2014-15 Undergraduate Index A-Z
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Freshmen
Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters | Open Quarters |
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Steven Scheuerell and Michael Paros
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | A basic understanding of agriculture, with its central role in civilization, is a critical part of a liberal arts education. The United Nations recently announced that agricultural production should increase 70% by the year 2050 to meet development and consumption projections; do you understand the demand this will place on natural resources and the role of agricultural sciences in responding to this challenge? Can you explain the biology, chemistry, and technology that underlie agricultural production systems? Whatever your philosophical and political perspectives may be on food and agriculture, it is essential to have a fundamental understanding of agricultural sciences and technology to foster informed debate about one of the most critical and pressing planetary issues - agriculture.Focusing on key Northwest crop and livestock species such as orchard fruit, wheat, potatoes, cattle, and poultry, this program will teach the fundamentals of agricultural science. During fall quarter, day and overnight field trips will take students to a variety of agriculture operations and processing/storage facilities in the Pacific Northwest to learn about key species and to familiarize ourselves with intensification technologies commonly utilized by organic and conventional farms, such as mechanization, irrigation, herbicides, pesticides, and biotechnology. Students will study the anatomy and physiology of animals and plants in order to learn how things grow and function in response to nutrients and other environmental variables that are managed in farming systems. The basic chemistry required to understand plant and animal nutrition, nutrient cycling and fertilizers will be taught. Applied and environmental microbiology will be taught to learn about the role of microbes in nutrient cycling, and to show examples of how plant-microbe and animal-microbe interactions are managed to optimize the nutrition and health of crops and livestock.In winter quarter we will continue our disciplinary studies and integrate an understanding of plants, animals, microbes, and chemistry to learn the science of soil conservation. This will focus on organic matter management via the utilization of animal manure, compost, crop residues, cover crops, and conservation tillage. Taking a systems approach to combine learning in biology, chemistry, technology, and farm management, we will address on-farm energy flow and nutrient cycling to understand how farms may increase production while minimizing fossil fuel use, pollution, and soil loss. Program format will consist of lectures, readings, and labs that relate to what students see firsthand on fieldtrips. In Winter quarter, a week-long field trip to California’s vast agricultural production areas and the World Ag Expo will serve to integrate program themes. Students unable to participate in the California field trip will complete a case study project to remain eligible to earn full credit. | Steven Scheuerell Michael Paros | Tue Thu Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Heather Heying, Andrew Buchman and Sarah Pedersen
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | What does it mean to observe? When things change—the stakes, the shoreline, or the technology, the observed or the observer—how does what we see change? How are vision and insight intertwined into representations of the natural world? Through the perspectives, methodologies and skills of artistic practice, field studies, literary criticism, evolutionary science and seamanship, we will study, interpret and communicate what we see, how we see and why. Beginning the year with a six-day field trip, we will engage in sail training aboard a classic sailing vessel and practice both foundational field methods in evolutionary studies and the documentation of sights and sounds through recordings and field journals. We will then return to the sea in spring with a two-week long expedition. How will our senses, and the brains that interpret for them, have changed in the interim? What might we see that we could not before? What do we see in the spring that was truly not there in the fall?As we move between sea and shore, we will focus on borders and boundaries: physical, sensory and cultural; metaphorical and literal. Coastlines are both fixed, defining a transition between two other real things, and in constant flux. We will look for pattern and subtlety in the places in between the dichotomies, developing stories about the changes and the boundaries we’ve observed. We will consider what makes a good story in science, art and literature, and we will investigate how to create, tell, assess and destroy stories. The stories that we know to be true sometimes aren’t, and those that we know to be false are sometimes true; we will ask how the stories that we tell and believe are influenced not just by our eyes and other senses, but also by our histories, personal and cultural. What we want to see influences what we do see. Why do our brains deceive us and when?In this program, students will study and practice observation and representation in the fields of audio and video recordings of nature and culture, performance and visual art, evolutionary biology, literary studies and seamanship: | Heather Heying Andrew Buchman Sarah Pedersen | Freshmen FR | Fall | Fall | |||
Joseph Tougas and Russell Lidman
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | Most of our wants and needs are met through the activities of private business enterprises, and, to a lesser extent, of entrepreneurial nonprofits. You may be considering a career in business or entrepreneurship, or perhaps you are just exploring career options. This introductory program will provide perspective on and a foundation in skills essential for success in business and social entrepreneurship. A measure of this program’s success is whether it supports you in developing your talents and abilities, to enable you to play a positive role in these arenas. The content of this program includes economics and business statistics, as well as the study of ethics and values as they apply to leadership and decision-making. Students will acquire an understanding of the economy and its impact on firms, industries, communities, and households. They will be exposed to descriptive and inferential business statistics—necessary background for any subsequent work in marketing, finance, auditing and accounting. Students will be challenged with ethical problems that will require careful, analytical thought. In connection with the readings on ethical values, students will be encouraged to think through how their own sense of what makes life worthwhile would influence their decisions as a businessperson or community organizer. Students will need to squarely face the conflicts that inevitably arise in a pluralistic society, and learn to respond honestly and constructively in conflict situations. They will participate in team-building tasks which will provide perspective on working as part of a team, as well as independently. All of this will occur in the context of an interdisciplinary liberal education, oriented to the student’s intellectual and personal growth.The program will include lectures, seminars, workshops, guest lectures and field work. Our guest lecturers will come from successful local businesses and nonprofits. The field work will involve visiting a nearby community and producing a detailed analysis of its economic well-being. Reading for this program will include texts in economics, business statistics, and practical ethics, along with short stories and novels that illustrate the challenges of making business decisions that are both ethically and economically sound. Students will also develop practical skills working with the spreadsheet software Excel. | Joseph Tougas Russell Lidman | Mon Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
David Shaw and Zoe Van Schyndel
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | What’s next for business? Pure profit-oriented approaches to business may fail socially, ethically and economically. Change is a constant in business, including innovation, value creation and responsibility for others. The roles we are asked to play in organizations and in business can and do vary. The desire to innovate drives the entrepreneurial spirit, whether to make money, underwrite a particular lifestyle, do good and/or create jobs for others. The managerial role, in contrast, demands one act on behalf of the best interests of the organization and its stakeholders and serve as the responsible steward for different interests. With multiple roles like these to juggle, how is it possible to find the proper balance, if any, among them? Students will answer these questions for themselves by participating in field trips, seminars, workshops, listening to guest speakers, watching movies and attending lectures.This program is designed for students who want to build a strong foundation in business. We will take an introductory look at the business disciplines of accounting, finance, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and economics over two quarters. Students who successfully complete the program will develop a solid foundation for doing business, creating their own business or nonprofit, or working with or consulting with others founding or growing their own organizations. It will also help those interested in pursuing advanced studies in business or the social sciences, or seeking employment in the private sector, government or nonprofit organizations. Students should also leave the program with a deeper appreciation of emerging issues at the intersection between business and society.Students will find a basic level of quantitative competence, including the ability to create, use and interpret spreadsheets (e.g., MS Excel), useful. Students who do not yet have these skills will have an opportunity to expand these skills in program assignments. | David Shaw Zoe Van Schyndel | Mon Mon Wed Thu Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Dharshi Bopegedera and Vauhn Foster-Grahler
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | This program will explore topics in chemistry at the introductory level. It is designed for students who are eager to gain an understanding of chemistry so that they can pursue further studies at the general chemistry level and for those who are seeking to broaden their liberal arts education. Program activities will include lectures, workshops, and laboratory experiments. We will begin the study of introductory chemistry by exploring the structure of the atom, the nature of the chemical bond, and proceed towards an understanding of molecular geometry.This will lead us to discussions of the periodic table, chemical reactions, mole concepts, and stoichiometry. In the laboratory we will develop bench skills and lab techniques. In particular we will focus on measurements, preparing solutions, titrations, and spectroscopy while learning how to use spreadsheet software for data collection and analysis. In chemistry workshops, students will work in small groups to solve problems that further their understanding of the topics covered in lectures. Collaborative learning will be expected and emphasized although students will be responsible for their individual work.In the mathematics workshops we will study linear, exponential, rational, and logarithmic functions using a problem-solving approach to college algebra. Collaborative learning will be emphasized. A graphing calculator is required.Students will have the opportunity to do an independent project to demonstrate their understanding of chemistry and mathematics by developing a hands-on lab activity to teach chemistry and math concepts to middle school children. Students will present these activities at the Annual Evergreen Science Carnival. | Dharshi Bopegedera Vauhn Foster-Grahler | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Sheryl Shulman, Rik Smoody, Richard Weiss and Neal Nelson
Signature Required:
Winter
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | In this program, students will have the opportunity to learn the intellectual concepts and skills that are essential for advanced work in computer science and beneficial for computing work in support of other disciplines. Students will achieve a deeper understanding of increasingly complex computing systems by acquiring knowledge and skills in mathematical abstraction, problem solving and the organization and analysis of hardware and software systems. The program covers material such as algorithms, data structures, computer organization and architecture, logic, discrete mathematics and programming in the context of the liberal arts and compatible with the model curriculum developed by the Association for Computing Machinery's Liberal Arts Computer Science Consortium.The program content will be organized around four interwoven themes. The computational organization theme covers concepts and structures of computing systems from digital logic to the computer architecture supporting high level languages and operating systems. The programming theme concentrates on learning how to design and code programs to solve problems. The mathematical theme helps develop mathematical reasoning, theoretical abstractions and problem-solving skills needed for computer scientists. A technology and society theme explores social, historical or philosophical topics related to science and technology. | Sheryl Shulman Rik Smoody Richard Weiss Neal Nelson | Mon Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Donald Middendorf and Terry Setter
|
Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | What is the relationship between our understanding of consciousness and our self-understanding? This yearlong, interdisciplinary program will provide an opportunity for students who are interested in doing intensive work on the nature of consciousness to cultivate self-awareness through challenging readings, written and expressive responses to program materials and self-reflection. We will examine our beliefs about the nature of reality from a variety of disciplinary viewpoints, including physics, music, psychology and philosophy. Prospective students should have a strong interest in the experiential study of relationships between reality and consciousness as well as college-level skills in reading, writing and pursuing research topics. Sincere effort and self-motivation will be essential for succeeding in this yearlong community learning process.We will take an approach that welcomes and explores the complexity of many different views of consciousness as proposed by researchers, philosophers and spiritual leaders. We will read texts that cover many contemporary models of consciousness and we will examine topics from the basics of Jungian psychology through alternative areas of research, such as lucid dreaming and paranormal phenomena. Students will keep a structured journal of activities and practices that explores their developing understanding of the nature of consciousness. The fall quarter will include an overnight, off-campus retreat. During the winter and spring quarters we will integrate contemplative disciplines into our study as well as an in-depth study of dreams. This will include keeping a journal of experiences during contemplative practices and a dream journal. In spring, students will have the opportunity to pursue their interests in individually selected areas of activity for up to four credits.This is an experiential and rigorous full-time program in which students will be expected to participate in all program activities and to document at least 40 hours of work per week being invested in program related activities. | Donald Middendorf Terry Setter | Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
Therese Saliba, Anne Fischel and Ted Whitesell
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
|
Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | How do different cultures, communities, classes, genders and other groups experience and utilize landscapes differently? How do peoples’ stories or histories converge or conflict in relationship to any given place? What are communities doing to build a more just and sustainable future? How do we read power relations in the landscape?Studying “cultural landscapes” means looking at how the land bears the imprint of generations of human cultures. We will learn to read landscapes as primary sources of information about culture, community identity and the relationship between humans and their environment.This program will focus on how the transformations of landscapes are linked to struggles for sustainability and justice. In the exploration of these questions, we will study the foundations of cultural, environmental, media and sustainability studies. Selected topics in sustainability studies will be introduced, including the study of complex systems, climate change, human population, environmental justice, energy and species extinction. We will look at the role of photography and film in shaping our understanding of people, places and resources. We will also learn how people in diverse political, economic and social situations are working to create just and sustainable communities, as we observe, analyze and engage with communities involved in these efforts.We will examine the histories of expansion, colonization, globalization and migration in the Middle East, the American West and the U.S./Mexico border region during fall quarter. In winter, we will examine specific contested landscapes through international case studies of Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Egypt Venezuela and Brazil. The centerpiece of spring quarter will be learning about landscapes of sustainability and justice through active engagement with the communities here in South Puget Sound.Each quarter, students will get hands-on field experience in the landscapes and cultures of the Pacific Northwest, through multiple field trips lasting between one and three days. We’ll focus on the importance of regional river systems like the Columbia, Elwha and Duwamish Rivers and we’ll examine the controversies and struggles that different communities and cultures have engaged in regarding their use. We may also visit Mount Rainier, Whidbey Island and the cities of Seattle, Centralia, Shelton and Olympia. Students will learn skills in field observation through the use of field journals, descriptive writing and photography. Students will have the option to develop a practice of photography that reflects on what they have learned to see in the landscape and makes visible some of the contested histories and cultures of the places we are coming to know. Finally, students will gain skills in expository writing and analysis of cultural texts, including literature and films that explore the relationships of communities to their environments and how their identity is influenced by their sense of place. | Therese Saliba Anne Fischel Ted Whitesell | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Peter Bohmer
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | The outcome of current social and economic problems will shape the future for us all. This program focuses on analyzing these problems and developing skills to contribute to debates and effective action in the public sphere. We will address major contemporary issues such as poverty and economic inequality, immigration, sexual violence, incarceration, climate change, and war on a global and national level. We will draw on political science, economics and political economy, sociology, and communication studies for our analysis, with particular attention to dimensions of class, race, gender, and global inequalities.We will build our analyses using data-driven descriptions, narratives of those directly affected, and theories that place issues in larger social and historical contexts. Students will be introduced to competing theoretical frameworks and perspectives for explaining the causes of social problems and their potential solutions (frameworks such as neoclassical economics, liberalism, Marxism, feminism, and anarchism). We will study how social movements have actively addressed the problems and investigate their short- and long-term proposals and solutions. We will also examine how alternative economic and social systems address these issues.Through critical analysis of media representations of current issues, students will learn to create alternative representations in the form of radio broadcasts or podcasts. Students will learn basic recording, editing, writing, and performance skills needed for audio interviews, commentaries, and documentaries.We will choose the specific issues to be addressed in the program as spring 2015 approaches, so that our study will be as relevant as possible. For each topic studied, we will combine readings with lectures, films, and workshops, along with guest speakers and field trips as appropriate to observe problems and responses first hand.Students will write short papers on each of the social and economic issues we are analyzing. You will also in groups examine in more depth and report on one of these areas. | Peter Bohmer | Tue Tue Wed Fri Fri | Freshmen FR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Grace Huerta and Laurie Meeker
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | As communities continue to reflect the country's increasingly diverse population, what media representations challenge and support discrimination in our communities, schools and institutions? How can we generate a framework for actions that reject inaccurate representations of human difference, value diverse forms of knowledge and question institutional inequalities? In this program, we will pursue answers to these questions by examining identity, educational history, cultural studies and the media in order to design strategies to support a more equitable school system and to create diverse forms of media expression.We will begin by analyzing a working definition of racism and sexism that frames intentional, as well as unintentional, normalized acts of inequality over time. We will challenge depictions in literature and the media that promote the stereotyping of diverse groups. Through an analysis of anti-racist and anti-sexist case study research and the media, we will also explore the lived experiences of diverse populations whose identities are often impacted by assumptions and disparities found in communities and school settings based upon the social construction of race and gender and the stereotyping of immigrant students. In order to break down such assumptions, students will engage in community service, writing and media analysis over the course of the program. In the fall, community service will take the form of student engagement in student groups at Evergreen, followed by collaborations with community-based organizations in winter.In addition, we will investigate specific everyday actions that media artists, activists and educators generate to confront these inequalities. By incorporating media and writing workshops, qualitative research methods such as interviews and participant observation, we will collect various sources of data and present our work which documents how specific counter-narratives can be created that affirm and support diverse learners to achieve within their schools and communities. Writing workshops will help students develop skills in critical analysis and media analysis, while media workshops (which may include photography, digital video and/or new media) will helps students develop skills in visual literacy and visual expression. Lastly, we will demonstrate our understanding of everyday anti-racist/anti-sexist practices by creating presentations that merge theory, community service and writing. Possible themes that may emerge through our own study may include examining the community and students' funds of knowledge, the use alternative media outlets and the arts as tools of empowerment which specifically recognize our collective cultural hybridity. This program will provide background knowledge and skill development for students interested in careers in teaching, media production, cultural studies and community service. | Grace Huerta Laurie Meeker | Mon Tue Thu | Freshmen FR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
EJ Zita, Bret Weinstein and Nancy Koppelman
Signature Required:
Winter
|
Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | Earth’s environment has been shaped by human activity for hundreds of thousands of years, since early humans discovered fire. More recently, since Earth warmed out of the last ice age, humans developed agriculture and stable societies enabled the rapid development and self-transformation of cultures. Agricultural activities began to emit greenhouse gases and to change Earth’s air, water and land. People changed as well and began to document their activities, ideas and reflections. Millennia later, modern human societies use fossil fuels and modify landscapes with such intensity that Earth is unlikely to experience another ice age. Both contemporary industrial and ancient subsistence practices are part of the same long story of how human beings have used and shaped the environment and, through it, ourselves.This program will examine how changes in the Earth system facilitated or necessitated human adaptations or evolutions. To Western eyes, until perhaps 150 years ago, the Earth’s resources seemed virtually inexhaustible. Organized human thought and activity unleashed unprecedented powers which reshaped the Earth. Life expectancy increased; arts flourished. The ideas of Enlightenment thinkers and the energies they harnessed seemed to promise unlimited progress. Yet some wondered if progress might have a dark side. They developed critiques of the practices changing how people produced food and materials, traveled and warmed their homes. What can we learn from their voices in the historical record, given what we now know about global warming and other anthropogenic impacts on Earth systems?We’ll ask how human practices changed not only local environments but large-scale global processes. We’ll note patterns of interaction between people and Earth over time. We'll study natural as well as human drivers of climate change, including Sun-Earth interactions, volcanoes and greenhouse gases. We’ll consider the changing role of science in providing the understanding required for people and planet to thrive together. We’ll examine whether/how modern consumer societies are uniquely positioned to hasten and/or slow the dangerous direction in which modern resource use is driving our planet’s ecosystem. Is global warming a disaster, an opportunity or both? How do we adapt now, in the face of the most dramatic change to the Earth system in human history?Our work will include lectures, discussions, workshops, labs, quantitative homework, expository essays, responses to peers’ essays, teamwork and field trips. | EJ Zita Bret Weinstein Nancy Koppelman | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall Winter | ||||
Michael Paros
Signature Required:
Spring
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | This academically rigorous field-based program will provide students with the fundamental tools to manage livestock and grasslands by exploring the ecological relationships between ruminants and the land. We will begin the quarter learning about the physiology of grasses and their response to grazing and fire. Practical forage identification, morphology and production will be taught. Ruminant nutrition, foraging behavior, and digestive physiology will be covered as a precursor to learning about the practical aspects of establishing, assessing and managing livestock rotational grazing operations. Ecological assessments of energy flow and nutrient cycling in grassland systems will be emphasized. We will divide our time equally between intensive grazing west of the Cascades and extensive rangeland systems in the east. Classroom lectures, workshops and guest speakers will be paired with weekly field trips to dairy, beef, sheep and goat grazing farms. There will be overnight trips to Willamette Valley where we will study managed intensive grazing dairy operations and forage production, and Eastern Washington/Oregon where students can practice their skills in rangeland monitoring and grazing plan development. Other special topics that will be covered in the program include: co-evolutionary relationships between ruminants and grasses, targeted and multi-species grazing, prairie ecology and restoration, riparian ecosystems, controversies in public land grazing, interactions between wildlife and domestic ruminants, and analysis of large scale livestock production systems. | Michael Paros | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Walter Grodzik and Cynthia Kennedy
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | How does imagination respond to the emotional self, the physiology of the body and the psychology of the mind? How can we become more expressive and responsive to our inner selves? This program will explore the interior spaces where performances begin and the exterior spaces where performances are realized. Through the understanding and embodiment of somatic concepts such as awareness, intention, centering, authenticity and the interplay of mind and body, students will have the opportunity to explore the creative imagination as it expresses itself from their own life processes, rather than from externally imposed images, standards and expectations.Students will begin with movement and theatre exercises that center and focus the mind and body in order to open themselves to creative possibilities and performance. Students will also study movement and theatre as a means of physical and psychological focus and flexibility that enable them to more fully utilize their bodies and emotional selves in creating theatrical performance. Students will be invited to explore and enjoy the movement already going on inside their bodies to learn to perceive, interpret and trust the natural intelligence of intrinsic bodily sensations. The class will use experiential techniques derived from several traditions of somatic philosophy. In seminar, students will read a broad variety of texts about creativity, movement, theatre and dramatic literature.The program will include weekly seminars, workshops in movement and theatre, and film screenings of various movement/theatre and theatre productions. We welcome students of all abilities who bring their excitement, commitment and creativity to the performing arts. | Walter Grodzik Cynthia Kennedy | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Frances V. Rains
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | Native American women have been erased from history. It is not that they did not exist; it is that they were , omitted from history. At the same time, stereotypes such as "squaw" and "princess" have plagued Native women since 1492. Ironically, the history of Native women has reflected a different reality with a long tradition of standing strong for justice. Native women have stood to protect the lands and the natural world, their cultures, languages, the health of their families, and Tribal Sovereignty. But few learn about these Native women, who consistently defied the stereotypes in order to work for the betterment of their peoples and nations. Drawing upon the experiences and writings of such women, we will explore the ways in which leadership is articulated in many Native American communities. We will critique how feminist theory has both served and ignored Native women. Through case studies, autobiography, literature and films, we will analyze how Native women have argued for sovereignty and developed agendas that privilege community over individuality. We will explore the activism of 20th century Native women leaders, particularly in the areas of the environment, the family system and the law.This program will implement decolonizing methodologies to give voice to some of these women, while deconstructing the stereotypes, in order to honor and provide a different way of knowing about these courageous Native American women, past and present. Students will develop skills as writers, researchers and potential advocates by studying scholarly and imaginative works and conducting research. Through extensive reading and writing, dialogue, art, films and possible guest speakers, we will investigate important aspects of the life and times of some of these Native American women across the centuries. | Frances V. Rains | Mon Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Martha Rosemeyer, Lori Blewett, Thomas Johnson and Karen Hogan
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | What should we eat? How do we define "organic" and "local" food? Are current food system practices sustainable? What does food sovereignty mean? Why are approximately 1 billion of the world’s population starving and another 1 billion “stuffed” or overstuffed? Is change possible and where does one begin?Throughout history, food and cooking have not only been essential for human sustenance, but have played a central role in the economic and cultural life of civilizations. This interdisciplinary exploration of food will take a systems approach as it examines the biology and ecology of food, while also incorporating political, economic, historical and anthropological perspectives around the issue of food security and sovereignty.More specifically, our interaction with nature through the food system will be viewed through the lens of both science and policy. We will take a biological and ecological approach to the production of plants and animals for food, as well as examine the transformation of the “raw stuff of nature” through the processes of cooking, baking and fermentation. Topics span a range of scales from basic chemistry to agriculture, as we explore the coevolution of humans and their foodstuffs. A study of policy will examine origins of the current global food system and the challenges and opportunities of creating a more equitable food system at the local, national and global scale.In fall quarter, we will introduce the concept of food systems and analyze conventional and alternative agricultural practices. We will examine the botany of vegetables, fruits, seed grains and legumes that constitute most of the global food supply and their selection through evolution and domestication. Our policy focus will include a study of food system planning at the local level, the role of economics and national policies, the challenges posed by climate change and the role of various food movements.In winter quarter, we shift our attention to cooking and basic aspects of nutrition. We will examine animal products, as well as the chemistry of cooking, baking and food preservation. Additionally, the structure of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, as well as antioxidants, minerals and vitamins will be discussed. Seminar will focus on issues of global hunger, obesity, food sovereignty, farm-worker justice, and international food movements. Finally, we will study the basic physiology of taste and smell, critical for the preparation of food.In spring quarter, we will examine will examine the relationship between food and microbes from several different perspectives. Specifically we will examine fermentation, produce specific fermented foods, while studying the underlying microbial ecology. We will also consider topics in microbiology, as they relate to both food safety and food preservation, and the microbiome of the gut. Seminar will focus on cultural aspects of food.Students will directly apply scientific concepts learned in lectures to experiments in the laboratory and kitchen. Field trips will provide opportunities for observing food production, processing and citizen participation in the making of local food policy. Program themes will be reinforced in workshops and seminar discussions focused on topics addressed by such authors as Pollan, Patel and Mintz. | Martha Rosemeyer Lori Blewett Thomas Johnson Karen Hogan | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Rebecca Sunderman, Andrew Brabban and Toska Olson
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | How can we think analytically and critically about crime in America? Why is crime such a central focus in modern American society? How is a crime scene analyzed? How are crimes solved? How can we prevent violent crime and murder? This program will integrate sociological and forensic science perspectives to investigate crime and societal responses to it. We will explore how social and cultural factors including race, class and gender are associated with crime and criminal behavior. In addition, we will consider criminological theories and explore how social scientists can help identify offenders through criminal profiling and forensic psychology.Through our forensics investigations, we will examine subjects including biology, chemistry, pathology and physics. We will study evidentiary techniques for crime scene analysis, such as the examination of fingerprints, DNA, blood spatter, fibers, glass fractures and fragments, hairs, ballistics, teeth, bones and body remains. Students will learn hands-on laboratory and field approaches to the scientific methods used in crime scene investigation. Students will also learn to apply analytical, quantitative and qualitative skills to collect and interpret evidence. Students can expect seminars, labs, lectures, guest speakers and workshops, along with both individual and group project work.This is an introductory program about science, critical thinking and the perspectives of sociology, chemistry and biology through the lens of crime analysis. Students interested in developing their skills in scientific inquiry, critical thinking and interdisciplinary studies should consider this program. Students who may not consider themselves to be "science" students are encouraged to enroll. | Rebecca Sunderman Andrew Brabban Toska Olson | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Lydia McKinstry and Paula Schofield
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | This one-quarter program will offer an intensive introduction to the concepts and methods of college-level general chemistry. We will use an organizing theme that is based on the cycles and transformations of matter and energy at a variety of scales in both living and nonliving systems. Use of quantitative methods will be emphasized in all areas of the program, providing additional insights into these processes. Students will undertake assignments focused on interpreting and integrating all of the topics covered. Our work will emphasize critical thinking and quantitative reasoning, as well as the development of proficient writing and speaking skills.Program activities will include lectures, small-group problem-solving workshops, laboratories and field trips. Students can expect to spend at least a full day in lab each week, maintain laboratory notebooks, write formal laboratory reports and give formal presentations of their work. Group work will also include reading and discussion of topics of current or historical significance in chemistry. This will be a rigorous program, requiring a serious commitment of time and effort on the part of the student. Overall, we expect students to end the program with the ability to reason critically, solve problems and have hands-on experience with general chemistry.This program provides the equivalent of a yearlong course in general chemistry and will give students the chemistry prerequisite needed to pursue upper division work in chemistry, biochemistry and environmental science. | Lydia McKinstry Paula Schofield | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Bob Haft and Ulrike Krotscheck
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | The legacy of the Greek and Italian cultures in the Western world—from the Minoan world to that of the Italian Renaissance—continues to hold considerable sway over contemporary cultures. The great writings and powerful visual arts that were produced in Greece and Italy established standards of excellence that succeeding generations have both struggled against and paid homage to up to the present day. In this program, we will study two of the most dynamic and seminal cultures in Western history: Classical Greece and Renaissance Italy. We will read primary texts from the periods we study (e.g., Homer's , Aeschylus' and Dante’s ), as well as contemporary offerings like Mary Renault's . By coming to a greater understanding of this rich and often controversial legacy, we expect to learn a great deal about ourselves as well. We do not approach the pots, poems or palaces of the past as mere artifacts, but as living expressions of ideas and ideals that deserve serious consideration—not only in terms of their influence, but also in terms of their contemporary viability. Thus, Plato and Michelangelo (to name a couple of examples) can help us deepen our understanding of the nature of human love; Virgil and Dante have much to teach us about the intersection of piety and politics. Fall quarter ("Naissance"), we will investigate the rise of the Greek , or city-state, from the ashes of the Bronze Age Aegean civilizations. In addition to reading primary source materials, both literary and archaeological, we will study the architecture, archaeology, sculpture and painted pottery of the ancient Greek world. To further our understanding, students will also elect to study either the Latin language or the basics of drawing. Winter quarter ("Renaissance"), our focus will be on the Roman appropriation of Greek art and thought and the later Florentine rediscovery and interpretation of the Classical past. We'll study how 15th-century Italians used the ideas they found in classical literature and learning as the basis for revolutions both in artistic practices and the conception of humanity. In order to learn more about the legacy of Western art and its conception of the visual world, we will also learn the basics of photography.In spring, we will build on the previous two quarters' work. Our work will combine studies of both the ancient Greeks and Romans and the Renaissance Italians and students will be expected to produce a major research paper dealing with some aspect of those worlds. | Bob Haft Ulrike Krotscheck | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Diego de Acosta
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 15Winter | Walt Whitman once described the English language as “the accretion and growth of every dialect, race, and range of time... the free and compacted composition of all.” Just how did English grow from its humble origins on a small island in the North Atlantic to become a global lingua franca? What does this growth and development reveal about the cultural and social histories of English-speaking peoples? Could the continued expansion of English spell disaster for smaller languages around the world?In this program, we’ll examine the history of English vocabulary and the structure of English grammar from its distant prehistoric roots to the very latest slang and technospeak. We’ll look at syntactic and semantic change, borrowings from foreign languages, “standard language” and “dialects,” taboo and euphemism, pidgins and creoles, and much more.We’ll also consider how English has been regarded through the ages, both by its own speakers and by others. We’ll study the earliest written English of the Anglo-Saxon period, the effects of the Norman Conquest on English society and literature, the rise of a written standard between the lifetimes of Chaucer and Shakespeare, the development of American English, and the relationship between the spread of English and the increased number of dying languages all over the globe.This program will be an intensive examination of topics requiring a significant amount of reading. There will be regular problem sets in linguistic analysis and essays on various sociolinguistic topics. | communications, language studies, and linguistics. | Diego de Acosta | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
Rachel Hastings and Diego de Acosta
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | What do you know when you know a language? How do you get that knowledge? Are there properties that all languages share? How do languages change over time? Why are half of the world's languages now under threat of extinction?We will consider these questions and others through the lens of linguistics. We will study the sound systems of languages (phonetics and phonology), the structure and meaning of sentences (semantics and syntax) and the mysteries of word formation (morphology). We will discuss ways in which languages change and interact with societal structures (sociolinguistics), the nature of language life cycles and the process of language acquisition. We will look at the grammar of English as well as less-known languages from different parts of the world. Through the course of the program students will learn a variety of conceptual and empirical techniques, from analyzing speech sounds to calculating aspects of linguistic meaning to identifying conditions associated with language change and loss in human societies.This program will be an intensive examination of topics requiring a significant amount of reading as well as regular problem sets and essays. | Rachel Hastings Diego de Acosta | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Stacey Davis and Samuel Schrager
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | Stacey Davis Samuel Schrager | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||||
Bill Arney
Signature Required:
Winter
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Contract | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 15Winter | Individual Study offers opportunities for students to pursue their own courses of study and research through individual learning contracts or internships. Bill Arney sponsors individual learning contracts in the humanities and social sciences. All students ready to do good work are welcome to make a proposal to Bill Arney. | Bill Arney | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||||
Thane Taylor, Pauline Yu and James Neitzel
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This program will offer students a conceptual and methodological introduction to biology, chemistry, mathematics and computation. In order to understand our world from a scientific perspective, we need to be able to analyze complex systems at multiple levels. We need to understand the ways that matter transforms chemically and how energy and entropy drive those transformations. Biological systems can be understood at the molecular level, but we also need to know about cells, organisms and ecological systems and how they change over time. The language for describing these systems is both quantitative and computational. The integration of biology, chemistry, mathematics and computing will assist us in asking and answering questions that lie in the intersections of these fields. Such topics include the chemical structure of DNA, the mathematical modeling of biological population growth, the equations governing chemical equilibria and kinetics, and the algorithms underlying bioinformatics. Program activities will include lectures, small group problem-solving workshops, laboratory and field work and seminar discussions. Students will learn to describe their work through scientific writing and public presentations. Our laboratory work in biology and chemistry will also allow us to observe phenomena, collect data and gain firsthand insight into the complex relationship between mathematical models and experimental results. There will be a significant laboratory component—students can expect to spend at least a full day in lab each week, maintain laboratory notebooks, write formal laboratory reports and give formal presentations of their work. Biology laboratories in this program will include participation in the SEA-PHAGE program coordinated by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the use of bioinformatics tools on a bacteriophage genome. In addition to studying current scientific theories, we will consider the historical, societal and personal factors that influence our thinking about the natural world. We will also examine the impacts on societies due to changes in science and technology. During spring quarter, there will be an opportunity for small student groups to conduct an independent, scientific investigation designed in collaboration with the program faculty.This program is designed for students who want a solid preparation for further study in the sciences. Students who only want to get a taste of science will find this program quite demanding and should consult the faculty before the program begins. Overall, we expect students to end the program in the spring with a working knowledge of scientific, mathematical and computational concepts, with the ability to reason critically and to solve problems and with hands-on experience in natural science. | Thane Taylor Pauline Yu James Neitzel | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Greg Mullins and Julie Russo
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | This program offers an introduction to queer studies and an avenue to continue the study of literature and visual culture that students may have begun in “It’s About Time.” Through the critical study of film and fiction students will expand their appreciation for how words and images open horizons of understanding sex and gender and the cultural politics of sex and gender.Style (in literature, film, art, fashion, design) is notoriously easy to recognize and challenging to define. You know an Olympia hipster when you see one, but what makes a hipster “hip”?Queer writers, critics and media artists have historically deployed styles at once visible and elusive. Why? To what effects? (Think: Ziggy Stardust. Think: Margaret Cho.)This program will explore style as an aesthetic and political practice. We will focus on queer politics and on ways that gender and sexuality might interrupt narratives that, on their surface, appear quite tranquil. Our visual studies will center on narrative cinema; our textual studies will focus on novels. Expect to devote long hours to reading richly stylized fiction, literary criticism and queer theory. Expect also to write expository essays.A sense of fashion is not a prerequisite, but a willingness to explore style (in your writing, at least) is. | Greg Mullins Julie Russo | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Spring | Spring | |||||
Trevor Speller, Shaw Osha (Flores) and Greg Mullins
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | Quick—what time is it? Your answer probably comes from a smartphone that connects you instantly to information across the globe. New technologies drive new experiences of time and writers and artists respond to those new experiences with startling innovations in form and vision.Through the critical study of art and literature, we will explore the experience of time in the modernist period—roughly defined as the first half of the 20th century. In those decades, airplanes, automobiles, telephones and radio sped up time and the modernists responded in kind. How did they experience time? How is this different from our own experience of it?To answer those questions, we will not only study modernist art and literature, but also live like modernists. We will begin the fall quarter with a voyage, sailing the waters of Puget Sound on a 100-year-old schooner. We will slow down by using the technologies of the past. Students will write with ballpoint pens and typewriters, draw from observation and move into abstraction, use film photography, memorize poetry and go to museums, all in the hopes of living more slowly. During both fall and winter quarters we will study movements such as Romanticism, Impressionism, Post-impressionism, Cubism, Dada, Abstraction and Surrealism in visual art and literature. Students will engage with authors like James Joyce, Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolf and artists like Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp.Students in this program can expect to examine art, literature and culture in the modernist period; learn how to draw, paint and write in various ways from naturalism to abstraction; understand the basic principles behind artistic and literary representation in the modernist period; and go on field trips using "slow" technologies (train, boat, walking). | Trevor Speller Shaw Osha (Flores) Greg Mullins | Freshmen FR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||||
W. Joye Hardiman
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | Students in this ambitious program will examine the complexity of identity within the Black experience through lectures and film series, author-led discussions about their autobiographical processes, guest speakers and seminars. They will acquire the necessary concepts, skills and habits, to create their own autobiographies based on the lessons they learned and wisdom they earned from the hills and valleys of their lives through knowledge development workshops, writing workshops and peer collaborations. Students will also draw upon Ancient Egyptian and Classical African worldviews as conceptual lenses, engage in appreciative inquiry as a process and employ a griotic compositional framework.All students will be evaluated on their participation in program activities, an mid-quarter asset–based autobiography, and a autobiographical presentation treatment in a medium of their own choosing during our Identity Fair at the end of the quarter. | W. Joye Hardiman | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Sarah Williams and Arlen Speights
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | F 14 Fall | What do wampum, bitcoin, quantum computing, 3D printing, community, and forgetting have in common? What does the education of women have to do with reproduction and population growth? How do these "things" differ in connecting the ethereal with the physical? Non-verbal experiences evolve into expressible thoughts and ideas, which can be crafted and manufactured into material existence, all of which may carry value. What are the stakes of each step of reification, given their carbon footprint in an ecozoic anthropocene? What are alternative, sustainable processes for learning, computation, and currency?This program investigates this connection between meaning, making, and matter using scholarly as well as contemplative inquiry, experimental writing, moving images, and 3D printing. We’ll experiment with the role of optimism both in connecting mind and body and in debugging mental habits. Students will use 3D printing to bring an idea, developed through their writing, reading, and film experience into physical being. We'll analyze the relationships between an object’s material and non-material natures and values. Students will begin this program with a meditation retreat to become more familiar with bodily, felt experiences as the materiality of, and for, thought processes.The program is designed to be self-bootstrapping and evolving using innovative pedagogy, through which all students actively participating in activity planning and community building. Possible texts include by James Marcus-Bach, by Lambros Malafouris, by Nassim Taleb, by Neal Stephenson, by Martin Seligman, by Mark Frauenfelder, by David Loy, and by Ruth Ozeki. The program will continue as a studio component of the program “The Nature of Ornament” in the winter and spring quarters. | Sarah Williams Arlen Speights | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Krishna Chowdary, Neil Switz and Rachel Hastings
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | In this introductory program, we will integrate material from first-year university physics and calculus with relevant areas of history and scientific literature as we explore how mathematicians and physicists make sense of, and intervene in, the natural and human-created worlds. Students will be supported in developing a firm background in college-level science, becoming prepared for further work in the mathematical and physical sciences. Our aim is to learn to think and communicate mathematically and scientifically.Scientists gather data, make observations, look for patterns, build models and use those models to predict behavior. Powerful models in physics help us explain interactions involving matter and energy. New models require new mathematical methods—for example, calculus was developed partly to understand models of motion. Even with powerful mathematics, a model may yield answers only in simplified circumstances. We can analyze more complicated physical systems by simulating them on a computer. Learning how to create and apply mathematical and computational methods to models in physics will be one of the major goals of this program.The program will have a significant laboratory component, using hands-on investigations and computational tools to explore and analyze the nature of mathematical and physical systems; this work will take place in a highly collaborative environment. Workshops and seminar discussions will also allow for collaborative work on math and physics problems as well as an opportunity to explore connections between history, theory and practice. The program is intended for students with solid high-school level backgrounds in science and mathematics—in particular, a good grasp of precalculus (including algebra and trigonometry) will be assumed. Equally important for success, however, will be a commitment to working hard and learning together.The work will be intensive—students should expect to spend over 50 hours per week engaged with material during and outside of class. We will learn process and content through readings, lectures, labs, workshops, seminars and projects. Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning in individual and collaborative contexts, including in-class work, homework, papers, presentations and exams. | Krishna Chowdary Neil Switz Rachel Hastings | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Amy Cook and Julie Russo
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | Leonardo da Vinci Throughout the centuries that span Leonardo's Mona Lisa (painted in the early 1500s) and William Gibson's cyberpunk classic (published in 1988), the worlds of science and art have been in dialogue, and those conversations lie at the heart of this two-quarter program. We will explore the many meanings of “science”: how do scientists and non-scientists define it, and on what points do they agree and disagree? We will examine science in a variety of contexts to gain a deeper understanding of how it functions in culture(s): what is the relationship between what chemist and novelist C.P. Snow termed “the two cultures” (the sciences and humanities) and the larger culture(s) of which they are part? To answer this question, students will consider, in detail, the choices that artists, writers and media creators make about how to interweave science with storytelling and aesthetics. We will undertake this journey by navigating a conceptual double helix that bridges introductory life science and introductory media studies (analyzing film, television, and new media). Such a schema involves thinking through how research and ideas about the nature of life have been shaped by media technologies and representations, and vice versa. In Fall quarter, we will begin a path of study in general biology with a focus on cell biology and genetics. Over the course of two quarters, we will cover major concepts in organic chemistry, microbiology, evolutionary biology, physiology, and ecology. Equally importantly, students will supplement their humanities toolkit by honing their critical thinking, reading and writing skills. Equipped with this knowledge and these skills, we will examine and critique how issues like biotechnology, epidemics, race and gender have been presented in the news media and both nonfiction and science fiction film and television, from to . In Winter quarter, we will continue our study of biology with a focus on organisms (plants, animals and fungi) and ecosystems. We will also explore the media's portrayal of these concepts through themes such as monsters, anthropomorphism, reproduction and eugenics, and the human/machine binary. The scope of our analysis will expand to include computers, the internet, video games, and other independent or varied multimedia. Singers and songwriters like Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Maddy Prior and Ray Troll incorporate themes from biology and geology into their music. Visual artists like da Vinci have delved into science to lend their work a high degree of scientific accuracy and filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg hire scientists for similar reasons. Mary Shelley, Barbara Kingsolver, William Gibson and a host of other creative writers merge science and art to produce what may be called “lab lit.” How these artists attempt to achieve balance between the application of scientific exactitude and the exercise of artistic license will be a guiding question in winter quarter.Program activities will include biology lectures and labs, seminars on texts that explore science from a variety of different perspectives, film/media screenings and discussions, and field trips. Students will have the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of science, culture and media and to develop their skills in the analysis of texts and in academic and creative writing and media practice. | Amy Cook Julie Russo | Tue Wed Thu Thu Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Bill Arney and Kabby Mitchell
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | Ever been moved by a thought? Ever find yourself moving through your thoughtfulness? Ever think, 'I'd better get a move on'? In this program, you will, all that and more. We'll take up thoughts and dance with them. We'll think about movement, our own, others', our own in groups. The earliest schools of philosophy in the West aimed not for correct systematic thinking but for fashioning an 'art of living.' We'll see and feel what that can possibly mean in our time. Students will come to enjoy more flexibility and coordination, in body and mind.In addition to the common work of the program, students will complete an independent study project worth up to half the award of credit. | Bill Arney Kabby Mitchell | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Robert Leverich, Arlen Speights and Sarah Williams
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | Ornament struggles to serve its ancient purpose, which is to bring order and produce cosmos out of chaos. --Bloomer, Why do we like some objects plain and others ornamented? Does ornament arise out of the making of the thing or is it applied afterward? What are the personal, political, and technological dimensions of ornament within different historical and cultural contexts? Are our possessions—from clothes and cars to laptops and smartphones—a form of ornament? Is thinking always mediated by, alongside,and through objects? How is our relationship to ornament changed by our ability to automate and cheaply create through new technology? From an evolutionary perspective might the neurological be ornamental and reason mere embellishment? Are the abstract, technical artifacts of mathematics and science devoid of ornament or can physical embodiment become mere ornament? We will consider how things—plain or adorned—shape and are shaped by our mental as well as our physical landscapes. Possible sites for our investigation of the cognitive life of vibrant matter are many and diverse: beads (abacus to jewelry), classic Greek running patterns, Islamic interlaces, cursive writing and digital typography, computer-generated art, the design and representation of web pages, 3D-printed objects, pattern creation using cellular automata, Native American figure/ground relationships, Bach’s well-ordered table of musical ornaments, the poetics of Gertrude Stein Louis Sullivan’s Rudolf Steiner’s sequenced instruction in form drawing (and its relationship to projective geometry), or Henry Goodyear’s Each student will choose to do program creative work in two of three interrelated studios each quarter: one focused on materials, tools, and making in wood, metals, clay and plaster; one focused on computer programming using the Processing language and 3D printing; and a third focused on ornament as a creative, gendered, evolutionary and projective process for adding value to materials, tools, making, programming, and printing. Although individual studio work will diverge in addressing how forms and patterns of ornamentation arise from nature, abstract systems, and cultural imperatives, our primary assessment and evaluation practices will focus on small group projects requiring the cultivation and ornamentation of individual work by students from each of the studios each quarter. Winter projects will center on the idea of – permeable surfaces and membranes that frame and modulate movements and flows. Spring projects will address the idea of – multi-dimensional forms and modules that address boundaries between inside and outside. Studio work and small group projects will lead to opportunities for substantive research and creative projects, including a week-long field study winter and a two-week field study or studio intensive spring quarter. Through all-program lectures/workshops, peer presentations, seminars and field trips, as well as studio projects, students will develop abilities in drawing and design, tools and materials (both low-tech and high-tech), and experimental forms of expressive, expository, and reflective thinking, speaking and writing. Book possibilities include: (Pallasmaa), (Trilling), (Pasztory), (Adoo), (Ingold), (Rasula and McCaffery), (Malafouris and Renfrew), (Teyssot), (France), (Stephenson), Ornament: The Politics of Architecture and Subjectivity (Picon), (Berssenbrugge), and (Tufte). | Robert Leverich Arlen Speights Sarah Williams | Mon Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter Spring | |||
Therese Saliba and Amjad Faur
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | From the Arab uprisings to the “global war on terror,” literary and artistic interventions from the Arab/Muslim world have played a critical role in confronting Orientalist stereotypes and providing new visions of the region and its peoples. Focusing on contemporary artwork and writings by Arab artists from the Middle East and the diaspora, this program will explore the intersections of literary and artistic production, imperialism, diasporic politics, gender and sexuality, nationalism, religion, and societal change. Through the lenses of art theory and literary theory, as well as postcolonial theory, we will examine the new visions set forth by these artists, and the role of Western gatekeepers in influencing the reception and distribution of their work.We will examine a range of modern and contemporary art and read novels, poetry, essays, and memoirs by Arab writers across the region. We will situate our analysis within the historical and political events that shape artistic and literary production, and examine how artists and writers critique masculinist narratives that justify violence and exclude women’s voices. Students will write art and literary analysis, and engage in independent projects that may include their own creative writing, photography, or research on an artist or writer of their choice. In this study, students will consider the impact of political, economic, cultural and military forces on Arab and Muslim’s lives and artistic production, and examine literary, artistic, and film representations as sites of resistance. Students will also gain a greater understanding of postcolonial, Third World, transnational feminism, and Islamic movements. Students will have the opportunity to attend community-based events that promote an understanding of Arab culture, politics, and aesthetic productions. | Therese Saliba Amjad Faur | Tue Tue Wed Wed Thu Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
David Muehleisen and Paul Przybylowicz
Signature Required:
Spring
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | This three-quarter program (spring, summer and fall quarters) will explore the details of organic farming and food production systems using the underlying sciences as a framework. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of agriculture, the various topical threads (botany, soils, horticulture, business etc.) will be presented throughout all three quarters, and while our primary focus will be on small-scale organic production, we will examine a variety of production systems. Our emphasis will be on the scientific underpinning and practical applications critical for growing food using ecologically informed methods, along with the management and business skills appropriate for small-scale production.We will be studying and working on the Evergreen Organic Farm through an entire growing season, from starting seed to the sale of farm products. The farm includes an on-campus market stand and CSA as well as a variety of other demonstration areas. All students will work on the farm every week to gain practical experiential learning. This program is rigorous both physically and academically and requires a willingness to work outside in adverse weather on a schedule determined by the needs of crops and animals raised on the farm.During spring quarter, we will focus on soil science, nutrient management, and crop botany. Additional topics may include introduction to animal husbandry, annual and perennial plant propagation, season extension, and the principles and practice of composting. In summer, the main topics will be disease and pest management, which include entomology, plant pathology and weed biology. Water management, irrigation system design, maximizing market and value-added opportunities and regulatory issues will also be covered. Fall quarter's focus will be on farm and business planning, crop physiology, storage techniques and cover crops.If you are a student with a disability and would like to request accommodations, please contact the faculty or the office of Access Services (Library Bldg. Rm. 2153, PH: 360.867.6348; TTY 360.867.6834) prior to the start of the quarter. If you require accessible transportation for field trips, please contact the faculty well in advance of the field trip dates to allow time to arrange this.Students planning to take this program who are receiving financial aid should contact financial aid early in fall quarter 2014 to develop a financial aid plan that includes summer quarter 2015. | David Muehleisen Paul Przybylowicz | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
David Muehleisen and Paul Przybylowicz
Signature Required:
Fall
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | This is the third quarter of a spring-summer-fall program.This three-quarter program (spring, summer and fall quarters) will explore the details of sustainable food production systems using the underlying sciences as a framework. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of agriculture, the various topical threads (botany, soils, horticulture, business etc.) will be presented throughout all three quarters, and while our primary focus will be on small-scale organic production, we will examine a variety of production systems. Our focus will be on the scientific underpinning and practical applications critical for growing food using ecologically informed methods, along with the management and business skills appropriate for small-scale production.We will be studying and working on the Evergreen Organic Farm through an entire growing season, from starting seed to the sale of farm products. The farm includes an on-campus market stand and CSA as well as a variety of other demonstration areas. All students will work on the farm every week to gain practical experiential learning. This program is rigorous both physically and academically and requires a willingness to work outside in adverse weather on a schedule determined by the needs of crops and animals raised on the farm.During spring quarter, we will focus on soil science, nutrient management, and crop botany. Additional topics may include introduction to animal husbandry, annual and perennial plant propagation, season extension, and the principles and practice of composting. In summer, the main topics will be disease and pest management, which include entomology, plant pathology and weed biology. Water management, irrigation system design, maximizing market and value-added opportunities and regulatory issues will also be covered. Fall quarter's focus will be on farm and business planning, crop physiology, storage techniques and cover crops.If you are a student with a disability and would like to request accommodations, please contact the faculty or the office of Access Services (Library Bldg. Rm. 2153, PH: 360.867.6348; TTY 360.867.6834) prior to the start of the quarter. If you require accessible transportation for field trips, please contact the faculty well in advance of the field trip dates to allow time to arrange this. | David Muehleisen Paul Przybylowicz | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Frances V. Rains
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 15Winter | This program will address historic and contemporary images and misrepresentations of Indians in a variety of media. Indian images from films, photographs, language, mascots, popular culture and commercial interests will be deconstructed and analyzed for meaning, significance, power, representation and issues of authenticity. Colonialism, U.S./Indian history, geo-politics, and economics will be decolonized through the lenses of Native resistance, Native sovereignty and Native political and economic issues. Essential to this exploration will be an investigation of the dynamics of "self" and "other."Learning will take place through readings, seminars, lectures, films and workshops. Students will improve their research skills through document review, observations and critical analysis. Students will also have opportunities to improve their writing skills through weekly written assignments. Verbal skills will be improved through small group and whole class seminar discussions, and through individual final project presentations. Options for the final project will be discussed in the syllabus and in class. | art, cultural studies, education, geography, history, media studies, Native studies and political science. | Frances V. Rains | Mon Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||
Yvonne Peterson and Gary Peterson
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This program is intended for students committed to activism and praxis. We’ll study the scholarship of American Indian author Vine Deloria, Jr., who drew attention to Native American issues since the 1960’s. We will focus on some of Deloria's essential questions to guide research, seminars, independent projects, and community service. Students will explore ways in which American Indians have been deprived of land, economic opportunities, treaty rights, natural resources, religious freedom, repatriation, and access to and protection for sacred places. We will conduct ethnographic interviews, historical research, and write a series of plays for tribal schools. During fall quarter we will examine how knowledge becomes a tool of social change. We will pay special attention to the differences between the knowledge bases of indigenous peoples and the dominant European-American model. How do these differences influence the political and economic realities faced by Native communities? How does one “word smith” activism and praxis for young indigenous learners? During fall and winter quarters, we will study U.S. history, critically considering the “doctrine of discovery”, colonization, and court and government decisions regarding indigenous peoples. Indian activists, tribal leaders, and scholars from the Vine Deloria, Jr. symposium will enrich the work of this program through live appearances and media presentations.Lectures, films, readings, and student-led text-based seminars will compose the primary structures used by this learning community. Quarterly, students will complete an academic project related to the theme of the program and will work in groups to explore shadow liberation theatre for Indigenous youth. Students will have the option to engage in service learning volunteer projects and internships during winter and spring quarters. Participation in this program means practicing accountability to the learning community, other communities, interacting as a respectful guest with other cultures, and engaging in constant communication with co-learners. | Yvonne Peterson Gary Peterson | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Sean Williams and Robert Esposito
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | This program explores the connection between spirituality and the performing arts in multiple contexts. First, we will examine the physical context of ritual spaces such as temples and landscapes in Japan, India, China, Tibet, and elsewhere. Second, we will discuss the context of the mind, in which spiritual concepts of liminality, cosmology, and mindfulness combine with both Asian and Western ways of thinking. In addition, because interdependence in community and family is an essential aspect of spiritual ways of knowing; some of our work includes collaboration through discussion, presentation, and performance. We will use sound and movement in theory and practice to better understand these connections. Each week will include lectures, workshops, seminars, films, and some type of engagement in the arts. The college owns an Indonesian gamelan, which students in this program will learn to play as part of their work in understanding community music-making from an Asian culture. Gamelan playing requires sitting on the floor, letting go of starring in the rehearsal or performance, and playing well with others. We will incorporate physical movement throughout the quarter as we come to develop our understanding of the relationship between body, mind, and spirit.Students enrolled in this program will be expected to participate fully in all program activities, including those that require some element of the unfamiliar (for example, moving the body in various ways and learning to make new vocal and instrumental sounds). In the ten weeks of fall quarter, each student is expected to write two research papers, develop one collaborative presentation, and create one solo presentation. Other writing, rehearsals, and exploratory activities will occur as well. Your contribution to this program will be most effective if you choose to take your work and your ideas as seriously as we do. | Sean Williams Robert Esposito | Mon Tue Tue Tue Wed Wed Thu Thu Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Joseph Tougas and Ulrike Krotscheck
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | In this program, we will investigate how and why humans, throughout history, have taken to the sea to explore the limits of their known world. What were the motives and the consequences of these dangerous ventures? We will focus on some specific case studies, including the ancient Mediterranean, the Pacific Northwest, the Chinese empire, the Polynesian islanders and the Atlantic during the age of sail. We will also learn about some theories of economic and cultural exchange over long distances. Some of the questions we will address include: How did humans develop the navigational and boat-building technologies needed for overseas exploration? What motivated overseas exploration? What new kinds of knowledge were gained through this travel and what is the relationship between the material goods and the ideas and ideologies that were traded? How do modern archaeologists and historians go about piecing together answers to questions like these?We will read texts on archaeology, ancient history and philosophy, anthropology and maritime studies. In addition to historical and scientific accounts, we’ll read works of literature, seeking an understanding of the age-old connections between human cultures and the sea. We will consider the religious, philosophical and scientific practices that grew out of those connections—practices that are the common heritage of coast-dwelling peoples around the globe. We will also work on reading, writing and critical thinking skills. In order to test our theories in practice, we will have opportunities to become familiar with the local coastal environment and its rich cultural history. This will take the form of a field trip to the Makah Museum and other sites of historical and archaeological interest on the Washington coast in winter and a three-day sailing expedition in spring. | Joseph Tougas Ulrike Krotscheck | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Winter | Winter Spring | ||||
Bill Arney and Sara Huntington
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | Hayden Carruth, “Freedom and Discipline”Silence has been banished by ear buds, the roar of politics and the economy, and the hum of hard disks doing our searching. Solitude? Think- as you're tempted to buy a retreat in a monastery or take a guided walk in a faraway canyon- of surveillance and our collective reliance on Facebook and its e-cousins. Laziness? We're anxious to be worker bees, and the last defense of a “right to be lazy” was written by Paul Lafargue in 1883. Silence, solitude, laziness: gone.This program will consider three paradoxical, counterintuitive hypotheses: Silence may open space to enjoy the virtues of vernacular speech and living in common. Solitude may allow us to know the importance of embracing others. Laziness may be more productive than work if our aim is the good life.We will follow the paths of iconoclasts, monks, mystics, utopian socialists, Charlie Chaplin and other artists, stoics and cynics and the occasional (certified) sociologist or philosopher to remember what we know about living well.In addition to the common work of the program, students will undertake an independent study of considerable significance that should be more admirable than convincing.At least four class hours each week will be devoted to writing, learning to make artful sentences. Students will read their work aloud and learn to accept and give good, open and public criticism of writing. In addition to the common work of the program, students will undertake an independent study of considerable significance that should be more admirable and beautiful than convincing. This project will account for up to half of the credit to be awarded. If your own writing practice contains even a scintilla of laziness, that’ll change. | Bill Arney Sara Huntington | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Eric Stein and Laura Citrin
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | This two-quarter introductory program considers how small things—personal affections and distastes, allegiances and exclusions, possessions and wastes—make up our daily worlds and contribute to broader, systemic patterns of order in societies. Grounding our studies in anthropology, social psychology and sociology, we will consider the implications of personal choices and actions on society at large, in the U.S. and in a range of cultural and historical settings. What is the relationship between our identities and the small things we do, think, feel, say, desire, choose, wear or own? How do routine actions contribute to social hierarchies, differences and inequalities? What can looking closely at the micro-social world teach us about power? We will examine a range of minutia: words uttered in routine conversations, facial expressions, bodily adornments, grooming habits, tweets posted and things collected and consumed. Focusing on the key domains of everyday life—work, school and home—we will engage in micro investigations: slowing down, paying close attention, observing systematically and deriving meaning from the details. Program activities, including lectures, workshops, field trips, films and book seminars, will build skills in empirical observation, documentation, asking questions, analysis, interpretation and writing. Students will read anthropological and sociological ethnographies and social psychological studies that inquire into small things and help us develop methodological approaches for studying closely. We will also engage in close readings of challenging theoretical texts that critically explore modes of power. Through these practices, students will learn the foundations of the interpretive social sciences. | Eric Stein Laura Citrin | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall Winter | ||||
Carrie Margolin
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | Students will investigate theories and practices of psychologists to enhance their understanding of counseling, social services and the science of psychology. We will cover history and systems of psychology. Students will read original source literature from the major divisions of the field, including both classic and contemporary journal articles and books by well-known psychologists. Students will explore careers in psychology and the academic preparations necessary for these career choices. We will cover the typical activities of psychologists who work in academia, schools, counseling and clinical settings, social work agencies and applied research settings.Among our studies will be ethical quandaries in psychology, including the ethics of human and animal experimentation. Library research skills, in particular the use of PsycInfo and Science and Social Science Citation Indexes, will be emphasized. Students will gain expertise in the technical writing style of the American Psychological Association (APA). The class format will include lectures, guest speakers, workshops, discussions, films and an optional field trip.There's no better way to explore the range of activities and topics that psychology offers—and to learn of cutting edge research in the field—than to attend and participate in a convention of psychology professionals and students. To that end, students have the option of attending the annual convention of the Western Psychological Association, which is the western regional arm of the APA. This year's convention will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 30-May 3, 2015. | psychology, education and social work. | Carrie Margolin | Mon Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||
Laura Citrin
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | Eliot Aronson, , 2012 In this full-time program, we will explore the fundamentals of social psychology, the field that bridges psychology and sociology, to examine how people think, feel, and behave because of the real (or imagined) presence of social others. This program starts with the premise that human beings are inherently beings informed, influenced, and constituted by the social world. Using this perspective as a launching off point, we will investigate everyday life--from the mundane to the extraordinary--as it is lived and experienced by individuals involved in an intricate web of social relationships. This social psychological view of the self explores the ways that individuals are enmeshed and embodied within the social context both in the moment and the long-term, ever constructing who we are, how we present ourselves to the world, and how we are perceived by others. Through lecture, workshop, twice-weekly seminar, film, reading, writing and research assignments, we will cover most of the fundamental topics within the field including: conformity, emotions and sentiments, persuasion and propaganda, obedience to authority, social cognition, attitudes, aggression, attraction, and desire. We will also learn about and practice social psychological research methods. A final project will be to conduct primary and secondary research on a social psychological phenomenon of students’ own interest, and to use one’s findings to create a segment for a podcast in a style similar to NPR’s “This American Life." | Laura Citrin | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Spring | Spring | |||||
Steven Hendricks, Toshitami Matsumoto, Kathleen Eamon and Brian Walter
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | In this program, we will explore how tools for thinking--like philosophical terms, fictional narratives and mathematical systems--are involved in building up and also challenging structures of knowledge. We will ask: Are these defenses against the unknown or our only ways of accessing it? Through critical and creative writing projects, we will see how practices in all three disciplines also work to disrupt conventional thinking and we will pursue experiments in the use of constraints to free us from our own aesthetic traditions and generic modes of thought.We’ll regard academic disciplines as ongoing conversations that can both expand and limit what we can know and what we can imagine. We will work to understand how mathematics is an imaginative, humanist endeavor, a study of patterns that yields new languages and opens up possibilities in the world. Philosophy will help us both think about the conditions for the possibility of world-making and examine fictional worlds as aesthetic objects. In our study of literature, we’ll attend closely to structures in language and narrative that make meaning happen. We’ll read work from the avant-garde tradition, by contemporary literary experimentalists, and by storytellers for whom time, space and being are of more interest than plot. Philosophical texts will likely include works by Kant, Benjamin, Adorno and Lacan. We'll also read texts that describe the scope, content and aesthetic of modern mathematical work, such as by Philip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh. Many of these texts are challenging, but we will work together to develop the skills needed to approach them in reading, writing and conversation. In fall, students will be introduced to disciplinary approaches to formulating and responding to complex questions. Regular work of the program will include seminars, short papers and workshops in literature, philosophy, writing and mathematics.In winter, in addition to seminar and workshops, students will pursue a creative and critical writing project connecting all three disciplines, with opportunities to develop a chosen emphasis. | Steven Hendricks Toshitami Matsumoto Kathleen Eamon Brian Walter | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall Winter | ||||
Marianne Bailey
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SOS | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | In this SOS, students will learn how to conceive, plan, structure and successfully carry through a major independent learning project. More importantly, they will have the pleasure and fulfillment of realizing a major college-level independent body of work. Students have an exciting array of humanities and artistic areas to work in. For example, I can foresee projects as different from one another as a well edited collection of stories or free form poetry, perhaps illustrated and bound in a beautiful book, or a research project in religious symbolism and ritual in Celtic or Haitian worldviews, or in archetypal characters such as the Trickster, the Underworld mediators, or the artist/Orpheus and his quest. A student could write and compile an innovative collection of essays and images dealing with a philosopher such as Nietzsche or Foucault; or with a philosophical topic, such as the human/nature relationship, or the power and nature of artistic language. Students could also plan and research a transformational, pilgrimage journey, keep a rich travel journal, make art quality photographs and present the pilgrimage experiences at the quarter’s end to your colleagues in the class. Students could plan a multimedia spectacle or a short film based on artistic work as a small group in the style of the Surrealists.In other words, if it is a challenging academic or artistic body of work which you find deeply fascinating and which will keep you going enthusiastically for a quarter, we can shape this idea and make it possible for you to carry it through. We will do this step-by-step, in close collaboration between professor and individual student, and with the support of a small group of other program students working in similar veins of inquiry or creation, who will serve as a critique and support group. At Evergreen this mode of intellectual and creative work is a hallmark of our belief in fostering self-direction, intellectual discipline and stamina, and in pursuing academic projects about which we are passionate. It is no easy feat, however, to master the fine art of writing and proposing, let alone bringing to fruition, a top quality independent learning project. The purpose of this SOS is first, to coach you through the conception stage, then, to help you to choose your readings and activities and make your schedule, and finally, to guide and support you along the path to completion of the best work of which you are capable.During the first eight weeks of spring quarter, students will meet every week with their professor as an individual, and as a member of a small work and critique group. We will meet as a large group, as well. Students will report in writing and orally on their progress every week. In the final weeks of the quarter, all students will present their completed work to the group.Students enrolling should have a first proposal of a project which they want strongly to undertake, including, at least, the kind of work you plan to do, for example: writing poetry, studying the work of a given writer or philosopher, and/or studying a particular kind of religious or mythic symbolism. This should be carefully written, typed and ready on the first day of class. The rest we will do during the first two weeks of the program. You may enroll in this program for 12 or 16 credits. | Marianne Bailey | Mon Wed | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Lisa Sweet and Alexander McCarty
Signature Required:
Spring
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This is an entry-level program emphasizing studio practice in 2D and 3D (wood carving and woodcut printmaking), art histories, visual literacy, and artistic research. The thematic thread will address a range of visual languages, design strategies, and traditions employed by various communities, including Northwest Coast Native design history and traditions, and early European prints used for religious practice and political dissent. These approaches to images and objects are quite different from conventional, western ideas about “Art” that is primarily aesthetically pleasing or focused on self-expression. The program is designed to support both students who are visual art emphasizers, as well as those who are curious about the skills and knowledge necessary for sustained creative work. No prior art experience necessary -- enthusiasm, good organization, and a strong work ethic are required. Students should be prepared to dedicate 40 hours per week to studio projects, and rigorous reading and writing on topics related to the concepts of craft and art, the functions, legacies, and histories surrounding objects and images. Students working in 3D will be provided with access to traditional Northwest coast Native carving tools. The fall and winter quarters will provide students with basic studio and tool use techniques in woodworking and printmaking, as well as design and drawing workshops. Students will work in either 2D 3D the fall quarter, switching to the other medium in winter. The spring quarter will provide students with the opportunity to apply their learning to more advanced projects, utilizing knowledge and skills gained over the fall and winter. A central focus of the spring will be exploring what happens when ideas, forms and images created in one medium are translated into another, becoming something entirely new. | Lisa Sweet Alexander McCarty | Mon Tue Wed Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
Leslie Flemmer
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | What is your cause? If you could use your knowledge, education, and community outreach skills to pursue social justice, what would that look like? How would your research inform and teach others about your call to act? The Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire posited that it is not enough for people to come together in dialogue in order to gain knowledge of our social reality. We must act together in our environment to reflect upon our reality and so transform it through further action and critical reflection.This one-quarter program invites students interested in examining a social justice perspective through the lens of education, democracy and creative possibilities for learning. Students will imagine a teaching career committed to equity and the vision that public education is central to a true democracy where citizens are active problem solvers and organizers in their communities.This program will explore how socially conscious organizations begin to address local problems such as oppression, hunger, and discrimination by providing outreach, education and volunteering opportunities (Ex: GRuB, CIELO, Nourishing Networks, etc.). In order to learn more about alternative approaches to education and problem solving, we will read, study, and research an educational approach called Place- and Community-Based Education in Schools or PBCE.Place- and Community-Based Education is a theory and educational practice (praxis) which provides authentic learning and teaching opportunities for students, teachers and communities to help prepare youth to become active participants in local problem solving activities. Through this program, students will no longer question why certain subjects must be studied, or why a class is important. PCBE helps students learn intrinsically by connecting their interests, skills, knowledge, and culture. | Leslie Flemmer | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall | |||||
Dylan Fischer
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | How do trees, and forest communities, function? What makes them tick? What determines the tallest trees in the world? What makes trees some of the oldest organisms on earth? These and many other questions about trees have captivated humans since the dawn of time. In this program we will closely examine trees in their variety of form and function. We will use our studies to learn how understanding of tree form and function integrates study of botany, mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography and ecology.Our studies will be divided between those that focus on individual trees, forests and whole forests. We will also read classic and recent texts about human interactions with trees and how our relationships to trees still help shape our collective identities and cultures. Students will learn how to read and interpret recent scientific studies from peer-reviewed journals and be challenged to reconcile popular belief about the roles of trees with scientific observations. Day trips, workshops, labs and a multiple-day field trip will allow us to observe some of the largest trees on the West Coast and observe and measure trees in extreme environments. Communication skills will be emphasized, particularly reading scientific articles and writing for scientific audiences. We will also practice skills for communicating to a broader public using nonfiction and technical writing. | Dylan Fischer | Freshmen FR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Lucia Harrison and Steven Scheuerell
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | Permaculture is a global movement that works to design sustainable human habitation systems embedded in local cultures and ecosystems. The permaculture design process is highly collaborative and relies on visual communication to share ideas on paper, create maps, and finalize design plans. In studying this design process students will learn observation skills, ecological principles including disturbance, competition, succession , polycultures, and an introduction to soils, plants, microclimates, hydrology, earthworks, ecobuilding, and energy and water storage systems. Students in this program will also study the philosophy of permaculture and visit local places for site evaluation and design inspiration. Students will learn basic drawing techniques to record observations of the physical, biological and social features of a space as well as imagine and communicate alternative visions. They will keep design journals to record ideas and build drawing skills. Students will collaborate in small groups to create and present a design project that encompasses the iterative client-based permaculture design process taught in class. | Lucia Harrison Steven Scheuerell | Tue Wed Thu Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Nancy Koppelman and Charles Pailthorp
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | Childhood is not just a biological fact of life. Philippe Aries famously argued that children and childhood did not exist before the modern era. How do ideas about children, the conditions of child rearing and of childhood, and conventions of education change over time? And if the meanings of "children" and "childhood" change throughout history and across cultures, how can people ever know if they are making the "best" decisions on behalf of the children whom they raise, educate, care for, advocate for, employ or support? In this program, students will learn how children’s experience and adult interpretations of childhood have changed in the Western world over the last 400 years. Until about 150 years ago, most children were necessary: they contributed labor to the maintenance of the family home and were expected to reproduce the circumstances of their birth. The social revolutions of the 18th century disrupted all social hierarchies, including those within families. We will examine how these disruptions transformed childhood and moved children from the periphery to the center of adult intellectual, moral and medical interest.Students will learn how children in North America lived and were viewed by adults from the 16th century forward, and examine how the meaning of childhood was transformed during the flowering of the Enlightenment. We will study the changing meanings of innocence and sin, labor and leisure, value and sacredness, and how those meanings figured in the way children were seen and treated. Guest speakers from the community who have a professional or political interest in children will share their experiences with the program.The class befits students who work with or care about children. It will also enlighten anyone who has grown up, is still trying to grow up, or wonders if she or he has, or should ever, grow up. | Nancy Koppelman Charles Pailthorp | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Spring | Spring | |||||
Michael Vavrus, Artee Young and Liza Rognas
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | This introductory program examines how the meaning of “American” has changed historically and into our current era. Specifically, we examine how the concept of “democracy” has been applied historically. Democracy is a participatory form of government, yet many groups and individuals have not been allowed to participate fully in U.S. democratic systems since the beginning of the Republic. Our inquiry includes: What does social belonging involve? Why are some individuals included while others are excluded from full participation in civic life? How do individual or group identities influence participation in social, economic and political processes? Where and how do differences and diversity fit with the idea of the “American Dream?”To address these questions and others, this two-quarter program explores the origins and manifestations of the contested concepts of race, gender, and socioeconomic class in U.S. history as part of an investigation into identity. We will explore how identity and perceived identity have resulted in differential social, economic and political treatments and how social movements emerged to challenge systemic inequities.Central to this program is a study of historical connections between European colonialism prior to U.S. independence as a nation and the expansion of U.S. political and military dominance globally since independence and into the 21st century. In this context, students are provided opportunities to investigate how the bodies of various populations have been racialized and gendered. Students will examine related contemporary concepts such as racism, prejudice, discrimination, patriarchy, gender, class, affirmative action, white privilege and color-blindness. Students will consider current research and commentaries that surround debates on genetics vs. culture (“nature vs. nurture”).Students will engage historic and contemporary perceptions of identity through readings, dialogue in seminars, workshops, films, and academic writing that integrate program material. A goal of the program is for students to acquire knowledge of the past and its association with the present in order to connect and recognize contemporary expressions of power and privilege by what we hear, see and read as well as absences and silences that we find.These expressions include contemporary news accounts and popular culture artifacts (e.g., music, television, cinema, on-line media). As part of this inquiry, we will examine the presidency of Barack Obama in relation to discourses on race. As a learning community, we will work together to make sense of these expressions and link them to their historical origins. Students will also have an opportunity to examine the social formation of their own identities by researching the historic foundations of their own personal narratives. Current approaches from social psychology will be foundational in this aspect of the program.Visits to local cultural museums, to the Washington State Archives, the National Archives in Seattle, and attendance at a theatrical performance are tentatively planned as part of this program. Disclaimer: Films and other program materials periodically describe and present images of violence and use language that may be considered offensive, especially in regards to racial identification. The purpose of this material is to present significant events within their respective historical contexts. | Michael Vavrus Artee Young Liza Rognas | Tue Tue Wed Fri Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Eric Stein and Jennifer Gerend
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | In this one quarter program, we will explore the connections between human waste, urbanization, disease, and cultural order. Looking both globally and in the U.S., with an emphasis on the Puget Sound Region, we will consider wastewater planning efforts both past and present. From global philanthropic efforts to address sanitary living conditions to new innovations in household bathroom infrastructure, our examination will address both system-wide plans as well as detailed design issues of individual units. Students will learn about urban wastewater infrastructure, technical innovations in green building solutions, such as grey water systems, and developments in low-income settings globally. We will also explore the cultural dimensions of purity and waste, looking at potty humor, the gendering of bathroom spaces, pollution, and social class. Students should be prepared to confront and question their own "yuck" thresholds as we peek into sewers, observe wastewater treatment, and inhale the waft of waste.Students will be engaged in group projects and presentations, writing based on readings of texts, fieldtrips to waste management sites, speakers, and documentaries. This program will uniquely prepare students planning to pursue careers or graduate work in public infrastructure, urban planning, global health, international development and philanthropy, or engineering. | Eric Stein Jennifer Gerend | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Thomas Foote
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | Writers have come to realize that the genre of nonfiction writing can be as colorful and gripping as any piece of fiction. The difference is that nonfiction writers are not burdened with inventing characters, dialogue, plot and description because everything they write about actually happened. Creative nonfiction writers assemble the facts and events and array them artistically and stylistically, using the descriptive techniques of the fiction writer. They immerse themselves in a venue, set about gathering their facts while demonstrating scrupulous accuracy, and then write an account of what happened in their own voice. The Greyhound Bus Company advertised “getting there is half the fun.” In the genre of creative nonfiction, because the reader already knows how the piece ends before it begins. Students will become proficient with the form through intensive fieldwork, research and writing. We will begin by studying field research methodology in preparation for observational studies in the field designed to teach the difference between truly seeing and simply looking. Students can’t write and describe something they can’t see clearly.Students will conduct field research to learn to pay attention to detail, read and discuss representative examples of the form, and meet weekly in regularly scheduled writing workshop. Following a period of redrafting and corrections, students will present their final piece to the group in the last week of the quarter. We will read and discuss the following creative nonfiction books: ed. by Sims & Kramer, by Jon Krakauer, by Barbara Myerhoff, by John Berendt, by Mitch Albom, by Robert Kurson, and by Truman Capote. | Thomas Foote | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall |