Interdisciplinary Studies Program
Focal Point Course Listing
301 30942 LEC
M W F 09:40 AM - 10:40
AM 4
Winslade, Jason L
Lincoln Park Campus
IRISH MYTH & POLITICS
From Guiness to Leprechauns to Riverdance, Irish culture has become quite
a commodity. Yet the troubled history of the Emerald Isle, with its constant
invasions and colonizations, is often glossed over and romanticized.
This course will examine the connections between Irish myth and
history and contemporary Irish politics, in several multidisciplinary
methods. We will examine the early medieval Irish king, Brian Boru, through
primary sources and novelizations, and examine why his dream of unity
still creates so much conflict in Ireland today. In doing so, we will
explore the presence and function of myth in contemporary Irish culture
through storytelling and music, history, current political events, and
popular “Celtic” culture.
302
30943 LEC M W F 08:30 AM - 09:30
AM 4
Hyman, Ross A
Lincoln Park Campus
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
This seminar examines the events surrounding the construction of the first
atomic bomb, beginning with the discovery of the atomic nucleus at the
turn of the twentieth century, and continuing through to the first three
nuclear explosions: the Trinity test in New Mexico and the destruction
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The main goal of the seminar is to understand
how and why a group of scientists (supplemented by thousands of technicians,
construction workers, machinists, etc.) came to build what they called
"the gadget." We will first discuss how and why the bomb came
to be built, including both the scientific discoveries that made an atomic
bomb possible and the historical events that led to the large-scale, secret
military-run project to build the bomb. We will then focus on the relationship
between science and society: how society affects the way science is done
and how society decides whether and how to use the technological products
of science. Finally, we will discuss the ethics of the Manhattan Project
from the perspectives of the scientists involved, the government, and
the citizenry at large.
303
30944 LEC M W F 12:00 PM - 01:00
PM 4
Isackson, R.J.
Lincoln Park Campus
FOLK ROCK TO ROCK FOLK 1950-70
304 30945 LEC
M W F 09:40 AM - 10:40
AM 4
Spalding, Rose J
Lincoln Park Campus
FIDEL CASTRO
Is he a nationalist hero, the savior of his poor, colonized nation? A
brilliant Marxist who version of socialism has endured while weaker form
collapsed? A patriarch who rules his country like an old-style plantation
master? Cuba's revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, is one of the most
controversial political figures of out time. Competing images and interpretations
of his life and impact are presented with great passion by his advocates,
rivals, and enemies.
This course is designed to bring you into that debate. It will let you sort through the competing perspectives and construct your own interpretation of the man and his revolution. In the process, you will become familiar with the history of Cuba and inter-American relations, competing theories of revolution and social change, the major transformations that have been made in Cuban society (class, power, gender, race) during his rule, and the debate within the Cuban-American community about how to understand and respond to him.
Students in this class will read competing biographical
materials, steep themselves in his speeches and writings, talk with some
Cubans who have left the island to escape his rule and others who have
stayed, and debate the current U.S. policy toward the Castro regime. Assignments
include essays comparing competing biographical texts, interviews with
Cubans and Cuban Americans, archival research in the Venceremos Brigade
collection in the Richardson Library, and participation in formal class
debate.
307 30948 LEC
M W F 01:10 PM - 02:10
PM 4
White, David
Lincoln Park Campus
PLATO, PLATONIC LOVE, LOVE POE
This course consists in a close reading of the two Platonic dialogues
analyzing the nature of love–-the SYMPOSIUM and the PHAEDRUS. The
approach to love developed in these dialogues will be contrasted with
parallel expressions in the lyrical poetry of Sappho on love, loss of
love, and individual emotions, as well as modern poetic statements concerning
these themes by Amy Lowell and Emily Dickinson. The purpose of the
course is to present a powerful and influential philosophical perspective
on love and to compare that perspective with evocative and penetrating
poetic visions of the same reality. The primary topics covered will
be: the place of sexuality in love, the importance of communication through
discourse between the lover and the beloved, and the status of emotions
in the love-relationship. The popular notion of "Platonic love"
will also be closely scrutinized by reading the dialogues from which this
notion was distilled and determining just how "Platonic" the
notion of "Platonic love" really is.
308 30949 LEC
M W F 01:10 PM - 02:10
PM 4
Nellis, Mary M
Lincoln Park Campus
IN COLD BLOOD/AMER VIOLENCE
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is the study of a mass murder without motive
or profit. This seminar will examine the influence the book has had on
psychological studies of mass murderers, on the media's role of in covering
mass murders, and on society's attitudes toward capital punishment. Students
will then follow the course of American violence to the present day rampage
killings and school shootings. A class presentation will focus on a current
situation. Last year the class held a mock trial for "The Texas Seven."
Materials will include the text, film, newspaper and magazine articles.
309
30950 LEC M W F 01:10 PM - 02:10
PM 4
Suozzo Jr, Andrew G
Lincoln Park Campus
STORMING THE BASTILLE
This course centers on the taking of the Bastille as a defining event
of the French Revolution. It illustrates the Bastille’s nefarious reputation
through two prison memoirs. Readings and other materials also include
selected primary sources describing the actual storming of the Bastille,
eighteenth-century American commentary on the event, nineteenth and twentieth-century
historical appraisals of the significance of taking the fortress, a fictional
account of the siege, and a sequence from the film version of that account.
As part of DePaul’s focal point offerings, this course
is designed to treat a single topic in depth, from diverse perspectives.
It uses challenging texts for critical reading and written interpretation.
Thus the course presents multiple interpretations of the taking of the
Bastille in order to illustrate the inherent difficulties in establishing
an "objective" and "definitive" account of this event
and in order to indicate the even greater problems of assessing its significance.
This course also reviews the greater liberties taken in fictional narratives
and the different criteria applied to such works. It is structured to
promote reflection on why revolutions often seek defining events and why
such events may differ radically from culture to culture.
310 30951 LEC
M W F 12:00 PM - 01:00
PM 4 Rivers, Christina
R
Lincoln Park Campus
MARTIN LUTHER KING
311 30952 LEC M W F 02:20 PM - 03:20
PM 4
White, David
Lincoln Park Campus
PLATO, PLATONIC LOVE, LOVE POE
312 30953 LEC M W F 02:20 PM - 03:20
PM 4
Edwards, Ronald
Lincoln Park Campus
EVOLUTIONARY BIO AT THE MOVIES
313 30954 LEC T
TH 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
4 Cosentino, Delia
A.
Lincoln Park Campus
COLONIAL LATIN AMERICAN ART
The Virgin of Guadalupe in Colonial History and Image
The goddess at the heart of modern Mexican nationalism today is an almost
omnipresent symbol with multiple layers of meaning. This class takes as
its focus the topic of the Virgin of Guadalupe, especially as her image
developed during the colonial history of Mexico. Explorations of the Virgin’s
early significance will be grounded first in a solid understanding of
the historical and art historical context in which she first appeared.
Readings and discussions will then consider various aspects of the emerging
cult, including sources for the original legend, issues of syncretism,
and aspects of Marian iconography celebrated in early depictions of Guadalupe.
314 30955 LEC
T 08:30 AM - 11:30 AM
4 Girson, Matthew
Lincoln Park Campus
HISTORY MEMORY & THE HOLOCAUST
Tragic events cast long shadows.
This class will explore the evolving form of the Holocaust as it
slips away from living memory and deeper into the discourses of history.
Literature, film, and art will frame larger discussions of how
history and memory form and are formed by our understanding of the Holocaust. Class discussions, assignments, and projects will provide students
with opportunities to explore the topics at hand while negotiating their
place in the past, present, and future.
315 30956 LEC
M W 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
4 Martin, Bill
Lincoln Park Campus
CHESS/CULTURE
There is a great deal of interesting culture surrounding the game of chess,
and it is beneficial for critical thinking to learn to play the game of
chess and to improve one's play. No chess experience is required for taking
this course. We will undoubtedly have students in the course at all levels
of play (including some who may be better players than the instructor),
or no even no level. In the first week we will learn the basics of the
game, and we will help each other to improve throughout the quarter. We
will spend the first part of each class meeting playing chess, and working
on chess problems, notation, etc. In most classes the instructor will
present a brief lecture on some aspect of chess and its relation to culture
and to philosophical and other theoretical questions. In the third part
of each meeting we will deal with literature, film, painting, poetry,
and music that are either about chess or that take their inspiration from
chess. Among the theoretical issues we will deal with are the question
of gender in chess; chess, computers, and artificial intelligence; and
analogies between chess and military strategies.
316 30957 LEC
M W 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
4 Cedzich, Angelika
U
Lincoln Park Campus
DAO: FROM THE WAY OF LAO-TZU T
317 30958 LEC
F 09:40 AM - 12:55 PM
4 TBA
Lincoln Park Campus
MARK TWAIN & THE CHANGING AGE
318 30959 LEC T
TH 10:10 AM - 11:40 AM
4 Burton, John D
Lincoln Park Campus
PURITIANS & WITCHES: THE SALEM
319 30960 LEC M W F 02:20 PM - 03:20
PM 4
Thomas, David J
Lincoln Park Campus
ANTONIN ARTAUD & THE THEATER O
320 30961 LEC T
TH 10:10 AM - 11:40 AM
4 Hewitt, Nina
Lincoln Park Campus
WORLD FORESTS
What organism is at once the most massive, the tallest, and the longest-living
on earth? If you guessed "tree", you are right: The oldest recorded
tree, a coastal redwood known as "Eon" was 6,200 years of age.
Another redwood beat the record for height with a 370-ft treetop. The
weightiest tree, a giant sequoia, tipped the scale at 2000 tons - Compare
that to the largest blue whale, weighing a mere 190 tons! The focal point
of this course is the fantastic and greatly under-appreciated tree: The
course focuses on forest ecology and conservation, but also looks at tree
origins, intrigue, societal values, representations in art and literature
and their prospects for a bright future in an increasingly human-dominated
biosphere.
We will explore themes in forest ecology, conservation,
and societal values through classroom discussions, debates, and activities
that incorporate student experiences and ideas, and information in art
and literature. To make real our understanding of forests, we will visit
local nature preserves and survey tree-lined streets – Chicago’s urban
forests. You will conduct a study of urban forests in your neighborhoods
in terms of tree size, age, species type and effects on the physical environment
(light levels, temperature, wind speed). With this information, we will
make conclusions about the health and diversity of these heavily managed
forests, and their values to urban society and wildlife.
321 30962 LEC
T TH 10:10 AM - 11:40 AM
4 Johnston, Guillemette
C
Lincoln Park Campus
YOGA SUTRAS
This course is based on the text Yoga Sutras of Patañjali. This text,
which provides the authoritative exposition of classical Yoga and underlies
all yoga practice as it currently exists in India and throughout the world,
has been ascribed to the semi-mythical grammarian and yogi Patañjali,
about whom essentially nothing is known. Best estimates place the composition
of this work around 200 CE.
322 30963 LEC
T TH 10:10 AM - 11:40 AM
4 Larrabee, Mary J
Lincoln Park Campus
NATURE IN THE CITY
When we think of a big city, it is often with an image of hot asphalt
and concrete, tall glassed buildings and traffic jams.
Chicago--Big City! Where
is "Nature" in all this?
Our course will investigate the many ways in which people find
nature even in a city. Students will visit some of the urban green spaces and institutions
that preserve and present "Nature" for our viewing–neighborhood
gardens and city parks, Lincoln Park Zoo and the Nature Museum.
Students will consider what attitudes these places show toward
Nature and what definitions of Nature are operative in the various discourses
on Nature. The course will
investigate Nature through naturist, ecological, and philosophical readings
and art works, as well as Eurocentric, Asian, and Native American perspectives,
among others. Students will
be required to participate in the spring Vincentian Service Day at a nature-related
site on a Saturday in May.
325 30966
LEC T TH 10:10 AM - 11:40 AM
4 O'Brien, Thomas
W
Lincoln Park Campus
HOMELESSNESS IN AMERICA
326
30967 LEC T TH 10:10 AM - 11:40 AM
4 Budrys, Grace
Lincoln Park Campus
UTOPIAN SOCIETY/SCI FI
This course requires students to read selected novels in which authors
present their respective visions of idealized societies. The novels show
the logical progression of trends that already exist. Some authors describe
trends leading to much more satisfactory living arrangements; others predict
that current trends will result in "dys-utopia." The novels
read in this course are classics that have stood the test of time – people
continue to read them because they really are imaginative and provocative.
Students are expected to compare how authors portray certain basic social
arrangements and compare them to the arrangements that we employ currently
– for such things as family, education, religion, politics, and the economy.
Students are expected to take turns presenting discussions on particular
social arrangements described in the novels – that is the seminar part
of the course. There are no tests, only papers based on the five books
read in this course.
327 30968 LEC
T TH 11:50 AM - 01:20 PM
4 Cyganowski, Carol
K
Lincoln Park Campus
LORRAINE HANSBERRY
The seminar will follow Hansberry's spectacular, if short, career. We
will start with her sources of inspiration--Irish theatre, Langston Hughes,
her family history--and view film of her childhood experiences before
moving into reading her pathbreaking play, A Raisin in the Sun. Discussing
Raisin in terms of its sources and accomplishments, we will also look
at the two
The second half of the class will be reading the variety of Hansberry's
Post-Raisin plays: Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, Les Blancs, etc.
The final assignment will be reading a number of critical articles on
Hansberry's work generally and on A Raisin in the Sun specifically. Students
will choose an article with which they disagree and write a paper summarizing
the original article's argument and contrasting it with their own conclusions,
supported by specific examples from the dramatic texts and other readings.
Students will have opportunities to submit preliminary drafts of this
final paper and to revise before final grading. Attendance and participation
are required.
328 30969 LEC
T TH 11:50 AM - 01:20 PM
4 Brault, Pascale-Anne
Lincoln Park Campus
NAPOLEON
329 30970 LEC T
TH 11:50 AM - 01:20 PM
4 Pagliaro, Susanna
F
Lincoln Park Campus
ANITA HILL/CLARENCE HILL HEARING
At the Intersection of Race, Sex and American Politics: The Anita Hill/Clarence
Thomas Hearing will critically examine the dynamic clash between racial
and sexual politics within the context of the 1991 Anita Hill-Clarence
Thomas hearing. The course will proceed by asking a series of critical
questions that will attempt to reveal the social, political and historical
relationships among sex, race and power in late 20th century America.
What happens when racial and sexual politics meet with competing interests
or agendas? What kind of political space is created? What hierarchies
result? What fuels the divide historically, politically and socially?
How is sexual harassment itself a politically, historically and socially
constructed phenomenon?
At the Intersection of Race, Sex and American Politics:
The Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas Hearing will draw on feminist theory, race
theory, philosophy, and political and social theory. The majority of class
meetings will engage students in discussion of the texts. Students will
do extensive writing throughout the quarter. In addition, students will
be responsible for formal group presentations. Students will learn how
to engage in university-level critique, be sensitive to the multiple perspectives
from which a complex issue can and must be viewed, and be aware that diverse
political and social agendas exist and may be as important as their own.
Primary objectives of this course include the development of critical
reading, writing, thinking and speaking skills.
330 31820 LEC
T TH 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
4 Pereira, Peter D
Lincoln Park Campus
SYMMETRY
Symmetry, or near symmetry, abounds in the world around us. You can see
it in natural objects such as butterflies, beehives, animals, the human
body, fruits and nuts, flowers, snowflakes, waves, or geological formations.
You can see it in artistic productions such as paintings, sculpture, poems,
novels, or musical compositions. You can see it in cultural artifacts
such as textiles and carpets, decorative patterns, corporate logos, technological
inventions, architecture, tilings, or agriculture. And you can see it
in scientific theories about molecules, crystals, genes, primitive organisms,
astronomy, gravitation, electricity, or the human psyche. While these
topics are often studied separately, we will try to look at them from
a common perspective. During the first week, we will look at the world
around us, describing and analyzing what we see. Then, for about 3 weeks,
we will take an abstract look at symmetry considering questions about
types of symmetry, relations between various symmetries, combinations
of symmetries, harmony and proportion, fuzzy symmetries, and anti-symmetries.
Though this will introduce a mathematical perspective, no special knowledge
of mathematics beyond that required of any entering freshman will be assumed.
After this, we will apply this abstract knowledge to a variety of phenomena
that reflect students' interests, considering approaches to symmetries
in various cultures. (Islamic art, Yemeni textiles, Turkish carpets, Navaho
blankets, Mayan architecture, Hindu sculpture, Japanese origami, African
masks, impressionist paintings, Renaissance music, or Pythagorean philosophy
are all possibilities.) Finally, in the last portion of the course students
will be asked to construct something -- perhaps a poem, a model, a musical
composition, an art object, a computer program, or an essay -- and then
to analyze its symmetrical or asymmetrical properties. These constructions
will be critiqued by the rest of the class and could become part of the
student's portfolio.
331 31824 LEC
T TH 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
4 Cestaro, Gary P
Lincoln Park Campus
SEX, DEATH AND KNOWLEDGE IN THE ITALIAN MIDDLE AGES
This seminar takes as its focal point Umberto Eco's international best‑seller
The Name of the Rose (1980; English translation 1983), an elaborate and
erudite murder mystery set in a medieval Italian monastery and written
by one of Italy's leading intellectuals. In addition to being a great
read, Eco's novel is filled with often complex references to medieval
culture: art, history, literature, music, philosophy, politics, and religion.
In this seminar, we will read The Name of the Rose along with a variety
of original texts (and some secondary readings) of philosophy, theology,
art and literature that shed light on the contents of the novel. By focussing
on the novel and the culture it evokes, students in this seminar will
have the opportunity to explore and understand in depth one of the most
exciting and intriguing periods in the history of western culture. At
once literary and truly interdisciplinary, the seminar also offers a strong
visual component: we will make regular use of films, slides and videos
to help bring to life the contours of the period under study. We will
also make use of a precious Chicago resource, The Newberry Library, to
view. and even touch, the sorts of medieval books and manuscripts featured
in the novel.
332 34762 LEC
T TH 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
4 Drury, Lin J
Lincoln Park Campus
CHICAGO'S VULNERABLE POP
This course will focus on the growing number of vulnerable people in the
Chicago area and the concept of vulnerability. The content of the class
will show how, in the absence of resources, we are all at risk. According
to author Lu Ann Aday, "Both the origins and remedies of vulnerability
are rooted in the bonds of human communities" (1993, p. 1). Any of
us, at almost any time, can find ourselves in need of "physical help,
spiritual solace, or warm companionship" (Aday, 1993, p.1). Often,
those in need depend upon a loose arrangement of health and social services
commonly referred to as the "safety net;" however, recent efforts
at governmental cost containment, combined with increased political conservatism,
have reduced the availability of these services. The expanding numbers
of Chicago area residents who have no safety net may be victims of domestic
violence, the impoverished elderly, immigrants or refugees, working poor
families, substance abusers, mentally ill individuals, or homeless. The
primary product of the course will be a research paper exploring the vulnerability
of a Chicago area population of interest to the student. Individualized
readings will be recommended and an annotated bibliography will be required
to demonstrate the student’s grasp of the reading material. An initial
draft of the research paper will be required at midterm, with a final
draft due upon completion of the course. A written case study analysis
and a brief reaction paper will be required prior to midterm to assist
in assessing and refining the student’s writing skills.
333 34763 LEC
T TH 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
4 Wolf, Micheal
Lincoln Park Campus
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
334 34764 LEC T
TH 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM
4 Burton, John D
Lincoln Park Campus
PURITIANS & WITCHES: THE SALEM
This course examines the belief in witchcraft in early American culture
with particular emphasis on the Salem Witchcraft Trials.
Students examine how various interpretations of the Salem Witchcraft
outbreak can be developed using psychological, sociological, biological,
political/legal, and feminist interpretations.
Students will investigate the trials through primary sources in
order to build their own interpretations of the events and seek to discover
the role of historical events in the development of American culture,
through various literary sources from the 19th and 20th centuries.
336
34766 LEC T TH 03:10 PM - 04:40 PM
4 Meritt Jr, Dennis
A
Lincoln Park Campus
ENDANGRED SPECIES/HABITAT
337 34767 LEC
T TH 03:10 PM - 04:40 PM
4 Lakebrink, Joan
M
Lincoln Park Campus
BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATN
The Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education1954 focused the world's
attention on the phrase "separation but equal" in terms of race
relations in this nation. This phenomenon has deep roots in American culture
beginning as early as 1619 and can be studied through the lenses of the
American jurisprudence system, African-American culture, American history
from the colonial times to the present, and in literary genre. The class
will study primary and secondary sources including colonial slave codes
plus Supreme Court documents from Dred Scott to Plessey v. Ferguson and
other selected cases that help understand Brown in terms of its historical,
political, social and educational contexts. In addition, writings, including
speeches, essays and fiction written by such African Americans as Booker
T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, A. Leon Higginbotham, Zora Neale Hurston,
Maya Angelou will be studied. Students are expected to be active participants
in class, write short reflective essays, keep a journal, and write and
present a summary paper reflecting on their own experiences and reflections
relative to themes developed in the seminar.
338 34768 LEC
T TH 03:10 PM - 04:40 PM
4 Graf, Ronald A
Lincoln Park Campus
VOLUNTARY MOTHERHOOD
This seminar course examines the Voluntary Motherhood Movement in relation
to the right of women to control their reproductive destinies during the
late 19th Century and through the 20th Century.
Feminist theory as it speaks to the issues of access to contraceptive
information, the right to limit family size, and fair access to reproductive
technology are issues for discussion.
Issues of abortion and parenthood as a right for men and women,
whether single or married, heterosexual or homosexual are presented and
debated. The history of the voluntary motherhood movement serves as a
lesson about the changing status of women and the nature of family in
society. The course involves
seminar discussion, site visit, assigned readings, independent library
& Internet research, abstracting, critique, and personal narrative.
Please come register for this course, if you find these issues
to be of importance in your life.
340 35249 LEC
M W F 02:20 PM - 03:20
PM 4
Rushing, Fannie
Lincoln Park Campus
BLACK RESISTANCE IN AMERICA
341
35258 LEC T TH 10:10 AM - 11:40 AM
4 McNeill, William
A
Lincoln Park Campus
STOICISM OF MARCUS AURELIUS
This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to engage
in philosophical reflection on themselves, and to consider the relevance
of philosophy to human life and society. In this course you will not only
learn about philosophy—how it began, what it is, and what it does—but
learn how to think philosophically about a wide range of issues including,
but not limited to, knowledge, truth, ethical life, time, the nature of
the self and of identity, and human mortality. Throughout the course,
students will practice reading, writing, and thinking critically and with
care, and learn to see why this is important.
We shall spend the first two weeks or so looking at
what philosophy is and considering the historical beginnings of philosophy
in the Pre-Socratic philosophers, Plato, and Aristotle. Following this,
we shall turn to the main course book, the Meditations of the Stoic philosopher
Marcus Aurelius, examining the historical background of Stoicism and reading
selectively the 12 books of the Meditations. Our readings will focus on
key themes of the text, such as reason or logos; time and transience;
one’s "character" or ethos; fate and destiny; care for the self;
human virtue; memory; and mortality.
342
35262 LEC TH 02:00 PM - 05:00 PM
4 Heilizer, Fred H
Lincoln Park Campus
MOTORCYCLES
343 35263 LEC T 04:50 PM - 08:05 PM
4 Halpert, Jane A
Lincoln Park Campus
WORK IN THE MOVIES
344
35272 LEC M W F 10:50 AM - 11:50
AM 4
Hahn, Regina U
Lincoln Park Campus
DISSIDENT WRITERS OF THE 20TH
602
30972 LEC T TH 11:50 AM - 01:20 PM
4 Saghafi, Kasra
Loop Campus LEWIS 1503
GHOSTS
603 34935 LEC M W 10:50 AM - 12:20 PM
4 Batavia, Ashok
Loop Campus LEWIS 1511
HUMAN DEV INDIA & CHINA:COMPAR
This course focuses on the world’s two most populous countries and the
role of religion, politics, and culture on their economic development.
We will discuss how education, health, population, poverty, and economic
growth impacts human and social development. We will also examine the
many differences between China and India in:
1.Their economic systems
2. Their political systems
3. Their culture and religion
4. Their ethnic groups
The course will examine the methods used by both countries
for human development that incorporate their respective values and beliefs.
604 34936 LEC
M W 01:10 PM - 02:40 PM
4 Batavia,Ashok
Loop Campus LEWIS 1506
HUMAN DEV INDIA & CHINA:COMPAR
This course focuses on the world’s two most populous countries and the
role of religion, politics, and culture on their economic development.
We will discuss how education, health, population, poverty, and economic
growth impacts human and social development. We will also examine the
many differences between China and India in:
1. Their economic systems
2. Their political systems
3. Their culture and religion
4. Their ethnic groups
The course will examine the methods used by both countries for human development
that incorporate their respective values and beliefs.
605 34937 LEC
T TH By Arrangement
4 Ghoshal, Animesh
Loop Campus
NAFTA: MYTHS & REALITIES
An important feature of the much discussed movement toward globalization
is the formation of preferential trading groups. Among these, the North
American Free Trade Agreement is unique in attempting to integrate developing
and developed countries. The differences in income levels between Canada
and the United States on one hand, and Mexico on the other, pose a challenge
to the orthodox theory of economic integration, and have given rise to
much political rhetoric. The cultural differences between the NAFTA trading
partners is also profound, and further complicate the attempt to remove
economic barriers. In this course, we will focus on economic aspects of
integration in North America, but beyond that, we will try to see how
historic, cultural, and political forces influence economic policy, and
how that, in turn, affects economic performance. We will examine globalization
and the concerns it raises, the terms of the NAFTA agreement, the motivations
of the parties, and the effects of NAFTA on each of the three economies,
as well as on non-members. We will also discuss the theory of economic
integration, compare NAFTA to the European Union, and analyze the expected
effects of the agreement on capital, skilled labor, and unskilled labor.
Finally, we will try to consider NAFTA from the point of view of the U.S.,
Canada, and Mexico, as well as of business and unions.
901 30974
LEC M
05:45 PM - 09:00 PM
4 Torres, Maria D
Lincoln Park Campus
CHICAGO BLUES & JAZZ
Great black migration of the 1940s brought over five million African American
from the South to the North. Chicago was a main port of entry.
The entire cultural and politics of the city was forever changed.
The city was transformed into a cultural capital for music, and the city
itself changed the musical forms that had been born in the rural southern
America.
This course aims to understand the history of Chicago,
it demographics, race relations and place in the world today through
a study of the history of its music, specifically blues and jazz.
Question’s of race, politics, and community
development will be looked at through music.
902 30975 LEC
W 05:45 PM - 09:00 PM
4 Suglia,Joseph V
Lincoln Park Campus
SACRIFICE ACROSS CULTURES
Most peoples around the world have had an idea of "sacrifice;"
but what they actually think it is, or how they describe it can vary enormously.
Some think sacrifice means you should be willing to lay down your own
life, or offer up someone else’s for some higher cause. Of course the
person whose life gets offered up may not agree with either being done
in for a cause or the cause itself. Others may think it means no more
than giving up something in honor of or in order to gain something else,
like going without candy during lent. Others claim that sacrifice has
been used by some to control others, or the undesired but possibly necessary
act that is needed to keep others from controlling them. After 1) considering
sacrifice as a question in and of itself, we will explore differing ideas
about sacrifice appearing in widely diverse cultural and historical situations.
These include: 2) classic Hindu religious structures; 3) pre-Conquest
Maya and Aztec myths, poetry, and rituals; 4) revolutionary peasants fighting
in the civil war in El Salvador in the 1980-90s; and 5) ancient and contemporary
mythic theologies of Christianity. Although this is a reading intensive
course, we will also draw from movies, and participate in group reports
and debates. Besides objective and essay exams, the final project will
include composing a myth, poem, or ritual describing a particular sacrificial
position.
905 34938 LEC
M 05:45 PM - 09:00 PM 4 Dube, Caleb
Lincoln Park Campus
CHICAGO BLUES
This course examines the role of the Blues in sustaining the social and
economic development efforts of African Americans in the South, surveying
a musical tradition-including Jazz, Rock and Roll, Soul and Rap-that has
embraced a radical vision of social change. Arguing that this folk discourse
emerged in response to economic and political restructuring in the Mississippi
Delta during the 20th century, the course shows how the Blues constitute
a critique of the plantation South, New South modernization, and the transformation
of capitalist agriculture during the so-called Green Revolution. Chicago
as a terminus of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South--and
its Blues scene--are intrinsically connected with places like the Delta
in this political-cultural-artistic discourse.
906 30965 LEC
W 05:45 PM - 09:00 PM
4 Schultz, Warren
C
Lincoln Park Campus
ARABIAN NIGHTS
907
35278 LEC T 05:45 PM - 09:00 PM
4 Johnsonbaugh, Richard
F
Loop Campus
Technology and Society: Views from Films
Will we ever have intelligent machines? How about machines that understand
and express emotions? Do we want such machines? Could such machines be
free autonomous agents or would they be merely unquestioning servants
to mankind? Are we playing God by trying to create such machines?
Does computer technology present a chance for a technological utopia?
Or, would that "perfect world" fail catastrophically, as have
all other attempts to build utopias? If these are questions, problems,
or concerns to you, this is the course for you! Films and guest
lecturers presenting a variety of views of technology will be used as
starting points for class discussions about the relationship of technology
to society. Films will be used to illustrate technology as both a positive
and a negative influence on society. Predictions (historic and current)
about the influence of technology on society are explored in films such
as "Colossus: The Forbin Project." Films such as "WarGames"
will be used to illustrate the limits of responsibility. We will discuss
how accurately these films depict the technologies explored, the role
of technology in shaping society, the role of society in shaping technology,
and what new technology is being developed. Students will be expected
to participate in class discussions. In addition, there will be quizzes,
writing assignments, and a final examination. For more information,
check the site: http://condor.depaul.edu/~rjohnson/film/
908 36035 LEC
W 05:45 PM - 09:00 PM
4 Steger, Wayne P
Lincoln Park Campus
POLITICS IN FILM & REALITY