Literature and Psychoanalysis

This course examines the relationship between psychoanalysis and literature by focusing on Freud's concept of the "uncanny" as it appears in his famous essay of the same name, and as it emerges in literary examples in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Freud himself drew on the work of E.T.A. Hoffman, whose "Sandman" features mysterious strangers, a mechanical doll, family romance, and madness. In the course of the semester, literary texts may include Hoffman's story, "The Sandman," Dostoevsky's The Double, E.A. Poe's Collected Stories.

Elementary Chinese I

This course will be taught by a visiting professor of Chinese from the Hampshire College China Exchange program and supervised by Professor Kay Johnson. It will cover the first semester of beginning Chinese. The second semester of beginning Chinese language will be offered during the spring semester. The course will follow the Integrated Chinese textbook series. The class will cover speaking, reading, and writing Chinese characters.

Third Year Chinese I

This course will be taught by a visiting professor of Chinese from the Hampshire College China Exchange program, H.JIANG and supervised by K. Johnson. Students entering this class will be expected to have completed Intermediate Chinese or the equivalent of an intensive college-level second year Chinese language course. The class will cover the final chapters of Integrated Chinese Level 2, part 2 and then proceed to Reading Into A New China. Emphasis will be placed equally on speaking, reading, and writing.

Critical Psychology

Many people are drawn to the field of psychology because of a desire to both understand themselves and help alleviate the suffering of others as way of working towards social justice. Yet psychology, along with its myriad forms of inquiry and intervention, is inextricably bound up with social and political arrangements. Critical psychology interrogates psychological knowledge and its production by examining the social, historical and political contexts from which it arose and the way it is currently situated.

Audience Research

Countless scholars have discussed the ideologies communicated through media texts, but most persist in privileging their own analytical interpretations. In this course students will explore various theorizations of audiences, methodologies employed to study them, and results of how audiences interpret films, advertisements, television programs, novels and other cultural texts. We will also seek to better understand why people make radically different meanings of the same texts.

Statistics

This course develops skills for designing experiments and analyzing data using standard statistical methods. Work will include the use of some common computer packages (e.g., R, EXCEL). Readings may include a standard text and other readings online. We learn basic statistical techniques (description, estimation and hypothesis testing, correlation, regression, an analysis of variance) and also discuss examples in published research. There will be weekly homework assignments, and we'll design and carry out data collection analysis in class.

Design Fundamentals

This is an introductory level design class that will begin with a series of guided activities and culminate in a final independent project. Students will become familiar with a range of basic design tools and skills, such as drawing, model making and prototyping in materials such as cardboard, metal and plastic. We will also consider aesthetics, manufacturability and usability of the objects we create. Throughout the course students will work towards improving visual communication skills and the ability to convey ideas.

The Business of Change

This course will explore how social entrepreneurship affects change in society. Using real world examples, participants in this course will identify key entrepreneurial methods and practices that are, or could be used to foster positive change. The course will start off with a look at the general effects entrepreneurship has on society and then move on to investigating key entrepreneurial processes and techniques that are used for creating change.

Creative Electronics

This course will familiarize the student with some of the basic creative applications of electronics. A central element in this process will be examining and modifying common electronic devices. This approach focuses on the physical and functional aspects of electronics and encourages an understanding of application through hands on experience rather than a study of theory. This also encourages the student to look to pre existing devices for artistic materials rather than building everything from scratch.

Bicycle Frame Design

This co-curricular course will engage students in the process of designing and fabricating a custom bicycle frame. Students will learn about the array of anatomical and performance factors that designers must consider; use a frame design CAD program to analyze their design and create working drawings; and learn all the required fabrication methods for building welded steel frames. Those students wishing to build their own frame should expect to spend a significant amount of time in the shop outside of class.
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