African American Families 3 s.h.
Racial inequality and experiences of African American families in the United States during the 20th and 21st centuries; historical context for contemporary research on African American family; relative impact of structural and cultural factors on various aspects of African American family life, declining marriage rates, family formation patterns; intersections of race and class in family life; research methods used to examine dynamics of African American family life, including quantitative analysis, structured qualitative interviews, and ethnography.
This course explores racial inequality and the experiences of African American families in the United States over the course of the twentieth and twenty first centuries. The course has four primary goals. First, it will provide a historical context for contemporary research on the African American family. Second, the course will assess the relative impact of structural and cultural factors on various aspects of African American family life, including declining marriage rates and family formation patterns. Third, this course examines the intersections of race and class in family life. Finally, this course seeks to orient students in social science research methods used to examine the dynamics of African American family life including quantitative analysis, structured qualitative interviews and ethnography. Students will be expected to actively engage course readings through writing assignments, class discussions, and presentations.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesBlack Television Culture 3 s.h.
Employing a cultural historical approach, this course examines the sites of production, reception, representation and industry as it relates to the African American images that are granted tenure on television screens. Beginning with an overview of radio representation and the ways that they morphed into television representations, this course traces the early scripts available for televisual blackness. The course will progress more or less chronologically in order to investigate the ways black cast television and black representation has shifted and changed throughout the medium’s history.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesBlack Culture and Experience 3 s.h.
This course explores black culture and experience within a contemporary perspective. Readings, interactive experiences, course assignments (interview, essays and final paper) and unit quizzes will offer students the opportunity to better understand black culture in the 21st century. The course will explore a variety of important societal topics such as: education, religion, literature, theater, media, politics, sports, criminal justice, health and economics.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesInequality in American Sport 3 s.h.
This course offers students an introduction to current scholarship and debates surrounding issues of inequality in sport. Students will learn how to use a critical cultural studies perspective to examine the meaning of sport within the U.S. In particular, the course focuses on the relationships and dynamics of inequities in sport structured along such lines as class, gender, sexuality, ability, race, ethnicity, and religion. The class is offered in a lecture/discussion section format. Requirements include: multiple short reflection writing assignments; reading assignments; lecture attendance and engagement; discussion section attendance and participation; and course roundtable attendance and participation.
Required course text & technology
McGraw Hill Connect
The required textbook for this course is the Connect (digital) format of Coakley's "Sports in Society" (2020). The Connect platform provides an interactive eBook and integrates with ICON for online assignments.
The University of Iowa’s Inclusive Access program will be used to provide required course materials. Your IOWA student account (UBILL) will then be charged $50 by the HawkShop, unless you opt out prior to the last add date of the semester. Specific opt out information will be provided in the syllabus.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesAs a historically populist medium, printmaking has a long tradition of social critique, Printmaking and The Politics of Protest and Representation is an extremely student-centered and interactive course. The course combines scholarship, research, experiential and active learning components. Most classes are devoted partially to print demonstrations, small workshop group discussions that follow-up on short readings and writing assignments outside of class, or provide ideation meetings and in-progress feedback for print projects. Students actively participate in their own learning through prompts given for short writings and then the opportunity to first discuss in small groups prior to discussing with the entire class. Students will create zines, stencils and linoleum cut prints. A sense of community is at the heart of every printmaking class. Students must work in the studios during and outside of class, which not only fosters community within the course but throughout the entire Print Area.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesGlobal Science Fiction 3 s.h.
Science Fiction is a genre produced in diverse guises from diverse viewpoints. Not only does it have origins and precedents in multiple places and several languages, it also deals with questions relevant to the entirety of humankind: the role of technology in our lives and on our physical or mental capacities; the geographically uneven impact of human beings on the earth and environment; the desire for, limits to, and human consequences of exploration and conquest; the ideal society; the boundaries between the human and non-human; and the shape of the future (including the recycled past). While Science Fiction is characterized by these overarching themes that transcend the particularity of individual cultures and nations, it is equally characterized by the plurality of approaches to these questions, inflected by the distinct artistic traditions where Science Fiction emerges, and by the distinct media in which it has found expression. In this course, we will study works of Science Fiction in media and genres spanning poetry, fiction, drama, film, television, comics, mobile phone games, and music, produced on six continents.
The key questions we will explore include:
• How does SF represent diversity? How do we account for the diversity of SF traditions?
• How does SF represent inequality? On what in our current world or its history are these representations based?
• How is the concept of the “alien” linked to the concept of the “foreigner,” the “queer,” the “racially other,” etc.? How does it help us understand and challenge assumptions around these categories?
• How does SF represent and respond to colonialization and conquest?
• How does SF portray class and caste? How do these portrayals map onto or critique real-world class and caste systems in our present?
• How does SF challenge the boundaries of the human? What lessons does this hold for how we conceive of dis/ability, neurodiversity, and accessibility?
This course (General Education – Diversity and Inclusion) provides students with an introduction to representations of racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual diversity across American film and television of the 20th and 21st centuries. We’ll consider questions of identity as they have and continue to intersect with representations of, and issues related to, race, ethnicity, femininity, masculinity, heteronormativity, and LGBTQ+ identities throughout American screen history. We’ll also examine the roles of intersecting systems of oppression (e.g., racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.), feminist activism, and contemporary LGBTQ+ cultures on screen.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesPolitics, Sex, and the Bible 3 s.h.
Even in a country in which the Separation of Church and State is a stated goal, it is impossible to completely separate the two. People frequently base their decisions and opinions upon their religious beliefs. However, the debate over exactly how the Bible should influence our culture and laws is not just one between Christian Believers and Atheists. On the contrary, many Christians disagree over exactly how the Bible should be interpreted and applied in any given case. This course will introduce students to the variety of biblical stances presented on major issues influencing our country and help them better understand how so many different positions can be based upon the Bible.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesMusic and Social Change 3 s.h.
What is the relationship between Simone Biles, Lil Nas X, Britney Spears and Thich Quang Duc?.....Protest! Each of these cultural figures put their bodies on the line, using protest as performance to challenge power structures, address social equity, and influence social change. This class will examine historical and contemporary issues of power, identity, and inclusion, situating protest and dissent as key parts of civic engagement through the study of embodied acts, performance videos, readings, blogs, and other media. Throughout the class, you will be asked to place yourself in a historical continuum where intersections of class, race, gender, and sexuality are considered. No Formal Dance training is required for this course.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesOne or more sections may be assigned to a TILE classroom.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesExploration of human experiences of dis/ability and exclusion/inclusion as represented in recent international film and popular writing from Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East; how these experiences contribute to and reflect awareness of the challenges of disabilities as well as public policy; strategies that filmmakers and authors deploy to contain, complicate, and challenge cultural preconceptions of the disabled body; how disability intersects with other major identity categories (i.e., sexuality, nationality, race); tools for researching history, policy, and activism. Taught in English.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesStrategies for effective treatment for students with disabilities, collaboration among general education and special education teachers; remediation of academic, behavioral, social issues.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesWhat is gender? What is sexuality? Why does studying them matter? This course helps you answer these questions by focusing on the specific ways our daily lives are shaped by gender and sexuality. We will discuss gender and sexuality at the intersections of race and class as well. These socially and historically constructed categories of analysis exist together and affect each other. Our lectures and discussion sections will ask you to think critically about gender and sexuality and about the consequences that our assumptions about them have on our daily lives. We will discuss personal issues—such as body image and sexuality—as well as public and political issues – such as the wage gap, reproductive justice, sexual assault and harassment. Additionally, we will evaluate and rigorously analyze writing, research, and popular representations of gender and sexuality. You need no prior familiarity with conversations about gender or sexuality or feminism—just an interest in exploring some of the most powerful issues that shape and affect our daily lives.
Course assignments will include a midterm and take-home essay final exam, a short paper that allows students to reflect on how course themes and identities are experienced in daily lives, as well as in-class activities in discussion sections.
Understanding Cultural Perspectives
Introduction to principles and theories of social justice; students examine the history of influential social movements in the United States and the world in the last century; how intersectionality can create tensions between and among members of social movements; how race, class, gender, age, geography, and our bodies play a role in the application of theories of social justice.
Introduction to Social Justice will focus on the contested notions of justice, human rights, and equality. We will look specifically at particular issues related to race, class, health, policing, immigration, prison, poverty, and the environment, using a social justice lens to explore and critique structural and systemic institutions that disadvantage marginalized and or silenced populations. Our focus will be primarily domestic, but we will look at some issues such as health and poverty transnationally. We will read, watch, and explore the works of theorists, writers, activists, and artists who have spent time working against inequality, disparity, and discrimination.
Understanding Cultural Perspectives
Diversity in History 3 s.h.
How did diversity affect past societies? How does history help us to understand diversity today? Introduction to thinking about diversity and inclusion; topics vary.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesTaught in English. First-year friendly!
This course does not presume previous coursework in Latina/o/x Studies on the part of students enrolled, and it is appropriate for all UI undergraduate students who are interested in learning about Latina/o/x Studies.
This introductory course will take an interdisciplinary approach to a broad array of fields of inquiry related to Latina/o/x people including history, race/ethnic/gender studies, literature, film, music, politics, economics, education, health policy, etc. Our course will also study and reflect on the multiplicity of national, cultural, and ethnic groups encompassed under the larger pan-ethnic rubric of “Latino/a/x” or Latinidad such as Mexican Americans, Chican/o/x, Puerto Ricans, Dominican Americans, Afro-Latina/o/x, Cuban Americans, and other groups from Central and South America. The latter part of the course will focus on the experiences of Latina/o/x people in the Midwest in both urban and rural areas. This course seeks to incite students’ curiosity and creativity not only in relation to Latina/o/x studies but also in relation to their own ethnic, cultural, or individual identities.
Class will consist of topic- and sources-centered discussions led by students, short writing assignments, an identity formation paper, and a final project, consisting of creative and analytical pieces related to one academic or non-academic field within Latina/o/x students selected by each student.
This course is the foundational course for the Latina/o/x Studies minor. See the Latina/o/x Studies website for more information about the minor.
Understanding Cultural Perspectives
World Events Today! 3 s.h.
Current events that introduce students to political and cultural developments throughout the world.
This introductory level course will use current events to introduce students to political and cultural developments throughout the world. We will read international newspapers and magazines, watch television programs, and listen to podcasts, and will then employ an interdisciplinary approach to help us understand the historical background of current events and their contemporary meaning(s) in global context. In addition to political events, we will highlight sociocultural and artistic themes that connect different parts of the world, for example the politics of popular music, film, or foodways.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesBetween 1870 and 1920 more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States and became the largest non-native group in the country. In a multicultural society, the turn-of-the-century immigrants and their descendants pursued assimilation while maintaining customs and traditions that contributed to construct a new identity. This course will explore the Italian American presence in the United States by investigating its historical background, its multifaceted reality, its heritage, and its contribution to national culture. Through an interdisciplinary approach, students will examine Italian American ethnicity as portrayed in American literature, film, and television. In particular, they will analyze how Italian American writers and filmmakers have represented their community and have contributed to shape their own cultural identity. Moving from commonplace images to a more complex picture, this course will focus on the Italian American example to discuss the issues of immigration, ethnic exclusion/inclusion, assimilation, acculturation, and cultural complexity. Requirements include class attendance and participation, writing exercises, a creative project, a midterm and a final exam.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesCommunity Media 3 s.h.
Freedom of Expression 3 s.h.
This course blends philosophy, history, political science, and legal studies into a semester-long meditation on the meaning of the freedom of expression, especially in the United States, but also globally. It pays special attention to the forms of reasoning about free expression developed by the U.S. Supreme Court during the 20th and 21st centuries. However, the primary theme of the course is the transition from a traditional, conservative society in the 19th century to a modern liberal one in the twentieth, and the consequences of this transition for how Americans understand the freedom of expression. Part and parcel of this transition has been a greater interest in the protection of individual rights, but also more consideration for social and cultural difference, especially racial and ethnic difference, but economic, religious, and other forms of difference as well. Thus, while the course covers basic areas of free expression law, including prior restraint, libel, obscenity and time-place-manner restrictions, commercial speech and hate speech, it does so in an expansive way.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesPretend that you are making a phone call to ask about ordering a textbook and the person who answers is a stranger to you, yet you immediately start to form opinions about any other speaker based upon the way they speak— where they are from, whether they are a native speaker of English, and even how well-educated they are. Whether you are aware or not, these opinions and impressions you have will influence your interaction with that person and are based in language attitudes that all people have regarding how others sound. In this course we will explore how these attitudes arise and how to question our own attitudes.
Understanding Cultural Perspectives
How is viral media changing politics and news? With digital media, the public’s demand for around the clock real-time news has skyrocketed. Over the past twenty years newsroom staff has declined by nearly 40% according to Pew, but there has been a dramatic increase in how much is written about leading candidates and political celebrities. In 2016, Donald Trump received about $2 billion of free media coverage, almost three times as much as received by Hillary Clinton. President Trump’s Twitter campaigning generates coverage from traditional journalists and digital-only media outlets and then is consumed by readers online, who want streaming news around-the clock, and television viewers. There is blurring of digital and traditional media and a feedback loop between the two.
This course is about the media and politics. Scholars and the public agree that a free and healthy press is an essential condition of democratic politics, yet both now express doubt as to whether the press is satisfying this requirement. This course surveys the media, including norms and trends of media coverage, with an eye toward asking whether the media is able to fulfill this function.
This course also extends this discussion of media and politics to understand how political information flows online, investigating how members of the mass public talk about politics online as well as efforts by politicians and parties to organize and campaign online. We will investigate whether social media bridges the gaps in traditional media coverage, whether online platforms promote extremism, whether being a celebrity on the internet translates into political relevance, and more.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesIntroduction to issues of class and economic inequality in the U.S. and other countries; what class and economic inequality are, debates surrounding these definitions, and attempts to measure both of these concepts; research and arguments on economic and political explanations of economic inequality; different policies aimed at reducing economic inequality and debates over them.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesToo often the role of religion in politics is ignored and yet religion plays an important role in the lives of the majority of Americans. Not only is religion important to the majority of Americans, but in many cases it can influence and shape the political behavior of individuals and have a substantial impact on the policies of America. This course will introduce students to this complex relationship between religion and politics by examining the historical and contemporary effect of religion on a wide range of areas, such as: political culture, political parties, political behavior, and public policy. The course will also consider important policy debates, such as the role of religion in public life, religious discrimination, and various social issues.
Understanding Cultural Perspectives
More information on Prof. Souaiaia's website
In this course, using Islam and Islamic institutions as case studies, students will explore how people, individually and collectively, domestically and globally, organize different aspects of production and distribution of goods and services for current and future use--given the resources at hand and the determinant value systems to which societies adhere.
Learning Objectives:
As a course that is approved for CLAS GE--Diversity and Inclusion, it emphasizes the conceptual and practical interventions of religious, societal, and state institutions in expanding and/or limiting opportunity, access, and the sharing of resources among members of individual communities and across the world. The course will help students develop understanding and appreciation of religious and cultural diversity that shape economic behavior, social hierarchies, and the forces that produce inequity, poverty, and extreme wealth. The course will provide students with vocabulary, knowledge, and sensitivity to help them navigate a connected world; become more competent in performing their job in a diverse workforce and in complex marketplace; and develop communication strategies that avoid blind spots, negative biases, and discrimination.
https://ahmed.souaiaia.com/teaching/economics-islam/
Online course; all activities, including exams, will be managed online.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesContemporary Social Problems 3, 4 s.h.
This introductory course will use a sociological perspective to examine a few contemporary social problems in the United States. We will begin by investigating how sociologists define social problems. We will then learn about the methods sociologists use to study social problems with a particular focus on how to evaluate statistics about social problems presented by the media, politicians, and activists. In the remainder of the semester we will cover specific social problems, including poverty, racism, gender inequality, family problems, education, and crime, in detail. The lectures, discussions, assignments, and group exercises are designed so that you will understand what a sociological perspective is and be able to apply that perspective to the social problems we cover; gain a greater understanding of each of the social problems we cover and be able to explain causes and consequences of those problems; understand the methods social scientists use to further knowledge about social problems; improve skills that are fundamental to college education including: “numerical literacy” and the ability to think critically about statistics, reading tables, evaluating arguments, pulling together evidence to support a position, and writing with clarity.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesSpanish in the U.S. 3 s.h.
This fully online course examines historical and sociolinguistic aspects of Spanish in the U.S. Students learn through readings, essays, videos, discussions and an independent research project about the demographic and linguistic varieties of Spanish spoken in this country.
The course focuses on the dynamics of immigration, language choice, language policies, bilingualism and bilingual education, the myths about Spanglish and the social and identity aspects of speaking Spanish in the United States.
Students will identify language internal traits in various Spanish dialects, and address extra-linguistic factors (race, gender, economic level, education, nationality and age,) and how language use is affected by these demographic characteristics. Taught in English.
The required textbook is available through online access with the University of Iowa Library. Varieties of Spanish in the United States (1st Edition) Author: Lipski, John M. ISBN-13: 9781589012134 Pub Date: 2008. Publisher: Georgetown University Press
This course has online proctored exams, all of which will be administered via Proctorio, an online proctoring service.
Generally, students will need:
- a computer with 2 GB of free RAM
- a reliable internet connection
- a webcam capable of scanning the testing environment
- a working microphone
- a quiet, private location
- the Google Chrome browser with the Proctorio extension installed
This section is offered through Distance and Online Education . Visit our Courses page to learn more about Distance and Online Education courses at the UI. Contact 319-335-2575 or doe-reg@uiowa.edu for assistance.
This course is divided into online modules; you will complete the assignments for each module on your own by the due date.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesContexts and functions of translation in the age of globalization; how translations are produced, received, and utilized in various contexts; effects of globalization on ethics, aesthetics, and politics of translation; how we understand cultures when they are received or transmitted through translation; effects of these exchanges on the English language.
Understanding Cultural PerspectivesHow can language serve to empower an individual or community? What are the connections between literacy and social justice? In this course, you will put language into action to build communities, inspire young thinkers, and ultimately act as mentors and advocates for K-12 youth in Iowa City. With a team of your peers, you will create lesson plans and put them into action each week as the leader of an in-person or virtual (depending on public health circumstances) writing workshop for K-12 youth. You will write brief "field notes" from your teaching sessions that address your growth as a student mentor, and you will create a final chapbook of student work. Our class time will serve as a weekly reflection on your teaching experience through group discussions, writing exercises, and engagement with pedagogical and literary texts. We will consider what it means to be a community builder and how a student can most effectively and thoughtfully connect with youth of diverse backgrounds. Special emphasis will be placed on real-world engagement, equity and inclusion, collaborative learning and leading, sharpening social awareness, and honing practical writing/communication skills. You will have to undergo a routine background check before working with children. This course counts as an elective for the Nonprofit Management Certificate and for the Writing Certificate. Students interested in counting this course toward their experiential learning requirement for University Honors should enroll in the Honors-designated section. Students must be available for a weekly one-hour volunteer commitment outside the course meeting times. In the event of a public health risk, volunteer opportunities may be moved online at any time. Students volunteering in K-12 schools will be required to comply with district-wide public safety protocol while in school buildings.
Understanding Cultural Perspectives