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Catalogue 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course Descriptions
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German: I. Introductory |
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GERM 105 - Beginning German: The Stories of Childhood Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course offers a yearlong introduction to the study of German language and culture through literature, fairy tales, and films for and about children. Since these materials tend to be linguistically easier, they are ideal for beginning language learning. Moreover, their role in socializing a new generation makes them important sources for understanding a culture’s fundamental values and way of looking at the world. Materials range from classic texts, such as fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, to contemporary stories, films, and television shows. In addition to offering a systematic introduction to German grammar and vocabulary, classroom activities promote practical and active oral and written communication. No prior experience with German required. Domenic DeSocio.
Yearlong course 105-GERM 106 .
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 106 - Beginning German: The Stories of Childhood Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course offers a yearlong introduction to the study of German language and culture through literature, fairy tales, and films for and about children. Since these materials tend to be linguistically easier, they are ideal for beginning language learning. Moreover, their role in socializing a new generation makes them important sources for understanding a culture’s fundamental values and way of looking at the world. Materials range from classic texts, such as fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, to contemporary stories, films, and television shows. In addition to offering a systematic introduction to German grammar and vocabulary, classroom activities promote practical and active oral and written communication. No prior experience with German required. Silke von der Emde.
Yearlong course GERM 105 -106.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 109 - Intensive Beginning German Semester Offered: Spring
2 unit(s)
A single-semester study of the German language, equivalent to GERM 105 -GERM 106 . Intensive training in the fundamental language skills. Designed for beginning students who wish to accelerate their learning of German. Elliott Schreiber.
Open to all classes; five 75-minute periods, four 30-minute drill sessions, and computer-assisted instruction.
Course Format: CLS
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German: II. Intermediate |
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GERM 210 - Intermediate German I: Identity in Contemporary Germany Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Low-intermediate language study through short texts and research topics on questions of national identity in contemporary Germany. Strong emphasis is placed on developing vocabulary and reviewing grammar as well as developing oral and written expression. The course uses an online educational environment and may involve an exchange with learners at another college. Jeffrey Schneider.
Prerequisite(s): GERM 106 , GERM 109 or the equivalent.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 211 - Intermediate German II: Space in Weimar Germany Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Intermediate language study through texts and research topics on questions of space in Weimar Germany at the time of the “Roaring Twenties.” Strong emphasis is placed on developing vocabulary and reviewing grammar as well as developing oral and written expression. The course uses an online educational environment and may involve an exchange with learners at another college. Domenic DeSocio
Prerequisite(s): GERM 210 or the equivalent.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 230 - Contemporary German Culture and Media Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Advanced intermediate language study through an examination of contemporary German culture and the role played by different media such as newspapers, television, radio, film, and the Internet. Strong emphasis is placed on developing vocabulary, reviewing grammar, as well as oral and written expression. The course may involve an exchange with native speakers of German. Domenic DeSocio.
Prerequisite(s): GERM 211 or the equivalent.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 232 - Faust, Music, and Romanticism
0.5 unit(s)
(Same as MUSI 232 ) No literary text of the early Romantic era was read more avidly than Goethe’s Faust. After its publication in 1808, composers rapidly began setting it to music. In this six-week course, we begin with a close reading of Faust Part I (in English translation), then study musical interpretations of it by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Liszt, and others. Kathryn Libin
Prerequisite(s): One course in Music or German, or permission of the instructor.
First six-week course.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 235 - Introduction to German Cultural Studies Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2021/2022b: The German Invention of Sexuality. (Same as WMST 235 ) Does sexuality have a history? How have the ways we think about, talk about, and act on sexual desire and sexual identity changed over time? And what roles did the German-speaking world play in this development? In this course we investigate the origins of our modern understanding of sexuality in German-speaking culture. As individuals began to see their sexual desires as an expression of their inner self in the nineteenth century, sex emerged as a scientific field of study, a theme for literary experimentation, and a cause for political activism. This heady mix of the personal, the social, and the political revolutionized the way we think (about) sex. Terms such as “homosexual,” “heterosexual,” and “transexual,” fetish, and S&M can be traced back to German-speaking thinkers, activists, and writers. After examining the origins, we also probe the dissemination, reception, and adaptation of this knowledge across time, nation, culture, race, and class, using a variety of literary texts, documents, images, and films. All readings and discussions in English. Domenic DeSocio.
Open to all classes.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 240 - A Culture of Play: An Introduction to German Theater
1 unit(s)
Since the eighteenth century, drama and theater have held a vaunted place within Germany’s language literary and cultural production. This course offers an introduction to that tradition through the study of specific authors, texts, and theories. Students have the opportunity to hone their speaking skills through performance activities, such as mounting scenes or an entire production. Strong emphasis is placed on developing vocabulary and reviewing grammar as well as developing written expression. Authors may include Brecht, Büchner, Dürrenmatt, Handke, Hauptmann, Jelinek, Loher, and Weiss.
Prerequisite(s): GERM 211 or the equivalent.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 255 - Follow the Lieder
0.5 unit(s)
(Same as MUSI 255 ) In the early 19th century Beethoven and Schubert established Vienna as the seat of German song. Brahms, Wolf, and Strauss carried the form forward into the modern era. This six-week course examines the intimate marriage of German poetry and music during the romantic period when the Austrian empire went from being the largest power in Europe to a sentimental land on Europe’s eastern front. This course offers performance opportunities for singers and pianists as well as non-performance related projects. The course is open to all students, regardless of performance background. Drew Minter and Miriam Charney.
Prerequisite(s): One course in Music or German.
First six-week course.
Two 75-minute periods plus extra periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 260 - Developments in German Literature Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2021/2022b: Love Trouble: Passion and Heartbreak in Modern German Literature and Culture. Starting in the late nineteenth century, German-speaking Europe became a hotbed of theorizing and activism around sexuality and sexual expression. But while many activists fought for sexual freedom and a future in which “sex will be good again,” others found themselves focusing on the countless reasons why relationships often fell short of expectations: racism, antisemitism, women’s oppression, homophobia, class differences, age differences, politics, and German society as a whole. This course explores the efforts to document and overcome these problems in essays, fiction, poetry, and film against larger developments in German society. Authors and filmmakers may include Fatih Akin, Ingeborg Bachmann, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Dea Loher, Thomas Mann, Emine Özdamar, Ulrich Plenzdorf, Bernhard Schlink, Arthur Schnitzler, Frank Wedekind, and Christa Wolf. Jeffrey Schneider.
Prerequisite(s): GERM 230 or GERM 240 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 275 - Spiel: Exploring the Wonderful World of German Board Games
1 unit(s)
Particularly with the international blockbuster Settlers of Catan, contemporary German board games have revitalized the analog gaming industry. Since the Second World War, they have set themselves apart from counterparts in the U.S. by emphasizing strategy and social skills while de-emphasizing war games and the early elimination of players. Through this Intensive, students study the history of German parlor games and board games, including such milestones as Reisewitz’s Kriegsspiel (1812), which was used to train Prussian officers in military strategy. This game set the stage for wargames in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (including the popular board game Risk), a tradition with which contemporary German board games intentionally break. Our exploration of the history of the development of board games over approximately the last two centuries is guided by a variety of questions: What function do they play in society for both children and adults? How do they reflect or undermine societal values? What accounts for the popularity of particular games, whether nationally or internationally? What constitutes a well-designed game? What relationship do analog games today have with the digital environment? To help investigate these questions, we travel to Germany over October Break to conduct research at one of the largest analog game archives in the world, the Deutsches Spielearchiv in Nuremberg, and then at the largest convention of analog games in the world, the Internationale Spieltage in Essen. This study trip forms the basis for several projects in the second half of the semester, including an analysis of a game, the creation and testing of a game, and the compilation of a collection of games for use by the Vassar community.
Prerequisite(s): Student is expected to have completed the equivalent of one year of Beginning German, and to be at least a Sophomore in Fall 2019.
One 2-hour period.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: INT
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GERM 290 - Community-Engaged Learning
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Course Format: INT
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GERM 298 - Independent Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Permission required.
Course Format: OTH
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German: III. Advanced |
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GERM 301 - Senior Seminar Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2021/22a: Germany in the Time of Black Lives Matter. Activist, sociologist and filmmaker Auma Obama, Barack Obama’s half-sister, once said that she found her own voice in Germany. In fact, Germany is home to many Black intellectuals, artists, and people from all across the African diaspora. Yet while Germany has been praised for its Erinnerungskultur (culture of remembrance) around the Holocaust, that legacy has often overshadowed Germany’s efforts to deal with its colonial past or its present-day racism, leaving many Black Germans feeling invisible, ignored and discriminated against. Fortunately, in the wake of the international Black Lives Matter movement, their existence, history and cultural contributions have begun to receive some long overdue attention. This seminar explores the rich culture that diverse groups of black and brown people in Germany have created while at the same time addressing the history of people of color in Germany and some of the issues and barriers they have faced or continue to face. Together we analyze a range of political, scholarly, and literary texts along with a variety of films, plays, music, dance and art works by authors and artists such as Mo Asumang, May Ayim, Sheri Hagen, Audre Lorde, Ilka Hügel Marshall, Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi, Branwen Okpako, Sharon Dodua Otoo, and Melanie Raabe. Silke von der Emde.
Prerequisite(s): GERM 260 or the equivalent.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GERM 374 - Senior Colloquium Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Until this point in their education, seniors and other advanced students of German language, literature, and culture have taken courses and seminars carefully designed by faculty with specialized knowledge of the topics. For this intensive, students collaborate to develop a semester-long course of study that reflects and deepens their own knowledge and scholarly interest in a particular author, movement, period, or issue. Following pre-registration, students meet with the instructor to identify a list of common readings that form the basis for weekly discussions the first half of the semester. During the second half of the semester, students work individually with the instructor to pursue an extended research paper related to the topic. While papers develop an original argument vis-à-vis the scholarly literature on their topic, they also offer students an opportunity to refine their academic writing style in German through a couple of workshops developed in collaboration with the instructor. Toward the end of the semester all students present their papers colloquium-style. The final version of the papers may then be published in an online departmental journal as part of a special issue devoted to this topic and edited by the participating students. Silke von der Emde.
Prerequisite(s): GERM 301 or the equivalent.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: INT
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GERM 399 - Senior Independent Work
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Course Format: OTH
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Greek and Roman Studies: I. Introductory Courses in English Translation
Courses in English translation, numbered X00-X19 are taught entirely in English. No knowledge of Greek or Latin is required. |
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GRST 100 - Then and Now: Reinterpreting Greece and Rome Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Here we are at the beginning of the 21st century, yet all around us we continue to see allusions to and creative engagements with Greek and Roman antiquity. From the bestseller list which features a novel claiming to reveal recently discovered books of the Odyssey to an HBO series that takes place in ancient Rome and comparisons of the post 9/11 United States to the Roman Empire in the news, the worlds of ancient Greece and Rome continue to be viscerally alive and compelling as sources for artistic and cultural production. Why is this so? In this course we examine the ways that the legacies of classical antiquity continue to be felt today and invite us to explore the cultures of Greece and Rome. The course serves as an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of Greek and Roman languages, literature, history, and archaeology and the interpretation of these cultures by subsequent civilizations. The course addresses both the complex political, social, intellectual, and cultural settings of the ancient world and the ways in which the study of antiquity can challenge and enrich our experience of the present. To pursue these questions we read ancient texts, examine material artifacts, study linguistic evidence, and engage with creative contemporary responses to antiquity and recent theoretical work on the study of the ancient world. In serving as an overview of the kinds of questions that contemporary culture inspires us to ask of and about antiquity and the materials and approaches that scholars use for their inquiries, the course prepares the student for further work in the department. Curtis Dozier.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 101 - Civilization in Question
1 unit(s)
(Same as CLCS 101 ) In the past, college curricula in this country were often organized around the idea of the “Great Books” of “Western Civilization.” Today though, the very idea of a Western literary canon has been challenged as a vehicle for reinforcing questionable norms and hierarchies and silencing other important perspectives. In this class we read well-known ancient, medieval and Renaissance texts with a view to how they themselves question the civilizations from which they emerge. A unique feature of this class is that it is taught by faculty from three different disciplines who bring a variety of interpretive practices to bear on the texts. This creates a classroom environment in which dialogue is the means to discovery. Students are encouraged to be part of the conversation both during class and in weekly discussion sections. Readings may include such authors as Homer, Aeschylus, Plato, Augustine, Chretien de Troyes, and Machiavelli.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 102 - Cleopatra
1 unit(s)
A famous historian once wrote “The true history of Antony and Cleopatra will probably never be known; it is buried too deep beneath the version of the victors.” This course examines the life and times of Egypt’s most famous queen, who was both a Hellenistic monarch, last of a dynasty founded by a companion of Alexander the Great, and a goddess incarnate, Pharaoh of one of the world’s oldest societies. However, the ways in which Cleopatra has been depicted over the centuries since her death are equally intriguing, and the course considers versions of Cleopatra from the Romans to Chaucer, Boccacio, Shakespeare, Gauthier, Shaw, and film and television to explore how different authors and societies have created their own image of this bewitching figure.
Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 103 - Homer’s Iliad in Modern Adaptations
1 unit(s)
Homer’s Iliad, dating from over 2 millennia ago, continues to inspire poets, playwrights and novelists working today. In this class we study contemporary responses to the poem, all of them composed in English within the past five to ten years. The adaptations include poetry, drama and novelistic responses. Among the questions we consider are: Why does the poem, which offers an account of the last year of the mythological war between the Greeks and the Trojans, continue to capture our imagination? What is it about our current cultural moment that has drawn so many artists to the ancient poem? How can we consider the role that the Homer’s poem plays in these modern works while also taking these modern receptions seriously on their own terms? After a close reading of the Iliad, among the modern adaptations we consider are Simon Armitage’s The Story of the Iliad (2015), Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles (2012), David Malouf’s Ransom (2011) and Alice Oswald’s Memorial (2013).
Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 104 - Greek Archaeology Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course examines sites and monuments of the ancient Greek world from the Bronze Age to the Classical period. We introduce archaeological methods, examine the history and developement of Greek archaeology from the origins of the field in the 1870’s to the present, and trace the chronological development of Greek art and architecture across several major sites including Knossos, Mycenae, Olympia, Delphi, and Athens. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding and interpreting monuments in terms of their political, social, and economic contexts. Barbara Olsen.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 144 - Living in the Ancient City
0.5 unit(s)
(Same as ART 144 and URBS 144 ) The great Mediterranean cities of Classical Antiquity, Athens in the 5th c. BC and Rome in the 1st-2nd c. CE (along with some of their satellite cities), are synonymous with the rise of western civilization. The city plans and monumental architecture dominate our view, but this course also focuses on the civic institutions housed in the spectacular buildings and the social worlds shaped by the grand public spaces, as well as the cramped working quarters. Neighborhoods of the rich and the poor, their leisure haunts, and places of congregation and entertainment are explored to reveal the rituals of everyday life and their political consequences. Eve D’Ambra.
Second six-week course.
Two 75-minute periods.
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GRST 181 - Modern Issues, Ancient Texts Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course asks why contemporary writers and filmmakers draw on ancient Greek literature to address questions that feel, at least to us, both urgent and uniquely current: how do power and perspective play out along lines of gender, identity, and social hierarchy? How do we respond to the many forms of violence that seem endemic to social life? How do we understand ourselves and our actions in light of all this? We begin with a close reading of Homer’s Odyssey alongside Madeline Miller’s novel Circe (2018), aiming to understand the work and world of the Odyssey itself before engaging with the way in which Miller uses that world as a starting point. Why does she draw on this nearly 3,000-year-old epic poem for her own imaginative engagement with the issues just described? What resources do the remnants of ancient Greek culture offer us for thinking about our own experience and society in the 21st century? We apply similar questions in examining Spike Lee’s turn to Aristophanes’ Lysistrata for his treatment of gun violence in Chiraq (2015); additional readings may include selections from the ancient poet Sappho and philosopher Plato, together with modern poets engaging the tradition of Greek mythology: Anne Carson, Louise Glück, and Natasha Trethewey, to name just a few. We will focus primarily on methods for reading and writing about literary texts, but the stunning diversity of genres and contexts in play requires us to consider several disciplinary approaches. In doing so, we endeavor to discern how ancient art forms persist in both their historical influence on our time and their lively reimaginations within it. Luke Parker.
Open only to first-year students; satisfies college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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Greek and Roman Studies: II. Intermediate Independent Work
Independent work may be pursued in Greek, Latin, or English translation. |
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GRST 202 - Myth Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course examines ancient myth from a variety of theoretical perspectives. It compares Greek and Roman myth with other mythic traditions and explores different versions of the same myth within Greek and Roman culture. We also consider transformations of ancient myths into modem versions. Literary, artistic, and archaeological evidence provide ways to understand the function of myth in ancient Greek and Roman society. Curtis Dozier.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 203 - Women in Greek and Roman History and Myth Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as WMST 203 ) Greek and Roman literary and historical accounts abound with vividly drawn women such as Helen, Antigone, Medea, Livia, and Agrippina, the mother of Nero. But how representative were such figures of the daily lives of women throughout Greek and Roman antiquity? This course investigates the images and realities of women in the ancient Greek and Roman world, from the Greek Late Bronze Age (c. 1200 BCE) to the Roman Empire (up to the III c. CE) by juxtaposing evidence from literature, historical sources, and archaeological material. Throughout, the course examines the complex ways in which ancient women interacted with the institutions of the state, the family, religion, and the arts. Barbara Olsen.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 205 - Homer’s Odyssey: From Oral Composition to Digital Editions Semester Offered: Spring
1 1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 205 ) In this course we consider the long history of Homer’s epic poem from its beginning as an oral composition in Archaic Greece to its current manifestations in digital editions. Along the way we look at papyrii, medieval manuscripts, early print editions, examples of fine printing and contemporary versions. As we consider the history of the poem we also study the poem itself and explore the ways that its meaning has also been transformed through time. Among the issues we consider are orality and oral cultures, the advent of writing, the development of the text and the influence of technology. We examine materials in Greek, Latin, and English though no knowledge of the ancient languages is required. The Archives and Special Collections Library, with its rich collection of primary sources, will serve as our laboratory. Rachel Friedman.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 211 - Rome: The Art of Empire Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as ART 211 and URBS 211 ) From humble beginnings to its conquest of most of the known world, Rome dominated the Mediterranean with the power of its empire. Art and architecture gave monumental expression to its political ideology, especially in the building of cities that spread Roman civilization across most of Europe and parts of the Middle East and Africa. Roman art also featured adornment, luxury, and collecting in both public and private spheres. Given the diversity of the people included in the Roman empire and its artistic forms, what is particularly Roman about Roman art? Eve D’Ambra.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 -ART 106 or GRST 216 or GRST 217 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 215 - The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt
1 unit(s)
(Same as ART 215 ) Ancient Egypt has long fascinated the public with its pyramids, mummies, and golden divine rulers. This course provides a survey of the archaeology, art, and architecture of ancient Egypt from the prehistoric cultures of the Nile Valley through the period of Cleopatra’s rule and Roman domination. Topics to be studied include the art of the funerary cult and the afterlife, technology and social organization, and court rituals of the pharaohs, along with aspects of everyday life.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or one unit of Greek and Roman Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
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GRST 216 - History of the Ancient Greeks
1 unit(s)
(Same as HIST 216 ) This course examines the history and culture of the ancient Greeks from the emergence of the city-state in the eighth century BCE to the conquests of Alexander the Great in 335 BCE. In addition to an outline of the political and social history of the Greeks, the course examines several historical, cultural, and methodological topics in depth, including the emergence of writing, Greek colonialism and imperialism, ancient democracy, polytheism, the social structures of Athenian society, and the relationship between Greeks and other Mediterranean cultures. Students both read primary sources (for example, Sappho, Tyrtaios, Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, and Plato) and examine sites and artifacts recovered through archaeology; the development of students’ critical abilities to evaluate and use these sources for the study of history is a primary goal of the class.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 217 - History of the Ancient Romans Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as HIST 217 ) This course examines the history of the ancient Romans from the foundation of their city around the eighth century BCE to the collapse of their Mediterranean Empire in the fifth century CE. The course offers a broad historical outline of Roman history, but focuses on significant topics and moments in Roman history, including the Republican aristocracy, the civil and slave wars of the Late Republic, the foundation of the Empire by Caesar Augustus, urbanism, the place of public entertainments (gladiatorial combats, Roman hunts, chariot races, and theater) in society, the rise of Christianity, the processes of Romanization, and barbarization, and the political decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Students read primary sources such as Plautus, Cicero, Livy, Tacitus, and Suetonius, and secondary accounts dealing with important issues such as slavery, religious persecution and multiculturalism. Students also examine important archaeological sites and artifacts. The development of students’ critical abilities to evaluate and use these sources for the study of history is a primary goal of the class. Carolyn Tobin.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 219 - The First Cities: The Art and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East
1 unit(s)
(Same as ART 219 and URBS 219 ) The art, architecture, and artifacts of the region comprising ancient Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, and Turkey from 3200 BCE to the conquest of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE. Beginning with the rise of cities and cuneiform writing in Mesopotamia, course topics include the role of the arts in the formation of states and complex societies, cult practices, trade and military action, as well as in everyday life. How do we make sense of the past through its ruins and artifacts, especially when they are under attack (the destruction wrought by ISIS)?
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or 106 or one unit in Greek and Roman Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
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GRST 283 - Greek and Roman Religion Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course examines the ways in which polytheism was practiced by the ancient Greeks and Romans from the 8thcentury BCE until the 2ndCE. Throughout the course, we combine material deriving from art and archaeology with the reading of original texts as source to emphasize the ritual aspects of Greco-Roman polytheism via its religious symbols, institutions, beliefs, and rites in their wider socio-political contexts. After surveying the earliest evidence for Greek religion, we turn to the role that cult played in creating a shared civic identity in Classical Athens, to the export of Greek religion following the conquests of Alexander the Great, and to the relationship between cult practice and Empire in Rome. The course concludes with an examination of the various Mystery cults in circulation at the end of the 2ndcentury CE. Barbara Olsen.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 284 - Slavery Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course examines the ancient Roman institution of slavery. The practice of slavery permeated every sphere of the Roman world and was foundational to their economy, artistic traditions, family life, and political administration. We use ancient literature in translation, graffiti, art, and archaeological material to grapple with an elusive question: what can we learn about people who were so universal, yet so rarely speak to us with their own voices? Topics of discussion include the social lives of slaves and freedpeople, the economics of a slave society, the archaeology of slavery, ancient forms of resistance and their modern receptions, and the role of ancient slavery in shaping modern slave regimes. Carolyn Tobin.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 290 - Community-Engaged Learning
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
Course Format: INT
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GRST 292 - Collecting Antiquities at Vassar: Lost and Found in the Loeb
1 unit(s)
(Same as ART 292 ) This intensive is designed as a directed independent study conducted in the Loeb Antiquities storeroom for close study of ancient art and artifacts. The intensive aims to impart skills involved in identifying fakes and establishing authenticity, to consider the ethics and politics of collecting, and to explore the changing role of ancient art in the museum and its display in galleries.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: INT
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GRST 298 - Independent Study Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
Course Format: OTH
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Greek and Roman Studies: III. Advanced |
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GRST 301 - Seminar in Classical Civilization Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 301 ) Topic for 2021/22a: The Prehistory of Race in Greco-Roman Antiquity. This class aims to assess how ancient Greco-Roman perceptions of human difference can inform contemporary conversations about race and racism, and vice versa. Greco-Roman antiquity has often been claimed to represent the origin of white, European civilization, and so has been a potent tool in the creation and maintenance of contemporary racial hierarchies. However, ancient ethnographic writings spanning the ancient Mediterranean, including Africa and the Near East, reveal a multi-ethnic world whose ways of categorizing humans bear little resemblance to that of the contemporary world and so demonstrate the artificiality of today’s racialized system. Nevertheless, the many hierarchies that ancient writers articulate reflect essentializing assumptions about human difference, revealing that even if anti-Blackness was unknown in antiquity, the history of distinguishing and ranking groups of human beings extends back far beyond the Colonial period where modern racism is often said to originate. Our enquiry into the interpretation of ancient sources and their mixed legacy is informed both by scholarship on ancient race and ethnicity and by readings in Critical Race Theory and Whiteness Studies. Curtis Dozier.
Prerequisite(s): Previous work in Africana Studies or previous work in Greek and Roman Studies or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 302 - The Blegen Seminar Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as ENST 302 ) Topic for 2021/22b: ‘As if Nature spoke:’ Thoreau, Ancient Greek Literature, and American Nature Writing. When Henry David Thoreau went to Walden Pond to ‘live deliberately,’ he took just one book with him: Homer’s Iliad. Why was this ancient war epic his literary companion in the experiment and experience that is now, through Thoreau’s own writings, a cornerstone of American thought on our relationship to the natural world? In addressing this question our seminar will range well beyond Homer and Walden, examining how Greek poetry informed Romantic emphasis on the value of ‘Nature’ in the early 19th century, also shaping Thoreau’s early writings and in particular his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. Ideas found in both Romanticism and Thoreau – that human beings in modernity are out of step with the natural world, and that we could live better if we were closer to it – continue to hold sway in our own cultural imagination. This makes it perfectly appropriate to ask whether and how Greek literature shapes our thinking about current ecological crises, as well as what else these ancient texts might contribute to imagining a future that values humanity and ecology together. Luke Parker.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 327 - Greeks, Romans, and Classicists on Screen Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This intensive explores the portrayal of the Ancient Greeks and Romans – and those who study them – in the media of television and film. In addition to screenings, students examine the ways in which Classical societies were and continued to be packaged for 20thand 21stcentury audiences and the ways these images shape popular understandings of both ancient societies and the archaeologists, historians, and literary scholars who research them. Throughout, the course interrogates how these filmed versions of antiquity shape contemporary assumptions about ancient Greece and Rome’s approaches to race, gender, sexuality, religion, and politics. Barbara Olsen.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: INT
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GRST 360 - Senior Thesis Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
One semester senior thesis. Seniors only
Course Format: INT
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GRST 361 - Thesis Preparation Seminar Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
Seminar required of all Greek and Roman Studies majors in the Fall semester of their senior year to prepare to complete a senior project or thesis in the Spring. Topics include: defining a research question and/or topic; identifying and working with appropriate source materials; finding and evaluating existing scholarship related to the topic; organizing my information; and considering appropriate methodology. After this course students should be ready to write a directed senior thesis or project. Curtis Dozier.
Senior Greek and Roman Studies majors only.
Course Format: INT
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GRST 362 - Senior Thesis Semester Offered: Spring
0.5 unit(s)
Full Year Thesis (1/2 unit per semester). Seniors Only.
Course Format: INT
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GRST 363 - Senior Project Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 unit(s)
Extended writing or other project elected concurrently with a seminar in Greek and Roman Studies. Seniors only.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor of the concurrent seminar.
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GRST 399 - Senior Independent Study
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Course Format: OTH
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Courses in Greek Language and Literature: I. Introductory Courses in Greek Language and Literature
Courses numbered X20-X39 require appropriate reading ability in ancient Greek. |
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GRST 125 - Elementary Greek Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Introduction to the language. In order to fulfill the language requirement, students must also take GRST 126 . Rachel Friedman.
Open to all classes. No previous Greek is required.
Four 50-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 127 - Intensive Elementary Greek
2 unit(s)
An intensive introduction to the fundamentals of classical Greek grammar and syntax. Students with no background in ancient Greek learn to read Homer, Plato, Greek tragedy, Herodotus, and other classical texts after one semester’s intensive work. This course is the equivalent of GRST 125 - 126 and fulfills the language requirement by itself.
Four 50-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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Courses in Greek Language and Literature: II. Intermediate |
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GRST 224 - Reading Greek
0.5 unit(s)
Students are introduced to the reading of continuous and unadapted Greek prose while paying particular attention to the review and consolidation of the fundamentals of Greek grammar and syntax.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 127 or permission of instructor
First six-week course.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: INT
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GRST 225 - Intermediate Greek
1 unit(s)
Authors may include Sophokles, Euripides, Xenophon, Lysias, and Plato. In addition to consolidating knowledge of grammar, the selection of passages brings into focus important aspects of Athenian culture.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 125 -GRST 126 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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Courses in Greek Language and Literature: III. Advanced |
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GRST 321 - Advanced Greek: Topics in Greek Literature Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as GRST 226 ) This Intensive allows students at the intermediate and advanced levels to read Greek together in an informal setting. Readings vary as well as the amount of time spent on grammar review, which depends on the needs of those enrolled. Rachel Friedman.
This course should be elected by students before electing any advanced Greek course in the department.
Students enrolled in GRST 226 have an extra hour of grammar review and students enrolled in GRST 321 have longer Greek assignments.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: INT
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GRST 322 - Greek Tragedy
1 unit(s)
A reading of a play by Sophokles or Euripides. Careful study of the text helps us to understand the playwright’s style. We also consider how the play examines and responds to the historical, social and political conditions of Athens in the fifth century BCE.
Prerequisite(s): Two units in 200-level courses in the language or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 323 - Homer
1 unit(s)
Extensive selections from the Iliad, the Odyssey, and/or Homeric Hymns with attention given to oral theory, thematic structure, and social issues raised by the poems.
Prerequisite(s): Two units in 200-level courses in the language or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 324 - Reading Greek, Homer
0.5 unit(s)
Readings in Greek from Homer’s Odyssey.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 224 or permission of the instructor.
Second six-week course.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: INT
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GRST 326 - Readings in Greek
1 unit(s)
Students read from prose and verse in Greek in order to advance their reading skills and study a particular topic in Greek literature or history. Readings in Greek are supplemented with secondary readings in English.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 125 -126 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: INT
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Courses in Latin Language and Literature: I. Introductory Courses in Latin Language and Literature
Courses numbered X40-X59 require appropriate reading ability in Latin. |
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GRST 145 - Elementary Latin Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Introduction to the language. Carolyn Tobin.
Open to all classes. No previous Latin is required.
Yearlong course 145-GRST 146 .
Four 50-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 146 - Elementary Latin Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Introduction to the language. Carolyn Tobin.
Open to all classes.
Yearlong course GRST 145 -146.
Four 50-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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Courses in Latin Language and Literature: II. Intermediate |
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GRST 245 - Intermediate Latin I Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Selected readings from authors such as Plautus, Cicero, Catullus, Caesar, Sallust, and Virgil. The selection of readings is designed to consolidate knowledge of grammar, provide an introduction to the translation of continuous, unadapted Latin, and highlight interesting features of Roman culture in the last two centuries of the Republic. Carolyn Tobin.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 145 -GRST 146 or permission of the instructor or chair.
Three 50-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 246 - Intermediate Latin II
1 unit(s)
Authors may include Horace, Livy, Ovid, Seneca, Petronius, Suetonius, and Virgil. Readings are selected to illustrate the diversity of literary forms that flourished in the early Empire and the interaction of literature with society, politics, and private life.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 245 or permission of the instructor.
Three 50-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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Courses in Latin Language and Literature: III. Advanced |
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GRST 341 - Topics in Latin Literature Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2021/22b: Juvenal: The Silver Age poet Juvenal was par excellence a satirist of Rome: its classes, its politics, the vices of its populace, and the chaos of the city itself. This seminar features close readings of Juvenal’s satires with attention to the forms of Roman satire, political commentary, and the view they provide of Roman social life in the early second century CE. The course emphasizes both translation and analysis of the texts. Barbara Olsen.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 246 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 342 - Virgil
1 unit(s)
Selections from the Eclogues, Georgics, or Aeneid. Subjects of study include the artistry of the Virgilian hexameter, the relationship of Virgil’s works to their Greek models, and general topics such as his conception of destiny, religion, and the human relation to nature.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 246 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 343 - Tacitus
1 unit(s)
Close readings from the works of the imperial historian and ethnographer Tacitus. In connection with further developing students’ reading skills, the class focuses on particular literary, cultural, or historical issues.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 246 or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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GRST 344 - Roman Lyric and Elegy Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Poems of Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, Catullus and Ovid with attention given to poetic form, the influence of poets on each other, and the view they give us of Roman society in the first century BCE. Curtis Dozier.
Prerequisite(s): GRST 246 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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Haitian Creole: I. Introductory |
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CREO 105 - Beginning Haitian Creole Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Courses offered through SILP do not have individual course descriptions. Haitian Creole can be added to the list of languages offered in the existing description of the Self-Instructional Language Program. Lioba Gerhardi. http://catalog.vassar.edu/content.php?catoid=6&navoid=1079
Prerequisite(s): Special permission.
Yearlong course CREO 105-106 .
Two 60-minute periods.
Course Format: OTH
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CREO 106 - Beginning Haitian Creole Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Courses offered through SILP do not have individual course descriptions. Haitian Creole can be added to the list of languages offered in the existing description of the Self-Instructional Language Program. Lioba Gerhardi. https://catalog.vassar.edu/content.php?catoid=25&navoid=4949
Prerequisite(s): Special permission.
Yearlong course CREO 105 -106.
Two 60-minute periods.
Course Format: OTH
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Hebrew: I. Introductory |
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HEBR 105 - Elementary Hebrew Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Introduction to the language. Basic phonics and grammatical structures. Stress on development of reading comprehension, simple composition, and conversational skills. For Hebrew 105, no background in the language is assumed; admission to HEBR 106 is possible with the demonstration of previous work equivalent to Hebrew 105. Agnes Veto.
Open to all students.
Yearlong course 105-HEBR 106 .
Course Format: CLS
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HEBR 106 - Elementary Hebrew Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Introduction to the language. Basic phonics and grammatical structures. Stress on development of reading comprehension, simple composition, and conversational skills. For HEBR 105 , no background in the language is assumed; admission to Hebrew 106 is possible with the demonstration of previous work equivalent to HEBR 105 . Agnes Veto.
Open to all students.
Year long course HEBR 105 -106.
Course Format: CLS
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Hebrew: II. Intermediate |
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HEBR 205 - Intermediate Hebrew I
1 unit(s)
Formal study of Hebrew language with emphasis on oral practice and writing skills.
Prerequisite(s): HEBR 105 -HEBR 106 , or equivalent of two years in high school.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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HEBR 206 - Intermediate Hebrew II
1 unit(s)
Formal study of Hebrew language with emphasis on oral practice and writing skills.
Prerequisite(s): HEBR 205 or equivalent of three years in high school.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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HEBR 298 - Independent Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Course Format: OTH
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Hebrew: III. Advanced |
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HEBR 399 - Independent Work
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Note: A self-instructional introductory course in Yiddish language exists. See Self-Instructional Language Program (SILP).
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: OTH
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Hindi: I. Introductory |
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HIND 105 - Beginning Hindi Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Prerequisite(s): Special permission.
Yearlong course HIND 105-106 .
Course Format: OTH
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HIND 106 - Beginning Hindi Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Prerequisite(s): Special permission.
Yearlong course HIND 105 -106.
Course Format: OTH
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Hindi: II. Intermediate |
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HIND 210 - Intermediate Hindi Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Prerequisite(s): Special permission.
Year long course 210-HIND 211 .
Course Format: OTH
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HIND 211 - Intermediate Hindi Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Prerequisite(s): Special permission.
Year long course HIND 210 -211.
Course Format: OTH
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Hindi: III. Advanced |
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HIND 310 - Advanced Hindi I Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Prerequisite(s): Special permission.
Course Format: OTH
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HIND 311 - Advanced Hindi II Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Prerequisite(s): Special permission.
Course Format: OTH
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Hispanic Studies: I. Introductory |
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HISP 105 - Elementary Spanish Language Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
Fundamentals of the grammar and structure of the Spanish language with emphasis on oral skills and reading. Marcela Romero Rivera.
Open to students with no previous instruction in Spanish.
Yearlong course 105-HISP 106 .
Four 50-minute periods; one hour of drill.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 106 - Elementary Spanish Language Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Fundamentals of the grammar and structure of the Spanish language with emphasis on oral skills and reading. Marcela Romero Rivera.
Open to students with no previous instruction in Spanish.
Yearlong course HISP 105 -106.
Four 50-minute periods; one hour of drill period.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 110 - Latin American and Spanish Literacy and Cultural Topics
1 unit(s)
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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Hispanic Studies: II. Intermediate |
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HISP 205 - Intermediate Spanish Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
Intensive study and review of Spanish grammar at the second-year level with emphasis on oral practice and writing skills. Augusto Hatchoun, Eva Woods.
Prerequisite(s): HISP 105 -HISP 106 or three years of high school Spanish.
Three 50-minute periods and one hour of conversation.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 206 - Reading and Writing about Hispanic Culture Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 1 unit(s)
Reading, writing and speaking skills are developed through study of cultural and literary texts and audiovisual materials.
Topic for 2021/22a: Reading, writing and conversational skills are developed through the study of literary texts, dramatic writing and theatrical performance. Andrew Bush.
Topic for 2021/22a: A Specter Haunts Latin America: The Culture of Revolution and Counterrevolution Over the last century, Latin America has seen several revolutions surge and triumph, radically changing the lives of entire nations. Inspiring as they were, these revolutionary processes also triggered devastatingly violent counterrevolutionary efforts orchestrated both internally and transnationally by the defenders of the capitalist status quo, and fanning, in turn, new revolutionary discontent. This complex process has marked the recent history of the region, leaving an indelible mark in its cultural production—literature, music, art and film. In this course we explore the rich culture that has been produced both in the name of the revolutionary spirit and by insidious counterrevolutionary fervor. We analyze short stories, poems, photography, songs and films created in the wake of the revolutionary processes in Mexico, Cuba, Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. All materials, instruction, and assessment will be in Spanish. Marcela Romero Rivera.
Topic for 2021/22b: This section is designed as an introduction to significant contemporary issues in Latin American cultures (Human rights, LGBT and Women’s movements, Indigenous peoples and other topics.). It allows a first exposure to this problematic in Spanish, providing a space for reading, viewing, listening, speaking and writing in the target language. Mario Cesareo.
Prerequisite(s): HISP 205 or four years of high school Spanish.
Two 75-minute periods and one hour of conversation.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 216 - Topics in Multidisciplinary Analysis Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
This course develops a set of methodological and theoretical tools for the investigation of cultural practices such as literature, popular and mass culture, social movements and institutions in Spanish-speaking countries.
Topic for 2021/22a: Reading Latin America through its Horror and Fantastic Short Stories. In Latin America, terror stories comprise not only the narration of paranormal and psychological delusions but also a very effective mirroring of specific social and political conditions. This course introduces students to literary analysis through the lens of horror and fantastic fiction. Materials for analysis include literary texts by Rubén Darío, Leopoldo Lugones, Horacio Quiroga, Mariana Enríquez, and Samanta Schweblin. We also examine films by Guillermo del Toro, Jorge Michel Grau, and Adrián García Bogliano. Nicolas Vivalda.
Topic for 2021/22a: Reading and Writing Short Stories. This course explores ways of reading the Latin American short story in the context of its historical development, while unctioning as a creative writing workshop in Spanish. Mario Cesareo.
Topic for 2021/22b: Fiction and Non-Fiction in the Multidisciplinary Classroom. This course develops the theoretical and methodological tools for the study of the ambiguous boundaries of the fictional and scientific representation of social reality in Latin American cultural discourse and practice. Through the examination of hybrid texts that combine elements of fiction, science, journalism, photography, and art the course explores assumptions underlying different conceptions of documentary and imaginary representation. Students consider models of analysis originating in cultural studies with others from the social sciences in order to arrive at an integral and multidisciplinary understanding of the formal and social characteristics of these diverse texts and practices. Michael Aronna.
Prerequisite(s): HISP 206 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 219 - Advanced Grammar and Composition
1 unit(s)
This course offers an in-depth coverage of Spanish grammar with emphasis on reading and writing skills. A more traditional approach in grammar explanations is combined with the study of numerous examples and exercises based on everyday life. The objectives of this course are 1) to provide a thorough review of major topics of Spanish grammar—ser and estar, por and para, the preterit and the imperfect, sequence of tenses, conditional clauses, etc.; 2) to explore in-depth the different mechanics of writing in Spanish (punctuation, written accents, etc.); 3) to work on writing skills in Spanish through the use of various writing techniques and strategies—the art of writing narratives, dialogue, descriptions, letters, and reports; 4) to improve reading skills and knowledge of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions in Spanish; 5) to continue to increase cultural knowledge of the Spanish-speaking world. Through the use of the target language in class, this course also contributes to the general language acquisition process. Some translation work is required as well—contextualized passages in English translated into Spanish are used to illustrate a variety of grammatical principles. Nicolas Vivalda.
Prerequisite(s): HISP 216 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 225 - Creative Writing Workshop
1 unit(s)
This year’s workshop provides a space for the development of the student’s ability as a writer of fiction in Spanish. Writing projects could include short stories, drama, poetry and miscellany, depending on the student’s individual interests. Workshop members share, read and critique each other’s writing. We also engage some readings and exercises designed to enrich the student’s ability to give form, texture, and voice to their writing. Mario Cesareo.
Prerequisite(s): HISP 216 or HISP 219 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 226 - Medieval and Early Modern Spain Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
Topic for 2021/22b: Pícaras, Busconas and Celestinas: Reading the Discourse on Female Behavior and in Early Modern Spain. This course considers how the discourse on early modern female behavior presents itself in literary and legal sources. The objective of the course is to explore the larger social framework that regulates women’s behavior in sixteenth and seventeenth century Spain. Through the study of a variety of legal measures and moral treatises that define the boundaries of “sin” in Early Modern Spain, we trace the rich symbolic and literary trajectory of the pícara (she-rogue). From this sociological perspective, our focus explores the reasons behind the popularity of the female picaresque genre, paying special attention to the anxieties that the regulation of prostitution caused in Spanish society. Materials for analysis include selections of legal texts, moralist writings and literary works by Francisco Delicado, Miguel de Cervantes, and María de Zayas. Nicolas Vivalda.
Prerequisite(s): One course above HISP 206 .
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 227 - Colonial Latin America Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as LALS 227 ) Studies in Latin American literary and cultural production from the European invasion to the crisis of the colonial system. Michael Aronna
Topic for 2020/21a: Natural and Moral History of the Spanish Empire. This course explores the interrelated development of scientific observation, geographic mapping, writerly expression, artistic rendering, moral legitimization, and in the exploration and colonization of Spain’s transatlantic and transpacific empire. Readings and class discussion examine the epistemological and political challenges early modern Spanish and Latin American scientists, historians, and writers encountered in describing, classifying, understanding and assigning value to what was for them “new” scientific phenomena and civilizations. Course texts address such figures as Gonzálo Fernández de Oviedo, José de Acosta, El Inca Garcilaso, José Celestino Mutis, Alexander Von Humboldt, and Alejandro Malaspina, among others. Michael Aronna.
Prerequisite(s): One course above HISP 206 .
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 229 - Postcolonial Latin America Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as LALS 229 ) Studies in Latin American literary and cultural production from the emergence of the nation states to the present. Thematically structured, the course delves into the social, political, and institutional processes undergone by Latin America as a result of its uneven incorporation into world capitalist development. Mario Cesareo.
Topic for 2020/21a: Animals in Caribbean and Mexican Literature and Visual Culture. The course examines the presence and role of animals in the colonial and postcolonial histories, literatures, and cultures of the Caribbean and Latin America, from Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo to Homero Aridjis. We look at how interactions between humans and other animals have significantly shaped narratives and visual cultures in the region and work through the methodological implications of centering animals within narrative and artistic representations. Topics include indigenous cosmologies, the politics of hunting, the commodification of animals and animal parts, the protection of animals and the environment, posthumanism, and notions of wildlife. Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert.
Topic for 2020/21b: Post- Human Futures: New Latin American Literature. In Latin America, as anywhere else, we begin the third decade of the 21st century with an uneasy eye on the horizon. The future—of the region, politics, literature, the planet, the human—lies ahead as an open question that requires a speculative imagination to be answered. In this class, we read a series of works of literature from the last 15 years coming from the Caribbean, as well as North, Central and South America that have imagined possible paths to the future, where, after “all that is solid melts into air,” new forms of the human and their relation to each other, technology, and the planet can be conjured. We read poetry and fiction by Rita Indiana, Dolores Dorantes, Verónica Gerber Bicecci, Lina Meruane, and Samantha Schweblin, among others. Instruction, materials, and evaluation in this class are in Spanish. Marcela Romero Rivera.
Prerequisite(s): HISP 216 or HISP 219 .
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 252 - Building Inclusive Communities in Latino-a-x Poughkeepsie
0.5 unit(s)
(Same as LALS 252 ) This course is intended for students who wish to learn from and support that process, notably connecting with local Latino-a-x high school students with the goal of helping empower them to be leaders in the process.
The course offers students a chance to engage with and learn more about the local Latino-a-x community, meet local community leaders, and learn about the most pressing issues impacting the community at the local, state, and national levels. This course also allows students to experience best practices when it comes to developing and sustaining an inclusive community – developing intimacy, exploring social identity and power, using effective communication and conflict resolution skills, and attending to the well-being of the individual members of the community – specifically in the context of Latino-a-x community.
Spanish-speaking and Latino-a-x students are encouraged to enroll, but all students are most welcome! Both English and Spanish are used, but always in a way that is inclusive and accessible to non-Spanish speakers. Eva Woods.
First six-week course.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS
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HISP 274 - Writing Workshop Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as LALS 274 ) It admits of three modes, according to each student’s preference. The course includes periodic meetings where the texts are collectively discussed (Previous Requisite: one course at the 220 level or special permission by me.). A) Chronicle: the course hinges around an ongoing event (political, historical, etc.) chosen by each student. Such event will be researched as it develops during the semester, in depth and thoroughly. The end result will be an annotated dossier of primary and secondary sources and the writing of a chronicle based upon some of the models studied (García Márquez, Rodolfo Walsh, Germán Castro Caycedo, Alma Guillermo Prieto, etc.) B) Fiction: the course is geared toward completion of a piece of writing previously agreed upon between each student and me (collection of poems or short stories, novelistic fragment, journal, short film and so on). Writing models and problematics will be discussed and serve as a springboard for each student’s project. C) Testimonial Writing: the course will allow for crafting a piece of testimonial writing (of one’s own or someone else’s experience). Writing strategies will be derived from an understanding of the genre’s logic and its problematization. In all modalities, the final text can take the form of an audiovisual product (the student’s technical knowledge for carrying on such a project is presupposed). Mario Cesareo.
Prerequisite(s): HISP 216 or HISP 219 or permission of the instructor.
Course Format: INT
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HISP 275 - The Oviedo Project Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
The Oviedo Project at Vassar College aims at translating the 50 books of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo’s Natural History of the Indies–the first comprehensive description of the New World, written between 1524 and 1548—in time for the 500th anniversary of the publication of an abridged version of the first book in 1526. The collaborative project has been developed as part of Vassar’s new curriculum to work with student translators to produce the first complete English-language translation of the celebrated text. Students study and put into practice translation theory and editing skills as they complete their section of the project, under the guidance of profs. Michael Aronna, Nicolás Vivalda.
Prerequisite(s): HISP 216 or HISP 219 or permission of the instructor.
Course Format: INT
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HISP 276 - Close Watching of Latin American Cinema
1 unit(s)
This course focuses on one relevant Latin American or Spanish film director dealing with Latin American topics, and involves concentrated readings, research, and small group discussions on themes like race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, poverty, nationalism, liberalism, development, and modernity(ies). Student learn to identify and analyze the intersection between form and content in a select number of relevant Latin American films by situating them in contexts that are simultaneously national, regional, and global. Proposed directors: Luis Buñuel, Arturo Ripstein, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Leonardo Favio, Pablo Larraín, Patricio Guzmán. Nicolas Vivalda.
Prerequisite(s): One course above HISP 206 .
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: INT
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HISP 277 - Study Abroad Follow-up
0.5 unit(s)
Through frequent conversations and writing opportunities, this course offers students the opportunity to analyze and gain a deeper understanding of their study abroad experience in a Spanish-speaking country. Through storytelling, memoirs and the creation of a final project, students reflect critically on tourism, knowledge production, global citizenship and their plans to integrate their study away experience into current learning opportunities or professional aspirations. Taught in Spanish. Eva Woods.
Prerequisite(s): HISP 206 or permission of the instructor.
Second six-week course.
One 2-hour period.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: INT
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