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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
This seminar offers a scientific investigation into the possible existence of life elsewhere in the universe. Topics include the origin and evolution of the universe, the nature and development of life on Earth, the search for life on Mars, the search for life beyond the solar system, interstellar travel and communication, and the implications of contact. (Timothy Barker)
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3.00 Credits
We will not entirely abandon books, for they are actually quite useful in the field as aids to learning scientific names and classifications and to making identifications. Furthermore, books are the source of some wonderful examples of nature writing, some of which we will read. However, this seminar will not be confined to a classroom. We also will create collections, engage in microscopy, and take field trips. This may seem to be an old-fashioned approach to science-observing, collecting and cataloguing-but does it still work Are there discoveries still to be made by amateur naturalists who are versatile in their interests and curious enough to make detailed observations That is one of the topics we will explore in this seminar by reading and discussing the works of great naturalists, including Charles Darwin. In addition, students will keep note-, sketch-, or photographic books; write about nature; and plan and conduct field trips. (Betsey Dexter Dyer)
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3.00 Credits
In this seminar, we will examine the natural history and ecology of the New England woods. By learning to identify the common flora and fauna of the New England region, students will gain knowledge and appreciation of the complex interactions found in a seemingly familiar ecological community. Both field-based activities and field trips will enable students to understand the past geology, climate, and human cultures that have helped create the current ecosystem. In addition, we will explore the human impact on New England forests, both historically and currently. Through selected readings, we will learn how native groups of people, as well as the European colonists, changed the landscape. We will also consider how our lifestyle decisions directly impact the environment. At the end of the course, students will have a better appreciation for the natural world and their roles in it. Field trips to the Pequot Museum in Connecticut, the Ponkapoag Bog in Canton, Massachusetts, and to Borderland State Park in nearby Easton will be a course requirement. This seminar fulfills the Natural Science Divisional requirement. (Deborah Cato)
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3.00 Credits
Human beings, according to Aristotle, are designed to live in cities. But Greek mythology offers a different view: the heroes of Homer's Iliad and Sophocles's tragedies are city destroyers, and the myths, epics, and tragedies frequently present the spectacle of heroes brought to ruin within cities that cannot contain them. Are citizens anti-heroic Are heroes anti-democratic In search of answers, students will read from a wide selection of Greek and Roman literature, from Achilles and Socrates, through Romulus and Remus, to the world of Christian saints and the literature of the desert. Together, we will consider how the ancient world grapples with the question of where the human being is most fully realized: within the city or beyond its social and physical borders Finally, we will explore how this debate occurs in modern American forms. Is the human ideal individual or social Are the workings of society manifestations of individual will or enemies of it Does society favor Spiderman or Peter Parker (Joel C. Relihan)
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3.00 Credits
In the richest country in the world, why are there 45 million Americans without health insurance Why is Social Security projected to go bankrupt before you retire Why is the distribution of income getting more unequal Why are the rich getting tax cuts while social programs are being cut and inner city schools are failing Why are people rioting in response to the actions of the World Trade Organization And why aren't we doing more to slow global warming Understanding why these and many other economic problems exist in this era of economic prosperity is only the first part of the responsibility of U.S. policymakers. The second and much more controversial part of their job description is to propose reforms that carefully balance the costs and benefits of their policies on their constituents. What are the "best" spending reforms,tax reforms, and regulatory reforms being proposed by today's policymakers In this course we will look at a wide range of economic issues with the goal of learning how to evaluate these issues critically and objectively. Different economic perspectives and theories will be presented, discussed and debated. (John Alexander Gildea)
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3.00 Credits
In this seminar, students will develop their ability to apply critical-thinking skills to economic issues and to the development of economic policy, while also building their awareness of the potential of the social sciences to affect economic policy issues. Designed for those who want to develop a deeper understanding of the context within which our society formulates its policies, this seminar will focus on two issues in which economic activity and responsibility are deeply intertwined-housing affordability and corporate accountability. Both involve economic policy-the rules/regulations under which individuals and institutions make economic decisions and the implicit or explicit goals that lie behind the rules and regulations. Students will examine two specific real-world cases: the controversy surrounding the future of the Mitchell- Lama affordable housing complexes in New York and the corporate decision-making issues raised by the Enron case. Finally, we will explore some of the social, political, and philosophical issues underlying economic policy. When people make economic policy, their decisions are based not only on ideas about economics, but also on ideas about social responsibilities and the relationship between those responsibilities and economic activity. These concepts about responsibility have been sources of considerable dispute in our society. Today, policymakers with different beliefs about individual, interpersonal, and/or social responsibility can reach vastly different conclusions about what economic policies are appropriate and effective, and which are not. Readings and substantial class discussions will ensure that students develop insights into one of the important aspects of economic policy. (Russell Williams)
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3.00 Credits
Since the 1970s, when the likes of Maria Irene Fornes, Tina Howe, and Adrienne Kennedy paved the way for an explosive new generation of women devoting themselves to playwriting, the number of plays being written by women has increased exponentially. We will study a culturally and stylistically wide range of plays that reflect concerns of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class with a challenge to the idea that there's writing and then there's women's writing. Some of the playwrightswhose work we will explore are Shelley Berc, Migdalia Cruz, Lisa D'Amour, Elana Greenfield, Suzan-Lori Parks, Young Jean Lee, and Anne Washburn. (Charlotte Meehan)
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3.00 Credits
What are the contributions of travel and travelers to the ways we understand our world and our place in it We will compare different categories of traveler: explorer, tourist, slave, refugee, migrant worker, illegal immigrant, and even commodity, (coffee or sneakers, for example). And what about fish and birds We will focus on literary and visual representations of travel, including traveler's narratives, painting, photography, travel brochures, and film. Our texts will likely include: The Journals of Captain Cook ( extracts), The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, chapters from Caroline Moorehead's Human Cargo: A Journey Among Refugees, A Rough Guide to the United States, and films such as Borat, Babel, and Darwin's Nightmare. (Claire Buck)
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3.00 Credits
Ah! Paris! The City of Light! The City of Love, French baguettes and croissants, bohemian artists, fashion designers, Notre-Dame, and l'Arche de la Defense. The majestic capital of France, the essence of Frenchness, a city that fights dog droppings with the very refined "moto-crottes"(poop-scooters!). I am inviting you to take a virtual trip to France and for 13 weeks we will "walk" thestreets of Paris, ever so careful as not to step in a dog's contribution to sidewalk art. We will study French history and society while gazing at French cultural patrimony, analyzing the links between architecture and political power. Sitting at the terrace of a well-known café we will discover the Paris of James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway and why they were drawn to this place. We will spend a couple of evenings at the movies. We will read and analyze articles on Paris and France from The New York Times or the Boston Globe and define what vision of Paris, France or the French the authors want to convey, what stereotypes are perpetuated and why. With Paris as our field of investigation we will discover a new country, a new culture and a new people and its struggle to retain its identity in an ever-expanding European Community and a changing world. ( This course will be taught in French.) (Cecile Danehy)
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3.00 Credits
What is fascism How does the political movement and the form of government of 1922-1943 Italy relate to the contemporary common use of the word "fascism" Exploring the rise and fall of Italianfascism as well as its impact on post-WWII Italian national identity, this course traces the origins of fascism in Italy and its controversial legacy in contemporary mass culture. Through critical readings, film and visual art, literature and comic books, we will study Italian fascism as a complex cultural phenomenon at the intersection between politics and aesthetics, art and propaganda, elite and popular culture. (Alberto Bianchi)
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