Courses for Summer 2012
Along with a course description, each course has the professor listed, and you can learn more about that professor (contact info, what they teach, publications they have contributed to, etc.) by clicking on their name.
Session 1: July 8 – July 20
USA102 – American Cities and Suburbs
This course explores the history of Trenton as a window onto the major patterns of development in American cities and suburbs. Throughout the history of modern America, where you live has had enormous consequences in terms of access to education, housing, jobs, and political power. In studying the history of cities and suburbs—and the complex relationships between the two—this class will explore the larger questions of race, inequality, and power that are central to understanding modern American society.
Professor: Rob McGreevey
SOC101 – Introduction to Sociology
Sociology explores the intersection of biography and history. Students learn the basic foundations of sociology, including its development as a field of inquiry, early sociological theory, and methodology. The course also analyzes social organization, addressing culture, structure, socialization, and social control. Students investigate how culture, class, race, sex, family, medicine, business, religion, education, and government affect our lives. Special attention is paid to the impact of society on self. Bonner Summer Fellows will explore how sociological concepts can be applied in a field placement in Trenton.
Professor: Diane Bates
IDS100: Understanding Difference: Race, Class, and Gender
This course examines categories of race, class and gender as significant variables affecting the experiences of individuals in U.S. society. Although we will engage with sources drawing primarily from the discipline of Sociology, we will also read sources from the disciplines of History and Anthropology. With this interdisciplinary approach, we seek to understand how social categories like race, class and gender are used to create distinctions among human beings and also to justify the unequal distribution of wealth, resources, power and prestige among members of society and thus have a great impact on their life chances. This class, then, will focus on patterns of structural social inequality and their effects on different communities and individuals within our society.
Professor: Winnifred Brown-Glaude
Session 2: July 22 – August 3
Finding Your Voice in Art
This course is designed expressly for high-achieving high school students interested in building their drawing and observation skills. The class focuses ranges from traditional forms and materials of drawing to contemporary ideas, processes and materials. Students will find their own artistic voice through a myriad of exercises designed to open their creativity while strengthening their skill of observation. This is an ideal course for a student interested in applying to a university art program. The course will also focus on the preparation of a portfolio for use in applying to schools.
Professor: Mauro Zamora (zamora@tcnj.edu)
SPE103 – Social & Legal Foundations of Special Education
Introduces students to interdisciplinary analyses of special education in American schools. Students review critical issues facing schools by applying analytic principles drawn from history, philosophy, and legal/social theory in order to form an initial, professional position. They will develop a framework for understanding how they, as individuals, can contribute to enhancing educational environments for students with disabilities.
Professor: Jerry Petroff
