Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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CAS WS 452: Contemporary Debates in Sexualities Research
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASSO 241 or CASWS 200, First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120) - Engages sociological debates about sexual identities, politics, and practices. Students consider how sexualities are expressed and regulated through various institutions and how they intersect with race, class, gender, citizenship, and other domains of inequality. Effective Spring 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Writing-Intensive, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS WS 453: Topics in Religion and Sexuality
Exploration of key topics and themes in the study of religion and sexuality, especially as they intersect with gender, race, and politics. Historical periods and religious contexts vary according to instructor. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness, Creativity/Innovation. -
CAS WS 456: Neurobiology of Sex and Aggression
Examines neurobiological and genetic factors that influence sex and violence. Students review primary literature from the past century that highlights major scientific discoveries that have reconceptualized our understanding of the origins of sexual-determination, -attraction and - aggression. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Historical Consciousness, Scientific Inquiry II. -
CAS WS 458: The Nonbinary Nineteenth Century
Undergraduate prerequisite: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120). - Examines fictional and non fictional works from nineteenth-century France on themes of sexual and gender identity, contextualized through contemporary queer, trans, and feminist theory. -
CAS WS 460: Topics in LGBTQ History
Undergrad prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120). - Seminar examines topics in the history of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) people and cultural or political movements. May be repeated for credit if topics vary. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Oral and Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS WS 465: Intersectionalities: Theories, Methods, and Praxis
Undergraduate pre-requisites: junior standing or consent of instructor. - "Intersectionality," is one of the prominent contributions made by critical race feminist scholars that now broadly extend across disciplines. This course takes stock of the multiple ways that intersectional scholars and activists conceptualize intersectionality in relation to sociological theory, research problems, design, and praxis. -
CAS WS 479: Fatal Women and Dangerous Bodies
Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120). - Examines depictions of the femme fatale and fears of female sexuality in realist, naturalist and decadent French fictions. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS WS 480: Japanese Women Writers
Classic texts by Japanese women, including the "Tale of Genji" and "The Pillow Book," and their modern legacy, read alongside important philosophical and theoretical texts in queer and feminist thought. Lectures and texts in English. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking. -
CAS XL 100: Leaving Home: Explorations in World Literature
Growing up. Moving to the big city. Wisdom quest. Immigration. Tourism. How have the world's great literatures portrayed and shaped these experiences? How have literary works themselves found new worlds through translation and adaptation? Counts for credit toward all WLL majors. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. -
CAS XL 222: Introduction to Western Literatures
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Introduces basic methods of comparative literary study through close readings of influential texts of the Western tradition from antiquity to present. Topics include genre, translation, appropriation, interpretation, theories of literary production and effect. All works read in English. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS XL 223: Introduction to Middle Eastern Literatures
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Introduces basic methods of comparative literary study through close readings of some of the most influential texts of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew literature. Readings may include The Arabian Nights, Shahnameh, lyric poetry, and novels from the twentieth century. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS XL 224: Introduction to East Asian Literatures
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Explores why and how to compare literatures and cultures and envisions the place of East Asia's traditions in World Literature. Embarks on theoretical reflection and close reading of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean texts from three millennia. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS XL 225: Introduction to South Asian Literatures
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - Introduces basic methods of comparative literary study through close readings of some of the most influential texts of Indian and other South Asian literatures. Readings may include Shakuntala, The Ramayana, bhakti and Sufi literatures. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS XL 230: Topics in Big Fat Books
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120) - Enters deeply into the world of one literary work and explores its reverberations across national and disciplinary boundaries. Topics for Fall 2025 & Spring 2026: TBD. Previous Topics: Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Marcel Proust's Swann's Way. Death in Venice. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS XL 236: Jewish Literature
How do changing notions of ethnicity and race, religion, and gender, as well as geographical place define Jewish family and community? Topics include immigration, diaspora, and national culture; patriotism, antisemitism, and multiculturalism; Jewish identities and gender; conversion, assimilation, and acculturation. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Aesthetic Exploration. -
CAS XL 244: Greek Drama in Translation
The history and development of ancient Greek theater; study of important plays in the genres of tragedy, comedy, and satyr drama by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Menander. Cannot be taken for credit in addition to CAS CL 324. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CAS XL 260: Gateway to Asian Cultures
Panoramic introduction to the cultures of East and South Asia in comparative perspective (China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India). Examines shared foundations, transformative inflection points, sites, peoples, and ideologies over the past two millennia through primary texts and media. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. -
CAS XL 281: Representations of the Holocaust in Literature and Film
How can we understand the impact of the Holocaust and its ongoing legacies? Holocaust representation in literature, film and memorials, including discussions of bystander complicity and societal responsibilities, testimonial and fictive works by Wiesel and Levi, documentaries and feature films. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Ethical Reasoning. -
CAS XL 284: War in Arab Literature and Film (in English translation)
How do Arab writers and filmmakers depict the region’s defining wars? Comparison to nonfiction and to artworks by Israeli and American artists from the "other side." All readings in English; knowledge of Arabic or Middle Eastern history is welcome, but none is assumed. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU HUB areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings. -
CAS XL 325: Global Modernist Fiction
A comparative study of five modernist authors from different world cultures: Faulkner, Kafka, Chang, Rushdie, and Murakami. Examines experiments in narrative technique as differently situated responses to the major events and legacy of the twentieth century. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking.
