Spring 2006 House Courses
Syllabi and course synopses for the Spring 2006 offerings are now available. For more information on our House Courses, log onto ACES Course Schedule and look under the listings for HOUSECS. The courses offered this semester include:
Black, White, and Shades of Gray
HOUSECS 79.02
A Perspective on Race Relations -- The CRR's flagship house course is an investigation that intends to give persepctive to race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality through readings, documentaries, guest lectures, and most importantly, sustained, meaningful, dialogue.
Instructors (and Contact for Permission Numbers in 2nd week of Drop/Add):
Kathy Choi kathy DOT choi AT duke DOT edu
Patrick Rivenbark
Ashley Bateman
First Class Meeting:
Tues 1/17/06, 7- 8:30pm, Randolph 117
Dating and Mating: Hookup Culture at Duke
HOUSECS 79.03
The purpose of this course is to explore the topics of sexual ethics and casual sex as they apply to Duke. College campuses have long been accused as being havens for casual hookups and sexual encounters. At Duke, students live, breath, and date by this credo; relationships with people of the opposite sex are often dependent on this hookup culture. It is important that students not only understand what their beliefs about sex are, but also what has shaped those beliefs. Perceptions about "hooking up" can be both positive and negative. Some would argue that a de-romanticized sex life is empowering. What part of one’s identity — sexuality, race, gender, religion, etc. — creates these ideologies about sex and "hooking up"? Does the hookup culture itself differ from one race and one sexuality (ie: one identity) to another; or does the mainstream hookup culture set the sex scene for an entire campus? Who is entitled to participate in this hookup culture, and who is excluded from it? What part does "social ladder-ing" play, and what sex scene remains for those who don’t fit into the "ideal"? As a campus, where do we go from here? How can we strive to make this hookup culture a healthy one, and what part does communication play? This course plans to understand and explore these pertinent questions.
Instructors (and Contact for Permission Numbers in 2nd week of Drop/Add):
Emin Hadziosmanovic eh19 AT duke DOT edu
Dinushika Mohottige
First Class Meeting:
Wed 1/18/06, 7:30 - 9:00pm, Few FF 108-110 Commons
Ideals of Blackness
HOUSECS 79.06
This course will begin to examine the complex nature of the various aspects that make up the black community today in the United States. Overall we will attempt to discuss the different images that are portrayed of the black community as a whole; how popular culture determines how a black person is seen in society, how those images are accepted by those in and outside of the community itself and by whom are they perpetuated. More specifically we will look at issues such as interracial relationships, the use of the word "nigger", the political and social power of the black community, socio-economic differences within the community, and other such issues. This course will work to break down and understand with more depth the stark differences and questions of continuing unity within the black community.
Instructors (and Contact for Permission Numbers in 2nd week of Drop/Add):
Chelsea Friauf-Evans csf4 AT duke DOT edu
Wintta Woldemariam
Marcus Peterson
First Class Meeting:
Tues 1/17/06, 7:00-8:30pm, Keohane Quad 4A 201
Lost in Translation: Asians in America
HOUSECS 79.11
Asian/Pacific Islander is the fastest growing racial minority group in the United States. According to Duke University Undergraduate Admissions, 21.5% of the Class of 2009 is classified as Asian, Asian-American or Pacific Islander. By US standards, about one-third of the world population classifies as “Asian”. There have been several waves of Asian immigration in the United States, introducing generations of vastly different identities into, and thus constantly reshaping, the Asian Diaspora. It is a population with conflicts from the outside and within. Many have one foot in the United States and another half-way across the world. In this “multicultural” country of ever increasing diversity, where do Asians fit in?
In this class we will explore the Asian identity and its role in the United States. What does it mean to be Asian/Asian American? How do we perceive ourselves and how do others perceive us? Who is our voice and what should they say? Should there even be a voice? We will investigate these questions, and more, using history, popular culture, the media, politics and our own experiences to bring light to these issues. Finally, we will wrap up the class by bringing it all back home and looking at the Asian presence at Duke.
Instructors (and Contact for Permission Numbers in 2nd week of Drop/Add):
Jingyi Zhang jz11 AT duke DOT edu
Kevin Fang
First Class Meeting:
Mon 1/23/0,6 7:00-8:30pm, Keohane 4A 201 Commons
Racial Identity: At Duke and Beyond
HOUSECS 79.16
This course is intended to look into various aspects of racial and ethnic identity in the context of racism and racial prejudices. The course will look at the general ideas of these identities from a sociological, psychological, and genealogical basis as well as the personal and specific identities of some American racial and ethnic groups. Racial and ethnic identity is seen to be both a cause of and solution to the problem of racism and prejudice. By exploring the academic views on identity, as well as probing our own feelings on these issues, we hope to look at racism and race from a new angle.
Instructors (and Contact for Permission Numbers in 2nd week of Drop/Add):
Olivia Fu osf AT duke DOT edu
Arlene Barochin
First Class Meeting:
Mon 1/23/06 7:30pm-9:00pm House F Commons Craven Quad