by Oleksandra Volakova
Striving to be a multicultural community, Wesleyan, in collaboration with the Fries Center for Global Studies, offers a classes taught in a language other than English in a variety of disciplines. The topics are focused on various aspects, from environment to history and literature, and the list of courses offered changes every semester. These courses, known as Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum or CLAC, can be found on WesMaps during the course enrollment period.
The Fall 2024 Drop/Add deadline is approaching, but some classes still have seats available. A course titled “Venezuela: The Effect of Oil Discovery on People, the Environment, and on Democracy” (ENVS283 / LAST383 / CGST 283) will examine the transformation of Venezuela from a colony to an independent country. Other key factors that will be covered include the discovery of oil, European colonialism, land usage, human rights, and slavery. All the discussions and readings will be conducted in Spanish.
Another full-credit course taught in Spanish is “Neotropical Acuatic Ecosystems: Their Importance, Sustainable Use, and Conservation” (ENVS188 / CGST266 / LAST260). This course explores why the Orinoco and Amazon basins have greater biological richness than other river basins – around 50% of the world’s higher plant species are there. It examines the key factors affecting their development, biodiversity, and threats to sustainable conservation in light of modern environmental threats such as fisheries, forest exploitation, and human consumption.
“Brazilian Culture and Identity Through Media” (CGST235) is a 0.5-credit class taught in both English and Portuguese. Students will consider how the media (television shows, music, news, etc.) influences the way Brazil is perceived from the outside in different aspects of human life, from human rights to gender.
Wesmaps website offers more CLAC courses in a number of languages, including Hebrew, Russian, and American Sign Language. Make sure to check them out before the Fall 2024 Drop/Add deadline tomorrow, September 13th!