Summer Course 2020 Descriptions

Summer Session I: MAY 26 - JULY 5

SCA-UA 180.001: Theorizing Beyonce and the Black Fantastic

Prof. Renee Blake 

Tues, Wed, Thurs, 9:30 – 11:30 AM 

 The central question of this course, motivated by Richard Iton’s 2008 book, In Search of the Black Fantastic, is located at the intersection of culture and politics and asks: what is the political work, be it informal or formal, that Black artists do in the creation of art? While we start with Beyoncé, we undertake critical social, cultural and political analyses of other artists and performers, as well as artistic and creative mediums including music, film and literature. In this class, we will sharpen our critical lens with the help of bell hooks timeless book, Black Looks: Race and Representation, as we explore issues of blackness, whiteness, black subjectivity and positionality. SCA Faculty Elective for Africana, American, Gender & Sexuality and SCA.

SCA-UA 234.001: Cultures & Economies: #Metoo? Histories of Sexual Assault & Harassment

Prof. Maya Wind

Tues, Wed, Thurs, 3:00 – 5:00 PM 

In this course, we will place the current #MeToo and #Time'sUp phenomena in context, by examining the social and cultural histories of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. We will consider sexual violence, social movements, media and law as they are embedded within structures of American racial, class and gender inequality. In addition to considering the pervasiveness of sexual violence and analyzing social responses to it, we will also analyze histories of racial lynching for alleged rape, and anti-queer “sex panics” of the 20th century. Students will critically engage sexual violence and the weaponization of sexuality as integral to US Empire and war-making, from colonial conquest to military occupations. SCA Faculty Elective for American, Gender & Sexuality, and SCA.

SCA-UA 280.001: Food in New York City: Past, Present & Future

Prof. Paolina Lu 

Tues, Wed, Thurs, 12:30 – 2:30 PM

With a focus on labor, migration, food access, taste, waste, and restaurant culture, students in this course will critically examine the cultural production, distribution and consumption of food by asking – How does New York City get fed? Together, we will explore this timely question through critical readings and responses, discussion, autoethnography, and interviews as we use food as a lens for mapping place, difference, and networks of culture and care. As it continues to bring many vulnerabilities in our food systems to light, the Covid-19 pandemic provides us with an opportunity to study the history of food in New York City as a basis for understanding our current moment, and as the grounds from which we can engage in a collective imagining of how the city might be fed more equitably and sustainably in the future. SCA Faculty Elective for American, Metropolitan, and SCA. 

Summer Session II:  July 6 - August 16

SCA-UA 401.001 or 401.060 (pre-college): Approaches to Gender & Sexuality Studies

Prof. Emilia Sawada 

Tues, Wed, Thurs, 12:00-2:00 PM

Explores the construction of sex, gender, and sexuality; gender asymmetry in society; sexual normativity and violations of norms; and the interactions of sex, gender, sexuality, race, class, and nation. Engages materials and methodologies from a range of media and disciplines, such as literature, the visual arts, history, sociology, psychology, and anthropology. Examines both feminist and nonfeminist arguments from a variety of critical perspectives. CORE Social Science, intro for Gender & Sexuality Major/Minor and SCA Major not Minor, not an elective. 

SCA-UA 608.001 or 608.060 (pre-college): Urban Cultural Life

Prof. Jackson Smith

Tue, Thu 3:00 – 6:00 PM

Few cities enjoy as rich a cultural life as New York City, with its plethora of neighborhoods, museums, galleries, theatres, concert halls, and alternative spaces. Through walking tours, attendance at cultural events, and visits to local cultural institutions, students explore the definition of urban culture. Sites include the familiar and the unfamiliar, the Village and the outer boroughs. Students examine the attributes that constitute culture and community from an interdisciplinary perspective. SCA Faculty Elective for Africana, American, Metropolitan, and SCA.

SCA-UA 680.001 or 680.060 (pre-College): Race, Space & Policing in the City

Prof.  Emma Shaw Crane 

Tues, Wed, Thurs, 6:30 – 8:30 PM

Explores questions of race and racism in contemporary cities. Through critical readings, media, and art we will discuss housing, environmental justice, migration and policing in relationship to race and urban space. Interdisciplinary course engages materials and methodologies from urban studies, geography, anthropology, ethnic studies, and city planning. SCA Faculty Elective for Africana, American, Metropolitan, Gender & Sexuality, Asian/Pacific/American, Latino and SCA.

SCA-UA 9744.001 Critical Perspective on Brazil 

Counts as a cross-listed faculty elective  for Africana Studies major and minor and for the SCA major but not the minor. SAME AS PORT-UA 9700 and LATC-UA 9600. For more details please look at PORT-UA 9700.

This course is designed as an interdisciplinary and critical introduction to the history, society, literature, and culture of Brazil, the largest nation of Latin America. Students will learn about Brazil’s colonial experience as the only Portuguese colony in the Americas, its unique experiment with monarchical institutions in the nineteenth century, and the trajectory of its uneven modernization in the twentieth century. We will also explore the particularities of Pernambuco, its Dutch past, and overall relevance in the culture, economy and, politics of Brazil. The course will examine diverse topics including contemporary race relations, gender, sexuality, religion and spirituality, class conflict, and migration, as well as various aspects of Brazilian cultural production and performance, as reflected in film, music, literature, and other forms of popular culture. Students will engage in critical analysis of a variety of texts, including films, fiction, and ethnographic and historical accounts, as they also pursue their own areas of intellectual and research interests. The course will be taught in English. Portuguese-language texts will be available in English translation or with English subtitles. Students with knowledge of Portuguese will be able to read and view the texts in the original language.