At Brandeis, you are encouraged to learn about a wide variety of human societies, cultures, and countries and about causes and consequences of differences among racial, ethnic,
religious, and other groups. Listed below are a sampling of the Spring 2014 courses that address these issues; we hope that you will consider including some of them in your
studies. They are grouped under “Gender and Sexuality,” “Religion, Race, and Culture,” and “Global Perspectives,” though naturally many of the courses intersect these
groupings. For additional course offerings, please refer to the registrar’s website: www.brandeis.edu/registrar/.
Religion, Race and Culture
AAAS 155B Hip Hop History and Culture
Examines the history of hip hop culture, in the
broader context of U.S., African American and
African diaspora history, from the 1960s to the
present. Explores key developments, debates and
themes shaping hip hop's evolution and contemporary
global significance. (ss)
Mr. Williams
M,W 2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
ANTH 114B Verbal Art and Cultural Performance
Cross-cultural and interdisciplinary study of genres of
verbal art and oral performance. Complex social uses
of verbal arts in festival, drama, ritual, dance,
carnival, and spectacle. Difficulty of reconstructing
original context of narrative, oratory, poetry, and epic.
(ss)
Mr. Parmentier
T,Th 5:00 PM- 6:20 PM
ENG 38B Race, Region, and Religion in the
Twentieth-Century South
Twentieth century fiction of the American South.
Racial conflict, regional identity, religion, and
modernization in fiction from both sides of the racial
divide and from both sides of the gender line. Texts
by Chestnutt, Faulkner, Warren, O'Connor, Gaines,
McCarthy, and Ellison. (hum)
Mr. Burt
M,W 3:30 PM- 4:50 PM
FA 170A Arts of the Ming Dynasty
May not be taken for credit by students who took FA
15b in prior years. Examines a broad array of arts
from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The first half of
the course focuses on activities in and around the
Chinese court. The second half concentrates on
monuments related to literati and popular cultures.
(ca nw)
Ms. Wong
M,W,Th 1:00 PM- 1:50 PM
SAS 155B Cinema and Society: History, Film, and
Visual Culture in Pakistan
Explores the rise, fall and reprise of the Pakistani film
industry against a backdrop of the country's
tumultuous past and present. Films will be studied
alongside history as complex works of art; as mirrors
and construction-sites of national identity; as
discourses generating and disciplining sexualities and
genders; as expressions of desire and disavowal;
anxiety and transgression. (nw ss)
Mr. Ahmad
T,F 11:00 AM-12:20 PM
THA 144B African-American Theatre: From
Emancipation through the Obama Administration
Explores the history, development and voice of
African-American theater. The course will examine
commercial controversial and crucial work in the
canon of African-American theater. (ca)
Ms. Willams
T 6:30 PM – 9:20 PM
Global Perspectives
AAAS 18B Africa and the West
Focuses on the relationship between Africa and the
"West" from the time of the ancient Egyptians to the
postcolonial period. It also assesses the dilemma
neocolonialism poses for the West. (nw ss)
Mr. Asiedu-Acquah
T,F 9:30 AM – 10:50 AM
AMST 143B The American Tourist
Tourism is more than sun and sand frivolity. It's a
major cultural and economic force shaping our world
and how we experience it. This course is designed to
provide students with a multidisciplinary overview of
tourism studies and American touristic encounters.
(ss)
Ms. Powers
T,F 12:30 PM–1:50 PM
POL 132A Religion, Nationalism, and Violence in
Comparative Perspective
Examines the phenomena of religious nationalism and
violent conflict globally with focus on conflict in Sri
Lanka, India, Northern Ireland, and elsewhere.
Theoretical analysis of the nature of religious
mobilization, the politics of holy space, and the logic
of religious violence. (ss)
Mr. Isaacs
T, Th 3:30 PM – 4:50 PM
SAS 164B Pakistan: History, State and Society
Introduces the unsettled history and contemporary
predicament of Pakistan. Theses examined include:
Muslim nationalism in South Asia, contending
perspectives on the country's origins, the complex
relationship between U.S. imperialism and the postcolonial state, controversies associated with the socalled War on Terror, the escalation of sectarian
attacks against minorities, and progressive public
discourse and activism. (nw, ss)
Mr. Ahmad
T,F 12:30 PM–1:50 PM
Gender and Sexuality
ANTH 166B Queer Anthropology: Sexualities and
Genders in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Explores ethnographic approaches to the study of
sexuality and gender in diverse cultural contexts, such
as the US, Brazil, India, Indonesia and Mexico.
Examines how sexuality intersects with other cultural
forms, including gender, race, ethnicity, labor,
religion, colonialism and globalization. Explores also
how the discipline of anthropology has been shaped
by engagements with questions of sexuality and the
field of queer studies. (ss)
Mr. Lino e Silva
T, F 12:30 PM – 1:50 PM
HIST 144A Nineteenth-Century American
Religion: A Digital History Seminar
Studies a history of religion in the nineteenth-century
United States, looking especially at interactions
between diverse religions. Students will create a
collaborative, student-directed digital history project
as the main work for the course. (ss)
Mr. Mullen
T, F 9:30 AM–10:50 AM
ANTH 129B Global, Transnational, and Diasporic
Communities
Examines the social and cultural dimensions of
globalization from an anthropological perspective.
Topics to be discussed include place, migration,
religion, global sexual cultures, kinship, and
technology—all within a global perspective. (ss)
Mr. Anjaria
M,W 2:00 PM – 3:20 PM
ENG 145B Just Jane Austen: Gender, Justice, and
the Art of Fiction
Explores the novels of Jane Austen in historical
context, with particular attention to the ways in which
they engage ethical questions, address the economic
and social implications of gender, and negotiate
tensions between social justice and narrative form.
(hum)
Ms. Lanser
M,W,Th 1:00 PM – 1:50 PM
NEJS 111A The Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament
A survey of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
Biblical books will be examined from various
perspectives and compared to other ancient Near
Eastern compositions. No knowledge of Hebrew is
presumed. Offered online through Semester Online
consortium. (hum, wi)
Mr. Brettler
Online
ANTH 133B Colonialism and Post-coloniality in
Africa: Encounters and Dilemmas
Uses an anthropological lens to explore colonialism
and post-coloniality in sub-Saharan Africa. Topics
include colonial racism; missionary encounters;
African experiences of colonial medicine; African
nationalism; the politics of land alienation; colonial
memory; post-colonial modernities. (nw, ss)
Ms. McIntosh
M,W 2:00 PM – 3:20 PM
ENG 151A Queer Studies
Recommended preparation: An introductory course in
gender/sexuality and/or a course in critical
theory.
Historical, literary, and theoretical
perspectives on the construction and performance of
queer subjectivities. How do queer bodies and queer
representations challenge heteronormativity? How
might we imagine public spaces and queer
citizenship? (hum)
FA 174A Art and Trauma: Israeli, Palestinian,
Latin American and United States Art
May not be taken for credit by students who took FA
154b in prior years.
A comparative and critical
examination of the various ways in which personal
traumas (illness, death, loss) and collective traumas
(war, the Holocaust, exile) find meaningful expression
in the work of modern and contemporary artists from
diverse regions.
(ca)
Ms. Ankori
T, Th 2:00 – 3:20 PM
Ms. Abdur-Rahman
NEJS 114B Ritual and Cult in the Bible
Prerequisite: HBRW 122a or b, NEJS 10a, or
permission of the instructor.
A study of ritual and
cultic texts of the Bible in Hebrew and their rites and
phenomena with historical-critical, Near Easternenvironmental, social-scientific, and literary
analysis.
(hum)
Mr. Wright
T,F 9:30 AM – 10:50 AM
NEJS 144A Jews in the World of Islam
Examines social and cultural history of Jewish
communities in the Islamic world. Special emphasis is
placed on the pre-modern Jewish communities.
(hum, nw)
Mr. Decter
T,Th 3:30 PM - 4:50 PM
NEJS 164B The Sociology of the American Jewish
Community
A survey exploring transformations in modern
American Jewish societies, including American
Jewish families, organizations, and behavior patterns
in the second half of the twentieth century. Draws on
social science texts, statistical studies, and qualitative
research; also makes use of a broad spectrum of
source materials, examining evidence from
journalism, fiction, film, and other cultural artifacts.
(hum, ss)
Ms. Fishman
M,W 5:00 PM – 6:20 PM
NEJS 193B Walking the Land: Religious
Pilgrimage and Modern Hiking in Israel, Palestine,
and the Holy Land
Explores the spectrum of religious and political
meanings attached to Israel/Palestine/the Holy Land,
and how those understandings have been articulated in
ancient and modern times through the act of walking.
(hum)
Mr. Rabineau
M,W,Th 12:00 PM–12:50 PM
IGS 165A The Amazon Forest: Challenges,
Opportunities, and Paradoxes
Uses the case of the "world's largest rainforest" to
frame some of the most pressing questions raised by
economic growth in developing countries, from
environmental impact to wealth distribution to the
rights of indigenous peoples and the preservation of
local cultures. (ss)
Mr. Lino e Silva
T, F 11:00 AM – 12:20 PM
NEJS 174A Minorities and Others in Israeli
Literature and Culture
Prerequisite: HBRW 141a, 143a, 144a, or 146a or
permission of the instructor. Taught in Hebrew.
An
exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew
literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic
reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores
questions of personal and national identity, otherness,
visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. (hum)
Ms. Szobel
T, Th 3:30 PM – 4:50 PM
M,W,Th 10:00 AM – 10:50 AM
FA 84A Sex and Space
Explores the multidimensional aspects of sex in
shaping architectural myths, designs, discourses and
critical theories through lectures, class discussions,
student presentation of case studies, student building
of architectural models, viewing of short films, and
field trips in Greater Boston. (ca)
Ms. Grigor
T,F 9:30 AM–10:50 AM
NEJS 175A Jews and Gender in Eastern Europe:
Tradition and Transformation
Examines gender roles in nineteenth- and twentiethcentury Eastern European Jewish culture, with a focus
on transformation in gender relations, education, and
religious practices. Readings are drawn from Yiddish
prose, poetry, and memoir literature, with secondary
sources in cultural history. (hum)
Ms. Kellman
T,Th 2:00 PM – 3:20 PM
THA 142B Feminist Playwrights: Writing for the
Stage by and about Women
Introduces the world of feminist playwrights. This
course will engage the texts through common themes
addressed in many feminist plays: motherhood (and
daughterhood), reproduction, sexuality, abuse, family
relationships, etc. (ca wi)
Ms. Hyland
M,W 3:30 PM – 4:50 PM
WMGS 140A Diversity of Muslin Women’s
Experience
A broad introduction to the multidimensional nature
of women's experiences in the Muslim world. As both
a cultural and religious element in this vast region,
understanding Islam in relation to lives of women has
become increasingly imperative. (ss)
Ms. Shavarini
M,W,Th 11:00 AM – 11:50 AM