G.R.O.U.P. Course Offerings 2004-2005

Crimes of War: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
David Cohen (Rhetoric) and Eric Stover (Human Rights Center).
(Rhetoric 165/IAS 150; Fall 2004.)

In the aftermath of World War II, violent conflict has transformed from armed contests between nation-states to new forms of violence; at the same time, the international community has turned to mechanisms of international criminal justice to impose peace and order. The course taught by Eric Stover and David Cohen used an interdisciplinary lens to focus on these transformations and on our understanding of the violence of modern conflicts and its effects on survivors and communities. Guest speakers included Berkeley faculty as well as outside experts. Cross-listed in International and Area Studies (IAS) and Rhetoric, the course was offered in the fall semester in a seminar format to ensure full participation in discussions and ample opportunity to engage the guest speakers.

Exceptional Bodies: Disability and Medicine in American Culture
Susan Schweik (English). (English 31AC; Spring 2005.)

In this course Susan Schweik provided an exploration of some of the ways in which categories of race, gender, and disability have been used together to “mark and fix” human bodies in American cultures. Students focused on several phenomena at specific historical moments, such as nineteenth-century freak shows and responses to them in contemporary Native American and African American poetry; or disability and slavery, with readings from the WPA slave narratives. Such case studies were analyzed with emphasis on their relation to U.S. laws past and present. The course also featured guest speakers who introduced revisionary performance art and activism by contemporary disabled people of color.

Foundations of American Cyber-Cultures
Greg Niemeyer (Art Practice) and Charis Thompson (Rhetoric).
(Art 23AC/Rhetoric 42AC/Gender and Women’s Studies 2AC; Fall 2004.)

Co-taught by a theorist and a practitioner, this course enabled students to think critically about and engage practically with the complex interactions between new media and perceptions of personhood. Students examined the ways new media reinforce preexisting social hierarchies and also offer possibilities for the transcendence of those very categories. Weekly assignments included theoretical readings as well as practical applications of the skills under discussion. For example, students were asked to create a home page for an alter ego of a race or gender different from their own, and to analyze the network traffic the page generates under controlled permutations. The course was offered in the fall semester in a lecture format with discussion/workshop sessions.

Lyrical Views of a Finite Planet
Robert Hass (English) and Garrison Sposito
(Environmental Science, Policy, and Management). (ESPM C12; Fall 2004.)

This team-taught introduction to environmental studies epitomized the goals of the program, offering a combination of humanistic and scientific perspectives on global environmental issues. The aim of the course was to imagine the ways in which the tools of scientific and literary analysis, of scientific method and imaginative thinking, can clarify what is at stake in environmental issues and ecological citizenship. The course was offered in the fall semester 2004 as a lecture course with discussion sessions. Prominent guest lecturers were featured during the semester, and field trips were offered as part of the curriculum.