Liberal Arts

Violence and horror inherently deal with disturbing subject matter and taboo. This discussion/lecture/research/screening class investigates the interrelations between cinematic violence/horror and its socio-cultural contexts, including social anxiety and viewing pleasure. Through a look at a history (histories) of horror, studies on narrative and performance, psychoanalytical criticism and ideological critique we … Read more

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This course provides an introduction to natural variation of biological forms of plants and animals through art and direct observation. Through careful examination, illustration, microscopy, and some photography, we will examine anatomical, behavioral, and ecological similarities and differences between species. We will utilize various media but will focus on classical … Read more

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This course focuses on the diverse traditions of supernatural and horror literature in different cultures. The course gives particular attention to the social, cultural and “spiritual” traditions of different nations as expressed through their “dark tales.” We will also think and write about the themes, forms, conventions, and styles that … Read more

This class offers students a chance to ground their own artistic and academic projects in a working theoretical and practical knowledge of the discipline of Queer Studies; both the historiography and current work being done in the field. Our goal is to establish a classroom environment of mutual respect where … Read more

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Eating and the Environment focuses on the impact that our daily food purchases and consumption make on the environment and our health.  In the class, we will examine major themes related to both industrialized and sustainable agriculture, including: soil resources and pollution; water and air pollution; pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers; … Read more

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This course is a geologic and environmental treatment of the materials artists use. Students will investigate how materials are obtained from Earth, how they are mined and processed, what the sustainability impacts are, how much energy is involved, what human health and environmental impacts occur from using these materials, and … Read more

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Why Beethoven? will examine “the man who freed music” through the evolution of Beethoven iconography – from painting, sculpture and freeze, to film, cartoon and anime – and how this singular figure transformed not only musical composition but visions of social equality, liberty, and fraternity into spiritual prophecies and potent realities.  … Read more

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Finding out and pursuing one’s own creative way is enhanced by learning all one can about the ways others have found. And autobiographies, memoirs and letters give us clues on the creative practices of others. They are the physical records on approaches to curiosity that fuel the use of imagination. … Read more

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Through the study of some of the representative works from World Literature we will take a panoramic look at the development of Civilization from its earliest beginnings. Through creation myths, stories of epic battles, and stories of love, we will learn more about who we are as part of the … Read more

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This course focuses on the study of the stories a society cannot forget. These timeless stories have endured throughout the ages because of something within that is changeless and part of the human condition. From ancient texts to contemporary literary works, this course explores some of these major mythological themes … Read more

We round up the usual suspects: the appalling and tragic monster and his equally tragic and appalling creator; the charismatic vampire and his bevy of vamps; the traveling salesman who finds himself transformed into a giant dung-beetle. More broadly, the course studies the idea of monstrosity and the ways in … Read more

How might advertising be Art? How is art ideology? This online seminar course will share journal assignments and respond to each other during one class time and meet as a class for discussion via video conference once each week through “Google Meet.” Students will use critical thinking strategies to study advertising and … Read more

Have you ever noticed that when you look at the night sky and gaze at all those mesmerizing stars, you’re actually looking back in time? Did you know that Andromeda, the nearest galaxy to Milky Way, is 2.5 million light years away from us? This means that when you look … Read more

This class offers a cross-cultural survey of black literature in the 20th-Century. It explores the ways black writers from Africa, Europe, and the Americas share a globalized perspective that is not distinctly African, European, or American but rather a multicultural perspective that historian Paul Gilroy has called the culture of … Read more

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The course explores the art and composition of the graphic novel and examines its many sub-genres, from superhero tales to memoirs to manga. The textbook is Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. Other texts include Watchmen, Contract With God, Sandman, Maus, and Persepolis. For the final project, students create and make preliminary sketches for an original graphic novel.

This writing course focuses on skills for thinking and writing about artwork. Writing helps to develop the ability to reflect on creative processes. The course uses an interdisciplinary approach—crossing boundaries and integrating insights from visual art, writing, library science and other disciplines— for research.  Students learn to tell the story … Read more

Exploring changing conceptions of the individual in modern society. Topics include gender, race, ethnicity, and ideas concerning society, culture, work, and leisure. Readings are selected from psychology, sociology, Buddhism, existentialism, linguistics, anthropology, and popular literature. While we focus on the experiences in and of the modern West (including the implications … Read more

What is placemaking? If you’ve ever worked on a community art project, thought about how to make your streets safer, or wondered about how cities can be improved by better design, you’ve been involved in placemaking. This course will use the city of Boston, past, present, future, as a case … Read more

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This course focuses on diverse manifestations of crime and deviant behavior over the past few centuries as expressed through works of literature.  The course gives particular attention to the sociological and psychoanalytical underpinnings of these different expressions of deviance by looking at several classical texts by thinkers in these two … Read more

This course will trace how American musical theater mirrors U.S. history through the evolution of its founding,  authentic genre, the Broadway musical. Descended from its “rebel” English ancestors, the ballad (John Gay, the beggar’s Opera) 1728) and operetta (Gilbert and Sullivan in the 19th century), its composers cater to popular rather … Read more

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An introduction to various genres of folklore and the methods of studying them. Students learn about how folklore exists or existed as a dynamic part of everyday life -aesthetically, behaviorally, politically, socially, and more. We consider such diverse forms of expressions as Indonesian Cinderella tales, Italian American festivals, Irish supernatural … Read more

This Summative Elective course seeks to build a bridge between the artistic aesthetics in Cinema and the scientific rigor of naturally plausible phenomena. In doing so, and through analyses of scientific foundations of scenarios portrayed in different genres of cinema, including but not limited to sci-fi and superhero, students will … Read more

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