RUSS 3380: Sinners, Saints, and Madmen: 19th Century Russian Literature 

T/Th 12:30pm–1:45pm

A discussion-based survey course of 19th-century fiction that traces development of signature themes of Russian literature that continue to the present: saints and sinners; “madness”; the myth of St. Petersburg (at its rivals Moscow and the Russian provinces); and superfluous men and sacrificial women. Across these themes we will also consider the complicated relationship of Russian literature and its authors to both their present moment and the historical past. Authors include major ” figures of the long Russian literary 19thcentury (Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov) as well as overshadowed ones, including the “hidden” tradition of Russian women writers of the period. Readings and discussion in English; no previous knowledge of Russian literature or culture required. Course currently requires sophomore standing, but first-year students can reach out directly to the instructor, Dr. Monnier (monniern@missouri.edu) for permission number.

HIST 4970W - War, Atrocity, and Memory Politics in Modern East Asia

Th 2-4:20 pm, Instructor: Dominic Meng-Hsuan Yang

This history senior seminar course examines a number of traumatic events in modern East Asia. These include the Rape of Nanking (China), the Cultural Revolution (China), the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan), the comfort women/sexual slavery (Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and China), the 228 Massacre (Taiwan), and more. The course focuses not only on the history of these events, but also their legacies in today’s world. We discuss issues concerning commemoration, reparation, apology, museums/public exhibitions, media/social media representations, and international disputes. As a writing intensive course, the attainment of credit requires students to produce a full-length (15-20 page) research paper through a multi-step writing process. The process involves: (1) identification of a historiographical research question via seminar learning and discussion; (2) a draft-producing practice, where students submit preliminary drafts and receive both instructor comments and feedback from their peers via class presentations and Q&A sessions. Students are required to do at least two rounds of draft revision to take account of the comments, criticisms, and corrections raised by the instructor and their peers in an effort to produce a high-quality final research paper.

SLLC - School of Languages, Literatures, and Culture

SLLC 3820/DigST 3005 – “The Writing’s on the Web”: Digital Media in Cultural Context

T/Th 11:00-12:15pm

People around the world have come to live ever-greater portions of their daily life online, not only consuming but also producing texts about themselves, their lives, and their worlds. In the process, writing takes place less and less in handwritten or printed form and more and more online—to modify the familiar cliché the writing’s on the wall: “the writing’s on the web!” In this course we will examine various forms of web-based writing—blogging, texting, tweeting, posting on social media, podcasting, etc.— from both a theoretical and practical angle, focusing in particular on the question of how users define, consume, and interpret digital media online and how questions of media use are addressed differently in varied cultural contexts. A 3000-level, writing-intensive course, “The Writing’s on the Web” asks you to think carefully about writing on digital platforms as a communicative practice with its own distinctive history, possibilities, and pitfalls. 
Instructor: Sean Franzel, franzels@missouri.edu

Korean Studies

Korean 3001 – Topics in Korean – General 

T/Th, 3:30-4:45pm

Dive into an exciting journey through Korean culture with our immersive course that brings the essence of Korea to life through its captivating dramas, films, and music! Each week, you’ll watch engaging snippets from popular Korean movies and shows, highlighting unique aspects of the culture. From the delicious flavors of Korean cuisine to the beauty of traditional homes and fashion, we’ll explore a variety of fascinating topics that showcase the rich tapestry of Korean life. This course is designed not just to teach you about Korean culture but to immerse you in it, offering you a fresh and dynamic perspective that goes beyond the usual classroom experience.

Religious Studies

REL_ST 1500 – Religion and Culture

Mo/We/Fr 9:00-9:50am

The study of religion as expressed in art, literature, music, dance, drama, architecture.

REL_ST 2330 – Buddhism, Money, and Capitalist Economy 

Mo/We/Fr 2:00-2:50pm

Interrogating the entanglement between Buddhism and the pursuit of material wealth, this course introduces students to the ethical principles for Buddhist social organization, material exchanges, and business practices. Buddhism as a lived tradition will be explored through examination of historical examples and Buddhist technologies and Buddhist popular culture in the modern market economy. Topics will include the origins of Buddhism and merit-making, the post-Merit economy, contemporary business practices, and Buddhist critiques of capitalist economy.

REL_ST 2510 - Introduction to the World of the New Testament 

Mo/We/Fr 11:00-11:50am

An introduction to the books of the New Testament and the methods and principles guiding its academic study. Emphasis is placed on Jesus' and his disciples' Jewish heritage and the relationship and interactions between Judaism and Christianity over the decades the NT books were written and compiled. Attention is give to the character of the Roman world in which Christianity grew and found the bulk of its converts. Finally, stress is given to the texts that were not accepted into the canonical NT, the Christians whose views those texts represent, and their differences from those Christians whose views became orthodox.

REL_ST 3350W - Monsters in Western Religion and Folklore - Writing Intensive 

T/Th 12:30-1:45pm

This course focuses on monsters found in Western cultures and more specifically how monsters are instantiated and put to use in contexts of popular culture. Theoretical and methodological approaches to the material are drawn from both Religious Studies and Folkloristics.

AMS/REL_ST 4005/7005 - Archaeology of Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean

T/Th 12:30-1:45pm

For scholars of the ancient Mediterranean world, the terms “cult” and “religion” comprise a dizzying array of beliefs and practices, sanctuaries and spaces, objects, gods, and humans. This diversity challenges contemporary definitions of religion, which tend to follow the model of Protestant Christianity, privileging belief, texts, and rationality. This course takes a different approach to cult and religion in the ancient Mediterranean, focusing instead on the importance of archaeology and material culture in reconstructing ancient religious experience. The course will examine case studies that illustrate the challenges and rewards of thinking about religion materially, from Classical Greece through the beginning of late antiquity

Ancient Mediterranean Studies

AMS 2070 - Cultural Ancestors of the Greeks and Romans: Roots and Branches of Indo-European Myth and Religion (WI)

T/Th 3:30-4:45pm

This course will introduce you to the mythical and religious traditions that the Greeks and Romans inherited from the Indo-Europeans, a group of people whose language and culture developed into numerous languages and cultures of Eurasia. You will become familiar with some of the fundamental traditions that the cultural ancestors of the Greeks and Romans transmitted to their descendants, including stories about giants and dragons, and rituals involving bestiality and animal sacrifice. In combination with Greek and Roman mythology and religion, we will study related mythical narratives and religious traditions from North India, Iran, Scandinavia, and Ireland.

AMS 1140 - Ancient Cities

Asynchronous INTERNET 

Today, more than half of the world's population lives in an "urban area." More than 80% of the people who live in the United States dwell in what we call "cities." Every year, more and more people are drawn to these urban centers. Needless to say, this was not always the case. What are the historical origins of cities? What sparked the urbanization process? How were ancient cities organized, and how were they different from the urban centers today? What was it like to walk around ancient Uruk, Athens, or Rome? Ancient Cities is an introductory survey to the urban centers of the ancient Near Eastern, Egyptian, and Mediterranean worlds. We will begin with the earliest known settlements in the Near East, ca. 9000 B.C., and trace urbanization as far as Imperial Rome and Late Antiquity. The purpose of the course is to examine the characteristics of urbanism, and the archeological evidence for settlement structure, urbanization and state-formation in different cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world.

Peace Studies

PEA_ST 1051 – International Conflict Resolution & Group Reconciliation 

T/Th 9:30am -10:45am

How do societies reconcile after a war or genocide? Is peace achievable after an atrocity? Do treaties and truth commissions really help societies move forward? This course will study achieving peace through techniques and institutions that attempt personal and interactive reconciliation of opposing groups. Case studies include South Africa, Sudan, Guatemala, Ireland, Israel-Palestine, and Russia-Ukraine (among others). This course also reviews nuclear treaties, climate change protocols, and United Nations Peacekeeping missions.