|
|
Academic Catalog 2022-2023 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Courses
|
|
|
|
| |
Liberal Arts: Social Sciences |
| |
-
LASS200 Conquest, Commerce, and Colonization 3 cr.
This course challenges the Eurocentric view that American history begins with the arrival of European colonists. Instead, we will consider the indigenous cultures and landscapes disrupted by colonization and conquest. We will also explore the centrality of human trafficking to the American story: how it was central to the transatlantic trade that made the American colonies wealthy and powerful enough to challenge a global empire; how it subsequently defined the system of government crafted to rule the new nation that emerged from the struggle for independence; and how it continued to fuel economic growth in an increasingly divided nation during the nineteenth century. Finally, we will seek to understand the American story not merely through political treatises, documents, and elections, but through material culture; through the cultural landscape; and through the voices of immigrants, women, laborers, and artists. [Formerly titled Pirates,Witches&Slaves]
Prerequisites: LALW100; FRSM100
Lecture/Seminar
All College Elective
|
| |
-
LASS208 Social Psychology 3 cr.
Social Psychology explores the behavior of individuals and groups in social contexts. In this course, emphasis is placed on how social aspects may be relevant to being an artistic individual in today’s society. Topics include: How are our thoughts, feelings, and behavior influenced by the presence of other human beings? Can we manipulate someone else’s opinion? Does self-fulfilling prophesy exist? What are social norms? Questions related to how a person’s self-image develops, how individuals think about and react to the world, and how they understand themselves and others are explored. In addition, students learn about concepts such as impression and attitude formation, persuasion, pro-social behavior, prejudice and discrimination, obedience and compliance, aggression, group psychology, and personality
Prerequisites: LALW100; FRSM100
Lecture/Seminar
All College Elective
|
| |
-
LASS211 The American Century 3 cr.
From the Spanish-Cuban-Filipino-American War to the present.
Prerequisites: LALW100; FRSM100
Lecture/Seminar
All College Elective
|
| |
-
LASS229 History of Jazz 3cr
The history of jazz music, people, and culture, from nineteenth century origins to today. A survey of major artists, groups, and periods, including New Orleans jazz, the Swing Era, Bebop, and other movements. Reading of historical sources and recent commentary inform the study of jazz in American society and global culture. Guided listening builds understanding of form and structure in this art form. No knowledge of music notation required.
Prerequisites: FRSM100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Fall & Spring
|
| |
-
LASS230 Financial Literacy 3cr
Practical knowledge about personal finance (budgets and credit) and money management (banking and the ABCs of investing). Readings and discussion on current financial topics.
Prerequisites: LALW100 and FRSM100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
|
| |
-
LASS230 Financial Literacy & Careers 3cr.
Practical knowledge about personal finance including taxes, credit, how to budget, save, and
invest. Learn how to define your career goals to explore opportunities and successfully present
yourself to the working world. [Formerly titles Financial Literacy]
Prerequisites: FRSM-100 and LALW-100
Fall and Spring
|
| |
-
LASS232 Free Speech, Democracy and Artists 3cr
This course examines freedom of speech, a fundamental right indispensable to democracy and indispensable for artists. The tension between liberty and control of speech is central to many forms of media and artistic expression. The course examines speech broadly by examining topics such as: speech during wartime or in time of fear; hate speech; speech by students; and libel and slander. In addition, the course examines free speech controversies involving obscenity and pornography, or merely nudity, including controversies concerning artistic expression in film and literature. Students consider speech on television, the Internet, and social media. The course also treats symbolic expressions of speech, such as flag burning and painting; as well as campaign financing as speech. The course focuses primarily on U.S. law–most of the readings will be excerpts of U.S. Supreme Court cases–but the course includes a comparative component, incorporating laws regulating speech and expression in other nations.
Prerequisites: FRSM100, LALW100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Fall & Spring
|
| |
-
LASS233 Music Cultures of the World 3cr
The course explores selected music and rhythms from throughout the world. Students explore various folk, popular, indigenous, and hybrid music from every continent and surveys the development of musical traditions through the development of contemporary world music. The course also treats several American musical traditions, including country, folk, and musical transmissions from Europe, expressive cultural traditions from indigenous peoples of America, and black musical traditions in the New World. This is a Liberal Arts course with required readings, written assignments, and listening work. Under a different course number and requiring different assignments, this course may also provide studio credit in selected studio departments. [Formerly titled: The World of Music]
Prerequisites: FRSM100. LALW100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Fall & Spring
|
| |
-
LASS236 Music and Society 3cr
The course considers how music expresses and inspires social change. By examining the origin and inspiration of major works of classical music, such as Haydn’s Farewell Symphony, Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro, Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, and Shostakovich’s Babi Yar Symphony, the course considers what music reveals about history.
Prerequisites: FRSM100; LALW100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Fall & Spring
|
| |
-
LASS241 Global History Since 1900 3cr.
This course is a survey of the twentieth century world history to understand the recent past world affairs. We will start with the legacies of industrialization and imperialism in the nineteenth century and the making of the new world, then discuss the two world wars in the first half of the century, along with increasing nationalist movements, revolutions, and important economic, social and cultural changes around the world in the rest of the twentieth century and the beginning of our current century. We will emphasize global and transnational linkages and comparisons while investigating local and national dynamics. Students from all fields are encouraged to participate in this class to learn critical analytical skills (through rigorous research and writing and peer evaluations), apply their skills and perspectives to examining important current issues, and develop a deep sense of global awareness and citizenship. [Formerly titled 20th Century World History]
Prerequisites: LALW-100 & FRSM-100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Fall & Spring
|
| |
-
LASS242 Film Music 3cr.
This course treats the evolution of film music
from silent movies until the present. It
introduces students to musical syntax, the
aesthetics of film music, and the means by which
composers synchronize music and script to convey
mood and render action vivid. Working
chronologically, the course explores the
increasing importance of music in cinema and how
music functions as an expressive element in a
film. The course treats composers who wrote
almost exclusively for the cinema (i.e., Charlie
Chaplin and the contemporary John Williams),
treats classical central European composers who
migrated to the screen composition from wartime
Europe (i.e., Korngold, Waxman, Alexandre
Tansman, Bronislaw Kaper), and treats
composer-director/producer collaborations such as
Eisenstein-Prokofiev, Rota-Fellini/Visconti, and
others. The course additionally treats the role
of ethnic music (Morocco, India, China, Japan) in
world cinema. Two term papers are assigned, one
dealing with a composer-director partnership, the
second treating the function of score in a major,
iconic film such as Gone with the Wind. The
textbook is Mervyn Cooke’s A History of Film
Music.
Prerequisites: LALW-100 & FRSM-100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Spring
|
| |
-
LASS245 Cities and Society 3cr.
Cities are fascinatingly complex places, and for millennia people have flocked to them for a host
of reasons. Some people have looked to cities as a way to escape the ennui of rural existence,
some have gathered in cities for economic opportunity, and many others have arrived simply
to be in close contact with different groups of people. Taking “the city” as our primary unit of
analysis in this course, we will attempt to explore some of the major themes and processes
that affect most urban areas, along with offering some historical perspective on the trends that
have created “the city” as we find it today.
Prerequisites: LALW-100 & LALW-200
Fall and Spring
|
| |
|
| |
-
LASS249 Queer Studies:Beyond Traditional Ideas of Gender and Sexuality 3cr
This class offers students a chance to ground
their own artistic and academic projects in a
working theoretical and practical knowledge of
the discipline of Queer Studies; both the
historiography and current work being done in the
field. Our goal is to establish a classroom
environment of mutual respect where queer ideas
about artistic challenges and choices can be
developed and shared in a supportive and safe
academic and working environment grounded in
solid social science methodology. We will examine
the development and current state of the academic
discipline of Queer Studies as it has emerged
from both Women’s Studies and Gender Studies. Our
method will be to research both archival and
current academic and multi-media sources to see
where the field stands as an academic discipline
but also as an applied paradigm for social
justice and artistic action. Special attention
will be paid to the development of connections
between applied Queer Theory and artistic and
life choices for today’s working artist. The list
of class materials will be fluid and
inter-disciplinary and rely on input and research
from all class members, reflecting the core
nature of the discipline itself.
Prerequisites: FRSM-100 and LALW-100
Lecture
Spring
|
| |
-
LASS250 Philosophy of Religion 3cr
The course explores the concept of God and the sacred, the grounds forand challenges to religious belief, the credentials of mystical experience, the implications of religious pluralism, and the idea of a religiously ambiguous world. Readings will be drawn from classical and contemporary thinkers.
Prerequisites: FRSM-100 and LALW-100
Seminar
Spring
|
| |
-
LASS280 Introduction to Psychology 3 cr.
An examination of the dynamics of the self from the interpretative, clinical perspective. The course discusses the growth and the making of the “solid self” and explores the influences that can further or hinder the constitution of a coherent, stable personality. Narcissistic disorders, the most common psychic disorders of our time, are also addressed.
Prerequisites: LALW100; FRSM100
Lecture/Seminar
All College Elective
Fall/Spring
|
| |
-
LASS281 Psychology of Flourishing 3 cr.
This course examines the human potential for growth and flourishing as well as for resiliency. Traditionally, psychologists have aimed at helping individuals notice and fix unwanted or dysfunctional habits, uncover and repair unfortunate or traumatic childhood experiences, or calibrate damaged brain chemistry. Rather than focusing on human weakness and dysfunction, this class explores the human condition from a positive psychology perspective. Students study concepts such as hope, happiness, optimism, and resiliency, and surveys human core character strengths and virtues.
Prerequisites: LALW100; FRSM100
Lecture/Seminar
All College Elective
|
| |
-
LASS300 Race in America 3 cr.
How did various peoples from America, Africa, and Europe, speaking different languages and possessing different cultures, come to be defined as “red”, “black”, and “white,” and how did later immigrants or conquered peoples from Asia and the western hemisphere get fitted into this scheme? This class examines how race categories were formed in the colonial period and have been repeatedly remade up to the present.
Prerequisites: LALW100; FRSM100
Lecture/Seminar
All College Elective
|
| |
-
LASS307 Medieval and Renaissance History 3cr
This course encompasses no less than twelve centuries of European history extending from the last decades of the Roman Empire in the West to what is often referred to as the Early Modern period (I.e., the 16th century), the era characterized by the rise of powerful centralized monarchical states and empires. Throughout, a determined effort is made to precisely define broad historical concepts such as “civilizations” and “intellectual revolutions.” For example, we will ask what particular historical and cultural elements made the Medieval West a distinct civilization? In the same manner, what presumably different and distinct elements formed and shaped the civilization of Byzantium? What was the Renaissance, both in Italy, and north and west of the Alps? Where and how does the Renaissance intersect with the Reformation and the Reconnaissance, enormously significant historical phenomena in themselves?
Prerequisites: LALW100, FRSM100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Fall & Spring
|
| |
-
LASS308 Narcissism, Aggression and Creativity 3cr
Are we really capable of falling in love with an image of ourselves, as in the story of Echo and Narcissus? If so, what are the consequences? Do contemporary cultural themes cast a light on the story? What impulses motivate these thoughts and processes? This course utilizes a psychoanalytic approach to discover and analyze themes that emerge from an awareness of creative impulses. What blocks them? What role does aggression play in the responsiveness to the creative impulse? Psychoanalytic literature, in combination with contemporary themes, questions and illuminates the art making process.
Prerequisites: LALW100, FRSM100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Fall
|
| |
-
LASS309 History of Modern Europe 3 cr.
A comprehensive overview of the last four centuries of European history. The course surveys political and international history, social history, and intellectual history. Students gain a deep appreciation for the rich complexity of European civilization and an understanding of the continuity of events from the seventeenth century onward.
Prerequisites: LALW100; FRSM100
Lecture/Seminar
All College Elective
|
| |
-
LASS312 Technology and Language 3cr
The course investigates the relationship of languages of expression to tools and communication technologies. Through interdisciplinary exploration of various modes and practices, from the language of typography, audio/visual expression, to dynamic languages of interaction, social media and crowd sourcing, students gain knowledge and understanding of current issues of social communication in the context of dynamic media technology. The course introduces students to recent developments, theory and criticism of communication design and technology through selected case studies involving the work of historical and contemporary inventors, designers, artists and new media innovators.
Prerequisites: LALW100,FRSM100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Fall
|
| |
-
LASS314 Race Uncut:America in Black and White 3cr
How do race and class operate not just in categorizing people, but in maintaining and reproducing the socio- economic life and in
shaping common experience of history and present. We will focus on African Americans and white Americans and discuss what race means, and what class means – historically, culturally, and economically – in the context of the American dream. 6 cinematic representations will serve
us as prompts to examine in depth selected historical themes, from the Civil War to the
present. [Formerly Titled Race,Class and the American Dream]
Prerequisites: LALW-100 and FRSM-100
Lecture
Undergraduate Elective
Fall and Spring
|
| |
-
LASS318 Seminar: Reading Marx 3 cr.
A critical reading and discussion of some of Karl Marx’s writings on history, philosophy and society, plus commentary.
Prerequisites: LALW100; FRSM100; LALW200
Lecture/Seminar
All College Elective
|
| |
-
LASS325 Gender Identity and the F-Word(feminism) 3cr
What does it mean to call oneself (or someone
else) a ‘feminist’? How does gender intersect
with other social hierarchies to shape both how
we see, and how we are seen by, others? In this
advanced undergraduate elective, we will consider
efforts to reveal, unravel, and remedy the
conceptual, psychological, and economic
dimensions of gender oppression. We will examine
the intersection of sexism with racism,
heterosexism, and class exploitation, and
investigate the role of the concept of difference
in creating and maintaining structural
inequalities.
Prerequisites: FRSM-100 and LALW-100
Lecture
Spring
|
| |
-
LASS360 Memory and Dreams 3 cr.
This course explores the intersecting realms of memory and dream. Dreaming is an entirely subjective experience, but how objective is remembering? How do we understand phenomena like post-traumatic or implanted or false memories? How can culture construct our memories–and our forgettings–for us? How can we separate identity from memory and either from forms of fiction? The world of dream: is it meaningful, nonsense, prophetic, usable? This course treats current neuroscience and neuropsychology, film clips, case histories, fiction, and analytic theory. In preparation for the final project, students keep a nightly dream journal. The course treats the nature of consciousness and subjectivity, the existence of a coherent self over time, and the creative uses to which memory and dream may be put.
Prerequisites: LALW100, FRSM100
Lecture/Seminar
All College Elective
|
| |
-
LASS402 Minds,Brains&Consciousness 3 cr.
What is the mind? Some of history’s most
profound thinkers have attempted to answer this
question, yet the nature of the mind remains
elusive and hotly debated in contemporary
philosophy. Can the mysteries of conscious
experience be reconciled with a naturalistic,
scientific world view? Is the mind really just a
kind of computer, a machine made of meat? What
is thinking, and can computers do it? In this
course, we will investigate what Francis Crick
has called the Astonishing Hypothesis-“that
“You,” your joys and your sorrows, your memories
and your ambitions, your sense of personal
identity and free will, are in fact no more than
the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells
and their associated molecules.”
Prerequisites: LALW-100 and FRSM-100
Lecture
Fall
|
| |
-
LASS403 Us/China: Ties Or Clashes 3cr
This course explores the relationship between China and the United States from its beginning to the present. Unlike conventional narratives of Sino-U.S. relations focusing on politics and diplomatic relations, this course will cover more broadly social, cultural,and economic interactions, such as mutual perceptions and images,cultural/educational exchanges, migration and foreign policies, and international trade. Accordingly, we will look at a wide array of individuals and institutions such as missionaries, educators, merchants, migrants, non-government organizations, corporations and mass media rather than nation-states as the sole actors on the stage. We will place China and the United States in their regional and historical contexts while focusing on the interactive dynamic to show how their relations shaped their own histories as well as the global history. This course is to help students develop a solid understanding of the evolution of Sino-U.S. relations over time as well as a sharp and well informed perspective on current challenges and opportunities, especially the new face of
Sino-U.S.relations with China’s rise as a major economic powerhouse and the repositioning of the United States in the world. In addition to learning about the substance of these facets of Sino-U.S. relations, the course is designed to teach several important skills to students: informed reading of various types of sources, historical and critical thinking, policy analysis and debates,oral presentation and writing, and teamwork. Different assignments are designed to develop and advance these skills.[Formelry titled China-U.S. Relations]
Prerequisites: FRSM-100 and LALW-100
Seminar
Fall
|
| |
-
LASS406 Seminar on Romanticism 3cr
A seminar in the study of Romanticism in Europe
and America in the late 18th and early 19th
century.
Prerequisites: LALW-100, FRSM-100 and LALW-200
Seminar
Fall
|
| |
|
|
Print this Page