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Home > Curriculum > Course Proposal > Descriptions for Course Proposal > Examples of Honors College International Cultures Colloquia
Examples of Honors College International Cultures ColloquiaHC 434HProfessor David Li HC INTERNATIONAL CULTURES COLLOQUIUM "Cinematic China: Mobility, Modernity and Globality" "Cinematic China" is designed as an educational equivalent of travel, intellectual tours in the celluloid, analogue, or digital universe that will enhance our understanding of the actual peoples and places which appear so remote to us. Following the metaphor of travel, the class insists on a circular trajectory around the globe, moving from the hinterlands of mainland China to its cities, to the former British colony of Hong Kong, to the global metropolis of New York, to Taipei, Taiwan, only coming home to roost back in Hong Kong (the "Fragrant Harbor"), an island of transience, yet a colony no more. This traveling trajectory renders contemporary China on a "transnational" map, not confined within a single nation-state. It sets China in motion as well, just like the very motion pictures we study, in a series of intangible imageries with real visceral effects. If motion characterizes mankind's mastery over their material circumstances, and mobility signifies modernity, what "Cinematic China" intends to explore is the very meanings of being "Chinese" when China is no longer a space of "stand still" as it is traditionally conceived. In this sense, the very instability of what China is and what China means speaks broadly of a global condition of volatility that no one seems able to transcend. The plots of the movies and plights of the protagonists are finally not about them on the other side of the Pacific Rim but about us in our increasingly interconnected planet of widening social chasms. Term grade is based on class participation and attendance, a number of short papers, and a take-home final (research paper). HC 434H Professor Chet Bowers HC INTERNATIONAL CULTURES COLLOQUIUM "Environmental Ethics in Cultural Perspective" The course will examine a number of approaches to environmental ethics, ranging from such classical statements as Aldo Leopold's land ethic and the principles of deep ecology articulated by Arne Naess, George Sessions, and Bill Duvall to recent efforts to represent John Dewey as an environmental philosopher. The writings on environmental ethics of J. Baird Callicott as well as eco-feminists will also be considered. A more cultural perspective on environmental ethics will rely upon ethnographies of non-western cultures such as Keith Basso's study of the Western Apache, and Frederique Apffel-Marglin's collection of essays on the Quechua of the Peruvian Andes. Lastly, the course will examine how language encodes a culture's understanding of relationships, the attributes of the participants in the relationship, and thus the moral codes that are largely taken-for-granted as an individual becomes a member of a language community. This latter segment of the course will help shift the focus of thinking of environmental ethics as rationally based to recognizing how the languaging processes of everyday life, which vary from culture to culture, influence our moral behavior and understanding of human/Nature relationships. The overarching theme of the course will be to assess how these different approaches to thinking about environmental ethics addresses the revitalization of the commons. HC 434H Professor Timothy Gianotti HC INTERNATIONAL CULTURES COLLOQUIUM "Militant Word and Martial Metaphor: Exploring the Martial Dimensions of Judaism, Christianity, And Islam" The Abrahamic traditions share more than a common ancestor; they stand as intimately connected expressions of a shared worldview, built upon distinctly Near Eastern notions of law, justice, ethics, community, and religion. This connection is further enriched by continual interaction, conflict and conversation throughout history, so much so that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to speak about one without some reference to its sister traditions... Within each member of this family, we encounter the language and imagery of martial conflict, militancy, and war; and, rather than singling out any one of these traditions for such language and imagery, this initiative asserts that the subject is better served by approaching the martial dimensions of these three inter-related traditions in conversation with one another. In our class readings and discussions, then, we will embark upon an interdisciplinary exploration of phenomena of militant language and martial metaphor within the larger context of the religious visions of justice and peace. In doing so, we hope to create an atmosphere of thoughtful conversation and increased appreciation of these interrelated communities, histories, and textual traditions. In addition to the common course readings, students will be asked to explore one of the following themes:
HC 434H Professor Olakunle George HC INTERNATIONAL CULTURES COLLOQUIUM "African-American and Caribbean Travel Narratives" For many black writers in the United States and the Caribbean, the idea of "returning to one's roots," of literally or symbolically travelling back to Africa, has offered a powerful way of exploring complex issues of trans-Atlantic slavery, individual and group identity, history and historical memory. This class will focus on fiction, drama, and autobiography by writers of African descent who have used the motif of travel to explore these broader concerns. We will be concerned with the literary techniques and rhetorical strategies to be found in these texts, as well as the philosophical questions they raise. Primary reading will include the following: Maryse Condé, Heremakhonon, Charles Johnson, Middle Passage, George Lamming, The Pleasures of Exile, Paule Marshall, Praisesong for the Widow, Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon, and Derek Walcott, Dream on Monkey Mountain. |
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