Two New Humanities Courses Available for Spring 2014

Looking for a class for spring semester? Two new humanities classes are being offered by Assistant Professor of History Marie Hicks.

Filming the Past (HIST 380-07):

How does history become known, and how do certain accounts become popularized as the truth or “common knowledge?” What role do visual media, particularly films and documentaries, play in this process of creating and understanding of our shared past? How can film be a force for uncovering and popularizing “hidden” histories that upset our assumptions about the past?

This course takes a novel approach to less-well-known chapters in history, by looking at how films and documentaries can be tools for disseminating historical knowledge and how they can also be activist interventions in how we understand the past and its relationship to the society we live in today. Throughout the course, we will watch films and documentaries that try to answer the questions posed above, and we will read historical accounts of the events they try to convey. Students will also learn how to write a short history from primary sources and then transfer it into an audio or a visual medium, by making their own podcast or short documentary film on a historical topic. Syllabus will be posted at the beginning of the semester.

Suffragettes to Drag Kings (HIST 380-05):

Ever wonder when it became ok for women to wear pants instead of skirts? Do you know what the 3 articles rule was? Do you wonder what the difference between camp and drag is? Would you like to know more about the history of women’s and gay rights, and how that relates to how we live and act today?

This class takes a historical look at feminism and queer femininities to explore the political side of gender. We’ll study how people act in accordance with certain social roles when it comes to sex and sexuality, and how what might seem “natural” has changed a great deal over the course of the last century–even just the last 30 years. We will read memoirs, primary sources, academic articles, view documentaries, and more. Students will have the opportunity to do a self-directed project on a topic of their choosing.

For additional information, see the course catalog.