Courses - Spring 2025
AASP200
African Civilization
A survey of African civilizations from 4500 B.C. to present. Analysis of traditional social systems. Discussion of the impact of European colonization on these civilizations. Analysis of the influence of traditional African social systems on modern African institutions as well as discussion of contemporary processes of Africanization.
AASP298L
Cross-listed with: AAAS234.
Credit only granted for: ENGL234, AAAS234 or AASP298L.
An exploration of the stories black authors tell about themselves, their communities, and the nation as informed by time and place, gender, sexuality, and class. African American perspective themes such as art, childhood, sexuality, marriage, alienation and mortality, as well as representations of slavery, Reconstruction, racial violence and the Nadir, legalized racism and segregation, black patriotism and black ex-patriots, the optimism of integration, and the prospects of a post-racial America.
Cross-listed with ENGL234. Credit granted for AASP298L or ENGL234.
AAST
Asian American Studies
Department Site
AAST250
Asian American Foodways
Credit only granted for: AAST298G or AAST250.
Formerly: AAST298G.
Kimchi, chop suey, Spam, "curry," poke: while these foods are now widely embraced, we will inquire how "hallmark" Asian/American foods have assumed cultural meaning and significance in the U.S., often through their transnational entanglements with histories of colonialism, exclusion, immigration, war, and globalization. We will think about how the aesthetics and significations of taste are bound up in the ways Asian Americans perceive themselves and are perceived by others, inquiring how ideas of the "perpetual foreigner" and the "model minority" might inform consumption practices. As the title of this course suggests, foodways will be a central area of analysis, never static but defined by mobility and transmission for Asian American communities. You will also be invited to explore your own relationships to Asian American food cultures through personal and academic accounts, a diverse range of media (TV, film, social media), cookbooks, and memoirs.
AMST
American Studies
Department Site
AMST101
Credit only granted for: AMST101 or AMST201.
Formerly: AMST201.
Introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of American Studies by examining concepts such as culture, identity, cultural practices, and globalization, as well as theories underlying these concepts. Engages key themes, especially constructions of difference and identity, cultures of everyday life, and America and the world.
AMST205
American Material Culture: The Study of People, Places, and Things
Historical survey of American material culture. Ways of describing and interpreting accumulated material evidence (e.g., buildings, town plans) introduced by stressing relationship between artifact and culture.
AMST213
Cross-listed with: CINE282.
Credit only granted for: AMST213, HONR219F, CINE282 or FILM298V.
Formerly: HONR219F, FILM298V.
We will examine the complex, changing, and ever-present representations of heroes and villains in American film. Beginning with a foundational understanding of how heroes and, conversely, villains have been defined through classic Hollywood film, we will explore how these definitions have shifted throughout the 20th and 21st century in various narrative genres, including westerns, war films, film noir, fantasy, science fiction, and, of course, superhero movies. In particular, we will be focusing on how the hero and villain maintain or disrupt specific cultural ideologies concerning race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and ability. This course will examine how these various ideologies have evolved throughout the 20th and 21st century, impacting the ways in which heroes and villains are both represented in American film and perceived by diverse audiences. Finally, we will examine our own complicated and sometimes troubling identification with these heroes, even when they might stand in stark contrast to our cultural values and identities.
AMST298Q
Cross-listed with: ENGL235.
Credit only granted for: ENGL235 or AMST298Q.
Examines the poetry, prose, and theater of Latinx communities in the United States from their origins in the Spanish colonization of North America to their ongoing development in the 21st century. Considers how authors use literary form to gain insight into human experience, including mortality, religious belief, gender and sexuality, war and peace, family, language use, scientific inquiry, cultural tradition, ecology, and labor. Also studies how Latinx literary traditions have shaped and been shaped by broader currents in American literature, as well as what connections exist between Latinx literature and social and artistic developments in other parts of the world, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean. Authors may include Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Eulalia Perez, Juan Nepomuceno Seguin, Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Jose Marti, Arthur A. Schomburg, Jesus Colon, Julia de Burgos, Cesar Chavez, Ariel Dorfman, Gloria Anzaldua, Junot Diaz, and Cristina Garcia.
AMST425
Credit only granted for: AMST418K or AMST425.
Formerly: AMST418K.
Explores how representations of various geographic spaces in American film impact our understanding of community, identity, and place. In particular, we will think about how these spaces are culturally produced and changeable rather than static. The same space can hold diverse meanings for various groups of people and how such a space is represented in film is often wrapped up with issues of power, the reinforcement of stereotypes, and the creation of self/other dichotomies. By analyzing a variety of narrative, documentary, major studio, and independent films, we will seek to understand how American films' representations of rural, urban, and suburban spaces both reflect, contradict, and often influence our lived experiences of these spaces; in other words, this course will examine how the "reel" intersects with the "real".
ARCH
Architecture
Department Site
ARCH170
Design Thinking and Architecture
Examines conceptual, perceptual, behavioral, and technical aspects of the built environment, and methods of analysis, problem-solving, and design implementation.
ARCH225
History of World Architecture I
Pre-1500 World Architecture survey course - History of Architecture structured to develop critical thinking and visually literacy with regard to the worldwide legacy of design thinking and cultural production through architecture
ARHU
Arts and Humanities
Department Site
ARHU230
Introduction to Humanities, Health, and Medicine
Restriction: Permission of ARHU-English Department.
Cross-listed with: ENGL254, HIST219N, WGSS230.
Credit only granted for: ARHU230 , ENGL289C, ENGL254, ARHU298A, HIST219N, or WGSS230.
An overview of the historical, cultural, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of medicine, human health, disease, and death from the points of view of various humanistic disciplines.
ARHU275
Writing for the Stage and Screen: An Introductory Workshop
Cross-listed with: ENGL275.
Credit only granted for: ENGL275 or ARHU275.
Introduction to the theory and practice of scriptwriting with an opportunity to read, view, evaluate, write, and revise texts meant to be performed. Students will practice writing for the stage, film, and television and also examine selected scripts, performances, and film and television clips as models for their own creative work. Students will complete frequent writing exercises, participate in workshops, and learn to apply scholarship to the analysis and critique of scripts.
ARHU380
Arts & Humanities in Social Innovation, Change, and Justice: Do Good Now
Cross-listed with: JWST319P.
Credit only granted for: ARHU380, BSOS388B, JWST319P, or PLCY388D.
The course serves as the core course for the Arts-and-Humanities track in PLCY's minor in "Nonprofit Leadership and Social Innovation." Students will be introduced to the role that the Arts and Humanities can play in social innovation and social change, while exploring various mechanisms for achieving impact with a focus on advancing social justice, equity and systems change. This course deepens understandings of nonprofit leadership, entrepreneurship and social innovation by guiding students through the creation and implementation of social change projects and ventures of their choice.
ARTH
Art History & Archaeology
Department Site
ARTH200
Art and Society in Ancient and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean
Examines the material culture and visual expressions of Mediterranean and European societies from early times until ca. 1300 CE, emphasizing the political, social, and religious context of the works studied, the relationships of the works to the societies that created them, and the interrelationship of these societies.
ARTH201
Art and Society in the West from the Renaissance to the Present
Examines representative European and American works of art from the later Middle Ages to the present, highlighting the dynamic exchange between artistic and cultural traditions both within periods and across time.
ARTH255
Explores the origins and evolution of art in the modern American world, from the late colonial era to the present, comparing major artistic movements and their historical contexts. Considers the diversity of art across Latin America and the United States, and the ways in which artworks mediate social, ethnic, political, and national identities.
ARTH263
A comparative and thematic approach to studying the representation of otherness in art and visual culture from the eighteenth century to the present. Students will work to expand the definition of otherness, and consider the roles that ethnicity, nationality, and politics play in representations of otherness across various continents and chronologies.
ARTH292
Discovering Japan: How the Arts Shaped a Nation
Explores the origins and creation of Japan from ancient to contemporary times through East Asian and European exchange. Acquaints students with painting, sculpture, architecture, ceramics, gardens, and other art forms in relation to the various cultural contexts within which they were produced and used.
ARTH324
Leonardo's World: Art and Experience in Renaissance Italy
Painting, sculpture, architecture, and the decorative arts of the sixteenth century in Italy.
ARTH361
Explores diverse artistic movements and makers in the United States, beginning at the end of the Civil War in 1865 and concluding with the art of Civil Rights era in the 20th century. We will ask how the visual arts construct and challenge formations of race, class, gender, and citizenship in the context of political transformations and social movements over a century of US history. This course emphasizes the practice of close looking as we encounter works art across a range of media--photography, painting, sculpture, film, material culture, performance art and public art.
ARTH391
Transnational Chinese Cinema
Cross-listed with: CINE335.
Credit only granted for: ARTH391 or CINE335.
Chinese cinema has made a big impact on contemporary world film culture. This course will introduce students to the films directed by some of the most representative filmmakers working in different geopolitical locations (mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong) and the Chinese diaspora. The films of these directors, in a spectrum of genres, themes, and styles, have inspired global scholarship, not only in visual culture and cinema, but also in the study of women's issues, gender and ethnic studies, as well as the fields of adaptation and intermedia studies. Students will explore these films in their socio-historical and artistic contexts, considering the influences and innovations that have shaped them and analyzing their reception by audiences and critics. After reading about the films they view, and participating in class discussions, students will be ready to complete their analytical written assignments, for which they will critically examine the films by applying key concepts such as gender, sexuality, race, gaze, style, representation, power, diaspora, etc.
ARTT
Art Studio
Department Site
ARTT150
Introduction to Art Theory
Fundamental concepts of global, philosophic, and critical art theory examined through various historic and contemporary texts, and the analysis of works of art.
CHIN
Chinese
Department Site
CHIN205
Intermediate Chinese - Accelerated Track
Prerequisite: Must have attained appropriate World Language Placement Test (WLPT) score.
Restriction: Must not have completed CHIN201, CHIN203, CHIN202, or CHIN204.
Accelerated instruction in Mandarin Chinese at the intermediate level for students with prior Chinese language background, either through home use or formal instruction.
CHIN307
Linguistic Landscape of China
Prerequisite: Must have completed CHIN204 or above; or permission of Chinese Program Advisor.
Comprehensive introduction to Chinese and other major languages in the Sino-Tibetan, Altaic, Austroasiatic, and Austronesian families, all of which are spoken in China. Taught in English.
CINE
Cinema and Media Studies
CINE245
Film Form and Culture
Cross-listed with: ENGL245.
Credit only granted for: ENGL245, CINE245 or FILM245.
Formerly: FILM245.
Introduction to film as art form and how films create meaning. Basic film terminology; fundamental principles of film form, film narrative, and film history. Examination of film technique and style over past one hundred years. Social and economic functions of film within broader institutional, economic, and cultural contexts.
CINE280
Cross-listed with: CMLT280.
Credit only granted for: CINE280, FILM298D or CMLT280.
Formerly: FILM298D.
Comparative study of a variety of film traditions from around the world, including cinema from Hollywood, Europe, Asia and developing countries, with a stress on different cultural contexts for film-making and viewing.
CINE282
Cross-listed with: AMST213.
Credit only granted for: AMST213, HONR219F, CINE282 or FILM298V.
Formerly: HONR219F, FILM298V.
We will examine the complex, changing, and ever-present representations of heroes and villains in American film. Beginning with a foundational understanding of how heroes and, conversely, villains have been defined through classic Hollywood film, we will explore how these definitions have shifted throughout the 20th and 21st century in various narrative genres, including westerns, war films, film noir, fantasy, science fiction, and, of course, superhero movies. In particular, we will be focusing on how the hero and villain maintain or disrupt specific cultural ideologies concerning race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and ability. This course will examine how these various ideologies have evolved throughout the 20th and 21st century, impacting the ways in which heroes and villains are both represented in American film and perceived by diverse audiences. Finally, we will examine our own complicated and sometimes troubling identification with these heroes, even when they might stand in stark contrast to our cultural values and identities.
CINE332
Brazilian Cinema
Cross-listed with: PORT332.
Credit only granted for: PORT332, CINE332, or FILM332.
Formerly: FILM332.
Brazilian films from the late 1950s to the present with a special view to the relationship between cinema, society, historical dates, and social changes in Brazil. Taught in English.
CINE335
Transnational Chinese Cinema
Cross-listed with: ARTH391.
Credit only granted for: ARTH391 or CINE335.
Chinese cinema has made a big impact on contemporary world film culture. This course will introduce students to the films directed by some of the most representative filmmakers working in different geopolitical locations (mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong) and the Chinese diaspora. The films of these directors, in a spectrum of genres, themes, and styles, have inspired global scholarship, not only in visual culture and cinema, but also in the study of women's issues, gender and ethnic studies, as well as the fields of adaptation and intermedia studies. Students will explore these films in their socio-historical and artistic contexts, considering the influences and innovations that have shaped them and analyzing their reception by audiences and critics. After reading about the films they view, and participating in class discussions, students will be ready to complete their analytical written assignments, for which they will critically examine the films by applying key concepts such as gender, sexuality, race, gaze, style, representation, power, diaspora, etc.
CINE336
CLAS
Classics
Department Site
CLAS170
Cross-listed with: RELS170.
Credit only granted for: CLAS170 or RELS170.
Additional information: This course cannot be taken for language credit.
What are myths and why do we tell them? What powers do myths have? We will tackle these questions by looking at the enduring and fascinating myths from ancient Greece and Rome. In addition to studying how they shaped ancient societies, we will also look at their modern influence and reflect upon the power that myths still hold in our contemporary world. Taught in English.
CLAS277
Where do our emotions come from? Are they universal biological experiences, or are they shaped by the society in which we live, and therefore different from culture to culture? When do emotions serve the interests of those in power, and when do they resist dominant ideologies? These questions have fascinated scholars from a variety of fields, from linguistics to psychology to literary studies. This course posits that an analysis of artistic and cultural products can reveal important insights about these questions. We will thus read a variety of works of Greco-Roman literature with the above questions in mind, comparing these ancient texts to modern-day films, testing whether and how the portrayal of emotions has changed over time. Still, we will not neglect the discoveries from fields outside of literary studies: throughout the semester, we will periodically discuss relevant works of psychology, sociology, and more, interpreting the texts and films at hand through an interdisciplinary lens.
CLAS315
Cross-listed with: HIST339G.
Credit only granted for: CLAS315 or HIST339G.
The origin and evolution of athletics in ancient Greece and Rome studied as recreation, as play, as education, as a profession and as mass entertainment.
CMLT
Comparative Literature
Department Site
CMLT235
Examination of key works by writers of the African Diaspora. Relationship among black people across multiple geographic spaces; Africa, the Caribbean, the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Specific historical, cultural, and literary contexts; themes such as gender, sexuality, migration, slavery, freedom, and equality. Readings may include literary texts (fiction, poetry, drama), music and film. All readings in English, but drawn from multiple languages of the black diaspora, including English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.
CMLT275
Cross-listed with: WGSS275.
Credit only granted for: WMST275, CMLT275 or WGSS275.
Formerly: WMST275.
Comparative study of selected works by women writers of several countries, exploring points of intersection and divergence in women's literary representations.
CMLT280
Cross-listed with: CINE280.
Credit only granted for: CINE280, FILM298D or CMLT280.
Formerly: FILM298D.
Comparative study of a variety of film traditions from around the world, including cinema from Hollywood, Europe, Asia and developing countries, with a stress on different cultural contexts for film-making and viewing.
Cross-listed with FILM298D. Credit only granted for: CMLT280 or FILM298D.
COMM
Communication
Department Site
COMM324
Explores how communication shapes constructions of gender, sex, sexuality and other identity markers. Topics include issues of oppression, identity, and power and social, political, and economic situations and examines how these issues impact our daily lives.
EDSP
Education, Special
Department Site
EDSP416
Reading and Writing Instruction in Special Education I
Restriction: Must be in Special Education program.
Jointly offered with EDSP616.
Credit only granted for: EDSP416 or EDSP616.
Assessment and instruction of reading and writing skills for students in special education.
ENEE
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Department Site
ENEE200
Technology and Consequences: Engineering, Ethics, and Humanity
Credit only granted for: ENEE200 or ENES200.
What makes a technology socially responsible? At UMD, the Fearless Ideas campaign asks us to aim our enthusiasm for technology at big real problems. At the same time, we are coming to appreciate the increasingly complex nature of technological systems as they become integrated into all forms of infrastructure, we realize they may be unpredictable, interdependent on social and biological systems, and have unintended consequences. In this midst of this complexity, people make decisions with far reaching impacts. How then do we follow our passion for technology and innovation but also stay skeptical in a way that allows us to consider the potential and shortcomings of technology? Designed for both engineering and non-engineering students wishing to explore and assess the impact of engineering technology on society and the role of society in generating that technology.
ENES
Engineering Science
ENES200
Technology and Consequences: Engineering, Ethics and Humanity
Credit only granted for: ENEE200 or ENES200.
What makes a technology socially responsible? At UMD, the Fearless Ideas campaign asks us to aim our enthusiasm for technology at big real problems. At the same time, we are coming to appreciate the increasingly complex nature of technological systems as they become integrated into all forms of infrastructure, we realize they may be unpredictable, interdependent on social and biological systems, and have unintended consequences. In this midst of this complexity, people make decisions with far reaching impacts. How then do we follow our passion for technology and innovation but also stay skeptical in a way that allows us to consider the potential and shortcomings of technology? Designed for both engineering and non-engineering students wishing to explore and assess the impact of engineering technology on society and the role of society in generating that technology.
Declared engineering students have priority for registration. Non-engineering majors should choose the holdfile option. The Clark School will release available seats to students in the holdfile after the last day of Early Registration for Freshmen.
ENGL
English
Department Site
ENGL125
Poetry is most often understood as self-expression; it's also communal expression, and cultural expression; it's also a particular kind of construction made out of language. Explore the art form called poetry, including its formal properties, its conventions, and its legacy of experimentation. What role does poetry play in how we think about the human condition; what constitutes knowledge and wisdom, interior subjectivity and collective identity; and how shall this knowledge be used in confronting new challenges and the perennial questions: how to live with oneself, and as oneself; in time, and with others; here, where we reside; and elsewhere, where we imagine ourselves going. This is a hands-on course in reading and practicing the art of poetry, including short critical and creative writing exercises.
ENGL133
Who gets to speak for nature? This course explores the long history of environmental writing in the context of the complex relationship between European and Indigenous North American traditions. We will not just survey environmental literature; we will inquire into the pressures under which contemporary ideas of nature evolved from a colonial past. Students will learn about the history of representing other-than-human actors in the world--including Indigenous ways of knowing--and how this history can help us envision new, shared relationships with the natural world.
ENGL142
Credit only granted for: ENGL142 or ENGL289M.
Formerly: ENGL289M.
What does the literature of Maryland teach us about our state's past, present, and future? "Literary Maryland" explores this question by taking students on a tour of our state's prose, poetry, and drama from colonization to the present. In addition to reading fascinating writing and visiting interesting places, you'll learn how the Chesapeake was formed; why nobody sings the entire national anthem; and what led Baltimore to name its football team after a poem written by a Virginian.
ENGL222
American Literature(s)
Explore American literary traditions in a variety of poetic and narrative forms and in diverse historical contexts, ranging from colonization to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond. Genres examined in this course might include lyric poems, travel narratives, gothic short fiction, slave narratives, and science fiction. Emphasis on developing skills of literary interpretation and critical writing, while attending to the place of race, class, gender, and sexuality in American literary culture. Authors may include Phillis Wheatley, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison, among others.
ENGL234
Cross-listed with: AAAS234.
Credit only granted for: ENGL234, AAAS234 or AASP298L.
An exploration of the stories black authors tell about themselves, their communities, and the nation as informed by time and place, gender, sexuality, and class. African American perspective themes such as art, childhood, sexuality, marriage, alienation and mortality, as well as representations of slavery, Reconstruction, racial violence and the Nadir, legalized racism and segregation, black patriotism and black ex-patriots, the optimism of integration, and the prospects of a post-racial America.
Cross-listed with AASP298L. Credit granted for AASP298L or ENGL234.
ENGL235
Cross-listed with: AMST298Q.
Credit only granted for: ENGL235 or AMST298Q.
Examines the poetry, prose, and theater of Latinx communities in the United States from their origins in the Spanish colonization of North America to their ongoing development in the 21st century. Considers how authors use literary form to gain insight into human experience, including mortality, religious belief, gender and sexuality, war and peace, family, language use, scientific inquiry, cultural tradition, ecology, and labor. Also studies how Latinx literary traditions have shaped and been shaped by broader currents in American literature, as well as what connections exist between Latinx literature and social and artistic developments in other parts of the world, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean. Authors may include Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Eulalia Perez, Juan Nepomuceno Seguin, Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Jose Marti, Arthur A. Schomburg, Jesus Colon, Julia de Burgos, Cesar Chavez, Ariel Dorfman, Gloria Anzaldua, Junot Diaz, and Cristina Garcia.
Cross-listed with AMST298Q. Credit granted for ENGL235 or AMST298Q.
ENGL241
What Novels Do
Novels offer spaces for realist expression, and they also push the boundaries of fiction and imagination. Explore consciousness, community, belonging, philosophy, and human difference in a range of national and cultural traditions. Study how novels present thought in radically different ways, crossing lines of class, gender, chronology, and locale.
ENGL243
What is Poetry?
An exploration of arguably the most complex, profound, and ubiquitous expression of human experience. Study through close reading of significant forms and conventions of Western poetic tradition. Poetry's roots in oral and folk traditions and connections to popular song forms.
ENGL245
Film Form and Culture
Cross-listed with: CINE245.
Credit only granted for: ENGL245, CINE245 or FILM245.
Formerly: FILM245.
Introduction to film as art form and how films create meaning. Basic film terminology; fundamental principles of film form, film narrative, and film history. Examination of film technique and style over past one hundred years. Social and economic functions of film within broader institutional, economic, and cultural contexts.
ENGL246
The Short Story
Explore how short stories quickly take hold of the imagination. Topics may include historical developments in the genre of the short story, popular trends in short fiction, short stories in diverse cultures, the short story collection as a unique form, and how the short story differs from the novel, the novella, and flash fiction.
ENGL250
Cross-listed with: WGSS255.
Credit only granted for: ENGL250, WMST255 or WGSS255.
Formerly: WMST255.
Explores literary and cultural expressions by women and their receptions within a range of historical periods and genres. Topics such as what does a woman need in order to write, what role does gender play in the production, consumption, and interpretation of texts, and to what extent do women comprise a distinct literary subculture. Interpretation of texts will be guided by feminist and gender theory, ways of reading that have emerged as important to literary studies over the last four decades.
ENGL254
Introduction to Humanities, Health, and Medicine
Restriction: Permission of ARHU-English Department.
Cross-listed with: ARHU230, HIST219N, WGSS230.
Credit only granted for: ARHU230 , ENGL289C, ENGL254, ARHU298A, HIST219N, or WGSS230.
An overview of the historical, cultural, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of medicine, human health, disease, and death from the points of view of various humanistic disciplines.
ENGL255
Literature, Science, and Technology
Consider the relationship between fiction and science. How does science as we know it depend on certain fictions or narratives? How do we come to know science through the fictions we encounter? How do literary works represent the ethics of science and technology? What role does science play in the oppression of peoples? What alternative, more liberatory ways of using science are possible?
ENGL256
Fantasy Literature
How fantasy employs alternate forms of representation, such as the fantastical, estranging, or impossible, which other genres would not allow. Through novels, short stories, graphic novels, and film, traces fantasy's roots in mythology and folklore, then explores how modern texts build upon or challenge these origins. Examination of literary strategies texts use to represent the world through speculative modes. How to distinguish fantasy from, and relate it to, other genres such as horror, fairly tales, and magical realism. Fantasy's investment in world-building, history, tradition, and categories of identity such as race, class, and gender. How fantasy, as a genre, form, and world-view, is well-suited to our contemporary reality.
ENGL257
Children's Literature
Literature of the nineteenth through the twenty-first century concerned with, and written for, children and young adults. How such narratives speak to themes of changing social, religious, political, and personal identity. Through poetry, novels, graphic novels, and film, explores how children's tales encapsulate and reflect on human existence, while pushing boundaries of what constitutes "children's literature" and what exactly defines the "child." Considers questions of literary classification through investigation of political and religious issues, gender politics, animal rights, social justice, race, war, and what it means to "grow up."
ENGL265
Restriction: Must not have completed LGBT265.
Cross-listed with: LGBT265.
Credit only granted for: ENGL265 or LGBT265.
A study of literary and cultural expressions of queer and trans identities, positionalities, and analytics through an exploration of literature, art, and media. We will examine historical and political power relations by considering the intersections of sexuality and gender with race, class, nation, and disability. Topics include the social construction and regulation of sexuality and gender, performance and performativity, intersectionality, and the relationship between aesthetic forms and queer/ trans subjectivity. Our interpretations will be informed by queer and trans theories.
ENGL275
Writing for the Stage and Screen: An Introductory Workshop
Cross-listed with: ARHU275.
Credit only granted for: ENGL275 or ARHU275.
Introduction to the theory and practice of scriptwriting with an opportunity to read, view, evaluate, write, and revise texts meant to be performed. Students will practice writing for the stage, film, and television and also examine selected scripts, performances, and film and television clips as models for their own creative work. Students will complete frequent writing exercises, participate in workshops, and learn to apply scholarship to the analysis and critique of scripts.
ENGL289I
Cross-listed with: WGSS280.
Credit only granted for: ENGL289I or WGSS280.
Isaac Azimov once said of science fiction that it is the genre that "deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology." With this definition in mind, we will embark on a critical exploration of sci-fi film and other media, using it as a lens for analyzing society's deepest fears and most furtive hopes. Our investigation will center on the liminal space between hegemonic culture and its prescribed excesses. These liminal spaces--between self and other, disability and enhancement, cultural hybridization, and gender crossing--shift in response to real-world sociopolitical tensions. We will consider feminist and anti-racist media scholars' concerns over representation, authorship and ideology alongside questions of technological change. Students will use analytical and creative assignments to explore not only how the scientific imaginary serves as fertile ground for feminist, disability, and anti-racist critique, but also provides a locus for alternative futures.
Cross-listed with WGSS280. Credit will be only granted for ENGL289I or WGSS280.
ENGL290
Introductory course in digital studies. Surveys contemporary humanities work in digital technologies, including the web and social media and their historical antecedents. Explores design and making as analytical tools alongside reading and writing. Situates digital media within power and politics and develops critical awareness of how media shape society and ethics. Interdisciplinary approaches to creativity, analysis, and technology. While the course will include hands-on practice, no prior experience of programming, designing, or making required other than a willingness to experiment and play.
ENGL291
Prerequisite: Must have satisfied Fundamental Studies Academic Writing requirement.
Intermediate-level, writing-intensive course for students who have successfully satisfied the Fundamental Studies Academic Writing requirement but wish to hone skills in analyzing and producing rhetorically attuned, well-styled prose. Deeper study of rhetorical theory and its application to a wide variety of arguments and situations. Additional writing practice, techniques of revision, study of effect of stylistic choices. Topics may include argumentation theory, visual rhetoric, stylistic theory, and writing theory.
ENGL293
Recommended: ENGL101.
A hands-on exploration of rhetoric, technology, and digital expression. Study a variety of digital writing and content creation platforms, and learn about theories and practices in digital communication. Learn to analyze and create the kinds of multimodal documents (websites, podcasts, videos) that constitute communication in a digital world.
ENGL294
Recommended: Fundamental Studies Academic Writing requirement.
Why are influencers canceled? What role does social media play in the spread of (mis)information? What is possible through social media activism? How does advertising work in online spaces? How do people use social media to discover and craft identity? What role do social media play in user wellbeing? Explore questions like these using ideas from rhetoric to develop critical awareness about power, ideology, and digital content. Learn to create effective, ethical social media content. Become a more informed reader and writer on social media across public, personal, and professional contexts.
ENGL295
Introduction to Digital Storytelling and Poetics
What is the thread weaving through an animated visualization of economic data in a popular newspaper, an indie text-based videogame, a saucy twitter bot spitting out haikus, and an interactive digital essay? Storytelling--using whatever is at hand to communicate with audiences in evocative and connected ways. Combining technical and textual analysis with their own experiments in digital composition, students will learn to use new media techniques for the interpretation, creation, and dissemination of both critical and imaginative writing. From branching narratives to hypertext media and video games, to more recent developments in machine-generated poetry, XR, and embodied and location-based narrative, the methods and materials in this introductory course link creative expression and analysis of texts to contemporary conversations about social difference, representation, interface, and computation.
ENGL361
Prerequisite: Students must have completed one course in English, Latin American Studies, or Education.
Service-learning course that gives students an opportunity to develop writing, interviewing, and communication skills as they contribute to the work of a community organization. In the classroom, students will reflect on the process and do background research to understand the particular context of the organization's work. In the field, students will interview (or have informal discussions with) young people helped by the organization in order to construct a narrative about their lives, their perceptions of themselves, and their experiences.
FREN
French
Department Site
FREN250
Introduction to Cultural and Textual Analysis
Prerequisite: FREN204; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department.
Restriction: Must not be a native/fluent speaker of French.
Credit only granted for: FREN250 or FREN250H.
Introduction to cultural and textual analysis of selected readings from various genres in French literature. Taught in French.
Cross-listed with FREN250H. Credit granted for FREN250 or FREN250H.
FREN250H
Introduction to Cultural and Textual Analysis
Prerequisite: FREN204; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department.
Restriction: Must not be a native/fluent speaker of French.
Credit only granted for: FREN250 or FREN250H.
Introduction to cultural and textual analysis of selected readings from various genres in French literature. Taught in French.
For general honors students only. Cross-listed with FREN250. Credit granted for FREN250 or FREN250H.
GEMS
Gemstone
GEMS104
Topics in Science, Technology and Society (STS)
Prerequisite: GEMS100.
Restriction: Must be in the Gemstone program.
An examination of how cultural, economic, political and social forces shape scientific and technological systems and, conversely, how scientific and technological systems have affected the culture, economies, organization and politics of societies. Students in the course will form small teams to carry out semester-long research on socio/technical topics related to the course theme chosen for that specific semester.
HDCC
Design Cultures and Creativity
HDCC106
Seminar in Design Cultures & Creativity
Restriction: Must be in the Design Cultures and Creativity Honors College Living/Learning program.
Introduction to the methods and theory of design production, with emphasis on creative and expressive platforms.
HEBR
Hebrew
Department Site
HEBR314
Conversation and Composition II
Prerequisite: HEBR313; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department.
A practical language course recommended for all students continuing with Hebrew. Review of grammar and composition. Selected readings. Oral and written exercises.
HHUM
Honors Humanities
Department Site
HHUM106
Honors Humanities: The Humanities in Practice
Recommended: HHUM105.
Restriction: Must be in the Honors Humanities Program.
Additional information: Priority enrollment will be given to students in Honors Humanities.
The application of the disciplines, methods and traditions of the Humanities to contemporary problems and issues such as social injustice, immigration, income inequality, and the role of social media. Students will apply to such issues the tools of the Humanities: research and historical analysis, critical reasoning, communication and persuasion, ethical debate, and imagination. The course will utilize the institutions of Washington, D.C. to explore contemporary problems and will guide students in the creation of their individual proposals for the capstone project that is the culmination of the curriculum in Honors Humanities.
HISP
Historic Preservation
HISP200
The Everyday and the American Environment
Jointly offered with HISP615.
An introduction to the theories of the everyday within the context of the American built environment. Focuses primarily on the American experience of underrepresented, minority, and/or immigrant communities; both historical and contemporary. Attempts to challenge what is meant by American in describing the American everyday built environment.
HIST
History
Department Site
HIST187
God, Land, Power, and the People: Moral Issues in the Jewish Historical Experience
Cross-listed with: ISRL187, JWST187.
Credit only granted for: HIST187, JWST187 or ISRL187.
Examines the complicated relationship between theology, nationalism, sovereignty, and the ethical exercise of social control using case studies drawn from the Jewish historical experience. The universal and age-old issues implicit in the exercise of power have gained special moral force for Jews with the creation of the State of Israel, a Jewish and a democratic state with substantial non-Jewish minorities and hundreds of thousands of non-citizen subjects. Can these be reconciled? Jewish efforts over the ages and in recent times to define justice provide concrete examples through which to examine and discuss crucial abstract principles.
HIST200
HIST201
Interpreting American History: From 1865 to the Present
Credit only granted for: HIST157 or HIST201.
Formerly: HIST157.
The United States from the end of the Civil War to the present. Economic, social, intellectual, and political developments. Rise of industry and emergence of the United States as a world power.
HIST205
An exploration of the way different societies have used, imagined, and managed nature. Includes examination of questions of land use, pollution, conservation, and the ideology of nature, especially but not exclusively in Europe and North America.
HIST289R
Pocketbook Politics: A History of American Buying and Selling
Provides a thematic approach to consumerism as it emerged in the United States over the course of three centuries. The history of consumption is a prism through which many aspects of social and political life may be viewed. How does what we wear, what we listen to, or what we eat shape our identities?
HNUH
University Honors
HNUH228C
The Fiction of Fact: Race, Science and Storytelling
What is a fact? Science is often viewed as an unbiased, fact-based, analytical discipline. However, throughout history, science has sometimes been the most potent weapon for creating and supporting political fictions and social hierarchies. Not unlike the discipline of the humanities, the sciences practice interpretation: scientists observe behaviors, of subject or objects, and necessarily provide an interpretation of the data. But it is the recourse to the "real" that has made science so powerful in underwriting cultural constructs. Whether we observe how science is manipulated in the public sphere, or how it is practiced for good or ill, it has been used to naturalize hierarchies of race, class or gender. Through a range of materials--fiction, film, visual arts, scientific articles, public humanities and political theses - this course will explore one of the most potent cases of this phenomenon of "scientific" storytelling: the case of race.
HNUH218C is the required Big Question course in the Science & Fiction thematic cluster. Surveillance courses will be offered through Spring 2026.
HNUH228R
The Picture of Health and Illness: Modern Medicine in Illustration
From prehistoric carvings, through King Tut's burial mask and Michelangelo's David, to the Lincoln Memorial and Body Worlds, images have long been used to communicate what people can and should be. After the "Scientific Revolution" in Europe, when identity was increasingly tied to biology, medical illustrations communicated theories of the ideal body and how it should, and should not, look. Doctors working in the midst of scientific revolution unequivocally tied health to race, gender, and sexuality by enlisting engravers, photographers, and printers to depict the healthy body as a European man and all others as weak, flawed, or ill. This course takes up questions about science, illustration, and identity. Can science tell us who we really are? Do pictures reveal the truth about our bodies? In this class, students will develop their own theory of how science continues to shape who we think we can be and how we might resist those limitations.
HNUH228R is part of the Science & Fiction thematic cluster and pairs with HNUH228C to complete the cluster. Science & Fiction courses will be offered through Spring 2026.
HNUH238R
Invasive: Feminist Perspectives on Power, Politics, and Ecosurveillance
Invasive species play a key role in 60% of plant and animal extinctions, constituting a serious threat to global biodiversity and costing over $423 billion annually. But what is at stake in the impulse to frame a species as "invasive"? What modes of watching, tracking, and surveilling emerge in the context of invasive species management? What are the material and ethical implications of these practices? As the cost of invasive species management has quadrupled every decade since 1970 and is likely to continue to increase, what alternatives exist? Reading through the lens of feminist science studies, this course asks what species movement might teach us about the possibilities and challenges of multispecies environmental ethics. Students will examine theoretical, historical, cultural, and practice-based accounts to better understand how our collective and individual actions continue to unevenly shape the biodiversity of our changing planet.
HNUH228R is part of the Surveillance thematic cluster and pairs with HNUH228C to complete the cluster. Surveillance courses will be offered through Spring 2026.
HNUH248R
Artificial Intelligence: Critical Examinations through Science Fiction and Technology
AI permeates our world, but science fiction (SF) told stories about it centuries before AI became a reality in the 1950s, shaping our understanding and expectations through words and images. In this course, students will trace AI's evolution through SF to critically examine how key SF works have shaped how we think about AI and intelligence. Through an exploration of existing AI, like autonomous weapon systems, generative AI, and AI assistants, as well as a visit to UMD's AI department, students will learn to be critical viewers, readers, and developers as they grapple with AI's moral and social implications. Using the context of SF and technological developments, we will explore what the creation, existence, and evolution of fictional and real AI means for technology and humanity.
HNUH248R is part of the Artificial? Intelligence? thematic cluster and pairs with HNUH248C to complete the cluster. Artificial? Intelligence? courses will be offered through Spring 2026.
HNUH258W
Migration, Myth, and Memory: Humanity and Hope in the Immigrant Novel
Stories of immigrants to the United States reveal the metamorphosis of the nation itself: labor, culture, religion, and politics have all been transformed by diverse waves of new Americans. Simultaneously, the outlook and traditions of migrants have been profoundly affected by these processes. As a result, both migration and Americanism remain highly contested notions, particularly in light of forced migrations that mark the nation's early history. This course grapples with the complex ways that identity, memory, and culture are made and remade. Moreover, students engage these concepts at the granular level, considering how individual experiences interface with broad historical trends. Through discussions centered on novels about diverse immigrant experiences, students will learn to contextualize problems, re-humanize individuals associated with major social trends and political controversies, and transcend cliches about immigration and American culture through humane interrogation.
HNUH258W is part of the Metamorphosis thematic cluster and pairs with HNUH258B to complete the cluster. Metamorphosis courses will be offered through Spring 2025.
HNUH259T
Drawn to D.C.: Reading the City
A movement known as the Metropolitan Revolution has recognized cities as sites of concentrated economic growth and political power. What does that movement have to do with you? Not only does the city change who you are, but the ambitions and fears that you bring to it also alter what is already there. With Washington, D.C. as a case study, this course considers cities in the context of the ambitious plans that developed them and the unbuilt spaces that open us to imagining them anew. From the ideological tensions and competing policies that politicize urban space, to the construction challenges and social implications of choices made, why we build is as important as what we build. We will experience Washington through its history of spaces, stories, music, art; and learn to see ourselves as co-designers of its present. This course is self-contained but paired with HNUH259P in the Drawn to D.C. track, which explores the created spaces we inhabit, and how they inhabit us.
HNUH268V
Art Museums and the Politics of Cultural Heritage
Despite the great variety of art museums in the world, these institutions share a common goal: to preserve and interpret cultural consciousness through objects or other material facets of human agency. While these collections often feature the cultural heritage(s) of their lands, in many cases, they also hold objects that have been taken away through illegal or morally questionable practices from their original context. Thus, they prompt discussions about who these holdings really belong to, how they should be displayed and interpreted, and whether they should return to their places of origin. This course explores a number of these issues by asking some fundamental questions: why do art museums matter? How have they evolved over time? What can they become in the future? Students will debate these questions to gain a finer understanding of the complex role of these institutions as custodians of cultural heritage.
HNUH268V is part of the Heritage thematic cluster and pairs with HNUH268B to complete the cluster. Heritage courses will be offered through Spring 2025.
HNUH278B
How do ordinary citizens power democracy? At the age of 18, every American citizen is endowed with the right to vote, but what if democracy demands more than voting? With democratic processes seemingly in peril all around us, what can and should ordinary citizens do to safeguard democracy? Looking beyond the basic right to vote, this class will instead explore the complex ecosystem of citizenship practices necessary for collective self-governance. Turning to both philosophy and history, the course material addresses the power and peril of such civic habits as mutual aid, economic participation, tolerance, attention, organizing, protest, and more. We consider what resources these habits require, what virtues they inspire, and what happens when they conflict with each other. Students in this course will acquire the tools to develop and act on their own answer to the pressing question of what it will take to save democracy.
HNUH278B is the required Big Question course in the Civil Bonds thematic cluster. Civil Bonds courses will be offered through Spring 2025.
IMDM
Immersive Media Design
IMDM150
Digital Media Theory and Culture
Restriction: Must be in the Immersive Media Design program; or permission of IMDM - Immersive Media Design program.
An introduction to the fundamental structures and themes of digital culture in contemporary society. This course will provide you with a theoretical grounding in which to understand the current landscape of digital media culture, design and art. As an introductory course for the Immersive Media Design major, the focus will be on contextualizing immersive digital media such as virtual reality, augmented reality, immersive projection, and electronic art installation through reading, writing and discussion. Students will have opportunities to experience a range of these technologies first hand.
INST
Information Studies
INST104
What is design, who does it, and how is it done? There is no one answer to this question--it depends on who you ask. The answers to these questions vary across disciplines and across the University campus. This course, designed with modules from contributors in UMD programs including Information Studies, Human-Computer Interaction, Graphic Design, Immersive Media Arts, Journalism, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Engineering, and Policy, will introduce students to the goals and values, approaches, skills, and practices of diverse fields of design. It will enable students to identify grand challenges in design and serve as a sorting hat to help students find a design practice that matches their own values, approaches, skills and goals.
ISRL
Israel Studies
ISRL187
God, Land, Power, and the People: Moral Issues in the Jewish Historical Experience
Cross-listed with: HIST187, JWST187.
Credit only granted for: HIST187, JWST187 or ISRL187.
Examines the complicated relationship between theology, nationalism, sovereignty, and the ethical exercise of social control using case studies drawn from the Jewish historical experience. The universal and age-old issues implicit in the exercise of power have gained special moral force for Jews with the creation of the State of Israel, a Jewish and a democratic state with substantial non-Jewish minorities and hundreds of thousands of non-citizen subjects. Can these be reconciled? Jewish efforts over the ages and in recent times to define justice provide concrete examples through which to examine and discuss crucial abstract principles.
ISRL372
Jewry of Muscle: Zionism and Jewish Masculinity
Cross-listed with: JWST372.
Credit only granted for: JWST319K, ISRL329K, JWST372 or ISRL372.
Formerly: JWST319K or ISRL329K.
Part of the Zionist cultural project involved creating a new Jewish masculinity that would replace the diasporic "sissy Jew" with a strong, healthy new "Jewry of Muscle." Using literary and cinematic sources, we will analyze how these Zionist and Israeli cultural productions served to build (and sometimes undermine) this new model of Jewish masculinity.
ITAL
Italian
Department Site
ITAL207
Speaking and Writing in Italian
Prerequisite: ITAL204; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department.
Restriction: Must not be a fluent/native speaker of Italian.
An intensive upper intermediate language course that focuses on Italian speaking and writing. The course, which is taught entirely in Italian, is designed to reinforce and deepen the students' knowledge of the Italian language and its idiomatic usage, and to improve their speaking ability and listening comprehension. Students will be given practice both in speaking extemporaneously and giving oral reports written on a wide range of topics dealing with contemporary Italy. One of the main objectives of the course is to prepare students to take upper level courses (300-400 levels) in Italian language, literature, and culture
ITAL411
Monsters and Demons: the Faces of Evil in Dante's Inferno
An interdisciplinary study of Dante's Inferno as represented in the Divine Comedy. Special emphasis on Dante's own portrayal of monsters and demons and their roles in the poet's eschatological vision of Hell.Taught in English
JOUR
Journalism
Department Site
JOUR282
Beyond Facebook: How Social Media are Transforming Society, Culture, Business and Politics
Credit only granted for: JOUR289F or JOUR282.
Formerly: JOUR289F.
How has social media changed the world, and how has the world changed social media? This course explores how social media has influenced relationships, culture, industry, politics, and the information environment, as well as how significant global events and technological advancements have contributed to the evolution of social media. This course gives students a broad contextual understanding of social media that they may apply in their daily lives as well as future academic inquiry.
JOUR283
Probing War: Investigative Narratives and American Conflicts
Credit only granted for: JOUR283 or JOUR289J.
Formerly: JOUR289J.
What role should the American news media play when the United States is at war? Students will explore the realities of war through the work of journalists who pushed beyond the daily headlines, some risking life and limb, to challenge official versions and document uncomfortable realities about American conflicts.
JOUR456
Literature in Journalism
Credit only granted for: JOUR456 or JOUR673.
From Truman Capote's In Cold Blood to Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down, students will examine how literary works can help writers approach a subject in a different way than more traditional forms of journalism, including the advantages and limitations of the style.
JWST
Jewish Studies
Department Site
JWST187
God, Land, Power, and the People: Moral Issues in the Jewish Historical Experience
Cross-listed with: HIST187, ISRL187.
Credit only granted for: HIST187, JWST187 or ISRL187.
Examines the complicated relationship between theology, nationalism, sovereignty, and the ethical exercise of social control using case studies drawn from the Jewish historical experience. The universal and age-old issues implicit in the exercise of power have gained special moral force for Jews with the creation of the State of Israel, a Jewish and a democratic state with substantial non-Jewish minorities and hundreds of thousands of non-citizen subjects. Can these be reconciled? Jewish efforts over the ages and in recent times to define justice provide concrete examples through which to examine and discuss crucial abstract principles.
JWST319P
Arts & Humanities in Social Innovation, Change, and Justice: Do Good Now
Cross-listed with: ARHU380.
Credit only granted for: ARHU380, BSOS388B, JWST319P, or PLCY388D.
The course serves as the core course for the Arts-and-Humanities track in PLCY's minor in "Nonprofit Leadership and Social Innovation." Students will be introduced to the role that the Arts and Humanities can play in social innovation and social change, while exploring various mechanisms for achieving impact with a focus on advancing social justice, equity and systems change. This course deepens understandings of nonprofit leadership, entrepreneurship and social innovation by guiding students through the creation and implementation of social change projects and ventures of their choice.
JWST372
Jewry of Muscle: Zionism and Jewish Masculinity
Cross-listed with: ISRL372.
Credit only granted for: JWST319K, ISRL329K, JWST372 or ISRL372.
Formerly: JWST319K or ISRL329K.
Part of the Zionist cultural project involved creating a new Jewish masculinity that would replace the diasporic "sissy Jew" with a strong, healthy new "Jewry of Muscle." Using literary and cinematic sources, we will analyze how these Zionist and Israeli cultural productions served to build (and sometimes undermine) this new model of Jewish masculinity.
KNES
Kinesiology
Department Site
KNES285
History of Physical Culture, Sport, & Science in America
Restriction: Restricted to majors or non-majors with less than or equal to 60 credits.
Credit only granted for: KNES285 or KNES293.
Examines the history of physical culture in America, focusing on the period from the end of the Civil War to the Cold War. Physical culture refers to a broad range of movement practices including sport, play, rehabilitative exercise, health and fitness training, and recreation and leisure. More specifically, we challenge the idea that historical physical culture practices--and the scientific processes from which they were derived--were 'neutral' or 'objective'; rather, we explore the cultural, social, political, and economic contexts shaping physical culture knowledge, study, structures, and policies across American history. The goal is for you to learn and apply techniques of historical analysis to develop a critical understanding of how knowledge about, and practices of, physical culture supported a particular social order via the construction of difference, norms, and/or hierarchies, and ultimately contributed to some of the inequalities that endure today.
LACS
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
LACS235
Issues in Latin American and Caribbean Studies II
Cross-listed with: PORT235, SPAN235.
Credit only granted for: LASC235, PORT235, SPAN235, or LACS235.
Formerly: LASC235.
Major issues shaping Latin American and Caribbean societies including the changing constructions of race, ethnicity, gender and class as well as expressions of popular cultures and revolutionary practices. Taught in English.
LARC
Landscape Architecture
Department Site
LARC160
Introduction to Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design
History, theory, philosophy and current practice of the profession of landscape architecture. Explores the interactive relationship between humans and their environment by examining people's perceptions of and changing attitude towards the landscape, as well as, an examination of how these are related to ecological and cultural influences. Topics include urban, ecological, community and creative design.
LARC263
History of Landscape Architecture
A survey of landscape architecture history from the ancient Western civilizations to the twentieth century with consideration of parallel developments in the Eastern World, European Africa and the Americas.
LGBT
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Studies
LGBT265
Restriction: Must not have completed LGBT265.
Cross-listed with: ENGL265.
Credit only granted for: ENGL265 or LGBT265.
A study of literary and cultural expressions of queer and trans identities, positionalities, and analytics through an exploration of literature, art, and media. We will examine historical and political power relations by considering the intersections of sexuality and gender with race, class, nation, and disability. Topics include the social construction and regulation of sexuality and gender, performance and performativity, intersectionality, and the relationship between aesthetic forms and queer/ trans subjectivity. Our interpretations will be informed by queer and trans theories.
LING
Linguistics
Department Site
LING240
Language and Mind
Prerequisite: Minimum grade of C- in LING200.
Additional information: Required for Linguistics majors and recommended for students in related fields.
The study of language as a cognitive phenomenon. Ways of representing people's knowledge of their native language, ways in which that knowledge is attained naturally by children, and how it is used in speaking and listening. Additional topics may include: animal communication, language and the brain, language and thought.
LING260
Meaning through Language: Why are we so good at it?
What is it about us humans and our languages that allows us to communicate in ways unmatched by other animals or powerful AI models? The question is ancient, but recent decades have seen great progress in the cognitive science of language, while expanding the diversity of languages investigated. We know much more about how languages vary, how they develop in children, how they are encoded in the mind, and relate to other domains of cognition. Major developments in statistical computation and research on animal cognition also illuminate what is (not) possible without the particular structure of the human mind. We bring this all to bear on our Big Question: What makes human language special from the viewpoint of meaning? Students will come to understand the major features of language as a vehicle for complex thought and a tool for communication. They will use this understanding in analyzing common semantic patterns and everyday conversational dynamics.
MUSC
School of Music
Department Site
MUSC204
Traces black popular music in the U.S. with a special focus on spirituals, ragtime, the blues, early jazz, R&B, Motown, funk, soul, and rap. Examines how these styles have been borrowed by the American music industry.
MUSC210
Credit only granted for: MUET210 or MUSC210.
Formerly: MUET210.
Music as a part of culture. Materials drawn from traditions throughout the globe to illustrate issues of historical and contemporary significance, including the impact of race, class and gender on the study of music.
MUSC215
MUSC220
Restriction: Must not be in any of the following programs: (Music (Professional Program); Music Education).
A critical and comparative exploration of musical practices from around the world in their social, political and economic contexts.
Also offered as ANTH298B. For Spring 2020; credit only granted for MUET220, MUSC220, or ANTH298B.
MUSC289I
Exploring the Power of Musical Performance in Social Engagement
Explores the ways people, across cultures and times, have drawn on music's power to further causes such as revolution and social change or to bring attention to injustices such as discrimination, exclusion, or oppressive working conditions.
NAVY
Navy
NAVY401
Recommended: NAVY200.
Restriction: Permission of UGST-Navy ROTC.
Additional information: Priority enrollment will be given to students enrolled in the NROTC program.
Integrates an intellectual exploration of Western moral traditions and ethical philosophy with military leadership, core values, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and Navy regulations. The course provides students with a basic understanding of major moral traditions including Relativism, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, Natural Law Theory, Divine Command Theory, and Virtue Ethics.
PERS
Persian
Department Site
PERS371
Introduction to Persian Literature in Translation
Introduction to classical and modern canons of Persian literature in historical, esthetic, and social context. Taught in English.
PERS385
Theatre and Dance in Iran and Afghanistan
Repeatable to 3 credits if content differs.
Cross-listed with: TDPS358A, THET328W.
Credit only granted for: TDPS358A, THET328W, PERS398A, or PERS385.
Formerly: PERS398A.
Students will learn about stories, plays, and movements in Iran and Afghanistan from past to present. Through watching performances, readings, and discussions, we explore the relationship between storytelling, body, space, and power in forming and performing identity and life experiences. Looking at case studies from traditional, popular, and western style dance and theater are an exciting part of the course. Note: This course requires no prior knowledge of Persian culture or dance and theatre studies on the part of the students.
Cross-listed with TDPS358A and THET328W. Credit will be only granted for PERS385 or TDPS358A or THET328W.
PHIL
Philosophy
Department Site
PHIL100
Introduction to Philosophy
An introduction to the literature, problems, and methods of philosophy either through a study of some of the main figures in philosophic thought or through an examination of some of the central and recurring problems of philosophy.
PHIL140
Contemporary Moral Issues
The uses of philosophical analysis in thinking clearly about such widely debated moral issues as abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, pornography, reverse discrimination, the death penalty, business ethics, sexual equality, and economic justice.
PHIL202
Know Thyself: Wisdom Through Cognitive Science
Credit only granted for: PHIL209N or PHIL202.
Formerly: PHIL209N.
How do we improve our decision making? Cognitive science demonstrates that self-knowledge isn't as easy as we think, and that there are numerous biases and fallacies that impact our decision-making in ways that are hard for us to be aware of. In this course you will learn what some of these are and how they have been discovered, and you will explore potential strategies for avoiding these fallacies and for making wiser choices.
PHIL203
Credit only granted for: PHIL209J or PHIL203.
Formerly: PHIL209J.
Virtually everyone thinks it's permissible to kill people only in special circumstances. But why is killing usually wrong? Is it ever acceptable to kill an innocent human being intentionally? This course raises these and related questions and examines cases such as terrorism, suicide, abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, war. Except for a brief discussion of animals, all the controversies considered deal with killing and causing death to human beings.
PHIL205
Credit only granted for: PHIL205, PHIL209G, or HONR229E.
Formerly: HONR229E.
Things happen routinely in sports that would seem morally unacceptable in other context: violence between the participants, attempts to trick the referee, fans hoping that some players would do embarrassingly badly, spectators feeling anger towards whole nations. Nonetheless, all of this may seem reasonable and even justifiable within a sporting context. This course will investigate the ethical structure of sports, and what it tells us about the ethics of everyday life. Philosophy will provide the primary disciplinary context, but we will also think about sociological, legal and anthropological perspectives on sports. Issues will include the nature of sportsmanship, what types of violence in sports are acceptable, drug use in sports, what it means to be a fan (for example, asking why loyalty to your team is valuable) and how our view of sports interacts with our view of nations. By the end of the course you should have gained familiarity with a variety of ethical concepts and a sensitivity to the ethical issues in sports. You should also find that by thinking about morality in the context of sports, you will look at larger ethical issues in new ways.
PHIL220
Credit only granted for: PHIL209A or PHIL220.
Formerly: PHIL209A.
Bioethicists formulate ethical guidelines. They answer questions such as: When life-saving health resources are scarce, who should get them? Should we increase supply of one such resource, kidneys, by buying them from living "donors"? If drug trials in developing countries benefit patients who consent to participate, are the trials ethical, even if the same research would be forbidden in the US? If a sick person aims to hasten her death, how, if at all, might her doctor permissibly help her? In this course, students construct and defend ethical rules in four domains: research ethics, allocation of scarce resources, markets in organs, and physician-assisted dying.
PHIL245
Political and Social Philosophy I
A critical examination of such classical political theories as those of Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Mill, Marx, and such contemporary theories as those of Hayek, Rawls, and recent Marxist thinkers.
PHIL320
Knowing Oneself and Knowing the World: Early Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant
Prerequisite: 6 credits in PHIL courses; or permission of instructor.
A study of major philosophical issues of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries through an examination of such philosophers as Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Cavendish, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant
PORT
Portuguese
Department Site
PORT235
Issues in Latin American and Caribbean Studies II
Cross-listed with: LACS235, SPAN235.
Credit only granted for: LASC235, PORT235, SPAN235, or LACS235.
Formerly: LASC235.
Major issues shaping Latin American and Caribbean societies including the changing constructions of race, ethnicity, gender and class as well as expressions of popular cultures and revolutionary practices. Taught in English.
PORT332
Brazilian Cinema
Cross-listed with: CINE332.
Credit only granted for: PORT332, CINE332, or FILM332.
Formerly: FILM332.
Brazilian films from the late 1950s to the present with a special view to the relationship between cinema, society, historical dates, and social changes in Brazil. Taught in English.
RELS
Religious Studies
RELS170
Cross-listed with: CLAS170.
Credit only granted for: CLAS170 or RELS170.
Additional information: This course cannot be taken for language credit.
What are myths and why do we tell them? What powers do myths have? We will tackle these questions by looking at the enduring and fascinating myths from ancient Greece and Rome. In addition to studying how they shaped ancient societies, we will also look at their modern influence and reflect upon the power that myths still hold in our contemporary world. Taught in English.
RELS264
Introduction to the New Testament
A historical and literary introduction to the New Testament focusing on the context of the authors and the development of earliest Christianity.
RELS271
Credit only granted for: RELS289I or RELS271.
Formerly: RELS289I.
Draws upon examples from a wide variety of religious traditions to explore the question of what religion is and how to best understand it. Engagement with diverse approaches to religion including phenomenology and the study of "the sacred"; sociology and the study of religious communities; and questions of religious experience, ritual, and identity formation.
RUSS
Russian
Department Site
RUSS336
SPAN
Spanish
Department Site
SPAN207
Reading and Writing in Spanish
Prerequisite: Must have completed or be concurrently enrolled in SPAN204; or must have appropriate World Language Placement Test (WLPT) score.
Selected readings with emphasis on reading comprehension and the development of reading strategies. Work in composition writing and a review of selected grammatical topics. Complements material of SPAN204.
SPAN235
Issues in Latin American and Caribbean Studies II
Cross-listed with: LACS235, PORT235.
Credit only granted for: LASC235, PORT235, SPAN235, or LACS235.
Formerly: LASC235.
Major issues shaping Latin American and Caribbean societies including the changing constructions of race, ethnicity, gender and class as well as expressions of popular cultures and revolutionary practices. Taught in English.
SPAN303
Approaches to Cultural Materials in the Hispanic World
Prerequisite: SPAN301.
Recommended: May elect to take SPAN311 and/or SPAN316 in same semester as SPAN303.
Development of proficiency in critical thought through the reading, viewing, and analytical discussion of major genres and styles of cultural materials selected from Spanish-speaking world. Taught in Spanish.
SPAN332
Spanish Culture, Civilization and Literature II: Renaissance and Baroque
Prerequisite: SPAN303; and (SPAN311 or SPAN316).
An overview of cultural and literary production of Spain from the late 15th through late 17th centuries, exploring the production of literary texts in their socio-historical, political, religious and cultural contexts and development. Taught in Spanish.
SPAN333
Spanish Culture, Civilization and Literature III: Modern Times
Prerequisite: SPAN303; and (SPAN311 or SPAN316).
An overview of cultural and literary production of Spain from the late 17th century through the present day, exploring the production of literary texts in their socio-historical, political, religious and cultural contexts and development. Taught in Spanish.
SPAN362
Latin American Literatures and Cultures II: From Independence to Nation Formation
Prerequisite: SPAN303; and (SPAN311 or SPAN316).
An overview of cultural and literary production of Latin America from the 18th Century to approximately 1900, exploring the production of literary texts in their socio-historical, political, and cultural contexts and development. Taught in Spanish.
SPAN363
Latin American Literatures and Cultures III: From Modernism to Neo-Liberalism
Prerequisite: SPAN303; and (SPAN311 or SPAN316).
An overview of cultural and literary production of Latin America from the late 19th through the early 21st centuries, exploring the production of literary texts in their socio-historical, political, and cultural contexts and development. Taught in Spanish.
TDPS
Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies
TDPS358A
Theatre and Dance in Iran and Afghanistan
Repeatable to 3 credits if content differs.
Cross-listed with: PERS385, THET328W.
Credit only granted for: TDPS358A, THET328W, PERS398A, or PERS385.
Formerly: PERS398A.
Students will learn about stories, plays, and movements in Iran and Afghanistan from past to present. Through watching performances, readings, and discussions, we explore the relationship between storytelling, body, space, and power in forming and performing identity and life experiences. Looking at case studies from traditional, popular, and western style dance and theater are an exciting part of the course. Note: This course requires no prior knowledge of Persian culture or dance and theatre studies on the part of the students.
Cross-listed with PERS385 and THET328W. Credit will be only granted for PERS385 or TDPS358A or THET328W.
THET
Theatre
Department Site
THET110
Introduction to the Theatre
In the age of pop music and blockbuster films, of memes and viral videos, we often forget that theatre was one of the original forms of popular entertainment. We will focus on theatre practitioners including actors, directors, designers and backstage personnel to understand how theatre is produced. We will also consider popular entertainment in Europe and America, with a particular focus on musical theatre and Broadway to explore how theatre communicates, resonates, and remains relevant to all audiences.
THET251
Broadway Mashup: Remixing America Through Musical Theater
Interrogate musical theater's political history, investigating how this uniquely American genre uses narrative, song, and dance to weave critical differences across race, ethnicity, immigration status, religion, gender, sexuality, and ability into our national fabric.
THET294
Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher.
Thematic and historical survey of African-American drama from the 1960s to the present. Emphasis on sociopolitical context, thematic thrust, issues, styles, the aesthetic reflected in the work, impact on African-American and general theatre audiences.
THET328W
Theatre and Dance in Iran and Afghanistan
Repeatable to 3 credits if content differs.
Cross-listed with: PERS385, TDPS358A.
Credit only granted for: TDPS358A, THET328W, PERS398A, or PERS385.
Formerly: PERS398A.
Students will learn about stories, plays, and movements in Iran and Afghanistan from past to present. Through watching performances, readings, and discussions, we explore the relationship between storytelling, body, space, and power in forming and performing identity and life experiences. Looking at case studies from traditional, popular, and western style dance and theater are an exciting part of the course. Note: This course requires no prior knowledge of Persian culture or dance and theatre studies on the part of the students.
Cross-listed with TDPS358A and PERS385. Credit will be only granted for PERS385 or TDPS358A or THET328W.
TLPL
Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
Department Site
TLPL250
Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on Education
Credit only granted for: EDPS210 or TLPL250.
Formerly: EDPS210.
An examination of illustrative historical and philosophical examples of the interplay of ideas and events in the shaping of educational aims and practices from ancient cultures to modern technological societies.
WGSS
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
WGSS250
Credit only granted for: WMST250 or WGSS250.
Formerly: WMST250.
Provides students with a critical introduction to the ways that art and art activism have served as a conduit to understanding and challenging systems of inequity and practices of normativity. Interrogating the categories of gender, sexuality, race, class, ability, the course will provide students with an examination of how artists have responded to pressing social justice issues of their eras. While the course centers visual art, students will also engage genres such as music, plays, literature, digital and performance art as arenas of social change.
WGSS255
Cross-listed with: ENGL250.
Credit only granted for: ENGL250, WMST255 or WGSS255.
Formerly: WMST255.
Explores literary and cultural expressions by women and their receptions within a range of historical periods and genres. Topics such as what does a woman need in order to write, what role does gender play in the production, consumption, and interpretation of texts, and to what extent do women comprise a distinct literary subculture. Interpretation of texts will be guided by feminist and gender theory, ways of reading that have emerged as important to literary studies over the last four decades.
WGSS275
Cross-listed with: CMLT275.
Credit only granted for: WMST275, CMLT275 or WGSS275.
Formerly: WMST275.
Comparative study of selected works by women writers of several countries, exploring points of intersection and divergence in women's literary representations.
WGSS280
Cross-listed with: ENGL289I.
Credit only granted for: ENGL289I or WGSS280.
Isaac Azimov once said of science fiction that it is the genre that "deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology." With this definition in mind, we will embark on a critical exploration of sci-fi film and other media, using it as a lens for analyzing society's deepest fears and most furtive hopes. Our investigation will center on the liminal space between hegemonic culture and its prescribed excesses. These liminal spaces--between self and other, disability and enhancement, cultural hybridization, and gender crossing--shift in response to real-world sociopolitical tensions. We will consider feminist and anti-racist media scholars' concerns over representation, authorship and ideology alongside questions of technological change. Students will use analytical and creative assignments to explore not only how the scientific imaginary serves as fertile ground for feminist, disability, and anti-racist critique, but also provides a locus for alternative futures.
Cross-listed with ENGL289I. Credit will be only granted for ENGL289I or WGSS280.
WGSS315
Intro to Fat Studies: Fatness, Blackness and Their Intersections
Examines fatness as an area of human difference subject to privilege and discrimination that intersects with other systems of oppression based on gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and ability. Though we will look at fatness as intersectional, this course will particularly highlight the relationship between fatness and Blackness. We approach this area of study through an interdisciplinary humanities and social-science lens which emphasizes fatness as a social justice issue. The course closes with an examination of fat liberation as liberation for all bodies with a particular emphasis on performing arts and activism as a vehicle for liberation and challenging fatmisia.
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University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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