Global Arc

Starting with some classic arguments for philosophical skepticism from Plato, Sextus Empiricus, and Descartes, we will experiment with different methodologies of doubt and tackle contemporary epistemic problems about fake news, vaccine skepticism, and misinformation. Our most important focus, however, will be our collaborative exploration of our own beliefs, asking the question: "What is it I believe deeply, and what would it be like if I were wrong?"

This course will examine films, video games, archival documents, speculative fiction, and writings about the space industry to compare the conquest of the Americas during the long sixteenth century with the conquest of outer space today. Through a comparative analysis of colonial and contemporary narratives of "New World" exploration, students will unpack the language of colonization, tracing the entangled histories of capitalism, civilization, resistance, and survival. Ultimately, the course will highlight the power of the humanities in shaping how we imagine human and humane futures beyond Earth.

The newly launched James Webb Space Telescope is enabling discoveries about everything from the formation of planets around other stars to the formation of the first galaxies. This course is designed to open the curtain on how astronomical discovery works. We will discuss astronomical telescopes, both on the ground and in space. Students will also get a taste of what it means to be a professional astronomer. We will work in python and gain some comfort with basic scientific computing and statistics. We will read both popular and astronomical literature. Finally, as part of the final project, we will practice given public-level talks.

In this course we will read ten (mostly short) novels, originally written in Greek and translated into English, spanning nearly two millennia, with a view to exploring how fiction has served as a focal point for the exploration of Hellenism. The course is intended both for students seeking to fulfill the requirements for the Hellenic Studies Minor and those interested in cultural history and literature more broadly.

This course introduces students to physical acting techniques, which unleash playfulness and expand expressive potential in performance. Games, improvisation, acting exercises and theater masks cultivate freedom, joy, courage, and stage presence. An exploration of the rules of story through movement analysis, along with embodied approaches to text and practical methods to creating characters, prepare for work on monologues and scenes.

This course explores how the drama of ancient Athens is restaged and rewritten for today's audiences. Students will read plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes to confront the interpretative and performative challenges they offer on the page and on the stage - as well as the opportunities they provide contemporary playwrights to speak to the present moment. Our research will be enhanced by recorded productions preserved online, and if available, by live performances.

This course explores how dramatic storytelling shapes our responses to environmental issues. Led by two instructors, it blends documentary-based theater and Ecodramaturgical approaches to create narratives that stage environmental injustice. We will study a range of artistic works from various cultural contexts, and interrogate how theater and narrative can help us better achieve environmentalist goals. The course combines theory and practice, welcoming curious students from diverse backgrounds.

How do you apply your creative skills and artistry to different educational settings? Using the examples of prisons, specialized schools and community-based organizations, lecturer and veteran teaching artist Chesney Snow will guide students through studying and practicing the craft of teaching artistry. Students will understand the history of teaching artistry and how it fits into the structures of today's educational systems and society as well as understanding best practices in the development of teaching artist pedagogy and classroom management.

This cross-genre, interdisciplinary, and creative project based course explores digital imagery combined with human movement. Students work with technologies including projectors, projection mapping software, modular coding, Unreal engine, and mocap suits, to create works of art and shareable experiences incorporating images, space, and the human body. They will learn of the body as a robust technology through embodiment, movement, and motion capture. Discover how to get beyond the screen: how working with multimedia can involve movement in space, and how images can escape from your screen to become part of the three dimensional world.

In this course, we will study the works of feminist-identified scholars and performers to examine how they use different mediums to excavate, stage, and theorize lives that place, front and center, the relationship between (P)olitics, embodied knowledge, and creative expression. Examining works in theater, students will learn about different forms of feminist practice and how those forms may support and conflict with each other. Students will also learn how to incorporate and articulate theories and mediums into their own creative practices.