This course examines the most important issues facing the U.S./Mexico border: NAFTA, industrialization and the emergence of the maquiladoras (twin plants); labor migration and immigration; the environment; drug trafficking; the militarization of the border; and border culture and identity. The course begins with a comparison of contending perspectives on globalization before proceeding to a short overview of the historical literature on the creation of the U.S./Mexico border.

This survey course examines the ever-changing political and economic landscape of the African continent. The course aims to provide students with an understanding of the unique historical, economic and social variables that shape modern African politics, and introduces students to various theoretical and analytical approaches to the study of Africa’s political development. Central themes include the ongoing processes of nation-building and democratization, the constitutional question, the international relations of Africa, issues of peace and security, and Africa’s political economy.

This course explores the complex challenges facing Muslim-majority states when it comes to their political, economic, and social development in the 21st century. In particular, we will be exploring the various Islamically-inspired ideas ("isms") that have emerged with the onset of globalization; from Islanic feminism and Islamic environmentalism to political Islam and Islamic banking. Enrollment limited to 20.

A study of the leading ideas of the Western political tradition, focusing on such topics as justice, power, legitimacy, revolution, freedom, equality and forms of government--democracy especially. Open to all students. Entering students considering a major in government are encouraged to take the course in their first year, either in the fall or the spring semester.

A study of the leading ideas of the Western political tradition, focusing on such topics as justice, power, legitimacy, revolution, freedom, equality and forms of government--democracy especially. Open to all students. Entering students considering a major in government are encouraged to take the course in their first year, either in the fall or the spring semester.

Offered as GER 369hc and ITL 369hc. The transnational perspective allows us to rewrite the vertical histories of national cinemas across borders and times by looking at those histories as enmeshed within the transversal network of the films’ international reception and adaptation. In which ways do contemporary Chinese or Iranian neorealist-inspired films make us revisit neorealism? How can cinema open a window on a country’s history while appealing to international audiences?

Music has always been an integral part of German culture, most famously in operas and symphonies. But songs are the most original and common expression of the time in which they were written and performed. This is an upper-level language course that will look at songs within a cultural historical framework. The objective is to develop students' ability to express thoughts on more abstract and complex topics in German language by probing the symbiosis of music and text in Germany from the Middle Ages to the present. The students will learn, analyze and perform a wide variety of songs.

This is an upper-level language course conducted within a cultural-historical framework. Objective: Develop students' ability to express thoughts on more abstract topics in German language by probing the discourse on the role of children and young people in German, Austrian and Swiss culture from the 18th century to the present. Vital component: Acquisition of suitable vocabulary and advances grammatical structures. Discussion: The rhetoric of education and family politics, pedagogical ideas and concepts put forth by famous writers like Kästner, Thoma, Janosch, Ende.

This course explores cultural exchange between German and the US in the nineteenth century. We will read Margaret Fuller on Bettina von Arnim, explore the under examined influence of Emerson on Nietzsche, follow in the footsteps of Thoreau and Goethe. Discussions are driven by student readings and research projects. As we follow the Romantics’ explorations of nature, the environment, identity, death, gender, and the unconscious, we delve into what it means to be human in the modern age and discover why the Romantic moment is still our own.