Degas, van Gogh, Gauguin

Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin each hold a special place in our popular imagination and in art historical studies. While each of these artists was associated with the avant-garde in late 19th century France, their lives and imagery have been the subjects of films, and myriad exhibitions and the resulting recent critical reassessment; their imagery also can be found on mugs, calendars, and even clothing. This course will focus on these three artists, primarily as historical figures but we also will look into their present positions in visual culture.

A History of Queer Cinema

With an emphasis on American experimental and avant-garde works, this introductory level course will explore one path through the complex and winding history of queer cinema. We will examine some central texts in queer, feminist, and film theory in order to fully consider what makes a film queer, as opposed to gay/lesbian. Students will be required to write weekly response papers, a 10-page analytical paper, and complete an in-class presentation.

Drawing Through: Fundamentals

This course is a rigorous research project in the possibilities, meanings, histories, practices and contemporary meanings of drawing. It functions as an introduction to different ways drawing is used in contemporary art making. As such, we will be doing different types of investigations weekly. Through investigations into the history of drawing practices- with particular focus on its role in the liberal arts- students will develop a facility with materials, methods, concepts, and critique. Collaboration and shared findings are highly encouraged.

Chorus

The Chorus is a performing ensemble in which students will learn skills of choral singing and sight-singing. They will be exposed to a wide variety of choral literature through rehearsal and performance, including a cappella and accompanied music, medieval through 20th century, ethnic, world music and folk. Several performances are given throughout the year. While this course is open to all and the ability to read music is not required, students are expected to have reasonable proficiency in aural learning (e.g. ability to sing on pitch).

CIRCUIT THEORY

Analog and digital circuits are the building blocks of computers, medical technologies, and all things electrical. This course introduces both the fundamental principles necessary to understand how circuits work and mathematical tools that have widespread applications in areas throughout engineering and science. Topics include: Kirchhoff's laws, Thevenin and Norton equivalents, superposition, responses of first-order and second-order networks, time-domain and frequency-domain analyses, frequency-selective networks.

Writing the Urban Experience

Tumultuous and robust, American cities have certainly enjoyed a rich history. As this course is primarily a writing seminar, we're particularly interested in how Americans have given voice to their urban experience, beginning with the literary realism of the late 19th century and culminating in the various expressions of the hip-hop culture of today. Are there universals in the urban story? How and why do shifting populations tell different stories?

Interrogating Gandhi

One of the most enigmatic political leaders of the modern period, M.K. Gandhi remains a controversial figure. On one hand, he is celebrated as the father of the Indian nation and an apostle of non-violence, and on the other hand viewed as a wily politician and a patriarch with problematic views of gender and sexuality. In his lifetime, thousands saw him as a saint, while others (mainly Hindu nationalists) reviled him as a traitor to Indian nationalism and blamed him for the partition of India.

African Diaspora

This course will deepen students' knowledge of the African diaspora through the study of what some scholars have called "Africanisms," a broad term that seeks to capture the wide array of technical skills, artistic practices, religious and spiritual beliefs, philosophies, linguistic patterns, and epistemologies that derive from the African continent and take root around the world.

Politics of Health Insurance

The U.S. is alone among the wealthy capitalist nations in not providing health insurance to all its citizens. In this course we will examine the reasons for this dubious distinction, focusing on Americans' historic distrust of government, the power of important stakeholders in medicine and insurance, the dominance of individualism in American political life and thought, and the bias toward incremental change that is built into our political institutions.

Seminar:Chemical Biology

(Offered as CHEM 408 and BCBP 408.) This advanced seminar will focus on the ways in which chemical approaches have been used to study and engineer biological systems. We will explore a series of case studies in which the tools of chemistry have been brought to bear on biological questions and seek to answer the following: Did the application of small molecules that were designed and synthesized by chemists allow the researchers to elucidate biological phenomena that would have remained opaque using genetic and biochemical approaches? Do the findings suggest further experiments?

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