Supplemental Descriptions for Spring 2012 Classes

English

This course is the second half of a two-semester sequence in British literary history. Here we begin with the late 18th century and conclude at the 21st: spanning movements from Romanticism to Victorianism, Modernism to Post-Modernism.

This course satisfies the English major B.2 (literary history) requirement, counts for the English minor, and BGS Arts/Humanities and International Themes. It also provides a General Education Content Area One B: Literature class.

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This course introduces students to close readings of short fiction and include texts from a variety of time periods and nationalities. The class will explore the texts through discussion, group work, written and multi-media response. The course will introduce students to different types of writing about and responding to fictional texts applying appropriate literary terms and analytical tools to examine themes, narrative technique, imagery and cultural context. Requirements include active reading, contributions to group discussions, formal and informal writing in response to fiction, class presentation and a multi-media assignment as well as frequent short reading comprehension tests.

This course satisfies English major C.1 (Methods) requirement, GenEd 1.B Literature requirement, BGS Arts/Humanities theme, and counts for the English minor.

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This course examines popular written works that have been translated into cinematic form. By comparing popular print fiction with film adaptations, we seek to understand when and how literary and cinematic languages diverge and converge. What is lost or gained in the process of adaptation? How does each version speak not just to its specific media, but also to the circumstances of its production and to the culture that is receiving it? What constitutes originality, and when does an adaptation eclipse its source?

This course satisfies General Education Content Area One B: Literature. It also counts for the English major (C.1) and minor, and BGS Arts/Humanities theme. As a W it provides a GenEd writing competency.

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Writing clear, correct, and effective letters, memos, proposals, reports, press releases, and other business documents.

This course satisfies Methods C.2 for the English major, and counts toward the minor and BGS Arts/Humanities theme. It also fills a W for General Education Writing competency.

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In this course, we will study the beginnings of the British literary tradition: from the pre-modern break with the ancient world to the dawn of the early modern known as the "Renaissance." Throughout, we will examine what "modernity" is; what does it mean to be "medieval"? What is "reborn" in any renaissance? How does the "beginning" of a British literary tradition stand in relation to our own understandings of origins? We will explore the constructions of categories of identity: from national and ethnic self-understandings, to the place of individual and cultural identity with respect to religion, gender, sexuality, and class.

This course counts for the English major Literary History B.1 category and satisfies a pre-1800 distribution requirement. It also provides a BGS Arts/Humanities theme course and offers a W for the General Education Writing Competency.

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This course focuses on 20th century British Literature from 1900 through to the present. Class work will focus on historical and biographical background on authors and works as well as close readings of the texts. We begin with the writings of World War I veterans Richard Aldington, Wilfred Owen, and Siegfried Sassoon, together with suffragette writings by Rebecca West, Emmeline Pankhurst, and Sylvia Townsend Warner and short stories by Katherine Mansfield. Part 1 of the course focuses on early twentieth-century Modernism as a foundation for literatures that follow. Authors include James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, and William Butler Yeats. Part 2 focuses on authors after World War II, e.g. Jeanette Winterson, Chinua Achebe, and Margaret Atwood. This course will also include intensive work on writing style, essay organization, and close textual analysis. Students will be encouraged to develop the confidence and skills to express their own, original insights into the authors we read.

This course counts for B.2 (Literary History) in the English major, and for the English minor and BGS Arts/Humanities theme. It also satisfies a General Education Writing competency (W).

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“The Power of Story, The Impact of Song”

Thisclass will focus on African-American story and song forms and their influence on literature and culture. We will pay special attention to the way that traditional methods of storytelling and musical expression—ranging from folktales to spirituals to Hip Hop lyrics—have informed the unique voices of African American writers. At the same time, we will broaden our scope of inquiry to interrogate the ways in which these expressive modalities have functioned in society, by shaping African American identity, by enabling the weathering of crises, and by altering the complexion of a nation.

This course counts to the English major B.3 survey category and diversity distribution requirement. It also satisfies GenEd Category 4 (USA) class. It counts for the BGS Arts/Humanities and Diversity/Multiculturalism themes, and the English minor. As a W course it counts towards GenEd writing competency.

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The Middle East has had a tumultuous history in the twentieth-century, witnessing numerous military conflicts, wars, and geopolitical changes. The region has been subject to an influx of immigrants, the creation of new states, nationalities, and ideologies, the shifting of political alliances and influences, and the problem of refugees. This unrest has resulted in cultural and spiritual distress for the people of the region. Currently, we are witnessing what has been called "The Arab Spring," a popular uprising against military dictatorships in the Arab world  (resulting, for example, in the expulsion of Mubarak in Egypt and, hopefully, in the toppling of Kadaffi's regime in Libya). Yet whether this uprising will lead to democratic regimes or to Islamic theocracies, Iran-style, is yet unclear and worrisome to the West.

In this course we'll study and explore the works of contemporary Middle Eastern writers, both male and female, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish. Our reading list consists of the works of some of the major Middle Eastern writers who chart the transition from the old Arab way of life through the social and cultural upheavals later in the century to current conflicts.

Among the topics discussed: the literary representations of the geo-political conflict and economic instability and their effect on the social fabric as well as the fates of individuals; the creation of new national myths and symbols; the attitudes to the "other" (the Arab in Israeli writings and the Israeli in Arab writings). Writers as political activists, some promoting a cataclysmic solution, others warning of the degenerative impact of a lengthy state-of-war and revising the concepts of heroism and the glory of war in search of a peaceful resolution of the political conflicts. The Israeli-Palestinian discord since the birth of the State of Israel in 1948 as reflected in literary works will also be discussed. We'll read the works of both Israelis and Palestinians who depict the tragedy of a dual claim to the same land. We'll study literary genres as correlatives of social and political conditions. We'll also pay attention to the strategies authors use when they practice their craft and attempt to reflect their own visions of their reality in a dangerously oppressive and repressive environment.

Special attention will also be given to the roles and status of women in these cultures and to the emergence of women writers in contemporary Israel and the Arab countries.

This course satisfies Methods (C.1) and diversity distribution requirements for the English major. It counts for the English minor and BGS International and Arts/Humanities themes. It also satisfies the General Education Content Area Four Interational requirement.

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One of the great benefits of going to college is finding out why Shakespeare is still going strong after four hundred years. This course will help you enjoy Shakespeare at a deeper level by examining the historical and literary contexts, resources of language, and stage conventions that shaped some of his greatest plays, from comedies such as Much Ado About Nothing and The Merchant of Venice to tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet and Othello. It is very important that you do all the reading, and that you arrive ready to talk about the plays and to rehearse and perform a scene. During the semester you'll attend a production of a play and write about it. You will also be asked to come up with questions for group discussion for each play and to respond in writing to the essays and contexts in the books below. We will regularly watch scenes on video, and you'll be asked to discuss and write about these performances.

This course satisfies English major D requirement (Major Author) and a pre-1800 diversity distribution. It also counts for the English minor and BGS Arts/Humanities theme.

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Romantic love--its longings, courtship rituals, disappointments, and joys--has been central to western literature. This course includes a range of genres--novel, love lyric, music, film, and elegy. We will look at works that idealize romance as well as those that criticize or revise romantic love traditions. Questions to be asked during the course:

What are the origins of Romantic Love? How and why has Romantic Love been linked to other social concerns like militarism, property exchange, class, race, and other forms of social conflict, political, and personal transformation? Why have many post-World War I writers been especially prone to reject romantic love conventions in the novel? When Romantic Love turns to domestic abuse, is this "love gone wrong" or is the ideology of Romantic Love itself to blame? Can Romantic Love plots and songs in art and "real" life still provide the "happy endings," utopian fantasies, and ecstatic transformations that have been historically linked to Romance?

This course offers an opportunity for students to study classics of western literature (e.g., Plato's Symposium, Dante's Vita Nuova, Bronte's Jane Eyre, Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles) as well as confront contemporary forms of this ancient convention (e.g., in films such as The Piano and The Notebook).

Come prepared to work hard and to read (and learn) – a lot!

This course counts for the English major Methods C.1 and BGS Arts/Humanities theme. It also counts for both the English minor and Women's Studies minor.

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Writing stories, poems, humor, and memoir. Any student unsure about prerequisites can email Professor Shaw for information and permission at fran.shaw@uconn.edu.

This course satisfies Methods C.2 for the English major, and counts toward the minor and BGS Arts/Humanities theme.

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Who tells us what a woman is? One theory is that gender is learned by repeatedly playing out the codes of femininity and masculinity. These codes are partly built of images and fictions, for example from mass media and theater. If gender is a performance, then is it open to radical change and innovation? This course will examine “gender as performance” in works by women playwrights and filmmakers.  What does it mean to show feminist commitment in these media? How does racial otherness and/or queer desire operate within the white, heterosexually-oriented fictions we watch so avidly? What happens when stories about gender are told from an outsider perspective? To examine these questions we will view, study and write about films by Varda, Gorris, Dash, and Mihrami, and plays by Glaspell, Fornes, Shange, Churchill, Ensler, and Ruhl, among others. We'll act out scenes and possibly attend a play, so be sure to plan for this in deciding to take this course.

This course satisfies a capstone requirement for the English major (E. Advanced Study) and counts for the English minor and Women's Studies minor. It satisfies a General Education W ("approved W in major") competency and counts for the BGS Arts/Humanities theme.

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Human Development and Family Studies

Overview of the demographic, educational, social, cultural, structural and historical aspects of Asian Pacific American (APA) families in the United States, including the Connecticut APA experience. Comparative family characteristics among Asian Pacific American ethnic groups to be examined. Parenting styles, communication styles, values, traditions, and beliefs to be examined across ethnic backgrounds, gender, class, and immigration histories.

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Historical, psychological, sociological and legal issues relating to abuse and family violence across the lifespan, including child maltreatment and elder abuse. Introduction to methods for prevention and remediation.

Prerequisite: HDFS 2300.

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Psychology

This seminar course will familiarize students with the dynamics of psychological disorders and their treatment using the case study method. Student participants will be presented with a variety of clinical case studies of children diagnosed with disorders from the DSM-IV-TR. Each case will be accompanied by a series of comprehensive questions designed to elicit a critical analysis of each case and its outcome. The instructor will facilitate discussions in a seminar and small group format. This course is designed for Psychology Majors and HDFS majors interested in pursuing a career in clinical psychology, counseling or child guidance.*

Note: this is not the same topic as the PSYC 3885 Dr. Perrone offered in the Spring of 2011 or 2010.

*Also ideal for students enrolled in PSYCH 3300 or PSYCH 3301 in Spring'12

Prerequisites: PSYCH 1101/1103 or consent of the Instructor

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Course Description will be available shortly.

Prerequisites: PSYCH 1101/1103 or consent of the Instructor; recommended courses PSYCH2100Q; PSYCH 2200; PSYCH 2501; PSYCH 3502

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Course Description will be available shortly.

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Sociology

Social factors shaping women's health, health care, and their roles as health-care providers.

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Explores processes contributing to social construction of gender; examines the theories used to explain the system of inequality in the United States with particular attention to the intersection with gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and class; and evaluates how men and women are differently constituted in the family, in education, work, politics, and language.

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Explores processes contributing to social construction of gender; examines the theories used to explain the system of inequality in the United States with particular attention to the intersection with gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and class; and evaluates how men and women are differently constituted in the family, in education, work, politics, and language.

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We will look at US social movements over the last fifty years, emphasizing shifts in strategies. Social movements discussed will include African American struggles (the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement), peace movements, the labor movement, anti-nukes, anti-globalization, and Occupy Wall Street.

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Statistics

This course is offered in a blended format, where approximately 5/8th of the learning takes place online and the rest in a traditional face to face classroom environment.

The class will meet every Thursday, 6:00-7:15 PM.

To successfully complete the learning that is designed to take place online, you will need to use a computer with

• ADOBE PDF Reader 9.0 or higher.
• WORD 2003 or higher.
• A broadband internet connection.
• A webcam, a microphone, and a pair of headphones to participate in online help sessions.

You should also check to make sure that you have a browser compatible with HuskyCT installed. In addition, you should have either Chrome or Safari installed on your computer to access the Virtual PC at http://vpc.uconn.edu. (This is particularly important for Mac users, since Minitab, the statistical software used in this course, does not have a Mac version, but accessing the Virtual PC from your Mac, you can use Minitab installed on the Virtual PC.) Last, but not the least, you should create a free WizIQ account at www.wiziq.com.

If you have any question, please contact the instructor at suman.majumdar@uconn.edu.

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This course is offered in a blended format, where approximately 5/8th of the learning takes place online and the rest in a traditional face to face classroom environment.

The class will meet every Thursday, 3:45-5:00 PM.

To successfully complete the learning that is designed to take place online, you will need to use a computer with

• ADOBE PDF Reader 9.0 or higher.
• WORD 2003 or higher.
• A broadband internet connection.
• A webcam, a microphone, and a pair of headphones to participate in online help sessions.

You should also check to make sure that you have a browser compatible with HuskyCT installed. In addition, you should have either Chrome or Safari installed on your computer to access the Virtual PC at http://vpc.uconn.edu. (This is particularly important for Mac users, since Minitab, the statistical software used in this course, does not have a Mac version, but accessing the Virtual PC from your Mac, you can use Minitab installed on the Virtual PC.) Last, but not the least, you should create a free WizIQ account at www.wiziq.com.

If you have any question, please contact the instructor at suman.majumdar@uconn.edu.

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Women's Studies

Explores how the biological fact of sex is transformed into a system of gender stratification in our everyday lives. Examines the social position of women and men in the family, work, and politics while maintaining sensitivity to the diversity of women’s and men’s experiences across class, racial-ethnic groups, cultures, and regions.

This course meets General Education requirements CA 2 and CA 4.

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This course examines the social forces that influence the lives of women and men. We will contrast the idea that gender is fixed and/or biologically determined with the view that gender is variable and produced in social relationships. A central theme of this course is that race and class relations intersect with gender relations to produce difference and inequality. We will also look at the ways that women resist oppression and the ways that collective action can and does change gender, race, and class relations. Topics covered in this class will include work, intimate relationships, government policies, gender identity, sexuality, body image, and social movements. We will explore these topics through films, readings, and class discussions.

This course meets General Education requirements CA 2 and CA 4.

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The historical roots of challenges faced by contemporary Asian American women: the political, economic, legal, religious, intellectual, and family life of women.

This course meets General Education requirements CA 1 and CA 4..

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From the March, 1776 letter to her husband (and future president) John — in which Abigail Adams wrote "If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation" — to the pages of last month's Bitch magazine, voices for women's rights have been heard across the centuries, as well as across the globe. In this course, we will focus primarily (although not exclusively) on the women's movement in the U.S. We'll begin with a chronological overview and continue with an examination of issues that are unique to their own times (e.g. the struggle for the right to vote) and those that appear again and again (such as the meaning of marriage and question of reproductive control) as the movement for women's equality has progressed through time. Lots of reading, lots of discussion, a moderate amount of writing.

Recommended preparation: At least one Women's Studies course.

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