'This historical survey will chart the cinema's life from the arrival of sound. We will cover the triumph and collapse of the Hollywood studio system, the prewar French cinema, the postwar Italian Neo-Realists, New Waves, Independents, and contemporary world cinema, all with an eye toward shifting aesthetics and exhibition/distribution practices (especially in terms of the digital).'

'The Oxford English Dictionary lists as its primary definition for 'adaptation': 'the bringing of two things together so as to effect a change in the nature of the objects.' Our course considers the complex relationship between a source and its retellings, including the way in which such retellings permanently alter the source material and how each incarnation of a given narrative offers us a window of insight into a particular historical moment. Readings/films will include Macbeth, Frankenstein, The Silence of the Lambs, and No Country for Old Men.'

'Some of the best feature-length films of the past century have commanded our attention because of their compelling artistry and the imaginative ways they tell stories visually and verbally. This course closely studies narrative films from around the world, from the silent era to the present, and in the process it introduces students to the basic elements of film form, style, and narration.

'Although they cover ~0.6% of the earth's surface, wetlands perform more ecosystem services per hectare than any other ecosystem type. Alarmingly, over half of the earth's wetlands have been lost to agriculture and development. With these wetlands were also lost the valuable ecosystem functions wetlands perform. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the biogeochemical, ecological, societal, and regulatory aspects of wetland ecosystems.

'This course will focus on portrayals of women in nineteenth through mid-twentieth century America, particularly in the context of nature and landscape. We will explore how women, often objectified in visual images of the period, appropriated established devices or developed new images and structures to represent womanhood in their own terms. Texts will include selected poetry, sketches, autobiographical essays or memoirs, short stories, novels, paintings, films, and photography.'

'Different stories or narratives--whether myth, literature, maps, or scientific theory--have been created about every region or environment on Earth as human attempts to describe and understand our connections with that place. How do braided strands of human history and natural history contribute to stories we tell of the land, and to stories we tell of ourselves in the land and of relational identity? In this reading and writing seminar we will reflect on how lifeways, homeplace, and identity of an individual or a community are linked with environment or the land.

'A key test of our ecological knowledge is whether we can successfully apply it to create or restore ecosystems that have been damaged or destroyed. As we take on the role of restoration ecologists this semester, we will use principles and methods of ecology, conservation biology, hydrology, soil science, and related disciplines to learn about the theory, practice, and politics of ecosystem restoration. This course emphasizes fieldwork, interdisciplinary teamwork, and ecological planning to evaluate and design restoration projects in our surrounding communities and regional landscapes.

'In this course, we will explore the different facets of numerous environmental policy issues and review the substantive aspects, legal themes, and regulatory structure of the major federal environmental laws. The laws covered in this course include the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and others.

'This course introduces students to the field of environmental studies and to some of the scientific, historical, political, economic and cultural aspects of environmental concerns. Through interdisciplinary lenses, we explore the complexities of many issues and problems such as climate change, threats to biodiversity, and toxic environments. In addition to fostering an understanding of their origins, the course focuses on potential solutions.'

'This course will focus on portrayals of women in nineteenth through mid-twentieth century America, particularly in the context of nature and landscape. We will explore how women, often objectified in visual images of the period, appropriated established devices or developed new images and structures to represent womanhood in their own terms. Texts will include selected poetry, sketches, autobiographical essays or memoirs, short stories, novels, paintings, films, and photography.'