UCOR Section Descriptions

Course Description

How has well-being been represented (in popular and academic discourses) as a thing to be attained in the 21st century? This course will offer a more complex perspective on the lived experience of well-being particularly in an era in which humans face potential catastrophe from myriad sources: environmental, political, social, economic, etc. We will read literary narratives of homelessness (exile, dislocation, refugee-ism, a sense of being estranged or a stranger, etc.) that, simultaneously, locate a sense of connectedness, community, and hope in the midst of such upheaval.

Course Description

Why do people sometimes rise up against political or cultural institutions? How do the reasons for and goals of these revolutions change depending on the historical, political, and social contexts in which they take place? How can previous revolutions help us understand and/or problematize recent revolutions? How can a revolution be a force for social justice? This course asks you to consider these questions through the lens of literary texts that respond to and help incite political and social revolutions. You will develop insights into revolution as a global phenomenon with shared foundations but markedly different manifestations. This course emphasizes the complex ways different cultures are interconnected through their revolutionary literatures and their responses to oppressive governance and social structures.

Course Description

How has well-being been represented (in popular and academic discourses) as a thing to be attained in the 21st century? This course will offer a more complex perspective on the lived experience of well-being particularly in an era in which humans face potential catastrophe from myriad sources: environmental, political, social, economic, etc. We will read literary narratives of homelessness (exile, dislocation, refugee-ism, a sense of being estranged or a stranger, etc.) that, simultaneously, locate a sense of connectedness, community, and hope in the midst of such upheaval.

Course Description

Trauma is a prevalent mode of remembering and writing history in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. What can literature of trauma teach us about the experience of bearing witness to, and giving testimonies of, trauma? As a Humanities and Global Challenges core course, we will foreground the close-textual analysis of literary texts in conversation with the historical, political, legal, and ideological contexts in which and about which they were written. Our focus on the literary representations of trauma will depend on what I consider to be the other major "text" of the course: students' work with organizations that support war veterans, refugees, and the homeless in the context of Service Learning.

Course Description

Trauma is a prevalent mode of remembering and writing history in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. What can literature of trauma teach us about the experience of bearing witness to, and giving testimonies of, trauma? As a Humanities and Global Challenges core course, we will foreground the close-textual analysis of literary texts in conversation with the historical, political, legal, and ideological contexts in which and about which they were written. Our focus on the literary representations of trauma will depend on what I consider to be the other major "text" of the course: students' work with organizations that support war veterans, refugees, and the homeless in the context of Service Learning.

Course Description

Students will cultivate awareness of and advocacy skills to address global health and development issues. Includes understanding foundational concepts such as health and human rights, determinants of health, health inequities, and comparative global healthcare systems, as well as investigating specific global health issues. Students will also apply population health advocacy tools to increase their confidence in taking action toward social justice change around global health issues locally, nationally, and internationally.

Course Description

This course introduces students to the widespread challenge of achieving both environmental sustainability and social equity. We consider this challenge from a cross-cultural perspective by reading, discussing and assessing a wide variety of both international and local case studies drawn from history and the present day. In addition to reading and viewing case studies, students also engage in hands-on learning in the local community in order to better assess and address local sustainability issues.

Course Description

This course examines migration and migration policies through the lenses of social science research and Catholic social teaching. In the present moment, many countries have adopted migration policies that are out of step with the realities of migration and the dignity of the human person. As you study these tensions and contradictions, you will devise research-based policy proposals and explore opportunities for meaningful action in both personal and political contexts.

Course Description

This course examines migration and migration policies through the lenses of social science research and Catholic social teaching.  In the present moment, many countries have adopted migration policies that are out of step with the realities of migration and the dignity of the human person.  As you study these tensions and contradictions, you will devise research-based policy proposals and explore opportunities for meaningful action in both personal and political contexts.

Course Description

Anthropocene, or the era of the humans, and consequently climate change are the biggest threat to global biodiversity. However, biodiversity conservation policies are themselves products of social histories of colonization and social stratification. The course will enable students to adopt a critical analytical lens to learn about the challenges to our global environment, as well as understand how principles of social justice and equity can lead to a better future.