UCOR Section Descriptions

Course Description

This course starts with a study of the UNESCO charter on world heritage sites, which represents sites of both tangible and non-tangible heritage for the world. Then we will study the historical and contemporary conditions of some of these sites in all continents. At the end of the course, we will go back to the UNESCO charter in light of everything students have learned, to re-examine the global challenges regarding cultural heritage. Covered topics include the selection criteria for the world heritage sites and procedures of campaigns for the selection of sites, as well as the aftermaths of the selection of the sites.

Course Description

More information will be available soon.

Course Description

Empires are often associated with power, and utopia with impossible visions. What are the global challenges created by legacies of modern imperialism? How are these reflected in unequal contemporary political and economic relations? We will explore how African Diaspora intellectual history has engaged with inequality in the discourse of justice. Under the rubric of empire and utopia, we will explore how freedom and justice, and philosophical and material progress are encoded in African Diaspora narratives.

Course Description

This course explores the core tenets and limitations of the field of postcolonial studies. After drawing on this critical lens to read literature written from the epicenter of British empire, we will turn to later writers who respond to and critique the legacies of imperialism and its concomitant literary traditions. We will trace the emergence of this field in its historical and cultural context, recognizing its productive value as well as potential fault lines.

Course Description

In the run-up to the 2008 US Presidential election many issues arose, including the idea of a female vs. male US president and male vs. female political leaders. The debates which ensued showed that while we have made progress there are still issues to be addressed in the definition and creation of gender roles and identities. Cleopatra, Turia, Aspasia and Margaret Thatcher. A Pharaoh, noble Roman woman, hetaera and British Tory prime minister. These women had power and influence within their societies but a power and influence not common to all women in their eras. What dictates gender roles in society and how do societies conceive of the roles of men and women? We will explore gender roles as well as sexuality in both antiquity and the contemporary world and determine what made men and women so different, why were there male and female citizens in ancient Greece yet women could never vote? What does make a Margaret Thatcher or Cleopatra and why are some female roles acceptable but others are not (e.g. women in combat)? More broadly speaking, we will use History methodology to look at a particular global challenge: Understanding why the same gender dynamic replicates across cultures, systems, and epochs and what dictates gender identity and roles in both antique and contemporary societies.

Course Description

Why do people sometimes rise up against political or cultural institutions? How do the reasons for and goals of these revolutions change depending on the historical, political, and social contexts in which they take place? How can previous revolutions help us understand and/or problematize recent revolutions? How can a revolution be a force for social justice? This course asks you to consider these questions through the lens of literary texts that respond to and help incite political and social revolutions. You will develop insights into revolution as a global phenomenon with shared foundations but markedly different manifestations. This course emphasizes the complex ways different cultures are interconnected through their revolutionary literatures and their responses to oppressive governance and social structures.

Course Description

In the run-up to the 2008 US Presidential election many issues arose, including the idea of a female vs. male US president and male vs. female political leaders. The debates which ensued showed that while we have made progress there are still issues to be addressed in the definition and creation of gender roles and identities. Cleopatra, Turia, Aspasia and Margaret Thatcher. A Pharaoh, noble Roman woman, hetaera and British Tory prime minister. These women had power and influence within their societies but a power and influence not common to all women in their eras. What dictates gender roles in society and how do societies conceive of the roles of men and women? We will explore gender roles as well as sexuality in both antiquity and the contemporary world and determine what made men and women so different, why were there male and female citizens in ancient Greece yet women could never vote? What does make a Margaret Thatcher or Cleopatra and why are some female roles acceptable but others are not (e.g. women in combat)? More broadly speaking, we will use History methodology to look at a particular global challenge: Understanding why the same gender dynamic replicates across cultures, systems, and epochs and what dictates gender identity and roles in both antique and contemporary societies.

Course Description

How has well-being been represented (in popular and academic discourses) as a thing to be attained in the 21st century? This course will offer a more complex perspective on the lived experience of well-being particularly in an era in which humans face potential catastrophe from myriad sources: environmental, political, social, economic, etc. We will read literary narratives of homelessness (exile, dislocation, refugee-ism, a sense of being estranged or a stranger, etc.) that, simultaneously, locate a sense of connectedness, community, and hope in the midst of such upheaval.

Course Description

Why do people sometimes rise up against political or cultural institutions? How do the reasons for and goals of these revolutions change depending on the historical, political, and social contexts in which they take place? How can previous revolutions help us understand and/or problematize recent revolutions? How can a revolution be a force for social justice? This course asks you to consider these questions through the lens of literary texts that respond to and help incite political and social revolutions. You will develop insights into revolution as a global phenomenon with shared foundations but markedly different manifestations. This course emphasizes the complex ways different cultures are interconnected through their revolutionary literatures and their responses to oppressive governance and social structures.

Course Description

This course will examine U.S. military intervention in the world from 1898 to the present.