Courses for the Global Health minor may be taken in any order; it is not necessary to take the core course (GHLT 0257) first. 

Electives can be chosen from across the curriculum (see below), including the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.  In choosing your courses, please remember that:
1) Only one 100-level elective may count toward the Global Health minor;
2) No course at Middlebury College can be counted toward more than one set of requirements (e.g. a major and minor);
3) Except for GHLT courses, no more than two elective courses taken from the same department may count towards the minor.

You can declare the minor at any time, but it will only appear on BannerWeb once you have declared a major.

Core Courses

Starting fall 2023, registration for GHLT 0257 is open to declared GHLT minors only.  Other students, including intended minors, will be added by instructor approval. 

Courses offered in the past four years. Courses offered currently are as noted.

Course Description

Global Health
This course provides an introductory survey of the basic issues and initiatives in contemporary global public health, demonstrating the inextricability of public health problems from the social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental issues that exist in an era of globalization. Examining these connections will enable us to critically evaluate the goals and strategies of public health interventions, and discuss factors impacting their success or failure. To do this, we must also examine the lens through which the West views public health problems as they relate to our cultural beliefs, biomedical views of health, sense of justice, and strategic interests. (Not open to students who have taken INTD 0257 or SOAN 0267) (GHLT minors, others by waiver.) 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Methods Courses

Courses offered in the past four years. Courses offered currently are as noted.

Course Description

The Research Process: Ethnography and Qualitative Methods
The aim of this course is to prepare the student to conduct research, to analyze and present research in a scholarly manner, and to evaluate critically the research of others. Practice and evaluation of such basic techniques as observation, participant-observation, structured and open-ended interviews, and use of documents. Introduction to various methodological and theoretical frameworks. Thesis or essay prospectus is the final product of this course. Strongly recommended for juniors. One-hour research lab required. (Any 100 level ANTH or SOCI course, or by permission) 3 hrs. lect./disc./1 hr. research lab

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024

Requirements

CW

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Course Description

Experimental Design and Statistical Analysis
Experimental design is one of the most important parts of doing science, but it is difficult to do well. How do you randomize mice? How many replicate petri plates should be inoculated? If I am measuring temperature in a forest, where do I put the thermometer? In this course students will design experiments across the sub-areas of biology. We will run student designed experiments, and then learn ways to analyze the data, and communicate the results. Students planning to do independent research are encouraged to take this course. (BIOL 0140 or BIOL 0145).

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED

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Course Description

Economic Statistics (formerly ECON 0210)
An introduction to the discipline of statistics as a science of understanding and analyzing
data with an emphasis on applications to economics. Key topics include descriptive statistics, probability distributions, sampling, random variables, the Central Limit Theorem, estimation, hypothesis testing, p-values, and linear regression. Students will be introduced to a statistical programming language. A weekly one-hour lab is part of this course in addition to three hours of class meetings per week. (Formerly ECON 0210) (Not open to students who have taken ECON 0210, MATH 0116, MATH 0310, PSYC 0201, STAT 0116 [formerly MATH 0116] or STAT 0201.) 3 hrs. lect., 1 hr. lab

Terms Taught

Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED

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Course Description

Mapping Global Environmental Change (formerly GEOG 0150)
How do geographers use geospatial technologies to observe the Earth’s surface? How do geographers use this information to interpret changes in the global environment across space and time? In this course we will learn how to work with large geographic datasets to explore patterns and changes to the Earth’s surface at local to global scales. Case studies will use remotely-sensed images to study land cover, climate, weather, wildfire, and other topics. Students will learn concepts, methods, and ethics for using a cloud-based geospatial analysis platform to process data, critically interpret workflows and results, and communicate findings with web maps and graphics. 4 hrs. lect./1.5 hrs. lab.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2023, Fall 2024

Requirements

DED

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Course Description

Human Geography with GIS (formerly GEOG 0120)
How do geographers study spatial interactions between people and the environment? How does socio-economic status relate to spatial patterns of settlement, social organization, access to resources, and exposure to risks? How can geographic information systems (GIS) help geographers explain these spatial patterns and processes? In this course we will apply GIS to a wide range of topics in human geography including urban, environmental, political, hazards, and health. We will learn how to gather, create, analyze, visualize, and critically interpret geographic data through tutorials, collaborative labs, and independent work that culminate in cartographic layouts of our results. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. lab.

Terms Taught

Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024

Requirements

DED, SOC

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Course Description

Placebased Data Analysis (formerly GEOG 0139)
Who migrates from urban areas during a pandemic? How are livelihoods distributed around protected areas in Central Africa? How much does location influence the price of a house? In this course students will discover ways to answer questions like these by introducing fundamentals for generating and analyzing data about people and the places they are connected to. Students will practice constructing datasets, visualizing relationships, formulating and testing hypotheses, modeling outcomes, and conveying results. We will cover descriptive and inferential statistics, focusing on geographic applications and the unique complexities of spatial data. Through cases and problem sets, students will explore complementarities between quantitative and qualitative analysis, emphasizing critical and reflexive approaches. Labs will build proficiency with software packages like R and GeoDa. The course aims to make students more savvy consumers of published work, to produce careful analysts, and to foster a deeper appreciation for the research process. No prior experience with Statistics or Geography is required; the course is designed to introduce students to approaches broadly relevant in Geography and allied social sciences. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. lab

Terms Taught

Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED

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Course Description

Principles of Epidemiology
This course will introduce students to the theory and practice of epidemiology. Students will learn major concepts including study design, measures of effect, and causal inference. We will explore the causes of modern diseases with a focus on how epidemiology can be used to understand causation of disease. We will also explore the historical and current contributions of epidemiology within the field of public health. The course will introduce areas of specialization including infectious and non-infectious diseases, environmental epidemiology, and social and community epidemiology. Students will learn data analysis skills applicable to research in public health and other quantitative sciences. Students will utilize skills from class to investigate an epidemiological issue using real world data. Students will also lead discussions on how epidemiology is used to investigate the determinants of disease. Students will leave the course with understanding of key epidemiological concepts, and the ability to convey those ideas to a lay audience in written and oral formats. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED

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Course Description

Psychological Statistics
This course will examine statistical methods used in the behavioral and biological sciences. Students will learn the logic underlying statistical analysis, focusing primarily on inferential techniques. They also will become familiar with the application and interpretation of statistics in psychological empirical research, including the use of computer software for conducting and interpreting statistical analyses. (PSYC 0105; open to psychology and neuroscience majors, others by waiver. Not open to students who have taken MATH 0116 or ECON 0210) 3 hrs. lect./1.5 hr. lab

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED

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Course Description

Social Statistics
In this course we will learn the practical tools social sociologists and other scientists use to analyze data quantitatively. Topics will emphasize applications with statistical software and data from the General Social Survey and other datasets. We will explore methods to describe statistics about samples, apply the principles of probability to make predictions about populations, and estimate the significance of those predictions through inference and hypothesis testing. We will conclude with an introduction to linear regression. (Open only to majors or by Instructor Approval) (formerly SOAN 0385) 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Fall 2023

Requirements

DED, SOC

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Course Description

Introduction to Statistical Science (formerly MATH 0116)
A practical introduction to statistical methods and the examination of data sets. Computer software will play a central role in analyzing a variety of real data sets from the natural and social sciences. Topics include descriptive statistics, elementary distributions for data, hypothesis tests, confidence intervals, correlation, regression, contingency tables, and analysis of variance. The course has no formal mathematics prerequisite, and is especially suited to students in the physical, social, environmental, and life sciences who seek an applied orientation to data analysis. (Credit is not given for MATH 0116 if the student has taken ECON 0111 (formerly ECON 0210) or PSYC 0201 previously or concurrently.) 3 hrs. lect./1 hr. computer lab.

Terms Taught

Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED

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Course Description

Advanced Introduction to Statistical and Data Sciences
An introduction to statistical methods and the examination of data sets for students with a background in calculus. Topics include descriptive statistics, elementary distributions for data, hypothesis tests, confidence intervals, and regression. Students develop skills in data cleaning, wrangling, visualization, and model fitting using the Statistical Software R. Emphasis will be placed on reproducibility. (MATH 0121 or APAB 4 or APBC 3, or by waiver) (Not open to students who have taken MATH 0116, MATH 0118, ECON 0111 (formerly ECON 0210), PSYC 0201, STAT 0116, STAT 0118, BIOL 1230, ECON 1230, ENVS 1230, FMMC 1230, HARC 1230, JAPN 1230, LNGT 1230, NSCI 1230, MATH 1230, SOCI 1230, LNGT 1230, PSCI 1230, WRPR 1230, or GEOG 1230.)

Terms Taught

Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED

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Electives

No more than one 100-level class may be counted toward the minor.  

Courses offered in the past four years. Courses offered currently are as noted. An additional list of courses may be counted by students who matriculated prior to Fall semester 2024 – please see the next section.

Courses offered in the past four years. Courses offered currently are as noted.

Course Description

American Disability Studies: History, Meanings, and Cultures
In this course we will examine the history, meanings, and realities of disability in the United States. We will analyze the social, political, economic, environmental, and material factors that shape the meanings of "disability," examining changes and continuities over time. Students will draw critical attention to the connections between disability, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and age in American and transnational contexts. Diverse sources, including films and television shows, music, advertising, fiction, memoirs, and material objects, encourage inter and multi-disciplinary approaches to disability. Central themes we consider include language, privilege, community, citizenship, education, medicine and technology, and representation.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Fall 2024

Requirements

AMR, HIS, SOC

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Course Description

Madness in America
It's a mad, mad course. In this course we will focus on representations of madness from colonial to late 20th century America, emphasizing the links between popular and material culture, science, medicine, and institutions. We will consider how ideas about madness (and normalcy) reflect broader (and shifting) notions of identity. Thus, issues of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, community, class, and region will play significant roles in our discussions and critiques. To complement foundational readings, this course will draw on American literature, documentary and entertainment films, music, and materials from the college's special collections.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2025

Requirements

AMR, SOC

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Course Description

Love, Sex, Race, and Disability
In this course we will explore the connections between gender and sexuality, race, and disability. Culture and representation, understandings of diversity and difference, and contexts (political, social, and historical) will provide central areas of study. Comparing and integrating topics and perspectives, we will critically analyze the constructions and politics of identity (and multiple identities) and historical perspectives on gender and sexuality, race, and disability. We also will consider the impact of education and activism, as well as the meanings of intimate relationships across and between genders and sexualities, races, and disabilities. Our work will foster a fundamental reexamination of American life and history through its study of bodies and minds, identities, languages, cultures, citizenship and rights, power and authority, what is a "natural" and "unnatural." This course will draw on diverse sources, including documentary and Hollywood films, poetry and short fiction, academic texts, such as Freakery, Gendering Disability and Disability and the Teaching of Writing, and memoirs, such as Eli Clare's Exile and Pride.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022, Spring 2024

Requirements

AMR, NOR, SOC

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Course Description

Issues in Critical Disability Studies: U.S. and the World
Disability as a category and as lived experience plays an important but often overlooked role in national, transnational, and global contexts. In this course we will explore disability’s changing meanings in the United States and around the World. Comparative and transnational approaches will draw our attention to disability’s many meanings across wide-ranging historical, cultural, and geographical settings. Foundational concepts and principles, including ableism and Universal Design, shape our critical inquiry. Key themes frame the course: access, language, power, violence, normalcy, identity, community, institutions, and rights and justice. We will engage with diverse primary sources, from memoirs and documentary films to advertisements, material objects, and oral histories. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2025

Requirements

AMR, CMP, HIS, SOC

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Course Description

Human Ecology
Environmental issues are also cultural and political conflicts, between competing social groups, economic interests and cultural paradigms. This course introduces students to human ecology, the study of how our adaptations to the environment are mediated by cultural differences and political economy. Topics include: how ecological anthropology has evolved as a subdiscipline, with a focus on systems theory and political ecology; how ritually regulated societies manage resources; how rural communities deal with environmental deterioration; and how contradictions between environmental protection, economic development, and cultural values complicate so many ecological issues. (Any 100-level ANTH, or any 100-level ENVS,or ENVS AP credit or instructor permission) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

Medical Anthropology: Approaches to Affliction and Healing
In this course, an introduction to medical anthropology, we will explore cultural and political-economic perspectives on health, illness, and disease. Topics covered include: (1) biocultural approaches to understanding health; (2) medical systems, including biomedicine and others; (3) the effects of poverty and inequality on health outcomes; and (4) the social construction of health and illness. Students will apply these concepts in understanding an aspect of health, illness, or healing in their own research project with an ethnographic component. An introductory course in anthropology or familiarity with medical or public health issues is recommended. (Juniors and Seniors register in section B) (formerly SOAN 0387) 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

Gender, Culture, and Power
This course offers a cross-cultural introduction to the issues involved in the study of women and gender. Such an endeavor raises a number of difficult and delicate issues. What explains the diversities and similarities in women's roles across societies? How do we assess women's status and power, and how do we decide which standards to use in doing so? What forces create changes in women's roles? What is the relationship between gender constructions and the nature of communities, economies, and even nations? Our analysis will concentrate on three primary domains: family and kinship, symbolic systems, and political economy. Course readings will focus primarily on non-Western societies. 3 hrs. lect./disc. (National/Transnational Feminisms)/

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2022

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

The Traveling Tonic: Geographies of Medicine, Science, and the Body
Medical practice does not operate within bounded systems but moves in highly transactional and molten ways—from the circulation of classical Chinese and Indian manuscripts to transnational movements of genes, gametes, and drugs. In this seminar we draw on ethnographic examples to grasp the importance of migration in producing science. The metaphor of travel enables us to pivot from Eurocentric histories of science to disrupt what we mean by global medicine. At the same time, the figure of the tonic enables us to think about the many sorts of life (plants, distillates, vectors, etc.) that make up medicine today. (ANTH 0287) 3 hrs. sem. (Formerly ANTH 0340) (Not open to students who have already taken ANTH 0340.)

Terms Taught

Spring 2023

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

Mechanisms of Microbial Pathogenesis
Many microorganisms have the potential to cause disease. An understanding of the mechanisms that promote bacterial pathogenesis is therefore essential for the development of effective disease prevention and/or treatment strategies. This course will explore the mechanisms by which microbial pathogens adhere to, invade, and persist in the human host. While an emphasis will be placed on microbial mechanisms of disease, the host response to the infectious process will also be discussed. (BIOL 0140 and BIOL 0145) 3 hrs lect/disc.

Terms Taught

Winter 2024

Requirements

SCI

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Course Description

Topics in Reproductive Medicine
In this course we will examine the fundamentals of human reproduction and modern reproductive intervention strategies. Rapid discoveries in medical technologies have allowed us to push the limits of the human body, and we will explore the scientific and medical challenges that surround the control of fertility and infertility, fetal life, birth, and the neonatal period. Through critical review of the primary literature, writing, and informed dialogues, students will gain an understanding of key topics in reproductive medicine. (BIOL 0140, BIOL 0145, and one other 0200 or 0300-level biology course)

Terms Taught

Winter 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Winter 2024, Winter 2025

Requirements

SCI

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Course Description

Medicinal Chemistry
Medicinal chemistry combines organic chemistry with biochemistry, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, and medicine. As chemists we try to correlate the molecular structure of pharmaceutical treatments (i.e., "drugs") with their biological activity to understand disease and to develop both new and improved treatments. In this course we will survey the major categories of diseases, drug targets, and drugs using a case-study approach. In addition to mid-term exams and a shorter group presentation on a disease category, the course will culminate with group-based final projects (presentation and written paper) about the design, development, and proposed future directions of treatments targeting a specific disease. (CHEM 0204 or CHEM 0322) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022

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Course Description

Health Economics and Policy
In this course we will focus on the health care system of the United States. We will apply standard microeconomic tools to the problems of health and health care markets. The course provides the fundamental tools with which to understand how the health care market is different from the markets for other goods. For example, students will learn about the dominant presence of uncertainty at all levels of health care, the government's unusually large presence in the market, the pronounced difference in knowledge between doctors and patients, and the prevalence of situations where the actions of some impose costs or benefits on others (e.g., vaccinations, drug research). (ECON 0155) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2025

Requirements

AMR, CW, NOR, SOC

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Course Description

International and Cross Cultural Education
Who gets to own knowledge? Who can acquire it? How do we construct advantage and disadvantage? Comparative and international education examines the intersection of culture and education and the ways they are inextricably related through history, politics, and literature. In this course we will explore major concepts, trends, and methodologies across disciplines, focusing on the effects of globalization, the maintenance and dissolution of borders, the commodification of knowledge, the social creation of meaning, and the consequences of those constructions. We will examine global educational traditions and realities on the ground in case studies of Western and developing nations.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

Critical Conditions: Gender, Literature, and Illness (Pre-1800)
In this course we will explore the literary representation of illness and pain in a range of texts from the classical period to the present day, focusing in particular on the intersection of illness with questions of gender, race, and sexuality. Beginning with Sophocles’s tragedy Women of Trachis, we will explore the classical representation of acute pain in the context of early Greek medicine, before examining medieval and early modern literary works inspired by the Black Death, including selections from Boccaccio’s Decameron. The second half of the class will focus on modernist and contemporary accounts of illness, including Virginia Woolf’s treatment of both the 1918 influenza epidemic and so-called “shell-shock” in her novel Mrs Dalloway. We will intersperse our literary readings with theoretical explorations of cure, disability, and ableism by writers such as Eli Clare, as well as work from the emerging field of narrative medicine. 3 hrs. lect.(Formerly ENAM 0242)

Terms Taught

Fall 2022, Fall 2024

Requirements

EUR, LIT

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Course Description

American Psycho: Disease, Doctors, and Discontents
What constitutes a pathological response to the pressures of modernity? How do pathological protagonists drive readers toward the precariousness of their own physical and mental health? The readings for this class center on the provisional nature of sanity and the challenges to bodily health in a world of modern commerce, media, and medical diagnoses. We will begin with 19th century texts and their engagement with seemingly "diseased" responses to urbanization, new forms of work, and new structures of the family and end with contemporary fictional psychopaths engaged in attacks on the world of images we inhabit in the present. Nineteenth century texts will likely include stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Later 20th-century works will likely include Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs, Susanna Kaysen, Girl, Interrupted, and Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho. (Formerly ENAM 0263)

Terms Taught

Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

AMR, LIT

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Course Description

Navigating A Toxic World: Environmental Health in Your Daily Life
Have you ever wondered how the environment around you impacts your health? Environmental health scientists study how water, air, food, and the built environment affect wellbeing. In this class, we will explore environmental health topics relevant to our daily lives, including what’s in “BPA Free” water bottles, the science and politics behind your waterproof raincoat and mascara, and whether organic foods are actually better. We will also explore themes of environmental justice because who you are and where you live determine your environment and, in turn, your health. We will engage in lecture, discussion, and a semester-long project on environmental health in your daily life. 3hrs lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2024

Requirements

SCI

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Course Description

Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene
We live in a moment defined by environmental change. Yet the causes and consequences of these transformations are profoundly uneven. Across race, class, gender, and other forms of difference, “environmental problems” manifest in radically unequal ways, disproportionately burdening some while benefiting others. In this class we will dwell on this central tension in thinking about present socio-environmental crises and what to do about them, from toxic landscapes and biodiversity loss to global hunger and a warming climate. Certainly, these problems pose urgent, even existential problems that demand intervention. Yet common refrains about ‘how to save the environment’ always come with baggage. They have deep histories and hidden assumptions about causes and solutions, justice and inequality, politics and social change, which we will wrestle with together in this course. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2023, Fall 2024

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

Gender Health Environment
Growing concern for the protection of the environment and human health has led policy makers and scholars to consider ways in which gender, class, and race and other forms of identity mediate human-environment interactions. In this course we will explore how access to, control over, and distribution of resources influence environmental and health outcomes both in terms of social inequities and ecological decline. Specific issues we will cover include: ecofeminism, food security, population, gendered conservation, environmental toxins, climate change, food justice, and the green revolution. We will draw comparisons between different societies around the globe as well as look at dynamics between individuals within a society. The majority of case studies are drawn from Sub Saharan Africa and Asia, however some comparisons are also made with the United States. 3 hrs. lect. (FemSTHM)/

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023

Requirements

CMP, SAF, SOC

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Course Description

Justice, Health, and the Environment
Since its beginnings, the environmental justice movement has been closely linked to the field of environmental health, a subdiscipline of public health which investigates how environmental conditions affect peoples’ health. In this course, we will explore how the intersectionality of a person’s identities can influence where a person lives, works, and plays, and, ultimately, the environment surrounding them. In doing so, we will explore the science underlying how justice-health connections have influenced pivotal fights in the environmental justice movement. We will engage in lecture, discussion, and a semester-long project to dive deeply into an environmental justice-health case study of your choice. 3 hrs. lecture.

Terms Taught

Fall 2023

Requirements

SCI

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Course Description

Environmental Health
In this course we will explore the science underlying reciprocal relationships between human health and the environment, with emphasis on health inequities and vulnerable populations. Through the context of the four pillars of environmental health (exposure assessment, epidemiology, toxicology, and risk assessment), we will study common types of chemicals found in consumer products, climate change and air pollution, food and nutrition, and characteristics of the built environment. We will engage in discussions and a semester-long project to apply principles of environmental health as we explore connections between personal actions and local as well as global impacts. (ENVS 112 and BIOL 140 or BIOL 145 or CHEM 103 or CHEM 107) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2024

Requirements

SCI

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Course Description

A Mile in Your Shoes: Confronting the Promise and Peril of Pedestrian Experiences
Walkability has entered the urban planning lexicon as interest in compact and mixed-use development has renewed and the recognition of built environment impacts on public health has grown. Meanwhile, pedestrian fatalities increased 45% between 2010 and 2019, and exposures to harmful exhaust, dangerous crossings, and traffic enforcement violence vary across sociodemographic groups. In this course, we will confront the dissonance between encouraging walking for sustainability and health and recognizing fears engendered by pedestrian exposure to harm, especially for historically disadvantaged communities. We will also gain practical experience with tools to measure disparities, including walk audits, sidewalk inventories, and pollution measurements. This course counts as a social science cognate for environmental studies majors.

Terms Taught

Winter 2022

Requirements

WTR

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Course Description

Middlebury's Foodprint: Introduction to Food Systems Issues
Food systems encompass all activities, people and institutions determining movement of food from input supply and production (on land and water) through waste management. The dominant U.S. food system is responsible at least in part for some of the nation’s most troubling environmental and health challenges. What do we eat at Middlebury? What difference does it make? How do we know? We will examine impacts of how Middlebury sources and consumes its food, and disposes of food waste, as a lens to understand sustainable food systems and how they can be achieved. (formerly INTD 0280) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2024

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

Food Power & Justice
Students in this course will learn to analyze power and justice in relation to the food system. We will explore cases in which groups of people are experiencing injustice in opportunities to make a living through food production or other food system activities, inequitable access to food and resources, inequitable health outcomes related to diet (e.g., diabetes, obesity), and silencing or lack of political participation. Students will investigate organizations of their choice that are working to remedy inequitable power relations in the food system, and will present their findings to the rest of the class. (formerly INTD 0281) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

Hunger, Food Security & Food Sovereignty
Why have no countries—including the U.S.—been able to ensure universal food security, even though more than enough food is produced for everyone? To examine this question, we will analyze historical famines, the "food price crisis" of 2008, and debates about how to address hunger and food insecurity including calls for food sovereignty. We will read Julian Cribb's The Coming Famine as well as other sources. Students will select international or domestic food security as their emphasis, and examine an organization trying to tackle hunger and food insecurity. This course is open to juniors and seniors. (formerly INTD 0480) 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Spring 2024

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

Mapping Global Environmental Change
How do geographers use geospatial technologies to observe the Earth’s surface? How do geographers use this information to interpret changes in the global environment across space and time? In this course we will learn how to work with large geographic datasets to explore patterns and changes to the Earth’s surface at local to global scales. Case studies will use remotely-sensed images to study land cover, climate, weather, wildfire, and other topics. Students will learn concepts, methods, and ethics for using a cloud-based geospatial analysis platform to process data, critically interpret workflows and results, and communicate findings with web maps and graphics. 4 hrs. lect./1.5 hrs. lab.

Terms Taught

Winter 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2022

Requirements

DED

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Course Description

Geopolitics and International Development
This course critically examines theories and practices of development in the “global-South,” where in many cases development has been inextricably related to foreign interests of donor countries in the West and of Brazil, India, and China. We will emphasize the importance of territory, security, statehood, and sovereignty in the development process and highlight the evolving nexus between geopolitics and development, with a special emphasis on Africa. We will probe the connections between "development" and "underdevelopment," and ask questions about the possible impact of South-South vs. the historical North-South development. We will focus on the contribution of development to progress, on the one hand, and to its stagnation, on the other, and focus on specific issues like food, population dynamics, resources, and rural- urban relationship. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Fall 2022

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

Population Geography
Through a combination of lectures, readings, and exercises, this course provides background and analytical experience in the spatial dimensions of population dynamics. Students will theoretically and empirically examine geographic variations in natural increase, domestic and international migration, infant mortality, disease, and hunger. Topics will include the intersection of settlement-environment-disease, circular migration systems, cultural influences on demographic processes, and linkages between international and domestic migration flows. We will also assess various policy options and their effectiveness in addressing important demographic issues. The exercises will expose students to the vast amount of population data publicly available and introduce them to techniques used to examine and assess population related issues.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

AMR, DED, NOR, SOC

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Course Description

Human Geography with GIS (formerly GEOG 0120)
How do geographers study spatial interactions between people and the environment? How does socio-economic status relate to spatial patterns of settlement, social organization, access to resources, and exposure to risks? How can geographic information systems (GIS) help geographers explain these spatial patterns and processes? In this course we will apply GIS to a wide range of topics in human geography including urban, environmental, political, hazards, and health. We will learn how to gather, create, analyze, visualize, and critically interpret geographic data through tutorials, collaborative labs, and independent work that culminate in cartographic layouts of our results. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. lab.

Terms Taught

Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024

Requirements

DED, SOC

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Course Description

Public Health of Disasters
Both natural and man-made disasters, including the release of weapons of mass destruction, reveal a community’s preexisting vulnerabilities. The emergency response, and the nature of the disaster itself, combine to affect the short- and long-term health of the disaster-struck community. We will examine public health components of disasters, including emergency preparedness and response, relief efforts, health surveillance, and the ethical considerations of these activities. With case studies and readings, we will employ a public health perspective to understand the community impact of natural and man-made disasters in both developed and developing countries. (not open to students who have taken INTD 0211) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2023

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

Principles of Epidemiology
This course will introduce students to the theory and practice of epidemiology. Students will learn major concepts including study design, measures of effect, and causal inference. We will explore the causes of modern diseases with a focus on how epidemiology can be used to understand causation of disease. We will also explore the historical and current contributions of epidemiology within the field of public health. The course will introduce areas of specialization including infectious and non-infectious diseases, environmental epidemiology, and social and community epidemiology. Students will learn data analysis skills applicable to research in public health and other quantitative sciences. Students will utilize skills from class to investigate an epidemiological issue using real world data. Students will also lead discussions on how epidemiology is used to investigate the determinants of disease. Students will leave the course with understanding of key epidemiological concepts, and the ability to convey those ideas to a lay audience in written and oral formats. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED

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Course Description

Social Entrepreneurship and Global Health
Social and structural determinants of health create barriers to availability, accessibility and uptake of health services in many countries. We will take a case study approach to examining how social entrepreneurs develop and scale up responses to help clients overcome these barriers. We will explore factors including: human rights, poverty, disenfranchisement of women, government health care systems and infrastructure, human resources for health, task shifting, the politics of sexual/reproductive health, and infectious diseases. We will draw on articles and online materials. This course mixes theory and case study, and will count as an elective towards the Global Health minor. (not open to students who have taken INTD 1213 or INTD 0235) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024

Requirements

CMP, SAF

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Course Description

Planetary Health
Human health depends on planetary conditions and resources, as well as functioning ecosystems. Climate change, biodiversity loss, scarcity of land and freshwater, pollution and other threats are degrading these systems with profound implications for human health and wellbeing. Using an interdisciplinary approach, we will investigate the driving forces of human health and wellness in the Anthropocene with an eye on the role of ecology, evolution, planetary change, and the interconnected systems of our planet. Beyond assessing the fundamental biophysical forces acting on human health, we will additionally consider the societal values and ethical frameworks that are inherent to these issues. (BIO 0140 or ENVS 0112 or instructor approval.)

Terms Taught

Spring 2024, Fall 2024

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Course Description

Measurement Matters in Population Health: Approaches, Assumptions, and Applications
How many people died last year? What country has the best health system? Answering these questions involves myriad data decisions and value judgments, yet such information is usually presented as objective assessments. With this course, we will explore how health is measured at the population level and critically examine data challenges and assumptions that underpin common health metrics such as life expectancy, disease estimates, and health service indicators. Topics covered also include issues of data bias and representation, sociopolitical dimensions of population health measurement and target setting, and onward implications of what (and what does not) get measured.

Terms Taught

Winter 2022

Requirements

DED, WTR

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Course Description

Global Maternal and Child Health*
In recent years, increased knowledge and action in global health have led to dramatic reductions in maternal and child mortality, yet significant challenges remain. In this course we will explore themes in global maternal child health including reproductive health, perinatal and newborn health, infectious disease, malnutrition, childhood development, humanitarian emergencies and migration. We will apply a social determinants framework to understand health inequities and explore strategies for strengthening health systems. Students will work in groups to develop a proposal for a maternal child health intervention, with a focus on gaining practical skills in data analysis and proposal writing.

Kim Wilson, MD, MPH is an academic pediatrician and global health professional from Boston with a focus on improving the health of underserved communities in the U.S. and globally. She has worked in Latin America and East Africa with programs to promote maternal and newborn survival, child health, and early childhood development./

Terms Taught

Winter 2022, Winter 2023

Requirements

SOC, WTR

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Course Description

Financing Universal Heath Coverage in Low Resource Settings: Protecting the Poor Through Equity-Driven Approaches
Global health crises like pandemics tend to expose key gaps in equitable access to health services. It is often the poorest and most disenfranchised communities who suffer the greatest consequences of falling ill. In this course, we will examine the question: “who pays, and who receives healthcare?” We will explore the ways in which equitable access to healthcare is organized and financed in low and middle-income countries. We will analyze and discuss the benefits and drawbacks to using different health financing strategies to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). Students will have the opportunity to utilize real-world scenarios and data to propose equitable health financing reforms for UHC in resource poor settings. ECON 0155 is recommended but not required.

Zoe Isaacs leads the health financing team at Partners in Health (PIH). She has spent over five years living and working in Latin America and the Caribbean. Zoe holds an MSc in Health Policy Planning and Finance from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in International and Global Studies from Middlebury College./

Terms Taught

Winter 2023, Winter 2024, Winter 2025

Requirements

WTR

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Course Description

Pandemic Preparedness and Response
This course will examine the history of pandemics, beginning with the 1918 Influenza. The class will look at how individual countries were prepared for Covid19 (or not), and how they responded, how the global system for pandemic preparedness under the guidance of the WHO performed, and whether the lessons we drew from the Covid19 Pandemic experience will leave us better prepared for the next pandemic. In the case of the US, we will look at differential health outcomes for marginalized and other communities. Additional topics in this course will include healthcare ethics in the face of rationing; ethics and the global allocation of vaccines and therapeutics; global treaties governing pharmaceutical patents; and how politics plays a role in the dissemination of information vital for country response to outbreaks of concern, epidemics, and pandemics.

Terms Taught

Winter 2023, Winter 2025

Requirements

SOC, WTR

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Course Description

Gender, Culture, and Power
This course offers a cross-cultural introduction to the issues involved in the study of women and gender. Such an endeavor raises a number of difficult and delicate issues. What explains the diversities and similarities in women's roles across societies? How do we assess women's status and power, and how do we decide which standards to use in doing so? What forces create changes in women's roles? What is the relationship between gender constructions and the nature of communities, economies, and even nations? Our analysis will concentrate on three primary domains: family and kinship, symbolic systems, and political economy. Course readings will focus primarily on non-Western societies. 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2022

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

The Politics of Reproduction: Sex, Abortion, and Motherhood
In this course we will examine contemporary reproductive issues both in the United States and around the world. We will work to understand both how reproductive politics are informed by broader cultural ideas regarding gender, race, class, ability, sexuality, and geography and also how ideas about reproduction reinforce conceptions of these very identity markers and ways of experiencing the world. Because requirements for being considered a “good” woman are intimately tied to what it means to be a “good” mother, challenging dominant understandings of gender and sexuality requires critical engagement with ideas about reproduction. 3 hrs. lect. (FemSTHM)/

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023

Requirements

AMR, CMP, CW, SOC

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Course Description

Genocides Throughout History
With the devastation of the Holocaust and other more recent events, the study of genocide has mainly focused on the modern period. Yet, mass killings and other atrocities abound in earlier centuries as well. In this course we will focus on examples across time and space to gain a more comprehensive understanding of such phenomena. We will consider the very meaning of “genocide” as well as the suitability of other terms. We will also discuss different explanations of everything from perpetrators’ motivations to victims’ responses. Finally, we will examine the possibility of preventing genocides. 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Spring 2025

Requirements

CMP, HIS, SOC

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Course Description

The History of Medicine: 1700 to Present
In this course we will examine how conceptions of sickness, its causes, and its treatment have developed over time. In particular, the emphasis will be on considering not only how advances in science and technology have spurred changes in thought and practice but also how larger societal factors like religion, economics, and politics have influenced the course of medicine. We will focus on Europe from the eighteenth century onwards, but important comparisons will be drawn to earlier periods and other geographic areas including the United States. (Counts for HSMT credit.) 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2024

Requirements

EUR, HIS

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Course Description

History of US Food Politics
In this course we will use U.S. food politics as a lens for understanding developments in political economy, changes in the role of the state, and evolving attitudes toward gender, race, labor, childhood, citizenship, health, and the body during the twentieth century. How have government, corporations, and scientists shaped U.S. foodways? How have people been affected by broad trends in food politics, and how have they resisted, as consumers, citizens, and activists? To answer these questions, we will use methods of social and cultural history to explore food politics from the top down and the bottom up. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2023

Requirements

AMR, HIS, SOC

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Course Description

History of Sexuality in the United States
In this course we will explore sexuality in relation to race, class, gender, and religion in US history using primary and secondary sources. We will study indigenous sexualities and the impact of settler colonialism, sex work during the American Revolution, sexuality under slavery, the medicalization and criminalization of homosexuality, urban gay subcultures, Cold War sexuality, the politics of birth control, sex during the AIDS epidemic, and sexuality from transgender and non-binary perspectives. Beyond learning historiography, we will examine methodological issues with writing histories of sexuality. When relevant, we will study examples from Europe and Canada. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2025

Requirements

AMR, HIS, SOC

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Course Description

Gender, Sexuality, and Psychiatry in US History
In this seminar we will examine how gender and sexuality have intersected with the psychiatric profession since the nineteenth century, focusing mostly on women, and to a lesser extent gender-nonconforming people and men. Course material will be rooted in the U.S. but will occasionally also cover Europe and Latin America. Topics will include racialized notions of madness and hysteria, depression, psychoanalysis, “deviant” genders and sexualities, the rise of psychotropic prescription drugs, addiction, PTSD, eating disorders, and the medicalization of heterosexual women’s desire. Students will explore relevant historiography and will conduct oral histories of a related topic. (Counts for HSMT credit) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2024

Requirements

AMR, CMP, HIS, NOR, SOC

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Course Description

Health and Healing in African History
In this course we will complicate our contemporary perspectives on health and healing in Africa by exploring diverse historical examples from the continent's deep past. Our readings, discussions, and papers will cover a range of historical contexts and topics, such as the politics of rituals and public healing ceremonies in pre-colonial contexts, state and popular responses to shifting disease landscapes in the colonial era, long-term cultural and economic changes in healer-patient dynamics, the problematic legacies of environmental health hazards in the post-colonial period, and Africans' engagement with global health interventions in recent decades. (Counts for HSMT credit) 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

HIS, SAF, SOC

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Course Description

Race, Medicine, and Health in U.S. History
In this course we will explore the historical relationships between race, medicine, and public health in the United States from colonial times to the present. Through a series of case studies that include epidemics such as smallpox, yellow fever, and COVID-19, we will trace the origins of racial classification and its impact on medical care. Our topics include the management of illness in colonial times, the relationship between medical schools and slavery, the eugenics movement, immigration restrictions, the use of minorities as experimentation subjects, the fight against medical discrimination, and the current struggles for health care access. We will approach these subjects through sources such as scholarly publications, diaries, documentaries, medical journals, oral histories, and print media. 2 hrs lect./1 hr. disc. (Counts for HSMT credit)

Terms Taught

Spring 2023, Fall 2024

Requirements

AMR, CMP, HIS, SOC

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Course Description

Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing: Reporting Genocide
While reports of atrocities and genocides have appeared frequently in the news, little has helped to effectively stop these acts. Even the basic facts are often poorly understood by the wider public. We will focus on a variety of atrocities and genocides, considering them from multiple angles and with a particular emphasis on prevention and resolution. Using our knowledge, we will craft short pieces of public writing, such as op-eds, reviews, and briefings intended to inform and/or influence a general audience. (open to juniors and seniors) 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Fall 2024

Requirements

CMP, HIS

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Course Description

Chronicling COVID-19: Capturing the Pandemic Experience in Vermont
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered our lives and challenged the way our communities and institutions operate. The availability of vaccines has made it possible to gain some perspective on COVID and its impact. In this course we will work as chroniclers and interpreters of the local community’s responses to COVID. In addition to situating COVID among other notable public health emergencies in Vermont – the 1918 pandemic, the 1927 flood, and the 2011 Irene disaster – we will explore the experiences of Addison County residents as they navigated this pandemic. In collaboration with Special Collections, we will conduct oral history interviews and gather other historical materials for this multi-staged class research project. (Counts for HSMT credit)

Terms Taught

Winter 2022

Requirements

CW, HIS, WTR

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Course Description

Community Connected Learning
Community-connected learning supports civic knowledge cultivation, skill building, and identity development. In this course students will apply their relevant coursework to place-based contexts by collaborating with community partners independently or in groups to complete a community-connected learning project that will contribute to the public good. Center for Community Engagement (CCE) instructors will meet with students weekly in cohorts to explore the social and other issues raised in their experiences. Final projects may take a variety of forms, such as a portfolio, media production, or paper. Students should contact the course instructor to discuss, confirm and/or receive assistance in identifying a community partner and to begin to define their projects. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

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Course Description

Healthcare in the U.S.
At a time when achieving consensus on anything is close to impossible, nearly everyone agrees that our current health care system is broken. In this course we will explore the impediments to reforming health care in the United States, which by a variety of measures wastes approximately 25% of the country’s 3.8 trillion dollars spent annually. The goal in this course is not to argue a certain perspective. Rather, through readings and discussion of original sources, we will explore the complexities of our health care system, evaluate its attributes and failings, compare it with other systems around the world, and wrestle with questions posed by our current trajectory. We will explore how powerful interests—Big Pharma, insurance companies, hospital lobbyists, and physician guilds-- array to maintain the status quo despite clear evidence of alternative paths that would serve the greater good.

Terms Taught

Fall 2023, Fall 2024

Requirements

AMR, SOC

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Course Description

Health, Food, and Poverty: Critical Frameworks for Social Change
Concerns around food, health, and poverty often intersect around the world, and pose shared challenges for countries in how to address them. What frameworks might maximize social impact in addressing such complicated global concerns? In this capstone course for students interested in privilege and poverty, global health, and food studies, we will critically examine a variety of frameworks for social impact, including solidarity, responsibility, development, aid, and entrepreneurship. Our examination of these frameworks will necessarily involve critical comparisons among the countries in which they have been employed. We will identify goals, strategies, and assumptions within each framework, as well as our role in social transformation in conjunction with other actors. Students will engage in interdisciplinary theoretical analysis and employ one or more frameworks to develop a proposal for a project on social change. (By approval only.) 3 hrs. Sem (Comparative Politics)/

Terms Taught

Spring 2022, Spring 2024

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

Contemporary Moral Issues
We will examine a selection of pressing moral problems of our day, seeking to understand the substance of the issues and learning how moral arguments work. We will focus on developing our analytical skills, which we can then use to present and criticize arguments on difficult moral issues. Selected topics may include world poverty, animal rights, abortion, euthanasia, human rights, just and unjust wars, capital punishment, and racial and gender issues. You will be encouraged to question your own beliefs on these issues, and in the process to explore the limit and extent to which ethical theory can play a role in everyday ethical decision making. 2 hrs.lect./1 hr. disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2025

Requirements

PHL

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Course Description

The Politics of International Humanitarian Action
Humanitarian intervention has emerged as a new moral imperative that challenges traditional concepts and practices in international relations. In this course we will consider how a range of actors--international organizations, states, NGOs--understand the concept of humanitarian intervention and engage (or not) in humanitarian actions. We will examine a variety of policy choices, including aid and military intervention, through case studies, including Somalia, Kosovo, and Rwanda. The goal of the course is to enable students to assess critically the benefits and challenges of a humanitarian approach to global politics. 3 hrs. lect./disc. (International Relations and Foreign Policy)/

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2022

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

International Political Economy
This course examines the politics of global economic relations, focusing principally on the advanced industrial states. How do governments and firms deal with the forces of globalization and interdependence? And what are the causes and consequences of their actions for the international system in turn? The course exposes students to both classic and contemporary thinking on free trade and protectionism, exchange rates and monetary systems, foreign direct investment and capital movements, regional integration, and the role of international institutions like the WTO. Readings will be drawn mainly from political science, as well as law and economics. 3 hrs. lect./disc./(International Relations and Foreign Policy)/

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

African Government
Sub-Saharan Africa has been described as being in a state of permanent crisis, a place where disorder and chaos reign and states are chronically weak. How do political systems form and thrive under such conditions? What accounts for their survival in the face of tremendous political, economic, and environmental challenges? We will investigate the distinctive characteristics of African political systems, the different governance models throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, and the types of public goods or public ills these systems have produced. We will also have the opportunity to more deeply appreciate the real-life consequences for displaced Africans through a service-learning component. 3 hrs. sem. (Any one PSCI course) (Comparative Politics)/

Terms Taught

Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024

Requirements

AAL, SAF

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Course Description

Human Sexuality
In this course we will discuss the biological, psychological, behavioral, and cultural aspects of human sexuality, starting with a review of anatomy, physiology and function. We will use current research findings to inform discussions of topics such as arousal and desire, relationships, sexual orientation, consent, pornography, and compulsive sexual behavior. We will look at how issues like contraception, sexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases have influenced and been influenced by their cultural context. (Two psychology courses; not open to first year students; open to Psychology and GSFS majors) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Spring 2025

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Course Description

Children and Families Living with Illness: Psychological, Spiritual, and Cultural Perspectives
Over the course of a lifetime, most people are confronted with their own illness or the illness of a loved one. How do children and families cope with illness? How do they make meaning of their experiences? How do their spiritual and cultural beliefs impact their care and their views on healing? We will examine developmental, psychological, cultural and spiritual issues confronting children and families living with acute, chronic, and life-threatening illnesses. We will explore the psychological and spiritual interventions provided to children & families. Writings, artwork and videotaped interviews will be used to illustrate varied perspectives on illness and healing. This course counts as elective credit towards the Psychology major. (PSYC 0105) (Not open to students who have already taken PSYC 1003.) (Open to PSYC majors only; others by waiver.)

Terms Taught

Fall 2022, Spring 2024, Fall 2024

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

Religion and Science: Mindfulness and Modern Psychology
Mindfulness meditation is now widely embraced as a way to enhance personal wellbeing. To better understand this ancient practice, we will explore its traditional Buddhist background alongside its application and study in modern psychology and neuroscience. We will first study mindfulness in its historical context and examine how a traditionally religious practice was adapted for modern individualistic and therapeutic purposes. We will learn basic neural and psychological foundations of emotion, cognition, social behavior, and psychological disorders and raise theoretical and methodological issues in the scientific study of mindfulness. As an experiential component, students will also receive meditation training throughout the semester. (Open to psychology, religion, and neuroscience majors) 3 hrs. lect./1 hr. disc.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021

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Course Description

Ethics in Health Care
This course is an introduction to the principles, virtues, and other moral norms that guide decision-making in health care. We will focus on moral values accepted by Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and humanistic traditions, and embedded in a liberal, pluralistic society. Popular films and numerous case studies will provide students an opportunity to develop skills in moral reasoning, in conversation with these intellectual traditions. The health care issues we will consider include expectations for patient-physician relationships, research on human subjects, euthanasia and assisted suicide, abortion, assisted reproduction, genetic information, and access to health care resources. 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024

Requirements

AMR, NOR, PHL

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Course Description

Privilege and Poverty: The Ethics of Economic Inequality
In this course we will study the ethical implications of domestic and global economic inequality. Drawing from history, economics, sociology, philosophy, theology, and other disciplines, we will examine the causes and consequences of inequality, critically evaluate our usage of the terms “privilege” and “poverty,” and consider the range of moral responses individuals and society might have to inequality. We will ask whether it is unfair, unfortunate, or necessary that some citizens live with significantly less material wealth than others, and whether those who experience “privilege” have any moral responsibility to those who exist in “poverty.” 3 hrs. lect./1 hr. disc.

Terms Taught

Winter 2021, Winter 2024

Requirements

PHL, SOC, WTR

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Course Description

Inequality and the American Dream
In this course we will explore sociological attempts to explain who “gets ahead” in the contemporary United States. We will discuss two distinct issues that are often conflated in public discussions: economic inequality and social mobility. We will consider the conceptual and empirical associations between these measures, how each has changed over time, how the United States compares to other countries, and how different social environments (such as colleges, neighborhoods, and families) influence life chances within and across generations. We will also examine the challenges of producing research about these topics, focusing on both theoretical and methodological issues. (formerly SOAN 0240) 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024

Requirements

AMR, SOC

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Course Description

Genders and Sexualities in the US
In this course we will explore and examine how genders and sexualities are constructed and the implications that such constructions have on individuals and societies. We will examine the theories, concepts, practices, and beliefs about sex, gender, sexuality, and sexual identity and explore how these concepts are different between different groups and how they have changed over time, specifically using an intersectional lens. Students will be encouraged to discuss intricacies of their own sexual and gender identities and how these statuses may impact their social status and their relationships with others and the larger society. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023

Requirements

SOC

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Electives for Students Matriculated Prior to Fall 2024

These courses may be counted by students who matriculated prior to Fall semester 2024.

Courses offered in the past four years. Courses offered currently are as noted.

Course Description

Disability in Film and Television
In this course we will investigate film and television representations of disability and disabled people to gain an understanding of how these reflect prominent cultural ideas across twentieth and twenty-first century US history. Specifically, we will trace changes and continuities in the various functions of disability in film and TV, and how disabled people have used these media to express their own lived experiences. Key themes to be covered include access, stereotype, spectacle, community, and activism. Our intersectional study will involve disability, deaf, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and age. Through readings, screenings, and engaged discussions students will gain insights into ways film and television reflect and shape the understandings of disability in American history and culture. This class includes regular screenings. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2023

Requirements

AMR, HIS, SOC

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Course Description

Gender, Culture, and Power
This course offers a cross-cultural introduction to the issues involved in the study of women and gender. Such an endeavor raises a number of difficult and delicate issues. What explains the diversities and similarities in women's roles across societies? How do we assess women's status and power, and how do we decide which standards to use in doing so? What forces create changes in women's roles? What is the relationship between gender constructions and the nature of communities, economies, and even nations? Our analysis will concentrate on three primary domains: family and kinship, symbolic systems, and political economy. Course readings will focus primarily on non-Western societies. 3 hrs. lect./disc. (National/Transnational Feminisms)/

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2022

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

Ecology and Evolution
In this introduction to ecology and evolutionary biology we will cover the topics of interspecific interactions (competition, predation, mutualism), demography and life-history patterns, succession and disturbance in natural communities, species diversity, stability and complexity, causes of evolutionary change, speciation, phylogenetic reconstruction, and population genetics. The laboratory component will examine lecture topics in detail (such as measuring the evolutionary response of bacteria, adaptations of stream invertebrates to life in moving water, invasive species and their patterns of spread). We will emphasize experimental design, data collection in the field and in the laboratory, data analysis, and writing skills. This course is not open to seniors and second semester juniors in the Fall. 3 hrs. lect./disc./3 hrs. lab

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED, SCI

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Course Description

Cell Biology and Genetics
In this introduction to modern cellular, genetic, and molecular biology we will explore life science concepts with an emphasis on their integral nature and evolutionary relationships. Topics covered will include cell membrane structure and function, metabolism, cell motility and division, genome structure and replication, the regulation of gene expression and protein production, genotype to phenotype relationship, and basic principles of inheritance. Major concepts will be illustrated using a broad range of examples from plants, animals, and microorganisms. Current topics in biology will be integrated into the course as they arise. 3 hrs. lect./3 hrs. lab

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

DED, SCI

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Course Description

Immunology
In this course we will explore the human immune system and how it works to protect the body from infection. Students will be introduced to the cells and molecules of the immune system and how they work together to protect the host from foreign invaders. We will focus on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of innate immunity before exploring the cellular and genetic principles that underlie the adaptive immune response. Finally, we will investigate how innate and adaptive immunity work together to combat infection and how disease can arise from inadequacies in this coordinated host response. (BIOL 0145)

Terms Taught

Spring 2022, Fall 2023

Requirements

SCI

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Course Description

Mechanisms of Microbial Pathogenesis
Many microorganisms have the potential to cause disease. An understanding of the mechanisms that promote bacterial pathogenesis is therefore essential for the development of effective disease prevention and/or treatment strategies. This course will explore the mechanisms by which microbial pathogens adhere to, invade, and persist in the human host. While an emphasis will be placed on microbial mechanisms of disease, the host response to the infectious process will also be discussed. (BIOL 0140 and BIOL 0145) 3 hrs lect/disc.

Terms Taught

Winter 2024

Requirements

SCI

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Course Description

Medicinal Chemistry
Medicinal chemistry combines organic chemistry with biochemistry, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, and medicine. As chemists we try to correlate the molecular structure of pharmaceutical treatments (i.e., "drugs") with their biological activity to understand disease and to develop both new and improved treatments. In this course we will survey the major categories of diseases, drug targets, and drugs using a case-study approach. In addition to mid-term exams and a shorter group presentation on a disease category, the course will culminate with group-based final projects (presentation and written paper) about the design, development, and proposed future directions of treatments targeting a specific disease. (CHEM 0204 or CHEM 0322) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022

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Course Description

Introductory Microeconomics
An introduction to the analysis of such microeconomic problems as price formation (the forces behind demand and supply), market structures from competitive to oligopolistic, distribution of income, and public policy options bearing on these problems. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

Environmental Economics
This course is dedicated to the proposition that economic reasoning is critical for analyzing the persistence of environmental damage and for designing cost-effective environmental policies. The objectives of the course are that each student (a) understands the economic approach to the environment; (b) can use microeconomics to illustrate the theory of environmental policy; and (c) comprehends and can critically evaluate: alternative environmental standards, benefits and costs of environmental protection, and incentive-based environmental policies. (ECON 0155) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024

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Course Description

International and Cross Cultural Education
Who gets to own knowledge? Who can acquire it? How do we construct advantage and disadvantage? Comparative and international education examines the intersection of culture and education and the ways they are inextricably related through history, politics, and literature. In this course we will explore major concepts, trends, and methodologies across disciplines, focusing on the effects of globalization, the maintenance and dissolution of borders, the commodification of knowledge, the social creation of meaning, and the consequences of those constructions. We will examine global educational traditions and realities on the ground in case studies of Western and developing nations.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

Science of Environmental Systems
We will utilize a systems approach to study selected environmental topics as we learn how to integrate scientific principles of biology, chemistry, geology, and physics. We will also explore intentionally interdisciplinary approaches such as socioecological and regenerative systems frameworks. In lecture, we will take a more global approach as we examine climate change, water, energy, biodiversity, ecosystem services, pollution, and agriculture. We will discover emerging knowledge that is shaping potential solutions and learn how to evaluate such efforts through a systems science lens. In the lab units, we will investigate local manifestations of human-environment relationships through experiential, hands-on, embodied approaches. 3 hrs. lect., 3 hrs. lab.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

SCI

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Course Description

A Mile in Your Shoes: Confronting the Promise and Peril of Pedestrian Experiences
Walkability has entered the urban planning lexicon as interest in compact and mixed-use development has renewed and the recognition of built environment impacts on public health has grown. Meanwhile, pedestrian fatalities increased 45% between 2010 and 2019, and exposures to harmful exhaust, dangerous crossings, and traffic enforcement violence vary across sociodemographic groups. In this course, we will confront the dissonance between encouraging walking for sustainability and health and recognizing fears engendered by pedestrian exposure to harm, especially for historically disadvantaged communities. We will also gain practical experience with tools to measure disparities, including walk audits, sidewalk inventories, and pollution measurements. This course counts as a social science cognate for environmental studies majors.

Terms Taught

Winter 2022

Requirements

WTR

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Course Description

Place and Society: Local to Global
This course is an introduction to how geographers view the world and contribute to our understanding of it. Where do the phenomena of human experience occur? Why are they there? What is the significance? These questions are fundamental for explaining the world at different scales from the global to the local. Throughout, we will focus on the spatial basis of society, its continual reorganization through time, and how various human and environmental problems can be usefully analyzed from a geographic perspective. (Open only to first-year students and sophomores) 3 hrs. lect./1.5 hr. lab

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024

Requirements

DED, SOC

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Course Description

Population Geography
Through a combination of lectures, readings, and exercises, this course provides background and analytical experience in the spatial dimensions of population dynamics. Students will theoretically and empirically examine geographic variations in natural increase, domestic and international migration, infant mortality, disease, and hunger. Topics will include the intersection of settlement-environment-disease, circular migration systems, cultural influences on demographic processes, and linkages between international and domestic migration flows. We will also assess various policy options and their effectiveness in addressing important demographic issues. The exercises will expose students to the vast amount of population data publicly available and introduce them to techniques used to examine and assess population related issues.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

AMR, DED, NOR, SOC

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Course Description

Gender, Culture, and Power
This course offers a cross-cultural introduction to the issues involved in the study of women and gender. Such an endeavor raises a number of difficult and delicate issues. What explains the diversities and similarities in women's roles across societies? How do we assess women's status and power, and how do we decide which standards to use in doing so? What forces create changes in women's roles? What is the relationship between gender constructions and the nature of communities, economies, and even nations? Our analysis will concentrate on three primary domains: family and kinship, symbolic systems, and political economy. Course readings will focus primarily on non-Western societies. 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2022

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

History of Modern Africa
We begin looking at revolutions in the early 19th century and the transformations surrounding the slave trade. Next we examine the European colonization of the continent, exploring how diverse interventions into Africans' lives had complex effects on political authority, class and generational dynamics, gender relations, ethnic and cultural identities, and rural and urban livelihoods. After exploring Africans' struggles against colonial rule in day-to-day practices and mass political movements, the last few weeks cover Africa's transition to independence and the postcolonial era, including the experience of neo-colonialism, ethnic conflict, poverty, and demographic crisis. (formerly HIST 0226) 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024

Requirements

HIS, SAF, SOC

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Course Description

Calderwood Seminar in Public Writing: Reporting Genocide
While reports of atrocities and genocides have appeared frequently in the news, little has helped to effectively stop these acts. Even the basic facts are often poorly understood by the wider public. We will focus on a variety of atrocities and genocides, considering them from multiple angles and with a particular emphasis on prevention and resolution. Using our knowledge, we will craft short pieces of public writing, such as op-eds, reviews, and briefings intended to inform and/or influence a general audience. (open to juniors and seniors) 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Fall 2024

Requirements

CMP, HIS

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Course Description

Chronicling COVID-19: Capturing the Pandemic Experience in Vermont
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered our lives and challenged the way our communities and institutions operate. The availability of vaccines has made it possible to gain some perspective on COVID and its impact. In this course we will work as chroniclers and interpreters of the local community’s responses to COVID. In addition to situating COVID among other notable public health emergencies in Vermont – the 1918 pandemic, the 1927 flood, and the 2011 Irene disaster – we will explore the experiences of Addison County residents as they navigated this pandemic. In collaboration with Special Collections, we will conduct oral history interviews and gather other historical materials for this multi-staged class research project. (Counts for HSMT credit)

Terms Taught

Winter 2022

Requirements

CW, HIS, WTR

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Course Description

Introduction to International and Global Studies
This is the core course of the International and Global Studies major. It is an introduction to key international issues and problems that will likely feature prominently in their courses at Middlebury and study abroad. Issues covered will differ from year to year, but they may include war, globalization, immigration, racism, imperialism, nationalism, world organizations, non-governmental organizations, the European Union, the rise of East Asia, politics and society in Latin America, and anti-Americanism. 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

CMP

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Course Description

Rethinking the Body in Contemporary Japan (In English)
In this course we will examine attitudes toward and tensions related to the human body in Japan. Looking at art, music, style, and social issues we will examine the symbolic as well as material concerns of bodies in contemporary Japan. Religious, historical, martial, and aesthetic understandings of bodies will be addressed. We will analyze Japan's current attitudes toward organ transplantation, treatment of the deceased, plastic surgery, surrogacy, sex change surgery and other embodied practices. Readings will include Twice Dead and Commodifying Bodies. 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2024

Requirements

NOA, SOC

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Course Description

International Politics
What causes conflict or cooperation among states? What can states and other international entities do to preserve global peace? These are among the issues addressed by the study of international politics. This course examines the forces that shape relations among states, and between states and international regimes. Key concepts include: the international system, power and the balance of power, international institutions, foreign policy, diplomacy, deterrence, war, and global economic issues. Both the fall and spring sections of this course emphasize rigorous analysis and set theoretical concepts against historical and contemporary case studies. 3 hrs. lect./disc. (International Relations and Foreign Policy)/

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

CMP, SOC

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Course Description

International Political Economy
This course examines the politics of global economic relations, focusing principally on the advanced industrial states. How do governments and firms deal with the forces of globalization and interdependence? And what are the causes and consequences of their actions for the international system in turn? The course exposes students to both classic and contemporary thinking on free trade and protectionism, exchange rates and monetary systems, foreign direct investment and capital movements, regional integration, and the role of international institutions like the WTO. Readings will be drawn mainly from political science, as well as law and economics. 3 hrs. lect./disc./(International Relations and Foreign Policy)/

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

African Government
Sub-Saharan Africa has been described as being in a state of permanent crisis, a place where disorder and chaos reign and states are chronically weak. How do political systems form and thrive under such conditions? What accounts for their survival in the face of tremendous political, economic, and environmental challenges? We will investigate the distinctive characteristics of African political systems, the different governance models throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, and the types of public goods or public ills these systems have produced. We will also have the opportunity to more deeply appreciate the real-life consequences for displaced Africans through a service-learning component. 3 hrs. sem. (Any one PSCI course) (Comparative Politics)/

Terms Taught

Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024

Requirements

AAL, SAF

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Course Description

Psychological Disorders
What makes an individual “abnormal”? Under what circumstances do mental health professionals classify emotions, thoughts, or behaviors as “disordered”? In this course, we will explore these questions with attention to their historical, theoretical, ethical, and diagnostic implications. We will investigate various classes of disorders, like anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders, with a focus on their causes and treatments. Throughout, we will aim to appreciate the complexities and uncertainties surrounding diagnosis, and to recognize and challenge common assumptions about psychological disorders. In addition to lecture, the course will include discussions of current and controversial topics, and occasional demonstrations, analysis of clinical case material, and/or role plays. (PSYC 0105; open to Psychology majors Environmental Studies/Conservation Psychology and undeclared majors only, open to seniors by waiver only) 3 hrs. lect./1 hr. disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Requirements

SOC

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Course Description

Religion and Science: Mindfulness and Modern Psychology
Mindfulness meditation is now widely embraced as a way to enhance personal wellbeing. To better understand this ancient practice, we will explore its traditional Buddhist background alongside its application and study in modern psychology and neuroscience. We will first study mindfulness in its historical context and examine how a traditionally religious practice was adapted for modern individualistic and therapeutic purposes. We will learn basic neural and psychological foundations of emotion, cognition, social behavior, and psychological disorders and raise theoretical and methodological issues in the scientific study of mindfulness. As an experiential component, students will also receive meditation training throughout the semester. (Open to psychology, religion, and neuroscience majors) 3 hrs. lect./1 hr. disc.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021

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