Department: Humanities

Course Code & Name: CST203

Class Time and Location MWF 12:00 – 12:50 PM
INSTRUCTOR name Ralph Haddad
Course Coordinator Vahid Behmardi
Course Co-coordinator -
Credits Hours 3
Semester Fall 2020

INSTRUCTOR
Email: ralph.haddad01@lau.edu.lb
Office Hours: By Appointment (via Zoom)

CURRENT CATALOG DESCRIPTION

CST 203 traces the major developments in the global human experience during the 19th and 20th
centuries. Source material is drawn from the humanities, the fine arts, the social sciences and the
natural sciences, and is organized thematically around key topics.

PRE- OR CO-REQUISITE

COURSE TYPE
Required Major’s Elective General Elective

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the completion of this course, the student will able to:

 Interact intelligently and in an informed manner with key themes and challenges facing
human existence from the beginning of the 19th Century up to the present.
 Exercise critical thinking on a variety of influential and interrelated ideas that have left
their mark on the affairs of cultured men and women during the same period.
 Demonstrate the ability to probe complex universal issues of a theoretical and intellectual
nature and relate them to our own Middle Eastern cultural context.

TEXTBOOK

All articles will be assigned as PDFs.

TOPICS COVERED IN THE COURSE

Week Lecture
1 Class Introduction & Expectations + Introduction of PDF
Basic Concepts
2 Louis Althusser “Ideology and Ideological State PDF
Apparatuses”
3 Althusser, continued. PDF
First Response Due
4 Judith Butler “Undoing Gender” PDF
5 Butler, continued PDF
Second Response Due
6 Afsaneh Najmabadi “Mapping Transformations of Sex, PDF
Gender and Sexuality in Modern Iran”
7 Sara Ahmad, “Affective Economies” PDF
Third Response Due
8 Dina Georgis, “Thinking Past Pride” PDF
9 RIT Report Queer & Trans Refugees in Lebanon PDF
10 Fourth Response Due PDF
11 Ella Shohat, “Arab Jews & Multicultural Feminism” + Audre PDF
Lorde “The Masters’ Tools”
12 Introduction to the Gender Dictionary and the class Website
project.
(Gender Dictionary:
https://civilsociety-centre.org/gen-dictionary/-/35247
Fifth Response Due
13 “Colonized Tongues” Website
https://raseef22.com/article/1067747-colonized-
tongues-haunting-lebanon)
14 No class, work on the Project
15 Final Project Due (December 8)

TEACHING/LEARNING METHOD
 This year, we will be reading authors who were heavily influenced by developments in 19 th
and 20th century thought, but were critical of what came before them, and offered insight
into what could come afterwards. Therefore, the readings we will be delving into come
from the fields of gender and sexuality studies, media studies, critical race theory and
Middle East Studies.
 We will be tackling thought-provoking and challenging subjects that aim to push the
boundaries of what we all already know. Therefore, no discriminatory comments will
be tolerated in class during our discussions of these articles. Furthermore, class
discussions will be carried out in mature and thought-out ways that aim to further the
material at hand.
 I am available to meet during my office hours, and outside of them if need be, in case any
student has any concerns about the material at hand, or any questions they would like to
go over. No question is too small, and I welcome all inquiries into the material we will be
delving into.
 I understand some students may have an aversion to speaking up during class, especially
when it comes to tackling slightly more difficult topics. If you feel you are one of these
students, please let me know if that is the case, and I welcome you to come meet with me
during my office hours, so you don’t lose participation points as a result.
 As for the Reading Responses:
o They will be limited to 300 words a response. I will discuss the content for each
response a week before it is due.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

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  As cliché as it sounds: always attend sessions having done the required
readings/watched the materials and prepped with any questions you
might want to ask. The discussion is just as much about analyzing the readings
together, as it is about discussing anything that was unclear within them.

COURSE GRADING AND PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

 Participation & Discussion: 15%
 Short responses (5): Each worth 10%
 Final Project: 35%

STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT - ACADEMIC VIOLATIONS

The following table defines the sanction(s) associated with each violation. In some cases and when the
violation is too general, a range of sanctions is set for the pertinent committee to choose from depending on the
specifics of each case. As for the second offense, the set sanctions apply regardless whether the violation has
taken place in the same course or a different one, within the same semester or not.

Code # Violation First Offense Second

Offense
Cheating
2.2.1 Using material or equipment (including mobile phones, zero on the F on the course
electronic tablets, i-pads, calculators, and other devices) deliverable with with a warning
that is not authorized by the instructor in an examination, a warning
project, or graded assignment
2.2.2 Cheating, copying, collaborating with or aiding another zero on the suspension
Student in a manner not permitted by the instructor on an deliverable with
examination, project, or other graded assignment a warning
2.2.3 Distributing or aiding in the distribution of previous double warning suspension –
exams without authorization of the instructor – suspension expulsion
2.2.4 Stealing, reproducing, or circulating an examination or suspension expulsion
other graded assignment before it has been administered
2.2.5 Impersonating another Student or allowing another suspension expulsion
Student to impersonate one’s self during an examination, for both
presentation, or other graded assignment
2.2.6 Impersonating an assistant, staff member, or faculty suspension – expulsion
member for the purpose of (a) proctoring examinations expulsion
without authorization or permission or (b) obtaining
confidential information regarding coursework or
examinations
2.2.7 Receiving, purchasing or selling a project, paper, or any suspension – expulsion
academic document and presenting it as work other than expulsion
that of the author
2.2.8 Submitting identical papers or coursework for credit in zero on the F on the course
more than one class without the permission of the deliverable with with a warning
instructor a warning
Plagiarism and Copyright Violations
2.2.9 Failing to attribute language or ideas to their original zero on the F on the course
source by not crediting the original author with an deliverable with with a warning
appropriate acknowledgement or citation a warning
2.2.10 Using photocopied or electronic copies of textbooks, warning double warning
compact disks, films, music, online course materials, and
other content beyond the fair use policy within University
Premises
2.2.11 Using copyrighted materials, including in written research warning double warning
reports and papers, without obtaining required

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 Code # Violation First Offense Second
Offense
permission, if any, from the rights holder
Unauthorized Sale, Distribution, or Use of Course Materials
2.2.12 Recording any lecture or presentation for personal use or warning double warning
public distribution without the prior consent of the course
instructor. This applies to the unauthorized use of any
medium including but not limited to mobile phones,
electronic tablets, i-pads recorders, films, and other
devices
2.2.13 Selling academic materials by any Student, club, or group. warning double warning
This includes but is not limited to lectures, course
recordings, class notes, and previous exams

UNIVERSITY ATTENDANCE POLICY

1. Students are expected to attend all classes.
2. For valid reasons, students may miss classes for a maximum that is equivalent to two regular
weeks.
3. When exceeding the maximum number of absences, it is the instructor’s prerogative to ask
the concerned student to stop attending and drop the course. In this case, it is the student’s
responsibility to drop the course, otherwise a grade of “F” or “NP” will be given.
4. In exceptional justified cases (long illness, etc…), where absences exceed the maximum, the
student has to petition to the department Chair to be allowed to stay in the course.
5. Students are held responsible for all the material presented in the classroom, even during their
absence.

WITHDRAWAL POLICY
WI is equivalent to Early Withdrawal
WP is equivalent to Withdrawal/Pass
WF is equivalent to Withdrawal/Fail
1. A student who withdraws after the Drop/Add period and by the end of the 5th week of classes (10th day of classes for
Summer Modules) will obtain a “WI” on that particular course.
The student may process such request directly through the Registrar’s Office.
2. A student who withdraws from a course between the 6th week and the end of the 10th week of classes (18th day of
classes for Summer Modules) will receive either a “WP” or a “WF”. “WP” or “WF” will be determined by the instructor
based on the achieved academic performance in that course till the time of withdrawal.
3. The “WI” and the “WP” will not count as a Repeat; whereas the “WF” will count as a Repeat.
4. “WI”, “WP” and “WF” will not count towards the GPA calculation.
Deadline for the “WP” and “WF” withdrawal from courses: check university calendar (It is the student’s
responsibility to drop the course)

COURSE ONLINE EVALUATIONS

In order to improve the effectiveness of the educational process, all students are expected to
submit their course evaluations by the last day of classes. Students who fail to complete
the evaluation of ALL registered courses by the set deadline:
1.  Will not be able to access their course grades from Banner or Portal until two weeks after
the end of the final exams period; and
2.  Will not be able to request transcripts. 
The anonymity of the process and the students will be maintained at all times.