Subject: AIQS
Term: Spring 2025
AIQS 100: The Local and Global in Cleveland Popular Music (100/7133)
MWF 09:30-10:20 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Blake, G
For all its celebrated connection to rock and roll, Cleveland is home to a wide variety of musical genres: jazz, polka, hip-hop, punk, R&B, blues, pop, among many others. Cleveland is also a home on the move, a city of immigration and outmigration, and a city of waterways, bridges, and commuter rails. Yet Cleveland is a city of enclaves, borders, and social distance despite geographic nearness. In this seminar, we will ask a fundamental question: is music like a bridge that connects different people in the city or is it a border that structures divisions? To answer this question, we will explore recordings, obituaries, journalism, and archival material to understand the sound of the city over time. We will examine the links between dominant and subcultural music, analyze music's relationship to tourism, and reflect on how music defines Cleveland's place in the global imagination. Music, at once rooted in identity and as rootless as radio waves, presents an alternate lens for understanding the routes and rifts shaping urban life.
AIQS 100: The Local and Global in Cleveland Popular Music (101/7134)
MWF 10:35-11:25 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Blake, G
For all its celebrated connection to rock and roll, Cleveland is home to a wide variety of musical genres: jazz, polka, hip-hop, punk, R&B, blues, pop, among many others. Cleveland is also a home on the move, a city of immigration and outmigration, and a city of waterways, bridges, and commuter rails. Yet Cleveland is a city of enclaves, borders, and social distance despite geographic nearness. In this seminar, we will ask a fundamental question: is music like a bridge that connects different people in the city or is it a border that structures divisions? To answer this question, we will explore recordings, obituaries, journalism, and archival material to understand the sound of the city over time. We will examine the links between dominant and subcultural music, analyze music's relationship to tourism, and reflect on how music defines Cleveland's place in the global imagination. Music, at once rooted in identity and as rootless as radio waves, presents an alternate lens for understanding the routes and rifts shaping urban life.
AIQS 100: Climate Change in Fact, Fiction, and Film (102/7135)
MW 12:45-02:00 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Burkhart, M
This writing-intensive seminar will orient you in the field of Cli-Fi, or climate change fiction, which includes multiple genres such as speculative, apocalyptic, and darkly comic fiction that depicts imagined responses to the damage wrought by global climate change. Focusing on fiction, films, and non-fiction writing from the past three decades, we will consider how authors and filmmakers envision the effects of climate change. To establish foundations for our analysis of several novels and feature films, we will read essays by historians, journalists, philosophers, scientists, and cultural critics. Among other approaches, we will examine the complementary efforts of writing and visual media to depict the impacts of climate change. Centrally, we will evaluate how climate fiction stands in relation to existing popular and academic conversations about our transforming world. Ultimately, we will assess Cli-Fi's merits as an emerging cultural expression with the potential to influence ethical paths shaped by those who seek to mitigate the worst impacts of human-generated climate chaos.
AIQS 100: Climate Change in Fact, Fiction, and Film (103/7136)
MW 03:20-04:35 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Burkhart, M
This writing-intensive seminar will orient you in the field of Cli-Fi, or climate change fiction, which includes multiple genres such as speculative, apocalyptic, and darkly comic fiction that depicts imagined responses to the damage wrought by global climate change. Focusing on fiction, films, and non-fiction writing from the past three decades, we will consider how authors and filmmakers envision the effects of climate change. To establish foundations for our analysis of several novels and feature films, we will read essays by historians, journalists, philosophers, scientists, and cultural critics. Among other approaches, we will examine the complementary efforts of writing and visual media to depict the impacts of climate change. Centrally, we will evaluate how climate fiction stands in relation to existing popular and academic conversations about our transforming world. Ultimately, we will assess Cli-Fi's merits as an emerging cultural expression with the potential to influence ethical paths shaped by those who seek to mitigate the worst impacts of human-generated climate chaos.
AIQS 100: Climate Change in Fact, Fiction, and Film (104/7137)
MW 04:50-06:05 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Burkhart, M
This writing-intensive seminar will orient you in the field of Cli-Fi, or climate change fiction, which includes multiple genres such as speculative, apocalyptic, and darkly comic fiction that depicts imagined responses to the damage wrought by global climate change. Focusing on fiction, films, and non-fiction writing from the past three decades, we will consider how authors and filmmakers envision the effects of climate change. To establish foundations for our analysis of several novels and feature films, we will read essays by historians, journalists, philosophers, scientists, and cultural critics. Among other approaches, we will examine the complementary efforts of writing and visual media to depict the impacts of climate change. Centrally, we will evaluate how climate fiction stands in relation to existing popular and academic conversations about our transforming world. Ultimately, we will assess Cli-Fi's merits as an emerging cultural expression with the potential to influence ethical paths shaped by those who seek to mitigate the worst impacts of human-generated climate chaos.
AIQS 100: Fight the Power: Legacies of Abolitionist Thought (105/7140)
MWF 08:25-09:15 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Druffel, M
Recently, abolition--which Ruth Wilson Gilmore defines as changing both ourselves and the world to undo bondage--has been applied beyond antislavery. Activists call for abolishing police, private property, and gender. How does abolitionism apply to such different contexts today? This course uses writing to help us 1) decide what we think about abolition, and 2) communicate our ideas so people will want to read and respond to them. To accomplish these goals, we'll explore Cleveland's antislavery history housed in the CWRU archives and analyze how abolitionist tactics in antiracist education-including proposals to abolish grades.
AIQS 100: Fight the Power: Legacies of Abolitionist Thought (106/7141)
MWF 09:30-10:20 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Druffel, M
Recently, abolition--which Ruth Wilson Gilmore defines as changing both ourselves and the world to undo bondage--has been applied beyond antislavery. Activists call for abolishing police, private property, and gender. How does abolitionism apply to such different contexts today? This course uses writing to help us 1) decide what we think about abolition, and 2) communicate our ideas so people will want to read and respond to them. To accomplish these goals, we'll explore Cleveland's antislavery history housed in the CWRU archives and analyze how abolitionist tactics in antiracist education-including proposals to abolish grades.
AIQS 100: Fairytales and Folklore (107/7142)
TR 02:30-03:45 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Amir, J
Stories of the dark woods, the forbidden fruit, filial love, and creative intelligence grace the pages of many beloved storybooks. This colloquium explores the construction, shaping, and use of folklore, fairy tales, and proverbs as the pillars of our own culture. How does the language of these stories intersect with the language of our dreams, both literal and figurative? Is there a certain age where folklore loses its meaning to us? How much do these enchanted stories shape our identity? We will investigate the archetypes these stories create, how they relate in terms of our own personalities, and how they are utilized to sell modern messages. The course allows students to analyze these stories for their cultural resonance, explore the conventions in their own narrative, and find their voice in the realm of existing scholarship. In this course, students will engage in generating ideas, drafting, writing, and revising. Students will be responsible for creating a narrative, proposal, a strong argument situated in a scholarly context, a presentation, and a reflection.
AIQS 100: Jane Austen: Then & Now (112/7148)
MWF 09:30-10:20 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
McGreal, A
Since the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice mini-series, Austen-mania has taken over pop culture. But why do Austen adaptations remain so popular? And how do they compare with her actual works?
In this course, we will explore the literary context and pop-cultural legacy of Jane Austen's works. We will read two of Austen's most beloved works, Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion. We will study Austen in her political and social context as a woman writer of the late 18th and early 19th century. However, we will also examine Jane Austen as a contemporary popular figure. We will watch several modern film adaptations and analyze how they incorporate (or often ignore) key themes in her works.
As a writing-intensive course, we will also focus on developing students' sense of competence and autonomy as writers. To that end, students will learn academic writing conventions, rhetorical techniques, and various processes they might apply in new writing situations. At the end of the semester, students will author a 7-10 page research paper that engages with a problem/issue related to a novel or adaptation of their choice.
AIQS 100: Global Food Challenges: Climate, Health, & Equity (113/7149)
MWF 10:35-11:25 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Fejes, N
In this seminar, we will examine the environmental, social, and health consequences of our food choices. Among other topics, we delve into the history of agriculture and industrial agriculture; the impact of the global food system on climate change; food insecurity; environmental racism in the food system; Black and Indigenous ecologies; and food waste. We look at the food system as both a significant cause of ongoing social, health, and environmental issues and a crucially important lever to optimize environmental sustainability and human health through community-centered regenerative and transformative solutions. Students will also engage with food and sustainability initiatives on campus and in our Cleveland community and visit a farmer's market nearby.
AIQS 100: Dead Ends: The American Cemetery (108/7154)
TR 10:00-11:15 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Daniel, V
Cemeteries in the United States have evolved over three centuries, from the local churchyard to the garden cemetery, from the memorial park to the natural burial preserve. This evolution in form reflects larger shifts in how Americans have thought about death and mourned their dead. Yet, this history also raises deeper questions about community, identity, and belonging. Why, for example, have so many cemeteries been separated by race, religion, and class? Why have some burial grounds been perceived as sacred while others have been bulldozed in the name of development? This class will explore what American cemeteries can teach us about American society, as well as how this history has shaped our current burial practices. We will visit local burial grounds, welcome guest speakers from the cemetery business, and use writing assignments to investigate course themes related to death, memorialization, and social identity.
AIQS 100: Servants in Literature: From Homer to Harry Potter (109/7155)
TR 01:00-02:15 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Higgins, J
Servants have played a surprisingly large role in some of the great works of Western literature, though they often get overlooked in favor of their more noble masters and employers. In The Odyssey, for example, when Odysseus returns from the Trojan War after twenty years at sea, he first gets recognized, not by his son or his wife, but by a childhood nurse who has served in his household all of his life. Shakespearean era plays also place servants in surprisingly central roles, having them not only performing tasks for their masters, but sometimes acting as romantic interests and close friends, or emblems of moral behavior. Servants have taken on the role of primary protagonists in many works of 19th and 20th century literature, and have played an outsized role in countless other works. Some of the questions that we will ask in this class include: Why do these characters -- who occupy the margins of the household and often perform seemingly mundane jobs -- play this role in the literary and social imagination? Do servants have unique identities, interests, and value systems or do they adopt the identities and values of the people they serve? To what extent are servants needed to establish the social positions of patriarchs, monarchs and the wealthy? The class will also explore the forms of power that servants are able to exert over those that they serve, and the extent to which this power both complicates and reinforces more commonly recognized systems of inequality like race, class and gender. Readings will include several classic works of literature, and short philosophical works on human rights and the politics of the lower classes. We will also read some philosophical discussions of class and social hierarchy, watch and discuss some film and television representations of service.
AIQS 100: Writing Math (110/7156)
TR 04:00-05:15 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
DeLong, J
Do math and writing even belong in the same classroom?! The question of how a productive relationship between mathematics and writing could possibly exist will shape our inquiry throughout the semester. You will reflect on the importance of effectively communicating mathematical concepts, whether via cutting-edge research articles or entertaining educational videos for the general public. You will also read mathematicians' writing about their personal experiences, such as Edward Frenkel's memoir Love and Math, tracing his journey from being a young man who had to scale a fence to sneak into a math lecture in the Soviet Union to becoming a professor, author, and even actor in the United States. In addition, you will use reading and writing to explore the professional culture of mathematicians, with attention to their ideas about collaboration, fairness, and inclusivity. And, you will venture even further into interdisciplinary territory by writing about the intersection of math and art. Overall, the goal of this course is for you to gain a greater understanding of math as a richly human and social activity while also developing the writing skills and audience awareness that will help you communicate more effectively on a variety of topics, both mathematical and not.
AIQS 100: Writing Math (111/7157)
TR 02:30-03:45 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
DeLong, J
Do math and writing even belong in the same classroom?! The question of how a productive relationship between mathematics and writing could possibly exist will shape our inquiry throughout the semester. You will reflect on the importance of effectively communicating mathematical concepts, whether via cutting-edge research articles or entertaining educational videos for the general public. You will also read mathematicians' writing about their personal experiences, such as Edward Frenkel's memoir Love and Math, tracing his journey from being a young man who had to scale a fence to sneak into a math lecture in the Soviet Union to becoming a professor, author, and even actor in the United States. In addition, you will use reading and writing to explore the professional culture of mathematicians, with attention to their ideas about collaboration, fairness, and inclusivity. And, you will venture even further into interdisciplinary territory by writing about the intersection of math and art. Overall, the goal of this course is for you to gain a greater understanding of math as a richly human and social activity while also developing the writing skills and audience awareness that will help you communicate more effectively on a variety of topics, both mathematical and not.
AIQS 100: The American West on Film (115/7159)
MWF 10:35-11:25 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Hoeynck, J
Few geographical areas in the United States contain as many tall tales and mythological figures as the American frontier. From an extreme point of view, the West is the only American myth because no other nation can claim the cowboy, the Native American, or the immigrant worker on the transcontinental railroad. And yet, each of these figures remains spectacularly diverse. We celebrate their variety and lionize their individuality in film, popular novels, and cultural criticism. From the visions of the New World to the conquest of the frontier, the color of the American West proliferates and transforms, defining our culture. In this course, we will investigate how critics have understood our fascination with the Western frontier. The class will broadly explore versions of the frontier in novels, films, and historical accounts. Reading about the history of the actual west, the course will then examine how the films of the twentieth century alter history in order to express the fantasies and anxieties of their own time. By studying both history and film, we will be able to interrogate manifest density and the myth of American exceptionalism. What makes the West such an integral part of our understanding of America? How has its actual history become myth? What does the American fascination with the cowboy, the Native American, or the outlaw imply about our nation?
AIQS 100: The American West on Film (116/7160)
MWF 11:40-12:30 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Hoeynck, J
Few geographical areas in the United States contain as many tall tales and mythological figures as the American frontier. From an extreme point of view, the West is the only American myth because no other nation can claim the cowboy, the Native American, or the immigrant worker on the transcontinental railroad. And yet, each of these figures remains spectacularly diverse. We celebrate their variety and lionize their individuality in film, popular novels, and cultural criticism. From the visions of the New World to the conquest of the frontier, the color of the American West proliferates and transforms, defining our culture. In this course, we will investigate how critics have understood our fascination with the Western frontier. The class will broadly explore versions of the frontier in novels, films, and historical accounts. Reading about the history of the actual west, the course will then examine how the films of the twentieth century alter history in order to express the fantasies and anxieties of their own time. By studying both history and film, we will be able to interrogate manifest density and the myth of American exceptionalism. What makes the West such an integral part of our understanding of America? How has its actual history become myth? What does the American fascination with the cowboy, the Native American, or the outlaw imply about our nation?
AIQS 100: What is a Book? (117/7161)
MW 12:45-02:00 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Iammarino, D
Books are common objects in our everyday lives. They are containers for information, aesthetic objects, and cultural artifacts. Often all at once. Yet, the role and significance of this everyday object within our literary and larger culture is being scrutinized today with an intensity unseen since the 1450 invention of the printing press in the West. The diverse field of book arts is a place where such scrutiny not only exists, but is embraced. Book arts, or the umbrella term for art forms that range from traditional skills, such as papermaking, letterpress printing, and bookbinding, to new methods of artmaking inspired by the form and function of books, views the potential for the book to model new, radical forms of creativity, subjectivity, and political engagement. This course will explore the interdisciplinary and historical reaches of book arts to investigate the questions: What is a book? Is a book a functional object or an art object? Are books designed? How do you distinguish between a book's function and its form? How does book arts reflect or respond to cultural and technological changes in book production? And, how does the digital turn complicate these questions and their answers? In order to engage with these questions, this course will attempt to account for the book in light of the history of its production, materialization, publication, transmission, and reception. To begin to answer these questions, we will look at manuscripts, early printed materials, and book arts in-person and online. We will also be academically and creatively composing in this course as we pair traditional writing assignments with book-making activities, including making books, artist's books, and zines.
AIQS 100: Spectacle in American Culture (118/7162)
MWF 10:35-11:25 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Jim, B
The Academic Inquiry Seminar (AIQS), Spectacle in American Culture, will examine the topic of spectacle chronologically and typologically to better understand the power of remarkable visual experiences to awe, entertain, persuade, and create meaning from the colonial period to the present day. Students will examine spectacle in theory and in practice, analyzing the phenomenon through their written assignments and producing a video journal of spectacular occurrences over the course of the semester. Theorists of spectacle, such as Guy DeBord and David Nye, have shown that spectacle frequently has been used to assure complicity with dominant cultural ideals. This course will encourage students to look for the operation of power oftentimes hidden behind the bright light of spectacle. We will study natural spectacles, such as the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, and technological spectacles, such as rocket launches, fireworks, and building implosions. Students will work together to develop a theory of spectacle, and we will discuss how spectacle has changed American cities and informed the construction of personal identity. We will draw upon the disciplines of science, art history, history of technology, and sociology to help us better understand the creation of spectacle (and spectators).
AIQS 100: Spectacle in American Culture (119/7163)
MWF 09:30-10:20 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Jim, B
The Academic Inquiry Seminar (AIQS), Spectacle in American Culture, will examine the topic of spectacle chronologically and typologically to better understand the power of remarkable visual experiences to awe, entertain, persuade, and create meaning from the colonial period to the present day. Students will examine spectacle in theory and in practice, analyzing the phenomenon through their written assignments and producing a video journal of spectacular occurrences over the course of the semester. Theorists of spectacle, such as Guy DeBord and David Nye, have shown that spectacle frequently has been used to assure complicity with dominant cultural ideals. This course will encourage students to look for the operation of power oftentimes hidden behind the bright light of spectacle. We will study natural spectacles, such as the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, and technological spectacles, such as rocket launches, fireworks, and building implosions. Students will work together to develop a theory of spectacle, and we will discuss how spectacle has changed American cities and informed the construction of personal identity. We will draw upon the disciplines of science, art history, history of technology, and sociology to help us better understand the creation of spectacle (and spectators).
AIQS 100: Monster Studies (122/7165)
MW 03:20-04:35 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Kapelle, R
Pop-culture and scholarship alike have embraced the monster. Monster stories remain popular across many forms of media, with familiar characters reappearing again and again even as new creatures emerge to trouble our sleep. Meanwhile, scholars, fans, and other cultural critics discuss their significance. This course examines a set of medieval and contemporary monster stories and films for insight into the worldview that produced them, insight such as how a culture distinguishes between good and evil and where it places the boundaries of humanity. Course readings also include scholarly works and other analyses that explore the meanings and cultural uses of monsters. What kinds of fears do monster stories express? How can we explain the mix of attraction and revulsion that these tales evoke? How have particular monsters evolved to fit changing times? Assignments will include an essay in which students interpret a literary text using concepts from a foundational work of "monster studies." The semester will culminate with a project in which students construct an argument about a new story, placing it in relation to a tradition and a cultural context.
AIQS 100: Monster Studies (123/7166)
MW 12:45-02:00 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Kapelle, R
Pop-culture and scholarship alike have embraced the monster. Monster stories remain popular across many forms of media, with familiar characters reappearing again and again even as new creatures emerge to trouble our sleep. Meanwhile, scholars, fans, and other cultural critics discuss their significance. This course examines a set of medieval and contemporary monster stories and films for insight into the worldview that produced them, insight such as how a culture distinguishes between good and evil and where it places the boundaries of humanity. Course readings also include scholarly works and other analyses that explore the meanings and cultural uses of monsters. What kinds of fears do monster stories express? How can we explain the mix of attraction and revulsion that these tales evoke? How have particular monsters evolved to fit changing times? Assignments will include an essay in which students interpret a literary text using concepts from a foundational work of "monster studies." The semester will culminate with a project in which students construct an argument about a new story, placing it in relation to a tradition and a cultural context.
AIQS 100: Digital Literature (124/7167)
TR 02:30-03:45 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Kelly, K
Digital literature refers to literary works designed to be read or experienced on a computer. Such works encourage readers' active participation and often provoke multi-sensory engagement, asking readers to interact with the story through words, images, sounds, touch, and movement. In this class, we read various kinds of digital literature, including choose-your-own-adventure-style stories, narrative games, and media-rich interactive stories. We write about how these works use visual media, interactive features, and digital technology to tell their stories or make their claims in ways that promote readers' agency and engagement. Through seminar discussions, a wide range of reading and playing experiences, and substantial exploratory and analytical writing, we will consider how digital literature helps us understand our digital, networked culture.
AIQS 100: Modern Virtues: Examining Contemporary Moralities (125/7168)
TR 08:30-09:45 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Lucas, K
If you want to be successful today, society gives you a lot of advice. Be optimistic! Be productive! Be creative! Be informed! Our class will critically examine these modern virtues. Do they really help us flourish? In class, students will learn about how modern positive psychologists like Martin Seligman have updated ancient ethical theories from Aristotle and Confucius. Next, we will read the work of contemporary social critics who question whether being virtuous--which can be defined as being both morally good and satisfied with life--is still even possible given the complexity of modern problems. Through a sequence of writing assignments, students will develop research questions that relate expert debates to their professional ambitions. For example, does being self-aware really make you a better doctor, scientist, or manager?
AIQS 100: Modern Virtues: Examining Contemporary Moralities (126/7169)
TR 01:00-02:15 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Lucas, K
If you want to be successful today, society gives you a lot of advice. Be optimistic! Be productive! Be creative! Be informed! Our class will critically examine these modern virtues. Do they really help us flourish? In class, students will learn about how modern positive psychologists like Martin Seligman have updated ancient ethical theories from Aristotle and Confucius. Next, we will read the work of contemporary social critics who question whether being virtuous--which can be defined as being both morally good and satisfied with life--is still even possible given the complexity of modern problems. Through a sequence of writing assignments, students will develop research questions that relate expert debates to their professional ambitions. For example, does being self-aware really make you a better doctor, scientist, or manager?
AIQS 100: Modern Virtues: Examining Contemporary Moralities (127/7170)
TR 04:00-05:15 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Lucas, K
If you want to be successful today, society gives you a lot of advice. Be optimistic! Be productive! Be creative! Be informed! Our class will critically examine these modern virtues. Do they really help us flourish? In class, students will learn about how modern positive psychologists like Martin Seligman have updated ancient ethical theories from Aristotle and Confucius. Next, we will read the work of contemporary social critics who question whether being virtuous--which can be defined as being both morally good and satisfied with life--is still even possible given the complexity of modern problems. Through a sequence of writing assignments, students will develop research questions that relate expert debates to their professional ambitions. For example, does being self-aware really make you a better doctor, scientist, or manager?
AIQS 100: The Bioethics of Science Fiction (128/7171)
MW 03:20-04:35 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Larson, S
When is a person really dead? Is a parasite part of the essential self? What obligations do clinicians have to patients? Should we prioritize bodily autonomy or community good in the face of a deadly outbreak? These questions are paramount not only to the field of bioethics--a branch of philosophy concerned with healthcare, medicine, and advances in biotech and science--but are also central concerns of the science fiction (SF) genre. In this course we will use writing to explore the ways SF texts deal with biomedical ethical, social, and legal issues. We'll explore topics like genetics, disability, research, AI, medical decision-making, and public health ethics through shows like The Twilight Zone, X-Files, and Star Trek as well as short fiction by authors like Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang, Nnedi Okorafor and Stephen King. Our goal as a class will be to consider how we can use our writing about the widely popular and accessible genre of SF to explore and communicate the ideas and arguments of biomedical ethics across modalities and audiences.
AIQS 100: Objects of Literacy: The Technology of Reading (129/7172)
MWF 11:40-12:30 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Lyons-McFarland, H
This course explores the technology behind the act of reading, from oral traditions, to clay tablets and sticks, to paper and pen, to e-books and apps. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write, but what is reading? What is writing? And how did we get where we are, where text is continuously around us such that we barely notice it any longer? Over the semester, we will explore how we record meaning and the labor behind the end result, even as we examine our own literacy practices, the combination of audience and author that each of us embodies. We will visit Special Collections at the Kelvin Smith Library, try our hands at manual presses at the New Gutenberg Annex, and create our own "objects of literacy," wherever that takes us. In addition, we will take the opportunity to be intentional about our own experience as literate individuals. We will practice academic methods of both reading and writing, calling upon our experiences and the wealth of knowledge around us to think about and react to the objects and processes we encounter. Through critical thinking and practicing rhetorical approaches, this class will help prepare you for future critical thinking and communication both in and out of academia.
AIQS 100: What Is College For? (130/7173)
TR 04:00-05:15 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Lucas, D
Why are we here? Not on this planet--that's another course--but here, at this university? What is the purpose of a university? What do we--as students, as faculty, as different communities--expect of such an institution? And what should those institutions expect from us? In this course we will explore historical and contemporary ideas of the university, and in our seminar discussions we will measure our own experiences against that history and those theories. We will place particular emphasis on the current state of the idea of the university, and the subsequent effects of those ideas on current university students. We will ask, for example, how cultural and societal notions of the university's purpose affect our expectations for our own time and work there. How and why do debates about the university present a stage for some of our most contentious societal questions? We will acquaint ourselves with the histories and contexts of some of these debates in order to address the complexities of our present moment. We will take up this debate ourselves in our daily seminar conversations. We will write and think in a variety of genres, including personal essays, critical analyses, and individual and group oral presentations.
AIQS 100: What Is College For? (131/7174)
TR 05:30-06:45 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Lucas, D
Why are we here? Not on this planet--that's another course--but here, at this university? What is the purpose of a university? What do we--as students, as faculty, as different communities--expect of such an institution? And what should those institutions expect from us? In this course we will explore historical and contemporary ideas of the university, and in our seminar discussions we will measure our own experiences against that history and those theories. We will place particular emphasis on the current state of the idea of the university, and the subsequent effects of those ideas on current university students. We will ask, for example, how cultural and societal notions of the university's purpose affect our expectations for our own time and work there. How and why do debates about the university present a stage for some of our most contentious societal questions? We will acquaint ourselves with the histories and contexts of some of these debates in order to address the complexities of our present moment. We will take up this debate ourselves in our daily seminar conversations. We will write and think in a variety of genres, including personal essays, critical analyses, and individual and group oral presentations.
AIQS 100: Pursuit of Happiness: Approaches to the Good Life (132/7175)
MWF 02:15-03:05 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Sattler, A
When Thomas Jefferson placed the pursuit of happiness alongside life and liberty as unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence, he was writing into a long intellectual tradition. This course examines that tradition: both how we pursue and experience happiness, and how philosophers, artists, sociologists, psychologists, and neuroscientists have defined and studied happiness. We will read scientific research and philosophy alongside autobiographies, narratives, and other art works as we explore happiness. Then, we will collect quantitative and qualitative data, synthesize our findings, write essays, and produce a podcast as we participate in the larger conversation about the pursuit of happiness.
AIQS 100: Objects of Literacy: The Technology of Reading (134/7177)
MWF 10:35-11:25 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Lyons-McFarland, H
This course explores the technology behind the act of reading, from oral traditions, to clay tablets and sticks, to paper and pen, to e-books and apps. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write, but what is reading? What is writing? And how did we get where we are, where text is continuously around us such that we barely notice it any longer? Over the semester, we will explore how we record meaning and the labor behind the end result, even as we examine our own literacy practices, the combination of audience and author that each of us embodies. We will visit Special Collections at the Kelvin Smith Library, try our hands at manual presses at the New Gutenberg Annex, and create our own "objects of literacy," wherever that takes us. In addition, we will take the opportunity to be intentional about our own experience as literate individuals. We will practice academic methods of both reading and writing, calling upon our experiences and the wealth of knowledge around us to think about and react to the objects and processes we encounter. Through critical thinking and practicing rhetorical approaches, this class will help prepare you for future critical thinking and communication both in and out of academia.
AIQS 100: Love and Sex in Shakespeare (135/7178)
MWF 09:30-10:20 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Newlin, J
For many readers, William Shakespeare's works are inseparable from the concept of romantic love. Those "star crossed" sweethearts, Romeo and Juliet, are the most famous lovers in English literature, and thousands of wedding ceremonies have featured a reading of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. But does that poem really a pledge of romantic fidelity, the oath of one promising to have and hold? Or is it, as the scholar Helen Vendler has argued, a vitriolic account of sexual jealousy? In this class, we will examine a broad cross-section of Shakespeare's plays and poems as we investigate what it was Shakespeare actually believed about the nature of romantic love and physical intimacy. What do the plays and poems have to say about "love at first sight," fidelity, jealousy, and consent? How does Shakespeare depict queer people and same-sex desire? Was Shakespeare's account of these issues reflective of his time--or did he subvert or challenge the views of love and sexual intimacy common to the Renaissance? In addition to gaining a finer understanding of Shakespeare's work and its historical context, we will examine how and why Shakespeare's account of romance and sexuality continues to resonate so strongly in the present. Students will develop skills of formal academic writing and research, as they engage these issues in a variety of formats, including traditional writing assignments and presentations.
AIQS 100: Love and Sex in Shakespeare (136/7179)
MWF 11:40-12:30 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Newlin, J
For many readers, William Shakespeare's works are inseparable from the concept of romantic love. Those "star crossed" sweethearts, Romeo and Juliet, are the most famous lovers in English literature, and thousands of wedding ceremonies have featured a reading of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. But does that poem really a pledge of romantic fidelity, the oath of one promising to have and hold? Or is it, as the scholar Helen Vendler has argued, a vitriolic account of sexual jealousy? In this class, we will examine a broad cross-section of Shakespeare's plays and poems as we investigate what it was Shakespeare actually believed about the nature of romantic love and physical intimacy. What do the plays and poems have to say about "love at first sight," fidelity, jealousy, and consent? How does Shakespeare depict queer people and same-sex desire? Was Shakespeare's account of these issues reflective of his time--or did he subvert or challenge the views of love and sexual intimacy common to the Renaissance? In addition to gaining a finer understanding of Shakespeare's work and its historical context, we will examine how and why Shakespeare's account of romance and sexuality continues to resonate so strongly in the present. Students will develop skills of formal academic writing and research, as they engage these issues in a variety of formats, including traditional writing assignments and presentations.
AIQS 100: Love and Sex in Shakespeare (137/7180)
MWF 08:25-09:15 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Newlin, J
For many readers, William Shakespeare's works are inseparable from the concept of romantic love. Those "star crossed" sweethearts, Romeo and Juliet, are the most famous lovers in English literature, and thousands of wedding ceremonies have featured a reading of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. But does that poem really a pledge of romantic fidelity, the oath of one promising to have and hold? Or is it, as the scholar Helen Vendler has argued, a vitriolic account of sexual jealousy? In this class, we will examine a broad cross-section of Shakespeare's plays and poems as we investigate what it was Shakespeare actually believed about the nature of romantic love and physical intimacy. What do the plays and poems have to say about "love at first sight," fidelity, jealousy, and consent? How does Shakespeare depict queer people and same-sex desire? Was Shakespeare's account of these issues reflective of his time--or did he subvert or challenge the views of love and sexual intimacy common to the Renaissance? In addition to gaining a finer understanding of Shakespeare's work and its historical context, we will examine how and why Shakespeare's account of romance and sexuality continues to resonate so strongly in the present. Students will develop skills of formal academic writing and research, as they engage these issues in a variety of formats, including traditional writing assignments and presentations.
AIQS 100: Stories of Science and Scientists (138/7181)
MWF 11:40-12:30 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Pecastaings, A
Stories of Science and Scientists explores the treatment of scientific themes and the depiction of scientists in literature. This is not a course about science fiction: instead of envisioning future scientific advancements, Science in Literature pays close attention to the ways in which literary texts comment upon ongoing scientific debates and respond to the questionings of science. Science lives in the world, not aside from it, and literature shines a light on this truth precisely because it engages with scientific findings in ways that are often outside the purview of science itself. For instance, literary texts can consider the following questions: How do scientists factor in other, non-scientific facets of their lives (e.g., their fear of death or political pressures bearing on them) into their work? How does a given scientific item inflect our lived experiences and our understanding of our place in the universe? What is it like to live with such knowledge? What is it like to live in awareness of what we do not know about the natural world? Our readings will include Arcadia, Einstein's Dreams, and QED.
AIQS 100: Stories of Science and Scientists (139/7182)
MWF 02:15-03:05 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Pecastaings, A
Stories of Science and Scientists explores the treatment of scientific themes and the depiction of scientists in literature. This is not a course about science fiction: instead of envisioning future scientific advancements, Science in Literature pays close attention to the ways in which literary texts comment upon ongoing scientific debates and respond to the questionings of science. Science lives in the world, not aside from it, and literature shines a light on this truth precisely because it engages with scientific findings in ways that are often outside the purview of science itself. For instance, literary texts can consider the following questions: How do scientists factor in other, non-scientific facets of their lives (e.g., their fear of death or political pressures bearing on them) into their work? How does a given scientific item inflect our lived experiences and our understanding of our place in the universe? What is it like to live with such knowledge? What is it like to live in awareness of what we do not know about the natural world? Our readings will include Arcadia, Einstein's Dreams, and QED.
AIQS 100: Comedy, Rhetoric, and Writing (140/7183)
TR 02:30-03:45 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Robisch, K
"The most powerful weapon on Earth is not a gun or a bomb, but a well-timed joke," said John Oliver. He separately admitted "It's a great time to be doing political satire when the world is on a knife edge." Comedy is many things and differs in many situations, depending on audience, context and purpose. This class will examine questions such as: where and when does humor occur? And who or what is a comedian? Studying these contexts and purposes will help us develop our own tools for writing persuasively in academic contexts. We will examine rhetoric and humor in a variety of different mediums, focusing on how comedy helps us make sense of political and cultural situations. Through ongoing discussions and assignments, we will consider what makes something funny and to whom? We'll first hone our own analysis skills through rhetorical analysis of a specific piece of comedy, then learn to incorporate outside sources to serve as additional evidence. As we gear up for our final persuasive research paper, we'll summarize additional sources and then visually represent their connections through concept maps and infographics.
AIQS 100: Weird Fictions (141/7184)
TR 01:00-02:15 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
PInkerton, S
Most of us love to settle in with a reliably entertaining novel or movie. We can usually count on such stories to provide relatable characters, coherent plots, satisfying conclusions--and not to make us think too hard after a long day. But there are different, arguably deeper pleasures to be found in stories that are weird: the kind that challenge our minds and subvert our expectations. Such fictions tend to play around with more familiar modes of narration, often bending time and space, form and content, reality and illusion. Even the most discerning film buffs can't agree, for instance, whether the first or the second part of "Mulholland Dr." (2001) occurs in the dreams of a character who exists in the "realer" part. (Or whether neither portion can claim priority and "the real dreamer is elsewhere," as one critic has suggestively put it.) Works like these empower us, as readers and viewers, to become active participants in interpreting or even constructing the stories they present. In this seminar, you'll discuss and write about a diverse range of weird stories and films, taking their innovations and ambiguities as occasions to hone your skills as a reader, writer, and thinker. More broadly, these fictions will give you ample occasion to reflect critically on the kinds of stories we all tell ourselves and others, narratives that provide a sense of meaning and coherence--even when they can't quite be trusted.
AIQS 100: Weird Fictions (142/7185)
TR 08:30-09:45 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
PInkerton, S
Most of us love to settle in with a reliably entertaining novel or movie. We can usually count on such stories to provide relatable characters, coherent plots, satisfying conclusions--and not to make us think too hard after a long day. But there are different, arguably deeper pleasures to be found in stories that are weird: the kind that challenge our minds and subvert our expectations. Such fictions tend to play around with more familiar modes of narration, often bending time and space, form and content, reality and illusion. Even the most discerning film buffs can't agree, for instance, whether the first or the second part of "Mulholland Dr." (2001) occurs in the dreams of a character who exists in the "realer" part. (Or whether neither portion can claim priority and "the real dreamer is elsewhere," as one critic has suggestively put it.) Works like these empower us, as readers and viewers, to become active participants in interpreting or even constructing the stories they present. In this seminar, you'll discuss and write about a diverse range of weird stories and films, taking their innovations and ambiguities as occasions to hone your skills as a reader, writer, and thinker. More broadly, these fictions will give you ample occasion to reflect critically on the kinds of stories we all tell ourselves and others, narratives that provide a sense of meaning and coherence--even when they can't quite be trusted.
AIQS 100: What's Historical about Historical Fiction? (144/7186)
MW 12:45-02:00 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Reader, L
Is historical fiction a useful way to learn about the past? What can we learn from reading a novel or short story instead of an historical document or a piece of non-fiction writing about the past? In this course, we are going to ask how historical is historical fiction? We will look at this question in three different ways. First, we'll consider the accuracy of historical fiction and discuss the reasons why authors build on and augment commonly understood historical narratives. Second, we'll look at the ways in which historical fiction functions as a record of contemporary history--the point in time at which the novel or short story was written. In the last part of the course, we'll look at how questions of authenticity and historical context feature in counterfactual historical fictions that discuss histories that weren't.
AIQS 100: What's Historical about Historical Fiction? (145/7187)
MW 03:20-04:35 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Reader, L
Is historical fiction a useful way to learn about the past? What can we learn from reading a novel or short story instead of an historical document or a piece of non-fiction writing about the past? In this course, we are going to ask how historical is historical fiction? We will look at this question in three different ways. First, we'll consider the accuracy of historical fiction and discuss the reasons why authors build on and augment commonly understood historical narratives. Second, we'll look at the ways in which historical fiction functions as a record of contemporary history--the point in time at which the novel or short story was written. In the last part of the course, we'll look at how questions of authenticity and historical context feature in counterfactual historical fictions that discuss histories that weren't.
AIQS 100: Essaying a Life Worth Living (147/7189)
MW 12:45-02:00 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Redekop, S
What does it mean to live well? Each week, students in this seminar will grapple with this
question. Our efforts will be guided by the experimental practice of essay-writing, a centuries-
old method for developing knowledge in the absence of certainty. Throughout the term, we will
think with a wide range of contemporary American essayists--including journalists, scientists,
and YouTubers--who attempt to address urgent questions like: What does a good life feel like?,
Who do we answer to?, What should we hope for?, and What should we do when we fail? We
will contextualize their essays with short readings from wide-ranging philosophical and religious
traditions, identifying the ways in which these traditions provide us with "equipment for living,"
and then examining how essayists "test" these frameworks against the specific circumstances of
their lives.
Along the way, you will learn writing strategies that will empower you to formulate and test your
own responses to these important questions within the particular circumstances of your life. We
will spend our time together boldly asking big questions; reading widely and listening carefully
in our pursuit of meaningful answers; learning through dialogue, including giving and receiving
writing feedback; and developing a writing practice that empowers us to pursue the questions
that matter most to us (in and beyond our future academic work).
AIQS 100: Essaying a Life Worth Living (148/7190)
MW 03:20-04:35 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Redekop, S
What does it mean to live well? Each week, students in this seminar will grapple with this
question. Our efforts will be guided by the experimental practice of essay-writing, a centuries-
old method for developing knowledge in the absence of certainty. Throughout the term, we will
think with a wide range of contemporary American essayists--including journalists, scientists,
and YouTubers--who attempt to address urgent questions like: What does a good life feel like?,
Who do we answer to?, What should we hope for?, and What should we do when we fail? We
will contextualize their essays with short readings from wide-ranging philosophical and religious
traditions, identifying the ways in which these traditions provide us with "equipment for living,"
and then examining how essayists "test" these frameworks against the specific circumstances of
their lives.
Along the way, you will learn writing strategies that will empower you to formulate and test your
own responses to these important questions within the particular circumstances of your life. We
will spend our time together boldly asking big questions; reading widely and listening carefully
in our pursuit of meaningful answers; learning through dialogue, including giving and receiving
writing feedback; and developing a writing practice that empowers us to pursue the questions
that matter most to us (in and beyond our future academic work).
AIQS 100: Notes on Novels and Art (149/7191)
MWF 11:40-12:30 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Wiehl, J
Works of art participate in a dynamic range of aesthetics, history, and politics, and they create impressive imaginary worlds. This course will involve extensive research on the novel Daniel Deronda from primary and secondary sources to produce footnotes about diverse topics to aid readers in interpreting the text. We will also engage with Caravaggio's painting The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Jane Austen novel Persuasion. Yet our primary text will be Daniel Deronda and our task in this course will be to lavish attention on the details that help us understand such masterworks. We will study the art of producing scholarly notes and the various types and purposes of notes. Each student will contribute notes for Deronda on many topics across the chapters. Students will also draft longer, more informative background notes as part of their research for their final paper. The final paper will either present research from one of these many topics and use it to produce an original interpretation of Daniel Deronda or it will serve as an "Introduction" to the text.
AIQS 100: Notes on Novels and Art (150/7192)
MWF 02:15-03:05 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Wiehl, J
Works of art participate in a dynamic range of aesthetics, history, and politics, and they create impressive imaginary worlds. This course will involve extensive research on the novel Daniel Deronda from primary and secondary sources to produce footnotes about diverse topics to aid readers in interpreting the text. We will also engage with Caravaggio's painting The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Jane Austen novel Persuasion. Yet our primary text will be Daniel Deronda and our task in this course will be to lavish attention on the details that help us understand such masterworks. We will study the art of producing scholarly notes and the various types and purposes of notes. Each student will contribute notes for Deronda on many topics across the chapters. Students will also draft longer, more informative background notes as part of their research for their final paper. The final paper will either present research from one of these many topics and use it to produce an original interpretation of Daniel Deronda or it will serve as an "Introduction" to the text.
AIQS 100: Refugee Voices (151/7196)
TR 10:00-11:15 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Magearu, A
According to the United Nations, more than 100 million people are currently displaced worldwide due to conflict, persecution, and human rights violations. This course investigates how refugee voices are framed, translated, and transmitted by looking at how different institutions, political actors, media, or writers represent refugee vulnerability. We will explore the ways in which refugees have been depicted in literature, media, art, and other forms of representation, as well as the ways in which refugees have represented themselves in memoirs or personal essays. Key authors include Edward Said, Hannah Arendt, Valeria Luiselli, Dina Nayeri, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Clemantine Wamariya and Mohsin Hamid. We will ask: Who represents refugees? Which voices are uplifted and which voices are erased? How do notions of vulnerability, gratitude, and resilience play out in prevalent representations of refugees? What obstacles do writers encounter when they write on behalf of refugees? And how do writers of refugee-background represent their own displacement and migration journeys?
AIQS 100: Refugee Voices (152/7197)
TR 01:00-02:15 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Magearu, A
According to the United Nations, more than 100 million people are currently displaced worldwide due to conflict, persecution, and human rights violations. This course investigates how refugee voices are framed, translated, and transmitted by looking at how different institutions, political actors, media, or writers represent refugee vulnerability. We will explore the ways in which refugees have been depicted in literature, media, art, and other forms of representation, as well as the ways in which refugees have represented themselves in memoirs or personal essays. Key authors include Edward Said, Hannah Arendt, Valeria Luiselli, Dina Nayeri, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Clemantine Wamariya and Mohsin Hamid. We will ask: Who represents refugees? Which voices are uplifted and which voices are erased? How do notions of vulnerability, gratitude, and resilience play out in prevalent representations of refugees? What obstacles do writers encounter when they write on behalf of refugees? And how do writers of refugee-background represent their own displacement and migration journeys?
AIQS 110: Linguistic Diversity and Social Justice (100/7122)
MWF 11:40-12:30 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Mohammed, R
This course investigates the relationship between linguistic diversity, identity performance, and issues of linguistic and social justice in the US context. We will examine the histories of linguistic discrimination, marginalization, and stigmatization/stereotyping towards minority, immigrant, and marginalized communities and the implications of these histories on their current identities, linguistic practice, and societal positions. Students will learn academic writing skills such as synthesizing and argumentation, engaging different types of audience, and evaluating/integrating sources into their writings. Students will be exposed to various textual and multimodal genres written/produced by diverse authors and will engage in critical linguistic and rhetorical analyses of how language is used to include/exclude, emphasize and/or marginalize/stigmatize, and promote/demote certain groups, languages/dialects, and identities. The course is divided into three units. In Unit 1, students will think critically about the course theme and participate in defining essential concepts (diversity, justice, equity, discrimination, ideology, etc.) as they study the historical, social, and linguistic contexts that deem certain languages/dialects and their speakers as more/less prestigious than others. In doing so, students will also reflect on their positionality as diverse speakers studying in a foreign context and practice their authorial agency by critically analyzing how their linguistic and rhetorical choices are defined, negotiated, and oftentimes shaped by genres and writing situations. In Unit 2, students will engage in discussions of language perceptions and their role in forming exclusionary practices (linguistic and otherwise). In Unit 3, students will use their writing as a space for acknowledging our collective roles in disrupting language ideologies for social and linguistic justice.
AIQS 110: Linguistic Diversity and Social Justice (101/7123)
MWF 10:35-11:25 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Mohammed, R
This course investigates the relationship between linguistic diversity, identity performance, and issues of linguistic and social justice in the US context. We will examine the histories of linguistic discrimination, marginalization, and stigmatization/stereotyping towards minority, immigrant, and marginalized communities and the implications of these histories on their current identities, linguistic practice, and societal positions. Students will learn academic writing skills such as synthesizing and argumentation, engaging different types of audience, and evaluating/integrating sources into their writings. Students will be exposed to various textual and multimodal genres written/produced by diverse authors and will engage in critical linguistic and rhetorical analyses of how language is used to include/exclude, emphasize and/or marginalize/stigmatize, and promote/demote certain groups, languages/dialects, and identities. The course is divided into three units. In Unit 1, students will think critically about the course theme and participate in defining essential concepts (diversity, justice, equity, discrimination, ideology, etc.) as they study the historical, social, and linguistic contexts that deem certain languages/dialects and their speakers as more/less prestigious than others. In doing so, students will also reflect on their positionality as diverse speakers studying in a foreign context and practice their authorial agency by critically analyzing how their linguistic and rhetorical choices are defined, negotiated, and oftentimes shaped by genres and writing situations. In Unit 2, students will engage in discussions of language perceptions and their role in forming exclusionary practices (linguistic and otherwise). In Unit 3, students will use their writing as a space for acknowledging our collective roles in disrupting language ideologies for social and linguistic justice.
AIQS 110: Literacy and Life Stories (103/7125)
TR 10:00-11:15 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Wolfe, M
Our section of AIQS 110 will focus on literacy narratives. We will explore questions such as: What is literacy? What does it mean to be able to read and write? How does the process of literacy learning shape our lives and our sense of self? Who gets to tell their own stories in their own languages? Who gets to teach (or even impose) their own views of language? We will discuss how autobiographers such as Jacqueline Woodson, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, and Richard Rodriguez interpret their life stories through the lens of literacy. We will read theories from scholars of literacy such as Deborah Brandt, Mary Louise Pratt, and James Paul Gee. Finally, we will reflect on how literacy has affected our own lives and how we can use these texts to better understand our own reading and writing as well as to contribute to others' literacy journeys.
AIQS 110: Literacy and Life Stories (104/7126)
TR 01:00-02:15 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Wolfe, M
Our section of AIQS 110 will focus on literacy narratives. We will explore questions such as: What is literacy? What does it mean to be able to read and write? How does the process of literacy learning shape our lives and our sense of self? Who gets to tell their own stories in their own languages? Who gets to teach (or even impose) their own views of language? We will discuss how autobiographers such as Jacqueline Woodson, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, and Richard Rodriguez interpret their life stories through the lens of literacy. We will read theories from scholars of literacy such as Deborah Brandt, Mary Louise Pratt, and James Paul Gee. Finally, we will reflect on how literacy has affected our own lives and how we can use these texts to better understand our own reading and writing as well as to contribute to others' literacy journeys.
AIQS 110: Reading and Writing Ourselves in New Communities (105/10360)
TR 08:30-09:45 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Parkin, G
What is it to write at the college level? In what ways are the expectations of college writers different from those of writers in high school classes? How do you prepare yourself to read on the college level and what is critical reading anyway? In this class we will explore these questions through readings and writing assignments about our own linguistic and communal identities. We will begin by reflecting upon how we use language, and how language is used around us, in a community of our choosing. We will use in-class readings to reflect upon how language and audience, just to name two rhetorical elements, can affect our social and intellectual selves. After considering our identities within our home communities, we will move on to consider ourselves within CWRU and the Cleveland community. Readings and assignments will ask students to consider a range of audiences--some academic, some local voices, some reporters--to consider where they see themselves within the city community. Projects will include projects like short close reading essays, a literacy narrative, and an essay in which you identify a problem in the Cleveland community and suggest a possible solution. We will also develop our oral communication skills through classroom discussions, presentations, and participation in Intersections.
AIQS 120: Food Matters: Dilemmas of Our Food Choices (100/7117)
TR 10:00-11:15 AM Jan 13-Apr 28
Codita, A
While it goes without saying that eating is an essential human activity - we eat food to stay alive, some people may not consider the large scale implications of their food choices. What is food and what does it mean to make good food choices? Is eating meant to be healthy, ethical, pleasurable, or something else? Does it matter? This course will examine our everyday food choices as a site of inquiry where policies, health guidelines, ethics, cultural norms, and socioeconomic factors intersect. Through a variety of academic essays, journalistic texts, and memoirs, the course provides students with the opportunity to read and evaluate a myriad of controversies and debates around food. First, we will explore and complicate the ways in which we can define food, the purposes and reasons for which we eat, and how these connect with health, values, status, and culture. Second, it is important to examine and understand the larger social, economic, and ethical factors which contribute to what food choices are available to us and what foods we actually choose to eat every day. Through food as a window, this course aims to improve students' abilities to read and respond to sophisticated arguments. The weekly readings, daily class activities, and writing assignments will instruct students on how to write about food from various angles by considering the purpose and the audience for which they are writing, the position that they are putting forward, and the argument that they intend to make. Students will be expected to engage with weekly readings and participate in class discussions, complete three (shorter) essays and one longer research paper, and deliver two presentations.
AIQS 120: CHATing About Language to Write an Academic Paper (101/7118)
TR 02:30-03:45 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Vakili, P
This section of AIQS 120 is designed to focus on Academic Writing. To that end, students will need to master some skills such as outlining, drafting, revising, summarizing, and synthesizing. The course starts off by discussing the effectiveness of the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), which examines how what people think interacts with what they do. We will use CHAT to study how people participate in the activity of writing over time with various tools, producing particular kinds of texts for particular goals in particular writing situations. Because our writing activity is very complicated, we use CHAT as one way to investigate, break down, and describe what's really happening when we're participating in complex writing activities. Our first project teaches us how to look at different perspectives of a genre and we will produce our own genre looking back at those CHAT elements. The next step includes more thorough research in which we will collect data and discuss our findings using our own understanding and perceptions along with some outside sources to support our own claims. Learning how to synthesize a research paper (using different sources) will prepare us to write a problem-solution paper in which you will identify a problem of interest to you and then propose solutions to that problem. This final project will give you an opportunity to practice everything you have learned in the course: critical reading, theorizing, and writing.
AIQS 120: Wired Words: Composing in a Tech-Mediated World (103/7120)
MWF 03:20-04:10 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Qiu, X
Ever wonder how your favorite apps are secretly shaping your perceptions of and behaviors in writing? Or why your professor may frown upon slideshows in your class presentation? This course will bring to light technology-mediated academic writing process through the investigation of technology as a medium in composition and communication. We will kick things off by becoming digital detectives, investigating your own tech habits. You will start writing an autoethnography 'confession' about your love-hate relationship with everyday tech tools. You will explore how various technologies, from PowerPoint to Google, have influenced your academic and personal writing practices. From time to time, we will put on our debate hats and duke it out over whether technologies are making us smarter or... not so much. Later in the semester, you will analyze how emerging technologies like Generative AI is 'constructing' new forms of language and communication. In this course, you will have ample opportunity to critically examine and experiment with these tools. Overall, this course aims to enhance your critical thinking, information literacy, research, and composition skills (such as problematizing, synthesizing, persuading) while keeping as its core the dialectical relationship between technology and writing.
AIQS 130: Children's Literature in Cleveland (101/10324)
TR 08:30-09:45 AM Jan 13-Apr 28, W 12:45-02:00 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Byrne, C
Children's picture books not only introduce young children to basic ideas like what sounds animals make and how to count to ten but also to their culture's belief systems. In this course, we will take seemingly simplistic children's picture books and analyze the underlying messages and the "hidden adult" present in their illustrations and text. From The Cat in the Hat to Last Stop on Market Street to The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, we will analyze both well-known best-sellers and recent picture books with timely messages. To deepen our understanding of the picture books we study, we will also collaborate with local stakeholders, including children and community members who read, create, and/or distribute these books. We will partner with 2nd graders at a local elementary school, area literacy nonprofits, and libraries to deepen our understanding of young people in Cleveland and the books they read. The key questions we will explore and answer together include: What is a "children's picture book"? How do we analyze the visual arguments in picture books? What assumptions are made about the readers of these books? What function do the adult producers/ purchasers/ distributors of these books serve in the creation and circulation (or banning) of these texts? How are complex and difficult topics (like racism, death, and war) explored in works for children? By examining the underlying messages in these deceptively simple books, we can uncover surprisingly complicated visions of the world.
AIQS 130: Children's Literature in Cleveland (102/10329)
TR 10:00-11:15 AM Jan 13-Apr 28, W 12:45-02:00 PM Jan 13-Apr 28
Byrne, C
Children's picture books not only introduce young children to basic ideas like what sounds animals make and how to count to ten but also to their culture's belief systems. In this course, we will take seemingly simplistic children's picture books and analyze the underlying messages and the "hidden adult" present in their illustrations and text. From The Cat in the Hat to Last Stop on Market Street to The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, we will analyze both well-known best-sellers and recent picture books with timely messages. To deepen our understanding of the picture books we study, we will also collaborate with local stakeholders, including children and community members who read, create, and/or distribute these books. We will partner with 2nd graders at a local elementary school, area literacy nonprofits, and libraries to deepen our understanding of young people in Cleveland and the books they read. The key questions we will explore and answer together include: What is a "children's picture book"? How do we analyze the visual arguments in picture books? What assumptions are made about the readers of these books? What function do the adult producers/ purchasers/ distributors of these books serve in the creation and circulation (or banning) of these texts? How are complex and difficult topics (like racism, death, and war) explored in works for children? By examining the underlying messages in these deceptively simple books, we can uncover surprisingly complicated visions of the world.