This course is not a history of feminist science fiction, nor a survey of the genre. Instead, it is a course that takes seriously science fiction - and speculative work more broadly - as a site where commonsense is made strange and, therefore, can be remade. Combining reading of authors like Octavia Butler, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Torrey Peters with our own experiments in imagination, we will explore how the tools of sf can help us to both apprehend how race/sex/gender have historically been constituted and imagine them otherwise.

An inference is a statement about what is generally true that is based on specific observations. Our ability to make accurate inferences affects basically every aspect of our lives, but many lines of research demonstrate various ways that people fail in this task. In this course, we will discuss the failings of human inference and how to avoid them. We will cover the mathematics of proper inference early in the course and use this as a touchstone throughout the remaining topics.

Introduction to literary study, concentrating on close reading and analysis of texts, writing and revising critical essays, and discussion of the issues that underlie the study of literature. Prerequisite: ENGLWRIT 112 or equivalent. This course is open to English majors only.

This seminar course will introduce the study of traumatic stress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Students in this course will learn about the history of PTSD, as well as theoretical frameworks for understanding the effects of traumatic stress on individual psychological functioning. We will also cover the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals who have experienced traumatic stress. Careful attention will be paid to the various contextual factors that influence both exposure and responses to violence, including developmental stage, gender, and race/ethnicity.

The main objective of this new course is to investigate how questions of multilingualism and translation emerge in Spanish and Portuguese American writings. We will start by looking at the ways in which America has been the scene of multiple encounters between communities speaking different languages and examine how writers both in English and in other languages have represented these collective language encounters.

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This seminar examines political theories of decolonization. Instead of restricting our view to the period of decolonization after World War Two when European colonial possessions attained formal sovereignty, we will center on the 500-year struggle of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples as well as creole-settlers against and with the modern-colonial world system in the Americas.

This is a stand-alone independent study designed by the student and faculty sponsor that involves frequent interaction between instructor and student. Qualitative and quantitative enrichment must be evident on the proposed contract before consent is given to undertake the study. Further information is available at CHC PATHS (honors.umass.edu/chc-paths/). REGISTRATION SHOULD BE DONE DURING PRE-REGISTRATION AND COMPLETED BEFORE THE END OF THE ADD-DROP PERIOD.