SPRING 2023
AFRI 120 PZ-01- B(L)ack to Nature: Poetry & Theory with Laura Harris
B(L)ack to Nature: Poetry & Theory This course introduces students to poetic forms in relation to the subject of nature in 20thC African American poetry. Through the study of authors such as Lucille Clifton, Ntozake Shange, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, June Jordan, and Claudia Rankine students explore formal aesthetic strategies of and practice writing free verse, vignette, haiku, choreopoem, blues, and spoken word. Through readings and research in Black feminist geography studies students learn the critical contexts of and develop an aesthetic understanding in relation to the representational politics of nature and gender in African American poetic expression.
ART 030 PZ-01/02- Sustainable Sculpture with Sarah Gilbert
Sustainable Sculpture: Crafting Care, Curiosity, and Community This course emphasizes the creative and ethical use of found materials, including anything from carving a broken bookshelf left curbside, to scavenging and replanting seeds from food scraps. How can attentive attunement with our material surroundings shift how we consider site-specificity, or community audience in this distinctive moment? No specialized tools, supplies, or facilities are required, and students are not responsible for any fees or purchases. Twice weekly long block meetings focus on hands-on material experimentation and community engagement, supported by short lectures, readings, and discussions for context. All levels welcome!
ASAM 089 PZ-01- Qi Gong & Embodied Learning with Kathleen Yep
Embodied Learning, Pedagogies of Belonging, and Qi Gong: Highlighting the possibility of social change through education, this course explores Roxana Ng’s framework of embodied learning as a potentially decolonizing pedagogical praxis. Through readings, dialogue, and practices, the class examines the hidden curriculum of different corporeal dualisms in classrooms, the impact of (dis)embodiment on educational outcomes, and the transformative possibility of embodied education for critical consciousness and social action. This class investigates qi gong as an epistemological framework and an embodied practice related to liberatory pedagogies. Rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, qi gong involves breathing, awareness, and movement and centers interconnectedness as the basis for its knowledge system. Combining discussion of readings and experiential practice, we will engage in a community-engaged project that includes relational mindfulness, qi gong, and other contemplative practices
ASAM 088 PZ-01- Community Studies with Scott Chan
Asian American & Multiracial Community Studies: Introduces students to studying and working beside Asian American and Pacific Islander communities through the exploration of the politics of place. Issues to be addressed in the course include ethical considerations of community projects and social topography as it changes in the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander diasporas. Course will be project-based and working with community-base organizations
CHLT 153 CH-01- Rural & Urban Social Movements with Jose Calderon
This course examines social movements, as part of people’s collective efforts to create changes in society: their emergence, the process of their formation, and the varied strategies for their mobilization. Although the class will primarily focus on the Farm Worker and Immigrant Rights (day laborer) Movements, the theories, readings, activities, and projects will draw out lessons that are applicable to other social movements as well.(Previously SOC 155 CH)
CHLT 160 CH-01- Queering (Im)Migration with Carlos Rivas
Queering (Im)Migration: LGBTI and Gender Nonconforming Migration from Central America This course will interrogate the historical and contemporary relationship between sexuality, gender and migration. The recent press and political backlash on Central American immigrant children, their mothers and Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Intersex individuals at the border often elide the horrific conditions they are experiencing in detention in the U.S. and on the migration trail through Mexico. The class is an interdisciplinary intervention into various fields to draw connections between Chicanx, Latinx, Central American studies and queer studies on (im)migration. This class aims to utilize both feminist theory and methodology as well as popular education methodology to analyze migration and conduct participant observation research and oral histories of affected individuals.
EA 153 PZ-01- Community Compost & Social Health
Community Composting and Soil Health Within the global context of climate change and environmental justice, explore the ways in which community composting serves to alleviate and overcome burdens of climate justice. Examine the role of composting in waste management, soil health, community well-being, and regenerative food systems. Understand and engage in monitoring of soil health using tools such as simple soil and plant tests, and microscopy. Apply our understanding of these principles to service learning projects on campus and in the community, such as the Pitzer Student Garden, and with local organizations like Food Cycle Collective, Huerta del Valle, Buena Vista Community Garden, etc.
MS 194 PZ-01- Media Arts for Social Justice with Gina Lamb
This course is a combination of analysis, theory, and hands-on service-learning experience of how media arts mobilize, educate and empower communities. The course will examine working models of media-based community collaboration projects. Students will be linked with non-profit community collaborators (media arts centers, social service and youth service agencies) who are using media as a catalyst for action in their community. Working with site hosts/collaborators, students will work with undeserved populations to design, implement and produce unique media collaborations that provoke thought and action. Course Fee $150
ORST 180 PZ-01- Black People in the Inland Empire with Marilyn Grell-Brisk
Black People in the Inland Empire In this course, we trace contemporary demographic changes in the Black population of Southern California, particularly the shift from Los Angeles county to the Inland Empire. We examine how Black folx continue to create and organize vibrant communities in the face of red lining, white flight, gentrification, further economic marginalization and environmental racism.
POST 107 PZ-01- Latino Politics
The purpose of this course is to explore the contours and evolution of Latino Politics. A central element in Latino political history is the role of racial exclusion and multi-racial coalitions in defining Latino political power. This course is being taught as an inside-outside class at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco, California. Institutions like CRC are highly racialized environments. Thus, the focus of this class is relevant for our setting as well as for understanding contemporary American politics where race has become a defining issue. Although racial exclusion had been a defining element in Latino history, a critical factor that we will consider as a source of political empowerment is the formation of cross-racial coalitions. This course examins the conditions that make coalitions between African Americans, Latinos and other groups possible.
POST 174 PZ-01- US Immigration Policy
PSYC 105 PZ-01- Child Development with Mita Banerjee
Evidence pertaining to the development of the child is examined and discussed in relation to selected theoretical formulations. Facets of the child’s cognitive, social, emotional and personality development are included. Enrollment is limited.
PSYC 186 PZ-01- Internships in Psychology with Marcus Rodriguez
This clinical seminar introduces students to the theory and practice of peer counseling. This is an experience-based learning class, designed to explore the basic concepts, issues, and core competencies related to peer counseling and to provide opportunities to apply the conceptual material and emerging skills in a supervised internship placement site. In this course, students will be introduced to critical microskills, as well as cognitive-behavioral principles and strategies used to facilitate therapeutic interactions. In addition to the fieldwork component, students will read scientific literature and learn meta-analytic methods to examine empirical findings related to the efficacy of peer counseling initiatives worldwide. Students will also read and review relevant children’s book literature.
SOC 035 PZ-01- Race and Ethnic Relations with Jessica Kizer
This course examines concepts and theories in the study of race and ethnic relations. Attention is given to the social construction of race as it relates to colonization and racial oppression, while examining contemporary realities of immigration, inter-ethnic conflict, white privilege and social movements for racial equality.
SOC 170 PZ-01- Internship: Sociology of Health and Medicine with Alicia Bonaparte
Internship: Sociology of Health and Medicine Engaging in the healthcare sector (or other arenas which have a health-oriented focus) not only provides a lens as to the relationships between health consumers and health providers, but also provides students with experiential knowledge of various arenas within the U.S. healthcare systems. Over the semester, students work at least 4 hours a week in an internship of their interest but will not necessarily be providing actual treatment of patients. In addition, our class meets once a week in which we will discuss poignant readings related to the healthcare system that not only focus on the lives of health consumers/patients but also more critically examines the social relationships.
SPAN 100 PZ-01- Spanish in the Community with Paula Gutierrez
This course focuses on children of immigration. It explores the forces that shape their adaptation to a new country, their schooling and literacy process, their language use and sense of identity, the relation with family and the cultural processes that take place as they learn to become part of the new society. Readings from social science, literature, and contemporary discussions. Required weekly community service. Prerequisite: Spanish 44 or equivalent.
FALL 2022
AFRI 120 PZ-01- B(L)ack to Nature: Poetry & Theory with Laura Harris
B(L)ack to Nature: Poetry & Theory This course introduces students to poetic forms in relation to the subject of nature in 20thC African American poetry. Through the study of authors such as Lucille Clifton, Ntozake Shange, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, June Jordan, and Claudia Rankine students explore formal aesthetic strategies of and practice writing free verse, vignette, haiku, choreopoem, blues, and spoken word. Through readings and research in Black feminist geography studies students learn the critical contexts of and develop an aesthetic understanding in relation to the representational politics of nature and gender in African American poetic expression.
ART 030 PZ-01/02- Sustainable Sculpture with Manny Krakowski
Sustainable Sculpture: Crafting Care, Curiosity, and Community This course emphasizes the creative and ethical use of found materials, including anything from carving a broken bookshelf left curbside, to scavenging and replanting seeds from food scraps. How can attentive attunement with our material surroundings shift how we consider site-specificity, or community audience in this distinctive moment? No specialized tools, supplies, or facilities are required, and students are not responsible for any fees or purchases. Twice weekly long block meetings focus on hands-on material experimentation and community engagement, supported by short lectures, readings, and discussions for context. All levels welcome!
ASAM 082 PZ-01- Racial Politics of Teaching with Kathleen Yep and Carmen Fought
Embodied Learning, Pedagogies of Belonging, and Qi Gong: Highlighting the possibility of social change through education, this course explores Roxana Ng’s framework of ’embodied learning’�’ as a potentially decolonizing pedagogical praxis. Through readings, dialogue, and practices, the class examines the hidden curriculum of different corporeal dualisms in classrooms, the impact of (dis)embodiment on educational outcomes, and the transformative possibility of embodied education for critical consciousness and social action. This class investigates qi gong as an epistemological framework and an embodied practice related to liberatory pedagogies. Rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, qi gong involves breathing, awareness, and movement and centers interconnectedness as the basis for its knowledge system. Combining discussion of readings and experiential practice, we will engage in a community-engaged project that includes relational mindfulness, qi gong, and other contemplative practices
ASAM 088 PZ-01- Thich Nhat Hanh with Kathleen Yep
Asian American & Multiracial Community Studies: Introduces students to studying and working beside Asian American and Pacific Islander communities through the exploration of the politics of place. Issues to be addressed in the course include ethical considerations of community projects and social topography as it changes in the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander diasporas. Course will be project-based and working with community-base organizations
CGS 127 PZ-01- Environment & Development in 3rd World with Lako Tongun
The course explores the dynamics of positive and/or negative relationships between environment and development in the Third World. Its theoretical perspectives are complimented by an experiential requirement in which the students will occasionally visit the maquiladora enterprises along the U.S./Mexico border.
CGS 131 PZ-01- Virtual Internship Southern Africa: with Batsirai Chidzodzo
Virtual Internship: Southern Africa This seminar consists of a semester-long distance learning course and virtual internship in which students engage with real-world challenges in a Southern African context. Students work with local organizations in the fields of immigration, human rights, education etc. Early on in the semester, students attend regular classes in which they study topics associated with their internship sites, as well as learning the ethics and practice of respectfully engaging local communities. Once fully engaged in their internship, students work roughly seven to ten hours per week on their specific project(s) for their organization and attend occasional classes as appropriate. For a list of specific internship possibilities see: https://www.pitzer.edu/study-abroad/virtual-internships/
CHLT 072 CH-01- Central Americans in the US with Carlos Rivas
This course examines social movements, as part of peoples collective efforts to create changes in society: their emergence, the process of their formation, and the varied strategies for their mobilization. Although the class will primarily focus on the Farm Worker and Immigrant Rights (day laborer) Movements, the theories, readings, activities, and projects will draw out lessons that are applicable to other social movements as well.(Previously SOC 155 CH)
EA 0153 PZ-01- Community Compost & Social Health with Lynn Fang
Community Composting and Soil Health Within the global context of climate change and environmental justice, explore the ways in which community composting serves to alleviate and overcome burdens of climate justice. Examine the role of composting in waste management, soil health, community well-being, and regenerative food systems. Understand and engage in monitoring of soil health using tools such as simple soil and plant tests, and microscopy. Apply our understanding of these principles to service learning projects on campus and in the community, such as the Pitzer Student Garden, and with local organizations like Food Cycle Collective, Huerta del Valle, Buena Vista Community Garden, etc.
MS 090 PZ-01- Ecodocumentary with Ruti Talmor
In recent years, as the Anthropocene has become a central framework within the academy, the subfield of ecocinema has developed within media studies. This course will focus on ecodocumentary. Topics include environmental/manmade catastrophe, industrialization, anthropogenic climate change, interspecies relations, ecojustice, environmental racism, consumerism and waste. Readings will draw from a range of fields including ecocriticism and ecocinema studies. Supported by the Robert Redford Conservancy (RRC), this course will teach students the history, theory and production of ecodocumentary. By the end of the course, student teams will have collaborated with RRC partners in the Inland Empire to create short documentaries.
MS 194 PZ-01- Media Arts for Social Justice with Gina Lamb
This course is a combination of analysis, theory, and hands-on service-learning experience of how media arts mobilize, educate and empower communities. The course will examine working models of media-based community collaboraiton projects. Students will be linked with non-profit community collaborators (media arts centers, social service and youth service agencies) who are using media as a catalyst for action in their community. Working with site hosts/collaborators, students will work with undeserved populations to design, implement and produce unique media collaborations that provoke thought and action. Course Fee $150
ORST 060 PZ-01- Social Justice in Education with Tricia Morgan
This course will cover a brief overview of education history in the US, how educational systems and actors function to either inhibit, maintain, or grow systems of oppression, and tools for advancing social justice in education. These tools include power and asset mapping, moving from ally to accomplice, applying ethical paradigms in context, conducting an equity audit, understanding education as liberation, and the role of both policy and community care in education. Students will understand themselves as both actors and acted upon in educational settings through various social justice lenses, and be empowered to enact meaningful change toward equity within educational institutions.
POST 101 PZ-01- US Campaigns and Elections with Rachel VanSickle-Ward and Adrian Pantoja
This course provides an overview of campaigns and elections in the American context. Topics include political parties, primaries and general elections, voting behavior and turnout, media coverage, campaign finance, election law and prospects for electoral reform, state and local elections, issues and candidate evaluation, and race and gender dimensions of electoral politics. While considering historical context, we will focus in particular on issues relevant to the elections taking place in 2020. Students will be given the opportunity to participate on a campaign.
PSYC 080 PZ-01- Intro to Transformative and Restorative Justice with Jenny Escobar
Evidence pertaining to the development of the child is examined and discussed in relation to selected theoretical formulations. Facets of the child’s cognitive, social, emotional and personality development are included. Enrollment is limited.
PSYC 080P PZ-01- Practicum or Intro to Transformative and Restorative Justice with Jenny Escobar
Practicum for Intro to Transformative and Restorative Justice: This course is the companion practicum for the Introduction to Transformative and Restorative Justice course. For the practicum, students will be introduced to qualitative research on the topic and conduct two qualitative research projects related to transformative and restorative justice.
PSYC 186 PZ-01- Internships in Psychology with Marcus Rodriguez
This clinical seminar introduces students to the theory and practice of peer counseling. This is an experience-based learning class, designed to explore the basic concepts, issues, and core competencies related to peer counseling and to provide opportunities to apply the conceptual material and emerging skills in a supervised internship placement site. In this course, students will be introduced to critical microskills, as well as cognitive-behavioral principles and strategies used to facilitate therapeutic interactions. In addition to the fieldwork component, students will read scientific literature and learn meta-analytic methods to examine empirical findings related to the efficacy of peer counseling initiatives worldwide. Students will also read and review relevant children’s book literature.
SOC 001X PZ-01- SRX: Intro to Sociology with Jessica Kizer
SOC 035 PZ-01- Race and Ethnic Relations with Jessica Kizer
This course examines concepts and theories in the study of race and ethnic relations. Attention is given to the social construction of race as it relates to colonization and racial oppression, while examining contemporary realities of immigration, inter-ethnic conflict, white privilege and social movements for racial equality.
SPAN 100 PZ-01- Spanish in the Community with Paula Gutierrez
This course focuses on children of immigration. It explores the forces that shape their adaptation to a new country, their schooling and literacy process, their language use and sense of identity, the relation with family and the cultural processes that take place as they learn to become part of the new society. Readings from social science, literature, and contemporary discussions. Required weekly community service. Prerequisite: Spanish 44 or equivalent.
WRTI 100A/B PZ-01/02- Writing Center Theory & Praxis with Stephanie Liu-Rojas
“Good writers are born, not made” – so the common misconception goes. Yet research shows us writing is a social practice developed through regular practice, challenging new tasks, and constructive feedback. In this seminar we investigate theories from writing studies to examine our own diverse experiences in writing. What does it mean to call something “good” writing? What ideological and cultural assumptions underwrite definitions? What can scholars tell us about why so many of us struggle with the writing process? And what are some strategies we can use to help ourselves and others grow as writers? Aimed at students interested in cultivating the habits of effective writers, educators, this class is both theoretical and practical in its orientation.
