Spring 2017
Approved
Eurasia in Flux: Trans-Siberian Perspectives on Russia and China
This cluster focuses on the unique ties between Russia and its largest neighbor to the East, China. Reflected in the culture of the two countries but also in the manner in which contemporary Russia has recently pivoted away from Western Europe toward the East, the relationship between Russia and China has long had profound geopolitical as well as cultural and social significance. In studying both Russia’s east-west cultural dynamic and the environment on China’s western frontier, we hope to gain special insight into the always-evolving interrelationship between Russia and China.
Courses:
- EALC XXX: The Environment on China’s Frontiers (Yonglin Jiang, East Asian Languages and Cultures)
- RUSS XXX: Russia and the East: Siberia in Russian Culture (Tim Harte, Russian)
- RUSS XXX: Intensive Survival Russian (Irina Walsh, Russian)
360 Course Units: 3 units
Field Component: Two-week travel on Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian train lines
Prerequisites: none
Open/Closed: both Russian courses available to 360 students only, EALC course open to non-360 students
Special Note: Students with Russian language experience will enroll in a langauge course at the appropriate level, rather than Intensive Survival Russian
Approved
Migrations and Borderlands
This 360 will use the lenses of cultural studies and sociology to critically and comparatively examine migration in different national contexts and historical moments. We will focus in particular on the complex factors shaping migrations between Latin America and the United States, Latin American and Spain, and Asia and Latin America, as well as how migration is represented in literature and culture. We will probe questions of imperialism, economic and political policies, xenophobic discourse, transnational belonging, cultural citizenship, and how individuals and families are transformed through the process of migration. Our trip to the US-Mexican border will allow students to critically examine first-hand the interplay between U.S. migration policy, globalization, social justice movements, and individual agency.
Courses:
- ENGL 2XX: Latina/o Culture and the Art of Migration (Jennifer Harford Vargas, English)
- SOCL 2XX: Sociology of Migration: A Cross-Cultural Overview of Contemporary Challenges (Veronica Montes, Sociology)
- SPAN 243: Temas de la Literatura Hispana: Migration in the Hispanic World (Rosi Song, Spanish)
360 Course Units: 3 units
Field Component: Week-long travel to US-Mexico border
Special Programming: Visits to Philadelphia-area NGOs
Prerequisites: none
Open/Closed: all courses available to 360 students only
Approved
Temperate and Tropical Coasts in Transition
Coastlines, by definition transitional environments, are naturally dynamic and resilient. But climate change, sea level rise and shifting species distributions are now causing rapid physical and ecological changes to the world’s coasts. Anticipating and addressing these changes requires understanding the physical, chemical and biological processes that interact at the land-sea boundary. Two trips over the course of the semester will investigate the temperate and tropical coastal environments, including barrier islands, saltmarshes, coral reefs, and mangroves.
Courses:
- GEOL 350: Carbonate Environments (Pedro Marenco, Geology)
- BIOL 323: Coastal & Marine Ecology (Thomas Mozdzer, Biology)
360 Course Units: 2 units
Field Component: One week-long field excursion (during spring break), to Belize, and one day trip to a research station along the US Mid-Atlantic coast
Prerequisites: BIOL 220: Ecology AND 1 full-semester Geology or Chemistry course
Open/Closed: all courses available to 360 students only
