The 1950s saw a proliferation of experiment in the visual and verbal arts in the U.S. This course focuses on two locations – Black Mountain College and New York – to explore both the range of experiments in literature (especially poetry) and art, and the interactions of writing and visual arts. Key concepts include improvisation, collaboration, abstraction, kitsch, erasure, the avant-garde, and co-optation. Key figures include Pollock, deKooning, Motherwell, Rothko, Rauschenberg, Hartigan, Frankenthaler, Cage, Olson, Creeley, Ashbery, O’Hara, Schuyler, Koch, and Guest.

This course considers the city as both a setting for anthropological research and as an ethnographic object of study in itself. We aim to think critically about the theoretical and methodological possibilities, challenges and limitations that are posed by urban anthropology. We consider concepts and themes such as urbanization and migration; urban space and mobility; gender, race and ethnicity; technology and virtual space; markets and economies; citizenship and belonging; and production and consumption.

This course explores a specific idea, concept, period, person or event important in the history and/or aesthetics of dance. Topics vary depending on the instructor’s research and expertise. Enrollment limited to 20.: This course is an in-depth exploration of salsa from theoretical and practical perspectives. Dance lessons familiarize the students with beginner to intermediate level salsa steps, targeting skills in bodily coordination, musicality, expressivity and improvisation, as well as in memorization of choreography and communication between partners.

The first half of a two-semester sequence introducing modern Hebrew language and culture, with a focus on equal development of the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Learning is amplified by use of online resources (YouTube, Facebook newspapers) and examples from Hebrew song and television/film. No previous knowledge of modern Hebrew is necessary. Enrollment limited to 18.

This course focuses on the origin and diversification of humans, with a focus on African origins and genetic diversity among extant populations.  Using principles from evolutionary genetics, topics covered include: 1) the relationship of humans to other primates; 2) the timing and location of the origin of modern humans; 3) the geographic history of humans, and the structure of contemporary human diversity; and 4) implications of human genetics/genomics for healthcare/medicine.

Who migrates? Why do they move? Where do they leave from and move to? What are the economic impacts? This course offers an overview of historical and current migration patterns, and examines the main theories and empirics behind the economics of migration -- its causes and consequences. The course concludes with a discussion of the policy implications, drawing examples from internal migration reform in China and current immigration policy debates in the U.S. Prerequisite: ECO 250, 253 and 220.

For this course we read articles and attend talks on diverse topics in physics. The emphasis is put on oral presentation and discussion of the new phenomena using knowledge from other physics courses. Prerequisite: PHY 215, or permission of the instructor. Restricted to juniors and seniors. Enrollment limit 8.

Selected special topics that vary from year to year; typically some subset of the following: climate physics, cosmology, general relativity, nuclear and particle physics, optics, solid state physics. Prerequisites vary with the topics of the course.: A detailed investigation of climate models and the physical mechanisms controlling climate change. Topics include the climate system; solar radiation, radiative transfer, and the Earth's energy budget; and climate models and predictions.

An advanced laboratory course in which students make use of advanced signal recovery methods to design and perform laboratory experiments covering a wide range of topics in modern physics. Available experimental modules include pulsed and CW NMR, optical pumping of atoms, single photon quantum interference, magneto-optical polarization, the Franck-Hertz experiment and the Hall effect. Experimental methods include signal averaging, filtering, modulation techniques and phase-sensitive detection.

An advanced laboratory course in which students make use of advanced signal recovery methods to design and perform laboratory experiments covering a wide range of topics in modern physics. Available experimental modules include pulsed and CW NMR, optical pumping of atoms, single photon quantum interference, magneto-optical polarization, the Franck-Hertz experiment and the Hall effect. Experimental methods include signal averaging, filtering, modulation techniques and phase-sensitive detection.