CAT 87 and CAT 192

UC San Diego offers one-unit first-year and senior seminars to provide students with an opportunity to meet with faculty in a small class environment. They are taught by senior UC San Diego faculty and researchers and are limited to twenty students. The seminars are taught by faculty in their fields of expertise and explore topics of intellectual importance. Students participate in critical discussion with a small group of peers and faculty. Topics differ every quarter. Students must request departmental approval through the Enrollment Authorization System in order to enroll in CAT 87 or CAT 192.

Winter 2025 Courses

CAT 87: Sing Your Song: Movie Musicals and American Popular Culture

Phoebe Bronstein

Associate Teaching Professor, CAT

Monday 1:00-1:50 p.m.

From Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (1930s) to School Daze (1988), Bride and Prejudice (2004), and the upcoming Hamilton movie, live-action movie musicals have long held an important space in American popular culture. Their songs have topped pop charts and they have been huge box office successes, even as the genre itself has evolved and developed. This discussion-based seminar will explore the history of the genre, its adaptation over the last century of filmmaking, and its lasting impact in America.

CAT 87: Category Is...: Drag Artistry and Self-Expression

Romain Delaville

Assistant Teaching Professor, CAT

Wednesday 11:00-11:50 a.m.

This course offers an overview of drag artistry. From its beginnings on the stages of Shakespearean theater through the Vaudeville performances of the early twentieth century, the underground ballroom scene of the 1990s, and culminating in the recent visibility of TV shows like RuPaul's Drag Race, we will uncover the influences that have shaped drag into the cultural phenomenon it is today. This journey from the margins to the mainstream will provide a historical backdrop for examining how drag challenges, disrupts, and redefines societal norms of gender, identity, and self-expression. Indeed, beyond its entertainment value, drag is also, and perhaps most importantly, a political project, offering a platform for queer community-building and resistance against systems of oppression. Classroom discussions and workshops will provide a foundation for students to craft their own drag personas in a collaborative and supportive environment that will empower them to experiment, take creative risks, and ultimately allow them to bring their transformed selves to life.