In high school, American history and social studies students may or may not be learning the truth about the world in which they live. Through the study of textbook evolution, the study of textbook criticism, the close reading of curricular […]
K-pop and K-drama have become more popular these days. For example, BTS, a seven-boy K-pop group, has become the biggest K-pop icon (75 million views for their new song) with their Army, a globally networked fan club with millions of […]
This course is about the complex terrain of close relationships, specifically friendships and romantic relationships. What drives our desire to connect with others? Why do some connections last and others do not? What are some of the common problems in […]
The rich intricacies of modern life have supersaturated our senses in a manner that has set our authentic selves afloat while obfuscating the bases for rational thought and civic discourse. While this obstacle has been generated by the senses, it […]
This course will consider crucial questions about the potential extension of the rule of law, which has brought a degree of peace to many domestic societies, to the global arena to make the international system more stable. Through lectures, guest […]
In this course we will investigate the idea of sexual desire and why it occurs. We will begin with the idea that desire is an evolutionary strategy that promotes successful reproduction and see how that lines up with what we […]
This course explores the dynamic and complex relationship between identity and post-modern intra-state and international conflict with the emphasis on the role of different forms of identities both in the emergence of conflicts and in processes of conflict resolution and […]
“How do you identify, analyze, critique and respond to biased outcomes from the Big Data systems in your life and the lives of others? Big data algorithms have a dark side – instead of eliminating the effects of human bias, […]
Washington, DC is in a unique position to be a role model as a modern sustainable national capital. In this course, we will ask what a sustainable DC could look like and how to pursue those visions. Our topics will […]
“Watergate. Iran-Contra. The Clinton impeachment and the Trump impeachment. Major scandals have been a recurring feature of several modern American presidencies, and studying them as a group can provide insight into the following key questions: how do we define a […]
“Often devalued for being too simplistic and focused on dance, southern hip hop is criticized as making a mockery of “real” hip hop, or lacking “lyricism”—calling into question the authenticity and intelligence of southern hip hop artists. Its defenders, however, […]
This course is designed to teach students how individual choices directly influence future earning potential, long term financial well-being and personal happiness. It integrates economics, accounting, psychology and personal finance concepts to help students of all majors make informed financial […]
When 1960s civil rights activists chanted “black is beautiful,” they were placing the beauty of black people and black culture at the center of their pursuit of justice. Why would they do such a thing? In this course we will […]
Approximately half of human populations live in urban areas and this is expected to increase drastically within the next decade. As the built environment of cities becomes the prevalent feature of our planet, it is imperative that we understand how […]
Although many prefer to view the modern age as one of progress and enlightenment, it has also witnessed some of history’s worst atrocity crimes; that is crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes. What makes these crimes so horrific is […]
This course covers a range of topics, disciplines, theoretical frameworks, and case studies that question how people create visual art objects that have political and social effects, including how art helps to advance the work of activists and how artists […]
This course explores the cultural myths which have been foundational to the invention of basketball in America. From the myth of an “essence of the game” discovered by its Presbyterian inventor in 1891 to the NBA’s myth of “playing the […]
Walking can be the ultimate act of freedom. But walking while black, while trans, or without papers, for example, can often risk a violent loss of freedom. Historically, however, marginalized groups have used walking (i.e. the protest march) to fight […]
The iGen: the most diverse and transformational generation in U.S. history who have literally had the world at their fingertips since birth, reportedly have been experiencing multiple crises. Recently, they have been getting closer attention from psychologists and journalists trying […]
Many science fiction novels and movies have used aspects of genetics as plot devices, including cloning, genetic engineering, species hybridization and the production of better human beings by selective breeding (eugenics) often linked to a genetic accident with disastrous consequences, […]
The nature of the human-animal relationship is complex, pervasive, and paradoxical. Over the course of human history, we have domesticated, exploited, and protected species — we love dogs, eat pigs, and despise rats. In dissecting this relationship, we will examine […]
Most human beings want and seek romantic love, but is it worth the risks of heartache if love is uncertain, stigma if society disapproves, and heartbreak when love is lost? For answers to this question, we will turn to selections […]
From school uniforms to sagged pants to zoot suits to leggings and burka bans, this course explores the central question of to what degree any group or individual should dictate (either by policy or a subtler coercion) the dress of […]
Indigenous peoples persist in spite of concerted efforts to exterminate them across many centuries to the present day. What does it mean to be an indigenous person in a society that is built on your erasure? This course explores this […]
Asteroids, meteors, and comets that orbit near the Earth (collectively referred to as Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs) pose an existential threat to all of humanity. Mitigating the danger posed by NEOs is a complex issue and one that must involve […]
How do we, as individuals and societies, determine the value of things, services, and experiences? Questions like the value of a national park, a child well-educated, or a life prematurely lost are central to both government policy and individual commitments. […]
Embedded in the fabric of every national narrative is the attempt to understand past violence. Words like reconciliation, reckoning, justice, impunity, accountability, and forgiveness all have distinct connotations depending on their specific national context and the actors who employ them. […]
This course will introduce you to the men and women who have fought our nation’s wars since 9/11, and critically examine a few of the social, political, and moral implications associated with their service. Who (and what) are they? What […]
The course explores how and why equilibria around questions of legitimate action in the areas of domestic governance, foreign policy, and international interventions form and why they often remain contentious. The course encourages students to understand ideas of legitimacy as […]
In an episode of The Walking Dead, a zombie has its brain scanned. The scan reveals that the brain stem, an important, but primitive basis of consciousness, is very much alive. In this view, zombies have consciousness, and thus consciousness cannot be used to distinguish zombies from […]
Every year more people die from unsafe drinking water than from all forms of violence, including war. Global demand continues to rise, with a large part of humanity, some 25 percent, living with water scarcity. It is a crisis that […]
This course considers why freedom is an enduring human desire and why that desire is complicated and problematic. Over the course of the semester, students examine why freedom is a problem, at once eliciting strong attachments and deep controversies. Students […]
America is more divided than ever today. Or is that true? How far back does this phenomenon go? The course examines the politics, culture, and history behind the current Era of Bad Feelings from the Civil Rights and Vietnam era […]
This inquiry-based seminar examines enduring questions of argumentation and rhetoric in the history of U.S. women’s rights advocacy, with particular attention to questions of race and class. Topics include separate spheres ideology, the early suffrage and abolitionist movements, women’s initial […]
When do the virtues of majority rule spill over into the vices of populism? Can we have informed citizens without a shared understanding of the methods for establishing truth? What poses the greater threat: politicians who deceive us, or the […]
The great discovery of neuroscience is that the brain is fundamentally characterized by “plasticity”—a radically open-ended potential for both creative and destructive difference. But now that plasticity has been discovered, why do we so often continue to ignore or diminish […]
Obesity and cognitive dementia are currently among the most pernicious threats to human health and quality of life. Despite many years of research at enormous financial cost, understanding of the causes of both disorders is limited and preventative and treatment […]
This course approaches cities and transnational migration in the context of the history and culture of the Washington DC region and its immigrant communities. The first weeks introduce DC; questions about race, gentrification, and displacement in the DMV; key issues […]
Hatred of the Jewish people and Judaism appeared in antiquity and continues to this very day. The phenomenon puzzles scholars, pundits, politicians, Jews, and people around the world. We will study this complex problem, focusing on specific episodes of this hatred in the past and present, emphasizing its long history in the U.S. We will read […]
The U.S. death penalty is primarily applied to murderers for heinous crimes, while at the same time there is evidence of the execution of innocents, as well as unequal punishments such as life without parole (LWOP). How can the United […]
This course considers how our attitudes about our ability to connect with and empathize with one another have been shaped by new technologies, especially social media. The course explores what the “problem” of empathy means in our current cultural moment, […]
What does it mean to be educated? (3) There are economic, philosophical, sociological, cultural, and political perspectives surrounding the purpose of education and the pedagogical constructs that guide education. Yet, what it means to be an educated individual varies among […]
This course examines why nannies are trusted with our dearest possession, our children, yet are viewed with ambivalence and why there has been such little curiosity, in terms of biography, social history, and psychology, about the contribution these “second mothers” […]
Course type: Community Based Learning. As a part of this course, students will actively serve with a nonprofit agency or school in the DC area to apply their course knowledge. This course examines the conversation on poverty in Washington, DC […]
This course will explore one enduring question: Why and how has hip-hop become equally a tool for revolution and capitalist expansion across the world? As hip-hop has attained the interest of corporate America, it has gone from being vilified by […]
Borders, migration, and globalization are terms invoked by the media and in everyday conversations; but it is important to dig deeply to understand what these terms mean. This course studies policies and the discourse around border security; the cause and […]
The turmoil and traumas of modernity have transformed urban spaces into architectural and commemorative battlegrounds. This seminar introduces theories of memory and nationalism alongside controversies over architecture and planning with special case examples from twentieth-century European urban transformations. The dynamic […]
Few ideas have stirred the human imagination as has the question of the end of life. This course examines visions of the process of dying and accounts of a possible second life from Judaism to Hinduism, Dante to Milarepa, The […]
This course provides an overview of the history and modern issues of peace and war with an emphasis on the institutions in Washington, D.C. (ie. Pentagon, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Amnesty International, State Department, CIA). Through reading ethnographic and historical case studies, […]
The World Wildlife Fund recently reported that total wildlife populations declined over 50% between 1970 and 2010. Our class will explore the primary causes of habitat and wildlife loss including consumption, pollution, and climate change. We will then engage with […]
The complexity of forming intimate relationships is an enduring topic of research, fascination and questioning throughout time. This course offers the unique opportunity for an intensive exploration of how the current state of navigating intimacy in emerging adults was shaped […]
While there is agreement that education is key to individual and community well-being, much controversy exists over education’s goals and how to achieve them. Issues include identifying education challenges and effective solutions, recognizing how social or economic status interacts with […]
Religion can mean different things to different people. While modern secular thought has permeated religious and communal life, traditional understandings of religion are still vibrant while fundamentalist and religion-based nationalisms have surged despite globalization. Wars of culture and power based […]
This two-part course begins by exploring how we understand ‘the international’. Usually, we tend to think of the international as being defined by the line between the domestic and the foreign. However, this line is often moving, blurrier than we […]
While nation states and regional political groupings complete and sometimes clash, no one seeks conflict per se. Common objectives, however, often imply different approaches toward an endpoint of peace, security, and prosperity. Human and natural disasters bring disruption to human […]
We are bombarded by information constantly, some of which we seek and some of which we seek to avoid. In order to live full and healthy lives, we need and search for information about our work, classes, health, social lives, […]
Do some Americans choose to be takers rather than makers? Or is the economy rigged to ensure that money and power flow continually from the poor to the rich? Through multi-media sources drawn from economics, history, philosophy, sociology, public policy, […]
Complex problems challenge your generation. Some persist from prior generations, and others have recently emerged or intensified from rapid social, environmental, technological, economic, and geopolitical changes. The exact solutions to these problems may be uncertain, but they will certainly require […]
This course addresses one of the most pressing challenges of our time: poverty and inequality. The course is an interdisciplinary critical analysis of the causes and consequences of, as well as solutions for, poverty from politically and philosophically diverse perspectives. […]
This course covers an issue central to modern day life health care and the policy and politics around it. The course provides an introduction to the arcane but important terms and ideas surrounding healthcare provision and policy in the U.S. […]
This course will consider challenges the Trump administration poses to constitutional democracy and the rule of law. Other presidents have pressed the limits of executive power, especially since 9/11 But the Trump presidency raises new questions that go to the […]
With an overwhelming scientific consensus favoring the prevalence of theories that accelerating changes in the earth’s climate exist and are due to anthropogenic causes, the problem of conveying the need for policy changes to mitigate and adapt to global warming […]
This course introduces students to an on-going dialogue at the core of Western intellectual history about how to think about justice. The course examines how the attempt to achieve clarity about the fundamental problems of justice gives rise to new […]
So much of our lives today takes place in the virtual world of the internet that it is easy to forget or ignore the ways in which our physical environment affects our behavior and our self-understanding. This class will explore […]
Donald Trump shocked the political establishment, the pollsters, and the pundits when he defeated Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College in 2016. The loss would have been demoralizing in its own right for people excited by the possibility of breaking […]
Everyone wants to be happy, but what exactly is happiness and how is it attained? In our relativistic age, many people think that happiness is purely subjective and entirely relative to each individual. Moreover, our awareness that different cultures and […]
Social justice activists and libertarians are two of the most familiar social types in our polarized political climate. But how can such different perspectives speak to each other in a productive and respectful way? Is it possible for us to […]
From the politics of social media and autonomous vehicles to asteroid mining, gene-editing, environmental issues, and innovations and implications we can’t yet imagine – the future of technology policy is as interesting and important as ever. As consumers, entrepreneurs, citizens, […]
As consumers, we generally only purchase the things we want: PC or Mac; private or public college; pizza or salad. The concept of choice is a powerful motivator for many Americans, whether it means the right to spend our money […]
Topics & readings. This interdisciplinary course focuses on economic inequality in the United States and its relationship to social and political inequality. Readings will be drawn primarily from the fields of political science, sociology, and economics. Readings will describe socioeconomic […]
Inherent within criminal law and justice is the power to make discretionary decisions that greatly impact the accused, victims, and society. This course exposes students to historical and contemporary issues that generate interaction between ethics and criminal justice. It will […]
Juvenile delinquency poses difficult and interesting problems for youth policy and criminal justice policy. This course looks at the misconduct of youths that brings them within the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts, and focuses on the complex problem of whether […]
The United States leads the Western world in the use of harsh punishments: life sentences, death sentences, and extended solitary confinement. Each of these punishments is a type of death penalty: life sentence prisoners are sentenced to die in prison, […]
This course focuses on the extent to which inequality and public policy affect a child’s experience of childhood. The course draws on historical, sociological and legal perspectives to examine what rights children have (and when they might lose them), the […]
Our practices of holding one another responsible for wrongdoing depend on the attribution of moral agency, and the view that, as human beings, we are not simply causes in the world, but authors of our actions. Contemporary psychological research increasingly […]
Why do interstate conflicts occur? What causes them to become intractable or to escalate in intensity such that they threaten regional or international security? To what extent could, or should the U.S. play a role in helping to defuse or […]
This Complex Problems course will introduce students to the complex problem: How we can create and support social entrepreneurs? Social entrepreneurs are individuals who create businesses to address social problems or needs that are unmet by governments and current markets. […]
Hitlers rise to power led to totalitarianism in Germany and ultimately into the cataclysms of the Holocaust and World War Two. It also spurred the exodus of a wave of intellectuals from Central Europe. In this seminar we examine major […]
Political and social leaders accuse each other of it, and are accused by a media that itself is then condemned for it. It is tweeted, re-tweeted, articles are written, journals published, and blogs devoted to it – but what is […]
This course examines the question: What does it mean to be an American? We ask questions about race and ethnicity, as well as about ideology and beliefs. While we explore our own identities – whether American or not – we […]
This course would bring together AU students across a diverse set of disciplinary foci and from a diverse set of educational and cultural backgrounds in the study of a truly complex problem for all of humanity: piracy. Piracy, in this […]
This course will examine military, humanitarian, and post-conflict peacebuilding interventions to explore how the international community has worked to support victims of mass violence, injustice, brutal dictatorships, and poverty around the world. Students will first survey interventions in contexts of […]
Yes, we invariably nod in the affirmative to the statement that we, humans, are a part of nature and whatever harms the rest of nature harms ourselves and future generations. This tautology and premise of environmentalism has become widely accepted. […]
The aim in this course is to achieve a deeper understanding of how justice and history are interwoven, and to see some of the limits and possibilities of the human condition more clearly. Through ancient and contemporary plays, literature, and […]
With the recent rise of populism across the Western world, this course will help students with international aspirations to critically examine the emerging issues related to “being a global person.” Course readings and team projects explore global citizenry and cover […]
Happiness is considered by many to be the ultimate goal in life; indeed, virtually everyone wants to be happy. The American Colonies Declaration of Independence takes it as a self-evident truth that the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right […]
For a problem of intriguing complexity, look no further than the contemporary city. Home to two-thirds of the worlds population, modern cities — gloriously diverse cultural, innovation, and artistic hubs, and often refuges for those who seek opportunity or escape from […]
Grounded in a thorough examination of the various theories of society, such as social Darwinism, and designed around a comparative and multidisciplinary set of scholarly works, literary writings, and primary sources, this course explores the colonial, postcolonial, and imperial interactions […]
Economic globalization refers to the increasing integration of national economies across the world through intensified cross-border movement of goods, services, technology and capital. Some view it with trepidation, as a juggernaut of untrammeled capitalism marked by such economic interdependence that […]
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), there are over 65 million displaced people in the world, a significant portion of who are classified as refugees. Who are these people? Where are they coming from? What are […]
Outsiders often miss the vibrant neighborhoods of DC, which have deep histories and distinctive cultures. Today, DC neighborhoods face intense pressure to change. Through 3-5 field trips, interviews with residents and local politicians, and our own picture-based maps, students in […]
This course on how the public understood and understand the Great Recession and specifically the financial collapse of 2007-2009 will expose students to different choices in storytelling about major and complex events, and also to different disciplinary approaches to analyzing […]
Branding Nations and Cultures will advance the goals of the Complex Problems program by using communications theory and practical application texts & learning tools to unpack concepts of national narratives in global diplomacy. Throughout the course, the very accessible concepts of […]
How can individuals grow their own resilience to prevent mood disorders? What are society-based systems and policies that minimize mental health risks and promote the prevention of mental illness? This course will explore the complexity of preventing mental illness, specifically […]
This course explores food justice issues in the twenty-first century. Students think critically about topics such as whether food marketing to children should be restricted, whether agricultural subsidies should be eliminated, and how stakeholders incorporate healthful eating practices into health […]
This course introduces students to health inequities and will use political, economic, historical, and sociological analyses of differences in power and privilege as it relates to quality of life, disease burden, and mortality in Washington, DC. Through local texts, site […]
Prejudice is an attitude (usually negative) about members of another social group. The concept of prejudice has strong negative connotations such that most people do not freely admit to having such feelings and assume those who do are small-minded, evil, […]
One of the challenges to advancing the debate over immigration in the U.S. is the tension between those who are apprehensive and those who are optimistic about the impact of newcomers on the receiving society. This course explores from multiple […]
Drugs remain a complex problem, despite the investment of billions of dollars and many years into potential solutions. After over 50 years of scientific research, we have extensive knowledge of how drugs work on the brain, but little progress has […]
The United States is often referred to as a nation of immigrants. As in centuries past, immigration continues to transform U.S. society. Today, the foreign-born population in the U.S. is the biggest in the world and is more diverse than […]
How does art help to advance the work of activists and how do artists enable activists to think more creatively? Social justice movements often use the tools of artwork to support and further their aims; students in this course explore […]
Surveillance has become a commonplace term, yet it is often dismissed as only the concern of those who have something to hide. This suggests that only criminals/criminal activity is watched and having a public persona online means we agree to […]
This class adopts a less Western-centric way of framing knowledge by focusing on a U.S. ethno-racial minority group within the U.S. Latinxs are shifting the economic, political, cultural, and social landscape of US American society. Latinx communities bring forth questions […]
The course asks and attempts to answer & the question: How is critical understanding of Arab/Muslim social experiences changed when we put ideas about gender and sexuality at the forefront of the analysis? To illustrate structural forces that influence the […]
Although it might seem that the law provides rules for personal and business conduct that are definitive and clear, in reality the law more often balances complex interests that involve many shades of gray. This course examines a series of […]
Universities teach about the past and the present in depth, but what about the future? This course’s dual goals are to develop an anticipatory future consciousness and to equip each student with practical methods and first-hand experience in a futures study. Future […]
Digital citizenship broadly describes what it means to live in our networked world. The Internet fundamentally improves the economic and social life of those who gains access, but every click also leaves a trace of our digital footsteps. This course […]
This course provides students with an opportunity to develop their existing critical thinking skills through a specific focus on the concept and empirical phenomenon of competitive advantage in business ((i.e., superior stakeholder value creation). The course addresses a variety of […]
How will the revival of the Silk Road via the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative increase the connectivity between nations and facilitate trade to the benefit of all parties when each country has their own political, cultural and economic […]
Decision making is one of our most important activities in both our professional and personal lives. In this course, decision-making processes will be unpacked and thoroughly analyzed. They will be viewed through the lenses of psychology, business, economics as well as […]
This course helps students understand and apply a powerful new approach to solving complex problems through human-centered thinking. Design thinking is a problem-solving framework that is transforming fields from entertainment to international development. Students will learn critical thinking, empathy, how […]
Thoughtful understanding of the complexity of the relationship between business and sustainability requires an elementary understanding of critical technical concepts and trends at the intersection of both. Business is the engine that drives global economic growth and innovation. However, business, […]
This course explores divisive bioethical issues surrounding our growing ability to analyze and manipulate genes in humans, animals and plants. Students are introduced to the basics of the human genome, the technology such as CRISPR that allows for genetic manipulation […]
This course explores not only the scientific basis for mental illness and treatment, but also how cultural, political, and economic forces impact mental health policy. Students consider issues such as whether patients have rights to refuse treatment, how socio-cultural perspectives […]
Sequencing the entire human genome has advanced from a 13 year, multi-institutional project, completed in 2001, to a simple automated procedure taking less than 24 hours to complete. Over the past 15 years, costs of sequencing the human genome have […]
Research and development efforts in the field of chemistry have significantly enhanced the quality of human life. However, they also pose threats to global security, since highly toxic chemicals can be employed by States and terrorists to develop deadly weapons, […]
Food, energy, and water resources are interconnected, so addressing one resource will cause scarcities in others. This complex problem requires innovative, cooperative, and interdisciplinary solutions utilizing the skills from multiple disciplines. The next generation must be equipped with sustainability and […]
One of the constants of forensic science is how frequently its applications become front-page news. Whether the story is sniper shootings or the tragic consequences of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, forensic science is at the forefront of the public’s […]
When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, he said that it was a small step for man and a giant leap for mankind. Today, this new giant leap may be represented by the advancement of small steps in nanotechnology […]
What if the whole world went vegan? A vegan lifestyle claims to be the solution to diverse worldwide complex problems such as (1) diseases of affluence (such as heart diseases, diabetes and cancer) (2) malnutrition (3) animal rights and (4) […]
As of 2017, 7.5 billion people inhabit the planet Earth. This is more than double the population of just 50 years ago when Paul Ehrlich published his dire warning (The Population Bomb) of famines and societal collapse due to population […]
The ocean gave rise to life on earth, holds much of its biological diversity, and to this day, sustains it. However, for much of human history, the ocean has been thought of as vast, unmanageable, and its resources inexhaustible. Thus, […]
The issue of climate change is a dividing topic in America, and the demand for action regarding climate is a hotly debated topic in political, economic, and social discussions. However, the effects of climate change are seen worldwide, and dialogue […]
Today, contaminants enter our water, air, and land through many routes. This course is broken into these three sections (water, air, and land) as students pursue issues surrounding pollution in the environment including how and why pollution occurs. The course […]
What is the role of nature in human life? How do our attitudes, understanding and assessment of nature shape our environmental impacts on earth? During the past 10,000 years, humans have become the primary driver of changes to the Earths […]
This course will look at the amazing discovery of planets around stars other than the sun. This wondrous adventure is happening right now and showing us much more about our place in the universe. We will look at how these discoveries […]
This course explores the matter that has mattered to humans, from stone and bronze through semiconductors and nanostructures. Cultures, economies, and nation-states flourish and decline based in part on the material resources and technology they can access and control. This […]
What is real, how do we know, and what does it mean? These simple sounding questions, as old as humankind, have no simple answers. The questions, however, have become only more interesting as science, and particularly physics, continues to reveal […]
What is reality? How can we know whether our perceptions are accurate representations of the world? What happens when one person’s conception of reality disagrees with another person’s? These questions have been addressed in different ways in nearly every domain […]
Millions of refugees and other displaced people are fleeing war and violence from the Middle East to Central America and beyond. This course examines this global phenomenon, as well as one of the world’s least well-known refugee crises the forced […]
Societies expect students to shape the future by initiating change and transforming the world. But educators and policymakers relegate students to schools that structure inequalities and restrict learning opportunities. Students struggle to assert agency under social constructs that influence their […]
This course seeks to: dismantle the ideologies which reproduce social inequality and prevent inclusiveness in our schools and society; develop a collective vision for an inclusive future; and identify the role schools and other social institutions must play in an […]
Mostly we make our lives up as we go along, and although we might sometimes find it hard to imagine doing anything else, we may also sometimes wish that there was a narrative or organizational principle that we could point […]
This course examines how dominant understandings of LGBT identity came into being in the Western world at the turn of the twentieth century and alternative paradigms for sexual and gender difference that have been offered by racial minorities, transgender communities, […]
How do we imagine the political structures, landscapes, challenges, and bodies of the future? This interdisciplinary course traces the visual, literary, and political implications of the way the future has been imagined through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Exciting and […]
What is wonder’s purpose and progress in the human story? Investigating this question, The Shape of Wonder seeks to articulate the purpose of structures, stories, music, drama, and other arts and sciences that are engineered to inspire not fear or instruction but […]
This seminar examines questions of contemporary world cinema from multiple perspectives by working back and forth between concepts of examining single, individual texts and broader, globally relevant contexts. As part of that project, each student studies in detail a single […]
From Ovid’s Metamorphoses to the Mahabharata, the Popol-Vuh to the Norse Eddas, myth gave people ways to understand the world, to develop cultural identity, to share values. But what is the role of myth in modern cultures? We now tend to use the wordmythto mean a […]
From William Shakespeare to Beyonce, much of what we consider original art depends on borrowed text, recycled images, and familiar melodies. But where do we draw the line between influence and plagiarism? In this course, we consider questions of creative […]
Diseases, colloquially, are caught, transmitted, and contracted in many different ways: miasmas, bugs, germs, and vectors–to name just a few. How does the language people use to describe illness indicate beliefs about illness? This class studies historical, scientific, and popular […]
Have you ever thought about how podcasts influence your knowledge and opinions? Any topic or theme you can imagine has a podcast covering it; they are modern, flexible modes of storytelling. But, the sense of shared experience and bond between […]
Addiction is an extremely common human experience–an experience that highlights the particular joys and pains of being alive. Addictions to such varied things as alcohol, drugs, the internet, video games, pornography, sex, and shopping address and treat a universal pain […]
Great minds of every generation have struggled to explain why bad things happen to good people, why humans are cruel to one another, and, especially for the followers of the Abrahamic faiths, how a world can have evil in it […]
How do we learn about sex? It’s a complicated question with unique answers based on our families, friends, schools, and identities. It’s also a question that continually plagues students, parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers. And despite these enduring disputes, U.S. […]
This course examines the distinction between “normal” and “abnormal” bodies and investigates the complex ways in which abnormal bodies become “problems” for medicine. Looking at historical examples, e.g. pathologization of slaves’ desires to flee captivity, nineteenth century diagnosis and treatment […]
This course uses literature, philosophy and the social sciences to understand the complex phenomenon of punishment. Students examine why parents punish their children, why we punish ourselves as well as why the state punishes individuals. The course considers whether there […]
The explosion of information in the 21st century has centralized the role of curiosity in our everyday lives. Never have the production mills of detail been more active. But how should we engage with this burgeoning of information in both […]
In our society, divided by inequality and ideology, many demand civil discourse to solve the problem of incivility. This course challenges our assumptions about incivility and “civil discourse.” Course themes may include how ideals of civility connect to language and […]
Obesity is a public health emergency; a majority of Americans are currently overweight and a significant fraction are likely to suffer adverse health impacts including diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and even cancer. This course investigates the ways lifestyle, culture, socioeconomic […]
For many individuals, gender and sex mean the same thing. If you are born with male reproductive organs, you are a male and vice versa for females. For others, sex assignment and gender have a complex relationship. Students will be […]
Establishing one’s identitie(s) is both real and invented. How one reads other’s projected identitie(s) in a multi-platform culture is complicated, not only by how people adorn themselves, but by our media choices. From avatars on social media (Instagram, YouTube, Tinder) […]
When a New York resident sued the Metropolitan Museum in 2015 for displaying allegedly ‘racist’ paintings of a blond-haired, blue-eyed Jesus, it was simply the latest iteration of an enduring philosophical debate. What does God look like? Is the divine […]
Drawing on museum collections in D.C., this course explores how visual images constructed, claimed, and sometimes contested identities across the geohistorical spectrum. Students consider how images convey identities tied to cultural conceptions about politics, religions, race, gender, disability, and sexuality […]
Classifications of high and low art in music have existed well before our listening lives began. Likewise, disagreements on those boundaries have always been part of the conversations among composers, performers and listeners. Now, more than ever, these lines continue […]
From early amorphous blobs of computer generated sounds, to the pulsating beats of contemporary hip hop, we are experiencing electronic music in both conscious and unconscious ways. This course will explore the impact that electronics have had on music since […]
Many scholars have regarded the 21st century to be the watershed era for inclusiveness on Broadway. This course examines a chronology of such representation on “The Great White Way,” including titles from current and/or Broadway seasons such as “Falsettos” and […]
This course examines the search for and performance of ideal models of American manhood on theatrical, political, and social stages. Through investigating gender theory and masculinity studies, reading and analyzing plays, viewing theatrical productions and films, unpacking political posturing, and […]
Who lays claim to hip hop when its arts and cultures are shared worldwide? This course traces hip hop’s movement over forty years from a transnational, Afro-diasporic South Bronx to six continents. To understand its circulation, this course explores the […]
No Islamic concept has generated as much disagreement and as many questions as jihad, a concept that is now in common use in Western media and literature. What exactly does jihad mean? Jihad has been often equated with arbitrary violence, […]
Michael Jackson is a complex cultural text that provides critical insight into U.S. and global history, politics and society. A popular child singer in the 1970s, a global superstar in the 1980s, Jackson was eventually ridiculed and criminalized in the […]
How has social media changed how people communicate, collaborate and mobilize? This course will examine whether online tools lead to offline action and how digital advocacy has impacted American culture, fundraising and politics. Students will also explore the role of information literacy, how to engage those without […]
This course examines the emergence, expansion, and erosion of support for the European Union over the course of the twentieth century, and asks: Whats next for Europe? Topics for investigation will include the relationship between nationalism and Europeanism; support for […]
One of the enduring ideals of America is “the American Dream,” or the promise that any who work hard will be rewarded with economic mobility. But this premise presents a problem, in that poverty in the United States has too often been explained […]
It does not take long traveling across Washington, DC to encounter people experiencing homelessness. As these encounters have become so common, fewer people ask how homelessness has become such an entrenched aspect of life in the city. Why and how […]
This course investigates the links between the global spread of neoliberal economic policies and novel interpretations of jihad among Muslims since the 1970s. We will examine the numerous economic and political crises that shook the post-WWII internationalist world order during […]
This interdisciplinary course explores a pressing intellectual challenge of our time: Americans’ ambivalent historical relationship with the state. It explores how Americans from the era of Alexander Hamilton to the Age of Obama conceptualize and confront the state by demanding, […]
Slavery, or human trafficking in contemporary language, is one of the most puzzling, controversial, and enduring questions in history. This course explores changes and continuities in the institution of slavery from antiquity to the 21st century. It approaches this complex […]
Central for the three Abrahamic traditions, Jerusalem has been a locus of worship and dispute for over two-thousand years. The course proceeds thematically, beginning with the role of Jerusalem in the mythic imagination of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Students then […]