GEOGRAPHY OF INEQUALITY / CAS 399 / SHAUL COHEN
Our class will examine variations in concepts of “need” and “want”, both within the United States and in other parts of the world. Attention will be paid to issues of scale and location to highlight the nature of inequalities that can but do not necessarily correlate with “have/have not” or “advantaged/disadvantaged” metrics. Our sources for comparison will come from maps of geographic distribution, census and survey data, interview material, and fiction, and non-fiction. Theoretically we will draw upon work in geography on space and place, as well as from theorists and researchers in other disciplines. The goals of the course are to bring students to a point where they are able to challenge the standard binaries that accord happiness and success with “have”, and the very concepts of success and wealth that are the norm of modern capitalist society. They will also be equipped to recognize and examine discourses of success and happiness that help frame culture, identity, and economics, and to assess power and agency. As such we will engage issues such as race, gender, age, educational level, occupational status, family status, location/lifestyle, spirituality, and more.
CARCERAL GEOGRAPHY / GEOG 410/510 / SHAUL COHEN
This course will explore concepts in intercultural understanding as well as building skills in conflict resolution, cross-cultural work, coalition building, and individual self-reflection. We will examine both the broad frameworks for discussing cultural differences as well as thinking through the ways identity and context influence our experience of the world and our encounters with one another. Conflict resolution theories and skills will be a major focus. We will also discuss intercultural encounters in a variety of specific contexts, including education, the workplace, and in humanitarian development efforts. We will ground these concepts in our own experiences, and include real-world applications in our own lives.
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION / CAS 407/507 / KATIE DWYER
This course will explore concepts in intercultural understanding as well as building skills in conflict resolution, cross-cultural work, coalition building, and individual self-reflection. We will examine both the broad frameworks for discussing cultural differences as well as thinking through the ways identity and context influence our experience of the world and our encounters with one another. Conflict resolution theories and skills will be a major focus. We will also discuss intercultural encounters in a variety of specific contexts, including education, the workplace, and in humanitarian development efforts. We will ground these concepts in our own experiences, and include real-world applications in our own lives.
WAR, PEACE, AND HOSPITALITY IN ANCIENT POETRY AND PROSE / CLAS 405 / STEVEN SHANKMAN
We will read foundational works from three different ancient cultures: China, Greece, and Israel. We will pay particular attention to the question of the kinds of values that these foundational works were meant to instill in their ancient audiences. What do these texts teach us about the causes of war; and of how to achieve peace, particularly in regard to the wisdom of extending, or rejecting, hospitality toward the stranger? Emphasis will be on close and attentive reading of texts. Literature during this period was meant to be taken in by the ear rather than the eye, and we will emphasize the oral [spoken aloud]/aural [heard] dimension of these works. Students will train their ears to hear and scan ancient Greek and Chinese poetry, even if they do not know the ancient languages themselves; and to hear modern attempts at approximating the aural effects of ancient poetry and (in the case of the Genesis) prose.