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Gender And Women's 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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Andrew Buchman and Leslie Flemmer
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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 | |||||
Grace Huerta and Laurie Meeker
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Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | As communities continue to reflect the country's increasingly diverse population, what media representations challenge and support discrimination in our communities, schools and institutions? How can we generate a framework for actions that reject inaccurate representations of human difference, value diverse forms of knowledge and question institutional inequalities? In this program, we will pursue answers to these questions by examining identity, educational history, cultural studies and the media in order to design strategies to support a more equitable school system and to create diverse forms of media expression.We will begin by analyzing a working definition of racism and sexism that frames intentional, as well as unintentional, normalized acts of inequality over time. We will challenge depictions in literature and the media that promote the stereotyping of diverse groups. Through an analysis of anti-racist and anti-sexist case study research and the media, we will also explore the lived experiences of diverse populations whose identities are often impacted by assumptions and disparities found in communities and school settings based upon the social construction of race and gender and the stereotyping of immigrant students. In order to break down such assumptions, students will engage in community service, writing and media analysis over the course of the program. In the fall, community service will take the form of student engagement in student groups at Evergreen, followed by collaborations with community-based organizations in winter.In addition, we will investigate specific everyday actions that media artists, activists and educators generate to confront these inequalities. By incorporating media and writing workshops, qualitative research methods such as interviews and participant observation, we will collect various sources of data and present our work which documents how specific counter-narratives can be created that affirm and support diverse learners to achieve within their schools and communities. Writing workshops will help students develop skills in critical analysis and media analysis, while media workshops (which may include photography, digital video and/or new media) will helps students develop skills in visual literacy and visual expression. Lastly, we will demonstrate our understanding of everyday anti-racist/anti-sexist practices by creating presentations that merge theory, community service and writing. Possible themes that may emerge through our own study may include examining the community and students' funds of knowledge, the use alternative media outlets and the arts as tools of empowerment which specifically recognize our collective cultural hybridity. This program will provide background knowledge and skill development for students interested in careers in teaching, media production, cultural studies and community service. | Grace Huerta Laurie Meeker | Mon Tue Thu | Freshmen FR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Frances V. Rains
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | Native American women have been erased from history. It is not that they did not exist; it is that they were , omitted from history. At the same time, stereotypes such as "squaw" and "princess" have plagued Native women since 1492. Ironically, the history of Native women has reflected a different reality with a long tradition of standing strong for justice. Native women have stood to protect the lands and the natural world, their cultures, languages, the health of their families, and Tribal Sovereignty. But few learn about these Native women, who consistently defied the stereotypes in order to work for the betterment of their peoples and nations. Drawing upon the experiences and writings of such women, we will explore the ways in which leadership is articulated in many Native American communities. We will critique how feminist theory has both served and ignored Native women. Through case studies, autobiography, literature and films, we will analyze how Native women have argued for sovereignty and developed agendas that privilege community over individuality. We will explore the activism of 20th century Native women leaders, particularly in the areas of the environment, the family system and the law.This program will implement decolonizing methodologies to give voice to some of these women, while deconstructing the stereotypes, in order to honor and provide a different way of knowing about these courageous Native American women, past and present. Students will develop skills as writers, researchers and potential advocates by studying scholarly and imaginative works and conducting research. Through extensive reading and writing, dialogue, art, films and possible guest speakers, we will investigate important aspects of the life and times of some of these Native American women across the centuries. | Frances V. Rains | Mon Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Rebecca Sunderman, Andrew Brabban and Toska Olson
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | How can we think analytically and critically about crime in America? Why is crime such a central focus in modern American society? How is a crime scene analyzed? How are crimes solved? How can we prevent violent crime and murder? This program will integrate sociological and forensic science perspectives to investigate crime and societal responses to it. We will explore how social and cultural factors including race, class and gender are associated with crime and criminal behavior. In addition, we will consider criminological theories and explore how social scientists can help identify offenders through criminal profiling and forensic psychology.Through our forensics investigations, we will examine subjects including biology, chemistry, pathology and physics. We will study evidentiary techniques for crime scene analysis, such as the examination of fingerprints, DNA, blood spatter, fibers, glass fractures and fragments, hairs, ballistics, teeth, bones and body remains. Students will learn hands-on laboratory and field approaches to the scientific methods used in crime scene investigation. Students will also learn to apply analytical, quantitative and qualitative skills to collect and interpret evidence. Students can expect seminars, labs, lectures, guest speakers and workshops, along with both individual and group project work.This is an introductory program about science, critical thinking and the perspectives of sociology, chemistry and biology through the lens of crime analysis. Students interested in developing their skills in scientific inquiry, critical thinking and interdisciplinary studies should consider this program. Students who may not consider themselves to be "science" students are encouraged to enroll. | Rebecca Sunderman Andrew Brabban Toska Olson | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Nancy Anderson and Kathy Kelly
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening and Weekend | F 14 Fall | W 15Winter | S 15Spring | Nancy Anderson Kathy Kelly | Sat Sun | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Cheri Lucas-Jennings
Signature Required:
Fall
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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 | ||||
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 | |||||
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 | ||||
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 | ||||
Frances V. Rains
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 15Winter | This program will address historic and contemporary images and misrepresentations of Indians in a variety of media. Indian images from films, photographs, language, mascots, popular culture and commercial interests will be deconstructed and analyzed for meaning, significance, power, representation and issues of authenticity. Colonialism, U.S./Indian history, geo-politics, and economics will be decolonized through the lenses of Native resistance, Native sovereignty and Native political and economic issues. Essential to this exploration will be an investigation of the dynamics of "self" and "other."Learning will take place through readings, seminars, lectures, films and workshops. Students will improve their research skills through document review, observations and critical analysis. Students will also have opportunities to improve their writing skills through weekly written assignments. Verbal skills will be improved through small group and whole class seminar discussions, and through individual final project presentations. Options for the final project will be discussed in the syllabus and in class. | art, cultural studies, education, geography, history, media studies, Native studies and political science. | Frances V. Rains | Mon Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||
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 | |||
Ann Storey and Nancy Parkes
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening and Weekend | S 15Spring | What are the relationships among art, writing and transformation? Have artists been inspired by creative writing and have writers been inspired by art? The answer is a resounding yes! In this interdisciplinary art and writing class we will explore examples of mutually creative influence coming from these sister arts. In turn we will create art and writing that draws on these twin sources of creativity, with a special emphasis on relationship to environment and place. We are concerned with art and writing that addresses both cultural and personal transformation. We will learn the formal analysis of art and literature so that we can engage in "close reading" of both. Also, we will read literature that shows the many ways that works of art can be cherished and understood throughout time. Our primary studio practices will be drawing, assemblage, book arts and collage. Students will also engage in creative writing workshops that often involve art. | Ann Storey Nancy Parkes | Wed Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
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 | |||
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 |