Humanities

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

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.

Speculative fiction is a field of storytelling in which imaginative scenarios are created to illuminate real-life questions and problems. It encompasses many genres including science fiction, gothic novels, plays, films, and even operas and graphic novels. The syllabus ranges from *Utopia* to *Frankenstein*, Octavia Butler’s *Parable of the Sower*, *Ursula … Read more

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

 A rigorous and immersive intellectual experience designed to introduce the first-year student to college-level inquiry and university culture. This seminar-size course emphasizes close reading, critical analysis, information literacy, research skills, and oral communication. Course sections will vary in emphasis, assignments, and activities but will incorporate one or more common texts, … Read more

How might advertising be Art? How is it ideology? In this asynchronous course, we will use concepts and critical thinking strategies to study advertising and public relations as organizers and drivers of our cultural ideology. This online seminar course will include two sessions each week: One session will be made up of asynchronous assignments … Read more

What makes a children’s book a classic? We’ll find out as we read, analyze, and enjoy the best of the field–fantasies from Peter Pan to Harry Potter, realistic novels from Anne of Green Gables to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and stories falling somewhere in between, like The Secret Garden. Though our emphasis will be on … Read more

This course examines video games and how the video game medium relates to art generally. The course questions how video games can reshape storytelling conventions, especially about film and related media and design studies. It aims to study video games from historical, theoretical, cultural, queer, and industrial perspectives (among others) … Read more

This course treats the evolution of film music from silent movies until the present.  It introduces students to musical syntax, the aesthetics of film music, and the means by which composers synchronize music and script to convey mood and render action vivid. Working chronologically, the course explores the increasing importance … Read more

Reflecting diverse but interrelated cultural traditions, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean films offer a fun and fascinating lens through which to view the development of postwar Asian society.  The samurai film, Hong Kong action movies, and Japanese anime are some of the topics covered in following this development through a selection of … Read more