As you start thinking about winter quarter course registration, check out these unique Arts & Sciences offerings. They’re open to all students, have no prerequisites, and fulfill Areas of Knowledge requirements as noted.
ARTS 180: The Power of the Arts
This course is an introduction to the learning, activities, events, and professional opportunities available to students who study the arts, including art, art history, design, dance, drama, DXARTS, and music.
Liz Copland (Art + Art History + Design) and guest speakers
2 credits, VLPA
PSYCH 222: Introduction to Health Psychology
(listed as “Current Topics in Psychology” in My Plan)
What are healthy ways to cope with stress? What motivates healthy behavior? How can friends keep you healthy? This course will examine the relationship between psychology and health.
Cynthia Levine (Psychology)
4 credits, I&S
NEAR E 286A: Middle of What, East of Where? The Middle East through Travelogues
What have world travelers to the Middle East written about this region? What have they said about the world under their feet? Read travel writings by famed authors Mark Twain, Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Nasir Khusraw, Ma Huan, Freya Stark, Gertrude Bell, and others.
Aria Fani (Near Eastern Languages & Civilization)
5 credits, I&S, VLPA
RELIG 334/534, GWSS 334/534: Gender, Sex and Religion: Jewish and Christian Foundations
The Bible and its interpreters invented the gender categories and hierarchies that readers take for granted. This course will explore the construction of those categories and the debates about gender, sex, sexuality, and religion in Judaism, Christianity, and academia today.
Mika Ahuvia (Comparative Religion, Jewish Studies)
5 credits, DIV, I&S
LING 212: Infant Brain & Language Development
Learn how biological and environmental factors shape language development in childhood, and explore how early language and brain growth is linked to children's opportunities to learn worldwide.
Naja Ferjan Ramirez (Linguistics)
5 credits, NW
MORE COOL COURSES
ASTR 150: The Planets
Learn about the planets of the solar system, with emphases on recent space exploration of the planets and on the comparative evolution of the Earth and the other planets.
Toby Smith (Astronomy) - In-person section A
Nicole Kelly (Astronomy) - Online section E
5 credits, NW, QSR
HSTCMP 270 / JEW ST 270: From the Mediterranean to America: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Migrations in Global Context
Explore immigration experiences of Christian, Jewish and Muslims from the eastern Mediterranean. What was the price to become “really” American—or “white”--and how does it still echo today?
Devin Naar (History, Jewish Studies)
5 credits, DIV, I&S
SCAND 232 / C LIT 252B : Hans Christian Andersen and the Fairy Tale
Where do fairy tales come from? Why are children often the subjects of fairy tales? Read well-known tales and discover how the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen reinvented the concept of the child.
Marianne Stecher (Scandinavian Studies)
5 credits, VLPA
HSTAA 290: Deportable Workers: Racial Capitalism, US Empire, and Migrant Labor Activism
Minority workers often face precarity and uncertainty in the US. This class explores the history of migrant work in the US and its connections to empire and racial capitalism.
Roneva Catherine Keel (History)
5 credits, DIV, I&S
ASIAN 404A: Introduction to Asian Writing Systems
Writing is perhaps the most influential single invention in the history humankind. This course surveys the origins, historical development, and typology of the scripts of the world.
Richard Salomon and Zev Handel (Asian Languages & Literature)
5 credits, VLPA
ART H 220: Survey of American Art
Learn about art made in the United States or by American artists living abroad from the colonial era to the present. Painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, and other media will be included.
Koyla Rice (Art History)
5 credits, I&S, VLPA
GWSS 390B / CHID 480B: Feminist Social Reproduction Theory and Radical Politics of Care
(listed as “Intermediate Topics in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies” in My Plan)
Review the major sites of reproductive struggles around the world and collectively explore alternative forms of radical resistance against neoliberal ways of life.
Jey Saung (Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies)
5 credits, I&S
SPAN 206A: The Cultures of Oaxaca
This course offers an introduction to the history and cultures of Oaxaca, Mexico, covering issues such as religious syncretism, indigenous resistance to globalization, and gender identity. Course taught in English.
Jorge González Casanova (Spanish & Portuguese Studies)
3 credits, I&S, VLPA
POLSH 320A: Warsaw: A Window to Contemporary Polish History and Culture
What stories does a city tell? Discover how Warsaw’s monuments, cult locations, products and traditions reflect its urban culture and history, as well as those of the greater Polish society.
Justyna Zych, visiting scholar in Polish Studies, University of Warsaw
5 credits, I&S, VLPA
ITAL 352: Italian Cultural History
Explore Italian history and culture from the 13th to the 20th century, with discussion of major historical and cultural events.
Susan Gaylard (French & Italian Studies)
5 credits, I&S, VLPA
GERMAN 285A: The Queerness of Love
(listed as “Representation and Diversity” in My Plan)
Trace the limits and possibilities of queer love in the West. Is it the absolute form of love that Plato describes, or is it simply as monstrous as in Frankenstein? Readings and discussions are in English.
Richard Block (Germanics)
5 credits, DIV, I&S, VLPA
Want to see more? Check out highlighted courses on ArtsUW!
