CAS Courses

COURTESY APPOINTMENT COURSES

Pawan Dhingra	Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology	Home Page
Eric Estes	Assoc Dean/Director MRC	Home Page
Harry Hirsch	Professor, Dept. of Politics	Home Page
Pablo Mitchell	Associate Professor, Dept. of History	Home Page

FYSP 143. Bodies in Play: Athletics, Identity, and Culture in America 4 hours
4SS, CD, WRi
In this class, athletics becomes a lens for better understanding historical and contemporary debates about the meanings of race, class, gender and sexuality. While exploring the ways that physical bodies are interpreted socially and culturally, students will be challenged to engage different questions and arguments about identity, sports, and bodies, and to read and write critically about a wide range of written and visual texts related to athletics, identity formation, and culture. Enrollment Limit: 14.
Mr.. Estes

HIST 257. Westward Bound: The West in American History 3 hours
3SS, CD
This class provides an introduction to the history of the American West, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will study key historical developments and events, such as the Mexican-American War, the California gold rush, trans-Pacific migration, suburban sprawl, and the rise of Silicon Valley. At the same time, we seek to understand how images of the West—from the “frontier” to the “promised land”--have reflected and shaped broader national interests and identities. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Ms. Lee

HIST 265. American Sexualities 3 hours
3SS, CD, WR
This course will examine the creation, maintenance, and reproduction of sexual differences and identities over a broad time span in North American history, beginning with Native American sexual practices and social formations, and stretching through the "modernization" of sex. Major topics will include marriage, changing gender roles, the intersection of sexuality with race and ethnicity, commercialized sex, reproduction, same sex sexual practices, contraception, sexual violence, heterosexism, danger, desire, and pleasure. Enrollment Limit: 40.
Mr. Mitchell

HIST 307. Democratic Engagement in the United States 3 hours
3SS
A consideration of the theory and practice of democracy in the American context. Students will pursue substantial research projects. Topics include the changing nature of citizenship, the decline of political participation, and the nature of political activism. Enrollment Limit: 14.
Mr. Hirsch

HIST 327. Borderlands 3 hours
3SS, CD, WRi
The American Southwest, roughly the US-Mexico border area from Texas to California, is a political, economic, and cultural crossroads. We will investigate interactions between Native Americans and Spanish colonists beginning in the 16th century, emerging U.S. economic and political control during the 19th century, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, land dispossession, the Mexican Revolution, immigration, civil rights, and twentieth century demography. We also discuss borderlands as a literary and symbolic concept. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 15.
Mr. Mitchell

POLT 203. The First Amendment 3 hours
3SS
This course will consider some of the historical, theoretical, and doctrinal issues surrounding the First Amendment to the American constitution (freedom of expression and freedom of, and from, religion). Topics include obscenity and sexual speech, libel, hate speech, school prayer and other forms of religious expression. A previous course in constitutional law is helpful but is not required. Class participation is essential and is a component of each student’s grade.
Mr. Hirsch

POLT 206. The Politics of Sexual Minority Communities 3 hours
3SS, CD
This course examines the history and politics of LGBT communities in the United States during the twentieth century. No background in the subject is required, though a general knowledge of American history and politics during this period is helpful. Topics include the relative freedom of urban LGBT communities before and during World War II, the repression of the 1950's, the Stonewall Rebellion and its aftermath, the politics of AIDS, and the place of LGBT issues in the African-American community. Class participation is essential and is a component of each student’s grade. Enrollment Limit: 25.
Mr. Hirsch

POLT 233. American Political Thought 4hours
4SS
A critical analysis of the main currents of American political theory from the Puritans to the present, with particular emphasis on the Founding period. Traditional American political concepts are examined and re-evaluated in the light of late twentieth century conditions. Some attention is given to the development of an American science of politics and to problems of national and group identity. Enrollment Limit: 30.
Mr. Hirsch

POLT 271. Gender, Sexuality and the Law 3 hours
3SS
This course will consider some of the historical, theoretical, and doctrinal issues surrounding sexuality and gender in American law. A previous course in constitutional law is helpful but not required. Topics include sexual privacy, military exclusions, and the construction of manhood, gender, and sexuality in the workplace and in education, sexual consent, and various topics in family law. Class participation is essential and is a component of each student's grade. Enrollment Limit: 25.
Mr. Hirsch

RELG 200. The Meanings of the Memorial Arch 1-2 hours
1HU, 1SS
This course examines the meanings of Oberlin’s Memorial Arch in light of Oberlin’s missionary experience and the Chinese experience of Oberlin’s missionary activity. Topics to be covered include: the history of Oberlin’s missionary activity and the so-called Boxer Rebellion; Chinese experiences with Christian missionary activity; the world view of the Oberlin missionaries. The course will also include an introduction to archival research methods. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 15.
Mr.Kamitsuka, Mr. Estes

SOCI 215. Contemporary Asian American Experience 3 hours
3SS, CD
The goal of the course is to introduce you to a range of contemporary issues dealing with Asian Americans and immigrants generally. The focus is less on each ethnic group’s differences and more on the trends that many groups face, with a focus on how they experience challenges and claim accomplishments. The course stresses the light that studying Asian Americans sheds on other groups and for the country as a whole, including immigration, identity, religion, family, gender, race relations, and other topics. We will read from a variety of disciplines, with stress on sociology. Prerequisite: One course in sociology. Enrollment Limit: 35.
Mr. Dhingra

SOCI 348. Constructing Immigrant Communities 3 hours
3SS
The U.S. is currently experiencing its highest rates of immigration ever – both legal and illegal. How are groups building distinct communities and/or assimilating? What is the reaction of the second generation to its minority status? Also, how should the U.S. respond to immigration? Is the discourse of multiculturalism helpful? Taking a comparative approach, we examine why groups immigrate, the kinds of communities they form, and with what effects on themselves, other groups, and the nation. Enrollment Limit: 25
Mr. Dhingra

SOCI 450. Beyond Us Vs. Them: How We Manage Contradictory Categories 3 hours 3SS, CD
We frame people as divided into competing groups (e.g. poor vs. rich, immigrant vs. American). But this is too simplistic, for we frequently inhabit contradictory categories (e.g. mothers in high-status careers, mixed races, gay Christians). This course advances current theories of group hierarchies and individual agency by examining how people manage conflicting statuses. We incorporate multiple disciplines, not only sociology. Students will research whichever groups interest them for a final project. Prerequisite: Senior sociology majors only. Consent of instructor required. Enrollment Limit: 12.
Mr. Dhingra