SPECIAL NOTE: Classes, dates, and times are subject to cancellation/change based on enrollment.
Spring Course Schedule downloadable pdf.
MONDAY CLASSES 6:30 - 9:20 P.M.
PSYCHOLOGY: THE DISCOVERY OF SELF (HUM)
BHSC 6355
Class #5719
Mondays
3 Credit Hours
This course will examine the nature of personality development and explore the contributing factors of heredity vs. environment in the lives birth order, intelligence, family, and cultural forces. Students will have the opportunity learn and reflect on their own personalities using the Keirsey-Bates Temperament Sorter and Survey. This course will also explore the many aspects of the personality through learning, behavioral changes, human interactions, and personal growth. The course also offers multiple perspectives with which to view and understand the characteristic changes in personality that make life so interesting.
Instructor: Michael Lindsey
Dr. Lindsey is a lawyer and clinical psychologist. He received his B.A. degrees in psychology and political science from Johnson C. Smith University (Charlotte, NC). His Masters degrees were earned at the University of Louisville (teaching), and the University of Alabama (clinical-correctional psychology). Dr. Lindsey's legal studies were completed at Villanova Law School (Villanova, PA), and his doctorate in clinical psychology was awarded at Hahnemann University (Philadelphia). Dr. Lindsey is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Southern Methodist University; Adjunct Professor at the University of Nevada - Reno; and Adjunct Faculty for The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, in Reno, Nevada.
THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE: INTRODUCTION TO GRADUATE LIBERAL STUDIES (REQ - INTRO)
HUMN 6316
Class #5721
Mondays
3 Credit Hours
Examine issues of human existence using interdisciplinary perspectives, primary readings, large group presentations and discussion groups. Learn the various disciplines of human thought and problems. Contribute to the overall knowledge of the many ways in which humans try to understand themselves and the world around them. Study what it means to be human including a consideration of the nature of products of human activity, and the world in which humans find themselves. Take a close look at the human condition, human creations such as social institutions, art and literature, and science.
Instructor: Tony Picchioni
Dr. Anthony Picchioni is Chair of the Department of Human Development at Southern Methodist University. He has used his extensive knowledge and experience in negotiation, organizational behavior, conflict management, change management, succession planning, and dispute resolution to educate corporate executives and business people across the United States and abroad. With more than thirty years experience as a facilitator/ trainer, Dr. Picchioni has assisted in resolving all types of disputes, including those involving employment, commercial contracts, interdepartmental conflicts, and family matters.
FROM SUNRISE TO PSYCHO: FORM AND MEANING IN THE CINEMA (ACT) (CMT) (GLO) (HUM)
FNAR 6305
Class #5720
Mondays
3 Credit Hours
This course will examine the evolution of cinematic methods of expression from the end of the silent era through the transition to sound and the subsequent development of the movie industry to 1960. Students will screen and closely examine sequences from fourteen masterpieces of world cinema beginning with F.W. Murnau's great silent film Sunrise (1927) and concluding in 1960 with Jean-Luc Godard's A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Selected readings and screenings of short sequences from other relevant films will explore the economic, social, and cultural context of these major artistic achievements.
Instructor: Robert Tranchin
Rob Tranchin is a writer, director and producer of documentary films and radio features. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (Visual and Environmental Studies) and of New York University (Cinema Studies), and has lived and traveled extensively in Japan, where he worked as an assistant director to the Japanese film director Imamura Shohei. Tranchin is the recipient of a national Emmy Award for the four-part series The U.S.-Mexican War (1846-1848) and received a national Emmy Award nomination for Matisse & Picasso. Among his other national productions for PBS are For a Deaf Son, Roy Bedichek's Vanishing Frontier and Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater.
EARTH MATTERS (ENV) (GLO)
SCCL 6397
Class #6206
Mondays
3 Credit Hours
Our environment and how we interact with it, is at the heart of this course. This course explores 1) environmental quality indicators for air, water, land, and climate (while introducing the pros and cons of environmental issues); 2) Anthropogenic activities, impacts and societal drivers; and 3) various measures for environmental performance and sustainability. This exploration will include a student research project on a country or region. Students will learn through readings, research, case studies, presentations, class and group discussions, guest lecturers, and/or videos. This course may be applied to the following curricular field concentrations: Environmental Sustainability, and Global Studies.
Instructor: Joyce Stubblefield
Ms. Stubblefield started her career in the environmental field in 1977. Her work experience includes three years with the Department of Energy at the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory mitigating environmental impacts for the project. Ms. Stubblefield received a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and a MBA in Management at Amber University in Garland, Texas. She is an Environmental Associate Auditor for the International Organization for Standardization ISO 14001. She earned two Sustainability Certificates from Southern Methodist University (SMU) School of Engineering and received LEED Green Associate Credentials in August 2010. Ms. Stubblefield received a Masters (MA) in Sustainability and Development from the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering in August 2012.
TERRORISM, TORTURE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW (AMS) (GEN) (GLO) (HRJ) (HUM)
SOSC 6301
Class #5723
Mondays
3 Credit Hours
The purpose of this course is to analyze the crimes of terror and torture from the perspective of international law, government, literature, culture, and philosophy. This course examines the origins and development of terror and torture in literature and the legal status of rights under United States domestic law and international law. It analyzes tensions between universal and culturally-specific definitions of rights, state sovereignty, and humanitarian intervention. And, finally, looks forward at future directions in regulating terrorism and torture in international law.
Instructor: John Vernon
John M. Vernon is a practicing attorney, licensed in Texas, Utah, and the District of Columbia, with The Vernon Law Group, PLLC, who advises and counsels clients on cross-border international and domestic transactions, international trade, and international franchising. He has taught seminars and spoken as a guest lecturer at law schools both in the US and in many other countries. Mr. Vernon is also adjunct faculty to the SMU Dedman School of Law.
SPECIAL TOPICS IN HUMAN RIGHTS: GENOCIDE (GEN) (GLO) (HRJ) (HUM)
SOSC 7305
Class #5722
Mondays
3 Credit Hours
Nazi persecutions and exterminations were perpetrated by ordinary people who lived and acted within a modern society not unlike our own, a society that had produced them as well as the methods and instruments for the implementation of their actions. However, the goals of these actions were anything but commonplace. The enactment of the German extermination policies that resulted in the murder of 11 million people depended upon many factors, including the cooperation of local authorities and police departments, and the passivity of the populations, primarily of their political and spiritual elites. This course will look at the roots of anti-Semitism in Europe, Nazi (racial) policies, the origins and implementation of the Final Solution, actions of perpetrators, collaborators and bystanders, horrific crimes across Europe, and the ongoing attempts at justice through trials, memorialization, and legal restitution throughout the postwar years to the present day.
Instructor: Rick Halperin
Dr. Rick Halperin is Director of the Southern Methodist University Human Rights Education Program, and teaches courses at SMU including: America's Dilemma: The Struggle for Human Rights; America and the Age of Genocide; and America Enraged: From Brown to Watergate, 1954-1974. Dr. Halperin has served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International USA from 1989-1995, and from 2004-2009; he served as Chair of the Board from 1992-1993 and again from 2005-2007. He is also a member of the National Death Penalty Advisory Committee, the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (serving as President from 2000-2006 and from 2007-2008).
TUESDAY CLASSES 6:30 - 9:20 P.M.
CHEMISTRY AND TECHNOLOGY IN ART (ACT) (CMT) (ENV)
FNAR 6307
Class #5727
Tuesdays
3 Credit Hours
Students will be acquainted with the major developments in science and technology through the ages and will learn how these developments influenced materials and techniques used in art. Various artists' materials will be discussed, such as dyes and pigments, clays, metals and alloys, glasses, coatings and adhesives, etc. The major art forms that employ these materials include painting, dyeing of textiles, manuscript illumination, glass and metalworks, work with ceramics, and many others. Original sources will be used to learn about how various materials were prepared and applied in art in the Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, or more modern periods. Two laboratory demonstrations will be given to better illustrate some of the methods and materials used in the past.
Instructor: Nicolay Tsarevsky
Dr. Nicolay Tsarevsky obtained his M.S. in theoretical chemistry and chemical physics in 1999 from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria. He joined Professor Kris Matyjaszewski's research group at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, as a Ph.D. student in 2000, and obtained his doctorate in 2005. He worked on the synthesis of functional polymers by atom transfer radical polymerization, and on development of rules for rational selection of the catalyst for various reaction media, including aqueous solvents. He was awarded the Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Award in Green Chemistry (2003), the Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Award (2004), the Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Polymer Group Student Award (2004), as well as the Harrison Legacy Dissertation Fellowship (2004-5), and the National Starch & Chemical Award (2008).
CREATING POETRY (ACT) (CRW) (HUM)
FNAR 6394
Class #5729
Tuesdays
3 Credit Hours
A course designed to explore and create a variety of poetic forms. Conducted as a workshop, this course will involve students in the reading and interpretation of a wide variety of poems, the crafting of the student's generated poetry, and the critiquing/evaluation of those poems by both the faculty member and student colleagues.
Instructor: Gary Swaim
Dr. Swaim received his A.B. in English from the University of California at Riverside and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Philosophy from the University of Redlands and Claremont Graduate University in California. He has taught broadly in literature and creative writing. A playwright (with plays produced in California and Texas), a widely published poet, and a published writer of short fiction, Dr. Swaim concluded his eight years of teaching graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2010. Dr. Swaim has been selected as a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor of Excellence for the State of Texas.
TECHNOLOGY, HUMANITY AND IDENTITY (CMT) (HUM) (ORG)
HUMN 6304
Class #5732
Tuesdays
3 Credit Hours
The purpose of this course is to explore how the use of Internet technology has affected the individual's concept of identity both at the personal and societal levels. Students will study various topics such as exploring the digital person, digital surveillance and personal freedom, and issues of privacy in a wired world. The course will explore these issues with the use of presentations, current events, cases, and online articles. Emphasis is placed on improving the critical thinking and writing skills of students through comprehensive writing assignments.
Instructor: Martinella Dryburgh
Dr. Dryburgh received her Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Dallas. Prior to that, she earned a Master of Liberal Arts (now Master of Liberal Studies) degree as well as a Graduate Certificate in Dispute Resolution from Southern Methodist University. Her undergraduate degree in Business Administration is from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Dryburgh's current research examines technology's impact on societies and individuals. Specifically, she studies issues centering on the distinction between public and private spaces on the Internet. Dr. Dryburgh actively supports the MLS program by regularly speaking at information sessions and encouraging potential students to explore the liberal arts.
THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE (REQ - INTRO)
HUMN 6316
Class #5731
Tuesdays
3 Credit Hours
Examine issues of human existence using interdisciplinary perspectives, primary readings, large group presentations and discussion groups. Learn the various disciplines of human thought and problems. Contribute to the overall knowledge of the many ways in which humans try to understand themselves and the world around them. Study what it means to be human including a consideration of the nature of products of human activity, and the world in which humans find themselves. Take a close look at the human condition, human creations such as social institutions, art and literature, and science.
Instructor: Michael Callaghan
Dr. Callaghan is an anthropological archaeologist who received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Vanderbilt University in 2008. His research interests include the rise and collapse of complex societies, ceramic analysis, gender in archaeology, household archaeology, ritual, and prehistoric political economies. His primary research area is Mesoamerica and the Maya lowlands of Guatemala but he has also conducted fieldwork in Tennessee and Honduras. He has served as archaeologist, lab-director, and Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Cancuen Regional Archaeological Project located in Cancuen, Guatemala. He performed his dissertation research and served as project ceramicist on the Holmul Regional Archaeological Project in Holmul, Guatemala. Callaghan is now Co-Director of the Holtun Archaeological Project located in the Central Peten Lakes Region of Guatemala. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, and Vanderbilt University.
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AID IN A POST COLD WAR WORLD (AMS) (GLO) (HRJ) (HUM)
HUMN6321
Class # 5733
Tuesdays
3 Credit Hours
This course will examine modern day international responses to the emergency needs of people damaged by both major natural disasters and by the multitude of inter and intra state conflicts that have arisen in much of the world since the end of the Cold War.
Instructor: Hugh Parmer
Hugh Parmer was appointed by President Clinton to lead the Humanitarian Response Bureau of the U. S. Agency for International Development. In that capacity he managed U. S. government humanitarian and disaster relief efforts in over eighty countries. He was on the ground during fourteen of those crises including famine in East Africa, hurricanes in the Caribbean, and the humanitarian relief efforts surrounding the Kosovo War. After his government service Mr. Parmer served as President of the American Refugee Committee, a private non-profit relief organization with 2000 employees and programs in a dozen disaster stricken countries. Prior to his ten year career in humanitarian relief, he was active in politics and local government in Texas serving as Mayor of Fort Worth and for eight years in the Texas State Senate. He is a licensed attorney and mediator in Fort Worth and an adjutant professor in the International Studies Program at the University of North Texas.
(NEW) SEX, DEATH AND IDENTITY IN CHINA (GEN) (GLO) (HRJ) (HUM)
HUMN 7360
Class # 6434
Tuesdays
3 Credit Hours
China's economic transformation and opening to the world have created massive social and economic changes while at the same time they have fostered profound social problems. This course explores some of the major social problems faced by China since the post-1978 economic reforms and examines their implications for China's future. Topics to be explored include crime, drug abuse, prostitution, HIV/AIDS, nationalist conflict, corruption, family breakdown, juvenile delinquency, and environmental pollution. The course employs materials and methods from many scholarly disciplines and traditions: anthropology, sociology, history, political science, literature, economics, and cultural studies.
Instructor: Justin Rudelson
Dr. Rudelson is a China scholar whose research interests are ethnic nationalism, the Uyghur ethnic minority of China, Xinjiang studies, medical anthropology relating to manic-depression and mental illness, Qu Yuan and Chu Ci studies, and Chinese language pedagogy. He has a BA in Asian Studies fro Dartmouth College and an MA and PhD from Harvard University in Social Anthropology. Dr. Rudelson has previously taught at Dartmouth College, Tulane University, Johns Hopkins University-School of Advanced International Studies, and the University of Maryland.
(NEW) SPIRITUAL AND MYSTICAL PATHS: A MULTI-FAITH EXPLORATION (GLO) (HUM)
HUMN 7361
Class # 6209
Tuesdays
3 Credit Hours
An exploration of spiritual and mystical writings from different religious traditions, seeking resources that may shed light on our contemporary quest for meaning and for ways of healing our wounded Earth. Lives and writings of notable figures since the last century will be examined, with a reflective study of the contents and features of their spiritual praxis and vision, and how these relate to personal and global healing.
Instructors: Ruben and Maria Habito
Dr. Ruben L. F. Habito received his Doctor of Letters Certificate, Tokyo University; S.T.L., Sophia University, 1978; M.Lit., Tokyo University, 1975; B.A., Ateneo de Manila University, 1969. His teaching specialties include: world religions, East Asian Buddhism, theology of religions and comparative theology, and interreligious perspectives in spirituality and mysticism. His research interests are Japanese medieval Buddhism, themes in comparative theology, spirituality and socio-ecological engagement. Publications include Experiencing Buddhism: Ways of Wisdom and Compassion (Orbis Books, 2005); Living Zen, Loving God (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004); "Compassion Out of Wisdom: Buddhist Perspectives from the Past toward the Human Future," in Stephen Post, et.al., eds., Altruism and Altruistic Love (Oxford University Press, 2002).
Dr. Maria Reis Habito is International Program Director of the Museum of World Religions in Taipei, Taiwan, organizing symposia and conferences on interfaith themes from her Dallas office. An authorized Zen Teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan lineage, she is an advisor to the Fetzer Institute Council on World Religions and Spiritualities, and has also served as Adjunct Faculty member of the Department of History and also of the Master of Liberal Studies Program at SMU, having taught courses in East Asian History and other subjects related to Asian Religions and Spirituality. She received her PhD from the University of Munich, and also studied in Taipei, Taiwan, and Kyoto, Japan. Her published works include academic titles in German, and edited works such as Heart to Heart: Buddhist Muslim Dialogues in Ladakh 2010, and Listening: Buddhist Muslim Dialogues 2002-2004, (MWR: Taipei, Taiwan) as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals.
IDEAS SHAPING THE AMERICAN CHARACTER, PART II (AMS) (HRJ) (HUM)
SOSC 6333
Class # 5735
Tuesdays
3 Credit Hours
Through the biographies and writings of key Americans since the Civil War, the course explores the political, economic, religious, social, intellectual, and artistic ideas that have shaped the American character. Specific attention is given to the free enterprise system and democracy as twin pillars upholding the edifice of our republic. Key figures include Frederick Jackson Turner, Willa Cather, Eugene Debs, W.E.B. DuBois, Carrie Chapman Carr, Frank Lloyd Wright, Bob Dylan, Ronald Reagan, and Madeleine Albright. NOTE: This course constitutes the second half of Ideas Shaping the American Character, but is self-contained; the first half is not a prerequisite.
Instructor: Jody Potts
Dr. Potts' research and teaching focus on the biographical aspects of the American experience. Through the writings of key Americans, her course Ideas Shaping the American Character explores the ideas-political, economic, religious, social, intellectual, and artistic-that shaped the American character from the Puritan Era through the twentieth century. An additional research interest involving left and right brain learning concepts resulted in Dr. Potts' creation of an MLS course titled The Lively Mind: Creative and Critical Thinking, as well as left/right brain seminars for public school faculties nationwide. Dr. Potts has served as University Spokesperson on the Texas Council for Social Studies Textbook Adoption Review Committee and as a member of the TCSS curriculum committee. She is on the University of North Texas Department of History Advisory Council and is a past member of the Presidents' Circle of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2001 she was honored as an outstanding alumna of the University of North Texas.
WEDNESDAY CLASSES 6:30 - 9:20 P.M.
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY OR BIOETHICS (ORG)
BHSC 6319
Class # 5737
Wednesdays
3 Credit Hours
This course studies ethical issues connected with organizational management; designed to develop the student's capacity to recognize and reason through such issues. The cases and readings integrate ethical reflection and decision making. The materials are selected because of their topical relevance to contemporary managers, curricular relevance to Liberal Studies, and conceptual relevance to applied ethics.
Instructor: Tom McFaul
Dr. McFaul received his Ph.D. from Boston University in Sociology of Religion and Social Ethics. During his academic career of more than 40 years, he has taught a broad range of courses on several campuses, received 2 teaching awards, and held numerous administrative positions. His scholarly interests combine Sociology, Ethics, Philosophy, and Religion. He is an emeritus faculty member at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois in Ethics and Religious Studies. He also has a passion for studying the future and is a long-standing member of the World Future Society.
MODERN MOVEMENTS IN EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN PAINTING (AMS) (ACT) (HUM)
FNAR 6322
Class # 5739
Wednesdays
3 Credit Hours
Beginning with realism and impressionism, this course traces the development of the avant-garde through such "modern" styles as expressionism, cubism, futurism, Dadaism, surrealism, abstract expressionism, pop and op art, and photo realism. Readings about the works of representative artists and critics are stressed.
Instructor: Dianne Goode
Dr. Goode earned a PhD in Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas; an M.A., Art History, Southern Methodist University; and a B.A., Art History, The University of Texas at Austin. She has been a member of the MLS faculty since 1981, and has served multiple terms on the MLS Academic Council. Dr. Goode is an art historian who regularly teaches courses on Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, and modern painting. She also teaches two-week summer courses abroad in Italy and France, offering MLS students an extraordinary and memorable opportunity to experience the magnificent artworks in their historical and cultural contexts.
READING POETRY II (HUM) OR WI
HUMN6309
Class # 5742
Wednesdays
3 Credit Hours
This course develops the skills of analytical thinking and reading to make students informed readers of poetry, able to take emotional and intellectual pleasure in the most primal art form in the world: the patterned words, sounds, sensations, and feelings of poetry. It also develops students' skills at writing clear, concise, evidence-based, focused, and analytical arguments of the kind necessary for graduate study.
Instructor: Rick Bozorth
Dr. Bozorth is a graduate of Princeton and the University of Virginia, where he received his Ph.D. Since coming to SMU in 1998, he has taught courses in British literature, poetry, modernist literature, and LGBT studies. He is the author of Auden's Games of Knowledge (Columbia UP, 2001), and is currently completing a book on historical consciousness in modern lesbian and gay literature.
THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE (REQ-INTRO)
HUMN 6316
Class # 5740
Wednesdays
3 Credit Hours
Examine issues of human existence using interdisciplinary perspectives, primary readings, large group presentations and discussion groups. Learn the various disciplines of human thought and problems. Contribute to the overall knowledge of the many ways in which humans try to understand themselves and the world around them. Study what it means to be human including a consideration of the nature of products of human activity, and the world in which humans find themselves. Take a close look at the human condition, human creations such as social institutions, art and literature, and science.
Instructor: Gary Swaim
Dr. Swaim received his A.B. in English from the University of California at Riverside and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Philosophy from the University of Redlands and Claremont Graduate University in California. He has taught broadly in literature and creative writing. A playwright (with plays produced in California and Texas), a widely published poet, and a published writer of short fiction, Dr. Swaim concluded his eight years of teaching graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2010. Dr. Swaim has been selected as a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor of Excellence for the State of Texas.
TRANSNATIONAL LITERARY TRADITIONS (AMS) (GLO) (HUM)
HUMN 7302
Class # 5743
Wednesdays
3 Credit Hours
This comparative course, which focuses on the 20th and 21st - century novel in the United States and Latin America, will offer students the opportunity to think about the literary traditions of the Americas from a transnational, rather than national, perspective. Each of the novels chosen for this course not only addresses issues or themes central to the experiences of many different nations in the Americas, but also highlights the movements of its protagonists between one American nation and another.
Instructor: Elizabeth Russ
Dr. Russ grew up in Dallas. Although she left the Big D to attend Pomona College in sunny Southern California, she came back after graduating to teach bilingual kindergarten in the DISD. Two years later, she left again to pursue her doctorate in Spanish language and Latin American literature at Columbia University. After six years in New York, plus a year in the Dominican Republic as a Fulbright student scholar, she made yet another return to Dallas, this time to join the faculty of Dedman College's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, where she currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Spanish. She is author of numerous scholarly articles plus a book,The Plantation in the Post Slavery Imagination, which examines how twentieth-century writers from across the Americas use the language of fiction to reexamine the legacy of slavery and the plantation.
EVIL, SUFFERING AND DEATH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (HUM)
HUMN 7355
Class # 5745
Wednesdays
3 Credit Hours
This course explores views on evil, suffering, death, and afterlife evinced by various New Testament authors. Questions to be asked of the texts include: Who's to blame for ESD, if anyone?, How are ESD conceptualized?, How does the view presented by each author compare to her or his milieu?, What is the "solution" envisioned?, How does all of this relate to our own day?
Our topic is important and relevant, but also challenging.
Instructor: Jaime Clark-Soles
Dr. Clark-Soles is an Associate Professor of New Testament. Her teaching specialties include Johannine literature; evil, suffering, death, and afterlife; New Testament ethics; Passion Narratives; Matthew; preaching the New Testament. She earned a PhD., Yale University, 2000; M.Div., summa cum laude, Yale University, 1993; B.A., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Stetson University, 1989.
THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF LIFE (ENV) (GLO)
SCCL 6389
Class # 5746
Wednesdays
3 Credit Hours
Studies the biological aspects of the origin of life on Earth, the history of the subsequent evolution of animal and plant life, and the environmental and geological setting throughout the ages. The mechanisms of evolution and man as an evolving biological species are discussed.
Instructor: John Ubelaker
Dr. John Ubelaker is a Professor Biological Sciences and is highly recognized as an outstanding teaching Professor at SMU. In 1993 the University recognized Dr. Ubelaker as an Altschuler Outstanding Lecturer by awarding him a Distinguished Lecturer Award of the University. He has taught on the Taos campus for the past 20 years and knows the area extremely well. He is currently working on several monographs of plants from this region of New Mexico.
THURSDAY CLASSES 6:30 - 9:20 P.M.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY (HUM) (ORG)
BHSC 6303
Class # 5747
Thursdays
3 Credit Hours
Marital and family relationships today are changing, rapidly and dramatically. But there is anything but universal agreement about the ways in which this process may or may not be good for society as a whole. As a consequence, debates about "family values" are continuing to occupy a central place in economic, political, and religious discussions about Western Society's aspirations and prospects for its future. This course seeks to equip students to enter the discussions and the debates knowledgeably and with an eye toward influencing their quality and outcome.
Instructor: Leroy Howe
Dr. Howe is Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Theology at SMU's Perkins School of Theology, where he taught courses in theology and pastoral care and counseling, including dream interpretation, for 30 years. He now teaches regularly in the MLS program. Dr. Howe's published writings include eight books and numerous articles and reviews in academic, professional, and general audience journals and magazines. His website, HoweAbout.com, contains twice monthly articles on faith, theology, and everyday living.
THE ORAL INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE (ACT) (CMT)
HUMN 6356
Class # 5750
Thursdays
3 Credit Hours
This course introduces the student to the study of literature through performance by the means of analyzing, appreciating, and celebrating literature. By providing training in the principles and techniques of performing literature before an audience, this course expands students' understanding of the relationships between text and performance, literature and human action, and written and oral forms of discourse. Genres of literature examined include poetry, prose and reader's theatre. Written work is assigned, but the focus of this course is on the discovery and exploration of literature through the medium of vocal and physical performance.
Instructor: Jan Sayers
Dr. Sayers has taught communication courses at SMU since 1990. Her particular areas of interest are public speaking, persuasion, voice and articulation, and oral interpretation of the literature, either through the undergraduate education program or the graduate Master of Liberal Studies (MLS) program in the School of Education and Human Development. She directed the SMU forensics program for three years including an award-winning team in 1993 and 1995.
THE ART OF PERSUASIVE WRITING (CMT) (HUM)
HUMN 7362
Class # 6210
Thursdays
3 Credit Hours
This course examines the power of the written word to persuade, in speeches, essays, newspaper columns, and new media. Students will trace the development of commentaries that have had an impact on public culture - and have the opportunity to comment on those works themselves. Course content will include classic compositions from Roman and Greek orators, the Founding Fathers, Winston Churchill, H.L. Mencken, Martin Luther King, broadcasters Edward R. Murrow and Andy Rooney, contemporary columnists such as Maureen Dowd and Peggy Noonan, critic/essayists such as Christopher Hitchens and David Foster Wallace, as well as recent White House speechwriters such as Karen Hughes and Jon Favreau). Central questions to be explored include how effective exhortations are structured, what gives a memorable argument "voice," the use of facts versus emotion, the effective use of humor to disarm, making the most of metaphor, and how to close the argument. Students will employ critical thinking skills as they analyze writing samples in short and long form. Students also will apply their knowledge in assignments to critique the selected writers and to write their own commentaries.
Instructor: Rena Pederson
Rena Pederson is Director of Communications for the National Math and Science Initiative, a non-profit organization created to advance math and science education in the United States. In that role, she supervises all NMSI publications, media relations, website, video production, and social media. Prior to joining NMSI, she served as Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications for the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., serving as a senior speechwriter and communications manager. As part of those duties, Ms. Pederson served on the editorial board of the Counter Terrorism Communications Center at the Department of State, organized an international conference on attacks on the press, prepared Congressional testimony for Under Secretary Karen Hughes, and helped create the "America Is" book for distribution overseas. She previously served as Vice President and Editorial Page Editor at The Dallas Morning News.
ISLAM, STATE AND SOCIETY (GLO) (GEN) (HRJ) (HUM)
HUMN 7312
Class # 5752
Thursdays
3 Credit Hours
The emergence of so-called "political Islam" as a movement to both reform dominantly Muslim societies and transform their relationship to non-Muslim nations has had a growing impact on American impressions of Islam and U.S. foreign policy toward Muslim countries. This course will examine the emergence of contemporary Islamic movements as they relate to the evolution of Muslim states and societies and the attitudes and roles of Muslim minorities in non-Muslim states and societies. This course will first explore the historical rise of Islamic states and societies and the classical Islamic legal reasoning that both justified and shaped them. It will then explore the emergence of contemporary Muslim discussions about the relationship of Islam to state and society in the modern context. It will particularly explore the issues that surround Muslim minorities in the non-Muslim states and societies and the rights of non-Muslims in dominantly Muslim states and societies. Important to this exploration will be understanding human rights, gender, democracy, and economic structures in contemporary Islamic thought.
Instructor: Robert Hunt
Dr. Hunt is the Director of Global Theological Education and Professor of Christian Mission and Interreligious Relations at SMU's Perkins School of Theology. He has served as President, Association of Professors in Mission (2008-2009), Board of Scholars, Journal of Inter-religious Dialogue, Leadership Team, Christianity in Southeast Asia Research Project, Center for the Study of Christianity in Southeast Asia and has authored numerous scholarly books and articles.
(NEW) LITERATURE AND WAR (HUM) OR WI
HUMN 7351
Class # 6444
Thursdays
3 Credit Hours
Course description coming soon!
Instructor: John Lewis
Dr. Lewis joined the SMU English Department in 1970, specializing in American Literature. From the first he has been heavily involved in the design and teaching of general education courses at SMU, and this involvement has led him to broaden his interests to include work in Western cultural and intellectual history from the Greeks forward, with a special interest in early modern America and Europe. He has also designed and taught courses in poetry, creative and expository writing, and linguistics.
CIVIL RIGHTS: THE UNFINISHED REVOLUTION (AMS) (HUM) (HRJ) (GEN)
SOSC 6356
Class # 5793
Thursdays
3 Credit Hours
This course will focus upon the history and politics of the movement that destroyed the system of racial segregation, dissolved barriers to political participation by African Americans, and influenced the culture and politics of the United States. The course combines readings and classroom discussion with an extended trip over spring break to historical civil rights venues.
Instructor: Dennis Simon
Dr. Simon is an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Political Science at Southern Methodist University. He is the recipient of SMU's "M" Award, the Willis Tate Award, and President's Associate award. His research and teaching interests include the American Presidency, national elections, and the politics of change in the United States. He is the recipient of the Southern Political Science Association's Pi Sigma Alpha Award for his study of national forces in state legislative elections and, with Barbara Palmer, has twice received the Miriam Irish Award for their work on women in the electoral arena. Since the spring of 2008, he has taught a course on the Politics and Legacies of the Civil Rights Movement and served as the faculty leader of SMU's Civil Rights Pilgrimage. His most recent book, with co-author Barbara Palmer, Women and Congressional Elections: A Century of Change was published by Lynne Reiner in May of 2012. He is currently working on a manuscript entitled The Great Contradiction: Race and Congressional Elections in the American South.
SATURDAY CLASSES 9:30 A.M. - 11:50 A.M.
(NEW) CREATING COMPELLING NARRATIVE: WHO DID IT? WHO KNEW? WHY SHOULD A READER CARE? (CRW) (HUM)
FNAR 7361
Class # 6212
Saturdays
3 Credit Hours
Writers of thrillers, literary novels, and memoirs face a common challenge: compelling readers to continue reading. Powerful narrative results from an intriguing combination of what happens, who is involved, and why the characters act as they do. This course explores how narrative techniques like conflict, suspense, character motivation, plot complications, and resolution combine to engage readers whether used in prominent ways as in a mystery or with more subtlety in literary fiction. Through examination of classic fiction and current best sellers, writers analyze effective storytelling and create compelling narratives, scene by scene.
Instructor: Janet Harris
Dr. Harris has taught literature and writing for over twenty-five years with special emphasis on the connection between learning from other writers and application of that knowledge to writing projects. She has helped more than 100 writers develop, edit, and publish their work and has guided more than 85 books into print for literary and mass markets. Co-author of a literature and composition text, she has also published articles, monographs, and reviews.
LIVING SYSTEMS: AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS (HUM) (ORG)
BHSC 6308
Class # 5755
Saturdays (PLANO CAMPUS: February 2 - April 26, from 8:30am to 12:00pm)
3 Credit Hours
This course is an introductory exploration into organizational dynamics (OD) -living systems of human interrelationships. The concept of "organizational dynamics" is based on the premises that "organization" is a human collective (2 or more people) and "dynamics" are the human connections, actions, and changes that are occurring within and between collectives. The context of "organization" is defined broadly and includes such collectives as family, community, and business. This course's purpose is to provide an introductory focus for the graduate student by exploring three foundational areas and to highlight how positive interrelationships may influence and enhance organizations' and members' experiences. Through this course, each graduate student has the opportunity to explore his or her own organizational contexts from educational, professional (work, volunteering), personal (family), cultural, and societal experiences. Students will learn interdisciplinary perspectives across the communities of human and organizational learning and development, anthropology, social psychology, and the new cutting edge fields of positive organizational scholarship (POS) and positive organizational psychology (POP).
Instructor: Charlotte Barner
Dr. Barner received an Ed.D. in Human and Organizational Learning from The George Washington University. Her master of education in Curriculum Design and Instructional Technologies is with honors from George Mason University; and her undergraduate degree in Business and Human Resources Administration is from Barry University. Charlotte is honored to be the MLS faculty advisor for the Organizational Dynamics concentration. She has over 20 years of experience in the area of human and organizational learning and development. Prior to joining SMU, she held senior corporate leadership positions responsible for creating and implementing development strategies and systems. Most recently, she established and lead Organizational Effectiveness for one of North America's top sales and marketing companies with clients such as AT&T, Best Buy, Disney, HP, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart, as well as the major movie and gaming producers.
CLASSIC WORKS: MANET AT THE FOLIES BERGERE (HUM) (ACT)
FNAR 6115
Class # 5754
Saturdays (1:00PM - 3:50PM, FIRST 5 WEEKS OF THE SEMESTER)
1 Credit Hour
This course begins with the premise that there are more ways than one to "read" a painting by considering a variety of different scholarly interpretations of Manet's major painting, Bar at the Folies-Bergere. Critical readings will be supplemented by background lectures on Manet's significant place in the movements of Realism and Impressionism.
Instructor: Dianne Goode
Dr. Goode earned a PhD in Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas; an M.A., Art History, Southern Methodist University; and a B.A., Art History, The University of Texas at Austin. She has been a member of the MLS faculty since 1981, and has served multiple terms on the MLS Academic Council. Dr. Goode is an art historian who regularly teaches courses on Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, and modern painting. She also teaches two-week summer courses abroad in Italy and France, offering MLS students an extraordinary and memorable opportunity to experience the magnificent artworks in their historical and cultural contexts.
STUDY AWAY PROGRAMS
MULTICULTURAL APPLICATIONS TO TEAMWORK AND TEAMBUILDING IN INDIA (GLO) (HUM) (ORG)
BHSC 7354
Class # 6215
JANUARY 5-6, 2013 and JANUARY 13-19, 2013
This course provides an excellent introduction to the skills required to work effectively within multicultural settings. It will be of interest to anyone who has the goal of eventually working in an international setting, or has a strong interest in learning about other cultures. The course will also discuss the application of multicultural research to the interpersonal skill areas as team building and conflict management.
Students begin their international journey with a two-day workshop at SMU's Plano campus on January 5-6, 2013. During this weekend setting students will review multicultural research and complete cases, exercises, and simulations designed to help prepare them to work more effectively across cultures. Guest speakers will discuss the challenges of working across cultures, within both profit and nonprofit settings. Note: All students must agree to attend the two-day Plano workshop in addition to the one-week in residence in India.
The course concludes with a one-week residence in India from January 13-19, 2013, which will include visits to the cities of Delhi, Jaipur and Agra within India's famed Golden Triangle. During their travels, students will have the opportunity to meet with Indian leaders within private and nonprofit sectors to learn more about alternative approaches to conflict management and team building. A special feature will be a presentation by Dr. Sudarshan Iyengar, a recognized expert on the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. Highlights of the tour will also include an all-day outing to the famous Taj Mahal in Agra, one of the most beautiful architectural constructions in the world, along many other historical sites, all of which are detailed (along with hotel descriptions) in the available travel itinerary.
Instructor: Robert Barner
(NEW) RELIGION AND SOCIAL VALUES IN CHINA: A TRAVEL SEMINAR (GLO) (HRJ) (HUM)
HUMN 6300
Ind Study Contract REQ
JANUARY 2-16, 2013
Please complete an independent study contract to enroll and contact Rick Halperin directly if interested in this opportunity.
Instructors: Sze Kar Wan and Rick Halperin
Contact Us
Email: mls@smu.edu
Phone: 214-768-4273
Fax: 214-768-2104
Postal Mail: Master of Liberal Studies, Southern Methodist University, P.O. Box 750253, Dallas, TX 75275-0253