This course examines the rise of nationalism in continental Europe from 1789 to 1918, a period beginning with the French Revolution and ending with World War One. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship, the course explores a period when modern nationalism emerged as a coherent way of seeing the world and then emerged as the principle ideology for organizing states and societies in Europe. Primary focus is on highly interrelated nation-building projects in five parts of Europe: France, Germany, Hapsburg Austria, Poland, and Russia.

How do societies shape their collective identities based on their pasts? Who gets to decide how the past is remembered and what are the roles of governments, museums, memorials and monuments in narrating it? How do societies choose to debate and reinterpret formative historical events? This course explores these questions by focusing on collective memory in contemporary Europe. The main themes of this course are memories of the Holocaust, European empires and communism that continue to shape identity, culture and politics in countries across Europe.

What is the future of Europe? Current European politics are confronted by complex interplay between integration, migration, and nationalism, all of which provide differing concepts of "Europe" as a political entity. This course will begin by focusing on the development of modern European states and identities, and will then turn to a discussion of the motivations behind integration and the quest to develop European institutions and a single European political identity.

This class takes a penetrating look at the burgeoning scholarly interest in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and its possible relevance to ancient combat in Greece and Rome. Extensive readings include selections from Homer's Iliad, Odyssey, the tragedies Aias and Herakles Mainomenos, and Roman battle accounts. Students then look at how various of these works have been interpreted as proof of PTSD in the ancient world, most notably by psychologist Jonathan Shay, but also by an increasing number of classical scholars.

Political ecology is an active interdisciplinary framework with foundations in anthropology, geography, environmental studies and the biological sciences. Its central contention is that our understanding of environmental issues and environmental change must include an analysis of the social, political, economic, and cultural context in which they are produced.

Emphasizing the textual and visual histories of the city, this interdisciplinary course explores the effects of transition and upheaval on Berlin, highlighting the interconnectivity of history and memory discourses, topography, popular culture, the arts, politics, urban renewal, and multiculturalism. Discussions focus on Berlin's ever-changing façade and constant self-reinvention and re-evaluation. Definitions of "metropolis" and close readings of the city as "textual space" will be covered within the framework of questions of modernity and post-modernity.

What has been the role of religion in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBQTQ) lives and communities? This course begins by considering the dominant picture of religious versus queer opposition, and it investigates the sources and normative perspectives that contribute to this picture. The course proceeds to focus on what this dominant story obscures: the complexity and variety of LGBTQ+ religious and spiritual engagement during the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries.

Ways of identifying vary and are informed by both lived experience and aspects of biology. Our language around identity, gender identity in particular, has grown and evolved over time. Yet there remains a critical gap in understanding the contribution of biology and the biological sexes to this deeply personal psychosocial construct. There is, however, a growing body of literature that demonstrates that the sex of the brain itself (i.e. sex-typical patterns of neural organization), genetic sex (i.e. chromosomal sex), and phenotypic sex (i.e.

Taught in English, this course examines the richness and diversity of Sub-Saharan African cinema from 1967 to today. Through films and critical readings, students explore how African directors address history, colonialism, race, gender, sexuality, and social justice. From Ousmane Sembène¿s pioneering works to Nollywood and African-futurist visions, the course traces shifting artistic and political landscapes.

This course explores African women writers and critics, focusing on their cultural positions, theoretical priorities, and representations of women¿s experiences. It provides students with both a broad and specific understanding of African women¿s achievements, identities, and cultural contributions. The class approaches the material through an interdisciplinary framework that draws on literary studies, history, sociology, anthropology, gender studies, and postcolonial theory.