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.

• CAS EN 584: Studies in Literature and Ethnicity
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing. - Topic varies by semester. Past topics include Literature of the Migrant, Ethnic American Women Writers. Please see English Department's Website for current topic.
• CAS EN 586: Studies in Anglophone Literature
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing; and Firs t-Year Writing (WR 120 or equivalent). - Caribbean Poetry. Study of twentieth-century Caribbean poetry written in English(es), surveying anthologies and concentrating on major figures (Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite, Lorna Goodison, Eric Roach). Emphases: the function of poets in small societies, and their choices concerning linguistic and aesthetic traditions. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing- Intensive Course, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Writing-Intensive Course
• CAS EN 588: Studies in African American Literature
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: two previous literature courses or junior or senior standing. - Topic for Fall 2022: Tracking Changes in the Twentieth-Century African American Novel: Negotiations of Genre and Gender. Readings of Slave Narratives and Neo Slave Narratives, and the Urban Novel. Authors include Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, and Walter Mosley.
• CAS EN 596: Studies in Literary Topics
  Undergraduate prerequisites: junior or senior standing. - Topic varies by semester. Past topics include Religious Lyric, Cinema of David Lynch. Please see English Department's website or contact instructor for current topic.
• CAS FY 101: First Year Experience
  Through activities and discussions, FY101 is focused on creating BU community, promoting health, wellness and safety, building academic pathways and success, and exploring identity.
• CAS FY 102: First Year Career Development (Internships, Majors, and Your Career Direction)
  FY102 will help first year students get started on utilizing the Career Development Cycle to maximize their time at BU. During this course students will create a plan of action towards choosing a major, creating a resume, finding an internship, and preparing for a career.
• CAS FY 103: First Year Experience Topics
  Focuses on the individual student's connection to the University through the exploration of a specific topic area.
• CAS HI 101: The Dawn of Europe: Antiquity to the Renaissance
  Ancient and medieval Europe was a world of empires, kingdoms, and religious factions in conflict with each other. This course explores the ideologies, institutions, and texts that shaped these civilizations and continue to hold meaning in the modern world.
• CAS HI 102: The Emergence of Modern Europe: Renaissance to the Present
  What is Europe' This course explores the emergence of Europe as an idea and place. Draws on literature and art from Machiavelli to Russian ballet to explain Europe's changing meaning; focuses on nation- and state-building to explain Europe's shifting boundaries.
• CAS HI 112: Black Power in the Classroom: The History of Black Studies
  Centers Black experiences, cultures, knowledge production and identity formation in the United States and in the African Diaspora across time and space. Examines and traces the genealogies of Black Studies as a discipline: its political, ideological, and practical foundations on college campuses and in communities. Also explores earlier traditions and contemporary work in Black radical thought and activism that lay the groundwork for and build on the founding principles of Black Studies by mobilizing an intersectional and diasporic lens. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS HI 113: Introduction to Antiracism
  This course introduces students to the concept of antiracism, particularly its historical contours in the United States. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Historical Consciousness
  • The Individual in Community
• CAS HI 150: Introduction to Jewish History
  Explores history of Jews across the globe from beginnings to the present. Highlights the diversity of Jewish experiences, identifies patterns of continuity and evolution, situates Jewish history in larger contexts, and limns various modes of interaction with other groups.
• CAS HI 151: The Emerging United States to 1865
  Explores how the United States, at first only a series of borderland outposts, became a sprawling national republic. Investigates factors that brought Americans together and those that tore them apart, as they struggled passionately over racial, religious, and sectional values. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS HI 152: The Emerging United States Since 1865
  After the Civil War, Americans created a new urbanizing and industrializing landscape, flush with immigrants, growing class conflict, and racial divisions. This course explores how, through times of prosperity, depression, and war, Americans transformed the United States into one of the world's leading nations. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Research and Information Literacy
• CAS HI 175: World History to 1500
  Explores historical and environmental factors influencing how cultures take shape and impact each other. Examines early global connections and conflicts between people of different continents as well as between humans, other species, the natural environment, and the planet as a whole. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Historical Consciousness
• CAS HI 176: World History 1500-Present
  Examines the religious encounters, economic rivalries, and military battles produced by European imperialism in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia since 1500. Analyzes how European colonialism came to dominate the world and nationalist movements succeeded in gaining independence. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy.
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  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Historical Consciousness
• CAS HI 190: History of Boston: Community and Conflict
  Explores the history of Boston and the city's changes over time. Students work with archival objects, maps, and manuscripts. Topics include Native American history, colonial settlement, revolution, immigration, urban development, and race. Students visit nearby historical sites and museums. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • The Individual in Community
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS HI 191: What Is Europe'
  Explores key moments in history when cultural contact prompted Europeans to reconsider how they defined themselves culturally and geographically. Lectures and discussions are combined with trips to local museums/archives to analyze the material remains of this process of self-definition. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration.
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  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
  • Teamwork/Collaboration
• CAS HI 192: American Popular Culture
  Examines how Americans have changed (and haven't) since the nineteenth century by exploring their curious beliefs, social and sexual practices, and changing understandings of selfhood. Topics include Victorian etiquette, modern city pleasures, racial stereotyping, dating rituals, family dynamics, and more. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking, Individual and the Community.
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  • Aesthetic Exploration
  • Critical Thinking
  • The Individual in Community
• CAS HI 200: The Historian's Craft
  Required workshop for majors, normally taken in the sophomore year. Gives students the opportunity to analyze original sources and engage with leading works of historical scholarship. Explores how historians reconstruct and interpret the past using creativity, deduction, and contextual analysis. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy, Writing Intensive.
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  • Historical Consciousness
  • Research and Information Literacy
  • Writing-Intensive Course