Why has Latin America struggled to achieve democratic stability? Why is it the region of the world with the highest economic inequality? How have the periodic political and economic crises allowed for creative experimentation with policy alternatives to create a more equal and sustainable social order? This course examines the political and economic evolution and transformation of Latin America from the time of the European conquest until these very days, with a particular focus on the 20th century.

Rapid change in how we work has frequently accompanied technological disruption, bringing with it both enlarged possibilities for freedom in the form of remote work and flexible schedules and new forms of discipline through freedom as technology demands and makes possible ever greater responsiveness. In this course, we will examine the politics of working today, from the promises of the new economy and to the distance between what is promised and what workers actually experience.

This course examines dreams of other politics, trying to recognize what is distinctive in a diverse set of traditions beyond their resistance to liberal-democracy's entwinement with contemporary capitalism. Spanning anarchism, Afro-pessimism and Afro-futurism, and the #BlackLivesMatter movement, we will examine political actions and thought that do not identify themselves as democratic and even define themselves as anti-democratic in order to name politics they aspire towards.

This course compares social housing in the Netherlands with public housing in the United States. It will examine the historical, social and political factors in the development of social housing in the U.S. and the Netherlands. In particular it will focus on the role of class, ethnicity, race, and immigration on the evolution of social housing policy in both countries. It will examine the more recent impact of neoliberalism on both countries' ability to provide affordable housing to its citizens.

In this course, African opera will provide the framework for exploring salient features of African music. The course will begin by examining a wide range of performance elements, including ensemble practice, the role of dance, and musical storytelling. The second part will feature practical sessions culminating in a public performance of an African opera. Students will work with visiting and local musicians and choreographer.

What is a woman? French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir opened The Second Sex with this deceptively simple but, in effect, radical question. Beauvoir refuted essentialist substantiations of identity and interrogated -- through the categories of situation, ambiguity, and lived experience -- the politics of embodiment, freedom, and oppression. In this course, we bring her into conversation with feminist and trans* philosophers who have reflected on the political significance of sexual difference: Wittig, Irigaray, Lorde, Lugones, Butler, Bettcher, and Salamon.

Physics and Art represent the world in seemingly different ways, however they share many common themes: the guiding role of symmetry, the tension between order and disorder, and the emergence of structure from many simple constituents. We will explore some of the big ideas in physics, including quantum mechanics, relativity, entropy, and chaos theory, by looking at how these underlying themes are represented in the visual arts.

How do we calculate the optimal viewing distance of a painting? If you are drawing a building, how do you decide which lines are parallel and which intersect? In this course students will learn the mathematics of perspective drawing, which answers both questions. We will explore ways to use mathematics to analyze and create art.

This 2-credit field-based course focuses on assessing the environmental impact of applied road salt in two local hill towns. Each week we will work to measure stream discharge, stream water quality, and measure soil water and snow bank salinity. Each student will pursue their own independent research project but will work collaboratively with other students in the class.

This 2-credit field-based course focuses on assessing the environmental impact of applied road salt in two local hill towns. Each week we will work to measure stream discharge, stream water quality, and measure soil water and snow bank salinity. Each student will pursue their own independent research project but will work collaboratively with other students in the class.