DIVISION OF SOCIAL STUDIES

SOCIAL STUDIES

SST 220 Marxism/Radical Social Theory

Professor: J. Kovel

CRN: 91691 Distribution: A/C

Time: M W 9:00 am ­ 10:20 am OLIN 205

Cross-listed: Political Studies

Though Marxism has been one of the most consequential doctrines of modern history, it is now in grave crisis and has been written off by many scholars. This course explores the essentials of Marxism, evaluates its various interpretations, and assesses it future in light of recent capitalistic victories. We will discuss the basic writings of Marx and the key texts of other Marxist thinkers, such as Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Gramsci, and Marcuse.

SST 222 Exilee: Writing the Asian Diaspora

Professor: G. Chun

CRN: 91690 Distribution: B/C

Time: Th 3:30 pm ­ 5:30 pm OLIN 203

Cross-listed: Literature, MES

The Asian diaspora occurred when peoples not yet constituted as "modern" nation-states scattered to the ends of the earth by the colonial moment. This course will examine in particular the writings by Korean, Asian Indian, and Filipino exiles produced in English. A close reading of works by Carlos Bulosan, Theresa Cha, and Salman Rushdie among others explores the exilic condition characterized by departure, nostalgia, denationalization, rootlessness, dispossession, and linguistic alienation. Writing the Asian diaspora happens between the intersection of historical experience and literary history; between subjugation and subject positionings; and between the ancestral homeland and the New World. These writers of Asian ancestry refuse and challenge what Werner Sollors calls "ethnic" American literature, in so far as they are not writing about American acculturation and settlement. Their works, instead, attest to a vast array of nationalist and postcolonial sentiments rooted in "the crippling sorrow of estrangement, the loss of something left behind forever."

SST 330 History and Spirit

Professor: J. Kovel

CRN: 91692 Distribution: A/C

Time: M 1:30 pm ­ 3:30 pm OLIN 205

Cross-listed: Religion

The title of the course is that of a recently published volume by the instructor. The course tracks the main theme of this work, that spirituality is produced historically and plays complex political roles even as it relates people to what is beyond. We shall consider the ambivalent function of religion, the spiritual aspects of various forms of politics, such as fascism and communism, New Age spiritual movements, and the nature of visionary/utopian practice.