PSY375 Cross-Cultural Psychology (Fall, Spring)

PSY375 Cross-Cultural Psychology (Fall, Spring)

Comparative analysis of psychological research conducted among non-Western and Euro-American peoples. Influence of cultural variables on emotional and cognitive development, perception, socialization, and group behavior. Throughout the semester, we will draw on relevant examples you encounter while living abroad.

Counts as an IDEA course requirement for Syracuse students. 

Pre-req: PSY 205 or 209 or equivalent introductory psychology course.

Limited enrollment: Psychology majors may take more than one Psychology (PSY) course, all others limited to one PSY course during the semester.

PSY376 Why Good People Do Terrible Things (Fall, Spring)

Become familiar with core conceptual approaches to understanding how people who appear to be decent human beings could engage in moral transgressions and play a role in the victimization of others.

Prereq: PSY 205 or PSY 209 or intro to psychology course

Limited enrollment: Psychology majors may take more than one Psychology (PSY) course, all others limited to one PSY course during the semester.

SCM300.1 Production and Operations Management (Fall)

Enrollment priority to students accepted to the Florence Center: Wake Forest Business program.  The focus of this course will be on key issues within operations that are of relevance to a firm’s ability to remain competitive in a global economy. Students will focus mainly on the operational and tactical aspects of managing a network of multiple facilities, but we will also investigate their strategic implications. Factors such as legal, ethical, operational, venture risk, and reliability will be considered in addition to specialized topics in supply chain management within a global environment.
The study of the theories on the organization of production will be supported by the analysis of everyday practice; we will analyze how the predisposition to Problem Solving is a necessary element to be combined with the planning of strategies and tactics, and how creativity and flexibility in interpreting phenomena, communication and coordination skills of the Production Chain enhance the qualities of each manager.

This course has an associated course fee. See the Course Fees webpage for more information.

CRS325 Presentational Speaking (Fall, Spring)

This course teaches the value of public speaking and trains students in the practical skills of speech writing, various speech methods, and the presentational skills needed to be an effective communicator and a participant in public discourse, as well as in the professional world.

Public speaking skills are key to professional development, but practice is often intimidating and infrequent, and for students it mostly takes place in a non-professional context.  This class is specifically designed to strengthen students’ public speaking and presentation skills in organizational settings and to build their confidence.  Students will be trained in speech researching and writing, delivery styles, establishing rapport with an audience, all while practicing and delivering different types of presentations in a supportive environment with professional feedback.

The course begins by asking students to research and write a factual speech on a topic of their choice.  Once they have mastered effective information research and selection, and speech structuring and writing, we use the same research materials but switch our aim from information transmission to persuasion.  This switch in focus not only means a change in content and delivery, but also demands an engagement with ethical considerations.  Audience analysis will help speakers focus both their writing and delivery styles. Next, we shift from the abstract to the personal in the elevator pitch. This will extend presentation proficiencies and hone timekeeping. Finally, students will blend the research, writing and delivery skills they have studied to compose their final mediated speech.

To position students’ own speaking practices, we will critically analyse historic and contemporary examples of oration. Site visits outside the classroom may include Speakers’ Corner, the House of Commons, Conway Hall, or a ‘Salon for the City’ event, either in person or online.

The skills students develop during this course will prepare them for a variety of public speaking and organizational contexts that can include conferences, election campaigns, lecturing, management talks/board meetings, oral exams, as well as the fast-growing context of online, virtual events.

WRT422 Writing London: Studies in Creative Nonfiction (Spring)

This spring-only course helps students develop their creative and nonfiction writing through exploring the importance of the global city of London in a variety of genres: travel writing, cultural criticism, personal essay, fiction, correspondence, biography, and memoir. Themes common in urban writing including alienation, mental health, belonging and/or dislocation, the crowd vs. the individual, and immigrant experiences will also be a focus.

This is a practice-based course: students will read and analyse a range of writing about London (and elsewhere, for comparative purposes) and develop their craft as writers. Every class session will centre around writing exercises as well as workshopping one another’s writing. The course may therefore be of particular interest to students with a Creative Writing focus, or those who have, or who wish to develop, a personal writing practice outside of an academic context.

London has been a focus, setting, or inspiration for the work of countless writers across time. In what ways are the stories we tell a response to the different locales that we find ourselves in? How is the authorial voice, the ‘I’ of the writer-narrator, affected by different contexts, and how does it in turn affect the way that such places are understood and portrayed? How does a sense of place ground prose and bring it to life?

Prereq: WRT 205 or WRT 209 or ENL 213

PHI300.2 Philosophy of Catastrophe (Fall, Spring)

Through a series of readings ranging from the ancients to the present day, explore topics including philosophical responses to personal catastrophe, large-scale death and destruction by natural catastrophe, war, and the possibility of mass extinction via climate change. Implicitly involved are discussions of and reflections on free will and determinism, personal ethics, and the morality of good and evil.   The overarching goal of this course is to demonstrate philosophy as a practical technology for responding to and dealing with adversity, catastrophe, and calamity.

APH300.1 Fashion Photography (Fall, Spring)

Limited enrollment, with preference given to students admitted to Studio Art Program. Explore the fundamentals of fashion photography as both a theoretical and practical experience. Learn the history of fashion photography along with every aspect of a fashion shoot from the use of cameras to studio lighting, from casting and styling to post production, from concept to aesthetic sensitivity. At the end of the semester, you will design a final self-published magazine/portfolio. Includes lectures by professional fashion photographers and commercial agencies and visits to the Gucci Museum, Ferragamo Museum and Galleria del Costume at Palazzo Pitti.

This course has an associated course fee. See the Course Fees webpage for more information.

NOTE: Students must also provide their own digital camera with manual settings (better SLR cameras) and 16-32 memory cards.

HST300.2 London’s Burning: Rebellious Histories (Fall, Spring)

This course presents an alternative history of London that contrasts conventions of progress and openness with the stories of minorities, rebels and martyrs in order to challenge conventional narratives of the city’s tolerance and diversity. Foregrounding the histories of immigration, religion and politics reveals the crucial role played by conflict, suppression and protest in the development of the metropolis.

London is commonly characterised as diverse, tolerant, stable and safe; a city that has evolved gradually and evenly and without the cataclysmic revolutionary change that has convulsed so many other European cities.  But how true is this portrait of London, and to what extent does it serve the political agenda of the ruling elites? In the light of recent political, social and cultural protests that have called into question our dominant historical narratives, this course aims to question our conventional understanding of this metropolis and its 2,000-year development.

In particular, we will explore two great truisms about London:

  • Firstly, we will question the discourse of London’s historical continuity by pursuing disruptive narratives of rebels and revolutionaries – from Boudicca’s revolt in the first decades of London’s recorded history, via civil war and political protests, through to recent struggles over taxation, war and globalisation
  • Secondly, we will focus on the conventional understanding of London as a city of tolerance and diversity, questioning this broadly accepted overview through histories of religious martyrdom and emancipation, through an historical overview of London as a hub of immigration and of political exile, and lastly through an examination of London’s complex relationship with colonialism and slavery as capital of the British Empire.

The intention of this course is not merely to deny or denigrate London’s status as an open and diverse metropolis; indeed, by questioning the dominant narratives of the city we will expose the extraordinary contribution that religious and ethnic communities have made to London’s life and culture over its entire history. Furthermore, we will discuss how contemporary debates surrounding globalisation, the environment and especially Black Lives Matter, can serve to enrich our understanding of the city, and underpin ambitions for its future development.

PSC484 Death as Political (Fall, Spring)

This course examines the interplay between political violence, popular protest, and peace processes with a particular focus on the role of public mourning and collective grief. Case studies from around the world introduce students to death as a catalyst for social change and an analytical lens for political science.

The 2020 police killing of George Floyd brought global attention to #BlackLivesMatter, a movement launched in 2013 in the wake of another death—that of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Images like Floyd’s daughter proclaiming ‘Daddy changed the world’ highlight the potential for death and mourning to be significant catalysts for social and political change.

Death as Political: Violence, Grief, and Protest examines how contemporary protests build on other collective responses to death around the world. The course asks students to engage with the pain and emotion of a conflict society – as well as its constructive potential. As demonstrated by recent events, death can serve to draw attention to wider concerns. Sites and rituals of death in the form of memorial infrastructure, commemorative institutions, and highly publicized funerals are often used by activists, community leaders, and policymakers to champion particular causes.

This course introduces core concepts in peace and conflict studies by examining various types of political protest. Students will engage with literature on terrorism, violence, non-violence, peace, and reconciliation. Diverse tactics and outcomes for political violence will be explored in four conflict settings: Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’, South Africa’s Apartheid period, the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, and the now global Black Lives Matter movement. This historical and geographic diversity allows students to compare and contrast protest methods as they consider:

  • What is ‘peaceful’ protest?
  • What role do our emotions play in shaping responses to violence?
  • Who holds decision-making power for protest movements?
  • When do we achieve ‘peace’ and how do we maintain it?

While asking these questions, students will come to understand that violence and mourning are full of potential for both further conflict and greater peace.

This course may also be registered as HST 484

Most semesters, registration limited (including minors) to only one Political Science class (PSC prefix and courses cross-listed with PSC) except for Political Science majors. Check the current semester’s Schedule of Classes for more information.