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Political Economy [clear]
Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters | Open Quarters |
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Tom Womeldorff and Midori Takagi
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | The ascension of Barack Obama, the first Black President, prompted many conservative and liberal commentators to proclaim the United States to be a “post-racial” society; racial equality will be the new norm. Yet since the 2008 election, African Americans are still incarcerated at a higher rate than whites, they continue to be victims of police shootings at a disproportionate rate, the wealth and income disparities between Blacks and whites remains, and negative constructions of the realities of Blacks still persists. Today, 150 years after emancipation, 50 years after the civil rights movement, and after the election of Obama, there continues to be a significant racial divide in the United States. Why do deep racial divisions persist? Why do they persist even though skin color differences correlate to geography and the sun’s ultraviolet light, and there is no biological basis for the constructed categories of “Black,” “White,” “Asian,” “Latino” and “Native American”? How, then, is race constructed? And why were the categories of race developed with some groups having greater privileges and rights than others? | Tom Womeldorff Midori Takagi | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Savvina Chowdhury and Ratna Roy
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | What role does dance, theatre, art and literature play in liberatory struggles? From anti-colonial struggles during the colonial era to ongoing struggles for democracy, this program will explore the role played by art forms and artists in resisting colonial domination, negotiating power structures and offering counter-narratives. Our program will examine forms of resistance that arose in the context of colonial India, as well as those that mark the postcolonial experience of India as a nation of diverse communities. Through our study of history, literature, dance, theatre and political economy, we will examine the ways in which marginalized communities in India have used various art forms to “talk back” to narratives of domination and create public spaces that counter the psychic and social oppressions of colonialism, neocolonialism and neoliberalism today. Some of the art forms we will explore include: the street theatre, dance and literature that played a significant role in anti-colonial struggles; the music, traditions and lives of who contested the strictures of gender and class by living lives that flouted the dominant norms of womanhood and femininity; as well as the music and street theatre of contemporary marginalized communities facing displacement and dispossession. Throughout the quarter, we will use the lenses of political economy to contextualize the backdrop of material conditions in which these art forms were practiced historically, as well as the conditions in which they are performed today. | Savvina Chowdhury Ratna Roy | Tue Tue Wed Thu Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Anthony Zaragoza
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4, 8, 16 | 04 08 16 | Day | Su 16 Session I Summer | We'll explore history through the lens of seemingly contrasting art forms: hiphop and haiku. Beginning with Lipsitz’s idea that artistic expression reflects, responds to and shapes historical realities, we'll look back to Hiphop's beginnings in Africa, connections to the Caribbean, birth in NYC, and growth into a global phenomenon. Meanwhile, Haiku, a thousand years old with roots in China, leaves its initial role as mood-setter for a longer Japanese work, appears solo as a linguistic snapshot, and flowers into Japanese popular art with worldwide influence. We'll examine these histories, read and write poems, listen to music, watch films, and compare/contrast these global art forms. Students who take the course for more than four credits will have the option of doing independent projects and readings related to deepening the learning and work of the course. 12 and 16 credit students will complete the additional work over the full summer session. If you are absolutely unable to meet at the listed hours, but are still interested in the class, email me at zaragozt@evergreen.edu, and we can find a solution. | Anthony Zaragoza | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
Miranda Mellis, Peter Bohmer and Elizabeth Williamson
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | F 15 Fall | How can monsters and witches, figured so closely in relation to animals both in being endangered and dangerous, help us think about climate change, the sixth great extinction we are currently undergoing, transition, transformation, and adaptation? How might these – monsters, witches, and climate change – be tied to social movements, political economy, and social change?This intensive literature, creative writing, and political economy program will take up the above questions and others. Students in this program will learn to read, think, and discourse analytically and will develop creative and critical writing and research skills through the study of contemporary and historical relationships between climate change, inequality, and capitalism. We’ll learn about the changes in the global political economy from the Middle Ages to the present and its implications for daily life. Pivotal concepts will be introduced to analyze the past, the present and possible futures through literary and economic lenses. Shakespeare's whose anti-hero, Caliban, has become a symbol of resistance to colonization – will form a core text. The program title is taken from Silvia Federici's study an illuminating analysis of the movements and peoples who had to be suppressed in order to build the foundations of modern capitalism. Using these two texts as our focal points, students will be introduced to key concepts in Marxist, feminist, economic, and post-colonial theory as well as experimental approaches to contemporary storytelling, including feminist and post-colonial appropriations. Students will be invited to re-think the political-economic underpinnings of inherited conceptions of space and knowledge. We'll also consider the dominant role that storms, droughts, shipwrecks, and other disasters have played in canonical and contemporary art, and participate, along with a consortium of other programs in sciences and humanities, in shared curriculum focused on climate change. | Miranda Mellis Peter Bohmer Elizabeth Williamson | Mon Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Tyrus Smith, Peter Boome, Dee Dunn, Suzanne Simons, Frances Solomon, Peter Bacho, Barbara Laners, Arlen Speights, Anthony Zaragoza, Paul McCreary, Mingxia Li and Gilda Sheppard
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | This program will focus on developing strategies for creating and navigating change as we look toward the future. The goal is to enhance students' capacities to respond to and promote change on personal and institutional levels. Within this context, students will study historical trends and contemporary practices that will shape and impact their future endeavors. By analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of existing models, students will develop proactive interventions to address pressing community problems.The topic of change will be approached through studies in philosophy, history, sociology, psychology, political economy, scientific inquiry, environmental studies, law, literature, visual/media arts, mathematics, and logic. Students will enhance their knowledge with skill development in the following areas: writing, mathematical reasoning, media literacy, multimedia technology, statistics, public speaking, and organizational and community development.During the fall, students will explore historical and philosophical traditions that inform efforts to design pathways for future possibilities. This includes investigating personal and societal notions of the natural and social worlds as portrayed through arts and humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.During the winter, students will utilize an interdisciplinary approach to explore and understand contemporary models of change. This includes researching specific community-based problems and identifying proactive strategies that address such concerns.During the spring, students will investigate successful models of change to extrapolate how such models might be useful, but also might be limited in their capacity to address future possibilities, and to propose proactive community-based interventions tailored to specific community concerns. | Tyrus Smith Peter Boome Dee Dunn Suzanne Simons Frances Solomon Peter Bacho Barbara Laners Arlen Speights Anthony Zaragoza Paul McCreary Mingxia Li Gilda Sheppard | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Stephen Buxbaum and Lester Krupp
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 8 | 08 | Weekend | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | The communities of Grays Harbor will be our learning laboratory for our investigation into what makes communities work. We will use a multidisciplinary approach in the examination of how these communities evolved and the role that local schools and educational institutions played as the region grew and developed.This year-long program will help students develop the skills needed to assess their communities, capture their observations, and articulate them in a useful form. Students will work to improve critical thinking, research methods, analytical reading and writing, and understanding across differences of socio-economic class, race and ethnicity. This program will support students pursuing advanced degrees or careers in the field of education, government and non-profit service organizations.Students will work in teams as they learn research skills, participate in field activities, and keep a record of their progress through a variety of assignments, such as mapping, journaling, oral histories, and data analysis. One of the primary objectives of this program will be to give back to the communities we are studying by adding to historical internet archives and creating photo journals, stories, poems and published articles.Our contextual focus will be the formation of communities in the “Harbor” – generally speaking the geographic region that is connected to the communities of Aberdeen, Cosmopolis and Hoquiam. Special emphasis will be given to the evolution of the region’s public school system and to current educational issues from policy to classroom practice.Our examination of the history of the region will seek out answers to how past events inform the current issues in education and community development policy that the Grays Harbor region is facing now and in the future. Students will learn how to work with primary source material and conduct research as a means of learning skills that are transferable to a broad range of social science disciplines. | Stephen Buxbaum Lester Krupp | Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
Julianne Unsel and Arleen Sandifer
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 12 | 12 | Day, Evening and Weekend | Su 16 Summer | This program will take a critical look at controversial issues in the criminal justice system, including police misconduct and interrogation, mandatory minimum sentencing, criminalization of immigration, prosecutorial discretion, the insanity defense, children tried as adults, privatization of prisons, physician-assisted suicide, and grass roots activism related to police use of force. It will be taught online through the Canvas virtual learning environment, a chat room for live webinars, and e-mail. Attendance at a one-time face-to-face orientation will be required 7:00 to 9:30 pm on Monday, June 20. Requests for alternative orientation arrangements considered on a case by case basis. | Julianne Unsel Arleen Sandifer | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | |||||
Jeanne Hahn
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 16Winter | While crises are often seen as rough times, unexpectedly and temporarily interrupting what is taken as normal, we will study them as aspects of fundamental change and restructuring resulting in opportunities for some and reversals for others, often setting in motion a new political-economic trajectory.For many, the economic and political crisis of the past decade was their first experience with a relatively sudden and severe economic downturn in which political priorities are restructured and outcomes uncertain. Similarly, for many, Occupy was their first experience of a mass opposition movement. These were not new phenomena in the United States. We will place our current crisis in historical and theoretical context through the examination of four periods of political-economic crisis and transformation, focusing on political economy, social movements, and the media. Two are well known: our current crisis and the deep depression that bridged the close of World War I to the opening of World War II. Another largely forgotten period is the Great Depression of the late 19th century, out of which emerged a modern industrialized United States. Additionally, we will investigate the first crisis, spanning the end of the Revolutionary War through the ratification of the Constitution. Each period was characterized by economic crisis and social upheaval, ultimately resulting in a transformation of U.S. capitalism. | Jeanne Hahn | Tue Wed Fri | Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
Michael Vavrus
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | What is it about diversity per se that creates social divisions within a society? What diversity topics in particular create passionate opinions across the political spectrum and filter down to public education? How can we explain these varying worldviews so that we come away with a deeper and fuller understanding of why these debates endure? What is it about diversity and multiculturalism that can elicit such strong emotions, so much so that diversity as a concept can have varying effects on the social and economic well-being of individuals and groups? How does public education contend with diversity and multiculturalism? These are among the questions explored in this program.This fast-paced program provides an overview of contemporary diversity issues that manifest in contentious debates in countless settings around the world. Writing is central to student learning in this program. In our collaborative learning community, students dialogue through a close reading of texts and write concise, analytic, research-based papers as well as preparing papers for text-based seminar and related activities.The primary focus of this program is on the United States, with examples of the effects of these issues for school-age children on their life opportunities and economic well-being. This overview fuses history and political economy to find patterns and connections from the past to the present, including how multiculturalism has its roots in contested diversity. This further requires an inquiry into different worldviews or ideologies and the effects on public education. Through texts, films, lectures, seminars, and contemporary news accounts, students will engage in . Critical pedagogy serves as a teaching-learning approach that can help us look beneath common-sense explanations for differences. Among the topics considered are skin-color consciousness and racial colorblindness; the impact of racial and ethnic identification; what constitutes a crime and just punishment; analysis of economic class in interaction with culture; immigrant and indigenous experiences; and patriarchy and its intersections with gender, sexuality, and religion. Through frequent writing assignments and speaking opportunities, students can expect to leave this program with a deeper understanding of the roots and implications of some of the major social issues regarding diversity and multiculturalism in the 21 century. | Michael Vavrus | Mon Mon Wed Thu Fri | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Michael Vavrus
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | What is it about diversity per se that creates social divisions within a society? What diversity topics in particular create passionate opinions across the political spectrum and filter down to public education? How can we explain these varying worldviews so that we come away with a deeper and fuller understanding of why these debates endure? What is it about diversity and multiculturalism that can elicit such strong emotions, so much so that diversity as a concept can have varying effects on the social and economic well-being of individuals and groups? How does public education contend with diversity and multiculturalism? These are among the questions explored in this program.This introductory program provides an overview of contemporary diversity issues that manifest in contentious debates in countless settings around the world. Writing is central to student learning in this program. In our collaborative learning community, students dialogue through a close reading of texts and write concise analytic papers as well as preparing papers for text-based seminar and related activities.The primary focus of this program is on the United States, with examples of the effects of these issues for school-age children on their life opportunities and economic well-being. This overview fuses history and political economy to find patterns and connections from the past to the present, including how multiculturalism has its roots in contested diversity. This further requires an inquiry into different worldviews or ideologies and the effects on public education.Through texts, films, lectures, seminars, and contemporary news accounts, students will engage in critical pedagogy. Critical pedagogy serves as a teaching-learning approach that can help us look beneath common-sense explanations for differences. Among the topics considered are skin-color consciousness and racial colorblindness; the impact of racial and ethnic identification; what constitutes a crime and just punishment; analysis of economic class in interaction with culture; immigrant and indigenous experiences; and patriarchy and its intersections with gender, sexuality, and religion. Through frequent writing assignments and speaking opportunities, students can expect to leave this program with a deeper understanding of the roots and implications of some of the major social issues regarding diversity and multiculturalism in the 21 century. | Michael Vavrus | Mon Mon Wed Thu Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Spring | Spring | ||||
Martha Rosemeyer, Thomas Johnson and Carolyn Prouty
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | More than three-quarters of the arable land mass of the planet is influenced by human needs and desires for food and fiber. There are competing visions for the future of our agriculture and food systems. A global, fossil-fuel-based system provides large quantities of inexpensive food along with significant environmental and social impacts. Another vision is a local, community-based system that produces higher quality, but more expensive, food while seeking to minimize environmental and social impacts. Critical questions that will inform our inquiry include: Can we grow high-quality food that is available to everyone? How did we get into this current agricultural predicament of industrial production and a global population that is simultaneously both “stuffed” and “starved?” How can an individual make a difference?This program will provide an interdisciplinary study of agriculture in the context of food systems. We will explore competing ideas while developing ecological and holistic thinking, which will be applied in hands-on laboratory and field exercises, expository and scientific report writing, critical analysis of film, and quantitative reasoning. Seminar will examine history, policy, and socioeconomic and political contexts of agriculture and health.In winter, we will focus on soil science, particularly soil ecology and nutrient cycling in lecture and lab. We will also examine food and agricultural policy at the national, state and local level, as well as the prospects for creating more sustainable food systems. Our learning will be supported by an extended field trip to the Ecological Farming Conference in California and visits to a number of rural farms and urban agriculture projects. Seminar will examine U.S. agricultural history, food system policy, economics, and moral and ethical dimensions of food production. In spring, we will combine the topics of global farming systems, public health, and the health of agricultural workers. We will study basic ecological principles and practices involved in sustainable agriculture, indigenous agriculture, and permaculture. Farming intersects with larger questions of occupational health, including health-related burdens of workers in agriculture broadly, and specifically in migrant laborers in the United States. Integrating scientific and political population-based analyses, students will examine public health principles, tools, and policies related to pesticide exposure and other chemical, biological, and physical risks faced by agricultural workers. Seminar will focus on understanding structural history of agriculture, exploring the common roots of both malnutrition, hunger, and obesity. A three-day field trip and three-credit independent project or in-program internship will complete in-class learning. | Martha Rosemeyer Thomas Johnson Carolyn Prouty | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter Spring | ||||
Thuy Vu and Dariush Khaleghi
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8 | 08 | Weekend | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | In order to understand issues emerging in international business and globalization, a good appreciation for the interconnection between international finance and ethical leadership is a must. This two-quarter program will focus on the issues faces by the leadership of multinational corporations in dealing with international financial systems, organizational culture, communications and ethics. In addition to international business policy issues, this program will discuss globalization, international monetary systems, cross-cultural leadership, business cultures and ethical management practices. The class will help students move toward a better understanding of the concepts of business sustainability and social responsibility at the domestic and international levels.In Fall quarter, we will focus on developing the skills necessary for understanding the key issues in international business, how international trade has evolved for the past century and what has changed with the emergence of new economic powers. Our study will include learning about the importance of organizational culture and ethical leadership in developing and promoting successful international business practices. In Winter, we will learn about the evolution of the global monetary system and its impacts on the international financial sector. The program for Winter quarter will also cover the important area of intercultural communication, international marketing and leadership development for local and global businesses.This program is for students interested in learning about international finance, economic globalization and marketing, ethical leadership and socially responsible business management. We will be using lectures, case studies, seminars and workshops to build up the students' understanding in these areas. | Thuy Vu Dariush Khaleghi | Sat Sun | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Stephen Beck
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening | W 16Winter | Stephen Beck | Wed Sat Sat Sat Sat Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||||
Tom Womeldorff
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | W 16Winter | The holding of cash, stocks, bonds, and other financial assets is an act of faith: faith that the assets will hold their value into the future when they can be converted into consumption. Throughout history, the ephemeral nature of value has been forgotten during periods of low inflation and financial stability. Yet repeatedly, these periods have ended abruptly. Asset values dissolve instantaneously like a car wreck or slowly but inexorably like a chronic disease. This does not affect only “Wall Street.” It affects “Main Street” as well. In this program, we will examine the nature of money, finance, monetary policy and power in the world market system. We will focus on historical moments of financial volatility, hyper-inflation and collapsing speculative bubbles. This will aid us in understanding the 2008 economic crash and the slow recovery since then. We will consider what government’s roles should be in regulating financial sectors. As we explore these issues, we will be conscious of how the structure of our financial system differentially impacts the poor, the working class, and the holders of financial instruments (e.g., the rich and pension funds).The program will consist of three parts. Lecture and workshop will focus on introduction to macroeconomics and quantitative methods. Seminar readings will focus on mainstream, institutionalist, post-Keynesian and political economy interpretations of historical and current financial crises. Finally, each student will complete a research project related to money and finance. | Tom Womeldorff | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Winter | Winter | |||||
Michael Vavrus
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Day | Su 16 Session I Summer | Pacific Northwest History introduces multicultural aspects of historical developments of this region. A primary learning objective is for students to be able to articulate through concrete historical examples how liberty and justice has been interpreted and applied in the Northwest. With texts that provide accessible historical accounts, students will be exposed to Native American Indian perspectives on the eventual occupation of their lands by European imperialists, the origins and outcomes of competition among Europeans for the Pacific Northwest, and challenges placed on non-European ethnic groups – such as Chinese Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Japanese Americans – during the 19 and 20 centuries and into the 21 century. Attention to the experiences of women in making this history is included. The local historical development of Tacoma is used to highlight the role of capitalism in creating governing bodies and class differences among white European Americans who collectively discriminated against the aspirations of people of color. Films and other course material periodically describe and present images of violence and use language that may be considered offensive. The purpose of this material is to present significant events within their respective historical contexts. | Michael Vavrus | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
Ralph Murphy and Jon Baumunk
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | This program will provide an interdisciplinary, in-depth focus on how land has been viewed and used by humans historically and in contemporary times. We will attempt to understand today’s built environments from a variety of perspectives and determine how they can they accommodate new challenges, including environmental, economic, financial and fiscal constraints. We will give special attention to the political, legal, economic, financial, and social/cultural contexts of land use. We will look at and evaluate efforts to regulate land uses and protect lands that have been defined as valuable by society.To understand the purpose of land use policy and regulation, the following topics and disciplines will be used to evaluate the human relationship to land in the United States: the structure and function of American Government; the history and theory of land use planning; economic and community development; public policy formation and implementation; contemporary land use planning practices; growth management; selected elements of environmental and land use law; regional economics; fiscal analysis; and accounting principles applied to the public sector and non-profit/non-governmental organizations. Selected applications of quantitative research methods will be developed throughout the program. Our goal is to have students leave the program with a comprehensive understanding of the complexity of issues surrounding land use planning, restoration, urban redevelopment, public sector accountability and resource management (eg. budgeting, accounting, annual reports).The program will include lectures, seminars, guest speakers, workshops, field trips, and individual and group research projects and presentations. Students will acquire professional writing skills through instruction and practice in formats such as policy briefing papers. Students will develop an understanding of the political and economic history that brought about the need for land use regulation. This will include understanding the political, legal, economic and financial context of the public sector. Students will apply these themes to contemporary applications and the professional world of land use planning, such as understanding the legislative and public policy processes in Washington State, major policies such as the Washington State Growth Management Act, The Shoreline Master Program, Historic Preservation, and economic development. During spring quarter, we will develop an in-depth understanding of budgeting and financial management in the public and non-profit sectors, as well as the increasing importance of fiscal impact analysis. Students will leave the program with credits for an emphasis in land use planning, public policy, accounting and public sector fiscal and financial management—an excellent preparation for potential professional careers and the prerequisites for many graduate programs in land use/urban planning, public administration, public policy and private sector work in consulting firms and non-governmental organizations. | Ralph Murphy Jon Baumunk | Tue Wed Thu Fri | Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||
Peter Bohmer and Carlos Marentes
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 16Spring | We will examine the nature, development, and concrete workings of modern capitalism and the interrelationship of race, class, and gender, primarily in the contemporary context. We will focus on the themes oppression, exploitation, social movements, reform, and fundamental change, as well as the construction of alternatives to capitalism, nationally and globally. We will examine social changes that have occurred in the past, present trends, and alternatives for the future. We will examine different theoretical frameworks such as liberalism, Marxism, feminism, anarchism, and neoclassical economics, and their explanations of the current United States and global political economy and of key issues such as climate change, poverty and inequality, immigration and the criminal justice system.In studying the U.S. experience, we will study linkages from the past to the present, between the economic core of capitalism, political and social structures, and gender, race, and class relations. Resistance and social movements will be a central theme. We will also investigate the interrelationship between the U.S. political economy and the changing global system, historically and in the present. We will study causes and consequences of the globalization of capital and its effects in our daily lives, and the role of multilateral institutions. We will analyze the responses of societies such as Venezuela and social movements such as labor, feminist, anti-war, environmental, anti-racist, indigenous, and youth, and the global justice movement in the U.S. and internationally in opposing the global order. We will look at alternatives to neoliberal capitalism, including participatory socialism and strategies for fundamental change.Students will be introduced to economics from a neoclassical and political economy perspective. Within microeconomics, we will study topics such as the structure and failure of markets, work and wages, growing economic inequality, poverty, and the gender and racial division of labor. We will study macroeconomics, including austerity policies and critiques of it, the role of debt, and causes and solutions to unemployment and economic instability.Students will engage the material through seminars, lectures, guest speakers, films, workshops, synthesis papers based on program material and concepts, and a take-home exam. | Peter Bohmer Carlos Marentes | Tue Wed Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Lawrence Mosqueda
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | This program focuses on the issue of power in American society. We will investigate the nature of economic, political, social, military, ideological, and interpersonal power. The interrelationships of these dimensions will be a primary area of study. We will explore these themes through lectures, films, seminars, a journal, and short papers.The analysis will be guided by the following questions, as well as others that may emerge from our discussions: What is meant by the term “power”? Are there different kinds of power and how are they interrelated? Who has power in American society? Who is relatively powerless? Why? How is power accumulated? What resources are involved? How is power utilized and with what impact on various sectors of the population? What characterizes the struggle for power? How does domestic power relate to international power? How is international power used? How are people affected by current power structures? What responsibilities do citizens have to alter the structure of power? What alternative structures are possible, probable, necessary, or desirable?In a time of war and economic, social, and political crisis, a good deal of the program will focus on international relations in a systematic and intellectual manner. This is a serious class for serious people. There is a good deal of reading and some weeks are more complex that others. Please be prepared to work hard and to challenge your previous thinking. | Lawrence Mosqueda | Tue Wed Thu | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Lori Blewett
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8 | 08 | Day | Su 16 Session I Summer | is geared toward students who want to develop their oral communication and media skills as well as gain insight into the political economy of radio. No prior experience is needed. Our studies will focus on fundamental elements of radio production: writing, performing, recording, interviewing, editing, and broadcasting. Assignments will include live and edited broadcasts. Readings, films, and listening assignments will deepen students' understanding of the political economy of radio and contemporary radio aesthetics. Students will gain knowledge and skills needed to become potential hosts at KAOS Community Radio Station. Some lessons will be taught by KAOS General Manager, Ruth Brownstein. This program fulfills communication requirements for selected MIT endorsements. | Lori Blewett | Mon Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
Alice Nelson, Savvina Chowdhury and Therese Saliba
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 15 Fall | W 16Winter | S 16Spring | For centuries, shouts of liberation have echoed through the streets, from Kolkata, India, to Caracas, Venezuela. Today, new movements are afoot, inviting us to revisit the question, "What does independence mean in the cultural, historical, political, and economic context of the global South?" Third World liberation movements that arose in the aftermath of World War II did so not only as organized resistance to colonial forms of oppression and domination, but also as attempts to reconceptualize an alternative, anti-imperial and anti-racist world view. While gaining some measure of political independence, nations such as India, Egypt, Algeria, Mexico, and Nicaragua found that they remained enmeshed in neocolonial relations of exploitation vis-à-vis the former colonial masters and the emerging U.S. empire. Their post-colonial experience with nation-building bears witness to the actuality that political liberation remains inseparable from economic independence.Through the disciplinary lenses of literature, cultural studies, political economy, and feminist theory, this program will explore how various ideas of liberation (sometimes complementary, sometimes contradictory) have emerged and changed over time, in the contexts of Latin America, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. We will explore religious, national, gender, ethnic, and cultural identities that shape narratives of liberation through the discourses of colonialism, neocolonialism, religious traditions, and other mythic constructions of the past. We will examine how deep structural inequalities have produced the occupation and partitioning of land and migrations, both forced and "chosen."With emphasis on a variety of texts, we will examine the ways in which authors revisit their histories of European and U.S. colonialism and imperialism, question the ways stories have been written, and seek to tell another story, reinterpreting liberation. In fall, we will explore several historical models of liberation and critique dominant representations of Third World nations. We will focus especially on India's path to independence, the Algerian and Cuban revolutions, Egypt/Arab nationalism, and the Chilean Road to Socialism. In winter, we will move forward chronologically, framing our cases within the current context of neoliberalism. Our case studies will include Iran and Nicaragua in 1979 and afterwards, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, post-nationalist resistance movements in Mexico, opposition to U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, the recent Arab uprisings, and issues of ecology and resource sovereignty affecting the three regions. We will look at feminist involvement in these contexts, as well as the role of U.S. foreign and economic policy in suppressing liberatory movements.In spring quarter, we will focus on migration as a legacy of colonial relations, neoliberal globalization, and heightened militarization. We will examine border cultures and the day-to-day realities of dislocation through the literature of various diasporas, and the quest for community, sovereignty, and economic security in the post 9-11 era. For part of their spring quarter credit, students will have the opportunity to engage in community-based internships around issues of immigration and human rights or project work related to program themes. | Alice Nelson Savvina Chowdhury Therese Saliba | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Michael Vavrus
Signature Required:
Winter
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SOS | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 16Winter | This Student-Originated Studies program is an opportunity for students to do intermediate to advanced work in topics in the social sciences and history. Students will work in small groups or independently on their own in-depth projects or areas of study and may include an internship component if the student has already researched and started the process to get approval from an outside agency with an identified supervisor. Priority is given to students who want to learn about diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice. The format of this program includes weekly meetings to discuss particular assignments and updates on student work.Students should anticipate meeting on Wednesday mornings Weeks 1-4 and 6-9 with their peers and faculty to report on their studies and to receive critical feedback and recommendations for further study. Students will need to be available for individual conferences with the faculty Weeks 5 and Evaluation Week. Students should also anticipate the requirement to upload assignments on a weekly basis that indicate academic progress toward a final project. The final project must be uploaded during Week 10. Prior to their final evaluation conference with the faculty, students must upload a self-evaluation of their learning. | Michael Vavrus | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||||
Alan Nasser
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | S 16Spring | Alan Nasser | Mon | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Alan Nasser
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | Su 16 Session II Summer | No one reading this has not experienced or witnessed the painful effects of the combined financial crisis, long recession and severe shortage of well-paying jobs. These are turning points in American society and world history. Two of the nation’s most prominent economists have recently warned that Americans must now accommodate themselves to an unending condition of chronic slow economic growth, low wages, high unemployment and permanent economic insecurity. Are they right? A great deal hangs in the balance.Understanding the origins and future of the present crisis can help in making sense of the world and planning for the future. This class helps students understand where the crisis came from, why it has the features it has, and where it is likely to lead. Clear explanations will be offered for terms like financial bubble, securitization, derivatives, credit default swaps and financial economy vs. real economy. Implications for income and job growth will also be studied. No prior background in economics is required. Required readings have been selected for clarity and general accessibility | Alan Nasser | Mon Wed | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer |