» Social and Cultural Studies

Focus: The United States offers a fascinating case study of the triumphs and struggles of a nation building its own identity. Able to choose from cultural, political, economic and social models already in place throughout the world, Americans made crucial decisions regarding our values, goals, and character that continue to shape our identity today. This themed inquiry will provide an opportunity for students to examine the myriad factors that shape the dynamic society and culture of the United States and to examine critically its role in the world today.

Themed Inquiry Coordinator/email: Department Chair, Associate Professor of History, Dr. Shira Klein

Important information regarding Themed Inquiry completion:

• No course in the student’s major discipline can be used to satisfy themed inquiry requirements, even if the course is not being used to satisfy major requirements.
• Because you may not apply a GE course to more than one GE category, no themed inquiry courses may be shared with another GE category.
• Course prerequisites appear in brackets in the list below.
• If a course is restricted to majors only, you may request permission of the instructor or department chair, if space is available and you have met pre-requisites.
• Courses in the themed inquiry are not guaranteed for availability. Please check the catalog for the semesters in which the course is offered.
• If you are having problems completing a themed inquiry or finding available courses, please contact Academic Advising and/or the Themed Inquiry Coordinator.

Restrictions: Not open to majors in History.

Courses: Choose four of the following, two of which must be at the upper division. Students take two courses from each of the two subdivisions.

Cultural Studies:

AMST 372: Images of Indians
AMST 396: Indians of California
ENG 320: Topics in American Literature before 1870 [ENG 256]
ENG 326: Topics in American Literature [ENG 256]
ENG 327: Multicultural Literatures of the U.S. [ENG 256]
FS 342: Film Genre and Auteur Studies (all topics)
PCST 352: Race and Change in South Africa and the United States (cross-listed with POSC 352)
POSC 317: Media and Politics
SOC 370: Race and Ethnicity

Historical Perspectives:

HIST 101: United States History Survey I
HIST 103: United States History Survey II
HIST 211: Mother Russia and Uncle Sam During the Cold War: Conflict and Coexistence
HIST 221: Native American History: The Struggle to be Heard
HIST 224: United States Women’s History
HIST 228: African American Historical Experience
HIST 230: Chicano/a History and Culture to 1865
HIST 231: Chicano/a History and Culture, 1848-present
HIST 256: Film and American History
HIST 301: U.S. Environmental History
HIST 317: Migration in World History
HIST 322: A Global History of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and Decolonization 1940s-1980s
HIST 328: American Colonial History
HIST 330: America and Its Revolution: The Bonfires of Change
HIST 332: Slavery, Civil War and Reconstruction
HIST 333: Images of History
HIST 337: World War II
HIST 338: America After the War, 1945-1960
HIST 342: The History of Everyday Life in America: Cooking, Cleaning, Life and Death 
HIST 369: History of Terrorism in the United States
HIST 372: California History
HIST 373: U.S. Economic History [cross-listed with ECON 373]
ITAL 387: Italian American Cinema
POSC 110: Introduction to American Politics
POSC 300: American Political Thought

Focus: This themed inquiry is designed to introduce students to the essential concepts of business and economics.

Themed Inquiry Coordinator/email: Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Research and Administration, Argyros School of Business and Economics, Dr. Kaan Ataman

Important information regarding Themed Inquiry completion:

• No course in the student’s major discipline can be used to satisfy themed inquiry requirements, even if the course is not being used to satisfy major requirements.
• Because you may not apply a GE course to more than one GE category, no themed inquiry courses may be shared with another GE category.
• Course prerequisites appear in brackets in the list below.
• If a course is restricted to majors only, you may request permission of the instructor or department chair, if space is available and you have met pre-requisites.
• Courses in the themed inquiry are not guaranteed for availability. Please check the catalog for the semesters in which the course is offered.

If you are having problems completing a themed inquiry or finding available courses, please contact Academic Advising and/or the Themed Inquiry Coordinator

Restrictions: Not open to Accounting, Business, or Economics majors.

Courses: Choose four of the following, two of which must be upper division.

BUS 100: Introduction to Business
BUS 110: Accounting and Finance for Non-Majors
ECON 200: Principles of Microeconomics [MATH 099, or equivalent]
ECON 201: Principles of Macroeconomics [MATH 099, or equivalent]
ECON 350: Intermediate Microeconomics Theory [ECON 200 ,201, and MATH 109, or 110, or MGSC 208]
ECON 351: Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory [ECON 200, 201, and MATH 109, or 110, or MGSC 208]
ECON 441: Economic Development [ECON 200, 201]
ECON 452: Econometrics [ECON 200, 201, and MATH 109, or 110, or MGSC 208, and MGSC 209, or MATH 203, and business administration, or economics major, or computational science, or economics, or mathematics minor]
ENTR 300: Entrepreneurial Finance [BUS 110, MKTG 305, and entrepreneurship minor]
ENTR 310: How to Successfully Start a New Business [ENTR 300, MKTG 305, and entrepreneurship minor, or FIN 317, MKTG 304, and entrepreneurship emphasis in business administration]
FIN 207: Personal Finance [Quantitative Inquiry course]
MKTG 305: Fundamentals of Marketing for Non-Majors
REAL 370: Principles of Real Estate [ECON 200]

Focus: This themed inquiry is designed to provide the student with differential worldviews as expressed in culture, the arts, and societal institutions. Courses in the themed inquiry provide a broad overview of how societies across the globe translate their mores, values, arts, and priorities into functioning realities. The themed inquiry courses illustrate the unique and creative ways cultures evolve solutions to problems we all confront to some degree.

Themed Inquiry Coordinator/email: Professor and Chair of Sociology, Dr. Christopher Bader

Important information regarding Themed Inquiry completion:

• No course in the student’s major discipline can be used to satisfy themed inquiry requirements, even if the course is not being used to satisfy major requirements.
• Because you may not apply a GE course to more than one GE category, no themed inquiry courses may be shared with another GE category.
• Course prerequisites appear in brackets in the list below.
• If a course is restricted to majors only, you may request permission of the instructor or department chair, if space is available and you have met pre-requisites.
• Courses in the themed inquiry are not guaranteed for availability. Please check the catalog for the semesters in which the course is offered.
• If you are having problems completing a themed inquiry or finding available courses, please contact Academic Advising and/or the Themed Inquiry Coordinator.

Restrictions: Open to all majors.

The Cross Cultural Studies themed inquiry will not be taking anymore new enrollments.

Courses: Choose four of the following, two of which must be upper division.

Focus: This themed inquiry is designed for pre-law students to expose them to questions of the law and policy. Themed inquiry courses are liberal-arts-based and examine law in the context of the larger social and political framework in which laws are made and enforced, bridging courses in the major and the professional law school curriculum.

Themed Inquiry Coordinator/email: Professor and Chair of Political Science, Dr. John Compton 

Important information regarding Themed Inquiry completion:

• No course in the student’s major discipline can be used to satisfy themed inquiry requirements, even if the course is not being used to satisfy major requirements.
• Because you may not apply a GE course to more than one GE category, no themed inquiry courses may be shared with another GE category.
• Course prerequisites appear in brackets in the list below.
• If a course is restricted to majors only, you may request permission of the instructor or department chair, if space is available and you have met pre-requisites.
• Courses in the themed inquiry are not guaranteed for availability. Please check the catalog for the semesters in which the course is offered.
• If you are having problems completing a themed inquiry or finding available courses, please contact Academic Advising and/or the Themed Inquiry Coordinator.

Restrictions: Not open to Political Science majors; cross-listed courses are not open to Peace Studies majors as themed inquiry options.

Courses: Choose four of the following, two of which must be upper division. It is strongly suggested that students seeking to complete this themed inquiry enroll in POSC 110: Introduction to American Politics and/or POSC 120: Introduction to International Relations prior to taking these following courses.

Focus: This themed inquiry deals with the concept of law and social control from a broad interdisciplinary approach, encompassing both formal and informal mechanisms of social control.

Themed Inquiry Coordinator/email: Professor and Chair of Sociology, Dr. Christopher Bader

Important information regarding Themed Inquiry completion:

• No course in the student’s major discipline can be used to satisfy themed inquiry requirements, even if the course is not being used to satisfy major requirements.
• Because you may not apply a GE course to more than one GE category, no themed inquiry courses may be shared with another GE category.
• Course prerequisites appear in brackets in the list below.
• If a course is restricted to majors only, you may request permission of the instructor or department chair, if space is available and you have met pre-requisites.
• Courses in the themed inquiry are not guaranteed for availability. Please check the catalog for the semesters in which the course is offered.
• If you are having problems completing a themed inquiry or finding available courses, please contact Academic Advising and/or the Themed Inquiry Coordinator.

Restrictions: Not open to majors in Sociology

The Law and Social Control Themed inquiry will not be taking anymore new enrollments.

Courses: Choose four of the following, two of which must be upper division. Students take at least two courses from the Sociology offerings.

Focus: This themed inquiry gives students the opportunity to study the symbiotic relationship between media and social, political and cultural institutions.

Themed Inquiry Coordinator/email: Professor in the Department of English and Peace Studies, Dr. Richard Ruppel

Important information regarding Themed Inquiry completion:

• No course in the student’s major discipline can be used to satisfy themed inquiry requirements, even if the course is not being used to satisfy major requirements.
• Because you may not apply a GE course to more than one GE category, no themed inquiry courses may be shared with another GE category.
• Course prerequisites appear in brackets in the list below.
• If a course is restricted to majors only, you may request permission of the instructor or department chair, if space is available and you have met pre-requisites.
• Courses in the themed inquiry are not guaranteed for availability. Please check the catalog for the semesters in which the course is offered.
• If you are having problems completing a themed inquiry or finding available courses, please contact Academic Advising and/or the Themed Inquiry Coordinator.

Restrictions: Not open to majors in Communication or Strategic and Corporate Communication.

Courses: Choose four of the following, two of which must be upper division.

AMST 296: Indians and Film
AMST 372: Images of Indians
ANTH 211: Visual Culture
CCI 305: Cultural Studies
COM 151: Mass Communication
COM 210B: Theories of Persuasion for Non-Majors
COM 251: Issues in Mass Communication
DOC 321: The Documentary Tradition
ENG 206: Critical Literacies and Community Writing
ENG 215: Theory and Practice of Journalism and Reporting Lab [Corequisite, ENG 215L]
ENG 260: Literature into Film
ENG 272: Reading Cinema
ENG 371: Discourse Analysis
ENG 372: Language and Ideology
ENG 373: Rhetorical Criticism
ENG 375: Composing New Media
ENG 415: Topics in Journalism
ENG 472: Film, Gender, Sexuality
ENG 484: Introduction to Digital Humanities
HIST 388: Technology and the Media in the United States
ITAL 341: Italian Cinema: Politics, Art, and Industry (cross-listed with FS 443F)
POSC 110: Introduction to American Politics
POSC 317: Media and Politics
PRA 230: Principles of Advertising
PRA 231: Principles of Public Relations
SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
SOC 370: Race and Ethnicity
TWP 246: History of Television
TWP 265: Prime Time: The Game of Television

Focus: This themed inquiry considers the historical and contemporary experiences of major racial and ethnic groups in the United States and diverse and multicultural societies around the world through interdisciplinary lenses. Courses include examination of key theoretical perspectives on race and ethnicity.

Themed Inquiry Coordinator/email: Professor and Chair of Sociology, Dr. Christopher Bader

Important information regarding Themed Inquiry completion:

• No course in the student’s major discipline can be used to satisfy themed inquiry requirements, even if the course is not being used to satisfy major requirements.
• Because you may not apply a GE course to more than one GE category, no themed inquiry courses may be shared with another GE category.
• Course prerequisites appear in brackets in the list below.
• If a course is restricted to majors only, you may request permission of the instructor or department chair, if space is available and you have met pre-requisites.
• Courses in the themed inquiry are not guaranteed for availability. Please check the catalog for the semesters in which the course is offered.
• If you are having problems completing a themed inquiry or finding available courses, please contact Academic Advising and/or the Themed Inquiry Coordinator.

Restrictions: Open to all majors.

Courses: Choose four of the following, two of which must be upper division.

AMST 397: Cultural Mythology
ANTH 102: Cultural Anthropology
DANC 353: Dance in World Cultures
ENG 302: Writing about Diverse Cultures
HIST 221: Native American History: the Struggle to be Heard
HIST 230: Chicano/a History and Culture to 1865
HIST 231: Chicano/a History and Culture, 1848-present
PCST 352: Race and Change in South Africa and the United States (cross-listed with POSC 352)
POSC 327: Latin American Politics
POSC 372: Racial and Ethnic Politics in the U.S.
SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
SOC 370: Race and Ethnicity [SOC 101]
SPAN 397: United States Latino Literature and Cultures [SPAN 326 or consent of instructor]

Focus: This themed inquiry is designed to introduce and provide a broad orientation to students who may be interested in a career in the helping professions. The underlying premise is that one must have an understanding of the worldviews of the clientele to be served as well as those of the various professions involved in delivering social services. It also is designed to provide a working definition of the logistics of the professions involved.

Themed Inquiry Coordinator/email: Professor and Chair of Sociology, Dr. Christopher Bader

Important information regarding Themed Inquiry completion:

• No course in the student’s major discipline can be used to satisfy themed inquiry requirements, even if the course is not being used to satisfy major requirements.
• Because you may not apply a GE course to more than one GE category, no themed inquiry courses may be shared with another GE category.
• Course prerequisites appear in brackets in the list below.
• If a course is restricted to majors only, you may request permission of the instructor or department chair, if space is available and you have met pre-requisites.
• Courses in the themed inquiry are not guaranteed for availability. Please check the catalog for the semesters in which the course is offered.
• If you are having problems completing a themed inquiry or finding available courses, please contact Academic Advising and/or the Themed Inquiry Coordinator.

Restrictions: Open to all majors. (Note: majors in Sociology will have limited course selections because they may not choose SOC classes.)

Courses: Choose four of the following, two of which must be upper division.

ENG 327: Multicultural Literatures of the U.S. [ENG 256]
FSN 200: Nutrition for Life
FSN 201: International Nutrition: World Food Crisis
IES 300: Valuing Differences in American Society
SOC 211: Social Problems [SOC 101]
SOC 293: Introduction to Social Work
SOC 385: Medical Sociology
SOC 393: Child Abuse [SOC 101]