It is now possible to record, manipulate, and compose music with a variety of powerful and flexible tools using the personal computer. Through reading, discussion, demonstration, listening sessions, technical tutorials and hands-on projects, we will explore the techniques, practices and aesthetics surrounding creative applications of current and emerging music technologies, including sound recording and editing, mixing, synthesis and music sequencing.

It is now possible to record, manipulate, and compose music with a variety of powerful and flexible tools using the personal computer. Through reading, discussion, demonstration, listening sessions, technical tutorials and hands-on projects, we will explore the techniques, practices and aesthetics surrounding creative applications of current and emerging music technologies, including sound recording and editing, mixing, synthesis and music sequencing.

In this half-semester course students will become familiar with the elements of music notation (staves, clefs, pitch names, note and rest values) and with some of the basic skills necessary for college-level music instruction (e.g., construction and identification of scales, intervals, triads, and basic diatonic functions).

This course seeks to understand how protest fuels the creation and sustenance of black religious movements and novel spiritual systems in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We will examine the dissentive qualities of selected African American activists, community workers, scholars, spiritual/religious leaders and creative writers. By the end of this course, students will be able to thoughtfully respond to the questions, "What is spirituality?"; "What is dissent?"; and "Has blackness required resistive spiritual communities?"

Exploration of the mystical tradition in Islam known as Sufism, from its origins in medieval Iraq to its role in contemporary Islamic societies. This course focuses on how the Sufi pursuit of unity with, or annihilation in, God relates to the core monotheistic beliefs of Islam. Sufi theories and practices are studied through primary source materials. Special attention will be paid to the themes of love, desire, and beauty in the literature of Sufism.

This is an introduction to contemporary and classical Buddhist ethical ideals. Working with primary and secondary sources, we will ask the following questions: Is the universe moral? What are Buddhist ethical ideals and who embodies these? How do contemporary Buddhists interpret classical ethical ideals? What moral dilemmas do Buddhists face today? How do Buddhists grapple with moral ambiguity? We will consider the perspectives of Buddhists from different cultures including India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, and the United States.

Many new religious movements have advocated for women occupying unlikely roles of service and leadership. This course analyzes the intersection of religious alterity and gender equity. Primarily focusing on twentieth and twenty-first century new religions, the course considers how select women have shaped and transformed the structures of religions on the margins.

Judaism is a 3,500-year-old tradition that has developed over time as Jewish communities all over the world creatively interacted with the different cultural and historical milieus in which they lived. This course explores the ways in which Judaism has sought to transform ordinary life into sacred life. What are the ways in which Judaism conceives of God, and what is the meaning of life? What roles do study, prayer, ethics, sex, marriage, family, rituals of the life cycle, and community play in Judaism?

This course examines Islamic religious beliefs and practices from the origins of Islam to the present, focusing on such central issues as scripture and tradition, law and theology, sectarianism and mysticism. Attention will be given to the variety of Islamic understandings of monotheism, prophethood, dogma, ritual, and society.

Is free will possible if all our actions are causally determined? Might we be justified in blaming, praising, rewarding, or punishing people even if their actions are not free? Abstract metaphysical questions about freedom intersect in important ways with everyday problems in our relationships with others and our attitudes about moral ignorance, addiction, and madness. This course will examine these issues side by side in the hope of improving our understanding of freedom and responsibility.