50’s collection of philosophically provocative stories, I Robot). Occasional laboratory experiences will include computer simulations, introductory lessons programming in LabVIEW (a system designed for communication with instruments in science and industry, including robotics), a demonstration in the behavioral neuroscience lab, and – if there is interest among students – construction of a LEGO MindStorms robot or other kit.

129 Introduction to Psychology (Laboratory)
In the Introduction to Psychology Laboratory, we actively explore psychology as a scientific discipline. Through a combination of prepared exercises, where we repeat some of the classic experiments in psychology, and independent research projects, where students test their own hypotheses, the Laboratory takes a hands-on approach to the study of human behavior. Students who register for the Laboratory must also enroll in one of the Introduction to Psychology lecture sections. (Cross-listed as Psychology 110.)

132 Telling Lies: Identity, Culture, and Interpretation
Nietzsche said that “truth was illusion that we have forgotten is illusion.”  By investigating what different theorist, from classical times to the present, have said about lying and truth telling, we will dive into the intricacies of the multidisciplinary field of communications.  Specifically we will focus on the construction of the self, communicating within and between communities, and the interpretation of texts.

133 Educational Reform in Chicago: Purposes and Perspectives
This course will explore the meaning of educational reform in Chicago and the suburbs, both from a historical perspective and in the context of contemporary educational policy.  Students will begin the course by studying Chicago leaders in the progressive educational reform movement of the early twentieth century.   We will look at the ebb and flow of progressive education in the twentieth century, including the open education movement, which was inspired by earlier progressive initiatives, and the back-to-basics response to it.  Charter schools, school vouchers, and No Child Left Behind will be examined in order to better understand how the notion of educational reform is one that can be viewed from a wide variety of perspectives and within multiple contexts.

134 Eve, Mary, Jezebel: Women in Medieval Christianity
This course will explore the lives of women in the European Middle Ages, with an emphasis (though not an exclusive focus) on the participation and images of women in Christian spirituality.  Through close reading of primary sources, we shall meet women who were nuns, martyrs, queens, scholars, mystics and soldiers.  We will discuss the particular challenges presented to the historian by primary sources by or about women.  We will also critically analyze some of the major themes in recent scholarship on gender history, including the questions of whether “women’s history” is a useful area of study.

135 What is American Democracy?
American democracy studied through the speeches and writings of political leaders involved in founding, preserving, and changing American politics and society.  Emphasis on both democratic institutions and continuing problems of liberty and equality.  Standard texts include The Federalist Papers and Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.  Representative authors include: George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Frederick Douglass, The Seneca Falls Women, William Lloyd Garrison, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, Chief Justice Taney, Jane Addams, Martin Luther King, Jr., Carol Moseley-Braun, and Ward Connerly, among others. 

136 Social Life of Food
This course investigates the social aspects of food. Decisions about what, when, how, and with whom to eat food are couched in our social understanding of what is food and what is not. Example topics include the use of dietary restrictions to establish ethnic identities, the association of food production with specific genders, as well as rituals surrounding the consumption/distribution of food.

137 Human Body: Social Use and Control
This course investigates the relationship between the personal body and the larger society. How does society make use of the body? What social forces are in competition with the individual for control of this resource? What are the limits that society places on our understanding of our own bodies? How might the individual use his or her body as means of social communication? Can the body elicit social change?

138  Classical Philosophical Questions
An examination of perennial philosophical issues such as the nature of reality and how we can know it, discussions of human nature, the meaning of life, and our moral responsibilities.  In particular, we will focus on the intersection of epistemology—questions about the nature of knowledge—with issues surrounding ethical decision-making.  These issues in turn lead us to questions about the nature of reality and about the relationship between universal norms and particular attachments.  Texts will be chosen from the following list and supplemented with in-class handouts and/or an assembled course packet:  (1) Plato, Five Dialogues; (2) Sophocles, The Three Theban Plays; (3) Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism; (4) Epictetus, The Handbook; (5) Sextus Empiricus, Selections from the Major Writings; (6) Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy; (7) Johann Fichte, The Vocation of Man; and (8) Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling.

140 Poverty and Discrimination
The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen in the United States. What can be done to eliminate this poverty? This course explores the causes and consequences of poverty in the world with an emphasis in the United States. The method of exploration will be highly interactive (as in a seminar) and will involve considerable participation on the part of the student. We will begin by developing a workable definition of “the poor” by drawing upon economics, sociological, psychological, and historical analysis. We will then use this definition to identify the underclass in today’s society and describe the changes in the composition  (gender, age, race, and marital status) of the underclass since The Great Depression.

To better understand the plight of the poor we will regularly participate in volunteer community programs (soup kitchen or homeless shelter) and keep a journal of our experiences and reflections. Once we understand who “the poor” are we will develop and critique the explanations given for why people are poor, the intergenerational transmission of poverty, welfare dependency, and discrimination. In particular, the existence of discrimination (both racial and gender discrimination) in our educational system and within the labor market will be evaluated.

The course will conclude with an analysis of  the impact of welfare reforms and employment policies instituted by the federal government We will evaluate their success and shed some light on questions like: Why haven’t our welfare programs worked? Should the federal government or states have the power to distribute tax money and run food, housing, and training programs?

141 Terrorism and World Politics
The course uses central principles and concepts of politics (e.g., liberalism, security, power,  sovereignty, law, just war, etc.) to study terrorism and world politics. In the tradition of the liberal arts, the course commences with an historical overview of terrorism, beginning with the French Revolution and continuing through 9/11 and subsequent events. This historical approach to the changing political circumstances and meanings of terrorism worldwide pays particular attention to the religious roots of modern terrorism in the three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The course also considers Osama bin Laden’s war on America, Jews, and apostates and the organization, strategies, and activities of radical Islamist and other terrorist networks. It also studies the impact of America’s war on terrorism on world politics, including the doctrine of “preemptive war” and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the laws of war and war crimes, and the global effort against terrorism. Through individual and group projects, students undertake original research on terrorism in the fields of the natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences. The course especially welcomes voices and perspectives  on terrorism that transcend nationality, religion, and ideology.

142 Roots Music in American Society
The commercial success of the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and of its Grammy-winning soundtrack in 2000 sparked new interest in what is now called "roots" music.  As a basic definition, roots music is a variety of musical styles that have evolved from distinct regional, racial, and ethnic communities (and most often from the "average common people" of those communities).  As the term suggests, these musical styles have served as a source for the development of today's commercial popular music and thus their influence on contemporary music has been profound.
 
This course explores several of these styles, especially Anglo-American music of the Southern Appalachians, blues, gospel, early country music, and bluegrass.  I am particularly interested in understanding the social and political contexts that gave rise to these styles.  I am also interested in examining the impact of this music on the contemporary music scene.  By the end of this course, you will be able to:  (1) identify roots music as a distinctive genre of American music (compared with, for example, concert music and popular music); (2) distinguish the main types of twentieth-century roots music; (3) explain the interplay, or mutual influences, between roots music and its social, political, and economic context; and (4) assess how roots music has influenced selected contemporary musicians such as Bob Dylan, Kurt Cobain, Taj Mahal, Bruce Springsteen, and Ry Cooder.
 
Who should take this course?  Anyone who has heard any of the above musical styles and found them "listenable" (and preferably likable).  Also anyone who is open to this music and wants to know more about it.  The course will feature lots of CD listening and attendance at concerts.  I am especially seeking to incorporate Chicago resources into the course, including meetings with roots musicians, museum visits, and concerts at such venues as the Old Town School of Folk Music.  The instructor, who teaches in the politics department, plays guitar, mandolin, and dobro in a faculty roots-music band, Fast and Cheap (which, it is rumored, may make a class appearance).

143 Lincoln and Chicago: Life, Memory, and Sculpture
This course first looks at Lincoln's life and how historians have told it.  Second, it examines how Chicago and Chicagoans have remembered Lincoln.  Finally, it discusses the relationship between the two.  Among the topics to be taken up are: the five Lincoln statues in Chicago (two by St.-Gaudens); the Chicago celebration of the Lincoln Centennary; Carl Sandburg's Lincoln; Chicago's Afro-American community and Lincoln's memory.

144 Understanding Humankind’s Destructive Nature
During the 20th century, there have been more genocides, i.e., the mass killing of non-combatants, then in all previous centuries combined. We will explore the psychological factors that contribute to such wanton slaughter. Our goal will be to determine whether genocides can be reduced and if so, how to proceed. (A Disclaimer – Some of the material we will considering may be emotionally upsetting.)

145 Place and Social Memory in Chicago
Much of the work of academia is about figuring out human beings and what makes them work and think in particular ways.  By drawing from a variety of disciplines and focusing on a single idea, we can learn much about how our world operates.  Our goal in this course is to unravel a mystery (at least as best we can): why do groups of people remember things the way they do?  How do they get so attached to places that seem like nothing much to outsiders?  We will take Chicago's social memory as our object, but our ultimate goal is to dissect that object and see if we can discover the key to social memory.  Our final objective is to figure out how to create social memory within our own community.

146 Chicago’s Melting Pot: Race, Class and Ethnicity in the 20th Century City
This course will examine the meaning of citizenship and community in industrial and post-industrial Chicago by comparing three separate urban migrations: the white southeastern European immigrants of the early 20th century, the first and second black migrations and the post-WWII Latino immigrants.  All new urban arrivals faced the same array of basic needs:  housing, jobs and education, albeit at different moments in time.  Securing shelter, making a living and achieving literacy required migrants to negotiate unfamiliar terrain and to interact with both private and public urban institutions.  Therefore, the central line of inquiry guiding reading, discussion and field study will be:  what social, economic and political factors either facilitated or hindered assimilation?   In short, how did someone become American in 20th century Chicago and how did the definition of what constituted an American change over time?

147 Principles of Economics: Government and Markets
Why is the government involved in some aspects of our society more than others?  Depending on which approach you take, this question can be answered in many different ways and with a broad range of justifications to back up any point of view.  Different economists would also provide a number of different responses to this question, especially as it relates to business and markets.  However, they would also base their arguments on fundamental economic theories.  The primary goals of this course are first to introduce and develop those economic theories and then to apply them to different issues and economic markets including (but not limited to) the environment, education, health care, poverty, social security, and unemployment.

148 Psychology Without Borders: Applications of Psychology 
Applied psychologists use the scientific methods and knowledge of psychology to solve practical problems of individuals, communities, and organizations.  This course will examine the intersection of psychology and a variety of disciplines, including: politics, medicine, business/economics, forensics, marketing/advertising, education, sports, engineering, and public safety.  In particular, the course will explore how basic research on fundamental cognitive processes—such as perception, attention, learning, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making—can enhance our abilities to understand, predict, and change human behavior in a variety of contexts.

149 Exploring Cultural Stereotypes in Context: From Chicago to Paris
This course aims to create cultural portraits of two global cities, Chicago and Paris, discover connections between them and discuss cultural differences in the ways their diverse populations have been portrayed in recent history, in written and visual media.  Course material will be discussed through the lens of Cultural Studies.  After a general introduction to the area of Cultural Studies and after defining a cultural stereotype, students will read fictional portraits of life in Chicago by various American and French authors.  They will also read historical essays on the two areas, research current news portrayals of the ethnic populations of both cities, and view films which will enhance discussion of the cultural imagery.  Discussion will center on portrayals of Parisians and Chicagoans in their daily interactions and in times of social conflict.  After identifying and describing cultural stereotypes, students will address issues related to positive and negative cultural messages these images portray what factors contribute to the development of such stereotypes, and how they can be shaped over time.

150  The Making of Mexican Chicago
During the past twenty-five years, the number of both foreign-born and native-born Mexicans has grown dramatically in Chicago and many of its suburbs.  This course will place this increase and its significance within the broadest possible framework by examining not only Mexican social and economic changes (especially those produced by NAFTA) but also the concurrent developments in Chicago that has made it a destination for so many.  All of this will be put within the context of Chicago’s history as an immigrant and working-class city.  The emphasis of the course, however, will be on the Mexicans and Mexican-Americans themselves and the worlds they have created.

151 Introduction to Philosophy: War and  the Challenge of Pacifism
We will explore the moral dilemmas associated with war, using materials from a variety of sources and disciplines, including traditional philosophy, literature, and film. We will engage in the philosophical task of questioning what is often unquestioned, whether war can have a moral sanction. Given the September 11 attacks, there is a powerful consensus that the “war against terror” is just. Yet the actions of terrorists might equally be described as criminal rather than warlike. We do often hear our goals described in terms of “bringing criminals to justice,” which evokes images of law rather than war. These issues raise the more general and philosophical questions concerning how the killing in war can ever be justified. There is a long and honored tradition in Western thought that seeks to elaborate the conditions that make fighting a war just. There is an equally long, if less mainstream, tradition that contends war is by its very nature immoral. We will sort through various positions on war, relating our theoretical discussions to current events. For Fall 2005, this course will include several trips to relevant sites in the Chicago area.

153 Literary Studies: Reading Genres
This course is designed to introduce students to the critical reading of imaginative literature. We will examine a wide variety of works from the present and past, from writers both celebrated and obscure. Students will learn the formal conventions associated with the major literary genres -- poetry, the novel, short fiction, the essay, and drama -- as well as a variety of critical approaches to those genres. Readings will include Philip Roth¹s The Ghost Writer, August Wilson¹s Fences, the poetry of Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, essays by Martin Luther King and Maxine Hong Kingston, and more.

154 Understanding Language
Taking our ability to communicate for granted, we rarely ask: “What is language?” This course aims to create an awareness of language as a system of systems, which, although finite in its rules, is able to produce an infinite number of grammatical sentences. Once this system's phonological, morphological, and syntactic components are understood, we will apply this understanding to the correlations between language and culture, language and literature, and language and the dictionary. This course also considers concepts of creativity, metaphors, and allusion in language.

156 Love in Literature and Society
The concept of love, basic to human nature, has been treated in literature from time immemorial. This course examines that treatment from classical antiquity to today. Some of the works to be read are Leo Buscaglia’s Love, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Gottfried of Strassburg’s Tristan And Isolde, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Plato’s The Symposium. Starting with popular modern works, the course will then focus on the masterpieces, including Shakespeare’s immortal and seminal drama as well as a German classic of the Middle Ages.

158 "What Makes Great History?"
This course is an in-depth exploration of a handful of great works by modern historians, with a view to understanding history as a discipline when at its best. What kinds of questions are these historians interested in asking? Why do they choose to ask those questions, and how do they ask them? What means do they use to develop and present answers? How are differences in style of historical presentation related to differences in substance? To consider these and related questions, classic works by such historians as Edward Gibbon, Jacob Burckhardt, Frederick Jackson Turner, and Carl Becker will be discussed, along with recent books by Natalie Zemon Davis and Jonathan Spence. Their letters, methodological essays, autobiographical statements, or critics’ assessments will be explored and will illuminate aspects of our study including visits to collections at the Art Institute and the Newberry Library in Chicago.

162 Religions of Asia in Chicago
An introduction to three Asian religious traditions as they are practiced in the Chicago area: Hinduism, Daoism, and Buddhism. We will read the primary foundational texts of the three traditions, along with contemporary essays and literature that reflect the practice of these traditions in the United States and Asia. The structure of the class includes discussions, readings, and written work as well as visits to the Art Institute, a Hindu temple, Chinese Temple, and Zen Buddhist Center so that students can meet people who practice these traditions.

167 Elvis!
Elvis – both dead and alive – will serve many purposes in this class.  First, the class will use him as a way of examining the general contours of twentieth-century U.S. history.  Second, Elvis, his music, and public response to both will be the occasion to get at some significant issues of postwar American; the origins and development of rock ‘n’ roll; drugs; the commodification of culture; and race relations.  Finally Elvis – again, dead and alive – will be a way to look at some of the most important and enduring issues in American history: the meaning of success and opportunity; the racialization of sex and the body; regionalism; class and masculinity; and the problem of sin.

168 Literature of the Vietnam War
The American War in Vietnam has been chronicled in conventional histories, memoirs, and oral histories, as well as in a variety of genres of imaginative literature. This course will provide students with an understanding of the war’s historical conditions, as well as the ways in which that history has been refracted through a variety of literary forms. What is the real war? What authority can imaginative writers claim in telling truths about the conflict? In what ways do writers’ ideological orientations condition their accounts of Vietnam? The readings for the course include Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Bobby Ann Mason’s In Country, and Truong Nhu Tang’s Vietcong Memoir.

169 Cultural Contributions of Chicago’s Latino Communities
This course will examine the impact of immigrant groups from Spanish-speaking countries on Chicago’s culture. Particular emphasis will be on visual arts, literature, and film. Visits to the Mexican Fine Arts Museum, Pilsen, and Little Village to see murals and meet artists and to the Chicago Latino Cultural Center at Columbia College will be included. Students will report back on their own field studies and excursions with a partner to cultural events and places where Chicago’s Spanish-speaking community gathers, such as music clubs, churches, groceries, and restaurants.

170 Writing Chicago
Chicago has been the breeding ground of some of America’s greatest literature. In this course, we will read the classics of Chicago literature, including both works by such luminaries as Saul Bellow, Nelson Algren, Richard Wright, and Carl Sandburg and works by Chicago’s current writers. In addition to studying these authors, we will write our own creative works about the city, based on frequent trips to the city itself. On these journeys we will visit some of the famous sites of Chicago’s literary heritage and come to know the city as a physical, social, and historical space. This knowledge will fuel our creative efforts.

171  American Public Education: Examination of the Promise of Education for All
This course examines approaches to diversity issues in public education, including access issues and achievement issues, and the effects of such approaches on the lives of adolescents and children, including identity formation, family relationships, and perspectives on learning.  The course focuses on the specific provisions of the recent No Child Left Behind federal legislation.  We will discuss the following questions:  Why the focus on the “achievement gap” between African-Americans and Latinos in comparison with White students?  Why the focus on teacher preparation?  What have been the results of NCLB on teaching and learning conditions in our nation’s public schools?  Ultimately, we will discuss the concept of educational equity and our nation’s efforts to reach this goal.

172 Women, Power, and Representation in the Renaissance
In the late medieval ages, women were relegated by convention and religious authority to a subordinate position to men. Yet some women overcame these strictures and made profound contributions to the cultural efflorescence known as the Renaissance. This course will explore some of the ways women in the Renaissance overcame the obstacles placed before them to create works of art and to manipulate the culture of their time. Among the topics we will consider are the role of the image in constructing Renaissance notions of women; the manipulation of traditional images of power by women rulers to support their claims to sovereignty; the genres of writing most available to women in the Renaissance, with a special emphasis on the epistolary genre; women's access to art making and patronage activities, in the secular world and in the convent; and strategies by which women influenced the style and messages of works of art.

184 Collage and Culture in Chicago
Collage, the practice of assembling works of art, music, literature, or film out of the debris and the cast-off bits of other realms of endeavor (or cutting up and re-assembling different types of media to form finished pieces), has been the most ubiquitous, consistently upsetting, and defining (art) practice of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In this class we will examine significant and defining moments in the history of this method of working, focusing on its contribution to artistic thought and practice within Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, Pop and Fluxus, and the multi-media sampling bonanzas of the contemporary arena. We will focus on artwork produced in Chicago and its substantial connection to these movements, by visiting work archived at Chicago institutions, such as the Art Institute, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, as well as sites of contemporary production, such as the Experimental Sound Studio. We will examine archives of local collectors when possible, period films, musical recordings, and texts by artists, curators, and scholars, analyzing how this practice evolved from the compositional and conceptual issues surrounding the violation of illusory, perspectival space to the commodity critiques and transgressive samplings of the present.

185 Personal Lives Observed, Renaissance  to Enlightenment
Historical consideration of a series of personal lives, across the four centuries before 1800, using materials that permit close-up observation, such as the ‘microhistory,’ the diary or journal, and the autobiography.  Emphasis on continuity and change in life priorities and outlook during these centuries, use of available materials for understanding the nature and meaning of lives in the past, and the value of individual lives for larger historical understanding. Case studies include Florentine businessmen around 1400 revealed in their diaries, the relationship portrayed by the letters of a sixteenth-century German couple, the divergent lives of Galileo and his daughter, the Protestant experience on display in the papers of a seventeenth-century London artisan, James Boswell’s journal of his remarkable life in London in 1762-63, and Benjamin Franklin’s autobiographical account.

186 Chicago as History
This course, combining classroom sessions with field studies in Chicago, explores several key episodes in the history of Chicago. Among them: displacement of Native Americans; emergence as a national transportation center; industrialization; population diversity; the great fire of 1871; labor conflicts; the race riot of 1919;  metropolitan expansion; and globalization.

187 World War II: The European Experience
This course examines the European aspect of World War II. We begin with the origins: the flawed peace settlement after World War I; the rise of Nazism in Germany; Hitler’s expansion into East Central Europe in 1938-39. Then we look at the war itself, from the 1939 Blitzkrieg against Poland to the fall of Berlin in 1945, including the huge German-Russian conflict, the Holocaust, and movements of collaboration and resistance. Lastly, we explore how the intensifying conflict among the Allies influenced the postwar settlement and led to the Cold War.

188 Intercultural Awareness and Dialogue
In a multicultural society, discussion about issues of conflict and community are necessary in order to facilitate understanding between social/cultural groups. In this intercultural experience, students will: participate in semi-structured face-to-face meetings with students from other social identity groups; visit and experience various ethnic neighborhoods in Chicago; discuss relevant reading material and explore their own and the other students’ experiences in various social, environmental, and institutional contexts; examine narratives and historical, psychological, and sociological materials that address each group’s experience within a U.S. context; participate in exercises that will be debriefed in class and in learning journals; and learn about pertinent issues facing students on campus and in society. The goal of the course is to create an experience in which students engage in open and constructive dialogue, learning, and exploration concerning issues of intergroup relations, conflict, and community.

189 Public Sculpture in Urban and Suburban Chicago
This course will be devoted to a first-hand examination of public sculpture in Chicago and its suburbs. Using intensive field study with photographic documentation, background readings and research, group discussions, individual research-based and analytical writings, and the development of an original public sculpture proposal, students will gain insight into the factors involved in the ideation, planning, funding and execution of public sculpture in urban and suburban venues. The class will tackle problems of community interest, artistic invention and intervention, accessibility, patronage, “name-branding”, and symbology in an effort to gain practical academic skills while learning about an important facet of the rich cultural experience that Chicago holds for residents, commuters and tourists.

190 Envisioning Chicago: Writing and Photographing the Chicago Landscape
This course will combine digital photography with creative writing as we encounter and respond to the diversity of Chicago’s landscapes, from the urban core to the prairies and the “Third Coast.” We will visit photographic exhibits, museums, land preserves and parks as we seek answers to such aesthetic questions as “What is a beautiful landscape? What gets left out of the frame? We will also respond to Chicagoland with non-fiction essays, poetry and place-centered fiction in order to consider how the written word joins the image in portraying a cultural and natural landscape. The goal of the course will be to produce an exhibit of images and writing about the region to be displayed in the Center for Chicago Programs. Students are strongly encouraged to bring their own digital camera if they own one.  For those who do not, the library has some available.

191 Reading Performance in Chicago
This course aims to develop your ability to read plays, not only on the page but also on Chicago's stages as well.  Just as we analyze and interpret plays when we read them in a book or online, we also “read” the visual and aural signs – sets, costumes, lighting, sound effects, music, etc. – created by theater artists.  By combining classroom work with field trips, the course will take full advantage of Chicago’s universally acclaimed performing arts scene.  We may take as many as 8 field trips over the course of the semester; approximately every other week.  A lab fee of $500 covering the cost of tickets and transportation will be charged to each student’s tuition account.

192 Themes of Suffering in World Literature
Why does suffering exist in the world?  Why do we perceive that “good” people so often meet with difficulty, while “bad” people seem to prevail?  These are questions that people of different cultures and societies have asked throughout human history.  Their responses to these questions take us into diverse interpretations of the world, the divine and human society. 

In this course, we will focus on the ways in which suffering is approached, depicted and presented as a problem in representative works of literature.  Examples of texts to be considered are the Book of Job, The Story of the Stone, Sima Qian’s Records of the Historian and Paradise Lost.

193 Introduction to Political Philosophy
By tracing the development of political philosophy from its roots in Greek philosophy through the social contract tradition to modern liberalism and critiques of colonialism, this course will examine a number of questions central to political philosophy.  What is the state?  What model of government is best? What is the nature of political rights?  How do governments gain legitimate authority?  Readings will include Socrates, Plato, Locke, Mill, Marx, Martin Luther King Jr., Rawls, Nozick, Chomsky, Churchill, and Galeano.

194 Playwrights and Performers: Considering Voice
Throughout theater history, actors and directors have developed performance techniques in response to the styles of new plays, and playwrights have developed new literary styles for the techniques of specific performers.  Rather than follow the typical pattern of studying plays separate from performance techniques, in this course we will combine a study of dramatic literature with some basic training in some recent acting techniques, seeking how the “voice” of the playwright in writing becomes the physical “voice” of the performer.  As we alternate between seminar discussions of the dramatic texts in historical context and studio classes to explore specific approaches to acting, we will focus on playwrights and performers who actually worked together and influenced each other.  We will supplement our work in class with 3-6 field trips to see performances in Chicago, for which there will be a fee of up to $400 to cover the cost of tickets and transportation.

195 Segregated Chicago: Race and Politics in the Windy City
This course is an introduction into the role of race, ethnicity, and politics in Chicago.  A significant portion of Chicago’s political story is one about ethnicity and race.  Our study or face, ethnicity, and Chicago politics begins with Mayor Richard J. Daley and the policies enacted by his administration in the 1950s that restricted African Americans access to jobs, housing, medical care and other city services.

196  American Playwrights: A Chicago View
This course is an introduction, through drama, to the study of literature. As we read together a variety of plays by American writers, students will be asked to develop skills as critical thinkers and writers. At the heart of the course will be a series of at least five mandatory field trips to theater productions in Chicago, trips through which students will be exposed to the diversity of the Chicago theater scene, from the mainstream to the fringe. The particular plays will vary from year to year, but will likely include works by Eugene O’Neill, David Mamet, August Wilson, Clifford Odets, and Arthur Miller. Themes to be discussed will certainly include American identity and community, and versions of American history as it is redacted through the playwright’s imagination.

197 Foundations of Economic Thinking
An introduction to how economists think about economic problems and issues.  Standard micro and macro topics will be covered, including consumer and firm behavior, financial incentives, aggregate demand and supply, production, employment, globalization, and growth.  Economic foundations will be applied to domestic and international economic policy issues.  FIYS197 satisfies the Economics 110 requirement for economics and business majors and minors.

198  How Chicago Got Its Stars 1803-1933
This course will analyze Chicago’s growth in the 19th and early 20th centuries, using the commemorative stars on the city’s official flag as an organizing device to focus on four historical eras:

1. Fort Dearborn (1803-1837): historical geography, military precursor to development, canal building, Indian removal, economic collapse 2. Chicago Fire 1871 (1848-1885):  railroad hub, commodities market, immigration, disaster and architectural renaissance 3. World’s Columbian Exposition (1880-1894): women’s role in reform and high culture, model industrialism and labor unrest 4. Century of Progress Exposition (1929-1935): industrial center, racial tension, organized crime, economic collapse.