Classes
FFC 100 | The Border: Myth, Realities
Dr. Lisa Leitz
Borders divide people, laws, and environments. Across them flow people, legal and illegal goods, money, and more. They are situated at the intersection of division and connection—between peoples and nations. Thus, they are often sites of intense cultural conflict, which has been the case for the U.S Mexico border since the mid-19th century. Navigating these spaces mean that citizens must decide whether to build bridges or walls. By examining various academic work and popular representations of the border, students are encouraged to gain critical thinking skills and understand the social construction of nationality, race, and various forms of power.Using memoirs and film in class, and visiting art exhibits and a performance, students will examine the mythmaking and emotional anxieties about ethnicity/race, nationality, crime, and gender. Students will become familiar with the history of the border, beginning with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, through NAFTA, and into political discourse over “the wall.” Drawing from anthropology, sociology, political science, and peace studies, students will be introduced to data about historical and contemporary patterns of migration, and are encouraged to examine how these compare with political and media representations. Together we will consider how the border has become such a potent site for contemporary mythmaking, a flashpoint for anxieties about race, labor, gender, and sexuality.
PCST 150 | Introduction to Peace Studies
Dr. Hilmi Ulas
An introduction to the applied meanings of peace, justice, and peacemaking particularly at the societal and global levels. Topics explored include the roots of national and international conflict, the dangers of nuclear holocaust, and various attempts to prevent war and achieve disarmament.HUM 102 | Introduction to Latinx and Latin American Studies
Dr. Ruben Espinoza
This course will focus on geopolitical and political economy issues within an historical perspective that help us to understand the complex relationship between the United States and Latin America, and ways in which they shape and reshape identities, culture, and citizenship. How do these histories shape the lives of Latinx communities in the United States? What counter narratives and forms of resistance do Chicanx, Latinx, indigenous and people of African descent from Latin America engage as they challenge these geopolitical forces? This course will have a research component where macro-historical processes are understood from a place-based perspective tied to local communities.PCST 354 | Non-Violent Social Change
Dr. Hilmi Ulas
In a world consumed by religious, ethnic, and social strife, we need to search for nonviolent means of solving human problems. Readings, films, and web materials are used to examine the practice of nonviolent social change and explore failed and successful cases of nonviolent social change in the United States, South Africa, Poland, Argentina, Denmark, Chile, and India. Students engage with community organizations in an effort to make nonviolent change.PCST 329 | Borders, Sovereignty, Conflict
Dr. Hilmi Ulas
This course explores the dynamics around international law, territoriality, conflict, and sovereignty that contribute to some of the most intractable conflicts around the world today. We will begin the class by examining the nature of state sovereignty and the roots of its constituent concepts such as fixed territories and borders. After critically engaging the idea that any of these are either natural or enduring, we will examine how borders affect sovereignty conflicts around the globe. Case studies will include the Cypriot Conflict, the Irish Conflict, the Israel-Palestine Conflict, and the South China Sea Conflict, among others. Ultimately, we will conclude the class by pondering both the constructed reality of borders and how to deal with them in a constructive manner, and the future of sovereignty and fixed borders in an increasingly globalizing world.SOC 316 | Immigration in Southern California
Dr. Victoria Carty
| This course is designed to theoretically, conceptually, and analytically study issues related to immigration in southern California, with a particular focus on the U.S/Mexico border. Special emphasis will be placed on Latinos who represent the fastest growing ethnic sector of U.S. society and the largest source of immigration during the last four decades. The main focus is for us to use critical thinking to understand the issues, problems, and policy solutions. More specifically, we will examine why people move and the economic, political and social forces that perpetuate migration, law and policy, and the social construction of illegality. A major focus will be on unauthorized immigrants as we study their experiences in the United States and the contentious politics surrounding them, including detention and deportation. |
