This course will introduce the student to the art and architecture of Africa from a Western art historical perspective. This course will emphasize the role of art as manifested in the lifestyles, spiritualities, and philosophies of particular African societies, while also broaching aesthetic principles and the study and display of African art. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: demonstrate an understanding of transitions in the national geography of the African continent from the 17th century to the present; demonstrate an understanding of the ethnic diversity and distinct cultural traditions among people of Africa; identify and discuss materials and techniques employed in the creation of a range of African artistic and architectural works; discuss the functions and meanings of a range of African art forms; identify traditional styles and forms strongly associated with particular cultural groups. (Art History 304)

This module is a guide to the process of identifying what type of work you are researching and using that information to expand the potential of different research projects. You will be introduced to the process of categorizing the works you find in your research, locating similar and divergent works and using them in concert to contextualize the "Egyptian Red Book," a satire of the British government Sudan policy included in the Travelers in the Middle East Archive.

Ethnic and racial conflict appear to be the hallmark of the new world order. What accounts for the rise of ethnic/racial and nationalist sentiments and movements? What is the basis of ethnic and racial identity? What are the political claims and goals of such movements and is conflict inevitable? Introduces students to dominant theoretical approaches to race, ethnicity, and nationalism, and considers them in light of current events in Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Discerning the ethnic and racial dimensions of politics is considered by some indispensable to understanding contemporary world politics. This course seeks to answer fundamental questions about racial and ethnic politics. To begin, what are the bases of ethnic and racial identities? What accounts for political mobilization based upon such identities? What are the political claims and goals of such mobilization and is conflict between groups and/or with government forces inevitable? How do ethnic and racial identities intersect with other identities, such as gender and class, which are themselves the sources of social, political, and economic cleavages? Finally, how are domestic ethnic/racial politics connected to international human rights? To answer these questions, the course begins with an introduction to dominant theoretical approaches to racial and ethnic identity. The course then considers these approaches in light of current events in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the United States.

Visual materials such as cartoons, drawings and photographs can be invaluable resources for research, but often they lack clear information about what they depict. For instance, the "Egyptian Red Book" is filled with cartoons that do not identify their authors or the characters they represent with their drawings. Identifying the characters is one of the first steps toward understanding the meaning of the cartoons and, thus, the message of the "Red Book" itself. Here we will provide a guided exploration of the research process in search of the identities of the many characters found in "The Egyptian Red Book."

What kinds of wisdom do other ways of life offer our own? How do other perspectives on the world challenge our assumptions about life? These questions are addressed through the four fields of anthropology: biological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology, and archaeology. We examine family and kinship, religion, economics, politics, survival of indigenous groups, and Western influences from an anthropological perspective to gain appreciation for cultural and ethnic diversity. This class introduces students to the methods and perspectives of cultural anthropology. Readings emphasize case studies in very different settings (a nuclear weapons laboratory, a cattle-herding society of the Sudan, and a Jewish elder center in Los Angeles). Although some of the results and conclusions of anthropology will be discussed, emphasis will be on appreciating cultural difference and its implications, studying cultures and societies through long-term fieldwork, and most of all, learning to think analytically about other people's lives and our own.

This course focuses on evolution of contemporary politics and economics. Subject divided into four parts: (a) Context: historical and strategic perspectives, theoretical issues, and sources and forms of conflict; (b) Continuity: detailed analysis conflicts systems and their persistence, as well as regional competition and recent wars -- focusing on specific countries and cases; (c) Complexity: highlighting situation specific strategic gains and losses; and (d) Convergence: focusing future configurations of conflict and cooperation. Throughout the course, special attention is given to sources and transformations of power, population dynamics and migration, resources and energy, as well as implications of technological change.

An introduction and table of contents that describes and provides access to the different learning modules in the Egyptian Red Book course. The course itself is a virtual research project that centers on the nineteenth-century political satire "The Egyptian Red Book," which is part of the Travelers in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA). The course introduces methods of historical research and resources available from research libraries.