Explores how Asian Americans have historically been represented in the U.S. by Hollywood, and in turn, how independent and Hollywood Asian American filmmakers have represented themselves. It covers the history of racial, gendered, and sexualized representations of Asian Americans in Hollywood, as well as Asian American filmic responses within and outside Hollywood. It also introduces how four basic tools of film analysis mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound work together to create meaning in moving images. It examines how these elements are put together in three different types of films by Asian American filmmakers: narrative, documentary, and experimental. How films function in society to circulate ideas that reproduce and challenge stereotypes about Asian Americans.

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.

An introduction to American popular culture, its historical development, and its role as a reflection of and influence on our culture and society.

Examines the construction, operation, and meaning of cultural mainstreams and margins in a range of contexts, spaces, and times in the U.S. Using a variety of primary sources, research methods, and interdisciplinary scholarship, we will explore how Americans make and assign meaning to cultural mainstreams and margins. We will examine how and why cultural margins and mainstreams shift over time and what their consequences have been for social policies, laws, power relations, and national identity.

Explores how Asian Americans have historically been represented in the U.S. by Hollywood, and in turn, how independent and Hollywood Asian American filmmakers have represented themselves. It covers the history of racial, gendered, and sexualized representations of Asian Americans in Hollywood, as well as Asian American filmic responses within and outside Hollywood. It also introduces how four basic tools of film analysis mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound work together to create meaning in moving images. It examines how these elements are put together in three different types of films by Asian American filmmakers: narrative, documentary, and experimental. How films function in society to circulate ideas that reproduce and challenge stereotypes about Asian Americans.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Painting, sculpture and architecture concentrating on Italy, Spain, France, and England.

Visual art since 1945, with an emphasis on North America and Europe.

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.

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.

America, from its very origins as an independent nation, saw itself as the new Rome: its system of government is built on Roman precedents, its national buildings look as if they came from the Roman Forum, and its leisure activities take us to stadiums modeled on the Colosseum. America's relationship to Rome, however, raises its greatest anxiety: will America fall as Rome did? In 1776, the year of American independence, Edward Gibbon published his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; America has been thinking about the trajectory of its history alongside Rome's from the very beginning.

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.

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.

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.

Comparative analysis of forms, themes, and the politics of representation in film and video by and/or about LGBT people.

An in-depth look at major themes and ideas spanning Tolkien's well-known and lesser-known works across a variety of genres and styles. We will study "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" in connection with Tolkien's back-story mythology expressed in "The Silmarillion." We will also consider film adaptations and other popular fantasy influenced by Tolkien. And we will explore lesser-known works such as "Farmer Giles of Ham," and Tolkien's essays on fairy stories and on "Beowulf.

Examination of some of the most famous trials in American history and their enduring hold on the imagination.

The United States from colonial times to the end of the Civil War. Establishment and development of American institutions.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Comparative analysis of forms, themes, and the politics of representation in film and video by and/or about LGBT people.

Recent developments in technology, from texting to Zoom, have created new environments for human language use. Examining how communication is changing in these environments highlights humans' endless linguistic ingenuity -- ranging from new vocabulary and punctuation conventions to the use of hashtags, emoji and memes. At the same time, these linguistic innovations exemplify broader patterns of language change and diversity that have been documented and studied by language scientists. In this course, we will engage with the study of language variation and change through a survey of language use in different online environments, and will apply insights from linguistic research to analyze our own and others' language use in more nuanced ways.

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.

A historical survey of rock music (blues, rock, soul, metal, rap, etc.) from circa 1950 to the present, with emphasis on popular music as music and popular music as social history.

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.

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.

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.

What does the discipline of philosophy teach us about happiness? This course explores how philosophers have addressed questions about the nature of happiness and its role in the good human life. Questions to be addressed include: what is it to be happy? What social, economic, and political institutions foster and support human happiness? Can an immoral person be happy? And is a happy life the same as a meaningful life?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.