Courses
GLOBAL 101. Global Studies Gateway Course. 3 Units.
Gateway course for students wishing to pursue a Global Studies minor in one of six specializations: African, European, Islamic, Iranian, Latin American, and South Asian Studies.
GLOBAL 210. Urdu Literature and Bombay Cinema. 3 Units.
What are some of the major themes that drive modern Urdu literature as well as the ¿Muslim Social¿ genre of Bombay Cinema? How can we place these cultural texts within their historical context? Urdu literature and Bombay Cinema provide compelling windows into the crisis of modernity both within South Asia and Muslim societies. In this seminar, we will start with a discussion on the emergence of print culture and its impact on the world of Urdu poetry and an exploration of the work of reformers who viewed Urdu as ¿the language of secular Islam.¿ Next we will engage with the anticolonial Progressive Writers Movement as well as the trauma of Partition and its reflection in literature and film. The course will conclude with a discussion of the contemporary Indian nostalgia for a cosmopolitan Indo-Muslim past. Through projects and presentations, students will hone their written and oral communication skills. They will also practice approaching works of art and literature with a critical lens. Ultimately this course will provide students with a better understanding of the society, literary and film of Muslim South Asia. Literary cultures of Muslim South Asia are not a fixed and unchanging, but rather a set of representations that are constantly shifting and adapting to reflect the context of society. This course is for advanced undergraduate and graduate students.
GLOBAL 220. American Foreign Policy: Interests, Values, and Process. 5 Units.
This seminar will examine the tension in American foreign policy between pursuing U.S. security and economic interests and promoting American values abroad. The course will retrace the theoretical and ideological debates about values versus interests, with a particular focus on realism versus liberalism. The course will examine the evolution of these debates over time, starting with the French revolution, but with special attention given to the Cold War, American foreign policy after September 11th, and the Obama administration. The course also will examine how these contending theories and ideologies are mediated through the U.S. bureaucracy that shapes the making of foreign policy. ** NOTE: Initial registration for this course does not guarantee enrollment. All interested students should attend the first class. Final enrollment criteria will be detailed on the first day of class. There will be 10 seats for graduate students and 10 seats for undergraduate students.
Same as: IPS 242, POLISCI 217A
GLOBAL 249A. The Iranian Cinema: Image and Meaning. 1-3 Unit.
This course will focus on the analysis of ten Iranian films with the view of conducting a discourse on the semiotics of Iranian art and culture.nEach session will be designated to the viewing of a film by a prominent Iranian film-maker. Students are expected to prepare for class by having previously examined other available films by the film-maker under consideration.
Same as: COMPLIT 249A
GLOBAL 249B. Iranian Cinema in Diaspora. 1-3 Unit.
Despite enormous obstacles, immigrant Iranian Filmmakers, within a few decades (after the Iranian revolution), have created a slow but steady stream of films outside Iran. They were originally started by individual spontaneous attempts from different corners of the world and by now we can identify common lines of interest amongst them. There are also major differences between them.nThese films have never been allowed to be screened inside Iran, and without any support from the global system of production and distribution, as independent and individual attempts, they have enjoyed little attention. Despite all this, Iranian cinema in exile is in no sense any less important than Iranian cinema inside Iran.nIn this course we will view one such film, made outside Iran, in each class meeting and expect to reach a common consensus in identifying the general patterns within these works and this movement. Questions such as the ones listed below will be addressed in our meetings each week:nWhat changes in aesthetics and point of view of the filmmaker are caused by the change in his or her work environment?nThough unwantedly these films are made outside Iran, how related are they to the known (recognized) cinema within Iran?nAnd in fact, to what extent do these films express things that are left unsaid by the cinema within Iran?.
Same as: COMPLIT 249B
GLOBAL 249C. Contemporary Iranian Theater. 1-3 Unit.
Today Iranian plays - both in traditional and contemporary styles - are staged in theater festivals throughout the world play their role in forming a universal language of theater which combine the heritages from countries in all five continents. Despite many obstacles, some Iranian plays have been translated into English and some prominent Iranian figures are successful stage directors outside Iran. Forty-six years ago when "Theater in Iran" (a monograph on the history of Iranian plays) by Bahram Beyzaie was first published, it put the then contemporary Iranian theater movement--which was altogether westernizing itself blindly - face to face with a new kind of self-awareness. Hence in today's generation of playwrights and stage directors in Iran, all know something of their theatrical heritage. In this course we will spend some class sessions on the history of theater in Iran and some class meetings will be concentrating on contemporary movements and present day playwrights. Given the dearth of visual documents, an attempt will be made to present a picture of Iranian theater to the student. Students are expected to read the recommended available translated plays of the contemporary Iranian playwrights and participate in classroom discussions.
Same as: COMPLIT 249C
GLOBAL 250. Bollywood and Beyond: An Introduction to Indian Film. 4 Units.
A broad engagement with Indian cinema: its relationship with Indian politics, history, and economics; its key thematic concerns and forms; and its adaptation of and response to global cinematic themes, genres, and audiences. Locating the films within key critical and theoretical debates and scholarship on Indian and world cinemas. Goal is to open up what is often seen as a dauntingly complex region, especially for those who are interested in but unfamiliar with its histories and cultural forms.
Same as: COMPLIT 247, FILMSTUD 250B
