Spring 2024 Course Focus Information 

Please use the information provided below to assist you in finding an IAH class that aligns with your interests.  

Please note: There are many more sections of IAH courses being offered in Spring 2024 than those listed here. This page will be updated as additional details about each section are made available by the faculty teaching these classes. 

 

IAH 201 (United States and the World) 

  • Sec. 740 – American Indians from Stereotype to Human Being 
  • Sec. 741 – The Muslim Experience in the US 

 

IAH 202 (Europe and the World) 

  • Sec. 011 – Cultures of Modern European Empires: North Africa and the Middle East 
  • Sec. 013 – The First World War: Roots and Consequences, 1815-1945 

 

IAH 204 (Asia and the World) 

  • Sec. 007 – Multicultural Civilizations: Asia and the Pacific 

 

IAH 206 (Self, Society, and Technology) 

  • Sec. 001-006 – Language and Our Lives 
  • Sec. 013 – The Promises, Potential, and Perils of Technology, Science, and Social Media 
  • Sec. 740-741 – Creativity and Innovation 
  • Sec. 742 – Russian and Eastern European Science Fiction 

 

IAH 207 (Literatures, Cultures, Identities) 

  • Sec. 009-020 – Environmental Writing and the Humanities 
  • Sec. 021 – The Sporting Public 
  • “In 1926, the German playwright Bertolt Brecht thought he’d glimpsed the future of theater: ‘15,000 men and women of every variety of class and physiognomy’ gathered to watch not a play by Shakespeare or Ibsen but a football match. If theater had any hope of surviving, he thought, it would need to incorporate the fun and spirit of athletic competition. Speaking for his fellow artists, he wrote, ‘We pin our hopes to the sporting public.’” 
  • Sec. 022 – Climate Fiction 
  • Sec. 025 – Poetry in Motion: Sports, Literature, and Aesthetic Experience 
  • Sec. 029-030 – College in Popular Culture 
  • “Considers shifting understandings of college life and the role of universities through literature, film, and historical records.” 
  • Sec. 040 – Mythologizing the North: Vikings, Past and Present 
  • Sec. 041-042 – How Crime Becomes Romanticized in Film and Media 
  • Sec. 044 – Intercultural Communication Through Film: East vs. West 
  • Sec. 045 – Monsters in Film and Literature 
  • Sec. 730 – The Fairy Tale in Culture and Society 
  • Sec. 732 – Poetry for Daily Life: The Power and Beauty of Words 
  • Sec. 733 – Climate, Environment, and Society in Science Fiction 
  • Sec. 734 – Narratives of (Im)migration, Identity and Belonging 
  • Sec. 735 – Modern Mexican Traditions and Identities 
  • Sec. 740 – The World of Sleepy Hollow 
  • Sec. 741-742 – Understanding China Through Literature and Film 
  • Sec. 743 – The Fairy Tale in Culture and Society 

 

IAH 208 (Music and Culture) 

  • Sec. 001-006 – Popular Music and Global Culture 
  • Sec. 007-008 – Pan-African Popular Music and Social Justice 

 

IAH 209 (Art, the Visual, and Culture) 

  • Sec. 001-003 – Arts and Community 
  • Sec. 005-016 – Dangerous Art 
  • Sec. 730 – Autopsy: Dissection, Display, and the Body; Visual Culture and Body Politics 
  • Sec. 731 – Totally Awesome 80s? The Influence and Challenges of Historical Narrative 
  • Sec. 740 – Advertising: Propaganda, Literature, Art and Entertainment 
  • Sec. 742 – Horror Cinema 
  • “Examines the last 60 years of the genre, its social commentary, and what these films can tell us about power, oppression, inequity, and justice in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and identity.” 

 

IAH 210 (Middle East and the World) 

  • Sec. 001 – Israel and Jerusalem 
  • Sec. 740 – Language, Culture and Society in the Arab World 

 

IAH 211A (Area Studies and Multicultural Civilizations: Africa) 

  • Sec. 730 – From African Kingdoms, Empires, City-States and Ethnic Nationalities to Modern (Postcolonial) States 

 

IAH 211B (Area Studies and Multicultural Civilizations: Asia and the Pacific) 

  • Sec. 002 – Chinese Calligraphy in Historical, Social, and Cultural Contexts 
  • Sec. 730 – Bollywood: Film and Society in India 

 

IAH 211C (Area Studies and Multicultural Civilizations: The Americas) 

  • Sec. 002-003 – Native American Resistance to Euro-American Assimilation, 1790-1940 
  • Sec. 005 – Cuba: The Forging of a Unique Cultural Identity 
  • Sec. 006 – Contemporary Muslim American Literature 
  • Sec. 007 – Religion and Race in America 
  • Sec. 740 – Images of Indians in Law, Politics, and Popular Culture 

 

IAH 221A (Great Ages: The Ancient World) 

  • Sec. 002 – Life and Experience in the Roman World 
  • Sec. 740 – The Fall of the Roman Republic 

 

IAH 221B (Great Ages: The Medieval and Early Modern Worlds) 

  • Sec. 001 – Vikings 

 

IAH 221C (Great Ages: The Modern World) 

  • Sec. 001 – Science Fiction, Technology, and the Future 
  • Sec. 004 – Food, Cultures, Identities 
  • Sec. 740-741 – Cities in a Global World 

 

IAH 231A (Themes and Issues: Human Values and the Arts and Humanities) 

  • Sec. 009 – Central European Cinema 
  • Sec. 010 – Humor in Eastern Europe and Russia 
  • Sec. 011 – “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”: Birds, Birding, and Human Values 
  • Sec. 730-732 – Global Fact Hunters: Testing Our Knowledge of the World and Exploring Our Unconscious Biases 

 

IAH 231B (Themes and Issues: Moral Issues and the Arts and Humanities) 

  • Sec. 002 – Media, Propaganda, and Justice 
  • Sec. 003 – The Problem of Truth in an Unstable World 
  • Sec. 004 – France and the Holocaust 
  • Sec. 005 – The Global History of Genocide 
  • Sec. 740 – Ethics and Empathy in Medicine and the Humanities 
  • Sec. 741 – Ethics and Photography 

 

IAH 231C (Themes and Issues: Role of Language in Society) 

  • Sec. 001-003 – Language and Mind 
  • Sec. 730 – Power and Social Identity as Manifested Through Language 
  • IAH 231C, in general, highlights language as a medium of culture in various societies.  Power and social identity as manifested through language receive key attention.  Before delving into the linguistic system, the course centers some core sociocultural and historical factors that have impacted the lives of many Ebonics speakers.  This purview is necessary due to some gaps in U. S. educational systems and firsthand experiences.   
  • Sec. 731 – Language and Power 

 

IAH 241A (Creative Arts and Humanities: Music and Society in the Modern World) 

  • Sec. 001-003 – Music and Identity 

 

IAH 241C (Creative Arts and Humanities: Global Cultural and Artistic Traditions) 

  • Sec. 001 – Puppetry Across Cultures 
  • Sec. 740 – The Evolution of British Pop Culture, with an Emphasis on Comedy, Since World War II 

 

IAH 241D (Creative Arts and Humanities: Theater and Society) 

  • Sec. 001 – Staging Drama: Representations and Interventions of Black Masculinity in Theater 
  • Sec. 730 – Theatre and Society 

 

IAH 241E (Creative Arts and Humanities: The Creative Process) 

  • Sec. 001 – The Creative Art in the Humanities: Creative Process 
  • Sec. 003 – Creative Process: Theory and Practice with the Medium of Puppetry 
  • Sec. 731 – How Creativity and Innovation Enrich Your Life: An Introspective Journey