IDS 110 (1 credit)

India through Music and Cinema

India produces the greatest number of films in the world and Indian-produced films consitute one of the most globalized forms of media. Since India is now one of the world's key exporters of popular culture ranging from Bollywood films, music, film scores (e.g., Rahman), clothing, clothing styles, and cuisine to the West, it is important that our students become more knowledgeable about India and its diverse cultures and forms of cultural expression. India vibrates with diversity that is reflected in its landscapes and its people and their languages, people, religions, foods, clothing, musical and cinema traditions. This course serves as an interdisciplinary introduction to cultural diversity of India as represented through Bollywood films. Instructor: Srinivas Krishnan, CAWC artist-in-residence, offered fall only.

IDS 151(1 credit)

Diversity Seminar

This seminar is designed to engage students in critical thought and discussion of the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and disabilities, their personal unique and diverse identities, and the ways we can construct a more inclusive society. The course involves weekly discussion, critical evaluation, and reflection. The seminar exposes students to new knowledge and understanding of their own cultural and physical diversity and that of the surrounding society and challenges them to think about how individual and collective thinking, attitudes, and civic engagement in matters related to cultural diversity promote the practice of democracy. The course is open to students enrolled in the Mosaic Living Learning community. To learn more about the Mosaic program, visit their website.

Instructors are drawn from faculty and staff representing a variety of disciplines and student affairs offices, offered fall only.

IDS 153 (1 credit)

Issues in Cultural Diversity

Each academic year the Center for American and World Cultures programs focus on a particular theme related to cultural diversity, which is explored in IDS 153. This course is offered every semester. Instructor coordinator: Dr. Mary Jane Berman, Director, CAWC

AY 08-09, “Religion and Community”
The goal of the “religion and community” theme is to broadly expose our students to major issues related to the world’s major religious beliefs and practices. The committee felt it was important to develop our students “religious literacy” and to start the process of “unpacking” their Christian-centered focus (whatever this means) and the privilege this imposes on non-Christian practitioners. This means presenting the basic foundational principles of other religions, exploring major debates that exist within that religion or between it and other religions, and exposing controversies that exist within Christianity. At the same time, the issues to be discussed in the class are to intersect with the CAWC mission, which includes the exploration, debate, discussion, and reflection of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disability. When identifying our discussion topics and films, we must keep these issues in mind.

Instructors: Jacqueline Rioja, CAWC Assistant Director, Dr. Lisa Poirier, Associate Professor, Department of Comparative Religion

AY 07-08, “Diversity: Engaging Your Global Future Now”
IDS 153 is a companion course of the Center for American and World Cultures fall 2007 Series “Diversity: Engaging Your Global Future Now”. This course will allow you to explore and reflect about how/why global changes and interdependence in the 21st century affect the world’s environmental and cultural diversity and development. In this class you will analysis these themes from an interdisciplinary perspective focused on crucial aspects such as race/ethnicity, nationality, gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, livelihood, life style among other cultural manifestations.

IDS 153 also offers you the opportunity to reflect on the new challenges the world is facing while exploring the progress towards the eradication of poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating disease, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership. You will have chance to contrast/compare and integrate different approaches, develop your own interpretation about these new challenges, and think about how to make a real difference in the world as a global citizen.

Instructor: Jacqueline Rioja, CAWC Assistant Director

AY 06-07 “Intersecting Lives: Globalization is Diversity in the 21st Century”
This course will allow you to explore and reflect about how/why global changes and interdependence in the 21st century affect the world’s environmental and cultural diversity. IDS 153 offers you the opportunity to analysis these themes from an interdisciplinary perspective focused on crucial aspects such as race/ethnicity, nationality, gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, livelihood, life style among other cultural manifestations. In this class, we will explore the following questions by examining a number of case studies of globalization and diversity through film:

• What is globalization?
• Is globalization pulling us together or separating us?
• Are we becoming more alike or more different and, if so, in what ways?
• Are cultural, political and economic differences being undermined, exaggerated, lost, found, recovered, or invented via globalization?
• What kinds of disparities does globalization produce?
• How are people contributing to and affected by globalization?
• What are the positive contributions of globalization?
• What mechanisms bring the local to the global and the global to the local?
• What is the impact of these processes?
• What are the negative consequences of globalization?

We will investigate the question that guides the Center for American and World Cultures AY 06-07 theme, “Intersecting Lives: Globalization is Diversity in the 21st Century.”

Instructor: Jacqueline Rioja, CAWC Assistant Director

IDS 154 (2 credits)

Introduction to Study Abroad
In an ever-changing global community, students choose to study abroad for a multitude of reasons. In this course, students will begin to consider some of questions and issues that will be part of their travel, study, and daily life abroad. They will also begin to develop intellectual tools that they can use to cope with culture shock and the development of lifetime cultural competencies.  The course will help prepare them for their international education experience.
The course will consider the following issues through readings, films, discussions, and writing:

• How do you identify yourself as a member of local and global communities?
• What personal, professional, and academic questions drive your desire to study abroad and to select your particular destination?
• How is the way in which you see the world related to your cultural background, and what does it mean when this world view is challenged?
• When you travel outside of the United States, what privileges do you carry with you that others (both at home and abroad) might not enjoy?
• What intellectual tools and support resources are available to help you engage with cultural difference and cope with culture shock?

 Offered fall and spring, beginning spring 2010.

Instructor: Aliya Rahman, Graduate Student, School of Education, Health and Society

IDS 156 (1 credit)

Study Abroad Reentry Seminar

Study abroad is a transforming learning experience. Such an experience affects student personal and academic life enhancing their cross-cultural understandings of the world. IDS 156 brings students opportunities to reflect upon what they learned abroad and articulate their experiences to themselves and others so that they might further build their new intercultural competence and enhance their global perspective. This course, which offers comprehensive reentry support for students who participated on study abroad programs, focuses on academic reintegration, civic engagement, professional development as well as the psycho/emotional aspect of the reentry process.

Instructor: Jacqueline Rioja, CAWC Assistant Director, offered fall and spring, beginning fall 2009.

IDS 159 (3 credits)

Strength through Cultural Diversity

This course serves as an interdisciplinary introduction to cultural diversity. A primary goal is to facilitate students’ abilities to build their cultural competencies and their abilities to work toward a socially just and inclusive world by providing the conceptual tools and vocabulary to think about, discuss and experience cultural diversity. Topics covered include multiculturalism, ethnocentrism, prejudice, discrimination, privilege, the impacts of social and cultural change, and the engagement of students in the global community. This course is part of the Miami Plan for Liberal Education and fulfills IIIB World Cultures.

Further information about the Miami Plan can be found at www.muohio.edu/academics/miamiplan. It also fulfills the School of Business diversity requirement, http://www.fsb.muohio.edu/prospective-students/undergraduate/graduationr.... We offer three sections (10 weeks in length) each semester.

Instructors: Dr. Alysia Fischer, Lecturer