The US economy entered its most serious post-war recession in 2007. Five years later, unemployment remains high with nearly 7 million fewer jobs than when the recession began. Its magnitude and duration make this great recession a problem for economic policy and theory.

This seminar will look at the use of clothing for communicative expression and cultural meaning, and the way it has been represented in the media. Our interdisciplinary approach will be informed mainly by cultural studies and film/media studies but will draw in other discourses and fields such as journalism, cultural anthropology, visual rhetoric/semiotics, gender and sexuality studies, performance theory, and design practices. Our main examples will include cinema, television, street-style and personal style blogs, fashion journalism, and advertisements.

The goal of this seminar is to alert our young incoming students to the essential role(s) the arts play in the world, and to the value of becoming familiar with and studying those arts as one of the best ways to become a cultured, informed, educated citizen. The method of this seminar is an open-ended, free-wheeling discussion of what the arts are, how they differ, how they can (and should) be looked at and evaluated, and why (or if) they are important for society and in human life.

The goal of this seminar is to explore American Indian civilizations through the lens of chemical technologies. From the use of minerals for artwork, to ceramics and metalworking, civilization relies on chemical techniques. We will discuss the relationship between natural resources and the products of civilizations found in the Americas. In the process, first-year students will achieve two goals: to relate chemical principles to the real world; and gain an introduction to the material culture of Native American Indians.

While neither assisted reproduction nor adoption are entirely new, both have radically increased in recent decades, potentially transforming the face of the American family. No longer performed in secrecy nor limited to heterosexual couples, assisted reproduction methods such as sperm and egg donation, in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy have become increasingly sophisticated. Meanwhile the landscape of adoption has been redefined by transparency, the rise of transracial and international adoption, and the partial acceptance of single and same-sex adoptive parents.

Recent advances in molecular biology, neuroscience and developmental biology, to name just three areas of biology, call for reconsideration of current social views and legal practices. When does life begin? When does it end? When is ethical to manipulate our genetic material? Which of us is responsible for his actions, and how should those who show aberrant behaviors (or even beliefs) be treated?

Microbes run the world. It?s that simple. Although we cannot usually see them, microbes are essential for every part of human life?indeed all life on Earth. Every process in the biosphere is touched by the seemingly endless capacity of microbes to transform the world around them. This course is designed for undergraduates with little background in the biological sciences, who are curious about this unseen life on Earth and who want to understand how microbe have influenced essentially every aspect of biological evolution.

This course will serve as an introduction and overview of the basic processes of art, art making and art history. Students will gain knowledge of their individual creative skills as well as being introduced to the art & art history departments. Lessons concerning graphite, charcoal, mixed media and acrylic paint will be included, along with a guided tour of the Springfield Art Museums in October. Lectures will consist of group drawing sessions, critiques and selected readings, supplemented by short weekly drawing assignments. Little or no art experience required.

This seminar will explore the foundations of African American expressive culture, from work songs heard on the plantation, to the ring shout performed in churches, to the Blues of the Great Migration. By understanding how these early forms of expression have influenced generations of song, dance, culture and style, we gain a clearer appreciation of Hip-Hop as a culture and art form. This seminar is designed for anyone who wants to understand how history, memory and culture are related.

This course will examine the relationship between language, community, and culture. The human body evolved, adapting to the use of language for communication. The intimate relationships between culture, community, and language reveal a culture?s worldview, community system, values, identity, and much more. Colonization, commercial expansion, and digital technologies have impacted communities and their languages and cultures. This course will introduce students to the concepts of culture, community and the integration of language within cultural systems.