Interdisciplinary Studies

This course, which explores a topic of contemporary interest to the study of interdisciplinary interest, is offered as needed to students with at least sophomore standing.

This course, which explores a topic of contemporary interest to the study of Interdisciplinary Studies, is offered as needed to students with at least sophomore standing.

Changing topics and professors. Watch for information on a semester by semester basis.

This course familiarizes students with literary approaches to the Bible. In addition to learning about the history and composition of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, students learn to identify aesthetic elements like narrative strategy, literary form, and rhetorical purpose.

The purpose of this course is to foster understanding of a country that might otherwise be considered politically hostile to the United States. Although the specific country will vary, the course covers such cultural aspects as literature (in English translation), history, religion and art.

Medieval and Modern Chivalry examines the historical roots and literary expression of the distinctive warrior code of medieval Western Europe. Knights were expected to be good warriors (especially on horseback), loyal to their superiors, courteous to their fellow knights, protective of peasants, and good Christians – and, later, willing to go on great quests for the sake of a beloved. A major theme of the course is the tension between how writers portrayed these ideals and how real knights actually acted on crusades in warfare or in tournament.

This course examines the concept of monstrosity from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students will explore the role of monsters in fairy tales, mythology and literature, as well as how concepts of monstrosity have changed throughout history. They will also explore psychological and sociological approaches to the study of monsters. Students will analyze the role of monsters in contemporary popular culture, including film, comics, video games, toys.

This class examines the interplay between nature and culture from religious, historical, anthropological, scientific and literary perspectives. Central questions include: How have human beings envisioned their relationship with nature? How have cultures evolved in response to their physical environments? How and why do cultures differ in their views of nature? How have cultures affected their environments? How have humans projected onto nature their own ideals and values, such as reason, emotion or innocence? How have science and technology altered humans’ relationship with nature?

The term “baroque” originated in Europe in the seventeenth century to describe a style of art and architecture that was ornate and extravagant, intricate and exuberant. The style came to characterize that era of history, and this course seeks to capture the baroque essence as it was woven around the globe circa 1650-1750. This was a period of accelerated interaction – both cultural and commercial – between Europeans and other peoples around the world. We will study these encounters in the wider world as well as the ways in which these exchanges changed European society.

This course examines American education from the 1600s to the present, using works of history, philosophy, and literature, to address central questions: What have Americans believed to the purposes and goals of education? What institutions have Americans built for teaching and learning? What have been and what ought to be the experiences of teachers and students? How has education altered as the nation and world have changed?

From the standpoint of inter-group relations (i.e. majority-minority group relations), this course examines cross-culturally the migratory experiences of Ancient Israel, Early Christianity, and the United States of America.

From an interdisciplinary perspective this course will cover the following: the Irish Civil War; the Australian, Turkish, British experience during WWI; the Pacific Theater of battle during WWII; the Holocaust in Poland; events in Indonesia in 1965; the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia; South Africa in the 1970’s under apartheid; and the Rwandan conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes in 1994. We will examine these events in social, economic, cultural, and military contexts through the use of literature, biography, non-fiction, and film.

From an interdisciplinary perspective this course will cover Stalin’s destruction of his own generals, a Jewish boy’s attempt to survive in Russia and Germany, the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in WWII, American in Viet Nam, British-Irish relations in the 1970’s, the 1993 conflict in Somalia, the overthrow of apartheid in South Africa, the ethnic and religious strains in Yugoslavia, and the war in Iraq. We will examine these events in social, economic, cultural, and military contexts.

From the perspective of contemporary cultural connections, this course examines Tibet’s real and legendary history, religion, geography, literature, and society through fiction, non-fiction, film, photography and video.

This course examines the Vikings - the infamous Scandinavian raiders, explorers, and merchants of medieval Europe – from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students will study the history, literature, mythology, and culture, as well as the impact upon and contact with Western Europe, the Mediterranean, Russia, Greenland, and North America. Near the end of the course, students will examine the post-medieval representations of Vikings, focusing upon the Victorian era to the present.

This interdisciplinary course is designed to employ a variety of disciplinary approaches to study in-depth the themes of “Good, Evil, and the Future”. These themes are not simply of academic interest. Rather, our life is saturated with experiences, events, and people that motivate us to judge their goodness, their evil, their affect upon our future. Because these topics have been pondered from various religious, literary, philosophical, and social scientific perspectives, we will bring these different perspectives into a common conversation about “Good, Evil, and the Future”.

This interdisciplinary course is designed to employ a variety of approaches to study in-depth the theme of “Globalization”. Just as other periods have been characterized as the Age of Enlightenment, the Age of Science, the Age of Industrialization, or the Age of Anxiety, this period has become known as the Age of Globalization. For better or worse, religious figures and ideologies have a prominent role in globalization. We will need to explore some of the connections between religious beliefs and practices and globalization. Finally, since globalization affects us, we need to understand some of the local aspects of globalization.

In this course students study the history and culture of the Etowah Valley, Cherokee County, and Reinhardt University. Using primary sources, students investigate the literary, religious, cultural, or historical aspects of a particular place.

This course will examine the causes and consequences of wealth and poverty in a variety of regions and countries around the world. The course will consider the role of politics, economics, and culture and the social and spiritual responses of religious individuals as well as religious communities.

A survey of a variety of historical and quasi-historical persons and events and a comparison of the distinct and different ways in which their stories have been related by historians, story-tellers, song writers, artists, and film makers in an exploration of how we come to imagine what we cannot possibly verify.

This course will examine who we believe we are as Americans and how we understand what America is and what our nation represents. We will look at essays by David Brooks, George Will, Malcolm Gladwell, and others to see what they see when they consider America. Several films will help us explore a number of events which have bonded us as a people and perhaps changed the way we live and think of ourselves. We will conclude the course by examining memory, remembering, public monuments, and the process of memorialization.

Course will focus on literature written by Americans and about America. Topic, books, and professor will change from semester to semester. Watch for information in the academic course schedule.

This course examines the evolution of the book as a material and digital object through history, from scroll to codex to e-book. We will consider historical, material, and sociological elements of book history and will examine the processes of book production in each era. This course will be of special interest to those majoring in art, communication, English, history, IDS, or education. Prerequisites: ENG 101; ENG 102 or 103 with a grade of C or better

This course is about the way that people have eaten and understood food in the past. While this may seem fairly simple – food is food, whether simple nourishment or fine cuisine – in act the subject is full of complexities. Food tells us many things about societies, including: social hierarchies, cultural interaction, economic transactions, and taste – both literal and metaphorical. In this class we will study food, culinary developments, and the senses, starting with “the oldest cuisine in the world” in Mesopotamia, through the spiced Middle Ages, to the French innovations of the eightieth century. We will consider issues such of taste and smell, ingredients, recipes, and the meanings of what people ate.

This course examines the changing theories and practices of museums and their role in public culture as both repositories and facilities for exhibition and enlightenment.

This course covers many aspects of objects in museum collections, such as material culture, collections management and registration, archives, and curatorial work.

This course deals with the interpretive work of museums, including creating exhibits and educational programs for the public.

This course surveys how people tell stories, why they tell them, and how oral storytelling plays a role in the recording of history.

The goal of this senior-level course is for the student to produce a senior thesis of high quality. The thesis that results will be in many ways a culmination of the undergraduate experience, and will display the student’s competence in library use, critical thinking, and the ability to present one’s findings both in oral and written form.

In this course, students are given the opportunity to use skills and insights gained in the classroom in actual work environments under the supervision of professionals or in problem-oriented experiences on specific academic issues relating to the program of study.

Special topic courses in Interdisciplinary Studies