ENV4605 Global Environmental Activism
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits"It has never been more important to protect the environment, and it has never been more deadly. The battle for the environment is emerging as a new battleground for human rights." (Global Witness).

This course examines environmental activism around the world. The impact of anthropogenic activity on the environment has raised serious global concern and triggered several efforts to tackle the problem from the global to local level. Individuals and groups are using various tools to create awareness and help curb the growing environmental menace from different sources. Activists - especially local and indigenous ones - often face danger, including persecution by powerful actors like states and multilateral corporations, and the murder rate of environmental activists continues to rise globally. Environmental activism has thus become increasingly perilous. Nonetheless, advocacy for environmental responsibility remains vibrant around the world. This course uses various cases in different regions of the world to help understand the global environmental movement These cases include Shell in Nigeria's Niger Delta; Tahoe Resources in the Guatemalan town of Mataquescuintla; and Coca-Cola in India. The course will use these cases to examine: 1) the theoretical basis of environmental activism; 2) motivations of and challenges for activism; 3) the nature and composition of actors - activists, perpetrators and collaborators, policy communities, and governments; 4) nature and scope of issues and activism in the various regions of the world; and 5) relationships between environmental degradation, advocacy for its protection, and climate change.

Prerequisites: Any combination of 2 ILA (HSS, LTA, CSP, LVA, CVA)

GDR4605 Global Gender Politics
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course aims to help students develop a comprehensive understanding of gender in contemporary domestic and international politics. It covers a variety of themes, such as feminist theory, intersectionality, gender performance, comparative legal regimes, and the political economy of gender. Students will have an opportunity to explore various case studies on gender from around the globe, to deepen their understanding of core concepts.

Prerequisites: Any combination of 2 ILA (HSS, LTA, CSP, LVA, CVA)

HSS2041 Global Goods: Histories of Commodities, Exchanges, and Cultures
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsHow have inanimate commodities served as active agents in human history?
How have global exchanges of commodities shaped socio-political boundaries?

This course will move chronologically from the late fifteenth century to the present, demystifying commodities that we have often taken for granted and studying them as drivers of transregional economies and cultures. We will survey a wide variety of commodities and market spaces: from exotic Indian tea to cotton produced in the American South to Qatar's oil reserves to Tokyo's fish markets, for example, to understand the transformation of _commodities_ into _global goods_. The course will offer factual knowledge and analytical tools for understanding the political circumstances and shifting cultural values implicated in the rise and transformation of commodities into global goods. We will explore how this transformation has left indelible marks on religion, science, democracy, race, gender, class, and ideas of human rights. We will also examine the social, cultural, and political boundaries that global exchanges of commodities demand, calling to question the idea of the _global_. Part economic, part cultural, and part environmental history, this course relies on the histories of commodities to illuminate the idea of what is global.

Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)

HSS2028 Global Politics
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits

This intermediate course will begin by examining different perspectives on the role of power, anarchy, institutions, and identity in the international system. These ideas will then be used to explore a wide range of current global issues, including war, trade, human rights, humanitarian intervention, and environmental problems. The goal of this course is to learn how various theories can bring both a richer understanding of the nature of international problems and of the motivations and perspectives of various international actors. This semester special attention will be given to the topics of international migration and conflicts in the Middle East.

Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)

HSS2050

4 Credits

Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)

HIS4606 Cultural History of American Business
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsHow have generations of Americans used business to define their ambitions and identities? How has commerce influenced the nation's mythology and ideals? What are the social and personal costs of the U.S.'s veneration of the marketplace? In this advanced-level history course, students will examine how business has shaped American culture and society. Selected subjects for the class include the rise of the corporation, the icons of American business, the power and politics of consumption, ethnic and immigrant entrepreneurship, and the role of the marketplace in the nation's economic and cultural development.

Prerequisites: Any combination of 2 ILA (HSS, LTA, CSP, LVA, CVA)

HSS2052

4 Credits

Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)

HIS4617 The History of Boston
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsIn this Advanced Level course, students will explore Boston's history, from the seventeenth century to the present, and consider how the city's religious values, economic leadership, and intellectual traditions shaped American identity. Selected topics for the class include Boston's Puritan heritage, its place in the American Revolution, the city's intellectual and social movements, the creation of its museums and civic institutions, and struggles with immigration and race. As part of their responsibilities for the course, students will participate in field trips to the historic sites of Beacon Hill, Boston Common and the Public Garden, the North End, Back Bay and Copley Square, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Prerequisites: Any combination of 2 ILA (HSS, LTA, CSP, LVA, CVA)

CSP2026 Immigrants, Race and the American Promise

(Formerly CVA2026)
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsThis intermediate course will consider the nature of American culture and identity through the experiences of the nation's immigrants and its ethnic citizens. What sacrifices have immigrants and ethnic Americans made in order to become members of the national community? How have they contributed to the development of modern America? How have they re-shaped the culture, politics, and economy of the U.S.? How have immigrants and citizens of color adapted the mythology of the American Dream to achieve success? What does the larger narrative of immigration, race, and ethnicity tell us about our nation's values and our own identity as citizens? Throughout the semester, students will use historical texts, novels, and selected works of film and music to consider these questions. Selected themes for the course include the _Melting Pot_ and multiculturalism, race and ethnicity, anti-immigrant agitation and legislation, the nature of the American Dream, and the development of ethnic communities and businesses. The class will cover the time period from the late nineteenth century to the present.

Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)

POL4635 International Politics of Asia
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsInternational Politics of Asia covers a variety of global issues in this key region of the world. The first section will provide a backdrop to understanding colonial legacies, nationalism, and the construction of East Asia's modern states. Subsequently, the course will turn our attention to the current real-world problems facing Asian leaders. We will look at the international security problems of North Korea, insurgencies, and alliance politics, before turning our attention to the international political economic issues of trade and development. Relatedly, we will pay attention to the environmental costs and degradation of industrial development in Asia. The final area of concern will be human rights issues in China, Burma, and the Philippines.

Prerequisites: Any combination of 2 ILA (HSS, LTA, CSP, LVA, CVA)