Mark Hernandez (Romance languages)
The U.S.-Mexico Borderlands is a new interdisciplinary seminar that explores the genesis of the borderland region and its salient issues from the early 16th century through the late 20th century as represented in historical narratives and documents, literature, film , and music. Students from history, anthropology and sociology, international relations, and cultural studies will look critically at a broad array of issues.

Henry Kim (economics)
Topics in International Finance is a new seminar course that uses case studies to help students to gain a deeper understanding of economic issues, including international risk sharing, regional monetary arrangement, and global capital flows. Seminar participants will engage in debates and individual research projects.

Gary Leupp (history)
In the new course, History of U.S. Imperialism in Asia, an examination of the interplay of economics, politics, culture, and military action, students acquire and use the critical analytical skills required for any academic study of history.

Margaret Lynch (biology)
A revision of the course Plant Biotechnology examines the debate between agrobiotechnology and environmental organizations concerning the risks and benefits associated with genetically modified organisms. Particular attention will be paid to evaluating the scientific rogor or experimental design, data collection, and interpretation of experimental results.

Gary McKissick (political science and community health)
Issues in American Public Policy has been revised to engage students more fully in thinking critically about public policy. Students will explore what public policy is and how it is made, with attention paid to the tensions between the “rational” and “socially constructed” perspectives. Students will strengthen their ability to think about standards of evidence, problems of measurement, causal argumentation, and how evidence is and should be used to advance policy objectives.

Lynne Pepall (economics)
A new course, Economics of Advertising brings an analytical perspective to a familiar topic. The course focuses on the incentives firms have to engage in advertising and its role in the economy. In addition to gaining an understanding of the phenomenon of advertising, students will look at various examples of ads with a critical eye, detecting informal fallacies.

Jeffrey Taliaferro (political science)
International Relations, which introduces students to the major themes, concepts, and theoretical debates in the field, is revised to foster more critical and analytic thinking skills, helping students to construct strong arguments and providing the analytic tools necessary to conduct research. Students will participate in a simulation of an historical debate.

Tina Wasserman (Visual and Critical Studies)
Haunted by History: The Holocaust and Vietnam in the Cinematic Imagination, a new course, critically reviews two traumatic and catastrophic events of the 20th century as they have been depicted through film.

Adriana Zavala (art and art history)
Latin American Cinema is a new course that looks at the development of national film industries in Latin America, with an emphasis on Mexico, Brazil, and Cuba. Students will learn how to analyze how films work as visual media and how the visual aspects of film inform storytelling.

Past Program Participants:

2007  |  2006  |  2005  |  2004  |  2003  |  2002  |  2001  |  2000  |  1999

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