Courses
CAT-001 courses (four units, fall quarter) teach critical reading and drafting by examining how culture, art, and technology have intersected in the past. Students must have completed the Entry Level Writing Requirement in order to enroll in CAT-001.
CAT-002 courses (six units, winter quarter) are writing-intensive, foregrounding argumentation, revision, and writing as process by examining case studies of culture, art, and technology interacting in the present moment. Students must have passed CAT-001 in order to enroll in CAT-002.
CAT-003 courses (six units, spring quarter) are writing- and research-intensive, focusing on collaboration, research, and art-making by speculating on how the relationships between culture, art, and technology will be transformed in the future. Students must have passed CAT-002 in order to enroll in CAT-003.
CAT-125 and CAT-125R courses (four units, every quarter) are upper-division writing and communication classes in which students focus on translating skills developed in lower-division writing courses into writing after college and public rhetoric. CAT-125R is the online version of CAT-125; only one of these two courses must be taken to fulfill the upper-division writing requirement. CAT-125GS, the version embedded in Sixth College Global Seminars, may also be taken to satisfy this requirement. Students must have completed the lower-division writing sequence and have upper-division standing in order to enroll in CAT-125 or CAT-125R.
Past Syllabi
For any older syllabus not archived below, please reach out to Jeanne Monahan.
2020-2021
Fall 2020
CAT-001
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Stanley Chodorow: The Transformation of Cities
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Joe Bigham: From Hillbilly Music to Hip-Hop: US Culture and Popular Music
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Phoebe Bronstein: A Hollywood History: Filming America From Boxing Cats to Jaws
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Guillermo Algaze: Origins
CAT-125R
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Liz Gumm: Mindful Rhetoric
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Joe Bigham: Developing Expertise Through Digital Media
Winter 2021
CAT-002
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Guillermo Algaze: Cities and States
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Hoang Nguyen: Asian Diasporas in Film and Media
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Liz Gumm: The Contemporary Gothic: Literature of Horror, Mystery, and Grief
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Amelia Glaser: Russia and the US
CAT-125
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Bill Robertson Geibel: Your Voice in a Globalized World
CAT-125R
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Phoebe Bronstein: To Tell Your Story: Public Rhetoric, Media, and Autobiography
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Joe Bigham: Developing Expertise Through Digital Media
Spring 2021
CAT-003
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Adam Burgasser: Our Future Climate: Envisioning Our Collective Future
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Phoebe Bronstein: Environmental Futures: Media, Technology, and the Future of the Planet
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BT Werner: Queering Climate Change
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Matthew Herbst and Lisa Porter: Representation and Rights: Disability in History and the Arts
CAT-125
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Liz Gumm: Mindful Rhetoric
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Bill Robertson Geibel: Your Voice in a Globalized World
CAT-125R
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Joe Bigham: Developing Expertise Through Digital Media
Summer 2021
CAT-124
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Jasper Sussman: "Erm-BYAH!-O O O": Singing Through Life
CAT-125
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Siloh Radovsky: Story of the Body: Public Rhetoric, Communication, and Care
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Bill Robertson Geibel: Your Voice in a Globalized World
CAT-125R
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Bobby Edwards: Public Rhetoric, Personal Narrative, and the Politics of Voice
2021-2022
Fall 2021
CAT-001
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Guillermo Algaze: Origins
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Phoebe Bronstein: Un/Natural Spaces: American Media and Histories of Environmental Representation
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Liz Gumm: Histories of Literary Creatures
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Stanley Chodorow: The Transformation of Cities
CAT-124
-
Jasper Sussman: "Erm-BYAH!-O O O": Singing Through Life
CAT-125
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Your Voice in a Globalized World
CAT-125R
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Joe Bigham: Developing Expertise Through Digital Media
Winter 2022
CAT-002
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Joe Bigham: The Process of Music: A Study of Listening, Composing, and Performing
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Phoebe Bronstein: Media-Made America: America's Small-Screen Geographies
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Pinar Yoldas: Art and the Brain
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Jennifer Marchisotto: Disability Rhetoric
CAT-124
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Ryan Moran: Introduction to Practical Public Health
CAT-125
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Chandler Puritty: To Tell Your Story: Public Rhetoric, Media, and Autobiography
CAT-125R
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Joe Bigham: Developing Expertise Through Digital Media
Spring 2022
CAT-003
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Adam Burgasser: Our Future Climate: Envisioning Our Collective Future
-
Babak Rahimi: Futurism: Histories and Political Aesthetics of Tomorrow
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Phoebe Bronstein and Bill Robertson Geibel: Environmental Futures: Community-Engaged Learning
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Jennifer Marchisotto: Subversive Speculation: BIPOC Genre Fiction
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Joe Bigham: Futures Through Music-Making: Videos, Virtuality, and the Bop Gun
CAT-125
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Chandler Puritty: To Tell Your Story: Public Rhetoric, Media, and Autobiography
CAT-125R
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Joe Bigham: Developing Expertise Through Digital Media
Summer 2022
CAT-001
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Liz Popko: A History of Literary Creatures
CAT-002
- Guillermo Algaze: Cities and States
CAT-124
-
Becca Rose: Making Space: Radical Literary Movements and Community-Making Through 'Zines and Lit Mags
CAT-124GS
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Internships in Dublin: Critical Inquiry and Professional Success
CAT-125GS
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Bill Robertson Geibel: Navigating a New Country: Communication and Rhetoric in a Globalized World
CAT-125R
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Adriana Tosun: Building the Written Self
2022-2023
Fall 2022
CAT-001
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Un/Natural Spaces: American Media and Histories of Environmental Representation
-
Joe Bigham: From Hillbilly Music to Hip-Hop: US Culture and Popular Music
-
Guillermo Algaze: Origins
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Twice Upon a Time: Lore, Adaptation, and Identity
CAT-003
CAT-125R
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Jennifer Marchisotto: Public Rhetorics of Identity
Winter 2023
CAT-002
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Guillermo Algaze: Cities and States
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Media-Made America: America's Small-Screen Geographies
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Disability Rhetoric
-
Hoang Nguyen: Asian Diasporas in Film and Media
CAT-125
-
Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Celeste Morales: To Tell Your Story
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Matthew Irwin: Public Rhetoric
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Maya VanderSchuit: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Your Voice in a Globalized World
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Public Rhetorics of Identity
CAT-125R
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Lauryn Smith: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
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Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
Spring 2023
CAT-003
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Jennifer Marchisotto: Subversive Speculation: BIPOC Genre Fiction
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Romain Delavillle: AI Narratives
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Liz Popko: How to Survive the Future
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Joe Bigham: Futures Through Music-Making: Videos, Virtuality, and the Bop Gun
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Environmental Futures: Community-Engaged Learning
CAT-124
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Bill Robertson Geibel: Engaging San Diego: Taking Local Action to Address Global Issues
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Amy Knight: Partnerships for Local Climate Action: The UCSD EarthLab Community Station
CAT-125
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Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Public Rhetorics of Identity
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Maya VanderSchuit: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
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Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
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Matthew Irwin: Public Rhetoric
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Celeste Morales: To Tell Your Story
CAT-125R
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Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
- Lauryn Smith: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
Summer 2023
CAT-124
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Becca Rose: Making Space: Radical Literary Movements and Community-Making Through 'Zines and Lit Mags
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Kevin Westerfeld: The Thucydides Trap: How Sparta and Athens Fell Into War and Its Implications for the Modern World
CAT-124RS
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Bill Robertson Geibel: Internships in Dublin: Critical Inquiry and Professional Success
CAT-125
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Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
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Becca Rose: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Public Rhetorics of Identity
CAT-125GS
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Phoebe Bronstein: New Zealand Stories: Travel and Storytelling
CAT-125R
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Matthew Irwin: Public Rhetoric
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Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
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Maya VanderSchuit: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
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Allison Evans: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
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Lauryn Smith: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
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Celeste Morales: To Tell Your Story
CAT-125RS
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Navigating a New Country: Communication and Rhetoric in a Globalized World
2023-2024
Fall 2023
CAT-001
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Guillermo Algaze: Origins
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Phoebe Bronstein: Now and Then: 1990s Popular Culture and its Twenty-First Century Return
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Patrick Patterson: Other Places, Other People, Other Pasts: The Culture, Art, and Technology of Tourism From Then to Now
-
Joe Bigham: From Hillbilly Music to Hip-Hop: US Culture and Popular Music
CAT-090
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Experiential Learning Seminar
CAT-124
-
Amy Knight: Partnerships for Local Climate Action: The UCSD EarthLab Community Station
-
Becca Rose: Making Space: Radical Literary Movements and Community-Making Through 'Zines and Lit Mags
CAT-125
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Celeste Morales: To Tell Your Story
-
Becca Rose: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Public Rhetorics of Identity
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Matthew Irwin: Public Rhetoric
CAT-125R
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Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
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Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
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Lauryn Smith: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
Winter 2024
CAT-002
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Pinar Yoldas: Art and the Brain
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Phoebe Bronstein: To Infinity and Beyond: Media Narratives of Earth and Outer Space
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Jennifer Marchisotto: Disability Rhetoric
CAT-002CE
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Liz Popko: Fiction of Psychosocial Experience
CAT-124
-
Amy Knight: Partnerships for Local Climate Action: The UCSD EarthLab Community Station
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Engaging San Diego: Taking Local Action to Address Global Issues
CAT-125
-
Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Public Rhetorics of Identity
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Celeste Morales: To Tell Your Story
-
Becca Rose: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Matthew Irwin: Public Rhetoric
CAT-125R
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Lauryn Smith: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
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Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
Spring 2024
CAT-003
-
Amelia Glaser: Translation
-
Matthew Herbst and Lisa Porter: Creative Community: Disability and the Arts
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Jennifer Marchisotto: What If?: Fearsome Futures and Possible Presents
-
Babak Rahimi: Futurism: Histories and Political Aesthetics of Tomorrow
CAT-003CE
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Environmental Futures: Community-Engaged Learning
CAT-087
CAT-090
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Experiential Learning Seminar
CAT-124
CAT-125
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Public Rhetorics of Identity
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Celeste Morales: To Tell Your Story
-
Becca Rose: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Matthew Irwin: Public Rhetoric
CAT-125R
-
Lauryn Smith: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
Summer 2024
CAT-124
CAT-124RS
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Bill Robertson Geibel: Internships in Dublin: Critical Inquiry and Professional Success
CAT-125
-
Jess Silbaugh-Cowdin: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Public Rhetorics of Identity
CAT-125GS
-
Babak Rahimi: Buddhism and Posthuman Future
CAT-125R
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Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Matthew Irwin: Public Rhetoric
-
Lauryn Smith: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Celeste Morales: To Tell Your Story
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Becca Rose: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
CAT-125RS
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Navigating a New Country: Communication and Rhetoric in a Globalized World
2024-2025
Fall 2024
CAT-001
-
Phoebe Bronstein: A Hollywood History: Filming America From Boxing Cats to Jaws
-
Guillermo Algaze: The Origins of Culture, Art, and Technology
-
Patrick Patterson: Other Places, Other People, Other Pasts: The Culture, Art, and Technology of Tourism From Then to Now
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Twice Upon a Time: Lore, Adaptation, and Identity
CAT-090
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Experiential Learning Seminar
CAT-124
CAT-125
-
Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Celeste Morales: Navigating Social Barriers Through Public Rhetoric
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication: Narrative, Media, and Performance
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Making Stories Visible: Materiality and Form
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: In Our Feelings: Emotion and Public Rhetoric
-
Matthew Irwin: Stories About Place, Memory, and Identity
-
Becca Rose: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Your Voice in a Globalized World
CAT-125R
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Lauryn Smith: Creativitiy: Within and Around
Winter 2025
CAT-002
-
Phoebe Bronstein: To Infinity and Beyond: Media Narratives of Earth and Outer Space
-
Joe Bigham: Musicking, Liveness, and Mediation
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Disability Rhetoric
-
Hoang Nguyen: Asian Diasporas in Film and Media
CAT-002CE
CAT-087
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Sing Your Song: Movie Musicals and American Popular Culture
-
Romain Delaville: Category Is...: Drag Artistry and Self-Expression
CAT-124
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: CATalyzing Community: Connection and Place-Making at Sixth College
-
Kristen Goodrich: Earth and Water: We Are the Watershed
CAT-125
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication: Narrative, Media, and Performance
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: In Our Feelings: Emotion and Public Rhetoric
-
Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Making Stories Visible: Materiality and Form
-
Celeste Morales: Navigating Social Barriers Through Public Rhetoric
-
Becca Rose: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Matthew Irwin: Stories About Place, Memory, and Identity
CAT-125R
-
Lauryn Smith: Creativity: Within and Around
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
Spring 2025
CAT-003
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: What If?: Fearsome Futures and Possible Presents
-
Liz Popko: How to Survive the Zombie Future
-
Amelia Glaser: Translation
-
Joe Bigham: Listening to the Future: Speculating Through Soundscapes and Sonification
CAT-003CE
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Environmental Futures: Community-Engaged Learning
CAT-098
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Fulbright Preparation Course
CAT-124
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Engaging San Diego in Global Issues
-
Becca Rose: Making Sixth Literary Arts Magazine: Subversive Publishing Then and Now
CAT-125
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: In Our Feelings: Emotion and Public Rhetoric
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication: Narrative, Media, and Performance
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Making Stories Visible: Materiality and Form
-
Celeste Morales: Navigating Social Barriers Through Public Rhetoric
-
Becca Rose: Reality TV and the Performance of "Self"
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Matthew Irwin: Stories About Place, Memory, and Identity
CAT-125R
-
Lauryn Smith: Creativitiy: Within and Around
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
Summer 2025
CAT-124
-
Bill Robertson Geibel: Community in Action: Civic Engagement and Practice
CAT-124RS
-
Joe Bigham: Internships in Dublin: Critical Inquiry and Professional Success
CAT-125GS
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Bon Appetit: French Culture at the Nexus of Food, Cheese, and Wine
CAT-125R
-
Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Olga Lazitski Torres: Post-Truth Propaganda: How to Recognize Media Manipulation
-
Becca Rose: Reality TV and the Performance of "Self"
-
Celeste Morales: Navigating Social Barriers Through Public Rhetoric
-
Matthew Irwin: Stories About Place, Memory, and Identity
-
Lauryn Smith: Creativity: Within and Around
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Making Stories Visible: Materiality and Form
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: In Our Feelings: Emotion and Public Rhetoric
CAT-125RS
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication: Narrative, Media, and Performance
2025-2026
Fall 2025
CAT-001
-
Phoebe Bronstein: A Hollywood History: Filming America From Boxing Cats to Jaws
-
Guillermo Algaze: Origins
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Twice Upon a Time: Lore, Adaptation, and Identity
CAT-088
-
Liz Popko: Learning Sustainable Well-Being: The Narrative and Rhetoric of Compassion for Self and Others
CAT-090
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Experiential Learning Seminar
CAT-124
CAT-125
-
Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication: Narrative, Media, and Performance
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: In Our Feelings: Emotion and Public Rhetoric
-
Celeste Morales: Navigating Social Barriers Through Public Rhetoric
-
Matthew Irwin: Stories About Place, Memory, and Identity
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Making Stories Visible: Materiality and Form
-
Becca Rose: Reality TV and the Performance of "Self"
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
CAT-125R
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Lauryn Smith: Creativitiy: Within and Around
Winter 2026
CAT-002
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Now and Then: Revisiting 1990s Popular Culture and Its Twenty-First Century Return
-
Joe Bigham: Musicking, Liveness, and Mediation
-
Liz Popko: Uses of Darkness: Millennial Gothic and Its Contemporary Legacy
-
Pinar Yoldas: Art and the Brain
CAT-002CE
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: Popular Culture, Disability, and You
CAT-087
-
Phoebe Bronstein: "It's the End of the World As We Know It": Technology, Science, and the Filmic Politics of Disaster
CAT-124
-
Amelia Glaser: Translation and Poetry Program
-
Adriana Tosun: Mosaics and Climate Change
CAT-125
-
Romain Delaville: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication: Narrative, Media, and Performance
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: In Our Feelings: Emotion and Public Rhetoric
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Making Stories Visible: Materiality and Form
-
Matthew Irwin: Stories About Place, Memory, and Identity
-
Celeste Morales: Navigating Social Barriers Through Public Rhetoric
-
Becca Rose: Reality TV and the Performance of "Self"
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
CAT-125R
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Lauryn Smith: Creativity: Within and Around
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
Spring 2026
CAT-003
-
Liz Popko: Now What?: Research and Writing for Hope and Problem-Solving
-
Romain Delaville: AI Narratives
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: What If?: Fearsome Futures and Possible Presents
-
Joe Bigham: Listening to the Future: Speculating Through Soundscapes and Sonification
CAT-003CE
-
Phoebe Bronstein: Environmental Futures: Children's Media and Humanistic Approaches to the Climate Crisis
CAT-088
-
Liz Popko: Learning Sustainable Well-Being: The Narrative and Rhetoric of Compassion for Self and Others
CAT-124
CAT-125
-
Jennifer Marchisotto: In Our Feelings: Emotion and Public Rhetoric
-
Joe Bigham: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication: Narrative, Media, and Performance
-
Maya VanderSchuit: Making Stories Visible: Materiality and Form
-
Celeste Morales: Navigating Social Barriers Through Public Rhetoric
-
Becca Rose: Reality TV and the Performance of "Self"
-
Matthew Irwin: Stories About Place, Memory, and Identity
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication
CAT-125R
-
Tina Hyland: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
-
Lauryn Smith: Creativitiy: Within and Around
-
Adriana Tosun: Public Rhetoric and Practical Communication Online
Writing Support
There are a variety of writing resources around campus for students to take advantage of. In addition to CAT TAs' office hours, students may visit the Writing Hub in the Teaching and Learning Commons for help with their writing assignments. The Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services (OASIS) also offers a variety of tutoring programs, including the Language Arts Tutorial Services (LATS).
