Courses - Fall 2025
AAAS
African American and Africana Studies
AAAS200
African Civilization
Credit only granted for: AASP200 or AAAS200.
Formerly: AASP200.
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.
AAAS234
Cross-listed with: ENGL234.
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.
AAST
Asian American Studies
Department Site
AAST355
Cross-listed with: AMST328W.
Credit only granted for: AAST355, AAST398L or AMST328W.
Formerly: 398L.
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.
AAST440
Credit only granted for: AAST440 or AAST498W.
Formerly: AAST498W.
Examines writing by South Asian American authors and authors writing about South Asian American issues. It explores major South Asian diaspora themes, considering how migration, war, the events of 9/11, global capitalism, and the changing socio-political and racial scene have affected South Asians in the United States. We will use a transnational approach to consider how writers and filmmakers explore gender, class, religious, caste, and other differences amongst South Asian Americans. We will also examine the place of South Asian Americans in relation to other Asian American populations. We will consider how South Asian American texts disrupt traditional literary classifications based on national identities by reflecting the complex global conditions, imperialistic and capitalistic expansion, and interconnectedness of peoples, nations, and cultures that have transformed American literature and conceptions of American identity.
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.
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.
AMST320
Credit only granted for: AMST320 or AMST328X.
Formerly: AMST328X.
Explores the connection between film and disability through an analysis of independent and mainstream American films in various film genres. Specifically, we will consider how these film representations reflect and/or challenge the shifting social perspectives of disability over the 20th and 21st centuries. Beginning with the presentation of disability as theatrical spectacle in the traveling sideshow and early cinema, we will work our way through film history to develop an understanding of our society's complicated relationship with disability.
AMST328W
Cross-listed with: AAST355.
Credit only granted for: AAST355, AAST398L or AMST328W.
Formerly: 398L.
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.
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.
ARCH226
History of World Architecture II
Post-1500 - History of Architecture survey course - History of Architecture structured to develop critical thinking and visually literacy with regard to the worldwide legacy of design thinking and building innovation in 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.
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.
ARTH261
Monuments, Monumentality, and the Art of Memorial
Why do societies create monuments? And why do they preserve and destroy, change and remove them? How do monuments embody cultural values, shape historical narratives, and become sites of mourning and memory? This course investigates the political and cultural work of monuments across time and space, from the ancient world to European empires to the contemporary United States. The issues we consider include intercultural exchange and religious contexts, race and representation, and appropriation and iconoclasm.
ARTH262
How does public art function on a university campus, in major cities, and across the United States? This course invites students to empirically study the modern history and civic values of public art spanning sculpture, painting, mixed-media, and installation. We consider the nature of public space, the politics of representation and community, and the civic and memorial functions of art. The course is built around a semester-long project in which students will commission a work of public art for our College Park campus.
ARTH265
How (and Why) to Look at Art in the Era of Climate Change
Credit only granted for: ARTH265 or ARTH465.
Formerly: ARTH465.
How can art help us build the mindset necessary for fashioning a sustainable civilization? Paintings, photographs, films, novels, songs, and other creative works as they shape beliefs related to sustainability and justice.
ARTH303
Sites and monuments of painting, sculpture, architecture, and the minor arts from the earliest times through the third century A.D. with emphasis on the Italian peninsula from the Etruscan period through that of Imperial Rome.
ARTH313
Medieval Art: Cultural Exchanges in the Byzantine World
Recommended: ARTH200 or ARTH201.
Focuses on the art and architecture from the eastern Mediterranean, specifically, the Byzantine empire. Our broad focus will be on the formation and evolution of the visual arts in Byzantium as a result of exchanges with various cultural, ethnic, and religious entities and traditions. In this context, we will be looking at the legacy of the Graeco-Roman past, contacts with Islamic world, as well as with people and cultures along the periphery of Byzantium: from the Balkan peninsula, to Sicily and Russia.
ARTH351
Picturing Contemporary Life: Art Since 1945
Visual art since 1945, with an emphasis on North America and Europe.
ARTH392
Contemporary Chinese Art and Film
Cross-listed with: CINE337.
Credit only granted for: ARTH392, FILM329L or CINE337.
Formerly: FILM329L.
Contemporary Chinese art and film are arguably the most vibrant of all national arts at the turn of the millennium and have become the face - both figuratively and literally - of contemporary China, a complex society with historic overlays of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Communism, Post-socialism, and state capitalism. Students will consider a wide range of art forms (painting, photography, video, installation, web-based media, and film) in four broad themes (uses of the past; critiques of power; representations of race, gender, and sexuality; socially engaged art) and explore the complex intertwining of the political, historical, and aesthetic aspects in Chinese contemporary art and film, as well as the multiple contexts in which these artworks are created and circulated.
Cross-listed with FiLM329L. Credit only granted for ARTH392 or FILM329L.
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
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.
CHIN315
Modern Chinese Literature in Translation
Major works of fiction and drama from 1920 to the present read in the context of social and literary change. Emphasis on western and traditional Chinese influences on the writers and their works. No knowledge of Chinese required.
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.
CINE283
Iranian Cinema
Cross-listed with: PERS283.
Credit only granted for: PERS283, CINE283 or FILM298B.
Introduction to Iranian cinema, society, and culture. Taught in English.
CINE337
Contemporary Chinese Art and Film
Cross-listed with: ARTH392.
Credit only granted for: ARTH392, FILM329L or CINE337.
Formerly: FILM329L.
Contemporary Chinese art and film are arguably the most vibrant of all national arts at the turn of the millennium and have become the face - both figuratively and literally - of contemporary China, a complex society with historic overlays of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Communism, Post-socialism, and state capitalism. Students will consider a wide range of art forms (painting, photography, video, installation, web-based media, and film) in four broad themes (uses of the past; critiques of power; representations of race, gender, and sexuality; socially engaged art) and explore the complex intertwining of the political, historical, and aesthetic aspects in Chinese contemporary art and film, as well as the multiple contexts in which these artworks are created and circulated.
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.
CLAS180
An exploration of the cultural traits and developments of ancient Greek civilization and its forerunners, from the Bronze Age Mycenaeans and Minoans, through the rise of the classical Greek city-states, to the expansion of Greek cultural influence in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Drawing upon the evidence of the archaeological remains as well as ancient historical and literary documents, students gain a basic familiarity with the principal monuments and artifacts of classical Greek civilization, the various institutions and values that characterized the Greeks, and the significant historical events that transformed the culture over the course of antiquity.
CLAS274
What is romance? This course approaches the question by reading ancient Greek romance novels in tandem with works inspired by them from a range of times and places. We will attempt to identify which traits define romance in a society and how romance narratives change in translation and adaptation.
CLAS310
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Prerequisite: Must have completed 6 credits in philosophy or classics.
Cross-listed with: PHIL310, PHPE308Y.
Credit only granted for: PHIL310, CLAS310, or PHPE308Y.
A study of the origins and development of philosophy in ancient Greece and Rome, focusing on Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, and Stoics.
Cross-listed with PHIL310 and PHPE308Y. Credit only granted for PHIL310, PHPE308Y, or CLAS310.
CLAS312
Examines the question of how Ancient Greek thought can be a tool for facing the challenges of the modern world. Topics such as political participation and engagement in politics, lawfulness and justice, freedom and autonomy, democracy and civic responsibility are found at the core of Ancient Greek thought. In addition to these topics, the course explores, through the teachings of ancient Greek philosophers, historians, and poets, the questions of virtue and happiness at a personal level and the pursuit of happiness at the societal level. Love and friendship are necessary virtues to shape a harmonious and prosperous polis. By studying selected excerpts from the primary sources of Ancient Greek literature in translation, the course defines the core values of democratic society from the viewpoint of the Greeks.
CLAS340
Cross-listed with: HIST339J.
Credit only granted for: CLAS340 or HIST339J.
Interrogates how slavery permeated the ancient Mediterranean societies of Greece and Rome. We will pay particular attention to how hierarchical inequalities are institutionalized, experienced, and represented and to how different marginalized and dominant groups interacted. Enslaved persons performed necessary labor in Greece and Rome and their work was essential for the formation of ancient society in agriculture, mining, domestic spaces, literature, finance, and government. Studying ancient slavery offers a chance to examine Greece and Rome from the bottom up, parsing the scant literary and material evidence for the lives and struggles of enslaved persons. We will practice several different approaches in order to tease out the systematic, economic, political, and personal effects of slavery in the ancient world. The United States of America was also founded as a slave society, and discussions of slavery in the Americas often look back to the ancient Mediterranean. The course will therefore conclude with a unit on how enslavers and abolitionists in the United States utilized and responded to slavery in antiquity.
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.
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.
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.
Electrical Engineering (09090) and Computer Engineering(09991) majors have priority. Non-majors should choose the holdfile option. Department will release available seats to students in the holdfile after the last day of Early Registration for Freshmen.
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.
ENGL
English
Department Site
ENGL120
Acting Human: Shakespeare and the Drama of Identity
Shakespeare's ideas of dramatic realism studied through close examination of literary and dramatic techniques. How Shakespeare generates the fiction of a living, thinking person in the space of five acts, and how readers participate in the making of that fiction. Some attention to Shakespeare on film and what the playwright can teach us about different media.
ENGL126
Consider how short stories, novellas, and novels are vital to understanding our world and ourselves. Read and analyze a diverse range of twentieth- and twenty-first-century fiction, and apply the techniques of form and craft to your own experiments in fiction writing. Use critical analysis and hands-on creative experimentation to explore how fiction helps us understand the past, engage in the present, and build a better future.
ENGL134
The Rites of Discovery: Science, Law, and Literature, 1492-1992
History of idea of "discovery" from sixteenth-century debate about European "rights of discovery" to 500th anniversary, in 1992, of Columbus' landfall in New World. Evolution of modern concept of discovery, both as part of history of science and in legal context of history of European colonialism and cultural encounter with Native peoples of Americas, Africa, and Asia. Exploration of primary and secondary sources relating to international law, science, and literature.
ENGL143
Explores how technology and people shape our current age of information through the various forms of visually representing information. Visualizations do not show us things that are evident--visualizations make things evident. We will thus examine the history of visualization practices, the theories of image-making that guide their production, and the current state of the art. Students will engage critically with a wide range of information visualization practices to gain an understanding of the work involved in producing them and their histories. Students will also seek out contemporary visualizations, interact with the practitioners who produce them, and produce their own visualization as a response or critique.
ENGL154
Race, Children's Television, and the Legacies of Jim Henson
Credit only granted for: ENGL154 or ENGL439J.
Formerly: ENGL439J.
How do children form ideas about race from television? We will approach this question by studying representations of race in children's television from the founding of the animation industry in the 1910s to educational programming epitomized by Sesame Street and the work of Jim Henson. We will also explore representations of race in the "Saturday Morning Cartoon Lineup" and in the subsequent proliferation of computer-generated images, gifs, and memes. Students will visit archives on campus pertaining to Jim Henson's work and reflect on what they find. Assignments will include a paper focused on critical analysis and self-reflection, and students will have the option of completing a multimedia project featuring video production, puppet making, or another creative means of producing a lesson for children.
ENGL201
The Medieval Imagination
How and why do the Middle Ages resonate with us now? Explore a wide range of narratives, poems, artworks, and songs from ancient, medieval, and Renaissance cultures. Study popular culture, manuscript and print technologies, and the relationship between the sacred and the profane over a millenium. Learn about modern and contemporary medievalist revivals that might include authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien and N.K. Jemisin, television series such as Game of Thrones, and more.
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.
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.
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.
ENGL244
Drama, Performance, and Spectacle
Exploration of drama through a consideration of plot, narrative flow, analytical flow, staging, performance, manuscript and printing history, text and textual change over time, and interpretation. Plays will be approached as public attempts to understand what it means to be alive.
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.
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.
ENGL251
Detective Fiction
Explore "whodunnit" fiction from its nineteenth-century beginnings to the contemporary moment. Why are readers intrigued by the methodical discovery of the exact circumstances of a mysterious event? How does the figure of the eccentric, intelligent, often unofficial investigator take prominence? How does detective fiction emerge from and react to global imperialism, the modern metropolis, forensic science, and the modern legal system? How does the genre represent and respond to gender, class, and racial inequities? Texts may range from the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle, to the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" in the 1920s and 30s by writers such as Agatha Christie, to late-twentieth century and contemporary novelists such as Chester Himes, P.D. James, and Mia P. Manansala, to film and television adaptations such as Enola Holmes, See How They Run, and Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot films.
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."
ENGL262
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
Cross-listed with: JWST262, HEBR298B.
Credit only granted for: JWST262, HEBR298B, or ENGL262.
Origins of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), with attention to literary formations, archaeology, and social-political settings. Explorations of major questions, including who wrote the Bible, and when; relationships of the biblical tradition to the mythology and religious structures of ancient Israel's near eastern neighbors; and dynamics of politics, religious leadership, and law.
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.
Cross-listed with ARHU275.
ENGL280
The English Language: Histories, Diversity, and Change
Explore the many structures and historical developments of the English language, with a focus on techniques of linguistic analysis. Major topics include the sound systems of English and its patterns of word formation and sentence structure, and the ways these have changed over time and vary around the world.
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.
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.
ENGL296
Reading and Writing Disability: Rights and Representation
Locate and analyze disability in various settings, modes, and texts. Investigate the material and cultural effects of the language, stories, and myths of disability. Explore the many definitions and frameworks of disability: as dynamic lived experiences, as a political identity, as a rich culture, as socially constructed barriers, and as an oppressed minority group. Examine how disability is portrayed, controlled, stereotyped, and celebrated across social, medical, political, cultural, and personal networks.
ENGL362
Cross-listed with: LACS348E.
Credit only granted for: ENGL362, LASC348E, or LACS348E.
Political and literary traditions that intersect in the fiction, poetry, and drama written in English by Caribbean writers, primarily during the 20th century.
FREN
French
Department Site
FREN243
Masterpieces in French and Francophone Cinemas
This course, taught in English, will present a large array of films directed by famous French directors (Jean Renoir, Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnes Varda, etc..) and Francophone filmmakers (Arcand, Sembene) who were internationally known in their time and have had a considerable influence on today's filmmakers in the U.S. (Tarantino, Lynch, Lee, etc..) and abroad (Sissoko, Angelopoulos, VonTrier, ect..).
XLed with CINE298A. Credits granted for CINE298A or FREN243 only.
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.
Jointly offered with FREN 250H.
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. Jointly offered with FREN 250.
GERS
German Studies
GERS255
Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Credit only granted for: GERM255 or GERS255.
Formerly: GERM255.
A critical examination of how fairy tales and folklore pervade and influence diverse facets of Western culture, ranging from issues of politics and national identity, ethics and morality, violence and fear, education and pedagogy, to gender and sexuality in the establishment and regulation of social norms. Taking the German tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm as its focal point, the magical and often terrifying world of fairy tales within the German, European, and American cultural traditions from Romanticism to today will be explored. Taught in English.
GERS322
Highlights of German Literature and Culture
Prerequisite: GERS302; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department.
Credit only granted for: GERM322 or GERS322.
Formerly: GERM322.
Selected literary masterworks, social and cultural issues, and historical events in German-speaking countries from the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Junges Deutschland, Realism, Naturalism and its counter currents, Expressionism to the present. Taught in German.
Taught in German. Cross-listed with GERM322H.
GERS322H
Highlights of German Literature and Culture
Prerequisite: GERS302; or students who have taken courses with comparable content may contact the department.
Credit only granted for: GERM322 or GERS322.
Formerly: GERM322.
Selected literary masterworks, social and cultural issues, and historical events in German-speaking countries from the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Junges Deutschland, Realism, Naturalism and its counter currents, Expressionism to the present. Taught in German.
Taught in German. Cross-listed with GERM322.
HEBR
Hebrew
Department Site
HEBR298B
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
Cross-listed with: JWST262, ENGL262.
Credit only granted for: JWST262, HEBR298B, or ENGL262.
Origins of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), with attention to literary formations, archaeology, and social-political settings. Explorations of major questions, including who wrote the Bible, and when; relationships of the biblical tradition to the mythology and religious structures of ancient Israel's near eastern neighbors; and dynamics of politics, religious leadership, and law.
HEBR313
Conversation and Composition I
Prerequisite: HEBR212; 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
HHUM105
Honors Humanities: Introduction to the Arts and Humanities
Restriction: Must be an entering freshmen in the Honors Humanities Program.
Credit only granted for: ARHU105 or HHUM105.
Formerly: ARHU105.
Introduction to the university, the different fields of the arts and humanities, and the history of how the university and the humanities have evolved across the world from ancient times to the present. Primary emphasis on reading and discussion of literary artifacts to assess the meaning and social status of the arts and humanities in the past and their personal and social value for the future.
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
HIST110
The Ancient World
Interpretation of select literature and art of the ancient Mediterranean world with a view to illuminating the antecedents of modern culture; religion and myth in the ancient Near East; Greek philosophical, scientific, and literary invention; and the Roman tradition in politics and administration.
HIST120
Islamic Civilization
Cross-listed with: RELS120.
Credit only granted for: HIST120 or RELS120.
Introduction to society and culture in the Middle East since the advent of Islam: as a personal and communal faith; as artistic and literary highlights of intellectual and cultural life; and as the interplay between politics and religion under the major Islamic regimes.
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.
HIST219I
Religions of the Ancient Near East
Cross-listed with: RELS225, JWST225.
Credit only granted for: JWST225, HIST219I, RELS225, or RELS219A.
Formerly: RELS219A.
Introduction to ancient Near Eastern religious systems and mythology, from the third millennium BCE through the fourth century BCE. Particular emphasis on Mesopotamia and ancient Israel.
HIST281
Inventing Traditions: The Making of Rabbinic Judaism
Cross-listed with: JWST230, RELS230.
Credit only granted for: HIST281, JWST230, RELS219C or RELS230.
Formerly: RELS219C.
Introduces the dramatic literary and cultural (as well as political and demographic) innovations that reshaped Judaism in late antiquity. Examines the fundamental works and genres of rabbinic literature and the religious movement that produced them. Special emphasis on the rabbinic uses of "tradition" to enhance authority and legitimacy, and to foster group identity.
HIST289T
Jesus, Mani, and Muhammad: The Dynamics of New Religious Movements
Cross-listed with: RELS273.
Credit only granted for: RELS273 or RELS289M or HIST289T.
Formerly: RELS289M.
We examine three significant ancient religious figures: Jesus (d. 30s CE), Mani (d. 276 CE), and Muhammad (d. 632). All three were founders of long-lasting religions that were part of a dramatic change in the society and religion of the ancient world. Special areas of focus: the biographies of these founding figures, and how we know them; a historical approach to religious founders; and the sociology of new religious movements.
HNUH
University Honors
HNUH228C
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 beoffered 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.
HNUH268C
Inclusion and Exclusion: Deportation in American Life
What is the "American Dream" under threat of deportation? The United States proclaims to be welcoming but ideas about sovereignty, the nation, the border, good and bad immigrants, and crime in the United States coalesce to support the retention of some people and the displacement of others from its territory. Who the US deports is related to why it deports and on whose behalf such policies are made. This course acquaints students with current theories, methodologies, and debates in the field of the Humanities to grapple with the most pressing domestic questions about immigration and deportation. A variety of frameworks and approaches including critical ethnic studies, history, social movements, and geography, will challenge students to take a position on immigration law and deportation, and their effects on different communities - on all of us.
HNUH268C is the required Big Question course in the Homeland Insecurity thematic cluster. Homeland Insecurity courses will be offered through Spring 2027.
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
ISRL256
Zionism and Sexual Revolution
Cross-listed with: JWST256.
Credit only granted for: ISRL249N, JWST219G, ISRL256, or JWST256.
Formerly: ISRL249N or JWST219G.
A study of the changes within European Jewish communities that influenced the development of particular fantasies about and representations of gender, love, and sex in Palestine and Israel. We will investigate the broader intellectual and cultural contexts needed to understand the gender and sexual revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries, and will examine how European and, later, Israeli Jews adopted and adapted these ideas and cultural forms. We will closely analyze a variety of texts (stories, plays, photographs, and films) and will consider the relationship between ideology and aesthetics.
ITAL
Italian
Department Site
ITAL441
The Dark Side of the Italian Renaissance
Recommended: Some knowledge of Italian at the elementary or intermediate level.
Examines the dark aspects of the Italian Renaissance, focusing on artistic and literary patronage as a strategy of self-promotion and as a means to achieve and preserve power. From the Northern court of Milan to the Southern Kingdom of Naples, we journey through the Italian peninsula, a land that gave birth to illustrious artists and poets in one of the most troubled periods of Italian history, marked by political conflict, bloody rivalries, family betrayals, and wars. What hides beneath the image of some of these benevolent and enlightened patrons of learning, often praised as "ideal rulers" by artists and writers of the Renaissance, are ambitious and crafty politicians, who sought their own interests and goals in their ruthless pursuit of power
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
JWST225
Religions of the Ancient Near East
Cross-listed with: RELS225, HIST219I.
Credit only granted for: JWST225, HIST219I, RELS225, or RELS219A.
Formerly: RELS219A.
Introduction to ancient Near Eastern religious systems and mythology, from the third millennium BCE through the fourth century BCE. Particular emphasis on Mesopotamia and ancient Israel.
JWST230
Inventing Traditions: The Making of Rabbinic Judaism
Cross-listed with: HIST281, RELS230.
Credit only granted for: HIST281, JWST230, RELS219C or RELS230.
Formerly: RELS219C.
Introduces the dramatic literary and cultural (as well as political and demographic) innovations that reshaped Judaism in late antiquity. Examines the fundamental works and genres of rabbinic literature and the religious movement that produced them. Special emphasis on the rabbinic uses of "tradition" to enhance authority and legitimacy, and to foster group identity.
JWST256
Zionism and Sexual Revolution
Cross-listed with: ISRL256.
Credit only granted for: ISRL249N, JWST219G, ISRL256, or JWST256.
Formerly: ISRL249N or JWST219G.
A study of the changes within European Jewish communities that influenced the development of particular fantasies about and representations of gender, love, and sex in Palestine and Israel. We will investigate the broader intellectual and cultural contexts needed to understand the gender and sexual revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries, and will examine how European and, later, Israeli Jews adopted and adapted these ideas and cultural forms. We will closely analyze a variety of texts (stories, plays, photographs, and films) and will consider the relationship between ideology and aesthetics.
JWST262
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
Cross-listed with: ENGL262, HEBR298B.
Credit only granted for: JWST262, HEBR298B, or ENGL262.
Origins of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), with attention to literary formations, archaeology, and social-political settings. Explorations of major questions, including who wrote the Bible, and when; relationships of the biblical tradition to the mythology and religious structures of ancient Israel's near eastern neighbors; and dynamics of politics, religious leadership, and law.
JWST274
Jerusalem in Antiquity: The History of Sacred Space in a Holy City
Cross-listed with: RELS274.
Credit only granted for: JWST274, RELS274, JWST289J or RELS289J.
Formerly: JWST289J, RELS289J.
Examines the complex history of Jerusalem's status as a holy city, with a focus on constructions of sacred space in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
JWST430
Prerequisite: Must have completed one JWST course or one RELS course; or permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies.
Cross-listed with RELS430.
Credit only granted for: JWST430 or RELS430.
A study of the Dead Sea Scrolls in their ancient and modern settings, and in terms of contemporary scholarly interpretations of their meaning. Interpretations of the historical significance of these documents, their connections to ancient Jewish sectarian movements, and their implications for our understanding of Judaism, Christianity, and the history of the Bible.
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
LACS234
Issues in Latin American and Caribbean Studies I
Cross-listed with: PORT234, SPAN234.
Credit only granted for: LASC234, PORT234, SPAN234, or LACS234.
Formerly: LASC234.
Interdisciplinary study of major issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Latin America's cultural mosaic, migration and urbanization. Democratization and the role of religions. Taught in English.
LACS234H
Issues in Latin American and Caribbean Studies I
Cross-listed with: PORT234, SPAN234.
Credit only granted for: LASC234, PORT234, SPAN234, or LACS234.
Formerly: LASC234.
Interdisciplinary study of major issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Latin America's cultural mosaic, migration and urbanization. Democratization and the role of religions. Taught in English.
LACS348E
Cross-listed with: ENGL362.
Credit only granted for: ENGL362, LASC348E, or LACS348E.
Political and literary traditions that intersect in the fiction, poetry, and drama written in English by Caribbean writers, primarily during the 20th century.
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.
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.
MUSC260
Prerequisite: MUSC151.
Restriction: Must be in a major within the ARHU-School of Music department.
Credit only granted for: MUSC220 or MUSC260.
Explores how and why people create, transform, and move music around the globe. Taking a comparative approach to Western art musics and other musics of the world, course will examine a variety of musical practices in their social, political, and economic contexts. Experiential knowledge will be developed through hands-on ethnographic research.
NAVY
Navy
NAVY200
Restriction: Permission of UGST-Navy ROTC.
Additional information: Priority enrollment will be given to students enrolled in the NROTC program.
Introductory course designed to familiarize students with the theories, processes, and behaviors that enable effective leadership and managerial competence. Students will engage in analytical discussions, review leadership development and education, and Navy/Marine Corps-based case study discussions in order to develop their understanding of personal strengths, values and growth opportunities in the context of team, group and organizational leadership.
PERS
Persian
Department Site
PERS283
Iranian Cinema
Cross-listed with: CINE283.
Credit only granted for: PERS283, CINE283 or FILM298B.
Introduction to Iranian cinema, society, and culture. Taught in English.
Cross-listed with FILM298B. Credit only granted for PERS283, FILM283, or FILM298B.
PERS353
Iranian Life in Literature and Film
Treats major themes in modern literature and life of Iranians. Topics examined include Iranian identity, religious traditions, modern life, and expatriate communities. Taught in English.
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.
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.
PHIL310
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Prerequisite: Must have completed 6 credits in philosophy or classics.
Cross-listed with: CLAS310, PHPE308Y.
Credit only granted for: PHIL310, CLAS310, or PHPE308Y.
A study of the origins and development of philosophy in ancient Greece and Rome, focusing on Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, and Stoics.
Cross-listed with PHPE308Y and CLAS310. Credit only granted for PHIL310, PHPE308Y, or CLAS310.
PHPE
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
PHPE308Y
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
Prerequisite: Must have completed 6 credits in philosophy or classics.
Cross-listed with: PHIL310, CLAS310.
Credit only granted for: PHIL310, CLAS310, or PHPE308Y.
A study of the origins and development of philosophy in ancient Greece and Rome, focusing on Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, and Stoics.
Cross-listed with PHIL310 and CLAS310. Credit only granted for PHIL310, PHPE308Y, or CLAS310.
PORT
Portuguese
Department Site
PORT234
Issues in Latin American and Caribbean Studies I
Cross-listed with: LACS234, SPAN234.
Credit only granted for: LASC234, PORT234, SPAN234, or LACS234.
Formerly: LASC234.
Interdisciplinary study of major issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Latin America's cultural mosaic, migration and urbanization. Democratization and the role of religions. Taught in English.
RELS
Religious Studies
RELS120
Islamic Civilization
Cross-listed with: HIST120.
Credit only granted for: HIST120 or RELS120.
Introduction to society and culture in the Middle East since the advent of Islam: as a personal and communal faith; as artistic and literary highlights of intellectual and cultural life; and as the interplay between politics and religion under the major Islamic regimes.
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.
RELS225
Religions of the Ancient Near East
Cross-listed with: HIST219I, JWST225.
Credit only granted for: JWST225, HIST219I, RELS225, or RELS219A.
Formerly: RELS219A.
Introduction to ancient Near Eastern religious systems and mythology, from the third millennium BCE through the fourth century BCE. Particular emphasis on Mesopotamia and ancient Israel.
RELS230
Inventing Traditions: The Making of Rabbinic Judaism
Cross-listed with: HIST281, JWST230.
Credit only granted for: HIST281, JWST230, RELS219C or RELS230.
Formerly: RELS219C.
Introduces the dramatic literary and cultural (as well as political and demographic) innovations that reshaped Judaism in late antiquity. Examines the fundamental works and genres of rabbinic literature and the religious movement that produced them. Special emphasis on the rabbinic uses of "tradition" to enhance authority and legitimacy, and to foster group identity.
RELS273
Jesus, Mani, and Muhammad: The Dynamics of New Religious Movements
Cross-listed with: HIST289T.
Credit only granted for: RELS273 or RELS289M or HIST289T.
Formerly: RELS289M.
We examine three significant ancient religious figures: Jesus (d. 30s CE), Mani (d. 276 CE), and Muhammad (d. 632). All three were founders of long-lasting religions that were part of a dramatic change in the society and religion of the ancient world. Special areas of focus: the biographies of these founding figures, and how we know them; a historical approach to religious founders; and the sociology of new religious movements.
RELS274
Jerusalem in Antiquity: The History of Sacred Space in a Holy City
Cross-listed with: JWST274.
Credit only granted for: JWST274, RELS274, JWST289J or RELS289J.
Formerly: JWST289J, RELS289J.
Examines the complex history of Jerusalem's status as a holy city, with a focus on constructions of sacred space in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
RELS430
Prerequisite: Must have completed one JWST course or one RELS course; or permission of ARHU-Meyerhoff Program & Center for Jewish Studies.
Cross-listed with JWST430.
Credit only granted for: JWST430 or RELS430.
A study of the Dead Sea Scrolls in their ancient and modern settings, and in terms of contemporary scholarly interpretations of their meaning. Interpretations of the historical significance of these documents, their connections to ancient Jewish sectarian movements, and their implications for our understanding of Judaism, Christianity, and the history of the Bible.
SLLC
School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Department Site
SLLC200
Global Movements
This interdisciplinary and cross-cultural course introduces students to a variety of frameworks for understanding our interconnected world by focusing on one or more issues of global relevance today, including but not limited to conflict, revolution, and war; democracy, citizenship, and human rights; migration; and climate change. Focusing on the interpretive methods of the humanities, including critical analysis, close readings, and engagement with theoretical approaches, we will discuss the historical, social, and cultural contexts of major global movements in comparative perspective. In addition to examining literary, cultural, and media texts, the class will ask students to make connections between global and local contexts through a group service-learning project.
SLLC286
Living the Good Life: Chinese Philosophy in the Modern World
Additional information: Taught in English.
Confucius, Mencius, Zhuangzi and other Chinese thinkers who lived more than 2,000 years ago would argue that the contemporary Western emphasis on self-discovery (Find yourself) and self-acceptance has led you astray. See what they have to say and discuss what relevance it has for the modern world as we study how early Chinese thinkers wrestled with questions of existence, morality, and governance. No previous knowledge of Chinese philosophy and history will be assumed and no prerequisites are required. We will discuss ideas that are both historical and relevant to students' lives. What is "the Way"? How do we cultivate spontaneity? Is there a stable self? How can we be more alive? These are questions important for ancient kings but also for UMD students choosing a major, or wondering how ARHU can benefit them.
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.
SPAN234
Issues in Latin American and Caribbean Studies I
Cross-listed with: LACS234, PORT234.
Credit only granted for: LASC234, PORT234, SPAN234, or LACS234.
Formerly: LASC234.
Interdisciplinary study of major issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Latin America's cultural mosaic, migration and urbanization. Democratization and the role of religions. Taught in English.
SPAN234H
Issues in Latin American and Caribbean Studies I
Cross-listed with: LACS234, PORT234.
Credit only granted for: LASC234, PORT234, SPAN234, or LACS234.
Formerly: LASC234.
Interdisciplinary study of major issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Latin America's cultural mosaic, migration and urbanization. Democratization and the role of religions. Taught in English.
Open to Honor students only.
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.
SPAN331
Spanish Culture, Civilization and Literature I: Medieval Times
Prerequisite: SPAN303; and (SPAN311 or SPAN316).
The exploration of cultures of the Iberian Peninsula from its origins until the 15th century as well as the study of historical and political events that gave rise to the Spanish state. 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.
SPAN361
Latin American Literatures and Cultures I: From Pre-Columbian to Colonial Times
Prerequisite: SPAN303; and (SPAN311 or SPAN316).
Overview of cultural history of Latin America from pre-Columbian civilizations to the Colonial period, exploring the foundations of the Spanish American cultural and literary tradition to approximately 1770. 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.
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.
THET293
Thematic and historical survey of African-American drama from the late nineteenth century to the 1960s. Emphasis on sociopolitical context, thematic thrust, issues, styles, the aesthetic reflected in the work, impact on African-American and general theatre audiences.
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.
TLPL457
Literature for Adolescents
Restriction: Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75; and permission of EDUC-Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership department.
Credit only granted for: EDCI466 or TLPL457.
Formerly: EDCI466.
Reading and analysis of fiction and nonfiction; methods for critically assessing quality and appeal; current theory and methods of instruction; research on response to literature; curriculum design and selection of books.
WGSS
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
WGSS230
Introduction to Humanities, Health, and Medicine
Restriction: Permission of ARHU-English Department.
Cross-listed with: ARHU230, ENGL254, HIST219N.
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.
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.
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