This course provides academic credit for independent studies under the direction of a faculty member. The scope and direction of the studies are determined by the student (or small group of students) in consultation with the course instructor.

This course provides academic credit for independent studies under the direction of a faculty member. The scope and direction of the studies are determined by the student (or small group of students) in consultation with the course instructor.

Topics of interest not covered in the regular course offerings.

Hands-on instruction and participation in archaeological methods including research design survey, excavation, documentation, artifact processing, data analysis, preservation, and digital applications in archaeology.

Hands-on instruction and participation in archaeological methods including research design survey, excavation, documentation, artifact processing, data analysis, preservation, and digital applications in archaeology.

Growth of the Republic, antics and follies of the emperors, accomplishments of Rome, and causes of decline. Early Christianity and its impact on Europe included.

Draws on sociological theory and research to understand the major economic, social, and cultural issues facing American society today.

The American Revolution as political debate, war, and social upheaval, with attention to the framing and ratification of the Constitution.

This course examines Black motherhood as a shifting cultural formation in U.S. media from 1945 through the 1980s. Through film, plays, periodicals, and television—from Imitation of Life to Good Times to films like Finding Christa—we trace how Black women’s maternal lives have been rendered as sites of discipline, care, labor, and constraint.

Beginning with mid-century representations shaped by postwar liberalism, including A Raisin in the Sun, the course follows the transformation of Black motherhood through the civil rights era, the expansion of the welfare state, and the emergence of Black feminist critique. Drawing on Ruth Feldstein’s Motherhood in Black and White: Race and Sex in American Liberalism, 1930–1965, we situate these representations within broader debates about race, gender, sexuality, and citizenship.

Across these materials, we ask: How has Black motherhood functioned as a site of cultural projection and political struggle? What role has the state played in shaping expectations of maternal care and responsibility? And what possibilities emerge when Black women’s lives strain against—or refuse—the limits of normative motherhood?