17 courses with the subject CIS, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
CIS 140Introduction to Jewish Studies
Instructor Neuman An introduction to the foundational narratives, ethics, laws and values, life-cycle rituals, and key social dilemmas faced by a range of contemporary Jewish communities in the US, Latin America, Israel and the Middle East. Topics of exploration will include diasporic and transnational relationships, secular and religious identities, Holocaust memory and memorialization, contemporary anti-Semitism, (linguistic and cultural) innovation and revival, Israeli state-formation and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Satisfies a major and minor requirement in Anthropology Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement
Instructor Rigger Globalize your semester with a collaborative, comparative look into the history of two world-changing historical events: the Russian Revolution (100 years old in October 2017) and Japan’s 19th century Meiji Restoration. While the material we will study comes from the past, the course will use cutting-edge digital tools borrowed from the information revolution that is reshaping our world today. Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Instructor G. Snyder In nearly all classes at Davidson, reading is “telic”: it has a purpose, a goal, a telos , to use the Greek term. Students read to acquire knowledge, to cover material, to prepare for a class or to write a paper that demonstrates mastery of a subject, all in order to do well in a class that goes on a transcript that becomes part of an academic record that launch you on the path to success. And because the process of meeting expectations and becoming successful is high stakes, it comes with pressure and therefore, anxiety. As part of this stressful process, reading can be experienced as an obligation or a burden: a requirement, rather than a respite. In this course, you’ll climb off that hamster wheel. We’ll approach reading as an “atelic” activity: that is to say, an activity without an ulterior motive or reason. There’s no pressure to read 40 pages to be ready for class on Wednesday. On most days, we’ll spend time in discussion, but most of class consists in simply reading. You’ll read at a natural pace, as slowly or quickly as the material seems to require. Depending on the material, it might be desirable to re-read and even re- re-read a single passage or a single page. In this course, you can do that. You’ll find that this changes the experience of reading. And we do it in physical books, putting aside all electronic distractions: phones, computers, etc. The goal for this atelic course is to help you reclaim (or establish) a “reading self” through continuous, every-day practice. And even beyond this, students have found that deliberate and disciplined reading at this level of commitment actually changes your mind for the better: how you think and feel, not just about reading, but about other things as well. Please
CIS 230Seminar in Applied Research Design and Data Analysis
Instructor Sellers In this course students will work with an external partner on an applied research project and explore how that work can strengthen and deepen their liberal arts education. The projects will vary in nature and involve a combination of the following: helping the partner figure out questions to ask about a product, topic, or market; collecting data for a particular project or question; organizing or cleaning messy data; analyzing data with a range of statistical methods; and presenting the results of analysis through visualization or other methods. Teams of 3-4 students will work on each partner’s project. This work will use students’ existing skills and knowledge, but also require students to learn new abilities. Indeed, a central course goal is teaching students how to learn on their own and respond nimbly to unexpected needs and challenges - which will definitely arise while working on the external partner’s project. During the semester, students will also improve their ability to collaborate with their team and the external partner. By the end of the semester, each student team will produce a concrete product for the external partner, such as a market analysis with research questions to explore, an original dataset with accompanying summary, or a visualization of sophisticated data analysis. The course is also intended to help students understand and experience how some of the core attributes of a liberal arts education - critical thinking, creativity, intellectual dexterity, appreciation of competing viewpoints, effective communication - can be applied, strengthened, and deepened in their work beyond campus. The external partner projects will require students to use these attributes in multiple ways. In addition, two assignments will require students to reflect on this interaction between the project work and a liberal arts education. These reflections will deepen the students’ learning, while helping the College understand how these applied research experiences can enhance a liberal arts education. While no specific courses are required as prerequisites, students enrolling in the seminar should have some prior experience in designing research projects, creating data sets, conducting statistical analysis, or visualizing data.
Instructor G. Snyder This course will examine the deep connections and mutual influence between forms of religious life and forms of political life when political power becomes centralized, autocratic, or totalitarian. What role does religion play in accelerating (or inhibiting) this process? The question will be examined with reference to historical examples from the modern period: the development of fascism in Italy and Spain, and the role of the Roman Catholic Church; the rise of National Socialism in Germany and the Protestant “German Christian” movement in facilitating the Holocaust, along with the role of the Vatican. In some cases, religious ideology and religious groups provide a counterweight or opposition to centralized power; the course will examine the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemöller and The Confessing Church in Germany as a response to the Nazi state, the Solidarity movement in post-Stalinist Poland, and the Evangelische Kirche in the GDR in 1989. Insights gained will be brought to bear on recent political and religious developments in the United States. The course includes a travel component to relevant sites in Germany over spring break. Satisfies Religious Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies German Studies major and minor requirement. Prerequisites & Notes Requires instructor permission
Instructor Ewington This course invites students on a deep exploration and creative journey into contemporary Russian literature and journalism born of the catastrophic realities of war, repression, and societal upheaval. Through poetry, prose, plays, reportage, diaries, manifestos, and letters, students will uncover how writers document crises and give voice to the silenced. This is not just analysis-it’s a laboratory for experimenting with your creative responses. Each week, we’ll examine literary works, discuss their cultural and historical contexts, and participate in writing workshops. Together, we’ll explore literature as a reflection of broken realities, a form of resistance, and a survival tool.
Instructor Ewington Reportage is the most fluid genre of journalism, often bordering on literary fiction. Our goal is to study and describe fragments of reality through in-depth fieldwork, immersive research, and compelling storytelling. This course will involve extensive reading in English, practical reporting assignments, and engagement with subjects. Each student will produce a final reportage piece, with the best works selected for publication.
Instructor Staff In this hands-on course, students will examine different notions of “value” and apply them through a final product design project. Guest speakers, including professors and practitioners across disciplines and industries, will guide the class through critical analyses of economic, cultural, aesthetic, political, social, sentimental, and other forms of value. Students will debate which value systems have historically and currently taken precedence in various communities. After a survey of these value systems. students will work in teams to collaboratively design a product of their choosing and will receive mentors from the community to assist in maximizing a project’s value.
Instructors Kietrys and Henke This course examines fascism as a transnational historical phenomenon that took many different forms. After an overview of Mussolini’s Fascist Italy, we will spend most of our time discussing National Socialism in Germany before turning to Francisco Franco’s decades-long dictatorship in Spain. We will conclude by probing the usefulness of comparing 20th-century European fascist ideologies and movements to 21st-century populism in the U.S. and Europe.
CIS 370Literature of Ongoing Catastrophe: Writing Laboratory
Instructor Kostiuchenko This course is both a deep exploration and a creative journey into contemporary Russian literature born out of the catastrophic realities of war, repression, and societal upheaval. Students will immerse themselves in poetry, prose, plays, reportage, diaries, manifestos, and letters to uncover how writers document crises and create a voice for those silenced. Beyond analysis, this is a laboratory - a space to experiment with your own creative responses to the themes explored. Each week, we’ll examine literary works, discuss the cultural and historical contexts that shape them, and engage in writing workshops designed to ignite your imagination. Together, we will explore literature not only as a mirror to broken reality but also as a form of resistance and a tool for survival. By the conclusion of the course, students will collaboratively prepare a bilingual Russian-English anthology of texts, created jointly with students of the Free University (Russia, working in exile). This anthology will combine translations, original creative writing, and critical reflections, serving as both an academic and cultural contribution. Satisfies Global Literary Theory requirement. Satisfies Russian Studies major and minor requirement. Prerequisites & Notes Completion of: WRI 101 and LTRQ
Instructor Kostiuchenko Reportage is the most fluid genre of journalism, often bordering on literary fiction. Our goal is to study and describe fragments of reality through in-depth fieldwork, immersive research, and compelling storytelling. The course will introduce students to the American, European, and Russian schools of reportage, allowing them to compare traditions, techniques, and styles. We will read extensively in English, analyze landmark texts, and engage in practical reporting assignments. Each student will produce a final reportage piece. The course concludes with a masterclass on pitching stories to editors and publications. Prerequisites & Notes WRI 101
