Course synopsis:
S“We’re like licorice. Not everybody likes licorice, but the people who like licorice really like licorice.” Jerry Garcia. Few musical acts have ever reached the level of cultural awareness and impact as the Grateful Dead, and perhaps none has enjoyed such ardent devotion for so long. The story of the Grateful Dead offers a lens through which to view not only the tumult of the 1960s counterculture movement but also to understand broader political and historical forces in the United States. In other words, the Grateful Dead and their history and music will form the backbone for the class, but this will be used to shed light on social upheaval, identity and shared experience, how ideas endure, and the sometimes-murky search for collective meaning. Using a mix of scholarly and biographical accounts, this course will offer students a multidimensional and interdisciplinary examination of how ideas form, inspire, intimidate, and ultimately stand the test of time. We will also explore the significance of how ideas can go from the margins to the mainstream through notions of authenticity and cooperation.

Course synopsis:
What is lost and gained when musicians (including vocalists) set their sights on mainstream success – especially when musicians from a minority subculture are hoping to crossover to an audience from the dominant culture? Why has crossing over almost always required artists to sign with profit-seeking businesses, from production companies running 19th-century minstrel shows to record companies and TV networks? How have changes in technology, markets, culture, and the law altered the relative power of artists and businesspeople in these relationships? And what might future disruptions in these realms bring? With a careful reading of histories and biographies, and the use of tools from economics, psychology, musicology, philosophy, and business ethics – not to mention insights from careful listening – we will explore the perennial dilemmas of artists who want to sell their music without selling their souls or selling out. Along the way we will consider parallel choices and compromises (of our authenticity, identity, or values) we must consider in our own professional careers whether as employees or as managers of others.

Course synopsis:
The aims of education in general – and the purpose of college in particular – often remain invisible to and unexamined by students and faculty. This seminar will examine the multiple functions and purposes education serves – from credentialing to career preparation to finding meaning and purpose in one’s life. Students will examine the current scholarship on teaching and learning (SoTL) with a particular focus on emerging trends in progressive education such as self-authorship, integrative learning, experiential learning, growth mindset, and digital innovation. Students will analyze divergent philosophies of education and then develop and articulate their own educational philosophy and statement of purpose. Ethical issues and inequities in educational opportunities will be explored. Students will engage in a service-learning experience focused on development of an initiative aimed at changing campus culture to create a more inclusive and equitable campus community.

Course synopsis:
College is one of the many turning points in your coming of age. It is a time when you separate from your family of origin, and thus are in a unique position to be able to reflect on your identity. The questions – “Who am I?”, “Who do I want to be?”, & “What do I want?” – are often daily challenges as you navigate being more independent and living a good life. Together, we will explore your personal and academic identity development, especially in relation to your happiness. In particular, we will reflect on emerging adulthood & student development theories, as well as scientific research on happiness, to help us understand how various factors – such as socioeconomics, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, and culture – shape the development of your authentic self.

By using a variety of texts, videos, observations and interviews about coming of age and happiness, we will engage with the work of others, learn to articulate a position, and situate our writing within specific contexts. To begin, we will read, discuss, and write about our classroom treaty and student learning and other identity profiles using both our personal experiences and existing theories on coming of age and happiness (2-3 pages). Informed by these theories, we will engage in case study research, which involves in-depth descriptive and analytical writing.

The final project will be an exploration in the form of an in-depth personal narrative & analysis of some issue(s) significant to your coming of age and happiness (10-12 pages). The topic, and the related additional readings, will be carefully chosen by you so that each personal narrative will be relevant & meaningful as you continue your coming of age journey at Duke. Throughout the course, we will write self and peer evaluations (2 pages) of our academic writing, and thus collaboratively strengthen our ability to improve our works in progress.

If you are interested in and willing to learn about yourself & others through personal writing, discussions, readings, along with some yoga & mindfulness, then this Wr101 class might be a great opportunity for you.

Course synopsis:
What’s all the fuss about Assassin’s Creed Shadows? The game, set in Feudal Japan, has sparked controversy over its portrayal of historical figures like Yasuke, a Black samurai, and concerns about cultural appropriation. Some critics argue that the game inaccurately represents Japanese history, while some fans question the creative liberties Ubisoft took, despite the franchise’s tradition of blending fact and fiction.

Similarly, why do some gamers recoil at The Last of Us Part II’s inclusion of a lesbian protagonist? The backlash highlights ongoing tensions around diversity in gaming, raising questions about whether we’ve learned anything from #GamerGate and the abuse faced by women and marginalized groups. Despite strides in representation, gaming culture still battles resistance to inclusivity, as seen in the online harassment directed at diverse narratives. Will Amazon Prime’s animated anthology “Secret Level” explore, exploit or try to resolve these tensions?

In this course, we will examine how sci-fi video games contribute to the creation of “hidden curricula”—messages embedded in gameplay that communicate norms and values about identity, humanity, and difference. These video games act as both mirrors and teachers, subtly (and sometimes overtly) influencing players’ understandings of race, social inequality, and human identity. In doing so, they serve as critical platforms for both perpetuating existing stereotypes and offering spaces for reimagining and resisting dominant cultural narratives.

We will play, analyze, and critique a range of video games, looking closely at how they handle themes of race, futurism, and social difference. From dystopian and utopian worlds to Afrofuturistic and Indigenous sci-fi narratives, we will explore how games envision different futures and new versions of humanity.

Course synopsis:

In the first trailer for Season 4 of Netflix’s hit-series The Crown, the narrator ominously intones, “Here is the stuff of which fairy tales are made: a prince and princess on their wedding day. But fairy tales usually end at this point, with the simple phrase, ‘they lived happily ever after.'” Accompanied by a series of glimpses of the show’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana, the irony of the voice-over lands hard: we know how this fairy tale ends, and it is not happily.

And yet it is only the benefit of hindsight that affords us this knowledge: in July of 1981, the media spun the Royal Wedding between the Prince of Wales and the People’s Princess as a fitting end to a whirlwind, fairy-tale romance. But the key phrase here is “the media spun”: that is, the wedding (and the relationship) was marketed and sold as the stuff dreams were made of. After all, aren’t we conditioned, from years of watching idealized relationships play out in romantic comedies, to want exactly this? A handsome prince to ride in on his white horse and sweep the beautiful maiden off her feet? To ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after?

This semester, we will center our conversations around the role Disney plays in teaching its viewers “emotional intelligence,” or how to understand the emotions of those around you as well as your own. We will start by reading and discussing some key theoretical, foundational pieces. Next, we will look examine some more general questions of happiness through Pixar’s Inside Out (2015) and Soul (2020). We will then shift to an examination of several key Disney animated films, which may include: Frozen I (2013) and II (2019), Up (2009), Coco (2017) and Encanto (2021).

To return to the trailer for The Crown, we will attempt to see that “happily ever after” is not “the place of arrival, but the place where the adventure really begins.”

This course is best suited for those who are interested in the intersection of media studies with critical analysis of race, gender, sexuality and identity. Do not be fooled by appearances: this course is not just watching Disney movies. You will be expected to critically engage with the texts, both visual and written. Prior knowledge of the Disney canon is not required, but is strongly encouraged. No textbook will be required; instead you will be required to have a Disney+ subscription.

Course synopsis:
Can brain scans identify a “criminal mind?” Do we have free will, or can we blame the brain for our moral shortcomings?

Can we harness brain power to build a happier, healthier self? Are humans wired for social connection?

Will artificial intelligence unlock the secrets of the brain?

This course will introduce you to the goals and practices of academic writing as we evaluate how neuroscience can inform ethical, legal, and medical questions of our time. We will reflect on themes both ancient and modern: How can neuroscience inform our understanding of our own minds? And how can that understanding, fueled by cutting-edge advances in brain imaging, impact our modern society? Along the way, we explore scientific inquiry – the process by which scientists work together to build and communicate ideas. You will experience this process first-hand, taking on several roles along the way – the scholar learning to respond to scientific texts, the ambassador deciphering complex research for a public audience, and the researcher working in collaboration with other scientists (your classmates!).

Across the semester, you will write two major projects: a scholarly perspective piece (4 pages) and a scientific literature review (~12 pages), both of which will synthesize neuroscientific research to address a societal problem of your choice (e.g., racial bias, disease treatment, juvenile sentencing, drug addiction). For the latter project, you will work on a team of 2-3 students, co-writing the literature review.

This course is ideally suited for students interested in neuroscience, psychology, biology, or the law. The course is built on three principles. First, writing is a vehicle for critical thinking. It is the tool by which you will bridge the classroom and the real world. Second, good writing depends on revision. Thus, you will have many opportunities to practice giving and receiving meaningful feedback amongst your peers. Third, scientific innovation requires collaboration. By joining this Writing 101, you agree to be a contributing member of a team.

Course synopsis:

The historical trajectory off Science fiction stories in various media formats is rife with tales and figures that mirror and challenge the bounds of contemporary and ancient philosophical definitions of humanity – especially within African American and Black communities. Moreover, the creation and dissemination of these critical imaginaries in media are linked to particular histories and theories of what it means to be human. Science fiction in these communities have a history of creating narratives and imaginaries that specifically counter hegemonic depictions of humanity and challenge the types of beings/people get excluded from such depictions.

In this way, science fiction stories from these communities can be understood as educational, as “hidden” curricula — discourses that embody sets of norms and values about humanity, race, gender, class, and authority that “unteach” and serve as critical sites for young people to question how they understand themselves and their own identities. They provide narratives through which people come to question the way that they have been classified through other societal structures including educational framework, judicial systems and economic institutions. They offer spaces to resist dominant, damaging representations and conceptualize new ones.

In this course, we will engage with various contemporary media formats that engage science fiction and race (comic books, digital comics, graphic novels, movies, and television shows). A key purpose of the course is to learn how to investigate the ways these media participate in creating “hidden curricula” that emphasize differing philosophies and understandings of what it means to be a human being. Our course texts will include published academic articles, websites and videos that offer examples of methods/data for researching language use.

We will explore the following questions: how do different science fiction shows/movies like Star Trek, Star Wars, Naomi, See, and The Orville, as well as Afrofuturistic comics like World of Wakanda, and early science fiction stories from the African American and Black communities challenge mainstream assumptions about the desired characteristics of human beings? What concepts of difference and sameness differentiate people from each other, and how do these concepts reflect, complicate and shape notions of race in the United States or differ from them entirely?

Course synopsis:
For well over one hundred years, sports have played an important role in American (and world) culture. And as long as there have been sports, people have written about them. From game reports in newspapers to biographies to autobiographies to predictions for the future to pure fiction, writings related to sports run the gamut. They often cross the line from journalism to literature or even poetry.

In this class we will examine how writing about sports has changed over time before students embark upon several sports-related writing projects of their own. First, students will produce a memoir-type paper on their experiences with sports. Athlete or fan, success or failure, funny or sad–everyone has a story!

Secondly, students will produce a paper on an element of sports history. Sports have helped shape society (think Jackie Robinson’s integration of baseball) or been shaped by them (think performance enhancing drugs or Olympic boycotts). For this paper, students will go beyond the obvious and do some research to examine a bit of sporting history.

A large part of writing about sports involves telling stories about others, often using the words of those people. The next project will consist of interviewing a sports personality. To do this successfully, students will do any necessary research so that relevant questions can be asked of their subjects.

Finally, students will get in touch with their creativity. They will craft a short story that is limited only by imagination. The only requirement is that the story has to include some sporting element.

Course synopsis:
“We have nothing to lose but our chains.” ~Assata Shakur

History is one of our most powerful allies in the quest to chronicle and write compelling stories. Fugitive slave narratives concern the past sufferings and escapes of former slaves. They document the journey from slavery to freedom. In this writing and discussion-intensive course, we will read and synthesize texts that explore captivity narratives and abolitionist literature with high cultural stakes as forces for social change. In these works of literature, the fugitive or former slave is given a first-ever public voice to state their new independence and capture the historic truth of their accounts. We will hold close readings of the most notable writers of the genre—Douglass, Jacobs, and Elizabeth Keckley’s Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House.

Following this historic overview, we will examine the neo-slave narrative, a sub-genre of authors who write works that rediscover the slave narrative through contemporary lens. Of such works, we will examine portions of the Pulitzer-Prize winning, Beloved by Toni Morrison and The Known World by Edward P. Jones. Students will write reflectively producing two major writing projects, an argumentative essay that considers the connectivity of institutional slavery to contemporary racism and a critical response that examines the evidentiary use of slave narratives in the abolitionist movement. The final project will include one creative project. Prepare to engage in scholarly discussions and critique.