Second Semester 2006-2007 Page 19

American Studies 495.01 "Senior Seminar: 9/11: A Study of an Emergent American Material Culture." The interdisciplinary approach to understanding contemporary terrorism and evaluating potential effectiveness of alternative responses to it is the work of "doing" American Studies. Drawing from cultural insights and analytical tools offered by psychology, sociology, political science, history, area studies, popular culture and philosophy, students will explore the causes and consequences of the attack on the World Trade Center from both U.S. and global perspectives. We will collect cultural items and icons, from diverse communities, that have come to represent the event and apply theories of material culture to these cultural expressions that have come to be associated with 9/11 sentiment. The study of material culture ask questions of invention, creation, representation and interpretation. Finally, students will borrow and create ways to monumentalize the "collections" they find of 9/11 memorabi lia through the traditions of Native mounds, Alaskan totems, American photo collages or designing a community mural as a way of making a public presentation that represents of the study of 9/11 material culture. Prerequisite: AMS-225 or permission of instructor.

Anthropology 295.01 "Special Topic: Ethnography of Communication." This course explores human communication from an ethnographic perspective. It does so from a "discourse-centered" approach that conceptualizes language as meaningful social action situated in particular contexts strategically used by social actors. Building upon this conceptualization, we will engage the ethnography of communication as both a particular theoretical orientation and a specific methodological approach to language use. Specific areas of emphasis will include: the relationships between linguistic forms and social functions, ethnography of speaking, communicative competence, the multiple layering of context, performer/audience relationships, intentionality, and ideology. Prerequisite: ANT-104 or LIN-114.

Anthropology 295.02 "Special Topic: Investigating Human Space Use." Students will learn to perform basic analyses using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to examine some of ways humans transform their surroundings, both physically and symbolically, into cultural spaces. Possible topics will include proxemics, migration, tourist development, and ecological adaptations. A major final project will be required. Prerequisite: ANT-104 or permission of instructor.

Anthropology 395.01 "Advanced Special Topic: The Anthropology of Transnationalism and Global Communities." This course explores how peoples around the world have experienced the social processes surrounding globalization and transnationalism. People, social relations, technologies and consumer goods continuously cross national boundaries leading to new identities, desires and new cultural formations. We will examine how ethnographers have tackled writing about cultures whose boundaries are seen as increasingly fluid and how links are made between the global and the local. Topics explored can include: immigration flows, the traffic in human organs, transnational families, gendered migrations among others. Prerequisite: ANT-280.

Anthropology 395.02 "Advanced Special Topic: Human's Evolved Behaviors." In this course, we will explore how natural, kin, and sexual selection have worked to bring about certain adaptations and evolved propensities in modern humans' actions. We will explore the theories and then apply them to studies of human behavior and our own observations. Each student will design and conduct a short study of human behavior. Prerequisite: ANT-280 or permission of instructor.

Art 295.01 "Special Topic: Film Genres: Bodies, Culture, Technology." This course explores current articulations of cyberspace and new information technologies within a broader historical analysis of the impact of technology in culture. It encourages us to think about the social and cultural implications of new technological developments and to counter attitudes of technological determinism. Feminist, cognitive, and cultural studies will guide us to examine how various technological innovations have shaped our current perceptions of bodies and science. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing and ART-103 or permission of instructor.

Art 400.01 "Seminar in Art History: Rethinking Manet and Modernism: New Art History and a Canonical Master." The nineteenth century is recognized as a "terrain par excellence for new theoretical approaches to the study and interpretation of art." This seminar will map out these new paths of interpretation and consider how they are changing analyses of cultural production and consumption. We will do this by focusing on recent interpretations of �douard Manet, the first and quintessential modernist painter, and, as such, considered foundational to modern painting. Grounding ourselves in the canonical constructions of Manet's modernism, we will then turn to the wide range of viewpoints in recent scholarship, with particular attention to investigations of body and space and the social and psychoanalytic foundations of identity formation, as they pertain to conceptions of Manet. We will also look at approaches that shift from the traditional monographic focus on the individual creator to the access Manet's works provide to the experiences, tensions, and myths of social modernity marking the emergence of modern capitalist culture. Prerequisite: senior standing in art history concentration or permission of instructor.

Biology 150.01 "Introduction to Biological Inquiry: How Can Insects Tell Time?" Insects must time their development and metamorphosis based on the world around them because the timing of critical life events is imperative. So how is it that they tell time and carefully synchronize their metamorphic changes? In this course we will investigate a little understood aspect of the Tobacco Hornworm moth's development, the wandering stage of the caterpillar. Students will learn about the insect's life cycle, physiology, and endocrinology of metamorphosis, based on a critical reading of the literature, so that they can ask important questions about the wandering state and design experiments to test their ideas. Students will present their findings in both an oral scientific presentation and in the form of a manuscript and poster. Participants with substantial research from their projects will be invited to publish their results in, Pioneering Neuroscience: The Grinnell Journal of Neurophysiology Pre requisite: none.

Biology 150.02 "Introduction to Biological Inquiry: The Effects of Climate Change on Organisms." We will examine the effects of predicted changes in temperature, moisture and carbon dioxide levels on organismal and ecosystem function through experimental investigation. We will focus on the effects of such changes on the physiology and metabolic functioning of soil and aquatic organisms, as well as on biogeochemical processes of ecosystems, including respiration, decomposition and nutrient-cycling. This course will be taught in a workshop format, meeting twice a week for three hours. Class time will be devoted primarily to discussions and lab work examining theoretical aspects of organismal and ecosystem functioning, design and implementation of lab-based experiments, and the interpretation of our results in the context of extensive ongoing climate change research. Prerequisite: none.

Biology 150.03 "Introduction to Biological Inquiry: Building an Animal." In this course students will begin a study of how a fertilized egg turns into an animal with many highly differentiated cell types. Students will begin learning how to use the scientific literature to study the cellular and molecular events underlying development. Students will learn to work with sea urchins to study fertilization and early invertebrate development and then will work with chicken embryos to study the appearance of different cells, tissues and organs in later vertebrate development. The emphasis of the course will be on asking questions, designing experiments to answer those questions, and communicating results of the experiments in a variety of formats. The class will have two, three-hour meetings per week that combine lab, lecture, and discussion. Prerequisite: none.

Biology 150.04 "Introduction to Biological Inquiry: Miracle Drugs and Wonder Bugs." In this course we will explore the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria and the medical and soceital consequences of that resistance. We will learn about the biology of bacteria, develop an understanding of how antibiotics work, and how evolution of resistance to these drugs occurs. We will also have a chance to discuss environmental and medical issuses associated with human use and mis-use of antibiotics. During the course students will ask questions, formulate hypotheses, design and conduct experiments, and communicate their results both written and orally. Prerequisite: none.

Biology 150.05 "Introduction to Biological Inquiry: What Makes a Pathogen Pathogenic?" This course will focus on pathogenic bacteria and how they cause disease. Some bacteria are more effective than others at causing disease. We will investigate factors contributing to virulence in pathogenic bacteria at the genetic level using basic molecular biology techniques. Students will learn principles of pathogenic microbiology, including where disease-causing organisms come from, how they are transmitted to a host, what factors they use to cause damage to the host and perpetuate their own survival, how the disease is treated, and how transmission can be prevented. Students will design their own experiments based on reading of the primary literature, perform experiments, and present their findings both in writing and in oral presentations. The class will have two, three-hour meetings per week that combine lab, lecture and discussion. Prerequisite: none.

Biology 395.01 "Advanced Special Topic: Evolutionary Genetics." In this course we will examine how classical genetics and modern molecular techniques can be used to identify the genes responsible for phenotypic evolution. Topics include Mendelian, quantitative, and population genetics, domestication, evolution of gene regulation, and adaptation. Effective literature searching, critical reading of classic and contemporary papers, and clarity in written and oral communication will be emphasized. Three lecture/disscussion sessions each week. Prerequisite: BIO-252 or permission of instructor.

Economics 295.01 "Special Topic: Empirical Methods in Economics." This course covers basic descriptive statistics, sources and useful transformations of economic data, and the application of probability theory and statistical inference in bivariate and multiple regression frameworks. Students are expected to complete and present a term project based on their data analysis. Prerequisite: ECN-111.

Economics 295.02 "Special Topic: Financial Conglomerates and Consumers." We will consider from the consumers' point of view the consequences of financial conglomerates that are emerging through recent merger and acquisition movements in developed countries. After reviewing the trends of liberalization and consolidation in Japan, the USA, and Europe, we will analyze causes and effects of financial conglomeration. We will explore how financial institutions, especially banks, are gradually enlarging or shifting their business focus from industrial finance to financial services for consumers, who are changing from passive depositors to active borrowers and even to owners of financial assets. We will assess the role of public policy to regulate financial conglomerates from a point of view of modern consumers. Dates: April 10 to April 26. Short course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: ECN-111; ECN-282 recommended.

Economics 395.01 "Advanced Special Topic: Seminar in Law & Economics." This course will apply economic theory to the law and legal institutions including property, contract, tort, and criminal law. We will investigate how legal rules influence economic incentives and the allocation of resources. Topics include liability and negligence assignment, uncertainty, allocation of property rights, bargaining, remedies, and the litigation process. Prerequisite: ECN-280.

Economics 395.02 "Advanced Special Topic: Seminar in the Economics of Education." This course provides a survey of some of the most important economic aspects of education. Education becomes increasingly important as the "Information Economy" replaces the old industrial economy which had, in its time, displaced the agricultural economy. The Economics of Education asks questions that are important to both the world at large and to you personally: Is better education the solution to poverty? Is investment in human capital the key to a nation's development? Are public schools just one more example of a bloated and inefficient state monopoly? Is a Grinnell education a better investment that, say, putting those thousands of tuition dollars into the stock market? Should you go to law school? Prerequisite: ECN-211 or ECN-295 (FA06), 280, and 282.

English 120.02 "Literary Analysis." Students in this section will explore methods of analyzing novels, short fiction, films, and poetry. We will begin with a unit that involves reading a novel to use as a touchstone while exploring a range of critical and theoretical approaches. The course will then examine the technique of short fiction, film, and poetry in turn. We will discuss the choices writers and directors make as they craft their works, and we will develop strategies for analyzing those choices in academic papers. Graded assignments will include frequent short writing assignments, group projects, and papers on fiction, film, and poetry. Prerequisite: none.

English 120.03 "Literary Analysis." This class will explore a variety of strategies for responding to diverse genres (drama, narrative poetry, lyric poetry, novel, romance, and epic), as well as meters, forms, and rhetorical figures. To give focus to this diversity of literature, we will look at how these works respond to Ovid's Metamorphoses, particularly its explorations of metamorphoses from youth to adulthood, innocence to sexuality, human to animal, and desire into art. Texts will likely include such works as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (anonymous), Dream on Monkey Mountain (Walcott), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare), After Ovid (various authors), and The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde). Prerequisite: none.

English 120.04 "Literary Analysis." In this section we'll do close readings of various poems, short stories, and a novel, paying particular attention to the structural and stylistic conventions that constitute the texts we read and the characters who inhabit them. We'll discuss poetry during the first section, short stories in section two, and end with discussions of a novel informed by various methodological perspectives. Prerequisite: none.

English 120.05 "Literary Analysis." An introduction to the close reading of the literary text and a consideration of the literariness of literature. Accordingly, in our study of a variety of literary genres such as poetry and fiction we will focus on the literary devices and techniques that constitute the literariness of the literary text. The course will also explore the functions, if any, of literature in our life as a society and as individuals. Prerequisite: none.

English 204.01 "The Craft of Argument." This course is theoretical and practical. We will examine the features of argument, through Edward Corbett and Robert Connors' discussion of classical rhetoric; the grounds for argument, through Chaim Perelman's theory of argumentation in his "new rhetoric"; and the relations of rhetoric to both grammar and logic, the three "arts of discourse" in the trivium. But we also practice the craft of written argument and, at the end of the semester, work on style. The course will make you more aware of the range of what you do in constructing a persuasive argument and will increase your creativity and mastery in practicing this craft. Please be advised that for the first class, you should have in hand an argument you've written for another courses. Prerequisite: second-year standing and permission of the instructor. You must be concurrently enrolled in courses that provide you with material about which you can construct arguments.

English 295.01 "Special Topic: Advanced Poetry Seminar with Marvin Bell." Visiting professor from the Iowa Writers' Workshop offers a six-week short course in poetry writing. Students who have taken at least one creative writing course at Grinnell (English 205, 206, 385, and/or 386) are eligible to register for this advanced creative-writing workshop. Dates: January 26 to March 2. Short course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: ENG-205 or 206.

English 331.01 "Studies in American Prose II: Disability in Contemporary Fiction, Memoir, and Film ." Note prerequisite change. This course will investigate how, in the words of Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, "representation attaches meaning to extraordinary bodies." We will look at a range of works that challenge corporeal hierarchies, paying special attention to the long unrecognized voices of those rendered pathologically "other." Possible works include Geek Love, Autism is a World, Too late to Die Young, Moving Violations, Forrest Gump, Planet of the Blind, Past Due, Murder Ball, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Darkness is Visible, Life as We Know It, and Twitch and Shout. Prerequisite: ENG-227, 228, or 231.

English 338.01 "The British Novel II: Imperial Aspirations and Domesticity in the British Novel." Note prerequisite change. In this course we will read nineteenth and twentieth-century British novels and explore their relationship to Britain's expanding imperial geography. Besides reading novels that explicitly focus on imperialism, we will also examine imperial narratives and metaphors within earlier works of sensation fiction and domestic fiction. We will trace the connections between empire and the domestic, and concern ourselves with questions having to do with race, identity, home, and belonging. Reading to include novels by Elizabeth Gaskell, Wilkie Collins, E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, Jean Rhys, and Caryl Phillips. Prerequisite: ENG-223, 224, or 226.

English 360.01 "Seminar in Postcolonial Literature." This course explores the phenomenon of nationalism in literature from South Africa, Nigeria, New Zealand, and India. Now often understood to be a somewhat pejorative and outdated concept associated with military chauvinism or aggression, nationalism produced the first wave of anti-imperial literature. We will study current critiques of this concept in postcolonial literature, and also examine the literary and historical genealogy of concepts such as "civilization," "the primitive," and "modernity" which are all associated with the nation. How have writers from these countries articulated a national imaginary? In what ways does the concept of the nation have continuing theoretical and material significance? These are some of the questions we will study in the novels of Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Chinua Achebe, Mahasweta Devi, Witi Ihimeara, Alan Duff, Keri Hulme. Prerequisite: ENG-224, 225, 226, or 229.

English 390.01 "Literary Theory." This course will focus on constructions of subjectivity, history, and narrative in poststructuralist theory. We will read, among others, critical writings by Judith Butler, Donna Haraway, Michel Foucault, and Mikhail Bakhtin. Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing and at least one 300-level literature seminar in the English Department.

Environmental Studies 195.01 "Introductory Special Topic: Historical Ecology." Historical Ecology - a synthesis of landscape ecology, archaeology, history, pre-history, epidemiology, climatology, palynology, demographics, and more - is ideally suited to the Liberal Arts. We will discuss the current literature in this field, with examples from tropical, temperate, boreal, insular and oceanic environments. Prerequisite: none.

Environmental Studies 295.01 "Special Topic: Writing the Land." This course is being taught by Dan O'Brien who spoke at Grinnell last year for a Prairie Studies Symposium on "Re-Wilding Our Meat Supply." He also served as a visitor for classes taught through the Wilson Program. He previously taught a course like this one at Carleton College. This short course in creative writing is being taught by Dan O'Brien, author of Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch (2001, Random House) and other books. The course will explore some classic works that look at the land and its people, but will primarily focus on the students' own writing. A workshop format will be used to discuss and improve the student writers works of fiction and non-fiction. Local field trips will be part of the experience. Dates: February 19 to March 7. Short course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: sophomore standing.

Environmental Studies 495.01 "Senior Seminar: Africa." The course will discuss the geography, human ecology and natural history of Africa, Madagascar and the Mascarenes from a environmental perspective: the Guineo-Congolean tropical forest; East African montane forest islands; fish speciation in the Rift Valley Lakes; island biogeography; savanna ecology; desertification and famine; sustainable development in forest, savanna and desert; the ecology of fire; game ranching; demographics (including the demographic effects of slavery and HIV), women's rights and reproductive self-determination; patterns and evolution of disease. Prerequisite: Senior Environmental Studies concentrator or permission of the instructor.

French 395.01 "Advanced Special Topic: Masculine/Feminine in French Literature and Cinema." Conducted in French. Explores concepts of the masculine and the feminine from the Romantic era to the present in literature, art and film. Examines topics such as desire, ambition, sexuality, paternity, maternity, and the problem of writing the self. Authors and directors to be studied include Chateaubriand, Stendhal, Sand, Rachilde, Colette, Godard, Truffaut, Ernaux, Breillat, Denis, Toussaint, and Houellebecq. Prerequisite: FRN-312 or 313.

Gender and Women's Studies 495.01 "Senior Seminar." The seminar will consider issues of gender and sexuality as they are engaged in the context of United States case law. Topics include development and use of equality principles, the construction of racial categories, regulation of sexual conduct and reproductive rights, and affirmative action. There will be opportunities for students to pursue aspects of these or other relevant topics depending on interests of the class. Prerequisite: GWS-111, one core course, and four additional credits from core or elective courses, or permission of instructor.

General Literary Studies 195.01 (Also Humanities) "Introductory Special Topic: Fantasy and the Numinous in Children's Literature." See Humanities 195.01.

General Literary Studies 227.01 (also German) "Topics in German Literature in Translation: The Holocaust." See German 227-01.

General Literary Studies 353.01 (also Russian) "Major Russian Writers: Pushkin." See Russian 353.01.

General Literary Studies 353.02 (Also Russian) "Major Russian Writers: Dostoevsky." See Russian 353.02.

German 227.01 (also General Literary Studies) "Topics in German Literature in Translation: The Holocaust." This course will examine responses to the Holocaust in a variety of German literary texts (drama, poetry, prose). Several survivor testimonies and films will also be included. Prerequisite: none.

History 295.01 "Special Topic: The British Empire." This course surveys Britain's dynamic contact with the non-western world between 1600 and the present. We will focus in particular on the shifting domestic and European conditions which motivated the expansion and retraction of British global influence, the political, social, cultural, and economic effects of colonial encounters at home and abroad, and the ways in which colonized peoples shaped and contested the structures of imperial power. Prerequisite: HIS-236 or second year standing.

History 295.02 "Special Topic: Europe During the Enlightenment." This course introduces students to this major intellectual movement within the political, cultural, and social contexts of Western Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We will begin with the emergence of skepticism and the Scientific Revolution. We will explore natural rights theory and republican values and the political conflicts that surrounded the emergence of these ideas. Similarly, we will examine the emergence of religious toleration as a Western value within the context of the religious conflicts of this period. The course finishes with the French Revolution and its immediate aftermath. Prerequisite: Second year standing.

History 295.03 "Special Topic: U. S. Environmental History." This course will introduce students to some of the central issues and debates in American Environmental History (c.1600-present). Focusing on the complex relationship between human communities and their surrounding environments, we will explore how the material world has shaped the changing social, economic and political landscape of America, and conversely, how people have labored to transform, conserve, and appropriate nature to suit their own designs. Key topics will include: the shifting patterns of land use and resource management among Native American and settler communities; the ecological transformations wrought by commercial agriculture and industrial capitalism; long-standing debates about the relationship between America's natural environment and the distinctive character of its peoples; the evolving role of the state in environmental policy; the growth of conservation and public health movements; and the changing ways in which people have conceptualized, portrayed, and interacted with the material world around them. Prerequisite: HIS-111, 112 or second year standing.

History 323.01 "Art of Biography." This seminar will explore the complex blend of objective and subjective elements which necessarily comprise the writing of biography. Using American biographies as our texts, we will examine problems related to sources, including the use of interviews, correspondence, diaries, the popular press, legal records, and, of course, autobiographies. In addition, we will trace trends in the theoretical literture, considering how shifts from psychoanalytic theory to post structuralist and feminist theory have influenced both writers' and readers' approaches to biography. Students in this seminar will be asked to consider questions of ethics & literary style, as well as questions of logic and veracity, as they examine both the theory and the practice of biography. There will be an opportunity to experiment with the writing of biography. There will also be the opportunity to employ current theories of biography in writing a historiographical critique of the existing bio graphical literature on selected American subjects. Prerequisite: HIS-112 and any 200-level American History course (HIS-211, HIS-212, HIS-214, HIS-221, HIS-222, HIS-227, or HIS-228) or permission of instructor.

History 329.01 "Latin America & the U.S." As the saying goes, Latin America lies too far from God and too close to the United States. This proximity has affected Latin American economics, demographics, culture, and politics. The seminar will begin with common readings. This year those common readings will focus on US attempts--both official and unofficial--to democratize and modernize the region. Students will then write a research paper using primary documents. These papers could focus on any one of a number of issues that were central to US-Latin American relations such as hemispheric security, economic affairs, democracy, and socialism. A reading knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is helpful but not required. Prerequisite: HIS-201, 202, or 204.

History 331.01 "The Family in Europe." The focus of this seminar will be the European family between the Middle Ages and the birth of the modern era in Europe (approx. 1450-1800). We will examine the factors that contributed to the development of modern family structures as well as evaluate the regulation of family life, the roles within families and the relationship between ideology and practice during the periods of the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment. Prerequisite: HIS-233, 234, 241, or HUM-140 or permission of instructor.

History 339.01 "Seminar in Modern European History: The Holocaust: Interpretation, Memory, and Representation." This seminar will examine the origins and execution of the Nazi genocide during the Second World War, as well as realities for and responses of European Jews. We will explore the scholarly debates about the actions and motivations of perpetrators, victims and bystanders in various European countries. The course will also turn to key issues in the memorialization and representation of the Holocaust after 1945 and focus on the "texture of memory" of Holocaust memorials and museums in Germany, Israel, and the United States. Prerequisite: HIS-238, 239, or permission of the instructor.

History 376.01 "Mao Zedong (1893-1976): Portraits of the Chairman." This seminar will examine the various stages of the life of Mao: his childhood, his rise to prominence in the revolutionary, and his roles first as Chairman of the Communist Party and later as the most powerful administrator in the People's Republic. Themes for this course will include Mao's family life and his struggles against rivals both inside and outside of the Party; this course will also consider his thoughts on peasant organizations, guerrilla warfare, intellectuals and elites, literature and art, mass will and energy, and the continuing revolution. As well, the course will analyze changing depictions of Mao both by himself and by other individuals of differing political persuasions. Readings will include Mao's early autobiographical account, selected biographies published in the West over the past decades, and portions of Mao's speeches and writings relevant to our themes. Prerequisite: History 275, 276, 277, or 278 .

Humanities 195.01 (Also General Literary Studies) "Introductory Special Topic: Fantasy and the Numinous in Children's Literature." An introduction to the major traditions of modern children's fantasy and the myths, legends and spiritualities which influence them. Readings will include European fantasy (Tolkien, Lewis, and Pullman), American fantasy (L'Engle and LeGuin), Japanese fantasy and animated fantasy (Miyuki Miyabe, Tezuka Osamu and Miyazaki Hayao), and samplings from other world children's literatures. Prerequisite: none.

Humanities 295.01 (Also Social Studies) "Special Topic: Food, Identity, Culture, Power." Food creates a prism that absorbs and reflects a host of cultural phenomena. Different foodways-behaviors and beliefs surrounding the production, distribution, and consumption of food-signify different power dynamics and conceptions of class, gender, and race. This course will connect the personal and the local with the cultural and global. It will integrate various biological/materialist, social structural, and cultural approaches into the study of one of our most basic and visceral experiences. In the first part of the semester, the instructor will use Chinese and Chinese-American experiences to exemplify a model of interdisciplinary cultural studies, while also inviting guest speakers to discuss the study of food in other disciplines. The second part of the semester will comprise a workshop period. The students will experiment with different topics and modes of analysis, culminating in your own interdisci plinary project, whether independently or jointly pursued, at the end of the semester. Prerequisite: 3rd or 4th year standing or permission of instructor.

Humanities 295.02 "Special Topic: Transmedia Art." This course explores the fusion of various art forms in electronic media. Units include: Sound design/Music - Digital Photography & Image Manipulation - Digital Video Art - Podcasting - and more. Emphasis on creating meaningful "new media" projects built with a combination of technological expertise and compelling content. Prerequisite: Any 100 or 200-level creative course in studio art, music composition or theatre. Minimum prerequisites include one course from: MUS-112, ART-136, ART-138, ART-140, ART-142, ART-148, THE-111, THE-115, THE-117, or THE-113 (formerly 106), or permission of the instructor for courses outside of fine arts such as creative writing, computer science.

Humanities 395.01 "Advanced Special Topic: Criticism and Writing for Public Media." Intended for serious nonfiction writers who want to pursue writing as a profession. Focus on the mechanics of writing for newspapers and magazines, career issues, and the function and value of good criticism. Dates: February 23 to March 9. Short course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: Declared English or Music major and completion of 200-level course work in English or music. Does not count toward any major. S/D/F only.

Music 195.01 "Introductory Special Topic: Visions of Jazz." This course will concern the evolution of jazz, its African-American foundations, an appreciation of its major figures and key works, and discussion of its present place in the culture. Gary Giddins' book Visions of Jazz (Oxford, 1998).will be the required text. Dates: February 20 to March 8. Short course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: none. Does not count toward Music major. S/D/F only.

Music 201.01 "Topics in Music and Culture: Exploring Musical Places, Spaces and Scenes." This course involves examining the role of music-making in the cultural construction of places, spaces and scenes and vice versa. The approach of the class will be highly interdisciplinary and will include readings from an array of fields including critical theory, cultural geography, anthropology, popular music studies and ethnomusicology. Students will also develop skills in fieldwork and music ethnography as a method of studying and engaging with the various local, translocal, and perhaps even virtual musical scenes that are cultivated in the nearby Grinnell vicinity. Prerequisite: 2nd year standing.

Music 321.01 "Advanced Musical Studies: Conducting." An introduction to the art of conducting with emphasis on advanced score reading and analysis, fundamental physical technique, rehearsal techniques, and ensemble leadership. Students will have opportunities to conduct ensembles of various types and sizes, including readings with the Grinnell Symphony Orchestra. Prerequisite: MUS-213.

Philosophy 391.01 "Advanced Studies in Continental Philosophy: Spinoza--Nietzsche--Deleuze." This seminar will focus on intersections in the philosophies of Spinoza, Nietzsche, and Deleuze with particular emphasis on their approaches to desire and becoming and the implications of these approaches for metaphysics. Readings will be drawn from Deleuze's Spinoza: Practical Philosophy, Nietzsche and Philosophy, and Anti-Oedipus, and Nietzsche's Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, and On the Genealogy of Morals. Prerequisite: PHI-234, 235, 267, 268, or 393.

Political Science 295.01 "Special Topic: Race, Gender and Class in Welfare State Development." This course examines the role of American political institutions in shaping welfare policy. Specifically, it focuses on the relationship between ideology, structure, and the policy-making process. Throughout the semester the class will consider the effects of race, class, and gender on the development of welfare policy over time. Looking at four specific time periods we will study how the American state constructs political meanings and relative positions of power associated with race, class, gender and citizenship, through social policies such as Social Security and AFDC. Attention will be given to historical developments in welfare policy such as the development of mothers' pensions and their relationship to contemporary welfare policies such as AFDC/TANF. Prerequisite: POL-101.

Political Science 295.02 "Special Topic: The Role of Religion in World Politics." At a time of increasing religiosity in the world, religion is more and more seen as intersecting with major political issues. A theocratic government in Iran contrasts with a secular French government which refuses to let Muslim students wear headscarves in class. A secular government in an Islamic Turkey also refuses to let Muslim students wear headscarves to class, while, in America, fundamentalist Christians object to the teaching of evolution and to any sex education other than abstinence. This course will examine why religious fervor is rising across the world, and in what contexts religiosity provokes a political agenda. We will examine a number of cases, including the United States, Turkey, Iran and India. Prerequisite: POL-101 or permission of instructor.

Political Science 295.03 "Special Topic: Conflict and Conflict Resolution." Focuses on the origins of interstate & intrastate conflict; how factors like ethnicity, economics, and the environment contribute to conflict; looks at the obligations of the international community in conflict situations; details a number of historical and contemporary case studies; examines potential mechanisms for rebuilding post-conflict societies. Prerequisite: POL-101 or permission of instructor.

Political Science 295.04 “Special Topic: American Foreign Policy.” A detailed investigation of the major theories, historical trends, and contemporary debates in American Foreign policy. Students will use films, historical and current writings, structured debates, and news sources from around the world throughout the semester to gain a greater understanding of the United States' role in and interactions with the rest of the world. Prerequisites: POL-101 or permission of instructor.

Political Science 395.01 "Advanced Special Topic: Imperialism and Its Critics." Is America implicated in a "new imperialism"? What are the characteristics of empire, new or old? This seminar will traverse ancient Persia and Rome, nineteenth-century France and Britain, and the United States in order to come to a critical understanding of the strategic goals, social structures and motivation, and political effects that characterize imperialism as a power formation. Major readings will include works by Xenophon, Arendt, Lenin, Montesquieu, Tocqueville, Jefferson, and Fanon, as well as David Harvey's The New Imperialism. Prerequisite: POL-295, SpTp: Euro Pol Thry:1492-1660 (Spring 2006) or SpTp:Western Political Theory (Fall 2006), or permission of the instructor.

Political Science 395.02 "Advanced Special Topic: Race and American Political Development." This course examines theories of race, historical perspectives on race in the United States and African American political thought. In particular, it focuses on how U.S. policies construct political meanings and confer relative positions of power based upon racial categories. Special attention will be paid to the relationship between race, gender, class and citizenship in the United States. In addition to comprehensive pieces of legislation such as voting and civil rights, we will study general policy areas such as housing, employment, crime, and affirmative action. Prerequisite: POL-295 (Spring 2006) Race, Gender and the American Welfare State or POL-295 (Fall 2006) American Public Policy and Democracy) or permission of instructor.

Political Science 395.03 "Advanced Special Topic: South Africa and the Politics of Transformation." An in-depth examination of the challenges and promises of societal rebuiling and democratization in South Africa. Looks at country's attempts to reconstruct national goverment in the post-apartheid era and reintegrate itself into the international community. Focuses on challenges to the South African government, attempts to grapple with the past, and the country's relations with its neighbors. Prerequisite: POL-262 or permission of instructor.

Psychology 295.01 "Special Topic: Sensation and Perception." In this course we will discuss how we are able to detect and create meaning from the vast array of stimuli in our environment. This class explores how stimuli are detected, transformed into a language the brain can understand, and ultimately re-woven into a seamless tapestry of colors, flavors, sounds and smells. Prerequisite: PSY-113.

Religious Studies 295.01 "Special Topic: God(s), Sex and the Movies in South Asia." From the rain-drenched saris of Bollywood heroines to the mystical metaphors of the Upanishads, the divine, the erotic and the spectacular have historically been closely connected in Indian culture and religion. This course will examine theories of love, eroticism and the dramatic in a number of Hindu religious traditions through a wide variety of media, especially twentieth-century Indian cinema and performed traditions of poetic desire for God (bhakti). Topics covered will include the gendering of God and the human soul, the role of sex in celibacy, and colonial and recent constructions of masculinity and femininity, as well as contemporary debates about the Freud-tinged spectacles of many western scholars of Hinduism. Prerequisite: REL-226.

Religious Studies 295.02 “Special Topic: New Religious Movements in the U. S.” Often maligned as 'cults' or 'sects', New Religious Movements have flourished in the American context, especially during the past century. In this course, students will examine many alternative and dissenting religious groups, including the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology and others. We will explore their beliefs, rituals, social practices, historical locations, and interactions with mainstream culture. We will also explore the extraordinary impact these movements have had in shifting the constitutional boundaries of religious freedom in the United States. Prerequisites: REL-111, 115 or 117 or permission of instructor.

Religious Studies 394.01 "Advanced Topics in Religious Studies: Japanese Mythology." This seminar is designed as an exploration of the mythic and legendary narratives of early 8th century Japan and of their uses in later centuries. Two texts in particular, the Kojiki ("Records of Ancient Matters") and the Nihongi ("Chronicles of Japan"), have come down to us intact and will be the first basis for our reflections. Historiographic writings from later periods will then be considered in order to see the various ways these texts came to be interpreted in various historical circumstances. We will, finally, examine how some of these myths and legends continue to be remembered and redeployed through the performing arts even today. Prerequisite: REL-221 and 311 or permission of the instructor.

Russian 353.01 (also General Literary Studies) "Major Russian Writers: Pushkin." This course examines the works of Alexander Pushkin within the context of his cultural and literary milieu. It will include a broad survey of his poetry, long and short fiction and dramatic works. Prerequisite: none.

Russian 353.02 (Also General Literary Studies) "Major Russian Writers: Dostoevsky." This course examines Dostoevsky's artistic growth and philosophical development within the context and structure of his literary output, from early short works to major novels, including The Double, Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, and The Brothers Karamazov. Conducted in English. Prerequisite: none.

Social Studies 295.01 (Also Humanities) "Special Topic: Food, Identity, Culture, Power." See HUM-295-01.

Social Studies 295.02 "Special Topic: Innovation and Enterprise: Case Studies from Grinnell Alumni." This course is sponsored by the Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership Enterprise, described as the "creative destruction" of old practices and institutions and the innovation of new organizations, products, and processes will be examined in cases studies of 10 Grinnell alumni who have made a difference in non-profit NGOs, government, and businesses. These alumni, with diverse majors in all three divisions, will visit class to tell their own stories. The course will focus not only on the innovations of these Grinnell activists, but also on the ways in which they constructed their productive careers. Appropriate for any student interested in an activist career. A 10 week course sponsored by the Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership. Dates: January 26 to April 14. 1/2 semester course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: One social studies division course (Anthropology, Education, H istory, Economics, Sociology or Political Science).

Social Studies 295.03 "Special Topic: Intellectual Property and its Role in Global Socioeconomic Shifts." This short course is sponsored by the Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership. The course will examine this historical role of technology development and intellectual property protection in socio-economic growth and the role of intellectual property in the trends supporting the current shift in global economic power. The impact of global treaties affecting intellectual property and the adoption and implementation of intellectual property laws and enforcement system in China and India will be examined. David Rosenbaum '78 is a distinguished intellectual property attorney. Dates: April 9 to April 25. Short course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: One social studies division course (Anthropology, Education, History, Economics, Sociology or Political Science).

Sociology 390.01 "Advanced Studies in Sociology: Organizing for Social Good: Nonprofit and Non-Governmental Organizations." This seminar is sponsored by the Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership, and how nonprofit (and non-governmental) organizations are structured and how they operate, with a particular interest in how some nonprofit organizations are able to sustain an entrepreneurial spirit, high levels of participation by their members, and an organizational culture that fosters internal change, despite continuing financial and other external constraints. Attention to issues of power, funding, decision-making, leadership, and the interrelations of the organization and its environment. Cases, depending on student interests, may include human service organizations such as welfare departments, community action agencies, and mental health centers; unions; foundations; neighborhood associations; grassroots pressure groups; national service organizations; international NGOs. Prerequisite: At least two 200-level sociology courses and junior or senior standing, or permission of instructor.

Sociology 390.02 "Advanced Topics in Sociology: Work in the New Economy." This course will examine recent transformations in the U.S. economy-including deskilling, downsizing, and the rise of the service sector-and will consider how each of these "transformations" relate to issues of identity, community, family formation, structural inequality and national culture. Work has changed so quickly in the last three decades that we have yet to fully comprehend the micro level consequences in our daily lives and the macro level consequences for American culture and global processes.We will address key questions about the consequences of globalization and the 'new' economy on American workers and consumers. We'll move from considering debates about the consequences of the new economy for American culture and character to examine the production and consumption processes in global context, including the global stratification of wealth and the outsourcing of low-wage, low-skill and domestic labor around t he globe. Throughout, we will draw on qualitative case studies and the voices of workers in the 'new' economy, always considering how work is lived through race, class, sexuality, gender and nation. Prerequisite: At least two 200-level sociology courses and junior or senior standing, or permission of the instructor.

Sociology 390.03 "Advanced Topics in Sociology: Contemporary Women's Health Issues." This seminar will explore the social and political contexts of women's health. Building on sources from the medical sociology literature and the feminist health literature, this course will primarily examine three themes: (1) how the social position of women in the United States (and in the world) affects women's ability to protect their own health and affects the care they receive when they are ill; (2) how women's health and health care are affected by larger social institutions in society on a macro-level and by interpersonal relationships on a micro-level; and (3) how social and medical attitudes toward the female body affect all women and health policies. Considerable attention will be given to how the biomedical model, for-profit interests, and ideologies shape health care for women. Topics will include: reproduction, birth control, and childbirth, menstruation and menopause, eating disorders, cosmetic surgery, breasts and breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, violence against women, and women, disability, and aging. Prerequisite: At least two 200-level sociology courses and junior or senior standing, or permission of instructor.

Theatre 295.01 "Special Topic: Prophosyin' Without Speechifyin': Crafting Theatrical Visions of the Future." This course will be taught by Aaron Carter, Minority Scholar in Residence, and explores the use of language and stage image to create visions of the future that comment on the present. The course consists of in-class writing exercises as well as take-home writing assignments and assigned readings. Dates: April 3 - April 19. Short course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: Second year standing and THE-195, "Playwriting I" (Spring 2004 or 2005) or other creative writing experience recommended.

Theatre 304.01 "Studies in Drama II: Getting a Life." This course explores the dramatic impulse in non-fiction texts that illuminate both famous and little-known individual lives, including biography and autobiography, and in works that contextualize those lives within their social and political settings. The final project will be a showing of individually created pieces that attempt to engage with, to "get" the life of another. Students will learn from theory, text, and experience, through research, writing, staging, and performing, since a basic tenet of Performance Studies is that artistry and analysis are integrated ways of learning. Prerequisite: A 200 level literature course or permission of the instructor.

Theatre 304.02 "Studies in Drama II: African Theatre and Development." This course will study the current state of African Theatre with special focus on the history, theory and practice of Theatre for Development. Theatre for Development refers to the use of theatre as a tool for development, education, and community building. Theatre for Development generally builds on cultural traditions, and includes approaches such as participatory theatre, popular theatre, community theatre, legislative theatre, educational theatre as a method of creating change within society, especially in the areas of health, gender, economics, and government. In addition to studying plays and playwrights, the course will examine the history of Theatre for Development, and look at a number of case studies. Prerequisite: A 200 level literature course or permission of the instructor.

Theatre 310.01 "Studies in Dance: On and Off the Stage: Dance and Political Protest." This course studies dance practices that have operated as political protest - Irish step dancing, Capoeiera in Brazil, break dancing, and modern dance in the United States - choreographies staged and performed as tactics of resistance to political conditions. The course will also examine the "choreographies" of non-violent political action during the civil rights and women's liberation movements of the 1960's AIDs activism in the 1980's and current performances of protest such as Billionaires for Bush, Reverend Billy and Cindy Sheehan/Gold Star Families for Peace. Prerequisite: THE-202, 203, 211 or 260 or permission of instructor