This course explores Italian theatre from the Commedia dell'Arte to Pirandello with particular attention to social mobility, politics, and class conflict. Authors include classics such as Isabella Andreini, Carlo Goldoni and Luigi Pirandello.

This course explores Italian theatre from the Commedia dell'Arte to Pirandello with particular attention to social mobility, politics, and class conflict. Authors include classics such as Isabella Andreini, Carlo Goldoni and Luigi Pirandello.

Engineers design technologies that influence nearly every aspect of our lives. We will study great works of Big Engineering such as bridges, buildings, wind turbines and wave/tidal generators. We will explore the concept of 'design' and learn to appreciate the creativity and opportunity of design within the constraints of engineering practice. Hands-on practical learning experiences with design and fabrication of is included, as are field trips and experiments on wind energy generation.

This course will focus on biological systems that push the limits of structural and physiological possibility. For example, midges flap their wings at up to 1000 Hz; bar-headed geese migrate over Mount Everest; deep-sea fish withstand pressures near 300 atmospheres; certain frogs can allow their body temperatures to drop below 0 degrees Celsius. Through readings and discussions, we will explore the diverse mechanisms that underlie how organisms reach extreme levels of performance and survive in extreme environments.

What do scholars and policy makers mean by the term "precarious labor"? How have transformations in global capitalism contributed to the proliferation of poorly paid work conducted in unsafe conditions in the Global North as well as the Global South? How do nation-states' attempts to regulate migration contribute to the maintenance of unfree labor conditions? How has the globalization of precarious labor affected the organization of reproductive and care labor within families and households in different parts of the world?

The emergence of modern humanitarianism connecting different parts of the world is either lauded as evincing progress in human evolution, or criticized as masking the advancement of Western imperialism. In this course we will examine the complex and shifting relationships between gender, race, class, religious conceptions and practices of charity, the global spread of capitalism through colonialism and enslavement, and the emergence of international humanitarianism. Final projects for the course will be based on student research conducted in the Mount Holyoke College archives.

Dive into the fascinating world of robotics and AI. We will investigate how these technologies are reshaping our lives and industries, from healthcare to space exploration, while grappling with the ethical questions they pose. For example, in healthcare, we might ask: Should an AI be allowed to make critical medical diagnoses, potentially overriding a human doctor's judgment? Or, in the realm of autonomous vehicles, we could consider: Who is held responsible when a self-driving car causes an accident, the owner, the manufacturer, or the AI itself?

Can serious artists play cruel jokes? Who laughs at Dante? This course explores the role of lies and practical jokes in Italian theater and the way the concept of humor has changed over time. We will investigate the intimate connection among power, religion, and laughter by reading some of the funniest (and politically charged) works of Italian theater. Our authors will take us through the streets of Renaissance Florence, eighteenth-century Venetian canals, as well as the improvised factory theaters of the 1970s. Readings include Dante, Machiavelli, Goldoni, Puccini, Fo, De Filippo.