Spectacular Spring 2024 CLA Courses
Happy final few weeks of fall semester! The College of Liberal Arts is delighted to share a collection of engaging and enriching courses being offered across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Learn about these opportunities for deep dives into a range of topics, themes, fields of study, and creative mediums!
![Two hands holding open a black and white graphic novel](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/ames_3256_image.jpg?h=5793e458&itok=KETJrQgU)
Examine the medium of graphic novels through a selection driven by wars and conflicts in Asia and the Middle East, exploring state violence, social movements, art making, and much more.
![Cones on a jingle dress](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/unsorted/images/jingle_dress_ojibwe_view_2_undated_-_wisconsin_historical_museum_-_dsc02923.jpg?h=a141e9ea&itok=QFyj0rgD)
Learn about the history, culture, and lived experience of American Indian people in Minnesota by studying self-representation and histories of Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) and Dakota peoples through film, music, oral traditions, and written texts.
![Three undergraduate students touching a sonic instrument's thin metal poles](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/arts_3230_sound_art_image.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=vefiIveP)
Cultivate your curiosity about the sonic as an art modality through creative projects where sound is used as the primary material. Learn more by reading this feature story.
![Green screen set with a camera operator, one young and one old woman performing, and a young woman on a TV screen behind them](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/comm_3201_image.jpg?h=b72e0079&itok=9TWpsjHq)
Work with a team to plan, script, and shoot video productions in a multi-camera television studio. Learn how media aesthetics shape the presentation of themes and messages.
![Trans Pride Flag: alternating blue pink and white stripes](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/Trans-Pride-Flag.png?h=2d235432&itok=nl-tKduk)
Learn how knowledge is made about transgender life across disciplines and media, as well as medicine, history, anthropology, and gender studies.
![Someone holding a cardboard sign reading "We demand justice + change"](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/glos_1112_image.jpg?h=d2625ee2&itok=oFV9vOG6)
How do social justice movements shape people? Explore the ideas and practices of effective cause-based movements, with regular visits from community activists, artists, and advocates.
![Flag of Ukraine](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/Flag_of_Ukraine.svg__0.png?h=2d235432&itok=wKrUDlDG)
Build an understanding of the relations between Russians and Ukrainians, exploring their coexistence and the ups and downs in Russian-Ukrainian relations for over a thousand years.
![A green lawn in front of the White House on a sunny day](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/pol_3306_image.jpg?h=bec267f0&itok=WlG6Q8Gh)
What does the US President do, and why? Why is so much power entrusted to just one person? Analyze these questions by evaluating the history, evolution, and current state of the “highest office in the land.”
![Large, opened dictionary with blurry columns of text](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/slh_3304_image_-_giant_dictionary.jpg?h=0f47bdf6&itok=C6_w0zLM)
Why are people who learned English in New York City more likely to pronounce Mary, merry, and marry differently than those who learned English in Minneapolis? Learn the answer to this question through phonetics, the science of speech production, and develop your skills in phonetic transcription across languages, speech development, dialects, and individual speech styles.
![Brown wooden gavel against gray wooden background](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/soc_3101_image_-_wooden_gavel.jpg?h=4e7dc65c&itok=3WmaUpDl)
Critically examine the ethnic, racial, class, and gender inequalities and long-term problems associated with criminal justice supervision in the US.
![Large theatre stage with gold pillars and red curtains](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/th_3152w_image_-_theatre_stage_red_curtain.jpg?h=4fa07180&itok=zrtoeSHG)
Develop methods for analyzing avant-garde performances across the Global South that aim to make transformative social interventions.
![Two people at a table, each with a laptop](/sites/cla.umn.edu/files/styles/teaser_image_portrait/public/writ_3577_image.jpg?h=34bbc586&itok=C5ORl9Ua)
Examine the rich and complex ways people inform and persuade others via the internet.