This class examines the role of material culture in American life as a historical lens to interpret the values and meanings people assign to things. We will consider the world in which we live as a means to better understand how human behavior both affects and is affected by material culture. All societies articulate with and are, in part, embodied in and informed by material culture. This is especially true of modern American culture with its "embarrassment of riches" and things.

This course sets canonical Jewish American literature in creative dialogue with contemporary Jewish American writers, filmmakers, and performance artists to explore how early twentieth-century figures (Abraham Cahan, Anzia Yezierska, and Henry Roth) continue to influence --inspire--a rising generation of authors. The key mediating figure in this generational dialogue is Philip Roth, whose work we will examine as well.

This course sets canonical Jewish American literature in creative dialogue with contemporary Jewish American writers, filmmakers, and performance artists to explore how early twentieth-century figures (Abraham Cahan, Anzia Yezierska, and Henry Roth) continue to influence --inspire--a rising generation of authors. The key mediating figure in this generational dialogue is Philip Roth, whose work we will examine as well.

Since the 1990s Latin America has witnessed increasing societal and political debates over sexual and reproductive rights. Issues such as abortion, gay marriage, transgender rights, sexual education and assisted reproductive technology have risen to the top of some countries' agendas after decades of silence, taboos, and restrictive or non-existent legislation. The course aims to provide a survey of sexual and reproductive rights in the region as a whole while at the same time highlighting the disparities that exist within it.

This course examines the development of Western philosophy from the 17th through the 19th centuries by examining selected writings of Descartes, Elizabeth of Bohemia, Hobbes, Margaret Cavendish, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Mary Wollstonecraft, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche.

Continuation of the elementary German course; practice in speaking, reading, and writing German. Cultural and literary readings together with frequent use of online resources dealing with everyday situations and experiences in the German-speaking countries sensitize students to the cultural context in which the language is used. Weekly conversation sessions with a German language assistant supplement class work.

During the 1960s and 1970s military coups brought authoritarian regimes to power in the Southern Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay). Human rights movements emerged demanding information about victims of torture, executions and disappearances which became the way military regimes attempted to eliminate dissent. What accounts for the different role these movements in the transition and consolidation of democracy and the rule of law? Did they take part to the same extent in the design and implementation of accountability mechanisms to prosecute those responsible for the abuses?