Special Topics and Elective Courses

Spring 2026

AFR 499, sec 001, Black Male Studies
Instructor Name: Joseph Smith
On campus, Monday 1:00-3:30pm
This course introduces students to the emerging field of Black Male Studies, which challenges dominant frameworks that reduce Black men to gendered pathologies such as toxic masculinity, patriarchs, and deviant manhood. Rather than positioning Black males as the carriers of white masculinity’s most destructive traits, the course asks whether they can be studied on their own terms as complex, vulnerable, and socially situated human beings

ANTH 430 A: Archaeology of North America
Instructor Name: Erica Moses
On campus, Monday, Wednesday 2:00-3:15pm
A survey of the archaeological evidence for human societies in North America. In this seminar-style class, we will explore how archaeology informs our understanding of past cultures and major developments in the human history of the continent, from the arrival of Paleolithic hunters up through the establishment and expansion of modern nations. We will also consider the history, practice, and ethics of archaeology in North America.

ANTH 485: Special Topics in Anthropology
Instructor Name: Erica Moses
Online Asynchronous
Explore methods used in the digital documentation, analysis, and visualization of archaeological sites and objects. Students will have opportunities for hands-on learning to practice digital archaeology skills, and we will take a critical approach that considers practical and ethical concerns in digital archaeology as well as the benefits of adopting new technologies

ANTH 370: Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems, Foodways of the Black Atlantic
Instructor Name: Matthew Greer
On campus, Monday, Wednesday 3:35-4:50pm
Jollof rice. Soul food. Jerk chicken. In many ways, the histories of Black people on both sides of the Atlantic can be told through the foods that have sustained them for the past 1,000 years. In this class, students will learn about foodways of the Black Atlantic and how anthropology contributes to our understanding of the ways African and African American cuisines have changed over the last few centuries

ANTH 455B: Special Topics in Biological Anthropology
Instructor name: Chris Stantis
On campus, Tuesday, Thursday 12:35-1:50pm
This course will cover special topics in Biological (Physical) Anthropology. Topics will vary between offerings and may include special or current issues in forensic research, human variation, genetics and evolution, primate behavior, ecology, conservation, or human evolution.

CLAS/HIST 303: Cult of the Dead: Ancient Corpses, Tombs, and Mortuary Ritual
Instructor Name: Michelle Freeman
On campus, Monday, Wednesday 1:00-2:15pm
This course will examine rites surrounding death and corpses in antiquity from the Bronze Age to the Early Middle Ages, with units on Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian interactions with the dead. Topics will include tombs, cemeteries, and burial; funerary rites and meals; eulogy and lament; mythologies of the afterlife; and the preservation, veneration, and utilization of corpses. We will explore how religion, social structures, politics, and environment impact the cult of the dead in the ancient world.

CMST 301: Communication Across Cultures
Instructor Name: Martha Irene Lutterodt
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10:00-10:50 am section 002
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 12:00-12:50pm section 003
On campus
This course is an introduction to communication between and among people from different cultures (within the U.S. and globally), and it focuses on the application of intercultural communication theory and research. Lectures, discussion, assignments and exercises examine everyday encounters (actual and mediated/virtual) between individuals and groups from different races, ethnicities, nations, religions, genders, ages, sexual orientations, physical abilities and other forms of difference

CMST 342: Popular Culture
Instructor Name: Justin Young
On campus, Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00-9:50am
Students will explore the production, consumption, and dissemination of popular culture in the global marketplace. They will apply intercultural and cultural studies theories and concepts to popular culture texts such as film, television, music, advertising, gaming, second life, Facebook, and Twitter. The examination of popular culture will be centered around how popular culture influences understanding of identity/ies, identity differences, intercultural communication, and intercultural relationships. This course will enhance self-reflexivity, understanding, and knowledge concerning the implications of popular culture in our everyday lives and within intercultural interactions

CMST 380: Introduction to Leadership and Organizational Communication
Instructor Name: William Houston
Online, asynchronous
Introduction to basic concepts, theories, and practices relevant to the understanding of communication in leadership positions and organizational contexts. Provides a communicatively based definition of leadership and formal organization and explores historical and contemporary theories pertaining to individual-organizational relationships

CMST 383: Interviewers and Interviewing Communication Studies
Instructor Name: William Houston
Online, asynchronous
Planning, conducting, and analyzing interviews with emphasis on roles of interviewer and respondent in professional and organizational communication settings. Study of factors affecting accuracy, openness, and goal attainment in use of interview methods for evaluation and research. Individual and small group projects with selected aspects of interviewing.

CMST 441: Advanced Intercultural Communication
Instructor Name: Nilanjana Bardhan
On campus, Tuesday, Thursday 9:35-10:50am
Advanced study of intercultural communication in domestic and global intercultural contexts. Course incorporates intercultural communication research with specific focus on application theory in professional contexts and in service of public advocacy and/or social justice. 

CMST 455: Tourism, Culture, and Communication
Instructor Name: Dr. Rebecca Anderson
On campus, Tuesday, Thursday 12:35-1:50pm
This course explores contemporary tourism in a broad context of intercultural communication, rhetoric, performance, and cultural studies. Emphasis is placed on examining tourism as a popular leisure pursuit, booming multinational industry, and also as a complex medium of transnational communication and performance that transforms daily life and culture. Students will be asked to not only study tourism, but also engage in some local tourist activities as part of the experiential learning process.

CMST 482: Public relations in Sports and Recreations
Instructor Name: William Houston
Online, asynchronous
Explores the role of public relations within sports and recreation organizations and the relationship between these industries and the media. Students will plan and conduct a fund-raising event, may attend athletic competitions, and learn about careers in the sports and recreation fields.

CMST 486: Special Topics in Public Relations
Instructor Name: William Houston
Online, asynchronous
An exploration of selected, current topics in public relations. Topics vary and are announced in advance. Students may repeat up to 6 hours as topic varies.

CMST 493: Special topics in Communication: Listening
Instructor Name: Craig Gingrich-Phillbrook
Online, synchronous. Tuesday, Thursday
An exploration of selected current topics in communication arts and studies. Topics vary and are announced in advance; both students and faculty suggest ideas.