|
|
2018-2019 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course Search
|
|
|
|
| |
Spanish |
| |
-
SPN 377 - Modernization and Innovation in Contemporary Latin America 4 credits (Fall)
A study of selected, representative works since 1960, including internationally respected literature of the “Boom,” subsequent fiction, and recent poetic revolutions. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 , or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Aparicio
|
| |
-
SPN 379 - U.S. Latinx Identities and Sexualities 4 credits (Spring)
This interdisciplinary course focuses on Latinx sexualities and identities. This course will focus on literary analysis of a variety of genres and cultural texts that have served as inspiration and influence for diverse communities of Latinxs. Students will explore artistic and theoretical contributions by Latinx scholars and artists related to the construction, the performance, and the questioning of gender roles. We will study the relation between literary works and the formation and conceptualization of Latinx and Chicanx identities and communities. Finally, we will focus on artistic-intellectual interventions that reflect the heterogeneity of more contemporary Latinx and Chicanx communities, with special attention to the diversity of thought on gender and sexuality. At the end of the course, students will present their research on gender roles, power, and sexual hegemonies based on literary analysis of Latinx cultural texts. Texts will be in English, Spanish, or Spanglish. Class discussion and all written work will be in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Petrus
|
| |
-
SPN 383 - The Latin American Colonial World 4 credits (Fall)
A study of the texts and debates surrounding initial encounters between Spaniards, indigenous and African peoples in the “New World,” and the establishment of Colonial culture and society. Spanish, indigenous, mestizo, and African perspectives are considered through the study of myth, narratives, poetry, autobiography, and film. Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 , or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Benoist
|
| |
-
SPN 384 - Spanish Dialectology 4 credits (Spring)
This course will examine the history and diversity of the Spanish-speaking world, from both historical and synchronic perspectives. The diachronic perspective will focus on the historical, cultural, social, and linguistic factors that were involved in the origin of different Spanish dialects. The synchronic perspective will provide a linguistic description (phonological, morpho-syntactic, and lexical) of various Spanish dialects as spoken today. Students will work with oral and written texts produced in different varieties of Spanish in order to recognize those varieties and identify the linguistic features that characterize each of them.
Prerequisite: SPN 343 or LIN 114 and permission of instructor.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Valentín
|
| |
-
SPN 385 - Studies in Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines Spanish narrative and film from the 20th and 21st centuries to explore the development of a modern, global Spain. Topics discussed include Franco’s dictatorship, the democratic transition, human rights, and the place of cultural production in social movements for “historical memory.” Conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 , or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Phillips
|
| |
-
SPN 386 - Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Spanish Literature 4 credits (Spring)
This course examines medieval and early modern literature in its cultural and historical context. The specific topic of the course may vary to focus on a specific genre, author, or theme. Conducted in Spanish. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.
Prerequisite: SPN 311 , SPN 312 , SPN 314 , SPN 315 , SPN 317 , or SPN-295 on literature.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Pérez
|
Special Topics-Fall |
| |
-
ANT 295-01 - Special Topic: Health, Inequality and Social Justice 4 credits (Fall)
In this course students will examine the complex relationship between health and inequality through anthropology’s holistic, comparative and cross-cultural lens. Students will examine the biocultural and environmental roots of health, disease, and treatment. More specifically, students will examine the ways in which sociocultural categories like race, gender, citizenship, sexual orientation, class, etc., play in the existing health disparities around the globe. Drawing from critical medical anthropological and disasters research, students will analyze the biocultural and environmental roots of illness such as cholera, hypertension, HIV-AIDS, substance abuse, among others. The course will also have an applied focus. Students will be required to use theories, methods and case studies to design applicable solutions to a concrete health equity issue in the community.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Kulstad
|
| |
-
ANT 295-02 - Special Topic: Archaeology of Sex and Gender in Antiquity 4 credits (Fall)
This course will apply theories of sex and gender in archaeology to examine bodies, texts, material objects, and spaces in order to learn about women in the ancient world. The course is organized thematically to investigate various aspects of women’s experiences relating to work, power, religion, violence, and more. Case studies will be drawn from various regions of the Old World to survey several ancient civilizations, including Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Mycenaens, Greeks, Etruscans, Romans, and others.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Instructor: Staff
|
| |
-
ANT 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Comparative Primate Skeletal Morphology 4 credits (Fall)
In this course we will work very closely with authentic primate skeletal materials – both human and nonhuman. Students will become familiar with and, ultimately, know these bones at a glance by the end of the semester. We will think about, discuss, and write about skeletal materials from comparative and evolutionary perspectives. Students will master the techniques needed to conduct skeletal research and collect comparative data. They will use their data in a final project.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 and ANT 205 , ANT 221 , ANT 225 , ANT 227 , ANT 280 , ANT 290 , ANT 321 , or ANT 325 , or a strong biology background.
Instructor: Bentley-Condit
|
| |
-
ARB 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Arabic: Language and Culture 4 credits (Fall)
Conducted in Arabic. An integrated approach to the development of aural-oral, reading and written skills. Class activities include phonetic exercises, oral exposes, advanced-level grammar, composition, and the analysis of cultural documents and poetry.
Prerequisite: ARB 222 or equivalent as approved by instructor.
Instructor: Youssef
|
| |
-
ARH 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: An Introduction to Museum Studies 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: HUM 195-01 . An introduction to the history of museums and to museum operations, funding, exhibitions, collections, and ethics. The course will also consider the philosophical and intellectual issues raised by the contemporary museum. While art museums will be the primary focus, material pertinent to history, ethnographic, science and other types of museums will also be included.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing and participation in an intensive 5 day, 1/2 credit course prior to first day of classes.
Instructor: Wright
|
| |
-
ARH 295-01 - Special Topic: Contemporary Architectures 4 credits (Fall)
This course explores issues in contemporary architecture, looking at architectural theory and production globally. Exploring examples of architecture from the 1960s to today, we discuss topics including postmodernism, deconstructivism, semiotics, gentrifications, suburbanization, and the global city. Students will analyze the built environment, visual representations of the built environment, and critical texts by prominent architects and architectural theorists.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Instructor: Rivera
|
| |
-
ART 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Digital Image and Video Production 4 credits (Fall)
This course will address the moving image within the contexts of both art history and contemporary visual culture. We will begin with a brief history of video art from the 1960s onward to establish our foundation, then delve into the more current practices of artists dealing with video - widely apanning from experimental video art to narrative works to the mainstream cinema. Techniques in video, sound, and software editing platforms will be taught through technical demos, in-class assignments, and larger projects. We will cover basic and advanced video editing in Adobe Premier Pro, capturing and manipulating sound (in Premiere and Audition), video lighting and studio practice, greenscreening, digital screencapturing , and other techniques associated with video production.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Christmas
|
| |
-
ART 295-01 - Special Topic: Figure Drawing 4 credits (Fall)
This course will explore all elements of drawing the figure. The class will work from direct observation, and through this will develop an understanding of anatomy and the human form. Students will explore multiple media and will develop technical skill as well as a body of creative work.
Prerequisite: ART 111 .
Instructor: Running
|
| |
-
ART 295-02 - Special topic: Sculpture: Multiples 4 credits (Fall)
In this course students will explore replication of form in sculpture. Using rigid and flexible moulds as well as direct casting we will work with a variety of materials including plaster, concrete, wax, paper, ceramic, fabric, latex, and rubber. Students will work with traditional and innovative practices to develop original creative work.
Prerequisite: ART 111 .
Instructor: Running
|
| |
-
BIO 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Insect Field Ecology 4 credits (Fall)
Insects impact almost every ecosystem, due to their exceptional range in form and function, and their interactions with each other and other taxa. Insect ecology examines how insects interact with their environment, and how these interactions influence their resident biome. Throughout this course, students will learn how to identify common insects, and relate the morphological and behavioral adaptations of important families with their functional role in Iowa prairies.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 .
Instructor: Villarreal
|
| |
-
CLS 295-01 - Special Topic: Democracy and Empire in Ancient Athens 4 credits (Fall)
In the fifth century, Athenians both managed a complex empire and maintained a democracy that wrested power from aristocratic elites and ensured the poorest citizens a political voice. Elite and popular perspectives on the imperial democracy are found in sources as varied as history, philosophy, entertainment, archaeological evidence, and inscriptions. Considering these sources, this class examines the origins, ideology, and institutions of Athenian democracy.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing. HUM 101 recommended.
Instructor: Dixon
|
| |
-
CSC 295-01 - Special Topic: Evolutionary Algorithms and Artificial Life 4 credits (Fall)
Evolutionary Algorithms and Artificial Life are subfields that study the use of evolution in computational contexts. Evolutionary algorithms can be used to improve solutions to engineering problems past what humans have been able to do and artificial life is used to model and predict the evolutionary dynamics of natural systems. In this course, students will complete projects covering a range of cutting-edge research in these fields.
Prerequisite: CSC 207 .
Instructor: Vostinar
|
| |
-
CSC 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Molecular Programming and Nanoscale Self-Assembly 4 credits (Fall)
Molecular programming is an interdisciplinary field that aims to program both the function and structure of matter at the nanoscale. The primary focus of this course is an overview of the most prevalent molecular programming language: the chemical reaction network. We will explore their ability to compute, how they are programmed, and how to compile them into physical molecules. We will also survey methods of self-assembly, including DNA origami and DNA tile self-assembly.
Prerequisite: CSC 161 and CSC 208 .
Instructor: Klinge
|
| |
-
EAS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Fashion and Lifestyle in Japan 4 credits (Fall)
See JPN 195-01 .
|
| |
-
ECN 295-01 - Special Topic: Money and Banking 4 credits (Fall)
An examination of the role of money, banking, and financial institutions in the economy. Topics include interest rate determination, money creation in the banking system, the role of Central Banks and monetary policy. Case studies on banking and financial crisis and policy responses will also be analyzed.
Prerequisite: ECN 111 .
Instructor: Mehra
|
| |
-
ECN 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Behavioral and Experimental Economics 4 credits (Fall)
This course is an introduction to the tradition and methods of behavioral economics, including the use of experiments. Behavioral economics applies insights from psychology to improve our understanding of the decision making process and generate better predictions about the behavior of economic actors. Behavioral economists have developed a variety of theoretical tools supported by laboratory experiments as well as empirical findings from large data sets, field experiments and even “natural” experiments.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 .
Instructor: H. Chen
|
| |
-
EDU 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Introduction to Participant Observation in Schools 2 credits (Fall)
This course will use a range of published work as well as practical activities to introduce participants to the principles of participant observation in school settings. It is a practical course, designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills required to immerse themselves in a school setting, to listen, to ask questions, and to collect and analyze observational data. Fourteen hours of participant observation in schools is required.
Prerequisite or co-requisite: EDU 101 .
Instructor: Michaels
|
| |
-
EDU 295-01 - Special Topic: Critical Literacy for Diverse Learners 4 credits (Fall)
This course will examine literacy and literacy education from historical, theoretical, critical, and pedagogical perspectives. Guiding questions include: How do schools define literacy? To what extent do schools draw upon variously situated students’ home-based and community-based literacy practices? How do students acquire literacy in a second language if they do not possess literacy in their primary home language? What is the relation between critical literacy practices (e.g., media literacy, new literacies) and school-based, academic literacy?
Prerequisite: EDU 101 .
Instructor: Jones
|
| |
-
ENG 295-01 - Special Topic: Creative Writing: Global Perspectives 2 credits (Fall)
A creative writing workshop offered in conjunction with the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP). This seminar-style course will be led by a writer/scholar of international distinction. Students will read and discuss eclectic texts representing a diverse range of global contemporary literature and write short creative works influenced by these readings and discussion.
Prerequisite: ENG 205 , ENG 206 , or ENG 207 .
Instructor: Ganieva
|
| |
-
ENV 295-01 - Special Topic: The Anthropocene 4 credits (Fall)
In the three and-a-half billion year history of life on Earth, there has been no species quite like Homo sapiens. Through our use of symbolic language, memes, religions, nation-states, and capital, humans have forged a new geological Epoch in Earth’s history: the Anthropocene, an inflection point in the trajectory of life on Earth. We have warmed the atmosphere to the extent that humans have prevented (or at least delayed) the next Ice Age. We are causing Earth’s sixth great extinction event, creating a future that may be attenuated of biodiversity and bereft of wilderness and at the same time preventing Earth’s seventh great extinction event by developing the technology to divert the next killer asteroid. The domestication and exchange of species between continents have created strange new ecosystems. By manipulation of their genetic code, we have created new species. We have created the first known extraterrestrials, from Apollo moon-walkers to microbes hitchhiking on Mars landers. Every student at Grinnell College will be coming of age during the Anthropocene. This course will explore what’s in store for them.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Campbell
|
| |
-
GEN 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Grinnell Scholar’s Seminar 1 credits (Fall)
Discussion seminar focused on the research and theory of learning, and on the personal and environmental factors that impact these processes. Students will practice evidence-based strategies and apply them to the students’ existing courses with opportunities for reflection and feedback. Open to first-year students and to others with instructor permission.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students and others with instructor permission.
Note: Instruction is available without credit (from the Academic Advising Office) to students who cannot take the course or who need only occasional assistance. Meets September 3 to October 15. 1/2 semester deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Backous
|
| |
-
GRM 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Social Inequality 4 credits
This course introduces students to classical sociological thinking on inequality from Germany and elsewhere, including the works of Rousseau, Marx, Weber, and Bourdieu. Students will examine how social differences in categories of wealth, class, education, gender, race, religion, and more form cleavages in society, leading use to ask whether inequality is merely a founding issue of sociology or a crucial term for understanding increasing global problems should be discussed in the final part of the course. Taught in German.
Prerequisite: GRM 302 and GRM 303 .
Instructor: Sparschuh
|
| |
-
GWS 295-01 - Special Topic: Introduction to Disability Studies 4 credits (Fall)
This course will introduce students to the scholarly and activist field of disability studies, which has developed an understanding of disability as a historical, socio-cultural, and political formation. Focusing on how disability and ableism intersect with race, gender, sexuality, and class, the course will examine how disabled people and communities have challenged dominant constructions of disability, understood and experienced disability as a vector of oppression, and created disabled identities, communities, politics, and theory.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 .
Instructor: Lewis
|
| |
-
GWS 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Queer and Trans Literatures 4 credits (Fall)
This course surveys 20th and 21st-century queer and trans literatures through contemporary queer and feminist theory. In addition to reading the works of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer authors, we will inquire into the implications of studying and categorizing literature in relation to gender and sexuality. We will examine representations of queer and trans identities and themes through a variety of literary forms including novels, short stories, plays, poems, graphic novels, and semi-autobiographical fiction.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 and GWS 249 .
Instructor: Allen
|
| |
-
HIS 295-01 - Special Topic: When the World Becomes Global: Early Modern Empire, Expansion, and Exchange 4 credits (Fall)
This course will explore how and why the world became integrated, interdependent, and ‘global’ through 1)processes of colonization and expansion; 2)the emergence of modern capitalist instruments and market; 3)intensified voluntary and forced migration; and 4)intellectual, cultural, scientific, and biological exchange. We will engage with scholarship that has redefined the field of world history by de-centering the role of Europe and distinguishing the heterogeneous imperialism of the early modern era from the Western hegemony of the nineteenth through the twentieth centuries.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Chou
|
| |
-
HIS 295-02 - Special Topic: Digital History: Investigating the Past 4 credits (Fall)
This course will introduce students to methods used in the digital humanities, with a special emphasis on applications to historical studies. Students will create projects and study existing digital projects, with a special focus on U.S. History in a global context. Readings will include primary sources as well as recent contributions to theory in digital humanities. We will learn general principles of working with humanistic data as well as techniques such as building online exhibitions, digital mapping, and computational analysis of text. No technical skills or experience in digital humanities work are required, but willingness to gain both are fundamental to the class.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 .
Instructor: Purcell
|
| |
-
HIS 295-04 - Special Topic: History of Asian Thought 4 credits (Fall)
This course examines the ideas of social justice in Asia as the regional inflections of a global history. We examine the different philosophical and ideological positions, and the particular historical contexts in which they emerged and changed. How did Chinese, Hindu, and Buddhist thinkers understand just societies, responsible power, fairness, and other ethical issues? How were ideas shared and changed by cultural and institutional frameworks? And how do they inform dialogues with “the West”?
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Instructor: Luo
|
| |
-
HUM 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: An Introduction to Museum Studies 4 credits (Fall)
See ARH 195-01 .
|
| |
-
HUM 295-01 - Special Topic: Generational Memory in Rural Iowa 4 credits (Fall)
Due to expanded life expectancies, changing experiences of age have become prominent in our daily life. The generational concept is useful to understand social change: What exactly is change, and how does it work from one generation to the other other in respect to values, life style, routines, etc? The aim of the course is to examine these questions in theory and at the same time conduct practical research collecting interviews with people from different families/family generations living in rural Iowa. Taught in English.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Sparaschuh
|
| |
-
JPN 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Fashion and Lifestyle in Japan 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: EAS 195-01 . In addition to video games, anime, and manga, a key factor of Japanese pop culture that has influenced people throughout the world is fashion. This course offers a brief historical overview of clothing in Japan and consider related issues. Students will explore how clothes influenced society, cultural expectations and developed as a mean to express people’s identity in Japan.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Kojima
|
| |
-
PHI 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Self, Others, & Society 4 credits (Fall)
What is the relationship between the self, others, and society? How can you live with others in society and yet stay true to yourself? What is authenticity? We will investigate these and other questions concerning the complicated and often fraught relations between the self, others, and society. Resources include both Western and non-Western perspectives, as well as considerations drawn from the philosophy of race and gender.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Koo
|
| |
-
PHI 295-01 - Special Topic: Reading Arendt 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: POL 295-01 . Hannah Arendt is one of the most famous thinkers of the 20th century. In this class we will begin with her earliest work on St. Augustine, follow the development of her arguments through The Origins of Totalitarianism and Eichman in Jerusalem and conclude by reading her essays on segregation, violence and the role of truth in politics.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Meehan
|
| |
-
POL 295-01 - Special Topic: Reading Arendt
See PHI 295-01 .
|
| |
-
POL 295-02 - Special Topic: Politics of South Asia 4 credits (Fall)
This course provides an overview of the political landscape of South Asia, including the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan. We will explore the differences in independence, political institutions, parties, elections, state building, and conflict. In particular we will ask about the role of religion, ethnicity, nationalism, and economic development in the countries of this region, and explore why and how countries with relatively similar pasts have developed differently.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Schoenecker
|
| |
-
PSY 295-01 - Special Topic: Cross-Cultural Psychology 4 credits (Fall)
Psychological findings are often presented as if they are universal. In this course we will interrogate theories and processes in cognition, perception, development, and mental health from a cross-cultural perspective. We will focus on examining universality and difference across groups and on the interactions between psychology subfields (e.g., the influence of language on cognition). Students will be evaluated on discussion, written reflections, and exams.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 .
Instructor: E. Kelty-Stephen
|
| |
-
PSY 295-02 - Special Topic: Health Psychology Across the Lifespan 4 credits (Fall)
Students in this course will examine psychological and social processes that contribute to physical health and wellness across the life span. We will focus on the development of thoughts and behaviors, such as risk taking, eating, and physical activity that contribute to health outcomes. We will explore how stress, coping, and thriving contribute to physical health. We will examine psychological responses to chronic and terminal illness and strategies of health promotion.
Prerequisite: PSY 113 .
Instructor: Ellis
|
| |
-
REL 295-01 - Special Topic: Religion, Healing, and Health 4 credits (Fall)
The course will focus onmultiple dimensions of the relationship between religion, healing, and health. We will make use of a wide range of primary and secondary sources to explore illness narratives, healing rituals, religious participation and longevity, religious aspects of the body and mind connection, and spiritual practices and disciplines. We also will explore the interpretations of healing in cross-cultural contexts.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Y. Chen
|
| |
-
REL 295-02 - Special Topic: Women and Religion 4 credits (Fall)
The course will introduce women’s life and experience across a spectrum of religious communities. Special attention will be given to examining the roles of women described in traditional religious texts, the ordination of women, women’s rituals, and women’s self-perception of gender. Course readings will consist of academic research from fields such as religious studies, gender studies, and sociology.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Y. Chen
|
| |
-
SOC 295-01 - Special Topic: Mass Media and Society 4 credits (Fall)
This course takes a global and transnational approach to the study of the production and consumption of mass media-including television, radio, books, film, and the Internet-in both developed and developing countries. The course will examine theories on the relationship between mass media and the public sphere, the economic and social organization of media industries, the content and reception of media messages, and the growth of new media technologies. Lastly, students will learn methods and designs employed in current research and develop their own projects.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Instructor: Quinsaat
|
| |
-
SOC 295-02 - Special Topic: Environmental Sociology 4 credits (Fall)
This course will introduce students to the ways sociology engages with questions of environment and place. The course focuses on a range of themes including, capitalism, climate change, Indigenous environmental perspectives, gender, the development of the U.S. conservation movement, and environmental justice. Through active participation in this course students will: 1) Better understand sociological approaches to environmental issues; 2) Deepen skills to conduct sociological research on environmental problems; 3) Be able to reflect on key concepts, such as environmental justice and sustainability, and engage in meaningful discussions and writing; 4) Be able to apply course concepts in future courses, academic research, and practical situations such as internships and service-learning opportunities.
Prerequisite: SOC 111 .
Instructor: Staff
|
| |
-
SST 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: The Startup Ecosystem: Entrepreneurs and Investors 1 credits (Fall)
This course will expose students to the startup ecosystem by understanding how entrepreneurs and investors behave both on an individual and collective level. Through this course, we will examine the following: growth in startups, startup ideas & team formation, financing entrepreneurial ventures, international startup markets, and more. This course will benefit students who are considering starting a business, joining a startup, and/or are aspiring investors. The course will be taught using a blend of readings/case studies, short lectures, active discussions, and a final project. This course will be taught by Hemant Bhardwaj ‘07 and sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: September 10 to October 3. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Bhardwaj
|
| |
-
SST 195-02 - Introductory Special Topic: Women in Leadership 1 credits (Fall)
What makes a leader? Is it the title or the person’s effectiveness? How does gender influence leadership success? What about race, ethnicity, culture, and organizational context? This course will consider different theories on leadership and apply these to exploring women - including Aung San Suu Kyi - in leadership positions in different countries and roles. Each student will select and prepare a report on a female leader. This course will be taught by Grinnell College Trustee, Kathryn Mohrman ‘67, and is sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: September 18 to October 4. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Mohrman
|
| |
-
SST 295-01 - Special Topic: Political Polling: Analyzing the Grinnell College National Poll 2 credits (Fall)
This short course, taught by visiting professor Ron Rapoport (The College of William and Mary), will analyze soon-to-be-released data from the inaugural Grinnell College National Poll, a pilot project which pollster Ann Selzer is overseeing. Students will assess public opinion data on key political figures and policy issues with an aim of understanding the political landscape of the 2018 midterm elections. The course will lay the foundation for this analysis by focusing on the formulation, implementation and analysis of political and public policy surveys. Topics include the psychology of survey response, question formulation and testing, sampling, index construction, hypothesis formulation/testing and data analysis.
Prerequisite: MAT 115 , SST 115 , STA 209 (previously offered as MAT 209).
Instructor: Trish
|
| |
-
STA 295-01 - Special Topic: Introduction to Data Science 4 credits (Fall)
This course introduces core topics in data science using R programming. This includes introductions to getting and cleaning data, data management, exploratory data analysis, reproducible research, and data visualization. This course incorporates case studies from multiple disciplines and emphasizes the importance of properly communicating statistical ideas.
Prerequisite: STA 209 (previously offered as MAT 209). Suggested: CSC 151 or computer programming experience.
Instructor: Jonkman
|
| |
-
THD 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Developing Performance Content from Environmental Data 2 credits (Fall)
Develop original, hand and digital tools for environmental data collection and field observation at the Conrad Environmental Research Area (CERA) to create visual content for a performance piece about the prairie environment to be developed at a later date. Natural history, field observation, and available technologies in environmental contexts come together to deepen the scope of field research and artistic practice. For students in arts, computer science, and biological sciences.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: September 4 to September 20. Short course deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Burch-Brown
|
Special Topics-Spring |
| |
-
AMS 295-01 - Special Topic: Politics of Cuisine and Consumption of the Other 4 credits (Spring)
See ANT 295-01 .
|
| |
-
ANT 295-01 - Special Topic: Politics of Cuisine and Consumption of the Other 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: AMS 295-01 . In our era of both romanticizing and rejecting the realities of globalization, food is an object and political issue that can exacerbate or diffuse conflict. This course considers ways food intersects with the construction and management of “identities.” We will contextualize the intersections of cuisine and consumption within broader concerns about representations of difference and consumer culture; examine different forms in which food mediates recognition and respect, and explore culinary tourism and question of voyeurism. This course will include two Sunday field trips to Des Moines that will take place after spring break.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 , AMS 130 , or SOC 111 and any 200-level course from any division.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
|
| |
-
ANT 295-02 - Special Topic: African Archaeology 4 credits (Spring)
African Archaeology is an overview of human material culture from approximately 3 million years ago up through the 20th century on the African continent. By the end of this course, students will have engaged with: archaeological perspectives on being human, human-environment interactions, technological innovation and spread, the effects of globalism on African material culture, indigenous African states and chiefdom, and African as a continent with a robust and varied archaeological record.
Prerequisite: ANT 104 .
Instructor: McGrath
|
| |
-
ANT 295-03 - Special Topic: Mapping Antisemitism 4 credits (Spring)
This seminar maps themes which inform anti-Jewish attitudes and have been channeled into a “new anti-Semitism” focused exclusively on Jewish nationality and nationalism, terms which will also be explored during this semester. Cumulatively, the readings provide a loose overview of theological anti-Semitism, racial anti-Semitisim, and political anti-Semitisim. Political anti-Semitism offers up important corollary questions concerning the relationship(s) between identities, power and knowledge, the consequences of globalization on stereotypes and (mis)representation of people/places, and importantly, the role of academic activism and its political consequences.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Gibel Mevorach
|
| |
-
ARB 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Arabic: Language and Culture II 4 credits (Spring)
Conducted in Arabic. An integrated approach to the development of aural-oral, reading and written skills. Class activities include phonetic exercises, oral exposes, advanced-level grammar, composition, and the analysis of cultural documents and literary texts.
Prerequisite: ARB 395-01 Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Arabic: Language and Culture .
Instructor: Youssef
|
| |
-
ARH 295-01 - Special Topic: Caribbean Art and Visual Culture 4 credits (Spring)
This course provides a broad survey and close readings of Caribbean art and visual culture. We will take the Caribbean archipelago and surrounding territories into consideration, along with the Caribbean diaspora. With course material will range from the Pre-Columbian era into the contemporary, this course will explore topics such as slavery in the Caribbean, religious expression, nationalism in the postcolonial Caribbean, and the politics of migration.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
Instructor: Rivera
|
| |
-
ARH 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Ancient Greek Sculpture: Style, Context, and Ownership 4 credits (Spring)
See CLS 395-01 .
|
| |
-
ARH 395-02 - Advanced Special Topic: Theory and Methods of Art History 4 credits (Spring)
This course studies the theory and methods of art history. We will explore historical and philosophical approaches as well as contemporary methods. The point is to think through how and why we apprpoach art and architecture the way we do and to learn to do so more conscientiously and fruitfully.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 and third or fourth-year standing.
Instructor: Anger
|
| |
-
ART 295-01 - Special Topic: Contemporary Photography 4 credits (Spring)
This course is an introduction to basic photographic techniques, and will help students develop skills such as composition, exposure controls, recording techniques, digital file management, image manipulation, lighting and studio practice, sequencing, and printing. Conceptual approaches will be cultivated through assignments, critiques, reading, and research. Furthermore, this course will explore photography as contemporary art and how the medium is intimately connected to our critical engagement with culture and identity. Throughout the course, an emphasis will be placed on students developing an understanding of the complex nature of photography as both a document torn between truth and fiction and a mode of expression.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Christmas
|
| |
-
BCM 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Modern Proteomics 4 credits (Spring)
Proteins are the workhorses of the cell. They perform a wide variety of functions, including catalyzing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, transcription, transporting macromolecules, and driving signal transduction pathways. In this course, we will examine modern proteomic strategies and techniques that are used to study proteins and post-translational modifications on a large scale. Students will learn about a variety of different methods used in the analysis of proteomes, and they will conduct their own experiments to construct a protein interaction network and to quantify post-translational modifications using mass spectrometry.
Prerequisite: BCM 262 .
Instructor: M. French
|
| |
-
BIO 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Global Medicinals: England, Japan, and the United States 4 credits (Spring)
See HIS 195-01 .
|
| |
-
BIO 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Immunology 4 credits (Spring)
An introduction to the cellular and molecular basis of vertebrate immune systems. Topics include the components and organization of the immune system, development of the immune system, studies of how organisms mount an immune response, and how the immune response itself can cause disease. A significant component of this course will be the critical evaluation of primary literature and case studies of immune dysfunction, along with an emphasis on written and oral communication skills.
Prerequisite: BIO 252 or BCM 262 . BCM 262 recommended.
Instructor: Hinsa-Leasure
|
| |
-
CHM 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Enzyme Engineering 4 credits (Spring)
The application of enzymes to catalyze selective organic reactions is a sustainable approach to synthetic chemistry. This multidisciplinary course will investigate classic and cutting-edge approaches to re-engineering natural enzymes to create suitable catalysts for abiological reactions and new metabolic pathways. Exemplary enzymes will include those containing metal/organic cofactors. In the laboratory, students will learn techniques that enable laboratory evolution of enzymes and apply those techniques evolve an enzyme as part of an independent research project.
Prerequisite: BIO 251 and CHM 222 .
Instructor: Key
|
| |
-
CLS 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Ancient Greek Sculpture: Style, Context, and Ownership 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: ARH 395-01 . An interdisciplinary course exploring classical Greek sculpture: its ancient context, style, and function; its ownership in modern times and its place in museum culture. Students will engage in stylistic analysis of architectural marbles from the temple of Zeus at Olympia, the Parthenon in Athens, and the temple of Apollo at Bassae. The class will travel to London and Greece over spring break, conduct a public campus debate regarding ownership of antiquities, and write research papers. Students will be required to pay a $400 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and is due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss loan options to cover this additional cost for attendance.
Students must also submit an application through https://travel.global.grinnell.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram&Program_ID=37563. An interview may also be required.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 , ARH 195-01 , ARH 248 , ARH 250 , CLS 242 , CLS 248 , CLS 250 , CLS 255 , GLS 242 , HIS 235 , or HIS 255 .
Instructor: Cummins, Wright
|
| |
-
CSC 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Operating Systems 4 credits (Spring)
Students will build on their experience from CSC 213 by exploring prior work in operating systems research, and conducting their own OS research project. Readings will be drawn from classic and recent papers in OS research. Meanwhile, students will work in small teams to identify an important problem in the field, design and develop a solution to that problem, evaluate their work, and present their findings.
Prerequisite: CSC 213 .
Instructor: Curtsinger
|
| |
-
ECN 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Seminar in Causal Inference 4 credits (Spring)
In this seminar, students will learn how economists use data to answer cause-and-effect questions. Students will work to understand and implement the five most common methods in modern applied econometrics: randomized controlled trials, regression, instrumental variables, difference-in-differences, and regression discontinuity. Students will then explore how these modern empirical techniques are being used by leading-edge economists and apply the techinques as they investigate their own novel research question.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 , ECN 282 , and ECN 286 .
Instructor: Ohrn
|
| |
-
ECN 395-02 - Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Econometrics 4 credits (Spring)
This course expands upon the econometrics background provided by ECN 286, exploring the underlying properties of the estimators and learning to program their calculation in STATA. We will use matrix algebra to derive and calculate ordinary least squares, restricted least squares, generalized least squares, and instrumental variables, and use maximum likelihood estimation to explore, probit, logit, tobit and sample selection models.
Prerequisite: ECN 286 .
Instructor: Montgomery
|
| |
-
ECN 395-03 - Advanced Special Topic: Seminar in Global Factor Movements 4 credits (Spring)
An examination of the movement of factors of production across countries. Topics include labor migration, movement of financial capital, and the role of foreign direct investment and offshoring.
Prerequisite: ECN 280 and ECN 282 . Prerequisite or co-requisite: ECN 286 or MAT 336 .
Instructor: Mehra
|
| |
-
EDU 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: How Colleges Work: An Introduction to US Higher Education 2 credits (Spring)
This course provides an overview of how colleges work. It surveys the purpose of higher education, and examines US higher education from systemic, organizational, professional, economic, and sociological perspectives. Encountering literature such as college leadership roles, faculty worklife, and student development, this course will introduce students to the study of higher education and some of the prominent authors and theories in the field.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: January 23 to March 13. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Robinson
|
| |
-
EDU 295-01 - Special Topic: Issues in Latinx Education: Unerrepresented, Underserved, and Unheard 4 credits (Spring)
This course explores the historical and contemporary issues that have contributed to or limited Pre-K to higher educational Latina/o access, participation, and retention in education. In addition to looking at Latina/o student’s experiences nationwide, we also will explore the Latina/o educational experience in the Midwest, with a special focus on the state of Iowa. Using what the students learn in the course, they will have an opportunity to develop a research paper drawing from both primary and secondary sources.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
|
| |
-
EDU 295-02 - Special Topic: Incarcerated Literacies: Voices From the Inside.Special Topic: 2 credits (Spring)
This course seeks to examine the prison industrial complex through the writings of incarcerated persons. To understand mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex, this course will privilege the voices from those who have, or still are, serving time within the penal system. The course will also include theories of critical literacy and punishment with an aim to interrogate the ways in which incarceration impacts us as individuals and as a society.
Prerequisite: EDU 101 .
Instructor: S. Jones
|
| |
-
ENG 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Baseball as Liberal Art: The Art of Fielding and the Craft of Reading 4 credits (Spring)
“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game,” wrote Jacques Barzun in 1954. Many Americans do know the rules, at least enough to organize a game in a vacant lot on the spur of the moment. But what of the “realities” of the game itself? As late afternoon shadows lengthen on the national pastime, how much do we really know in regard to what has been considered fair and foul over the course of the game’s history? In order to explore some of the social realities of the game, we will focus on six baseball-themed novels.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Students may not receive credit for both ENG-195-01 and ENG-120.
Instructor: Andrews
|
| |
-
ENG 295-01 - Special Topic: The Doctor as Writer 4 credits (Spring)
A medical humanities course, but with an emphasis on the doctor as writer. What can literature offer the pursuit of healing? The Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University remarks, “The care of the sick unfolds in stories. …Medicine practiced with narrative competence is a model for humane and effective medical practice.” We will explore the narrative competence of such doctor-writers as Richard Selzer, Oliver Sacks, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Damon Tweedy, and Qanta Amhed.
Prerequisite: ENG 120 , ENG 121 , or third-year standing.
Instructor: Savarese
|
| |
-
ENG 295-02 - Special Topic: The Grinnell Writer’s Workshop 2 credits (Spring)
An advanced fiction class modeled on the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Students will write, workshop, and revise original works of fiction under the guidance of Lan Samantha Chang, director of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. The class includes critiques from the instructor and will end with a field trip to literary Iowa City.
Prerequisite: ENG 205 or ENG 206 .
Note: Dates: February 1 to March 15. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: Staff
|
| |
-
ENG 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Piracy in Indian Ocean World 4 credits (Spring)
This course studies piracy as intimately related to colonial commerce, monarchial authority, and articulations of legitimate or unlawful trade. In the maritime world, South-East Asia maintained an informal economy of piracy that was a counterpoint to colonial trade in the 18th and 19th centuries in the Indian Ocean World. In that period piracy signified a challenge to untrammeled mercantilism and can also be seen to be a challenge to the rise of intellectual property. Describing Daniel Defoe’s understanding of piracy, Srinivas Aravamudan argues that Defoe’s was the first published use of the word ‘to pirate’ to mean appropriating the work or invention of another without authority. In an age, when appropriation of literary work was becoming an issue, piracy could be understood as describing intellectual property as much as it both challenged and was a parodic representation of mercantilism. This rich nexus of ideas of appropriation, theft, and interrogation of mercantile trade especially as deeply complicitous with colonialism is the lens through which we will read 18th and 19th century literature together with more recent fiction. Readings for the course may include Daniel Defoe’s Captain Singleton, Walter Scott’s, The Pirate, Lord Byron’s The Corsair, R. L. Stevenson’s, Treasure Island, Joseph Conrad, The Rover and The Malay Novels, (An Outcast of the Islands and Almayer’s Folly), and Amitav Ghosh’s, Sea of Poppies. We will also read A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea (2010) by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty. The film based on this book, Captain Phillips, will also be part of our discussions. We will conclude with two contemporary books, Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and the novel, Autonomous by Annalee Newitz. N.B.: this course has been designed and scheduled to be team-taught with Prof. Andrews’s ENG 395. Since both classes will convene together for approximately ten class sessions, we recommend that you leave open whichever seminar slot is not taken by the course you enrolled in (if MW, reserve TTH, and vice-versa). We have also designed these courses to complement each other but to be different enough in content and approach so as to leave open the possibility of enrolling in both courses simultaneously.
Prerequisite: ENG 224 , ENG 225 , ENG 226 , or ENG 229 .
Note: Plus-2 available.
Instructor: Kapila
|
| |
-
ENV 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: This Land is Your Land: Agrarian Ethics in the 21st Century 1 credits (Spring)
Aldo Leopold said “… a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it.” How would human society behave if it observed an ethic based on the health of our communal landscape? We examine dilemmas faced by those who grow our food. Using the career struggles of the instructor as case study material, students explore a principled reunion of ecology and economics.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: February 12 to February 28. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Staff
|
| |
-
GDS 295-01 - Special Topic: 9 Billion People: Inquiries into Impacts and Opportunities 4 credits (Spring)
This course combines discussion and data analysis activities on a set of global challenges that impact developing countries. The course will include modules on climate change, population growth, food security, and human migration. Data analysis exercises will use Geographic Information Systems (GIS), text-mining, visualization, and network analysis tools as means to investigate how rapid change in these four areas affect development prospects around the world by creating turbulence and instability. The course will be comprised of discussions, in-class exercises, and an independent project that utilizes one or more of the tools covered in the class.
Prerequisite: GDS 111 .
Instructor: Brottem
|
| |
-
GEN 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Grinnell Scholar’s Seminar 1 credits (Spring)
Discussion seminar focused on the research and theory of learning, and on the personal and environmental factors that impact these processes. Students will practice evidence-based strategies and apply them to the students’ existing courses with opportunities for reflection and feedback.
Prerequisite: Open to first-year students and to others with instructor permission.
Note: Instruction available without credit (from the Academic Advising Office) to students who cannot take the course or who need only occasional assistance. Dates: January 28 to March 11. 1/2 semester deadlines apply. S/D/F only.
Instructor: Backous
|
| |
-
GWS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Global Disabilities: Art, Architecture, and Activism 4 credits (Spring)
See SOC 195-01 or THD 195-01 .
|
| |
-
GWS 295-01 - Special Topic: Disability & Race 4 credits (Spring)
In this course, we will study the intersections of race and disability in their historical production, systemic overlap as ableism and racism, cultural representation, and political experiential dimensions. Through interdisciplinary examples, we will discuss the production of whiteness through definitions of health and disease, the role of race in the medicalization of physical, mental, and intellectual difference, and the ”fantasies of identification” that attempt to fix embodied social identities.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 .
Instructor: Koch-Rein
|
| |
-
GWS 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Queer Oral Histories 4 credits (Spring)
This course will introduce students to the practice, theory, and interpretation of oral history as a method of studying LGBTQ history. The first half of the semester will focus on examining US LGBTQ history through oral histories. The second half will focus on the theory and practice of oral histories, and students will conduct a class oral history project focusing on LGBTQ history at Grinnell.
Prerequisite: GWS 111 and GWS 249 .
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Lewis
|
| |
-
HIS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Global Medicinals: England, Japan, and the United States 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: BIO 195-01 . This Global Learning Program Tutorial will explore diverse medical belief systems that have existed and continue to exist worldwide, looking at the rise of “Western” medicine and it’s seeming contrast to those systems that are now labeled “herbal,” “traditional,” or “alternative.” In addition to guest speakers and regional field trips, this GLP Tutorial class will travel to England and Japan during spring break and early summer to learn more about the historical and contemporary medicinal beliefs and practices in those locations.First-year students interested in this coursewill need to complete an application in additionto doing the normal registration process. The application materials are available on GrinnellShare (Academics>Centers>Center for International Studies>Global Learning Program). Students selected to participate in the Global Learning Program will be required to pay a $400 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and will be due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss loan options to cover this additional cost of attendance.
Prerequisite: TUT-100 and application. Open to first-year students only.
Instructor: Lewis, Sandquist
|
| |
-
HIS 295-01 - Special Topic: Cold War Latin America 4 credits (Spring)
During the Cold War, Latin America was seen as an important site of both ideological and military conflict. As a result, the region was profoundly shaped by the the struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. This course will examine some of the political, social, and cultural effects of the Cold War on Latin America by studying various important episodes including the Cuban Revolution, Anti-communist dictatorships, and US interventions.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Silva
|
| |
-
HIS 295-03 - Special Topic: Defense Against the Dark Arts: Social Scares in Chinese History 4 credits (Spring)
Magic in pre-modern China provides a way to understand how people thought about their societies and reacted to changes. Concerns and anxieties regarding the supernatural illuminate important structures of power, including political authority, gender, family politics, and social stratification. In this class, we will examine Chinese magical practices, the labeling of the “dark arts,” accusations of sorcery and witchcraft, and encounters with the modern West and its foreign categories: science and religion.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 Foreign Language Option Available
Instructor: Luo
|
| |
-
HIS 295-04 - Special Topic: The Crusades in the Middle East 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: REL 295-06 . What did it feel like to get crusaded? In this course, we will examine the roughly two-century period from the First Crusade in 1095 to the final expulsion of Latin Crusaders from the Middle East in 1291. Our explorations will center on the perspectives of the invaded, rather than the invaders. How did Muslims, Jews, and Easter Christians of the medieval Middle East respond to the presences of the Frankish invaders from Europe?
Prerequisite: HIS 100 , REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Saba
|
| |
-
HIS 295-05 - Special Topic: Violence Past and Present 1 credits (spring)
This short course invites students to consider the utility of studying historical ideas and practices relating to conflict, violence, and peace, particularly for those interested in these themes as they pertain to the present. Students will explore this question via a consideration of the medieval European past, as well as the way that the past relates to and is received and deployed by the present. Over the course of this class, students will participate in weekly discussions, write two written responses to weekly readings, and write a short final paper in which they will lay out their answer to the course’s driving question.
Prerequisite: HIS 100 or second-year standing.
Note: Meets February 6 to March 13. Short-course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Palmer
|
| |
-
HUM 295-01 - Special Topic: Journal Publishing: Discovering Diversity 4 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: SST 295-01 . This course will involve students in all steps in producing the Spring 2019 issue of Rootstalk: A Prairie Journal of Culture, Science, and the Arts. This semester a specific goal is to involve students, faculty editors, staff advisors and alumni mentors in an effort to further develop the journal as a tool for reaching out to the full diversity of populations in our region, and for the development of content for future issues.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Andelson, Staff
|
| |
-
HUM 295-02 - Special Topic: Tolerance and Intolerance: What is Enlightenment Today? 4 credits (Spring)
Contemporary Europe faces ongoing manifestations of intolerance in the form religious extremism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and outbreaks of violence against people of different beliefs and cultures. The present moment recalls for many the long history of religious and racial intolerance in Europe from the time of the Reformation to the demands for tolerance issues during the Enlightenment. This course examines the long history of and present of intolerance and its challenges to Enlightenment ideals of tolerance, rational debate, and human rights. This course includes travel over summer break. Students will be required to pay a $400 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and is due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss loan options to cover this additional cost for attendance.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing. Prerequisite or co-requisite: FRN 222 or GRM 222 .
Instructor: Harrison, Reynolds
|
| |
-
MUS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Ngoma Dance, Drumming, and Singing from Zimbabwe 1 credits (Spring)
Cross-listed as: THD 195-02 . Taught by master musician and dancer, Musekiwa Chingodza, students in this course will learn to sing, dance, drum, and/or play mbira together in the tradition of Zimbabwe’s Shona community. Students will sing in Shona, learn the basic dance steps and drum patterns in aurally, as is traditionally done in Zimbabwe. The class will likely culminate in some form of public presentation.
Prerequisite: None
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Perman
|
| |
-
PCS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Realizing the Right to Food: Social Movements, Innovation and Conflict 1 credits (Spring)
Grinnell College is near the US center of power and discourse about agricultural innovation. However, there are other important centers and different types of innovation. This short course briefly reviews ideas about hunger, and moves on to explore sites of innovation involving social movements. For examples, peasant farmers and indigenous peoples are leading debates on the right to food at the United Nations while social movements have begun to end hunger in Belo Horizonte Brazil. Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Dates: February 26 to March 14. Short course deadlines apply.
Instructor: Staff
|
| |
-
PHE 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Off the Grid 2 credits (Spring)
From an overnight backpacking trip, to ocean sailing to the tiny house movement, this course will explore off grid technologies and techniques to stay warm, purify water, find your way and otherwise live without benefit of most modern conveniences. This course will consist of lectures, some labs and student presentations on a topic of choice.
Prerequisite: None.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Zeiss
|
| |
-
PHI 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Introduction to Asian Philosophy 4 credits (Spring)
This survey course covers philosophical traditions stemming from China, Japan, and India. Our goal is to gain a basic understanding of Confucian, Taoist, Chan/Zen Buddhist and Advaita Vedanta philosophies with some insight into their historical context and philosophical opponents. We will read writings by Confucius, Mencius, Hsun-tzu, Lao-tzu, Chuang-tzu, Hui-neng, Linji, Dogen, and Sankara.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Nyden
|
| |
-
PHY 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Geometry of Spacetime 2 credits (Spring)
The aim of this course will be to gain a fundamental understanding of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity (GR) from its formulation and solutions to its applications. GR describes the gravitational field as the metric tennsor of a Riemannian manifold. This Reimannian manifold is also referred to as the fabric of spacetime. Thus, the relevant language of GR is Riemannian Geometry or Differential Geometry. This language and its use in GR will not be pre assumed knowledge, but students should have a fundamental knowledge of sophomore level modern physics, calculus and linear algebra.
Prerequisite: PHY 232 , MAT 133 , and MAT 215 .
Note: Dates: April 2 to May 9. 1/2 semester deadlines apply.
Instructor: L. Rodriguez
|
| |
-
POL 295-01 - Special Topic: Political Psychology 4 credits (Spring)
Using tools drawn from cognitive and social psychology, the course examines how individuals construct attitudes, engage in political decision-making, and interact with others in the public sphere. The course provides an overview of the subfield, as it delves into the key issues and controversies in the study of the political psychology.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Dawkins
|
| |
-
POL 295-02 - Special Topic: Politics of Gender in Developing Countries 4 credits (Spring)
We have seen the rise of strong female political leaders like Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, and in Rwanda 64% of seats in the lower house of the National Legislature belong to women. Yet discrimination against women in terms of legal, political, and social rights persists. This course is designed to investigate the complexities of gender and women in developing countries through topics like gendered conflict and violence; economic development; and political participation.
Prerequisite: POL 101 .
Instructor: Schoenecker
|
| |
-
POL 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Advanced Seminar in Comparative Politics 4 credits (Spring)
A research-oriented advanced course in comparative politics. The first half of the course will examine a selection of primary theories and methodological approaches taken in comparative politics. In the second half of the course, students will develop an independent research project that builds on earlier work conducted at the 200-level. The course emphasizes empirical political science employing a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Prerequisite: Third-year standing and POL 255 , POL 257 , POL 258 , POL 261 , POL 262 , or POL 273 . Completion of MAT 115 , SST 115 , or STA 209 (previously offered as MAT 209) strongly recommended.
Instructor: Sala
|
| |
-
POL 395-02 - Advanced Special Topic: Theories of the State: Modern, Postmodern, and Postcolonial Approaches 4 credits (Spring)
The state is arguably the most important institution organizing modern society. Important questions on the state include what is state power? Can state theories developed in the Global North explain states in the Global South, and vice versa? In an attempt to begin and grapple with these questions, we will explore modern, postmodern, and postcolonial theories of the state through the writings of Max Weber, Theda Skocpol, Michel Foucault, and James Scott, among others.
Prerequisite: POL 251 , POL 255 , POL 257 , POL 258 , POL 261 , POL 262 , POL 263 , POL 264 , or POL 295-02 .
|
| |
-
REL 295-01 - Special Topic: Race and Religion in the U.S. 4 credits (Spring)
This course studies the complex relation between race and religion, particularly in the United States. The first half of the course explores the construction of racial categories-especially white and black-in the context of the Atlantic slave trade and colonial America. We then will narrow our attention to African-American religions in the US to explore how religion has served as both a tool of oppression and a resource for resistance against white supremacy.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Roberts
|
| |
-
REL 295-02 - Special Topic: Religion, Philosophy, and the Good Life 4 credits (Spring)
What is the good life? A happy life, a meaningful or purposeful life, a virtuous life, a life of rich relationships with others? Some combination of all of these? And does inquiry into the good life help us achieve it? If so, how? In this course, we explore questions such as these by considering how different philosophical and religious traditions have sought to understand and guide human life.
Prerequisite: REL 101 , REL 102 , REL 103 , REL 104 , REL 105 , or second-year standing.
Instructor: Roberts
|
| |
Page: 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| 10
|
|
|
Print this Page