Summer College

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

The class will involve a deep dive into human-technology interfaces, with future ethics taking a central concern as technology develops exponentially. Can regulations keep up? Do we need to consider robot ethics? Can human biases embeddedness within machine learning algorithms be understood or do they constitute black boxes? These are some of the questions this course will explore. Students will: • Understand current and future trends in AI • Develop critical thinking around ethics and philosophy of human machine enhancement • Learn how bias is encoded into algorithms • Debate how to regulate AI • Explore potential futures through literature and film • Debate robot personhood

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 204

Credits:

3

How have societies across time and in different places developed and practiced law? What can cross-cultural comparison and the use of ethnographic methods reveal about law, legality, and notions of justice? And how might these insights inform contemporary debates around criminal justice reform, freedom of speech, or attempts to address global economic inequality? In this course, students will embark on a critical introduction to legal anthropology. Course readings will immerse students in the ways different cultures have devised legal systems to resolve social conflict, prosecute and punish crime, create categories to organize social relations such as across gender or race, and to secure and maintain political legitimacy. We will also examine contemporary approaches to the anthropological study of law by looking at cutting-edge research underway including indigenous rights, international criminal law enforcement, transnational financial and economic regulation, migration, and the role of contemporary social movements in the United States, like Black Lives Matter, and globally, like climate change activism, to bring law closer to justice.

Some seats in this course are reserved.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

Soaring temperatures and increased aridity caused by climate change are predicted to make some parts of the globe virtually uninhabitable. What options remain available to policy makers, technical advisors, and citizens in the region? Carbon emissions have historically been produced by industrialized, ‘Northern’ societies, yet countries in the Global South are forced to bear the brunt, and asked to curb their emissions (affecting their economic development), is this fair? We will use anthropological perspectives and concepts with which to understand ethnocentric biases, power imbalances between ‘Northern’ and ‘Southern’ countries, and to explore Traditional Ecological Knowledge and its relationship to science. We will draw on Science Studies to analyze how scientific facts are constructed within cultural contexts, and explore how climate knowledge is constructed ordinary citizens (or not, in the case of climate change denial). Similarly, we will explore the limitations to technological progress and innovation in relation to paradigmatic behavioral change. Through ethnography, we will learn how to critique policy and development statements by taking local peoples' viewpoints seriously. Finally, as climate change is a global phenomenon, we will consider the ethical challenges associated with becoming a global citizen in an era of increasingly nationalist sentiments.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Lecture, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

This course surveys major work and developments in European and American painting, sculpture, and (to a lesser extent) architecture from c. 1300 to the present. We focus on changing aims, means, and perceptions of art amid political, religious, social, economic, and other contexts. What have artists, patrons, institutions, and others wanted works of art to accomplish, and in what ways? For more information about this and other courses in the Department of Art and Art History, please visit https://art.georgetown.edu

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Format & Location:

Studio, Walsh 395

Credits:

3

The various disciplines, techniques, and theories of drawing will be studied as the student learns to train his or her hand, eye and imagination in the assigned practical problems of drawing. Students enrolled in Studio courses must devote a minimum of 4 - 6 hours per week outside of class to develop and complete assignments. These times are flexible and can be rearranged with the instructor. No prerequisite. Fall and Spring.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

Photography plays a predominant role in how we explore and express ourselves, how we connect. Even after the pandemic, that will still be true. This class explores how the craft challenges, the cultural framework, and the photographer’s perspective are potential tools to help be better at making and understanding photographs.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025. Please note, due to the nature of this subject matter, five 45-minute synchronous sessions will be scheduled with students during the course for students to review their camera setup with the faculty.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
3:15 PM - 5:10 PM

Format & Location:

Laboratory, Walsh 290

Credits:

3

Photography plays a predominant role in how we explore and express ourselves, how we connect. Even after the pandemic, that will still be true. This class explores how the craft challenges, the cultural framework, and the photographer’s perspective are potential tools to help be better at making and understanding photographs.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Format & Location:

Studio, Walsh 295

Credits:

3

This is an introductory painting course that teaches the basic techniques of painting. Students learn to paint from observation, in a manner that results in a realistic depiction of the subject. However, the goal of this course is not to make copies, but to strike a balance between an art historical approach to painting with a contemporary one – fostering an environment that encourages students to think creatively and to experiment with the paint and the subject. This is achieved through live demonstrations, artist slide lectures, group, and individual critiques.

<br> Must attend the first class or lose the place. <br> For more information about this and other courses in the Department of Art and Art History, please visit https://art.georgetown.edu/courses/<br> This class is not available to audit.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Format & Location:

Studio, Walsh 297

Credits:

3

This course explores the practice and creation of unique artist books. Multiple bindings, sewing, folds, cutting methods, and techniques are taught to prepare students for personal expression through hand made books.

This course explores the practice and creation of unique artist books. Multiple bindings, sewing, folds, cutting methods, and techniques are taught to prepare students for personal expression through handmade books. <br> Must attend the first class or lose the place. <br> Some seats in this class are reserved. <br> For more information about this and other courses in the Department of Art and Art History, please visit https://art.georgetown.edu/courses/<br> This class is not available to audit.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
3:15 PM - 5:15 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Regents Hall 353

Credits:

3

At a time when we face a number of serious environmental challenges, an understanding of ecology is important. The objectives of this course are to provide nonscience majors with an introduction to ecologic concepts and to discuss several important environmental issues. Includes a survey of mechanisms and processes at work in the environment, with a focus on current understanding of environmental issues such as climate change, population growth, pollution, agriculture, and emerging diseases. The course explores environmental sustainability and the connection between individual actions and global processes.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Lecture, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

This course examines how evolution generates biodiversity, the abundant diversity of life on earth, the interconnectivity of living organisms, the major threats to biological diversity, and the tools that are used in conservation. In doing so, we will build upon current scientific understanding of how our natural world works and explore conservation management in practice. Students will also develop practical skills analyzing data and communicating science. Approaches to better connect the practice of conservation with the needs and priorities of a growing human population are emphasized.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

In this course, we will study biology in the context of three types of diseases: a multifactorial disease, a genetic disease, and an infectious disease. We will consider the biology from a human perspective, including research approaches and consequences—both the good and the problematic. From another angle, we will discuss the role that society plays in the progress of medical science. This course will help students to gain a deeper understanding of biology from proteins to cells to the cardiovascular system, while practicing scientific inquiry, strengthening their communication and critical thinking skills, and placing biology knowledge into a broader context.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
3:15 PM - 5:10 PM

Format & Location:

Laboratory, Reiss 264

Credits:

3

This course is designed for the non-science major students to stimulate their interest in the forensic chemistry and help them appreciate and understand the basic fundamental concepts of chemistry. In each chapter, chemical concepts related to a forensic topic are introduced in addition to a brief description of an analytical instrumentation or methodology used in crime investigation lab and a case study. The main purpose of this course is to deliver the chemistry concepts to students without going into great details.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Laboratory, Car Barn 170

Credits:

3

This course is intended for non-majors seeking an introduction to computer science and Python programming. The course covers the following topics: basic data types in Python, variables and constants, input and output, Python reserved words and built-in functions, operators, conditional control structures, repetition control structures, basic file operations, user-defined functions, value parameters, lists, scope rules, importing packages, elementary data processing and visualization, and elementary software engineering principles.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:45 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 170

Credits:

3

This course is intended for computer science majors and minors, and other students with a serious interest in learning C++ programming. The course covers the following topics: fundamental data types, the C++ string class, variables and constants, and their declaration, console input/output (cin/cout), assignment operators, arithmetic, relational, and Boolean operators, conditional control structures, repetition control structures, basic file operations, user-defined functions, value and reference parameters, scope rules, name precedence, function overloading, template functions, elementary software engineering principles, the Standard Template Library (STL), the vector class, elementary searching and sorting, user-defined classes, operator overloading, pointers, self-referential classes, dynamic object creation and destruction, linked lists, and recursion. COSC-1020 followed by COSC-1110 and COSC-1030 is the introductory sequence for the major and minor programs.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Format & Location:

Seminar, Intercultural Center 234

Credits:

3

In 1993, pioneering autistic activist Jim Sinclair delivered a seminal keynote speech titled “Don’t Mourn For Us” at a conference mostly for parents of autistic children. Widely considered radical for their time, Sinclair’s work developed in concert with other early pioneers of the neurodiversity movement including autistic activists Mel Baggs, Cal Montgomery, and Laura Tisoncik. Organizations such as the Autism Network International, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, and Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network infused ideals from the disability rights movement and early disability studies scholarship into social justice and civil rights focused activism. The neurodiversity movement remains contested space, with definitions of neurodivergence often disputed or misunderstood, and its issues ranging from abuse in residential treatment to autonomy for trans disabled youth, police brutality against neurodivergent people of color, and access to augmentative and alternative communication. This course uses a mixture of primary source material and recent academic texts to trace the origins and development of the neurodiversity movement from its birth in the autistic community to its connections today to the mad pride, broader self-advocacy, and disability rights movements. Readings include early work by activists and cultural workers including Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay, Naoki Higashida, and Bev Harp; and literature and contemporary works by scholars and artists by Anand Prahlad, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, and Remi Yergeau situating neurodivergence, madness, and disability as sociocultural phenomena with profound political implications and possibilities for transforming ableist values and making new worlds.

This course will run as a tutorial for Summer 2025. To register, please contact the instructor. Information about tutorials can be found here: https://registrar.georgetown.edu/tutorial-information/.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 309

Credits:

3

This course first develops simple graphical and mathematical models of decision-making by individual economic agents: consumers, workers, and businesses. We analyze interactions between these agents in product and factor markets using concepts of market demand, supply, and equilibrium. Finally, we demonstrate the efficiency of perfectly competitive markets, describe the conditions under which that efficiency arises, and examine market failures that occur when those conditions are not met.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 309

Credits:

3

This course first develops simple graphical and mathematical models of decision-making by individual economic agents: consumers, workers, and businesses. We analyze interactions between these agents in product and factor markets using concepts of market demand, supply, and equilibrium. Finally, we demonstrate the efficiency of perfectly competitive markets, describe the conditions under which that efficiency arises, and examine market failures that occur when those conditions are not met.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, White-Gravenor 202

Credits:

3

This course provides an introduction to macroeconomics. The first part of the course explores how GDP, inflation, unemployment, and other macroeconomic aggregates are measured in practice. The second part develops analytical models of macroeconomic performance and growth in the long run. The third part focuses on short-run (business-cycle) fluctuations and fiscal and monetary policies. Fall and Spring.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, St. Marys 111

Credits:

3

This course provides an introduction to macroeconomics. The first part of the course explores how GDP, inflation, unemployment, and other macroeconomic aggregates are measured in practice. The second part develops analytical models of macroeconomic performance and growth in the long run. The third part focuses on short-run (business-cycle) fluctuations and fiscal and monetary policies. Fall and Spring.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Seminar, New South FSC

Credits:

3

FMST 181-20: This course explores introductory film production techniques and strategies. Students will learn video and audio recording, scriptwriting and non-linear editing using Adobe Premiere Pro software. Visual storytelling concepts and creative post-production editing will be emphasized. In-class exercises and short film projects will allow students to become comfortable working in various film production roles. Additionally, critiques and screenings of student and professional film work will provide students with an understanding of the narrative film genre.

This course explores introductory film production techniques and strategies. Students will learn video and audio recording, scriptwriting and non-linear editing using Adobe Premiere Pro software. Visual storytelling concepts and creative post-production editing will be emphasized. In-class exercises and short film projects will allow students to become comfortable working in various film production roles. Additionally, critiques and screenings of student and professional film work will provide students with an understanding of the narrative film genre. Some seats in this course are reserved.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Lecture, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

This course surveys the history of documentary film (technological, stylistic, thematic, etc.), while taking up the theoretical debates around cinematic claims to truth and representations of reality. Students will examine how the documentary genre differs from other kinds of filmmaking, how documentaries make ‘truth claims’, and how these claims influence the ways in which these films are received and circulated. Beginning with the actualities of the Lumière Brothers, students will be exposed to multiple genres (e.g. ethnographic, cinéma vérité, experimental, self-reflexive) and filmmakers (e.g. Robert Flaherty, Frederick Wiseman, Albert Maysles, Errol Morris) while addressing the variety of arenas (e.g. scientific, civic, commercial) in which documentary has appeared.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
8:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 216

Credits:

3

Introductory French I (FREN 001) is the first course in the non-intensive Introductory French sequence and is intended for students with little to no previous background in French. This course covers the basics of French grammar and conversation through lectures, cultural readings, pronunciation drills, oral and written exercises, and conversational practice. Course materials include the Introductory French textbook, En Avant (Third Edition) as well as various French-language audio, visual, and written materials.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 221A

Credits:

3

Introductory French II (FREN 002) is the continuation of Introductory French I (FREN 001) and is aimed at preparing students for the Intermediate French sequence. Students who enroll in this course have typically taken Introductory French I (FREN 001) or have placed into this course by means of the Department of French & Francophone Studies' online French Placement Exam. This course continues with the basics of French grammar and conversation through lectures, cultural readings, pronunciation drills, oral and written exercises, and conversational practice. Course materials include the Introductory French textbook, En Avant (Third Edition) as well as various French-language audio, visual, and written materials.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
5:30 PM - 7:25 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 221A

Credits:

3

This course is the second half of the two-part course sequence at Level II. The course is organized topically to familiarize students with contemporary life in the German-speaking world. In Intensive Intermediate, students explore the following themes: • Nature, people, environment • Fairy tales • The German-speaking world from a view of a foreigner The primary text type that is used at this level to explore each theme is the story, — personal, public and literary stories. Students typically encounter each text first in class and then engage it further out of class in preparation for subsequent in-depth thematic discussions in class. Class discussions often involve role play and/or group work as a way to enhance conversational and negotiating abilities. The course’s emphasis on improving students ability to narrate, compare and contrast, express opinions, and establish causal relationships in speaking and writing lays the groundwork for the historical treatment of stories and histories in Level III. By the end of the level II students • will have a good understanding of contemporary life in the German-speaking world with some in-depth knowledge of major social, political and cultural issues; • will be able to comprehend authentic materials (video, native speaker conversation) with global comprehension and some fine point knowledge analysis; • will be able to produce spoken and written discourse from description to narration, to formulation of argument and/or hypothesis, incorporating an increasing variety of style and complexity.

Visiting students and students who have not taken German at Georgetown must take placement test prior to registering. Please contact Director of Curriculum, Prof. Marianna Ryshina-Pankova, at ryshinam@georgetown.edu for instructions on completing the placement exam. This course is the second half of the two-part course sequence at Level II. The course is organized topically to familiarize students with contemporary life in the German-speaking world. In Intensive Intermediate, students explore the following themes: • Nature, people, environment • Fairy tales • The German-speaking world from a view of a foreigner The primary text type that is used at this level to explore each theme is the story, — personal, public and literary stories. Students typically encounter each text first in class and then engage it further out of class in preparation for subsequent in-depth thematic discussions in class. Class discussions often involve role play and/or group work as a way to enhance conversational and negotiating abilities. The course’s emphasis on improving students ability to narrate, compare and contrast, express opinions, and establish causal relationships in speaking and writing lays the groundwork for the historical treatment of stories and histories in Level III.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:45 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 102

Credits:

3

Government 020 provides students with a broad understanding of the political system in the United States. It is one of the four introductory courses in the Department of Government. The goal of the class is to train students both as citizens and as scholars. As citizens, students will learn the shared history of U.S. politics and be able to think critically about how the system has succeeded and failed. As scholars, students will be introduced to the theoretical and analytical tools of political science as applied to American government. By the end of the semester students will 1) Be politically literate, knowing core historical and contemporary facts about the U.S. political system 2) Understand important theories about U.S. politics, including theories about the importance and functioning of political institutions, the roots of popular political preferences, and the functioning and consequences of elections.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Reiss 264

Credits:

3

Government 020 provides students with a broad understanding of the political system in the United States. It is one of the four introductory courses in the Department of Government. The goal of the class is to train students both as citizens and as scholars. As citizens, students will learn the shared history of U.S. politics and be able to think critically about how the system has succeeded and failed. As scholars, students will be introduced to the theoretical and analytical tools of political science as applied to American government. By the end of the semester students will 1) Be politically literate, knowing core historical and contemporary facts about the U.S. political system 2) Understand important theories about U.S. politics, including theories about the importance and functioning of political institutions, the roots of popular political preferences, and the functioning and consequences of elections.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 102

Credits:

3

This course offers a broad introduction to comparative politics, the subfield of political science concerned mainly with political ideas, institutions, and behavior within states. The course examines such themes as the origins and functions of states, formal institutions such as legislatures and executives, the variety and impact of electoral systems, the nature of democracy and autocracy, internal and external challenges to political order, and the impact of international and domestic factors on state performance. Discussions of theoretical and cross-regional issues will be accompanied by treatment of individual countries and contexts. This course counts for the Comparative Government distribution requirement. This course has been renumbered, effective Fall 2014. A student who earned credit for GOVT 121 Comparative Political Systems in a prior term should not enroll and cannot earn credit in this class.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
3:15 PM - 5:10 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Reiss 559

Credits:

3

This course provides an introduction to key theories, concepts, historical events, and contemporary issues in the study of international relations (IR). The course has six learning objectives: Students will come to understand (1) the fundamental concepts unique to the field of international relations; (2) the major theories of international conflict and cooperation, particularly realist, liberal, and constructivist theories; and (3) several watershed conflicts in the last century, including World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. Students will then apply this theoretical and empirical knowledge to make sense of salient contemporary issues in (4) international security (including nuclear weapons and proliferation, ethnic conflict, civil war, and terrorism), (5) political economy (including trade, finance, and globalization), and (6) global governance (including international law, human rights, humanitarian intervention, and the environment). In short, the course is meant to provide students with the tools to analyze contemporary international affairs and debates in a rigorous and sophisticated manner.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
8:30 AM - 10:25 AM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 205

Credits:

3

This course provides an introduction to key theories, concepts, historical events, and contemporary issues in the study of international relations (IR). The course has six learning objectives: Students will come to understand (1) the fundamental concepts unique to the field of international relations; (2) the major theories of international conflict and cooperation, particularly realist, liberal, and constructivist theories; and (3) several watershed conflicts in the last century, including World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. Students will then apply this theoretical and empirical knowledge to make sense of salient contemporary issues in (4) international security (including nuclear weapons and proliferation, ethnic conflict, civil war, and terrorism), (5) political economy (including trade, finance, and globalization), and (6) global governance (including international law, human rights, humanitarian intervention, and the environment). In short, the course is meant to provide students with the tools to analyze contemporary international affairs and debates in a rigorous and sophisticated manner.

International relations, as a field of political science and a discipline in the social sciences, attempts to explain and understand in a systematic fashion relationships among human beings and institutions in the global arena, such as international (inter-state) relations and relations including non-state actors, such as international organizations and non-governmental organizations. This course will introduce the student to the basic theoretical concepts, historical material, and problems and issues that affect contemporary foreign affairs and international relations, especially since the end of the Cold War twenty years ago. In doing this, a number of aspects will be examined: international political economy, foreign policy, international ethics, the use of force, human rights, international organizations, globalization, and the relationship between the industrialized states and the developing countries. The course is divided into three parts. The first part introduces the study of international relations in general, including theories of international relations as well as the major actors: nation-states, great powers, non-state actors, and the international system and society. The second part refers to international security (war and peace) and to international political economy. Finally, the third part refers to globalization and to global issues (such as environment, demography, and human rights), suggesting avenues for future research and alternative futures for global politics.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:45 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 301

Credits:

3

Who should rule? This is, in many ways, the fundamental question of politics that has been animating political thought to this day. Should it be the few or the many? The most virtuous or the most calculating? Or should we decide who rules by lot? In the course of considering this fundamental question of politics, we will come upon others: Do you have to obey an unjust law? Where does the legitimacy of the modern state come from? Are we tied to one another through a social contract? Who is included in such a social contract, who is excluded? What would true emancipation require? In pursuing these thematic questions, we will proceed both conceptually and in chronological order from antiquity to modernity, emphasizing both philosophical and historical approaches to political theory. Throughout the course we will explore key concepts such as the social contract, sovereignty, violence, freedom, and equality; we will address the relation between politics and language; and investigate the foundations and meaning of the quest for freedom and equality. Finally, throughout the course we will link these discussions to larger questions of liberalism and democracy. The course will ask you to read difficult texts, but it does not presume any prior experience with political science, political theory, history, or philosophy.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 205

Credits:

3

Who should rule? This is, in many ways, the fundamental question of politics that has been animating political thought to this day. Should it be the few or the many? The most virtuous or the most calculating? Or should we decide who rules by lot? In the course of considering this fundamental question of politics, we will come upon others: Do you have to obey an unjust law? Where does the legitimacy of the modern state come from? Are we tied to one another through a social contract? Who is included in such a social contract, who is excluded? What would true emancipation require? In pursuing these thematic questions, we will proceed both conceptually and in chronological order from antiquity to modernity, emphasizing both philosophical and historical approaches to political theory. Throughout the course we will explore key concepts such as the social contract, sovereignty, violence, freedom, and equality; we will address the relation between politics and language; and investigate the foundations and meaning of the quest for freedom and equality. Finally, throughout the course we will link these discussions to larger questions of liberalism and democracy. The course will ask you to read difficult texts, but it does not presume any prior experience with political science, political theory, history, or philosophy.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Reiss 284

Credits:

3

This course will examine how race and racism in global interactions play out.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Seminar, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

This course introduces students to a variety of theoretical perspectives and empirical processes linking gender to the dynamics of security and armed conflict, both at the domestic and international levels. After reviewing historical connections between gender, war and peace, it focuses on a comparative analysis of gender integration in the armed forces of western democracies. Major topics to be discussed are: the military as a gendered organization; gender equality, citizenship and military participation; women in combat; sexuality, sexual orientation and the military; masculinity and military culture; patterns and policies of gender integration. A final block is then devoted to analyzing the implications and challenges of a new gender regime in international security which has been developing since the approval of UNSC Resolution 1325 in 2000. This includes examining and discussing issues such as the participation of women in international operations; gender, crisis management and the security sector reform; and gender-based violence in armed conflicts.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
10:45 AM - 12:25 PM

Format & Location:

Discussion, Car Barn 172

Credits:

3

HIST 1099 is one of the required core classes in History for students in the College of Arts & Sciences and the SFS. All sections fulfill the same role, though each instructor will develop a specific topic. Please see individual section description or online syllabi for more information. The general aim is to introduce students to various elements of historical work and thinking, within the context of looking at a particular historical period, event, or theme in some depth. Though lectures and discussion will focus on particular topics, there will also be labs with class exercises, assignments, and readings that will allow instructors and students to explore how historians identify, define, and employ primary sources of all types, how historians analyze those sources, how they formulate questions, how they engage with the work of prior historians, and how they aim to reconstruct various elements of the human experience in particular times and places. Please note that if you receive AP/IB placement or credit, you cannot take HIST 1099 for credit. HIST 1099 must be taken at GU and cannot be transferred.

What makes someone a citizen? Is citizenship merely a legal designation, or is the definition broader, relating to a person’s acceptance as a full member of society? This course will explore these questions within the context of U.S. history, examining how issues of race, class, gender, and ethnicity have shaped ideas about legal, political, economic, and social citizenship from 1776 to 2000. The course will argue that citizen engagement and activism were central to the gradual expansion of citizenship rights over the last two centuries, and that this expansion in rights was neither inevitable nor linear, and that the process still is not complete. Through class lectures and discussions, lab exercises, a museum project, a midterm, and a final paper, students will gain a deeper understanding of how debates over citizenship and belonging have changed over time in the United States and how different groups have fought for their rights.HIST 1099 fulfills one of the Core requirements for COL and SFS students and must be taken at GU; it should ideally be taken in your first or second year. Please note that if you receive AP/IB placement or credit, you cannot take HIST 1099 for credit.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Performance, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

HIST 1099 is one of the required core classes in History for students in the College of Arts & Sciences and the SFS. All sections fulfill the same role, though each instructor will develop a specific topic. Please see individual section description or online syllabi for more information. The general aim is to introduce students to various elements of historical work and thinking, within the context of looking at a particular historical period, event, or theme in some depth. Though lectures and discussion will focus on particular topics, there will also be labs with class exercises, assignments, and readings that will allow instructors and students to explore how historians identify, define, and employ primary sources of all types, how historians analyze those sources, how they formulate questions, how they engage with the work of prior historians, and how they aim to reconstruct various elements of the human experience in particular times and places. Please note that if you receive AP/IB placement or credit, you cannot take HIST 1099 for credit. HIST 1099 must be taken at GU and cannot be transferred.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Discussion, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

HIST 1099 is one of the required core classes in History for students in the College of Arts & Sciences and the SFS. All sections fulfill the same role, though each instructor will develop a specific topic. Please see individual section description or online syllabi for more information. The general aim is to introduce students to various elements of historical work and thinking, within the context of looking at a particular historical period, event, or theme in some depth. Though lectures and discussion will focus on particular topics, there will also be labs with class exercises, assignments, and readings that will allow instructors and students to explore how historians identify, define, and employ primary sources of all types, how historians analyze those sources, how they formulate questions, how they engage with the work of prior historians, and how they aim to reconstruct various elements of the human experience in particular times and places. Please note that if you receive AP/IB placement or credit, you cannot take HIST 1099 for credit. HIST 1099 must be taken at GU and cannot be transferred.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Performance, Intercultural Center 234

Credits:

3

HIST 1099 is one of the required core classes in History for students in the College of Arts & Sciences and the SFS. All sections fulfill the same role, though each instructor will develop a specific topic. Please see individual section description or online syllabi for more information. The general aim is to introduce students to various elements of historical work and thinking, within the context of looking at a particular historical period, event, or theme in some depth. Though lectures and discussion will focus on particular topics, there will also be labs with class exercises, assignments, and readings that will allow instructors and students to explore how historians identify, define, and employ primary sources of all types, how historians analyze those sources, how they formulate questions, how they engage with the work of prior historians, and how they aim to reconstruct various elements of the human experience in particular times and places. Please note that if you receive AP/IB placement or credit, you cannot take HIST 1099 for credit. HIST 1099 must be taken at GU and cannot be transferred.

For centuries societies in Europe and the United States have looked at Middle Eastern women as voiceless objects of male oppression. These ideas are behind the French obsession with regulating the hijab and the United States’ arguments for invading the region as a means of liberating women. This course will challenge these hegemonic preconceptions by introducing students to the history of gender and sexuality in the Middle East. Readings and discussions will place the experiences of women in specific historical contexts and highlight the diversity of past women’s voices, lives, and actions. It will also explore the lives of queer men and women who, by the Middle Ages, were largely celebrated by Arabic and Persian poetry. The course starts at the birth of Islam in the seventh century and moves through the twentieth century, discussing continuities—and, most importantly, disruptions in regional conceptions of gender and sexuality. As a HIST 1099 course, “Women and Gender in the Middle East” aims to introduce students to the fundamentals of historical thinking and the discipline of history. This is done through a critical reading of primary documents. Students will take part in weekly lab activities, in which they will analyze sources like Quranic verses, women’s speeches, short stories, poems, photographs, and cartoons. They will learn to use them to base and support their arguments. This will include a careful reflection on the particularities of each document, in terms of who produced them, how, and to what intent. They will also investigate why that document, in particular, survived the centuries and reached us—and what it means that many others did not. Lab activities will serve as a ladder for students to write a history research paper. This course also aims to assist students in developing analytical skills. They will be encouraged to find ways to incorporate the conversations they have in class into their field of study and career. The course will insist, in particular, on the importance of critical writing in an age of artificial intelligence.HIST 1099 fulfills one of the Core requirements for COL and SFS students and must be taken at GU; it should ideally be taken in your first or second year. Please note that if you receive AP/IB placement or credit, you cannot take HIST 1099 for credit. Some seats in this course are reserved.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:45 PM

Format & Location:

Discussion, Car Barn 202

Credits:

3

The events and processes initiated by Christopher Columbus’s voyage in 1492 transformed the world of Columbus’s contemporaries and shaped the world we live in today. Drawing together the histories of four continents, Europe, Africa, North America and South America, this course explores the new Atlantic world created as a consequence of the Columbian encounter. History 106 examines the Atlantic world through the experiences of the people who inhabited it from the mid-fifteenth century through approximately 1900. The final two weeks explore the legacies of Atlantic history on Georgetown's own campus and beyond. A volatile mixture of people and pathogens, of labor systems and crops, of nations, empires, and subjects, contributed to the painful and unexpected emergence of this new Atlantic world. The unforeseen and, for many, tragic consequences of this process of cultural conflict and exchange lie at the heart of this class. Topics will include the destruction and reconfiguration of indigenous societies, the labor migrations of Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans, the new and transformed societies that developed in all four continents of the Atlantic world, independence movements, piracy, slavery, abolition, disease, commodities, and different strategies of accommodation, resistance, and rebellion.

Atlantic history is the history of four continents connected by an ocean; a new world brought violently into being by the voyages of Christopher Columbus. This course will provide a survey of Atlantic history from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries. We will cover topics ranging from the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the origins of modern racism, to the rise of capitalism and the modern nation-state. Along the way we will examine encounters between indigenous peoples and new settlers, epidemic diseases, religious conflicts and atrocities, colonialism and imperialism, and the creation of new cultural forms. Students should gain a good grounding in the key events and processes which historians study to make sense of this vast temporal and geographic expanse. More importantly, they should gain experience in interpreting and analysing historical documents, and thinking and writing like historians.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Performance, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

For College students, HIST 111 fulfills the core requirement in History for a broad introductory survey; these students complete the requirement by taking HIST 099. This course is a general survey and explores the rich history of people living in Africa from very early times through the 19th century. We will focus our attention on several regional case studies, including the early urbanism and medieval states of the West African Sahel, equatorial societies and kingdoms of the southern savannas, the Swahili coast and its hinterland in eastern and central Africa, and the Kongo Kingdom and Atlantic slave trade. We seek to understand transformations common to early human histories, such as the emergence of food production or the rise of centralized states, as well as the situational and contingent nature of ethnicity, slavery, gender, and wealth and poverty in the African context. We will also consider social achievements particular to Africans’ history, such as the multiple inventions of heterarchical forms of governance. We will study how persistent ideas from western cultures shaped what outsiders thought they knew about Africans and their histories at the same time that we try to understand what Africans themselves thought about their own actions and those of their ancestors. We will access these histories by analyzing a range of primary historical sources: archaeological artifacts and site reports, travelers’ accounts, art, oral traditions, photographs, the reconstructed vocabulary of dead languages, and many others.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Discussion, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

HIST 007 Intro Early History: World I or Europe I For College students, all sections of HIST 007 or HIST 008 fulfill the core requirement in History for a broad introductory survey; these students complete the requirement by taking HIST 099. Please note that if you receive AP/IB placement or credit, you cannot take HIST 007 (or 008 or 099) for credit. The various sections of HIST 007 have different focuses, for which see below; moreover, each instructor may develop or stress particular themes within her/his focus. Students are urged to consult syllabi available on line or at the History Department. The World I sections examine the history of the human experience from a global perspective. The bulk of the semester concerns societies and states from the time of ancient civilizations to about 1500 AD. The course pays particular attention to political, economic, and social changes, but also considers cultural, technological, and ecological history. The evolving relationship between human identities and their social and material environments forms one of the major points of analytical focus for this course. The overarching goal is to provide a general framework for the history of the world to help students understand the big picture, and to help them to contextualize what they will later study about history, politics, religion--in short, about the human experience. The Europe I sections offer an analysis of the major political, social, economic, diplomatic, religious, intellectual, and scientific developments in European Civilization to 1789.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Maguire 104

Credits:

3

For College students, HIST 1504 fulfills the core requirement in History for a broad introductory survey; these students complete the requirement by taking HIST 1099. Using primary and secondary sources, this course explores the period from independence to the present. We begin with the independence movements against colonialism, and analyze the diverse roles of Creoles, priests, peasants, indigenous groups and enslaved people. Post independence, we will examine the dynamics of frontier societies, conflicts between conservatives and liberals, the phenomenon of caudillismo, and the challenges of foreign interventions. Turning to the twentieth century, the class will focus on case studies of nation-building, modernization, industrialization and the political and economic mobilization of the working classes in selected countries. We will also study the impact of the hegemonic role of the United States on Latin America. The course concludes by examining contemporary issues, including environmental protection, the participation of women, neoliberalism and globalization, criminal cartels, migration, and the flourishing of Hispanic culture.

The overarching goal of this course is to provide students with a survey of Latin American history from the Independence Era through the early 2000s. Students should also expect to learn about analyzing primary and secondary sources, and synthesizing information from different media. We will also focus on how themes like gender, violence, justice, public health/disease, ethnicity and race, and international intervention change over time. History is the study of change over time, so understanding the roots of historical conflicts and movements will be key. The class will center around discussion of readings and other media.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
8:30 AM - 10:30 AM

Format & Location:

Discussion, Car Barn 302

Credits:

3

For College students, HIST 161 fulfills the core requirement in History for a broad introductory survey; these students complete the requirement by taking HIST 099. The course outlines the factors that have shaped the political and social features of the modern Middle East from 1500 to the present. Its geographic scope comprises the central provinces and territories of the former Ottoman and Safavid empires: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Arabia, and Iran. The syllabus emphasizes three analytical themes: first, the historical evolution of "Middle Eastern" polities from dynastic and religious empires in the 16th century to modern "nation-states" in the 20th; second, the impact of industrial capitalism and European imperial expansion on local societies and their modes of production; and third, the socio-cultural and ideological dimensions of these large-scale transformations, specifically the rise of mass ideologies of liberation and development (nationalism, socialism, rights movements, political Islam), and the emergence of structural and social imbalances (economic polarization, cultural/ethnic conflicts, demographic growth, urbanization).

One glance at a major U.S. news source over the past decade will leave a reader with certain impressions of the Middle East and North Africa, driven by the perspective of international trade and war in the region over the years. A closer look at this history; however, changes our understandings of this region. By learning about the history of the Modern Middle East, beginning with the reforms of the Ottoman Empire, we work to understand how the contemporary came to be and how people in the region understand its history. This course traces the histories of empire, revolution, and nation-state formation in the Middle East and North Africa from the late-eighteenth century to the twenty-first century. Engaging with both second and primary sources, students will engage with pivotal moments in the history of the region, including the Tanzimat reforms, World War I, Sykes-Picot and border formation, the Iranian Revolution, and the Arab Spring. Coursework involves regular lectures to familiarize students with the period and key questions in the history. On Thursdays, student discussion leaders will engage with additional sources on a select topic and present them to the class in a source-based discussion. On Fridays, we will work with the sources we have been using throughout the week to tie together the major themes of that moment in history.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Format & Location:

Discussion, Intercultural Center 204

Credits:

3

This lecture-based course is a survey of Russian and Eurasian history from the post-Napoleonic era to the present, covering the Russian Revolution, Stalinism, the Cold War, and the collapse of communism. It emphasizes the global connections of Imperial Russian history as well as the role of women, sexuality, and national minorities

The proposed course is the second part of the regional survey on Russian history, covering its socio-economic, cultural, and political developments from 1801 to the present. The classes are organized chronologically from the reign of Paul I Romanov through the post-socialist era and Russia's war against Ukraine. Throughout the course, we will touch upon such significant milestones as the 1812 war against Napoleon, the Decembrist uprising, the period of the Great Reforms, the 1905 and 1917 Revolutions, Stalinism, World War II, the Cold War, Perestroika, and beyond..This HIST 1701 summer course delves into the topics of Russian imperialism and colonial expansion and uncovers the differences between the tsarist and Bolshevik approaches to governing ethnic and religious minorities in Western borderlands, Caucasus, Siberia, and Central Asia. Our in-class discussions will explore to what extent, for example, the Soviet Union, titled the “evil empire,” developed into a new type of imperial formation? How did its nationalities policy differ from the ones of the Romanovs? We will also examine how and why the modern Russian regime uses the imperial and Soviet past to legitimize territorial claims and militarism against Georgia and Ukraine. This class intends to present a global outlook on national history. For example, we will pay particular attention to the transnational pathways of such ideologies as Slavophilism and Westernism and the fin-de-siecle Russian revolutionary movements. The current course follows several main objectives. Firstly, it introduces students to Russian history and culture from the 19th century to the present with the critical observation of its, at times, controversial legacies. Secondly, it aims to develop students' skills in primary source analysis and interpretation of different historical narratives.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Lecture, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

Would you like to cultivate a deeper understanding of the relationship between the West and the Middle East? This course is an introduction to late medieval and early modern interactions between Europe and the Islamic world through historical travel narratives. Students engage with the shared histories of daily interaction between these regions and are exposed to the methodologies and paradigms driving scholarship on Europe’s pre-modern relationship with portions of Asia and the Middle East. Texts are used to explore episodes of conflict, mediation, reconciliation, trade, patronage, pilgrimage, captivity, conversion, apostasy and intellectual exchange. The course is of interest to students exploring the history of science, gender, sexuality, warfare, geography, economics, art history and Area Studies.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, White-Gravenor 202

Credits:

3

Born in 1775 as a loose confederation of former British colonies on the periphery of the Atlantic World, the United States rose to a position of world superpower over the course of 170 years. How can we account for this remarkable development in world history? While we tend to take an exclusive look at the United States to understand its history, we cannot understand its evolution without understandings its complex and multilayered interactions with the rest of the world. In this course, we will explore how the United States’ security environment, government capabilities, economic interests, social changes, and cultural forces changed over time and, combined together, powerfully shaped the shifting course of U.S. foreign relations through 1945. We will also examine how the United States developed and exercised hard power, soft power, and economic power in achieving its key policy objectives. The key events covered in the course include: the American Revolution, the War of 1812, territorial expansion, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the entry into the China market, and the two world wars. In examining these events, we will ask: What drove U.S. foreign policy? Why did the United States go to war? How did it make peace? Was the United States isolationist before 1945? If not, what was it?

Born in 1776 as a loose confederation of former British colonies on the periphery of the Atlantic World, the United States rose to a position of world superpower over the course of 170 years. How can we account for this remarkable development in world history? While we tend to take an exclusive look at the United States to understand its history, we cannot understand its evolution without understandings its complex and multilayered interactions with the rest of the world. In this course, we will explore how the United States’ security environment, government capabilities, economic interests, social changes, and cultural forces changed over time and, combined together, powerfully shaped the shifting course of U.S. foreign relations through 1945. We will also examine how the United States developed and exercised hard power, soft power, and economic power in achieving its key policy objectives. The key events covered in the course include: the American Revolution, the War of 1812, territorial expansion, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the entry into the China market, and the two world wars. In examining these events, we will ask: What drove U.S. foreign policy? Why did the United States go to war? How did it make peace? Was the United States isolationist before 1945? If not, what was it?

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 302

Credits:

3

A first course on tools and approaches for making marketing decisions. Marketing is viewed as a broad technology for influencing behavior, beyond functions like selling and advertising. Topics covered include consumer behavior, marketing research, and marketing planning, with emphasis on marketing mix decisions: product strategy, communications, pricing, and distribution.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
3:15 PM - 5:10 PM

Format & Location:

Class, Car Barn 201

Credits:

3

A first course on tools and approaches for making marketing decisions. Marketing is viewed as a broad technology for influencing behavior, beyond functions like selling and advertising. Topics covered include consumer behavior, marketing research, and marketing planning, with emphasis on marketing mix decisions: product strategy, communications, pricing, and distribution.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Maguire 102

Credits:

3

This course is intended as a preparation for MATH-1350: Calculus I. Topics include: algebraic operations, factoring, exponents and logarithms, polynomials, rational functions, trigonometric functions, inverse trigonometric functions, and the logarithmic and exponential functions.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 1:25 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 205

Credits:

4

Prerequisites: MATH 1001 or minimum score of 75 on the Calculus Readiness Assessment (CRA) Description: This course is an introduction to single variable calculus. It covers calculus of single variable functions, limits, continuity, derivatives, Mean Value Theorem, applications of the derivative, L’Hôpital’s Rule, antiderivatives, Riemann sums, the indefinite and definite integral, basic techniques of integration, and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. In this course, students review and extend their knowledge of the exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric and inverse trigonometric functions.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
8:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Reiss 502

Credits:

4

Prerequisites: MATH 1001 or minimum score of 75 on the Calculus Readiness Assessment (CRA) Description: This course is an introduction to single variable calculus. It covers calculus of single variable functions, limits, continuity, derivatives, Mean Value Theorem, applications of the derivative, L’Hôpital’s Rule, antiderivatives, Riemann sums, the indefinite and definite integral, basic techniques of integration, and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. In this course, students review and extend their knowledge of the exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric and inverse trigonometric functions.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 1:25 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 213

Credits:

4

This is the second course in the Calculus sequence and is a continuation of MATH-1350. Topics include techniques of integration, applications of the definite integral, improper integrals, sequences and series including Taylor's theorem and power series, and polar and parametric curves.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Jul 22, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Reiss 502

Date & Time:

Jul 23, 2025
Wednesday
1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, St. Marys 126

Date & Time:

Jul 24 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Reiss 502

Credits:

4

This is the second course in the Calculus sequence and is a continuation of MATH-1350. Topics include techniques of integration, applications of the definite integral, improper integrals, sequences and series including Taylor's theorem and power series, and polar and parametric curves.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
8:30 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 205A

Credits:

6

This course introduces students to the basic structures of the Persian language. All four language skills: speaking, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing will be taught equally using the immersion method. This method will help students achieve confidence communicating in the Persian language. Aspects of Persian culture will be introduced on a regular basis. At the end of this course, students will be able to: 1. Have basic level conversation in Persian: 1st level 5 minutes, 2nd level 10 minutes. 2. Read texts of elementary level: 1st level 50- 100 2nd level 100-200 words. 3. Write short paragraphs with reasonable accuracy: 1st level 50- 100 2nd level 100-200 words. 4. Develop cultural awareness through readings, films, music, etc.

This course will run as a tutorial for Summer 2025. To register, please contact the instructor. Information about tutorials can be found here: https://registrar.georgetown.edu/tutorial-information/.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
8:30 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 205A

Credits:

6

This course introduces students to the basic structures of the Persian language. All four language skills: speaking, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing will be taught equally using the immersion method. This method will help students achieve confidence communicating in the Persian language. Aspects of Persian culture will be introduced on a regular basis. At the end of this course, students will be able to: 1. Have basic level conversation in Persian: 1st level 5 minutes, 2nd level 10 minutes. 2. Read texts of elementary level: 1st level 50- 100 2nd level 100-200 words. 3. Write short paragraphs with reasonable accuracy: 1st level 50- 100 2nd level 100-200 words. 4. Develop cultural awareness through readings, films, music, etc.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
3:15 PM - 5:15 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, White-Gravenor 204

Credits:

3

Philosophy 010 is a general introduction to philosophical ethics. Questions addressed include: What is the nature of morality? How do we know what is right and what is wrong? What sorts of moral obligations do we stand under? What are our duties to others and to ourselves? What is the nature of virtue and vice? How do we assess moral character? Readings are generally drawn from both traditional and contemporary philosophical authors. Reading lists and specific topics addressed vary from semester to semester and from instructor to instructor, as do required work and expectations. Please consult the syllabi posted online by individual instructors for more detail.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, White-Gravenor 204

Credits:

3

Philosophy 010 is a general introduction to philosophical ethics. Questions addressed include: What is the nature of morality? How do we know what is right and what is wrong? What sorts of moral obligations do we stand under? What are our duties to others and to ourselves? What is the nature of virtue and vice? How do we assess moral character? Readings are generally drawn from both traditional and contemporary philosophical authors. Reading lists and specific topics addressed vary from semester to semester and from instructor to instructor, as do required work and expectations. Please consult the syllabi posted online by individual instructors for more detail.

Some seats in this course are reserved.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

An introduction to some of the central questions of philosophy through the writings of both traditional and contemporary authors. Questions addressed may include the relationship between mind and matter; between causation and free will; meaning, truth, and reality; knowledge, perception, belief, and thought. Topics and readings vary from semester to semester and instructor to instructor, as do the course requirements and expectations. Please consult the syllabi of the individual instructors for more detail.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, White-Gravenor 213

Credits:

3

An introduction to some of the central questions of philosophy through the writings of both traditional and contemporary authors. Questions addressed may include the relationship between mind and matter; between causation and free will; meaning, truth, and reality; knowledge, perception, belief, and thought. Topics and readings vary from semester to semester and instructor to instructor, as do the course requirements and expectations. Please consult the syllabi of the individual instructors for more detail.

Some seats in this course are reserved.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

This course will treat climate change as an ethical issue. Topics covered may include: the moral relationship between humans and non-human nature, obligations to humans that exist now and those that will likely exist in the future, cost benefit analyses, and different types of responsibility. Specific topics and readings will vary by semester and instructor. Consult the relevant semester’s syllabus for more information.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Reiss 539

Credits:

3

In this 3-credit, algebra based course, we will study the basic principles used to describe and explain physical phenomena. We will cover topics in Classical Physics, which include Mechanics, Waves, Sound, Heat, Electricity, Magnetism, Light Waves, basic ideas in Quantum Physics, and time permitting, a brief introduction to Special Theory of Relativity. This course is appropriate for nonscience majors and for those who desire a more conceptual and less mathematical introduction to physics before taking a two semester physics course required for science majors, and for those interested in gaining insight into the physical laws that governs observed phenomena. We will emphasize the conceptual understanding of the laws of nature and their applications in explaining and predicting the way matter and energy interact.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

A performance course designed to introduce basic principles of communication and the classical roots from which they were derived. Students will prepare and present speeches in both formal platform settings and informal group discussions. While attention will be given to extemporaneous delivery, the emphasis of the course is on work behind-the-scenes: organizing ideas, structuring messages, and adapting messages for specific audiences. Attention will also be given to methods for evaluating oral discourse. Students who experience anxiety in public speaking situations are encouraged to enroll. Fall and Spring..

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of storytelling in connection with public speaking. One of the most important skills in the 21st century is the ability to authentically tell the story of who you are, what matters to you, and the change you want to see in the world. Since humans gathered around the campfire stories have been used to bring people together, tell our collective history, relay critical information, and inspire social change. In this course, we will examine approaches to structuring stories to engage specific audiences and performance techniques to deliver a message with confidence and authenticity. A particular focus of the course will be how stories are a critical communication tool in business, science, education, government, healthcare, and non-profit sectors. Students will be asked to apply storytelling to their own areas of study and personal interests through course readings, discussions, assignments, and presentations. Students will develop a portfolio demonstrating the ability to use stories to share knowledge, pitch a new idea or product, spark social change, connect to an audience using humor, lead people into the future, and communicate who you are for a job interview.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

This introductory course surveys the field and acquaints the student with the major areas of Psychology, including perception, memory, cognition, neuroscience, learning, motivation, emotion, personality, social behavior, development, and psychopathology. PSYC-001. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY IS A PREREQUISITE FOR ALL OTHER PSYCHOLOGY COURSES.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Reiss 284

Credits:

3

This introductory course surveys the field and acquaints the student with the major areas of Psychology, including perception, memory, cognition, neuroscience, learning, motivation, emotion, personality, social behavior, development, and psychopathology. PSYC-001. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY IS A PREREQUISITE FOR ALL OTHER PSYCHOLOGY COURSES.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

Required course for Sociology majors and minors. Introduction to Sociology is the systematic study of human society, social life, and behavior. The purpose of this course is to offer an overview of the major concepts, theories, and methodologies of sociology that will enable you to think sociologically. We will examine important issues and institutions of contemporary society, including culture, socialization, stratification, social class, gender, race, ethnicity, education, religion, family, and social movements in order to develop an awareness of the connection between personal experiences and the larger society. Some seats are reserved.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Maguire 103

Credits:

3

Required course for Sociology majors and minors. Introduction to Sociology is the systematic study of human society, social life, and behavior. The purpose of this course is to offer an overview of the major concepts, theories, and methodologies of sociology that will enable you to think sociologically. We will examine important issues and institutions of contemporary society, including culture, socialization, stratification, social class, gender, race, ethnicity, education, religion, family, and social movements in order to develop an awareness of the connection between personal experiences and the larger society. Some seats are reserved.

Some seats in this course are reserved.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 221B

Credits:

3

This course is for students with some prior high school knowledge of Spanish. Students will fulfill their needs to 1) develop their ability to communicate satisfactorily in Spanish in everyday practical situations that may occur either here in the U.S or abroad, 2) to acquire some of the skills necessary for effective reading in Spanish, and 3) to write Spanish with a satisfactory level of accuracy. Students will be exposed to aspects of Hispanic culture via videos and written texts. Three key components that will assist students to attain these three goals are vocabulary, language awareness, and practice/participation.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
5:30 PM - 7:25 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 223A

Credits:

3

This course is a continuation of SPAN 001/003 in which students will further fulfill their needs to 1) develop their ability to communicate satisfactorily in Spanish in everyday practical situations that may occur either here in the U.S or abroad, 2) to acquire some of the skills necessary for effective reading in Spanish, and 3) to write Spanish with a satisfactory level of accuracy. Students will be exposed to aspects of Hispanic culture via videos and written texts. Three key components that will assist students to attain these three goals are vocabulary, language awareness, and practice/participation.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
8:30 AM - 11:46 AM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 223B

Credits:

6

Along with Intensive Intermediate Spanish, this course was originally developed for FLL students and therefore assumes a certain level of motivation to learn languages. The course aims to develop students' ability to communicate in Spanish and to help them acquire the skills necessary to understand oral and written texts. Different aspects of Hispanic culture will be introduced in reading passages and videos. Grading criteria are based on lexical breadth, grammatical accuracy, reading and listening comprehension skills, and a basic knowledge of Spanish-speaking areas.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 223A

Credits:

3

In this intermediate course, students will reinforce their knowledge of the first year courses and further develop their ability to 1) communicate satisfactorily in Spanish in everyday practical situations that may occur either here in the U.S or abroad, 2) continue acquiring some of the skills necessary for effective reading in Spanish, and 3) write Spanish with a satisfactory level of accuracy. Students will be exposed to aspects of Hispanic culture and literature via movies and written texts. Three key components that will assist students to attain these three goals are vocabulary, language awareness, and practice/participation. Some seats in this class are reserved.

Students who have not previously taken a Spanish class at Georgetown must take a placement test prior to registering for this course.The Spanish Placement Test is available online in Canvas. Please contact Prof. Morales-Front (morales@georgetown.edu) if you have problems finding or accessing the test.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
5:30 PM - 7:25 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 223B

Credits:

3

This course is a continuation of SPAN 021 that further develops students’ ability to 1) communicate satisfactorily in Spanish in everyday practical situations that may occur either here in the U.S or abroad, 2) continue acquiring some of the skills necessary for effective reading in Spanish, and 3) write Spanish with a satisfactory level of accuracy. Students will be exposed to aspects of Hispanic culture and literature via movies and written texts. Three key components that will assist students to attain these three goals are vocabulary, language awareness, and practice/participation.

Students who have not previously taken a Spanish class at Georgetown must take a placement test prior to registering for this course.The Spanish Placement Test is available online in Canvas. Please contact Prof. Morales-Front (morales@georgetown.edu) if you have problems finding or accessing the test.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Jul 14, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
8:30 AM - 11:46 AM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 216

Date & Time:

Jul 15 to Jul 17, 2025
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
8:30 AM - 11:46 AM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 113

Date & Time:

Jul 18 to Jul 22, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Friday
8:30 AM - 11:46 AM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 206B

Date & Time:

Jul 23 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
8:30 AM - 11:46 AM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 205B

Credits:

6

Continuing from Intensive Basic Spanish, and designed for highly motivated students who seek daily contact with the language, this course is designed to further develop students' ability to communicate satisfactorily in Spanish in everyday situations and to help you acquire skills necessary for effective speaking and writing in Spanish. A second goal is to develop your cross-cultural competence and awareness, i.e., your ability to critically understand, analyze, and reflect on a broad spectrum of narratives (biographies, news, interviews and reports, historical narratives, music) in written and visual forms (television news, newspaper articles, interviews and reports, and cinema) with Spanish as the primary communication tool. Class time is devoted to active and constant communication with your classmates and the instructor. Prior to every class meeting, you are expected to complete independent work, either to consolidate the knowledge and linguistic skills developed during class time or to prepare for in-class discussions. Independent work includes active reading and listening to multimedia materials as well as a number of computer-based assignments; in the classroom, personal computer/cell phone use is reduced to a minimum. Our third goal is to promote awareness of questions of normativity and deviance, stigma and power, and specifically how Spanish-speaking communities grapple with physical and mental differences. This course counts towards the minor in Disability Studies. Assessment: three written tests, one cumulative final exam, compositions, oral exams, and daily tasks.

Students who have not previously taken a Spanish class at Georgetown must take a placement test prior to registering for this course.The Spanish Placement Test is available online in Canvas. Please contact Prof. Morales-Front (morales@georgetown.edu) if you have problems finding or accessing the test.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

The Problem of God introduces students to the study of religion and theology, broadly understood. Our aim in the course is not only to introduce students to different religious traditions and perspectives, but, as the title of the course suggests, to encourage critical reflection on some of the most challenging questions relating to religious commitment. In other words, the goal of the course is not only to help students learn about religious traditions, but to reflect critically on what it means to be a religious person, what it means to study religion and theology, and what the significance of religious belief is. It is one of two courses (along with IBL) that fulfill the first Theology course requirement at Georgetown, and the importance of promoting critical reflection on religious belief through this requirement has taken on new meaning in a post-9/11 world, in which religious literacy and understanding are more important than they have ever been. Mirroring the diversity of our faculty, the course is taught in a diverse number of ways, including a variety of different primary texts and focusing on a variety of significant questions relating to religion and theology. Georgetown graduates consistently report that The Problem of God was one of the most important courses that they took during their time at Georgetown.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 205

Credits:

3

The Problem of God introduces students to the study of religion and theology, broadly understood. Our aim in the course is not only to introduce students to different religious traditions and perspectives, but, as the title of the course suggests, to encourage critical reflection on some of the most challenging questions relating to religious commitment. In other words, the goal of the course is not only to help students learn about religious traditions, but to reflect critically on what it means to be a religious person, what it means to study religion and theology, and what the significance of religious belief is. It is one of two courses (along with IBL) that fulfill the first Theology course requirement at Georgetown, and the importance of promoting critical reflection on religious belief through this requirement has taken on new meaning in a post-9/11 world, in which religious literacy and understanding are more important than they have ever been. Mirroring the diversity of our faculty, the course is taught in a diverse number of ways, including a variety of different primary texts and focusing on a variety of significant questions relating to religion and theology. Georgetown graduates consistently report that The Problem of God was one of the most important courses that they took during their time at Georgetown.

Some seats in this course are reserved.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 25, 2025

Format & Location:

Online, Online ASYNC

Credits:

3

Introduction to Biblical Literature promotes the close reading of ancient texts, first on their own terms and then in relation to how they have been interpreted over time and may be interpreted today. As such, IBL teaches students to think critically about what a text is, and how it functions for those who value it. Learning to read texts in context challenges students to question the assumptions they bring to biblical texts and to enter into an adventure of discovery of the Bible, its origins and significance over time. IBL asks students to become “strangers in a strange land” as they confront the various “distances” they experience when reading biblical texts. Meeting unfamiliar language, cultures, customs, mores, and ideas requires that students suspend their judgment about what they think they know and asks them to learn how to expect the unexpected, as they delve deeper and deeper into biblical literature and the worlds from which it emerged. In this way, IBL can be a very liberating experience for students and lays a foundation that they can rely on in other courses they will take in during their undergraduate years.

This course meets entirely online in an asynchronous format with no live meeting sessions during the 8-Week Cross Session, June 2 - July 23, 2025.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:45 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 302A

Credits:

3

This course introduces students to the diversity of views found in the history of Chinese philosophy, from the distinctive virtue ethical views of classical Confucians and the conceptions of a “state of nature” offered in the texts of the Mozi and the Xunzi to Daoist accounts of the inherent goodness of human nature and Chinese Buddhist views concerning the self. We will examine the profound ways in which the Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist traditions influenced each other and were shaped by the critiques of competing schools of thought, particularly with the advent of Chinese Buddhism and Neo-Confucian philosophy. We will also evaluate the degree of influence that traditional Chinese philosophy has had on contemporary East Asian cultures, and the reasons why Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism seem to have more in common with (other) religious traditions than with Western philosophical schools or positions.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Intercultural Center 102

Credits:

3

This course will ONLY examine cults in America. Religious extremism is a reaction to the perceived chaos and loneliness of modern life, and understanding why people join and how people leave is crucial. This course will take a socio-psychological approach to understanding how cults in America originate, who is attracted to joining, and the legal issues cults generate.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:40 PM

Format & Location:

Studio, Davis Ctr. for Performing Arts 035

Credits:

3

This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of acting without working with a formal script. Through structured exercise and games, students study Concentration, Observation, Given Circumstances, and Stage Awareness. Students will create their own performance material, exploring the physical self, space/staging, working with props, and ensemble and interplay with fellow actors. The coursework is very physical and creative. The work is focused on understanding the art of acting through games, exercises, reading, discussions, and evaluations of one’s own work and the work of fellow classmates. No acting experience is required.

Students must attend first class or lose their seat in the course.

Date & Time:

Jun 2 to Jul 3, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
10:45 AM - 12:45 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, White-Gravenor 403A

Credits:

3

Writing and Culture is an interactive seminar, enrolling no more than 15 students, that should be taken in the first year. The Writing and Culture Seminar helps students develop their ability to: 1) experiment with diverse strategies for planning, drafting, and revising writing; 2) adapt writing to respond to, engage, and persuade audiences; 3) employ rhetorical strategies for analyzing, designing, and communicating in writing and other forms of media; 4)engage in writing as a form of thinking, inquiry, and learning.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
5:30 PM - 7:25 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, White-Gravenor 409

Credits:

3

Writing and Culture is an interactive seminar, enrolling no more than 15 students, that should be taken in the first year. The Writing and Culture Seminar helps students develop their ability to: 1) experiment with diverse strategies for planning, drafting, and revising writing; 2) adapt writing to respond to, engage, and persuade audiences; 3) employ rhetorical strategies for analyzing, designing, and communicating in writing and other forms of media; 4)engage in writing as a form of thinking, inquiry, and learning.

Date & Time:

Jul 7 to Aug 8, 2025
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
1:00 PM - 2:55 PM

Format & Location:

Lecture, Car Barn 205A

Credits:

3

Writing and Culture is an interactive seminar, enrolling no more than 15 students, that should be taken in the first year. The Writing and Culture Seminar helps students develop their ability to: 1) experiment with diverse strategies for planning, drafting, and revising writing; 2) adapt writing to respond to, engage, and persuade audiences; 3) employ rhetorical strategies for analyzing, designing, and communicating in writing and other forms of media; 4)engage in writing as a form of thinking, inquiry, and learning.

"Margins &amp;amp;amp; Monsters." With the popularity of science fiction in our contemporary culture, the actors of the “non-human” ,“cyborg”, or hybrids between have taken on many functions in our imaginations--mainly as symbols of our struggle to mediate perspectives beyond our own. Beyond Star Trek and Planet of the Apes, there are current conversations within environmentalism, conservation, and technological development (and many others) that ask us to critically consider broader ideas of identity, power, action, interaction, and dialogue. Our world continues to only grow bigger, and the more it expands, the more we learn how little we know about it. We strive to find the best and most effective ways to live and communicate with one another, and become active participants in our own culture. This course is about writing as a form of that participation, of asking questions, and as a method to engage with the perspectives of others-- especially those whose stories are new, forgotten, silenced, or different from our own. In this course, students will learn the importance of audience, narrative, perspective, form, authority, credibility, and intent in our everyday discourse—verbal, non-verbal, and written. Students will explore a wide variety of texts --from 1970’s science fiction films, to medieval French poetry---and through close rhetorical engagement and written inquiry, bring to light the impact of language in mediation between familiar and unfamiliar perspectives. By writing about our environment, our technology, our made-up monsters, and the other creatures we share space with, students will better understand the impact of their participation in the world they inhabit, a world shaped by their actions, their ideas, and their words. Students will be able to write more effectively and affectively, so our world might continue to turn in more wonderful, wider, and weirder ways.