Special Topics - Course Descriptions

The courses described below are offered under “Special Topics” course numbers. Departments offer Special Topics only occasionally and the selection is different every semester. Special Topics courses do not repeat material presented by regular semester courses.

Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 498 01 California Art: 1950-Present

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

The 2011-2012 Pacific Standard Time initiative showcased over 60 venues in Southern California, highlighting LA artists from 1945-1980. This course extends the focus to Northern California, exploring Bay Area art movements since the 1940s, including abstract expressionism, Beat, Funk, and Pop art, leading up to their influence on contemporary art.

Letter grade only (A-F).

 

Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 498 01 Faces: Portraits 1800–present

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

Portraiture in Western painting is both popular and misunderstood, evolving since the early 1800s through various styles from symbolic, quasireligious, and socially charged, to expressive and even abstract. The genre remains vital today, despite challenges from AI and mechanical reproduction.

Letter Grade Only. (A-F)

AH 597 01 Latin American Women in Art and Science

Prerequisite(s): Graduate Standing in School of Art or consent of instructor.

This seminar will focus on artworks that address scientific practices from an artistic perspective. We will examine how and why Latin American women artists have incorporated into their work the tools and techniques traditionally developed by men for scientific purposes.

Letter grade only (A-F).

ART 489 02 CSULB Annual Pow Wow 2024

Prerequisite: Art majors only. Exclude freshmen.

Gain knowledge of American Indian Culture while learning to create beginning crafts/artworks. Meet American Indian Elders, artists, singers, powwow organizers, and dancers as they share the meaning and significance of American Indian expressive culture. Service Learning opportunity.

Letter Grade Only (A-F).

ART 490 05 Textiles LA

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Art majors only. Freshmen excluded.

This class gives students access to the rich textile art community and institutions in the LA area. On-site encounters and accompanying resources will provide history, context and opportunity for discussion and critical thinking.

Letter Grade Only (A-F).

DESN 490 01 Generative AI and Robotics Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

This course explores the potential of AI for design, and considers what insights it might offer. Designers have already started using AI for design and fabrication. This course looks at both theoretical as well as practical aspects of AI. It looks at its potential to either assist designers in their work, or to make designs on its own; it considers whether AI might open up an extraordinary new chapter in design, or whether it might lead to the end of the profession; and above all, it speculates on what AI might tell us about human intelligence and creativity.

Letter grade only (A-F).
ENGL 488 01 Queer Rhetorical Theory and Practice Prerequisite: ENGL 100B or GE Composition (Area A2) and Upper Division Standing.

This course focuses on queer rhetorical theory/practices. It explores such positions as closeting, replacing guilt with anger, owning opacity, denaturalizing settler homonormativity, queer generosity, and reading/throwing shade.  Assignments support exploration of queer rhetorical theory and writing from queer rhetorical positions.

Both grading options.
ENGL 489 01 Decadence and Apocalypse in Late-Victorian Literature Prerequisite(s): At least senior standing and 12 units of upper-division ENGL (including ENGL 380).

This course explores late-Victorian literary writings that imagined the end of the century/humanity via representations of environmental, societal, and personal decay/destruction. The course considers writings from prominent figures such as Blake, Swinburne, Wilde, Wells, Yeats, and those from lesser-known authors.

Both grading options.
ENGL 681 01 Octavia E. Butler Prerequisite/Corequisite: ENGL 696

Intensive study of the works of Octavia E. Butler. The course explores Butler’s works from various historical, cultural, and literary critical points of view.

Letter grade only (A-F).
MAE 590 01 Nonlinear Systems and Control Prerequisite(s): MAE 501, MAE 502, MAE 573; Mechanical Engineering MS, Aerospace Engineering MS, or Engineering MS students only.

This course covers nonlinear system analysis and control design techniques, which provides another perspective in addition to linear system approaches. Topics include: nonlinear system behavior, Lyapunov stability theory, nonlinear system control design, and linearization-based approaches.

Letter grade only (A-F).
 
WGSS 490 01 Gender and Feminist Organizing in a Transnational World This course introduces students to the feminist community praxis of planning and organizing a conference that grapples with the multifaceted dimensions of transnational feminism.

The 2023-2024 College of Liberal Arts Thematic Initiative is Transnational Feminist Solidarities, a theme that spans across disciplinary areas within the liberal arts and that powerfully informs activist organizing both within and outside the university. As a critique of Western-Eurocentric and liberal feminisms, transnational feminisms inform and emerge from various radical feminist frameworks including, but not limited to, women of color feminisms, postcolonial feminisms, anti-capitalist feminisms, anti-racist feminisms, abolitionist feminisms, and beyond. Students will work collectively to re-imagine our institutional space and propose ways to consider how solidarity and action might be generated across geopolitical borders, identities, and subjectivities.

The conference brings together scholars, artists, and activists engaged in transnational feminist research. The conference encourages participants to integrate community outreach and community-engaged scholarship and shape experimental practices across academic traditions and disciplines through invited speakers, reading groups, conversation circles, workshops, performances, and film screenings.

Letter grade only (A-F).

 

Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497 01  Art and the History of Emotions

Prerequisites: ART 311 or ART 446 or ART 453 or Consent of instructor. 

This course explores the study of emotions and how they have informed visual art throughout history, with special emphasis on medieval and early modern Europe. Students will learn theoretical approaches to emotions employed throughout the humanities and social sciences.


Letter grade only (A-F)

ART 490 02 Sculptural Paper Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Art majors only. Exclude first year students.

Explores sculptural potential of paper pulp through casting and dipping techniques. Using armatures, found objects and other ephemeral materials, use 3-dimensional strategies to create forms both strong and delicate. Principles of papermaking, origin, materiality and versatility explored with traditional/non-traditional materials.

Letter grade only (A-F)
ART 490 03 Mutable Bodies and Experimental Garment Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Art majors only. Exclude first year students.

Advanced level studio course experimenting with body, garment, sculpture, and performance. Concepts include embodiment/accumulation, ritual, the grotesque, and Manning’s choreographic thinking. Techniques include repurposing/recycling; patternmaking; fabric manipulation; and growing kombucha leather. Presentation and performance of work is emphasized.

Letter grade only (A-F)
ART 590 01 Sculptural Paper Prerequisites: Consent of Instructor.

Explores sculptural potential of paper pulp through casting and dipping techniques. Using armatures, found objects and other ephemeral materials, use 3-dimensional strategies to create forms both strong and delicate. Principles of papermaking, origin, materiality and versatility explored with traditional/non-traditional materials.

Letter grade only (A-F)
ART 590 02 Mutable Bodies and Experimental Garment Prerequisites: Consent of Instructor.

Advanced level studio course experimenting with body, garment, sculpture, and performance. Concepts include embodiment/accumulation, ritual, the grotesque, and Manning’s choreographic thinking. Techniques include repurposing/recycling; patternmaking; fabric manipulation; and growing kombucha leather. Presentation and performance of work is emphasized.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 490 01 Marine Parasitology  Prerequisites: BIOL 211, BIOL 212, BIOL 213, or BIOL 311, all with a grade of “C” or better, and consent of instructor.

Introduction to principles, biology, and evolution of parasitism, emphasizing marine forms. This course will focus on one of the most diverse and fascinating groups of marine organisms— parasites. We will explore (1) parasitic diseases and life cycles (from simple to complex); (2) taxonomic and phylogenetic understanding of parasite and host groups (with a focus on marine metazoan parasites and hosts); and (3) ecological implications of parasitism in marine systems.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 490 02 Fisheries Biology Prerequisites: BIOL 211, BIOL 212, BIOL 213, or BIOL 311, all with a grade of “C” or better, and consent of instructor.

This course will cover the key tenets of vertebrates and invertebrate fisheries biology focusing on biotic and abiotic effects on physiology, ecology and behavior. We will also incorporate different aspects of fisheries management and how these tools are applied in fisheries conservation.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 490 03 Animal Coloration, Vision, & Senses Prerequisites: BIOL 211, BIOL 212, BIOL 213, or BIOL 311, all with a grade of “C” or better, and consent of instructor.

This course introduces the student to the basic concepts of sensory ecology with particular attention paid to the visual system, and ways that animals use coloration to communicate to each other (and other species) through visual signals. We will seek to understand the underlying evolutionary processes associated with the biology of the eye, animal phenotypes, and visual perception.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 490 04 Biological Oceanography Prerequisites: BIOL 211, BIOL 212, BIOL 213, or BIOL 311, all with a grade of “C” or better, and consent of instructor.

Biological oceanography explores the evolution, ecology, and physiology of marine biota and the interactions between these organisms and the environment. Labs will cover oceanographic methods with a focus on the California Bight ecosystem and provide ocean-going and independent research opportunities.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 490L 01 Biological Oceanography Prerequisites: BIOL 211, BIOL 212, BIOL 213, or BIOL 311, all with a grade of “C” or better, and consent of instructor.

Biological oceanography explores the evolution, ecology, and physiology of marine biota and the interactions between these organisms and the environment. Labs will cover oceanographic methods with a focus on the California Bight ecosystem and provide ocean-going and independent research opportunities.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 590 01 Marine Parasitology  Prerequisites: Graduate standing in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Introduction to principles, biology, and evolution of parasitism, emphasizing marine forms. This course will focus on one of the most diverse and fascinating groups of marine organisms— parasites. We will explore (1) parasitic diseases and life cycles (from simple to complex); (2) taxonomic and phylogenetic understanding of parasite and host groups (with a focus on marine metazoan parasites and hosts); and (3) ecological implications of parasitism in marine systems.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 590 02 Fisheries Biology Prerequisites: Graduate standing in the Department of Biological Sciences.

This course will cover the key tenets of vertebrates and invertebrate fisheries biology focusing on biotic and abiotic effects on physiology, ecology and behavior. We will also incorporate different aspects of fisheries management and how these tools are applied in fisheries conservation.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 590 03 Animal Coloration, Vision, & Senses Prerequisites: Graduate standing in the Department of Biological Sciences.

This course introduces the student to the basic concepts of sensory ecology with particular attention paid to the visual system, and ways that animals use coloration to communicate to each other (and other species) through visual signals. We will seek to understand the underlying evolutionary processes associated with the biology of the eye, animal phenotypes, and visual perception.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 590 04 Biological Oceanography Prerequisites: Graduate standing in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Biological oceanography explores the evolution, ecology, and physiology of marine biota and the interactions between these organisms and the environment. Labs will cover oceanographic methods with a focus on the California Bight ecosystem and provide ocean-going and independent research opportunities.

Letter grade only (A-F)
BIOL 590L 01 Biological Oceanography Prerequisites: Graduate standing in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Biological oceanography explores the evolution, ecology, and physiology of marine biota and the interactions between these organisms and the environment. Labs will cover oceanographic methods with a focus on the California Bight ecosystem and provide ocean-going and independent research opportunities.

Letter grade only (A-F)
COMM 490 03 Communicating Cultural Competency

Prerequisites: None

This course navigates this multicultural landscape by preparing students to research, design, and present professional diversity training workshops. A wide range of issues will be explored including Implicit Bias, Micro-Aggressions, Cultural Appropriation, White Fragility, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Islamaphobia, Cross-Cultural issues in Healthcare, Interfaith, Hate speech, and Intersectionality. An overarching philosophy of Restorative Justice will be applied as well as the practice of Mindfulness and Compassion ( drawing particularly upon Theravada Buddhism).

Letter grade only (A-F).

EDEL 490 01, 02, 03, 04

Performance Assessment Support Seminar Prerequisites: Consent of Instructor.

Preparation and Support for Teaching Performance Assessments. This course provides structured support for students in practicum settings in understanding the format of required performance assessments and instruction in key concepts related to pedagogy.

Letter grade only (A-F) and Credit/ No Credit
ENGL 489 01 The Human in Literature from the Global South Prerequisites: At least senior standing and 12 units of upper-division ENGL (including ENGL 380 ).

This course examines European philosophy/science and puts them in dialogue with postcolonial conceptions of the human. We will read a diverse collection of Global South literature in English that engages the human as defined against animal and automata.

Letter grade only (A-F) and Credit/ No Credit
FEA 490 01 Introduction to Visual Arts Prerequisites: FEA major status, upper-division standing; department consent.

An introduction to the art and technology of computer-driven visual effects.

Letter grade only (A-F).
MATH 093 01 Foundations for Precalculus Algebra Corequisite: MATH 113

Topics and skills that support student success in MATH 113. This course is designed as a corequisite course and should only be taken with MATH 113. Students required to enroll in this corequisite course must remain enrolled in both courses for the semester. Students will not be permitted to withdraw from one of the courses (either MATH 93 or MATH 113) and not the other.

Credit/ No Credit
NCSI 490 01 Marine Parasitology

Prerequisites: At least upper division standing in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and consent of instructor

Biological oceanography explores the evolution, ecology, and physiology of marine biota and the interactions between these organisms and the environment. Labs will cover oceanographic methods with a focus on the California Bight ecosystem and provide ocean-going and independent research opportunities.

Letter grade only (A-F).

NCSI 490 02 Fisheries Biology

Prerequisites: At least upper division standing in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and consent of instructor

This course will cover the key tenets of vertebrates and invertebrate fisheries biology focusing on biotic and abiotic effects on physiology, ecology and behavior. We will also incorporate different aspects of fisheries management and how these tools are applied in fisheries conservation.

Letter grade only (A-F).

WGSS 490 01 Jotería Studies: Queer Gender and Sexuality in the Américas Prerequisites: None.

This course explores the emergent and dynamic interdisciplinary field of jotería studies in which “brown” racialized sexualities and genders serve as both the primary subjects of analysis and main methods of reading. We’ll consider jotería studies genealogies and future configurations in relation to Chicana/o/x-Latina/o/x Studies, ethnic studies, and queer and trans studies. Through an intersectional lens, we’ll examine jotería studies as a critical cultural, political, and intellectual formation in visual art, literature, photography, performance, testimonial, essay, film, and ephemera.

Letter grade only (A-F) and Credit/ No Credit

 

Course Number/Section Course Title Description
ART 490 02 Mural Painting Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Art majors only. Freshmen excluded.

An introduction to the discipline of mural painting, with an emphasis on the planning and execution of site-specific murals, the history of mural painting, and a focus on exploring the discipline while developing technical skills.

Letter grade only (A-F).
ART 490 03 Textile Politics  Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Art majors only. Freshmen excluded.

Exploration of the role of textiles in community movements and activism. Projects address ideas around personal resilience, memorializing people or events, and articulating political messages. Concepts explored through stitched text and language, soft sculpture construction and community-driven public weaving project.

Letter grade only (A-F).
ART 590 01 Mural Painting Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

An introduction to the discipline of mural painting, with an emphasis on the planning and execution of site-specific murals, the history of mural painting, and a focus on exploring the discipline while developing technical skills.

Letter grade only (A-F).
ART 489 01 CSULB Pow Wow 2023 Prerequisites: Art majors only. Exclude freshmen. 

This course engages with the American Indian Community and the annual CSULB Pow Wow to learn about American Indian cultural expression in Southern California. All students must obtain a permit by contacting SOA-advising@csulb.edu.

Both grading options.
ART 589 01 CSULB Pow Wow 2023 Prerequisites: Graduate Standing in School of Art or consent of instructor. 

This course engages with the American Indian Community and the annual CSULB Pow Wow to learn about American Indian cultural expression in Southern California. All students must obtain a permit by contacting SOA-advising@csulb.edu.

Letter grade only (A-F).
ART 590 02 Textile Politics  Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

An introduction to the discipline of mural painting, with an emphasis on the planning and execution of site-specific murals, the history of mural painting, and a focus on exploring the discipline while developing technical skills.

Letter grade only (A-F).
AH 497 01 Abstraction Then and Now: Lee Krasner’s Art in Context and Beyond Prerequisite: ART 311 or AH 446 or AH 453 or consent of instructor.

Working closely with a Krasner exhibit at the Kleefeld Museum on campus, students reassess how she and other women artists impacted Abstract Expressionism. To reassess the value of abstraction today, students also examine abstraction in queer, indigenous, and Black contexts.

Letter grade only (A-F).
AH 597  01 Abstraction Then and Now: Lee Krasner’s Art in Context and Beyond Prerequisite: Graduate Standing in School of Art or consent of instructor.

Working closely with a Krasner exhibit at the Kleefeld Museum on campus, students reassess how she and other women artists impacted Abstract Expressionism. To reassess the value of abstraction today, students also examine abstraction in queer, indigenous, and Black contexts.

Letter grade only (A-F).
DPT 790 01 Management of Electroneuromyographic Physical Therapy Patients Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

Physiological and neurological basis for the selection of electroneuromyographic [ENMG] assessment and intervention in the management of neuromusculoskeletal, peripheral, central, and mixed nervous system disorders.

Letter grade only (A-F). 
GEOL 490 01 Exploring Earth Science Careers and Education

Prerequisites: GEOL 102 or GEOL 110 or GEOL 160

This course is intended to provide information about careers in geology through lectures and guest speakers, and practice developing soft skills for obtaining a job or graduate school position. 

Both grading options.

GEOL 490 02 Environmental Impacts of War Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. 

Study of the physical, chemical and biological effects that war and preparation for war on the environment. Course uses a series of ancient, historical and contemporary case studies to illustrate how war has affected the environment around the globe and through time.

Both grading options.
H SC 297 01 Introduction to Public Health Informatics and Technology (PHIT) Prerequisites: None.

This course introduces the fundamentals of public health informatics and technology. It will cover the basic concepts of public health, including the history and structure of public health in the United States. An overview of public health informatics and data will be explored, and how they support public health.

Both grading options.
 

Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497 01 Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals: Cross-cultural exchange in Turkey, Iran, and India (1453-1923) Prerequisite: ART 311 or AH 446 or AH 453 or consent of instructor.

Three power-house Islamic dynasties ruled over vast territories, often fighting with each other but also trading and giving each other precious works of art. Examine stunning manuscripts, textiles, jewels, and works of architecture that demonstrate cross-border visual conversations.

Letter grade only (A-F).
AH 597 01 Migration and Exchange in the Americas Prerequisite(s): Graduate Standing in School of Art or consent of instructor.

This seminar examines the migration of people across the Americas and the resulting exchange of ideas that have defined Latin American modern and contemporary art history. This course is designed around group visits to selected exhibitions in the LA area.

Letter grade only (A-F).
ENGL 683 01 Identity: Exploring Others and Ourselves Prerequisite/Corequisite: ENGL 696

This course explores how we think about others’ and our own identities. Through readings, discussions, research, and writings, we will explore questions about our identities and the roles they serve in how we view and understand “others,” and they us.

Letter grade only (A-F).
PHIL 493 01 Social Ontology Participants in this course will inquire into the nature of various categories of social significance, including, especially, disability, gender, and sexual orientation. All of the readings for this course will be contemporary articles or books in the analytic, Western tradition. No content familiarity will be assumed. Any openminded individual with an interest in metaphysics and the social world around them will find themselves at home in this seminar.

Both grading options.
PHIL 593 01 Social Ontology Participants in this course will inquire into the nature of various categories of social significance, including, especially, disability, gender, and sexual orientation. All of the readings for this course will be contemporary articles or books in the analytic, Western tradition. No content familiarity will be assumed. Any openminded individual with an interest in metaphysics and the social world around them will find themselves at home in this seminar.

Both grading options.

Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497 01 Art History Professionalization Prerequisite: ART 311 or AH 446 or AH 453 or consent of instructor.

Explore many professions for art history majors, including academia, museum work, editorial work, law, arts management, library science, fundraising, and digital humanities. Learn strategies for finding internships and jobs, and work on cover letters, résumés, and interview skills.
AH 597 01 Interview as Model Prerequisite(s): Graduate Standing in School of Art or consent of instructor.​
  The artist interview in the age of mass communication. Students will read and analyze artist interviews, as well as consider methodological questions related to oral history.
AMST 495 01            Labor and Social Justice in Los Angeles      From the Living Wage to Raising the Wage, Los Angeles has been at the forefront of America’s labor movement. This class focuses on labor-community relations in Los Angeles and efforts towards intersectional justice at the workplace and beyond.
ART 489 01 Contemporary Artist Life Prerequisite: Art majors only. Exclude first-year students.

Advanced Drawing & Painting students only. What does it mean to be contemporary artist in an International Art Center like LA and NYC? Readings, discussion, research into studio practice, galleries, shows, navigating LA/NYC. Includes field trips. Immersion trip to NYC 03/31-04/05/22.
ART 589 01 Contemporary Artist Life Prerequisites: Graduate Standing in School of Art or consent of instructor.

Advanced Drawing & Painting students only. What does it mean to be contemporary artist in an International Art Center like LA and NYC? Readings, discussion, research into studio practice, galleries, shows, navigating LA/NYC. Includes field trips. Immersion trip to NYC 03/31-04/05/22.

Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497 01 Art History Professionalization Prerequisite: ART 311 or AH 446 or AH 453 or consent of instructor.
Explore many professions for art history majors, including academia, museum work, editorial work, law, arts management, library science, fundraising, and digital humanities. Learn strategies for finding internships and jobs, and work on cover letters, résumés, and interview skills.
AH 498 01 Native Women Artists Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
This course reviews Contemporary, Native North American women artists and their exploration of identity, representation, authenticity, sovereignty, gender, commodity, and colonialism. The course will focus on Native-written texts, landmark exhibitions, and collaborations that have revised and recontextualized indigenous arts.
AH 498 02 Global Renaissance Art Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
This class explores the material and cultural production of the renaissance that resulted from Europe's relations with Latin America, Africa, and Asia in the early era of colonization and global expansion.
Letter grade only (A-F).
AH 597 01 Art, Sex, and Gender in Early Modern World Prerequisite(s): Graduate Standing in School of Art or consent of instructor.​
Investigate how the visual arts shaped and were shaped by gendered identities and notions of sex and sexuality in early modern Europe, c. 1350-1650. Examine how gender roles were constructed, naturalized, and sometimes challenged in visual art.
AH 598 01 Native Women Artists Prerequisite(s): Graduate Standing in School of Art or consent of instructor.
This course reviews Contemporary, Native North American women artists and their exploration of identity, representation, authenticity, sovereignty, gender, commodity, and colonialism. The course will focus on Native-written texts, landmark exhibitions, and collaborations that have revised and recontextualized indigenous arts.
AH 598 02 Global Renaissance Art Prerequisites: Graduate Standing in School of Art or consent of instructor.
This class explores the material and cultural production of the renaissance that resulted from Europe's relations with Latin America, Africa, and Asia in the early era of colonization and global expansion.
Letter grade only (A-F).
COMM 490 01 Rhetoric of Horror In this course, students will consider how horror films have animated and made sense of U.S. cultural anxieties that have emerged over the last forty years. A rhetorical approach to horror enables critics to explore the complex interplay between cinematic texts and the cultural contexts from which they emerge. Class participants will view and use critical rhetorical theory to investigate numerous horror films, including Halloween, Poltergeist, Candyman, It Follows, Creep, and Get Out
COMM 490 02 Applied Survey Design for Communication Prerequisites: COMM 307.
Applied overview of how to collect data using online surveys and experiments. How to plan and design online surveys. Strategies for writing questions, collecting data using online survey software, analyzing data with statistical software, and communicating results. 
COMM 590 01 Critical/Cultural Approaches to Rhetoric Since the 1970s, the majority of rhetorical scholarship has been influenced by a turn to critical theory. However, far too many communication scholars reference Marx, Foucault, Butler, and other critical scholars without much knowledge of their actual works. In this course, we will spend our semester connecting primary sources in critical theory with contemporary scholarship in rhetoric. 

Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497 02 The Global Middle Ages In 2017, when white supremacists stormed through Charlottesville, Virginia, many of them held shields they had decorated with “medieval” iconography, and they argued that the European Middle Ages were an ideal time of a “pure” white populace. In order to correct this misinformation, this class will explore themes in art history that offer a much more profound understanding of cross-cultural contact and diversity in the medieval West, Byzantium, Islamic regions, and beyond. Although travel was difficult, dangerous, and expensive, people were constantly on the move for trade and for religious pilgrimages, so shared iconography abounds. We will look at immigrant silk workers in Paris, as well as Vikings who traveled all the way to Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. At the same time, we will thoroughly explore medieval racism as exhibited in art and architecture, especially against Jews and Muslims, and see how it relates to the racism of the 20th century and today.
AH 597 01 The Circulation of Culture in an Exhibition of Franco-Japanese Landscape Prints This seminar will propose a tightly focused by widely relevant exhibition on landscape prints within the circulation of images between Japan and France circa 1880-1920. We are familiar with the French embrace of Japanese prints and design that kickstarted western modernism, and perhaps also with modern Japan’s adaptation of European artistic styles and concepts. What is not known - and what we will explore - is how and why Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), Japan’s leading modern landscape artist said to be “the visual poet of Japan,” deployed the work of French Henri Rivière (1864-1951). We will put together a full proposal for an exhibition to explore this topic. Students will learn how to propose exhibition content, education programs, publications, and relevant fund raising.
AMST 495 01 Labor and Social Movements in Los Angeles From the Living Wage to Raising the Wage, Los Angeles has been at the forefront of America's labor movement. This class focuses on labor-community relations in Los Angeles and their efforts towards intersectional justice at the workplace and beyond.
HIST 490 01 Historical Representations of Blackness from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter African American history is often understood as a series of struggles leading up to the civil rights movement. But in the past sixty years, countless protests and uprisings have illuminated the harsh realities of systemic racism that continue to impact Black people in the United States. This course begins with the civil rights movement in order to give us context for understanding the development of Black Lives Matter in the twenty-first century. We will start by questioning the distinction between “respectable” and “radical” politics in order to explore the tension between Black presentations of self and ideas compared to popular representations of Black America. In this class we will study Black activism in relation to popular culture; the politics of education and the struggle to reform and create curriculum; consumerism in the age neoliberalism; the racialization of social welfare programs; mass incarceration, and police violence. The objective of this course is to understand the legacy of the civil rights movement in the struggle for dignity today.
SCED 490A 01 Science in Early Childhood Hands-on explorations of science content directly related to the science standards of early childhood educators.

Course Number/Section  Course Title Description
AH 597 01 Art, Sex and Gender in the Early Modern World This course investigates how ideas about gender and sex were constructed, expressed, or repressed in early modern visual culture in a cross-disciplinary examination of gender and sexual culture and their relationships to art produced in Europe, c. 1350-1650.
ART 490 02 Mural Painting & Design Students develop and install a public mural on large-scale interior walls on campus.  Includes evaluating, designing, preparing and painting the finalized image.  Also addresses the role murals play in the social, aesthetic and economic revitalization of communities.
ART 490 03 Experimental Fashion & Form Explores history of fashion and costume, and its intersection with art, pop culture, and performance via practice and theory.  Sewing, patterning, altering and construction skills will be learned while focusing on translating conceptual ideas into clothing, costume and sculpture.
ART 590 01 Mural Painitng & Design Students develop and install a public mural on large-scale interior walls on campus.  Includes evaluating, designing, preparing and painting the finalized image.  Also addresses the role murals play in the social, aesthetic and economic revitalization of communities.
ART 590 02 Experimental Fashion & Form Explores history of fashion and costume, and its intersection with art, pop culture, and performance via practice and theory.  Sewing, patterning, altering and construction skills will be learned while focusing on translating conceptual ideas into clothing, costume and sculpture.

Course Number/Section  Course Title Description
AH 497 01 Museum Exhibition Preparation This seminar brings students into the rich diverse world of museum exhibition by having them contribute to planning educational activities, and writing wall and label test for the exhibition, "Music for the Eyes: The Art of Japanese Sheet Music" held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2021.  Student work will include oral presentations, writing and editing, and sharpening skills central to the humanities.
AH 597 01 Museum Exhibition Preparation This seminar brings students into the rich diverse world of museum exhibition by having them contribute to planning educational activities, and writing wall and label test for the exhibition, "Music for the Eyes: The Art of Japanese Sheet Music" held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2021.  Student work will include oral presentations, writing and editing, and sharpening skills central to the humanities.
AMST 495 01 The American Studies Mixtape: Popular Music Since the 1960s This class examines US history in the decades since the 1960s through popular music.  We cover genres like rock and roll, hip-hop, and millennial pop, and historical events like civil rights, the Vietnam War, the War on Drugs, and #BlackLivesMatter.
AMST 495 02 Labor and Social Movements in Los Angeles County From the Living Wage to Raising the Wage, Los Angeles County has been at the forefront of America's labor movement.  This class focuses on labor-community relations in the County and their efforts towards intersectional justice at the workplace and beyond.
BIOL 590 01 Fundamentals of Data Visualization in R Introduction into the theory and practice of creating compelling data visualizations - aesthetically pleasing figures that accurately convey the underlying data.  Students will become proficient with ggplot2, a powerful and flexible plotting software available in the R programming language; however, no prior experience with R or RStudio is required.
COMM 490 01 Communication, Wisdom, and Meaning: Cultivating Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Moments of Life Using original research, this course demonstrates how individuals can respond insightfully and empathically in conversations with others to cultivate compassion and astuteness in a variety of settings.  With an empathy-based framework as a foundation, the class demonstrates how persons can respond humanely in conversations with different cultural groups, promote evidence-based wisdom, ethical conduct, and proactive social change in diverse communities.
FEA 490 01 Advanced Media Editing II Avid certification part II.
FREN 604 01 Novel & The Theatre in 17th Century France This course will focus on the evolution of the novel and the theatre in 17th Century France.  Intertextualities between the two genres will be explored, as well as their relation to the ideas of Fontanelle, Bayle, and clandestine literature.
GERM 598 03 Heinrich von Kleist: Works and Translation This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to Heinrich von Kleist's life (1777-1811), drama, and prose, with a particular emphasis in Kleist's poetry and essays and problems with their translation.
HDEV 490 01 Impacts of Race and Racism on Human Development Across the Lifespan This course examines the impacts of race and racism on various aspects of human development from birth to death.  With an intersectional lens, this class will examine how race/ethnicity intersects with other systems of social enequality (e.g., gender, social, class, sexuality) to shape development.
PHIL 493 02 Color and Color Perception This course examines philosophical and empirical research on color experience and the nature of color.  Much of the course will center around philosophers' handling of the issues of whether colors exist and, if they do, what they are and what we might know about them.  Considerable attention will be given to the question of what a theory of color ought to look like, particularly if such a theory is supposed to be relevant to scientific research.  Other topics to be considered include color constancy, the status of the unique hue construct, and color language.
PHIL 593 02 Color and Color Perception This course examines philosophical and empirical research on color experience and the nature of color.  Much of the course will center around philosophers' handling of the issues of whether colors exist and, if they do, what they are and what we might know about them.  Considerable attention will be given to the question of what a theory of color ought to look like, particularly if such a theory is supposed to be relevant to scientific research.  Other topics to be considered include color constancy, the status of the unique hue construct, and color language.
SCED 490A 01 Science in Early Education Hands-on explorations of science content directly related to the science standards of early childhood educators. 
SCED 590 01 Advanced Practices in Informal Science Education Class explores the strategies and practices that support science learning in out-of-school settings.  Students will engage in authentic projects, supporting local institutions, and develop a broader understanding of the different facets of informal education through interactions with experienced professionals.
SPAN 490 01 Introduction to Spanish Linguistics Overview of Spanish Linguistics.  Areas of study: history of Spanish language, grammatical systems (Phonology, Morphology, Syntax), sociolinguistics status of Spanish in the U.S. and the teaching of Spanish as a second language. 
SPAN 490 02 Spanish Language Development Spanish language development in speaking, oral comprehension, reading and writing skills.

Course Number/Section  Course Title Description
AH 497 02 Digital Art History Explore the rapidly developing field of digital art history, using programs to visualize research. We will read and analyze the theories of digital humanities and each student will do a digital project. No previous tech experience is required.
AH 597 In Their Own Words How and why do we interview artists? This seminar examines oral history theories and practices as they relate to art history.
ART 489 01 Teaching in Higher Education for MA and MFA Candidates Course prepares non-education major for teaching in colleges/universities.  Addresses student developmental stages; working with diverse populations; critical issues in teaching and learning; Educational course development, including curriculum design, teaching methods, student outcomes and assessment for studio and art history instruction.
CHLS 490 01 Chicanx/Latinx Spiritualities This class explores the reclamation of ancestral indigenous practices from Mesoamerica at the time of the Spanish Catholic invasion to better understand contemporary Mexicanx and Chicanx religiosity. Themes of the course may include mythology, migration, sacred energies, healing practices, flor y canto, Cara y Corazon, sacred geography, rites of renewal, mestizaje, and nepantla.
FCS 490 02 Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics Nutrigenetics studies how genetic differences affect nutrient uptake and  metabolism. Nutrigenomics studies the effects the diet and food components on gene expression. This course will help students develop an appreciattion of gentic mutation and explain how mutations can influence biochemical pathwas and alter an individuals' metabolism processes. Possible nutrigenetic and nutrigenomic effects on health and disease will be explored. Principles in genetic testing, intepretaion of results, and practical application will be discussed.
FCS 590 01 Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics Nutrigenetics studies how genetic differences affect nutrient uptake and  metabolism. Nutrigenomics studies the effects the diet and food components on gene expression. This course will help students develop an appreciattion of gentic mutation and explain how mutations can influence biochemical pathwas and alter an individuals' metabolism processes. Possible nutrigenetic and nutrigenomic effects on health and disease will be explored. Principles in genetic testing, intepretaion of results, and practical application will be discussed.
GERM 498 01 Prominent Trends in 20th/21st Century German Drama This course will survey prominent trends in 20 /21 century drama, with an emphasis on analyzing plays as literary texts and public spectacles. From Naturalism to contemporary drama, the power of the German/Austrian/Swiss stage to promote social change will be explored.
GERM 598 01 Prominent Trends in 20th/21st Century German Drama This course will survey prominent trends in 20 /21 century drama, with an emphasis on analyzing plays as literary texts and public spectacles. From Naturalism to contemporary drama, the power of the German/Austrian/Swiss stage to promote social change will be explored.
SPAN 640 01 Activism, Theatre, and Resistance in Latin America From the catastrophe that meant the advent of military dictatorships in Latin America to the social crisis generated by the consolidation of the neoliberal model and its inherent inequalities, theater and social theatricalities have in Latin America have become a vital source of dissidence and expression both for artists and activists. In this seminar, we propose a journey through the different ways in which artists, activists, and citizens have used theater, performance, and social theatricalities as an instrument for political intervention in the urban space to express their criticism of the dominant economic and cultural models.

Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AMST 495 01 Histories and Cultures of Long Beach Interdisciplinary examination of Long Beach, California. Explores the historical forces that created Long Beach, emphasizing how geography, economics, migration, culture, ethnicity, and politics have transformed a city with both an urban and suburban character into a vital location of diverse cultures and traditions.
ART 489 Contemporary Issues in Craft Discourse Exploration of the work of contemporary scholars addressing current issues related to traditional forms of craft.
COMM 490 02 Violence Prevention Communication In this course we will analyze the role of communication in the prediction and prevention of violence. There will be an emphasis on communication theories and scholarship and a consideration of violence in interpersonal, familial, educational, and media contexts.
FCS 490 03 Adult Supervision/Mentoring Methods and principles of supervising adults in the Early Childhood classroom. Emphasis is placed on the role of director, teacher, staff/student teacher: in the areas of supervision and mentoring. The course will discuss leadership theories, communication styles, mentoring, coaching, effective classroom environments and assessment tools.
GERM 598 01 German Thinkers of the Late Enlightenment  The German thinkers of the Late Enlightenment contributed many of the most important works in the artistic history of Republicanism. This course provides an introduction to select works, focusing on the intersections of moral, political, historical, and aesthetic theory.
MAE 590 Advanced Material Testing and Characterization Basic principles of thermal, physical, mechanical and optical testing, along with material characterization. Destructive and non-destructive testing. Analysis of static and dynamic mechanical tests. Failure analysis. Mechanical behavior of metals, polymer and ceramics. Fracture toughness, Defect characterization.
PSY 590 01 Analysis of Social Networks This course is a survey of social network theory, research, and analytic methods. Topics covered include centrality, centralization, network topology, social exchange, diffusion and influence, subgroup analysis, and organizational risk.
RGR 490 01 Meaning in Transit: An Introduction to Translation Studies Students will explore the definitions of translation and their implications, and the diverse roles of translators, interpreters, and localizers. The theoretical and practical processes by which texts, procedures, and products are transferred from source to target audiences will be illustrated.

Special Topics - Fall 2018
Course Number/Section  Course Title Description
AH 497
Section 01
Issues in Japanese Art: The Art of Japanese Graphic Design Prerequisite: ART 311 or AH 446 or AH 453 or consent of instructor.
This seminar examines the intersection of modern Japanese music, lyrics and design in Japanese sheet music covers in preparation for an exhibition at a major east coast museum. Students will explore the fascinating world of Japanese popular culture before manga and anime.
AH 497
Section 01
Issues in Japanese Art: The Art of Japanese Graphic Design Prerequisite: Graduate Standing in School of Art of consent of instructor.
This seminar examines the intersection of modern Japanese music, lyrics and design in Japanese sheet music covers in preparation for an exhibition at a major east coast museum. Students will explore the fascinating world of Japanese popular culture before manga and anime.
ANTH 490
Section 01
Special Topics in Mesoamerican Archaeology Prerequisite: ANTH 140, ANTH 448 (can be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor. 
Covers selected recent advances in archaeological research in southern Mesoamerica and Central America.
CHLS 490
Section 01
Critical Issues in Latino Education Policy Exploration of policy ideas and initiatives that seek to improve educational conditions and outcomes of Latino students in K-12 and Higher Education. Utilizing diverse theoretical approaches, topics to be explored include: Charter Schools; For-Profit Postsecondary Institutions; Testing and Accountability; School Discipline; Pre-college programs; and Ethnic Studies in Schools.
CHLS 490
Section 02
Histories of Violence How have these definitions of violence changed over time? Students will learn how to distinguish between popular representations of violence and their historical realities. In doing so, students will also learn why and how the history of violence, its material (consequences, manifest themselves in the social, political, and economic lives of Chicanx and Latinx: youth and communities.
COMM 490
Section 01
Emotion and Communication In this course, we will explore various links between emotion and communication. We will discuss how emotion is a part of communication and how emotion is communicated verbally and nonverbally. Further, we will explore the effects of communicating or withholding emotion; how communication is used to influence one's own and others' emotions; and how our own and other cultures communicate about emotion.
COMM 490
Section 02
Latino Identity and Representation This course examines the representations and cultural meanings of Latino culture in the U.S. In particular, this course focuses on this demographic in such mediums as television, radio, film, advertising, newspapers and magazines. This course will provide a general survey of Latina depictions in the U.S. based on a critical investigation of theories of communication identification, and popular culture. We will examine the impact of Latino representations on identity formation as a mode of revealing and reproducing ideology and political struggle.
COMM 590 Section 01 Critical Media Studies This graduate seminar takes a critical, rhetorical perspective on the role of media in our lives. Areas of inquiry include the political economy of the media; the relationships among the media technologies and civic life; and processes by which mediated messages are given meaning.
CWL 448  Section 01 Film: Genre, Gender and Global Studies This interdisciplinary course focuses on the relationship between cinema and globalization. Traditions of film making have frequently been bent, hybridized, to fit the cultural needs of the local, and on the other hand, the transplant has also made them truly global. On the one hand, we will examine hybrid forms of inter/national cinematic storytelling and on the other hand, we will attend to the cultural and political contexts of production and reception of these texts.
CWL 548 Section 01 Film: Genre, Gender and Global Studies This interdisciplinary course focuses on the relationship between cinema and globalization. Traditions of film making have frequently been bent, hybridized, to fit the cultural needs of the local, and on the other hand, the transplant has also made them truly global. On the one hand, we will examine hybrid forms of inter/national cinematic storytelling and on the other hand, we will attend to the cultural and political contexts of production and reception of these texts.
GERM 498
Section 01
German Drama & Poetry Prerequisite(s): Senior standing in German or consent of instructor.  This course introduces major theoretical trends in the history of the German drama poetry. It involves close readings, dramatic readings, lively discussion, and the production and performance of a German drama. Readings and discussion are in English.
GERM 598
Section 01
Resistance and Exile Prerequisite(s): B.A. in German or equivalent. 
This course examines poetry, plays, prose works, music, and film created by German speaking artists in Southern California.  It involves close readings, dramatic eadings, lively discussion, and writing. Readings and discussions are in Geman.
MAE 590
Section 01
Aeroelasticity Prerequisites: MAE 334, MAE 365, MAE 371, MAE 373 or consent of instructor.  Elastic deformation, Divergence, Load Distribution, and Sweep Effect on the Static Aeroelasticity; Stability, Flutter, and Modal Analysis op the Dynamic Aeroelasticity; Time and Frequency Domain solution of the Aeroelasticity.
PSY 390
Section 01
Applied Behavior Analysis (ASA) Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.  Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis (ASA), a branch of psychology which utilizes principles of learning to improve many behaviors including social skills, job performance, language acquisition, self-help and leisure skills.
PSY 490
Section 01
Sleep and Dreams Prerequisites: Psychology major, PSY 301.  Introduction to the function of sleep, normal sleep, circadian rhythms of sleep, sleep deprivation, clinical sleep medicine (classification of sleep disorders and treatments), identification of sleep stages and abnormalities using physiological recordings, role of sleep in learning and memory.
SPAN 490
Section 01
Understanding and Teaching Heritage Language Speakers Prerequisite: SPAN 310 or consent of Instructor.  This course aims to prepare language teachers to work with heritage language speakers (students who speak a language other than English at home), with particular emphasis on Spanish speakers. Topics include: heritage grammars, the linguistic and social characteristics that shape heritage languages in the United States, and pedagogical methods and approaches for teaching heritage languages.
SPAN 590
Section 01
Understanding and Teaching Heritage Language Speakers This course aims to prepare language teachers to work with heritage language speakers (students who speak a language other than English at home), with particular emphasis on Spanish speakers. Topics include: heritage grammars, the linguistic and social characteristics that shape heritage languages in the United States, and pedagogical methods and approaches for teaching heritage languages.

Special Topics - Spring 2018
Course Number/Section  Course Title Description
AH 497
Section 01
The Roots of Manga: Modern Japanese Illustration and the Comic Imagination This seminar examines the origins of Japanese comics by exploring the rise of illustration and illustrators, and comic sensibility and cartoon artists.  Students are not expected to read Japanese, but an interest in art, literature, popular music will be helpful.
AH 597
Section 01
The Roots of Manga: Modern Japanese Illustration and the Comic Imagination This seminar examines the origins of Japanese comics by exploring the rise of illustration and illustrators, and comic sensibility and cartoon artists.  Students are not expected to read Japanese, but an interest in art, literature, popular music will be helpful.
ANTH 490
Section 01
Using Anthropology in Your Future Students identify their skills and career goals, and research how to represent being an anthropology major.  Students develop a Professional Development Plan to lay out future training or preparation requisite for their selected career goals including planning for graduate school.
ART 489
Section 01
Professional Practices Illustration/Animation Professional preparation for Animators and Illustrators.  Topics include: portfolio and resume development, interviewing and networking, pricing, negotiating, ethical guidelines and project management.  Will also include how to present and pitch ideas to networks, and submitting to film festivals.
ART 489
Section 02
The Pow Wow Class Course focuses on the meaning, significance and production of art forms associated with the 58th Annual CSULB Pow Wow.
ART 589
Section 01
The Pow Wow Class Course focuses on the meaning, significance and production of art forms associated with the 58th Annual CSULB Pow Wow.
ART 589
Section 03
Intimate Cinema Drawing from feminist and queer theory, this course will examine traditional, contemporary and experimental film history, video art, and moving image practices that challenge dominant ways of looking in favor of intimate, poetic, or embodied approaches to storytelling and narrative.
CHLS 490
Section 01
The Struggle in Black and Brown: Interracial Activism, Solidarity and Community Building By focusing on the experiences of Latina/os and African Americans in relationship to each other we will discuss these groups' shared, yet distinct experiences, and the ways this has served as a catalyst for collaborative activist platforms towards social justice.
CHLS 490
Section 02
Mexican & Chicana/o Mural Design & Creation: Reclaiming Public Spaces This course examines Chicana/o/Latina/o identity, politics, praxis and the decolonial imagination through design and execution of a mural in the tradition of the Mexican Mural Movement; introduces materials and techniques.
COMM 490
Section 01
Communication & Mindfulness Instruction in the history, science and application of mindfulness in communicative contexts.
COMM 490
Section 02
The Dark Side of Interpersonal Communication This course explores negative communication exchanges across a variety of personal relationship contexts.
COMM 590
Section 01
Queer Theory and Rhetoric A historical and theory driven overview of rhetoric as it relates to sexual minorities.  The seminar is split into four units, including 1) accounts of gay, lesbian, and transgender history; 2) a consideration of post-structural philosophies that culminate in queer theory; 3) an examination of rhetorical practices that have emerged in LGBTQ social movements; 4) applications of queer rhetorical methods to a range of communication artifacts.
EDLD 790
Section 01 - 05
Dissertation Directed Study Examination of various issues in educational leadership.  Admission to the Educational Leadership Doctorate program or consent of department chair is required.
ENGL 683
Section 01
The Matter of the Book in Renaissance England This course takes a specific object - the book - and follows it from manuscript through early printed forms and finally modern edition.  Intensive study of literary texts is incorporated as phenomena determined by, and altering, the history of the book.
ENGL 683
Section 02
Monsters and Monstrosity in Old and Middle English Literature This course focuses on monsters and monstrosity in narratives throughout the Middle Ages.  In doing so, it explores concepts of behavior, the material body, and identity in the contexts of Old English, Anglo-Norman French, and Middle English.
GERM  653A
Section 02
Friedrich Schiller 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.
MAE 590
Section 01
Stability Analysis and Control Synthesis of Time-Delay Systems The course concerns the analysis of time-delay systems, such as manufacturing process, networked control systems, tele-operation of robots, multi-robot systems, internal combustion engines, and traffic dynamics.  Fundamentals and up-to-date developments of such systems will be discussed.
MAE 590
Section 02
Multiphase Transport Processes Thermodynamics of interfacial phenomena.  Liquid-vapor interface.  Wetting phenomena and contact angles.  Interfacial transport and stability.  Phase transitions, phase stability and homogeneous nucleation.  Heterogeneous nucleation and pool boiling.  External condensation.  Two-phase flow.  Internal convective Boiling and Condensation.
MAE 590
Section 03
Design and Additive Manufacturing Comprehensive Introduction to Additive Manufacturing (AM), including: fundamentals, processes, materials, applications, technology trends.  Workflow, design rules and computational tools, file formats, toolpath generation.  Hands-on experience with software tools and equipment in project work in a wide-range of engineering applications.
NSCI 490
Section 01
Experimental Methods in Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Experimental techniques and ideas that have revolutionized condensed matter physics in the last centuries will be presented.  Topics include superconductivity, graphene, and noise in electronic signals that hide exciting phenomena.  A theoretical introduction will be followed by hands-on experiments.
NSCI 490L
Section 01 & 02
Laboratory in Experimental Methods in Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics Experimental techniques and ideas that have revolutionized condensed matter physics in the last centuries will be presented.  Topics include superconductivity, graphene, and noise in electronic signals that hide exciting phenomena.  A theoretical introduction will be followed by hands-on experiments.
RGR 590
Section 01
Research Methods and Critical Theory Exploration of a specific topic related to language, literature, linguistics, translation, and/or culture within RGRLL.  May be repeated up to 6 units in different semester with different topics.  Letter grade only (A-F)
R/ST 690
Section 01
Religion and the Body: Ability, Disability, Sex, and Sexuality How do religious traditions understand (dis)ability and sex(uality)?  Beginning with a study of Song of Songs and Leviticus, the seminar will consider the form/function fo the body across traditions.
SOC 492
Section 01
Sociology of Education Applying a critical lens that emphasizes intersectional aspects of inequality, the class will be organized around popular education debates with an emphasis on urban schools.  Moving between classroom, community, and other institutional contexts, we will examine the roles of students, parents, teachers, foundations, and policymakers in shaping eductation. The course is designed to provide useful perspectives and skills to those interested in exploring careers in education.
THEA 490
Section 05 & 06
Mime and Clown Technique Utilizing mime and clown technique, the course will investigate methods to invent theatrical worlds using corporeal exercise.  We will examine how we relate to the natural world around us in order to develop skills, vocabularies, and audacity to invent relentlessly.

Special Topics - Fall 2017
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497
Section 01
The Art of Medieval Women Women were key artists and patrons of art and architecture in the European Middle Ages. Even though male clerics sometimes derided women as sinful descendants of Eve, women developed powerful voices through their work on monasteries, manuscripts, stained glass, textiles, and jewels.
CHLS 490
Section 01
 
The Movimiento   Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor In this course, students will analyze the context and history that led to the Chicano movement, “El Movimiento,” in the U.S. with particular attention paid to Chicano’s integration into the U.S. capitalist economy, the development of Chicano Studies and MEChA, and other movements.
    COMM 490
Section 01
    Communication and Violence Analysis of the role of communication in the prediction and prevention of violence. There will be an emphasis on communication theories/research and consideration of violence in interpersonal and educational settings.
      MKTG 495
Section 01
      Professional Selling Students will increase their selling effectiveness by completing a variety of exercises that reinforce a disciplined, professional selling process that focuses on bringing customers real value, distinguishing themselves from the competition and closing more business.
      MKTG 695
Section 01
      Diverse Talent Management Diverse Talent management is explored, identifying how individuals, relationships, and teams employ principles of diversity and multiculturalism at work. Actionable HR topics are studied through discussion, experimental exercises, self-inventories, and global team project.
 

Special Topics - Spring 2017
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
ACCT 495 Accountants' Professional Responsibilities and Ethics Prerequisite: IS 301, Consent of Instructor. Accountants' ethical reasoning is examined along with the legal and regulatory obligations. Lectures and short cases are used to examine theories in Account ethics. Emphasis is placed on professional responsibilities of accountants.
AH 497
Section 01
Site-Conditioned Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. The seminar is related to Dr. Simms' upcoming exhibition at the University Art Museum. The seminar focuses on site-conditioned art. Students may participate in preparing aspects of the exhibition.
AH 498
Section 01
The Visual Culture of Medieval Women Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Women were key artists, patrons, and donors of art and architecture in the European Middle Ages. Even though male clerics sometimes derided women as sinful descendants of Eve, they developed powerful voices through monasteries, manuscripts, stained glass, silks, and jewels.
AH 597
Section 01
Unity in the Arts Prerequisite: AH 307, Consent of Instructor. The Seminar examines how music, poetry and visual art connect in sheet music, where cover designs reflect the music and lyrics contained within. It also traces the history of modern graphic design styles in Japan, and looks at how sheet music reflects dramatic political change in times of peace and war.
AH 598
Section 01
The Visual Culture of Medieval Women Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Women were key artist, patrons, and donors of art and architecture in the European Middle Ages. Even though male clerics sometimes derided women as sinful descendants of Eve, they developed powerful voices through monasteries, manuscripts, stained glass, silks, and jewels.
AMST 495
Section 01
The Suburbs Prerequisite: GE Foundation; upper-division status; Consent of Instructor. Examines the place of the American suburbs in the geographical, social, political, and cultural landscape of the United States. As part of the course, each student will “adopt a suburb” and produce an original research profile of a local suburban community.
ANTH 490
Section 01
Biocultural Approaches to Gender and the Body Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. A critical exploration of contemporary and historic interpretations of sex/gender, and the gendering of the body. Our aim will be to disentangle the debate between social constructionist and biological approaches. Readings will include historic, biological, cultural, experiential, and theoretical perspectives.
ART 489
Section 01
Seminar in Craft Theory Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Critical analysis of contemporary craft practice and investigation of theoretical and historical issues.
ART 489
Section 02
On-Site New York City Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Immersive experience for the student/emerging artist, combines visits to artist’s studios, museums and galleries, with classroom discussions based on readings and historic cinema related to the NYC Art world. Students will attend Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial.
ART 490
Section 01
Intro to Wood Turning Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Introduction to wood lathes, tools and techniques of wood turning and metal spinning. Spindle and vessel turning and spinning; sculpture and furniture applications. Students should have taken ART 121 or ART 254.
ART 490
Section 02
American Indian Art an Indigenous Approach Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. A studio art course focused on cultural production associated with the CSULB Pow Wow and the restoration of the Tongva plank canoe indigenous to CSULB. These activities serve as learning resources for the basis for the production of studio artworks.
ART 589
Section 01
Seminar in Craft Theory Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Critical analysis of contemporary craft practice and investigation of theoretical and historical issues.
ART 589
Section 02
On-Site New York City Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Immersive experience for the student/emerging artist, combines visits to artist’s studios, museums and galleries, with classroom discussions based on readings and historic cinema related to the NYC Art world. Students will attend Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial.
ART 590
Section 02
American Indian Art an Indigenous Approach Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. A studio art course focused on cultural production associated with the CSULB Pow Wow and the restoration of the Tongva plank canoe indigenous to CSULB. These activities serve as learning resources for the basis for the production of studio artworks.
ENGL 489
Section 01
Textual Transmission and Cultural Identity in the English Renaissance Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. This course examines how and why different types of people wrote personal and public texts, how and why those texts were published/distributed and what those texts and their transmission across space and time tell us about Renaissance English culture more widely.
MKTG 495
Section 01
Brand Building Workshop Prerequisite: MKTG 300 and Consent of Instructor. Hands on experience for comprehensive brad building process including, brand positioning, naming, brand identity design, and marketing material design as well as discussion on UX/UI on on-line and off-line marketing.
PSY 490
Section 01
Psychology and Social Influence Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Explores leadership from theoretical and practical perspectives. Focuses on skills essential for creating organizations in which people can develop their potential as leaders. Students examine relevant readings, case studies, and research to analyze today’s successful leaders and followers.
SOC 492
Section 01
Being the Change: People, Groups, and Organizations The course will take a sociological perspective to examining theories, models, and organizational group dynamics. Will review how influential individuals can impact people, groups, and organizational structures. Through a combination of experiential activities, presentations, and case studies, students will explore the essence of effective team dynamics and gain new insights into their capability to make change.

 

Special Topics - Fall 2016
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
ACCT 495
Section 01
Accountants’ Professional Responsibilities and Ethics Prerequisite: IS 301, consent of instructor. A case based course that examines different theories of the accountant’s professional responsibilities and ethics. Accountants’ ethical reasoning is examined along with the legal and regulatory obligations.
AH 597
Section 01
Islamic Art in the West Learn about artist workshops: what you have to offer as a teacher; how to write proposals to institutions you want to work with; and how to seek funding.
ART 590
Section 01
Making it Work Prerequisite: Consent of instructor, AH 307 Since the birth of Islam in the seventh century, westerners have collected works of art made in Muslim empires. Why have medieval crusaders, Italian Renaissance painters, and modern collectors all sought these precious manuscripts, metalworks, and silks?
CECS 406
Section 01
Sustainability of Information Technology Systems Prerequisite: Senior Standing in the Computer Science Major This course teaches the most important concepts for understanding, analyzing, and assessing the sustainability of IT systems. Application domains include climate change, sustainable food production, smart systems, and gamification. We will use systems thinking approaches and develop future scenarios. See full description at http://birgit.penzenstadler.de/teach/406.html.
COMM 490
Section 01
Communication Technology This class explores the development and effects of new communication technology with emphasis in mediated interpersonal and small group communication.
FEA 490
Section 01
Web Series Production Explores creative and logistic challenges of web television production with an emphasis on fiction episodic series. Topics include concept development, content creation, and community building.
FCS 490
Section 01
Managing Events in the Hospitality Industry This course is designed to provide students with hands-on experience in planning and managing events in the hospitality industry.
PSY 490
Section 01
Building Resilience: Leveraging Leadership Strengths Strengthen your skills to motivate, inspire, and influence people and organizations in this experiential course. Explore theories, styles, and best practices of leadership as you shape your own leadership development.
PSY 590
Section 01
Practicum in Human Factors Prerequisite: PSY 527; PSY 627 Individual application of human factors skills to problems of design in industrial or governmental organizations that involve consultation with professionals in these organizations. At the conclusion of the semester, written and oral final reports describing the project and the outcomes are required.
SOC 492
Section 01
Leadership: You Make a Difference Explore leadership theories and techniques, review group dynamics between leaders and team members, discuss communication within group settings and leadership organizational structures. Includes a practical application of leadership skills through participation in individual and group problem-solving assignments.

Special Topics - Spring 2016
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497
Section 01
Historical Subjects in ART Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. All art traditions make use of historical subjects. The seminar will examine the theme among diverse cultures and periods, from ancient to modern, and explore the forms, purposes and meanings of such subjects and interpretive strategies for apprehending them.
AH 597
Section 01
Seminar in Art History Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Exploration from 1950 to the present in painting/drawing, sculpture, print, mixed media, activism/performance, and video/film. Reception in Argentina, Europe and the US Transnational debates concerning contemporary, international, and Argentinean art. Coincides with March UAM Symposium (Getty LA/LA initiative) on artist David Lamelas).
AH 597
Section 02
Historical Subjects in ART Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. All art traditions make use of historical subjects. The seminar will examine the theme among diverse cultures and periods, from ancient to modern, and explore the forms, purposes and meanings of such subjects and interpretive strategies for apprehending them.
ANTH 490
Section 01
Preparation in Anthropology Students identify their skills and career goals, and research how to represent being an anthropology major. Students develop a Professional Development Plan to lay out future training or reparation requisite for their selected career goals including planning for graduate school.
ART 590
Section 01
Proposals and Demos Students identify their skills and career goals, and research how to represent being an anthropology major. Students develop a Professional Development Plan to lay out future training or reparation requisite for their selected career goals including planning for graduate school.
CHLS 490S
Section 01
Farm Workers This course explores how the United Farm Workers, led by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and Larry Itilong succeeded in organizing farmer workers and improving their wages and working conditions. Why did the UFW succeed where all earlier unions had failed? The course also explores why in spite of the UFW’s efforts, most farm workers today are unorganized and living and working under poor conditions.
CHLS 490S
Section 02
Comedy y Cultura: Your Humorous Life The purpose of the course is to teach the student how to mine a unique humorous life adventure from their cultural identity and turn this distinct experience into a comedic short story. Once on paper, the student will then acquire the skills to read their story out loud, emphasizing the comedy in their piece through the art of storytelling and performance.
CLSC 490
Section 01
Selected Topics in Classics Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. This course is a close study of Ancient Corinth, one of the economic powerhouses of the ancient Mediterranean during both the Greek and Roman periods. Particular emphasis will be upon urbanization and how the city changed over time.
COMM 490
Section 01
Communication and Political Leadership Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. To be offered during the presidential primary season of 2016, this Spring semester course explores the interaction between persuasion theory and political leadership. How leaders achieve consensus, emerge as political leaders, build followings, win elections and advance legislative agendas is examined from the perspective of communication theory and political practices. The instructors and text will provide the theoretical foundation for the exploration of political practices with an emphasis on emerging leadership.
CWL 452/552
Section 01
Monsters and Mazes Prerequisite: One course in literature or consent of instructor. Survey of mythological topics throughout history pertaining to monsters, labyrinths, and mazes.
FCS 590
Section 01
Nutrition Informatics Prerequisite: Consent on instructor. Graduate level or Upper-Division Undergraduate. NUTR 331 or equivalent strongly recommended. Use of technology in the healthcare field with a focus on nutrition and dietetics. Evaluation of nutrition and health informatics smartphone applications, software, social media, and additional technology media. Health informatics trends to improve the quality and safety of patient care.
HDEV 490
Section 01
Developing in a Digital World This course will examine the ways in which digital communication devices have changed communication, memory, reading, socializing, working, education, civic engagement, human rights, and legacy.
MAE 590
Section 01
Design of Experiments This course aims to develop skills necessary to plan experimental procedures for data collection of physical systems, derive empirical models of the collected data, analyze and validate the developed empirical models, and perform optimization techniques from the empirical models.
MAE 590
Section 02
Biomechanics of Human Movement The course will include a review of experimental techniques used to study human movement, an introduction to advanced modeling, simulation and motion analysis techniques. Projects and demonstrations emphasize applications of mechanics in robotics, sports, orthopedics, and rehabilitation.
MAE 690
Section 01
Biomechanics of Human Movement The course will include a review of experimental techniques used to study human movement, an introduction to advanced modeling, simulation and motion analysis techniques, Projects and demonstrations emphasize applications of mechanics in robotic, sports, orthopedics, and rehabilitation. An additional project is required for doctoral students.
POSC 493
Section 01
Communication and Political Leadership Prerequisite: Consent on instructor. To be offered during the presidential primary season of 2016, this Spring semester course explores the interaction between persuasion theory and political leadership. How leaders achieve consensus, emerge as political leaders, build followings, win elections and advance legislative agendas is examined from the perspective of communication theory and political practices. The instructors and text will provide the theoretical foundation for the exploration of political practices with an emphasis on emerging leadership.

Special Topics - Fall 2015
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
ART 590
Section 01
Creating a Workshop Prerequisite: Instructor Consent Students will write a proposal package which will include; a proposal statement, teaching philosophy, lesson plan and an itemized budget. Students will teach demos and do lectures taken directly from their lesson plans and then receive instructor and student feedback.
AH 497
Section 01
Visionary Landscape: Japanese Gardens in the 21st Century Prerequisite: Instructor Consent We explore the theory and work of five leading Japanese garden designers. We analyze how they fit into ideas of gardens as optimal living environments, healing spaces, models of hybridity, locations of sustainable growth, and living works of art.
COMM 590
Section 01
Rhetoric and Social Change Prerequisite: Instructor Consent This course introduces canonical texts in the rhetorical study of social movements while expanding the interdisciplinary knowledge of social movements as an object of study. We will examine the definitional, theoretical, and methodological issues unique to rhetorical criticism of social movements as articulated in contemporary scholarly debates such as the nature of a rhetorical movement, the role of communication in development of the rhetorical movements, method(s) appropriate to study of modes of symbolic activity in rhetorical movements, and the ethical status of the critic of rhetorical movements.
FEA 490
Section 01
Script and Continuity Supervising Prerequisite: Major status. Examines the process of supervising scripts from pre-production though post-production. Topics include breakdown, continuity, on-set protocols, and tracking coverage.
MKTG 695
Section 01
Marketing Analytics Prerequisites: Graduate business standing and consent of instructor.

Marketing analytics is a scientific approach to harnessing customer data and competitive information to drive strategic business decision making. This course deals with how to collect and analyze business data to drive strategic business decision making in modern enterprises. The course will be based on lectures, case analyses, and hands on exercises to make students comfortable with statistical software widely used in data analytics. The cases and exercises will be bundled with real world data to apply concepts learned in class to real business situations.
NSCI 490
Section 01
Advanced Materials Sciences Prerequisite: At least upper division standing in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and consent of instructor.

Introduction to general principles of energy materials including catalytic, photovoltaic, and thermoelectric materials based on Nano structural and/or Nano porous systems.
SOC 492
Section 01
Dynamics of Leadership Examination of Leadership theory and techniques, dynamics between leaders and group members, communication within the group and within the leadership hierarchy, and organizational management. Includes a practical application of leadership skills through participation in individual and group problem solving projects.

Special Topics - Spring 2015
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
FEA 490
Section 01 
Video Game Design Prerequisite: Major Status 

Creation of analog and digital games, with critical examination of elements that make a game successful. Topics include interactive storytelling, game mechanics, and dynamics, and playtesting.  
ENGL 489
Section 01 
Radical Protest of Literature of the United States Prerequisites: None This course focuses on the intensive study of radical and proletarian literature. It explores the relationship of literary texts to society, economics, and history, examining the ways in which writers have understood literature as a fundamentally political project. 
    COMM 490
Section 01 
    Interpersonal Health Communication  This course surveys theory and research relevant to the interpersonal health communication. Topics include the role of communication in general models of health and illness, the relationship between patients and healthcare providers, social support, and difficult health conversations.  
FEA 490
Section 02 
Script Supervising  Prerequisite: Major Status 

Examines the process of supervising scripts from pre-production through post-production. Topics include script breakdown, continuity, on-set protocols, and tracking coverage. 
HDEV 490
Section 01
 
Living and Dying in a Digital Age Prerequisites: GE Foundation requirements, upper division standing and consent of instruction This course will explore psychological, social and cultural transformations associated with the use of digital communication and media devices. Topics to be covered will include changes in the identity, cognition, communication, community, civics and human rights and legacy issues due to emergent digital possibilities. 
MKTG 495
Section 01 
Environmental Sustainability and Marketing  Prerequisite: Consent of instructor, a GPA of 3.0 in marketing, IS 301 Topics in sustainability and marketing. Integration of profit, environment and society into marketing decision-making. Analysis and development of sustainable business situations and alternative. Learn to develop realistic and feasible marketing strategies. 
BIOL 490
Section 01 
Microbial Genomics  Prerequisites: BIOL 211, 212, 213, all with a grade of “C” or better and consent of instructor Introduction to the genomic of microorganisms, including the genome structure, tools for sequence analysis and comparative genomic, and metagenomics. 
BIOL 590L 
Section 02
 
Microbial Genomics  Prerequisites: BIOL 211, 212, 213, all with a grade of “C” or better and consent of instructor Introduction to the genomic of microorganisms, including the genome structure, tools for sequence analysis and comparative genomic, and metagenomics.
BIOL 490L
Section 02
 
Microbial Genomics  Prerequisites: BIOL 211, 212, 213, all with a grade of “C” or better and consent of instructor Introduction to the genomic of microorganisms, including the genome structure, tools for sequence analysis and comparative genomic, and metagenomics.
BIOL 590
Section 01
 
Microbial Genomics  Prerequisites: BIOL 211, 212, 213, all with a grade of “C” or better and consent of instructor Introduction to the genomic of microorganisms, including the genome structure, tools for sequence analysis and comparative genomic, and metagenomics.

Special Topics - Fall 2014
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
COMM 490
Section 01
Health Campaign Persuasion In this course students will explore persuasion theory and research in the context of public health campaigns. Students will learn the history of health campaigns in the U.S., evaluate past and present health campaigns, and design original health campaigns.
ECON 490
Section 01
Economic Policy Analysis Prerequisites: ECON 100, 101 (or ECON 300), MATH 115 (or MATH 119A, or MATH 122) This is an intermediate-level microeconomics course, forcusing on building capacity to use microeconomic tools in policy analysis. We will cover these tools in theoretical detail, and then apply them in a wide variety of policy applications. The primary area of policy analysis will cover environmental, ecosystem and natural resource topics that address market failure in these areas.
    FEA 490
Section 01
    Writing for Games Creation of interactive narratives and physical environments for engaging game play, with critical examination of interactive game concepts.
      MKTG 695
Section 01
      Marketing and Sustainability Prerequisites: Graduate business standing and consent of instructor.  
  Class instruction in marketing management and sustainability practices for the business organization.
      R/ST 490
Section 01
      Introduction to Pali This course covers the fundamentals of the earliest language of the Buddhist scriptures. It is still used in the day-to-day practice of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and elsewhere.

Special Topics - Spring 2014
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
ACCT 495
Section 01
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Federal and State income taxation of individuals. Students will provide free income tax filing for low income elderly, disabled, and limited English proficient individuals after training & tests. Laboratory and/or class computer applications required. Letter grade only (A-F)
AMST 495
Section 01
Foodscapes: Culinary Adventures in Contemporary America Examines the production and consumption of food in the U.S. after 1945, comparatively exploring issues of race, class, gender, and inter-ethnic relations. Themes include food as part of the process of “Americanization,” questions of what makes ethnic cuisine “authentic,” the politics of organic farming and sustainability, and social justice in the food industry.
CBA 494
Section 01
China This class meets for 15 hours on campus during spring semester, followed by one to two weeks overseas in June. While abroad, students attend seminars, interact with foreign business students, visit local businesses, and engage in social and cultural activities.
CBA 494
Section 02
Germany This class meets for 15 hours on campus during spring semester, followed by one to two weeks overseas in June. While abroad, students attend seminars, interact with foreign business students, visit local businesses, and engage in social and cultural activities.
CBA 495
Section 01
International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition Using a simulation, student teams run a company and compete for best performance against other university teams. A written business plan and annual report are required as is a presentation to a panel of real-world managers.
CRJU 490
Section 01
Sex Offenders This class evaluates the nature and etiology of the major categories of sex crimes and the justice system’s responses to them. The policies used to control sex offenders, and best practices regarding rehabilitate treatments and therapies for different categories of sex offenders will also be covered.
CRJU 490
Section 02
Misuses and Intentional Botches of Forensic Investigations Evaluates the ethical and legal quandaries created when forensic scientists make mistakes or fabricate the results of scientific testing. Special attention is paid to situations in which the innocent are wrongfully convicted and, conversely, when the guilty go free.
CRJU 690
Section 01
Sex Offenders This class evaluates the nature and etiology of the major categories of sex crimes and the justice system’s responses to them. The policies used to control sex offenders, and best practices regarding rehabilitation treatments and therapies for different categories of sex offenders will also be covered.
CRJU 690
Section 02
Misuses and Intentional Botches of Forensic Investigations Evaluates the ethical and legal quandaries created when forensic scientists make mistakes or fabricate the results of scientific testing.  Special attention is paid to situations in which the innocent are wrongfully convicted and, conversely, when the guilty go free.
GBA 695
Section 01
China This class meets for 15 hours on campus during spring semester, followed by one to two weeks overseas in June. While abroad, students attend seminars, interact with foreign business students, visit local businesses, and engage in social and cultural activities.
GBA 695
Section 02
International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition Using a simulation, student teams run a company and compete for best performance against other university teams. A written business plan and annual report are required as is a presentation to a panel of real-world managers.
GBA 695
Section 03
Germany This class meets for 15 hours on campus during spring semester, followed by one to two weeks overseas in June. While abroad, students attend seminars, interact with foreign business students, visit local businesses, and engage in social and cultural activities.
GERM 398
Section 01
French Occupations and German Literature This course provides a comprehensive introduction to German literacy responses to French occupations from 1792 to 1815 in works and letters by Schiller, Kleist, Collin, and Beethoven among others. The course focuses on the intersections of literature, politics and philosophy in the contexts of the Age of Revolution.
MKTG 495
Section 01
Green Marketing Role of employees and other stakeholders on sustainability issues; customers’ and prospects’ expectations about environmental impacts; environmentally-friendly product strategies; green branding; social marketing; cause-related marketing; role of marketing in social innovation and entrepreneurship; eco-labeling; fair trade, organic, and environmental certifications.
UNIV 300
Section 01
The Politics of Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath Students acquire a complex understanding of Hurricane Katrina with implications for what is one of the most unique cities in the United States. Course will provide an invaluable service learning experience through participation in the recovery efforts in the greater New Orleans metropolitan area during our Spring Break.

Special Topics - Fall 2013
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497
Section 01
The Clothed Body Tattooed or costumed, the body is transformed by how it is covered up. This seminar will explore the clothed body in art and fashion as a form of communication and gender expression.
AH 597
Section 01
The Clothed Body Tattooed or costumed, the body is transformed by how it is covered up. This seminar will explore the clothed body in art and fashion as a form of communication and gender expression. We will also do an exhibition.
CWL 448
Section 01
Lit & Photography Since its invention in 1839, the camera has profoundly influenced the way we perceive events. This interdisciplinary course focuses on the relationship between image and text, specifically the intersection of photography and literature from 19th-20th centuries.
CWL 449
Section 01
Writers of Extreme Situations This course examines works of the twentieth and twenty-first Century novelist and playwrights (Europe, North America, and Africa) whose brilliant creations excelled at portraying humans operating, either metaphorically or literally, in extreme situations: manmade adversities, natural disasters, incest, and social collapse.
CWL 548
Section 01
Lit & Photography Since its invention in 1839, the camera has profoundly influenced the way we perceive events. This interdisciplinary course focuses in the relationship between image and text, specifically the intersection of photography and literature from 19th-20th centuries.
CWL 549
Section 01
Writers of Extreme Situations This course examines works of the twentieth and twenty-first Century novelist and playwrights (Europe, North America, and Africa) whose brilliant creations excelled at portraying humans operating, either metaphorically or literally, in extreme situations: manmade adversities, natural disasters, incest, and social collapse.
ENGL 681
Section 01
Jane Austen Jane Austen was an innovative author who revolutionized the novel genre by combining the omniscient narrator of Fielding with the first-person perspective of Richardson. In six major novels, Austen explored the culture and society of her time in sophisticated ways.
RGR 490
Section 01
Intercomprehension: Read and Understand Five Romance Languages Speakers of one Romance language learn strategies to read and understand up to four other Romance languages by reading a variety of short texts in five languages. Meets once per week for 2 hours and has one-hour online component.
R/ST 590
Section 01
Pedagogy in the Study of Religion An examination of theories and approaches to teaching religion within the Liberal Arts traditions. Interdisciplinary and global approaches to teaching religion in the public university will be emphasized, to include comparative, historical, textual, social scientific, as well as topical/thematic.
CLA 490
Section 03
Pre-Law Advising Intensive instruction for students considering law school. Topics include: deciding on a legal career, law school realities, choosing law schools, academic and non-academic preparation. LSAT, application timeline/process, and admission decisions. Also includes individual assistance with applications.
ED P 590
Section 01
Special Topics Seminar: School-Wide Reform Seminar will focus on different processes and procedures for successfully engaging in school-wide reform initiatives at a school site. Various models of school reform as well as scaling-up of scientifically-based educational practices will be discussed. Credit/No Credit only. Fieldwork component required (2 hours a week).
THEA 490
Section 08
Theatre and Media Introduction to multimedia and its uses in the performing arts.
THEA 490
Section 09
Theatre and Media Introduction to multimedia and its uses in the performing arts.

Special Topics - Spring 2013
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497
Section 01
 
Building in the 19th and 20th Century   Investigation of technological innovations, formal experiments, and philosophical, ideological, political, economic and aesthetic discourses leading to and embodied in the modernist movement in western architecture from industrialism to the present. It will examine Southern Californian contributions.
AH 597
Section 01
 
Building in the 19th and 20th Century   Investigation of technological innovations, formal experiments, and philosophical, ideological, political, economic and aesthetic discourses leading to and embodied in the modernist movement in western architecture from industrialism to the present. It will examine Southern Californian contributions.
AH 497
Section 02
 
Paul Cézanne   Exploration of Cézanne's art from Romanticism to Post-impressionism. Will also consider Cézanne's impact on later artists, such as Picasso and Matisse. Readings include Cézanne's letters, conversations, and the critical and historical reception of his art.
AH 597
Section 02
 
Paul Cézanne Exploration of Cézanne's art from Romanticism to Post-impressionism. Will also consider Cézanne's impact on later artists, such as Picasso and Matisse. Readings include Cézanne's letters, conversations, and the critical and historical reception of his art.
CHLS 490
Section 01
 
Latino Leadership in STEM   This course explores the topic of Latino/a underrepresentation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math-based fields (STEM). Through lens of education, this course includes historical contributions of Latinos/as in STEM, current status of Latinos/as in STEM and examination of educational interventions.
CHLS 490
Section 02
Borders and Banda: Jenni Rivera “La Diva de la Banda”   Thru the lens of Jenni Rivera's career this course will explore the cultural influences of Banda, the gruperas, and other musical forms of border crossing, gendered lyrics. The class will include examination of videos, music and media coverage and an analysis of the life of Jenni Rivera and the struggles she faced.
CHLS 490
Section 03
 
Contemporary California-Mexico Relations and Policies   This travel/study course will examine the contemporary relations and policies emerging between California and Mexico under a new Mexican President and Congress, and Governor Jerry Brown's administration and a new California legislature in 2013. The class includes a 5-day excursion during Spring break to Sacramento, CA to visit the State's legislature and attend a California-Mexico policy conference.
CLA 490
Section 01
 
RGR Advising and Best Student Practices   Will help students maximize their university experience in a Major or Minor in the department of RGRLL. Covers study skills; degree roadmaps and planning; student abroad opportunities and research skills.
CLA 490
Section 03
Pre-Law Advising   Intensive instruction for students considering law school. Topics include: deciding on a legal career, law school realities, choosing law schools, academic and non-academic preparation. LSAT, application timeline/process, and admission decisions. Also includes individual assistance with applications.
ED P 590
Section 01
 
Special Topics Seminar: School-Wide Reform   Seminar will focus on different processes and procedures for successfully engaging in school-wide reform initiatives at a school site. Various models of school reform as well as scaling-up of scientifically-based educational practices will be discussed. Credit/No Credit only. Fieldwork component required (2 hours a week).
ENGR 790
Section 03
 
Human-Centered Assistive Tech   Prerequisites: MS or equivalent and formally admitted to the Ph.D. program Introduce students to the field of human factors engineering and psychology as it relates to the design, development and use of assistive technology for individuals with sensory, motor and cognitive disabilities.
FCSE 490
Section 02
 
Introduction to Application Programs   Introduction to Application Programs provides a compressed introduction to using Internet and email, Windows, word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications; basic computer literacy - specifically for Fashion Merchandising and Design students.
THEA 490
Section 08
 
Theatre and Media   Introduction to multimedia and its uses in the performing arts.
THEA 490
Section 09
 
Theatre and Media   Introduction to multimedia and its uses in the performing arts.
 

Special Topics - Fall 2012
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497
Section 01
 
Censorship in the Arts: U.S., Africa, and Eastern Europe   This seminar will investigate recent censorship and historical precedents in the U.S. (including the NEA Four), Africa, and Eastern Europe: First Amendment freedoms, censorship in the digital age, self-censorship, censorship as a discursive effect, and the dynamics of meta-censorship.
AH 597
Section 01
 
Censorship in the Arts: U.S., Africa, and Eastern Europe   This seminar will investigate recent censorship and historical precedents in the U.S. (including the NEA Four), Africa, and Eastern Europe: First Amendment freedoms, censorship in the digital age, self-censorship, censorship as a discursive effect, and the dynamics of meta-censorship.
AH 497
Section 02
 
Censorship in the Arts: Latin America, Asia, and Western Europe   This seminar will investigate recent censorship and historical precedents in Latin America, Asia, and Western Europe: Legal freedoms, responses to censorship in the digital age, self-censorship, censorship as a discursive effect and an artistic medium, and the dynamics of meta-censorship.
AH 597
Section 02
 
Censorship in the Arts: Latin America, Asia, and Western Europe   This seminar will investigate recent censorship and historical precedents in Latin America, Asia, and Western Europe: Legal freedoms, responses to censorship in the digital age, self-censorship, censorship as a discursive effect and an artistic medium, and the dynamics of meta-censorship.
EDSE 490
Section 01
 
Selected Topics Secondary Education   This course provides an overview of classroom assessment practices and issues related to formative and summative assessments. The content also addresses the assessment challenges facing special needs students and English learners. National and international assessment data is also analyzed.
EDEL 490
Section 01
 
Advanced Arts Methods   Corequisite: EDCI 500 Studies in Curriculum and Instruction, or Consent of Instructor Class instruction in advanced teaching methods in arts integration into regular elementary curriculum, including lesson plans that integrate state-adopted standards in arts and other subject contents. “Arts” in this context refer to four forms of arts: visual art, music, dance, and theater art.
COMM 490
Section 01
 
Communication in Conflict Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution   This course provides students with the essential communication skills and processes involved in becoming a conflict mediator. It incorporates all of the basic training required by the Orange County Human Relations Dispute Resolution Program that leads to a Certification in Mediation. Upon completion of this class, students will have the option of enrolling in a service learning internship where they can acquire valuable experience in actual mediation.
R/ST 690   The Body and Religion Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Considers the body as a locus for theorizing religion through examination of ancient Near Eastern and antique Jewish and Christian texts that map the physical or metaphorical body’s anatomy, (dis)ability, health, healing, or sex.
THEA 490 Virtual Automated Lighting Design Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor. Comprehensive study in techniques of virtual and automated lighting design. Course includes practical instruction in WYSIWYG virtual lighting software; Emphasis Control software and hardware; Vari*Lite, Martin, and High End automated fixtures, and the Catalyst Media Server.
CWL 402/502
Section1
Middle Eastern Literature in the Diaspora Prerequisites: One course in literature or consent of instructor. As the title indicates, this course examines remarkable texts by Middle Eastern writers in the diaspora. Their common concerns and different outlooks with enrich the discussions; these will also focus on the socio-historical stratas from which those writers emerge.
CWL 502/402
Section 01
Middle Eastern Literature in the Diaspora Prerequisites: One course in literature or consent of instructor. As the title indicates, this course examines remarkable texts by Middle Eastern writers in the diaspora. Their common concerns and different outlooks with enrich the discussions; these will also focus on the socio-historical stratas from which those writers emerge

Special Topics - Spring 2012
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497
Section 01
Light and Space Art This seminar explores Light and Space Art in historical and critical context. Artists discussed include Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Michael Asher, Douglas Wheeler, and Larry Bell.
AH 597
Section 01
Light and Space Art This seminar explores Light and Space Art in historical and critical context. Artists discussed include Robert Irwin, James Turrell, Michael Asher, Douglas Wheeler, and Larry Bell.
AH 497
Section 02
 
War, Commemoration and Art This seminar examines the relationship of strife and visual culture during the 20th century Asia, America and Europe. Using primary ‘texts’ including moments and their rhetoric, as well as secondary studies, it looks at art made during war, art commemorating victory, and art as a strategy of processing defeat.
AH 597
Section 02
War, Commemoration and Art   This seminar examines the relationship of strife and visual culture during the 20th century Asia, America and Europe. Using primary texts including moments and their rhetoric, as well as secondary studies, it looks at art made during war, art commemorating victory, and art as a strategy of processing defeat.
CLSC 490
Sections 01
Ancient Cities of the Near East, Egypt, and Mediterranean This course will be a study of the archaeology of urban life in these areas with a special force on urban development and evolution, socio-economic constraints, and the effects of specific structures and urban planning on cities and their fabric.
Comm 590
Section 01
Performance and Healing This graduate seminar will consider the relationship between performance methodologies and healing. Specifically, theatre of the oppressed, psychodrama, and drama therapy will be studied and practiced to consider the efficacy of these models for therapeutic contexts. Since traumatic memories are encoded at the cellular and muscular level, it is imperative to develop, study and assess performance-based, embodied treatment protocols.
CWL 402
Section 01
Middle Eastern Literature in the Diaspora As the title indicates, this course examines remarkable texts by Middle Eastern writers in the Diaspora. Their common concerns and different outlooks will enrich the discussions; these will also focus on the socio-historical stratas from which those writers emerge.
CWL 502
Section 01
Studies in Middle Eastern Literature in the Diaspora As the title indicates, this course examines remarkable texts by Middle Eastern writers in the Diaspora. Their common concerns and different outlooks will enrich the discussions; these will also focus on the socio-historical stratas from which those writers emerge.
CWL 461
Section 01
Reading in the Spaces: An Ethics of Reading Addresses issues of metonymy / metaphor and the implications of this distinction for an ethics of reading. Readings include Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, Civilization and its Discontents, selections from Roman Jakobson, Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Lacan, Homi Bhabha, and novels by A. B. Yehoshua, Elias Khoury, and Toni Morrison.
CWL 561
Section 01
Reading in the Spaces: An Ethics of Reading Addresses issues of metonymy / metaphor and the implications of this distinction for an ethics of reading. Readings include Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, Civilization and its Discontents, selections from Roman Jakobson, Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Lacan, Homi Bhabha, and novels by A. B. Yehoshua, Elias Khoury, and Toni Morrison.
ENGL 489
Section 01
Chicana/o-Latina/o Literature and Culture Readings will underscore the histories of colonialism, migration, racialization, and gendering that have shaped Chicana/o-Latina/o Literature. We will study genres including poetry, short fiction, the novel, the essay, visual art, and film.
ENGL 681
Section 01
John Keats In-depth study of English Romantic poet John Keats, including both his poetry and letters.
HIST 489
Section 01
Gender Law This course will examine how assumptions about innate qualities of men and women as well as assumptions about femininity and masculinity have shaped legal doctrines and the way that law has been implemented from colonial times through the past.
MAE 590
Section 01
System Architecting and Requisites This course will help to familiarize the student with an effective method for defining a set of system requirements. The focus will be on the initial problem space definition, defining user needs, the concept of operations, from systems to component-level requirements, and the architecture development.
THEA 490
Sections 01 and 02
Devising Creation of integrated theatrical performance through Interdisciplinary collaboration. Recommended for students in theatre, music, dance, and film.

 

Special Topics - Fall 2011
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
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 & 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 01
Literature 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 marketing.
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.

 

Special Topics - Spring 2011
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497
Section 01
Greek Vases This seminar explores the major stages in the history of Greek pottery production, both figured and plain, as they are understood today.  We will use a variety of methodological and theoretical strategies to evaluate the ways of studying Greek pottery and decoration.  Initial lectures and student presentations will present detailed analyses of the subject matter of figured scenes covering some of the mail preoccupations of ancient Greece: myth, fantasy and everyday life.  In addition, the seminar sets the artifacts in the context of the societies that produced them, highlighting the social, art historical, mythological and economic information that can be revealed from their study.
AH 497
Section 02
Contemporary functions of Public Japanese Gardens This seminar explores the major stages in the history of Greek pottery production, both figured and plain, as they are understood today.  We will use a variety of methodological and theoretical strategies to evaluate the ways of studying Greek pottery and decoration.  Initial lectures and student presentations will present detailed analyses of the subject matter of figured scenes covering some of the mail preoccupations of ancient Greece: myth, fantasy and everyday life.  In addition, the seminar sets the artifacts in the context of the societies that produced them, highlighting the social, art historical, mythological and economic information that can be revealed from their study.
AH 597
Section 02
Contemporary functions of Public Japanese Gardens This seminar explores historical origins and contemporary functions of public Japanese gardens in California.  Students investigate documents and conduct surveys to build a database on why gardens were created and how they impact their communities through educational and social activities.
ASAM 490
Section 01
Environmental Justice This course examines roles of race, ethnicity, gender, and class on experiences with environmental issues; focusing on global warming and air pollution.
BIOL 490
Section 01
 
Epigenetics in Brain Function Prerequisite: BIOL 340, 342, or 345 with a grade of “C” or better, consent of instructor. (Undergraduates enroll in BIOL 490; graduates enroll in BIOL 590.)

Mechanisms for epigenetic regulation of gene expression at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels, with emphasis on the nervous system. Current literature on epigenetic research approaches used in study of neural function, behavior, and neurological disease.
BIOL 590
Section 01
Epigenetics in Brain Function Prerequisite: BIOL 340, 342, or 345 with a grade of “C” or better, consent of instructor. (Undergraduates enroll in BIOL 490; graduates enroll in BIOL 590.) Mechanisms for epigenetic regulation of gene expression at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels, with emphasis on the nervous system. Current literature on epigenetic research approaches used in study of neural function, behavior, and neurological disease.
CHLS 490
Sections 01
Latino Immigrant Education: DREAM ACT Using proposed federal legislation entitled "the DREAM Act", this course will explore the experience of Latino immigrant students in U.S. schools and how immigration status, combined with political, socio-cultural, and economic conditions, impact options for immigrant youth and families.
C/LA 490
Section 10
California Legislation and Cooperation Policies with Mexico This travel/study course examines California's Legislation and cooperation policies between California and Mexico (i.e., health, education, environment, labor, etc.) during the last decade, and the emerging trends under and new governor and legislature. Includes a 4-day excursion to Sacramento during spring break to attend a Latino Caucus conference.
COMM 490
Sections 01
Narrative Performance This course focuses on how narratives are constructed and performed in Western culture.  Students will be expected to read narrative performance theory; write personal narratives; and theatrically perform their writing.
ED P 590
Section 01
 
Data-Based Decision-Making to Increase Student Outcomes in Middle School. Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor.

This seminar will focus on collecting and analyzing benchmark and progress monitoring data for 6th-8th graders in reading and math to make data-based instructional decisions to increase student outcomes for all students, especially students who are performing below grade level.  Tiered models of instruction in reading and math also will be taught and discussed within the context of implementation in middle school.  Practicum component required.  Credit/No Credit only.
MUS 495
Section 01
Seminar in Advanced Music Research and Scholarly Writing Prerequisite: Completion of Research Methods (MUS 496/696) and approval of thesis/project report topic. Open to undergraduate BA and BM music history students and all graduate music students. A guided seminar focused on advanced research techniques and methodologies employed in music, on academic writing in music, and on the planning, writing, editing, and completion of a significant music research paper.
MUS 595
Section 01
Seminar in Advanced Music Research and Scholarly Writing Prerequisite: Completion of Research Methods (MUS 496/696) and approval of thesis/project report topic. Open to undergraduate BA and BM music history students and all graduate music students. A guided seminar focused on advanced research techniques and methodologies employed in music, on academic writing in music, and on the planning, writing, editing, and completion of a significant music research paper.
PHIL 491
Section 01
Early Modern Theodicy Prerequisite: 6 units of philosophy or consent of instructor.

A theodicy is an explanation of why a perfectly good, powerful, and knowing God allows evil to exist in the world. This course will examine G.W. Leibniz’s Theodicy and Anne Conway’s The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy.
PHIL 591
Section 01
Early Modern Theodicy Prerequisite: 6 units of philosophy or consent of instructor. A theodicy is an explanation of why a perfectly good, powerful, and knowing God allows evil to exist in the world. This course will examine G.W. Leibniz’s Theodicy and Anne Conway’s The Principles of the Most Ancient and Modern Philosophy.
R/ST 690
Section 01
Gender, Religion, Witchcraft and Magic Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor This course examines intersections of gender, religion, magic, sorcery and witchcraft in the contemporary world. We will focus on the ways in which women have negotiated their positionality through the use of sorcery, and reactions by enforcers of orthodoxy.
THEA 490
Sections 03/04
Improv   Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor Class instruction in improvisational performance techniques.
THEA 490
Sections 05/06
Mime   Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor Class instruction in practical movement for building strength, agility, flexibility and powers of imagination for the actor.
THEA 490
Sections 11,12
Advanced Playwriting   Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor This class offers instruction in advanced writing techniques for the stage.

Special Topics - Fall 2010
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AIS 490
Section 01
American Indian Cultural and Restoration through Museum Studies Introduction to American Indian cultural items from tribes across the United States as reflected in preservation, presentation, and display in non-Native museums. Themes to be explored include the acquisition of cultural items, consultation with Native American tribes, classification of cultural artifacts, and tribal-museum contracts and agreements to allow for display of non-religious American Indian materials.
COMM 590
Section 01
Qualitative Research Methods 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.
CWL 420
Section 01
The Comic Spirit Prerequisite: CWL 320I or consent of instructor Seminar involving intensive study of the theory and the history of comedy in its many forms, dating from the classical period of western and other cultures to the modern era, focused on an analysis of masterworks from each period.
CWL 402/502
Section 01
Voices of Exile in North America Prerequisite: One course in literature or consent of instructor An interdisciplinary course in cultural studies focusing on twentieth-century representations of exile primarily by Francophone exilic writers of Middle Eastern origins in Canada. The course will also deal with the Arab American experience after 9/11.
CWL 448/548
Section 01
Comics and Graphic Novels Prerequisite: One course in literature or consent of instructor This interdisciplinary class examines the sequential art and narrative of a sophisticated and complex medium bearing close affinities with art, film, and literature. Students learn about and appreciate this visual medium by ‘reading’ graphic novels and comics from around the world.
EDEL 599
Section 01
Formative and Summative Assessments in Arts Education Students will acquire foundational knowledge in the development and implementation of formative and summative assessments.
EE 405
Section 01
Introduction to Smart Grid and Current Power Issues The Smart Grid class explains what makes a grid “smart”. The class explains technologies for smart metering, distribution, load balancing that can be used to reduce brown-outs or blackouts in the information age. It will also analyze the effects a Smart Grid will have on the distribution grid, its design and operation, including issues of cyber security. Develop understanding and design interconnections, both optical and electrical. Memory as it applies to the systems and interconnect design will also be explored (SAN, NAS, etc.) Explore design and system modeling/simulation tools, and measuring techniques.
EE 590
Section 02
High Speed Communication Circuits Prerequisite: EE 430 or consent of instructor Design of integrated circuits for high speed data communication. Serial communication standards. Transceiver architecture. High speed and broadband circuit design techniques. Serializer, deserializer, clock recovery circuits. Channel equalization. Jitter and channel interference issues.
EE 590
Section 03
High Speed Interconnects in Digital Systems Design Prerequisite: Graduate standing

Develop understanding and design interconnections from chip to system level, including new bus technologies, fast interconnections, both optical and electrical. Memory as it applies to the systems and interconnect design will also be explored (SAN, NAS, etc.) Explore design and system modeling/simulation tools, and measuring techniques.
EE 590
Section 04
Selected Topics in Solar Energy Prerequisite: Graduate standing in MSEE

Solar systems for electric and thermal energy generation. Crystalline and thin film PV cells. Grid-tied and off-grid systems. Solar thermal collectors. Pressurized and non-pressure thermal solar systems. Performance evaluation and modeling.
LING 490/590 Section 01 Introduction to Research Methods Introduction to quantitative, qualitative and mixed method research in linguistics; basic-statistical methods; and writing a research report.
MICR 490/590
Section 02
Interaction of Microbes with Other Organisms Prerequisites:  MICR 211 with a grade of “C” or better; MICR 371 or BIOL 370.
This course will explore beneficial and harmful interactions of microbes with other microbes, plants and animals including humans, with an emphasis on the use of genetic, molecular and cell biological and genomics approaches in the study of these interactions.
PHIL 491/591
Section 01
Philosophy of Religion and Locke Prerequisite: 6 units of philosophy or consent of instructor This course will be dedicated to the philosophical theology of John Locke.  We will examine some of the neglected parts of the “Essay” and Lock’s other writings on philosophical theology and religion.  In doing so, we will try to better ascertain Lock’s views on man, the world and God.
PHIL 496/596
Section 01
Reasons for Action   Prerequisite: 6 units of philosophy or consent of instructor This course reviews recent work on reasons for action, i.e., what we have reason to do.  Are there reasons of self-interest? How about moral reasons? Are reasons subjective or objective? How can we resolve conflicts between different kinds of reasons?
R/ST 690
Section 02
Ancient Wisdom Literature Prerequisite: Consent of instructor Wisdom Literature from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and ancient Israel considered including biblical, Dead Sea Scrolls and early Jewish and Christian texts. The course also examines the goddess figure of “Woman Wisdom” as well as ancient dialectic on questions of good and evil.
SOC 490
Section 01
Religion and Social Change Course explores the relationship of religion as an important social institution to the phenomenon of social change.  We will consider the role of religion in social movements in the United States and examine instances of social change inside religious institutions.

Special Topics - Spring 2010
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497/597
Section 01
Art Deco and Japan   We explore the Art Deco movement of the 1920s and 1930s both as an international phenomenon and in its particular manifestation in Japan. We examine architecture, crafts, product design and graphic design. Subthemes include topics as diverse as the relation of Deco to militarism, world's fairs, the women's movement and jazz culture. The seminar is connected to a national exhibition of Japanese Art Deco curated by Professor Brown.
AH 498/598
Section 01
Etruscan Art   Survey of Etruscan art from the Bronze Age to the rise of Rome. Lectures explore key monuments of architecture, sculpture, painting and so-called minor arts discussed relative to contemporary theories, criticism, and history. Focus on techniques and materials of various arts.
ASAM 490
Section 01
Ethnic and Transnational Media in Asian America This course investigates how Asian Americans read and respond to mainstream, ethnic, and transnational (Hong Kong, Korean, Japanese, etc.) media and popular culture as they inform trends, identities, and communities.
CLSC 490
Section 02
Greek Architecture Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor This class examines the development of Greek architecture from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic periods, including architectural principles of design, materials, construction, function, integration within the local environment, and influence of other cultures. Cultural identity provides a contextual thread.
COMM 590
Section 01
Qualitative Research Methods   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.
COUN 692
Section 01
Family Trauma Intervention Training This course provides hands-on training in treatment for families contending with trauma or loss using the FOCUS (Families Overcoming Under Stress) Program. Students will learn about recent research on the impact of trauma and loss on families.
CRJU 490
Section 01
Women and Crime in a Global Perspective Prerequisites: Completion of 300-level core courses or consent of instructor. Historical and contemporary issues facing girls and women as crime victims, criminal offenders, prisoners, and professionals working in the criminal justice system both in the U.S. and abroad.
CRJU 490
Section 03
Sex, Media, and the Criminal Justice System Prerequisites: Completion of 300-level core courses or consent of instructor. An examination of the criminalization of sex, sexuality, gender identity, and sexual practices often considered "deviant." Special attention is paid to the media's role in the social construction of sexual deviance, as well as how offenders experience correctional settings.
CRJU 690
Section 01
Women and Crime in a Global Perspective Prerequisites: Completion of 300-level core courses or consent of instructor.

Historical and contemporary issues facing girls and women as crime victims, criminal offenders, prisoners, and professionals working in the criminal justice system both in the U.S. and abroad.
CRJU 690
Section 02
Professional Writing in Criminology and Criminal Justice A workshop focusing on synthesizing justice research to assist students with writing papers, theses, and comprehensive examination essays. Emphasizes presenting evidence, thinking critically, developing a professional writing style, and editing for organization, APA format, grammar, punctuation, consistency, and accuracy.
CRJU 690
Section 03
Sex, Media, and the Criminal Justice System Prerequisites: Completion of 300-level core courses or consent of instructor

An examination of the criminalization of sex, sexuality, gender identity, and sexual practices often considered "deviant." Special attention is paid to the media's role in the social construction of sexual deviance, as well as how offenders experience correctional settings.
CWL 461/561
Section 01
Visual Studies: Literary Images, Artistic Renderings and Scientific Gazes Students will examine various theories of perception, develop specific visual and verbal skills, and learn to analyze and interpret the increasing visualization of contemporary culture. An underlying theme of the course will be how technological development from the medieval period up to today has played a major role in this process of understanding space, motion, and reality.
CWL 449/549
Section 01
 
Major 20th - 21st Century Writers This course is based on an intensive study of selected major 20th - 21st Century writers, recognized among the leaders of the avant-garde in modem times. Authors who may be covered include Franz Kafka, Vladimir Nabokov, Marguerite Duras, Annie Ernaux, Umberto Eco, Milan Kundera, Jose Saramago, Roberto Bolano.
ED P 590
Section 01
Instructional Consultation in Middle School Reading Across the Content Areas Consent of instructor required Focus on middle school reading curriculum, instruction, and appropriate assessment models to inform instruction. Emphasis placed on the analysis and modification of multiple variables in the instructional environment that influence student performance in reading content subject materials, including curriculum demands, teaching strategies/presentation, and student skills. Credit/no credit only.
EDSE 490
Section 01
 
The Politics of Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath Members of this learning community will acquire a complex understanding of Hurricane Katrina, not just as a severe meteorological event but as an event with very real implications for what is one of the most unique cities in the United States. This course will provide an invaluable service learning experience, as the classroom experience here at CSULB will be amplified through participation in the recovery efforts in the greater New Orleans metropolitan area during the Spring Break.
PHIL 491/591
Section 01
Early Modern Women Philosophers Prerequisite: 6 units of philosophy or consent of instructor This course focuses on early modern women philosophers (17th and 18th century) including Princess Elizabeth, Margaret Cavendish, Mary Astell, Anne Conway, Damaris Masham, Sophie de Grouchy, and Mary Shepherd, and examines their work in metaphysics, philosophical theology, morality, and politics.
PHIL 620
Section 01
William James An in-depth study of William James's psychology and philosophy. Readings will be organized around his monumental Principles of Psychology, which we'll supplement with background from other philosophers and psychologists. We'll ask how his pragmatist philosophy is connected to his psychology.
PHIL 690
Section 01
Explanation in the Special Sciences After briefly surveying traditional theories of scientific explanation, this course focuses upon the goals, overarching structure, and individual component elements of explanations in the special sciences. Special emphasis is placed upon computational explanations in cognitive science.
R/ST 690
Section 01
Gender, Religion, Witchcraft and Magic Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor

This course examines intersections of gender, religion, magic, sorcery and witchcraft in the contemporary world. We will focus on the ways in which women have negotiated their positionality through the use of sorcery, and reactions by enforcers of orthodoxy.
THEA 290
Section 03 and 04
Shakespeare Performance Workshop Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor Class instruction in Shakespeare performance.
THEA 290
Section 05 and 06
Fabric Dyeing for the Theatre Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor Class instruction in fabric dyeing for theatrical productions.
THEA 490
Section 07 and 08
Shakespeare Performance Workshop Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor
Class instruction in Shakespeare performance.
WGSS 490
Section 02
Sex and Style Prerequisite: Completion of Foundation Courses Fashion is a powerful way to express gender, politics, personalities, and desire. Yet fashion can also repress freedom and sexual expression. This course explores these issues through critical analysis of gender, race, sexuality, class, and nation.

Special Topics - Fall 2009
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AFRS 490
Section 01
Research Topics in African American Literature   Prerequisite: AFRS 140

This course is a detailed study of certain literary themes, periods, authors, styles and/or techniques of African American Writers. Focus upon one or more of the aforementioned categories from at least two periods: 1930 - 1950 and 1960 - 1980's.
AH 497/597
Section 02
Robert Irwin   Examination of Irwin's art in historical, aesthetic and philosophical context.
AIS 490
Section 01
American Indian Fine Arts: Post 1900 This course examines North American Indian arts with emphasis on major art forms of the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada. Explores relationship between contemporary art and artists with specific attention to aesthetic, theoretical, historical, religious and philosophical aspects.
ANTH 490
Section 01
Ethnographic Film Production I Intermediate-level ethnographic/documentary film production. Students will learn the fundamentals of how to produce an ethnographic film from conception through completion using professional-quality production and post-production equipment. Ethnographic films will be produced in the greater Long Beach community.
CLSC 490
Section 01
Aegean Bronze Age Archaeology   An examination of the cultures and civilizations of the Bronze Age Aegean including sites, artifacts, economies, trade and their interactions both within and beyond the Aegean.
COUN 692
Section 01
Spirituality and Psychotherapy Seminar This seminar provides an advanced study of special topics in the field of counseling. Specifically, this is a survey course on spirituality and psychotherapy.
COUN 692
Section 03
Gestalt Therapy This seminar is designed to be an experiential learning process of Gestalt Therapy. The student will be exposed to the theory, methodology and techniques of Gestalt Therapy.
CWL 449/549
Section 01
Nobel Prize Laureates This course will examine selected works by Jean-Paul Sartre, Samuel Beckett, Luigi Pirandello, Naguib Mahfouz and VS Naipaul, all of whom played a major role in the march of world literature. We will also examine the modalities surrounding the Nobel Prize selection.
CWL 452/552
Section 01
Myth and the Stages of Life Myths provided traditional cultures and models for living the various stages of a normal human life and with the information needed to get through the crises of the points of passage between those stages. We will read myths in this light and also study mythical figures, as well as considering 20th century figures..
ED P 490
Section 01
Advanced Instructional Consultation in Algebra Prerequisite: Consent of Instructor Seminar will focus on algebra curriculum, effective instructional practices, and advanced assessment models at the school-wide and individual level. Systems change practices will be emphasized. Mentorship by advanced students required. Practicum component required.
EDEL 599
Section 01
Expanding and Deepening Arts Content Knowledge for K-12 Teaching Prerequisite:Admission to Curriculum and Instruction Master's program or consent of instructor.

Advanced preparation in the application of California K – 12 Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards.  Provides tools for developing K – 12 discrete and integrated lessons, including authentic assessments.  Draws on current research and best practices in VPA education.  Explores partnerships and collaboration.  Includes student portfolio.  Letter grade only (A-F)
GERM 398
Section 01
Thomas Mann Student's study the major works by German novelist, essayist and short fiction author, Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955), comparing Mann's works of fiction and political essays in the following periods: Empire and World War I, Weimar Republic, Fascism and World War II and 4) Mann's final decade.
JAPN 490
Section 01
 
Advanced Presentation Skills in Japanese Prerequisite: JAPN 302 and 312 or instructor consent

Development of advanced skills in presentation, including analysis of formal Japanese, presentation techniques and multimedia application in Japanese. This course is conducted in Japanese.
PHIL 496/596
Section 01
Feminist Philosophy Prerequisite: 6 units of Philosophy or consent of instructor

This course will be an advanced introduction to problems in feminist philosophy including questions on feminism; sexism; gender; and self.
PHIL 690
Section 01
 
Color and Color Perception This course examines philosophical and empirical research on color experience and the nature of color. The course will focus on whether colors exist and what we might know about them. We will also study some empirical and methodological details.
R/ST 690
Section 01
Sex, Gender and Religion in the Ancient Near East Prerequisite: Consent of instructor From mythical, ritual, mantic and legal texts from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Ugarit, the Hittites and ancient Israel (e.g., Gilgamesh; the biblical Song of Songs), the course sketches the systems of gender, sex and sexuality arising out of the religions of the ancient Near East.
SOC 494
Section 01
Immigration in Global and Social Context: A Research Focused Seminar Prerequisite: SOC 355 or permission of instructor

Immigration is a contemporary social change topic that links different levels of analysis from micro to macro global. The seminar is organized around a common set of discussions about the research process and evaluation of each student's progress on an immigration-related research project of his or her choice. The final product will be a research paper and a public presentation of the research findings.

Special Topics - Spring 2009
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497/597
Section 1
Patronage in the Renaissance This seminar will explore the relationship of patrons and artists in Europe during the late middle ages and Renaissance. It will address issues involving who was commissioning art and for what purposes, and how the patrons' wishes might be expressed in specific artworks. Intended for advanced majors and graduate students, the seminar will require specialized reading and an in-depth research project.
AH 497/597
Section 2
Modern Architecture This seminar explores the various technological innovations, formal experiments, philosophical and ideological currents, political and economic factors, and aesthetic concepts that led to and were embodied in the modernist movement in western architecture from the rise of industrialism to the contemporary scene. It will thus determine the salient characteristics of "modernism," and examine significant Southern Californian contributions to this movement.
ART 490
Section 1
Experimental Animation Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. An investigation of a variety of basic animation techniques as alternatives to traditional hand-drawn character animation with emphasis on understanding movement, weight, timing and sequential aesthetics.
A/ST 490
Section 1
Korean Popular Culture in Asia/Asian America   Prerequisites: Upper division standing or consent of instructor. Examines the phenomenon of Korean popular culture ("hallyu") and its effects in Asia and Asian America. Explores contemporary South Korean culture, society, and economy through television dramas, mini-series, films, and music. Knowledge of Korean language not required.
BIOL 490/590
Section 1
Contemporary Issues in Stem Cell Biology Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Critical evaluation of current primary literature on stem cell biology including their derivation and induction, characterization, differentiation, and therapeutic potential.
CBA 495
Section 1
International Collegiate Business Simulation Competition Prerequisite: Consent of instructor, I S 301. This course provides an experience equivalent to actually running a manufacturing company in competition with other companies run by student teams from US and international business schools. Written reports and a presentation to panel of judges is required.
C/LA 490
Section 10
California-Mexico Higher Education Policy Issues A travel study survey course on the contemporary and critical issues related to California-Mexico Higher Education policies. The course will involve a 10-day travel/study trip to Mexico City (March 26 to April 5, 2009).
COMM 590
Section 1
Hip Hop Criticism Prerequisite: Comm 541 Hip Hop Criticism examines the efficacy of various (traditional and nontraditional) critical approaches to the study of hip hop.
COMM 590
Section 2
Political Communication Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. This seminar will focus on the rhetorical presidency and its development across time. We will study inaugural addresses, state of the union speeches, war speeches, policy speeches, and the presidency as a rhetorical institution.
COUN 692
Section 4
Disaster Mental Health This course will cover current research on disaster mental health issues. It will also review cognitive-behavioral treatment of disaster related trauma. Immediate and post-disaster response strategies will be reviewed.
CRJU 490/690
Section 2
Issues in Urban Justice Prerequisites: Completion of 300-level core courses or consent of instructor. A study of the justice system's impact on urban, minority communities. Examines the culture and administration of urban: police departments, courts, mass incarceration, and prison release reintegration programs. Emphasis on the systems link to urban poverty, unemployment, and social isolation.
CWL 452/552
Section 1
The Mythic Hero: Oedipus and Lear, Ahab and the Judge Evolution of the tragic hero from the Classical to the Shakespearean, through American Romanticism and into contemporary literature, such as Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.
EDEL 490
Section 01
English Language Learners This course will examine: 1) language policies and legal decisions in the United States; 2) theoretical underpinnings for teaching English to English Language Learners; research-based strategies for teaching English Language Learners in urban classroom settings. Language policy and theory will be applied to instructional methods for ELLs.
EDEL 490
Section 02
Biliteracy: Teaching English and Korean Content, methods, and assessment for teaching literacy in K-8 English and Korean bilingual settings. Course lectures, activities, and assignments in English and Korean. Ten hours field work in elementary bilingual and sheltered English/Korean classrooms required.
GBA 695
Section 3
International Collegiate Business Simulation Competition Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor. This course provides an experience equivalent to actually running a manufacturing company in competition with other companies run by student teams from US and international business schools. Written reports and a presentation to panel of judges is required.
GERM 498/598
Section 1
The Aesthetics of Terror This course will focus on current discussions in German Studies. Students will encounter the visual representation of various forms of terror to determine under what circumstances an aesthetics of terror is possible. For graduate and advanced undergraduate students.
HIST 290
Section 2
Heresy and Witchcraft in Europe This course will examine the origins, development, content, and effects of both Christian heresy and the appearance of the Witch in Europe, primarily but not limited to Europe.
HIST 290
Section 3
History vs. Hollywood This course will examine the relations between history and Hollywood; the debates among historians over the relative value of historical films-such as "Viva Zapata!" (1952), "Mississippi Burning" (1988), and "JFK" (1991) and the ways historians have used movies as historical documents.
PHIL 490/590
Section 1
Plato and Nietzsche Prerequisite: 6 units of philosophy or consent of instructor. An examination of the starkly opposed positions taken by Plato and Nietzsche as regards the nature and value of moral conduct. A secondary theme will be the character of (Socratic) rationalism. Primary readings: Plato's Gorgias and Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals.
PHIL 680
Section 1
Theories of Truth Prerequisite: PHIL 382 or consent of instructor. This course will closely scrutinize the correspondence theory of truth by way of the main arguments and problems haranguing it. Also focused on will be truth's relationship to certainty, and to the varieties of realism (alethic, semantic, scientific, etc.).
PHIL 690
Section 1
Mill's on Liberty and Free Speech Close analysis of J.S. Mill's on Liberty, especially concerning free speech; contemporary critical dialogue on the text; application to contemporary issues (including Nazi speech, hate speech, pornography, internet). Electronic dialogue with Slovak university students on the contemporary issues is planned.
POSC 493
Section 01
Politics, Culture, and Disaster Examinations of the political and cultural consequences of disasters, with special emphasis on Hurricane Katrina and its impact upon the city of New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, and the nation. Students will travel to New Orleans to engage in service learning work to help in the rebuilding effort.
R/ST 490
Section 1
Ancient Near Eastern Religions: Myth and Ritual Myth and ritual are lenses on ancient Near Eastern religions. Using myth theory and ritual analysis, the course takes up Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Ugaritic, Hittite, and Israelite myths of creation and journeys along rituals of sacrifice, purity and escape animals.
SPAN 490
Section 1 and 2
Latin American Cinema A critical and historical overview of the art and politics of Latin American cinema from the 1960's to the present. A study of the New Latin American Cinema as an expression of historical reality and as personal expression.
SPAN 640
Section 1
Theatricality, Performance and Memory in LA Prerequisite: Spanish 341 or consent of instructor. This seminar explores theatricality and performance within the analysis of social and cultural practices of memory and national identities during South and Central America's re-democratization processes.
W/ST 490
Section 1
Race and Sexuality in a Global Context An interdisciplinary study of the relationship between race and sexuality as it shapes global political structures, (European/ US colonialism, law, human rights, global division of labour, militarism), that links US racial/sexual politics with other national and transnational movements for equality.

Special Topics - Fall 2008
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497/597
Section 1
Hysteria This art history seminar investigates hysteria from 19th century gendered theories to Freud, Lacan and Deleuze on Francis Bacon. The class will track hysteria from Surrealism to Britney Spears. Students will curate an Exhibition.
AH 497/597
Section 2

Japanese Art  
The famous stone garden, or “Zen Garden”, at Kyoto’s Ryoanji temple supposedly expresses the essence of Japanese culture and spirituality, but in fact, the garden’s fame is the project of the 20th century. This class explores its “creation” through modern interpretations in art, literature and pop culture.
ANTH 490/600
Section 1
Visual Anthropology This class will explore the ways in which film, still photography and indigenous visual cultures could be deployed in the collection, analysis and distribution of anthropological knowledge. Students will have the option of producing their final projects in one of the formats explored.
  C/LA 490
Section 1 and 2
    Peer Mentor Seminar The Peer Mentor seminar serves as an opportunity to apply learned theory to actual classroom situations. Student mentors serve as class facilitators in C\LA 195. The seminar focuses on enhancing the skills essential to teaching first year students. Emphasis on lesson planning and experiential activities to help first-year students succeed at the university will be made.
CHIN 490/590
Section 02
Transnational China in Cinema Employs films as “cultural texts” by exploring issues related to the cultural transformation in contemporary China, its globalization process, urban development, and the impact of socio- political changes to the everyday lives of Chinese persons.
COMM 590
Section 1
Humor as Communication This course is an examination of humor as a communication phenomenon, with particular focus on its role in interpersonal interactions. Review of major theories of humor, analysis of research on humor in naturalistic discourse.
CRJU 490/690
Section 1
White Collar Crime The course investigates the foundations, types, investigation, prosecution, and punishment of white collar and corporate crimes, as well as justice system and societal responses to such crimes.
CWL 448/548
Section 1
Surrealism Surrealism attempted to creatively express the workings of the unconscious influenced by Freud’s writing, and emphasized dreams, hallucinations, and the threshold of the conscious mind. This course will explore these issues in poetry, novels, paintings, and films, including continuing influence (for example, on Magic Realism).
CWL 449/549
Section 1

Modernism, Postmodernism, Post-colonialism  
This course will study selected works of Albert Camus, Gunter Grass, and Salman Rushdie as major representatives of modern, postmodern, and postcolonial literature in Europe and the world.
ENGL 489
Section 1
Women in the Early Modern Era This course offers intensive study of early modern texts about and by women, from international and interdisciplinary perspectives. Primary and secondary readings on early modern women in all aspects of their lives.
HIST 290
Section 1
Movies, Television and History This course will examine how the past is represented in the media. Rather than simply emphasizing the creative distortions movies and Hollywood are famous for, this course would also seek to explore the ways movies have contributed to historical debate and discourse. Also, students will analyze how film and television have shaped the development of our culture and cultural memory.
HIST 290
Section 2
California and the Cult of the Body This cultural history course will examine the development of the political economy of the body for which the Golden State is notorious. The relationship between bodies, health, religion, place, and the commodification of these associations, will be the central focus of the class. Topics include surfing, beach culture, health and food faddism, beauty culture, yoga and spiritualism. The course will span the late 19th century through the 1980s.
HIST 290
Section 4

 
Music, Meaning, and Identity in the Western World Music, Meaning and Identity in the Western World: This course will address the uses of musical forms, music consumption, and musical cultures, including various forms of popular music as well as art music, in the 20th century.

HIST 290
Section 5

Women and Revolution in the Modern World This class examines the roles women played in political and social revolutions of the 20th century. We will discuss how women forwarded or challenged the goals of these revolutions, how images of women were used, and how revolutions become gendered.
HIST 290
Section 6
Cultural Revolutionaries of the 20th Century This course will introduce important intellectual mavericks of the twentieth century who challenged the social and cultural conventions of their societies. The course will examine the ways in which these revolutionary artists, musicians, playwrights, and other intellectuals confronted the cultural norms of their times.
PHIL 493/593
Section 1
Color and Color Vision This course examines leading philosophical positions on color and color experience, including empirical work on color relevant to philosophical issues. Special attention will be given to what philosophical work on color phenomena might be relevant to scientific study.
PHIL 690
Section 1
Well-Being This seminar introduces students to contemporary philosophical and psychological debates concerning personal well-being. We will explore the relationship between well-being and: desire-satisfaction, life- satisfaction pleasure, autonomy, happiness, rationality, and self- perfection. We will discuss the proper role for well-being within moral theory.
PSY 390
Section 1
Animal Cognition This course will explore the perceptual and navigational abilities of many species, as well as examining animal communication and what animals know about the minds of others. It will also address the reasoning abilities of animals and processes by which animals learn and adapt to challenges in their world.

PSY 390
Section 2

Child Psychopathology The course is an introduction to psychopathology of children and adolescents. It will discuss Basic Psychological Theories of Child Psychopathology, Classification, Diagnosis, and Assessment; and it will cover various disorders.
SOC 490
Section 1
Honors Research Seminar This course will use foundational research processes for the Honors Thesis Seminar. Topics include: literature review, hypotheses formulation and guiding ideas, and data collection.
SOC 490
Section 2
Immigration Seminar Prerequisite: 355 or consent of instructor.  This course will encourage students to develop their research skills by applying them to a contemporary social issue with public policy implications, that of immigration. Students will choose a research question, gather and analyze data, and present their findings in a public forum.
SOC 494
Section 1
Sociology and the Global City This course examines how globalization has affected the ways large cities operate. Topics include: how cities become integrated in the global economy, the ways which global immigrants become incorporated in cities, and the methods used by governments to regulate and control these new urban worlds.

Special Topics - Spring 2008
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497/597
Section 1
Animal Images This course examines representations of animals and animality in 18th and 19th century Europe. Topics will include natural history, evolution, animal welfare, and physiognomy.
AH 497/597
Section 2
Orientation This course explores Western printmakers in Japan from 1900-1950, investigating the impact of gender, sexual orientation and Orientalism in their work. The course lays the groundwork for a possible exhibition.
ART 490
Section 1
New York Onsite This course is a six day guided tour of galleries, museums, foundations, artist’s studios, and historical architectural sites.
ART 490/590
Section 2
Advanced Typography This course introduces students to advanced elements of typographic layout and typeface construction. Students further investigate systems, models and mechanics of the past before they are introduced to modern typeface design software. Intensive research will culminate in the design of a simple typeface.
AIS 490
Section 1
Aztec Healing, Language and Culture This course is an introduction to Aztec healing, language and traditions from 1000AD to present. Students will examine classic Aztec texts and rituals and their descendent traditions among today’s indigenous peoples, Mexicans and Chicanas/os.
ANTH 490/600
Section 1
Ethnographic Film After exploring some of the classics of anthropological cinema, students will form film crews to complete their own brief ethnographic films over the course of the semester. Students will combine the conceptual and theoretical aspects of anthropological cinema with basic training in the technical aspects of documentary video.
CHLS 490
Section 1
Inequality and Latino Education This course will focus on the way U.S. society responds to race, ethnicity, gender, and class and how its outcome is unequal access to education for Latinos.
C/LA 490
Section 1
Civic Engagement in the Learning Community This course is designed to develop organizational, human resource, and leadership skills. It will help students foster their communication, facilitation, and interpersonal abilities through leadership in the community.
CLSC 490
Section 1
Archaeology of Pre-Roman Italy This course investigates the peoples and culture of pre-Roman Italy, focusing on the archaeological record of the Italian peninsula. The course will include the study of the Villanovan and Etruscan cultures.
CWL 402/502
Section 1
Studies in Middle Eastern Literature and Culture This is an interdisciplinary course in cultural studies focusing on masterpieces of Middle Eastern literature throughout the ages. Special emphasis will be placed on the 20th century. Readings include Rumi’s poetry and extracts from “The Thousand and One Nights”.
CWL 404/504
Section 1
Women in World Literature This course will examine a number of influential women writers and film makers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Authors include Isabel Allende, Margaret Atwood, and Kate Chopin.
CWL 448/548
Section 1
Technological and Dystopic Worlds of Science Fiction This course will examine how science fiction reflects and debates society’s actions and fears of the future concerning science and technology. Particular emphasis will be placed on the notion of dystopia and how technology is crucial for its simultaneous creation/destruction.
CWL 449/549
Section 1
Literature of the Avant-Garde This course is an intensive study of major avant-garde writers in recent times. These authors are unique, existentialist, and strongly critique contemporary political structure. Authors and works will be considered in relation to social, political, and historical contexts.
CWL 461/561
Section 1
Displacement: Theory and Narrative This course will consider the interrelationship of various uses of “displacement” by looking at literature and theory regarding exile, diaspora and homelessness by such writers as Freud, Lacan, and Rushdie.
ENGL 469
Section 1
Milton This course is an intensive study of Milton’s works and the 17th century social, theological, and cultural contexts to which he responded. Students learn to find and use the wealth of secondary works relevant to Milton and his age.
ENGL 469
Section 2
Wilde This course is an intensive study of plays, prose fiction, poetry, and essays of Oscar Wilde. Primary readings will be supplemented by readings from biographies, Wilde’s literary influences, and 21st century Wilde criticism.
ENGL 479
Section 1
Hawthorne and Melville This senior seminar provides an in depth study of the literacy art of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. The work consists of reading novels, a selection of short stories, and poems.
ENGL 488
Section 1
Advanced Argumentation This course is an intense study and practice of written argumentation.
ENGL 489
Section 1
The Beats This course is an intensive study of Beat literature and related post-WWII avant-garde movements, focusing on primary texts of the Beat movement.
ENGL 681
Section 1
Keats This course will offer in-depth study of the youngest of the major English Romantic poets, John Keats. Students will read Keats’ poems, letters, a biography, and critical essays from a variety of theoretical approaches.
ENGL 681
Section 2
Shakespeare Selected plays by Shakespeare will be situated in the context of the historical transformations and cultural concerns of the early modern period and the plays and non-dramatic writings of Shakespeare’s contemporaries.  
ENGL 683
Section 1
History of Composition Instruction This course will study how writing has been taught, especially development of writing instruction in secondary schools, colleges, and universities. Students will investigate academic theories, political forces, and social issues connected to the teaching of writing.
ENGL 683
Section 2
West Coast Writing After WWII This course is an intensive study of West Coast poets, novelists, and playwrights active 1946-2006. Students will investigate writers who responded to the Cold war’s “culture of containment” through the small press movement’s social resistance.
ESP 490
Section 1
Water Policies in California Water policies on pricing and conservation specific to California will be examined, along with recent court decisions that limit the flow of water to Southern California.
FREN 490
Section 1
Introduction to French Critical Theory This course examines the techniques and terminology of critical theory in the French tradition. Topics include theoretical issues such as the “production” of meaning in texts and its relation to power, politics, ethics, and pleasure.
GEOG 494
Section 1
Austria in the Class and Field This course will focus on applied geospatial techniques.
HIST 495
Section 1
Celtic Britain to 1611 This course examines the region and peoples of the Irish Sea in comparative perspective. Special attention will be paid to origin of “Celticity” and descriptors for non-English indigenous peoples as well as for modern national movements.
HIST 495
Section 2
Eugenics, Racialism, and Anti-Semitism in American History This course examines theories of ethnic and racial differences in American society. Topics include the rise of physiognomy, social Darwinism, and racial hygiene movements.
JAPN 490
Section 1
Japan: Its Land, Culture, and People Students will study the topography, climate, population distribution, natural resources of Japan and learn how they have influenced Japan’s culture, including history, ways of life and language. This course is taught in Japanese with some English reading assignments.
MAE 590/690
Section 1
Linear Matrix Inequalities in Control Systems This course examines theory and application of linear matrix inequalities (LMI) to optimization and control. Topics include fundamentals of convex optimization and principles of formulation a control problem in the form of LMIs.
PHIL 690
Section 1
Metaphysics This course will explore central issues in metaphysics concerning identity, ontology, and ontological commitment.
PHIL 690
Section 2
The Nature of Language This course concerns theories of the nature of language. Students will try to answer the most general philosophical question about language: What is a language?
POSC 493
Section 1
Hurricane Katrina This course will examine Hurricane Katrina, with an emphasis on New Orleans. Students will not only learn about Katrina in the classroom, they will travel to New Orleans to engage in service learning work to help in the rebuilding effort.
PSY 390
Section 1
Psychology of Stress This course is an introduction to the scientific study of stress and its relationship to health. Course content will focus on understanding the nature of psychological stress and specific strategies used to help in understanding and managing our own experience of stress.
PSY 390
Section 2
Autism Awareness This course will introduce students to Autism Spectrum Disorders. Students will examine current understandings and controversies of the disorder, including incidence rates, symptoms and diagnosis.
PSY 390
Section 3
Domestic Violence This course will take an in-depth look at the problem of domestic violence. Students will learn about different types of violence, prevalence rates, and the etiology of domestic violence. The course will conclude with a preview of prevention programs and public policy interventions to address this national epidemic.
PSY 390
Section 4
Behavioral and Emotional Problems of Children This course covers research on psychiatric disorders of children from a developmental perspective. The symptoms, causes, course, and prevention of the most important childhood disorders are discussed, including depression, conduct disorder and mental retardation.
SOC 490
Section 1
Sociology of Religion This course will analyze religion as a social institution (its internal workings as a formal organization and relationship to other institutions and society). Themes emphasized are religion and stratification and the role of religion in enforcing the status quo.
SOC 493
Section 2
Sociology and Pop Culture This course will apply sociological analysis and methods to studying popular culture in America. Topics include film, music sports, and toys, and include explorations of historical developments, marketing trends, and identity formation.
SPAN 490/590
Section 3
Peruvian Literature This course is a panorama of the literature of Peru, from the precolonial era to the present, with special attention given to the concept of Otherness and/in the construction of Peruvian identity. Complementing the class will be a variety of cultural elements that will enhance the understanding of the dynamic country.
W/ST 490
Section 1
Contemporary Issues and Masculinities This course focuses on understanding contemporary social and political issues in relation to masculinity. Thematic areas include: the social construction of masculinity, militarism, men and violence, media and masculinity, men and feminism, and possibilities for change.
UNIV 301I
All Sections
Restoration, Reinhabitation, and Sustainability Through a series of guest lectures and small-group discussions, this course will explore ecological restoration as it relates to the disciplines of science, ethics, and activism. It will also analyze and interpret the practices, ethics, and beliefs that underline restoration; and investigate the concept and practice of ecological restoration and its potential as a form of local change intended to address the global crisis of sustainability.

Special Topics - Fall 2007
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497/597
Section 1
Orientation This seminar explores the Western printmakers in Japan from 1900-1950, investigating the impact of gender, sexual orientation and Orientalism in their work. The exhibition lays the groundwork for a possible exhibition.
AH 497/597
Section 2
Michelangelo This seminar deals with the life, works and influence of Michelangelo, the artist who dominated Italian art in the 16th century. Students will concentrate on research projects resulting in oral and written reports.
AH 497/597
Section 3
Desire We will investigate “Desire” in art and theory: from the Surrealist fetish to the commodity desires of Pop and the cinematic gaze. Lacan’s idea of desire as lack will be played off Deleuze’s vision of desire as excess. Students will curate an exhibition.
ANTH 490/620
Section 1
Emergence of Modern Humans: Archaeological, Biological, and Genetic Evidence This course examines the current state of knowledge about the evolution of the human lineage over the ~200k years. Topics include human/neanderthal interaction, the origins of biological variability in modern humans, origins of language, cultural transmission, and the origins of “creativity.”
ART 10
All Sections
Art Matrix   Students are to check in at the Art Department Student Services Office, FA4-106 for a syllabus for this class.
CHIN 490/590
Section 1
Contrastive Analysis of English and Chinese Designed for students who plan to teach the Chinese language or do research in Chinese linguistics. Contrastive analysis of phonological, morphological, syntactic and discourse aspects of English and Chinese. Analysis of students’ errors occurred in learning Chinese.
CHIN 490/590
Section 2
Selected Readings from Chinese Literature This course will focus on studying representative works by major Chinese authors from 18th century to the present. The literary works will be analyzed in their theoretical and aesthetic contexts.
CHLS 490
Section 1
Inequality and Latino Education This course will focus on the way U.S. society responds to race, ethnicity, gender and class and how its outcome is unequal access to education for Latinos. It will explore the various ideologies and philosophies pertaining to inequality, the history of educational inequality and Latinos, the present patterns of inequality, and contemporary public policy issues pertaining to improving educational access for Latinos and other racialized groups.
CLSC 490
Section 1
Monuments of Rome This course is a study of the archaeological history of Rome, the Eternal City, from the Iron Age through Late Antiquity. In addition to studying specific monuments, and the ever changing urban environment of Rome. Prerequisite: Classics 110- Introduction to the Classical Archaeology or the instructor's permission.
CLSC 490
Section 2
Roman Myth Roman Myth will focus on several issues: the use(s) of Greek myth; essentially Roman myth; and the conscious creation of myth(s).
CLSC 490
Section 3
Ancient Eats Class focuses on food in the Roman Empire and elsewhere in the ancient world. Topics will include ingredients and recipes, production, trade and purchasing, processing, cooking and eating tools, eating and drinking, and food in ancient myth, cult, and philosophy. Tasting sessions too!
COMM 490
Section 1
Hip Hop Criticism Through discussions, presentations, and written assignments students will turn a critical eye towards race, resistance, authenticity, and gender in hip hop writing. The goal of the course is to consider from a rhetorical perspective how public discourse about hip hop shapes our perceptions of it.
COMM 490
Section 2
Communication in Development and Fund Raising This course examines the nature and role of communication in development and fundraising in organizations; emphasis is on theory and application in nonprofit organizations.
CWL 349
Section 1
Literary Movements: Postmodernism This course will focus on a study of the key ideas, the cultural history, the social and political issues underlying the movement of “postmodern” literature, the prominent movement in contemporary literature, focusing on selected works by several of the world’s major authors.
CWL 448/548
Section 1
Existentialism in the 20TH Century Novel Beginning with Fydor Dostoevsky and Friedrich Nietzche in the 19th Century, this course will study some of the principal writers associated with philosophical existentialism emphasizing their influence on major novelists of the 20th Century.
CWL 449/549
Section 1
Continental Writers-Nobel Prize laureates: Sarte, Beckett, Pirandello, Mahfouz, Naipaul This course will examine selected works of Jean-Paul Sarte, Samuel Beckett, Pirandello, Naguib Mahfouz, and V.S. Naipaul, all Nobel Prize laureates (between 1934-2001) from five different countries, who played a major role in the march of world literature. We will also examine the modalities surrounding the Nobel Prize reception or occasionally, rejection.
CWL 452/552
Section 1
Myth and the Stages of Life While myths provided traditional cultures with models for living through the various stages of normal human life and with the “information” needed to get through the crises of the points of passage between those stages, our culture seems to lack those mythic guides. We will read such mythic texts as Innana, The Popol Vuh, and The Odyssey and others in this light. But we will also look at such twentieth century literature as Shaffer’s Equus and Hesse’s Steppenwolf.
ENGL 469
Section 1
Jane Austen This course provides an in-depth investigation of the novels of Jane Austen, with attention to recent critical developments in Austen Studies. Along the way, we will explore Hollywood recent fascination with Austen, querying why she is such a current box-office success.
ENGL 469
Section 2
Wroth, Cavendish, Philips This course will explore the works of three of the most important women writers of the seventeenth century, Mary Wroth, Katherine Philips, and Margaret Cavendish. The aim is to provide you with a good sense of the political, historical, economic, and social climate in which they worked.
ENGL 479
Section 1
Edith Wharton An in-depth, comprehensive treatment of the career of a major twentieth-century American novelist, focusing on Wharton’s works of fiction in longer form. In addition to matters of style and craftsmanship in her writing, we will explore the many rich social and cultural contexts of Wharton’s work.
ENGL 489
Section 1

 
Critical Studies in Major Topics in Literatures Written in English: Bloomsbury Our primary focus will be on selected fiction, essays, diaries, letters, and biographies by Woolf, Forster, and Strachey. In particular, we will trace currents of influence between and among other Bloomsbury voices, such as James Strachey’s translations of Freud published by Virginia and Leonard Woolf, and Roger Fry’s influential theories of modern art.
ENGL 489
Section 2
Literature of Los Angeles This course will examine the literature associated with greater Los Angeles and its surroundings, from pueblo-days beginnings to the present. Special emphasis will be placed on prose fiction-novels and short stories-but we will also consider other representative texts such as literary and social histories, writings for the screen, and works of regional creative nonfiction.

 

 

ENGL 498
Section 1

 

 

Teaching ESL Academic Writing  
This course surveys various basic issues of second-language writing arising in the past thirty years, mostly as they relate to ESL learners enrolled in college. To complement theory is a practical component concentrating on data analysis. Therein actual learners’ written products are provided to the class for evaluation, based on which strategies to foster improvements are formulated.
ENGL 498
Section 2
Poetry and the Self   This course centers on the development, clarification, and articulation of a personal esthetic for poetry. It involves the confronting of a wide variety of poetic styles, deciding and evaluating not only what does and does not ‘work’ for you in poetry, but why. Students will read and discuss literary theory as well as contemporary poems written form widely different esthetic positions.
ENGL 681
Section 1
Chaucer and Courtly Traditions An intensive introduction to Chaucer’s “courtly” poetry, including Troilus and Criseyde, the Parliament of Fowls, the Legend of Good Women, and the parts of the Canterbury Tales that make the most use of courtly conventions, and to the works by the Gawain poet that are most indebted to the cultural and literary traditions associated with medieval courts.
JOUR 490
Section 1
Media and Politics

 

 
This course will examine the campaign for the White House as it begins to dominate the national news, a study of the nature of the relationship between the mass media and governance with particular attention to the role and impact of the media in political election campaigns and policy making.
SOC 490
Section 1
Sociology and Pop Culture This course will apply sociological analysis and methods to studying popular culture in America. Topics include film, music, sports, gaming, and toys, and include explorations of historical developments and marketing trends.
SOC 492
Section 1
Sociology of Youth This course will examine the stage of life known as “youth” in all its complexity. By providing an in-depth understanding of youth and young people, the course also will offer students a unique and incisive view of American society itself.
SOC 494
Section 1
It’s an Urban World This course examines how our urban worlds have become connected to these global flows and the implications for our everyday lives. The course is broken down into three parts. The first part will cover basic theories of urban sociology. Second, we will examine a series of major processes that have shaped cities over the past 40 years. The third part examines how globalization has helped to initiate a new round of urban restructuring by transforming local economies, increasing the ethnic diversity of cities, and deepening social inequalities.
SPAN 490
Section 1
Research Methods This course on methodology aims to introduce advanced undergraduate students interested in pursuing M.A, degrees and M.A,-level students to the craft of research. In addition to learning basic research methods, students will be introduced to key literary and cultural theories that are integral to understanding and performing literary criticism.
UNIV 300I
Sections 1-4
Art and Social Action: A Global Perspective This course will combine perspectives from art and sociology to explore the effects of globalization on such critical human problems as human trafficking, child labor, and HIV/AIDS. The goals are to introduce students to the theoretical and practical implications of globalization, and to understand how art can be an instrument for social action confronting these problems.

Special Topics - Spring 2007
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497/597
Section 1
Modern Architecture This seminar explores the history of western architecture from the rise of industrialism to the contemporary scene. It will determine salient characteristics of "modernism," and explore significant Southern Californian contributions to the movement. Prerequisites: This course is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in art history, studio art, or other disciplines in the humanities. All Art Department majors must have completed the art history foundation sequence (AH 111A, B, and C) or the equivalent.
AH 497/597
Section 2
Seminar in Art History This seminar explores the U.S. American museum reception of modern and contemporary art, in particular that of marginalized fields such as 19th and 20th century Latin American and Latino/a art: conceptual, methodological and practical issues.
ART 10
All Sections
Art Matrix Students are to check in at the Art Department Student Services Office, FA4106 for a syllabus for this class.
ART 489
Section 1
Animation This studio course will give an introduction to the basic principles of animated action and movement for drawn animation.
ART 489
Section 2
Character Design   This studio course presents the basic principles of character design for a variety of applications, such as illustration of printed material, animated film and the toy industry.
ART 489
Section 3
Drawing: Figures in Context This studio course involves drawing from life with a concentration on the narrative context, emphasis on expression, gesture, and mark making. Subjects include human and animal forms.
ASAM 290
Section 1
Pilipino Cultural Night This course examines theories of performance and the history and processes of production of the annual Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN). Students are required to participate in PCN 2007.
ASAM 490
Section 1
Pilipino Cultural Night This course examines theories of performance and the history and processes of production of the annual Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN). Students are required to participate in PCN 2007.
A/ST 490
Section 1 
Hindi Language, Literature and Culture This course will introduce Indian culture through the select study of Hindi language, literature and film. Topics include history; language, politics and regionalism; film representations (Bollywood); and some pre-modern and modern Hindi literature and stories in translation. No prior knowledge of Hindi is required.
CHIN 490/590
Section 1
Pedagogy Principles and Practice of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language This course is to prepare prospective Chinese language instructors at the college and university levels. Students will acquire some important concepts and theories about teaching Chinese as a foreign language, will learn teaching techniques from experienced teachers, and accomplish some teaching activities.
CHIN 490/590
Section 2
Transnational Chinese Cinema Designed for students to learn about a rapidly changing China through films. We will address such questions as: How should we deal with the rising power of China?
CHIN 490/590
Section 3
The Supernatural and Fantastic in Chinese Literature This course will examine the supernatural and fantastic elements that commonly comprise a variety of Chinese short stories from antiquity to the Qing. Samples of representative works will be examined in depth in its original text and form.
CHIN 490/590
Section 4
Chinese Literature in Chinese Taught in Chinese, this course introduces students to representative modern Chinese literary works. Students need to have the proficiency level of native Chinese speakers to enroll in this class.
CLSC 490
Section 1
Ancient Eats This class focuses on food in the Roman Empire and elsewhere in the ancient world. Topics will include ingredients and recipes, production, trade and purchasing, processing, cooking and eating tools, eating and drinking and food in ancient myth, cult, and philosophy. Tasting sessions too!
CLSC 490
Section 2
Monuments and Topography of Athens and Attica This course will examine the archaeological record of this city and its environs. During this study we will not only examine the remains from the Bronze Age through Late Antiquity, but we will also examine various and evolving methodologies of archaeological investigation.
COMM 490
Section 1
Diversity Training This course introduces Communication Studies majors to the dynamic and fast growing career path of "Professional Diversity Training." The course offers both theoretical models of Cultural Proficiency as well as providing practical structures and strategies for developing training modules and workshops.
COMM 490
Section 2
Health Communication This course examines an emergent specialty within the field of communication at different levels. At the interpersonal level, we explore such topics as effective versus ineffective communication between health care professionals, those in their care, and provider communication. Organizationally our communication interests shift to communication between the health care community and legislative/political bodies, insurance providers, and other groups inside the healthcare industry. Mass communication strategies such as in Public Service Announcements, health awareness campaigns, and community focused interventions are scrutinized from both theoretical and ethical perspectives.
COMM 490
Section 3
Communication in Development and Fund Raising This course examines the nature and role of communication in development and fundraising in organizations; emphasis is on theory and application in nonprofit organizations.
COMM 490
Section 4
Hip Hop Criticism Through discussions, presentations, and written assignments students will turn a critical eye towards race, resistance, authenticity, and gender in hip hop writing. The goal of the course is to consider from a rhetorical perspective how public discourse about hip hop shapes our perceptions of it.
COMM 590
Section 1
Communication and Social Change: Theory, Research and Practice This course examines the role of communication in social change. The philosophical, theoretical and practical elements of communicative agency are explored from an interdisciplinary perspective. Using existential, phenomenological, social constructionist and hermeneutic ideology, the concepts of intention, language, identity, performance and self-efficacy are examined to illuminate the relationship between communication and individual choice in the process of cultivating prosocial change.
CWL 349
Section 1
Literary Movements Pilgrims, Merchants, Pirates, Castaways and Cannibals in World Literature This course examines the tradition of the travel narrative as seen in world literature and culture from the Middle Ages onwards. Our focus will be on the voyage itself, from the acts committed en route to the unknown worlds and peoples that the traveler encounters. Students will analyze these tales of adventure, discovery, and conquest in order to consider how they define the traveler, and how travel narrative promotes (mis)understanding of cultural representation and identity.
CWL 438/538
Section 1
20th Century European Literature This seminar examines the history of 20th Century European literature. The course will focus on a selection of literary movements and masterworks by major authors of this period stories, novels, and plays concentrating on the central themes, underlying ideas, and innovative styles of the authors as well as the how the works reflect the social, political, and historical contexts in which they were written. Authors include Kafka, Mann, Woolf, Camus, Robbe Grillet, Beckett, Kundera, Clavino, Duras, Ginsberg, Ernaux.
CWL 452/552
Section 1

 
Contemporary Mythmakers Joseph Campbell, Toc, Fetch, Haruki, Murakami This course will explore continued mythological thought in the works of a mythologist, a comic book artist, and a novelist.

 

 

CWL 461/561
Section 1

 

 

Topics in Contemporary Literary Criticism "International Film, Feminism, and Cultural Studies"  
This seminar will be based on a study of international cinema from the critical perspectives of Feminism and Cultural Studies (particularly Post colonialism). Important films that raise issues of social, cultural, ethnic, and gender politics will be considered, focusing on films that represent resistance to oppression (including both dramas and comedies). Feminist and Postcolonial critical readings will serve as the basis for analyzing the films. Filmmakers may include Almodovar, Bemberg, Bergman, Campion, Echeverria, Fellini, Lynch, Herzog, KarWai, Kubrick, Nair, Sverak, Von Trier, Zhang.
ED P 390
Section 2
 
Leadership and Community Action   This course will focus on personal leadership development and finding your passion through community service. Students are placed in community nonprofit organizations for 60 hours during the semester to mentor and tutor at risk youth.
ENGL 469
Section 1
Marlowe, Middleton, Milton This course examines three vitally important poets and playwrights of the English Renaissance. The group represents three literary historical periods (Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline), and provides a literary basis for a study of England's development from the Protestant Settlement of the 16th century through the accession of a Scottish King to the Civil Wars, Republican Period, and Restoration of the monarchy.
ENGL 469
Section 2

 
Virginia Woolf

 

 
This course will explore the works of one of the greatest novelists, letter writers, essayists and diarists of the 20th century Virginia Woolf. The seminar aims at introducing the student to some of the wealth of materials, both primary and secondary, critical and theoretical, in Woolf scholarship, and at advancing an understanding of her originality, imagination, and brilliance as a prose stylist.
ENGL 479
Section 1
Toni Morrison This course will investigate the novels and criticism of this recent Nobel Prize winner for literature. The class will read all of Morrison's novels, paying particular attention to her uses of African American folk culture and her relationship to the rest of the canon of American literature.
ENGL 479
Section 2
Bobbie Ann Mason This course provides an in depth study of contemporary American author, Bobbie Ann Mason, by exploring her novels, short fiction, and literary subjects as reflections of American culture, 1900 to the present. Some topics to be included are the Vietnam War, environment and health, Elvis Presley, quintuplets, dysfunctional families, and regionalist fiction.
ENGL 681
Section 1
Joyce This course will concentrate on Ulysses, with individual reports on his other writings and the biographical historical background, culminating in a paper exploring recent critical approaches. Pursuing newer lines of inquiry, all of us in this seminar can learn something interesting and valuable both about Modernism and about ourselves.
ENGL 681
Section 2
Shakespeare Selected plays by Shakespeare will be situated in the contexts of the historical transformations and cultural concerns of the early modern period and the plays and nondramatic writings of Shakespeare's contemporaries.
ENGL 683
Section 1
American Indian Literature This graduate seminar will examine contemporary fiction, poetry and personal narratives by American Indians. While we will read some pre-contact and early 20th century works, our primary focus will be writers from the 1960s to the present. Our studies will include developing the background knowledge and language necessary to discuss and engage in graduate level research into American Indian Literature. In addition, to exploring literary theoretical approaches and controversies, we will also analyze political, historical, and sociocultural contexts surrounding American Indian writings. In particular, we will explore the processes of storytelling, cultural conflict, and American Indian identity.
FREN 490
Section 1
Twentieth Century French Literature This course will focus on selective works from the twentieth century that have changed the panorama of French and Francophone literatures in terms of both form and content, by challenging, or breaking with the existing literary traditions. Discussing the consequences that societal and cultural transformations of modernity and postmodernity had upon the evolution of narrative and poetic forms.
HIST 495
Section 1
History of American Social Activism Social movements are collective efforts to change society. At many times in history they have had dramatic consequences and they continue to be a focus of controversy, conflict and change today. Our particular focus will be a comparative study of 5 major movements for social justice in this country since the 1960s: the civil rights movements of African Americans, Asians/Asian Americans, African Latinos/Chicanos; the student movement; the gay rights movement; and the women's liberation movement. In the latter three movements, we will be looking comparatively at how well these movements did or did not incorporate people of different ethnicities (versus focusing exclusively on the status of European Americans) and what this has meant for the relative successes of these efforts.
HIST 495
Section 2
American Baseball This course will explore the game's evolution from a British sport dominating city culture to a definitely American national institution. A thorough investigation of the Negro Leagues will illuminate how baseball was a vehicle for African American activism. This course will also explore the ever changing nature of women's relationship with professional baseball; starting with the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-1954) and ending with the current Women's Baseball League, Inc. The final segment of this course will be an analysis of modern day baseball's ties to the past and the ways in which the sport is evolving. Examination of illegal substance use, minorities in baseball and growing corporate involvement in professional baseball will be viewed within the wider spectrum of domestic and international politics, economics and culture.
PSY 390
Section 1

 
COR Basic Research Methods This course will provide intensive training in research methods and is restricted to psychology students in their junior year who are in the COR program.
PSY 390
Section 2
Leadership and Community Action This course will focus on personal leadership development and finding your passion through community service. Students are placed in community nonprofit organizations for 60 hours during the semester to mentor and tutor at risk youth.
PSY 490/590
Section 1
Qualitative Methods in Psychology This course will focus on data collection and analysis techniques for words rather than numbers. Practice conducting interviews, focus groups, and observation. Analysis of participants' words, field notes, and documents using computer software and methods such as content analysis, narrative analysis, and grounded theory.
PSY 490
Section 2
COR Advanced Research Methods This course will provide intensive training in research methods and is restricted to psychology students in their senior year who are in the COR program.
SOC 490
Section 1
Medicine or Magic? Health and Healing in Latin America This course explores the historical and cultural roots of traditional, biomedical and alternative paradigms of health and medicine in Latin America including curanderismo, voodoo, spirit and religious healing and homeopathy. This course examines the coevolution of these often competing forms of medicine, using a mixture of written texts and visual images to show how and why patients from different social backgrounds mix and match different types of healers for various kinds of illnesses. Finally the course links population health inequities to processes of globalization, and outlines the current Latin American health care crisis in relation to health policies and health reform.
SOC 490
Section 2
Sociology of Education This course considers the ways in which schools can both maintain the existing social order and act as agents of social change. 
SOC 492
Section 1
Sociology of Youth This course will examine the stage of life known as "youth" in all its complexity. By providing an in depth understanding of youth and young people, the course also will offer students a unique and incisive view of American society itself. We will explore a wide array of topics from the historical emergence of the concept "youth", to the recurring efforts by society to treat young people as problems, to the growth of youth cultures and subcultures, to the potential of young people to radically change society.
SOC 493
Section 1
Sociology of Southeast Asian Health This course examines health issues in Southeast Asian societies from a sociological perspective. The issues will cover gender differences in health and illness, mental health, traditional paradigms of health and medicine, varying roles of medical professionals (social workers, nurses, and doctors) and systems of health care delivery. The sociological factors which influence these issues also will be explored, including indigenous beliefs and practices concerning medical issues, conflicts between indigenous and Western biomedicine healthcare delivery systems, and factors contributing to unequal distributions of illness and treatment. Finally, the course links these sociological factors to patterns of illness and treatment among Southeast Asian immigrant populations in the United States.
SOC 494
Section 1

Sociology of Immigration
This course focuses on historical and contemporary immigration to the United States. It examines the causes and consequences of immigration, the forces and events that propel migrants to move, the patterns of economic adaptation and political incorporation, the role of social institutions in immigrant adaptation, and the process by which immigrants become ethnics.
SPAN 490
Section 1
Latin American Cinema This course will focus on the development of New Hispanic Cinema as it has affected films produced in the United States and Latin America. Focusing on fourteen directors and fourteen films, we will explore major themes and trends of the New Hispanic Cinema, among them: "Nueva Ola" in Argentina, "Cinema Novo", burgeoning Cuban revolutionary cinema, and "Magic Realism" in cinema of the Southwest United States. Apart from the historical and aesthetic context of these films, we will also look at the authenticity of the work in terms of depicting the cultural, political, and social phenomena of a particular region or country.
UNIV 301I
Sections 1-4
Intellectual Property Rights in a Digital Community Through a series of guest lectures and small group discussion, this course will explore the concept of intellectual property and how it relates to new and emerging technologies. It will examine the uses of found and borrowed material in the history of art, music and literature. It will also explore the origin and history of copyrights and the technology of copy protection. Other subjects considered: digital piracy, copyright control, censorship, sampling and the ethics of file sharing.

Special Topics - Fall 2006
Course Number/Section Course Title Description
AH 497/597
Section 1
Seminar in Art History This class explores the social history of Japanese-style gardens built in North America between 1876-present. It studies how Japanese have wanted their culture to be seen abroad, and how Japanese-Americans have used landscape building and maintenance as an economic activity and act of cultural self-definition.
AH 497/597
Section 2
Seminar in Art History This seminar will deal with special issues in modern/contemporary art.
AH 497/597 Section 3 Seminar in Art History This class will study the history, theory, and practice of 19th century photography.
AH 498/598 Section 1 Special Topics in Art History This course will explore art in the Sixties.

ART 10

All Sections

Art Matrix Students are to check in at the Art Department Student Services Office, FA4-106 for a syllabus for this class.
ART 489
Section 1
Animation A studio course that will give an introduction to the basic principles of animated action and movement for drawn animation.
ART 489 Section 2 Character Design A studio course that involves drawing from life with a concentration on the narrative context, emphasis on expression, gesture, and mark making. Subjects include human and animal forms.
ART 489 Section 3 Drawing: Figures in Context A studio course that involves drawing from life with a concentration on the narrative context, emphasis on expression, gesture, and mark making. Subjects include human and animal forms.
ASAM 495/595 Section 1 Seminar in Asian American Studies This course examines the experiences of countries and places in Asia as seen from the perspective of their world system interactions, and Asian American experiences in the context of world migration patterns and the relationship of diasporic communities with their places of origin and each other worldwide.
CBA 495 Section 1 California Student Leadership Academy Prerequisite: Consent of Director of program.

This seminar style course is designed to equip students with the transformational power of ethical leadership and decision-making through interaction with high-caliber leaders in organizations across business, media, healthcare and government. A variety of ethical issues will be covered.
CHIN 490
Section 1
Intermediate Business Chinese Designed for students interested in doing business in Chinese-speaking areas. The course reinforces listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills while developing vocabulary specifically needed to conduct business in Chinese.
CHIN 490/590
Section 2
Chinese Matrix of Change: Novels and Films This course explores the matrix of change in China during the Cultural Revolution and modernization period. Through an examination of the visual and textual representations of this era, the novels and films bring us vis a vis with an emerging and changing Chinese identity.
CHIN 490/590
Section 3
Fengshui and Metaphysics This course will focus on the various Chinese metaphysical and theoretical frameworks through which the relationship between Fengshui and Chinese culture will be analyzed and interpreted.
CLSC 490
Section 1
Elementary Sanskrit This course examines Sanskrit and its importance in the traditional and contemporary culture of India through text, song, documentary and film. Students of Latin and Greek will be encouraged to approach the study of Sanskrit from a comparative perspective.
COMM 490
Section 1
Hip Hop Criticism Through discussions, presentations, and written assignments students will turn a critical eye towards race, resistance, authenticity, and gender in hip hop writing. The goal of the course is to consider from a rhetorical perspective how public discourse about hip hop shapes our perceptions of it.
COMM 490
Section 2
Communication in Development and Fund Raising This course will examine the nature and role of communication in development and fundraising in organizations; emphasis is on theory and application in nonprofit organizations.
CWL 349
Section 1
Surrealism Surrealism originated in France in the 1920s. Influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud, the surrealists attempted to express in art and literature the workings of the unconscious and to synthesize these workings with the conscious mind. This course will explore these issues in poetry, novels, paintings and films.
CWL 404/504 Section 1 Experimental Women Writers and Theorists This course will examine major 20th century experimental writers and theorists worldwide. In addition to contemporary European women writers, the class will examine works by third- world writers.
CWL 440/540 Section 1 Magic Realism Magical Realism is the dominant aesthetic tendency in 20th century Latin American and Caribbean expressive culture. This course will survey painters, filmmakers, and writers, in pursuit of works which reflect that obscure object of marvelous desire -- realismo magico.

 

 

CWL 449/549 Section 1
 

 

Nobel Prize Laureates: Sartre, Beckett, Pirandello, Mahfouz, Naipaul  
This course will examine selected works of Nobel Prize Laureates (between 1934-2001) from five different countries, who played a major role in the march of world literature.
CWL 452/552 Section 1 Mesoamerican and Other Myths Come join us for a study of one of the handful of great mythological systems humanity has created - the mythology of Mesoamerica (Mexico and Guatemala) as it has existed prior to the coming of the conquistadores and European culture.
ENGL 469
Section 1
The Brontes Students in this course will read novels and other writings (poetry, diaries, and letters) by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte. We will also read critical essays and biographies of these remarkable Victorian sisters.
ENGL 469
Section 2

 
Durrell and Fowles

 

 
Students will read texts from several different genres (novels, poetry, short stories, and non-fiction) by Lawrence Durrell and John Fowles, two highly significant English writers of the 20th century. Their work will be examined in the context of the continuum of modernism to postmodernism.
ENGL 479
Section 1
Faulkner This seminar will trace the career of one of the most esteemed American writers of the 20th century, focusing on Faulkner's novels as well as his works of shorter fiction.
ENGL 479
Section 2
Melville This course provides an in-depth study of Herman Melville by exploring a number of his novels in light of theories and the history of the novel. We will be reading novels from the different periods of Melville's career as well as representative novels and critical statements from the development of the novel as a genre. ENGL 488 Section 1 (Post) Modern Persuasion This section will investigate ancient, modern, and postmodern practices of persuasion, with emphasis on how traditional arguments in texts have been partially transformed through digital media.
ENGL 681
Section 1
Samuel Johnson In this course we will study the works of Samuel Johnson in depth in an effort to understand the literary culture in England in the latter half of the 18th century.
ENGL 683 Section 1 Ethnic American Fiction An in-depth exploration of major works by American fiction writers of ethnically disparate origins. This seminar will reconsider the distinction between "mainstream" and "marginal" in favor of a pluralistic, polyphonic understanding of the literary history of the United States.
ENGL 683
Section 2
Teaching Basic Writing This course will examine both the history and practical applications of teaching Basic Writing. The texts in this class will be oriented to instructor practice, but textbook sources will include selections from the beginnings of Basic Writing as a field of study to current (re)examinations.
HIST 466 Section 1 Gender and Sexuality in Latin American History This course studies constructions of gender and the multiple manifestations of sexuality throughout Latin American history. Utilizing literature and primary sources, we will consider how the family, politics, culture, and the economy historically have conditioned unequal power relations between men and women.
JAPN 490 Section 1 Survey of Japanese Literature A survey of the major literary works from Kojikito contemporary Japanese authors. Students reflect on the predominant movements, genres, rhetorical devices, literary techniques, and writers of the works. This course is conducted in Japanese and English.
PHIL 493/593 Section 1 Special Topics in Metaphysics This course will examine the connections between perception and action, which has become a much debated issue amongst both philosophers and scientists. We will be concerned with three questions: How is visual information used to select targets of action and to guide goal-oriented behavior? What effect does occurrent visual information have on subsequent information-acquisition activity? Does action have a constitutive role in perceptual content?
PSY 390 Section 1 COR Basic Research Methods This course will provide intensive training in research methods and is restricted to psychology students in their junior year who are in the COR program.
PSY 390 Section 2 Gay/Lesbian Psychology This course is a systematic study of the psychological issues affecting lesbians, gay men and bisexual individuals. The course integrates the most recent research-based information with life experiences of lesbian/gay/bisexual people in such areas as conceptualization and origin of sexual orientation, heterosexism, coming out, lifespan development, psychosocial identity, internalized homophobia, relationships, parenting, and clinical services for GLB clients. The course emphasizes an affirmative approach and is appropriate for students of any sexual orientation.
PSY 490 Section 1 Multicultural Psychology This course examines how race, culture, and ethnicity impact (a) the study of psychology, (b) individual experiences, behavior, and identity, and (c) multicultural competence in various professional settings. It is designed to allow both non-majors and majors in psychology to understand the psychological underpinnings of cultural, racial, and ethnic influences upon individual identity and interpersonal interactions.
PSY 490 Section 2 COR Advanced Research Methods This course will provide intensive training in research methods and is restricted to psychology students in their senior year who are in the COR program.
SOC 490 Section 1 Global Terrorism and Human Rights This course is concerned with terrorist practices and objectives as well as with the effects of terrorism and antiterrorist policies on political freedom, individual privacy, and other human rights. Examining historical and contemporary examples of terrorism carried out by private groups and organizations (for example, al Qaeda) as well as by national governments (for example, Nazi Germany), the course will identify the various kinds of people who become terrorists and the diverse origins of private and state terrorist organizations.
SPAN 490/590 Section 1 Spanish as a World Language Starting with the conquest of the New World and leading up to the present time with the Latinization of the United States and Brazil, this course examines the historical and social conditions that account for the dominant position that Spanish enjoys in the world's linguistic hierarchy. In addition, it focuses on the future of the language in the global economy, with particular emphasis on the American and Asian continents.
SPAN 493/593 Section 1 Women's Intellectual History in Spain This course on women's intellectual trajectory in Spain will contextualize feminism, rights, and equality for the medieval period to the present. Scholarly definitions and everyday uses of the term "feminism" will be discussed for various time periods and social contexts. Authors include activists, politicians, nuns, and other writers whose thinking challenges social norms and advocates social justice.

Special Topics - Spring 2006
Course Number/Section Course Title Course Description
A/ST 490 Section 1 Hindi Language, Literature and Culture       This course will introduce Indian culture through the select study of Hindi language, literature and film. Topics include history; language, politics and regionalism; film representations (Bollywood); and some pre-modern and modern Hindi literature and stories in translation. No prior knowledge of Hindi is required.
AH 497/597 Section 1 Greek Vase Painting This seminar explores the major stages in the history of Greek pottery production, both figured and plain, as they are understood today. We will use a variety of methodological and theoretical strategies to evaluate the ways of studying Greek pottery and decoration
AH 497/597 Section 2 Patronage in the Renaissance This seminar will explore the relationship of patrons and artists in Europe during the late middle ages and Renaissance. It will address issues including who was commissioning art and for what purposes, and how the patrons’ wishes might be expressed in specific artworks. Intended for advanced majors and graduate students
AIS 490
Section 1
American Indian Museum Studies This course will focus upon the historical, theoretical, and practical applications of American Indian Museum Management. Museum practices, such as mounting exhibitions, collections management and handling, display, exhibition design, storage of collections, installation design, signage, museum publications, educational outreach, and handicap accessibility, will be examined.
ANTH 490/600
Section 1
Death and Funeral Rituals in Cross-Cultural Perspective This course examines the diversity of rituals surrounding death. We will examine the symbolic, emotional, and political dimensions of death cross-culturally. By exploring themes such as spirituality, gender, economics, and power we will study how culture shapes interpretations of death.
ART 10
All Sections
Art Matrix Students must pick up a course syllabus at the Art Department Student Services office in FA4-106. This course is required of art majors. Students must participate in art and design exhibitions, openings, lectures and special events.
ASAM 490
Section 1 and 2
Filipino/a American Cultural Productions Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

This course includes lectures, demonstration, and instruction in “traditional” and contemporary Filipino/a expressive cultures. Students in this course are required to actively participate in the production of the Filipino Cultural Night (PCN), which is scheduled at the Carpenter Center on April 6, 2006.
B/ST 490
Section 1
Special Topics in Black Studies Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

This course explores images of Blacks in the Ancient Mediterranean World.
CHIN 490/
CHIN 590
Section 1
Chinese Matrix of Change: Novels and Films Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing or consent of instructor.

This course explores the matrix of change in China during the Cultural Revolution and modernization period. Through an examination of the visual and textual representations of this era, the novels and films bring us vis a vis with an emerging and changing Chinese identity
COMM 490
Section 1
The Rhetoric of Dissent This course examines the goals, strategies and effectiveness of social, moral, and political movements that advocate significant societal change. Social protest theory and constitutional issues surrounding freedom of dissent will be addressed. The class covers case studies of contemporary movements in the U.S. -- i.e., the abortion controversy, civil rights, student and anti-war protests, the labor union movement, women’s rights, and gay and lesbian rights -- as well as more global movements related to trade, the environment, terrorism, and revolution
COMM 490
Section 2
Health Communication This course examines an emergent specialty within the field of communication at different levels. At the interpersonal level, we explore such topics as effective versus ineffective communication between health care professionals and those in their care, and provider-provider communication. Organizationally our communication interests shift to communication between the health care community and legislative/political bodies, insurance providers, and other groups inside the health care industry. Mass communication strategies such as in Public Service Announcements, health awareness campaigns, and community focused interventions are scrutinized from both theoretical and ethical perspectives.
COMM 490
Section 3
Communication in Development and Fund Raising This course examines the role of communication in development and fundraising. Emphasis is placed on creating capital campaigns, donor networking and organizing fundraising events. Students will participate in organizing a professional development campaign for a non-profit organization.
COMM 490
Section 4
Ensemble Performance This course is a performance class with an emphasis on interactive peer education, performance for social change and service learning. As a class we will be creating, scripting and staging scenes on relevant sociopolitical issues that are designed to elicit audience participation.
CWL 349 Section 1 Literary Movements - The gothic in World Literature This course examines the idea of the “gothic” (“terror” and /or “horror”) as it is seen in world literature and culture from 1800 onwards.
CWL 449/549 Section 1 Critical Studies Major Continental Writers - Comic Realism This course examines the uses of comic realism in the works of Rabelais (Gargantua and Pantagruel), Cervantes (Don Quixote), Gogol (Dead Souls), and Garcia Marquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude). We will analyze elements of the grotesque, surreal, fantastic and carnivalesque, and how comic realism works as social critique and as an interpretation of the human experience.
CWL 452/552 Section 1 Studies in Mythology - Mythology & the Stages of Life This course examines the relation of the mythology of various cultures to the stages in the life of a human being, focusing particularly on the world of Joseph Campbell.
ENGL 469 Section 1 Wordsworth and Coleridge In this course, we will examine together the closely connected works and lives of William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. We will also look briefly at their circle of friends, including De Quincy, Charles and Mary Lamb, and the Beaumonts. Reading for the course includes poetry, prose and correspondence: the major works we will consider are the important collaboration Lyrical Ballads , Wordsworth’s Prelude , and Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria.
ENGL 469 Section 2 Dryden and Pope This course will focus on two great writers of the English Enlightenment. John Dryden and Alexander Pope wrote very funny satire, established literary criticism as a professional genre, and translated classical texts into elegant and popular English.
ENGL 479 Section 1 Edith Wharton This course will offer in-depth, comprehensive treatment of the career of a major twentieth-century American novelist, focusing on Wharton’s works of fiction in longer form. In addition to matters of style and craftsmanship in her writing, we will explore the many rich social and cultural contexts of Wharton’s work.
ENGL 681 Section 1 Keats This course will offer in-depth study of the youngest of the major English Romantic poets, John Keats. Students will read Keats’ poems, his engaging letters, a biography, and critical essays from a variety of theoretical approaches.
ENGL 681
Section 2
Stevens and Williams This course will offer in-depth study and comparison of two major American modernists. Wallace Stevens and William Carlos Williams offer contrasting views of the relationship between the imagination and reality, and develop distinctly different poetics to express their ideas. Students will have the opportunity to examine their poetry and prose from a variety of critical and theoretical angles.
ENGL 683
Section 1
History of Composition Instruction This seminar examines the ways in which writing has been taught in educational institutions and various other settings. Particular attention will be paid to the development of writing instruction in United States secondary schools, colleges, and universities and the academic theories, political forces, and social issues involved
ENGL 683 Section 2 Medieval Drama This course will offer an intensive study of Middle English dramatic traditions, with some reference to other relevant materials. English plays will be read in the original language.
ENGL 683 Section 3 Feminism and Modernism This course examines the way shifting gender definitions in the early twentieth century were translated into issues of aesthetic practice, especially by women writers of this period. Authors examined may include Virginia Woolf, Isak Dinesen, Djuna Barnes, Gertrude Stein, and T.S. Eliot.
FRENCH 490/604G Section 1 Seminar 19th Century Literature This course includes in-depth reading and analysis in group discussions of some of the principal prose works of the 19th Century. Particular emphasis is given to the psychology of love and to the changing role of women, as well as to the movements of realism and naturalism. Taught in French.
GERM 498/511 Section 1 Through Eyes of Others This course will focus on the reports, letters, and journals of travelers who wrote about their experiences and observations on Nazi Germany and the immediate post-war period and the rebuilding efforts. The class will be taught by a visiting professor from Berlin, Germany. Taught in German.
GERM 498/511 Section 2 Jewish Life in Germany Today This course will focus on a newly established and growing Jewish community in Germany, its demographic make-up, its historical roots, its presence and role in today’s German society. Taught in English.
HIST 495 Section 1 Foucault and His Critics This course will explore the writings of Michel Foucault with particular emphasis on power/knowledge, sexuality and “the gaze”. It will also explore various critiques and applications of Foucault’s thought both in theory and in historical practice. At the very least, students enrolled should have successfully completed History 302 or an equivalent course.
JAPN 490
Section 1 
Anime & Manga: Study of Japanese Culture This course is a cultural study of Japanese anime & manga. Students will critically analyze Japanese anime directors’ vision in their films and the cultural context.
JOUR 490
Section 1
Katrina and the Culture of Crisis This interdisciplinary course will explore the way the media covers hurricanes and other natural disasters, and will examine how this kind of coverage has differed throughout U.S. history from man-made disasters, such as 9/11 and the Challenger explosion, and political scandals such as Watergate and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
MAE 590/690
Section 1
Complex Variables and Engineering Applications Prerequisite: Math 370A.

This course provides an analytical study of complex variables theory and the applications of complex analytical functions in solid and fluid mechanics.
PHIL 491/591
Section 1
Kant’s Transcendental Deduction of the Categories This course will be an in-depth study of Kant’s Transcendental Deduction of the Categories. Of primary interest in this course will be the proof-structure of the Deduction, an understanding of which is crucial for evaluating many critical assessments of the Deduction.
PHIL 496/596 Section 1 Nietzsche’s Re-evaluation This course will explore Nietzsche’s “Re-evaluation of ALL Values” against its valueless base.
PSY 390
Section 1
COR Basic Research Methods This course will provide intensive training in research methods and is restricted to psychology students in their junior year who are in the COR program.
PSY 490
Section 1
Qualitative Methods in Psychology This course will examine data collection and analysis techniques for words rather than numbers. Practice conducting interviews, focus groups, and observation. Analysis of participants’ words, field notes, and documents using computer software and methods such as content analysis, narrative analysis, and grounded theory.
PSY 490
Section 2
COR Advanced Research Methods This course will provide intensive training in research methods and is restricted to psychology students in their senior year who are in the COR program. 
SOC 490
Section 1
Medicine or Magic? Health and Healing in Latin America This course explores the historical and cultural roots of traditional (indigenous), biomedical and alternative paradigms of health and medicine in Latin America including curanderismo, voodoo, spirit and religious healing and homeopathy. The course also links population health inequities to processes of globalization, and outlines the current Latin American health care crisis in relation to health policies and health reform
SOC 492
Section 1
Sociology of Youth This course will examine the stage of life known as “youth” in all its complexity. We will explore a wide array of topics from the historical emergence of the concept of “youth”, to the recurring efforts by society to treat young people as “problems”, to the growth of youth cultures and subcultures, to the potential of young people to radically change society. 
SOC 494
Section 1
The Sociology of Globalization and Democracy This course will explore how globalization affects democratic institutions and political participation. Themes include: 1) concepts of, and debates about, globalization; 2) democracy as a local and global concept; 3) global institutions, the democratic deficit, and changing forms of political power; 4) the emerging transnational civil society and rebuilding participatory communities “from below”: creating social capital, and the role of labor, the “new” student movement, consumer movements, and community-based organizations. 
UNIV 301I
Sections 1-4
Utopia 101 In this course, each student will be given a blank planet. Pursuant to the students’ vision of what would be the prefect world, the students will evolve their planet’s populations and develop civilizations, formulating social structure and institutions, including but not limited to: law, government, morality and faith, education, health care, arts and entertainment, scientists and technology, building and property development, commerce, military etc. Once the students’ planets are evolved, then they will begin to interact with each other, leading to quantifiable outcomes and conclusions as to the correlation of intentions, acts and results, and the value of lessons from Earth’s history. Our present human institutions will be analyzed and debated as models -- for and against -- the students’ utopian visions.