Class Schedules

The main objectives of this introductory course are: to explore the historical construction of racial categories in the United States; to understand the systemic impact of racism on contemporary social processes; to consider popular views about race in the light of emerging scholarship in the field; and to develop an ability to connect personal experiences to larger, collective realities. We will engage several questions as a group: What are the historical and sociological foundations of racial categories? When does focusing on race make someone racist? What is white privilege, and why does it matter? All students will be asked to think and write about their own racial identity. This course, or its equivalent, is required for majors and minors.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Reading Plays guides students in close readings of dramatic literature, in particular of plays that are typically left out of the traditional theatrical canon. Students will learn about the socio-historical context of each play, and in-class exercises will introduce them to the foundation of script analysis: they will examine the play’s given circumstances, dialogue, dramatic action, characters, and style. Students will read a new play every week; assignments include weekly in-class writing exercises and short critical papers. Some playwrights we may explore are: Ayad Akhtar, Jaclyn Backhaus, Christopher Chen, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, Prince Gomolvilas, David Henry Hwang, Naomi Iizuka, Rajiv Joseph, Hansol Jung, Haruna Lee, Kimber Lee, Young Jean Lee, Qui Nguyen, Jiehae Park, Lloyd Suh, Kristina Wong, Lauren Yee, and Chay Yew.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism OR U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Reading Plays guides students in the close reading of dramatic literature, focusing specifically on plays that are often overlooked in the traditional theatrical canon. This Fall 2025 edition will emphasize texts from both the classic and contemporary Black Theatre canon. Students will learn about the socio-historical context of each play, and in-class exercises will introduce them to the fundamentals of script analysis. They will examine the play's given circumstances, structure, dialogue, dramatic questions, characters, and style. Each week, we will focus on a different playwright to deepen our understanding of American theatre through the lens of Black and African American artists. Students will write weekly reflections to enhance their ability to articulate how the plays and playwrights we study address the Black experience in America. For their midterm and final projects, students will curate a theatrical season based on the plays we've read and discussed in class. These papers will explore how the plays relate to one another by reflecting on history, sharing cultural narratives, and examining the ongoing impact of their content on today's audience.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this introductory course, we will study African American literature from its origins to the present. We will study major genres and movements, including the Harlem Renaissance and Afrofuturism. We will learn to use the tools of literary analysis in order to read closely, critically, appreciatively—and collectively. Themes of prophecy (what W. E. B. Du Bois termed “second sight”), literary experimentation, and beauty will focus our study. Authors will include: David Walker, Harriet Jacobs, W. E. B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Octavia Butler, Danez Smith, and Ross Gay. Requirements include: a presentation, brief written responses to the readings, one medium length essay and a revision of it, and a final project that will include a written component. This course fulfills either the foundation course in literature requirement or the literature by U.S. writers of color requirement for the English major.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course will focus on some of Asian American Literature’s salient texts and recurring themes. Through readings and class discussion, we will explore issues of ethnicity, race, gender, and community in the work of authors like Jhumpa Lahiri, Maxine Hong Kingston, Trung Le Nguyen, Solmaz Sharif, and Ocean Vuong, among others. We will also examine the political formation of the term “Asian American;” question narratives like the “model minority;” and consider how news media, pop culture, and the publishing industry have played a role in shaping the production and reception of Asian American writing. Class events will include guest lectures from Asian American authors with recently published books.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course introduces the basic issues and concepts of Asian American Studies. We begin by looking at the birth of Asian American Studies as a field in response to student protests in the late 1960s. We then proceed to an overview of Asian American history beginning with U.S. imperialism in Asia and moving up to the present moment. For the remainder of the course, we'll focus on particular topics such as: the model minority myth; anti-Asian violence; multiracial Asian American identity; and Asian American activism. The approach of this course is interdisciplinary; it draws on theoretical and methodological insights from academic disciplines such as history, ethnic studies, and sociology.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This introductory-level course approaches the youth-oriented Hunger Games series as a “map and mirror” for our times and a platform for launching adult, scholarly conversations about systems of extraction and exploitation, surveillance and the politics of Reality TV, environmental justice and public health, trauma due to war, and the possibilities for building a Culture of Peace. We will take an interdisciplinary American Cultural Studies approach as we read and watch everything in the Hunger Games series (the trilogy + two prequels) in the first half of the semester. In the second half of the semester, we will connect to various texts including: Parable of the Sower (Octavia Butler), The Autobiography of Mother Jones, Ministry for the Future (Kim Stanley Robinson), and The Future Earth: A Radical Vision for What’s Possible in the Age of Warming (Eric Holthaus). A major goal of the course is to open up our hearts and minds, and to discover more precisely what we hunger for—as scholars, citizens, and human residents of the planet Earth.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

The theorization of difference is an important aspect of cultural theory. In this class we will look at the role of difference as it is understood through ideas of representational and aesthetic politics as well as through the practice and production of knowledge. We want to examine the turn to difference within cultural studies and how this move has shifted how we think about power relations and meaning making in society. We will look at the foundational work of critical race and ethnic studies in cultural theory as well more recent scholarly work that focuses on the administration of difference through surveillance technology and social media. The class will expose students to a range of material including print, digital media, film, television, and internet and social media.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course will address the tradition of public intellectuals in numerous Black communities. We will expand the definition of "politics" to include theater, literature, and film. We will interrogate the concept of who chooses the scholarly leaders for Black communities. We will ask the following questions: Who and what is a Black Public Intellectual? What has been the place of intellectuals in struggles against injustice? We will explore these questions and others by examining the lives and the writings of women and men who were leading voices of resistance and social change, and who have influenced black public consciousness, social and political action, and intellectual activities; including the formulation of social criticism and theory—both formal (or academic) and vernacular varieties.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

The readings and assignments in this course are designed to help students understand how social policies and programs contribute to Americans' lived experiences.  We will examine various theoretical justifications for the policies that constitute the American welfare state, then confront and dissect major strands of the American social safety net to better understand how political institutions and policy mechanisms contribute to both diversity and inequality in individuals' social, economic and political outcomes (based in race, class, gender, dis/ability, region, political jurisdiction, etc.).

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course examines Native history to 1871 -- the year that Congress unilaterally chose to stop making treaties with Native nations -- by considering the multifaceted histories and experiences of Native people in what is now the United States. By looking at Native interactions with (and resistance to) Spanish, French, British, and American explorers, settlers, missionaries, militaries, and government officials, this course argues that Native history is essential to understanding past as well as present issues. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," and or "North America" fields.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This class examines the Atlantic commerce in enslaved Africans that took place between 1500 and 1800. We will explore, among other topics, transatlantic commerce, the process of turning captives into commodities, the gendered dimensions of the slave trade, onboard experiences, resistance to the trade, Africans in the Americas, and the abolitionist movement on both sides of the Atlantic. Students will read a range of primary and secondary sources in order to gain a more complex understanding of the trade and how it changed over time. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirement. Meets the pre-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Africa & Atlantic World" fields within the History major.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

After a brief but essential global history of drugs, this course will focus primarily on the 20th century to the present. We will examine histories of substance use and abuse, temperance and prohibition, the "War on Drugs," the shifting concept of addiction as a moral failing to addiction as a treatable disease, as well as study the history of the recovery movement and harm reduction. This course is not intended to be an exhaustive, comprehensive history of the subject-but it will provide you with a solid base from which to explore other aspects of this fascinating and contentious aspect of human history.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

In this course, we will study African American literature from the end of the 18th centuryto the turn of the 20th century, from Phillis Wheatley to Frederick Douglass to Ida B.Wells. Themes of the course include: reading and writing as subversive acts and AfricanAmerican literature as an agent of political and social change. We will also connect crisessurrounding Black citizenship in the United States, so often represented by AfricanAmerican writers before 1900, to the present, honoring their legacy of national critiqueand Black solidarity. We will also foreground early African American literature as art,reading it closely and appreciatively. Requirements include: brief written responses to thereadings, a presentation, a medium-length essay and a revision of it, and a final reflectionessay. This course fulfills the English major requirement either of a course focused onliterature by U.S. writers of color or a course on 19th-century American literature. It alsofulfills the college’s USID and WA general education requirements.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Who hasn’t heard of Critical Race Theory in this day and age? More often than not, "CRT" has served as a paper tiger for white supremacist, right wing attacks. However Critical Race Theory is primarily a legal studies approach, and is just one of many ways of thinking about race. In this course, we will offer a broad, interdisciplinary foundation for understanding, analyzing, and coming to terms with race, racism, and racial inequality in the United States. Students will have the freedom to explore their own interests through in-class discussions and a research paper. Topics will include racial formation in the United States; Asian settler colonialism; racial capitalism; and yes, Critical Race Theory.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Endarkened Feminist Epistemology (EFE) is an approach to research that honors the wisdom, memory, spirituality, and critical interventions of transnational Black women’s ways of knowing (Dillard, 2016). A framework created by scholar Dr. Cynthia Dillard, it articulates how reality is known from the vantage point of transnational Black women - transnational recognizing the connections between African descended women throughout the diaspora as well as the continent. Through reflecting on course readings, writing, and sacred practice, this class will explore EFE’s claims and methodologies, as well as center other transnational Black women whose work helps us make connections between history, spirituality, and our collective positionality within academia.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WC
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course provides an interdisciplinary discussion of the Latinx experience in the United States with a focus on Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban- Americans. Using fiction, poetry, films and critical essays, we will examine issues of race and ethnicity, language, identity, gender and sexuality, politics, and immigration. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 305 or SPAN 306

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course connects students with urban social geography, which studies the social and spatial dimensions of city life. The course explores some of how forces of social exclusion and efforts to promote inclusion contribute to the geographical organization of cities. Our exploration focuses on several issues of contemporary significance in the US context: (1) attempts to ameliorate social inequalities connected to racist patterns of housing and neighborhood segregation; (2) the problematic nature of gentrification; and (3) how to promote social well- being through how we design and manage the urban built environment. Our exploration will include studying theories of justice and prompt recurring reflection on the problems of urban inequality and the possibilities for creating more equitable, inclusive, and just cities. Race, class, gender, and ability are at the heart of these issues. This course therefore also considers how the intersectionality of race, class, gender, and ability affect and are affected by urban landscapes. Prerequisite(s): AMST 101 or GEOG 241 or GEOG 261 or GEOG 262 or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This core seminar traces the arc of American Studies as an interdisciplinary field through a variety of sources including: essays from American Quarterly, speeches by past presidents of the American Studies Association, excerpts of scholarly monographs, and selected terms from Keywords in American Cultural Studies. Guest speakers; films; music, art & poetry; local field trips; and campus events may work their way into the syllabus depending on the subject. To encourage a bird’s-eye view, seminar participants will take turns leading discussion, produce a “State of the Field” commentary (including revision based on peer review), and pursue a scholarly research project culminating in a final paper. Prerequisite(s): Prior coursework in American Studies and permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course provides an interdisciplinary mechanism for exploring Indigenous feminisms and queer Indigenous studies. We will explore Indigenous histories through women’s, feminist, two-spirit, and queer writings that raise critical questions about normative gender and sexuality, nationhood, colonization, and decolonization. We will also explore the following topics: the relationship between mainstream feminism and Indigenous feminism; gender and sexual violence; settler colonialism and decolonization; law and restorative justice; sexuality; two-spirit, queer, and gender non-conforming subjectivities and politics; sexual and reproductive health; activism; the environment, embodiment, and materialisms; culture and tradition; erotics; biopolitics; Indigenous epistemologies; and sovereignty and governance.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

The Senior Capstone is required of all majors. Majors who meet college criteria are encouraged to conduct an honors project in conjunction with their Senior Capstone.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Reading Plays guides students in close readings of dramatic literature, in particular of plays that are typically left out of the traditional theatrical canon. This edition of Reading Plays will focus on texts and performances considered “queer” with an emphasis on plays and performances created post-Stonewall and their relationship to queer history. Students will attempt to define several terms as a class and for themselves, in particular the terms “queer,” “queer theater,” and “queer performance.” We will complicate these definitions by posing questions such as, what does queer embodiment illuminate about these plays and performances? What happens if these plays are performed without queer people? For straight audiences? Students will learn about the socio-historical context of each play, and in-class exercises will introduce them to the foundation of script analysis: they will examine the play’s given circumstances, dialogue, dramatic action, characters, and style. While we will be studying theater scripts, you do not need to be a theater expert to enjoy this class. Students will read on average one play per week.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

The theorization of difference is an important aspect of creative inquiry. In this class we will look at the ways that artistic practice allows us to interrogate, understand, and represent difference. We want to examine how the turn to difference—racial difference, gendered difference, the politics of citizenship and belonging—has been approached through different forms like the essay, the book, investigations of place, and performance. We will think about the various ways that power is performed through cultural objects and then work through different forms of our own to critique these objects and move toward new social realities. We will look at the foundational work of artists and cultural producers in the early and late 20th century whose work focuses on critical race and ethnic studies, activism and exile, as well as more recent creative work that focuses on the administration of difference through surveillance technology and social media. The class is a studio-based course that exposes students to a range of materials including print, digital media, film, the internet, and social media.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This class is a hybrid discussion-studio course that surveys cultural production of and about Blackness. Looking at the work of artists, filmmakers, and theoreticians, we will analyze the ways that Blackness is performed as a visual language and genre, how it appears or disappears as a racialized, gendered, and (dis)abled set of embodied practices from the late 19th century to today. We learn from the ways that artists have taken social phenomena and reworked them into images, and we will work through ways that we can shape our own practices as creatives. While the course is focused primarily on the US, we will also talk about racial formations beyond the US, including the Caribbean, UK, West and Southern Africa. Class time will include technical demonstrations, artist presentations, working studio sessions, individual and group critiques, and field trips. Students will have the opportunity to work in their chosen media—photography, video, sound, installation, digital platforms, performance documentation, or hybrid forms—to produce a final portfolio. Through sustained inquiry, students will develop their own visual practice that thinks with and through Black life and aesthetic innovation.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

The course examines the post-World War II Civil Rights Movement led by African Americans in the United States.  In the class, students will analyze key people, issues, events, and debates within movement history, including, but not limited to, gender and leadership; struggles for civil rights in the south, west, and urban north; the impact of the Cold War on race relations; student activism; movement strategies; and the emergence of Black Power.  Throughout the semester, students will read a wide variety of primary and secondary texts to illuminate the activities and life stories of individual participants as well as the broad historical forces that characterized this long era of insurgency.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

The American West is central to the construction of America's identity and popular culture. The mythology of the American West, built on a narrow foundation of Euro-American settlement and conquest, is critical to understanding the role of the West in the national narrative of American history. Using a variety of materials, including films, art and photography, literature, and historical sources, this course will examine how writers, artists, actors, settlers, and government officials, among others, shaped the creation of the mythic West. This course will investigate what - and who - is and is not considered part of this mythology, as well as the ways in which these constructs attempted to make sense of the diverse populations converging in the West. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," -and or "North America" fields.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course examines Native history since 1871, the year Congress unilaterally chose to stop making treaties with Native nations. By focusing on Native sovereignty, resistance, and the exercise of treaty rights, this course highlights histories and contemporary experiences of Native people in what is now the United States. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," and or "North America" fields.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Poor and minority populations have historically borne the brunt of environmental inequalities in the United States, suffering disproportionately from the effects of pollution, resource depletion, dangerous jobs, limited access to common resources, and exposure to environmental hazards. Paying particular attention to the ways that race, ethnicity, class, and gender have shaped the political and economic dimensions of environmental injustices, this course draws on the work of scholars and activists to examine the long history of environmental inequities in the United States, along with more recent political movements-national and local-that seek to rectify environmental injustices.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This survey course will explore history, policy, and pedagogy as they relate to race, ethnicity, and culture as education. K-12 public education will be the primary focus with topics including desegregation, standardized testing, multi-cultural and ethnocentric pedagogy, the teacher's role and experience, and significant historical events in education. The course will culminate by analyzing current trends and future expectations in education.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Since the development of the first atomic weapon, nuclear power has come to define the American and global political and cultural landscape. Fantasies of annihilation and ruin not only define the contemporary political imaginary but also obscure the past and delimit notions of time, space, and futurity  Join us as we trace contemporary U.S. history and environmental policy and the stakes of "wastelanding" through art, culture and activism.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This discussion-based course is entirely focused on Bruce Lee, the movie actor and leading martial arts icon of the 20th century. Using American Studies and Critical Race Studies to frame and interpret the construction of racialized and gendered bodies, we will discuss Bruce Lee in terms of his biography, identities, politics, philosophy, and filmography (performative masculinity, anyone?). We will take time to appreciate the entertainment value and athleticism that Bruce Lee brought to his work, and we will distinguish the commercialized, commodified Bruce Lee--from t-shirts to posters to action figures--from the serious historical figure who symbolized the spirit of cultural independence and political sovereignty around the world. We will watch all four films in class starting with “Enter the Dragon,” and explore relevant scholarship in Bruce Lee Studies.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Join us as we explore the roots and routes of Native Cultural Studies through photography, film, television, print and media. How have Indigenous people been represented in visual culture? And what can Indigenous visual artists or film theory teach us about the past, present and future in the United States? No previous coursework required.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

In this course, we will examine Japanese American history and literature from the mid-nineteenth century to the present with an eye toward Japanese American activism and resistance. Balancing historical accounts and scholarly texts with poems, stories, and novels by Japanese American authors whose work offers a lens into the past, we will interrogate how Japanese Americans have been historically articulated as both enemy spies and a “model minority;” we will also explore the experiences of Japanese Americans in Hawai’i, U.S Imperialism in Asia, Japanese American solidarity with the Civil Rights Movement, and Japanese American organizing against Islamophobia. By pairing critical and creative texts, we will not only consider how Japanese Americans have been positioned within American racial discourse, but also the ways Japanese American activists and activist-writers have challenged and countered such imaginings with their work. We will supplement our class readings and discussions with field trips to Fort Snelling and the College archive in order to better understand the histories of Japanese Americans in Minnesota and even on the Macalester campus.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course will explore white Christian nationalism, the confluence of white supremacy and the idea that the US is a Christian nation whose laws should conform to Christian values and principles. Although public consciousness of white Christian nationalism has increased since the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, it has a centuries-long history and continues to influence US politics, culture and religious life. Topics in this course include nationalism, racial liberalism, whiteness, and civil religion.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

In this survey course, we will trace an African American literary tradition from 1900 to the present. Our journey across this rich tradition will be guided by the concept of art we need now, in our current national context. Among the authors we will study are: W. E. B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, John A. Williams, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, and Danez Smith. Requirements include: brief written responses to the readings, a presentation, a medium-length essay and a revision of it, and a final reflection essay. This course fulfills the English major requirement of a course focused on literature by U.S. writers of color. It also fulfills the college’s WA and USID general education requirements.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course examines the intersections between the US Civil Rights Movement and the Troubles in Northern Ireland, exploring themes of power, marginalization, and the fight for justice. The primary objectives are to expose students to the parallels between Black Americans’ and Irish Catholics’ ongoing fights for civil rights and social equity, focusing especially on women’s roles in both movements. The course also digs into the role of political polarization in both contexts, emphasizing the ongoing barriers created by racial and religious divides. The Good Friday Peace Accords were signed more than 25 years ago, but Northern Ireland today remains divided along sectarian lines in many ways. Travel to Northern Ireland in May will give students a much deeper and nuanced understanding of the history and politics of the place, the challenges inherent in moving from a divided to a more unified society, and an opportunity to learn from people on the ground who are committed to building peace. For students living in an increasingly polarized United States, time spent in Northern Ireland to be a sobering reminder of the challenges ahead and the possibilities for progress. The course's focus on individuals committed to building peace in Northern Ireland provides students with real-world examples of conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts. This exposure can inspire students to consider similar approaches in addressing divisions within their own communities. A $3,000 travel fee is due by January 15, 2026.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Is there a distinct American worldview, or merely a confluence of intellectual traditions originating beyond and before the USA? This course explores the diverse intellectual strains that have contributed to the development of American philosophy in the last three centuries, including influences that have been somewhat neglected: the American Indian thought of Arthur Parker and Zit Kala Za (Gertie Bonnin); the puritan theology of Jonathan Edwards; the political theory of Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson; the African American philosophy of W.E.B. DuBois and Alain Locke; the transcendentalism of R. W. Emerson and H.D. Thoreau; the ’classical’ pragmatism of C.S. Peirce and William James; the ’radical’ pragmatism of John Dewey and Jane Adams. Special attention will be given to American conceptions of justice, freedom, democracy, religiosity, nature, pragmatism, progress and self-reliance.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

In this discussion-based course we will examine and explore today's social justice movements in the light of the Vietnam antiwar, counterculture, and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 70s. Giving voice to the experience of Black, Latine, Indigenous, Southeast Asian and SWANA immigrant and refugee communities--in St. Paul and elsewhere--will ground the course in multicultural, anti-racist, life-affirming language and ideas. Activities and events will build intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue with people outside of the course. Key sources will include the “Port Huron Statement” by Students for a Democratic Society, Aaron Sorkin's film "Trial of the Chicago 7," the book Julian Bond’s Time to Teach, my co-edited book "The People Make the Peace: Lessons from the Vietnam Antiwar Movement" and adrienne maree brown's book "Pleasure Activism." Key events will include the February 6 El Kati campus lecture by Prof. Gerald Horne, and the March 26 public conversation on campus with Pamela Horowitz, Mac Alum Class of 1967 and widow of Julian Bond.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course provides an interdisciplinary discussion of the Latinx experience in the United States with a focus on Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban- Americans. Using fiction, poetry, films and critical essays, we will examine issues of race and ethnicity, language, identity, gender and sexuality, politics, and immigration. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 305 or SPAN 306

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

In this course, we will explore Afrofuturism, a flourishing and exciting contemporary movement of writers, artists, musicians, and scholars who imagine, represent, and theorize alternative times (often, but not always, the future) and forms of the human, along with outer spaces and other places wherein Black people are centered. We will explore the artistic, social, and political power of the movement as we closely read, listen to, and view key Afrofuturist texts. Those texts will include, among others: short stories by Samuel Delany, a novel by Octavia Butler, Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer “emotion picture,” and Wangechi Mutu’s visual art. We will also read scholarship relevant to the movement, including queer theory and posthuman theory. Course requirements include: brief reading response papers, one expanded response paper, a presentation, and a final project. This course fulfills the English major requirement of a course focused on literature by U.S. writers of color. It also fulfills the colleges’ WA and USID general education requirements. It has a prerequisite of a 100-level English literature course.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

The border region between the United States and Mexico exists as both a physical space and an ideological construct. This seminar uses literary and filmic narratives to explore issues of identity, opportunity, and violence that arise from this contested space. How does the border shape individual and cultural identities? In what ways does the border create opportunities for both advancement and exploitation? How do these works engage conflicts and tensions of race, nationalism, gender, and power? The course will include writers and filmmakers from both countries, and we will read original texts both in Spanish and English. This course satisfies the Area 2 requirement for the Spanish major. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 308 or consent of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials