An introduction to the global marine environment, with emphasis on the carbon cycle, seafloor dynamics, submarine topography and sediments, the nature and circulation of oceanic waters, ocean-atmosphere-climate interactions and global climate change, coastal processes, marine biologic productivity, and issues of ocean pollution and the sustainable utilization of marine resources by humans. At least one required field trip.

A journey through the 4.6 billion-year history of global change, with a focus on extraordinary events that have shaped the evolution of Earth and life through time. These events include the earliest development of life, the buildup of oxygen in the atmosphere, the devastation of the living world by catastrophic mass extinctions, the tectonic rearrangement of continents, the alternation of ice ages and eras of extreme warmth, and the evolution of modern humans.

If cinema is, as André Bazin writes, “change mummified,” violence and death are among the most dramatic physical changes it can “mummify.” This course studies the long, complex relationship between cinema and these bodily spectacles. How has censorship impacted the way violence has been screened? How can cameras make the internal processes of death externally visible? What are the ethics of filming “real” violence and death in a documentary mode? How are cultural attitudes toward violence and death reflected in and shaped by films?

If cinema is, as André Bazin writes, “change mummified,” violence and death are among the most dramatic physical changes it can “mummify.” This course studies the long, complex relationship between cinema and these bodily spectacles. How has censorship impacted the way violence has been screened? How can cameras make the internal processes of death externally visible? What are the ethics of filming “real” violence and death in a documentary mode? How are cultural attitudes toward violence and death reflected in and shaped by films?

An estimated 63% of U.S. households have members who play video games regularly, and game sales routinely exceed film box office figures. As this medium grows in cultural power, it is increasingly important to think about how games make meaning. This course serves as an introduction to Game Studies, equipping students with the vocabulary to analyze video games, surveying the medium’s genres, and sampling this scholarly discipline’s most influential theoretical writing.

This course is designed to give FMS majors and minors a solid grounding in the primary methods of our field. In other words, what are the broad approaches scholars have taken to the study of media, and what specific methodological strategies have proved most effective? We begin with theory as one such method—one that zooms out to ask broad questions about the essential nature of a medium. Our history unit shifts the focus to how media are impacted by and implicated in the progression of time and culture. Finally, our criticism unit features strategies for analyzing individual media objects.

This course is designed to give FMS majors and minors a solid grounding in the primary methods of our field. In other words, what are the broad approaches scholars have taken to the study of media, and what specific methodological strategies have proved most effective? We begin with theory as one such method—one that zooms out to ask broad questions about the essential nature of a medium. Our history unit shifts the focus to how media are impacted by and implicated in the progression of time and culture. Finally, our criticism unit features strategies for analyzing individual media objects.

This course will provide a foundation in the principles, techniques, and equipment involved in making short videos, including: development of a viable story idea or concept, aesthetics and mechanics of shooting video, the role of sound and successful audio recording, and the conceptual and technical underpinnings of digital editing. You will make several short pieces through the semester, working towards a longer final piece. Along with projects and screenings, there will be reading assignments and writing exercises. Prerequisite: FMS 150 or its equivalent (can be taken concurrently).

This course will provide a foundation in the principles, techniques, and equipment involved in making short videos, including: development of a viable story idea or concept, aesthetics and mechanics of shooting video, the role of sound and successful audio recording, and the conceptual and technical underpinnings of digital editing. You will make several short pieces through the semester, working towards a longer final piece. Along with projects and screenings, there will be reading assignments and writing exercises. Prerequisite: FMS 150 or its equivalent (can be taken concurrently).

China faces a range of environmental challenges in the 21st century: air pollution, water contamination, food scarcity, energy management and deforestation. The course considers these environmental issues, examining how they have come about; the Chinese response to them; their global impact; and the measures being proposed—and taken—to address them. Environmental issues are placed in the context of the social, economic and political changes that have occurred in China during the past few decades: economic growth, globalization, urbanization, population migration and media expansion.