CHID 270 A: Special Topics

Winter 2021
Meeting:
MW 1:30pm - 3:20pm / * *
SLN:
12444
Section Type:
Lecture
Joint Sections:
FRENCH 228 A , LIT 228 A
Instructor:
"THE WATER CRISIS IN LITERATURE AND FILM" TAUGHT BY RICHARD WATTS OFFERED JOINTLY WITH FRENCH 228 A INTERPRETS A VARIETY OF TEXTS (LITERARY, CINEMATIC, ETC.) THAT ADDRESS THE WATER CRISIS TO UNDERSTAND HOW WATER'S MEANING HAS CHANGED AS PEOPLE BECOME MORE CONSCIOUS OF RISKS IN SUPPLY (POLLUTION AND NATURAL/MAN-MADE SCARCITY) AND AS ACCESS TO IT IS INCREASINGLY MEDIATED IN LIGHT OF THINGS LIKE PRIVATIZATION AND COMMODIFICATION.
Syllabus Description (from Canvas):

This course addresses the cultural significance of water with the aim of understanding how water’s meaning is changing as we become more conscious of risks posed by pollution, scarcity/overabundance (as a function of political economies and climate), infrastructure, and other factors. We get at this emergent meaning of water by interpreting a variety of documents and objects—literature (e.g., Masters of the Dew), cinema (e.g., Even the Rain), landscape architecture (from the fountains of Versailles to the Brightwater sewage treatment plant in Woodinville, WA). While no ten-week course could pretend to give a comprehensive and global view of a problem as complex as our relation to water, we will study novels, essays, films, fountains, art installations, and other cultural archives from Western Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, the Maghreb, Asia, the Caribbean, and North and South America with a view to understanding the differential distribution of the water crisis and the variety of aesthetic, cultural, and political responses to it.

Catalog Description:
Each special topics course examines a different subject or problem from a comparative framework.
GE Requirements Met:
Social Sciences (SSc)
Credits:
5.0
Status:
Active
Last updated:
March 27, 2024 - 9:36 pm