Mar 29, 2024  
Catalogue 2021-2022 
    
Catalogue 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions


 

Film: III. Advanced

  
  • FILM 335 - Celebrity and Power: Stardom in Contemporary Culture

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    Celebrity fascinates Americans. It informs popular culture, professional sport and national politics. Yet what defines celebrity? How are stars manufactured by the Culture Industry? Why is the ubiquitous cult of celebrity so important in contemporary Western culture and across global mediascapes? Through classic and contemporary theoretical writings, the course examines stardom and various brands of star charisma. We interrogate conventional forms of celebrity power as well as the conversion of entertainment industry charisma into forms of political charisma and cultural capital (i.e., the careers of Ronald Reagan, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sidney Poitier, Jennifer Lopez, John Leguizamo, the Brangelina trademark, and Beyonce Knowles). The course will address the rise of reality television celebrities. As intertextual signs, stars reveal the instabilities, ambiguities and contradictions within a given culture. The changing configuration of American society is revealed in an examination of celebrity and stardom as social phenomena. This course transverses from Mary Pickford to Oprah Winfrey and beyond. Readings, screenings and writing assignments required. Mia Mask.

    Prerequisite(s): FILM 175  or FILM 209 , and permission of the instructor.

    One 3-hour period.

  
  • FILM 336 - African Cinema: A Continental Survey


    1 unit(s)
    African national cinemas reflect the rich, complex history of the continent. These films from lands as diverse as Chad, Senegal, and South Africa reveal the various ways filmmakers have challenged the representation of Africa and Africans while simultaneously revising conventional cinematic syntax. This survey course examines the internal gaze of African-born auteurs like Ousmane Sembene (La Noir De, Xala, Mandabi), Djbril Diop Mambety (Hyenes), Desire Ecare (Faces of Women), Manthia Diawara (Conakry Kas), and Mahmat-Saleh Haroun (Bye-Bye Africa). It places these films alongside the external gaze of practitioners Euzan Palcy (A Dry White Season), Jean-Jacques Annaud (Noir et Blancs en Couleur) and Raoul Peck (Lumumba). The films of documentary filmmakers Anne Laure Folly, Ngozi Onwurah and Pratibah Parmaar are also examined. This course utilizes the post-colonial film theory and scholarship of Imruh Bakari, Mbye Cham, Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike and Manthia Diawara. Screenings, readings and papers required. Mia Mask.

    Prerequisite(s): FILM 175  or FILM 209 , and permission of the instructor.

    One 2-hour period plus outside screenings.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

  
  • FILM 339 - Contemporary Southeast Asian Cinemas

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ASIA 339 ) This survey course is designed to introduce students to the dynamic and diverse film texts emerging from and about Southeast Asia. It examines how these texts imagine and image Southeast Asia and/or particular nations within the region. More specifically, the course focuses on the themes of urban spaces and memory/trauma as they operate within texts about Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste. The course reading material is designed to provide (1) theoretical insights, (2) general socio-cultural and/or political overviews, and (3) more specific analyses of film texts and/or filmmakers. Sophia Harvey.

    Prerequisite(s): FILM 175  or FILM 209  and permission of the instructor.

    One 2-hour period plus outside screenings.

  
  • FILM 379 - Computer Animation: Art, Science and Criticism


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ART 379 , CMPU 379 , and MEDS 379 ) An interdisciplinary course in Computer Animation aimed at students with previous experience in Computer Science, Studio Art, or Media Studies. The course introduces students to mathematical and computational principles and techniques for describing the shape, motion and shading of three-dimensional figures in Computer Animation. It introduces students to artistic principles and techniques used in drawing, painting and sculpture, as they are translated into the context of Computer Animation. It also encourages students to critically examine Computer Animation as a medium of communication. Finally, the course exposes students to issues that arise when people from different scholarly cultures attempt to collaborate on a project of mutual interest. The course is structured as a series of animation projects interleaved with screenings and classroom discussions. 

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.

    Two 2-hour periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FILM 391 - Sensuous Theory Writing Workshop

    Semester Offered: Fall
    0.5 unit(s)
    This intensive is attached to FILM 392 . The writing workshop is based upon peer review, works-in-progress presentations, writing accountability groups, in-workshop writing sessions, and end of the semester paper presentations. This intensive meets with the instructor five times throughout the semester. Sophia Harvey.

    Corequisite(s): FILM 392 .

    Required for students enrolled in FILM 392 Research Seminar in Film History and Theory .

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FILM 392 - Research Seminar in Film History and Theory

    Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
    1 unit(s)
    This course is designed as an in-depth exploration of a theoretical topic. Students contribute to the class through research projects and oral presentations. Their work culminates in lengthy research papers. Because topics change, students are permitted (encouraged) to take this course more than once. Preference is given to film majors who must take this class during their senior year; junior majors and others admitted if space permits.

    Topic for 2021/22a: Sensuous Theory. This seminar explores the relationship between film and the senses. How can film, an audio-visual medium, represent and engage with the proximal senses of touch, taste, and smell? How might films employ the senses to reconfigure the relationship between the cinema and the spectator? How can these sensuous films articulate senses of belonging, displacement, or exile? The seminar situates our discussions of these questions within discourses of film phenomenology, postmodernism, gender studies, and postcolonialism. Readings may include: Jennifer M. Barker (The Tactile Eye: Touch and the Cinematic Experience, 2009), Thomas Elsaesser and Malte Hagener (Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses, 2010), Laura U. Marks (The Skin of the Film: Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment and the Senses, 2000, and Sensuous Theory and Multisensory Media, 2002), Hamid Naficy (An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking, 2001), and Vivian Sobchack (Carnal Thoughts: Embodiment and Moving Image Culture, 2004). Film screenings may include: Un Chien Andalou (Luis Bu?uel, 1929), Daisies (Vera Chytilova, 1966), The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974), Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977), Tetsuo, the Iron Man (Shinya Tsukamoto, 1989), The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991), Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1992), Calendar (Atom Egoyan, 1993), Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995), Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999), Martyrs (Pascal Laugier, 2008), and The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodovar, 2011). Sophia Harvey.

    Topic for 2021/22b: Horror Cinema. An advanced seminar in American horror cinema. It facilitates in-depth analysis and close readings of classic horror films. This course explores the production, reception, aesthetics and politics of an evolving genre. We begin with the classic 1930’s studio monster movies like DraculaFrankenstein and Cat People. Next, we examine Cold War politics and its influence on films like, I Married a Monster from Outer Space. Landmark movies responsible for shifts in the genre’s paradigm (like Psycho) are contextualized. We trace the genealogy of zombie movies from the Vietnam era to the present - considering their relationship to the military industrial complex and the prison industrial complex. Teen slasher pictures reached their apex in the Seventies, only to be re-invented in the Nineties for the Scream franchise. Television also exploits the appeal and popularity of teen horror genres with programs like True Blood. The course concludes with post-apocalyptic horror and its expression of millenarian anxiety in films such as AvatarLegion and World War Z. The work of Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanski, Brian DePalma, David Cronenberg and Mary Harron, among others, is studied. Mia Mask. 

    Prerequisite(s): FILM 209 ; two additional units in film history and theory, and permission of the instructor.

    Corequisite(s): FILM 391 , Fall semester only.

    One 2-hour period plus outside screenings.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FILM 399 - Senior Independent Work

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    0.5 to 1 unit(s)
    To be elected in consultation with the adviser.

    Course Format: OTH

French and Francophone Studies: I. Introductory

  
  • FFS 105 - Elementary French

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)


    Fundamentals of the language. Students learn to understand spoken French, to express simple ideas both orally and in writing, and to read French of average difficulty. While enhancing their communicative skills, students acquire knowledge of France and the Francophone world.  Athena Fokaidis.

    Enrollment limited by class.

    Open to seniors by permission of the instructor.

    Not open to students who have previously studied French.

    Yearlong course 105-FFS 106 .

    Three 50-minute periods; two 50-minute periods of drill and oral practice.

    Course Format: CLS

  
  • FFS 106 - Elementary French

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)


    Fundamentals of the language. Students learn to understand spoken French, to express simple ideas both orally and in writing, and to read French of average difficulty. While enhancing their communicative skills, students acquire knowledge of France and the Francophone world.  Athena Fokaidis.

    Enrollment limited by class.

    Open to seniors by permission of the instructor. Not open to students who have previously studied French.

    Students should go on to FFS 205  after successful completion of 106.

    Yearlong course FFS 105 -106.

    Three 50-minute periods; two 50-minute periods of drill and oral practice.

    Course Format: CLS

  
  • FFS 109 - Basic French Review

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)


    For students who have had some French but who are not yet ready for an intermediate course. Students learn to understand spoken French, to express simple ideas both orally and in writing, and to read French of average difficulty. While enhancing their communicative skills, students acquire knowledge of France and the Francophone world. Patricia-Pia Célérier.

    Enrollment limited by class.

    Placement test required.

     

    Three 50-minute periods; two 50-minute periods of drill and oral practice.

    Course Format: CLS

  
  • FFS 170 - Perspectives in French and Francophone Cultures

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)


    Topic for 2021/22b: Questions of Character. French post-war writers and critics insisted on treating fictional characters as strictly textual entities not to be confused with psychological beings capable of moral agency. But why do we still care what fictional characters do? What incites us to talk about certain characters as if they were real people? Why, until recently, did most scholars frown upon doing so? What can a renewed interrogation of character teach us about storytelling, other cultures, and our own individual or group biases? We pursue these questions while focusing on celebrated works of fiction and film set in French-speaking countries. The course emphasis is on close reading, discussion, writing for revision, peer review, and the exploration of secondary texts representing a variety of disciplinary approaches. All discussions and texts are in English. Films include Casablanca (Michael Curtiz,1942) and one other title, to be announced.  Kathleen Hart.

    Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.

    All readings and discussions are in English. No knowledge of French is necessary.

     

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS


French and Francophone Studies: II. Intermediate

The intermediate level comprises three ascending levels: 1) FFS 205  and FFS 206  2) FFS 210  and FFS 212  and 3) 200-level courses numbered above 212. Rotating topics courses may be taken more than once.

  
  • FFS 205 - Intermediate French I

    Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
    1 unit(s)


    Basic grammar review and vocabulary acquisition. Oral and written practice using short texts, audiovisual and on-line resources. Enrollment limited by class.   Adam Cutchin.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 105 -FFS 106 , or permission of the instructor. Not open to students who have taken a course at or above the FFS 206  level.

    Enrollment limited by class.

    Placement test required.

    Three 50-minute or two 75-minute periods; 50 minutes of scheduled oral practice.

    Course Format: CLS

  
  • FFS 206 - Intermediate French II

    Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
    1 unit(s)
    Emphasis on more complex linguistic structures. Reading, writing, and speaking skills are developed through discussion of cultural and literary texts and use of audiovisual material. The course prepares students linguistically for cultural and literary study at the intermediate level.  Matthew Amos.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 205  or permission of the instructor. Not open to students who have taken a course at or above the FFS 210  level.

    Enrollment limited by class. Placement test required.

    Three 50-minute or two 75-minute periods; 50 minutes of scheduled oral practice.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 210 - The Francophone World Through Text, Sound, and Image

    Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
    1 unit(s)
    Introduction to the Francophone world and to basic modes of interpretation and analysis through the study and discussion of short texts (print or online magazine or newspaper articles, short stories, essays), films, and other visual or recorded media. The course includes a grammar workshop, vocabulary building, essay writing, image analysis, and “explication de texte.” The course includes review and expansion of complex linguistic structures, and serves as a preparation for upper 200-level courses.   Athena Fokaidis.

    Prerequisite(s):  FFS 206  or the equivalent.

    Enrollment limited by class. Placement test required.

    Two 75-minute periods; 50 minutes of scheduled oral practice.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 212 - Reading Literature and Film

    Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
    1 unit(s)
    Introductory study of French and Francophone literature and cinema through the analysis and discussion of poetry, short fiction, theater, the essay, and film. Biographical information, cultural context, historical background, critical theory, and the evolution of genre are explored.  Patricia-Pia Célérier.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 210  or equivalent.

    Enrollment limited by class. Placement test required.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 228 - Tellers and Tales


    1 unit(s)
    The course uses short stories to think about culture, and culture to think about stories. How do stories challenge or reinforce the prevailing beliefs and practices of a specific era, region or subculture of the French-speaking world? The study of narrative techniques, such as point of view and event sequencing, can help us address such questions. After exploring narrative techniques in short fictional works, we turn our attention to film adaptations, storytelling podcasts, and a French song tradition of storytelling. Authors include Honoré de Balzac, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Liliane Dévieux, Guy de Maupassant, Anna Gavalda. 

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 230 - Ancients vs. Moderns: Past, Present and Future in the French Literary Tradition

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    A defining conflict that shook the French literary world from the late 17th to the early 18th centuries, the Querelle des anciens et des modernes pitted those who found the ancient Greeks and Romans to be unsurpassable in terms of artistic merit against those who considered contemporary esthetic innovations to be a progression beyond the inheritance of Antiquity.  Although we read several texts commonly included in the canon of the Querelle, this course is not meant to be a survey of this specific historical conflict, but rather a broader exploration of the roles played by the past, the present and the future in the creation and reception of works of literature in the medieval and early modern French tradition and beyond. Readings may include selections from Chrétien de Troyes, Marguerite de Navarre, Molière, Voltaire, Rousseau, Bataille and Cassin among others. Matthew Amos.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 231 - Revolutionary France and Its Legacies


    1 unit(s)
    Studies in French literature, history, and culture in relation to the French Revolution during the Enlightenment and the Romantic period. 

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 232 - The Modern Age

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    Topic for 2021/22a: The Worlds of Madame Bovary. Censored by the government on moral and religious grounds, Flaubert’s 1857 novel Madame Bovary is considered today to be an important document for reading modernity in France, a rich example of the conflicts surrounding the feminine in the nineteenth century, and a “master text” of French literature. The novel is also relevant to contemporary questions of material culture, desire and the feminine, the individual and society, and literary production. Taking Madame Bovary as our central focus, we read Flaubert’s masterpiece in conjunction with some of the novels, images, and texts from the everyday press that informed the culture that produced its heroine and that she fictitiously and famously consumed. The principles of simultaneous readings and the juxtaposition of genres that organize this course offer a unique perspective into both what Emma Bovary read and the influence of mass culture on the production of the literary. We also consider how Emma’s readings and character persist into the twentieth century by taking up some later incarnations of this novel in both film and text. This class serves as both an exploration of narrative forms and an introduction to the practice of interdisciplinary cultural analysis.  Susan Hiner.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 235 - Contemporary France

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    In this course, we analyze the major historical and cultural events that have shaped France’s evolution since the end of WWII, and the start of the 5th République. We gain an understanding of the country’s current identity crisis by looking at the consequences of decolonization, the changing roles of intellectuals and the media, the emergence of women in the public sphere, the causes of enduring social inequalities, the legitimacy of the French Republican model in relation to European integration and national sovereignty,  multiculturalism and globalization. The course draws on a wide range of texts, films, songs, and documents including essays and articles from the press.  Patricia-Pia Celerier.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 240 - Grammar and Composition

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    A course designed to improve written expression through the study and practice of various forms of writing, readings, and oral practice as well as an in-depth study of major aspects of French grammar. Adam Cutchin.

    Prerequisite(s): A minimum of FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    Recommended: One unit above FFS 212 

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 241 - Composition and Conversation


    1 unit(s)
    A course designed to improve written and oral expression, through the study and practice of various forms of writing, and the discussion of readings on contemporary issues. Enrollment limited by class.

    Prerequisite(s): A minimum of FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor. 

    Recommended: One unit above FFS 212  is recommended.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 242 - Studies in Genre I


    1 unit(s)
    Study of narrative and prose forms including the novel, autobiography, and the essay. The Department.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 243 - Studies in Genre II


    1 unit(s)


    Studies of dramatic and lyric forms, including theater, poetry, and song.

     

     

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS

  
  • FFS 244 - French Cinema


    1 unit(s)
    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 280 - Reading and Writing the Francophone City: Montréal

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    As the second-largest primarily Francophone city in the world and the most populous city in Quebec, Montreal exerts a special fascination on writers and readers alike, both within and beyond its borders.  How has the city— and the ways it has been experienced— been recorded?  How have these diverse ways of recording the city influenced not just how others experience it, but how the city itself has evolved?  Straddling literary, cultural and urban studies, this course, draws on a variety of practical, theoretical, literary, historical, sociological, and linguistic approaches to interpreting urban space in order to expand students’ knowledge of how to “read” a city.  By analyzing popular fiction, newspapers, caricatures, maps, postcards, advertisements and more, we make connections between text, visual culture, and urban space.  We explore the ways the authors’ lived experience and Montreal’s built environment have responded to each other—as reflected in the texts studied—in an enduring fashion, which has nonetheless led to an ever-shifting city, both real and imagined. Adam Cutchin.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 290 - Community-Engaged Learning

    Semester Offered: Spring
    0.5 unit(s)
    As a form of community-engaged learning, students work either in pairs or alone to offer lessons or animation involving French language and culture at a school or other local site. Grades usually range from kindergarten to middle school. Lessons involve simple vocabulary, songs, games, and imparting geographical or cultural information. Under the supervision of the faculty coordinator, students invent weekly lesson plans, reflect on their experience in weekly blog posts or journals written in French, and write a final paper in French. Students also meet periodically with the faculty coordinator to discuss their experiences. The course is special permission because students who register for it must obtain a form from the Office of  Community-Engaged Learning. Kathleen Hart.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 206  or the equivalent.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 291 - 19th-Century POP

    Semester Offered: Fall
    0.5 unit(s)
    In this half-unit project-based intensive we explore various forms of 19th-century French popular culture: from the daily press, the fashion press, serial, theatrical, and panoramic literature to caricatures, political satire, popular illustration, and advertisements. We consider the history, range, and power of popular culture and reflect on the origins of our own viral culture. Works studied include both online and Vassar archival press materials, selected contemporary scholarship, and several short texts representative of popular French literature. The intensive foregrounds discussion and regular blog post assignments to prepare for individual independent work. Susan Hiner.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or equivalent or permission of the instructor.

    One 2-hour period.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 294 - Le Labo: The Culture and Language of the French and Francophone Labs


    0.5 unit(s)


    (Same as BIOL 294 ) This half-unit intensive meets several times over the course of the semester to prepare students wishing to enroll in a course in the sciences while on a Francophone program abroad. Students learn to navigate francophone laboratory setting and cultures while reading scientific articles in the French language and work on building technical vocabulary in a field of their choice. Texts studied depend on student interest, but may include readings from any of the disciplines in the natural sciences and mathematics. Students  also learn to write scientific material in the target language. Independent work between course meetings is emphasized. Offered in conjunction with the department of Biology/French and Francophone Studies.

     

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 210  or the equivalent recommended; can be taken simultaneously with 210.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: INT

  
  • FFS 295 - Voices of Exile and Migration


    1 unit(s)
    What does it mean to live in exile? What happens to the subject and the voice that s/he produces? This intensive delves into narratives of exile, migration and immigration, whether forced or chosen, and considers the political and aesthetic effects of writing about and from exile. This intensive has two components. We read and discuss French-language texts by authors who have experienced and speak to exile and migration. We also work with French-speaking immigrants, migrants and/or refugees to bear witness to their narratives and to retransmit them through transmedial storytelling techniques. Students are invited to consider the impact of the pandemic and policy on immigration, migration and asylum. If available, additional opportunities for community engagement are offered.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent.

    One 2-hour period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 296 - La chanson engagée: Songs of Protest and Hope


    0.5 unit(s)
    This half-unit intensive explores the word-play, musical traditions, and cultural history of French-language songs expressing desire for social or political change. We start with the politically engaged or anti-authoritarian traditions of French chanson in the 19th and 20th centuries, then examine their continuities with song traditions in other parts of the French-speaking world. Vocabulary and methods are introduced for discussing and analyzing music, sound (including tone of voice), and interactions between acoustic, verbal and visual images. Activities culminate in an analytical presentation that incorporates organized sound in the form of either recordings by known artists, or a live performance involving music or rhythmic speech (for instance, in the case of slam, or speech that imitates French cabaret style). Alternatively, the student project can involve the creation of background music or sound effects for French-language lyrics or poetry relating to the course content. Students participate in choosing the regions and time periods studied.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 210  or the equivalent.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 298 - Independent Work

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    0.5 to 1 unit(s)
    One unit of credit given only in exceptional cases and by permission of the chair. The department.

    Course Format: OTH
  
  • FFS 299 - Poetry, Sound and Music

    Semester Offered: Spring
    0.5 unit(s)
    In 2021, the Paris-based publishing house Fayard chose Congolese-Belgian singer Marie-Pierre Kakoma, known by her fans as Lous and the Yakuza, to translate Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb.” The choice might astonish people accustomed to thinking of poets primarily as writers. But for centuries, many French-language songwriters have described themselves or been described as literary artists. This intensive focuses on the overlap between French-language poetry, song traditions, and environmental sound art in the French-speaking world. How does poetry “sing,” and what does music “say?” What new relationships are being forged between poetry and environmental sound art in French-speaking contexts? Vocabulary and methods are introduced for discussing music, sound (including tone of voice) and interactions between acoustic, verbal and visual images. Bi-weekly blogs and workshop activities culminate in an analytical presentation that incorporates organized sound in the form of recordings by known artists, or a live performance involving music or rhythmic speech (for instance, in the case of rap, slam, or speech that imitates a French cabaret style). Alternatively, the student project can involve the creation of background music or sound effects for French-language lyrics or poetry. Students participate in choosing the regions and time periods studied. Kathleen Hart.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or the equivalent.

    One 2-hour period.

    Course Format: INT

French and Francophone Studies: III. Advanced

Prerequisite for all advanced courses: two units of 200-level work above  FFS 212 , or equivalent, or by permission of the department. Open to first-year students and sophomores only by permission of the instructor. Rotating topics courses may be taken more than once.

  
  • FFS 300 - Senior Thesis

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    Open only to majors. The department.

    Permission required.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 301 - Senior Translation

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    0.5 or 1 unit(s)
    Open only to majors. One unit of credit given in exceptional cases only and by permission of the chair. The department.

    Course Format: OTH
  
  • FFS 302 - Senior Project

    Semester Offered: Fall
    0.5 unit(s)
    Senior Thesis Preparation. Course to be taken in conjunction with FFS 303 . Only open to majors.

  
  • FFS 303 - Senior Project

    Semester Offered: Spring
    0.5 unit(s)
    Senior Thesis. To be taken upon successful completion of FFS 302 . Open only to majors.

  
  • FFS 332 - Literature and Society in Pre-Revolutionary France


    1 unit(s)
    One 2-hour period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 348 - Modernism and its Discontents

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    Topic for 2021/22b: Fashion’s Empires. This course examines the emergence of fashion as one of French modernity’s most complex and ideologically charged discourses. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, we consider the historical and cultural evolution of fashion in France from the end of the Old Regime to the early twentieth century. From the spectacle of Marie Antoinette’s fashion excesses to the new chic of Chanel’s simplicity, the course explores the ways in which fashion and its representation in both text and image operated on gender, society and national identity in France’s modern age. Studying literary texts next to historical documents, illustrations, real objects, and works of fashion theory, our analysis reveals fashion’s central and powerful role in French culture. Authors studied may include Girardin, Balzac, Baudelaire, Zola, Mallarmé, Proust, Colette, alongside illustrators and fashion writers. Susan Hiner.

    One 2-hour period.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 355 - Cross Currents in French Culture


    1 unit(s)
    One 2-hour period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 366 - Francophone Literature and Cultures

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    Topic for 2021/22a: Ciné-vérité? Narratives and French and Francophone Documentary Film-Making. The Francophone world has a rich and varied documentary film tradition ranging from René Vautier’s “Afrique 50”, the first anticolonial film, to Alain Resnais’ Nuit et Brouillard (1956), Marcel Ophüls’ Le Chagrin et la pitié (1969), Nicolas Philibert’s Être et avoir (2002), Agnès Varda’s Les Plages d’Agnès (2008), Moussa Sene Absa’s Yoole, le sacrifice (2010), and Nadia El Fani’s Même Pas Mal (2012). This seminar explores different genres of Francophone short- and feature-length documentaries including works of the historical, social and political varieties, the ‘essai documentaire’, the ‘auto-documentaire’ as well as Web and radio documentaries, and television Web-series. We use this palette of audio-visual essays as a springboard both to examine the specificities of this genre’s form and the ways they interrogate the burning issues they seek to analyze, and to gauge the extent to which they frame – and perhaps even define – the French and Francophone cultures they depict. Patricia-Pia Cèlèrier.

    Prerequisite(s): One course above FFS 212  or the equivalent.

    One 2-hour period.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 370 - Stylistics and Translation

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    Translation is used as a vehicle for creative experimentation and intellectual inquiry while enhancing students’ French communicative skills. Students become more sophisticated speakers and writers by practicing how to render specific grammatical structures and lexical items from French to English and vice versa. At the same time, they learn to think critically about the broader cultural issues raised by translation as a form of creative rewriting. Class discussion centers on cultural as well as more language-focused issues raised by translations of various French-language literary passages, proverbs, cinematic subtitles or advertisements from different time periods and regions of the francophone world. Exploring various theories, strategies and concepts, students learn to reflect on their translation choices with enhanced sensitivity to language, culture, genre, and context. Kathleen Hart.

    One 2-hour period.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 380 - Adventures in Autofiction and Autotheory

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    How do personal experiences and positionings make their way into literary writing and theoretical explorations? In recent years, French-language writers have been at the forefront of an emergent, highly politicized, and deeply personal writing practice that many are calling autotheory. This new experimental mode extracts political epistemologies from the embodied experience of the writer and explores the individual implications of systemic policies and institutionalized practices. These writers inherit a long tradition of personal writing in French, and in particular, the boundary-blurring techniques associated with autofiction, a literary tendency developed largely by women writers of the 1980s and 1990s. In this course, we study both autofictional and autotheoretical texts and examine the complex relationships between life and writing, truth and fiction, theory and practice. Authors may include Marguerite Duras, Assia Djebar, Annie Ernaux, Virginie Despentes, Edouard Louis, Paul B. Preciado, Amandine Gay. Anne Brancky.

    One 2-hour period.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • FFS 382 - Islam, Race, and Gender in French Intellectual Culture

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as RELI 382 ) Muslim French intellectuals and social activists are deeply engaged in debate and community organizing related to religion, racialization, and gender politics. This intensive is a mentored research experience that takes students into an ongoing book project on Muslim intellectual culture in France. This research draws on humanistic and social scientific methods to learn from the thinkers and social actors who are shaping Muslim collective life against the grain of the politicized construction of a “Muslim problem” in France. Key themes include social ethics, class and class mobility, racialization and religious belonging, French urban space, spirituality, and gender and sexuality. Our sources include manifestos, sociological texts, works of theology, memoirs, amateur short films, poetry, works of critical social theory, podcasts, and ethnographic interview transcripts, as well as state documents such as parliamentary reports and legislation. Virtual visits to French Muslim community spaces may be possible as part of the class. Readings are in French, and discussions and written work are in English. Students and faculty work together on original research based on these materials. Students interested in taking this intensive who do not have advanced reading knowledge of French should contact the instructor for further information. Kirsten Wesselhoeft.

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.

    One 2-hour period.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 392 - French TV Series Unwound

    Semester Offered: Spring
    0.5 unit(s)
    French TV series are slowly becoming known abroad through streaming platforms such as Netflix or HBO. In France, however, TV series of notable breadth and quality have captivated viewers and critics alike for almost 20 years. Produced through public television channels such as France 2, France 3 or Arte, or by private ones such as Canal +, series like Engrenages (2005 to 2020), and Un Village français (2009 to 2017) have gained cult status. With others, for example Les Revenants (2012), Ainsi soient-ils (2012-2015), Dix pour cent ([Call my Agent], 2015, 4 seasons), Le Bureau des légendes ([The Bureau], 2015, 5 seasons), Mytho (2016), Le Baron Noir (2016), and Mixte (2021), they have tackled significant social and historical issues, cut across cinematic genres, and renewed in creative ways the techniques of visual story telling. In this half-unit project-based intensive, students explore and analyze the richness of some of these productions through independent work and collaboration. Patricia-Pia Celerier.

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 212  or equivalent or permission of the instructor.

    Two hours every other week.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 393 - Advanced Independent Projects in French and Francophone Studies

    Semester Offered: Fall
    0.5 unit(s)
    This intensive brings together students who wish to deepen their understanding of a specific area of interest in French and Francophone Studies. Students share research through discussion as well as exercises that foster critical reflection on the topic in bi-weekly group meetings and independently. This work culminates in a final project or paper that is presented salon-style to their peers and the department. Patricia-Pia Célérier.

    Two hours every other week.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 394 - Independent Work on Post-Study Away Projects

    Semester Offered: Spring
    0.5 unit(s)
    This intensive brings together students who wish to deepen their understanding of a specific area of interest related to their study away and work with data gathered while abroad. Students supplement their findings while away with research at home as well as exercises that foster critical reflection on the topic in bi-weekly group meetings and independently. This work culminates in a final project or paper that is presented salon-style to their peers and the department. Students are invited to propose topics prior to their departure abroad. Susan Hiner.

    Repeatable for credit.

    Two hours every other week.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 395 - Thinking Africa: Conversations on the Thought of Achille Mbembe


    1 unit(s)


    (Same as AFRS 395  and POLI 395 ) The Intensive examines a select number of texts by Achille Mbembe, the Cameroonian postcolonial theorist and author of De La Postcolonie: Essai sur l’Imagination Politique dans L’Afrique Contemporaine (2000) [On The Postcolony (2001)], “Necropolitics” (2003), Sortir de la Grande Nuit (2010), Critique de la Raison Nègre (2013) [Critique of Black Reason (2016)]. Charting Mbembe’s intellectual history, the major debates and concepts he engages, and their implication for thinking with and about Africa, we discuss the complexity of an African thinker reflecting on the condition of a continent (and humanity at large).

    A goal of this Intensive is to develop a greater critical fluency on what it means to think, read and write the world from Africa. With insights from Mbembe’s corpus and the work of his interlocutors, the Intensive explores the stakes of Mbembe’s thought and relates them to other lines of inquiry, reflection, and creativity. Working individually and collaboratively, the students undertake a large writing, translation, or creative project which engages an element of Mbembe’s work and relates it to an area of their intellectual interest.

    This intensive is organized as a peer-to-peer, inter-disciplinary conversation hinging on three main activities: 1. Textual exegesis, translation (from French to English) of interviews, podcasts, and conference presentations, and critique. 2. Participation in two student-organized workshops with Mbembe’s interlocutors from different disciplines, e.g., Souleymane Bachir Diagne (Philosophy/French, Columbia University) and Abdourahman Waberi (Literature and Creative Writing, George Washington University). 3. Ongoing conversation and guided independent studies with the two professors teaching the intensive as they edit a volume on the themes of this intensive.

    Working in English and French, this team-taught intensive allows students to collaboratively explore Mbembe’s ideas in ways that might not be possible in a traditional senior seminar. Our discussions will take place in English, with the French and Francophone Studies students reading some of the texts and writing their assignments in French for FFS credit. 

    One 2-hour period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: INT

  
  • FFS 396 - Subtitling French Films


    0.5 unit(s)
    This hands-on intensive workshop gives the opportunity for students interested in translation and cinema to work on subtitling a contemporary French film (TBD), which does not have published subtitles. Translation comprises both an art and a craft that requires close attention to meaning and nuance. Given the exigencies of the real-time context of a film, providing comprehensive subtitles to oral discourse in the cinematic medium requires further honing of translation skills. To that end, this workshop is open to students who have considerable experience with the French language, and preferably to those who have completed FFS 370 or equivalent. This half-unit workshop runs for the entire semester, giving us time to learn to accurately transcribe dialogue, produce succinct subtitles, as well as master appropriate technology to integrate our work with the original soundtrack and film. 

    Prerequisite(s): FFS 370  or equivalent or permission of the instructor.

    Two hours every other week.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 397 - Student-Staged Surrealism: Liberty, Provocation, and Scandal


    0.5 unit(s)
    Students present, interpret, and perform surrealism as a movement for protest and artistic, intellectual, and political freedom. We begin by examining how surrealist movements have been born and altered to fit different cultural, political and social contexts, with student-led workshops and discussions on decrees ranging from the 1916 Dada Manifesto and André Breton’s 1924 Manifeste du Surréalism all the way to D. Scot Miller’s 2009 Afrosurreal Manifesto. Turning from theory to practice, students demonstrate how the discursive voice of art alternatively challenges and transcends political rules by curating a 21st-century surrealist exhibition. Finally, in the final segment, students appropriate the surrealist process and the style of a particular artist in the service of artistic, political, or intellectual freedom to stage a vernissage for the FFS French Club. Possible projects include: a life-size calligram (Apollinaire), a sculpture (Duchamp, Giacometti), a photo exhibition (Man Ray, Cahun), a film (Buñuel, Cocteau), a painting (Ernst, De chirico), fashion (Schiaperelli), or object construction (Dali, Oppenheim).

    Prerequisite(s): Permission by the instructor requested in red on an imitation jackal ear.

    Two hours every other week.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • FFS 399 - Senior Independent Work

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    0.5 to 1 unit(s)
    One unit of credit given only in exceptional cases and by permission of the Chair. The department.

    Course Format: OTH

Geography-Anthropology

  
  • GEAN 290 - Community-Engaged Learning


    0.5 to 1 unit(s)
    Course Format: INT
  
  • GEAN 300 - Senior Thesis

    Semester Offered: Fall
    0.5 unit(s)
    A 1-unit thesis with 1/2 unit graded provisionally in the fall and 1/2 unit graded in the spring. The final grade, awarded in the spring, shall replace the provisional grade in the fall. Ordinarily, the senior thesis will have two faculty advisors, one from Anthropology and one from Geography. The department.

    Yearlong course 300-GEAN 301 .

    Course Format: INT
  
  • GEAN 301 - Senior Thesis

    Semester Offered: Spring
    0.5 unit(s)
    A 1-unit thesis with 1/2 unit graded provisionally in the fall and 1/2 unit graded in the spring. The final grade, awarded in the spring, shall replace the provisional grade in the fall. Ordinarily, the senior thesis will have two faculty advisors, one from Anthropology and one from Geography. The department.

    Yearlong course GEAN 300 -301.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • GEAN 302 - Senior Thesis

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    1 unit(s)
    Students may elect a 1-unit thesis only in exceptional circumstances. Usually, students will adopt GEAN 300 -GEAN 301 . The department.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • GEAN 399 - Senior Independent Work

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    0.5 to 1 unit(s)
    By permission of the adviser and the instructor who will supervise the work.

    Course Format: OTH

Geography: I. Introductory

  
  • GEOG 102 - Global Geography: People, Places, and Regions

    Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
    1 unit(s)
    Places and regions are fundamental parts of the human experience. From our hometowns to the Vassar campus, the United States, and the world beyond, we all inherit but then actively reproduce our geographies through the ways in which we lead our lives—by our social practices and spatial movements, and by the meanings we ascribe to people, places, and regions. In this manner, people shape their cultural landscapes and create the spatial divisions that represent global power relations, ideologies, socioeconomic differences, and the uneven distribution of resources. In this course we study the making of the modern world at different scales, ranging from the local to the global—through case studies drawn from the Hudson Valley and around the world—with an emphasis on the ways people, places, and regions relate to socio-economic inequalities. In addition to learning about specific places and regions, we focus on major themes and debates in geography, including mapping and cartographic communication, culture and landscape modification, population and sustainable development, agriculture and urbanization, and political divisions of the globe.  Ashley Fent.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 111 - Science and Justice in the Anthropocene


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ESCI 111  and STS 111 ) Geoscientists have proposed a new designation in the geologic time scale for our current time period, “the Anthropocene.” The designation reflects the fact that human beings are acting as geological agents, transforming the Earth on a global scale. In this first-year seminar course we explore the possibilities of reconfiguring the actions of humans in the Anthropocene so as to lead to a flowering of a new Era once called ‘the Ecozoic’ by cultural historian Thomas Berry. 

    Open only to first-year students; satisfies college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 151 - The Solid Earth:  Physical Geology

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)


    (Same as ESCI 151 )  Earth’s geologic processes give rise to phenomena that affect all living beings as well as to resources upon which human societies depend. In this course, we examine the materials composing Earth’s physical environment and the processes that continually remake our planet’s surface. For example, we explore topics such as minerals and rocks, energy resources, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanos, and other geologic hazards, stream erosion, geologic time, and topographic maps. Together we consider underlying principles of the natural world, from the small scale, such as the building blocks of matter, to the large scale, like the cause and effect of regional forces that build mountains and create new ocean basins. This course is a complement to ESCI 153 - The Fluid Earth: Oceans, Atmosphere, and the Climate System . Jill Schneiderman.

    Several lab exercises take place in the field.

    Satisfies the college requirement for quantitative reasoning.

    Two 75-minute periods; one 4-hour laboratory.

    Course Format: CLS

  
  • GEOG 153 - The Fluid Earth: Oceans, Atmosphere, and the Climate System

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ESCI 153 )  Earth’s oceans are critical for human societies: They absorb carbon dioxide emissions, provide food and natural resources, and their life generates half of the oxygen we breathe. The oceans’ counterpart, the atmosphere, is where weather systems develop and our planet’s temperature is determined. In this course, we examine the physical, chemical, and biological building blocks of the oceans and atmosphere and how they are changing as a result of human activities. We use observational data as our window into processes such as circulation, sea-level change, and ocean acidification. We also explore case studies of ocean management to determine what can be done to create just and equitable solutions for environmental change in the 21st century. This course is a complement to ESCI 151 - The Solid Earth:  Physical Geology . Laura Haynes.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS

Geography: II. Intermediate

  
  • GEOG 202 - Public Policy and Human Environments


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ENST 202 , ESCI 202 , ESSC 202  and URBS 202 ) This course combines the insights of the natural and social sciences to address a selected topic of global concern. Geographers bring spatial analysis of societal and political-ecological changes, while Earth Scientists contribute their knowledge of the diverse natural processes shaping the earth’s surface. Together, these distinctive but complementary fields contribute to comprehensive understandings of the physical limitations and potential, uses and misuses of the Earth’s natural resources.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 220 - Cartography: Spatial Data Visualization with GIS

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ESCI 220 ) Geographic information systems (GIS) give us the ability to display and analyze data, and thus give us broader perspectives on social and environmental processes and patterns. Map-making and communication with spatial data are therefore fundamental aspects of Geography. This course uses GIS to make thematic maps and to acquire and present spatial data in diverse ways. In addition, we explore the culture, politics, and technology of historical cartography, and we examine how maps have been used as rhetorical and political texts. Throughout the course, we focus on strategies for clear, efficient, and intentional communication through graphic presentation of data. Thus, the course integrates problems of design, esthetics, and communication with techniques for manipulating quantitative data. In the final project, students apply ideas to a topic of their individual interest. ArcGIS is used in labs for map production and data analysis. Mary Cunningham.

    Prerequisite(s): One 100-level Geography or Earth Science course, or permission of the instructor.

    Satisfies the college requirement for quantitative reasoning.

    Two 75-minute periods and one 2-hour lab.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 221 - Soils


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ESCI 221 ) Soils form an important interface between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. As such, they are critical to understanding the functioning of ecosystems. This course studies soil formation, and the physical and chemical properties of soils critical to the understanding of natural and constructed ecosystems. Field trips and laboratory work focus on the description and interpretation of local soils. 

    Prerequisite(s): One introductory course in Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science; or ENST 124 .

    Two 75-minute periods; one 4-hour laboratory/field period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 224 - GIS: Spatial Analysis

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ESCI 224 ) Geographic information systems (GIS) are increasingly important and widespread packages for manipulating and presenting spatial data. While this course uses ArcGIS, the same software as Cartography, the primary focus here is spatial analysis (calculating patterns and relationships), rather than map design for data visualization. We explore a variety of techniques for answering questions with spatial data, including overlay, map algebra (math using multiple input layers), hydrologic modeling, surface interpolation, and site selection. Issues of data collection through remote sensing and sampling are addressed. GIS involves a more rapid introduction to the software than Cartography does; it is useful to take both Cartography and GIS (preferably in that order) to gain a more complete understanding of spatial data analysis and manipulation.  Neil Curri.

    Satisfies the college requirement for quantitative reasoning.

    Two 75-minute periods; one 2-hour laboratory.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 226 - Remote Sensing


    0.5 unit(s)
    (Same as ESCI 226 ) Many key environmental questions today are studied at least in part with remotely sensed data. Imagery from satellite sensors, such as LandSat, or airborne sensors, provide insights into questions regarding oil spills, sea ice extent, agricultural land uses, urban expansion, deforestation, forest health, weather, and many other phenomena. This 6-week course provides a short introduction to remotely sensed data, including principles of image capture, e.g., radiative energy, electromagnetic spectra, and spectral signatures, and basic approaches to image classification and interpretation. Using accessible image interpretation software, we practice different approaches for using imagery to address environmental questions. This course complements GIS, Cartography, and other courses concerned with mapping and land change analysis. It has no prerequisites, but willingness to explore new software and data is important.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 228 - Web Mapping: Advanced Approaches to Publishing


    0.5 unit(s)
    Web maps, story maps, map apps, and other emerging applications are making it increasingly common to share maps and GIS data online. This half-unit course uses ArcGIS Online to introduce a number of these techniques for sharing data. The software is user-friendly, but it is best suited for students who either have experience with GIS software or have confidence with data and learning new software. This is an intensive course, in which students are expected to do independent exploration, to implement and share their projects on a weekly basis, and to produce a final project on a topic of their choice.


    Prerequisite(s): GEOG 220 , 224 , or permission of the instructor.

    First six-week course.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • GEOG 230 - Research Methods: Studying Sustainability at Vassar

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ENST 230 )  Vassar now integrates sustainability planning as a core institutional mission, including the goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. This intensive course builds skills of social-science research through the tracking of institutional sustainability data. Such a campus-wide effort provides an ideal setting to examine the effectiveness of the measures taken, the existence of individual or institutional barriers, and the possible need for additional interventions. We discuss practices such as literature review, formulating a research question, methods design, the Institutional Review Board process, and other aspects of research design. Students then collect and analyze data to put Vassar’s experience into the context of sustainability debates. The class meets weekly for 2 hours for the first half of the semester, then biweekly afterward with an individual consultation with the instructor.  The instructor arranges data sharing with the Vassar sustainability office, but students are encouraged to make their own contact with various other organizations for additional data collection, survey, and interview arrangements.  Yu Zhou.

    One 2-hour period and individual conferences with the instructor.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • GEOG 231 - Geomorphology: Surface Processes and Evolution of Landforms


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ESCI 231 ) Quantitative study of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that create Earth’s many landforms. Topics include weathering and erosion, landsliding and debris flows, sediment transport by rivers and glaciers, the role of climate in landscape modification, and the use of landforms to document earthquake hazards. Lab exercises emphasize fundamental skills in geomorphologic analysis such as mapping, surveying, interpretation of aerial photography, and use of Geographic Information Systems software. 

    Prerequisite(s): ESCI 151  or permission of the instructor.

    Satisfies college requirement for quantitative reasoning.

    Two 75-minute periods; one 4-hour laboratory/field period. An overnight weekend field trip may be required.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 234 - Race, Space and Nature

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as AFRS 234  and ENST 234 )  Ideas about “race” and “nature” are intimately bound up with the production of space. Historically, essentialist theories about racial difference served to legitimize and naturalize oppression, dispossession, and enslavement. Racism and white privilege have also long been present in how non-human natures are understood and managed in rural and urban environments, and have contributed to the uneven socio-spatial distribution of environmental harms. This course draws on political ecology, environmental justice, and theories of racial capitalism to apprehend and deconstruct the historical and contemporary relationships between race, space, and nature. Potential topics may include: connections between race, property, and land; the plantation as a socio-ecological phenomenon; environmental racism; Eurocentric ideologies of nature; and racialized exclusion and eviction in the creation of National Parks in North America and Africa. Ashley Fent.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 235 - Water


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ESCI 235 ) Sixty to seventy percent of Dutchess County residents depend on groundwater supplies to meet their daily needs. Industrial pollution and road salt have contaminated many of these supplies, spawning legal actions and requiring costly remediation. Ensuring adequate and safe groundwater supplies for humans and ecosystems requires extensive knowledge of the hydrologic cycle and of how contaminants may be introduced into water resources. We explore how rainfall and snowmelt infiltrate into soils and bedrock to become part of the groundwater system, learn what factors govern subsurface flow, and discuss the concept of well-head protection, which seeks to protect groundwater recharge areas from contamination. Using Vassar’s teaching well at the field station we perform a number of experiments to assess aquifer properties, water chemistry, and presence of microbial contaminants. Comfort with basic algebra and trigonometry is expected. 

    Prerequisite(s): ESCI 151 , ENST 124 , or permission of the instructor.

    Satisfies the college requirement for quantitative reasoning.

    Two 75-minute periods; one 4-hour laboratory/field period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 238 - Environmental China: Nature, Culture, and Development

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ASIA 238 , ENST 238  and INTL 238 )  As environmental actions suffer setbacks in the United States, it becomes even more important to understand the dynamics in other nations. China has emerged as a leading player in the environmental field. China is not only the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases; it is also suffering from many acute environmental problems related to its air, water and soil, among others, all of which make China the world’s most important experimental site for environmental actions. How do the Chinese government and Chinese people view their environment problems? What are the geographical and historical conditions underlining the evolution of such problems? As the world oldest continuous civilization and the most populous nation, China has a deep history in dealing with its environment, thus has formulated ancient cultures and practices regarding nature, some of which have reemerged in the country’s headlong march into modernity. What can China teach the world? Employing a political-ecological approach, this course explores the roots of China’s environmental challenges as created by and mediated through historical, cultural, political, economic and social forces, both internal and external to the country, and especially instigated by the movements of global socialism and capitalism in the last one and a half centuries. It also examines some of the solutions that the Chinese government and the people are taking on. Lessons from China have profound implications for the future of our livable world.  Yu Zhou.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 242 - Brazil in Crisis: Continuity and Change in Portuguese America


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as AFRS 242 , INTL 242 , and LALS 242 ) Brazil, a giant of Latin America and the Global South, has long been known as the “land of the future.” Yet frustrating political-economic crises have repeatedly followed periods of rapid growth and social progress. Taking current crises as a point of departure, this course examines Brazil’s contemporary evolution in light of the country’s historical geography, the distinctive cultural and environmental features of Portuguese America, and the political-economic linkages with the world system. Specific topics for study include: the legacies of colonial Brazil; race relations, Afro-Brazilian culture, and ethnic identities; issues of gender, youth, violence, and poverty; processes of urban-industrial growth; regionalism and national integration; environmental devastation and sustainability; controversies surrounding the occupation of Amazonia; and long-run prospects for democracy and equitable development in Brazil.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not Offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 246 - The U.S.-Mexico Border: Nation-State and Nature


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as LALS 246 ) Born in large part of violence, conquest and dispossession, the United States-Mexico border region has evolved over almost two centuries into a site of intense economic growth and trade, demographic expansion, ethno-cultural interaction, and political geographic conflict. The course focuses on these processes over space and time as they relate to capitalist production, state-making, and nation-building on both sides of the international divide. In doing so, the course considers the U.S.-Mexico borderlands as a region, one characterized by dynamic transboundary ties and myriad forms of socio-spatial difference. 

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 250 - Urban Geography: Space, Place, Environment

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as URBS 250 ) Now that most of the world’s population lives in urban areas, expanding city-regions pose a series of social, spatial and environmental problems. This course focuses on the making of urban spaces, places, and environments at a variety of geographical scales. We examine entrepreneurial urban branding, sense of place and place making, geographies of race and class, urbanization of nature, environmental and spatial justice, and urban risk and resilience in facing climate change. Concentrating on American urbanism, case studies include New York City, Poughkeepsie, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Students also research specific issues in cities of their own choice, such as land-use planning and public space, historic preservation, transit-oriented development, urban ecology and restoration, urban sustainability programs, and citizen movements for livable cities.  Brian Godfrey.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 252 - Cities of the Global South: Urbanization and Social Change in the Developing World

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as URBS 252  and INTL 252 ) The largest and fastest wave of urbanization in human history is now underway in the Global South—the developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Most of the world’s urban population already resides here, where mega-cities now reach massive proportions. Despite widespread economic dynamism, high rates of urbanization and deprivation often coincide, so many of the 21st century’s greatest challenges will arise in the Global South. This course examines postcolonial urbanism, global-city and ordinary-city theories, informal settlements and slums, social and environmental justice, and urban design, planning, and governance. We study scholarly, journalistic, and film depictions of Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro in Latin America; Algiers and Lagos in Africa; Cairo and Istanbul in the Middle East; and Beijing and Mumbai in Asia. Brian Godfrey.

    Prerequisite(s): A previous Geography or Urban Studies course.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 254 - Environmental Science in the Field


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ENST 254 ) The environment consists of complex and often elegant interactions between various constituents so that an interdisciplinary approach is required to understand how human interactions may affect it. In this course, we study a variety of aspects of a specific environment by considering how biological, chemical, geological, and human factors interact. We observe these interactions first hand during a weeklong field trip. Some of the questions we may consider are: How does a coral polyp create an environment that not only suits its particular species, but also helps regulate the global climate? How has human development and associated water demands in the desert Southwest changed the landscape, fire ecology, and even estuary and fisheries’ health as far away as the Gulf of California? How have a variety of species (humans included) managed to survive on an island with the harsh environment of the exposed mid-ocean ridge of Iceland? The course is offered every other year, and topics vary with expertise of the faculty teaching the course. 

    Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 256 - Geographies of Food and Farming

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    Farming and food production connect us to the landscapes in which we live, and they shape the geographies of our communities. Increasingly, farming and food also connect us to processes of globalization. The world produces more food than ever before, yet factors such as centralization of production and competition from biofuels lead to food shortages in developing regions and continuing losses of rainforests from Brazil to Indonesia. One key strategy for understanding these connections is to examine the biogeographic patterns that shape food production. In this course, we focus first on the physical environmental factors (including water resources, climate patterns, and biodiversity) that characterize agricultural regions of North America. As part of this discussion, we consider ethical, political, and cultural aspects of food production. We then use these frameworks to examine global production and exchanges of food. We use case studies, such as land conversion in Brazil and Indonesia, to understand prominent debates about food and farming today.  Mary Ann Cunningham.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 258 - Sustainable Landscapes: Bridging Place and Environment in Poughkeepsie


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as URBS 258 ) Geographers have long understood the relationship of aesthetic landscapes and place to include concepts of identity, control, and territory. Increasingly we consider landscape aesthetics in the context of sustainability and environmental quality. How do these contrasting sets of priorities meet in the process of landscape design and land use analysis? In this course we begin by examining regional and local histories of landscape design and land use planning and their relationship to concepts of place, territory, and identity. We consider landscape ecological approaches to marrying aesthetic, land use planning, and environmental priorities in landscapes. We investigate local issues such as watershed quality, native plantings, and storm water management in the context of local land use planning in order to consider creative ways to bridge these once-contrary approaches to understanding the landscapes we occupy and construct. We focus on projects and topics related to the greater Poughkeepsie area. 

    Prerequisite(s): One 100-level course in Geography.

    One 3-hour period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 260 - Conservation of Natural Resources


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ESCI 260 ) Natural resources are perennially at the center of debates on sustainability, planning, land development, and environmental policy. The ways we conceptualize resources can be as important to understanding these issues as their actual distributions are. This course provides a geographic perspective on natural resource conservation, using local examples to provide deeper experience with resource debates. We focus particularly on forest resources: biodiversity, forest health, timber resources, forest policy, and the ways people have struggled to make a living in forested ecosystems. We discuss these issues on a global scale (such as tropical timber piracy and forest conversion), and we explore them locally in the Adirondacks of New York. This course requires that students spend October Break on a group study trip in the Adirondacks. Students must be willing to spend long, cold days outside, including some strenuous physical activity (unless special permission is arranged with the instructor).

    Students wishing to register under Earth Science must have had at least one previous earth science course.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 262 - Mapping Climate Change and its Impacts


    1 unit(s)


    Mapping and spatial modelling are increasingly important tools for visualizing and understanding geographic variations in climate change and its impacts. In this intensive course, we collaboratively explore some of the data and approaches involved in spatial analysis of climate change and impacts. Issues of concern might include topics such as crop growth, biodiversity, or environmental health. Because this is an exploratory course, students are expected to help lead the inquiry as we investigate applications of data and models. We focus first on the nature and use of spatial climate data; we then explore applications using GIS-based models of change implemented, for example, in ArcGIS Modelbuilder or Maxent. We use these approaches, together with relevant literature, to quantify impacts for a particular subject and region of concern.

    Because student leadership is expected, students should plan to dedicate at least five additional hours to independent and/or small group work outside of scheduled meetings.

    Prerequisite(s): GIS or Cartography or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods and one 2-hour lab.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: INT

  
  • GEOG 266 - Population, Environment, and Sustainable Development

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as INTL 266 ) Concerns about human population are integral to debates about matters of political stability, socio-economic equity, ecological sustainability, and human wellbeing. This course engages these debates via an examination of environmental change, power and inequality, and technology and development. Case studies include: water supplies, fishing and agriculture and the production of foodstuffs. Being a geography course, it highlights human-nature relations, spatial distribution and difference, and the dynamic connections between places and regions.  Ashley Fent.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 270 - Gender and Social Space


    1 unit(s)
    (Same as URBS 270  and WMST 270 ) This course explores the ways in which gender informs the spatial organization of daily life; the interrelation of gender and key spatial forms and practices such as the home, the city, the hotel, migration, shopping, community activism, and walking at night. It draws on feminist theoretical work from diverse fields such as geography, architecture, anthropology and urban studies not only to begin to map the gendered divisions of the social world but also to understand gender itself as a spatial practice. 

    Prerequisite(s): One of the following: URBS 100 , GEOG 102 , or WMST 130 , or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 272 - Geographies of Mass Violence


    1 unit(s)
    Violence has been an integral part of the making of landscapes, places, and the world political map. This course examines theories of violence, explanations of why it happens where it does, and how mass violence has come to shape local, national, and international geographies. In doing so, it analyzes how violence becomes embedded in geographical space and informs social relations. The course draws upon various case studies, including incidents of mass violence in Rwanda, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the United States. 

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 274 - The Political Geography of Human Rights


    1 unit(s)
    Human rights have a deep history and varied geographical origins. This course examines the highly contested making and representation of human rights in regards to their content and emphases, and the various practices and institutions deployed in their name–with a focus on the post -1945 era. In doing so, the course interrogates human rights in relation to a variety of settings–from anti-colonial and anti-imperial struggles to social movements championing racial and gender equality to humanitarian interventions. Throughout, the course seeks to analyze how these various human-rights-related endeavors flow from, produce, and challenge spatial inequality, places and geographical scales, and articulate with a diverse set of political geographical agendas. 

    Prerequisite(s): One 100-level Geography or Earth Science course, or permission of the instructor.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 276 - Economic Geography: Spaces of Global Capitalism

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)


    (Same as INTL 276 ) We live in turbulent times. In the past decades, global capitalism has profoundly reorganized global space for production, distribution and consumption. Geography discipline, economic geography, in particular, is uniquely equipped to provide critical analysis of the spatial dynamics of the global economy. Differing from other disciplines concerning economics, economic geography studies the relationship between economics and space and place. Economic geographers argue that in all economic activities, accessibility, proximity and spatial agglomeration play essential roles in the location choice, organization and performance of economic units. Space, place, and mobility resulted in uneven development, which is deeply implicated features in the capitalist system in its emergence, development, and transformation.

    Two areas of focus in this course are the globalization of the world economy and regional development under the first and third world contexts. We analyze the history of the emergence of the global the capitalist system, the commodification of nature, transformation of agriculture, the global spread of manufacturing, restructuring of transnational corporations and its regional impacts. Yu Zhou.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS

  
  • GEOG 284 - Global Africa

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as AFRS 284  and ENST 284 ) Africa often appears in the news and popular representations as a continent plagued by civil conflict and environmental crisis, left behind by increasing global integration, and in need of external aid. Such framings obscure the continent’s great cultural and ecological diversity and its deep yet highly unequal integration with the rest of the world economy, through the transatlantic slave trade, colonization, and the neoliberal prescriptions of the international development industry. This course examines critical geographic and political ecological scholarship on a range of topics pertinent to Africa’s historical and contemporary challenges, including agriculture, gender, the scramble for mineral resources and land, conservation, environmental justice, urbanization, and South-South investment. The course also examines African-led innovations and initiatives that work to build future prosperity, justice, and sustainability. Ashley Fent.

    Three 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 290 - Community-Engaged Learning

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    0.5 to 1 unit(s)
    The Department.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • GEOG 297 - Readings in Geography

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    0.5 unit(s)
    Course Format: OTH
  
  • GEOG 298 - Independent Work

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    0.5 to 1 unit(s)
    Open to qualified students in other disciplines who wish to pursue related independent work in geography. The department.

    Course Format: OTH

Geography: III. Advanced

  
  • GEOG 300 - Senior Thesis

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    One-semester, one-unit thesis. Students meet as a group with the thesis adviser for two-hour workshops five times during the semester. During non-workshop weeks, students have an individual meeting of 30-60 minutes with the adviser. Brian Godfrey.

    Course Format: INT
  
  • GEOG 303 - Advanced Debates in Urban Studies


    1 unit(s)
    This seminar focuses on selected issues of importance in Urban Studies. Topics vary according to the instructor. The course is required of all majors and may be taken during the junior or senior years; it can be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.

    Prerequisite(s): URBS 100  and URBS 200  or the equivalent, and permission of the instructor.

    One 3-hour period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 304 - Senior Seminar: Issues in Geographic Theory and Method

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    A review of the theory, method, and practice of geographical inquiry. The seminar traces the history of geographic thought from early episodes of global exploration to modern scientific transformations. The works and biographies of major contemporary theorists are critically examined in terms of the changing philosophies of geographic research. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are discussed, along with scientific, humanist, radical, feminist, and other critiques in human geography. Overall, alternative conceptions of geography are related to the evolution of society and the dominant intellectual currents of the day. The student is left to choose which approaches best suits his or her own research. The seminar culminates in the presentation of student research proposals. Brian Godfrey.

    One 3-hour period.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 340 - Advanced Urban and Regional Studies

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ENST 340  and ESCI 340 )  Topic for 2021/22a: Renewable Energy and Climate Action. Climate action is a central issue of our time, and within this, plans for progress (including the Green New Deal) depend on reforming our energy systems. This course seeks to understand the shape of our rapidly changing landscapes of energy production, with a focus on New York City, New York State, and Vassar’s carbon neutrality goals. We use a variety of methods, including mapping, case studies, and readings, as we try to understand regions of production, leading technologies, the challenges and opportunities for developing them, and the environmental and social implications of these emerging systems. Can renewable energy produce a more equitable, and less exploitive energy regime? How are these shifting landscapes pushing us to rethink geographies of energy? What does it take to embrace these energy systems in a way that is more just—across communities, places, and generations—than we have seen historically? 

     
    Mary Cunningham.

    One 3-hour period.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 356 - Environment and Land-Use Planning

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)


    This seminar focuses on land-use issues such as open-space planning, urban design, transportation planning, and the social and environmental effects of planning and land use policies. The focus of the course this year is impacts of planning policies (such as transportation, zoning, or growth boundaries) on environmental quality, including open space preservation, farmland conservation, and environmental services. We begin with global and regional examples and then apply ideas in the context of Dutchess County’s trajectory of land use change and planning policies. 

    Topic 2021/22a: Re-Envisioning The North Side: From Automobility to Place. (Same as ENST 356  and URBS 356 ) This seminar focuses on planning issues such as sustainable land use planning, urban design, transportation planning, and social/economic effects of urban planning policies. Using the City of Poughkeepsie as a laboratory, this seminar focuses on how transportation and land use planning decisions affect the social, economic, cultural, and environmental resources of neighborhoods and communities through an in-depth look at the City’s northern neighborhoods. We specifically examine the socio-economic, demographic, mobility and access issues, as well as environmental, and planning concerns surrounding the history of the downtown and the City’s transportation decision making historically and new revitalization initiatives underway. Through fieldwork, readings and exercises, we identify and explore key policy and planning challenges and opportunities and gain an understanding of the potential and limitations of various planning and regulatory frameworks. Susan Blickstein.

     

    Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course in Geography, Urban Studies or Environmental Studies.

    One 3-hour period.

    Course Format: CLS

  
  • GEOG 372 - Topics in Human Geography

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    This seminar focuses on advanced debates in the socio-spatial organization of the modern world.  The speciif topic of inquiry varies from year to year.  Students may repeat the course for credit of the topc changes.

    Topic One: Geography of Social Movements. Why does collective action emerge in some places but not others? How do social movements mobilize support for their agendas – historically and in the current world? How are geographical concepts, such as space, place scale, and networks integral to collective action and how are they (re)produced, in part, through political struggle? This seminar explores these central questions through reading the traditional theories used to explore social movement mobilization and applying these theories to historic examples to understand their strengths and weaknesses. We then unpack the role of space, place, scale and (inter)networks in structuring, and with the rise of new movements and new technologies, (dis)placing and transforming collective action. What does all of this mean for the future of collective action? We focus on recent actions to control and re-envision urban space, such as the BLM movement, to explore this question. Yu Zhou.

    Topic Two: Capitalist Imperatives: Space, Nature, and Technology.  (Same as INTL 372 ) Since the financial crisis in 2008, there has been surging intellectual discussion about the fundamentals and contradictions of global capitalism. Using influential writings by scholars such as Harvey, Piketty, Brenner, Zuboff, A. Ong, Dempsey and others, this seminar explores the range of theoretical analysis during the last decade about the roles of space, nature, and technology in the accumulation and crisis of capitalism. These works underpin our understanding of uneven global development, spatial inequality, technology transformation, and environmental destruction. The following topics are discussed: political economies of neoliberalism and its crisis, accumulation by dispossession, commercialization of nature; surveillance capitalism, and alternative economic systems. Yu Zhou.

    One 3-hour period.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 374 - Geographies of Extractive Capitalism


    1 unit(s)
    Our lives run on fossil fuels, minerals, and other natural resources that have been extracted in various locations across the Earth.  Drawing on political ecology, this seminar examines how natural resource extraction has fueled and sustained global capitalism, in its multiple forms and historical phases. Resource extraction has transformed both political and physical landscapes in various regions, and it has had destructive effects on the biophysical and geological properties of Earth. Reading geographical, anthropological, and political ecology texts on mining and fossil fuel extraction, we explore how scholars have theorized these relationships and the possibility of creating different ways of living. Topics include silver mining and the Spanish Empire, fossil fuels and industrialization, extractive states’ practices of sovereignty and territorial control, Indigenous rights and environmental justice movements, labor, the “resource curse,” and recent moves toward Corporate Social Responsibility and environmental sustainability.

    One 3-hour period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 376 - Asian Diasporas: from empires to pluralism


    1 unit(s)


    (Same as ANTH 376  and ASIA 376 ) Focusing on Asian Diasporas, this course engages discourses in diaspora studies and pluralism from the Vassar campus to the wider world. Our goal is both to introduce theories of migration, diaspora, cultural transformation, world system, transnationalism, and globalization, and examine some of the complex history of movements of people from Asia to other parts of the world and their integration in diverse communities. Organized chronologically, the course begins by considering the deep history of movement and interconnection in Asia and beyond with particular focus on the Asia-centered world system of the 13th and 14th centuries. We then study the movements and experiences of indentured laborers and of merchants during the era of European colonial domination. Here we engage a range of topics including the role of religion in plantation life, the role of diasporic communities and racial politics in creating post-colonial nations, the emergence, conflicts and coalitions of ethnic identities in the United States and elsewhere, and key political and cultural moments in the history of Asian-America. We then examine recent forms of nationalism and transnationalism of Asian diasporas in the context of post WWII decolonization, late capitalism, disjunctive modernity, and identity politics in the contemporary era. The principal cases are drawn from East Asian and South Asian communities in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and the United States.

    As a seminar, the course material is multi-disciplinary, ranging from political-economic to cultural studies and engages material at a high level of sophistication. We have also tried to include diverse geographical regions. Asia and Diaspora are vast topics and not every topic can be covered in the course. You have further opportunity in your research paper to discuss topics and areas of your interest. 

    Prerequisite(s): 200-level work in Asian Studies, Anthropology or Geography, or permission of the instructor.

    One 3-hour period.

    Not offered in 2021/22.

    Course Format: CLS

  
  • GEOG 386 - Global Environmental Activism: Political Ecology, Liberation and Citizenship

    Semester Offered: Spring
    1 unit(s)
    (Same as ENST 386 ) Environments are political and politicized in varied ways. Some environmental movements adopt militant tactics or use environmental grievances as part of broader political resistance, while in other cases, environmentalism serves as a powerful way of practicing citizenship or demanding rights and recognition from the state. In this seminar, we apply a political ecology framework to interrogate the complex relationships between local and global socio-ecologies, activists in the Global North and South, international environmental NGOs, and nation-states. Focusing on case studies from around the world—such as the Zapatistas, the Brazilian MST (Landless Workers Movement), Earth Liberation Front, the Chipko Movement, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, and the Green Belt Movement in Kenya—we seek to understand how, when, and why environmentalism intersects with political movements and demands. In examining these cases, we also consider ideas of “nature” and distinctive approaches to the environment. Overall, we interrogate processes through which radical ideas about ecological, social, and political life may be co-opted, formalized, or undermined. Ashley Fent

    One 3-hour period.

    Course Format: CLS
  
  • GEOG 399 - Senior Independent Work

    Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
    0.5 to 1 unit(s)
    The Department.

    Course Format: OTH

German: I. Introductory

  
  • GERM 101 - Sex Before, During, and After the Nazis

    Semester Offered: Fall
    1 unit(s)


    This course offers an introduction to Germany’s unique position in the history of sexuality. As early as the late nineteenth century, Germany and Austria were a hotbed for new thinking sexuality and sexual freedom, including the founding of psychoanalysis and the world’s first homosexual emancipation movement. National Socialism, however, forever changed the way that Germans and non-Germans viewed every aspect of Germany’s history and culture, including its sexual politics. This course examines some of Germany’s most salient debates about sex from the late nineteenth century to the Nazi era and beyond, including the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Materials include autobiographies, fictional works, plays, films, political tracts, and sexual case studies, as well as secondary texts representing a variety of disciplinary approaches.  Jeff Schneider.

    Satisfies college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.

    Readings and discussions in English.

    Two 75-minute periods.

    Course Format: CLS

 

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