As in French I and II, in this course, you will learn the basics of French, including reading, writing, listening, and speaking. At the end of the quarter you will know how to introduce yourself and volunteer basic information, and how to ask questions of others. You will also have some knowledge of French and Francophone cultures and protocols. This class is divided into four modules, which follow the chapters in the textbook. In each module you will be asked to read, write, speak, and listen in French. You will have daily homework assignments to complete. The class also includes a quarter-long cultural immersion project, in which you will be asked to conduct research on specific aspects of a non-European Francophone country and report your findings to the rest of the class.

This course examines relationships between identity and participation in Japanese popular culture as a way of understanding the changing character of media, capitalism, fan communities, and culture. It emphasizes contemporary popular culture and theories of gender, sexuality, race, and the workings of power and value in global culture industries. Topics include manga (comic books), hip-hop and other popular music, anime and feature films, video games, contemporary literature, and online communication. Students present analyses and develop a final project based on a particular aspect of gender and popular culture.

This course explores stereotypes associated with Asian women in colonial, nationalist, state-authoritarian, and global/diasporic narratives about gender and power. Students will read ethnography, cultural studies, and history, and view films to examine the politics and circumstances that create and perpetuate the representation of Asian women as dragon ladies, lotus blossoms, despotic tyrants, desexualized servants, and docile subordinates. Students are introduced to the debates about Orientalism, gender, and power.

Prepares students for working and living in German-speaking countries. Focus on current political, social, and cultural issues, using newspapers, journals, TV, radio broadcasts, and Web sources from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Emphasis on speaking, writing, and reading skills for professional contexts. Activities include: oral presentations, group discussions, guest lectures, and interviews with German speakers. No listeners.

This course explores how and why Japan, a late-comer to modernization, emerged as an industrial power and the world's second-richest nation, notwithstanding its recent difficulties. We are particularly concerned with the historical development of technology in Japan especially after 1945, giving particular attention to the interplays between business, ideology, technology, and culture. We will discuss key historical phenomena that symbolize modern Japan as a technological power in the world; specific examples to be discussed in class include kamikaze aircraft, the Shinkansen high-speed bullet train, Godzilla, and anime.

Guyanese Creole, known to its native speakers as Creolese, was born of the communication between European settlers, African slaves and indigenous peoples of Indian descent in the Dutch colonies of Essequibo and Demerara (Devonish & Thompson 2013). Present day Guyana, Essequibo and Demerara was inhabited by slaves of different African tribes who developed a pidgin in order to communicate with one another. The inter-African pidgin then began to be influenced by the language of the slaves’ Dutch masters, creating an Anglo-West African language variety known as “Dutch-Creole” (Amral Khan 2018). Dutch-Creole became the first language of the newer generations of slaves and began gaining English language influence once English immigrants and plantation owners began to settle in Demerara around 1746. By 1760, the English had become a majority of the European population of Demerara. Due to the Anglo-Dutch wars, the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice were acquired by the Dutch, the British and for a brief period in 1781-1784, resulting in some French influence on Dutch Creole as well. At the end of the wars, Great Britain gained control of colonies in 1814 and remined in control until Guyana’s gain of independence in 1966 (Prothero 1920). While Guyana was in the control of the English, the Dutch-Creole transitioned into the present day Creolese of the country. Though Creolese is English-lexified, there are still some Dutch and French words that remain in it. Holbrook (2001) also notes that, due to the Indo-Guyanese population of Guyana, there is also language influence from Hindi, Urdu and Bhojpuri in Creolese. Due to Creolese’s being on a Creole Continuum, the language exists between the standard English of Guyana and its creole. Creolese constantly undergoes change because of this and the multi-cultural population of Guyana.

" This class explores the political and aesthetic foundations of hip hop. Students trace the musical, corporeal, visual, spoken word, and literary manifestations of hip hop over its 30 year presence in the American cultural imagery. Students also investigate specific black cultural practices that have given rise to its various idioms. Students create material culture related to each thematic section of the course. Scheduled work in performance studio helps students understand how hip hop is created and assessed."

International Women's Voices has several objectives. It introduces students to a variety of works by contemporary women writers from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and North America. The emphasis is on non-western writers. The readings are chosen to encourage students to think about how each author's work reflects a distinct cultural heritage and to what extent, if any, we can identify a female voice that transcends national cultures. In lectures and readings distributed in class, students learn about the history and culture of each of the countries these authors represent. The way in which colonialism, religion, nation formation and language influence each writer is a major concern of this course. In addition, students examine the patterns of socialization of women in patriarchal cultures, and how, in the imaginary world, authors resolve or understand the relationship of the characters to love, work, identity, sex roles, marriage and politics.This class is a communication intensive course. In addition to becoming more thoughtful readers, students are expected to become a more able and more confident writers. Assignments are designed to allow for revision of each paper. The class will also offer opportunities for speaking and debating so that students can build oral presentation skills that are essential for success once they leave MIT. The class is limited to 25 students and there is substantial classroom discussion.

This course examines major social and political trends, events, debates and personalities which help place aspects of contemporary French culture in their historical perspective through fiction, films, essays, newspaper articles, and television. Topics include the heritage of the French Revolution, the growth and consequences of colonialism, the role of intellectuals in public debates, the impact of the Occupation, the modernization of the economy and of social structures. The sources and meanings of national symbols, monuments, myths and manifestoes are also studied. Recommended for students planning to study abroad. Taught in French.

In this course students will become familiar with the history, current industry practices, and controversies involved in the mainstream mass media (newspapers, magazines, books, radio, television, film, recordings, and the Internet), their information and persuasion industries (news, advertising and public relations) and media issues (including impact, legal, and ethical issues).

In doing so, students will come to understand the relationships among the history of the media, their current industry practices, and the controversies that arise from these practices. A series of reading assignments, lectures, discussions (online, groups, pods) make up the course material. You are expected to read the assigned material before class and bring any questions or items for discussion. Following that discussion, we will explore areas in class that are beyond the readings.

Survey and theoretical foundations in Puerto Rican and Latin@ Studies. Case study on Puerto Rico. Pertinent themes in Puerto Rican and Latin@ history, culture, literature, contemporary society, and politics. Impact of the United States? economic policies on Puerto Rico and the causes of Puerto Rican and LatinX migration to New York City and urban centers. Satisfies Pathways Flexible Core US Experience in Its Diversity requirement.

Studies the major social, political, and aesthetic modes which have shaped Spanish civilization. Coordinates the study of literature, film, art, and architecture with the historical evolution of Spain. Readings and discussions focus on such topics as: the coexistence of Christians, Moors, and Jews; Imperial Spain; The First and Second Republics; and the contemporary period as background for the emergence of distinctively Spanish literary and artistic movements. Taught in Spanish. This course has several purposes. The major concern will be the examination of Spanish culture including Spain's history, architecture, art, literature and film, to determine if there is a uniquely Spanish manner of seeing and understanding the world - one which emerges as clearly distinct from our own and that of other Western European nations.

An introduction to diverse musical traditions of the world. Music from a wide range of geographical areas are studied in terms of structure, performance practice, social use, aesthetics, and cross-cultural contact. Includes hands-on music making, live demonstrations by guest artists, and ethnographic research projects. This course explores the ways that music is both shaped by and gives shape to the cultural settings in which it is performed, through studying selected musical traditions from around the world. Specific case studies will be examined closely through listening, analysis, and hands-on instruction. The syllabus centers around weekly listening assignments and readings from a textbook with CDs, supplemented by hands-on workshops, lecture/demonstrations and concerts by master musicians from around the world.

This course examines the major aesthetic, social, and political elements which have shaped modern Japanese culture and society. There are readings on contemporary Japan and historical evolution of the culture are coordinated with study of literary texts, film, and art, along with an analysis of everyday life and leisure activities.

In the decades following the Second World War, a cluster of extraordinary French thinkers were widely translated and read in American universities. Their works were soon labeled as "French Theory." Why would sharing the same nationality make authors such as Lacan, Cixous, Derrida, Foucault or Debord, ambassadors of a specifically "French" theory? The course will explore the maze of transatlantic intellectual debates since 1945 and the heyday of French existentialism. We will study the debates on communism, decolonization, neo_liberalism, gender, youth culture and mass media. This course is taught in English.

Jamaican Creole has a very rich history. According to Farquharson’s article: “Jamaica was a Spanish possession from 1494 right up to 1655.” He later goes on to say that during “1655 an army of 4,000 colonists from Barbados and an additional 1,200 from the Leeward Islands was recruited to capture the Spanish side of the island of Hispaniola.” They failed and decided to try capturing Jamaica. The Spaniards who survived the failed capture, fled to Cuba while African slaves fled into the mountains and formed “Maroons,” (Farquharson). The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures states that “during the second half of the seventeenth century, the European population was made up of soldiers, merchants, and colonists from the eastern Caribbean, Ireland, England, and Scotland,” (Farquharson); hence, prior to being imported to Jamaica during Britain’s occupation of the island, the African slaves were somewhat exposed to English-based languages.

This course surveys both cinematic and literary representations of diverse eras and aspects of Japanese culture such as the classical era, the samurai age, wartime Japan and the atomic bombings, social change in the postwar period, and the appropriation of foreign cultural themes, with an emphasis on the modern period. Directors include Akira Kurosawa and Hiroshi Teshigahara. Authors include Kobo Abe and Yukio Mishima. Films shown have subtitles in English. Taught in English.

Medieval Japanese society and culture from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries, when political power rested largely in the hands of feudal warriors. Topics include religion (especially Zen Buddhism), changing concepts of "the way of the warrior," the century of Japanese contact with Christian missionaries and European traders beginning in the 1540s, and the dynamic period of seclusion and urbanization which followed and witnessed, among other things, the vibrant "floating world" of the pleasure quarters. Presentations include weekly feature films.

This book is intended for readers who have never studied the Middle East, or experts who may wish to fill gaps in their knowledge of the region from other disciplines. Whether for establishing or deepening one's knowledge of the region, these fundamentals are important to know. The languages, cultural, religious and sectarian communities of the region, and selected turning points and influential people in history are starting points for gaining an understanding of the diverse contexts of the region. It isbased on introductoryand graduatecourseson thecontemporaryMiddle East, which the Center's director, Dr. Alam Payind, has been teaching for the past 30 years. The book's co-author,Melinda McClimans,hastaught these and other courses with him, as well as her own,for the past 15years. The material isintendedengage with diverse – even conflicting – culturaland historicalperspectives,andways of perceivingboth Middle Easternandworld historyfrom perspectives within the region. It is not intended to reinforce a monolithic or matter-of-fact perception of the region.For this and many other reasons, images are an important aspect of the knowledge presented. Each chapter starts with links to its image galleries, along with other visual aids and key elements.

Materials compiled for a Latin American Culture course on Caribbean society and culture. Seven units include: Pre-Colonial; Conquest and Genocide; Slaveholding System; Slavery & Capitalism; Caribbean Thinkers; Cold War & Development; Transnationalism and Diaspora.