Fall 2008 SCA Course Descriptions
Listed alphabetically by Course
Title.
Additional information may be available from the linked department.
Following each description, in
parentheses ( ), are the SCA majors for
which the course fulfills a requirement.
AF = Africana Studies
AM = American Studies
APA
= Asian-Pacific-American Studies
GSS
= Gender & Sexuality Studies
LAT
= Latino Studies
MET = Metropolitan
Studies
SCA = Social & Cultural
Analysis
*Also see
courses listed as TOPICS, applicable
to the various majors.
African American History to 1865
V18.0795
Same as History V57.0647
Survey of the experience of African
Americans to 1865, emphasizing living conditions, treatment, images, attitudes,
important figures and events, and culture using a chronological and topical
approach. Topics include African way of life, initial contact between Africans
and Europeans, slave trade, early slavery, freedom and control in slave
society, abolitionism, slave resistance, free blacks, and gender. (AF)
Approaches to Latino Studies
V18.0501
**Recitation
required.
This
course explores a set of principles that have guided Latino Literature in the United States. These principles can be found in
many but not necessarily all of the readings. They include: urban/rural life,
freedom/confinement, memoir as source of voice/other sources of voice,
generational separation and identity, loss and healing. We’ll trace a movement
through time from masculinist nationalism to a recognition of variations in
gender, sexuality, race, class, region, and national origin. Other principles
will be added to this list as the class proceeds. (LAT)
Asian American Literature V18.0306
Formerly V15.0301 Identical to V41.0716 and V29.0301.
This overview begins with the recovery of early writings during the 1960s-1970s
and proceeds to the subsequent production of Asian American writing and
literary/cultural criticism up to the present. The course focuses on
significant factors affecting the formation of Asian American literature and
criticism, such as changing demographics of Asian American communities and the
influence of ethnic, women’s, and gay/lesbian/bisexual studies. Included in the
course is a variety of genres (poetry, plays, fiction and nonfiction,
literary/cultural criticism) by writers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The
course explores the ways in which the writers treat issues such as
racial/ethnic identity; immigration and assimilation; gender; class; sexuality;
nationalism; culture and community; history and memory; and art and political
engagement. (AM, APA)
Cantonese – Elementary I V18.0331
Formerly V15.0410, Identical to V33.0410.
An introduction to Cantonese with an emphasis on the spoken and written
language and conversational proficiency as a primary goal. The course
emphasizes grammar, listening comprehension, and oral expressions. It is
designed to give beginning students a practical command of the language. Upon
completion of the course, students can expect to converse in simple sentences
and recognize and write about 350 Chinese characters. Students with passable
conversation ability or native speakers from Cantonese-speaking communities
should not enroll in this course. (APA)
Cantonese - Intermediate I
V18.0333
Formerly
V15.0412, Identical to V33.0412.
This is an advanced-level language and culture course following Elementary
Cantonese. At this level, when the basic skills and working vocabulary have
been mastered, emphasis is placed on the linguistic rules to enable students to
communicate with more competence. The lessons focus not only on language, but
also use a holistic approach and incorporate discussions on history, current
events, literature, pop culture, and native values. Because language is key to
connecting with community concerns, the course also includes field trips to Chinatown and other
Cantonese-speaking neighborhoods. (APA)
Cinema in Asia
America V18.0310
Same as East Asian Studies V33.0314 and Tisch
H72.0315
Begins
with a critical history of misrepresentation and discrimination of Asians in Hollywood, then creates an arc of
study that documents resistance and ultimately an undeniable and empowered presence.
The second half of the semester focuses on a critical appreciation of
contemporary Asian and Asian American film. The course uses both screenings and
readings and is divided into four areas of concentration: the history of
misrepresentation in Hollywood films; the
appropriation of Asian paradigms by Hollywood; the achievements of
contemporary Asian American films; and the achievements of exemplary Asian
filmmakers who have transcended regional and artistic borders. (APA)
Concepts In Social and Cultural
Analysis V18.0001.001
**Recitation
required.
Counts as
MAP Social Science requirement.
This course
is a gateway to all majors offered by the Department of Social and Cultural
Analysis (SCA). It focuses on the core concepts that intersect the constituent
programs of SCA: Africana Studies, A/P/A, American Studies, Gender and
Sexuality, Latino Studies, and Metropolitan Studies. Because we live in a
society of "screens" from jumbotrons, cell phone, HD-TV and computer
screens, this semester, we will focus on how one's electronically, mass
mediated image impacts and overdetermines one's social, cultural and political
destiny. In this sense, it's often ironic that one's media 'representation' is
more compelling than one's 'representation' at the ballot box. The course
will survey basic approaches to a range of significant analytical concepts
explored by all of SCA's constituent programs (e.g., Property, Work,
Technology, Nature, Popular Culture, Consumption, Knowledge), through the
politics and culture of "representation." (AF,AM,APA,GSS,LAT,MET,SCA)
The Constitution and People of Color V18.0366
Formerly
V15.0327 Identical to V53.0801, V62.0327. Examines how the American legal
system decided constitutional challenges affecting the empowerment of African,
Latino, and Asian American communities from the 19th century to the present.
Topics include the denial of citizenship and naturalization to slaves and
immigrants, government-sanctioned segregation, the internment of Japanese
Americans during World War II, the prison industry, police brutality, post-9/11
detention issues, and voting rights. Course requirements include attendance at
a community function involving constitutional issues, a midterm, and an
interactive oral and written final project comparing a present-day issue
affecting racial minorities in New York City and proposing measures
to collectively address the issue.
(AF,AF,APA,GSS,LAT)
Filipino - Elementary I V18.0321
Formerly V15.0401
An
introduction to Filipino with an emphasis on mastering basic grammar skills and
working vocabulary. Lessons incorporate discussions on history, current events,
literature, pop culture, and native values. The course is open to beginning
language students and lessons are modified according to the needs of individual
students. Because language is key to connecting with community concerns, the
course also includes field trips to Filipino neighborhoods in Queens and Jersey City. (APA)
Filipino – Intermediate I
V18.0323
Formerly V15.0403
At
this level, when the basic skills and working vocabulary have been mastered,
emphasis can be placed on the linguistic rules to enable the student to
communicate with more competence. There is also focus on translation. Lessons
use a holistic approach and incorporate discussions on history, current events,
literature, pop culture, and native values. To observe and experience the
language at work, the course includes field trips to Filipino centers in the
New York-New Jersey area as well as invited guests who converse with students
in Filipino about their life and work.
(APA)
Gay And Lesbian Performance
V18.0714
Same
as Drama Lit H28.0624 4 points.
A survey of contemporary lesbian and
gay plays from The Boys in the Band to Angels in America. The goal
of the course is to familiarize students with lesbian and gay plays written
since 1968 as a discrete body of work within the field of contemporary theatre.
The course focuses on plays and playwrights that have had a significant impact
in the representation of homosexual life onstage. In addition, students
consider the historical, political, and cultural developments from which gay
theatre emerged and, through independent research projects, examine the
communities that emerged in the process of creating gay theatre. (GSS)
Gender, Nation, and the Colonial
Condition V18.0480
In this
advanced, interdisciplinary course, we will investigate the relationships
between formations of gender and sexuality and the politics of colonialism,
nationalism, postcolonialism, globalization, and diaspora. Using literature and
cinema, together with scholarship from cultural, postcolonial and U.S. ethnic studies, we will explore the
way in which gender is formed by, and informs, national, racial, and ethnic
identities. We will consider the way in which various cultural narratives and
imagery represent the experiences of migration, colonialism, transnationalism,
labor, class, religion, sexuality, and violence with respect to the categories
of gender, nation, and the colonial condition. (AF,AM,APA,GSS,LAT)
Internship
Program
Open to
juniors and seniors, majoring in SCA programs only.
Application and meeting required
(For info, email betts.brown@nyu.edu )
The
internship complements and enhances the formal course work of the SCA majors.
Students intern at agencies dealing with a range of issues pertaining to their
major and take a co-requisite seminar that enables them to focus the work
experience in meaningful academic terms. The goals of the internship are
threefold: (1) to allow students to apply the theory they have gained through
course work, (2) to provide students with the analytical tools, and (3) to
assist students in exploring professional career paths.
(AF,AM,APA,GSS,LAT,MET,SCA)
Internship Seminar & Fieldwork
V18.0042 (2 pts), plus V18.0040 (2 or 4 pts)
Includes a
seminar, plus fieldwork (10 hours for 2 pts., or 15 hours for 4 pts).
Choose from a wide range of internship areas: the arts,
government, education, youth, social welfare, the environment, health, housing,
economic development, planning, and preservation. Examine policies, issues, ideas, and theories
related to internships and agencies. BA/MPA & BA/MUP students must take
this seminar.
Intersections: Gender, Race, and Sexuality in U.S. History and
Politics V18.0230
Formerly
V13.0301, Gender and Cultural History.
Prerequisite: V18.0201
**Recitation
Required**
Drawing on the histories of African, Asian, Latino, European, and Native
Americans of both genders and many sexualities, the course explores the complex
and important intersection of gender, race, and sexuality in the United States
from the 17th century through the 20th, in historically related case studies.
Starting in the period of European imperialism in the Americas, it examines the
ways that gender, race, and sexuality shaped cultural and political policies
and debates surrounding the Salem witch trials; slavery, abolition, and
lynching; U.S. imperialism in Puerto Rico and Hawaii; the politics of welfare
and reproduction; cultural constructions of manliness, masculinity, and
citizenship; and responses to the AIDS pandemic in a global context. (AF, AM, APA, GSS, LAT)
Introduction to Gender & Sexuality Studies V18.0401
Same as
History V57.0013.
**Recitation
Required**
This course is designed
to introduce some of the major debates about gender and sexuality within the
fields of feminist and queer studies. We will be considering the relations
between the history of sexuality and the politics of gender. We will read some
primary texts in gender theory, and in the study of sexuality, desire and
embodiment. This course also provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary
examination of sexual and erotic desires, orientations, and identities. We will
study how desires are constructed, how they vary in different places and times,
and how they interact with other social and cultural formations such as race,
class, nation, globalization, popular culture.Counts as MAP Social Science
requirement. (GSS)
Introduction to Metropolitan Studies
V18.0601
Formerly
V99.0101 and identical to MAP course
V55.0631.
Formerly
called Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Metropolitan Studies
**Recitation
Required**
A broad and interdisciplinary introduction
to the field of urban studies. Surveying the major approaches deployed to
investigate the urban experience in the social space of the modern city. This
course explores the historical geography of capitalist urbanization with
attention to North American and European cities, to colonial and postcolonial
cities, and to the global contexts of urban development. Major topics include
urban politics and governance; suburban and regional development; urban social
movements; urban planning; the gendering of urban space and racial segregation
in urban space. (MET, SCA)
Introduction to Post Colonial
Studies V18.0806
English
Same as V41.0780
(AF)
Language And Society
V18.0701
*Recitation
required. Same as Linguistics
V61.0015
Considers
contemporary issues in the interaction of language and society, particularly
work on speech variation and social structure. Focuses on ways in which social
factors affect language. Topics include language as a social and political
issue; regional, social, and ethnic speech varieties; bilingualism; Pidgin and
Creole languages. (GSS)
Law and Society V18.0722
Same as Politics
V53.0335
Critically
examines the relationship between law and political and social movements such
as the civil rights movement, the women's movement, and the labor and
environmental movements. Emphasis on law as a political process and legal
remedies for racial and gender discrimination and class action torts. Deals
with the politics of rights and the limits and possibilities of law as a process
for social change. (GSS)
Law and Urban Problems V18.0610
Formerly V99.0232.
Interdisciplinary introduction to the law as it interacts with society.
Analysis focuses on problems in areas such as housing, zoning, welfare, and
consumer affairs, emphasizing the underlying social, economic, and political
causes of the problems and the responses made by lawmakers and courts. Readings are drawn from the law
and social science. No specific knowledge of law is required. (AM, MET-area 1)
MAP World
Cultures: APA V55.0539 4 points
**Recitation
Required**
Asian Pacific America
encompasses a complex, diverse, and rapidly changing population of people. This
interdisciplinary course introduces students to major issues in the historical
and contemporary experiences of Asian Pacific Americans, including migration,
modernization, racial formation, community-building, political mobilization,
among others. In this course we will pay particular attention to Asian
Americans’ use of cultural productions—films, literature, art, media, and
popular culture—as an expression/reflection of their cultural identities,
historical conditions, and political efforts.
Sponsored by MAP office. (APA,
SCA)
Multi-ethnic New York V18.0363
As a global city, New York is one
of the most ethnically and culturally diverse places in the world. In
particular, the growth of migrant populations from Asia, Latin
America, and the Caribbean is
driving the transformation of New
York’s economic, social, and political
landscape. This course both explores the global socio-economic conditions that
facilitate and sustain these migrations and examines the cultural practices,
imaginaries, and strategies of migrants as they become part of the city.
(AF,AM,APA,LAT,MET-area2)
The Postcolonial City V18.0166
Cities have played an important role throughout African
history and in various Afrodiasporic contexts: from the metropolises of Ancient
Egypt and the urban centers of well-known west African civilizations (like
Ghana, Mali, Songhai) to cities like Port-au-Prince, Havana, and Georgetown in
the Caribbean, and urban enclaves in the U.S.
In attending to the way actors constitute wealth and power—in accounting
for the way proximity structures interpersonal experiences—this course uses
ethnographic, sociological, historical, and literary texts to theorize the
Afrodiasporic city. We will explore the
contours of these urban matrices through special attention to historical categories thatprepare us to
theorize the way Afrodiasporic populations have experienced and lived history
(e.g., the precolonial, the colonial, and the postcolonial). As part of our mission, we will consider the
historical emergence of the “Third World” as, not simply
a broad rubric for African and Asian postcolonies, but, instead, a project to reverse the course
of European exploitation. Instead of
proceeding strictly chronologically,
students will consider the Afrodiasporic urban experience thematically, through
a diverse array of readings. (AF,
MET)
Poverty And Income Distribution
V18.0718
Same as Economics V31.0233
Defines poverty and welfare. Analyzes who the poor are,
why some people are rich and others poor, equality of opportunity, income and
status, inequality, trends in the degree of inequality, government’s role in
income distribution, and international comparisons of inequality. (GSS)
Representations Of Women V18.0734
Same as English V47.0755
This course
surveys representations of sexual and gender difference in literary and
cultural production, focusing especially on texts authored by women. Students
will be introduced to theories of gender and sexuality that enable us to
consider how literature depicts and engages social relations and, conversely,
how our reading practices enact (or transform) social conventions regarding
gender difference. (GSS)
Senior Research Seminar: Afro-Latino Culture & History
V18.0900.007 and (Honors V18.0090.008)
Latinos are now called “the nation’s largest minority,”
outpacing African Americans and thereby signaling a benchmark in the changing
meaning of what it means to be American.
In public accounts of this dramatic shift, Latinos are commonly
counterposed against African Americans in mutually exclusionary terms: either
you are Hispanic or you are black.
Little if any attention goes to the huge though uncounted black Latino
population, the group that fits neatly in neither the Hispanic nor the black
category and yet may play a decisive role in the emerging cultural
configurations and political alignments of our times. In this course we will examine the profound
sociological and cultural implications of the growing Afro-Latino presence in
light of recent theorizing on race and diasporas. After an overview of the historical
background of African-descendant peoples in the Spanish-speaking Americas,
we will then trace the longstanding social experience of black Latinos in the United
States.
Along with a discussion of migration patterns and community formations,
there will be a focus on narrative accounts of Afro-Latino life and on the
traditions of cultural expression; special attention will go to Afro-Latino
poetry and to the rich history of Afro-Latino music through the generations,
from rumba, mambo and Cubop to salsa, Latin soul and hip-hop. Finally, we will turn to the possible
theoretical and political consequences of this increasingly self-conscious
transnational identity formation. (AF,LAT,SCA)
Senior Research Seminar: Queer
Belongings V18.0090.001 and (Honors V18.0090.004)
Access
Code required.
We can
identify a major paradigm shift in the field of queer studies today, as the
last few years have seen the emergence of a body of queer scholarship that
situates the study of sexuality at the intersection of questions of race, migration,
nationalism, globalization and militarism. This new framing of queer studies
which has alternately been named queer of color or queer diasporic scholarship
-- powerfully challenges the white normativity of some earlier strands of
sexuality studies, and the implicit heteronormativity of some strands of U.S. ethnic studies and postcolonial
studies. This seminar introduces students to this new paradigm of queer
studies and focuses in particular on the notion of belongingin familial,
communal and national terms-- which lies at the heart of much of this work. We
will explore how queer of color/queer diasporic scholarship theorizes the
limits and possibilities of “belonging” at this particular historical juncture,
marked as it is by US imperial hubris abroad and the ever-increasing
surveillance and disciplining of communities of color at “home.” (GSS,SCA)
Senior Research Seminar: Social Change and the Politics of Urban Space
V18.0090.003 and (Honors V18.0090.006)
Access
Code required.
This research
seminar is broadly constructed to allow students to purse research on a wide
range of urban problems. It is designed for those students concerned with
the politics of the street as expressed by various constituencies with
differing access to power. Research will focus on contested social
spaces in cities, whether they be institutions, organizations or neighborhoods.
(MET,SCA)
Senior Research Seminar: Urban
Ethnography V18.0090.002 and (Honors V18.0090.005)
Access
Code required.
This course
is a practicum in urban ethnography. We will pursue a focused examination
of the method, practice and theory of ethnography as an approach to
understanding urban issues. Each participant in the workshop will conduct
an ethnographic study in the course of the semester. This means observing a
field site, writing analytical field notes, sharing them with the class, and
writing a final paper analyzing the findings. We will cover technical, ethical,
methodological, theoretical, and representational issues that arise in the
course of fieldwork. Some topics for investigation might be the relations
between employers and nannies in two city neighborhoods, economic life of city
parks, and the relationships between corporate offices and urban
environments. Although we will do some reading collectively, the majority
of course time will be spent discussing fieldwork and analysis in progress.
(MET,SCA)
Shaping The Urban Environment
Art History V43.0661. Formerly V43.0021, V99.0320
MET and SCA
majors priority registration.
Students investigate the city in
terms of architectural history, engineering, and urban planning. Topics:
historical types and shapes of cities, factors influencing our current urban
scene, architectural form as expression of political systems, discussions of
urban design and architecture problems in the contemporary world, and the role
of technological factors such as construction and transportation systems.
Students are given projects in conjunction with class. (MET-area3)
Swahili I – Introduction V18.0121
Formerly
V11.0201. Offered once a year.
Provides
students with an elementary understanding of Swahili, a Bantu language with a
rich oral and written tradition that is spoken by about 100 million people from
Somalia to Mozambique and Zanzibar. After a short presentation of
Swahili’s history, codification, and relation to other languages, students are
drilled in phonetics and grammar. They are also introduced to some poems,
songs, and oral narratives.
(AF)
Swahili I – Intermediate V18.0123
Formerly
V11.0203 Offered once a year.
Prerequisites: Elementary Swahili I and Elementary Swahili
II.
This course builds upon the basic knowledge of the
pronunciation, vocabulary, useful expressions and fundamental grammatical
features already attained at introductory level to strengthen reading, writing,
and conversation skills accessing a wide range of grammatical and literary
knowledge of the language, its cultural context, and literary genre. The students are required to familiarize themselves
with a novel and a play written in Kiswahili.
(AF)
Topics: Hausa V18.0180
(AF)
Topics: History of City Planning – 19th
& 20th Century V18.0769
Same as Art
History V43.0663. Formerly V43.0850,
V99.0650
No
prerequisite for MET,SCA majors. MET and
SCA majors priority registration.
(MET-area3)
Topics: Latina Cultural Studies V18.0541-001
(LAT)
Topics: Latino/a Expressive Culture
& Literature V18.0541-002
(LAT)
Topics: Yellow Peril – Documenting &
Understanding Xenophobia (Intro Res Sem) V18.0380
SCA
Permission of Instructor Required
Fears
of "yellow peril" (and brown "Turban tides") run deep in
the present and past of U.S. political and
commercial culture. It's imagery and stories are just beneath the surface
of everyday discourse and always latent-readily triggered by an incident, real
or fabricated. SARS fears, charges of Chinese "pirating" U.S.
cultural properties, the racial profiling of "Arab-looking" peoples,
and Asians "taking over" U.S. higher education all illustrate contemporary
forms of Asian "peril." Americans are woefully unaware of this
scapegoating tradition, its history, and consequently remain particularly
vulnerable to its ideological and affective power. Seminar students will
learn historical research skills and collaboratively document historical and
contemporary case studies. We'll explore what can and must be done to counter
these fallacies and practices. Instructor permission required. (APA)
Urban Economics
V18.0751
Same as Economics V31.0227
Prerequisite required.
The city as an
economic organization. Urbanization trends, functional specialization, and the
nature of growth within the city; organization of economic activity within the
city and its outlying areas, the organization of the labor market, and problems
of urban poverty; the urban public economy; housing and land-use problems;
transportation problems; and special problems within the public sector. (MET-area1)
