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Further Caribbean Courses
The following courses were developed from the Caribbean Research Center for delivery in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies:
Course Number: IDS 201 Course Title: Contemporary Caribbean Studies Course Description: This course is an introduction to Caribbean Studies. It is an outgrowth of the collaborative academic agreement between Medgar Evers College and Universities in Central America and the Caribbean that are seeking a survey course with cultural content relevant to the region, while at the same time offering an opportunity for English skills development.
Course Number: IDS 301 Course Title: Peoples and Cultures of the Central American and Caribbean Basin Course Description: This course is part of the effort to internationalize the curriculum by offering upper level students the opportunity to have a direct experience of life in the developing world. It responds to the IDS expectation that World Studies majors and other IDS students should have a study abroad option. It is a logical follow-up to courses in History, Social Science, Education, and Environmental Studies, especially for students who will work in inner-city multi-ethnic communities.
It is, therefore, a Study Abroad Seminar on ethnicity, culture and development in specific countries in Central America with a direct geographical, historical and cultural link with the Caribbean. It focuses on ethnic diversity, cultural identity and political autonomy in the complex struggle for self determination in developing communities, and provides an opportunity for an intensive immersion experience in linguistically and culturally diverse communities.
Course Number: IDS 310 Course Title: Migration: African Presence in the Americas Course Description: This is an interdisciplinary course on migration focusing specifically on the movement and development of people of African ancestry throughout North, Central, South America and the Caribbean Basin. It will explore the causes and results of human migration, underdevelopment and human rights concerns through a variety of analytical and pedagogical approaches. It offers essential analytical and research skills involving scientific, literary and multi-media methods. It takes into consideration the existence of History 201 and 242 which deal specifically with the United States and the Caribbean, but without the specialized focus on migration or the broader African American reality of Canada, Central America and South America.
Course Number: IDS 330 Course Title: Comparative Caribbean Poetry Course Description: This course opens up a gallery of literary geniuses in poetry with a diversity of linguistic, ideological and cultural perspectives. It is an in depth, multilingual, comparative study of specific poets writing in different languages.
It is an international and interdisciplinary course that explores poetic expression against the background of the social, historical, cultural and linguistic realities that have informed the creative imagination of the writers to be studied. Students will develop strong analytical and writing skills by applying the fundamental principles of integrative analysis and comparative literary criticism – cultural criticism, feminist criticism, scientific criticism - to select poetic works across the diverse languages of the Caribbean.
Course Number: IDS 410 Course Title: Comparative Central American and Caribbean Thought Course Description: This course is designed for upper level students of all disciplines with an academic interest in intellectual discourse in developing countries that are striving to define their national and regional identities and destiny in the context of contemporary global changes. It offers a very specific focus on the intellectual traditions of the circum-Caribbean region which encompasses nations and peoples of English, Spanish, French and Dutch language backgrounds, as well as several Native American and Creole languages and cultures. It will help students to appreciate the universality of knowledge and ideas, and the discipline required for intellectual pursuits.
Course Number: IDS 430 Course Title: Comparative Caribbean Narrative Course Description: This is an interdisciplinary course that explores prose fiction against the background of the social, historical, cultural and linguistic realities that have informed the creative imagination of the writers to be studied. It exposes students to scholarship on civil society discourse and the global role of comparative literature in a multilingual world. Students will develop advanced analytical and writing skills by applying the fundamental principles of comparative literary criticism and cultural criticism to select works of prose, across the diverse languages of the Caribbean.
Course Number: IDS 448 Course Title: World Studies Internship Course Description: This course seeks to provide students with opportunities for field work that allows them to gain hands-on experience in settings that offer exposure to national and international arenas. It is based on the premise that school based and work site based learning can be complementary aspects of the academic curriculum. It is aimed at engaging students in meaningful educational experiences that allow them to integrate prior academic learning into a practical world experience as part of an interdisciplinary preparation for the careers of their choice. The range of options is wide open - UN agencies, NGO’S, international business sector, environmental programs, health organizations, disaster relief, human rights, legislative and lobbying offices, diplomatic missions, etc. The Internship may be done locally, nationally or internationally.
Course Number: IDS 500 Course Title: Peace and Development Course Description: This course serves as the capstone experience for all seniors in the World/International Studies degree program as an elective or guided study. It is expected to draw on previous academic work while exploring new intellectual terrain on broad human and global issues relating to peace, community building, and sustainable development. It is research based and writing intensive and should focus on some aspect of Peace and Development at local, regional, national, or global levels. It requires students to identify a specific research topic; define the objectives and anticipated outcomes; conceptualize the scope of the work to be done and, with faculty guidance, determine the appropriate methodology and readings necessary to achieve those ends. Students will report to faculty advisors on a biweekly basis.
Course Number: Hist 242 Course Title: History of the Caribbean Course Description: This course is designed to provide the student with an overview of the historical experience of the Caribbean region, from its penetration by European nations in the late 15th century up to the present time. The intention is not to simply fill the heads of students with details of facts, statistics, episodes, and events of the regions past. Instead, emphasis will be placed on an analysis of the major forces, external and internal, which conspired to shape regional societies, past and present. Although attention will be focused primarily on the English speaking nation states and dependent territories, cross-references will be necessarily be made to the French, Spanish, and Dutch speaking situations.
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