Language is a living system. It grows and changes, despite efforts to preserve it. This course examines how slang participates in these changes. What separates slang from standard language, and who sets the standard? Through readings in linguistics and literature, this course examines how we use language to connect, create, and control.

This seminar will focus on portrayals of women in nineteenth and twentieth-century America in the context of nature and landscape. We will explore how women, often objectified in visual images set in nature, appropriated established devices or developed new images and structures to represent womanhood in their own terms. With selected works by Thoreau as our springboard, texts will include essays or sketches, short stories, novels, paintings, films, and photography.

This first year seminar is a critical thinking boot camp. Students will learn to charitably interpret, logically reconstruct, and critically evaluate arguments. The arguments come from classic and contemporary readings in philosophy about God, free will, and morality. We will focus on questions such as: Does God exist? Is it rational to believe in God? What should I do if I want to do the right thing? When is it ok to criticize other cultures? How much do I owe to others? Do we have free will? Can we ever be held responsible for anything?

This first year seminar is a critical thinking boot camp. Students will learn to charitably interpret, logically reconstruct, and critically evaluate arguments. The arguments come from classic and contemporary readings in philosophy about God, free will, and morality. We will focus on questions such as: Does God exist? Is it rational to believe in God? What should I do if I want to do the right thing? When is it ok to criticize other cultures? How much do I owe to others? Do we have free will? Can we ever be held responsible for anything?

Small-scale agriculture fed the world until the middle of the 20th century, and the majority of the world's population farmed small plots in rural areas until the last decade. What role will family farms play in the world we are creating? We examine how small scale agriculture has changed over the past 200 years in East and West Africa, the Andes, China, India, and in the United States, and consider its future. Using recent and classic scholarship, autobiographies, memoirs, archives, and oral histories, we will develop skills in analysis, critical reading, and academic writing.

Food is essential for Italian family and society, and the food industry is an important part of the Italian economy. Starting with Carlo Petrini's Italian Slow Food revolution, we will explore and analyze the strong relationship between food, culture and business in modern Italian society. We will read and discuss literary and historical texts, films, and, of course, cookbooks. Taught in English.

In an era where Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are ubiquitous, self-presentation is a constant concern and practice. What are the politics of self-presentation and -cultivation, if any? Do the choices we make about diet, how to dress, where to shop, and our friends have any political valence? To what extent can these choices be thought of as a form of resistance to popular culture in an era where rebellion is marketed to us?

Designed for students with or without prior musical experience, 'Adventures in Music' explores the materials of music. Through reading, hands-on interaction with instruments and their players, discussions and recordings, students will explore concepts of pitch, time, space, structure and timbre, thereby enriching their perception of the world of sound. The best way to access the indescribable in music is often to make music.

The twentieth century started with the downfall of the Chinese monarchy, numerous humiliations at the hands of Western countries, and the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911. In the spirit of reform and renaissance, a group of young writers, educated in both China and the West, spearheaded a new direction in Chinese literature. This group of writers abandoned the classical Chinese language, was keenly interested in social development and betterment, attacked Confucian tradition, and adopted Western ideals.

This seminar teaches basic biological principles that affect important, complex and often-controversial social issues. We will challenge ourselves to think beyond our comfort zones, exploring difficult questions in topics such as medical and scientific ethics, aging, gender in society and biology, climate change, conservation, evolution and religion, genetic engineering, and fertility. We will explore how our personal beliefs affect our understanding of biological facts, and will study how press coverage can vary from original published scientific studies.