Global Arc

This seminar examines sci-fi in Anglo-American literature and film with special emphasis on its dialogue with the Russian and East-European tradition. We will follow the trajectory of the genre: from time-travel to dystopias; from interplanetary encounters to robots; from human-machine hybrids to questions of gender and ethnicity. We will analyze the questions, hopes and anxieties that these narratives articulate, the imagery they employ, and the features of the story-worlds they construct. We will investigate how questions of authorship and agency, and the definitions of the self, the other, the human and posthuman are framed and negotiated.

This seminar offers an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of international diplomacy, drawing on the instructor's experience as former ambassador and current scholar. We will survey the classics and explore some of the wonderful diplomatic memoirs of the 20th and 21st century, focusing on case studies such as the Iraq fiasco, the U.S. opening to Cuba, the Iran nuclear deal, and the challenges of dealing with Russia and China today. We will then descend from high politics down to ground level, focusing on practical aspects of diplomacy on which students can draw if and as they aspire to careers in international relations.

For centuries, shoes have provided signals about a person's character, social and cultural status. Shoes have also carried religious, cultural, and symbolic meaning. They remain a unique lens through which to interrogate and understand innovation, manufacturing, and industrial design. Recently, shoes have refocused our attention on issues of ethics and morality. Shoes are a window into our personal and collective history and future. Students in this seminar will explore, through the evolution of shoes, seminal interdisciplinary ideas, build and refine their academic skills, and create a measurable impact on campus.

Seeds are ubiquitous. We eat them. We plant them. We blow them in the wind. But do they need saving? Seed saving is an heirloom practice that is as old as the notion of agriculture itself. Yet, seed saving practices sit at the center of an intensifying debate about biodiversity, food sovereignty, intellectual property rights, and the future of our species. This course will explore the oft-overlooked complexity of seeds and the people who are working to save them with special attention to intellectual, scientific, ethical, and practical challenges.

The piano is a central fixture of European classical and contemporary music, an inheritor of centuries' worth of repertory and performance practice. In the past century, the instrument has amalgamated with various genres and spread to every corner of the world, becoming part of rich and varied musical communities. The seminar will provide a comprehensive understanding of the instrument, covering its design (mechanics, acoustics, and tuning) and the cultural contexts that inspired it, the repertory from the 18th century to the present, recital culture and pedagogy, and recent innovations such as prepared pianos and synthesizers.

What do elephant ivory, pangolin scales, and baby orangutans have in common? They are all major players in the global wildlife trade. From discussions of the origins of COVID-19 to concerns about the extinction of the last white rhinos, the wildlife trade has garnered significant attention worldwide. In this this course we will explore how species have been appropriated as inputs into markets, including as wild meat, pets, medicine, and luxury goods. We will draw on diverse fields such as ecology and anthropology and will apply the tools of systems thinking to analyze the wildlife trade through the lens of conservation science.

This freshman seminar concerns itself with the laws by which fictional female lives are told: narratives by which we anticipate as well as judge--vigilant observers that we are--what is going to happen to her next. A fundamental claim of this course is that dramatic suspense problematically takes momentum from gendered laws and cues: when we see a lightly-clad woman, drenched in blood, stumbling from a highway stop we are conditioned to assume that she has been raped. But what happens when a female director 'disappoints' our narrative expectation because the presumed female victim turns out in fact to have cannibalized a truck driver?

This course overviews the science of composting by covering nutrient cycling (carbon and nitrogen, pollution), soil science (chemistry), microbial ecology, and the food/water/biodiversity/climate grand challenges. Local samples will be used. The course will enhance campus sustainability efforts through student research projects. Students will help the SCRAP lab optimize composting practices (e.g. aerobic biodigestor) to process dining-sourced bioplastics into healthy compost with low C emissions. Student findings will be an integral component of a larger NJ DEP supported project to advance campus recycling goals.

This seminar seeks enchantment in everyday experience, considering the allure and the danger of mixing up life and art. In addition to studying and writing about historical artworks, students will research current-day practice and will complete open-ended creative projects. Experience in any artistic discipline is welcome but is by no means required; more important is a spirit of curiosity and exploration. For our purposes, "art" refers not only to visual art but to a wide variety of creative undertakings that result in performances, objects, rituals, stunts, and other possibilities we will soon discover.

This literature and creative writing-based course considers the rich intersection of poetry, nonfiction, and hybrid creative writing called documentary poetry. Like documentary films, documentary poems make use of primary source materials such as interviews, news articles, diaries, letters, photographs, medical reports, and public records. These works are designed to move your understanding of public events from knowledge of the facts, however complex, to their emotional and philosophical implications. Course requirements include a final 10-page documentary poetry/hybrid project and an oral presentation of the work to the class.