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2018-2019 University Bulletin [ARCHIVED BULLETIN]
Course Descriptions
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LAS 127 - The Artist and the Examined Life: Meditation on Craft 3 hours
Using a variety of artistic methods including drawing, painting, collage and the practice of creating block prints, we will explore the process of making art as a spiritual endeavor and examine how making art is a mindful and reflective expression of ourselves and our perspective of the world round us. We will examine the self as artist and the interdependence of the artist and society.
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LAS 128 - My Education 3 hours
The course focuses on how to understand the concept of learning and identifying when one has attained knowledge, be it in a formal or informal setting. Questions the course can address include: How do I identify moments of learning and self-awareness? Who/what serve as exemplars from which I derive paths to knowledge? At what point in time do I feel that I serve as an exemplar for others? How do I define education?
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LAS 131 - The Natural Self 3 hours
Beginning with the story of one man’s search for his genetic identity, continuing with an exploration of the human genetic heritage, and ending with a discussion of what this all means about who we are and our place in the world, this seminar examines the relationships between biological life, the self, and the planet.
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LAS 132 - A Groovy Movie: You in the 1960s 3 hours
In this class we will enter a portal and go back in time. The first day of class will be in Levittown, New York, the day before John F. Kennedy was shot, and the last day of class will be in in the quad of Kent State University, May 4, 1970. You will participate in historical events, not to learn about them, but to be in them and of them. We will study aspects of the self through the lens of history. You will explore friendship as a member of a platoon in Vietnam, travel to India with the Beatles to experience spirituality, come to understand dissent when you protests as a student at Kent State, learn about fairness as you fight for equal rights with feminists, and look for a deeper meaning as you become one with a bird named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Each unit will be paired with readings from classical scholars as well as modern writers, and we will use films and YouTube videos along with our readings. There will be vibrant discussion with no wrong answers, only answers that lead to more questions, in the never ending search to answer the question: who am I?
Prerequisite(s): Freshman only.
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LAS 133 - The Civil Disobedient Self 3 hours
Are you willing to take a stand? Are you willing to act upon your beliefs? Individual and communal nonviolent resistance—civil disobedience—has a long history. Its writings constitute a significant body of work, which includes Greek texts, Hebrew scripture, oral declarations, abolitionist tracts, and other works pertaining to social justice, civil rights and peace movements. Students will read, think, and write critically about the extent to which social activism has impacted individuals and society. This seminar includes a required service activity.
Prerequisite(s): Freshmen only.
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LAS 134 - The Courage of Leadership 3 hours
In this seminar, we will consider the role of courage in shaping one’s identity as a leader. We will use various texts and discussions to investigate the following questions: Do you have the courage to be yourself? Do you have the courage to make decisions that are consistent with your values? Do you have the courage to change and challenge the “norm”? This course will help you explore who you are now and help you discover the leader you want to become in the future.
Prerequisite(s): Freshmen only.
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LAS 135 - Success! 3 hours
This course serves as your introduction to the seminar sequence of the core curriculum. A seminar at Dominican is a discussion-centered course focused on a class-level theme. All freshmen explore the theme of “the examined life.” In this course, we will approach this theme from an exploration of facets of succeeding. The guiding questions for the freshman seminar will be addressed directly and reflected in corresponding questions oriented around the concept of success.
Prerequisite(s): Freshmen only.
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LAS 136 - Choosing Your Path 3 hours
How did I become who I am? Who will I be in the world? Choosing your path in the world calls for active reflection on your past, your present, and your future. Through the process of structured discussions and with the help of readings and other materials, we will investigate your history and your values, seeking insight into what makes you who you are and how your values shape who you hope to become. Using stories from the lives of others, we will study ourselves.
Prerequisite(s): Freshmen only.
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LAS 137 - Heritage and Identity 3 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 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 3 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 171 - Thinking for Oneself 3 hours
Some say that enlightenment means having the courage to think for oneself, rather than being lazy or cowardly while following the herd and letting others tell us what to believe or do. Others say that life is inevitably lived within a tension between freedom’s open possibilities and destiny’s imposing limitations. We’ll pursue this problematic through writings religious and philosophical, literary and psychological, Eastern and Western.
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LAS 175 - Leadership for Life 3 hours
How does the self become a leader? What does it mean to be a leader? Why do leaders become engaged in the community? 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 194 - The Grand and the Simple 3 hours
The great French writer Marcel Proust observed that the self of today is often unable to recognize the self of yesterday and unable to accurately envision the self of tomorrow. Does our life include a multiple collection of selves (10-year-old David in a baseball uniform, 17-year-old David in a jail cell, 25-year-old David in a cyclone in Japan, and an older David teaching a university course on the different Davids)? Or do we have one true self that always remains invisible to us, just around the corner, just out of reach? Who the h-e-double hockey sticks am I, was I always this person, will I always be this person? This class will discuss how different people, places, events, and decisions (made and unmade) influence the self. We will explore through writings, films, and discussion how every moment could be the one that defines us to ourselves or others and how in the next moment that can all change.
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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 217 - Heroes Among Us? 3 hours
In the context of community, we will look at heroes (or people presumed to be heroes) in history and in contemporary culture. We’ll explore the meaning/meanings of heroism today and discuss whom we think of as heroic, looking at both personal heroes as well publicly acknowledged heroes. Some compelling questions may include, how does a community define heroism? Is the idea of “hero” different from culture to culture or decade to decade? How are heroes different from other people? What defining characteristics do heroes share across cultures and across decades? How do and should we honor heroes? Do each of us have the potential to be a hero? Our class will discuss the common text, Diane Eck’s Encountering God, as well as a variety of texts and media, including folk literature (myths/fairy tales), biography, memoir, poetry, and video as we explore the relationship between a community and its heroes.
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LAS 218 - Self In The Context Of Others: You Are Now Entering The Identity Zone 3 hours
Individuals spend a lifetime trying to answer questions like Who am I? How do I fit in? How do I relate to others (and how do they relate to me)? and How can I make my mark on the world while also making a difference in the lives of others? Using the classic science fiction television show The Twilight Zone as a backdrop, individuals will explore Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theories of identity development and life history and the historical moment in order to gain a better perspective on our self within the context of others. This exploration includes the examination of cultural, societal, contextual, political, and religious factors that contribute to, and affect, an individual’s identity development throughout the lifespan as well as their impact on, and interrelationship with, others.
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LAS 225 - Multicultural Competency: Life in Community 3 hours
Today’s professionals have the responsibility of ensuring that we meet the needs of culturally and ethnically diverse communities. Multicultural competence is important for maintaining and sustaining an environment where differences are valued and respected. In an increasingly diverse world, we must not only strive to become multicultural competent professionals but we must also reflect on our own perceptions and experiences that shape our interactions with others. This seminar combines historical, current events and lived-experiences to help us better understand our own concepts of identity, community, and culture as well as provide the framework towards becoming a multicultural competent individual in a diverse world. This seminar might require off-campus service-learning hours.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing
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LAS 226 - Uncovering Ourselves: The Self as Other 3 hours
Implicit bias (automatic or unconscious stereotyping that guides our perception of and behavior toward social groups) is one of the fastest growing areas of human psychology. It also lies at the heart of one of the raging debates in American public schools: whether the teacher’s operation of unconscious gender, racial, religious, and other biases can affect student achievement. The course explores how scientific evidence on the human mind might help to explain why racial and gender equality is so elusive. This new evidence reveals how human mental machinery can be skewed by lurking stereotypes, often bending to accommodate hidden biases reinforced by years of social learning such as biases toward specific religious orientations. Through the lens of these powerful and pervasive implicit attitudes and stereotypes, the course examines both the continued subordination of historically disadvantaged groups and the educational system’s complicity in the subordination. Students will be introduced to cutting edge research that bears not only on the highly relevant substantive areas of discrimination and prejudice in American classrooms, but also on questions regarding gender gaps in science and math, affirmative action programs, teacher expectations, and the school-to-prison pipeline. Students will learn how implicit bias works, how to interpret and use empirical research findings, how to understand the major critiques of implicit bias research, and how to understand scholars’ use of implicit bias findings.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing
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LAS 227 - Men in Community: An Exploration 3 hours
This course will examine the modern construction of masculinity in our communities and societies, and how this affects individuals, groups, institutions, and societies, with particular focus on the impact of men. We will explore how our diverse identities (race, class, sexuality, physical ability, performance, etc.) are implicated in the construction of masculinity and in-group equality. We will use these guiding questions to guide our path: How are men’s personal identity and group membership interrelated? What are the causes and effects of equality among and within groups? What does it mean for men to live in diverse communities and cultures?
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 228 - Communication Through Dress 3 hours
This course explores dress as a multifaceted communication tool that provides insight into one’s culture, beliefs, faith, identity, power, and emotions. Clothing conveys messages about how members of groups identify with those inside and outside of the group, and it communicates meaning to others in society. Signals sent by clothing can bring people together but also be the impetus for discrimination and injustice. This course explores and discusses possible interpretations of the many aspects of body adornment encountered in today’s diverse communities.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 229 - Who’s Stirring the Melting Pot? 3 hours
Religious groups at war with each other over sacred spaces and beliefs; migrants both legal and illegal in multicultural groups discriminated against; colonization and its lasting effects; God, Yahweh, Buddha, Allah; rich versus poor. Who is “the other”? Who is “your other”? More importantly, why is this person “your” other? Expanding on the theme of identify, this course will examine the concept of communities, how they are created, and how they have and should function. Through a multi-cultured voice, we will examine concepts such as love, hate, war, peace, tolerance, and tradition, analyzing them through theological and cinematic lenses in regard to our “melting pot” society. We will pay special attention to “outsiders” who come in and to “insiders” who are out of the mainstream societies. Most material will be international and multicultural.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 230 - Life in Chicago’s Communities 3 hours
Life in Chicago’s Communities will explore the reciprocal and impactful relationship between neighborhoods and individuals. Sophomore level students will begin by reflecting on the influence community had in their development. Students will then engage in an exploration of a Chicago neighborhood or community, and learn about faith and social justice institutions serving its constituents. Through reflections, texts, group activities, and peer presentations, students will examine the guiding questions: 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?
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
This course will satisfy the core requirement in multicultural studies.
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LAS 231 - Invest in the Global Community 3 hours
Real dollars, real time, real difference. This course will provide students with an opportunity to engage with and better understand our global communities in our backyard and around the world. Students will also be given dollars to invest through KIVA, a global micro-financing organization. Students will use their investments as a way to learn about regions of the world. Books, films and events will also be used as resources to expand global understanding.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 232 - Islam in America 3 hours
This seminar explores Islam in America, including its history and followers, and examines the different ethnicities in the American Muslim population. Students will be introduced to Islamic culture and traditions as well as the contributions of Muslims to American society. Further discussion will touch on the similarities between American Muslims and their fellow Americans, as well as understanding points of conflict and controversies that arise between American Muslims and America.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 233 - Food in the U.S. Today: Production, Choice, and Policy 3 hours
How is food produced in the United States today? Food politics and policies in the United States have heated up in recent years as legislators, regulators, educators, farmers, and many others battle over subsidies, restrictions, and questions of public health. What shapes our choices as consumers? How do these choices impact our lives and our communities? We will explore these critical issues as we learn about food production in the United States.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 234 - Photography as the Arbitrator of Pathos, Memory, and Mankind 3 hours
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LAS 235 - Social Justice and Intercultural Communication 3 hours
Social justice and intercultural communication are examined in the context of geopolitical, economic, and cultural contexts. Through the various texts, guest speakers, presentations, community based learning, and exchanges with international students in Dominican’s ELS program, students will examine discrimination, racial profiling, and ethnic conflicts as well as local and global wealth disparities. The class is designed to provide a framework to create a more just and humane world through communication.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 236 - Undocumented Students: Americans or Not? 3 hours
The U.S. Supreme Court mandates that undocumented children be accepted as students, but, because of current immigration laws, they are not accepted as citizens. This puts these students in an ambiguous situation. For many, the U.S. is the only country they know and English is the only language they speak. They nonetheless face enormous barriers to obtaining legal employment or trying to enter college. In this seminar, students will explore the sophomore level themes by examining student narratives, academic discourse, legislation, public policy, and media attention to the issues of immigration reform, social and political marginalization, and access to higher education for undocumented students.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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LAS 237 - Globalization 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 Religion in 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.
This course will satisfy the core requirement in multicultural studies.
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LAS 249 - Music and Diversity 3 hours
This seminar is writing intensive and focuses on 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 and nationalistic music. We will explore how African-American music was the foundation for rock ‘n roll and inspiration for the Beatles. In the second unit, we will also study the divisive nature of music: Rap is black; C&W white; and classical is WASP. Music fosters division by playing off stereotypes. We will study the 1979 Disco Demolition and 70s white power rock. In the final unit we will seek answers to the paradox that we need groups to thrive and survive, but grouping of people causes distinction, stereotypes, prejudice and the rest. We will explore morality, super-ordinate identity, empathy, and cultural appropriation as possible answers. We will learn, through the music, ways in which cultures differ, how they are the same, and in the end apply this knowledge to better understand community, culture and diversity.
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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 course will satisfy the core requirement in multicultural studies.
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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 course will satisfy the core requirement in multicultural studies.
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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 course will satisfy the core requirement in multicultural studies.
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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.
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LAS 267 - Dancing in the Streets 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 - Consequences of War, Racism, and Immigration: Making Selves and Communities from WWII to the Present 3 hours
American and European cultures in the 20th and 21st centuries have 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 traditional ways of life, entire communities, and families. We will see the shocks wrought by war and anti-Semitism during and after WWII in the diary of Anne Frank. We will also examine the social and spiritual divisions—and the many barriers to national unity—created by racial and ethnic prejudice against peoples in Europe and the United States. Finally, the economic and spiritual displacement and subjugation that class and racial barriers enforce in the contemporary United States is a related subject of our readings and thinking. We will ask questions about the ways in which war, racism, and the widening economic division into haves and have-nots in the United States leave lasting marks on our fragile sense of self and on our ideas of community health and the common good.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomores only.
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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 core requirement in multicultural studies.
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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 317 - Subcultures, Diversity, and the Self in American Society 3 hours
This course examines multiple categories of subculture including race, ethnicity, social class, gender, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation as bases of diversity and majority-minority relations in American society. What is the relationship between the various categories of subculture and social inequality, life chances, inclusion and exclusion, group identity, and social, economic, and political participation? How has society grappled with the tensions inherent in cultural/group diversity? And how can the individual as a member of this multicultural/multi-social society develop a sense of acceptance and tolerance for those who are different from his/her own group?
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing
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LAS 318 - Work as a Search for Dignity 3 hours
This seminar will be writing intensive, focusing on human work as a search for dignity. In his Encyclical On Human Work (the main text of Junior seminar), Pope John Paul II notes that any job should be judged “above all by the measure of the dignity of the subject of work, that is to say, the person, the individual who carries it out.” We will apply this idea and others from the encyclical to various texts, including contemporary essays on income inequality, poems by Jean Toomer and Robert Frost, and the long fictional story Life in the Iron Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis. Since our section is writing intensive, two major assignments will be (1) an annotated bibliography (replete with library workshops that allow transfer students to fulfill the graduation requirement of achieving research literacy) and (2) a researched essay that includes argument and analysis.
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LAS 319 - Preparing for the World of Work: Owners, Consumers, Workers 3 hours
This course explores the perspectives of owners, consumers, and workers in the modern American economy. These perspectives matter because we as citizens are likely to enact all three roles during our lifetime, and we benefit from understanding how these roles interact and sometimes clash. The learning objectives of the course include understanding ownership both on the level of small business and investment in the stock market; developing a philosophy of workers’ rights and ethical guidelines; and appreciating the importance of informed consumer behavior for successful living. The course includes simulations of job interviews, and all students will develop a professional resume, cover letter, and dossier that can be deployed in the job market. Required texts: Studs Terkel, Working; Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto; Pope John Paul II, On Human Work: Laborem Exercens; and morningstar.com (Morningstar, Inc.), an investment management company whose reports can be found online. An assortment of articles and short stories round out the syllabus.
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LAS 325 - Building a Meaningful Life, Finding Good Work, and Knowing the Difference 3 hours
Some people argue that most college students do not prepare themselves well enough for their careers. Others contend that too narrow a focus on work in higher education boxes students into a confining career track and shrinks their ability to be critical thinkers and vital citizens. What do you think? By exploring some of these arguments, reviewing other readings on making a living, this seminar will consider how our experiences in the world of work can both fulfill us and diminish us. Through discussions and activities that will put you in touch with professionals in the work to which you aspire, we will also attempt to build a pathway to your life after Dominican that is fulfilling and meaningful.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing
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LAS 327 - The Accomplishment of an Aim or Purpose by Pablo and Yolanda 3 hours
Most of our popular media outlets send us strong messages that people are successful because of their income, their possessions, their accomplishments or stature in a particular environment or industry. The working world, however, is filled with people whose work gives them high income and stature, but also makes them unhappy. How is this possible? In order to help students arrive at their own visions of success and happiness, this class will examine stories of the “successful” and “unsuccessful” through films, documentaries, guest speakers, classic texts, and contemporary biographies of several figures in the entertainment industry (both well-known and not so well-known). Students will also participate in improvisation exercises and be required to make one presentation.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing
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LAS 328 - Smart Search, Better Communication 3 hours
We are in the age of search engines plus social media. Beyond keyword searching, chatting and sharing, are there more effective ways for us to retrieve/send quality or even unexpected information online than average users? In this seminar, we will first focus on using search engines to explore the “invisible world” or predict business trends. Then, with the help of social media, student will be trained to become active members of crisis response teams. Upon finishing the semester, you can experience the latest tools to scan the world, the best ways to protect us online, and more importantly, the most effective strategies to disseminate information.
Prerequisite(s): Juniors only.
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LAS 329 - Work, Identity, and Class in Latino/a Chicago 3 hours
In this Junior seminar, students will engage the issues of national identity, poverty, and the “invisibility” of the Latin@ working class in Chicago from circa 1910’s to today. In a seminar format, students will study current interdisciplinary research on the topic and learn about the challenges and opportunities involved in breaking through the so-called “blue-collar ceiling.”
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LAS 330 - Being and Doing: A Life’ s Work 3 hours
For many, work is just a job; for others, it is a form of service. By studying a sampling of the diverse cases documented by Studs Terkel, students will explore where they would like their life’s work to fall on that spectrum and how to make that happen through exercising the habits of effective people. Students will also examine how one’s complete body of work extends beyond the boundaries of working for others during the workday and working for one’s self in the home and in leisure activities.
Prerequisite(s): Juniors only.
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LAS 331 - Communities and Their Organizations: Where Recreation Meets Vocation 3 hours
This seminar will explore the nature of community organizations and the opportunities they afford for those who serve them and those who are served by them. Apart from assigned reading that will explore the difference between a job, a profession, and a vocation, as well as the elements of community both as “space” and “cyberspace,” students will visit and perhaps spend time volunteering with various community organizations, chat with current and past students who work with community organizations (as well as other community leaders), and map the assets of a community of their choice.
Prerequisite(s): Juniors only.
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LAS 332 - Living Sustainably in a Modern World 3 hours
Living in a modern world has its challenges. With conveniences and technology developing at a faster pace than ever, how do we slow it down a bit and consciously live a more sustainable life? This seminar course will focus on various aspects of living a less consumed, more sustainable lifestyle, through work and leisure. The five themes of agriculture, conservation, global impact, political initiatives and affairs, and transportation will be fully explored.
Prerequisite(s): Juniors only.
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LAS 333 - Becoming a Professional 3 hours
What is the difference between a job and a profession? The “learned professions” have expanded from law, medicine, and theology to include any occupation requiring a background in the liberal arts and sciences. Why is this grounding in the liberal arts and sciences significant? The root of the word professional is the verb “to profess,” meaning to make public declaration, like the vows taken by those entering religious life. As students prepare to embark upon their professions, they will consider what it is that they are willing to profess.
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LAS 334 - Labor, Work, and Action 3 hours
The way social and political dynamics work is shifting because of the rapid development of our inventions. How does this trend affect the way we define our culture and what are the implications of these shifts on whom we view and what we consider as our work?
This course will satisfy the core requirement in multicultural studies.
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LAS 340 - The Future of Everything 3 hours
An undergraduate education is considered to be a time to prepare for the future. No-one knows for certain what will happen in the future but it is quite certain that advancements in technology will play a major role in the future of the planet. This course will challenge the popular conception that technology is simply a “means to and end” and is essentially value neutral. We will think critically about the role of technology in 1) education, 2) communication, 3) leisure, and 4) vocation. Therefore, we will be able to embrace our futures with the awareness of the promises and perils of technology.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing
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LAS 341 - 20th Century Workers’ Tales 3 hours
This course will focus on the social, political and emotional turmoil that workers faced during the first half of the 20th Century, and how many lives were affected by a system that was indifferent to their struggles. The course will include classics like Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, and selections from James Joyce’s Dubliners and Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time. Bob Dylan’s protest songs will also be studied to further illuminate the literature as well as establish an historical framework for class discussions.
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LAS 342 - The Game of Life 2.0 3 hours
We all know how it ends. Point is, what are you going to do with the life you’ve got in the meantime? Work? Check. Play? Check. Change the world? Maybe. Do it all with cool gadgets? No doubt. Text, visual media, game-making, art, and philosophy will guide us in answering: What is the place of work in the life of the individual and in society? How do technology and leisure shape our lives? What part does making a living play in making a life? For the intellectually adventurous.
Prerequisite(s): Juniors only.
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LAS 343 - Art As Work 3 hours
How can one make their life’s work art and can one’s life be art? How do you make the distinction? What does it mean to survive or thrive as an artist and/or introduce creativity into your life? What are the practicalities and real life applications of art and how is the current state of the economy affecting the art world? How have artists historically coped with the economic realities of being an artist? We will explore various ways to make art a career, both philosophically and practically.
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LAS 344 - The Story of Our Lives 3 hours
In this course, we will explore how the chapters of our lives make up the story of our lives. We will read and research a variety of formats, such as biographies, short stories, newspapers, and journals, to learn from others’ experiences and how these experiences apply to our lives.
Prerequisite(s): Juniors only.
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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: Striking 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. 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.
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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 or 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 382 - Place and Purpose: A Life’s Work 3 hours
The first part of this course will study psalms and the Book of Genesis in preparation for the reading of the junior seminar common text, Laborem Exercens, the encyclical by Pope John Paul II that discusses the nature of work as common to the human experience and as an expression of human dignity. In the second part of this course, works by author Wendell Berry will trace the related themes of place and purpose as key elements of wellbeing and productivity in work. The last part of the course will consider the relationship of work and place as it is rendered in American landscape paintings.
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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 436 - Selfies and Sharing: Balancing Individuality and Community 3 hours
We live in a highly individualized society, made more so by the digital applications and social media with which we engage on a daily basis. This course seeks to understand how best to balance a sense of individuality with a commitment to community by exploring what it means to express and embrace one’s own identity while also engaging with a larger group, be it our friends, family, colleagues, classmates, or any other group to which we belong. How do we determine how our self-expression impacts those around us? What do we identify as good or ethical and how do we identify and respond to what is bad or unethical in a digital world saturated with opinion and commentary? The aim is to acknowledge how we recognize our social responsibility through individual action.
Prerequisite(s): Senior standing.
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