Undergraduate Courses

This course examines how cultural memory is enacted through visual culture in a comparative global context. It looks at the rise of a memory culture over the last few decades, in particular in the United States, Europe and Latin America, and how this engagement with memory demonstrates how the politics of memory can reveal aspects of nationalism and national identity, ethnic conflict and strife, the legacies of state terrorism, and the deployment of memory as a means for further continued conflict.

What does it mean to be "urban" in China and how is Chinese urbanism mediated by new cultural formations? In this course we will examine the culture and media that define city life in China, including Chinese state and popular media, television and film, music, fashion, verbal art and literature (in print and online) and visual art. we will focus on the period from the building booms of the mid-to-late nineties to the present. Students will work in teams to make presentations on urban culture, and use primary sources in translation and secondary sources to write individual essays. Chinese language ability appreciated but by no means required.

This course will investigate the cultural geography of a specific commodity, assessing historical and contemporary issues that inform modes of production and development of international or domestic trade. The subtopic may vary. Students will work as a team to produce a project that analyzes the intricacies of the commodity"in this case, coffee. The course will include on-the-ground research and site visits.

A veritable buzzword globalization refers to several newly emerged trends. To name the three most visible ones these are the economy, culture and politics. Media do not only describe and interpret globalization but also are its important part. A study of globalization is inherently diverse and eclectic. So is this course. Students will read, watch, analyze and discuss. In class discussions and writings they are expected to engage questions connected to globalization, culture and the media. Through a series of lectures and discussions the course explores how the process of globalization transforms the media and examines the impact of new technologies on global communications. Emphasizing the transnational context of media and culture the course approaches global media and cultural production from a wide range of theoretical frameworks relevant to contemporary condition.

Critical evaluation of recent research through seminars and class discussions.

Social Studies as a field is reviewed historically and its theoretical base is analyzed. Examines the nature of socialization inherent in different concepts of knowledge and introduces the problems of selecting, organizing, and teaching various approaches to history and the social sciences

Dance is an integral and defining component of cultures throughout the world and throughout history. This course introduces students to dance as a live and performing art through a variety of experiences including attendance at live performances, examination of videos and theoretical texts, and physical participation in the practice and performance of dance. Through discussions, written assignments, and the creation of original dance compositions, students will explore the history and cultural relevance of a variety of forms of dance within their own lives, larger society, and the global community beyond.

Liberal Arts Core/CORE-MAP Equivalent - satisfies the requirement for Expressive Cultures

Not Available.

An introduction to the sources and uses of data as a strategic asset in the music industry. Students gain literacy in the methods decision makers use to analyze data about music itself, music discovery and music consumption in the effort to drive competitive advantage. Students interact with the data sources and analytic tools in wide use; learn the basics of data storage,manipulation, and modeling techniques; and become familiar with the practical applications and business benefits of data analysis in the music in the music industry.

Data is often considered the domain of scientists and statisticians, but its increasing dominance across nearly all aspects of life – from political and advertising campaigns to social media, dating, education, and public health — has social, political, and ethical consequences, presenting both new possibilities and new hazards. In this course we think critically about how collecting, aggregating, and analyzing data affects individual and social life, with a focus on the ways in which it reproduces and creates new structural inequalities and power asymmetries.

Not Available.

Explores early and obsolete media technologies. After an intensive introduction to the theory and methods of media archaeology, students will venture into local archives, libraries, and museums in search of texts, images, and sounds to be assembled into dossiers. Projects will be undertaken collaboratively, with regular reports and critiques throughout the semester.

Based on three pillars of experiential learning--exploration, collaboration, and engagement--this course introduces students to pathways of academic, personal and professional achievement. The course includes three main components: self-assessment, understanding mentorship, and understanding leadership. Students will conduct individual and group self-assessments and interest inventories; identify and cultivate mentoring relationships in their field of study; and examine and practice leadership in both traditional and non-traditional modes. Course includes high-profile guest speakers, a high level of student involvement in constructing learning activities, and experiential learning trips to complement the on-campus experience.

Not Available.

This course will build on a core concept of Lewis Mumford who understood media ecology as a component of spatial and urban ecology. Emphasis will be given on how space socially organizes human meaning and on the “inscription” of space. How do people, throUEh, their practices and their being in the world, form relationships with the locales they occupy (both the natural world and the build environment)? How do they attach meanings to spaces to create places? And how do the experiences of inhabiting viewing and hearing those places shape their meanings, communicative practices, cultural performance memories and habits? Course themes include; mapping and the imagination; vision and space, soundscape, architecture and landscape; new media and space/time compression; space and identity; spatial violence; spatialization of memory.

This course is a Dean’s Global Honors Seminar and available by application only.Eligible students are contacted directly. It includes travel to Florence, Italy during January 2018 and requires a $400 fee. This course explores the implications of having a disability in global contexts. Students will explore and identify factors, which can influence a community’s view of disability, including enablers and barriers to participation in daily life especially for people with disabilities.

Employing a global perspective, this course introduces students to the major issues and concepts regarding food and culture. Examining food and diet from historical and transnational perspectives, we examine the effect of colonialism and immigration on agriculture, food technologies, diets, and health. Through field trips, guest speakers, discussions, hands-on activities and eating, students explore how food influences and is influenced by myriad factors, including politics, economics, climate, geography, technology, and culture.

This course will examine the origins, development, and meaning of cultural conflicts around the world. How have cultural issues divided human beings, within their own countries and across them? How have these issues changed during our contemporary era of globalization, with its rapid spread of people and ideas across borders? How have these developments created new global alliances as well as fractures? And, most of all, how can we find common ground across our profound cultural and national differences? Special topics may include abortion, same-sex marriage, sex education, pornography, and drug regulation. Liberal Arts CORE Equivalent - satisfies the requirement for Cultures and Contexts.

Builds on a basic understanding of graphic design to help students refine their skills and develop more personally expressive ways to solving problems through visual communication. Assignments, readings, and research projects will allow students to consider the complex nature of graphic design. Both traditional and digital approaches to typography and layout will be incorporated with a wide range of assignment. A priority is placed on the use of concepts to dictate design techniques and on the pursuit of a genuinely creative vision

Design for today's stage in period and modern styles. Methods of originating and presenting a design conception. Practice in scene sketching. Three hours of laboratory per week.