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MCWP 125 Course Descriptions

  • All students with more than 90 cumulative units will be automatically preauthorized, with a note placed on their Virtual Advising Center (VAC) contact record prior to registration each quarter.  If you have registration problems, or don't see a preauthorization on your VAC record, please contact the Muir Writing office in person at HSS 2346 or by sending a message on the Virtual Advising Center. 
  • Important Note: Students on the waitlist who miss any class meeting of Muir Writing will be considered NOT ELIGIBLE TO ENROLL in the course. Enrolled students who miss the first two class sessions will be asked to drop the course. **Responsibility for dropping the class from the Registrar’s records belongs solely to the student.**

    The reading and writing requirements are the same for all sections. Books and course readers for each section will be available at the UC San Diego Bookstore, located in the Price Center.

    Changes to times or section ID will be noted in bold and with an asterisk (*)

 

Texts

The Craft of Research, Fourth Edition

  • The Craft of Research, Fourth Edition by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, Joseph Williams, Joseph Bizup and William T. FitzGerald

A Writer's Reference, 10th Edition

by Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers

Please purchase the 10th edition of the Writer's Reference from the bookstore, as we have a version that is specific for UC San Diego's Writing Programs.

Photocopied Reader

Each class will have its own required reader that can be purchased through UC San Diego Bookstore.

Spring 2023

Educating California

Every way you look at education in California, it is big: from a K-12 system that educates more than 6 million students a year to the 116 community colleges with more than 1.5 million students, from the California State University system, the largest public university system in the U.S., to the ten campuses of the University of California. Educating California is a huge project that has everything to do with equity, opportunity, diversity, community and innovation. Where is the state succeeding? Where is it falling short? How can a single state keep such a huge educational project moving forward? In this class, students will take some small part of this very large topic to research, ultimately proposing and writing their own argument-based research paper.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

138880

A00

TTH 11:00-12:20

HSS 2346A

Marion Wilson

Youth-led movements are driving forces in American history, social progress, and consumer culture. Yet, their crucial contributions are frequently dismissed in mainstream outlets as fleeting or uninformed and are too often reduced to arbitrary generational divides. From student activism in the Civil Rights era to figures such as Emma Gonzaléz, Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg; art movements; music genres like punk rock and hip hop; streetwear fashion; hacktivists and social media influencers – young people continue to shape society in diverse and meaningful ways.  

This course will interrogate the many influences of youth movements and what happens when subversive groups with counter-cultural messages challenge or disrupt the status quo. We will discuss the history and impact of student activism in American universities and when radical actions go mainstream such as Earth Day. We will also explore sub- and counter-cultural groups including drag queens, K-pop fans, young chonga women, and more. Research projects will address how crucial and undervalued student organizing and/or youth culture are in today’s social, political, and economic landscape.

Assigned readings draw upon interdisciplinary fields in the humanities and social sciences including communication and media studies, art history, ethnic studies, cultural criticism, sociology, and gender studies. In this course, students will select a movement or countercultural group; develop a research question; identify a scholarly debate or research conversation; propose a research project that will participate in the identified conversation; research and analyze scholarly sources in the form of an annotated bibliography and construct an original academic research-based argument. 

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

138881

B00

TTh 12:30-1:50

MANDE B-146

Melinda Guillen

138884

C00

TTh 2:00-3:20

MANDE B-146

Melinda Guillen

138887

D00

TTh 3:30-4:50

MANDE B-146

Melinda Guillen

Art and Politics (REMOTE)

The political sphere includes and regulates many things that have a direct effect on our livelihoods and communities: minimum wage, access to healthcare, immigration, infrastructure, the regulation of our bodies, whom we can marry, and so much more. Such issues have also come up in the arts, in everything from early 20th century mural painting to more recent examples like the art and iconography of Black Lives Matter and Pride as well as museum-focused protests like those that pressured tear gas manufacturer Warren Kanders to resign from his position at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2019. This topic explores art in politics and politics in art, ranging from antiwar arts activism in the 1960s, the social politics of representing BIPOC histories and individuals, boycott and divestment, and various case studies of both artists and notorious controversies that highlight the tensions between artists/makers, artworks, audiences, local communities, as well as, of course, the museum as a mediating institution. Assigned readings draw on art history and museum studies, but the subject matter of the course will also touch on various social histories, critical race theory, and gender studies. How do the arts intersect with and/or represent political issues, movements, themes, and identities? What roles does politics play in the arts, and vice versa?  Possible research topics include the connections between the arts and politics pertaining to social justice movements, activism, globalization, labor practices, protests, museums and more. Students will identify a scholarly debate, or research conversation, propose a project that will participate in that conversation, engage with and analyze sources from the research process in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct an academic research argument.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

 

A00

MW TBD

REMOTE

Elizabeth Miller

 

B00

MW TBD

REMOTE

Elizabeth Miller

Winter 2023

Educating California

Every way you look at education in California, it is big: from a K-12 system that educates more than 6 million students a year to the 116 community colleges with more than 1.5 million students, from the California State University system, the largest public university system in the U.S., to the ten campuses of the University of California. Educating California is a huge project that has everything to do with equity, opportunity, diversity, community and innovation. Where is the state succeeding? Where is it falling short? How can a single state keep such a huge educational project moving forward? In this class, students will take some small part of this very large topic to research, ultimately proposing and writing their own argument-based research paper.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

104262

A00

TTH 11:00-12:20

HSS 2346A

Marion Wilson

Youth Movements, Countercultures, and The Status Quo

Youth-led movements are driving forces in American history, social progress, and consumer culture. Yet, their crucial contributions are frequently dismissed in mainstream outlets as fleeting or uninformed and are too often reduced to arbitrary generational divides. From student activism in the Civil Rights era to figures such as Emma Gonzaléz, Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg; art movements; music genres like punk rock and hip hop; streetwear fashion; hacktivists and social media influencers – young people continue to shape society in diverse and meaningful ways.  

This course will interrogate the many influences of youth movements and what happens when subversive groups with counter-cultural messages challenge or disrupt the status quo. We will discuss the history and impact of student activism in American universities and when radical actions go mainstream such as Earth Day. We will also explore sub- and counter-cultural groups including drag queens, K-pop fans, young chonga women, and more. Research projects will address how crucial and undervalued student organizing and/or youth culture are in today’s social, political, and economic landscape.

Assigned readings draw upon interdisciplinary fields in the humanities and social sciences including communication and media studies, art history, ethnic studies, cultural criticism, sociology, and gender studies. In this course, students will select a movement or countercultural group; develop a research question; identify a scholarly debate or research conversation; propose a research project that will participate in the identified conversation; research and analyze scholarly sources in the form of an annotated bibliography and construct an original academic research-based argument. 

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

104263

B00

TTh 9:30-10:50

HSS 2305B

Melinda Guillen

104264

C00

TTh 11:00-12:20

HSS 1106B

Melinda Guillen

Art and Politics

The political sphere includes and regulates many things that have a direct effect on our livelihoods and communities: minimum wage, access to healthcare, immigration, infrastructure, the regulation of our bodies, whom we can marry, and so much more. Such issues have also come up in the arts, in everything from early 20th century mural painting to more recent examples like the art and iconography of Black Lives Matter and Pride as well as museum-focused protests like those that pressured tear gas manufacturer Warren Kanders to resign from his position at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2019. This topic explores art in politics and politics in art, ranging from antiwar arts activism in the 1960s, the social politics of representing BIPOC histories and individuals, boycott and divestment, and various case studies of both artists and notorious controversies that highlight the tensions between artists/makers, artworks, audiences, local communities, as well as, of course, the museum as a mediating institution. Assigned readings draw on art history and museum studies, but the subject matter of the course will also touch on various social histories, critical race theory, and gender studies. How do the arts intersect with and/or represent political issues, movements, themes, and identities? What roles does politics play in the arts, and vice versa?  Possible research topics include the connections between the arts and politics pertaining to social justice movements, activism, globalization, labor practices, protests, museums and more. Students will identify a scholarly debate, or research conversation, propose a project that will participate in that conversation, engage with and analyze sources from the research process in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct an academic research argument.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

104265

D00

MW 2:00-3:20

Mandeville B-146

Elizabeth Miller

104266

E00

MW 3:30-4:50

Mandeville B-146

Elizabeth Miller

104267

F00

MW 5:00-6:20

Mandeville B-146

Elizabeth Miller

Summer 2022

Youth Movements, Countercultures, and The Status Quo

Youth-led movements are driving forces in American history, social progress, and consumer culture. Yet, their crucial contributions are frequently dismissed in mainstream outlets as fleeting or uninformed and are too often reduced to arbitrary generational divides. From student activism in the Civil Rights era to figures such as Emma Gonzaléz, Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg; art movements; music genres like punk rock and hip hop; streetwear fashion; hacktivists and social media influencers – young people continue to shape society in diverse and meaningful ways.  

This course will interrogate the many influences of youth movements and what happens when subversive groups with counter-cultural messages challenge or disrupt the status quo. We will discuss the history and impact of student activism in American universities and when radical actions go mainstream such as Earth Day. We will also explore sub- and counter-cultural groups including drag queens, K-pop fans, young chonga women, and more. Research projects will address how crucial and undervalued student organizing and/or youth culture are in today’s social, political, and economic landscape.

Assigned readings draw upon interdisciplinary fields in the humanities and social sciences including communication and media studies, art history, ethnic studies, cultural criticism, sociology, and gender studies. In this course, students will select a movement or countercultural group; develop a research question; identify a scholarly debate or research conversation; propose a research project that will participate in the identified conversation; research and analyze scholarly sources in the form of an annotated bibliography and construct an original academic research-based argument. 

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

093169

A00

TTH 11:00-1:50

REMOTE

Melinda Guillen

Spring 2022

Art and Politics

The political sphere includes and regulates many things that have a direct effect on our livelihoods and communities: minimum wage, access to healthcare, immigration, infrastructure, the regulation of our bodies, whom we can marry, and so much more. Such issues have also come up in the arts, in everything from early 20th century murals to more recent examples as well as museum-focused protests like those that pressured tear gas manufacturer Warren Kanders to resign from his position at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2019. This topic explores art in politics and politics in art, ranging from antiwar arts activism in the 1960s, the social politics of representing BIPOC histories and individuals, boycott and divestment, and various case studies of both artists and notorious controversies that highlight the tensions between artists/makers, artworks, audiences, local communities, and the museum as mediating institution. Assigned readings draw on art history and museum studies, but the subject matter of the course will also touch on various social histories. How do the arts intersect with and/or represent political issues, movements, themes, and identities? What roles does politics play in the arts, and vice versa? What are some of the past and recent controversies in the arts, and what kinds of art have been considered transgressive? Where and how do conversations about censorship and freedom of speech fit into the picture? Possible research topics include (but are not limited to) the connections between the arts and politics pertaining to social justice movements, activism, globalization, labor practices, funding structures, war, museums and/or stakeholders, and more.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

074917

B00

TTH 12:30-1:50

HSS 2305A

Elizabeth Miller

074918

C00

TTH 2:00-3:20

HSS 2305A

Elizabeth Miller

Educating California

Every way you look at education in California, it is big: from a K-12 system that educates more than 6 million students a year to the 116 community colleges with more than 1.5 million students, from the California State University system, the largest public university system in the U.S., to the ten campuses of the University of California. Educating California is a huge project that has everything to do with equity, opportunity, diversity, community and innovation. Where is the state succeeding? Where is it falling short? How can a single state keep such a huge educational project moving forward? In this class, students will take some small part of this very large topic to research, ultimately proposing and writing their own argument-based research paper.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

074916

A00

TTH 11:00-12:20

HSS 2346A

Marion Wilson

Youth Movements, Countercultures, and The Status Quo

Youth-led movements are driving forces in American history, social progress, and consumer culture. Yet, their crucial contributions are frequently dismissed in mainstream outlets as fleeting or uninformed and are too often reduced to arbitrary generational divides. From student activism in the Civil Rights era to figures such as Emma Gonzaléz, Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg; art movements; music genres like punk rock and hip hop; streetwear fashion; hacktivists and social media influencers – young people continue to shape society in diverse and meaningful ways.  

This course will interrogate the many influences of youth movements and what happens when subversive groups with counter-cultural messages challenge or disrupt the status quo. We will discuss the history and impact of student activism in American universities and when radical actions go mainstream such as Earth Day. We will also explore sub- and counter-cultural groups including drag queens, K-pop fans, young chonga women, and more. Research projects will address how crucial and undervalued student organizing and/or youth culture are in today’s social, political, and economic landscape.

Assigned readings draw upon interdisciplinary fields in the humanities and social sciences including communication and media studies, art history, ethnic studies, cultural criticism, sociology, and gender studies. In this course, students will select a movement or countercultural group; develop a research question; identify a scholarly debate or research conversation; propose a research project that will participate in the identified conversation; research and analyze scholarly sources in the form of an annotated bibliography and construct an original academic research-based argument. 

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

074919

D00

MW 9:30-10:50

HSS 2305A

Melinda Guillen

074920

E00

MW 11:00-12:20

HSS 2305A

Melinda Guillen

074921

F00

MW 12:30-1:50

HSS 2305A

Melinda Guillen

Winter 2022

Art and Politics

The political sphere includes and regulates many things that have a direct effect on our livelihoods and communities: minimum wage, access to healthcare, immigration, infrastructure, the regulation of our bodies, whom we can marry, and so much more. Such issues have also come up in the arts, in everything from early 20th century mural painting to more recent examples like the art and iconography of Black Lives Matter and Pride as well as museum-focused protests like those that pressured tear gas manufacturer Warren Kanders to resign from his position at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2019. This topic explores art in politics and politics in art, ranging from antiwar arts activism in the 1960s, the social politics of representing BIPOC histories and individuals, boycott and divestment, and various case studies of both artists and notorious controversies that highlight the tensions between artists/makers, artworks, audiences, local communities, as well as, of course, the museum as a mediating institution. Assigned readings draw on art history and museum studies, but the subject matter of the course will also touch on various social histories, critical race theory, and gender studies. How do the arts intersect with and/or represent political issues, movements, themes, and identities? What roles does politics play in the arts, and vice versa?  Possible research topics include the connections between the arts and politics pertaining to social justice movements, activism, globalization, labor practices, protests, museums and more. Students will identify a scholarly debate, or research conversation, propose a project that will participate in that conversation, engage with and analyze sources from the research process in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct an academic research argument.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

069247

B00

TTH 11:00-12:20

HSS 1106B

Elizabeth Miller

069248

C00

TTH 12:30-1:50

HSS 1106B

Elizabeth Miller

069249

D00

TTH 2:00-3:20

HSS 1106B

Elizabeth Miller

Housing The California Dream

Nearly one-fourth of the homeless people in the United States are in California, which—not surprisingly—has some of the most expensive housing in the country. Indeed, rent for even small apartments in Los Angeles costs approximately twice the national average. Meanwhile in San Diego what was considered modest tract housing in the middle of the 20th Century now goes for much more than a middle class family can afford. And, ironically, the financial success of Silicon Valley has made San Francisco and Oakland have all but uninhabitable for anyone but the very wealthy. The impacts of this housing crisis are far reaching: long commutes to work (with ensuing air pollution issues); fights over vacation rentals like Airbnb; and tens of thousands of Californians living unsheltered each night. In this course we will read, analyze, research, and write about these and other issues that make housing so complicated in California. You will familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate about some aspect of the California housing crisis, write a research proposal and an annotated bibliography on that debated issue, and finish the quarter with a research-based argument that is your contribution to that debate.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

069246

A00

TTH 11:00-12:20

HSS 2346A

Marion Wilson

Youth Movements, Countercultures, and The Status Quo

Youth-led movements are driving forces in American history, social progress, and consumer culture. Yet, their crucial contributions are frequently dismissed in mainstream outlets as fleeting or uninformed and are too often reduced to arbitrary generational divides. From student activism in the Civil Rights era to figures such as Emma Gonzaléz, Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg; art movements; music genres like punk rock and hip hop; streetwear fashion; hacktivists and social media influencers – young people continue to shape society in diverse and meaningful ways.  

This course will interrogate the many influences of youth movements and what happens when subversive groups with counter-cultural messages challenge or disrupt the status quo. We will discuss the history and impact of student activism in American universities and when radical actions go mainstream such as Earth Day. We will also explore sub- and counter-cultural groups including drag queens, K-pop fans, young chonga women, and more. Research projects will address how crucial and undervalued student organizing and/or youth culture are in today’s social, political, and economic landscape.

Assigned readings draw upon interdisciplinary fields in the humanities and social sciences including communication and media studies, art history, ethnic studies, cultural criticism, sociology, and gender studies. In this course, students will select a movement or countercultural group; develop a research question; identify a scholarly debate or research conversation; propose a research project that will participate in the identified conversation; research and analyze scholarly sources in the form of an annotated bibliography and construct an original academic research-based argument.   

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

069250

E00

MW 9:30-10:50

HSS 2305A

Melinda Guillen

069251

F00

MW 11:00-12:20

HSS 2305A

Melinda Guillen

Fall 2021

Art and Politics

The political sphere includes and regulates many things that have a direct effect on our livelihoods and communities: minimum wage, access to healthcare, immigration, infrastructure, the regulation of our bodies, whom we can marry, and so much more. Such issues have also come up in the arts, in everything from early 20th century mural painting to more recent examples like the art and iconography of Black Lives Matter and Pride as well as museum-focused protests like those that pressured tear gas manufacturer Warren Kanders to resign from his position at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2019. This topic explores art in politics and politics in art, ranging from antiwar arts activism in the 1960s, the social politics of representing BIPOC histories and individuals, boycott and divestment, and various case studies of both artists and notorious controversies that highlight the tensions between artists/makers, artworks, audiences, local communities, as well as, of course, the museum as a mediating institution. Assigned readings draw on art history and museum studies, but the subject matter of the course will also touch on various social histories, critical race theory, and gender studies. How do the arts intersect with and/or represent political issues, movements, themes, and identities? What roles does politics play in the arts, and vice versa?  Possible research topics include the connections between the arts and politics pertaining to social justice movements, activism, globalization, labor practices, protests, museums and more. Students will identify a scholarly debate, or research conversation, propose a project that will participate in that conversation, engage with and analyze sources from the research process in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct an academic research argument.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

051221

B00

TTH 9:30-10:50

HSS 2305A

Elizabeth Miller

051222

C00

TTH 11:00-12:20

HSS 2305A

Elizabeth Miller

051223

D00

TTH 12:30-1:50

HSS 2305A

Elizabeth Miller

Housing The California Dream

Nearly one-fourth of the homeless people in the United States are in California, which—not surprisingly—has some of the most expensive housing in the country. Indeed, rent for even small apartments in Los Angeles costs approximately twice the national average. Meanwhile in San Diego what was considered modest tract housing in the middle of the 20th Century now goes for much more than a middle class family can afford. And, ironically, the financial success of Silicon Valley has made San Francisco and Oakland have all but uninhabitable for anyone but the very wealthy. The impacts of this housing crisis are far reaching: long commutes to work (with ensuing air pollution issues); fights over vacation rentals like Airbnb; and tens of thousands of Californians living unsheltered each night. In this course we will read, analyze, research, and write about these and other issues that make housing so complicated in California. You will familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate about some aspect of the California housing crisis, write a research proposal and an annotated bibliography on that debated issue, and finish the quarter with a research-based argument that is your contribution to that debate.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

051220

A00

TTH 11:00-12:20

HSS 2346A

Marion Wilson

Youth Movements, Countercultures, and The Status Quo

Youth-led movements are driving forces in American history, social progress, and consumer culture. Yet, their crucial contributions are frequently dismissed in mainstream outlets as fleeting or uninformed and are too often reduced to arbitrary generational divides. From student activism in the Civil Rights era to figures such as Emma Gonzaléz, Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg; art movements; music genres like punk rock and hip hop; streetwear fashion; hacktivists and social media influencers – young people continue to shape society in diverse and meaningful ways.  

This course will interrogate the many influences of youth movements and what happens when subversive groups with counter-cultural messages challenge or disrupt the status quo. We will discuss the history and impact of student activism in American universities and when radical actions go mainstream such as Earth Day. We will also explore sub- and counter-cultural groups including drag queens, K-pop fans, young chonga women, and more. Research projects will address how crucial and undervalued student organizing and/or youth culture are in today’s social, political, and economic landscape.

Assigned readings draw upon interdisciplinary fields in the humanities and social sciences including communication and media studies, art history, ethnic studies, cultural criticism, sociology, and gender studies. In this course, students will select a movement or countercultural group; develop a research question; identify a scholarly debate or research conversation; propose a research project that will participate in the identified conversation; research and analyze scholarly sources in the form of an annotated bibliography and construct an original academic research-based argument.   

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

051224

E00

MW 9:30-10:50

HSS 2305B

Melinda Guillen

051225

F00

MW 11:00-12:20

HSS 2305A

Melinda Guillen

051226

G00

MW 12:30-1:50

HSS 2305A

Melinda Guillen

Spring 2021

Exhibiting Art: Representation, Censorship, and Other Tales from Museum Studies

 For this topic, we consider the role of exhibitions as they relate to cultural production. The modern “exhibition” as such historically emerged from private collection displays called wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosity. Museum exhibitions in particular have played a particularly significant role in how we perceive works of culture, people, and places. More recently, efforts have been made to address accessibility issues, integrate decolonizing initiatives, and provide greater visibility to historically disenfranchised groups. Art exhibitions can take a variety of formats depending on what types of objects and information are on display as well as the cultural backgrounds, perspectives, and intentions of the artists, curators, organizers, hosting institutions, and/or audiences. What are the social and political forces behind exhibitions and what kinds of messages do they convey? To whom are these messages communicated? How do exhibitions express power relations and represent different interests? Assigned readings will draw on museum studies, art history, and cultural anthropology from the past 50 years. Possible research topics can range from unconventional and historical formats like 19th century exhibits/displays, fairs, or expositions to international art biennials, museum and gallery exhibitions. Any type of artistic or creative medium and any period in history are appropriate for investigation in your research projects.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

045693

E00

MW 12:30-1:50

RCLAS R188

Elizabeth Miller

045694

F00

MW 2:00-3:20

RCLAS R200

Elizabeth Miller

Housing the California Dream

Nearly one-fourth of the homeless people in the United States are in California, which—not surprisingly—has some of the most expensive housing in the country. Indeed, rent for even small apartments in Los Angeles costs approximately twice the national average. Meanwhile in San Diego what was considered modest tract housing in the middle of the 20th Century now goes for much more than a middle class family can afford. And, ironically, the financial success of Silicon Valley has made San Francisco and Oakland have all but uninhabitable for anyone but the very wealthy. The impacts of this housing crisis are far reaching: long commutes to work (with ensuing air pollution issues); fights over vacation rentals like Airbnb; and tens of thousands of Californians living unsheltered each night. In this course we will read, analyze, research, and write about these and other issues that make housing so complicated in California. You will familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate about some aspect of the California housing crisis, write a research proposal and an annotated bibliography on that debated issue, and finish the quarter with a research-based argument that is your contribution to that debate.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

045689

A00

TTH 11:00-12:20

 

Marion Wilson

(Re)Writing Equality

Since 1776, when our forefathers codified equality as a “self-evident” truth in the Declaration of Independence, we have had to confront the enslavement, marginalization, violence, disenfranchisement, and exclusion that reveal equality to be an American myth. The written word has the power to codify myth as reality, but it also has the power to reveal truth, to mobilize action, and to correct inequality. Supreme Court decisions, government legislation, and policy are obvious written actions that revise the way that we think about equality in America, but countless other written documents demand social, cultural, political, and environmental shifts in power: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the letters and diaries of Japanese American citizens interned during World War II, Yessenia Funes’s intersectional writings on the climate crisis, Chrissy Teigen’s twitter account, and so much more. In this course, you will select a written text that “(re)writes equality”. You will research scholarly debates that will allow you to situate this text within a social justice movement, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument that makes an original claim about the complex and contested ideal of American equality.  

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

045690

B00

TTH 9:30-10:50

RCLAS R236

Amy Forrest

045691

C00

TTH 11:00-12:20

RCLAS R263

Amy Forrest

045692

D00

TTH 12:30-1:50

RCLAS 221

Amy Forrest

Winter 2021

Housing the California Dream

Nearly one-fourth of the homeless people in the United States are in California, which—not surprisingly—has some of the most expensive housing in the country. Indeed, rent for even small apartments in Los Angeles costs approximately twice the national average. Meanwhile in San Diego what was considered modest tract housing in the middle of the 20th Century now goes for much more than a middle class family can afford. And, ironically, the financial success of Silicon Valley has made San Francisco and Oakland have all but uninhabitable for anyone but the very wealthy. The impacts of this housing crisis are far reaching: long commutes to work (with ensuing air pollution issues); fights over vacation rentals like Airbnb; and tens of thousands of Californians living unsheltered each night. In this course we will read, analyze, research, and write about these and other issues that make housing so complicated in California. You will familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate about some aspect of the California housing crisis, write a research proposal and an annotated bibliography on that debated issue, and finish the quarter with a research-based argument that is your contribution to that debate.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

034601

A00

TTH 9:00-10:50

CSB 1

Marion Wilson

034602

B00

TTH 11:00-12:20

CSB 1

Marion Wilson

Exhibiting Art: Representation, Censorship, and Other Tales from Museum Studies

For this topic, we consider the role of exhibitions as they relate to cultural production. The modern “exhibition” as such historically emerged from private collection displays called wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosity. Museum exhibitions in particular have played a particularly significant role in how we perceive works of culture, people, and places. More recently, efforts have been made to address accessibility issues, integrate decolonizing initiatives, and provide greater visibility to historically disenfranchised groups. Art exhibitions can take a variety of formats depending on what types of objects and information are on display as well as the cultural backgrounds, perspectives, and intentions of the artists, curators, organizers, hosting institutions, and/or audiences. What are the social and political forces behind exhibitions and what kinds of messages do they convey? To whom are these messages communicated? How do exhibitions express power relations and represent different interests? Assigned readings will draw on museum studies, art history, and cultural anthropology from the past 50 years. Possible research topics can range from unconventional and historical formats like 19th century exhibits/displays, fairs, or expositions to international art biennials, museum and gallery exhibitions. Any type of artistic or creative medium and any period in history are appropriate for investigation in your research projects.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

034552

E00

MW 12:30-1:50

RCLAS R176

Elizabeth Miller

034553

F00

MW 2:00-3:20

RCLAS R204

Elizabeth Miller

034554

G00

MW 3:30-4:50

RCLAS R188

Elizabeth Miller

(Re)Writing Equality

Since 1776, when our forefathers codified equality as a “self-evident” truth in the Declaration of Independence, we have had to confront the enslavement, marginalization, violence, disenfranchisement, and exclusion that reveal equality to be an American myth. The written word has the power to codify myth as reality, but it also has the power to reveal truth, to mobilize action, and to correct inequality. Supreme Court decisions, government legislation, and policy are obvious written actions that revise the way that we think about equality in America, but countless other written documents demand social, cultural, political, and environmental shifts in power: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the letters and diaries of Japanese American citizens interned during World War II, Yessenia Funes’s intersectional writings on the climate crisis, Chrissy Teigen’s twitter account, and so much more. In this course, you will select a written text that “(re)writes equality”. You will research scholarly debates that will allow you to situate this text within a social justice movement, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument that makes an original claim about the complex and contested ideal of American equality.  

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

034550

C00

TTH 12:30-1:50

RCLAS R208

Amy Forrest

034551

D00

TTH 11:00-12:20

RCLAS R224

Amy Forrest

Fall 2020

Exhibiting Art: Representation, Censorship, and Other Tales from Museum Studies

For this topic, we consider the role of exhibitions as they relate to cultural production. The modern “exhibition” as such historically emerged from private collection displays called wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosity. Museum exhibitions in particular have played a particularly significant role in how we perceive works of culture, people, and places. More recently, efforts have been made to address accessibility issues, integrate decolonizing initiatives, and provide greater visibility to historically disenfranchised groups. Art exhibitions can take a variety of formats depending on what types of objects and information are on display as well as the cultural backgrounds, perspectives, and intentions of the artists, curators, organizers, hosting institutions, and/or audiences. What are the social and political forces behind exhibitions and what kinds of messages do they convey? To whom are these messages communicated? How do exhibitions express power relations and represent different interests? Assigned readings will draw on museum studies, art history, and cultural anthropology from the past 50 years. Possible research topics can range from unconventional and historical formats like 19th century exhibits/displays, fairs, or expositions to international art biennials, museum and gallery exhibitions. Any type of artistic or creative medium and any period in history are appropriate for investigation in your research projects.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

014991

B00

TTH 9:30-10:50

RCLAS

R214

Elizabeth Miller

014992

C00

TTH 11:00-12:20

RCLAS

R179

Elizabeth Miller

014993

D00

TTH 12:30-1:50

 RCLAS

R207

Elizabeth Miller

The Sea The Sea

Oceans function as clear boundaries and as transnational space. They are resources to plunder and resources upon which to plunder. They are the subject of scientific inquiry, of adventure, and of war. We use them to assert power, to dispose of things, and to build identity. They are mythologized in the arts and they are harbingers of doom. From surf culture to conflict in the South China Seas, from the “triangular trade” to climate change, the ocean has been the center of both culture and crisis. In MCWP 125, The Sea, the Sea, students will critically examine scholarly debates about the relationship between humans and the sea, and will construct arguments about the extent to which these relationships rely upon fantasy, identity construction, and power.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

014994

E00

MW 9:30-10:50

 RCLAS R157

Amy Forrest

014995

F00

MW 11:00-12:20

RCLAS R167

Amy Forrest

014996

G00

MW 12:30-1:50

RCLAS R148 

Amy Forrest

Spring 2020

Housing The California Dream

Nearly one-fourth of the homeless people in the United States are in California, which—not surprisingly—has some of the most expensive housing in the country. Indeed, rent for even small apartments in Los Angeles costs approximately twice the national average. Meanwhile in San Diego what was considered modest tract housing in the middle of the 20th Century now goes for much more than a middle class family can afford. And, ironically, the financial success of Silicon Valley has made San Francisco and Oakland have all but uninhabitable for anyone but the very wealthy. The impacts of this housing crisis are far reaching: long commutes to work (with ensuing air pollution issues); fights over vacation rentals like Airbnb; and tens of thousands of Californians living unsheltered each night. In this course we will read, analyze, research, and write about these and other issues that make housing so complicated in California. You will familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate about some aspect of the California housing crisis, write a research proposal and an annotated bibliography on that debated issue, and finish the quarter with a research-based argument that is your contribution to that debate.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

000834

A00

TTH 11:00-12:20

REMOTE

Marion Wilson

The Sea, The Sea

Oceans function as clear boundaries and as transnational space. They are resources to plunder and resources upon which to plunder. They are the subject of scientific inquiry, of adventure, and of war. We use them to assert power, to dispose of things, and to build identity. They are mythologized in the arts and they are harbingers of doom. From surf culture to conflict in the South China Seas, from the “triangular trade” to climate change, the ocean has been the center of both culture and crisis. In MCWP 125, The Sea, the Sea, students will critically examine scholarly debates about the relationship between humans and the sea, and will construct arguments about the extent to which these relationships rely upon fantasy, identity construction, and power.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

0000835

B00

TTH 9:30-10:50

REMOTE

Amy Forrest

000836

C00

TTH 11:00-12:20

REMOTE

Amy Forrest

000837

D00

TTH 12:30-1:50

REMOTE

Amy Forrest

Exhibitions and Displays

In this topic, we consider the role of exhibitions as they relate to cultural production. The “exhibition” as such emerged from private collection displays called wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosity. More recently, efforts have been made to address accessibility issues, integrate decolonizing initiatives, and provide greater visibility to historically disenfranchised groups. Exhibitions can take a variety of formats depending on what type of objects or information is on display as well as the cultural backgrounds, perspectives, and intentions of the artist(s), curator(s), organizer(s), hosting institution(s), and/or audience(s). What are the social and political forces behind exhibitions and what kinds of messages do they convey, and to whom? How do exhibitions express power relations and represent different interests? Assigned readings will draw on museum studies, art history, cultural anthropology, and postcolonial theory. Possible research topics can range from unconventional and historical formats like 19th century exhibits/displays, fairs, or expositions to international art biennials, museum, and gallery exhibitions. Any type of artistic or creative medium is appropriate for investigation in your research projects, and any period in history.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

000838

E00

MW 12:30-1:50

REMOTE

Elizabeth Miller

000839

F00

MW 2:00-3:20

REMOTE

Elizabeth Miller

Winter 2020

California Republic

California’s economy is larger than that of any other state, and larger even than most countries in the world. Many industries, most notably the entertainment industry and biotech, are centered in California. Increasingly, California goes its own way in issues like the environment and immigration. From agriculture to oil production, from film making to the military, California is a dynamic state that seems to act as a country all its own. This is not without conflict of course: there are fights over water; there are serious concerns about wildfires and preparations for earthquakes; and housing in California’s cities seems to be increasingly out of reach for most. Some residents even want to split California into three separate states while others argue that California would be better as a separate nation.


In this course, we will read, analyze, research, and write about some of these issues that make California such a unique place. You will be asked to familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument. Together these assignments form the basis for the research that is the foundation of university level studies.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

991445

A00

TTH 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

The Sea, The Sea

Oceans function as clear boundaries and as transnational space. They are resources to plunder and resources upon which to plunder. They are the subject of scientific inquiry, of adventure, and of war. We use them to assert power, to dispose of things, and to build identity. They are mythologized in the arts and they are harbingers of doom. From surf culture to conflict in the South China Seas, from the “triangular trade” to climate change, the ocean has been the center of both culture and crisis. In MCWP 125, The Sea, the Sea, students will critically examine scholarly debates about the relationship between humans and the sea, and will construct arguments about the extent to which these relationships rely upon fantasy, identity construction, and power.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

991446

B00

TTH 9:30-10:50

2305A

Amy Forrest

991447

C00

TTH 11:00-12:20

2305A

Amy Forrest

Exhibitions and Displays

In this topic, we consider the role of exhibitions as they relate to cultural production. The “exhibition” as such emerged from private collection displays called wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosity. More recently, efforts have been made to address accessibility issues, integrate decolonizing initiatives, and provide greater visibility to historically disenfranchised groups. Exhibitions can take a variety of formats depending on what type of objects or information is on display as well as the cultural backgrounds, perspectives, and intentions of the artist(s), curator(s), organizer(s), hosting institution(s), and/or audience(s). What are the social and political forces behind exhibitions and what kinds of messages do they convey, and to whom? How do exhibitions express power relations and represent different interests? Assigned readings will draw on museum studies, art history, cultural anthropology, and postcolonial theory. Possible research topics can range from unconventional and historical formats like 19th century exhibits/displays, fairs, or expositions to international art biennials, museum, and gallery exhibitions. Any type of artistic or creative medium is appropriate for investigation in your research projects, and any period in history.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

991448

D00

MW 12:30-1:50

1106A

Elizabeth Miller

991449

E00

MW 2:00-3:20

1106A

Elizabeth Miller

991450

F00

MW 3:30-4:50

1106A

Elizabeth Miller

Fall 2019

California Republic

California’s economy is larger than that of any other state, and larger even than most countries in the world. Many industries, most notably the entertainment industry and biotech, are centered in California. Increasingly, California goes its own way in issues like the environment and immigration. From agriculture to oil production, from film making to the military, California is a dynamic state that seems to act as a country all its own. This is not without conflict of course: there are fights over water; there are serious concerns about wildfires and preparations for earthquakes; and housing in California’s cities seems to be increasingly out of reach for most. Some residents even want to split California into three separate states while others argue that California would be better as a separate nation.


In this course, we will read, analyze, research, and write about some of these issues that make California such a unique place. You will be asked to familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument. Together these assignments form the basis for the research that is the foundation of university level studies.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

977689

A00

TTH 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

The Sea, the Sea

Oceans function as clear boundaries and as transnational space. They are resources to plunder and resources upon which to plunder. They are the subject of scientific inquiry, of adventure, and of war. We use them to assert power, to dispose of things, and to build identity. They are mythologized in the arts and they are harbingers of doom. From surf culture to conflict in the South China Seas, from the “triangular trade” to climate change, the ocean has been the center of both culture and crisis. In MCWP 125, The Sea, the Sea, students will critically examine scholarly debates about the relationship between humans and the sea, and will construct arguments about the extent to which these relationships rely upon fantasy, identity construction, and power.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

977690

B00

TTH 9:30-10:50

1106B

Amy Forrest

977691

C00

TTH 11:00-12:20

1106B

Amy Forrest

977692

D00

TTH 12:30-1:50

1106B

Amy Forrest

Exhibitions and Displays

In this topic, we consider the role of the exhibition as related to cultural production. The “exhibition” as such emerged from private collection displays called wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosity. More recently, efforts have been made to address accessibility issues, integrate decolonizing initiatives and provide greater visibility to historically disenfranchised groups. Exhibitions can take a variety of formats depending on what type of objects or information is on display as well as the perspective and intentions of the curators, organizers and hosting institution. What are the social and political forces behind exhibitions and what kinds of messages do they convey, and to whom? How do exhibitions express power relations and represent different interests? Assigned readings will draw on museum studies, art history, cultural anthropology and postcolonial theory. Possible research topics range from unconventional and historical formats like the Victorian “freak show,” fairs or expositions, international art biennials or museum and gallery exhibitions.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

977693

E00

MW 12:30-1:50

1106B

Elizabeth Miller

977694

F00

MW 2:00-3:20

1106B

Elizabeth Miller

977695

G00

MW 3:30-4:50

1106B

Elizabeth Miller

Spring 2019

California Republic

California’s economy is larger than that of any other state, and larger even than most countries in the world. Many industries, most notably the entertainment industry and biotech, are centered in California. Increasingly, California goes its own way in issues like the environment and immigration. From agriculture to oil production, from film making to the military, California is a dynamic state that seems to act as a country all its own. This is not without conflict of course: there are fights over water; there are serious concerns about wildfires and preparations for earthquakes; and housing in California’s cities seems to be increasingly out of reach for most. Some residents even want to split California into three separate states while others argue that California would be better as a separate nation.


In this course, we will read, analyze, research, and write about some of these issues that make California such a unique place. You will be asked to familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument. Together these assignments form the basis for the research that is the foundation of university level studies.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

977609

A00

T/TH 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

California Republic

California’s economy is larger than that of any other state, and larger even than most countries in the world. Many industries, most notably the entertainment industry and biotech, are centered in California. Increasingly, California goes its own way in issues like the environment and immigration. From agriculture to oil production, from film making to the military, California is a dynamic state that seems to act as a country all its own. This is not without conflict of course: there are fights over water; there are serious concerns about wildfires and preparations for earthquakes; and housing in California’s cities seems to be increasingly out of reach for most. Some residents even want to split California into three separate states while others argue that California would be better as a separate nation.


In this course, we will read, analyze, research, and write about some of these issues that make California such a unique place. You will be asked to familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument. Together these assignments form the basis for the research that is the foundation of university level studies.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

973082

A00

M/W 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

American Myths

In MCWP 125: American Myths, we will examine American cultural concepts like equality, justice, democracy, freedom, individualism, exceptionalism, meritocracy, capitalism, and the “American Dream”. We will think critically about the extent to which these concepts (and others) are myths. The various definitions of the word “myth” include contradictory elements that will allow us to interrogate the complex and contested ideals that comprise American national identity from a variety of perspectives.

In this course you will be asked to select one American myth, familiarize yourself with the scholarly debate that surrounds it, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument that makes an original claim about this myth. Together these three assignments (research proposal, annotated bibliography, research paper) form the basis for the research that is the foundation of university level studies.

 

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

973083

B00

T/TH 9:30-10:50

2305A

Amy Forrest

973084

C00

T/TTH 8:00-9:20

2346A

Amy Forrest

973085

D00

T/TH 12:30-1:50

2305A

Amy Forrest

Winter 2019

American Myths

In MCWP 125: American Myths, we will examine American cultural concepts like equality, justice, democracy, freedom, individualism, exceptionalism, meritocracy, capitalism, and the “American Dream”. We will think critically about the extent to which these concepts (and others) are myths. The various definitions of the word “myth” include contradictory elements that will allow us to interrogate the complex and contested ideals that comprise American national identity from a variety of perspectives.

In this course you will be asked to select one American myth, familiarize yourself with the scholarly debate that surrounds it, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument that makes an original claim about this myth. Together these three assignments (research proposal, annotated bibliography, research paper) form the basis for the research that is the foundation of university level studies.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

954406

C00

T/TH 11:00-12:20

1106A

Amy Forrest

954407

D00

T/TH 12:30-1:50

1106A

Amy Forrest

California Republic

California’s economy is larger than that of any other state, and larger even than most countries in the world. Many industries, most notably the entertainment industry and biotech, are centered in California. Increasingly, California goes its own way in issues like the environment and immigration. From agriculture to oil production, from film making to the military, California is a dynamic state that seems to act as a country all its own. This is not without conflict of course: there are fights over water; there are serious concerns about wildfires and preparations for earthquakes; and housing in California’s cities seems to be increasingly out of reach for most. Some residents even want to split California into three separate states while others argue that California would be better as a separate nation.


In this course, we will read, analyze, research, and write about some of these issues that make California such a unique place. You will be asked to familiarize yourself with a scholarly debate, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument. Together these assignments form the basis for the research that is the foundation of university level studies.

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

954404

A00

M/W 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

TBD

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

954405

B00

T/Th 9:30-10:50

2346A

Carrie Wastal

Fall 2018

American Myths

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

942677

B00

T/TH 9:30-10:50

1106A

Amy Forrest

942678

C00

T/TH 11:00-12:20

1106A

Amy Forrest

952945

D00

T/TH 12:30-1:50

1106B

Amy Forrest

In MCWP 125: American Myths, we will examine American cultural concepts like equality, justice, democracy, freedom, individualism, exceptionalism, meritocracy, capitalism, and the “American Dream”. We will think critically about the extent to which these concepts (and others) are myths. The various definitions of the word “myth” include contradictory elements that will allow us to interrogate the complex and contested ideals that comprise American national identity from a variety of perspectives.

In this course you will be asked to select one American myth, familiarize yourself with the scholarly debate that surrounds it, propose a research project that will participate in that debate, engage with sources that you find in your research in the form of an annotated bibliography, and construct your own academic research-based argument that makes an original claim about this myth. Together these three assignments (research proposal, annotated bibliography, research paper) form the basis for the research that is the foundation of university level studies.

TBD

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

942676

A00

MW 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

Winter 2018

Considering Innovations

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

920564

A00

MW 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

“Innovation” is everywhere: across disciplines, universities, and industries, this buzzword is invoked to sell the new and the now. What is innovation? How do researchers, scientists, entrepreneurs, educators, and inventors innovate? How do ideas get from the labs to people’s lives? How should ideas get from the labs to people’s lives? This quarter we will consider past innovations as we think about ways to encourage and measure current and future innovations. The course will culminate in a research-based argument about some aspect of innovation.

Creating Change: The Culture of Resistance

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

920565

B00

T/TH 11:00-12:20

1138

Amy Forrest

928775

C00

T/TH 12:30-1:50

1138

Amy Forrest

Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the National Anthem, Tina Fey stuffed her face with cake on Saturday Night Live, Will & Grace had a pillow fight in the Oval Office. Tensions arise when culture and politics collide, and the politicization of race, gender, ethnicity, social class, identity, sexuality, community, and (dis)ability inevitably leads to conflict that plays out in the arts, media, and even sports. 

 In MCWP 125 Creating Change, we will focus upon contemporary acts of cultural resistance, first arriving at working definitions of both “culture” and “resistance” (with an emphasis on non-violence).  We will engage critically with questions that include: what forces drive oppression and compel individuals to resist? Does a cultural act of resistance create lasting change or does it heighten cultural tension and reinforce oppression? What does it mean when our sports/literary/music/television/film/art heroes become political heroes (or villains)? What are the ethical and moral obligations surrounding cultural resistance? How does the right to free speech guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution factor into the equation? You will create an individual research project centered upon an object or act of cultural resistance, and we will analyze arguments in a variety of texts, critical essays, and scholarly journal articles, examining how they are made and what they can teach us about culture’s ability to challenge institutions of power.

Spring 2017

The Art of the Manifesto

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

896083

A00

MW 9:30-10:50

2346A

William Given 

A manifesto is a passionate response to a specific problem that a writer has identified.  It is something that challenges what is being championed as the norm by offering a unique solution to a problem.  Manifestos have started technological revolutions and have toppled regimes.  Whether it is encouraging a new way of thinking, or analyzing the factors that may be contributing to systems of oppression, manifestos have been used to inspire new directions in politics, government, the arts, and in society as a whole. With the current divisive state of the U.S. after the election, and with concepts such as “alternative facts” being bandied about, we will examine the ability of the manifesto to inspire change in the 21st century hyper mediatized society.  Our goal in this class will be to develop our own argumentative academic arguments that engage with other scholars in the field to address these issues and to discover the power our words have to change the world.

Considering Innovations

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

896084

B00

TTH 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

“Innovation” is everywhere: across disciplines, universities, and industries, this buzzword is invoked to sell the new and the now. What is innovation? How do researchers, scientists, entrepreneurs, educators, and inventors innovate? How do ideas get from the labs to people’s lives? How should ideas get from the labs to people’s lives? This quarter we will consider past innovations as we think about ways to encourage and measure current and future innovations. The course will culminate in a research-based argument about some aspect of innovation.

Winter 2017

Food: Fueling Our Future

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

887644

A00

MW 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

TBD

Human-animal Interactions: Benefits, Conflicts, and Partnerships

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

887645

B00

TTH 9:30-10:50

2346A

Carrie Wastal

TBD

Fall 2016

Food: Fueling Our Future

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

875694

B00

TR 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson

Description: TBD

Cindy Sherman, The New Selfie, and the Dissolution of Privacy

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

875693

A00

MW 11:00-12:20

2346A

William Given

In Cindy Sherman’s photographs, we oftentimes see the artist herself as the main subject, presenting to us a constructed identity that blurs the line between fictional character and actual individual.  Today, we are finding that our identities are becoming increasingly shaped by our engagement with the online world of social media and the avatars that we create to represent ourselves.  Is an online identity any less real than how we portray ourselves face to face in the three-dimensional environment?  What happens when the boundary between public and private identity begins to break down and we openly divulge information about ourselves that was once kept hidden?  Is privacy an outmoded concept in a hyper mediatized world?  In this class we will engage with these questions in order to develop an argumentative research paper that will ultimately shape the academic discourse over online identity and notions of privacy.

Spring 2016

Military Matters

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

853418

A00

MW 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson


The military matters everywhere in San Diego – it impacts employment, recreation, environment, health care, and even the very landscape. Indeed, it is hard to find part of San Diego history that is not in large part shaped by the presence of the military. How the military impacts us here, of course, is related to how it impacts communities around the country, from the decisions made on a federal level about military spending, to the presence on the local levels of recruiters in high schools, to the very personal levels of treatment of traumatic brain injuries. In this course we will read academic articles from a variety of disciplines about the impact of the military, and then students will have the opportunity to formulate their own research questions on matters of the military leading, ultimately, to a well-researched argument.

Museums, Objects, and Collections

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

870302

B00

TTH 11:00-12:20

2346A

Eun Jung Park

 

Imagine selecting artifacts to represent the history of humankind for an encyclopedic museum like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York or the National Gallery in D.C.  Even if the parameters of the selection was limited to the United States, it would still be a daunting task.  Would you organize your collection in chronological order, according to geography, or according to a unifying ideological theme?  From the Small World ride at Disneyland to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the seemingly invisible criteria is a snapshot of the dominant worldview.  This quarter, we will examine the unintended consequences of collections and the various ways in which they are presented in society, culminating in an individual research project in which the student will interrogate the nature of museums and collections, of their material, and of curatorship, as cultural expressions to develop an argument that presents a perspective which will elucidate cultural patterns.

Winter 2016

Military Matters

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

853418

A00

MW 11:00-12:20

2346A

Marion Wilson


The military matters everywhere in San Diego – it impacts employment, recreation, environment, health care, and even the very landscape. Indeed, it is hard to find part of San Diego history that is not in large part shaped by the presence of the military. How the military impacts us here, of course, is related to how it impacts communities around the country, from the decisions made on a federal level about military spending, to the presence on the local levels of recruiters in high schools, to the very personal levels of treatment of traumatic brain injuries. In this course we will read academic articles from a variety of disciplines about the impact of the military, and then students will have the opportunity to formulate their own research questions on matters of the military leading, ultimately, to a well-researched argument.

Cyborg: Welding Technology and Humans

SECTION ID

SECTION

DAY/TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

853419

B00

TTH 9:30-10:50

2346A

Carrie Wastal

We often conceive of technology as important to our everyday lives including school, work, and recreation. People are now reliant on technology, in its many forms. The reliance and importance of technology has expanded to its uses for the human body, especially medical purposes like prosthesis. The images promoted by media like films, novels, and essays is varied but most center on the cyborg as mercenary or hero, killer or savior, antagonist or protagonist, and as unpredictable entities that turn on their makers. However, cyborgs and cyborg technologies are much more than these narrow categories would suggest.

This course will explore society’s view of the blending of machine and human known as the cyborg. We will also look at the different perspectives of the definition of cyborg including its social value and its ethical use to inform our arguments about cyborgs and the interface of technologies and humans. We will also look at other definitions of cyborg. In keeping with the goals and requirements of MCWP 125, you will examine arguments about this topic in an effort to understand their content and structure while introducing and supporting your own informed research-based argument about an issue relevant to the course topic.

Fall 2015

Military Matters

SECTION ID SECTION DAY/TIME ROOM INSTRUCTOR
842602 A00 MW 11:00 - 12:20 HSS 2346A Marion Wilson
The military matters everywhere in San Diego – it impacts employment, recreation, environment, health care, and even the very landscape. Indeed, it is hard to find part of San Diego history that is not in large part shaped by the presence of the military. How the military impacts us here, of course, is related to how it impacts communities around the country, from the decisions made on a federal level about military spending, to the presence on the local levels of recruiters in high schools, to the very personal levels of treatment of traumatic brain injuries. In this course we will read academic articles from a variety of disciplines about the impact of the military, and then students will have the opportunity to formulate their own research questions on matters of the military leading, ultimately, to a well-researched argument.

Cyborg: Welding Technology and Humans

SECTION ID SECTION DAY/TIME ROOM INSTRUCTOR
842603 B00 TTH 9:30 - 10:50 HSS 2346A Carrie Wastal

We often conceive of technology as important to our everyday lives including school, work, and recreation. People are now reliant on technology, in its many forms. The reliance and importance of technology has expanded to its uses for the human body, especially medical purposes like prosthesis. The images promoted by media like films, novels, and essays is varied but most center on the cyborg as mercenary or hero, killer or savior, antagonist or protagonist, and as unpredictable entities that turn on their makers. However, cyborgs and cyborg technologies are much more than these narrow categories would suggest.

This course will explore society’s view of the blending of machine and human known as the cyborg. We will also look at the different perspectives of the definition of cyborg including its social value and its ethical use to inform our arguments about cyborgs and the interface of technologies and humans. We will also look at other definitions of cyborg. In keeping with the goals and requirements of MCWP 125, you will examine arguments about this topic in an effort to understand their content and structure while introducing and supporting your own informed research-based argument about an issue relevant to the course topic.

Summer Session 1 2015

From A.B.C.’s to F.O.B.’s: Asian Americans and Popular Culture

SEC. ID

SEC.

DAYS

TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

842274

A00

TTh

2:00 – 4:50pm

2305B

Staff

Fresh Off the Boat, the new family comedy on ABC is the first network sitcom about an Asian American family since Margaret Cho's short-lived All-American Girl premiered two decades ago.  What happened in those last twenty years? What are the political, historical, and cultural conditions that explains the reception of racially themed family sitcoms?  Throughout history, the family unit has often been used as a metaphor for the nation, but what if your family is mixed-raced or the members of the family includes transnationally adopted or undocumented children?  What are the conditions that necessitated a separate box for mixed-raced individuals for the first time in the 2010 U.S. census?  Engaging with issues of race, identity, transnational adoption, to issues of mixed race identities, the course introduces students to the rhetorical constructions of the American family in popular culture from narrative dramas, commercials, artistic practices, marketing, and new media.

Summer Session II 2015

Military Matters

SEC. ID

SEC.

DAYS

TIME

ROOM

INSTRUCTOR

843194

A00

MW

11:00-1:50pm

2305A

Staff

The military matters everywhere in San Diego – it impacts employment, recreation, environment, health care, and even the very landscape. Indeed, it is hard to find part of San Diego history that is not in large part shaped by the presence of the military. How the military impacts us here, of course, is related to how it impacts communities around the country, from the decisions made on a federal level about military spending, to the presence on the local levels of recruiters in high schools, to the very personal levels of treatment of traumatic brain injuries. In this course we will read academic articles from a variety of disciplines about the impact of the military, and then students will have the opportunity to formulate their own research questions on matters of the military leading, ultimately, to a well-researched argument.