WCore Critical Explorations Courses
FILM-110: Making Sense of Movies and Aesthetics,And Aesthetics
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, WCCRT)
GNDR-102: Health & Hype: Health and Healthcare in,Popular Culture
Ever wonder what Grey's Anatomy and House gets right-or hilariously wrong-about hospital life? Curious how dystopian futures in Black Mirror reflect real-world ethical debates in healthcare? Welcome to Health & Hype, where we dive into the fascinating world of healthcare beyond medicine-through the lens of movies, TV shows, video games, and even viral TikToks! In this course, we'll explore a variety of topics in the medical humanities, focusing on how pop culture influences our views on mental health, bioethics, medical technology, and public health crises. We'll examine different genres, like TV shows, movies, and social media, to understand how they represent healthcare issues. From the heroic surgeon stereotypes to the ethical dilemmas of cloning in science fiction, we'll separate fact from fiction and discuss what these portrayals reveal about our society's fears and hopes about healthcare. Expect lively debates, creative projects, and a chance to pitch your own TV episode tackling a current healthcare issue. No lab coats required-just bring your curiosity and a passion for binge-watching with a purpose! (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
HIST-102: Alien Encounters in History
People often make the judgment that since the past has influenced our own world, the people of the past must somehow be "like us" in fundamental ways. This course will seek to undermine that judgment by arguing that we are fundamentally different from people in the past and that in understanding these differences, we can more freely choose our futures. Our field of inquiry will be European History in the centuries that include the Ancient World through the Renaissance. In particular, we will examine the ways in which Europeans (a definition that evolves over time) define themselves through encountering and interacting with "alien" cultures. Examples: What's the difference between civilized people and barbarians? How do the people on both sides of the Crusades misunderstand each other? How do the Khan and the Pope try to negotiate their communication? These are a few of the "alien" encounters that we may study. (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
HIST-111: Patterns of Global Immigration
This course looks at the recent history of global immigration patterns in the context of modern world history, paying particular attention to the last century, or so, of migration. The course focuses on immigrant experiences in the US and Europe but it also closely examines global circumstances that affect who becomes an immigrant and why. Students will explore immigration through a variety of writing assignments that focus on the historical and contemporary influences shaping the immigration experience in many parts of the world. (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
HIST-202: America's Best Idea: Hist of Natl Parks
In 1872 the U.S. Congress declared the Yellowstone region the world's first "national park." In 1916 Congress created the National Park Service, "which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Today the Park Service manages over "units" with nearly 30 different designations - including national parks, monuments, historical parks, military parks, preserves, recreation areas, seashores, parkways, lakeshores, and reserves - and nations around the world have created their own versions of "national parks." This course will investigate the "national park" idea and its implications for natural and human history. Why has this been called "America's best idea?" What have been the implications of national park designation for Native Americans? For wildlife? For American history and culture? How do historians answer such questions? (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
HIST-204: Truth and Reconciliation
This course explores past and present attempts to achieve "Truth and Reconciliation" in the wake of violent and traumatic historical events. We will examine comparative examples of Truth and Reconciliation processes in places like South Africa, Canada, Chile, and Greensboro, South Carolina. We will also compare these processes with artistic and grassroots ways to come to terms with the past as well as international war tribunals. By closely analyzing the way individuals and governments create public memory about shared experiences and historical events, we will raise questions about the complex nature of seeking truth and studying history, and the tension between the pursuit of reconciliation and the desire for justice. This course has an oral history component. (WCore: WCSBS, WE, WCCRT)
LMW-104: Books That Changed the World
Literature can be a powerful tool for social change. This course examines the international tradition of literary activism in which writers expose injustice, demand change, and inspire solidarity and struggle. (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
LMW-114: Searching for America
This course explores the rich tradition of modern American literature by featuring some of the most captivating texts and innovative authors, including US minority writers of different ethnic background. Emphasizing pertinent connections between literature and culture, class discussions will showcase how imaginative writing illuminates, interrogates, and complicates fundamental aspects of American culture. We will discover that whether literary protagonists dream of freedom, refuge, success, or happiness, they all imagine and experience modern America in uniquely compelling ways. (WCore: WCFAH, DE, WCCRT)
LMW-133: Culture of Walking
In this arts and humanities course, we will explore the cultural history of walking in the United States, we will walk with intention, and we will write and make art about walking. Some people walk only out of necessity. Others walk to improve their well-being, to see the world, or to save the earth. Depending on who is walking where, when, why, and how, this seemingly simple and ordinary activity can become an adventure, a sport, a crime, an artistic performance, a spiritual practice, a political protest, and more. By studying and practicing the art of walking, we will ask important questions and uncover sometimes uncomfortable truths about ourselves and our world. This course welcomes all people. For our purposes, walking is defined as slow movement across the land. (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
LMW-202: Worlds of Fantasy
While the fantasy genre has its roots in truly ancient myths and legends, it is very much a product of the twentieth century. In Worlds of Fantasy, we will examine the origins and development of fantasy media in all their forms, from literature to TV, film, and games. Our central concerns will be how fantasy represents the past; how readers, viewers, and gamers experience fantasy; and how fantasy both expresses and challenges oppressive concepts of gender and race. Readings will draw from a diverse range of fantasy authors. (WCore: WCFAH, WCCRT)
LMW-205: Goddesses, Heroes, and Others
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)
LMW-210: Digital Narratives
In this course we will learn how to create stories using digital media such as video narratives and podcasts. Alongside exploring creative elements, we will also reflect critically on how new media shape our understanding of narrative and audiences. The online forum will allow us to be fully immersed in a digital experience. We will create what Anne Burdick calls, "imaginative techno-texts" and critique each other's works online. To develop a common vocabulary, we will read critical texts about narrative and media. In the process, we will analyze the relationship between creator and audience, between form and medium, by asking questions like, "how do the intersections between technology and storytelling affect the ways in which we explore and express our stories?" Students don't need technical proficiency. We'll spend some time going over basic technical and production guidelines. (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
LMW-215: Vampire Literature
This course proceeds from the assumption that reading literature bears certain uncanny similarities with vampirism, and that these similarities partly account for the success of the vampire subgenre in popular literature and cinema (the reception of which we will regard as a kind of reading). In particular, literary texts put their readers in a state of passivity that is at once often nerve-wracking and intensely pleasurable. Meanwhile, we will regard writing as a form of vampiric seduction, luring the reading into a receptive state only to strike at the decisive moment and thus achieve its aims (which we will assume are somewhat less violent than the aims of a vampire). (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
MUSC-219: The Music of Two Ring Cycles
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 and RE, WCCRT)
PHIL-134: Philosophy, Identity, and the Self
When we look at the world philosophically, we begin to question the basic assumptions in our lives that we used to ignore. This often forces us to live with shakier scaffolding than before. However, while this can be uncomfortable or downright annoying, it also spurs us to reflect on what we find truly valuable, and encourages us to build more meaningful relationships with ourselves, our loved ones, and our world. In this course we will read reflections on core questions in philosophy, especially surrounding theories of identity and the self. We will also discuss and write about how answering these questions affects our own lives, and how the ideas of fellow philosophers shake or stabilize our own scaffolding. (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
PHIL-208: Philosophy of Love and Sex
Love and sexuality are two of the most crucial and complex aspects of our identities. Moreover, these concepts are often intertwined and sometimes pitted against one another. In this class, we will examine different approaches to this topic from a wide selection of philosophical traditions. Furthermore, we will supplement traditional philosophical readings with analyses of artifacts from popular culture, such as music, movies, and television. All of this will prepare us to ask and respond to various questions, such as "what is love, what is sex, and how are they related?" "In what ways does who and how we love make us who we are?" "How is sexuality a personally and politically important construct?" and "How can love change the world?" (WCore: WCFAH, WE, WCCRT)
PLSC-106: Explorations in Politics
This course explores contemporary political issues in the context of a diverse and globalized world. Issue areas explored may vary depending on political events at the time. (WCore: WCSBS, WE, WCCRT)
THTR-255: Script Analysis
This course studies methodologies of script analysis to help students develop greater skill in the technical and theoretical skills of script analysis using a formalist approach. Using dramatic literature from naturalism to the avant garde, students will dissect how the plays work structurally. Analytical methods provide students with glimpses of plays' underlying structural principles, leading to deeper understanding of overall meaning. The course offers general guidelines for reading and thinking about plays and understanding the basic potentials of a play's construction. (WCore: WCFAH, WCCRT)
WRIT-123: Writing and Language Diversity
In this writing-intensive class, we will read, write, and discuss the intersection of writing and language. As college students, we are asked to write "academically." But what does academic writing mean? And how does it relate to language? Academic writing will be a subject of study as well as a skill we will develop. Language, though it seems neutral, is provocative because of social attitudes toward language standards, diversity, and change. In a sense, we judge - and are judged - on how we use language, both in speech and writing. As we explore this intersection, we will become stronger readers, writers, and researchers who are aware of linguistic diversity and language in various rhetorical contexts. (WCore: WCSBS, WE, WCCRT)