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Undergraduate Bulletin 2012-2013 [ARCHIVED BULLETIN]
Course Descriptions
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ID 103 - The Art of Reading Well 1 hour
Individualized reading instruction. Entrance scores/placement results may require some students to take this course as a prerequisite for ENGL 102 . This course is graded on a satisfactory/fail basis and may be taken for credit more than once.
Prerequisite(s): Placement or consent of instructor.
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ID 190 - Portfolio Development 1 hour
For first-year students seeking to build and maintain a portfolio of their work at Dominican, with particular attention to integrating learning across courses and over time. Students enrolled in the course will reflect on their academic and co-curricular experiences at Dominican, and connect ideas, theories, and methods encountered in multiple courses. At the end of this course, students will have assembled a portfolio of their best work, which may be developed in their subsequent years in college and, ultimately, shared with others (potential employers, graduate admissions committees, etc.).
Prerequisite(s): Freshman seminar (LAS or honors).
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ID 210 - Becoming a Campus Change Agent 1 hour
How do you use your knowledge of leadership theory and social change as well as your leadership skills to make change in our campus community? What recommendations do you have to create a more just and humane campus experience for Dominican students? This 1-credit capstone course for the Leadership Certificate is designed as a research project in which students will choose a campus issue they would like to see changed. Using their background on the stages of social change, students will conduct research and make recommendations on options for addressing their particular issue.
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ID 260 - Interdisciplinary Topic 1 hour
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ID 290 - Portfolio Development: Sophomores and Above 1 hour
This course is for students at the sophomore rank or above seeking to build and maintain a portfolio of their work at Dominican, with particular attention to integrating learning across courses and over time. Students enrolled in the course will reflect on their academic and co-curricular experiences at Dominican, and connect ideas, theories, and methods encountered in multiple courses. At the end of this course, students will have assembled a portfolio of their best work, which may be developed in their subsequent years in college and, ultimately, shared with others (potential employers, graduate admissions committees, etc.).
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing or above. (ID 190 is not a prerequisite.)
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ID 450 - Independent Study 1-8 hours
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ITAL 101 - Elementary Italian I 4 hours
This course introduces students to the Italian language by listening, speaking, reading and writing Italian in a cultural context. Students will develop a basic proficiency in all language skills through a study of Italian grammar and vocabulary.
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ITAL 102 - Elementary Italian II 4 hours
This course continues to develop the four language skills.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 101 or equivalent.
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ITAL 201 - Intermediate Italian I 4 hours
This course reinforces and builds upon basic skills in Italian through development of the four language skills. Compositions and dialogues in conjunction with daily written and oral exercises reinforce grammatical concepts.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 102 with a minimum grade of C- or placement through examination.
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ITAL 202 - Intermediate Italian II 4 hours
This course completes the grammar cycle and continues the development of reading and writing skills with an emphasis on written and spoken communication. Visual, oral, and written materials form the point of departure for work in enhancing students’ communication skills.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 201 or equivalent.
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ITAL 255 - Italian Civilization and Culture I 3 hours
An introduction to the history and culture of Italy from the medieval through the Renaissance periods by examining the geography, visual arts, literature, customs, economy, politics, and lifestyles of the time.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 202 or equivalent.
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ITAL 256 - Italian Civilization and Culture II 3 hours
An introduction to the history and culture of Italy from the Baroque period to the present by examining the geography, visual arts, literature, customs, economy, politics, and lifestyles of the time.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 202 or equivalent.
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ITAL 260 - Italian-American Culture 3 hours
An exploration through film and literature of the position of Italian-Americans in the United States during the 20th and 21st centuries. This course is conducted in English.
Listed also as MFL 260 .
This course will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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ITAL 263 - Women of the Italian Renaissance 3 hours
In the Italian Renaissance women were visible not only at the subject of male writers and artists, but as writers and artists in their own right. This course considers women both as objects of male works and as active contributors to culture by exploring the literature and art of the Italian Renaissance. This course is conducted in English.
Listed also as SWG 263 .
This course will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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ITAL 275 - Dante’s Inferno 3 hours
This course provides an understanding of Dante’s Inferno through a close examination of the text, while also exploring visual commentary of the text. A study of manuscript art of the Inferno presents the historical context in which the work was circulated in its earlier years. This course is conducted in English.
Listed also as MFL 275 .
This course will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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ITAL 295 - Italian Cinema 3 hours
The development and evolution of Italian cinema after World War II to the present. A survey of Italian film directors such as Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Giuseppe Tornatore. This course is conducted in English.
Listed also as CAS 295 .
This course will satisfy the fine arts core area requirement.
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ITAL 300 - Advanced Grammar and Composition 3 hours
Development of writing skills with emphasis on the complexities of structure and idioms and composition techniques.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 202 or equivalent.
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ITAL 301 - Advanced Discussion 3 hours
Development of increased fluency in spoken language in a variety of forms through conversations, reports, and the use of relevant contemporary materials contained in films, magazines, and newspaper articles.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 202 or equivalent.
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ITAL 320 - History of the Italian Language 3 hours
This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the evolution of the Italian language. Course material covers La Questione della Lingua, linguistics, and dialects.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 300 .
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ITAL 345 - Business Italian 3 hours
An introduction to written and oral Italian as it applies to the business profession. Provides exposure to current Italian commercial structures, business practices, and terminology, and cultivates business-related communication skills.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 255 , ITAL 256 , ITAL 300 , or ITAL 301 .
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ITAL 365 - Literature of the Italian Middle Ages 3 hours
The course covers the literary production of the Italian Middle Ages. Works include the poetry of the Duecento and an introduction to masterpieces by Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 255 , ITAL 256 , ITAL 300 , or ITAL 301 .
This course will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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ITAL 366 - Literature of the Italian Renaissance 3 hours
The course covers the literary production of the Renaissance. Works include those of Francesco Petrarca, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Ludovico Ariosto, among others.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 255 , ITAL 256 , ITAL 300 , or ITAL 301 .
This course will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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ITAL 367 - Literature of the Italian Romantic Period 3 hours
The course begins with the pre-Romantic works of Ugo Foscolo and focuses on the literary production of Alessandro Manzoni and Giacomo Leopardi. Includes a discussion of the Italian Romantic movement within the context of European Romanticism.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 255 , ITAL 256 , ITAL 300 , or ITAL 301 .
This course will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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ITAL 368 - Literature of Modern Italy 3 hours
An introduction to Italian literature from the 20th century to the present through a study of representative selections of prose and poetry.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 255 , ITAL 256 , ITAL 300 , or ITAL 301 .
This course will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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ITAL 399 - Directed Study 1-4 hours
Directed study open only to students who have already taken all Italian courses offered in a given semester. Students will work closely with the instructor.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing and consent of instructor.
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ITAL 450 - Independent Study 1-4 hours
Independent study is for students who have already taken all Italian courses offered in a given semester.
Prerequisite(s): Senior standing and consent of instructor.
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LAS 137 - Heritage and Identity 4 hours
In this seminar, we will explore the ways that our individual identities are connected to and shaped by our heritage. To what extent is a person’s identity influenced by the culture(s) to which s/he belongs? What is the role of ethnicity? Of family? Of tradition? Of customs? As we consider these questions, we will read various texts (fiction, non-fiction, autobiography, and poetry) that also examine the idea of heritage, revealing both the gifts and the burdens that individuals can inherit. This course will ask you to think about who you are now, where you’ve come from, and what you might become in the future. This seminar will require off-campus service hours.
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LAS 138 - Personal Awakenings, Social Struggles, and Dreams of Transformation 3 hours
Some of our most intense learning experiences can feel like awakenings from mistaken understandings of our world. We experience some of these awakenings – like learning that we have the power to reason our way through misunderstandings with loved ones or morally complicated social situations – as empowering turning points in our lives. Not all of these awakenings are pleasant. Learning that others are suffering and denied opportunities due to systematic injustice can leave us feeling ill at ease and less at home in the world. But awakenings, whether gratifying or upsetting, call us to ask ourselves many questions. How do we hold onto new insights, feelings of purpose, and desires to relate differently to others once we have these moments of awakening? What personal, social, and political forces encourage us to live less mindfully and justly? Must we change our lives? In this seminar, we will explore these questions and examine how writers, philosophers, religious thinkers, leaders of social movements, and other people of conscience have answered these questions. But we will not assume that mindfulness is something we leave to the experts. Through in-class exercises (including five-minute memoirs, group discussion, and civil debate) and reflective essays, participants in this seminar will pursue the work of mindfulness independently and with one another.
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LAS 139 - Self and Leadership 3 hours
This seminar will examine the development of the self as a leader. Looking at leaders throughout history, both famous and unknown, students will discover what they value in others and themselves. Leadership will be discussed from the perspective of historical development and context in which individuals find themselves living.
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LAS 140 - Re: Visioning the World 3 hours
Contemporary life gives us access to more images and visual information than ever before, but sometimes without any meaningful context. In this seminar we will explore ways to learn about ourselves through understanding as well as creating our own visual vocabulary.
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LAS 141 - Social Selves - Got Privilege? 3 hours
We will examine the role social forces play in shaping one’s sense of self, and how communities can play both positive and negative roles in our development.
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LAS 142 - Moral Compass: The Means to Find Oneself 3 hours
Using the lens of selected literary works, students will be challenged not only to find their moral compasses, but also learn to use them as a means to uncover their own personal identities in the midst of life’s numerous obstacles. This quest of self-discovery happens not only in the great tribulations of life, but also in the mundane and ordinary stretches of existence. This seminar sheds light on the great importance of utilizing one’s moral compass each and every day, as well as the significance it plays in understanding and shaping one’s personal identity.
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LAS 144 - Wealth, Poverty and Identity 3 hours
To what extent is who you are determined by what you have? This seminar will examine the connections between material affluence and identity. We will develop working definitions of wealth and poverty, and through the examination of a variety of texts we will study the many ways that conceptions of identity are influenced by being rich or being poor. We will also discuss the environmental implications of materially determined identity, and we will consider not only American wealth and poverty, but also the extreme poverty and income inequality that exist in developing countries throughout the world.
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LAS 145 - Climb Every Mountain: Finding Identity in Musicals 3 hours
This seminar explores question of identity and self through the musicals “The Sound of Music” and “Les Miserables.” Through these musicals, and the books they are based on, we will discuss the characters, people, and events that influence them, and the decisions the characters make. We’ll use those discussions to consider ourselves, our identities, the decisions we make, and our relationships with others.
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LAS 147 - My Authentic Self - Roads Taken and Not Taken 3 hours
What is the authentic self? How does it interact with the other (family, friends, society at large, and culture)? Is the true self historically conditioned and culture-relative? Is our conception of ourselves related to our knowledge and understanding of other people? This course helps you to recognize the person you are becoming. Looking back, you will reflect on the decisions that have brought you to where you are, and ask if your life has deeper meaning because of your experiences. Looking forward, you will consider how you will negotiate all of your choices. How will you shape your hopes and dreams?
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LAS 148 - Who Do You Want to Become? 3 hours
From kindergarten on, we are often asked: What do you want to be when you grow up? This intensifies in late high school and early college as pressure builds to choose a career path. This course asks different questions: Who are you right now? Who do you want to become? How do you become that person? Through engagement of challenging readings and lively discussions, this course examines the forces that contributed to who you are today and the forces that might shape you at Dominican. It also looks to the future and resources, academic and other, you will have for the journey of becoming who you are meant to be, no matter what you end up doing.
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LAS 153 - Faith and Life Today 4 hours
This seminar is designed to help students mature by identifying questions of faith today and coming to understand them more fully in terms of moral principles of decision-making and some of the best prose literature: short stories of initiation. The course does not presuppose literary background or religious commitment, but both are welcome. Students will develop skills in research and in critical reading, writing, speaking, and listening through this exploration. This seminar will require off-campus service hours.
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LAS 163 - Transforming the Self 3 hours
There are many paths to transformation, many ways to grow and change. In the Common text, Living Buddha, Living Christ, transformation occurs through the practice of “mindfulness,” or focusing within. St. Francis of Assisi wrote, “If you want your dream to be, build it slow and surely…stone by stone, build your secret slowly.” In this seminar, you will meet many individuals in world drama who are transformed through their difficult choices. They dream; they risk; they love. Whether characters are historical or fictional, they will guide you along a path of transformation. Ask yourself: how did my struggles, decisions, self-awareness, and search for God, contribute to the shaping of my identity and ultimately to my inner transformation?
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LAS 164 - Exploring the Creative Human Spirit 3 hours
Everyone possesses a creative human spirit. Creative moments are vital to survival and growth. We will learn about how others have used creativity to discover new ideas and products. We will explore ways to encourage our own creative human spirit to surface more often. We will apply the new concepts of creative thought we have learned to propose solutions to both personal and global problems.
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LAS 168 - What’s in a Name? 3 hours
How important are the race, ethnicity, and language of one’s ancestors for determining one’s personal identity? How does this compare with the impact of one’s immediate surroundings? This seminar explores these and other questions by focusing on the experiences of “uprooted” and “transplanted” people at different points in space and time as they search for a sense of self.
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LAS 170 - Doing That Thing You Do 3 hours
This seminar will introduce students to an explanation of human behavior that is frequently used by economists and other social scientists. The rational-self-interest model of who we are and why we do what we do will be examined in the context of other views of human behavior, as illustrated by parables, short stories, novels, plays, and movies.
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LAS 175 - Leadership for Life 3 hours
How does the self become a leader? Who are leaders in the community? In the world? How did they become leaders? In order to develop our full human potential, our leadership skills and abilities need to grow, change, and meet new challenges. The self as leader will be explored through readings, discussion, reflection, service, and interfaith dialogue. This seminar will require off-campus service hours.
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LAS 178 - iAm My iPod 3 hours
This course examines the interplay between technology and identity development, particularly in today’s culture. Whether it is the iPod and what your music collection has to say about who you are and what you find meaningful, email, IM, the personal computer, cell phones, video games, or applications like mySpace and Facebook, technology plays an important role in how we define ourselves and how we relate to others. This seminar also looks at the popular culture of various decades, as captured through technological media as well as written sources, and examines the influence these media and writings have exerted on the “collective identity development” of each affected generation.
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LAS 186 - Know Thyself 3 hours
This seminar takes as its starting point the famous Greek maxim, Gnothi seauton (Know thyself), and it assumes that self-knowledge comes only by reaching beyond oneself to engage an ever-wider world. Through challenging readings, discussion, written exercises, and even some “brain teasers,” this seminar will aid a process of self-discovery and self-appropriation that in various ways keeps coming back to an overriding question: “What does it mean for me to live an authentic human life - intellectually, morally, religiously?”
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LAS 187 - Inner and Outer Realities 3 hours
Perhaps one of the most compelling questions any of us can ask is, “Who am I?” Going far beyond the superficial list of likes and dislikes, we shall explore some of the essential and non-negotiable ingredients of the self, those inner and outer realities that form our personalities and, perhaps, even our soulfulness. Of course, outer realities such as race, gender, class, physical and intellectual capacity play important roles. But what about those invisible yet real inner dimensions that transcend yet include what others see?
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LAS 189 - This I Believe 3 hours
“I” is in the middle-your “I.” This seminar explores the influences coalescing to produce your “I” by contemplating the life stories of others in relation to your own. We will be exploring various streets taken by book and movie characters. On what street did they grow up? How far did they travel from that street? When did they venture forth and why? Whom did they meet in their travels? What beliefs guided their way? There are many streets or paths in life. Which path will lead to happiness, holiness, and effectiveness? Where is your own street leading? What do you believe? The reading, conversing, and writing of this seminar will help focus and form the essential foundation of your life, so you may better articulate to yourself and others, “This I believe.”
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LAS 197 - Heritage and Identity 4 hours
In this seminar, we will explore the ways that our individual identities are connected to and shaped by our heritage. To what extent is a person’s identity influenced by the culture(s) to which he or she belongs? What is the role of ethnicity? Of family? Of tradition? Of customs? As we consider these questions, we will read various texts (fiction, non-fiction, autobiography, and poetry) that also examine the idea of heritage, revealing both the gifts and the burdens that individuals can inherit. This course will ask you to think about who you are now, where you’ve come from, and what you might become in the future. This seminar will require off-campus service hours.
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LAS 199 - Mindful Crossroads to Compassion and Awareness 3 hours
Buddhist monk and social activist Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that there is nothing we experience that can’t be approached with mindfulness and compassion. Our seminar will focus on understanding Hanh’s identification of Christianity with Buddhism to better understand how we experience ourselves in the world. Through literature and film, we will focus on the discovery and the formation of personal identity by asking, What are the key influences on a person’s development?How does the “self” interact with a community? How can mindfulness lead to a better understanding of who we are as individuals?
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LAS 237 - Global and Personal Spirituality 3 hours
We live in a world of GPS, texts, “tweets” and YouTube, where communication technologies have allowed us to be instantaneously present to one another no matter where we are physically located on the planet. Our thoughts and images flow so quickly over such vast space that we are virtually present in more than one place at a time. In an ever-shrinking global community, within an exponentially expanding cosmos, how do you begin to describe exactly where YOU are right now? How does the process of globalization impact our orientation to that which is beyond our known personal experience? Who are we, and how do we situate ourselves within a cosmology that has redefined our place in the universe and perhaps even our purpose? This seminar will examine the interconnectedness of planetary being with personal spirituality – the inmost energy of entanglement with the Divine. We will explore the noosphere, morphogenic fields, human compassion, and “cosmosophia” as bridges to understanding how personal spirituality can create a unitive consciousness that will serve, rather than oppose, the immense diversity present in humanity and creation.
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LAS 238 - Exploring Diversity in Popular Culture 3 hours
Our actions and our communication can have a significant impact on our lives, on others, and on the development of our communities. When it comes to popular culture, the entertainment industry promotes contradictions about diversity and what it means to live in an increasingly interdependent world. Though a powerful medium to help bring about societal change, popular culture has a record of contributing to inclusive thinking. Using film, popular TV shows, and literature, we will explore questions that focus on identity, nationality, commonalities and differences, perceptions and stereotypes: How are personal identity and group membership interrelated? What are the causes and effects of inequality among and within groups? What does it mean to live in diverse communities and cultures?
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LAS 239 - Conflict, Competition and Community 3 hours
Amid the rise of globalization and the increasing interconnectedness of the world in the 21st century, the notion of community has grown more varied and complex. In this course, students will explore the opportunities and challenges that arise as they encounter diverse cultures; we will ask how our ideas of community are re-defined when we embrace (or come into conflict with) worldviews that are different from our own. We will also examine the cultural role of competition, particularly in its connections to debates over social conflict (as in capitalism) and celebrations of diversity (as in sports).
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LAS 241 - Communities of Consumption: Comparing Cultures and Cults 3 hours
Consumerism can mean many things: the pleasure of buying more, the movement toward buying less, and the culture of consumption. The world of the consumer is one that generates fierce loyalty, righteous activism, and a lot of money for businesses. This seminar will examine these aspects of consumerism from several perspectives: as a creator of the cult-like loyalty to brands and brand communities, as a phenomenon so strong it can build corporate empires and shopping mall cathedrals, and as a search for meaning that in some cases can rival religious allegiance.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 242 - Conflict Resolution 3 hours
The resolution of destructive conflict is at the heart of this seminar. Destructive conflict reduces our quality of life, puts our health at risk, reduces our productivity and creativity, disrupts teamwork and cooperation, creates war zones, and leads to other kinds of unsafe conditions. Our focus is on disputes between individuals; these interpersonal conflicts are key factors in creating and maintaining dysfunctional social groups (e.g., families, neighborhoods, and organizations). We will study the role of social identities and social status in fueling intergroup conflicts. A major seminar goal is for students to build conflict resolution skills that will enable them to achieve true reconciliation when dealing with all manner of disputes.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 243 - Searching for China’s Cultural Diversity: From Confucianism to Dragon Dance 3 hours
Searching for China’s Cultural Diversity examines many aspects of Chinese culture including religions, philosophies, arts, music, customs and language. The course focuses on exploring the multi-faceted religious heritage of pre-modern China, the practice of different religions in China today, and the spread and influence of Chinese religions throughout the world. It also exposes students to Chinese diverse customs among the 55 ethnic minorities, different genres in arts and music, and fascinating traditions in regards to Chinese holidays. Basic spoken Chinese will be introduced in class throughout the semester as well.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 246 - Science And Culture 3 hours
Diverse scientific views of the world can greatly influence popular culture—the collection of perspectives, attitudes and images that influence the way individuals in that culture determine what works and what doesn’t work. The discoveries of some theoretical physicists have influenced the way those of us in a Western culture think about how the world works. It started with Isaac Newton’s theory of classical mechanics, which held sway as the way to construct successful organizations. The concepts of string theory have the same influence today. In this seminar, we will compare our own assumptions of how things work in our faith traditions and cultures through the lenses of various scientific theories.
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LAS 249 - Music and Diversity: How Popular Music Binds and Divides Us 3 hours
For at least 30,000 years, since the earliest known instrument, a small flute, humankind has engaged in music making. In this class, we will explore the role that music has had in building up and breaking down the walls that divide us. For music that binds, we study religious music, military marches, and music as an aphrodisiac. We will explore how African-American music was the foundation for rock ‘n’ roll and inspiration for the Beatles. We will also study the divisive nature of music: Rap is black, C&W is white, and classical is WASP. Music fosters division by playing off stereotypes. We will study the 1979 Disco Demolition and ask “what that was all about” and examine 70s white power rock and its effect on rallying neo-Nazi groups. Students will have a capstone project where they discuss the impact of the current music that they listen to and argue that it either bridges or deepens the divide between races and cultures.
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LAS 254 - Multicultural Theatre: Communities in Conflict 3 hours
In our interdependent world, we can no longer “go it alone.” The most urgent question raised in the common text, Encountering God, is how do we “go it together?” How can we break the cycle of violence, and create “the imagined community” envisioned by Gandhi and other adherents of non-violence? In this seminar, African-American, Asian-American, and Latino/Latina playwrights, as well as gay and feminist artists, confront divisive, even life-threatening issues. Students will examine late 20th and 21st century plays and other texts, as well as view documentary films and live theatre productions. The nature and causes of prejudice and discrimination; the impact of racial, religious, and homophobic violence; the struggle to create community; and the hunger for artistic expression will be addressed. A service learning component will be required.
This seminar will satisfy the multicultural core requirement.
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LAS 258 - The Road to Africa 3 hours
Split by its triple heritage, modern Africa has been a product of three major influences: indigenous traditions, Islamic culture, and Western culture. The synthesis of these forces determines, in large part, the situation in contemporary African states. In this course, the Igbos of sub-Saharan Africa will be studied as an example of how one particular ethnic group has absorbed, balanced, and reconciled these divergent traditions and produced its own unique identity in the midst of the larger society.
This seminar will satisfy the multicultural core requirement.
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LAS 263 - Voices of the Silent Ones: Literary Protests in America 3 hours
This course will explore various literary texts dealing with the issues and problems facing minorities in their respective societies. During much of the 20th century, minority literature expressed the pain, injustice, and mental anguish of those individuals who are judged on race and gender before character and disposition. Readings will include works of African-American, Hispanic, and Native American writers and will ultimately explore the ways that literature confronts issues of identity and allows us to re-envision our definitions of ourselves and our communities.
This seminar will satisfy the multicultural core requirement.
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LAS 264 - Native American Spirituality 3 hours
Native American spirituality is rooted in the relationships among the people and of the people to the land. Spirituality is not something that exists apart from their culture but is expressed through the culture. Because so much of life depends on their association to the land and all that lives upon it, the displacement of the people from their roots by westward expansion caused great upheaval. In this course, we will look at the history and culture of some of the native peoples and make connections to stories and customs, rituals and traditions.
This seminar will satisfy the multicultural core requirement.
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LAS 267 - Dancing in the Streets: Popular Music Since the 1950’s: Race, Identity, and Social Change 3 hours
“When the mode of the music changes, the walls of the city shake …” The Greek philosopher Plato, centuries before the advent of rock ‘n’ roll, acknowledged the power of music as a mobilizing force for social change. This seminar explores the development and impact of popular music over the last century, with an emphasis on its relationship to the social, cultural, and political critique and change. A particular focus on African-American influences on various musical genres, from early roots music (gospel, blues, country, and rhythm and blues) to mid-century youth-oriented pop, Motown and soul, and more recent expressions in hip-hop.
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LAS 275 - Unity and Diversity: Problems and Promises 3 hours
Group membership can shape both our dreams and our fears; it can offer stability, identity, and energy: it can offer both a vantage point from which to view the world and a fear of what we discover there. Chicago is a microcosm of the richly diverse world we live in, and it can teach us about the ways individuals and groups can challenge, support, and enrich one another. This course will examine the strengths and pitfalls of group membership through reviewing the experience of religious, ethnic, and economic communities in the Chicago area. We will examine some interfaith projects as examples of contemporary attempts to harness the strengths of group identity in support of the common good.
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LAS 276 - Legacies of War, Displacement, and Immigration: Changing American Communities From WWII and Korea to Vietnam and Iraq 3 hours
American culture in the 20th and 21st centuries has been marked by war and war’s effects: the displacement of millions of people from their homes and countries of origin and the destruction of cities, towns, and traditional ways of life. New communities and identities are forged in wartime and its aftermath; often, the United States has become the testing ground for the cultural legacies of war. We will see American soldiers return to altered homes and immigrants arrive to discover both freedoms and restrictions in the American way of life. This course will examine the stories of people who have lived or perished in war’s violence and will also explore problems of survival and adjustment to postwar life. We will examine stories in literature and film, and ask questions about the ways in which wartime makes deep and lasting marks on identity, community, and inequality.
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LAS 280 - Exposing the Cultural Gap: Literary Wanderings 3 hours
Throughout the history of the novel as an art form, various authors have produced stories in which a character/narrator acts as a social commentator. Such novels may be characterized as “travelogues.” By examining some prominent travelogues – Gulliver’s Travels, Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, and On the Road – the class will discover how various facets of society are analyzed, categorized, and often marginalized by seemingly discerning storytellers. The course will primarily examine these and other works of social commentary in their various historical contexts. Together, the literature will illuminate the history, and vice versa.
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LAS 289 - Multicultural Chicago 3 hours
The city of Chicago provides a stimulating topic of study in relation to the seminar theme of diversity, culture and community. This course will focus on the cultures and histories of various ethnic and racial groups in Chicago. Topics we may consider include: African American migration to and settlement in Chicago; the Italian American community in the city and suburbs; the different ethnic and national groups, such as Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans, that make up Latino/a Chicago; and the formation of Chinatown. We will consider differences of gender, class and sexuality within these communities and their contact and conflict with other groups. Texts from different disciplinary perspectives and selected works of literature will help us better understand the cultural complexity of this diverse city.
This course will satisfy the multicultural core requirement.
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LAS 290 - The Challenge of Solidarity 3 hours
Diversity and culture are givens in our lives, and the clash of many diverse cultures is the source of much injustice, violence, and even genocide in today’s world. How can we better understand diversity and culture all our lives long, while we see the gift of community in a climate of faith, hope, and love? Is it possible to bridge the divisions of group identity to create movements of solidarity for the common good? Theoretical models of social analysis, the biographies of great leaders in social change, and personal exchange with local practitioners of solidarity will all contribute to our study of diversity, culture, and community.
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LAS 296 - Diversity, Food, and Social Justice 3 hours
It has been said that the history of human society can be traced through the history of food production and distribution. This course will utilize film, literature, and experiential learning to explore issues regarding food disparity as well as the political, economic and social impact of hunger in a land of plenty. We will explore the growing international paradox of poverty, obesity, and malnutrition. We will critique proposed systemic solutions, such as sustainable food production. Students will be expected to participate in a service learning component addressing “food deserts” and social justice in the Chicago area.
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LAS 346 - Work vs. Leisure: Where Is the Path to Happiness? 3 hours
In this course we will examine how work and leisure in particular relate to happiness. In order to determine where and how we can find happiness through our work and leisure, we will use, in addition to the common text, the “Art of Happiness at Work” by the Dalai Lama and selected other readings from the “happiness” literature in economics and psychology.
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LAS 347 - Work and Leisure: Exploring a Balance 3 hours
Do we need to strike a balance between work and leisure in our lives or are work and leisure part of an integrated continuum of achievement, fulfillment and satisfaction? How does technology factor into the work-leisure equation? In order to answer these questions the seminar will explore the philosophical, historical, sociological, and psychological approaches to work and leisure. We will consider whether leisure is work, how to make a living of leisure, and what constitutes a career. The seminar will include readings from studies, literature, and the popular press, case studies, media presentations, and guest speakers. Students will work independently, as well as in teams, to formulate and express their views of work and leisure.
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LAS 348 - Finding a Job and Finding a Life 3 hours
We will work most of our lives- so does our work define who we are? If work is to be a major part of our life, it will be worthwhile to examine how we approach the search for work. The process of self-assessment, knowing ourselves, and understanding our values are all important in deciding where to work and what to do. Technology is a great resource for educating us about career paths and for sourcing jobs and connecting with employers. And as we examine the many tools available in a job search, we will also need to consider that life is not all about work: leisure, free time, personal pursuits, etc., help to balance our lives. Do our leisure pursuits define us? How have some companies meshed their employees’ leisure pursuits into their culture? What are the various forms of “technology as leisure pursuits” and how have social websites crossed over into the working world? In this seminar, we will take up such questions as we ask, What does finding a job have to do with finding a life?
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LAS 349 - Technology and Spirituality 3 hours
This seminar will holistically examine the coming together of technology and spirituality. In that context, we will explore some seminal questions: What is technology? What is spirituality? Can the nexus between the two be identified and probed? Are the benefits of technology restricted to an enriching material life or can they be extended to an uplifting of our spirit as well? Does technology bring true freedom to our working lives and to our leisure? Does technology draw a fine line between avoiding work and evading leisure? Does technology erase the distinction between work and leisure and render humankind its slave? Can an examination of the core of technology – the essence – give us helpful hints in our pursuit of spiritual growth? Can this core speak then, to the spirituality of technology? Julian Huxley said, “We are not men, we are only candidates to humanity.” How does technology advance our candidacy? Through critical engagement of materials from various disciplines, these are some of the questions we will explore together in this seminar.
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LAS 356 - Meaning of Work, Technology, and Leisure Across the Life Course 3 hours
This seminar will highlight a sociological approach to work, technology, and leisure, with emphasis on how their meanings change throughout an individual’s lifetime. How do people in early adulthood, mid-adulthood, and late life define meaning in work, technology, and leisure? What are the possible variations, especially when taking into account gender and cultural differences? The course will use a multidisciplinary approach while exploring writings from the humanities.
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LAS 357 - All in the Family? Technology’s Impact on Families’ Decisions About Work and Leisure 3 hours
The myth of modern technology is that it will free us to have more time to enjoy our families and to engage in leisure activities. The reality is that with all of the “timesaving” devices, today’s families seem to be busier, less connected, and more preoccupied than ever before. In this seminar we will look at other times and cultures to see how they understood technology, work, and leisure; and we will examine and compare our own culture’s values. We will also look to some new discoveries in the physical world, in particular the underpinning of quantum theory, which demonstrate that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. With religious imagination we will try to discover in that fact spiritual implications for family life.
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LAS 367 - The Ultimate Price of Technology: Literary Warnings 3 hours
This course will explore major works of fiction that portray future worlds shaped and twisted by technological advances and totalitarian control, largely at the expense of the individual human spirit. Orwell’s 1984, Huxley’s Brave New World, and other works of “dystopian” literature will be examined to speculate how far society has gone from understanding the Truth. Moreover, the course will examine how work and leisure will be defined in light of such profound changes. Class discussions will center upon the pros and cons of expanding technology and its effects upon those who initially support its often-clandestine intentions – you and me.
This course will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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LAS 375 - Energy Resources and Life Choices 3 hours
Our personal and collective decisions on energy use influence not only the quality of our lives but also the future life on this planet. The global community is already dealing with conflicts over the allocation of nonrenewable energy sources such as crude oil, the development of economical alternative energy resources, and the reduction of energy-related pollution. Our responses to energy issues determine our work, leisure, and lifestyle choices. Class discussions will focus on how energy production and consumption have an effect on the lives and livelihoods of everyone.
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LAS 376 - Work: What You Do/Who You Are 3 hours
This course will use a labor economist’s approach to examine all aspects of various career choices and how these choices impact individual lives. Short stories, novels, plays, and films will be used to explore the idea that while initially money may be important, it is more often the case that the non-monetary aspects of a job–status, stress, satisfaction, use of technology, a sense of accomplishment to name a few–have a much greater impact on how life turns out.
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LAS 377 - Making a Buck versus Making a Difference 3 hours
A large part of how we define ourselves has always been by what we “do for a living;” however, we also maintain a “personal life” outside of the work environment. In today’s fast-paced business environment and society, this compartmentalization/separation can lead to tension and conflict as we seek to achieve a work-life balance. Is it a matter of balance or one of integration? Must we separate making a living from making a difference? How can we find our true place in an increasingly depersonalized, technological world? These are among the questions that this course will explore -leveraging a wide range of perspectives on this subject.
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LAS 378 - Tracking Your GPS-Grace, Place, and Interior Space 3 hours
In a world that continues to rely on quicker production, it is becoming more difficult to make time to contemplate our place in the world. In fact, it is all too common never to ask ourselves the essential questions “What is my place in the universe?” “Does my life have significance?” This seminar invites its participants to slow down and to ask themselves these and so many other questions. It is the hope of this seminar to provide its participants with the time and space to read, reflect, discuss, and deepen the art of cultivating their interior lives. Works will include The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd; A Hidden Wholeness, by Parker Palmer; and Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke.
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LAS 379 - Daily Meaning and Daily Bread 3 hours
What is work and how does work define our lives and ourselves? What is leisure and how does it affect the meaning of our working lives? How has technology changed work – its structure and meaning, the nature of specific jobs or trades, the way in which work is produced or performed? How has technology impacted our leisure – does it add to or detract from the way we spend our free time? In this class we will examine questions of this kind through close examination of scholarly articles, short stories, oral histories, films, and plays, as well as through class discussion, writing exercises, and group projects.
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LAS 380 - Work, Community, and Action 3 hours
This seminar will examine the ways workers build distinctive workplace cultures on the job and how work communities relate to wider communities. Out of common experience workers search for shared meaning and avenues for expression and action and the right to leisure and autonomy in their lives. From colonial slaves to modern-day air traffic controllers, American workers have found ways to control the place of work in their lives, challenge or adapt technology in ways that support their aims and shape leisure to both build up and escape their work lives. Through history, ethnography, fiction, and film we will discover how workers shape work, technology and leisure, both on the job and away from it.
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LAS 390 - Risk and Reward 3 hours
Elements of risk and reward are everywhere in our society. Obvious examples are found in such areas as finance and banking, but upon a truer inspection, they crop up in almost everything we do—our use of technology, our work, and our leisure time. Using contemporary texts and readings, we see how many aspects of everyday living all have elements of risk and reward. This seminar will examine how risks and rewards play out in our everyday lives and how they affect the important decisions we make.
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LAS 391 - U.S. Immigrants: Modern African Labor Migrants 3 hours
This seminar focuses on the experience of African labor migrants to the United States. What are the driving forces behind African immigration to the United States? What is the African way of living the American dream? What are the mutual perceptions of these members of the new African diaspora and their host communities? What role do Africans play in the making of modern America? How do Africans strike a balance between the need to adjust to the American way of life and the desire to preserve their original identities? What failures and successes frame the lives of Africans in the United States? By using the common texts and a wide range of internet and other resources, we will investigate these key questions through a multidisciplinary approach and several categories of analysis, such as ethnicity, religion, gender, and age.
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LAS 393 - From Gutenberg to Gigabytes 3 hours
At various points in history, how have significant technological advances affected society, work, and leisure? How do these advances continue to shape our lives? To answer these and similar questions, we will draw upon literature, art, and historical accounts. In turning to these sources, we will find support for or challenges to our assumptions, discuss how changes made in the past have influenced the present, and see what the past and present can teach us as we anticipate the future.
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LAS 397 - Work and Leisure in a Cellular Society 3 hours
Cell phones have changed from simple devices that once only made phone calls to today’s minicomputers that entertain and help the user communicate in multiple ways. In this seminar, students will study the influence that cellular technology has on our global society and the way it is reshaping our daily lives.
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LAS 399 - Corporate Social Responsibility/Social Entrepreneurship 3 hours
This seminar will explore sustainability and social benefit as ethical characteristics of corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship as they exist in business practices within technology, work, and leisure enterprises.
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LAS 458 - Celebrities, Heroes, Prophets, Leaders, Saints, Witnesses, and You 3 hours
Aristotle saw virtue as a habit, developed through practice. This seminar asks students to address the question of their role in how virtues and values are modeled and shaped in today’s society. It will explore the behavioral context underlying the development of habits of virtue, discuss leadership theory as it relates to the common good, and use readings from literature and excerpts from film as a basis for further reflection on those discussions.
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LAS 459 - The Mask, the Individual and Society 3 hours
Through a study of texts such as Machiavelli’s The Prince and Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier, we will explore the various roles an individual plays in society. We all wear masks, both real and imaginary, in our interactions with others. What do these writers tell us of the nature and function of such masks? What is the ethical status of masking? What are its social functions? How does masking help shape the individual and society?
This seminar will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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LAS 460 - Right Relationship 3 hours
All relationships - filial, friendly, erotic - are tempered by such emotions as jealousy, obsession, self-doubt, fear, etc. Through literature and spirituality, we shall explore how relationships can be destroyed and healed. Readings include King Lear, The Color Purple, Like Water for Chocolate, As We Are Now, and Tuesdays with Morrie.
This seminar will satisfy the literature core area requirement.
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LAS 462 - Personal Conduct and Character and Professional Ethics 3 hours
The topic of professional ethics and personal morality will be the subject matter of this course. The approach will be interdisciplinary, with various insights into ethics and values from several professional perspectives (business, law, nutrition, genetics, medicine, etc.) Simultaneously, students will engage in ongoing discussion about personal ethical conduct and character.
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LAS 465 - Aikido as Contemplation 3 hours
This seminar will literally put our virtue in action. Students will learn the fundamentals of Aikido, a Japanese martial art that emphasizes the harmonious exchange of energy, as a form of contemplation. This is not just a theoretical course. Students will actually do the physical work of learning Aikido, so students need to wear sweatpants (not shorts) and t-shirts.
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LAS 466 - The Pursuit of Happiness 3 hours
Everyone wants to be happy. But what is happiness? How can we attain true happiness? Are some things essential for human flourishing? How should we live? Are virtues and values the key to happiness of self and others? What is the virtuous life? Is it possible to be happy in this life? Using Aristotle’s Ethics as the main text, this seminar will critically evaluate his idea that happiness consists in living the good life and compare it to other accounts of happiness such as egoistic hedonism, utilitarianism, and existentialism.
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LAS 476 - The Pursuit of Truth in a Culture of Confusion 3 hours
An investigation of the effects of mass-mediated communication and information as a mass commodity on values, particularly the value of truth. In an age of information glut, where for all intents and purposes every possible point of view is represented, all points of view appear to have the same value. The idea of having and clinging to “values” implies evaluating ideas–seeing which ones are “better” than others. All ideas are not equal; otherwise “values” as such are irrelevant. At the same time, all our mass-mediated messages are biased toward the technological culture that brings them to us. We spend more and more time communicating with (or through) our technologies, and less and less time communicating with one another through real, human, interpersonal means–discourse. The Dominican idea of the disputatio–the pursuit of truth through mutually respectful disagreement, debate, and criticism–has been replaced with accommodatio–an unfortunate willingness to reject truth, except as an entirely subjective experience.
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LAS 478 - Change for the Better, Virtue and Conversion 3 hours
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics will serve to form a basic understanding of the concept of virtue. The Italian Middle Ages, as an era of political instability and religious fervor, will provide the background for the discussion of figures whose acts of spiritual conversion effected a more virtuous life. Saints’ legends, biographies, and Dante’s Purgatorio (the second canticle of his Commedia) will make up the textual arena of the experiences, while early frescoes and manuscript art will be studied as visual complements.
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LAS 483 - Gandhi and the Western Classics 3 hours
What is justice? Is it better to suffer injustice than to do injustice? This course will approach these questions through the life and struggle of Mohandas Gandhi and through several classics of Western literature that raise the same questions that Gandhi raises in his autobiography. In addition to Gandhi’s autobiography, we will read selections from Marcus Aurelius and the whole of Plato’s Gorgias. Of course, Aristotle’s Ethics fits right in here. In this course, East meets West.
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LAS 486 - Ethical Communication 3 hours
How we communicate with one another determines who we are as a community and as individuals. In a world that is seemingly coming together and growing smaller due to communication technologies, we must guard against assuming we know how to communicate with people. If we are to build stronger communities and grow as individuals, we have to deal with the problems of communicating in our modern society and culture. We need to confront the challenges of how to use these technologies to communicate ethically by starting with what is meant by ethical communication. In this seminar, we discuss what it means to use communication technologies to communicate ethically: whether it is individual to individual, across gaps in beliefs, or even the creation of mass media. In reading Aristotle’s Ethics, we will consider how his values of character are being affected by the methods of communication we engage in on a daily basis, and then, conversely, how these values could be applied to improve these methods.
Prerequisite(s): Seniors only.
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LAS 487 - To Live or Not to Live? What Does It Mean to Live With Virtues and Values? 3 hours
What is right? What is wrong? Better yet, why is it right or wrong? This course will examine the essential insights of Christian ethics and virtues as they relate to everyday living in this present time and experience. Through a multi-cultural lens we will examine several questions: Is what we believe to be right or wrong universal? Do other cultures have the same virtues we have? Why are they the same or different and does that matter? Has technology and the access to global information affected what we view to be virtuous? We will examine contemporary issues in the world today to see how they shape our understanding of virtues, the formation of a Christian ethical society, and any changes to our understanding of human dignity, rights, freedoms, natural law, stages of social/moral development, and commitments. Christian social teachings will be integrated with Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics through the use of films and case studies on various contemporary topics such as economic justice, social justice, violence, human sexuality, and environmental justice.
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LAS 489 - You Are What You Eat: Good Food for the Good Life 3 hours
What should we eat for the good life? In this seminar, we will explore the ethical and aesthetic values that inform our daily decisions about food. We will explore the moral obligations that do (or might) guide those decisions, the role of pleasure in determining what counts as good food, the environmental and social consequences of food production and distribution, and the cultural and religious significance of what we eat.
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LAS 490 - Being Good in a World of Gray 3 hours
How is it possible to be good in a world where there are very few absolute rights and wrongs? How do you ethically choose the lesser of two evils? This seminar will examine what it means to be good through readings from Aristotle and then attempt to apply those ideas to historical situations and fictional parables. Questions of justice, personal responsibility, and the greater good will be explored through readings of Victor Hugo, Ursula LeGuin, Simon Wiesenthal, and others, and discussion will be key to that exploration.
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LAS 491 - Is the Good Life to Be Lived or Strived For? 3 hours
This seminar will examine definitions of “the good” and “the virtuous” in an effort to explore the degree to which either can be applied as a model for living one’s life. Explorations of this topic will often stem from our consideration of what constitutes goodness and virtue. Are they set absolutes whose characteristics define and set the limits of what qualifies as living a good life? Or are they inscrutable ideals whose values lie not in their attainability, but in the pursuits their indeterminable natures inspire? We will work to understand the significance of these questions’ answers within the context of contemporary society and Dominican’s mission.
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LAS 492 - The “Good” Woman 3 hours
What does it mean to be a “good” woman? Is there one ideal or many? Is the good woman also a happy woman, especially when and where it has been “a man’s world”? Building on the foundation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, this seminar examines texts—both non-fiction and fiction—describing the virtues and behavior of the “ideal” woman, one who consequently lives a happy life.
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