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College Catalog 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Courses

 

Environmental Studies
  

  • ENVI 622 - Internship

    This is an opportunity for students to work with professionals in the environmental field outside of academia. Students will work with a faculty sponsor and their site supervisor to develop a set of learning goals, strategies to meet these goals, and methods of evaluation for the internship, including the nature of the final product. An internship is an excellent way for students to apply knowledge learned in the classroom and laboratory, to learn more in an environmental area, and to explore career options. The internship may be undertaken during a semester or during the summer and must encompass 140 hours of work by the student. It is expected that the student will make a poster presentation of his/her experience. All internships graded S/D/NC only. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. (2 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 623 - Internship

    This is an opportunity for students to work with professionals in the environmental field outside of academia. Students will work with a faculty sponsor and their site supervisor to develop a set of learning goals, strategies to meet these goals, and methods of evaluation for the internship, including the nature of the final product. An internship is an excellent way for students to apply knowledge learned in the classroom and laboratory, to learn more in an environmental area, and to explore career options. The internship may be undertaken during a semester or during the summer and must encompass 140 hours of work by the student. It is expected that the student will make a poster presentation of his/her experience. All internships graded S/D/NC only. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. (3 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 624 - Internship

    This is an opportunity for students to work with professionals in the environmental field outside of academia. Students will work with a faculty sponsor and their site supervisor to develop a set of learning goals, strategies to meet these goals, and methods of evaluation for the internship, including the nature of the final product. An internship is an excellent way for students to apply knowledge learned in the classroom and laboratory, to learn more in an environmental area, and to explore career options. The internship may be undertaken during a semester or during the summer and must encompass 140 hours of work by the student. It is expected that the student will make a poster presentation of his/her experience. All internships graded S/D/NC only. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. (4 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 631 - Preceptorship

    Work assisting a faculty member in planning and teaching a course. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 632 - Preceptorship

    Work assisting a faculty member in planning and teaching a course. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 633 - Preceptorship

    Work assisting a faculty member in planning and teaching a course. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 634 - Preceptorship

    Work assisting a faculty member in planning and teaching a course. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 641 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 642 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 643 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • ENVI 644 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (4 Credits)

French
  

  • FREN 101 - French I

    Emphasizing the active use of the language, this course develops the fundamental skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It includes an introduction to the cultural background of France and the Francophone world. Class sessions are supplemented by weekly small group meetings with a French graduate assistant. For students with no previous work in French. ALL COURSES ARE TAUGHT IN FRENCH UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED. Every fall. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 102 - French II

    This course continues the development of the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with increasing emphasis on the practice of reading and writing. It includes introduction to the cultural background of France and the Francophone world. Class sessions are supplemented by weekly small group meetings with a French graduate assistant. ALL COURSES ARE TAUGHT IN FRENCH UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED. Prerequisite(s): FREN 101  with a grade of C- or better, placement test or permission of instructor. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 111 - Accelerated French I-II

    This course develops fundamental skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It includes introduction to the cultural background of France and the francophone world. It is designed for students who have had some French prior to enrolling at Macalester or who want to review basic structures. The course prepares students for French III and includes two lab. Sessions. ALL COURSES ARE TAUGHT IN FRENCH UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 194 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 203 - French III

    The aim of this course is to bring students to a point where they can use French for communication, both oral and written. At the end of this course students should be able to read appropriate authentic materials, write short papers in French and communicate with a native speaker. It consolidates and builds competencies in listening, speaking, reading and writing and includes study of the cultural background of France and the Francophone world. Class sessions are supplemented by weekly small group meetings with a French graduate assistant. ALL COURSES ARE TAUGHT IN FRENCH UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED. Prerequisite(s): FREN 102  or FREN 111  with a grade of C- or better, placement test or permission of instructor. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 204 - Text, Film and Media

    This course presents a study of the contemporary language and culture of France and the Francophone world through authentic materials including the French press, the internet, television, literature and film. At the end of this course students should have attained a more sophisticated level of communication in French, the ability to use their skills in French for a variety of purposes including research in other disciplines, and a full appreciation of the intellectual challenge of learning a foreign language and its cultures. ALL COURSES ARE TAUGHT IN FRENCH UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED. Prerequisite(s): FREN 203  with a grade of C- or better, placement test or permission of instructor. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 294 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 305 - Advanced Expression: Communication Tools

    This course is an intensive training in oral expression and corrective phonetics. Materials include news broadcasts from French TV, films and articles from the French and Francophone press. Grammar patterns that enhance communication will be studied. Class sessions are supplemented by small group meetings with French assistants and small conversation groups with Francophone tutors. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 204 , placement test or permission of instructor. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 306 - Introduction to Literary Analysis

    This course is designed to develop the necessary skills for interpreting literature and for writing effectively in French. Students learn to do close reading and analysis of a variety of literary works and to compose critical essays. The course also includes a study of selected grammatical patterns and stylistic techniques. ALL COURSES ARE TAUGHT IN FRENCH UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED. Prerequisite(s): FREN 204  or placement test or permission of instructor. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 308 - From Lascaux to 1789: The Evolution of French Civilization

    This course traces the cultural, philosophical, literary and sociological works and movements that move France from the early period of Lascaux to the French revolution 1789. It explores the multi-facets of each century through 1789. The reading list includes early documents on Lascaux, Charlemagne, Jeanne d’Arc, Catherine de Médicis, Rabelais, Montaigne, Descartes, Me de Scudéry, the diaries of Louis XIV, Voltaire, Diderot, movies on French Revolution and French art from the early period to 1789. Taught in French.  Prerequisite(s): FREN 204  is required. This course in not open to students who have already completed FREN 306  or high level courses in French. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 309 - Contemporary France: History, Culture and Current Events

    This course is designed for students who want to understand contemporary events and issues in France. The course includes a review of essential historical events that have shaped modern France, in particular the legacy of the French Revolution, the colonial empire, WWII and the French-Algerian War. These events have shaped all contemporary debates (i.e. the recent law regarding wearing religious symbols in schools, the October 2005 suburb riots, recent immigration laws, and many other topics). The course also studies the place of France in relationship with the United States and the European community. Some units focus on the production of French culture and various intellectual/artistic movements through a variety of up-to-date authentic materials: newspaper articles, films, ATV news, websites. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 204  required. This course in not open to students who have already completed FREN 306  or high level courses in French. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 310 - Passerelles: Introduction to French and Francophone Studies

    This course is a topics course designed to introduce students to the diversity of French and Francophone Cultures. Through the means of diverse medias: images, music, films, and texts, students will engage with different approaches to the cultural productions of several areas. The course includes aspects of French culture as well to cover how France and the Francophone World engage with each other.  Units will include: The transformations of Paris (May 1968, immigration, Paris and its periphery); The Tunisian Revolutions (from one Tunisia to the next); West Africa (modern cultures; emigration; riches); Central Africa (identity; languages; survival); Algeria (web documentaries on several generations, gender, rural/urban); Morocco (youth, tales of women, performances of human rights); Island multiculturalism (Mauritius cosmopolitanism, Caribbean diversity, Haitian riches, French Polynesian artists, Madagascar youth and history); Quebec (identity; language; diversity). The course will be conducted as a seminar. The goals of the course are to introduce students to a rich cultural transnational world in multiple relations with France, French language, changed by this relation and changing France and French as well, through various media. Films will be screened out of class. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 204   Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 311 - Francophone Cultures of/in America

    This course is an introduction to the multiple facets of francophone cultures and heritage, old and new, in the Western Hemisphere. It explores historical connections between France and the United States; Quebec, Acadia and Louisiana; Louisiana, Haiti and creole cultures, from the Caribbean to the Twin Cities; French, Franco-American and Metis heritage and communities in the Midwest and along the Mississippi. The course also explores connections between francophone cultures and the Americas (Hmong, Vietnamese, African and North American). The textbookHéritages francophones: Enquêtes Interculturelles is supplemented with authentic materials (visual, musical, filmic, and print). Visits to different sites and opportunities to meet with different communities of francophone heritage in the Twin Cities are built into the course. Work includes presentations, opportunities to develop small digital projects in French, and short essays. Prerequisite(s): FREN 204   Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 320 - Francophone Theater of Exile and Immigration

    This course is a survey of francophone theater and film from 1975 to 2014. The plays and films will cover three main topics: the development of colonial and post-colonial subjects, the act of writing and performing while living in exile, and the idea of the Other in francophone film and theater. We will study a variety of plays and films that were written in and take place in all parts of the francophone world, including Quebec, Lebanon, Algeria, Belgium, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Martinique, Romania, and France. The form of each work varies widely, from classical French dramatic techniques to minimalist contemporary staging and characterization. Students will study blocking and staging techniques and explore contemporary performance theory in addition to writing literary and cultural analyses. Authors and filmmakers studied include Abla Farhoud, Wajdi Mouawad, Edouardo Manet, Michel Azama, Michele Cesaire, Anca Visdei, Pierre Gope et Nicolas Kurtovithc, and Moussa Toure. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): One 300-level French course. Occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 321 - Introduction to French Cinema

    This course provides an introduction to French cinema in a selection of films by a diverse range of directors and that may include examples from the early experimentation of Louis Feuillade and the Lumière brothers through the classic period of Renoir, Cocteau, Buñuel, and Jacqueline Audry; the 1960s French Nouvelle Vague including Godard, Truffaut, Agnès Varda; Resnais and Marguerite Duras; and contemporary cinema from directors including Beineix and Jeunet though to Audiard, Haneke, Claire Denis, Mehdi Charef, and Abdellatif Kechiche. Our objective will be to analyze both the specificity of French cinema as a distinctive art and the way in which French filmmakers have used film to represent and critique various power relations, practices, and institutions in French society, whether in the domains of politics, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, or immigration. We will read some introductory film theory, pay attention to both the formal and thematic dimensions of the works we study, and develop skills in scene analysis and interpretation. The course will be taught in seminar format. Prerequisite(s): FREN 204  . Every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 330 - Towards a Postcolonial Pacific

    This course is a comparative introduction to postcolonial literature (and some film) from the Pacific region, in particular from the so-called “Polynesian Triangle.” The course examines recent works by major literary figures through a postcolonial prism, and focuses on literary representations of the political and social legacy of colonialism in these territories. For each country studied, we begin with a brief historical review of colonization in dialogue with a text written by a colonial visitor or settler. We then examine resistance to dominant colonialist discourse in the works of prominent contemporary “indigenous” authors, in dialogue with current political debates in each territory. Course themes include differing conceptions of race, ethnicity and indigeneity in each country, and their relation to the histories of British, French and U.S. imperialism in the Pacific; the rise of indigenous nationalist movements, and the question as to whether political independence defined in ethnic terms remains a feasible goal in an era of globalization; questions of language in a Pacific space still dominated by its colonial division into distinct “Anglonesian” and “Franconesian” spheres; and the island as a unit of political organization as opposed to alternative pan-Oceanic conceptions of inter-relation. Authors studied include Katherine Mansfield; Patricia Grace; Witi Ihimaera; Victor Segalen; Chantal Spitz; Célestine Vaite; Herman Melville; Mark Twain; Lee Cataluna; Lois-Ann Yamanaka. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 331 - Haiti: Culture, Human Rights and Humanitarianism

    The January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, that killed more than 250,000 people, brought a lot of attention to the country traditionally described as “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.” This course aims to provide students interested in humanitarianism, human rights, the Caribbean, cultural studies, and French and Francophone Studies an introduction to Haiti and Haitian culture throughout its history, including pre-and post-earthquake culture. It also aims at providing a thoughtful critical frame to the extraordinary humanitarian situation after the earthquake and the responses it generated at the Haitian and international levels. Throughout the course, students will become more familiar with Haitian history, its rich cultural production, and the relevance of culture to human rights representations, abuses, and responses to abuses as well as its relevance to various humanitarian crises in Haiti, especially the post-earthquake daily situation. Students will also gain knowledge about Haitian society, local organizations working in human rights and humanitarianism, the geography of Human Rights, local IDP environment, and humanitarian distribution of resources, and they will acquire the critical tools necessary to understand, assess, and participate in the current debates about human rights and humanitarianism practices in Haiti (including issues related to health, gender, economic rights, education, and access to resources of any kind). This course will be taught in English. Students taking it for credit counting toward the French major or Minor will be able to read some of the material and conduct their research in French. Students interested in doing an internship with one of the many organizations in the Twin Cities linked with Haiti should speak to the instructor. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 332 - Immigration in Europe

    Global media have long been fascinated with images of migrants from the South enduring perilous journeys in their attempts to enter Europe through land or sea. These images have produced series of standard narratives, especially since the 2010s, rather than a deep understanding. With the help of theorists such as Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, Achille Mbembe or Sarah Mekdjian, this course will analyze mass media images of immigration, juxtaposing them with more nuanced representations from European cinema and literature. Works from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Spain will be examined to study specific issues (from detention camps in and out of the Schengen space to integration and citizenship of several generations, from cultural exclusions to hospitality, love, and success stories). Each of the major European countries has a different historical, geographical, and economic relationship with the migrants’ countries of origin, and the course will proceed comparatively, seeking not just commonalities but also significant differences among the European countries receiving migrants. Questions of race, ethnicity, gender, race, religion and differences will be important concerns. The materials for the class are diverse. They include documents about the vocabulary, law, practices of migration, and refugee and migrant rights, written memoirs and fiction, films, graphic novels, critical essays, and interactive and creative maps.  Starting with classics that deal directly with immigration such as Werner Fassbinder’s Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), the course will carry its analysis forward to current fiction films. In addition, some documentary films such as Kal Touré’s Victims of our Riches (2006), Fire at Sea (2016), and Welcome to Refugistan (2016) will be screened for background information. Narratives include short works by writers such as Igiaba Scego, Laila Lallami, Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo, Fatou Diome among others (materials for the course are regularly updated to remain current). The course features conversations with guests (human rights lawyers, community members, and artists) during the semester. The course functions as a discussion seminar. Student work includes presentations to the class and several short papers. Occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 333 - The Language of Diplomacy

    Cross-Listed as ANTH 333  
    This interdisciplinary course, co-taught by faculty in Anthropology and French and Francophone Studies, will introduce students to the broad range of international institutions where French is one of the primary working languages. Language, as the basis for human cooperation, provides a vehicle for students to explore the connections between language, power, and human rights. To engage students from the outset with the lived experiences of those working in the larger diplomatic world, students will do a life-history interview with a professional to learn more about their career trajectory and the work that they do.  We will further bring real-life scenarios into the classroom by watching and analyzing simulcast sessions in French from the International Criminal Court and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Throughout the course we will deepen our understanding of the historical and cultural dynamics within Europe over the past 150 years that gave rise to, maintain, and subvert the role of language in diplomacy.  Prerequisite(s): FREN 204  and application process. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 370 - Art of Translation: Style, Grammar, and Translation

    We will examine pieces of literature in English and in French and analyze the different modes of expression, the various styles and compare their styles. Theoretical material will enable students to determine stylistic changes geared to specific contexts. At the same time, exercises will concentrate on translation from English to French and French to English. The books we are using progress from the specific parts of speech to general and complex questions concerning the order of the words (ordre des mots) and la mise en relief. With the use of books, journals, newspapers etc… we will proceed to write in journals twice a week to achieve clarity and elegance in written French examining the literary (langue littéraire) to the colloquial (langue familière) and the formal French (langue soignée des gens cultivés). In addition to regular correction of journals, 4 papers will be rewritten after advice and suggestions of the instructor on content (introduction, conclusion presentation of arguments), vocabulary, stylistic and grammatical errors. Students will translate 4 short genres (literary, journalistic, theater and conversation pieces). As the topic relates to the cultural, economical, sociological and historical aspects of France, it addresses the diverse disciplinary areas well established in the French Department and the long term affiliation with the humanities, media and cultural studies, and women’s and gender studies programs. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 305  or FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 394 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 402 - Voices of the Francophone Mediterranean

    This course focuses on Mediterranean francophone literatures and cultures, principally from the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania and Lybia) but also occasionally from the Machrek (Lebanon, Syria), and the French Mediterranean, from colonial times to current events, including the post “Arab Spring”. The course contains units on orientalist representations, (texts, paintings, photographs and other critical material) diverse colonial and post-colonial European and North African representations of the regional cultures from multidirectional perspectives and theories, multiculturalism in North Africa, gender and sexualities, immigration, religion, and national/post-national cultural productions, including literature and cinema. Texts include major authors (such as Assia Djebar, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Abdellatif Laabi, Laila Lallami, Malika Mokeddem, Albert Memmi, for North Africa and Andrée Chedid, Ezza Agha Malak, Adonis from the Machrek for example). Films include a variety of classics and very contemporary films as well as theoretical and critical materials about the regional cinema and film directors.  The course also includes graphic novels and music. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 403 - Voices from the Pacific Rim

    This course is an introduction to colonial and postcolonial representations of the French territories in the South Pacific, including French Polynesia and New Caledonia, as well as the former French colonies of ‘Indochine.’ We will examine the process by which the colonized territories of the Pacific islands and South-east Asia are constructed as objects of desire and difference for a metropolitan French public, and link the formation of these colonialist ideologies to their political and economic underpinnings. We will also explore the interrogation, subversion and displacement of colonial ideology in contemporary postcolonial francophone literature and film by intellectuals in the Pacific and in the Indochinese diaspora. The course will begin with a introduction to the theory of ideology and an overview of the French colonial presence in the Asia-Pacific region. We will then move to examine the  conceptualization of the Pacific as an ‘antipodes’ of Europe beginning in French thought in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, i.e. as an uncanny opposite or other characterized by its inversion of often corrupt metropolitan social, political and religious values and norms. This section of the course will conclude with a survey of recent work by Kanak and Polynesian writers that confront the realities of the troubled legacy of French colonialism in the Pacific. The last part of the course will begin with an examination of exoticized representations of French Indochina that draw on a long history of European stereotypes concerning the ‘Orient.’ The course will end with the study of recent work that thematizes the conflicts experienced by the descendants of those former Indochinese colonial subjects who immigrated to metropolitan France. The course bibliography will include texts and images by Rétif de la Bretonne, Pierre Loti, Paul Gauguin, Victor Segalen, Déwé Gorodé, Marguerite Duras, André Malraux, Linda Lê, and Régis Wargnier. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 404 - Voices from Africa

    In this course, students will be introduced to the great variety of texts written in Sub-Saharan West and Central Africa. Through the study of great pre-colonial Mandingue epics transcribed into French to post-genocide literature from Rwanda, students will become familiar with writers from Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, Rwanda, Ivory Coast as well as with other materials such as music, visual art and other art forms. The course will also expose students to the relationship between France and former African colonies from the first encounters to the current discourses and debates about the “FrançAfrique” as well as to post-colonial theory and to immigration literature from the African perspective.  Each class will start with music. The course will also familiarize students with the francophone African communities in the Twin Cities. TIn this course, students will be introduced to the great variety of texts written in Sub-Saharan West and Central Africa. Through the study of great pre-colonial Mandingue epics transcribed into French to post-genocide literature from Rwanda, students will become familiar with writers from Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, Rwanda, Ivory Coast as well as with other materials such as music, visual art and other art forms. The course will also expose students to the relationship between France and former African colonies from the first encounters to the current discourses and debates about the “FrançAfrique” as well as to post-colonial theory and to immigration literature from the African perspective.  Each class will start with music. The course will also familiarize students with the francophone African communities in the Twin Cities. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306 .  Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 405 - Voices from the Caribbean Islands

    Haiti is the first Black Republic in the Western Hemisphere, it is the first island that Christopher Columbus colonized, it is also the first country to defeat the troops of Napoleon, an event that precipitated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In short, it is an important place to study as it is connected to North and South America, the Caribbean, France and other European countries, and the African continent. In this course, we will study the history of Haiti since pre-colonial times, through historical documents, history analysis and political documents and analysis from the colonial period to current events in Haiti. We will also examine the place of Haiti in relation to globalization, and its economy and how it went from practically supporting more than half of the French economy in the 17th-century to being the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. Haiti is one of the most productive places in terms of culture: paintings, literature, music, etc. The course emphasizes the introduction to Haitian culture with the study of its religions, languages and cultural productions. We will listen to various music that developed throughout history in Haiti.  Offered occasionally. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306 .  Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 406 - Quebec Independence and Immigration

    Québec is uniquely situated in the world: at a crossroads between European and North American cultures, a French-speaking province surrounded by English-speaking nations, and historically both connected and disconnected from its indigenous populations. It has also recently been a destination for émigrés from all over the world. This course examines the distinctive multicultural dimensions of the francophone province of Québec and its interactions with “les autres” (other cultures and peoples), through a study of recent literature published over the past 30 years. We begin with a brief overview of the history of Québec’s multicultural identity, from the colonial era through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s and up to 21st-century Quebec, including the 2012 assassination attempt on the new prime minister and the 2008 debates over the “reasonable accommodation” law that shocked the nation. The second section proceeds with an analysis of three of Québec’s strongest cultural partners: the heritage of the French, the influence of the U.S., and the complicated interactions with First Nations. The third section of the course focuses on the relationships between Québécois “de souche” (citizens of French or British heritage) and recent immigrants. The texts and films studied in this section include characters originally from China, Haïti, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, and other countries around the world. We examine why they moved to Québec, why they chose French as their principal language of expression, and how they interpret their new homeland. Throughout the course, we explore issues of language, identity, exile, and memory to understand the complex negotiations between inhabitants of “la belle province.” Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 440 - Science, Art and Literature in Cartography in the 16th Century

    Maps are one of the oldest forms of human communication, they ultimately express the many ways we attempt to understand the world and be part of it.  The class will expose the different interactions between art, maps, explorers, and writers from Antiquity to present. Readings will include Ptolémée, Apian, Jean de Lery, Oronce Finé, Theodore de Bry, Rabelais, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Madame de Scudéry (Carte du Tendre), Delacroix, Victor Hugo, Apollinaire, Sophie Calle, and Andrée Chedid. One of the great problems in the history of cartography - and indeed, in the intellectual history of early modern Europe - is the sudden emergence and success of production of maps in Europe starting in 1600.  This change, which amounted to a revolution in the European way of ”seeing” the world, no doubt emerged from a variety of causes that we will study through maps, paintings, diaries, novels, aesthetics and economical pamphlets.  The role of the Renaissance and the fashionable admiration for Antiquity was exemplified by the rediscovery of Ptolemy.  His Geography circulated in many editions in 1477 and spread rapidly all over Europe changing the role of the mapmaker and the viewer. Another strand leading to the development of a new map consciousness can be followed back into the artistic developments of the 15th and 16th century. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 441 - Images of the World from the 16th Century to the 21st Century

    Maps tell us much more than merely how to get from here to there. One of the oldest forms of human communications, they ultimately express the many ways we attempt to understand the world and be part of it. The explorers, their itineraries, and their diaries offer a complex view of this world, too. This course will expose the different interactions between maps, explorers, and writers from Antiquity to present. During the Renaissance and later explorations, colonization also ushered a significant challenge to Christian and Muslim accounts of their travels. The indigenous peoples of Africa and the Americas offered ways for the explorers and cartographers to express their consternation or their enthusiasm and to subvert what was ordered by kings or queens. Our class will explore the ways that Egyptians and Greeks (Aristotle, Plato, Ptolémée) influenced the thought of travelers of the Middle Ages (Marco Polo). We will discuss French Renaissance exploration and travel writing (Verrazano, Cartier, Thevet, Léry, Lescarbot, Christine de Pizan, Montaigne) and artists/cartographers (Leonard de Vinci, Michel Angelo Dürer, Alberti). We will read about the influences of 17th and 18th century mapmakers (Champlain, Finé, Roccoco and Baroque art/maps) through diaries of Hennepin, Nicollet, Champlain, la Carte du tendre. The 19th century will bring many diaries and maps from utopian discourse (Villemart, Gustave Raulin, Charles-Albert Gauthier) to romantic travels (Victor Hugo, Jules Vernes). The study of contemporary diaries (Ruffin, Le Clezio, Amélie Nothomb and Sophie Calle) and their maps of the world will be studied through discussion and will show the changing dynamics of identity and the other in the Modern world. These concepts and ideas will be debated through the study of journals, maps, and philosophical and literary texts of the time.  Students will visit the Ford Library, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Center for studies of maps, their philosophical concepts (Aristotle, Plato, Erasmus, Machievelli, Descartes, Kant, Foucault, Didi-Huberman, Jean Luc Nancy, Greenblatt, Onfray) and their conceptualizations from late Sixteenth century to present. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered spring semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 442 - France from the Renaissance to the 17th Century

    What were the important facts happening during this period in France? What are the movements in art, history, philosophy and literature that influenced the everyday life of women, children, and men during this time? What pleased the people, the court, the king? More than understanding events as explanatory reports attached to an historical timeline, we will analyze supporting media that configure the events and view the formalized representations that they induced. The facts themselves sometimes are less important than the system of textual representation which recorded the phenomenon. We will adopt complementary perspectives; taking into account the events and its media representation on one hand and review the forms of writing claiming historical testimony on the other hand. How can we deduce the evolution or non-evolution of the role of the women during these periods? What is the conception of raising kids, or a king? What are the different representations of the economy or the war during these periods? What is the concept of the ”other” in those centuries? How do the explorations influence the court, the socio and economic system? How is the daily life conducted? How is the concept of ”human” taken into account? How will it affect the centuries after? We will center our attention in questioning these facts relative to the affirmation of monarchical power (acts of wars, Newspapers, compte-rendus, philosophical treaties, diaries of kings or writers, maps, invasions, explorations, plays, diagrams, etc.) discuss their impact on the economic, sociological issues and intellectual trends of the period. We will also study the complex problem of the construction of the political, intellectual and sociological events and examine their interpretations through the study of texts, archives, films, chronicles, travel logs, exemplary stories, critics of the times, archived commentaries, debates, class discussions an d 3 visits outside Macalester (visits to MIA and visits to James Ford Library Special Collections). Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 445 - How to Start a Revolution

    The French Revolution is often viewed as the founding event of the modern French state, but also as an event of world-historical significance that profoundly shaped human social and political history. In this course, we will explore the causes and consequences of the Revolution and its ongoing relevance in 2016. Questions we will consider include: What is a Revolution? What were the main causes of the French Revolution - ideas; economics; politics? What did the Revolutionaries hope to achieve, and where did they fall short? What was the legacy of the Revolution, in Europe, Asia, and beyond, from Mao and Che, to Tiananmen and Tahrir Square? What is “living” and what is “dead” in the concept of Revolution today? We will also examine how the French Revolution shaped our culture and understanding of human rights; our competing conceptions of liberty, equality, solidarity, and secularism; and our sense of the legitimacy of political violence and terror. Readings will include texts by Montesquieu, Rousseau, Diderot, De Gouges, Marat, Robespierre, Burke, Marx, Lenin, Arendt, Fanon, and Žižek.  Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 446 - The Animal and the Human in the French Enlightenment

    A diverse array of contemporary thinkers from Jacques Derrida to Peter Singer has sought to reevaluate the animal/human distinction and related topics including animal rights, but the relation between the animal and the human also gave rise to crucial and controversial debates during the French Enlightenment.  This course will consider the ethical, political, and aesthetic significance attributed to the relation in literary and philosophical texts by authors including Descartes, Rousseau, Diderot, and Sade.  Themes to be discussed include nature and “sauvagerie,” language, reason and the passions, sex and bestiality, cruelty and vivisection, and vegetarianism. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 450 - Money and the Marketplace in the 19th Century

    French culture and society underwent sweeping changes with the rise of capitalism and the industrial revolution in the 19th century. With these changes, new narratives emerged that we continue to see even in today’s culture. They asked questions such as: why do two people fall in love? Why does an individual strive for a better social standing? Is empathy possible in a capitalist society? The answers to these questions are complex, and often relate to what is known as “mimetic desire,” a term coined by French theorist Rene Girard in his book Deceit, Desire and the Novel (Le mensonge romantique et la verite romanesque). We will examine the relationships of deceit and desire to money and the marketplace in 19th-century France, and, in the process, learn more about our own society. This course offers a survey of 19th century French literature (novels, plays, short stories, and poetry) linked to the theme of the course, including works by Audouard, Balzac, Desbordes-Valmore, Flaubert, Hugo, Sand, Zola, and others. It will cover several major 19th-century literary movements and styles (Romanticism, Realism, and Naturalism). Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 451 - Environmentalism in the 19th Century

    Nature is a temple where living columns sometimes emit confused lyrics - Charles Baudelaire, Les Fleurs du mal

    To hell with civilization, long live nature and poetry ! - Théodore Rousseau, peintre

    The Industrial Revolution and the rise of Capitalism had a major impact on the environment in France during the nineteenth century, as it did in other European countries and the U.S.  In what ways did the French respond to the environmental crisis in the nineteenth century and how did that set the stage for later developments?  In 1854, the same year that Thoreau published Walden, the French created the Société Nationale de la Protection de la Nature.  And in 1861 the first Réserve Naturelle was created by the French government to protect the forests of Fontainebleau from clear cutting, due in large part to the well-written petitions by writers and artists such as Victor Hugo, George Sand, and others.  In this course, we will look at a number of literary, cultural, and political texts written during the nineteenth century that focus on nature, the environment, and issues related to the rapid urbanization and industrialization of France.  We will also study artworks by the Barbizon school, and by later artists including the impressionists of the later part of the nineteenth century.  Texts will include works by well-known authors such as Honoré de Balzac, George Sand, and Emile Zola, but also less well-known writers Olympe Audouard and Marceline Desbordes-Valmore among others.  We will also study a variety of
    contemporary critical theories on the subject, from Claude Brosseau’s Romans-Géographes and Bertrand Westphal’s La Géocritique to Blanc, Pughe et Chartier’s works on l’écopoétique.
    In the end, we will try to answer the question of why and how the green movement developed in France and why it has been so different (some would say “behind”) the ecology movements of other western nations in Europe and in North America. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 471 - Literature and Cinema of Immigration in France

    The course explores the diversity of France through its immigrant population. The course introduces the history and composition of immigration in different areas of France through the study of several generations of immigrants, taking into account gender, race, class, and language among other relevant categories – especially in the 20th-21st century, from the first foreign workers to the youth riots of 2005 and beyond to examine contemporary issues. The course includes classic migrant texts such as the Poets of the Negritude movement as well as fiction and essays by West African, North African, Caribbean and Asian authors. Course materials include texts, films, music, radio, newspapers, manifestos, law articles, visual art, graphic novels and ads. The course functions as a discussion seminar with class presentations. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 473 - Contemporary Art in France and Francophone Countries

    In this class we will study the question of contemporary art in France and some Francophone countries and see how the diverse world movements in politics, philosophy, economy and environment affect the realm and the space of art in those countries. Particular points that have been seen as marking a change in art styles include the cold war, the mass production/consumption in the early 1960’s, the enormous influence of New York and London as well as new underground styles. Movements such as “decolonization” and “marginaliztion” and “anachronisms” will be examined. The term “contemporary art” will be questioned and debated. There will be interviews of curators and artists and visits to museums to help discussions and debates. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306 .  Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 475 - Parisian Women, 1730-2010

    In this course we examine the lives of “Parisiennes” - women who have lived in or come from the city of Paris from 1730 to the present. We begin with the powerful salonnières of the aristocratic 18th century, intersections of sexism, racism, and colonialism, and the peasant women’s march on Versailles during the French Revolution of 1789. For the 19th century, we examine women’s roles during the industrial revolution and the modernization of Paris, and the activists of the first wave of French feminism. In the first half of the 20th-century, we study women artists and writers in Paris, including some Americans who lived in Paris during that time. For the second half of the 20th century, we look at changing roles for Parisian women, including the second wave of French feminism, women in politics, and the changing attitudes toward women in French law and society during the 1970s and later. Readings include Claire de Duras’ Ourika (1823), Colette’s La Vagabonde (1910), excerpts of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949), and Christiane Rochefort’s Children of Heaven (1962). We also study recent works by francophone women writers living in Paris today, and view several recent films that focus on the lives of Parisian women. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 477 - African and French Cinema in Dialogue

    This course has for objective to introduce students to French and African Cinema through the prism of colonial cinema and the intimate relationship between colonization and cinema as medium  and to  establish connections between various well-known French and African filmmakers such as Jean Rouch, René Vautier, Jean-Luc Godard (Swiss), Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, Ousmane Sembe, Djibril Diop Mambety, Safi Faye, Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Med Hondo, and Trinh-Minh-Ha. How were African cultures represented in French film before the new Wave and the Independences of the francophone African countries? How did French filmmakers of the New Wave respond to the emergence of African Cinema? And how do African filmmakers pioneer in film techniques and content while dialoguing and commenting on French (as well as US and world) cinema? Students should come out of this course with a good understanding of the French and African cinema industries, main trends in cinema since the 1890s up to now, and a good understanding of colonial/postcolonial cinema. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 478 - Science and Technology in Film and Literature

    In this course we will analyze French fiction, graphic novels and film associated with the genre of science fiction and taking as their principal themes speculation on technology, travel in time and space and utopian or dystopian representations of the future. The primary question guiding our discussions will be whether science fiction should be understood as a form of projection, wish-fulfillment or a “journey into fear” that only reflects the anxieties of the dominant ideologies of the society and historical situation in which it is produced; or instead, whether it can amount to a real form of thinking on the limits of politics and history and on the possibilities for radical social transformation. We will also consider whether it is possible to identify any cultural specificity of French science fiction writing or a French attitude to technology in the works we discuss. Our discussions will be informed by readings of theorists including Frederic Jameson, Donna Haraway, Bruno Latour, and Pierre Macherey. Texts and films studied will include a small number of early works such as Cyrano de Bergerac’s L’Autre Monde (1657) and Mercier’s 1771 novel L’An 2440; the fiction of Jules Verne; and films including Meliès’s 1902 Le Voyage dans la lune; La Jetée (1962); Godard’s Alphaville (1965); Laloux’s La Planète sauvage (1973); and Franju’s classic take on plastic surgery and mutilation Les Yeux sans visage (1960). Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 479 - French Intellectuals in/and the World

    This seminar presents an overview of French culture, theory and philosophy from the Middle Ages to today. It focuses on how French intellectuals have engaged across time with issues such as gender, class, race, language, and the public and the private, among other issues. The course studies how French intellectuals use their critical thinking, and theoretical and creative writing to propose ideas, take ethical positions (or not), and through writing and acting, engage in solidarity work. Readings include Christine de Pizan on the role of intellectual women in the public sphere, Montaigne on colonialism, Pascal and Descartes on religion and science, Voltaire and Beccaria on torture and prisons, Michel Foucault on enlightenment, Victor Hugo on capital punishment, Pierre Bourdieu on “the organic intellectual” and more recent notions of commitment and civic engagement with war and peace, immigration, and postcolonial cultural history through the works of various contemporary artists, writers, and public intellectuals such as André Breton, Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, Assia Djebar and Boubacar Boris Diop. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 480 - French Avant-Gardes in the 20th and 21st Centuries

    The course will expose students to some of the most important writers, poets, playwrights, and thinkers of the twentieth-century. It will serve both as a survey of the most important literary, artistic, and intellectual movements and as a sampling of the most brilliant and innovative prose, poetry, and performance. The objective of the course is to familiarize students with some of the cultural productions that have been strongly influenced by scientific, linguistic, psychoanalytical, colonial, anti-colonial, post-colonial, racial, and gender-based theories of the century. Virtually all literary and artistic genres were affected by the ruptures caused by various wars. Academic rules were subverted, and new forms of expression emerged - several times. Moving images were but one of the technological inventions that allowed people to attempt to restore their identities, national and individual. Through the study of Surrealism, the use of social realism narratives, the Absurd, Negritude, Existentialism, the New Wave and the New Novel, structuralism, post-structuralism and deconstruction, the impact of feminism on language, the course will expose students to readings of texts and images that represent the long lasting effects of the twentieth-century ruptures on writers and artists. Taught in French. Prerequisite(s): FREN 306  . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 488 - Senior Seminar

    The course is intended primarily for advanced students who have studied in a French-speaking country, and is a requirement for all majors. The themes and theoretical approaches of the seminar will vary depending on the faculty teaching the course.   ALL COURSES ARE TAUGHT IN FRENCH UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 494 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Taught in French.  Recent offerings have included: Child Soldiers through Texts and Films, Quebec and Others, From the Far East to the Antipodes: Francophone Representations of Asia and the Pacific, and The Animal and the Human in the French Enlightenment. Prerequisite(s): One 300 level course is required depending on content of French 494. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 601 - Tutorial

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • FREN 602 - Tutorial

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • FREN 603 - Tutorial

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • FREN 604 - Tutorial

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 611 - Independent Project

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • FREN 612 - Independent Project

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • FREN 613 - Independent Project

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • FREN 614 - Independent Project

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 621 - Internship

    Study abroad is strongly recommended. The internship does not count toward the major. Prerequisite(s): Four courses in French among those designated for the completion of a major. Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • FREN 622 - Internship

    Study abroad is strongly recommended. The internship does not count toward the major. Prerequisite(s): Four courses in French among those designated for the completion of a major. Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • FREN 623 - Internship

    Study abroad is strongly recommended. The internship does not count toward the major. Prerequisite(s): Four courses in French among those designated for the completion of a major. Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • FREN 624 - Internship

    Study abroad is strongly recommended. The internship does not count toward the major. Prerequisite(s): Four courses in French among those designated for the completion of a major. Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 631 - Preceptorship

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • FREN 632 - Preceptorship

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • FREN 633 - Preceptorship

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • FREN 634 - Preceptorship

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • FREN 641 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (1 Credits)
  

  • FREN 642 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (2 Credits)
  

  • FREN 643 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (3 Credits)
  

  • FREN 644 - Honors Independent

    Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair. Every semester. (4 Credits)

Geography
  

  • GEOG 111 - Human Geography of Global Issues

    This course is an introduction to the global perspectives, basic concepts and fundamental questions of geography. It focuses on the ways through which all places on Earth are interconnected and how the human use of Earth’s surface varies over space. Major topics covered will be the human perception of earth space and the ways people give order to space; the growth and distribution of human population; the localization and spatial characteristics of patterns of settlement and land use; geopolitics and colonialism; environmental geography; the geography of economic development and modernization; principles of the analysis of spatial diffusion; spatial aspects of retail marketing; the geographic analysis of selected issues in industrialized societies such as gender issues, racism, poverty, sport, and religion. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 113 - World Regional Geography: People, Places and Globalization

    We live in a world where one needs to simultaneously understand the biophysical and cultural particularities of different regions as well as the global forces that connect and bind them together. No longer can we afford to explore issues in one place in isolation, or to theoretically cruise along at 10,000 meters in the sky with no regard for the unique dynamics of different regions. This course begins with an exploration of global flows and connections, and then takes us on a scholarly tour of the world, with stop offs in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Along the way we’ll systematically investigate major human and physical geography themes such as population dynamics and migration, agricultural change, human-environment interactions, health and disease, economic change and development, urbanization, and cultural shifts. This course is an alternative to GEOG 111 - Human Geography of Global Issues . Students should take one course or the other as an introduction to the field or the major. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 116 - Physical Geography

    A systematic introduction to the processes operating on the surface of the earth, their spatial variation, and their contribution to the spatial patterning of life on earth. The course stresses interactions among climate, landforms, soils and vegetation and, to a lesser extent, examines human interaction with the environment. Not currently offered. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 120 - Environmental Geology

    Cross-Listed as ENVI 120  and GEOL 120  
    The physical environment has begun to show signs of our earth’s expanding population and the increasing need for natural resources. Geologic materials such as soil, water, and bedrock, and geologic processes such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, and running water often pose constraints on land use. This course is designed to introduce students to the relationship between humans and their geologic environment: the earth. We will focus on understanding the processes that shape the surface of the earth, and how these processes affect human activity. We will use current scientific methods to collect and analyze data. Topics include surface-water dynamics and flooding, groundwater and groundwater contamination, pollution and waste management, landslides, volcanic and earthquake hazards, and global climate change. Format: the course will include local field excursions, lectures, discussions and hands-on exercises; evaluation will be based on homework/classroom activities, short writing assignments, and exams. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 194 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 201 - Introduction to Urban Studies

    This course offers an interdisciplinary overview of urban life. We will draw on the disciplinary perspectives of history, geography, political science and sociology to examine how the built environment of cities are shaped by human activity and how, in turn, urban life is shaped by the built environment. This course also introduces students to the local urban setting in the Twin Cities through field study exercises and local case studies. The course focuses on building students’ analytical skills and foundational knowledge of how cities work by exploring a variety of topics, including the effect of transportation systems on urban development, city and metropolitan government, the search for community in urban settings, neighborhood change, and the effect of the global market economy on cities. Course materials focus on American cities. Lectures, guest speakers, case studies and assignments put a special emphasis on the urban experience in St. Paul. This particular focus will help students gain a grounded understanding of general knowledge that is fundamental to further study of cities. Not currently offered. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 203 - Introduction to Urban Ecology

    Cross-Listed as ENVI 203  
    Urban ecology is both a concept and a field of study. It focuses on the interactions between humans, urban ecosystems, and the built environment. With over half of the world’s population now living in cities, cities have assumed a critical role in shaping local, regional, and global ecologies. In this course, we will examine the distinctiveness of the interconnected urban biophysical, socio-economic, and political processes. In order to disentangle the complexity of human-environment relations in cities, we will take an interdisciplinary approach and learn theories and concepts in natural science ecology, environmental studies, geography, urban planning, sociology, and public policies. We will use our campus and the Twin Cities as a “living laboratory” and apply these theories and concepts to laboratory exercises, field observation, case studies, and research on contemporary urban sustainability initiatives. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 225 - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems

    This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Offered every semester. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 232 - People, Agriculture and the Environment

    Cross-Listed as   
    This course introduces you to the study of human-environment interactions from a geographic perspective, with a special emphasis on food and agriculture.  We examine environmental issues in a variety of geographic contexts (Global South and Global North) and the connections between environmental problems in different locations.  Beyond agriculture, we also explore other sectoral issues in relation to farming and food security.  These themes include: human population growth, consumption, biodiversity, climate change, and environmental health.  We try on a number of theoretical lenses from geography’s broad human-environment tradition (such as physical geography, cultural ecology, commodity chain analysis, political ecology, resource geography, the human dimensions of global change, hazards geography and environmental justice).  In other words, we not only explore a range of agricultural and environmental issues, but also grapple with theory and how this informs our understanding of the human-environment interface. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 241 - Urban Geography

    This course seeks to explain the evolving pattern of North American cities in terms of the distribution and movement of people and resources as well as the effects of changes in transportation and communication technology. In addition, a careful analysis of the development and internal spatial structure of North American cities will be carried out. Much class time will be spent on discussion of contemporary urban problems such as segregation, unequal investment, and control of urban public space as well as attempts at their solution. We make extensive use of the Twin Cities as a case study. Field work required. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 242 - Regional Geography of the US and Canada

    This course explores the ways in which diverse groups of people interact with the natural environment to produce the contemporary landscapes (human and physical) and regional differentiation (social and cultural) of the U.S. and Canada. The course emphasizes patterns of human settlement, economic activity, and land use, with special attention given to social and legal issues relevant to Native populations in the U.S. and the historic and current status and development of Native lands. Case studies and a field study to the Boreal Forest region of northern Minnesota will be used to demonstrate broad themes at a more personal scale. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 243 - Geography of Africa: Local Resources and Livelihoods in a Global Context

    From the positive images in the film Black Panther, to the derogatory remarks of President Trump, the African continent often figures prominently in our collective imagination. This class goes beyond the superficial media interpretations of the world’s second largest region to complicate and ground our understanding of this fascinating continent. As geographers, we will place contemporary African developments in a historical and global context. Africa has a long history of influencing and being influenced by the outside world. Among other issues, we will explore how colonialism, and even more recent ‘development’ initiatives, have influenced current structures in Africa.  Furthermore, we will examine what restrictions, if any, the current world economic system places on development possibilities for the continent. The course provides a basic background in African history and bio-physical environments, leading to discussion of advanced topics in contemporary African studies. We will cover a broad range of sectoral themes, including: health and population dynamics; food and agriculture; cities and urbanization; rural life; parks and peoples; development and underdevelopment; politics and governance; and sociocultural geography and music. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 244 - Geography of Asia: the Political Economy

    Cross-Listed as ASIA 244  
    Whether the twenty-first century will be dominated by the “rising Asia” has spurred recurring debates in policy and academic circles. But what is Asia? How can we understand this diverse region where more than half of the world’s population resides? In this course, we will first deconstruct the idea of Asia as a cartographic entity to excavate the layered social-cultural meaning and geographical diversity of the “Asias.” We will also place the “Asias” in a global context to reveal how contemporary Asia anchors the changing world political economy and cultural imaginations outside the West. We will begin with important theoretical debates on (East) Asian development that prevailed in the 1980s and 1990s, including discussions about the colonial past, the path-dependency of development and uneven industrialization, regional disparities and mega-urbanization. We will then use these debates as the foundation to explore the contemporary globalizing Asia. What are the important connections between Asian countries, and with other parts of the world? What are the roles of the “Asias” in international governance and geo-politics? Can China replace the United States as the dominant geo-economic power? These are the questions we will explore in this course. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 247 - Regional Geography of the Middle East

    The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the variety of geographic factors that make up the area traditionally known as the Middle East (Egypt to Iran). Its aim is to enable the student to understand and appreciate the complex relationships of this fascinating region, both internally and to the rest of the world. We investigate the region from a variety of scales, including the individual, the ethnic group, the city and state. The course begins by laying a geographic foundation and then moving off into specific locales around the tri-continental hub. We will pay particular attention to how geography investigates some of the region’s most contentious contemporary issues. Through a combination of lecture, discussion and case study activities the class will explore the region’s resource base, history, politics, economy, religions and cultures. We will cover a wide variety of topics searching for the linkages between the cultural, physical and social geographies of the Middle East. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 248 - The Political Geography of Nations and Nationalism

    This course investigates how nations and nationalism affect social identity and the organization of territory in our world. Political geography offers concepts and approaches to help us think through the complex intersections of people, place, and politics that constitute the struggle to create and maintain nation-states. Thus the first part of the course is devoted to enhancing your understanding of core concepts, such as nation, state, territory, sovereignty, scale, borders, and geographical imagination. The ultimate purpose of this first part of the course then is to assemble a framework for understanding why our contemporary organization of territory throughout the world looks the way it does. Equipped with these foundations, we explore topics in the second part of class that help you think critically about the stability of nations and the organization of territory into the nation-state system as well as challenges to these institutions. Toward this end, you will also conduct an independent research project on a single group’s attempt to foster national self-determination. Throughout the course, we will bring our investigations to bear on everyday life, exploring how nations and nationalism shape our world in dramatic and mundane ways. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 249 - Environment and Society in Latin America

    Cross-Listed as LATI 249  
    This course focuses on one of the world’s most vibrant regions, Latin America and the Caribbean. Extending from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego, this world region stretches across diverse landscapes, from tropical rainforests to the snowcapped peaks of the Andes, from mega-cities to verdant plains and sparsely populated deserts. This course is a broad introduction to Latin American environments and peoples from a geographic perspective, with emphasis on human-environment processes. Major topics include the dynamics of climate, physical geography, and natural hazards; how indigenous peoples of the Americas transformed their environments, especially through agriculture; how European colonialism and the Columbian Exchange altered patterns of land use, labor, and trade; the development patterns of modern nation-states within a globalized economy; the environmental and social impacts of commodity production (e.g. coffee in Central America, rubber in the Amazon); challenges to and persistence of small-scale agriculture in the Andean region; the causes and consequences of tropical deforestation; conflicts over land and natural resources; the resilience and political resurgence of indigenous groups and people of African descent, and the evolution of pluriethnic or multinational states; and the causes of mass urbanization and the environmental problems of cities. Along the way, we will examine the human-environment geography of various regions and countries such as The Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Brazil, the Andean Countries, and Argentina. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 250 - Race, Place and Space

    Cross-Listed as   
    In this discussion-based course we focus on the racialized places of U.S. cities, rural towns and suburbs in an effort to understand how social, historic, and spatial forces have colluded to bring about complex and enduring racial formations. We will look for race and related social categories in places around St. Paul and Minneapolis. By engaging theories about visuality and representation, urban development and suburban sprawl, and social movements for racial justice, we will develop a specialized vocabulary for explaining how race, place, and space are connected. This course requires prior exposure to at least one of the following areas: American Studies, human geography, sociology of race/ethnicity, or urban studies.  Not currently offered. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 252 - Water and Power

    Cross-Listed as ENVI 252  and POLI 252  
    This course develops an interdisciplinary approach to studying water resources development, drawing from geography, anthropology, history, politics, hydrology, and civil engineering. With a focus on large river basins, the course examines historical and emerging challenges to the equitable and sustainable use of transboundary waters. After first exploring the history of American water development, we will turn our attention to issues around sanitation, food production, gender and privatization in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Prerequisite(s): ENVI 120 , ENVI 133 , or ENVI 232 . Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 254 - Population 8 Billion: Global Population Issues and Trends

    Cross-Listed as ENVI 254  
    This course challenges students to critically examine contemporary global population issues and link these patterns and processes to local events and situations. Using the lens of Geography, we will investigate the dynamic interplay between individual, local, regional, national, and international scales and the implications of scale, culture and perspective in dissecting current population issues. We will also use individual countries as case studies to examine population policies. Students will acquire a working knowledge of the data and methods used by population geographers to describe and analyze changes in human populations at sub-national scales, and will implement these skills in an independent research project. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 256 - Medical Geography

    This course examines the geographical dimensions of health and disease, emphasizing global and domestic public health issues. Key approaches and themes include the social determinants of health; how place influences individual health; epidemiological mapping and spatial analysis; environmental health; environmental justice; the relationship among demographic change, economic development, and population health; the geography of pandemics; the disease ecology approach to infectious and vector-borne diseases; and the challenges of “global health” in the 21st century, with special emphasis on “emerging infectious diseases.” Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 258 - Geography of Environmental Hazards

    Cross-Listed as   
    The study of environmental hazards stands at a key point of intersection between the natural and social sciences. Geography, with its focus on human-environment interactions, provides key analytical tools for understanding the complex causes and uneven impacts of hazards around the world. We will explore the geophysical nature and social dimensions of disasters caused by floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires. For each of these hazard types, we apply theoretical concepts from major hazards research paradigms, including quantifying the human and economic impacts of disaster; assessing, managing, and mitigating risk; and reducing the impacts of disaster, not only through engineering works but also by reducing social vulnerability and enhancing adaptive capacity. Looking into the future, we will discuss how global-scale processes, such as climate change and globalization, might affect the frequency, intensity, and geographical distribution of environmental hazards in the decades to come. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 261 - World Urbanization

    We now live in a world where the majority of the population already lives in cities. And yet every year, hundreds of millions of people continue to move into cities to pursue a better future. The contemporary social, economic, and political changes are intrinsically linked to divergent urban processes across the world. This paramount shift poses important theoretical and empirical questions to our age. This course uses the critical perspective of “global urbanism” to both contextualize and connect different urban experiences across places. We will introduce various urban settings and demonstrate how complex relations between urbanization, globalization, and economic development produce spatial unevenness and social inequality. We will study the dominant paradigm of world and global cities, which prioritizes development trajectories of cities in the global North, and discuss contesting views focusing on “ordinary cities” from the global South. Drawing on case studies in the developed and less-developed world, we will also learn how to apply the relational comparative urbanism approach as well as regionally based theoretical perspectives to comprehend the diverse urban landscapes around the globe.

      Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 262 - Metro Analysis

    This course discusses the foundations of American urban life and metropolitan development today, and examines how and why urban housing markets operate as they do within American metropolitan regions. Topics covered in the course include: the metropolitan economy, land use patterns, urban housing supply and demand, the geography of urban housing markets, racial residential segregation, suburbanization, transportation, and public policy debates. By the end of the course, students will have mastered some of the methods used to describe metropolitan organization and change, and be able to analyze how changes in the economy and society relate to metropolitan land use. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 294 - Topics Course

    Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 320 - Asian Cities

    Cross-Listed as ASIA 320  
    Since the last century, Asia has experienced rapid urbanization. It is now home to over half of the world’s most populated cities. By 2010, the urban population in the Asia-Pacific region had surpassed the population of the United States and the European Union combined. In this course, we will focus on cities in East, Southeast and South Asia. We will first contextualize the rapid urbanization in the region’s changing political economy, and identify urban issues that are unique to this region. We will further explore different theoretical approaches to understand Asian cities; several of them challenge mainstream urban theories rooted in the experiences of West European and North American cities. Upon the completion of this course, students will acquire substantive knowledge on contemporary trends of urban development in Asia, and develop familiarity with related ongoing theoretical debates. In addition, students will conduct individual research projects to develop a deeper and more concrete understanding of the contemporary urbanization processes in Asia. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 341 - City Life: Segregation, Integration, and Gentrification

    Cross-Listed as AMST 341  
    This course connects students with urban social geography, which studies the social and spatial dimensions of city life. In this course, we will explore some of the ways in which urban society is organized geographically. We will also consider how the spatial patterns of urban life influence public policy issues in the North American context. Topics covered in this course include causes of racial segregation, debates about gentrification, sustainable urban development, the transition to shared governance in cities, and the delivery of urban services that affect the welfare of urban populations. Students will learn current research, engage debates about critical urban issues, and learn techniques useful for analyzing spatial patterns in the urban landscape. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 241  or GEOG 261  or GEOG 262  or permission of instructor. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
  

  • GEOG 362 - Remote Sensing of the Environment

    Remote Sensing of the Environment is designed to introduce the student to the theory and application of digital imagery data in geographical research. It emphasizes fundamental remote sensing concepts and utilizes remotely sensed data for analyzing human-environmental issues such as deforestation, reforestation, urban expansion, or any other change in land surface across space or time.  The different sensors used to collect this information and the interpretation techniques vary quite widely and are being developed at an astounding rate. In this course, the focus is on the interpretation and applications of data from spaceborne imaging systems (e.g. Landsat, Landsat, MODIS, Sentinel-2). The course consists of lecture periods to provide a comprehensive understanding of concepts, labs that take you through the major mapping and analysis methods using the software Erdas Imagine, and small student projects. A basic understanding of geographic data is necessary to take this class. Students can satisfy this requirement by completing Geog 225 (or similar) or by completing an asynchronous module provided by the instructor through Moodle prior to the beginning of class. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 225  or permission of instructor. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
 

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