|
||||
|
||||
       |
1701 North State Street Jackson, MS 39210-0001 (800)352-1050 (601)974-1000
|
||||
|
||||
|
SUMMER I
CORE 4: MODERN WORLD
IDST-2400: Revolution & Romanticism: The Cult of Originality & Virtuosity in 19th Century Music
Instructor: Dr. Lynn Raley. How music in the Age of Revolutions reflected the culture's dominant concerns and contained within itself the seeds of an artistic revolution which continued into the next century. Three major musical works of Romanticism are studied in depth, supplemented by primary source readings.
Focus: Fine Arts
M-F @ 10:00 - 11:50
CORE 6: TOPICS IN SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
CORE 7: TOPICS IN NATURAL SCIENCE WITH LABORATORY
CORE 9: TOPICS IN MATHEMATICS, NATURAL SCIENCE, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
SUMMER II
CORE 5: CONTEMPORARY WORLD
IDST-2500: We Are the 1980s
Instructor: Dr. Steve Kistulentz. If the 1970s were famously labeled the "me decade," what labels do the films and novels of the 1980s put on the decade of Ronald Reagan? It's a short ten years from the beginning of the 24-hour news cycle, to crack cocaine, Live Aid, trading arms for hostages, and the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall. From "Where's the beef?" to "Just say no," were the 1980s a decade of clever slogans and little substance, or do they mark a seminal period in the emergence of an American culture dominated more by consumption than production?
We'll read novels, screen a few films, and even watch a few music videos, all in an attempt serious answers at any or all of the following questions: what were the cultural, personal and artistic values of the 1980s and to what extent are those values reflected today?
Foci: Fine Arts, History, Literature
M-F @ 10:00-11:50
CORE 6: TOPICS IN SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
CORE 7: TOPICS IN NATURAL SCIENCE WITH LABORATORY
STUDY ABROAD
CORE 3: PRE-MODERN WORLD
IDST-1300: Culture, History, & Literature in the Maya World: Focus on Pre-Colombian & Colonial Eras.
Instructor: Dr. Eric Griffin. This year's LIY IDS course, will combine Literature, History, Anthropology and Archaeology in order to observe the unique culture of Yucatan from the pre-Columbian world of the ancient Maya, though the "contact period" and Conquest, into Spanish colonial period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. While considering such topics as folk belief, religious conversion and syncretism, piracy, corporate exploitation and the plantation system, we will travel among the peninsula's most important archaeological, geographical and historical sites. While experiencing the Yucatan in its local, Mesoamerican, trans-Atlantic and global contexts, we will sample key historical, anthropological, and literary texts. Our primary sources will include documents by sixteenth- and seventeenth-century "discoverers" such as Hernán Cortez, Bernal Díaz and Diego De Landa, seventeenth-century fiction by Miguel de Cervantes, as well as poetry and prose from native Yucatec voices. Our secondary readings will come from important work by Clifford Geertz, James Clifford, Linda Schele, Inga Clendinnen and Nancy Farriss, among others. And, we will produce our own texts (whether creative, ethnographic, historical or literary-critical) from the travel journals and field notes we produce along the way.
Foci: History, Literature
CORE 4: MODERN WORLD
IDST-2400: Culture, History, & Literature in the Maya World: Focus on Pre-Colombian & Colonial Eras
Instructor: Dr. Eric Griffin. This year's LIY IDS course, will combine Literature, History, Anthropology and Archaeology in order to observe the unique culture of Yucatan from the pre-Columbian world of the ancient Maya, though the "contact period" and Conquest, into Spanish colonial period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. While considering such topics as folk belief, religious conversion and syncretism, piracy, corporate exploitation and the plantation system, we will travel among the peninsula's most important archaeological, geographical and historical sites. While experiencing the Yucatan in its local, Mesoamerican, trans-Atlantic and global contexts, we will sample key historical, anthropological, and literary texts. Our primary sources will include documents by sixteenth- and seventeenth-century "discoverers" such as Hernán Cortez, Bernal Díaz and Diego De Landa, seventeenth-century fiction by Miguel de Cervantes, as well as poetry and prose from native Yucatec voices. Our secondary readings will come from important work by Clifford Geertz, James Clifford, Linda Schele, Inga Clendinnen and Nancy Farriss, among others. And, we will produce our own texts (whether creative, ethnographic, historical or literary-critical) from the travel journals and field notes we produce along the way.
Foci: History, Literature
IDST-2400: Culture, History, & Literature in the Maya World: Focus on Post-Independence Era
Instructor: Dr. Andrew Paxman. This LIY class is for those interested in the post-1800 history of Mexico and the contemporary challenges facing the nation, as well as the culture of the Maya, ancient and modern. During the first week, our class will run in parallel with Dr. Griffin's "Culture, History and Literature of the Maya World," as we visit some of the outstanding Maya and Colonial sites of the Yucatán as a combined group. During the second week, we will be based chiefly in the artistically-vibrant and economically-dynamic city of Mérida, home to colonial churches, European-style mansions, and U.S.-owned factories, as well as museums, art galleries, and archives. That week we will also visit 19th-century plantations (haciendas) and Millsaps' research facility at the ancient Maya site of Kaxil Kiuic. While History will be our main mode of analysis, Archaeology, Sociology & Anthropology, Religious Studies, Art History, and Business Studies will all have something to contribute as we develop a holistic understanding of both the Yucatán and the broader nation of Mexico. The class will consider such topics as the "clash of civilizations," religious conversion and syncretism, race war, the plantation system, revolutionary art, economic exploitation and opportunity, and the unique cultural hybridity (i.e. "mixed-ness") of the Yucatán. Our sources will include eye-witness accounts of conquest by 16th-century adventurers Bernal Díaz and Diego de Landa, the muckraking journalism of U.S. reporter John Kenneth Turner, the provocative murals of artist Fernando Castro Pacheco, and the work of leading historians such as Inga Clendinnen, Matthew Restall, and Gilbert Joseph. We will also hear talks from guests including archaeologists and sociologists.
Foci: History, Literature
CORE 5: CONTEMPORARY WORLD
IDST-2500: Culture, History, & Literature in the Maya World: Focus on Post-Independence Era
Instructor: Dr. Andrew Paxman. This LIY class is for those interested in the post-1800 history of Mexico and the contemporary challenges facing the nation, as well as the culture of the Maya, ancient and modern. During the first week, our class will run in parallel with Dr. Griffin's "Culture, History and Literature of the Maya World," as we visit some of the outstanding Maya and Colonial sites of the Yucatán as a combined group. During the second week, we will be based chiefly in the artistically-vibrant and economically-dynamic city of Mérida, home to colonial churches, European-style mansions, and U.S.-owned factories, as well as museums, art galleries, and archives. That week we will also visit 19th-century plantations (haciendas) and Millsaps' research facility at the ancient Maya site of Kaxil Kiuic. While History will be our main mode of analysis, Archaeology, Sociology & Anthropology, Religious Studies, Art History, and Business Studies will all have something to contribute as we develop a holistic understanding of both the Yucatán and the broader nation of Mexico. The class will consider such topics as the "clash of civilizations," religious conversion and syncretism, race war, the plantation system, revolutionary art, economic exploitation and opportunity, and the unique cultural hybridity (i.e. "mixed-ness") of the Yucatán. Our sources will include eye-witness accounts of conquest by 16th-century adventurers Bernal Díaz and Diego de Landa, the muckraking journalism of U.S. reporter John Kenneth Turner, the provocative murals of artist Fernando Castro Pacheco, and the work of leading historians such as Inga Clendinnen, Matthew Restall, and Gilbert Joseph. We will also hear talks from guests including archaeologists and sociologists.
Foci: History, Literature
CORE 6: TOPICS IN SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
PSYC-4750: The Psychology of Food
Instructor: Dr. Kurt Thaw. At first glance, the study of eating may seem like a trivial matter. Everyone eats food, it is necessary for survival, all we need do is find enough and we will be fine. However, upon closer inspection you will discover that Food itself is intimately related to politics, economics, religion, health and even mental disorders. Even more subtle is the influence food has over people and the way marketers manipulate this influence to sell their products. A seemingly very biological event thus takes on a very psychological profile, sometimes without us even noticing it. In this course we will examine how our culture and country integrate food into our daily lives, how we respond to it, and the consequences (good and bad) of our current relationship with food products. An emphasis on the spread of American ideas of food and eating to other cultures, as well as traditional customs and practices of specific cultures will also be explored. We will visit numerous museums in the countries we visit to examine western as well as Eastern art and culture (including Korea, China, and Japan). Though we will explore some gastronomical histories dating back thousands of years (like honey and beer consumption), we will mainly focus on the last 100 years, the time period in which the most dramatic changes in food production and eating have occurred. Once we leave the U.S. we will cover cultural differences in food and eating practices specific to the countries we visit (i.e. those topics will be thoroughly covered while on site in Europe).
CORE 7: TOPICS IN NATURAL SCIENCE WITH LABORATORY
BIOL-3210: Galapagos Field Biology: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
Instructor: Dr. Debora Mann. The Galapagos Islands have always been a scene of remarkable drama, from the volcanoes that brought them forth from the Pacific, to the plant and animal waifs that colonized the islands and gave rise to new forms adapted to their unique conditions, to the voyagers who explored the archipelago in wonder at the strange creatures they found there. Indeed, there may be no better place on earth to witness what the eminent ecologist G. Evelyn Hutchinson called "the ecological theater and the evolutionary play." In this course we will learn fundamental principles of ecology, evolution, and conservation biology, using the Galapagos as a case study. We will consider the Galapagos' special place in the history of science as we study the work of Charles Darwin, Peter and Rosemary Grant, and others whose research on the islands and surrounding marine reserve have enhanced our understanding of the evolution of biodiversity. We will learn about the history of the Galapagos, its cultural heritage, and the interaction between people and the natural environment of the archipelago. The course will begin during the spring semester, when we will have six meetings that will serve as an introduction to life and culture in Ecuador, the natural history of the Galapagos, the significance of the archipelago in the history of science, and current issues in conservation as exemplified by the Galapagos. We will also have five lab periods at Millsaps during the first week of May. The labs will allow us to explore the mechanisms of evolution and to become familiar with the means by which biologists trace the evolutionary relationships among organisms. Our trip to Ecuador, including Galapagos, will take place June 1-11. Our travels will begin in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, which lies just a few miles south of the equator at an altitude of about 9000 feet in a river valley between peaks of the Andes. Quito was the world's first city designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO, which recognized it as having "the best preserved, least altered historic centre in Latin America." After spending two days in Quito, we will fly to the Galapagos, where we will transfer to the Motor Yacht Floreana, which will be our home for the next week as we travel to eight of the islands of the archipelago. Upon our return to the mainland, we will spend one more night in Quito before departing Ecuador.
CORE 9: TOPICS IN MATHEMATICS, NATURAL SCIENCE, AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
GEOL-3500: Field Geology I: Folded Rocks - Crossing the Appalachia
Instructors: Dr. Zach Musselman, Dr. Jamie Harris, Dr. Stan Galicki. A transect through a mountain range provides the opportunity to see enormous amounts of geology over a short distance. Traveling from Jackson, we will explore east coast geology as we travel through the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Investigating rocks created by the collision of Africa and North America, ancient and modern environments will reveal Earth's history like no where else in the world.
FALL 2010
FRESHMAN SEMINAR: CRITICAL THINKING AND ACADEMIC LITERACY
IDST-1000-01: "There are too many idiots in this world": Humanity in the 20th century
Instructor: Dr. Nicholas G. Brown. A long time ago, St. Paul said something about love, Leonardo da Vinci dressed up like a woman and laughed at people, time passed, Leonardo DiCaprio could not save the Titanic, but Celine Dion had a hit song, an angry man named Frantz Fanon said "there are too many idiots in this world," the U.S. Supreme Court sterilized a family of idiots, some other important stuff happened, and then there was Hitler. What do these people, as well as all human beings, share in common: we all address and express the question of "humanity?" In this class, we will historicize and attempt to ascertain the concept and reality of humanity (and so- called human rights) as pertains to a contemporary century that nearly destroyed human existence. And we will sing, dance and laugh. We will seriously attempt to answer the principal questions: 1) What defines "humanity;" 2) Who defines it; 3) Does anybody practice it; 4) Can human rights exist anywhere if they do not exist everywhere; 5) and ultimately: do human rights really exist, really?
MTWF @ 08:00-08:50
IDST-1000-02: Vocation: The Next Best Thing to Vacation
Instructor: Dr. Amy W. Forbes. This section of Core I focuses on an exploration of vocation. To facilitate this exploration, the course will introduce you to new and different ways of finding meaning in your current college and future work experiences. Our primary goal for this course is to add to your understanding of vocation both in the sense of a specific career and in the sense of broader work. Your investigation of yourself, your responsibilities as a college student, and future vocational possibilities will lead you to a clearer understanding of the relationship between the choices you make at Millsaps and the opportunities that lie ahead of you.
MTWF @ 09:00-9:50
IDST-1000-03: Mysteries of Human Thought and Human Behavior
Instructor: Dr. Laura E. Franey. Every day, newspapers, television news shows, and web blogs report stories about strange and often horrifying things that human beings do to one another and to themselves. But the really strange thing is how many of these stories end up overlapping, thereby creating a sense that what at first appear to be unusual events might actually be somewhat common occurrences. In this class, we will explore together some of these mysteries of human thought and human behavior. We will explore these "mysteries" as generally educated people, not as trained scientists, but I hope that we will gain valuable insights through critical analysis of resources available to us as students of the liberal arts. There will be readings from a textbook in abnormal psychology, a literature anthology, and other sources, and we will watch at least two films, including a fascinating HBO documentary entitled "Capturing the Friedmans." The classroom discussions, readings, and paper assignments are all designed with the following goal in mind: to help students dramatically enhance their critical thinking skills, their oral communication skills, and their writing skills.
MTWF @ 09:00-9:50
IDST-1000-04: Vocation: The Next Best Thing to Vacation
Instructor: Dr. Amy W. Forbes. This section of Core I focuses on an exploration of vocation. To facilitate this exploration, the course will introduce you to new and different ways of finding meaning in your current college and future work experiences. Our primary goal for this course is to add to your understanding of vocation both in the sense of a specific career and in the sense of broader work. Your investigation of yourself, your responsibilities as a college student, and future vocational possibilities will lead you to a clearer understanding of the relationship between the choices you make at Millsaps and the opportunities that lie ahead of you.
MWF @ 10:00-10:50 + TH @ 08:00-8:50
IDST-1000-05: Mysteries of Human Thought and Human Behavior
Instructor: Dr. Laura E. Franey. Every day, newspapers, television news shows, and web blogs report stories about strange and often horrifying things that human beings do to one another and to themselves. But the really strange thing is how many of these stories end up overlapping, thereby creating a sense that what at first appear to be unusual events might actually be somewhat common occurrences. In this class, we will explore together some of these mysteries of human thought and human behavior. We will explore these "mysteries" as generally educated people, not as trained scientists, but I hope that we will gain valuable insights through critical analysis of resources available to us as students of the liberal arts. There will be readings from a textbook in abnormal psychology, a literature anthology, and other sources, and we will watch at least two films, including a fascinating HBO documentary entitled "Capturing the Friedmans." The classroom discussions, readings, and paper assignments are all designed with the following goal in mind: to help students dramatically enhance their critical thinking skills, their oral communication skills, and their writing skills.
MWF @ 10:00-10:50 + TH @ 08:00-8:50
IDST-1000-06: Adventure and Survival: Thinking and Writing in the Natural World
Instructor: Dr. Jamie Harris. The course will focus on exploration of the natural world. We will analyze some classic adventure and survival stories and discuss human responsibility in dealing with nature. Readings include the work of Jack London, Norman Maclean, Edward Abbey, John McPhee, and Jon Krakauer.
MWF @ 10:00-10:50 + TH @ 08:00-8:50
IDST-1000-07: American Superheroes
Instructor: Dr. Curtis D. Coats. Every Hollywood blockbuster has a common thread: the superhero. This character may be masked or unmasked, have super-human strength (Spiderman, HellBoy) or strength from technological wizardry (Batman, Iron Man). Or the character may just be smarter, faster, or carry a bigger or better gun (Bourne Identity). This course explores the superhero in American cinema. We will seek to understand the history of this character and the narratives embedded in this character. In this course, we will ask the following questions: What do superheroes tell us about gender, particularly masculinity? What do they tell us about race? What do they tell us about the ideals of "America"? We will address these questions by learning how to closely read media texts and connect those texts to concepts in visual communications, media studies and studies of rhetoric.
MWF @ 11:00-11:50 + TH @ 09:00-9:50
IDST-1000-08: Thinking, Writing and Making Your Way through Fields of Reading
Instructor: Dr. Priscilla Fermon. The purpose of this course is to embark on voyages toward becoming better thinkers, readers and writers. Participation in the journey requires that each one of you asks yourself the following questions: Who am I? How do I know? How do I act responsibly? Throughout the semester you will gain insights into who you are, how you know and how you act responsibly and you will share those insights with others. Beginning questions will lead to other questions as you work on developing strategies for finding honest answers in order to reach valid conclusions.
MW @ 01:00-2:40
IDST-1000-09: From Spice Trade to eBay: Making Sense of Business
Instructor: Dr. Blakely Fender. This class will explore the nature of business by reading what people from across time and cultures have said about it. As we consider a variety of perspectives, our own beliefs and assumptions about business will become clearer. We will ponder numerous questions that people have been asking through the centuries. For example: How costly is a "free market"? Does the "invisible hand" of the marketplace provide a handshake or a shove? Do shareholders ever share? Why does fuel cost so much????
MW @ 2:45-4:00
IDST-1000-10: The Law of Living
Instructor: Harvey L. Fiser. This class will explore the nature of law by reading legal opinions from courts and what people from across time and cultures have said about them. As we consider a variety of perspectives, our own beliefs and assumptions about law will become clearer. We will ponder numerous questions that people have been asking through the centuries. For example: What role does the law play in our society? Should our laws protect our moral beliefs? Should law protect us from our own bad decisions? Where is the line between what is legal and immoral? What is the role of law in regulating business and society? The goal of the course is to learn some of the history and philosophy of our legal and economic systems and consider how these affect our quality of life. Whether or not you're interested in law, this class is relevant for you. We are all participants in a society of laws: Are you a consumer of goods and services? Do you own property, a car, an iPod, or a computer? Have you voted or plan to vote? Do you travel across the state or around the world? Do you watch movies, read the paper, or use the Internet? Do you breathe air? Do you drink water? If you said "yes" to any of the above, then you have been touched by the hand of the law. Law is all around us; we must understand it and our relationship to it if we are to understand ourselves and our society.
TTH @ 10:00-11:15 + W @ 12:00-12:50
IDST-1000-11: Everything Bad is Good for You
Instructor: Dr. Stacy L. DeZutter. Television makes us lazy, rap music makes us violent, and the internet is making us illiterate. Right? Warnings about the negative effects of popular culture abound, but how much truth is there in such fears? Could there be positive effects to these things as well? Could television actually make us think harder? Could rap music calm us down? Could the internet be the birthplace of a new and more potent kind of literacy? We'll investigate the intellectual and social effects of various forms of popular culture - television, music, video games, text messaging, the internet, and more - and consider whether there are surprising ways in which these things may indeed be good for us.
TTH @ 10:00-11:15 + W @ 12:00-12:50
IDST-1000-12: Clarifying My Beliefs Through Writing and Discussion
Instructor: Dr. Lee Lewis. This class uses class discussions and writing to focus on learning the skills of recognizing bias and persuasion in writing and how to prevent these in our own writing. To learn these skills - as well as to answer the three questions of "Who am I?", "How do I think and know?", and "How do I make decisions?" - we will examine and discuss writings of differing belief systems. (NoteThis class is not designed to change any person's ideals but to examine all the evidence surrounding an issue and to learn to fairly present the issue with evidence that firmly supports one's personal opinion on the issue.)
TTH @ 10:00-11:15 + W @ 12:00-12:50
IDST-1000-13: The Good Life: Philosophy of Happiness
Instructor: Dr. Kristen Golden. We all want happiness, and many of us believe we know what it is. But classic philosophers and contemporary scientists continue to disagree about it. Just what is happiness? Is it an emotion or feeling? Is it the activity of a flourishing life of moderation? If it is an emotion (the viewpoint of many current investigators) does that mean the joyous insane person is happy, and that the pleased serial killer is happy too? If it is a life of moderation (as the ancients espoused) does that mean a prudent person who rarely feels joy, is happy?! These are just a few of the questions we will ask in our inquiry into human happiness, the thematic focus of our class through which students will tune their writing and thinking skills.
TTH @ 10:00-11:15 + W @ 12:00-12:50
IDST-1000-14: From Medici to Citibank: Making Sense of Business and Finance
Instructor: Dr. Walter P. Neely. This class will explore the nature of business and finance by reading what people from across time and cultures have said about it. As we consider a variety of perspectives, our own beliefs and assumptions about business and finance will become clearer. We will ponder numerous questions that people have been asking through the centuries. For example: Why did the renaissance flourish in Florence? Why "free markets"? Does the "invisible hand" of the marketplace work better than enlightened administrators? Is it a sin to borrow and lend money? Why do markets seem to sometimes go mad?
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
IDST-1000-15: Science, Religion, and Politics
Instructor: Dr. Sarah L. McGuire. Science and society are intricately intertwined: scientific advances can change societies, and societal issues can significantly impact science. In this course, we will critically examine several seminal scientific discoveries throughout the course of history and consider how these discoveries changed society, as well as how society affected these discoveries. Central to the discussion will be considerations of the influences of science, religion, and politics on each other. Class discussions and essays will focus on critical analysis of these interactions and will require evidence-based arguments in support of your analysis.
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
IDST-1000-16: Eat, Drink and be "Mary": Cause and Effect of American Indulgences
Instructor: Dr. Kurt Thaw. Overconsumption of Food and Drink and Sex along with more lenient views on such practices seems "acceptable" given such coverage of topics in the media. But what do we really know about recent increases in obesity, alcoholism rates and the percentage of persons engaging in nontraditional sexual behaviors? More importantly, can we identify factors contributing to these changes? Some surprising answers to these topics along with controversial discussions that touch on American culture, religion and science will be covered in this course. Readings will include books on the psychology and marketing of eating, scientific journal articles on the economic role of food and drugs, and a variety of articles and essays on sexual behavior (good and bad) in America. Students of this course should be open to discussing sensitive topics, arrive with an open mind (or at least opinions that you are willing to explore or challenge), and the ability to discuss the above topics in a collegial, intelligent manner.
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
IDST-1000-17: Sustainable Millsaps
Instructor: Dr. Jessica A. Piekielek. This course invites students to explore the relationship between people and their environments through the lens of sustainability, especially ideas about campus sustainability as well as sustainability within the wider Jackson community. The course will consider questions like: What does it mean to be "green"? What is ecological sustainability? What does sustainability look like in action? Is sustainability possible and desirable? Students will explore these questions through discussion, readings, hands-on research, and practical projects on campus. Like all Core 1 courses, students will engage in a variety of exercises designed to practice various types of academic writing and to help students hone their critical thinking skills. This course will include 15 required hours of sustainability-related community service at a variety of locations in Jackson, which we will undertake as a class or in small groups.
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
IDST-1000-18: Crimes of Obedience: Milgram, Manson, My Lai, and Beyond
Instructor: Dr. Ashleigh S. Powers. Obedience to authority is often considered a desirable trait; children, employees, and military personnel, to name a few, often receive critical directives that they are encouraged to follow without question. However, obedience can have a dark side, especially when those in authority abuse their power. This course will explore the psychological and political implications of obedience to authority. What are the origins of obedience (and disobedience) to authority? Who should be held responsible when crimes are committed in the course of fulfilling orders? Is "brainwashing" real, and if so, should people be held responsible for actions committed under duress? What can we understand about actors who choose not to follow orders in similar conditions? To aid in our study, we will consider academic studies of obedience, including the Milgram shock experiments, as well as several historical "crimes" of obedience, including the Charles Manson murders and other cult experiences, and military crimes, including the Guantanamo Bay abuses and the My Lai, Vietnam massacre.
TTH @ 02:45-4:00
IDST-1050-01: This Digital Life
Instructor: Dr. Anita M. DeRouen. Who are we when we're on the web? What does it mean to be "digital?" How does our understanding of our lives change when we start "living" on the internet? These and other questions will guide us through a semester –long examination of our digital lives. We'll consider the applications which have become almost requirements for our social lives (like Facebook), our understanding of the connections we have to the technology we use, and the way words like "community" and "privacy" take on different shades of meaning when we apply them to internet culture.
TTH @ 10:00 -11:15 + W @ 12:00-12:50
IDST-1050-02: Normal, Illinois: Television and the American Myth
Instructor: Dr. Steve Kistulentz. Richard Hofstadter once famously wrote, "It has been our fate as a nation not to have an ideology, but to be one." In this course, we will explore the ways in which television reinforces and subverts the various mythologies of American culture. By looking at everything—from commercials to news broadcasts to series television from the 1960s to the present day—we will investigate whether television provides an accurate portrayal of who we are as a people. We'll discuss whether television fosters a sense of anti-intellectualism, and what role television has in promoting the myth of American exceptionalism. Finally, we will work to predict the future impact of television by analyzing how what we watch has changed over the history of broadcast television, and we will attempt to anticipate the future trends of this evolving medium in the post-network era.
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
CORE 2-5: THE HERITAGE PROGRAM
IDST 1118-1128: Heritage of the West in World Perspective
Instructors: Dr. Ted Ammon, Department of Philosophy; Dr. Anne MacMaster, Department of English; Dr. Andrew Paxman, Department of History; Dr. Steve Smith, Department of Religious Studies. Beginning with antiquity and continuing to the present, this program brings together history, literature, philosophy, religion, and the arts in an integrated approach to the study of Western culture within a global context. It is the equivalent of eight semester hours each semester extending throughout the year. This course meets the requirements of Core 2-5 and the fine arts requirement. Enrollment is limited to freshmen.
CORE 2: ANCIENT WORLD
IDST-1200-01: Go to Hell: Death, Dying and the Afterlife in Antiquity
Instructor: Dr. Holly M. Sypniewski. In this class you will examine Greco-Roman concepts of the underworld and afterlife. We will explore the rituals, beliefs and myths that surround death including what happens to the soul, where - if anywhere - it resides, as it is portrayed in Greek and Roman literature. We will contrast these views with other traditions from Mesopotamia and Egypt. Monuments, inscriptions and art objects will supplement our study of literature.
Focus: Literature
MTWF @ 08:00-8:50
IDST-1200-02: Who Speaks for the God(s)?
Instructor: Dr. James E. Bowley. Discerning the divine will has always been a prime human concern. This course will involve a comparative study of how human beings have determined what God(s) say in ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Israelite cultures, following this theme into the world religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Focus: Religious Studies
MTWF @ 09:00-9:50
IDST-1200-03: The Art of Living: Wisdom in the Ancient Near East
Instructor: Dr. Bennie Reynolds. Nowadays "wisdom" might suggest a kind of esoteric or even mystical insight. In the ancient Near East, however, the pursuit of "wisdom" was more directly practical: it was about finding solutions for extreme adversity and perplexing anomalies in everyday life. What do you do if your beliefs about reality are directly contradicted by your life experiences? It is this type of question that interested the ancient sages. In this course we approach the wisdom traditions found in the literature of ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and ancient Israel. We will do close readings of primary texts from each culture and compare what assumptions underpin their conceptions of the world, how they imagine the challenges to a successful life, how they articulate solutions, and what conclusions their searches teach them about existence. Along the way, we'll place biblical texts such as Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in conversation with works such as the Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope and the Babylonian Ludlul bel Nemeqi. We'll also find modern conversation partners for the ancient sages in the likes of Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Ernest Hemingway.
Focus: Religious Studies
MWF @ 10:00-10:50 + TH @ 08:00-8:50
IDST-1200-05: New Religious Movements in the Ancient World: Buddhism and Christianity
Instructor: Dr. Lola L. Williamson. We often study world religions as if they were discreet units with firm boundaries. What if we were to imagine religion instead as a porous and ever-changing confluence of ideas and practices that arises from existing cultural conditions and mutates into new forms as those conditions change? This course will be such an exercise. We will explore early Buddhism and Christianity as emerging from deeply established cultural traditions and, at the same time, as competing with new religious alternatives. How did they adapt to challenges? What qualities allowed them to survive to the present day while other new religious movements slid into oblivion? Drawing significantly on primary texts that record the lives and words of Buddha and Jesus, we will explore these questions.
Focus: Religious Studies
MW @ 01:00-2:40
IDST-1200-06: New Religious Movements in the Ancient World: Buddhism and Christianity
Instructor: Dr. Lola L. Williamson. We often study world religions as if they were discreet units with firm boundaries. What if we were to imagine religion instead as a porous and ever-changing confluence of ideas and practices that arises from existing cultural conditions and mutates into new forms as those conditions change? This course will be such an exercise. We will explore early Buddhism and Christianity as emerging from deeply established cultural traditions and, at the same time, as competing with new religious alternatives. How did they adapt to challenges? What qualities allowed them to survive to the present day while other new religious movements slid into oblivion? Drawing significantly on primary texts that record the lives and words of Buddha and Jesus, we will explore these questions.
Focus: Religious Studies
TTH @ 10:00-11:15 + W @ 12:00-12:50
IDST-1200-07: Sex, Religion, and Prehistory
Instructor: Dr. Robert S. McElvaine. After an examination of the effects of evolution on human nature, this course will explore the effects of the disruption in human life caused by the invention of agriculture. Effects on the roles of women and men, on scientific understanding, and on religious outlooks in the Neolithic and ancient worlds will be discussed.
Foci: History, Religious Studies
TTH @ 10:00-11:15 + W @ 12:00-12:50
IDST-1200-08: Enemies, Outsiders, and Undesirables in Ancient Greece and Rome
Instructor: Dr. David Yates. The citizens and elites of the Greek city states, the Roman Republic, and later the Roman Empire firmly believed that they were beset on all sides by forces bent on the overthrow of the proper world order. Some were foreign foes like the great Persian Empire and its successors to the east or the manifold barbarian tribes to the north. Others lived within like the women, slaves, resident aliens, and ethnic minorities, who in fact made up the vast majority of the people populating the great cities and provinces of the Greco-Roman world. To keep the insiders in and the outsiders (both foreign and domestic) out the Greeks and Romans crafted elaborate fictions about the size and nature of the 'threats' they faced - fictions realized in social norms and political structures as well as popular literature, art, and architecture. In this class we shall examine the shifting characterizations of insiders and outsiders from archaic Greece to the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Roman Empire. Along the way we shall compare these insider perceptions and assumptions to the manifest historical realities their proponents chose to ignore.
Foci: History and Literature
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
IDST-1200-09: The Prophetic Imagination: Dream Visions of Patriarchs and Prophets
Instructor: Mary Louise Jones. How do we communicate with the Divine? How does the Divine reach us? The Divine enters the earth through dreams and visions, clouds and fire, thunder and small voices.This course will study the Prophetic Imagination--The Divine force behind the Prophet-Hero. We will study how these God Visions call the Prophet -Hero to task: to create a people, restore a people, free a people or to enlighten a people. But no belief system or religion has a corner on divine inspiration. It is a universal paradigm. We will concentrate on Buddha, Mohammed, the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament.
Focus: Religious Studies
TTH @ 10:00-11:15 + W @ 12:00-12:50
CORE 4: MODERN WORLD
IDST-2400-01: Slavery and the American South
Instructor: Dr. Suzanne Marrs. This study of slavery in America will address questions that have long preoccupied students of the South's peculiar institution. What do we know about the people who were enslaved? About the African cultural traditions they brought with them to America and managed to preserve? About the conditions under which these men and women lived and labored? About the methods by which they sought to escape from slavery or to obtain a degree of power within it? What do we know about the individuals who owned slaves, about their family lives, their cultural traditions, their religious beliefs? How did they see themselves? How did they attempt to rationalize their participation in the slave system? In attempting to answer these questions, we shall examine fiction written by black and white, male and female, nineteenth-century Southerners, we shall read excerpts from nineteenth-century diaries and slave narratives, we shall look at twentieth-century novels about slavery, and we shall pay close attention to recent essays by major historians. In addition, we shall listen to music and look at photographs from the nineteenth-century American South. Short quizzes, a term paper, mid-term and final examinations will provide the basis for grading. Texts: Rosengarten, Tombee, Portrait of a Cotton Planter (booklet of excerpts); A Plantation Mistress on the Eve of the Civil War: The Diary of Keziah Goodwyn Hopkins Brevard; Douglass, Narrative of a Life; Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; Gerster and Cords, Mythology and Southern History, vol. I; Morrison, Beloved; Jones, The Known World
Foci: History, Literature
MTWF @ 09:00-9:50
IDST-2400-02: Violence, Virtue, and Revolution in the Atlantic World
Instructor: Dr. Stephanie Rolph. The identification of the New World as an extension of empire and wealth enabled an environment that both reflected and challenged traditional ideas of authority and deference. While European nations viewed the cultivation of their North American colonies as an economic pursuit, inhabitants of the New World, both free and enslaved, experienced geographic separation as a crucible for fundamental change. This course challenges students to identify the philosophical, religious and political exchanges of the eighteenth century Atlantic world. Special attention will be given to the development of the French, American and Haitian Revolutions as examples of this exchange, marking the uniqueness of each while recognizing their shared identity as sentinels of liberty.
Focus: History
MWF @ 10:00-10:50 + TH @ 08:00-8:50
IDST-2400-03: The Failure of the Word: Faith and Doubt in Nineteenth-Century British Literature
Instructor: Dr. Lara Kees. In 1950, Stevie Smith wrote a poem called "Our Bog is Dood," in which she mocks a certain kind of religion but also ridicules those who herald its demise. By writing a nonsense poem which addresses such a serious topic, she also confronts the ability of language to talk about spiritual matters. But the Romantic poets of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries believed that words were practically divine: both Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth wrote a great deal about how words make the transcendent real to us, as though a poem momentarily catches us up with divinity itself. What happened to endanger writers' faith in words? To answer this question in this course, we will spend the first part of the semester discussing Romanticism, including poetry, history, and visual art. As we move into the Victorian period, we will see how the Victorians struggled with questions of faith and science in ways that may seem familiar to us. The questions with which they grappled affected the ability of artists to believe in the Romantic ideal of art. The Victorians had to come to terms with geological discoveries, the Industrial Revolution, Charles Darwin, linguistic discoveries, and more, all of which conspired to make it seem like the very foundations of faith were crumbling. They could no longer believe as readily as the Romantics could in a transcendent art or in religion. We will discuss how Victorian literature and art show this uneasy strain.
Focus: Literature
MWF @ 10:00-10:50 + TH @ 08:00-8:50
IDST-2400-04: Revolution and Romanticism
Instructor: Dr. Lynn Raley. This course will explore how music in the Age of Revolutions reflected European culture's dominant concerns and contained within itself the seeds of a musical revolution which continued into the next century. Romanticism's insistence on newness and originality continues to the present day. Although the primary focus of this course will be music, a reading knowledge of music is not necessary for success in the course. We will devote a significant amount of time to learning how to listen actively and intelligently to Western art music, but our approach will be truly interdisciplinary and will incorporate the visual arts, history, philosophy, and literature. Three major works will be studied in depth through close listening: the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, the Symphonie Fantastique of Berlioz, and an opera (in alternating years "Salomé" by Richard Strauss, "Rigoletto" by Verdi, and "Carmen" by Bizet).
Focus: Fine Arts
MWF @ 11:00-11:50 + TH @ 09:00-9:50
IDST-2400-05: "The Antichrist": De-constructing Modernity
Instructor: Dr. Nicholas G. Brown. During the late 1600's, John Locke wrote an influential and optimistic book about human rationality, civility, and freedom. But, he denied freedom to "lunatics, idiots, and madmen." About two hundred years later, avowed nihilist Friedrich Nietzsche, whom many consider as a lunatic, idiot and madman, wrote a book called The Antichrist in which he uncivilly sought to destroy everything that everybody believed in. (He did not have many friends). But, in his mind, he believed that his philosophy freed humanity. In this class, we will historically de-construct the modern ideas of human rationality, rights, and freedom. We will pay particular attention to how ideas created, moved, reflected and advanced historical development. We will study, among many ideologues: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Jefferson, Kierkegaard, a young Hitler, Heidegger, and emphasize Nietzsche. In sum, we will existential-ize everything (nation, democracy, war, religion, social class, gender, everything), so enter the class open-minded, and be prepared to discuss, debate, and write a twenty-five page essay.
Focus: History
MW @ 02:45-4:00
IDST-2400-06: Manifest Destiny
Instructor: Dr. Eric Griffin. This course will consider the importance of American Exceptionalism - better known as "Manifest Destiny" - in our national consciousness. We will begin by exploring the early colonial ventures at Jamestown and Plymouth, pause to consider the roots of the American Revolution, then move westward via the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Mexican-American War and the California Gold Rush. After another pause to think about how the Civil War complicates both this period of unprecedented expansion and our nation's sense of "election," we will continue moving westward as our nation's victory in the Spanish-American War propels the United States to global prominence at the end of the 19th century. "Manifest Destiny" will satisfy your Core 4 requirement, and while our major interdisciplinary focus will be on the connections between Literature and History, our materials will come from the fields of geography, philosophy, religion and the visual arts as well. In order to bring the issues we raise closer to home by observing how our theme enters the popular mind via the motion picture medium, we will meet several evenings during the course of the semester to view and critique some classic (and not-so-classic) American films. The course also cross-lists in Latin American Studies.
Foci: History, Literature
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
IDST-2400-07: The First World War
Instructor: Dr. William Storey. The First World War is generally thought to be a turning point in world history. Most scholars consider it to be the end of the modern era - in which humanity placed its faith in the operations of reason upon nature - and the beginning of a darker contemporary era in which modern science and technology helped to produce slaughter. Together we will examine the long-term and short-term causes of the First World War, stretching back into the nineteenth century, as well as the war itself. We will take a global approach, paying particular attention to imperial rivalries and diplomatic relations, as well as to the ways in which environmental endowments and technological developments were related to global inequality and international tension. After studying the war's origins, we will examine the conflict itself, focusing on the soldiers' experience of combat; life on the "home front"; and the environmental and technological changes associated with the war. We will examine the effects of war on Europe and the world, including the revolutions in Russia, Germany, Ireland, and Mexico, as well as changes in the Middle East, Africa, India, and East Asia.
Focus: History
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
IDST-2400-08: Popular Culture and the European Avant-garde
Instructor: Dr. Abigail Susik. The rise of the category of 'modern art' around the turn of the 20th century was more than just a product of internalized aesthetic debates about form and medium. The remarkable surge of experimental visual art and literature in Europe at this time was also the product of myriad cultural factors. From the impact of the industrial revolution, to the age of imperialism, to the growth of spectacle-cultures, for example, the European avant-garde can be effectively read as a multifaceted and engaged response to a specific social context. Our survey of select European avant-garde movements between c. 1885 and 1919, such as Symbolism, Cubism, Futurism and Dadaism, will analyze works of art and literature that reveal a deep investment in what is today called "popular culture." Class conversations will consider the following influences upon the European avant-garde, among other factors: the development of mass print media; the invention of motion pictures, telephones, airplanes and automobiles; the effects of colonialism and transnational cultural exchange; World War I; leftist politics; turn-of-the-century entertainment industries; and the impact of everyday life in general in this period. In conjunction, unique avant-garde categories such as collage, assemblage, the manifesto, and the readymade will be closely assessed.
Foci: Fine Arts, Literature
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
CORE 6: TOPICS IN SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
IDST-1610: Human Development in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Instructor: Dr. Stacy DeZutter. Human Development in Cross-Cultural Perspective examines continuity and change in individuals across the lifespan, including development in the physical, cognitive, and social domains. Emphasis is placed on development as a context-bound process: we examine how factors external to the individual interact with those within the individual to shape the course of development. Because human development is influenced by everything from minute genetic variations to grand historical events, its study requires an interdisciplinary approach. This course integrates research and theory from a wide range of disciplines including psychology, biology, sociology, anthropology, and education to understand how and why people develop as they do.
TTH @ 01:00-2:40
CORE 7: TOPICS IN NATURAL SCIENCE WITH LABORATORY
CORE 8: TOPICS IN MATHEMATICS
CORE 9: TOPICS IN MATHEMATICS, NATURAL SCIENCE, OR COMPUTER SCIENCE
FINE ARTS
Any IDST course with a Fine Arts focus or the two semester Heritage sequence will meet this requirement. In addition, completing four semesters of private study of voice or an instrument, completing four semesters of class piano, completing four hours in Singers, or significant participation in four Millsaps Players productions will satisfy the fine arts requirement.
