Society for the Humanities (SHUM)Arts and Sciences
Showing 48 results.
Course descriptions provided by the 2026-2027 Catalog.
Last Updated
- Schedule of Classes - October 15, 2026 7:07PM EDT
Classes
SHUM 1802
Course Description
This course seeks a fuller recounting of U.S. history by remapping what we understand as America. We will examine traditional themes in the teaching of U.S. history-territorial expansion and empire, migration ... view course details
SHUM 1930
Course Description
By posing seemingly simple questions such as what is love and who has the right to love, this introductory-level lecture course surveys how love has been experienced and expressed from the pre-modern period ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ASIAN 2930, FGSS 1940, HIST 1930, LGBT 1940
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- MW
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Ghosh, D
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 2011
Course Description
As a country, we are what we remember. But who decides what facts and stories about the past are important enough to memorialize? What does that decision tell us about power and truth? This class will ... view course details
SHUM 2080
Course Description
More than 400 years after his death, Shakespeare remains an inescapable part of world culture. His influence can be traced at every level, from traditional art forms like theater, poetry, and opera to ... view course details
SHUM 2101
Course Description
This interdisciplinary course (with an emphasis in anthropology) will introduce students to the multiple routes/roots, lived experiences, and imagined worlds of South Asians who have traveled to various ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: AAS 2100, ANTHR 2410
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 2241
Course Description
In this course we will use the Game of Thrones series as a way of familiarizing ourselves with different tools of cultural analysis and approaches in literary theory (such as narratology, psychoanalysis, ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: COML 2241
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 2435
Course Description
Maoism and Chinese Communism are not history after Mao's death in 1976. In China, Maoism holds the key to the enduring success of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), one of the most remarkable organizations ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: ASIAN 2425, CAPS 2435, HIST 2435
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- TR
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Sun, P
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 2455
Course Description
Bioethics is the study of ethical questions raised by advances in the medical field. Questions we'll discuss will include: Is it morally permissible to advance a patient's death, at his or her request, ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: PHIL 2455, STS 2451
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- MW
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Markovits, J
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- R
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 2462
Course Description
In this course we will read some of the most influential micro-history writers and explore examples of different subgenres of microhistory, such as individual biographies, family histories, social histories ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 2462, NES 2462
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- TR
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Minawi, M
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 2481
Course Description
Recovering the People's Past is a public history seminar that focuses on the ways that a diversity of people have shaped the U.S. past and how the creation of museums and broader forms of popular shape ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 2482
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- TR
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Suarez, C
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 2703
Course Description
From hieroglyphs to HTML, ancient poetry to audiotape, and Plato's cave to virtual reality, Thinking Media offers a multidisciplinary introduction to the most influential media formats of the last three ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: COML 2703, ENGL 2703, GERST 2703, MUSIC 2703, PMA 2703
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Credits and Grading Basis
3-4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 2729
Course Description
An introduction to the story of how human history from the earliest times through to the recent period interrelates with changing climate conditions on Earth. The course explores the whole expanse of human ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: ANTHR 2729, ANTHR 6729, ARKEO 2729, ARKEO 6729, CLASS 2729, CLASS 7727
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 2750
Course Description
These seminars offer an introduction to the humanities by exploring historical, cultural, social, and political themes. Students will explore themes in critical dialogue with a range of texts and media ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: ASRC 2750, COML 2750, NES 2750, RELST 2750, ROMS 2750, VISST 2750
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- TR
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Rebhi, S
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
For course description, see https://as.cornell.edu/research/hsp-core-courses.
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: BSOC 2750, CLASS 2750, ENGL 2950, MEDVL 2750
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- TR
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Rabedeau, J
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
For course description, see https://as.cornell.edu/research/hsp-core-courses.
SHUM 2754
Course Description
This course examines Near East's rich and diverse literary heritage. We will read a selection of influential and wondrous texts from ancient to modern times, spanning geographically from the Iberian peninsula ... view course details
SHUM 2800
Course Description
This course offers a survey of the art and culture of China from the Neolithic period to the twenty-first century to students who have no previous background in Chinese studies. The course begins with ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ARKEO 2800, ARTH 2800, ASIAN 2288
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Opt NoAud(Letter or S/U grades (no audit))
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- MW
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Pan, A
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- R
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Pan, A
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 2812
Course Description
An introduction to the history and theory of writing systems from cuneiform to the alphabet, historical and new writing media, and the complex relationship of writing technologies to human language and ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: ARKEO 2812, CLASS 2812, LING 2212, NES 2812, STS 2812, VISST 2812
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 3202
Course Description
We will study several of Plato's major dialogues, including the Apology, the Meno, Phaedo, and Republic. Topics include knowledge and reality, morality and happiness, and the nature of the soul. view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: CLASS 3669, PHIL 3202, PHIL 6202
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- MW
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Kamtekar, R
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 3455
Course Description
This course is about the surprisingly intricate relationship between humor and morality. We will investigate several theories of humor (theories of what makes things funny), we then turn our attention ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: PHIL 3455
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 3465
Course Description
This class considers the relationship between the body, knowledge and experience. We investigate the production and reproduction of the body across different times and spaces. Students examine specific ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: ANTHR 3465, BSOC 3460, STS 3460
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits GradeNoAud(Letter grades only (no audit))
SHUM 3475
Course Description
This course addresses central debates in the philosophy of legal punishment. We will analyze the leading theories of punishment, including the familiar retributivist and deterrent alternatives, as well ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: PHIL 3475
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 3490
Course Description
Museums are places where academic research meets the public. Though they remain among the most trusted types of institutions, they have increasingly come under critical scrutiny. Questions around museums' ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ANTHR 3490, ANTHR 6490, ARKEO 3490, ARKEO 6490, SHUM 6490
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- TR
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Rittershaus, A
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 3742
Course Description
When an African and an African American meet, solidarity is presumed, but often friction is the result. In this course, we will consider how Africans and African Americans see each other through literature. ... view course details
SHUM 3750
Course Description
This course explores the practice, theory, and methodology of humanities research, critical analysis, and communication through writing and oral presentation. We will study the work and impact of humanists ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: CLASS 3850, COML 3750
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- MW
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Platt, V
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
Department Consent Required (Add)
SHUM 3778
Course Description
Disinformation, gag laws, de-platforming, violent hate speech, recommendation algorithms, chatbots, image generators. This course will help us make sense of our increasingly volatile public sphere by surveying ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: ENGL 3778
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 3837
Course Description
Is Homo sapiens the only species capable of producing visual art? Nonhuman great apes, especially, seem to be able to draw, paint, and enjoy such works. Our prehistoric ancestors are responsible for the ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: COGST 3837, COML 3837, FREN 3837, ROMS 3837
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 4081
Course Description
This course explores the increasing presence of all the arts in prisons throughout the country and examines the increasing scholarship surrounding arts programs and their efficacy for incarcerated persons. ... view course details
SHUM 4103
Course Description
Vladimir Nabokov's legacy at Cornell is not limited to the world-famous literary works he produced here. The university's natural and built environments also provided powerful material for his lifelong ... view course details
SHUM 4172
Course Description
Tolstoy is impossible. An aristocrat who renounced the privileges of wealth and rank. A man of titanic appetites who repudiated meat, alcohol and sex. A Christian who did not believe in God and tried to ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: HIST 4172, RUSSL 4172
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
SHUM 4202
Course Description
There are two contrasting views of the status and role of women in Africa. One view portrays African women as controlled by men in all social institutions. Another view projects women as having a relatively ... view course details
SHUM 4243
Course Description
This class moves beyond the traditional disciplinary confines of academic history to examine museums, archival collections, parks, monuments, podcasts, op-eds, maps, and more as sites of historical inquiry, ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 4243, HIST 6243, SHUM 6243
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- R
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Martin, A
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 4455
Course Description
This seminar explores how patterned cloths serve as a symbolic medium, functioning on multiple levels of understanding and communication. As spun, dyed, and woven threads of consequence, textiles can be ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: ARTH 4855, ARTH 6855, ASIAN 4487, ASIAN 6644, VISST 4855, VISST 6855
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Opt NoAud(Letter or S/U grades (no audit))
SHUM 4670
Course Description
DNA has become a pervasive feature of our lives, and a critical object through which race and justice are imagined and contested. DNA shapes how we think about ancestral pasts, medical futures, identity, ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: ANTHR 4470, ASRC 4670, BSOC 4670, STS 4670
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 4719
Course Description
This course examines the Renaissance and the early modern period not only as a celebrated age of creativity, artistic innovation, and intellectual rebirth, but also as an era deeply marked by violence, ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: SHUM 6719
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 4722
Course Description
What would it mean to refuse to procreate, because of climate change? What kind of action is this refusal: the ultimate personal sacrifice, cavalier selfishness, or a perhaps a growing social movement? ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: SHUM 6722
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 4723
Course Description
Survival by Design: Desert Architecture at the End of the World investigates how architecture mediates survival in arid environments through history, environmental design, critical theory, and speculative ... view course details
SHUM 4724
Course Description
When disaster strikes – war, earthquake, epidemic, nuclear fallout – how do people survive and rebuild? This course explores the history and aftermath of natural disasters and man-made catastrophes. Such ... view course details
SHUM 4725
Course Description
This course explores more-than-human animals and their relationality with other species, including the human, in Korean literature, culture, and film. We will explore key questions in the environmental ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: SHUM 6725
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 4726
Course Description
This course surveys the evolution of queer Asian cinema as a critical and artistic mode of production. Students will rigorously examine and analyze each representative work of queer Asian cinema beyond ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: SHUM 6726
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 4750
Course Description
This course is designed to support seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program working on their capstone projects. Students in the course will be guided in their project research and writing. The course ... view course details
Regular Academic Session.
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Credits and Grading Basis
1 Credit GradeNoAud(Letter grades only (no audit))
Regular Academic Session.
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Credits and Grading Basis
1 Credit GradeNoAud(Letter grades only (no audit))
SHUM 4753
Course Description
The title of this course uses the single word “crisis” to pose two overlapping questions: First, how do scientists cope with the threats to their credibility posed by the surge of populism and ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: STS 4753
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
SHUM 6243
Course Description
This class moves beyond the traditional disciplinary confines of academic history to examine museums, archival collections, parks, monuments, podcasts, op-eds, maps, and more as sites of historical inquiry, ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 4243, HIST 6243, SHUM 4243
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- R
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Martin, A
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Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 6490
Course Description
Museums are places where academic research meets the public. Though they remain among the most trusted types of institutions, they have increasingly come under critical scrutiny. Questions around museums' ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ANTHR 3490, ANTHR 6490, ARKEO 3490, ARKEO 6490, SHUM 3490
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Credits and Grading Basis
4 Credits Graded(Letter grades only)
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Class Number & Section Details
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Meeting Pattern
- TR
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Rittershaus, A
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
-
Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
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Class Number & Section Details
-
Meeting Pattern
- F
- Jan 25 - May 11, 2027
Instructors
Staff
-
Additional Information
Instruction Mode: In Person
SHUM 6719
Course Description
This course examines the Renaissance and the early modern period not only as a celebrated age of creativity, artistic innovation, and intellectual rebirth, but also as an era deeply marked by violence, ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: SHUM 4719
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 6722
Course Description
What would it mean to refuse to procreate, because of climate change? What kind of action is this refusal: the ultimate personal sacrifice, cavalier selfishness, or a perhaps a growing social movement? ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: SHUM 4722
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 6723
Course Description
Survival by Design: Desert Architecture at the End of the World investigates how architecture mediates survival in arid environments through history, environmental design, critical theory, and speculative ... view course details
SHUM 6724
Course Description
When disaster strikes – war, earthquake, epidemic, nuclear fallout – how do people survive and rebuild? This course explores the history and aftermath of natural disasters and man-made catastrophes. Such ... view course details
SHUM 6725
Course Description
This course explores more-than-human animals and their relationality with other species, including the human, in Korean literature, culture, and film. We will explore key questions in the environmental ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: SHUM 4725
-
Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
SHUM 6726
Course Description
This course surveys the evolution of queer Asian cinema as a critical and artistic mode of production. Students will rigorously examine and analyze each representative work of queer Asian cinema beyond ... view course details
Regular Academic Session. Combined with: SHUM 4726
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Credits and Grading Basis
3 Credits Stdnt Opt(Letter or S/U grades)
