Film critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott contend that "movies may be male dominated, but images of men are surprisingly narrow." This course both explores various constructs of postmodern American masculinity as they are portrayed and disseminated through contemporary film, and seeks to understand some of what is at stake (culturally, ideologically, economically) in perpetuating certain cinematic archetypes. Of particular relevance to our investigation are the ways in which film yokes masculinity to race, gender, and class.

This course surveys the development of conservative political thought in the West, with emphasis on the United States, tracing its evolution from Edmund Burke and Russell Kirk through contemporary figures such as J.D. Vance, Patrick Deneen, Sohrab Ahmari, and Adrian Vermeule. Students will examine conservative arguments about tradition, authority, order, freedom, the economy, and the relationship between church and state, as well as internal tensions and transformations across time and place.

The first dinosaur fossils recognized in North America were footprints found in South Hadley. One of the most ancient dinosaur species in the United States was discovered close to campus. In this course we will learn the main types of non-avian dinosaurs, compare them to other ancient and modern vertebrates, and explore their physiology and their relationship to birds.

The first dinosaur fossils recognized in North America were footprints found in South Hadley. One of the most ancient dinosaur species in the United States was discovered close to campus. In this course we will learn the main types of non-avian dinosaurs, compare them to other ancient and modern vertebrates, and explore their physiology and their relationship to birds.

From the A-bomb to zircon, uranium has revolutionized humanity's destructive potential and wisdom about time. Uranium is the planet's heaviest naturally occurring element, and it transforms by both radioactive decay and nuclear fission. This course explores these two transformations and what we make of them, specifically: nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear wastelanding, radiation and health, and research on deep time. We use modeling to explore high-precision dating of recent geologic and climate events as well as the age of the oldest rocks on earth. Some math is involved.

At the heart of the humanities lies a central question: What does it mean to be human? This course asks that question in the context of the Anthropocene, when humans are seen as key agents of planetary change inextricably entangled in the more-than-human world. It introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities, examining how history, philosophy, and the arts shape our understandings of the environment.

Contemporary life is profoundly shaped by fossil fuels, from the infrastructures that sustain daily routines to the cultural values that define progress. Yet this dependence often coexists with an "energy unconscious" in the U.S. cultural imagination. This course introduces the field of energy humanities, focusing on petroculture: i.e, how petroleum structures social, political, and cultural life.

Drawing on the literature, art, and archaeology of gardens, this course investigates the nature and experience of gardens and gardening, from antiquity to the present day. How have humans conceived of the garden as paradise; a site for philosophy and religion; a space for solace, inspiration, and desire; and a setting for labor, conquest, and resistance?

Drawing on the literature, art, and archaeology of gardens, this course investigates the nature and experience of gardens and gardening, from antiquity to the present day. How have humans conceived of the garden as paradise; a site for philosophy and religion; a space for solace, inspiration, and desire; and a setting for labor, conquest, and resistance?

Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy is one of world literature's foundational works. In his 700-hundred years old masterpiece, Dante poses and confronts universal questions that are still at the core of our daily existence: God, love, ethics, gender relationships, politics, social harmony, literature, the afterlife, and the relations between human and nonhuman forms of life. In this course, we will read, analyze, discuss, and enjoy Dante's great poem by focusing on the first of its three parts, the Inferno. In particular, we will be covering Dante's take on mythology and history.