CSP2055 Peoples and Cultures of the Americas

(Formerly CVA2055)
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits

This course looks at the Peoples and Cultures and Cultures of Latin America from within. The course covers topics such as resistance movements against dictatorships, feminist movements, Indigenous and environmental movements, racial and social justice movements. These issues are presented from the perspective of those on the ground, actively engaged with pushing for social movements that shape these countries.

What do we need to pay attention to when we are trying to understand Latin America? What are the forces that shape the region? These very complex questions should not be reduced to simple answers. However, the dynamics in Latin American countries (as well as elsewhere) are in large part a result of contentious processes between those that are trying to control the state and those trying to change it. The mainstream narrative about the history and politics of Latin America explains the region from the perspective of those who have access to the means of power, and have more leverage on how national states are governed. This is, though, only part of what we need to keep in mind. It is crucial to inquire into the movements that push against these dominant forces and narratives. This course invites students to investigate the social processes carried out by those who are often forgotten. Although frequently ignored, the consequences of these dynamics are constitutive of Latin America. This is an intermediate course designed to provide business students with the necessary tools to understand and engage with peoples and cultures of the region.

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

CSP2035 Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East

(Formerly CVA2035)
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsWhile the Middle East continues to dominate Western foreign policy concerns and is a focus of Western media, understanding of this region is often based on stereotypes that do not consider the everyday lives of Middle Eastern people, and that do not attempt to differentiate between peoples of this region. This course will introduce several groups and cultures of the Middle East in detail, while focusing on thematic topics that are of particular interest to current world events. A brief survey of the history and geography of the region will be followed by more in-depth study of topics such as political Islam, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, the war in Afghanistan, gender and sexuality, and human rights issues. The course will be highly interactive, and will make frequent use of documentaries, movies, literature, and current news events as well as anthropological and ethnographic material.

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

CPS2015 Political Thought

(Formerly CVA2015)
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsThis course addresses the meaning and practice of politics through close readings of a range of political theory approaches, such as anarchist political theory, classic liberalism, civic republicanism, Black Nationalism, queer theory, settler colonial/Indigenous studies, conservatism, and feminist theory. The course will pursue such topics as the politics of confrontation, transformation and change, the role and meaning of citizenship, political community, government, inequality, political resistance, violence, and any other pertinent issues we discern from the work assigned. This is a reading intensive course, and it will also explore political themes that can be drawn out of popular culture, such as films and television shows.

This course is typically offered in the following semesters: Spring

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

HIS4620 Race and Ethnicity in Latin America
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

What did it mean to be _Black_ or _Indian_ or _White_ in Latin America? What is mestizaje and indigenismo? What did it mean to be of mixed descent? What does these mean today? Is _race_ a means to political empowerment, or the source of discrimination? This seminar explores these issues and ideas in the context of colonial and postcolonial Latin American history. In answering these questions, we will look at a variety of theoretical and disciplinary approaches to _race._ Armed with the history of these changing ideas, we will then consider a variety of case studies from throughout Latin America.

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

CSP2033 Radical Politics: Thought, Action, and Culture

(Formerly CVA2033)

4 Credits

This Intermediate Liberal Arts course examines the theory, actions, claims, and artistic and cultural representations of radical political movements historically and in our time. Radical political movements seek major transformations in the way we live together. Radical movements tend to work outside and even at odds with the mainstream political process that involves political parties and elections. Through an interdisciplinary approach, this course will look at the history and contemporary forms of radical politics, read theoretical and historical works that help us understand different ways to conceptualize a "radical" approach, and assess the radical potential of artistic work. In past courses, we have examined the Alt-Right and Antifa, the Movement for Black Lives, and such Indigenous political struggles as the Standing Rock/#NoDAPL movement in the US context and the #IdleNoMore movement in the Canadian context. Movements such as these - and others such as the 2022 uprising in Iran - will likely be part of the course in Fall 2022, and I adapt course materials to allow us to analyze forms of radical politics that may well be emerging just prior to and during our semester. Other possible movements we might examine include those concerning the environment/climate change, queer struggles, radical feminism, those for and against human migration, and neo-nazi formations. Students will be encouraged to work on projects that examine historical or contemporary radical movements that are in their interest, and in the forms through which they best communicate (written, visual, audio etc). The course will focus on the North American context, but student projects and our discussions do not need to be limited to that context. The materials for this class will include historical and political scholarly analyses, journalism, documentaries, film, literature, music, podcasts, public commentary, and the narratives of activists themselves.

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

HSS2058 The Modern American City (HIS)
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsIn this intermediate course, students will analyze how urban centers such as Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles have served as catalysts for major developments in nineteenth and twentieth-century American history. The course will consider how these cities have spurred the nation's economy, politics, and culture, and have shaped American identity by welcoming millions of immigrants, artists, intellectuals, and bohemians. Selected subjects include Boston's institutions of culture, Chicago's factory system, the popular amusements of Coney Island, the architecture and music of _Jazz Age_ New York, the development of public housing, the counterculture in San Francisco, and the urban crisis in Los Angeles.

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

SOC4620 Sociology of Health and Medicine
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course exercises the sociological imagination in understanding how health, illness, and healthcare, are socially constructed. This construction occurs at a local, national, and international level, at the interplay of culture, policy, service, and business. By examining both health and health systems, students will gain an understanding of how an individual's health both shapes their navigation through society, and is affected by the society they navigate. We will examine this phenomenon at the interpersonal, structural, and international level. Our course will begin by understanding health and healthcare as a fundamentally social process - one that is affected by both the history of society at large and systems of inequality inherent to that society. We will then explore how these phenomena translate (or do not translate) in an international capacity. Finally, we will examine the process behind manufacturing health and healthcare, before exploring what can be done about health inequalities.

Through in-class discussions and writing assignments, students will gain a more critical understanding of health and health systems as a process, rather than as stagnant entities. We will analyze the intersecting roles of the family, culture, education, authority, gender, race, social class, ideology, economic commensuration, and nation of origin in the process of health - and how each of those in turn affect the business of healthcare and system of healthcare delivery.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
v Explain sociological theories of illness in the context of real-world experiences
v Thoroughly understand the impact of the social world on the manufacturing of healthcare, the roles of health/illness to individuals, and the processes of (de)medicalization
v Describe the role of intersecting systems of disadvantage and cultural meanings on health treatments and outcomes
v Effectively critique competing mechanisms to address various 'health crisis'
v Responsibly apply empirical findings to current policies and discourse

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

HSS2006 South Asian History
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsHistory has been the unfortunate ground on which many of South Asia's fiercest political battles have played, and continue to play themselves out. This course considers a few of the key debates that have animated South Asian history. These include debates on the nature of colonialism, nationalism; the shape of a free India; the founding principles of the states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan; and the legacy of colonialism on democracy, development, and globalization in these South Asian countries. We will also consider how recourse to certain interpretations of 'history' has influenced the crafting of policy and politics. Structured chronologically, the course begins with a study of colonialism in the early nineteenth century and ends by considering the challenges of deepening democratization, unequal development and the varied manifestations of globalization.

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

POL4640 Sports and Global Affairs
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

Can we leave politics out of sport? Should women receive equal pay? Are video games real sport? Today, it seems sport is highly associated with social, economic, and political issues of the world. Has this always been the case? Sports have existed as a social activity and developed as a form of human and country relations throughout history. In 2020 alone, the COVID-19 pandemic halted sport activities around the world and when they returned, athletes used their platform to protest racial injustice in the USA and Europe. The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed to the summer of 2021 and E-games became the safest form of sports during the pandemic engaging more viewers and gamers across the globe.

This course will explore the connection between sport and global affairs currently and throughout history to answer the questions above. It will trace instances where sport collides with social, political, and economic issues around the globe since the inception of modern sport. It will also identify how global issues have impacted the development of sports and how sports have shaped global and national issues from the margins.

We will read scholarly books and articles from the fields and disciplines of sport, political science, women, gender and sexuality studies, critical race studies, sociology, and international relations. Together we will also watch films in line with the readings. Guest speakers will join us and contribute to discussions too. All this will be done to enhance critical and analytical skills and will challenge students to think with increased confidence, independence, and creativity about the material.

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

HIS4670 The History and Ethics of Capitalism
(Formerly History of Capitalism)
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course deals with the history of capitalism from early modern times to the present. It is concerned not just with the story of capitalist enterprise but with the cultural values and social institutions accompanying capitalism. It addresses the tension as well as the affinity between capitalism on the one hand and, on the other, contextual cultural values and social institutions. It especially focuses on the way that capitalist power subverts as well as supports the free market economy and democratic political processes with which it is often identified.

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