(Offered as ASLC 234 and FAMS 320) This course places equal emphasis on the two key terms of its title, “Japan” and “screen.”  Is the concept of national cinema useful in the age of globalization?  What is the place of cinema in a history of screen culture in Japan?  This course aspires to rethink the idea of Japanese cinema while surveying the history of cinema in Japan, from early efforts to disentangle it from fairground spectacles and the theater at the turn of the last century, through the golden age of studio cinema in the 1950s, to the place of film in the contemporary

(Offered as ARHA 441 and FAMS 441) In this advanced documentary production course, students will take a site-based approach to nonfiction filmmaking, traveling weekly to a selected location to gather material. Working both individually and collaboratively, participants will develop a body of work that reflects their engagement with the site, experimenting with different modes of documentary filmmaking (observational, participatory, poetic, etc.).

(Offered as ARHA 385, EUST 385, and SWAG 310) Our course will explore how evil was imagined, over cultures, centuries and disciplines. With the greatest possible historical and cultural specificity, we will investigate an array of monstrous creatures and plagues -- their terrifying powers, the explanations for why they came to be, and the strategies for how they could be purged -- as we attempt to articulate the kindred qualities they shared.

(Offered as ARHA 385, EUST 385, and SWAG 310) Our course will explore how evil was imagined, over cultures, centuries and disciplines. With the greatest possible historical and cultural specificity, we will investigate an array of monstrous creatures and plagues -- their terrifying powers, the explanations for why they came to be, and the strategies for how they could be purged -- as we attempt to articulate the kindred qualities they shared.

(Offered as ARHA 339, FAMS 314, and MUSI 339) This studio-seminar course foregrounds the concept of rhythm as it appears across disciplines including philosophy, ecology, neuroscience, and media theory. We explore what rhythm means in these contexts and how it relates to aesthetic practices in the sonic and visual arts. The course takes a hybrid theory/practice approach. Classes consist of discussing texts and exemplary artworks in a seminar format. In addition, students are expected to independently produce studio-based art in any medium for in-class critique.

(Offered as ARHA 339, FAMS 314, and MUSI 339) This studio-seminar course foregrounds the concept of rhythm as it appears across disciplines including philosophy, ecology, neuroscience, and media theory. We explore what rhythm means in these contexts and how it relates to aesthetic practices in the sonic and visual arts. The course takes a hybrid theory/practice approach. Classes consist of discussing texts and exemplary artworks in a seminar format. In addition, students are expected to independently produce studio-based art in any medium for in-class critique.

(Offered as ARHA 273 and FAMS 335) This intermediate production course surveys the outer limits of cinematic expression and provides an overview of creative 16mm film production. We will begin by making cameraless projects through drawing, painting and scratching directly onto the film strip before further exploring the fundamentals of 16mm technology, including cameras, editing and hand-processing. While remaining aware of our creative choices, we will invite chance into our process and risk failure, as every experiment inevitably must.

(Offered as ARHA 333 and ARCH 333) This studio course will explore our evolving relationship with land and climate through wide-ranging approaches to drawing. We will examine how our connection to landscape as an artistic genre is being reshaped by urgent environmental changes, positioning drawing as a tool to reflect, trace, and map these shifts. Through studio assignments, site visits, readings, and discussions, we will explore themes of representation, ownership, ecology, and environmental crises that reckon with loss but also generate sites of hope and imagination toward the future.

(Offered as ARHA 322, ARCH 322, ASLC 322, and EUST 322) Textiles are the stuff of life. For all of human history, in every culture, people have found ways to process plant fibers, animal hair, and, more recently, synthetic materials to make clothing, furnishings, and architecture. Cloth is central to self-expression and identity, community and tradition, and comfort and care. At the same time, cloth has played a fundamental part in global histories of colonialism, industrialization, extraction, and trade.

(Offered as ARHA 322, ARCH 322, ASLC 322, and EUST 322) Textiles are the stuff of life. For all of human history, in every culture, people have found ways to process plant fibers, animal hair, and, more recently, synthetic materials to make clothing, furnishings, and architecture. Cloth is central to self-expression and identity, community and tradition, and comfort and care. At the same time, cloth has played a fundamental part in global histories of colonialism, industrialization, extraction, and trade.