Examines in detail the works of several American authors. Through close readings of poetry, novels, or plays, subject addresses such issues as literary influence, cultural diversity, and the writer's career. Topic: American Women Authors. This subject, crosslisted in Literature and Women's Studies, examines a range of American women authors from the seventeenth century to the present. It aims to introduce a number of literary genres and styles- the captivity narrative, slave novel, sensational, sentimental, realistic, and postmodern fiction- and also to address significant historical events in American women's history: Puritanism, the American Revolution, industrialization and urbanization in the nineteenth century, the Harlem Renaissance, World War II, the 60s civil rights movements. A primary focus will be themes studied and understood through the lens of gender: war, violence, and sexual exploitation (Keller, Rowlandson, Rowson); the relationship between women and religion (Rowlandson, Rowson, Stowe); labor, poverty, and working conditions for women (Fern, Davis, Wharton); captivity and slavery (Rowlandson, Jacobs); class struggle (Fern, Davis, Wharton, Larsen); race and identity (Keller, Jacobs, Larsen, Morrison); feminist revisions of history (Stowe, Morrison, Keller); and the myth of the fallen woman (take your pick). Essays and inclass reports will focus more particularly on specific writers and themes and will stress the skills of close reading, annotation, research, and uses of multimedia where appropriate. A classroom electronic archive has been developed for this course and will be available as a resource for images and other media materials.

This Wide Angle video reports on the sale of The Sacred Heart Church in central Limerick, Ireland which has been holding services for almost 150 years.

"Coastal Clash" is a one-hour documentary focusing on the urbanization of California's coastline. The activities and lesson plans for the film "Coastal Clash" target students at the high school level and align with the California State Standards for Government. Students will study the concept of "private property" and the Fifth Amendment, analyze arguments, and evaluate evidence to develop their own opinions.

This image of Earths city lights was created with data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). Originally designed to view clouds by moonlight, the OLS is also used to map the locations of permanent lights on the Earths surface. The brightest areas of the Earth are the most urbanized, but not necessarily the most populated. (Compare western Europe with China and India.) Cities tend to grow along coastlines and transportation networks. Even without the underlying map, the outlines of many continents would still be visible. The United States interstate highway system appears as a lattice connecting the brighter dots of city centers. In Russia, the Trans-Siberian railroad is a thin line stretching from Moscow through the center of Asia to Vladivostok. The Nile River, from the Aswan Dam to the Mediterranean Sea, is another bright thread through an otherwise dark region. Even more than 100 years after the invention of the electric light, some regions remain thinly populated and unlit. Antarctica is entirely dark. The interior jungles of Africa and South America are mostly dark, but lights are beginning to appear there. Deserts in Africa, Arabia, Australia, Mongolia, and the United States are poorly lit as well (except along the coast), along with the boreal forests of Canada and Russia, and the great mountains of the Himalaya.

Examines the changing structure of American politics, economics, and society, and how those shifts altered cultural understandings of American identity from the Civil War to present. Subject uses secondary historical accounts and primary documents such as court cases, letters and diaries, photographs, and films to examine some of the key issues in the development of modern America: industrialization and urbanization; U.S. emergence as a global power; ideas about rights and equality; and the changing structures of gender, class, and race.

Examines the environment and social impacts of industrial society with a focus on the regulation of pollution, eliminating sweatshops, urbanization, and new risks. Analysis of current and emerging policies and programs that seek to respond to environmental problems, including governmental, private sector, and non-governmental responses through policies, plans, and campaigns. Modern industrial activities - which MIT engineers and scientists play a major role in - have significant environmental and social impacts. Trends towards further industrialization and globalization portend major challenges for society to manage the adverse impacts of our urban and industrial activities. How serious are current environmental and social problems? Why should we care about them? How are governments, corporations, activists, and ordinary citizens responding to these problems. This course examines environmental and social impacts of industrial society and policy responses. We will explore current trends in industrialization, urbanization, and globalization, analyze the impacts these trends have on human health, environmental sustainability, and equity, and then examine a range of policy options available for responding to current problems. The course will present key trends in both domestic and international contexts. We will examine four policy problems in particular during the course: (1) regulating industrial pollution; (2) regulating "sweatshops" and the broader impacts of globalization; (3) protecting ecosystems; and (4) protecting urban environments during development. We delve into specific cases of these challenges, including: chemical safety and toxics; computers, e-commerce, and the environment; biotech and society; sweatshops; and food production and consumption. Through these cases, we will explore underlying processes and drivers of environmental degradation. Finally, we will analyze opportunities and barriers to policy responses taken by governments, international institutions, corporations, non-governmental organizations, consumers, and impacted communities. Objectives and Aims An understanding of the complexity of environmental and social impacts of industry; An ability to critically analyze policy responses; An understanding of the roles of different actors and institutions in environmental and social controversies; Means to evaluate institutional barriers to environmental and social policies; New ideas for better integrating industry, environment, and equity; New strategies for regulation in the global economy; An understanding about personal responsibilities and roles in environmental and social problems.

Identify and fill in the six factors that affect population in this blank grid.

This video from Wide Angle reports on the increasingly difficult conditions for farmers in China that have caused many rural Chinese to flee the countryside.

In this video from Wide Angle, learn about the new challenges the farmers of Ireland are facing amidst the country’s economic boom.

This course will introduce the student to the history of Europe from 1800 to present day. The student will learn about the major political, economic, and social changes that took place in Europe during this period including Industrial Revolution, the First and Second World Wars, imperialism, and the Cold War. By the end of this course, the student will understand how nationalism, industrialization, and imperialism fueled the rise of European nation-states in the nineteenth century, as well as how world war and oppressive regimes devastated Europe during the 1900s. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: Think critically and analytically about European history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Identify and analyze the varying causes and effects of the Industrial Revolution in Europe; Identify, describe, and analyze the development of a coherent set of ideologies in post-Napoleonic Europe: liberalism, socialism, Marxism, nationalism, and Romanticism; Identify and describe the causes and effects of the era of reform and revolution in Europe in the 1820s and 1830s, as well as analyze the Revolutions of 1848; Describe and analyze the effects of urbanizationŃexpanding cities, rising public health risks, redefined social classes, the evolving nature of the family, and new developments in science and thought; Identify the age of nationalism in Europe between 1850 and 1914. Students will analyze FranceŐs Second Empire, ItalyŐs unification, GermanyŐs unification, and the modernization of Russia. Students will also be able to define the emergence of the modern nation-state during this period; Identify the causes and characteristics of EuropeŐs ŇNew ImperialismÓ of the late nineteenth century. Students will also be able to describe and analyze responses to this imperialism in Africa, India, the Middle East, and the Far East; Assess how and why World War I erupted in 1914. Students will also be able to identify and describe the characteristics and impact of the Great War; Identify and describe the Russian Revolution of 1917, including the fall of the Romanov dynasty and the Bolshevik Revolution; Identify and describe the cultural and social problems that characterized post-WWI Europe. Students will be able to analyze Modernism, ethnic and economic problems in central and eastern Europe, and the Great Depression; Identify and describe the rise of authoritarian regimes in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Students will be able to analyze Stalinism, Fascism, and Nazism; Identify and describe the causes and conflicts of World War II. Students will also be able to analyze, identify, and describe the Holocaust; Analyze and explain the Cold War. Students will also be able to analyze, identify, and describe the collapse of Communism and the Soviet Union, as well as the end of the Cold War; Identify and describe the post-WWII social transformations in Europe, including the rise of feminism, the rise of counterculture, and new developments in both science and technology; Analyze and interpret primary source documents from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, using historical research methods. (History 202)

In this video segment from Wide Angle, tour a village in the rural Chinese countryside.

Archaeology reconstructs ancient human activities and their environmental contexts. Drawing on case studies in contrasting environmental settings from the Near East and Mesoamerica, considers these activities and the forces that shaped them. In laboratory sessions students encounter various classes of archaeological data and analyze archaeological artifacts made from materials such as stone, bone, ceramics, glass, and metal. These analyses help reconstruct the past. This class introduces the multidisciplinary nature of archaeology, both in theory and practice. Lectures provide a comparative examination of the origins of agriculture and the rise of early civilizations in the ancient Near East and Mesoamerica. The laboratory sessions provide practical experience in aspects of archaeological field methods and analytical techniques including the examination of stone, ceramic, and metal artifacts and bone materials. Lab sessions have occasional problem sets which are completed outside of class.

In this Wide Angle video, view a city area where illegal migrants from rural China live and work.

Here we see an image of the Baltimore Maryland area taken with the Landsat satellite. Dates ranging from 1986, 1990, 1996, 2000. For over 26 years, Landsat images have been used to help urban planners understand where growth is taking place and help geographers evaluate how different urban planning programs effect population growth and land use.

Here we see an image of the Washington,DC area taken with the Landsat satellite. The dates of the images are from 1986, 1990, 1996, 2000. For over 26 years, Landsat images have been used to help urban planners understand where growth is taking place and help geographers evaluate how different urban planning programs effect population growth and land use.

Here we see an image of the Washington,DC-Baltimore area taken with the Landsat satellite on March 27, 1998. For over 26 years, Landsat images have been used to help urban planners understand where growth is taking place and help geographers evaluate how different urban planning programs effect population growth and land use.

Interlinked Challenges features bits of information about global challenges from the last 400,000 years. Challenges include: biodiversity, climate change, eco-migrations, economy, energy, food, health, hunger, population growth, poverty, security, sustainability, transportation, urbanization, and water.

Info bits are drawn from articles, podcasts, blogs, press releases, institutional reports, testimonies, encyclopedias, books, and documentaries. Each bit is referenced, date stamped, linked to the original article, tagged on multiple themes, and assigned a related image, which has its own description, author credit, date stamp, image permission, and back link. Connections are made to bits of info from the 2007 IPCC Report on Climate Change.

Interdisciplinary introduction to contemporary Latin America, drawing on films, literature, popular press accounts, and scholarly research. Topics include: economic development, ethnic and racial identity, religion, revolution, democratization, transitional justice, the rule of law, and the changing roles of women. Country examples draw on a range of countries in the region, especially Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico.

This course will introduce the student to United States history from the end of the Civil War to the present era. The student will learn about the major political, economic, and social changes that took place in America during this 150-year period. By the end of the course, the student will understand how the United States grew from a relatively weak and divided agricultural nation into a cohesive military and industrial superpower by the beginning of the twenty-first century. Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to: Identify the objectives of presidential and congressional Reconstruction following the Civil War and assess the impact of Reconstruction on Caucasian and African-American residents of the American South; Identify the origins of industrialization in the United States and assess its impact on native-born Americans and immigrants in the post-Civil War era; Compare and contrast American settlement of the trans-Mississippi West in the post-Civil War era with American economic expansion into Latin America and the Pacific Ocean in the late nineteenth century; Identify the origins of political and social reform movements in the United States in the late nineteenth century and assess how these movements altered political, economic, and social life throughout the United States in the early twentieth century; Describe how and why America became involved in World War I and assess the impact of American involvement on the postwar peace settlement; Explain how the Great Depression and World War II reshaped American society and politics; Explain how the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement altered America's standing in the global community and reshaped political and social institutions at home; Identify the origins of American military involvement in Vietnam and assess how the war led to social, political, and economic turmoil throughout the United States in the 1960s and 1970s; Explain America's place within the global community and evaluate how political and social trends in the 1980s and 1990s have shaped contemporary life in the United States; Analyze and interpret primary source documents from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries, using historical research methods. (History 212)