How do we know who is a terrorist? A good Muslim? A bad Arab? a criminal? A (bad) immigrant v. a cosmopolitan citizen? Do persons make decisions about their identities or are they "produced" in ways beyond their control? Can one's racial, ethnic, gendered self-recognition be publicized in ways that zie likes, or will that identity necessarily be misrecognized and reappropriated? "In this course, we will look at a range of writings on how groups, cultures, and identities are created within political and legal contests.

The era of the Renaissance and Reformation (c. 1350-1550) witnessed the rise of cities and commerce, the introduction of printing and firearms, the growth of the state, stunning innovation in the arts, scholarship, and sciences, bloody struggles over religion, and the European colonization of the globe. Crucial to many of these developments was the struggle to acquire and control knowledge, generally contained in texts--increasingly, printed ones. We will thus pay particular attention to the role of communication and the "history of the book" in shaping the origins of modernity.

This course will explore the work of scholars, essayists, and creative writers in order to use their prose as models for our own. We'll analyze scholarly explication and argument, and we'll appreciate the artistry in our finest personal essays and short fiction. Students will complete a series of critical essays in the humanities and natural sciences and follow with a personal essay and a piece of short fiction. Students will have an opportunity to submit their work for peer review and discussion; students will also meet individually with instructor.

In this advanced directing course, students will explore the many ways that directors approach text. We will begin by reading a single play, and doing exercises inspired by the book 'Backwards and Forwards' (see Textbook Information). In the second part of the course, we will be partnering with a diverse group of contemporary, professional playwrights. Each student will cast and direct a short piece written by one of the writers and, in order to sharpen their collaborative skills, discuss the rehearsal process with the playwright twice.

This course provides preparation for work in the arts and other fields where visual ideas are presented sequentially. Sequential skills will be built through assignments that may utilize drawing, digital work and sculpture. Assignments addressing linear and nonlinear sequence with line, tone, color, space, and light will facilitate the development of personal imagery. Narrative and non-narrative themes will be discussed. A wide range of tools and techniques will be employed in exploration of subject matter.

The contemporary practice of art is less and less dependent on any particular disciplinary skill. Nonetheless, making art is very much still a rigorous process. It depends on highly developed critical, sensory and communicative skills. This studio art course is an introduction to some of the basic questions a contemporary artist must answer: What rules will guide the making of my work? What forms and materials will be best for what I wish to express? How can my work metaphorically embody my ideas?

In this course, we will learn how to produce music pieces for public radio. We will first learn the basics of radio journalism, including reporting, recording, scriptwriting, production, and the effective use of music and ambient sound. Students will then produce three music-related pieces, including a vox pop, a CD review, and a short documentary feature in a style consistent with public radio. Students will also gain a working knowledge of sound editing techniques using ProTools software.

This writing intensive course develops the communication skills that are necessary for college-level work. The class is premised on the view that writing well means entering into conversation with others. To explore the social activity of writing, students select discussion topics that matter to them. The semester builds toward a final in-class debate that dramatizes the give-and-take of academic arguments. In preparation for this work, we spend several weeks studying essays by well-regarded writers and developing a shared vocabulary for analyzing the components of academic writing.

This seminar is designed for students pursuing a Division III project related to childhood, youth, or learning, and is appropriate for students whose primary work is in any of the five schools. We will begin the semester by considering the assumptions, perspectives, and methodologies involved in different disciplinary approaches to work related to childhood, young people, and/or education. The remainder of the course will involve students' presentations of works in progress, peer editing and feedback, and sharing strategies for completing large independent projects.

How do we study a reality as complex and contested as that of contemporary Cuba? What intellectual, political and affective frameworks do we have available? What images of Cuba in US popular culture do we have to recognize and perhaps displace to even begin? What are the competing lenses for examining Cuban history? The Cuban Revolution? The post-1989 period? Can we extricate Cuba from the Cold War frameworks that have dominated US academic (and US political) approaches to the island, at least until recently?