Summer 2003
Dean's Seminars Fall 2003
AH 801.10 The Buddhist Art
of Asia
Professor Susanne Francoeur
GCR Category: Humanities
Tuesday 2:00-4:30
Buddhism has had a profound effect on the cultures of Asia, not least
on their arts. The seminar explores the history of Buddhist art as initially
developed in India and through its transmission eastward through Afghanistan,
Nepal, Tibet, and Central and East Asia. Students will work directly
with artifacts at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian
Institution where some sessions are held. By analyzing the physical
properties of these art objects in the museum, and through reading,
discussion, class presentation, and research, students will learn about
the major periods of Buddhist art and the key styles, themes, and techniques
of each culture.
AMST 801.10 American Material Culture, or, How to Read an Object
Professor John Vlach
GCR Category: Humanities
Monday/Wednesday 12:30-1:45
How do we recognize and then interpret the cultural messages embedded
in our material surroundings? The things around us can be read as texts
in ways that parallel the way that we draw meaning from books. These
material “texts” are particularly important as evidence of
cultural values in view of the facts that so few people actually leave
written records about their everyday experience. For us, it is important
to recognize that material goods are an important factor in shaping
the character of American life. Students will be introduced to the methods
of material culture analysis. They will then engage in observing, recording,
describing, and interpreting various classes of artifacts, including
places (neighborhoods, work sites, waterfronts, churches, stores, theatres)
and objects (tools, clothing, furnishings, artwork). We will explore
what they are telling us about their designers and users, and try to
assemble a collective portrait of life in the United States.
ASTR 801.10 Astrobiology: Prospects for Life in the Universe
Professors William Parke and Earl Skelton
GCR Category: Natural Sciences
Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:45
The Earth teems with life. What are the chances for life, simple or
intelligent? The seminar introduces those principles and facts currently
known about the universe that bear on the development of life: its origin,
evolution, and stability. We then study the origin and evolution of
the universe, focusing on those structures and environments which seem
best suited for life to develop. One evident aspect of life’s evolution
is the crossing of critical thresholds. Intelligent life on earth has
recently crossed three such thresholds: planetary saturation, the ability
for willful planetary destruction, and the knowledge to rewrite its
genetic code. Subsequent survival of intelligent life anywhere in the
universe after certain thresholds are reached is in question. Finding
other extraterrestrial conscious beings will profoundly impact our outlook.
The seminar will include a lab component and field trips.
ECON 801.10 Markets and the Economics of Social Policy
Professors Joseph J. Cordes and Harry S. Watson
GCR Category: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Tuesday/Thursday 2:00-3:15
Placing greater reliance on markets to achieve a variety of social goals
is an idea that has gained in political appeal both in the United States
and abroad. The seminar will explore the advantages and the limitations
of using markets and market-like mechanisms as instruments of social
policy. One theme that will receive special attention is the interplay
between the social values of economic efficiency, which has to do with
“best” (for example, non-wasteful use of society’s scarce
resources) and ideas of fairness or equity.
Pre-requisite: Concurrent registration in ECON 11, Principles of Microeconomics,
or AP credit for microeconomics.
EES 801.10 The Birth and Death of Mountain Ranges
Professor George Stephens
GCR Category: Natural Sciences
Monday/Wednesday 2:00-3:15
The mountain ranges of North America have played a pivotal role in human
history during the past 300 years. IN the past, they served as formidable
barriers to early westward migration, and their bountiful timber and
mineral resources largely controlled early settlement patterns. Today,
with increasing competing uses for public lands, many critical land-use
problems in mountain environments (such as water quality and ecosystems
preservation) require a geologic basis for decision making. The seminar
will contrast the geologic history of the eastern Appalachians, with
a much younger range, the western Rockies. We will explore both early
and modern ideas about the origins, composition, and evolution of mountain
belts. Two required all-day Saturday field trips will highlight classic
localities in the nearby Appalachians.
ENGL 801.10 Washington, D.C.: Literature, Politics, and Culture
Professor Christopher Sten
GCR Category: Humanities
Monday/Wednesday 2:00-3:15
Washington, D.C. has a rich literary history that reveals much about
life in the nation’s capital over the past two centuries. This
“inquiry-based learning” course will look at the work of writers
(jean Toomer, Marita Golden) who engage local issues and portray the
lives of ordinary citizens, as well as writers (Douglass, Whitman, Alcott,
Adams, Cather, Gore Vidal, E. L. Doctorow) who engage large national
issues and conflicts. Students will read, discuss, and present reports,
including at least one collaborative report, and complete research projects
on the life and politics of these and other Washington-based authors.
The class will also explore the many resources, especially museums and
libraries in Washington that have relevance to the themes of the course.
ENGL 801.11 Disability Studies, Disability Culture
Professor Robert McRuer
GCR Category: Humanities
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00-12:15
The seminar will examine how disability has been represented and misrepresented
in American cultures, how “normalcy” is constructed and enforced
through various interpretations of bodily difference, and we will consider
how men and women with disabilities have spoken and written back to
the discourse that would delimit them. We will read some of the key
philosophical and theoretical works that provide a foundation for disability
studies, disability memoir—“writing back” by persons
with disabilities, and selections from disability studies anthologies
that examine the centrality of disability to the study of the humanities,
history, and film. Students will participate in class discussion, write
papers, and participate in on-line e-mail discussion with the authors
of works read.
ENGL 801.12 Representing God: Literature of
Faith and Doubt in the Twentieth Century
Professor Heather Cook Callow
GCR Category: Humanities
Tuesday/Thursday 12:30-1:45
After establishing a historical context (the effects of Darwinism, biblical
criticism, Marxism, etc.) on religious faith, we focus on 20th Century
British and American writers in the Judeo-Christian traditions who represent
in their writing the intersection of the natural and the divine. We
consider the strategies writers employ—comedy, gothicism, realism,
dream vision—to express the inexpressible, or, as William Carlos
Williams puts it, to explore “the huge gap between the flash and
the thunderstroke.” Classroom elements include a reading journal,
two papers—the longer shared in oral presentation—and active
class discussion. Authors will include Annie Dillard, Chaim Potok, and
Flannery O’Connor.
ENGL 801.13 the Fairy Tale Tradition
Professor Judith Plotz
GCR Category: Humanities
Tuesday/Thursday 12:30-1:45
In this seminar, we will look at several of the great troves of fairy
stories (The Panchatantra, The Thousand and One Nights, The Tales of
the Brothers Grimm) and at a representative group of adaptations, revisions,
and reinventions of the fairy story in modern literature, art, music,
drama, and movies. Some probable topics and persons: Fairy tale poetry
(Christina Rossetti); Fairy painting (Richard Dodd); Fairy photography
(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle); feminism and the fairy tale (Angela Carter,
Anne Sexton); Holocaust and the fairy tale (Jane Yolen, Maurice Sendak);
Disneyfication (Cinderella or Aladdin); fairy tale and opera (The Magic
Flute). The course will involve both museum and theater trips.
ENGL 801.14 Puritans, Republicans, and Free Love
Professor Ormond Seavey
GCR Category: Humanities
Monday/Wednesday 2:00-3:15
The seminar will explore the continuities between American Puritanism
and a strange medley of later phenomena from classical republicanism,
to Transcendentalism, to complete sexual freedom, with numerous stops,
for example the establishment of the Oneida Community, along the way.
The seminar will examine some early American texts and trace their conflicting
legacies in the 18th through 20th Centuries.
ENGL 801.15 African-American Literature and Music in the
“Post-Soul” Era
Professor Gayle Wald
GCR Category: Humanities
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00-12:15
The Civil Rights and Black Power movements defined a generation of artists
and intellectuals, but what about those who came of age after the era
of Civil Rights? This course explores how various post-Civil Rights—or
“post-soul”—writers and musicians are defining, and sometimes
refusing to define, “Black” art in the twenty-first century.
Our readings will include novels, poems, drama, and essays by an exciting
group of emerging young artists.
HIST 801.10 Abraham Lincoln: The Man and the
Legend
Professor Tyler Anbinder
GCR Category: Humanities
Monday/Wednesday 12:30-1:45
Every American knows the basic outlines of Abraham Lincoln’s life:
the log cabin, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the Emancipation Proclamation,
the assassination. But how much of the legend is true? How did a man
so uniformly vilified as President become so beloved after his death?
The seminar will consider these questions and many more, looking at
Lincoln the lawyer, orator, politician, husband and father, and commander-in-chief.
Students will write four five-page papers over the course of the term,
meeting with the instructor to go over drafts in advance and then after
to review the completed papers. Class time will focus on discussions
of weekly reading assignments, whenever possible of Lincoln’s own
writings.
HMSR 801.10 Birth to Earth: Human Development from Infancy to Old
Age
Professor Mary Anne Saunders
GCR Category: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Thursday 4:10-6:00
The course will familiarize students with major theories of life-span
development from infancy and early childhood, through middle childhood
and adolescence, early and middle adulthood, to late adulthood and the
end of life. The course is enhanced by a service learning component
of 2-3 hours per week of field experience in an appropriate agency or
institutional setting. Students will maintain a field-site log, which
will be reviewed with the instructor several times in the semester.
Student progress is evaluated by a combination of in-class assignments,
midterm and final exam, review of the field-site logs and presentation
of field-site observations, and a final group project.
MATH 801.10 Games: An Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning
Professor Lowell Abrams
GCR Category: Quantitative and Logical Reasoning
Tuesday/Thursday 2:00-3:15
The patterns and methods of mathematical reasoning have a wide range
of applicability. We will apply mathematical reasoning to the analysis
of a variety of games by playing them, reflecting on them more abstractly,
and writing about them. In this context, we will study such fundamental
notions as axiomatic system, specialized notations, symbolic manipulation,
proof, rigor, heuristic, refinement of ideas, and effective communication
of technical ideas. Students will be graded on the basis of quizzes,
homework assignments, and a final project. Class time will be devoted
primarily to group investigation and discussion.
MATH 801.11 Geometry of Knots and Graphs
Professor Josef Przytycki
GCR Category: Quantitative and Logical Reasoning
Monday/Wednesday 2:00-3:15
Here is a field that is over two hundred years old, and yet some of
the most exciting results have occurred in the last twenty years. Many
basic questions in the field are still unanswered, yet much research
can be done by students with a background in high school algebra. Students
in the seminar will begin with Leibniz’ Geometria Situs and complete
the course with a proof of the hundred-years-old Tait conjecture.
MUS 801.10 Leadership and the Maestro
Professor Ben Fritz
GCR Category: Humanities
Tuesday/Thursday 12:30-1:45
Washington, D.C. is home to musical leadership recognized for excellence
around the world. The National Symphony Orchestra, Washington Opera,
and four US Military Bands perform in over 1,000 concerts each year.
They are led by conductors of extraordinary talent and experience. Who
are these musician-leaders and how do they lead. In this course we will
examine leadership as it relates to conducting, and study the role of
the conductor as it relates to leadership theory. Students will attend
concerts and rehearsals and meet with conductors in search of answers
to questions of leadership and conducting.
ORSC 801.10 Teams and Global Communication
Professor Nils Olsen
GCR Category: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Thursday 12:30-3:00
Have you ever wondered how you might build trust in a highly uncertain
global economy? Or have you tackled the challenge of building a team
of people separated by 3,000 miles? These are some of the questions
facing today’s workers and managers, team building experts, and
individuals like you. In this course, we will look at how international
teams are built, maintained, particularly when face-to-face interaction
is not possible. We will sample from theories of management, psychology,
communication, and economics; and will focus our meetings on student-centered
discussions, lectures, team projects, and meeting with actual organizational
teams.
PHIL 801.10 War, Morality, and Conscience
Professor Paul Churchill
GCR Category: Humanities
Tuesday/Thursday 4:10-5:25
This seminar will focus on ethics and justifications for decisions to
wage war, as well as conscientious resistance to war. We examine just
war theory from the Middle Ages to the present and in cross-cultural
perspective. We will also study pacifism, civil-disobedience, and non-violent
resistance against war, relying on documentaries and internet resources
as well as texts. The objective is to apply ethical reasoning to contemporary
conflicts in a self-reflective and critical manner. Seminar members
will attend lectures, plays, conferences, and participate in other events
in Washington as appropriate.
PHIL 801.11 Measuring Medicine: Ethical, Social, and Quantitative
Aspects of Illness
Professors Donald M. Keller and Katherine Z. Keller
GCR Category: Humanities
Monday/Wednesday 6:10-7:25
What kinds of ethical, political, personal, and quantitative reactions
do we make to catastrophic medical events? What connections are there
between the human response to the plague in 17th Century England and
the potential for smallpox epidemics in the 21st Century? The seminar
opens a conversation between an epidemiologist and a literary scholar
on the connections among the moral, ethical, and quantitative measurements
of disease and treatment. We will read and discuss literary works such
as Arrowsmith and Journal of The Plague Year, and works that focus on
the statistical and public health perspectives such as The Coming Plague.
Among the issues to be considered are evidence and ethics, genetics
and discrimination, conflicting evidence and causation, containment
and human freedom.
PSC 801.10 Global Perspectives on Democracy
Professor Bruce Dickson
GCR Category: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00-12:15
In the seminar, we will look at both the theory and practice of democratic
governance in different parts of the world, beginning with a brief look
at the philosophical roots of democratic government among the Greeks,
and moving to contemporary scholars such as Robert Dahl, Robert Putnam,
and John Rawls. We will compare transitions to democracy in Western
Europe and North America, and more recent transitions in Latin America,
Southern Europe, and the former communist countries. We will evaluate
the success of these democracies in the areas of economic development,
social welfare, and civil rights, and look at how democracy is viewed
in non-democratic countries. What are the most important obstacles to
the spread of democracy in these countries: cultural, political, or
economic? Finally we will explore the international influences on the
transitions to and consolidation of democracy. Students will write several
short papers and participate in a group project on promoting democracy
abroad, either through American foreign policy or non-governmental organizations.
We will take advantage of many resources in the Washington, D.C. area,
and meet with representatives of the State Department and Voice of America,
and advocacy groups such as the National Endowment for Democracy and
Human Rights Watch.
PSYC 801.10 The Psychology of Leadership
Professor Lynn Offerman
GCR Category: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Tuesday 10:00-12:30
Leadership is a highly valued quality in many societies. This course
will enable student to develop an understanding of psychological theory,
research, and practical applications in the area of leadership. We will
examine leadership in multiple domains, including organizations, politics,
and social movements. We will also focus on the development of self-leadership
as a core life skill. Seminar discussion and guest speakers will be
supplemented by simulation exercises and other activities.
REL 801.10 Religion and Violence
Professor Paul Duff
GCR Category: Humanities
Monday/Wednesday 11:00-12:15
Religion and violence share a long history. A number of theorists argue
that violence lies at the very heart of religion. Some suggest that
religion originally arose to protect society from its own aggressive
impulses. Others argue that violent rituals are a hold over from an
earlier stage of human evolution. This inquiry-based seminar will examine
the violent dimension of religion, past and present (including such
phenomena as blood sacrifice, ritual murder, and holy war). In this
inquiry-based seminar, students will explore theories by such scholars
as Rene´ Girard, Walter Burkett, Eli Sagan, Mark Juergensmeyer,
and Robert Lifton that attempt to explain the connections between religion
and violence, and study recent examples of religiously motivated violence
in an attempt to test the theories.
SOC 801.10 The Immigrant Experience: Ethnicity, Race and Inequality
in America
Professor Samantha Friedman
GCR Category: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Tuesday/Thursday 4:10-5:25
The seminar will examine the immigrant experience in America. Most of
today’s immigrants are Latino, Asian, or Black. Given the ethnic
and racial inequality that exists in American society, this seminar
will explore the extent to which immigrants integrate into various social
and political institutions within American society, form their own ethnic
enclaves, or become part of the urban underclass. Students will research
a specific immigrant group’s experience in the Washington, D.C.
area using data from Census 2000, the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, and from interviews with local immigrant leaders.
SOC 801.11 Wealth, Poverty, and Inequality: Class in Washington,
D.C.
Professor Daina Eglitis
GCR Category: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Tuesday/Thursday 12:30-1:45
This course will examine issues of wealth, poverty, and inequality using
Washington, D.C. as a laboratory. The first half of the course will
focus on the study of sociological perspectives on class, inequality,
and poverty, and on the development of social research skills. The second
half will focus on research on and in the Washington, D.C. community.
Students will design research questions about issues relating to inequality
and prepare research projects based on primary data collection in the
Washington area. Students will have the opportunity to meet with speakers
who are experts on various issues in inequality such as housing discrimination,
poverty, and homelessness, and to participate in community service as
part of the learning experience.
SOC 801.12 Poverty, Place, and Race: The Sociology of Urban Inequality
Professor Greg Squires
GCR Category: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Monday/Wednesday 9:30-10:45
In 1903, the eminent sociologist W.E.B. DuBois stated that “the
problem of the 20th Century is the problem of the color line.”
In 1968, the Kerner Commission warned that “to continue present
policies is to make a permanent division of our country into two societies;
one, largely Negro and poor, located in central cities; the other predominantly
white and affluent located in the suburbs and outlying areas.”
Today, scholars debate whether race or class is more important in accounting
for the conditions of racial minorities in the U.S. Throughout U.S.
history, the causes and consequences of poverty and racial inequality
have been intricately linked to urban development patters and the quality
of life for diverse groups that reside in the nation’s metropolitan
areas. The seminar will increase students’ understanding of the
nature of poverty and racial inequality in the U.S., particularly in
urban communities. The course will draw from a variety of disciplines
including sociology, economics, political science, history, and urban
planning. Activities will include classroom discussion, student presentations,
films, policy papers, and active engagement by students in their learning.
WSTU 801.10 Gender, Bodies, Health
Professor Alyssa Zucker
GCR Category: Humanities
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00-12:15
In the seminar we will examine how gender is “worn” on the
body. By reading interdisciplinary literature from the humanities and
social science, we will explore such questions as: What marks bodies
as being “feminine” or “masculine” (e.g., in terms
of weight, figure, muscles)? How are the incidence, diagnosis, and treatment
of particular diseases (e.g., breast cancer, cardiovascular disease,
eating disorders) shaped by gender, race, and class? What are the conditions
that lead to optimal health and well-being for both women and men? Activities
will include field trips to Washington, D.C. resources, films, and student
discussion.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
