Courses for Membership in the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability: 2020-2021

This experiential course will consider the challenges, as well as the solidarities that emerge when revisioning institutions and other social environments to better face climate change and other urgent societal demands affecting public health.  This community-engaged course welcomes students to examine, identify and respond creatively to a particular wicked social or environmental health challenge (i.e. isolation, stigma of mental illness, addiction, health effects of climate change, homelessness, lack of clean water, food insecurity, effects of colonization) located in a particular place (i.e. hospital waiting room, parking lot green space, river, cultural or educational institution, shopping mall). Student teams will co-design solutions with the affected community in order to contribute to the health and wellbeing of the individuals, families, communities and the inhabited land. Diverse theories and practices to be explored in the course include: critical cultural geography, indigenous science perspectives, neurobiology, critical neuroscience, liberation/community psychology, public practice arts therapy and awareness through movement theories. Use of the creative arts, gardening, dance, theatre and movement will provide methods and materials to develop mutual care practices that will sustain and inform the final projects. This course offering will be held primarily at the Loyola campus Art Hive and the garden at La Ruche d’Art in St Henri with field trips to the MMFA Art Hive. The public will be welcomed to attend the final “Rat Park” event which will showcase student-community creativity and innovation.

For permission to register for this class, please contact Professor Satoshi Ikeda at satoshi.ikeda@concordia.ca.

This course focuses on the natural environment and our interactions with it as presented through selected films. Students deconstruct the visual representation of a problem or complex set of problems around the natural environment presented both as “fact” and as “entertainment”. Students generate an understanding of how the individual and one's society can operate more effectively in a global context of increased inter-cultural interaction, in unison with the environment.

The course recognizes that much of the city’s early Black history is unknown and that even today, the current knowledge of the Black experience in Montreal continues to be fraught with myth and misconception.  Thus, this course is largely designed to introduce students to the major themes, issues, and debates in Montreal’s Black history from its origins until today.  This interdisciplinary survey is organized chronologically and will determine how certain trends and critical milestones have shaped Black Montreal’s unique face and given rise to complex community building on and off the island. Our wider lens explores Blacks as their own agents, contributing to the greater society while simultaneously creating cultural resources and events that highlight the multifaceted ways Blacks made their own history while simultaneously shaping and contributing to the history of Montreal. Ultimately, students should gain an understanding of how Blacks lived, worked, socialized, and defined themselves in Montreal.

This introduction to the particular problems and issues in the study of women and religion uses case studies from various religious traditions. The course presents a survey of the different levels of participation, the complex ritual activities, and the intriguing divine imagery associated with women that are found in many religious traditions. Questions pertaining to the contemporary feminist discourse on such topics as witchcraft, matriarchy, and goddess religions are also explored.

NOTE: Students who have received credit for RELI 233 or for this topic under a RELI 298 number may not take this course for credit.

This course examines, from a psychological perspective, how the concept of self varies across cultures. Whereas some cultures embrace the concept of the individual, other cultures emphasize the communal nature of social and personal existence. This theme is explored from several perspectives including theory about development, the treatment of “self” in literature, cultural variations in the concept of human rights, and the link between self and society. This course is intended to demonstrate the interface between the medical and social sciences and the analysis of change.

This course is an anthropological approach to variations in cultural experience as they relate to communication. Students explore modes of expression and communication, including literature and film, with a view to examining questions of interpretation, aesthetics, and ethical judgment. Personal expression and communication are also discussed. This course is intended to develop an awareness of the role of imagination and creativity in expression and interpretation, and sensitivity to the role of cultural and other differences in processes of communication.
NOTE: Students who have received credit for LOYC 410 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite: Membership in the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability, or permission of the College. The student works under the supervision of a Fellow of the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre, a Fellow of the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability (LCDS), or another faculty member approved by the College on an in-depth research project of relevance to either Sustainability Studies or Diversity Studies. A formal, written report is required.

The COVID 19 pandemic needs to be understood from multiple perspectives that cut across scholarly disciplines and straddle the boundary between the academy and other institutions in our society. This course will analyze the basic processes and consequences of the virus now known as the “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” and the grave sickness it causes, called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).  Using a blended strategy of lectures and discussion, this team-taught course will include perspectives from the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. Consistent with the basic ethos of Loyola College, our goal is to offer an integrative perspective on our planet’s current health crisis and its effects on multiple aspects of human life. 

This introduction to the particular problems and issues in the study of women and religion uses case studies from various religious traditions. The course presents a survey of the different levels of participation, the complex ritual activities, and the intriguing divine imagery associated with women that are found in many religious traditions. Questions pertaining to the contemporary feminist discourse on such topics as witchcraft, matriarchy, and goddess religions are also explored.

NOTE: Students who have received credit for RELI 233 or for this topic under a RELI 298 number may not take this course for credit.

This course explores past and present debates among Muslims about the ideal status of women in Islam. The historical and legal background — the material of the debate — is examined first. The class then considers how a variety of discourses, ranging from conservative to Muslim-feminist, treat and manipulate this material.

NOTE: Students who have received credit for RELI 383 or for this topic under a RELI 398 number may not take this course for credit.

This course considers ethical issues arising in the context of personal and interpersonal relations, families and friendships, and health and medical care. These issues are discussed in relation to traditional and contemporary moral perspectives, both religious and non-religious. Topics covered may vary from year to year, but may include discussions of conscience and career, privacy, sexual relations, harassment, substance abuse, abortion, euthanasia, and gay and lesbian relations.

NOTE: Students who have received credit for RELI 310 or for this topic under a RELI 398 number may not take this course for credit.

This overview looks at the many diverse religious traditions of the First Nations populations in North America. The course examines the sacred stories, ceremonial patterns, life cycle rituals, and religious activities in their varied expressions. Consideration is given to the historical interaction of native government with religious practices.

NOTE: Students who have received credit for RELI 368 or for this topic under a RELI 398 number may not take this course for credit.