1998-99 Programs for First-Year Students

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• Aesthetics: Music as Discourse
• Astronomy and Cosmologies
• Biology in the 21st Century
• Child Welfare
• Concepts of Computing
• Enduring Stories
• Fictional Sociology
• Field School to Chile
• Forests: Natural and Human Communities in the Pacific Northwest
• Foundations of Performing Arts
• Images in Context
• Introduction to Environmental Studies: Oceans
• Lecture Series: Science Stories
• Love/Violence
• Making Modern America: 1820-1970
• Metapatterns
• Natural Histories: Botany, Biography, Community
• Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: Making Meaning, Making a Difference
• Not By Bread Alone: A Look at the Elements of Life
• Politics and Ideologies From The Americas
• Russia

Aesthetics: Music as Discourse

This group contract will combine listening to music of a particular time and place with study of concurrent developments in the aesthetics of music, both theory and practice. Together the group will investigate music that developed during three periods of rapid and profound change in Western sensibilities - perhaps Ars Nova during the emergence of relatively widespread literacy in the 13th and 14th centuries, then Romanticism in music during the political and economic upheavals of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, concluding with the attack on tonality in the unsettling first decades of the 20th century.

In addition, each student will carry out her or his own study of how musical activity was transformed during a period of broader change, defending a point of view on how music both responded to and contributed to larger cultural developments. Results of these projects will be presented to the group.

Credit awarded in music aesthetics, music history and cultural studies.

Total: 16 credits. Student may enroll in a four-credit course with faculty signature.

Program is preparatory for further studies in the humanities, cultural studies and music. This program is also listed under Culture, Text and Language.

Astronomy and Cosmologies

Learn beginning-to-intermediate astronomy through lectures, interactive workshops and observation. Use naked eyes, binoculars and large and small scopes. Observing opportunities are available on large telescopes on campus and via the Internet at professional sites. Credit is available for student research projects.

In Cosmologies we will study how people across cultures and throughout history have understood, modeled and ordered their universe. We will study creation stories and world views, especially of ancient peoples on this continent.

Archeoastronomy investigations may include an extended field trip to New Mexico to study astronomical sites, structures and meanings. Collaboration with Llyn DeDanaan and Marilyn Frasca's Horizons program may be posible.

Credit awarded in astronomy, physical science and/or philosophy of science.

Total: 8 or 12 credits. Advanced students are strongly encouraged to take astrophysics concurrently in Physical Systems. Beginning students are strongly encouraged to take Science Stories in fall and winter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in astronomy, physical sciences or history/philosophy of science.

This program is also listed under Scientific Inquiry.

Biology in the 21st Century

Six billion people on the planet now, 50 billion projected by the end of the 21st century - what will be the results of this population explosion? What are the consequences of lifespan extension? Of so many more elderly people? How hard will it be to secure clean water and safe food? How many animal and plant species now living will go extinct by 2100?

What are the prospects for a continuing and expanding worldwide AIDS epidemic? For the evolution and spread of other dangerous epidemic diseases? For the emergence of totally antibiotic resistant pathogens?

Human clones? Genetically engineered crops? Genetic cures for hereditary conditions and cancer? How will the results of the human genome project be used and by whom?

Will the wiring of the brain be deciphered and where might it lead? Memory enhancement? Rejuvenation for aging brains? More effective educational methods based on science of the brain? More effective psychoactive chemicals used more widely for behavior manipulation?

These are a sample of the biology-engendered questions that will challenge us in the 21st century. How big are the problems? How many people will they affect? How will they consume available resources? What are the implications for the way we will live? What are the ethical and moral implications of potential solutions? These and similar questions will be explored through readings, seminars, labs, mathematical exercises, writing, projects and films. We will familiarize ourselves with a range of possible problems and explore solutions that minimize adverse consequences.

This program is appropriate for any entering students, regardless of their career aspirations. Students will anticipate and investigate problems that will surely affect their lives in the future, no matter what they do or where they live. They will hone skills in reading critically, writing effectively and using basic mathematics.

Credit awarded in biology, English, basic math, philosophy and futuristics.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in biology, science writing (fiction or non-fiction), education, public service or any of the social sciences.

Child Welfare

This Core program is an introduction to social work and child services. The first five weeks of the quarter focus on an interdisciplinary literature review of the intellectual models that inform our understanding of childhood and youth. We explore contributions from the disciplines of philosophy, history, social psychology, social work, anthropology and literature. The second five weeks of the quarter are devoted to providing an up-to-date comprehensive social work and human services view of child welfare policies and practices in the United States.

We will emphasize competency/skill development in the areas of: oral and written communication, group dynamics (seminar participation), library research methods, self-directed learning strategy, collaborative learning strategy, critical thinking approaches, problem-solving design and volunteer community service.

Credit awarded in writing composition, library research method, critical analysis, group dynamics, social work and human services, social science, cultural studies, contemporary literature and community service.

Total: 16 credits.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in humanities and social sciences.

Concepts of Computing

This spring offering will examine the fundamentals of computing and the use of computing in several application areas. Students will study concepts of computer science along with ideas behind application software that make computers effective tools. There will be hands-on lab work as well as examination of the models, methods and abstract concepts behind the software and hardware. Topics may include simple graphics and modeling, the World Wide Web, computer organization and some aspects of mathematics and logic.

The program is aimed at students who have an interest in computing but limited background in the area. It will be useful for students who want a solid foundation for use of computers in a variety of disciplines (especially in the sciences) as well as those who want to decide whether they are interested in taking additional course work in computer science, such as the entry-level program Data to Information.

Credit awarded in computer science and statistics.

Total: 16 credits.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in the sciences, computer sciences and other computer intensive areas of study.

This program is also listed under Scientific Inquiry.

Enduring Stories

Stories are the scaffolding of our lives. Through stories we tell our history, profess our values and give meaning to our lives. We "make" our lives understandable through stories. Behind stories and storytelling is a strong individual and cultural impulse to understand and make sense of life. There are some stories, so central to the life of a people and culture, that have endured over a long time. It is these stories we want to pay particular attention to, not only for their literary qualities but for what they reveal about our lives.

In this program we will study stories as well as the impulse for storytelling. By focusing on the impulse behind stories we open up many questions: How do stories help us make our lives whole and connected? How do stories affect how we experience our lives? Where does the impulse to tell stories reside in the lives of individuals and communities?

We will focus our attention on stories from the Mediterranean, particularly from the eastern Mediterranean. This is a vast, culturally and politically complex area of the world, rich in distinct histories, religions, traditions and stories. The traditional story of Western civilization begins with an idealization of classical Greek society. We will explore this traditional story while also expanding our understanding by looking more broadly at stories from other eastern Mediterranean cultures, particularly stories from Jewish and Islamic traditions.

Fall quarter we will study the single most enduring story from this area - the story of God. We will look at the central stories of God in the Judaic, Christian and Islamic traditions using as original texts the Torah, the Gospels and the Koran. We will read stories about God written subsequent to these texts to understand the enduring elements of the story, as well as relevant historical and anthropological material to see how this story plays out in people's lives.

Winter quarter we will turn to other great enduring stories. We will read early, classical texts from different cultures in the eastern Mediterranean. For each original text we will read subsequent stories rewritten to fit the historical period in which they were told.

Our stories will culminate in American immigrant stories in which more contemporary authors retell and live these enduring stories. We will draw on published as well as oral accounts passed on in families. We consider these to be the enduring stories of the members of our program, carrying within them cultural and historical elements important to us today.

We will focus strongly on improving academic skills: Students will learn to read critically, to participate effectively in seminars, to do library and field research and to work collaboratively on small-group projects. Students will write essays and short stories; they will also collect stories and do an oral history project focused on immigrants.

This program has a strong interdisciplinary base. It will draw from traditional disciplines, anthropology, comparative religion, classics, history and literature, and from more recent ones, cultural studies, media studies and literary criticism.

Credit awarded in literature, comparative religion, anthropology, history, classics and literary criticism.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in humanities and social studies.

Fictional Sociology

We will begin this program by suggesting that various kinds of therapy and social theory in the late 20th century have succeeded not by reducing suffering but by enlarging suffering's scope. In pursuing this suggestion, we will look closely at how we construct knowledge about people, institutions and social phenomena - marriage, family, school, sexuality, crime, child development, gender, etc. We will devote our initial studies to the range and penetration into people's lives of the Therapeutic mentality.

In this program, we will address the Therapeutic by searching for truth and social justice through particularistic or fictional responses. We intend to invent a discipline called "fictional sociology." We will enlist C. Wright Mills's view that the sociological imagination should fuse the public and private and Foucault's work on discipline and the social body, but our aim will be particularistic critiques of the Therapeutic from the arts and humanities.

Beyond their reading of theory texts, students will focus on modern satire from the 18th century to the present, a body of work that constitutes a distinctively untherapeutic response and which reveals, instead, how base, violent, and selfish impulses tend to take on respectable social forms. The literary and visual background for our work is rich in historical and contemporary models, from Fielding, Swift and Hogarth to more recent writers and photographers who use satiric techniques, among which irony is the major literary trope. In general, our reading of visual and discursive satires will become the background for creating a late 20th century aesthetic that tries to interrupt the wash of standardized, mass-produced images that constitute our reality. Our critique of scientific and popular culture will focus on the idea that social forms lend themselves to re-presentation through the affective knowledges of imaging/art and literature.

Students will be asked to integrate their knowledge of literature and their theoretical work with skills in writing, story-telling, photography or digital imaging. Throughout the two quarters, students will publicly present their work. Our goal will be to interrupt the usual course of our contemporary enthusiasms while resisting the therapeutic turn. Like Foucault, we will attempt to "fiction" a present that, in the tradition of satire, shocks one's audience rather than suggesting humanitarian reforms.

This program is intended for advanced students who know they are lost intellectuals, or for photographers looking for a narrative framework, or for creative writers who are tired of sincerity and appealing for sympathy, or science students in search of culture, or sociology buffs who have caught a whiff of possibilities.

Credit awarded in cultural studies, literature, social theory and creative writing or imaging or photography.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in writing, social science and humanities.

This program is also listed under Culture, Text and Language.

Field School to Chile

This program's interdisciplinary curriculum will allow participants to study, research and experience political, cultural, artistic, econo-mic, environmental and agricultural concerns currently affecting Chile and South America.

This field school will provide practical opportunities to evaluate the neo-liberal model being applied in Chile at the recommendation of the International Monetary Fund and other international organizations. Workshops, conferences and discussions with political and community leaders and grass-roots organizations will explore the direct impact this polemic model is having on the various social sectors of the country.

Participants will be immersed in the socio-political and economic reality of a country struggling to overcome underdevelopment. Students are expected to learn about the social, artistic, folkloric and intellectual life of Chile and the different expressions they assume according to class structure.

Backgound of Chile: One of the oldest democracies in Latin America - democracy was abruptly interrupted by a military coup d'état between 1973 and 1990 - Chile is rapidly trying to insert itself into a new international world order under the leadership of an elected civilian government. The national economy is proudly exhibited by international organizations as one of the most effective and successful in the Third World. Chilean exports reach all markets around the world and investments in Chile's economy have grown significantly. Programs and projects at all levels are being developed by governmental, private, international and non-governmental organizations. For these reasons the country is changing very fast, not only economically but culturally and politically.

Though many Chileans are of European extraction, indigenous traditions are strong in several parts of the country. The desert north, once part of the Inca Empire, preserves important archaeological remains, while Aymara Indians still farm Andean valleys and terraces. South of the heartland are Mapuche Indian communities whose symbolic importance in Chilean life greatly exceeds their political and economic significance. Until the end of the 19th century, the Mapuche maintained an effective and heroic resistance to the southward advance of Chilean rule. Chile's tremendous geographic diversity, and surprising cultural variety, have made it an important destination in its own right.

Logistics: The first weeks of the quarter will introduce students to the culture, politics and geography of the country. Also, working groups will form to undertake research projects that reflect the interests of the participants. Once in Chile, the group will travel around the country visiting governmental, nongovernmental, private and church development projects in urban and rural areas. Trips to the Andes, rural, urban and mining sectors, the National Congress in the Port of Valparaíso, and meetings with governmental authorities, political leaders and grassroots organizations will be held. Students will have the opportunity to interact with a wide range of the Chilean population to learn and evaluate the effects of economic and cultural changes. Classes, conferences and workshops about this and other topics will be available at University of Chile and other educational and research institutions.

Requirements: Students are expected to keep a journal and to work in a group research project (individual projects may be approved after discussion with the faculty). To conduct research, students can travel around the country, consult with people, visit libraries and universities. Students must submit research proposals to the faculty no later than week three of spring quarter.

Knowledge of Spanish is not a requirement, but it is highly recommended that students gain familiarity with this language. Though most program activities will be enhanced by knowledge of Spanish, lectures and workshops will be in English.

Students may stay in Chile for four or eight weeks. Those who return earlier can complete their work at TESC using material gathered in Chile.

Field School Cost: The base price of this field school is approximately $2,700 for those staying for eight weeks, and $2,300 for four-week stays. The field school includes: airfare (round trip Seattle to Santiago to Seattle); tuition and fees in Chile; room and board in the city of Santiago; on-site orientation; program-related expenses; and transportation in the country. The field school costs do not include TESC tuition and fees. Participants must pay a $150 deposit (refundable in certain circumstances) by February 16, 1999.

Credit awarded in Latin American studies, cultural studies, conversational Spanish and individual study.

Total: 16 credits.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in social sciences, international studies, television production, art, folklore and education.

This program is also listed under Culture, Text and Language.

Forests: Natural and Human Communities in the Pacific Northwest

In fall we will examine the ecological development of the flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest from the Ice Age to the present while comparing Native American uses of nature with those of early white settlers. At the same time, we will begin basic work in botany, natural history (the campus forests will be our practical laboratory all year), political economy and statistics so we can understand the workings of nature, the nature of human work and the interactions of the two.

In winter we will examine human impacts on forests from the mid-19th century to the present, looking at the development of industrial forestry and the rise and decline of natural-resource-based communities and businesses. We will continue our explorations in botany, natural history, political economy and statistics, deepening our understanding of rapid, widespread human impacts on the natural world.

In winter, students in small groups will begin planning research projects that will occupy most of their time in spring quarter. Our intention is that students be prepared to begin their research work confidently in the first week of spring quarter.

Our spring classroom time will be devoted to studying the present and future of Pacific Northwest forests and forest communities and businesses in light of the transition to a service-based economy, the development of alternative materials and the rise of environmentalism and tourism. We will ask whether sustainable forestry is possible.

Students should expect overnight field trips, day-long field trips, retreats, lectures, workshops, seminars, lab work and long hours of intense and difficult work.

Credit awarded in anthropology, botany, community studies, ecology, economics, environmental science, Native American studies, natural history, natural resources policy, forestry, political economy and statistics.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in social sciences, environmental studies, humanities, expressive arts and scientific inquiry.

Foundations of Performing Arts

Throughout Western art history, theater, music and dance have constantly played the important role of marking, highlighting or even foretelling the turning points of social, political and cultural development. By studying performing arts in various historical contexts, we are able to gradually trace and grasp the fundamental questions about the evolution of human civilization. By looking at the most current artistic happenings in our environment, we are able to come to a better understanding and acceptance of the most common joys, fears, worries, concerns and desires we share as part of this complex contemporary world. Within this yearlong program, we will explore stages and changes of Western history by examining various phases and faces of performing arts, paying special attention to the mutual, reciprocal dynamics between performing arts and society as well as the interlocking relationship between individual disciplines within the performing arts: theater, music and dance.

At the same time, although different forms and styles of performing arts closely reflect the unique and distinct characteristics of different historical and social contexts, all performing arts share universal vocabulary and essential qualities that defy historical and cultural boundaries. What is the true essence of performing arts? What is the universal language that performances all over the world share? To answer those questions, our attention will not be restricted by the Western perspectives; on the contrary, we will broaden our analysis to explore non-Western cultures and study their unique performance traditions. Their differences from and similarities with the Western traditions in performing arts will help us establish a broader scope of understanding and appreciation of the spirit and aesthetics of performing arts on its purest and most human level. In this way, we can start to unravel the mysterious and all-encompassing question concerning the foundations of performing arts.

Each quarter, the program will center on a special theme connected with the others in a clear sequence of exploration. Fall quarter will pose those essential questions about performing arts and look for answers within the Western artistic tradition through various different historical and social phases. Winter quarter will take students into a more global context within which they will study performances of other cultures through selective sampling. Spring quarter will be driven by student-oriented, faculty-guided projects to combine the learning of the previous quarters. The program emphasizes the balance between theory and practice. Students will receive theoretical information through lecture, seminar and film viewing. They will also participate in music, theater or dance workshops throughout the year to get practical experiences of the performing arts. Guest artists will provide special presentations and workshops to enrich the program material. All students will be encouraged to attend outside performances to hone their critical skills in arts appreciation.

Credit awarded in theater, music, dance and cultural studies.

Total: 16 credits each quarter. Students may enroll in a four-credit course with faculty signature.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in performing arts, humanities and liberal arts.

Images in Context

Images in Context, a three-quarter program, examines artistic images in painting, litera-ture, photography and film within their social and historical contexts. It emphasizes the ways a historical moment impacts the images produced and the stories told within it.

Fall quarter we will look at a period during which these media interacted most dynamically: Western European modernism from the 1880s to the 1920s. During this era, painting and photography were freed from the dictates of representation while literature and film reconceptualized space and time. Then we will examine modernism outside Europe, assessing the impact of history, politics and social change on representation. Texts may include Mexican murals, Afro-Cuban poetry and Japanese Western-style painting.

Winter and spring quarters will consider the postwar "cinema of new possibilities." In Japan, film was the best medium for simul-taneously expressing the existential anxiety and sense of liberation following the war. In Cuba, film captured exciting possibilities and burning social issues of a post-revolutionary society. In the United States, filmmakers faced McCarthy-era repression while challenging the studio system and its production code.

In the spring, we will ask what follows modernism. Are we experiencing a paradigm shift as post-industrial societies evolve into information societies? What happens to art in the age of information technology and digital reproduction? In the era of global dissemination of U.S. popular culture? Spring projects will explore these questions.

An important aspect of our work will be developing critical reading and writing skills. We will also acquire or improve our visual literacy skills by examining the ways "seeing" is culturally conditioned. We will hone our skills as readers, writers and seers through workshops, group and individual exercises. Students will also make class presentations.

Credit awarded in film history and interpretation, literature history and interpretation, visual art history and interpretation and expository writing.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in the humanities and expressive arts, cultural studies, art history, media studies and literature.

This program is also listed under Culture, Text and Language and Expressive Arts.

Introduction to Environmental Studies: Oceans

This program will introduce the foundations of environmental studies through an examination of ocean life and human reliance on oceans as a source of natural resources. In the process, students will be introduced to general biology, marine biology, microeconomics and fisheries economics.

Fall quarter will introduce general biology and economics, the natural history of the marine world, and how oceans have shaped humans through time. Students will learn general biology skills through laboratory and field exercises with an emphasis on marine life.

The central focus of winter quarter will be independent research projects on economically important marine organisms. Each student will complete a library research project focusing on one marine organism. The research will consider the organism's ecological/biological characteristics and the economic aspects that make it a resource, and suggest policy guidelines consistent with future sustainable use of the resource. Library research skills will be emphasized. Lectures will focus on marine biology and fisheries economics.

Credit awarded in environmental studies, general biology, marine biology, microeconomics and fisheries economics.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in life sciences, social sciences and environmental studies.

This program is also listed under Environmental Studies.

Lecture Series: Science Stories

People have always used stories to convey their understandings of the world. Among the important stories we tell to make sense of things are stories that come from science. Ancient to modern understandings of dis/order in the universe, interactions between bodies and other natural phenomena shape and reflect our views of ourselves and our place in the world. We will explore stories of scientific understanding throughout history and across cultures, and see how the nature of science continues to evolve. Fields include physics, chemistry, biology, environmental science, mathematics, computer science and more. Topics range from quantum theory, cosmology, chaos and molecular biology to genetic engineering, ecology, artificial intelligence and beyond.

Presentations will be made by guest lecturers from the faculty and from outside the college. Selected readings will provide background material on diverse topics. Credit will be based on attendance and on successful completion of two short exams given each quarter. This lecture series is open to all members of the community.

Credit awarded in introduction to science or history/philosophy of science.

Total: 2 credits each quarter. Advanced students are encouraged to take Physical Systems concurrently. Beginning students are encouraged to take Astronomy and Cosmologies in spring.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in physical, natural or computer sciences, environmental studies, history/philosophy of science or social sciences.

This program is also listed under Scientific Inquiry.

Love/Violence

This coordinated, interdisciplinary program inquires into a central characteristic in the human condition: The ways we think and act, our relationships with each other, institutions in and among societies are grounded in love and violence. These two concepts, rich in meaning and cultural-historical implication, are inseparable even if they trigger psychological disruptions that challenge a person's perceptions and expectations. For that reason, love and violence are the creative forces expressed in arts and literature, and behind all social, political and philosophical systems. In this study, we will use all these cultural constructs to probe at the core of love and violence and how they have taken shape in America.

Texts may include: Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy; Eichmann In Jerusalem, Hannah Arendt; Reel to Real, bell hooks; and more. Films include Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, Birth of a Nation and more. Mass media and popular entertainment will also come under our scrutiny. Students are expected to respond to these critical word/sound/image texts in writing and seminar participation. Additionally, students will carry out independent research that illuminates the nature of love and violence in America.

Credit awarded in the relevant areas of American studies, literature, cultural studies, popular culture, political economy, social psychology, sociology, writing, research, social work and human services.

Total: 16 credits each quarter. Students may enroll in a four-credit course with faculty signature.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in American studies, literature, cultural studies, political economy, social psychology, social work and human services.

This program is also listed under Culture, Text and Language.

Making Modern America: 1820-1970

As Andrew Jackson prepared to make his bid for the presidency, the new American nation pulsed with energy and zeal. Thinkers argued the nation was poised to finish its true mission: the creation of the world's first perfect society. Balanced between the assumed decadence of the "Old World" and the "savagery" of the Frontier, the fledgling state seemed to occupy an ideal position: it could escape the extremes on both sides and finish off the business of building a republic that could deliver on the promises inherent in its Declaration of Independence. Each citizen would be able to travel as far and as fast down the road toward health, wealth and comfort as his talents would take him. No thought was given to the fact that citizenship was defined in a manner that excluded women and non-whites from participation in the economic, political and social processes.

Beginning in the 1820s, however, the nation bubbled and roiled with reformist zeal as the "Woman Question," penal reform, dietary issues and a growing disaffection with slavery sparked mass movements and culminated in the Civil War. The Reconstruction Period that followed the Civil War was also a period of unprecedented economic growth that sparked more reformist movements: the Agrarian Revolt, populism, progressivism, Prohibition, and imperial designs on overseas possessions. After Woodrow Wilson was elected president in 1912, the nation became embroiled in the international crises of the 20th century while still attending to the unfinished business of incorporating former slaves and women into their newly won roles as citizens. What lay ahead were two world wars, great prosperity, the Great Depression and major changes in the fabric of American society - leading to John F. Kennedy's 1960 Presidential Campaign, which promised a "New Frontier."

Making Modern America will explore three pivotal periods in the history of the nation: Fall quarter will examine the period 1820-1865; winter quarter will focus on 1865-1912; and spring will study 1912-1960. We will carefully read the major American thinkers and authors in history, literature, society, philosophy, and economics and incorporate materials from the not-so-famous such as mill girls from Lowell, Massachusetts, diaries kept by women on the Oregon Trail and other materials that will help us align the "official" history of the nation with its daily life and practice. We will honestly confront issues of race, gender, and class as they emerged in the context of their times and study how they have formed who and what we are as a society today.

Students will be taught how to write clear expository prose; how to think beyond the obvious meaning; how to read and understand demanding texts; how to do research in primary and secondary source materials; how to articulate ideas in verbal discourse; and how to synthesize lucid, effective positions from a variety of sources. Fall and winter quarters will require students to perform weekly writing assignments and spring will feature a formal research project capped with a scholarly essay about that research. In addition, each quarter will end with a public symposium on topics relevant to the work for the term. For example, fall quarter will end with a symposium on the Civil War and Reconstruction; winter will focus on progressivism and its impact; while spring will end with creative performances of student-generated material.

In addition, the common reading list will require a minimum of 500 pages of reading each week and readings will be accelerated winter and spring quarters as student capacity for work increases.

Credit awarded in American history, American literature, philosophy, political economy and cultural studies.

Total: 16 credits each quarter. Students may enroll in a four-credit course with faculty signature.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in the humanities and social sciences.

Metapatterns

In Metapatterns we are interested in creating a learning community whose goal is to collaboratively investigate multiple methods of inquiry into the nature of the self, dialogue, the other and community. In this two-quarter study of the "patterns that connect," we will try to bring together in new ways material from a number of different disciplines, including cultural studies, media arts, interpersonal communications, performance, theater, installation art, visual sociology, social science research methods and psychology. In addition to lectures, seminars, screenings and field trips, we intend to organize this coordinated study into five-week increments focused on a set of interlocking and conceptual themes. To support this process the faculty will offer a series of three workshops [Methods of Inquiry and Collaborative Research I, II and III] that will promote skill building in communications, social research, performance and video. Each five-week period will be structured around new skills offered in three workshops and concludes with group presentations that reflect on the current conceptual themes.

In the first five weeks we will focus on Personal History, exploring autobiography and the written narrative, looking at the creation of personal spaces, making self portraits, experimenting with storytelling, studying family histories and inventing alter-egos. In the second five weeks we will explore Dialogue with attention paid to interpersonal communication, the presentation of self, ideas about the dialectic, the notion of encounters, the creation of dramatic scenes, the study of the self in dialogue with space and objects and the possibilities of cyberspace dialogue. In the third five weeks we will study the concept of The Other with attention paid to the politics of both dialogue and representation as well as a examination of a range of social and cultural issues including difference, fear, borders, exploration and the exotic. Again, each five-week period will conclude with group presentations that reflect on the current conceptual theme and are based on new skills offered in the three workshops.

One of the overarching purposes of the program is to search for metapatterns that create community. To this end, students will be asked to design and produce collaborative multimedia pieces (i.e., employing multiple modes of inquiry not exclusively produced with digital technology) in the final five weeks of the program. These pieces will be concerned with the fourth and final conceptual theme, Community.

Texts may include: I and Thou, Martin Buber; The Quark and the Jaguar, Murray Gell-Mann; The Tao of Conversation, Michael Kahn; Putting Myself in the Picture, Jo Spence; The Blue Donkey Fables, Suniti Namjoshi; Metapatterns: Across, Time and Mind, Tyler Volk; and The Temple of My Familiar, Alice Walker.

Credit awarded in cultural studies, media arts, interpersonal communication, performance theater, installation art, visual sociology, social sciences, research methods and psychology.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

Natural Histories: Botany, Biography, Community

This program uses the naturalist approach to explore patterns of people's lived experience of place, especially in our part of the West. Natural histories are accounts of the lives of humans and other organisms, described in concrete detail and situated in a particular time and place. They take the form of species accounts, life histories and the stories of a place. We will study stories people tell about themselves, their communities and nature. We will examine how collective practices have shaped and been shaped by local landscapes and institutions. We will assess current social and environmental conflicts in light of prospects for a sustainable future, based on what we can know about the conditions that nurture the well-being of persons and places.

During the fall, students will undertake a study centered on one piece of land, inventorying the plant species, documenting changes over time and recording oral history of people who've lived there. In winter, the research will involve conversation with practitioners of crafts that can help ground communities in place. Developing library research skills will also be a significant focus in winter. In spring, students will do field projects. Natural Histories will pay close attention to cultural dimensions of inhabitation, including Native American outlooks, bioregionalism, gender, class and religious consciousness. Readings will span community studies, environmental studies, literature (novels, essays, poetry) and social thought.

This program offers students (1) training in ethnographic and ecological (particularly botanical) research methods; (2) emphasis on writing in journal and documentary forms; (3) a foundation in social theory and communitarian philosophy with concern for morally responsible action. The work will be intellectually challenging and time demanding. We welcome first-year students who are ready for intensive engagement in their studies. Natural Histories is ideal for upper-division students who want to specialize in humanistic or ecosystemic inquiry while studying both as an integrated whole.

Credit awarded in social theory, community and cultural studies, botany, literature, oral history and environmental history.

Total: 16 credits each quarter. Students may enroll in a four-credit course each quarter with faculty signature.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in teaching, natural resource management, community planning, social work, history, environmental policy and the humanities.

This program is also listed under Culture, Text and Language and Environmental Studies.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: Making Meaning, Making a Difference

This program is designed for students interested in the arts, religion, community service and or activism. Many people today feel that social, economic, cultural and political problems are too big or complex to comprehend. They feel powerless to involve themselves. Yet they are dissatisfied with isolated self-expression or individual material gain. They want to be part of an effort to improve the quality of life for everyone but are unsure of how to proceed.

A myriad of causes, issues and ideologies demand their allegiance. They face competing definitions of freedom, justice, rights, author-ity, conscience and social change. They are confused by the ethical choices they face as members of institutions with whose policies or practices they disagree. Or they struggle with questions of how to serve, not patronize, others or with questions about the roles for artists as nonconformists in society.

This program is founded on the premise that there are multiple ways individuals can address social, political and economic problems, including artistic expression, religious or political activism and community service. We will explore the lives and work of individuals (artists, writers and activists) who have responded to the issues of their times. After examining key concepts, the program will be organized around historical events: the Great Depression, the Holocaust, the American civil rights movement and the women's movement. Typically, we will spend a few weeks learning about the period and the work of a visual artist, a fiction writer, a religious thinker or activist and a social or political activist. In the course of these studies we will explore the purpose of the work, whether the person worked alone or with others, his/her motivation, obstacles faced and the personal meaning and social significance of the work.

This program also includes instruction in particular skills. In fall we will focus on critical reading and thinking, expository writing and image analysis; in winter, on narrative writing and film analysis; in spring, on library research. Also, all students will participate in art and community service activities so they can explore their interest and strengths in these forms of making meaning.

Credit awarded in history, writing, art, social sciences and literature.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in history, art, social sciences and literature.

Not By Bread Alone: A Look at the Elements of Life

An important intersection between the environment, the individual and society is the food and water we consume. In Not By Bread Alone, we will examine the variety of ways humans have used to feed themselves in various times and places. To do so, we will use literature inspired by food and the role of food in history. We will also examine current concerns about food value, safety and the modification of foods by technology. Finally, we will examine some diverse visions of what our future food may be like and where it will come from. For example, what changes in the world's food might be produced by reductions in biodiversity or by applications of bio-technology to agricultural crops?

Models drawn from chemistry and biology will provide vital perspectives on the study of interactions between organisms and their food stuffs. We will study the processes involved in food preparation, preservation, analysis, digestion and metabolism, including the important roles of water in life. We will use hands-on laboratories to examine some of these interactions. We will study the chemistry and biology relevant to understanding the structure, function and reactions of biological molecules and natural products, including the sources and uses of energy in food and biological systems. These models also provide insights into the constraints imposed by the environment on food supply. After an introduction to biology, we will develop a deeper understanding of the relationships between biology and chemistry in physiology and nutrition. Microbiology will also be introduced, as microbes are important both as significant agents in food processing as well as causes of food borne diseases. An important tool in the literature on food safety and nutrition is the use of statistical methods. To allow us to use these tools we will build quantitative skills, using computer programs when appropriate.

There will be a strong emphasis on communication in writing and oral presentations, as well as on the ability to gather information using modern library tools.

Many people's choices of what to eat are based on historical, religious and economic considerations, in addition to the limitations presented by the environment. A further level of complexity is added by the role of taste and aesthetics in how we prepare food. Our seminar readings and films will focus on how these interactions have resulted in distinct solutions to human diets in a variety of cultures and time periods. An important group research project will be an analysis of one of these distinctive dietary solutions.

The work in this program will consist of lectures, laboratories, skill building workshops and individual and small-group research projects. There will be field trips to food production and processing locations.

Credit awarded in general chemistry, biology, statistics, writing, history and literature.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in biology, chemistry, health sciences and environmental studies.

Politics and Ideologies From The Americas

Rich and industrialized nations from the North assert that capitalism brought progress and welfare to many nations. On the other hand, people from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean argue that capitalism was based on primitive accumulation rooted in the primitive violence, pillage and genocide of the inhabitants of the Third World. Accordingly, they claim that rich nations exist today because their ancestors plundered other nations for many centuries. First Europe and then the U.S.A., after they expropriated the Third World of their right to life, have created and imposed structures and laws that allowed them to decide the destiny of these continents. These conditions have permitted the historical oppressors to behave like creditors and judges who dictate sentences forcing Third World countries to continue funneling their wealth toward the developed economies, according to this interpretation. Through these mechanisms, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean were converted into secondary chapters of the European history, many in the Third World argued. Besides the rules of European capitalist markets, their culture, religion and identity were imposed upon them. Peoples from these continents were forced to be ashamed of themselves because they were Indians or Blacks, to renegade their cultures and to accept living under eternal conditions of exile in their own lands.

This group contract will study the above processes in the Americas from pre-Columbian times until today from a multidisciplinary approach that includes history, politics, economics, religion, culture, folklore, literature, theater, media, art, etc. Within this context, the process of underdevelopment, which characterizes the region today, will be historically analyzed and evaluated in light of the formation and expansion of the capitalist system in Europe first and the United States later. This program will utilize Latin American approaches and interpretations, as opposed to Eurocentric studies and models from Europe and the U.S.A.

This group contract will also include a social research methods component to study the subjects described here. Projects, including video production, cultural journalism, folklore, theater, alternative media and Spanish language will be developed by students working in small groups. During the winter quarter the program will offer interested students a chance to prepare for spring quarter travel to Chile. Participation in research projects and production of several short documentaries about relevant topics studied in this program will be the focus of the Field School to Chile, a separate program (see page 59).

Credit awarded in social sciences, communications, Latin American studies, political economy, arts, television production and writing.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in social sciences, international studies, environmental studies and television production.

Russia

This program explores Russia from the ninth century to the present. Fall quarter covers Russian history, literature and culture from their beginnings to the end of the 18th century; winter quarter focuses on the 19th century; and spring quarter concentrates on the 20th century, including the Soviet and post-Soviet eras. Readings may include chronicles, epics, saints' lives, historical texts, folklore, tales and the literature of Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Herzen, Gorky, Blok, Zamiatin, Mayakovsky, Esenin, Akhmatova, Solzhenitsyn, Pasternak, Ginzberg, Yevtushenko, Petrushevskaya, Tolstaya and Rasputin.

Intensive elementary Russian may be offered during summer, 1998. Less-intensive elementary and intermediate Russian will be offered as modules during fall, winter and spring quarters 1998-99. Students may register for the modules apart from the Russia program. All students are encouraged to enroll in a language class appropriate for their level; however, the Russia program will also be open to students who do not wish to take language classes. The Russian language classes will be open to qualified students outside the program if space is available, but students who intend to enroll full-time in the Russia program will be given first preference.

Students enroll each quarter for 12 credits. To earn full credit, a student must regularly attend weekly lectures, participate in weekly book seminars, complete required readings and submit assignments in a timely manner. Russian language modules provide an additional four credits and related modular workshops may also be offered for four credits on subjects such as Russian cultural history, an individual author such as Chekhov and Russian and Soviet film.

Given sufficient interest, the faculty will arrange, or direct students to, study programs in Russia during summer 1999.

Credit awarded in Russian history, Russian literature and Russian culture.

Total: 12 credits each quarter. Students may enroll in a four-credit course each quarter.

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in diplomatic service or international business and trading corporations, as well as graduate studies in international affairs and in Russian and Slavic studies.