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mals@wfu.edu |
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758-4669 |
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MALS,
PO 6103
Wake
Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC 27109 |
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Fall 2005 Courses
MLS 703 Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us: The U.S. & U.K. Compared
What are the United Kingdom’s attitudes to the United States? Can the U.K. continue to have a “special relationship” with the U.S.A.? This course will examine the similarities and differences that help define the two great western democracies, and use that comparison to throw light on the nature of the contemporary United States and on contemporary overseas reactions to it. It will examine the history and changing relationship of the U.K. and U.S. over time. “U.S. exceptionalism” and “the peculiarities of the English” will be explored. We will discuss whether the U.K.’s experience of empire and decline foreshadows the U.S.’s own. The course will draw parallels and lessons from the comparison of class systems, gender patterns and immigration; and it will examine the nature of shared political projects (from Reagan-Thatcher to Bush-Blair).
MLS 801 Changing World, Challenging Decisions: The History of Bioethics
Biomedical science is developing at a rapid pace, raising increasingly difficult ethical questions. These questions must be faced by patients, doctors, care-givers, researchers, legislators and religious leaders. Issues such as end-of-life and death with dignity decisions, the use of human subjects in medical research, equal access to health care and cloning are not only in the news media, but can and do touch our personal lives. This course will examine several events which were decisive in the emergence of contemporary biomedical ethics from 1962 to today. The immediate repercussions of each event for the public and biomedical science and the wide ranging consequences resulting from each event will be discussed. The course will draw upon a broad range of experts as guest lecturers from the fields of medicine, law, communication, philosophy and biomedical science.
MLS 802 Shakespeare: His Comedies, Tragedies, and Their Sources
The sources of Shakespeare’s works make for a great read. The original chronicles he used contain fanciful and blunt assessments of historical figures. The English and Italian plays and novellas often contain fascinating, though sometimes unsettling, story lines. As we shall see, many of his narrative and dramatic sources stand perfectly well on their own. But when these sources are examined alongside his plays, the texts that Shakespeare used (with his inclusions, exclusions, polite changes, and philosophical turns on them) afford us a deeper appreciation of Shakespeare’s dramatic themes and of his mind at work. Sometimes as in the sources of Romeo and Juliet, a comic novella turns into a tragedy in Shakespeare’s hand. At other times, as in Othello, Shakespeare draws the sublime out of a merely tawdry source. Among the plays whose sources and contexts we will examine are The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth. Students will lead discussions and write short responses to plays; one 8-10 page research paper will be required.
MLS 804 Health, Environment, and the Active Lifestyle
The importance of being physically active has never been more evident than now. One sign of this increasing awareness is that as of January 2005 the United States Department of Agriculture included “increasing physical activity” as part of their Dietary Guidelines. As we are beginning to be realize, the sedentary behavior patterns of US citizens contribute to many health problems, including the epidemic of obesity. So why don’t we “just go out and do it”? One major problem may be that our environment is not always conducive to being active with a lack of sidewalks, bike paths, and unsafe neighborhoods. But this problem is not world-wide. The definition of appropriate physical activity and attitudes towards it vary across cultures throughout the world. Part of the reason for the US’s lack of physical activity may include societal, psycho-social, and physiological barriers. This course will use discussions on public health policies for physical activity, how they can be implemented, and what this would mean to us as citizens with regards to our society. We will discuss components of exercise programs and consider specific exercise programs for improving health, fitness and performance. This course will address health and social concerns, both on a local and international level. |