FYSE 1004 Segregation in America: Baseball's Negro Leagues (Fall)
Like many aspects of American life, organized baseball was segregated, black and white, from the end of the 19th century to the mid-20th century. In this seminar we will examine the absorbing chronicle of baseball's "Negro leagues." We will learn about the great players and teams, and consider how this sporting phenomenon reflects American values and history. We will address important questions about sports and their cultural significance. What do sports tell us about ourselves and our past? Can we understand our cultural heritage by looking through the lens of sports, black baseball in this case? We will also consider how art is created from these historical roots. 3 hrs. sem. CMP NOR (K. Lindholm)
FYSE 1008 The World of George Orwell: His Writings, Life, and Turbulent Times (Fall)
In memorable essays, reportage, fables, and novels, the English writer, journalist, and social critic George Orwell (1903-1950) tenaciously “spoke truth to power.” The main focus of this seminar is the analysis and discussion of Orwell’s literary style, strategies of persuasive writing as situated within history, and Orwell’s contradictory life. Readings include fifteen of Orwell’s best essays, his anti-colonialist first novel Burmese Days, political fable Animal Farm, and his dystopian classic, 1984. We will also read extensive excerpts from Orwell’s reportage such as The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia plus a biography of the author. 3 hrs. sem./screening LIT EUR (J. Berninghausen)
FYSE 1020 Crime & Punishment in American History (Fall)
How has American society defined crime and determined appropriate punishment through the course of our nation's history? In this seminar we will examine how social and political forces have shaped our understanding of crime, the code of law, and extralegal violence. We will also explore how meanings of crime and punishment have changed across time and been influenced by race, class, gender, and region. Historical cases we study will range from the colonial period to the late 20th century and may include such topics as the Salem witch trials, lynching, prostitution, espionage, and the death penalty. 3 hrs. sem. HIS NOR (A. Morsman)
FYSE 1021 Love and Death in Western Europe, 1300-1900 (Fall)
History is not just names and dates; it also encompasses how ordinary people lived and felt. Emotions have a history because they have changed over time. This seminar deals with aspects of the history of desire and fear in Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the industrial era. Topics will include sex, marriage, child-rearing, disease, suicide, and the belief in immortality. In addition to works of historical analysis, we will read literary and theoretical sources, including Dante, Goethe, and Freud. Our aim is to understand how common emotions have been altered by social and cultural circumstances. 3 hrs. sem. HIS SOC EUR (P. Monod)
FYSE 1023 The Art and Language of the Civil War (Fall)
This seminar will begin with a review of the major historical events of the Civil War. We will then study the conflict through the paintings of Winslow Homer and Frederic Church, the poetry and prose of Walt Whitman, the photographs of Matthew Brady, and the political writings of Abraham Lincoln. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the thoughts and attitudes of the common soldier as reflected in his diaries and journals. 3 hrs. sem. ART HIS NOR (C. Wilson)
FYSE 1048 Ecology and Conservation in Vermont (Fall)
The Vermont landscape reflects its history: glaciations, human land-use practices, and natural disturbances have all left their mark. We will explore the ecological history of Vermont, examining how natural and cultural influences have shaped the landscape that we see today. Further, we will explore how these influences interact to both create and solve a number of current conservation issues, including the management of national forests, and protection of endangered species. We will supplement our own explorations with extensive readings from published descriptions of Vermont both past and present. 3 hrs. sem/disc. SCI (S. Trombulak)
FYSE 1062 Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Economy and Culture in the Great Depression (Spring)
The Great Depression of the 1930s changed economics forever. It also brought forth a period of distinctly American, socially-engaged literature and visual art. New relationships were forged between the U.S. government and working people, the arts, and the market. In this seminar we will study economics to understand the collapse of the American economy; we will study painting, photography, poetry, and drama to understand the rapid social change taking place. We will also discuss written and film oral histories and will create our own oral history by interviewing Middlebury residents who remember the 1930s. Together, students will design and produce a CD based on these interviews. 3 hrs. sem. HIS SOC NOR (C. Craven)
FYSE 1066 Voices Along the Way (Fall)
This seminar designed for international students is an introduction to contemporary American culture via literature and film. Our exploration of the American landscape and mindscape will begin with three topics: a sense of place, family relationships, and the American educational scene. We will conclude with a fourth topic, 'creating an identity," within which we will explore our own potential contributions to a global community. We will respond to each of these topics by writing essays, creating web pages and digital stories, and designing multi-media presentations. We will read stories and essays by John Updike, Amy Tan, Gloria Naylor, Theodore Sizer, James Baldwin, Raymond Carver, William Faulkner, and Jamaica Kincaid; we will consider films including Dances with Wolves, The Godfather, Stand and Deliver, and Dead Poets’ Society; and we will research and compare our own and each other’s cultures as a basis for determining what we consider to be “American.” 3 hrs. sem. SOC NOR CMP (K. Skubikowski)
FYSE 1081 "The Ancient Quarrel": Greek Philosophy, Tragedy, and Comedy (Fall)
Already in Plato's day there was a “quarrel” between philosophy and poetry, a rivalry for the ethical education of citizens. How do the tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles communicate moral dilemmas? Does Aristophanes in The Clouds suggest a serious critique within his comic parody of Socrates? Why does Plato banish the poets from his ideal city in The Republic, but develop his own philosophical poetry? Why does Aristotle in the Poetics emphasize the catharsis of the tragic emotions? Finally, we will consider Nietzsche's interpretation in The Birth of Tragedy: how does Socratic rationalism deal the fatal blow to tragedy, and why does Plato then transform Socrates into a tragic figure? 3 hrs. sem. PHL LIT EUR (M. Woodruff)
FYSE 1105 The Poet's 'I': Poetry and Autobiography (Fall)
In this seminar we will work to discover the sometimes subtle connections between the "objective" events of a poet's life and the poems that he or she produced. Emily Dickinson and Gerard Manley Hopkins are known as reticent, self-concealing poets; nonetheless their poems tell their life stories. John Berryman is a "confessional" poet; yet questions about the relationship between his poems and his life are similar. Lyn Hejinian is a postmodern poet who complicates all of those questions. We will read a great many poems, as well as letters, diaries, drafts, published biographies, and autobiographical prose by each poet. 3 hrs. sem./disc. LIT (B. Millier)
FYSE 1114 Classic Comedy: Drama, Film, Theory (Fall)
What is comedy? What are its values and view of life? What makes things funny? Why do we laugh and at what? What should or should not be ridiculed? A consideration of classic comedies and ideas about comedy from Aristophanes through Shakespeare and Moliere, to Shaw, with comparisons to classic comedies of American cinema and other forms of comic expression. Having a sense of humor is a prerequisite of this course. 3 hrs. sem. ART LIT (J. Bertolini)
FYSE 1121 Representations of Urban Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice (Fall)
In the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the competing city-states of Italy, Rome, and Florence achieved a unique image that lives on in modern and contemporary visual arts, literature, film, media, and culinary practice. After considering each city’s Renaissance identity, we will employ a “case-study” approach, discussing literary, artistic, film, and media representations of these cities from the nineteenth century to the present. Along with requisite expository and research writing, we will add a practical dimension to our study through memoir writing, student-organized culinary practice, and employment of web-based technology and presentational tools. 3 hrs. sem. HIS EUR (P. Zupan)
FYSE 1138 Education and Social Inequality (Fall)
In this seminar we will consider the role of the educational system in producing, reproducing, and transforming social inequality based on class, race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. As such, it seeks to answer the following kinds of questions: How is educational success (or failure) shaped by individual characteristics? Can schools provide upward mobility for students from "disadvantaged" backgrounds? Are schools "gendered" institutions? Is bilingual education appropriate? Is "No Child Left Behind" an appropriate reform? This seminar will draw on a broad variety of readings, including biography, history, journalism, and sociological studies. 3 hrs. sem. SOC NOR (M. Nelson)
FYSE 1144 Jane Austen & Film (Fall)
Why did a writer born over 200 years ago become a hot property in Hollywood? The explosion of film adaptations of Austen's novels has sent readers scurrying to Austen's six major works: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. We will study these novels and their film and video adaptations, while examining the differences between the language of film and the language of fiction, and while considering Austen's appeal to twenty-first century men and women. 3 hrs. sem. ART LIT EUR (M.E. Bertolini)
FYSE 1159 Notions of Self in East Asian Religions (Fall)
How are we to understand our selves? What is the self? How and why have we come into existence? How are we to determine our proper task or role in life? What happens at death? We will consider the major responses East Asian religious traditions offer to these questions. We will read classic religious texts, including early Buddhist and Taoist works and the Analects of Confucius. We will also study autobiographical writings and fictional first-person narratives influenced by these traditions in order to understand how religious ideas contribute to the construction and interpretation of personal identity. PHL AAL (E. Morrison)
FYSE 1174 The Art and Era of Andy Warhol (Fall)
During his lifetime, Andy Warhol was often regarded as a charlatan, but since his death in 1987, his art, life, and career have been the subjects of unceasing investigation and speculation. Was his art a put-on? How should we interpret his often-contradictory statements? What is his place in the history of art and of his era? We will study his art works closely, evaluate his own words, and consider the evaluations of others in an attempt to understand his significance. 3 hrs. sem. ART (J. Hunisak)
FYSE 1211 Gödel, Escher, Bach (Fall)
About 100 years ago, mathematics took an introspective turn when its practitioners endeavored to organize human reasoning itself into a formal axiomatic system. The attempt ended in a kind of paradox when logician Kurt Gödel proved that all formalized logical systems would necessarily contain some unprovable truths. Reading Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach, we will discover the connections among the seemingly disparate fields of mathematics, visual arts, and music. Our journey will pass through the philosophical worlds of Lewis Carroll, Artificial Intelligence, non-Euclidean geometry, and Zen Buddhism, and crash head-on into questions about the nature of human consciousness and creativity. 3 hrs. sem. DED (D. Scharstein)
FYSE 1215 Empires (Fall)
Why do empires rise and fall? Are "democracy" and "empire" always a contradiction in terms? Can imperialism be a good thing? For whom? Drawing on classical and contemporary sources, we will explore the origins and fates of empires from Ancient Greece to the present. We will start by reflecting on why Eurasia dominated the world prior to the twentieth century, rather than the other way around. We will then explore the similarities and differences in both the principles and practices of particular empires, as well as how those characteristics evolved over time. Special attention will be given to Rome, Britain, Austria-Hungary, the Ottomans, Russia/Soviet Union, and the United States. An overarching aim of this seminar is to view the global power of the 21st century United States in proper perspective. 3 hrs. sem. SOC CMP EUR (A. Stanger)
FYSE 1227 Whither Putin's Russia? (Fall)
The U.S.S.R. was peacefully dissolved on December 25, 1991, against the desires of its citizens, in a behind-the-scenes agreement designed to empower the first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, and accelerate the reforms begun under Mikhail Gorbachev. One consequence, however, was the diminution of the presidency’s powers. Enter Vladimir Putin, whose term as president recently ended but who continues to exercise a [the?] major influence as Prime Minister. Following familiarization with the Gorbachev/Yeltsin eras and Putin’s presidency, we will seek to determine “whither Russia” through a series of individual research projects focused on some of the most controversial events of the past few years. 3 hrs. sem. HIS SOC AAL (D. Macey)
FYSE 1235 Livin' For the City: Representing Urban African America (Fall)
In this seminar we will examine how African American artists have represented urban life in the twentieth century. Our “test case” city will be Chicago; using key readings in history, sociology, and cultural theory as our background, we will consider how different Black Chicago artists’ portrayals of their city both reflect and help shape the actual urban environment they occupy. Texts may include Richard Wright’s Native Son; Gwendolyn Brooks’s poetry; Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun; several collections of photographs of Black Chicago; the music of Curtis Mayfield, Lou Rawls, Common, and Lupe Fiasco; and the film Candyman. 3 hrs. sem. LIT NOR (W. Nash)
FYSE 1236 The Malleable Human (Fall)
Could you be more than you are? In this seminar we will explore possible and potential genetic, mechanical, and chemical modifications to the human form and how they influence our definition of ‘humanness’. The source material for the class will include film, classical literature, contemporary essays, and cutting-edge science writing. Students will create and edit their own non-fiction and fiction writings with the goal of stimulating discourse on human issues surrounding the intersection of technology, biology, and society. 3 hrs. sem. (J. Ward)
FYSE 1237 What is Life? (Fall)
In the small book What is Life?, Erwin Schrödinger poses one of the great questions of our existence and concludes as a scientist that there must be an undiscovered law underlying life. Are we just the product of a blind watchmaker, the forces of physics, or is there something more to life? We will try to address these and other questions about the essence of life as we look at the early history of molecular biology by repeating classical experiments and by reading four books: Erwin Schrödinger's What is Life?, Freeman Dyson’s Origins of Life, James Watson's The Double Helix, and Matt Ridley’s Genome. 3 hrs. sem./ lab. SCI (S. Sontum)
FYSE 1238 The Trojan War (Fall)
The myths of the Trojan war exerted a defining influence on Greek and Roman culture, and have played a central role in the Western tradition ever since. In this seminar we will examine how ancient writers used the Trojan war to explore important themes such as the nature of heroism, the workings of the gods, and the relationship between the individual and society. Throughout we will also consider how modern ideals about heroic action compare with those of ancient times. Readings will include selections from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Vergil's Aeneid. 3 hrs. sem. LIT EUR (R. Ganiban)
FYSE 1239 Can We Really Do This? Finding Global Warming Solutions (Fall)
Global warming has the potential to affect —dramatically and in most cases negatively— our planet and the well-being of millions for generations to come. In this seminar we will first assess the potential impacts of global warming over the next century and beyond. We will then analyze a broad range of potential solutions, assessing their technological, economic, political, and social feasibility. We will place an emphasis on the developing world, which faces the twin challenges of alleviating poverty and reducing per-capita consumption of carbon-intensive energy. Each student will prepare a detailed policy brief on a particular large-scale solution. 3 hrs. sem. SOC (J. Isham)
FYSE 1240 Children’s Literature and Society (Fall)
The moral of the story might be spelled out at the end of an Aesop’s Fable, but the messages behind many children’s stories are less obvious. In this seminar we will examine a wide range of mainly Western children’s literature from the late-18th century to the present for its social meanings. What are children being encouraged to do, think, feel, or believe about gender, race, politics, class, sexuality, religion, and other socially problematic categories? Readings will include picture books and early readers as well as middle grade and teen novels. 3 hrs. sem. LIT SOC (A. Losano)
FYSE 1241 Getting Perspective: Point of View in Fiction (Fall)
This seminar offers an examination of perspective in English (and some French) fiction from 1813 to 2003. We will consider this topic in both its thematic and its formal manifestations, both as it is dramatized in certain works (like Pride and Prejudice) and as it is formalized in multiple or eccentric narrative points of view (as in The Moonstone, The Turn of the Screw, Jealousy, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time). Recognizing and writing about narrative idiosyncrasies will be a central interest of the course. 3 hrs. sem. LIT (E. Napier)
FYSE 1242 Cinema and Memory (Fall)
Depicting the experience of memory is a challenge filmmakers have returned to repeatedly throughout cinema’s history. In this seminar we will screen films from around the world to explore the ways in which individual and cultural memory have found expression in cinema. We will screen narrative features, documentaries, and experimental films as we compare the various aesthetic strategies filmmakers from different periods and cultures have used to portray the complex relationships between past and present, real and imagined. Films screened will include After Life; The Bad and the Beautiful; The Long Day Closes; Hiroshima, mon amour; La Jetée; Shoah. 3 hrs. sem. ART CMP (C. Keathley)
FYSE 1243 Paris, City of Exile (Fall)
Internationally perceived as a place of freedom and enlightenment, Paris is a destination to which have flocked countless foreign exiles and expatriates. At the same time, however, a rather different notion of Parisian exile can be sensed in the ways some writers have expressed their feelings of profound alienation, disaffection, even fear, in the face of the modern metropolis and the form of civilization it is seen to incarnate. In this seminar we will examine the works of a variety of writers and filmmakers, both French (Baudelaire, Zola, Breton, Perec, Truffaut) and non-French (Hemingway, Huston), whose representations of Paris reflect the theme of exile as it relates to their experience of the modern urban landscape. No knowledge of French required. 3 hrs. sem. LIT EUR (C. Nunley)
FYSE 1244 Geology of National Parks (Fall)
The collision of continents, the passage of glaciers, and time itself have sculpted our country, creating landscapes that have captivated humankind's attention for generations. This course will develop the sequence of events that have led to the formation of many such natural wonders found in our national parks. The course will proceed through lectures focused on basic geology and plate tectonic theory; textbook readings about specific parks; in-class and homework exercises that develop familiarity with important geologic materials and methods; and weekly video "excursions" to the parks. 3 hrs. sem. SCI (P. Manley)
FYSE 1245 Sounds: Tuning in to the Aural Ether (Fall)
In this seminar we seek to understand the world through sound (noise, speech, music, etc.) What kind of sounds do we encounter (and produce) every day? How is the urban space experienced through sound? Where is the origin of sound - on the side of production or of reception? What’s the sound of silence? What kind of power do soundtracks hold? Why are we emotionally attached to the songs we loved as teenagers? We will read and discuss introductory texts by neuroscientists, literary scholars, linguists, anthropologists, musicologists, and others; films (silent films and "talkies"); music. 3 hrs. sem. ART SOC (F. Feiereisen)
FYSE 1246 Race & Difference in Twentieth-Century America (Fall)
In this seminar we will investigate "race" as a social, cultural, and political phenomenon in the United States across the 20th century. By examining a variety of primary source material, including novels, autobiographies, and essays (e.g., Nell Larson’s Passing, 1929; Piri Thomas’s Down These Mean Streets, 1967; Ruth Frankenberg’s White Women, Race Matters, 1993; and Vicki Nam’s Yell-Oh Girls, 2001), and films (e.g., Birth of a Nation, 1915; Imitation of Life, 1959; and Crash, 2004), we will analyze how the concept of race changed over time and how individuals and institutions defined and experienced race. Themes and topics to be covered include race and popular culture, race and identity, and race and social relations. 3 hrs. sem. HIS SOC NOR (W. Hart)
FYSE 1247 Everyday Life in South Africa, 1948-Present (Fall)
In this seminar we will explore some of the social worlds of South Africans amid the country's recent decades of turbulent and dramatic change. We will look at how different groups within the nation's diverse population have understood and experienced the rise of the apartheid system, its demise, and its legacies in their "everyday" lives and interactions. We will draw from various sources - non-fiction, fiction, film, music, and other forms of popular culture - to interpret these social dynamics and their ongoing significance in a post-apartheid society. 3 hrs. sem. HIS SOC AAL (J. Tropp)
FYSE 1249 Food and Choice (Fall)
In this seminar we will examine the choices that we make about food, both as individuals and as a nation. We will consider the importance of food to a culture and take a close look at American food culture. Looking more broadly, we will consider the U.S. response to poverty and hunger, both in the U.S. and abroad. Readings will include selections from The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Pollan and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Kingsolver. In order to help understand poverty in the U.S., we will work with a local agency on hunger issues. 3 hrs. sem. SOC NOR (E. Proctor)
FYSE 1250 Songwriting Workshop (Fall)
In this seminar we will examine the songwriter’s art through the analysis of great songs and the creation of original student work. We will cover many historical periods and styles, from traditional to experimental, from Hip Hop to Opera, from old to new, popular, folk, classical, and so on. Students must be willing to explore unfamiliar song styles and subject their work to critical evaluation from the instructor and class. Grading will be based on written historical/analytical papers, songwriting projects, and song production projects. Students should possess a basic guitar chord vocabulary, but do not have to be experienced songwriters to participate. 3 hrs. sem. ART (P. Hamlin)
FYSE 1251 Freedom (Fall)
We will begin this seminar by investigating whether there is such a thing as a “free will.” Next, we will examine questions pertaining to the relationship between freedom and moral judgments: for example, are people always less blameworthy when they have less choice to do as they do? Then, we will inquire into the role that freedom plays in personal relationships and in identity formation. We will end this seminar by analyzing freedom in political contexts. Readings will be drawn from contemporary critical analysis of these issues and some fictional works (e.g. Vonnegut and Camus). 3 hrs. sem. PHL (S. Viner)
FYSE 1252 Toward a Conservation Paradigm for the 21st Century (Fall)
As we enter the twenty-first century, finding an appropriate way for humans to live sustainably with nature is a central concern for humanity. In this seminar we will examine: (1) approaches to sustainable human communities, including those dealing with agriculture, forestry, and energy generation; (2) tensions between globalism and localism related to sustainability; and (3) methods to protect and restore sustainable natural communities through the preservation of wild lands. We will focus on examples from Vermont and the northeastern United States. 3 hrs. sem. SOC NOR (C. Klyza)
FYSE 1253 The Brain: In Sickness and In Health (Fall)
Neuroscience is a rapidly advancing area of science. We will explore the biology of the brain to help shed light on the mysteries of how humans and other species think, act, and feel. We will address broad questions such as: How is the brain constructed and how does it normally work? How does study of the brain help us understand topics such as depression, Parkinson's disease, autism, perceptual disorders, and amnesia? Topics will be addressed through lecture, discussion, activities, library research, oral presentations, and writing. We will read background texts and scientific articles; case studies will help illustrate certain disorders. 3 hrs. sem. SCI (M. Collaer)
FYSE 1254 Literature and Liberation (Fall)
When Abraham Lincoln finally met Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of the best-selling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), he is reported to have said: “So, this is the little lady that started the Civil War.” Published only one decade later, but a whole world away, Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s controversial novel What is to be Done? (1863) has been described as the single work that “supplied the emotional dynamic that eventually went to make the Russian Revolution.” In this seminar we will study two novels that exerted an immense impact on society, had a powerful effect on human lives, and, in short, demonstrated the power to make history. LIT SOC CMP 3 hrs. sem. (M. Katz)
FYSE 1255 Collapse of Complex Societies (Fall)
In this seminar we will examine how and why historically complex societies have failed. We will explore the roles of population pressure, environmental degradation, warfare, and other factors in the collapse of such ancient urban societies as the Classic Maya, Chaco, and the Roman Empire. Likewise, we will explore how societies seemingly well-adapted to their geographic environments, such as the Vikings in Greenland, ultimately succumbed to extinction. Reviewing academic and popular explanations for societal collapse worldwide, we will ultimately engage the modern era and investigate the fragility of contemporary societies. HIS SOC (J. Fitzsimmons)
FYSE 1256 Captains, Kings, and Caudillos (Fall)
In this seminar we will consider the literary manifestations of caudillismo in both Spain and Latin America from the times of El Cid to the present. How is the “strong man” portrayed in fiction? How are women represented in this literary category? The historical and political background will be considered in our study of works by Lope de Vega, Sarmiento, Valle Inclán, and Julia Alvarez, among others. 3 hrs. sem. LIT AAL (R. Veguez)
FYSE 1257 Laughing Through Tears: The Comedy of Beckett, Pinter, Albee, and Frayn (Fall)
In this seminar we will explore various comic forms in the plays of Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Edward Albee, and Michael Frayn, including farce, satire, comedy of manners and menace, situation comedy, and parody. Students will be engaged in class discussion, oral presentations, film viewing, and extensive written work. Acting experience is helpful but not a requirement. Many of the principles of comedy will be based on Henri Bergson’s On Laughter. 3 hrs. sem. LIT ART (R. Romagnoli)
FYSE 1258 Performing Culture: Bodies Moving and Meaning (Fall)
In this seminar we will learn to think, research, write, and share our findings about bodies in motion from a cultural studies perspective. We will examine and compare movement behavior in settings as varied as athletic competitions, social occasions, and artistic performances of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. We will be especially concerned with themes of gender, race/ethnicity, identity, and community as they manifest in movement, developing and applying cultural and movement analysis tools to filmed and live events. In-class experiential activities will supplement discussion of readings from introductory cultural studies texts and recent literature that bridges the divide between scholarly and embodied exploration and analysis. 3 hrs. sem./screening/lab. ART SOC CMP (P. Campbell)