May 23, 2024  
2015-2016 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2015-2016 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

 

University Seminar
  

  • US 205 Philadelphia Then & Now

    This course explores metropolitan Philadelphia’s past and present in order to examine how history shapes the places in which we currently live, work, and play. The course uses a historical lens through which to view a range of contemporary subjects including: wealth and poverty; suburban sprawl; architecture and space; local literature and visual art; watersheds and other environmental resources; urban politics; regional mass media. Students explore aspects of urban Philadelphia as well as of Philadelphia-area suburbs and “vacationlands.” In addition to doing weekly assigned readings, students also take individual and group trips to locations around the region and conduct research designed to provide them a more complex understanding of and deeper relationship to the Philadelphia region.

    Note: US205 can count toward the History major and minor.
  

  • US 206 Power of Play: Improvisation and Learning

    This course investigates the intersection between Improvisation and Education and is relevant for students preparing for careers as teachers in elementary or secondary education, or as teaching artists in professional theaters, schools and communities. In this course we will investigate how the theater process (improvisation-rehearsal- performance) can be an inquiry-based model for teachers as well as how theater games and exercises can be adapted to explore a non-arts curriculum. No previous theater courses are necessary but most of our learning will be by doing, so students must be willing to participate in all improvisations and be prepared to act in a final project presented for children.

    Note: US 206 can count toward the Education and Theater Arts majors and minors.
  

  • US 207 Global Citizenship: Who in the World Are We?

    What does it mean to be a citizen of the world? This course will explore this question from a historical, political, cultural and personal perspective. Students will develop a clearer understanding of what citizenship is, a clearer understanding of the ways citizenship is changing as a result of globalization, and a strategy to enact change in an era of globalization.

    The class will explore the question of where ones identities come from. The class will look at global issues, such as climate change, crimes against humanity, and global poverty. What role have global citizens played in addressing these issues in the past? What will the emerging role of “global citizens” be in the future? Students will ultimately be required to take a perspective on what citizenship in a global era means for each of them. What are the rights and responsibilities associated with being a global citizen?

    Finally, we will raise questions about social change. Historically, how have definitions of citizenship been used to bring about social change? How is this different in light of globalization? How can global citizens have a positive influence on global issues? What are the change mechanisms through which they can act?
  

  • US 208 Great Trials in History

    This University Seminar explores a dozen famous trials chosen to represent conflicts in different areas of intellectual and cultural/social history including philosophy, religion, science, art, and literature. Subjects include Socrates, Galileo, the Salem Witch Trials, John Brown, Oscar Wilde, the Scopes Monkey Trial, Nuremberg, and Robert Mapplethorpe. Texts include books, films, articles, and websites.

    Note: US 208 can count toward the Criminal Justice, History and Philosophy majors and minors.
  

  • US 209 Social Action and Social Change

    This University Seminar presents students with an opportunity to learn about and participate in issues related to inequity, social justice, and social action. Using concepts grounded in the social sciences as an analytical framework, the course begins with an examination of the ways in which the development of individual and group identity is structured within social systems and institutions that also exercise power over these individuals. This power is exerted differentially across societal groups leading to inequity and structural violence. Using this framework, members of the class will then read, study, and learn about the ways in which grassroots movements around the world have used social action at the local level to bring about social change. Moving out of the classroom, students and faculty members will explore social change groups in the Philadelphia area and connect electronically with similar groups in other countries.
  

  • US 211 From Hippies to Hipsters: The Legacies of Counter Culture

    What exactly is a counterculture? Do they still exist? Didn’t they disappear with the Hippies? How do they benefit society? This seminar will answer these questions (and many more) as students examine how the 1960s counterculture represented a major departure from mainstream ideology – one where the youth began to question the idealized American way of life. Yet, counterculture isn’t just a singular decade. Instead, we’ll explore (through literature, art, film, and discussion) how counterculture extends beyond the 60s and into the contemporary moment where hegemonic resistance and American bohemia is alive, well, and redefining the way all of us live.

    Topics such as civil rights, gender, race relations, sexuality, war, drug culture, environmental issues, politics, and more will be on the table. Not only will students think critically in class, but they will also literally extend beyond the boundaries of our classroom as they interact, interview, and experience first-hand the work of an individual whom they deem to be a countercultural agent of change. Ultimately, throughout the course, students will be inspired to reexamine their own weighted identities and enact tangible change in their own society.
  

  • US 212 Baseball & Beisbol: The Evolution of Race & Ethnicity in the Major Leagues

    This University Seminar examines the evolution of racial and ethnic relations in U.S. Major League Baseball from the early 20th century to the present. Such topics as early mixed-race barnstorming teams, the Negro Leagues, the Caribbean winter leagues, and the emerging dominance of Latino players in the major leagues are examined and placed into historical and sociological context. Case studies of individual players such as Victor (Pellot) Power are undertaken, as is a team case study exploring the contemporary Philadelphia Phillies.

    Note: US212 can count toward the History major and minor.
  

  • US 214 Evolution: Conflicts from Darwin to Intelligent Design

    This course examines the conflicts raised by the theory of evolution, from the reception of Origin of Species in the 1860s, to the Scopes Trial in the 1920s, the legal struggle over scientific creationism in the 1980s, and the appearance of intelligent design in the 2000s. The course surveys evidence from paleontology (the fossil record) and genetics and explores scientific objections and difficulties such as the blending inheritance problem, rudimentary organs problem, the”missing link,” and others. In addition, the course considers the origin of American fundamentalism in connection with the Scopes trial, the rise of Social Darwinism and the spread of eugenic ideas.

    Note: US214 can count toward the Philosophy major and minor and the Religion minor.
  

  • US 215 Truth and Beauty: Mathematics in Literature

    Throughout history, mathematics has been an inspiration to poets and writers. Math itself is one of the major expressions of the mysteries, beauty, and truth of our universe, and literature about math enhances this expression. Just as science has led to science fiction (and creative non-fiction), so math has led to something analogous. From Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions (Edward A. Abbott) to Adventure of the Final Problem (a Sherlock Holmes adventure by Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle) to the stories of Aldous Huxley, Martin Gradner, Ian McEwan, Greg Egar, and others, to the poetry anthology Against Infinity (ed., Jet Foncannon and Marian Robson) to the poetry collection My Dance Is Mathematics (JoAnne Growney) and Crossing the Equal Sign (Marion Cohen), writings involving math have taken their place among humanity’s body of literature. This course explores some of the mathematical writings through the ages, as well as the math that inspired them.

    Prerequisite: MA 100  and EN 101  
  

  • US 216 Social and Ethical Issues in Sports

    There’s a lot more to sports than what takes place on the field or the court. Just read the sports page on any particular day - there are stories of steroid abuse, recruiting violations, academic eligibility, playing hurt, gambling, paying college athletes, diversity and gender issues, violence, hazing, graduation rates of student athletes, youth sports, moral and religious issues, issues related to the Olympics and politics, and the media’s relationship to sports. In this seminar, students will read, view and discuss texts that delve into these and other issues. Learning will occur through course readings, class discussion, lecture and writing assignments. Class trips are planned to Citizens Bank Park, Wachovia Center, Temple University and Comcast SportsNet studios.
  

  • US 217 Democracy, Education and the 21st Century

    In this course you participate in field work in an actual student led civic action or advocacy organization in your university community and you produce a record and critique of this service learning in the medium of digital storytelling. Course readings and work examine the history of civic participation and democratic action in the United States as well as contemporary issues in civic education. In this University Seminar other class sessions will develop competencies in using new media communication tools and participatory learning in the twenty-first century. An interest in producing digital media and digital social networking is required, and it is suggested that students have access to a smartphone or tablet computer. The course is open to undergraduates of all majors and years.

    Required reading and outside of class time is significant and only recommended for highly engaged students.

    Prerequisite: Students who are engaged and interested in community and civic participation are encouraged to enroll. An interest in digital media tools and communication is required.
  

  • US 218 God Onstage

    This course tackles the long-standing and complex transactions between the theater arts and theology. These two fields engage with two of the most important questions a person can ask: “What does it mean to be human?” and “Does human existence mean anything?” God Onstage tracks the intriguing and, at times, surprising relationship between these two fields: Although largely alienated from each other in Western culture today, this seminar’s investigation will uncover an intimate rapport between these two fields that not only stretches way back in history, but is also widespread in most people groups globally today.
  

  • US 219 Forging Truth: How We Use Story to Make and Know Reality

    Forging Truth is a class devoted to understanding how stories-both real and imagined-shape the way that we see the world. Some questions that the class will investigate are as follows: Is there really a difference between fiction and non-fiction? Can the story elements in sitcoms, advertisements and video games actually affect the way we think about things in the real world? In what ways can we or can’t we trust the stories that journalists tell us? How have stories shaped us into the people who we are today? Through dedicated reading, writing and discussion on and about a diversified assortment of texts that incite these questions, students will learn to better understand the narrative forces that seek to influence their lives daily.
  

  • US 220 Education Stories: Films about Schools and What They Teach Us

    Films depicting exemplary teachers and principals and their successful students have long provided many Americans their sense of how quality educational environments are created. But how much can one really learn about education from these cinematic treatments? This University Seminar includes screening and discussion of numerous films to probe them for their major themes relating to innovative teaching techniques, genuine concern and respect for students, and students’ responses in the form of high achievement and improved personal behavior. And the University Seminar compares and contrasts these films with the latest scholarly research investigating the factors and influences that correlate with successful schools and students and review and critique key educational and psychological theories of education. Written assignments, participation in classroom discussions, and small groups oral classroom reporting help students to develop written and oral communication skills.

    Note: US 220 can count toward the Psychology major and minor.
  

  • US 221 We Inquire We Design

    This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of physical science that provides the foundation for understanding of energy and engineering design. Students work in teams to engage in science and engineering design practices of asking questions, developing and using models, planning and conducting investigations, analyzing data, revising models, using mathematics and computational thinking, and engaging in argumentation based on evidence.
  

  • US 222 Everything & Nothing: Visualizing Math, Philosophy & Culture

    Everything (the universe, infinity, oneness, completeness) and Nothing (vacuums, emptiness, zero, absence) are usually taken as opposites but are often ironically synonyms for each other. This University Seminar provides an investigation of these concepts in mathematics, religion, philosophy, science, and literature, taking students into intriguing but also possibly scary territory.
  

  • US 223 Community Action & Change in John Sayles Films

    This University Seminar examines historical and cultural conflict and community-building themese through the camera lens of John Sayles. This director’s films made between 1980-2012 provide moving stories and deep commentary on the struggles of multicultural communities and family stability, in search of the American Dream amidst cultural dislocation and violence. Students will learn to analyze film aesthetics anf images representing social conflict in this Visual Literacy course; and to study and understand the deep cultural interconnections and interdependence among communities from differing racial, national, ethnic, and class backgrounds that make up American society.
  

  • US 224 The World Made Modern

    This is a multi-disciplinary approach to the cultural and intellectual history of the development of the modern world. We will begin from the point of view of Western European civilization, but in each unit we will look at the issue of its interactions with the rest of the world. We will draw on the following disciplines: art history, literature, political science, and the history of science. Our aim will be to study the development of the world we live in without assumptions of Western cultural superiority and with an appreciation of cultural difference as well. The key term will be “modernization”: what do we mean when we talk about living in a modern world, or when China undertakes a campaign for “the four modernizations”; how did the idea and practice of modernization develop?
  

  • US 225 Outcasts, Rebels and Other Normal People

    This University Seminar focuses on compelling stories of individual and collective struggles and transformations in the midst of social oppression. Topics explored include identity, conformity, prejudice, rebellion, personal and societal transformation, pluralism, social reform, human rights and freedom. Authors include James Baldwin, Simone de Beauvoir, Frederick Douglass, Mohandas Gandhi, Khaled Hosseini, Martin Luther King Jr., Peter Matthiessen, Arthur Miller, and Walt Whitman.
  

  • US 226 Shakespeare on Stage, Page and Screen in 21st Century

    This University Seminar asks the questions: Why do we still read and perform Shakespeare? How can these centuries-old play texts, written in a style of English that we no longer speak, still be meaningful for us today? This course seeks to answer these questions by approaching Shakespeare from three distinct perspectives: Shakespeare in performance, Shakespeare as literature, and Shakespeare on film. Using a combination of methodologies and approaches, this course fosters a fuller appreciation for how Shakespearean texts written for an Early Modern audience might resonate with present-day American cultural sensibilities. Students examine how aspects of performance, cinematic imagination and literary analysis can work together to create urgent and relevant meanings for modern audiences. Particular attention is paid to the study of visual imagery associated with Shakespeare—including the examination of visual evidence from Elizabethan/Jacobean England, and the analysis of how scenic, lighting and costuming choices can communicate meaning in contemporary film and performance contexts. Students also work actively with the play texts in class, “on our feet,” to acquire a physical and kinesthetic sense of how live performance helps condition and contributes toward our understanding of a dramatic text.
  

  • US 227 Insects and Human Society

    This course will bridge a gap between discrete areas of inquiry, namely sub-disciplines of biology (entomology) and anthropology. The primary emphasis will be the significance of insects in the lives of humans, both their negative impacts and the positive ones that are so frequently overlooked. In addition to learning about the biology of insects, this course will address the nature of our competition with insects for food and natural materials, the extent and severity of insect-borne diseases, insects as pollinators and subjects of scientific study, and how insects have influenced art, economics, etc. Writing will be a central component of this seminar. Writing assignments and activities will supplement course content and provide opportunities for students to improve their writing via practice and feedback, to learn how to provide effective peer critiques, and to learn how to edit one’s own work.
  

  • US 228 Science in Visual Arts

    Art and Science may seem to be polar opposites, however, they are inseparable disciplines in many ways. They share the same desire to understand and investigate the world by organizing our perception. The main content of this course examines the question “Why we see what we see?” We address this question by looking at visual arts through the lens of science. Understanding how we visually perceive artworks and how our brain processes that information enables both art and science students to not only enrich their knowledge but also gain interdisciplinary perspectives. As a result, students create informed artworks and innovatively approach scientific research.
  

  • US 229 3-Dimentional Programming and Storytelling with Alice

    This course is designed to introduce students to computer programming through the use of the “Alice” programming language. “Alice” is a very simple introductory language which students will almost immediately be able to use to create animations.
  

  • US 230 International Computer Ethics

    This University Seminar examines the ethical consequences of the expansion of computer usage in our society and internationally. The course aims to give students a solid grounding in ethics in general and the ethical dilemmas that are unique to computer applications.

    Note: US 230 can count toward the Computer Science or Computing Technology majors and minors or the Philosophy major and minor. Non-major students who want an introduction to computer programming might consider US 229 3-Dimentional Programming and Storytelling with Alice 
  

  • US 232 Mock Trial Workshop

    This University Seminar provides students the opportunity to participate in and explore the principles behind the American litigation process. Organized around a single employment discrimination case, students take on the principal legal roles such as plaintiff, defendant and witnesses, and they examine all the steps of a lawsuit – investigating the case; interviewing the client; preparing the pleadings; taking discovery; preparing for trial. Working on their own and in groups, students learn specific legal principles relevant to the case such the particulars of torts and contracts. The course also explores the broader interdisciplinary basis of the American legal system, making connections between such fields as business, psychology, political science, and history.

    Note: US232 can count toward the Pre-Law minor.
  

  • US 233 Copy!-Right? Creativity and Copyright

    Copy!-Right? Focuses on the relationship between creative expression and intellectual property law, specifically, copyrights and trademarks. The course will provide an overview of how copyright and trademark law have developed in the United States, and the implications it has for artists, musicians, designers, teachers, and anyone else engaged in the cultural creative discourse. It explores how intellectual property law both protects and hinders creative expression by discussing issues related to fair use, cultural preservation, and the “moral” rights of the artist. Students will have the opportunity to create several transformative works of art as a basis for considering the different issues in actual practice.
  

  • US 234 Representations of the Spanish Civil War

    This University Seminar examines perceptions of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and their international implications. Topics discussed include the significance of the war, the political and social background of Spanish events and society, and how the conflict was been by Spanish, American, Canadian, English, and French writers and philosophers. Texts include journalistic perspectives as well as autobiographical accounts and poetic responses. Spanish and international films and documentaries are screened covering topics such as women’s participation in the war and the origins of global responses to the war. This course is a bilingual course and is taught in both Spanish and English. Readings are in both Spanish and English.

    Prerequisite: SP 102  
    Note: US234.1 can count toward the History, International Studies & Spanish majors and minors.
  

  • US 235 Born Digital: Voice of the Net Generation

    This University Seminar investigates how digital natives—a term used to describe a generation of youth born after 1982 that has grown up with computers, video games, cell phones and digital music players—process, relate to and create information differently than their predecessors. What kind of world are digital natives creating? In essence, students in this course examine their own behavior and attitudes regarding the use and effects of digital technology tools in their lives and in the lives of their peers. Assignments consist of readings, individual and team-based ethnographic research, creation of online content and field trips in real and virtual space. Students will be expected to contribute to discussions in class and online using such tools as discussion forums, blogs, wikis, YouTube videos and data mashups.
  

  • US 236 Christian, Jewish and Muslim Spain: From Eden to Exile

    This course will examine the coexistence of the three principal religions: Christianity (Catholicism), Islam, and Judaism during the middle Ages. Tenets and beliefs of each religion will be examined in detail. Art and architecture reflecting the three religions will be analyzed and will include such national treasures as the synagogues in Toledo, The mosque in Córdoba, The Alhambra in Granada and the cathedrals of Santiago de Compostela and Seville. Topics discussed will include the Spanish Inquisition, The Catholic kings, the reconquest, and medieval life in Europe at that time. The historical time period will cover roughly from 700-1492. Readings will include various poems written by writers of the three religions, El Cid, La Celestina and historical documents of the epoch. Teaching the coexistence of the three religions exposes students to different ideological discourses embodied in cultural fields of the time. The class will also examine the three religions and their role in Spanish society today. This course is a bilingual course and will be taught in both Spanish and English. Readings will be in both Spanish and English.

    Prerequisite: EN 101  and SP 202  
    Note: US 236 can count toward the History, International Studies and Spanish majors and minors
  

  • US 237 The Impacts of Music, Film & Digital Media on Social Movements

    This University Seminar will analyze the affect of music, film and digital media on the process of social movements. Social change is the transformation of culture and social organizations over time. Social movements are a type of group action that brings about change in existing cultural and political beliefs, mores and ultimately, laws. This course will focus particular attention on the last half of the 20th century, when the world witnessed unprecedented change in the areas of civil, women’s, and gay rights, as well as an explosion of technology for personal and political expression.
  

  • US 238 Rethinking Children’s Animated Films

    This course asks students to look beyond the marketing strategies that position classic children’s films as “innocent”, “magical”, and “fun for the whole family” in order to consider more carefully and objectively what lies beneath large media companies very successful, synergistic product promotion. In particular, the course would focus on the following: the evolution of media industries into an oligopoly where six or seven media conglomerates own most of the media in the US; the justification for media corporations promoting and protecting corporate images and marketing plans for classical animated films in particular; the appropriation and changing of original storylines to serve many purposes and ideas of not only the writers and producers; an exploration of the appeal for children of all ages as audience(s); film analyses to reveal subtexts embedded in the films (e.g. racial stereotypes, gender roles, consumerism); a study of how these subtexts have the power to impact our understanding of self and society; and, a look at the reception of children’s films by critics and consumers both at home and abroad in an increasingly global market. Particular emphasis will be placed on the Disney corporation as well as Dreamworks SKG, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and Hanna-Barbera Productions.
  

  • US 239 Artist, Activist, Deep-Sea Diver: The Role of the Poet in Society

    Plato and Aristotle argued that poets come nearer to documenting vital truth than history does. Is this possible? What do poets contribute to society? This is a seminar with a workshop component, designed for students with or without experience in poetry writing, who have a genuine interest in poetry. Students begin as detectives, researching and examining various roles poets have played throughout history. As ethnographers, we attend Philadelphia-area poetry readings to witness these roles in action and personally connect with the artists. We also host an Arcadia Poets Symposium on campus, where published poets among Arcadia’s staff, faculty and student body share and discuss their work. Students choose one of these poets as the focus of a written, journalistic profile. As creative writers, students consider their own roles, crafting poems inspired by poets we read and see perform. Finally, as editors and publishers, we contribute to a web-based Arcadia literary journal focused on exploring the craft and capacity of poetry. This course has a Writing Designation and requires 4 papers as well as a portfolio of revised, polished poems.
  

  • US 241 Invisible Women: An Exploration of Female Entrepreneurship

    This course introduces students to the psychological, sociological and economic dimensions of entrepreneurship as they review extant research on female entrepreneurs. Students will develop their understanding of the female entrepreneur’s (psychological) motivations for starting and owning a business, the (sociological) network of relationships she establishes to support and sustain her business and the (economic) resources that her business uses and creates.
  

  • US 242 Place, Space and the Global World: Exploring Immigrants and Identity

    In this University seminar, the lens of place is used to explore issues of immigration, migration, and ethnic identity. Immigrants and migrants have arrived, settled, built communities, laid down roots and moved on, with others arriving after them leaving layers of material traces that give significance to the present, document the past, and point to the future. They have left material traces and maintained connections with home villages in previous centuries of immigration as well as in contemporary times. Forms can be aesthetic expressions, hold memories and give meaning to everyday lives, and are symbolic of who we are in an increasingly globalized world. Students learn how different disciplines use place as an interpretive mode to understanding the relationship of ethnicity to place(s), how difference (ethnicity, gender, race) is delineated in space, the politics of public space, issues of memory and place (including transnational connections), and globalization and place. A diverse range of reading assignments, images, video, and four field trips to Philadelphia will augment class discussion. The class visits a Puerto Rican urban garden and casita, a Palestinian mosque and deli, the 9th Street Market, and Chestnut Hill. The students hear first hand from the people who work and live in these places their significance for them and the connections or disconnections of meaning they hold. An interdisciplinary approach is also reflected in the kinds of assignments required of students. In introducing students to the topic of diversity and difference, the concept of worldview and how it varies cross-culturally and over time is discussed. An ethnographic fieldwork project is required in which students must interview at least one person. During the course of the semester, through in- class exercises and take-home assignments, students are guided step-by-step in the methodology of conducting original research.
  

  • US 244 Ear Cleaning: Form, Pattern, Experience

    An experimental music course focusing on composition and exploration of sound and space. No previous musical background is required. Students incorporate experiments with shape, form, pattern and experience to perform original compositions for found and low-tech musical instruments.
  

  • US 245 Music & Story Telling

    This seminar offers the student the opportunity to study the performing arts, literature and music. The student response to the works read and viewed will be in the form of discussions and written assignments that vary from character analysis to formal research on a particular writer/composer/work. The uniqueness of the course lies in studying the connection between music and storytelling, in ballet, in plays and novels made into film and in Opera and modern dance.
  

  • US 246 Investigating Fusion Forms in Performing Arts

    The purpose of this University Seminar is to provide students with an opportunity to observe and analyze examples of the fusion of performance forms and styles; and eventually create a theatrical piece with text and music that reflects their ideas, beliefs, and also shows how they would like others to understand their point of view. Using the notion that “Art Imitates Life”, this course will draw subject material from important personal and community ideas, and extend out to global issues that affect us all. This course will explore the vast resource of pre-existing works including: drama and literature in all forms, opera, films and film score music, musicals, and instrumental music of all types and from many time periods. Individual ideas will be shared and collaboration will be encouraged. Students will be expected to produce their own work, either original or adapted from existing literature or musical scores, using the University as their stage.
  

  • US 247 Montessori: Her World, Work & Wisdom

    This University Seminar focuses on the life and work of Maria Montessori in order to make connections among the fields of education, psychology, sociology, and history. Exploring the development and application of Montessori’s educational ideas, students integrate the history and social movements of late 19th and early 20th century Italy and the United States, emphasizing changes in educational philosophy and practice. Students compare and contrast her theories with the psychological theories of Freud, Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky. And the course includes empirical evidence investigating basic Montessori practice and the incorporation of Montessori’s concepts into contemporary education and parenting.

    Note: US 247 can count toward the Psychology major and minor.
  

  • US 248 Flying Solo: The Art of Solo Performance

    The “Solo Actor” has evolved from the ancient Greek and Roman mimes through the historic portrayals of presidents (GIVE “EM HELL HARRY) and literary greats (MARK TRAIN TONIGHT and THE BELL OF AMHERST) to the provocative rants of “everyman/woman” in productions like Eve Ensler’s THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES and Anna Deavere Smith’s LET ME DOWN EASY. Shows can include satires, impersonations, anthologies, adaptations, and recitals, but can also be classified as more personal autobiographical performance pieces. Hybrids combine a variety of performance types including mime, dance, music and poetry. What they have in common is that they are performed by one artist whose purpose is to tell a story to an audience.
  

  • US 249 Princesses and Super Heroes: How Media Shape Children’s Gender and Sexuality

    This media literacy course asks students to critically examine the varied kinds of media children and youth consume, and the messages media sells. Students learn to identify, explore, understand, critique and articulate the ways in which media shapes children’s understanding and attitudes towards their gender and sexuality development. Through a variety of classroom experiences, students explore how Disney and superhero movies and marketing sell narrow images of femininity and masculinity. At the end of the course, students create a media product used to educate others about media literacy, as an invitation to take action against passive consumption of media products, and falling in the trap of marketing.
  

  • US 250 Exploring Art in Philadelphia

    Exploring Art in Philadelphia is a class that utilizes integrative learning to investigate the variety of artistic venues available in Philadelphia and surrounding region. This sophomore level seminar course meets twice a week: once a week on the Arcadia Glenside campus and once a week at the scheduled arts venue in the Philadelphia/ Glenside area. The meetings on campus introduce, explore and investigate the organizing principles governing Art and Design, explore content and concept in contemporary art and practice that students will experience at venues off campus. Student presentations and focused art projects will illustrate specific ideas we will see in class.

    Exploring Art in Philadelphia serves as a way for students to connect what they are learning in the classroom to the variety of venues and experiences in the cultural artistic landscape around them. The course offers a working definition, through varied examples, of the artistic zeitgeist in the Philadelphia region.
  

  • US 251 The Hero Culture: A Quest for Truth

    The main purpose of this course is to provide each student with an opportunity to develop their own answers to the question, “What makes a person extraordinary?” Students will begin the course by examining established “heroes”, both real and imaginary, and compiling a list of the traits they possess and actions that they perform that the students deem worthy of the word “heroic.” Students will then be presented with lesser-known real-life individuals and fictional characters, those they normally might not connect with the word “hero”, and asked to examine them as potential repositories of excellence. They will be called on to ask themselves: What elements of this person or character are constructive or even potentially destructive to our ideas of self and the society we live in? What can I learn from their behavior? What of them do I see in myself, and what qualities do I value more than others? What does the word “heroic” really mean – to others and to me? Should I reexamine, change or expand my personal definition of heroism? How can I become more heroic in my daily life? By pursuing their individual responses, students will move away from traditionally accepted views of the “heroic” to formulate a more personalized vision of greatness. By making inter-connections with fundamental sociological issues, students will be encouraged to integrate their heroic visions into their own philosophies of human existence.
  

  • US 252 Laughing Matters

    Why do we laugh? What is laughter? What makes something funny? How do we laugh? In this University Seminar, we will learn about the science, elements, theories, and effects of laughter and humor. Through the study of Gelotology, the science of laughter, physiological and psychological processes about the brain and laughing will be investigated. The social, physical, and mental benefits will be experienced and analyzed through laughter yoga, stand up performance, physical comedy, and improvisation. Through the exploration of mass media (digital, print, broadcast, and outdoor media), students will develop a comedic eye while discussing observations of various sociological and political perspectives. The educational competencies of laughter and humor in learning and education will be applied and implemented through fieldwork within a community school as part of a culminating project.
  

  • US 253 Science Fiction and Social Reality

    This University Seminar will explore a few, select portions of the genre of contemporary science fiction focusing on several key themes that address the world outside the classroom primarily by reading several novels, and watching and discussing television and movie videos. We will examine how science fiction - at once entertaining, inspiring, serious, instructive, and funny - reflects and shapes our current and future culture, beliefs, behavior and selves. Students will read and watch texts in thematic units to gain an understanding of how science fiction frames questions about social issues and change. Students will also do research on a contemporary social issue and have a chance to create and present their own work of science and speculative fiction that addresses how they would like to reflect and/or shape the conversation and the world of their own future with regards to that social issue.
  

  • US 254 Coming Out: Claiming Our True Identities

    This University Seminar uses the intellectual practice of Visual Literacy to explore the idea of coming out; what it has meant historically and what it means in society today as it is applied to undocumented workers, the illiterate, addicts, LGBTQ people, and others. Through the use of pictures, videos, personal and professional artwork, and texts, coming out is pondered from many directions in multiple social and political contexts.
  

  • US 255 Grand Constructions; Stonehenge to Skyscrapers

    This seminar will chronologically examine the development of architecture within the context of the social, cultural and religious influences that shaped its form and function. Beginning with the early examples of the Druids and Egyptians, with their monolithic and circle structures, to medieval castle fortifications to present day skyscrapers - art and architecture are meant to evoke an emotional response in the viewer and to reflect the importance of specific societal unification. By looking back through the lens of history we can begin to make comparisons between ancient architecture and its relevance to modern architecture. We can trace the transformation of architecture from public space to private space and how even the concept of space has changed. The rise and fall of empires, war, famine, and advances in technology are all reflected in the architecture of a civilization. What does architecture say about us as a society and what, if any, are its limits?
  

  • US 256 Lying Maps (& Other Spatial Fictions)

    This is a geohumanities course in learning how to see hidden realities in the everyday world, and in learning to identify the values that are buried beneath seemingly ordinary surface of our daily lives. Specifically, we will be making an interdisciplinary investigation into how the spatio-visual world is understood in the fields of cultural geography, art history, urban studies, and cartography. Our starting premise will be that if you stand on a hilltop and survey the environment as it spreads out in front of you, what you see is emphatically not what you get. To unpack this conundrum we will explore landscapes, cityscapes, and maps while asking questions like: what does it mean to decode a landscape? How can you “read” a cityscape as you walk down the street? What can we learn about a culture’s values by examining its built form? How is examining built forms different from interpreting or reading a map? How do maps and other visual representations actually help re-shape the physical world, rather than just report on what already exists? In what ways do maps lie? What contradictions exist between how places are represented and what they actually are?
  

  • US 257 Chinese Film: A Window on China

    This course uses film to introduce students to China’s rich culture, values, and history. We consider the question of whether there is a uniquely Chinese style of filmmaking and how that might differ in style, aesthetic, and financing from the Hollywood model. Class time is spent watching recent films from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as discussing the relevance of the themes raised in these films both for Chinese and American audiences.
  

  • US 258 African American Religious History: From Slavery-Free

    This course surveys the religious history of African American slaves. The course examines the origins of Black religion in America, the aspects of African religion that were retained by the slaves, how African slaves were evangelized and converted to Christianity, the nature of the Christianity to which the slaves were converted and what was distinctive about religion in the slave quarters. The course will build your writing, analytical and research skills through completion of writing assignments, online discussions, readings, study of the Library of Congress’ narratives of former slaves and a research paper.
  

  • US 259 Japanese Cinema and Anime

    (4 credits)
    This course seeks to provide a board introduction to Japanese Cinema Studies, examining the social and historical context of various film movements throughout Japan’s unique century plus history of work within the film medium. This course will approach the history of Modern Japan from a film historic perspective, examining the greater societal context that allowed film movements such as ‘Daikaiju’ (giant monster), Anime, satirical ‘splatter films’, and politically motivated softcore pornography to thrive in the Japanese market.
  

  • US 261 Representations of the Holocaust

    This course will examine perceptions of the Holocaust, the systematic state-sponsored persecution of Jews, Gypsies, gays, communists, and people with disabilities by the Nazi Regime and its collaborators. We will analyze the international implications, repercussions, and genocide. Topics discussed will include the significance of the Holocaust, the political and historical events preceding it, philosophical debates about good and evil, theories of violence and authority, memory and survival, gender and holocaust representation, and the concept of a willing perpetrator. Readings will include various accounts of the Holocaust, both fictional and autobiographical and we will study their effects on the reader. We will also examine visual culture and the Holocaust such as photos, movies, and comics and how popular culture shapes public memory.

    Prerequisite: EN 101  
    Note: US261 can count toward the minor in German.
  

  • US 262 Sex, Sin & Kin: The Genesis, Evolution and Future of Gender

    The ways in which whole sets of ideologies and practices function to define, direct and limit gender and gendered activities differ markedly according to time, place and culture. The purpose of this course is to explore key issues and debates in the history of women and men, in cross-cultural perspective, within the framework of the relationship between gender and change. The main focus of the course is the gendered experiences of women in the modern world, specifically the West, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Far East, with selected references to historical antecedents in the pre-modern world. Students examine the variety of ways in which women have reflected upon and reacted to the gendered conditions of their lives. We explore representations and self-representations of women within and external to specific cultures. This includes understanding how the categorization as male and female determines so many aspects of individual lives and personal power, the power of groups, and the larger systems of power they confront. The course also raises the question of the future direction of gender, social responsibility and change. Assignments consist of readings in anthropology, history, gender theory, literature, and memoirs. We explore thematic topics through primary and secondary sources. Writing assignments include journaling, reflective essays, the generation of an interview protocol and an oral history project. Students also analyze film, art and communication media and possibly a theatre production. Students are assessed on individual and team based research and reflection, culminating in the creation of a collective oral history and film project.

    Note: US 262 can count toward the History and International Studies majors and minors.
  

  • US 263 Postcolonialism on Screen

    This course is primarily interested in how colonial and postcolonial subjects and identities have been constructed, negotiated, contested, and resisted. Thus, a fundamental question asked here is: How has the colonial experience restructured thinking about race, culture, class, economy, politics, and sexuality? To explore these key issues and questions, this course will examine how films have represented different themes in postcolonial studies. Students will read key texts in postcolonial studies and then attempt to understand how issues raised in these texts are represented in film.

    Note: US 263 can count toward the International Studies major and minor.
  

  • US 264 Humor in Black & White: Multicultural Responses to Social Issues

    A pie in the face makes everyone laugh. But if a joke is racist, sexist or homophobic, is it still funny? How far is too far in humor, and how much does that standard depend on your place in society? Humor isn’t just black & white, it’s all shades in between, and in the class we will laugh a lot as we explore how people of all backgrounds use humor to discuss social problems, taboos, and complications. We will study humor and comedy from Ben Franklin to Kevin Hart through various genres including literature, cinema, live stand-up performances, and web-based media. Students will be asked to research both the social issue and the humorous response through historical, psychological, and cultural lenses. Topics will include sexism, classism, substance abuse, gender identification, physical disabilities, international relations and homophobia.
  

  • US 265 Jewish Humor

    This course is taught from a historical perspective from the shtetls of Eastern Europe, to Jewish life in the U.S. between 1880 and 1924, to the Catskills of the 1940s (known as the Borscht Belt Comics), Lenny Bruce in the 1950s, Woody Allen and Jackie Mason in the 1960s and 70s, and including contemporary Jewish humorists such as Joan Rivers, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Adam Sandler, Sacha Baron Cohen, Chelsea Handler, and Sarah Silverman. We will analyze Jewish humor and its origins as a defense against suffering and persecution. We will watch films such as “Annie Hall,” and “Borat” as well as clips of Seinfeld episodes and stand-up comedians and analyzing the humor from a visual perspective such as the use of props, shticks etc. We will examine Jewish humor, which originally started as a response to oppression, hardship, and terror and what happens when that oppression disappears. Focus is on importance of comedy in Jewish culture and in the immigration and assimilation of Jewish people.
  

  • US 266 Understanding the Age of Genocide

    This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study and understanding of genocide from several theoretical foundations and perspectives, including political science, international law, peace and conflict resolution, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and history. The course will harness different perspectives on the formation of genocide in modern and historical settings, while highlighting the potential avenues for preventing future genocidal acts. Subjects covered will include the underpinnings of the concept of crimes against humanity, the psychology of group violence, historical revisionism, transitional justice, reconstruction, reconciliation, trauma healing, the responsibility to protect and humanitarian intervention, and conflict prevention and resolution. These main themes will be highlighted through numerous genocide case studies from each continent, as well as exploring lesser known or contested historical cases. The course will also feature guest lectures from genocide survivors, opportunities for research and reflection, and a simulation on humanitarian intervention in a contemporary genocide case.

    Note: US 266 can count toward the International Studies major and minor.
  

  • US 267 Evil and its Controversies

    The traditional problem of evil is how the existence of evil can be compatible with the belief in an all-good, all-powerful God. Modern approaches focus instead on describing and explaining evil. Do monsters exist? If so, what explains them? Psychosis, brain disorders, or something else. How is it that ordinary people can turn to evil when their situation encourages it? Texts will include philosophical, theological, psychology, anthropological, neurological, literary fiction, and films, both documentary and fictional.
  

  • US 268 Utopia/Dystopia

    In this course students examine the development of utopian thought from several disciplinary angles-philosophical, political, literary, religious, and architectural. In doing so students will also explore the myriad ways in which utopian longings have manifested themselves, from philosophical treatises and novels, to experimental living on communes and urban planning. As students examine a number of different utopian ideas-ranging from Plato’s Republic to the modern development of Disney’s private town, Celebration-they will ask the following questions: what motivates people to try to construct a perfect world? Whose definition of utopia is used to construct these alternate societies? Can one person’s utopia be another person’s dystopia? What do utopian and dystopian expressions tell us about a society’s values? In pursuit of answers to these questions students will write short critical responses to weekly readings, compose two formal papers, and work collaboratively with a group to develop the contours of an original utopian community.
  

  • US 269 Steampunk Difference Engines

    This course examines the multifaceted genre/subculture that is ‘Steampunk.’ From its literary roots in the Sf/Fantasy genre, to its current expressions in aesthetics, literature, fashion and artwork, the class will seek to understand what the term means, what work it encompasses, and what issues it seeks to address. Most visibly characterized by its romanticizing of the Victorian era, its fashions, it manners, and its technologies. Steampunk also grapples with historic tensions, and tries to address the inequalities that resulted from colonialism and the gender/sexual/social inequality of Victorian society. By examining critical essays, fiction, and created art, the course enables students to engage with these issues, and come to see how Steampunk’s reimagining of our past becomes an engine that allows us to explore how society accepts and grapples with difference, an issue that still troubles us to this day.
  

  • US 270 First Amendment Abridged

    This class will focus on First Amendment rights. It is the foundation upon which we chose to build this country, and, yet, it is arguably the most debated and morphing of all rights. Why? We will look at precedent setting court cases that deal with First Amendment issues such as book banning, hate speech, obscenity, restriction during war time, etc. We will examine moments in time and the cultural climate that provides the rationale for our legal and moral attitudes about freedom of speech and expression and censorship. You will come to understand what you consider to be your guaranteed right to freedom of expression and when and how you are willing to have those rights abridged (if at all).
  

  • US 271 Great Cases in International Law

    This course introduces students to international affairs through some major cases of international law, discussing their political and historical circumstances, the process and the outcome, with a conclusion on the impact on contemporary international affairs. Through the cases, the students examine some core principles of international law, including international human rights law, international criminal law, and the law of armed conflict, and discuss their parallel with rules of the domestic legal systems. The course also introduces students to the relevance of international law in domestic legal system and the complexity of issues of international affairs. The course offers an overview of the most unique, pervasive, and influential international law cases with, in some instances, a particular interest for the United States.
  

  • US 272 Getting It Off Your Chest

    In this course, students will gain insight into researching, writing, and marketing Editorials and Op-Eds. We will discuss the importance of Editorial Page in newspapers. We will learn how to conceptualize, formulate, and write various forms of Editorials and Op-Eds. We will discuss the structure and functions of the newspaper editorial board. Students will be exposed to various research and writing techniques essential to Editorial writing and will be encouraged to market their Op-Eds to newspapers for publication.
  

  • US 273 Visual Propaganda of Armed Conflict

    Armed conflicts have occurred in the historical record for thousands of years and the use of propaganda to support such endeavors has occurred nearly as long. While the development of new weapon technology and combat tactics has evolved over centuries, the use of propaganda has been present to justify the conflict, recruit participants, raise national awareness, or to present images of war to the population. Some of these images have become the most iconic of our time. From the early photography used during the U.S. Civil War, propaganda posters of the World Wars, the televised images of Vietnam, to the images of today, the use of propaganda in armed conflict has impacted the way individuals perceive armed conflicts around the globe. In this class, students will explore the complex dynamics of conflict with a focus on evaluating the impact of propaganda. Utilizing primary and secondary sources, the students will gather information on the strategic use of propaganda and examine its psychological, artistic, and nationalistic elements.
  

  • US 274 Study Abroad in Global Philadelphia

    This course is designed for students who have already had and returned from the opportunity to study abroad. It focuses on students’ experiences abroad in the context of their personal reflections on living in another country, their shifting perspectives on the world and their role in it, and the ways that their interactions abroad have had an impact on their understandings of the U.S. and what it means to be American and live in the U.S. In addition to focusing on the study abroad experience and potential shifts in students’ points-of-view, the course also assists students in thinking about their cross-cultural study abroad experiences in relation to living on the Glenside campus and in the Philadelphia region. The course embraces global learning in focusing on U.S. perspectives on the world and international perspectives on the U.S. as well as on the ways that food, water, oil and carbon cross national boundaries and illustrate the interconnectedness, interdependence, and inequality located wherever they have been abroad, in Philadelphia and in the world at large.

    Prerequisite: Assumes students have studied abroad prior to taking this course.
  

  • US 275 Scientific Ethics

    This course examines the different types of ethical systems as the foundation for decision-making. Topics include consideration of contemporary value conflicts associated with the impact that science and technology have on society, such as stem cell technology, gene therapy, and drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Each topic is critically examined from the scientific, ethical and legal viewpoints. Assignments incorporate readings, discussions, position papers and debates.
  

  • US 276 The Secret Symbols of Pop Culture

    This course provides an in-depth exploration of the way we are constantly manipulated in movies, television shows, art, and advertisements through the use of mystic and religious symbols, names, and even colors. In this seminar, students are given a survey of the following topics: heroes’ journeys, heroines’ journeys, alchemy, ring composition, morality plays, mythology, Christian symbolism, and the symbolism used by the Mormon, Buddhist, and Jewish traditions. The class combines lecture, and discussion of each topic. Students are tested each week with an example of pop culture that they must analyze, parsing out each piece of symbolism embedded in the work. The class is progressive and the pieces used in turn become more complex so that students may see multiple layers of symbolism. In addition, students keep a journal, collecting images associated with each week’s topic. At the end of the course, they use their knowledge to create an original work, layering multiple levels of symbolism into the work.
  

  • US 277 Pop Psychology and Pseudoscience: What is Credible?

    This course will explore some of the most popular beliefs in psychology and science and arm students with the tools needed to evaluate claims to determine if enough evidence exists to support belief. For example, is going to bed angry really a bad thing? Can a positive attitude cure illnesses? Do repressed memories exist? We will also explore new age therapies, claims of ESP, alien abduction, and natural remedies for illnesses. Through reflections, writing assignments, and class discussion, we will explore the origins of these and other psychological and pseudoscientific beliefs, why they persist, and what is real.
  

  • US 280 Exploring Entrepreneurship in the Arts

    This University Seminar explores the relationship between art making and entrepreneurship with an active focus on self-actualization. The course is organized to include three units: History (3 weeks), Philosophy (5 weeks), Personal Practice (6 weeks). Each unit consists of a seminar (Monday) and a seminar/practicum (Wednesday), that incorporates group projects, field trips for observations, films, and guest lecturers. Seminar lectures/discussions reference both traditional/historical art making (i.e. “the Classics”) in relation to the current DIY art culture (i.e. “the Cutting-Edge”). Each unit works toward experiential, integrative learning through case studies & presentations, that manifest course concepts and examined innovations. Each unit also addresses qualities of entrepreneurship (i.e. stagnant/impossible vs. active/appropriate ventures). Unit I includes a historical survey of entrepreneurship in the arts through an investigation of questions such as “what is art?” and “what is business/ entrepreneurship?” and “what is a commodity?”-Along with discussions of profiles of artists/entrepreneurs from the Renaissance to today, real world guests, online resources, and videos. In Unit II, students explore a deeper philosophical inquiry of the questions and concepts raised in the process of combining art with commodity. In Unit III, students investigate a personal practical application of course concepts via entrepreneurial business plan development in the arts.
  

  • US 281 Drawing Connections: The History and Practice of Drawing

    This seminar explores connections between the history and studio practice of drawing in the Western tradition. Students will examine the historical development of perspectival systems, nature drawing, the role of under drawings and sketches, changes in techniques and materials, and developments in paper conservation. They will then investigate these concepts more profoundly through the exploration of technique in the studio. Visits to drawing collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and National Gallery of Art will allow students to analyze relevant concepts in the work of draftsmen, such as Leonardo, Raphael, Rembrandt, and others. The course will begin with the development of drawing practice from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries, and will continue to a discussion of modern works. As an integrated learning experience, the course structure will allow students the unique opportunity to gain practical experience in the historical techniques learned in lecture, giving them a broader perspective in the development of the discipline.
  

  • US 282 Silence

    Our culture values sound, voice, music and noise. Unaware of our own senses in the midst of modern life, we have lost the meaning of silence. Silence is always defined in negative terms, as absence of sound, as a void and as a gap to be filled. We are not comfortable with silence. This course examines the philosophical meaning of silence across cultural and religious traditions. We will ask a number of questions: What is silence? How other cultures understand silence? What is the place of silence in Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam? Are paintings silent? Are images silent? Is there a place for silence in architecture? Can/Must we travel far away in search of silence? Is it possible to find/seek silence? How do we understand silence on its own terms? Did sound technology destroy silence? Is silence an environmental issue? Is Death an experience of silence? How did modernism change our understanding and experience of silence?

    Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.
  

  • US 284 Arts & Culture Leadership and Management

    This seminar explores topics related to arts and culture leadership and management. Course content focuses on practical skills necessary for careers as professional artists, curators, administrators, and leaders of arts and culture organizations. This includes administrative principles, program development, practical applications, and trends in the current arts and cultural environment. Topics will also include: principles of nonprofit management and structures, concise business writing, grant writing, demographics research, fundraising, arts education, ethical practice in community-based arts programs, marketing, communications, and leadership styles. The course will include established and emerging arts leaders as key guest speakers.
  

  • US 324 Understanding Language Learning: Using Two Languages To Engage with the World

    Of particular interest to bilingual students, Modern Language majors, those who may study abroad in a context where another language is spoken and Education majors who may want to teach ESL in the future, University Seminar addresses the processes of language learning from a variety of disciplinary perspectives – in particular sociocultural and cognitive perspectives – and engages studentsin an understanding of the structure and sound systems of English in relation to other languages and in relation to a variety of teaching/learning strategies. By focusing both on a comparison of language structures and sound systems as well as theories of second language acquisition and development, this seminar allows students to learn about differences between learning a first and a second language and the influences of these processes on instructional principles and strategies. This seminar includes a language learning component that provides students the opportunity to reflect on their own learning processes in relation to language learning theories and to compare English to another language.

    Prerequisite: SP 101  
    Note: US324 can count toward the ESL requirement in the Education major.
  

  • US 333 Rites of Passage

    This course explores maturity and learning about life, with a particular focus on wisdom and how we can be guided by it. Topics explored are: attitudes, expectations, identity, maturity, virtue and the search for meaning, purpose, love, friendship, and direction. The focus is on each main character’s rite of passage and the challenges that come at particular age junctures. Authors include Jane Austen, James Baldwin, Ian McEwan, Arthur Miller, Per Petterson, and Oscar Wilde. Wisdom texts include: the Daodejing, The Holy Bible, and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.

    Note: US 333 can count toward the Religion minor.
 

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