Society for the Humanities (SHUM)Arts and Sciences

Showing 42 results.

Course descriptions provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

SHUM 2011

As a country, we are what we remember. But who decides what facts and stories about the past are important enough to memorialize? What does that decision tell us about power and truth? This class will ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 2012GOVT 2011

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  6567 SHUM 2011   SEM 101

    • W
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Margulies, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2080

More than 400 years after his death, Shakespeare remains an inescapable part of world culture. His influence can be traced at every level, from traditional art forms like theater, poetry, and opera to ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ENGL 2080PMA 2681

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6236 SHUM 2080   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Gilbert, R

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2101

This interdisciplinary course (with an emphasis in anthropology) will introduce students to the multiple routes/roots, lived experiences, and imagined worlds of South Asians who have traveled to various ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AAS 2100ANTHR 2410

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  4745 SHUM 2101   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Munasinghe, V

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2352

This course critically examines the politics and ethics of knowledge production across the humanities and social sciences. It poses an expansive and complex question: how, by whom, and for whom is knowledge ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ANTHR 2352FGSS 2352MUSIC 2352

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 18210 SHUM 2352   LEC 001

    • W
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Appert, C

      Bize, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2455

Bioethics is the study of ethical questions raised by advances in the medical field. Questions we'll discuss will include: Is it morally permissible to advance a patient's death, at his or her request, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: PHIL 2455STS 2451

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  4482 SHUM 2455   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Markovits, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  4483 SHUM 2455   DIS 201

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  4484 SHUM 2455   DIS 202

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  4485 SHUM 2455   DIS 203

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2650

This course will introduce students to African American literary traditions in the space that would become North America. From early freedom narratives and poetry to Hip-Hop and film, we will trace a range ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 2650ASRC 2680ENGL 2650

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6240 SHUM 2650   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Frazier, C

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2652

This course introduces students to ancient Greek drama, with a particular focus on the genre of tragedy and its relation to the cultural, political, and performance context of Athens in the 5th century ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: CLASS 2652FGSS 2652PMA 2652

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8576 SHUM 2652   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Lambert, C

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2703

From hieroglyphs to HTML, ancient poetry to audiotape, and Plato's cave to virtual reality, Thinking Media offers a multidisciplinary introduction to the most influential media formats of the last three ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  8948 SHUM 2703   LEC 001

    • MWF
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Born, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2750

These seminars offer an introduction to the humanities by exploring historical, cultural, social, and political themes. Students will explore themes in critical dialogue with a range of texts and media ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 2050

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • Topic: The Good Life

  •  1712 SHUM 2750   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Beswick, S

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Enrollment preference given to: students accepted into the Humanities Scholars Program. For course description, see https://as.cornell.edu/research/hsp-core-courses

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ARTH 2750COML 2750

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • Topic: Women, Textiles, and Texts in Feminist Thought

  •  1713 SHUM 2750   SEM 102

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Danisi, M

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Enrollment preference given to: students accepted into the Humanities Scholars Program. For course description, see https://as.cornell.edu/research/hsp-core-courses

SHUM 2805

Trade in and to Asia proved to be a key force in creating our modern globalized world. The Indian Ocean and the China Seas converged on Southeast Asia, where a cosmopolitan array of ships from every shore ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ARTH 2805ASIAN 2285VISST 2805

  • 4 Credits Opt NoAud

  •  4623 SHUM 2805   LEC 001

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • McGowan, K

      Pan, A

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • McGowan, K

      Pan, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  4624 SHUM 2805   DIS 201

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • McGowan, K

      Pan, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  4625 SHUM 2805   DIS 202

    • F
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • McGowan, K

      Pan, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 2812

An introduction to the history and theory of writing systems from cuneiform to the alphabet, historical and new writing media, and the complex relationship of writing technologies to human language and ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  8558 SHUM 2812   LEC 001

    • MWF
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Kirk, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    This is part of the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP).

SHUM 3022

In 1610, Nahua chronicler Chimalpahin wrote that a group of Japanese merchants had made landfall in Mexico, bringing with them writing desks, folding screens, porcelain, and silk. During this period, Japanese ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 3022ASIAN 6022

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 10366 SHUM 3022   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Misra, D

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3211

From Neuschwanstein’s fairy tale palace and faux ruins at Sanssouci to Bauhaus functionality, German architectural ideas shape how people live, work, and socialize in German-speaking areas and beyond. ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GERST 3211

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17824 SHUM 3211   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Nousek, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Prerequisite: one course at the GERST 3000-3209 level or equivalent, or placement by examination. This course may be counted towards the requirement for 3210-3499 level language in the major.

SHUM 3212

A humanoid robot, an attic portal to another world, a haunted small town, an instance of time travel gone wrong—we will encounter all of these (and more) in this course on science and speculative fiction. ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: FGSS 3212GERST 3212LGBT 3212

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17847 SHUM 3212   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Schoppelrei, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Prerequisite: one course at the GERST 3000-3209 level or equivalent, or placement by examination. This course may be counted towards the requirement for 3210-3499 level language in the major.

SHUM 3325

Video games have become one of the major cultural forces of the world, far surpassing the size of the film and music industries combined. They have also been key to developments in digital culture and ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 3315

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 10309 SHUM 3325   LEC 001

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Campana, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3514

“Talking trash” usually seeks to devalue its target through pejorative language or slander. Yet it’s also a way to separate self and other, or establish order by distinguishing use and waste. When is trash ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GERST 3514

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17823 SHUM 3514   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Nousek, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3520

This course will offer an overview of theoretical and historical responses to bodily and cognitive difference. What was the status of people with (dis)abilities in the past, when they were called monsters, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: FGSS 3520FREN 3520

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  3707 SHUM 3520   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Long, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3610

This course examines the stories, literary examples, and metaphors at work in elaborating capitalist society and its “hero,” the modern economic subject: the so-called “homo oeconomicus.” We will examine ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  8940 SHUM 3610   LEC 001

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Fleming, P

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 3750

This course explores the practice, theory, and methodology of humanities research, critical analysis, and communication through writing and oral presentation. We will study the work and impact of humanists ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: ARTH 3755

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1736 SHUM 3750   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Platt, V

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  •  1737 SHUM 3750   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Platt, V

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 3825

This course will explore Holocaust survivor testimonies, from the multilayered history of their recording across the globe and their increasing institutionalization after the 1980s to their current uses ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: GERST 3825HIST 3835JWST 3825

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1455 SHUM 3825   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Burzlaff, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4081

This course explores the increasing presence of all the arts in prisons throughout the country and examines the increasing scholarship surrounding arts programs and their efficacy for incarcerated persons. ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 4681PMA 4681

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  5480 SHUM 4081   SEM 101

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Levitt, B

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4103

Vladimir Nabokov's legacy at Cornell is not limited to the world-famous literary works he produced here. The university's natural and built environments also provided powerful material for his lifelong ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4103ENVS 4103

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1253 SHUM 4103   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Banerjee, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Enrollment limited to: juniors and seniors. To be added to the waitlist, please email complit@cornell.edu with your year and major.

SHUM 4127

Visions of bodily corruption preoccupy ruler and ruled alike and prompt campaigns for moral, medical, and legal reform in periods of both stability and revolution. This seminar explores the links between ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  • 17936 SHUM 4127   SEM 101

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Roebuck, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  • 17943 SHUM 4127   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Staff

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 4202

There are two contrasting views of the status and role of women in Africa. One view portrays African women as controlled by men in all social institutions. Another view projects women as having a relatively ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASRC 4602ASRC 6602

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 10378 SHUM 4202   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Assie-Lumumba, N

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4243

This class moves beyond the traditional disciplinary confines of academic history to examine museums, archival collections, parks, monuments, podcasts, op-eds, maps, and more as sites of historical inquiry, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 4243HIST 6243SHUM 6243

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 10071 SHUM 4243   SEM 101

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Martin, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  • 10072 SHUM 4243   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Martin, A

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 4422

This course explores the method of oral history in theory and practice, across different topics, contexts, and geographic/national terrains. It will consider questions like: what sorts of insights do oral ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 4422HIST 6422

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 10047 SHUM 4422   SEM 101

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Sandwell, R

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  • 10048 SHUM 4422   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Sandwell, R

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 4674

The dispossession of Indigenous nations by Europeans represents the foundation of the past five centuries of North American history. Yet the truth of that history remains cloaked behind various Western ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AIIS 4674AMST 4674HIST 4674

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 10016 SHUM 4674   SEM 101

    • MW
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Parmenter, J

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4701

This course explores nightlife as a temporality that fosters countercultural performances of the self and that serves as a site for the emergence of alternative kinship networks. Focusing on queer communities ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  5476 SHUM 4701   SEM 101

    • TR
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Jaime, K

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4704

Plastics are a staple of everyday life. Yet, the oil and petrochemicals that make them possible remain largely out of sight. Their afterlife either as microplastics inside our bodies, or as trash that ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: LATA 4704LATA 6704SHUM 6704

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1768 SHUM 4704   SEM 101

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Barrios-Ramirez, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4709

This course compares narrative method and statistical modeling historically, teaching the history of predictive data techniques from the 19th century to the present while reading short-form literature ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: SHUM 6709

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1748 SHUM 4709   SEM 101

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Weatherby, L

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4710

This seminar will introduce students to some of the classic and more recent works that have allowed historians to re-think geographical and temporal scales, paying particular attention to the definitions, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 4711HIST 6711SHUM 6710

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1766 SHUM 4710   SEM 101

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Bassi Arevalo, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4712

Race is but one of many ways that we classify ourselves and others as we navigate the world. But what role has science, technology, and medicine played in shaping our understanding of race as both a concept ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  1761 SHUM 4712   SEM 101

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Chresfield, M

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4713

Labor is a universal human activity that orders societal hierarchies and determines value. Cinema and television, by zooming in and out of labor paid or unpaid, masculine or feminine, tedious or pleasurable, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  1754 SHUM 4713   SEM 101

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Ma, S

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4714

This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to the study of religion to introduce students to Indigenous histories from a sample of locations around the world. The class is organized geographically ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: SHUM 6714

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1773 SHUM 4714   SEM 101

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Hale, T

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 4750

This course is designed to support seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program working on their capstone projects. Students in the course will be guided in their project research and writing. The course ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1 Credit Sat/Unsat

  •  1746 SHUM 4750   SEM 101

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Danisi, M

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Enrollment limited to: seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program.

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1 Credit Sat/Unsat

  •  1747 SHUM 4750   SEM 102

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Beswick, S

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

    Enrollment limited to: seniors in the Humanities Scholars Program.

SHUM 6243

This class moves beyond the traditional disciplinary confines of academic history to examine museums, archival collections, parks, monuments, podcasts, op-eds, maps, and more as sites of historical inquiry, ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one seminar and one independent study. Combined with: HIST 4243HIST 6243SHUM 4243

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 10075 SHUM 6243   SEM 101

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Martin, A

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

  • 10076 SHUM 6243   IND 601

    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Martin, A

  • Instruction Mode: Independent Studies

SHUM 6704

Plastics are a staple of everyday life. Yet, the oil and petrochemicals that make them possible remain largely out of sight. Their afterlife either as microplastics inside our bodies, or as trash that ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: LATA 4704LATA 6704SHUM 4704

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1770 SHUM 6704   SEM 101

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Barrios-Ramirez, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 6709

This course compares narrative method and statistical modeling historically, teaching the history of predictive data techniques from the 19th century to the present while reading short-form literature ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: SHUM 4709

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1749 SHUM 6709   SEM 101

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Weatherby, L

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 6710

This seminar will introduce students to some of the classic and more recent works that have allowed historians to re-think geographical and temporal scales, paying particular attention to the definitions, ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 4711HIST 6711SHUM 4710

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1764 SHUM 6710   SEM 101

    • M
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Bassi Arevalo, E

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 6712

Race is but one of many ways that we classify ourselves and others as we navigate the world. But what role has science, technology, and medicine played in shaping our understanding of race as both a concept ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •  1758 SHUM 6712   SEM 101

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Chresfield, M

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 6713

Labor is a universal human activity that orders societal hierarchies and determines value. Cinema and television, by zooming in and out of labor paid or unpaid, masculine or feminine, tedious or pleasurable, ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •  1750 SHUM 6713   SEM 101

    • T
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Ma, S

  • Instruction Mode: In Person

SHUM 6714

This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to the study of religion to introduce students to Indigenous histories from a sample of locations around the world. The class is organized geographically ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: SHUM 4714

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  1772 SHUM 6714   SEM 101

    • R
    • Jan 20 - May 5, 2026
    • Hale, T

  • Instruction Mode: In Person