Upper-Division Courses

Designed to introduce students to the manner in which identity has been conceptualized in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, cultural heritage, and nation. The manner in which artists and authors from various backgrounds have positioned themselves as subjects within both their own communities and within dominant society will be considered.

• Approved for the LAS Humanities area requirement.
• Prer., WEST 1010 or 2010.
• 3 Credits

An introduction to how disability, race, class, sexual orientation, and gender are defined, represented, and acted upon in schools today. Students will examine school as a social/political environment where the meaning of disability can be understood in democratic ways. 

• Meets with SPED 3000 and SPED 5000.
• 3 Credits

An examination of the role of U.S. ethnic minority groups in American politics from the perspectives of the groups themselves. Topics will include historical and contemporary perspectives on the political activities, interests, and legal status of U.S. ethnic minorities; the relationship of power, race/ethnicity, and class in determining the effects of the political system on these groups; and the impact of these groups on the political system.

• Meets with PSC 3050.
• 3 Credits

This course posits a more complex theoretical framework with which to approach and understand multi-racial and multi-ethnic identity formations, especially as they pertain to intersecting categories such as class, gender, sexuality, etc.

• Approved for LAS Social Science area requirement.
• Prer., WEST 2010.
• 3 Credits

With the recent emergence of critical masculine studies, conversations of manhood(s), masculinity(ies), and male identity(ies) have moved to the foreground of academic and popular inquiry. This course will examine a diversity of contemporary roles and experiences of masculinities within domestic and global public discourses through the intersectionality of race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender politics produced through scholarship, film, international affairs and popular media.

• Approved for LAS Social Science area requirement.
• 3 Credits

Examines the significance of popular culture in constructing social identities and reinforcing ideologies of sexuality. Critically and intersectionally analyzes the cultural production of sexual scripts vis-a-vis television, film, advertising, pornography, internet, and music lyrics and videos. Approved for LAS Cultural Diversity requirement.

• 3 Credits

Examines how the intersections of race, ethnicity, and gender are constructed both within and against traditional American feminism and gender critiques. Addresses areas of divergence from mainstream feminism, as well as the construction of alternative representations by women of color. Approved for LAS Humanities area requirement.

• 3 Credits

Examines the ways women have been and continue to be viewed in various religions through comparing sacred and other texts with actual religious practices and beliefs. Engenders an appreciation of the tension between the ideal expectation for and the real possibilities available to women in religious traditions. Meets with PHIL 3110.

• 3 Credits
• Meets with PHIL 3110.

An introductory course that presents both the history of philosophical treatments of women and contemporary philosophical analyses of women’s social, political, artistic, scientific, and philosophical roles.

• Approved for LAS Cultural Diversity requirement. Prer., WEST 2010 or PHIL 1000. Meets with PHIL 3230.
• 3 Credits

Analysis of the philosophical views of women and by women in ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian thought.

• Meets with HIST 3010 and PHIL 3140.
• 3 Credits

A survey of the lives and contributions of women artists from the Renaissance to c. 1900. The primary objectives are to introduce issues of gender in the production of visual culture and familiarize the student with the critical literature of art history.

• Prer., permission of instructor.
• Meets with AH 3250.
• 3 Credits

A survey of major themes in feminist independent film, video, and web-based projects produced since the mid-1970s.

• Meets with AH 3280.
• 3 Credits

Examines the development and current nature of indigenous populations world-wide, with in-depth analyses of Native America. Includes issues of social structure, collective identity, cultural survival, and access to resources. Also examines consequences of public policy and development policy.

• Prer., WEST 2010, SOC 1110, or SOC 2500.
• Meets with SOC 3270.
• 3 Credits

Study of the origin, development, and current order of the Chicano community. Includes studies of the "Barrio," ethnic identity, social values, and the consequences of prejudice and discrimination.

• Prer., SOC 1110 or SOC 2200.
• Meets with SOC 3230.
• 3 Credits

Study of the origin, development, and contemporary nature of the black community. Encourages an understanding of black culture and values, and the consequences of prejudice and discrimination.

• Prer., WEST 2010, or SOC 1110, or SOC 2200.
• Meets with SOC 3240.
• 3 Credits

The prehistory and ethnography of the Indian cultures of the Southwest.

• Approved for LAS Cultural Diversity requirement.
• Meets with ANTH 3250.
• 3 Credits

Introduction to feminist theory and women's artistic production from 1970 to present. Focuses on how women's art attempts to resist normative ideals of femininity, subvert aesthetic hierarchies, and illuminate the intersections of race, gender, and sexual orientation. 

• Prer., AH 2000 or permission of instructor.
• Meets with AH 3260.
• 3 Credits

Examines archaeological approaches to studying gender and sexuality in past societies. Discussion of the theoretical and methodological implications of these archaeological approaches and analysis of various case studies, spanning periods from the Paleolithic to the recent past.

• Prer., ANTH 1020. Meets with ANTH 3280.
• 1 Credit

A general introduction to Asian American Studies. Surveys Asian American social organizations and political history from the 1800s to the present through the lens of immigration, family, labor, community, activism, and resistance.

• Prer., WEST 2010, or SOC 1110, or SOC 2200.
• 3 Credits

A survey of racism, discrimination, prejudice, and an exploration of the relationships between dominant and minority groups in selected areas of the world.

• Approved for LAS Cultural Diversity requirement. Prer., SOC 2200 or consent of instructor. Meets with SOC 3290.
• 3 Credits

The family as a social institution. Historical development and contemporary cross-cultural analysis with emphasis on the contemporary American family.

• Prer., Six hours of Sociology. Meets with SOC 3310.
• 3 Credits

Examines the various manifestations of “Family” within the African American community and highlights the historical and contemporary structural forces that contributed to these shifting arrangements. Emphasis is also placed on gender and class variations in black family experiences.

• Prer., WEST 2010. Meets with SOC 3320.
• 3 Credits

A basic survey of myths and realities of multiculturalism and diversity using the theories and data from several subfields within psychology. Racial and ethnic diversity are emphasized, but diversity due to gender, age, sexual preference, and socioeconomic status will also be explored.

• Prer., PSY 1000. Meets with PSY 3450.
• 3 Credits

Introduces students to a range of U.S. Latina/o writing, and engages them in the ongoing debate regarding how Latina/o identity is constructed in both a domestic and global/transnational context, with special focus on the intersectional role of race/ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality.

• Meets with FCS 3360.
• 3 Credits

Introduces students to a wide range of literary and artistic works from various nations in the Caribbean. Approached from a historical and a cultural studies perspective, it will highlight the literary and artistic expressions of writers and artists residing both on and off the islands, and explore the manner in which they have been inscribed by western culture and, in turn, transcribed or transformed their national and cultural identities. Approved for LAS Global Awareness requirement.

• Meets with FCS 3380.
• 3 Credits

Examines foundational and contemporary theories of race, gender, class, and sexuality within both a domestic and global context, with particular focus on the concepts of oppression, privilege, intersectionality, resistance, and social change.

• Prer., WEST 2010
• 3 Credits

A survey of the native cultures of America north of Mexico. Examines major institutions by culture area and type of social organization. Approved for LAS Cultural Diversity requirement.

• Prer., ANTH 1040 or ANTH 2400 or consent of instructor. Meets with ANTH 3420.
• 3 Credits

Introduction to contemporary (1970-) African American art forms with inclusion of traditional African art’s influence on American Black culture.

• Meets with AH 3430.
• 3 Credit

A historical perspective of women’s status and rights in the teachings of Islam. Explores specific issues, including women’s sexual, economic, and inheritance rights as well as differences between Muslim women’s lives in Sunnah and Shia communities.

• 3 Credits

A basic survey course in criminology. The nature and development of law, theories of causation, empirical studies, crime, delinquency, courts, police, and corrections are studied. Approach is multidisciplinary.

• Meets with SOC 3400.
• 3 Credits

Examines global women’s issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. The transnational approach considers key ideas related to gender, race, class, and sexuality, with a focus on power and inequality. Topics include globalization, politics, identity, religion, culture, media, and violence.

• Approved for LAS Humanities area and Global Awareness requirements.
• 3 Credits

A sociological examination of youth gangs. Factors related to formation and maintenance of youth deviant culture in different historical periods. The social construction of gangs, gang resistance to social control, and criminalization of youth of color. Structural, community, and neighborhood influences.

• Meets with SOC 3490.
• 3 Credits

Course covers the history of U.S. Latino communities and Latin American immigrants to the United States from the 1820s to the present. Approved for LAS Cultural Diversity requirement.

• Meets with HIST 3520.
• 1 Credit

Provides students with the necessary cultural and literary backgrounds to understand and appreciate some of the major works of Native American literature. Approved for LAS Humanities area requirement.

• Prer., ENGL 1500 or ENGL 1900 or WEST 2010 and ENGL 1310 or validated equivalent.
• 3 Credits

Overview of diversity in the aging experience for women throughout the major regions of the world: Americas, Africa, Middle East, Asia, and Europe. Explores current, historical, social, economic, legal, and health realities of older women with emphasis on cultural roles and expectations.

• Approved for LAS Global Awareness requirement. Meets with GRNT 3560.
• 1 Credit

Examines the history of immigrants/migrants from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe from 1840 to the present. Emphasis is on U.S. immigration laws, the development of ethnic-based communities, and connections to U.S. policy.

• Approved for LAS Cultural Diversity requirement. Meets with HIST 3580.
• Prer., SOC 1110 and another 3-hour Soc class.
• 3 Credits

Provides students with the necessary cultural and literary background required to understand and appreciate some of the major works of African American literature.

• Prer., ENGL1310 or validated equivalent and ENGL 1500 or ENGL 1900 or WEST 2010.
• 1 Credit

Examines the social construction of gendered difference and the consequences of that difference for individuals, relationships, social institutions, and society in general. The course emphasizes critical analysis and encourages personal contribution.

• Prer., Consent of instructor.
• Approved for LAS Social Science area requirement. Prer., 6 hours of sociology or consent of instructor. Meets with SOC 3610.
• 3 Credits

Students will analyze messages of oppression and privilege in the media, and using critical thinking, will analyze their own experiences to better understand the consequences of media messages.

• 3 Credits

This course examines the presence(s), result(s), and interpretation(s) of gender and race in biblical literature and the issues and problems those categories present to the reader.

• Prer., WEST 2010. Meets with PHIL 3630.
• 3 Credits

Provides students the opportunity to put into practice the theoretical knowledge gained in WEST courses within the context of placements with community-based organizations.

• Prer., WEST 2010. Meets with SOC 3570.
• 4 Credits

Examines how the history of contacts produced and affected contemporary understanding of Islam and the West. Considers cultural, trade, and diplomatic contact in different historical periods, and the way that contact is negotiated through gender, race, class, and religion.

• Meets with HIST 3680.
• 3 Credits

A survey of the history of American women from the Colonial era through the Civil War, concentrating on the nineteenth century. Introduces students to the changing economic, gender, and familial roles of American women.

• Meets with HIST 3710.
• 3 Credits

Introduces students to the major political, social, and cultural developments in the history of African Americans from 1619 through Reconstruction.

• Meets with HIST 3720.
• 3 Credits

Examines via biography/autobiography how North America impacts the perspective and reality of American Indian and African American people(s), circa 1790-2000.

• Meets with HIST 3730.
• 3 Credits

Surveys the historical basis of socio-political thought in North America’s diasporic (African American) communities.

• Meets with HIST 3740.
• 3 Credits

Examines Native American languages focusing on their cultural value in traditional/historic and contemporary contexts. Students study comparative linguistic typology of Native American languages, endangerment and revitalization efforts, and explore relations among Native American languages, cultures, nations, and bilingual needs.

• Prer., ANTH 2800 or ANTH 3420 or WEST 3420 or WEST 2010. Meets with ANTH 3820.
• 3 Credits

Allows intermediate study of a specific topic. Courses will vary and can be repeated for credit up to 9 credits as long as the topics are different.

• Prer., WEST 2010.
• 1-7 Credits

Selected topics dealing with the various roles of women in international cinema history.

• Meets with FILM 3950.
• 3 Credits

Focuses on the various roles of women in American society within historical, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts; changes of these roles and contexts.

• Prer., 3 credits in WEST, or SOC 2250 or WEST 2010. Meets with SOC 4040.
• 3 Credits

Examines the connection between the harem and war zone by examining Ottoman, Egyptian, American, and British 19th and 20th century travel accounts, blogs, memoirs, and novels. Considers the ways in which these two zones differ or overlap over time and place, exploring the historical realities of colonialism, empire, nationalism, and modernity. Central themes include the imaginary, feminism, identity, dislocation, war, and urban encounters.

• Meets with HIST 4050.
• 3 Credits

Focuses on the historical dimension of gendered society (family, personal status, war, feminism, and colonialism) in the Middle East and the ways that transnational filmmakers navigate and narrate various issues through feature film and documentary forms.

• Meets with HIST 4060.
• 3 Credits

A critical exploration of men and masculinities, exploring men as gendered beings. It explores manhood as a social construct, both historically and cross-culturally, and provides an overview of theories of male gender role development as well as a variety of topics including power and patriarchy; race, class, and sexuality; men in families; work; violence; health; friendship and intimacy; men’s movements; and the growing field of men’s studies.

• Prer., WEST 2010. Meets with SOC 4080.
• 3 Credits

Explores the history of the museum enterprise vis-a-vis Native Americans: development of museum collections; poetics and politics of representation; the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA); and the reinterpretation of museology from indigenous perspectives, looking especially at the National Museum of the American Indian. Approved for LAS Social Science requirement.

• Prer., Junior or Senior standing. Meets with MSGP 4100.
• 3 Credits

When Native people come together they say “All my relations,” a phrase that lies at the heart of indigenous views on sustainability. This course explores its meaning and many of its implications for connectedness, relatedness, and sustainability.

• Prer., Junior or Senior standing.
• 3 Credits

This course is designed as an open learning community in which students and members of our campus and community at large will explore a range of themes relating to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Among these themes are the role that race/ethnicity, class, gender, age, and sexuality played in the disaster and the response; the political and social aftermath of the storm; and the cultural response to the destruction.

• 3 Credits

This courses focuses upon and contextualizes the transatlantic slave trade within a comparative framework. It highlights the histories, perspectives, and cultural experiences of ethnic minority groups in the United States, Britain, and Ireland. It encourages students to compare the experiences of a wide range of oppressed peoples and groups in a global context, with special attention to the primary statuses of race/ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality.

• 3 Credits

This course introduces students broadly to colonial and postcolonial history, literature, art, and theory. Among other subjects, it will consider the manner in which colonized nations, continents, and regions such as India, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean have been inscribed by western thought and discourse, and how authors and artists from previously colonized nations have revised this same thought and discourse by inscribing them with their own indigenous or Creole forms.

• Approved for LAS Global Awareness requirement. Meets with HIST 3910.
• 3 Credits

Looks at issues of gender and sexuality in an international context. Covers war and militarism and their effect on women, the international division of labor, the effects of religious fundamentalisms, international trafficking in women, and sexual violence issues.

• Meets with PSC 4180.
• 3 Credits

Consideration of structural origins of poverty; the underclass and the dual economy. Analysis and evaluation of consequences of poverty, especially in relation to family, children, and career. Review of anti-poverty programs.

• Meets with SOC 4200.
• 3 Credits

Explores ways Native Americans live, know, think about and describe who they are, what the world is, and how humans should relate to the world. Students study theories that express the truths born of Indigenous knowledge and experience. Prer., Junior or Senior standing. Approved for Cultural Diversity requirement and LAS Humanities area requirement.

• 3 Credits

Advanced analysis of sport from a sociological perspective. This course studies sport as social phenomena, structural relations, and a field of experience that has developed over time. Theoretical perspectives include Marxism, critical race theory, feminist theory, post-structuralism, and figuration theory.

• Req., SOC 1110. Meets with SOC 4300, SOC 5300, and SL 5000.
• 3 Credits

Critical analysis of the theories and research on socioeconomic class and the reproduction of privilege, with a focus on the American class system. Addresses the prevailing cultural ideologies surrounding class as well as the ways in which class intersects with race, gender, and sexuality.

• Prer., 9 hours of sociology or consent of instructor. Meets with SOC 4310 and SOC 5310.
• 3 Credits

An in-depth investigation of the art forms and related social customs of cultures native to the Americas.

• Meets with AH 4340.
• 3 Credits

Analyzes the evolution of global interdependency, studies the interaction between local and global levels in the development process and impacts on areas such as economic, cultural, technological, environmental, ideological, political systems. Discusses transnational organizations, global women’s agency, social justice movements, human rights networks.

• Meets with SOC 4380 and SOC 5380.
• 3 Credits

Examines the impact that categories of difference have on our lives, the nature of discrimination in society, and how systems of inequality and oppression are maintained and perpetuated. Solutions for a more equitable world are identified. Approved for LAS Cultural Diversity requirement.

• Meets with SOC 4390.
• 3 Credits

Intensive study in cultural anthropology of the indigenous peoples and cultures of the Southwest.

• Prer., Consent of instructor. Meets with ANTH 4400.
• 3 Credits

Examines issues facing women in the Middle East, including their economic status, political participation, violence, feminism, fundamentalism, and international development.

• 3 Credits

The literary manifestations of individuals of Mexican origin in theater, prose, and poetry. Taught in Spanish. Meets with SPAN 4440 and SPAN 5440.

• Meets with SPAN 4440 and SPAN 5440.
• 3 Credits

The literary manifestation of U.S.-Mexico border writers, including prose, poetry, essays and performance art. Some of the texts will be in Spanish, some will be in English. Taught in Spanish.

• Prer., consent of instructor. Meets with FCS 4460, SPAN 4460, SPAN 5460.
• 3 Credits

An examination of selected philosophical issues in the context of recent developments in feminist thought. Considers the question of whether traditional patterns of philosophical thought express gender bias, and if so, why.

• Approved for the LAS Cultural Diversity requirement. Meets with PHIL 4550.
• 3 Credits

A geographical perspective of the dynamics and processes of racialization in various U.S. urban contexts. Maps the dynamic relationship between social relationships and the built environment.

• Meets with GES 4620.
• 3 Credits

Identifies broad trends and changes in feminist interpretations and approaches to sexual politics, race, migration, religion, geopolitics, and globalization. A global look at women’s oppression and strategies of resisting subordination through various transnational feminist praxis, theory, and case studies. Approved for Social Science area and Global Awareness requirements.

• Prer., Sociology majors only, consent of instructor.
• Meets with SOC 4700 and SOC 5700.
• 3 Credits

Traces the social, political, economic, and cultural history of Asian Americans from the early settlements of the 19th century to the present.

• Meets with HIST 4710.
• 3 Credits

A re-examination of traditional aspects of cultural and regional geography from a feminist perspective.

• Meets with GES 4760.
• 3 Credits

Courses will vary and can be repeated for credit up to 9 credits as long as the topics are different.

• WEST 2010.
• 1 to 7 Credits

These courses are usually taught on a one-time basis. The subject matter will change from year to year and will cover an important but rarely taught subject in history.

• 3 Credits

Factors involved in delinquent behavior. Problems of adjustments of delinquents and factors in treatment and post-treatment and adjustment.

• Meets with SOC 4960.
• 3 Credits

Provides an opportunity for advanced students with good scholastic records to independently pursue the study of a subject of special interest.

• Prer., WEST 2010 and consent of Director.
• 1 to 4 Credits