This studio dance course offers a series of contemporary dance technique master classes with Smith MFA teaching fellows and other dance artists. It is designed to augment students' on-going dance training. Through this course students engage in a wide range of approaches and material in the contemporary dance realm. Each week is a “deep-dive” into a different aesthetic and artistic philosophy. It aims to introduce students to a variety of perspectives on dance and its place in our culture.

This course is an intermediate study of contemporary pointe technique. All students are assumed to have an appropriate level of ballet technique (as covered in the FCDD's ballet courses or the equivalent). The FCD Advanced Placement status is not required however, all students must be concurrently registered for a related two credit technique class and are required to be at the intermediate level in that technique. May be taken up to three times. Meets with DAN 327. Combined enrollment limited to 30.

This course introduces West African dance, music and song as a traditional mode of expression in various West African countries. It emphasizes appreciation and respect for African culture and its profound influence on American culture and art. Enrollment limited to 30.

This course provides students with a practical and theoretical understanding of the relationship between the strength, flexibility and mobility of the body. Through experiential methods students learn how the connective tissues of the body function both as an interconnected web which facilitates movement, alignment and coordination, as well as proprioception. Students develop an individualized practice throughout the semester drawing from various movement systems and dance training methods. Students examine the relationship between strength, flexibility and agility as applied to dancing.

A consideration of the ancient city: architecture, painting, sculpture and objects of everyday life. Women and freed people as patrons of the arts are emphasized. The impact of the rediscovery of Pompeii and its role as a source of inspiration in 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century art is discussed. No prerequisite.

This course will explore the concept of color and its use in the visual arts from the perspective of a physicist. We will cover the basics of wave mechanics and the electromagnetic theory needed to describe light as an electromagnetic wave, the absorption and emission of light through quantum-mechanical processes and basic optics. We will then explore the relation between these physical principles and the fundamentals of color theory and its application in art.

This seminar is designed for advanced Division II and Division III students concentrating in psychology. We will begin the semester by considering the assumptions, perspectives, and methodologies involved in study of psychology. Students will be encouraged to hone their skills in reading empirical articles and communicating ideas for both general and academic audiences. In addition to some topics that will be explored as a group, students will also be expected to identify their own topic of interest and complete significant independent research in this area.

In this course, we will discuss the processes by which children come to acquire, recall, and use knowledge. This course will focus on development from infancy to middle childhood. Reading primary literature, we will examine the emergence and refinement of children's ability to form concepts, recall the past, and extend knowledge to new situations. We will consider methodological challenges and approaches to studying children's abilities, including naturalistic observations and controlled laboratory studies.

This introductory laboratory-intensive course will explore the process of doing scientific research in a molecular biology lab (which is relevant to many fields of science including neuroscience and other types of biomedical research). Students will learn numerous techniques in the lab, including DNA isolation, PCR, gel electrophoresis, restriction enzyme digests, cloning, and basic microscopy. Students will engage in a semester-long laboratory research project within a cancer biology gene cloning context.

Creating interesting project ideas in the area of biomedical research is one of the most fun and rewarding aspects of this type of work. But to ask really good questions, you need to understand the work that has been accomplished previously. This requires delving into primary scientific literature in exquisite detail, and primary literature is almost another language. Working with primary literature requires a lot of practice and repetition in order to become comfortable.