Chase Interdisciplinary Seminars

Chase Seminars, endowed by Baruch alumna Professor Hedy Feit in honor of former Weissman Dean Myrna Chase, offer a unique experience to second semester freshmen. Scheduled each spring, these interdisciplinary honors courses are co-taught by two faculty members from different Weissman departments. Faculty who are selected to teach these seminars are distinguished professors who are committed to creating an excellent educational experience for students.

Chase Seminars are special topics courses designed to meet the learning goals of courses within the Pathways Core or the Weissman Core curriculums. They are scheduled as ENG 2150H, LTS 1003H, COM 1010H, etc., and satisfy the corresponding degree requirements. Interested students who already have credit for the Chase Seminar course scheduled in any given semester may enroll under the cross-listed version – IDC 1002H or IDC 2002H. Registration permission is granted by the Weissman Associate Dean’s Office.

The Chase Seminar Program offers several benefits for students, including:

• Funding for education outside of the classroom. Professors arrange co-curricular events, such as a play, a concert, an exhibit at a museum, or a visit to a restaurant.
• Fresh perspectives on core curriculum disciplines, taught in a small seminar-style honors course setting.
• A possible point of entry into the Baruch College Honors Program. Students who maintain at least a 3.3 overall GPA and who obtain a letter of recommendation from their Chase Seminar faculty may apply to the Baruch’s Provost’s Scholars Program for the subsequent fall semester.

Spring 2026 Chase Seminar

SOC 1005H Introduction to Sociology *

MTH-LEC Regular; Class Number: 27706

In-Person: Tuesday 11:10AM – 2:05PM

Professors: Esther Allen and Theodore Henken

“Empires in the Americas”

Well before European conquistadores and colonists arrived in the Western Hemisphere and started using the name “America” for their new empires, other empires already existed here—the Aztec, Inca, and Maya, to name only the best known. Following the conquest of those indigenous empires, the Spanish empire acquired tremendous wealth and power. This process of European exploration and colonization of new territory in the Western Hemisphere also considerably expanded Spain’s rival empires of England, France, and Portugal. However, if we take a wider look, we see that empires have long existed throughout the world and done so in constant tension with resistance, revolt, and outright revolution.

This course will consider the cycles of imperial rise and fall within the Americas from the 14th century to the present – cycles that include the United States of America. We will also examine the nature, history, and political sociology of empires, colonialism, revolution, and imperialism. Among the questions the course will address are: how and why do separate political spheres coalesce into empires? What differences exist between regional and global empires? What political, social, cultural, linguistic, and ecological impacts do empires have, and do those impacts vary from empire to empire? Can an empire be benign? Is revolution an inevitable result of empire and how do revolutions sometimes transform into empires themselves? Do human societies have alternatives to empire? How does empire operate in the Americas and the world today?

Finally, given that this is a Chase honors seminar, the course will include various enrichment activities related to the content such as visits in New York City to places and events that illustrate the history and ongoing reality of “Empires in the Americas.”

* Students who have already completed SOC 1005 may take this course as IDC 2002H.

Previous Chase Seminars:

Spring 2025 Chase Seminar

ENG 2150H Writing II

Tuesday/Thursday 2:55PM – 4:35PM

Professors: Erica Richardson and Sarah Saddler

“In Case of Revolution Break Glass:” Performance and Power from the Global North and South

“In Case of Revolution Break Glass:” Performance and Power from the Global North and South examines how performance serves as a medium for expressing, challenging, and negotiating global power dynamics. The course, co-taught by an applied theatre facilitator and scholar of black feminism, invites students from all disciplines to engage with a diverse range of performative texts (e.g. plays, films, performance art), phenomena, and artifacts from across the globe. From puppet theatre in post-apartheid South Africa and digital museum experiences in the Middle East to grassroots protest movements in the United States and avant-garde performance art across Europe, students will immerse themselves in a diverse spectrum of cultural expressions that prompt them to examine the complex geopolitical power relationships between and within communities from the Global “North” and “South,” such as the Caribbean, the American South, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. As students navigate these diverse artistic and cultural landscapes, they will juxtapose historical insights with contemporary realities and their own bodily engagements, transforming their view of performance from simply an art form to a profound lens for understanding the world and their roles within it. With an emphasis on merging critical discourse with hands-on experiential exploration, the class will provide a transformative journey that not only expands knowledge horizons, but empowers students to intertwine art with social change, using their newfound insights to foster understanding across diverse societies.

* Students who have already completed ENG 2150 may take this course as IDC 2002H.

Spring 2024 Chase Seminars

ENG 2150H Writing II

Monday/Wednesday 9:55AM-11:35AM

Richard Ellenson and Lewis Wirshba

For Love and Money: Perspective and Expression in Our Complex World

Love and Money – certainly one of life’s most interesting and complex dynamics.  Not for just romantic love, but also love of family, friends, community, profession, avocation, or even spiritual beliefs.  And as life presents opportunities, challenges, and choices, this tension becomes an evermore intricate needle to thread.

Join this Chase seminar as we dissect a diverse set of artistic and analytical works to question (and perhaps begin to answer) how the interplay between matters of the wallet and of the heart affect the calculus of living a full, rewarding life.  We’ll explore short stories, academic literature, Op Eds, movies, music, and visual arts to examine many ways societies look at the tradeoffs between love and money.  We’ll spend equal time analyzing the techniques that make a particular work convincing (or not) and applying these techniques to your own analysis and writing.

You’ll be challenged to respond with your own thoughts in diverse writing formats. For example, we might take Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and have you write your own lyrics on the interplay of romantic and financial commitment. Or you’ll read a sociologist’s article about a “love crisis” among Chinese migrant workers, and then express your assessment in an op-ed piece. By stretching your writing toolbox, you’ll learn why each one works and how best to employ them in academic, professional, creative and personal situations.

To make the exploration of this sticky, tricky and always evolving dialectic even more interesting, it is taught by two lifelong friends: one who was the COO of an international bank and the other the founder of a company creating technology for people with disabilities.  In this vibrant, multifaceted, and far-ranging class, you’ll discover areas of expression that most appeal to you, while also developing skills that lead to a distinctive and powerful voice appropriate for each communication need.

HIS 1003H Themes in Global History Since 1500 C.E.

Tuesday 11:10AM-2:05PM

Professors: Zoe Griffiths and Elizabeth Heath, Department of History

Dangerous Economies: Illicit Trade, Shadow Markets, and Hidden Histories

Whether counterfeit money, smuggled contraband, unlicensed peddlers, the informal economy has long operated in the shadows of the formal market. Equally persistent have been state attempts to control and eliminate these practices. This class explores these dangerous economies, using the rich archives generated by state regulation to learn more about the ordinary people who lived their lives and earned their livelihoods in the shadows. We will begin the semester by exploring the many ways that historians have used police surveillance, criminal reports, and legal cases to write the history of these suspect merchants, smugglers, pirates, prostitutes, and peddlers. The second half of the semester will be devoted to original research using the archives of the underworld that can be found in New York City.

Spring 2020 Chase Seminar

ENG 2150H Writing II *
Monday/Wednesday 12:25-2:05 p.m.
Professors: Michael Staub, Department of English, and Susan Tenneriello, Department of Fine and Performing Arts

Theater and History

This seminar will look at the theatrical experience in historical and social context. We hope to concentrate on plays and other theatrical events scheduled for performance in New York City during the semester, including Baruch’s own performance facilities. We will additionally read plays–both classic and contemporary–that have taken important social and political topics, like gender relations, the persistence of racism in America, and the psychological impact of combat and war, as their central subjects. And we will discuss what makes a play–written in and for a specific historical moment–capable of becoming a work of lasting value. It is our aim that this course will be “student-centric.” This means that students will function as audience, critics, directors, and scholars as we discuss together the many diverse and imaginative ways in which the theater can work to reflect historical concerns and to provoke social reflections. Since this is a section of ENG 2150, the class will focus on the process of writing and revising the essay. However, it also plans to offer students the opportunity, if they wish, to engage in theater practice and collaborative use of digital media, storytelling, and performance, leading to independent final projects.

* Students who have already completed ENG 2150 may take this course as IDC 2002H.

Spring 2019 Chase Seminar

ENG 2150H Writing II *
Monday/Wednesday 2:55-4:35 p.m.
Professors Jessica Lang, Department of English, and Yochi Cohen Charash, Department of Psychology

Evil: The Atrocities of the Holocaust and Beyond from Literary and Psychological Perspectives

This Chase Seminar lies at the intersection of psychology, literature, and Jewish Studies and will be taught by Professor Yochi Cohen-Charash and Professor Jessica Lang. Our major goal in this seminar is to expand students’ knowledge of the atrocities of the Holocaust and provide students with a toolkit by which they can better understand the past and examine current events: Can it happen again? Can it happen here? Combining literary and psychological perspectives will offer a unique view of the Holocaust beyond the pure historical perspective.  Whereas the literary part will focus on narrative study and analyses of the events, eliciting emotional and analytical reactions, we will then examine them using an empirical, psychological lens. Thus, an integral part of the course will consist on examining a range of students’ emotional, analytical, and cognitive reactions to the topic.

This class will include a trip to Washington D.C. that is sponsored by the Wasserman Jewish Studies Center. We will visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Museum of American History.

* Students who have already completed ENG 2150 may take this course as IDC 2002H.

Contact

Weissman Associate Dean’s Office

Email: WSAS.AssocDean@baruch.cuny.edu

Phone:  646-312- 3890