Is speech primarily a vehicle for ideas or is it an action that shapes societies and catalyzes power relations? In this course, we'll examine kinds of speech that have always pushed the boundaries. Students explore depictions of prophets and prophetic speech in the Hebrew Bible and in early Jewish literature, and will analyze how this ancient mode of harnessing the power of words has been given new life in modern American society, from the Civil Rights movement to viral video content.

Is speech primarily a vehicle for ideas or is it an action that shapes societies and catalyzes power relations? In this course, we'll examine kinds of speech that have always pushed the boundaries. Students explore depictions of prophets and prophetic speech in the Hebrew Bible and in early Jewish literature, and will analyze how this ancient mode of harnessing the power of words has been given new life in modern American society, from the Civil Rights movement to viral video content.

Transgender literature has had a significant impact on how we talk about transness (and gender) and the kinds of trans stories we are able to tell. Although trans identities may find expression in texts as early as Metamorphoses (Ovid), this course will look at literature from the 20th and 21st centuries. Considering a wide range of genres -- novels, poetry, short stories, memoir, and young adult literature -- we will think about how writers talk about their bodies, their transitions, and their histories.

This course combines early modern texts with various related secondary readings that will enable students to better understand the way that sexuality-both normative and nonnormative-was portrayed and interpreted in Renaissance literature. As we progress through the course, we will discuss what defines queer history and histories of sexuality, how the history of sexuality in the past informs the present, and, ultimately, the ways in which we can use early modern literature to better understand ourselves today.

This course is an interdisciplinary investigation of the nature of emotions and their influences on our thoughts and actions. While we will draw from a variety of disciplines, the nature and motivations of the inquiry are philosophical. We will consider: what are emotions? Are they bodily responses? Thoughts? Feelings? What roles do cultures play in shaping our emotions? What functions do emotions serve?

Why can't countries agree to strict emissions limits to solve the climate crisis? How can we halt unprecedented biodiversity loss? In this course, we review how legacies of colonialism and neoliberalism shape global environmental politics. We examine how actors from NGOs to Indigenous Peoples to corporations influence official negotiations and alternative models. We explore how novel technologies and financial instruments like AI, cryptocurrencies and nature-based video games are changing environmental governance.

The location of a possible "golden spike" at Crawford Lake, marking the Anthropocene's onset, further underscores the claim that we have entered a new geological epoch in which human activity is the dominant force of planetary change. Thinking beyond physical markers, this course delves into the representational strategies, challenges, and speculative dimensions of Anthropocene thinking. How does the Anthropocene (re)shape our understandings of the human, the other-than-human, and the humanities?

This course is about past, present, and future global climate and environmental change. We will discover how the climate system works, how the climate has evolved over geologic time, and what might be in store for us in the future - as human population grows, landscapes are modified and greenhouse gas concentrations increase in our atmosphere. We will study some of the biggest climate events in Earth's history and will come to appreciate how rapid changes currently underway compare to the natural range and pace of climatic variability.

This course is about past, present, and future global climate and environmental change. We will discover how the climate system works, how the climate has evolved over geologic time, and what might be in store for us in the future - as human population grows, landscapes are modified and greenhouse gas concentrations increase in our atmosphere. We will study some of the biggest climate events in Earth's history and will come to appreciate how rapid changes currently underway compare to the natural range and pace of climatic variability.