Spring 2021 Course Offerings

ASIA
ASIA 200 - INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN STUDIES
Dr. Carol Brash, Dr. Deborah Pembleton, Dr. Sucharita Mukherjee, Dr. Sophia Geng
Wednesday evening, 7-10pm (entire semester)
This course introduces Asian Studies majors and minors to the range of disciplines within the field of Asian Studies through four units taught by four different Asian Studies faculty. In addition to examining a variety of themes focusing on Japan, China, and South Asia, students will also engage in career-preparation and experiential activities. At the beginning of the course, students will write a focus statement describing their planned Asian Studies concentration topic (thematic, geographical or chronological). The coursework will culminate in a final paper that explores an issue based on each student's concentration topic. ASIA majors only. Course offered for A-F grading only.
Course Attributes: Human Experience, Humanities, Thematic Encounter1 – Justice

ASIA 399 - ASIAN STUDIES CAPSTONE
Dr. Jonathan Nash, C block, MorningIn this Asian Studies capstone, students will write a paper that showcases their understanding of the Asian Studies field by focusing in-depth on one topic selected in consultation with the course instructor and others. Senior ASIA majors only. Offered for A-F grading only.
Course Attributes: Capstone

ART
ART 200 – ENVIRONMENTAL ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Dr. Richard Bresnahan, B block, Afternoon
This course focuses on a range of issues addressing art, architecture and their relationship to a sustainable environment. Through an analysis of critical theory, students will gain an understanding of the language and critical issues of art, architecture and their impact upon the environment. Through a hands-on approach, students will apply these concepts to make ceramic artwork in the SJU Pottery Studio. By using all native materials, designing through a programmatic structure of indigenous systems, in a sustainable framework the student will parallel architectural and design schematics presented in theory and research to an applied reality. Students will critically analyze readings, will discuss examples of art and architecture and will meet with artists in order to expand their understanding of the relationship between art, architecture and the environment. Spring. Course is offered for A-F grading only.
Course Attributes: Fine Arts

ART 230 - ART MOVES I: ART HISTORY-NEOLITHIC 1400
Dr. Carol Brash, A block, Morning
This course is an introduction to art history from ca. Neolithic Period-1400. The course content includes art from around the world with a focus on art made to discover or illuminate a truth (or to subvert or obscure truth, in some cases). This course considers the design and creation of objects, ideas, and technologies across space and through time. Each class period will focus on a number of issues, which will be introduced through specific examples of art. Any object may be examined from several points of view: as an independent work of art, as an example of a particular style developed within a chronological framework, or as a type which illustrates features associated with a certain locale, country, religious, political, or social context. Prerequisites: None. Offered in the Spring.
Course Attributes: Fine Arts

ART 300 - MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART
Dr. Carol Brash, B block, Morning
A survey course tracing the principle movements and theories of art in the US, Europe, and Asia from 1850 to the present. This is a discussion- and writing-intensive course. There is a required field trip (an additional fee will be charged to your student account for this). Open to non-art majors with a prerequisite of FYS 101 or 201. It is recommended that Art majors take Art 108 prior to Art 300.
Course Attributes: Fine Arts

ART 309D - EAST ASIAN GARDENS (FA)
Dr. Carol Brash, D block, Morning
In the areas now called China and Japan, people have been creating gardens for thousands of years. Some of the topics investigated in this course include the shift from the garden as a site of agricultural production to a site of aesthetic/cultural production, the complicated relationship of nature and artifice, gardens as repositories of memory, and the relationship of gardens to the other arts. Students will read scholarly works and examine example paintings, poems, prose, plans, maps, and garden reconstructions to consider the history, creation, preservation, and classification of Chinese and Japanese gardens. This is a discussion- and writing-intensive class; students will do a research-based final project. Prerequisite FYS 101, HONR 101
Course Attributes: Fine Arts

CHINESE
CHIN 112 - ELEMENTARY CHINESE II
Limei Danzeisen, A block, Afternoon
Introduction to the basic elements of the Chinese language. Practice in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, including work with grammar, pronunciation, and culture.

CHIN 212 - INTERMEDIATE CHINESE II
Dr. Sophia Geng, B block, Afternoon
Review and continued study of grammar together with additional training in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 211 and 212 emphasize Chinese culture and civilization. Satisfactory completion of CHIN 212 fulfills the global language proficiency requirement.
Course Attributes: Global Language Proficiency

CHIN 312 – ADVANCED CHINESE: CONVERSATION, COMPOSITION, AND LITERATURE II
Dr. Sophia Geng, C block, Afternoon
Designed to help students solidify and further their communicative and writing ability in Chinese through contact with various written styles of modern Chinese. Advanced Chinese also provides a basic introduction to contemporary Chinese literature and culture. 311 and 312 may be taken in either order.

CHIN 321A - CHINESE WOMEN IN LITERATURE(HM)
Dr. Sophia Geng, D block, Afternoon
This course aims to engage students with literature by and about Chinese women and the gender, class, and cultural issues that are intertwined with this intriguing topic. We will read ancient and contemporary Chinese women’s writings, including poems, short novels, and autobiographies. Notable female authors include Ban Zhao and Qingzhao Li from ancient China and Bingxin and Huiyin Lin from modern China. We will also discuss who the female writers were and the reasons they took up the pen, a practice often discouraged by the traditional patriarchal society. Furthermore, we will read portrayals of women’s lives that were confined to the inner quarters of the household and the expectations imposed upon them by the society and customs of their times. Readings include tomb inscriptions for honorable ladies, biographies of deceased concubines, essays on the proper conduct of women, chapters of novels focusing on the domestic life, and diaries of foreign missionaries. Taught in English.

ECONOMICS
ECON 316 - ASIAN ECONOMIES
Dr. Sucharita Mukherjee, D block, Afternoon
Life in the United States has deep connections to the global community. This course looks at some of the largest economies of Asia, such as China, Japan, India and South Korea, and traces their journey to becoming economic giants in today’s world. It looks at the role played by the United States in each of those stories as an economic and political partner. It addresses income growth in these economies and the quality of lives of citizens within them. Are they healthier? Are they happier? Do they have more equal access to the fruits of economic prosperity? It especially looks at gender equality between women and men. And this study asks whether those experiences parallel our own experiences in the US. The course focuses on understanding the interplay of economic justice with economic growth and learning how the complex process of economic development requires appropriate public policy to ensure a high quality of life for citizens. Prerequisite: Econ 111
Course Attributes: Thematic Encounter1 - Justice, Social World

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
ENVR 200A - ENVR ART/ARCHITECTURE
Richard Bresnahan, B block, Afternoon
This course focuses on a range of issues addressing art, architecture and their relationship to a sustainable environment. Through an analysis of critical theory, students will gain an understanding of the language and critical issues of art, architecture and their impact upon the environment. Through a hands-on approach, students will apply these concepts to make ceramic artwork in the SJU Pottery Studio. By using all native materials, designing through a programmatic structure of indigenous systems, in a sustainable framework the student will parallel architectural and design schematics presented in theory and research to an applied reality. Students will critically analyze readings, will discuss examples of art and architecture and will meet with artists in order to expand their understanding of the relationship between art, architecture and the environment. Spring. Offered for A-F grading only.
Course Attributes: Fine Arts

GEOGRAPHY
GEOG 230 - WORLD GEOGRAPHY
Luke Feierabend, W, 7:00-10:00pm (Entire Semester)
A spatial frame of reference for the changing patterns of world events. Study of the relationships between physical and cultural environments and major, global issues such as population, pollution and economic change. Social Science and ELED majors given preference.

GLOBAL BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
GBUS 300 - GLOBAL ENTERPRISE
Dr. Sanford Moskowitz, B block, Afternoon/C block, Morning
This course covers the fundamental concepts, issues, and structure of 21st century global business. It explores the historical, cultural, economic, and political underpinnings of the basic themes of, and critical actors operating within international business today. The student learns about the nature of and relationships between the major components (or systems) that make up the international business system as a whole. Prerequisite GBUS 210, 220, 230, 240 or permission of instructor.

GBUS 321 - GLOBAL MARKETING
Dr. Hassan Hussein, A block, Afternoon
An introduction to the activities, sets of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. This course will focus on global implications and strategies resulting from the examination of the marketing environment, marketing practices, and ethical issues in the marketing field. Prerequisite: GBUS 210, 220, 230 & 240 or permission of instructor.

HISTORY
HIST 115 Modern East Asia (HM, HE, T1)
Dr. Elisheva Perelman, B block, Afternoon
This introductory survey to East Asia examines the political, cultural, and social history of China (including the PRC, Taiwan, and Hong Kong), Japan, and Korea (including the DPRK and the ROK) from the 17th century to the present. Students will analyze primary texts, literary works, and documents to find issues of continuity and change over time and across borders.Course Attributes: Humanities, Human Experience, Thematic Encounter 1 -Truth

HIST 295F Badass Samurai and Beautiful Geisha: When Myth and History Collide
Dr. Elisheva Perelman, A block, Afternoon
From where do myths about historical figures arise? How do the realities of life as a samurai or a geisha differ from the lore? Why do these legends exist and for whose benefit? In this course, students will analyze sources (both primary and secondary, written and visual) that perpetuate the myths of these professions with those that provide the less glamorous aspects of such lives to discover how historical interpretations differ and to what end.

HIST 319 Monsters and Modernity: Japanese History through Horror
Dr. Elisheva Perelman, C block, Afternoon
A study of Japan’s transformation from feudal mosaic to economic superpower. Analyzes the “modernization” process set in motion by the Meiji Restoration of 1868; the impact of its Asian neighbors and the West on Japan’s economic and military rise; and U.S.-Japan relations since WWII using tropes of fear and horror. This course will employ both literary and historical primary sources. This course is suitable for students of any major, including those who have not taken a previous history course.
Course Attributes:  Humanities, Gender

JAPANESE
JAPN 112 - ELEMENTARY JAPANESE II
Masami Limpert, B block, Morning
Continued study of the basic structure of the Japanese language. Practice in speaking, listening, reading and writing, with a focus on an accurate command of grammar and culturally appropriate communication skills.

JAPN 212 - INTERMEDIATE JAPANESE II
Dr. Jeff Dubois, A block, Morning
Review and continued study of grammar together with additional training in speaking, listening, reading and writing.Course Attributes:  Global Language Proficiency

JAPN 312 - ADVANCED JAPANESE LANGUAGE II
Masami Limpert, A block, Morning
Review and continued development of grammar together with development of skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Prerequisite: JAPN 311 or 315

JAPN 321D - ANIME: MOVEMENT & TRANS
Dr. Jeff Dubois, C block, Morning
This course explores Japanese anime as movement, considering the etymology of the word that refers to the animation or bringing to life of still images. There is a transnational element to this movement: anime is a product with consumers around the globe and serves as Japan’s lucrative export of “soft power.” As a medium made up of individual “texts,” anime has been influenced by—and in turn influences—both live action and animated films around the world (i.e. Walt Disney’s impact on the works of Tezuka Osamu). Thematically, anime covers topics both the domestic and international, where characters may be of ambiguous origin and identity (Night on the Galactic Railroad, 1985; the Lupin the Third series). Going further, anime films frequently play with boundaries and thresholds, where characters cross into liminal spaces inhabited by the supernatural (Spirited Away, 2001); they are often as interstellar as they are international (Legend of the Galactic Heroes, 1988; Space Battleship Yamato, 1974); and characters can often shape-shift and transform (Pom Poko, 1994; Ranma ½, ), metamorphose (Akira, 1988; Mushishi, 2005), evolve (Pokemon, ¬1997-), or exist in hybrid human-machine form (Pat Labor, 1989; Mobile Suit Gundam, 1979). This course provides a history of Japanese anime as it explores the theme of movement in the industry and the medium. No background in Japanese culture, language, or anime is necessary.
Course Attributes:  Human Experience, Humanities, Thematic Encounter1 – Movement

JAPN 330D - NUCLEAR JAPAN: ATOMIC BOMBS, ATOMIC ENERGY, ATOMIC ART
Dr. Jeff Dubois, CD block, Morning
This course combines classroom learning at CSB/SJU during CD mod and ends with an experiential component abroad. With portions both at home on campus and abroad in Japan, this “embedded” course explores the legacy of nuclear weapons and energy in Japan through ethical perspectives. While we consider the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on one hand, and the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima following the triple disaster of March 11, 2011 on the other, we also look for points of convergence and divergence between the understanding of atomic weapons and atomic energy in the imagination of Japan and the world. We look at witness narratives in short story and novel form, and traverse media such as film, manga, anime, photography, painting, children’s books, poetry, and digital art to gain insight into the possibilities for expression and representation in the atomic age. After establishing a foundation for understanding Japan’s nuclear legacy in the domestic portion of the course, we deepen our knowledge by visiting Japan’s nuclear ground zeros. The Japan portion of the course will be based out of Tokyo, where there are many exhibits and spaces that commemorate Japan’s nuclear tragedies. From there, we will make trips to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Kyoto, as well as safe areas outside of Fukushima. Through discussions as a class and with Japanese students, reflections (journals) that compare our pre-Japan learning to that on site, and portfolio creations, students will demonstrate integration of the home and abroad portions of the course.
Course Attributes:  Ethics Common Seminar

PEACE STUDIES
PCST 123 - ISLAM IN THE USA: GENDER, RACE, AND ETHNICITY
Dr. Jon Armajani, D block, Morning
After introducing Islam, this course examines gender, race, and ethnicity, among Muslims in the United States. It analyzes American Muslims’ conceptions of gender, and those conceptions’ relationships with historical ideas about gender in Islam while examining the relationships between ethnicity and religiosity among the largest ethnic groups of Muslims in the United States which include Arabs and non-Arab Middle Easterners, South Asians, and African Americans. The course will examine the role of race among persons in those and other groups in the United States. The course will give attention to Somalis in Minnesota, virtually all of whom are Muslims, their religiosity, and the similar and dissimilar sociological patterns with respect to them and other Muslims in the United States with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity. This course has no prerequisites because it is a CSD1 course. Offered for A-F grading only.
Course Attributes:  CSD: Identity, Gender Requirement, Intercultural Requirement

PCST 333 – THEOLOGIES OF VIOLENCE/NONVIOLENCE
Dr. Jon Armajani, B block, Afternoon
This course will examine perspectives on violence and nonviolence as these appear in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, in the history of Christianity, in Christian encounters with other world faiths, and in contemporary theological ethics. We will place special emphasis on the diversity of theological positions on violence: thoughtful people of faith have espoused a wide range of positions, ranging from absolute pacifism to just war theory to the celebration of “redemptive violence.” We will seek to understand each of these positions from the inside, as well as subjecting each to critical scrutiny. Prerequisite THEO 111.
Course Attributes:  Theology Upper Division

PCST 368C - ISLAM & GENDER
Dr. Jon Armajani, A block, Morning
This course will focus on the various ways in which relations between Muslim women and men have been appropriated, interpreted, and concretized in a variety of real-life situations throughout the early, medieval, and modern periods in Islam with a regional focus on Islam and gender in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Europe, and/or North America. This course will use gender as a primary lens of analysis for examining course content by examining the, at times static and at other times dynamic, roles of women and men in societies where Muslims are in the majority and others where they are the minority in order to gain an understanding of the relationship between appropriations of gender with respect to Islam and its corresponding cultural contexts.
Prerequisite THEO 111.
Course Attributes:  Theology Upper Division

POLITICAL SCIENCE
POLS 121 – INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Dr. Christi Siver, A block, Afternoon
Students learn about global issues through different theoretical lenses, including realism and liberalism. Using these lenses, students investigate international security, civil conflict, economic interactions, and the influence of globalization. They also examine the influence of important actors in the international arena, including states, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations. Students examine their understandings of culture and how it shapes understanding of concepts like human rights. This broad overview helps students have a better understanding of the world around them and how their worldview shapes their perceptions of international events. Every semester.
Course Attributes:  Thematic Encounter1 - Movement, Social Science, Social World

POLS 211 - POLITICS & POLITICAL LIFE
Dr. Christi Siver, C block, Afternoon
This is an intensive discussion and writing-oriented course that explores perennial issues of political life (such as freedom and justice, the individual and community, race and ethnicity, and gender and sexuality) through literature, drama, film, and essays. Students write a Political Autobiography reflecting upon their own political experiences and the formation of their own political perspective. The course carries a Gender designation, is required for political science majors, and open to students from all other majors. Every semester.Course Attributes:  CSD: Identity, Gender Requirement, Intercultural Requirement

THEOLOGY
THEO 345 – THEOLOGIES OF VIOLENCE/NONVIOLENCE
Dr. Jon Armajani, B block, Afternoon
This course will examine perspectives on violence and nonviolence as these appear in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, in the history of Christianity, in Christian encounters with other world faiths, and in contemporary theological ethics. We will place special emphasis on the diversity of theological positions on violence: thoughtful people of faith have espoused a wide range of positions, ranging from absolute pacifism to just war theory to the celebration of “redemptive violence.” We will seek to understand each of these positions from the inside, as well as subjecting each to critical scrutiny. Prerequisite THEO 111.
Course Attributes:  Theology Upper Division

THEO 363 - RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD
Dr. Chris Conway, W, 6-9pm (entire semester)
This course focuses on major religions of the world cross-culturally in terms of categories such as sacred text, sacred time, sacred space, myth, ritual, symbol, ethics, and politics. The relationships among the religions and topics pertaining to inter-religious dialogue are examined. Prerequisite THEO 111 or HONR 240A
Course Attributes: Theology Upper Division

THEO 369C - ISLAM AND GENDER
Dr. Jon Armajani, A block, Morning
This course will focus on the various ways in which relations between Muslim women and men have been appropriated, interpreted, and concretized in a variety of real-life situations throughout the early, medieval, and modern periods in Islam with a regional focus on Islam and gender in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Europe, and/or North America. This course will use gender as a primary lens of analysis for examining course content by examining the, at times static and at other times dynamic, roles of women and men in societies where Muslims are in the majority and others where they are the minority in order to gain an understanding of the relationship between appropriations of gender with respect to Islam and its corresponding cultural contexts. Prerequisite: THEO 111 or HONR 240A
Course Attributes: Theology Upper Division