Category: Inside Only Classes

GREEK AND ROMAN EPICS / CLAS 301 / MARY JAEGER 

The main project of this class is to survey the three greatest surviving epics of classical antiquity. Gaining familiarity with these texts contributes to any student’s store of cultural knowledge. They are fundamental to understanding almost any part of the culture of the Greco-Roman world and provide a valuable background for the study of art and literature from antiquity to the present day. Reading and rereading them will inform you and help you become observant; discussing and writing about them will help you become more articulate.

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHODS AND THEORY / ANTH 406 / DIANE BAXTER 

Doing research is fundamental to the production of knowledge. There are many types of research and different methods for conducting it. One division in research methods is between qualitative and quantitative approaches. In quantitative approaches, data/events are counted and measured and often hypotheses are tested. Qualitative research is more subjective: researchers are interested in understanding the meaning people have constructed, that is, how people make sense of their world and the experiences they have in it. Qualitative research methods include participant observation, interviews, case studies as well as the utilization of secondary sources (what other people have written about the subject of interest) which result in a narrative, descriptive account of a setting, practice, and/or lived experiences and realities of a person or a group of people. Qualitative research is a situated activity that locates the observer/the researcher in the world. It consists of a set of interpretive practices that makes the world visible in particular ways. They turn the world into a series of representations, including field notes, interviews, conversations, photographs, recordings, and memos to the self. At this level, qualitative research involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to the world. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them.

SEMINAR NARRATIVES IN INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE / CAS 407 / SHAUL COHEN 

This course is focused upon writing as a change agent in personal, institutional, and greater societal settings. We will be reading articles and book chapters written by and about various people and groups and the change that has been been brought about due to this writing. Students will critically examine these works by experts in the field and will also present some of their own writing as part of the coursework. In the process of this course, students will gain an understanding of how writing can be used to explore and potentially change the world around us.

CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND / GEOG 410 / SHAUL COHEN 

In this course, we will explore the roots of the political violence (the Troubles) in Northern Irelandand discuss the role of identity, power, place, and violence in determining the conflict and its transformation into an uncertain peace.

THEORY OF CARCERAL EDUCATION / GEOG 410 / SHAUL COHEN 

In this course we will survey a broad range of contemporary carceral theorists in relation to education in prison settings, and the ways education has served as a source of political and personal empowerment for incarcerated individuals.

LESSONS FROM THE INSIDE: PRISON WRITING IN THE US / GEOG 410 / SHAUL COHEN 

In this course, we will read and critically examine a range of writing from famous examples of incarceration in the United States. The readings include a broad variety of experiences, identities, outcomes, and perspectives on incarceration and its effects. In the process, we will deepen our understanding of prison literature generally and the genre as a platform for advocating social transformation.

STATES OF INCARCERATION / GEOG 405 / SHAUL COHEN

This course explores famous cases of incarceration worldwide, engaging with carceral theory and narrative explorations of power, place, and the shifting relationship between prisons and political movements. We will focus on international examples, and explore the different dynamics between incarceration during times of political upheaval and the incarceration of individuals convicted of “normal” criminal activity.

POWER, SPACE AND SCALE / GEOG 410 / SHAUL COHEN 

This class examines different elements in human geography that examine identity and the interrelations between people and place. How does the individual connect with belonging in a group sense? Who defines ownership, control, and the difference between the written or formalized systems and the lived experiences of people within those structures of power.

GEOGRAPHIES OF INEQUALITY / GEOG 410 / 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 equip students 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.