Spring Courses
January 31, 2020
Check out these new and noteworthy courses for Drexel’s spring term — like “Economy Gap and Homelessness,” a Community-Based Learning course taught in Japanese that explores social issues through media and community service.
Goddesses in Religion: From the Neolithic to the Present (ANTH T280)
This course will take students on a journey from the remote past to the present with a focus on myths and other narratives, as well as the images of goddesses in the archaeological record. It will focus primarily on the changes and shifts in Goddess Worship over time from veneration to denial. In addition, there will be exploration of the connections and attitudes through comparisons of monotheism, polytheism, western and eastern religions, first-world and fourth-world societies and the connections to other cultural factors. Finally, the class will look at manifestations of Goddess Worship: Wicca, Druids, and Pagan Reconstructionism.
This 3.0-credit course, taught by Barbara Hornum, PhD, is open to all undergraduate students. It will meet Mondays from 2 – 4:50 p.m.
Business and Journalism (COM T380)
This course will teach students how to understand what’s going on in the business of making and spending money. Students will learn to write about the three major types of business news — economic, corporate and financial — in a style that makes the information interesting and accessible to people with little understanding of how money so profoundly affects their everyday lives.
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Richard Forney, is open to undergraduate students above the freshman level. It will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
Health/Society in the Global South (GST 361)
The course will examine the sociocultural dimensions of health and illness in the global South. Students will address the ecological, political and economic factors that impact the prevalence of health problems across societies, giving special attention to globalization. Students will also examine medical and healing systems used to cope with illness and suffering in various sociocultural settings. This course also focuses on the world of global health, including on the proliferation of public health investments and interventions in the South. Special attention will be given to discrepancies between local realities and global dynamics, and to how these affect the outcomes of medical interventions in diverse settings.
Key course topics will include sociocultural approaches to health and illness; the health effects of economic globalization; global health actors and interventions; transnational circulation of knowledge, pathogens and patients; displacement and forced migration; and the impact of climate change on global health.
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Vincent Duclos, PhD, is open to undergraduate students above the freshman level. It will meet Wednesdays from 6 – 8:50 p.m.
Economy Gap and Homelessness (JAPN 340)
This course is a Community-Based Learning course that utilizes Japanese language skills. Students will explore social issues in Japan and United States through Anime, films, music, newspapers, literature and communities in Philadelphia and Japan. Students will participate in community service with local homeless support groups for at least two hours (outside of class hours). In the end of the term, students will write a newspaper article about homelessness in Philadelphia for readers in Japan. Taught in Japanese.
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Chihiro Williams, is open to all undergraduate students who have taken JAPN 310. It will meet Wednesdays from 6 – 8:50 p.m.
Antisemitism in America (JUDA T280.002)
Recent events, most notably the Charlottesville rally and the Pittsburgh and San Diego synagogue shootings, represent a resurgence of antisemitism in the United States. These episodes have been the most violent in the history of the U.S., but not the only times during which Jews were identified as outsiders and a threatening presence. This course will explore American expressions of antisemitism and compare them with European antisemitism and other forms of American animus in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
This 4.0 credit course, taught by Toni Pitock, PhD, is open to all undergraduate students. It will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 – 5:50 p.m.
The Middle East and North Africa Today: Culture and Democracy (MENA 101)
During the last decades, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been in the grips of momentous socio-political conflicts and wars, but most recently, the region has witnessed widespread uprisings for democratic change. Yet, authoritarianism still dominates politics in the region. This course aims to examine the economic, political and cultural causes behind the lack of democracy in the region, and will expose students to contrasting perspectives on the topic including structural and cultural arguments. Amongst other examples, we will examine the role of the U.S., the impact of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict on democracy in the region, and the role of Islamic and women’s movements in the recent Arab uprisings. The course will cover Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, among others.
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Nada Matta, PhD, is open to all undergraduate students. It will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30 – 4:50 p.m. Location TBD
Philosophy of Mind: The Pittsburgh School (PHIL 481)
This class will explore issues in contemporary philosophy of mind including perception and action in the context of broader philosophical questions about language, rationality and human nature. Students will read and discuss core texts from Wilfrid Sellars, Robert Brandom and John McDowell.
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Patrick Denehy, is open to undergraduate students who have taken any two PHIL courses. It will meet Mondays from 2 – 4:50 p.m., and fulfills the PHIL seminar requirement for minors and majors.
Philosophy of Science (PHIL 361)
Students in this course will study natural scientific theory-construction and investigative methods from a philosophical standpoint, considering issues such as the nature and scope of experimental method, and the history and justification of theory change.
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Flavia Padovani, PhD, is open to undergraduate students above the freshman level who have taken one PHIL course. It will meet Thursdays from 6:30 – 9:20 p.m.
Introduction to Semiotics (PHIL 215)
This course is an introductory survey of Semiotics, the philosophical study of signs, symbols, interpretation and meaning.
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Stacey Ake, PhD, is open to all undergraduate students. It will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 – 6:20 p.m.
Introduction to Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE 101)
This course introduces the interdisciplinary major Philosophy, Politics and Economics in two ways: it examines ways of thinking, speaking and researching in each of the three component disciplines, and it applies these overlapping approaches to a set of complex real-world problems.
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Pete Amato, PhD, is open to all undergraduate students. It will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 – 9:20 a.m.
Women and Society in a Global Context (WGST 240)
This course studies women in a global society with one major area covered during each offering. It is offered each year to accommodate one major world area.
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Mary Ebeling, PhD, is open to all undergraduate students above the freshman level. It will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30 – 4:50 p.m.
Masculinities (WGST 320)
This course will be an exploration of how masculinity is lived its multiple forms, traditional and alternative, in contemporary Western society. It aims to arrive at a theory of masculinity: “What does it mean to be ‘masculine’?”
This 3.0 credit course, taught by Zachary Gekas, is open to all undergraduate students. It will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.