This course examines the role of archives and collections as sources of inspiration and materials with which to create. Through assigned media, artist/exhibition case studies, visiting artist talks, and creative workshops leading up to a final project and exhibition, students will gain a working definition of the archive and interdisciplinary strategies for exploring this theme in their work.

This course traces the origins of the universe, our solar system, and Earth and provides an introduction to the field of planetary science. It follows the evolution of terrestrial planets and asteroids through geologic processes. Topics include planetary origins, atmospheres, interiors, and magnetic fields; plate tectonics; volcanism, weathering, earthquakes, faults and folding on terrestrial planets; distribution and limitations of resources on Earth and other bodies; and the search for the origins of life.

This course traces the origins of the universe, our solar system, and Earth and provides an introduction to the field of planetary science. It follows the evolution of terrestrial planets and asteroids through geologic processes. Topics include planetary origins, atmospheres, interiors, and magnetic fields; plate tectonics; volcanism, weathering, earthquakes, faults and folding on terrestrial planets; distribution and limitations of resources on Earth and other bodies; and the search for the origins of life.

A key discovery of the last 20 years in the field of planetary science is that liquid water oceans within our solar system occur predominantly beyond Earth, in "icy worlds" that occur as moons of the giant planets and as large dwarf planets. This course will provide an overview of icy worlds of the outer solar system and the potential for their liquid water environments to be or have been habitable for life. It will also explore in more detail the moons that have the highest astrobiological potential.

Languages are created by communities, shaped by each generation and passed on to the next. Constructed Languages (conlangs), in contrast, are created intentionally to serve philosophical or artistic goals. Conlangs are often seen in science fiction and fantasy genres, contributing texture to the fictional world. Constructing a language is an act of creativity, but conlangs can never be as complex as natural languages. Which aspects of language do conlangs illuminate, and which do they flatten? How do they critique or reinforce ideologies of oppression?

This course is a survey of African-American plays, novels, poetry, and non-fiction from the antebellum period to the present. Readings will focus on writers responding to the afterlife of slavery through a feminist lens. Texts include slave narratives by Harriet Jacobs and William Wells Brown; turn-of-the-century writing by Georgia Douglas Johnson, W.E.B. DuBois, and Charles Chesnutt; novels by Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, and plays by Amiri Baraka and Adrienne Kennedy. We conclude with contemporary work by Jeremy O. Harris and Ta-Nehisi Coates.

This course is a survey of African-American plays, novels, poetry, and non-fiction from the antebellum period to the present. Readings will focus on writers responding to the afterlife of slavery through a feminist lens. Texts include slave narratives by Harriet Jacobs and William Wells Brown; turn-of-the-century writing by Georgia Douglas Johnson, W.E.B. DuBois, and Charles Chesnutt; novels by Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, and plays by Amiri Baraka and Adrienne Kennedy. We conclude with contemporary work by Jeremy O. Harris and Ta-Nehisi Coates.

This course traces the formation of the Black public intellectual in the internet age. All memoirs read in this class have been published within the last decade, and include works by luminaries such as Kiese Laymon, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Roxane Gay, Hari Ziyad, and Da'Shaun Harrison. Students will examine the elasticity of memoir as a category, and assignments will compare and contrast authors' online personas to their published work.

This course traces the formation of the Black public intellectual in the internet age. All memoirs read in this class have been published within the last decade, and include works by luminaries such as Kiese Laymon, Tressie McMillan Cottom, Roxane Gay, Hari Ziyad, and Da'Shaun Harrison. Students will examine the elasticity of memoir as a category, and assignments will compare and contrast authors' online personas to their published work.

This course introduces the skills needed to navigate college, with a focus on philosophical writing, analysis and argument. Our topic is happiness and 'the good life.' Happiness is something we all want but often struggle to define. We will look at what philosophers have said about the nature and importance of happiness in our lives, as well as recent positive psychology literature on what makes us happy and why. While we draw from multiple disciplines the emphasis of the class is on philosophical analysis and argument.