Anyone who is on the lookout for an interesting course to take during the spring 2018 semester has many options recommended by the professors of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. 

UA Little Rock courses offer students the chance to create innovative products and learn how to market them as well as explore everything from art and architecture in London to how countries rebuild in the aftermath of civil war.

UA Little Rock has courses for students interested in exploring unique career choices such as archaeology, costume design, forensic anthropology, and the military.

Check out the following guide for choices that will satisfy an interest in the history of China, France, the U.S. as well as public health policies and the role of women in modern history.

On Campus

ANTH 3313: Archaeology

12:15-1:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays by Krista Lewis

This course is a gateway to so many opportunities to participate in uncovering clues from the past here in Arkansas and around the world. Some students from the class are selected to travel to Oman, where Dr. Lewis has been working on a medieval port city archaeological site.

ANTH 4355/5355: Forensic Anthropology

1:40-2:55 p.m. and 3:05-4:20 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays by Kathryn King

By examining skeletal characteristics, students will learn to estimate sex, age, and ethnic origin. They will also delve into how trauma, disease, fire, and time affect bones. This course is appropriate for anyone who plans to study anatomy, medicine, animals, and crime.

ARHA 4310/5310: Special Topics, London: Art, Artists, and Society

1:40-2:55 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays by Floyd Martin

This course focuses on the city of London, its architecture, and visual arts and artists associated with the city, especially in the 18th century.

GNST 2300: Intro to Gender Studies

12:15-1:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays by Rohn Muse

This course discusses gender and how it is defined by people and societies. It takes a cross-cultural examination of gender identity and cultures in politics, economics, family, health, religion, and multiple other areas.

HIST 3328: Modern France

11-11:50 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays by Tom Kaiser

France, America’s oldest ally, shares with the United States a strong republican tradition. Yet, where the U.S. had only one revolution and one constitution since the 18th century, France has had many. What accounts for this instability?  This course seeks the answers by tracking competing notions of the French nation since the French Revolution and their impact on French politics.

HIST 3342: Modern China

1:40-2:55 p.m. Mondays and Fridays by Jeff Kyong McClain

Do you know the story of Hong Xiuquan, self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus, who started the world’s deadliest civil war? Or how about The Society of Righteous Fists, who could allegedly repel bullets with their mystical arts? This course will explore these and other mysteries of China.

HIST 3356: The Gilded Cage, 1876-1900

9:25-10:40 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays by Carl Moneyhon

This class examines major economic and demographic developments in the 1870-1900 period that helped to create modern America, industrialization, big business, and urbanization. It also explores the impact of these changes on American society, culture, ideas, politics, and foreign policy. Issues explored include the emergence of the Robber Barons, development of the middle and professional classes, realistic literature, professional politics, foreign adventures, and the Spanish American War.

HIST 3358: Recent America

9-9:50 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays by Barclay Key

The course will invite students to examine the most important events in U.S. history, from World War II to the present. The course will discuss secret communiqués between Japanese diplomats before the Pearl Harbor attack, the most effective protest strategies of the Civil Rights Movement, and explore the political philosophies of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson. Students will also analyze the most significant films and songs since 1940.

HIST 4371: Women in World History

Taught 11-11:50 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays by Marta Cieslak

Have you ever wondered why we talk about “women’s history” but never about “men’s history?” This course explores this question and many other questions that the men who for centuries wrote, studied, and taught history refused to answer or even pose. We will examine how women around the world were exploited, abused, and restricted but also how they resisted, ruled, and controlled their own destiny. A complex network of social, political, and economic factors that shaped women’s experiences will guide this investigation throughout the last five centuries of “women’s history.”

IFSC 4302/5302: Strategies for Innovation

6-8:40 p.m. Thursdays by Dan Berleant and Linda Holzer

This course examines strategies for developing innovative products. Topics include how to choose promising problems that are ripe for innovative solutions, how to generate multiple ideas for solving these problems, how to select the most promising solutions, and how to sell your solution to potential partners, managers, and investors.

MSCI 1101: Leadership 1 and Leadership II

10-11:50 a.m. Wednesdays by Major Eric Weatherman

MSCI 1101 Leadership I (10-10:50 a.m.) emphasizes the importance of communication, decision making, and the understanding of human behavior in leadership situations. MSCI 1101 Leadership II (11-11:50 a.m.) is a continuation of Leadership I and focuses on leadership development and basic tactical skills. Both courses are required for students who want to qualify for college scholarships through the ROTC program, but any student can take the courses as one-hour electives. ROTC is a college and university-based program for training commissioned officers of the U.S. Armed Forces.

What does it mean to say that a claim is true? The answer seems straightforward, but it may not be. Do facts presuppose certain points of view? Are there alternative facts? Some suggest that there really is no such thing as truth, or that to say a claim is true is merely redundant, a linguistic shortcut, or a kind of social arm-twisting. This course will examine a variety of theories of truth to attempt to sort out these and other issues.

POLS: 4365/INTS 3321: Peace building and Post-Conflict Reconstruction

12:15-1:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays by Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm

This course examines the challenges of rebuilding social, political, and economic institutions in the aftermath of civil war. When peace processes are being negotiated or one side emerges victorious, politicians, rebels, activists, victims, and the general public must decide how society is to move on. The international community, too, likely has some interest in the outcome of the conflict. Building peace first requires understanding the factors that gave rise to conflict.

The course begins by briefly exploring the literature on the causes of civil war before examining the politics of war-to-peace transitions. From there, discussion will be a range of issues that frequently must be dealt with during the rebuilding process, including disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of fighters; rule of law capacity building; post-conflict justice; and economic reconstruction. Finally, there will be a review of the state-of-the-art in terms of how the international community can play a constructive role in promoting lasting peace in conflict-affected societies.

SOCI 4365: Sociology of Organizations

10-10:50 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays by Kinko Ito

This course will examine how organized groups, jobs, and environments affect the social world and how people relate to each other. The course will explore intriguing questions many of us have pondered. Why is my boss so incompetent? How is a political party different from a cocktail party? Why do so many instances of ofkaroshi (death from too much work) take place in Japan? This course is important for anyone who exists within an organization, which is all of us.

THEA 2310: Costume Techniques

10-11:15 a.m. Mondays and Wednesdays by Donald Bolinger

The course is aimed at sewing construction for the stage but has practical applications for any beginning sewer. The course consists of two major projects; a sample bag project where numerous machine and hand-sewing techniques are practiced and utilized to realize a finished carry-all bag, and a final garment project where the student uses skills learned in the sample bag process to cut, construct and finish a complete garment of their choice.

Online:

HHPS 7310: Theoretical Foundations in Health Education

This online graduate course taught by Amar Kanekar discusses diverse health behavior change theories and their applications in health education and public health.

Weekend:

PADM 7331: Public Health Policy

Feb. 2-4 and March 2-4 by Nichola Driver

This graduate course in public health policy will be taught over two weekends in February and March. The course will review the U.S. healthcare system, its components, the social determinants of health, public health disparities, and other key health policy challenges. It will focus on the major health policy institutions and important issues that cut across institutions, including the federal/state financing programs.