BIOL 114N: From Conception to Birth
4 credits.
Michelle McWhorter
Pre-requisites: None
COMM 324 Family Communication
4 credits
Warber, Katie
Pre-requisites: COMM 200 and one of the following three courses: COMM 270S, 280, 290S;or permission of instructor
This advanced course examines topics related to 1) family communication and basic family processes, 2) communication in family subsystems, 3) communication during family stress, and 4) family interaction, health and well-being. Research and theories from communication, sociology and psychology will be used to explain issues related to the family. Discussion topics include, for example, marital, parent-child, sibling, and intergenerational interactions in the family. Research pertaining to marital satisfaction, divorce, courtship, and the impact of the family on its children (and vice-versa) will also be examined. Counts toward a WMST minor.
English 180/5W "Themes in Children’s Literature"
4 semester hours
Ravenwood, Emily
Prerequisite: ENGL 101E
The stories we tell our children display many of our beliefs about how the world is and how it should be. This class will read a wide variety of children’s and young adult books from the past century, and analyze the themes we find in them. We will look for patterns that repeat over time, and examine what elements change or remain the same. We will read closely to discover what actions thoughts, and ways if relating are supported or denigrated by these stories.
Class work will include reading one book a week, participating in discussion in class and/or online, six two-page papers, and a term paper.
Some learning goals for the course are:
To gain skill in close reading and textual analysis
To become familiar with some of the vocabulary of literary study
To learn how to find cross-connections between multiple texts
To research historical context and existing analyses
This is a writing-intensive course. Students will be expected to already have experience writing academic essays to Wittenberg standards. This class will focus on increasing the skills particular to writing and supporting literary analysis. Writing Intensive. Counts towards a WMST minor.
English 180A/2W: "Women in Classical Hollywood Cinema"
4 semester hours
Inboden, Robin
Prerequisite: ENGL 101E
From Bette Davis’ eyes and Joan Crawford’s shoulders to Rita Hayworth’s legs and Judy Garland’s ruby slippers, Hollywood stars have defined our ideas, for better or worse, of modern womanhood. In this course we will begin by learning some basic terminology and approaches to analyzing film as an art form. Centering on the Classical Hollywood Cinema (1930-1960), we will then turn to a thematic and historical consideration of the various kinds of roles assigned to women in different films and film genres. We will see how certain types of women–madcap heiresses, longsuffering mothers, lonely career women, sex symbols, and femmes fatales, for instance–have defined stars’ careers, and, more importantly, our society’s images of women. The graded work of the course will consist of a shot-by-shot film analysis, several short papers, and a final exam. Writing Intensive. Counts towards Women’s Studies minor.
English 180 A/3W "End of Days: Dystopian World Literature"
4 semester hours
Thomas, Shannon
Prerequisite: ENGL 101E
What happens when the world as we know it ends? What society or form of government would take its place? What happens when existing social ills are taken to extremes in a not so distant future? What is it like to live in these new worlds? This course will explore these questions through the genre of dystopian literature from around the world. By imagining new worlds, and past and future realities, dystopian literature offers critiques of existing social conditions or political systems. We will read a variety of dystopian literature as well as reactions and responses to this literature. Potential texts will likely be selected from the following works: George Orwell’s 1984, H.G. Wells’ , Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Alan Moore’s graphic novel V for Vendetta, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower, , and Suzanne Collier’s young adult novel The Hunger Games.. The course will likely require 2-3 essays, a midterm and final exam, and an opportunity to write your own dystopian story or poem. Writing intensive.
English 180A/4W - "Transformations"
4 semester hours
Thomas, Shannon
Prerequisite: ENGL 101E
We humans are uniquely preoccupied with the idea of personal transformation—we often define who we are by imagining who or what we might become instead. The transformed self is a prominent theme in literature and other arts: across the centuries, we persist in telling stories about people transformed into animals (or vice versa), or about people who undergo a supernatural change to become super- or sub-human. In American culture, the idea of personal transformation in more everyday terms is a particularly cherished one: we constantly strive to remake our bodies, our lives, and our communities. F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously asserted that "there are no second acts in American lives," yet we also treasure the notion that "second acts" of various kinds are attainable through processes of self-reinvention.
This course examines the rhetoric and representation of transformation in literature, graphic fiction, memoir, and "reality" television. In our readings and writings, we’ll investigate how these artifacts shape cultural values by asking audiences to transform themselves—or to redefine what it means to be a "good" or valuable member of society. This is a Writing Intensive course, and requirements will likely include several short papers, midterm and final exams, and active daily participation in class discussions.
English 290 - American Literary Themes and Traditions: American Gothic
4 semester hours
Hinson, Scot
Prerequisite: ENGL 170, ENGL 180A or ENGL A/C
Through an examination of the American Gothic, its origins and its contemporary manifestations, we will explore the difficult, bloody, and painful birth of American literature as well as its continued fascination with and terror of what Melville called the "power of blackness" and the sublime mixture of terror and beauty. This course is driven by America’s fascination with Gothic literature, and with what can accurately be described as a Gothic revival in American culture. What is it about the shadowy, diseased, the grotesque, and sublime that so attracts us? What scares us and what spectral shapes do those fears inhabit in our literature? This course in the American Gothic is definitely not for the squeamish and requires frequent reading quizzes, one short and one longer researched essay, a midterm and a final, and a group presentation and bibliography. Writing intensive.
English 309/1W: Studies in Victorian Lit. and Culture: Victorian Arts and Society
4 semester hours
Inboden, Robin
Prerequisite: ENGL 200 and ENGL 280A
The artsBliterary, visual, performing, and architecturalBwere exceptionally intertwined in Victorian England, and the aesthetic principles underlying those art forms reflected and often reinforced the culture=s notions about morality, history, religion, and the balancing of the personal with the public, desire with duty. Major Victorian Asages@ such as Ruskin looked at paintings and buildings and nature and saw the dangers—and the salvation—of industrial Britain; poets such as D. G. Rossetti were also painters; novelists such as Dickens and Hardy exposed social evils and inspired reforms with their novels; Tennyson contemplated scientific discoveries in geology and paleontology and tried through his art to define a personal, loving God; the great novelist Marianne Evans (George Eliot) was celebrated as Athe great moralist@ for her books while being marginalized in private life for her Aimmorality.@ While we will mainly study examples of literary art, we will also become familiar with Victorian painting, sculpture, theatre, and architecture and the ideologies behind the aesthetics, including the question of realism and the morality of art. We will also be touching on major themes in Victorian culture such as industrialization, class distinction, the woman question, and the interrogation of spiritual beliefs. We will read texts by such authors as Carlyle, Ruskin, Tennyson, Barrett Browning, Browning, Morris, the Rossettis, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, and Wilde. We will also have the rare opportunity to attend a Wittenberg mainstage production of a Victorian musical by Gilbert and Sullivan. The graded work for the course will consist of short quizzes, two shorter papers, a comprehensive final exam, and a longer researched critical paper. Writing intensive.
English 315/2W: Contemporary American Fiction
4 semester hours
Hinson, Scot
Prerequisite: ENGL 200 and ENGL 290A
Given the intensity, anxiety, and confusion of a post-9/11 existence in America, is it naïve to believe that literature can teach us something about how to live better lives in the 21st century? Can we mine contemporary literature for "live options" or what Milan Kundera called "experimental lives"? What can novels tell us about who to be and how to be in the world? What can literature offer us as we formulate our most fundamental values? Is truth too much to ask for from the books we read? In Contemporary American Fiction, we’ll try to answer these questions by reading some of the latest fiction being written in North America. Along the way we will examine how the contemporary period has conceived of texts, writers, and readers. Writing Intensive.
HIST 111H 01. Medieval Europe
4.00 credits
Livingstone, Amy
Prerequisite: none. Students who have earned credit for HIST 101H Life, Love and War in the Middle Ages may not earn credit for this class. Supplemental instruction available.
Knights in shining armor, peasants toiling in the fields, damsels in distress, castles, cathedrals, crusades…these are some of the enduring images of the medieval world. This course will explore the social, cultural, and economic changes that made up the dynamic period we call the middle ages. Through lectures, discussion, films, debates and readings, the important developments, accomplishments and failings of the medieval centuries will be brought to life. Students will write thematic and analytical essays examining a particular topic or source of medieval history. This course counts toward the PAST minor.
HIST 390 1W. Reading Colloquium: Martyred Bodies in Late Antiquity
4.00 credits
Brooks-Hedstrom, Darlene
Prerequisite: HIST 202C/H or Permission of instructor.
Some thought of the ascetics as trained athletes who regulated their diet and daily indulgence, others thought of them as holy fools who were mad for God, and still others regarded them as intellectuals who recognized that the body held no meaning in this life. Martyred Bodies in Late Antiquity will explore the ascetic imperative that existed in the late centuries of Antiquity as the Mediterranean world moved from the practice of Hellenistic religions to the practice of Christianity. Various communities to be studied will include the Neo-Platonists, the Gnostics, the early Church Fathers and Christian monastics. The course will include a research component that explores the theme of the body within one or more of these traditions and the historiographic issues of studying late antique history. The members of the class will be prepared for weekly discussions and presentations of material. Since the class meets once a week, student participation will be central to the component of the course as we discuss the sources associated with asceticism and the intellectual traditions of the late antique period. As a class, we will visit one Christian ascetic community in the Miami Valley to explore how ideas from Late Antiquity shape the religious life and history of monks and nuns today. Writing intensive. This course counts toward the PAST minor. This course may be taken for credit in Women’s Studies.
Japanese 130A/C: 20th Century Japanese Novelists
(4 semester hours)
Quimby, Joanne
Prerequisite: Taught in English. No prerequisites.
This course will cover twelve major Japanese novels of the 20th century. We will proceed chronologically, covering roughly one novel per decade of the 20th century. As we read, relevant historical and cultural background will also be introduced and discussed, and supplemental readings may be provided at the instructor’s discretion. Through close readings and discussion, the novels will serve as an entry point to our exploration of Japanese literature, culture and history. We will also consider literary history, literary expression, and readership. The primary goals of this course are to engage students in their exploration of the literature of another culture, to challenge them to think critically and creatively about the ideas expressed, and to share our ideas with each other.
MUSI 187 01 Wittenberg Singers
Con, Adam
Wittenberg Singers is a four-part women’s choir that performs both sacred and secular classical music.
Witt Singers present a concert each semester.
Rehearsals Mondays 5:40-7:00, Kreig Hall Room 300
POLI 216R 01 Family Values: The Politics of Virtue, Care, and Equality
4 credits
Wright, Heather
This course examines the theoretical underpinnings of the contemporary debate over family values. We will "begin at the beginning," studying the ancient and modern political philosophers and their profoundly influential conceptions of the proper relationship between the family and public life. Once we grasp the philosophical foundation, we will move into the contemporary "house." We will encounter thoughtful and profound analyses of the conflict of rights involved in these debates over the family. What is the proper relationship between biology and society? Should the family be regulated, or is it beyond the reach pf public political scrutiny? How does emerging reproductive technology enter into the mix? Whose side should the state take when the conflict over abortion is represented as a contest between the rights of the fetus and the rights of the mother? Should we allow genetic manipulation of embryos? How have abortion, surrogate motherhood, and step-parenting redefined the traditional family? Is that redefinition reflected in contemporary family law? How will we care for our children and for our parents in an age in which most everyone, male and female, works outside the home? Do we need a new family politics? Having completed our consideration of the American debate, we will turn to an illuminating comparative case study: Poland. The addition of perspectives grounded in a radically different political history, and cultural and religious traditions, will throw the American political landscape into sharp relief. Evaluation will be based on short essays, two examinations, and class preparation and participation. 10/11
RELI 335W C/R Confucianism and Its Critics
(4 semester hours)
Oldstone-Moore, Jennifer
Confucianism is an expression of values and an orientation to living that has permeated East Asian
culture for thousands of years. This seminar will consider the history, central teachings, and institutions of the East Asian Confucian and Neo-Confucian traditions, and Confucianism as manifest in the modern world. We will read pivotal works of Confucians including the Analects, the Mencius, and the writings of Ban Zhao, Zhu, Xi, and Tu-Wei-ming. These will be assessed in part in contrast to critics of Confucianism, ranging from classical philosophers to twentieth century Marxists and feminist scholars. The course will give students tools to understand important aspects of East Asian not only in the past but also in the present. Class will be conducted seminar style; students will be assessed through tests, presentations, and a term paper. Writing intensive.     Â
SOCI 110C 01&02 Cultural Anthropology
4 Credits
Rowell, Kathy
Pre-requisites: None
This course introduces students to key concepts, methods, and approaches in cultural anthropology. Topics addressed include culture theory, fieldwork, language, ethnicity, tourism, media, popular culture, globalization, gender relations, social change, war, peace, development, and religion, among others. As this list suggests, anthropology is a discipline that draws on many other fields, and our course readings reflect that cross-disciplinarily. A special focus on indigenous peoples of the world and humans rights issues will be explored. Course will include some opportunities to participate in applied anthropology projects and research. Ethnographic setting explored in this class range from the contemporary United States to Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.
SOCI 245 1W&2W Gender and Society
4 Credits
Moskowitz, Nona
Pre-requisites: None
So much of our understanding of ourselves is filtered through personal and societal conceptualizations of gender. We begin learning and experiencing social meanings of gender from the moment we are born. Yet, the meanings we learn are not universal. Anthropological studies on gender illustrate that the constructions of sex and gender vary cross-culturally. In this course we will examine how gender plays a role in the making of identities in various parts of the world taking Japan as a case study. Through this case study of Japanese understandings gender, the course will examine the construction of the gendered identities at work and play; sex, gender and the body; relationships and sexualities; public representations of gender; feminism; and other topics. Writing intensive.
Spanish 263/1.2 Cine y cambio social 2.0
(2 Semester hours)
Blanco, Fernando
Prerequisites: Spanish 112 or Spanish 150 or placement at the 200-level.
This course introduces students to films from Spain and Latin America that intersect with social and historical transitions. Students will explore the cultural context of each film, analyze major themes, and discuss the role of film as a reflection of and catalyst for social change. The course will focus on aiding students in developing language skills for description and reporting.
Spanish 450/1W: Senior Seminar
(4 semester hours)
Blanco, Fernando
Prerequisites: Spanish 301 or 302 and one 400 level Spanish course
"Gendered Archives: Re-Writing Violence in Contemporary Latin America." This course will focus on film performance, visual arts, media, and literature (particularly the testimonio). Required of each Spanish major. Writing intensive.
Theatre/Dance 313H 1W Dance in the 20th Century
(4 Semester Hours)
Pinheiro, Ligia
Prerequisite: None
This course is designed for those of us who love to watch dance. We begin by looking at dance in the late 19th century, then move to an examination of modernism seen in the dances of Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham, and finally we look at the post-modernist works of Twyla Tharp and Mark Morris. You will write short review papers of live and film performances and one research paper. Assessment is based on writing assignments, exams, class participation, and discussion. Writing intensive.
Women’s Studies100L/ 1W: Women, Culture, Politics, and Society
(4 semester hours)
Henlon, Sheree
Prerequisite: None.
This course is an introduction to Women’s Studies and serves as the foundational course for the Women’s Studies minor. In this course, we will examine how issues, such as race, gender, sex and class are constructed and reproduced and how they affect and continue to shape women’s lives and experiences. Our course will study women’s movements across the globe, but particularly those from Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States. Students in this course will study some of the most important works written by feminist scholars and will understand the on-going debates that are taking place among feminist writers. Required of each WMST minor. Writing intensive.
WMST 490 01 Independent Study: Women, Gender, Soc Policy
1.00-4.00 semester hours
Wright H
Prerequisite: Permission Required
WMST 491 01 Internship  Â
1.00-4.00 semester hours
Wright H
Prerequisite: Permission Required
