More descriptions are coming in every day. As they are received from faculty, they will be posted here. If you have specific questions, or if there is no description listed, please contact the faculty member directly.

Focal Point Seminar Courses are available only to First-Year students.

AMERICAN CULTURE IN WWII
Course #23092 ISP 101- 201 M W F 9:40 AM-10:40 AM LPC
McCracken,Allison M
This American Studies-based course explores the way in which World War II changed American culture and society. Drawing on oral histories and popular culture from the period (music, radio, films, magazines), we will examine how World War II culture both addressed and sought to erase racial/ethnic divisions, redefined women's roles, enabled the development of distinct gay and lesbian subcultures, introduced the concept of nuclear war and genocide to a mass audience, and offered Americans a new vision of themselves as world leaders. The course will involve critical writing and reading of both written documents and various forms of popular culture.

IN COLD BLOOD/AMER VIOLNC
Course #23144 ISP 101-202 M W F 9:40 AM-10:40 AM LPC
Nellis,Mary M
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.

REAL CAVEMEN
Course #23145 ISP 101-203 M W 3:30 PM-5:00 PM LPC
Mayo,Larry W
This course will focus on a specific question regarding human evolution: who were the so-called "cavemen," and what is their relationship to modern humans? There are several important reasons for focusing on this particular topic in human evolution. One is to separate myth from reality with regard to these early beings who came to be popularly known as "cavemen." A second issue is whether these beings are direct ancestors to modern humans, or a side branch that became extinct. A third concerns the issue of human diversity, which, during the last 200 years or so, many scientists have characterized as racial.

REPRESSION & MEMORY/LAT AMER
Course #23146 ISP 101-204 T TH 8:30 AM-10:00 AM LPC
Masud,Maria D
The recent history of Latin America has been marked by cycles of political and social repression: the “dirty war” in Argentina; the military coup in Chile; the “death squads” in Central America; among others, have generated a rich documentation of books, articles, films and desperate public calls for justice, i.e.: the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. These diverse sources seek to explain how those repressive forces overthrew democratic governments and of their action for consequences for civil society. Likewise, they document the attempts by groups and individuals in those respective societies to find processes that would bring justice to the individuals directly and indirectly affected by the repression.

PALESTINE
Course #23147 ISP 101-205 M W F 9:40 AM-10:40 AM LPC
Finkelstein,Norman G.
This seminar will explore the roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict from multiple perspectives. It will situate the conflict in broader historical trends and examine these trends through comparative analyses that illuminate the nature of the conflict. It will analyze crucial turning points such as the June 1967 War. It will reflect on the underlying philosophical and moral issues that suggest that the Israel-Palestine conflict raises questions both relevant to all of us and not susceptible to easy resolution.

COFFEE/SOCIAL HST OF COMM
Course #23148 ISP 101-206 M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC
Nagy,Sharon
This course focuses on coffee as a case study to link everyday practice as simply as drinking coffee to broader global and historical trends. Through a multidisciplinary examination of the production, trade, consumption and cultural meaning of coffee this course will foster appreciation of the limits of singular/reductionist explanations, the complimentarity of disciplinary perspectives, and an understanding of the social, cultural, political and economic processes of commoditization and consumption. The central focus of student work will be the observation and investigation of coffee consumption behavior in Chicago's cafes and markets. Students field observations and research will be compared to texts written about coffee consumption in other places and times. While exploring contemporary Chicagoan's attitudes about and consumption of coffee, we will be reading about coffee practices in places such as Medeival Muslim Cities, Victorian England, and America's counter cultural movement in the 1960's

EDGAR ALLEN POE
Course #23149 ISP 101-207 M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC
Bradshaw,Melissa
Most people think they know a little about Edgar Allan Poe. They might have read a few of his short stories in a horror anthology, or seen one of Roger Corman’s film adaptations of his stories, starring Vincent Price. Maybe they haven’t read or seen anything by him, but have a vague idea that his stories are bloody and creepy, filled with murderous rages, live burials, dripping corpses, and mutilated pets. Perhaps they’ve heard that he drank too much, that he got kicked out of the military, that he married his thirteen year-old cousin, that at far too young an age he was found dead, face-down in a ditch, having overdosed on laudanum. Some of this is true, some exaggerated, some completely made up. What most people don’t know about Poe was that he was a respected, if often-fired, magazine editor, that he was one of America’s first literary celebrities, or that he fought for authors’ rights and anticipated a culture of self-publishing, much like the one we currently call blogging. In this focal point seminar we will immerse ourselves in the world of Edgar Allan Poe, looking at his poetry, short fiction, and literary criticism. We will examine, as well, his continuing presence in contemporary culture, as the mysteries and legends surrounding his short life continue to intrigue us, as his plot-lines resurface in contemporary literature and films, as his ideas creep into our conversations, and, perhaps most importantly, as his writings continue to fuel our fears and give shape to our nightmares.

PUBLIC & PRIVATE SPACES
Course #23150 ISP 101-208 M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC
Ross,Nathan

JESSE JACKSON:MAN & THE MOVEME
Course #23151 ISP 101-209 M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC
Johnson,Valerie June
This course will examine the life and work of Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, and his attempt to build a Rainbow Coalition—a coalition of the disaffected—minorities, immigrants, whites, peace and environmental activists, the young, the old, the poor, women, lesbians and gays, the disabled, family farmers, and labor. The central theme of the course revolves around factors that impede or facilitate a Rainbow Coalition. The first part of the course will examine the early years of Jesse Jackson and aspects of his up-bringing that impacted his personality traits, and identity as a leader of the oppressed. Part two places the historical context of the Rainbow Coalition ideology in the civil rights movement. In doing so, it focuses on the manner in which the civil rights movement effectively challenged the cultural hegemony of the white ruling elite, igniting radical participation in every area of institutional life. Key to this focus will be an examination of Jackson’s association with Dr. Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC), his early activism for social and economic justice, and the founding of PUSH (People United to Serve Humanity). The third part of the course examines the social, political and economic impetus for a Rainbow Coalition, Jackson’s subsequent 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns, the Rainbow Coalition campaign platform, and the support and oppositional forces associated with this effort. The concluding section of the course will examine Jackson’s activism during the post-campaign years, his continuing association with the Democratic Party, and the current state of the Rainbow Coalition. During the quarter, students will visit the Chicago headquarters of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition to attend a session of the “Saturday Morning Forum,” and will have an opportunity to discuss the theme and content of this course directly with Reverend Jesse Jackson.

WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS
Course #23152 ISP 101-210 M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC
Porter,Nicole S
We live in the most technologically advanced society in the most technologically advanced time in history. Yet, "weird" beliefs and superstitions are widespread. Many people believe in mind reading, past-life regression therapy, abductions by extra-terrestrials, witches, ghosts, and other supernatural notions. Although science is the foundation of modern technological achievements, many eschew real science in favor of pseudoscience notions such as "scientific creationism", "scientific evidence of racial superiority", "recovered memory syndrome", "alternative medicine". Such supernatural beliefs are prevalent among people of all occupations and every educational and income level. In this course, the student examines several well-understood, psychological processes such as, 1) our sensitivity to coincidence, 2) penchant for developing rituals and habits to counteract feelings of anxiety or impatience when filling time or when marking expected changes in lifestyles, 3) a fear of failure, 4) attempts to cope with uncertainty, and 5) a need for control of our destinies that often result in irrational beliefs and superstitious and erroneous behavior. The student will discover exactly how superstitions, erroneous decisions, and weird beliefs are a result of common thinking patterns invoked by attempts to cope with the complexity and uncertainties of life (especially the social aspects of life). Many of these thinking patterns are close to good norms of rationality, whereas others depart sharply from them. Since the good and poor thinking patterns co-exist, we are simultaneously both rational and irrational. The student is introduced to, and encouraged to use, the methods of skepticism to counteract the twin mental positions of cynicism and gullibility that result from the typical application of our typical thinking patterns as coping techniques.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Course #23153 ISP 101-211 M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC
Hauser,Mark W.
In this course we will be exploring three central topics, piracy in the early modern period; the geography of piracy; and piracy in the information age. With the recent distribution of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, we have a unique opportunity to explore these very issues. Not only will students be able to bring to the seminar their own knowledge about piracy, we can begin to use that knowledge to explore popular constructions. By utilizing seventeenth century pirate narratives and archaeological sites students can begin to explore the question where did piracy actually occur? The last theme, piracy in the information age will explore audio and video piracy framed in copyright law and academic piracy- intellectual integrity.

JEWISH CULTURE IN AMERICA
Course #23154 ISP 101-212 M W F 12:00 PM- 1:00 PM LPC
Isackson,R.J. J
The greatest immigration of Eastern European Jews to America occurred between 1880-1920. They brought with them the joys and sorrows of a Jewish culture, incorporating and influencing literature, music, art, theater, film, food, and comedy. As a group/class working together, we will attempt to understand the journey that created a cultural perspective and how a culture is influenced and influences current society. Course evaluation will be based on a reading log, reading responses, a midterm, final, and concluding with a bagel-eating contest.

POST- WAR FICTION
Course #23159 ISP 101-213 M W F 12:00 PM- 1:00 PM LPC
Suglia,Joseph V
To what exent are we our own inventions? The theme of self-cultivation is one of "postmodern" literature's most tenacious obsessions. This seminar will explore fictions and techniques of self-formation---the ways in which human beings fabricate their selves, their identities, their lives as if they were so many works of art. Works to be studied will include the novels of Peter Handke and Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation (the primary inspiration for the film, The Matrix). There are no prerequisites. Readings in translation.

CHICAGO BLUES & JAZZ
Course # 23160 ISP 101-214 M W 12:00 PM- 1:30 PM LPC
Dube,Caleb
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 were 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. Today, many of the working class communities that sustained blues on the southwest sides of the city are gone, few like Artis and Lee’s Unleaded remain. Black musicians mainly play blues to predominantly “white” audience on the northside of the city. Like our city, jazz has also been segregated, giving way to different musical expressions. However, both blues and jazz musicians and the music scene continue to be a place of exchanges and dialogue in the city. 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. Students will be introduced to a series of books written by musicians. In addition, we will spend time at the Blues archives of the Harold Washington library and in conclusion students will conduct a research project about the state of musicians in the city. Throughout the quarter we will go out to the various clubs and walk through the neighborhoods.

AMERICAN CULTURE IN WWII
Course # 23160 ISP 101-215 M W F 1:10 PM 2:10 PM LPC
McCracken,Allison M
This American Studies-based course explores the way in which World War II changed American culture and society. Drawing on oral histories and popular culture from the period (music, radio, films, magazines), we will examine how World War II culture both addressed and sought to erase racial/ethnic divisions, redefined women's roles, enabled the development of distinct gay and lesbian subcultures, introduced the concept of nuclear war and genocide to a mass audience, and offered Americans a new vision of themselves as world leaders. The course will involve critical writing and reading of both written documents and various forms of popular culture.

GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS
Course # 23162 ISP 101-216 T TH 11:50 AM 1:20 PM LPC
Dean,John V
The focus of this course will be on the promise and controversy surrounding genetically modified (bioengineered) crops. With the possible exception of nuclear power, it is likely that no other available technology has generated more controversy. Opponents of the technology insist that scientists are “playing god” with the food source and forcing it on the human population without completely understanding the health or environmental consequences. In addition, they believe that agricultural biotechnology companies are not only interested in the profits but are also seeking to control the food supply of developing nations, the citizens of which would benefit the most from the technology. Proponents of the technology claim that the only way to feed the soaring population of the world on fewer and fewer acres of tillable land is by producing genetically engineered crop plants. In addition to alleviating world hunger, the proponents also believe that genetically modified crops can be used to reclaim polluted lands and reduce the incidence of mineral and vitamin deficiencies in developing nations. As with many debates of this nature, it is likely that both sides have viable points that the other side refuses to acknowledge. In this course we will examine the history of agricultural and the traditional ways in which humans have manipulated the food supply (e.g. artificial selection and plant breeding) in order to meet and needs of a growing population. We will then examine the science behind biotechnology and gene transfer, the public opinion surrounding the technology and the biotech industry, the political miscalculations of the biotech industry, the products currently in development and the endless possibilities for crop biotech (e.g. vaccines engineered into food), and the possible complications of biotech crops that have a scientific basis (e.g. food allergens and “superweeds”).

ARTISTIC INFLUENCES IN CONTEMP
Course # 23163 ISP 101-210 F 1:30 PM 4:30 PM LPC
Elder CM,Mark Edward
his Focal Point class will concentrate on Mural painters and their influence on the Art World in history. Mural making has been around as long as humankind. This class, in a general sense, will explore the influences that effected the great mural painters such as Giotto, Rapheal, and Michelangelo. In turn the student would see how these works influenced later artists such as Benton, Siquieros, and others. Finally it can be shown as to how these influences had an effect on present day artists (both local and international) such as Weber, Wyland, Gude, and others. This course will be presented by these methods: Slide lecture, Films, Discussion, Field Trips to Mural sites, Small Projects Evaluation will be a culmination of the following: Journal entry reflections, Mid-term and Final, Small Projects

THE BODY:PLEASURE/POWER/SEXUAL
Course # 23164 ISP 101-218 M W F 2:20 PM 3:20 PM LPC
James,Robin
The body—how we eat, how we dress, our daily routines and rituals is the medium of culture. The body is a powerful symbolic form upon which are written the rules, customs, and power relations of a society. These power relations are inseparable from the way the body’s pleasures and pains are felt and expressed. In this way the body is the practical locus of social and political control. This Focal Point Seminar will examine the discipline and control of the body, specifically in regards to the notions of pleasure and pain.

TV AND PUBLIC CULTURE
Course # 23165 ISP 101-219 M W 3:30 PM-5:00 PM LPC
McMurria,John R
Through its ubiquity television has held a defining position in entertaining, educating and informing viewers who on average tune-in for 4-6 hours every day. Thus, television considerably influences how we engage with issues of local, national and international concern and how we negotiate our own individual identities in relation to the worlds that television brings before us. Government policies have long recognized television’s role as a gathering place for a diversity of citizens to engage with issues of common concern, but not all citizens have found television to provide a balanced range of perspectives. This course considers how a variety of groups have defined television as a medium of public culture and how citizens and civic organizations have campaigned to transform television. Students will explore how organizations have challenged television stations and networks for what they believe to be unbalanced or inappropriate representations pertaining to age, gender, race, sexuality, class and ethnicity. Students will research how these groups have organized to reform television and how they have challenged conventional wisdoms for regulating television. Topics will include children and television, morality, censorship, sex and violence, and television ownership. This course will consider how digital technologies from cable, satellite and the internet have created new opportunities and challenges for the television reform movement.

FOOD & PHILOSOPHY
Course # 23166 ISP 101-220 M W 3:30 PM-5:00 PM LPC
Valgenti,Robert T
This course explores the relationships and connections between food and politics. Politics may be defined as “who gets, what, when, why, and how. This definition points to the underlying power relationships inherent in the political. To study the politics of food is to study the power relationships involving food. In other words, food may be understood as a type of language, reflecting cultural values, political practices, ideological perspectives, and the socialization process. Through an investigation of food, students will be able to explore the world of politics.

NIETZSCHE’S ETHICS
Course # 23167 ISP 101-221 M W F 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Evans, Daw-Nay
Nietzsche’s influence on the 20th century is undeniable. Chaim Weizmann, the first President of Israel, wrote the following to his wife in a letter dated August 3, 1902: “I am sending you Nietzsche: learn to read and understand him. This is the best and the finest thing I can send you.” The composer Richard Strauss named his symphonic poem after Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Even Freud reluctantly acknowledged his debt to the German philosopher: “Nietzsche, the other philosopher whose premonitions and insights often agree in the most amazing manner with the laborious results of psychoanalysis, I have long avoided for this very reason. After all, I was less concerned about any priority than about the preservation of my open-mindedness.” This seminar will examine Nietzsche’s life and works from a literary, religious, and, most importantly, philosophical perspective.

EVOLUTIONARY BIO AT THE MOVIES
Course # 23205 ISP 101-222 M W F 8:30 AM-9:30 PM LPC
Edwards,Ronald
The course addresses movies as representatives of human concerns. Students are required to watch films as homework, and course time is reserved for analysis through discussion, responsive writings, presentations, and peer review. The main activity of the class is to research and present the connections between a specific set of biological information with a specific set of films.
All narrative (story-telling) concerns, values and inherent conflicts among people; these values and inherent conflicts arise from the confluence of nature and culture. This course provides a means to investigate that confluence using a specific form of narrative (cinema) and a specific model for human behavior (sociobiology, evolutionary psychology). Both of these terms, "human nature" and "culture," are often mentioned but rarely used critically. In this course, they are given close, disturbing scrutiny. The goal is to move beyond the traditional and non-productive construction of Nature/Nurture and for the students to begin the life-long process of individually constructing how biology and values are intertwined in the context of culture.

AFRICAN AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION
Course # 23206 ISP 101-223 T TH 10:10 AM – 11:40 AM LPC
Moody-Freeman, Julie
This course explores the genre of science fiction written by African American writers. The course will examine issues of race, gender, class, and sexuality in these writings through the lens of several disciplines and perspectives: literary criticism, history, race and ethnic studies, women’s and gender studies as well as the politics of publishing. Readings include short fiction in the anthology Dark Matter, which features fantasy fiction from the late 1880s to late twentieth-century, and novels by acclaimed science fiction writers Octavia Butler and Samuel R. Delany.

INDUSTRY/TECH/MODERN CULTURE
Course # 23207 ISP 101-224 T Th 10:10 AM -11:40 AM LPC
Beiriger,Eugene

ENDANGRED SPECIES/HABITAT
Course # 23208 ISP 101-225 T Th 10:10 AM-11:40 AM LPC
Meritt Jr,Dennis A
This course will work to develop a definition of endangered and see how well the definition works as it applies to a range of life forms, including plants, animals, and natural habitats. The course will explore the probable causes of endangerment, consider the impact of our own species as well as that of natural occurrences, discuss possible solutions, and explore ways people can become involved and affect a long-term solution. Students will take periodic quizzes and examinations, write a major term paper, and give an oral presentation

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE: THE BATTLE OF LITTLE BIGHORN
Course # 23209 ISP 101-226 T Th 10:10 AM -11:40 AM LPC
Meyer,Michael J
On June 25, 1876, a pivotal event in American history, and specifically in the history of interactions between Native Americans and Americans of European heritage took place. On this occasion, the U.S. Seventh Cavalry, commanded by Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer was defeated by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in what is now southern Montana. Sometimes referred to as the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Custer's Last Stand, or The Battle of the Greasy Grass (a translation of the Sioux name for the location), this incident has been the subject of numerous debates, several films and countless books and articles. In this course, we will examine what is known about the major players, the cultural context and the historical ramifications of this remarkable confrontation. In so doing, we will strive to increase our understanding of 19th century America, and to develop insight about the cultural, political and other forces that shape our views of the past and the present.

LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN
Course # 23210 ISP 101-227 T Th 11:50 AM -1:20 PM LPC
Harp,Steven J
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by Walker Evans and James Agee, is a work which is interdisciplinary on a variety of levels simultaneously, and indeed owes much of its impact to the fact that it reaches its audience both visually and linguistically, both as art and as social science, both as narrative and as polemic. Further, it stands as an attestation to one man’s dogged struggle in the face of the inadequacy of all documentary media to do justice to their subjects; in the text, we see Agee adopt and reject one documentary approach after another, a fact which renders the work an apt focus for a study of the evolution of documentary forms. Indeed, the fact that the text itself reflects its author’s restless search to bear witness to the plight of tenant farmers in the south at the time of the New Deal, necessitates that its form is, as a result, ragged and complex, and must be located within all the layered and competing contexts to which it attempted to speak. I plan to make use of these disparately developed raw edges of the text as organizing principles of the course: Inasmuch as this text holds a central place within the burgeoning documentary photography movement in the 1930’s, we will first study the photographs in themselves, as the culmination of a developing photographic tradition, and a seminal influence on the course of documentary photography since that time.

SLAVERY AROUND THE WORLD
Course # 23211 ISP 101-228 T Th 11:50 AM- 1:20 PM LPC
Nast,Heidi J
Slavery has existed for millennia in various forms around the world. But has it always and everywhere served the same purposes or meant the same thing? For example: Were the situations and powers of women who were royal concubines in African empires the same as those of African women working on southern United States or Caribbean plantations? Can we compare the experiences of male slave physicians in the Roman Empire and Mamluk slave military leaders to male slaves in ancient Athens or nineteenth-century Brazilian plantations operated by the Portuguese?
This course explores different cultures of slavery from around the world at different periods in history, along the way examining why slavery was created at all. We will focus on five questions: 1) How did slaves become slaves in the first place? War? Inheritance? Purchase? 2) What were the kinds of labor tasks that slaves carried out in different geographical and cultural contexts? Did all slaves do the same kind of work? 3) Were there social hierarchies within slave groups themselves or can we say that all slaves everywhere were equal? 4) Can we point to different cultural expressions of slavery and, if so, do these expressions point to differences in the ways various social groups give meaning to their lives and to their actions? 5) Can we say that there were different kinds of slave bodies and, if so, how were these different bodies created and/or distinguished?
To explore these questions, we will read or hear from guest speakers about slavery in a variety of contexts, beginning in ancient Rome and Greece and ending with plantation slavery in the Americas. Wherever possible, we will work on two scholarly fronts: First, we will examine the "objective" conditions of slavery using what are called secondary sources, that is, research works by scholars who study slavery. Secondly, we will examine the "subjective" or personal conditions of slavery through exploring fictional accounts of slave lives written in the first person by scholars who study slavery. To help us in our endeavors, a number of guest lecturers with expertise in different geographical areas will speak with us, and we will view several slave-related films. One field trip is required: You will visit Chicago's Field Museum (it? a freebie every Wednesday) to study and take notes on the Africa and African slavery exhibit (this exercise will be discussed in more detail in class).

AFRICAN DIASPORA/LATIN AMERICA
Course # 23251 ISP 101-229 T Th 11:50 AM- 1:20 PM LPC
Gilliam,David
This course serves as an introduction to the cultural, social and political impact of Africans in the New World and their role, together with the indigenous peoples and Europeans, in the shaping of the modern Americas, especially the regions which came to be known as Latin America Central themes include multiculturalism, ethnicity, identity, colonialism, colonial social organization and stratification and forms of conflict and rebellion. We will draw insights from literature, religious studies, art, history, anthropology, economics, political science, geography and sociology in an interdisciplinary fashion in order to explore the legacy of Africans and their descendents in the regions where today Spanish and Portuguese are spoken. Francophone areas will be included but covered in less depth. Course readings, which include an array of sources, will be supplemented by films and at least one guest speaker.

READING IN AMERICA
Course # 23252 ISP 101-230 T Th 11:50 AM- 1:20 PM LPC
Quirk,Kevin M
If you have made it to college, you are a reader—of some sort. This skill, however, is one that tends to seem natural and inevitable. As a result, its variable functions, current and historical, remain relatively overlooked. This course is designed to make students more thoughtful about and aware of the roles reading has played in our collective and personal lives. After a brief look at the early history of reading and the differences between oral and literate cultures, we will focus on the history of reading in the United States. The topics will move from the uses of books and literacy in colonial America, to reading and identity formation among women and African Americans in the nineteenth century, to fears about reading, and then conclude by considering the present state and future of reading in America. Along the way, our primary goal will be to investigate the varied nature of reading within different contexts and to reflect on our own identities as readers.

UTOPIAN SOCIETY/SCI FI
Course # 23253 ISP 101-231 T Th 11:50 AM- 1:20 PM LPC
Budrys,Grace
Expect to read a handful of novels and short stories in this course. The novels and stories describe societies that exist only the in authors’ imaginations. In writing these books, the authors describe societies that are either Utopian or as is more often the case, Dysutopian. They focus on aspects of the society in which they currently live which they consider to be problematic. They take the implications of what they are criticizing to the logical extreme to depict societies that are very strange and usually very frightening. Our task is to consider how convincing they in their predictions of dire social consequences.
Five social institutions or social arrangements, which affect the members of virtually every society, provide the framework for analyzing the fictional societies portrayed by the authors. These include arrangements governing family, education, religion, the economy, and the political system.

SACRIFICE ACROSS CULTURES
Course # 23254 ISP 101-232 T Th 1:30 PM- 3:00 PM LPC
Read,Kay AMost 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.

CLOSE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Course # 23255 ISP 101-233 T Th 1:30 PM- 3:00 PM LPC
O'Brien,Jill L
Course Description and Methodology: This course explores close personal relationships, whether voluntary (friendships, intimate relationships) or non-voluntary (familial or work relationships), as variously constituted within heterosexual, lesbian, gay, multicultural, or multiracial unions. Close relationships impact the quality of human life and both influence and derive from our values, attitudes, ideas, and behaviors. What kinds of relationships do we fashion? How do relationships aid or constrain our development and happiness? What do we know about friendship and social support, love and intimacy, relationship maintenance, or conflict? How does the quality of personal relationships produce societal effects? What ills are associated with the inability to create and maintain close personal relationships across the lifespan? Jean Vanier claims human intimacy is “proximity that liberates,” but is that too sanguine a view? The focus of this class is cross-disciplinary and multicultural. Through readings derived from psychology, communication, and family therapy, students examine the centrality and diversity of human bonds.

APARTHEID 20 C S AFRICA
Course # 23256 ISP 101-234 T Th 1:30 PM 3:00 PM LPC
Adibe,Clement E
As we reflect upon the past century from the vantage point of the beginning of the 21st century and a new millennium, apartheid stands out as one of the most intriguing and oppressive political ideas and practices of the twentieth century. Developed by the Afrikaners of South Africa, apartheid emphasized the "separateness" of races as the organizing principle of social, religious, economic and political life in a multinational state. For nearly half a century, apartheid was enforced through a combination of laws, religious indoctrination, socialization and, above all, the pervasive use of coercion. In 1994, following several decades of sustained domestic and international opposition, the policy and practice of apartheid officially ended in South Africa.
This course will focus on two important areas of inquiry. The first is how to explain the emergence of apartheid as the predominant form of political organization in twentieth-century South Africa. The second focus of the course will be on the lessons humanity can draw from the apartheid experiment as we continue our prolonged quest for meaningful and harmonious co-existence of peoples and cultures within the framework of one political entity.

READING THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Course # 23257 ISP 101-235 T Th 1:30 PM- 3:00 PM LPC
Winslade,Jason L
This course will read the television program, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as the multilayered narrative it was intended to be. In creating the show, writer and director Joss Whedon wished to reverse the gender stereotype of the helpless blonde in horror films, transforming her into the emotionally and physically strong heroine of the piece. In addition, the program established the intricately explored metaphor of the typical American suburban high school experience as hell, offering the opportunity for folklore and pop culture legends to function as distinct and specific figures in a rich, symbolic narrative, consisting of detailed story arcs. When the show reached its peak in the late 1990’s, scholars began to take notice. Even after the show finished its seven year run in May of 2003, critical commentary on the show has not abated. Indeed, three scholarly anthologies of critical essays have been published, with more on the way, as well as a continuing online journal of “international Buffy studies,” known as Slayage. The course will utilize Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a lens through which to study some basic discourses and disciplines that scholars have found in the program, including gender studies, feminism, folklore studies, postmodernism, political science, linguistics, pop culture, media studies, literature, philosophy and theology.

COLOMBIA: A COCA COUNTRY?
Course # 23258 ISP 101-236 T Th 1:30 PM- 3:00 PM LPC
Rumold,Inca
Rich in gold and emeralds, with all the climates of the world, its fertile soil bathed by two oceans, this fourth biggest country of Latin American is Colombia. Once called "the Athens of South America" for its poets, writers and philosophers, it is now mostly known —---- in this country — —-- for growing coca, its drug-lords, its terrorists, its socio-political violence and fratricidal war. And indeed, the increasing complexity of Colombia's socio-political and economic situation seems to have turned it into a seemingly unsolvable field of opposing forces. How to understand what happened in the last half century to this beautiful land? This will be the focus of this course.

WORLD FORESTS
Course # 23259 ISP 101-237 T Th 3:10 PM- 4:40 PM LPC
Brownlowo, Alec
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.

THE BODY:PLEASURE/POWER/SEXUAL
Course # 23260 ISP 101-238 T Th 3:10 PM- 4:40 PM LPC
Birmingham,Peg E
The body—how we eat, how we dress, our daily routines and rituals is the medium of culture. The body is a powerful symbolic form upon which are written the rules, customs, and power relations of a society. These power relations are inseparable from the way the body’s pleasures and pains are felt and expressed. In this way the body is the practical locus of social and political control. This Focal Point Seminar will examine the discipline and control of the body, specifically in regards to the notions of pleasure and pain.

DISABILITY CULTURE
Course # 23261 ISP 101-239 T Th 3:10 PM- 4:40 PM LPC
Meyer,Karen L
This course will focus on the mosaic movement of the 1990’s, which are people with disabilities. This segment of our populations is the largest and fastest growing minority group in the nation. Disability is one culture that anyone can be a part of at anytime. In order to understand this, the course will explore a variety of disability related topics. Each week a major theme will be addressed, a theme designed to teach individuals about aspects of the disability movement, one which represents every race, ethnic, religion, age and socio-economic group.

WORK IN THE MOVIES
Course # 23270 ISP 101-240 Th 4:50 PM-8:05 PM LPC
Cellar,Douglas F
The course is designed to provide students with scientific and practical knowledge related to industrial/organizational psychology and then to view popular films, and ultimately make their own videotape from that perspective. A primary emphasis of the course will be the connection between the science and practice of industrial psychology and popular movies. Students are required to attend the viewing of the films and to write weekly papers related to the readings and the film in addition to making their own videotape.

VOLUNTARY MOTHERHOOD
Course # 24287 ISP 101-241 M W 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM LPC
Graf, Ron
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.

ASIAN-AMERICAN CINEMA & MEDIA ARTS
Course # 24288 ISP 101-242 M W F 2:10 PM – 3:10 PM LPC
Lau, Yvanne
This course will focus on the social significance of the emerging genre of Asian American films and videos. A broad overview of the Asian American independent media arts movement will be provided from reviewing early documentaries to recent feature films. Issues including: identity and representation; mainstream vs. independent filmmaking; ethnicity, politics, and community; and race, gen der, and family will be addressed. Using a sociological “eye ” and cinematic lens, we will explore the early roots and recent explosion of Asian American films and videos.

PLATO'S REPUBLIC
Course # 23271 ISP 101-501 M W 9:10 AM 10:40 AM LOOP
Bell,Jeremy Randolph

ENEMIES OF CHURCH AND STATE
Course # 23272 ISP 101-502 M W 9:40 AM - 11:10 AM LOOP
Behun, William
Because heresy in one form or another has been a touchstone for our culture's value system, looking at those who contradict or oppose current values will allow participants to examine the culture from which these heretics spring. Heresy is a product of existing moral authority, and seeing how authority is contested will give an enlightening perspective on that morality. The seminar will ask questions of what it means to brand someone as an enemy of the Church or the State and show how this can used to marginalize minority groups and limit their power. The seminar will examine modern "synonyms" for heresy: terms that function in our contemporary society in a similar way to the term "heretic" in more religious societies. Hopefully, this will allow students to examine how this rhetoric is applied to other minority groups, and even to challenge their own beliefs in regards to one's position vis a vis moral or social authority.

ANTI-AMERICANISM
23273 ISP 101-503 M W 12:50 PM-2:20 PM LOOP
Fitzpatrick, Kathy
The United States is experiencing one of the most intense periods of anti-Americanism in history. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 provide stark evidence of deep and increasingly violent expressions of hatred toward America. This seminar course examines anti-Americanism in the post 9/11 environment. Students examine the origins and manifestations of anti-Americanism in various parts of the world and analyze the potential consequences of increasing anti-Americanism on the national security, foreign policy and economic advancement of the United States. The course explores the concept of anti-Americanism from interdisciplinary perspectives grounded in politics, culture, business/marketing and public relations. Class participants analyze the causes of anti-Americanism, including the super-power status of the U.S.; American assertions of military power; the policies – and personality – of the Bush administration; globalization (including anti-capitalist sentiments); the Americanization of popular culture; fundamentalist religious beliefs; and personal, educational and professional interactions of U.S. citizens with foreign citizens. Students examine U.S. efforts to combat anti-Americanism, with particular attention to the philosophies, policies and practices of U.S. public diplomacy in response to 9/11. Students apply what they have learned by researching, developing and presenting recommendations for enhancing U.S. relations with the people of other nations and regions of the world.

KENNEDY PRESIDENCY
23274 ISP 101-504 M W 11:50 AM -1:20 PM LOOP
Brask,James
The facts surrounding the assassination of the thirty-fifth president, John F. Kennedy, remain the subject of enduring speculation, fantasy, and mystery. This course examines four areas: 1.) the presidency of John F. Kennedy; 2.) the argument against conspiracy; 3.) the argument that a conspiracy existed and the controversy over the participants, content, and scope of that possible conspiracy; 4.) the current state of
research into the question of who may have killed Kennedy and why.

TRIAL OF SOCRATES
23275 ISP 101-505 M W 9:10 AM- 10:40 PM LOOP
Naas,Michael B
This course will focus on one of the most important trials, and, indeed, one of the most important events, in Western history and culture--the trial and death of Socrates. As a multi-disciplinary course combining philosophical, literary, and historical materials, we will look at the trial of Socrates from a variety of different perspectives--that is, as an historical event, as a drama at the center of some of the most beautiful and significant works of art in Western culture, and as the origin and inspiration for philosophy itself.

DOCUMENTARY AS HIST RECORD
23276 ISP 101-506 T Th 11:50 AM- 1:20 PM LOOP
Boruch,Michael
Photography since its inception in 1839 has bore faithful witness to human culture and was instantly embraced by an ecstatic public. It machine-made medium, not the product of the human hand, eye and brain (as was painting and drawing). As such, a photograph was viewed as a statement of fact. And therein lies it potential to teach, persuade and mislead. Years before inexpensive half-tone reproductions began to appear in newspapers and magazines, mass-produced photographs were sold as commodities to a public hungry for visual information. *Views* (as they were called) offered up current events, far-away places, the street-life in the intercity, celebrity
portraits and pulp stories in sequence. *Illustrated Journals*, the LIFE magazines of 19th century, would boast phrase *copied from a photograph* at the bottom of their woodcut illustrations. The phrase, *The camera never
lies*, was believe by all. The reality was (to paraphrase the NRA bumper sticker), *Cameras do not lie, but people lie with cameras.*

CHILDCARE DILEMMA
Course # 24309 ISP 101-507 T Th 10:10 AM-11:40 AM LOOP
Ward, Jule
This course focuses on the current childcare debate. Historic evidence indicates that the definition of the “good” parent differs according to era and culture. Today, American society still clings to a family model in which childcare is a woman’s responsibility. Some scholars suggest that behind the rhetoric of maternal responsibility lie issues of power, resources, and control. Since the late twentieth century this awareness has lead to a call for equalitarian parenting in which fathers share in their children’s care. The course will examine the challenges to this hope. A second childcare-related problem has arisen with the rising numbers of children living in single-parent homes. Yet, recent widely-acclaimed welfare reform has meant that single parents are being forced into the workplace taking jobs at wages that cannot provide childcare costs.
During this course, we will explore this debate by becoming acquainted with various ideologies of childcare across a wide historical and cultural spectrum. Through class discussion and through writing, the students will develop concepts about the true needs of children and about models of childcare which meet those needs. We will also develop methods the class believes might begin to implement such models. Childcare is not a subject that can be thoroughly explored from a theoretical distance. Thus, ten hours of experiential learning are required for this course. To fulfill this requirement, students must work or volunteer in a childcare center for 10 hours over the course of the quarter.

VAMPIRES
COURSE # 24328 ISP 101-508 T TH 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM LOOP
Anderson, Christine

IMAGINING ARMAGEDDON
23277 ISP 101-801 T 5:45 PM- 9:00 PM LPC
Garfield,Robert
Beginnings and endings are major themes in literature, poetry and art. The origins of, and the end of, the world are themes which especially have engaged imaginative thinkers through the ages. This interest extends also to the medium of motion pictures. The end of the world is not only a fascinating idea in itself, but readily lends itself to the most visual of all media, motion pictures. The proposed course will be an intensive study of some of these films, bringing students to an understanding of why film-makers' visions of the ultimate catastrophe varied so greatly and how these reflected the real times in which they lived. Besides viewing selected films, students will have background reading regarding when and where a film was made and the cultural currents present. Thus, a viewing of "On The Beach" will require reading about the Cold War and the fear of nuclear annihilation. Students will also study some basic examples of film technique in order to understand how such extraordinary images could be created.

GAMING & GAMES OF CHANCE
23278 ISP 101-802 W 5:45 PM- 9:00 PM LPC
Chin, William
Two of the popular played games of chance are blackjack (twenty-one) and poker. These games form the most interesting examples of games of chance where risky decisions can profitably be made based on probability theory and game theory. Of particular interest is the theory and practice of card-counting in blackjack, and the mathematics and psychology of poker strategy. We shall deal with the basics of such analyses and indicate how they have been developed. Some requisite rudimentary probability theory statistics and their foundations will be introduced. The theory shall be reified with examples, concrete problems and live play, all tied in with mathematical and psychological theory. We will examine these and other games of chance, focusing on they how be played with positive expectation (or not). Fallacies regarding gambling and their psychological bases will be discussed in the context of games, and generalized to other decision-making processes. Moral, cultural and legal issues surrounding “gambling” will also be addressed.