ETHS 108. The History of Yoga: The Yoga of Transformation and the Transformation of Yoga. 3 Units.
In this class we will investigate the history and context of yoga. We will first examine yoga as a transformative disciplined practice through close study of primary sources. Next we will focus on Yoga as presented in Patanjall’s Yoga Sutras. We will then examine the ways and extent to which yoga has been transformed in both India and outside of India. To this end we will scrutinize the development of American(ized) “Yoga.” We will address the legal complexities concerning ownership and appropriation as well as those concerning the teaching of “Yoga” in public schools and the establishment clause of the First Amendment. We will also devote several classes to actual yoga experiences where the students can learn some asana (postures) and movements. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 216. Hinduism. 3 Units.
We will survey the basic beliefs and practices of Hinduism(s) as found in India and across the world, with an emphasis on primary sources and contemporary complexities. The class will focus on the religion(s) of cultures outside the United States. It will address in a substantive way ethnic, gender, sexual, religious, or other cultural practices outside the United States, so as to provide students with fresh perspectives on their own cultural assumptions, traditions, and experiences. Our study will range from close readings of classical texts, to observing and reflecting on contemporary practices and movies, to careful study of images and artifacts on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art. We will apply a variety of methods and tools to investigate class materials, from a number of different disciplines, including sociology, history, theology, anthropology, and psychology. Students will build a very strong foundation in the primary sources in this class. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 218. Jews in Early Modern Europe. 3 Units.
This course surveys the history of Jews in Europe and the wider world from the Spanish expulsion through the French Revolution. Tracking peregrinations out of the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Poland-Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire, and the American colonies, it examines the diverse ways Jews organized their communities, interacted with their non-Jewish neighbors, and negotiated their social, economic, and legal status within different states and empires. What role did Jews play and what symbolic place did they occupy during a period of European expansion, technological innovation, artistic experimentation, and religious and political turmoil? What internal and external dynamics affected Jewish experiences in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries? Through a selection of inquisitorial transcripts, government records, memoirs, and historical literature, we will explore topics such as persecution, conversion, messianism, toleration, emancipation, and assimilation. Offered as HSTY 218, JDST 218, and ETHS 218. Counts as SAGES Departmental Seminar. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 220. The Early Modern Mediterranean. 3 Units.
For centuries before Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean, travelers and traders, pirates and pilgrims, mercenaries and missionaries explored the contours of the Mediterranean Sea–and engaged in commerce, as well as religious, economic and military competition. If religion and ethnicity divided Muslims, Christians and Jews from Algiers to Athens, did shared geography, foodstuffs, and cultural values bind them together? This course examines the unity and diversity of this maritime region by considering the peoples, beliefs, commodities and diseases that circulated through it during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Does the early modern Mediterranean showcase a clash of civilizations or provide an enduring model for coexistence? Topics include merchant culture, diplomacy, honor and shame, slavery and colonization. Offered as ETHS 220, HSTY 220. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 222. African-American Religions. 3 Units.
This course is an exploration of the rich diversity of African American religions from the colonial period to the present. Attention will be given to key figures, institutional expressions, and significant movements in African American religious history. Major themes include African traditions in American religions, slavery and religion, sacred music, social protest, Black Nationalism in religion, Islam, African American women and religion, and black and womanist theologies. Course requirements will include field trips to local religious sites. Offered as ETHS 222 and RLGN 222. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 232. DESI: Diaspora, Ethnicity, Southasia(n), Interrogate. 3 Units.
In this class we will interrogate the cultural Identity(ies) and imagined community(ies) of the “South Asian” Diaspora. We will first examine taxonomy and categorization itself, as a methodical, philosophical, and political enterprise. We will then examine how such contrived categories have been applied to the so-called desis, loosely and broadly understood as members of the South Asian Diaspora. To this end we will scrutinize the development of American(ized)) “Hinduism.” the imagined location that desis have in North American racial and ethnic hierarchies, and the construction of assimilated, enculturated, and transnational imagined desi communities. Offered as RLGN 232, ETHS 232 and HSTY 232 Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 234. France and Islam. 3 Units.
This seminar examines French encounters with the Muslim world from the Middle Ages to the present. Over the last millennium, France has viewed Saracens, Moriscos, Turks, Berbers, and Arabs with admiration and fear, disdain and incomprehension. Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, French soldiers battled in the Holy Land; for several hundred years after that, France and the Ottoman Empire exchanged diplomats, traders and slaves. The colonial occupation of Algeria that began in 1830 ended violently in 1962. By then, the empire that struck back had also come home through large waves of immigration. Today, the social and economic status, religious affiliation, political significance and cultural impact of French citizens of North African descent are the subject of burning national debate. Taking a long view on Franco-Muslim relations, the course will explore such topics as the Crusades, Mediterranean piracy and captivity, Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign, the Algerian War of Independence, the “veil affair,” riots in the suburbs of Paris and World Cup soccer. Offered as ETHS 234, HSTY 234. Counts as SAGES Departmental Seminar. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 235. Theater and Identity. 3 Units.
This course aims at surveying identities in dramatic and performance texts in the modern era. It will help students develop skills to study plays and related theatrical forms, to analyze images for their social and political meanings, to investigate issues of identity, to appreciate the complexities of identity and images of self and other as related in theater, media and the larger political and social contests. African and African-American identities, Latina/o-American and Latin American identities, Native-American identities, Asian-American and Asian identities, Gender identities will be examined. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 251. Perspectives in Ethnicity, Race, Religion and Gender. 3 Units.
This course is designed to introduce students to the study of ethnicity. Basic concepts such as race, gender, class, and identity construction will be examined. Students are encouraged to use the tools and perspectives of several disciplines to address the experiences of ethnic groups in the United States. Offered as ETHS 251 and RLGN 251. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 251A. Oral Performances and Ethnic Identities. 3 Units.
This course is an in-depth study of performances that have helped to shape and anchor the identities of different non-Western ethnic groups. The course will explore the multi-generic composition of the oral epic, which combines forms as diverse as narrative, song, praise poetry, theater, music and historical oratory. ETHS 251A will provide a comprehensive overview of oral performances while focusing on a particular area or areas of Africa, Asia, the United States, or Latin America. In the African continent, for example, the focus will be on the Madinka Sundjata corpus, dealing with the empire of Mali; the life of Shaka, the Zulu in South Africa; while in the United States, the narrative life of Frederick Douglas, blues and negro-spiritual will be considered as the sites of ethnic discourse. Using a comparative approach, the course will examine aesthetic issues of oral performance, the written word, interactions between music and voice, and interaction between poetic and prose narrative forms. The performance texts will be augmented by field recordings and in-class demonstrations by griots and other storytellers from Africa and the United States. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 252A. Introduction to African-American Studies. 3 Units.
This course is designed to introduce students to the study of Black History, cultures, economics, and politics. Students will learn about the development of the field by exploring theoretical questions, methodological approaches, and major themes that have shaped the study of black people, primarily in the U.S. context. This is a seminar-style, discussion-based course that emphasizes critical analysis and expository writing. Offered as ETHS 252A and HSTY 252A. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 252B. Introduction to Latina/o Studies. 3 Units.
Interdisciplinary introduction to the basis for a Latina/o ethnicity through an exploration of commonalities and differences in the peoples of Latin American and Caribbean origin within the continental United States. Topics include methodological and theoretical formulations central to the field (e.g., racial, gender, and sexual formations, modes and relations of production and class, nation and transnation), history and contemporary issues of identity, family, community, immigration, and the potential for a pan-ethnic identity. Discussions will focus on major demographic, social, economic and political trends: historical roots of Latinas/os in the U.S.; the evolution of Latina/o ethnicity and identity; immigration and the formation of Latina/o communities; schooling and language usage; tendencies and determinants of socioeconomic and labor force status; discrimination, segregation and bias in contemporary America; racial and gender relations; and political behavior among Latinas/os. Offered as: ETHS 252B and HSTY 259. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 253A. Introduction to Modern African History. 3 Units.
A general introduction to major themes in modern African history, with an emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Topics include oral tradition and narrative, economic structure and dynamics, religious movements, colonialism, nationalism, and the dilemmas of independent African states. Offered as ETHS 253A and HSTY 135. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 253B. Introduction to Latin American History. 3 Units.
This course provides an introduction to the historical and cultural development of Latin America, in an attempt to identify the forces, both internal and external, which shape the social, economic and political realities in present day Latin America. Beginning with its pre-Columbian civilizations, the course moves through the conquest and colonial period of the Americas, the wars of independence and the emergence of nation-states in the nineteenth century, and the issues confronting the region throughout the turbulent twentieth century, such as migration and urbanization, popular protest and revolution, environmental degradation, great power intervention, the drug trade and corruption, and the integration of the region into the global economy. Offered as ETHS 253B and HSTY 136. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 254. The Holocaust. 3 Units.
This class seeks to answer fundamental questions about the Holocaust: the German-led organized mass murder of nearly six million Jews and millions of other ethnic and religious minorities. It will investigate the origins and development of racism in modern European society, the manifestations of that racism, and responses to persecution. An additional focus of the course will be comparisons between different groups, different countries, and different phases during the Nazi era. Offered asHSTY 254, RLGN 254, ETHS 254, and JDST 254. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 260. U.S. Slavery and Emancipation. 3 Units.
Begins with the African encounter with Europeans during the emergence of the modern slave trade. Students are introduced to the documents and secondary literature on the creation and maintenance of slavery, first in colonial America, and then in the United States. The course concludes with the destruction of slavery. Offered as ETHS 260 and HSTY 260. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 261. African-American History 1865-1945. 3 Units.
Explores the fashioning of a modern African-American culture between emancipation and the end of World War II. Emergence of a northern-based leadership, the challenge of segregation, emergence of bourgeois culture, the fashioning of racial consciousness and black nationalism, the shift from a primarily southern and rural population to one increasingly northern and urban, the creation and contours of a modern African-American culture, the construction of racial/gender and racial/class consciousness. Offered as ETHS 261 and HSTY 261. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 262. African-American History Since 1945. 3 Units.
Completes the three-term sequence of the African-American history survey (although the first two courses are not prerequisites for this course). Explores some of the key events and developments shaping African-American social, political, and cultural history since 1945. Offered as HSTY 262 and ETHS 262. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 265. Malcolm and Martin. 3 Units.
An examination of the lives, religious thought, and ideological frameworks of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. The course will investigate Malcom X and Martin King’s religious beliefs and activist strategies; the ideas and strategies of other civil rights and Black Nationalist leaders who influenced and challenged Martin and Malcom’s ideas on race, gender, class, and sexuality; and the historical antecedents for these strategies within nineteenth-century black religious, social, and political movements. Their impact on modern African American religious thought, American political culture, and international human rights movements will also be explored. Offered as ETHS 265 and RLGN 265. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 280. History of Modern Mexico. 3 Units.
This course explores the major issues that have influenced the formation of modern Mexico. This class is organized around three major themes. First, we will examine Mexican identity formation and its political implications. Second, we will assess Mexican life in relation to the development of the Mexican economy. Finally, we will survey how elite and popular forms of violence have affected Mexican society. Throughout the course, we will discuss the significance of the colonial heritage, regional distinctions, racial and gender stratification, and the creation and reconfiguration of various types of borders. Offered as HSTY 280 and ETHS 280. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 287. State, War, Drugs, and Coffee in Colombia: History of Modern Colombia. 3 Units.
This course will analyze the major forces that have shaped Colombian history from the 19th century to the present. Colombia is one of the largest and most fascinating countries in Latin America. It has been intricately linked to the U.S. market as a major coffee producer and, more recently, as a major supplier of illicit drugs. Colombia has always been one of the wealthier Latin American countries, and it has a high degree of electoral democracy. Paradoxically, however, Colombia has also experienced rather high levels of regionalism and political violence. This course seeks to explore the history of these paradoxes. It will situate Colombia’s contemporary conflicts within a larger historical perspective. Offered as ETHS 287 andHSTY 287. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 295. The Francophone World. 3 Units.
The course offers an introduction to the Francophone World from a historical, cultural, and literary perspective. The Francophone World includes countries and regions around the globe with a substantial French-speaking population (and where French is sometimes, but not always, an official language): North America (Louisiana, Quebec, and Acadia); North Africa (Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt); the Middle-East (Lebanon, Syria); the Caribbean (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti); Southeast Asia (Vietnam); and Europe (France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg). FRCH 295 provides a comprehensive overview of the Francophone World, while focusing on a particular area or areas in any given semester. Offered as ETHS 295, FRCH 295, and WLIT 295. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 301. Women, Creativity and the Arts. 3 Units.
WGST301/ETHS301 is one of two core courses for the program in Women’s and Gender Studies and an elective course for the ETHS minor. All WGST majors are to take one course concentrating on the subject of women and the arts specifically. This course also fulfills the cultural diversity requirement. In this course, students will focus on two areas of study: a) women and creativity and b) women and activism through the arts. A history of women in the arts will be covered, but the general focus of the course is on women in the arts since the 1960s in particular, and on artwork that reflects or provokes social change. “Arts” are defined in the broadest of sense. That is , students will study women’s production in painting, photography, graphic design, sculpture, dance, film, music, and theater. A variety of learning techniques will be applied: Students will look at feminist theories on art, be introduced to the notion of cyberfeminism, study actual artwork and its reproductions, understand the role of are in feminist activism and how women “create” differently from men, and work closely with several feminist artists/activists through various programs on campus and the community in order to facilitate the planning and carrying out of artistic production. Subsequently, students will interact with children in Cleveland schools in conjunction with these artists giving master classes, and be exposed to art exhibits abroad through videoconferencing with the Algerian Cultural Center in Paris and locally through University Circle Institutions. Offered as WGST 301 and ETHS 301. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 304. Representations of Black Women and Religion in Film. 3 Units.
In this course we will explore cinematic representations of black women and religion in film. Each week we will view a film in class. We will begin the class with the film Imitation of Life and then the course with The Help. Throughout the course we will analyze the ways in which notations of gender, sexuality, intimate violence, and modern notions of race and color, have informed representations of black women and religion in film. In addition, we will discuss how these representations, in turn, have influenced cultural ideas about black women in the Americas. Offered as RLGN 304, RLGN 404, WGST 304, andETHS 304. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 306. The Cuban Experience: an immersion in its culture and society. 3 Units.
This is a three week study-abroad intensive course that takes place at Editorial Vigía, in Matanzas, Cuba. The course combines the unique advantages of a total immersion environment in Spanish with a classroom curriculum that includes conversation practice and study of relevant cultural, literary and historical issues. Students complete three hours of classroom instruction and an hour and a half of publishing workshop four days per week. In this workshop, they work in the edition of a bilingual book. In addition, they participate in organized visits to historic sites and museums connected to the culture curriculum. The focus of the culture curriculum is the study of Cuban history and culture through its literature, visual arts, films, and music. After applying and being accepted in the program, students meet for personal advising with the program director and attend four different one hour orientation-information meetings in the spring semester. After successful completion of the study-abroad program, students receive 3 upper-level credits in Spanish. The course is interdisciplinary in approach and provides students with the tools they need to analyze and understand the complexities of modern Cuba. Students will have formal classes taught by their professor and talks and meetings with specialists on Cuban literature, art, architecture, history and other aspects of culture and society. In addition, they will attend lectures, participate in discussions, and take field trips that will expose them to many aspects of Cuban culture, such as art, architecture, music, dance, film, literature, artisan work, folklore, history and urban growth. Offered as SPAN 306, SPAN 406, and ETHS 306. Prereq:SPAN 202.

ETHS 311. Representations of Black Religion in Film. 3 Units.
In this course we will explore cinematic representations of black religion in the Americas and the Caribbean. Each week we will view a film representing diverse religious traditions such as Christianity, Candomble, Santeria, Vodou, and Islam. Films will include Cabin in the Sky, The Color Purple, Black Orpheus, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Malcolm X, Eve’s Bayou, and The Princess and the Frog. Throughout the course we will analyze the ways in which notions of gender, the history of colonialism, modern notions of race, and geographical landscapes have informed representatives of black religion in film. In addition, we will discuss how these representations, in turn, have influenced cultural ideas of black religion in the Americas. Offered as RLGN 311, ETHS 311, and RLGN 411. Prereq: RLGN 222 or ETHS 251 or ENGL 367 or by permission of Instructor.

ETHS 314. Cultures of the United States. 3 Units.
This course considers the rich ethnic diversity of the U.S. from the perspective of social/cultural anthropology. Conquest, immigration, problems of conflicts and accommodation, and the character of the diverse regional and ethnic cultures are considered as are forms of racism, discrimination, and their consequences. Groups of interest include various Latina/o and Native peoples, African-American groups, and specific ethnic groups of Pacific, Mediterranean, European, Asian, and Caribbean origin. Offered as ANTH 314, ETHS 314, and ANTH 414. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 316. African Political Thought. 3 Units.
Introduction to select themes in the work of contemporary African philosophers, with special emphasis on political thought. In this course, students will learn something about factors affecting the creation and flow of knowledge and ideas about Africa and discuss the relative importance of the “nation-state” as an idea in Europe, pre-colonial Africa, and postcolonial Africa. Offered as PHIL 316/416 and ETHS 316/416. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 318. History of Black Women in the U.S.. 3 Units.
Chronologically arranged around specific issues in black women’s history organizations, participation in community and political movements, labor experiences, and expressive culture. The course will use a variety of materials, including autobiography, literature, music, and film. Offered as ETHS 318, HSTY 318, and WGST 318.

ETHS 325. Hispanic Intellectuals and Society: A Critical Approach. 3 Units.
This course offers an overview of the most important critical approaches to Spanish American culture and literature, with a socio-historical emphasis. Some of the authors we will discuss are Angel Rama, Jose Antonio Cornejo Polar and Nestor Garcia Canclini. We will analyze how the Latin American intellectuals had thought about specific issues such as identity, race, ideology, colonial and post-colonial relations with the metropolis and the process of formation of the nations in the continent. The class, the discussions, exams, oral presentations and papers will be in Spanish. Some of the readings must be in English, but most of them will be in Spanish. Offered as SPAN 325, SPAN 425, ETHS 325, WLIT 325 and WLIT 425. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 333. Contemporary Caribbean Literature. 3 Units.
In addition to developing a general familiarity with the literature and history of this region, students will acquire an awareness of the interrelation of national identity, memory, and language in the texts produced by contemporary Caribbean authors, and of the cultural hybridity characteristic of this production. The themes treated by these authors include colonialism and postcolonialism, cultural and religious syncretism, and sexual politics. Offered as SPAN 333, SPAN 433, ETHS 333,WLIT 333 and WLIT 433. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 335. Women in Developing Countries. 3 Units.
This course will feature case studies, theory, and literature of current issues concerning women in developing countries primarily of the French-speaking world. Discussion and research topics include matriarchal traditions and FGM in Africa, the Tunisian feminist movement, women, Islam, and tradition in the Middle East, women-centered power structures in India (Kerala, Pondichery), and poverty and women in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Guest speakers and special projects are important elements of the course. Seminar-style format, taught in English, with significant disciplinary writing in English for WGST, ETHS, and some WLIT students, and writing in French for FRCH and WLIT students. Writing assignments include two shorter essays and a substantial research paper. Offered as ETHS 335, FRCH 335, WLIT 335, WGST 335, FRCH 435and WLIT 435. Counts as SAGES Departmental Seminar. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 336. The Struggle for Justice in Latin America. 3 Units.
This course looks at how indigenous peoples, women, students, workers, peasants, and Afro-Latin Americans struggled for justice in Latin America. It will study how notions of justice have changed from colonial times to the present. It will also examine how different sectors of Latin American society understood the meaning of justice and how that understanding evolved through time. This class seeks to familiarize students with the history of the idea of justice in Latin America. At the end of this course students will understand the complex intellectual and political differences behind Latin America’s apparent chaotic and tumultuous political history. Second, it seeks to develop students’ critical thinking by examining how an abstract term, such as justice, changes across time and space. Offered as ETHS 336 and HSTY 336. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 337. Women in the Arab World. 3 Units.
The purpose of this course is twofold: It is a course that allows students an in-depth look at the diverse women who represent a number of cultures in the Arab world in nations from the Mashrek to the Maghreb. The second primary goal of the course is to study such women through the eyes of leading Arab women theorists who have made an impact not only in their own countries, but also on disciplines intersecting with women’s studies worldwide. We will study the Arab woman’s place in her respective society, in political and economic systems, in education, and in the family. We will also analyze her contributions to art and literature as well as to the sciences. The course will provide an overview of the Arab woman throughout history, from her origins to her place within recent movements within the Arab Spring and other current world events. As Arab women are Muslim, Christian, and Jewish, views of women within these major world religions will also be taken into account as we study the Arab woman as well as religion’s impact on culture in the Middle East and in the Maghreb in particular. In the course, we will utilize theoretical texts, but also case studies as well as examples from media and the arts. During the semester, we will take advantage of teleconferencing opportunities between CWRU and two major academic units for Women’s Studies in the Arab world: The Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW) in Beirut, Lebanon, and the University of Jordan’s Center for Women’s Studies in Amman. Offered as FRCH 337, FRCH 437, ARAB 337, ETHS 337and WGST 337. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 338. The Cameroon Experience. 3 Units.
Three-week immersion learning experience living and studying in Cameroon. The focus of the course is the culture, literature, and language of Francophone Cameroon, with some emphasis on Anglophone Cameroon. Students spend a minimum of fifteen hours per week visiting cultural sites and attending arranged courses at the University of Buea. Students will prepare a research paper. Coursework is in French. To do coursework in English, students should enroll in WLIT 338/438 orETHS 338/438. Offered as ETHS 338, FRCH 338, WLIT 338, ETHS 438, FRCH 438, and WLIT 438. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 339. Black Women and Religion. 3 Units.
This course is an exploration of the multidimensional religious experiences of black women in the United States. These experiences will be examined within particular historical periods and across diverse social and cultural contexts. Course topics and themes include black women and slave religion, spirituality and folk beliefs, religion and feminist/womanist discourse, perspectives on institutional roles, religion and activism, and spirituality and the arts. Offered as: ETHS 339 andRLGN 338 and WGST 339. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 340. A History of Workers in the United States. 3 Units.
This course examines the experience of working people in the United States with an emphasis on twentieth-century social movements. It explores the lives of the women and men, skilled and unskilled, and rural and urban laborers that produce the goods and provide the services that society consumes. At crucial moments, working people have created or helped sustain national social movements in an effort to improve some aspect of their lives. We therefore will assess laborers in relation to several known and less known American social movements, such as the eight-hour day movement during the late nineteenth century, the peace movement during WWI, and the Civil Rights movement in the wake of WWII. Throughout the course we will also discuss the politics of time-managed work; the influence of public policy and government institutions; the role of unions within a competitive market economy; the relationship between industrial economies and functional blue-collar communities; and the correlation between immigration and globalization. Offered as HSTY 340, HSTY 430,and ETHS 340. Counts as SAGES Departmental Seminar. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 342. Latin American Feminist Voices. 3 Units.
Examination of the awakening of feminine and feminist consciousness in the literary production of Latin American women writers, particularly from the 1920s to the present. Close attention paid to the dominant themes of love and dependency; imagination as evasion; alienation and rebellion; sexuality and power; the search for identity and the self-preservation of subjectivity. Readings include prose, poetry, and dramatic texts of female Latin American writers contributing to the emerging of feminist ideologies and the mapping of feminist identities. Offered as SPAN 342, SPAN 442, ETHS 342, WGST 342,WLIT 342, and WLIT 442. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 343. The New Drama in Latin American. 3 Units.
Representative works of contemporary Latin American drama. Critical examination of selected dramatic works of twentieth-century Latin America provides students insight into the nature of drama and into the structural and stylistic strategies utilized by Latin American dramatists to create the “new theater,” one which is closely related to Latin American political history. Offered as SPAN 343, SPAN 434, ETHS 343, WLIT 343 and WLIT 434. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 349. The Arab World Experience. 3 Units.
Taught and led by Case faculty, The Arab World Experience is a spring semester course with a spring break study abroad component in a Middle Eastern or North African country supplemented by course meetings before and after travel. It will rotate among countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, etc. and be taught by faculty with appropriate area expertise in Arabic, Women’s and Gender Studies, and/or Ethnic Studies. The course focuses on topics such as history, politics, culture, and gender relations within the society of study. Workload and learning outcomes are commensurate with a semester-long three credit hour course. Guest lectures in the host country are an important component of the course as they bring a fresh, authentic perspective to the aforementioned topics discussed. There will be three three-hour meetings prior to travel, required reading, and one three-hour meeting after travel. In the host country, students will spend seven days (five-eight hours per day) in seminars, discussions, and site visits. Student grades are determined on the basis of participation, attendance, a daily experiential learning journal, interviews with guest speakers, and a final exam. Offered as ARAB 349, ETHS 349 andWGST 349.

ETHS 352. African Feminisms. 3 Units.
This course traces the history of African feminism from its origins within traditions through to a more contemporary theoretical analysis of gender, marriage, and motherhood seen from a Afrocentric perspective. Approaches studied are those that pertain to anthropology, history, literature, sociology, and culture. African feminist theory of scholars such as Filomina Steady, Cheikh Anta Diop, Buchi Emecheta, Ifi Amadiume, Obioma Nnameka, Oyeronko Oyewumi, and Calixthe Beyala will be studied and there will be some comparative analysis of Western theories to show how African feminisms are clearly distinct. Theories on these feminisms will be presented, and in the process, students will look at cases of women in Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal. It is commonly believed that African women were defined for a long time according to constructs of Western anthropology. This course will thus look at social institutions such as woman-to-woman marriage, matriarchy, and various women’s rituals in order to identify African constructs of gender, family, kinship, marriage, and motherhood. Offered as ETHS 352 and WGST 352. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 356. Afro-Hispanic Literature. 3 Units.
This course will survey the literary and cultural production of writers and artists of African descent in Latin America and the Caribbean, paying attention to both their creative and theoretical texts. Discussion of questions of race and ethnicity will allow students to explore the ways in which these texts reformulate the idea of national identity and cultural belonging in the context of the nation-state, whose traditional centrality is being weakened through the effects of migration and exile. Readings include works by writers from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and Peru. Offered as SPAN 356, SPAN 456, ETHS 356, WLIT 356 and WLIT 456. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 358. Latin American Cinema. 3 Units.
This course is designed to introduce students to the basic tools of film analysis as well as to the major trends and movements in Latin American cinema from the 1960s to the present. Through the analysis of representative films from Latin America, the course will examine the development of a variety of cinematic styles, paying particular attention to the historical contexts in which the films were produced and to the political, cultural, and aesthetic debates that surrounded their production. Offered as SPAN 358, SPAN 458, ETHS 358, WLIT 358 and WLIT 458. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 362. Politics of Central Asia. 3 Units.
Once an unfamiliar region to many people of the world, Central Asia took center stage in the fall of 2001 as a result of the U.S. campaign against terrorism. This course will introduce students to the politics of Central Asia, focusing on the region today composed of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgiszstan, and Kazakkhstan. We will review the nationalism, foreign relations, religion, ethnicity, and economics of the region. Offered as ETHS 362, POSC 362, and POSC 462. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 363H. African-American Literature. 3 Units.
A historical approach to African-American literature. Such writers as Wheatley, Equiano, Douglass, Jacobs, DuBois, Hurston, Hughes, Wright, Baldwin, Ellison, Morrison. Topics covered may include slave narratives, African-American autobiography, the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Aesthetic, literature of protest and assimilation. Maximum 6 credits. Offered asENGL 363H, ETHS 363H, WLIT 363H, ENGL 463H, and WLIT 463H. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement. Prereq: ENGL 150 or passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSCC, FSNA, FSSO, FSSY, FSTS, FSCS.

ETHS 364. Dictatorship and Democracy in Modern Latin America. 3 Units.
Examination of political leadership in 20th-century Latin America, exploring the nature, causes, and consequences of dictatorship and democracy in the region, moving from the collapse of oligarchic rule and the emergence of populism in the 1930s and 1940s, to the end of democracy and establishment of military regimes in the 1960s and 1970s, and ultimately to the contemporary processes of democratization and economic liberalization. Offered as ETHS 364, POSC 364, andPOSC 464. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 365N. Topics in African-American Literature. 3 Units.
Selected topics and writers from nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century African-American literature. May focus on a genre, a single author or a group of authors, a theme or themes. Maximum 6 credits. Offered as ENGL 365N, ETHS 365N,WLIT 365N, ENGL 465N, and WLIT 465N. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement. Prereq: ENGL 150 or passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSCC, FSNA, FSSO, FSSY, FSTS, FSCS.

ETHS 365Q. Post-Colonial Literature. 3 Units.
Readings in national and regional literatures from former European colonies such as Australia and African countries. Maximum 6 credits. Offered as ENGL 365Q, ETHS 365Q, WLIT 365Q, ENGL 465Q, and WLIT 465Q. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement. Prereq: ENGL 150 or passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSCC, FSNA, FSSO, FSSY, FSTS, FSCS.

ETHS 366. Government and Politics of Africa. 3 Units.
Comparative analysis of the political forces and organizations currently functioning in Africa, as well as a survey of the formal government institutions. Special emphasis on single-party rule, military rule, and the political ramifications of African socialism, tribalism and the problems of national integration. Offered as ETHS 366, POSC 366, and POSC 466. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 369. Current Controversies in Latin American Politics and Society. 3 Units.
In addition to questions about race, religion, abortion, the drug industry, immigration, democracy, private property, and free trade, the course will tackle Latin America’s apparent shift to the political and ideological left, Chavez’s “Imperialism,” and Cuba’s humanitarian aid. Offered as ETHS 369, POSC 369 and POSC 469. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 370K. Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Religion in World Politics. 3 Units.
Examination of the post-Cold War surge in conflicts among nationalisms, ethnic groups, and religions with particular attention to the former Yugoslavia, Ireland, India, Africa, and the Middle East. Offered as ETHS 370K, POSC 370K, and POSC 470K. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 374. Politics of Development in the Global South. 3 Units.
Exploration of the post-World War II emergence of the Global South nations of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Eastern Europe arena. Offered as ETHS 374, POSC 374, and POSC 474. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 385. Hispanic Literature in Translation. 3 Units.
Critical analysis and appreciation of representative literary masterpieces from Spain and Latin America, and by Hispanics living in the U.S. Texts cover a variety of genres and a range of literary periods, from works by Cervantes to those of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The course will examine the relationship between literature and other forms of artistic production, as well as the development of the Hispanic literary text within the context of historical events and cultural production of the period. Counts toward Spanish major only as related course. No knowledge of Spanish required. Offered as ETHS 385, ETHS 485,SPAN 385, SPAN 485, WLIT 385, and WLIT 485. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 391. Advanced Readings in Black History. 3 Units.
This is an advanced readings course that may change from semester to semester. This course will provide students with an opportunity to more deeply explore special themes and theoretical issues in the field of black history that are often quickly and briefly covered in broad survey courses. Readings may be organized around specific topics such as resistance and social protest, black intellectual history, black nationalism and identity, black film and historical literacy black cultural forms and politics, black urban history, or some such other combination. Students may take this course more than once and receive credit as long as the course topic differs. Students should contact the History Department for more details on course content during any given semester. Offered as ETHS 391, HSTY 399 and HSTY 499.

ETHS 393. Advanced Readings in the History of Race. 3 Units.
This course examines the concept of race as a social construction that carries political and economic implications. We begin by examining the histories of the early racial taxonomists (e.g., Bernier, Linnaeus, and Blumenbach among others) and the contexts that informed their writings. We then assess how the concept of race changed from the nineteenth to the twentieth century in the United States. We conclude by evaluating how the ideology of race has influenced U.S. domestic life and foreign policy at specific historical moments. Offered as HSTY 393, HSTY 493, and ETHS 393. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 394. The Subaltern and The Poetics of War in Africa. 3 Units.
This course is a seminar on major war writers and filmmakers in Africa such as Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Emmanuel Dongola, Iweala Uzodinma, Ismael Beah, Semebene Ousmane, Ingrid Sinclair etc. Students will be asked to use postcolonial theory to critically read and view films and texts on war in Africa. They will engage in discussion with guest scholars in the field of African studies. In addition to a final research paper, students are also required to write short papers on selected books and films read and/or viewed during the semester. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 399. Independent Study. 0 – 3 Units.
This course focuses on topics in ethnicity. In consultation with the program director and instructors, students pick topics in their concentrations and make a list of books and/films for personal and intensive reading. Some of these projects might be Arts and Identity in post-independent Africa [African Concentration], films, literatures and human rights in Latin America [Latin America and Caribbean Concentration], civil rights through music and songs [African-American Concentration] etc. Travel may be a component of this course depending on the nature of the students’ interests. Weekly reports are required for the instructors to measure the students’ progress.

ETHS 416. African Political Thought. 3 Units.
Introduction to select themes in the work of contemporary African philosophers, with special emphasis on political thought. In this course, students will learn something about factors affecting the creation and flow of knowledge and ideas about Africa and discuss the relative importance of the “nation-state” as an idea in Europe, pre-colonial Africa, and postcolonial Africa. Offered as PHIL 316/416 and ETHS 316/416. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 438. The Cameroon Experience. 3 Units.
Three-week immersion learning experience living and studying in Cameroon. The focus of the course is the culture, literature, and language of Francophone Cameroon, with some emphasis on Anglophone Cameroon. Students spend a minimum of fifteen hours per week visiting cultural sites and attending arranged courses at the University of Buea. Students will prepare a research paper. Coursework is in French. To do coursework in English, students should enroll in WLIT 338/438 or ETHS 338/438. Offered as ETHS 338, FRCH 338, WLIT 338, ETHS 438, FRCH 438, and WLIT 438. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

ETHS 485. Hispanic Literature in Translation. 3 Units.
Critical analysis and appreciation of representative literary masterpieces from Spain and Latin America, and by Hispanics living in the U.S. Texts cover a variety of genres and a range of literary periods, from works by Cervantes to those of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The course will examine the relationship between literature and other forms of artistic production, as well as the development of the Hispanic literary text within the context of historical events and cultural production of the period. Counts toward Spanish major only as related course. No knowledge of Spanish required. Offered as ETHS 385, ETHS 485,SPAN 385, SPAN 485, WLIT 385, and WLIT 485. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.