(Offered as ENGL- 123 and EUST-121) [Before 1800] Over a thousand years ago, a group of peoples began to form themselves into what we now call “Europe,” a geopolitical space that identifies itself as a shared culture. This course reads classic texts from the European tradition in order to study some of the most influential works of Western culture as well as to interrogate and critique the foundations of an idea of the European tradition. We will put philosophy and literature from antiquity and the Middle Ages in dialogue with selected scholarship on the formation of European culture.

Course offered Spring semester 2026. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: oral presentations, discussion leading, reading, independent research, and writing.

Course offered Fall semester 2025 and Spring 2026. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Emphasis on research and writing.

From climate change to water and air pollution, environmental degradation harms some groups of people more than others. Today, communities of color in the global North are disproportionately harmed by environmental contamination. The global South writ large faces far more environmental health issues than the global North. And women face unique harms from environmental degradation across the world. Why do these disparities exist? Should everyone have equal access to the same environmental quality, and whose responsibility is it to ensure this in the United States and globally?

What makes a disaster a disaster? In this course, we will explore this question through an environmental and social lens. We will survey a variety of disasters, both past and present, from earthquakes to fires to plagues to hurricanes. With each, we will explore the evolution of the disaster, its causes, consequences, and aftermath. We will compare responses to various disasters across both time and space, showing how different variables affect the severity of each crisis.

Ecosystem ecology provides a framework for understanding the organization and function of the biosphere and insights into the critical environmental issues of our time. Through lecture, discussion, and collaborative work, we explore interactions between organisms and the environment from the molecular to the global scale.

(Offered as ENST 292 and HIST 292) This class will take a historical and comparative approach to the topic of

The effects of environmental problems, from climate change, to water contamination, to the depletion of fisheries, are felt acutely at the local level. But their underlying causes are often global: coal-burning power plants in China affects sea-level rise near Miami, overfishing by European fleets off the coast of Africa affects bush meat hunting in the Congo Basin, and deforestation in Indonesia creates forest fires that affect all of Southeast Asia’s air quality.

Global climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, transforming both Earth systems and human
societies. Finding solutions to the challenges it poses requires an integrated, systems-based perspective that
incorporates biological, physical, and social dimensions to guide action. This course explores the causes and
consequences of climate change and evaluates strategies for mitigation and adaptation. Through lecture, discussion,
and project work, we will critically assess scientific evidence and recent advances, while emphasizing the role of

(Offered as ENGL 488 and FAMS 447) The Advanced Screenwriting Workshop is designed for advanced English and FAMS majors working in film. The workshop is designed to serve as a resource for serious film students interested in developing an existing idea or script-in-progress, with the goal of writing and revising a 20- to 30-page screenplay (or completing a project-in-progress) by the end of the semester. This maximum page limit can mean drafting and revising a series episode, a script for a short film, or one act of a feature.