Spring 2019
Approved
Eurasia in the Anthropocene
This cluster focuses on the ecology of Russia and its largest neighbor to the East, China, through various cultural, scientific, and social lenses. Spanning two continents and almost one sixth of the world, Russia occupies a crucial geographical position, as its vastness and eastern orientation has profoundly informed the country’s relationship to the land and its environmental policy. China, meanwhile, has struggled to maintain the health of its ecology and environment as it grows its economy and draws heavily upon the natural resources of the region. We will probe ecological concerns in Russia and China from a scientific, cultural, and even linguistic perspective. The focal point of this cluster, which includes language instruction in Russian and Chinese, will be two weeks of travel between Moscow and Beijing along the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian train lines, exploring both ecological issues at play in Russian culture and plant diversity on China’s western frontier, we hope to gain special insight into the fragile ecologies of the Russian Far East and China.
Courses:
- BIOL 225: Biology and the Ecology of Plants (Sydne Record, Biology)
- RUSS 2XX: Russia and its Ecology: Cultural and Historical Perspectives (Tim Harte, Russian)
- RUSS 106: Intensive Survival Russian (Irina Walsh, Russian)
360 Course Units: 3 units
Field Component: Two-week travel on Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian train lines
Special Programming: Chinese language practice required for all students on Friday afternoons
Prerequisites: none
Open/Closed: RUSS 2XX course available to 360 students only, BIOL 225 and RUSS 106 open to non-360 students
Special Note: Students with Russian language experience will enroll in a language course at the appropriate level, rather than Intensive Survival Russian
Spring 2020
Approved
From the Cosmos to the Self: Exploring the Structures of Knowledge Creation
This 360 uses the lenses of cultural studies, sociology, and physics to critically and comparatively examine the ways we imagine and reimagine the worlds in which we live, from the cosmos to social structures to community and personal experiences. It exposes students to the ways in which our social locations inform our world-views as well as our disciplinary perspectives and methodologies. We will probe Western and indigenous cosmologies, normative and alternative gender and sexuality structures, and imperial and decolonial racial systems.
Courses:
- ENGL 274: Speculative Ethnic Fiction (Harford Vargas, English)
- PHYS XXX: Physics Seminar (Daniel, Physics)
- SOCL 251: Queering Utopia (Sledge, Sociology)
360 Course Units: 3 units
Field Component: Week-long field study in Mexico (tentatively March 8-17, 2019)
Special Programming: TBA
Prerequisites: PHYS 121
Open/Closed: All courses available to 360 students only
