Spring is in the air. As you plan your Spring 2024 course schedule, check out our list of classes that we're most excited about this term:
Let the Games Begin
Sport, Media and Culture (COMM 442) | CRN 60654
An in-depth examination of the interrelationship between sports and media in contemporary (western) society, and how that interrelationship reinforces social values, sometimes challenges social norms, and draws on the cultural identification of class, race, and gender to identify sports values with cultural values. Drawing on theories of political economy, media studies, and cultural studies, we will examine media’s role in telling the story of sports and, in telling that story, shaping and reinforcing cultural values and developing material impacts on peoples’ lives. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
In-person
4 credits
Philosophy of Sports (PHL 367U) | CRN 62613
An examination of the central conceptual, ethical, and existential issues concerning sports. Topics include the nature and role of sports in human flourishing, theories of embodiment, and the morality of sports as an institution and culture including competition and violence.
Online
4 credits; Healthy People/Places; Knowledge, Values, Rationality clusters
Psychology of Race & Gender in Sport (PSY 429) | CRN 62687
Using a social psychological approach, this course will examine how issues of race and gender affect the sporting domain. Specifically, the course will emphasize how social psychological theories of intergroup relations, stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination impact athletes, coaches, referees, and fans. Prerequisites: Upper-division standing.
In-person
4 credits
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Food for Thought
Anthropology of Food (ANTH 333U) | CRN 63741
Explores biological and cultural aspects of past and present human food systems. Topics include nutrition, the cultural significance of food, domestication of plants and animals, archaeological records of competitive feasting, global movement of foods during the colonial period, new revolutions in food technology, the politics and economics of contemporary food systems, and eating disorders such as obesity, anorexia, and bulimia.
Online
4 credits; Healthy People/Places Cluster
Food & Power in US History (HST 333U) | CRN 64516
Course uses the topic of food to better understand the history of American culture, environments, social relations, technology, territorial expansion, immigration, gender relations, agribusiness, and international politics. Topics move chronologically from the colonial period through the twenty-first century.
Online
4 credits; American Identities Cluster
First Foods of the Pacific Northwest (NAS 422) | CRN 62398
Using examples from the Pacific NW, this course will investigate the interconnected social, cultural, and political relationships between Indigenous food systems, spirituality, kinship, food sovereignty, and ecology; from subsistence food traditions to government commodity foods to urban Native American food movements. We will contemplate and learn about Traditional Ecological Cultural Knowledge (TECK) and the impact of colonization on Indigenous food systems and landscapes from a place-based lens. Prerequisite: NAS 201 or instructor approval.
Hybrid
4 credits
Sociology of Food Inequalities (SOC 330U) | CRN 63907
Examination of food and nutrition issues and problems through the lens of the social sciences, with an emphasis on inequalities in the production, distribution and consumption of food. Economic, social, political and symbolic dimensions of food systems and food behaviors. Social determinants of hunger, malnutrition, and obesity. Exploration of solutions at the local, societal and global level.
Online
4 credits; Healthy People/Places Cluster
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In a World Far, Far Away
Afro-Futurisms/Black Science Fiction (BST 339U) | CRN 60357
This class begins with the historical roots of Afro-Futurisms/Black Science Fiction. Using selected reading the class will compare and contrast the science fiction and fantasy written by Africans & African Diaspora authors. Will also explore in movies and television the contributions of Black people in science fiction.
In-person
4 credits; Popular Culture Cluster
Science Fiction (ENG 307U) | CRN 61063
The historical scope of the course will range from the imaginative critique of the scientific revolution found in Margaret Cavendish’s Blazing World (1666) to the more recent visionary Afrofuturism of Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer (2018). By engaging with works of science fiction from a diverse set of social contexts and cultural perspectives, students will come to appreciate the impact of the past on both the possible futures we can imagine and the present assumptions that shape our lives.
In-person
4 credits; Popular Culture Cluster
Fantasy Literature (ENG 306U) | CRN 61062
In this heavy-reading course, we will read lesser-known classics of fantasy literature as forms of moral and religious engagement with an often secularized, “disenchanted” world. Reading list includes: Hope Mirrlees, Lud-in-the-Mist; G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday; C. S. Lewis, Perelandra; Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn; and Diana Wynne Jones, Fire and Hemlock.
Online
4 credits
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The Arts
Cuban Film (BST 356U) | CRN 60358
Topics in Cuban history, culture, race, gender, and politics, focusing on the impact of the Cuban revolution on Cuban society, presented through Cuban films are addressed. Films, particularly popular films made in Cuba, and media as primary methods of inquiry, and their global political and cultural implications are critically examined.
In-person
4 credits; Global Perspectives and Popular Culture
Public Art Muralism (CHLA 345) | CRN 60599
Introduces the historical background of public art and mural creation from the mural movement origins in Mexico to current community mural movements in the United States. Identifies a wide range of mural styles and trends. Considers practical information, skills, and techniques. Applies this base knowledge to formulate and evaluate a personal approach to mural art in the development of a mural proposal. Create along with the instructor a local mural project and/or public art project.
In-person
4 credits
Manga Now! (JPN 345U) | CRN 61500
Readings of new, critically acclaimed Japanese comic books and analysis of recent writings about the graphic-novel form. Readings of the manga are followed by a discussion of the artistic style, questions about Japanese society, and what kind of new developments are happening in the genre. Readings and discussions are in English.
In-person
4 credits; Global Perspectives; Popular Culture clusters
Japanese Traditional Drama (JPN 422) | CRN 63962
An introduction to the classical forms of no kyogen, bunraku and kabuki. Students read plays and view videos of plays in performance, analyzing them in their historical, social, and performance contexts. Students have the option of performing short dances of plays in a class recital. Conducted in English.
In-person
4 credits
The Arts and the Jewish Experience: Graphic Novel (JST 431) | CRN 63934
This course looks at graphic novels dealing with Jewish identity, the legacy of the Holocaust, and Jewish life today in Israel and Europe. In addition to classroom sessions there will be a set of Zoom events featuring artists and scholars discussing the graphic novel Judessey, a Holocaust story told in the form of Homer’s Odyssey, by the eminent Israeli comic artist Shay Charka (forthcoming in English translation by the course instructor). This course counts towards the Comics Studies certificate. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
In-person
4 credits
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World Affairs
Nationalism versus Democracy since 9/11 (CR 443) | CRN 60708
Examines the rise of American nationalism in the aftermath of 9/11 and its impact on America’s relationship to the world. Nationalist and democratic ideologies are examined from a peace and conflict studies perspective, with attention to implications for war and peace. Special focus on political and ideological shifts since 2016. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
In-person
4 credits
Palestine and Israel (HST 382U) | CRN 63759
A critical review of the 19th and 20th century social, cultural, economic and political factors behind the formation of two modern Middle Eastern nations, Palestine and Israel. Expected preparation: Upper-division standing.
In-person
4 credits
Japan, China, & Korea (The Two Koreas) Relations in Global Context (HST 390U) | CRN 61382
History weighs heavily on the respective relations between Japan, China, South Korea, and North Korea, as demonstrated by periodic controversies, frequently vitriolic, that erupt about the “past” between these nation-states. This course introduces, through a variety of sources (both textual and visual), how historical events are interpreted, often in competing ways, in each of the four nation-states. We shall also address areas of positive relations between these countries less affected by the "past." This approach is designed to inform students of the extent to which contemporary historical narratives tend to be nationalized (something which is certainly true of how Americans view the past). Note that this course meets online during regularly scheduled times.
Hybrid
4 credits; Global Perspectives Cluster
Geography of World Affairs (GEOG 350U) | CRN 63777
Examines the major world trouble spots in light of long-standing political-geographical rivalries, including ethnic group rivalries, economic disparities, and conflicting historical claims. Particular emphasis will be placed on political organization of territory, nationalism, boundary conflicts, colonialism, and, where relevant, metropolitan political fragmentation. Recommended prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
In-person
4 credits; Global Perspectives Cluster
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Shakespeare's First Folio
PSU is celebrating Shakespeare -- and the 400th anniversary of the printing of the First Folio -- with an exhibition, speaker series, and performances of Shakespearean drama, opera, music and film in partnership with local arts orgs. See the full calendar of events and dive into the Bard's works this term with one of these classes.
Intro to Shakespeare (ENG 201) | CRN 64141
We will read A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida. Secondary texts will include René Girard’s A Theater of Envy and other critical materials, and Vladimir Nabokov’s short story “That in Aleppo Once,” a title taken from Othello. Films will include Gregory Doran’s 2009 Hamlet, starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart, and the Tennant and Tate version of Much Ado About Nothing. Also Woody Allen’s A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, and John Cleese in The Taming of the Shrew. The class is conducted entirely in writing, without class meetings or Zoom lectures.
Online
4 credits
First Folio in 5 Acts (ENG 441) | CRN 64183
In the 400th anniversary year of the First Folio’s publication, we will consider a wide variety of questions raised by 4 plays, by the First Folio as a material book, and by larger social issues with which the plays and the book engage. This undergraduate seminar is reading-intensive and above all discussion-based.
In-person
4 credits
Shakespeare & Cervantes & Mental Health (SPAN 399) | CRN 62877
An interdisciplinary and comparative approach to the works of Shakespeare and Cervantes in recognition of Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623) and PSU’s First Folio celebration. Taught in English (with materials and assignments available in Spanish for those students taking the course towards their Spanish degree); also counts towards the WLL-English Certificate in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies.
Hybrid
4 credits
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Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
Design Anthropology (ANTH 440) | CRN 63743
Explores the relationship between anthropology and design. Addresses how anthropologists collaborate with designers in industry to develop new products. Students apply ethnographic methods to do rapid design research and develop prototypes of products and services. The course is useful for students interested in human-centered approaches to problem-solving and for students pursuing a career in designing innovative products or doing user experience research. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.
Hybrid
4 credits
Communications in Groups (COMM 313U) | CRN 64119
Focuses on communication processes in small, decision-making groups. Students examine the relation between actual communicative behaviors of group members and group structure, functions, and outcomes. Topics include leadership emergence and enactment, quality of problem-solving strategies utilized, the impact of socio-cultural and institutional features on small group communicative practices. Theoretical application in the critical analysis of various group settings and effective communication in ongoing group projects.
Online
4 credits; Community Studies and Leading Social Change clusters
Personal Decision Making (PSY 300U) | CRN 62660
How to make wiser decisions. Ways to think more creatively and more logically in making both everyday choices and major life decisions. Instruction and hands-on experience.
Online
4 credits; Knowledge, Values, Rationality Cluster
Cognition (PSY 348) | CRN 62675
Processes by which we form representations of reality, and strategies we use for manipulating those representations in order to explore possible actions and outcomes. Includes topics in perception, attention, memory, imagery, language, comprehension, problem-solving, creative thinking, judgment, reasoning, and decision making. Recommended prerequisite: 4 credits in 200-level psychology.
In-person
4 credits
Decision Making in Complex Environments: A View Towards Collective Action and Social Change (SYSC 338U) | CRN 63186
This is an interdisciplinary course about agency, and how behavior is shaped by interactions between values, beliefs, capabilities, and environments. In the first part of this course we will use Decision Theory and Rational Choice Theory to understand what it means to make a good decision. Next, we will look at the ways these decisions shape environments and are also shaped by them. Finally we will focus on the institutions which make up our social environment, exploring how institutions emerge, how they learn, and how they can be changed.
In-person
4 credits; Knowledge, Values, Rationality and Leading Social Change clusters
Systems Thinking for Social Change (SYSC 342U) | CRN 64456
Why are complex social problems like poverty, homelessness, and climate change so hard to solve? How can we identify effective leverage points for change? This interdisciplinary course addresses social challenges using the methods of systems thinking. We’ll dig into real-world examples and learn how to create interactive systems “maps” using causal-loop diagramming. Causal mapping enables a rich understanding of context, interrelationships, and perspectives. Students will gain practical tools they can use in their future work.
Online
4 credits; Design Thinking, Knowledge, Values, Rationality, and Leading Social Change clusters
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... and Society
Identity and Society (ANTH 304) | CRN 63739
Examines power relations in social organization from the family to the global economy. Topics include political processes, exploitation, identity, agency, social change, and globalization, with an emphasis on understanding contemporary social issues in a cross-cultural perspective through critical, feminist, interpretative and political economic theoretical frameworks. Designed for anthropology majors and minors. Expected preparation: Anth 103.
In-person
4 credits
Genes & Society (BI 346U or WS 346U) | CRN 64027 or 63729
Explores the principles of genetics, molecular biology and biotechnology within social and historical context. Emphasis on the ethical issues arising from the intersection of genetics, technology and society, with attention to the role of gender, race and class in the formation and application of scientific knowledge.
Hybrid
4 credits; Gender and Sexualities Cluster; Race and Ethnic Studies Requirement (domestic)
Mass Communication & Society (COMM 322) | CRN 64120
A survey of the development of print, broadcast, film, and new communication technology as social, cultural, and economic forces in American society. Examination of news media and their relationship to American political institutions. Discussion of advertising as an economic and popular cultural force. Survey of major trends in media research.
In-Person
4 credits
Environment & Society (GEOG 230) | CRN 61235
An introduction to the ways in which humans, acting through social constraints and structures, have lived in and modified their environment. The spatial patterns produced from human activities (such as population growth, transportation systems, urban structure, economic development, resource use and management, and the evolution of political patterns) are considered in a global context. Case studies from several world regions illustrate the processes by which humans modify their world to create distinctive cultural landscapes.
Hybrid
4 credits
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More Cool Courses
Forensic Anthropology (ANTH 479)
Methods of forensic anthropology including advanced techniques of human skeletal identification and their application to the solution of medico-legal problems.
In-person
4 credits
New Media (COMM 345) | CRN 60648
We live in a world increasingly characterized by changes in media technology. As media and tech evolve, so does the relationship between media, technology and society. From twitter news feeds to smart cities, new media has infiltrated nearly all aspects of life. Through an interrogation of the social, political, economic, and cultural landscape through which these new media develop and operate, students will understand the history, productive forces, impacts, and challenges associated with the new mediascape within which we currently live.
Hybrid
4 credits
Post-Cinema (ENG 305U) | CRN 61059
This class will be an introduction to many of the debates sparked by such comments—an overview of the way historians, theorists, filmmakers, critics, and audiences have responded to the myriad changes in the cinema industry over the past 20 years. Our class will seek to provide answers to a number of questions: What “was” this thing called cinema, and how might its so-called “end” mean for the future of moving images? Is something happening to film language, both in mainstream cinema and on our social media screens? Are the technological shifts in the medium simply affording new ways to tell stories on screen or are they indicative of broader and more troubling shifts in the global economy? What makes television different from “cinema,” if it is? Can computers "make" cinema? Is TikTok "cinematic?" Where do we “watch” when we watch, and how do we think about our attention when we do?
In-person
4 credits; Popular Culture Cluster
Child/Young Adult Lit (ENG 310U) | CRN 61064
The figure of the teenage outsider, a character who in one way or another inhabits the social margins, is ubiquitous within young adult fiction. You might think, for instance, of popular young adult characters such as Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, and Miles Morales. In this class, you will learn critical methods for reading YA fiction by attending to representations of outsiders in literature published for, and sometimes by, young adults. How have authors represented outsider characters in different historical and cultural contexts? How do these characters confront social expectations in families, schools, and other institutions? What lessons might these texts attempt to teach young adults about the roles they inhabit in the world? We will explore these and other questions in texts across various forms and genres, paying particular attention to representations of outsiders inflected by race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability.
In-person
4 credits; Family Studies Cluster
Language Myths in the USA (LING 332U) | CRN 61524
The nature of language and language myths to show how opinion and unexamined biases about language develop into language ideologies and, subsequently, shape language policy and US American culture.
In-person
4 credits; American Identities Cluster; Race & Ethnic Studies Requirement (domestic)
Indigenous Women Leadership (NAS 344) | CRN 64211
From Sacajawea to Winona LaDuke, this course identifies the contributions of Indigenous women as keepers of tradition, leaders, teachers, healers, activists and visionaries, drawing upon their voices to understand leadership principles fundamental to Native American and global communities. Social justice, particularly in areas of land and the environment, is emphasized.
In-person
4 credits
Science & Pseudoscience (PHIL 306U) | CRN 62591
An examination of basic issues in philosophy of science through an analysis of creation science, faith healing, UFO abduction stories, and other pseudosciences. Some of the questions addressed: What distinguishes science from pseudoscience? How are theories tested? When is evidence reliable? Must we invoke the supernatural to explain certain aspects of reality?
Online
4 Credits; Knowledge, Values, Rationality and Freedom, Privacy, and Technology clusters
Minds and Machines (PHIL 322U) | CRN 64444
Study of philosophical aspects of artificial intelligence including its functionalist ontology. Topics include the nature of computation, learning, and intelligence and the role of consciousness in thinking and behavior. Expected preparation: 8 credits in any science or 8 credits in any philosophy courses.
In-person
4 credits; Knowledge, Values, Rationality Cluster
Forensic Psychology (PSY 410) | CRN 62681
This course explores the relationship between the study of psychology and law. Specifically, how psychological practice, research, and theory can be utilized by law enforcement, courts, and others involved with the justice system to help arrive at appropriate decisions regarding such issues as incarceration, treatment, guilt and innocence. In addition, topics related to expert testimony, psychopathic deviance, criminal investigation, risk assessment, and child sexual abuse and custody determination will be examined.
Online
4 credits
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