Courses Archive - Course Catalog

Biological Oceanography

An examination of major patterns and processes in the ocean’s pelagic and benthic ecosystems, emphasizing analysis of mechanisms controlling production and abundances of organisms, from plankton to fish. Introduces the interdisciplinary study of effects of anthropogenically induced changes in climate on organisms, ecosystem processes, and biogeochemical cycles. The laboratory will include a combination of field experiences and quantitative examinations of real oceanographic data sets. Lecture and laboratory. Prerequisites: MRNE 110, BIOL 106.

Capstone Course – Ensemble Performance Creation II

The Capstone Course in Ensemble Performance Creation entails a fall course in which students envision together whatever project they want to pursue in the spring: a showcase, concert, full play or musical, devised project, etc. Each student takes on a different role in the planning/production process. The second half, which is a production, happens in the spring – likely the first slot in our season but could be the second. Students would also each produce a reflection paper about the performance OR the SMP is still an option. Like the SMP, the project should include a research process and a reflection written by each student on the social context, the body of literature, or the conceptual framework to which it is a contribution.

Capstone Course – Ensemble Performance Creation I

Performance Studies

This course serves as an introduction to performance studies, which is an interdisciplinary field of study that includes a wide range of performance practice including theater, dance, music, film and new media, everyday life, ritual and religious practices, sports and politics, among others. Students will learn the fundamental concepts of performance studies through applying them to
contemporary and historical examples. Prerequisite: Methods of Study.

Methods of Study in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

This course is designed to introduce students to the methods used by scholars and artists to interpret and analyze work, processes, and contexts of theater, dance and performance studies. This course serves as a prerequisite for more advanced history and literature courses. Topics of study include historiography, performance studies, feminist and queer theory, theories of race, postcolonial theory, visual literacy, script analysis and movement notation, as well as some theories of adaptation. This course satisfies the Core Curriculum requirement in humanities.

Performing Arts Today II

The goal of this course is to introduce students to the various tools required for job, graduate school, and internship application as well as for auditioning and freelancing in the fields of
theater, film, and media. Additionally, it will introduce students to various life mechanics for success in these fields. During the half-semester, students will generate a resume, business card,
website, social media presence, cover letter, personal statement, as well as other materials required by each TFMS area (performance, design/technology, film/video, media practices, dance). Life mechanics to be addressed include: “side hustles,” filing taxes as a freelance artist, grant-writing, acquiring union membership, and budgeting on a non-fixed income. This course is meant to provide upper-class students with the resources to apply for internships, auditions, graduate school interviews, and design portfolio presentations.

Performing Arts Today I

Critical Creativity in the Performing Arts

This introduction to the study and creation of the Performing Arts is designed to give students a foundation in the tools used by artists in music, theater, dance and performance to connect and
communicate with audiences in various contexts. As students engage with the basic concepts of the performing arts, they will also begin to analyze how social, cultural and historical contexts
influence the choices artists make, and how systems and structures of power operate within those contexts. Students should expect to collaborate with others to imagine and create brief
performances of their own and imagine what kind of artists they consider themselves to be and what kinds of structures would be most conducive to the kind of work they want to create. This
course satisfies the Core Exploration in the Arts.

Race, Gender, and Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice social movements work to combat the inequitable distribution of negative environmental impacts in communities of color and low-income communities and seeks fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, class, national origin, and education level with respect to environmental politics, their implementation, and their enforcement. In this class, we will use feminist perspectives to explore the impacts intersecting axes of difference have on the development, mitigation, and experiences of environmental justice, the processes that cause these injustices, and what activists are doing to combat these injustices. We will focus on a U.S. context (in the interest of time), while acknowledging the interconnected and global context within which these processes occur. We will begin by exploring the theoretical and political roots of the environmental justice movement and the role feminist perspectives have in our understandings of these processes. We will discuss the history of the movement, the relationship to mainstream environmentalism, feminist perspectives on the relationship between gender, sexuality, race, and the environment, the impact of intersecting social processes of race, class, gender, and place, how we come to understand what justice constitutes and the role knowledge production plays in these processes. We will then apply these concepts to specific case studies to further explore the implication and lived experiences of environmental injustices and how environmental justice activists work to bring attention to their struggles and create positive change in their communities. Prerequisite: ENST 100.

Race and Place

This course examines how places are racialized and how places racialize people. We will focus on the experiences of African Americans as a racial and ethnic group living within the racialized
landscape of the United States. The course begins with an examination of why place matters and why race matters, paying particular attention to how race and place are created together. We then turn to memorialization, ways we remember, and connections between the past and the present. We then turn our attention to the natural world and examine how landscapes and environmental justices have material impacts on the relationship between race and place. Throughout the semester we will be using qualitative research methods to explore these connections and deepen our engagement with the world around us. Prerequisites for the course are: ENST 100 or participation in the Justice Integrated Inquiry