American Studies

AMST BC1001 WHAT IS AMERICAN STUDIES?. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: None
Corequisites: None
Prerequisites: None Corequisites: None What is America? Who is American? How do we live in America? This new lecture course will introduce you to the dynamic, inter-disciplinary field of American Studies

AMST BC1040 Incarcerating the Crisis. 3 points.

This course focuses on the structures and processes that led the U.S. to build the largest carceral regime on the planet in the post-1970s United States. Through readings, lectures, and original research, students will develop analyses of how this growth coincided with a shift in the racial composition of prisons from majority white to almost seventy percent people of color. Students will develop a number of concept such as race, class, gender, neoliberalism, abolition, policing, and surveillance that are foundational for analyzing the formation of the carceral state.

AMST BC1041 Critical Approaches to the Study of Ethnicity and Race. 4 points.

This seminar will introduce students to critical theories of race and ethnicity. It will familiarize students will interdisciplinary scholarship on power and difference, with a special focus on the historically specific relationships between race, capitalism, empire, dispossession, migration, political economy, and the U.S. state's regulation of gender and sexuality. Throughout the course, students will consider the political and economic critiques of race and power that have been articulated by antiracist freedom, anticolonial, feminist, queer of color, and immigrant labor struggles.

AMST BC1042 America and Early Modernity. 3 points.

This class explores the impact of the colonization of the Americas, and the introduction of the slave trade into the Americas, on the development of the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, and the early Enlightenment. 

AMST BC1510 The Profits of Race. 3 points.

Does race appear in American life in the ways we make, distribute, and consume goods?  If so, how? Through film, literary criticism, history, ethnography and philosophy, this course will examine how race manifests as an economic relationship. We will focus on the legacies of chattel slavery, the interconnections of race and property, and ongoing struggles for racial justice. The course is grounded in what Cedric Robinson has referred to as the “Black radical tradition”: a centuries-long intellectual and political tradition oriented towards contesting the definition of a specific group of people (Black people) as property. We will examine ways that this central economic claim, which underpinned the chattel slavery system, continues to appear in our own society, in prisons, international migration system, residential segregation, underemployment, and other ways.

AMST BC3310 Planet America. 3 points.

This course is a semester-long engagement with the idea of internationalism from the perspective of U.S. culture, history, and politics. We will consider two forms of internationalism: internationalism from above, “imperialism;” and internationalism from below, “radical democracy.” We will engage long-standing models in the analysis of empire, and focus on cultural, economic, and political dimensions to examine the centrality of imperialism to the United States, and the history of the United States within a context of global histories. On the other hand, radical democratic movements and ideas have long been articulated in relation to the American project. Central to these movements is the necessity of articulating demands for justice not as matters of civil rights, but as human rights. The lectures and readings in this course will engage the body of scholarship known as “transnational American Studies” to think about America, as an idea, a set of institutions, and a way of being, within a larger world.

AMST BC3401 American Studies Methods: Archive Fever. 4.00 points.

Introduction to the theoretical approaches of American Studies, as well as the methods and materials used in the interdisciplinary study of American society. Through close reading of a variety of texts (e.g. novels, films, essays), we will analyze the creation, maintenance, and transmission of cultural meaning within American society

AMST BC3702 American Studies Senior Tutorial. 1.00 point.

This one-credit tutorial has been designed to assist American Studies seniors as they (1) clarify their scholarly commitments, (2) develop the research questions to be explored in their capstone seminars, (3) identify relevant archives and the methods needs to analyze those archives, and (4) develop a basic familiarity with the scholars and texts driving conversations about their research topic. Meetings alternate between one-on-one tutorials with the instructor and peer discussions. Assignments focus on explorations of ideas and literatures, culminating in a research proposal

AMST BC3703 Senior Seminar. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to senior majors.

Individual research on topic related to major thematic concentration and preparation of senior thesis.

AMST BC3704 SENIOR RESEARCH ESSAY SEMINAR. 4.00 points.

AMST BC3707 Global Radicalism. 4 points.

At the turn of the twentieth century, struggles against racism, capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism encircled the globe. From Irish republicanism in Dublin, Bolshevism in Moscow, revolution in Mexico City, to anti-lynching crusades in Birmingham, as well as all their unanticipated international alliances, these movements represented the largest waves of rebellion hitherto sustained by the global economy. This seminar offers an intensive overview of these various struggles and spaces. Through examination of primary and secondary sources, students will consider radical social movements from distinct yet overlapping cultural and political traditions. We will discuss how participants in these struggles confronted issues of gender, accumulation, and uneven development in their evolving revolutionary theories. Taking a uniquely spatial approach, we will observe how geographies of accumulation emerged alongside sites of global resistance. Throughout the course we will consider the contemporary relevance of these debates, observing how global radicalism might be charted in our present world.

AMST BC3999 INDEPENDENT RESEARCH. 1.00-4.00 points.

AMST GU4110 THE WEALTH OF NATIVES. 4.00 points.

Indigenous people are often imagined in the distant past, or as living anachronisms in relation to contemporary life. Working against these assumptions, this course examines how Native peoples have survived colonialism, focusing on economic aspects of colonialism in North America, while looking to Australia and Hawai‘i. We will look at the long history of Native land struggles, and links between colonial economies and ecological destruction. Themes guiding our inquiry include: the development of wage labor, property law and economic production on Native lands, histories of political and economic dependency, "development" as defined and practiced over Native communities, and Native people's own economic choices. Our inquiry will be oriented towards deepening our ability to critically analyze the colonial situation we live in, and to see Indigenous survivals despite ongoing assaults against life and territory

AMST GU4300 Latina/o/x NY. 4.00 points.

Latina/o/x populations constitute over 19％ of the U.S. population as of 2020, one of the fastest growing groups in the U.S. with a long and rich history in the U.S while maintaining transnational ties. In this course students are invited to critically analyze the social histories of and contemporary experiences of a diverse range of Latino/a/x populations from across the Americas. Over the course of the semester, we will discuss how Latino/a/x populations come to reside in and transform New York City, how Latina/o/x populations contend with everyday life and, how they shape and reshape the communities they resettle in. Although the focus is on New York City, we will also examine the movement of peoples from the Caribbean and Latin America. Topics include histories of migration, labor recruitment, citizenship, coloniality and racialization, neoliberalism and the rise of financialization in NYC, environmental racism, community formation and Latino/a/x political activism. We will critically examine a variety of text and genres ranging from anthropological, historical, poetry, documentary, films, media, and art to shift away from homogeneous categorization of Latino/a/x populations to understanding populations as dynamic and complex. Students are invited to bring their stories to class as this is a collaborative learning environment

CCIS BC1111 REAL TALK / REAL TIME. 1.00 point.

This course takes as its foundation the words of bell hooks: “When our lived experience of theorizing is fundamentally linked to processes of self-recovery, of collective liberation, no gap exists between theory and practice.” Over the course of this term, students will learn to embrace their responsibility as intellectuals in the largest sense. By recognizing current issues as sites of intersectional analysis, they will learn to merge their scholarly activities with public discussion and organizational activism. Working collaboratively, they will research topics of current import and, on that basis, organize two speaker events, thereby learning how public intellectual organizing engages both theory and practice

AFRS BC2006 INTRODUCTION AFRICAN DIASPORA. 3.00 points.

Interdisciplinary and thematic approach to the African diaspora in the Americas: its motivations, dimensions, consequences, and the importance and stakes of its study. Beginning with the contacts between Africans and the Portuguese in the 15th century, this class will open up diverse paths of inquiry as students attempt to answer questions, clear up misconceptions, and challenge assumptions about the presence of Africans in the New World

AFRS BC3110 THE AFRICANA COLLOQUIUM. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Students must attend first day of class and admission will be decided then. Enrollment limited to 18 students. Priority will be given to Africana majors and CCIS students (Africana Studies, American Studies and Women's Studies majors; minors in Race and Ethnic Studies).
This course is concerned with two interrelated topics: 1) the long, complicated history of voyages to Latin America; and 2) the myriad and evolving ways voyagers to the region have portrayed its landscapes, people, food, festivals, and more. The course will move chronologically from the 15th century to the present, with each week devoted to grappling with a type of voyage characteristic of a given era, including: conquest voyages undertaken by figures such as Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés settler-colonial voyages undertaken by Iberians seeking new lives in the New World captive voyages undertaken by Africans destined for enslavement in households, cities, and rural environs freedom voyages undertaken by African Americans escaping from slavery sex-tourism voyages undertaken by North Americans and Europeans We will view these topics through a combination of different forms of media (such as letters, travel accounts, features, and films) and traditional scholarly sources that will help contextualize them

AFRS BC3120 History of African-American Music. 3 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Survey interrogates the cultural and aesthetic development of a variety of interconnected musical genres - such as blues, jazz, gospel, soul, funk, R&B, hip-hop, classical and their ever changing same/names - viewed as complex human activities daringly danced at dangerous discourses inside and outside the American cultural mainstreams.

AFRS BC3121 Black Women in America. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).

Prerequisites: Students must attend first day of class and admission will be decided then. Priority will be given to CCIS students (Africana Studies, American Studies and Women's Studies majors; minors in Race and Ethnic Studies). Enrollment limited to 20 students.

Examines the roles of black women in the U.S. as thinkers, activists and creators during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Focusing on the intellectual work, social activism and cultural expression of African American women, we examine how they understood their lives, resisted oppression and struggled to change society. We will also discuss theoretical frameworks (such as "double jeopardy," or "intersectionality") developed for the study of black women. The seminar will encourage students to pay particular attention to the diversity of black women and critical issues facing Black women today. This course is the same as WMST BC3121.

ANTH UN2005 THE ETHNOGRAPHIC IMAGINATION. 3.00 points.

Introduction to the theory and practice of “ethnography”—the intensive study of peoples’ lives as shaped by social relations, cultural images, and historical forces. Considers through critical reading of various kinds of texts (classic ethnographies, histories, journalism, novels, films) the ways in which understanding, interpreting, and representing the lived words of people—at home or abroad, in one place or transnationally, in the past or the present—can be accomplished. Discussion section required

ANTH UN3040 ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY. 4.00 points.

Open to majors; all others with instructor's permission.

Prerequisites: an introductory course in anthropology.
Comprehensive and in-depth engagement with foundational and contemporary theoretical concepts and texts in Anthropology. Required of all Barnard students majoring in Anthropology (including specialized tracks). Permission of instructor required for non-majors. Not open to First Year students. Prerequisite: an introductory (1000 level) course in Anthropology

ANTH UN3041 ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY II. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Required of all Barnard Anthropology majors; open to other students with instructor’s permission only. To be taken in conjunction with ANTH 3040, preferably in sequence.

The second of a two semester sequence intended to introduce departmental majors to key readings in social theory that have been constitutive of the rise and contemporary practice of modern anthropology. The goal is to understand historical and current intellectual debates within the discipline. This course replaces ANTH V 3041 - Theories of Culture: Past and Present.

ANTH UN3300 Pre-Columbian Histories of Native America. 3 points.

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement
Enrollment limited to 40.

This course explores 10,000 years of the North American archaeological record, bringing to light the unwritten histories of Native Americans prior to European contact. Detailed consideration of major pre-Columbian sites is interwoven with the insight of contemporary native peoples to provide both a scientific and humanist reconstruction of the past.

ANTH BC3868 ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD RESEARCH IN NYC. 4.00 points.

This course provides the aspiring anthropologist with an array of primarily qualitative methodological tools essential to successful urban fieldwork. As such, it is a practicum of sorts, where regular field assignments help build one’s ability to record and analyze social behavior by drawing on several key data collection techniques. Because we have the luxury of inhabiting a large, densely populated, international city, this class requires that you take a head-first plunge into urban anthropology. The NYC area will define the laboratory for individually- designed research projects. Be forewarned, however! Ethnographic engagement involves efforts to detect social patterns, but it is often a self-reflexive exercise, too. Readings provide methodological, analytical, and personal insights into the skills, joys, and trials that define successful field research

ANTH V3907 Posthumanism. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Explores what a post-human anthropology might look like. Readings draw from anthropology, actor-network theory, science studies, media studies, and science fiction.

ANTH V3950 Anthropology of Consumption. 4 points.

Enrollment limited to 20.Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission.

Examines theories and ethnographies of consumption, as well as the political economy of production and consumption. Compares historic and current consumptive practices, compares exchange-based economies with post-Fordist economies. Engages the work of Mauss, Marx, Godelier, Baudrillard, Appadurai, and Douglas, among others.

ANTH V3954 Bodies and Machines: Anthropologies of Technology. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission.

Examines how bodies become mechanized and machines embodied. Studies shifts in the status of the human under conditions of capitalist commodification and mass mediation. Readings consist of works on the fetish, repetition and automaticity, reification, and late modern technoprosthesis.

ANTH V3960 The Culture of Public Art and Display In New York City. 4 points.

Enrollment limited to 16.Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Students must sign-up in the Anthropology Department prior to registering for this course.

A field course and seminar considering the aesthetic, political, and sociocultural aspects of selected city museums, public spaces, and window displays.

ANTH UN3966 Culture and Mental Health. 4 points.

Enrollment limited to 20.

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. Limited to juniors & seniors.

This course considers mental disturbance and its relief by examining historical, anthropological, psychoanalytic and psychiatric notions of self, suffering, and cure. After exploring the ways in which conceptions of mental suffering and abnormality are produced, we look at specific kinds of psychic disturbances and at various methods for their alleviation.

ANTH V3969 Specters of Culture. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission.

Pursues the spectral effects of culture in the modern. Traces the ghostly remainders of cultural machineries, circuitries of voice, and representational forms crucial to modern discourse networks through a consideration of anthropologically significant, primarily nonwestern sites and various domains of social creation - performance, ritual practice, narrative production, and technological invention. 

ANTH V3974 Lost Worlds, Secret Spaces: Modernity and the Child. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission.

Examines the figure of the child in modernity. Study of children and the delineation of a special time called childhood have been crucial to the modern imagination; for example, the child tended to be assimilated to the anthropological notion to the "primitive" (and vice versa), with repercussions ranging from psychoanalysis to painting, from philosophy to politics. Engages the centrality of the child through interdisciplinary readings in anthropology, history, children's literature, art criticism, educational theory, and psychology.

ANTH V3980 Nationalism. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. Intended for seniors, but not necessarily anthropology majors.

This course will cover the basic readings in the contemporary debate over nationalism. It will cover different disciplinary approaches and especially look at recent studies of nationalism in the formerly colonial world as well as in the industrial West. The readings will offer a mix of both theoretical and empirical studies. The readings include the following: 1) Eric Hobsbawm's Nationalism since 1780; 2) Ernest Gillner's Nations and Nationalism; 3) Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities; 4) Anthony Smith's The Ethnic Origins of Nations; 5) Linda Coley's Britons; 6) Peter Sahlins's Boundaries; and 7) Partha Chatterjee's The Nation and Its Fragments.

CLIA GU3660 MAFIA MOVIES. 3.00 points.

Examines representations of the mafia in American and Italian film and literature. Special attention to questions of ethnic identity and immigration. Comparison of the different histories and myths of the mafia in the U.S. and Italy. Readings includes novels, historical studies, and film criticism. Limit 35

CPLS V3950 Colloquium in Literary Theory. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 18.

Examination of concepts and assumptions present in contemporary views of literature. Theory of meaning and interpretation (hermeneutics); questions of genre (with discussion of representative examples); a critical analysis of formalist, psychoanalytic, structuralist, post-structuralist, Marxist, and feminist approaches to literature.

DNCE BC2565 WORLD DANCE HISTORY. 3.00 points.

Investigates the multicultural perspectives of dance in major areas of culture, including African, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, Middle Eastern, as well as dance history of the Americas through reading, writing, viewing, and discussion of a wide range of resources. These include film, original documents, demonstration, and performance

DNCE BC2570 DANCE IN NEW YORK CITY. 3.00 points.

Study of the cultural roots and historical contexts of specific communities using New York Citys dance scene as a laboratory. Students observe the social environments in which various modes of dance works are created while researching the history of dance in New York City. Course includes attendance at weekly events, lecture-demonstrations, and performances

DNCE BC2575 Choreography for the American Musical. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Suggested DNCE BC2560, BC2566, BC2570

Explores the history and evolution of American Musical Theater dance, a uniquely American art form, with special focus on the period known as "The Golden Era." Analysis of the genre's most influential choreographers (including Balanchine, de Mille, Robbins), their systems, methodologies and fusion of high and low art on the commerical stages.

DNCE BC2580 Tap as an American Art Form. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).

Prerequisites: DNCE BC1446 or equivalent experience.

Studio/lecture format focuses on tap technique, repertory, improvisation, and the development of tap explored through American history, jazz music, films, videos, and biographies.

DNCE BC3001 HISTORY OF THEATRICAL DANCING. 3.00 points.

Focuses on the history of theatre dance forms originating in Europe and America from the Renaissance to the present. Includes reading, writing, viewing, and discussion of sources such as film, text, original documentation, demonstration, and performance

DNCE BC3570 Latin American and Caribbean Dance: Identities in Motion. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Examines the history and choreographic features of Latin American and Caribbean dance forms. Dances are analyzed in order to uncover the ways in which dancing shapes national, racial, and gender identities. Focuses on the globalization of these dances in New York City.

DNCE BC3574 Inventing the Contemporary: Dance Since the 1960s. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).

Explores modern/contemporary dance in the United States and Europe since the 1960's. Major units are devoted to the Judson Dance Theater and its postmodernist aftermath, Tanztheater and European dance revisionism, and African-American dance and the articulation of an aesthetic of cultural hybridity.

DNCE BC3578 Traditions of African-American Dance. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS)., BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Traces the development of African-American dance, emphasizing the contribution of black artists and the influence of black traditions on American theatrical dance. Major themes include the emergence of African-American concert dance, the transfer of vernacular forms to the concert stage, and issues of appropriation, cultural self-identification, and artistic hybridity.

DNCE BC3583 Gender and Historical Memory in American Dance of the 1930's to the Early 1960's. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: One course in dance history/studies or permission of the instructor.

Explores the question of why so many women dancer/choreographers of the 1930's - to the early 1960's, including relatively well-known ones, have ended up as peripheral rather than central players in what has become the master narrative of a crucial era of the recent dance past.

DNCE BC3980 Performing the Political: Embodying Change in American Performance. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: An introductory course in dance or theatre history or permission of instructor. Enrollment limited to 12 students.

Exploration into the politics of performance and the performance of politics through the lens of 20th-century American dance.

ECON BC2010 The Economics of Gender. 3 points.

Examination of gender differences in the U.S. and other advanced industrial economies. Topics include the division of labor between home and market, the relationship between labor force participation and family structure, the gender earnings gap, occupational segregation, discrimination, and historical, racial, and ethnic group comparisons.

ECON BC3011 INEQUALITY AND POVERTY. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: ECON BC3035 or ECON BC3033, or permission of the instructor. Conceptualization and measurement of inequality and poverty, poverty traps and distributional dynamics, economics and politics of public policies, in both poor and rich countries

ECON BC3012 THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: ECON BC3035 and ECON BC2411 or permission of the instructor. Analyzes education policies and education markets from an economic perspective. Examines challenges that arise when researchers attempt to identify the causal effects of inputs. Other topics: (1) education as an investment, (2) public school finance, (3) teacher labor markets, (4) testing/accountability programs, (5) school choice programs, and (6) urban public school reforms

ECON BC3013 Economic History of the United States. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).

Prerequisites: ECON BC3035 or ECON BC3033, or permission of the instructor.

Economic transformation of the United States from a small, open agrarian society in the late colonial era to the leading industrial economy of the 20th century. Emphasis is given to the quantitative, institutional, and spatial dimensions of economic growth, and the relationship between the changing structures of the economy and state.

ECON BC3019 LABOR ECONOMICS. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: ECON BC3035, or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites: ECON BC3035, or permission of the instructor. Factors affecting the allocation and remuneration of labor; population structure; unionization and monopsony; education and training, mobility and information; sex and race discrimination; unemployment; and public policy

ECON UN3265 MONEY AND BANKING. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213 or the equivalent. Introduction to the principles of money and banking. The intermediary institutions of the American economy and their historical developments, current issues in monetary and financial reform

EDUC BC3032 INVESTIGATING THE PURPOSES AND AIMS OF EDUCATION POLICY. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: The instructor's permission.
Prerequisites: the instructors permission. Course enrollment will be determined after the first class meeting. Open to all students; preference given to Urban Teaching, Education Studies, and Urban Studies students. This course explores a broad continuum of educational policies, with a critical eye toward the impact these policies have on promoting equity and justice. Because no one course can do everything, our focus will be on educational policy in the United States. However, a major research assignment will be for you to do a critical analysis of one of these policies in the context of another country

EDUC BC3050 SCIENCE IN THE CITY. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission.
Prerequisites: the instructors permission. In partnership with the American Museum of Natural History students investigate science, science pedagogical methods, and ways to use New York City as a resource for science teaching and learning. Sessions will be held at Barnard and the museum. Field trips and fieldwork required. Non-science majors pre-service elementary students and first year students, welcome. Note: Students in the Childhood Urban Teaching Program may use this course as a pedagogical elective

ENGL BC3129 Explorations of Black Literature: Early African-American Lit. 1760-1890. 3 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 18 students.

Poetry, prose, fiction, and nonfiction, with special attention to the slave narrative. Includes Wheatley, Douglass, and Jacobs, but emphasis will be on less familiar writers such as Brown, Harper, Walker, Wilson, and Forten. Works by some 18th-century precursors will also be considered.

ENGL BC3130 THE AMERICAN COWBOY AND THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE WEST. 4 points.

This upper-level research-oriented seminar will study the all-American icon of the cowboy, with its signature embrace of masculinity, stoicism, elegiac music, and love of nature. We will read Cormac McCarthy’s The Border Trilogy and other works that emerge from this icon, watch a curated series of cowboy movies, and write critical essays.

ENTH BC3144 Black Theatre. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 16 students.

Exploration of Black Theater, specifically African-American performance traditions, as an intervening agent in racial, cultural, and national identity. African-American theatre artists to be examined include Amiri Baraka, Kia Corthron, W.E.B. Du Bois, Angelina Grimke, Langston Hughes, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Adrienne Kennedy, Suzan-Lori Parks, Adrian Piper, and August Wilson. Fulfills one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major.

ENGL BC3179 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1800. 3.00 points.

This course surveys American literature written before 1800. While we will devote some attention to the literary traditions that preceded British colonization, most of our readings will be of texts written in English between 1620 and 1800. These texts--histories, autobiographies, poems, plays, and novels--illuminate the complexity of this period of American culture. They tell stories of pilgrimage, colonization, and genocide; private piety and public life; manuscript and print publication; the growth of national identity (political, cultural, and literary); Puritanism, Quakerism, and Deism; race and gender; slavery and the beginnings of a movement towards its abolition. We will consider, as we read, the ways that these stories overlap and interconnect, and the ways that they shape texts of different periods and genres

ENGL BC3180 AMERICAN LITERATURE 1800-1870. 3.00 points.

Texts from the late Republican period through the Civil War explore a range of intersecting literary, political, philosophical, and theological issues, including the literary implications of American independence, the status of Native Americans, the nature of the self, slavery and abolition, gender and woman's sphere, and the Civil War. Writers include Washington Irving, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, Margaret Fuller, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Jacobs, and Emily Dickinson

ENGL BC3181 AMERICAN LITERATURE 1871-1945. 3.00 points.

This interdisciplinary course situates late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American literature within the context of historical and cultural change. Students read works by Whitman, Twain, James, Griggs, Wharton, Faulkner, and Hurston alongside political and cultural materials including Supreme Court decisions, geometric treatises, composite photography and taxidermy

ENGL BC3182 American Fiction. 3 points.

American fiction from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.  Writers include Rowson, Hawthorne, Melville, Alcott, Twain, James, Wharton, Faulkner, Wright.

ENGL BC3183 AMERICAN LITERATURE SINCE 1945. 3.00 points.

In the wake of World War II, the so-called American Century rises out of the ashes of fascism, haunted by the specter of bombs blurring the boundary between victory and defeat. An ideological civil war ensues, punctuated by literary resistance to grand narratives and their discontents. Authors include Ellison, O’Connor, Ginsberg, Bishop, Pynchon, Robinson, Merrill, Morrison, Didion, and Wallace

ENGL BC3196 HARLEM RENAISSANCE LITERATURE. 4.00 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

In the summer of 2021, Home to Harlem will focus on the writing and collaboration of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes in the 1920s. We will explore the cultural history and aesthetic debates that animated Harlem in the 1920s by reading them through the work (poetry, fiction, essays, plays) of Barnard and Columbia’s own, who, for a time juggled student life in Morningside Heights and the joys and challenges of being major players in the Harlem or New Negro Renaissance. Hurston and Hughes navigated the demands of being an artist and representative of "the race" in both similar and different ways. They worked together to shape the Renaissance according to their radical visions and were friends and collaborators until they famously fell out. The goal of this class is to plot the individual and collective artistic growth and experimentation of Hurston and Hughes, as well as create a digital timeline and rendering of their individual and collaborative development. To that end, this class will use either or both of the digital tools Scalar and Timeline.js in creative and collaborative ways. The class will partner with the Digital Humanities Center at Barnard for workshops on these digital tools that will be linked to all of the course assignments and final projects. No prior experience with these tools is necessary.

HRTS BC1025 HUM RGTS IN THEORY＆ PRACTICE. 3.00 points.

Provides a broad overview of the rapidly expanding field of human rights. Lectures on the philosophical, historical, legal and institutional foundations are interspersed with weekly presentations by frontline advocates from the U.S. and overseas

HRTS UN3001 INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RIGHTS. 3.00 points.

Evolution of the theory and content of human rights; the ideology and impact of human rights movements; national and international human rights law and institutions; their application with attention to universality within states, including the U.S. and internationally

HIST BC1402 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865. 4.00 points.

Examines the major social, political, economic, and intellectual transformations from the 1860s until the present, including industrialization and urbanization, federal and state power, immigration, the welfare state, global relations, and social movements

HIST BC2413 UNITED STATES 1940-1975. 3.00 points.

Emphasis on foreign policies as they pertain to the Second World War, the atomic bomb, containment, the Cold War, Korea, and Vietnam. Also considers major social and intellectual trends, including the Civil Rights movement, the counterculture, feminism, Watergate, and the recession of the 1970s

HIST BC2424 Approached by Sea: Early American Maritime Culture. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).

Thematically and chronologically ordered narrative of the impact of the Atlantic Ocean and its tidal tributaries upon the beginnings and subsequent development of the American colonies and of the Early American Republic. Special stress will be placed upon the physical givens and cultural implications of the coastal environment in which early Americans went about their lives.

MUSI UN2010 ROCK. 3.00 points.

How did Elvis become the “King of Rock’n’Roll” instead of, for example, Chuck Berry? Who are LaVern Baker, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Etta James and what do they have to do with rock and roll? Why and how did “rock and roll” become “rock”? What are the relationships among rock, rhythm and blues, soul, and funk? What do classical music composers such as J.S. Bach, Modest Mussorgsky, and Philip Glass have to do with rock? How many times has rock “died”? What is rock music’s relevance both historically and today? This course will introduce you to popular music studies, a field of inquiry that draws scholars from a number of different disciplines, including musicology, sociology, philosophy, anthropology and literature. Examining rock music in an interdisciplinary way has opened the genre to increasing attention beyond musicological methodologies and assumptions. First, however, we must ask some fundamental questions: for instance, what, exactly, is popular music as well as, importantly, what differentiates rock music from other genres? Our definitions will reveal some of the assumptions we bring to any discussion of popular music. Throughout this semester, we will question our assumptions about rock music culture through an investigation into a series of keywords. Each keyword will focus our attention on various aspects of rock music in order to think through the complexities of what might, on the surface, seem self-evident. Terms such as “genre” or “the everyday” will be examined to help us gain critical analytical tools with which to assess various rock music productions, artists, and processes

MUSI UN2016 JAZZ. 3.00 points.

The musical and cultural features of jazz, beginning in 1900

MUSI UN2020 SALSA, SOCA ＆ REGGAE. 3.00 points.

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement

A survey of the major syncretic urban popular music styles of the Caribbean, exploring their origins, development, and sociocultural context.

MUSI V3420 The Social Science of Music. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC I)., BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: HUMA W1123 or the equivalent.

An introduction to the field of ethnomusicology in the context of the intellectual history of music scholarship.  IN FALL 2011, THIS COURSE WILL BE OFFERED TR 6:10-7:25 IN RM 622 DODGE.

MUSI W4507 The New Thing: Jazz 1955-1980. 0 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: the instructor's permission.

An examination of the new jazz that emerged shortly after the middle of the 20th century.  The seminar will include the work of musicians such as Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Anthony Braxton, Carla Cley, Albert Ayler, and the Arts Ensemble of Chicago; the economics and politics of the period; parallel developments in other arts; the rise of new performance spaces, recording companies, and collectives; and the accomplishments of the music and the problems it raised for jazz performance and criticism.

MUSI GU4420 MUSIC AND PROPERTY. 3.00 points.

MUSI GU4540 Histories of Post-1960's Jazz. 3 points.

Prerequisites: HUMA W1123 or the equivalent.

Historiographical issues surrounding the performance of jazz and improvised musics after 1960. Topics include genre and canon formation, gender, race, and cultural nationalisms, economics and infrastructure, debates around art and the vernacular, globalization, and media reception. Reading knowledge of music is not required.

POLS UN1201 INTRO TO AMERICAN POLITICS. 4.00 points.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the principles of American politics and governance. Upon completing the class, students should be more informed about the American political process and better able to explain contemporary American political phenomena, as well as being more likely to engage with politics and elections

POLS BC3254 FIRST AMENDMENT VALUES. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: POLS W1201 or an equivalent. Not an introductory course. Not open to students who have taken the colloquium POLS BC3302.
Prerequisites: POLS W1201 or an equivalent. Not an introductory course. Not open to students who have taken the colloquium POLS BC3302. Examines the first amendment rights of speech, press, religion and assembly. In-depth analysis of landmark Supreme Court rulings provides the basis for exploring theoretical antecedents as well as contemporary applications of such doctrines as freedom of association, libel, symbolic speech, obscenity, hate speech, political speech, commercial speech, freedom of the press and religion. (Cross-listed by the American Studies Program.)

POLS V3212 Environmental Politics. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC I).

Prerequisites: None. Some knowledge of American politics and government (i.e. prior high school or college coursework) is recommended. Barnard syllabus. \n \n "L" sign-up through myBarnard.

The political setting in which environmental policy-making occurs. The course will focus on grassroots and top-down policy-making in the United States with some comparative examples.Topics include the conservation movement and national agenda politics, pollution control and iron triangle politics, alternative energy policy and subsidy politics, climate change and issue networks, and transnational environmental issues and negotiation of international policy regimes. (Cross-listed by the American Studies Program.)

POLS V3313 American Urban Politics. 3 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Patterns of government and politics in America's large cities and suburbs: the urban socioeconomic environment; the influence of party leaders, local officials, social and economic notables, and racial, ethnic, and other interest groups; mass media, the general public, and the state and federal governments; and the impact of urban governments on ghetto and other urban conditions. As of academic year 2016-2017, this course is now POLS 3213.

POLS BC3331 * Colloquium on American Political Decisionmaking. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: POLS W1201 or the equivalent. Admission by application through the Barnard department only. Enrollment limited to 16 students. Barnard syllabus.

Readings on decisionmaking, policy analysis, and the political setting of the administrative process. Students will simulate an ad hoc Cabinet Committee assigned to prepare a presidential program to deal with aspects of the foreign aid program involving hunger and malnutrition. (Cross-listed by the American Studies Program and by the Athena Center for Leadership Studies.)

POLS BC3332 * Colloquium on Exploring Political Leadership in the U.S.. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: POLS W1201 or the equivalent. Admission by application through the Barnard department only. Enrollment limited to 16 students. Barnard syllabus.

Exploration of the effect of political leadership on political outcomes in the United States, with special attention to how individual characteristics, like personality, political style, ideology, gender, race and class, interact with the political environment in shaping political outcomes. (Cross-listed by the American Studies Program and by the Athena Center for Leadership Studies.)

POLS BC3521 CIVIL RIGHTS ＆CIVIL LIBERTIES. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: POLS W1201 or the equivalent. Not an introductory-level course. Not open to students who have taken the colloquium POLS BC3326. Enrollment limited to 25 students; L-course sign-up through eBear. Barnard syllabus. Explores seminal caselaw to inform contemporary civil rights and civil liberties jurisprudence and policy. Specifically, the readings examine historical and contemporary first amendment values, including freedom of speech and the press, economic liberties, takings law, discrimination based on race, gender, class and sexual preference, affirmative action, the right to privacy, reproductive freedom, the right to die, criminal procedure and adjudication, the rights of the criminally accused post-9/11 and the death penalty. (Cross-listed by the American Studies and Human Rights Programs.)

POLS W4316 The American Presidency. 3 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: POLS W1201 or any course that qualifies for the the introductory-level American Politics course. Barnard syllabus. \n \n "L" sign-up through eBear.

Growth of presidential power, creation and use of the institutionalized presidency, presidential-congressional and presidential-bureaucratic relationships, and the presidency and the national security apparatus. (Cross-listed by the American Studies Program.)

RELI V2505 Intro to Judaism. 3 points.

A historical overview of Jewish belief and practice as these have crystallized and changed over the centuries. Special attention to ritual and worship, the forms of religious literature, central concepts, religious leadership and institutions, Israel among the nations.

RELI V2645 Religion in Black America: An Introduction. 3 points.

CC/GS/SEAS: Partial Fulfillment of Global Core Requirement
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Undergraduate lecture course introducing students to the study of African American religion. While there are no required prerequisites for the course, prior coursework in religious studies or African American history is helpful. This course progresses as a historical survey and is intended to introduce students to important themes in African American (thus American) religious history (i.e. migration, urbanization, nationalism) through a rich engagement with the religious practices and traditions of black communities. Primary attention is given to Afro-Protestantism in North America; however, throughout the course attention is directed to religious diversity and varying religious traditions/practices in different diasporic locales. While this is a lecture course, students are expected to arrive each week having completed assigned readings and prepared to make informed contributions to class discussions (as class size allows). By the end of the semester students will be expected to possess a working knowledge of major themes/figures/traditions in African American religious life, as well as key questions that have shaped the study thereof.

RELI V3602 Religion in America I. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS)., BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL).

Survey of American religion from the Civil War to the present, with the emphasis on the ways religion has shaped American history, culture, identity.

RELI V3603 Religion in America II. 3 points.

Survey of American religion from the Civil War to the present, with an emphasis on the ways religion has shaped American history, culture, and identity.

RELI V3604 Religion in the City. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC I).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Uses the city to address and investigate a number of central concepts in the study of religion, including ritual, community, worldview, conflict, tradition, and discourse.  We will explore together what we can learn about religions by focusing on place, location, and context.

RELI V3610 Religion in American Film. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).

Exploration of relationships between religion and popular film with particular attention to the way religious narratives and symbols in film uphold and critique norms of race, class and gender in the formation of American societal institutions (political structures, economy, family and community organization).

RELI V3650 Religion and the Civil Rights Movement. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Examination of the role of religion in the drive for civil rights during the 1950s and 1960s. The course will look at the role of activists, churches, clergy, sermons, and music in forging the consensus in favor of civil rights.

RELI V3651 Evangelicalism. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC I).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Survey of evangelicalism, "America's folk religion," in all of its various forms, including the holiness movement, fundamentalism, pentecostalism, the charismatic movement, neoevangelicalism, the sanctified tradition, and various ethnic expressions. The course will examine the origins of evangelicalism, its theology, and the cultural and political involvement of American evangelicals.

RELI W4610 Science, Nature, and Religion in 20th Century America. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Reason and Value (REA).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Examination of the relationship between scientific and religious ideas, with particular reference to American culture in the twentieth century. Explores the impact of such events as the Scopes trial and the popular faith in science and technology of the religious attitudes and beliefs of 20th-century Americans.

RELI W4614 Defining Marriage: A History of Marriage in the United States. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

This seminar examines the changing purpose and meaning of marriage in the history of the United States from European colonization through contemporary debates over gay marriage.  Topics include religious views of marriage, interracial marriage, and the political uses of the institution.

RELI W4620 Religious Worlds of New York. 4 points.

This seminar teaches ethnographic approaches to studying religious life with a special focus on urban religion and religions of New York. Students develop in-depth analyses of religious communities using these methods. Course readings address both ethnographic methods and related ethical and epistemological issues, as well as substantive topical issues of central importance to the study of urban religion, including transnationalism and immigration, religious group life and its relation to local community life, and issues of ethnicity, race and cosmopolitanism in pluralistic communities.

RELI W4640 Religion in the American Public Sphere. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Introduction to questions surrounding the relationships between religion and the public sphere in the United States. Approaches topics of civil religion, church-state relations, religious pluralism in the public sphere, and the role of congregations in local communities using sociological theories and methods.

RELI W4645 American Protestant Thought. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Looks at the relation between inquiry and imagination in selected religious writers and writers on religion in the American Protestant tradition. How does imagination serve inquiry? What are the objects of inquiry in these writings? Most of these authors reflect explicitly on imagination and inquiry, in addition to providing examples of both at work on religious topics.

RELI W4660 Religious History of New York. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Survey of religious life in New York City, from the English conquest of 1684 through changes to the immigration laws in 1965.

RELI W4670 Native American Religions. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Limited to 20 students.

Examines the varieties of Native American religions and spirituality, from contact to the present, including a look at the effects of European religions on Native American traditions.

RELI W4721 Religion and Social Justice. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Sophomore standing.

Examines current debates on three topics (religious reasons in public discourse, human rights, and democracy). Also looks briefly at some uses of the Exodus story, focusing on Michael Walzer's study of its political uses, Edward Said's criticism of Walzer's use of it in connection with contemporary Israel, and its role in debates among African Americans in the nineteenth century.

RELI W4803 Religion Vs. The Academy. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Sophomore Standing. At least one course in Religion.

Today we hear heated debates about the proper aims of education in relation to those of religion. The impact of the David Project's "Columbia Unbecoming" on the Department of MESAAS and the university as a whole (2008) is a case in point. More recently (2014), in response to threatened legal action from the Hindu right, Penguin Press of India has withdrawn Wendy Doniger's book "The Hindus" from circulation, generating an international controversy. This course focuses on case studies from India and the United States-sometimes parallel, sometimes divergent, sometimes overlapping. Wendy Doniger and Gurinder Singh Mann will be guests.

RELI W4805 Secular and Spiritual America. 4 points.

Priority given to majors and concentrators.

Are Americans becoming more secular or more spiritual (not religious), or both? What are the connections between secularism and what is typically called non-organized religion or the spiritual in the United States?  We will address these questions by looking at some of the historical trajectories that shape contemporary debates and designations (differences) between spiritual, secular and religious.

SOCI UN2208 CULTURE IN AMERICA. 3.00 points.

An examination of the diverse values, meanings and identities that comprise American pluralism, the moral and political clashes and communities that emerge from them, and the sociological concepts that make sense of them. Part One explores larger macro-themes (American exceptionalism; individualism and community; religion and secularism; pleasure and restraint in post-Puritan America; race, immigration and identity). Part Two explores the interplay between these large themes and cultural polarization in post-Trump America, with special focus on the cultural forces at play in the 2024 presidential election: red states, blues states and cultural sorting; changing conceptions of liberalism and conservatism; class divisions and the global rise of cultural populism; the concept of “epistemic tribes” and media silos; fights over religion and race, sexuality and family; the current war on “wokeness” and the debate on free expression

SOCI V3208 Unity and Division in the Contemporary United States: A Sociological View. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC I).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Conflict and unity in the U.S: the tensions of individualism and communalism; the schism between blue and red states; culture war; the careers of racism and anti-Semitism; identity politics and fragmentation; immigration and second eneration identities; the changing status of whiteness and blackness; cultural borrowing and crossover culture.

SOCI V3220 Masculinity: A Sociological View. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC I).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: One introductory course in Sociology is suggested.

Examines the cultural, political, and institutional forces that govern masculinity. Focuses on various meanings of "being a man" and the effects these different types of masculinity have on both men and women. Explores some of the variation among men and relationships between men and women.

SOCI V3227 The Sociology of U.S. Economic Life. 3 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: one introductory course in sociology is recommended.

Examines the social forces that shape market behavior: ideologies of liberalism and conservatism; the culture of commodities and consumption; income, class, and quality of life; the immigrant economy; life in financial institutions; the impact of the global economy.

SOCI UN3235 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: One introductory course in Sociology suggested.
Prerequisites: One introductory course in Sociology suggested. Social movements and the theories social scientists use to explain them, with emphasis on contemporary American activism. Cases include the Southern civil rights movement, Black Lives Matter, contemporary feminist mobilizations, LGBTQ activism, immigrant rights and more recent forms of grassroots politics

SOCI V3247 The Immigrant Experience, Old and New. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC I)., BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Cultures in Comparison (CUL).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

The immigrant experience in the United States. Topics include ideologies of the melting pot; social, cultural, and economic life of earlier immigrants; the distinctiveness of the African-American experience; recent surge of "new" immigrants (Asians, Latinos, West Indians); and changing American views of immigration.

SOCI UN3264 The Changing American Family. 3 points.

Worries and debates about the family are in the news daily. But how in fact is "the family" changing? And why? This course will study the family from a sociological perspective with primary emphasis on continuity and change and variation across different historical eras. We'll examine how the diversity of family life and constellations of intimacy and care are shaped by gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and sexuality.   Discussion section (required) will engage with readings as well as events in the news/ social media of interest to students.  

SOCI W3277 Post-Racial America?. 3 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

What is race? Is the US a post-racial society? Is such a society desirable? Is a post-racial society necessarily a just and egalitarian one? We consider these questions from ethnographic, historical, and theoretical perspectives. Topics discussed include intersectionality, multiracial identity, colorism, genetics, and the race and/or class debate.

SOCI UN3302 Sociology of Gender. 3 points.

Prerequisites: One introductory course in Sociology suggested.

Examination of factors in gender identity that are both universal (across time, culture, setting) and specific to a social context. Social construction of gender roles in different settings, including family, work, and politics. Attention to the role of social policies in reinforcing norms or facilitating change.

SOCI V3318 The Sociology of Sexuality. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Reason and Value (REA)., BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Ethics and Values.
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Introductory course in Sociology is suggested.

Social, cultural and organizational aspects of sex in the contemporary United States, stressing the plural in sexualities: sexual revolution and post-Victorian ideologies; the context of gender and inequality; social movements and sexual identity; the variety of sexual meanings and communities; the impact of AIDS.

SOCI V3324 Poverty, Inequality, and Policy: A Sociological Perspective. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Introductory course in Sociology is suggested.

Examination of poverty, the "underclass," and inequality in the United States. Part 1: The moral premises, social theories, and political interests shaping current debates about the poor. Part 2: A more concrete analysis of the lives of the poor and the causes of family breakdown, the drug economy, welfare, employment, and homelessness.

SOCI UN3901 The Sociology of Culture. 4 points.

Prerequisites: SOCI BC1003 or equivalent social science course and permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 15 students.

Drawing examples from popular music, religion, politics, race, and gender, explores the interpretation, production, and reception of cultural texts and meanings. Topics include aesthetic distinction and taste communities, ideology, power, and resistance; the structure and functions of subcultures; popular culture and high culture; and ethnography and interpretation.

SOCI BC3903 Work and Culture. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Preference for Barnard Leadership Initiative participants, Juniors and Seniors. Permission of the instructor.

Sociological approaches to understanding work and culture. Theoretical underpinnings of workplace interactions, with attention to ethnographies of work across a range of organizations. Examines changes in work due to technological advances and globalization. Special emphasis on gender.

SOCI BC3909 Ethnic Conflict and Unrest. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Sophomore Standing. SOCI BC1003 or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 20 students.

Post-1965 immigration in the U.S. has prompted conflicts between new immigrant groups and established racial and ethnic groups. This seminar explores ethnic conflict and unrest that takes place in the streets, workplace, and everyday social life. Focus is on sociological theories that explain the tensions associated with the arrival of new immigrants.

SOCI W3936 Sociology and the Public. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Sociological Imagination (SOCI V1202) or The Social World (SOCI W1000) (not required).

This course explores how sociologists address pressing public concerns. With a focus on contemporary American issues, we will discuss: (1) how particular problems are identified; (2) what resolutions are put forth, who is likely to achieve them, and how; (3) what the audience is (and should be) for such work.

THTR V2002 New York Theatre. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: The Visual and Performing Arts (ART).

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited. Permission given by instructor only at first meeting.

Students attend a variety of performances as well as a weekly lab meeting. Emphasis on expanding students' critical vocabulary and understanding of current New York theatre and its history. Section on contemporary New York theatre management and production practices.

ENTH BC3139 MODERN AMERICAN DRAMA ＆ PERFORMANCE. 4.00 points.

Modern American Drama and Performance in an era of cultural contestation. What is united about the United States? How are the important claims of cultural difference related to the intercultural claims of shared community? Is there a place for historical continuity in the modernist pursuit of change? How have these issues been addressed in the emergence and development of modern drama and performance in America? Questions such as these will be addressed in the context of theatrical exploration, performance history, and social change. Canonical and experimental playwrights include Rachel Crothers, Susan Glaspell, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Eugene O’Neill, Clifford Odets, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, Edward Albee, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, and Dominique Morisseau

ENTH BC3144 Black Theatre. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 16 students.

Exploration of Black Theater, specifically African-American performance traditions, as an intervening agent in racial, cultural, and national identity. African-American theatre artists to be examined include Amiri Baraka, Kia Corthron, W.E.B. Du Bois, Angelina Grimke, Langston Hughes, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Adrienne Kennedy, Suzan-Lori Parks, Adrian Piper, and August Wilson. Fulfills one (of two) required courses in dramatic literature for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts major.

THTR UN3151 CRITICAL HISTORIES OF DRAMA, THEATRE, AND PERFORMANCE 2. 4.00 points.

This course undertakes a dialectical approach to reading and thinking about the history of dramatic theatre, interrogating the ways writing inflects, and is inflected by, the material dynamics of performance in the modern era. Course undertakes careful study of the practices of performance, and of the sociocultural, economic, political, and aesthetic conditions animating representative performances in theatres globally; course will also emphasize development of important critical concepts for the analysis of drama, theatre, and performance. Topics include the sociology of theatre, the impact of print on conceptions of performance, representing gender and race, the politics of intercultural performance, and the dynamics of emerging forms and critical practices of performance analysis. Writing: 2-3 papers; Reading: 1-2 plays, critical and historical reading per week; final examination. Fulfills one (of two) lecture requirements for Theatre/Drama and Theatre Arts majors

URBS V3420 Introduction to Urban Sociology. 3 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC I)., BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC II).

Prerequisites: Students must attend first class.

Examines the diverse ways in which sociology has defined and studied cities, focusing on the people who live and work in the city, and the transformations U.S. cities are undergoing today. Sociological methods, including ethnography, survey research, quantitative studies, and participant observation will provide perspectives on key urban questions such as street life, race, immigration, globalization, conflict, and redevelopment.

URBS UN3545 JUNIOR SEMINAR IN URBAN STUDIES. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Non-majors admitted by permission of instructor. Students must attend first class. Enrollment limited to 16 students per section. General Education Requirement: Historical Studies.
Prerequisites: Non-majors admitted by permission of instructor. Students must attend first class. Enrollment limited to 16 students per section. Introduction to the historical process and social consequences of urban growth, from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present

URBS UN3546 JUNIOR SEMINAR IN URBAN STUDIES. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Non-majors admitted by permission of instructor. Students must attend first class. Enrollment limited to 16 students per section.
Prerequisites: Non-majors admitted by permission of instructor. Students must attend first class. Enrollment limited to 16 students per section. Evaluation of current political, economic, social, cultural and physical forces that are shaping urban areas

URBS V3550 Community Building and Economic Development. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Must attend first class for instructor permission. Preference to Urban Studies majors.

Community building has emerged as an important approach to creating an economic base, reducing poverty and improving the quality of life in urban neighborhoods. In this course, students examine the methods, strategies, and impact of community building on the economic, social, and political development of urban neighborhoods.

URBS V3920 Social Entrepreneurship. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC I).

Prerequisites: Must attend first class for instructor permission. Preference to Urban Studies majors. General Education Requirement: Social Analysis (SOC). Only 16 admitted.

Introduction to the main concepts and processes associated with the creation of new social enterprises, policies, programs, and organizations; criteria for assessing business ventures sponsored by non-profits and socially responsible initiatives undertaken by corporations; specific case studies using New York City as a laboratory. To be offered Fall 2011.

WMST UN1001 INTRO-WOMEN ＆ GENDER STUDIES. 3.00 points.

An interdisciplinary introduction to key concepts and analytical categories in women's and gender studies. This course grapples with gender in its complex intersection with other systems of power and inequality, including: sexuality, race and ethnicity, class and nation. Topics include: feminisms, feminist and queer theory, commodity culture, violence, science and technology, visual cultures, work, and family.

WMST BC3121 Black Women in America. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Historical Studies (HIS).
Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Students must attend first day of class and admission will be decided then. Enrollment limited to 20 students.

Examines roles of black women in the U.S. as thinkers, activists and creators during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Focusing on the intellectual work, social activism and cultural expression of African American women, we examine how they understood their lives, resisted oppression and struggled to change society. We will also discuss theoretical frameworks (such as "double jeopardy," or "intersectionality") developed for the study of black women. The seminar will encourage students to pay particular attention to the diversity of black women and critical issues facing Black women today. This course is the same as AFRS BC3121 Black Women in America.

WMST BC3131 WOMEN AND SCIENCE. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 18 students.
Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to 18 students. History and politics of womens involvement with science. Womens contributions to scientific discovery in various fields, accounts by women scientists, engineers, and physicians, issues of science education. Feminist critiques of biological research and of the institution of science

WMST UN3311 FEMINIST THEORY. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: LIMITED TO 20 BY INSTRUC PERM; ATTEND FIRST CLASS
This course explores the formation of desire, sexuality, and subjectivity through the frameworks of feminist epistemologies (the question of what we can know) and feminist ethics (the question of how to be responsible within our relationships and local and global communities). We will reflect on the tension between the limits of what we can know about ourselves and others and the imperative to care for each other and remain accountable for our individual and collective actions and inaction. We will investigate how our deepest emotions, intimate encounters, and secret fantasies are formed by larger social and political contexts. In turn, we will also question how these intimate relationships with ourselves and our companions may be seen as feminist acts of resistance, disruption, and creation. Objective I: to closely engage diverse feminist perspectives in late-twentieth- and twenty-firstcentury phenomenology, existentialism, Marxism, queer theory, critical race theory, and psychoanalysis. Objective II: to begin to locate your own feminist perspective within the intersection of your unique experiences and the larger historical and social contexts that form you and which you may seek to transform

WMST V3312 Theorizing Activism. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Critical Approaches or Feminist Theory or permission of instructor.

Helps students develop and apply useful theoretical models to feminist organizing on local and international levels.  It involves reading, presentations, and seminar reports.  Students use first-hand knowledge of the practices of specific women's activist organizations for theoretical work.

WMST W4301 Early Jewish Women Immigrant Writers: 1900-1939. 4 points.

BC: Fulfillment of General Education Requirement: Literature (LIT).
Enrollment limited to 15.

Prerequisites: students must attend first day of class and admission will be decided then.

Covers significant pre-Holocaust texts (including Yiddish fiction in translation) by U.S. Ashkenazi women and analyzes the tensions between upholding Jewish identity and the necessity and/or inevitability of integration and assimilation. It also examines women's quests to realize their full potential in Jewish and non-Jewish communities on both sides of the Atlantic.

WMST GU4302 The Second Wave and Jewish Women's Artistic Responses: 1939-1990. 4 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor. Enrollment limited to 13 students.

A study of  Jewish women’s fiction, memoirs, art and film in response to the feminist/gender issues raised by the Second Wave. The seminar includes analysis of the writings and artwork of Jo Sinclair, Tillie Olsen, Judy Chicago, Helene Aylon, Elana Dykewomon, Rebecca Goldstein, E.M. Broner and others.

WMST W4304 Gender and HIV/AIDS. 4 points.

Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor. Enrollment limited to 15 students.

An interdisciplinary exploration of feminist approaches to HIV/AIDS with emphasis on the nexus of science and social justice.

WMST W4308 SEXUALITY AND SCIENCE. 4.00 points.

WMST W4309 SEX,GENDER ＆ TRANSGNDR QUERIES. 4.00 points.

WMST W4320 Queer Theories and Histories. 4 points.

Enrollment limited to 20.Not offered during 2023-2024 academic year.

The course will cover a range of (mostly U.S. and mostly 20th-Century) materials that thematize gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender experience and identity. We will study fiction and autobiographical texts, historical, psychoanalytic, and sociological materials, queer theory, and films, focusing on modes of representing sexuality and on the intersections between sexuality and race, ethnicity, class, gender, and nationality. We will also investigate connections between the history of LGBT activism and current events. Authors will include Foucault, Freud, Butler, Sedgwick, Anzaldua, Moraga, Smith. Students will present, and then write up, research projects of their own choosing.