WCore Diversity Emphasis Courses
| DANCE | 110 | Creative Process | 3 Credits |
| This course is an interdisciplinary and playful exploration of the creative process
in dance for anyone - no previous dance experience required. Students participate
in theoretical and practical content to develop an understanding of our moving bodies,
movement potential, personal voice, and collaboration via tools of improvisation,
composition, and communication through movement. (WCore: WCFAH and DE) |
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| ENVI | 203 | Climate Resilience | 4 Credits |
| In this course, students will engage in extensive interdisciplinary research on how indigenous and people of colors communities build ecological, cultural, and emotional resilience in response to the crisis of climate change. Students will also collaborate on developing a website where they communicate their research findings to the general public. New content for the website will be created by cohorts of students each time the course is offered.? (WCore: WCSBS, DE) |
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| FILM | 220 | Transnational Cinema | 4 Credits |
| Because it is generally directed at a mass audience and because it has played a founding role in modern societies’ ways of representing themselves and educating (or indoctrinating) their citizens, cinema is even more visibly and emphatically political than other art forms. In this course, we will study three “cases” in the history of world cinema in an effort to get some understanding of how films operate on and in history. We will conceive “history” not as a progression of events through time but rather as a series of struggles among individuals and groups within particular societies. Because resistance to oppression is an explicit goal of the films we will study, we will focus on how cinema addresses sites of solidarity and oppression like ethnicities, tribal structures, religion communities, and genders and modes of sexual expression and practice. (WCore: WCFAH, DE) | |||
| GNDR | 101 | Gender, Sex, and Identity | 4 Credits |
| The central aim of this course is to foster critical thinking about gender and how the concept of gender structures relationships of power around us every day. This means that we will think about, write about, and talk about questions related to what gender is, how it affects us, and how it can change. Throughout this course, we will draw on several different disciplines, such as sociology, philosophy, literature, and political science, to develop a multi-faceted understanding of how gender structures our lives. We will also look at specific topics related to the intersections of race and gender, sexual identity, gender inequality, and the flexibility of gender categories. (WCore: WCFAH, DE) | |||
| GNDR | 131 | Philosophy of Gender and Power | 4 Credits |
| The term "feminist" has almost as many meanings as it has both advocates and detractors. For some, the "feminism" means a radical shift in language, politics, and economics. For some, the term simply means equality. And still for others, the term means witchcraft, sexual deviancy, and the death of the American family. This semester, we will examine how contemporary theorists (many of whom call themselves "feminist") argue the world needs to change in order to make a more just environment for women. In the process, we will read about, write about, and discuss a wide range of issues including structures of power, sexuality and sexual violence, race, masculinity, and beauty norms. The goal for this class is not to decide on one solitary definition of "feminism" but instead to force ourselves to think more critically about how gender structures the world around us and how we can change our future. (WCore: WCFAH, DE) | |||
| GNDR | 350 | Gender in Society | 4 Credits |
| This course exposes students to the problematic concept of “gender”, including the many ways in which society’s organizations reinforce and shape gender relations, and the ways in which gender shapes our identity, relationships, and the division of labor in society. Using a feminist perspective and drawing on international authors, this course will focus on the concept of “gender” at the individual, interactional, and institutional levels. (WCore: DE) | |||
| HIST | 120 | The Story of America | 4 Credits |
| This class will serve as an introduction to American history from the colonial period to the present day. We will seek to answer some fundamental questions: How did we get here? How did we go from a handful of small, not very important British colonies to the richest and most powerful nation on earth? How free have Americans been, who has wielded power, and how has that changed over time? How do historians construct their versions of the past? (WCore: WCFAH, DE) | |||
| HIST | 206 | Homelands and Contested Spaces | 4 Credits |
| Focusing on the methods, processes and outcomes of empire in what are usually referred to as "settler states," this course explores the United States, Australia, and South Africa (among others) from circa 1600 to the present. It compels students to grapple with the complex origins, realities and legacies of what we commonly know today as reservations and homelands. Questions of primary concern in this course are: How and why did these spaces come to be? How and why were they maintained (or not maintained)? Why did certain populations accept or reject the creations of these spaces (and why do these responses change over time)? How do the ancestors of settlers and indigenous populations see and experience these spaces today? The course places a heavy emphasis on critical reading, film interpretation, and research. (WCore: WCFAH, DE) | |||
| JUST | 109 | Power and Social Change | 4 Credits |
| Power and Social Change is an exploratory course: the place where the student will be exposed to concepts, problems, and challenges of the ethics of justice. This will be accomplished by laying a phenomenological foundation to the study of justice. The student becomes familiar with (in)justice problems, critically analyze and challenge materials and images detailing the complexity of social constructions. By using critical analysis, students evaluate the ways in which race, ethnicity, class, (dis)ability, and gender intersect in the social structure. (WCore: WCSBS, DE) | |||
| JUST | 310 | Law and Society | 4 Credits |
| This course explores the relationship between the legal system, law, and current controversial issues in society as they relate to race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Students will learn to analyze contemporary American legal issues using the theories of Durkheim, Marx, and Weber in addition to critical legal studies and critical race theory. (WCORE: DE). | |||
| LMW | 114 | Searching for America | 4 Credits |
| This course explores the rich tradition of modern American literature by featuring some of the most captivating texts and innovative authors, including US minority writers of different ethnic backgrounds. Emphasizing pertinent connections between literature and culture, class discussions will showcase how imaginative writing illuminates, interrogates, and complicates fundamental aspects of American culture. We sill discover that whether literary protagonists dream of freedom, refuge, success, or happiness, they all imagine and experience modern America in uniquely compelling ways. (WCore: WCFAH, DE) | |||
| NURS | 310 | Vulnerable Populations | 4 Credits |
| This course will examine and analyze a vulnerable population using two approaches. The first approach will be to scrutinize the vulnerable population through an aggregate lens of diversity that includes the risk factors, trends, and health disparities in a vulnerable population of the student’s choosing. Some, but not all, populations the student can choose from include: the chronically ill and disabled, persons living with HIV/AIDS, those living with alcohol or substance abuse, the suicide or homicide prone, those that are homeless, immigrants and refugees, and the elderly. In the second approach the student will describe and synthesize the concepts of power, privilege, and subordination in the selected vulnerable population. The student will be expected to examine the selected population through the lens of a person in that population. (WCore: DE) | |||
| PHIL | 129 | Race, Power, and Privilege | 4 Credits |
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No one lives as just an individual but rather all of us live within and interact with systems of identity, oppression, and privilege. Many people find solidarity, belonging, and pride in our relationships with categories such as race but these categories are also sites of oppression and privilege. In this course, we will look at how systems of racism and privilege contribute to how we define ourselves, how we are defined by society, and how the world we know is defined. We will do this from a philosophical perspective. This means that while we will occasionally discuss concrete issues such as affirmative action and equal pay laws we will concentrate on theories of oppression, privilege, intersectionality, and resistance. This means that we will do a lot of abstract thinking in this course. While the topics that we will investigate in this class are different than what you would find in most philosophy courses we will be learning how to think philosophically about important issues that are part of who we are. We will read a wide variety of sources written by living philosophers of race, some sources from philosophers working in the early twentieth century, as well as quite a bit of work from theorists working in literature and sociology. Looking at sources from different time periods and disciplines will highlight how concepts related to race and power change significantly over time, as well as reflecting that "Philosophy of Race" as a subfield is always interdisciplinary. Assignments and discussions will encourage students to complicate the ways they view their own identity, question the simplified accounts of power that they encounter from the media, engage in social justice work, and reflect upon that work in meaningful ways. (WCore: WCFAH, DE) |
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| PHIL | 131 | Philosophy of Gender and Power | 4 Credits |
| The term "feminist" has almost as many meanings as it has both advocates and detractors. For some, the "feminism" means a radical shift in language, politics, and economics. For some, the term simply means equality. And still for others, the term means witchcraft, sexual deviancy, and the death of the American family. This semester, we will examine how contemporary theorists (many of whom call themselves "feminist") argue the world needs to change in order to make a more just environment for women. In the process, we will read about, write about, and discuss a wide range of issues including structures of power, sexuality and sexual violence, race, masculinity, and beauty norms. The goal for this class is not to decide on one solitary definition of "feminism" but instead to force ourselves to think more critically about how gender structures the world around us and how we can change our future. (WCore: WCFAH, DE) | |||
| PHIL | 221 | Ethics of Diversity | 4 Credits |
| In the context of philosophy, ethics is the study of moral decisions and moral actions. To put it more simply, the aim of this course is to ask the question "What ought I do?" Throughout this term we will ask this question again and again, sometimes in the context of concrete decisions and sometimes in the context of more abstract theories of right and wrong. In the process, we will read the work of authors who are trying to answer the same questions, investigate their works thoroughly, and analyze their ideas and our own though writing and class discussion. (WCore: WCFAH, DE) | |||
| SOC | 105 | The Sociological Imagination | 4 Credits |
| This course provides a comprehensive introduction to sociology by examining the cultural, organizational, and social forces that shape people’s perceptions, actions, and opportunities. Areas of emphasis include the sociological perspective; social inequality; and social roles, groups, and institutions. (WCore: WCSBS, DE). | |||
| SOC | 205 | Social Problems | 4 Credits |
| Focusing on various social problems such as poverty, unemployment, crime, substance abuse, racism, discrimination, gender inequality, sexual inequality, and global inequality, this course utilizes sociological analysis to examine how social problems are defined and dealt with within the United States and other parts of the world. (WCore: WCSBS, DE) | |||
| SOC | 253 | Sociology of the Family | 4 Credits |
| This course explores the modern American family—examining the traditions, roles, functions, representations, changes, and controversies surrounding the social institution of the family. (WCore: WCSBS, DE) | |||
| SOC | 342 | Sociology of the Life Course | 4 Credits |
| This course examines the life course using a sociological perspective. We will examine the social processes associated with the life course, connecting individual experiences to larger social and historical processes. Life course theory will be used to highlight the following aspects of the aging process: 1) individuals are shaped by historical time and place; 2) individual lives are interconnected to others through social interaction; 3) individuals make choices for their lives and construct their own life course within the context of historical and social opportunities and constraints; 4) the timing of life events shapes an individual's immediate and future life course. During the last few weeks of class we will also explore a number of social issues central to our aging society. (WCore: WCSBS, DE) | |||
| SOC | 350 | Gender in Society | 4 Credits |
| This course examines gender from institutional, interactional, and individual level perspectives. We will cover a brief history of the women’s movement and its implications within the United States. A sociological perspective will be used to understand contemporary gender issues, including the social construction of gender, the intersection of work and family, the social construction of masculinity and femininity, and gendered relationships. (WCore: DE) | |||
| SOC | 372 | Race, Ethnicity, and Class | 4 Credits |
| This course explores race, ethnicity, and social class from a sociological perspective. Many people believe that American society is “color-blind” and equal opportunities exist for all. Challenging this assumption by focusing on the continuing significance of race, ethnicity, and class in America, this course examines how historical discrimination has led to large gaps in income, wealth, educational opportunities, and health outcomes, as well as how these disparities continue to be re-created and reproduced in everyday life. (WCore: DE) | |||
| WCSBS | 103 | Communicating Across Cultures | 4 Credits |
| Student explore intercultural communication concepts and theories. Students learn to become flexible communicators by: understanding concepts such as cultural value patterns and cultural-ethnic identity; exploring the process of crossing boundaries such as the development of culture shock; knowing how attitudes and beliefs influence behaviors and how cultural values are expressed through language. Cultural boundaries examined in this course include culture, race, and ethnicity. (WCore: WCSBS, DE) | |||
| WCSBS | 107 | Exploring Global Challenges | 4 Credits |
| This course explores the complex interaction among global issues and challenges across multiple fields like ecology, economy, culture, society, politics, and health. (WCore: WCSBS, DE) | |||
| WCSBS | 110 | Immigration, Education, and Equality | 4 Credits |
| This Social and Behavioral Sciences WCore course will explore ways in which environment, race, culture, and social class shape immigrants' educational experiences. We will read and analyze accounts of immigrants' experiences in public schools,, and critique perspectives regarding immigrant success in United States society and interact directly with immigrant students at a local school. We will explore differences in the educational outcomes of older and newer immigrants and look at the role of schools and other community organizations in the lives of immigrant youth. (WCore: WCSBS, DE) | |||
| WCSBS | 205 | People, Power, and Protest | 4 Credits |
| This course on social movements investigates key questions such as: How do social movements emerge? What do social movements do? Why do some movements succeed while others fail? To answer these questions, we draw from sociology, inter-disciplinary perspectives and cross-national approaches. This course will familiarize students with key concepts of this field - with a special focus on power and resistance - while exposing them to case studies of protest and social movements across the Americas and over time. (WCore: WCSBS, DE) | |||