This seminar explores the social, cultural, racial and political elements that refract in the process of curating modern and contemporary African and African American art. Prescribed methodologies have applied a one-size-fits-all approach, flattening the intentions of makers and depriving us all of cultural enrichment. Only informed, respectful curatorial strategies can break down institutional boundaries and historically slanted perceptions of African and African American art.

We usually encounter medieval art in the museum. There, encased in glass and opportunely illuminated, they are objects of quiet contemplation. Yet the art and architecture of the Middle Ages were seldom still or silent, and its audiences were rarely disinterested observers. In this course we will explore medieval architecture's multifaceted meanings for those who experienced its sights and sounds. We will also consider the interrelationships between objects in other media -- such as sculpture, mosaic, and textile -- and the architectural spaces in which they were situated.

Throughout its history, the Mediterranean-the "Middle Sea" -- has been a space of cultural contact, confluence, and exchange: a conduit rather than a barrier. In this seminar we will explore the interaction of various religious and political communities of the Mediterranean Basin from the rise of Islam in the seventh century CE to the central Middle Ages, and consider how these connections were manifested in art.

This course provides an introduction to the art, architecture, and archaeology of the ancient Romans. At its height, the Roman Empire controlled much of the ancient Mediterranean. As Roman power spread, so too did Rome's art and architecture. This course examines the major developments in Roman archaeology from the foundation of Rome through the growing Republic of Pompey and Caesar, the Rome of the emperors, and the rise of Christianity.

This course provides an introduction to the art, architecture, and archaeology of the ancient Romans. At its height, the Roman Empire controlled much of the ancient Mediterranean. As Roman power spread, so too did Rome's art and architecture. This course examines the major developments in Roman archaeology from the foundation of Rome through the growing Republic of Pompey and Caesar, the Rome of the emperors, and the rise of Christianity.

This class will bring you face to face with one of the most remarkable phenomena of the natural world: bird migration. We will search for tiny Blackpoll Warblers, which migrate through our campus before making three-day, nonstop flights over the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to South America. We will look for Chimney Swifts, which nest in chimneys on campus and spend their winters skimming through the mist and treetops of the Amazon Rainforest.

How do family and kinship shape our social lives? In turn, how are family and kinship shaped by social and historical contexts? We all come to this course with individual experiences of family, kinship, and sexuality, but this course will ask you to critically engage with these concepts from a sociological perspective. In this course we will both define and use an intersectional lens to understand how class, race-ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and citizenship mutually shape our individual and collective experiences of family and kinship.

Sociology and social work -- what's the difference? This course examines, from a sociological perspective, the history and current organization and operation of social welfare systems in the United States. It examines the social aspects of the welfare system and how certain issues have become the focus of social services, with a specific focus on the case of intimate partner violence.

What makes violences "intimate"? And how are the most private experiences of violence also collective ones? This course examines how seemingly private violences - such as intimate partner violence - come to be defined as public problems. Students will analyze how collective violences are intimately experienced and how intimate violences are collective issues.

A wide variety of microscopes are employed in a multitude of scientific and industrial applications. This course covers important microscopy basics including scale, the relationship between reality and the image, and the kind of information that can be captured with different types of microscopes. In three hours of lecture/demonstration per week, students will explore the basic principles of different forms of microscopy including optical, electron, and atomic force.