| ART |
215 |
Drawing Lines in the Sand |
4 Credits |
| This hybrid studio-seminar course examines art about landscape, space, and environments,
while challenging students to build on these ideas in their own creative work. Students
will research artworks and writings that explore topics such as landscape, “wild”
and urban space, public and private spaces, land(scapes) and power, using this context
to inform their creative works that address these same topics. This course simultaneously
introduces students to fundamental drawing techniques, with a special focus on drawings
and images made using landscape, nature, and hybridized modes of visual communication.
No previous experience with drawing is required. (WCore: WCFAH, RE) |
| COMM |
101 |
Disinformation in the USA |
4 Credits |
| Disinformation is the intentional spread of false, inaccurate, distracting, and/or
distorted information for the purpose of gaining power. In this class, we'll explore
the history of disinformation-from early propaganda to more recent manipulation of
facts-to examine how we as consumers can better identify and fight media exploitation.
Emphasis will be on evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing primary and secondary
sources to promote healthier media landscapes through information literacy. (WCore:
RE) |
| FILM |
110 |
Making Sense of Movies |
4 Credits |
| This course examines the formal elements of film and its history, from the earliest
experiments in motion photography through the present. Students will learn the terminology
and concepts of film analysis (mise-en-scene, montage, cinematography, etc.) in the
context of film’s evolution across the twentieth century. Films may include profanity,
violence, and/or sexually explicit images. (WCore: WCFAH, RE) |
| HIST |
124 |
Film and Memory |
4 Credits |
| This course analyzes the intersection between film culture and the past by placing
memory at the center of analysis. In other words, it explores how different genres
of film, from war dramas to science fiction, shape the way communities remember the
past and imagine the future. We will explore the representation of diverse societies
and people groups in a variety of global films, focusing especially on the film industries
of post-1945 Germany(s), the Soviet Union/ Russia, Japan, and China/ Hong Kong. This
course will consider how visions of the future reflect historical realities (new ideas
about science, nuclear war, space exploration). We will examine how different actors-production
companies, directors, studios, and the state-attempt to craft national narratives
and contribute to community identity through different genres. (WCore: WCSBS, RE) |
| HIST |
214 |
Vietnam and America |
4 Credits |
| This course explores the tangled history of America's involvement in Vietnam, the
war's impacts on the people of both nations, and the war's global legacy. We will
emphasize the reasons, meanings, and outcomes of the war for a range of participants:
Vietnamese soldiers and civilians, northern and southern; U.S. civilians, policy makers,
and soldiers, pro- and anti- war; and participants, observers, and protesters around
the world. This course fulfills the WCore Research Emphasis. You will learn and practice
history-specific research, discussion, and writing skills in a variety of assignments,
including weekly reflective journals and crafting short "vignettes" and a longer research
paper based on primary and secondary sources that you find, evaluate, analyze, and
communicate to your classmates. (WCore: WCSBS, RE) |
| LMW |
205 |
Goddesses, Heroes, and Others |
4 Credits |
| From ancient scriptures to contemporary comics, these literary characters-goddesses,
heroes, and “others” (figures marginalized by the dominant group)-rule. This course
investigates and supports your investigations of these character types. It poses basic
questions asked by many literary critics: where do these characters come from and
how are they adapted by so many cultures and literary genres? To answer these questions,
we’ll delve into current theory and historical research. We’ll do our part to keep
goddesses, heroes, and others alive! (WCore: WCFAH, RE) |
| NEURO |
117 |
Yep, Brains are Cool! |
4 Credits |
| In this course, we will explore a variety of topics important to anyone who owns and
uses a brain. In particular, we will focus on brain development in late adolescence
and emerging adulthood and will use our brains to understand how we research brains.
The course will be framed around a central question – “How do we know that?” We will
look at current research on brain development during the transition to young adulthood,
examine strengths and weaknesses of methods used to conduct that research, and discuss
the practical application of such knowledge to the students’ own lives. In addition,
we will discuss the ways in which said research has been used to shape parenting and
educational practices as well as public policy over the past decade. (WCore: WCSAM,
RE) |
| PHIL |
202 |
History of Philosophy II |
4 Credits |
| In this course, we will read, write about, and discuss ideas from some of Western
philosophy's most canonical authors. This course will focus on "modern philosophy,"
or Western philosophy from the mid-1600s to the late-1700s. This course will concentrate
on ideas related to metaphysics and epistemology, with a bit of ontology to keep things
exciting. Throughout this term, you will start to notice how these ideas are at work
in the philosophical texts that you have already read and concepts that you take for
granted. (WCore: RE) |
| PSYC |
105 |
Bust That Psych Myth |
4 Credits |
| This course provides a foundation and hands-on experience in the scientific study
of human emotion, cognition and behavior. Through this exploration, the course presents
students with opportunity to interact with material in ways that help them understand
the context of psychology as a behavioral science among other fields that focus on
human behavior (both individual and group) culture, and society, and the context of
psychology among other sciences. Other issues discussed will be myths about popular
psychology, the effect those myths have on the general public, and how broader society's
denial of research findings may be caused by deficits in scientific literacy. (WCore:
WCSAM, RE) |
| THTR |
275 |
Period Styles |
3 Credits |
| Historic architecture, interior design styles, and fashion are essential areas of
knowledge for theatre designers. Many productions are not only set in historic periods
and locales, but also draw on historic inspirations. This course will introduce theatre
majors to a range of historic and global period styles in architecture, decor, and
fashion for application in theatre design. Students will learn basic terminology of
architectural features, furniture, and fashion. Students will also learn about research
methods and historical and cross cultural influences in fashion and architecture.
(WCore: RE) |
| WCFAH |
219 |
The Music of Two Ring Cycles |
4 Credits |
| In this course, students will examine music composed for two of the greatest fantasy
epics ever created, Richard Wagner's 4-opera Der Ring des Niebelungen and Howard Shore's
soundtracks to the 3-film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Comparisons
between the literary content of the cycles are inevitable, from the subject matter
to parallel plot developments and even the fantasy creatures that inhabit each world,
and these will be studied in the course. In addition to these correspondences, the
composers of each cycle used very similar compositional devices to organize the musical
content, providing continuity over 10+ hours of music while simultaneously clearly
delineating characters, objects, emotional states and more abstract ideas. Students
will present their own specialized research on diverse topics relating to the two
cycles to their classmates. (WCore: WCFAH, RE) |
| WCSAM |
201 |
Geobiology of the Universe |
4 Credits |
| This course explores the interdisciplinary methods of space exploration and the extraordinary
data that we accrue through Earth analogs, remote sensing, women/manned missions,
and unmanned probes into our solar system and beyond. Using primary data from past
studies and current missions, we will develop models and design experiments to ask
larger questions about the Universe. Is there life beyond Earth? How does geology
of a space body inform the potential for life? (WCore: WCSAM, RE) |
| WCSBS |
131 |
Folklore of Many Americas |
4 Credits |
| This class is an introduction to the study of folklore, which celebrates the art of
the everyday. Folklorists study stories, songs, sayings, legends, folk beliefs, and
other aspects of traditional culture. Although a lot of folklore reinforces the status
quo, this course focuses on the folklore of minority groups in America and asks if
and when folklore can be an act of resistance. (WCore: WCSBS, RE) |
