Fall Bridge
Dept. 3334 | Coe 105
307-766-4311
uwbridge@uwyo.edu
Are you interested in learning about cultures, difference, and reaching across divides? At a time when cultural difference becomes a source of anxiety, it is critical to learn the importance of cultural awareness in understanding each other. In this class, we will explore media from new lenses by examining books, social media, films, and short stories to grow our knowledge about other cultures and build an understanding based on mutual respect. Some of the issues we will explore include culture, identity, imperialism, power, race, sexuality, and gender. This class will grow your ability to think critically about large themes that shape who we are!
When did you know you were no longer a child? This class asks students to critically examine what it means to be a child in the 21st century. We will ask the following questions: How is childhood marked and/or celebrated? What defines childhood and how might these definitions differ when one considers gender, race, sexuality, socioeconomic status, education, etc.? In what ways has childhood changed over the past several decades and how might it continue to evolve? We will consider theories of childhood that are concerned with the history of childhood as a concept, the nature of childhood, and how childhood might be used in society. We will also consider the paradox of how today, young people are often seen as growing up too fast or conversely, not growing up at all (i.e., having an extended adolescence). Students will also have the opportunity to reflect on how their own childhood has shaped their behavior as a human and their experiences as adults
Just what was America like, in past decades? What were the biggest social problems of the day, and which social problems still haunt us today? In this class, students will play a historically based role-playing game (RPG) that asks them to play a role of a past American. Throughout the semester, we will practice critical thinking, use active discussions, and conduct research to achieve our First Year Seminar learning outcomes that will help you succeed in college as well as throughout your life. We will explore past and present social problems in America, such as women’s roles in society; workers’ rights; and African American and immigrant issues. If you have interest in American culture, history, role-playing games (RPGs), sociology, women’s studies, or political science---this class is for you.
We usually picture the American West by thinking of a rugged, horseback cowboy on sagebrush-dotted plains. This Western identity lives on in film and in television (think Longmire or Yellowstone). But, more importantly, it lives on in perceptions of Western identity, nationally and globally. Anyone who has lived in the American West can confirm this story of a mythicized West is not always accurate. If the portrayal of Western identity isn’t right, why is it still so common in film, TV, and other popular media? Is there value in maintaining a classic Western mystique? These questions, and others, are the focus of our class. We will examine more accurate and more complex representations of Western identity through media portrayals of the American West. If you have interest in sociology, archival work, American Studies, Indigenous studies, or film and media studies, this class is for you!
Have you ever considered a story or narrative to be a parasite of your subconscious? In this course, we will explore how stories form our psyches, and in turn, our world. From Bitcoin to the Great Recession, let’s learn more about how our economy is not just based on the objectivity of numbers, but also the subjectivity of humanity’s most base mode: storytelling. Together we will read, listen to, and watch a diverse selection of media including Narrative Economics, by Robert Shiller, and Adam McKay’s film, The Big Short. Our semester will culminate in a creative final research project that will allow you to explore video and audio editing around a personal, cultural, or economic narrative of your choosing. Consider this course especially if you are planning to major in: Business, Psychology, Sociology, Economics, or Exploratory Studies.
Fall Bridge
Dept. 3334 | Coe 105
307-766-4311
uwbridge@uwyo.edu