Fall for These Courses at Georgetown Next Semester

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Course selection is hard. Let us make it easier by highlighting some excellent undergraduate courses that engage social and economic justice issues in line with the Kalmanovitz Initiative’s mission. Please contact us at kilwp@georgetown.edu if you have any questions or suggestions. May the odds be ever in your favor!

African-American Studies

Black Feminism – 30213 – AFAM 215 – 01
Prof. Soyica Diggs Colbert | M 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm

This course provides an examination of black feminist theory and thought from the nineteenth century to the present. Black feminism emerged in academic contexts alongside third wave feminism in the late-twentieth century as a corrective to the Euro-centric and middle class tendencies of western feminism. The emergence of black feminism in university contexts, however, does not suggest black feminist theory began in the 1970s. Conversely as we will learn, black feminism dates back at least to the nineteenth century and consists of a robust and persistent critique of the limits of western democracy, the conscripts of normative gender and sexuality, and the ruses of power. We will examine how black feminism emerges in relationship to activist traditions by developing unique lines of inquiry and modes of evidence. We will conduct interpretative analysis of the work and thought that leading black women writers produced in academic and public contexts. We will examine the basic principles and practices of black feminism and consider the major issues that the theory and practices addresses as a means to resist patriarchal social structures.

Race & Racism in American Cult – 28688 – AFAM 206 – 01
Prof. Robert Patterson | MW 9:30 am – 10:45 am

.The central concern of this course is to investigate how race and racism have shaped black people’s experiences living in the United States. We will examine how race and racism have been (re)presented in African American literature, film, music, political manifestos, historical texts, and other cultural media, exploring the various ways that African American cultural producers and critics have engaged with these ubiquitous phenomena. Our readings and discussions of primary and secondary texts will consider the production and mutation of race and racism across historical epochs—from slavery to the post-civil rights era. The course rejects the notion of post-racialism and considers how this discourse re-entrenches racism. Moreover, we will consider, how, if at all, conversations surrounding race might move forward, and whether racism is so intractable that efforts to eradicate it might prove futile. That is, while exploring structural, representational, and material aspects race and racism, we will keep our eyes focused on developing solutions to these problems. Of course, our energetic examinations of race and racism will take into consideration how other identities (class and gender, for example) nuance our understandings of race and racism.
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Anthropology
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Doing Anthropology Fieldwork – 21371 – ANTH 310 – 01
Prof. Denise Brennan | T 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm

In this course we will not only read anthropology, but also do anthropology. Students will learn about field research design and methodology, as well as conduct their own semester-long field-research projects. In order to acquire the skills necessary for participant observation, we will learn how cultural anthropologists select a research topic, survey a field site, design the study, pose theoretical questions, carry out the research, keep field notes, analyze ethnographic data, and then finally, write an ethnography. We will also read examples of ethnography and other forms of anthropological writing such as testimonials and life histories.

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Business

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Ethical Decisions: Global Business & Government – 30633 – GBUS 493 – 01
Prof. John Kline | M 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm

This course studies the application of ethics to contemporary issues of international business operating in different economic, political and cultural settings. Drawing on established ethical theory, the course uses normative criteria to evaluate “best choice” options for real-world decisions. Consideration of global economic justice and corporate social responsibility are examined, along with mandatory and voluntary methods of influencing business behavior. Students will examine these issues from the perspective of corporate employees and managers, home and host government officials, and civil society activists.”

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Ethical Decisions: Global Business & Government – 31614 – GBUS 593 – 02
Prof. John Kline | T 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm
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This course studies the application of ethics to contemporary issues of international business operating in different economic, political and cultural settings. Drawing on established ethical theory, the course uses normative criteria to evaluate “best choice” options for real-world decisions. Consideration of global economic justice and corporate social responsibility are examined, along with mandatory and voluntary methods of influencing business behavior. Students will examine these issues from the perspective of corporate employees and managers, home and host government officials, and civil society activists.”
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Heroes and Villains – 20312 – BADM 101 – 03
Prof. Robert Bies | TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Heroes and villains. These are not just characters to be found in comic books, movies, and video games. Heroes are real people who, through their actions, inspire us, and become positive role models for us. Villains are real people who, through their actions, are viewed harshly, and become negative role models for us. This seminar will examine the constructs, heroes and villains, as central to understanding character and leadership in a global context. The roots of the individual, social, and institutional ideals and values of different global cultures have been exemplified in the images of their heroes and villains—and those images shape our judgments of “good” and “bad” leaders.
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Labor and Trade in Foreign Assistance – 30173 – GBUS 464 – 01
Prof. Jeff Wheeler | R 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
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The fight over labor rights in trade has exposed deeper tensions between and within public and private sector objectives, exemplified by the hotly contested fight over the recently signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). In the public sector, foreign assistance and diplomacy has focused on the twin goals of promoting effective governance with human rights and a robust civil society and sustainable economic growth. Private sector responses vary greatly, ranging from the fragmentation of production and fissuring of employment to hide violations to developing investment and supply chain codes of conduct that may or may not be effective. The trade-related labor requirements raise opportunities and challenges for both public policy and corporate strategy. This course will help provide students with the knowledge and skills to navigate through them.
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Catholic Studies

Agitators, Pastors, Organizers – 28624 – CATH 113 – 01
Prof. Drew Christiansen, SJ | TR 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm

Catholic Social Teaching is often called “The Church’s Best Kept Secret.” A set of documents laying out official Catholic teaching on economic, political and social issues, they cover issues as diverse as environmental justices, human rights, war and peace, and global human development. CST however, is only the most visible part of a complex interaction of social movements, pastoral teaching and social-pastoral action by formal church organizations and religious movements. This course will examine the interaction of the Catholic hierarchy (the Pastors) with social movements (the Agitators) and pastoral outreach (the Organizers) in the formulation and implementation of Catholic social teaching in the U.S. and in the world Church.

Government

Education/Politics/Policymakng – 30238 – GOVT 237 – 01
Prof. Douglas Reed | TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

This course is designed to acquaint students with the central issues in educational politics in the United States and the dynamics and effects of educational policies. We will be exploring the organization of elementary and secondary education, the nature of the interest groups and constituencies in education, the major current approaches to education reform and the effects of those reforms on students, teachers and other stakeholders. This course is designed to be a Community-Based Learning Course. In order to see both the nature of the challenges in public education and to witness the effects of current reforms first hand, you are required to participate in the DC Reads tutoring program offered by the Center for Social Justice here at Georgetown.

Justice and Peace Studies

African Perspectives: Peace, Conflict, Justice – 28743 – JUPS 408 – 01
Prof. Mariam Kurtz | M 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm

This course surveys indigenous and traditional institutions for peacemaking and peacebuilding from an anthropological and conflict perspective, with an emphasis on African cultures. Students will be able to understand pre-colonial traditional institutions and processes for dealing with conflict, especially when questions of justice arise. Through the readings and class discussions participants will explore a diverse range of indigenous approaches to conflict from different parts of the world. Students will examine the role of elders, kings, chiefs, ancestors, and marriages as well as women’s role in traditional justice systems. We will reflect on the context of contemporary legal systems where an increased interest in indigenous systems in conflict resolution often collide with modern judicial systems that have spread around the world since the colonial era, including a comparison of tribunal and reconciliation approaches to justice. We will examine the differences between the two systems in which modern courts institutionalized in state legal systems and statutory law focus on establishing guilt and punishing the offender, imposing physical and material penalties through an adversarial procedure that relies on the use of evidence and encourages the offender to deny responsibility, creating a polarization of the conflict parties.

Nonviolence Theory & Practice – 11831 – JUPS 202 – 01
Prof. Mark Lance  | MW 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm

This course is designed to introduce students to a perspective on nonviolence that integrates theory and practice, drawing upon a wide range of literature and examples. A central aim of the course is to develop a holistic view of nonviolence as a set of practices that range from the personal and local to the national and global. The course seeks to foster an experiential engagement with the tenets of nonviolence, through participation in workshops, activities, and projects in the community and region. The overarching objective is to develop a systematic analysis of nonviolence in order to cultivate effective approaches to addressing contemporary challenges in society through nonviolent means, as well as envisioning and animating a world built on the tenets of nonviolence.

History

Atlantic World – 28481 – HIST 106 – 01
Prof. Maurice Jackson | TRF 9:00 am – 9:50 am

Atlantic World sections draw together the histories of four continents, Europe, Africa, North America, and South America, to investigate the new Atlantic world created as a consequence of the Columbian encounter in 1492. The class traces the creation of this world from the first European forays in the Atlantic and on the coast of Africa in the fifteenth century to the first wars for colonial independence and the abolition of slavery. Topics include the destruction and reconfiguration of indigenous societies; the crucial labor migrations of Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans; and the various strategies of accommodation, resistance, and rebellion demonstrated by the many different inhabitants of the Americas.

Recent U.S. Political Economy – 30267 – HIST 387 – 01
Prof. Joseph McCartin | W 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm

This course will examine the development of the U.S. economy, economic policy, and economic politics since World War II. Among the topics it will engage are: the roots of postwar prosperity; the economic crisis of the 1970s; the Reagan Revolution; the impact of globalization; the emergence of neoliberalism; and the growing problem of economic inequality. The course will examine the intersection of politics and the economy in order to provide a historical context that can clarify contemporary problems and debates.

Genealogy & U.S. History – 30268 – HIST 393 – 01
Prof. Katherine Benton-Cohen | T 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm

This course offers students a unique opportunity to research a family history (likely one’s own but could be another one of their choosing) in the larger context of US history, using the latest genealogical resources on the internet and in the National Archives, while also maintaining the critical lens of historians. We will have a few weeks of shared reading on immigration and family history, as well as on the practice and theory of genealogy; following this shared introduction, students will craft individual bibliographies to augment their own genealogical research. The final product will be a research paper that puts one family’s history in historical perspective. Were these people (perhaps your ancestors) typical of their era? What do their lives, or what you can glean about them, reveal about their neighborhood, region, and era? How did gender, race, and class shape their experience? This course will require a general knowledge of US history, a schedule that can be adapted to archival research, and a willingness to cast a critical eye on personal and family stories.

First Year Seminar: Socialism – 28502 – HIST 186 – 01
Prof. Michael Kazin | TR 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm

This seminar course is designed for first-year students with advanced placement in history who have an interest in pursuing the study of history at the upper level. This is a course about the history of one of the most significant and most contentious philosophies, movements, and governing ideologies in the history of the modern world. From its visionary beginnings in the early 19th century to the collapse of the USSR near the end of the 20th century, socialism has given rise both to grand dreams of equality and freedom and to great fears – and the reality — of totalitarian tyranny. Fierce debates and battles between socialists and their adversaries did much to shape the major political changes of the past 200 years, including both world wars.

Race and History – 30562 – HIST 583 – 01
Prof. Marcia Chatelain | M 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Race and History is an examination of how historians have used race as a category of historical analysis in U.S. history. This course will introduce graduate students to how historians have examined the way that race, as a construct, and the process of radicalization has shaped activism, capitalism, public policy, and social movements. With particular attention to 20th century history, students will be introduced to representative works in Latino history, African American history, Asian American history, Native American history, feminist history, and whiteness studies. Students will be responsible for short response papers and one, article-length research paper. The course will also incorporate guest scholars speaking on some of the books from the course.
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Topic:Making of Latino America – 30266 – HIST 382 – 01
Prof. Patrick Scallen | T 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
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The Making of a Latino America delves into the recent history of Latin American immigrants to the United States through a comparative study of urban Latino communities. We will assess reasons for migration and the evolution of U.S. immigration policy since 1950, trace the journeys of migrants northward, and probe the transnational characteristics of those communities migrants leave and those they form upon arriving in the U.S. The course will seek a deeper understanding of the personal and collective dilemmas faced by immigrants and investigate how they reconcile those tensions, focusing on gender, racial and ethnic identity, civil rights, and labor issues. It will conclude with an examination of Latino immigration to the Washington, D.C. area during the 1980s-1990s, analyzing how that has shaped the District today.
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Linguistics
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Language and Social Justice – 31152 – LING 310 – 01
Prof. Lourdes Ortega | MW 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm

No course description available.

Philosophy

Economic Justice – 30742 – PHIL 131 – 01
Prof. McKay S Holland | TR 6:30 pm – 7:45 pm

This course will explore what, if any, moral principles ought to guide economic institutions and practices. We will consider a range of theories of morality and economic value, and especially the tensions and interrelations between the values of labor, liberty, equality, opportunity, and property. We will ask questions like: What is the point of economic equality, and how much of it does justice demand? What is the value of work and leisure? Should governments provide a basic income to all citizens? Is government coercion in economic life morally permissible, and if so, to what extent?.

Global Justice/The Environment – 30418 – PHIL 435 – 01
Prof. G Madison Powers | MW 2:00 pm – 3:15 pm
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The central topics examined in this course pertain to the global use and distribution of vital, but dwindling resources of food, energy, and water (the FEW Problem). Policy choices regarding any one of these resources are intertwined with resource implications for the other two. Beyond the policy challenges are deeper, often unrecognized issues of global justice. Access to and control over these resources raise fundamental questions about the paths to global development, poverty alleviation, and the capacity of individuals and nations to secure the basic requirements for decent human lives and to preserve a sustainable human habitat.

Sociology
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Education and Society – 23955 – SOCI 163 – 01
Prof. Leslie Hinkson | MW 9:30 am – 10:45 am
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The primary goal of this course is to understand the relationship between education and society. In order to achieve this goal, students will develop the tools necessary to analyze educational processes and practices through the sociological lens, an approach that incorporates individuals, groups, and institutions within its analytical frame. Using both theoretical and empirical texts, we will investigate questions about the role of schooling, the social structure of schools, stratification processes within and between schools, and the outcomes of education. Among the many questions we will explore to this end this semester are: 1) How do schools help to maintain and perpetuate social inequality?; 2) How do factors of race, class, and gender affect the educational experiences of students both within and across schools?; 3) And what is the ultimate purpose of education and how can we as a society best achieve this purpose?
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Environment/Food Justice Movements – 30506 – SOCI 274 – 01
Prof. Yuki Kato | M 11:00 am – 1:30 pm

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This seminar draws on a range of interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives in examining the similarities and differences between the environmental justice movement (EJM) and the food justice movement (FJM). Both movements are primarily centered around the issue of racial and class injustice surrounding the access to resources, such as clean air, water and soil or fresh and healthy food. EJM has a slightly longer history in the United States than FJM, and the two movements share notable similarities but with some key differences in terms of in terms of how they define and aim to resolve the problems of environmental injustice or food injustice.

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Doing Qualitative Research – 30818 – SOCI 204 – 01
Prof. Diana M Guelespe | F 11:00 am – 1:30 pm
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This course will introduce students to the field of qualitative social research. It will review the history of the approach in exploring how individuals and groups define situations and give meaning to their lived experiences.  An emphasis will be placed on qualitative research studies that have promoted equity, inclusion and social justice for diverse populations and discuss cross-cultural complexities related to race, ethnicity, gender, class, culture, age, sexuality and power dynamics. This is a hands-on class. Students will learn by “doing,” and in the process, gain skills and knowledge in the most common forms of qualitative data collection, such as participant observation, interviewing and documents analysis. Students will learn how to develop “grounded theory” based on data collected, explore ethical considerations, and dilemmas associated with qualitative research. By the end of the course, students will have completed and applied their skills to the various overlapping phases of a research project using the methods discussed.

Theology

The Church & the Poor – 13432 – THEO 122 – 01
Prof. Raymond Kemp | TR 9:30 am – 10:45 am

This course explores the rich and varied tradition of Christian responses, over the centuries, to the perennial challenge of poverty as both an evangelical virtue and a sinful social structure. Resources include sacred Scripture, patristic teaching, official pronouncements and spiritual works, as well as the activity of religious orders and Church-related groups seeking to eradicate the causes of poverty, as well as to alleviate its symptoms. Attention will also be paid to liberation theology and current Church involvement in the struggle for social justice and integral development at local, national, and international levels.

Latino Church Doing Justice – 13428 – THEO 096 – 01
Prof. Charles G. Gonzalez, SJ | WF 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm

A study of and a reflection on major influences – cultural, socio-economic, racial, spiritual, theological – which shape the Latino Church in the United States today and which will affect its future identities and roles in this country. Analysis of personal stories combined with related readings and written student reflections will be our approach. There will be one written mid-term exam and a final oral exam. A weekend visit to Camden, New Jersey, one of “America’s most dangerous cities,” will be available to interested students.
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Catholic Social Thought & Public Life – 30536 – THEO 085 – 01
Prof. John Carr | TR 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm
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This Seminar on Pope Francis, Catholic Social Thought and Public Life: Principles, Policies and Politics will analyze and discuss the messages and leadership of Pope Francis, the principal themes of Catholic Social Teaching and their applications to key issues in American public life (e.g. poverty and economy, immigration and religious freedom, protection of human life and the environment, war and peace etc.). The seminar will also examine and discuss the uses and misuses of Catholic Social Thought in the elections of 2016.

Women’s and Gender Studies

Feminist Thought I – 18355 – WGST 200 – 01Prof. Elizabeth Velez | T 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm

This course will examine a variety of feminist theories–from eighteenth and nineteenth century writers such as Wollstonecraft and Mill through the radical feminist discourse of Ti-Grace Atkinson and Shulamith Firestone to contemporary writers and activists. The class will focus on central and recurring debates within feminist theory and practice: debates between essentialism and social constructionism; between liberal reformism and radical transformation; between the politics of sameness and the politics of difference. We will also examine how feminist theories have attempted to reckon with the challenges of poststructuralism and the critiques offered by women of color. The intersections of race/ethnicity and class with the category of gender will also offer a central analytic strand throughout the course. Fall.

Violence/Gender/Human Rights – 18359 – WGST 260 – 01
Prof. You-me Park | TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Anyone entering the thickets of argument relating to violence, gender, and human rights today has to contend with the range and variety of meanings that these concepts have accrued in current usage. While there is broad consensus that there does exist a contemporary crisis around global violence and the suspected gendered aspect of it, how the relationships between globalization and human rights violations, and between violence against women and redefinition of human rights, are to be interpreted, and what is to be done about it is matters of vigorous intellectual and political debate. This class aims to explore the gendered manifestations of violence in public and private spheres within the context of the more general relationship among globalization, development, and human/civil/citizen rights. We will pay attention to banal violence (that is, daily and “banal” violence in everyday life), spectacular violence at moments of crisis, and the type of violence that disrupts the boundary between the two. Special emphases will be given to the issues of racism, sexual exploitation, poverty, labor, health care, homophobia, militarism, and globalization.

Writing

Writing and Culture – 26886 – WRIT 015 – 20
Prof. Sherry Linkon | TR 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

An intensive seminar, enrolling no more than 15 students, focused on developing students’ ability to use writing as a tool for inquiry, to develop their writing through an iterative process, and to practice writing in different rhetorical situations. Students should take this course as early as possible and no later than the end of the sophomore year.