Interrogating Gandhi

One of the most enigmatic political leaders of the modern period, M.K. Gandhi remains a controversial figure. On one hand, he is celebrated as the father of the Indian nation and an apostle of non-violence, and on the other hand viewed as a wily politician and a patriarch with problematic views of gender and sexuality. In his lifetime, thousands saw him as a saint, while others (mainly Hindu nationalists) reviled him as a traitor to Indian nationalism and blamed him for the partition of India.

American Foreign Policy

This course will provide a context for analyzing "The War on Terror." It will focus upon post-World War II US foreign policy and the cultural context in which it has been conceptualized and formulated. We will begin with a brief examination of the roots of this conceptualization, using as our text William Appleman Williams' classic study, Empire as a Way of Life. Here, we will explore the idea that has always been categorically rejected by mainstream US historiography: that empire lies at the very foundation of the U.S. and remains at the core of how it acts in the world.

Econ for People/Planet/Future

The debates surrounding the Occupy movement of 2011 have highlighted both a crisis in the US and global economy as well as a crisis of economic thought. Many of the policies which have led to increased inequality, environmental destruction, and financial crisis have their roots in a free-market fundamentalism that pervades the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate economics. In this course we ask the following questions: How does mainstream economic theory conceptualize key aspects of social reality, including human behavior, markets, and government?

20th Century Dance History

African American dance and music traditions have played critical roles in African American struggles to sustain their humanity-- to express joy and pain through their bodies and through a particular relationship to rhythm. This class will explore the forms, contents and contexts of black traditions, which played a crucial role in shaping American dance in the twentieth century.

Cult. Resist.: East Europe

How can culture resist in the political realm? How do you make your screams and sardonic laughter heard? The overarching framework of our course will be the dynamic of authority and resistance in the modern and contemporary era. In the course of the twentieth century, the countries of east-central and eastern Europe experienced monarchical rule, democracy, Nazism, and communism. How and why do given groups attempt to assert their authority? Why, when, and by what means do others resist?

China Rising

After a brief overview of the Maoist era, this course will examine the rapid economic, political, and social changes that have swept China in the last three decades. We will examine major issues in China's astonishingly rapid transformation from an agrarian to an industrial society (e.g.

Law and Society

This course is an introductory exploration of the ways law shapes our lives and how society and culture affect how we interpret and experience law. Using case studies and a range of theoretical and methodological tools, we will examine key cultural and technological challenges to contemporary political and legal structures, asking how law functions in a broader social context. In other words, this is not a traditional class in law, but rather an introduction to critical ideas and concepts in anthropology and other forms of social scientific investigation.

Feminist Science Studies

This course introduces students to theories and methodologies in the interdisciplinary field of feminist science studies.Through collaborative faculty-student research projects, we will engage key conversations in the field. Specific areas of investigation include scientific cultures, science and the law, animal models, and science in the media and popular culture.While working on project-specific questions students will continuously engage larger questions such as: What kinds of knowledge count as "science?" What is objectivity?

Introduction to Economics

Is capitalism the best economic system for meeting human needs? Can microeconomic theory help us figure out what to do about climate change? Will macroeconomic theory get us out of the recession? In this course, we will use these questions to frame the study of our economic system and the theories most often used to explain its workings. In the first part of the class, we will assess the merits and problems of capitalism as a system for producing and distributing goods and services.
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