Recent Courses

Shakespeare

This is an introductory course on Shakespeare: a course for enthusiasts, skeptics, and the curious. We will read seven or eight plays and, perhaps, some non-dramatic poems, studying the abiding concerns and obsessions of his career, considering the social and cultural functions of his theater, and examining his interventions in dramatic traditions, political thinking, sexual politics, and literary history. Some short written exercises, two or three papers of moderate length, and a final exam will be required. Satisfies the Early Modern requirement.

Interdisciplinary Topics in the Humanities: The Intellectual History of Mass Incarceration

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the intellectual history of the modern-day prison. What historical shifts, political logics, and ideological developments led to the phenomenon we have come to know as "mass incarceration"? How did the carceral logic that informs the seemingly inevitable contemporary connection between crime and punishment evolve in the West? Our topics will include influential theories that defined the physical space of the prison, the criminalization of marginalized populations, the emergence of theories and categories of deviance, and the development of criminology as an academic discipline.

Gender Violence

This course will explore current issues and responses to the problem of gender-based violence, focusing especially on the topics of rape/sexual assault, child sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual harassment, stalking, and domestic sex trafficking. We will discuss ongoing controversies about the causes and effects of such violence and examine the psychological, legal, sociological, and political discourses surrounding these issues.