GEO310 Climates of Resistance: Environmental Racism and Collective Action (Fall, Spring)

This interdisciplinary course examines the reality of systemic environmental inequalities in the United States and globally, with particular attention to the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in the 21st century. Theoretical frameworks include environmental justice, ecofeminism, human-nature dualisms, agency, and intersectionality.

Climates of Resistance familiarises students with the myriad ways in which racism is manifested in contemporary environmental policy and practice—and the multiple means through which marginalised communities respond to and transform unjust realities.

The course begins by introducing the concepts of intersectionality and systemic injustice in order to help students position themselves within the reality of environmental racism and current structures. The course’s three main units are then structured around key pillars in the environmental justice movement: distribution, recognition, and participation. This framework allows the class to consider:

Who benefits from environmental resources and services?
Who bears the cost of environmental risks and harms?
Who has their needs and desires considered in human-nature interactions?
Who holds power in environmental decision-making?
Who implements and enforces environmental policies?

Students will explore these questions in a variety of contexts and can choose to focus on particular issues and/or marginalised communities through their assignments. Case studies range from anti-gold mining efforts in Pascua-Lama on the Chilean border with Argentina to Black-run community gardens in urban Detroit; guest speakers represent communities and issues as wide-ranging as Amazigh fog-harvesting in Morocco and legal environmental advocacy work by sovereign First Nations in Canada. Students will also consider how representations of nature-minority relations in popular culture may improve or intensify environmental racism while visiting Pocahontas’ burial site and speaking with a reindeer herder from the Sámi community that inspired Frozen’s Kristoff.

Ultimately, the course equips students to understand the (un)fairness of our current environmental system—and how both processes and outcomes might be changed.

This course can also be registered as NAT 310

NAT310 Climates of Resistance: Environmental Racism and Collective Action (Fall, Spring)

Who benefits from environmental resources and services?
Who bears the cost of environmental risks and harms?
Who has their needs and desires considered in human-nature interactions?
Who holds power in environmental decision-making?
Who implements and enforces environmental policies?

Ultimately, the course equips students to understand the (un)fairness of our current environmental system—and how both processes and outcomes might be changed.

This course may also be registered as GEO 310

HST484 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 PSC 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.

HOA413 Art, Faith, and Power in Late Medieval Italy (Fall, Spring)

Examines Italian painting, sculpture, and architecture from c. 1250 to 1400. Situates important works, patrons, and artists in their stylistic, geographical, social, political, and religious contexts. Also addresses the techniques of late medieval artists.

The central drive of this course is to trace artistic exchange between medieval Italy and the world, examining the influence of Byzantine and Islamic arts on the visual cultures of cities like Florence, Pisa, and Palermo. From the first Italian traders on the Silk Road to arrival of the Black Death in the peninsula in 1348, mercantile trade connected Italy to peoples of diverse religions and artistic interests. Artists like Giotto di Bondone and Simone Martini actively incorporated elements from these sources, including motifs from both the Mongolian and Mamluk Empires. By mapping visual and economic connections from select Italian city-states to Constantinople, Alexandria, and Avignon, we will investigate key modes of cross-cultural interaction and the geographical extent of exchange in the medieval Mediterranean.

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

HOA437 Renaissance Architecture in Italy: 1400-1600 (Fall, Spring)

Architectural design and theory in Italy from 1400–1600, with a special emphasis on the various cultural contexts that affected the building process and on the relationship between architectural practice and its theoretical framework. Covers Brunelleschi, Alberti, Bramante, Michelangelo, Palladio, and others. The course includes local site visits.

Cross-listed with ARC 437.

Pre-req: introduction to architectural history course.

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

ARC437 Renaissance Architecture in Italy: 1400-1600 (Fall, Spring)

Priority to students on the Florence Architecture Program. Architectural design and theory in Italy from 1400–1600, with a special emphasis on the various cultural contexts that affected the building process and on the relationship between architectural practice and its theoretical framework. Covers Brunelleschi, Alberti, Bramante, Michelangelo, Palladio, and others. The course includes local site visits.

Cross-listed with HOA 437.

Pre-req: introduction to architectural history course.

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

HOA206 Arts of France (Fall, Spring)

Introduction to the major artistic movements in France from 1750 to 1950. Explore how artists both portrayed and influenced society during these two centuries, a period that witnessed such dramatic events as the French Revolution and two World Wars, as well as the rise of industrialization and the creation of the modern city. Learn how to “read” images, both by comparing them with images from earlier periods, as well as by placing them in their historical context.

Paris was the uncontested capital of the art world during the period we are studying, and so it is only natural that we will spend additional time in the French capital. We will visit the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, but you will also have the chance to discover some of the city’s smaller, more intimate museums.

Satisfies Shared Competency for Critical and Creative Thinking

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

HST480.5 Al-Andalus and the Islamic World (at UAM)

Open only to students accepted to the special program Madrid Center & Liberal Arts in Spanish at UAM.

Taught in Spanish and may not be offered every semester. This course provides a historical perspective on contemporary issues and conflicts that have deep roots in medieval times. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to

Demonstrate a general knowledge of medieval Islamic history, especially Al-Andalus history, as well as historical techniques and their application to the medieval history of the Islamic world.
Search bibliographies and catalogs to determine the extent of primary and secondary sources for the subject under investigation.
Evaluate the quality of these sources with regard to validity, reliability, and relevance to the subject.
Analyze and systematize collected information through practical exercises, presentations, etc.

Matriculated SU history majors and minors: This course counts toward the European and Global concentrations and the pre-modern period.

(UAM #16938)

MES380.5 Al-Andalus and the Islamic World (at UAM)

Open only to students accepted to the special program Madrid Center & Liberal Arts in Spanish at UAM.

Acquire a general knowledge of medieval Islamic history, especially Al-Andalus history, as well as historical techniques and their application to the medieval history of the Islamic world
Learn historical methodology by searching bibliographies and catalogs, and determining the extent of existing primary and secondary sources for the subject matter
Enhance the analysis and systematization of collected information through practical exercises, presentations, etc.

(UAM #16938)

PSC436 Healthcare in Europe: A Comparative Approach (Fall, Spring)

A fierce academic, social, political, and economic debate is raging about how healthcare systems should be organized. Policy experts want to learn from international best practices and apply ideas at home that have worked effectively elsewhere. This course will give you a firsthand understanding of how healthcare systems function throughout the world. We will study systems in the European countries, and compare and contrast them with the US model, examining each from economic, financial, and national and local public policy perspectives.

We’ll link our findings with theories and empirical evidence to assess which of the healthcare systems are better from the point of view of efficiency and equity. Economic principles will be used to demonstrate why healthcare reforms may reach or fall short of the governments’ stated goals. We’ll analyze in depth the concept of universality, short- and long-term challenges, successful and unsuccessful health policies, and why many systems are unsustainable—and then develop possible solutions.

Meets with ECN 336.

Prereq: ECN 101 or ECN 203, or equivalent background in microeconomics