Spring 2022
Note: This list may not be comprehensive. Should you know of other CLASP-related courses not on this list, please contact kira.hall@colorado.edu.
ANTH 5610: Medical Anthropology (Prof Goldstein, CLASP Group C)
This will be a demanding upper-level cultural anthropology course in the field of Medical Anthropology—itself a subfield of cultural anthropology—designed for advanced undergraduate students and early graduate students, many of whom will have had little exposure to this area of scholarship. It is also suitable for graduate students in the fields of public health, anthropology, pandemics and other related social sciences who are interested in questions related to science, medicine, and populations.
The field of Medical Anthropology has grown exponentially in the last ten years, making it necessary to further focus a one-semester course such as this one. I have attempted to choose “key” readings that range from articles that represent some of the history of the field, some important contemporary theorists and trends, and some in-depth case studies of general interest. In addition to the books assigned, there are also a number of articles and films that are essential to the intellectual foundations of this class, most of which are available as downloads as PDF files on CANVAS and by streaming (films, videos, clips), also inside of your CANVAS structure (modules designed for weekly organization).
You will need to read carefully in this class—and even struggle a bit intellectually— sometimes in areas unfamiliar to you; if you think this could be the wrong time for you to take a course like this for whatever reason, then you might speak to me or seek other course options. I am happy to support students who want to learn the material, so if the material interests you and you have the time to devote to the class, please do stay.
Medical Anthropology is an expanding field: have patience and allow your mind to also expand. This course addresses only a few of the areas that are of central importance to questions of science, medicine and populations. I care that you have a good learning experience in this class, but I also demand that you do a fair amount of active scholarship on your own. You will have the opportunity in this class to work collectively to produce one or two coherent presentations together with peers and to write one scholarly individual final paper. I hope that learning collectively—even a bit “flipped” I should say—will inspire you to take an active leadership approach to your own scholarship.
(Cross-listed with undergraduate course ANTH 4610)
ANTH 5785: Advanced Seminar in Cultural Anthropology (Prof Jacka, CLASP Group C)
Details the history of theory and practice in contemporary cultural anthropology, considering the development of major theoretical schools of thought and the integration of general social theory within anthropology.
COMM 6030: Qualitative Research Methods (Prof Koschmann, CLASP Group C)
Research is the process of learning things we don’t know, and qualitative research seeks to learn more about the quality of human experience—especially in terms of meaning, interpretation, and understanding. Accordingly, the purpose of this course is to bolster your understanding and practice of qualitative research methods, emphasizing empirical data collection and analysis, and foregrounding issues of epistemology, representation, and application.
For those curious about the philosophical underpinnings of the course, we will be working within the interpretive paradigm rooted in phenomenology, hermeneutics, and social construction (broadly defined). We will also explore several emerging topics and critical approaches related to affect theory, standpoint epistemology, and new materialism/post-humanism. But no worries if you’re not very familiar with any of this...learning about these ideas is a big part of the course!
The class is designed around a semester-long project that can be tailored to your graduate status (MA or PhD) and departmental affiliation. PhD students are required to conduct some sort of empirical analysis...either an initial pilot/case study for a new project or analysis of existing data from a current project. MA students may choose to embark on an empirical project but are only required to complete a full research proposal. There may also be opportunities for students to work with me and the empirical data from my ongoing research projects here in Boulder and the Philippines.
COMM 6460: Ethnography of Communication (Prof Boromisza-Habashi, CLASP Core)
Introduces graduate students to the theory, methodology, and practice of the ethnography of communication. Students read existing literature in the tradition, and design and implement a field-based project that centers on culturally patterned forms and styles of communicative conduct. Prior graduate-level coursework in basic qualitative research methods is required.
EDUC 5035: Proseminar: Parent and Community Involvement - Bilingual family engagement in schools (Prof Contrera, CLASP Elective)
This course focuses on ways to develop, improve and maintain effective family and community engagement in education for emergent bilingual students (and special education children). Designed for the practicing teacher and others who work with (or plan to work with) bilingual and language-minoritized children and youth, the class will explore barriers, strategies, and models related to family/community engagement in educational systems. Course will challenge students to understand, prepare for, and even instigate community-driven systemic educational reform.
EDUC 5425: Introduction to Bilingual/Multicultural Education (Prof Cano-Rodriguez, CLASP Elective)
Description pending. (Co-listed with 4425, undergrad ed minors and TESOL certificate)
EDUC 5625: Methods of Teaching English as a Second Language (Prof Ream, CLASP Elective)
Description pending. (Co-listed with 2625, undergrad ed minors and TESOL certificate)
EDUC 5635: Education and Sociolinguistics (Prof Gort, CLASP Core/Elective)
Description pending.
EDUC 8615: Language Issues in Education Research (Prof Hopewell, CLASP Elective)
Examines ways in which issues of language can affect the validity of educational research. Discusses how language can be properly addressed with a multidisciplinary perspective through different stages in the process of an investigation, including design, sampling, data collection, and data analysis. Provides the conceptual basis for addressing linguistic diversity from a multidisciplinary perspective.
EDUC 8730: Advanced Qualitative Methods: Critical Discourse Analaysis (Prof Palmer, CLASP Elective)
This course will introduce you to theories and methods related to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in educational settings. According to Teun Van Dijk (2011), “CDA is not a method” but rather an orientation, a theoretical stance, toward the analysis of discourse. In other words, to conduct a critical discourse analysis, researchers may draw upon a wide range of tools under the broad umbrella of discourse analysis; what makes in critical is not method, approach, or process of analysis, but rather a shared purpose to move beyond merely understanding the structures of discourse and interaction, toward critique of oppressive structures, and ultimately transformation. At the core of CDA is the hopeful possibility that research can impact practice, can support a re-organization of the structures of power, can open up spaces for agency, and can potentially do work for justice in education.
The overarching goal of this course is to ground and inspire you so you can approach your own data - answer your own questions - with confidence and creativity. To that end, we will undergird our study with an exploration of key issues in the theory and practice of critical analysis of discourse: study design, data collection, transcription, tools for analysis, and presentation/write-up. The course will explore foundational readings in CDA along with a rangeof examples of CDA research. You will be invited to draw from these examples (and any others you uncover) as you develop methods for working with your own data.
Prerequisite: This course is intended for advanced doctoral students who have completed an introductory qualitative research methods course, and who are considering the use of CDA methods in their dissertation.
LING 5800: Language, Race, and Indigeneity (Prof Dupris, CLASP Elective).
This course will survey historical and contemporary theories of language, race and nation in anthropology and linguistics. The goal of this course is to help advanced undergraduate students and beginning graduate students engage language, race and indigeneity, identify key arguments in texts, and trace their intersections and regimentation in research practices through time. This course will examine how science, religion, and law have contributed to contemporary understandings of race and indigeneity in social-linguistic movements such as revitalization and raciolinguistics.
Through this course students will better compare national and racial contexts to better understand the role of language research in establishing and reproducing overarching racial categories such as “Indian” and “Indigenous” and critically evaluate research approaches in indigenous, racial, and minoritized language communities.
(Cross-listed with undergraduate course LING 4100)
LING 6300: Talk at Work: Language Use in Institutional Contexts (Prof Raymond, CLASP Core/Group C)
This course provides an overview of language use in various workplace settings, with an emphasis on hands-on data analysis. While this may be done in myriad ways, in this class we will use the theories and methods of Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics (CA/IL) to consider naturally-occurring language use a range of institutional contexts. Some of the audio-/videorecorded contexts we will draw upon include: 911 emergency calls, doctor-patient consultations, news interviews, customer-service encounters, classroom discourse, and courtroom interaction. After considering what makes these occasions of language use distinct from so-called ‘ordinary’ or ‘mundane’ talk (such as chit-chatting with a friend at dinner), our focus will be on how specific language practices can affect and even constitute these social institutions’ processes, objectives, and outcomes. Given the important role that language demonstrably plays in these institutional settings, we will also spend some time addressing language-based inequalities in such contexts, as well as some of the laws and policies that govern language in the workplace.
As opposed to a lecture-only class, this course is designed to be as ‘hands-on’ as possible. That is, students will be expected to take what we learn in lecture and in the readings, and apply that knowledge to novel data they haven’t seen before. As such, ample time will be devoted to data-focused activities.
LING 7310: Social Semiotic Theory (Prof Calder, CLASP Elective)
Semiotics is the study of signs, how they are used, and how they are interpreted. What is a sign? What are the components of a sign? How do people use signs in social, cultural, and linguistic practice and what purpose do these signs serve? What are the connections between objects and social meanings and how do these connections arise and transform? How do social meanings of signs stem from and transform social and cultural practice more broadly? This course engages with key topics and concepts in the study of semiotic theory—e.g., indexicality, iconicity, enregisterment, embodiment, agency— and how these topics bear on research in sociocultural linguistics and linguistic anthropology. We read key works in the field and engage in critical discussions.
Note: This course was formerly taught as LING 7800
LING 7800-04: Indigenous Peoples & Climate Change Communication (Profs Dupris and Michaelis, CLASP Elective)
Climate change is a vast human crisis, but land dispossession/forced migration had made Native/indigenous peoples especially vulnerable. This class is about creating calls to action that center indigenous perspectives and acknowledge the special role thatindigenous and Native people play on the front lines of the fight against the fossil fuel industry and for organized human survival. Spread the word! No linguistic background required. Participants to submit panel to F22 Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit!
WGST 6190-001: Feminist Methodology (Prof Alomar, CLASP Group C)
Explores feminist methodology across a range of disciplines. Themes include experience and interpretation, the social position of the researcher, language and argument structure, knowledge and power, bias and objectivity, and the ethics and politics of research.
WGST 6796: Queer Theories (Prof David, CLASP Group C)
Explores key concepts and debates in the field of queer theory with an interdisciplinary focus on crosscutting issues (aesthetic, cultural, legal, medical, political and social) that shape queer subjectivities, practices and relations.