This course will examine a range of ways in which Islam has constructed women--and women have constructed Islam. We will study concepts of gender as they are reflected in classical Islamic texts, as well as different aspects of the social, economic, political, and ritual lives of women in various Islamic societies.

Inequality in the United States is at levels not seen since the 1920s, yet we know relatively little about those at the top who've accumulated enormous wealth and power. This course is a critical study of American Elites. Who are they? How did they amass such staggering resources? How are these resources used in the political, economic, and social spheres to reproduce/enhance their privilege? We put contemporary American elites into historical perspective, interrogate their origins, and evaluate the networks and practices that distinguish them from everyone else.

COVID-19 has upended schooling in the United States. Assumptions about physical co-presence, standardized testing, the rights of students, and the responsibilities of schools have all been transformed at warp speed. The pandemic also exposed durable fault lines in American education and society. This course provides an opportunity to evaluate our present moment using classical and contemporary sociological perspectives on mass schooling.

In this course we will situate contemporary Latin American arts in a historical and political context -- a moment of rupture that is informed by ongoing histories of racism, colonialism, sexism, authoritarianism, state terrorism, coloniality of power and debt. We will look at non canonical artists and movements between the sixties and now. What is artistic activism? What is social art? What is the role of creative industries in contexts of political oppression?

This course aims to help students develop their understanding of public speaking and improve their delivery skills in Spanish in a variety contexts. A special emphasis will be placed on the concept and practice of ethical communication. Coursework will include planning, presenting, and analyzing oral and written speeches, as well as critical evaluations of famous figures' speeches in Spanish and their particular audience in socio-historical contexts.

What is a thing? What is stuff? Water bottles, bread, trash, relics, photos, dirt, a broken printer, your favorite socks... Where do they come from and where are they going? In this course we'll gain an understanding of the political, historical, spatial, and affective agency of objects. We'll study how artists, writers, collectors, hoarders, migrants, and things of modern-day Latin America, Spain, and U.S.-border areas engage with the inanimate things around us.

This course explores game theory as a tool for analyzing politics and international relations. Game theory assumes that politics is the result of strategic interactions between rational actors, ranging from citizens, to leaders, to states and international organizations. Throughout the course, we will apply insights from game theory to analyze political phenomena such as voting, bargaining, crisis signaling, and nuclear conflict.

This course will explore questions and concerns regarding the "Islamic constant" of Spanish history. We will focus on four major political and cultural contexts: the coexistance and conflicts among Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Medieval Iberia; the "moriscos" (converted Muslims) of Imperial Spain (sixteenth-seventeenth centuries); Spanish orientalism and colonial enterprises in Africa between the end of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries; and the question of the Muslim emigrants in contemporary Spain.

Through investigation of major works produced in the Muslim world between the seventh and seventeenth centuries from Spain to India, this course explores the ways in which art and architecture were used to embody the faith, accommodate its particular needs, and express the power of its rulers. Topics include the calligraphy of the Qur'an, illustrated literature, the architecture of the mosque, and the aristocratic palace.

This multicultural course introduces students to the visual arts of Asia from the earliest times to the present. In a writing- and speaking-intensive environment, students will develop skills in visual analysis and art historical interpretation. Illustrated class lectures, group discussions, museum visits, and a variety of writing exercises will allow students to explore architecture, sculpture, painting, and other artifacts in relation to the history and culture of such diverse countries as India, China, Cambodia, Korea, and Japan.