Liberal Arts
102
Course Descriptions by Section Number
Fall 2001 Information
Content last modified in Fall 2001.
LIBA 102, Section 1: Heroes:
Journeys and Quests
Meeting Times: MWF 9:00-9:50
Location: Farley 302
Course Code: 3654
Instructor: M. Arrington, Modern Languages Department
Contact Information: 915-7713; marringt@olemiss.edu
Course Description: The story of the hero who sets out on a journey in search of a great treasure, secret knowledge, or elusive ideal is one of the most enduring themes in literature. From ancient times to the present, storytellers from all over the globe have told of the hero's pursuit of his goal and the adventures he encounters along the way. In this course students will identify and analyze the basic elements and patterns common to all quest narratives and seek to discover why this type of story has remained popular up to the present.
LIBA 102,
Section 2: Creation
Myths in World Cultures
Meeting Times: MWF
10:00-10:50
Location: Shoemaker
401
Course Code: 3655
Instructor: S. Bellin
Contact Information: 915-5052/915-3174; sbellin@olemiss.edu
Course Description: This seminar will explore the creation myths of a variety of world cultures in an attempt to ascertain what these myths have in common, what humankind's purpose may have been in developing and retaining them, and what they might tell us about how we see ourselves and our place in the cosmos. Our readings will include the creation myths of several Native American and Central American tribes and draw from Japanese, Mongolian, and Scandinavian mythology. We will also read the texts at the root of our own creation stories-the Hebrew story from Genesis, and its Christian version in the book of John. We will finish by considering creation stories from other ancient Near Eastern cultures, the Babylonians and the Egyptians. Students will develop critical thinking, research, and oral presentation skills within the context of studying these myths.
LIBA 102, Section 3: The Women
of the Bible
Meeting Times: MWF
11:00-11:50
Location: Hume 230
Course Code: 3656
Instructor: M.
Harrington, Department of Philosophy & Religion
Contact Information: 915-7020; prmlh@olemiss.edu
Course Description: This course will be taught from a scholarly rather than a dogmatic perspective. The course will rely upon the Bible, scholarly texts and works of fiction to introduce these often overlooked matriarchs. Students will learn how and why the female significance was deliberately downplayed, and the ways in which these women were the feminists of their times. Lecturing will be minimal to allow student discussion and presentations of essays and research papers.
LIBA 102, Section 4: Writings
From the Edge--The Human Condition Under Extreme Stress
Meeting Times: TT
2:30-3:45
Location: Hume 112
Course Code: 3657
Instructor: J. Stafford,
Department of Social Work
Contact Information: 915-7389; swjames@olemiss.edu
Course Description: This seminar will examine writings by and about people who have been "on the edge" physically, mentally, or emotionally. Students will read about and discuss people who have suffered from racial/ethnic discrimination, political persecution, physical, mental, and emotional abuse, as well as physical deprivation and hardship. The material would have an international perspective, covering writers and incidents from different parts of the globe, both the famous and the relatively obscure. There will be ample opportunity for critical writing and discussion about the essential elements of the human condition under extreme stress.
LIBA 102, Section 5: Psychotherapy in Literature and
Other Media
Meeting Times: TTh
8:00-9:15
Location: Barnard
202
Course Code: 3658
Instructor: P.
Cooker, Counselor Education
Contact Information: 915-7069; cooker@olemiss.edu
Course Description: The course will focus on how psychotherapy is depicted in literature and in film/video. Students will have the opportunity to further develop written and oral communication skills while exploring the role of psychotherapy in our culture. Approaches to treatment, role of the therapist, ethical issues, and client/patient involvement in the process will be some of the topics to be considered.
LIBA 102, Section 6: Poe and
Romanticism
Meeting Times: TTh 9:30-10:45
Location: Chemistry
212
Course Code: 3659
Instructor: B. Fisher,
Department of English
Contact Information: 915-7672; bfisher@olemiss.edu
Course Description: My seminar topic is Edgar Allan Poe and Romanticism. In our course we'll read some of Poe's writings, along with others from his era (usually thought of as the Romantic era in Western Culture), some Hawthorne probably, maybe some British authors, too. There will be one component of independent choices from suggested readings provided in list form. Students will be expected to keep current with reading assignments, to prepare for writing projects emanating from their readings, and to be ready for plenty of classroom discussion.
LIBA 102, Section 7: Ecotourism in the Caribbean Basin
Meeting Times: MWF 1:00-1:50
Location: Bishop
107
Course Code: 3660
Instructor: J. Gilbert,
Exercise & Leisure Management
Contact Information: 915-5553; dgilbert@olemiss.edu
Course Description: A seminar-oriented exploration of the popular trend of ecotourism. Consideration will be given to environmental awareness, and the social, cultural, and economic impacts associated with ecotourism in the developed and emerging tourism market nations in the Caribbean Basin. Class discussion will be based on assigned readings and audiovisuals.
LIBA 102, Section 8: Social Issues in Contemporary
Drama
Meeting Times: TTh 1:00-2:15
Location: Barnard
202
Course Code: 3661
Instructor: M. Cuomo,
Theater Arts
Contact Information: 915-5745; mcuomo@olemiss.edu
Course Description: An exploration of contemporary American drama and its reflection of current racial, gender, sexual identity, political, economic and family issues and conflicts. The course will cover basic script analysis, and examine the form as well as the content of each play. The plays will be examined as literature and theater, as well as used as a springboard for discussion of contemporary American issues. The plays are challenging in terms of their form; the feminist model of playwrighting, the multicharacter one person show and traditional modern realism are all represented. They are also challenging in terms of content, the works discuss such topics as the L.A. riots, clitoral mutilation practices, the medical establishment, AIDS and the nuclear family.
LIBA 102, Section 9: You Are Just Not
the Same Anymore: A Seminar on Books and the Act of Reading
Meeting Times: 12:00-12:50
Location: Bishop 108
Course Code: 3662
Instructor: D. Williams,
Department of English
Contact Information: 915-3172; egdew@olemiss.edu
Course Description: This seminar will focus on reading experiences and the impact of books on individual lives. We will read a fewof the most popular and powerful novels, stories, and poems of the late twentieth century, such as Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Invisible Man. Yet in addition to studying these texts and the impact they had on American print culture, we will also examine our own personal responses as readers and the act of reading in an electronic age. According to many theorists, the age of print is drawing to a close and a new age of electronic communication is emerging; computers are replacing books. In view of these startling possibilities, this seminar will explore the activities of reading and writing on persona, social, and theoretical levels. Students will be expected to keep a reader-response journal throughout the semester and to contribute to class discussions.
LIBA 102, Section 10: Mass Media in Society
Meeting Times: TTh 1:00-2:15
Location: Coutler 260
Course Code: 3663
Instructor: M. Stone, Journalism Department
Contact Information: 915-5655
Course Description: his seminar will focus on developing critical thinking skills through media exploration. Changes in communication technologies over the past 100 years have reshaped the role of language and the written word. The meaning of literacy is changing. In contemporary society, literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate messages in a variety of forms using print and non-print. Particular emphasis will be placed on how mass media influences culture, politics, education and health. This class will explore how media messages help to create and support our individual views of the world through depictions of race, commercialization, gender identification, stereotyping and violence. The class will learn to critically evaluate media messages through deconstruction. In addition to reading and writing, participation in class discussions and the oral presentation of ideas are central to this course.
LIBA 102, Section 11: A History of Social
Issues Reflected in Music for the Stage During the Twentieth Century
Meeting Times: TTh 8:00-9:15
Location: Barr 217
Course Code: 3664
Instructor: R. Aubrey,
Music Department
Contact Information: 915-5278; raubrey@olemiss.edu
Course Description: The seminar will view and discuss the setting in which each stage work was written, and include the music, the lyrics and dialogue, and the composers and authors of innovative musical drama of the 20th century. Music to be studied include the 1927 production of Showboat, the efforts of Rodgers and Hammerstein which recall cultural discrimination, Bernstein's West Side Story, the treatment of the Jews in Fiddler on the Roof, the impact of rock on musical theatre during the early 1970's, Protest Musicals of the same era, and John Adams' opera, Nixon in China. The major innovations of the past twenty-five years, including the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim, and Claude-Michel Schoenberg will also be among the twenty musical dramas to be discussed during the semester.
LIBA 102, Section 12: Wellness: Facts, Fads, and Fallacies
Meeting Times: TTh 11:00-12:15
Location: Bernard 202
Course Code: 3665
Instructor: M. A. Dupper,
Exercise & Leisure Management
Contact Information: 915-5884; mad@olemiss.edu
Course Description: This class will explore from the perspective of the consumer the facts, fictions and fads regarding health and wellness in our society. The areas of exercise, nutrition and dietary supplements, surgical enhancement and self-responsibility will be investigated from a pro-active and highly selective approach. Class members will research and review both written and media-produced materials pertaining to the areas of health promotion in our society.
LIBA 102, Section 13: "Morality" in
Animals?
Meeting Times: TTh 1:00-1:15
Location: Shoemaker
408
Course Code: 3666
Instructor: P. O'Neill,
Psychology
Contact Information: 915-1207; pattyo@olemiss.edu
Course Description: "Any animal...would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as soon as its intellectual powers had become as well developed, or nearly as well developed, as in man." So wrote Charles Darwin in 1871. This class will examine this statement by exploring the following questions: Do animals distinguish between right and wrong or have a sense of morality? If so, what are the implications of this? What is meant by a "sense of morality"? We will also discuss the role that evolution by natural selection played in shaping human and nonhuman primate behavior, and how a sense of morality may have evolved in human and nonhuman primates. We will be reading primarily from Franz de Waal's Good natured: the Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals, supplemented by writings from other selected researchers in this area of animal cognition.
LIBA 102, Section 14: The Student and
the Law
Meeting Times: TTh 8:00-9:15
Location: Bishop 333
Course Code: 3667
Instructor: T. Letzring,
School of Education
Contact Information: 915-7070; tdl@olemiss.edu
Course Description: This course will provide students an opportunity to study the legal aspects of higher education. The course will emphasize college students and the legal issues surrounding them, including free speech, search and seizure, discipline, privacy, and liability. Court cases, legislation, and constitutional law will serve as the foundation for this course in developing students' reading, writing, and oral communication skills.
LIBA 102, Section 15: Britain, Ireland
and the "The Troubles"
Meeting Times: MWF 12:00-12:50
Location: Bishop 333
Course Code: 3668
Instructor: F. Laurenzo,
Department of History
Contact Information: 915-7529; hsfel@olemiss.edu
Course Description: This seminar will explore the relationship between Britain and Ireland in the 20th century and in particular the development of the current political situation in Northern Ireland. Within the context of this topic, the class will discuss issues such as the nature of prejudice, the meaning of nationalism, and the impact of history and religion on politics. Readings for the course will include a general introduction to the topic and articles from newspapers and magazines published during the period.
LIBA 102, Section 16: The Role of Dance
in Culture
Meeting Times: MWF 11:00-11:50
Location: Turner Center
009A
Course Code: 3669
Instructor: J. Mizenko,
Theatre Arts
Contact Information: 915-5969; jmizenko@olemiss.edu
Course Description: This seminar will focus on the relationship between social dance and theatrical dance through the ages. We will examine how dance evolved from the spiritual to the secular to the stage, and the historical and cultural influences surrounding this evolution. "Why do we dance?" Class discussions will include defining culture, society's relationship to art, the significance of personal expression, and the function of dance in society in the year 2001. Readings will include historical dance texts and articles and essays published concerning the above topics.
LIBA 102, Section 17: Children at Risk
Meeting Times: MWF 10:00-10:50
Location: Hume 200
Course Code: 3670
Instructor: K. Shackelford,
Department of Social Work
Contact Information: 915-1563; kshackel@olemiss.edu
Course Description: This seminar will explore the context of child development in family systems exposed to various social and family problems. The class will discuss issues such as divorce, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, poverty, mental illness, and incarcerated parents in relation to the risk factors for children. Ideas regarding parenting and social environments that promote healthy, optimal development for children will be discussed along with possible community factors that could promote healthy development of children even when the family and social problems exist. Readings and research regarding the previously mentioned issues will serve as the foundation for this seminar in developing students' written and oral communication skills.
LIBA 102, Section 18: Critical Thinking
About Literature
Meeting Times: TTh 2:30-3:45
Location: Barr 317
Course Code: 3671
Instructor: D. Robinson,
Department of English
Contact Information: 915-7684; djr@olemiss.edu
Course Description: The goal of most classes on literature is get you to understand certain literary classics. To that end, the teacher usually tells you about the literary texts and you take notes and memorize as much as possible. The goal of this class is to get you to think more complexly about literature (and the written word in general, and life in general). To that end we'll be "forcing" things to fit: reading Oliver Sacks' essays in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Emily Jenkins' essays in Tongue First as if they were "really" about our novel for the course, Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick--and Slapstick as if it were really about the things Sacks and Jenkins write about. We'll move from classroom discussion in the first half of the semester to student-led activities and multimedia projects in the second half.
LIBA 102, Section 19: Drugs, Science,
and Culture
Meeting Times: TTh 2:30-3:45
Location: Bishop 324
Course Code: 3672
Instructor: M. Hamann,
School of Pharmacy
Contact Information: 915-5730; pghamann@sunvis1.vislab.olemiss.edu
Course Description: This seminar will examine the science and culture of the world's most popular drugs of natural origin. It will explore the historical, scientific, and public policy references on legal and illegal drug usage and the role of naturally derived drugs and herbal products on society. Historically tolerated psychoactive drugs such as coffee and tobacco will be contrasted with prohibited drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and the opiates, with an emphasis on the chemistry, biology and pharmacology of these drugs. The class will provide a forum for discussion and readings about the scientific, economic, political, and cultural impact of drug use.
LIBA 102, Section 20: Microbes and Man
Meeting Times: TTh 8:00-9:15
Location: Hume 200
Course Code: 3673
Instructor: J. Williamson,
School of Pharmacy
Contact Information: 915-7142; mcjsw@cotton.vislab.olemiss.edu
Course Description: This course will focus on correlations between simple (microorganisms) and complex (man) life forms. Students will be asked to examine similarities and differences in both organisms' biological roles in science and nature. Various course materials (readings, films, Internet, etc.) will be used to provide intellectual fodder for producing creative analogies between the basic needs and purpose of these two similar, yet very different biological families. From the remarkably similar genetic relationships to the chasm created by man's self-awareness, participants will consider each organism's social and biological evolution, current status, and prospects for future survival and perseverance. A general interest in science is recommended, but not required.