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  • LA 202: Liberal Arts Core 4:"Utopia and Terror:A Cultural History of the West"

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    3 hours weekly; 3 credits This course explores western cultural history through the theme of the human drive toward perfection. The second, shadow theme is the threat of violent coercion, suppression of difference, even genocide that such utopian visions unleash in certain historical instances. The concept of utopia is broadly defined to include both religious concepts of 'millennium' and 'apocalypse' asecular concepts of the ideal city and perfectionist community. The course also explores what Johan Huizinga calls the 'history of play' in western culture, those cultural moments whenindividuals escape economic and political hierarchy to enter a temporary 'ludic world.' Drawingfrom Mikhail Bahktin, we define the utopian impulse as a search for Abundance, Equality, Freedom, Community within a human society. Bahktin is just one of several theorists whose ideas are drawn from. Others include Martha Nussbaum, Elaine Pagels, Isaiah Berlin, Karl Popper, Russell Jacoby, and Frederic Jameson. Other closely related themes treated include: evolving definitions of freedom and equality, the nature of humanism and the evolution of autonomy, the definition of evil, the concept of theodicy, the nature of revolution. Special emphasis is given to the role of utopian and communitarian movements in the evolution of the arts, with projects on forms of utopian arts education (Black Mountain), utopian architecture and urban planning (Paulo Solari and Arcosanti), and specific artistic utopias (Ascona), etc. Several points of origin are investigated: the Hellenistic philosophies' ideal of the 'good life;' aneudaimonia; the Judeo-Christian ideal of Eden in Genesis 1-3, as well as the Judeo-Christian concepts of apocalypse and millennium; and the renaissance humanist invention of the ideal city. The course crosses between various disciplines in exploring the evolution of religious, social, and political ideas of perfecting humanity and forming ideal communities. As in Core 3, the class operates by exploration and debate. Students also visit the Boston Museum of Fine Arts to view and respond to a set of paintings by Bosch. Texts include: Martha Nussbaum, The Therapy of Desire; Terence Irwin, Classical Philosophy; Elaine Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent; St. Augustine, The Confessions; Dante, The Inferno; Thomas More, Utopia; Voltaire, Candide; Peter Weiss, Marat/Sade. The course also includes a course pack of readings and critical articles.
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  • LA 231: Envisioning the World:History of Science and Mathematics

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    3 hours weekly; 3 credits This liberal arts elective approaches the history of math and science through a set of questions: Are human beings merely machines with glands, as Descartes put it, or something more? How is our idea of the universe different from the ancient idea of the cosmos? What can math tell us about leading a good life? These and similar questions will guide our discussions as we trace the development of the modern scientific worldview. Taking as a model the notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci, we will develop creative portfolios of drawings and journal entries in response to key works in the history of mathematics and science. Special care is given to three interrelated claims: that throughout history artists and performers have found inspiration in mathematical and scientific developments; that our ideas about beauty change over time to accommodate advances in mathematics and science; and that cumulative advances in scientific knowledge periodically require us to reevaluate what it means to be a human being and, more specifically, what it means to lead a moral life. Students are encouraged to incorporate into their portfolios elements from other studies. No background in science or mathematics is required.
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  • LA 233: Autobiography and Perspective:Whose Life is it Anyway?

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    The recent popularity of different types of autobiography and memoir has given rise to increased attention to the genre. The media notice given to James Frey's A Million Little Pieces has drawn particular interest to the questions of the limits and veracity of the genre. This course explores how writers, as well as other artists such as film makers, negotiate the tensions between present and past lives, between fact and memory, and between design and truth in autobiography. We look at the historical and theoretical underpinnings of autobiography (and related genres) and consider our own places in the pageantry of self-portrayal. Family and friends, home and country, public and private, secrets and lives all find a place in an examination of the complexities of who we are and how we perceive and portray ourselves. This course explores written as well as visual communication, with a particular emphasis on self expression through different perspectives. Students study a variety of models and modes of narration that focus on the revelation of the individual. The autobiographical/memoir form will be investigated as one which conceals the maker as well as reveals both subject matter and creator. The course focuses on two distinct areas of autobiographical exploration: study and analysis of the historical development and continuity of autobiographical texts; and the analysis of 20th century and contemporary autobiographical statements made through a number of different expressive forms--prose, poetry, film, self-portraiture etc.. In addition, students will have the opportunity to develop their own individual application and understanding of autobiographical forms.
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  • LA 281: Cultural History of the Body and Movement

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    3 hours weekly; 3 credits In ancient Greece, Rome and the Italian Renaissance, the expression of body posture in painting, literature and sculpture created classic formulations of physical expression to represent vital elements of social interaction. This course examines the origins of such representation and follows their evolution to modern expression in theatre, film and popular culture, using a multimedia approach. Particular emphasis given to the works of Dario Fo and Sid Caesar and their updated interpretations of the Commedia dell'Arte style.
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  • LA 283: Psychology

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    This Liberal Arts elective is presently in development for fall semester of 08 and a course description and list of required books will be available by the start of classes.
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  • LA 301: Liberal Arts Core 5:Modernism/Postmodernism

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    3 hours weekly; 3 credits "Modernism" refers to a period of cultural transition and change in the lat e 19t h and early 20th century in which remarkable breaks were made from the past in areas of technology, science, urban migration, capitalist expansion, and artistic expression. These developments corresponded with a collective sense that a shift had occurred in the way that we know ourselves and our world, and an accompanying challenge of how to understand and express these changes. The period of modernism marked a broad range of thought and a wide variety of experimental movements in every field of cultural expression. In this course we will examine a modernist sensibility in several different areas: literature, film, art, architecture, and psychology. At the end of this survey, we will briefly consider how "postmodernism," engages modernist issues of representation,reality, and knowledge, while questioning the limits and stability of all truths. The overall goal of this course is to examine the complex cultural changes that mark a move away from some of the certainties and traditions of the Victorian period, giving rise to new modes of perception, thought, and representation that continue to this day. We will approach this goal by working to do the following: To consider the ways that historical events such as WWI caused a distanced and disillusioned reaction to traditional leadership and authority To comprehend the way that scientific discoveries such as Einstein's theory of relativity and Freud's psychoanalysis contributed to a destabilized view of identity, reality, and perception To distinguish between features of realistic representation and non-figurative representation in literary and artistic texts and to understand the aesthetic and ideological goals of each kind of representation Required Texts: Henry James, The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Fiction, Bantam Classic; Ridley Scott, Bladerunner ( DVD); Anthony Storr, Freud: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford Univ. Press; Gertrude Stein (Handout);Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, Harcourt, Inc.;Tom Wolfe, From Bauhaus to Our House, Farrar Straus Giroux
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  • LA 302: Colonialism/Postcolonialism

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    3 hours weekly; 3 credits This course explores the geo-political forces that have helped shape the latter half of the 20thcentury. The historical trajectory begins with the philosophy and history of colonialism and pursues its global effects in terms of a post-colonial world. In the 19th century age of industrial expansion, European nations began to divide and rule the pre-industrial parts of the world that were not militarily or economically equipped to resist conquest. The subsequent partition of the globe into ruling empires and ruled colonies created dramatically unequal spheres that continue to have an important impact upon the present time. Imperialist domination by western, developed nations over pre-industrial ones grew out of a complex combination of economic interests, political competition, patriotism, racism and religious mission that some critics argue have not been resolved even after decolonization and independence. This course examines some of the literature, historical documents, and films that address the complex legacy of colonialism and its aftermath. Required Texts: Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart. Anchor Books; George Orwell, Burmese Days. Harcourt Brace; Merle Hodge, Crick Crack Monkey. Heinemann Publishers; Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis.
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  • LA 331: Issues in Women's Studies:Sex,Gender,and the Body in the New Millennium

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    3 hours weekly; 3 credits This introductory course on women's studies is meant for anyone interested in feminism, feminist activism, women's issues and their lives, as well as questions of gender and sexuality. It is an interdisciplinary course from a multicultural perspective for students who want to find out what the discipline of women's studies is about. Readings will include short essays on topics such as the various debates on women's reproductive rights, representations of women in art and popular culture, the commodification of the body in consumer culture, and women in cyberspace, side by side with selections of short fiction and film. Students will write one-page response essays per week. The focus will be on thinking about 'woman' as a global category, while looking at the history of keyideas about sexuality, gender, and the body, sexual difference, race and class from a transnational perspective. How are women's issues in America related to women's issues elsewhere in the world inthis era of globalization? The course will conclude with speculations on the future of feminism and feminist activism in the new millennium.
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  • LA 333: Science:The Arts and the New Neuroscience

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    3 hours weekly; 3 credits (working description revised 8.26) This course will focus on developing an understanding of neuropsychology and neuroscience as it relates to the arts, specifically music and dance. The class will include presentations on human function (i.e. language, memory, movement) aligned with clinical case studies (i.e. aphasia, dementia, apraxia). Functions of the brain engaged in the arts will be explored as it impacts health and wellness. The anthropological origins of the arts will be considered for its impact on the evolution of humankind across cultures and time. The class will be presented as a bridge between science and art. We will consider what is currently known and ponder in what directions scientific investigations would benefit the arts.
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  • LA 361: Microcosm/Macrocosm:Topics in Poetry

    3.00 Credits
    The Boston Conservatory

    3 hours weekly; 3 credits This elective in creative writing is a workshop in which students will explore a wide range of poetic styles and forms from the most precisely focused and microscopic-haiku-to the mostbroad and inclusive-the prose poem. We will explore the ways poetry tunnels inward to unknown regions of emotion in the self, as well as spirals outward to span the cosmic worlds opened up by the sciences and contemporary media and technology. Students who have never written poetry are welcome to joint this class, which will give them the basic tools and methods to explore creative writing in a variety of poetic forms. Students who identify themselves as poets or who have some experience writing poetry will find themselves challenged by the variety of experiments, exercises, and examples. The class has proven useful in the past to student choreographers and composers interested in working with texts, since much emphasis is places on analysis of compositional processes and techniques. The course focuses on in-class writing exercises, the reading and work-shopping of student poems. This is not an analytic course in interpreting poems, but a hands-on class in discovering practical methods and directions in examples of other poets. The class also teaches students to develop a sophisticated critical vocabulary to discuss published poems as well as their own. The class also teaches students how to read poems aloud. In lieu of a final exam, students organize and present a 'final collection' of the poems they have written during the semester. Students willalso write three short response essays on contemporary prose poems.
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