St. Edward’s University is offering new courses for the upcoming spring semester that range from improving your listening skills to dissecting the literary works of rock and roll.

Listening

One new Communication class examines the truth behind an old adage that says, “There is a difference between hearing and listening.”

Special Topics in Communication: Listening, will address this issue directly, with a focus on listening comprehension and listening in different situations and environments.

“People are unaccustomed to being heard uninterrupted,” Teri Varner said, “but this class will allow the students that opportunity.”

Varner said that the course would take place in a special classroom that caters to a lecture style, yet has computers around the perimeter of the room for students to do various listening exercises. This listening training is an invaluable life skill, according to Varner.

“Listening is one of the most underutilized skills in communication,” she said. “There are very few universities that teach students how to listen. If we can teach students how to become more effective listeners, they can become more effective people.”

Gender, Power, and Empire

Ancient religious texts and customs have been evaluated from many different perspectives over the years, but the intersections of gender and its influence are one approach that is still fertile ground for research.

Taught by Religious Studies professor Kelley Coblentz-Bautch, Faculty and Student Research on Gender, Power and Empire, gives students the opportunity to explore these intersections through faculty-lead research.

“Because students will be co-investigators, this course will be like a seminar,” Coblentz-Bautch said. “This is to allow for an interactive environment and for direct mentoring of student research.”

Coblentz-Bautch said that the class plans to evaluate ancient texts through several different contemporary methods, such as post-colonialism and feminist hermeneutics. In addition, students will be encouraged to present their research to the academic community.

“I am very excited about this course, which has a unique design and fresh topic, especially because of the opportunities it provides ultimately for working with students on an area of ongoing research,” she said.

Literature of Rock & Roll

Next semester, one new course is fusing literature with music.

Transradio: Literature of Rock & Roll, a CULF class will explore literary works and poetry by artists like Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Patti Smith and Nick Cave. Professor Joe Doerr, a musician involved in Austin’s music scene, will teach this course.

“The overall goal of Transradio is to introduce students to some of the literature written by individuals who first achieved notoriety as popular musicians,” Doerr said.

Doerr said that students will read several critical essays by contemporary authors that highlight academia’s growing interest in the work of these and other artists.

“I hope that students of Transradio will learn to think critically about cultural ownership, the methods of communication most valued by cross-genre writers, and the mutual philosophy that seems to drive

these authors to continually test the boundary between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture,” he said.

While there are no plans for assignments or projects that fall outside of the CULF 1318 formula, meaning students will still have to write papers and take a few quizzes, Doerr is very optimistic about teaching the class.

“While I’d love to be able to say that I’ve convinced the administration to bring Nick Cave to campus to lecture on the Nag Hammadi immediately following an intimate performance by Grinderman at the Mary Moody Northen Theatre, I can’t,” Doerr said. “I can, however, say with confidence that I think of the entire course as an exciting project.”

Masculinities

St. Edward’s is introducing a course that explores what it means to be a man. The Sociology of Masculinities will take a critical look at the qualities of masculinity.

Behavioral and Social Sciences Professor Michelle Robertson, who is teaching this course, said that the class will evaluate masculinity’s influence in a variety of ways.

“[Students will gain] a keen understanding of the social construction of masculinities and how these various forms shape both the lives of women and men and the institutions of education, work, religion, sports, family, media, etc,” she said.

Students will also be expected to do their own research into the subject in a project called “Show and Tell: Masculinities In the Media.” She believes that this class is vital in understanding societal norms, customs, and practices, and the ways in which masculinity influences them.

“This course will provide students with the tools for understanding how gender—and, in particular, masculinity—is socially constructed and why it is so central to our lives,” she said.