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Cultural Studies [clear]
Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters | Open Quarters |
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Mark Harrison and Allen Mauney
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | -- Sport embodies an ideal of performance and meaningful action. Since ancient times, we have engaged in spectacles of play, utilizing formal and complex actions governed by rules (or conventions), rituals and aesthetics, and the laws of physics. As audiences, we derive meaning through winning and losing; we construct narratives and project values onto players and play. Through conflict, competition, and collaboration, sport reflects our deepest individual and cultural identities and desires. In its numerous iterations, sport is a singular form of human play where success and failure are by and large determined by numerical outcomes. In the last 100 years, statistical bookkeeping and quantitative analysis have played an increasingly important role in defining the quality of competiton and performance, of winning and losing. This trend points to societal values that displace human expression and cultural meaning in favor of outcomes drained of human involvement. The widespread intrusion of technology into sports training suggests that the athlete is increasingly viewed in part as a machine that can be retooled to achieve desired outcomes.Participants in this program will examine the human condition “cut to the bone” and be challenged to re-conceptualize the way we experience and think about sport through the perspective of art and science. Sport is born of human imagination and embodies deeply held ideas including competition, conflict, and collaboration. Sport is played on a moral stage with scripts taken from our culture. We will develop statistical tools to engage in increasingly data-driven conversations about sports. We will use human movement to study basic scientific descriptions of the operations of our world. Through sport we will be able to examine the psychology of play and playing, constructions of time and space, and the intersections of aesthetics, science, and technique. We will also consider the ways we mediate performance (through film, television, and other media) to generate excitement, meaning, and profits.Expect to engage through readings, films, discussions, writing and statistical assignments, and independent and collaborative work. Active learning in the form of workshops, exercises, and field trips to sporting events and performances will be a central focus of the program. | Mark Harrison Allen Mauney | Wed Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Donald Morisato and Rita Pougiales
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | The human body has long been a natural locus of study, interpretation and storytelling. Corporeal existence has been conceptualized and experienced in radically different ways across time and across cultures, conceived as an irreducible whole by some and as an amalgam of separate systems or individual elements by others. How has our philosophical and biological conception of the body changed over time? How is the body used to find or express meaning? What is the relationship of the body to the mind and the soul?In this program, we will explore the nature and essence of the body and reflect on the experience of being human. Knowledge about the body and our lived experiences within our bodies has been created from the culturally distinct perspectives of biologists, social scientists, artists, philosophers and storytellers. We will read philosophical and historical texts and closely analyze some of the ideas that have helped shape our conception of the body. We will study the genetic development and biological function of the body, carrying out experiments in the laboratory to get a direct sense of the process of scientific investigation. Finally, we will read novels and look at visual images as other ways of engaging with the body, particularly the physical manifestation and representation of emotion. Throughout our inquiry, we will ask how we have come to know what we claim to know.Our investigations will follow a particular progression. In fall quarter, we will consider the body: the history of the conception of the body, images of the body, evolution of the body, the body as the site of meaning-making and genetic approaches to deciphering the development of the human organism. In winter quarter, we will examine aspects of the mind: the Cartesian dualism, the functional organization of the brain, processes of cognition, measuring intelligence, use of language and the importance of emotions. In spring quarter, we will explore the notion of the soul: death and burial rituals in different cultures, philosophical and literary investigations of the soul, ethics, beauty and religion. The program will use regular writing assignments, including essays and papers, to strengthen and deepen analytical thinking skills. We anticipate reading such authors as Michel Foucault, Rene Descartes, Martha Nussbaum, Thomas Kuhn, Oliver Sacks, Antonio Damasio, Clifford Geertz, Gregory Bateson, Paul Rabinow, Joao Biehl, Emily Martin, Virginia Woolf, Robert Musil, Kazuo Ishiguro and Jeffrey Eugenides. | Donald Morisato Rita Pougiales | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Frederica Bowcutt and Lalita Calabria
Signature Required:
Winter
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 8, 16 | 08 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | The fall portion of this program serves both full-time and half-time students who are looking for an opportunity to expand their understanding of plants and challenge themselves. Students will learn about plant anatomy, morphology and systematics. Lectures based on textbook readings supplement the laboratory work. The learning community will explore how present form and function informs us about the evolution of major groups of plants such as mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants. Students will get hands-on experience studying plants under microscopes and in the field. Students will also learn how to maintain a detailed and illustrated nature journal to develop basic identification skills of common species of plants. Field observational data sharing will occur through online citizen science venues. Quizzes, exams, and weekly assignments will help students and faculty assess learning. In fall there is no upper-division science credit. The part-time option only exists in fall.FULL-TIME ONLY: For students enrolled full-time in the program, this is a two-quarter program, which allows students to learn introductory and advanced botanical material in an interdisciplinary format. In winter, full-time students will study algae, seaweed herbarium specimen preparation, twig identification, and help build a database of phenological information on a variety of local natural events including bud burst. During both fall and winter, they will also focus on people's relationships with plants for food, fiber, medicine and aesthetics. Students will study economic botany through seminar texts, films and lectures that examine agriculture, basketmaking, forestry, herbology and horticulture. They will examine political economic factors that shape our relations with plants. Through economic and historical lenses, the learning community will inquire about why people have favored some plants and not others or radically changed their preferences, such as considering a former cash crop to be a weed. In our readings, we will examine the significant roles botany has played in colonialism, imperialism and globalization. Students will also investigate the gender politics of botany. For example, botany was used to inculcate "appropriate" middle- and upper-class values among American and European women in the 18th and 19th century. Initiatives to foster more socially just and environmentally sustainable relations with plants will be investigated. In fall, weekly workshops will help the full-time students improve their ability to write thesis-driven essays defended with evidence from the assigned texts in cultural studies. In winter, full-time students will write a major research paper on a plant of their choosing applying what they've learned about plant biology and economic botany to their own case study. Through a series of workshops, they will learn to search the scientific literature, manage bibliographic data and interpret and synthesize information, including primary sources. Through their research paper, students will synthesize scientific and cultural information about their plant. : The part-time option is fall only. Students electing to register for this option are encouraged to also register for Field Mycology (8-cr), also fall only. | Frederica Bowcutt Lalita Calabria | Mon Tue Wed Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Hirsh Diamant and Thuy Vu
Signature Required:
Spring
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8, 12 | 08 12 | Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | Good training in business management and cultural competence are essential requirements for the development of successful and sustainable enterprises. This program will focus on the interconnections between business, economy, and culture, with a specific application to trade, cultural exchange, and community development along the Silk Roads. For centuries, the ancient Silk Roads moved ideas and goods between the great civilizations of Asia, Pacific Rim, the Middle East, and the New World. From the time of Marco Polo and Genghis Khan to Yo Yo Ma, the Silk Roads have connected empires and fostered the development of music, art, religion, and commerce. In this program we will study contemporary and historical Silk Roads to envision sustainable commerce of Silk Roads in the future. We will develop learning, skills, and practical knowledge that are necessary to provide a strong foundation and vision for understanding the business and economic development potential of selected cultures along the Silk Roads. We will examine how developing commerce of Pacific Rim can impact the economic future of Washington State. We will learn about international trade, socially responsible enterprises, and intercultural communication. We will learn about the use of money and alternative business financing models. The program will be foundational for forming business pathways to move toward greater cultural, economic, and environmental sustainability. In fall quarter, we will learn the skills necessary for understanding the historical, cultural, and economic significance of Silk Roads and for creating a sustainable business plan. Our study in fall quarter will include learning about community resources, business economics, and social/business enterprises along the Silk Roads. In winter quarter we will learn about intercultural communication, alternative business financing models, leadership, and application of business skills in non-profit and corporate enterprises. Winter quarter will also provide an opportunity for selected students to travel on Silk Roads to China and Vietnam with faculty members Thuy Vu and Hirsh Diamant to study business, economy, culture, and education there. (Students traveling abroad can earn 12 credits.) In spring quarter we will work on practical application of acquired skills in intercultural leadership, international trade, marketing, and developing sustainable applications of students’ business plans. | Hirsh Diamant Thuy Vu | Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
Lin Crowley
|
Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This introductory Chinese course will emphasize the standard Chinese pronunciation and the building of useful vocabularies. Students with no or little prior experience will learn Chinese pinyin system and modern Mandarin Chinese through interactive practice and continuous small group activities. Learning activities may also include speaker presentations and field trips. Chinese history and culture will be included as it relates to each language lesson.Students enrolling in this course may also use this as a prerequisite for a Chinese study abroad program. If you are interested in traveling to China in the summer, please be sure to contact the faculty for more information. | Lin Crowley | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
Trevor Speller
|
Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | What is a novel? How did this art form develop? It is perhaps hard for us to imagine a world without novels, where poetry, drama and nonfiction ruled the literary world. Grounded in British literature, this upper-division program will explore the rise of the novel. We will read examples ranging from speculative prose fiction in the 17th century to established examples of the novel in the 19th century. We will consider the novel as both an art form that establishes a genre and one that breaks genre boundaries.The intersection of colonialism, nationalism and the emerging novel will also be an important focus of our attention. Although we call these works "British novels," we might equally view them as an international art form, one concerned with the politics of colonialism, an emerging global empire and the shadowy figures of those who live outside the British Isles.In order to accomplish this, we will read works by Aphra Behn, Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Maria Edgeworth, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë and Joseph Conrad. In addition to these novels, we will read excerpts from other works, critical views on the rise of the novel and contemporary theory concerning literature and colonialism. Film versions of the texts will be shown as required. By the end of the program, students will have a firm foundation in British literature, exposure to significant strands of literary theory and experience with upper-division literary research.In this program, students will be asked to prepare a 20-minute in-class presentation, to lead class discussions and to produce a long (15-plus pages) critical paper, in addition to regular minor assignments. The best work in this program will be useful for graduate school applications. | Trevor Speller | Tue Tue Wed Thu Thu | Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Elizabeth Williamson and Amjad Faur
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | How is the image of the martyr a revolutionary image? What is the function of the martyr’s body as a sign of her beliefs? This upper-division program will examine representations of martyrdom in a variety of historical and contemporary contexts, with a particular emphasis on colonialism and its aftermath. Students will deepen their skills in visual analysis through careful study of the visual languages of European (Christian) martyrdom, Shi’a martyrdom and contemporary Islamic martyrdom.Martyrdom is by no means an exclusively religious phenomenon—it has always been shaped by larger political struggles—but we will pay attention to the representational paradoxes involved in making images of martyrs within communities in which idol worship is technically forbidden. Most of all, we will seek to resist the stereotypical notion of the martyr as mindless fanatic. To do this, we will examine the conditions of oppression under which martyrdom becomes one of a small number of viable choices, as well as the individual martyr’s resistance to those conditions. The martyr’s body is a site of contestation between various ideological frameworks, but it can also be a site of empowerment.This program is ideal for students who wish to hone their analytical skills, especially in relation to the close reading of images within their historical contexts. Students will complete investigative assignments to supplement the case studies covered in lecture and will be asked to design a research-based independent project related to program themes. The reading load for this program will be heavy and will involve critical theory as well as essays on particular historical moments and images. There will be no studio instruction in photography. Students will benefit from previous study of art history and/or post-colonialism, but neither are required in order to succeed in the program. | Elizabeth Williamson Amjad Faur | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Leslie Flemmer
|
Course | FR–JRFreshmen–Junior | 4 | 04 | Evening | W 15Winter | For new and returning students, this class is designed to help develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to be successful in your college experience. There are many kinds of academic learning and many ways of knowing. Students will have to make sense of lectures, discussions, literature, and research, all of which involve different approaches to learning. This course is designed to help you discover a pathway toward reading, writing and discussing critical issues relevant to your complex worlds. Students will examine how to increase their understanding and knowledge in relation to Evergreen's Five Foci (Interdisciplinary Study, Collaborative Learning, Learning Across Significant Differences, Personal Engagement, and Linking Theory with Practical Applications) as well as charting a course for a liberal arts degree that links career goals with lifelong learning. | Leslie Flemmer | Tue | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR | Winter | Winter | ||||
Andrew Buchman and Leslie Flemmer
|
Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | Counter narratives are personal stories that alter our understanding of dominant cultural narratives. Detailed descriptions of the particular and the local convey unique personal experiences. Storytelling, songs, biographies, and ethnographies all enable us to engage imaginatively in the lives and experiences of people from different cultures, times, and places. Such counter narratives can document the daily encounters of marginalized people, generate knowledge, and build community. They can expand our understanding of reality, and help us to imagine future possibilities. The stories of young people who understand more than one culture through personal experience often undermine older ideas of social identity. Counter narratives can point us toward a future in which people from diverse cultural backgrounds can co-exist peacefully and learn from one another. How can different forms of literacy such as music or songs, media, and popular culture help generate counter narratives? In this unique and collaborative program between two institutions of higher education, Evergreen and Daejeon University in Korea, we will begin to investigate what it means to understand and tell our own stories, across different cultural domains, through music, storytelling, and learning in community. This program will also serve as an opportunity to support students developing more complex language skills through everyday encounters with each other. Evergreen students who engage with the participating group of visiting Korean students in their English language studies will acquire skills in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). How can examining and sharing stories enable us to develop greater social and academic language skills? Students will mentor each other and collaborate on in-class projects, including ethnographies, story-telling and songwriting workshops, lectures and seminars on films, books, and works of art, field trips and nature walks in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and other individual and small group creative and scholarly projects. Students in this program may earn credit in cultural studies and humanities, musicianship and story-telling, writing and language studies. | Andrew Buchman Leslie Flemmer | Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | 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 | |||
Grace Huerta and Laurie Meeker
|
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 | |||
Walter Grodzik and Cynthia Kennedy
|
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 | |||
Chico Herbison
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This program offers Evergreen students the opportunity to co-learn with individuals incarcerated in a maximum-security institution for juvenile males. It is high stakes work that demands consistent engagement—approximately 10-12 hours a week in class and 4-6 hours a week at the institution (including travel time). The learning of students enrolled in this program fuels and is fueled by the learning of the incarcerated students.A fundamental principle of the Gateways program is that every person has talents given to them at birth and valuable experiences that can contribute to our shared learning. It is our job as human creatures to encourage each other to seek out and develop our passions and gifts. These values are manifested in the practices of popular education, which will serve as both the process and the content of our work. Our goal is to create an environment in which each person becomes empowered to share their knowledge, creativity, values and goals by connecting respectfully with people from other cultural and class backgrounds. All students will wrestle with topics in diversity and social justice alongside other subjects chosen by the incarcerated students—the main feature of popular education is that it empowers those seeking education to be the local experts in shaping their own course of study.Popular education works through conscientization, the ongoing process of joining with others to give a name to socioeconomic conditions, to reflect critically on those conditions, and thereby to imagine new possibilities for living. In order to do this work successfully, students will practice learning how to meet other learners "where they are at" (literally, in order to better understand the conditions that put some of us in prisons and others in colleges). Students will also develop or hone their skills in contextualizing and analyzing socioeconomic phenomena. Most importantly, students will learn that solidarity does not mean "saving" other people or solving their problems—it means creating conditions that allow them to articulate those problems through genuine dialogue and supporting them as they work toward their own solutions. Program participants will have the opportunity to reflect on how different individuals access and manifest their learning as they gain experience in facilitating discussions and workshops. In the process of collectively shaping the Gateways seminar, they will also learn how to organize productive meetings and work through conflict. Each quarter, students will take increasing responsibility for designing, implementing and assessing the program workshops and seminars. Throughout the year we will seek to expand our collective knowledge about various kinds of relative advantage or privilege while continually working to create a space that is welcoming and generative for all learners.High stakes community-based work requires trust, and trust requires sustained commitment. This program requires that all participants be ready to commit themselves to the program for the entire academic year. | Chico Herbison | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Rebecca Chamberlain and Cindy Beck
|
Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 8 | 08 | Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | During this year-long program, we will explore the human experience and health from the inside out. What can we do to achieve healthy bodies, minds, and spirits, sometimes referred to as being in the “flow?” Combining science and humanities, we will look at our relationships to food, family, community, culture, movement, fitness, and the environment. Through a study of theory and practice, we will learn to cultivate healthy patterns and lifestyles that develop the body and mind, creativity and human potential, and sustainable relationships with our communities and the natural world. Food For Thought: What is our relationship to food? How does it sustain healthy individuals and communities? How does it affect human potential? What is the role of food in diverse cultures? What is its influence on the history and environment of the places we live? As we explore themes through science, history, culture, literature, folklore, and social media, we will ask: How does the food we eat nourish our cells [another community], and how do our thoughts influence our cells and well-being? We will study nutrition through a practical physiological platform as well as through the tantalizing effects food has in enhancing the senses, creating culture and identity, and through its symbolism in literature, memoirs, films, historical, and journalistic accounts. Students will develop skills of analysis, writing, and performance as they explore the stories, myths, cultural and family traditions around food, from hunting and gathering and early agricultural communities to the global economic, political, and nutritional issues that challenge the world today. Participants will research locally raised and harvested foods including their cultural, environmental, nutritional, and economic influences. Research projects will culminate in a media campaign to promote local foods and connect themes to the larger community. In the Flow: We will deepen our understanding of health, fitness, creativity, and well-being as we continue to train our minds and bodies. How do people achieve their peak potential? What are the principles of movement and mindfulness that give us clues to how the body's healing processes work? From science and medicine to psychology and contemplative practices, we will explore anatomy, physiology, psychoneuroimmunology, epigenetics, exercise, and psychosomatic processes. We will look at fitness versus sports in our society, and how we can incorporate movement into everyday life. Humans need to move and are not made to be sedentary; how has this relatively new phenomenon become a health issue? We will also explore the role of creativity, emotional, and spiritual health, as we look at a variety of diverse philosophic, psychological, historical, cultural, artistic, and literary traditions. As we analyze texts from the world’s literary, mythic and wisdom traditions, we will ask: what have different cultures and traditions suggested about how to achieve balance and well-being? How can we maximize various physiological and psychological processes that integrate our interior lives and imagination with outer experiences and healthy patterns? How does this help us cultivate relationships to our communities and the natural world? Field-trips and activities will encourage both collaborative and self-motivated learning, and students will continue to refine their critical reading, writing, and thinking skills through research and writing projects, essays, poems, and memoirs about health and movement. The Power of Place: We will continue our study of health and the human experience by looking at our interactions with the environment; how does it nourish us, and how do we nurture it? How do healthy patterns help us cultivate relationships to our communities and the natural world? We will explore the role of the physical senses, natural history, literature, and practices of writing, walking, and pilgrimage--even stargazing and basic wilderness skills--as we engage with the natural world through multicultural and interdisciplinary perspectives. We will study local landmarks, historical sites, and native flora and fauna, through scientific research, essay writing, community studies, oral history, art, performance, journalism, or media projects. Fieldtrips, assignments, and activities will encourage both collaborative and self-motivated learning. Students will look at issues unique to their local environment as well as conditions in the global environment. They will choose important issues to focus on, and present their work through final projects and public presentations. | Rebecca Chamberlain Cindy Beck | Sat Sun | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
Stacey Davis and Samuel Schrager
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | Stacey Davis Samuel Schrager | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||||
Jeanne Hahn and Ratna Roy
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 15Winter | It is often said that an inquiry into the past helps make the present more understandable. Certainly this is the case with India. The roots of today's India lie deep in its early history. One of the world's oldest civilizations, with a body of literature in Sanskrit dating back to l500 BCE, India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism and the home of diverse philosophical thinking that relates to concepts of birth/death, duty, citizenship, state building and governance. Today, India is considered to be the world's largest democracy and a nation undergoing rapid change and modernization. What is the relationship of this long past to today's India? India's ancient inheritance continues to shape modern India, while at the same time creating tensions and contradictions as it changes and finds its place in the world of the 21st century. This program will study aspects of both India's past and its present to gain an understanding of its long historical trajectory, as well as its present society and what it is that connects past to present. We will begin with translated excerpts from ancient texts as literature and gain an understanding of the foundations of Indian thought. A focal point of the first several weeks will be a reading of the great epic text, We will then build on this foundation to investigate the defining cultural, political and economic issues facing contemporary India. In addition to the ancient texts, the program will read contemporary literature, political economy and cultural studies. Writing will include a carefully developed two-part progressive essay that synthesizes and analyzes the program themes. | Jeanne Hahn Ratna Roy | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||||
Bill Arney
Signature Required:
Winter
|
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 | |||||
Cheri Lucas-Jennings
Signature Required:
Fall
|
Contract | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | F 14 Fall | Individual studies offers important opportunities for advanced students to create their own course of study and research. Prior to the beginning of the quarter, interested individuals or small groups of students must consult with the faculty sponsor to develop an outline of proposed projects to be described in an Individual Learning Contract. If students wish to gain internship experience they must secure the agreement and signature of a field supervisor prior to the initiation of the internship contract.This faculty welcomes internships and contracts in the areas of the arts (including acrylic and oil painting, sculpture, or textiles); water policy and hydrolic systems; environmental health; health policy; public law; cultural studies; ethnic studies; permaculture, economics of agriculture; toxins and brownfields; community planning, intranational relations.This opportunity is open to those who wish to continue with applied projects that seek to create social change in our community; artists engaged in creative projects and those beginning internship work at the State capitol who seek to expand their experience to public agencies and non-profit institutions; and to those interested in the study of low income populations and legal aid. | Cheri Lucas-Jennings | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
David Wolach
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening and Weekend | W 15Winter | In what ways is writing gendered? This class will take up "the body" as a site of radical cultural production as expansively as possible within the short time we have, considering some of the ways in which bodies are othered through language, including through discourses of disability, gender performance, and other zones of social dislocation. Each week we'll read texts by contemporary writers that we will use as models for build our own writing portfolios. Though this is primarily a creative writing class, our writing will push itself outside its usual modes of operation. Emphasis will be put on experiments in breaking genre and mixing media, collaborating on pieces as well as making individual works, and developing a poetics in relation to the social-political. We will explore texts anthologized in the recent collection , discuss and critique the rich tradition of "somatic" practices in the world of performance and live art, including the work of artists such as Marina Abramovic, and we will familiarize ourselves with important recent experiments in poetry and prose by authors such as kari edwards, Hannah Weiner, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, and CA Conrad. Our end goal will be to curate a show and live reading that allows us to test out some of our textual experiments. | David Wolach | Wed Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
Marla Elliott and Thomas Rainey
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8, 12 | 08 12 | Evening | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | This program will explore the Russian short story writer and playwright Anton Chekhov and other European dramatists, such as Heinrich Ibsen, who together are credited with the development of modern drama. We will analyze not only their fictional and dramatic works but also their lives and times, from which they drew their major characters and dramatic situations. We will also study the Stanislavsky Method as well as other aspects of modern acting techniques. During the fall quarter, we will experience Chekhov and Stanislavsky through scene work and culminate those studies in auditions for a full production of Chekhov's which we will perform at the end of winter quarter. During the winter quarter, we will study carefully filmed live performances of plays by Chekhov, Ibsen, Shaw, Brecht, and other dramatists associated with the birth of modern drama. In the winter quarter, we will also continue to read, critique, and discuss commentaries—current and past—on the plays of Chekhov and of the other late nineteenth-century and twentieth-century dramatists and determine the many reasons for the enduring legacy and influence of all these makers of modern drama. Embedded in the program, during the fall quarter, will be a 4-credit segment entitled “Anton Chekhov: Life, Times and Work.” Students enrolled in the program will participate in these seminars and lectures alongside students from the 16-credit program “Russia and the Forging of Empires”. Credit equivalencies will be in cultural history, literature, and drama. | Marla Elliott Thomas Rainey | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Marcella Benson-Quaziena and George Freeman
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 8, 16 | 08 16 | Day and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | Institutions and organizations are always in states of flux, responding to environmental and personal demands. How does institutional change happen? How do we move institutions and organizations toward greater inclusivity, equity and social justice? The guiding questions of this program are framed in terms of democracy, social justice, welfare, civil rights and personal transformation and transcendence. We will explore how we engage institutions and organizations in transformation, effective change strategies that allow for both personal and institutional paradigmatic shifts and how we become the leaders of the process. We will examine the psychology of change, what role transcendence plays in our ways of thinking about change and how equity and justice are served. This program will explore these questions in the context of systems theory, multicultural and anti-oppression frameworks, leadership development, and within the context of the civil rights movement.Our focus fall quarter is on personal development and change. We believe that the personal is political (and vice versa), so we have to understand what experiences inform our stance towards change. The focus is on the self, particularly from a cultural and autobiographical perspective, as it informs our world view. The assignments are geared to self-reflection. Remember, in order to impact change you must challenge yourself to become the change.Winter quarter's focus is on cultural groups and their development, norms and boundaries. We will examine what defines the boundaries of these groups, the norms and variation to these norms present in the group. We'll also work on the relationship of the cultural group to the larger society. Our work is geared toward understanding the collective group's position in the world and your personal and small-group interface to the group of your faculty-approved choice. This involves the central themes of democracy, social justice, inclusivity and exclusivity that form the foundation of the program. Those wanting internships will have the option of beginning this quarter. For spring, the program will broaden its areas of interest to include the community. We will examine how the self, the group and the community intersect. We will explore these points of intersection as influenced and shaped by the personal, cultural and sociopolitical forces at work in our communities. We plan to travel on a field trip to the Highlander Center ( ) this quarter. Students will put into practice the theory of the prior two quarters and the understanding they have gained about the self, the self in groups and the power of the group. Full-time program content offers additional focus on the history of psychology, systems and theories of psychology and research approaches in the field of clinical and counseling psychology. This component will include a small group, collaborative research-based project. | Marcella Benson-Quaziena George Freeman | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Marcella Benson-Quaziena and George Freeman
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 8 | 08 | Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | Institutions and organizations are always in states of flux, responding to environmental and personal demands. How does institutional change happen? How do we move institutions and organizations toward greater inclusivity, equity and social justice? The guiding questions of this program are framed in terms of democracy, social justice, welfare, civil rights and personal transformation and transcendence. We will explore how we engage institutions and organizations in transformation, effective change strategies that allow for both personal and institutional paradigmatic shifts and how we become the leaders of the process. We will examine the psychology of change, what role transcendence plays in our ways of thinking about change and how equity and justice are served. This program will explore these questions in the context of systems theory, multicultural and anti-oppression frameworks, leadership development, and within the context of the civil rights movement.Our focus fall quarter is on personal development and change. We believe that the personal is political (and vice versa), so we have to understand what experiences inform our stance towards change. The focus is on the self, particularly from a cultural and autobiographical perspective, as it informs our world view. The assignments are geared to self-reflection. Remember, in order to impact change you must challenge yourself to become the change.Winter quarter's focus is on cultural groups and their development, norms and boundaries. We will examine what defines the boundaries of these groups, the norms and variation to these norms present in the group. We'll also work on the relationship of the cultural group to the larger society. Our work is geared toward understanding the collective group's position in the world and your personal and small-group interface to the group of your faculty-approved choice. This involves the central themes of democracy, social justice, inclusivity and exclusivity that form the foundation of the program. Those wanting internships will have the option of beginning this quarter. For spring, the program will broaden its areas of interest to include the community. We will examine how the self, the group and the community intersect. We will explore these points of intersection as influenced and shaped by the personal, cultural and sociopolitical forces at work in our communities. We plan to travel on a field trip to the Highlander Center ( ) this quarter. Students will put into practice the theory of the prior two quarters and the understanding they have gained about the self, the self in groups and the power of the group. | Marcella Benson-Quaziena George Freeman | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
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 | |||||
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 | |||
Heesoon Jun
Signature Required:
Fall
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Program | SR ONLYSenior Only | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | The program is designed to meet the multicultural counseling competency requirements of the American Psychological Association (APA): counselor awareness of his or her own cultural values and biases, counselor awareness of the client’s worldview and culturally appropriate intervention strategies. Students will critically examine roles of ethnocentric bias, attribution error, asymmetric perception, social projection, implicit learning, inappropriate generalizations in research, governmental and institutional policies, and developing inter- and intra-personal communications. Each quarter, students are required to complete reflective and transformative learning activities, participate in somatic psychology through mindfulness movement, record weekly conscious raising activities, participate in videotaped counseling skill building, semiweekly intensive journal writing and weekly collaborative work. Fall quarter emphasis is awareness of students’ own values and biases through writing their own personality development according to conventional personality theories. Winter quarter emphasis is awareness of the client’s worldview through increasing critical reasoning skills, learning to integrate scientific inquiry with clinical inquiry by learning to examine primary research journal articles and their utility in counseling, in addition to learning multicultural counseling skills. Spring quarter emphasis is culturally appropriate assessment, diagnosis and treatment through learning the APA's ethics code. In both winter and spring quarters, students will be required to complete internships of 10 hours per week at social and human service organizations which provide opportunities to apply their classroom learning in a practical setting.The program will emphasize consciousness studies, psychological research interpretation, studies in internalized oppression/privilege and systemic oppression/privilege, multicultural counseling theories and practice, and social justice and equity. | Heesoon Jun | Tue Wed Fri | Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||
Stephanie Kozick and Andrea Gullickson
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | Alfred Lord Tennyson This program is a yearlong academic inquiry into the paired realms of music and the city. The history of modern music sits squarely in the emergence of cities. Can we get an impression of the waltz without getting an impression of 18th-century Vienna? Can we consider New Orleans without considering jazz? And certainly, urban recording companies, such as Cincinnati’s King Records in the late 1940s to early 1960s, influenced what urban dwellers listened to. The connected study of these aspects of society—music and cities—creates a lively academic journey. Inquiry in this program will bring to light how cities and music interact with one another, how each changes the essence of the other, how each are expressions of culture. Music and cities are “characters” for deep consideration. The distinct topics of urban life and urban music will be explored through familiar modes of inquiry: readings, workshops, writing and listening. Furthermore, work that combines the two topics will move us to understand their interface. Fiction, such as (Seth, 2000), a tale set in Venice and Vienna that explores how music can both unite and divide, helps portray the urban, international music scene. Kurt Ambruster’s nonfiction (2011) connects the topics through a historical perspective. There are also specific collected urban sound experiments to think about: John Cage’s New York City art and score is one such experiment, and Steve Reich’s minimalist composition is another. This program will experiment with its own collection of city sounds through student fieldwork projects. In this program, expect to develop a new language to express what you are hearing and learning about in the world of music and cities. You will learn to listen critically, to become familiar with genres of music and to understand music’s cultural implications. At the same time you will be immersed in the concept of “city” by experiencing others’ visions of cities, how we navigate urban environments and how we change them. Fall and winter in-class work will be punctuated with fieldwork to explore the sounds of nearby cities. In spring, students will have the opportunity to design a field study that investigates the urban/music significance of a city of your choice and means. A formal field study proposal will be required as a tool to plan a five-week field study. | Stephanie Kozick Andrea Gullickson | Mon Tue Wed Thu | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||
Kristina Ackley and Zoltan Grossman
Signature Required:
Spring
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | Maori scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith asserts, “Our communities, cultures, languages and social practices—all may be spaces of marginalization, but they have also become spaces of resistance and hope.” In this program we will identify and contextualize these spaces and the politics of indigeneity and settler colonialism. We will use the Pacific Rim broadly as a geographic frame, with a focus on the Pacific Northwest Native nations and the Maori in Aotearoa (New Zealand). A comparative study of the role of treaties in Washington state and New Zealand—in natural resources, governance, the arts, education, etc.—will provide a key framework for the program.By concentrating on a larger region, students will have an opportunity to broaden Indigenous studies beyond the Lower 48 states and explore common processes of Native decolonization in different settler societies. We will be studying decolonization through cultural revitalization and sovereign jurisdiction of First Nations. In order to examine the central role of Indigenous peoples in the region's cultural and environmental survival, we will use the lenses of geography, history, and literature.In fall our focus will be on familiarizing students with the concept of sovereignty, working with local Native nations and preparing to travel to Aotearoa or elsewhere. The concept of sovereignty must be placed within a local, historical, cultural and global context. Through theoretical readings and discussion, we will move from state-building in the U.S. and Canada to Native forms of nationalism. We will stress the complexities and intricacies of colonization and decolonization by concentrating on the First Nations of Western Washington and British Columbia.We will later expand the focus to appreciate the similarities and differences of Indigenous experiences in other areas of the Pacific Rim, such as Native Alaskans, Aboriginal peoples in Australia and South Pacific island peoples. We will emphasize common Pacific Rim concerns such as climate change, tourism and cultural domination.For up to seven weeks spanning the last half of winter quarter and the beginning of spring quarter, many of us will travel to Aotearoa, where we will learn in a respectful and participatory way how the Maori have been engaged in revitalizing their language, art, land and politics, and their still unfolding, changing relationships with the Pakeha (non-Maori) people and society. Students will learn about the ongoing effects of colonization as well as gain a foundation in theories and practices of decolonization. We will take as our basic premise in this program that those wishing to know about the history of a particular Native group should write it with a purpose to be in solidarity with these people today.Students will develop skills as writers and researchers by studying scholarly and imaginative works, by conducting policy research and fieldwork with Native and non-Native communities, and by comparing community and government relationships in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand. Students will be expected to integrate extensive readings, lecture notes, films, interviews and other sources in writing assignments. | Kristina Ackley Zoltan Grossman | Tue Tue Wed Fri Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter 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 | ||||
Jamie Colley
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | S 15Spring | Odissi, one of the major classical dances of India, combines both complex rhythmic patterns and expressive mime. This class will be devoted to the principles of Odissi dance, the synthesis of foot, wrist, hand and face movements in a lyrical flow to express the philosophy of yoga based dance. Throughout the quarter, we will study the music, religion, and history of Indian dance and culture. | Jamie Colley | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Jamie Colley
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | F 14 Fall | Odissi, one of the major classical dances of India, combines both complex rhythmic patterns and expressive mime. This class will be devoted to the principles of Odissi dance, the synthesis of foot, wrist, hand and face movements in a lyrical flow to express the philosophy of yoga based dance. Throughout the quarter, we will study the music, religion, and history of Indian dance and culture. | Jamie Colley | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Karen Gaul, Evan Blackwell and Anthony Tindill
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | Fifty years ago, Buckminster Fuller contemplated our planetary future and our limited ability to imagine alternative futures in his book, . In this program, we will consider what it means to be astronauts on our home planet and how to creatively imagine healthy and sustainable future scenarios. Guiding questions for the program will include: What shapes cultural values and how do cultures change, adapt and form new paths? How do we weave together various branches of knowledge into a healthy system and vision for the world? What do we make with the abundance of material goods that fill our daily lives? How do we design objects and spaces to create a more sustainable and fulfilling existence? To address these questions, we will consider traditions of the past and present that demonstrate cultural responses to environmental limits and possibilities. Yogic philosophy, for example, offers critical guidelines for sustainable living and we will explore the principles and practices of this tradition. We will examine the ideologies of the Arts and Crafts movement, the modernist avant-garde, social sculpture and art as social practice. These will be connected with the environmental movement and current trends such as upcycling, cradle-to-cradle design and the resurgence in handiwork and traditions of craft.Students will research and construct their own “Operating Manuals” over the course of the three quarters. This will include a critical look at alternative and utopian models for living, as well as engage with powerful sustainability and justice movements already at work in our community. This program will challenge students to engage through readings and weekly seminar discussions, field visits and research papers, as well as visual art projects and critiques.In fall quarter, we will build vocabularies and skills for thinking about sustainability and community transformation. Studio work in two- and three-dimensional design and ceramics will emphasize redesigning, repurposing and reusing the proliferation of materials available all around us. Yoga labs will help us to integrate work in the classroom and studio with yogic thought and somatic experiences. Study and comparison of cross-cultural examples of sustainability practices will guide the development of our Operating Manuals.In winter quarter, we will work to develop community projects and/or individual visual artworks. We will work with organizations such as Sustainable South Sound and The Commons to develop applied projects. Students will research and report on local and regional alternative, intentional communities. Our critical analysis of sustainability discourses will inform all of our studio work.Spring quarter will offer opportunities to further develop and implement community projects. These may take the form of public art projects, sculptures or installations that enhance public spaces such as community or school gardens or parks. They may also involve facilitating public art processes that integrate the concepts and design principles central to this program. | Karen Gaul Evan Blackwell Anthony Tindill | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Peter Bohmer, Martha Schmidt and Savvina Chowdhury
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | We will examine the nature, development and concrete workings of modern capitalism and the interrelationship of race, class and gender in historical and contemporary contexts. Recurring themes will be the interaction of oppression, exploitation, social movements, reform and fundamental change, and the construction of alternatives to capitalism, nationally and globally. We will examine how social change has occurred in the past, present trends and alternatives for the future. We will examine different theoretical frameworks such as liberalism, Marxism, feminism, anarchism and neoclassical economics, and their explanations of the current U.S. and global political economy and of key issues such as education, the media, climate change, hunger, debt, immigration and the criminal justice system. There will be workshops on popular education and movement building skills.In fall, the U.S. experience will be the focus, whereas winter quarter will have a global focus. We will begin with the colonization of the U.S., and the material and ideological foundations of the U.S. political economy from the 18th century to the present. We will explore specific issues including the slave trade, racial, gender and economic inequality, the labor movement and the western push to "American Empire." We will examine the linkages from the past to the present between the economic core of capitalism, political and social structures, and gender, race and class relations. Resistance and social movements will be a central theme. We will study microeconomics principles from a neoclassical, feminist economics and political economy perspective. Within microeconomics, we will study topics such as the structure and failure of markets, work and wages, growing economic inequality, poverty, debt as a means of dispossession, and the gender and racial division of labor.In winter, we will examine the interrelationship between the U.S. political economy and the changing global system, and U.S. foreign policy. We will study causes and consequences of the globalization of capital and its effects in our daily lives, international migration, and the role of multilateral institutions and trade agreements. This program will analyze the response of societies such as Venezuela and Bolivia and social movements such as labor, feminist, anti-war, environmental, indigenous and youth and the global justice movement in the U.S. and internationally in opposing the global order. We will look at alternatives to neoliberal capitalism including socialism, participatory economies and community-based economies and study strategies for social change. We will study macroeconomics, including austerity and critiques of it, causes and solutions to the high rates of unemployment and underemployment and to economic instability. In winter quarter, as part of the 16 credits, there will be an optional internship for two credits in organizations and groups whose activities are closely related to the themes of this program or the opportunity to write a research paper on a relevant political economy topic.Students will engage the material through seminars, lectures, guest speakers, films, workshops, synthesis papers based on program material and concepts, and take-home examinations. | Peter Bohmer Martha Schmidt Savvina Chowdhury | Tue Wed Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Elizabeth Williamson
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 15Winter | Shakespeare’s plays are in many ways notoriously conservative. Women dress up as men, only to be railroaded into marriage at the end of the play; Jews and people of color are regularly treated horribly by otherwise likeable characters; servants are routinely sidelined into supporting roles. Early in the 20 century, E.M.W. Tillyard went so far as to argue that the plays were written expressly for the purpose of maintaining the Elizabethan social order. Since the 1960s, however, scholars and theater professionals have been working to draw out the subversive content of the plays, arguing that Shakespeare’s representation of oppressive social norms can be read as a critique of those norms—as well as a prefiguration of our own contemporary political struggles. This program is designed for students who want to engage in the project of reading literary texts against the grain. Liking Shakespeare is not a prerequisite. Rather, our focus will be on studying and practicing various modes of literary criticism—Marxist, feminist, psychoanalytic, and post-colonial, as well as methodologies informed by queer theory and disability studies. Students will read one play (primarily histories and tragedies) per week, along with sample pieces of literary criticism, and will write essays applying particular modes of literary theory to the plays. At the end of the quarter, students will write a dramaturgical analysis informed by at least one mode of literary criticism, and will perform sample scenes that embody their interpretation of the play. Our central question is a simple one: “What, if anything, can Shakespeare’s plays DO for us? What kind of social work can we make them perform?” | Elizabeth Williamson | Tue Tue Wed Fri Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
Tyrus Smith, Peter Boome, TBD, Suzanne Simons, Frances Solomon, Barbara Laners, Peter Bacho, Anthony Zaragoza, Paul McCreary, Gilda Sheppard and Mingxia Li
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This year’s program is designed to help students explore the history of how working hands have built the material world around us and shaped the environment, which in turn has molded our own consciousness. Realizing the capacity of working hands and the possible dual relationship between our hands with our mind is the critical first step toward empowerment of the working majority and potential social transformation.Arguably, all human expressions of intelligence both in art/craft and the written/spoken word are rooted in the hands. We will examine the theories and practices in humanities, social sciences, mathematics, natural sciences, media and technology that simultaneously represent and influence works by the hands of individuals, groups and organizations to change our society and environment locally, nationally and globally throughout the ages. For example, hands of different genders, races and social affiliations, hands that cradle, cook, weed, maneuver, calculate, experiment, film, draw, write and type will all be possible study subjects. Metaphors originated from hands, such as feel one’s way, to grasp the meaning, the right touch vs. heavy-handed, to be in touch vs. out of touch, and handling it right vs. wrong, as well as in one’s hand vs. out of one’s hand just begin to inform us how important our hands are in our consciousness. Hand gestures that solidify social bonding, express trust and admiration, and symbolize social contract are the beginning toward building social capital and cohesive communities. Our coordinated studies program consists of two major components: 1) whole campus yearlong lyceum/seminar where faculty and students will study the program theme from a broad multi-disciplined perspective, and 2) quarter long courses with a more focused approach. These courses will cover topical areas such as sociology, government, politics, education, math, law, public health, life science, media art, youth study, environment, community development, women's empowerment and political economy. The two components are linked through the program theme. In both components, we will pay particular attention to the “hands-on” style of learning through critical reflection and creative practices. Besides lyceum/seminar, a student will select two additional courses each quarter depending on career interest. The majority of the classes in the program are team-taught.Fall quarter will lay the foundation for the rest of the year, both substantively and in terms of the tools necessary for students to operate effectively in the learning community.During winter quarter, students will collaborate to investigate the characteristics and motivations of social entrepreneurs and develop action plans to promote social change.In spring quarter, we will bridge the gap between theory (mind) and practice (hand) by carrying out an action plan developed during winter quarter. | Tyrus Smith Peter Boome TBD Suzanne Simons Frances Solomon Barbara Laners Peter Bacho Anthony Zaragoza Paul McCreary Gilda Sheppard Mingxia Li | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
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 | |||
Mary DuPuis and Cynthia Marchand-Cecil
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This upper division program teaches from a Native-based perspective within the context of the larger global society and is designed for students who have social, cultural or economic ties to tribes. The curriculum is built around three themes that rotate one per year. For 2014-2015 the theme is In fall, students introduced to the major trends and issues in by comparing and contrasting different approaches to tribal management development and the factors contributing to successful nation building. During winter quarter, students will learn about , which is an exploration of major ethical theories and their applications to a variety of current issues. Students will explore various Native perspectives on ethics and the ways in which they are manifest in contemporary Native America. Developing analytic skills and critical thinking are a key aspect of this course through, amongst other things, the analysis of cases studies on current issues in Indian communities. In spring, students will be enrolled in , which explores leadership in both mainstream and tribal contexts; students will examine how political and social forces create leaders and make history. There are five curricular elements of the program: Core Course, Integrated Skills, Strands, Integrated Seminar, and Independent Study. The Core Course, taught from a tribal perspective in a global community, is a nine-credit unit within the program taught at all sites at the same time with the same readings and assignments, but allows for faculty/student innovation and site specification. Integrated Skills, including critical thinking and analysis, research and writing, public speaking, collaboration, personal authority, and indigenous knowledge, are taught across the curriculum, integrated into all teaching and learning at the sites and at Saturday classes. Strands, another element, are two-credit courses taught on four Saturdays per quarter, which allow for breadth in the program and make it possible to invite professionals and experts in specific fields to offer courses that otherwise might not be available to students in the program. The Integrated Seminar held on the same four Saturdays as the Strands is called Battlegrounds, and is a one-credit workshop generally built around native case studies. The program also includes student initiated work through Independent Study. | Mary DuPuis Cynthia Marchand-Cecil | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Cynthia Marchand-Cecil
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This upper division program teaches from a Native-based perspective within the context of the larger global society and is designed for students who have social, cultural or economic ties to tribes. The curriculum is built around three themes that rotate one per year. For 2014-2015 the theme is In fall, students introduced to the major trends and issues in by comparing and contrasting different approaches to tribal management development and the factors contributing to successful nation building. During winter quarter, students will learn about , which is an exploration of major ethical theories and their applications to a variety of current issues. Students will explore various Native perspectives on ethics and the ways in which they are manifest in contemporary Native America. Developing analytic skills and critical thinking are a key aspect of this course through, amongst other things, the analysis of cases studies on current issues in Indian communities. In spring, students will be enrolled in , which explores leadership in both mainstream and tribal contexts; students will examine how political and social forces create leaders and make history. There are five curricular elements of the program: Core Course, Integrated Skills, Strands, Integrated Seminar, and Independent Study. The Core Course, taught from a tribal perspective in a global community, is a nine-credit unit within the program taught at all sites at the same time with the same readings and assignments, but allows for faculty/student innovation and site specification. Integrated Skills, including critical thinking and analysis, research and writing, public speaking, collaboration, personal authority, and indigenous knowledge, are taught across the curriculum, integrated into all teaching and learning at the sites and at Saturday classes. Strands, another element, are two-credit courses taught on four Saturdays per quarter, which allow for breadth in the program and make it possible to invite professionals and experts in specific fields to offer courses that otherwise might not be available to students in the program. The Integrated Seminar held on the same four Saturdays as the Strands is called Battlegrounds, and is a one-credit workshop generally built around native case studies. The program also includes student initiated work through Independent Study. | Cynthia Marchand-Cecil | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Mary DuPuis and Cynthia Marchand-Cecil
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This upper division program teaches from a Native-based perspective within the context of the larger global society and is designed for students who have social, cultural or economic ties to tribes. The curriculum is built around three themes that rotate one per year. For 2014-2015 the theme is In fall, students introduced to the major trends and issues in by comparing and contrasting different approaches to tribal management development and the factors contributing to successful nation building. During winter quarter, students will learn about , which is an exploration of major ethical theories and their applications to a variety of current issues. Students will explore various Native perspectives on ethics and the ways in which they are manifest in contemporary Native America. Developing analytic skills and critical thinking are a key aspect of this course through, amongst other things, the analysis of cases studies on current issues in Indian communities. In spring, students will be enrolled in , which explores leadership in both mainstream and tribal contexts; students will examine how political and social forces create leaders and make history. There are five curricular elements of the program: Core Course, Integrated Skills, Strands, Integrated Seminar, and Independent Study. The Core Course, taught from a tribal perspective in a global community, is a nine-credit unit within the program taught at all sites at the same time with the same readings and assignments, but allows for faculty/student innovation and site specification. Integrated Skills, including critical thinking and analysis, research and writing, public speaking, collaboration, personal authority, and indigenous knowledge, are taught across the curriculum, integrated into all teaching and learning at the sites and at Saturday classes. Strands, another element, are two-credit courses taught on four Saturdays per quarter, which allow for breadth in the program and make it possible to invite professionals and experts in specific fields to offer courses that otherwise might not be available to students in the program. The Integrated Seminar held on the same four Saturdays as the Strands is called Battlegrounds, and is a one-credit workshop generally built around native case studies. The program also includes student initiated work through Independent Study. | Mary DuPuis Cynthia Marchand-Cecil | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
TBA and Cynthia Marchand-Cecil
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This upper division program teaches from a Native-based perspective within the context of the larger global society and is designed for students who have social, cultural or economic ties to tribes. The curriculum is built around three themes that rotate one per year. For 2014-2015 the theme is In fall, students introduced to the major trends and issues in by comparing and contrasting different approaches to tribal management development and the factors contributing to successful nation building. During winter quarter, students will learn about , which is an exploration of major ethical theories and their applications to a variety of current issues. Students will explore various Native perspectives on ethics and the ways in which they are manifest in contemporary Native America. Developing analytic skills and critical thinking are a key aspect of this course through, amongst other things, the analysis of cases studies on current issues in Indian communities. In spring, students will be enrolled in , which explores leadership in both mainstream and tribal contexts; students will examine how political and social forces create leaders and make history. There are five curricular elements of the program: Core Course, Integrated Skills, Strands, Integrated Seminar, and Independent Study. The Core Course, taught from a tribal perspective in a global community, is a nine-credit unit within the program taught at all sites at the same time with the same readings and assignments, but allows for faculty/student innovation and site specification. Integrated Skills, including critical thinking and analysis, research and writing, public speaking, collaboration, personal authority, and indigenous knowledge, are taught across the curriculum, integrated into all teaching and learning at the sites and at Saturday classes. Strands, another element, are two-credit courses taught on four Saturdays per quarter, which allow for breadth in the program and make it possible to invite professionals and experts in specific fields to offer courses that otherwise might not be available to students in the program. The Integrated Seminar held on the same four Saturdays as the Strands is called Battlegrounds, and is a one-credit workshop generally built around native case studies. The program also includes student initiated work through Independent Study. | TBA Cynthia Marchand-Cecil | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
TBA and Cynthia Marchand-Cecil
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This upper division program teaches from a Native-based perspective within the context of the larger global society and is designed for students who have social, cultural or economic ties to tribes. The curriculum is built around three themes that rotate one per year. For 2014-2015 the theme is In fall, students introduced to the major trends and issues in by comparing and contrasting different approaches to tribal management development and the factors contributing to successful nation building. During winter quarter, students will learn about , which is an exploration of major ethical theories and their applications to a variety of current issues. Students will explore various Native perspectives on ethics and the ways in which they are manifest in contemporary Native America. Developing analytic skills and critical thinking are a key aspect of this course through, amongst other things, the analysis of cases studies on current issues in Indian communities. In spring, students will be enrolled in , which explores leadership in both mainstream and tribal contexts; students will examine how political and social forces create leaders and make history. There are five curricular elements of the program: Core Course, Integrated Skills, Strands, Integrated Seminar, and Independent Study. The Core Course, taught from a tribal perspective in a global community, is a nine-credit unit within the program taught at all sites at the same time with the same readings and assignments, but allows for faculty/student innovation and site specification. Integrated Skills, including critical thinking and analysis, research and writing, public speaking, collaboration, personal authority, and indigenous knowledge, are taught across the curriculum, integrated into all teaching and learning at the sites and at Saturday classes. Strands, another element, are two-credit courses taught on four Saturdays per quarter, which allow for breadth in the program and make it possible to invite professionals and experts in specific fields to offer courses that otherwise might not be available to students in the program. The Integrated Seminar held on the same four Saturdays as the Strands is called Battlegrounds, and is a one-credit workshop generally built around native case studies. The program also includes student initiated work through Independent Study. | TBA Cynthia Marchand-Cecil | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Cynthia Marchand-Cecil
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This upper division program teaches from a Native-based perspective within the context of the larger global society and is designed for students who have social, cultural or economic ties to tribes. The curriculum is built around three themes that rotate one per year. For 2014-2015 the theme is In fall, students introduced to the major trends and issues in by comparing and contrasting different approaches to tribal management development and the factors contributing to successful nation building. During winter quarter, students will learn about , which is an exploration of major ethical theories and their applications to a variety of current issues. Students will explore various Native perspectives on ethics and the ways in which they are manifest in contemporary Native America. Developing analytic skills and critical thinking are a key aspect of this course through, amongst other things, the analysis of cases studies on current issues in Indian communities. In spring, students will be enrolled in , which explores leadership in both mainstream and tribal contexts; students will examine how political and social forces create leaders and make history. There are five curricular elements of the program: Core Course, Integrated Skills, Strands, Integrated Seminar, and Independent Study. The Core Course, taught from a tribal perspective in a global community, is a nine-credit unit within the program taught at all sites at the same time with the same readings and assignments, but allows for faculty/student innovation and site specification. Integrated Skills, including critical thinking and analysis, research and writing, public speaking, collaboration, personal authority, and indigenous knowledge, are taught across the curriculum, integrated into all teaching and learning at the sites and at Saturday classes. Strands, another element, are two-credit courses taught on four Saturdays per quarter, which allow for breadth in the program and make it possible to invite professionals and experts in specific fields to offer courses that otherwise might not be available to students in the program. The Integrated Seminar held on the same four Saturdays as the Strands is called Battlegrounds, and is a one-credit workshop generally built around native case studies. The program also includes student initiated work through Independent Study. | Cynthia Marchand-Cecil | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Cynthia Marchand-Cecil
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This upper division program teaches from a Native-based perspective within the context of the larger global society and is designed for students who have social, cultural or economic ties to tribes. The curriculum is built around three themes that rotate one per year. For 2014-2015 the theme is In fall, students introduced to the major trends and issues in by comparing and contrasting different approaches to tribal management development and the factors contributing to successful nation building. During winter quarter, students will learn about , which is an exploration of major ethical theories and their applications to a variety of current issues. Students will explore various Native perspectives on ethics and the ways in which they are manifest in contemporary Native America. Developing analytic skills and critical thinking are a key aspect of this course through, amongst other things, the analysis of cases studies on current issues in Indian communities. In spring, students will be enrolled in , which explores leadership in both mainstream and tribal contexts; students will examine how political and social forces create leaders and make history. There are five curricular elements of the program: Core Course, Integrated Skills, Strands, Integrated Seminar, and Independent Study. The Core Course, taught from a tribal perspective in a global community, is a nine-credit unit within the program taught at all sites at the same time with the same readings and assignments, but allows for faculty/student innovation and site specification. Integrated Skills, including critical thinking and analysis, research and writing, public speaking, collaboration, personal authority, and indigenous knowledge, are taught across the curriculum, integrated into all teaching and learning at the sites and at Saturday classes. Strands, another element, are two-credit courses taught on four Saturdays per quarter, which allow for breadth in the program and make it possible to invite professionals and experts in specific fields to offer courses that otherwise might not be available to students in the program. The Integrated Seminar held on the same four Saturdays as the Strands is called Battlegrounds, and is a one-credit workshop generally built around native case studies. The program also includes student initiated work through Independent Study. | Cynthia Marchand-Cecil | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Miranda Mellis and Shaw Osha (Flores)
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Program | JR–SRJunior–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | “Beginning again and again is a natural thing,” wrote Gertrude Stein in her 1925 lecture, "Composition as Explanation." In this program we will begin again and again, practicing the arts of writing and drawing by means of continuously returning to the same objects and methods in order to generate, through repetition, a series of interconnected and centripetally formed drawings and texts. This creative writing, critical thinking, and visual art program is for students who are ready to concentrate on working and reworking a series of works of visual art, or writing, or both. Our focus is on practice–the subject is less important than our disciplined return to it. We will be guided by a range of artists and writers who take an experimentalist and recursive approach to composition, as well as philosophers and critics, Elizabeth Grosz in particular, whose book will anchor and orient our thinking about aesthetics in a richly exploratory and cross-disciplinary manner. We'll take inspiration from the repetitive methodology of Expressionist Maria Lassnig, the formal restraint of Giorgio Morandi, and Wassily Kandinsky’s continuous return to . The serial minimalism of musicians such as Julius Eastman and Steve Reich will form a portion of our auditory index, and we’ll also make a study of the insistent return T.J. Clark performs in his book , an extended, recursive, ekphrastic meditation on Poussin’s and Rilke's as exemplars for our own ekprhastic writings. We'll work and re-work our methods and objects, and turn and re-turn to oft-repeated forms such as the refrain, the loop, the drill, and the anecdote. Students should be prepared for intensive reading and writing as well as independent project work in practice and research. | Miranda Mellis Shaw Osha (Flores) | Mon Wed Thu | Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Patricia Krafcik and Robert Smurr
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 12, 16 | 12 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | This program offers an interdisciplinary approach to Russian and Eurasian history, literature, culture, geography and film. Our journey will take us across all of the vast territories that once comprised the Russian and Soviet empires—territories that today make up more than 15 independent states. In lectures, seminars and film analyses and discussions, we will travel from the fjords of Norway to the thriving cities of Constantinople and Baghdad; from the windswept grasslands of Mongolia to the Moscow cathedrals built by Ivan the Terrible; from the Artic Ocean to the marketplaces of Central Asia; from the peaks of the Caucasus Mountains to the deserts of Uzbekistan.Our focus is the rise and fall of empires in this region, beginning with one that no longer exists—the Mongol empire—and one that in many senses still does—the Russian empire. We will investigate the development of the Russians and their nation through history, starting with Viking invasions of Slavic territories in the 800s and progressing to Russia's thriving imperial era in the 1800s. This latter period witnessed not only Napoleon's massive invasion of Russia, but also the emergence of some of the world's greatest literature (including Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol and Turgenev). The diverse ethnicities that had cultural, political, social, economic and religious contact with the Russians—the Vikings, Mongols, Greeks, Tatars and Turkic peoples, among others—will all play key roles in our examinations. Faculty will provide lectures to guide our study and students will read and discuss a diverse selection of historical and literary texts in seminars, view and discuss relevant documentaries and films, and write three major essays based on seminar readings. One field trip will be to the Maryhill Museum to view its collection of icons and other Russian-related items along with a visit to a Greek Orthodox women's monastery for a tour of the grounds and the icon studio. Another field trip will take us to the Pacific Coast village of La Push, Washington, and the Quileute Reservation, where in the early 19th century a Russian ship was grounded—an event which was preserved in Quileute oral tradition and is significant in our study of the Russian historical presence in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Students are strongly urged to take the Beginning Russian Language segment within the full-time program. Studying Russian will enhance their learning experience. Those who opt out of language should register for only 12 credits. | Patricia Krafcik Robert Smurr | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Robert Smurr and Patricia Krafcik
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 15Winter | This program emphasizes the Russian Empire’s extraordinary political, historical, literary, artistic and musical developments of the 19th and early 20th centuries. We will explore literary masterpieces by Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov; examine paintings by Repin, Nesterov and Vereshchagin; and listen to the compositions of Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. We will also examine the rise of the Russian Empire’s radical intelligentsia, thinkers who rebelled against autocratic tsarist policies and the institution of serfdom and whose activities led to the world-changing revolutions of the early 20th century.Readings from social and revolutionary activists, such as Marx, Lenin and Trotsky, will allow us to better understand how these thinkers managed to transform the economically and socially “backward” Russian Empire into the planet’s most experimental and, at times, most feared political power. Our diverse readings from Russian and Soviet imperial literature and history will help us gain an appreciation for the cultural, social and political nuances of these expansive, beguiling and enigmatic lands. Faculty will provide lectures to guide our study. Students will read and discuss in seminar a diverse selection of historical and literary texts; view and discuss relevant documentaries and films; and write three major essays based on seminar readings. A special all-program workshop in (wax-resist egg decorating) will offer a hands-on Slavic folk art experience. New language students will be accepted in the Beginning Russian Language segment within the program if they have one college quarter of Russian or the equivalent.A special history workshop segment is available to students within or from outside the program for 4 credits. It will investigate the origins, development and dissolution of nine separate wars in which the former Russian Empire, the former Soviet Union and contemporary Russia have been involved. The workshop, entitled "Russian, Soviet, and Post-Soviet Wars," will start with the Napoleonic invasion of the Russian Empire and progress chronologically to a new war each week. | Robert Smurr Patricia Krafcik | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||||
Elena Smith
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This year-long course is designed to teach students to read the mysterious looking Cyrillic script, write the unique Russian cursive, construct sentences and express themselves in Russian. Students will immerse themselves in the colorful cultural and historical context provided by authentic text, film, music, and visual arts. Exploring selected works by such literary masters as A. Pushkin, L. Tolstoy, and A. Chekhov, to name a few, students will be able to understand not only the specifics of Russian grammar and vocabulary but also the complexities of Russian character and the Russian way of thinking as documented and preserved by outstanding Russian authors. | Elena Smith | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
EJ Zita
Signature Required:
Spring
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8 | 08 | Day | S 15Spring | How have humans understood the universe and our place in it, from ancient to modern times? Our readings will explore questions like this, from the perspective of several cultures.In conjunction with the program Astronomy and Cosmologies, a limited number of students are invited to join our seminar to discuss the idea of cosmologies. We will study creation stories and worldviews, from those of ancient peoples to modern astrophysicists. We will all read the same seminar texts. Science Seminar students will read the same seminar texts as Astronomy and Cosmologies, but will do half the work—no math, half the class meetings, and a little more writing.Students will work in teams to prepare for each seminar. Teams will post pre-seminar assignments online, and individuals will post essays (and responses to peers' essays) online. We will have two seminars per week. Our class meetings will be in person, and the online work will contribute importantly to our community-based learning. | conceptual astronomy and cosmology, history and philosophy of science | EJ Zita | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
Ann Storey and Aisha Harrison
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | This will be an interdisciplinary ceramic sculpture and art history program that will explore the dynamic artistic traditions of Mexico from ancient times to the present. We will take a thematic approach to our historical studies, exploring Mesoamerican art and spirituality, colonial artistic traditions, Day of the Dead belief and rituals, the Virgin of Guadalupe and the on-going contribution of women to the culture, the post-revolutionary mural and printmaking traditions, and Chicano culture. Moving from theory to practice we will work to deepen our understanding of the ideas we have discussed in seminar through an intense ceramic studio practice. Fall quarter, we will focus on drawing and sculpting the human figure/skeleton; developing our sense of the human form, working on abstraction, and creating a Day of the Dead sculpture/altar. Winter quarter we will continue to use the handbuilding skills learned in fall to create a Tree of Life sculpture and a ceramic tile mural. | Ann Storey Aisha Harrison | Tue Thu Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
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 | ||||
Robert Smurr and Patricia Krafcik
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 15Spring | This program will investigate the 74-year lifespan of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), as well as the two decades that have passed since its collapse in 1991. We will explore Russian and Eurasian poetry and prose from this period and analyze the reasons why the USSR produced such remarkable and world-renowned talents as the writers Bulgakov and Solzhenitsyn and such composers as Prokofiev and Shostakovich. We shall also investigate how this society included inhuman prison camps, governmental rule by terror and totalitarian rule. Indeed, we shall attempt to determine how Josef Stalin became responsible for the murder of at least 20 million of his fellow citizens while at the same time transforming a relatively backward empire into an undisputed world power.Economic difficulties and shortages of consumer goods continued to plague citizens of the USSR until its collapse, but the empire’s last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, did his best to revitalize the Soviet socialist experiment via peaceful and more open means. Gorbachev’s campaigns to “restructure” the empire’s economy and become more “open” towards a free press simply hastened the collapse of the empire. We will examine these policies, but equally as important, we will also investigate the rise of 15 independent states that emerged from the ashes of the former Soviet Empire and trace their paths since they gained independence in 1991. Vladimir Putin has led Russia since 2000 and his authoritarian policies suggest that he will remain in power until 2024. Faculty will provide lectures to guide our study and students will read and discuss a diverse selection of historical and literary texts in seminars and will view and discuss relevant documentaries and films. The centerpiece of student work will be a major research paper on any topic connected with the Soviet Union and Russia, along with the production of a professional-quality poster for the students' final presentation of their research this term. Students are strongly urged, but not required, to take the Beginning Russian Language segment within the full-time program. To enter language study at this point, students should have the equivalent of two quarters of college Russian. A special history workshop segment is available to students within or from outside the program for four credits. It will investigate aspects of the "Cold War" from U.S. and Soviet perspectives, as well as lend a greater understanding of the worldwide struggle for political, economic, military and ideological supremacy. | Robert Smurr Patricia Krafcik | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Alice Nelson, David Phillips and Catalina Ocampo
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | Spain and Latin America share not only the Spanish language but also an intertwined history of complex cultural crossings. The cultures of both arose from dynamic and sometimes violent encounters and continue to be shaped by uneven power relationships as well as vibrant forms of resistance. In this program, students will engage in an intensive study of the Spanish language and explore cultural production by Spaniards and Latin Americans in historical context. Every week will include seminars on readings in English, Spanish language classes, a lecture or workshop conducted in Spanish and a Spanish-language film. There will be regular written seminar responses, synthesis essays and a winter-quarter research project. Please note that Spanish language classes are integrated into the program, so students do not have to register for them separately. We welcome students with any level of Spanish, from true beginner to advanced. No previous study of Spanish is required to enter in the fall.Fall quarter, we will explore cultural crossings in Spain and Latin America prior to the 20th century. We will study the coexistence of Jews, Christians and Muslims in medieval Spain and the suppression of Jewish and Muslim communities during the Spanish Inquisition. We will also examine violence against indigenous peoples and Africans during Spain's process of imperial expansion and how subsequent colonial institutions were contested by diverse resistance movements, including Latin America's struggles for independence in the 19th century. Our readings will include historical accounts as well as contemporary cultural products that reexamine and reimagine these encounters.Winter quarter, we will turn to the 20th and 21st centuries in Latin America, with emphasis on the roles of class, gender and ethnicity in various groups' struggles to contest unequal power relations and determine their own futures. Possible cases include: ethnic and national movements in the Caribbean; ongoing issues of land, violence and sovereignty in Mexico; indigenism and indigeneity in Mexico, Guatemala and Peru; legacies of the Nicaraguan revolution; roles of new social movements in transitions to democracy in the Southern Cone; and the impact of unprecedented migration in the Americas. In each of these contexts, we will explore the interrelationships between politics and cultural production and how literature and film can impact processes of social change.Spring quarter offers two options for study abroad and an internship option with local Latino organizations for those who stay on campus. The Santo Tomás, Nicaragua, program is coordinated with the Thurston-Santo Tomás Sister County Association and its counterpart in Nicaragua and is open to 4-8 intermediate/advanced language students. The Mérida, Mexico option is co-coordinated with HABLA Language and Culture Center, and is open to 15 or more students of all language levels. For students staying in Olympia, the program will have an on-campus core of Spanish classes and seminars focused on Latino/a communities in the U.S. and the opportunity for student-originated projects and/or internships. All classes during spring quarter, in Olympia and abroad, will be conducted entirely in Spanish. | Alice Nelson David Phillips Catalina Ocampo | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Kabby Mitchell
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SOS | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | This is an opportunity for well-prepared students to do authentic, significant, independent work in dance, theatre, music or film production. Students enrolling in this program should have one or more potential project ideas before the start of fall quarter. Please contact the faculty with any questions regarding your specific ideas.Participants will meet weekly to discuss their projects and to collaboratively work in small groups. Students will be expected to give progress updates, outline challenges, and share ideas for increasing the quality of the work that they are doing throughout the quarter. Specific descriptions of learning goals and activities will be developed individually between the student and faculty to insure quality work. At the end of the quarter students will present their projects to their peers in the most suitable manner for their particular project. | performance art, dance, theater, music, and cultural studies. | Kabby Mitchell | Wed Wed | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||
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 | |||||
Naima Lowe, Shaw Osha (Flores), Kathleen Eamon and Joli Sandoz
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | V | V | Day, Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This is an opportunity for students to work on faculty-driven scholarly and creative projects. By working with faculty in a studio and research “apprentice” model, students will gain hands-on experience in visual arts studio practices, film/media production practices, the creative writing workshop focused on craft, critical research and writing, library and archival research practices, and much more. (social and political philosophy, aesthetics, philosophy of art) has interests in German idealism (Kant and Hegel), historical materialism (Marx, 20 C Marxists, and critical theory), and psychoanalysis (Freud and Lacan). She is currently working on an unorthodox project about Kant and Freud, under the working title “States of Partial Undress: the Fantasy of Sociability.” Students working with Kathleen would have opportunities to join her in her inquiry, learn about and pursue research in the humanities, and critically respond to the project as it comes together. In addition to work in Kantian aesthetics and Freudian dream theory, the project will involve questions about futurity, individual wishes and fantasies, and the possibility of collective and progressive models of sociability and fantasy. (experimental media and performance art) creates films, videos, performances and written works that explore issues of race, gender, and embodiment. The majority of her work includes an archival research element that explores historical social relationships and mythic identities. She is currently working on a series of short films and performances that explore racial identity in rural settings. Students working with Naima would have opportunities to learn media production and post-production skills (including storyboarding, scripting, 16mm and HD video shooting, location scouting, audio recording, audio/video editing, etc) through working with a small crew comprised of students and professional artists. Students would also have opportunities to do archival and historical research on African-Americans living in rural settings, and on literature, film and visual art that deals with similar themes. (visual art) works in painting, photography, drawing, writing and video. She explores issues of visual representation, affect as a desire, social relationships and the conditions that surround us. She is currently working on a project based on questions of soul in artwork. Students working with Shaw would have opportunities to learn about artistic research, critique, grant and statement writing, website design, studio work and concerns in contemporary art making. (creative nonfiction) draws from experience and field, archival and library research to write creative essays about experiences and constructions of place, and about cultural practices of embodiment. She also experiments with short lyric nonfiction, and with juxtapositions of diagrams, images and words, including hand-drawn mapping. Students working with Joli will be able to learn their choice of: critical reading approaches to published works (reading as a writer), online and print research and associated information assessment skills, identifying publishing markets for specific pieces of writing, or discussing and responding to creative nonfiction in draft form (workshopping). Joli’s projects underway include essays on illusion and delusion, and on physical achievement and ambition; and a visual/word piece exploring the relationship of the local to the global.Please go to the catalog view for specific information about each option. | Naima Lowe Shaw Osha (Flores) Kathleen Eamon Joli Sandoz | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Naima Lowe
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
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Research | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | V | V | Day, Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | This is an opportunity for students to work on faculty-driven scholarly and creative projects. By working with faculty in a studio and research “apprentice” model, students will gain hands-on experience in visual arts studio practices, film/media production practices, the creative writing workshop focused on craft, critical research and writing, library and archival research practices, and much more. (experimental media and performance art) creates films, videos, performances and written works that explore issues of race, gender, and embodiment. The majority of her work includes an archival research element that explores historical social relationships and mythic identities. She is currently working on a series of short films and performances that explore racial identity in rural settings. Students working with Naima would have opportunities to learn media production and post-production skills (including storyboarding, scripting, 16mm and HD video shooting, location scouting, audio recording, audio/video editing, etc) through working with a small crew comprised of students and professional artists. Students would also have opportunities to do archival and historical research on African-Americans living in rural settings, and on literature, film and visual art that deals with similar themes. | Naima Lowe | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter 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 | |||||
David Wolach
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening and Weekend | S 15Spring | This course challenges students to write the world that does not yet exist. Or, as poet and theorist of radical black performance Fred Moten does, we will try to engage in writing that "investigates new ways for people to get together and do stuff in the open, in secret." Each week we’ll work individually and collaboratively on writing experiments—prose, poetry, essay—that critique and advance beyond our own assumptions about what is socially possible or probable and that do so by paying careful attention to the rhythms of current crises. As a basis for this creative production, we will engage critically with writers whose work exists at the point where the border between politics and art ruptures. In sound, in sight, and through a kind of "improvisatory ensemble" (as Moten puts it) we will resist what too often gets counted as the inevitable outcome of a political economy that treats people as objects that just happen to speak. What is inevitable about the future, and what is it about controlled acts of creative improvisation that helps us not just "guess at" but hear our future’s past? | David Wolach | Wed Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring |