What are some ways that art can disrupt oppressive structures of power? This course explores the ways in which contemporary artists for centuries have responded to the call for political change and social justice, particularly with regards to issues of race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability. Drawing from interdisciplinary and intersectional perspectives, we will examine the role of visual and performance art within public spaces in shaping and furthering social movements and protest.

The world is rich in data and our ability to process, manipulate, analyze, and visualize that data is growing in power. This course discusses how to understand and solve real-world problems using modern programming techniques.

The world is rich in data and our ability to process, manipulate, analyze, and visualize that data is growing in power. This course discusses how to understand and solve real-world problems using modern programming techniques.

It begins with our morning alarms, those cruel arbiters of wakefulness, and continues in the chatter of the dining commons, the honking of geese by the campus pond, and that noisy squeak all the PVTA buses make when they start moving. We hear so many sounds every day. How often, though, do we take time to listen closely and think about all the sounds we hear each day? In Soundscapes of UMass we will explore music as sound and the relationships that we have formed with it. We will record bird songs, sing with microwaves, attend concerts, and call 1-800 numbers to get put on hold.

This class will explore the basic science of climate change, as well as the social, political, and ethical consequences of it on a local, national, and global scale. As designers, engineers, and simply humans, how do we properly prepare to handle a problem so large that it transcends anything we have ever encountered in recent human history.

This course will teach students how to approach problems with an engineering mindset and introduce the basics of computer code. Also, students will be able to dissect an RC car and identify its parts.