Cool Courses for Autumn 2020

As you start thinking about autumn quarter 2020 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.

GWSS 290A: How to Have Sex During an Epidemic: Intimacy, Disease, and the Politics of Vulnerability
We will use intimacy to focus our discussions about the social, cultural and political upheavals that COVID-19 is creating. How does one study the “cultural” impacts of a pandemic? How do pandemics throw into question bodies — others and our own?
Chandan Reddy (Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies)
5 credits, I&S

CHID 332B/DIS ST 332/LSJ 332: Redesigning Humanity: Science Fiction and the Future of the Body
(listed as Disability & Society)
We will critique how science fiction has often reflected mainstream attitudes about disability, gender, and race, and read recent work in which minoritized communities are intervening in the genre.
Joanne Woiak (CHID)
5 credits, I&S

GERMAN 285A/C LIT 251A: Heroines and Heroes
What makes a hero? Why do we need heroes? What happens when heroes fail us? In this course, we explore the characteristics of heroes in literature and film from antiquity to today.
Ellwood Wiggins (Germanics)
5 credits, I&S, DIV

HSTCMP 247: Global Health Histories
Explore roots of the modern global health movement and current responses to disease crises by examining how governments, organizations, and people intervened in medicine and public health in past.
Adam Warren (History)
5 credits, DIV, I&S

ASTR 150 E: 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      

PHIL 118: Persuasion or Manipulation? The Ethics and Psychology of Influence
Influence is everywhere, from job interviews to social media. When is it respectful persuasion vs. immoral deception? Is using psychological insight manipulative or just good people skills?
Colin Marshall (Philosophy)
5 credits, I&S

COM 270: Interpersonal Communication
Learn how communication is essential to having satisfying interpersonal relationships and how to build communication skills such as providing support, managing conflict, and remaining resilient.
Kristina Scharp  (Communication)
5 credits, I&S, VLPA​

CHSTU 224: Life and Labor in the US-Mexico Borderlands
Learn about the lives and labor histories of people who have inhabited the US-Mexico borderlands and discover how their stories touch on themes central to contemporary society and politics.
Alina R. Méndez (American Ethnic Studies)
5 credits, DIV, I&S

PORT 365A/JSIS A 365A: From Samba to Hip-hop: Brazilian Society through Music
(listed as Mapping Luso-Brazilian Cultures)
Through music, including samba, MPB, tropicália, maracatu, funk, and hip-hop, this course will look at cultural representations of Brazil and Portuguese-speaking countries.
Eduardo Viana da Silva (Portuguese)
5 credits, I&S, VLPA

ASIAN 203: Literature and Culture of Ancient and Classical India
This course provides an Introduction to ancient and classical Indian literature in its cultural context. Texts in English translation.
5 credits, I&S, VLPA

DESIGN 150: What is Design?
Design creates positive change, is exploratory, and experimental. Designers can change the world we live in. Learn the concepts, practices, and research that comprise the practice of design.
Axel Roesler (Interaction Design)
3 credits, VLPA 

FRENCH 376A: Culture, Politics, and Society in France from the Religious Wars to Revolutions
Explore the development of intellectual, literary, and artistic cultures in the context of the political and social evolutions of the Renaissance through the 19th century in France. Taught in English.
Geoff Turnovsky (French)
5 credits, I&S, VLPA

ARCTIC 200: Indigenous Diplomacies and International Relations in the Arctic
This course introduces students to international relations and environmental politics in the Arctic, with an emphasis on the perspectives and knowledge of the region’s Indigenous peoples.
Jason Young (Canadian Studies Center)
3 credits, I&S

CLAS 122: Gateway to the Ancient Greco-Roman World
Explore diverse perspectives on the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome through art, architecture, literature, religion and science.
Christopher Waldo (Classics)
5 credits, DIV, I&S, VLPA

AIS 313: Southern Lushootseed Language
(listed as American Indian Language - Salish)
This fun and interactive class will teach you to speak, read, and write in Southern Lushootseed, the first language of this area. No prerequisites. Students of all majors and levels welcome!
Tami Hohn (American Indian Studies)
5 credits, Foreign Language requirement

Want to see more? Check out highlighted courses on ArtsUW!