The arrival of the first Portuguese trade ship in Japan in 1542 brought to Japan and some European countries a new and different Other that forced both sides to reevaluate their understanding of their own cultures. A wide range of texts produced during the first 100 years of that encounter document how both sides struggled to define the new cultures they found and place them in the context of their known worlds, even as those worlds were often changed by that process.

Martial arts culture, an invented tradition still in the making, is a site where the cultural, political, and social intersect. At once national, diasporic, and transnational, it challenges and redefines established boundaries and collapses dualisms such as East vs. West and traditional vs. modern. It is therefore a promising entry point into discussions of cultural exchanges in the global context.

This course uses literary works to explore the art, culture, and society of Asia. Regional focuses may include East Asia, South Asia, or Southeast Asia. Genres under study may include fiction, poetry, drama, essays, and autobiography. Themes and assigned texts vary by instructor.

Why do people see? What is color? How do people see? How do people think of and label color? These questions involve a highly interdisciplinary understanding of chemistry, physics, biology, studio art and art history. This class exposes students to the history of color and the understanding of color theory, i.e., the principles that define color contrast and interaction. Many interesting stories and cultural practices are associated with different colors.

Rome Sketchbooks and Space Studies synthesizes studio art practices and art historical methodologies to explore representations of landscape and the social and aesthetic implications of select public spaces, culminating in a three-week study abroad experience centered in Rome, Italy. Experiential sketchbook exercises complement weekly reading assignments and more sustained independent research assignments. Additionally, this course explores connections between American landscape painting and public sites and historically significant sites in Italy.

American society displays troubling signs: increasing homeless and addiction; high cost of housing and education; declining confidence in elected officials and leading institutions like the news media. Many people feel ignored and exploited by the political and economic elite while also alienated from other average Americans. People are increasingly placed into hostile camps divided by politics, race, gender, education, generation, location, and other factors. What is going on in the country? What does it mean for the individual to live in times of such strain? Where are we headed?

More than half of all humans on earth now dwell in cities, and urban life is almost certainly an integral aspect of our collective future. This course introduces students to the sociological and anthropological study of the city through an examination of the theories, concepts, and frameworks social scientists have deployed in seeking to understand cities. This examination includes a focus on urbanization, or the underlying processes by which cities emerge, and on urbanism, or the character of life in an urban built environment.

This course explores the history of the United States during the "long 1960s." Focusing especially on topics and themes in political, social, and cultural history, the course emphasizes the movements for change that challenged existing norms in arenas as varied as race relations, sexuality, gender, and foreign affairs, and engages the intersection of politics and art in these contests.

The objective of this course is to cultivate an appreciation of the intersection of a sociological and historical approach to understanding the complexity and dynamics of race relations and multiculturalism in the American context. Using scholarly resources from these two distinct disciplinary traditions, the course provides students with a comparative and critical appreciation of the development of race relations in the United States.

This course uses the disciplinary lenses of psychology and literary studies to examine how the world looks and feels from the perspective of someone who is a member of an oppressed or negatively stereotyped group. The course provides an introduction to the assumptions, scientific methods, and forms of writing used by experimental social psychologists and to theories and research findings bearing on the experience of prejudice. Analysis of literary texts including poetry, fiction, and autobiography provide additional insights into the experience of prejudice.