24 Comments
Bwog’s received a copy of the list of courses that will count toward the Global Core requirement.
The class list still isn’t on the Core website, but thanks to one anxious senior/Bwog staffer, we’re able to reproduce it after the jump for you.
Remember: the 12s must complete two courses from this list, while for everyone else, you have the option of taking two courses from this list or fulfilling the Major Cultures requirement like such:
- Students must begin the Major Cultures requirement with a course chosen from List A in one of the major non-western civilizations on this list.
- The second course, which completes the requirement, may be chosen from List A again or from Lists B or C.
- If the second course is from List A, it may be drawn from any of the civilizations.
- If the second course is from Lists B or C, it must be drawn from the same civilization as the List A course.
GLOBAL CORE
2008-2009 PRELIMINARY APPROVED COURSE LIST
Fall 2008
8/25/08
The Global Core requirement consists of courses which are broadly introductory, interdisciplinary, and temporally or spatially expansive. Like other Core courses, Global Core courses are organized around a set of primary texts, new media (film, ritual performance, etc) or oral sources produced in the regions of the world in question. Global Core courses fall into two categories: those which focus on a specific culture or civilization, tracing its appearance and existence across a significant span of time and sometimes across more than one present-day country or region; and those which address several world settings or cultures comparatively (and may include Europe and the West), through a common theme, set of analytic questions, or through interactions among different world regions.
Students must complete two courses from this list for a letter grade.
An updated list of approved courses will be available prior to spring registration.
Anthropology [ANTH]:
V1008 The rise of civilization
V2010 Major debates in the study of Africa
V2100 Muslim societies
V3027 Archaeology and Africa: changing perceptions of the African past
V3300 Pre-Columbian histories of Native America
W4001 The ancient empires
African Civilizations [AFCV]:
C1020 African civilization
Art History and Archaeology [AHIS]:
V3201 The arts of China
V3203 The arts of Japan
W3208 Arts of Africa
AHUM V3340 Art in China, Japan, and Korea
AHUM V3342 Masterpieces of Indian art and architecture
AHUM V3343 Masterpieces of Islamic art and architecture
G4073 African art, architecture, and ideas
G4085 Andean art and architecture
Colloquia and Interdepartmental Seminars [INSM]:
W3920 Nobility and civility
Comparative Ethnic Studies [CSER]:
W1010 Introduction to comparative ethnic studies
Comparative Literature and Society [CPLS]:
W3620 Islam and Europe
East Asian Languages and Cultures [EAAS]:
ASCE V2002 Introduction to major topics in Asian civilizations: East Asia
ASCE V2359 Introduction to East Asian civilizations: China
ASCE V2361 Introduction to East Asian civilizations: Japan
ASCE V2363 Introduction to East Asian civilizations: Korea
ASCE V2365 Introduction to East Asian civilizations: Tibet
W3338 Cultural history of Japanese monsters
AHUM V3400 Colloquium on major texts: East Asia
AHUM V3830 Colloquium on modern East Asian texts
HSEA W3898 The Mongols in history
AHUM W4027 Colloquium on major works of Chinese philosophy, religion, and literature, I
AHUM W4028 Colloquium on major works of Chinese philosophy, religion, and literature, II
AHUM W4029 Colloquium on major works of Japanese philosophy, religion, and literature, I
AHUM W4030 Colloquium on major works of Japanese philosophy, religion, and literature, II
HSEA W4881 Gods, ghosts, and ancestors: social history of Chinese religion
History [HIST]:
W3618 The Caribbean in the 19th and 20th centuries
W3660 History of Latin American civilization I, pre-Columbian to 1810
W3665 Economic history of Latin America
W3711 Islamo-Christian civlization
W3719 History of the modern Middle East
W3760 Main currents in African history
HSEA W3898 The Mongols in history
W4404 Native American history
HSEA W4881 Gods, ghosts, and ancestors: social history of Chinese religion
Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures [MDES]:
ASCM V2001 Introduction to major topics in Asian civilizations: the Middle East and India
ASCM V2003 Introduction to Islamic civilization
ASCM V2008 Contemporary Islamic civilization
CLME W3000 Theories of culture: Middle East and South Asia
W3004 Islam in South Asia
AHUM V3399 Colloquium on major texts: Middle East and Asia
CLME W4031 Cinema and society in Asia and Africa
SPME W4200 Andalusian symbiosis: Arabs and the West
W4251 Introduction to political thought in the modern Middle East
Music [MUSI]:
V2020 Salsa, soca, and reggae: popular musics of the Caribbean
AHMM V3320 Introduction to the musics of East Asia and Southeast Asia
AHMM V3321 Introduction to the musics of India and West Asia
Political Science [POLS]:
W4445 Politics of the Middle East and North Africa
G4461 Latin American politics
Religion [RELI]:
V2005 Buddhism: Indo-Tibetan
V2008 Buddhism: East Asian
V2205 Hinduism
V2305 Islam
V2802 Introduction to Asian religions
Spanish and Portuguese [SPAN]:
W3265 Latin American literature in translation
W3349 Hispanic culture: Islamic Spain through the colonial period
W3350 Hispanic culture: Enlightenment to the present
W3490 Latin American humanities, I (in English)
W3491 Latin American humanities, II (in English)
SPME W4200 Andalusian symbiosis: Arabs and the West
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24 Comments
@confused So I am trying to plan this thing out, but a class I am interested in (MEALAC W4251 Introduction to political thought in the modern Middle East) does not appear to be in the course directory thing or on the MEALAC website. Does anybody know anything about this – are they adding it or, in typical Columbia fashion, does it just not exist?
Sounds like it could be pretty cool, so I hope I am just not seeing it.
@Sigh Doesn’t anyone realize that you could already get around the list requirement by petitioning? This is such a non-event.
Also, this list looks a lot shorter. What happened to all the poli sci and econ classes that used to qualify? I don’t see how they are all-of-a-sudden insufficiently cultural.
@DHADHA I’m an art movement that looked silly but which actually laid the foundation for surrealism and postmodernism. Yeah, sorry about that.
@DHL imma courier
@DHI im a dbag
@problem the one thing i notice is that most classes that were once on list C have been eliminated from eligibility. Am I wrong? Classes like Race and Ethnicity in American Politics and Black Paris – classes that connected the Major Cultures to American history and literature seem to not be here. Am I wrong? Are there any former list-C courses in the Global Core?
@DHI No, you’re not wrong, problem, you’re just an asshole
@umm The end of List A, B, C is HUGE.
@agreed I think the end of the list system is an important change. To me, it seems a lot more flexible.
@your mom Barely anything on India! Nearly everything about South Asia has to do with Islam…wasn’t there once a Gandhi class?
Come to think of it, the list looks a lot more Islam-heavy than in the past. Was there a change of faculty I missed?
Also, while it all does look similar to before, I think it’s a bit more tokenistic…you can get away with studying nothing but music or art (which, let’s face it, are going to be a bit easier than analysing ancient texts).
@don't worry a lot of professors who focus on India are on leave this semester/year
Prof. Rao (on leave all year)
Prof. Bhakle (on leave until next semester)
Prof. Busch (on leave all year)
Prof. Kaviraj’s courses never counted for major cultures
Prof. Chatterjee and Prof. Dirks rarely teach undergrads.
etc. etc. As someone who is focusing on South Asia, it’s a very frustrating semester.
@on second thought I’m not sure if Prof. Kaviraj’s course on Politics in India was major cultures or not, but it doesn’t matter since it isn’t offered this semester.
@hunger striker Moving to a primary-source focus is a ridiculous idea because you can’t expect sophomore’s struggling under the weight of CC reading to now have to effectively double their workload. The reason why we assign primary texts in CC is because everyone understands western culture and we are trying to go deeper. If you try to teach a new civilization this way you are in danger of missing the forest because of the trees. What’s more, i’m not convinced that the translations of these texts are good enough for what is being expected of them, nor do i believe that every professor could be familiar enough with obscure treatises to teach the class properly.
@anti-hunger striker hey #8, maybe if you had just refrained from doing something as fucking stupid as your hunger strike, you wouldn’t have screwed yourself even more with additional primary source classes. Maybe everyone will finally get the point that when it comes to standoffs, the administration always wins. Good luck with your 4965329756943 pages of reading! :)
@what were you hoping for?
i liked the hunger strikers’ call for seminars, and i’d be curious to know whether the class sizes have changed at all.
i also like the list format, but i’m doing the exact same courses that i had planned on all along (fulfilling both major cultures & global core).
why did #16 freak out?
@#16 calmer’n you are
@senior Hunger striker: Your opposition to the use of primary sources in Major Cultures classes seems misguided. If, as you suggest, primary sources allow for deeper engagement with the material, confining classes on other cultures to secondary sources undercuts the value of those classes. A superficial understanding of another culture isn’t much more than tokenist. Why have a Major Cultures requirement at all if the classes aren’t going to be rigorous as their Western counterparts? And if CC’s that hard, who said students need to fill their MC requirement as sophomores?
The other two concerns you raise — readings in translation and professor competence — apply to Lit Hum and CC, as well. Most of the texts in these classes was originally in Greek, Latin, French, etc., but we make do. Granted that better translations might be available for the Iliad than for some other works, but this doesn’t seem insurmountable. As for professors, Lit Hum and CC are generally taught by nonspecialists. If anything, the professors teaching Major Cultures classes should be better qualified to teach primary texts, since they’re specialists in their fields.
@... At first glance the classes might look the same. But one has to see the syllabi to see whether there has been any change in pedagogy.
I think these classes have one thing in common: classes with a heavier focus on texts produced in that culture. At least when I look at the MENA region, I see that difference.
@errr pretty much the same thing. waste of money/time
@correct me if i am wrong, but this list also includes a few offerings that weren’t before counted as major cultures, namely the comparative ethnic studies course, nobility and civility, and some of the religion department courses.
frankly, i think this list recognizes that there are different ways to study culture, religion and ethnicity, and everyone can choose what suits him or her best. its a nice compromise in that one has a variety of methodological approaches to choose from. the a, b, and c lists were silly.
@cupcake yea, whats the difference?
@hmm so basically the only real change is that there is no more list a, b, c?
@Anonymous agreed
@Anonymous this is the same damn thing