Selected Topic Course Descriptions
The courses described below are offered under "Selected Topics" course numbers. Departments offer Selected Topics only occasionally and the selection is different every semester. Selected Topics courses do not repeat material presented by regular semester courses.
All Semesters
Fall 2011
AH 497 Section 01 Art Censorship 1930s – 1970s
This seminar will investigate high profile instances of censorship in the art world from the 1930s through the 1970s, including the destruction of political murals by Mexican artists in the 1930s, censorship of U.S. abstraction and social realism in the 1940s and early 1950s, and reactions to feminist and punk art in the 1970s.
AH 597 Section 01 Art Censorship 1930s – 1970s
This seminar will investigate high profile instances of censorship in the art world from the 1930s through the 1970s, including the destruction of political murals by Mexican artists in the 1930s, censorship of U.S. abstraction and social realism in the 1940s and early 1950s, and reactions to feminist and punk art in the 1970s.
AH 497 Section 02 Art and Society in the Renaissance
This seminar will explore the influence on works of art by broader cultural developments in Renaissance Europe, including religious changes, the growth of city-state republics, the flourishing of aristocratic society and taste, and the interests of individual commissioners. Intended for advanced majors and graduate students, the seminar will require specialized reading and an in-depth research project.
AH 597 Section 02 Art and Society in the Renaissance
This seminar will explore the influence on works of art by broader cultural developments in Renaissance Europe, including religious changes, the growth of city-state republics, the flourishing of aristocratic society and taste, and the interests of individual commissioners. Intended for advanced majors and graduate students, the seminar will require specialized reading and an in-depth research project.
AH 497 Section 03 Art Censorship from 1980s to the Present
This seminar will investigate high profile instances of censorship in the art world from the 1980s Culture Wars to the present day. We will look at controversies surrounding Robert Mapplethorpe and the NEA Four, plus recent cases involving race, gender and sexuality.
AH 597 Section 03 Art Censorship from 1980s to the Present
This seminar will investigate high profile instances of censorship in the art world from the 1980s Culture Wars to the present day. We will look at controversies surrounding Robert Mapplethorpe and the NEA Four, plus recent cases involving race, gender and sexuality.
CHIN 380 Section 01 Languages and Dialects in China
This course examines fundamentals of phonology, vocabulary and the cultural issues relating to the languages and dialects spoken in China, both synchronically and diachronically. It also focuses on structural differences in grammar, and the differences among sounds and lexical entries.
CHLS 490 Section 01 Creating Our Lives in Verse: Latino/a and
Chicana/o Writers in the U.S.
This course examines fundamentals of phonology, vocabulary and the cultural issues relating to the languages and dialects spoken in China, both synchronically and diachronically. It also focuses on structural differences in grammar, and the differences among sounds and lexical entries.
CLSC 490 Section 01 The Monuments and Topography of Athens
Creative writing frames our lives in historical, fictional, lyrical or mythical arenas. This course explores various forms of creative writing that have enriched the Latina/o experience by giving us a richer, more surprising range of expression—beyond the literal “I” and towards a collective artistic voice. The course goal is for students to learn about craft from published works by Latina/o writers and move towards creating their own work.
CLSC 490 Section 02 Siqueiros and the Politics of Censorship in L.A.
This course will survey the politics of censorship in Los Angeles since the 1930’s during the era of David Alfara Siqueiros to the contemporary whitewash of Italian artist Blu by the Museum of Contemporary Art in December 2010.
Comm 590 Section 01 Ethnographic Methods in Communication Research
Through presentation of scholarly readings and immersion into one’s own in-depth research project, this course is designed to explore a variety of qualitative research approaches in communication studies, taking into account issues of epistemology, methodology, and representation.
Comm 590 Section 02 Rhetoric of Anti-Colonial Discourse
This course explores the rhetorics of marginalized groups as they engage in self-definition and cultural affirmation, with special emphasis on myth, folktales, literature, music, and film.
CWL 449 Section 01 Writers of the Human Condition
This course will examine the masterpieces of selected twentieth and twenty-first Century world novelists (European, North American, and African) and playwrights whose meta-artistic creations capture quintessential dimensions of the human condition; writers who, having experienced extreme situations, make it their mission to make of the stage or the novel metaphors for human life.
CWL 549 Section 01 Writers of the Human Condition
This course will examine the masterpieces of selected twentieth and twenty-first Century world novelists (European, North American, and African) and playwrights whose meta-artistic creations capture quintessential dimensions of the human condition; writers who, having experienced extreme situations, make it their mission to make of the stage or the novel metaphors for human life.
ENGL 489 Section 01Literature and Science
Explores the relationship between these domains of human activity and human knowledge creation. Investigating how literary texts reflect on and represent scientific study, how scientific texts take on literary characteristics, and how these two disciplines are both distinct and interrelated.
ENGL 683 Section 01 Victorian Imperial Romance: from Adventure to the Gothic
Prerequisite/Corequisite: ENGL 696
Examines late Victorian popular fiction, looking at stories of imperial adventure and the Gothic. Containing pirates, ghost wolves, Jamaican vampires, and female mummies, these have become significant parts of contemporary culture, growing out of the imperialism of late Victorian Britain.
FREN 604 Section 01 Existentialism
Focuses on the concepts of existentialism as defined by Jean-Paul Sartre. We will also consider the other intellectuals, Camus and De Beauvoir, their actions and the roles they played in the 20th century as manifestation of ideological movements.
GERM 498 Section 01 Heinrich von Kleist
The course (in English) comprises an overview of Heinrich von Kleist’s dramatic, prose, and theoretical works, focusing on the artistic, philosophical, and political experience of “Generation Kleist” vs. Napoleon in the early 19th century.
GERM 653 Section 01 Friedrich Schiller
Prerequisite: Instructor permission.
The course (in German) comprises an overview of Friedrich Schiller’s moral, political, historical, and aesthetic theory in his dramatic and literary prose works, as well as Schiller’s place in Late Enlightenment arts and politics.
HDEV 490 Section 01 The Predicament of Structural Violence
This course challenges assumptions of deviancy and criminality as central models of explanation for all violence, and explores the ways in which social structures prevent people from meeting their basic needs, sometimes to the point of death.
HIST 495 Section 01 The Post-Colonial Indian Ocean
This course will examine the role of the Indian Ocean in the formation of the historical, political, and cultural development of this region in the post-colonial period. Topical areas include: the development of economic and political independence, and national identities vis-à-vis intra-national identities.
I/ST 493 Section 01 Feminism and International Human Rights
Prerequisite: Upper division status or consent of instructor
Reviews feminist debates on racism, colonialism, and international human rights. Will consider current international women’s rights issues and critiques of western feminist perspectives on veiling, genital surgeries, gender-based persecution, violence against women in war, sati, dowry murders, migrations, and trafficking.
JOUR 490 Section 02 Advertising Practices
The course will include a combination of lectures, discussions and lab time. The basics of strategic thinking, development of a strategy, principles of effective copywriting style and the use of various media for the development of persuasive communication. Focus on a fundamental understanding of the history and complexity of advertising, its economic role and societal impact. Also branding and persuasive techniques of the marketing mix.
MUS 295 Section 01 Digital Ethics
Exploration of intellectual property relating to new and emerging technologies. Topics include: digital piracy, copyright, censorship, sampling, and the ethics of file sharing. Will examine the uses of found and borrowed material in the history of art, music and literature.
MUS 495 Section 01 Digital Ethics
Exploration of intellectual property relating to new and emerging technologies. Topics include: digital piracy, copyright, censorship, sampling, and the ethics of file sharing. Will examine the uses of found and borrowed material in the history of art, music and literature.
PHIL 496 Section 01 Bioethics
Prerequisite: Six units of philosophy or consent of instructor.
This course will discuss several topics in bioethics, including the nature of health, the nature of well-being, personhood and personal identity, the treatment/enhancement distinction, the value of death, and the rationality and morality of suicide and euthanasia.
PHIL 596 Section 01 Bioethics
Prerequisite: Six units of philosophy or consent of instructor.
This course will discuss several topics in bioethics, including the nature of health, the nature of well-being, personhood and personal identity, the treatment/enhancement distinction, the value of death, and the rationality and morality of suicide and euthanasia.
PHIL 663 Section 01 Environmental Ethics
Prerequisite: Six units of philosophy or consent of instructor.
This course explores a wide range of issues in contemporary environmental ethics. Some of the topics discussed include our moral obligations concerning treatment of animals, obligations towards nature generally, and ethical issues related to climate change.
PSY 490 Section 01 Human Memory: Exploration and Application
Prerequisite: PSY 100, 301, Psychology major and PSY 332 or 333.
Students will explore contemporary views, hot topics and applications of psychological research on human memory.
PSY 590 Section 01 Proseminar in Psychology
Prerequisite: MAPR first year standing. Consent of instructor or graduate advisor.
Introduction to graduate level writing, research, and public speaking in Psychology.
R/ST 690 Section 01 Purity and Danger
Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor
Description: Notions of purity and impurity, the holy and profane, mana and taboo, explored in Israelite and ancient Near Eastern religions and Second Temple and late antique Judaisms in relationship to the body, sex, and death.
THEA 490 Sections 01/02 If We Shadows Have Offended: Theatre Censorship in America
Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor
A bold, even raucous, look at plays that have been censored, refused production, closed down during production, denied funding, or taken off school reading lists. Viewer discretion is advised.
THEA 490 Sections 03/04 Theatre of Engagement – Intersection: Science/Art/Community
Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor
Through the intersection of art and science we will develop a community-based arts/science project that investigates specific and timely current social/political concerns in our community.
THEA 490 Sections 05/06 Chekhov Evolved--An Acting Technique
Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor
An exciting, practical, technical approach to the craft of acting that builds on the energy and power of the imagination. In class exercises, improvisation, monologues, and scene work based on the Chekhov Acting Technique refined by George Shdanoff.
THEA 490 Sections 07/08 Sitcom Acting
Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor
Acting technique for sitcom and one hour drama.
THEA 690 Sections 05/06 Theatre of Engagement--Intersection: Science/Art/Community
Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor
Through the intersection of art and science we will develop a community-based arts/science project that investigates specific and timely current social/political concerns in our community.
WGSS 490 Section 01 Reproductive Justice
Prerequisite: Upper division status or consent of instructor.
This class will engage in a critical investigation into the political, economic, and social forces in the U.S. that abortion rights, sterilization, and childbirth.