University Bulletin (2024-2025)

The First Year Writing Program at Brandeis University, administered by the University Writing Program, includes two courses: the University Writing Seminar (UWS) and the Composition Seminar (CSEM). The University Writing Seminar, which all students complete during their first year, emphasizes writing as a means of thinking, exploring, and understanding. It also makes transparent differences in conventions within the disciplines, so that students can apply their writing skills to courses in their major and throughout the Brandeis curricula. Each student chooses a seminar from a range of interdisciplinary topics.

Prior to UWS, some students complete the Composition Seminar, a one-semester course that offers additional experience with college writing. CSEM is taught in a small-group setting, allowing for opportunities to workshop ideas and writing strategies in a collaborative environment with seasoned instructors. Major course goals include building up confidence and flexibility to adapt to the different types of writing that students are assigned in college.

The requirement will be satisfied by completing one University Writing Seminar (UWS) in the student's first year. Students who do not satisfy this requirement within their first three semesters are subject to administrative withdrawal.

First-year students entering in the fall of 2009 and thereafter must satisfactorily complete one UWS course.

CSEM 1a Composition Seminar

Prerequisite: Placement by the director of university writing. Successful completion of this course does NOT satisfy the first-year writing requirement.

A course in the fundamentals of writing, required as a prerequisite to the University Writing Seminar for selected students identified by the director of university writing. Several sections will be offered in the fall semester.

UWS 1a University Writing Seminar for Multilingual Students
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An option for students to participate in a learning community with fellow students whose first or strongest language is not English. Focusing on multicultural or translingual themes, the course challenges students to formulate meaningful ideas, support those ideas with evidence and analysis, and convey thinking clearly and persuasively. Every seminar teaches transferable writing skills that students will use across the Brandeis curriculum and beyond. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing, revising, and working collaboratively in peer groups and individually with instructors. Usually offered every year.

UWS 2b Darwinian Dating: The Evolution of Human Attraction
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.
Among animals, individuals choose mates based on biologically informative features such as long colorful tail feathers, large canines, or a red, swollen posterior. We typically assume that human attraction (and love) is much more nuanced and complex...but is it? Many features that humans find beautiful or attractive, such as small waists, curvy hips, and large eyes, can be tied to biological explanations. Even behavioral features, such as nurturing behaviors, may be attractive for adaptive reasons. In this course, we will explore and write about biological explanations for these and many other aspects of human attraction. Using an evolutionary perspective, we will examine global patterns of attraction and challenge stereotypes of beauty. Do nice guys really finish last? Do traditionally attractive features in western cultures, such as low body weight, actually provide an evolutionary benefit, or might some preferences be culturally derived? For the final essay, students will supplement library research with data collection to produce an interdisciplinary research paper. Usually offered every year.

UWS 4a Medical Ethics
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

The Hippocratic Oath is a guiding principle amongst doctors: 'First, do no harm.' But what if your patient is a potential mass murderer? Does the doctor's obligation lie first with the patient or with society at large? We will explore these questions and others across a variety of genres, including the acclaimed medical mystery television series House and other forms of social media such as Ted talks and Instagram posts. In addition, students will have the opportunity to research a case study on a topic of their choice ranging from designer babies to anti-vaxers. This course will foster the development of incisive analysis and sophisticated academic writing as well as an understanding of disciplinary differences through the exploration of bioethical dilemmas. Usually offered every year.

UWS 13b Business Ethics
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

In 1978 childhood friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield founded Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream using socially responsible principles such as funding the Ben and Jerry's Foundation to pay for community-oriented projects. They prided themselves on their small company independence and touted their unique approach to melding business with social responsibility. Yet, in 2000 Ben and Jerry sold the company to the international food conglomerate Unilever. Many wondered: was this a sellout? This class on business ethics will explore different Harvard Business School cases studies such as this one using ethical lenses including Milton Friedman's 'Free Market' theory and Utilitarianism. In addition to analyzing case studies on topics such as the National Football League and concussions, we will examine the acclaimed film The Big Short to consider the boundaries of ethical behavior in the business world. This course will also foster the development of incisive analysis and sophisticated academic writing as a way to explore dilemmas relating to business ethics. Structured assignments, class discussions, peer group workshops, and conferences will direct us as we explore different writing tasks.

UWS 17b Bodies of Evidence: Forensic Science in Fact and Fiction
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Forensic science has helped to identify the dead, to solve crimes, and to bring culprits to justice. Forensic techniques, later discredited, have also led to false convictions: a man was found guilty of rape and spent decades in prison before DNA tests confirmed his innocence; a convicted arsonist was proven innocent but had been executed years earlier. This course invites students to explore the achievements and shortcomings of forensic science. We will investigate the work of forensic scientists, take a look at real-life cases to learn about the history and effectiveness of investigative techniques, and analyze how forensic science has been portrayed (and transformed) in popular television series such as CSI or Bones. Usually offered every year.

UWS 24a Conceptions of Friendship
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Joey and Chandler, Woody and Buzz, Thelma and Louise, Will and Grace, Harry and Lloyd, Romy and Michelle, Hermoine and Harry: Over the years, popular culture has offered a plethora of “friendship” examples through its depictions of “besties” and “bosom-buddies.” These examples naturally reflect the changing societal values and cultural norms from which they emerge. This course will examine many depictions of friendship and consider what assumptions they convey in their time and place. Through reading a chosen novel or short story, watching a television episode of Friends or Black Mirror, or critically examining a movie like Toy Story or Clueless, we will seek answers to questions like: What are the benefits of friendship? What role does gender play in friendship? What do friendship-depictions tell us about how audiences view and participate in friendship? What assumptions about friendship are made in these depictions? Usually offered every year.

UWS 34a Reading and Writing Boston
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

What is Boston? Boston is best known for baked beans, Fenway Park, The Boston Marathon, and over 50 colleges and universities that attract nearly 200,000 students in the Greater Metropolitan area. In the 1700's, Boston was called the 'Athens of America' because of its literate and engaged citizenry, wisdom, knowledge and education. Boston is a city of FIRSTS: the first public park, Boston Common, in 1634; the first public school, Boston Latin, in 1635; the first street-car subway system in the nation in 1897. In 2017, Boston ranked fifth in the world for innovations including cultural assets, education centers, transportation, and biking/walking accessibility. From the Esplanade on the Charles River, the Back Bay, Fens and Boston Common to the newer 15-acre Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, the beauty of Boston is unsurpassed. In this section of UWS, we will be using material on the City of Boston and its neighborhoods, with readings that focus on the historical, sociological, literary and contemporary beat of the city. The main goal for UWS is to further develop your academic research and writing skills , and this course will utilize the City of Boston as a textbook, enabling you to 'experience' Boston, close to where you have chosen to spend your college years. Usually offered every year.

UWS 37a The Biology of Morality
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.
Humans often consider themselves to be "the moral animal," distinguished from other animals by our complex and socially derived systems of morality, characterized by empathy and cooperation. However, when comparing humans with the rest of the animal world, are we really so different? In this course, we will examine through discussion and writing the degree to which human morality is grounded in our evolutionary past. We will explore the development of human morality during childhood and adulthood through the lens of evolution and will look at classic scientific tests of morality/ethics (e.g., the trolley problem). Additionally, we will engage with evidence for morality in non-human species and probe the degree to which our primate relatives engage in altruistic, empathetic, and moral behaviors. During the final paper, students will have the freedom to choose their own topic and to utilize interdisciplinary literature in their exploration of the nature and nurture of morality. Usually offered every year.

UWS 43a Storytelling in Business
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Storytelling plays a crucial role in our lives. We draw on stories to make meaning of ourselves and others, to shed light on our experiences, and to express who we are or would like to be. The same holds true for businesses. Storytelling is not only a core competency of business leaders but an indispensable component of functional organizations. Successful companies take pride in compelling stories; troubled companies tend to lack institutional stories and a culture of storytelling. Capable business leaders are effective storytellers, and strategic storytelling has been a proven means of initiating change and of turning companies around. This course invites students to investigate the power of stories and storytelling in business contexts. By analyzing texts from various media, we will discuss questions such as: What characterizes effective stories? What is the importance of storytelling and story-making in companies? How can storytelling bring about organizational change? Which traits do storytellers and business leaders share? What is the connection between storytelling and leadership? Usually offered every year.

UWS 50b Public Health: Writing with Data
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.
Over the past year, particularly with the COVID-19 pandemic, we've seen an increasing reliance on public health data to inform public policies, monitor progress, and guide individuals' health decisions. Public health data has been spun into narratives about right versus wrong, infographics that motivate action, and graphs that illustrate trends, among others. Since we've been inundated with quantitative data, you likely know what it's like to experience data as an audience member, however in this course, you'll become the composer with data at your communicative disposal. This course will encourage you to think about questions like: What is public health data? How is data generated and collected? How is public health data used or misused in academic, professional, and societal contexts? How do writers frame data to achieve certain ends? How does data visualization relate to communication? We will explore these questions across a variety of texts including CDC and NIH publications, TedTalks, and academic articles. After analyzing public health data use in different genres, you'll then embark on your own quantitative reasoning journey by crafting a research essay that incorporates public health data and strategic data visualization. Usually offered every year.

UWS 51a Professional Writing in the Sciences
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.
According to Charles Darwin, "A naturalist's life would be a happy one if [they] had only to observe and never to write." Unfortunately (or fortunately!), much of a naturalist's practice involves writing. In fact, the same holds true for those in other scientific fields — scientists must not only do science, but they, too, must write science. But what exactly are professional scientists writing? What motivates their composing and to whom do they write? What rhetorical choices do scientists make when communicating complex information? In this course, we'll examine the discursive and generic requirements scientists face when composing in different contexts for different audiences. By considering a number of professional scientific genres, including research articles, grant applications, poster presentations, and public talks, we will explore questions of accessibility, writerly agency, persuasion, and objectivity. You'll even have the opportunity to interview faculty members in the disciplines to learn about the writing tasks you might encounter as a working professional in your field. By the end of this course, you'll have a more sophisticated understanding of professional writing in the sciences, and as such, you'll be asked to produce a Scientific American-esque essay that makes an argument about a novel scientific innovation. Usually offered every year.

UWS 52b Environmental Justice
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing, and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

This section of UWS focuses on 'Environmental Justice,' which encompasses the equal access of all people, regardless of race, ethnic origin, or socio-economic status, to the benefits of nature as well as the equitable distribution of environmental harms. It gives visibility and voice to those who have been historically marginalized and suffered the most from environmental hazards and the effects of climate change: communities of color, indigenous peoples, and the poor. The course invites students to examine power inequities, historical contexts, and scientific concepts to understand the causes and effects of environmental injustices and environmental racism. It also invites students to explore stories of resilience and hope by researching, learning, and writing about inspirational individuals, groups, and movements who have taken action for a more just and equitable future. Usually offered every year.

UWS 62a Video Gameplay, Players, and Styles
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Video games afford opportunities to immerse ourselves in virtual worlds in an interactive and engaging manner. The creativity and imagination behind game design necessitate the interaction of a wide range of skills: coding, graphic design, storytelling, musical composition, and sound design. How is it that we can spend hours picking up virtual weeds in Animal Crossing, be fearful of turtle shells in Mario Kart, or experience immense satisfaction when leveling up our Pokemon or beating a boss in Dark Souls? This course addresses these questions by tracing the development of video games from the early pixelated heroes of Mario and Pac-Man to online spaces that involve the global participation of millions of people, such as League of Legends and Call of Duty. Students are required to think critically about the virtual worlds they inhabit and consider how video games implement play, immersion, and engagement and how their unique function as an interactive medium has evolved throughout the latter half of the 20th century to the present day. The interdisciplinary nature of game studies allows students to think and write critically on an array of topics concerning narrative, immersion, gender, music, technology, and game design. Usually offered every year.

UWS 64b The Resistance Mix-Tape: Music and Social Justice
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Considers music as a radical political tool for social justice. Guided by different genres of music and different social justice issues, we will listen to politically resonant songs in order to explore how music not only actively participates in and shapes our culture, but also offers modes of resistance to regimes of power. From the pro-labor and anti-war politics of folk music, the anti-establishment and anti-normative bents of punk, and the racial and social justice orientations of hip-hop, students will examine how music fights power, encourages activism, and effects social change. This course is designed in such a way that students may participate fully regardless of the level of their prior musical knowledge or experience. All of the music we will be examining involves texts that are linguistic, sonic, and occasionally, in the case of music videos, visual. Our study of these musical texts will be enhanced through various critical and theoretical approaches to the intersections of race, gender, and class. For final research papers, students will be encouraged to develop a research topic about music and social justice issues that are meaningful to them. Usually offered every year.

UWS 65a Everyday Apocalypse, or Living Through the Long Emergency
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Our contemporary moment has been marked by various catastrophes and crises: the pandemic, the climate emergency, the refugee crisis, widening economic disparities, rising nationalist extremism, and racial inequalities and police violence. These crises have combined to create a present moment of profound uncertainty and growing unrest, and daily life has become undergirded by a rising tide of anxiety. Using contemporary events and recent cultural texts as sites of inquiry about the global tumult of our present, students will consider how the convergence of the everyday and the catastrophic frame our “new normal,” as well as how distinctions between normalcy and emergency are connected to media narratives, corporate agendas, and political rhetoric and policy. Altogether, the course invites students to examine our experience of the contemporary world from multiple lenses and encourages students to research, learn, write about, and potentially reimagine the social, economic, and environmental challenges of our time. Usually offered every year.

UWS 66a Travel and Self-Discovery
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

The ocean, the open road, and the automobile all entice us to travel. From Thelma and Louise, a female buddy road crime film, to acclaimed food critic Anthony Bourdain, who samples foods from across the globe, travel has long worked in popular culture to offer the tantalizing possibilities of reinvention, of getting lost, of escape into the new. However, travel is more than just a romantic fantasy about self-transformation. In fact, British travel essayist Pico Iyer argues that our travel experiences are always structured by our preconceptions about ourselves and the world; for Iyer, we can never completely escape from ourselves. Building on the ideas of Iyer and others, we will investigate what we do when we travel and the motivations that drive the urge to explore. How does travel relate to identity, gender, and self-discovery? In this course, we will probe this question and others by watching films and reading texts from a variety of genres and disciplines, examining the desires, pressures, and delusions that propel us to hit the open road or take flight. Building on ideas from the course, students will be encouraged to write papers that engage with issues related to travel and self-exploration that they find compelling. Usually offered every year.

UWS 66b Sports, Money, and Power
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Despite being united by the common desire to win, few relationships in popular culture are as fraught as the relationship between athletes and the various organizational structures—teams, leagues, coaches, agents—of sports. Indeed, given the amount of money at stake, the sports industry’s many competing interests make it a productive case study for thinking about this ever-shifting balance of power. Beginning with the film Jerry Maguire, this course will track these ongoing power negotiations by looking at a variety of relationships within sports, attempting to understand how different actors—athletes, coaches, owners—try to win, maintain dominance, and get paid. How do organizations respond, for example, when individual players like Tom Brady and Aaron Rogers upset the traditional hierarchies that govern teams? Are some coaching styles—such as those of Steve Kerr or Phil Jackson—better suited than others to balancing the competing personalities and interests of professional sports? To further engage with the topics we discuss, students will be encouraged to write papers that grapple with sports-related questions and issues of power dynamics that are of interest to them. Usually offered every year.

UWS 67b Music, Protests, and Social Change of the Sixties
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

The Times They Are A-Changin…When Bob Dylan wrote this song in the early 1960s, it was the time of political and military upheaval in America. Dylan was trying to rally people to come together to bring about needed change in our society: culturally, socially, and politically. The decade marked revolutionary ideas and turmoil, and the most prevalent included individual freedoms, Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation, the Viet Nam controversy, Woodstock, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Gay Liberation, and more. Students played a major role in bringing about change as campus protests occurred across America. To explore their role, we will start by examining primary sources and personal narratives between 1960 and 1974 from the extensive archive at Brandeis. Through a series of writing assignments, this UWS will provide students an opportunity to examine the Sixties phenomena, first through the lens of music, then through a comparative analysis of controversies, and finally through research into movements that accomplished social change. Usually offered every year.

UWS 69a Hip-Hop as Social Commentary
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Examines hip-hop as a form of social commentary, focusing on how hip-hop artists use their music to address social, political, and cultural issues. Through readings, discussions, and listening exercises, we will explore how hip-hop artists have commented on topics such as racism, police brutality, poverty, and other social issues. Students will be encouraged to engage in critical thinking and discussion about the social issues addressed in hip-hop music, and to analyze how these messages are conveyed through the music. By the end of the course, students will have an understanding of how hip-hop can be used as a form of social commentary, and will have developed the skills necessary to analyze any genre of text that addresses social issues. Usually offered every year.

UWS 69b The Ethics of True Crime
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

In recent news, Adnan Syed – the lead figure in the seminal true crime podcast Serial – was released from prison after twenty-three years. Syed had been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend, Hay Min Lee, but the podcast shed enough doubt on the conviction that a court eventually overturned it, leading to Syed’s release. At the same time, many have noted that the emergence of true crime podcasts and docuseries has its roots in the exploitation of people’s misery for the entertainment of the masses (and the financial benefit of the media outlets). In this course, we will examine the ethics of this genre. We will read texts in ethical philosophy (authors like Kant, James, and Mill), as well as arguments about true crime series themselves. In the end, we will have examined some of our own beliefs about right and wrong, and will have conducted a critical investigation into the culture that surrounds us. Usually offered every year.

UWS 70a Beautiful People: Myths, Models, Makeovers
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Rigorous controlled experiments have now confirmed what has always intuitively seemed true: being beautiful has its advantages. But how do we define, identify, and recognize beauty? Why do we seek it out; why must we strive so hard to achieve it? And why does it often have such an ugly underbelly? This course will examine culturally and historically contingent ways of defining beauty, analyzing how constructs of racialized, classed, and gendered attributes at different historical moments factor into what counts as beautiful, fashionable, or desirable. We also will parse the values and ideals promoted by our own moment through a wide variety of selections from recent pop-culture and mass-media campaigns: music videos, such as Beyonce’s “Pretty Hurts,” reality TV clips, such as America’s Next Top Model, Instagram trends including #iweigh and #freethepuff, and advertisements for cosmetics and clothing, such as Aerie’s “real” campaign and Sephora’s “We Belong to Something Beautiful.” Nonfiction articles, book chapters, and documentary clips on the globalized beauty industry (cosmetics, plastic surgery) will offer critical and theoretical lenses to consider where and how beauty works. Usually offered every year.

UWS 70b Clones and Copies in Art, Literature, and Science
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

In the battle between the original and the clone, who wins? If they are identical, does it matter? In this course we will examine what it means to make a copy or a clone, and what it might mean to be a copy or clone. We will analyze how different technologies of reproduction – mirrors, lenses, the printing press, cameras, computers, bodies – both motivate and alter the impulse to copy. As we analyze a wide array of media including literature, film, painting, photography, dance, and music, we will investigate how form shapes – and is shaped by – the anxieties and opportunities afforded by replication. What makes a good copy? Why is the relationship between original and copy so contested? How do cloning and copying – whether historical or present day – force us to rethink the boundary between life and art, to renegotiate our ideas of what it means to be a human, a self, a unique individual? Texts may include clips from films such as The Matrix and television series such as Black Mirror as well as recent articles on innovations in artificial intelligence and bio-technology. Usually offered every year.

UWS 71a Like, but Not Like: The Uncanny Futures of Robots, Cyborgs, and Androids
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Examines the robots, cyborgs, and androids that proliferate in fiction, culture, and daily life: from Arnold’s T-800 to our friendly campus delivery bots. The creation of artificial intelligence, labor, and life requires us to investigate our political and cultural beliefs about individual autonomy, property, and civil rights. Using theoretical constructs around labor, the Uncanny, and Otherness, in this class, students will write about the cultural representations of robotic life in film as well as have the opportunity to examine the creation, implementation, and impacts of robots in the world around us. Usually offered every year.

UWS 71b Zombies and Society: Reading and Writing the Undead
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

The zombie genre is a staple of horror. But in the same way that most art is a reflection of society, authors, filmmakers, and creators have used the zombie hoard to interrogate important issues in society. Max Brook’s World War Z is really a critique of the failures of global disaster preparedness. George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead has been broadly interpreted as a meditation on consumer culture. Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend asks the question "what does it mean to be human?” The un-dead are a blank canvas, ready to become what we believe them to be. In this way, they are an effective vehicle for cultural commentary. This class will use novels, comics, film, and television to investigate the zombie genre as a form of social critique. Topics will include immigration and migration, disaster preparedness, sickness and death, the essence of humanity, mourning and loss, and climate change. This class will also draw on scholarly literature in history, English, medicine, sociology, and anthropology. Usually offered every year.

UWS 72a Autobiographical Comics
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Autobiography is an extremely popular genre among comics artists. Masterpieces like Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home are now common inclusions in high school and college curricula. These works share an uncanny ability to take difficult subjects — e.g., warfare, violence, and family trauma — and portray them in a human dimension that is accessible to readers of all ages and backgrounds. Other texts in the genre depict lighter subject matter, but these also claim to represent the past through images drawn much later in time than the episodes that they depict actually occurred. What is it about comics as a medium that draws artists to reflect on their personal experiences and enchants readers to engage? What should we make of the connection between lived reality and its portrayal in comics? Are comics more or less “real” than other media like text, photography, film, and paint?

In this course, we will pair autobiographical comics with theory from various disciplines: art and visual representation, history and narrativization, and psychology and memory studies. Students will be encouraged to write papers that investigate the relationship between comics, the self, and the notion of truth. Usually offered every year.

UWS 72b Driving Change: Student-Led Social Movements
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

In January of 1969, Black students and other students of color at Brandeis led an 11-day sit-in at Ford Hall, an administrative building, and issued a list of ten demands that promoted racial justice. Brandeis students aren’t unique: Students and young adults play a critical role in nearly every social movement. For generations, youth across the world have used innovative tactics to protest inequality, racism, violence, and human rights violations. Is the rest of the world listening? How do these movements form and how are they portrayed in media and pop culture? Why do they succeed or fail?

This course utilizes documentaries, archives, pop culture, and scholarly histories to explore the tactics of student and youth-led groups through the intersecting lenses of race, gender identity, citizenship, and sexuality. Throughout the semester, students will reflect on these activists’ impact on social justice movements around the world as well as how authorities and media view their tactics. During the final paper, students will have the freedom to choose their own topic and to utilize interdisciplinary literature in their exploration of how youth activism shape our understanding of how to fight for change. Usually offered every year.

UWS 73a The Science of Free Will
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

In The Matrix, Neo believes he is the author of his own life. But is he really? As it turns out, intelligent machines have enslaved the minds of humans, and Neo is merely a cog in their grand scheme to access solar energy. While this film may seem far-fetched, philosophers have debated whether or not we truly have free will for millennia. At stake is our understanding of ourselves, our place in the world, and how we ought to judge the behavior of others. While the free will question is far from settled, the tools of science may be able to get us closer to an answer. From the fundamental structure of the universe to how our brains operate, science can help determine what kind of control is possible and how we actually make decisions. This course will examine the implications of theories and experiments in physics, psychology, and neuroscience for the free will debate. Course material may include readings from philosophy, science, and literature, as well as popular films like The Matrix and Minority Report. Usually offered every year.

UWS 73b The Ethics of Technology
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Chat GPT has generated much anxiety in professional and academic arenas. Will AI eliminate jobs or become smart enough to manipulate humans? Films such as Her prey on these fears when the film’s protagonist falls in love with and takes advice from his AI assistant, Samantha. Looking beyond AI, the use of technology raises a host of other questions. For example, should social media companies restrict speech on their platforms? Do interactions in video games have different social rules than real life? These questions each come with their own distinct considerations but are united by a common theme—life in the digital age and the related ethical implications. Determining our moral obligations when using or developing technology has important consequences, ranging from our interpersonal relationships to the very fate of humanity. This course will examine ethical issues arising from various kinds of technological advancement, present and future. Course material may include readings from philosophy, science, and literature, as well as popular films like Ex Machina, Transcendence, and Her. Usually offered every year.

UWS 74a Art and Social Change
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

A painter or sculptor might not change the world simply by installing their work in a museum or on the street, but they might change how we see the world. How does this process work? What kind of things can a piece of art allow us—or force us—to see about the society that we live in? And how can we use writing to come to grips with these new ways of seeing and being? This course invites us to ask questions about the possibilities and the limits of art to represent and effect social change. We will look at theories of how art can change the way we see the world and even how we act within it, look at famous case studies from artists like Banksy, Dana Schutz, Kerry James Marshall, and Kara Walker, and head to some museums or other public spaces for art ourselves to see these ideas in action. Usually offered every year.

UWS 74b The Politics of Star Wars
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

It has earned 10 billion dollars, created millions of fans, inspired thousands of books, dozens of TV episodes, and hundreds of baby Yoda toys. Since its premiere in 1977, Star Wars has become one of the most widely recognizable pop culture phenomena, with the franchise having expanded from a film trilogy to numerous television series, novels, comic books, video games, and its own theme park. But how did this massive world come to be?

Star Wars has often been called a “modern fairytale”; like all fairytales, it reflects artistic and political contexts of its time. In this class, we will look at the literary sources – including samurai films, cowboy mythology, space operas, and 1930s serials – and the real-world social contexts that informed George Lucas, the director of Star Wars, and inspired other filmmakers working under the auspices of the Disney Corporation. Students will be encouraged to think critically about how the fictional world of Star Wars has been constructed by different authors, at different times. The breadth of the text of Star Wars and the interdisciplinary nature of this course allow everyone to engage in discussion and writing activities – you do not have to be a “hardcore” fan to contribute! Usually offered every year.

UWS 75a Youth Activism Around the World
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Whether in high schools, universities, or international forums like the United Nations, young people are major actors in many contemporary movements for social change. Their activism is central to shifting the political and economic priorities of our society and imagining a more compassionate and equal society for all. In this class, we will look at examples of youth activism and activists from around the world, such as the youth climate movement and Greta Thunberg, to contemplate what makes youth activism unique and powerful. What are the issues, experiences, and ambitions that motivate young people to organize and advocate for change? What strategies or opportunities do youth activists leverage to gain legitimacy as social actors? What challenges do youth activists confront from institutions and people in power? Usually offered every year.

UWS 75b On Being Someone Else
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Have you ever wanted to trade lives with someone else, to experience a different consciousness? In Charlie Kaufman's film Being John Malkovich, office workers discover a tiny, mysterious door that turns out to be a portal into John Malkovich's mind. For 15 minutes, they get to be John Malkovich – and yet, they retain their own identity at the same time. What is it to be someone else? Is it to know what their body feels like? To hear their thoughts? To see through their eyes? Is it more than that? If the office workers are still themselves while 'inside' John Malkovich, do they really know what it is like to be John Malkovich? This course explores the strangeness of being a particular self, and of not being someone else. We will ponder various kinds of other minds, from strangers to enigmatic lovers, philosophical zombies to dogs and bats, and think about what knowledge is possible or desirable or ethical to seek. How are we shaped by and intertwined with others? Usually offered every year.

UWS 76a Musical Storytelling in Film, Television, and Video Games
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

In 1975, Steven Spielberg made a film about a shark that terrorizes summer tourists in Martha's Vineyard. What music did his collaborator, John Williams, compose to underscore the shark as it attacked its unsuspecting victims? Two notes. In screen media, music plays an integral role in stirring emotions, depicting characters, and structuring narrative. We may not see the shark in Spielberg's Jaws, but William's music proclaims its terrifying presence. "Musical Storytelling in Film, Television, and Video Games" focuses on the sounds and music emanating from your speakers or headphones when you watch television shows or movies or play video games. While this seminar does not require any formal musical training to participate, students are required to engage with scholarly discourse and critical thinking, express their unique perspectives, and hone their writing skills by examining how audiovisual relationships bring the stories, characters, and locations in screen media to life. Usually offered every year.

UWS 76b Narratives of Migration
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Why do people migrate? What is the impact of the circumstances and context of such moves? How do immigrants write about moving to new locations – leaving their old home and arriving at a new one? In this seminar, we explore patterns of human migration, the political and cultural significance of such movement and the ways in which people narrate their experience. In exploring multiple types and contexts of migration, we consider multilingualism and translation, identity, borders, and cultural encounters and differences – topics that continue to pervade our public discourse. Our sources include literary texts, historical and legal documents, journalistic writing, personal narratives, and film. We discuss these readings and the choices made in them in terms of tone, word choice, audience and more, and use them to formulate our own critical ideas on topics such as home, belonging and navigating cultural differences. Usually offered every year.

UWS 77a Jerusalem, Then and Now
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Jerusalem is a city with multiple names, a long and tumultuous history, and myriad admirers. For millennia, it has been conquered, destroyed, and rebuilt. People have killed and died for it, traveled from afar to see it, dreamed about it, and written poetry and prose commemorating it. Why has this city captured so many people’s imagination for so long? And what is it like to actually live in a city that has long been a symbol? In this course, we ask how Jerusalem became sacred and to whom, trace recurring instances of exile and of longing to return and discuss the city’s symbolic and political importance in the violent national conflict of the past 100 years. Our journey through Jerusalem’s many lives includes an array of texts and artifacts depicting the city across centuries and perspectives: religious texts, poetry, short stories, paintings, film, and television. Usually offered every year.

UWS 77b Laughing Matters: Sitcoms and Society
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Introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.

Explores the role of the television sitcom (or “situational comedy”) as a programming and cultural mainstay in American life. Despite being occasionally derided as mere entertainment, the television sitcom functions as a social and cultural artifact that often indicates the norms and values of its time and place. This course will analyze how sitcoms reflect and influence societal values. By dissecting the humor, characters, and underlying social messages of iconic sitcoms ranging from I Love Lucy to The Office, students will develop a nuanced understanding of how shifting societal values have been reflected in sitcoms, and how this popular entertainment form shapes the construction of social norms and social difference in American culture. We will also consider the transformational role of digital streaming platforms in the development and consumption of contemporary sitcoms. Usually offered every year.