Course Descriptions

DIG 340 - Gender and Technology

This class explores the relationship between gender and technology in the digital age. We will consider the countless ways modern technology shapes our attitudes toward and experiences of sex, power, play, and work, and even the way digital technology shapes our bodies. Other topics will include the representation of gender in digital media, feminism and protest in digital spaces, queer gaming, and gender performance through social media.

Satisfies a requirement in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

DIG 345 - Radical Software

This course introduces students to advanced interface design and programming concepts for creating dynamic internet applications for both practical and expressive ends. We will explore themes through readings, discussion, and film that address the public, chaotic, and political space that is the internet. Students will be challenged to not only conceptualize, but execute culturally-relevant web-based applications using professional tools in order to comment on, critique, or celebrate online culture to challenge our understanding of the web and its possibilities. The technologies and skills this course introduces allows for alternating themes of game design, data visualization, and mobile application development.

Satisfies Digital and Screen Media Interdisciplinary Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisifes Visual and Performing Arts requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: DIG 245

DIG 350 - History & Future of the Book

This class is concerned with the long history, the varied present, and the uncertain future of the book in the digital age. Over the course of the semester we will address three questions: What is the history of the book as a physical and cultural object? How have current disruptions in reading and writing technology changed the way we use and imagine books? And what does the future of the book look like? Along the way we will consider reading and writing innovations such as electronic paper, e-readers, and touchscreen interfaces. We will also design hybrid books ourselves, augmenting conventional printed books with electronic circuits and I/O sensors.

Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Not offered 2017-2018.)

DIG 401 - Hacking, Remixing and Design

This seminar will explore hacking and remixing as creative and critical practices.  In the process we will expand the conceptual domains of both terms.  We will explore hacking and remixing across a range of forms, including code, software, social media, and digital writing.  The social, ethical, and rhetorical dimensions of hacking and remixing will also be considered as students design their own hacks and remixes.

Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Spring)

DIG 404 - Humanities Startup

Humanities Startup blends humanities research with startup culture in a collaborative theory and practice-based course. The class operates at the intersection of creative computing, digital culture, and humanities methodologies. Over the duration of the semester students will conceive, research, ideate, develop, and publicize a project that responds to a multidisciplinary research subject. While the class as a whole produces a single project, students will work on teams on specific aspects of that project. The collaborative project will be both technologically proficient and socially and historically conscious. The project might be serious or playful, and may take the shape of prototypes, software, hardware, public engagement, or any combination of these. No prerequisites are required; the course will play to students’ existing strengths while simultaneously pushing them to cultivate new areas of knowledge.

Satisfies a requirement of the Digital Studies interdisciplinary minor and the Digital and Screen Media interdisciplinary major.

EAS 495 - Senior Research and Thesis Seminar

EAS 496 - East Asian Studies Honors Thesis

ECO 101 - Introductory Economics

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

ECO 122 - Introduction to Health Care Economics

This course provides students without an economics background a broad overview of the health economics field.  A foundation of microeconomics principles is developed, and this foundation is then used to analyze leading health care issues.

Satisfies a minor credit in Economics.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

ECO 180 - Indian Economic Development

This course introduces the student to some of the economic development issues of modern India as part of the Davidson College Semester in India Program.  Students will learn basic economic principles and how to apply those principles to the India they experience.

Not for major or minor credit in Economics.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
 

ECO 195 - Independent Study

Not for major or minor credit in Economics.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor.

ECO 202 - Intermediate Microeconomic Theory

Analysis of production and consumption activities of individual economic units. Areas of concentration include the theory of consumer behavior, cost analysis, production and distribution theory, market structure, game theory, general equilibrium, and welfare criteria.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and Calculus I or equivalent.

ECO 203 - Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory

Kumar

Theories of aggregate demand and supply; determination of real national income, employment, and the price level; and use of fiscal and monetary policies to achieve macroeconomic objectives.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and Calculus I or equivalent.

ECO 204 - Statistics and Basic Econometrics

Application of probability and statistics to economic analysis. Topics include: probability rules, discrete and continuous random variables, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, correlation, and regression. Spreadsheet software is utilized. An economics research paper is a major component of the course.

Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement. 
Satisfies a requirement in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
ECO 101

Do not take this course if you have taken ECO 105.

ECO 205 - Econometrics

Applications of linear regression analysis to economic analysis. Topics include model specification, parameter estimation, inference, and problems relating to data issues, statistical concerns, and model diagnostics. Statistical software is utilized. An economics research paper is a major component of the course.

Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and Economics 204. 
Calculus I or equivalent.

ECO 211 - Introduction to Accounting

Comprehensive study of the theory and problems of valuation of assets, application of funds, corporation accounts and statements; interpretation and analysis of financial statements.

Prerequisites & Notes
Only two courses numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics major.
Only one course numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics minor.

ECO 212 - Intermediate Accounting

(Spring)

ECO 213 - Cost Accounting

Study of allocation and utilization of resources. Emphasis on cost behavior, cost allocation, product costing, budgeting, decision-making and control activities related to job-order, process and activity-based costing (ABC) systems.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 211. 
Only two courses numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics major.
Only one course numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics minor.

(Fall)

ECO 214 - Finance

This course provides a foundation in the principles and tools of finance, which include financial analysis, the time value of money, capital budgeting and capital structure. It emphasizes an intuitive, logically rigorous understanding of the theory and practice of finance, illustrating concepts that are applicable to public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Ethical and societal issues related to these principles are examined.  

Only two courses numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics major.
Only one course numbered 211-214 may count towards the Economics minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 211

ECO 219 - Game Theory and Strategic Behavior

Study of strategic situations in theory and practice. Course begins with the concept of Nash equilibrium and covers refinements of it, addressing ideas such as mixed strategies, preemption, wars of attrition, commitment, repeated games, and signaling.

Satisfies a Mathematical & Quantitative Thought requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and Calculus I or equivalent.

ECO 220 - Economic Analysis of Health and Access to Care

Economic perspective on differences in health outcomes and health care utilization across the categories of income, wealth, education, gender and race.  Includes study of theories of time allocation, health production, health insurance and discrimination, and assessment of related empirical research and policies. 

Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 or both Economics 122 and permission of the instructor. 
Recommended, but not required: Economics 105.

ECO 221 - Economic History of the United States

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 224 - Labor Economics

Labor markets, unionization, unemployment, and public policy primarily in the setting of the United States.  Particular focus will be on inequality and discrimination in the labor market.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 225 - Public Sector Economics

Analysis of the role the public sector plays in a mixed economy.  Topics include public goods, externalities, tax policy, expenditure policy, budget deficits, and the national debt.  Includes proposals for tax welfare, and health care reforms. 
A student may not receive credit for both Economics 225 and Economics 325.  

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 226 - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Focuses on the application of economic tools to the evaluation of environmental amenities, the analysis of pollution control policies, the uses of renewable and nonrenewable resources, and the protection of biodiversity.  Examines the strengths and weaknesses of the economic approach to those issues.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 
Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science Track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 required; Calculus I or equivalent recommended.

ECO 227 - Economics of Gender Family

This course examines the changing role of gender in the labor market and the household. Topics to be studied include: the rise in females’ formal labor force participation during the second half of the twentieth century; gender differences in employment, occupation, and earnings; theoretical and empirical approaches to studying discrimination; and the interactions between market opportunities, government policies, and family formation (including fertility, marriage, divorce, and cohabitation).

Satisfies Gender and Sexuality major and minor requirement

Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 228 - Financial Economics

ECO 229 - Urban Economics

Role of economics in the development of modern cities. Topics include: the monocentric-city model, urban land values, crime, transportation, education, and taxation.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 231 - History of Economic Thought

Evolution of economic thought in a social-historical context, from the Mercantilists up to Keynes, with particular attention to the Classical, Marxian, Austrian, Neoclassical, Institutional, and Keynesian schools.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 232 - Economics of Migration

Types of migration, economic basis for migration, aggregate and distributional consequences on migrant sending and receiving countries, fiscal and other effects of migration, ‘brain-drain’ and ‘brain-gain’, remittances, migration policy.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement for International Studies.
Satisfies a South Asian Studies interdisciplinary minor requirement.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 234 - Latin American Economic Development

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.

Counts for the Latin American Studies major and minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 235 - Economics of South Asian Environmental Issues

The goal of this course is for students to learn about the economics of environmental issues in South Asia (defined here as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). The economic tools will include externalities and consideration of common and open access goods. The issues discussed will be topical, and the students will get to choose a topic for their research project.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a Social Scientific Thought Requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 237 - Macroeconomics of Development

Why are some countries rich and others so poor? What are the commonalities across today’s low-income countries, and how are they dissimilar? Which policies can best move billions of people from abject poverty to development and prosperity? This course is about the huge differences in incomes and standards of living that separates the wealthy nations from the poor. We will explore the nature and meaning of development and its macroeconomic manifestations within the context of a major set of economic problems faced by developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Topics include economic growth and structural transformation; poverty and inequality; agricultural transformation and rural development; human capital; migration and urbanization; foreign aid; violence and armed conflict; and role of monetary policy and fiscal policy to foster macroeconomic stability and economic development.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satsifies Justice, Equality and Community requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 238 - Financial Markets, Institutions & Policy

This course explores the central role of financial markets, and financial institutions and policies in our economy. It considers topics such as the term and risk structures of interest rates, bond and stock markets, the efficient markets hypothesis and behavioral finance, and the importance of imperfect information in the regulatory framework. The analyses of these concepts inform us about the lessons from the global financial crisis and the financial sector’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. A study of the Federal Reserve, its policy practices, and its evolving portfolio of responsibilities at the intersection of policy and politics enhances understanding of significant contemporary of issues.

Satisfies an Economics major and minor requirement
Satisfies Social and Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
ECO 101

ECO 254 - Religion and Economics

The purpose of this course is to explore relationships between religious communities (their commitments, ideas, and practices) and economic life (its institutions, roles, and attitudes). These relationships have been important in many places and times, from ancient cultures to the present day, and raise questions about a good society, justice, and equality. In some contemporary contexts, reflections about these relationships are especially significant for social ethics. Note: ECO 254 meets together with REL 254.

Satisfies Economics major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
ECO 101

ECO 280 - Economic Analysis of India’s Development

Students will engage in learning about the economic issues associated with the development of modern India as part of the Davidson College Semester in India Program.  Students will review introductory economics, read an economic analysis of India, and apply the lessons learned from their readings to the India they experience. 

Satisfies a requirement in the Economics major and minor.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought Ways of Knowing requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 (Introductory Economics).

ECO 286 - Economics of Education (=EDU 286)

(Cross-listed with EDU 286)
This course will examine questions about the American educational system from an economic and behavioral-economic perspective.  Is school funding better spent on merit pay for teachers or reducing class size?  Do charter schools help more students get to college?  Who benefits from free tuition policies in higher education?  We will learn about returns to educational investment, effects of educational inputs, teacher labor markets, school choice, and higher education finance and policy.  There will be an emphasis throughout on empirical tests of individual behavior and their implications for education policy.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the 20-series Economics major course requirement.
Satifies a requirement in the Educational Studies minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 288 - International Political Economy

This course encompasses the intersection of political and economic forces. It begins with the core concepts of balance of payments, international monetary theory, and international trade theory. The course has a particular emphasis on emerging markets in Latin America and S.E. Asia.  Among the questions we address: Why do currencies go “up” or “down,” and with what implications?  How do financial crises begin and spread?  Who gains from international trade, and how does it affect economic welfare?  The course will also cover topical issues in Latin American and Asian economies: the function and impact of the International Monetary Fund, income inequality, environmental protection, and the relationship between democracy, national security, and open markets.  In addition to using texts and selected readings, we will rely on several case studies and country-specific analysis to further our understanding of international political economy.  

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101.

ECO 295 - Individual Research

Designed for the student who desires to pursue some special interest in economics. A research proposal must be approved in advance by the faculty member who supervises the student and determines the means of evaluation as well as the Department Chair.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101 and permission of the instructor.

ECO 299 - TBD

ECO 316 - Computational Economics

Computational methods for building and solving models in the context of economics topics. Methods discussed include agent-based simulations to analyze complex adaptive systems, value function iteration to solve dynamic structural models, and miscellaneous estimation and optimizing techniques.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement for applied mathematics.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 or permission of the instructor.

ECO 320 - Psychology and Economics

Incorporation of psychological insights into economic models, with emphasis on empirical evidence. Also known as behavioral economics. Analysis of how individuals depart from a standard economic model in three ways: 1) nonstandard preferences, such as procrastination, 2) nonstandard beliefs, such as overconfidence about one’s ability, and 3) nonstandard decision making, such as framing effects and the roles of social pressure and peer influences. Some class meetings will be held jointly with a corporate partner or startup, and a class project will apply behavioral economics principles to a real-world issue within the context of a design-thinking process.    

Satisfies the Social-Science requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 and Economics 202.

ECO 321 - Research Seminar in Public Choice Economics

Public Choice Economics is the application of economic methods to problems usually within the sphere of political science.  This research seminar is as much a vehicle for developing a student’s research skills as it is a valuable field of inquiry.  The students will actively engage with their peers in learning about Public Choice Economics, in developing a viable research proposal, and in conducting their own empirical research projects.  It is appropriate for either advanced economics-focused students with an interest political science or advanced political science-focused students with an interest in economics.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics focus: Economics 105 (Statistics), either Economics 202 (Intermediate Microeconomics) or Economics 203 (Intermediate Macroeconomics), and a Political Science course above 201.

Political Science focus: Political Science 201 (Methods and Statistics in Political Science), a Political Science course above 300, and Economics 101 (Introductory Economics).

ECO 323 - Industrial Organization

We often hear that perfect competition is the ideal market structure for an industry, but what if it isn’t?  When are there benefits to consumers from allowing two large companies to merge?  Are Microsoft and Google providing valuable technological innovations for society, or strategically capturing market share and profit for themselves?  

We study some frameworks for answering these and other questions, starting with a review of how market structure, firm behavior, and outcomes for consumers are related.  We examine the effects of various business strategies such as price discrimination, product differentiation, collusion, mergers, advertising, R&D and investment.  Finally, we discuss landmark antitrust court cases and apply theoretical frameworks to understand why different industries may be treated differently.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202 required.

ECO 324 - Labor Economics

Labor markets, unionization, unemployment, and public policy primarily in the setting of the United States. (A student may not receive credit for both ECO 224 and ECO 324.)

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 and Economics 202 or permission of the instructor.

ECO 325 - Public Sector Economics

Analysis of the role the public sector plays in a mixed economy.  Topics include public goods, externalities, tax policy, expenditure policy, budget deficits, and the national debt.  Includes proposals for tax welfare, and health care reforms. 
A student may not receive credit for both Economics 225 and Economics 325.  

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202.

ECO 328 - Money and the Financial System

Term structure of interest rates, structure of financial markets, regulatory framework, asset demand theories, Federal Reserve system and operation of monetary policy.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203.

ECO 329 - Sports Economics

Sports economics covers the major economic issues confronted in professional and major college sports. The course examines four topics in depth: (1) the structure of professional sports industry, (2) public finance issues surrounding stadium construction and team ownership in professional sports, (3) labor market issues in professional sports, and (4) the economics of amateur athletics (with a focus on the NCAA).

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 105 and Economics 202.

ECO 336 - Economic Growth

What sustains economic growth in the long run?  This question was the focus of Adam Smith’s 1776 masterpiece “The Wealth of Nations”.  Nobel laureate Robert Lucas famously said that “Once one starts to think about [questions of economic growth], it is hard to think about anything else.”  The purpose of this course is to explain and explore the modern theories of economic growth.  We will use  theoretical and empirical models and publicly available data to study the role of key components of economics growth such as: capital accumulation, including all new investments in land, physical equipment, and human resources through improvements in health, education, and job skills; population growth; technological progress; openness to trade and capital flow; institutions, culture, and geography; and environmental sustainability.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203

ECO 337 - International Trade

Economic basis for international trade, determinants and consequences of trade flows, barriers to trade, and trade policy.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202.

ECO 338 - International Finance

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 203.

ECO 380 - Seminar in Economics (ECO 380-384)

Principal events affecting economic policy and behavior in the United States since colonial times. Emphasis on historical origins of contemporary American problems.

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement. 

Satisfies Economics major and minor requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 101

ECO 384 - Seminar

Instructor
Staff

Reading, research, papers, and discussion on selected topics in economics. Each faculty member announces in advance the particular topic or area of the seminar.

Prerequisites & Notes
 

Economics 202 or 203.  Spring 2022: Not open to those with credit for ECO 221.

ECO 385 - Forecasting

This course will build on students’ understanding of statistics and basic econometrics to develop further the empirical model building skills they have acquired previously. The course will provide an overview of classical and modern approaches to forecasting in business, economics, and finance. Topics include regression analysis, exponential smoothing and filtering, ARIMA models, modeling and forecasting trend and seasonality, evaluating and combining forecasts. Students will also write forecast reports and deliver oral presentations of their forecasts to classmates as well as learn how to critique constructively others’ reports and presentations.

Satisfies Applied Mathematics minor requirement.

Satisfies the Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: ECO 105

ECO 390 - Empirical Asset Pricing

The intensive writing course provides students with opportunities construct arguments by combining theory (reasons) and data (evidence). The class has a discussion-focused format and emphasizes students’ claims and counter-claims about theories and evidence in empirical asset pricing. The objective is to link empirical methods to theoretical concepts, and encourage students to take intellectual risks and engage in economics research with confidence. Topics covered include portfolio theory, security price movements, alternative investment and asset pricing models, and testing and interpretation of these models. This is a research-focused course that teaches practical applications of quantitative methods in finance, designed for highly motivated and technically skilled undergraduate students seeking to practice and critique the use of economics tools.

Satisfies Economics major and minor requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisites: ECO 105, 202, 203, and 205.

ECO 395 - Individual Research

Designed for the major who desires to pursue some special interest in economics. A research proposal must be approved in advance by the faculty member who supervises the student and determines the means of evaluation as well as the Department Chair.

Prerequisites & Notes
Economics 202 or 203 or 205 and permission of the instructor.

ECO 399 - TBD

ECO 494 - Honors Thesis Research

Independent research designed to formulate a written proposal for an honors thesis. The proposal will include a review of recent literature, development of a theoretical framework and research hypotheses, and a discussion of your empirical estimation approach and available data.  An oral defense of the written proposal is required.  Graded on a Pass/Fail basis.

Not for major or minor credit in Economics.

Prerequisites & Notes
Successful completion of Economics 202, 203, and 205 are prerequisites for registering for the course. Under exceptional circumstance, following a student request, the course instructor for Eco. 494 may waive one of these requirements.

ECO 495 - Senior Session

ECO 495-A: Urban Economic History of the U.S. - 1865-2015
Instructor: Smith
This Senior Seminar is required of all seniors majoring in economics. Students demonstrate their abilities to engage in economic analyses using the tools developed in their intermediate-level courses by participating in colloquia on economic problems, theory, and policy. Exploiting the seminar nature of the course, students will write, edit, and revise convincing professional economic arguments; they take the ETS Major Field Test in Economics and an oral examination conducted by an external examiner; and hear from guest speakers about their research and policy interests.

At the end of the Civil War, fewer than 40 percent of Americans lived in urbanized areas. Today, more than 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in an urbanized area. Why did America’s cities grow so dramatically over this 150-year time period? How has urban spatial structure evolved over time? Which cities have experienced the greatest economic success, and which cities have experienced urban decay? How has urban success or decline contributed to economic inequality? In this course we will look at a handful of key questions to gain insights into how the urban landscape in the United States has evolved over the past 150 years.  Prerequisites:  Economics 101, 202, 203, 204, and 205.  

ECO 495-B: Milestones in Economics Thought
Instructor: Kumar
Advances in economic thought have emerged not as inevitable products of preceding orthodoxies but from highly contested and intensely debated narratives rooted in the social realities of the times. We study the evolution of economic ideas by inquiring into the historical-social-political contexts of key advances  - milestones  - in the making of modern economics. Tumultuous intellectual battles were lost and won as the Physiocrats rebelled against Mercantilism and inspired Adam Smith and Classicalism, as the Classicals confronted challenges from Marxism and Socialism, and as Neoclassicals coopted or deflected these challenges. We examine how, from the ideas and times of the great thinkers emerged milestones in economic thought that shaped the world. 

ECO 495-C: Topics in Corporate Finance
Instructor: Stroup
Economic analysis can inform decision-making by firms’ stakeholders and top management teams. This course will examine capital budgeting topics such as fixed capital investment policy, project selection, acquisitions. Economic theory and empirical analysis will be used to explore how scholars make arguments about how firms should behave, and the extent to which they follow these recommendations in practice. Students in this course will assess and implement original econometric research.

ECO 495-D: Beckerian Economics
Instructor: O’Keefe
Gary Becker was one of the most influential economists of the twentieth century, whose seminal theories are still inspiring new work. This course will focus on several of the topics Becker worked on: crime, discrimination, marriage, fertility, and human capital development. Each section will include a discussion of Becker’s theoretical model and extensions before diving into more recent empirical research. Each student will complete an empirical project that relates to one of the theoretical models we discuss in class.

ECO 495-E: What’s Wrong with Economics?
Instructor: Jha
The Great Recession of 2007 that unraveled the global financial system brought the discipline-and tools-of economic analysis under harsh scrutiny. Why were lessons of the Great Depression forgotten? Why are questions of finance, discrimination, inequality, climate change, capitalism still largely absent from mainstream ECON 101 courses? This course will explore the achievements and discontents of the economic style of reasoning in the post-World War II era: as the dominant policy tool, what has economics done well, what are its inexcusable failures, and what are the reforms needed to equip students and practitioners of the discipline with tools to tackle pressing problems of the 21st century.

ECO 495-H: Honors Thesis
Instructor: Foley
The Honors Thesis in Economics consists of two semesters of work with a thesis proposal as the output from ECO 494-H in the fall semester and a final thesis as the output from ECO 495-H in the spring semester.   Students conduct independent research guided by faculty in which they develop a feasible, specific research question and apply the empirical tools or methods as well as economic modeling approaches learned in prior courses to answer the research question. 

Satisfies Economics major and minor requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Successful completion of Economics 202, 203, and 205 are prerequisites for registering for the course. Under exceptional circumstance, following a student request, the Chair of the Department may waive one of these requirements.

COM 210 - Dialogues on Race and Racism

This course is based on the intergroup dialogue model where two facilitators of differing social identity groups encourage dialogue among class members about persistent social issues and conflicts related to race, racism, and its intersections with other social identities such as class, gender, sexual orientation, religion and immigration/migration background.  The intergroup dialogue approach to teaching about race and racism in the United States is pedagogically unique. The class is balanced with approximately half of the students self-identifying as White and the other half identifying as Students of Color or racial minorities in the United States and at Davidson College. Classroom diversity, balance and size is critical for building the trust and safety necessary for a racially diverse class to deeply engage the topic of race and multicultural education as a practice. Through interactive activities, in-class dialogues, course readings, and self-reflective writing assignments, students will learn about important issues and perspectives facing the participating populations on campus and in the United States. This course is by permission only and a pre-registration survey must be completed before the instructors determine the final class roster.

Satisfies a Communication Studies major and minor requirement
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
This course is by permission only. A pre-registration survey must be completed before the instructors determine the final class roster. To take this survey, navigate to this link: https://davidsonedu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5ok6O8reW0kfjpj. Direct any questions or problems to Trent Foley, trfoley@davidson.edu. You will be notified via email whether you have been admitted to the class on or just after the date that WebTree closes.

EDU 121 - Foundations of American Education: Historical & Philosophical Perspectives

Satisfies the Historical Thought requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall and Spring)

EDU 141 - Introduction to Philosophy of Education

A study of classic and contemporary documents in Philosophy of Education. Includes readings, discussions, and analyses of approximately twenty different philosophers from the fifth century BCE to the twenty-first century.

Satisfies Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

EDU 151 - Introduction to Educational Technology

This course is an introduction into the use of educational technology with an emphasis on online teaching. We will cover topics such as best practices in content creation, assessment in an online environment, accessibility factors, limitations of online teaching, and the evaluation of popular online platforms. Students will design and create their own online lessons with hardware and software tools.

Satisfies Educational Studies minor requirement.
Satisfies Digital Studies Interdisciplinary Minor requirement.

EDU 200 - Introduction to Research Methods for Education

This course is designed to develop students as effective consumers of educational research and introduce them to the theory and practice of social science research in education. Students will gain a broad understanding of educational inquiry, thinking about the scientific method with applications for social science research, and understanding the structures and types of research projects. Students will learn how to conduct experiments, design surveys, undertake field research, and examine existing quantitative data.

EDU 208 - Comparative and International Education

This course introduces students to the comparative study of educational institutions and cultures in India, Chile, the UAE, China, Northern Ireland, and the United States.  We will examine a number of issues, including but not limited to:  The role of NGOS and international organizations, educational reform efforts, colonialism and empire, educational access, attainment, and success around the world. Students will write a research paper, in addition to reviews and class assignments.

Satisfies Cultural Diversity requirement.

EDU 241 - Child Development (= PSY 241)

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101. 

EDU 242 - Educational Psychology (= PSY 242)

Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
 

EDU 243 - Adolescent Development (= PSY 243)

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101

EDU 250 - Multicultural Education

This course examines the ways in which schools and society in the United States engage with diverse individuals and groups, as well as how obstacles to ever-increasing multiculturalism are rooted in behaviors, assumptions, values, thinking and communication styles.  The course will be taught using the intergroup dialogue model where two facilitators of differing social identity groups encourage dialogue among students about persistent social issues and conflicts related to race, racism, and the intersections of class, gender, sexual orientation, religion and immigration/migration background.  The intergroup dialogue approach to teaching multicultural education is pedagogically unique.  The class is balanced with approximately half of the students self-identifying as White and the other half identifying as Students of Color or racial minorities in the United States and at Davidson College.

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement. 

Prerequisites & Notes

 

EDU 255 - Educational Linguistics (=ENG 255)

This course will introduce students to fundamental concepts in linguistics and tools for analyzing language in school-based and other instructional settings. Topics will include the structure of human languages, the development of communication, home-school literacy connections, classroom discourse, language diversity in education, language teaching and learning, academic literacy, and educational language policy. Students will complete problem sets, a short analytical paper, and a final research project.

EDU 262 - Schooling Pandemics

COVID-19 was not the first pandemic. It will not be the last. Colleges and schools - typically slow-moving, conservative institutions - had to rapidly respond to the crisis. What were the effects of these transitions on education and public health? This seminar course draws on this question not just for the COVID-19 pandemic, but historical public health crises as well. The course will examine how the medieval universities (Cambridge, Oxford, Coimbra, Bologna, etc) responded to outbreaks of the plague. Students will learn how schools in the 1920s-1940s served as a springboard for mass vaccination against Polio and examine the ways in which  K-12 schools respond to the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Students will write a case study paper using historiographical and social-science methods as the final product for the course.

Satisfies Educational Studies Interdisciplinary major and minor requirement.
 

EDU 270 - Democracy and Education

Democracy and Education examines philosophical and theoretical positions which contend that education is a public good and is essential to the cultivation of a democratic civil society. Through critical analysis and scrutiny, students investigate the notion that public schooling in the United States should be based on principles of equitable access and that every individual has a right to educational opportunities which are just, fair, and democratic.  

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

EDU 280 - Introduction to Educational Policy

This course is designed to introduce students to major issues in U.S. K-12 education policy including those related to school accountability and other market-based reforms, school finance, school desegregation, teacher labor markets, and curriculum and instruction. Students will build an understanding of the disciplinary frameworks of education policy analysis and learn the methodological tools, approaches, and concepts researchers use to evaluate policy and shape policy debates. Students will also engage with the politics of education policy through an examination of key actors and institutions that influence adoption and implementation at the local, state, and federal levels. This course will offer a variety of opportunities for students to analyze current policy issues through original briefs, research, and translation of their findings to a broader audience.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies a major requirement in the CIS major in Educational Studies and Public Policy Studies.

Satisfies an elective in the Political Science major. 
Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement

EDU 291 - Data in Education

Educational data and quantitative data analyses have come to play a powerful role in the way we govern our schools. In this course, students will learn to be critical consumers and skilled producers of such analyses. In the applied portion of this class, students will learn data management, analysis, and visualization strategies by working with real data gathered in educational settings to answer research questions of policy and practical interest.

Satisfies a requirement in the Educational Studies minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Digital Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a Mathematical and Quantitative Thought requirement.

EDU 292 - Theory of Sports Coaching

This course provides an overview of academic theory essential to understanding competitive sports coaching in secondary schools and colleges. The student will evaluate, apply, and synthesize current theoretical perspectives and research in coaching sports. Topics include coaching philosophy, communication, pedagogy, skill development, and team management.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies.

EDU 300 - Special Topics: Politics of Education

The United States is constantly stalled in a never-ending debate over the role of governments in schools, colleges, and universities. This course will explore that debate by examining the political dimensions of the major educational issues of our time including, but not limited to, the school choice movement, gun violence in schools, sexual assault on university campuses, school desegregation, and policies related to college affordability. The course will draw on methodologies from political science and economics and will focus on power dynamics and political action in education and society. In addition to traditional writing assignments and assessments, students will produce a white paper for a state or local legislator, non-profit organization, or other policy-related client on an educational policy issue of interest.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.  

Satisfies an elective in the Political Science major. 

EDU 301 - Independent Study in Education

EDU 305 - Critical Issues in Higher Education

This seminar course is designed to give students an insight into the theory and practice of postsecondary education. Students who take this course will be exposed to various topics in higher education including, but not limited to the development of the American university, social theory and the purposes of higher education, higher education in the modern era, the role of government in postsecondary education, privatization and for-profit education, religion, gender, race, Greek life, college athletics and free speech. By the end of the course, students should have both a broad understanding of the American higher education landscape and a deep understanding of a major issue in the field.

Satisfies a requirement in the Social and Cultural Studies category of the Educational Studies minor.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

EDU 330 - Sociology of Education (=SOC 330)

(Cross-listed as SOC 330.) An introduction to the sociological study of education in the United States, including an examination of the school as an organization within a larger environment. Explores the link between schools and social stratification by analyzing the mutually generative functions of schools and considers how processes within schools can lead to different outcomes for stakeholders.

Provides major credit in Sociology.
Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall)

EDU 360 - Second Language Acquisition

This course provides an introduction to second language acquisition theories and research, exploring the limits and possibilities of instructed and natural contexts. Topics include the nature of language, the role of the native language, second language acquisition universals, theoretical and pedagogical approaches, nonlanguage influences, instructed second language learning, and linguistic data analysis. Students will engage in critical discussions of the readings and observations of foreign/second language classes, and either produce a research-based instructional intervention or linguistic fieldwork analysis.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students must have fulfilled Davidson’s foreign language requirement or its equivalent before enrolling in the course.

EDU 361 - Bilingualism, literacy and schooling

In this community-based learning course, students will devote time inside of class and in the local community to scholarly research and evidence-based practices for supporting the literacy development of immigrant school-aged children. Students will learn about the experiences of emergent bilinguals in US public education, research on literacy in second-language learners, and grassroots reading campaigns to raise the academic achievement of underserved students. During fall 2021, students enrolled in the course will be trained as highly qualified literacy tutors through a special partnership between Educational Studies and the Augustine Literacy Project.

Satisfies a minor requirement in Educational Studies
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement
Satisfies the Cultural diversity requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Suitable for Davidson students interested in elementary education, literacy, immigrant education, community engagement, and education policy.

EDU 365 - Language Policy and Planning

Students will learn how to evaluate and make informed decisions about educational language policy and practices. We will begin the course with a macro focus on historical and current educational language policies and frameworks in the United States. Students will compare these to those elsewhere by investigating and leading a class discussion on the language situation in and policies of a country or region of their choice. During the second part of the course, we delve into bilingual education planning, including language curricula and instruction, teacher preparation, administrative support, and material resources needed to design successful programs.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

EDU 370 - War, Peace, & Education

War, Peace, and Education confronts the complex relationship most Americans have with war by detecting components of the hidden curriculum in schools that serve to endorse war.  The course will focus on five such components:  masculinity and hero worship, patriotism, hatred, religion’s frequent support of war, and war as an arena for supplying existential meaning.

Satisfies the Philosophical & Religious Perspectives requirement

EDU 385 - Race, Families, and Inequality

The family that you’re born into profoundly shapes your life chances. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from sociology, political science, and psychology we will learn how family background and other non-school factors shape unequal educational experiences and outcomes in K-12 and beyond. We will trace the historical development of programs, policies, and reform efforts that seek to narrow educational inequality by centering families and communities. We will also evaluate the successes and failures of those initiatives while re-imagining best practices for family and community engagement.

Satisfies Educational Studies major and minor requirement.
Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.
Satisfies Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

EDU 395 - Independent Study in Education

Independent Study in Education

EDU 400 - Dir Field Placement - Education

EDU 401 - Education in Divided Societies: Summer Study Abroad Program in Northern Ireland

The academic component of a five-week summer program, beginning in late May and ending in late June, located in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. Focused on international education and the theme of Education in Divided Societies, the course carries one credit, EDU 401, replacing or in addition to EDU 400, which is currently offered yearly and offers students (majors, minors) domestic experiential learning in Education. 

Satisfies Educational Studies major and minor requirement.
 

EDU 495 - Senior Seminar

In the senior seminar students will synthesize their learning and knowledge of the four pillars of educational studies as presented in the educational studies major: the historical and philosophical foundations of educational practice, learning and development, social and cultural aspects of education, and policy studies in education. Such synthesis will focus on a particular theme or topic that will be determined by the instructor. Possible topics might include local and federal policy, culturally relevant pedagogy, critical theory, freedom of choice, parental rights, etc. Students will display their thinking and research skills in a project or thesis that will be either terminal or serve as a scaffold for those who plan to present their work in an honors thesis or project: EDU 496.

EDU 496 - Thesis II

An intensive, in-depth analysis of an interdisciplinary project topic.

Satisfies Educational Studies major and minor requirement

ENG 110 - Course list for Introduction to Literature

Fall 2023

ENG 110A Military Speculative Fiction
Instructor
Jung

In this course, we will delve into the exploration of militarism through the lens of speculative fiction, a genre that draws from science fiction, fantasy, and horror to create alternative realities. Our primary texts will include iconic works like “Starship Troopers” by Robert A. Heinlein, “The Forever War” by Joe Haldeman, “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card, and “Ancillary Justice” by Ann Leckie.

These narratives, while fictional, provide compelling commentary on warfare, power dynamics, military structures, and the social and psychological implications of militarism. Each text offers a unique perspective on military systems and warfare within their respective alternate realities, providing rich material for analysis and discussion.

The course is designed to deepen students’ understanding of the genre of speculative fiction and its capacity to critique and reflect upon societal issues. Students will engage in an intensive study of each text, examining their depictions of militarism within the context of their own societal and political implications. The politics of the authors and their possible influences on the text will also be examined, providing a layered and intricate exploration of the complex relationship between politics, authorship, and literature.

Students will participate in vibrant discussions, critical analyses, and written assignments that encourage a thoughtful and multi-faceted engagement with the texts. Through this, students will develop skills in textual analysis, argumentation, and critical thinking. Furthermore, the course will challenge students to consider how the speculative can comment on the real, and how fiction can become a powerful tool for understanding and critiquing societal constructs such as militarism.

Through the examination of militarism in speculative fiction, students will gain not only an understanding of the genre and its sociopolitical implications, but also an appreciation for the power of literature in reflecting and shaping our understanding of the world.

Course Prerequisites: No prerequisites are required for this course. However, a basic understanding of literary analysis would be beneficial.

ENG 110B Literature and Medicine
Instructor
Vaz

Science and medicine have indelibly influenced how we understand and respond to the physical and mental state of being human.  We will consider how an appreciation of literary texts and the questions they broach give us a different insight into the human condition and affect our awareness of health, addiction, illness, disease, suffering, recovery, and death.  In doing so, we will also pay close attention to the cultural coding of these issues, as we examine how gender, class, race, sexual orientation, or other cultural biases color our perceptions of health, disease, suffering and death.

Satisfies Public Health minor requirement.
 

Spring 2024

ENG 110 C Contemporary American Cinema
Instructor
Parker

This course explores 21^st Century American cinema and visual storytelling, with an emphasis on critical analysis. A broad selection of films and television series will be studied-from documentaries, experimental cinema, Hollywood blockbusters, and indie films, to streaming series-as well as their means and modes of production. Adaptation, auteurs, the film school system, the New Hollywood, and Prestige TV will all be discussed.

Satisfies a major requirement in English
Satisfies a CIS major requirement in Global Literary Theory
Satisfies a minor requirement in English
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Global Literary Theory
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Film and Media Studies
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement

ENG 110 Graphic Med: Drawing Disability
Instructor
Fox

Why is the graphic novel literary? And why has it become an immensely popular site for the representation of illness, disability, and medicine?  In this Introduction to Literature class, we’ll start with the premise that the unique intersection of word, color, image, text, and juxtaposition offered by the graphic novel offers authors singular opportunities for storytelling. We will further ask: what do comics, zines, and graphic novels have to teach us about our varied kinds of embodiment, particularly about disabled bodies? We will consider how these visual texts teach us about how bodies engage with the social and medical contexts surrounding them. Encompassing everything from bipolar disorder to cancer, depression to HIV/AIDS, deafness to end-of-life issues, possible course works may include Rx, Cancer Vixen, Stitches, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, and Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michaelangelo, and Me.  Students will also make their own comic!

Satisfies a requirement in the Communication Studies interdisciplinary major and minor.
Satisfies a Public Health Minor Requirement
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement
Satisfies a major requirement in English
Satisfies a minor requirement in English

Fall 2021

ENG 110 Video Game Talk
Instructor
Jung

In this course, we will consider audio-visual-interactive media known as video games as primary texts to explore the art of storytelling, poetry, and essay. Students will be required to analyze themes, motifs, and the intersection between mechanics and contents of this relatively new media, which has quickly matured into a major form of human expression. Some, but not all, of the video games we will talk about include: Legend of Zelda series, Dark Souls, Red Dead Redemption II, God of War, Disco Elysium, Undertale, Kentucky Route Zero, and others. Furthermore, the class will engage in discussing the culture surrounding video games by reading and watching video game journalism and criticism. We will also read relevant texts from older literary forms to explore how they have influenced the art of video games. For example: what is the thematic connection between Hidetaka Miyazaki’s fragmentary storytelling in Dark Souls and T.S. Eliot’s fragmented poetry in The Waste Land? Throughout the course, students will also get a chance to critically and creatively express their experiences playing video games.

Satisfies a major requirement in English
Satisfies a CIS major requirement in Global Literary Theory
Satisfies a minor requirement in English
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Global Literary Theory
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement

OTHER TOPICS (not offered in current academic year):

ENG 110 Literary Monsters
Instructor
Ingram

This course examines monsters in widely varied texts.  Some are influential classics, such as Beowulf, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Some are recent works by prominent writers, such as Octavia Butler’s Fledgling, Colson Whitehead’s Zone One, and short fiction by Margaret Atwood and Karen Russell.  Some are bestsellers, such as Stephen King’s The Outsider; films, such as Nosferatu and Night of the Living Dead; and television shows, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Penny Dreadful.  One is a graphic novel with a topic and a title to suit this course, Emil Ferris’s My Favorite Thing Is Monsters.  

Each text will be contextualized, so that students will discuss each monster as a response to distinct fears.  Students will also discuss the unstable place of monsters in cultural history, so essential to ancient and medieval texts at the core of the canon, yet later associated with popular entertainment.  Like all who survive encounters with monsters, the students of this section will come away with new questions and new ways of reading.

ENG 110 Shakespeare & Sports
Instructor
Lewis

Contemporary sports and Elizabethan theater have much in common. Both present spectacles, before a rowdy audience, in an arena. Both involve rehersal and scripted performance. Both require guides, whether a director or a coach. Both create rivalry, whether between teams or acting companies. Most important, both center on stories that thrive on the essential, exhilarating, and painful human experience. Like Shakespeare’s plays, sports history yields instances of extraordinary heroism and of heart-breaking mistakes. Real athletes find reflection in many of Shakespeare’s best known characters. Take, for instance, Dale Earrnhardt, Jr., whose larger-than-life father haunts him as King Hamlet’s ghost haunts his son. Andre Agassi’s second chance at tennis recalls The Tempest’s Prospero, who is exiled from and returns to dominate another court. This class explores how such moments and people in sports find reflection in Shakespeare’s works.

ENG110 - Introduction to Comedy
Instructor
Ingram

This course offers an overview of the comic tradition in English, from the Middle Ages to the present, from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales to Arrested Development.  Although humor will be a recurring feature of some texts and of most class meetings, this course traces how comedies respond to inescapable challenges of human life:  social and political structures as apparent obstacles to the desires of individuals; the body and its failings, to the point of death; art, particularly comedy, as a reassuring (or maybe deceptive) refuge of happy endings that can seem elusive in life.  Different eras respond differently to those challenges, so the course offers a broad survey of literary and cultural history.  Over the semester, students and professor alike will look for comedy in surprising places, including in the form of the course itself, certain to end happily, before it has even begun.

ENG 110 - Media & Community
Instructor
Churchill
 
From Walt Whitman’s broad embrace of American readers in the 1860s to the digital social networks of today, this course examines how various media form communities of readers and writers. We will investigate how lyric poetry creates one kind of intimacy between author and reader, how blogs establish another, and how the NBC television comedy Community builds its own cult following. Davidson College meets Greendale Community College in a course that teaches you how to read, analyze, and respond critically and creatively to various forms of media. 

Satisfies a Media & Community topic requirement of the Digital Studies interdisciplinary minor.

ENG 110 Growing Up in America
Instructor
S. Campbell

In this course, we will consider young adult fiction both from various critical perspectives and within various readerly contexts.  Over the semester, we will:

• Review a brief history of the genre from 1860 to 2000;
• Explore shifting perceptions of gender, sexuality, and coming of age in the United States;
• Discuss in what ways ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status impact expectations about maturation;
• Consider how reviews of and responses to young adult texts reflect contemporaneous assumptions about the purposes of literature.

Satisfies an elective requirement in the English major.
Satisfies an elective credit in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies a Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.

ENG 110 Introduction to Environmental Literature (=ENV 210)
Instructor
Merrill

(Cross-listed as Environmental Studies 210.)  An introduction to global environmental literature.  We’ll focus primarily on short fiction, novels, and non-fiction prose.  The course will introduce students to environmental justice issues as well as contemporary trends in global literature.  Literary and environmental topics include toxicity, waste, food, inequality, the idea of “wilderness,” and activism.  No prior experience studying literature is required.

Satisfies depth or breadth course requirement in Humanities Track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor

ENG 110 Literature & Medicine
Instructor
Vaz

Science and medicine have indelibly influenced how we understand and respond to the physical and mental state of being human.  We will consider how an appreciation of literary texts and the questions they broach give us a different insight into the human condition and affect our awareness of health, addiction, illness, disease, suffering, recovery, and death.  In doing so, we will also pay close attention to the cultural coding of these issues, as we examine how gender, class, race, sexual orientation, or other cultural biases color our perceptions of health, disease, suffering and death.

Satisfies the Public Health Interdisciplinary Minor

ENG 110  Contemporary American Fiction
Instructor
Sample

This course in 21st century American fiction will concentrate on new novels, short stories, and graphic narratives. 

The study of fiction includes the story itself as well as how the story is told; as a result, the work of “Contemporary American Fiction” will also concentrate upon formal analysis using literary terminology. Access to many of the writers will be afforded: the class will either meet in person or videoconference with many of the authors whose works are read. Two essays, one digital project, and some shorter writing exercises will be required; a midterm and final can be expected.

ENG 111 - African American Literature and Film: The Politics of Watching

For many contemporary readers and movie watchers, reading and watching African American literature and film, respectively, represent their desire to support and be in solidarity with African American political struggles. However, African American writers and filmmakers have historically complicated assumptions that consuming African American literature and film is the equivalent of supporting African Americans or African American liberation struggles. This course will explore the politics of making, consuming, and critiquing African American literature and film while expanding what we define as political, who is considered a political actor, and the relationship between politics and art broadly. Writers and films included in this course include Toni Morrison, bell hooks, James Baldwin, Black Panther, Sorry to Bother You, and short film from the L.A. Film Rebellion.

Satisfies an Africana Studies major requirement.

ENG 115 - The Art, Science, and Fascination of Fragrance

Description: This is a new kind of course, built bottom-up from the kinds of curiosity about the sense of smell expressed by students and professors in a liberal arts college. Not all of these questions have answers, but this course strives to give you  the feeling that you are looking in the right direction as you consider the  fascination of fragrance, the science of scent, and the passion and profit of perfume.  You and professors from Art History, Biology, Chemistry, Classics, Economics, English, Environmental Studies, and Psychology will think together and think out loud about what would be the best  next step  in formalizing your own curiosity about olfaction.  So the course is really a series of investigations into the art, biology, chemistry economics, history, and psychology of fragrances.

Organizing Questions: How exactly does the sense of smell work?  Why do we have considerable numbers of olfactory receptors yet a rather small vocabulary for describing smells?  Did the sense of smell shape the human face? Are perfumes aphrodisiacs? Why are aphrodisiacs named after Aphrodite? What are nectar and ambrosia in Homer’s epics? Do fragrances alter moods?   What makes  tangerine fragrance as effective as Valium in lowering stress? Can fragrances really bring back memories?  What role do fragrances play in religious rituals? Why do skins react differently to the same perfume? How did the ancients make/use/store perfumes? Why myrrh and frankincense?  Are there always smells in the air?  Beyond inviting pollinators, of what use are fragrances to fragrant plants? How come mirror image molecules smell so different? How come some fragrances last long on me and some don’t? What is the link between fragrance and flavor? What is the Spice Road and how did it come about?  If I like perfume  X, what other perfumes might I like? Why?   How do people lose their sense of smell? Is losing one’s sense of smell predictive of certain diseases? How do dogs smell cancer? Why do men seem to pay less attention to smells than women do? Are women really 1000 times more sensitive to musk than men are?  Is there a relation between odor and morality? Can human behavior be subliminally manipulated by odors? Does aromatherapy work? Why do I love some fragrances and hate others?  How come old people’s perfumes smell so strong? Is it true that animal urine is used in perfumery? Is there really a smell of fear? Are organic perfumes better than synthetic ones? Why is there the persistent belief in human pheromones? What exactly are notes in a fragrance? How many different smells can a human nose distinguish? How big is the fragrance industry?  What does it take to succeed in it?  What’s up with celebrity perfumes? What perfumes did Cleopatra use? In what organs do human have odor receptors?  

Texts:  Rachel Herz,  The Scent of Desire;   Mandy Aftel, Essence and Alchemy:  A Natural History of Perfume;   Patrick Susskind, Perfume;  Scent of a Woman; Essays on the art, history, chemistry, biology, psychology, and economics of fragrance; Poems and stories on fragrance  themes.

ENG 116 - Gesture

From our non-verbal cues in daily conversation to our postures, gaits, facial expressions, and movements, gesture plays a significant role in our daily communications with one another. Whether we are using sign language or watching the unfolding of a graceful développé in ballet, we are tuned in to the ways in which our gestures communicate meaning. The study of gesture is a multidisciplinary effort, as scholars draw on fields as diverse as psychoanalysis, performance studies, dance, neuroscience, anthropology, linguistics, behavioral science, and literary analysis. This course will examine the interpenetrations of gesture with both speech and thought in a series of cultural artifacts, ranging from the silent film comedy of Buster Keaton in The General (1926) and the fiction of Nathanael West and Zadie Smith, to the YouTube videos of Chris Crocker (“Leave Britney Alone!”) and the documentaries Paris is Burning (1990) and Rize (2005). What does it mean to study gesture in an interdisciplinary way? What questions do theorists of gesture ask of the literary and cultural artifacts they study?  How do gestures amplify our understanding of each other and of literary characters and documentary subjects? Rooted in close reading and analysis, this class will ask students to consider how our movements create meaning and what those meanings suggest about our culture(s) and the other cultures under consideration in the course.


 

ENG 201 - Intro to the Essay

Are you interested in changing minds with your words? Are you interested in changing your own mind with your own words? In this course, we will study the art of essay with a focus on the technique of persuasion. The term essay will be broadly defined to include works from many different genres, because “essaying” at its core tracks how your mind transforms as it collides against and combines with a new idea, memory, or emotion.

Somewhat ominously, we will specifically examine the techniques of making a persuasive argument that can lead people to do things that go against their best interests. The great danger of such persuasion is that often its emotional appeals can blind us to the facts of the argument and lead us down to darker paths of our humanity. When we are trying to win a war of words, or a war of ideas, do we stay honest? Or do we lie, cheat, and steal to gain one more person on our side? What is involved in winning the argument for the sake of winning? If so, then what is the cost we pay for such extreme measures? And how are such persuasive techniques used in writing essays? Knowing these dark arts will help us protect ourselves from them. One way of thinking about this course is to think of it as a Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

Our readings and discussions will range from classics to contemporary culture. The course will be in part a tour through literary history, we will learn analyze classic essays, and we will learn to write essays of our own through creative writing workshops. George Orwell’s famous quote will be one of our guiding lights throughout the semester: “Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

Satifies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement.

ENG 202 - Introduction to Creative Writing

English 202 introduces students to the art and craft of writing short fiction and poetry of all varieites including “slam”.  Creativity is essential, as is dedication to writing, reading, and engaging in productive discussions of each other’s work.

ENG 203 - Introduction to Writing Poetry

ENG 204 - Introduction to Writing Fiction

Student work-short fiction, and excerpts from novels-will be the primary focus of this course. We will study structure, point of view, plot and pacing, syntax, diction, and other elements of craft, as well as analyze a wide range of literary texts in order to explore the aesthetics of creative writing. However, our approach to evaluating successful fiction will not be prescriptive. That is, we will not learn the “rules” of “good” writing, but instead our goal will be to recognize the different possibilities available when constructing a narrative, so that all students may then be able to make informed choices when producing their own work. 

Additionally, note that since the main teaching method in this course will be discussion, students should expect to actively and continuously participate in class. 

ENG 205 - Screenwriting

Character and Story. These are the building blocks of cinema; these are the building blocks of life. Through a close study of classic and contemporary films inside and outside of class, and by learning the basic components of writing and workshopping original scenes, this class will develop in the student an appreciation of the form, structure and content of writing for cinema. Students will develop a 12-15 original screenplay by the end of class and will, by doing so, develop the skills to be able to continue visual storytelling far beyond their time at Davidson.

Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.

ENG 211 - Filmmaking

Making films is more than just pointing your camera at a subject, recording an event or conveying interesting information. Your film will be a historical document and a work of art filtered through your worldview, experiences and personal vision. Directing your film means making difficult choices: from initial story concept to your first screening.

Both documentaries and narrative fiction films are based on a series of tools and techniques. Employing these tools, Filmmaking will focus on students choosing how best to tell their story, design their production, develop their aesthetic and how to capture their story on film. Through the screening of selected film clips, reading, in-class pre-production, production and post-production instruction and weekly assignments, the class will provide an understanding of the art of filmmaking: from concept to screen.

By the end of the class, each student will produce, film, edit and screen their own fiction- or non-fiction film.

The goal of the class will be to develop the skills needed to enable the student to fulfill their vision via the art of cinema.

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Film and Media Studies and Digital Studies.
Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.

ENG 220 - Literary Analysis

220-A
Ingram
This section of English 220 is specifically designed to meet the requirements for students thinking of majoring in English or in Africana Studies. It should also be of interest to students who simply wish to learn how to engage in critical analyses of novels, poems, short fiction, plays or film. The course is an introduction to the tools critics utilize when they engage in  literary analyses and the differences in approaches to literatures written by writers from dissimilar backgrounds. For example, we’ll explore the most appropriate tools for dissecting a novel by James Baldwin, and how the critical implements might differ for an interrogation of a text by Charlotte Bronte, or a play by William Shakespeare and one by Aime Césaire.

Writing, reading, and substantive discussion are all required.

220-B
Gill-Sadler
ENG 220 will introduce you to the critical study of literature in English and will equip you with the tools and vocabulary you will need to be competent in literary analysis. We will foreground the formal study of poetry, fiction, drama, and film - in other words, we will pay extra-careful attention to how we read, think about, and evaluate texts in specific genres. In addition to studying generic conventions, we will also focus on a variety of critical and theoretical frameworks that enrich literary study, so we can develop original and sophisticated interpretations of texts. This is a discussion-based and writing-intensive course.

Students who major in English should complete English 220 by the end of the sophomore year. Those who do not meet this deadline must make special arrangements with the Chairperson of the English Department.

Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric requirement in English.
Satisfies major requirements in Africana Studies, and the Literary and Cultural Representations track of Gender Studies.