Two semesters in one. Practice in speaking, reading, and writing German. Cultural and literary readings together with frequent use of Internet resources dealing with everyday situations and experiences in the German-speaking countries sensitize students to the cultural context in which the language is used. Online grammar and listening comprehension exercises, as well as weekly conversation sessions with peer assistant from Germany supplement class work.

Continuation of the elementary German course; practice in speaking, reading, and writing German. Cultural and literary readings together with frequent use of Internet resources dealing with everyday situations and experiences in the German-speaking countries sensitize students to the cultural context in which the language is used. Online grammar and listening comprehension exercises, as well as weekly conversation sessions with a peer assistant from Germany supplement class work.

Continuation of the elementary German course; practice in speaking, reading, and writing German. Cultural and literary readings together with frequent use of Internet resources dealing with everyday situations and experiences in the German-speaking countries sensitize students to the cultural context in which the language is used. Online grammar and listening comprehension exercises, as well as weekly conversation sessions with a peer assistant from Germany supplement class work.

An introduction to the ancient Greek language and epic meter through the study of the Iliad. The grammar of the Iliad, originally an oral poem, is relatively uncomplicated. By the middle of the first semester, therefore, students will begin to read the poem in Greek. By the end of the year they will have read a portion of Iliad, Book I.

The seminar investigates likenesses of women from ancient Greece and Rome. Facial features, body language, hair and clothing will be studied with reference to contemporary social customs, theories of character and beauty, medical treatises, beliefs in deity and in the afterlife. Special attention will go to original objects in the Mount Holyoke Art Museum, including marble portraits and coins depicting classical queens and empresses.

Despite cries of non-heterosexual behavior as 'unnatural,' a closer look at 'nature' shows that the more-than-human world is quite queer, indeed. Animals, plants, and fungi exceed and ignore the binary models humans have imposed on them. In this course, we will use a study of the environment as an entry point into contemporary queer theory. We will engage questions of natural and unnatural; the boundary between human and non-human; and the intersections of fact, fiction, and magic.

This seminar will explore innovations in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century women's verse. By investigating experiments with narrative, genre, stanza form, meter, and figurative language, we will contemplate what political, social, and ideological problems women writers attempted to present and perhaps solve through linguistic creativity. Larger questions include how to define 'feminist poetics' and what potential such a project might afford poets and thinkers today.

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?

This course will examine the writing of Emily Dickinson, both her poetry and her letters. We will consider the cultural, historical, political, religious, and familial environment in which she lived. Special attention will be paid to Dickinson's place as a woman artist in the nineteenth century. The class will meet at the Dickinson Museum (280 Main Street in Amherst and accessible by Five College bus). Enrollment is limited to ten students.

This course presents an opportunity for students to apply gender theory to practice and synthesize their work in gender studies. Connections between the academy and the community, scholarship and social action will be emphasized. Students will arrange for a placement at a non-profit organization, business, or institution that incorporates a gender focus. A weekly seminar with other students provides a structured reflection forum to analyze experience and methods.