Examine the nature of humor and the uses of humor as a communication strategy in the workplace, whether office, hospital, or home. Consider the psychological and physiological benefits of humor and learn effective strategies for incorporating humor into workplace settings. Examine culture and gender considerations as well as appropriate uses of humor in communication situations. Assignments include a humor journal and a plan of action to incorporate humor into a recurring workplace situation. This course was previously CUL-222342 Humor in the Workplace.

Attributes: Liberal

This course is designed to help students develop essential research and information skills that support lifelong learning. Through reading, writing, and online discussions, culminating with an annotated bibliography, students will explore the research process, including: knowledge creation, evaluation and dissemination processes; techniques to brainstorm interesting and manageable topics; how to find and effectively use a wide variety of information sources and search tools, including those from the College’s Online Library and open web; and strategies to cite and integrate sources for writing and research purposes. This course may be used to fulfill educational planning credit with mentor approval This course was previously CUL-232012 Research and Library Essentials.

Attributes: Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Cultural Studies (CUST). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

Learn to consider food and/or drink as examples of cultural practice and cultural expression at an introductory level. Important Note: students should not include Food and Drink in Cultural Context twice in an ESC degree program. This course can only be taken once, either at the lower-level or at the upper-level. This course was previously CUL-222604 Food and Drink in Cultural Context: Introductory.

Cross-listed with ANTH 2025.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Liberal

Learn concepts basic to critical thinking (clear communication, persuasion, argument, fact and opinion, etc.) in a real-world, problem-solving context. This course was previously CUL-232312 Introduction to Critical Thinking. Students cannot take both CUST 2020 and CUST 2030. This course may be used to fulfill educational planning credit with mentor approval.

Attributes: Liberal

Learn about American history in relation to questions of 'happiness' or 'the good life.' This course was previously CUL-222114 The Pursuit of Happiness in American History. This course may be used to fulfill educational planning credit with mentor approval.

Attributes: American History Gen Ed, Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Cultural Studies (CUST). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

Learn to consider food and/or drink as examples of cultural practice and cultural expression at an advanced level. Important Note: students should not include Food and Drink in Cultural Context twice in an ESC degree program. This course can only be taken once, either at the lower-level or at the upper-level. This course was previously CUL-223604 Food and Drink in Cultural Context: Advanced.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Liberal

What is women's humor? Why has humor by women been largely resisted or overlooked? This study will examine women's use of humor as a form of social protest. In particular, we will look at the movement away from domestic humor of 19th century writers toward the use of satire by writers of the interwar period to the return of domestic humor in the 1950s and the revisioning of female and feminist humor today. Students will gain knowledge of theories of humor and satire as well as an understanding of the changing role of women in America from the 1850s to the present.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Liberal

This course is an exploration of the literature and culture of America in the 1920s, and its relation to other manifestations of the material culture of the time, such as music, film, affluence and celebrity. By the end of the course, students should be more astute as a readers, viewers and listeners, more proficient as writers and should have enhanced their insight into the ways in which the literature of the ‘20s was a product of the cultural, social and political context.

Attributes: Liberal

Examine recent and historical forms of cultural representation in the U.S. (e.g., plays, novels, autobiographies, movies, television programming, comic strips, and/or other cultural texts) for what they say about LGBTQ+ lives in America. Questions that may be considered include: How are LGBTQ+ people represented in American culture? How do LGBTQ+ people seek to represent themselves? How has American culture always been queer? This course was previously CUL-243204 Queering American Culture.

Cross-listed with GSST 3152.

Attributes: Liberal

This multidisciplinary approach to Africa studies the history of colonization and its impacts, case studies on different geographic regions of the continent, and such topical issues as AIDS, the environment, family and kinship, women and development, religion, and literature. Students engage in discussions, prepare case studies, and write short essays and a research paper. Prerequisites: Introductory coursework in world history, advanced level research and writing skills. This course was previously HIS-243344 African History and Culture.

Cross-listed with HIST 3010.

Attributes: Other World Civilization Gn Ed, Liberal

Mythologies are part of collective communication and shared memories that give meaning to human experience. They may instruct in cultural norms, reveal lessons derived from nature, describe mystical experiences, or reflect historical events, illuminating individual identity as well as cultural views, practices, beliefs and values. We will investigate their continuing relevance to contemporary issues. This course was previously CUL-223104 Mythology and Modern Life.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Liberal

Water is the heart of life; its control is at the crux of ethical questions: can nature be owned? Are water rights human rights? We will analyze how these approaches to water play out in various ways, such as: ecologically, economically, and/or politically. We will investigate solutions and alternative ways of thinking about water and consider how to apply them locally and globally. This course was previously CUL-253424 Water: Local and Global Perspectives.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Liberal

This advanced level research course gives students an opportunity to propose and carry out a semester long, self-directed, in-depth research agenda. The focus of the research is on place as a community in a geographical location or physical environment. Students can explore the local history of the place where they live (or some other place of interest and research, among other things, a particular topic or period of local history by engaging with historical scholarship, consulting local archives and historical societies and/or interviewing community members who have witnessed local history. Students also will collaborate with others interested in history, the arts, and culture to learn concepts for thinking about place as process, a coming together of nature and culture, the local and global and of issues ranging from gender, class, ethnicity and the environment to modernization, conservation, and preservation. This course was previously HIS-244774 Exploring Place: History.

Attributes: Liberal

This study explores the modernization of China's culture, social relations, economy and politics during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Students may investigate topics such as the collapse of China's imperial order in the face of alien invasion and internal rebellions; political, cultural and economic revolutions inspired by Western models; the history and evolution of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party leadership of China since 1949; contemporary controversies regarding expanding democracy and human rights; etc. Prerequisites: Introductory level coursework in modern world history or Pacific Asia history is recommended.

Cross-listed with HIST 3350.

Attributes: Other World Civilization Gn Ed, Liberal

This course explores the history of changing relationships between American culture and its environment, as that relationship has been manifest physically as well as conceptually. Students will gain familiarity with the main eras and episodes of American history as they relate to American culture’s grounding in nature: the European encounter with a (supposedly) virgin wilderness; the rapid exploitation of resources that accompanied westward and industrial expansion; the closing of the frontier and the development of resource conservationism; continued industrialization of the nature-culture relationship through nearly a century of war; the modern tension between economics and a concern for ecological health and balance. This course was previously HIS-243544 Nature in American History.

Cross-listed with HIST 3380.

Attributes: American History Gen Ed, Liberal

Sex is a matter of intense interest, both personally and academically. This course is about sexuality and the way it has been represented, perceived, and experienced from the nineteenth century through to the present. Students will consider the ways that sexuality has been defined and how it defines categories of identity. Using history, literature, and theory, students will come to a clearer understanding of the ways that sexuality, as a category, has changed over time. Through readings and discussion, students will consider the cultural history of sexuality and its impact on the current sexual climate. A course in gender, sexuality, or psychology would be helpful but there are no specific prerequisite courses. This course was previously HIS-244534 Sex and Sexuality in Western Civilization.

Attributes: Western Civilization Gen Ed, Liberal

Attributes: Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Cultural Studies (CUST). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.

Learn about arts, crafts, and/or artistic or artisanal practices of the place you live (or some other place of interest), whether you define that place as a neighborhood, a whole village or town or city, a geographical region, or a watershed. Important Note: this course overlaps with Exploring Place: Humanities and Exploring Place: History. No more than one of these three should be included in a degree program. This course was previously ART-224754 Exploring Place: Arts.

Attributes: Arts Gen Ed, Liberal

Learn about the culture of the place you live (or some other place of interest), whether you define that place as a neighborhood, a whole village or town or city, a geographical region, or a watershed. Note: this course overlaps with Exploring Place: Arts and Exploring Place: History. Students interested more in the artistic cultural aspects (including visual culture, say, or music) of place should take Exploring Place: Arts. No more than one of these three should be included in a degree program. This course was previously CUL-224764 Exploring Place: Humanities.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Liberal

This class-which should be of interest to Humanities students, but also to Pre-Med, Nursing, and Health Sciences students, as well as students in other health-related fields-will explore critically important questions about health, illness, and the practice of medicine. We will consider the ways that medical practitioners and patients tell their stories, and locate these in their social, cultural, and historical contexts. We will also consider the ethical questions to which these narratives lead. This course was previously CUL-254154 Medical Humanities.

Attributes: Humanities Gen Ed, Liberal

The content of this course will vary by term and section. Students may repeat this course for credit as long as the topic differs. Please refer to the Term Guide for course topic offerings.

Attributes: Liberal

Students have the opportunity to develop individualized studies with their mentor in Cultural Studies (CUST). Please contact your mentor/advisor for more details.