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CAS DIV Courses

These courses, with a “DIV” designation, are part of the AU Core Curriculum. They address issues of power, privilege, and inequality that are embedded in social, cultural, or economic hierarchies, including (but not limited to) those around race, ethnicity, class, ability, gender, and sexuality.

For a list of "DIV" courses across the university, please read the AU Core page.

CAS DIV Courses
Course Name Description
AFAM-200 African Americans in Diaspora African Americans in the Diaspora (3) This course is an introduction to the study of African American history, culture, intellectual traditions, and social movements in the context of the African diaspora. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
AFAM-415 Islam in America Islam in America (3) When did the first Muslims arrive in North America, and how did they get here? Starting from the earliest colonial expeditions, Muslims have a longer and more impactful history in the Americas than is widely known. This course traces the history of Muslim people in the United States from the first known figures to the present day. Throughout, the course examines how Islam has played a significant role in shaping American religious practice and identity, along with the ways Islam and Muslims have been represented as a threat to the American project. Special attention is given to the ethnic, geographic, racial, and cultural diversity of American Muslims. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: AMST-415 and AWST-415.
AFAM-435 Adv Studies in African Am Lit Advanced Studies in African American Literature (3) Topics vary by section. Rotating topics on the movements, forms, and theories of African American literary and cultural expression from the Middle Passage to the present in historical context, with emphasis on research. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: LIT-435 and LIT-635. Repeatable for credit with different topic.
AMST-200 American Dreams/American Lives American Dreams/American Lives (3) This course explores the American Dream as a historically contingent concept that was crucial to the creation of national identity and social unity, but which has always been contested. The course centers marginalized perspectives and engages their alternative dreams and visions. Students analyze and synthesize multiple kinds of primary sources (such as speeches, fiction, film, music, art) and disciplinary perspectives (sociology, history, economics, cultural studies, ethnography) to better appreciate the diversity of U.S.-American lives and cultures. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
AMST-200 American Dreams/American Lives American Dreams/American Lives (3) This course explores the American Dream as a historically contingent concept that was crucial to the creation of national identity and social unity, but which has always been contested. The course centers marginalized perspectives and engages their alternative dreams and visions. Students analyze and synthesize multiple kinds of primary sources (such as speeches, fiction, film, music, art) and disciplinary perspectives (sociology, history, economics, cultural studies, ethnography) to better appreciate the diversity of U.S.-American lives and cultures. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
AMST-285/HLTH-285/WGSS-285 Disability, Health & Normality Disability, Health, and Normality (3) We use words like "disability," "health," and "illness" every day, and yet we rarely pause to consider how our understanding of what is normal influences how we understand the present and how we imagine futures. In this course, students explore questions related to disability from an intersectional, interdisciplinary perspective. Based on narratives and knowledges created by disabled people, ranging from scholarly works and life writing to vlogs, television shows, and art, students critically examine the history of Western medicine, law, politics, and culture. Subjects range from depression and anxiety to autism to spina bifida, as well as Deaf culture, chronic illnesses, and body size. Students gain a deeper understanding of how health, ability, and normality are concepts that can continue structural inequalities in our contemporary moment. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: HLTH-285 and WGSS-285. Usually Offered: fall.
AMST-385 Mental Health & Neuroqueerness Mental Health, Madness, and Neuroqueerness (3) Ideas about mental health, illness, and difference including therapy, self care, and mindfulness; autism, anxiety, and depression; ADHD, BPD, ODC, and PTSD; ASMR, medication, and substance use surround us every day. This course traces the longer histories of mental health discourses and encounters the lived experience of madness and neurodivergence. Centering the life stories and knowledge of those who have been labeled or claimed the label of mad, neuroqueer, and/or mentally ill, students critically examine how ideas about mental health and wellness are situated in systems of colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy. From the Mad Pride movement to neurodiversity, they learn about alternative ways of understanding different mental states and explore visions for a society that holds space for all of us. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: WGSS-385. Recommendation: AMST-285, HLTH-285, or WGSS-285.
ANTH-110 Culture and Power Culture and Power FA3 (3) This course explores how we can understand human social and cultural diversity, as well as related issues such as race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and inequality. It asks what is culture, how do we make sense of human behavior that appears to be radically different than our own, and how power relations shape human lives and human behavior. Students have an opportunity to practice the methodology of ethnography, which aims to understand the lives of others by living with and participating actively in their lives, thus attempting to see and experience the world as they do. Ultimately, the course shows how anthropology and related social sciences and humanities offer tools not just to better understand others but also to better understand oneself. AU Core Habits of Mind: Cultural Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall, spring, and summer.
ANTH-150 Anthropology of Life in U.S. Anthropology of Life in the United States FA4 (3) How should we make sense of the inequality that so marks life in the United States today? This course helps participants understand some of the multiple forms of inequality shaping U.S. life, including those along lines of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. The course examines the relationship between these inequalities and major phenomena shaping the past, present, and future of the United States, such as capitalism, slavery, relationships between the U.S. government and Native American peoples, imperialism, militarization, and war. The class links readings and discussions to significant current events and culminates in individual research and analysis employing anthropological and related socio-historical methods. AU Core Habits of Mind: Socio-Historical Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall
ANTH-150 Anthropology of Life in U.S. Anthropology of Life in the United States FA4 (3) How should we make sense of the inequality that so marks life in the United States today? This course helps participants understand some of the multiple forms of inequality shaping U.S. life, including those along lines of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. The course examines the relationship between these inequalities and major phenomena shaping the past, present, and future of the United States, such as capitalism, slavery, relationships between the U.S. government and Native American peoples, imperialism, militarization, and war. The class links readings and discussions to significant current events and culminates in individual research and analysis employing anthropological and related socio-historical methods. AU Core Habits of Mind: Socio-Historical Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
ANTH-210 Race and Racism Race and Racism FA3 (3) This course traces the development of the race concept, beginning with the emergence of "pre-racial" categories and continuing into the present period of "post-racialism." It examines the invention and development of race as an idea over time; how race and racism have operated in different geographic and historical contexts; the effects of racism; and large and small efforts to challenge racism. This course also examines how race has been mutually constructed with sexism, heterosexism, classism, and other essentialist forms of oppression. AU Core Habits of Mind: Socio-Historical Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall and spring.
ANTH-215 Sex,Gender & Culture Sex, Gender, and Culture FA3 (3) This course explores the role of sex, gender, and sexuality in shaping our lives and our world. Sex, gender, and sexuality are critical components of every aspect of societies globally. Yet, there is nothing inevitable or "natural" about the roles that sex, gender, and sexuality play in a society and in people's lives. Students will examine the multiple, fluid, changeable, ambiguous, and contradictory ways people around the world experience sex, gender, and sexuality. Readings will draw on peoples and cultures around the world with emphasis on non-normative sexualities and genders. Case studies will include gender fluidity, patriarchy and sexism, feminism, LGBTQI+ communities, trans, power, inequality, kinship, religion, the military, and the material effects of sex, gender, and sexuality. AU Core Habits of Mind: Cultural Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall, spring, and summer.
APDS-260 Asian American Experience Asian American Experiences (3) This interdisciplinary course explores the lives, thoughts, history, and cultures of Asian Americans by examining materials drawn from diverse fields including oral and immigration history, social theory, media, film, and arts. This class not only examines the lives of Asian Americans in the United States but also analyzes the effects of racial politics on Asian Americans as one among several marginalized racialized groups in our society. Racial prejudice, social oppression, political discrimination, and the creativity and resilience of Asian-American cultures and struggles are all explored. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: AMST-260.
ARTH-325 Chinese Art A History of Gender, Ethnicity and Class (3) Surveys visual and material culture of China from the perspective of globalization. Covering painting, calligraphy, decorative arts, and archaeological artifacts from the Neolithic period to the contemporary era, the course historicizes the construction of "Chineseness" and enhances student understanding of Chinese art from local and global perspectives. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: APDS-325.
ARTH-336 African-American Art African-American Art: Slavery to Social Justice (3) This course examines how and why black artists in the United States have used painting, sculpture, photography, print, and mixed media to assert and question personal, racial, and national identity. Spanning the eighteenth century through the present, topics addressed include the politics of craft, photography, abstraction, and museum display. Through lectures, discussions, and assignments, students develop visual literacy as well as knowledge of the important role the visual arts and popular culture have played in black history. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Grading: A-F only. Recommendation: ARTH-105 or ARTH-210.
BIO-151 Representation in Biomed Rsrch Representation in Biomedical Research (3) Biomedical research aims to prevent, treat, and cure human disease. But current knowledge does not equally reflect nor aid the full diversity of humans. This course describes basic concepts and technologies used in biomedical research and explores how power relations have shaped interpretations. Case studies describe how marginalized communities (based on ethnicity, gender, and others) have been excluded, misrepresented, or exploited, leading to disparities and mistrust of the health system. Through analysis of primary sources and popular press, students consider recommendations for change, and gain a better understanding of how biomedical research and healthcare impacts different communities. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity.
CAS-260 Ethical Ldrshp/Soc Inequality Ethical Leadership and Social Inequality (3) How does one lead well in the context of structural injustice? Students examine this question through the lens of race and its intersections with identity markers such as gender, sexuality, class, and body size. Through the study of academic articles, films, and podcasts, students learn about the legacy of racism in the United States and how it is sustained and reproduced, as well as how activists and leaders from historically marginalized groups have practiced resistance to this social inequality. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall. Restriction: Leadership and Ethical Development (Undergraduate Certificate).
DNCE-360 Histories of Dance Histories of Dance (3) This course introduces dance's development and contribution to global histories of the moving body. Students examine the sociopolitical, historical, and cultural forces and factors that have shaped the development, practice, dissemination, and documentation of dance, particularly in regard to race, gender, class, and power. Through reading, lecture, discussion, films, and solo and group projects, students engage with major stylistic trends, cultural influences, and principal artists and their work and also consider the complexities associated with documenting and writing dance histories. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
ECON-314 Economic Inequality Economic Inequality (3) This course covers the rise, fall, and rise of economic inequality in the United States. After discussing how to measure inequality, the course delves into major causes and consequences, including technology and the demand for skilled and unskilled labor, tax and transfer policy, "pre-distribution" issues about property rights, contracts and patents, changes in market competition, labor markets, unionization, housing markets, healthcare provision and financial markets. It pays careful attention to race and gender dimensions of inequality throughout the course and discusses policies to limit inequality and its consequences. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Prerequisite: ECON-100 or ECON-150.
ECON-316 Pol Economy of Race in U.S. Political Economy of Race in the United States (3) How does race affect the ways that individuals are included in or excluded from activities in the United States economy, and what are the impacts of these differences and how might equality of opportunity be increased? This course examines the political economy of race in the U.S. Through readings and examination of U.S. data, it examines the historical bases for differences in economic participation by race, how race is defined and measured by economists, its impact on outcomes in education and the labor market and two policy proposals to promote more equitable inclusion. Readings focus mainly on the experience of African Americans, but students are encouraged to bring other foci to the topic during the data work and individual papers. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Prerequisite: ECON-200.
HIST-208 African American Hist: to 1877 African American History: to 1877 (3) This course covers the Atlantic slave trade, the African presence in Colonial America, the American Revolution, nineteenth-century American slavery, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. The course utilizes historical eyewitness accounts, maps, and popular culture to explore the arrival and historical journey of Africans from the Colonial and Revolutionary eras through the Civil War and Reconstruction. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
HIST-209 African Amer Hist:1877-Present African American History: 1877 to Present (3) Beginning with a brief review of the Civil War and Reconstruction, this survey chronicles the history of African Americans to the present time. The course uses historical and literary texts and makes use of cultural resources such as films, recordings, art works, and museum exhibitions to explore the richness of this legacy and its impact on the development of American culture and history. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: spring.
HIST-245 Modern Jewish Civilization Modern Jewish Civilization (3) This survey course covers a broad range of Jewish political, social, cultural, religious, and intellectual history from the early modern period (approximately sixteenth to early seventeenth centuries) to the mid-twentieth century. Students encounter groups of Jews as diverse as the ultra-orthodox Hasidim, the founders of the Jewish enlightenment and Reform movements, bourgeois European women, and radical revolutionaries. Geographically and culturally, Jews have spanned the globe, reflecting the modes of dress, cooking, architecture, etc. of many countries and speaking over 30 specifically Jewish languages (which combine Hebrew with others) as well as the dominant languages of their home countries. The modern Jewish experience has encompassed both euphoria and despair, as in the mid-twentieth century with the Shoah (Holocaust) and the establishment of the State of Israel. This diversity is reflected in both classroom discussions and assignments. Through reading of primary documents from each time and place, students understand history in "real time," and critically analyze the social and political structures that exercised power over the lives of Jews and others in various communities. These lessons are reinforced with a visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: spring. Grading: A-F only.
HIST-382 Queer Literatures & Histories Queer Literatures and Histories (3) Reading and analysis of texts on sexuality and gender from ancient writings to modern fiction, in a variety of genres (philosophical dialogue, drama, poetry, novel, short story), and putting them into dialogue with key historical and critical studies on the queer past. AU Core Habits of Mind: Socio-Historical Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: LIT-382 and WGSS-382.
HLTH-245 Multicultural Health Multicultural Health FA4 (3) This course examines the complex interaction between culture and health. Emphasis is placed on understanding cultural, social, and psychological determinants of health status, health-related behaviors, and health disparities. The effects of race, religion, social class, diet and lifestyle, gender roles, sexual orientation, acculturation, and migration on health behaviors and practices are explored. Students increase their own cultural humility and cultural competence through ongoing self-assessment, reflection, and discussion. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
HLTH-245 Multicultural Health Multicultural Health FA4 (3) This course examines the complex interaction between culture and health. Emphasis is placed on understanding cultural, social, and psychological determinants of health status, health-related behaviors, and health disparities. The effects of race, religion, social class, diet and lifestyle, gender roles, sexual orientation, acculturation, and migration on health behaviors and practices are explored. Students increase their own cultural humility and cultural competence through ongoing self-assessment, reflection, and discussion. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
HLTH-245 Multicultural Health Multicultural Health FA4 (3) This course examines the complex interaction between culture and health. Emphasis is placed on understanding cultural, social, and psychological determinants of health status, health-related behaviors, and health disparities. The effects of race, religion, social class, diet and lifestyle, gender roles, sexual orientation, acculturation, and migration on health behaviors and practices are explored. Students increase their own cultural humility and cultural competence through ongoing self-assessment, reflection, and discussion. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
HLTH-245 Multicultural Health Multicultural Health FA4 (3) This course examines the complex interaction between culture and health. Emphasis is placed on understanding cultural, social, and psychological determinants of health status, health-related behaviors, and health disparities. The effects of race, religion, social class, diet and lifestyle, gender roles, sexual orientation, acculturation, and migration on health behaviors and practices are explored. Students increase their own cultural humility and cultural competence through ongoing self-assessment, reflection, and discussion. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
LIT-225 African Literature African Literature FA1 (3) We come to know the world through the stories that are told about it, but all too often African stories are told by people outside of the continent. This course immerses students in fiction and creative forms written by Africans. Students discuss some of the classics of African literature, read contemporary bestsellers, and talk about literature and translation in the digital age. They closely examine form, style, and language while also discussing the ways in which colonialism, race, gender, sexuality, migration, and everyday life are depicted and dramatized by African writers. AU Core Habits of Mind: Creative-Aesthetic Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
LIT-235 African American Lit African-American Literature FA2 (3) A survey of African-American literature beginning with the poet Phillis Wheatley and the slave narratives of the 1700s and concluding with Malcolm X and Toni Morrison. The emphasis is on the continuity of black writing within its historical and cultural contexts. AU Core Habits of Mind: Cultural Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: spring.
LIT-240 Asian American Literature Asian American Literature FA2 (3) This course is a survey of Asian American literature from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day. Obscured by the broad definition of "Asian America" is a staggering diversity of peoples that represent more than twenty-four distinct groups. Students discuss a wide array of works by Asian American writers in light of issues including immigration and migration, comparative racial formation, cross-racial alliance, gender/sexual citizenship, the model minority discourse, literary, and online activism. Both the diversity and the shared experiences of Asian Americans reveal the complex story of America's making. AU Core Habits of Mind: Cultural Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity.
LIT-267 Literatures of Global South Literatures of the Global South FA3 (3) This course examines the historical construction of global south as an organizing concept through literature circulated since the turn of the twentieth century. It addresses a wide array of works by writers from the global south with relation to colonialism and empire, immigration and migration, comparative racial formation, gender/sexual citizenship, as well as inter and intra-cultural solidarity building through literary activism. The course also explores how the cultural and political salience of the term global south has transformed through time and place; what the term encompassed, enabled, and challenged at different moments in history; and how the framework is being rethought in the present day. AU Core Habits of Mind: Socio-Historical Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall and spring.
LIT-285 Intro to Latina/o/x Studies Introduction to Latina/o/x Studies (3) Latinxs (people with roots in Latin America) have lived and worked in what is now the United States for at least 400 years. This course examines cultural productions and critical texts that consider structural inequality as it affects Latinx peoples in the U.S. Through reading a series of case studies, including novels, essays, and films, and other creative media, students consider how diverse Latinx communities resist racialization and imagine more socially just futures. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: LTST-200.
LIT-335 Studies in African Am Lit Studies in African American Literature (3) Topics vary by section. The historical forces and institutional practices that produced African American literature and the critical frameworks to understand the goals, legacies, artistic merit, and political efficacy of the works are examined. Rotating topics focus on different movements, forms, and theories of African American literary and cultural expression in historical context. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: AFAM-335. Repeatable for credit with different topic.
MATH-470 History of Mathematics History of Mathematics (3) From clay tablets to artificial intelligence, explore developments in the history of mathematics around the world and through the ages. This course surveys the lives of the creators and the results of their eureka moments and long struggles for enlightenment. Through readings, examination of written and visual materials, discussion, and written assignments, students broaden and enrich their understanding of mathematics as a science, an art, and an essential part of culture, and analyze how history has shaped modern mathematical knowledge and practice. Students hone writing and information literacy skills through a variety of written assignments, culminating in a research project on a topic of their choice. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Written Communication and Information Literacy II and Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: MATH-670. Usually Offered: alternate springs (even years). Prerequisite: MATH-222 and completion of Written Communication and Information Literacy I requirement.
PERF-318 Insiders/Outsiders in Wrld Mus Insiders and Outsiders in World Music (3) How can the history of ethnomusicology help us to understand colonial and decolonial paradigms of knowledge-making? This course explores musical traditions from the point of view of both native and non-native scholars in order to think critically about the knowledge, assumptions, and values each brought to their studies. Through reading, listening, participant observation, and reflective essays, students gain sonic and theoretical familiarity with three dynamic musical traditions as well as an understanding of how scholars continue to grapple with historic inequities in music scholarship. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity.
PHIL-211 Intro to Asian Philosophy Introduction to Asian Philosophy (3) This course explores whether thinking is a universal or culture-specific activity, if philosophical questions are consistent or diverse in different cultures, how cultural norms are created, and is cultural bias justifiable. The course examines Asian philosophy from the ancient to the modern by providing critical readings and discussions of primary texts in Asian philosophical traditions and offers some comparison with Western tradition. Topics include Asian approaches to and modern variations of the self, society, governing, and gender. AU Core Habits of Mind: Cultural Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: alternate springs (even years).
PHIL-211 Intro to Asian Philosophy Introduction to Asian Philosophy (3) This course explores whether thinking is a universal or culture-specific activity, if philosophical questions are consistent or diverse in different cultures, how cultural norms are created, and is cultural bias justifiable. The course examines Asian philosophy from the ancient to the modern by providing critical readings and discussions of primary texts in Asian philosophical traditions and offers some comparison with Western tradition. Topics include Asian approaches to and modern variations of the self, society, governing, and gender. AU Core Habits of Mind: Cultural Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: alternate springs (even years).
PHIL-236 Ecological Justice Ecological Justice: Ethics in a More-Than-Human World (3) This course is an in-depth study of ecological justice, that is, ethics in a more-than-human world. It tackles the question of how environmental justice intersects with social justice, especially along the axes of gender, race, sexuality, and disability. It begins with classic environmental literature, in order to interrogate the traditional (and yet changing) referents of the term "nature," from animals and wilderness, to urban parks and chic products. It then explores the ways in which marginalized populations (especially women, people of color, queer people, and people with disabilities) have not only borne the brunt of environmental devastation and climate change, but have also historically led environmental justice movements around the globe. Throughout the course, students dig deeper to understand the conceptual underpinnings of environmental and social injustices. In particular, philosophical tools are used to critically assess how the notion of "natural" has been used to describe forms of life that are socially naturalized (e.g., white, cisheterosexual, able-bodied people) and similarly, how the notion of "unnatural" has been used to describe the socially marginalized (e.g., the queer, the immigrant, the impaired, etc.). Drawing on the traditions of ecofeminism, race and environmental justice, queer ecology, and disability theory, students learn that a robust environmental ethics must reimagine "nature" itself to address degrading ecosystems alongside social hierarchies and marginalization. Students deepen their knowledge of intersectional justice not only across human communities, but within a more-than-human world. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity.
PSYC-421 Women and Mental Health Women and Mental Health (3) This course focuses on women's functioning. Includes theories of the personality of women, common adjustment problems faced by women, and emotional problems prevalent in women. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Prerequisite: PSYC-100; PSYC-215; and 6 additional PSYC credit hours at or above 200-level.
PSYC-454 Stereotyping and Prejudice Stereotyping and Prejudice (3) This seminar reviews theory and research relevant to the formation and effect of stereotypes and all forms of intergroup prejudice. It relies primarily on the findings of experimental research in social psychology to analyze how prejudice forms, is maintained and might ultimately be reduced, with special attention to the impact on and responses of historically marginalized group members. Students reflect on the similarities and differences of prejudice stemming from race, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status (SES), political affiliation, etc. Research methods and critical thinking are emphasized. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: alternate falls (odd years). Prerequisite: PSYC-100; and 9 PSYC credit hours at or above 200-level.
RELG-240 Global Religious Ethics Global Religious Ethics (3) Oppressive systems tied to colonialism are often embedded in the study of religious ethics, where the dominant canon taught in most universities is composed of Western or Judeo-Christian ethics. This course confronts that injustice, reading important religious ethicists from the global context, expanding students' understanding of what it means to live ethically. Through the readings and paper assignments, students are asked to (re)consider the interconnectedness of politics, culture, and power structures relating to global religious ethics. The course considers how racism, ecology, and politics are addressed in global religious ethics and reveals important ethical resources that promote diversity and equity. AU Core Habits of Mind: Ethical Reasoning. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity.
SOCY-310 Language, Culture, Power Language, Culture, Power (3) This course cultivates insight into the ways that language and representation can (re)produce, maintain, and subvert relations of power, social identities, and social hierarchies. Discussions and readings develop insights into the various ways in which gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, and ability are constructed and contested through systems of language and representation. The course is hands-on and students draw from course readings to examine a range of data including popular film, advertisements, newspaper articles, and social interactions. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: spring. Prerequisite: sophomore standing.
SOCY-335 Birth and Death Birth and Death (3) One of the few commonalities human beings share is that all are born and all die. This course is grounded in analysis of structural inequalities that affect supposedly natural process of birth and death. Issues considered include why some groups of people are more likely to die younger than others or die certain types of deaths, and why some populations of women are more likely to control whether or not they become pregnant and the outcomes of their pregnancies. Through attention to gender and racial inequities, political struggles, market forces and demographic change, the course enhances understanding of these aspects of personal biography as constituted in social context in the United States and transnationally. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity.
SOCY-354 Interrogating Whiteness Interrogating Whiteness: Privilege, Racism and Anti-Racism (3) This course considers the social, legal, and media constructions of white racial identities in relation to issues of racial justice. It examines how whiteness intersects with gender, class, and sexuality. Students develop skills for multicultural alliances and strategies for antiracist engagements. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
SOCY-453 Intersectionality: Theory/Prac Intersectionality: Theory and Practice (3) This course foregrounds the ways gender, race, class, sexuality, and other dimensions of social differentiation organize our experiences in society and together shape social identities, social interactions, and social institutions. Intersectionality theory focuses on interconnected systems of social inequality with the express purpose of developing knowledge of the workings of these interlocking power relations in society. The course pushes beyond an intersectionality practice that "includes differences" and moves students toward practices of intersectionality that deploy knowledge of subjugated social groups with the intention of challenging and changing interrelated systems of social inequality. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: SOCY-653.
SOCY-475 Health/Rights Transnat'l Persp Health and Rights in Transnational Perspective (3) From the eugenics movement to reproductive health, the practice of biomedical research to access to treatment, the prevention of diseases to the containment of outbreaks, matters of health and issues of rights are intimately connected. At the heart of these issues are enduring patterns of power, privilege, and inequality, embedded in social, cultural, economic, political and global hierarchies, including those around race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, social-economic status, and nationality. Through provocative readings and films, student-led facilitation, and individual and group-based projects oriented towards addressing structural inequalities, this course considers when, where, how and why matters of health and issues of rights intersect; historical influences on present-day issues at the nexus of health and rights; and the role of various institutions that inform the experience of health and rights. It further considers global power influences on issues of health and rights across borders as well as the differential experience of health and rights for historically marginalized populations throughout the world. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity.
SPAN-465 Indigenous Peoples of Latin Am Indigenous Peoples of Latin America (3) Explores the different and diverse indigenous cultures of Latin America including Aymara, Quechua, Mayan, Mapuche, Guarani, and Nahuatl from an historical perspective. Since colonial times, the indigenous peoples of Latin America have been discriminated and suffered oppression. Nineteenth century independence did not bring about substantial changes but rather a continuity in political, social, and economic structures of power. Resistance has also shaped most of the indigenous communities and the way they have advanced in their societies. This course seeks to understand the historical development of these processes. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Note: Language of Instruction: Spanish.
TESL-220 Language, Education and Equity Language, Education, and Equity (3) Language is a central aspect of identity, culture, and society, but it also contributes to structural inequalities that limit access to power and privilege. This course explores the nature of language; its impact on society and identity; the role of multilingualism in the human experience' legacies of linguistic oppression and monolingual ideology and policies; and how language contributes to structural inequalities that shape participation in education and society. Students examine the experiences and contemporary realities of linguistic groups that have experienced marginalization, particularly in educational contexts. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. https://youtu. be/p3b8ycMHIlI
WGSS-125 Gender in Society Gender in Society FA4 (3) This course focuses on the social construction of gender along with other forms of social inequality; representations of gender that permeate all forms of cultural experience; and theoretical arguments regarding key issues such as equality, ethics and politics, as well as debates at the frontier of gender theory. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: fall.
WGSS-150 Women's Voices Thru Time Women's Voices through Time FA2 (3) This course focuses on distinctive contributions of women to Western artistic and intellectual traditions; significant articulations of human experience expressed by women through literature, art, and history; how such traditions became established; and how women, despite obstacles, have produced lasting works of ideas and imagination. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: spring.
WGSS-150 Women's Voices Thru Time Women's Voices through Time FA2 (3) This course focuses on distinctive contributions of women to Western artistic and intellectual traditions; significant articulations of human experience expressed by women through literature, art, and history; how such traditions became established; and how women, despite obstacles, have produced lasting works of ideas and imagination. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Usually Offered: spring.
WGSS-319/LIT-319 Imagined Bodies Historicizing Race and Gender (3) This course studies the early modern body as a site where ideologies of property, gender, race, and class operate to (re)organize society in the anglophone Atlantic world. By reading critical theory, novels, and other primary source documents, students examine the body politics of creating a body politic. Topics covered include family systems; the history of sexuality and reproduction; and the body disciplined under slavery and capital. AU Core Habits of Mind: Cultural Inquiry. AU Core Integrative Requirement: Diversity and Equity. Crosslist: LIT-319.