This course provides a critical introduction to the writings contained in the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Old Testament). It investigates the social and historical context of the ancient Israelites, examines a range of ancient Near Eastern literature, and introduces the principal methods of biblical studies. Participants will read much of the Hebrew Bible as well as select non-Israelite sources.

In this course we examine female and male spaces in the Italian home through modern works of literature and art. We will analyze how objects can define a personality, a space, a life. Spaces examined include intellectual/writing spaces, working spaces, eating/cooking spaces, clothing, décor. Authors include Antelling, Benjamin, D'Annunzio, Gozzano, Huysmans, Jolanda, Aldo Palazzeschi, Marchesa Colombi, Serao, Woolf, and more. Students will work on a personalized research project on one of the topics.

In modern times, Italian diasporas have assumed epic proportions. From the 1790s on, emigrants from across Italy have scattered widely around the world. But, over the past three decades, Italy has changed from a nation of emigrants into a nation of immigrants, experiencing huge fluxes of migrants from Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Asian countries. This course explores Italy's emigration and immigration addressing topics such as national borders, dynamics of integration/discrimination, and second-generation immigration.

Recent cultural histories of imperialism--European as well as U.S.--have illuminated the workings of race and gender at the heart of imperial encounters. This course will examine the United States' relationship to imperialism through the lens of such cultural histories. How has the encounter between Europe and America been remembered in the United States? How has the cultural construction of 'America' and its 'others' called into play racial and gender identities? How have the legacies of slavery been entwined with U.S. imperial ambitions at different times?

In modern times, Italian diasporas have assumed epic proportions. From the 1790s on, emigrants from across Italy have scattered widely around the world. But, over the past three decades, Italy has changed from a nation of emigrants into a nation of immigrants, experiencing huge fluxes of migrants from Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Asian countries. This course explores Italy's emigration and immigration addressing topics such as national borders, dynamics of integration/discrimination, and second-generation immigration.

This seminar will focus on critical evaluation of ideas and methods presented in recent research papers covering a range of current topics in the geosciences. Active participation in class discussions is required.

In this class, we will look at both feature films and documentaries as tools for social change in contemporary Latin America. We will view movies from Central America and South America, including Brazil, in order to look at the way that contemporary Latin American cinema has addressed neocolonial class, race, gender, and sexual prejudices in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. In addition to discussing the way that films have addressed the need for social change in Latin America, we will think about how their messages extend globally. The course will be conducted in Spanish.

Through lectures, class discussions, outside speakers, films and site visits, this Community-Based Learning course will engage Puerto Rican history, culture, and immigration with a focus on Puerto Rican communities in Western Massachusetts. In particular, Students will understand how Puerto Ricans in Holyoke have negotiated their cultural identity and place in the educational system.

This course is intended for students who are new to American academic writing or identify as non-native speakers of English. Students should also be enrolled in a writing-intensive course. Through discussion and analysis of their own writing and peer work, students evaluate the effectiveness of their written communication and writing process. A variety of strategies for strengthening written communication are applied to current writing projects.

This course investigates the choreography of Kinsun Chan. Students will rehearse during the spring semester and participate in the Five College Faculty Dance Concert at Smith College.