RESULTS:College of Arts & Sciences, Easter Semester 2024

American Studies

A general survey of the political, constitutional, economic, and social history of the United States.
A survey of the major topics and issues in African-American history from 1865 to the present: the era of emancipation, the turn-of-the-century nadir of race relations, black participation in both world wars, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and various dimensions of contemporary black life. The course will also explore some of the historiographical themes that have catalyzed current scholarship and will analyze diverse theories about the black experience in America.
An examination of the events, people, movements, and themes of the region's past, from earliest known human habitation to the present. The course explores contrasting ways of life expressed by native and European peoples; implications of incorporating the area into the United States; the agricultural, industrial, and transportation revolutions of the nineteenth century; popular culture within and about Appalachia; contemporary issues of regional development and preservation; and ways the unique environment of these mountains has shaped and frustrated notions of regional identity.
An exploration of the Southern past from the earliest English settlements to the establishment of the Confederate States of America. This course charts the development of distinctive Southern political, economic, and social structures, examines the role of chattel slavery in shaping the region, and analyzes the causes of the war for Southern independence.
An exploration of the Southern past from the earliest English settlements to the establishment of the Confederate States of America. This course charts the development of distinctive Southern political, economic, and social structures, examines the role of chattel slavery in shaping the region, and analyzes the causes of the war for Southern independence.
An exploration of the importance of slavery to the development of higher education in the United States through a close study of the history of the University of the South, its antebellum roots in the slaveholding South, and the continuing impact of the legacies of slavery and racial injustice on its development. The course also examines campus monuments and memorials that shape collective memories and identities at Sewanee and considers the ethical questions of how universities may seek justice and reconciliation in light of their historic and long-unaddressed connections to slavery.
A study of the institution and processes of the American Congress, including its design and development over time. This course studies Congress by 3 approaches—Congress and its constituents, Congress and its members, Congress and the American political system—with special attention to its representation and law-making functions.
Students are introduced to foundational theories of public policy, gaining valuable insight into "who gets what, when, and how" in the political process. Through a series of case studies in environmental, social welfare, criminal justice, and health policy, students are asked to apply and critically evaluate policy problems and solutions, given existing public policy theories.
This course examines Supreme Court cases related to equality: by situating cases within varying theories of constitutional interpretation, and by assessing the socio-political implications of those decisions. Civil rights are specific governmental provisions to secure individual entitlements, as exemplified by the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection of the laws." Claims centering on race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability are examined, along with other claims of equality arising from the Fifteenth Amendment's prohibition of voting discrimination. The course emphasizes, above all, the political role of the judiciary. This course may not be taken by students who have taken POLS 332.
This course focuses on important African-American writers whose unique perspectives challenge us to think about questions of justice, equality and difference, morality, and rule. Readings begin in the nineteenth century (Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington) and proceed into the late twentieth century with selections from authors such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, James Baldwin, Shelby Steele, Cornel West, and Toni Morrison.
Introduces and explores new religious movements, sectarian spin-offs, and alternative communities in the U.S. that have tested the parameters of acceptable "religion" at different moments in history. Particular attention is given to intersectional dynamics. The class questions the politics and practices of labeling, especially the language of "cults," and centers on specific historical case studies in order to illustrate and analyze major theoretical and methodological challenges in and for the study of religion(s). It considers what draws people to create and join new religious movements, the distinctive worlds such groups endeavor to build, and the controversies that have historically attended them.
Introduces and explores new religious movements, sectarian spin-offs, and alternative communities in the U.S. that have tested the parameters of acceptable "religion" at different moments in history. Particular attention is given to intersectional dynamics. The class questions the politics and practices of labeling, especially the language of "cults," and centers on specific historical case studies in order to illustrate and analyze major theoretical and methodological challenges in and for the study of religion(s). It considers what draws people to create and join new religious movements, the distinctive worlds such groups endeavor to build, and the controversies that have historically attended them.
Study of the discursive and non-discursive aspects of protest in the period 1948-1973. Focus on the forms and functions of rhetorics and counter-rhetorics in U.S. controversies over communism, civil rights, free speech, war, students’ rights, women’s rights, farm workers’ rights, Native American rights, gay rights, the environment, and poverty.

Anthropology

Introducing perspectives of Socio-Cultural Anthropology, the class explores how culture (the way of life shared by a group of people) creates varied realities and life experiences worldwide in relation to socially-generated understandings of gender, religion, ethnicity, class, race, and kinship. Focused on patterns of difference and similarity across cultures around the globe, this course teaches students the value of cross-cultural comparison and how to analyze their own cultural backgrounds through the anthropological lens.
An introduction to the processes of human and cultural evolution. Physical anthropology will focus on human evolution and the human fossil record, genetic processes, primatology, and physiological characteristics of modern human populations. Archaeology will trace cultural evolution from the first hominins to the beginnings of complex societies The pertinent methods and theories are presented throughout.
This course introduces human prehistory. Referencing the influence of regional environments and technological innovations on early human societies’ attempts to resolve panhuman challenges, the class examines the earliest evidence for ritual, architecture and art in the Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Next, considering the irrevocable changes in human life caused by the development of agriculture, the course surveys early complex societies in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China. Course topics also explore transitions from tribal societies to chiefdoms and proto-states in Asia, pre-Roman Europe and Mesoamerica to identify patterns in human social organization and perceptions of the supernatural.
This course introduces human prehistory. Referencing the influence of regional environments and technological innovations on early human societies’ attempts to resolve panhuman challenges, the class examines the earliest evidence for ritual, architecture and art in the Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Next, considering the irrevocable changes in human life caused by the development of agriculture, the course surveys early complex societies in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and China. Course topics also explore transitions from tribal societies to chiefdoms and proto-states in Asia, pre-Roman Europe and Mesoamerica to identify patterns in human social organization and perceptions of the supernatural.
Food provides a lens through which to understand cultures and social structures. This course examines how food production and consumption articulates with power and inequality, and with gender, ethnic, class and community identities. The course offers anthropological perspectives on the links between diet and disease, global economic integration and commodity chains, migration and labor, and the future of sustainable foodways.
This class considers the myriad experiences of gender and sexuality around the globe. The survey engages students in considering power dynamics and status accorded by gender in foraging societies, chiefdoms, archaic and late industrial states and the roles that subsistence, technology and religion play in shaping gender identity. Students examine the traditional cultural exceptions to binary categories in Native American, Middle Eastern and Indian societies and consider current movements around gender fluidity.
This course explores ancient Celtic societies through archaeology, ethnohistory, linguistics, and medieval documentation of indigenous myths. Beginning with Early Iron Age material culture in Austria (the Hallstatt period from 800 BC) and the continental Late Iron Age (the La Tene period from 450 BC to the Roman conquest), the class then considers the perceived endurance of Celtic tradition through the Middle Ages in areas least impacted by Roman rule (Ireland, Scotland, and Wales).