The course explores the complex place we call the Greater Southwest, including Greater Mexico, and the varied peoples who have lived, fought, traveled, written, raised families, farmed, ranched, and survived here. Using interdisciplinary epistemologies and methodologies from Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Geography, Environmental Studies, Chicanx/Latinx, Critical Indigenous, and Literary Studies, we investigate strands of culture (indigenous and imported) that have intertwined in this region over the last thousand years. We begin by examining (pre)historical, geographic, and anthropological records and debates over whose voices get to define the region, proceed to a series of primary and secondary texts to examine physical geographic, historical, and literary traditions of the region, and assess the enduring impacts of conquests. We explore how people have constructed and articulated sense of place over time, and discuss implications of these decisions for relationships people develop between themselves, the environment, and others. The course considers relationships between Indigenous nations, Hispano/Latinx/Chicanx populations, and Euro-American groups in the natural setting of the Southwest to better understand the conflict, cooperation, and cultural blending among these groups; the ways they understand and affect the biophysical landscape; and how land/nature has forged relationships within and between these groups.

This course analyzes the lived experiences, collective memories, and popular representations of World War II from the perspective of the peoples and nations of East Asia, with an emphasis on China and Japan. Consideration of memoirs, film, literature, official documents and historiography will enable students to apply the basics of historical method to the analysis of primary and secondary sources in order to make their own claims about the significance of these events for those who experienced them and those who came after.

Colonialism figures in one of two ways in contemporary narratives. On the one hand, we are urged to think of it as a problem situated in the past, a problem that is said to have been swept away in the twentieth century by the great wave of decolonization after World War II. On the other hand, colonialism features as an object of nostalgia. It is celebrated for the benefits (parliamentary democracy, the market economy, rule of law, modern infrastructures, modern education, etc.) it brought to the colonized. This course, however, asks different questions: has the problem of colonialism disappeared? How are we to think about the legacies of colonialism in the postcolonial states and societies (many of them three generations old) that have emerged from the great wave of decolonization that followed in the wake of World Warr II? Almost everywhere in the postcolonial world the project of building independent states, economies and societies has faltered and sometimes run aground. Indeed, one might argue that the anti-colonial dream of emancipation has evaporated. In this course, we will carefully explore the works of key anti-colonial thinkers from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean (Mahatma Gandhi, CLR James, Aimé Césaire, Albert Memmi and Frantz Fanon) in order to inquire into colonialism as a structure of domination and into their visions of its anticipated aftermaths: What were the perceived ill-effects of colonial power? What harms did colonialism do to the colonized that required repair and rectification? In what ways did the critique of colonial power that these thinkers elaborated shape the longing for emancipation and ideas of freedom? How do these thinkers help us better understand contemporary struggles for social and economic justice in the United States and abroad?

As the German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin wrote almost 100 years ago, the march of progress is like a storm that leaves ruins in its wake. Whereas some have sought refuge from these storms of progress in nostalgic attempt to retrieve – and, in some cases, return to – lost times, others have eschewed such romantic pursuits, seeking instead to forge alternative ways of being in the world, some modicum of a right life in the wrong one. After examining the destructive dynamics associated with capitalist modernity, this course will turn its attention to the oppositional milieus and defiant voices that have flourished amidst modernity’s ruins. Although the course makes occasional forays into global history, the primary focus will be on 19th- and 20th-century Europe.

This course examines the revolutions that transformed the Atlantic World from England’s Glorious Revolution in 1688-89 to the Haitian Revolution in 1804. We will also explore the two major upheavals in between, the American and French revolutions. Looking at original documents and scholarly interpretations surrounding these events, this course will ask students to engage with fundamental questions about the nature of revolutions, and the ways those that defined this period in Western history shaped the modern world.

Why do you like your favorite music? Answering this question is not always easy because individual preference emerges from both the affect of the music on your emotions as well as the appeal of specific compositional aspects. The process of expressing feeling and meaning in music has deep roots that provide a foundation for understanding our musical world today. During the history of music in Western culture, some composers have focused on the expression of emotion regardless of form while others have sought to bring a greater degree of order to the mix. In fact, we might view music history as the swing of a pendulum from periods of unbridled romanticism to others that privilege a more methodical approach. This course explores such trends and considers how social and cultural considerations influence the creation and meaning of music from Bach to the early 20th Century. We will focus on periods of change in our musical heritage, changes that generally result from a desire for greater emotional content or a renewed interest in musical structure or order. Such periods include the outburst of romanticism in the early 19th Century when the music of Chopin, Berlioz and Liszt seemed to trump that of Mozart and Beethoven, the emergence of “Modernism” in the early 20th Century when the music of Stravinsky and Schoenberg superseded that of Mahler and Debussy, and the age of minimalism where Terry Riley and Steve Reich inverted the overwrought procedures and techniques of the post-WWII generation of composers that preceded them. Forays into the realms of jazz and popular music reveal similar trends in these genres as well. The meaning of a piece of music today depends greatly on cultural considerations, regardless of where it lies on the spectrum of expression and form. For this reason, we will always examine the political, philosophical and social contexts of the works we study. Music provides a window into the lives and cultures of past and contemporary generations. These experiences help us understand our own world and our place in history, while providing a variety of models for expressing our own musical tastes more clearly. Students do not need to have prior musical training or experience to participate in this course.

This course introduces students to the formation and varying historic trajectories of African American religious traditions in the U.S., with some brief engagement with African-derived religions in the Caribbean. Although some studies of African American religion begin with the period of slavery and the Christianization of diasporic Africans, this course locates the origin of Black religion on the continent of Africa. From this starting point, this course will examine West African religions, religions of the enslaved, the formation of Black Christian denominations, and the origin of Black Pentecostalism. Students will also be exposed to often overlooked historical periods and religious expressions including the arrival of Black religio-racial movements during the Harlem Renaissance and the African-derived religions of Haitian Vodou and U.S. Voodoo.

This course will explore the relationships between people and animals across time. Among readings will be Pliny's *Natural History* (first century C.E.) and CC alumna Donna Haraway's *The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness.' Discussion and writing assignments will focus on historical and contemporary understandings of how animals lends insight into human nature, behaviors, and relationships. Although the course will emphasize classical Mediterranean and European traditions, a major group project will address the tenth-century Muslim *Animals' Lawsuit against Humanity* with the medieval Christian bestiary tradition as exemplified in the *Aberdeen Bestiary*, an online digitized manuscript. Students in this course will visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo as part of final consideration of the role of zoos in constructing the animal-human boundary.

The course explores the complex place we call the Greater Southwest, including Greater Mexico, and the varied peoples who have lived, fought, traveled, written, raised families, farmed, ranched, and survived here. Using interdisciplinary epistemologies and methodologies from Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Geography, Environmental Studies, Chicanx/Latinx, Critical Indigenous, and Literary Studies, we investigate strands of culture (indigenous and imported) that have intertwined in this region over the last thousand years. We begin by examining (pre)historical, geographic, and anthropological records and debates over whose voices get to define the region, proceed to a series of primary and secondary texts to examine physical geographic, historical, and literary traditions of the region, and assess the enduring impacts of conquests. We explore how people have constructed and articulated sense of place over time, and discuss implications of these decisions for relationships people develop between themselves, the environment, and others. The course considers relationships between Indigenous nations, Hispano/Latinx/Chicanx, Black and Asian populations, and Euro-American groups in the natural setting of the Southwest to better understand the conflict, cooperation, and cultural blending among these groups; the ways they understand and affect the biophysical landscape; and how land/nature has forged relationships within and between these groups.

This course focuses on the history of anti-colonial revolutions. Students will watch Star Wars films, engage with anti-colonial theorists and intellectuals like Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, and Amilcar Cabral, and analyze the philosophies and politics of resistance movements in both the Star Wars Universe and conflicts like the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, the Congo Crisis, the Algerian War, and the struggle for independence in Lusophone Africa. By engaging with a range of works by historians, film studies scholars, journalists, and political scientists, students will develop critical thinking and writing skills, understandings of epistemological and methodological cultures, and an appreciation for the practice of scholarly inquiry in a liberal arts environment. This class will hold the historical perspectives and global equity and power designations.