Sumer 2009 Courses - M.A. in Humanities
Syllabi will be posted as they become available.
History
HUM269H Biography as History – Fred Simonelli (Sunday)
This course will look at biography as a form of history telling and will examine how biography shapes our understanding of the past. Among the questions to be examined are, how does biography reveal the historical circumstances of the subject’s life to give readers a broader understanding of the historical context of that life and the era in which the person lived, and how effectively can contemporary readers explore the past through the prism of one person’s life. (SYLLABUS)
HUM266H Religion and Politics in America – Patricia Ash (Saturday)
This course explores the intertwining of politics, culture, and religion in the United States. It will explore the constitutional foundations of our national commitment to the separation of church and state as well as the persistence of religion’s involvement in the public square. Particular attention will be paid to the rise of the “religious right” in recent decades as well as to current issues (e.g., gay marriage, abortion, stem cell research) that many have approached from a religious perspective. (SYLLABUS)
Cultural Studies
HUM289CS Armies of God: The Spanish Conquest of the Americas – Michael Heim (Sunday)
The seminar involves close reading of the conquest of Mexico (Tenochtitlan) written by Aztec natives as well as by Spanish conquerors. Attitudes in the European church and state set in motion the crisis of native Mayan and Aztec cultures. Studies include Mexican sculpture and artifacts, murals, architecture, poetry, film, philosophy and religion. (SYLLABUS)
HUM273CS The Faces of Spirituality: Islam and Muslim Cultures - Jane Crawford (Saturday)
This course will study Islamic belief and philosophy and overview aspects of Muslim cultures around the world. Topics to be addressed include: men and women, war and peace, religion and the state, faith and culture expressions, and Orientalizing/Occidentalizing stereotypes. Students will have the opportunity to visit a mosque. (SYLLABUS)
English
HUM205E Shakespeare and His World: Shakespeare’s Geographies of the Other – James Quick (Saturday)
Will consider how six of Shakespeare's plays conjure worlds (Venice, Cypress, Egypt, etc.) and people (Jewish, African, Colonial, etc.) set apart from the experience of early modern London and how these geographies of the other represent an exotic, magical, erotic, mysterious, and dangerous alterity. Additionally, these plays also "hold a mirror" up to Shakespeare's England and to ourselves. (SYLLABUS)
HUM240E “Story Painters and Picture Writers”: Poetry and the Visual Arts – Millie Kidd (Sunday)
Some artists—William Blake, Rosetti, Cummings, Faulkner—worked in more than one medium: written text and visual art. In some instances, poets were inspired by objects of art, in other cases, poems become the subject of visual art. This interdisciplinary course uses a variety of perspectives and approaches to explore the relationships between art and the written word. (SYLLABUS)
Creative Writing
HUM248CW Writing for Screen and Television: Screen play: What Happens Next? – Kathy Boutry (Saturday)
Every good screenplay entails suspense. We will study how great writers keep their audiences hooked and on the edge of their seats, and we will apply these techniques to our own writing. Each student will be required to submit a complete screenplay treatment and multiple drafts of a screenplay act (30 pages). This is a reading and writing intensive workshop. We will study published screenplays each session. Possible reading list: Revolutionary Road; No Country for Old Men; Slumdog Millionaire; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Juno; The Wrestler. (SYLLABUS)
HUM230CW Fiction: Science Fiction and Fantasy – Joan Johnson (Sunday)
This specific genre ranges from Shakespeare’s The Tempest to China Mie’Vile’s Perdita Street Station and the diversity of ideas will be limited only by time. If you want to try your hand at writing short stories about aliens, outer space, time travel, robots, alternate reality, monsters, magic carpets, or any other weird stuff, you will find this class stimulating your creative juices getting you to create a body of work of your own. A prime requirement for any creative writing class is courage. (SYLLABUS)
TRAVEL STUDY
HUM268H/HUM203E In the shadow of a Giant: The History and Culture of El Salvador (June 3-12)Offered for History or English credit by Professor Fred Simonelli and Marcos Villatoro, this class will study the trurbulent history and remakable culture of El Salvador, with the emphasis the United States had on that nation during the 19th and 20th centuries. (SYLLABUS) (Description) (Itinerary)
HUM298 Introduction to the Humanities – Fred Simonelli July 18-19, 2009
HUM296B Capstone Project - Millie Kidd
HUM297A,B,C,D Capstone Project Continuation – Millie Kidd
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