Society for the Humanities (SHUM)Arts and Sciences

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Course descriptions provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025. Courses of Study 2024-2025 is scheduled to publish mid-June.

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SHUM 1100

This team-taught course introduces students to the History of Art as a global and interdisciplinary field. Led by a selection of professors from the department, in collaboration with staff and faculty ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ARTH 1100

  • 4 Credits GradeNoAud

  • Topic: Materiality

  •  5802 SHUM 1100   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Lin, N

  • Topic: Materiality

  •  5903 SHUM 1100   DIS 201

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Lin, N

  • Topic: Materiality

  •  5904 SHUM 1100   DIS 202

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Lin, N

  • Topic: Materiality

  •  5905 SHUM 1100   DIS 203

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Lin, N

  • Topic: Materiality

  •  5906 SHUM 1100   DIS 204

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Lin, N

SHUM 1615

Ancient Rome was a village the size of Ithaca that grew into a world empire. In this course students will be introduced to some of its literature, art, and famous personalities in the classical period ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: CLASS 1615

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18940 SHUM 1615   LEC 001

    • MWF
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Fontaine, M

SHUM 1900

How might we engage with communities, whether here in Ithaca or across the globe, in our diverse histories, experiences, and perspectives? What structural forces shape inequalities and how do communities ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ANTHR 1900

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 19430 SHUM 1900   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Villenas, S

SHUM 2006

Punk Culture–comprised of music, fashion, literature, and visual arts–represents a complex critical stance of resistance and refusal that coalesced at a particular historical moment in the mid-1970s, and ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: AMST 2006COML 2006ENGL 2906MUSIC 2006

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 18790 SHUM 2006   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Peraino, J

  • 18791 SHUM 2006   DIS 201

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

  • 18792 SHUM 2006   DIS 202

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 2011

No description available. view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 2012HIST 2011

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 11786 SHUM 2011   SEM 101

    • W
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Margulies, J

SHUM 2101

This interdisciplinary course (with an emphasis in anthropology) will introduce students to the multiple routes/roots, lived experiences, and imagined worlds of South Asians who have traveled to various ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AAS 2100ANTHR 2410

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 19176 SHUM 2101   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Munasinghe, V

SHUM 2208

What is Southeast Asia? How does this faraway, "exotic," region intersect with our realities? This course introduces key questions in the study of Southeast Asia (which includes Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ASIAN 2208

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9055 SHUM 2208   LEC 001

    • MW
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Formichi, C

  •  9056 SHUM 2208   DIS 201

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

  •  9057 SHUM 2208   DIS 202

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 2244

The organ is an interdisciplinary wonder where mechanics, architecture, acoustics, religion, philosophy, literature, as well as the musical arts and sciences meet. This course uses the organ to explore ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: MUSIC 2244

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18800 SHUM 2244   LEC 001

    • MWF
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Richards, A

      Yearsley, D

SHUM 2354

This seminar examines some of the political and cultural visions of Africa and Africans held by African-American intellectuals and activists in the 19th and 20th centuries. Emphasis is placed ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: AMST 2354ASRC 2354HIST 2354

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 18102 SHUM 2354   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Rickford, R

  • 18106 SHUM 2354   IND 601

    • TBA
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Rickford, R

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 2437

How do humans organize production, distribution, exchange, and consumption? What social, political, environmental, and religious values underlie different forms of economic organization? And how do they ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ANTHR 2437

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 19461 SHUM 2437   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 7, 2024
    • Welker, M

  • 19462 SHUM 2437   DIS 201

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 7, 2024
    • Welker, M

  • 19463 SHUM 2437   DIS 202

    • F
    • Aug 26 - Dec 7, 2024
    • Welker, M

SHUM 2650

This course will introduce students to African American literary traditions in the space that would become North America. From early freedom narratives and poetry to Hip-Hop and film, we will trace a range ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 2650ASRC 2650ENGL 2650

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 19160 SHUM 2650   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Frazier, C

SHUM 2750

These seminars offer an introduction to the humanities by exploring historical, cultural, social, and political themes. Students will explore themes in critical dialogue with a range of texts and media ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ARTH 2750CLASS 2750

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • Topic: Statues and Public Life

  • 19211 SHUM 2750   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Platt, V

  • Enrollment preference will be given to students accepted into the Humanities Scholars Program.

SHUM 2754

This course examines Near East's rich and diverse literary heritage. We will read a selection of influential and wondrous texts from ancient to modern times, spanning geographically from the Iberian peninsula ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  5923 SHUM 2754   LEC 001

    • MW
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Starr, D

SHUM 2792

In this course we will examine how we have come to narrate social, cultural, and political history in the United States, investigating the ways scholarly, curatorial, archival, and creative practices shape ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one independent study. Combined with: AMST 2792HIST 2792

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18562 SHUM 2792   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Tolan-Szkilnik, P

  • 18563 SHUM 2792   IND 601

    • TBA
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 3230

Human-animal relationships are often seen in utilitarian, nutritional terms, particularly in archaeology. But animals and meat have significance far beyond their economic value. This course focuses on ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  • 19237 SHUM 3230   LEC 001

    • MWF
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Russell, N

SHUM 3555

What are comics? While it's easy to identify a cartoon, graphic novel, or comic book, it's hard to understand the wide world of comics. As a medium, comics are part of a global tradition of visual storytelling ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GERST 3555PMA 3555VISST 3555

  • 3 Credits Opt NoAud

  • 19592 SHUM 3555   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Born, E

  • Primarily for: seniors and juniors.

SHUM 3635

This course engages classical antiquity and its reception through the prism of queer studies. Cruising Homer, Sappho, Euripides, Plato, Ovid and more, we will explore how queer theoretical frameworks help ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: CLASS 3635FGSS 3636LGBT 3635

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 11988 SHUM 3635   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Lambert, C

  • Please contact Ryan Belle (rtb95) to be added to the wait list.

SHUM 3742

When an African and an African American meet, solidarity is presumed, but often friction is the result.  In this course, we will consider how Africans and African Americans see each other through literature.  ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 3732ASRC 3742ENGL 3742

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 19035 SHUM 3742   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Ngugi, M

SHUM 4200

Community-engaged archaeology brings together knowledgeable communities located within and beyond academic institutions who collaborate to produce higher-quality accounts of the past. In this course, students ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  • Topic: Uncovering the Underground Railroad

  •  9451 SHUM 4200   SEM 101

    • W
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Sanft, S

  • Students will be expected to participate in occasional Saturday field days.

  •  9452 SHUM 4200   FLD 801

    • TBA
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 4212

Black women first began to shape the genre of autobiography during antebellum era slavery. They were prolific in developing the genre of autobiography throughout the twentieth century, to the point of ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  • 19187 SHUM 4212   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Richardson, R

SHUM 4540

This seminar will look broadly at challenges to democratic institutions in the United States and Europe. To think about the present, we will delve into historical fascism as well as nationalism and populism. ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •  9292 SHUM 4540   SEM 101

    • W
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Berezin, M

SHUM 4584

This course is an historical introduction to the study of borders, race, and migration in the modern Middle East and North Africa. We will explore the fundamental migration events that have shaped the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: NES 4584NES 6584SHUM 6584

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 20778 SHUM 4584   SEM 101

    • M
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 4693

Disabilities, broadly defined, are not exclusively clinical phenomena that belong to the realm of healthcare professionals and rehabilitation specialists. Instead, disability is a lived human experience ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 4693HIST 6693SHUM 6693

  • 3 Credits Opt NoAud

  • 19683 SHUM 4693   SEM 101

    • R
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 4694

This course examines contemporary works of fiction that depict episodes of political violence between WWII and today. During this period, there have been 344 conflicts that have killed 500 or more people, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ENGL 4696ENGL 6694SHUM 6694

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 19689 SHUM 4694   SEM 101

    • T
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 4695

This course contemplates challenges associated with researching and representing LGBTQ+ pasts. We approach this topic from several angles: 1) by asking what constitutes "queer" and "trans" in different ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  • 19695 SHUM 4695   SEM 101

    • R
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Warner, S

SHUM 4697

Thoreau, in 1841: "Nature is always silent and unpretending as at the break of day." He had just contrasted the robin's song with "the bustle and impatience of man." Why could silence contain birdsong ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: SHUM 6697

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 20018 SHUM 4697   SEM 101

    • T
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 4750

This course is designed to support seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program working on their capstone projects. Students in the course will be guided in their project research and writing. The course ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1 Credit Sat/Unsat

  •  6012 SHUM 4750   SEM 101

    • T
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Stephen, K

  • Enrollment limited to: seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program.

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1 Credit Sat/Unsat

  •  6014 SHUM 4750   SEM 102

    • R
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Lorca Fuentealba, P

  • Enrollment limited to: seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program.

SHUM 6200

Community-engaged archaeology brings together knowledgeable communities located within and beyond academic institutions who collaborate to produce higher-quality accounts of the past. In this course, students ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  • Topic: Uncovering the Underground Railroad

  •  9457 SHUM 6200   SEM 101

    • W
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Sanft, S

  • Students will be expected to participate in occasional Saturday field days.

  •  9458 SHUM 6200   FLD 801

    • TBA
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 6540

This seminar will look broadly at challenges to democratic institutions in the United States and Europe. To think about the present, we will delve into historical fascism as well as nationalism and populism. ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  • 19742 SHUM 6540   SEM 101

    • W
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Berezin, M

SHUM 6584

This course is an historical introduction to the study of borders, race, and migration in the modern Middle East and North Africa. We will explore the fundamental migration events that have shaped the ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: NES 4584NES 6584SHUM 4584

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 20779 SHUM 6584   SEM 101

    • M
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 6639

Ever-increasing global interconnection drives some of the most pressing political and ethical questions of our time. This seminar centers on two intersecting areas of inquiry. The first deals with the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ANTHR 7139MUSIC 6239

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 19615 SHUM 6639   SEM 101

    • T
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Appert, C

SHUM 6693

Disabilities, broadly defined, are not exclusively clinical phenomena that belong to the realm of healthcare professionals and rehabilitation specialists. Instead, disability is a lived human experience ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 4693HIST 6693SHUM 4693

  • 3 Credits Opt NoAud

  • 19684 SHUM 6693   SEM 101

    • R
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 6694

This course examines contemporary works of fiction that depict episodes of political violence between WWII and today. During this period, there have been 344 conflicts that have killed 500 or more people, ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ENGL 4696ENGL 6694SHUM 4694

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 19690 SHUM 6694   SEM 101

    • T
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff

SHUM 6695

This course contemplates challenges associated with researching and representing LGBTQ+ pasts. We approach this topic from several angles: 1) by asking what constitutes "queer" and "trans" in different ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  • 19696 SHUM 6695   SEM 101

    • R
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Warner, S

SHUM 6697

Thoreau, in 1841: "Nature is always silent and unpretending as at the break of day." He had just contrasted the robin's song with "the bustle and impatience of man." Why could silence contain birdsong ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: SHUM 4697

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 20019 SHUM 6697   SEM 101

    • T
    • Aug 26 - Dec 9, 2024
    • Staff