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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
This SAGES seminar will explore advertising in America, its social and cultural roots, and its impact (or lack thereof) on our values, tastes, and behavior as consumers and citizens. It is hard to find a space in the contemporary world that is not plastered with ads--from the Coke cups next to the judges on "American Idol" to stencils on the sidewalks we walk on. This blizzard of advertising images may, in fact, define our age. We will examine the forces that created this giant American industry and ask: Why do we have advertising? How is it created? What social functions does it serve? How has it changed? Where is it going? Central to this seminar is discussion, research, and writing to analyze and critique this in-our-face, but little understood, social institution. Some of our discussions will flow from advertising industry news (e.g., the Super Bowl ads), a contemporary or early 20th century ad campaign, or the backstage insights of a guest from one of Cleveland's major ad agencies. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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3.00 Credits
In this seminar, we will focus on the recent history of music and the role it plays in our culture today. Music is a form of cultural expression that creates meaning with narrative elements in a way similar to novels, poetry, drama, and other typically literary forms; we will consider various genres of music as well as various genres of literature that depend on music to complete their expression. But music is also one of the most obvious ways we participate in our culture, and musical taste can help define our sense of ourselves and where we belong in culture. We will read some identity theory to determine how and why music helps us create identity from and within the culture around us. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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3.00 Credits
This seminar will examine the topic of spectacle both chronologically and typologically to better u understand the power of remarkable visual experiences to awe, entertain, persuade, and create meaning from the colonial period to the present day. In the 17th century, the religious beliefs of the New England community and its need to maintain social cohesiveness gave rise to the spectacle of witch trials and public punishments. As Americans moved westward, the natural world became the focus of the spectacular. In the nineteenth century, the campaigns and debates of presidential candidates became political theater. The latter half of the century gave rise to Consumption as Spectacle as exemplified in the may expositions and World's Fairs. Today, spectacle has reached all facets of our lives. Americans are willing to expose the most intimate details of their personal relationships on television shows like Jerry Springer and The Real World. Although frequently used to maintain power, spectacle also has been employed as a tactic of resistance and as an instrument for creating alternative meaning by subcultures. More recently, spectacle has served as an instrument of terror. Through lectures, discussion, multimedia presentations, and writing assignments, we will have an opportunity to reflect on the many forms and uses of spectacle in American history. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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3.00 Credits
Can science provide answers to the deeper puzzles of human existence, or do some questions lie beyond the scope of the scientific world view? Specifically, can science explain human consciousness, free will, and morality; and can it reveal the origins of religion? Students cannot, nor will they be expected to, provide a definitive answer to these questions. Instead, this seminar will provide students with an opportunity to engage in a conversation with each other against a backdrop of some of the most interesting and provocative research in cognitive science. In addition to learning about relevant psychological and neuroscientific research, students will engage with philosophical issues and arguments. This course aims to stretch student's beliefs about what they know now, and what they think can be known. The seminar will aim to cultivate productive and rhetorical skills, especially analytical thought, oral expressiveness, and writing skills, all of which will be useful in future pursuits. It will help students to develop a more nuanced view of human nature and the ability of science to transform our view of it. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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3.00 Credits
Developing countries make up at least three-fourths of the world population. This course focuses on international aspects of economics of the developing world. Questions we will ask include: why are the poorest countries failing to thrive, what can be done about it, and can the rich afford to help the poor? The term "developing country" means a country that exhibits low per capita income, high poverty level, little industrialization, or low life expectancy. However, these problems also affect developed countries. Why, then, do we study poor countries' economies separately from those of industrialized nations? The answer lies not in the types of problems but in the severity and causes of these problems. It is these issues, the causes and consequences of global poverty, and solutions to help the world's poorest, that concern us here. Raising people out of poverty requires economic growth, a more even income distribution, investment in education, health care, and infrastructure, social safety nets, honest political leaders, reliable social and financial institutions, and international aid from rich countries. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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3.00 Credits
This seminar will look at the history of cities, real and imagined, in terms of deconstruction, both in the sense of physical destruction and literary analysis. We will explore how societies have brought about, and reacted to, the destruction of buildings, neighborhoods, and entire cities at the hands of economic development, terrorism, war, neglect, decay, and natural disasters such and fire, flood, and earthquake. In addition we will read cities themselves as texts. Architecture, public parks, billboards, graffiti, surveillance cameras, sidewalks and alleys all contribute to the discourse of what a city means. Part of that discourse includes the depiction of cities in the creative arts. We will examine works of fiction, still photography and motion pictures, art installations, and music that imagine, or comment on, the deconstructed city. Through lecture, discussion, textual analysis, multimedia presentations, and writing assignments, including a research project in which students will be asked to write a cultural biography of a building, Cities (Deconstructed) will help students confront these questions, and will prepare them to make informed decisions about sustaining the built environment. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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3.00 Credits
This seminar introduces students to major economic, social, and cultural developments in China over the past quarter century, taking as its particular focus the way in which China experienced changes such as consumption, education, migration, and tourism as a result of economic reforms, trade expansion, foreign investments and technology transfer, and the development of information technology. The seminar will also assess the impacts of various aspects of globalization on these changes and vice versa. This seminar promotes broad knowledge of--and increased appreciation of the importance of diversity in China's cultural past, social frameworks, economic conditions, and natural environment. In a close connection to the primary readings, which include several recent relevant works, the students will be exposed to a variety of related primary and secondary materials (such as texts, photos, film clips, music, songs, and websites). In addition to receiving informative yet concised instruction, the student will also be involved in practice in critical reading and thinking, in writing and orally presenting research papers. In these activities, the students will be introduced to basic methods and concepts critical to the understanding of important economic, social, and cultural developments and changes as products of movements rather than isolated incidents. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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3.00 Credits
The purpose of this class is to analyze the different ways in which people view the world, and the consequences of adopting any particular perspective. Our first primary area of inquiry will be the degree to which the scientific community meets its ideals. We will explore how dominant paradigms develop and slowly change based on sociological and psychological principles that are far from the idealized notion of scientific process. Then, we will explore modern political ideologies in order to assess how fundamentally different assumptions about how the world works lead to fundamentally different conclusions about ideal policies. We will then discuss the degree to which ordinary citizens follow such ideologies. As an alternative to an ideological world view, we will then examine the concept from psychology known as the, "schema," and we will discuss how schemata affect political perceptions. Finally, we will discuss how even so-called experts are subject to errors in judgment based on their assumptions about the world. This is a University Seminar, so the class will also set aside time to discuss writing. The schedule has several sessions set aside for writing instruction (labeled, writing day or, writing week). On these days, class will be led jointly by the professor and the writing liaison to discuss writing technique. For most of these sessions, you will be asked to participate in a writing exercise, to be discussed immediately afterwards. For some sessions you will be asked to bring in outlines, thesis statements, sample paragraphs, or other preparation work for course assignments. You will be informed the week prior when you will need to bring such a sample to the writing session. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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3.00 Credits
Correspondence will look at the practice of writing and reading letters, and explore the use of letters as biographical, historical, and forensic evidence. Students will read love letters, "Letters to the Editor," letters from the battlefield, and correspondence between scientists and theologians. We will gain access to the experience of tourism through post cards, and the world of the modern corporation through business letters, emails and text messages. We will read examples of fiction where the letter acts as a plot device, as in the epistolary novels of the 18th century. We will think about the function of the letter as an instrument of persuasion, as an opportunity to develop ideas in a private and informal manner, and as a forum for expressing emotion. In addition, we will study the communication systems and technologies, such as the post office, the telegraph, and the internet, that have facilitated, and changed the nature of, correspondence throughout history. Students will be asked to write letters based on their personal experiences and their political opinions, and write analytical essays based on topics related to the practice and history of correspondence. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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3.00 Credits
How, in such a skeptical age, can people maintain questionable beliefs regarding urban legends, alternative medicine, superstitions, and paranormal phenomena? How do cults manage to attract and maintain large memberships? How can so many seemingly normal people come to the conclusion that they have been abducted by aliens? We will explore the idea that these behaviors are not examples of pathological thought processes, but rather natural consequences of the biases that characterize everyday reasoning. Emphasis will be placed on critical examination of questionable phenomena with a goal of understanding why people might want to hold such beliefs. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSO, FSCC, FSNA, FSSY or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100.
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