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Core Studies Program
Associate Professor Trevizo (Sociology), Director
On Special Appointment: Adjunct Assistant Professors Axelrod, Casey, Folland, Holder, Lachtman, Madsen, Logan, Miller, Osborn, Pillich, Richmond, Sadoff, Schorlemmer, Sternlicht, Tymoczko; Adjunct Instructors Tien, Meade
The Core Program provides the intellectual foundation for Occidental’s commitment to excellence, equity, service, and community. Core classes ask students to engage as thoroughly as possible in analytic and creative thinking: posing questions from various points of view, solving problems, formulating hypotheses, gathering evidence to support claims and arguments, drawing appropriate conclusions, and expressing ideas clearly. These classes are designed to ask the large liberal arts questions which we believe all students must address in order to participate fully in their academic careers, their vocations, and their lives. Questions such as, “How do different societies at different historical times define and represent justice, beauty, the natural world, the self, the sacred, and truth?” Students are asked to examine previously held ideas in the context of new and challenging ones, to experiment as imaginatively as possible, to articulate similarities and differences, and to revise both ideas and written work. Methods and materials are often different in disciplines ranging from the humanities to the social sciences, to science, mathematics, and art; and analytic thinking may take place in the context of a lab, in the close reading of a text, on a stage, in a lecture hall, on a computer screen, in a screening room, or in the field. Assignments will also vary from papers, to arguing a thesis, to problem sets, to research term papers, to lab reports, to paintings. Nonetheless, all of the Core classes address themselves to rigorous analysis and probing: to the further refinement of knowledge and understanding in order to foster future citizens of the world.
The first-year Cultural Studies Program Seminars comprise the centerpiece of the Core Program. Successful performance in Cultural Studies Seminars, along with a satisfactory writing evaluation, satisfies the college’s first-stage writing requirement (see the College writing requirement) and is equivalent to two semesters of English composition. These courses count for 8 units of credit (four in the fall and four in the spring). In the fall seminars, faculty and students jointly explore human culture from a variety of disciplinary as well as cultural perspectives. These are small seminars in which the lecture and reading material provide the focus for discussion, critical analysis, and intensive instruction in writing. Spring Seminars approach topics from a global perspective, incorporate the writing of research-based essays, mastering the skills necessary for the location of relevant materials (in both print and electronic media), constructing evidence-based arguments, and utilizing the conventions of academic discourse. The Seminars for the coming year are described below. Students may not drop a Cultural Studies Program Seminar.
In addition, students participate in the study of culture as embodied in the arts and sciences as well as in the humanities and social sciences. We require a minimum of three departmental courses (12 units) which touch on aspects in the study of culture from at least three of the following geographical areas: Africa and the Middle East; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America; the United States; and Intercultural (where the study of culture substantially crosses geographical boundaries). One of these (or an additional course) must focus on a period prior to 1800, and one (or an additional course) must treat the theory or practice of the fine arts. Unlike most programs that include a range of discipline-based distribution requirements, our program emphasizes the attainment of “global literacy” through the study of different cultures around the world. Individual courses can meet a maximum of two Core requirements.
Lifelong learning requires a basic understanding of the theory and methods of the sciences. Accordingly, students are required to take a total of three courses (12 units) in the sciences and mathematics. Of the three, at least one must be a laboratory science.
Finally, graduates of the College must demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English. The various ways of satisfying this requirement are detailed in the requirements for Undergraduate Study.
All of these Core requirements should be completed as quickly as possible, and certainly no later than the end of the junior year.
CULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAM FALL WRITING SEMINARS
1. CONTESTED THEORIES OF THE MODERN AND THE MASCULINE IN 1950s AMERICAN ART.
How was Modern art defined in the 1950s in American culture? Generally viewed through the critical writings of Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg, modernism has undergone much revisionism in recent years by studies that focus on artists whose work presents a challenge to dominant theories of modernism. Looking particularly at the construction of masculinity and its connection to a heroic modern art movement, this seminar will examine different approaches and accounts of mid-century modernism. Artists will include Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, Maya Deren.
2. ARTISTIC EXCHANGE IN THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN (C.3000 BCE - 300 CE).
This seminar will examine the art and architecture of distinct civilizations in the ancient Mediterranean region: Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Aegean (including Greece), and the Roman Empire. We will analyze indigenous developments along with shared intentions made manifest through international travel, exploration, and political expansion. Art and architecture will be studied as the products of varied interests on the part of these civilizations, and yet our interpretations of these works will acknowledge certain common themes including: monumental ceremonial architecture, social hierarchies and the promotion of individual identities (portraiture), and concepts of divinity (including human and divine interactions). We will integrate our analysis of the artworks with examinations of both primary and secondary literature related to each civilization. Ultimately students will be encouraged to appreciate the visual products of these societies as true reflections of unique periods in ancient history.
3. INTO THE HIDDEN FORTRESS: EXPLORING THE FILMS OF AKIRA KUROSAWA.
Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) is widely recognized as one of the most influential filmmakers of the twentieth century. He is unquestionably the most famous Japanese director among critics and audiences around the world, but in his home country he was frequently accused of being "too Western" in his style and storytelling. This class will examine five Kurosawa movies to explore issues of cultural authenticity, community, and modernity in film and film scholarship.
4. SCIENCE AND YOU: A NEEDLESSLY COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP.
Who should you believe: the sculpted Adonis who attributes his heavenly body solely to Product A, or your middle-aged doctor as he looks over horn-rimmed glasses and preaches to you his mantra of fruits and vegetables? By its very nature true Science is unbiased, yet misinterpreted facts and one-sided representations by those looking to further personal agendas leave the general public in a dire state of seemingly endless confusion. This course will focus on how science is portrayed in the media and the consequences of public and popular individuals construing facts for their own benefit. Controversial subjects will be discussed with the aim of removing popular hype and fundamentally deconstructing the issue objectively to evaluate the merit of the arguments. Initially the perpetual self-correction process of the scientific method will be examined in order to demonstrate the necessity of debate and contradictory viewpoints. The focus will then shift towards examining topics that include, among others, climate change, health/fitness, biotech (e.g. GM foods), etc. In addition to the rigorous writing component, this course will require intensive group work both within the classroom (e.g., presentations) and beyond (e.g., community surveys), and will emphasize development of oral presentation skills. Note: Students enrolling in this course must have a solid and current background in high school chemistry and biology.
5. SCIENCE AND ETHICS IN THE HUMAN BUILT WORLD.
Throughout human history scientific discoveries and technological advances have profoundly transformed society. But along with advances, changing technology forces society to confront ethical dilemmas and assess moral standards. This course explores the way science and technology shape society and provides the tools for evaluating the benefits and risk associated with scientific and technological advances. Topics cross several scientific fields and include nuclear technology, global climate change, nanotechnology, biotechnology and genetic engineering. A combination of reading assignments, lecture, class discussion and writing assignments provide the format for critical thinking about these complex topics.
6. EXPLORATIONS OF THE BRAIN: MEMORY.
We will be reading about memory both in popular literature and in selected journal articles. Case studies will be used to illustrate specific concepts. How are memories created, what are false memories, which is more important: short-term or long-term memory, can Alzheimer's be reversed, what is the difference between senile dementia and Alzheimer's disorder? These are among the topics that will be studied in this class. The objective of the class is writing, as well as identifying and analyzing key ideas within the assigned reading.
7. TRANSAMERICA: GENDER, MOBILITY, AND AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM.
This course will examine "American Exceptionalism" through twentieth-century portrayals of travel, migration, and wanderlust. After historian Frederick Jackson Turner declared the U.S. frontier "closed" in 1893, cultural representations of mobility became a unique marker of racial, class, and sexual identity. We will examine a range of texts, from 1930s blues songs' affective expressions about African American "Great Migration" to constructions of 1950s white hipster masculinity in Beat writings to the emergent genre of the transgender road movie. Because Hollywood film was historically the U.S.'s first major international export, this class will focus in particular on cinematic representations, both foreign and domestic, of how traveling gender supports or interrogates American nationalisms. Materials will include fiction, memoir, and critical theory from Jack Kerouac, Marilynne Robinson, and Inderpal Grewal; music from Ma Rainey, Memphis Minnie, and Led Zeppelin; and movies such as Bonnie and Clyde, Badlands, Thelma and Louise, My Own Private Idaho, Brokeback Mountain, and Transamerica.
8. COLLEGIATE SEXUALITIES.
The objective in this class is to learn about U.S. college students' sexualities. Is campus culture heterosexist, homophobic, or misogynistic? What are the personal and political consequences of identifying as gay, lesbian, straight, bi, queer, transgendered, intersexed, or something else? Do students conflate sexuality with Blackness (e.g., "Pimps and Ho's" parties)? What constitutes a hook-up? Is hooking up emotionally damaging or sexually unsatisfying for women, as older critics have claimed? Is there a double standard for men and women (e.g., "He's a player" but "She's a slut")? Do hook-ups usually involve drunkenness? Can drunk students give each other consent to engage in a sexual activity? To answer such questions we will read works by scholars from a variety of disciplines as well as works by journalists and college students. Texts include Peggy Sanday's Fraternity Gang Rape, Laura Bogle's Hooking Up, and Ariel Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs.
9. PLACE AND PLACE: IDENTIFY AND LOCATION IN AMERICAN FICTION.
One popular view of personhood is that of the self-made individual, but narratives often present us with an opposing picture in which the environment alters or determines the self more than the reverse. In this class, we will read short stories and brief novels that present protagonists whose character is permeable, where one's social and physical position are mutually constitutive. Readings will include Poe, Cisneros, Momaday, and others.
10. SHAKESPEARE AT THE MOVIES.
Shakespeare's plays are wonderfully, beautifully wordy, but wordy movies can be tedious and often quite unwatchable. To translate Shakespeare to the screen requires a film maker who can see what Shakespeare is saying and then present that vision to us in moving images that retain and even amplify the subtlety, insight, and imagination of the Shakespearean text. Some great film makers-Wells, Olivier, Kurosawa, and Branagh among others--have been able to do this very well and the works they have produced are both profoundly Shakespearean and profoundly their own. How film makers see Shakespeare and translate this vision to the screen will be the central focus of this course. We will read Shakespeare and we will watch a lot of films. We will learn how to talk about Shakespeare and about film and, of course, about Shakespeare on film.
11. AFRICANISMS IN THE MUSICS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
This course surveys African musical elements as they exist in North, South and Central America as well as in the Caribbean Islands. Through readings, lectures, videos and sound recordings, we will trace the historical origins of some traditional aspects found in Africa and relate them to the development of many musical genres found in the Western Hemisphere.
12. HOOD SCIENCE 101: SCHOLARS, SCHOOLS AND RULES IN SOUTHCENTRAL LOS ANGELES.
Hood Science 101 introduces students to Critical Literacy as a mode of knowledge pursuit and production among local urban youth. In this course, we examine the social and political economic forces that have come to shape 'Southcentral' and connected communities as a backdrop for understanding urban schooling in Los Angeles. In order to understand the relationships that urban youth have with schools as institutions, we explore the tensions between various notions of literacy, how schools assess that literacy, and students' own desire/ability to "read and write" the world. In particular, we focus on participatory action research (PAR) as a methodology for empowering urban youth in the service of their own education.
13. HARRY POTTER AND THE ACADEMIC CONVERSATION.
Paganism. Censorship. Gender roles. Justice. Discrimination. All these issues have been raised in connection with J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. We will examine these best-selling novels and their film adaptations, analyzing and assessing the numerous approaches that scholars have taken in their studies of them. We will enter the conversation that academics have begun, investigating these well-loved books, movies, and the rest of the Harry Potter industry, and examining our own social issues as reflected by the magical world.
14. REMAPPING FRONTIERS: THE MEXICO-U.S. BORDERLANDS SINCE 1800.
This seminar uses primary documents as well as works of fiction, film, and history to examine the social, political, economic and cultural organization and representation of the Mexico-U.S. borderlands since 1800. In the last 200 years, this region changed from a periphery of the Spanish empire, to provinces of northern Mexico, and finally, to the southwestern region of the United States. The area is a site of complicated and overlapping histories marked by processes of colonialism, nationalism and diaspora. With particular attention to issues of gender, race, place and power, students will examine various approaches to Mexico-U.S. borderlands studies within the fields of Chicana/o, Mexican, U.S. Western, and transnational histories. Ultimately, the course explores the historical processes that have produced a dynamic contact zone and the interdependency of Mexico and the United States while engaging the concepts and issues that have shaped the master narrative of borderlands studies, in general.
15. CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENT SEMESTER.
This part of the California Environment Semester will concentrate on improving your writing and presentation skills, and will enhance the learning you will do throughout CES. We will explore the California environment and our relationship through readings, discussions, oral presentations, and written assignments.
16. REMEMBERING SLAVERY.
In last year's historic speech on race and the American nation, Barack Obama called slavery "this nation's original sin." Despite much recent talk of racial reconciliation, the United States and its peoples have only just begun to confront the brutal legacies of chattel slavery. This course explores how various Americans have remembered slavery at three important junctures in the nation's history: the era of Jim Crow segregation; the decades of mass Civil Rights and Black Power movements; and the 2008 bicentennial of the Atlantic slave trade abolition. Participants will explore the question of slavery's remembrance while gaining insight into the racial politics of these three eras. How has the memory of African enslavement continued to play a role in national politics and culture? How is the historical memory of slavery linked to contemporary movements for social justice? What is the legacy of American enslavement and what, if any, are the appropriate forms of redress and commemoration? We will investigate these questions by looking at early twentieth-century oral history, Civil Rights and Black Power documents, the 1970s mass media phenomenon of Roots, and recent international memorials of the Atlantic slave trade, as well as contemporary films that wrestle with this difficult past.
17. THE UNEXAMINED DIGITAL LIFE.
Taking guidance from Socrates, the course will engage students in examining the impact of digital technologies on the social and cultural practices of the world in which we live and interact. Readings, discussion and writing will focus on how certain technologies frame our world view, privilege certain structures and relationships, and alter previously developed balances in social, legal and ethical arenas.
18. NUTRITION AND DISEASE.
The course focuses on the etiology of the major degenerative diseases in our society and the role genetics, diet, and exercise play in their development and treatment. Diseases covered include heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and hypertension. Treatment and prevention will focus on how dietary modifications along with exercise can be utilized to treat disease. The current scientific research covering the metabolic, cellular and systemic changes involved in their progression will be of particular focus. This course will cover nutrition and its relationship to health and disease. The physiology and biochemistry of nutrient utilization, from ingestion to use and excretion, will be discussed in relation to their roles in health and disease.
19. GENDER, RACE AND GAY RIGHTS IN THE OBAMA ERA.
This course is an introduction to the concept that gender, race, sex and sexuality (among other aspects of one's identity) are social constructions. We shall examine the fight for equal citizenship for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Americans, commonly known as the "gay rights movement." Using the period beginning with the birth of Barack Obama in August 1961 we will focus specifically on how notions of who can marry as well as the cultural, religious, legal and societal significance of marriage have changed as the country enters the era of President Obama. Our texts will be academic articles, court cases, popular media pieces and moving images. All students in this class will be using Web 2.0 tools such as blogging, twitter and web publishing to facilitate their development as both consumers and producers of intellectual content. No previous knowledge is required and technological support will be provided.
20. 20TH CENTURY MUSICIANS: IN THEIR OWN WORDS.
What insights into the musical life of the American 20th century can be gleaned from the writings of leaders who helped shape its course? This class endeavors to find out. Through selected readings of work by 20th century American composers and musicians, this course examines, in memoirs and musical essays, the stories American musicians tell about their artistic journeys. At times joyful, at times painful, their narratives are always compelling, and provide deeper and more abiding insights into the music of our recent past. Our reading list includes memoirs by singer Celia Cruz and composer John Adams, and musical essays by composer Ned Rorem and composer/trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. No prior musical knowledge required.
21. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SING?—SINGING IN THE LITERARY IMAGINATION.
At some point in all of our lives, we find ourselves singing, alone or with others, in formal or informal settings, songs we want others to hear, and songs to and for ourselves. What inspires us to sing? How is singing different from speaking? What kinds of singing are there, and what do those different kinds of singing mean? These are a few of the questions that will guide us as we analyze and develop arguments about a rich array of English-language literary works (from Edgar Allan Poe to Willa Cather to Toni Morrison) that take singing as their focus. Students will not need to read music, for our investigation will be the way that singing, as both a literal and metaphorical activity, speaks to what it means to be human.
22. SEX, GENDER AND LOVE: PSYCHOLOGICAL AND LITERARY PERSPECTIVES.
This course explores sexuality, gender and intimate relationships in humans and other animals. Primary psychological texts, reviews, and fiction will inform a survey of evolutionary, neurohormonal, behavioral, developmental, social, interpersonal, and symbolic processes. The two sections of this course will be taught by different instructors with overlapping and complementary expertise; they will have a common syllabus and the two sections will occasionally meet together.
23. NATURE WRITING AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
This course will examine classic and contemporary texts considered as nature writing in the U.S. We will explore three themes in depth: 1) nature writing as literary genre, 2) nature writing as development of spiritual awareness, and 3) nature writing as expression of ecological/environmental concern. Students will write essays that analyze nature writing texts in light of these three themes.
24. REEL LIVES: READING AND WRITING ABOUT DOCUMENTARY.
"Reel Lives" will explore documentary with an eye toward understanding the ways non-fictional films "tell the truth." We will write about a variety of films from different traditions within documentary history. Our themes include "Documentary Muckrakers," "Noble Savages: Documenting the Other," "New Realisms and the Promise of Direct Cinema," and "Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself: Rockumentary Revelations." Within these themes are films such as Flaherty's Nanook of the North, Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, Jean Rouch's Chronicle of a Summer, and the Maysles brothers' Gimme Shelter. The goal of the course is to understand film representation in new ways that take into consideration the rhetorical, ethical, and philosophical implications of the genre. By the end of the course students will have knowledge of a number of key titles in documentary and a better understanding of the term "film truth."
25. VIRTUE AND IRONY IN THE FIGURE OF SOCRATES.
The figure of Socrates, both historical and fictional, is riddled with contradictions. Ironically, he is at once both ugly and beautiful, wise and ignorant, philosopher and artisan, male and female. By looking at his trial and death, we can see the character of his life and the virtues he embodied: self-restraint, courage, wisdom and justice. It is the distinctive mark of Socratic education that at once defuses a kind of metaphysical arrogance and generates a kind of grace. Readings will include primarily Plato, but also Aristophanes, Xenophon and Aristotle. In addition to a variety of writing exercises, students will compose a character to perform in a class play.
26. THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.
Americans are simultaneously fascinated and repulsed by prisons, prisoners, and prison life. A consistent reminder of this fascination is the proliferation of an array of reality TV programs exposing life behind prison walls and the popularity of fictional programs and movies about prison life. This course transcends the voyeuristic obsession with prisons and takes a meaningful look at the reality of imprisonment. My personal contact with prisons and prisoners during my years as a public defender and prisoners' rights advocate has taught me that the prison population exists outside of the democratic sphere. This experience has afforded me a deeper appreciation and understanding of core democratic principles of freedom, civil liberties, human rights and equal protection and has energized me to advocate for those principles on behalf of disenfranchised individuals and communities. I believe that students who study incarceration will develop a greater appreciation for and understanding of broad democratic principles.
27. MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
Many people aspire to live in ethically responsible ways and make the world a better place through purposeful action. This course will examine a variety of social problems alongside how local and regional social actors, academics, artists, social movements, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, voluntary organizations and citizens try to generate change. We will also learn how to view social, economic, and political problems from academic and organizing perspectives as well as how to act on them.
28. THEATER AND HISTORY.
When theater meets history great artistic moments may occur. Often artworks shock the public and/or challenge the authorities. We can thus learn about history from plays and performances. For example, Bertolt Brecht wrote his play "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" about a Chicago mobster who satirically represented Adolf Hitler's political rise in Germany. Arthur Miller wrote "The Crucible" about the 17th century's witch trials to talk about McCarthyism in the United States in the 1950s. Similarly, the East German writer and poet Heiner Müller wrote his play "Hamlet Machine" in the 1970s, but the meaning of his play was only realized during the mass protests in East Germany in 1989. Our class will explore several plays of 20th century and contemporary theater, their dramaturgy, their productions (mostly on DVD), and their historical context.
29. DEMON DRUGS: INTOXICATION IN AMERICAN CULTURE.
This seminar will investigate historical transformations in how American society has defined and responded to problematic drinking and drug use, from the seventeenth-century sermons of Puritan minister Cotton Mather to the news coverage of the crack epidemic of the late 1980s. We will not ask whether addiction constitutes a disease or a moral failing, nor will we define what constitutes healthy or unhealthy drinking and drug use. Rather, students will trace the history of changing consumption patterns of alcohol, opiates, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogenics, and other drugs in the United States. And we will consider the evolving meaning of drugs in American culture by tracing the historical development of multiple and often conflicting responses to problematic drug use. Major questions we will explore include, why are intoxication and addiction particularly pressing problems in a democratic society? How has the line between licit and illicit drug use been defined and enforced? How do wealth and class shape perceptions of drug use? How and why have alcohol and drug use been used to stigmatize various racial groups? To what extent are perceptions of alcohol and drug use governed by gender?
30. THE POLITICS OF EROS: PHILOSOPHIES OF LOVE AND LITERARY EXPRESSION IN THE WESTERN TRADITION.
What is eros? A feeling? A philosophy? A social contract or bond? Why are many of the major works of literature in western culture dominated by debates about love and its most ideal expression? This course examines how concepts of sexual and romantic love have evolved and changed from Plato to the present day. Paying particular attention to key classical texts that have influenced the expression of amorous themes, this course will focus on representations of love across a diverse range of narrative forms of literature. This course will also investigate how the language of love and desire that characterizes the private grievances of the suffering lover is often the primary vehicle for the expression of political discontent. What is the relationship between desire and persuasion? How is love a metaphor for the individual's relationship to authority? We will take up these critical questions and others as we explore how literary texts both reflect the social norms of their times and contribute to the creation of new ideals of sexual and romantic union.
CULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAM SPRING “GLOBAL ISSUES” RESEARCH SEMINARS
50. FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS TO THE "DEATH OF GOD".
This interdisciplinary study of European culture will examine and analyze material from literature, philosophy, science, medicine, religion, the arts, and political theory. We will consider, in their historical context, such figures as the authors of the Hebrew Bible, Homer, Sappho, Hippocrates, Sophocles, Thucydides, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, the authors of The New Testament, St. Augustine, figures in medieval Islamic science and medicine, Machiavelli, Luther, Calvin, Copernicus, Kepler, Queen Elizabeth, Galileo, Descartes, Locke, Newton, Defoe, Voltaire, Rousseau, Mozart, Wollstonecraft, Napoleon, Charlotte Corday (bathtub murderess of the French Revolutionary leader Marat), Mary Shelley (author of the original Frankenstein), Bram Stoker (author of the original Dracula), Balzac, Marx, Darwin, Florence Nightingale, Nietzsche (and his claim that "God is dead") Freud, Woolf, Sartre, de Beauvoir, and Gandhi. This is an 8-unit colloquium and seminar course. Students enrolled in this colloquium will not only receive credit for the first year spring seminar requirement, but also will meet the Core Program's Cultural Studies Distribution requirement for Europe.
51. IMMIGRATION AND RACE IN AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE.
Hollywood movies will be the starting point of an exploration of how our nation of immigrants has influenced and produced American popular culture, while navigating and interrupting historic racial divisions. Our texts will be movies, music, and critical essays, fueling discussions of how race, gender, law, and global politics converge on the immigrant subject and emerge in the production of popular culture, ultimately creating new ideas of what it means to be an American.
52. SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS.
Would you rather win the lottery or become a paraplegic? Surprisingly, scientists have found that a year later, both groups of people are similarly happy. Doing good can be more rewarding than pursuing hedonic pleasure, and more choices can actually make us less happy. This course will look at the research about happiness to better understand which factors really do improve well-being, and experiment with applying these principles to our own lives. We also will examine how happiness varies as a function of cultural context, both across countries and within a culture (such as by age, marital status, social class, and more). This course will challenge you to take a close look at your values, goals, and decisions through examination of happiness from a scientific perspective.
53. THE UNBEARABLE WHITENESS OF BARBIE: RACE AND POPULAR CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES.
Have you ever said or thought "I don't look like a Barbie!"? Join the crowd. However, the problem that Barbie presents is infinitely more complex than her supposed life-sized measurements. As the embodiment of complex discourses on race, sex and gender Barbie provides a central figure for this course in exploring broader themes, particularly those of race and social justice. Thus, we will cover a wide territory that ranges from an exploration of the ways in which scientific racism has been put to use in the making of Barbie to an interpretation of the film The Matrix as a Marxist critique of capitalism. You'll never play with your toys the same way again.
54. TRANSNATIONAL SUBJECTS.
This course will explore the impact of lives lived across national borders. Critically examining traditional concepts such as "citizen" and "immigrant," we will look at communities, cultures, and ideas that are shaped by people moving back and forth across national borderlines. We will consider new ways of understanding social issues, such as trafficking in persons, crime and criminalization, and political "belonging," as these are affected by cross-border movements of people, ideas, capital, and technologies between the U.S. and "elsewhere." The course will draw from a variety of academic disciplines; materials will include first-person narratives, theoretical articles and fictional works.
55. COWBOYS, SAMURAI, MANLY MEN: IMAGES OF MASCULINITY.
What does it take to be a "man"? What does it mean to be "manly"? How is manhood depicted in literature and popular media? This class will explore answers to these questions (and more) through a consideration of various literary and filmic texts. We will examine many representations of masculinity to help us understand how and why constructions of manhood change over time, cultures, landscapes, and in relation to events or experiences. We will also consider stereotypes of manhood and the symbols, myths, and practices that give a sense of order and perhaps even "naturalness" to representations of masculinity. Finally, we will explore the intersections of race, class, and ethnicity in the constitution of masculine identity. Texts may include films by Sergio Leone (such as Fistful of Dollars or The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, among a selection of contemporary films, along with literary texts by Jack Kerouac, Chester Himes, and Ernest Hemingway.
56. US-MEXICAN RELATIONS: COOPERATION AND CONFLICT.
Two neighbors with very different pasts, legal traditions, interests and needs, the United States and Mexico have clashed repeatedly but have also learned to cooperate on many issues. This course studies U.S.-Mexican relations at three levels: governments, groups, and individuals. It also explores the impact that changes at one level have on the others — for example, whether changes in U.S. economic and migration policy can alter the incentives for undocumented migration, how the U.S. and Mexican governments have responded to increased cross-border drug traffic, and how Mexican towns have changed with the influx of remittances sent by migrants living in the United States. This course gives students a chance to discuss and understand the complexity of current events in areas such as the life of Mexican-Americans in the United States, border control, drug traffic, and regional trade. Students will perfect their writing skills, generate questions on relevant policy and ethical issues, and reflect on the past, the present and the future of the bilateral relationship.
57. UNDERSTANDING HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH LITERATURE & FILM.
In this course, we will explore the themes of social justice and human rights through the lens of poetry, non-fiction, documentaries, and feature films. The course offers a broad introduction to international human rights norms and instruments, with a primary focus on the problem of genocide and crimes against humanity in the post-World War II period. Through examining rights violations in countries such as Cambodia, Rwanda, and South Africa, we will engage in critical thinking and debate on issues such as the obligation of the "international community" to prevent and respond to grievous rights violations, the challenge to peace posed by the memory of violence and oppression, and the relationship between justice and reconciliation.
58. MUSIC AND TRANCE: HOW MUSIC INFLUENCES THE ECSTATIC STATE THROUGHOUT THE GLOBE.
This course explores the relationship between music and consciousness in different world cultures with the intention of developing an understanding of the role that music plays in ecstatic experiences. This course draws on ethnomusicology, psychology, anthropology, dance ethnology, and religious studies.
59. FROM THE UNDEAD TO THE ALREADY DEAD: VAMPIRES, ZOMBIES AND MONSTERS IN LITERATURE AND FILM.
The course will consider the ways in which such books as Frankenstein and Dracula and such films as Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days and I Am Legend complicate the distinction between the living and the dead, and the human and the inhuman. What are the consequences when certain individuals or, increasingly, groups (or even populations) are declared, despite appearances, undead or already dead rather than living? In what ways are such declarations tied to the use of violence and deadly force? We will take as our starting point philosopher Giorgio Agamben's assertion that one of the central political categories of modernity is that of homo sacer, the individual who can be killed with impunity.
60. TOO SOON?...A COMEDIC APOLOGY.
Comedians — sometimes they go too far. And the really shameful thing is that even as we attempt to rouse indignation at comedy's habitual improprieties, we often find that we ourselves can scarcely resist the temptation to laugh. Surely, comedy's outrageous and insulting behavior demands some kind of apology. In this class, an apology is what we shall aim at (and don't call me "Shirley"). The sort of "apology" we shall attempt to develop for comedy in this class, however (in case you had not already guessed), is not the modern kind, the one synonymous with "being sorry," but rather the ancient kind of "apology," the one that meant giving a formal account (a "logos") of one's behavior so as to defend to oneself from legal prosecution ("apo-" in Greek means "away from"). Such an Apology is of course what Socrates offered the Athenians in defense of philosophy, even as he attacked the Greek comedian, Aristophanes. In this course, then, we shall attempt to turn the tables on Socrates, and defend comedy from philosophy (and from whatever other institutions that try to get in comedy's way). The course will divide its attention between the ancient and the modern: we shall trace comedy's literary origin all the way back to archaic Dionysiac worship; yet we shall listen carefully as well to the testimony of a number of important, contemporary witnesses for the defense: a cultural ambassador (reputedly) from Kazakhstan, a group of cartoon school children from Colorado, a family of dysfunctional, corporate criminals from Orange County, and many, many more.
61. THE RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE.
The Russian Experience focuses on the enigma and riddle known as "Rus", "Russia", "The Russian Empire", "The Soviet Union" and "The Russian Federation". This strange land has been a combination of great extremes: West and East, blinding poverty and dazzling wealth, great talent and shocking brutality. The course focuses on the period of Russia's explosion onto the world stage both politically and artistically, beginning with the reign of Alexander I, the Napoleonic Wars and the Decembrist Revolt, and following the development of Russian society and the Russian/Soviet State through the 19th and 20th Centuries, up to the current post-Soviet Russian Federation. There will be equal emphasis on internal politics, the arts, and international relations.
62. EDUCATION AND THE GOOD LIFE FROM RENAISSANCE THROUGH ENLIGHTENMENT.
An opportunity to enter into the culture of Europe during the ages of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Meet the writers: Christine de Pizan, Machiavelli, Castiglione, More, Montaigne, Bacon, Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Wollstonecraft. Meet the artists: Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Gentilleschi, Bernini, Poussin, Boucher, and David. The goal is to improve your thinking and writing skills on subjects overlapping the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts.
63. GETTING HIGH: ALCOHOL AND DRUG USE IN AMERICA AND THE WORLD.
Both controversial and ubiquitous, alcohol consumption and drug use have been contentious social issues throughout human history. The study of alcohol and drugs can thus open a fascinating window into society and culture. This class will consider the wide variety of drugs consumed through history, and the multiple, changing, and contradictory ways in which societies have defined acceptable and problematic drug consumption. This class will not seek to define what constitutes healthy or unhealthy drinking and drug use. Rather, the class will consider the changing place and meaning of drugs in various historical contexts. Major questions the course will investigate include, How did alcohol and drugs shape colonialism and globalization? How have alcohol and drug use been used to stigmatize racial minorities and the poor? How do perceptions of intoxication reflect and shape cultural understandings of gender differences? Lectures, readings, and assignments will place the history of American drug and alcohol use in a broad international and multicultural context, asking such questions as, why did laborers in 19th century China smoke opium while American laborers preferred whiskey? And how did Native American religious beliefs about mescaline shape perceptions of LSD on American college campuses? Students will be given broad freedom to develop a research topic on most any aspect of the history of alcohol and drug use.
64. THE ENDS AND MEANS TO THE LIBERATION OF SOUND.
This course reviews the 20th-century origins of today's sound landscapes, covering the aesthetics of noise, silence, space, and sound mass, the development of new instruments (new acoustic and electronic instruments, re-invented classical instruments, the electronic music studio, the computer), the international development of creation studios, and the dissemination of sound (radio, recording, the World Wide Web with the MP3, etc.). Sound recordings, films, and articles reviewed will include works by some of the most important music creators of modern times.
65. BIOLOGY, LAW, AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION.
This course is designed to investigate and evaluate current scientific data on the role of biology in determining sexual orientation. We shall investigate and evaluate these data in order to pursue the social and legal implications of their interpretation. While biological findings on sexual orientation will be presented and explained, the level of instruction will be geared for non-biology majors with special guest lectures by Prof. Kerry Thompson, Department of Biology. Furthermore, no prior familiarity with social policy and law on this topic will be presupposed. Some questions that will guide our inquiry include: What is the data that supports biological predisposition? Is sexual orientation genetic? Is it epigenetic? Is it immutable or a matter of choice? How should the law treat sexual orientation as a matter of classification? How should the benefits and burdens of the law be distributed according to this classification? What effect do stereotypes of sexual orientation have on science and social policy, for example, in AIDS research? This course aims to promote an understanding of the biological impact on complex behaviors such as sexual orientation, and to discuss the social and legal implications of that relationship as engaged citizens.
66. THE SCIENCE OF MORALITY.
What distinguishes right from wrong? What distinguishes fair from unfair? What creatures are capable of moral reasoning? What creatures are worthy of moral consideration? How do our moral intuitions change over time? How do our moral intuitions vary across cultures? This course will explore contemporary research on the nature and origin of moral appraisal, with an emphasis on psychological, biological, and philosophical perspectives. Differences in the methods and assumptions of each perspective will be explored through the analysis of primary source materials.
67. EXISTENTIALISM.
Existentialism is a philosophy that grapples with the problem of human freedom and moral choice in a world that often seems devoid of transcendental meaning or purpose. In this course we will read literary and philosophical texts from the Argentine, French, German, Russian, and Spanish existentialist traditions, and will explore the structures and possibilities of consciousness, knowledge, desire, imagination, aesthetics, ethics, and political commitment. Authors studied will include Albert Camus, Fydor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, Eduardo Mallea, Ernesto Sábato, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Miguel de Unamuno.
68. BRECHTIAN PERFORMANCE.
Breaking the fourth wall, breaking character, breaking out in song — when an actor, writer or director breaks the standard "rules" of performance his or her actions can be traced time and again to the staging techniques of revolutionary German theater artist Bertolt Brecht. This class will examine the roots of Brecht's alienation affect and how its basic aim to emotionally distance the audience from the art can be seen in myriad contemporary American artistic settings: from Broadway to performance art to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Students will study and interpret various texts, creating original Brechtian performances of their own.
69. JOBS & JUSTICE: THE LABOR MOVEMENT AND AMERICAN CULTURE.
Work is not only a means for survival, but also a way for people to establish identity, meaning, and social relationships. Work is also about power and the ability to shape one's working and living conditions. This course focuses on workers — poor and middle class, employed and unemployed, legal and illegal — and their strategies to improve their employment and political conditions, especially through labor unions. It examines the history and contemporary condition of work, workers' rights, and unions in the context of changes in American society, culture, and politics. This course traces the history of work and the labor movement from the rise of corporate capitalism in the late nineteenth century to the challenges of globalization (and economic crisis) today. We will explore the debates over unions and their role in the economy, society, and political system. We will explore changing and contested ideas about worker rights and human rights, debates over the corporate power and government regulation, and comparisons between the U.S. and other societies. We will look at the issue of "sweatshops" in history, overseas, and in the contemporary United States. We will look at how work, workers, unions, and employers have been portrayed in popular culture, including newspapers, films, and literature. We will examine the connection between work, class, gender, race, families, and immigrant status. We will also consider the link between political democracy and economic democracy. We will explore current challenges facing unions and their future. We will look at current controversies between business, labor, and citizen groups over reforming laws regulating the relationship between management and employees. We will explore the question: does the labor movement have a future? The course will pay special attention to the condition of workers and their unions in Los Angeles. Finally, we will discuss why (and if) college students should care about unions. We will explore these issues through readings, films, songs, poems, plays, guest speakers, field trips, class discussions, and writing assignments.
70. WOMEN AND THE FEMININE IN PLATO'S PHILOSOPHY.
Western philosophy, beginning with Plato, was primarily by, for, and about men. Women were not invited to participate in the public or political arena. Instead, they maintained the private sphere, necessity, thus affording men the leisure and freedom to pursue philosophy. And yet, the same culture that excluded and oppressed the women also appropriated the feminine, and particularly the maternal feminine, as a construct for their philosophical speculation. Indeed, it was Plato's Socrates, the consummate male philosopher, whose philosophical effectiveness occurred while he was operating with female power. Readings will include primarily Plato, but also Hippocrates, Xenophon and Aristotle.
71. DISNEYLAND AND URBANISM.
From Shanghai to Celebration, Florida, to the new LA Live complex, all around the world real urban areas are increasingly being redesigned to mimic theme parks, driven by dreams of modernity and mass mediated culture. And it all began with Southern California's own Disneyland Park. In this course, we will trace the complex historical dialogue between the iconic amusement park and its urban environment in Southern California over the past half-century, carefully analyzing urban and social history, film, and literature to discover what Disneyland can teach us about the strange, often sprawling geography and culture of modern global urbanism and particularly the peculiar urban environment all around us.
72. HOW TO SAVE THE EARTH.
Recent scholarship has portrayed an intimate connection between a variety of problems around the world, ranging from education, health, hunger, disease, the environment and even war, and the citizens of rich and influential countries like the United States. Much of this literature describes the United States and its people as part of both the origins of varying problems as well as their possible solutions. We will compare the ways in which Americans and the international community attempt to collaborate and intervene in societies and social problems across the globe. Drawing on multiple disciplines and case studies, we will ask critical questions, engage in cross-national analysis and develop as writers and researchers.
73. MISSION OF THE ARTS.
What is "art"? What are visual art, performing art, music, or literature good for? What can art say? How can we describe, interpret, and analyze it? We discuss these questions at the level of individual perception and of aesthetics as well as in regard to the prevailing political system and to the place of art in education. We will focus on performing arts but incorporate visual art, music, and literature as well. We will not only read selections from philosophical and theoretical texts by Aristotle, Sigmund Freud, Theodor W. Adorno, but we will also read texts by artists on art and anti-art (for example texts by Friedrich Schiller, the Dadaists, Bertolt Brecht, and Tadeusz Kantor). Our readings will give us an idea of the history of the West's understanding of "art". A liberal arts college's mission refers to the ancient idea that art and science are not separated. In view of this background we will question notions of beauty, taste, truth, authenticity, perception, and, last but not least, knowledge. All analysis and writing will be related to particular art works or artistic concepts. We will not only explore the meaning of art but we will engage in field trips to a few current art events in the Los Angeles area and in in-class performances. We will explore the political impact and restrictions of the arts and their value in education.
74. IDEOLOGY AND SOCIAL UNREST IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
In the early years of the twentieth century, the United States experienced a series of violent labor strikes, lynchings, bombings, and assassinations that culminated in 1919 with a terrorist attack on Wall Street that left thirty-eight people dead and scores of wounded men, women and children. The response to this terrorist act was not unlike the reaction to 9/11 in our own time. American democratic institutions seemed threatened by foreign terrorists and ideologies: anarchism, Marxism, fascism. This seminar will study the relationship between varying ideologies and social unrest in our history, using the year 1919 as a case study, and then examining similar themes in the 1960s and present day society.
75. FROM BOYS TO MEN: MODERN MASCULINITIES IN LITERATURE AND FILM.
In examining what it means to be a man today, this course will focus on moments of transition in which multiple definitions of masculinity intersect, conflict, or transform. When does the boy become a man? What rituals and rites of passage inform modern and postmodern conceptions of masculinity? How do relationships between family members, friends, and lovers influence ideas about masculinity? Finally, how do moral conventions, violence, and war change or reinforce these definitions? Each writer we will encounter in this course depicts a struggle to grow up and into an identity that can be seen as separate and distinct from versions of manhood that, at times, seem imposed from the outside (by family, society, religion, and nation). Writing about these varied experiences poses another problem as the authors attempt to articulate the personal, which may often also be the unspeakable. As a consequence, we will see a blurring of fact and fiction and witness acts of memory that serve both the personal and the political. We will seek to understand how boys are called or interpolated into manhood by the nation and the family; how war's violence and aggression shapes masculinity and conceptions of fear and bravery; and how art, literature, and imagination influence the development of sexual and racial consciousness. Does becoming a man mean leaving home to seek unknown adventure and peril in an exotic locale? How does the boy-becoming-a-man balance allegiances to family, friends, and self with his own desires and ambitions? We will explore these questions and others as we look critically at how boys become men.
OTHER COURSES
89. INFORMATION LITERACY/LIBRARY RESEARCH.
This course is designed to provide students with step-by-step information mentoring in conjunction with their spring CSP research paper. Students explore information organization and resources (print and digital), as provided by and accessed through the library. Students develop fluency in identifying, locating, evaluating, selecting, and using appropriate information resources. Information ethics and presentation skills are also addressed. This course is graded CR/NC only and will not meet specific Major or Core requirements. Open to freshmen only.
1 unit
99. EXPERIENCING THE ARTS.
This course is designed to expose students to the arts, to broaden their cultural horizons, and to instill in them a desire to expand their knowledge of and attention to the arts. In addition, the course is designed to prepare students for life-long learning, for engaging in their communities, and for having the basis for further exploration in the field of the arts. Students may acquire one semester unit of credit for attending eight on-campus events during a semester. Students will select these events from a list of events compiled each year by the Arts Committee; at least two of the events attended must combine an arts presentation with a lecture or discussion by the artist or a faculty member. A short two-page paper is due on the last day of class. This course is graded CR/NC only and will not meet specific Major/Minor or Core requirements. Students may take this course twice, for a maximum of two units being applied toward graduation.
1 unit
195. ACADEMIC COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
The overall purpose of this seminar is to provide students with an overview of university-community engagement philosophy, historical and academic context, as well as various models of engagement. Students will read and discuss various definitions of Service Learning (Community Based Learning at Occidental), and will compare them with definitions of other service related programs such as volunteerism, community service, internships, and field education. Students will learn about the various ways in which Occidental engages with community. This is a Community Based Learning seminar. Students will be required to already be engaged with community organizations or schools for a minimum of 6 hours per week in order to be admitted in the seminar. Only community service not connected to a class, internship, or independent credit, will comply with this requirement. [Students will be expected to provide written confirmation from the community partner about the project in which they are engaged.] Community partners will be invited to talk about their organizations and to co-facilitate discussion. The seminar may be repeated once for credit. Not open to frosh.
2 units
CORE DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS (to be completed before the end of the junior year). In addition to the first-year seminars, Occidental requires courses in various departments selected to provide a broad background in cultural and disciplinary studies. These include at least 12 units in culture and fine arts; 12 units in science and/or mathematics; and the equivalent of language 102 in a language other than English, as detailed below. Note that some courses have prerequisites. Without exception, courses not on this list must be petitioned before you enroll in the course in order to be counted toward the requirement.
1) Culture and Fine Arts: A minimum of 12 units (16 or 20 units are recommended) continue and expand on the seminars by situating the study of culture and the arts in specific disciplinary and geographical contexts. Students must enroll in a minimum of four units in each of three different geographical groupings. Pre-1800: Four units must represent study of the period prior to 1800, and four must be devoted to the fine arts. Pre-1800 courses can also satisfy one of the geographical categories, while courses devoted to studio art and theater and music performance do not usually carry a geographical emphasis. Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate examinations may not be used to satisfy any of these requirements.
The geographical groups are as follows:
Group 1: Africa and The Middle East
Group 2: Central, South, and East Asia
Group 3: Europe
Group 4: Latin America
Group 5: The United States
Group 6: Intercultural
2) Science/Mathematics Requirement. The requirements listed here are for students who matriculated at Occidental College in or after Fall 2007. A minimum of 12 units in science and mathematics. Four units must be in a science course with a laboratory component. The remaining 8 units may be taken from among any of the courses that satisfy the Science/Mathematics requirement. Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate examinations may not be used to satisfy any of these requirements.
Students who matriculated at Occidental College prior to Fall 2007 have a slightly different Science and Mathematics (Formal Methods of Reasoning) requirement, and they should consult their entering catalog for the description of those requirements.
CORE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSFER STUDENTS:
To meet the Core Requirements, transfer students must have taken the equivalents of a Cultural Studies Seminar (4 units), a minimum of 20 additional units in distribution courses in culture and fine arts, 12 units in science and mathematics, and must complete the language requirement. Transfer students are not enrolled in Occidental’s Cultural Studies Program Seminars, which are designed for first-year students. Transfer students ordinarily meet many of these requirements — including the seminar — on the basis of work done at other colleges and universities. Appropriate equivalents are determined in consultation with the Core Program Office and the Registrar.
Cultural Studies Seminar (4 units). A conventional English composition class, or a course specified as “writing-intensive,” will ordinarily satisfy this requirement. Any four-unit course in Occidental’s Department of English Writing will meet the seminar requirement. The first stage of the writing requirement is a different requirement, and is explained here.
Culture and Fine Arts Distribution Courses (20 units). Transfer students must take a minimum of four units from each of three groups listed above, and must take four units in courses designated “pre-1800” and four units in courses designated as “fine arts.” All “pre-1800” and many “fine arts” courses also satisfy an area studies requirement, (separate courses in studio art, theater, and music performance often satisfy only the fine arts requirement, but we strongly recommend taking one such course).
Mathematics and Science (12 units). Most transfer students have met at least some of these upon entry. Of the 12 units, at least four must be in a science with laboratory.
All of these Core requirements should be completed as quickly as possible, and certainly no later than the end of the junior year.
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