Curriculum & Courses
Learning Outcomes
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LA_SLG1) Ways of Knowing Students: Students will demonstrate awareness and appreciation of multiple ways of knowing, as reflected in the fields of study and areas of expertise within the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
LA_SLG2) Cultural Breadth and Global Awareness: Students will demonstrate familiarity with a range of cultural, social, and intellectual traditions in the context of a changing, globalized world.
LA_SLG3) Critical and Analytical Thinking: Students will be able to analyze, evaluate, and construct arguements, engaging with ideas, evidence, and artifacts.
LA_SLG4) Effective Communication Skills: Students will be able to speak and write effectively, communicating with precision, clarity, and rhetorical force.
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HUM_SLG 1) Students will study and question how crucial ideas about human and non-human nature, knowledge, experience, and value have been developed, supported, and/or expressed in major areas of the humanities, such as philosophy, religion, literature, (including poetry and the dramatic arts), and music in various cultures and time periods.
HUM_SLO1.1) Students will demonstrate understanding of the methods used in the humanities, such as argumentation and interpretation.
HUM_SLO1.2) Students will demonstrate understanding of the crucial ideas in the humanities as they have been explored in different cultures and times, and/or in connection to issues that currently affect individuals and societies across the globe.
HUM_SLO1.3) Students will evaluate claims and the evidence and/or reasons given in support of these claims, as found in primary and secondary sources.
HUM_SLO1.4) Students will construct their own claims and defend them in written and/or oral forms, and using proper methods of documentation (e.g. citation and bibliography).
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SCI_SLG1) Students will increase their knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of the natural world, science, and mathematics.
SCI_SLO1.1) Students will demonstrate knowledge of the nature of science and/or mathematics as a knowledge making process. SCI_SLO1.2) Students will develop and evaluate claims that involve a scientific or mathematical component.
SCI_SLO1.3) Students will display curiosity about nature, natural science, and/or mathematics.
SCI_SLO1.4) Students will confidently attempt reasoning tasks that involve a scientific or mathematical component.SCI_SLO1.5) Students will demonstrate appreciation for the role of science and/or mathematics both in everyday life and in contemporary issues.
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FYS_SLG1) Students will learn to embrace the writing process and establish writerly habits, while developing guided critical reading, thinking, and writing skills necessary for their success in upper-level course work. Students will learn to collaborate and to take their work, and the work of their peers seriously, thereby establishing best practices of critique.
FYS_SLO1.1) Students will formulate inquiries emerging from readings of texts.
FYS_SLO1.2) Students will establish research methods.
FYS_SLO1.3) Students will analyze and synthesize multiple texts and cite evidence. FYS_SLO1.4) Students will construct a complex claim and an argument.
FYS_SLO1.5) Students will practice the writerly process (i.e. revision, reflection, and peer review).
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SOSCI_SLG 1) Students will question and explore how human behavior, societal arrangements, and cultural practices vary across time and space.
SOSCI_SLO1.1) Students will demonstrate understanding of the investigative methods used in the social sciences. SOSCI_SLO1.2) Students will evaluate and develop claims based on primary and secondary sources. SOSCI_SLO1.3) Students will communicate clearly in written and oral forms.
SOSCI_SLO1.4) Students will write citations and bibliographies in accordance with one or more social science disciplines.
Courses
| Title | Catalog | Instructor | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Art | 1001 (001) | Zoe Greenham | Fri
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
Reading Art is a seminar that orients students to college studies and emphasizes students' advancement of college-level critical reading and thinking skills. Students learn how to read and analyze artworks using the formal vocabulary of art and design, as well as how to read about art in art history textbooks, scholarly journals, and other sources. Students improve their ability to process, retain, and apply information by using active learning strategies and graphic organizers, including a schematic note-taking system. In addition to weekly readings and exercises, students complete an in-depth synthesis project on an artwork of their choosing. Regular museum visits complement class work.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS I: Re(Defining) Art | 1001 (001) | Alexander W Jochaniewicz | Tues
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
In this writing course, students will consider different perspectives of art and of the artist—including the process of artistic creation, artistic standards and criteria, interpreting art, and the life of the artist—and students will also express their own perspective in discussions, written assignments, and informal presentations, too. The reading list will consist (mostly) of personal essays from a wide range of writers, including (among others) W.E.B. Dubois, T.S. Eliot, bell hooks, Jeannette Winterson, and Susan Sontag—all of whom, along with each other, will help challenge, strengthen, and refine our own perspectives about art and our artistic identities. Students will write about what it means to be an artist as well as develop their perspective about the power and purpose of art. The process of writing will be practiced throughout this course, from brainstorming, to drafting, to peer review and revising. FYS I develops college-level writing skills, prepares one for FYS II and upper level Liberal Arts courses, and allows one to improve expressing their ideas in writing.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS I: The Writing Project | 1001 (002) | Joanna Anos | Tues
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
At the heart of the writing project is the writing process: from sketching to planning, free writing to drafting, envisioning to revisioning. Writing requires both the creative and critical mind; it asks for patience with not knowing and provides us with the means--if we allow ourselves to follow where it may lead--to get from nowhere to somewhere, from not having the words to finding our voice. Process is primary in this writing seminar: students will explore their own and others' ways of making, read artists' writings about art, write in a variety of short forms, including the essay, and pursue a longer, multi-part writing project.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS I: Copyrights and Wrongs | 1001 (004) | Jennie Berner | Fri
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
In this writing-intensive course, we will explore the line between originality and plagiarism in a variety of fields including art, media, technology, music, business, entertainment, and medicine. In what contexts is copying an art? A science? A crime? How much should we be allowed to borrow from the work of artists and writers who have come before us? Do we owe them anything when we do? What are the economic, social, and political implications of copying? Readings will cover a range of subtopics such as genetic cloning, music sampling, artistic forgery, cultural appropriation, film adaptations, drug patents, fan fiction, body modification, and fair use. We will also analyze the work of artists and writers whose work speaks to some of these issues, including Kenneth Goldsmith, Fred Wilson, Jeff Koons, Sherrie Levine, DJ Dangermouse, and Jen Bervin. Writing assignments ? totaling 15-20 pages over the course of the semester ? will emphasize analysis, argument, research, revision, and other academic writing skills.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS I: Come to Your Senses | 1001 (005) | Matilda Stubbs | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This seminar introduces students to the anthropological study of the senses. Through close examination of ethnographic texts and films, students will explore how cultures 'make sense' of the everyday and increasingly globalized world. With a heavy emphasis on written assignments, we approach the notion of perception as more than a purely physical act, and through structured participation and deliberate observation, students will learn how sensory experiences are deeply related to our own histories and cultural identities. Course activities center around developing analytic skills in the genre of ethnographic writing, and critically engaging with cross-cultural examples of sensual mediations of reality. Topics range from how the senses shape the aesthetics of daily life through color, odor, and flavor, to the significance of communication and information of technologies in the era of virtual reality, slime videos, and the online autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) community.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS I: Writing for Space-Making | 1001 (009) | Mika Yamamoto | Tues
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
Writers can have the power to create space for communities that are marginalized in society, but this work is never easy. In this class, we will examine the works of writers who have attempted this and analyze the success and cost of such attempts. Our readings will include works by: Esme Weijun Wang, Rupi Kahur, Ryka Aoki, Patsy Mink, and others. We will also utilize SAIC’s amazing resources like the Service Bureau, the Art Institute, the writing center, the diversity department, and Title IX office. In this class, students will exercise their voices and embrace the writing process. They will think of writing beyond what happens on the page.Towards this end, each class begins with mindfulness and connection activities. Students will be required to write weekly reflections, multiple drafts of an essay, and do a class presentation. Students in FYS I should expect to write 15 to 20 pages of formal, revisable writing. Attendance is extremely important and heavily weighted.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS I: Magical Realism | 1001 (010) | Irina Ruvinsky | Mon
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
In this class we will read a selection of magical realist narratives ranging from Gogol to Marquez to understand major forms and conventions that have distinguished this literary genre. We will examine twentieth-century magical realism in light of its reaction to nineteenth century realism and post-colonialism. While it is true that Latin American authors have contributed much of the theoretical conceptualization and fictional expression of magical realism in its present form, in this course we will we will treat this genre as a cross-cultural phenomenon by focusing on works of Russian and Latin American literature.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYSe: Laughing Matter | 1002 (001) | Sophie Goalson | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
As an art form, humor is often considered menial and unrefined. In reality, the psychology of humor — exactly what it is that makes something funny — is complicated and requires careful mastery. This course will examine how writers and artists have historically used humor to reach audiences deeply, emotionally, and politically. Through works by Mark Twain, Franz Kafka, Calvin Trillin, Jade Chang, Percival Everett and others, we will get to the heart of what makes something funny, and how humor has changed over time. Students will build on foundational academics habits with weekly short writings. To complete the course, students must write 3 papers (one analytical, one argumentative, and one creative.
PrerequisitesMust complete AAP: Academic Foundations Seminar (AAP1001) and Foundations Writing Workshop (AAP 1011) |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYSe:Near-Death Experiences | 1002 (002) | Peter Thomas | Mon
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This writing course emphasizes close reading of texts, critical thinking, and the analysis of problems and concepts arising in works about near-death experiences through the writing of essays. We will use the writing process as a means to achieving insight, and students will be asked to employ brainstorming, freewriting, drafting, outlining, re-writing, revising, and editing. Throughout the term, students will be asked to reflect on their development as they establish their own writing process that will enable them to develop new understandings and clearly communicate them in essays for this course and beyond. Some of us have had a near-death experience in which our survival felt in doubt. Almost all of us have had nearness-to-death experiences in which we glimpse the passing of some other person or creature and must contend with death?s significance. In this course, we?ll study short works that explore what nearness to mortality reveals to us. We?ll read Virginia Woolf, Tim O?Brien, Annie Dillard, Lu Hsun, Tobias Woolf, Wole Soyinka, and Nancy Mairs, among others, as we examine how death?s presence has impacted these writers in unanticipated ways. Students should expect to write and revise 3 major essays in addition to short writing assignments, totaling 15-20 pages of formal prose.
PrerequisitesMust complete AAP: Academic Foundations Seminar (AAP1001) and Foundations Writing Workshop (AAP 1011) |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYSe: Film Noir and Genre | 1002 (003) | Jacob A Hinkson | Tues
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
In this writing intensive course, we will develop the skills of argument-driven writing as we examine film noir and the question of genre. What does it mean to look at a series of disparate cinematic texts as examples of the same textual category? Is “film noir” best defined by a pattern of visual motifs? Can the genre be better characterized by the repetition of various story structures, themes, and character archetypes? Or is “film noir” (and perhaps “genre” itself) a categorizing term which has outlived its usefulness as a way of understanding individual film texts? Students will explore these questions through an examination of three key films: The Big Sleep (1946), The Reckless Moment (1949), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), and The Deep End (2001). Readings will include critical works by Raymond Borde, Étienne Cahumeton, Janey Place, Megan Abbott, and Joan Copjec. These materials will inform multiple argument-driven essays students will draft and revise over the course of the semester. In composing these essays, students will study thesis formation, rhetorical modes, and ways to incorporate sources into evidence-based arguments.
PrerequisitesMust complete AAP: Academic Foundations Seminar (AAP1001) and Foundations Writing Workshop (AAP 1011) |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| First Year Seminar Enhanced (EIS) | 1003 (001) | Diane Worobec-Serratos | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
FYS (EIS) are theme-based writing courses designed for first-year international students who have successfully completed their English for International Students Fluency course, with an emphasis on teaching Academic English skills to English Language Learners. Students will improve their Academic English skills by learning to embrace the writing process and establish writerly habits, while developing guided critical reading, thinking, and writing skills necessary for their success in future course work at SAIC. FYS (EIS) sections offer different topics. For example, students may investigate modern and contemporary art movements or analyze popular visual culture or media. While faculty have autonomy in determining course theme, the theme is an accessory to the writing; the balance in these classes is weighed toward explicit writing instruction and workshopping of student writing, not content. This course provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds. Students investigate the class topic through close readings and class discussions. They explore and develop their ideas by writing short responses and longer multi-draft papers which may include analytical, argumentative, expository, and/or evaluative essays. A significant amount of time is devoted to the craft of writing. Grammatical and organizational strategies, argumentation, and skills in thesis/claim and idea development are explored. Students should expect to write 15-20 pages of formal, revisable writing across the course of the semester. A significant amount of time may be devoted to re-writing essays, so as to develop first drafts into final versions. In-class writing and short homework exercises may be included. Through peer review and workshops, students learn to collaborate and to take their work, and the work of their peers seriously, thereby establishing best practices of critique. Classes are capped at 12 students and individual meetings to discuss each student's papers should be expected.
PrerequisitesMust complete English Fluency I (EIS 1021) |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| First Year Seminar Enhanced (EIS) | 1003 (003) | Annette Elliot-Hogg | Thurs
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
FYS (EIS) are theme-based writing courses designed for first-year international students who have successfully completed their English for International Students Fluency course, with an emphasis on teaching Academic English skills to English Language Learners. Students will improve their Academic English skills by learning to embrace the writing process and establish writerly habits, while developing guided critical reading, thinking, and writing skills necessary for their success in future course work at SAIC. FYS (EIS) sections offer different topics. For example, students may investigate modern and contemporary art movements or analyze popular visual culture or media. While faculty have autonomy in determining course theme, the theme is an accessory to the writing; the balance in these classes is weighed toward explicit writing instruction and workshopping of student writing, not content. This course provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds. Students investigate the class topic through close readings and class discussions. They explore and develop their ideas by writing short responses and longer multi-draft papers which may include analytical, argumentative, expository, and/or evaluative essays. A significant amount of time is devoted to the craft of writing. Grammatical and organizational strategies, argumentation, and skills in thesis/claim and idea development are explored. Students should expect to write 15-20 pages of formal, revisable writing across the course of the semester. A significant amount of time may be devoted to re-writing essays, so as to develop first drafts into final versions. In-class writing and short homework exercises may be included. Through peer review and workshops, students learn to collaborate and to take their work, and the work of their peers seriously, thereby establishing best practices of critique. Classes are capped at 12 students and individual meetings to discuss each student's papers should be expected.
PrerequisitesMust complete English Fluency I (EIS 1021) |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| First Year Seminar Enhanced (EIS) | 1003 (004) | Maryjane Lao Villamor | Tues
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
FYS (EIS) are theme-based writing courses designed for first-year international students who have successfully completed their English for International Students Fluency course, with an emphasis on teaching Academic English skills to English Language Learners. Students will improve their Academic English skills by learning to embrace the writing process and establish writerly habits, while developing guided critical reading, thinking, and writing skills necessary for their success in future course work at SAIC. FYS (EIS) sections offer different topics. For example, students may investigate modern and contemporary art movements or analyze popular visual culture or media. While faculty have autonomy in determining course theme, the theme is an accessory to the writing; the balance in these classes is weighed toward explicit writing instruction and workshopping of student writing, not content. This course provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds. Students investigate the class topic through close readings and class discussions. They explore and develop their ideas by writing short responses and longer multi-draft papers which may include analytical, argumentative, expository, and/or evaluative essays. A significant amount of time is devoted to the craft of writing. Grammatical and organizational strategies, argumentation, and skills in thesis/claim and idea development are explored. Students should expect to write 15-20 pages of formal, revisable writing across the course of the semester. A significant amount of time may be devoted to re-writing essays, so as to develop first drafts into final versions. In-class writing and short homework exercises may be included. Through peer review and workshops, students learn to collaborate and to take their work, and the work of their peers seriously, thereby establishing best practices of critique. Classes are capped at 12 students and individual meetings to discuss each student's papers should be expected.
PrerequisitesMust complete English Fluency I (EIS 1021) |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| First Year Seminar Enhanced (EIS) | 1003 (005) | Diane Worobec-Serratos | Fri
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
FYS (EIS) are theme-based writing courses designed for first-year international students who have successfully completed their English for International Students Fluency course, with an emphasis on teaching Academic English skills to English Language Learners. Students will improve their Academic English skills by learning to embrace the writing process and establish writerly habits, while developing guided critical reading, thinking, and writing skills necessary for their success in future course work at SAIC. FYS (EIS) sections offer different topics. For example, students may investigate modern and contemporary art movements or analyze popular visual culture or media. While faculty have autonomy in determining course theme, the theme is an accessory to the writing; the balance in these classes is weighed toward explicit writing instruction and workshopping of student writing, not content. This course provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds. Students investigate the class topic through close readings and class discussions. They explore and develop their ideas by writing short responses and longer multi-draft papers which may include analytical, argumentative, expository, and/or evaluative essays. A significant amount of time is devoted to the craft of writing. Grammatical and organizational strategies, argumentation, and skills in thesis/claim and idea development are explored. Students should expect to write 15-20 pages of formal, revisable writing across the course of the semester. A significant amount of time may be devoted to re-writing essays, so as to develop first drafts into final versions. In-class writing and short homework exercises may be included. Through peer review and workshops, students learn to collaborate and to take their work, and the work of their peers seriously, thereby establishing best practices of critique. Classes are capped at 12 students and individual meetings to discuss each student's papers should be expected.
PrerequisitesMust complete English Fluency I (EIS 1021) |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Americana Music | 1005 (001) | Andrew Lindsay | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
“Genre” and tradition in music are nebulous terms, yet we can’t escape them. Examining these genre distinctions consistently reveals two things - the history and tradition that helped birth the genre “category,” and the web of influences between genres that make such distinctions unstable. Nowhere is this “instability” more apparent than in American music, a country whose relatively young socio-political history makes the notion of “tradition” especially complicated. “Americana” is an overarching term to describe a variety of American musics, in an attempt to smooth over some of the complicated relationship between genre and tradition. One thing we will explore in this course is the effectiveness of that endeavor. Complicated spaces, of course, are fertile ground for argument, and that is the primary skill we will practice in this course. We begin with short writing assignments that force students to make arguments about our texts. Our class discussion allows us to workshop these claims, and we write larger papers that demonstrate the ability to take greater risks with our theses. In this course we will focus on the core skills of reading and writing, preparing us for all our future coursework at SAIC. Students learn to make nuanced observations about the texts we study, observations which form the basis for the argumentative papers we write. This course will focus on artists representative of the various genres said to populate Americana music. Special attention, however, will be paid to those artists who trouble the genre definitions, such as the Staple Singers, Gillian Welch, and Sturgill Simpson. Assignments consist of informal, observational journals, short papers and a larger Final Paper at the end of the course.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Gender in Action | 1005 (002) | Whitney D. Johnson | Fri
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
First Year Seminar I provides guided experience in college-level expository writing inspired by a topic in the liberal arts. This section will introduce the topic of gender and social movements to prompt analytical thought, reading, and writing. Specifically, we will ask how different views of gender have prompted social action. Particularly as gender intersects with other social identities, such as race, class, sexuality, nationality, and ability, we can assess the successes of gender activist groups from a diversity of viewpoints. In addition to feminism and transfeminism, we will discuss conservative activist groups, as well. Some of the scholars and artists we will study in this course include Davis, Beauvoir, Stryker, Srinivasan, and Lorde. Students should expect to write at least 15 pages over the course of the semester, with opportunities for planning and revision built into each of the longer essays. As an applied component of the course, students will have an opportunity to describe imagined or enacted participation in gender activism alongside the core component of analytical writing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II:Life Account | 1005 (003) | Suman Chhabra | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
In our creative practices we take our lives into account. You determine the format to share your story. In this course we will read different forms of autobiography: graphic novels, memoirs, essays, poetry, and journals. We will look at the various creative forms writers use to convey information about their lives, discuss why we make artwork about ourselves, and study how each form connects with readers. Though we will read about individual experiences, we will consider their impact on the collective. Readings often include works by Ocean Vuong, Trevor Noah, Diana Khoi Nguyen, EJ Koh, and Kazim Ali among others. In our FYS II course, we will develop our critical reading, writing, and thinking skills. This is a studio writing class in which we will focus on writing as a process. We will freewrite, formulate conceptual questions for the readings, write responses, and compose and revise 20-25 pages in multidraft essays. FYS II develops college-level writing skills, prepares one for upper-level Liberal Arts courses, and allows one to improve expressing their ideas in writing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II:Sherlock Holmes | 1005 (004) | Terri Griffith | Fri
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
When Sherlock Holmes made his debut in 1887, no one, especially not his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle could have predicted the success of the first consulting detective. Sherlock Holmes has been adapted on the stage, to film, television, comic books, board games, video games, and by other authors into their own detective novels. Even today, we are surrounded by new versions of this favorite character. In this writing course, students will begin by writing essays based on canonical works, then move to writing critical analyses of contemporary interpretations, ending by imagining the future of Sherlock Holmes.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II:Monsters & Colonization | 1005 (005) | Michael R. Paradiso-Michau | Thurs
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
FYS 2 provides continued guided experience in college-level writing, thereby forming the necessary foundation for upper level Liberal Arts classes. The phrase 'illegal alien' is used by various politicians and commentators, but what does it really mean? What does it literally mean? What is it assuming? What does it entail? Together we will read, write, think, and discuss the ways in which contemporary media imagines 'the Other,' in particular our enduring legacy of colonial and neocolonial attitudes and behaviors. We will also study the metaphors that extraterrestrial alien cinema present, in terms of settler colonialism and its aftermath. Readings and screenings will include science fiction and horror films, documentaries, primary autobiographical narrative, and critical scholarship on these topics. Students should expect to write 15 to 20 pages of formal, revisable writing (i.e. two essays and one in-depth revision) in addition to homework exercises and in-class writing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Human Subjects | 1005 (006S) | Jennie Berner | Mon
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
When scientists conduct research involving human subjects, they are required to seek permission from Institutional Review Boards to ensure that their research is safe and ethical. Artists, however, have no such obligation. When working with human subjects – whether they be muses, models, collaborators, participants, or viewers – artists often must decide for themselves what is right or wrong. For example, should street photographers get consent from the people they photograph? Is it okay for performance artists to make their audiences physically or psychologically uncomfortable? Should some art come with a trigger warning? Is it appropriate for a painter or fashion designer to ask a model to endure pain or danger for the sake of art? What do artists owe their subjects (financially, emotionally, morally, etc.)? In this research and writing-intensive course, we’ll explore these types of questions through artworks, installations, and performance pieces by artists including Sophie Calle, Clifford Owens, Paul McCarthy, Arne Svenson, Vanessa Beecroft, Santiago Sierra, Marina Abramovic, Song Ta, and others. Writing assignments – totaling 20-25 pages over the course of the semester – will emphasize summary, analysis, argument, research, revision, and other academic writing skills.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II:Writing Food | 1005 (007) | Terri Griffith | Fri
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Eating is a necessity, yet what and how we eat is influenced by many things. Ethnicity, religion, gender, class, and personal values all shape what ends up on our dinner plate or even if we have a plate at all. In this course, students will read well-known food writing by authors, as well as writing by lesser-known authors who write for more specific audiences. Through in-class writing, formal essays, and a final research paper and presentation, students will explore their own experience with the culture of food.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Reality and Conspiracy | 1005 (008) | David B. Johnson | Thurs
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
What makes someone's belief a conspiracy theory? How do we distinguish conspiracy theory from legitimate suspicion, especially when history teaches us of many real conspiracies? Are conspiracy theories actually pernicious and if so, why? This writing-intensive course aims to deepen and expand the writing skills students gained in FYS I by examining these and related questions through readings in epistemology (the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of knowledge), political philosophy, history, and contemporary journalism. We will examine historical examples of both real conspiracies (e.g., COINTELPRO, the Iran-Contra Affair) and groundless conspiracy theories (e.g., QAnon, Flat Earth theory, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion). Students should expect to produce 20 to 25 pages of formal writing (an essay and a research paper, both of which will go through significant revision), in addition to homework exercises and in-class writing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Visions of Apocalypse | 1005 (009) | Jacob A Hinkson | Fri
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
Why are we fascinated with the end of the world? Throughout history, human beings have contemplated the apocalypse–whether as a fulfillment of religious prophecy, as the result of atomic war, or as a consequence of climate change. This class will examine apocalyptic visions in art, film, literature, and music. In their research and writing, students can expect to explore the aspect of this subject that matters most to them and/or that inspires their curiosity. FYS II will build upon the foundational writing skills students began learning in FYS I, with the introduction of more rigorous argumentation and research. Eventually, writing will be more self-directed in this FYS II class. Students should expect to write 20 to 25 pages of formal, revisable writing (i.e. one conversation essay and one research project, both with multiple drafts) as well as homework exercises and in-class writing. Much in-class writing will be included, as emphasis is on development of the intellectual skills of reading and responding critically, which forms the basis of each student's career at SAIC. Furthermore, peer review, class workshopping of student papers, and individual meetings to discuss each student's writing should be expected.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Recreation & Play | 1005 (010S) | Raghav Rao | Mon
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
Discretionary time is time that is not constrained by the necessities of life. It is the domain of recreation and play. This class invites students to critically engage with modes of recreation: hobbies, games, outdoor activities, media consumption, creative pursuits, and vice. Through texts and discussion, students will inquire into how society produces and is produced by its modes of recreation, and how social relations are impacted through its dynamics. They will also bring greater attention to themselves and the values undergirding their personal modes of recreation. The focus of this class is to help students develop the skills required to perform academic research. Students will learn how to propose lines of inquiry, shortlist and interrogate sources, reference sources, and synthesize material. Ultimately, the final project for the class will be a high-quality research paper. Over the course of the semester, in total, students will be expected to produce 20-25 pages of material. Texts for the class include Diane Ackerman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Tricia Hersey, Priya Parker.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Curatorial Considerations & Conundrums | 1005 (011S) | Diane Worobec-Serratos | Mon
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
FYS II builds upon the foundational writing skills developed in FYS I, with the introduction of more rigorous argumentation and research. Students will hone their skills and work toward greater independence in writing tasks while critically examining the act of curation. From personal wardrobes and social media accounts to the sometimes-violent legacy of museum collections, curation is all around us. If curation means to care for items in a collection, what does that care entail? As a form of cultural production, whose needs are being cared for? Whose are being neglected? Which voices are amplified, and which are silenced? In a broader context, can curation be an emancipatory practice in the struggle for social justice? As artists, what is our responsibility in selecting, grouping, and caring for our work? To investigate these questions, in the first part of the course, students will explore a variety of curatorial geographies, looking critically at how commodification, patriarchal racism, and colonial capitalism have informed and disrupted curatorial practices over time. Later, students will apply the reflections and insights from course readings and activities to research a curatorial endeavor of their choosing. Students will write 20 to 25 pages of formal, revisable writing (i.e., one essay and one research project, both with multiple drafts) as well as homework exercises and in-class writing. Writing and class activities will emphasize the development of responding critically to a variety of texts and sources to prepare students for the challenges in their coursework at SAIC. To that end, peer review, class workshopping of student papers, and individual meetings to discuss each student's writing will be required.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II:Paris Noir | 1005 (012) | Anita Welbon | Tues
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Tanner, Hughes, Baker. Prophet, Bearden, Chase-Rimboud. Wright, Baldwin, Himes. African-American visual, literary, and performing artists have journeyed to Paris for a few months, a year, or a lifetime to find what they could not in the United States, a space to fully explore, develop, and execute their artistic vision. This FYSII course examines the history of African American artists in Paris, exploring the cultural, political, and artistic forces that drew them to the city of light. Through short written responses and longer formal papers, students will continue to develop their writing skills as they consider this rich history.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II:Women Writers' Worlds | 1005 (013) | Sherry Antonini | Thurs
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class is an investigation of texts by well-known women writers and poets as seen through the lens of personal, social, and historical factors motivating and inspiring each. What forces sit at the root of their strongest poetry? What historical events and personal experiences moved them to write such striking stories? We’ll read pieces by a wide range of women writers across the timeline of literature. Among others, writers considered in our study will include Sappho, Anais Nin, Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, Julia Alvarez, Maxine Hong Kingston, Tracy K. Smith, Jenny Zhang, and Roxane Gay. Students will discuss and write about short pieces and excerpts written by these women as informed by research-bound information on the personal and external factors that impacted their lives and their writing. As a FYSII course, this writing-intensive class has as a core focus the continued development of intermediate/advanced writing skills and methods. Our classes will consist of discussion of particular written pieces, engaging in related research, and writing response and analytical essays, with a final project that incorporates collaboration and a creative component.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Dreamers, Utopians, and Mystics | 1005 (014) | Irina Ruvinsky | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This course explores the literary genre of fantasy, including the subgenre of science fiction. Through the lenses of Russian literature and film we will investigate fantastic’s sister genres: “the uncanny” or “the marvelous.” We will examine how classical Russian writers and cinematographers, ranging from Gogol, Nabkov, Bulgakov to Tarkovsky, engaged with the fantastic, the supernatural and developments in science and technology. We will study how political ideology and resistance helped shape Russian fantasies and fears in the 20th and 21st centuries in literature and film. Students will be expected to write 3 persuasive papers, 6-7 pages each, aimed to develop persuasive, analytical and critical thinking skills.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II:Identity:Ind/Cult/Soc | 1005 (015) | Christine M Malcom | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
Identity is a contested social field where internal notions war with external labels. In this class, we examine identity from a four-field anthropological perspective We explore the social nature of the human species, examine how the performance of language unites individuals and distinguishes groups, and discuss the problematic notion of bounded cultures and their reification in classic and contemporary ethnography and in archaeological writings.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Subversion: Intro to Postcolonial Theory | 1005 (016) | Steven Reinhart | Wed
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
How can we think about a world today that exists within the long shadows of histories of colonial extraction, violence, and racism? How does history shape the languages and categories through which we feel, speak, think, and act? What is the nature of power, and what happens to power when the one who exercises it to dominate others disappears from direct view? What does it mean to be free, or to decolonize a world or a mind? These are the kinds of questions out of which 'postcolonial theory' developed. In this writing-intensive seminar, we will begin with foundational texts from Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak, and Homi Bhabha. We will then draw out the resonances of these writers through anti-colonial, Black radical, Afropessimist, feminist, and Marxist traditions that challenge and extend postcolonial theory's interventions into our concepts of 'theory' and political struggle. In the process, as a group working together in a studio writing class, we will interweave discussion with writing exercises oriented around conceptual problems at the center of postcolonial theory, including the power of writing itself. From various freewriting exercises to formal essays that will go through multiple processes of revision, we will practice several different writing styles in order to consider the various meanings of freedom, domination, and the possibilities of subversion as a guiding principle for writing itself. FYS II develops college-level writing skills, prepares one for upper level Liberal Arts courses, and allows one to improve expressing their ideas in writing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Past, Present, & Future Chicago | 1005 (017S) | Joshua Rios | Mon
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
“Past, Present, and Future Chicago” examines the complex and layered histories of Chicago through the cultural lenses of literature, art, music, public space, and architecture. It actively presents the city as a place where various social groups have migrated, lived in proximity, struggled for equality and resources, as well protested, celebrated, and produced art and culture. Some events this class engages include the establishment of the city through the Chicago Treaty of 1833, the Great Migration of the early 1900s, post-industrialization, the formation of historic neighborhoods (Pilsen, Lawndale, Chinatown), and the rise of House and electronic music. We will conduct periodic field trips throughout the city to enhance our readings, research, and experience-based understanding of Chicago’s ever-present histories. Relevant artists, writers, and activists include Gwendoline Brooks (poet), Gordon Parks (photographer), Amanda Williams (architect/artist), and Frankie Knuckles (DJ), among others. FYS II builds upon the foundational writing skills students began learning in FYS I, with the introduction of more self-directed rigorous argumentation and research. Students should expect to write 20 to 25 pages of formal, revisable writing (one experiential essay and one research project, both with multiple drafts), as well as homework exercises and in-class writing. Furthermore, peer review, class workshopping of student papers, and individual meetings to discuss each student's writing should be expected.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Certainty and Mind | 1005 (018) | Guy Elgat | Mon
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
This course serves as an introduction to philosophy through an exploration of some of its basic questions. Specifically, through a reading of two chapters from Descartes’ Meditations the course will address questions that fall under the following headings: 1: Epistemology: What is knowledge? What are the sources of knowledge? What is philosophical skepticism about knowledge? What can be known with certainty? 2: Mind and Self: What is mind and how is it distinct from matter? What is consciousness? The course is writing intensive: students should expect to write 20-25 pages of formal, revisable writing, including the research paper.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Irish Rebels: 20th-21st century | 1005 (019) | Eileen Favorite | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
FYS II is the follow-up course to FYS I, where students develop their writing skills to include research and argumentation. In this class we’ll look at how the Irish fought to overthrow colonial rule in 1916-1922 and win the Irish War for Independence. We’ll learn about the Old I.R.A. as well as the Cumann na Ban, the women’s paramilitary that aided the guerilla fighters. In the second part of the course, we’ll examine the partition of Ireland into Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. With a deep dive into The Troubles, we’ll interrogate the weapons of terrorism as well as the nonviolent resistance of hunger strikes. We’ll examine all sides of the issues by reviewing poetry (Seamus Heaney and Eavan Boland), political commentary and research (Fintan O’Toole and Patrick Radden Keefe), and contemporary short stories and creative nonfiction (Clare Keegan, Dioreen ni Grioffa). We’ll also unpack how current politics, especially Brexit and demographic changes, threaten to destabilize Northern Ireland. Through in-class writing exercises, drafting of papers, and mindful writing workshops, students will develop their writing and researching skills, with the creation of 20-25 pages of academic writing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Céline Sciamma | 1005 (020) | Annette Elliot-Hogg | Wed
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
In her films Water Lilies (2007), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) and Petite Maman (2021), French director Céline Sciamma subverts the “male gaze” of traditional Hollywood to define a revolutionary “female gaze.” Her slow rhythm of cutting, economical framing and sparse narratives, create a feminist grammar of cinema. “It’s always about the female characters,” she explains in an interview, “because they can be themselves only in a private space where they can share their loneliness, their dreams, their desires.” In FYSII, we will expand our critical reading, writing and thinking skills. We will develop a descriptive vocabulary to analyze the use of camera movements, cutting and composition of the frame that goes into the making of a film. We will write two critical essays (20 to 25 pages of formal writing), which will be workshopped in class and revised.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: British Feminist Writers | 1005 (021) | Eileen Favorite | Tues
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
FYS II are theme-based writing courses designed for first-year students, with an emphasis on further developing the foundational writing skills students learned in FYS I. Students will continue to hone the intellectual skills of reading critically, and writing responsively, which forms the basis of each student's career at the School. While faculty have autonomy in determining course theme, the theme is an accessory to the writing; the balance in these classes is weighed toward explicit writing instruction and workshopping of student writing, not content. This course provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds, which may include critical, analytical and argumentative essays, and must include the research paper. It is a policy of the department that at least one essay be a research paper which may involve searching for sources in a library or online, learning to make citations, and preparing an annotated bibliography. A significant amount of time is devoted to the craft of writing, and more sophisticated methods of argumentation and use of evidence and developing independent claims and ideas are explored. Students should expect to write 20-25 pages of formal, revisable writing across the course of the semester. A significant amount of time may be devoted to re-writing essays, so as to develop first drafts into final versions. In-class writing, short homework exercises, and workshopping of student work may be included. Individual meetings to discuss each student's papers should be expected.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Nuclear Problems & Society | 1005 (022) | Aiko Kojima Hibino | Thurs
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
When the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was created in 1942 in Chicago, human society was destined to tackle with an unsolvable conundrum. How could our society possibly justify the augmentation of this enormous power that could destroy our own existence? This course investigates discourses around two major uses of nuclear power in society – nuclear weapons and nuclear energy – and examines them through social justice lenses. Key points of inquiry include: what risks are associated with nuclear weapons and energy and how they have been evaluated in contrast to their benefits, how the damages that were caused by nuclear weapons and energy have been addressed and mended, and whether the harms that were made by nuclear weapons and energy equally impact all groups of people. Building on the basic reading and writing skills introduced in FYS I, FYS II will further students’ academic skills in writing an independent research paper. Therefore, in this course, students are expected to read primary and secondary sources to collect evidence to develop their critical arguments on nuclear problems.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Food and Culture | 1005 (023) | Kate Lechler | Fri
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
Food is one of life’s great pleasures and the pursuit of flavor and nutrition has shaped the global map as we know it today. Every culture has food rituals around both its preparation and consumption, while the academic study of food intersects with almost every other topic of study, from economics and biology, to history and art. This course will focus on texts that span a variety of nations, languages, genres, and mediums, all of which explore the collective human experience of food. What do we eat–and when and why? How did our most beloved foods come to be and how do they reach us today? In response to these questions, we’ll read texts by famous food-writers such as Michael Pollan and Samir Nosrat, alongside horror and fantasy stories by Cassandra Khaw and Seanan McGuire. We’ll examine medieval recipes alongside viral TikTok recipes; view Dutch and Flemish still lifes and Warhol paintings; and watch the Hulu show The Bear and Stanley Tucci’s movie Big Night. In their research and writing students can expect to explore the topic of food that most inspires their curiosity, FYS II builds upon the foundational writing skills students began learning in FYS I, with the introduction of more rigorous argumentation and research. Eventually, writing and revision will be more self-directed in this FYS II class, which provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds. Students should expect to write 20-25 pages of formal, revisable writing as well as homework exercises and in-class writing. This writing will take the form of two essays and a final project, an in-depth revision based on instructor and peer workshop feedback.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Speech and Voice | 1005 (024) | Stephen Williams | Tues
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
How have artists in literature, theater, music, and other sound-based media represented or incorporated the human voice into their work? This FYS II course builds on the writing and thinking skills students began to develop in FYS I by introducing more advanced argumentation and research methods. To guide our inquiry, we might consider questions such as: How do we understand 'authentic' or 'common' speech, what accounts for its claim on our attention, and what are the politics around it? How does its apparent spontaneity relate to formal aspects of a work of art? Why do diverse folk traditions put human speech in the mouths of animals? How do we experience, on the one hand, divine or oracular voices understood to come from beyond humankind, and on the other, AI-generated simulacra? What does it mean to appropriate another's voice, and why is spoken language such a significant marker of individual and collective identity? How have new technologies of amplification, reproduction, and distribution changed how we hear ourselves? Sources we may consider include: Wordsworth, European opera, Brecht / Weill, Lotte Lenya, Cathy Berberian, Derek Walcott, Kamau Braithwaite, Linda Rosenkrantz, Meredith Monk, Bernadette Mayer, Pere Gimferrer, Nathaniel Mackey, American hip hop. Students can expect to produce 20-25 pages of formal, revisable writing, as well as regular in- and out-of-class assignments. The course builds toward a self-directed research paper on a topic of the student's choosing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Walking | 1005 (025) | Suzanne Scanlon | Thurs
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
Fernando Pessoa in Lisbon, Virginia Woolf in London, Frank O’Hara in New York City; writers, philosophers and artists of all kinds have long created, expanded, and contracted the self through the act and practice of walking. We will spend this semester reading and writing texts structured around the movement of the self in the city and country, at home and away, considering both content and representations of the body in space. We will look at authors, filmmakers and conceptual artists from a range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds to ask: What kind of literary devices does the author use? How does the tone/style contribute to the work as a whole? How does the text build, sentence by sentence or scene by scene? Are specific images repeated and/or used differently throughout the work? Students should expect to write 20-25 pages of formal, revisable writing, including a researched essay.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II:The Critical and the Fine | 1005 (026) | Herman Stark | Tues
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
This intense writing course fosters college-level writing skills at a level suitable for upper level Liberal Arts courses. Various types of essays will be executed (e.g., analysis, comparison and contrast) over a number of drafts. As for content, the course targets two aesthetic and philosophical phenomena: the critical and the fine. These phenomena can appear apart (e.g., critical thinking apart from the fine can lead to cynicism and even misology), but they can, in synthesis, produce both philosophy and art of the highest order. M. Gelven's text, The Quest for the Fine, and J. Lynch's The English Language, provide examples from philosophy, art, and language that illustrate paradigmatic syntheses of the critical and the fine. We'll consider, for example, the following distinction: The active voice lends crispness to your writing...but the passive voice works well when the action is more relevant than the person or thing doing the action. By reviewing such instances of grammatical and syntactical precision, across different topics, we will develop our internal sense of the fine. As for the critical, consider the following line by Emily Dickinson: 'Because I could not stop for death...he kindly stopped for me....' It takes the critical touch of a master poet to insert kindly; why, after all, kindly? Do not humans tend to flee death? Is not death a topic to be avoided? Do not many of us rather wish, sometimes idly and sometimes fervently, that we could live forever, or at least longer than we do? Or, has the poet revealed an ambiguity in how one might really feel, and think, about one's mortality? In this seminar, we will learn to make and appreciate such examples in writing, and indeed in writing that displays a heightened criticality and a heightened sense of the fine. Fine and critical writing is expected each week in weekly seminar reports, and over the entire semester in four essays, resulting in 20-25 pages of formal, revised writing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: (Still) Life-Writing | 1005 (027) | Aaron Greenberg | Fri
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
What is the meaning of life? How does life translate to the page and canvas? In this course, we will practice the art of writing by representing its relations to life. FYS II develops college-level writing skills, preparing students for upper-level Liberal Arts courses. We’ll focus on still lifes—among the most enduring, versatile, and overlooked art forms—which illuminate new perspectives on the lives of artists and the lives of objects we represent. Authors including Lisa Knopp and Norman Bryson will provide critical context for the course, while artists including Alice Neel, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, Juan Sánchez Cotán, Jonas Wood, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso will set the table with examples of the genre. However, students will develop writing projects around still life artists of their choice. We will experiment with ekphrasis, the detailed written description of visual art. We’ll write about art that portrays the interplay of life, death, and (in)animacy, as we consider the history of ideas represented through still lifes including: the limits and possibilities of genre, vanitas, memento mori, and subject/object relations. Students will create 20-25 pages of formal, revisable, and (if they choose) publishable writing across three short essays and two in-depth revisions. Students will also learn to write a research paper, using scholarly constraints to enhance creativity.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II:Hearing Voices | 1005 (028) | William T. Faber | Fri
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
In this course we will work to develop our capacities as critical writers and readers by engaging the question: “what is a voice?” To do this, we will move across the domains of politics (“voice of the people”), linguistics (“spoken voice”), psychology (“individual voice”), creativity (“find your voice”), sound (“tone of voice”), the body (“vocal chords and voice box”), technology (“the recorded voice”), and the sacred (“voice of God”). Ultimately, we will cultivate through writing and discussion a semester- long call and response via the diverse meanings and identities attributed to the voice across a range of cultural and historical locations. How do these diverse formulations resonate and speak with one another, and what might their connections reveal about how we understand ourselves and our world? Our course materials will include works by linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, composer Pauline Oliveros, the poet Ovid, sociologist W.E.B Du Bois, novelist Tommy Orange, philosopher Maladan Dolar, folk tales collected by the Brothers Grim, the spiritual texts of Hazrat Inayat Kahn, the blues music of Ma Rainey, among many others. Thematically, we will frequently consider the ways that the voice transgress the borders of metaphor and material fact, shaping our sense of both the individual and the collective. Throughout this course students will develop techniques for critical reading, writing, and listening, as we discuss materials which present and theorize the identity and meaning of the voice, including examples from music, religious studies, poetry, and philosophy. Students will analyze, synthesize, and compare these multiple perspectives in weekly writing assignments and class discussions and develop strategies for mobilizing diverse forms of evidence in support of their original arguments.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Hollywoodland | 1005 (029) | Zachary Tavlin | Mon
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
FYS II are theme-based writing courses designed for first-year students, with an emphasis on further developing the foundational writing skills students learned in FYS I. Students will continue to hone the intellectual skills of reading critically, and writing responsively, which forms the basis of each student's career at the School. While faculty have autonomy in determining course theme, the theme is an accessory to the writing; the balance in these classes is weighed toward explicit writing instruction and workshopping of student writing, not content. This course provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds, which may include critical, analytical and argumentative essays, and must include the research paper. It is a policy of the department that at least one essay be a research paper which may involve searching for sources in a library or online, learning to make citations, and preparing an annotated bibliography. A significant amount of time is devoted to the craft of writing, and more sophisticated methods of argumentation and use of evidence and developing independent claims and ideas are explored. Students should expect to write 20-25 pages of formal, revisable writing across the course of the semester. A significant amount of time may be devoted to re-writing essays, so as to develop first drafts into final versions. In-class writing, short homework exercises, and workshopping of student work may be included. Individual meetings to discuss each student's papers should be expected.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: What is X? | 1005 (030) | Kerry Balden | Thurs
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
In this course, we learn to inquire according to the most basic question available to us: to ask what something is. For this purpose, we'll read a handful of Platonic Dialogues, which are as comprehensive as they are artistic. Each dialogue asks a question about something fundamental to human life: What is love? What is art? What is friendship? What is power? What is god? What is courage? What is justice? Throughout the course, we'll write a couple of shorter assignments in preparation for a final paper. Building on FYS I, we now further learn how to write for specific readers. Far from merely demonstrating that you the author understand something, your writing will have to explain something to someone who doesn't understand, someone who may be resistant to understanding. In order to do so, we rely on regular, structured sessions of peer feedback, which involve specific, suggested revisions, rather than mere indications of like and dislike. And though we'll learn select principles of writing, such as those of argument, or of introductions, or of conclusions, the course utterly depends on your involvement: If we cannot be readers for one another, in all our idiosyncrasies and specific feedback, then we can't learn how to write for this or that discourse community. Students can expect to write at least two pages per week, culminating in a final research paper or project. Over the semester, students produce 20-25 pages of formal, revisable writing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| FYS II: Grief in Art | 1005 (031) | James Sieck | Thurs
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
Nearly three years into the Covid pandemic and we are still in the midst of a prolonged state of grief. As we consider the ways in which we have found - or struggled to find - help with our grief, the questions must be asked: What mechanisms were in place for communal grief? What mechanisms were in place for individual grief? Moreover, in times of tragedy and trauma, who or what can we turn towards to help us with this incredibly complex and human process? In this second semester course, each student will build off the academic writing and critical reading skills of FYS1 and work to construct a formal research essay that examines the role of art in grief. While our individual work will be specific and focused, our combined efforts will represent a broad exploration into the psychology of grief in the context of art. As a class community, we will examine the behavioral science behind grief, the various cultural practices and traditions around grief, and the ways in which both visual and written art are often our best tools for understanding grief. Sources may vary, but expect to read and analyze a diverse collection of authors and artists, including: Jhumpa Lahiri, James Joyce, Pema Chodron, Pauline Boss, Ada Limon, Roger Robinson, Carrie Mae Weems, and Chimamanda Adichie. Students will learn how to formulate a meaningful research question, vett and synthesize a variety of sources, and produce a polished academic research paper. We will utilize writing workshops, peer review, and process-oriented feedback to help us each produce 20-25 pages of formal and revisable writing.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: ENGLISH 1001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Foundations Writing Workshop | 1011 (001) | Jennie Berner | Fri
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
The Foundations Writing Workshop is a process-based writing course that serves as students' initiation to the foundations of academic writing in a school of art and design. Students engage in the writing process, learn strategies for exploring topics, and develop their knowledge of the concepts and terminology of art and design through the practice of various kinds of written compositions. Analysis of essays and active participation in writing-critiques are integral components of the Workshop.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Foundations Writing Workshop | 1011 (002) | Alexander W Jochaniewicz | Fri
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
The Foundations Writing Workshop is a process-based writing course that serves as students' initiation to the foundations of academic writing in a school of art and design. Students engage in the writing process, learn strategies for exploring topics, and develop their knowledge of the concepts and terminology of art and design through the practice of various kinds of written compositions. Analysis of essays and active participation in writing-critiques are integral components of the Workshop.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: English Language Fluency | 1021 (002) | Nat Holtzmann | Fri
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
This is the first of two English language fluency courses for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students improve their academic English skills by reading and responding to art appreciation and art history texts. Texts are analyzed for formal as well as contextual information. Students learn how to integrate their own observations and knowledge with information gained from reading and lecture. Students also build competence and confidence in college-level writing. Topics include formal analyses and/or critical responses to works of art. Presentations and class discussions also give students practice communicating their knowledge through speaking.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: English Language Fluency | 1021 (003) | Maryjane Lao Villamor | Fri
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
This is the first of two English language fluency courses for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students improve their academic English skills by reading and responding to art appreciation and art history texts. Texts are analyzed for formal as well as contextual information. Students learn how to integrate their own observations and knowledge with information gained from reading and lecture. Students also build competence and confidence in college-level writing. Topics include formal analyses and/or critical responses to works of art. Presentations and class discussions also give students practice communicating their knowledge through speaking.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Critique | 1031 (002) | C. C. Ann Chen | Tues
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This critique course is offered for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students build competence in giving critiques, participating in class discussions, and giving presentations. Students make artwork to present to the class. They learn and practice the vocabulary of visual and design elements and use these to analyze and critique their own and their classmates' works. Students practice a variety of critique formats by using formal, social-cultural, and expressive theories of art criticism. They discuss and critique works both verbally and in writing.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (003) | Aram Han Sifuentes | Tues
12:15 PM - 1:45 PM In Person |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (004) | Aram Han Sifuentes | Fri
9:45 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (005) | Ned Marto | Tues
4:45 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (006) | Sonia Da Silva | Wed
12:15 PM - 1:45 PM In Person |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (007) | Sonia Da Silva | Thurs
12:15 PM - 1:45 PM In Person |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (008) | Suman Chhabra | Mon
9:45 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (011) | Ned Marto | Thurs
4:45 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (012) | Sonia Da Silva | Wed
9:45 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (014) | Edward Dongwon Sin | Mon
6:45 PM - 8:15 PM In Person |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (015) | David P Norris | Mon
6:45 PM - 8:15 PM All Online |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (016) | Alicia Castañeda-Lopez | Tues
6:45 PM - 8:15 PM All Online |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (017) | David P Norris | Wed
6:45 PM - 8:15 PM All Online |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| English for International Students: Tutorial | 1035 (018) | Alicia Castañeda-Lopez | Thurs
6:45 PM - 8:15 PM All Online |
Description
This class offers small group tutoring for students who do not speak English as their first language. Students meet with an EIS instructor in groups of three for 1 1/2 hours each week. Students receive assistance with their class assignments for Art History, Liberal Arts and Studio classes. Activities may include discussing class concepts, checking comprehension, exploring ideas for papers or projects, revising papers, or practicing pronunciation and presentations.
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Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Spanish I | 2001 (001) | Tues
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
|
Description
An introductory course in reading, writing, and conversational Spanish.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Arabic I | 2003 (001) | Wael Fawzy | Tues
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
Arabic I ???? is a fully integrated introductory course for students with no background in the language. The course is designed for beginning students whose learning objectives and needs are in any of the following categories: continued language study, business purposes, or travel. Students will learn to speak and understand Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and read and write Arabic script. Students will develop speaking and listening skills through audiovisual media, interactive fun activities, and paired dialogue practices. There will be a strong emphasis on oral proficiency needed to provide the necessary framework to communicate clearly and effectively. These objectives will be achieved through the following approaches: speaking, listening, reading, writing, and cultural studies.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| French I | 2005 (001) | Elizabeth Chalier-Visuvalingam | Mon
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
An introductory course in reading, writing and conversational French.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Chinese I | 2008 (001) | Marie Meiying Jiang | Tues
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM All Online |
Description
Chinese I is designed for beginners who take Chinese as a foreign language. Students who speak Chinese as their native language are not allowed to attend this course. Students who have taken Chinese study in the past are required to take the evaluation test and gain approval of the instructor to enroll. Students will study the Chinese Mandarin sound system PIN YIN, the basic strokes from the Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese numbers, common Chinese Radicals and Lessons 1-5 of <<Integrated Chinese>> (Level 1 Part 1). Students can speak and write systematically more than 150 essential vocabulary words, master the key grammatical structures, build the real-life communicative skills. They will also write and tell a story about themselves and their interests on Chinese paper utilizing 150 characters.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| German I | 2009 (001) | Kimberly Kenny | Thurs
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
An introductory course in reading, writing, and conversational German.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Spanish II | 2010 (001) | Tues
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
|
Description
This is a continuing course in reading, writing, and speaking Spanish. Prerequisite: LANGUAGE 2001 Spanish I.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: LANGUAGE 2001. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| French II | 2050 (001) | Elizabeth Chalier-Visuvalingam | Mon
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is part two of a two-semester sequence. Its goal is to provide students without any knowledge of the French language a solid foundation in the basic patterns of written and spoken French and an understanding of the particular sociocultural norms necessary for everyday communication in France. These are achieved in several ways: (1) a careful study of French grammar, with a communicative approach, (2) a study of the basics of French phonetics, and (3) a variety of materials such as readings, movies, commercials, etc. French II is the sequel of French I. Prerequisite: French I or agreement of instructor.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: LANGUAGE 2005. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Chinese II | 2080 (001) | Junming Han | Thurs
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
Chinese II is designed for students who take Chinese as a foreign language and have passed the Chinese I course. For the students who have not taken the Chinese I course at SAIC, an evaluation test is required and students must gain the instructor's approval in writing to enroll in this course. Students who speak Chinese as their native language are not allowed to attend this course. Students will continue to learn the Lessons 6-10 of <<Integrated Chinese>> (Level 1 Part 1) to expand vocabulary words and key grammatical structures. The course will aim to expose students to more Chinese culture, help them with Chinese oral presentations and writing about school life, study, shopping, and transportation.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: LANGUAGE 2008. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Survey of Literature II:Modernism and Beyond | 3002 (001) | Todd S. Hasak-Lowy | Thurs
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
In “The Critic as Artist” (1888), Oscar Wilde argued that the creative and the critical faculties are equally important, acutely breaking with the Romantic notion that poetic license issues from an innate gift on the part of the individual, whose unconscious emotions and ideas provide the source of an artwork. Wilde claimed that “No poet sings because he must … [but] because he chooses to sing …There is no fine art without self-consciousness, and self-consciousness and the critical spirit are one.” This course surveys some ways the next century would prove his point, especially but not solely, among queer and American countercultural, avant garde poets. We will read poetry, fiction, and plays, as well as literary and cultural criticism by Gertrude Stein, Aimé Césaire, Jack Spicer, Audre Lorde, Pamela Lu, and others. We will also survey the generative clash between the New Narrative and L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E movements, swirling with sexual, political, and theoretical frisson.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Top: Black Feminisms | 3007 (001) | Kirin Wachter-Grene | Fri
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course guides students from the nineteenth-century to the present to consider how Black feminisms, plural, have complicated, critiqued, and re-imagined feminist and anti-racist theories of race, sexuality, gender, class, power, and pleasure and continue to innovate. Major historical interventions covered include Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham’s history of respectability politics and Brittney Cooper’s nuancing of it; The Combahee River Collective’s and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theories of interlocking oppressions and “intersectionality”; Jennifer C. Nash’s critique of the institutionalizing of intersectionality; Alice Walker’s alternative construct of “womanism”; Patricia Hill Collins’ concept of “controlling images”; and bell hooks’ “oppositional gaze.” We will then explore new theories in contemporary Black feminism that move away from what critic Jennifer C. Nash calls “protectionist” frameworks to articulate a politics of pleasure. Here, readings include selections from adrienne maree brown, Mireille Miller-Young, LaMonda Horton Stallings, Joan Morgan, and more. Students should expect to read on average 50 pages of critical scholarship per week and to write about it and discuss it in depth. Students should also expect to take turns as discussion leaders. For their final project, students will write a critical/creative Biomythography inspired by Audre Lorde’s Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, one of the core texts of the class.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Top: Gender: Theory & Action | 3007 (002) | Whitney D. Johnson | Tues
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Gender theory is mobilized in feminist activism toward a variety of goals. This course will offer a survey of social theories of gender and will proceed to identify them as the foundations and justifications of social movements in each wave of feminism. Theories include de Beauvoir, Crenshaw, Rubin, Schilt, and Butler. Social movements will include suffragettes, NOW, the Combahee River Collective, riot grrrl, Sisters in Islam, and transgender social movements.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Topics in Gender and Sexuality | 3007 (003) | Susan Bay | Wed
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
Topics courses in gender and sexuality studies are used to provide a broad interdisciplinary introduction to and more thematically-specific knowledge of historical and contemporary topics in gender and sexuality studies. While course texts will vary depending on the instructor and topic, texts may include books, articles, book chapters, films, audio recordings and other materials used to provide insight into gender and sexuality studies. Assignments will vary depending on the instructor and topic, assignments may include quizzes, exams, standard academic papers, research papers, group projects, and other activities enhancing knowledge and understanding of gender and sexuality studies.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| The Mathematical Secrets of Music | 3015 (001) | Eugenia Cheng | Mon
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
We will study aspects of abstract mathematics as exemplified by Western Classical Music. We will look at classical music notation, notes and tonality, as well as the sounds that instruments and voices make, and at a broader scale the overall structure of pieces of music. Mathematics will be used to analyse, explain and clarify all these aspects of music. There will be a broad range of math topics from all the major branches of pure mathematics including algebra and group theory, number theory, calculus, fourier analysis and topology. These will be built up from the basics and unlike in a standard math class, the examples will all be aspects of music. The music will be western classical music including works by Bach, Schubert, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Wagner, Janacek, Shostakovich, Britten, Messiaen. Assignments will take the form of math problems, open book quizzes, application of math to analyse existing music, application of math to generate and transform original music, and reflective writing assignments. No memorisation will ever be required.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| The Mathematical Secrets of Music | 3015 (002) | Eugenia Cheng | Mon
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
We will study aspects of abstract mathematics as exemplified by Western Classical Music. We will look at classical music notation, notes and tonality, as well as the sounds that instruments and voices make, and at a broader scale the overall structure of pieces of music. Mathematics will be used to analyse, explain and clarify all these aspects of music. There will be a broad range of math topics from all the major branches of pure mathematics including algebra and group theory, number theory, calculus, fourier analysis and topology. These will be built up from the basics and unlike in a standard math class, the examples will all be aspects of music. The music will be western classical music including works by Bach, Schubert, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Wagner, Janacek, Shostakovich, Britten, Messiaen. Assignments will take the form of math problems, open book quizzes, application of math to analyse existing music, application of math to generate and transform original music, and reflective writing assignments. No memorisation will ever be required.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Ghost in the Chamber: Surrealism and Photography | 3098 (01S) | Kate O'Neill, Jeremy Biles | Fri
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This interdisciplinary studio symposium course introduces students to key principles and practices of surrealism with particular focus on theories of photography and strategies of photographic image-making. Treating surrealism not only as an art-historical moment but a living body of attitudes, theories, and possibilities for thinking, art-making, and action, students will develop their own ideas and a body of work in formulating a surrealist praxis. Students will read texts by and about surrealists/surrealism, querying into the poetics, politics, and possibilities of photographic surrealism. The class will treat ideas including: erotic desire, pleasure, gender, chance, dreams/unconscious, walking, play/games, politics, race, anticolonial thought, freedom. Students will study work by surrealist thinkers including Andre Breton, Louis Aragon, Aime Cesaire, Georges Bataille, Maya Deren, and Claude Cahun; modern surrealist potes including Juliana Huxtable and Billy-Ray Belcourt; and contemporary theorists such as Rosalind Kruass, Susan Laxton, Angela Carter, and Tina Campt. Artists of special focus will include: Hans Bellmer, Claude Cahun, Lee Miller, Dora Maar, Man Ray, Jacques-Andre Boiffard, Pierre Molinier, Maya Deren, John Akomfrah, and Aruther Jafa. Students will also engage contemporary Afrosurrealism based in photography and film, e.g. Beyonce's ?Lemonade,' Donald Glover's ?Atlanta,' Boots Riley's 'Sorry to Bother You,' and Jordan Peele's ?Get Out.? Students write two short analytic essays and a cumlinating research essay synthesizing ideas from across the semester. Students will also engage in generative photographic exercises designed to break habitual attitudes toward seeing and staging, as they build a focused body of personal work. Research, writing, and studio practice unfold in conjunction with one another, providing students with a working model for synthesizing art history and theory, political engagement, and making.
PrerequisitesStudio Symposia - Students must enroll in both PHOTO 3098 and HUMANITY 3098 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Ghost in the Chamber: Surrealism and Photography | 3098 (01S) | Kate O'Neill, Jeremy Biles | Fri
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This interdisciplinary studio symposium course introduces students to key principles and practices of surrealism with particular focus on theories of photography and strategies of photographic image-making. Treating surrealism not only as an art-historical moment but a living body of attitudes, theories, and possibilities for thinking, art-making, and action, students will develop their own ideas and a body of work in formulating a surrealist praxis. Students will read texts by and about surrealists/surrealism, querying into the poetics, politics, and possibilities of photographic surrealism. The class will treat ideas including: erotic desire, pleasure, gender, chance, dreams/unconscious, walking, play/games, politics, race, anticolonial thought, freedom. Students will study work by surrealist thinkers including Andre Breton, Louis Aragon, Aime Cesaire, Georges Bataille, Maya Deren, and Claude Cahun; modern surrealist potes including Juliana Huxtable and Billy-Ray Belcourt; and contemporary theorists such as Rosalind Kruass, Susan Laxton, Angela Carter, and Tina Campt. Artists of special focus will include: Hans Bellmer, Claude Cahun, Lee Miller, Dora Maar, Man Ray, Jacques-Andre Boiffard, Pierre Molinier, Maya Deren, John Akomfrah, and Aruther Jafa. Students will also engage contemporary Afrosurrealism based in photography and film, e.g. Beyonce's ?Lemonade,' Donald Glover's ?Atlanta,' Boots Riley's 'Sorry to Bother You,' and Jordan Peele's ?Get Out.? Students write two short analytic essays and a cumlinating research essay synthesizing ideas from across the semester. Students will also engage in generative photographic exercises designed to break habitual attitudes toward seeing and staging, as they build a focused body of personal work. Research, writing, and studio practice unfold in conjunction with one another, providing students with a working model for synthesizing art history and theory, political engagement, and making.
PrerequisitesStudio Symposia - Students must enroll in both PHOTO 3098 and HUMANITY 3098 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Cont Narr:Love Art/Hate Artist | 3105 (001) | Eileen Favorite | Thurs
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
How do the biographical details of an artist's life influence our attitude toward their work? Should an artist's politics?both personal and public?influence our aesthetic response to the artwork itself? Or does a work of art become its own entity, detached from its creator? Perhaps, as the deconstructionists advocate, a text or image only bears an accidental relationship to the author's conscious intentions, and thus the creator is superfluous to the work itself. In this class, we study the lives and works of such artists as Chester Himes, J.D. Salinger, Patricia Highsmith, and Sylvia Plath, to examine why we tolerate some behaviors and abhor others. By reviewing biographies, journals, films, and the primary text or artwork itself, we wrestle with the question, is it possible to love the art when you hate/disapprove of/dislike the life the artist led? Students will write shared discussion pieces, a 8-10-page research paper on an artist of their choice, and participate in team debates. CONTENT WARNING: The content and discussion in this course will necessarily sometimes engage with issues of human suffering. Much of it will be emotionally and intellectually challenging to engage with, including graphic or intense content that discusses or represents racism, mental illness, and sexual or physical violence.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Cont Narr: Asian American Lit | 3105 (002) | Suman Chhabra | Thurs
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
There are fantastic books by Asian American writers but often they are not taught in school, or part of pop culture, or included in the literary canon. Who decides which writers and books are worthy of reading? In this discussion based course, we will critically read, think, and write about texts by contemporary Asian American authors. We will analyze multiple factors that have influenced the creation of the texts and that are explored within them, such as race, diaspora, memory, family, politics, community, and identifying oneself and one’s artwork. The readings will be across genre: novels, poetry, non-fiction, and graphic novels. Readings often include works by Victoria Chang, Mira Jacob, Alexander Chee, Jenny Xie, Ocean Vuong, Ted Chiang, and Cathy Park Hong among others. We will freewrite, formulate conceptual questions for the readings, write responses, and compose 2 essays based on individual inquiry and analysis.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Masterworks:I Ching: The Classics of Change | 3110 (001) | Christian M Sheppard | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
A detailed, intensive study of a small number of recognized masterworks that have demonstrated their power outside of their own national and historical context. Recent examples: Dante's Divine Comedy, Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Masterworks:Raymond Carver | 3110 (002) | James McManus | Wed
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Book: Where I?m Calling From, by Raymond Carver Students will read approximately one Raymond Carver story and/or poem a day. To receive credit, you must attend at least thirteen classes on time, do all the readings and written assignments, and participate in in-class discussions. You must write at least two 150-word essays and bring 25 typed copies to class. The final project will be an analytical essay, a poem, a very short story, or a visual work. Whichever genre you choose to work in, I encourage you to channel, imitate, or otherwise creatively respond to at least one of the published works.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Masterworks: Borges's Fictions | 3110 (003) | Zachary Tavlin | Wed
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
A detailed, intensive study of a small number of recognized masterworks that have demonstrated their power outside of their own national and historical context. Recent examples: Dante's Divine Comedy, Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| The Short Story | 3111 (001) | James McManus | Tues
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
While novels usually sell better, short stories and novellas often provide more intense reading experiences. Beginning with such masterpieces as 'The Dead' by James Joyce, the 20th and 21st centuries have been a golden age of short fiction. Students will read a selection of short stories and novellas from the last hundred years or so. Authors will include Alice Munro, Denis Johnson, Sandra Cisneros, Catherine Lacey, Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, Ernest Hemingway, ZZ Packer, Phil Klay, Annie Proulx, James Joyce, Carol Anshaw, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Lorrie Moore, and Stuart Dybek. Students will write a series of very short papers, one of more substantial length, and participate in in-class discussions.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| The Things of Mathematics | 3117 (001) | Daniel Braithwaite | Wed
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
The 'Things of Mathematics' are its tools. The purpose of this course is to analyze and build some of the things that have built mathematics. Tools such as the abacus, astrolabe, sextant, sector, slide rule, planimeter, and others were ancestors of the earliest computers, such as the difference engine and the differential analyzer, which were special-purpose and mechanical. In this course, we rediscover how mathematics was literally 'handled' by earlier people. The course content extends across traditional divisions in mathematics (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus). It also compares systems of notation and calculation, incorporating perspectives on mathematical cognition from psychology and anthropology. The focus of this course is making as the means to engage with mathematical concepts. Standard textbook-type excerpts will be used to convey the needed mathematical background. There will also be readings to give historical context to each tool and related mathematical topic. In order to revisit fundamental mathematics in a rigorous way, we will examine, understand, and actually build devices such as those mentioned. The sharing of student work and experience gained in the making process will be a consistent component of this course. A main component of student work is the making of math tools via given instructions. There will also be in-class problem solving activities to gain math facility, and there will be weekly readings for background accompanied by short comprehension quizzes.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Mysticism in/around/under Mathematics | 3152 (001) | Luna Jaskowiak | Fri
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
Issac Newton is credited with creating mathematical models of the laws of classical physics as well as being an inventor of infinitesimal calculus, but is less well-know as an alchemist despite almost a tenth of his writing being dedicated to the subject. Far from being an isolated example, this is a surprisingly normal occurrence when considered against what we know of the history of mathematics. In this course we will examine the shared history and similar ontological and epistemological structure of mystical and mathematical practice Babylon in the early second millennium until now. Some relevant topics that this class will investigate include: epistemology, ontology, access to knowledge, collective acceptance of new knowledge, what constitutes forbidden or obscene knowledge, the irrationality of the square root of 2, Cantor's project, occult mathematical practice in the second world war, basic algebraic geometry, the psychology of new religious movements and secret societies, recent history of mathematics and natural science, mathematical logic, what “is” truth, systems of inference, symbolic representation, combinatorics, chaos magic, aesthetics of mathematics, meditation and more. Course work may vary, but will primarily consist of weekly reading and short quizzes in addition to less frequent writing assignments.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Mysticism in/around/under Mathematics | 3152 (002) | Luna Jaskowiak | Fri
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
Issac Newton is credited with creating mathematical models of the laws of classical physics as well as being an inventor of infinitesimal calculus, but is less well-know as an alchemist despite almost a tenth of his writing being dedicated to the subject. Far from being an isolated example, this is a surprisingly normal occurrence when considered against what we know of the history of mathematics. In this course we will examine the shared history and similar ontological and epistemological structure of mystical and mathematical practice Babylon in the early second millennium until now. Some relevant topics that this class will investigate include: epistemology, ontology, access to knowledge, collective acceptance of new knowledge, what constitutes forbidden or obscene knowledge, the irrationality of the square root of 2, Cantor's project, occult mathematical practice in the second world war, basic algebraic geometry, the psychology of new religious movements and secret societies, recent history of mathematics and natural science, mathematical logic, what “is” truth, systems of inference, symbolic representation, combinatorics, chaos magic, aesthetics of mathematics, meditation and more. Course work may vary, but will primarily consist of weekly reading and short quizzes in addition to less frequent writing assignments.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Top: Three Apocalypses | 3159 (01S) | Peter O'Leary | Fri
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Seven thunders! Seven seals! Blaring trumpets and clashing cymbals. A seven-headed hydra. A lamb on a throne of blood. Stars falling to earth. The beginning and the end. And an angel saying, “What thou seest write in a book.” The metaphors and the agitation of the Book of Revelation are intense. They draw from the deepest sources of the imagination: Awe at life, magical beasts and powerful forms, proclamations of power, and fears about life’s end. Written 1900 years ago, the Book of Revelation continues to feed the imagination. In this course, first we will read Revelation closely, looking at it in the context of the genre and meaning of apocalypse in the tradition of the Abrahamic religions. Second, we will read Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer, an uncanny novel about an ecological catastrophe that may be an alien invasion. Alongside, we will read Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’, his discussion of the moral and religious flaws that have caused climate change. Third, we will consider “The Leftovers,” a television series that concerns the aftermath of a global, apocalyptic event that happens in the near future in which 2% of the world suddenly vanishes in a Rapture-like event. And throughout this course, we will consider the question: What will a modern apocalypse look like?
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Literature of Latinx Diasporas | 3172 (001) | Deanna Ledezma | Fri
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This course focuses on literature forged among Latinx diasporas and the continued effects of colonialisms. While the course uses the gender-inclusive term Latinx as its point of intersection, the writers, literary practices, and communities we will study are dynamic, distinctive, and heterogenous. We will read works by multigenerational writers of Latin American and Caribbean descent who live in the United States, including: Magdalena Gomez, Raquel Gutierrez, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Monica Huerta, Claudia Castro Luna, Cherrie Moraga, Dave Ortega, and Jose Olivarez. In addition to contextualizing terms of self-identification (such as Nuyorican, Chicano/a/x, and Afro-Latinx) within larger social conditions and political movements, we will analyze how poetry, short stories, graphic novels, personal essays, and comics explore issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Latinx literature not only unsettles conventional expectations of literary genres but also demonstrates the liberatory and decolonial potential of literature. In this discussion-based course, students can expect to complete the following assignments: three essays, a creative response to materials in the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection, a research/practice journal, and a final research-based project.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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| LH:Medieval Journeys | 3190 (001) | Pamela Barrie | Tues
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
'Far from being a monoculture, the middle ages were shaped by cross-cultural contacts?from the monks who assimilated the mythologies of their pagan converts into Christian culture, to the merchants who carried new ideas along with their trade goods across vast stretches of central Asia. This course explores a variety of medieval texts that share the element of movement across borders: adventures in otherworldly realms, missions to distant corners of the globe, and mystical journeys that share remarkably similar experiences of the divine, though from faiths supposedly in conflict. Readings are across ethnicities, religions, and genders, including the lays of Marie de France, the travel memoirs of Arab diplomat Ibn Fadlan, and the visionary writings of English anchoress Julian of Norwich and Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar. In addition to two shorter essays on the readings, students do independent research of an in-depth paper on an aspect of medieval culture and literature reflecting the focus of the course.'
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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Credits |
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| LH: Agony and Protest | 3190 (002) | Patrick Durgin | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This course is all about ugly feelings, the uglier the better. Depictions of agony often constitute forms of protest. After all, we get the word “agony” from the Greek concept of “agon,” which means contest, debate, one-upmanship. We will use the interlocking themes of agony and political dissent to read works from widely different regions and eras. Expect to find Kim Hyesoon, Mahasweta Devi, Franz Kafka, Ana Arzoumanian, Jean Genet, Richard Wright, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Amiri Baraka, as well as: The Book of Job; blues by Robert Johnson and Billie Holiday; Miyo Vestrini's poems about death; Kathy Acker's transgressive opera; Eileen Myles and Dodie Bellamy's hymns to puking; Trisha Low's interrogation of being hated; and Dolores Dorantes's allegorical guidebook to crossing the US-Mexico border.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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Credits |
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| LH: Banned Books | 3190 (003) | Kirin Wachter-Grene | Wed
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Do you believe that people should have sovereignty over their imaginations? Do you believe that people should have private reading lives and the right to read under the First Amendment? Do you believe that people should have free access to information? These are the questions at the heart of one of the most pressing culture wars of our time: the sweeping increase in book banning in U.S. school districts and libraries. Reading and intellectual freedom are under siege and books that tell the stories of certain people in this country, particularly Black, queer, and trans people, are increasingly under attack. Why? In this class we will contextualize the banned books we read within these urgent political stakes to try to understand what is deemed, by some, to be so threatening as to be banished, and why that should concern every single one of us. Texts include some of the most banned and challenged books of recent years (including some that have been contested since their publication decades ago): the graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale; Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel Maus; Maia Kobabe’s graphic memoir Gender Queer; Alice Walker’s The Color Purple; Toni Morrison’s Beloved; and George M. Johnson’s memoir-manifesto All Boys Aren’t Blue. We will also push ourselves to consider recent forms of public censure, such as cancel culture, in relation to historical and contemporary literary censorship. In so doing, we will ask: what is the line between critique, moralism, and censorship? Students should expect to keep up with the reading and to write about and discuss texts and ideas in close and critical depth every week. Students should also expect to take turns as discussion leaders.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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DepartmentLocation |
| Discoveries in Physics | 3204 (001) | Elizabeth Freeland | Thurs
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
This course investigates the process of discovery in science, and in particular in physics. The historical and contemporary physics experiments we will study have led to some of the most profound insights we have about the natural world, be it on the largest scales or the smallest. The discoveries typically studied include: the search for aether, the discovery of pulsars, the discovery of the Higgs particle, and parity violation. Contemporary topics vary but may include tests of the speed of light, the measurement of gravity waves, or the imaging of black holes. Students will learn the background physics and context necessary to understand the experiments and their results. Additionally, we investigate the process of scientific discovery, the mindset of scientists, and the difficulties and the payoffs of research. We evaluate the culture of science, how that creates and is created by scientists. Finally, we consider the influence of awards, the general public, and the media on scientists, their discoveries, and our perception of them. Assignments include weekly homework reviewing factual material, several guided-journal writings, several in-class labs, two exams, and a short final presentation on a student chosen topic.'
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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DepartmentLocation |
| Western Music: 19th Century | 3211 (001) | Katarzyna Grochowska | Tues
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
This course is a survey of Western music from Beethoven to Mahler with emphasis on musical style, form, and nationalistic tendencies in historical, cultural, and social contexts. Each lecture focuses on a particular composition, composer, or genre. The intrinsic form of the Romantic era sonata--allegro is examined through the lens of a symphony, sonata, concerto, and string quartet. This course addresses issues such as the role of the opera; connections/influences between composers, writers, poets, painters and their impact on music history; small-scale home music making; and the developments of the 19th-century symphony. Students learn how to listen analytically to 19th-century music and are encouraged to use a macro-level music vocabulary in their discourse. Composers include Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Paganini, Mussorgsky, Bizet, Berlioz, Smetana, Rimsky-Korsakov, Verdi, Wagner, Brahms, and Mahler. Prior to lectures, students will watch documentaries and read short articles. This course also places a strong emphasis on listening to music and describing it. Two exams, a midterm and a final, focus on listening skills. Two short essays (6 page each) allow students to talk about music experiences and to use their acquired music vocabulary.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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| Search for Life in Universe | 3211 (001) | Lucianne Walkowicz | Thurs
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
Finding alien life across cosmic distance has challenged the limits of human imagination and technology for millenia. In this course, we will look at the fundamental questions that animate the search for life beyond Earth, delve into the scientific methodologies that we use to detect and recognize life, and unpack the sticky social questions of what it means to search for life (and what happens if we succeed!). Students will emerge understanding the many technical approaches to finding alien life, the ways human social values and pressures affect the pursuit of these methods, and an appreciation for the ways in which the search for alien life is intertwined with the study of life on our own planet. Last but not least, this course aims to help students contextualize reports and announcements about discoveries related to the search for life, and ask questions that will enable them to understand the significance of those reports.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Search for Life in Universe | 3211 (002) | Lucianne Walkowicz | Wed
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
Finding alien life across cosmic distance has challenged the limits of human imagination and technology for millenia. In this course, we will look at the fundamental questions that animate the search for life beyond Earth, delve into the scientific methodologies that we use to detect and recognize life, and unpack the sticky social questions of what it means to search for life (and what happens if we succeed!). Students will emerge understanding the many technical approaches to finding alien life, the ways human social values and pressures affect the pursuit of these methods, and an appreciation for the ways in which the search for alien life is intertwined with the study of life on our own planet. Last but not least, this course aims to help students contextualize reports and announcements about discoveries related to the search for life, and ask questions that will enable them to understand the significance of those reports.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| The Universe: Contents, History, and Evolution | 3212 (001) | Maria Valdes | Mon
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
For millennia, people have asked questions about the nature of the universe, its origins, and its history. Yet it is only recently that we have developed the tools to answer these questions through scientific observations. This class explores the cutting edge of our understanding of cosmology and the physics of the universe. What have we learned, and what are the remaining, open questions? We discuss the Big Bang, the expansion of the universe, the mysterious phenomena called Dark Matter and Dark Energy, and the methods that scientists use to study the farthest reaches of space and time.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| The Universe: Contents, History, and Evolution | 3212 (002) | Maria Valdes | Fri
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
For millennia, people have asked questions about the nature of the universe, its origins, and its history. Yet it is only recently that we have developed the tools to answer these questions through scientific observations. This class explores the cutting edge of our understanding of cosmology and the physics of the universe. What have we learned, and what are the remaining, open questions? We discuss the Big Bang, the expansion of the universe, the mysterious phenomena called Dark Matter and Dark Energy, and the methods that scientists use to study the farthest reaches of space and time.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Western Experimental Music: Disrupting the Canon | 3213 (001) | Allie n Steve Mullen | Wed
6:45 PM - 9:30 PM In Person |
Description
A critical survey of Western music from 1950 to the present, this course investigates the western experimental music tradition with a focus on issues of representation. Where are the women and BIPOC composers in studies on western experimental music? What are the implications of classifying certain forms of experimental music over others as ‘classical’ music and ‘fine art’ music? What do these classifications tell us about cultural values, power, and the privileging of certain musics and voices over others? As we identify the supposed ‘canonic’ figures of the period, the techniques they used, the processes they employed, and the creative motivations that drove them, we will note the collapse of tonality, and the influence of popular and ‘world’ music styles on Western ‘art music.’ We will look at the role of ‘silence’ in music, aleatoric or ‘chance’ music, total serialism, musique concrète, minimalism, jazz, emerging popular styles, and the appropriations of Black American, Pacific Islander, and Hindustani music traditions. We will study the music and thinking of composers like John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Steve Reich, while asking ourselves why so much more has been written about their work than the work of composers like Daphne Oram. We will also discuss why the works of saxophonist John Coltrane and rapper Kendrick Lamar are not typically classified as 'art' music in Western music studies. The course includes weekly reading and listening, 3 short writing assignments as well as experimental creative analysis, a term paper, and an in-class presentation.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: First Year English requirement. |
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