AFRICAAM 18A:
Jazz History: Ragtime to Bebop, 1900-1940 (MUSIC 18A)
From the beginning of jazz to the war years.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AFRICAAM 18B:
Jazz History: Bebop to Present, 1940-Present (MUSIC 18B)
Modern jazz styles from Bebop to the current scene. Emphasis is on the significant artists of each style.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AFRICAAM 19:
Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: The Soul Tradition in African American Music (AMSTUD 147J, CSRE 147J, MUSIC 147J, MUSIC 247J)
The African American tradition of soul music from its origins in blues, gospel, and jazz to its influence on today's r&b, hip hop, and dance music. Style such as rhythm and blues, Motown, Southern soul, funk, Philadelphia soul, disco, Chicago house, Detroit techno, trip hop, and neo-soul. Soul's cultural influence and global reach; its interaction with politics, gender, place, technology, and the economy. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 20A:
Jazz Theory (MUSIC 20A)
Introduces the language and sounds of jazz through listening, analysis, and compositional exercises. Students apply the fundamentals of music theory to the study of jazz. Prerequisite: 19 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
AFRICAAM 30:
The Egyptians (CLASSICS 82, HISTORY 48, HISTORY 148)
Overview of ancient Egyptian pasts, from predynastic times to Greco-Roman rule, roughly 3000 BCE to 30 BCE. Attention to archaeological sites and artifacts; workings of society; and cultural productions, both artistic and literary. Participation in class is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AFRICAAM 43:
Introduction to English III: Introduction to African American Literature (AMSTUD 12A, ENGLISH 12A)
(Formerly English 43/143). In his bold study, What Was African American Literature?, Kenneth Warren defines African American literature as a late nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century response to the nation's Jim Crow segregated order. But in the aftermath of the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights movement, can critics still speak, coherently, of "African American literature"? And how does this political conception of African American literary production compare with accounts grounded in black language and culture? Taking up Warren's intervention, this course will explore African American literature from its earliest manifestations in the spirituals and slave narratives to texts composed at the height of desegregation and decolonization struggles at mid-century and beyond.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 52:
Introduction to Improvisation in Dance: From Salsa to Vodun to Tap Dance (CSRE 152, TAPS 152)
This seminar introduces students to Dance Studies by exploring the topic of improvisation, a central concept in multiple genres of dance and music. We will survey a range of improvised dance forms¿from salsa to vodun to tap dance¿through readings, video viewings, discussion, and movement exercises (no previous dance experience required). When studying each genre, we will examine how race, gender, sexuality, citizenship, and other power structures affect the practices and theorizations of improvisation. Topics include community and identity formation; questions of technique versus ¿natural¿ ability; improvisation as a spiritual practice; and the role of history in improvisers¿ quest for spontaneity. Course material will focus on improvised dance, but we will also read pertinent literature in jazz music, theatre, and the law.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 54N:
African American Women's Lives (AMSTUD 54N, CSRE 54N, FEMGEN 54N, HISTORY 54N)
This course encourages students to think critically about historical sources and to use creative and rigorous historical methods to recover African American women¿s experiences, which often have been placed on the periphery of American history and American life.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 78:
Art + Community: Division, Resilience & Reconciliation (CSRE 78)
Violence and trauma isolates and segregates us. Part of the healing process must be about coming back into community. Freedom is meaningful only insofar as it lifts all, especially those who have been done the most harm. In times of violence and polarization, art can heal and brings people together. In this course, we will explore how we make and sustain community, especially in the face of threats from within and without. We will do this especially through examining how artists and culture workers of color develop and advance practices that build mutuality, criticality, renewal, trust, and joy in the face of ongoing racial injustice and cultural inequity.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 101:
Black & White Race Relations in American Fiction & Film (AMSTUD 101, CSRE 41)
Movies and the fiction that inspires them; power dynamics behind production including historical events, artistic vision, politics, and racial stereotypes. What images of black and white does Hollywood produce to forge a national identity? How do films promote equality between the races? What is lost or gained in film adaptations of books? NOTE: Students must attend the first day; admission to the class will be determined based on an in class essay.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 102B:
Art and Social Criticism (AMSTUD 102, ARTHIST 162B, CSRE 102A, FEMGEN 102)
Visual artists have long been in the forefront of social criticism in America. Since the 1960s, various visual strategies have helped emergent progressive political movements articulate and represent complex social issues. Which artists and particular art works/projects have become key anchors for discourses on racism, sexism, economic and social inequality, immigrant rights and climate change? We will learn about a spectrum of political art designed to raise social awareness, spark social change and rouse protest. The Art Workers Coalition¿s agit-prop opposing the Vietnam War and ACT-UP¿s emblematic signs and symbols during the AIDS/HIV crisis of the 1980s galvanized a generation into action. Works such as Judy Chicago¿s The Dinner Party (1979), Fred Wilson¿s Mining the Museum (1992), and Glenn Ligon¿s paintings appropriating fragments from African-American literature all raised awareness by excavating historical evidence of the long legacy resisting marginalization. For three decades feminist artists Barbara Kruger and the Guerilla Girls have combined institutional critique and direct address into a provocative form of criticality. Recent art for social justice is reaching ever broadening publics by redrawing the role of artist and audience exemplified by the democratization of poster making and internet campaigns of Occupy and the Movement for Black Lives. We will also consider the collective aesthetic activisms in the Post-Occupy era including Global Ultra Luxury Faction, Climate Justice art projects, and the visual culture of Trump era mass protests. Why are each of these examples successful as influential and enduring markers of social criticism? What have these socially responsive practices contributed to our understanding of American history?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 133:
Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean (AFRICAST 132, FRENCH 133, JEWISHST 143)
This course aims to equip students with an understanding of the cultural, political and literary aspects at play in the literatures of Francophone Africa and the Caribbean. Our primary readings will be Francophone novels and poetry, though we will also read some theoretical texts. The assigned readings will expose students to literature from diverse French-speaking regions of the African/Caribbean world. This course will also serve as a "literary toolbox," with the intention of facilitating an understanding of literary forms, terms and practices. Students can expect to work on their production of written and spoken French (in addition to reading comprehension) both in and outside of class. Special guest: LEILA SLIMANI (Goncourt Prize 2016). Required readings include: Leila Slimani, "Sexe et Mensonges au Maroc", Albert Memmi, "La Statue de Sel," Kaouther Adimi, "L'Envers des autres", Maryse Condé, "La Vie sans fards". Movies include "Goodbye Morocco", "Aya de Yopougon", "Les Baies d'Alger". nTaught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
AFRICAAM 145B:
Africa in the 20th Century (HISTORY 145B)
(Same as HISTORY 45B. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for 145B.) The challenges facing Africans from when the continent fell under colonial rule until independence. Case studies of colonialism and its impact on African men and women drawn from West, Central, and Southern Africa. Novels, plays, polemics, and autobiographies written by Africans.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AFRICAAM 146L:
Studies in Ethnomusicology: Musics of Africa and the African Diaspora (AFRICAST 246L, MUSIC 146L, MUSIC 246L)
An introduction to musics of Africa and the African Diaspora. Topics include: music and nationalism, religion, embodiment, diaspora, migration, resistance, gender, globalization, and race. Musical regions and nations may include: Zimbabwe, South Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Caribbean, and the United States. This is a seminar-based course in which students will write short reflective papers and a final, research-based paper.Pre- or co-requisite for WIM credit: Music 22. WIM at 4 or 5 letter-graded units only.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 148:
The African Atlantic (AFRICAST 145B, COMPLIT 145B, COMPLIT 345B, CSRE 145B, FRENCH 145B, FRENCH 345B)
This course explores the central place Africa holds in prose writing emerging during early and modern periods of globalization across the Atlantic, including the middle passage, exploration and colonialism, black internationalism, decolonization, immigration, and diasporic return. We will begin with Equiano's Interesting Narrative (1789), a touchstone for the Atlantic prose tradition, and study how writers crossing the Atlantic have continued to depict Africa in later centuries: to dramatize scenes of departure and arrival in stories of self-making or new citizenship, to evoke histories of racial unity or examine psychic and social fragmentation, to imagine new national communities or question their norms and borders. Our readings will be selected from English, French, Portuguese and Spanish-language traditions. And we will pay close attention to genres of prose fiction (Conrad, Condé, Olinto), epic and prose poetry (Césaire, Walcott), theoretical reflection (Gilroy, Glissant, Mudimbe, Benitez-Rojo), and literary autobiography (Barack Obama, Saidiya Hartman). Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take COMPLIT 145B for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 154G:
Black Magic: Ethnicity, Race, and Identity in Performance Cultures (CSRE 154D, FEMGEN 154G, TAPS 154G)
In 2013, CaShawn Thompson devised a Twitter hashtag, #blackgirlmagic, to celebrate the beauty and intelligence of black women. Twitter users quickly adopted the slogan, using the hashtag to celebrate everyday moments of beauty, accomplishment, and magic. In contrast, #blackmagic is used to describe everything from the uncanny to the personal. This course examines the discursive phenomenon of "black magic" and its permutations throughout Anglo-American histories. We will investigate the binaries of black/dark, white/light magic that has entered our contemporary lexicon, reading material on religion, magic performance, and theater.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 159:
James Baldwin & Twentieth Century Literature (ENGLISH 159, FEMGEN 159)
Black, gay and gifted, Baldwin was hailed as a "spokesman for the race", although he personally, and controversially, eschewed titles and classifications of all kinds. This course examines his classic novels and essays as well his exciting work across many lesser-examined domains - poetry, music, theatre, sermon, photo-text, children's literature, public media, comedy and artistic collaboration. Placing his work in context with other writers of the 20C (Faulkner, Wright,Morrison) and capitalizing on a resurgence of interest in the writer (NYC just dedicated a year of celebration of Baldwin and there are 2 new journals dedicated to study of Baldwin), the course seeks to capture the power and influence of Baldwin's work during the Civil Rights era as well as his relevance in the "post-race" transnational 21st century, when his prescient questioning of the boundaries of race, sex, love, leadership and country assume new urgency.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 159A:
Literature and Protest (CSRE 159I, ENGLISH 159A)
How does literary art get involved in politics? What is the border between propaganda and art? This class examines moments when writers seem suddenly not only to represent politically charged topics and themes, but to have a part in bringing about political change. We¿ll look at case studies from the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, the American Civil Rights struggle, 19th century Russia, and more.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 181Q:
Alternative Viewpoints: Black Independent Film (FILMSTUD 181Q)
Preference to sophomores. Do you want to learn more about independent film as it was practiced in major urban centers by young filmmakers? This class focuses on major movements by groups such as the Sankofa Film Collective and the L.A. Rebellion. Learn how to analyze film and to discuss the politics of production as you watch films by Spike Lee, Julie Dash, Melvin Van Peebles, Ngozi Onwurah and more. We will discuss representation, lighting, press material, and of course the films themselves. This course includes a workshop on production, trips to local film festivals and time to critique films frame-by-frame. It matters who makes film and how they do so. When you have completed this class you will be able to think critically about "alternative viewpoints" to Hollywood cinema. You will understand how independent films are made and you will be inspired to seek out and perhaps produce or promote new visions.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 194:
Topics in Writing & Rhetoric: Contemporary Black Rhetorics: Black Twitter and Black Digital Cultures (PWR 194AJ)
Does not fulfill NSC requirement. This course will examine Black engagements with digital culture as sites for community building, social action and individual and collective identity formation. By studying phenomena like #BlackTwitter, memes, Vine, selfie culture, blogging, "social watching," and more, we will explore how Black technology use addresses questions like identity performance and expression, hyper visibility and invisibility of Black lives, Black feminisms, misogynoir and Black women/femme leadership in social movements, the roles and influence of Black Queer cultures online, and social activism and movements in online spaces. nnFrom #YouOKSis, #BlackLivesMatter and #AfroLatinidad to the Clapback, roasts and "reads," we will work from the serious to the silly, from individuals to collectives, from activism to everyday life, and from distinct Black cultures to diasporic connections and exchange. Participants in the course will create a social media autobiography, a "read/ing" of a Black cultural practice or phenomenon online, host an online discussion, and prepare a pitch for a longer research project they might pursue as a thesis or an ongoing study. Bring your GIFs, memes, and emoji, and a willingness to be in community both online and off for this new course! Prerequisite: first level of the writing requirement or equivalent transfer credit. For topics, see https://undergrad.stanford.edu/programs/pwr/courses/advanced-pwr-courses.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 223:
Literature and Human Experimentation (COMPLIT 223, CSRE 123B, HUMBIO 175H, MED 220)
This course introduces students to the ways literature has been used to think through the ethics of human subjects research and experimental medicine. We will focus primarily on readings that imaginatively revisit experiments conducted on vulnerable populations: namely groups placed at risk by their classification according to perceived human and cultural differences. We will begin with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), and continue our study via later works of fiction, drama and literary journalism, including Toni Morrison's Beloved, David Feldshuh's Miss Evers Boys, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann and Vivien Spitz's Doctors from Hell, Rebecca Skloot's Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical and policy writings of the period; and our ultimate goal will be to understand modes of ethics deliberation that are possible via creative uses of the imagination, and literature's place in a history of ethical thinking about humane research and care. Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
AFRICAAM 226:
Mixed-Race Politics and Culture (AMSTUD 152K, CSRE 152K, ENGLISH 152K)
Today, almost one-third of Americans identify with a racial/ethnic minority group, and more than 9 million Americans identify with multiple races. What are the implications of such diversity for American politics and culture? This course approaches issues of race from an interdisciplinary perspective, employing research in the social sciences and humanities to assess how race shapes perceptions of identity as well as political behavior in 21st-century U.S. Issues surrounding the role of multiculturalism, immigration, acculturation, racial representation, and racial prejudice in American society. Topics include the political and social formation of race; racial representation in the media, arts, and popular culture; the rise and decline of the "one-drop rule" and its effect on political and cultural attachments; the politicization of census categories and the rise of the multiracial movement.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAAM 229:
Literature and Global Health (AFRICAST 229, COMPLIT 229, CSRE 129B, FRENCH 229, HUMBIO 175L, MED 234)
This course examines the ways writers in literature and medicine have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health, namely fiction modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, understood to have helped readers develop a conscience for public health as the field emerged as a modern medical specialty. We will then spend the quarter understanding how colonial, postcolonial, and world literatures have answered and complicated this call. Readings will include prose fiction by Albert Camus, Joseph Conrad, Tsitsi Dangaremgba, Amitav Ghosh, Susan Sontag as well as physician memoirs featuring Frantz Fanon, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Verghese, Paul Farmer. And each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical, and policy writings that deeply inform the field of global health. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
AFRICAAM 258:
Black Feminist Theater and Theory (CSRE 258, FEMGEN 258X, TAPS 258)
From the rave reviews garnered by Angelina Weld Grimke's lynching play, Rachel to recent work by Lynn Nottage on Rwanda, black women playwrights have addressed key issues in modern culture and politics. We will analyze and perform work written by black women in the U.S., Britain and the Caribbean in the 20th and 21st centuries. Topics include: sexuality, surrealism, colonialism, freedom, violence, colorism, love, history, community and more. Playwrights include: Angelina Grimke, Lorriane Hansberry, Winsome Pinnock, Adrienne Kennedy, Suzan- Lori Parks, Ntzoke Shange, Pearl Cleage, Sarah Jones, Anna DeVeare Smith, Alice Childress, Lydia Diamond and Zora Neale Hurston.)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAST 132:
Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean (AFRICAAM 133, FRENCH 133, JEWISHST 143)
This course aims to equip students with an understanding of the cultural, political and literary aspects at play in the literatures of Francophone Africa and the Caribbean. Our primary readings will be Francophone novels and poetry, though we will also read some theoretical texts. The assigned readings will expose students to literature from diverse French-speaking regions of the African/Caribbean world. This course will also serve as a "literary toolbox," with the intention of facilitating an understanding of literary forms, terms and practices. Students can expect to work on their production of written and spoken French (in addition to reading comprehension) both in and outside of class. Special guest: LEILA SLIMANI (Goncourt Prize 2016). Required readings include: Leila Slimani, "Sexe et Mensonges au Maroc", Albert Memmi, "La Statue de Sel," Kaouther Adimi, "L'Envers des autres", Maryse Condé, "La Vie sans fards". Movies include "Goodbye Morocco", "Aya de Yopougon", "Les Baies d'Alger". nTaught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
AFRICAST 145B:
The African Atlantic (AFRICAAM 148, COMPLIT 145B, COMPLIT 345B, CSRE 145B, FRENCH 145B, FRENCH 345B)
This course explores the central place Africa holds in prose writing emerging during early and modern periods of globalization across the Atlantic, including the middle passage, exploration and colonialism, black internationalism, decolonization, immigration, and diasporic return. We will begin with Equiano's Interesting Narrative (1789), a touchstone for the Atlantic prose tradition, and study how writers crossing the Atlantic have continued to depict Africa in later centuries: to dramatize scenes of departure and arrival in stories of self-making or new citizenship, to evoke histories of racial unity or examine psychic and social fragmentation, to imagine new national communities or question their norms and borders. Our readings will be selected from English, French, Portuguese and Spanish-language traditions. And we will pay close attention to genres of prose fiction (Conrad, Condé, Olinto), epic and prose poetry (Césaire, Walcott), theoretical reflection (Gilroy, Glissant, Mudimbe, Benitez-Rojo), and literary autobiography (Barack Obama, Saidiya Hartman). Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take COMPLIT 145B for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AFRICAST 229:
Literature and Global Health (AFRICAAM 229, COMPLIT 229, CSRE 129B, FRENCH 229, HUMBIO 175L, MED 234)
This course examines the ways writers in literature and medicine have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health, namely fiction modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, understood to have helped readers develop a conscience for public health as the field emerged as a modern medical specialty. We will then spend the quarter understanding how colonial, postcolonial, and world literatures have answered and complicated this call. Readings will include prose fiction by Albert Camus, Joseph Conrad, Tsitsi Dangaremgba, Amitav Ghosh, Susan Sontag as well as physician memoirs featuring Frantz Fanon, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Verghese, Paul Farmer. And each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical, and policy writings that deeply inform the field of global health. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
AMELANG 126:
Reflection on the Other: The Jew and the Arab in Literature (COMPLIT 145, JEWISHST 106)
How literary works outside the realm of Western culture struggle with questions such as identity, minority, and the issue of the Other. How the Arab is viewed in Hebrew literature, film and music and how the Jew is viewed in Palestinian works in Hebrew or Arabic (in translation to English). Historical, political, and sociological forces that have contributed to the shaping of these writers' views. Guest lectures about the Jew in Palestinian literature and music. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 1B:
Media, Culture, and Society (COMM 1B)
The institutions and practices of mass media, including television, film, radio, and digital media, and their role in shaping culture and social life. The media's shifting relationships to politics, commerce, and identity.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AMSTUD 12A:
Introduction to English III: Introduction to African American Literature (AFRICAAM 43, ENGLISH 12A)
(Formerly English 43/143). In his bold study, What Was African American Literature?, Kenneth Warren defines African American literature as a late nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century response to the nation's Jim Crow segregated order. But in the aftermath of the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights movement, can critics still speak, coherently, of "African American literature"? And how does this political conception of African American literary production compare with accounts grounded in black language and culture? Taking up Warren's intervention, this course will explore African American literature from its earliest manifestations in the spirituals and slave narratives to texts composed at the height of desegregation and decolonization struggles at mid-century and beyond.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 48N:
The American Songbook and Love Poetry (ENGLISH 48N)
A study of performances (Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra etc) of songs by classic American composers (Porter, Rogers and Hart, Cohen).
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
AMSTUD 51Q:
Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity (COMPLIT 51Q, CSRE 51Q)
We may "know" "who" we "are," but we are, after all, social creatures. How does our sense of self interact with those around us? How does literature provide a particular medium for not only self expression, but also for meditations on what goes into the construction of "the Self"? After all, don't we tell stories in response to the question, "who are you"? Besides a list of nouns and names and attributes, we give our lives flesh and blood in telling how we process the world. Our course focuses in particular on this question--Does this universal issue ("who am I") become skewed differently when we add a qualifier before it, like "ethnic"? Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
AMSTUD 54N:
African American Women's Lives (AFRICAAM 54N, CSRE 54N, FEMGEN 54N, HISTORY 54N)
This course encourages students to think critically about historical sources and to use creative and rigorous historical methods to recover African American women¿s experiences, which often have been placed on the periphery of American history and American life.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 57Q:
10 American Photographs (ARTHIST 57Q)
Preference to sophomores. ¿The humor, the sadness, the EVERYTHING-ness and American-ness of these pictures!¿ wrote Jack Kerouac of photographer Robert Frank¿s iconic collection, The Americans. This seminar takes Kerouac¿s enthusiasm and applies it to ten American photographs, a new one each week. Examples span the medium¿s history and were taken as art, science, commerce, journalism, or personal mementos. Close study of the photo of the week will address how it looks and why; its history, from initial responses to later reception; and its relationship to the larger American visual and cultural context. Also under discussion: What story does this set of pictures tell about Americanness? What might another set of photos convey?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 63N:
The Feminist Critique: The History and Politics of Gender Equality (CSRE 63N, FEMGEN 63N, HISTORY 63N)
This course explores the long history of ideas about gender and equality. Each week we read, dissect, compare, and critique a set of primary historical documents (political and literary) from around the world, moving from the 15th century to the present. We tease out changing arguments about education, the body, sexuality, violence, labor, politics, and the very meaning of gender, and we place feminist critics within national and global political contexts.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AMSTUD 68N:
Mark Twain and American Culture (ENGLISH 68N)
Preference to freshmen. Mark Twain defined the rhythms of our prose and the contours of our moral map. He recognized our extravagant promise and stunning failures, our comic foibles and tragic flaws. He is viewed as the most American of American authors--and as one of the most universal. How does his work illuminate his society's (and our society's) responses to such issues as race, gender, technology, heredity vs. environment, religion, education, art, imperialism, animal welfare, and what it means to be "American"?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 75N:
American Short Stories (ENGLISH 75N)
How and why did the short story take root and flourish in an American context? Early works of classic American literature read alongside stories by women and minority writers, stretching from the early nineteenth century to the contemporary period.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 101:
Black & White Race Relations in American Fiction & Film (AFRICAAM 101, CSRE 41)
Movies and the fiction that inspires them; power dynamics behind production including historical events, artistic vision, politics, and racial stereotypes. What images of black and white does Hollywood produce to forge a national identity? How do films promote equality between the races? What is lost or gained in film adaptations of books? NOTE: Students must attend the first day; admission to the class will be determined based on an in class essay.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 102:
Art and Social Criticism (AFRICAAM 102B, ARTHIST 162B, CSRE 102A, FEMGEN 102)
Visual artists have long been in the forefront of social criticism in America. Since the 1960s, various visual strategies have helped emergent progressive political movements articulate and represent complex social issues. Which artists and particular art works/projects have become key anchors for discourses on racism, sexism, economic and social inequality, immigrant rights and climate change? We will learn about a spectrum of political art designed to raise social awareness, spark social change and rouse protest. The Art Workers Coalition¿s agit-prop opposing the Vietnam War and ACT-UP¿s emblematic signs and symbols during the AIDS/HIV crisis of the 1980s galvanized a generation into action. Works such as Judy Chicago¿s The Dinner Party (1979), Fred Wilson¿s Mining the Museum (1992), and Glenn Ligon¿s paintings appropriating fragments from African-American literature all raised awareness by excavating historical evidence of the long legacy resisting marginalization. For three decades feminist artists Barbara Kruger and the Guerilla Girls have combined institutional critique and direct address into a provocative form of criticality. Recent art for social justice is reaching ever broadening publics by redrawing the role of artist and audience exemplified by the democratization of poster making and internet campaigns of Occupy and the Movement for Black Lives. We will also consider the collective aesthetic activisms in the Post-Occupy era including Global Ultra Luxury Faction, Climate Justice art projects, and the visual culture of Trump era mass protests. Why are each of these examples successful as influential and enduring markers of social criticism? What have these socially responsive practices contributed to our understanding of American history?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 104:
America at Play: A History of Leisure in the United States
What we call "free time" is actually the product of multiple constraints, from economics and gender roles, to trends, moral strictures, and more. This course studies leisure to explore American culture from the late 19th century to the present. We consider, for instance, how new forms of entertainment, such as movies and iPods, altered notions of community and ideals of personal expression. For historical context, the class draws upon popular and critical sources, conversations with guests, and hands-on activities.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 109Q:
American Road Trips (HISTORY 69Q)
"Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road." --Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 1957. From Jack Kerouac's On the Road to Cheryl Strayed's Wild, this course explores epic road trips of the twentieth century. Travel is a fundamental social and cultural practice through which Americans have constructed ideas about the self, the nation, the past, and the future. The open road, as it is often called, offered excitement, great adventure, and the space for family bonding and memory making. But the footloose and fancy-free nature of travel that Jack Kerouac celebrated was available to some travelers but not to all. Engaging historical and literary texts, film, autobiography, memoir, photography, and music, we will consider the ways that travel and road trips have been represented in American culture. This course examines the following questions: How did men and women experience travel differently? How did the motivations for travel change over time? What role did race, ethnicity, class, relationships, and sexuality play in these trips? Students will work together to plan a road trip of their own which the class will take during the quarter.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 114X:
Reading Comics (FILMSTUD 114, FILMSTUD 314)
The modern medium of comics, a history that spans 150 years. The flexibility of the medium encountered through the genres of humorous and dramatic comic strips, superheroes, undergrounds, independents, journalism, and autobiography. Innovative creators including McCay, Kirby, Barry, Ware, and critical writings including McCloud, Eisner, Groenstee. Topics include text/image relations, panel-to-panel relations, the page, caricature, sequence, seriality, comics in the context of the fine arts, and relations to other media.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 117R:
Christianity in 21st-century America (RELIGST 117)
As the largest religion practiced in the United States, Christianity not only shapes the lives of a large number of its citizens but also impinges on public discourse, policies, and debates. This course investigates the ways in which Christianity in America is changing and what these changes bode for its role in the public and private spheres. Issues include shifting demographics lead to declining numbers in 'mainline' denominations; the polarization of Christian conservatives and religious 'nones'; interfaith toleration and cooperation alongside interreligious conflict; the rise of 'spiritual, not religious' young adults; the effects of immigration; religion and science.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 124A:
The American West (ARTHIST 152, ENGLISH 124, HISTORY 151, POLISCI 124A)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AMSTUD 127:
American Style and the Rhetoric of Fashion (ARTHIST 165B, FILMSTUD 165B)
Focus on the visual culture of fashion, especially in an American context. Topics include: the representation of fashion in different visual media (prints, photographs, films, window displays, and digital images); the relationship of fashion to its historical context and American culture; the interplay between fashion and other modes of discourse, in particular art, but also performance, music, economics; and the use of fashion as an expression of social status, identity, and other attributes of the wearer. Texts by Thorstein Veblen, Roland Barthes, Dick Hebdige, and other theorists of fashion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 132:
American Art and Culture, 1528-1910 (ARTHIST 132, ARTHIST 332)
The visual arts and literature of the U.S. from the beginnings of European exploration to the Civil War. Focus is on questions of power and its relation to culture from early Spanish exploration to the rise of the middle classes. Cabeza de Vaca, Benjamin Franklin, John Singleton Copley, Phillis Wheatley, Charles Willson Peale, Emerson, Hudson River School, American Genre painters, Melville, Hawthorne and others.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 133:
Technology and American Visual Culture (FILMSTUD 133B)
An exploration of the dynamic relationship between technology and the ways we see and represent the world, with a focus on American visual culture from the 19th century through the present. We study the history of different tools from telescopes and microscopes to digital detectors that have changed and enhanced our visual capabilities; the way technological shifts, such as the introduction of electric lights or train travel, have shaped our visual imagination and aesthetic sensibilities; and how technology has inspired or responded to visual art. Special attention is paid to how different media, such as photography, cinema, and computer screens, translate the visual experience into a representation; the automation of vision; and the intersection of technology with notions of time and space.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 134:
Museum Cultures: Material Representation in the Past and Present (ARCHLGY 134, ARCHLGY 234, ARTHIST 284B, CSRE 134, EDUC 214, NATIVEAM 134)
Students will open the "black box" of museums to consider the past and present roles of institutional collections, culminating in a student-curated exhibition. Today, museums assert their relevance as dynamic spaces for debate and learning. Colonialism and restitution, the politics of representation, human/object relationships, and changing frameworks of authority make museum work widely significant and consistently challenging. Through thinking-in-practice, this course reflexively explores "museum cultures": representations of self and other within museums and institutional cultures of the museum world itself.n3 credits (no final project) or 5 credits (final project). May be repeat for credit
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 15 units total)
AMSTUD 134C:
The Western: Imagining the West in Fiction and Film (ENGLISH 134C)
The Wild West: a mythical place seared deep into the American imagination. Its familiar tropes lone riders on horseback, desert sunsets, saloon fights, train robberies echo through countless Western stories, novels, films, radio programs, and television series. Both formulaic and flexible, the Western has endured as a popular genre in American culture for more than a century, embodying and responding to many of the nation's broader anxieties surrounding its colonial history, its notions of masculinity and gender roles, its fascination with guns and violence, and its ideals of self-reliance and individualism. In this class we'll examine the Western genre through a selection of its central works in fiction and film, from the first dime novel Western, Ann S. Stephens Malaeska (1860), to Cormac McCarthy¿s acclaimed Blood Meridian (1985); and from the first silent film Western, Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery (1903), to the mid-century Hollywood films of John Ford, to Maggie Greenwald¿s feminist Western, The Ballad of Little Jo (1993). Along the way we'll examine the Western as both a literary form and a cultural phenomenon, probing the history of its enduring appeal as a genre. How do these novels and films construct, adapt, and subvert the form and expectations of the Western, and how do they both perpetuate and challenge the broader cultural problems of their, and our, time? Finally, as Californians and inheritors of the nation's westward expansion, what does the Western tell us about national myths of the West, and the place in which we live?
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 143A:
American Architecture (ARTHIST 143A, ARTHIST 343A, CEE 32R)
A historically based understanding of what defines American architecture. What makes American architecture American, beginning with indigenous structures of pre-Columbian America. Materials, structure, and form in the changing American context. How these ideas are being transformed in today's globalized world.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 143M:
American Indian Mythology, Legend, and Lore (ENGLISH 43A, ENGLISH 143A, NATIVEAM 143A)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 143A.) Readings from American Indian literatures, old and new. Stories, songs, and rituals from the 19th century, including the Navajo Night Chant. Tricksters and trickster stories; war, healing, and hunting songs; Aztec songs from the 16th century. Readings from modern poets and novelists including N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, and Leslie Marmon Silko, and the classic autobiography, "Black Elk Speaks."
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 143X:
Starstuff: Space and the American Imagination (ARTHIST 264B, FILMSTUD 264B)
Course on the history of twentieth and twenty-first century American images of space and how they shape conceptions of the universe. Covers representations made by scientists and artists, as well as scientific fiction films, TV, and other forms of popular visual culture. Topics will include the importance of aesthetics to understandings of the cosmos; the influence of media and technology on representations; the social, political, and historical context of the images; and the ways representations of space influence notions of American national identity and of cosmic citizenship.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 145D:
Jewish American Literature (ENGLISH 145D, JEWISHST 155D, REES 145D)
From its inception, Jewish-American literature has taken as its subject as well as its context the idea of Jewishness itself. Jewish culture is a diasporic one, and for this reason the concept of Jewishness differs from country to country and across time. What stays remarkably similar, though, is Jewish self-perception and relatedly Jewish literary style. This is as true for the first-generation immigrant writers like Isaac Bashevis Singer and Anzia Yezierska who came to the United States from abroad as it is for their second-generation children born in the United States, and the children of those children. In this course, we will consider the difficulties of displacement for the emigrant generation and their efforts to sustain their cultural integrity in the multicultural American environment. We'll also examine the often comic revolt of their American-born children and grandchildren against their (grand-)parents nostalgia and failure to assimilate. Only by considering these transnational roots can one understand the particularity of the Jewish-American novel in relation to mainstream and minority American literatures. In investigating the link between American Jewish writers and their literary progenitors, we will draw largely but not exclusively from Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 145M:
Culture Wars: Art and Social Conflict in the USA, 1890-1950 (ARTHIST 145, ARTHIST 345, FEMGEN 145)
This course examines social conflicts and political controversies in American culture through the lens of visual art and photography. We consider how visual images both reflect and participate in the social and political life of the nation and how the terms of citizenship have been represented¿and, at times, contested¿by artists throughout the first half of the 20th century. The class explores the relation between American art and the body politic by focusing on issues of poverty, war, censorship, consumerism, class identity, and racial division.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 146A:
Steinbeck (ENGLISH 146A)
Introduction to the work of an American writer, beloved by general readers, often reviled by critics, whose career spanned from the Great Depression through World War II to the social upheavals of the 1960s. Focus on the social and political contexts of Steinbeck's major works; his fascination with California and Mexico; his interdisciplinary interest in marine biology and in philosophy; his diverse experiments with literary form, including drama and film.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 147J:
Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: The Soul Tradition in African American Music (AFRICAAM 19, CSRE 147J, MUSIC 147J, MUSIC 247J)
The African American tradition of soul music from its origins in blues, gospel, and jazz to its influence on today's r&b, hip hop, and dance music. Style such as rhythm and blues, Motown, Southern soul, funk, Philadelphia soul, disco, Chicago house, Detroit techno, trip hop, and neo-soul. Soul's cultural influence and global reach; its interaction with politics, gender, place, technology, and the economy. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 150:
Introduction to English II: American Literature and Culture to 1855 (ENGLISH 11B)
(Formerly English 23/123). A survey of early American writings, including sermons, poetry, captivity and slave narratives, essays, autobiography, and fiction, from the colonial era to the eve of the Civil War.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 150A:
Colonial and Revolutionary America (HISTORY 150A)
(Same as HISTORY 50A. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for HISTORY 150A.) Survey of the origins of American society and polity in the 17th and 18th centuries. Topics: the migration of Europeans and Africans and the impact on native populations; the emergence of racial slavery and of regional, provincial, Protestant cultures; and the political origins and constitutional consequences of the American Revolution.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
AMSTUD 152K:
Mixed-Race Politics and Culture (AFRICAAM 226, CSRE 152K, ENGLISH 152K)
Today, almost one-third of Americans identify with a racial/ethnic minority group, and more than 9 million Americans identify with multiple races. What are the implications of such diversity for American politics and culture? This course approaches issues of race from an interdisciplinary perspective, employing research in the social sciences and humanities to assess how race shapes perceptions of identity as well as political behavior in 21st-century U.S. Issues surrounding the role of multiculturalism, immigration, acculturation, racial representation, and racial prejudice in American society. Topics include the political and social formation of race; racial representation in the media, arts, and popular culture; the rise and decline of the "one-drop rule" and its effect on political and cultural attachments; the politicization of census categories and the rise of the multiracial movement.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 154X:
The American Civil War: A Visual History (ARTHIST 154, ARTHIST 354)
A painting of men charging across a field, a photograph of dead bodies in a ditch, a fragment of metal, a sliver of bone, and a brass button: how do we make sense of the visual record of the American Civil War (1861-65)? From the Capitol Dome to a skeleton dug up in a highway project a hundred years after the last battle, the course will consider the strange and scattered remnants of a famous era. Drawing on the poetry of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Herman Melville, the paintings of Winslow Homer, the photographs of Alexander Gardner, and the oratory of Abraham Lincoln, the course will examine what cannot be portrayed: the trauma of war.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 155C:
Abstract Expressionism: Painting/Modern/America (ARTHIST 155C)
The course will focus on American abstract painting from the 1930s to the 1960s, emphasizing the works of art at the Anderson Collection at Stanford. We will focus on looking closely at pictures by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and other renowned abstract painters, developing skills of speaking and writing about these works of art. We will also place these pictures in their mid-20th century context: World War II and the Cold War; Hollywood and popular culture generally; Beat literature; and locations such as New York and San Francisco.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 159X:
American Photographs, 1839-1971: A Cultural History (ARTHIST 159, ARTHIST 359)
This course concentrates on many important American photographers, from the era of daguerreotypes to near the end of the pre-digital era. We study photographs of the Civil War, western exploration, artistic subjects, urban and rural poverty, skyscrapers, crime, fashion, national parks, and social protest, among other topics. Among the photographers we study: Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Garry Winogrand, and Diane Arbus. Emphasis on developing students' abilities to discuss and write about photography; to see it.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
AMSTUD 178:
Ethnicity and Dissent in United States Art and Literature (ARTHIST 178, ARTHIST 378)
The role of the visual arts of the U.S. in the construction and contesting of racial, class, and gender hierarchies. Focus is on artists and writers from the 18th century to 1990s. How power, domination, and resistance work historically. Topics include: minstrelsy and the invention of race; mass culture and postmodernity; hegemony and language; memory and desire; and the borderlands.
Last offered: Spring 2004
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 183:
Re- Imagining American Borders (CSRE 183, FEMGEN 183)
How novelists, filmmakers, and poets perceive racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and class borders in the context of a current volatile national discussion about the place of Americans both here and in the world. How Anna Deavere Smith, Sherman Alexie, Shailja Patel or Ta-Nehisi Coates consider redrawing such lines so that center and margin, or self and other, do not remain fixed and divided. How linguistic borderlines within multilingual literature by Caribbean, Arab, and Asian Americans function. Can Anzaldúa's 1986 conception of borderlands be constructed through the matrix of language, dreams, music, and cultural memories in these recent American narratives? Course includes creatively examining one's own identity.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
AMSTUD 186B:
American Song in the 20th Century and after (MUSIC 186B, MUSIC 286B)
Critical and creative exploration of song in the Americas. About twenty-five key examples will guide discussion of the interactions between words, music, performance and culture. Weekly listening, reading and assignments will be organized around central themes: love, sex and romance; war and politics; labor and money; place; identity; society and everyday life. Genres include art song; blues, gospel, jazz and country; pop, soul, rock and hip-hop; bossa nova, nueva canción and salsa; electronic and experimental. Takehome and in-class assignments will include critical and creative writing, and music composition, production and performance; final projects may emphasize any of the above.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
AMSTUD 186D:
Asian American Art: 1850-Present (ARTHIST 186B, ASNAMST 186B)
In 1968, the Asian American Political Alliance began a successful campaign to jettison the designation "oriental" in favor of "Asian American." Given the term's recent genesis, what do we refer to when we discuss "Asian American art," and how can we speak of its history? This lecture class will explore these questions by considering artists, craftsmen, and laborers of Asian descent in the United States, beginning with Chinese immigration to California in the mid-nineteenth century, and extending through our current moment of globalization. We will consider their work alongside art and visual culture of the United States that engages "Asia" as a place, idea, or fantasy. Special attention will be paid to the crucial role Asia and Asian Americans played in movements including photography in San Francisco, Abstract Expressionism, Beat Culture, performance art, and New Queer Cinema. Artists include Chiura Obata, Isamu Noguchi, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Manuel Ocampo, Zarina, and Wu Tsang, among many others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ANTHRO 1:
Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (ANTHRO 201)
This course introduces basic anthropological concepts and presents the discipline¿s distinctive perspective on society and culture. The power of this perspective is illustrated by exploring vividly-written ethnographic cases that show how anthropological approaches illuminate contemporary social and political issues in a range of different cultural sites.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ANTHRO 1S:
Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (ANTHRO 101S)
This course introduces basic anthropological concepts and presents the discipline's distinctive perspective on society and culture. The power of this perspective is illustrated by exploring vividly-written ethnographic cases that show how anthropological approaches illuminate contemporary social and political issues in a range of different cultural sites.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ANTHRO 3:
Introduction to Archaeology (ARCHLGY 1)
Aims, methods, and data in the study of human society's development from early hunters through late prehistoric civilizations. Archaeological sites and remains characteristic of the stages of cultural development for selected geographic areas, emphasizing methods of data collection and analysis appropriate to each.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ANTHRO 82P:
The Literature of Psychosis (HUMBIO 162L, PSYC 82, PSYC 282)
One of the great gifts of literature is its ability to give us insight into the internal worlds of others. This is particularly true of that state clinicians call "psychosis." But psychosis is a complex concept. It can be terrifying and devastating for patients and families, and yet shares characteristics with other, less pathological states, such as mysticism and creativity. How then can we begin to make sense of it? In this course, we will examine the first-hand experience of psychosis. We will approach it from multiple perspectives, including clinical descriptions, works of art, and texts by writers ranging from Shakespeare, to the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, to patients attempting to describe their experience. This class is not only for students thinking of careers in medicine, psychology or anthropology, but also readers and writers interested exploring extraordinary texts. There are no prerequisites necessary; all that is needed is a love of language and a curiosity about the secrets of other minds.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
ANTHRO 101S:
Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (ANTHRO 1S)
This course introduces basic anthropological concepts and presents the discipline's distinctive perspective on society and culture. The power of this perspective is illustrated by exploring vividly-written ethnographic cases that show how anthropological approaches illuminate contemporary social and political issues in a range of different cultural sites.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ANTHRO 113B:
Religious Practices in Archaeological Cultures (ANTHRO 213B, ARCHLGY 113B)
According to Hawkes (1954), religion or ideology is the most difficult part of social life to access archaeologically. Luckily, not all scholars agree; according to Fogelin (2008) 'religion is not something people think about, but something people do¿. Thus, archaeology, an inherently multidisciplinary subject that studies material culture, is well suited to delve into religion and its underpinnings.nThis course will explore religious practices, as they can be defined and interpreted from archaeological contexts spanning the Paleolithic to historic periods. Definitions of religion differ from author to author but they mostly agree that religion is a fully integrated and thus integral part of human social life. Politics, economics, identity and social class influence religion, and religion influences how these forces play out in society. Thus, the course will also examine the significance of ritual and religion in a variety of social contexts.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ANTHRO 128:
Visual Studies
Drawing on anthropology, art history, cultural studies, and other fields, this course explores how and why one might want to think critically about the politics of visuality, social imagination, the politics of making and consuming images and things, iconophonia and iconophilia, the classification of people and things into 'artists' and 'art', and cultural production more generally.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II
ANTHRO 146J:
Studies in Ethnomusicology: Listening to the Local: Music Ethnography of the Bay Area (CSRE 146J, MUSIC 146J, MUSIC 246J)
An introduction to music ethnography through student research on musical life in the Bay Area. Focus is on the intersections of music, social life, and cultural practice by engaging with people as they perform music and culture in situ. Techniques taught include participant-observation, interviewing and oral history, writing field-notes, recording, transcription, analysis, and ethnographic writing. Pre-/co-requisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARCHLGY 1:
Introduction to Archaeology (ANTHRO 3)
Aims, methods, and data in the study of human society's development from early hunters through late prehistoric civilizations. Archaeological sites and remains characteristic of the stages of cultural development for selected geographic areas, emphasizing methods of data collection and analysis appropriate to each.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ARCHLGY 21Q:
Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe (CLASSICS 21Q)
(Formerly CLASSART 21Q.) Preference to sophomores. Focus is on excavation, features and finds, arguments over interpretation, and the place of each site in understanding the archaeological history of Europe. Goal is to introduce the latest archaeological and anthropological thought, and raise key questions about ancient society. The archaeological perspective foregrounds interdisciplinary study: geophysics articulated with art history, source criticism with analytic modeling, statistics interpretation. A web site with resources about each site, including plans, photographs, video, and publications, is the basis for exploring.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, Writing 2
ARCHLGY 106A:
Museums and Collections (ARCHLGY 306A)
Practical, theoretical, and ethical issues which face museums and collections. Practical collections-based work, museum visits, and display research. The roles of the museum in contemporary society. Students develop their own exhibition and engage with the issues surrounding the preservation of material culture.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ARCHLGY 113B:
Religious Practices in Archaeological Cultures (ANTHRO 113B, ANTHRO 213B)
According to Hawkes (1954), religion or ideology is the most difficult part of social life to access archaeologically. Luckily, not all scholars agree; according to Fogelin (2008) 'religion is not something people think about, but something people do¿. Thus, archaeology, an inherently multidisciplinary subject that studies material culture, is well suited to delve into religion and its underpinnings.nThis course will explore religious practices, as they can be defined and interpreted from archaeological contexts spanning the Paleolithic to historic periods. Definitions of religion differ from author to author but they mostly agree that religion is a fully integrated and thus integral part of human social life. Politics, economics, identity and social class influence religion, and religion influences how these forces play out in society. Thus, the course will also examine the significance of ritual and religion in a variety of social contexts.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARCHLGY 118:
Engineering the Roman Empire (CLASSICS 168)
(Formerly CLASSART 117.) Enter the mind, the drafting room, and the building site of the Roman architects and engineers whose monumental projects impressed ancient and modern spectators alike. This class explores the interrelated aesthetics and mechanics of construction that led to one of the most extensive building programs undertaken by a pre-modern state. Through case studies ranging from columns, domes and obelisks to road networks, machines and landscape modification, we investigate the materials, methods, and knowledge behind Roman innovation, and the role of designed space in communicating imperial identity.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARCHLGY 134:
Museum Cultures: Material Representation in the Past and Present (AMSTUD 134, ARCHLGY 234, ARTHIST 284B, CSRE 134, EDUC 214, NATIVEAM 134)
Students will open the "black box" of museums to consider the past and present roles of institutional collections, culminating in a student-curated exhibition. Today, museums assert their relevance as dynamic spaces for debate and learning. Colonialism and restitution, the politics of representation, human/object relationships, and changing frameworks of authority make museum work widely significant and consistently challenging. Through thinking-in-practice, this course reflexively explores "museum cultures": representations of self and other within museums and institutional cultures of the museum world itself.n3 credits (no final project) or 5 credits (final project). May be repeat for credit
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 15 units total)
ARCHLGY 151:
Ten Things: An Archaeology of Design (CLASSICS 151)
(Formerly CLASSART 113/213.) Connections among science, technology, society and culture by examining the design of a prehistoric hand axe, Egyptian pyramid, ancient Greek perfume jar, medieval castle, Wedgewood teapot, Edison's electric light bulb, computer mouse, Sony Walkman, supersonic aircraft, and BMW Mini. Interdisciplinary perspectives include archaeology, cultural anthropology, science studies, history and sociology of technology, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ARCHLGY 166:
The Body in Roman Art (CLASSICS 166)
(Formerly CLASSART 105.) Ancient and modern ideas about the body as ideal and site of lived experience. Themes include representation, portrayal, power, metamorphosis, and replication. Works that exemplify Roman ideas of heroism and power versus works portraying nude women, erotic youth, preserved corpses, and suffering enemies. Recommended: background in ancient Mediterranean art, archaeology, history, or literature. May be repeated for credit.
Last offered: Spring 2016
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
ARTHIST 1A:
Introduction to the Visual Arts: Prehistoric through Medieval (CLASSICS 56)
A survey of the art and architecture from the cave paintings of Lascaux to the Gothic Cathedrals of France; the material is organized both chronologically and thematically and covers a multiplicity of religions: pagan, Christian, and Islamic.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 1B:
Introduction to the Visual Arts: History of Western Art from the Renaissance to the Present
This course surveys the history of Western painting from the start of the 14th century to the late 20th century and our own moment. Lectures introduce important artists (Giotto, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Goya, Manet, Matisse, Pollock, and others), and major themes associated with the art of particular periods and cultures. The course emphasizes training students to look closely at - and to write about - works of art.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 2:
Asian Arts and Cultures (JAPAN 60)
An introduction to major monuments, themes, styles, and media of East and South Asian visual arts, in their social, literary, religious, and political contexts. Through close study of primary monuments of architectural, pictorial, and sculptural arts and related texts, this course will explore ritual and mortuary arts; Buddhist arts across Asia; narrative and landscape images; and courtly, urban, monastic, and studio environments for art from Bronze Age to modern eras.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 3:
Introduction to World Architecture (CLASSICS 54)
This lecture course surveys the history of architecture and urbanism, from the first societies to the present, in Europe, West and East Asia, the Americas, and Africa. The course progresses by case studies of exemplary monuments and cities, and examines the built environment as both cultural artifact and architectural event. It considers the social and political circumstances of architectural invention as well as plumbing the depth of artistic context by which particular formal choices resonate with an established representational culture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 57Q:
10 American Photographs (AMSTUD 57Q)
Preference to sophomores. ¿The humor, the sadness, the EVERYTHING-ness and American-ness of these pictures!¿ wrote Jack Kerouac of photographer Robert Frank¿s iconic collection, The Americans. This seminar takes Kerouac¿s enthusiasm and applies it to ten American photographs, a new one each week. Examples span the medium¿s history and were taken as art, science, commerce, journalism, or personal mementos. Close study of the photo of the week will address how it looks and why; its history, from initial responses to later reception; and its relationship to the larger American visual and cultural context. Also under discussion: What story does this set of pictures tell about Americanness? What might another set of photos convey?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 100N:
The Artist in Ancient Greek Society (CLASSICS 18N)
Given the importance of art to all aspects of their lives, the Greeks had reason to respect their artists. Yet potters, painters and even sculptors possessed little social standing. nn nnWhy did the Greeks value the work of craftsmen but not the men themselves? Why did Herodotus dismiss those who worked with their hands as "mechanics?" What prompted Homer to claim that "there is no greater glory for a man¿ than what he achieves with his own hands," provided that he was throwing a discus and not a vase on a wheel?nn nnPainted pottery was essential to the religious and secular lives of the Greeks. Libations to the gods and to the dead required vases from which to pour them. Economic prosperity depended on the export of wine and oil in durable clay containers. At home, depictions of gods and heroes on vases reinforced Greek values and helped parents to educate their children. Ceramic sets with scenes of Dionysian excess were reserved for elite symposia from which those who potted and painted them were excluded.nn nnSculptors were less lowly but even those who carved the Parthenon were still regarded as "mechanics," with soft bodies and soft minds (Xenophon) "indifferent to higher things" (Plutarch).nn nnThe seminar addresses these issues. Students will read and discuss texts, write response papers and present slide lectures and gallery talks on aspects of the artist's profession.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 101:
Introduction to Greek Art I: The Archaic Period (CLASSICS 161)
This lecture course explores Greek art and culture from 1000-480. In the beginning archaic art forms are more abstract than life-like, closer to Calder than Michelangelo. While Homer describes the rippling muscles (and egos) of his heroes, vase-painters and sculptors prefer abstraction. This changes in the 7th C. as a result of commerce with the Near East and Egypt. Imported Near Eastern bronzes and ivories awaken the Greeks to a wider range of subjects, techniques and ambitions. Later in the century, Greeks in Egypt learn to carve hard stone from Egyptian masters. Throughout the 6th C. Greek artists assimilate what they had borrowed, compete with one another, defy their teachers, test the tolerance of the gods and eventually produce works of art that speak with a Greek accent. When the Persians invade the Acropolis in 480, they find artifacts with little trace of alien influence or imprint - omens of the defiant Greek military that would prevail at Salamis and Plataea.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 102:
Introduction to Greek Art II: The Classical Period (CLASSICS 162)
The class begins with the art, architecture and political ideals of Periclean Athens, from the emergence of the city as the political and cultural center of Greece in 450 to its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404. It then considers how Athens and the rest of Greece proceed in the fourth century to rebuild their lives and the monuments that define them. Earlier artistic traditions endure, with subtle changes, in the work of sculptors such as Kephisodotos. Less subtle are the outlook and output of his son Praxiteles. In collaboration with Phryne, his muse and mistress, Praxiteles challenged the canons and constraints of the past with the first female nude in the history of Greek sculpture. His gender-bending depictions of gods and men were equally audacious, their shiny surfaces reflecting Plato¿s discussion of Eros and androgyny. Scopas was also a man of his time but pursued different interests. Drawn to the inner lives of men and woman, his tormented Trojan War heroes and victims are still scarred by memories of the Peloponnesian War, and a world away from the serene faces of the Parthenon. His famous Maenad, a devotee of Dionysos who has left this world for another, belongs to the same years as Euripides' Bacchae and, at the same time, anticipates the torsion and turbulence of Bernini and the Italian Baroque. In the work of these and other fourth century personalities, the stage is set for Alexander the Great and his conquest of a kingdom extending from Greece to the Indus River. (Formerly CLASSART 102)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 106:
Byzantine Art and Architecture, 300-1453 C.E. (ARTHIST 306, CLASSICS 171)
(Formerly CLASSART 106/206.) This course explores the art and architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean: Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Damascus, Thessaloniki, and Palermo, 4th-15th centuries. Applying an innovative approach, we will probe questions of phenomenology and aesthetics, focusing our discussion on the performance and appearance of spaces and objects in the changing diurnal light, in the glitter of mosaics and in the mirror reflection and translucency of marble.
Last offered: Spring 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 106B:
What Do Medieval Images Want? Theories of the Image in Byzantium, Islam, and the Latin West (ARTHIST 306B)
What is an image? The medieval response was tied to religious identity. At the core of the debate was whether the image was just a mimetic representation or a living entity: matter imbued with divine spirit. Byzantium, Islam, and the Latin West each developed their own positions and used it as a platform for political legitimacy. We will study the development of the medieval image theories by focusing on specific monuments and objects and by reading both primary sources in translation and current scholarly interpretations.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 114:
Mystical Naturalism: Van Eyck, Dürer, and the Northern Renaissance (ARTHIST 314)
A survey of the major innovations in Northern European painting ca. 1400-1600, in light of the social status of the artist between city and court. In the early fifteenth century painters began to render an idealized world down to its smallest details in ways that engaged new devotional practices. Later Hieronymus Bosch would identify the painter's imagination with the bizarre and grotesque. In response to Renaissance humanism, some painters introduced classical mythology and allegorical subjects in their works, and many traveled south to absorb Italianate pictorial styles. We will be visiting art museums in San Francisco and Stanford. May be repeat for credit.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
ARTHIST 117:
Picturing the Papacy, 1300-1850 (ARTHIST 317)
Popes deployed art and architecture to glorify their dual spiritual and temporal authority, being both Christ's vicars on earth and rulers of state. After the return of the papacy from Avignon, Rome underwent numerous campaigns of renovation that staged a continuity between the pontiffs and the ancient Roman emperors. Patronage of art and architecture became important tools in the fight against Protestantism. Artists include Botticelli, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Bernini.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
ARTHIST 118:
Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto (ARTHIST 318)
The course addresses the ways in which Venetian painters of the sixteenth century redefined paradigms of color, design, and invention. Themes to be examined include civic piety, new kinds of mythological painting, the intersection between naturalism and eroticism, and the relationship between art and rituals of church and statecraft.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 120:
Living in a Material World: Seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish Painting (ARTHIST 320)
Painting and graphic arts by artists in Flanders and Holland from 1600 to 1680, a period of political and religious strife. Historical context; their relationship to developments in the rest of Europe and contributions to the problem of representation. Preferences for particular genres such as portraits, landscapes, and scenes of everyday life; the general problem of realism as manifested in the works studied.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 122:
The Age of Revolution: Painting in Europe 1780-1830 (ARTHIST 322)
Survey of European painting bracketed by the French Revolution and the end of the Napoleonic conquest. Against this background of social upheavel, the visual arts were profoundly affected by shifts in patronage, public, and ideas about the social utility of image making. Lectures and readings align ruptures in the tradition of representation with the unfolding historical situation, and trace the first manifestations of a "romantic" alternative to the classicism that was the cultural legacy of pre-Revolutionary Europe.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 123N:
Thinking about Visual Attention : from Balzac to Facebook
Writing in 1829, the French author Honoré de Balzac celebrated the acute visual attention of the flâneur, a character he closely associates with modern life: "To flâne is to take pleasure, to collect flashes of wit, to admire sublime scenes of unhappiness, of love, of joy as well as graceful or grotesque portraits, to thrust one's attention into the depths of a thousand lives." In July 2012 the Huffington Report pointed to a fact of modern life: "On city streets, in suburban parking lots and in shopping centers, there is usually someone strolling while talking on a phone, texting with his head down, listening to music, or playing a video game. The problem isn't as widely discussed as distracted driving, but the danger is real." These two very different ways of circulating in urban space suggest that a major shift in how we humans relate to our environment has occurred over the course of nearly two centuries--especially in the densely populated spaces of modern cities. Where the great spectacle of urban life was a marvel of the nineteenth century, today's inhabitants want mainly to block it out by insulating themselves in a cocoon of favorite music or personal conversation, whether by voice or text, that they risk stepping into traffic, colliding with lightposts, or bumping into others similarly self-absorbed. This seminar proposes to think about the hows and whys of that important shift from the unique perspective of art history, a field of study especially attuned to the limits and exigencies of visual acuity. We will explore the topic across a range of media, from daguerreotypes to stereoscopes, from paintings to films, from television screen to the hand-held displays of our smartphones.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 124:
The Age of Naturalism, Painting in Europe1830-1874 (ARTHIST 324)
Survey of European painting from the heyday of Romanticism to the first Impressionist exhibition. Lectures and readings focus on the tensions between traditional forms and ambitions of history painting and the challenge of "modern" subjects drawn from contemporary life. Attention to the impact of painting in the open-air, and the effect of new imaging technologies- notably lithography and photography - to provide "popular" alternatives to the hand-wrought character and elitist appeal of "high art" cultural forms.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 132:
American Art and Culture, 1528-1910 (AMSTUD 132, ARTHIST 332)
The visual arts and literature of the U.S. from the beginnings of European exploration to the Civil War. Focus is on questions of power and its relation to culture from early Spanish exploration to the rise of the middle classes. Cabeza de Vaca, Benjamin Franklin, John Singleton Copley, Phillis Wheatley, Charles Willson Peale, Emerson, Hudson River School, American Genre painters, Melville, Hawthorne and others.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 142:
Architecture Since 1900 (CEE 32G)
Art 142 is an introduction to the history of architecture since 1900 and how it has shaped and been shaped by its cultural contexts. The class also investigates the essential relationship between built form and theory during this period.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 143A:
American Architecture (AMSTUD 143A, ARTHIST 343A, CEE 32R)
A historically based understanding of what defines American architecture. What makes American architecture American, beginning with indigenous structures of pre-Columbian America. Materials, structure, and form in the changing American context. How these ideas are being transformed in today's globalized world.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 145:
Culture Wars: Art and Social Conflict in the USA, 1890-1950 (AMSTUD 145M, ARTHIST 345, FEMGEN 145)
This course examines social conflicts and political controversies in American culture through the lens of visual art and photography. We consider how visual images both reflect and participate in the social and political life of the nation and how the terms of citizenship have been represented¿and, at times, contested¿by artists throughout the first half of the 20th century. The class explores the relation between American art and the body politic by focusing on issues of poverty, war, censorship, consumerism, class identity, and racial division.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 147:
Modernism and Modernity (ARTHIST 347)
The development of modern art and visual culture in Europe and the US, beginning with Paris in the 1860s, the period of Haussmann, Baudelaire and Manet, and ending with the Bauhaus and Surrealism in the 1920s and 30s. Modernism in art, architecture and design (e.g., Gauguin, Picasso, Duchamp, Mondrian, Le Corbusier, Breuer, Dali) will be explored as a compelling dream of utopian possibilities involving multifaceted and often ambivalent, even contradictory responses to the changes brought about by industrialization, urbanization, and the rise of mass culture.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 152:
The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ENGLISH 124, HISTORY 151, POLISCI 124A)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ARTHIST 154:
The American Civil War: A Visual History (AMSTUD 154X, ARTHIST 354)
A painting of men charging across a field, a photograph of dead bodies in a ditch, a fragment of metal, a sliver of bone, and a brass button: how do we make sense of the visual record of the American Civil War (1861-65)? From the Capitol Dome to a skeleton dug up in a highway project a hundred years after the last battle, the course will consider the strange and scattered remnants of a famous era. Drawing on the poetry of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Herman Melville, the paintings of Winslow Homer, the photographs of Alexander Gardner, and the oratory of Abraham Lincoln, the course will examine what cannot be portrayed: the trauma of war.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 155C:
Abstract Expressionism: Painting/Modern/America (AMSTUD 155C)
The course will focus on American abstract painting from the 1930s to the 1960s, emphasizing the works of art at the Anderson Collection at Stanford. We will focus on looking closely at pictures by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and other renowned abstract painters, developing skills of speaking and writing about these works of art. We will also place these pictures in their mid-20th century context: World War II and the Cold War; Hollywood and popular culture generally; Beat literature; and locations such as New York and San Francisco.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 156A:
Warhol: Painting, Photography, Performance (ARTHIST 356A, TAPS 156A, TAPS 356A)
This course focuses on the career of Andy Warhol as a means to consider the broader history of American art and culture since 1950. It examines little-studied aspects of Warhol¿s visual production (e.g. his career as a commercial artist in the 1950s and his everyday photographs of the 1970s and 1980s) alongside his now-canonical Pop paintings of the 1960s. Warhol?s critical and scholarly reception will be scrutinized in detail, as will published interviews of and writings by the artist. Finally, we will consider Warhol¿s legacy and wide-ranging influence on American culture in the decades since his death in 1987.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 159:
American Photographs, 1839-1971: A Cultural History (AMSTUD 159X, ARTHIST 359)
This course concentrates on many important American photographers, from the era of daguerreotypes to near the end of the pre-digital era. We study photographs of the Civil War, western exploration, artistic subjects, urban and rural poverty, skyscrapers, crime, fashion, national parks, and social protest, among other topics. Among the photographers we study: Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Garry Winogrand, and Diane Arbus. Emphasis on developing students' abilities to discuss and write about photography; to see it.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 160N:
The Sisters: Poetry & Painting (ENGLISH 51N)
Poetry and painting have often been called the "sister arts". Why? Sometimes a poem or a painting stands out to us, asking that we stay with it, that we remember it, although we cannot exactly say why. Poems have a way of making pictures in the mind, and paintings turn "rhymes" amid the people, places, and things they portray. Each is a concentrated world, inviting an exhilarating closeness of response: why does this line come first? Why does the artist include that detail? Who knows but that as we write and talk about these poems and pictures we will be doing what John Keats said a painter does: that is, arriving at a "trembling delicate and snail-horn perception of Beauty." Each week explore the kinship between a different pair of painter and poet and also focuses on a particular problem or method of interpretation. Some of the artist/poet combinations we will consider: Shakespeare and Caravaggio; Jorie Graham and (the photographer) Henri Cartier-Bresson; Alexander Pope and Thomas Gainsborough; William Wordsworth and Caspar David Friedrich; Christina Rossetti and Mary Cassatt; Walt Whitman and Thomas Eakins; Thomas Hardy and Edward Hopper.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 162B:
Art and Social Criticism (AFRICAAM 102B, AMSTUD 102, CSRE 102A, FEMGEN 102)
Visual artists have long been in the forefront of social criticism in America. Since the 1960s, various visual strategies have helped emergent progressive political movements articulate and represent complex social issues. Which artists and particular art works/projects have become key anchors for discourses on racism, sexism, economic and social inequality, immigrant rights and climate change? We will learn about a spectrum of political art designed to raise social awareness, spark social change and rouse protest. The Art Workers Coalition¿s agit-prop opposing the Vietnam War and ACT-UP¿s emblematic signs and symbols during the AIDS/HIV crisis of the 1980s galvanized a generation into action. Works such as Judy Chicago¿s The Dinner Party (1979), Fred Wilson¿s Mining the Museum (1992), and Glenn Ligon¿s paintings appropriating fragments from African-American literature all raised awareness by excavating historical evidence of the long legacy resisting marginalization. For three decades feminist artists Barbara Kruger and the Guerilla Girls have combined institutional critique and direct address into a provocative form of criticality. Recent art for social justice is reaching ever broadening publics by redrawing the role of artist and audience exemplified by the democratization of poster making and internet campaigns of Occupy and the Movement for Black Lives. We will also consider the collective aesthetic activisms in the Post-Occupy era including Global Ultra Luxury Faction, Climate Justice art projects, and the visual culture of Trump era mass protests. Why are each of these examples successful as influential and enduring markers of social criticism? What have these socially responsive practices contributed to our understanding of American history?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 164A:
Technology and the Visual Imagination (ARTHIST 364A, FILMSTUD 164A, FILMSTUD 364A)
An exploration of the dynamic relationship between technology and the ways we see and represent the world. The course examines technologies from the Renaissance through the present day, from telescopes and microscopes to digital detectors, that have changed and enhanced our visual capabilities as well as shaped how we imagine the world. We also consider how these technologies influenced and inspired the work of artists. Special attention is paid to how different technologies such as linear perspective, photography, cinema, and computer screens translate the visual experience into a representation; the automation of vision; and the intersection of technology with conceptions of time and space.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 165A:
Fashion Shows: From Lady Godiva to Lady Gaga (ARTHIST 365A, FILMSTUD 165A, FILMSTUD 365A)
The complex and interdependent relationship between fashion and art. Topics include: the ways in which artists have used fashion in different art forms as a means to convey social status, identity, and other attributes of the wearer; the interplay between fashion designers and various art movements, especially in the 20th century; the place of prints, photography, and the Internet in fashion, in particular how different media shape how clothes are seen and perceived. Texts by Thorstein Veblen, Roland Barthes, Dick Hebdige, and other theorists of fashion.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 165B:
American Style and the Rhetoric of Fashion (AMSTUD 127, FILMSTUD 165B)
Focus on the visual culture of fashion, especially in an American context. Topics include: the representation of fashion in different visual media (prints, photographs, films, window displays, and digital images); the relationship of fashion to its historical context and American culture; the interplay between fashion and other modes of discourse, in particular art, but also performance, music, economics; and the use of fashion as an expression of social status, identity, and other attributes of the wearer. Texts by Thorstein Veblen, Roland Barthes, Dick Hebdige, and other theorists of fashion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 176:
Feminism and Contemporary Art (ARTHIST 376, CSRE 167, FEMGEN 176)
(Same as ARTHIST 176) The impact of second wave feminism on art making and art historical practice in the 70s, and its reiteration and transformation in contemporary feminist work. Topics: sexism and art history, feminist studio programs in the 70s, essentialism and self-representation, themes of domesticity, the body in feminist art making, bad girls, the exclusion of women of color and lesbians from the art historical mainstream, notions of performativity.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 178:
Ethnicity and Dissent in United States Art and Literature (AMSTUD 178, ARTHIST 378)
The role of the visual arts of the U.S. in the construction and contesting of racial, class, and gender hierarchies. Focus is on artists and writers from the 18th century to 1990s. How power, domination, and resistance work historically. Topics include: minstrelsy and the invention of race; mass culture and postmodernity; hegemony and language; memory and desire; and the borderlands.
Last offered: Spring 2004
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 182B:
Cultures in Competition: Arts of Song-Era China (ARTHIST 382B)
The Song dynasty (mid-10th to late 13th c.) was a period of extraordinary diversity and technical accomplishment in Chinese painting, ceramics, calligraphy, architecture and sculpture. Artistic developments emerged within a context of economic dynamism, urban growth, and competition in dynastic, political, cultural and social arenas ¿ as between Chinese and formerly nomadic neighboring regimes, or between reformers and conservatives. This course will consider major themes and topics in Song art history, including innovations in architectural and ceramic technologies; developments in landscape painting and theory; the rise of educated artists; official arts and ideologies of Song, Liao and Jin court regimes; new roles for women as patrons and cultural participants; and Chan and popular Buddhist imagery.
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 186B:
Asian American Art: 1850-Present (AMSTUD 186D, ASNAMST 186B)
In 1968, the Asian American Political Alliance began a successful campaign to jettison the designation "oriental" in favor of "Asian American." Given the term's recent genesis, what do we refer to when we discuss "Asian American art," and how can we speak of its history? This lecture class will explore these questions by considering artists, craftsmen, and laborers of Asian descent in the United States, beginning with Chinese immigration to California in the mid-nineteenth century, and extending through our current moment of globalization. We will consider their work alongside art and visual culture of the United States that engages "Asia" as a place, idea, or fantasy. Special attention will be paid to the crucial role Asia and Asian Americans played in movements including photography in San Francisco, Abstract Expressionism, Beat Culture, performance art, and New Queer Cinema. Artists include Chiura Obata, Isamu Noguchi, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Manuel Ocampo, Zarina, and Wu Tsang, among many others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 188B:
From Shanghai Modern to Global Contemporary: Frontiers of Modern Chinese Art (ARTHIST 388B)
Chinese artistic engagements with international arenas and with the cultural politics of modernity, from the late 19th century to the present. Topics will include Shanghai modernity and public media; artistic reform and political activism at the end of empire; competition between national style painting and international modernisms; politicized arts of resistance and revolution; post-Mao era experimental and avant-garde movements; transnational careers and exhibition circuits.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 189C:
Global Currents: Early Modern Art Enterprises, Economies, and Imaginaries (ARTHIST 389C)
Episodes of global artistic exchange from the 16th to 19th centuries involving commodities (porcelains and textiles), technologies (printmaking, perspective, and cartography), and imaginaries (Chinoiserie, East Asian Occidenteries, Orientalism, Japonisme). The role of enterprises, institutions, and power relations in artistic economies, from the Portuguese Empire, Jesuit mission networks and East India Companies to imperialist systems.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 192B:
Art of the African Diaspora
This introduction to the art of the African Diaspora uses art and visual culture as means to explore the history and impact of the global spread of African peoples from slavery until the present day. Lectures and discussions will examine a range of artistic practices from street festivals and Afro-Caribbean religious traditions to the work of studio-trained artists of international repute.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 203:
Artists, Athletes, Courtesans and Crooks (CLASSICS 163)
The seminar covers a range of topics devoted to the makers of Greek art and artifacts, the ancient Greeks who used them in life and the afterlife, and the miscreants - from Lord Elgin to contemporary tomb-looters and dealers- whose deeds have damaged, deracinated and desecrated temples, sculptures and grave goods. Readings include ancient texts in translation, books and articles by eloquent experts, legal texts and lively page-turners. Classes meet in the seminar room and the Cantor Center.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 207C:
Phenomenology and Aesthetics in Medieval Art (ARTHIST 407C)
This course explores the phenomenal aspects of the medieval image and space such as glitter, shadow, smoke, reverberation and how these presence effects were conceptualized in medieval culture as animation. Focus is on a select group of monuments as well as engagement with medieval objects at the Cantor Art Museum and the facsimiles of medieval manuscripts kept at the Art Library and Special Collections. Among the monuments we will study are the Alhambra in Spain, the Apocalypse MSS, the Cantigas of Alfonso X, the Byzantine Joshua Roll, the Homiles of the Monk Kokkinobaphos, the Ashburnhamensis Pentateuch, and the Rossano Gospels.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 208C:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 408C, CLASSICS 175, MUSIC 208C, MUSIC 408C, REES 208C, REES 408C, RELIGST 208C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
ARTHIST 211:
The California Missions: Art History and Reconciliation (CSRE 111, NATIVEAM 211)
Sites of the spirit and devotion, sites of genocide, foreboding actors in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, the subject of fourth-grade school projects, the Spanish Missions of Alta California are complex sites of inquiry, their meanings and associations different for each visitor. This seminar examines the art and architecture of the California Missions built between 1769 and 1823. Constructed with local materials and decorated with reredos, paintings and sculptures from Mexico and Spain, the Missions are at once humble spaces and flagships of a belated global baroque. They were also the laboratories of indigenous artists and artisans. This course seeks to understand how Mission art was meant to function, how and why it was made, what its materials were, while asking what the larger role of art was in a global system of missions. Can the study of this art lead to the reconciliation of populations in North America and within the field of art history? The Missions require a specific reexamination of the relationship between European and colonial forms, not as objects of curiosity or diffusion but as viable and globally informed agents.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 213:
Renaissance Print Culture: Art in the Cantor Arts Center
The seminar takes place in the Cantor Arts Center and provides a unique opportunity to study original works of art from the museum's storage. Beginning in the fifteenth century new techniques of reproduction changed the pictorial culture of Europe. Some engravings called attention to the engraver's virtuosity, and the private nature of the medium was explored for erotic imagery. By the sixteenth century printed images were used for political and religious propaganda during the societal upheavals.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
ARTHIST 245:
Art, Business & the Law (SIW 245)
This course examines the intersection of art, business, and the law from a number of different angles, focusing on issues that impact our understanding of works of art and their circulation in the modern and contemporary periods. Topics range from individual case studies (e.g., Leonardo da Vinci; Richard Serra) to the consolidation of the art market, and include cultural heritage issues, problems of censorship, and conceptions of authorship and intellectual property.nnIn Autumn 2017-18 this course will be offered at Stanford in Washington in Washington, D.C. and enrollment is limited to students who are enrolled in the SIW Program.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 252A:
Art and Power: From Royal Spectacle to Revolutionary Ritual (FRENCH 252)
From the Palace of Versailles to grand operas to Jacques-Louis David's portraits of revolutionary martyrs, rarely have the arts been so powerfully mobilized by the State as in early modern France. This course examines how the arts were used from Louis XIV to the Revolution in order to broadcast political authority across Europe. We will also consider the resistance to such attempts to elicit shock-and-awe through artistic patronage. By studying music, architecture, garden design, the visual arts, and theater together, students will gain a new perspective on works of art in their political contexts. But we will also examine the libelous pamphlets and satirical cartoons that turned the monarchy¿s grandeur against itself, ending the course with an examination of the new artistic regime of the French Revolution. The course will be taught in English with the option of French readings for departmental majors.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ARTHIST 263B:
The View through the Windshield: Cars and the American Landscape
Both cars and the landscape are fundamental to American identity. This seminar will consider the relationship between them: how they have shaped each other, how one mediates the experience of the other, and how American artists such as Ansel Adams, Edward Hopper, and Ed Ruscha have represented both. We will discuss the relationship between nature and technology; the aesthetics of highways and parkways; the phenomenology of driving and road trips; maps and way finding; and the future of cars, mapping, and the landscape.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 264A:
Picturing the Cosmos
This seminar explores the place of images in how we understand and imagine the universe. The course draws on art, science, and popular culture, and pays particular attention to the ways they inform each other. Examples include: star maps, science fiction films, appropriated astronomical images, and telescopic views of stars, planets, and nebulae. Using these representations as well as accompanying readings we will discuss the importance of aesthetics for conceptions of the cosmos; the influence of technology on representations; strategies for representing concepts that exceed the limits of human vision; and the ways that views of the universe reflect and shape their cultural context. Open to undergraduates and graduates.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 264B:
Starstuff: Space and the American Imagination (AMSTUD 143X, FILMSTUD 264B)
Course on the history of twentieth and twenty-first century American images of space and how they shape conceptions of the universe. Covers representations made by scientists and artists, as well as scientific fiction films, TV, and other forms of popular visual culture. Topics will include the importance of aesthetics to understandings of the cosmos; the influence of media and technology on representations; the social, political, and historical context of the images; and the ways representations of space influence notions of American national identity and of cosmic citizenship.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 278:
Introduction to Curating
Gain hands-on curatorial experience at the Cantor Arts Center by developing an exhibition in the Oceanic gallery about the Global Southn(the Indian Ocean region). Explore and debate strategies for presenting diverse art forms, conduct research, prepare wall texts and labels, and participate in designing the exhibition space in collaboration with fellow students, faculty, and Cantor staff members.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ARTHIST 278S:
Stanford Collects: A History of Collecting (HISTORY 7S)
Leland Stanford, Jr. was a curator extraordinaire. His collecting shaped Stanford into a university, an archive, a library, and a museum. Students will explore Stanford's campus collections to discover how objects and artifacts tell the history not only of the university, but also Palo Alto, California, and the American West writ large. The course is hosted in Green Library and features visits to the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University Archaeology Collections, and more. All majors welcome. Priority given to history majors and minors.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ARTSINST 11Q:
Art in the Metropolis (TAPS 11Q)
This seminar is offered in conjunction with the annual "Arts Immersion" trip to New York that takes place over the spring break and is organized by the Stanford Arts Institute (SAI). Participation in the trip is a requirement for taking part in the seminar (and vice versa). The trip is designed to provide a group of students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the cultural life of New York City guided by faculty and the SAI programming director. Students will experience a broad range and variety of art forms (visual arts, theater, opera, dance, etc.) and will meet with prominent arts administrators and practitioners, some of whom are Stanford alumni. For further details and updates about the trip, see http://arts.stanford.edu.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ARTSINST 182:
Activating Urban Spaces: Materializing Hidden Narratives in the Urban Environment (URBANST 182)
This course will investigate the organization and shaping of public space from the perspective of story and narrative. The course will consider how authorized narratives feature in the built environment and in the social spaces and usage of the city and how unauthorized, sometimes contentious narratives lurk beneath the surface and persist on the "skin" of the city. It will investigate the role of artists and the arts in "mapping" or surfacing alternative stories, concepts and imaginations of how the city is or can be. Inspired by the writings of Michel DeCerteau and Italo Calvino, this class explores the role of narrative in the city and the imagination from the perspective of cultural memory, lived experience, usage of space and organization of the built infrastructure. It offers an alternative approach to thinking about cities, how they are formed and how they function. This class will utilize and combine active field research methods with creative practice. Locations for our field research and excursions will include areas around Stanford and the Bay Area. The class will function as a hybrid seminar and collaborative studio workspace supporting students interested in applying creative practices to field research to develop methods for materializing narratives in various forms of public performance or place-specific art. Students will develop research for projects tailored to a particular location of their choosing and will explore the idea of the 'hidden city' its histories and its communities.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ARTSINST 184:
Creativity: Anatomy of a Buzzword (URBANST 186)
Creativity is one of the defining values of our time, embraced by corporate CEOs, kindergarten teachers, and starving artists alike. Yet it not always clear what creativity means. This course will explore how the capacious concept of creativity has shaped contemporary ideals of work, art, technology, human nature, and the good society. Using a mix of popular texts, contemporary scholarship, and classics of social thought, we will look at what kinds of products, places, and people count as 'creative' in public conversation, and why. Particular attention will be paid to how different overlapping notions of creativity have guided arts policy, business practices, and urban economic strategy over the last few decades of capitalist development. Using Stanford itself as a case study, students will conduct field work to discover how the concept of creativity operates across and between the various departments, disciplines, and centers on campus, from the fine arts to psychology to business. This research will culminate in the final group project: a multimedia archive and digital concept map of creativity discourse at Stanford. Students will come away from the class with concrete research skills and theoretical tools that will enable them to critically engage with any big ideas in the public sphere, as well as a better understanding of recent economic and cultural history underpinning our everyday assumptions and widely held values.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ARTSTUDI 153N:
Ecology of Materials
This hands on studio based sculpture course takes a critical look at the materials used in sculpture and addresses the environmental concerns surrounding them. We will look at artists concerned with environmental impact and the interconnection of art to other fields. This class also addresses the impact of material and technique upon form and content; therefore understanding the physical and expressive possibilities of diverse materials. Conceptual and technical considerations will be addressed. Students will learn traditional building techniques as needed (wood shop, metal shop, mold making, found object) as well as anti-object techniques. Existing at the intersection of art, science, technology and ecology, environmental art often functions to inform and/or interpret natural conditions and the processes associated with both "non-human" and "human-made" constructions. It will also educate us about environmental issues and concerns. This course introduces and provides a context for this area of interdisciplinary exchange and artist production by examining areas commonly known as cradle to cradle design, land art, eco art, environmental art, and art and technology. What role does sculpture play in a fragile world with depleting natural resources, global economies and media dominance? What is the life cycle of object making and creating? What is our relationship to objects in a growing technological age? Students will make 3-4 projects based on these questions. Group discussions, critiques, readings, video presentations, a field trip to a local artist-in-residence program Recology at the San Francisco Dump, visiting artists and visiting faculty from Stanford doing environmental research will augment this class.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ARTSTUDI 162:
Embodied Interfaces
Our computers, phones and devices ¿see¿ us predominately as fingers and single eyes staring at screens. What would happen if our technology acknowledged more of our rich physical presence and capabilities in its design? How have artists and designers used different sensing technologies to account for more of our embodied selves in their works? In this studio course we will explore various sensing technologies and design pieces that engage our whole selves. Interfaces explored will range from the practical to the poetic. Sensors may involve flex sensors, heat sensors, microphones and simple camera tracking technology. We will analyze different tools for their appropriateness for different tasks and extend them through our designs.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ARTSTUDI 239:
Intermedia Workshop (MUSIC 155, MUSIC 255)
Students develop and produce intermedia works. Musical and visual approaches to the conceptualisation and shaping of time-based art. Exploration of sound and image relationship. Study of a wide spectrum of audiovisual practices including experimental animation, video art, dance, performance, non-narrative forms, interactive art and installation art. Focus on works that use music/sound and image as equal partners. Limited enrollment. Prerequisites: consent of instructors, and one of FILMPROD 114, ARTSTUDI 131, 138, 167, 177, 179, or MUSIC 123, or equivalent. May be repeated for credit
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
ARTSTUDI 271:
The View Camera
Students will learn how to use large-format 4x5 view cameras, and explore the ways in which large-format photography enables the creation of exceptionally clear images on a par with digital imaging. They will develop sheet film and print black-and-white images in analog format. To connect the camera to contemporary digital practices students will learn to scan and digitally print from their negatives. Specific attention will be given to mastering perspective control and in-camera manipulation of the image. From a historical point of view, the course will analyze and discuss images created with view cameras by a wide range of artists from the early days of photography to the present. Students will put their skills into practice and pursue their own aesthetic by producing a portfolio of images. Prerequisite: ARTSTUDI 170, ARTSTUDI 171, or equivalent.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ASNAMST 31N:
Perspectives in North American Taiko (MUSIC 31N)
Preference to Freshman. Taiko, or Japanese drum, is a newcomer to the American music scene. Emergence of the first N. American taiko groups coincided with increased Japanese American activism, and to some it is symbolic of Japanese American identity. N. American taiko is associated with Japanese American Buddhism. Musical, cultural, historical, and political perspectives of taiko. Hands-on drumming. Japanese music and Japanese American history, and relations among performance, cultural expression, community, and identity.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ASNAMST 32:
Buddhism in America (CSRE 32H, RELIGST 32S)
This course examines the transmission, growth, and transformation of Buddhism in America from the nineteenth century to the present day. We will treat American Buddhism as a distinct regional variety of Buddhism with its own history, characteristics, and debates. Through select readings, films, discussions, and research, students will explore the main events and issues that have shaped the American encounter with Buddhism. We will learn the history of Buddhism in the United States, major traditions of American Buddhism, and contemporary issues and debates. Topics covered will include Orientalism, gender, race, science and meditation, and Buddhism in classrooms and prisons.
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ASNAMST 157:
An Introduction to Asian American Literature: The Short Story
This course introduces students to Asian American literature and its sociohistorical contexts through close-reading a selection of short stories by writers from various ethnic groups.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ASNAMST 186B:
Asian American Art: 1850-Present (AMSTUD 186D, ARTHIST 186B)
In 1968, the Asian American Political Alliance began a successful campaign to jettison the designation "oriental" in favor of "Asian American." Given the term's recent genesis, what do we refer to when we discuss "Asian American art," and how can we speak of its history? This lecture class will explore these questions by considering artists, craftsmen, and laborers of Asian descent in the United States, beginning with Chinese immigration to California in the mid-nineteenth century, and extending through our current moment of globalization. We will consider their work alongside art and visual culture of the United States that engages "Asia" as a place, idea, or fantasy. Special attention will be paid to the crucial role Asia and Asian Americans played in movements including photography in San Francisco, Abstract Expressionism, Beat Culture, performance art, and New Queer Cinema. Artists include Chiura Obata, Isamu Noguchi, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Manuel Ocampo, Zarina, and Wu Tsang, among many others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CEE 32A:
Psychology of Architecture
This course argues that architecture often neglects the interdisciplinary investigation of our internal psychological experience and the way it impacts our creation of space. How does our inner life influence external design? How are we impacted emotionally, physically, psychologically by the spaces we inhabit day to day? How might we intentionally imbue personal and public spaces with specific emotions? This seminar serves as a call to action for students interested in approaching architecture with a holistic understanding of the emotional impact of space. Sample topics addressed will include: conscious vs. unconscious design; the ego of architecture; psycho-spatial perspectives; ideas of home; integral/holistic architecture; phenomenology of inner and outer spaces; exploring archetypal architecture; and translating emotion through environment.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
CEE 32B:
Design Theory
This seminar focuses on the key themes, histories, and methods of architectural theory -- a form of architectural practice that establishes the aims and philosophies of architecture. Architectural theory is primarily written, but it also incorporates drawing, photography, film, and other media. nnOne of the distinctive features of modern and contemporary architecture is its pronounced use of theory to articulate its aims. One might argue that modern architecture is modern because of its incorporation of theory. This course focuses on those early-modern, modern, and late-modern writings that have been and remain entangled with contemporary architectural thought and design practice. nnRather than examine the development of modern architectural theory chronologically, it is explored architectural through thematic topics. These themes enable the student to understand how certain architectural theoretical concepts endure, are transformed, and can be furthered through his/her own explorations.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CEE 32D:
Construction: The Writing of Architecture
This seminar focuses on the construction of architectural writing. The class will analyze this idea through four topics: formal analysis, manifesto, translation, and preservation. The seminar is divided into two-week modules with each of these four concepts functioning as organizing principles. nnThe first week of each module will involve familiarizing the seminar with both the terms and rhetorical tactics of the given theme by reading and analyzing specific texts and completing a short written analysis (1-2 pages). The second week will expand upon this foundation and involve further analysis in addition to each student writing a short paper (3-4 pages) drawing on the examples discussed and their own experiences in the discipline. The goal of the seminar is for each student to be able to analyze how an architectural writing is constructed and to develop his/her skills in the construction of his/her own writing.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CEE 32G:
Architecture Since 1900 (ARTHIST 142)
Art 142 is an introduction to the history of architecture since 1900 and how it has shaped and been shaped by its cultural contexts. The class also investigates the essential relationship between built form and theory during this period.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CEE 32Q:
Place: Making Space Now
This seminar argues that architeccts are ultimately "placemakers," and questions what that means in the contemporary world. Part I investigates the meaning of the word "place." Additional background for understanding contemporary place making will include a critique of the history of modern place-making through an examination of modern form. Part II examines two traditional notions of place by scale: from "home" to "the city." What elements give these conceptions of space a sense of place? To answer this question, themes such as memory, mapping, and boundary, among others, will be investigated. part III presents challenges to the traditional notions of place discussed in Part II. Topics addressed include: What does it mean to be "out of place"? What sense of place does a nomad have, and how is this represented? What are the "non-places" and how can architects design for these spaces? Part IV addresses the need to re-conceptualize contemporary space. The role of digital and cyber technologies, the construction of locality in a global world, and the in-between places that result from a world in flux are topics discussed in this section of the seminar. nLearning goals: Specific goals include clsoe reading of texts, understanding of philosophical thinking and writing, argument under uncertainty, and developed concepts of place, space and architecture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CEE 32R:
American Architecture (AMSTUD 143A, ARTHIST 143A, ARTHIST 343A)
A historically based understanding of what defines American architecture. What makes American architecture American, beginning with indigenous structures of pre-Columbian America. Materials, structure, and form in the changing American context. How these ideas are being transformed in today's globalized world.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CHILATST 140:
Migration in 21st Century Latin American Film (ILAC 140)
Focus on how images and narratives of migration are depicted in recent Latin American film. It compares migration as it takes place within Latin America to migration from Latin America to Europe and to the U.S. We will analyze these films, and their making, in the global context of an evergrowing tension between "inside" and "outside"; we consider how these films represent or explore precariousness and exclusion; visibility and invisibility; racial and gender dynamics; national and social boundaries; new subjectivities and cultural practices. Films include: El niño pez, Bolivia, Ulises, Faustino Mayta visita a su prima, Copacabana, Chico y Rita, Sin nombre, Los que se quedan, Amador, and En la puta calle. Films in Spanish, with English subtitles. Discussions and assignments in Spanish.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CHILATST 147L:
Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: Latin American Music and Globalization (CSRE 147L, MUSIC 147L, MUSIC 247L)
Focuses on vernacular music of Latin America and the Caribbean, including Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina. Musical examples discussed in relation to: globalization, migration, colonialism, nationalism, diaspora, indigeneity, politics, religion, dance, ethnicity, and gender. How music reflects and shapes cultures, identities, and social structures. Genres addressed: bachata, bossa nova, cumbia, forro, ranchero, reggaeton, rock, salsa, tango, and others. Seminar, guest performances, reading, listening, and analysis. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
CHINA 70N:
Animal Planet and the Romance of the Species (COMPLIT 70N)
Preference to freshmen.This course considers a variety of animal characters in Chinese and Western literatures as potent symbols of cultural values and dynamic sites of ethical reasoning. What does pervasive animal imagery tell us about how we relate to the world and our neighbors? How do animals define the frontiers of humanity and mediate notions of civilization and culture? How do culture, institutions, and political economy shape concepts of human rights and animal welfare? And, above all, what does it mean to be human in the pluralistic and planetary 21st century? Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
CHINA 111:
Literature in 20th-Century China (CHINA 211)
(Graduate students register for 211.) How modern Chinese culture evolved from tradition to modernity; the century-long drive to build a modern nation state and to carry out social movements and political reforms. How the individual developed modern notions of love, affection, beauty, and moral relations with community and family. Sources include fiction and film clips. WIM course.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
CHINA 112:
Tiananmen Square: History, Literature, Iconography (CHINA 212)
Multidisciplinary. Literary and artistic representations of this site of political and ideological struggles throughout the 20th century. Tiananmen-themed creative, documentary, and scholarly works that shed light on the dynamics and processes of modern Chinese culture and politics. No knowledge of Chinese required. Held in Knight Bldg. Rm. 18.
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CHINA 115:
Sex, Gender, and Power in Modern China (CHINA 215, FEMGEN 150, FEMGEN 250)
Investigates how sex, gender, and power are entwined in the Chinese experience of modernity. Topics include anti-footbinding campaigns, free love/free sex, women's mobilization in revolution and war, the new Marriage Law of 1950, Mao's iron girls, postsocialist celebrations of sensuality, and emergent queer politics. Readings range from feminist theory to China-focused historiography, ethnography, memoir, biography, fiction, essay, and film. All course materials are in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CHINA 117:
Humanities Core: Love and Betrayal in Asia (HUMCORE 21, JAPAN 117, KOREA 117)
Why are lovers in storybooks East and West always star-crossed? Why do love and death seem to go together? For every Romeo and Juliet, there are dozens of doomed lovers in the Asian literary repertoires, from Genji¿s string of embittered mistresses, to the Butterfly lovers in early modern China, to the voices of desire in Koryo love songs, to the devoted adolescent cousins in Dream of the Red Chamber, to the media stars of Korean romantic drama, now wildly popular throughout Asia. In this course, we explore how the love story has evolved over centuries of East Asian history, asking along the way what we can learn about Chinese, Japanese, and Korean views of family and community, gender and sexuality, truth and deception, trust and betrayal, ritual and emotion, and freedom and solidarity from canonical and non-canonical works in East Asian literatures.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CHINA 118:
Humanities Core: Everybody Eats: The Language, Culture, and Ethics of Food in East Asia (HUMCORE 22, JAPAN 118, KOREA 118)
Many of us have grown up eating "Asian" at home, with friends, on special occasions, or even without full awareness that Asian is what we were eating. This course situates the three major culinary traditions of East Asia--China, Japan, and Korea--in the histories and civilizations of the region, using food as an introduction to their rich repertoires of literature, art, language, philosophy, religion, and culture. It also situates these seemingly timeless gastronomies within local and global flows, social change, and ethical frameworks. Specifically, we will explore the traditional elements of Korean court food, and the transformation of this cuisine as a consequence of the Korean War and South Korea¿s subsequent globalizing economy; the intersection of traditional Japanese food with past and contemporary identities; and the evolution of Chinese cuisine that accompanies shifting attitudes about the environment, health, and well-being. Questions we will ask ourselves during the quarter include, what is "Asian" about Asian cuisine? How has the language of food changed? Is eating, and talking about eating, a gendered experience? How have changing views of the self and community shifted the conversation around the ethics and ecology of meat consumption?
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CHINA 163:
Chinese Biographies of Women (CHINA 263)
Generic and historical analysis of the two-millennia long biographical tradition inaugurated by Liu Xiang, ca. 79-8 B.C.E. Chinese women's history, intellectual history, historiography, and literary studies.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 18N:
The Artist in Ancient Greek Society (ARTHIST 100N)
Given the importance of art to all aspects of their lives, the Greeks had reason to respect their artists. Yet potters, painters and even sculptors possessed little social standing. nn nnWhy did the Greeks value the work of craftsmen but not the men themselves? Why did Herodotus dismiss those who worked with their hands as "mechanics?" What prompted Homer to claim that "there is no greater glory for a man¿ than what he achieves with his own hands," provided that he was throwing a discus and not a vase on a wheel?nn nnPainted pottery was essential to the religious and secular lives of the Greeks. Libations to the gods and to the dead required vases from which to pour them. Economic prosperity depended on the export of wine and oil in durable clay containers. At home, depictions of gods and heroes on vases reinforced Greek values and helped parents to educate their children. Ceramic sets with scenes of Dionysian excess were reserved for elite symposia from which those who potted and painted them were excluded.nn nnSculptors were less lowly but even those who carved the Parthenon were still regarded as "mechanics," with soft bodies and soft minds (Xenophon) "indifferent to higher things" (Plutarch).nn nnThe seminar addresses these issues. Students will read and discuss texts, write response papers and present slide lectures and gallery talks on aspects of the artist's profession.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 19N:
Eloquence Personified: How To Speak Like Cicero
This course is an introduction to Roman rhetoric, Cicero's Rome, and the active practice of speaking well. Participants read a short rhetorical treatise by Cicero, analyze one of his speeches as well as more recent ones by, e.g., Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Obama, and watch their oratorical performances. During the remainder of the term they practice rhetoric, prepare and deliver in class two (short) speeches, and write an essay.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
CLASSICS 21Q:
Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe (ARCHLGY 21Q)
(Formerly CLASSART 21Q.) Preference to sophomores. Focus is on excavation, features and finds, arguments over interpretation, and the place of each site in understanding the archaeological history of Europe. Goal is to introduce the latest archaeological and anthropological thought, and raise key questions about ancient society. The archaeological perspective foregrounds interdisciplinary study: geophysics articulated with art history, source criticism with analytic modeling, statistics interpretation. A web site with resources about each site, including plans, photographs, video, and publications, is the basis for exploring.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, Writing 2
CLASSICS 31:
Greek Mythology
(Formerly CLASSGEN 18.) The heroic and divine in the literature, mythology, and culture of archaic Greece. Interdisciplinary approach to the study of individuals and society. Illustrated lectures. Readings in translation of Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, and the poets of lyric and tragedy. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required during regular academic quarters (Aut, Win, Spr)
Terms: Spr, Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 34:
Ancient Athletics
(Formerly CLASSGEN 34.) How the Olympic Games developed and how they were organized. Many other Greek festivals featured sport and dance competitions, including some for women, and showcased the citizen athlete as a civic ideal. Roman athletics in contrast saw the growth of large-scale spectator sports and professional athletes. Some toured like media stars; others regularly risked death in gladiatorial contests and chariot-racing. We will also explore how large-scale games were funded and how they fostered the development of sports medicine. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required; enroll in sections on coursework.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CLASSICS 37:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, The Ancient World (DLCL 11, HUMCORE 11)
This course will journey through ancient literature from Homer to St. Augustine; it will introduce participants to some of its fascinating features and big ideas; and it will reflect on questions such as: What is a good life, a good society? Who is in and who is out and why? What is the meaning of honor, and should it be embraced or feared? Where does human subjectivity fit into a world of matter, cause and effect? When is rebellion justified? What happens when a way of life or thought is upended? Do we have any duties to the past?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 38:
Humanities: An Introduction to How Humans Think About Themselves (HUMCORE 1)
Ever since humans evolved, we have been asking ourselves what we are and how we should live. This course is an introduction to the answers that have been offered, asking why they have varied so much and how they might continue to change in the future. Combining literary, archaeological, and anthropological evidence from around the world with the insights of biology, psychology, and the social sciences, the class will trace the story from the origins of modern humans some 200,000-300,000 years ago forward to our own age. Central topics will include what makes humans different from other animals, whether there is a universal human nature, and how the humanities differ from the sciences. The course is intended as an introduction to the global history of humanistic thought and as a foundation for more detailed study in the humanities.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CLASSICS 40:
Greek Philosophy (PHIL 100)
We shall cover the major developments in Greek philosophical thought, focusing on Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic schools (the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Skeptics). Topics include epistemology, metaphysics, psychology, ethics and political theory. No prereqs, not repeatable.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 42:
Philosophy and Literature (COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track. Majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature, with particular focus on the question of value: what, if anything, does engagement with literary works do for our lives? Issues include aesthetic self-fashioning, the paradox of tragedy, the paradox of caring, the truth-value of fiction, metaphor, authorship, irony, make-believe, expression, edification, clarification, and training. Readings are drawn from literature and film, philosophical theories of art, and stylistically interesting works of philosophy. Authors may include Sophocles, Chaucer, Dickinson, Proust, Woolf, Borges, Beckett, Kundera, Charlie Kaufman; Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas; Plato, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 43:
Exploring the New Testament (JEWISHST 86, RELIGST 86)
To explore the historical context of the earliest Christians, students will read most of the New Testament as well as many documents that didn't make the final cut. Non-Christian texts, Roman art, and surviving archeological remains will better situate Christianity within the ancient world. Students will read from the Dead Sea Scrolls, explore Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing divine temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse an ancient marriage guide, and engage with recent scholarship in archeology, literary criticism, and history.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CLASSICS 54:
Introduction to World Architecture (ARTHIST 3)
This lecture course surveys the history of architecture and urbanism, from the first societies to the present, in Europe, West and East Asia, the Americas, and Africa. The course progresses by case studies of exemplary monuments and cities, and examines the built environment as both cultural artifact and architectural event. It considers the social and political circumstances of architectural invention as well as plumbing the depth of artistic context by which particular formal choices resonate with an established representational culture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 56:
Introduction to the Visual Arts: Prehistoric through Medieval (ARTHIST 1A)
A survey of the art and architecture from the cave paintings of Lascaux to the Gothic Cathedrals of France; the material is organized both chronologically and thematically and covers a multiplicity of religions: pagan, Christian, and Islamic.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CLASSICS 82:
The Egyptians (AFRICAAM 30, HISTORY 48, HISTORY 148)
Overview of ancient Egyptian pasts, from predynastic times to Greco-Roman rule, roughly 3000 BCE to 30 BCE. Attention to archaeological sites and artifacts; workings of society; and cultural productions, both artistic and literary. Participation in class is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CLASSICS 102L:
Advanced Latin: Rebel with a cause: Catiline
(Formerly CLASSLAT 112.) Beguiling. Riotous. Fallen. Lucius Sergius Catilina (108-62 BCE): Who was he? Reading of selections of Cicero's Catilinarians and In Defense of Caelius, and Sallust's Catilinarian Conspiracy. We will compare the three different Catilinarian villains within the framework of rhetoric, Cicero's and Sallust's styles (esp. metaphors), and explore the historian's possible debts to the orator. As needed, we will review questions of grammar and syntax, rhetorical terms, and historical context. Classics majors and minors must take course for letter grade. May be repeated for credit with advance approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: Language, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
CLASSICS 103L:
Advanced Latin: Ovid's Metamorphoses
(Formerly CLASSLAT 113.) Classics majors and minors must take course for a letter grade and may repeat for credit with advance approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: Language, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
CLASSICS 112:
Introduction to Greek Tragedy: Gods, Heroes, Fate, and Justice (TAPS 167)
(Formerly CLASSGEN 110.) Gods and heroes, fate and free choice, gender conflict, the justice or injustice of the universe: these are just some of the fundamental human issues that we will explore in about ten of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 121:
Ecology in Philosophy and Literature
(Formerly CLASSGEN 116.) The basic principles of ecological thinking, exploring the ways that different writers represent and relate to the natural world. Some key questions: What is nature, and where do humans fit in the natural world? How exactly do humans differ from other animals? Do these differences make us superior beings? What are our ethical responsibilities towards the earth and its inhabitants? In what ways have the technologies of writing, television, and computers affected humankind's relationship to the natural world?
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
CLASSICS 136:
The Greek Invention of Mathematics (MATH 163)
How was mathematics invented? A survey of the main creative ideas of ancient Greek mathematics. Among the issues explored are the axiomatic system of Euclid's Elements, the origins of the calculus in Greek measurements of solids and surfaces, and Archimedes' creation of mathematical physics. We will provide proofs of ancient theorems, and also learn how such theorems are even known today thanks to the recovery of ancient manuscripts.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 137:
Ancient Dance and its Modern Legacy (CLASSICS 237, TAPS 165C, TAPS 265C)
Descriptions of dance in the Greek and Greco-Roman world; theories about dance in antiquity; dance and the senses; modern and modernist dancers and choreographers discussing ancient dance
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 151:
Ten Things: An Archaeology of Design (ARCHLGY 151)
(Formerly CLASSART 113/213.) Connections among science, technology, society and culture by examining the design of a prehistoric hand axe, Egyptian pyramid, ancient Greek perfume jar, medieval castle, Wedgewood teapot, Edison's electric light bulb, computer mouse, Sony Walkman, supersonic aircraft, and BMW Mini. Interdisciplinary perspectives include archaeology, cultural anthropology, science studies, history and sociology of technology, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CLASSICS 161:
Introduction to Greek Art I: The Archaic Period (ARTHIST 101)
This lecture course explores Greek art and culture from 1000-480. In the beginning archaic art forms are more abstract than life-like, closer to Calder than Michelangelo. While Homer describes the rippling muscles (and egos) of his heroes, vase-painters and sculptors prefer abstraction. This changes in the 7th C. as a result of commerce with the Near East and Egypt. Imported Near Eastern bronzes and ivories awaken the Greeks to a wider range of subjects, techniques and ambitions. Later in the century, Greeks in Egypt learn to carve hard stone from Egyptian masters. Throughout the 6th C. Greek artists assimilate what they had borrowed, compete with one another, defy their teachers, test the tolerance of the gods and eventually produce works of art that speak with a Greek accent. When the Persians invade the Acropolis in 480, they find artifacts with little trace of alien influence or imprint - omens of the defiant Greek military that would prevail at Salamis and Plataea.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 162:
Introduction to Greek Art II: The Classical Period (ARTHIST 102)
The class begins with the art, architecture and political ideals of Periclean Athens, from the emergence of the city as the political and cultural center of Greece in 450 to its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404. It then considers how Athens and the rest of Greece proceed in the fourth century to rebuild their lives and the monuments that define them. Earlier artistic traditions endure, with subtle changes, in the work of sculptors such as Kephisodotos. Less subtle are the outlook and output of his son Praxiteles. In collaboration with Phryne, his muse and mistress, Praxiteles challenged the canons and constraints of the past with the first female nude in the history of Greek sculpture. His gender-bending depictions of gods and men were equally audacious, their shiny surfaces reflecting Plato¿s discussion of Eros and androgyny. Scopas was also a man of his time but pursued different interests. Drawn to the inner lives of men and woman, his tormented Trojan War heroes and victims are still scarred by memories of the Peloponnesian War, and a world away from the serene faces of the Parthenon. His famous Maenad, a devotee of Dionysos who has left this world for another, belongs to the same years as Euripides' Bacchae and, at the same time, anticipates the torsion and turbulence of Bernini and the Italian Baroque. In the work of these and other fourth century personalities, the stage is set for Alexander the Great and his conquest of a kingdom extending from Greece to the Indus River. (Formerly CLASSART 102)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 163:
Artists, Athletes, Courtesans and Crooks (ARTHIST 203)
The seminar covers a range of topics devoted to the makers of Greek art and artifacts, the ancient Greeks who used them in life and the afterlife, and the miscreants - from Lord Elgin to contemporary tomb-looters and dealers- whose deeds have damaged, deracinated and desecrated temples, sculptures and grave goods. Readings include ancient texts in translation, books and articles by eloquent experts, legal texts and lively page-turners. Classes meet in the seminar room and the Cantor Center.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 166:
The Body in Roman Art (ARCHLGY 166)
(Formerly CLASSART 105.) Ancient and modern ideas about the body as ideal and site of lived experience. Themes include representation, portrayal, power, metamorphosis, and replication. Works that exemplify Roman ideas of heroism and power versus works portraying nude women, erotic youth, preserved corpses, and suffering enemies. Recommended: background in ancient Mediterranean art, archaeology, history, or literature. May be repeated for credit.
Last offered: Spring 2016
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
CLASSICS 168:
Engineering the Roman Empire (ARCHLGY 118)
(Formerly CLASSART 117.) Enter the mind, the drafting room, and the building site of the Roman architects and engineers whose monumental projects impressed ancient and modern spectators alike. This class explores the interrelated aesthetics and mechanics of construction that led to one of the most extensive building programs undertaken by a pre-modern state. Through case studies ranging from columns, domes and obelisks to road networks, machines and landscape modification, we investigate the materials, methods, and knowledge behind Roman innovation, and the role of designed space in communicating imperial identity.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 171:
Byzantine Art and Architecture, 300-1453 C.E. (ARTHIST 106, ARTHIST 306)
(Formerly CLASSART 106/206.) This course explores the art and architecture of the Eastern Mediterranean: Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Damascus, Thessaloniki, and Palermo, 4th-15th centuries. Applying an innovative approach, we will probe questions of phenomenology and aesthetics, focusing our discussion on the performance and appearance of spaces and objects in the changing diurnal light, in the glitter of mosaics and in the mirror reflection and translucency of marble.
Last offered: Spring 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 175:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 208C, ARTHIST 408C, MUSIC 208C, MUSIC 408C, REES 208C, REES 408C, RELIGST 208C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
CLASSICS 181:
Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought (CLASSICS 381, PHIL 176A, PHIL 276A, POLISCI 230A, POLISCI 330A)
(Formerly CLASSHIS 133/333.) Political philosophy in classical antiquity, focusing on canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Historical background. Topics include: political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; and law, civic strife, and constitutional change.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
COMM 1B:
Media, Culture, and Society (AMSTUD 1B)
The institutions and practices of mass media, including television, film, radio, and digital media, and their role in shaping culture and social life. The media's shifting relationships to politics, commerce, and identity.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
COMPLIT 10N:
Shakespeare and Performance in a Global Context
Preference to freshmen. The problem of performance including the performance of gender through the plays of Shakespeare. In-class performances by students of scenes from plays. The history of theatrical performance. Sources include filmed versions of plays, and readings on the history of gender, gender performance, and transvestite theater. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 11Q:
Shakespeare, Playing, Gender
Preference to sophomores. Focus is on several of the best and lesser known plays of Shakespeare, on theatrical and other kinds of playing, and on ambiguities of both gender and playing gender. Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 37Q:
Zionism and the Novel (JEWISHST 37Q)
At the end of the nineteenth century, Zionism emerged as a political movement to establish a national homeland for the Jews, eventually leading to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. This seminar uses novels to explore the changes in Zionism, the roots of the conflict in the Middle East, and the potentials for the future. We will take a close look at novels by Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, in order to understand multiple perspectives, and we will also consider works by authors from the North America and from Europe. Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
COMPLIT 51Q:
Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity (AMSTUD 51Q, CSRE 51Q)
We may "know" "who" we "are," but we are, after all, social creatures. How does our sense of self interact with those around us? How does literature provide a particular medium for not only self expression, but also for meditations on what goes into the construction of "the Self"? After all, don't we tell stories in response to the question, "who are you"? Besides a list of nouns and names and attributes, we give our lives flesh and blood in telling how we process the world. Our course focuses in particular on this question--Does this universal issue ("who am I") become skewed differently when we add a qualifier before it, like "ethnic"? Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
COMPLIT 55N:
Batman, Hamilton, DÃaz, and Other Wondrous Lives (CSRE 55N)
This seminar concerns the design and analysis of imaginary (or constructed) worlds for narratives and media such as films, comics, and literary texts. The seminar's primary goal is to help participants understand the creation of better imaginary worlds - ultimately all our efforts should serve that higher purpose. Some of the things we will consider when taking on the analysis of a new world include: What are its primary features - spatial, cultural, biological, fantastic, cosmological? What is the world's ethos (the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize the world)? What are the precise strategies that are used by the artist to convey the world to us and us to the world? How are our characters connected to the world? And how are we - the viewer or reader or player - connected to the world? Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 70N:
Animal Planet and the Romance of the Species (CHINA 70N)
Preference to freshmen.This course considers a variety of animal characters in Chinese and Western literatures as potent symbols of cultural values and dynamic sites of ethical reasoning. What does pervasive animal imagery tell us about how we relate to the world and our neighbors? How do animals define the frontiers of humanity and mediate notions of civilization and culture? How do culture, institutions, and political economy shape concepts of human rights and animal welfare? And, above all, what does it mean to be human in the pluralistic and planetary 21st century? Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
COMPLIT 100:
CAPITALS: How Cities Shape Cultures, States, and People (DLCL 100, FRENCH 175, GERMAN 175, HISTORY 206E, ILAC 175, ITALIAN 175, URBANST 153)
This course takes students on a trip to eight capital cities, at different moments in time: Renaissance Florence, Golden Age Madrid, Colonial Mexico City, Enlightenment and Romantic Paris, Existential and Revolutionary St. Petersburg, Roaring Berlin, Modernist Vienna, and bustling Buenos Aires. While exploring each place in a particular historical moment, we will also consider the relations between culture, power, and social life. How does the cultural life of a country intersect with the political activity of a capital? How do large cities shape our everyday experience, our aesthetic preferences, and our sense of history? Why do some cities become cultural capitals? Primary materials for this course will consist of literary, visual, sociological, and historical documents (in translation); authors we will read include Boccaccio, Lope de Vega, Sor Juana, Montesquieu, Baudelaire, Dostoyevsky, Irmgard Keun, Freud, and Borges. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
COMPLIT 101:
What Is Comparative Literature?
The course, open to all undergraduates, is for anyone serious about literature. After first asking what "literature" is and what cultural roles it may fulfil, the course continues by exploring what, then, may be the cultural, political, historical and institutional needs to which "comparative literature" responds. A short story by Jorge Luis Borges and an accompanying essay serve as an introduction to both sets of questions. We will then look at a few texts of the western tradition from Aristotle through the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, taken as standard for later ideas and practices of literature, eventually, too, at one or two that clearly acknowledge possibilities of quite different traditions for the role played by what may be called the "fictive imagination." A series of texts, two plays, two (possibly three) novels, some poems, some critical writings, will then show other traditions interacting transculturally with and/or against western ones. Students will be able to choose their readings among several.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 108:
Contemporary Hebrew and English Poetry in Translation
A workshop in literary translation, focusing on Hebrew and English poetry and/or short prose. Together the class will engage in creating a bilingual anthology of contemporary works and discussing problems of literary translation such as preserving ambiguities, translating cultural context, literary conventions and poetic forms. Special focus on issues related to understanding and transferring the concept of "The Contemporary" between cultures. With guest translators. Advanced knowledge of Hebrew and English is required. Readings include: (Hebrew) Avot Yeshurun, Natan Zach, David Avidan, Haim Gouri, Sigal Ben-Yair, Almog Behar, Aharon Shabtai; (English) Marilyn Hacker, Annie Finch, Charles Bernstein, Ann Carson, Derek Walcott, David Whyte, Lyn Hejinian, Billy Collins,Mary Oliver, Kay Ryan. NOTE: Taught in Hebrew and English. At least some knowledge of Hebrew required. "This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit."
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
COMPLIT 110:
Introduction to Comparative Queer Literary Studies (COMPLIT 310, FEMGEN 110X, FEMGEN 310X)
Introduction to the comparative literary study of important gay, lesbian, queer, bisexual, and transgender writers and their changing social, political, and cultural contexts from the 1880s to today: Oscar Wilde, Rachilde, Radclyffe Hall, Djuna Barnes, James Baldwin, Jean Genet, Audre Lorde, Cherrie Moraga, Jeanette Winterson, Alison Bechdel and others, discussed in the context of 20th-century feminist and queer literary and social theories of gender and sexuality. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course 110 or 110X for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 113:
Feminist Poetry in the U.S., 1973-2017 (FEMGEN 113X)
Traces the development of feminist poetry in the United States from second wave feminists like Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, and Alicia Ostriker to contemporary poetry of Anne Boyer, Steph Burt, and Eileen Myles, among others. We will think broadly about the relationship between politics and poetry, and focus specifically on the influences of second- and third- wave feminism on poetry produced by women in the U.S. from the 1970s until today.Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 121:
Poems, Poetry, Worlds (DLCL 141)
What is poetry? How does it speak in many voices to questions of history, society, and personal experience? Why does it matter? The reading and interpretation of poetry in crosscultural comparison as experience, invention, form, sound, knowledge, and part of the world. The readings address poetry of several cultures (Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Occitania, Peru) in comparative relation to that of the English-speaking world, and in light of classic and recent theories of poetry.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 123:
The Novel and the World (DLCL 143)
<b>Before the Digital Era: the European Design of the Novel</b> The course will trace the development of the modern literary genre par excellence through some of its great milestones from the 17th century to the present. Works by Austen, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Queiròs, Mann, Roth, Woolf, Lampedusa and Rodoreda.<em>Lazarillo de Tormes</em>, Jane Austen: <em>Pride and Prejudice</em>, Flaubert: <em>Madame Bovary</em>, Dostoevsky: <em>Crime and Punishment</em>, Eça de Queirós: <em>The City and the Mountains</em>, Thomas Mann: <em>Death in Venice</em>, Joseph Roth: <em>Radietskymarsh</em>, Virginia Woolf: <em>Mrs. Dalloway</em>, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, <em>The Leopard</em>, Mercé Rodoreda: <em>The Time of the Doves</em>
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 127B:
The Hebrew and Jewish Short Story (JEWISHST 147B)
Short stories from Israel, the US and Europe including works by Agnon, Kafka, Keret, Castel-Bloom, Kashua, Singer, Benjamin, Freud, biblical myths and more. The class will engage with questions related to the short story as a literary form and the history of the short story. Reading and discussion in English. Optional: special section with readings and discussions in Hebrew. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
COMPLIT 136:
Refugees, Politics and Culture in Contemporary Germany (COMPLIT 336A, GERMAN 136, GERMAN 336)
Responses to refugees and immigration to Germany against the backdrop of German history and in the context of domestic and European politics. Topics include: cultural difference and integration processes, gender roles, religious traditions, populism and neo-nationalism. Reading knowledge of German, another European language, or an immigrant language will be useful for research projects, but not required.nNOTE: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.
Terms: Win
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 145:
Reflection on the Other: The Jew and the Arab in Literature (AMELANG 126, JEWISHST 106)
How literary works outside the realm of Western culture struggle with questions such as identity, minority, and the issue of the Other. How the Arab is viewed in Hebrew literature, film and music and how the Jew is viewed in Palestinian works in Hebrew or Arabic (in translation to English). Historical, political, and sociological forces that have contributed to the shaping of these writers' views. Guest lectures about the Jew in Palestinian literature and music. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 145B:
The African Atlantic (AFRICAAM 148, AFRICAST 145B, COMPLIT 345B, CSRE 145B, FRENCH 145B, FRENCH 345B)
This course explores the central place Africa holds in prose writing emerging during early and modern periods of globalization across the Atlantic, including the middle passage, exploration and colonialism, black internationalism, decolonization, immigration, and diasporic return. We will begin with Equiano's Interesting Narrative (1789), a touchstone for the Atlantic prose tradition, and study how writers crossing the Atlantic have continued to depict Africa in later centuries: to dramatize scenes of departure and arrival in stories of self-making or new citizenship, to evoke histories of racial unity or examine psychic and social fragmentation, to imagine new national communities or question their norms and borders. Our readings will be selected from English, French, Portuguese and Spanish-language traditions. And we will pay close attention to genres of prose fiction (Conrad, Condé, Olinto), epic and prose poetry (Césaire, Walcott), theoretical reflection (Gilroy, Glissant, Mudimbe, Benitez-Rojo), and literary autobiography (Barack Obama, Saidiya Hartman). Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take COMPLIT 145B for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 149:
The Laboring of Diaspora & Border Literary Cultures (CSRE 149, ILAC 149)
Focus is given to emergent theories of culture and on comparative literary and cultural studies. How do we treat culture as a social force? How do we go about reading the presence of social contexts within cultural texts? How do ethno-racial writers re-imagine the nation as a site with many "cognitive maps" in which the nation-state is not congruent with cultural identity? How do diaspora and border narratives/texts strive for comparative theoretical scope while remaining rooted in specific local histories. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
COMPLIT 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track. Majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature, with particular focus on the question of value: what, if anything, does engagement with literary works do for our lives? Issues include aesthetic self-fashioning, the paradox of tragedy, the paradox of caring, the truth-value of fiction, metaphor, authorship, irony, make-believe, expression, edification, clarification, and training. Readings are drawn from literature and film, philosophical theories of art, and stylistically interesting works of philosophy. Authors may include Sophocles, Chaucer, Dickinson, Proust, Woolf, Borges, Beckett, Kundera, Charlie Kaufman; Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas; Plato, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 199:
Senior Seminar
What is criticism? When we interpret literature today, are we fulfilling the critical vocation? What are the alternatives? We consider the origins of the idea of the critic in nineteenth-century culture, its development in the twentieth century, and its current exponents, revisionists, and dissenters. Senior seminar for Comparative Literature Senior majors only.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
COMPLIT 200:
War and the Modern Novel (ILAC 200E)
From the turn of the 19th century to well into the 20th century, novelists developed the theme of alienation and the decline of civilization. Along with the fall of centuries-old empires, World War I brought about the collapse of traditional European values and the dissociation of the subject. The aestheticizing of violence and the ensuing insecurity inaugurated the society of totally administered life, based on universal suspicion and pervasive guilt. The seminar will study narrative responses to these developments in some of the foremost authors of the 20th century from several European literatures: Knut Hamsun, Joseph Roth, Ernst Jünger, Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, Curzio Malaparte, Thomas Mann, Mercè Rodoreda, Antonio Lobo Antunes, and Jaume Cabré. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
COMPLIT 222A:
Myth and Modernity (GERMAN 222, GERMAN 322)
Masters of German 20th- and 21st-Century literature and philosophy as they present aesthetic innovation and confront the challenges of modern technology, social alienation, manmade catastrophes, and imagine the future. Readings include Nietzsche, Freud, Rilke, Musil, Brecht, Kafka, Doeblin, Benjamin, Juenger, Arendt, Musil, Mann, Adorno, Celan, Grass, Bachmann, Bernhardt, Wolf, and Kluge. Taught in English. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take GERMAN 222 or COMPLIT 222A for a minimum of 3 Units and a letter grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 223:
Literature and Human Experimentation (AFRICAAM 223, CSRE 123B, HUMBIO 175H, MED 220)
This course introduces students to the ways literature has been used to think through the ethics of human subjects research and experimental medicine. We will focus primarily on readings that imaginatively revisit experiments conducted on vulnerable populations: namely groups placed at risk by their classification according to perceived human and cultural differences. We will begin with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), and continue our study via later works of fiction, drama and literary journalism, including Toni Morrison's Beloved, David Feldshuh's Miss Evers Boys, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann and Vivien Spitz's Doctors from Hell, Rebecca Skloot's Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical and policy writings of the period; and our ultimate goal will be to understand modes of ethics deliberation that are possible via creative uses of the imagination, and literature's place in a history of ethical thinking about humane research and care. Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
COMPLIT 229:
Literature and Global Health (AFRICAAM 229, AFRICAST 229, CSRE 129B, FRENCH 229, HUMBIO 175L, MED 234)
This course examines the ways writers in literature and medicine have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health, namely fiction modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, understood to have helped readers develop a conscience for public health as the field emerged as a modern medical specialty. We will then spend the quarter understanding how colonial, postcolonial, and world literatures have answered and complicated this call. Readings will include prose fiction by Albert Camus, Joseph Conrad, Tsitsi Dangaremgba, Amitav Ghosh, Susan Sontag as well as physician memoirs featuring Frantz Fanon, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Verghese, Paul Farmer. And each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical, and policy writings that deeply inform the field of global health. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
COMPLIT 235E:
Dante's "Inferno" (ITALIAN 235E)
Intensive reading of Dante's "Inferno" (the first canticle of his three canticle poem The Divine Comedy). Main objective: to learn how to read the Inferno in detail and in depth, which entails both close textual analysis as well as a systematic reconstruction of the Christian doctrines that subtend the poem. The other main objective is to understand how Dante's civic and political identity as a Florentine, and especially his exile from Florence, determined his literary career and turned him into the author of the poem. Special emphasis on Dante's moral world view and his representation of character. Taught in English. nNOTE: Enrollment requires Professor Harrison's approval. Please contact him directly at harrison@stanford.edu
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 236E:
Dante's "Purgatorio" and "Paradiso" (ITALIAN 236E)
Reading the second and third canticles of Dante's <em>Divine Comedy.</em> Prerequisite: students must have read Dante's <em>Inferno</em> in a course or on their own. Taught in English. Recommended: reading knowledge of Italian.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 249A:
The Iranian Cinema: Image and Meaning (GLOBAL 249A)
This course will focus on the analysis of ten Iranian films with the view of placing them in discourse on the semiotics of Iranian art and culture. The course will also look at the influence of a wide array of cinematic traditions from European, American, and Asian masters on Iranian cinema. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 249B:
Iranian Cinema in Diaspora (GLOBAL 249B)
Despite enormous obstacles, immigrant Iranian filmmakers, within a few decades (after the Iranian Revolution), have created a slow but steady stream of films outside Iran. They were originally started by individual spontaneous attempts from different corners of the world and by now we can identify common lines of interest amongst them. There are also major differences between them. These films have never been allowed to be screened inside Iran, and without any support from the global system of production and distribution, as independent and individual attempts, they have enjoyed little attention. Despite all this, Iranian cinema in exile is in no sense any less important than Iranian cinema inside Iran. In this course we will view one such film, made outside Iran, in each class meeting and expect to reach a common consensus in identifying the general patterns within these works and this movement. Questions such as the ones listed below will be addressed in our meetings each week: What changes in aesthetics and point of view of the filmmaker are caused by the change in his or her work environment? Though unwantedly these films are made outside Iran, how related are they to the known (recognized) cinema within Iran? And in fact, to what extent do these films express things that are left unsaid by the cinema within Iran? NOTE:This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.
Terms: Win
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 249C:
Contemporary Iranian Theater (GLOBAL 249C)
Today, Iranian plays both in traditional and contemporary styles are staged in theater festivals throughout the world and play their role in forming a universal language of theater which combine the heritages from countries in all five continents. Despite many obstacles, some Iranian plays have been translated into English and some prominent Iranian figures are successful stage directors outside Iran. Forty-six years ago when "Theater in Iran" (a monograph on the history of Iranian plays) by Bahram Beyzaie was first published, it put the then contemporary Iranian theater movement "which was altogether westernizing itself blindly" face to face with a new kind of self-awareness. Hence, today's generation of playwrights and stage directors in Iran, all know something of their theatrical heritage. In this course we will spend some class sessions on the history of theater in Iran and some class meetings will be concentrating on contemporary movements and present day playwrights. Given the dearth of visual documents, an attempt will be made to present a picture of Iranian theater to the student. Students are expected to read the recommended available translated plays of the contemporary Iranian playwrights and participate in classroom discussions. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 252A:
Great Arabic Poetry
Introduction to the canon of Arabic poetry from the sixth to the twenty-first century. Imru' al-Qays, al-Mutanabbi, Mahmud Darwish, and more. Readings in Arabic. Two years of Arabic at Stanford or equivalent required. Counts for the Arabic Track in the MELLAC Minor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
COMPLIT 252B:
Great Arabic Prose
Introduction to the best Arabic Literature from the 790s to 2016. Al-Jahiz, Naguib Mahfouz, and much more. Readings in Arabic. Two years of Arabic at Stanford or equivalent required. Counts for the Arabic Track in the MELLAC Minor. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 32H:
Buddhism in America (ASNAMST 32, RELIGST 32S)
This course examines the transmission, growth, and transformation of Buddhism in America from the nineteenth century to the present day. We will treat American Buddhism as a distinct regional variety of Buddhism with its own history, characteristics, and debates. Through select readings, films, discussions, and research, students will explore the main events and issues that have shaped the American encounter with Buddhism. We will learn the history of Buddhism in the United States, major traditions of American Buddhism, and contemporary issues and debates. Topics covered will include Orientalism, gender, race, science and meditation, and Buddhism in classrooms and prisons.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 41:
Black & White Race Relations in American Fiction & Film (AFRICAAM 101, AMSTUD 101)
Movies and the fiction that inspires them; power dynamics behind production including historical events, artistic vision, politics, and racial stereotypes. What images of black and white does Hollywood produce to forge a national identity? How do films promote equality between the races? What is lost or gained in film adaptations of books? NOTE: Students must attend the first day; admission to the class will be determined based on an in class essay.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 51Q:
Comparative Fictions of Ethnicity (AMSTUD 51Q, COMPLIT 51Q)
We may "know" "who" we "are," but we are, after all, social creatures. How does our sense of self interact with those around us? How does literature provide a particular medium for not only self expression, but also for meditations on what goes into the construction of "the Self"? After all, don't we tell stories in response to the question, "who are you"? Besides a list of nouns and names and attributes, we give our lives flesh and blood in telling how we process the world. Our course focuses in particular on this question--Does this universal issue ("who am I") become skewed differently when we add a qualifier before it, like "ethnic"? Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
CSRE 54N:
African American Women's Lives (AFRICAAM 54N, AMSTUD 54N, FEMGEN 54N, HISTORY 54N)
This course encourages students to think critically about historical sources and to use creative and rigorous historical methods to recover African American women¿s experiences, which often have been placed on the periphery of American history and American life.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 55N:
Batman, Hamilton, DÃaz, and Other Wondrous Lives (COMPLIT 55N)
This seminar concerns the design and analysis of imaginary (or constructed) worlds for narratives and media such as films, comics, and literary texts. The seminar's primary goal is to help participants understand the creation of better imaginary worlds - ultimately all our efforts should serve that higher purpose. Some of the things we will consider when taking on the analysis of a new world include: What are its primary features - spatial, cultural, biological, fantastic, cosmological? What is the world's ethos (the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize the world)? What are the precise strategies that are used by the artist to convey the world to us and us to the world? How are our characters connected to the world? And how are we - the viewer or reader or player - connected to the world? Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 61:
Introduction to Dance Studies: Dancing Across Stages, Clubs, Screens, and Borders (DANCE 161D, FEMGEN 161D, TAPS 161D)
This introduction to dance studies course explores dance practice and performance as means for producing cultural meaning. Through theoretical and historical texts and viewing live and recorded dance, we will develop tools for analyzing dance and understanding its place in social, cultural, and political structures. This uses dance and choreography as a lens to more deeply understand a wide range of identity and cultural formations, such as gender, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, (trans)nationality, and empire. We will analyze dancing bodies that move across stages, dance clubs, film screens, and border zones. We will examine dance from diverse locales and time periods including ballet, modern and contemporary dance, contact improvisation, folkloric dance, burlesque, street dance, queer club dance, drag performance, music videos, TV dance competitions, and intermedia/new media performance. In addition to providing theoretical and methodological grounding in dance studies, this course develops performance analysis skills and hones the ability to write critically and skillfully about dance. No previous experience in dance is necessary to successfully complete the course.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 63N:
The Feminist Critique: The History and Politics of Gender Equality (AMSTUD 63N, FEMGEN 63N, HISTORY 63N)
This course explores the long history of ideas about gender and equality. Each week we read, dissect, compare, and critique a set of primary historical documents (political and literary) from around the world, moving from the 15th century to the present. We tease out changing arguments about education, the body, sexuality, violence, labor, politics, and the very meaning of gender, and we place feminist critics within national and global political contexts.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CSRE 78:
Art + Community: Division, Resilience & Reconciliation (AFRICAAM 78)
Violence and trauma isolates and segregates us. Part of the healing process must be about coming back into community. Freedom is meaningful only insofar as it lifts all, especially those who have been done the most harm. In times of violence and polarization, art can heal and brings people together. In this course, we will explore how we make and sustain community, especially in the face of threats from within and without. We will do this especially through examining how artists and culture workers of color develop and advance practices that build mutuality, criticality, renewal, trust, and joy in the face of ongoing racial injustice and cultural inequity.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 102A:
Art and Social Criticism (AFRICAAM 102B, AMSTUD 102, ARTHIST 162B, FEMGEN 102)
Visual artists have long been in the forefront of social criticism in America. Since the 1960s, various visual strategies have helped emergent progressive political movements articulate and represent complex social issues. Which artists and particular art works/projects have become key anchors for discourses on racism, sexism, economic and social inequality, immigrant rights and climate change? We will learn about a spectrum of political art designed to raise social awareness, spark social change and rouse protest. The Art Workers Coalition¿s agit-prop opposing the Vietnam War and ACT-UP¿s emblematic signs and symbols during the AIDS/HIV crisis of the 1980s galvanized a generation into action. Works such as Judy Chicago¿s The Dinner Party (1979), Fred Wilson¿s Mining the Museum (1992), and Glenn Ligon¿s paintings appropriating fragments from African-American literature all raised awareness by excavating historical evidence of the long legacy resisting marginalization. For three decades feminist artists Barbara Kruger and the Guerilla Girls have combined institutional critique and direct address into a provocative form of criticality. Recent art for social justice is reaching ever broadening publics by redrawing the role of artist and audience exemplified by the democratization of poster making and internet campaigns of Occupy and the Movement for Black Lives. We will also consider the collective aesthetic activisms in the Post-Occupy era including Global Ultra Luxury Faction, Climate Justice art projects, and the visual culture of Trump era mass protests. Why are each of these examples successful as influential and enduring markers of social criticism? What have these socially responsive practices contributed to our understanding of American history?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 111:
The California Missions: Art History and Reconciliation (ARTHIST 211, NATIVEAM 211)
Sites of the spirit and devotion, sites of genocide, foreboding actors in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, the subject of fourth-grade school projects, the Spanish Missions of Alta California are complex sites of inquiry, their meanings and associations different for each visitor. This seminar examines the art and architecture of the California Missions built between 1769 and 1823. Constructed with local materials and decorated with reredos, paintings and sculptures from Mexico and Spain, the Missions are at once humble spaces and flagships of a belated global baroque. They were also the laboratories of indigenous artists and artisans. This course seeks to understand how Mission art was meant to function, how and why it was made, what its materials were, while asking what the larger role of art was in a global system of missions. Can the study of this art lead to the reconciliation of populations in North America and within the field of art history? The Missions require a specific reexamination of the relationship between European and colonial forms, not as objects of curiosity or diffusion but as viable and globally informed agents.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 114:
Sound Tracks: Music, Memory, and Migration in the Twentieth Century (MUSIC 114)
This course comprises a thematic exploration of forces, experiences, and after-effects of diasporas of communities in the Americas and Europe throughout the 20th century. Through close listening accompanied by historical and theoretical readings, students will gain deeper insights into the making of meaning in music and the role of music as a creative response to the challenges of migration and minority-status in the modern nation-state. Historical examples will draw from the Romani diaspora, Eastern-European Jewish liturgical sounds, the Mexican-US border, and from Jazz and the Blues. We explore issues of race, ethnicity, identity, nationalism, minoritization as they intersect in the sound tracks of diaspora.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 123B:
Literature and Human Experimentation (AFRICAAM 223, COMPLIT 223, HUMBIO 175H, MED 220)
This course introduces students to the ways literature has been used to think through the ethics of human subjects research and experimental medicine. We will focus primarily on readings that imaginatively revisit experiments conducted on vulnerable populations: namely groups placed at risk by their classification according to perceived human and cultural differences. We will begin with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), and continue our study via later works of fiction, drama and literary journalism, including Toni Morrison's Beloved, David Feldshuh's Miss Evers Boys, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann and Vivien Spitz's Doctors from Hell, Rebecca Skloot's Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical and policy writings of the period; and our ultimate goal will be to understand modes of ethics deliberation that are possible via creative uses of the imagination, and literature's place in a history of ethical thinking about humane research and care. Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
CSRE 129:
Camus (FRENCH 129, HISTORY 235F)
"The Don Draper of Existentialism" for Adam Gopnik, "the ideal husband of contemporary letters" for Susan Sontag, and "the admirable conjunction of a man, of an action, and of a work" for Sartre, Camus embodies the very French figure of the "intellectuel engagé," or public intellectual. From his birth in 1913 into a poor family in Algeria to the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957, from Saint Germain-des-Prés to his predilection for the mediterranean culture, Camus captured the quest for universalism, for the politics of justice, and engaged in the great ethical battles of his time, from the fight against nazism and communism, from questioning colonial rules to the haunting Algerian War, and his complex "silence" over the war. Camus the Algerian, Camus the moralist, Camus the Resistant: through readings and films, we will explore his multiple, long-lasting legacies. Readings from Albert Camus, Kamel Daoud, Mouloud Feraoun, Alice Kaplan, Orhan Pamuk, A.B. Yehoshua, Assia Djebar, Jean-Paul Sartre, Yasmina Khadra. Movies include "The Stranger," and "Far from Men." This course is a gateway for French Studies, with special emphasis on oral proficiency. Taught in French.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 129B:
Literature and Global Health (AFRICAAM 229, AFRICAST 229, COMPLIT 229, FRENCH 229, HUMBIO 175L, MED 234)
This course examines the ways writers in literature and medicine have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health, namely fiction modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, understood to have helped readers develop a conscience for public health as the field emerged as a modern medical specialty. We will then spend the quarter understanding how colonial, postcolonial, and world literatures have answered and complicated this call. Readings will include prose fiction by Albert Camus, Joseph Conrad, Tsitsi Dangaremgba, Amitav Ghosh, Susan Sontag as well as physician memoirs featuring Frantz Fanon, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Verghese, Paul Farmer. And each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical, and policy writings that deeply inform the field of global health. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
CSRE 134:
Museum Cultures: Material Representation in the Past and Present (AMSTUD 134, ARCHLGY 134, ARCHLGY 234, ARTHIST 284B, EDUC 214, NATIVEAM 134)
Students will open the "black box" of museums to consider the past and present roles of institutional collections, culminating in a student-curated exhibition. Today, museums assert their relevance as dynamic spaces for debate and learning. Colonialism and restitution, the politics of representation, human/object relationships, and changing frameworks of authority make museum work widely significant and consistently challenging. Through thinking-in-practice, this course reflexively explores "museum cultures": representations of self and other within museums and institutional cultures of the museum world itself.n3 credits (no final project) or 5 credits (final project). May be repeat for credit
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 15 units total)
CSRE 145B:
The African Atlantic (AFRICAAM 148, AFRICAST 145B, COMPLIT 145B, COMPLIT 345B, FRENCH 145B, FRENCH 345B)
This course explores the central place Africa holds in prose writing emerging during early and modern periods of globalization across the Atlantic, including the middle passage, exploration and colonialism, black internationalism, decolonization, immigration, and diasporic return. We will begin with Equiano's Interesting Narrative (1789), a touchstone for the Atlantic prose tradition, and study how writers crossing the Atlantic have continued to depict Africa in later centuries: to dramatize scenes of departure and arrival in stories of self-making or new citizenship, to evoke histories of racial unity or examine psychic and social fragmentation, to imagine new national communities or question their norms and borders. Our readings will be selected from English, French, Portuguese and Spanish-language traditions. And we will pay close attention to genres of prose fiction (Conrad, Condé, Olinto), epic and prose poetry (Césaire, Walcott), theoretical reflection (Gilroy, Glissant, Mudimbe, Benitez-Rojo), and literary autobiography (Barack Obama, Saidiya Hartman). Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take COMPLIT 145B for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 146J:
Studies in Ethnomusicology: Listening to the Local: Music Ethnography of the Bay Area (ANTHRO 146J, MUSIC 146J, MUSIC 246J)
An introduction to music ethnography through student research on musical life in the Bay Area. Focus is on the intersections of music, social life, and cultural practice by engaging with people as they perform music and culture in situ. Techniques taught include participant-observation, interviewing and oral history, writing field-notes, recording, transcription, analysis, and ethnographic writing. Pre-/co-requisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 147J:
Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: The Soul Tradition in African American Music (AFRICAAM 19, AMSTUD 147J, MUSIC 147J, MUSIC 247J)
The African American tradition of soul music from its origins in blues, gospel, and jazz to its influence on today's r&b, hip hop, and dance music. Style such as rhythm and blues, Motown, Southern soul, funk, Philadelphia soul, disco, Chicago house, Detroit techno, trip hop, and neo-soul. Soul's cultural influence and global reach; its interaction with politics, gender, place, technology, and the economy. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 147L:
Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: Latin American Music and Globalization (CHILATST 147L, MUSIC 147L, MUSIC 247L)
Focuses on vernacular music of Latin America and the Caribbean, including Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina. Musical examples discussed in relation to: globalization, migration, colonialism, nationalism, diaspora, indigeneity, politics, religion, dance, ethnicity, and gender. How music reflects and shapes cultures, identities, and social structures. Genres addressed: bachata, bossa nova, cumbia, forro, ranchero, reggaeton, rock, salsa, tango, and others. Seminar, guest performances, reading, listening, and analysis. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
CSRE 149:
The Laboring of Diaspora & Border Literary Cultures (COMPLIT 149, ILAC 149)
Focus is given to emergent theories of culture and on comparative literary and cultural studies. How do we treat culture as a social force? How do we go about reading the presence of social contexts within cultural texts? How do ethno-racial writers re-imagine the nation as a site with many "cognitive maps" in which the nation-state is not congruent with cultural identity? How do diaspora and border narratives/texts strive for comparative theoretical scope while remaining rooted in specific local histories. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 152:
Introduction to Improvisation in Dance: From Salsa to Vodun to Tap Dance (AFRICAAM 52, TAPS 152)
This seminar introduces students to Dance Studies by exploring the topic of improvisation, a central concept in multiple genres of dance and music. We will survey a range of improvised dance forms¿from salsa to vodun to tap dance¿through readings, video viewings, discussion, and movement exercises (no previous dance experience required). When studying each genre, we will examine how race, gender, sexuality, citizenship, and other power structures affect the practices and theorizations of improvisation. Topics include community and identity formation; questions of technique versus ¿natural¿ ability; improvisation as a spiritual practice; and the role of history in improvisers¿ quest for spontaneity. Course material will focus on improvised dance, but we will also read pertinent literature in jazz music, theatre, and the law.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 152K:
Mixed-Race Politics and Culture (AFRICAAM 226, AMSTUD 152K, ENGLISH 152K)
Today, almost one-third of Americans identify with a racial/ethnic minority group, and more than 9 million Americans identify with multiple races. What are the implications of such diversity for American politics and culture? This course approaches issues of race from an interdisciplinary perspective, employing research in the social sciences and humanities to assess how race shapes perceptions of identity as well as political behavior in 21st-century U.S. Issues surrounding the role of multiculturalism, immigration, acculturation, racial representation, and racial prejudice in American society. Topics include the political and social formation of race; racial representation in the media, arts, and popular culture; the rise and decline of the "one-drop rule" and its effect on political and cultural attachments; the politicization of census categories and the rise of the multiracial movement.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 153Q:
Reading and Writing the Gendered Story (FEMGEN 153Q)
Exploration of novels, stories, memoirs and micro-narratives in which gender plays a major role. The texts are by writers of varied genders and sexual orientations as well as varied class, racial and national backgrounds. Written assignments present a mixture of academic and creative options.
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
CSRE 154D:
Black Magic: Ethnicity, Race, and Identity in Performance Cultures (AFRICAAM 154G, FEMGEN 154G, TAPS 154G)
In 2013, CaShawn Thompson devised a Twitter hashtag, #blackgirlmagic, to celebrate the beauty and intelligence of black women. Twitter users quickly adopted the slogan, using the hashtag to celebrate everyday moments of beauty, accomplishment, and magic. In contrast, #blackmagic is used to describe everything from the uncanny to the personal. This course examines the discursive phenomenon of "black magic" and its permutations throughout Anglo-American histories. We will investigate the binaries of black/dark, white/light magic that has entered our contemporary lexicon, reading material on religion, magic performance, and theater.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 159I:
Literature and Protest (AFRICAAM 159A, ENGLISH 159A)
How does literary art get involved in politics? What is the border between propaganda and art? This class examines moments when writers seem suddenly not only to represent politically charged topics and themes, but to have a part in bringing about political change. We¿ll look at case studies from the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, the American Civil Rights struggle, 19th century Russia, and more.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 160M:
Introduction to Representations of the Middle East in Dance, Performance, & Popular Culture (DANCE 160M, FEMGEN 160M, TAPS 160M)
This course will introduce students to the ways in which the Middle East has been represented and performed by/in the 'West' through dance, performance, and popular culture in both historical and contemporary contexts. A brief look through today's media sources exposes a wide range of racialized and gendered representations of the Middle East that shape the way the world imagines the Middle East to be. As postcolonial theorist Edward Said explains, the framework we call Orientalism establishes the ontological character of the Orient and the Oriental as inherently `Other'. Starting with 19th century colonialism and continuing into the post-9/11 era, this course will trace the Western production, circulation, and consumption of representations of the Middle East as 'Other' in relation to global geopolitics. We will further examine dance forms produced in mid-twentieth century Iran and Egypt, with particular attention to nation-state building and constructions of gender. Finally, we will examine artistic productions and practices from the Middle East and Middle Eastern diasporic communities that respond to colonialism, war, displacement, secularism, and Euro-American Empire. Using dance studies, postcolonial feminist, and critical race theoretical frameworks, we will consider the gender, racial, political, and cultural implications of selected performance works and practices in order to analyze how bodies produce meaning in dance, performance art, theater, film, photography, and new media. Students will engage in multiple modes of learning; the course will include lectures, engaged group discussions, viewing of live and recorded performance, embodied participation in dance practice, student oral presentations, and a variety of writing exercises. Course assignments will culminate in a final research project related to class themes and methods.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 167:
Feminism and Contemporary Art (ARTHIST 176, ARTHIST 376, FEMGEN 176)
(Same as ARTHIST 176) The impact of second wave feminism on art making and art historical practice in the 70s, and its reiteration and transformation in contemporary feminist work. Topics: sexism and art history, feminist studio programs in the 70s, essentialism and self-representation, themes of domesticity, the body in feminist art making, bad girls, the exclusion of women of color and lesbians from the art historical mainstream, notions of performativity.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 183:
Re- Imagining American Borders (AMSTUD 183, FEMGEN 183)
How novelists, filmmakers, and poets perceive racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and class borders in the context of a current volatile national discussion about the place of Americans both here and in the world. How Anna Deavere Smith, Sherman Alexie, Shailja Patel or Ta-Nehisi Coates consider redrawing such lines so that center and margin, or self and other, do not remain fixed and divided. How linguistic borderlines within multilingual literature by Caribbean, Arab, and Asian Americans function. Can Anzaldúa's 1986 conception of borderlands be constructed through the matrix of language, dreams, music, and cultural memories in these recent American narratives? Course includes creatively examining one's own identity.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 188Q:
Imagining Women: Writers in Print and in Person (FEMGEN 188Q)
Gender roles, gender relations and sexual identity explored in contemporary literature and conversation with guest authors. Weekly meetings designated for book discussion and meeting with authors. Interest in writing and a curiosity about diverse women's lives would be helpful to students. Students will use such tools as close reading, research, analysis and imagination. Seminar requires strong voice of all participants. Oral presentations, discussion papers, final projects.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
CSRE 194KT:
Topics in Writing & Rhetoric: The Last Hopi On Earth: The Rhetoric of Entertainment Inequity (PWR 194KT)
While #OscarsSoWhite brought attention to the Academy's overwhelmingly White, male membership, the underbelly of the entertainment industry itself is rife with inequitable hiring of not only on-camera and on-stage performers but also directors, writers, and others behind the scenes. While there are several organizations from Racebending.com to the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media that seek to usher in more equitable representation, push back against the Industry's disparate employment practices has been documented for more than fifty years with what many argue is not proportionally positive movement. White males still garner almost half of all theatrical and television roles and represent more than 80% of episodic directors while entertainment hubs Los Angeles and New York City are more than 50% people of color and female. What will it take to attain equity in the entertainment industry? Why does it matter? nnIn this course, students will examine rhetorical issues in promoting, defending, and opposing entertainment industry practices - writing and speaking across genres in persuasive response - and ultimately develop a collaborative 5-year strategic plan to usher in equity.n nThis course is part of the PWR advanced elective track in Social and Racial Justice (SRJ). Prerequisite: first two levels of the writing requirement or equivalent transfer credit. For video course description, see https://undergrad.stanford.edu/programs/pwr/courses/advanced-courses/last-hopi-earth-rhetoric-entertainment-inequity.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 249:
The Algerian Wars (FRENCH 249, HISTORY 239G, JEWISHST 249)
From Algiers the White to Algiers the Red, Algiers, the Mecca of the Revolutionaries in the words of Amilcar Cabral, this course offers to study the Algerian Wars since the French conquest of Algeria (1830-) to the Algerian civil war of the 1990s. We will revisit the ways in which the war has been narrated in literature and cinema, popular culture, and political discourse. A special focus will be given to the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). The course considers the racial representations of the war in the media, the continuing legacies surrounding the conflict in France, Africa, and the United States, from Che Guevara to the Black Panthers. A key focus will be the transmission of collective memory through transnational lenses, and analyses of commemorative events and movies. nReadings from James Baldwin, Assia Djebar, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Mouloud Feraoun. Movies include "The Battle of Algiers," "Days of Glory," and "Viva Laldjérie." nTaught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CSRE 258:
Black Feminist Theater and Theory (AFRICAAM 258, FEMGEN 258X, TAPS 258)
From the rave reviews garnered by Angelina Weld Grimke's lynching play, Rachel to recent work by Lynn Nottage on Rwanda, black women playwrights have addressed key issues in modern culture and politics. We will analyze and perform work written by black women in the U.S., Britain and the Caribbean in the 20th and 21st centuries. Topics include: sexuality, surrealism, colonialism, freedom, violence, colorism, love, history, community and more. Playwrights include: Angelina Grimke, Lorriane Hansberry, Winsome Pinnock, Adrienne Kennedy, Suzan- Lori Parks, Ntzoke Shange, Pearl Cleage, Sarah Jones, Anna DeVeare Smith, Alice Childress, Lydia Diamond and Zora Neale Hurston.)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
DANCE 160:
Performance and History: Rethinking the Ballerina (FEMGEN 160, TAPS 160, TAPS 260)
The ballerina occupies a unique place in popular imagination as an object of over-determined femininity as well as an emblem of extreme physical accomplishment for the female dancer. This seminar is designed as an investigation into histories of the ballerina as an iconographic symbol and cultural reference point for challenges to political and gender ideals. Through readings, videos, discussions and viewings of live performances this class investigates pivotal works, artists and eras in the global histories of ballet from its origins as a symbol of patronage and power in the 15th century through to its radical experiments as a site of cultural obedience and disobedience in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
DANCE 160M:
Introduction to Representations of the Middle East in Dance, Performance, & Popular Culture (CSRE 160M, FEMGEN 160M, TAPS 160M)
This course will introduce students to the ways in which the Middle East has been represented and performed by/in the 'West' through dance, performance, and popular culture in both historical and contemporary contexts. A brief look through today's media sources exposes a wide range of racialized and gendered representations of the Middle East that shape the way the world imagines the Middle East to be. As postcolonial theorist Edward Said explains, the framework we call Orientalism establishes the ontological character of the Orient and the Oriental as inherently `Other'. Starting with 19th century colonialism and continuing into the post-9/11 era, this course will trace the Western production, circulation, and consumption of representations of the Middle East as 'Other' in relation to global geopolitics. We will further examine dance forms produced in mid-twentieth century Iran and Egypt, with particular attention to nation-state building and constructions of gender. Finally, we will examine artistic productions and practices from the Middle East and Middle Eastern diasporic communities that respond to colonialism, war, displacement, secularism, and Euro-American Empire. Using dance studies, postcolonial feminist, and critical race theoretical frameworks, we will consider the gender, racial, political, and cultural implications of selected performance works and practices in order to analyze how bodies produce meaning in dance, performance art, theater, film, photography, and new media. Students will engage in multiple modes of learning; the course will include lectures, engaged group discussions, viewing of live and recorded performance, embodied participation in dance practice, student oral presentations, and a variety of writing exercises. Course assignments will culminate in a final research project related to class themes and methods.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
DANCE 161D:
Introduction to Dance Studies: Dancing Across Stages, Clubs, Screens, and Borders (CSRE 61, FEMGEN 161D, TAPS 161D)
This introduction to dance studies course explores dance practice and performance as means for producing cultural meaning. Through theoretical and historical texts and viewing live and recorded dance, we will develop tools for analyzing dance and understanding its place in social, cultural, and political structures. This uses dance and choreography as a lens to more deeply understand a wide range of identity and cultural formations, such as gender, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, (trans)nationality, and empire. We will analyze dancing bodies that move across stages, dance clubs, film screens, and border zones. We will examine dance from diverse locales and time periods including ballet, modern and contemporary dance, contact improvisation, folkloric dance, burlesque, street dance, queer club dance, drag performance, music videos, TV dance competitions, and intermedia/new media performance. In addition to providing theoretical and methodological grounding in dance studies, this course develops performance analysis skills and hones the ability to write critically and skillfully about dance. No previous experience in dance is necessary to successfully complete the course.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
DLCL 11:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, The Ancient World (CLASSICS 37, HUMCORE 11)
This course will journey through ancient literature from Homer to St. Augustine; it will introduce participants to some of its fascinating features and big ideas; and it will reflect on questions such as: What is a good life, a good society? Who is in and who is out and why? What is the meaning of honor, and should it be embraced or feared? Where does human subjectivity fit into a world of matter, cause and effect? When is rebellion justified? What happens when a way of life or thought is upended? Do we have any duties to the past?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
DLCL 12:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Middle Ages and Renaissance (ENGLISH 112A, FRENCH 12, HUMCORE 12)
This three-quarter sequence asks big questions of major texts in the European and American tradition. What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? The second quarter focuses on the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity, Europe's re-acquaintance with classical antiquity and its first contacts with the New World. Authors include Dante, Shakespeare, Machiavelli, Cervantes, and Milton.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
DLCL 13:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Modern (FRENCH 13, HISTORY 239C, HUMCORE 13, PHIL 13)
This three-quarter sequence asks big questions of major texts in the European and American tradition. What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? This third and final quarter focuses on the modern period, from the rise of revolutionary ideas to the experiences of totalitarianism and decolonization in the twentieth century. Authors include Locke, Mary Shelley, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Weber, Primo Levi, and Frantz Fanon.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
DLCL 100:
CAPITALS: How Cities Shape Cultures, States, and People (COMPLIT 100, FRENCH 175, GERMAN 175, HISTORY 206E, ILAC 175, ITALIAN 175, URBANST 153)
This course takes students on a trip to eight capital cities, at different moments in time: Renaissance Florence, Golden Age Madrid, Colonial Mexico City, Enlightenment and Romantic Paris, Existential and Revolutionary St. Petersburg, Roaring Berlin, Modernist Vienna, and bustling Buenos Aires. While exploring each place in a particular historical moment, we will also consider the relations between culture, power, and social life. How does the cultural life of a country intersect with the political activity of a capital? How do large cities shape our everyday experience, our aesthetic preferences, and our sense of history? Why do some cities become cultural capitals? Primary materials for this course will consist of literary, visual, sociological, and historical documents (in translation); authors we will read include Boccaccio, Lope de Vega, Sor Juana, Montesquieu, Baudelaire, Dostoyevsky, Irmgard Keun, Freud, and Borges. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
DLCL 111Q:
Spanish-English Literary Translation Workshop (ILAC 111Q)
This course introduces students to the theoretical knowledge and practicalnskills necessary to translate literary texts from Spanish to English andnEnglish to Spanish. Topics may include comparative syntaxes, morphologies,nand semantic systems; register and tone; audience; the role of translationnin the development of languages and cultures; and the ideological andnsocio-cultural forces that shape translations. Students will workshop andnrevise an original translation project throughout the quarter.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
DLCL 113Q:
Borges and Translation (ILAC 113Q)
Borges's creative process and practice as seen through the lens of translation. How do Borges's texts articulate the relationships between reading, writing, and translation? Topics include authorship, fidelity, irreverence, and innovation. Readings will draw on Borges's short stories, translations, and essays. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisite: 100-level course in Spanish or permission of instructor.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
DLCL 121:
Performing the Middle Ages
Through an analysis of medieval courtly love, religious, satirical, and Crusade lyrics, we will study the rise of a new subjectivity; the female voice; the roles of poet, audience, and patron; oral and manuscript transmission; and political propaganda. Special attention will be given to performance as a reimagining of self and social identity. Authors include Bertran de Born, Marie de France, Hildegard von Bingen, Walther von der Vogelweide, Dante, and Chaucer. Students will have the opportunity to produce a creative project that brings medieval ideas about performance into dialogue with modern conceptions. Taught in English, all texts in translation. NOTE: for AY 2017-18 FRENCH 205 Songs of Love and War: Gender, Crusade, Politics counts for DLCL 121.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
DLCL 141:
Poems, Poetry, Worlds (COMPLIT 121)
What is poetry? How does it speak in many voices to questions of history, society, and personal experience? Why does it matter? The reading and interpretation of poetry in crosscultural comparison as experience, invention, form, sound, knowledge, and part of the world. The readings address poetry of several cultures (Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Occitania, Peru) in comparative relation to that of the English-speaking world, and in light of classic and recent theories of poetry.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
DLCL 143:
The Novel and the World (COMPLIT 123)
<b>Before the Digital Era: the European Design of the Novel</b> The course will trace the development of the modern literary genre par excellence through some of its great milestones from the 17th century to the present. Works by Austen, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Queiròs, Mann, Roth, Woolf, Lampedusa and Rodoreda.<em>Lazarillo de Tormes</em>, Jane Austen: <em>Pride and Prejudice</em>, Flaubert: <em>Madame Bovary</em>, Dostoevsky: <em>Crime and Punishment</em>, Eça de Queirós: <em>The City and the Mountains</em>, Thomas Mann: <em>Death in Venice</em>, Joseph Roth: <em>Radietskymarsh</em>, Virginia Woolf: <em>Mrs. Dalloway</em>, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, <em>The Leopard</em>, Mercé Rodoreda: <em>The Time of the Doves</em>
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
DLCL 293:
Literary Translation (ENGLISH 293)
An overview of translation theories and practices over time. The aesthetic, ethical, and political questions raised by the act and art of translation and how these pertain to the translator's tasks. Discussion of particular translation challenges and the decision processes taken to address these issues. Coursework includes assigned theoretical readings, comparative translations, and the undertaking of an individual translation project.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
EDUC 116N:
Howard Zinn and the Quest for Historical Truth (HISTORY 116N)
With more than two million copies in print, Howard Zinn¿s A People's History is a cultural icon. We will use Zinn¿s book to probe how we determine what was true in the past. A People's History will be our point of departure, but our journey will visit a variety of historical trouble spots: debates about whether the US was founded as a Christian nation, Holocaust denial, and the "Birther" controversy of President Obama.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 10C:
Introduction to English I: Tradition and Individuality, Medieval to Early Modern
This course offers a comprehensive introduction to English literature from its beginning in the medieval period to the early seventeenth century. We will study individual literary voices and styles in the context of a growing national tradition. We will discuss major authors (such as Chaucer, More, Wyatt, Surrey, Sidney, Spenser, Jonson, Donne) and analyze representative literary works in a variety of genres, from the Old English elegy and Middle English lyrics to the Elizabethan sonnet, Renaissance comedy, and the allegorical epic. While the course equips students with specific analytical and interpretative tools necessary for a historical understanding of literature, it is equally committed to revealing the aesthetic interest that medieval and early modern literature still holds for the modern reader.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 11B:
Introduction to English II: American Literature and Culture to 1855 (AMSTUD 150)
(Formerly English 23/123). A survey of early American writings, including sermons, poetry, captivity and slave narratives, essays, autobiography, and fiction, from the colonial era to the eve of the Civil War.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 12A:
Introduction to English III: Introduction to African American Literature (AFRICAAM 43, AMSTUD 12A)
(Formerly English 43/143). In his bold study, What Was African American Literature?, Kenneth Warren defines African American literature as a late nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century response to the nation's Jim Crow segregated order. But in the aftermath of the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights movement, can critics still speak, coherently, of "African American literature"? And how does this political conception of African American literary production compare with accounts grounded in black language and culture? Taking up Warren's intervention, this course will explore African American literature from its earliest manifestations in the spirituals and slave narratives to texts composed at the height of desegregation and decolonization struggles at mid-century and beyond.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 43A:
American Indian Mythology, Legend, and Lore (AMSTUD 143M, ENGLISH 143A, NATIVEAM 143A)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 143A.) Readings from American Indian literatures, old and new. Stories, songs, and rituals from the 19th century, including the Navajo Night Chant. Tricksters and trickster stories; war, healing, and hunting songs; Aztec songs from the 16th century. Readings from modern poets and novelists including N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, and Leslie Marmon Silko, and the classic autobiography, "Black Elk Speaks."
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 48N:
The American Songbook and Love Poetry (AMSTUD 48N)
A study of performances (Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra etc) of songs by classic American composers (Porter, Rogers and Hart, Cohen).
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 51N:
The Sisters: Poetry & Painting (ARTHIST 160N)
Poetry and painting have often been called the "sister arts". Why? Sometimes a poem or a painting stands out to us, asking that we stay with it, that we remember it, although we cannot exactly say why. Poems have a way of making pictures in the mind, and paintings turn "rhymes" amid the people, places, and things they portray. Each is a concentrated world, inviting an exhilarating closeness of response: why does this line come first? Why does the artist include that detail? Who knows but that as we write and talk about these poems and pictures we will be doing what John Keats said a painter does: that is, arriving at a "trembling delicate and snail-horn perception of Beauty." Each week explore the kinship between a different pair of painter and poet and also focuses on a particular problem or method of interpretation. Some of the artist/poet combinations we will consider: Shakespeare and Caravaggio; Jorie Graham and (the photographer) Henri Cartier-Bresson; Alexander Pope and Thomas Gainsborough; William Wordsworth and Caspar David Friedrich; Christina Rossetti and Mary Cassatt; Walt Whitman and Thomas Eakins; Thomas Hardy and Edward Hopper.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 68N:
Mark Twain and American Culture (AMSTUD 68N)
Preference to freshmen. Mark Twain defined the rhythms of our prose and the contours of our moral map. He recognized our extravagant promise and stunning failures, our comic foibles and tragic flaws. He is viewed as the most American of American authors--and as one of the most universal. How does his work illuminate his society's (and our society's) responses to such issues as race, gender, technology, heredity vs. environment, religion, education, art, imperialism, animal welfare, and what it means to be "American"?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 75N:
American Short Stories (AMSTUD 75N)
How and why did the short story take root and flourish in an American context? Early works of classic American literature read alongside stories by women and minority writers, stretching from the early nineteenth century to the contemporary period.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 76:
After the Apocalypse
What happens after the world, as we know it, has ended? In the course of examining classic and newer speculative fictional narratives detailing the ravages of various post-apocalyptic societies and the challenges those societies pose to the survivors, we explore several related questions: What is an apocalypse? What resources does speculative fiction offer for understanding and responding to oppressive societies? Where does the idea of the apocalypse originate? Is an apocalypse always in the future? Or has it already occurred? For whom might apocalypse constitute an ongoing present? In this course, we use the tools of close reading and historical criticism to build an archive of knowledge about the narrative, visual, and aural features of apocalypse. Students will be guided through the creation of a multimedia portfolio over the course of the quarter, for presentation at the end. No written midterm or final exam.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 81:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track. Majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature, with particular focus on the question of value: what, if anything, does engagement with literary works do for our lives? Issues include aesthetic self-fashioning, the paradox of tragedy, the paradox of caring, the truth-value of fiction, metaphor, authorship, irony, make-believe, expression, edification, clarification, and training. Readings are drawn from literature and film, philosophical theories of art, and stylistically interesting works of philosophy. Authors may include Sophocles, Chaucer, Dickinson, Proust, Woolf, Borges, Beckett, Kundera, Charlie Kaufman; Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas; Plato, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 82N:
Thinking about Photographs
The course will begin with a short history of photography since the 19th century; followed by both a hands-on exploration of different types of photographs (possibly using the Cantor Collection) and then a more theoretical discussion of some of the acknowledged classics of photographic writing (Susan Sontag's On Photography, Roland Barthes' Camera lucida, Linfield's The Cruel Radiance.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 90:
Fiction Writing
The elements of fiction writing: narration, description, and dialogue. Students write complete stories and participate in story workshops. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: PWR 1 (waived in summer quarter).
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
Instructors: ;
Antopol, M. (PI);
Clark, H. (PI);
Drangle, C. (PI);
Frisch, S. (PI);
Keller, A. (PI);
Labowskie, M. (PI);
Petersen, K. (PI);
Porter, E. (PI);
Schloesser Tarano, N. (PI);
Smith, A. (PI);
Tanaka, S. (PI);
Tshele, N. (PI)
ENGLISH 90Q:
Sports Writing
Study and practice of the unique narratives, tropes, images and arguments that creative writers develop when they write about popular sport. From regional fandom to individualist adventuring, boxing and baseball to mascot dancing and table tennis, exceptional creative writers mine from a diversity of leisure activity a rich vein of ¿sports writing¿ in the creative nonfiction genre. In doing so, they demonstrate the creative and formal adaptability required to write with excellence about any subject matter, and under the circumstances of any subjectivity. Discussion of the ways in which writers have framed, and even critiqued, our interest in athletic events, spectatorship, and athletic beauty. Writers include Joyce Carol Oates, Roland Barthes, David James Duncan, Arnold Rampersad, John Updike, Maxine Kumin, Susan Sterling, Ernest Hemingway, Norman Mailer, Dervla Murphy, Haruki Murakami, Don DeLillo, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Annie Dillard, John McPhee, and Laura Hillenbrand. Close readings of essays on form and sport, as well as book excerpts. Students will engage in class discussions and write short weekly papers, leading to a more comprehensive project at the end of the quarter.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 91:
Creative Nonfiction
Historical and contemporary as a broad genre including travel and nature writing, memoir, biography, journalism, and the personal essay. Students use creative means to express factual content. May be repeat for credit
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
Instructors: ;
Carlson-Wee, K. (PI);
Drangle, C. (PI);
Evans, J. (PI);
Friedman, N. (PI);
Frisch, S. (PI);
Michas-Martin, S. (PI);
Petersen, K. (PI);
Porter, E. (PI);
Pufahl, S. (PI);
Ross, M. (PI);
Sharif, S. (PI);
Smith, A. (PI);
Tanaka, S. (PI)
ENGLISH 92:
Reading and Writing Poetry
Prerequisite: PWR 1. Issues of poetic craft. How elements of form, music, structure, and content work together to create meaning and experience in a poem. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
ENGLISH 93Q:
The American Road Trip
From Whitman to Kerouac, Alec Soth to Georgia O'Keeffe, the lure of travel has inspired many American artists to pack up their bags and hit the open road. In this course we will be exploring the art and literature of the great American road trip. We will be reading and writing in a variety of genres, workshopping our own personal projects, and considering a wide breadth of narrative approaches. Assignments will range from reading Cormac McCarthy's novel, 'The Road,' to listening to Bob Dylan's album, 'Highway 61 Revisited.' We will be looking at films like 'Badlands' and 'Thelma and Louise,' acquainting ourselves with contemporary photographers, going on a number of campus-wide field trips, and finishing the quarter with an actual road trip down the California coast. Anyone with a sense of adventure is welcome!
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 94:
Creative Writing Across Genres
For minors in creative writing. The forms and conventions of the contemporary short story and poem. How form, technique, and content combine to make stories and poems organic. Prerequisite: 90, 91, or 92.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 112A:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Middle Ages and Renaissance (DLCL 12, FRENCH 12, HUMCORE 12)
This three-quarter sequence asks big questions of major texts in the European and American tradition. What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? The second quarter focuses on the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity, Europe's re-acquaintance with classical antiquity and its first contacts with the New World. Authors include Dante, Shakespeare, Machiavelli, Cervantes, and Milton.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 124:
The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ARTHIST 152, HISTORY 151, POLISCI 124A)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ENGLISH 126B:
The Nineteenth Century Novel
A set of major works of art produced at the peak of the novel's centrality as a cultural form: Austen's Emma, Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Eliot's Middlemarch, Dickens's Great Expectations, Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. The paradoxes of work, consciousness and the organization of narrative experience, habit and attention. Urban experience, shifting forms of individualism, ways of knowing other persons. Binary and concentric structures, happiness and moral action, arrays of characters.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 130:
Sex and the Novel (FEMGEN 130S)
How do novels represent sexual life? This course reads texts from the eighteenth century to the present day, and considers how novelists represent the discombobulating effects of desire in fictional prose. Authors may include: S. Richardson, N. Hawthorne, J. Austen, E. Brontë, G. Gissing, H. James, D.H. Lawrence, J. Joyce, V. Nabokov, J. Baldwin, A. Hollinghurst and Z. Smith.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 131B:
On the Road: American Travel Films
For more than a century, cars and movies have occupied a romantic place in the American imagination, as vehicles that can take us someplace new and engines for our fantasies of mobility, freedom and personal expression. Perhaps this is one reason why the road movie is one of the most enduring subgenres of twentieth-century film. In this class, we'll watch and discuss ten celebrated American travel films, one for each decade starting from Buster Keaton's silent Go West (1925) and arriving at Alexander Payne's wry anti-road film Nebraska (2013). In between we'll travel by car, bus, motorcycle and even on foot across America and beyond, searching for answers to the motivating questions for this course: what is the attraction of the open road, and how is the romance of its call embraced and challenged by the multiple genres of these films, the concerns of the decades in which they were produced, and the limits they impose on the idea of unrestricted travel, individual growth and independence. A secondary goal of this class is to familiarize students with the language and concepts of film art and criticism. To that end, we'll pair our films with readings from Bordwell, Thompson and Smith's influential textbook Film Art: an Introduction. Students will therefore not only be immersed in the themes specific to this course, but will also learn how to analyze and speak about film as a medium.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 131C:
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence in Fiction
From self-driving cars to bots that alter democratic elections, artificial intelligence is growing increasingly powerful and prevalent in our everyday lives. Fiction has long been speculating about the techno-utopia¿and catastrophe¿that A.I. could usher in. Indeed, fiction itself presents us with a kind of A.I. in the many characters that speak and think in its pages. So what constitutes an ¿intelligence¿ within literature or technology? In either field, is it ever possible to overcome the problem of other minds? Is there an ultimate boundary that demarcates bodies from machines? This course will begin with Mary Shelley¿s Frankenstein (1818) and Edgar Allan Poe¿s ¿Maelzel¿s Chess Player¿ (1836), then proceed through works such as Samuel Butler¿s Erewhon (1872), Isaac Asimov¿s I, Robot (1950), Stanley Kubrick¿s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and Stanford lecturer Scott Hutchins¿s A Working Theory of Love (2012), including a possible visit from Hutchins. Throughout, we will be asking ourselves what makes someone¿or something¿a person in our world today.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 132C:
Cosmopolitan Crime: Global Detective Fiction
Detective fiction is one of the most popular genres in the world. It is also, interestingly, one of the most international genres as well. In this course, we¿ll look at a selection of globally oriented detective stories, from the Sherlock Holmes to The Tunnel, and explore the ways in which detective fiction participates in the global imagination. How do these detective stories represent the tension between community and cultural difference? How do conceptions of cultural or racial ¿otherness¿ influence views of suspicion, guilt or innocence? How far does detective fiction fulfill a cosmopolitan ideal of transnational justice, and in what ways does it fall short? As we analyze the conventions of the detective genre and consider how it examines issues faced by our increasingly globalized community¿including immigration, imperialism, identity politics, and terrorism¿we¿ll ask larger questions about the nature of community, morality, law, and justice across national and cultural boundaries.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 133C:
King Arthur's Court: Medieval and Modern
Thomas Malory's Arthurian epic Le Morte D'Arthur (The Death of Arthur) is often thought of as the last medieval English text. As a prose narrative describing the gradual annihilation of King Arthur's legendary court at Camelot and the disintegration of the medieval courtly values that once held it together, the book seems to be a fitting swan song for what we think of as the English middle ages. In this course students will read Malory's Middle English legend of King Arthur in its historical and material context, developing an appreciation for its literary style and cultivating an awareness of the medieval traditions and technologies that shaped the author's work. We will then read T. H. White's The Once and Future King, a 20th century Arthurian novel based on Le Morte D'Arthur, and students will compare White's interpretation and adaptation to their own encounter with Malory's text. This course examines how authors and readers confront and imagine the medieval, and how the quest to capture the elusive idea of the dark ages illuminates the preoccupations of the present.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 134C:
The Western: Imagining the West in Fiction and Film (AMSTUD 134C)
The Wild West: a mythical place seared deep into the American imagination. Its familiar tropes lone riders on horseback, desert sunsets, saloon fights, train robberies echo through countless Western stories, novels, films, radio programs, and television series. Both formulaic and flexible, the Western has endured as a popular genre in American culture for more than a century, embodying and responding to many of the nation's broader anxieties surrounding its colonial history, its notions of masculinity and gender roles, its fascination with guns and violence, and its ideals of self-reliance and individualism. In this class we'll examine the Western genre through a selection of its central works in fiction and film, from the first dime novel Western, Ann S. Stephens Malaeska (1860), to Cormac McCarthy¿s acclaimed Blood Meridian (1985); and from the first silent film Western, Edwin S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery (1903), to the mid-century Hollywood films of John Ford, to Maggie Greenwald¿s feminist Western, The Ballad of Little Jo (1993). Along the way we'll examine the Western as both a literary form and a cultural phenomenon, probing the history of its enduring appeal as a genre. How do these novels and films construct, adapt, and subvert the form and expectations of the Western, and how do they both perpetuate and challenge the broader cultural problems of their, and our, time? Finally, as Californians and inheritors of the nation's westward expansion, what does the Western tell us about national myths of the West, and the place in which we live?
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 135C:
Reading and Writing the Personal Essay
This course examines the literary and cultural significance of the personal essay. We will begin with some influential theories of the essay, and conclude by considering the changing media from periodicals to blogs in which it appears. In between, we will explore some of the many reasons writers have had for writing themselves into their essays, such as explaining their personal tastes, demanding action from their readers, bearing witness to trauma, and making the personal political. Course readings will be drawn from across the rich history of the personal essay, including works by Charles Lamb, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell, James Baldwin, Susan Sontag, Joan Didion, Alice Walker, David Foster Wallace, Elif Batuman, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. As we explore the literary history, structure, and style of the personal essay, we will also reflect on what this genre reveals about the modern person. How are individuals shaped by social, cultural, and political forces? How are the ways we construct and express ourselves affected by changes in the media? And what might the personal essay reveal about the shifting boundaries between self and other, public and private, fact and fiction? Throughout the course, students will complete a series of short critical assignments, culminating in a final paper in which they will apply what they have learned to produce personal essays of their own.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 143A:
American Indian Mythology, Legend, and Lore (AMSTUD 143M, ENGLISH 43A, NATIVEAM 143A)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 143A.) Readings from American Indian literatures, old and new. Stories, songs, and rituals from the 19th century, including the Navajo Night Chant. Tricksters and trickster stories; war, healing, and hunting songs; Aztec songs from the 16th century. Readings from modern poets and novelists including N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, and Leslie Marmon Silko, and the classic autobiography, "Black Elk Speaks."
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 144:
Major Modernists: Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, T. S. Eliot
What made modernism `new? Is the movement `evergreen? We examine representational change, narrative innovation, and political aesthetics in the poetry, short fiction, and novels of four iconic pioneers: Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, and T.S. Eliot.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 145D:
Jewish American Literature (AMSTUD 145D, JEWISHST 155D, REES 145D)
From its inception, Jewish-American literature has taken as its subject as well as its context the idea of Jewishness itself. Jewish culture is a diasporic one, and for this reason the concept of Jewishness differs from country to country and across time. What stays remarkably similar, though, is Jewish self-perception and relatedly Jewish literary style. This is as true for the first-generation immigrant writers like Isaac Bashevis Singer and Anzia Yezierska who came to the United States from abroad as it is for their second-generation children born in the United States, and the children of those children. In this course, we will consider the difficulties of displacement for the emigrant generation and their efforts to sustain their cultural integrity in the multicultural American environment. We'll also examine the often comic revolt of their American-born children and grandchildren against their (grand-)parents nostalgia and failure to assimilate. Only by considering these transnational roots can one understand the particularity of the Jewish-American novel in relation to mainstream and minority American literatures. In investigating the link between American Jewish writers and their literary progenitors, we will draw largely but not exclusively from Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 146A:
Steinbeck (AMSTUD 146A)
Introduction to the work of an American writer, beloved by general readers, often reviled by critics, whose career spanned from the Great Depression through World War II to the social upheavals of the 1960s. Focus on the social and political contexts of Steinbeck's major works; his fascination with California and Mexico; his interdisciplinary interest in marine biology and in philosophy; his diverse experiments with literary form, including drama and film.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 148:
Family Drama: American Plays about Families (TAPS 248)
Focus on great dramas about family life (Albee, Kushner, Shephard, Vogel, Kron, Nottage, Parks). Communication in writing and speaking about conflict central to learning in this class.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 151F:
Angelheaded Hipsters: Beat Writers of San Francisco and New York
Reading of central writers of the Beat movement (Ginsberg, Kerouac, di Prima, Snyder, Whalen) as well as some related writers (Creeley, Gunn, Levertov). Issues explored include NY and SF, Buddhism and leftist politics, poetry and jazz. Some exposure to reading poems to jazz accompaniment. Examination of some of the writers and performers growing out of the Beats: Bob Dylan, rock music, especially from San Francisco, and jazz.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 152G:
Harlem Renaissance and Modernism
Examination of the explosion of African American artistic expression during 1920s and 30s New York known as the Harlem Renaissance. Amiri Baraka once referred to the Renaissance as a kind of "vicious Modernism", as a "BangClash", that impacted and was impacted by political, cultural and aesthetic changes not only in the U.S. but Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Focus on the literature, graphic arts, and the music of the era in this global context.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 152K:
Mixed-Race Politics and Culture (AFRICAAM 226, AMSTUD 152K, CSRE 152K)
Today, almost one-third of Americans identify with a racial/ethnic minority group, and more than 9 million Americans identify with multiple races. What are the implications of such diversity for American politics and culture? This course approaches issues of race from an interdisciplinary perspective, employing research in the social sciences and humanities to assess how race shapes perceptions of identity as well as political behavior in 21st-century U.S. Issues surrounding the role of multiculturalism, immigration, acculturation, racial representation, and racial prejudice in American society. Topics include the political and social formation of race; racial representation in the media, arts, and popular culture; the rise and decline of the "one-drop rule" and its effect on political and cultural attachments; the politicization of census categories and the rise of the multiracial movement.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 153:
Time, Space, and Place: Humanistic Inquiry in a Digital Age
What are the digital humanities? A definition might be: Digital humanities are those pursuits which use digital tools to explore topics of humanistic inquiry. But that definition is rather general. To have a more nuanced understanding of the digital humanities, students will be exposed to a number of its practices, and practitioners. Active engagement by all participants is expected. Students will read and annotate, map and perform digital textual analysis. Ultimately, students will have a better idea of what the digital humanities are, and will be introduced to different ways they can be practiced, opening up possibilities for further exploration.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 154F:
Film & Philosophy
Issues of authenticity, morality, personal identity, and the value of truth explored through film; philosophical investigation of the filmic medium itself. Screenings to include Blade Runner (Scott), Do The Right Thing (Lee), The Seventh Seal (Bergman), Fight Club (Fincher), La Jetée (Marker), Memento (Nolan), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Kaufman). Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 159:
James Baldwin & Twentieth Century Literature (AFRICAAM 159, FEMGEN 159)
Black, gay and gifted, Baldwin was hailed as a "spokesman for the race", although he personally, and controversially, eschewed titles and classifications of all kinds. This course examines his classic novels and essays as well his exciting work across many lesser-examined domains - poetry, music, theatre, sermon, photo-text, children's literature, public media, comedy and artistic collaboration. Placing his work in context with other writers of the 20C (Faulkner, Wright,Morrison) and capitalizing on a resurgence of interest in the writer (NYC just dedicated a year of celebration of Baldwin and there are 2 new journals dedicated to study of Baldwin), the course seeks to capture the power and influence of Baldwin's work during the Civil Rights era as well as his relevance in the "post-race" transnational 21st century, when his prescient questioning of the boundaries of race, sex, love, leadership and country assume new urgency.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 159A:
Literature and Protest (AFRICAAM 159A, CSRE 159I)
How does literary art get involved in politics? What is the border between propaganda and art? This class examines moments when writers seem suddenly not only to represent politically charged topics and themes, but to have a part in bringing about political change. We¿ll look at case studies from the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, the American Civil Rights struggle, 19th century Russia, and more.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ENGLISH 160:
Poetry and Poetics
Introduction to the reading of poetry, with emphasis on how the sense of poems is shaped through diction, imagery, and technical elements of verse.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 161:
Narrative and Narrative Theory
An introduction to stories and storytelling--that is, to narrative. What is narrative? When is narrative fictional and when non-fictional? How is it done, word by word, sentence by sentence? Must it be in prose? Can it be in pictures? How has storytelling changed over time? Focus on various forms, genres, structures, and characteristics of narrative.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 162W:
Writing Intensive Seminar in English (WISE)
In these highly regarded, small-group seminars, students explore unique topics in English language literature, reading select primary texts alongside exemplary critical works and/or other cultural artifacts, while also honing their research and writing skills through series of assignments that culminate in a substantial original research essay. Classes are capped at 8, allowing for individualized attention and rich feedback. Click Schedule below to see individual course titles (in Notes). For fuller details and descriptions, go to https://english.stanford.edu/courses/2017-18-english-162w. Enrollment is by permission. English majors must take at least one WISE to fulfill WIM. Non-majors are welcome, space permitting. Contact the English Department's Student Services Manager, Melanie Ester (melaniee@stanford.edu), for more information.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
ENGLISH 163F:
Shakespeare Now and Then
In this Introduction to Shakespeare on film, we will study approximately five Shakespearean plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, and Macbeth, alongside a selection of their movie adaptations. As well as getting to grips with the plays printed texts, we will investigate how the plays meanings and significations can change radically in performance.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ENGLISH 167H:
The Ethical Gangster
(English majors must register for 5 units) A study of recent developments in understanding human moral psychology using mafia movies to explore the differences between Kantian and Utilitarian moral theory. We will study the greatest hits of gangster fiction and film, from Fielding's Jonathan Wild to The Sopranos.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ENGLISH 185A:
Literature and Medicine
Virginia Woolf once wrote, "The merest schoolgirl when she falls in love has Shakespeare or Keats to speak her mind for her, but let a sufferer try to describe a pain in his head to a doctor and language at once runs dry." Problems of representation are at the heart of the experiences of physical suffering and medical care; how has literature defined and redefined its relationship to these experiences? Topics include medical and literary interpretation, illness and metaphor, and the evolution of the surface-depth model of the self. The course centers on major works of literature that engage the imaginative potential of medicine and the narrative structures of disease, by authors including Jane Austen, Leo Tolstoy, and Arthur Conan Doyle, read alongside paintings (Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp), film (Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers), medical descriptions of disease, diagnostic tools, and theory (e.g., Sontag's Illness as Metaphor).
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 191:
Intermediate Creative Nonfiction
Continuation of 91. Workshop. The application of advanced storytelling techniques to fact-based personal narratives, emphasizing organic writing, discovering audience, and publication. Guest lecturers, collaborative writing, and publication of the final project in print, audio, or web formats. Prerequisite: 91 or 90.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
ENGLISH 192T:
Topics in Intermediate Poetry Writing
Generation and discussion of student poems. How to recognize a poem's internal structure; how to seek models for work. Students submit portfolio for group critique. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: ENGLISH 92.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
4 times
(up to 10 units total)
ENGLISH 195B:
How to Write a Great Essay: A Writing Bootcamp for Undergraduates
The course will be a practical workshop for undergraduates on how to improve essay-writing skills. we will focus on the finer points of vocabulary, grammar, mechanics, logic, timing, intellectual precision; how to connect with (and delight) an audience; how to magnify a theme; how to deflect counter-arguments; how to develop your own sophisticated authorial 'style'; how to write sentences (and papers!) your reader will care about and admire and maybe even remember.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ENGLISH 196A:
Honors Seminar: Critical Approaches to Literature
Overview of literary-critical methodologies, with a practical emphasis shaped by participants' current honors projects. Restricted to students in the English Honors Program.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ENGLISH 240A:
Crooks, Quacks, and Courtesans: Jacobean City Comedy (ENGLISH 340A, HISTORY 232E, HISTORY 332E)
We will read a series of plays set in or around early modern London, written by playwrights such as Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, and John Marston. The course will explore the plays¿ hilarious representations of the London underworld, with its confidence tricksters and naive victims, as well as more serious topics such as social mobility and social relations, economic expansion, disease transmission, and the built environment. Plays studied will include: The Alchemist, Epicene, The Roaring Girl, A Chaste Maid In Cheapside, The Dutch Courtesan.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ESF 2:
Education as Self-Fashioning: How to Become a Global Citizen or the German Tradition of Bildung
This course considers education not as training in external knowledge or skills but as a lifelong process of development and growth in which an individual cultivates her or his spiritual, cultural and social sensibilities. This concept of education - education as a formative and transformative process in the development of the self - is called Bildung in German and has a long tradition reaching back to the Middle Ages. The term first appears in the writings of the mystic Meister Eckhart who defines it as self-composure which he regards as a crucial stage in our spiritual development. The concept of Bildung takes on a secular meaning in the Reformation, when Ulrich von Hutten first coined the phrase that has become Stanford's motto: Die Luft der Freiheit weht. (The wind of freedom is blowing). What he meant is that the cultivation of oneself leads to the freedom of thought, freedom to act, freedom to assert oneself as an individual, freedom to access knowledge, and freedom to determine one's own role in society. This idea of education as an internal and transformative process is central to debates in the nineteenth century (both in Germany and the United States) in which self-reflection is seen as key to the cultivation of an individual's identity and to her or his role as a member of society. In this course we will read reflections on education as self-fashioning by some of the greatest German thinkers spanning from the Middle Ages to the present. We will also enjoy some contemporary parodies of such reflections. These readings and our discussions will help us to understand Stanford undergraduate education as a transformative process of self-realization in our global society.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing 1
ESF 2A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: How to Become a Global Citizen or the German Tradition of Bildung.
This course considers education not as training in external knowledge or skills but as a lifelong process of development and growth in which an individual cultivates her or his spiritual, cultural and social sensibilities. This concept of education - education as a formative and transformative process in the development of the self - is called Bildung in German and has a long tradition reaching back to the Middle Ages. The term first appears in the writings of the mystic Meister Eckhart who defines it as self-composure which he regards as a crucial stage in our spiritual development. The concept of Bildung takes on a secular meaning in the Reformation, when Ulrich von Hutten first coined the phrase that has become Stanford's motto: "Die Luft der Freiheit weht". (The wind of freedom is blowing). What he meant is that the cultivation of oneself leads to the freedom of thought, freedom to act, freedom to assert oneself as an individual, freedom to access knowledge, and freedom to determine one's own role in society. This idea of education as an internal and transformative process is central to debates in the nineteenth century (both in Germany and the United States) in which self-reflection is seen as key to the cultivation of an individual's identity and to her or his role as a member of society. In this course we will read reflections on education as self-fashioning by some of the greatest German thinkers spanning from the Middle Ages to the present. We will also enjoy some contemporary parodies of such reflections. These readings and our discussions will help us to understand Stanford undergraduate education as a transformative process of self-realization in our global society.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing 1
ESF 3:
Education as Self-Fashioning: How to be a Public Intellectual
Can education impart more than bookish learning? This is the question that critics have posed since the European Renaissance. Through their reflections, these critics posited an alternative ideal of education that prepared the student for life outside the academy. Over the centuries, this ideal would evolve into what we would today call an 'intellectual' - but this modern concept only captures a part of what earlier writers thought learning could achieve. In this course, we will focus on how education can prepare students to engage in public debates and the role that the university can play in public learning.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing 1
ESF 3A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: How to be a Public Intellectual
Can education impart more than bookish learning? This is the question that critics have posed since the European Renaissance. Through their reflections, these critics posited an alternative ideal of education that prepared the student for life outside the academy. Over the centuries, this ideal would evolve into what we would today call an 'intellectual' - but this modern concept only captures a part of what earlier writers thought learning could achieve. In this course, we will focus on how education can prepare students to engage in public debates and the role that the university can play in public learning.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing 1
ESF 6:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The Wind of Freedom
Stanford's unofficial motto, "the wind of freedom blows," engraved in German on the university seal, invites us the ponder freedom in the context of education. What is the relation between freedom and the "liberal" arts? Does studying free your mind? Does free will even exist? If so, how does education help you develop its potential? This course will look at various authors -- from antiquity through the 20th century -- who have thought about the blessings, burdens, and obligations of human freedom. Beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden, we will explore how exercising freedom in your personal choices and conduct not only determines your fate as an individual but carries with it a measure of responsibility for the world. We will place special emphasis on the implications of such responsibility in our own time.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 6A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The Wind of Freedom
Stanford's unofficial motto, "the wind of freedom blows," engraved in German on the university seal, invites us the ponder freedom in the context of education. What is the relation between freedom and the "liberal" arts? Does studying free your mind? Does free will even exist? If so, how does education help you develop its potential? This course will look at various authors -- from antiquity through the 20th century -- who have thought about the blessings, burdens, and obligations of human freedom. Beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden, we will explore how exercising freedom in your personal choices and conduct not only determines your fate as an individual but carries with it a measure of responsibility for the world. We will place special emphasis on the implications of such responsibility in our own time.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 8:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Recognizing the Self and Its Possibilities
Some philosophers have argued that we have privileged and direct access to our inner selves. If this were true, it would make self-knowledge perhaps the easiest sort of knowledge to obtain. But there are many considerations that mitigate against this view of self-knowledge. Consider, for example, the slave who is so oppressed that he fully accepts his slavery and cannot even imagine the possibility of freedom for himself. Such a slave fails to recognize his own capacity for freedom and autonomous self-governance. Though the slave is perhaps the extreme case, many people, it seems, fail to recognize the full range of possibilities open to them. In this course, we shall examine both some of the ways in which one¿s capacity for self-recognition may be distorted and undermined and the role of education in enabling a person to fully recognize the self and its possibilities. What constrains the range of possibilities we see as really open to us? Contrary to the Cartesian, we shall argue that full self-recognition is an often a hard-won achievement. And we shall ask how education might function to give us a less constricted and more liberating sense of the self and its possibilities. We will consider such questions through the lens of philosophy, literature and psychology.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 8A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Recognizing the Self and Its Possibilities
Some philosophers have argued that we have privileged and direct access to our inner selves. If this were true, it would make self-knowledge perhaps the easiest sort of knowledge to obtain. But there are many considerations that mitigate against this view of self-knowledge. Consider, for example, the slave who is so oppressed that he fully accepts his slavery and cannot even imagine the possibility of freedom for himself. Such a slave fails to recognize his own capacity for freedom and autonomous self-governance. Though the slave is perhaps the extreme case, many people, it seems, fail to recognize the full range of possibilities open to them. In this course, we shall examine both some of the ways in which one¿s capacity for self-recognition may be distorted and undermined and the role of education in enabling a person to fully recognize the self and its possibilities. What constrains the range of possibilities we see as really open to us? Contrary to the Cartesian, we shall argue that full self-recognition is an often a hard-won achievement. And we shall ask how education might function to give us a less constricted and more liberating sense of the self and its possibilities. We will consider such questions through the lens of philosophy, literature and psychology.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 9:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Chinese Traditions of the Self
In this class we explore thinking about the self and its cultivation that took root and flourished in China. Chinese civilization was centrally concerned with issues of the self, but it developed methods and ideals of cultivation that have no obvious parallel in the European tradition. We will be concerned primarily with two clusters of Chinese thought and expression. First, we will look at major philosophical traditions (Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism) to see how they structured thinking about education and self-cultivation. The three ¿schools¿ of thought staked out different ideals for the self that provided China with range and flexibility in concepts of personhood. Second, we will examine Chinese aesthetic traditions, especially those of qin music, calligraphy and painting, to understand how the arts were used as a platform for self-cultivation and to communicate the artist¿s essential nature to others. The course also gives attention to the gendering of concepts of the self and to the tradition of martial arts as self-discipline and self-strengthening. Students should emerge from the course with an understanding of how a major civilization located outside Western traditions developed its own answers to these questions of universal human concern.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 1
ESF 9A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Chinese Traditions of the Self
In this class we explore thinking about the self and its cultivation that took root and flourished in China. Chinese civilization was centrally concerned with issues of the self, but it developed methods and ideals of cultivation that have no obvious parallel in the European tradition. We will be concerned primarily with two clusters of Chinese thought and expression. First, we will look at major philosophical traditions (Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism) to see how they structured thinking about education and self-cultivation. The three ¿schools¿ of thought staked out different ideals for the self that provided China with range and flexibility in concepts of personhood. Second, we will examine Chinese aesthetic traditions, especially those of qin music, calligraphy and painting, to understand how the arts were used as a platform for self-cultivation and to communicate the artist¿s essential nature to others. The course also gives attention to the gendering of concepts of the self and to the tradition of martial arts as self-discipline and self-strengthening. Students should emerge from the course with an understanding of how a major civilization located outside Western traditions developed its own answers to these questions of universal human concern.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 1
ETHICSOC 20:
Introduction to Moral Philosophy (PHIL 2)
What should I do with my life? What kind of person should I be? How should we treat others? What makes actions right or wrong? What is good and what is bad? What should we value? How should we organize society? Is there any reason to be moral? Is morality relative or subjective? How, if at all, can such questions be answered? Intensive introduction to theories and techniques in contemporary moral philosophy.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 131S:
Modern Political Thought: Machiavelli to Marx and Mill (POLISCI 131L)
This course offers an introduction to the history of Western political thought from the late fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries. We will consider the development of ideas like individual rights, government by consent, and the protection of private property. We will also explore the ways in which these ideas continue to animate contemporary political debates. Thinkers covered will include: Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 170:
Ethical Theory (PHIL 170, PHIL 270)
How should we live our lives? Should you love your neighbour as yourself? Should you be digging wells rather than taking philosophy classes? Is taxation just? What obligations do we have to the not-yet-born, and to the dead? And says who? Are there really any answers to these questions? If so, what explains why they are one way rather than another? The will of God? Perhaps we need rules to ensure mutual benefits. But then, can I break them if no-one will find out? Can it be appropriate to blame you for doing something that you thought was the right thing to do (perhaps rejecting a blood transfusion)? Or to praise you for doing something you thought was the wrong thing to do (like Huck Finn)? By the end of this semester, you will be developing answers to these questions and many more.nnA more challenging version of Phil 2 designed primarily for juniors and seniors (may also be appropriate for some freshmen and sophomores - contact professor). Fulfills the Ethical Reasoning requirement. Graduate section (270) will include supplemental readings and discussion, geared for graduate students new to moral philosophy, as well as those with some background who would like more.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 174A:
Moral Limits of the Market (PHIL 174A, PHIL 274A, POLISCI 135P)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 237M:
Politics and Evil (POLISCI 237M)
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the political theorist Hannah Arendt wrote that ¿the problem of evil will be the fundamental question of postwar intellectual life in Europe.¿ This question remains fundamental today. The acts to which the word ¿evil¿ might apply¿genocide, terrorism, torture, human trafficking, etc.¿persist. The rhetoric of evil also remains central to American political discourse, both as a means of condemning such acts and of justifying preventive and punitive measures intended to combat them. In this advanced undergraduate seminar, we will examine the intersection of politics and evil by considering works by philosophers and political theorists, with occasional forays into film and media. The thinkers covered will include: Hannah Arendt, Immanuel Kant, Niccolò Machiavelli, Friedrich Nietzche, and Michael Walzer.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
FEMGEN 13N:
Women Making Music (MUSIC 14N)
Preference to freshmen. Women's musical activities across times and cultures; how ideas about gender influence the creation, performance, and perception of music.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 17:
Gender and Power in Ancient Greece
(Formerly CLASSGEN 17.) Introduction to the sex-gender system of ancient Greece, with comparative material from modern America. How myths, religious rituals, athletics, politics and theater reinforced gender stereotypes and sometimes undermined them. Skills: finding clues, identifying patterns and making connections amongst the components of a strange and beautiful culture very different from our own. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 54N:
African American Women's Lives (AFRICAAM 54N, AMSTUD 54N, CSRE 54N, HISTORY 54N)
This course encourages students to think critically about historical sources and to use creative and rigorous historical methods to recover African American women¿s experiences, which often have been placed on the periphery of American history and American life.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 63N:
The Feminist Critique: The History and Politics of Gender Equality (AMSTUD 63N, CSRE 63N, HISTORY 63N)
This course explores the long history of ideas about gender and equality. Each week we read, dissect, compare, and critique a set of primary historical documents (political and literary) from around the world, moving from the 15th century to the present. We tease out changing arguments about education, the body, sexuality, violence, labor, politics, and the very meaning of gender, and we place feminist critics within national and global political contexts.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FEMGEN 102:
Art and Social Criticism (AFRICAAM 102B, AMSTUD 102, ARTHIST 162B, CSRE 102A)
Visual artists have long been in the forefront of social criticism in America. Since the 1960s, various visual strategies have helped emergent progressive political movements articulate and represent complex social issues. Which artists and particular art works/projects have become key anchors for discourses on racism, sexism, economic and social inequality, immigrant rights and climate change? We will learn about a spectrum of political art designed to raise social awareness, spark social change and rouse protest. The Art Workers Coalition¿s agit-prop opposing the Vietnam War and ACT-UP¿s emblematic signs and symbols during the AIDS/HIV crisis of the 1980s galvanized a generation into action. Works such as Judy Chicago¿s The Dinner Party (1979), Fred Wilson¿s Mining the Museum (1992), and Glenn Ligon¿s paintings appropriating fragments from African-American literature all raised awareness by excavating historical evidence of the long legacy resisting marginalization. For three decades feminist artists Barbara Kruger and the Guerilla Girls have combined institutional critique and direct address into a provocative form of criticality. Recent art for social justice is reaching ever broadening publics by redrawing the role of artist and audience exemplified by the democratization of poster making and internet campaigns of Occupy and the Movement for Black Lives. We will also consider the collective aesthetic activisms in the Post-Occupy era including Global Ultra Luxury Faction, Climate Justice art projects, and the visual culture of Trump era mass protests. Why are each of these examples successful as influential and enduring markers of social criticism? What have these socially responsive practices contributed to our understanding of American history?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 103:
Feminist and Queer Theories and Methods Across the Disciplines (FEMGEN 203, PHIL 179A, PHIL 279A)
(Graduate Students register for PHIL 279A or FEMGEN 203) This course is an opportunity to explore the difference feminist and queer perspectives make in creative arts, humanities, and social science research.nPrerequisites: Feminist Studies 101 or equivalent with consent of instructor.nNOTE: This course must be taken for a letter grade and a minimum of 3 units to be eligible for WAYS credit. The 2 unit option is for graduate students only.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 110X:
Introduction to Comparative Queer Literary Studies (COMPLIT 110, COMPLIT 310, FEMGEN 310X)
Introduction to the comparative literary study of important gay, lesbian, queer, bisexual, and transgender writers and their changing social, political, and cultural contexts from the 1880s to today: Oscar Wilde, Rachilde, Radclyffe Hall, Djuna Barnes, James Baldwin, Jean Genet, Audre Lorde, Cherrie Moraga, Jeanette Winterson, Alison Bechdel and others, discussed in the context of 20th-century feminist and queer literary and social theories of gender and sexuality. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course 110 or 110X for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 113X:
Feminist Poetry in the U.S., 1973-2017 (COMPLIT 113)
Traces the development of feminist poetry in the United States from second wave feminists like Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, and Alicia Ostriker to contemporary poetry of Anne Boyer, Steph Burt, and Eileen Myles, among others. We will think broadly about the relationship between politics and poetry, and focus specifically on the influences of second- and third- wave feminism on poetry produced by women in the U.S. from the 1970s until today.Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FEMGEN 115:
Queer Reading and Queer Writing in Early Modern England
Considers the possibility of identifying queer reading and writing practices in early modern England as well the theoretical and historical obstacles such a project necessarily encounters. Focus on the role which Renaissance discourses of desire continue to play in our negotiations of homo/erotic subjectivity, identity politics, and sexual and gender difference. Study of Renaissance queerness in relation to the classical tradition on the one hand and the contemporary discourses of religion, law, and politics on the other. Readings include plays, poems, and prose narratives as well as letters, pamphlets, and ephemeral literature. Both major and minor authors will be represented.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 130S:
Sex and the Novel (ENGLISH 130)
How do novels represent sexual life? This course reads texts from the eighteenth century to the present day, and considers how novelists represent the discombobulating effects of desire in fictional prose. Authors may include: S. Richardson, N. Hawthorne, J. Austen, E. Brontë, G. Gissing, H. James, D.H. Lawrence, J. Joyce, V. Nabokov, J. Baldwin, A. Hollinghurst and Z. Smith.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 131:
Introduction to Queer Theory
What can Queer Theory help us do and undo? Emerging at the intersections of feminist theory, queer activism, and critical race studies in the 1990's, Queer Theory has become a dynamic interdisciplinary field that informs a wide range of cultural and artistic practices. This course will introduce students to the development of queer theory as well as core concepts and controversies in the field. While considering theoretical frames for thinking gender, sexuality, and sex, we will explore the possibilities--and limitations--of queer theory with a focus on doing and undoing identity, knowledge, and power.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 133:
Transgender Performance and Performativity (TAPS 133T)
This course examines theater, performance art, dance, and embodied practice by transgender artists. Students will learn the history and politics of transgender performance while considering the creative processes and formal aesthetics trans artists use to make art. We will analyze creative work in conversation with critical and theoretical texts from the fields of performance studies, art history, and queer studies.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
FEMGEN 144F:
Female Modernists: Women Writers in Paris Between the Wars
The course will focus on expatriate women writers - American and British - who lived and wrote in Paris between the wars. Among them: Edith Wharton, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, H.D., Djuna Barnes, Margaret Anderson, Janet Flanner, Natalie Barney, Kay Boyle, Mina Loy, Romaine Brooks, Mary Butts, Radclyffe Hall, Colette, and Jean Rhys. A central theme will be Paris as a lure and inspiration for bohemian female modernists, and the various alternative and emancipatory literary communities they created.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FEMGEN 145:
Culture Wars: Art and Social Conflict in the USA, 1890-1950 (AMSTUD 145M, ARTHIST 145, ARTHIST 345)
This course examines social conflicts and political controversies in American culture through the lens of visual art and photography. We consider how visual images both reflect and participate in the social and political life of the nation and how the terms of citizenship have been represented¿and, at times, contested¿by artists throughout the first half of the 20th century. The class explores the relation between American art and the body politic by focusing on issues of poverty, war, censorship, consumerism, class identity, and racial division.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 150:
Sex, Gender, and Power in Modern China (CHINA 115, CHINA 215, FEMGEN 250)
Investigates how sex, gender, and power are entwined in the Chinese experience of modernity. Topics include anti-footbinding campaigns, free love/free sex, women's mobilization in revolution and war, the new Marriage Law of 1950, Mao's iron girls, postsocialist celebrations of sensuality, and emergent queer politics. Readings range from feminist theory to China-focused historiography, ethnography, memoir, biography, fiction, essay, and film. All course materials are in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 153Q:
Reading and Writing the Gendered Story (CSRE 153Q)
Exploration of novels, stories, memoirs and micro-narratives in which gender plays a major role. The texts are by writers of varied genders and sexual orientations as well as varied class, racial and national backgrounds. Written assignments present a mixture of academic and creative options.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
FEMGEN 154G:
Black Magic: Ethnicity, Race, and Identity in Performance Cultures (AFRICAAM 154G, CSRE 154D, TAPS 154G)
In 2013, CaShawn Thompson devised a Twitter hashtag, #blackgirlmagic, to celebrate the beauty and intelligence of black women. Twitter users quickly adopted the slogan, using the hashtag to celebrate everyday moments of beauty, accomplishment, and magic. In contrast, #blackmagic is used to describe everything from the uncanny to the personal. This course examines the discursive phenomenon of "black magic" and its permutations throughout Anglo-American histories. We will investigate the binaries of black/dark, white/light magic that has entered our contemporary lexicon, reading material on religion, magic performance, and theater.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 159:
James Baldwin & Twentieth Century Literature (AFRICAAM 159, ENGLISH 159)
Black, gay and gifted, Baldwin was hailed as a "spokesman for the race", although he personally, and controversially, eschewed titles and classifications of all kinds. This course examines his classic novels and essays as well his exciting work across many lesser-examined domains - poetry, music, theatre, sermon, photo-text, children's literature, public media, comedy and artistic collaboration. Placing his work in context with other writers of the 20C (Faulkner, Wright,Morrison) and capitalizing on a resurgence of interest in the writer (NYC just dedicated a year of celebration of Baldwin and there are 2 new journals dedicated to study of Baldwin), the course seeks to capture the power and influence of Baldwin's work during the Civil Rights era as well as his relevance in the "post-race" transnational 21st century, when his prescient questioning of the boundaries of race, sex, love, leadership and country assume new urgency.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 160:
Performance and History: Rethinking the Ballerina (DANCE 160, TAPS 160, TAPS 260)
The ballerina occupies a unique place in popular imagination as an object of over-determined femininity as well as an emblem of extreme physical accomplishment for the female dancer. This seminar is designed as an investigation into histories of the ballerina as an iconographic symbol and cultural reference point for challenges to political and gender ideals. Through readings, videos, discussions and viewings of live performances this class investigates pivotal works, artists and eras in the global histories of ballet from its origins as a symbol of patronage and power in the 15th century through to its radical experiments as a site of cultural obedience and disobedience in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 160M:
Introduction to Representations of the Middle East in Dance, Performance, & Popular Culture (CSRE 160M, DANCE 160M, TAPS 160M)
This course will introduce students to the ways in which the Middle East has been represented and performed by/in the 'West' through dance, performance, and popular culture in both historical and contemporary contexts. A brief look through today's media sources exposes a wide range of racialized and gendered representations of the Middle East that shape the way the world imagines the Middle East to be. As postcolonial theorist Edward Said explains, the framework we call Orientalism establishes the ontological character of the Orient and the Oriental as inherently `Other'. Starting with 19th century colonialism and continuing into the post-9/11 era, this course will trace the Western production, circulation, and consumption of representations of the Middle East as 'Other' in relation to global geopolitics. We will further examine dance forms produced in mid-twentieth century Iran and Egypt, with particular attention to nation-state building and constructions of gender. Finally, we will examine artistic productions and practices from the Middle East and Middle Eastern diasporic communities that respond to colonialism, war, displacement, secularism, and Euro-American Empire. Using dance studies, postcolonial feminist, and critical race theoretical frameworks, we will consider the gender, racial, political, and cultural implications of selected performance works and practices in order to analyze how bodies produce meaning in dance, performance art, theater, film, photography, and new media. Students will engage in multiple modes of learning; the course will include lectures, engaged group discussions, viewing of live and recorded performance, embodied participation in dance practice, student oral presentations, and a variety of writing exercises. Course assignments will culminate in a final research project related to class themes and methods.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 161D:
Introduction to Dance Studies: Dancing Across Stages, Clubs, Screens, and Borders (CSRE 61, DANCE 161D, TAPS 161D)
This introduction to dance studies course explores dance practice and performance as means for producing cultural meaning. Through theoretical and historical texts and viewing live and recorded dance, we will develop tools for analyzing dance and understanding its place in social, cultural, and political structures. This uses dance and choreography as a lens to more deeply understand a wide range of identity and cultural formations, such as gender, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, (trans)nationality, and empire. We will analyze dancing bodies that move across stages, dance clubs, film screens, and border zones. We will examine dance from diverse locales and time periods including ballet, modern and contemporary dance, contact improvisation, folkloric dance, burlesque, street dance, queer club dance, drag performance, music videos, TV dance competitions, and intermedia/new media performance. In addition to providing theoretical and methodological grounding in dance studies, this course develops performance analysis skills and hones the ability to write critically and skillfully about dance. No previous experience in dance is necessary to successfully complete the course.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 166:
The Divine Feminine in India (RELIGST 166)
What happens when God is a woman? Is the Goddess a feminist? The Goddess, in her numerous incarnations, is foundational to much of Indian religiosity, whether Hindu, Buddhist, or even Jain¿and in turn, without her story, much of the theology and practice of these religions remains incomprehensible. This course examines the principal expressions of the theology and ritual worship of the Goddess in Indian history, from the Vedas to the Hindu Epics, to Indian philosophy, tantric ritual practice and modern global and new age movements in order to understand how the gendering of divinity affects theological speculation, religious experience, and embodied religious identity.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 176:
Feminism and Contemporary Art (ARTHIST 176, ARTHIST 376, CSRE 167)
(Same as ARTHIST 176) The impact of second wave feminism on art making and art historical practice in the 70s, and its reiteration and transformation in contemporary feminist work. Topics: sexism and art history, feminist studio programs in the 70s, essentialism and self-representation, themes of domesticity, the body in feminist art making, bad girls, the exclusion of women of color and lesbians from the art historical mainstream, notions of performativity.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 180:
Gender Relations in Islam (RELIGST 180)
This course investigates the ways in which gender identities and relationships between men and women have been articulated, constructed, and refashioned throughout the Muslim world. Starting with problematizing the fixed notions of gender and sexuality, we map the attitudes toward these notions through visiting a diverse array of sources from the Qur¿an, Sunna, and legal documents to historical and anthropological case studies, literature, and film from South East Asia to Europe and North America. We examine the notions of femininity and masculinity in the Qur¿an, family laws, and attitudes toward homosexuality and transgendered populations. We read examples of ambiguous use of language with regards to gender and sexuality in Persian poetry and mystical traditions. We study the dynamic relationship between Islam and Feminism in the Muslim world. Finally, we witness the implications of these attitudes in our case studies and stories, from a divorce court in Iran to a wedding in Sudan.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FEMGEN 183:
Re- Imagining American Borders (AMSTUD 183, CSRE 183)
How novelists, filmmakers, and poets perceive racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and class borders in the context of a current volatile national discussion about the place of Americans both here and in the world. How Anna Deavere Smith, Sherman Alexie, Shailja Patel or Ta-Nehisi Coates consider redrawing such lines so that center and margin, or self and other, do not remain fixed and divided. How linguistic borderlines within multilingual literature by Caribbean, Arab, and Asian Americans function. Can Anzaldúa's 1986 conception of borderlands be constructed through the matrix of language, dreams, music, and cultural memories in these recent American narratives? Course includes creatively examining one's own identity.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 187X:
Sex, Gender, and Violence: French Women Writers Today (FEMGEN 287X, FRENCH 187, FRENCH 287, FRENCH 387)
Long before the 2017 #Metoo campaign, French women writers have explored through powerful fictions and autobiographies the different shades of economic, social, psychological, physical, or sexual violence that is exerted against, but also by and between, women. How does literature - the power of words - address, deconstruct or comfort power dynamics (during sex and between the sexes) that are usually silenced, taboo or unspeakable? nWe will contrast these narrative to debates among French feminist writers (Beauvoir, Badinter, Mona Ozouf, Françoise Héritier, Michelle Perrot) around the theory (or myth?) of a specifically French kind of gender relation (ex: "galanterie," "séduction"). nThemes explored: sex and gender, sex and power, rape culture, sexual and moral taboos (incest, abortion, pornography, infanticide), the body as social stigma or source of meaning, identity, power. Special attention will be given to narrative and descriptive strategies designed to avert, expose, deconstruct or account for specifically feminine experiences (rape, orgasm, pregnancy). nAward-winning author Leila Slimani will participate in person in the class discussion of her novel on infanticide. nAuthors include Marie Darrieusecq, Christine Angot, Annie Ernaux, Marie NDiaye, Virginie Despentes, Leila Slimani, Ivan Jablonka.nTaught in French.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 188Q:
Imagining Women: Writers in Print and in Person (CSRE 188Q)
Gender roles, gender relations and sexual identity explored in contemporary literature and conversation with guest authors. Weekly meetings designated for book discussion and meeting with authors. Interest in writing and a curiosity about diverse women's lives would be helpful to students. Students will use such tools as close reading, research, analysis and imagination. Seminar requires strong voice of all participants. Oral presentations, discussion papers, final projects.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
FEMGEN 192:
Women in French Cinema: 1958- (FILMSTUD 112, FRENCH 192)
Women as objects and subjects of the voyeuristic gaze inherent to cinema. The myth of the feminine idol in French films in historical and cultural context since the New Wave until now. The mythology of stars as the imaginary vehicle that helped France to change from traditional society to modern, culturally mixed nation. The evolution of female characters, roles, actresses, directors in the film industry. Filmmakers include Vadim, Truffaut, Varda, Godard, Ozon, Colline Serreau, Tonie Marshall, Maïwen. Discussion in English; films in French with English subtitles. 3 units, 4 units or 5 units.nNOTE: FILMSTUD students must take this course for 3 units only.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
FEMGEN 205:
Songs of Love and War: Gender, Crusade, Politics (FRENCH 205)
Analysis of medieval love, satirical and Crusade lyrics of the trouabdours. Study of deictic address, corporeal subjectivity, the female voice, love debates, and the body as a figure of political conflict. Course readings include medieval treatises on lyric and modern translations of the troubadour tradition. Works by Ovid, Bernart de Ventadorn, Bertran de Born, La Comtessa de Dia, Thibaut de Champagne, Raimon Vidal, Dante, and Pound. Taught in English. Course includes a lab component for creation of multi-media translation projects: trobar. stanford.edu.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 258X:
Black Feminist Theater and Theory (AFRICAAM 258, CSRE 258, TAPS 258)
From the rave reviews garnered by Angelina Weld Grimke's lynching play, Rachel to recent work by Lynn Nottage on Rwanda, black women playwrights have addressed key issues in modern culture and politics. We will analyze and perform work written by black women in the U.S., Britain and the Caribbean in the 20th and 21st centuries. Topics include: sexuality, surrealism, colonialism, freedom, violence, colorism, love, history, community and more. Playwrights include: Angelina Grimke, Lorriane Hansberry, Winsome Pinnock, Adrienne Kennedy, Suzan- Lori Parks, Ntzoke Shange, Pearl Cleage, Sarah Jones, Anna DeVeare Smith, Alice Childress, Lydia Diamond and Zora Neale Hurston.)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 262:
Sex and the Early Church (RELIGST 262, RELIGST 362)
Sex and the Early Church examines the ways first- through sixth-century Christians addressed questions regarding human sexuality. We will pay particular attention to the relationship between sexuality and issues of gender, culture, power, and resistance. We will read a Roman gynecological manual, an ancient dating guide, the world's first harlequin romance novels, ancient pornography, early Christian martyrdom accounts, stories of female and male saints, instructions for how to best battle demons, visionary accounts, and monastic rules. These will be supplemented by modern scholarship in classics, early Christian studies, gender studies, queer studies, and the history of sexuality. The purpose of our exploration is not simply to better understand ancient views of gender and sexuality. Rather, this investigation of a society whose sexual system often seems so surprising aims to denaturalize many of our own assumptions concerning gender and sexuality. In the process, we will also examine the ways these first centuries of what eventually became the world's largest religious tradition has profoundly affected the sexual norms of our own time. The seminar assumes no prior knowledge of Judaism, Christianity, the bible, or ancient history.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FEMGEN 266:
Women's Voices in Contemporary Italian Literature (ITALIAN 266)
The traditional canon of Italian literature consists almost exclusively of male authors. Yet Italian women writers have been active since the time of Dante. This course presents an overview of women's prose fiction of the last 100 years, from Sibilla Aleramo's groundbreaking feminist novel Una donna (1906) to Elena Ferrante's La figlia oscura (2015). We will examine such concerns as the central issue of sexual violence in many female autobiographies; the experience of motherhood; the conflict between maternal love and the desire for self-determination and autonomy; paths to political awareness; reinventing the historical novel. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FILMSTUD 4:
Introduction to Film Study
Formal, historical, and cultural issues in the study of film. Classical narrative cinema compared with alternative narrative structures, documentary films, and experimental cinematic forms. Issues of cinematic language and visual perception, and representations of gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. Aesthetic and conceptual analytic skills with relevance to cinema.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 4S:
Language of Film
This course familiarizes students with various elements of film language (cinematography, editing, sound, etc.) and introduces them to a range of approaches to cinematic analysis (authorship, genre, close formal reading, socio-historical considerations). Different types of films (narrative, documentary, and experimental) will be surveyed. Classical narrative cinema will be compared with alternative modes of story-telling.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 6:
Introduction to Media
What is a medium? This course starts from the assumption that the answer to this question is not as obvious as it might at first appear. Clearly, we know some media when we see them: radio, film, and television are in many ways paradigmatic media of the twentieth century. But what about the computational, networked media of the twenty-first century? Are these still media in the same sense, or has the nature of media changed with the emergence of digital technologies? And what, for that matter, about pre-technical media? Is painting a medium in the same sense that oil or acrylic are media, or in the sense that we speak of ¿mixed media¿? Is language a medium? Are numbers? Is the body? As we shall see, the question of what a medium is raises a number of other questions of a theoretical or even philosophical nature. How is our experience of the world affected or shaped by media? Are knowledge and perception possible apart from media, or are they always mediated by the apparatuses, instruments, or assemblages of media? What is the relation between the forms and the contents of media, and how does this relation bear on questions of aesthetics, science, technology, or politics? The lecture-based course addresses these and other questions and seeks in this way to introduce a way of thinking about media that goes beyond taken-for-granted ideas and assumptions, and that has a potentially transformative effect on a wide range of theoretical and practical interests.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 100A:
History of World Cinema I, 1895-1929 (FILMSTUD 300A)
From cinema's precursors to the advent of synchronized sound.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 100B:
History of World Cinema II, 1930-1959 (FILMSTUD 300B)
The impact of sound to the dissolution of Hollywood's studio system.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 100C:
History of World Cinema III, 1960-Present (FILMSTUD 300C)
This course will provide an overview of cinema from around the world since 1960, highlighting the cultural, political, and economic forces that have shaped various film movements over the last six decades. We will study some key film movements and national cinemas towards developing a historical appreciation of a variety of commercial and art film traditions. Through an exploration of films from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, we shall examine the industrial histories of non-Hollywood film production and exhibition practices that produce the particular cinematic cultures of each region.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 101:
Fundamentals of Cinematic Analysis (FILMSTUD 301)
The close analysis of film. Emphasis is on formal and narrative techniques in structure and style, and detailed readings of brief sequences. Elements such as cinematography, mise-en-scène, composition, sound, and performance. Films from various historical periods, national cinemas, directors, and genres. Prerequisite: FILMSTUD 4 or equivalent. Recommended: ARTHIST 1 or FILMSTUD 102. Course can be repeated twice for a max of 8 units.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 12 units total)
FILMSTUD 102:
Theories of the Moving Image (FILMSTUD 302)
Major theoretical arguments and debates about cinema: realism,formalism, poststructuralism, feminism, postmodernism, and phenomenology. Prerequisites: FILMSTUD 4. WIM at 4 units only.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 110:
Science Fiction Cinema (FILMSTUD 310)
Science fiction film's sense of wonder depends upon the development and revelation of new ways of seeing. The American science fiction film emphasizes the fundamental activity of human perception, its relation to bodily experience and the exploration of other worlds, new cities, and other modes of being, in such new technological spaces as the cyberspaces of the information age. It is perhaps the Hollywood genre most directly concerned with the essence of cinema itself.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 110N:
Darkness in Light: The Filmic Imagination of Horror
Preference to freshmen. From its beginnings, the cinema evinced an affinity with the phantom realm of specters, ghosts, and supernatural beings. Not only does horror have deep and diverse roots in the international history of film; it emerges as a trope of film itself, as a medium of shadows, dematerialized presence, life drained of substance. Overview of filmic imaginations of horror with a focus on the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Theories of horror, from the fantastic to the uncanny; unpacking these in light of key moments in the genre's development. The merits of vampires versus zombies. Ongoing debates through the lens of horror about cinematic representation, from Andre Bazin's idea of the mummy complex to Linda Williams' thesis of body genres to Jeffrey Sconce's notion of haunted media. Introduction to film analysis and interpretation; no prior experience in film studies required. Required weekly screening.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 112:
Women in French Cinema: 1958- (FEMGEN 192, FRENCH 192)
Women as objects and subjects of the voyeuristic gaze inherent to cinema. The myth of the feminine idol in French films in historical and cultural context since the New Wave until now. The mythology of stars as the imaginary vehicle that helped France to change from traditional society to modern, culturally mixed nation. The evolution of female characters, roles, actresses, directors in the film industry. Filmmakers include Vadim, Truffaut, Varda, Godard, Ozon, Colline Serreau, Tonie Marshall, Maïwen. Discussion in English; films in French with English subtitles. 3 units, 4 units or 5 units.nNOTE: FILMSTUD students must take this course for 3 units only.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
FILMSTUD 114:
Reading Comics (AMSTUD 114X, FILMSTUD 314)
The modern medium of comics, a history that spans 150 years. The flexibility of the medium encountered through the genres of humorous and dramatic comic strips, superheroes, undergrounds, independents, journalism, and autobiography. Innovative creators including McCay, Kirby, Barry, Ware, and critical writings including McCloud, Eisner, Groenstee. Topics include text/image relations, panel-to-panel relations, the page, caricature, sequence, seriality, comics in the context of the fine arts, and relations to other media.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 115:
Documentary Issues and Traditions (FILMSTUD 315)
Issues include objectivity/subjectivity, ethics, censorship, representation, reflexivity, responsibility to the audience, and authorial voice. Parallel focus on form and content.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 131:
Cinemato-graph (FILMSTUD 331)
The term cinematography, which literally means "inscribing motion," tends to lose the "graphic" part in modern use. However, several influential film-makers not only practiced the art of "inscribing motion" but also wrote texts discussing the aesthetic premises of cinematographic art. This course explores theories of cinema as propagated by the following film-makers: Vertov, Eisenstein, Godard, Bresson, Antonioni, Pasolini, Tarkovsky, Greenaway, and Lynch. Selected key texts will be supplemented by screenings of classic films, indicative of each director's work.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 132A:
Indian Cinema (FILMSTUD 332A)
This course will provide an overview of cinema from India, the world's largest producer of films. We will trace the history of Indian cinema from the silent era, through the studio period, to state-funded art filmmaking to the contemporary production of Bollywood films as well as the more unconventional multiplex cinema. We will examine narrative conventions, stylistic techniques, and film production and consumption practices in popular Hindi language films from the Bombay film industry as well as commercial and art films in other languages. This outline of different cinematic modes will throw light on the social, political, and economic transformations in the nation-state over the last century.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FILMSTUD 133:
Contemporary Chinese Auteurs (FILMSTUD 333)
New film cultures and movements in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China in the 80s. Key directors including Jia Zhangke, Wu Wenguang, Tsai Ming-liang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wong Kar-wai, Ann Hui. Topics include national cinema in the age of globalization, the evolving parameters of art cinema, and authorship.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 133B:
Technology and American Visual Culture (AMSTUD 133)
An exploration of the dynamic relationship between technology and the ways we see and represent the world, with a focus on American visual culture from the 19th century through the present. We study the history of different tools from telescopes and microscopes to digital detectors that have changed and enhanced our visual capabilities; the way technological shifts, such as the introduction of electric lights or train travel, have shaped our visual imagination and aesthetic sensibilities; and how technology has inspired or responded to visual art. Special attention is paid to how different media, such as photography, cinema, and computer screens, translate the visual experience into a representation; the automation of vision; and the intersection of technology with notions of time and space.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 135:
Around the World in Ten Films (FILMSTUD 335, GLOBAL 135)
This is an introductory-level course about the cinema as a global language. We will undertake a comparative study of select historical and contemporary aspects of international cinema, and explore a range of themes pertaining to the social, cultural, and political diversity of the world. A cross-regional thematic emphasis and inter-textual methods of narrative and aesthetic analysis, will ground our discussion of films from Italy, Japan, United States, India, China, France, Brazil, Nigeria, Russia, Iran, Mexico, and a number of other countries. Particular emphasis will be placed on the multi-cultural character and the regional specificities of the cinema as a "universal language" and an inclusive "relational network."nnThere are no prerequisites for this class. It is open to all students; non-majors welcome.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 145:
Politics and Aesthetics in East European Cinema (FILMSTUD 345)
From 1945 to the mid-80s, emphasizing Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and Yugoslav contexts. The relationship between art and politics; postwar establishment of film industries; and emergence of national film movements such as the Polish school, Czech new wave, and new Yugoslav film. Thematic and aesthetic preoccupations of filmmakers such as Wajda, Jancso, Forman, and Kusturica.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 164A:
Technology and the Visual Imagination (ARTHIST 164A, ARTHIST 364A, FILMSTUD 364A)
An exploration of the dynamic relationship between technology and the ways we see and represent the world. The course examines technologies from the Renaissance through the present day, from telescopes and microscopes to digital detectors, that have changed and enhanced our visual capabilities as well as shaped how we imagine the world. We also consider how these technologies influenced and inspired the work of artists. Special attention is paid to how different technologies such as linear perspective, photography, cinema, and computer screens translate the visual experience into a representation; the automation of vision; and the intersection of technology with conceptions of time and space.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 165A:
Fashion Shows: From Lady Godiva to Lady Gaga (ARTHIST 165A, ARTHIST 365A, FILMSTUD 365A)
The complex and interdependent relationship between fashion and art. Topics include: the ways in which artists have used fashion in different art forms as a means to convey social status, identity, and other attributes of the wearer; the interplay between fashion designers and various art movements, especially in the 20th century; the place of prints, photography, and the Internet in fashion, in particular how different media shape how clothes are seen and perceived. Texts by Thorstein Veblen, Roland Barthes, Dick Hebdige, and other theorists of fashion.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 165B:
American Style and the Rhetoric of Fashion (AMSTUD 127, ARTHIST 165B)
Focus on the visual culture of fashion, especially in an American context. Topics include: the representation of fashion in different visual media (prints, photographs, films, window displays, and digital images); the relationship of fashion to its historical context and American culture; the interplay between fashion and other modes of discourse, in particular art, but also performance, music, economics; and the use of fashion as an expression of social status, identity, and other attributes of the wearer. Texts by Thorstein Veblen, Roland Barthes, Dick Hebdige, and other theorists of fashion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 181Q:
Alternative Viewpoints: Black Independent Film (AFRICAAM 181Q)
Preference to sophomores. Do you want to learn more about independent film as it was practiced in major urban centers by young filmmakers? This class focuses on major movements by groups such as the Sankofa Film Collective and the L.A. Rebellion. Learn how to analyze film and to discuss the politics of production as you watch films by Spike Lee, Julie Dash, Melvin Van Peebles, Ngozi Onwurah and more. We will discuss representation, lighting, press material, and of course the films themselves. This course includes a workshop on production, trips to local film festivals and time to critique films frame-by-frame. It matters who makes film and how they do so. When you have completed this class you will be able to think critically about "alternative viewpoints" to Hollywood cinema. You will understand how independent films are made and you will be inspired to seek out and perhaps produce or promote new visions.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FILMSTUD 213:
Global Melodrama (FILMSTUD 413)
Commonly derided for being over the top, with films in this mode put down as weepies, tear-jerkers, and women's films, melodrama as a genre and a cinematic mode has been reclaimed by feminist and film scholars as providing a powerful site of ideological struggle. In this course, we will develop a historical and theoretical framework to examine how this popular dramatic mode, centered around the family, the home, and personal relationships affords radical critiques of and insights into discourses of gender, sexuality, race, class, and nation.n nWe will consider melodrama's careful calibration of sensation and affect through its employment of emotions, pathos, and sweeping performative gestures that afford a sustained engagement with individual and social subjection and suffering. Through an analysis of films from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and by auteurs such as Sirk, Ghatak, Fassbinder, and Almodovar, among others, the course encourages an exploration of global and transnational flows in the adoption of the politics and aesthetics of the melodramatic mode.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FILMSTUD 259:
Game Studies (FILMSTUD 459)
This course aims to introduce students to the emerging, interdisciplinary field of game studies. We will investigate what games (including but not limited to digital games) are, why we play them, and what the functions of this activity might be. The bulk of the course will be devoted specifically to digital games, which we will approach from a variety of perspectives: from historical, cultural, industrial/commercial, media-theoretical, and formal (narratological/ludological) perspectives, among others. Thus, we will seek to understand the contexts in which video games emerged and evolved, the settings in which they have been played, and the discourses and practices that have determined their place in social and cultural life. In addition, we will ask difficult questions about the mediality of digital games: What is the relation of digital to non-digital games? Are they both games in the same sense, or do digital media redefine what games are or can be? How do digital games relate to other (digital as well as non-digital) non-game media, such as film, television, print fiction, or non-game computer applications? Of course, to engage meaningfully with these questions at all will require us to investigate theories of mediality (including inter- and transmediality) more generally. Finally, though, we will be interested in the formal and experiential parameters that define (different types of) digital games in particular. What does it feel like to play (various) digital games? What are the relations between storytelling and the activity of gameplaying in them? What is the relation between these aspects and the underlying mechanics of digital games, as embodied in hardware and software? What is the role of the human body? Because these questions can only be approached on the basis of personal experience, students will be expected to spend some time playing digital games and reflecting critically on their gameplay.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FILMSTUD 264B:
Starstuff: Space and the American Imagination (AMSTUD 143X, ARTHIST 264B)
Course on the history of twentieth and twenty-first century American images of space and how they shape conceptions of the universe. Covers representations made by scientists and artists, as well as scientific fiction films, TV, and other forms of popular visual culture. Topics will include the importance of aesthetics to understandings of the cosmos; the influence of media and technology on representations; the social, political, and historical context of the images; and the ways representations of space influence notions of American national identity and of cosmic citizenship.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FRENCH 12:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Middle Ages and Renaissance (DLCL 12, ENGLISH 112A, HUMCORE 12)
This three-quarter sequence asks big questions of major texts in the European and American tradition. What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? The second quarter focuses on the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity, Europe's re-acquaintance with classical antiquity and its first contacts with the New World. Authors include Dante, Shakespeare, Machiavelli, Cervantes, and Milton.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FRENCH 13:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Modern (DLCL 13, HISTORY 239C, HUMCORE 13, PHIL 13)
This three-quarter sequence asks big questions of major texts in the European and American tradition. What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? This third and final quarter focuses on the modern period, from the rise of revolutionary ideas to the experiences of totalitarianism and decolonization in the twentieth century. Authors include Locke, Mary Shelley, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Weber, Primo Levi, and Frantz Fanon.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
FRENCH 75N:
Narrative Medicine and Near-Death Experiences (ITALIAN 75N)
Even if many of us don't fully believe in an afterlife, we remain fascinated by visions of it. This course focuses on Near-Death Experiences and the stories around them, investigating them from the many perspectives pertinent to the growing field of narrative medicine: medical, neurological, cognitive, psychological, sociological, literary, and filmic. The goal is not to understand whether the stories are veridical but what they do for us, as individuals, and as a culture, and in particular how they seek to reshape the patient-doctor relationship. Materials will span the 20th century and come into the present. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FRENCH 87N:
The New Wave: How The French Reinvented Cinema
Focus on the French New Wave's cinematic revolution of 1959-1962. In a few years, the Nouvelle Vague delivered landmark works such as Truffaut's 400 Blows, Godard's Breathless, Chabro's Le Beau Serge or Resnais' Hiroshima mon amour, and changed forever the way we make and think about movies. Why did these films look so radically fresh? What do they say about France's youth culture in the early 60s? How is the author's theory behind them still influencing us today? Focus is on cultural history, aesthetic analysis, interpretation of narrative, sound and visual forms. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FRENCH 112:
Oscar Wilde and the French Decadents (FRENCH 312)
Close reading of Oscar Wilde's work together with major texts and authors of 19th-century French Decadence, including Symbolism, l'art pour l'art, and early Modernism. Points of contact between Wilde and avant-garde Paris salons; provocative, creative intersections between (homo)erotic and aesthetic styles, transgression; literary and cultural developments from Baudelaire to Mallarmé, Huysmans, Flaubert, Rachilde, Lorrain, and Proust compared with Wilde's Salomé, Picture of Dorian Gray, and critical writings; relevant historical and philosophical contexts. All readings in English; all student levels welcome.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 129:
Camus (CSRE 129, HISTORY 235F)
"The Don Draper of Existentialism" for Adam Gopnik, "the ideal husband of contemporary letters" for Susan Sontag, and "the admirable conjunction of a man, of an action, and of a work" for Sartre, Camus embodies the very French figure of the "intellectuel engagé," or public intellectual. From his birth in 1913 into a poor family in Algeria to the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957, from Saint Germain-des-Prés to his predilection for the mediterranean culture, Camus captured the quest for universalism, for the politics of justice, and engaged in the great ethical battles of his time, from the fight against nazism and communism, from questioning colonial rules to the haunting Algerian War, and his complex "silence" over the war. Camus the Algerian, Camus the moralist, Camus the Resistant: through readings and films, we will explore his multiple, long-lasting legacies. Readings from Albert Camus, Kamel Daoud, Mouloud Feraoun, Alice Kaplan, Orhan Pamuk, A.B. Yehoshua, Assia Djebar, Jean-Paul Sartre, Yasmina Khadra. Movies include "The Stranger," and "Far from Men." This course is a gateway for French Studies, with special emphasis on oral proficiency. Taught in French.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 130:
Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance French Literature
Introduction to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The birth of a national literature and its evolution. Literature as addressing cultural, philosophical, and artistic issues which question assumptions on love, ethics, art, and the nature of the self. Readings: epics (La Chanson de Roland), medieval romances (Tristan, Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain), post-Petrarchan poetics (Du Bellay, Ronsard, Labé), and prose humanists (Rabelais, Montaigne). Taught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 131:
Absolutism, Enlightenment, and Revolution in 17th- and 18th-Century France
The literature, culture, and politics of France from Louis XIV to Olympe de Gouges. How this period produced the political and philosophical foundations of modernity. Readings may include Corneille, Molière, Racine, Lafayette, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Beaumarchais, and Gouges. Taught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FRENCH 132:
Literature, Revolutions, and Changes in 19th- and 20th-Century France
This course will explore several important texts of 19th- and 20th-Century French literature, with the aim of following the evolution of the main literary movements during those centuries of important cultural and social changes. We will study texts related to movements such as Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Surrealism, the Absurd, the Nouveau Roman in all major genres (prose, poetry, theater, film) and will regularly refer to other arts, such as painting and music. Authors include Chateaubriand, Musset, Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Apollinaire, Proust, Céline, Radiguet, Ionesco, Robbe-Grillet, Duras, Gary. All readings, discussion, and assignments are in French.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 133:
Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean (AFRICAAM 133, AFRICAST 132, JEWISHST 143)
This course aims to equip students with an understanding of the cultural, political and literary aspects at play in the literatures of Francophone Africa and the Caribbean. Our primary readings will be Francophone novels and poetry, though we will also read some theoretical texts. The assigned readings will expose students to literature from diverse French-speaking regions of the African/Caribbean world. This course will also serve as a "literary toolbox," with the intention of facilitating an understanding of literary forms, terms and practices. Students can expect to work on their production of written and spoken French (in addition to reading comprehension) both in and outside of class. Special guest: LEILA SLIMANI (Goncourt Prize 2016). Required readings include: Leila Slimani, "Sexe et Mensonges au Maroc", Albert Memmi, "La Statue de Sel," Kaouther Adimi, "L'Envers des autres", Maryse Condé, "La Vie sans fards". Movies include "Goodbye Morocco", "Aya de Yopougon", "Les Baies d'Alger". nTaught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 140:
Paris: Capital of the Modern World (FRENCH 340, HISTORY 230C, URBANST 184)
This course explores how Paris, between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, became the political, cultural, and artistic capital of the modern world. It considers how the city has both shaped and been shaped by the tumultuous events of modern history- class conflict, industrialization, imperialism, war, and occupation. It will also explore why Paris became the major world destination for intellectuals, artists and writers. Sources will include films, paintings, architecture, novels, travel journals, and memoirs.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FRENCH 145B:
The African Atlantic (AFRICAAM 148, AFRICAST 145B, COMPLIT 145B, COMPLIT 345B, CSRE 145B, FRENCH 345B)
This course explores the central place Africa holds in prose writing emerging during early and modern periods of globalization across the Atlantic, including the middle passage, exploration and colonialism, black internationalism, decolonization, immigration, and diasporic return. We will begin with Equiano's Interesting Narrative (1789), a touchstone for the Atlantic prose tradition, and study how writers crossing the Atlantic have continued to depict Africa in later centuries: to dramatize scenes of departure and arrival in stories of self-making or new citizenship, to evoke histories of racial unity or examine psychic and social fragmentation, to imagine new national communities or question their norms and borders. Our readings will be selected from English, French, Portuguese and Spanish-language traditions. And we will pay close attention to genres of prose fiction (Conrad, Condé, Olinto), epic and prose poetry (Césaire, Walcott), theoretical reflection (Gilroy, Glissant, Mudimbe, Benitez-Rojo), and literary autobiography (Barack Obama, Saidiya Hartman). Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take COMPLIT 145B for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 166:
Food, Text, Music: A Multidisciplinary Lab on the Art of Feasting (FRENCH 366, MUSIC 133, MUSIC 333)
Students cook a collection of unfamiliar recipes each week while learning about the cultural milieus in which they originated. The course focuses on the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a time of great banquets that brought together chefs, visual artists, poets, musicians, and dancers. Students read late-medieval cookbooks under the guidance of professional chefs, learn songs and poetry with the help of visiting performers, and delve into a burgeoning scholarly literature on food history and sensory experience. We will also study trade routes and food networks, the environmental impact of large-scale banquets, the science of food, and the politics of plenty. This course may count towards the Medieval component of the French major, and corresponds to DLCL 121, a course requirement for the Medieval Studies Minor. Students interested in applying for course need to email Professors Galvez and Rodin (mailto:mgalvez@stanford.edu and mailto:jrodin@stanford.edu) with a statement of intent and dietary restrictions/preferences.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
FRENCH 175:
CAPITALS: How Cities Shape Cultures, States, and People (COMPLIT 100, DLCL 100, GERMAN 175, HISTORY 206E, ILAC 175, ITALIAN 175, URBANST 153)
This course takes students on a trip to eight capital cities, at different moments in time: Renaissance Florence, Golden Age Madrid, Colonial Mexico City, Enlightenment and Romantic Paris, Existential and Revolutionary St. Petersburg, Roaring Berlin, Modernist Vienna, and bustling Buenos Aires. While exploring each place in a particular historical moment, we will also consider the relations between culture, power, and social life. How does the cultural life of a country intersect with the political activity of a capital? How do large cities shape our everyday experience, our aesthetic preferences, and our sense of history? Why do some cities become cultural capitals? Primary materials for this course will consist of literary, visual, sociological, and historical documents (in translation); authors we will read include Boccaccio, Lope de Vega, Sor Juana, Montesquieu, Baudelaire, Dostoyevsky, Irmgard Keun, Freud, and Borges. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FRENCH 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track. Majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature, with particular focus on the question of value: what, if anything, does engagement with literary works do for our lives? Issues include aesthetic self-fashioning, the paradox of tragedy, the paradox of caring, the truth-value of fiction, metaphor, authorship, irony, make-believe, expression, edification, clarification, and training. Readings are drawn from literature and film, philosophical theories of art, and stylistically interesting works of philosophy. Authors may include Sophocles, Chaucer, Dickinson, Proust, Woolf, Borges, Beckett, Kundera, Charlie Kaufman; Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas; Plato, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 187:
Sex, Gender, and Violence: French Women Writers Today (FEMGEN 187X, FEMGEN 287X, FRENCH 287, FRENCH 387)
Long before the 2017 #Metoo campaign, French women writers have explored through powerful fictions and autobiographies the different shades of economic, social, psychological, physical, or sexual violence that is exerted against, but also by and between, women. How does literature - the power of words - address, deconstruct or comfort power dynamics (during sex and between the sexes) that are usually silenced, taboo or unspeakable? nWe will contrast these narrative to debates among French feminist writers (Beauvoir, Badinter, Mona Ozouf, Françoise Héritier, Michelle Perrot) around the theory (or myth?) of a specifically French kind of gender relation (ex: "galanterie," "séduction"). nThemes explored: sex and gender, sex and power, rape culture, sexual and moral taboos (incest, abortion, pornography, infanticide), the body as social stigma or source of meaning, identity, power. Special attention will be given to narrative and descriptive strategies designed to avert, expose, deconstruct or account for specifically feminine experiences (rape, orgasm, pregnancy). nAward-winning author Leila Slimani will participate in person in the class discussion of her novel on infanticide. nAuthors include Marie Darrieusecq, Christine Angot, Annie Ernaux, Marie NDiaye, Virginie Despentes, Leila Slimani, Ivan Jablonka.nTaught in French.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 192:
Women in French Cinema: 1958- (FEMGEN 192, FILMSTUD 112)
Women as objects and subjects of the voyeuristic gaze inherent to cinema. The myth of the feminine idol in French films in historical and cultural context since the New Wave until now. The mythology of stars as the imaginary vehicle that helped France to change from traditional society to modern, culturally mixed nation. The evolution of female characters, roles, actresses, directors in the film industry. Filmmakers include Vadim, Truffaut, Varda, Godard, Ozon, Colline Serreau, Tonie Marshall, Maïwen. Discussion in English; films in French with English subtitles. 3 units, 4 units or 5 units.nNOTE: FILMSTUD students must take this course for 3 units only.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
FRENCH 205:
Songs of Love and War: Gender, Crusade, Politics (FEMGEN 205)
Analysis of medieval love, satirical and Crusade lyrics of the trouabdours. Study of deictic address, corporeal subjectivity, the female voice, love debates, and the body as a figure of political conflict. Course readings include medieval treatises on lyric and modern translations of the troubadour tradition. Works by Ovid, Bernart de Ventadorn, Bertran de Born, La Comtessa de Dia, Thibaut de Champagne, Raimon Vidal, Dante, and Pound. Taught in English. Course includes a lab component for creation of multi-media translation projects: trobar. stanford.edu.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 219:
The Renaissance Body in French Literature and Medicine (FRENCH 319)
If the Renaissance is famous for discovering unknown continents and ancient texts the body too was a new territory of conquest. How did literature respond to the rise of an anatomical gaze in the arts and in medicine and how did it stage the aesthetic religious philosophical and moral issues related to such a promotion or deconstruction of the body? Does literature aim at representing the body or does it use it instead as a ubiquitous signifier for intellectual emotional and political ideas? The locus of desire, pleasure and disease, the body also functioned as a reminder of human mortality and was caught in the web of gender issues, religious controversies and new norms of behavior. Texts from prose fiction (Rabelais) poetry (Scève Ronsard Labé D'Aubigné) essays (Montaigne) and emblem literature. Extra documents include music scores tapestries paintings philosophical and anatomical plates from medical treatises. Taught in English; readings in French and English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FRENCH 229:
Literature and Global Health (AFRICAAM 229, AFRICAST 229, COMPLIT 229, CSRE 129B, HUMBIO 175L, MED 234)
This course examines the ways writers in literature and medicine have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health, namely fiction modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, understood to have helped readers develop a conscience for public health as the field emerged as a modern medical specialty. We will then spend the quarter understanding how colonial, postcolonial, and world literatures have answered and complicated this call. Readings will include prose fiction by Albert Camus, Joseph Conrad, Tsitsi Dangaremgba, Amitav Ghosh, Susan Sontag as well as physician memoirs featuring Frantz Fanon, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Verghese, Paul Farmer. And each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical, and policy writings that deeply inform the field of global health. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
FRENCH 239:
The Afterlife of the Middle Ages (FRENCH 339)
Literary works that evoke a medieval past in contrast to a historical present, and critical texts that treat aspects of the medieval or medievalism. How does the concept of medievalism emerge and evolve through the ages? Topics include periodization, philology, critical theory, the study of Gothic architecture, and the use of the term medieval in modern political discourse and postcolonial studies. Authors include Burckhardt, Camille, Chateaubriand, Chrétien de Troyes, Didi-Huberman, Jauss, Michelet, Panofsky, Pound, films by Dreyer and Bergman, and contemporary poetry. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FRENCH 246:
Body over Mind (FRENCH 346, ITALIAN 346)
How does modern fiction, aided by modern philosophy, give the lie to Descartes' famous "I think therefore I am"? And how does writing convey the desire for a different, perhaps stronger, integration of mind and body? Does the body speak a particular truth that we must learn to hear, that the mind is not always connected to? How do modern metaphors for the mind-body connection shape our experience? These questions will be explored via the works of major French and Italian writers and thinkers, including Pirandello, Calvino, Camus, Houellebecq, Sartre, and Agamben.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FRENCH 249:
The Algerian Wars (CSRE 249, HISTORY 239G, JEWISHST 249)
From Algiers the White to Algiers the Red, Algiers, the Mecca of the Revolutionaries in the words of Amilcar Cabral, this course offers to study the Algerian Wars since the French conquest of Algeria (1830-) to the Algerian civil war of the 1990s. We will revisit the ways in which the war has been narrated in literature and cinema, popular culture, and political discourse. A special focus will be given to the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). The course considers the racial representations of the war in the media, the continuing legacies surrounding the conflict in France, Africa, and the United States, from Che Guevara to the Black Panthers. A key focus will be the transmission of collective memory through transnational lenses, and analyses of commemorative events and movies. nReadings from James Baldwin, Assia Djebar, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Mouloud Feraoun. Movies include "The Battle of Algiers," "Days of Glory," and "Viva Laldjérie." nTaught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
FRENCH 252:
Art and Power: From Royal Spectacle to Revolutionary Ritual (ARTHIST 252A)
From the Palace of Versailles to grand operas to Jacques-Louis David's portraits of revolutionary martyrs, rarely have the arts been so powerfully mobilized by the State as in early modern France. This course examines how the arts were used from Louis XIV to the Revolution in order to broadcast political authority across Europe. We will also consider the resistance to such attempts to elicit shock-and-awe through artistic patronage. By studying music, architecture, garden design, the visual arts, and theater together, students will gain a new perspective on works of art in their political contexts. But we will also examine the libelous pamphlets and satirical cartoons that turned the monarchy¿s grandeur against itself, ending the course with an examination of the new artistic regime of the French Revolution. The course will be taught in English with the option of French readings for departmental majors.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
FRENCH 254:
Was Deconstruction an Illusion?
A both systematic and historical presentation of "Deconstruction" as a philosophical and intellectual movement that dominated academic and general culture in many western societies during the final decades of the twentieth century, with special focus on the writings of Jacques Derrida and Paul de Man. Deconstruction's specific reception history obliges us to ask the question of whether the extremely high esteem that it enjoyed over two decades was intellectually justified – or the result of a misunderstanding. Participation through English translations is possible.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
FRENCH 270:
Les Misérables (FRENCH 370)
"Les Misérables" is a true monument to XIXth century France. Yet, though everyone has heard of it, few have actually read it. In this seminar, we will correct this by reading the whole tome and by discussing its relevance to both its historical context and our current world. A monstrous novel spanning about 1800 pages, Les Misérables also spans a whole century of political conflict, social strife, cultural transformations, a personal drama. During the course of the quarter, we will go slowly through the novel, by turning our attention during each session to a specific topic present in the reading for the day. Those topics will include, among others, religion, the role of women in society, romanticism, war, Paris in the XIXth century, revolution, and justice. Taught in French.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
FRENCH 287:
Sex, Gender, and Violence: French Women Writers Today (FEMGEN 187X, FEMGEN 287X, FRENCH 187, FRENCH 387)
Long before the 2017 #Metoo campaign, French women writers have explored through powerful fictions and autobiographies the different shades of economic, social, psychological, physical, or sexual violence that is exerted against, but also by and between, women. How does literature - the power of words - address, deconstruct or comfort power dynamics (during sex and between the sexes) that are usually silenced, taboo or unspeakable? nWe will contrast these narrative to debates among French feminist writers (Beauvoir, Badinter, Mona Ozouf, Françoise Héritier, Michelle Perrot) around the theory (or myth?) of a specifically French kind of gender relation (ex: "galanterie," "séduction"). nThemes explored: sex and gender, sex and power, rape culture, sexual and moral taboos (incest, abortion, pornography, infanticide), the body as social stigma or source of meaning, identity, power. Special attention will be given to narrative and descriptive strategies designed to avert, expose, deconstruct or account for specifically feminine experiences (rape, orgasm, pregnancy). nAward-winning author Leila Slimani will participate in person in the class discussion of her novel on infanticide. nAuthors include Marie Darrieusecq, Christine Angot, Annie Ernaux, Marie NDiaye, Virginie Despentes, Leila Slimani, Ivan Jablonka.nTaught in French.
Terms: Spr, Sum
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
GERMAN 88:
Germany in 5 Words
This course explores German history, culture and politics by tracing five (largely untranslatable) words and exploring the debates they have engendered in Germany over the past 200 years. This course is intended as preparation for students wishing to spend a quarter at the Bing Overseas Studies campus in Berlin, but is open to everyone. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
GERMAN 131:
What is German Literature?
What has it meant to be a German writer in the Middle Ages, the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy, Nazi Germany, or the European Union? How might we think the relation between the unity of a language (the collection of dialects variously called German) and the forms of geographic, social, and political differentiation that give rise to what we today call German literature? This course will include political satires, cosmopolitan utopias, historical dramas, and propaganda poems, among literature from a number of different genres (novels, short stories, plays, poetry), political places (Austria, Prussia, Germany, Switzerland), and historical periods from the medieval to the present. Taught in German. Prerequisite: One year of German language at Stanford or equivalent.nAssistant Professor Lea Pao will teach this course.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
GERMAN 132:
History and Politics of the Future in Germany, 1900-Present
The twentieth century brought profound changes to Germany, including two World Wars, changing borders, and the division between competing Cold War ideological blocs. At the same time, the necessity to build and reshape Germany also inspired politicians, writers, and filmmakers to think about how society could be made anew. The century especially ushered in a new era for thoughts about the future. Thinkers imagined new technologies, social structures, and political orders as they dreamed about a German future that could be different from its recent past. Furthermore, this period represented a golden age of German science fiction, as authors thought about what the future could and should be.nThis class considers the possibilities that Germans imagined for the future in the face of ambiguous promises of peace and warfare, democracy and totalitarianism, and capitalism and communism. Regardless of whether these hopes, dreams, and fears came to fruition, historical visions of the future illuminate the lives of Germans during the twentieth century.nThis course will use close readings of several types of primary sources, including films, television shows, short stories, political posters, art, and newspaper articles. We will consider what different thinkers anticipated as the possibilities for the development of the country and what they saw as the driving forces of change, such as mechanics and computers, political parties, and social movements. We will discuss which advancements they thought seemed likely and which seemed fantastical. Finally, this class will investigate how the future offered a space for dissident thinkers to articulate their frustrations with state and society.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
GERMAN 133:
Marx, Nietzsche, Freud
We read and discuss selections from works by the key master thinkers who have exerted a lasting influence by debunking long-cherished beliefs. Do these authors uphold or repudiate Enlightenment notions of rationality, autonomy and progress? How do they assess the achievements of civilization? How do their works illuminate the workings of power in social and political contexts? Readings and discussion in German.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GERMAN 136:
Refugees, Politics and Culture in Contemporary Germany (COMPLIT 136, COMPLIT 336A, GERMAN 336)
Responses to refugees and immigration to Germany against the backdrop of German history and in the context of domestic and European politics. Topics include: cultural difference and integration processes, gender roles, religious traditions, populism and neo-nationalism. Reading knowledge of German, another European language, or an immigrant language will be useful for research projects, but not required.nNOTE: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.
Terms: Win
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
GERMAN 175:
CAPITALS: How Cities Shape Cultures, States, and People (COMPLIT 100, DLCL 100, FRENCH 175, HISTORY 206E, ILAC 175, ITALIAN 175, URBANST 153)
This course takes students on a trip to eight capital cities, at different moments in time: Renaissance Florence, Golden Age Madrid, Colonial Mexico City, Enlightenment and Romantic Paris, Existential and Revolutionary St. Petersburg, Roaring Berlin, Modernist Vienna, and bustling Buenos Aires. While exploring each place in a particular historical moment, we will also consider the relations between culture, power, and social life. How does the cultural life of a country intersect with the political activity of a capital? How do large cities shape our everyday experience, our aesthetic preferences, and our sense of history? Why do some cities become cultural capitals? Primary materials for this course will consist of literary, visual, sociological, and historical documents (in translation); authors we will read include Boccaccio, Lope de Vega, Sor Juana, Montesquieu, Baudelaire, Dostoyevsky, Irmgard Keun, Freud, and Borges. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
GERMAN 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track. Majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature, with particular focus on the question of value: what, if anything, does engagement with literary works do for our lives? Issues include aesthetic self-fashioning, the paradox of tragedy, the paradox of caring, the truth-value of fiction, metaphor, authorship, irony, make-believe, expression, edification, clarification, and training. Readings are drawn from literature and film, philosophical theories of art, and stylistically interesting works of philosophy. Authors may include Sophocles, Chaucer, Dickinson, Proust, Woolf, Borges, Beckett, Kundera, Charlie Kaufman; Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas; Plato, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
GERMAN 222:
Myth and Modernity (COMPLIT 222A, GERMAN 322)
Masters of German 20th- and 21st-Century literature and philosophy as they present aesthetic innovation and confront the challenges of modern technology, social alienation, manmade catastrophes, and imagine the future. Readings include Nietzsche, Freud, Rilke, Musil, Brecht, Kafka, Doeblin, Benjamin, Juenger, Arendt, Musil, Mann, Adorno, Celan, Grass, Bachmann, Bernhardt, Wolf, and Kluge. Taught in English. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take GERMAN 222 or COMPLIT 222A for a minimum of 3 Units and a letter grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GLOBAL 135:
Around the World in Ten Films (FILMSTUD 135, FILMSTUD 335)
This is an introductory-level course about the cinema as a global language. We will undertake a comparative study of select historical and contemporary aspects of international cinema, and explore a range of themes pertaining to the social, cultural, and political diversity of the world. A cross-regional thematic emphasis and inter-textual methods of narrative and aesthetic analysis, will ground our discussion of films from Italy, Japan, United States, India, China, France, Brazil, Nigeria, Russia, Iran, Mexico, and a number of other countries. Particular emphasis will be placed on the multi-cultural character and the regional specificities of the cinema as a "universal language" and an inclusive "relational network."nnThere are no prerequisites for this class. It is open to all students; non-majors welcome.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GLOBAL 249A:
The Iranian Cinema: Image and Meaning (COMPLIT 249A)
This course will focus on the analysis of ten Iranian films with the view of placing them in discourse on the semiotics of Iranian art and culture. The course will also look at the influence of a wide array of cinematic traditions from European, American, and Asian masters on Iranian cinema. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GLOBAL 249B:
Iranian Cinema in Diaspora (COMPLIT 249B)
Despite enormous obstacles, immigrant Iranian filmmakers, within a few decades (after the Iranian Revolution), have created a slow but steady stream of films outside Iran. They were originally started by individual spontaneous attempts from different corners of the world and by now we can identify common lines of interest amongst them. There are also major differences between them. These films have never been allowed to be screened inside Iran, and without any support from the global system of production and distribution, as independent and individual attempts, they have enjoyed little attention. Despite all this, Iranian cinema in exile is in no sense any less important than Iranian cinema inside Iran. In this course we will view one such film, made outside Iran, in each class meeting and expect to reach a common consensus in identifying the general patterns within these works and this movement. Questions such as the ones listed below will be addressed in our meetings each week: What changes in aesthetics and point of view of the filmmaker are caused by the change in his or her work environment? Though unwantedly these films are made outside Iran, how related are they to the known (recognized) cinema within Iran? And in fact, to what extent do these films express things that are left unsaid by the cinema within Iran? NOTE:This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.
Terms: Win
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GLOBAL 249C:
Contemporary Iranian Theater (COMPLIT 249C)
Today, Iranian plays both in traditional and contemporary styles are staged in theater festivals throughout the world and play their role in forming a universal language of theater which combine the heritages from countries in all five continents. Despite many obstacles, some Iranian plays have been translated into English and some prominent Iranian figures are successful stage directors outside Iran. Forty-six years ago when "Theater in Iran" (a monograph on the history of Iranian plays) by Bahram Beyzaie was first published, it put the then contemporary Iranian theater movement "which was altogether westernizing itself blindly" face to face with a new kind of self-awareness. Hence, today's generation of playwrights and stage directors in Iran, all know something of their theatrical heritage. In this course we will spend some class sessions on the history of theater in Iran and some class meetings will be concentrating on contemporary movements and present day playwrights. Given the dearth of visual documents, an attempt will be made to present a picture of Iranian theater to the student. Students are expected to read the recommended available translated plays of the contemporary Iranian playwrights and participate in classroom discussions. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
GLOBAL 250:
Bollywood and Beyond: An Introduction to Indian Film (COMPLIT 247)
A broad engagement with Indian cinema: its relationship with Indian politics, history, and economics; its key thematic concerns and forms; and its adaptation of and response to global cinematic themes, genres, and audiences. Locating the films within key critical and theoretical debates and scholarship on Indian and world cinemas. Goal is to open up what is often seen as a dauntingly complex region, especially for those who are interested in but unfamiliar with its histories and cultural forms.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
HISTORY 7S:
Stanford Collects: A History of Collecting (ARTHIST 278S)
Leland Stanford, Jr. was a curator extraordinaire. His collecting shaped Stanford into a university, an archive, a library, and a museum. Students will explore Stanford's campus collections to discover how objects and artifacts tell the history not only of the university, but also Palo Alto, California, and the American West writ large. The course is hosted in Green Library and features visits to the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University Archaeology Collections, and more. All majors welcome. Priority given to history majors and minors.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 14N:
Making the Middle Ages
Through hands-on engagement with Stanford¿s diverse collections of medieval artifacts-- from grungy coins to lavish manuscripts-- this course offers an introduction to the cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean world from 400-1400 CE. In addition, the course will explore competing contemporary understandings of the "Middle Ages" and the role of the "medieval" in shaping what it means to be "modern".
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 40A:
The Scientific Revolution
(Same as History 140A. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for History 140A.) What do people know and how do they know it? What counts as scientific knowledge? In the 16th and 17th centuries, understanding the nature of knowledge engaged the attention of individuals and institutions including Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Newton, the early Royal Society, and less well-known contemporaries. New meanings of observing, collecting, experimenting, and philosophizing, and political, religious, and cultural ramifications in early modern Europe.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 48:
The Egyptians (AFRICAAM 30, CLASSICS 82, HISTORY 148)
Overview of ancient Egyptian pasts, from predynastic times to Greco-Roman rule, roughly 3000 BCE to 30 BCE. Attention to archaeological sites and artifacts; workings of society; and cultural productions, both artistic and literary. Participation in class is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 50A:
Colonial and Revolutionary America
(Same as HISTORY 150A. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for 150A.) Survey of the origins of American society and polity in the 17th and 18th centuries. Topics: the migration of Europeans and Africans and the impact on native populations; the emergence of racial slavery and of regional, provincial, Protestant cultures; and the political origins and constitutional consequences of the American Revolution.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 54N:
African American Women's Lives (AFRICAAM 54N, AMSTUD 54N, CSRE 54N, FEMGEN 54N)
This course encourages students to think critically about historical sources and to use creative and rigorous historical methods to recover African American women¿s experiences, which often have been placed on the periphery of American history and American life.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
HISTORY 63N:
The Feminist Critique: The History and Politics of Gender Equality (AMSTUD 63N, CSRE 63N, FEMGEN 63N)
This course explores the long history of ideas about gender and equality. Each week we read, dissect, compare, and critique a set of primary historical documents (political and literary) from around the world, moving from the 15th century to the present. We tease out changing arguments about education, the body, sexuality, violence, labor, politics, and the very meaning of gender, and we place feminist critics within national and global political contexts.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 69Q:
American Road Trips (AMSTUD 109Q)
"Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road." --Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 1957. From Jack Kerouac's On the Road to Cheryl Strayed's Wild, this course explores epic road trips of the twentieth century. Travel is a fundamental social and cultural practice through which Americans have constructed ideas about the self, the nation, the past, and the future. The open road, as it is often called, offered excitement, great adventure, and the space for family bonding and memory making. But the footloose and fancy-free nature of travel that Jack Kerouac celebrated was available to some travelers but not to all. Engaging historical and literary texts, film, autobiography, memoir, photography, and music, we will consider the ways that travel and road trips have been represented in American culture. This course examines the following questions: How did men and women experience travel differently? How did the motivations for travel change over time? What role did race, ethnicity, class, relationships, and sexuality play in these trips? Students will work together to plan a road trip of their own which the class will take during the quarter.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
HISTORY 116N:
Howard Zinn and the Quest for Historical Truth (EDUC 116N)
With more than two million copies in print, Howard Zinn¿s A People's History is a cultural icon. We will use Zinn¿s book to probe how we determine what was true in the past. A People's History will be our point of departure, but our journey will visit a variety of historical trouble spots: debates about whether the US was founded as a Christian nation, Holocaust denial, and the "Birther" controversy of President Obama.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
HISTORY 126B:
Protestant Reformation (RELIGST 126)
The emergence of Protestant Christianity in 16th-century Europe. Analysis of writings by evangelical reformers (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Sattler, Hubmeier, Müntzer) and study of reform movements (Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Spiritualist) in their medieval context and as expressions of new and influential visions of Christian belief, life, social order.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
HISTORY 140A:
The Scientific Revolution
What do people know and how do they know it? What counts as scientific knowledge? In the 16th and 17th centuries, understanding the nature of knowledge engaged the attention of individuals and institutions including Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Newton, the early Royal Society, and less well-known contemporaries. New meanings of observing, collecting, experimenting, and philosophizing, and political, religious, and cultural ramifications in early modern Europe.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 145B:
Africa in the 20th Century (AFRICAAM 145B)
(Same as HISTORY 45B. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for 145B.) The challenges facing Africans from when the continent fell under colonial rule until independence. Case studies of colonialism and its impact on African men and women drawn from West, Central, and Southern Africa. Novels, plays, polemics, and autobiographies written by Africans.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 148:
The Egyptians (AFRICAAM 30, CLASSICS 82, HISTORY 48)
Overview of ancient Egyptian pasts, from predynastic times to Greco-Roman rule, roughly 3000 BCE to 30 BCE. Attention to archaeological sites and artifacts; workings of society; and cultural productions, both artistic and literary. Participation in class is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 150A:
Colonial and Revolutionary America (AMSTUD 150A)
(Same as HISTORY 50A. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for HISTORY 150A.) Survey of the origins of American society and polity in the 17th and 18th centuries. Topics: the migration of Europeans and Africans and the impact on native populations; the emergence of racial slavery and of regional, provincial, Protestant cultures; and the political origins and constitutional consequences of the American Revolution.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 151:
The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ARTHIST 152, ENGLISH 124, POLISCI 124A)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 168:
American History in Film Since World War ll
U.S. society, culture, and politics since WW II through feature films. Topics include: McCarthyism and the Cold War; ethnicity and racial identify; changing sex and gender relationships; the civil rights and anti-war movements; and mass media. Films include: The Best Years of Our Lives, Salt of the Earth, On the Waterfront, Raisin in the Sun, Kramer v Kramer, and Falling Down.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 194G:
Humanities Core: Technology and Media in Modern Japan (HUMCORE 23, JAPAN 119)
This course considers the political, economic, social, cultural, and artistic effects of the introduction of new technologies and media to modern China and Japan. The methodology will integrate techniques gleaned from the disciplines of history and literary studies. Our cross-discipline exploration will encompass printed books and images, language reform, communication technology, serialized fiction and commercial journalism, propaganda and censorship, cinema, comics, animation and television, gaming, and the internet. Through examination of these topics we will investigate a wide range of issues including nationality, ethnic identity, class, revolution, cultural identification, gender, sexuality, literacy, colonialism, imperialism, consumerism, materialism, and globalism, to name just a few. Throughout the course we will be attentive not only to the ways that new technology and media are represented in cultural materials but also how they are materialized in these products through the acts of adaptation, translation, transliteration, and remediation.nnStudents will survey, collect, and synthesize archival materials, engage in media analysis, and undertake close readings to illuminate narrative strategies and other signifying effects. This work will in part be facilitated by the Massive Multiplayer Humanities pedagogical model, which involves flipped classrooms, faculty curated online archives, and student initiated group work.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
HISTORY 201K:
A History of the Global Left: Revolutionary Movements against Empire (HISTORY 301K)
This class will trace the formation of trans-regional movements against imperialism in the modern period that helped create a "global Left." We will read contemporary works by thinkers such as Lord Byron, Karl Marx, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Annie Besant, and Faiz Ahmad Faiz, as well as historical studies of these figures and the movements in which they figured. Key topics include the American Revolution, the Indian "Mutiny" of 1857, the Ghadar movement, Pan-Islamism, Irish nationalism, and global communism.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
HISTORY 204A:
Reimagining History: New Approaches to the Past (HISTORY 304A)
This class explores, through analysis and practice, the ways in which history can be told and experienced through means other than traditional scholarly narratives. Approaches include literary fiction and non-fiction, digital media, graphic arts, maps, exhibitions, and film. A final project will require students to produce their own innovative work of history.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 206E:
CAPITALS: How Cities Shape Cultures, States, and People (COMPLIT 100, DLCL 100, FRENCH 175, GERMAN 175, ILAC 175, ITALIAN 175, URBANST 153)
This course takes students on a trip to eight capital cities, at different moments in time: Renaissance Florence, Golden Age Madrid, Colonial Mexico City, Enlightenment and Romantic Paris, Existential and Revolutionary St. Petersburg, Roaring Berlin, Modernist Vienna, and bustling Buenos Aires. While exploring each place in a particular historical moment, we will also consider the relations between culture, power, and social life. How does the cultural life of a country intersect with the political activity of a capital? How do large cities shape our everyday experience, our aesthetic preferences, and our sense of history? Why do some cities become cultural capitals? Primary materials for this course will consist of literary, visual, sociological, and historical documents (in translation); authors we will read include Boccaccio, Lope de Vega, Sor Juana, Montesquieu, Baudelaire, Dostoyevsky, Irmgard Keun, Freud, and Borges. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 208A:
Science and Law in History (HISTORY 308A)
How the intertwined modern fields of science and law, since the early modern period, together developed central notions of fact, evidence, experiment, demonstration, objectivity, and proof.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 230C:
Paris: Capital of the Modern World (FRENCH 140, FRENCH 340, URBANST 184)
This course explores how Paris, between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, became the political, cultural, and artistic capital of the modern world. It considers how the city has both shaped and been shaped by the tumultuous events of modern history- class conflict, industrialization, imperialism, war, and occupation. It will also explore why Paris became the major world destination for intellectuals, artists and writers. Sources will include films, paintings, architecture, novels, travel journals, and memoirs.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 232E:
Crooks, Quacks, and Courtesans: Jacobean City Comedy (ENGLISH 240A, ENGLISH 340A, HISTORY 332E)
We will read a series of plays set in or around early modern London, written by playwrights such as Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, and John Marston. The course will explore the plays¿ hilarious representations of the London underworld, with its confidence tricksters and naive victims, as well as more serious topics such as social mobility and social relations, economic expansion, disease transmission, and the built environment. Plays studied will include: The Alchemist, Epicene, The Roaring Girl, A Chaste Maid In Cheapside, The Dutch Courtesan.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
HISTORY 235F:
Camus (CSRE 129, FRENCH 129)
"The Don Draper of Existentialism" for Adam Gopnik, "the ideal husband of contemporary letters" for Susan Sontag, and "the admirable conjunction of a man, of an action, and of a work" for Sartre, Camus embodies the very French figure of the "intellectuel engagé," or public intellectual. From his birth in 1913 into a poor family in Algeria to the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957, from Saint Germain-des-Prés to his predilection for the mediterranean culture, Camus captured the quest for universalism, for the politics of justice, and engaged in the great ethical battles of his time, from the fight against nazism and communism, from questioning colonial rules to the haunting Algerian War, and his complex "silence" over the war. Camus the Algerian, Camus the moralist, Camus the Resistant: through readings and films, we will explore his multiple, long-lasting legacies. Readings from Albert Camus, Kamel Daoud, Mouloud Feraoun, Alice Kaplan, Orhan Pamuk, A.B. Yehoshua, Assia Djebar, Jean-Paul Sartre, Yasmina Khadra. Movies include "The Stranger," and "Far from Men." This course is a gateway for French Studies, with special emphasis on oral proficiency. Taught in French.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
HISTORY 239C:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Modern (DLCL 13, FRENCH 13, HUMCORE 13, PHIL 13)
This three-quarter sequence asks big questions of major texts in the European and American tradition. What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? This third and final quarter focuses on the modern period, from the rise of revolutionary ideas to the experiences of totalitarianism and decolonization in the twentieth century. Authors include Locke, Mary Shelley, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Weber, Primo Levi, and Frantz Fanon.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
HISTORY 239G:
The Algerian Wars (CSRE 249, FRENCH 249, JEWISHST 249)
From Algiers the White to Algiers the Red, Algiers, the Mecca of the Revolutionaries in the words of Amilcar Cabral, this course offers to study the Algerian Wars since the French conquest of Algeria (1830-) to the Algerian civil war of the 1990s. We will revisit the ways in which the war has been narrated in literature and cinema, popular culture, and political discourse. A special focus will be given to the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). The course considers the racial representations of the war in the media, the continuing legacies surrounding the conflict in France, Africa, and the United States, from Che Guevara to the Black Panthers. A key focus will be the transmission of collective memory through transnational lenses, and analyses of commemorative events and movies. nReadings from James Baldwin, Assia Djebar, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Mouloud Feraoun. Movies include "The Battle of Algiers," "Days of Glory," and "Viva Laldjérie." nTaught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
HISTORY 254:
Popular Culture and American Nature
Despite John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Rachel Carson, it is arguable that the Disney studios have more to do with molding popular attitudes toward the natural world than politicians, ecologists, and activists. Disney as the central figure in the 20th-century American creation of nature. How Disney, the products of his studio, and other primary and secondary texts see environmentalism, science, popular culture, and their interrelationships.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 274G:
Public Space, the Private Sphere, and Dictatorship in Latin America
Recently, questions about the use of force, the state's monopoly on violence, and freedom of expression have taken on a new importance in the US. In Latin America, these issues were a focus of activism in the 1960s and 1970s. This course will consider everyday life and artistic interventions in urban space as acts of resistance, focusing on the idea that public space is central to the expression of freedom, paying special attention to the role of women.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HPS 60:
Introduction to Philosophy of Science (PHIL 60)
This course introduces students to tools for the philosophical analysis of science. We will cover issues in observation, experiment, and reasoning, questions about the aims of science, scientific change, and the relations between science and values.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
HUMBIO 162L:
The Literature of Psychosis (ANTHRO 82P, PSYC 82, PSYC 282)
One of the great gifts of literature is its ability to give us insight into the internal worlds of others. This is particularly true of that state clinicians call "psychosis." But psychosis is a complex concept. It can be terrifying and devastating for patients and families, and yet shares characteristics with other, less pathological states, such as mysticism and creativity. How then can we begin to make sense of it? In this course, we will examine the first-hand experience of psychosis. We will approach it from multiple perspectives, including clinical descriptions, works of art, and texts by writers ranging from Shakespeare, to the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, to patients attempting to describe their experience. This class is not only for students thinking of careers in medicine, psychology or anthropology, but also readers and writers interested exploring extraordinary texts. There are no prerequisites necessary; all that is needed is a love of language and a curiosity about the secrets of other minds.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
HUMBIO 167:
The Art of Vision
This course is about eyes and art. We explore how eyes are built, how they process visual information, and how they are affected by disease. And we explore how fine art and famous artists (from all eras, ancient to modern) have depended upon vision, both normal and abnormal. There are short diversions into animal eyes and the role of vision in music, literature, and sports. Prerequisite: HumBio 4A or BIO 42 or consent of Instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER: DB-NatSci, WAY-A-II
HUMBIO 175H:
Literature and Human Experimentation (AFRICAAM 223, COMPLIT 223, CSRE 123B, MED 220)
This course introduces students to the ways literature has been used to think through the ethics of human subjects research and experimental medicine. We will focus primarily on readings that imaginatively revisit experiments conducted on vulnerable populations: namely groups placed at risk by their classification according to perceived human and cultural differences. We will begin with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), and continue our study via later works of fiction, drama and literary journalism, including Toni Morrison's Beloved, David Feldshuh's Miss Evers Boys, Hannah Arendt's Eichmann and Vivien Spitz's Doctors from Hell, Rebecca Skloot's Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. Each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical and policy writings of the period; and our ultimate goal will be to understand modes of ethics deliberation that are possible via creative uses of the imagination, and literature's place in a history of ethical thinking about humane research and care. Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
HUMBIO 175L:
Literature and Global Health (AFRICAAM 229, AFRICAST 229, COMPLIT 229, CSRE 129B, FRENCH 229, MED 234)
This course examines the ways writers in literature and medicine have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health, namely fiction modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, understood to have helped readers develop a conscience for public health as the field emerged as a modern medical specialty. We will then spend the quarter understanding how colonial, postcolonial, and world literatures have answered and complicated this call. Readings will include prose fiction by Albert Camus, Joseph Conrad, Tsitsi Dangaremgba, Amitav Ghosh, Susan Sontag as well as physician memoirs featuring Frantz Fanon, Albert Schweitzer, Abraham Verghese, Paul Farmer. And each literary reading will be paired with medical, philosophical, and policy writings that deeply inform the field of global health. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
HUMCORE 1:
Humanities: An Introduction to How Humans Think About Themselves (CLASSICS 38)
Ever since humans evolved, we have been asking ourselves what we are and how we should live. This course is an introduction to the answers that have been offered, asking why they have varied so much and how they might continue to change in the future. Combining literary, archaeological, and anthropological evidence from around the world with the insights of biology, psychology, and the social sciences, the class will trace the story from the origins of modern humans some 200,000-300,000 years ago forward to our own age. Central topics will include what makes humans different from other animals, whether there is a universal human nature, and how the humanities differ from the sciences. The course is intended as an introduction to the global history of humanistic thought and as a foundation for more detailed study in the humanities.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HUMCORE 11:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, The Ancient World (CLASSICS 37, DLCL 11)
This course will journey through ancient literature from Homer to St. Augustine; it will introduce participants to some of its fascinating features and big ideas; and it will reflect on questions such as: What is a good life, a good society? Who is in and who is out and why? What is the meaning of honor, and should it be embraced or feared? Where does human subjectivity fit into a world of matter, cause and effect? When is rebellion justified? What happens when a way of life or thought is upended? Do we have any duties to the past?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
HUMCORE 12:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Middle Ages and Renaissance (DLCL 12, ENGLISH 112A, FRENCH 12)
This three-quarter sequence asks big questions of major texts in the European and American tradition. What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? The second quarter focuses on the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity, Europe's re-acquaintance with classical antiquity and its first contacts with the New World. Authors include Dante, Shakespeare, Machiavelli, Cervantes, and Milton.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
HUMCORE 13:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Modern (DLCL 13, FRENCH 13, HISTORY 239C, PHIL 13)
This three-quarter sequence asks big questions of major texts in the European and American tradition. What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? This third and final quarter focuses on the modern period, from the rise of revolutionary ideas to the experiences of totalitarianism and decolonization in the twentieth century. Authors include Locke, Mary Shelley, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Weber, Primo Levi, and Frantz Fanon.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
HUMCORE 21:
Humanities Core: Love and Betrayal in Asia (CHINA 117, JAPAN 117, KOREA 117)
Why are lovers in storybooks East and West always star-crossed? Why do love and death seem to go together? For every Romeo and Juliet, there are dozens of doomed lovers in the Asian literary repertoires, from Genji¿s string of embittered mistresses, to the Butterfly lovers in early modern China, to the voices of desire in Koryo love songs, to the devoted adolescent cousins in Dream of the Red Chamber, to the media stars of Korean romantic drama, now wildly popular throughout Asia. In this course, we explore how the love story has evolved over centuries of East Asian history, asking along the way what we can learn about Chinese, Japanese, and Korean views of family and community, gender and sexuality, truth and deception, trust and betrayal, ritual and emotion, and freedom and solidarity from canonical and non-canonical works in East Asian literatures.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
HUMCORE 22:
Humanities Core: Everybody Eats: The Language, Culture, and Ethics of Food in East Asia (CHINA 118, JAPAN 118, KOREA 118)
Many of us have grown up eating "Asian" at home, with friends, on special occasions, or even without full awareness that Asian is what we were eating. This course situates the three major culinary traditions of East Asia--China, Japan, and Korea--in the histories and civilizations of the region, using food as an introduction to their rich repertoires of literature, art, language, philosophy, religion, and culture. It also situates these seemingly timeless gastronomies within local and global flows, social change, and ethical frameworks. Specifically, we will explore the traditional elements of Korean court food, and the transformation of this cuisine as a consequence of the Korean War and South Korea¿s subsequent globalizing economy; the intersection of traditional Japanese food with past and contemporary identities; and the evolution of Chinese cuisine that accompanies shifting attitudes about the environment, health, and well-being. Questions we will ask ourselves during the quarter include, what is "Asian" about Asian cuisine? How has the language of food changed? Is eating, and talking about eating, a gendered experience? How have changing views of the self and community shifted the conversation around the ethics and ecology of meat consumption?
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
HUMCORE 23:
Humanities Core: Technology and Media in Modern Japan (HISTORY 194G, JAPAN 119)
This course considers the political, economic, social, cultural, and artistic effects of the introduction of new technologies and media to modern China and Japan. The methodology will integrate techniques gleaned from the disciplines of history and literary studies. Our cross-discipline exploration will encompass printed books and images, language reform, communication technology, serialized fiction and commercial journalism, propaganda and censorship, cinema, comics, animation and television, gaming, and the internet. Through examination of these topics we will investigate a wide range of issues including nationality, ethnic identity, class, revolution, cultural identification, gender, sexuality, literacy, colonialism, imperialism, consumerism, materialism, and globalism, to name just a few. Throughout the course we will be attentive not only to the ways that new technology and media are represented in cultural materials but also how they are materialized in these products through the acts of adaptation, translation, transliteration, and remediation.nnStudents will survey, collect, and synthesize archival materials, engage in media analysis, and undertake close readings to illuminate narrative strategies and other signifying effects. This work will in part be facilitated by the Massive Multiplayer Humanities pedagogical model, which involves flipped classrooms, faculty curated online archives, and student initiated group work.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 111Q:
Spanish-English Literary Translation Workshop (DLCL 111Q)
This course introduces students to the theoretical knowledge and practicalnskills necessary to translate literary texts from Spanish to English andnEnglish to Spanish. Topics may include comparative syntaxes, morphologies,nand semantic systems; register and tone; audience; the role of translationnin the development of languages and cultures; and the ideological andnsocio-cultural forces that shape translations. Students will workshop andnrevise an original translation project throughout the quarter.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ILAC 113Q:
Borges and Translation (DLCL 113Q)
Borges's creative process and practice as seen through the lens of translation. How do Borges's texts articulate the relationships between reading, writing, and translation? Topics include authorship, fidelity, irreverence, and innovation. Readings will draw on Borges's short stories, translations, and essays. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisite: 100-level course in Spanish or permission of instructor.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ILAC 130:
Introduction to Iberia: Cultural Perspectives
The purpose of this course is to study major figures and historical trends in modern Iberia against the background of the linguistic plurality and social and cultural complexity of the Iberian world. We will study the fundamental issues of empire, the Napoleonic occupation of Spain, Latin American independence, recurring civil wars, federal republicanism, and the historic nationalisms (Galician, Basque, and Catalan), all leading up to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), which is a defining moment in modern Spanish and European history, with ongoing consequences still felt and debated painfully today in contemporary Spain. This course is designed to help prepare students for their participation in the Stanford overseas study programs in Barcelona and Madrid. Taught in Spanish.nNOTE: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ILAC 131:
Introduction to Latin America: Cultural Perspectives
Part of the Gateways to the World program, this is an introductory course for all things Latin American: culture, history, literature, and current events. By combining lecture and seminar formats, the class prepares you for all subsequent research on, and learning about, the region. Comparative discussion of independence movements in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, the Andean Region, Brazil, and the Southern Cone. Other topics vary yearly, including: representations of ethnicity and class, the Cold War, popular culture, as well as major thinkers and writers. Open to all. Recommended for students who want to study abroad in Santiago, Chile. Required for majors in Spanish or Iberian and Latin American Cultures (ILAC). In Spanish.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ILAC 136:
Modern Iberian Literatures
1800 to the mid 20th century. Topics include: romanticism; realism and its variants; the turn of the century; modernism and the avant garde; the Civil War; and the first half of the 20th century. Authors may include Mariano Jose de Larra, Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, Rosalia de Castro, Benito Perez Galdos, Jacint Verdaguer, Eca de Queiros, Miguel de Unamuno, Ramon de Valle-Inclan, Antonio Machado, and Federico García Lorca. Taught in Spanish. Prerequisites: SPANLANG 13 or equivalent.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 140:
Migration in 21st Century Latin American Film (CHILATST 140)
Focus on how images and narratives of migration are depicted in recent Latin American film. It compares migration as it takes place within Latin America to migration from Latin America to Europe and to the U.S. We will analyze these films, and their making, in the global context of an evergrowing tension between "inside" and "outside"; we consider how these films represent or explore precariousness and exclusion; visibility and invisibility; racial and gender dynamics; national and social boundaries; new subjectivities and cultural practices. Films include: El niño pez, Bolivia, Ulises, Faustino Mayta visita a su prima, Copacabana, Chico y Rita, Sin nombre, Los que se quedan, Amador, and En la puta calle. Films in Spanish, with English subtitles. Discussions and assignments in Spanish.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 145:
Poets, Journalists and Collectors: Latin American Modernismo
Discusses the different artistic avatars exercised by Latin American modernistas at the turn of the 19th Century in the context of growing capitalism, technological innovation and social transformation. We focus on how modernistas as poets, journalists and collectors explored and transgressed the limits of the individual and his/her situation. We consider topics like cosmopolitanism, dandysm, autonomy of art, and the aesthetic cultivation of the self. Authors include: Delmira Agustini, Rubén Darío, Julián del Casal, Leopoldo Lugones, José Martí, Manuel Gutierrez Nájera, José Enrique Rodó, José Asunción Silva, and Abraham Valdelomar. Spanish proficiency required.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ILAC 149:
The Laboring of Diaspora & Border Literary Cultures (COMPLIT 149, CSRE 149)
Focus is given to emergent theories of culture and on comparative literary and cultural studies. How do we treat culture as a social force? How do we go about reading the presence of social contexts within cultural texts? How do ethno-racial writers re-imagine the nation as a site with many "cognitive maps" in which the nation-state is not congruent with cultural identity? How do diaspora and border narratives/texts strive for comparative theoretical scope while remaining rooted in specific local histories. Note: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 157:
Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Literatures
Survey of Iberian literature from the medieval and early modern periods. When covering texts in languages other than Spanish, translations into English or Spanish will be made available. Taught in Spanish; prerequisite: SPANLANG 13 or equivalent.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ILAC 161:
Modern Latin American Literature
From independence to the present. A survey of significant authors and works of Hispanic and Brazilian Portuguese literatures, focusing on fictional prose and poetry. Topics include romantic allegories of the nation; modernism and postmodernism; avant-garde poetry; regionalism versus cosmopolitanism; indigenous and indigenist literature; magical realism and the literature of the boom; Afro-Hispanic literature; and testimonial narrative. Authors may include: Bolívar, Bello, Gómez de Avellaneda, Isaacs, Sarmiento, Machado de Assis, Darío, Martí, Agustini, Vallejo, Huidobro, Borges, Cortázar, Neruda, Guillon, Rulfo, Ramos, García Marquez, Lispector, and Bolaño. Taught in Spanish.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 175:
CAPITALS: How Cities Shape Cultures, States, and People (COMPLIT 100, DLCL 100, FRENCH 175, GERMAN 175, HISTORY 206E, ITALIAN 175, URBANST 153)
This course takes students on a trip to eight capital cities, at different moments in time: Renaissance Florence, Golden Age Madrid, Colonial Mexico City, Enlightenment and Romantic Paris, Existential and Revolutionary St. Petersburg, Roaring Berlin, Modernist Vienna, and bustling Buenos Aires. While exploring each place in a particular historical moment, we will also consider the relations between culture, power, and social life. How does the cultural life of a country intersect with the political activity of a capital? How do large cities shape our everyday experience, our aesthetic preferences, and our sense of history? Why do some cities become cultural capitals? Primary materials for this course will consist of literary, visual, sociological, and historical documents (in translation); authors we will read include Boccaccio, Lope de Vega, Sor Juana, Montesquieu, Baudelaire, Dostoyevsky, Irmgard Keun, Freud, and Borges. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ILAC 193:
The Cinema of Pedro Almodovar
Pedro Almodóvar is one of the most recognizable auteur directors in the world today. His films express a hybrid and eclectic visual style and the blurring of frontiers between mass and high culture. Special attention is paid to questions of sexuality and the centering of usually marginalized characters. This course studies Pedro Almodóvar's development from his directorial debut to the present, from the "shocking" value of the early films to the award-winning mastery of the later ones. Prerequisite: ability to understand spoken Spanish. Readings in English. Midterm and final paper can be in English. Majors should write in Spanish.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 200E:
War and the Modern Novel (COMPLIT 200)
From the turn of the 19th century to well into the 20th century, novelists developed the theme of alienation and the decline of civilization. Along with the fall of centuries-old empires, World War I brought about the collapse of traditional European values and the dissociation of the subject. The aestheticizing of violence and the ensuing insecurity inaugurated the society of totally administered life, based on universal suspicion and pervasive guilt. The seminar will study narrative responses to these developments in some of the foremost authors of the 20th century from several European literatures: Knut Hamsun, Joseph Roth, Ernst Jünger, Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, Curzio Malaparte, Thomas Mann, Mercè Rodoreda, Antonio Lobo Antunes, and Jaume Cabré. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ILAC 241:
Fiction Workshop in Spanish
Spanish and Spanish American short stories approached through narrative theory and craft. Assignments are creative in nature and focus on the formal elements of fiction (e.g. character and plot development, point of view, creating a scene, etc.). Students will write, workshop, and revise an original short story throughout the term. No previous experience with creative writing is required. Readings may include works by Ayala, Bolaño, Borges, Clarín, Cortázar, García Márquez, Piglia, Rodoreda, and others. Enrollment limited.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
ILAC 243:
Latin American Aesthetics
As the branch of philosophy that deals with the principles of beauty and artistic taste, aesthetics is, purportedly, universal. The course interrogates its conspicuous omission of Latin American theorization and cultural production. Three thematic axes are vanguardia, colonialidad, and populismo; a central concern is aesthetic responses to precariousness. Argentine, Brazilian, Chilean, Colombian, and Cuban essayism and visual arts from the mid 20th century to the present, notably origenismo, neo-baroque, and indigenismo. In collaboration with a cognate course at UC Berkeley. Taught in Spanish.nNOTE: This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 277:
Senior Seminar: Spanish and Society - Cultures of Salsa
Open to seniors in ILAC and Spanish; juniors by permission of instructor. Salsa is the soundscape of 20th century Latin America. How is it possible that salsa stands for Latin American music? How can we understand its origin and its musical expansion? We learn how salsa voices transformation and self-exploration of different places and moments in all of Latin America and the US and we analyze how it travels across the world. We discuss musical examples in relation to colonialism, globalization, migration, nationalism, gender and ethnicity. As a core course of the Spanish major, Cultures of Salsa emphasizes the analysis of Spanish in real-world contexts. NOTE: This course must be taken for a minimum of 5 units and a letter grade to be eligible for WIM credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ILAC 278A:
Senior Seminar: Cervantes's Novelas Ejemplares
Open to seniors in ILAC and Spanish; juniors by permission of instructor. Focus is on a close reading of Miguel de Cervantes's collection of short fiction, the Novelas ejemplares (1613). The rise of the novel, literature and ethics, modes of reading, the status of Muslim and Jewish converts in early modern Spain, the rise of capitalism, the Baroque aesthetic. This course will be conducted entirely in Spanish. NOTE: This course must be taken for a minimum of 5 units and a letter grade to be eligible for WIM credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ITALIAN 75N:
Narrative Medicine and Near-Death Experiences (FRENCH 75N)
Even if many of us don't fully believe in an afterlife, we remain fascinated by visions of it. This course focuses on Near-Death Experiences and the stories around them, investigating them from the many perspectives pertinent to the growing field of narrative medicine: medical, neurological, cognitive, psychological, sociological, literary, and filmic. The goal is not to understand whether the stories are veridical but what they do for us, as individuals, and as a culture, and in particular how they seek to reshape the patient-doctor relationship. Materials will span the 20th century and come into the present. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ITALIAN 101:
Italy: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Renowned for its rich cultural tradition, Italy is also one of the most problematic nations in Europe. This course explores the contradictions at the heart of Italy by examining how art and literature provide a unique perspective onto modern Italian history. We will focus on key phenomena that contribute both positively and negatively to the complex "spirit" of Italy, such as the presence of the past, political realism and idealism, revolution, corruption, decadence, war, immigration, and crises of all kinds. Through the study of historical and literary texts, films, and news media, the course seeks to understand Italy's current place in Europe and its future trajectory by looking to its past as a point of comparison. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ITALIAN 127:
Inventing Italian Literature: Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarca
This course examines the origins of Italian literature in the late Middle Ages. We will read selections from Dante's Vita Nuova and Inferno; Petrarca's Canzoniere; and Boccaccio's Decameron. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 128:
The Italian Renaissance and the Path to Modernity
The literature, art, and history of the Renaissance and beyond. Readings from the 15th through 18th centuries include Moderata Fonte, Machiavelli, Ariosto, Tasso, Galileo, and Goldoni. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent (2 years of Italian)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 129:
Modern Italian Culture
This course examines the fate of Italian culture since 1800. We will study major examples of Italian literature, art, and cinema from the modern period in relation to their historical context. Taught in Italian. Prerequisites: ITALLANG 22A or equivalent.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 152:
Boccaccio's Decameron: The Ethics of Storytelling (ITALIAN 352)
This course involves an in-depth study of Boccaccio's Decameron in the context of medieval theories of poetry and interpretation. The goal is to understand more fully the relationship between literature and lived experience implied by Boccaccio's fictions. We will address key critical issues and theoretical approaches related to the text. Taught in English translation, there will be an optional supplementary Italian discussion section during weeks 2-9.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 155:
The Mafia in Society, Film, and Fiction
The mafia has become a global problem through its infiltration of international business, and its model of organized crime has spread all over the world from its origins in Sicily. At the same time, film and fiction remain fascinated by a romantic, heroic vision of the mafia. Compares both Italian and American fantasies of the Mafia to its history and impact on Italian and global culture. Taught in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ITALIAN 175:
CAPITALS: How Cities Shape Cultures, States, and People (COMPLIT 100, DLCL 100, FRENCH 175, GERMAN 175, HISTORY 206E, ILAC 175, URBANST 153)
This course takes students on a trip to eight capital cities, at different moments in time: Renaissance Florence, Golden Age Madrid, Colonial Mexico City, Enlightenment and Romantic Paris, Existential and Revolutionary St. Petersburg, Roaring Berlin, Modernist Vienna, and bustling Buenos Aires. While exploring each place in a particular historical moment, we will also consider the relations between culture, power, and social life. How does the cultural life of a country intersect with the political activity of a capital? How do large cities shape our everyday experience, our aesthetic preferences, and our sense of history? Why do some cities become cultural capitals? Primary materials for this course will consist of literary, visual, sociological, and historical documents (in translation); authors we will read include Boccaccio, Lope de Vega, Sor Juana, Montesquieu, Baudelaire, Dostoyevsky, Irmgard Keun, Freud, and Borges. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
ITALIAN 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track. Majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature, with particular focus on the question of value: what, if anything, does engagement with literary works do for our lives? Issues include aesthetic self-fashioning, the paradox of tragedy, the paradox of caring, the truth-value of fiction, metaphor, authorship, irony, make-believe, expression, edification, clarification, and training. Readings are drawn from literature and film, philosophical theories of art, and stylistically interesting works of philosophy. Authors may include Sophocles, Chaucer, Dickinson, Proust, Woolf, Borges, Beckett, Kundera, Charlie Kaufman; Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas; Plato, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 235E:
Dante's "Inferno" (COMPLIT 235E)
Intensive reading of Dante's "Inferno" (the first canticle of his three canticle poem The Divine Comedy). Main objective: to learn how to read the Inferno in detail and in depth, which entails both close textual analysis as well as a systematic reconstruction of the Christian doctrines that subtend the poem. The other main objective is to understand how Dante's civic and political identity as a Florentine, and especially his exile from Florence, determined his literary career and turned him into the author of the poem. Special emphasis on Dante's moral world view and his representation of character. Taught in English. nNOTE: Enrollment requires Professor Harrison's approval. Please contact him directly at harrison@stanford.edu
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 236E:
Dante's "Purgatorio" and "Paradiso" (COMPLIT 236E)
Reading the second and third canticles of Dante's <em>Divine Comedy.</em> Prerequisite: students must have read Dante's <em>Inferno</em> in a course or on their own. Taught in English. Recommended: reading knowledge of Italian.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
ITALIAN 266:
Women's Voices in Contemporary Italian Literature (FEMGEN 266)
The traditional canon of Italian literature consists almost exclusively of male authors. Yet Italian women writers have been active since the time of Dante. This course presents an overview of women's prose fiction of the last 100 years, from Sibilla Aleramo's groundbreaking feminist novel Una donna (1906) to Elena Ferrante's La figlia oscura (2015). We will examine such concerns as the central issue of sexual violence in many female autobiographies; the experience of motherhood; the conflict between maternal love and the desire for self-determination and autonomy; paths to political awareness; reinventing the historical novel. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
ITALIC 91:
Immersion in the Arts: Living in Culture
ITALIC is an arts-minded, residence-based academic program for freshmen. It's built around a series of big questions about the historical, critical and practical purposes of art. It also builds community. This yearlong experience fosters close exchanges among faculty, students, guest artists and scholars in class, over meals and during excursions to arts events. We¿ll trace the challenges that works of art have presented to history, politics, and culture, particularly since the 19th century.. We'll look at ways arts can inform creative problem-solving, confront uncertainty and ambiguity, and experiment with different sets of rules. Through rigorous inquiry, ITALIC seeks to create new frameworks for exploring our (and others') experience.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
ITALIC 92:
Immersion in the Arts: Living in Culture
ITALIC is an arts-minded, residence-based academic program for freshmen. It's built around a series of big questions about the historical, critical and practical purposes of art. It also builds community. This yearlong experience fosters close exchanges among faculty, students, guest artists and scholars in class, over meals and during excursions to arts events. We¿ll trace the challenges that works of art have presented to history, politics, and culture, particularly since the 19th century.. We'll look at ways arts can inform creative problem-solving, confront uncertainty and ambiguity, and experiment with different sets of rules. Through rigorous inquiry, ITALIC seeks to create new frameworks for exploring our (and others') experience.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
JAPAN 60:
Asian Arts and Cultures (ARTHIST 2)
An introduction to major monuments, themes, styles, and media of East and South Asian visual arts, in their social, literary, religious, and political contexts. Through close study of primary monuments of architectural, pictorial, and sculptural arts and related texts, this course will explore ritual and mortuary arts; Buddhist arts across Asia; narrative and landscape images; and courtly, urban, monastic, and studio environments for art from Bronze Age to modern eras.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
JAPAN 117:
Humanities Core: Love and Betrayal in Asia (CHINA 117, HUMCORE 21, KOREA 117)
Why are lovers in storybooks East and West always star-crossed? Why do love and death seem to go together? For every Romeo and Juliet, there are dozens of doomed lovers in the Asian literary repertoires, from Genji¿s string of embittered mistresses, to the Butterfly lovers in early modern China, to the voices of desire in Koryo love songs, to the devoted adolescent cousins in Dream of the Red Chamber, to the media stars of Korean romantic drama, now wildly popular throughout Asia. In this course, we explore how the love story has evolved over centuries of East Asian history, asking along the way what we can learn about Chinese, Japanese, and Korean views of family and community, gender and sexuality, truth and deception, trust and betrayal, ritual and emotion, and freedom and solidarity from canonical and non-canonical works in East Asian literatures.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
JAPAN 118:
Humanities Core: Everybody Eats: The Language, Culture, and Ethics of Food in East Asia (CHINA 118, HUMCORE 22, KOREA 118)
Many of us have grown up eating "Asian" at home, with friends, on special occasions, or even without full awareness that Asian is what we were eating. This course situates the three major culinary traditions of East Asia--China, Japan, and Korea--in the histories and civilizations of the region, using food as an introduction to their rich repertoires of literature, art, language, philosophy, religion, and culture. It also situates these seemingly timeless gastronomies within local and global flows, social change, and ethical frameworks. Specifically, we will explore the traditional elements of Korean court food, and the transformation of this cuisine as a consequence of the Korean War and South Korea¿s subsequent globalizing economy; the intersection of traditional Japanese food with past and contemporary identities; and the evolution of Chinese cuisine that accompanies shifting attitudes about the environment, health, and well-being. Questions we will ask ourselves during the quarter include, what is "Asian" about Asian cuisine? How has the language of food changed? Is eating, and talking about eating, a gendered experience? How have changing views of the self and community shifted the conversation around the ethics and ecology of meat consumption?
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
JAPAN 119:
Humanities Core: Technology and Media in Modern Japan (HISTORY 194G, HUMCORE 23)
This course considers the political, economic, social, cultural, and artistic effects of the introduction of new technologies and media to modern China and Japan. The methodology will integrate techniques gleaned from the disciplines of history and literary studies. Our cross-discipline exploration will encompass printed books and images, language reform, communication technology, serialized fiction and commercial journalism, propaganda and censorship, cinema, comics, animation and television, gaming, and the internet. Through examination of these topics we will investigate a wide range of issues including nationality, ethnic identity, class, revolution, cultural identification, gender, sexuality, literacy, colonialism, imperialism, consumerism, materialism, and globalism, to name just a few. Throughout the course we will be attentive not only to the ways that new technology and media are represented in cultural materials but also how they are materialized in these products through the acts of adaptation, translation, transliteration, and remediation.nnStudents will survey, collect, and synthesize archival materials, engage in media analysis, and undertake close readings to illuminate narrative strategies and other signifying effects. This work will in part be facilitated by the Massive Multiplayer Humanities pedagogical model, which involves flipped classrooms, faculty curated online archives, and student initiated group work.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
JAPAN 121:
Translating Japan, Translating the West (JAPAN 221)
Translation lies at the heart of all intercultural exchange. This course introduces students to the specific ways in which translation has shaped the image of Japan in the West, the image of the West in Japan, and Japan's self-image in the modern period. What texts and concepts were translated by each side, how, and to what effect? No prior knowledge of Japanese language necessary.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JAPAN 138:
Introduction to Modern Japanese Literature and Culture (JAPAN 238)
This class introduces key literary texts from Japan's modern era (1868-present), locating these works in the larger political, social, and cultural trends of the period. Primary texts include: Futabatei Shimei's Floating Clouds, Higuchi Ichiyô's Child's Play, Natsume Sôseki's Kokoro, Kobayashi Takiji's Cannery Boat, Ôe Kenzaburô's The Catch, and Yoshimoto Banana's Kitchen. Examination of these literary works will be contextualized within larger political trends (e.g., the modernization program of the Meiji regime, the policies of Japan's wartime government, and postwar Japanese responses to the cold war), social developments (e.g., changing notions of social class, the women's rights movement, and the social effects of the postwar economic expansion), and cultural movements (e.g., literary reform movement of the 1890s, modernism of the 1920s and 30s, and postmodernism of the 1980s). The goal of the class is to use literary texts as a point of entry to understand the grand narrative of Japan's journey from its tentative re-entry into the international community in the 1850s, through the cataclysm of the Pacific War, to the remarkable prosperity of the bubble years in the 1980s.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
JAPAN 170:
The Tale of Genji and Its Historical Reception (JAPAN 270)
Approaches to the tale including 12th-century allegorical and modern feminist readings. Influence upon other works including poetry, Noh plays, short stories, modern novels, and comic book ( manga) retellings. Prerequisite for graduate students: JAPANLNG 129B or 103, or equivalent.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 37Q:
Zionism and the Novel (COMPLIT 37Q)
At the end of the nineteenth century, Zionism emerged as a political movement to establish a national homeland for the Jews, eventually leading to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. This seminar uses novels to explore the changes in Zionism, the roots of the conflict in the Middle East, and the potentials for the future. We will take a close look at novels by Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, in order to understand multiple perspectives, and we will also consider works by authors from the North America and from Europe. Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
JEWISHST 53:
Exploring Jewish Spirituality (RELIGST 53)
It was once accepted as fact that Judaism is a purely rational religion devoid of any authentic mystical tradition. But the past century of scholarship has reversed this claim, demonstrating that the spiritual life has been integral to Judaism's vital heart since ancient times. This yearning for a direct immediate experience of God's Presence, a longing to grasp the mysteries of the human soul and know the inner dynamics of the Divine realm, has taken on many different forms across the centuries. This course will introduce students to the major texts and core ideas of Jewish mysticism and spirituality, tracking their development from the Hebrew Bible to the present day. Close attention will be paid to the sources¿ historical context, and we will also engage with broader methodological questions regarding the academic study of religion and the comparative approach to mysticism.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 71:
Jews and Christians: Conflict and Coexistence (RELIGST 71)
The relationship between Judaism and Christianity has had a long a controversial history. Christianity originated as a dissident Jewish sect but eventually evolved into an independent religion, with only tenuous ties to its Jewish past and present. Since the Holocaust, Jews and Christians have begun the serious work of forging more meaningful relationships with each other. This course explores the most significant moments that have shaped the relationship between Judaism and Christianity and examines some of the theological complexities imbedded in these traditions, while searching constructive ways of situating oneself amidst such complexities.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JEWISHST 80T:
Jewish Music in the Lands of Islam (MUSIC 80T)
An Interdisciplinary study of Music, Society, and Culture in communities of the Jewish Diaspora in Islamic countries. The course examines the diverse and rich musical traditions of the Jews in North Africa and the Middle East. Based on the "Maqamat" system, the Arabic musical modes, Jewish music flourished under Islamic rule, encompassing the fields of sacred music, popular songs, and art music. Using musicological, historical, and anthropological tools, the course compares and contrasts these traditions from their original roots through their adaptation, appropriation, and re-synthesis in contemporary art music and popular songs.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JEWISHST 86:
Exploring the New Testament (CLASSICS 43, RELIGST 86)
To explore the historical context of the earliest Christians, students will read most of the New Testament as well as many documents that didn't make the final cut. Non-Christian texts, Roman art, and surviving archeological remains will better situate Christianity within the ancient world. Students will read from the Dead Sea Scrolls, explore Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing divine temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse an ancient marriage guide, and engage with recent scholarship in archeology, literary criticism, and history.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
JEWISHST 106:
Reflection on the Other: The Jew and the Arab in Literature (AMELANG 126, COMPLIT 145)
How literary works outside the realm of Western culture struggle with questions such as identity, minority, and the issue of the Other. How the Arab is viewed in Hebrew literature, film and music and how the Jew is viewed in Palestinian works in Hebrew or Arabic (in translation to English). Historical, political, and sociological forces that have contributed to the shaping of these writers' views. Guest lectures about the Jew in Palestinian literature and music. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JEWISHST 125:
Modern Jewish Mystics: Devotion in a Secular Age (RELIGST 165)
The twentieth-century was a time of tremendous upheaval and unspeakable tragedy for the Jewish communities of Europe. But the past hundred years were also a period of great renewal for Jewish spirituality, a renaissance that has continued into the present day. We will explore the mystic writings of figures from the Safed Renaissance, the Hasidic masters, with a particular focus on the works of Martin Buber, Hillel Zeitlin, Abraham Isaac Kook, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Arthur Green. We will examine their teachings in light of the challenges of the two World Wars, the Holocaust, and the processes of modernity and secularism. Consideration will be made of the unique cultural contexts of modern Israel and contemporary America.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 129:
Sacred Words: Jewish Thought and the Question of Language (RELIGST 169)
Jews have long been referred as the people of the book, but they might better be referred to as the people of the word. Drawing upon texts from the Hebrew Bible to the works of modern Hebrew writers like of Hayyim Nahman Bialik and Amoz Oz, this seminar will chart the development of Jewish thinking on language over the past two millennia. We will explore issues such as: the idea of canonization; oral versus written language; the nature and possibility of translation; the origins of language; notions of negative theology; mystical approaches to the word; the rebirth of Hebrew as a spoken and cultural language; and the limits of language after the Holocaust. This course will also bring Jewish thought into dialogue with contemporary philosophical reflections on issues of language. Modern explorations of language will prove an interesting way of deepening our understanding of the Jewish thinkers on one hand, and enriching contemporary intellectual discourse on the other.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 143:
Literature and Society in Africa and the Caribbean (AFRICAAM 133, AFRICAST 132, FRENCH 133)
This course aims to equip students with an understanding of the cultural, political and literary aspects at play in the literatures of Francophone Africa and the Caribbean. Our primary readings will be Francophone novels and poetry, though we will also read some theoretical texts. The assigned readings will expose students to literature from diverse French-speaking regions of the African/Caribbean world. This course will also serve as a "literary toolbox," with the intention of facilitating an understanding of literary forms, terms and practices. Students can expect to work on their production of written and spoken French (in addition to reading comprehension) both in and outside of class. Special guest: LEILA SLIMANI (Goncourt Prize 2016). Required readings include: Leila Slimani, "Sexe et Mensonges au Maroc", Albert Memmi, "La Statue de Sel," Kaouther Adimi, "L'Envers des autres", Maryse Condé, "La Vie sans fards". Movies include "Goodbye Morocco", "Aya de Yopougon", "Les Baies d'Alger". nTaught in French. Prerequisite: FRENLANG 124 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
JEWISHST 147B:
The Hebrew and Jewish Short Story (COMPLIT 127B)
Short stories from Israel, the US and Europe including works by Agnon, Kafka, Keret, Castel-Bloom, Kashua, Singer, Benjamin, Freud, biblical myths and more. The class will engage with questions related to the short story as a literary form and the history of the short story. Reading and discussion in English. Optional: special section with readings and discussions in Hebrew. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a Letter Grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
JEWISHST 148:
Writing Between Languages: The Case of Eastern European Jewish Literature (JEWISHST 348, SLAVIC 198, SLAVIC 398)
Eastern European Jews spoke and read Hebrew, Yiddish, and their co-territorial languages (Russian, Polish, etc.). In the modern period they developed secular literatures in all of them, and their writing reflected their own multilinguality and evolving language ideologies. We focus on major literary and sociolinguistic texts. Reading and discussion in English; students should have some reading knowledge of at least one relevant language as well. ***This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit***
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
JEWISHST 155D:
Jewish American Literature (AMSTUD 145D, ENGLISH 145D, REES 145D)
From its inception, Jewish-American literature has taken as its subject as well as its context the idea of Jewishness itself. Jewish culture is a diasporic one, and for this reason the concept of Jewishness differs from country to country and across time. What stays remarkably similar, though, is Jewish self-perception and relatedly Jewish literary style. This is as true for the first-generation immigrant writers like Isaac Bashevis Singer and Anzia Yezierska who came to the United States from abroad as it is for their second-generation children born in the United States, and the children of those children. In this course, we will consider the difficulties of displacement for the emigrant generation and their efforts to sustain their cultural integrity in the multicultural American environment. We'll also examine the often comic revolt of their American-born children and grandchildren against their (grand-)parents nostalgia and failure to assimilate. Only by considering these transnational roots can one understand the particularity of the Jewish-American novel in relation to mainstream and minority American literatures. In investigating the link between American Jewish writers and their literary progenitors, we will draw largely but not exclusively from Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
JEWISHST 249:
The Algerian Wars (CSRE 249, FRENCH 249, HISTORY 239G)
From Algiers the White to Algiers the Red, Algiers, the Mecca of the Revolutionaries in the words of Amilcar Cabral, this course offers to study the Algerian Wars since the French conquest of Algeria (1830-) to the Algerian civil war of the 1990s. We will revisit the ways in which the war has been narrated in literature and cinema, popular culture, and political discourse. A special focus will be given to the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). The course considers the racial representations of the war in the media, the continuing legacies surrounding the conflict in France, Africa, and the United States, from Che Guevara to the Black Panthers. A key focus will be the transmission of collective memory through transnational lenses, and analyses of commemorative events and movies. nReadings from James Baldwin, Assia Djebar, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Mouloud Feraoun. Movies include "The Battle of Algiers," "Days of Glory," and "Viva Laldjérie." nTaught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
KOREA 101:
Kangnam Style: Korean Media and Pop Culture (KOREA 201)
For over a decade now, South Korea has established itself as a tireless generator of soft power, the popularity of its pop-culture spreading from Asia to the rest of the world. This class will look into the economic engine that moves this "cultural contents" industry, and will examine some of its expressions in the form of K-pop, soap operas, tourism, food, sports, and fashion in order to illuminate the ways in which Korean culture is being (self-)narrated and consumed in this era of globalization of the 21st century.
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
KOREA 101N:
Kangnam Style: Korean Soft Power in the Global Economy
For over a decade now, South Korea has established itself as a tireless generator of soft power, the popularity of its pop-culture spreading from Asia to the rest of the world. This class will look into the economic engine that moves this "cultural contents" industry, and will examine some of its expressions in the form of K-pop. Class meets in East Asia Library (Lathrop Library), Rm 338.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
KOREA 117:
Humanities Core: Love and Betrayal in Asia (CHINA 117, HUMCORE 21, JAPAN 117)
Why are lovers in storybooks East and West always star-crossed? Why do love and death seem to go together? For every Romeo and Juliet, there are dozens of doomed lovers in the Asian literary repertoires, from Genji¿s string of embittered mistresses, to the Butterfly lovers in early modern China, to the voices of desire in Koryo love songs, to the devoted adolescent cousins in Dream of the Red Chamber, to the media stars of Korean romantic drama, now wildly popular throughout Asia. In this course, we explore how the love story has evolved over centuries of East Asian history, asking along the way what we can learn about Chinese, Japanese, and Korean views of family and community, gender and sexuality, truth and deception, trust and betrayal, ritual and emotion, and freedom and solidarity from canonical and non-canonical works in East Asian literatures.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
KOREA 118:
Humanities Core: Everybody Eats: The Language, Culture, and Ethics of Food in East Asia (CHINA 118, HUMCORE 22, JAPAN 118)
Many of us have grown up eating "Asian" at home, with friends, on special occasions, or even without full awareness that Asian is what we were eating. This course situates the three major culinary traditions of East Asia--China, Japan, and Korea--in the histories and civilizations of the region, using food as an introduction to their rich repertoires of literature, art, language, philosophy, religion, and culture. It also situates these seemingly timeless gastronomies within local and global flows, social change, and ethical frameworks. Specifically, we will explore the traditional elements of Korean court food, and the transformation of this cuisine as a consequence of the Korean War and South Korea¿s subsequent globalizing economy; the intersection of traditional Japanese food with past and contemporary identities; and the evolution of Chinese cuisine that accompanies shifting attitudes about the environment, health, and well-being. Questions we will ask ourselves during the quarter include, what is "Asian" about Asian cuisine? How has the language of food changed? Is eating, and talking about eating, a gendered experience? How have changing views of the self and community shifted the conversation around the ethics and ecology of meat consumption?
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
KOREA 120:
Narratives of Modern and Contemporary Korea (KOREA 220)
This introductory survey will examine the development of South and North Korean literature from the turn of the 20th century until the present. The course will be guided by historical and thematic inquiries as we explore literature in the colonial period, in the period of postwar industrialization, and contemporary literature from the last decade. We will supplement our readings with critical writing about Korea from the fields of cultural studies and the social sciences in order to broaden the terms of our engagement with our primary texts.
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
KOREA 121:
Doing the Right Thing: Ethical Dilemmas in Korean Film (KOREA 221)
Ethics and violence seem to be contradictory terms, yet much of Korean film and literature in the past five decades has demonstrated that they are an intricate and in many ways justifiable part of the fabric of contemporary existence. Film exposes time and again the complex ways in which the supposed vanguards of morality, religious institutions, family, schools, and the state are sites of condoned transgression, wherein spiritual and physical violation is inflicted relentlessly. This class will explore the ways in which questions about Truth and the origins of good and evil are mediated through film in the particular context of the political, social, and economic development of postwar South Korea. Tuesday classes will include a brief introduction followed by a film screening that will last on average for two hours; students that are unable to stay until 5 pm will be required to watch the rest of the film on their own.
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
MATH 163:
The Greek Invention of Mathematics (CLASSICS 136)
How was mathematics invented? A survey of the main creative ideas of ancient Greek mathematics. Among the issues explored are the axiomatic system of Euclid's Elements, the origins of the calculus in Greek measurements of solids and surfaces, and Archimedes' creation of mathematical physics. We will provide proofs of ancient theorems, and also learn how such theorems are even known today thanks to the recovery of ancient manuscripts.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 1:
Musical Genius: Exemplars in the History of Organized Sound
How does music work? A broad exploration of music as defined by three major components (i) Theories of Music (elements and parameters), (ii) Histories of Music (cultures and people), and (iii) Practitioners of Music (musicians and scholars). Lecture, discussion, guided critical listening and viewing of audio, video, and live performance, and creation of self-curated mini-projects.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
MUSIC 1A:
Music, Mind, and Human Behavior
An introductory exploration of the question of why music is a pervasive and fundamental aspect of human existence. The class will introduce aspects of music perception and cognition as well as anthropological and cultural considerations.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 2A:
The Symphony
Symphonic literature 1750 to the present, with emphasis on developing listening skills and preparation for attending a live performance. Ability to read music not required.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 2C:
An Introduction to Opera
The lasting appeal of opera as a lavishly hybrid genre from the 1600s to the present. How and why does opera set its stories to music? What is operatic singing? Who is the audience? How do words, music, voices, movement, and staging collaborate in different operatic eras and cultures? Principal works by Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, Britten, and Adams. Class studies and attends two works performed by the San Francisco Opera.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 7B:
Musical Cultures of the World
An overview of selected musical cultures from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Course objectives: cultivate an appreciation for the diversity of human musical expression; discover how music is used to shape social interactions and systems of meaning; develop active listening skills that can be used when encountering any music; gain a preliminary understanding of ethnomusicological concepts and vocabulary. No musical experience is necessary. Class format: Lecture, discussion, listening, guest performances, musical participation, and a concert analysis.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 8A:
Rock, Sex, and Rebellion
Development of critical listening skills and musical parameters through genres in the history of rock music. Focus is on competing aesthetic tendencies and subcultural forces that shaped the music. Rock's significance in American culture, and the minority communities that have enriched rock's legacy as an expressively diverse form. Lectures, readings, listening, and video screenings. Attendance at all lectures is required.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 13N:
Bollywood and Beyond: South Asian Popular and Folk Music
This seminar is an introduction to regional and popular music of South Asia¿India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. An immense variety of South Asian music¿everything from drumming to wedding songs to movie scores¿is woven into the social lives of both audiences and performers. Through their music, people across South Asia express social criticism, bring about political change, engage in worship, mark rites of passage, and cope with rapid and unsettling socio-economic changes. For example, Marathi kirtan, a form of devotional song/storytelling from Western India, has been used to teach spiritual lessons and oppose colonial occupation; musicians from South Indian oppressed castes enlist drums to protest their low social status; and the ever-popular Bollywood dance music creates a sense of home for Indians living abroad. In this seminar you will have the opportunity to acquire listening skills that will enhance your appreciation of the variety and depth of South Asian folk and popular music. We will draw on areas such as folklore and ethnomusicology to gain an understanding about what makes these musical practices thrive. And we will go on three field trips, which will give you an opportunity to engage first-hand with South Asian music and musicians in our local community. No musical experience is required.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
MUSIC 14N:
Women Making Music (FEMGEN 13N)
Preference to freshmen. Women's musical activities across times and cultures; how ideas about gender influence the creation, performance, and perception of music.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 17N:
The Operas of Mozart
Preference to freshmen. Four of Mozart's mature operas, the earliest works in the operatic repertoire never to go out of fashion. What accounts for this extraordinary staying power? Focus on the history of their composition, performance, and reception, and their changing significance from Mozart's time to the present.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 18A:
Jazz History: Ragtime to Bebop, 1900-1940 (AFRICAAM 18A)
From the beginning of jazz to the war years.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 18B:
Jazz History: Bebop to Present, 1940-Present (AFRICAAM 18B)
Modern jazz styles from Bebop to the current scene. Emphasis is on the significant artists of each style.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 19A:
Introduction to Music Theory
For non-music majors and Music majors or minors unable to pass the proficiency test for entry to MUSIC 21. The fundamentals of music theory and notation, basic sight reading, sight singing, ear training, keyboard harmony; melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic dictation. Skill oriented, using piano and voice as basic tools to develop listening and reading skills.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 19B:
Intermediate Music Theory
This course is an introduction to music theory geared toward students who have basic literacy skills (i.e. fundamental notation, identifying major and minor scales, keys, etc). Using musical materials from repertoire selected from campus and area concerts, and incorporating the opportunity to attend these concerts, the course will introduce elements of harmony, melody, form, orchestration and arrangement. The course is an appropriate successor to Music 19A. Students who successfully complete Music 19B can go on directly to Music 21.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 20A:
Jazz Theory (AFRICAAM 20A)
Introduces the language and sounds of jazz through listening, analysis, and compositional exercises. Students apply the fundamentals of music theory to the study of jazz. Prerequisite: 19 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 20B:
Advanced Jazz Theory
Approaches to improvisation through listening and transcribing, and developing familiarity with important contributors to this music. Topics: scale theory, altered dominants, and substitute harmony. Prerequisite: 20A or consent of instructor.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 20C:
Jazz Arranging and Composition
Jazz arranging and composition for small ensembles. Foundation for writing for big band. Prerequisite: 20A or consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 21:
Elements of Music I
Preference to majors. Introduction to tonal theory. Practice and analysis. Diatonic harmony focusing on melodic and harmonic organization, functional relationships, voice-leading, and tonal structures. Students must concurrently enroll in an Ear-training and musicianship lab (MUSIC 24a, 24b, or 24c as appropriate). Music majors must take 4 courses in ear training, and pass an ear training exit exam in their Junior year. Enrollment limited to 40. Prerequisites: (1) Piano Proficiency Exam (must be passed within the first two weeks of the term) or MUSIC 12A (may be taken concurrently); (2) Passing grade on a basic musical skills proficiency examination on the first day of class or MUSIC 19.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 22:
Elements of Music II
Preference to majors. Introduction to chromatic harmony focusing on secondary functions, modulations, harmonic sequences, mode mixture, and the Neapolitan, and augmented sixth chords. Analysis of musical forms and harmonizations complemented by harmonic and melodic dictation, sight singing, and other practical skills. Students must concurrently enroll in an Ear-training and musicianship lab (MUSIC 24a, 24b, or 24c as appropriate). Music majors must take 4 courses in ear training, and pass an ear training exit exam in their Junior year. Prerequisites: (1) MUSIC 21; (2) Piano Proficiency Exam or MUSIC 12B (may be taken concurrently).
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 23:
Elements of Music III
Preference to majors. Continuation of chromatic harmony and complex forms of late Romantic period. Students must concurrently enroll in an Ear-training and musicianship lab (MUSIC 24a, 24b, or 24c as appropriate). Music majors must take 4 courses in ear training, and pass an ear training exit exam in their Junior year. Prerequisites: (1) MUSIC 22; (2) Piano Proficiency Exam or MUSIC 12C (may be taken concurrently).
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 25:
Decoding Anime
Anime as an artistic form often boasts highly imaginative graphics, striking music, vibrant characters, and fantastical stories. The course aims at decoding the expressive power of anime by applying a method of multimedia analysis that focuses on the interaction between its component elements: story, image, sound and music. Through close reading of works by five leading and innovative directors the students will develop tools to analyze anime and interpret it in a larger cultural context.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
MUSIC 26N:
Japanese Arts: a Creative Exploration
The striking originality of Japanese contemporary culture seems to defy unifying pressures of globalization. What are the sources of this originality? Can it be traced to the unique and sophisticated art forms like rock gardens, haiku, tea ceremony, martial arts, ikebana and Noh Theater or to the illusive aesthetic notions of wabi, sabi, yûgen, ma or jo-ha-kyû? Exploration of Japanese arts through comparative examination and direct engagement. Creative projects and workshops in traditional Japanese arts.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 27N:
The British Invasion
Examination of three generations of British popular music in the `60s and `70s: the Beatles (and the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who); progressive rock (art rock) as embodied in Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer; the emergence of punk in its revolutionary (the Clash) and nihilistic (the Sex Pistols) forms. Among other issues, the manner in which marginal American culture (particularly African-American blues) is neglected by Americans and venerated by foreigners and the subsequent mainstream consumption of a transformed and repackaged American minority culture is discussed.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 30N:
A Stranger in a Strange Land: Jewish Musics in Translation
What does it mean to be a stranger in a strange land? For centuries Jewish people have struggled to shape their identities in unfamiliar surroundings, using music to remember the past and generate new, hybrid identities. In this class we adopt the metaphor of translation to think about how minority Jewish communities bridge distinct languages, musical idioms, and cultural practices. Our theme will take us on a journey across time and space¿from Italy to India, New York, Syria, Russia, and Israel. We consider the case of Salamone Rossi, a 17th-century Italian Jewish composer who moved uneasily between dual careers in the synagogue and a secular/Christian court. We also explore a group of Indian Jews (Bene Israel) who combine idioms learned from Jewish and Christian missionaries with local Hindu musical traditions. In all our examples musicians translate languages, musical styles, and cultures to unite memories of a Jewish past with the realities of minority status in the present. The class format includes listening, discussion, some singing, student presentations, and guest lectures.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 31N:
Perspectives in North American Taiko (ASNAMST 31N)
Preference to Freshman. Taiko, or Japanese drum, is a newcomer to the American music scene. Emergence of the first N. American taiko groups coincided with increased Japanese American activism, and to some it is symbolic of Japanese American identity. N. American taiko is associated with Japanese American Buddhism. Musical, cultural, historical, and political perspectives of taiko. Hands-on drumming. Japanese music and Japanese American history, and relations among performance, cultural expression, community, and identity.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
MUSIC 33N:
Beethoven
This seminar is designed as an in-depth introduction to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In addition to exploring the composer's principal works in a variety of genres (symphonies, piano sonatas, string quartets, opera, etc.), we will consider broader questions of biography and reception history. How have images of the composer and the fortunes of his music changed over time? How did his compositions come to define the paradigm of Western classical music? What impact has he had on popular culture? The class is open to all levels of musical expertise; the ability to read music is not a requirement. Come prepared to discover -- or rediscover -- some great music!
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
MUSIC 34N:
Performing America: The Broadway Musical
Musical theater as a site for the construction of American identity in the twentieth century to the present. Issues of class, race, gender, and sexuality; intersections with jazz, rock, and pop; roles of lyricist, composer, director, choreographer, producer, performers. Individual shows (Showboat, Oklahoma, West Side Story, Funny Girl, Company, Les Misérables, Wicked, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, A Strange Loop); musical theater "song types" across eras; show tunes in jazz, cabaret, and recital contexts; musicals on film, television, and social media. Opportunities for performance and attending local productions.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 36N:
Humor in Music
Through theoretical readings the course will touch on psychological and neurological bases of humor, explore contingent, tactical, modal, and ontological difficulties in the apprehension of humor, and address ethical issues surrounding humor in music. In addition to in-class listening and screening sessions, analytic discussions will be led by students who will find and present examples of humor in music. Students will also be invited to compose original humorous song lyrics and to create collaborative works of musical humor.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 37N:
Ki ho'alu: The New Renaissance of a Hawaiian Musical Tradition
Preference to freshman. Developed in the Hawaiian Islands during the 1830s, ki ho'alu, or Hawaiian slack key guitar, is an art form experiencing newfound popularity coinciding with the growth of political activism in Hawaiian culture. The musical, cultural, historical, and political perspectives of Hawaiian music and ki ho'alu, through hands-on experience, readings, discussion, and workshops. Hawaiian music and history and relationships among performance, cultural expression, community, and identity.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 40:
Music History to 1600
Pre- or corequisite: 21.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 41:
Music History 1600-1830
Pre- or corequisite: 22.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 42:
Music History Since 1830
Pre- or corequisite: 23.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 80T:
Jewish Music in the Lands of Islam (JEWISHST 80T)
An Interdisciplinary study of Music, Society, and Culture in communities of the Jewish Diaspora in Islamic countries. The course examines the diverse and rich musical traditions of the Jews in North Africa and the Middle East. Based on the "Maqamat" system, the Arabic musical modes, Jewish music flourished under Islamic rule, encompassing the fields of sacred music, popular songs, and art music. Using musicological, historical, and anthropological tools, the course compares and contrasts these traditions from their original roots through their adaptation, appropriation, and re-synthesis in contemporary art music and popular songs.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 102:
Picturing Performance, Re-Envisioning the Arts (MUSIC 202)
Critical and creative exploration of the performing body as captured on film. Viewing/listening includes musicals, dance and opera on film, music video, experimental film and video, and moments of heightened musicality in feature film. Focus on examples of moving media that possess a kinship with music through gesture, rhythm or affect and through visual parameters like décor, lighting, texture, camera movement and editing. Requirements include choosing and documenting a live performance, producing a short audiovisual work involving post-production, and weekly reading and viewing/listening assignments. No previous videomaking experience required. This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
MUSIC 114:
Sound Tracks: Music, Memory, and Migration in the Twentieth Century (CSRE 114)
This course comprises a thematic exploration of forces, experiences, and after-effects of diasporas of communities in the Americas and Europe throughout the 20th century. Through close listening accompanied by historical and theoretical readings, students will gain deeper insights into the making of meaning in music and the role of music as a creative response to the challenges of migration and minority-status in the modern nation-state. Historical examples will draw from the Romani diaspora, Eastern-European Jewish liturgical sounds, the Mexican-US border, and from Jazz and the Blues. We explore issues of race, ethnicity, identity, nationalism, minoritization as they intersect in the sound tracks of diaspora.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 122A:
Counterpoint
Analysis and composition of contrapuntal styles from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Use of keyboard, ear training, and sight singing underlies all written work. Prerequisites: MUSIC 23 and MUSIC 24C; passing piano-proficiency examination; or, consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 122B:
Analysis of Tonal Music
Complete movements, or entire shorter works of the 18th and 19th centuries, are analyzed in a variety of theoretical approaches. Prerequisites: MUSIC 23 and MUSIC 24C; passing piano-proficiency examination; or, consent of instructor.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
MUSIC 123:
Undergraduate Seminar in Composition
Current trends in composition. May be repeated for credit a total of 7 times. Prerequisites: Music major; 23 or consent of instructor.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
8 times
(up to 24 units total)
MUSIC 133:
Food, Text, Music: A Multidisciplinary Lab on the Art of Feasting (FRENCH 166, FRENCH 366, MUSIC 333)
Students cook a collection of unfamiliar recipes each week while learning about the cultural milieus in which they originated. The course focuses on the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a time of great banquets that brought together chefs, visual artists, poets, musicians, and dancers. Students read late-medieval cookbooks under the guidance of professional chefs, learn songs and poetry with the help of visiting performers, and delve into a burgeoning scholarly literature on food history and sensory experience. We will also study trade routes and food networks, the environmental impact of large-scale banquets, the science of food, and the politics of plenty. This course may count towards the Medieval component of the French major, and corresponds to DLCL 121, a course requirement for the Medieval Studies Minor. Students interested in applying for course need to email Professors Galvez and Rodin (mailto:mgalvez@stanford.edu and mailto:jrodin@stanford.edu) with a statement of intent and dietary restrictions/preferences.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 135:
Harmonic Convergence: Music's Intersections with Science, Mathematics, History, and Literature
Topics include music and the brain; tuning and temperament; musical form; connections between music and mathematics; and readings in history and literature with strong musical elements. Readings include "The Power of Music" (Mannes), "Musicophilia" (Sacks), "From Music to Mathematics" (Roberts), "The Kreutzer Sonata" (Tolstoy), "A Clockwork Orange" and "Honey for the Bears" (Burgess). Compositions by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and others will be studied. Goals: increased understanding of music's relationship to other fields; improved writing skills. While ability to read music is not required, students with musical ability will be encouraged to perform relevant works in class.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
MUSIC 141J:
Studies in Music of the Renaissance (MUSIC 241J)
Prerequisites: MUSIC 21, MUSIC 40. (WIM at 4-unit level only.)
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
MUSIC 142K:
Studies in Music of the Baroque: Handel the Cosmopolitan (MUSIC 242K)
Music history seminar on the operatic, sacred, and instrumental works of G.F. Handel as examples of the diversity, cosmopolitanism, expression, formal and technical features, and social uses of music in the first half of eighteenth century. Traces Handel¿s career from his native Germany to an elite Roman circle of musical connoisseurs, and to the Italian opera company he founded in London and his transformation of Italian opera into a new genre of English oratorio. By analyzing Handel¿s works in context, we examine the aesthetic, harmonic, and dramatic principles of the major European Baroque art-music genres. Prerequisites: MUSIC 22, MUSIC 41. (WIM at 4-unit level only.)
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
MUSIC 145J:
Studies in Western Art Music Since 1900: The Music & Ideas of Charles Ives (MUSIC 245J)
Prerequisites: MUSIC 23, MUSIC 42. (WIM at 4-unit level only.)
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
MUSIC 146J:
Studies in Ethnomusicology: Listening to the Local: Music Ethnography of the Bay Area (ANTHRO 146J, CSRE 146J, MUSIC 246J)
An introduction to music ethnography through student research on musical life in the Bay Area. Focus is on the intersections of music, social life, and cultural practice by engaging with people as they perform music and culture in situ. Techniques taught include participant-observation, interviewing and oral history, writing field-notes, recording, transcription, analysis, and ethnographic writing. Pre-/co-requisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 146K:
Studies in Ethnomusicology: Music of South Asia (MUSIC 246K)
Focuses on the history, theory, and practice of South Asian music with particular emphasis on the classical traditions of North and South India. Also addresses regional folk, popular, and devotional musical styles of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Topics include: raga, tala, vocal and instrumental genres, improvisation, aesthetics, music transmission, musical nationalism, social organization of musicians, music and ritual, music and gender, and technology. Lecture with discussion, some singing (no experience necessary), guest performances, reading, listening, and analysis. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 or 5 units only.)
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 146L:
Studies in Ethnomusicology: Musics of Africa and the African Diaspora (AFRICAAM 146L, AFRICAST 246L, MUSIC 246L)
An introduction to musics of Africa and the African Diaspora. Topics include: music and nationalism, religion, embodiment, diaspora, migration, resistance, gender, globalization, and race. Musical regions and nations may include: Zimbabwe, South Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Caribbean, and the United States. This is a seminar-based course in which students will write short reflective papers and a final, research-based paper.Pre- or co-requisite for WIM credit: Music 22. WIM at 4 or 5 letter-graded units only.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 147J:
Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: The Soul Tradition in African American Music (AFRICAAM 19, AMSTUD 147J, CSRE 147J, MUSIC 247J)
The African American tradition of soul music from its origins in blues, gospel, and jazz to its influence on today's r&b, hip hop, and dance music. Style such as rhythm and blues, Motown, Southern soul, funk, Philadelphia soul, disco, Chicago house, Detroit techno, trip hop, and neo-soul. Soul's cultural influence and global reach; its interaction with politics, gender, place, technology, and the economy. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 147K:
Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: Music and Urban Film (MUSIC 247K)
How music and sound work in urban cinema. What happens when music's capacity to transform everyday reality combines with the realism of urban films? Provides an introduction to traditional theories of film music and film sound; considers how new technologies and practices have changed the roles of music in film. Readings discuss film music, realistic cinema, urban musical practices and urban culture. Viewing includes action/adventure, Hindi film, documentary, film noir, hip hop film, the musical, and borderline cases by Jean-Luc Godard, Spike Lee, Wong Kar-Wai and Tsai Ming-Liang. Pre- or corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 unit level only.)
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
MUSIC 147L:
Studies in Music, Media, and Popular Culture: Latin American Music and Globalization (CHILATST 147L, CSRE 147L, MUSIC 247L)
Focuses on vernacular music of Latin America and the Caribbean, including Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina. Musical examples discussed in relation to: globalization, migration, colonialism, nationalism, diaspora, indigeneity, politics, religion, dance, ethnicity, and gender. How music reflects and shapes cultures, identities, and social structures. Genres addressed: bachata, bossa nova, cumbia, forro, ranchero, reggaeton, rock, salsa, tango, and others. Seminar, guest performances, reading, listening, and analysis. Pre-/corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4 units only.)
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
MUSIC 148J:
Studies in Perf Practice: Reactions to the Record: Early Recordings, Lost Styles, and Music's Future (MUSIC 248J)
This is a seminar on the transformation of musical style in the era of recordings in light of their roots in cultural trends, including shifting hierarchies between composer and performer, work and notation, text and act. Early recordings will be studied as documents of musical values and conceptions different from those around us today. Methodologies of performance analysis will be explored and used to contextualize sources, which include historic recordings from Stanford's Archive of Recorded Sound, performance documents, and field research with performers, composers, critics, and listeners. Repertoire includes works for orchestra, piano, strings, chamber ensemble and voice. Outstanding contributions from seminar members may be featured in the Music Department¿s May 2014 Reactions to the Record symposium. May be repeated for credit. Pre- or corequisite (for music majors): MUSIC 22. (WIM at 4-unit level only.)
Last offered: Spring 2016
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
MUSIC 150R:
Robert Schumann and the Idea of Musical Romanticism
The creative personality and musical compositions of Robert Schumann (1810-1856) as exemplars of the idea of Romanticism in European culture of the early nineteenth century. Survey of major genres (solo piano, Lieder, symphonies, chamber music, choral music) in dialogue with Romantic literary and visual cultures. Students prepare at least one or two works by Schumann or contemporary figures (Mendelssohn, Chopin, Brahms, Clara Schumann) for presentation in lecture-recital format. Prerequisites: Music 22 or equivalent (intermediate music theory), intermediate or higher performance ability in piano, strings, or voice
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 154:
History of Electronic Music
What is electronic music? Acousmatic, computer music, algorithmic composition, tape music, glitch, electronic, musique concrète, noise, laptop music, DJ'ing, organized sound...what do these labels mean? This course will provide a brief historical survey of electroacoustic music and discuss some of the most salient questions associated with it, from both a compositional and musicological point of view. Topics to be covered include: definitions of musical sounds; Schaefferian theory and musique concrète; serialism and elektronische Musik; tape music and computer music in the USA; analysis of electroacoustic music; sampling and intellectual property; algorithmic and computer-assisted composition; live-electronics and improvisation. The course does not require previous experience in the field. Classes will be based on discussion of selected listening and reading materials, as well as hands-on digital experimentation with sounds.
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 6 units total)
MUSIC 155:
Intermedia Workshop (ARTSTUDI 239, MUSIC 255)
Students develop and produce intermedia works. Musical and visual approaches to the conceptualisation and shaping of time-based art. Exploration of sound and image relationship. Study of a wide spectrum of audiovisual practices including experimental animation, video art, dance, performance, non-narrative forms, interactive art and installation art. Focus on works that use music/sound and image as equal partners. Limited enrollment. Prerequisites: consent of instructors, and one of FILMPROD 114, ARTSTUDI 131, 138, 167, 177, 179, or MUSIC 123, or equivalent. May be repeated for credit
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 8 units total)
MUSIC 185:
Technologies of Musical Expression
Music is made and experienced through technology created for it. These technologies allow for expression but influence the result. This course will utilize special collections, acoustical tools, music-making apps, live musicians, and media both historical and modern to reflect on the ways people make music expressive. The course is designed around creative projects and hands on experiences with digital and analogue media, player pianos, archival manuscripts, and sound sculptures to stimulate discussion about the role of technology in our musical experiences. Projects can include performances using digital and analogue media, performance art, creating player piano rolls, or performance ethnographies, etc. WAYS credit for 3 units and grade only.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 186B:
American Song in the 20th Century and after (AMSTUD 186B, MUSIC 286B)
Critical and creative exploration of song in the Americas. About twenty-five key examples will guide discussion of the interactions between words, music, performance and culture. Weekly listening, reading and assignments will be organized around central themes: love, sex and romance; war and politics; labor and money; place; identity; society and everyday life. Genres include art song; blues, gospel, jazz and country; pop, soul, rock and hip-hop; bossa nova, nueva canción and salsa; electronic and experimental. Takehome and in-class assignments will include critical and creative writing, and music composition, production and performance; final projects may emphasize any of the above.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
MUSIC 208C:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 208C, ARTHIST 408C, CLASSICS 175, MUSIC 408C, REES 208C, REES 408C, RELIGST 208C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
MUSIC 220B:
Compositional Algorithms, Psychoacoustics, and Computational Music
The use of high-level programming language as a compositional aid in creating musical structures. Advanced study of sound synthesis techniques. Simulation of a reverberant space and control of the position of sound within the space. This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit. See http://ccrma.stanford.edu/. Prerequisite: 220A.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
NATIVEAM 122:
Historiography & Native American Oral Traditions and Narratives
The writing of history, in particular the writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, scholars often ignore those from a Native American perspective. In the selection of what constitutes Native American history whether it is a Native American leader or hero¿s views, or the inclusion of specific details of events from a Native American perspective, the synthesis of these particulars into a narrative is often from a non-Native American perspective. Yet, aspects of Native American oral tradition continue to tell specific tribal histories that have survived and continue to withstand the test of time. Should these oral tradition narratives be included in the telling of Native American history?n nFor Native American peoples concepts of time differ from culture to culture where history may be defined differently from one group to another. Among these different groups time is organized in different ways, i.e. for the Lakota speaking peoples, Wintercounts are kept to record significant events in Lakota history for each year counted as a winter (thirteen months); however time is accounted for, each nation appears to incorporate oral tradition narratives that provide a cultural perspective of a group¿s origins. nFrom a Western perspective, history is secular and objectively evaluative whereas for most Indigenous peoples, history is a moral endeavor (Walker, Lakota Society 113). Thus for the Lakota peoples: ¿History is never simply the past, but the past as it relates to the present. This past is preceded, accompanied, and followed by an ever present, sacred dimension which [is] outside the realm of human time¿Without it, mere human history would lack the larger relevance that is essential to the Lakota concept. For [the Lakota], history is sacred history¿ (Walker, Lakota Society 113). nnThis course will examine the principles and theories used in the writing of Native American history in order to determine what constitutes how history is told in today's narratives. A text edited by Hurtado and Iverson that encourages critical thinking about major problems in American Indian history introduces students to primary sources and analytical essays on important topics in U.S. history with regard to Native Americans. Other selected readings on historiography and Native American oral tradition narratives will be utilized. Through the assigned readings students can read and evaluate primary sources, analyze and interpret essays by well-known Native American historians and others; and are encouraged in class discussions to draw their own conclusions in how Native American history should be told. Students will write two shorter papers and one longer paper on the topics relevant to the title of this course.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
NATIVEAM 134:
Museum Cultures: Material Representation in the Past and Present (AMSTUD 134, ARCHLGY 134, ARCHLGY 234, ARTHIST 284B, CSRE 134, EDUC 214)
Students will open the "black box" of museums to consider the past and present roles of institutional collections, culminating in a student-curated exhibition. Today, museums assert their relevance as dynamic spaces for debate and learning. Colonialism and restitution, the politics of representation, human/object relationships, and changing frameworks of authority make museum work widely significant and consistently challenging. Through thinking-in-practice, this course reflexively explores "museum cultures": representations of self and other within museums and institutional cultures of the museum world itself.n3 credits (no final project) or 5 credits (final project). May be repeat for credit
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 15 units total)
NATIVEAM 143A:
American Indian Mythology, Legend, and Lore (AMSTUD 143M, ENGLISH 43A, ENGLISH 143A)
(English majors and others taking 5 units, register for 143A.) Readings from American Indian literatures, old and new. Stories, songs, and rituals from the 19th century, including the Navajo Night Chant. Tricksters and trickster stories; war, healing, and hunting songs; Aztec songs from the 16th century. Readings from modern poets and novelists including N. Scott Momaday, Louise Erdrich, and Leslie Marmon Silko, and the classic autobiography, "Black Elk Speaks."
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
NATIVEAM 211:
The California Missions: Art History and Reconciliation (ARTHIST 211, CSRE 111)
Sites of the spirit and devotion, sites of genocide, foreboding actors in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, the subject of fourth-grade school projects, the Spanish Missions of Alta California are complex sites of inquiry, their meanings and associations different for each visitor. This seminar examines the art and architecture of the California Missions built between 1769 and 1823. Constructed with local materials and decorated with reredos, paintings and sculptures from Mexico and Spain, the Missions are at once humble spaces and flagships of a belated global baroque. They were also the laboratories of indigenous artists and artisans. This course seeks to understand how Mission art was meant to function, how and why it was made, what its materials were, while asking what the larger role of art was in a global system of missions. Can the study of this art lead to the reconciliation of populations in North America and within the field of art history? The Missions require a specific reexamination of the relationship between European and colonial forms, not as objects of curiosity or diffusion but as viable and globally informed agents.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OBGYN 81Q:
Perspectives on the Abortion Experience in Western Fiction
Explores the role of media in delivering abortion-related messages as well as the broader questions of how abortion and related issues are fundamentally integrated into the social fabric of US and global societies .Abortion remains one of the most controversial and polarizing challenges of our time. Yet, it has been a clinical, social, political, and cultural fact in a broad swath of societies for centuries. As is common for such lightning rod issues, the topic of abortion has featured prominently in a number of novels and films. Each treatment provides a unique perspective on at least one aspect of abortion, whether it be clinical, social, political or cultural. Examination of how abortion is portrayed in novels and films provides the student of history, anthropology, and biology not only with insights into the author's or director's perspectives, but also into societal attitudes and mores.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
OSPBER 17:
Split Images: A Century of Cinema
20th-century German culture through film. The silent era, Weimar, and the instrumentalization of film in the Third Reich. The postwar era: ideological and aesthetic codes of DEFA, new German cinema, and post-Wende filmmaking including Run Lola Run and Goodbye Lenin. Aesthetic aspects of the films including image composition, camera and editing techniques, and relation between sound and image.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
OSPBER 54:
The Performance of Memory
The Performance of Memory is a lecture/discussion/field trip class probing how nationalism, memorialization and tourism around trauma have made Germany a landscape of memory. Exploring sites related to WWII, the Holocaust and the Soviet occupation - including a former Stassi Prison and concentration camp - we trace how history and contemporary culture intertwine in Germany and how post reunification tourism to Third Reich and Jewish sites in and around Berlin are transforming locales of trauma into a new type of immersion theatre.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPBER 60:
Cityscape as History: Architecture and Urban Design in Berlin
Diversity of Berlin's architecture and urban design resulting from its historical background. Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his artistic ancestors. Role of the cultural exchange between Germany and the U.S. Changing nature of the city from the 19th century to the present.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPBER 66:
Theory from the Bleachers: Reading German Sports and Culture
German culture past and present through the lens of sports. Intellectual, societal, and historical-political contexts. Comparisons to Britain, France, and the U.S. The concepts of Körperkultur, Leistung, Show, Verein, and Haltung. Fair play, the relation of team and individual, production and deconstruction of sports heroes and heroines, and sports nationalism. Sources include sports narrations and images, attendance at sports events, and English and German texts. Taught in German.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II
OSPBER 101A:
Contemporary Theater
Texts of plays supplemented by theoretical texts or reviews. Weekly theater visits and discussions with actors, directors, or other theater professionals. For AUTUMN: In English; German assignments for students with advanced German skills. For SPRING: 5 units only. In German. Prerequisite: completion of GERLANG 3 or equivalent.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPCPTWN 55:
Arts of Change
How might we understand the creative arts in South Africa in terms of their variety and impact? What social issues do they reflect? What impact might they yet have? Students will have the opportunity for a related practicum. Course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units to satisfy a Ways requirement.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 11:
Film, Food and the Italian Identity
Food in Italian cinema staged as an allegory of Italy's social, political and cultural milieu. Intersections between food, history and culture as they are reflected in and shaped by Italian cinema from the early 1900s until today. Topics include: farmer's tradition during Fascism; lack of food during WWII and its aftermath; the Economic Miracle; food and the Americanization of Italy; La Dolce Vita; the Italian family; ethnicity, globalization and the re-discovery of regional culinary identity in contemporary Italy. Impact of cinema in both reflecting and defining the relationship between food and culture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPFLOR 28:
Between Art and Science: the Evolution of Techniques from Antiquity to Leonardo da Vinci
Revival of technical activity that began in the late fourteenth century, notably in Italy, and lasted, through the fifteenth century. New perspective on the Renaissance through focus on the careers and the most significant achievements of the "artist-engineers" active before Leonardo.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
OSPFLOR 34:
The Virgin Mother, Goddess of Beauty, Grand Duchess, and the Lady: Women in Florentine Art
Influence and position of women in the history of Florence as revealed in its art. Sculptural, pictorial, and architectural sources from a social, historical, and art historical point of view. Themes: the virgin mother (middle ages); the goddess of beauty (Botticelli to mannerism); the grand duchess (late Renaissance, Baroque); the lady, the woman (19th-20th centuries).
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPFLOR 48:
Sharing Beauty in Florence: Collectors, Collections and the Shaping of the Western Museum Tradition
The city's art and theories of how art should be presented. The history and typology of world-class collections. Social, economic, political, and aesthetic issues in museum planning and management. Collections include the Medici, English and American collectors of the Victorian era, and modern corporate and public patrons.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 49:
On-Screen Battles: Filmic Portrayals of Fascism and World War II
Structural and ideological attributes of narrative cinema, and theories of visual and cinematic representation. How film directors have translated history into stories, and war journals into visual images. Topics: the role of fascism in the development of Italian cinema and its phenomenology in film texts; cinema as a way of producing and reproducing constructions of history; film narratives as fictive metaphors of Italian cultural identity; film image, ideology, and politics of style.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 54:
High Renaissance and Mannerism: the Great Italian Masters of the 15th and 16th Centuries
The development of 15th- and early 16th-century art in Florence and Rome. Epochal changes in the art of Michelangelo and Raphael in the service of Pope Julius II. The impact of Roman High Renaissance art on masters such as Fra' Bartolomeo and Andrea del Sarto. The tragic circumstances surrounding the early maniera: Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino and the transformation of early Mannerism into the elegant style of the Medicean court. Contemporary developments in Venice.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 58:
Space as History: Social Vision and Urban Change
A thousand years of intentional change in Florence. Phases include programmatic enlargement of ecclesiastical structures begun in the 11th century; aggressive expansion of religious and civic space in the 13th and 14th centuries; aggrandizement of private and public buildings in the 15th century; transformation of Florence into a princely capital from the 16th through the 18th centuries; traumatic remaking of the city's historic core in the 19th century; and development of new residential areas on the outskirts and in neighboring towns in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 67:
The Celluloid Gaze: Gender, Identity and Sexuality in Cinema
Film in the social construction of gender through the representation of the feminine, the female, and women. Female subjects, gaze, and identity through a historical, technical, and narrative frame. Emphasis is on gender, identity, and sexuality with references to feminist film theory from the early 70s to current methodologies based on semiotics, psychoanalysis, and cultural studies. Advantages and limitations of methods for textual analysis and the theories which inform them.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPFLOR 111Y:
From Giotto to Michelangelo: The Birth and Flowering of Renaissance Art in Florence
Lectures, site visits, and readings reconstruct the circumstances that favored the flowering of architecture, sculpture, and painting in Florence and Italy, late 13th to early 16th century. Emphasis is on the classical roots; the particular relationship with nature; the commitment to human expressiveness; and rootedness in the real-world experience, translated in sculpture and painting as powerful plasticity, perspective space, and interest in movement and emotion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPFLOR 115Y:
Building the Cathedral and the Town Hall: Constructing and Deconstructing Symbols of a Civilization
The history, history of art, and symbolism of the two principal monuments of Florence: the cathedral and the town hall. Common meaning and ideological differences between the religious and civic symbols of Florence's history from the time of Giotto and the first Guelf republic to Bronzino and Giovanni da Bologna and the Grand Duchy.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPKYOTO 13:
Contemporary Religion in Japan's Ancient Capital: Sustaining and Recasting Tradition
Japanese attitudes to religion and popular forms of religiosity. Syncretic nature of beliefs and practices drawn on a variety of interwoven concepts, beliefs, customs and religious activities of native Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Indian origins as background. Topics include: pursuit of worldly benefits, religion and healing, fortune-telling, ascetic practices, pilgrimage, festivals (matsuri), new religions and their image, impact of the internet, response of religion in times of crisis.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPKYOTO 18:
Ceramic Art and Technology, from Ancient to Modern
Evolution of Japanese ceramics, beginning with the archeological record of the Jomon Period and ending with modern Kyoto-localized engineering (e.g., product development by the Kyocera Corporation & Group) and artistic movements (e.g., the mid-Twentieth Century Sodeisha). Topics include: materials science of silicate ceramics; ancient ceramic technology development in East Asia; geology of Japan's indigenous clay; roles of ceramics in the Japanese tea ceremony and culinary culture; engineered ceramic materials and their present-day applications; and modern developments in the Kyoto ceramic arts scene. Field trips to Kyoto-area museums, galleries, and academic and industrial laboratories.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
OSPKYOTO 58:
A Journey into the Buddhist Visual Arts of Japan
Impact of Buddhism on the arts and culture of Japan as seen in the ancient capital of Kyoto. Image production, iconography, representational strategies, as well as the ritual and visual functions of Buddhist sculpture and painting with a focus on selected historical temples and their icons. Also examination of architectural and landscape elements of temple layouts, within which iconographic programs are framed, images are enlivened, and practices centered on these devotional and ritual art.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
OSPMADRD 8A:
Cities and Creativity: Cultural and Architectural Interpretations of Madrid
Architecture and the city, with a focus on recent currents in the progress of both, such as sustainability, environmentalism and the relationship with nature. Topics underpinned by discussion of theory, and illustrated by a study of the city of Madrid: an example of a hybrid architectural/planning experiential environment that looks to the future with an ambition for modernization.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
OSPMADRD 43:
The Jacobean Star Way and Europe: Society, Politics and Culture
The Saint James' Way as a tool to understand historic dynamics from a global perspective. Its effect on the structures that form a political and institutional system, and its society, economy, and ideology. Enrollment limited; instructor approval required.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
OSPMADRD 45:
Women in Art: Case Study in the Madrid Museums
Viewing the collections at the Prado Museum through study and analysis of the representations of women. Contemporary literary texts and images that situate paintings in the historical, social, and political conditions that produced the works.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPMADRD 47:
Cultural Relations between Spain and the United States:Historical Perceptions and Influences, 1776-2
Critical historical thinking about international cultural relations, using Spain and U.S. as case studies examples, with references to Atlantic world contexts, from 1776 to the present. Insights into the continuing social and political relevance of their contested legacies. interpretive perspectives grounded in different ideologies, interests and collective identities within both societies. Introduction to pertinent social scientific theory regarding identity formation, self-image, and perceptions of and interactions with ethnic and cultural otherness. Differences between history, historiography and memory through consideration of diverse forms of expression and vehicles of transmission of collective memory.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
OSPMADRD 80:
Word, Image and Power
Relationships and uses of oral discourse, art, and iconography in politics in different countries through history. Case studies from ancient Egypt, the Greek Paideia, Cesar Augustus, medieval Europe, Spanish modern empire, French revolutionary discourse, and proletarian national identity in Russia and China.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
OSPMADRD 84:
Madrid Through My Eyes: A Theoreticl/Practical Documentary Film Workshop
Theoretical and practical view of Spanish language documentary cinema; potential of this type of film making as a form of personal expression. Tools for understanding and analyzing this type of cinema. Creative and analytical reflection on student 's Madrid experience; develop individual visual discourse to portray life in the city by filming a short documentary.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
OSPOXFRD 41:
Western Thought: Origins of Twentieth Century Semiotics
Story of semiotic exploration, its contributions to literary critical theory, Marxist critique and feminist critique, in development of twentieth century thought. Close look at principle authors and circumstances that engendered their writings. Questions about the relationship between thought and environment, and between ideology and action raised by looking at the way twentieth century events influenced thinkers to consider the purposes of language in society, in identity , and in authority.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
OSPOXFRD 52:
Shakespeare and Performance
Examination of various aspects of the role of performance in Shakespeare. Alongside considering the aesthetics of the Elizabethan stage and how to read Shakespeare's texts for performance, the module will also look at how different types of performances and performance mediums generate different meanings for audiences. Theoretical ideas of the performance of gender and identity will also be discussed.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
OSPOXFRD 57:
The Rise of the Woman Writer 1660-1860
Emergence and rise of the professional woman writer from playwright and Royalist spy Aphra Behn (1640-89) to novelist and proto-feminist Charlotte Bronte (1816-55). How women writers dealt with criticism for writing publicly, placing each author and text in its historical and literary context. Range of poets, playwrights, and novelists including Eliza Haywood, Frances Burney, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Topics: gender roles and proto-feminism, the public versus the private sphere, sexuality, courtship and marriage.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II
OSPOXFRD 93:
Collecting the World
The art, science, and culture of the creation, transmission and collection of valuable, useful and informative objects and texts before the twentieth century, and the associated theories, purposes, and methods for collecting `worldly' goods and other valuables. Means by which local academic practices engaged with global developments in the arts and sciences through examination of primarily early modern material and intellectual culture in and around Oxfordshire. Assessments of quality, meaning, usage, cultural significance and the reception of material ¿treasures¿ in the storage rooms, vaults, and on display in museums, galleries, and libraries.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
OSPPARIS 30:
The Avant Garde in France through Literature, Art, and Theater
Multiple artistic trends and esthetic theories from Baudelaire to the Nouveau Roman, from the Surrealists to Oulipo, from the theater of cruelty to the theater of the absurd, from the Impressionists to Yves Klein. Interdisciplinary approach to reflect on the meaning of avant garde and modernity in general, and on the question of why revolutionary artists in France remained in search of institutional recognition, nonetheless.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 34:
Franco-American Encounters: Paris-New York in the 20th Century
Double vision of American artists and intellectuals of Paris, as well as their French counterparts of New York, throughout the 20th century. Exploration of Franco-American relations through two very problematic itineraries. Superposing the two will create a rich and complex image of the interaction between the two cultures. Migration of American artists and intellectuals to Paris in the 1920¿s and of French artists and intellectuals to New York during the Second World War. Through study of films, texts and images, view the two cities through eyes of immigrants, both temporary and permanent. Major figures such as Hemingway, Josephine Baker, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPPARIS 54:
The Artist's World: The Workshop, Patronage and Public in 19th and 20th Century France
Synergy between artists, their workshops, patrons, models and the public in 19th and 20th century France. Weekly sessions in museums, artists' studios, and special venues within and around Paris, attempting to understand the world of the artist, and how, in many cases, this world became not only a place of refuge, but a metaphor of the artistic creation itself.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 72:
The Ceilings of Paris
Seventeenth century transformation of the ceilings of Paris, private and public. Itinerary of this transformation from artists' initial drawings to their finished work. Under the guidance of the curator of 17th century French Drawings in the Louvre Museum, study the original drawings as well as the venues in and around Paris. Sites vary from the most illustrious (Versailles) to the lesser known (Hotel Lauzun). Reflection on the changing social and political aspirations as represented in these new artistic forms. Language of instruction: French.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 77:
Literature and Philosophy of Place
Themes of place and displacement in literature and philosophy of the larger French-speaking world, focusing on diasporic writers. Paris as a magnet for artists and thinkers seeking freedom from restrictive environments. Contrast the experiences of characters who are at "home" and those who are "away," the anxieties of exile and of colonialism, how one person's claim on home can be another's experience of being invaded,. Philosophers' analyses of the interdependence of place and identity, place and belonging, the sometimes contradictory nature of 'home,' as they pertain to the literary (fiction, essay, poetry) texts we will read.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPPARIS 92:
Building Paris: Its History, Architecture, and Urban Design
The development of Parisian building and architecture from the 17th century to the present. Interaction of tradition and innovation in its transformation and its historical, political, and cultural underpinnings. Visits and case studies throughout Paris illustrate the formation of the city landscape and its culture.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
OSPPARIS 186F:
Contemporary African Literature in French
Focus is on African writers and those of the diaspora, bound together by a common history of slave trade, bondage, colonization, and racism. Their works belong to the past, seeking to save an oral heritage of proverbs, story tales, and epics, but they are also contemporary.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPSANTG 14:
Women Writers of Latin America in the 20th Century
Key figures in poetry, narrative fiction, theater, and testimonio, such as Mistral, Garro, Lispector, Poniatowska, Valenzuela, Eltit and Menchú. Close reading technique. Issues raised in literary texts that reflect the evolution of the condition of women in Latin America during the period. Topics include gender differences and relationships, tradition versus transgression, relationship between changes in the status of women and other egalitarian transformations, and women writers and the configuration of literary canons.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
OSPSANTG 30:
Short Latin American Fiction of the 20th Century
Introduction to short narrative fiction produced in Latin America during the 20th Century. Key features of the short story genre, as defined by Chekhov in the 19th Century and redefined by Kafka and Borges in the 20th Century. Main literary movements of the period in Latin America, including Regionalism, Social Realism, the Avant-Garde, the Boom of the 1960s and Magical Realism, the Post-Boom, etc. Close reading course with strong emphasis on analysis and discussion of the required texts. Readings placed in the context of the main developments in Latin American history and culture in the period.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
OSPSANTG 49:
Chile - Another "End of the World"?
Introduction to the identity of Chilean culture and the Chilean nation (within South America) from an unusual perspective. Focus on the history and the multiple dimensions of the still very popular Chilean self-perception as "the country of the end of the world," the country characterized by the extreme geographical shape between the Southern Pacific and the mountain range of the Andes. This motif is connected both to a tradition of cultural self-perception in the Christian Middle Ages and to a recent methodological "turn" in the Humanities, a turn that explores, for the first time, the relationship between space and cultural identity.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 1:
Introduction to Philosophy
Is there one truth or many? Does science tell us everything there is to know? Can our minds be purely physical? Do we have free will? Is faith rational? Should we always be rational? What is the meaning of life? Are there moral truths? What are truth, reality, rationality, and knowledge? How can such questions be answered? Intensive introduction to theories and techniques in philosophy from various contemporary traditions. Students must enroll in lecture AND and one of the discussion sections listed.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 2:
Introduction to Moral Philosophy (ETHICSOC 20)
What should I do with my life? What kind of person should I be? How should we treat others? What makes actions right or wrong? What is good and what is bad? What should we value? How should we organize society? Is there any reason to be moral? Is morality relative or subjective? How, if at all, can such questions be answered? Intensive introduction to theories and techniques in contemporary moral philosophy.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 6N:
Pictures and the Imagination
Paintings, drawings, and photographs often function as pictures or images of the preexisting things they take as subjects. They represent these subjects from specific spatial vantage points in ways that may be more or less definite, more or less detailed, and more or less faithful to what the subjects are actually like. One longs to know how this works: how vision, imagination, and background knowledge come together when we experience a picture as a picture. Certain forms of imagining and remembering involve mental picturing, mental imagery. Sometimes we imagine or remember things in visual terms from a specific spatial vantage point, with the result that we feel brought face to face with the things imagined or remembered, however far away they may actually be. How is the physical picturing that goes on in paintings, drawings, and photographs both like and unlike the mental picturing that goes on when things swim before the mind's eye? What role does mental picturing play in physical picturing? What kinds of artistic value and interest attach to paintings, drawings, and photographs in virtue of what they picture and how they picture it?
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 13:
Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, Modern (DLCL 13, FRENCH 13, HISTORY 239C, HUMCORE 13)
This three-quarter sequence asks big questions of major texts in the European and American tradition. What is a good life? How should society be organized? Who belongs? How should honor, love, sin, and similar abstractions govern our actions? What duty do we owe to the past and future? This third and final quarter focuses on the modern period, from the rise of revolutionary ideas to the experiences of totalitarianism and decolonization in the twentieth century. Authors include Locke, Mary Shelley, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Weber, Primo Levi, and Frantz Fanon.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 13N:
"Can good people like bad music?" and other questions
Think of a musical artist you just can't stand to listen to. Chances are, this artist has thousands, if not millions, of adoring fans. That is, what's "bad music" to you is "good music" to others. This fact is not shocking: we all know that people have different tastes in music, and in art more generally. But what does this fact tell us about art, other people, and ourselves? Are some of us right and others of us wrong about what's good and bad music? Is there reason to think that some music is "objectively" better than other music? Can we say that those who like "bad music" are missing something, or mistaken in their tastes? If so, why not think it's us that are mistaken? How much are our own tastes bound up with "who we are"? And what might this mean for our capacity to appreciate tastes which are not our own?nThis seminar is an investigation into these and other questions. Through the specific lens of music, we will explore the nature of artistic taste more generally. Our main course text will be Carl Wilson's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste, a popular introduction to our topic. We will also look at and discuss actual album reviews, pieces of music journalism, and news stories. Class meetings will be heavily discussion-based, and students should come to class ready to share, debate, and scrutinize their own musical tastes. Outside of class, students will develop their understanding through a variety of informal and creative writing assignments, such as exploratory journal entries and mock fan letters. Your taste in music may very well change as a result of this seminar, but this is not its aim. The goal is to understand what it means to disagree about art, through which you will learn how to respond more intelligently and empathetically to such disagreements as they come up in your everyday life.
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 28:
The Literature and Philosophy of Place
Literature and philosophy, primarily, but not exclusively from Latin America, that raises questions about place and displacement through migration and exile, about how location shapes our understanding of ourselves and of our responsibilities to society and environment, about the multiple meanings of home. Among the questions we will consider are the difference between the experiences of people who are at "home" and those who are "away," how one person's claim on home can be another's experience of being invaded, the interdependence of self and place, the multiple meanings of "environment." Readings by Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, Carmen Lyra, Jorge Gracia, Otavio Paz, Maria Lugones, among others.
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
PHIL 60:
Introduction to Philosophy of Science (HPS 60)
This course introduces students to tools for the philosophical analysis of science. We will cover issues in observation, experiment, and reasoning, questions about the aims of science, scientific change, and the relations between science and values.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 77S:
Philosophy of Religion (RELIGST 36)
(Formerly RELIGST 62S) Explores fundamental questions about the existence of God, free will and determinism, faith and reason, through traditional philosophical texts. Course is divided into four sections: first asks what is religion; second surveys the western philosophical tradition from Boethius through Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Kierkegaard regarding the foundation for theist beliefs; third investigates questions mystical experience raises through both western and Buddhist materials; and fourth takes up the ethics of belief, what we have a right to believe, through the Clifford and James debate and the opposing stances of Camus and Pascal.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 80:
Mind, Matter, and Meaning
Intensive study of central topics in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language and mind in preparation for advanced courses in philosophy. Emphasis on development of analytical writing skills. Prerequisite: one prior course in Philosophy or permission of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ;
Crimmins, M. (PI);
Taylor, K. (PI);
Dowling, G. (TA);
Hobbs, L. (TA);
Kim, H. (TA);
Kim, R. (TA);
Madigan, T. (TA);
Simon, A. (TA);
Slabon, T. (TA);
Thompson, D. (TA);
Wong-Taylor, G. (TA);
Zweber, A. (TA)
PHIL 81:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, SLAVIC 181)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track. Majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature, with particular focus on the question of value: what, if anything, does engagement with literary works do for our lives? Issues include aesthetic self-fashioning, the paradox of tragedy, the paradox of caring, the truth-value of fiction, metaphor, authorship, irony, make-believe, expression, edification, clarification, and training. Readings are drawn from literature and film, philosophical theories of art, and stylistically interesting works of philosophy. Authors may include Sophocles, Chaucer, Dickinson, Proust, Woolf, Borges, Beckett, Kundera, Charlie Kaufman; Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas; Plato, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 100:
Greek Philosophy (CLASSICS 40)
We shall cover the major developments in Greek philosophical thought, focusing on Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic schools (the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Skeptics). Topics include epistemology, metaphysics, psychology, ethics and political theory. No prereqs, not repeatable.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 102:
Modern Philosophy, Descartes to Kant
Major figures in early modern philosophy in epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. Writings by Descartes, Leibniz, Hume, and Kant.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 105W:
Shame, in Antiquity & Today (PHIL 205W)
What is the moral significance of shame? Is our sense of shame an important safeguard against our otherwise selfish impulses, or a childish aversion to social disapproval? Are our feelings of shame concerned with who we really are as people, or merely with how we appear to others? Is the shaming of others ever justified, and if so, when? Is shame a universal human experience, or does its nature and significance vary across cultures and time? This course is an investigation into these and related questions, about the nature of shame and its role in our moral psychology and ethical lives. Readings will include classic ancient Greek works by Plato, Homer, and Sophocles; modern scholarship on those ancient sources; and contemporary ethical discussions of shame. No background in ancient Greek or contemporary moral philosophy is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 108:
Aristotle's Metaphysics Book Alpha (PHIL 208)
An introduction both to Aristotle's own metaphysics and to his treatment of his predecessors on causality, included the early Ionian cosmologists, atomism, Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras and Plato. Prerequisite: one course in ancient Greek philosophy.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 125:
Kant's First Critique (PHIL 225)
(Graduate students register for 225.) The founding work of Kant's critical philosophy emphasizing his contributions to metaphysics and epistemology. His attempts to limit metaphysics to the objects of experience. Prerequisite: course dealing with systematic issues in metaphysics or epistemology, or with the history of modern philosophy.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 133S:
Heidegger and Mysticism (RELIGST 181)
The new paradigm for understanding Heidegger makes possible a fresh look at his long-standing interest in western mysticism as well as in Daoism. Part One: a radical recasting of Heidegger's thought, including his readings of the Presocratics (6th century BCE). In light of that, Part Two: a reading of selected texts of western mystics as well as Laozi's Dao De Jing / Tao Te Ching (6th century BCE).
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 137:
Wittgenstein (PHIL 237)
(Graduate students register for 237.) An exploration of Wittgenstein's changing views about meaning, mind, knowledge, and the nature of philosophical perplexity and philosophical insight, focusing on the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations.
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 165:
Philosophy of Physics: Philosophical Issues in Quantum Mechanics (PHIL 265)
Graduate students register for 265. NOTE: Phil 165/265 alternates topics yearly between "Philosophical Issues in Quantum Mechanics" and "Philosophical Problems of Space, Time and Motion". The course may be repeated with a different subject matter. nnIn Winter 2017-18, the subject is ""Philosophical Issues in QM"nnI. TOPICS: After introducing a simplified version of Dirac's 'bra-ket' vector space formalism for the quantum state (a.k.a. function), the first third of the term is a historical overview of Heisenberg's uncertainty relations, wave-particle duality, the problem of quantum measurement, and the non-classical nature of spin. We survey the treatment of these issues within Bohr's doctrine of complementarity and the so-called Copenhagen interpretation of QM. We review Einstein's several arguments for the incompleteness of QM, leading up to the famous EPR (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen) paper of 1935, the resulting issue of quantum entanglement as discussed by Einstein and Schrödinger, and the complexities of Bohr's response to EPR. In the second third of the term, we examine a well-known 'no go' theorem on EPR-type experimental set-ups stemming from Bell in the 1960s, according to which no hidden variables theory satisfying a certain locality condition (apparently assumed by EPR) can reproduce all the predictions of QM. In the last third, we survey current variations of, or interpretive options for, standard QM: Bohmian mechanics (a.k.a. pilot wave theory), spontaneous collapse theories, and Everett's relative-state interpretation with its many worlds/ many minds variants. We end by scrutinizing the recent decoherence program (a.k.a.localization induced by the scattering of environmental particles) that purports to explain the quantum-to-classical transition, i.e., the emergence of the world of classical physics and macroscopic objects and properties from quantum physics. We consider whether decoherence is justifiably viewed as solving the quantum measurement problem. nnII. PREREQUISITES: No detailed knowledge of quantum physics or advanced mathematics is presumed. Some background in philosophy, natural science or mathematics will be helpful. Students will benefit from possession of a modicum of mathematical maturity (roughly equivalent to a familiarity with elementary single-variable calculus or the metatheory of first-order logic).
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SMA
| Repeatable
for credit
PHIL 167A:
Philosophy of Biology (PHIL 267A)
(Graduate students register for 267A.) Evolutionary theory and in particular, on characterizing natural selection and how it operates. We examine debates about fitness, whether selection is a cause or force, the levels at which selection operates, and whether cultural evolution is a Darwinian process. Prerequisites: one PHIL course and either one BIO course or Human Biology core; or equivalent with consent of instructor.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 167D:
Philosophy of Neuroscience (PHIL 267D, SYMSYS 206A)
How can we explain the mind? With approaches ranging from computational models to cellular-level characterizations of neural responses to the characterization of behavior, neuroscience aims to explain how we see, think, decide, and even feel. While these approaches have been highly successful in answering some kinds of questions, they have resulted in surprisingly little progress in others. We'll look at the relationships between the neuroscientific enterprise, philosophical investigations of the nature of the mind, and our everyday experiences as creatures with minds. Prerequisite: PHIL 80.n(Not open to freshmen.)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 170:
Ethical Theory (ETHICSOC 170, PHIL 270)
How should we live our lives? Should you love your neighbour as yourself? Should you be digging wells rather than taking philosophy classes? Is taxation just? What obligations do we have to the not-yet-born, and to the dead? And says who? Are there really any answers to these questions? If so, what explains why they are one way rather than another? The will of God? Perhaps we need rules to ensure mutual benefits. But then, can I break them if no-one will find out? Can it be appropriate to blame you for doing something that you thought was the right thing to do (perhaps rejecting a blood transfusion)? Or to praise you for doing something you thought was the wrong thing to do (like Huck Finn)? By the end of this semester, you will be developing answers to these questions and many more.nnA more challenging version of Phil 2 designed primarily for juniors and seniors (may also be appropriate for some freshmen and sophomores - contact professor). Fulfills the Ethical Reasoning requirement. Graduate section (270) will include supplemental readings and discussion, geared for graduate students new to moral philosophy, as well as those with some background who would like more.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 170B:
Metaphor (PHIL 270B)
In metaphor we think and talk about two things at once: two different subject matters are mingled to rich and unpredictable effect. A close critical study of the main modern accounts of metaphor's nature and interest, drawing on the work of writers, linguists, philosophers, and literary critics. Attention to how understanding, appreciation, and pleasure connect with one another in the experience of metaphor. Consideration of the possibility that metaphor or something very like it occurs in nonverbal medial: gesture, dance, painting, music.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 172:
History of Modern Moral Philosophy (PHIL 272)
A critical exploration of some of the main forms of systematic moral theorizing in Western philosophy from Hobbes onward and their roots in ancient ethical thought. Prerequistes are some prior familiarity with utilitarianism and Kantian ethics and a demonstrated interest in philosophy.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 174A:
Moral Limits of the Market (ETHICSOC 174A, PHIL 274A, POLISCI 135P)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 175:
Philosophy of Law
This course will explore foundational questions about the nature of law, including questions about the relationship between law and morality. Topics to be discussed include the following: a) the foundations of legal authority, b) legal reasoning and argument, and c) the nature of persistent legal disputes (e.g., disputes about how to best interpret the US constitution). We will focus on contemporary work on these topics, including work by Scott Shapiro, Joseph Raz, Ronald Dworkin, David Enoch, Connie Rosati, and Mark Greenberg. Prerequisite: PHIL 80.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 176:
Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition (PHIL 276, POLISCI 137A, POLISCI 337A)
(Graduate students register for 276.) Why and under what conditions do human beings need political institutions? What makes them legitimate or illegitimate? What is the nature, source, and extent of the obligation to obey the legitimate ones, and how should people alter or overthrow the others? Study of the answers given to such questions by major political theorists of the early modern period: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Kant.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 176A:
Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought (CLASSICS 181, CLASSICS 381, PHIL 276A, POLISCI 230A, POLISCI 330A)
(Formerly CLASSHIS 133/333.) Political philosophy in classical antiquity, focusing on canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Historical background. Topics include: political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; and law, civic strife, and constitutional change.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 179A:
Feminist and Queer Theories and Methods Across the Disciplines (FEMGEN 103, FEMGEN 203, PHIL 279A)
(Graduate Students register for PHIL 279A or FEMGEN 203) This course is an opportunity to explore the difference feminist and queer perspectives make in creative arts, humanities, and social science research.nPrerequisites: Feminist Studies 101 or equivalent with consent of instructor.nNOTE: This course must be taken for a letter grade and a minimum of 3 units to be eligible for WAYS credit. The 2 unit option is for graduate students only.
Terms: Win
| Units: 2-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
PHIL 180:
Metaphysics
This is an undergraduate only class. Intensive introduction to core topics in contemporary metaphysics. What is the fundamental structure of reality? Is it objective? How can there be truths about what is possible or necessary, if only the actual exists? Do we have free will? What is it for an event to be determined by its causes? Is the only thing that exists the current instance of time? Is the world purely physical? Does science answer all of these questions? Prerequisites: 1, 80 and background in logic.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 184:
Epistemology (PHIL 284)
This is an advanced introduction to core topics in epistemology -- the philosophical study of human knowledge. Questions covered will include: What is knowledge? Can we know anything outside our own minds? Must all knowledge rest on secure foundations? Does knowing something require knowing that you know it? What are the connections between knowledge and rationality? Does 'knowledge' mean the same in the philosophy classroom as it does in everyday life? Prerequisite Phil 80 or consent of the instructor.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 185:
Theory of Understanding (PHIL 285)
This course will survey some of the ongoing work on understanding in philosophy and psychology. The questions considered will include: What exactly is understanding? How does understanding differ from knowledge of commonplace facts? What are the different forms understanding takes (e.g. scientific, social, historical, aesthetic, etc), and how are the different forms of understanding related? Is there such a thing as implicit understanding?
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 186:
Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 286)
(Graduate students register for 286.) This is an advanced introduction to core topics in the philosophy of mind. Prerequisite: PHIL 80
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 194H:
Capstone Seminar: Self-knowledge and Consciousness
Capstone seminar for the major. What is it for a mental state to be introspectively accessible, which mental states fall in this category, how does the capacity for introspection yield (self-)knowledge, and what is the relationship between introspection and consciousness? This seminar explores these questions through in-class discussions, reading and writing.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 194P:
Naming and Necessity
Saul Kripke's lectures on reference, modal metaphysics, and the mind/body problem.
Last offered: Spring 2010
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 194W:
Capstone Seminar: Literature and the Moral Imagination
Literature is often hailed for its ability to expand our moral horizons and to make us better, more empathetic people. But is literature actually able to do these things? If it is, is it unique in its power to do so? How can reading a work of creative fiction improve us in real life? Can reading literature ever make us worse? This course is an investigation into these and related questions, which special attention given to the ways that literature can (and cannot) engage the moral imagination. Readings will alternate between contemporary philosophical articles on the relation between literature, ethics, and the moral imagination, and classic and contemporary works of literature that engage the moral imagination in different ways. Some background in aesthetics, ethics, and/or the philosophy of literature is preferred, but not required. (This is a capstone seminar for philosophy majors and students pursuing the Philosophy & Literature concentration. Other students are welcome to enroll, but preference will be given to students in these groups.)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 31N:
Political Freedom: Rights, Justice, and Democracy in the Western Tradition
Freedom is one of our core values. Most people can agree that freedom is a good thing. Yet there is far less agreement about how to understand the concept itself and what kinds of political arrangements are best suited to protect and enhance freedom. Is freedom about being left alone? Undertaking action with others? Participating in governance? Does freedom require a limited state? An active and interventionist government? A robustly participatory political system? How is freedom connected to other political values, like justice and equality? This seminar will consider and evaluate some of the most controversial and challenging answers that have been given to these questions by both historical and contemporary political thinkers from Europe and North America. Thinkers covered will include: Plato, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Robert Putnam, and Jeremy Waldron.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
POLISCI 124A:
The American West (AMSTUD 124A, ARTHIST 152, ENGLISH 124, HISTORY 151)
The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
POLISCI 131L:
Modern Political Thought: Machiavelli to Marx and Mill (ETHICSOC 131S)
This course offers an introduction to the history of Western political thought from the late fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries. We will consider the development of ideas like individual rights, government by consent, and the protection of private property. We will also explore the ways in which these ideas continue to animate contemporary political debates. Thinkers covered will include: Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 135P:
Moral Limits of the Market (ETHICSOC 174A, PHIL 174A, PHIL 274A)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 137A:
Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition (PHIL 176, PHIL 276, POLISCI 337A)
(Graduate students register for 276.) Why and under what conditions do human beings need political institutions? What makes them legitimate or illegitimate? What is the nature, source, and extent of the obligation to obey the legitimate ones, and how should people alter or overthrow the others? Study of the answers given to such questions by major political theorists of the early modern period: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Kant.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 230A:
Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought (CLASSICS 181, CLASSICS 381, PHIL 176A, PHIL 276A, POLISCI 330A)
(Formerly CLASSHIS 133/333.) Political philosophy in classical antiquity, focusing on canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Historical background. Topics include: political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; and law, civic strife, and constitutional change.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 237M:
Politics and Evil (ETHICSOC 237M)
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the political theorist Hannah Arendt wrote that ¿the problem of evil will be the fundamental question of postwar intellectual life in Europe.¿ This question remains fundamental today. The acts to which the word ¿evil¿ might apply¿genocide, terrorism, torture, human trafficking, etc.¿persist. The rhetoric of evil also remains central to American political discourse, both as a means of condemning such acts and of justifying preventive and punitive measures intended to combat them. In this advanced undergraduate seminar, we will examine the intersection of politics and evil by considering works by philosophers and political theorists, with occasional forays into film and media. The thinkers covered will include: Hannah Arendt, Immanuel Kant, Niccolò Machiavelli, Friedrich Nietzche, and Michael Walzer.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PSYC 82:
The Literature of Psychosis (ANTHRO 82P, HUMBIO 162L, PSYC 282)
One of the great gifts of literature is its ability to give us insight into the internal worlds of others. This is particularly true of that state clinicians call "psychosis." But psychosis is a complex concept. It can be terrifying and devastating for patients and families, and yet shares characteristics with other, less pathological states, such as mysticism and creativity. How then can we begin to make sense of it? In this course, we will examine the first-hand experience of psychosis. We will approach it from multiple perspectives, including clinical descriptions, works of art, and texts by writers ranging from Shakespeare, to the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, to patients attempting to describe their experience. This class is not only for students thinking of careers in medicine, psychology or anthropology, but also readers and writers interested exploring extraordinary texts. There are no prerequisites necessary; all that is needed is a love of language and a curiosity about the secrets of other minds.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
| Repeatable
2 times
(up to 10 units total)
PSYCH 29N:
Growing Up in America
Preference to freshmen. To what extent is it possible to describe an "American" experience? How are different people included in or excluded from the imagined community that is America? How do a person's race, class, gender and sexuality affect his or her experience of belonging to this country? These are just some of the questions we will consider as we familiarize ourselves with the great diversity of childhood and young adult experiences of people who have grown up in America. We will read and discuss narratives written by men and women, by urban, suburban, and rural Americans, and by Asian Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Latina/os, and European Americans.
Last offered: Winter 2014
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
PWR 91CW:
Intermediate Writing: Seeing is Believing
In this course, students will study and practice techniques and rhetorics of data visualization based on principles of rhetorical history, visual rhetorics and graphic design as well as cognitive science, design thinking, and other disciplines that inform critical conversations around information display and data visualization. For more information visit https://undergrad.stanford.edu/programs/pwr/courses/additional-elective-courses/seeing-isand-believing-rhetoric-big-data-visualization.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
PWR 194AJ:
Topics in Writing & Rhetoric: Contemporary Black Rhetorics: Black Twitter and Black Digital Cultures (AFRICAAM 194)
Does not fulfill NSC requirement. This course will examine Black engagements with digital culture as sites for community building, social action and individual and collective identity formation. By studying phenomena like #BlackTwitter, memes, Vine, selfie culture, blogging, "social watching," and more, we will explore how Black technology use addresses questions like identity performance and expression, hyper visibility and invisibility of Black lives, Black feminisms, misogynoir and Black women/femme leadership in social movements, the roles and influence of Black Queer cultures online, and social activism and movements in online spaces. nnFrom #YouOKSis, #BlackLivesMatter and #AfroLatinidad to the Clapback, roasts and "reads," we will work from the serious to the silly, from individuals to collectives, from activism to everyday life, and from distinct Black cultures to diasporic connections and exchange. Participants in the course will create a social media autobiography, a "read/ing" of a Black cultural practice or phenomenon online, host an online discussion, and prepare a pitch for a longer research project they might pursue as a thesis or an ongoing study. Bring your GIFs, memes, and emoji, and a willingness to be in community both online and off for this new course! Prerequisite: first level of the writing requirement or equivalent transfer credit. For topics, see https://undergrad.stanford.edu/programs/pwr/courses/advanced-pwr-courses.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
PWR 194BR:
Topics in Writing & Rhetoric: The Rhetoric of Health and Medicine
This course will aim to give students a foundation in the rhetoric of health and medicine across major stakeholders researchers, government, institutions, doctors, patients, journalists, and a general public obsessed with health and wellness. For example, we will analyze key theories about the relation of institutions, doctors, and patients, from Foucault's Birth of the Clinic to Rita Charon's Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness. We will also investigate how patients make sense of their illnesses through art and memoirs, how doctors are trained in an empathetic bedside manner, and the rhetoric of medical breakthroughs. From this foundation, students will choose an issue to tackle in their own research projects, from the politicization of Planned Parenthood and women's healthcare, to the experience of trans patients seeking care, to the rhetoric of access vs. coverage in current debates about health insurance. Prerequisite: completion of WR-1 & WR-2 req or permission of instructor. For full description, see https://undergrad.stanford.edu/programs/pwr/courses/additional-elective-courses/rhetoric-health-and-medicine
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PWR 194KT:
Topics in Writing & Rhetoric: The Last Hopi On Earth: The Rhetoric of Entertainment Inequity (CSRE 194KT)
While #OscarsSoWhite brought attention to the Academy's overwhelmingly White, male membership, the underbelly of the entertainment industry itself is rife with inequitable hiring of not only on-camera and on-stage performers but also directors, writers, and others behind the scenes. While there are several organizations from Racebending.com to the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media that seek to usher in more equitable representation, push back against the Industry's disparate employment practices has been documented for more than fifty years with what many argue is not proportionally positive movement. White males still garner almost half of all theatrical and television roles and represent more than 80% of episodic directors while entertainment hubs Los Angeles and New York City are more than 50% people of color and female. What will it take to attain equity in the entertainment industry? Why does it matter? nnIn this course, students will examine rhetorical issues in promoting, defending, and opposing entertainment industry practices - writing and speaking across genres in persuasive response - and ultimately develop a collaborative 5-year strategic plan to usher in equity.n nThis course is part of the PWR advanced elective track in Social and Racial Justice (SRJ). Prerequisite: first two levels of the writing requirement or equivalent transfer credit. For video course description, see https://undergrad.stanford.edu/programs/pwr/courses/advanced-courses/last-hopi-earth-rhetoric-entertainment-inequity.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
PWR 194SB:
Topics in Writing and Rhetoric: Rhetoric of Science
Understanding rhetoric as readers and interpreters of texts and to develop skills as writers and speakers. Prerequisite: first two levels of the writing requirement or equivalent transfer credit. For topics, see https://undergrad.stanford.edu/programs/pwr/courses/advanced-pwr-courses.
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
REES 145D:
Jewish American Literature (AMSTUD 145D, ENGLISH 145D, JEWISHST 155D)
From its inception, Jewish-American literature has taken as its subject as well as its context the idea of Jewishness itself. Jewish culture is a diasporic one, and for this reason the concept of Jewishness differs from country to country and across time. What stays remarkably similar, though, is Jewish self-perception and relatedly Jewish literary style. This is as true for the first-generation immigrant writers like Isaac Bashevis Singer and Anzia Yezierska who came to the United States from abroad as it is for their second-generation children born in the United States, and the children of those children. In this course, we will consider the difficulties of displacement for the emigrant generation and their efforts to sustain their cultural integrity in the multicultural American environment. We'll also examine the often comic revolt of their American-born children and grandchildren against their (grand-)parents nostalgia and failure to assimilate. Only by considering these transnational roots can one understand the particularity of the Jewish-American novel in relation to mainstream and minority American literatures. In investigating the link between American Jewish writers and their literary progenitors, we will draw largely but not exclusively from Russia and the countries of Eastern Europe.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
REES 208C:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 208C, ARTHIST 408C, CLASSICS 175, MUSIC 208C, MUSIC 408C, REES 408C, RELIGST 208C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
RELIGST 2:
Is Stanford a Religion?
This course seeks to introduce students to the study of religion by posing a two-part question: What is a religion, and does Stanford qualify as one? Scientific, pragmatic, seemingly secular, Stanford may not seem at all similar to religions like Christianity, Judaism or Buddhism, but a deeper look reveals that it has many of the qualities of religion--origin stories, rituals and ceremonies, sacred spaces and times, visions of the future, even some spirits. By learning some of the theories and methods of the field of religious studies, students will gain a better understanding not just of Stanford culture but of what motivates people to be religious, the roles religion plays in people's lives, and the similarities and differences between religious and secular culture.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 6N:
Religion in Anime and Manga
Religious themes and topoi are ubiquitous in Japanese anime and manga. In this course, we will examine how religions are represented in these new media and study the role of religions in contemporary Japan. By doing this, students will also learn fundamental concepts of Buddhism and Shinto.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 9N:
What Didn't Make it into the Bible
Over two billion people alive today consider the New Testament to be sacred scripture. But how did the books that made it into the bible get there in the first place? Who decided what was to be part of the bible and what wasn't? How would the history of the world's largest modern religion look differently if a given book didn't make the final cut and another one did? nHundreds of ancient Christian texts are not included in the New Testament. What Didn't Make It in the Bible focuses on these excluded writings. We will explore Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse ancient Christian romance novels, tour heaven and hell, read the garden of Eden story told from the perspective of the snake, and learn how the world will end.nnThe seminar assumes no prior knowledge of Judaism, Christianity, the bible, or ancient history. It is designed for students who are part of faith traditions that consider the bible to be sacred, as well as those who are not. The only prerequisite is an interest in exploring books, groups, and ideas that eventually lost the battles of history and to keep asking the question "why." In critically examining these ancient narratives and the communities that wrote them, you will learn about the content and history of the New Testament, better appreciate the diversity of formative Christianity, understand the historical context of the early church, and explore the politics behind what did and did not make it into the bible.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
RELIGST 13Q:
Mystical Journeys: Beyond Knowing and Reason
What makes a mystic a mystic? This question has many sides. Why do we call someone a mystic? Is there such a thing as mystical experience? Do experiences make a mystic? Do beliefs? Practices? Many religious traditions have records of visionaries whose lives and writings open windows on the more hidden and aspirational aspects of belief and practice. These writings also take many forms: poems, letters, teachings, and accounts of visions, which we will encounter in the course of the quarter. Readings for the course will cover a cross-section of texts taken from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Native American sources.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP, Writing 2
RELIGST 26:
The Bible and its Interpreters
Introduction to major stories, figures, and themes of the Christian Bible and their retellings in theological writing, art, literature, film, and music throughout the ages.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 31:
The Religious Life of Things
Temples, prayer beads, icons, robes, books, relics, candles and incense, scarves and hats, sacred food and holy water; objects of all sorts play a prominent role in all religions, evoking a wide range of emotional responses, from reverence, solace and even ecstasy, to fear, hostility and violence. What is it about these things that makes them so powerful? Is it beliefs and doctrines that inspire particular attitudes towards certain objects, or is it the other way around? Many see a tension or even contradiction between religion and material pursuits and argue that the true religious life is a life without things. But is such a life even possible? This course adopts a comparative approach, drawing on a variety of traditions to examine the place of images, food, clothing, ritual objects, architecture and relics in religious thought and practice. Materials for the course include scholarship, scripture, images and at least one museum visit.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 32:
Spiritualism and the Occult
This course will examine the popular mystical practices of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when millions of people in Europe and America described themselves as spiritualists and shared a recognizable set of practices. These served as a platform for spiritual immediacy guided by the central questions: What is the relationship between seen and unseen? How can the living communicate with the dead? What technologies apply to our inner lives?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
RELIGST 32S:
Buddhism in America (ASNAMST 32, CSRE 32H)
This course examines the transmission, growth, and transformation of Buddhism in America from the nineteenth century to the present day. We will treat American Buddhism as a distinct regional variety of Buddhism with its own history, characteristics, and debates. Through select readings, films, discussions, and research, students will explore the main events and issues that have shaped the American encounter with Buddhism. We will learn the history of Buddhism in the United States, major traditions of American Buddhism, and contemporary issues and debates. Topics covered will include Orientalism, gender, race, science and meditation, and Buddhism in classrooms and prisons.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 36:
Philosophy of Religion (PHIL 77S)
(Formerly RELIGST 62S) Explores fundamental questions about the existence of God, free will and determinism, faith and reason, through traditional philosophical texts. Course is divided into four sections: first asks what is religion; second surveys the western philosophical tradition from Boethius through Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Kierkegaard regarding the foundation for theist beliefs; third investigates questions mystical experience raises through both western and Buddhist materials; and fourth takes up the ethics of belief, what we have a right to believe, through the Clifford and James debate and the opposing stances of Camus and Pascal.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 53:
Exploring Jewish Spirituality (JEWISHST 53)
It was once accepted as fact that Judaism is a purely rational religion devoid of any authentic mystical tradition. But the past century of scholarship has reversed this claim, demonstrating that the spiritual life has been integral to Judaism's vital heart since ancient times. This yearning for a direct immediate experience of God's Presence, a longing to grasp the mysteries of the human soul and know the inner dynamics of the Divine realm, has taken on many different forms across the centuries. This course will introduce students to the major texts and core ideas of Jewish mysticism and spirituality, tracking their development from the Hebrew Bible to the present day. Close attention will be paid to the sources¿ historical context, and we will also engage with broader methodological questions regarding the academic study of religion and the comparative approach to mysticism.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
RELIGST 55:
Exploring Zen Buddhism
This course is an introduction to Chan/Zen Buddhism. We will study the historical and doctrinal development of this tradition in China and Japan and examine various facets of Zen, such as the philosophy, practices, rituals, culture, and institution. For this aim, we will read and discuss classical Zen texts in translation and important secondary literature. This course will further feature a fieldtrip to a local Zen center.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 61:
Exploring Islam
This course introduces some of the most important features of the Islamic religious tradition. It explores the different ways in which Muslims have interpreted and practiced their religion. The main subjects of discussion --- including the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur¿an, law, ritual, mysticism, theology, politics, and art --- will be considered with reference to their proper historical contexts. Some of the topics covered include abortion, gender, rebellion and violence, and the visual vocabulary of paintings. Students will be exposed to important theories and methods in the academic study of religion. No prior knowledge is required.
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 71:
Jews and Christians: Conflict and Coexistence (JEWISHST 71)
The relationship between Judaism and Christianity has had a long a controversial history. Christianity originated as a dissident Jewish sect but eventually evolved into an independent religion, with only tenuous ties to its Jewish past and present. Since the Holocaust, Jews and Christians have begun the serious work of forging more meaningful relationships with each other. This course explores the most significant moments that have shaped the relationship between Judaism and Christianity and examines some of the theological complexities imbedded in these traditions, while searching constructive ways of situating oneself amidst such complexities.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 86:
Exploring the New Testament (CLASSICS 43, JEWISHST 86)
To explore the historical context of the earliest Christians, students will read most of the New Testament as well as many documents that didn't make the final cut. Non-Christian texts, Roman art, and surviving archeological remains will better situate Christianity within the ancient world. Students will read from the Dead Sea Scrolls, explore Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing divine temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse an ancient marriage guide, and engage with recent scholarship in archeology, literary criticism, and history.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
RELIGST 114:
Yoga Ancient and Modern
Originating in ancient India, yoga went through many developments over more than 4000 years in India and other parts of Asia. Having migrated to Euro-America in the late nineteenth century, today yoga is everywhere--studios, schools, gyms, malls, resorts, ashrams, retreat centers. It comes in many flavors¿austere, with meditative instructors and Sanskrit chants; stylish, in 105-degree heat, with portable-miked instructors loudly motivating students to go through poses with speed and intensity; niche-crafted to meet the needs of busy professionals, pregnant women, senior citizens, or people with back problems. It may appear as a spiritual path or as a heavily marketed commodity. It generates lawsuits as teachers dispute ownership of certain styles, or as some Americans oppose its teaching yoga in public schools. In the first half of the course we will study the history of yoga in India, reading primary texts composed between about 500 BCE and 1600 CE. In the second half we will learn about yoga's globalization in the last century. Participating in a yoga class is recommended. 2 units of independent study (S-NC) are offered for those who participate in a weekly yoga class and write short reflections on the experience.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 117:
Christianity in 21st-century America (AMSTUD 117R)
As the largest religion practiced in the United States, Christianity not only shapes the lives of a large number of its citizens but also impinges on public discourse, policies, and debates. This course investigates the ways in which Christianity in America is changing and what these changes bode for its role in the public and private spheres. Issues include shifting demographics lead to declining numbers in 'mainline' denominations; the polarization of Christian conservatives and religious 'nones'; interfaith toleration and cooperation alongside interreligious conflict; the rise of 'spiritual, not religious' young adults; the effects of immigration; religion and science.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 119:
Religion, Violence, and Nonviolence
College courses and public events often address "religion and violence"--an important topic, but one-sided. We will study ways in which religious leaders, movements, and discourses have (1) promoted violent conflict, aggression, and oppression; and (2) contributed to nonviolence, peacebuilding, and liberation of the oppressed. An overarching theme will be a view of religions as fields of interpretation. No religion is essentially violent or peaceful; intricately connected to the world around them, religions become what they become through interpretation and action. Each week will have two meetings: one featuring an outstanding guest lecturer and one to discuss the lecture topic, with assigned readings and films. Topics under consideration include: Buddhism and Violence; Dorothy Day and Catholic Nonviolent Resistance to Nuclear Weapons; Just War and Jihad; The Contribution of Negro Spirituals to Liberation; The Quakers: Pacifist Convictions and Activism; Violence/Nonviolence in Jainism; The Role of Christian Faith in M.L. King's Political Work; Spirituality and Religious Peacebuilding. For lecture series with required attendance and written reflections for 2 units, take RELIGST 29.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
RELIGST 126:
Protestant Reformation (HISTORY 126B)
The emergence of Protestant Christianity in 16th-century Europe. Analysis of writings by evangelical reformers (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Sattler, Hubmeier, Müntzer) and study of reform movements (Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Spiritualist) in their medieval context and as expressions of new and influential visions of Christian belief, life, social order.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 144:
John Calvin and Christian Faith
Close reading and analysis of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion as a classic expression of Christian belief.
Last offered: Spring 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
RELIGST 165:
Modern Jewish Mystics: Devotion in a Secular Age (JEWISHST 125)
The twentieth-century was a time of tremendous upheaval and unspeakable tragedy for the Jewish communities of Europe. But the past hundred years were also a period of great renewal for Jewish spirituality, a renaissance that has continued into the present day. We will explore the mystic writings of figures from the Safed Renaissance, the Hasidic masters, with a particular focus on the works of Martin Buber, Hillel Zeitlin, Abraham Isaac Kook, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Arthur Green. We will examine their teachings in light of the challenges of the two World Wars, the Holocaust, and the processes of modernity and secularism. Consideration will be made of the unique cultural contexts of modern Israel and contemporary America.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
RELIGST 166:
The Divine Feminine in India (FEMGEN 166)
What happens when God is a woman? Is the Goddess a feminist? The Goddess, in her numerous incarnations, is foundational to much of Indian religiosity, whether Hindu, Buddhist, or even Jain¿and in turn, without her story, much of the theology and practice of these religions remains incomprehensible. This course examines the principal expressions of the theology and ritual worship of the Goddess in Indian history, from the Vedas to the Hindu Epics, to Indian philosophy, tantric ritual practice and modern global and new age movements in order to understand how the gendering of divinity affects theological speculation, religious experience, and embodied religious identity.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 169:
Sacred Words: Jewish Thought and the Question of Language (JEWISHST 129)
Jews have long been referred as the people of the book, but they might better be referred to as the people of the word. Drawing upon texts from the Hebrew Bible to the works of modern Hebrew writers like of Hayyim Nahman Bialik and Amoz Oz, this seminar will chart the development of Jewish thinking on language over the past two millennia. We will explore issues such as: the idea of canonization; oral versus written language; the nature and possibility of translation; the origins of language; notions of negative theology; mystical approaches to the word; the rebirth of Hebrew as a spoken and cultural language; and the limits of language after the Holocaust. This course will also bring Jewish thought into dialogue with contemporary philosophical reflections on issues of language. Modern explorations of language will prove an interesting way of deepening our understanding of the Jewish thinkers on one hand, and enriching contemporary intellectual discourse on the other.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
RELIGST 179:
Doing the Sacred: Religion and Performance
This course investigates religion as practice and performance, rather than as belief and doctrine. A performance-centered emphasis helps us understand how domination and authority, as well as creativity and individual resistance, underlie culture. From initiatory rites to cyber sermons, human action offers raw, physical data that unveils the mechanisms of social control, ideology, and individual resistance. Reorienting religion from the perspective of religious acts / actors -- those who are doing something they consider sacred -- evokes many interpretive possibilities: How do these performances create and maintain communities? How do they resolve conflicts that arise within everyday affairs? In what ways do they generate meaning and shape identity? What can these enactments reveal about the constructions of power, gender, and race? This course explores such issues, probing the complicated relationship between human intention and social reality. Ultimately, a study of religion and performance seeks to understand how performance and transcendence interact to make participants into who they are.nnThe readings cover an array of religious traditions -- medieval and evangelical Christian, Hindu, Native American, Jewish, Buddhist, African and Haitian Vodou -- all of which present a rich repertoire of sacred drama, dance, and music. We will discuss performances that make modern readers uncomfortable, such as sacrifice and flagellation, and examine why they are meaningful within their specific cultural context. Finally, we will consider how secular practices and the internet mimic religious behavior. However divergent, all of these examples demonstrate how religious performance is no mere artifice, but a vehicle for the practitioner's own pious posturing -- one that is spiritually innovative and self-affirming -- yet shaped by hierarchical regimes.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 180:
Gender Relations in Islam (FEMGEN 180)
This course investigates the ways in which gender identities and relationships between men and women have been articulated, constructed, and refashioned throughout the Muslim world. Starting with problematizing the fixed notions of gender and sexuality, we map the attitudes toward these notions through visiting a diverse array of sources from the Qur¿an, Sunna, and legal documents to historical and anthropological case studies, literature, and film from South East Asia to Europe and North America. We examine the notions of femininity and masculinity in the Qur¿an, family laws, and attitudes toward homosexuality and transgendered populations. We read examples of ambiguous use of language with regards to gender and sexuality in Persian poetry and mystical traditions. We study the dynamic relationship between Islam and Feminism in the Muslim world. Finally, we witness the implications of these attitudes in our case studies and stories, from a divorce court in Iran to a wedding in Sudan.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
RELIGST 181:
Heidegger and Mysticism (PHIL 133S)
The new paradigm for understanding Heidegger makes possible a fresh look at his long-standing interest in western mysticism as well as in Daoism. Part One: a radical recasting of Heidegger's thought, including his readings of the Presocratics (6th century BCE). In light of that, Part Two: a reading of selected texts of western mystics as well as Laozi's Dao De Jing / Tao Te Ching (6th century BCE).
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
RELIGST 208C:
Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium (ARTHIST 208C, ARTHIST 408C, CLASSICS 175, MUSIC 208C, MUSIC 408C, REES 208C, REES 408C, RELIGST 308C)
Onassis Seminar "Icons of Sound: Architecture, Acoustics and Ritual in Byzantium". This year-long seminar explores the creation and operations of sacred space in Byzantium by focusing on the intersection of architecture, acoustics, music, and ritual. Through the support of the Onassis Foundation (USA), nine leading scholars in the field share their research and conduct the discussion of their pre-circulated papers. The goal is to develop a new interpretive framework for the study of religious experience and assemble the research tools needed for work in this interdisciplinary field.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 1-3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
| Repeatable
3 times
(up to 9 units total)
RELIGST 235:
Religion in Modern Society: Secularization and the Sacred (RELIGST 335)
What is the status of religion in modern life? Is the modern world "secular" in some fundamental, irreversible way and what does this mean? This course will explore these questions through variety of readings from leading sociologists, philosophers, and anthropologists. Our goal will be to understand in what ways industrialization, political liberalization, the rise of technology, and the success of modern science have been used to support the "secularization" thesis that the modern West rendered religion a thing of the past. A central question to be asked will be: do assessments of the place of religion in modernity necessitate a philosophy of history i.e., a theory not only of historical change, but of the meaning of this change as well?n The course will begin by looking at the origins of the theory of secularization from its beginnings in Enlightenment attempts to understand the meaning of history. We will then turn to contemporary debates over the term "secular" against its counterpart, "religious", and the problems with their application to non-Western societies. We will read works by Talal Asad, Saba Mahmood, Max Weber, Charles Taylor, Jürgen Habermas, and Pope Benedict XVI.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
RELIGST 253:
Recent Research on Japanese Buddhism (RELIGST 353)
Readings in recent English-language scholarship on Japanese Buddhism. nnUndergraduates must enroll for 5 units; graduate students can enroll for 3-5 units. Prerequisite: Solid foundation in either Buddhist studies or East Asian Studies (5 units for 253, 3-5 units for 353)
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
RELIGST 262:
Sex and the Early Church (FEMGEN 262, RELIGST 362)
Sex and the Early Church examines the ways first- through sixth-century Christians addressed questions regarding human sexuality. We will pay particular attention to the relationship between sexuality and issues of gender, culture, power, and resistance. We will read a Roman gynecological manual, an ancient dating guide, the world's first harlequin romance novels, ancient pornography, early Christian martyrdom accounts, stories of female and male saints, instructions for how to best battle demons, visionary accounts, and monastic rules. These will be supplemented by modern scholarship in classics, early Christian studies, gender studies, queer studies, and the history of sexuality. The purpose of our exploration is not simply to better understand ancient views of gender and sexuality. Rather, this investigation of a society whose sexual system often seems so surprising aims to denaturalize many of our own assumptions concerning gender and sexuality. In the process, we will also examine the ways these first centuries of what eventually became the world's largest religious tradition has profoundly affected the sexual norms of our own time. The seminar assumes no prior knowledge of Judaism, Christianity, the bible, or ancient history.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 264:
Hindu Tantra (RELIGST 364)
What is Tantra? Tantric forms of ritual and philosophy have been integral to the practice of Hinduism for most of its history. Tantra has provided initiates with a spiritual technology for embodying the divine and transcending the cycle of rebirth; on a social and political level, Tantra has mediated the institutions of Hindu kingship and appealed to a diverse population of initiates. This course covers a number of influential and well-documented Hindu tantric traditions, exploring several prominent features of Tantric religion as they develop historically, including: tantric ritual practice (core technologies of the subtle body, mantras, ma, alas, etc., along with the more notorious elements of sex and transgression), theology and philosophical speculation, as well as Tantra's relationship to the outside world and state power.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 265:
Creating the Universe: Buddhist Science, Ritual and Art (RELIGST 365)
Much of Buddhist ritual and art can usefully be thought of as technology--physical pieces that, when arranged systematically, make a given practice effective. This class is about the Buddhist scientific perspectives underlying the production of such ritual and art in Tibet, Nepal, and India. The course is organized around cosmological and biological topics such as physical models of the universe, the types of beings that dwell in the world, and the cycles of life and death. Within these topics, we will investigate the relationships between sacred texts, ritual practices, and visual arts as the material culture of religion.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
RELIGST 290:
Majors Seminar
Required of all majors and combined majors. The study of religion reflects upon itself. Representative modern and contemporary attempts to "theorize," and thereby understand, the phenomena of religion in anthropology, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, and philosophy. WIM.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
SINY 112:
Outside In: Arts Organizations and the Changing Cultural Audience
Study the major disruptions in how audiences define, seek out, participate in, and share cultural experiences. Research¿based theory with practice, case studies and hands¿on assignments. Analyze newly emerging cultural consumers.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SINY 116:
Off the iPhone and Into the City: Creating a Photography Project
Learn components of photography projects and image making including content selection, intention, context, and audience. Talks by professional photographers; field trips to in the city. Two response papers about an exhibition, publication, or long-form web project during their time in New York.
Terms: Aut, Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
SINY 122:
The Agile City
Examine the economic, cultural and environmental forces transforming the urban experience globally and understand how cities become agile to adapt to rapidly evolving urban challenges. This course would draw from case studies in New York and elsewhere, using guest experts and site visits or walking tours.
Last offered: Autumn 2016
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
SINY 136:
Opera at the Met: Global Art in the World's Great Metropolis
This course allows students to discover the power and beauty of live opera through masterful performances at the Metropolitan Opera House.Often viewed as an elitist art, opera has strong roots in popular culture and politics. These issues will emerge over the course of the quarter, as we experience opera at the world's premiere opera house.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SINY 140:
Mapping, time, space, and culture
New York, the financial and cultural capitol of the nation, provides an extraordinary laboratory for exploring the art and science of information representation. The proposed course aims to engage students in a broad swath of art and culture, contextualized by studying the sociopolitical urban landscape.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
SINY 146:
Imaging Change: Global Arts and Social Change
This course will examine some of the people, collectives, and organizations working globally that use the realm of the visual to address and advocate for human rights and social justice. Students will learn about practitioners in socially engaged art, concerned photography, cultural organizing, public art, interactive film, and more. The class will include regular visits to (or guests from) artists¿ and photographers¿ studios, and the esteemed foundations and organizations supporting this work. A final paper will be required.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SIW 164:
Debating the Nation
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SIW 170:
DOCUMENTARY: Films of Persuasion, Advocacy and Change
In recent years, documentaries have shed their identity as the "broccoli" of the film world - they were good for you, but not necessarily palatable. Audiences are now engaged, entertained, and enlightened by the work of Errol Morris, Laura Poitras, Michael Moore, Marshall Curry, and others. Has a documentary film ever provoked you, challenged your beliefs, motivated you to act or changed your mind about something? Was that the goal of the filmmaker? This course offers a conceptual overview of the forms, strategies, and conventions of a documentary film with a particular focus on the social and political documentary, i.e. documentaries that strive to explore issues, construct arguments about the world, and galvanize attitudinal change. A consideration of both form and content will foreground the mutable characteristics of the genre with respect to filmmaker voice and point of view, the objective/subjective conundrum, ethics of representation, aesthetic choices, and the implied contract between filmmaker and audience. Students will hone their critical viewing skills and consider the potential of film to effect attitudinal and behavioral change through a series of case studies of films that represent a wide range of styles and approach.
Last offered: Spring 2016
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SIW 245:
Art, Business & the Law (ARTHIST 245)
This course examines the intersection of art, business, and the law from a number of different angles, focusing on issues that impact our understanding of works of art and their circulation in the modern and contemporary periods. Topics range from individual case studies (e.g., Leonardo da Vinci; Richard Serra) to the consolidation of the art market, and include cultural heritage issues, problems of censorship, and conceptions of authorship and intellectual property.nnIn Autumn 2017-18 this course will be offered at Stanford in Washington in Washington, D.C. and enrollment is limited to students who are enrolled in the SIW Program.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 77Q:
Russia's Weird Classic: Nikolai Gogol
Preference to sophomores. An investigation of the works and life of Nikolai Gogol, the most eccentric of Russian authors and the founder of what is dubbed Fantastic Realism. Our investigation will be based on close reading of works written in various genres and created in various stages of Gogol's literary career. Taught in English.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 118N:
Other People's Words: Folklore and Literature
What happens when you collect and use other people's words? This class considers folklore and literature based on it, focusing on the theme of objects that come to life and threaten their makers or owners (including Russian fairy tales and Nikolai Gogol's stories, the Golem legend and Michael Chabon's Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, and Ovid's and Shaw's Pygmalion). We read essays by Jacob Grimm, Sigmund Freud, Roman Jakobson, and others, to understand what folklore can mean and how the oral and the written can interact. Students collect living folklore from a group of their choosing. This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric Requirement (Write-2) and emphasizes oral and multimedia presentation.Prerequisite: PWR 1
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, Writing 2
SLAVIC 120:
Hacking Russia: Technological Dreams and Nightmares of Russian Culture (SLAVIC 220)
At a time being termed the Second Cold War, it is of key importance to examine Russian cultural and political phenomena and their international repercussions. In particular, this course will explore the role of technology in constructing the social and ideological fabric, as well as the material reality, of Soviet and Russian society. From the early Soviet period, when technological progress was linked to humanistic utopia, through dystopian critiques of a totalitarian machine of conformity and constraint, we proceed along the assembly line of communist production, avant-garde and constructivist artistic utopia, socialist realism, the space race, and information technology, using examples from Russian literature, film, art, visual arts, performance, and current events. With the media's concern for fake news and Russian hacking today, it is our course's goal to "hack Russia": to understand the politics and technology shaping Russia, and the creative responses that have made its society a site of both dreamlike promise and nightmarish threat, through its history and today. n NOTE: This course must be taken for a Letter Grade to be eligible for WAYS credit. "Counts towards Europe and Russia specialization (International Relations)"
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 145:
Survey of Russian Literature: The Age of Experiment (SLAVIC 345)
This course discusses the transition from predominantly poetic to predominantly prosaic creativity in the Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century Russian literature and the birth of the great Russian novel. It covers three major Russian writers “-- Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov and Nikolai Gogol -- and examines the changes in the Russian literary scene affected by their work. An emphasis is placed on close reading of literary texts and analysis of literary techniques employed in them. Taught in English. NOTE: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take SLAVIC 145 for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 146:
The Great Russian Novel: Tolstoy and Dostoevsky (SLAVIC 346)
Connections of philosophy and science to literary form in War and Peace, Brothers Karamazov, Chekhov stories: alternative shapes of time, perception, significant action. Taught in English. Note: To be eligible for WAYS/WIM credit, you must take SLAVIC 146 for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 148:
Slavic Literature and Culture since the Death of Stalin (SLAVIC 348)
The course offers a survey of Soviet and post-Soviet literary texts and films created by Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian artists and marginalized or repressed by the Soviet regime. The first part of the course will focus on the topics of opposition and dissent, generational conflict, modernization, Soviet everyday life, gender, citizenship and national identity, state-published and samizdat literature, "village" and "cosmopolitan" culture, etc. The second part of it will be devoted to the postmodernist aesthetics and ideology in the dismantlement of totalitarian society, as well in the process of shaping post-Soviet identities. The reading materials range from the fictional, poetic, and publicistic works written by Noble-prize (Solzhenitsyn, Brodsky, Alexievich) and other major writers of the period to the drama, film, and popular culture. nNOTE: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take SLAVIC 148 for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 181:
Philosophy and Literature (CLASSICS 42, COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81)
Required gateway course for Philosophical and Literary Thought; crosslisted in departments sponsoring the Philosophy and Literature track. Majors should register in their home department; non-majors may register in any sponsoring department. Introduction to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature, with particular focus on the question of value: what, if anything, does engagement with literary works do for our lives? Issues include aesthetic self-fashioning, the paradox of tragedy, the paradox of caring, the truth-value of fiction, metaphor, authorship, irony, make-believe, expression, edification, clarification, and training. Readings are drawn from literature and film, philosophical theories of art, and stylistically interesting works of philosophy. Authors may include Sophocles, Chaucer, Dickinson, Proust, Woolf, Borges, Beckett, Kundera, Charlie Kaufman; Barthes, Foucault, Nussbaum, Walton, Nehamas; Plato, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 198:
Writing Between Languages: The Case of Eastern European Jewish Literature (JEWISHST 148, JEWISHST 348, SLAVIC 398)
Eastern European Jews spoke and read Hebrew, Yiddish, and their co-territorial languages (Russian, Polish, etc.). In the modern period they developed secular literatures in all of them, and their writing reflected their own multilinguality and evolving language ideologies. We focus on major literary and sociolinguistic texts. Reading and discussion in English; students should have some reading knowledge of at least one relevant language as well. ***This course must be taken for a minimum of 3 units and a letter grade to be eligible for Ways credit***
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
SLAVIC 231:
Tarkovsky
The relatively slim body of work produced by the great Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky helped redefine the possibilities of the art of cinema. Older and younger generations of directors continue to be inspired by his trademark long shot, unconventional narrative techniques, everence for landscape and nature, and by general spatio-temporal discontinuity. The course provides a systematic examination of the director's complete oeuvre (seven feature films and his works for radio and opera) along with his main theoretical treatise Sculpting in Time.NOTE: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take SLAVIC 231 for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLAVIC 261:
Reading Leo Tolstoy in the Digital Age (SLAVIC 361)
The novelist and philosopher Leo Tolstoy pioneered ideas of multi-perspectivism, relativism, "contagious" art, and literary montage. How can we analyze the link between his prose fiction and modernist art by means of digital humanities methods? This course is arranged as a series of digital labs and seminar discussions and utilizes a project-based learning approach, with individual and collaborative projects. We create character networks in Gephi, side-by-side visualization of different versions of Tolstoy's texts in Beyond Compare, and text mining in RStudio. Taught in English. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take SLAVIC 261 for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
SLE 91:
Structured Liberal Education
Focusing on great works of philosophy, religion, literature, painting, and film drawn largely from the Western tradition, the SLE curriculum places particular emphasis on artists and intellectuals who brought new ways of thinking and new ways of creating into the world, often overthrowing prior traditions in the process. These are the works that redefined beauty, challenged the authority of conventional wisdom, raised questions of continuing importance to us today, and - for good or ill - created the world we still live in. Texts may include: Homer, Sappho, Greek tragedy, Plato, Aristotle, Zhuangzi, Confucius, the Heart Sutra, Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and the Aeneid.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 8
| UG Reqs: College, GER:DB-Hum, GER:IHUM-1, THINK, WAY-A-II, Writing SLE
SLE 92:
Structured Liberal Education
Focusing on great works of philosophy, religion, literature, painting, and film drawn largely from the Western tradition, the SLE curriculum places particular emphasis on artists and intellectuals who brought new ways of thinking and new ways of creating into the world, often overthrowing prior traditions in the process. These are the works that redefined beauty, challenged the authority of conventional wisdom, raised questions of continuing importance to us today, and - for good or ill - created the world we still live in. Texts may include: Augustine, the Qur'an, Dante, Rumi, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Las Casas, Descartes, Locke, Mill, Schleiermacher, and Flaubert.
Terms: Win
| Units: 8
| UG Reqs: College, GER:DB-Hum, GER:IHUM-2, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing SLE
STS 1:
The Public Life of Science and Technology
The course focuses on key social, cultural, and values issues raised by contemporary scientific and technological developments through the STS interdisciplinary lens by developing and applying skills in three areas: (a) The historical analysis of contemporary global matters (e.g., spread of technologies; climate change response); (b) The bioethical reasoning around health issues (e.g., disease management; privacy rights); and (c) The sociological study of knowledge (e.g., intellectual property, science publishing). A discussion section is required and will be assigned the first week of class.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
STS 200E:
Technology, Nature, and Environmentalism
Humans have long shaped and reshaped the natural world with technologies. Once a menacing presence to conquer or an infinite reserve for resources, nature is now understood to require constant protection from damage and loss. Humanity's relationships with the environment have changed over time and differed across societies. In this course, students (1) explore diverse ways in which people in different historical and cultural settings have conceptualized nature and their relationships with it, with a focus on the role of technology; and (2) learn the basics of STS research and conduct an original study that addresses this human-nature-technology nexus. First class attendance mandatory. STS majors must have senior status to enroll in this senior capstone course.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
STS 200L:
Critique of Technology
Informed citizens living in today'™s world, and especially in Silicon Valley, should be able to formulate their own articulate positions about the role of technology in culture. The course gives students the tools to do so. Against the trend towards the thoughtless celebration of all things technological, we will engage in critique in the two senses of the term: as careful study of the cultural implications of technology and as balanced, argumentative criticism. Can technology make life more meaningful, society more fair, people smarter, and the world smaller? We will pay special attention to the insights that literature, and other arts, can offer for reframing digital culture. Selections by Latin American fiction writers (Cortázar, Zambra), philosophers and thinkers (Heidegger and Beller), as well as recent popular works of social commentary, such as You are not a Gadget, The Shallows, 24/7, and Present Shock. Taught in English.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
TAPS 1:
Introduction to Theater and Performance Studies
TAPS 1 provides you with a solid foundation in Theater Studies and traces the development of the burgeoning field of Performance Studies. We will consider a range of canonical plays and emerging performance forms, and explore how performance can also function as an interpretive framework for analyzing a broad range of social behaviors, sites, and institutions. Through a series of close readings, discussions, written and practical exercises, and viewings of live performance, this course will help you achieve a richer understanding of the performances you see and the performances you may wish to make. This quarter, TAPS 1 will serve as the platform for the Theater & Performance Studies professionalization series. We will host several guest speakers (directors, actors, playwrights, and dance practitioners), who will give you some real connections in the theater world and will provide you with information and skills to help you build a career in the arts.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
TAPS 11N:
Dramatic Tensions: Theater and the Marketplace
Preference to freshmen. The current state of the American theater and its artists. Conventional wisdom says that theater is a dying art, and a lost cause, especially in an age of multi-media entertainment. But there are more young playwrights, actors, and directors entering the field today than at any other time in American history. Focus is on the work of today's theater artists, with an emphasis on an emerging generation of playwrights. Students read a cross-section of plays from writers currently working in the US and UK, covering a spectrum of subjects and styles from serious to comic, from the musical to the straight play. Hits and misses from recent seasons of the New York and London stages and some of the differences of artistic taste across the Atlantic. Hands-on exploration of the arts and skills necessary to make a play succeed. Students develop their own areas of interest, in guided projects in design, direction or performance. Conversations with playwrights, designers ,and directors. Labs and master classes to solve problems posed in areas of creative production. Class meets literary managers and producers who are on the frontlines of underwriting new talent. Class trips include two plays at major Bay Area Stages.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
TAPS 11Q:
Art in the Metropolis (ARTSINST 11Q)
This seminar is offered in conjunction with the annual "Arts Immersion" trip to New York that takes place over the spring break and is organized by the Stanford Arts Institute (SAI). Participation in the trip is a requirement for taking part in the seminar (and vice versa). The trip is designed to provide a group of students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the cultural life of New York City guided by faculty and the SAI programming director. Students will experience a broad range and variety of art forms (visual arts, theater, opera, dance, etc.) and will meet with prominent arts administrators and practitioners, some of whom are Stanford alumni. For further details and updates about the trip, see http://arts.stanford.edu.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
TAPS 20N:
Prisons and Performance
Preference to Freshmen. This seminar starts with the unlikely question of what can the performing arts ¿ particularly dance and theater ¿ illuminate about the situation of mass incarceration in America. Part seminar, part immersive context building, students will read and view a cross-section of dance and theater works where the subject, performers, choreographers or authors, belong to part of the 2.4 million people currently behind bars in US prisons. Class includes conversations with formerly incarcerated youth, prison staff, juvenile justice lawyers and artists working in juvenile and adult prisons as well as those who are part of the 7.3 million people currently on parole or probation. Using performance as our lens we will investigate the unique kinds of understanding the arts make possible as well as the growing use of theater and dance to affect social change and personal transformation among prison inmates. Class trips will include visits to locked facilities and meetings with artists and inmates working behind bars.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
TAPS 21N:
The Idea of Virtual Reality
What is virtual reality and where is it heading? Was there VR before digital technology? What is the value of the real in a virtual culture? How, where, and when do we draw the line between the virtual and the real, the live and the mediated today? Concentrating on three aspects of VR simulation, immersion, and interactivity this course will examine recent experiments alongside a long history of virtual performance, from Plato's Cave to contemporary CAVEs, from baroque theatre design to Oculus Rift.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
TAPS 133T:
Transgender Performance and Performativity (FEMGEN 133)
This course examines theater, performance art, dance, and embodied practice by transgender artists. Students will learn the history and politics of transgender performance while considering the creative processes and formal aesthetics trans artists use to make art. We will analyze creative work in conversation with critical and theoretical texts from the fields of performance studies, art history, and queer studies.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
TAPS 151:
Dramaturgy (TAPS 315)
In this seminar, we will take the conventional idea of dramaturgy for narrative performance as developed in Western European theater since the enlightenment, and investigate its relation to non-narrative forms of performance in 20th and 21st (performance art, conceptual dance). Further, we will use dramaturgical procedures to explore the ideological content of performance and position of art institutions in our society. Finally, the students will get acquainted with production dramaturgy and get necessary tools to take the role of dramaturgs in actual performance productions.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
TAPS 152:
Introduction to Improvisation in Dance: From Salsa to Vodun to Tap Dance (AFRICAAM 52, CSRE 152)
This seminar introduces students to Dance Studies by exploring the topic of improvisation, a central concept in multiple genres of dance and music. We will survey a range of improvised dance forms¿from salsa to vodun to tap dance¿through readings, video viewings, discussion, and movement exercises (no previous dance experience required). When studying each genre, we will examine how race, gender, sexuality, citizenship, and other power structures affect the practices and theorizations of improvisation. Topics include community and identity formation; questions of technique versus ¿natural¿ ability; improvisation as a spiritual practice; and the role of history in improvisers¿ quest for spontaneity. Course material will focus on improvised dance, but we will also read pertinent literature in jazz music, theatre, and the law.
Last offered: Winter 2016
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
TAPS 153M:
Mechanics of the Theater: The Technologies of Stagecraft
This course explores the history of technologies vital to the theatre: traps, lifts, lights, and sounds have been crucial for creating stage illusion. Divided into three main sections, Mechanics and Machines, Lighting and Projections, and Acoustics and Sound, we will examine the history of technological innovation and theatrical experimentation from the Enlightenment to the present. We will also be conducting case studies for each section with a core text or texts. We will cover Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ibsen's Ghosts, Chekhov's The Seagull, and Dreamgirls, The Musical. n nTechnologies such as mechanical traps, electrical lights, and sound machines have been used to create stunning illusions and spectacular theater. Many of these technologies were also significant for the histories of industrialization and modernization. We will ask: How did theater makers develop and innovate using technological innovations? What role does technological aesthetics play in understanding human culture? What are the relationships between theater, technology, and society? In class, we will be reading, experimenting, and performing with various technological artifacts. We will be conducting experiments alongside our reading practice to better understand our historical subjects.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
TAPS 154G:
Black Magic: Ethnicity, Race, and Identity in Performance Cultures (AFRICAAM 154G, CSRE 154D, FEMGEN 154G)
In 2013, CaShawn Thompson devised a Twitter hashtag, #blackgirlmagic, to celebrate the beauty and intelligence of black women. Twitter users quickly adopted the slogan, using the hashtag to celebrate everyday moments of beauty, accomplishment, and magic. In contrast, #blackmagic is used to describe everything from the uncanny to the personal. This course examines the discursive phenomenon of "black magic" and its permutations throughout Anglo-American histories. We will investigate the binaries of black/dark, white/light magic that has entered our contemporary lexicon, reading material on religion, magic performance, and theater.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
TAPS 156A:
Warhol: Painting, Photography, Performance (ARTHIST 156A, ARTHIST 356A, TAPS 356A)
This course focuses on the career of Andy Warhol as a means to consider the broader history of American art and culture since 1950. It examines little-studied aspects of Warhol¿s visual production (e.g. his career as a commercial artist in the 1950s and his everyday photographs of the 1970s and 1980s) alongside his now-canonical Pop paintings of the 1960s. Warhol?s critical and scholarly reception will be scrutinized in detail, as will published interviews of and writings by the artist. Finally, we will consider Warhol¿s legacy and wide-ranging influence on American culture in the decades since his death in 1987.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
TAPS 157:
World Drama and Performance (TAPS 357)
This course takes up a geographically expansive conversation by looking at modern and contemporary drama from nations including Ghana, Egypt, India, Argentina, among others. Considering influential texts from the Global South will also enable us to explore a range of themes and methodologies that are radically re-shaping the field of Performance Studies. We will examine the relationship between colonialism and globalization, empire and capital, cosmopolitanism and neoliberalism. Re-situating our perspective from the Global South and the non-western world, we will 'provincialize Europe' and probe the limits of its universalizing discourses.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
TAPS 160:
Performance and History: Rethinking the Ballerina (DANCE 160, FEMGEN 160, TAPS 260)
The ballerina occupies a unique place in popular imagination as an object of over-determined femininity as well as an emblem of extreme physical accomplishment for the female dancer. This seminar is designed as an investigation into histories of the ballerina as an iconographic symbol and cultural reference point for challenges to political and gender ideals. Through readings, videos, discussions and viewings of live performances this class investigates pivotal works, artists and eras in the global histories of ballet from its origins as a symbol of patronage and power in the 15th century through to its radical experiments as a site of cultural obedience and disobedience in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
TAPS 160M:
Introduction to Representations of the Middle East in Dance, Performance, & Popular Culture (CSRE 160M, DANCE 160M, FEMGEN 160M)
This course will introduce students to the ways in which the Middle East has been represented and performed by/in the 'West' through dance, performance, and popular culture in both historical and contemporary contexts. A brief look through today's media sources exposes a wide range of racialized and gendered representations of the Middle East that shape the way the world imagines the Middle East to be. As postcolonial theorist Edward Said explains, the framework we call Orientalism establishes the ontological character of the Orient and the Oriental as inherently `Other'. Starting with 19th century colonialism and continuing into the post-9/11 era, this course will trace the Western production, circulation, and consumption of representations of the Middle East as 'Other' in relation to global geopolitics. We will further examine dance forms produced in mid-twentieth century Iran and Egypt, with particular attention to nation-state building and constructions of gender. Finally, we will examine artistic productions and practices from the Middle East and Middle Eastern diasporic communities that respond to colonialism, war, displacement, secularism, and Euro-American Empire. Using dance studies, postcolonial feminist, and critical race theoretical frameworks, we will consider the gender, racial, political, and cultural implications of selected performance works and practices in order to analyze how bodies produce meaning in dance, performance art, theater, film, photography, and new media. Students will engage in multiple modes of learning; the course will include lectures, engaged group discussions, viewing of live and recorded performance, embodied participation in dance practice, student oral presentations, and a variety of writing exercises. Course assignments will culminate in a final research project related to class themes and methods.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
TAPS 161D:
Introduction to Dance Studies: Dancing Across Stages, Clubs, Screens, and Borders (CSRE 61, DANCE 161D, FEMGEN 161D)
This introduction to dance studies course explores dance practice and performance as means for producing cultural meaning. Through theoretical and historical texts and viewing live and recorded dance, we will develop tools for analyzing dance and understanding its place in social, cultural, and political structures. This uses dance and choreography as a lens to more deeply understand a wide range of identity and cultural formations, such as gender, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, (trans)nationality, and empire. We will analyze dancing bodies that move across stages, dance clubs, film screens, and border zones. We will examine dance from diverse locales and time periods including ballet, modern and contemporary dance, contact improvisation, folkloric dance, burlesque, street dance, queer club dance, drag performance, music videos, TV dance competitions, and intermedia/new media performance. In addition to providing theoretical and methodological grounding in dance studies, this course develops performance analysis skills and hones the ability to write critically and skillfully about dance. No previous experience in dance is necessary to successfully complete the course.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
TAPS 165C:
Ancient Dance and its Modern Legacy (CLASSICS 137, CLASSICS 237, TAPS 265C)
Descriptions of dance in the Greek and Greco-Roman world; theories about dance in antiquity; dance and the senses; modern and modernist dancers and choreographers discussing ancient dance
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
TAPS 167:
Introduction to Greek Tragedy: Gods, Heroes, Fate, and Justice (CLASSICS 112)
(Formerly CLASSGEN 110.) Gods and heroes, fate and free choice, gender conflict, the justice or injustice of the universe: these are just some of the fundamental human issues that we will explore in about ten of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
TAPS 170:
Directing and Dramaturgy: Composition and Adaptation for Theatre (TAPS 370)
This course explores dramaturgy and directing in the research and production of theatre primarily through practical creative projects with secondary readings on dramaturgy as a discipline. In this course we will consider the role of the dramaturg in its broadest sense, running across theatrical production from research to playwriting, adaptation, choreography, devising and directing. Students will work individually and in small groups researching, adapting, crafting and workshopping material.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
TAPS 170B:
Directing Workshop: The Actor-Director Dialogue (TAPS 372)
This course focuses on the actor-director dialogue. We will work with actors and directors developing approaches to collaboration that make the actor-director dialogue in theater.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
| Repeatable
for credit
TAPS 248:
Family Drama: American Plays about Families (ENGLISH 148)
Focus on great dramas about family life (Albee, Kushner, Shephard, Vogel, Kron, Nottage, Parks). Communication in writing and speaking about conflict central to learning in this class.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
TAPS 258:
Black Feminist Theater and Theory (AFRICAAM 258, CSRE 258, FEMGEN 258X)
From the rave reviews garnered by Angelina Weld Grimke's lynching play, Rachel to recent work by Lynn Nottage on Rwanda, black women playwrights have addressed key issues in modern culture and politics. We will analyze and perform work written by black women in the U.S., Britain and the Caribbean in the 20th and 21st centuries. Topics include: sexuality, surrealism, colonialism, freedom, violence, colorism, love, history, community and more. Playwrights include: Angelina Grimke, Lorriane Hansberry, Winsome Pinnock, Adrienne Kennedy, Suzan- Lori Parks, Ntzoke Shange, Pearl Cleage, Sarah Jones, Anna DeVeare Smith, Alice Childress, Lydia Diamond and Zora Neale Hurston.)
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
THINK 2:
The Art of Living
Where do our ideals for living come from, and how should they be structured? How do we justify them in the face of criticism? What role do great works of art play in this creative process?nnnOur lives are not simply given to us, but also something we make: as we examine the circumstances of our existence, recognizing certain facts as immutable and others as subject to our control, each of us faces the challenge of fashioning out of them a way of living that is both meaningful and justifiable. The Art of Living will explore different ways to think about the nature of that challenge ¿ how to accommodate conflicting demands and values, how to make our choices ¿artfully,¿ how we might use works of imaginative literature to inspire us. We will read important works of literature and philosophy, each of which implies a different value by which to live, whether reason, authenticity, community, art, or faith. In each case, you will be presented with different perspectives and asked to work out for yourself what you find most persuasive, thereby fine-tuning skills essential to your own lifelong project of self-construction.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 7:
Journeys
Is death final or only the beginning of another journey? How do the mysteries of destination give rise to our most basic questions of purpose, meaning, and faith, and challenge us to consider our proper relation to others? Journeys will examine works written across a span of some 2,300 years, from Chinese philosophy to American short stories. Each of these forms and genres presents some essential aspect of the journey we all share, and of the various passages we make within that one great journey that relentlessly challenge and transform us even as we advance toward what the poet Thomas Gray called our "inevitable hour." By reading, discussing, and interpreting these works, we will ask you to consider how each text compels us, by the penetration of its vision and the power of its art, to make part of our own journey in its company.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 8:
Sustainability and Collapse
What does it mean to live sustainably? How do our different definitions of nature ¿ scientific, literary, cultural, and historical ¿ shape the way we answer that question? nnSustainability and Collapse will explore what people in different places and periods of time have envisioned as successful ways of living with nature and how such ways of life have come under pressure. We will focus particularly on the interface between scientific and humanistic approaches to questions of environmental sustainability through a study of novels, historical texts, and works of biogeography. You will learn to ask how textual and visual images inform our ideas about what it means to live sustainably. We will then consider whether those ideas are in accordance with or in conflict with scientific understandings of human uses of nature. This course takes on some of the fundamental problems that presently confront our global community.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
THINK 9:
Technological Visions of Utopia
How do science and technology shape the frameworks for imagining utopian or dystopian societies? Sir Thomas More gave a name to the philosophical ideal of a good society - a word that is now a part of common language: utopia. In the almost 500 years since More's Utopia appeared, changes in society - including enormous advances in science and technology - have opened up new possibilities for the utopian society that More and his predecessors could not have envisioned. At the same time science and technology also entail risks that suggest more dystopian scenarios - in their most extreme form, threats to humanity's very survival. We will look at several works that consider how literary visions of society have evolved with the progress of science and technology. The readings begin with More and include examples of more technologically determined visions of the late 20th century, as imagined in works of fiction.
Last offered: Autumn 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 21:
Folklore and Literature in Russia and Beyond: Vampires, Talking Cats, and Frog Princesses
What is 'folklore' and what is its purpose? How do we decide if something is authentically 'folk' and does it matter? Why are Eastern Europe and Russia associated with the idea of folklore? For the past two centuries, writers, composers, and artists have found inspiration in folklore: the stories, songs, and beliefs of their grandparents, their servants (or their slaves), and their neighbors. This class asks what folklore means and what purposes - political and philosophical as well as artistic - it can serve. We begin with examples from around the world: the German Brothers Grimm as well as the Americans John and Alan Lomax. Then we turn to Eastern Europe and the role it has played in the Western European and American imagination as the home of the archaic and the authentic, from the vampires of Transylvania to the oral epics of the Bosnian Serbs to the nostalgic idea of the Jewish shtetl to the fantasy of Soviet communism as a survival of a pre-capitalist order. Students will analyze both folk and elite texts, and will experiment with gathering oral texts and transforming them just like the writers we studied.
Last offered: Winter 2015
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
THINK 24:
Evil
What is evil? Are we naturally good or evil? How should we respond to evil? There are many books and courses that focus on the good life or the virtues. Yet despite their obvious apparent presence in our life and world, evil and the vices are rarely taken as explicit topics. We will read philosophical and literary texts that deal with the question of evil at a theoretical level, but will also focus on some practical implications of these issues. By exploring evil, we will confront larger questions about the nature of human beings, the appropriate aims of the good society, the function of punishment, and the place of morality in art.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 31:
Race and American Memory
How have Americans remembered the Civil War - what it meant, what it accomplished, and what it failed to accomplish? How did Americans reimagine the United States as a nation after the war? Who belonged in the national community and who would be excluded? In 1865, the peace treaty was signed at Appomattox and the Thirteenth Amendment outlawed slavery, but the battle over memory and national identity had just begun. The questions that the Civil War addressed - and failed to address - continue to affect our lives today. We will focus on how Americans negotiated issues of cultural memory and national identity through a close analysis of historical texts, novels, poems, films, paintings, cartoons, photographs, and music. Our interpretations will foreground the particular themes of race and nationhood, freedom and citizenship, and changing notions of individual and collective identity. Our assumption in this course is that history is not available to us as a set of events - fixed, past, and unchanging. Rather, history is known through each generation's interpretations of those events, and these interpretations are shaped by each generation's lived experience. What stories get told? Whose stories? And in what ways? The stories we choose to tell about the past can shape not only our understanding of the present, but also the kind of future we imagine and strive to realize.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
THINK 41:
The Conscious Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Consciousness, Memory, and Personal Identity
How do our common-sense conceptions of the mind and of ourselves hold up against the growing body of psychological and neurobiological knowledge of the brain? How is your mental life anchored to your physical self?nYou wake up from a dreamless sleep and suddenly everything's buzzing with color and sound. Somehow your brain sustains this rich landscape of experience, integrating it with a repertoire of memories to constitute yourself. This course probes the neurobiological bases of these familiar yet miraculous facets of the mind. You'll learn to analyze primary philosophical and scientific texts, using basic knowledge of the brain to assess and even innovate experiments that could shed light on the nature of consciousness and personal identity.
Last offered: Spring 2014
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-SMA
THINK 43:
What is love?
Is love a spiritual or a bodily phenomenon? Is the concept of love timeless or ever changing? How does thinking about love lead us to ask other important philosophical and social questions? In this course we will examine the classical roots, medieval developments, and contemporary permutations of Western ideas of romantic love. With an eye to thinking about representations of love in our own culture, we consider some of the foundational love books of the Western tradition. From Plato's Symposium to Chester Brown's graphic novel Paying For It, we ask the fundamental question of whether and how we might distinguish between spiritual and physical desire. We consider how medieval and contemporary writers dealt with the relation of love to sex, power, money, marriage, and gender. We discuss these works of the past, for example the illicit love in the courtly romance Tristan, in tandem with representations of clandestine love from the present day, such as the portrayal of same-sex love in Brokeback Mountain.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
THINK 44:
Belief
Why do people believe in God? What does it mean for people to experience the supernatural? How do we understand belief in God? How do people convey experiences that are by definition extra-ordinary to others? In this course we ask the big (and unanswerable) question why people believe in God. Some scholars argue that belief results from direct experience, such as visions or moments of transcendence, that testify to God's existence. Others suggest that belief in the supernatural is better explained by the way the human mind has evolved or people's experience of the social world. In this class, we will pair medieval literature on Christian mysticism and magic with readings from modern psychology and anthropology. We will look at the dominant answers provided by each discipline. For example, belief might result from our sensory experience of the world, or it might have developed as part of our cognitive apparatus in response to fear. Our aim is to show how different disciplines can work together to cast light on a basic question of human existence.
Last offered: Winter 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
THINK 49:
Stories Everywhere
Do we perceive the world through stories? Are we made of stories? Can we make sense of the world without narrative? The telling of stories is not just a form of entertainment but an essential human activity that moves and persuades us, compelling us to action and reflection. In this course, we will probe how moral, cognitive and historical forces give stories their power. You will be introduced to the basic theory and art of storytelling, enabling you to understand and master the fundamentals of narrative structure, plot, and character. This will allow you to practice producing your own stories through both interpretative and creative writing assignments. The class will also give students the chance to participate in various story-making activities and work with the Stanford Storytelling Project, San Francisco StoryCorps, School of the Arts and the Stanford Innocence Project to create assignments that would be useful to both private and nonprofit organizations.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
THINK 53:
Food Talks: The Language of Food
In this course, we examine how the ways we talk about food offers us a window into history, psychology, culture and economics. We ask students to think critically about language and taste as well as explore the hidden meanings and influence of the language that surrounds us. Students will analyze the language of food through menus, recipes, Yelp reviews, TV food shows, as well as the history and etymology of food words. Some of our examples will be drawn from East Asian food and culture in addition to, and as a point of contrast with, foods and cultures that may be more familiar to students.
Last offered: Spring 2017
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
THINK 55:
Understanding China through Film
How did China move from an imperial and colonized country to an independent modern nation? How did the Chinese people transform its tradition, create new ways of life and values, and move toward modernity? What can the films tell us about the most significant events in modern Chinese culture and history?nWe will learn about major social and cultural transformations in modern Chinese through film. We will analyze films as a window on the ongoing narrative of a people making history and responding to a changing circumstances of revolution, reform, political movements, and modernization. Students will study film images as an art that is intertwined with ordinary people, their lived experiences, cultural habit, moral values, and political consciousness. The course will highlight four major periods: the May Fourth New Culture (1919-1930), the socialist era, the Cultural Revolution, and the reform era of globalization since the 1980s. We will learn to be sensitive to film as a visual and dramatic medium that brings to life Chinese history and culture. Mandatory screenings will be held on Wednesdays 6:30pm-9pm.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
THINK 57:
Progress: Pro and Contra
Where and when did we start believing in human progress? Does progress imply that history has a particular direction or end-goal?nMuch of our everyday thinking about politics, society, and history depends on some implicit or explicit concept of progress. Have we reached a point where we need to replace the idea of progress with that of sustainability? These are some of the questions this course will raise as it looks at how ideas of progress inform western thinking about science, history, evolution, and politics. It will engage with thinkers who argued in favor of the idea of progress as well as thinkers who attacked its presumptions. Reading and critically evaluating philosophical, scientific, and literary texts, we will investigate the different consequences of our residual belief in progress, as well as the consequences of our possible abandonment of that belief.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
THINK 59:
Worlds of Sound: Learning to Listen
We live in a world of sound. In ways that we do not always see, our social practices and machines lead us to understand certain sounds as signal and filter out others as noise. Drawing on thinking from linguistics, musicology, science and technology studies, and literature, this class challenges freshmen to become aware of their own listening practices and to learn how to listen actively and critically. We ask students to think about how listening can give them knowledge about themselves; how it relates to memory and identity; and how it is like or unlike reading. We will then introduce issues related to listening and technology: how technology influences the perception of sound; the perceived lack of fit between noise and an individual's perception of it. Finally, we will address varies cultures of musical listening, the classical Western tradition, South Asian musical traditions, and the listening experiences of immigrant and minority communities.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
THINK 60:
American Enemies
It would seem that an enemy should be easy to identify, but this course proposes that this involves deliberation, choice, and an assessment of consequences. We will explore modern American experiences in defining enemies, here defined as mortal threats to the state and the national collective. We will focus on ideas, thinking and assumptions rather than historical chronology. Who are enemies? How are they defined and by whom? How are enemies characterized and perceived? The narrative content of the course would be a historical study of the American engagement with enemies from 1942 to 1990. We will begin with the war or terror, return to consider the experience of the Japanese enemy of World War II, and then come up through the years of the Cold War and beyond.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
URBANST 27Q:
Sophomore Seminar: Three Detectives, Three Cities
This seminar will analyze the social reality of three historic cities (London in the 1880s and 90s, San Francisco in the 1920s and 30s, and contemporary Shanghai) through the prism of popular crime fiction featuring three great literary detectives (Arthur Conan Doyle¿s Sherlock Holmes, Dashiell Hammett¿s Sam Spade, and Qiu Xiaolong¿s Chief Inspector Chen). As a student in this course, you will explore why crime fiction is so popular, why the fear of crime is so much a part of modern urban culture, and why the police detective and the private investigator have become iconic code heroes of pulp fiction, movies, TV shows, and even video games. If you take this class, you will have the opportunity to write a paper and present your research on one of the classic literary detectives or on one of today¿s related manifestations of the same impulse in mass-market tales of superheroes, vampires, and the zombie apocalypse.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
URBANST 153:
CAPITALS: How Cities Shape Cultures, States, and People (COMPLIT 100, DLCL 100, FRENCH 175, GERMAN 175, HISTORY 206E, ILAC 175, ITALIAN 175)
This course takes students on a trip to eight capital cities, at different moments in time: Renaissance Florence, Golden Age Madrid, Colonial Mexico City, Enlightenment and Romantic Paris, Existential and Revolutionary St. Petersburg, Roaring Berlin, Modernist Vienna, and bustling Buenos Aires. While exploring each place in a particular historical moment, we will also consider the relations between culture, power, and social life. How does the cultural life of a country intersect with the political activity of a capital? How do large cities shape our everyday experience, our aesthetic preferences, and our sense of history? Why do some cities become cultural capitals? Primary materials for this course will consist of literary, visual, sociological, and historical documents (in translation); authors we will read include Boccaccio, Lope de Vega, Sor Juana, Montesquieu, Baudelaire, Dostoyevsky, Irmgard Keun, Freud, and Borges. Note: To be eligible for WAYS credit, you must take the course for a minimum of 3 Units and a Letter Grade.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
URBANST 182:
Activating Urban Spaces: Materializing Hidden Narratives in the Urban Environment (ARTSINST 182)
This course will investigate the organization and shaping of public space from the perspective of story and narrative. The course will consider how authorized narratives feature in the built environment and in the social spaces and usage of the city and how unauthorized, sometimes contentious narratives lurk beneath the surface and persist on the "skin" of the city. It will investigate the role of artists and the arts in "mapping" or surfacing alternative stories, concepts and imaginations of how the city is or can be. Inspired by the writings of Michel DeCerteau and Italo Calvino, this class explores the role of narrative in the city and the imagination from the perspective of cultural memory, lived experience, usage of space and organization of the built infrastructure. It offers an alternative approach to thinking about cities, how they are formed and how they function. This class will utilize and combine active field research methods with creative practice. Locations for our field research and excursions will include areas around Stanford and the Bay Area. The class will function as a hybrid seminar and collaborative studio workspace supporting students interested in applying creative practices to field research to develop methods for materializing narratives in various forms of public performance or place-specific art. Students will develop research for projects tailored to a particular location of their choosing and will explore the idea of the 'hidden city' its histories and its communities.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
URBANST 184:
Paris: Capital of the Modern World (FRENCH 140, FRENCH 340, HISTORY 230C)
This course explores how Paris, between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, became the political, cultural, and artistic capital of the modern world. It considers how the city has both shaped and been shaped by the tumultuous events of modern history- class conflict, industrialization, imperialism, war, and occupation. It will also explore why Paris became the major world destination for intellectuals, artists and writers. Sources will include films, paintings, architecture, novels, travel journals, and memoirs.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
URBANST 186:
Creativity: Anatomy of a Buzzword (ARTSINST 184)
Creativity is one of the defining values of our time, embraced by corporate CEOs, kindergarten teachers, and starving artists alike. Yet it not always clear what creativity means. This course will explore how the capacious concept of creativity has shaped contemporary ideals of work, art, technology, human nature, and the good society. Using a mix of popular texts, contemporary scholarship, and classics of social thought, we will look at what kinds of products, places, and people count as 'creative' in public conversation, and why. Particular attention will be paid to how different overlapping notions of creativity have guided arts policy, business practices, and urban economic strategy over the last few decades of capitalist development. Using Stanford itself as a case study, students will conduct field work to discover how the concept of creativity operates across and between the various departments, disciplines, and centers on campus, from the fine arts to psychology to business. This research will culminate in the final group project: a multimedia archive and digital concept map of creativity discourse at Stanford. Students will come away from the class with concrete research skills and theoretical tools that will enable them to critically engage with any big ideas in the public sphere, as well as a better understanding of recent economic and cultural history underpinning our everyday assumptions and widely held values.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
