Geographic Sub-categories

This is an archived copy of the 2017-2018 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://e-catalog.sewanee.edu.

Courses in this category deal with the culture, history, and society of specific geographic contexts, as well as the ways these contexts are integrated into broader global interactions.

Africa

Courses in this sub-category enable students both to comprehend and to move beyond established geographic, political, and popular understandings of Africa and Africans. Emphasis placed on unsettling Africa, focusing on its location within academic, literary, and popular discourses and within regional systems (e.g.: East Africa and the Indian Ocean World, West Africa and the Atlantic World, and North Africa and the Mediterranean and European World). These courses also examine how Africans have throughout history and to this day challenged the diplomatic, political, economic, cultural, and environmental constraints to living their lives, and their efforts to construct and re-imagine their local and regional relationships.

ANTH 304Peoples and Cultures of Africa4
FREN 417Topics of the French-Speaking World4
HIST 214Africa Inside Out4
HIST 215Southern African History4
HIST 219History of Africa to 18804
HIST 220History of Africa Since 18804
HIST 385Missionaries, Mullahs, and Marabouts: African Encounters with Christianity and Islam4
HIST 386African Environmental History4
HIST 387Slavery and the Slave Trade in Africa4
HIST 410Five Centuries of Atlantic Slavery, 1400-19004
HIST 420The History of International Development4
INGS 201African Youth Cultures in Post-Colonial Urban Africa4
INGS 203Sociolinguistics of Africa4
INGS 207Globalization, Popular Culture, and Politics in West Africa4
INGS 208West and Central Africa in the Atlantic World4
INGS 309Society and Culture in Zambia4
INGS 312Africa and the West Since 18004
INGS 406From Berlin to Addis Ababa: Africa and International Summitry4
POLS 227Africa in World Politics4
POLS 230Politics in Nigeria and South Africa4
POLS 329Comparative African Politics4
POLS 339The Political Economy of Development in Zambia and Botswana4

Asia

Courses in this sub-category contribute to students’ understanding of Asia as a region that was shaped by a number of cultural traditions such as Buddhism, Islam, and Confucianism that traveled across countries, as well as a set of countries that developed distinct responses to capitalist integration and interactions with western powers. With new economic and political ideas transforming countries in this part of the world, Asia is today a vibrant example of globalization. At the same time, the cultures of Asia have global reach and influence through their arts and manufacturing, and as models for poverty alleviation and industrialization. Asia is an area of remarkable diversity, growth, and dynamism that both influences and is influenced by the cultures outside of Asia.

ANTH 341The Culture and History of Southeast Asia4
ASIA 203Chinese Martial Arts Cinema4
ASIA 204Themes in New Chinese Cinema4
ASIA 209Japanese Literature and Culture4
ASIA 217Modern Japanese Literature4
ASIA 232Father Emperor, Mother Land: Family and Nationalism in Modern Japan4
ASIA 235Love in Modern Japan4
ASIA 320Gender and Sexuality in Japanese Culture4
HIST 211China: Inside the Great Wall4
HIST 212China: Manchus to Massacre, Dynasty to Dictatorship4
HIST 216History of Japan4
HIST 221History of India and South Asia I4
HIST 222History of India and South Asia II4
HIST 351History of Modern India through Cinema and Literature4
HIST 388The United States and Vietnam since 19454
HIST 455European Empires in Asia4
INGS 304Politics and Society in Modern India4
PHIL 215Chinese Philosophy4
POLS 248China's Environmental Crisis4
POLS 249China and the World4
POLS 250States and Markets in East Asia4
POLS 326Comparative Asian Politics4
POLS 360Chinese Politics4
POLS 367Political Economy of Asia and Latin America4
RELG 162Introduction to Asian Religions4
RELG 262Buddhist Traditions4
RELG 364Buddhist Ethics4

Europe

European identities and culture have been shaped by global movements in religion and philosophy, politics, science and the arts over the course of the last two thousand years. The successful integration of most of its countries into a stable economic and political union established Europe as one of the biggest players in the global economy. But Europe is also facing difficult challenges. Colonialism and capitalism have shaped contemporary European realities, giving rise to growing immigration, cultural and political struggles related to religion and gender, as well as growing concerns about social inequity. Courses in this sub-category enable students to comprehend Europe’s unique heritage as well as its role and place in today’s world.

ANTH 222Celtic Culture and Archaeology4
ANTH 303The Anthropology of Europe4
ANTH 387Archaeology of Ireland4
ARTH 350Spanish Painting4
ARTH 496Islamic Spain and Spanish Art4
FREN 301Discovering Paris4
FREN 314Introduction to Literature, Culture, and History of the French-Speaking World4
FREN 321Studies in Culture and Literature Abroad4
FREN 322Langue, Littérature, Culture in Paris4
FREN 324Contemporary France4
FREN 411Culture through History4
FREN 413Modern France Through Film and Text4
FREN 415The History of French Cinema4
FREN 417Topics of the French-Speaking World4
GRMN 300Advanced German4
GRMN 311German Culture and Composition I4
GRMN 312German Culture and Composition II4
GRMN 313Contemporary Language and Usage4
GRMN 350Berlin: Impressions of a City4
GRMN 352Kafka/Grass in Translation4
GRMN 353German Film4
GRMN 354Modern German Civilization4
GRMN 356The Nazi Period4
GRMN 357German Queer Cinema4
GRMN 358Borders, Margins, and Identities in German Culture4
HIST 205History of Britain and Ireland I4
HIST 206History of Britain and Ireland II4
HIST 209Early Modern Europe4
HIST 217Renaissance and Reformation4
HIST 267Early Modern Germany: Reformation to Revolutions4
HIST 268German History Since 18504
HIST 270European Women in War, Revolution, and Terrorism4
HIST 271The French Revolutionary Era, 1789-18144
HIST 272France Since 18154
HIST 313Youth and Families in Early Modern Europe4
HIST 335Monsters, Marvels, and Museums4
HIST 337Nature, Magic, and Machines in Early Modern Europe4
HIST 350Berlin: Impressions of a City4
HIST 353The Nazi Period4
HIST 369Muslim Spain: Glory, Decline, and Lasting Influence in Contemporary Spain4
HIST 378Sexuality and the Self in Modern Europe4
HIST 379Honor, Shame, and Violence in Modern Europe4
HIST 389Modernity and Modernism in Europe, 1750-18904
HIST 397The Origins and Conduct of World War II4
HIST 406From D-Day to Berlin: World War II Sites in England, France, Germany4
HIST 455European Empires in Asia4
HIST 472Marriage and Imagined Families in the Modern World4
INGS 303Transition to Democracy: The Case of East Germany, 19894
INGS 306Spain in the European Union4
INGS 307Polish Film4
POLS 351Modern European Politics4
POLS 364European Union4
POLS 431Ethnicity and Political Violence4
RELG 220Holocaust, Religion, Morality4
SPAN 301Cultural Survey of Spain I4
SPAN 302Cultural Survey of Spain II4
SPAN 322Introduction to Medieval Spain and the Road to Santiago4
SPAN 323Contemporary Spanish Culture and Civilization4
SPAN 334The Culture of Chivalry4
SPAN 361Modern Spanish Literature II4
SPAN 364Spanish Women Writers4
SPAN 365Modern Spanish Drama4
SPAN 391Contemporary Spanish and Latin American Cinema4
SPAN 404Spanish Civil War and its Legacy4
SPAN 405Spanish Detective Novel 1975-present4
SPAN 495Senior Seminar4

Latin America and the Caribbean

Courses in this sub-category contribute to students’ overall understanding that this geographic region has been shaped in complex ways by globalizing processes such as colonization, capitalist production and exchange, imperialism, the migration of people and the exchange of ideas. This is not a static or isolated geographic area, as both Latin America and the Caribbean are also characterized by a great deal of cultural diversity and resulting concerns about national and ethnic identity, social inequality and unrest, political struggle and democratization. Dynamism is a profound source of creativity as these countries are also home to some of the most vibrant social movements, artistic productions, and scholarship of our time.

ANTH 305Cultures of Latin America4
ANTH 311Gender and Class in Latin America4
ANTH 314Gender, Colonialism, and Culture in Greater Mexico4
HIST 223Latin American History to 18254
HIST 224Latin American History Since 18264
HIST 358Women in Latin America4
HIST 359United States and Latin America since 18984
HIST 360Latin American Topics4
HIST 367Writing the Nation: Literature, Nationalism and Search for Identity in Latin America (1810-Present)4
HIST 401Contemporary Chile, 1970-20112
HIST 410Five Centuries of Atlantic Slavery, 1400-19004
INGS 310Brazilian Tropicália: The Myth and Reality of an Emerging Power4
MUSC 224Musics of Latin America4
POLS 311Politics of Central America and the Caribbean4
POLS 318Comparative Politics: South America and Mexico4
POLS 367Political Economy of Asia and Latin America4
SPAN 303Cultural Survey of Latin America I4
SPAN 304Cultural Survey of Latin America II4
SPAN 38020th- and 21st-Century Latin American Poetry4
SPAN 381History of Latin American Cinema4
SPAN 383Spanish-American Novel4
SPAN 384Contemporary Hispanic Caribbean Literature and Culture4
SPAN 385Spanish-American Short Fiction and Film4
SPAN 386Contemporary Central American Literature and Film4
SPAN 387Latin American Women Authors4
SPAN 388Women Authors of the Hispanic Caribbean and Diaspora4
SPAN 389U.S. Latino and Latina Literature and Culture4
SPAN 390Latin American Literature and the Environment4
SPAN 391Contemporary Spanish and Latin American Cinema4
SPAN 401Latin American Literature in Neoliberal Times4
SPAN 406Cultural Icons in Latin America4
SPAN 408Migrations in Latin American and Latino Literature and Film4
SPAN 409Marvel and Margin in Latin American Culture4

Middle East

Courses in this sub-category analyze the region’s place in world history, international politics, and the global economic system. Challenging stereotypes of the region as monolithic, timeless, and isolated from world events, classes on the Middle East and North Africa emphasize the diversity and dynamism of a region that has frequently influenced the course of world events. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the region’s encounters with outside powers and global forces including Western imperialism, capitalism, and transnational religious forces, in order to understand how the Middle East shapes and is in turn shaped by our modern globalized world.

ARTH 210Islamic Art and Architecture4
FREN 417Topics of the French-Speaking World4
HIST 296History of the Middle East I4
HIST 297History of the Middle East II4
HIST 298History of Islam4
HIST 307Revolutions and Revolutionaries in the Middle East4
HIST 310From Barbary to Iraq: Britain and America in the Middle East4
HIST 319The Arab-Israeli Conflict4
HIST 430Political Islam4
INGS 204Representing Egypt4
INGS 311Islam and Ecology4
INGS 313"Foreigners" of the Middle East4
INGS 314The History of Current Events in the Middle East4
POLS 320Gender and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa4

Russia and Eurasia

Courses in this sub-category consider the region from the perspectives of history, politics, literature, and culture. They examine the Russian Revolution, world wars and other conflicts; authoritarian regimes; experiments in socialism and communism; and more recent democratization efforts. Other important themes include nationalism, migration and shifting borders, and attempts at defining identity in relation to East and West via a narrative of exceptionalism. The cultural richness of the region, including ethnic and religious diversity as well as innovations in literature, film, art, and music, is a central area of focus. These courses study the complex history of the region with emphasis on how past events continue to shape its current geopolitical, economic and environmental realities.

HIST 207Russia: Autocracy, Orthodoxy, Serfdom, Revolution4
HIST 208Russia: Revolution and Repression, War and Cold War, Collapse and Renewal4
HIST 346History of Socialism4
HIST 364Topics in Russian History4
HIST 397The Origins and Conduct of World War II4
POLS 351Modern European Politics4
POLS 364European Union4
POLS 431Ethnicity and Political Violence4
RUSN 304Contemporary Russian in Cultural Context4
RUSN 310Russian Civilization4
RUSN 35220th-Century Russian Literature in English Translation4
RUSN 354Real Men, Real Women? Gender in 20th and 21st-Century Russian Literature and Culture4
RUSN 355Russian and Soviet Film4
RUSN 356Nabokov4
RUSN 363Environmentalism and Ecocide in Russian Literature and Culture4
RUSN 364Putin's Russia and Protest Culture4