Anthropology |
|
Hour: 9L Instructor: Laura Ogden |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Animals and Humans
Description: Companion animals are commonly treated as “members of the family,” and we have become increasingly concerned about the welfare of other animals, such as those used in experimental lab settings. Still, these concerns are predicated on contradictory philosophies of human/non-human difference. In this course we consider the diverse ways animals are a part of our lives—for instance, as symbols, commodities, and workers. In the process, we begin to formulate new approaches to multispecies ethics and reconsider what we mean by “human.” As a final project, students work together to produce a contemporary version of the medieval bestiary and publish it online. During the Middle Ages, bestiaries illustrated the qualities of animals (including mythic
beings) in an encyclopedic fashion. In the process of writing our own bestiary, we are going to learn how to produce our own social theory–perhaps rethinking what we mean by “social” theory in the process. Consider this course an experiment in critical thinking and writing. Throughout the course, we will hone our abilities by responding to in-class writing prompts, engage in constructive peer review, and explore different forms of ethnographic writing. While the majority of the written materials for this course will come from anthropology, we will also engage materials (visual and written) from other disciplines. In addition, we are going to engage materials curated by staff at Dartmouth’s Hood Museum of Art and the Rauner Special Collections Library. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
None |
Art History |
|
Hour: 10A Instructor: Steven Kangas |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Pompeii in Antiquity and in the Modern Imagination
Description: Suddenly destroyed in 79 C.E. in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii was rediscovered in the middle of the 18th century. Since then it has been thoroughly explored and studied and has produced many outstanding monuments of ancient art and architecture that present us with a time capsule of sorts. In this seminar we will study some of these works and explore the perspectives of visual analysis, iconography, as well as various approaches to art-historical interpretation. We will also address the inspiration that Pompeii offered to modern writers, artists, and film-makers. Students will become familiar not only with the site of Pompeii and its environs but also with basic aspects of Greco-Roman antiquity and its reception since the 18th century. Throughout the term students will be encouraged to become more careful and aware readers of scholarly materials. They will learn how to use the library, conduct research and incorporate it into their own work, as well as write coherently about culture, with a focus on art. By the end of the term, students should be able to compose meaningful questions about objects and images and engage with visual information both orally and in writing. Furthermore, they will have gained experience in undertaking, as well as responding to, peer-review, a process that often strengthens one’s writing. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
9780674029767, The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found, $24.00
9780812974614, Pompeii: A Novel, $17.00 |
Biology |
|
Hour: 10 Instructor: Carey Nadell |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Politicized Topics in Biology
Description: This course will explore the fact and fiction underlying politically hot topics that have biology at their core. The majority of the course will be focused on written and oral debates on topics including: climate change, genetic engineering, stem cell research, human evolution and antibiotic resistance. Students will hone their ability to think critically, to construct well-written and
effective arguments, and to separate fact from fiction when controversies relating to biology arise in public forums. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
No Textbook required |
Comparative Literature |
|
Hour: 3B Instructor: Michael Wyatt |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Global Traditions of Puppetry
Description: Taking its point of departure in a striking assertion by the literary critic Kennth Gross – that puppets are “ambassadors to the human race from the world of things” – this course will examine traditions of puppetry in several specific cultural contexts, and through their employment in a variety of media, and will include a visit to Dartmouth by the Figli d’Arte Cuticchio, the most important contemporary Sicilian company of puppeteers. Each of the chapters of Gross’s short book, Puppet: an Essay on Uncanny Life, will provide a critical prism through which to collectively think, talk, and write about a series of films and filmed records of puppetry performances in the United States, Italy, Japan, Germany, South Africa, and Egypt. |
No required textbooks available |
Earth Sciences |
|
Hour: 9L Instructor: William Leavitt |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Life on Mars: Was it there? Is it now? Will it be?
Description: In order to understand whether life could have existed on Mars in the past, is there today, or could survive in the future, we will explore the natural history of Mars and attempt to correlate it to the nature of life as we know it. We will explore some of the early beliefs about Mars and progress on through to the current exploration of its surface by NASA. We will address a variety of questions, such as:
What are the characteristics of life?
What are the environmental limitations to life on Mars?
What is the future of Mars exploration?
What is the potential for a human visit and habitation of Mars?
Students in this class will primarily explore the scientific research literature on the subject as it evolved over the last century, but we will also use it to critique contemporaneous views existing within the realm of science fiction literature and film. Audio-casts and film screenings are required listening/viewing. Over the quarter each student will assemble a writing portfolio made up of three major and smaller assignments. Engaged peer-review and class participation are critical to each student’s successful completion of this course. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
No textbook. All readings on Canvas. |
Engineering Sciences |
|
Hour: 10A Instructor: Paul Meaney |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Analyzing Medical Imaging: Developments and Controversies
Description: Medical imaging has evolved significantly over the last 100 years and has transformed modern medical practice. Today, very few clinical decisions are made without relying on information obtained with contemporary imaging modalities. The future of medical imaging may be even more promising. New technologies are being developed to observe the structural, functional, and molecular characteristics of tissues at ever-finer spatial scales. In this first-year seminar, we will write as a way to explore the use of imaging to screen for disease. We will also explore the costs to the health care system of routine application of imaging technology and the benefits of the information provided by medical imaging. Students will be required to read, present, and discuss materials in class and write papers analyzing the development, uses, and benefits of medical imaging. The papers will progress incrementally in complexity from a short paper to a research paper. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
No textbook required. |
English |
|
Hour: 2A Instructor: Jeffrey Sharlet |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Investigative Memoir
Description: In this course we’ll encounter the most unreliable narrators imaginable: ourselves. In recent years, a number of popular memoirs have been exposed as deliberate fictions; frauds. Such scandals distract us from more interesting questions about the role of memory in any attempt at reconstructing the past. While contemporary critics weigh the balance of fact and fiction in modern memoir, a number of writers have turned to the methods of research—archival and secondary sources, and fieldwork—to rebuild the autobiographical genre as an investigative endeavor in which their own memories are suspects. By reading their work, we’ll consider questions of memory, history, and the documents between them; self-knowledge and self-representation; the meanings of fact in works of literature; allegory as argument; and personal stories as public narratives. We’ll approach these matters through theory and practice in short response papers and reported autobiographical prose. Our goal will be to develop both voice and wit, to learn to draw on our creative abilities in our critical writing and our critical abilities in our creative writing. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Villavicencio, Karla Cornejo. The Undocumented Americans. One World. 978-0399592683.
Alison Bechdel, Fun Home Mariner, ISBN: 978-0618871711
Hanif Abdurraquib, Go Ahead in the Rain. ISBN: 978-1-4773-1648-1
Laura Cumming. Five Days Gone. ISBN: 978-1501198717 |
|
Hour: 2 Instructor: George Edmondson |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Law and Literature
Description: Laws? What are they? One way of looking at the legal system is that it provides us, or at least should provide us, with a sense of order. Laws, again, ideally, give us a feeling of safety, certainty even. One might say that the role of literature, by contrast, is to examine the messy reality of being human. By examining a novella (Melville's Billy Budd), a play (Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice), stories (Zora Neil Hurston, Frank O'Connor), essays (Martin Luther King, Ta-Nehisi Coates), as well as actual court cases (property cases, criminal law cases), this writing seminar in law and literature will examine some of the myriad intersections between law and literature, or to put it another way, attempts at order versus unruly reality. Through close reading and engaging in rigorous analysis, among the questions students will address in their essays are these: What is the impact of laws governing the way a society operates on the individual rights of its citizens? Who decides what is a just law? If a person believes a law is unjust, what responsibility, if any, does this individual have to disobey it? |
No required textbooks available |
|
Hour: 3A Instructor: Vievee Francis |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Ecopoetics
Description: According to author John Shoptaw, “an ecopoem needs to be environmental and environmentalist.” It needs more than “the vocabulary of nature.” In this course we will examine the difference between “nature” poems and ecopoetry. We will discuss the pastoral poem as well as the antipastoral. Our objective is to examine ways in which poets seek to creatively address or deny overwhelming issues such as climate change in creative and evocative ways in order to promote social and political change. Both in class writing and outside assignments will be given. Readings and audio sources will be varied. Our goal is to develop and write comprehensive, relevant and well–honed critical responses. We will read critical papers, interviews, and articles as well as poems keeping in mind at all times, context. Emphasis will be placed as much on process as upon the final result as we learn the basics of building effective arguments and creative critical approaches when addressing overwhelming circumstances. |
No required textbooks available |
|
Hour: 3B Instructor: Nirvana Tanoukhi |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Engaging Memes
Description: The rise of internet memes and meme culture over the past two decades is a novel development in the history of popular culture, one closely tied to the burgeoning of social media since the early 21st century. Scholarly opinions on the subject have ranged from enthusiastic optimism to bleak pessimism, depending on whether the dynamics of meme culture are thought to display social media’s perceived tendency to promote social polarization, cultural fragmentation, and political tribalism. In this class, an introduction to the range of scholarly perspectives on the internet meme as a cultural form and the memosphere as a mode of cultural exchange and communication will motivate an exploration of the process of writing, and of writing as a form of critical thinking. |
No required textbooks available |
Environmental Studies |
|
Hour: 12 Instructor: Coleen Fox |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Conservation and Development in the Anthropocene
Description: This course investigates the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating the twin goals of biodiversity conservation and development in the Global South. We will look at the history of international conservation, paying attention to the assumptions and power relations that have underpinned dominant approaches. We will examine the consequences of multiple conservation models and learn about conservation debates and critiques, paying attention to the political and socio-cultural contexts of these debates. Case studies from around the world will help students to gain a broad perspective on these issues. The course challenges students to think critically about the meaning of sustainable development for people and ecosystems across the Global South. Writing and research are important aspects of this class. Students will write a personal reflection essay, an analytical essay, and a research paper. We will spend class time on peer editing, discussions about writing, and learning about research methods and sources. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
To be determined. |
Film Studies |
|
Hour: 10A Instructor: Joanna Rapf |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Women & Comedy in Film
Description: This seminar focuses specifically on women in film comedy in the United States, from the early twentieth century to the present day. In exploring this subject, students will be asked to think and write about what cultural factors have led some to argue that women aren’t funny, and why the field of comedy has traditionally been dominated by men. We will interrogate Hollywood's hegemony by calling attention to and studying the attitudes women endorse, the roles women play, and the stereotypes they reinforce or challenge. With an emphasis on writing, students in this class will be asked to keep a journal dealing with specific topics each week. There will also be three papers of increasing complexity: a response paper, an argument, and a substantial research paper, the topic of which will be developed with the instructor around the middle of the term. With all three, there will be ample opportunity for revision. Through close “readings” of films, students should not only improve their writing, but also their visual literacy. Our approach encourages a reassessment of film history and new ways of thinking about the potential women have for influencing society through laughter. A society without laughter is not a free society. |
No required textbooks available |
German |
|
Hour: 3B Instructor: Eric Miller |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Franz Kafka: Parable and Paradox
Description: Franz Kafka (1883-1924) wrote parables of the paradoxes, of the absurdity, of modern existence and consciousness. His stories and novels both depict and enact our most urgent questions, our deepest fears, our inchoate hopes. Kafka is arguably the greatest writer of the 20th century, and he is certainly its most influential, but was almost completely unknown to the general public until a good quarter century after his death, and first became widely known, not in his native German, but in English translations. In this course we will read two of Kafka's three novels, as well as a broad selection of his shorter works. All the readings will be accompanied by handouts, mainly in the form of "Questions for Further Thought", whose purpose is to stimulate analysis and discussion, and to help students become active participants in the process of interpreting texts. The fundamental format for the class meetings is that of seminar discussions. Important material concerning historical and biographical background, as well as particular schools of interpretation, will be introduced in the handouts and woven into the class discussion in the form of mini-lectures, as and when the need arises. The aim of the readings, of the supporting materials, and especially of the seminar discussions is for students to hone their abilities to think clearly, critically, creatively, and bravely about the goals we have, the assumptions we make or fail to make, the traps we fall into, the lessons we can learn, when we engage with and try to make sense of very difficult literary works. This is also a writing-intensive course. No matter how monologic it may appear on its surface, all writing is in fact dialogic, conversational: it embodies the deep-structure of question-and-answer. Thus, our question-packs will serve an additional function: for each of the four formal essays, students will pick one of the questions – or formulate their own question – and then answer it. By explicitly foregrounding this fundamental cognitive-communicative structure, students will learn to craft their analytical and rhetorical tactics and strategies with greater awareness, greater skill, and more effective results. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Franz Kafka, The Complete Stories, edited by Nahum Glatzer, foreword by John Updike (Schocken 1995). ISBN 978-0805210552
Franz Kafka, The Trial, a new translation based on the restored text, translated by Breon Mitchell (Schocken 1999). ISBN 978-0805209990
Franz Kafka, Amerika, translated by Willa and Edwin Muir (Schocken 1946), reprinted in 1996 with a foreword by E. L. Doctorow. ISBN 978-0805210644
Guides to interpretation will be made available in class.
|
Government |
|
Hour: 10 Instructor: Jennifer Lind |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Dictator 101
Description: With democratic backsliding occurring all over the world, the number of authoritarian countries is on the rise. Even in the United States, during Donald Trump’s presidency, observers warned of his administration’s “authoritarian tendencies.” In this course we explore what is authoritarianism, and how it differs from democracy. We discuss how dictators rise, stay in power, and fall. We examine how the capabilities and behavior of liberal and authoritarian countries differ. Are dictatorships more violent and less economically successful? After all, many people argue that China cannot challenge American global leadership because its authoritarianism will prevent it from being an innovative, high-income country. In Dartmouth’s first-year seminars, students explore not only a substantive topic—here, the nature of dictatorships—but are also introduced to the academic world of ideas: to the verbal debate and exchange of ideas, to the written expression of ideas, and to the refining of ideas through a process of feedback and revision. At the heart of this seminar is close interaction and the fostering of a sense of intellectual community, both among student colleagues and with the professor. As we explore themes of dictatorship and democracy, the class will undertake multiple writing assignments, each of which includes rounds of peer and professor feedback. Assignments are designed to teach clarity of argumentation and reader empathy, with the goal of teaching students to write clear and compelling analytic prose. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
(a) Erica Frantz, Authoritarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford 2018).
(b) Frank Dik\u00F6tter, How to be a Dictator, 2019
|
|
Hour: 11 Instructor: Michelle Clarke |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Plutarch's Guide
Description: Dartmouth proposes to be educating the leaders of tomorrow. Are you one of them? This seminar examines one of the earliest and most influential guidebooks to leadership ever written: Plutarch’s Lives of the Eminent Greeks and Romans. We will read it carefully, with a view to surfacing the wisdom it contains about the opportunities and dangers associated with this critically important form of public service. As we will see, Plutarch instructs through example, developing vivid portraits of both good and bad leaders and inviting us to ponder exactly what separates the one from the other. Instead of focusing on specific leadership techniques or strategies, Plutarch emphasizes the significance of character – who a person is, as shaped by nature, education, and circumstance. Accordingly, we will discuss the traits that effective leaders will tend to have and why it is so important to have them. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Plutarch, Plutarch\u2019s Lives: Volumes I and II, translated by John Dryden. New York: Modern Library Classics, 2001. ISBN 13: 978-0375756771
|
History |
|
Hour: 9L Instructor: Julia Rabig |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Gender and Urban Transformation
Description: This course explores urbanization as a gendered process, drawing on primary sources, historical analyses, and literary criticism to show how gender has intersected with class, race, and sexuality to shape U.S. cities and suburbs. We’ll explore the effects of an increasingly urban and industrial economy on gender roles in the workplace, at home, and in the streets. We’ll consider the historical gendering of urban space and the means through which cities have served as cultural touchstones: from late nineteenth century images of the metropolis as a “fallen woman” to middle-class men’s projection of the city as the reprieve from stifling domesticity in the 1950s. Readings in urban, cultural, and social history, literary criticism, and more will illuminate patterns and guide our inquiry. Assignments will include: an annotated bibliography on a topic of your choice; a 5-7 page review essay of two or more texts from the bibliography; and, an 8-10 page prospectus that builds on your research. Students will also be required to present an image to their classmates and revise two assignments. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
No required textbooks. |
|
Hour: 12 Instructor: Yi Lu |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Misinformation: A Chinese History
Description: Why does misinformation exist and persist, how does it spread and divide, and what can we do to combat them? Treating words such as "information" as concepts with their own history, this course explores the unstable relationship between truth and politics using Chinese history as case study. From Marco Polo's fabled journey in the 13th century to the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, you will examine techniques for controlling information, including secrecy, censorship, propaganda. From printing press to generative AI, you will also explore the role of technology and the social publics they have created. As an introduction to historical reading, writing, and research, the course features source analysis, guided research, peer reviews, and draft revisions; by the end, you will not only complete an independent research project, but also acquire critical information literacy for our "post-truth" era. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
None. |
Humanities |
|
Hour: 12 Instructor: Dennis Washburn, Paul Carranza, Ainsley Morse, Laura Edmondson |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
No description available |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Works to be studied include:
Poems by Catullus, Sappho, & Grigori Dashevsky
Short stories by Ichiy\u014D Higuchi and Jun'ichir\u014D Tanizaki
Punishment without Revenge by Lopa de Vega (play)
Hood Museum\u2019s exhibit, \u201CHomecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art\u201D
Bessie Head\u2019s \u201CCollection of Treasures\u201D (short story)
Benjamin Britten\u2019s opera Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream
Were the World Mine (film)
Short stories by Isaac Babel
Excerpts from Freud\u2019s Studies in Hysteria
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirsof Br\u00E1s Cubas (novel)
The Shining (film)
Poems by Vievee Frances and Matthew Olzmann
|
|
Hour: OT Instructor: Dennis Washburn, Laura Edmondson |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
No description available |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Works to be studied include:
Poems by Catullus, Sappho, & Grigori Dashevsky
Short stories by Ichiy\u014D Higuchi and Jun'ichir\u014D Tanizaki
Punishment without Revenge by Lopa de Vega (play)
Hood Museum\u2019s exhibit, \u201CHomecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art\u201D
Bessie Head\u2019s \u201CCollection of Treasures\u201D (short story)
Benjamin Britten\u2019s opera Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream Were the World Mine (film)
Short stories by Isaac Babel
Excerpts from Freud\u2019s Studies in Hysteria
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirsof Br\u00E1s Cubas (novel)
The Shining (film)
Poems by Vievee Frances and Matthew Olzmann
|
|
Hour: OT Instructor: Ainsley Morse, Laura Edmondson |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
No description available |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Works to be studied include:
Poems by Catullus, Sappho, & Grigori Dashevsky
Short stories by Ichiy\u014D Higuchi and Jun'ichir\u014D Tanizaki
Punishment without Revenge by Lopa de Vega (play)
Hood Museum\u2019s exhibit, \u201CHomecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art\u201D
Bessie Head\u2019s \u201CCollection of Treasures\u201D (short story)
Benjamin Britten\u2019s opera Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream
Were the World Mine (film)
Short stories by Isaac Babel
Excerpts from Freud\u2019s Studies in Hysteria
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirsof Br\u00E1s Cubas (novel)
The Shining (film)
Poems by Vievee Frances and Matthew Olzmann
|
|
Hour: OT Instructor: Paul Carranza, Laura Edmondson |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
No description available |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Works to be studied include:
Poems by Catullus, Sappho, & Grigori Dashevsky
Short stories by Ichiy\u014D Higuchi and Jun'ichir\u014D Tanizaki
Punishment without Revenge by Lopa de Vega (play)
Hood Museum\u2019s exhibit, \u201CHomecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art\u201D
Bessie Head\u2019s \u201CCollection of Treasures\u201D (short story)
Benjamin Britten\u2019s opera Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream
Were the World Mine (film)
Short stories by Isaac Babel
Excerpts from Freud\u2019s Studies in Hysteria
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, The Posthumous Memoirsof Br\u00E1s Cubas (novel)
The Shining (film)
Poems by Vievee Frances and Matthew Olzmann
|
Jewish Studies |
|
Hour: 2A Instructor: Ezzedine Fishere |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Jews of Egypt: from Bible to Tahrir Uprising
Description: This first-year-seminar is about Jews and Egypt from Biblical times to the Arab Spring. This includes the narratives about Jews in Ancient Egypt and the questions surrounding their exodus, Jewish life in Muslim Egypt during the Middle Ages and the Ottoman period, the contributions of Jews to its modern cosmopolitan life – in culture, politics and the economy, Jews’ entanglement in the Arab Israeli conflict and dispersion around the 1950s, and the renewed interest in the Jewish heritage of Egypt. We will learn about these issues by questioning dominant narratives about identity, history, authenticity, and the role political, economic, and ideational struggles play in shaping them. To do this, we will familiarize ourselves with texts, some holier than others, watch movies, look at images and read novels. |
No required textbooks available |
Latino Studies |
|
Hour: 10 Instructor: Marcela Di Blasi |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Science Fictions of Color
Description: In March of 2012, the first film adaptation of the popular science fiction series, The Hunger Games, was released. A maelstrom of shocked tweets erupted from The Hunger Games fandom when it was revealed that three of the most generous and benevolent characters were played by black actors. The casting decision was perceived by many as one more cog in a mindless wheel of political correctness. Without the care and attention of close readers, it might easily have been forgotten that page forty-five of the novel very clearly describes two of the characters in question as having “dark brown skin.” In this course, we will use close reading skills to explore how the genre of science fiction revolves around envisioning what a racial future might be like. Since science fiction is nonetheless written in specific historical moments, however, we will also be thinking and writing about what works of science fiction can tell us about the racial politics of the moments in which they were produced. In this course, we will be reading short stories, novels, and graphic novels as well as watching science fiction that depicts alternative racial futures. What do these texts—as well as popular responses to them—tell us about race in the popular racial imagination? In addition to well-known science fiction like Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and Doctor Who, we will be reading work by Octavia Butler, Junot Diaz, Helena Maria Viramontes, Nalo Hopkinson, Lev Grossman, and Jeff Yang. In this course, you will be learning how to use close textual analysis as a form of evidence for literary arguments. To that end, there is a great deal of revision built into the course. |
No required textbooks available |
Linguistics |
|
Hour: 10A Instructor: Christiane Donahue |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: The World's Englishes
Description: Why are writing courses most often assumed to be "English class"? In our networked globalized world, what language abilities do we need, and how do these abilities connect to college writing? We will study the nature of language and the demands globalization is placing on our speaking and writing abilities. We will consider the value of translation, "translingual" strategies for composing, and the ways in which multilingual capabilities are a resource and a challenge in communication. You will explore your own language resources (no advanced language ability required, though it is welcome), the place of languages in globalized communication, the linguistic rules of language activities such as codeswitching, and the importance of linguistic and rhetorical adaptability in successful writing today. We will read essays by authors such as sociolinguists Edgar Schneider, Rajen Mesthrie, and M.M. Bakhtin, applied linguists such as Ilona Leki and Braj Kachru, and writing studies scholars such as Suresh Canagarajah, Bruce Horner, or Maria Jerskey. From these readings we will develop linguistic and critical literacy methods for studying the ways in which Englishes are evolving and what this means for 21st century communication. We will work on your writing every day, in relation to reading and in interaction with questions of language. Coursework will include many short informal writing pieces and "discussion board" work, two more formal essay projects with several revisions, frequent peer review and conferencing, and a final project that will focus on an issue of your choice from the various subjects we cover. You will have the option to produce a multimodal project in place of one essay. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Williams, Joseph & Bizup, Joseph. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace. Pearson, 5th edition. 978-0321953308. |
Mathematics |
|
Hour: 9L Instructor: Peter Mucha |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Analyzing Network Data
Description: We live in a connected world, where the confluence of the different connections --- social, political, financial, informational, technological, biological, behavioral, epidemiological --- affects virtually every aspect of our lives. The mathematical study of networks provides a framework for describing these connections. Writing about the properties of networks leverages this framework to test ideas and increase understanding of the resulting impacts of a network on the system it interconnects, especially when describing the comparisons and contrasts between different types of networks. Most people are familiar with the concept of a network from hyperlinked web pages or online social networks. Online networks are of particular interest, but networks are also useful for representing and studying a wider variety of connected systems. With ``nodes" representing actors of interest and ``edges" connecting the nodes representing relationships, the concept of a network can be flexibly used across many applications. Students will engage with the analysis of network data by developing three written documents --- a journal article summary, a computational notebook, and a journal-style project report --- across multiple milestones through the term. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Christakis, Nicholas A., and James H. Fowler. 2011. Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives -- How Your Friends’ Friends’ Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do. Reprint. Back Bay Books.
KOLACZYK, ERIC D. CSARDI, GABOR. 2020. Statistical Analysis of Network Data with R. SPRINGER NATURE.
McCabe, Janice M. 2016. Connecting in College: How Friendship Networks Matter for Academic and Social Success. University of Chicago Press. |
Middle Eastern Studies |
|
Hour: 2A Instructor: Lewis Glinert |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Jerusalem: Vision and Reality
Description: Jerusalem has always mesmerized minds—Royal City of Solomon, mystical core of the world, site of a foretold apocalypse, twice razed to the ground, focus of Jewish messianic dreams, since 1948 once more a Jewish capital city but still savagely fought over. In this course, we will sample the symbolism of Jerusalem in Jewish, Christian and Islamic intellectual and artistic expression, from the Bible down to the present. Why has this city evoked such passions? Assessment will be by three papers analyzing academic and creative course readings, with an emphasis on clarity, concision and grasp of content. |
No required textbooks available |
Philosophy |
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Hour: 2 Instructor: Ann Bumpus |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Contemporary Moral Issues
Description: Do you wish you had a better grasp on the arguments for and against the death penalty? Drug legality? Physician-assisted suicide? In this course we will study two or three currently contentious moral issues. Assigned content will include academic papers, articles from the popular press, films, and documentaries. Class time will be devoted to discussion, debate, argument-analysis, and peer review of written work. Students will be assigned at least two argumentative essays, several reading reactions, argument reconstructions, and a final presentation. |
No required textbooks available |
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Hour: 10A Instructor: Kenneth Walden |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Self and Other
Description: This course will introduce students to some basic philosophical questions about the self and its relationship to other selves. These will include: What is the self? What makes me who I am? Why should we care about other people? How do we care about other people? How do we know other people’s minds? How can we know our own? What role do other people have in living a good life? What is required by attitudes like love, friendship, and respect? This is primarily a philosophy course, and most of our reading will be philosophy, but because many of these questions have been taken up by writers and filmmakers, we will also explore their efforts. The course will develop students' writing skills in two ways. First, they will encounter and engage with a variety different styles of writing. Second, they will produce three progressively more ambitious writing assignments, each passing through multiple stages of review and revision. |
No required textbooks available |
Physics |
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Hour: 3A Instructor: Kristina Lynch |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Observing: Observing the Physics of Our Natural World
Description: Understanding the natural world around us begins by observing it. Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Curie, Birkeland, Feynman, and Rubin each worked to explain their observations in terms of physical laws, beginning with recording their observations. Writing is a tool for recording and understanding these observations; it is a tool for clarifying thought processes and problem-solving. We will explore examples of observational writing, from early science observations such as Galileo’s, to modern travel writing (Jan Morris, Patrick Leigh Fermor) and essay writing (E B White, John McPhee). We will study the different structures writers use to organize their observations on the page into a coherent logical order, and to organize their thoughts for problem-solving. In writing, we will explore the distinctions between writing what you see, and what you think you see; we will use writing to make, record, and interpret observations; and, overall, we will use writing to clarify thought processes and problem-solve. Our course design will build toward a long-format essay centered on a half-term long direct observation chosen and made by each student of some physical-world topic. Assignments include one shorter-format essay and a second, longer paper with presentation; both will be initiated with tentative structures and first drafts. The writing process will be iterative, and feedback will be provided via peer review and professor input. Daily and in-class writing exercises will help students develop their sciencewriting, peer-editing, and problem-solving skills. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Two required texts, all else online: \u201COranges\u201D by John McPhee, and \u201CDraft No. 4\u201D by John McPhee |
Psychological & Brain Sciences |
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Hour: 9L Instructor: John Pfister |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Why People Believe in Weird Things: Science, Pseudoscience, and Thinking Critically about Human Behavior
Description: People believe in all kinds of things about human behavior—opposites attract, handwriting can reveal something about your personality, you only use 10% of your brain—without ever asking themselves why they believe in such things. Other, even more exotic claims—alien abduction, communication with the dead, conspiracy theories—have become a fixture in popular culture. Why do such beliefs persist, despite little, no, or contrary evidence? How do we evaluate new claims in science? This course will give you the tools to make your own decisions regarding both mundane and unusual claims and what would constitute sufficient evidence for your belief. You will be encouraged to translate your thoughts and opinions into a written form through daily exercises (such as reviewing something you have read) and several writing exercises that will eventually lead to a potential submission to the magazine, The Skeptical Inquirer. Writing in this class will emphasize the need for evidence in crafting an argument and the proper citation of sources. Quality writing will be encouraged through multiple drafts, peer editing, and reverse outlines. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
1. Conspiracy by Michael Shermer
ISBN 13: 978-1-4214-4445-1
ISBN 10: 1-4214-4445-3
Approximate Cost: $29.95 (new hardcover); 24.95 (audio version)
2. One-year subscription to the journal, Skeptical Inquirer (https://skepticalinquirer.org/
Approximate Cost: $16.99 (digital)/$19.95 (digital/print)
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Religion |
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Hour: 2 Instructor: Reiko Ohnuma |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: The Struggle for Liberation: Women, Monasticism, and Buddhism
Description: Within the context of ancient India, where women’s religious roles were defined solely in terms of marriage and motherhood, the Buddhist tradition was revolutionary in allowing women to “go forth from the home to the homeless life”—that is, renounce both marriage and motherhood, shave their heads, take a vow of lifelong celibacy, don androgynous-looking monastic robes, and become fully ordained nuns, following the Buddhist monastic path and living within a community of like-minded women. Yet in spite of this revolutionary move, Buddhism in India was a profoundly patriarchal religious tradition that remained deeply ambivalent about its Order of Nuns—consistently subordinating the nuns to the monks and eventually allowing the nuns’ order to die out, while the Order of Monks continued to flourish. As Buddhism spread to other parts of the world, the legacy of this ambivalence toward women leading a monastic life has resulted in Buddhist nuns occupying a wide variety of different statuses—both official and unofficial—throughout different parts of the Buddhist world. This First-year Seminar will examine the relationship between women, monasticism, and Buddhism through an interdisciplinary and transnational perspective. We will begin in ancient India by examining the founding of the Order of Nuns; the monastic lives, spiritual poetry, and struggles of
early Buddhist nuns; and the decline and death of the nuns’ order in India. Then we’ll move on to explore a wide range of topics from throughout the Buddhist world—such as the economic and political power of the nuns’ order in parts of East Asia; the death of the nuns’ order and the phenomenon of low-status “unofficial” nuns throughout much of Southeast Asia; the difficult lives of novice nuns in Tibet and the Himalayan region; the increasing phenomenon of Western nuns; and the feminist possibilities (or impossibilities) inherent in Buddhist doctrine. The term will conclude with a sustained look at the contemporary global movement to re-establish the valid ordination lineage for nuns throughout the world—a movement in which the voices arguing “for” and “against” are not always what one might presume them to be. Writing assignments include three five-page papers (two subject to revision) and an annotated research bibliography. |
No required textbooks available |
Russian |
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Hour: 11 Instructor: Stuart Finkel |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Prisonhouse or Brotherhood of Nations? The Peoples of the Former Soviet Union in History, Literature, & Film
Description: The immense geographic area encompassed by the Russian Empire until 1917 and after this the USSR covered, as one early Soviet film proudly asserted, "One Sixth of the Earth." In a country marked by great national, religious, and cultural diversity, the question of how to reign over this complex multinational empire perplexed both the Tsarist and Communist regimes. While the Soviet government, in particular, claimed to be fostering a "brotherhood of peoples," it was often accused instead of creating a "prisonhouse of nations." In this course we will examine the historical events and transformations affecting the many peoples that lived in this vast expanse, as well as the representation of their experiences in literature, film, and other cultural forms. We will investigate 19th century Russian imperialism, tsarist state policy toward non-Russian groups, and the formation of national identities in the eventful period leading to the overthrow of the Romanov monarchy in 1917. We will then explore the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics within the context of Revolution and Civil War and follow the evolution and contradictions of nationality policy up to the Soviet collapse in 1991. |
No required textbooks available |
Sociology |
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Hour: 10A Instructor: Jason Houle |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Sociological Perspectives on Social Stratification and Inequality in the United States: A Century of Continuity and Change
Description: When we think about social inequality, it’s tempting to view it as the inevitable byproduct of effort, where those at the top are rewarded for their perseverance, and those at the bottom should work harder to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” In this class, we will interrogate these naïve assumptions, and explore sociological understandings of social stratification and inequality in the context of 20th and 21st century United States. We will specifically focus on how sociologists write, craft arguments, and develop and test theories about social inequality. As part of this process, you will learn how to write (and read) formal sociological research papers, such as those that appear in academic journals, and also how to package these ideas to public audiences (such as op-eds). Substantively, we will focus on a range of topics, including (but not limited to): social mobility, poverty and social welfare policies, race and gender stratification, the causes and consequences of rising wealth and income inequality, and the changing face of inequality before and after the Great Recession. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
none |
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Hour: 12 Instructor: Kathryn Lively |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Managing Emotions
Description: Drawing on insights from sociology to psychotherapy, this is an interdisciplinary course on managing one’s emotions. The purpose will be to 1) examine how social norms and cultural expectations tell us we should feel, 2) investigate the consequences of adhering to these norms, and 3) better understand why particular strategies related to mindfulness and therapy work. Students will produce common writing assignments (e.g., experiential essays, critical reflection, library research papers, peer review, etc.) encountered social science classes and develop a stronger appreciation of how emotion operates in both the external and internal world. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Writing in Sociology: A Brief Guide (Short Guides to Writing in the Disciplines), by Lynn Smith-Lovin, 2016, ISBN: 978-0190203924, $28.29
An Invitation to the Sociology of Emotions, by Scott Harris, 2015, ISBN: \u200E 978-1138855007, $39.96
The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief, by Francis Weller, 2015, ISBN: \u200E 978-1583949764, $13.77
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Spanish |
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Hour: 10 Instructor: Paul Carranza |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Don Quixote and Cognitive Theories of Literature
Description: Don Quixote is the story of a man who loses his mind by reading literature. This course will use Cervantes’ masterpiece to examine theories of the human mind and how it engages with literature. We will read selections of both Part I and Part II of Don Quixote together with critical works about it. The study of Cervantes’ novel will allow us to learn about the exciting field of cognitive literary studies. We will devote special attention to learning about theory of mind—the ability of readers and literary characters to attribute emotions to others—necessary to literature and life. We will also examine cognitive approaches to film by analyzing adaptations of Don Quixote such as Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. All readings and lectures will be in English. |
No required textbooks available |
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality |
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Hour: 11 Instructor: Alexis Jetter |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Women and Global Journalism
Description: This course will focus on the contributions of women journalists in the US and around the globe to coverage of human rights, geopolitics, war, freedom of speech, violence against women, reproductive rights, health, educational opportunity for girls/women, sex slavery/trafficking, climate change and the environment, religion, artistic freedom and other critical issues. Three writing assignments will include a personal narrative, a radio commentary and a feature-length profile or investigation, using original reporting, that sheds light on a social justice issue. Two drafts of each writing assignment are required. We will also hold regular workshops on reporting and writing. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Readings will be distributed online; no textbooks required. |
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Hour: 2 Instructor: Alexis Jetter |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Women and Global Journalism
Description: This course will focus on the contributions of women journalists in the US and around the globe to coverage of human rights, geopolitics, war, freedom of speech, violence against women, reproductive rights, health, educational opportunity for girls/women, sex slavery/trafficking, climate change and the environment, religion, artistic freedom and other critical issues. Three writing assignments will include a personal narrative, a radio commentary and a feature-length profile or investigation, using original reporting, that sheds light on a social justice issue. Two drafts of each writing assignment are required. We will also hold regular workshops on reporting and writing. |
No required textbooks available |
Writing Program |
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Hour: 2 Instructor: Charis Boke |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Medicine, Environment, Body
Description: What is a body? How does it interface with the world? And what happens when that body—or the world around it—is suffering? Healers, doctors, activists and scholars of medicine have much to say about the relationship between the human body and the natural environment. In this course, we’ll think, write, and talk about cross-cultural concepts of the ways that human bodies encounter the nonhuman world—and how this shapes lives, politics, social structures and relationships. We will consider scholarly work alongside contemporary media on ecologies, bodies, and medicine. Throughout, we will hone writing skills, informed by critical ethnographic and humanistic approaches to narrative craft, data analysis, and writerly voice. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Craig, Sienna. Healing Elements: Social Ecologies of Tibetan Medicine. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0520273245.
Bliss, Eula. On Immunity: An Inoculation. Graywolf Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-55597-720-7.
Graff, Gerald & Birkenstein, Cathy. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010. ISBN: 978-0393538700.
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Hour: 10A Instructor: Katherine Forbes-Riley |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: The Art of Human Dialogue
Description: AI chatbots possess emergent and startling dialogue abilities. Dialogue is so intuitive, so powerful, and so fundamental to us as humans that this technology causes great concern. Even as its creators laud its tremendous possibilities for improving society, they also warn of its profound risks for society and humanity. This interdisciplinary writing course approaches the issue by aiming our investigatory gaze deeper into this most ancient of human abilities, interrogating it with questions such as: why is it necessary to us, how do we do it, how do we judge it, what does it mean to be bad or good, succeed or fail, what makes it ‘human’? We consider ancient dialogue, dialogue in the modern wild, and the dialogue we create in our stories and films, before returning to AI-generated dialogue with our marshaled insights and considering how it compares to its human counterpart, and what about that most excites and concerns us. We conceive of our writing as part of this conversation too. We respond to ancient dialogue with a personal essay, spontaneous dialogue with a collaborative linguistics (NLP) paper, creative dialogue with a creative dialogue project, and chatbot dialogue with a researched op-ed. Through collaboration and workshopping, we treat our writing as parts of a whole, and our class as a Writers’ Room. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
None |
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Hour: 2A Instructor: Katherine Forbes-Riley |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: The Art of Human Dialogue
Description: AI chatbots possess emergent and startling dialogue abilities. Dialogue is so intuitive, so powerful, and so fundamental to us as humans that this technology causes great concern. Even as its creators laud its tremendous possibilities for improving society, they also warn of its profound risks for society and humanity. This interdisciplinary writing course approaches the issue by aiming our investigatory gaze deeper into this most ancient of human abilities, interrogating it with questions such as: why is it necessary to us, how do we do it, how do we judge it, what does it mean to be bad or good, succeed or fail, what makes it ‘human’? We consider ancient dialogue, dialogue in the modern wild, and the dialogue we create in our stories and films, before returning to AI-generated dialogue with our marshaled insights and considering how it compares to its human counterpart, and what about that most excites and concerns us. We conceive of our writing as part of this conversation too. We respond to ancient dialogue with a personal essay, spontaneous dialogue with a collaborative linguistics (NLP) paper, creative dialogue with a creative dialogue project, and chatbot dialogue with a researched op-ed. Through collaboration and workshopping, we treat our writing as parts of a whole, and our class as a Writers’ Room. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
None |
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Hour: 11 Instructor: Colleen Lannon |
Requirements Met: WCult: None; Distrib: None |
Description: |
Course Title: Worlds in Collision: Colonial Literature
Description: In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, England ruled over the largest empire in the history of the world. This colonial expansion brought with it a sense of adventure—especially for British women and working-class men, who discovered new opportunities and freedoms in the colonies. Yet it also generated doubt and anxiety, as the British encountered foreign places, people, and traditions. And on the other side of this colonial encounter were the individuals who—with their own histories and cultures— viewed the British Empire and its representatives with a mixture of curiosity, fear, and hostility. We will examine this complex, dynamic interaction through literary and critical works by authors such as such as Arthur Conan Doyle, E.M. Forster, Edward Said, and Rudyard Kipling. Through class discussions and written explorations of the readings, students will gain practice in proposing and defending literary interpretations, analyzing and responding to scholarly arguments, and conducting independent research. Formal assignments will include two essays and an in-class presentation. In addition, there will be daily informal writing assignments that reinforce concepts introduced in class. Throughout the course, a strong emphasis will be placed on writing as a process involving multiple drafts and collaborative feedback. The overall goal of the course is to help students develop the intellectual abilities they need to succeed in an academic environment. This includes sharpening their critical reading and thinking skills, understanding the elements of argument and how to shape a persuasive essay, learning how to engage with the work of other scholars, writing effective prose, and revising for clarity. |
Textbook(s)Required: |
Forster, E.M. A Passage to India. Harcourt Brace, 1924. ISBN: 0-15-671142-7. |
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