1. Black Horror
This course explores the ways in which Black religion, spirituality, art and literature are deployed as tools to resist racism, colonialism and cultural erasure. It will focus on how supernatural themes in art and literature produced by the Black diaspora in the US and Caribbean expose and effectively challenge white supremacy. What does the horror genre and the aesthetics of the supernatural have to offer to help narrate experiences of enslavement? How do portrayals of the Black body and anti-Black violence in media and film contribute to systemic racism? Finally, how can Afrocentric spirituality, metaphysics and art forms be deployed to heal and empower the Black diaspora?
Nadia Alahmed
WF 11:30-12:45
This seminar is part of the learning community, “Race, Resistance, and (Re)Imagination.”
2. Arguing about Politics, Society, and Culture in China, Japan, and Vietnam
One of the problems affecting the way Asian societies have been viewed is a strong tendency to adopt normative ways of thinking. This means that they are judged based on one’s own expectations about what they should be doing or thinking. After reviewing the history of how certain normative notions were formed—for example, why has it been assumed that Asian societies are more “harmonious” than the West? —our seminar will shift course to take the opposite perspective, taking a close look at China, Vietnam, and Japan from their respective insides. In particular, we will focus on a variety of controversial topics that have engaged ordinary citizens there because they have an impact on their lives. What sort of arguments have Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese had amongst themselves about inequality, class, gender, the role of law, nationalism, democracy, and corruption? What have Japanese said about low birth rates and phenomena such as “herbivore men” (¥í©`¥ë¥¥ã¥Ù¥ÄÄÐ×Ó)? Why do Vietnamese women complain about Vietnamese men? While the United States has served as a point of reference for some of these questions, we will see that a US perspective is not necessarily central to them. As a First Year Seminar, we will spend considerable time working on writing and research skills in individual and group projects which will be applicable to other courses you are taking as well as those more relevant to East Asian Studies.
Neil Diamant
MW 11:30-12:45
3. Awe, Wonder, and Transcendence
Some of the most powerful emotions we as humans experience are awe, wonder, and transcendence-- the sense that we have stepped outside of our individual selves and are part of something larger. These feelings can be sparked by a variety of experiences, most of which involve positive emotions (seeing beauty in the natural world, art, and architecture), being in a group of people experiencing something together (dancing together, watching sports, attending a concert), engaging in religious or spiritual practices, wondering at the mysteries of science and of life, and feeling gratitude. Awe can also be sparked by experiences involving negative emotions (such as feeling horror at war, witnessing natural disasters, and contemplating death). Awe experiences transport us out of our everyday lives, and create feelings of connection with other people, with nature, with the divine, or with the universe. Through first-person accounts, analytic essays, research studies, and our own experiences, we will explore feelings of awe and the experiences that trigger them. We will consider how people come to understand and make meaning of these experiences in their personal lives. Finally, we will examine the impact that awe can have on our physical health, mental health, sense of self, and our relationships with others.
Megan Yost
MF 11:30-12:45
4. American History Through Poetry
This seminar will examine key topics and themes in American history through analysis of iconic poems, poetic excerpts from landmark prose documents, and popular ballads or songs. Some of our featured texts will include poetry by Phillis Wheatley, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson, speeches by Sojourner Truth and Abraham Lincoln, and lyrics by Francis Scott Key and Bob Dylan. The goal of the seminar will be to introduce students to effective close reading techniques that can help them better understand text, context, and subtext. Students will also learn how to improve their writing with greater focus on finding more precise and evocative word choices. For their seminar assignments, students will produce a series of critical essays and companion multi-media resources, such as short videos and webpages.
Matthew Pinsker
MW 11:30-12:45
5. Blood!: Visual and Material Histories of a Fluid
For centuries, blood has played an outsized role in the Western cultural imagination. Many Christians imbibe the blood of Christ from a chalice at weekly communion, while Dracula prefers it straight from the neck. We peek through our fingers as we watch slasher films that capitalize on blood’s associations with gore and pain. Throughout American history, racist and homophobic fearmongers have stigmatized “Black blood” and “gay blood” as dangerous and polluted. Odds are that several of your future classmates did not make it this far in the course description before feeling woozy and lightheaded and looking for other seminar options. There is no fluid more emotionally charged, divisive, or controversial than blood.
Why has blood always elicited strong emotional and affective responses? In this seminar, we will examine art, film, literature, religion, politics, and medicine to determine what it is about this bodily fluid that fascinates and horrifies us. We will learn how to interrogate artworks, texts, and objects to analyze how blood has been perceived throughout history and identify how historical figures (from artists and activists to priests and pathologists) have drawn upon blood’s cultural meanings to communicate messages to a wider audience. Over the course of the semester, you will develop your critical reading and looking skills by learning to identify both textual and visual arguments. You will learn to engage in scholarly discussions, build persuasive arguments based on evidence, and clearly and effectively present your ideas. By the semester’s end, you will think differently about this life-giving substance, which we rely on daily, but rarely think about in depth. Prospective humanities, science, and social science majors are all welcome; the squeamish should proceed with caution.
Ty Vanover
MW 11:30-12:45
6. HIP, HIP, Hooray! Crafting Your Future Through Transformative Learning Experiences
What do you want to get out of your college education? What types of learning experiences will help you achieve your goals? This seminar explores “High-Impact Practices” (HIPs) in higher education, such as internships, undergraduate research, study abroad, and service-learning. Research shows HIPs promote academic and career growth, engagement, and deeper learning, particularly for first-generation and underrepresented students. How accessible and supported are these opportunities, and how can students make the most of them? Students will critically examine the history, benefits, barriers, and best practices of HIPs, with an emphasis on intentional, reflective engagement. Through discussions, research, interactions with guest speakers and peers, and an informational interview with an alum, students will deepen their understanding of how HIPs contribute to academic and professional growth. The course builds to the completion of a formal research paper, a HIP Pitch presentation, and an ePortfolio & Action Plan. The ePortfolio will provide students with a space to reflect, set goals, and develop foundational professional materials to advance their academic and career aspirations, laying the groundwork to continue their engagement with transformative learning opportunities at Dickinson.
Amity Fox
MWF 11:30-12:20
7. Narratives of Disaster: Puerto Rico Responds to Hurricane Maria
This seminar (taught in English) examines critical responses by Puerto Rican writers, artists, and filmmakers to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria (2017), a supposedly “natural” disaster. In what ways do these literary and visual texts seek to put Puerto Rico ""on the map"" and bring attention to problems rooted in colonialism and inequality? How do they help shape discourses of identity related to race, class, and gender? To what degree do they reflect specific struggles as well as larger social, political and cultural concerns surrounding the Caribbean region, including climate change and migration?
With an emphasis on critical analysis, research and communication skills, and the writing process, this course will explore poetry, prose, music, visual art, and short films about Hurricane Maria. Students will develop a basic understanding of Puerto Rico’s history and culture, including its historically fraught relationship to the United States. They will create an original, research-based video and/or podcast project for a general audience to highlight issues of climate justice in the Caribbean and help address misperceptions of Puerto Rico.
Mariana Past
MW 11:30-12:45
8. Body Stories
"The body is the site of impact. You cannot create any sustainable system in the world until you have created it in yourself."" – Sonya Renee Taylor, author of The Body is Not an Apology
In this course, Taylor’s words serve as a springboard for inquiry into stories about the body. What are the stories we tell about ourselves? What are the stories we are told? How can we engage creatively and critically with these stories to more deeply understand the complexity, intelligence, challenges and joys of being in a body?
Our exploration of this topic will take us from personal reflection in the form of journal writing, mindfulness, and movement to critical analysis of texts about industries focused on the body (e.g. beauty, fitness, self-care), paying particular attention to the ways health and wellness are promoted, yet also perpetuate consumerism, ableism and cultural bias. As a group we will read, write, rewrite, move, watch, listen, and discuss. You will learn new ways of paying attention, asking questions, and seeking answers. Ultimately, we will return to Taylor’s words as a call for inspired action - how can you apply these skills to begin to create a more sustainable system within yourself and with others?
Erin Crawley-Woods
WF 11:30-12:45
9. From Kyoto to Paris to Carlisle: Human Impact on Global and Local Environments
In the 1970s, the environmental movement popularized the saying “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” to remind consumers to consider the environmental impact of their choices. Does that mantra still make sense in the 21st century? How much do various aspects of our daily lives contribute to the climate crisis? In this course, we will explore how different actions (historical, personal, corporate and governmental) contribute to climate change and other environmental concerns. We will discuss past and current efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the US and globally, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. We will ask what the consequences of climate change beyond aspects of weather and ecosystems are, and who are the most vulnerable to its effects as the climate changes? The effects of climate change on marginalized and indigenous communities will be a focus of our study of environmental justice.
Readings for this course will include popular science articles, research articles, historical documents and books. We will also consider how scientists can best communicate their concerns and relevant results to the public. What is the role of social media in the climate change debate? What are the difficulties that scientists face in publicizing their results beyond the scientific community? Students as citizen-scientists will get their hands dirty in a focused environmental study using chemical methods and will practice reporting their methods and results through scientific writing. No prior knowledge of chemistry is required, and background information will be provided for the project.
Rebecca Connor
MWF 11:30-12:20
10. Beekeeping in the End Times—Grappling with Climate Change through Speculative Fiction
Borrowing its title from a book by Bosnian anthropologist Larisa Jašarevi?, this seminar will explore insights on how human societies might adapt to a less livable planet. “Climate Fiction” (or Cli-Fi) has emerged in the last half century as a sub-genre of science fiction, but fictional speculation on human life on a disrupted Earth has an even longer history. Some visions are deeply dystopian, while others take a more optimistic view—for example in the emergent genre of Solarpunk. The best works in this tradition weave together theories and information from the natural and social sciences with ideas drawn from humanistic traditions including religion and philosophy, making it an ideal playground for liberal arts ways of knowing. We will study novels, short stories, poems, and films as well as related non-fiction sources. Authors will include Ursula K. LeGuin, Octavia Butler, Marge Piercy, Kim Stanley Robinson, E.M. Forster, and Tracy K. Smith. Participants will collaborate to produce their own creative visions for resilience and adaptation.
Ed Webb
MF 11:30-12:45
11. Monstrous Japan: Strange and Ghostly Figures from Ancient Times to the Present
From wrathful deities to spectral apparitions, from mononoke to Godzilla, this course explores the haunting figures that populate Japanese history and culture. We will investigate how such monstrous figures relate to religious beliefs, politics, wars, and environmental disasters in historical records, literature, and visual media from the eighth century to the present. Leveraging critical historical and theoretical perspectives, we will analyze a wide variety of literature, paintings, wood-block prints, and present-day films, to craft new arguments about how these monstrous beings serve as literary and visual tropes that embody various social and cultural fears and fixations. Themes include the political role of vengeful spirits in early Japan; gender dynamics in spirit possession; spectres of traumatic wars and disasters; turning wartime enemies into grotesque figures; and the metaphoric imagination of monsters and cyborgs in the nuclear and information age. In addition to exploring literary and visual culture, we will also read seminal theoretical and historical scholarship on horror, monsters, and gender studies in order to acquire the methods and vocabulary necessary for forming our own arguments about haunting and monstrous figures.
W. Evan Young
MW 11:30-12:45
12. Exploring Conflict
Disagreements. Arguments. Fights. Battles. Wars. These kinds of events originate from conflict, which in turn evolves from some kernel of difference: difference of experience, opinion, interpretation, understanding, or agenda. Addressing conflict can occur via discussion, facilitation, mediation, resolution, or diplomacy. Conflict occurs on every scale including and beyond just two people: at the interpersonal, societal, national, and/or global levels. Maybe you have discovered your own conflict style: do you like to argue? Or do you avoid conflict at all costs? Or something in between?
In this course we will explore the idea of conflict. We will investigate the origins and nature of conflict, and modes for addressing it. We will employ case studies to investigate conflict on different scales, and view conflict in our own lives and on our own campus. We’ll study conflict to develop skills in the areas of critical analysis, writing, and information literacy. We’ll also explore our own personal conflict styles and identify and practice effective tools to address conflict that is in our own power.
Kirsten Guss
WF 11:30-12:45
13. Youth, Love, and Rebellion: Growing up in modern Japan
Adolescence, roughly the time between starting middle school and finishing college, is possibly the most volatile time in our lives. It is a time in which we struggle over who we are, and interact with others and society in increasingly complex relationships. We will explore this time of life addressing such themes as love, sexuality, delinquency, and revolution through an examination of modern Japanese fiction, film, manga (Japanese comics), as well as scholarly articles from a range of disciplinary perspectives. We will learn different methods of analyzing fiction and non-fiction in a variety of media, engage in comparative analysis of scholarly debates, and develop research skills to delve deeply into this topic. Together we will use these skills to explore cultural and social issues surrounding what could loosely be termed “growing up” both in others and in our own experiences.
Alex Bates
WF 11:30-12:45
14. Small Screen, Big Picture: Religion & Television
Some of the most popular shows on TV engage themes of religion and morality. Whether we are talking about the overt “televangelism” of the The 700 Club in the 1960’s, the vision of the afterlife imagined in The Good Place, or Ted Lasso’s pandemic-era call to “BELIEVE,” television is a powerful medium for conveying a uniquely American understanding of religion. What religious perspectives tend to be represented on TV? Why are viewers captivated by the “secular spirituality” and redemption narratives that drive so many successful shows? How do religion and politics intersect in these portrayals? In this seminar, we will study a wide range of programs from the last 50 years that have both mirrored and shaped our understanding of religion in the US. Students will learn to do close analysis of individual episodes and series, guided by readings from the disciplines of religion and media studies.
Andrea Lieber
MW 11:30-12:45
15. Contested Campus: Key Issues in Higher Education
Higher education is in a contentious era in which its core purposes and practices are being hotly debated. This seminar will examine several key issues, focusing on these issues in liberal arts colleges and especially at ºìÐÓÖ±²¥app. After an introductory discussion of the purposes of a college education, we will turn to questions, such as: What is the role of free speech in an era of cancel culture? What role should Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts play in higher education? How is access to college determined? Was affirmative action a good idea? How is (or isn’t) artificial intelligence (AI) changing higher education? Seminar participants will also have an opportunity to explore a key issue in higher education of their own choosing.
Neil Weissman
MW 11:30-12:45
16. Overconsumption Unpacked: The Hidden Costs of Our Overloaded Society
How does consumption enhance or detract from your quality of life? Consumption goes beyond the things we buy; it includes how we spend our time, the activities we engage in, and the media we consume. In this seminar, we’ll examine the hidden consequences of overconsumption and explore how marketing tactics, personal habits, and societal trends impact our well-being, culture, and the environment. Through engaging readings, lively discussions, and hands-on activities, you will critically reflect on personal and societal consumption. Experiential learning will include keeping a consumption journal, visiting local thrift stores, and exploring the Dickinson Free xChange. Key questions we’ll explore include: How have we become a consumer culture? How do advertising and marketing influence our desires? What can be done to foster a more sustainable future? This seminar will support you to become a more thoughtful consumer and conscious professional in your future career path.
Forrest Watson
MW 11:30-12:45
17. Food, Fuel, and Fumes: How What We Grow, Raise, and Burn Shapes Our Air
This seminar explores the complex interactions between food production, cooking fuels, and air quality, focusing on how agriculture and energy use shape the air we breathe and impact human and environmental health. Students will examine the role of crops and livestock production, and the impact of cooking fuels in influencing indoor and outdoor air quality. We will acknowledge and explore the often-hidden costs associated with how we grow food, cook meals, and power our lives, while considering sustainable strategies to address these challenges.
Focusing on key aspects of daily life such as food, transportation, and energy use, our discussions will be driven by readings, case studies, field trips, and hands-on projects. These will be enriched by personal experiments, practical skill-building, and opportunities to engage with local resources. Students will be encouraged to build on essential academic and intellectual skills while charting a course toward innovative solutions and sustainable practices to mitigate the impacts of human consumption.
Wande Benka-Coker
MW 11:30-12:45
18. Singing Amid Social Strife
Recalling his incarceration during South Africa’s period of apartheid, Grant Shezi—a Zulu prisoner on isolated Robben Island—emphasized the role that music played in surviving the ordeal: “Singing with your heart, it sustains you, it composes you. … You remember the songs that you used to sing, [and] those songs give you power.”
This seminar explores the many roles that singing has assumed in response to social conflict, from the inspiring to the dehumanizing. Students will examine four twentieth-century contexts to consider how sonic historiographies both reveal and limit our understanding of music, trauma, and resilience. Together, we will consider how music shaped personal experience in the trenches of WWI; revealed voice in the Nazi concentration camps and U.S.-based Japanese internment camps of WWII; and participated in political change in the struggle against South African Apartheid. Students will have the opportunity to engage with faculty and scholars whose work requires them to contend with the difficulty of writing sonic histories. Working in small research teams, students will design short documentaries for a final learning community concert. No musical ability is required, and students with broad interdisciplinary interest in the topic are welcome.
Amy Lynn Wlodarski
MWF 11:30-12:20
This seminar is part of the learning community, "Political Struggle and Expressive Culture."
19. Playing the Past: The Archaeology of Games and Gaming
Why do we play games? And when did we start gaming? The earliest evidence for playing dice dates to the Neolithic period, around the same time as the beginnings of agriculture. By the 3rd millennium BCE, board games like the Mesopotamian ‘Royal Game of Ur’ had been developed, complete with rules, standardized boards, and game pieces. It’s clear from the long history of gameplay that games are more than just a fun way to pass the time. But what social roles do games serve, and how did they develop into those roles?
This seminar investigates the long history of games and gaming from an archaeological perspective. In the first half of the course we trace the material evidence for gaming, beginning with its Neolithic origins and focusing on the evolution of different game styles like race games (e.g. Backgammon), territorial contests (e.g. Go), elimination gameplay (e.g. Checkers), and capture (e.g. Chess). The ancient gaming cultures that we encounter in an archaeological context also feature heavily in 21st century game design. The second half of the course thus considers how modern games represent the more distant past. What ancient societies are featured in contemporary board and videogames? What aspects of past life are emphasized, and how do our choices as players impact the way we think about earlier peoples? Class activities include questioning the material evidence for early games, experimenting with ancient play mechanics, and critically analyzing the ways modern games rely on ancient cultures or themes—and, of course, playing a diverse collection of games! Games are more than just a pastime. This exploration of the archaeology of gaming demonstrates how they expand our thinking, structure our understanding of the material world, and encourage social engagement.
Andrew Dufton
WF 11:30-12:45
20. War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace is regularly featured among the best novels ever written. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, Tolstoy’s epic is a world unto itself, a complex philosophical network of characters whose struggles and triumphs mirror our own. What makes War and Peace so enduring? In this seminar we will undertake a close study of Tolstoy’s War and Peace through a multidisciplinary and liberal arts lens. We will consider the novel in cultural, historical, literary, and political context. We will pay special attention to Tolstoy’s moral philosophy and philosophy of history, engaging with contemporary debates on free will, personal responsibility vs global processes, just war theory, and other pressing questions of our contemporary age. As we move through the novel together, we will experience that distinctive sense of accomplishment that comes from slow reading a challenging and lengthy literary work. Through a study of War and Peace, students will develop the critical thinking, reading, and writing skills necessary for succeeding during their time at Dickinson, regardless of department or area of study. No knowledge of Russian required.
Alyssa DeBlasio
MWF 12:30-1:20
21. Charcoal, Iron, Environment and Community
Beginning in its colonial days and for over a hundred years, Pennsylvania was the iron-making center of what is now the United States. By 1840, hundreds of high-temperature iron furnaces were scattered across the landscape, some operating on large plantations not far from ºìÐÓÖ±²¥app. This production of iron from its ore was essential to America’s Industrial Revolution, but it relied on a process that produced harmful gases and was fueled by the conversion of entire forests to charcoal.
In this seminar, we will learn some of the chemistry behind the iron-making process and visit the locations of at least two of Central Pennsylvania’s iron plantations. Students will be able to explore what remains of the furnaces, mines, housing, cemeteries, forests and roads at these locations. We’ll ask, think about and write critically about questions such as: What was it like to work at an iron furnace? Was iron-making environmentally sustainable? Was it socially or economically equitable? How does this industry’s legacy affect human well-being today? Students will study a variety of written material, living history re-enactments, and a chemistry demonstration that produces molten iron.
Katie Barker
MWF 11:30-12:20
22. The History of Creativity
The success (or failure) of civilizations throughout history has depended in large part on their capacity for creativity and innovation. In this seminar course, we will examine the role that creativity has played in modern history, from the Renaissance to the present era. We will explore each successive period of innovation from the cultural lens of the major political powers of the time. Students will develop a holistic understanding of how cultural, historical, political, philosophical and social factors interact to promote progress and advancement. During this course, students will also learn how to improve their creativity and will apply what they learn to complete a semester-long creative project of their own design. This course is ideal for students interested in exploring creativity throughout the modern age while surveying a variety of academic topics, including history, psychology, economics, engineering, art, literature, and philosophy.
Wade Mansell
WF 11:30-12:45
23. The Search for Life in the Solar System and Beyond: What are we looking for, and what do we do if we find it?!?!?
The Ancient Greek philosopher, Epicurus, postulated that there is an infinite number of worlds in the Universe – some like this one, and others unlike it. In 1995 the first exoplanet was discovered and today there are more than 5,800 confirmed planets orbiting other stars within our galaxy. In recent years, there have been a number of missions supported by NASA to explore planets and their satellites, asteroids, comets, and even Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). This is in accord with one aspect of their visions for the Space Sciences program – to search for Life Elsewhere. This search, however, depends greatly on what we know life to be from Earth and its inhabitants. If the requirements for life as we know it are liquid water, a source of energy, organic molecules, and biogenic elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, then NASA has already found multiple arenas in which “life” may reside. We will examine the role that NASA has played in the search for Life Elsewhere and explore the possibility of President Trump's inaugural declaration of planting the "stars and stripes on the planet Mars". We will examine the current protocols that are in place in case Life Elsewhere is detected and discuss the ramifications such a discovery would have on society. What would our ethical responsibility be to the “life” we discovered?
Catrina Hamilton-Drager
MF 11:30-12:45
24. Race and Radical Pedagogy
This course explores the intersection of race and radical pedagogy as a framework for (re)imagining formal education. At its core, radical pedagogy is about building the capacity for joy, love, justice and futurism. Students in this course will engage in close reads of texts, including All ºìÐÓÖ±²¥app Love (bell hooks), Teaching to Transgress (bell hooks), Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Paulo Friere), Let This Radicalize you (Hayes and Kaba), Freedom Dreaming (Robin Kelly), and Unearthing Joy (Gholdy Muhammad) and practice critical writing and critical thinking skills.
Jacquie Forbes
MW 11:30-12:45
This seminar is part of the learning community, “Race, Resistance, and (Re)Imagination.”
25. Representation, Resistance, and Free Speech in Stand-up Comedy
Do you like to laugh? Do you also enjoy thinking about and discussing timely issues in our society? In this seminar, we will be looking at stand-up comedy as a genre and how it raises a range of critical contemporary questions, including: What is the role of free speech in both comedy and society, and what are its limits? How and why has stand-up comedy been used to “punch down” in ways that demean and exclude historically silenced groups? How have members of those same groups used stand-up comedy as a platform to “punch up” against oppression and dehumanization? In this seminar, we will watch and analyze pivotal stand-up sets over the last fifty years with these and other questions in mind. Students will also complete a research project examining the ways in which a comic of their choice has engaged or been implicated in one or more of these critical questions. Finally, students will draw on our class readings, viewings, and discussions to write their own comedic material, which they will be able to share in an end-of-semester “open mic” night. This is a seminar for both budding comedians and stand-up comedy aficionados—the only pre-requisites are a healthy sense of humor and a desire to think critically about the role of stand-up comedy in society today.
John Katunich
MW 11:30-12:45
26. Three Views on the "Problem of the Color Line": Du Bois, Baldwin, Coates
In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois said that the problem of the 20th century was the problem of race, or what he called the color line. Here we are, well into the 21st century, and the color line still exists and is at least as complex as ever. In this class we read works from Du Bois, James Baldwin, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, African American scholars who address this color line at roughly 50-year intervals, in order to understand the ways in which the color line, or perhaps color lines, continue to inform our lives and structure the ways in which we see and experience the world. What’s changed over time and how, and what role have intellectuals had in effecting this change? What is our own responsibility in relation to these issues? This seminar will include a Learning Community trip to the African American History Museum in Washington, D.C.
Dan Schubert
MW 11:30-12:45
This seminar is part of the learning community, “Race, Resistance, and (Re)Imagination.”
27. Cancelled
28. The Art of Protest and the Power of Performance
When the Greeks knew not from whence the stars might come, they gave us their gods. When the enslaved peoples of Africa were displaced and destroyed by slavery, they sang a new song of resilience and faith, with each adversity giving birth to a new creation, a new work of art or an artform. These were attempts to make sense out of a senseless and ever-changing world, a world, once settled, that you would have a voice in, if you dare develop it, or a world in which you may have a choice in the decisions that you make, if you are brave enough to actually make them. In this seminar we will actively choose our platform, our “sword” and our “cross” as we examine the Art of the Protest through powerful performances we observe and eventually create. This seminar is intentionally geared toward non-traditional learners and performing artists, but all are welcome.
James Martin
MWF 11:30-12:20
This seminar is part of the learning community, "Political Struggle and Expressive Culture.”
29. CANCELLED
30. Persephone and Hades through the Ages
Ancient myths are constantly being reinvented, but what does this process reveal about the values and tastes of contemporary audiences? What does it take to turn a myth centering on sexual violence into a story about female empowerment? And what is at stake in labeling the myth of Persephone and Hades a love story? In this seminar will examine what today’s depictions of this myth, like that of the popular web comic Lore Olympus and the currently touring Broadway musical Hadestown, can reveal about contemporary pop culture; we will consider how it has been used in the hands of modern poets like A.E. Stallings, Rita Dove, Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler, and Louise Glück; and we will question how these iterations do or do not differ from the earliest sources by reading translations of the ancient Greek Hymn to Demeter and the Roman poet Claudian’s Rape of Prosperina. In the final project of this class, students will produce their own personal, creative interpretations of the myth.
Lucy McInerney
MW 11:30-12:45
31. Natural Disasters and You
This seminar is about natural disasters and how they affect us, and most importantly you. We will examine ancient disasters (e.g., the asteroid impact-induced mass extinction 66 million years ago that killed most of the dinosaurs), historic disasters (e.g., Krakatoa and the Japan tsunami), recent disasters (e.g., an event in your lifetime or in your hometown that personally affected you), as well as ongoing or potential future disasters (e.g., pandemics, global warming, sea level rise, Yellowstone eruption, 6th mass extinction, alien invasion, etc.). We will wrestle with concepts such as: What is nature? Are humans “natural?” Do natural disasters have to have a human component? How should we respond to natural disasters? In addition to discussions, you will be writing papers and giving oral presentations on natural disasters of your choosing. We will be reading a variety of first-hand accounts, popular literature, and technical reports on natural disasters. We will also watch a few “disaster” movies and documentaries (e.g., Koyaanisqatsi). This will all be augmented with guest speakers as part of the Geosciences departmental seminar series.
Marcus Key
MWF 11:30-12:20
32. All Roads Lead to Kathmandu: Meditation, Mindfulness, and the Mystical Marketplace
Beginning with the “Beatniks” of the late 1950s and continuing with the “Hippies” of the 1960s and 1970s Kathmandu, Nepal became the last stop on an overland route termed the “Hippie Trail,” which saw hundreds of thousands of Americans and Western Europeans travel eastward in search of Shangri-La—a mystical utopia. Today, Eastern spiritualities are pervasive in American popular culture and practice. This seminar explores how Eastern philosophies, practices, and material culture give shape to the modern human experience through consideration of a broad selection of sources, both written and visual, fiction and nonfiction. In doing so, this course invites students to critically reflect on our ongoing relationship with the “Mystic East." This course employs a multidisciplinary approach providing students the opportunity to engage in contemplative practices, discover primary and secondary sources, and integrate popular culture productions.
Blayne Harcey
MW 11:30-12:45
33. The Not so Beautiful Game? Thinking about Football (Soccer) Culture in Britain
Why are the British obsessed with football? Why are much of the rest of the world obsessed with Britain’s obsession with football? In this seminar we will engage in an in-depth exploration of many aspects – beautiful and not-so beautiful – of British football culture. Along the way we will encounter and write about a number of iconic and legendary figures such as Brian Clough (Derby, Nottingham Forest), Don Revie (Leeds) and Bill Shankly (Liverpool), and a bevy of late 1960s and early-mid 1970s happy-go-lucky but ultimately misunderstood geniuses like George Best, Stan Bowles, and Rodney Marsh. Throughout the semester we will juxtapose aspects of the truly beautiful game, such as the Cruyff turn and Fila ski jumpers, with aspects of the not-so beautiful game like the ‘bubble perms from hell’ that were regularly sported by Liverpool’s late 1970s back-four and many other late 70s ‘icons’. We will also regularly explore the way in which many football fans such as writers such as Nick Hornby view the consumption of football and football culture as an intrinsic component of their identity. Similarly, we will investigate whether football culture may help to break-down divisions of class, gender and race. Throughout the semester we will do much reading and much writing about football culture. We will discuss football cuisine, football fashion, football literature, football songs, numerous football players you may have never heard of (Laurie Cunningham or Charlie George anyone?) and will regularly travel from the football present (Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, and Mo Salah) to the football past (Tommy Docherty and the legendary 1975 game between Fulham and Hereford United). We will familiarize ourselves with legendary football mantras as ‘I’m over the moon’ or ‘I’m sick as a parrot,’ and we will become intimately familiar with the giants of British TV commentary such as Jimmy Hill (the man who invented ‘3 points for a win’), Brian Moore, and John Motson. We will also explore a number of topics which capture students’ interest over the course of the semester (and we will even play a few games if we can find a ball). Accordingly, you will have ample opportunity to help to shape the direction of class discussion and analysis. Ultimately, this is your seminar and am open to our jointly exploring any football topic which captures your imagination or interest
Andrew Farrant
WF 11:30-12:45
34. History of Medicine and Public Health
This course will examine the history of medicine through the lens of understanding major moments in public health. We’ll start with the public health measures attempted under Bubonic Plague and make our way through major events in public health: Typhoid Mary, smallpox vaccination, John Snow and the Broad Street Pump, drug approval, the AIDS crisis, and more. Part of understanding the history of medicine and public health is considering the role that medicine, disease, and health play in society. Who is a patient? What is a disease? How do these definitions change in place and time?
Kendall Thompson
MR 3:00-4:15
35. Polyphemus to Pikachu: Making Sense of Monsters
Dragons, giants, zombies, vampires, extraterrestrials, cyborgs—humans are fascinated by monsters, but what constitutes a “monster” anyway? Where do monsters come from, and what does it mean to identify something, or someone, as a monster? And to what ends is the label “monster” deployed? Although monsters can assume many different guises across cultures, they consistently occupy a space beyond established categories of “normalcy.” Monsters subvert the sanctioned order of things, and this deviance gives rise to a contradiction: we fear monsters and view them as chaotic threats to be vanquished by a hero (much as the Greek hero Odysseus overcomes the man-eating cyclops Polyphemus in Homer’s Odyssey), yet we also love monsters, and seek to understand and connect with them (Pokémon, one of the most popular global media franchises in the world today, centers around collecting, befriending, and going on adventures with “pocket monsters”). This seminar explores how monsters give shape to human fears and desires through consideration of a broad selection of sources, both written and visual, fiction and nonfiction. Students will analyze these sources as a basis for exploring monsters as they appear across a range of cultural and historical contexts spanning from antiquity to the present.
Álvaro Pires
MWF 11:30-12:20
36. The Multiverse of Mythology
At first glance, the multiverse appears to be a modern construct, a device that allows writers the opportunity to expand the canon of what we know about pop culture. But myths and legends have been changing and morphing for centuries. Minus the time travel, ancient authors have been playing with classical myths and creating their own “reality” of those myths since before the concept of time travel even existed. In this course, we’ll investigate myths and legends from all over the world. And we’ll be looking at how authors were playing with their audience’s expectations long before it was seen as edgy or cool to do so. We will look at how, through adaptation and reworking, mythmakers create meaning by changing key details of the preexisting mythological universe, and how, in other cases, strikingly similar mythological archetypes arise completely independently, as if in parallel mythical universes, driven by the same quasi-biological imperatives. This course will feature various ancient myths through varied media from podcasts (harkening back to the oral origins of the genre) to the written word. In addition to the classical sources, we’ll also be looking toward the future, and thinking about what elements of modern pop culture might eventually reach mythical status.
Ashley Roman
MF 11:30-12:45
37. Villains Unveiled: The Narrative Journey of Literary and Cinematic Antagonists
Dive into the complex and compelling world of villains in literature and film in this first-year seminar course. Participants will explore the individual stories of iconic antagonists, dissecting how their experiences, motivations, and choices shape their journey within their respective narratives. From tragic backstories to morally ambiguous actions, students will unravel the layers of complexity that define these characters. Through in-depth discussions, character analyses, and creative exercises, students will explore the intricacies of the villain's stories.
Lauren Strunk
MWF 12:30-1:20
38. Galileo's Commandment
Bertolt Brecht, in his play The Life of Galileo, has his protagonist, Galileo Galilei, the father of the scientific method, confronted by the statement “Science knows only one commandment: contribute to science.” This seminar will focus on those men and women who have dedicated their lives to this commandment, how they view the activity called science, and how their efforts to follow its one commandment are viewed by society. By reading the best of their writings we will explore how, with their energy and imagination, they assembled the edifice of modern science. We will explore how the rest of society has understood, and misunderstood, science and its creators. We will confront two contrasting views of scientists as seen through the eyes of Hollywood and Broadway, the ‘Mad Scientist’ and the ‘Scientist as the Romantic Hero.’ In addition to reading and discussing great science writing, and plays such as Brecht’s The Life of Galileo, Stoppard’s Arcadia, or Frayn’s Copenhagen, seminar members will also view and discuss films that highlight stereotypes about scientists. Other activities may include a trip to a national laboratory, a science museum, or a performance of one of the plays we will read.
Robert Boyle
MR 1:30-2:45
39. Narratives of French Imperialism in Africa and the Caribbean
This seminar examines French imperialism in Africa and the Caribbean chronologically and thematically to provide an overview of imperial relations typical of the French Empire. Students will explore how novelists, essayists, and filmmakers capture the complex destinies of life in African and Caribbean societies, challenging the subjugation embedded in the cultural and social fabrics of these communities and exploring imaginative and unexpected places that can mobilize energies for the liberation of peoples. The course will mainly focus on notions of multiculturalism, imperialism, and national identity, as well as the culmination of colonial discourse on the French Empire. No knowledge of French or African/Caribbean history is necessary.
Benjamin Ngong
MWF 11:30-12:20