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SWS 105

SWS 105 01, Imagined Futures
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Brand
An exploration of four communication competencies: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Using science fiction as a lens, students will examine how imagined futures reflect the values, fears, and aspirations of their creators. Through reading science fiction literature, analyzing product and book reviews, and watching films, students will closely examine the cultural and technological stories found in these works. The use of reading and listening to interpret ideas of others and form one’s own ideas will be applied toward thesis-driven written and spoken texts.

SWS 105 02, Health Care Issues
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Peterson
An exploration of four communication competencies: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. By studying different types of written and oral communications, students will learn about the diversity of ways in which health issues, such as vaccines, environmental effects, reproductive issues, and addiction treatments, are presented. Sources may include op-eds, narrative essays, reports, academic journal articles, and podcasts to examine health as an intricate web of interconnected disciplines including the sciences, social justice, economics, culture, and politics. The use of reading and listening to interpret ideas of others and form one’s own ideas will be applied toward thesis-driven written and spoken texts.

SWS 105 03, Epidemics Across Media
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Votava
An exploration of four communication competencies: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Students watch films, read op-eds, blogs, narrative essays, and short stories, and listen to podcasts and presentations as they write and speak about how epidemic disease is portrayed across media, focusing on both personal and imaginative perspectives. They investigate how narratives of public health crises—from the bubonic plague to AIDS to Covid-19—shape our understanding of disease and its cultural and emotional impacts. The use of reading and listening to interpret ideas of others and form one’s own ideas will be applied toward thesis-driven written and spoken texts.

SWS 105 04, Environmental Controversies
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Bowden
An exploration of four communication competencies: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. By reading different types (genres) of written and oral communications, students will learn about the diversity of ways in which controversial environmental issues are presented. Genres may include op-eds, blogs, narrative essays, reports, academic journal articles, short stories, podcasts, and YouTube presentations. Students will examine how different genres are used to advocate different positions on environmental topics, and will gain experience in writing and speaking using different genres. Topics to be addressed may include climate change, forest fires, water pollution, wildlife conservation, and resource use. The use of reading and listening to interpret ideas of others and form one’s own ideas will be applied toward thesis-driven written and spoken texts.

SWS 105 05, Kindful Activism
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Wesoky
An exploration of four communication competencies: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. By reading written genres including personal narratives and academic journal articles, and listening to podcasts and presentations, students will learn about the effects of meditation and mindfulness practice on individual mindsets and relationships with others. We will then write and speak about how such skills may promote more effective and inclusive social and political activism. The use of reading and listening to interpret ideas of others and form one’s own ideas will be applied toward thesis-driven written and spoken texts.

SWS 105 o6, Musicals adapted from stage to film
TTH 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Chan
An exploration of four communication competencies: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The translation of a staged musical work into film presents a challenge for filmmakers bold enough to try. Through op-eds, blogs, narrative essays, reports, academic journal articles, short stories, podcasts, YouTube commentaries, and watching popular films, students will write and speak about how this shift in medium both strengthens and weakens the communicative impacts of the original staged musical production. The use of reading and listening to interpret ideas of others and form one’s own ideas will be applied toward thesis-driven written and spoken texts.

SWS 105 07, Finding Purpose through Storytelling
Abbreviated Title: Finding Purpose
TTH 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Lewis
An exploration of four communication competencies: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. While building their communication skills, students will learn to make meaning of their experiences, find purpose in their current and future endeavors, and develop the ability to continue to create their story throughout life. Students will examine the search for meaning and purpose by exploring how these ideas have been defined by others through fictional and non-fictional storytelling. Students will also develop and express their own sense of meaning and purpose by drawing on their experiences and the ideas of others. The use of reading and listening to interpret
ideas of others and form one’s own ideas will be applied toward thesis-driven written and spoken texts.

SWS 202

SWS 202 B1, Telling Stories
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Wiebel
An exploration of oral communication competencies In this course, we will think about stories, listen to stories, and tell stories. We will explore norms of storytelling across a variety of genres and think critically about the practice of spoken storytelling. Through exploring the craft of storytelling, we will enrich our understanding of what makes a good story, what it means to be a good storyteller, and how we listen to stories. The use of reading and listening to interpret the ideas of others and form one’s own ideas will be applied toward thesis-driven spoken texts.

SWS 205

SWS 205 01, Busted or Confirmed – Critical Thinking Mythbusters’ Style
Abbreviated Title: Busted or Confirmed
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor French
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. When we see or hear claims purporting to be truth; how do we assess the validity of the information? Students will examine texts purporting to be truth or fact such as myths, viral videos, and conspiracy theories and use critical thinking/scientific process strategies (asking questions, forming hypotheses and collecting evidence to support or refute them) to assess their validity. Activities include exploring myths- how they develop, whether there is any evidence to support them, how to test them and how to communicate such topics effectively. Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 02, The Work of One’s Own Hands
TTH 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Murphree
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. From the dawn of civilization, the manual arts have been essential in leveraging human capacities to create objects of utility, self-expression, and symbolism. With the advent of the Industrial Age, many of these skills became embedded in formalized vocational education. By engaging in an increasingly in-depth research project, students will explore the importance of the manual arts and vocational education in contemporary societal structure and our own human experience. Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 03, Consumption: Stories, Products, and Equity
Abbreviated Title: Consumption
TTH 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Devries
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. Consumption is a core part of everyday life. What we consume, how we consume, whether we consume, or if we will be consumed are questions that haunt cultural narratives, social development, and economics. Questions of consumption also determine the flourishing or exploitation of global societies. Students will develop evidence based speculations about the ways we consume, and will produce a research paper proposing ideas for how we might make such processes of consumption—whether of food, clothes, or media—healthier and more equitable. Students will also develop an understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 04, You Are Here
TTH 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Ferrence
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. We’re all from somewhere, and now we’re all here. Our locations — lived and otherwise — mean quite a bit about how we form relationships to ourselves and others, how our values manifest in our daily lives, and how we come to understand what “here” even means. Students will research and consider the various ways their personal locations and migrations intersect with broader cultural concepts of locality, history, and self. Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 05, Exploring Our Connection With Nature
Abbreviated Title: Our Connection With Nature
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Pearce
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. Students will consider how we interact with and think about nature and how these connections can shape our social relationships and environmental perspectives. Students will research and consider the ways to protect nature, including the idea of giving rights to the natural world. Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 06, Philosophy of Mathematics
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Lo Bello
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. Students will critically engage with discussion of the philosophy of mathematics as presented by ancient and contemporary scholars. Students present the proofs of geometrical propositions and complete an in-depth research project with oral and written components on a topic of their own choosing related to the course material in which they demonstrate an ability to do independent scholarly work. Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 07, Cosmic Conversations
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Lombardi
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. Students will engage with scientific ideas and the stories of the scientists behind them, focusing on thought-provoking topics in astronomy and astrophysics such as black holes, the big bang, dark matter, relativity, and a theory of everything.  As part of their exploration, students will pursue an in-depth project on a related topic of interest— such as a relevant scientific concept, event, or figure; connections between science and societal issues; or representations of astrophysics and astronomers in literature or media. Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 08, Terrorism
MW 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Kirschner
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. Terrorism has profoundly affected modern life. Students will explore how popular discourse and scholars from a range of disciplines (such as history, sociology, psychology, political science, and economics) analyze dynamics of terrorism and policy responses to it, while conducting an in-depth research project on a question related to the topic. Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 09, 21 St Century Global Migrations
TTH 9:30 AM 10:45 AM
Professor Hernandez
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105.  Approximately 4 % of the world population are international migrants.  In this seminar, participants study a series of significant case studies from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.  We analyze a diverse array of written materials (newspaper stories, testimonials, fiction, etc.) and watch documentaries and feature films depicting the migrant experience around the world to complement the course readings.  Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 10, Hip-hop Revolution
TBA
Professor Ross
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. In this class students will begin to think critically about the revolutionary power of Hip-hop towards social justice. Students will engage with and examine various forms of Hip-hop media including songs, music videos, fashion, performances, and “street art”. Through this engagement students will undertake an in-depth research project that will enable them to think critically about the ways in which Hip-hop can serve as a site of resistance against social justices and oppression. Thus, students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 11, Dictators and Dictatorships
TTH 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Pinnow
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. The rise in authoritarian regimes and mindsets around the globe has raised concerns about the fate of democracy. Students will critically examine this development as part of an in-depth research project. The historical, cultural, political, and psychological dimensions of dictatorships are among the topics examined to understand their origins and appeal. Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.

SWS 205 12, Women and Music
TTH 11:00 AM 12:15 PM
Professor Standiford
An integration of communication competencies into research-informed learning, building on the skills developed in SWS 105. A 10-year study (2022) from USC Annenberg sheds light on a well-known issue: women remain underrepresented in the music creation process and throughout the music industry. Through engagement with written and oral texts, we will examine the role of women in both popular and traditional music from the United
States to global contexts. Students will conduct an in-depth research project examining the musical accomplishments of women and how gender intersects with social position in music. No prior musical knowledge is required. Students will develop an early understanding of the role of writing, speaking, reading, and listening in the interpretation and production of research-informed texts.