AFST B250  BLACK BEAUTY CULTURES  (1.0 Credit)

Why is Black beauty important, across different historical periods and geographies? This course answers this through a deep engagement with Black visual culture, from diaspora histories of Black hair cultures to anthropological studies of Black beauty salons to digital engagement with Black beauty culture on You Tube and Instagram. We’ll do comparative magazine analyses of 20th century Black fashion coverage and today’s celebrity-driven brands like Fenty. Black Beauty is foundational to how we understand the construction of value in art, politics,and society. We’ll also study different Black-studies approaches to visual culture including those from art history, museum studies, film & media studies, communication, popular culture, disability studies, performance studies, feminist theory, and queer studies. Students will walk away with strong training in visual and communication methods and in the aesthetic and political history of Black beauty. The course will culminate with a collective digital exhibition on Black Beauty Cultures that we assemble and annotate as a class.

AFST H264  THE OPPOSITIONAL GAZE: ART TRAVERSING THE BINARY  (1.0 Credit)

Qrescent Mali Mason

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Through a survey of visual, literary, and performance arts primarily by Black and Latina women (e.g., Lorraine O’Grady, Adrian Piper, Christina Sharpe, Ana Victoria Jiménez) this course seeks to theorize the many dimensions of the oppositional gaze, with a focus on the ways these thinker-artists challenge, critique and disrupt various binaries that they identify with the history of western philosophy. Crosslisted: AFST,VIST.

AFST H361  TOPICS IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIT: THE NEW BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT  (1.0 Credit)

Asali Solomon

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course will begin with an exploration of the literary achievement of the Black Arts Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, engaging with its political and cultural context. We will then move into contemporary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, theory and popular culture, articulating the relationship between mainstream artists of the late 20th and 21st century and the ideals of BAM. Prerequisite(s): Two 200-level English courses or instructor consent

ANTH H233  DECOLONIZING VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY: FILMMAKING WORKSHOP  (1.0 Credit)

Emily Hong

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This is a hybrid video production and theory course which grapples with the entanglements between ethnographic film/documentary and colonial structures of power. We will bring a decolonizing lens to explore—through texts, screenings, and making films—major modalities in the field including sensory ethnography, indigenous media, and feminist experimental film. Crosslisted: Visual Studies, Anthropology Prerequisite(s): at least one course in Anthropology or Visual Studies

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ANTH H239  VISIONS OF JUSTICE: INTERSECTIONALITY AND LEGAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN ASIAN CINEMA  (1.0 Credit)

Emily Hong

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course aims to deepen understandings of Asian struggles for justice and representation through independent films by Asian (including diaspora) directors. We will analyze films that offer a window into legal and social movement struggles for gender justice, self-determination, and environmental justice. Crosslisted: Visual Studies; Anthropology; East Asian Languages & Cultures; Peace, Justice and Human Rights

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ANTH H266  SENSORY ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS  (1.0 Credit)

Emily Hong

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): B: Analysis of the Social World

Through this course, students will develop ethnographic research and writing skills using sensory detail (taste, touch, sight, sound, smell and feeling) to evoke people, places, and things. Assignments are primarily writing-intensive with additional fieldwork and multimodal (e.g. photography, film) exercises. Crosslisted: Anthropology, Visual Studies Prerequisite(s): Any Anthropology course

ANTH H275  RACE AND REPRESENTATION IN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression; B: Analysis of the Social World

This is an introductory cross-listed (Visual Studies/Anthropology) production course on the theory and practice of documentary filmmaking through an exploration of race onscreen. The objective of the course is to enable students to build a critical awareness of the ways in which film and media in general perpetuate racist discourses and representations and explore how students can challenge such representations through their own filmmaking practices. As inspiration, we will watch and study a wide variety of innovative documentary films that bring alternative voices and histories to screen and read/watch filmmaker interviews. Classes will combine elements of a studio (sharing and critiquing filmmaking work in progress) and seminar (discussing weekly themes). Crosslisted: VIST. Lottery Preference: Visual Studies minors, then Anthropology majors/minors, then Film Studies minors

ANTH H277  MEDIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): B: Analysis of the Social World

What can we learn about the Middle East by examining media? What can we about media by studying institutions of production and practices of consumption in the Middle East region? In this course, we will read ethnographies of media from the Middle East and look at and listen to media. We will explore cases from different countries, from Egypt to Syria, Turkey to Afghanistan, from Lebanon to Palestine/Israel. Crosslisted: VIST. Pre-requisite(s): 100-level course in social sciences, or humanities. Lottery Preference: Senior anthropology students have a priority to take the class.

ARTS H101  ARTS FOUNDATION-DRAWING (2-D)  (0.5 Credit)

Jonathan Goodrich

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in drawing. Students will first learn how to see with a painter's eye. Composition, perspective, proportion, light, form, picture plane and other fundamentals will be studied. We will work from live models, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ARTS H101  ARTS FOUNDATION-DRAWING (2-D)  (0.5 Credit)

Jonathan Goodrich

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in drawing. Students will first learn how to see with a painter's eye. Composition, perspective, proportion, light, form, picture plane and other fundamentals will be studied. We will work from live models, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ARTS H103  ARTS FOUNDATION-PHOTOGRAPHY  (0.5 Credit)

William Williams

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a half-semester course to introduce the craft and artistry of photography to students with some or no skills in photography. Students learn how to develop negatives, print enlargements, and printing techniques such as burning, dodging, and exposure time. This class also requires a two-hour workshop. The day and time of the workshop will be determined during the first class. Offered in the first quarter.

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H103  ARTS FOUNDATION-PHOTOGRAPHY  (0.5 Credit)

William Williams

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a half-semester course to introduce the craft and artistry of photography to students with some or no skills in photography. Students learn how to develop negatives, print enlargements, and printing techniques such as burning, dodging, and exposure time. This class also requires a two-hour workshop. The day and time of the workshop will be determined during the first class. Offered in the first quarter.

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H104  ARTS FOUNDATION - SCULPTURE,ARTS FOUNDATION: SCULPTURE,ARTS FOUNDATION-SCULPTURE  (0.5 Credit)

Markus Baenziger, Zachary Hill

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a seven-week, half semester course designed to provide an introduction to three dimensional concepts and techniques. Skills associated with organizing and constructing three-dimensional form will be addressed through a series of projects within a contemporary context. The first projects will focus on basic three-dimensional concepts, while later projects will allow for greater individual self-expression and exploration. Various fabrication skills including construction, modeling, basic mold making, and casting will be demonstrated in class. All fabrication techniques will be covered in detail in class, and no prior experience is required to successfully complete this course. Enrollment Limit: 15 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,This is a seven-week, half semester course designed to provide an introduction to three dimensional concepts and techniques. Skills associated with organizing and constructing three-dimensional form will be addressed through a series of projects within a contemporary context. The first projects will focus on basic three-dimensional concepts, while later projects will allow for greater individual self-expression and exploration. Various fabrication skills including construction, modeling, basic mold making, and casting will be demonstrated in class. All fabrication techniques will be covered in detail in class, and no prior experience is required to successfully complete this course

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H104  ARTS FOUNDATION - SCULPTURE,ARTS FOUNDATION: SCULPTURE,ARTS FOUNDATION-SCULPTURE  (0.5 Credit)

Markus Baenziger, Zachary Hill

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a seven-week, half semester course designed to provide an introduction to three dimensional concepts and techniques. Skills associated with organizing and constructing three-dimensional form will be addressed through a series of projects within a contemporary context. The first projects will focus on basic three-dimensional concepts, while later projects will allow for greater individual self-expression and exploration. Various fabrication skills including construction, modeling, basic mold making, and casting will be demonstrated in class. All fabrication techniques will be covered in detail in class, and no prior experience is required to successfully complete this course. Enrollment Limit: 15 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,This is a seven-week, half semester course designed to provide an introduction to three dimensional concepts and techniques. Skills associated with organizing and constructing three-dimensional form will be addressed through a series of projects within a contemporary context. The first projects will focus on basic three-dimensional concepts, while later projects will allow for greater individual self-expression and exploration. Various fabrication skills including construction, modeling, basic mold making, and casting will be demonstrated in class. All fabrication techniques will be covered in detail in class, and no prior experience is required to successfully complete this course

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H104  ARTS FOUNDATION - SCULPTURE,ARTS FOUNDATION: SCULPTURE,ARTS FOUNDATION-SCULPTURE  (0.5 Credit)

Markus Baenziger, Zachary Hill

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a seven-week, half semester course designed to provide an introduction to three dimensional concepts and techniques. Skills associated with organizing and constructing three-dimensional form will be addressed through a series of projects within a contemporary context. The first projects will focus on basic three-dimensional concepts, while later projects will allow for greater individual self-expression and exploration. Various fabrication skills including construction, modeling, basic mold making, and casting will be demonstrated in class. All fabrication techniques will be covered in detail in class, and no prior experience is required to successfully complete this course. Enrollment Limit: 15 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,This is a seven-week, half semester course designed to provide an introduction to three dimensional concepts and techniques. Skills associated with organizing and constructing three-dimensional form will be addressed through a series of projects within a contemporary context. The first projects will focus on basic three-dimensional concepts, while later projects will allow for greater individual self-expression and exploration. Various fabrication skills including construction, modeling, basic mold making, and casting will be demonstrated in class. All fabrication techniques will be covered in detail in class, and no prior experience is required to successfully complete this course

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H104  ARTS FOUNDATION - SCULPTURE,ARTS FOUNDATION: SCULPTURE,ARTS FOUNDATION-SCULPTURE  (0.5 Credit)

Markus Baenziger, Zachary Hill

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a seven-week, half semester course designed to provide an introduction to three dimensional concepts and techniques. Skills associated with organizing and constructing three-dimensional form will be addressed through a series of projects within a contemporary context. The first projects will focus on basic three-dimensional concepts, while later projects will allow for greater individual self-expression and exploration. Various fabrication skills including construction, modeling, basic mold making, and casting will be demonstrated in class. All fabrication techniques will be covered in detail in class, and no prior experience is required to successfully complete this course. Enrollment Limit: 15 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,This is a seven-week, half semester course designed to provide an introduction to three dimensional concepts and techniques. Skills associated with organizing and constructing three-dimensional form will be addressed through a series of projects within a contemporary context. The first projects will focus on basic three-dimensional concepts, while later projects will allow for greater individual self-expression and exploration. Various fabrication skills including construction, modeling, basic mold making, and casting will be demonstrated in class. All fabrication techniques will be covered in detail in class, and no prior experience is required to successfully complete this course

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H106  ARTS FOUNDATION - DRAWING  (0.5 Credit)

Zachary Hill

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a seven-week introductory level course designed to provide an overview of basic drawing techniques addressing line, form, perspective, and composition. Various drawing methods will be introduced in class, and students will gain experience in drawing by working from still life, models, and architecture. Preference to declared majors who need Foundations, and to students who have entered the lottery for the same Foundations course at least once without success. Enrollment Limit: 16,This is a seven-week introductory level course designed to provide an overview of basic drawing techniques addressing line, form, perspective, and composition. Various drawing methods will be introduced in class, and students will gain experience in drawing by working from still life, models, and architecture. Preference to declared majors who need Foundations, and to students who have entered the lottery for the same Foundations course at least once without success.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTS H106  ARTS FOUNDATION - DRAWING  (0.5 Credit)

Zachary Hill

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a seven-week introductory level course designed to provide an overview of basic drawing techniques addressing line, form, perspective, and composition. Various drawing methods will be introduced in class, and students will gain experience in drawing by working from still life, models, and architecture. Preference to declared majors who need Foundations, and to students who have entered the lottery for the same Foundations course at least once without success. Enrollment Limit: 16,This is a seven-week introductory level course designed to provide an overview of basic drawing techniques addressing line, form, perspective, and composition. Various drawing methods will be introduced in class, and students will gain experience in drawing by working from still life, models, and architecture. Preference to declared majors who need Foundations, and to students who have entered the lottery for the same Foundations course at least once without success.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTS H107  ARTS FOUNDATION-PAINTING  (0.5 Credit)

Ying Li

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in painting. Students will be first introduced to the handling of basic tools, materials and techniques. We will study color theory such as interaction of color, value & color, warms & cools, complementary colors, optical mixture, texture, and surface quality. We will work from live model, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork. Enrollment Limit: 12 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in painting. Students will be first introduced to the handling of basic tools, materials and techniques. We will study color theory such as interaction of color, value & color, warms & cools, complementary colors, optical mixture, texture, and surface quality. We will work from live model, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork. Enrollment Limit: 12 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in painting. Students will be first introduced to the handling of basic tools, materials and techniques. We will study the color theory such as interaction of color, value & color, warms & cools, complementary colors, optical mixture, texture, surface quality. We will work from live model, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork.

(Offered: Spring 2027, Spring 2027)

ARTS H107  ARTS FOUNDATION-PAINTING  (0.5 Credit)

Ying Li

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in painting. Students will be first introduced to the handling of basic tools, materials and techniques. We will study color theory such as interaction of color, value & color, warms & cools, complementary colors, optical mixture, texture, and surface quality. We will work from live model, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork. Enrollment Limit: 12 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in painting. Students will be first introduced to the handling of basic tools, materials and techniques. We will study color theory such as interaction of color, value & color, warms & cools, complementary colors, optical mixture, texture, and surface quality. We will work from live model, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork. Enrollment Limit: 12 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in painting. Students will be first introduced to the handling of basic tools, materials and techniques. We will study the color theory such as interaction of color, value & color, warms & cools, complementary colors, optical mixture, texture, surface quality. We will work from live model, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork.

(Offered: Spring 2027, Spring 2027)

ARTS H107  ARTS FOUNDATION-PAINTING  (0.5 Credit)

Ying Li

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in painting. Students will be first introduced to the handling of basic tools, materials and techniques. We will study color theory such as interaction of color, value & color, warms & cools, complementary colors, optical mixture, texture, and surface quality. We will work from live model, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork. Enrollment Limit: 12 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in painting. Students will be first introduced to the handling of basic tools, materials and techniques. We will study color theory such as interaction of color, value & color, warms & cools, complementary colors, optical mixture, texture, and surface quality. We will work from live model, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork. Enrollment Limit: 12 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,A seven-week introductory course for students with little or no experience in painting. Students will be first introduced to the handling of basic tools, materials and techniques. We will study the color theory such as interaction of color, value & color, warms & cools, complementary colors, optical mixture, texture, surface quality. We will work from live model, still life, landscape, imagination and masterwork.

(Offered: Spring 2027, Spring 2027)

ARTS H108  ARTS FOUNDATION-PHOTOGRAPHY  (0.5 Credit)

William Williams

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a half-semester course to introduce the craft and artistry of photography to students with some or no skills in photography. Students learn how to develop negatives, print enlargements, and printing techniques such as burning, dodging, and exposure time. This class also requires a two-hour workshop. The day and time of the workshop will be determined during the first class. Offered in the second quarter. Enrollment Limit: 15 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,This is a half-semester course to introduce the craft and artistry of photography to students with some or no skills in photography. Students learn how to develop negatives, print enlargements, and printing techniques such as burning, dodging, and exposure time. This class also requires a two-hour workshop. The day and time of the workshop will be determined during the first class. Offered in the second quarter.

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H108  ARTS FOUNDATION-PHOTOGRAPHY  (0.5 Credit)

William Williams

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This is a half-semester course to introduce the craft and artistry of photography to students with some or no skills in photography. Students learn how to develop negatives, print enlargements, and printing techniques such as burning, dodging, and exposure time. This class also requires a two-hour workshop. The day and time of the workshop will be determined during the first class. Offered in the second quarter. Enrollment Limit: 15 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors,This is a half-semester course to introduce the craft and artistry of photography to students with some or no skills in photography. Students learn how to develop negatives, print enlargements, and printing techniques such as burning, dodging, and exposure time. This class also requires a two-hour workshop. The day and time of the workshop will be determined during the first class. Offered in the second quarter.

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H121  FOUNDATION PRINTMAKING- RELIEF,FOUNDATION PRINTMAKING: RELIEF PRINTING  (0.5 Credit)

Hee Sook Kim

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

A seven-week course covering various techniques and approaches to the art of the woodcut and the linocut, emphasizing the study of design principles and the expressive potential of the medium to create a personal visual statement. Preference to declared majors who need Foundations, and to students who have entered the lottery for the same Foundations course at least once without success.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTS H124  FOUNDATION PRINTMAKING: MONOTYPE  (0.5 Credit)

Hee Sook Kim, Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Basic printmaking techniques in Monotype medium. Painterly methods, direct drawing, stencils, and brayer techniques for beginners in printmaking will be taught. Color, form, shape, and composition in 2-D format will be explored. Individual and group critiques will be employed. Enrollment Limit: 15,Basic printmaking techniques in Monotype medium. Painterly methods, direct drawing, stencils, brayer techniques for beginners in printmaking will be taught. Color, form, shape, and somposition in 2-D format will be explored. Individual and group critiques will be employed.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTS H124  FOUNDATION PRINTMAKING: MONOTYPE  (0.5 Credit)

Hee Sook Kim, Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Basic printmaking techniques in Monotype medium. Painterly methods, direct drawing, stencils, and brayer techniques for beginners in printmaking will be taught. Color, form, shape, and composition in 2-D format will be explored. Individual and group critiques will be employed. Enrollment Limit: 15,Basic printmaking techniques in Monotype medium. Painterly methods, direct drawing, stencils, brayer techniques for beginners in printmaking will be taught. Color, form, shape, and somposition in 2-D format will be explored. Individual and group critiques will be employed.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTS H142  INTRODUCTION TO VISUAL STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Erin Schoneveld

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An introduction to the trans-disciplinary field of Visual Studies, its methods of analysis and topical concerns. Traditional media and artifacts of art history and film theory, and also an examination of the ubiquity of images of all kinds, their systems of transmission, their points of consumption, and the very limits of visuality itself. Crosslisted: Visual Studies, Fine Arts, Comparative Literature

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ARTS H224  COMPUTER AND PRINTMAKING  (1.0 Credit)

Hee Sook Kim

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Computer-generated images and printmaking techniques. Students will create photographic, computer processed, and directly drawn images on lithographic polyester plates and zinc etching plates. Classwork will be divided between the computer lab and the printmaking studio to create images using both image processing software and traditional printmaking methods, including lithography, etching, and silk-screen. Broad experimental approaches to printmaking and computer techniques will be encouraged. Individual and group critiques will be employed. enrollment limit: 12 Lottery Preference: Fine Arts Major and Minors

ARTS H225  LITHOGRAPHY: MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES  (1.0 Credit)

Hee Sook Kim

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

An intermediate course covering B/W and Color Lithography in plates. Combined methods with other printmaking techniques such as Paper lithography and Monotype are explored during the course along with photographic approaches. Editioning of images is required along with experimental ones. Development of technical skills in traditional Lithography and personal visual study are necessary with successful creative solutions. A strong body of work following a specific theme is required. Individual discussions and group critiques are held periodically. Additional research on the history of printmaking is requested.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ARTS H233  PAINTING: MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES  (1.0 Credit)

Jonathan Goodrich, Ying Li

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Students are encouraged to experiment with various painting techniques and materials in order to develop a personal approach to self-expression. We will emphasize form, color, texture, and the relationship among them; influences of various techniques upon the expression of a work; the characteristics and limitations of different media. Students will work from observation, conceptual ideas and imagination. Course includes drawing projects, individual and group crits, slide lectures, museum and gallery visits. Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors Enrollment Limit: 12,Students are encouraged to experiment with various painting techniques and materials in order to develop a personal approach to self-expression. We will emphasize form, color, texture, and the relationship among them; influences of various techniques upon the expression of a work; the characteristics and limitations of different media. Students will work from observation, conceptual ideas and imagination. Course includes drawing projects, individual and group crits, slide lectures, museum and gallery visits. Prerequisite: Fine Arts Foundations or consent.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTS H233  PAINTING: MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES  (1.0 Credit)

Jonathan Goodrich, Ying Li

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Students are encouraged to experiment with various painting techniques and materials in order to develop a personal approach to self-expression. We will emphasize form, color, texture, and the relationship among them; influences of various techniques upon the expression of a work; the characteristics and limitations of different media. Students will work from observation, conceptual ideas and imagination. Course includes drawing projects, individual and group crits, slide lectures, museum and gallery visits. Lottery Preference: Fine Arts majors and minors Enrollment Limit: 12,Students are encouraged to experiment with various painting techniques and materials in order to develop a personal approach to self-expression. We will emphasize form, color, texture, and the relationship among them; influences of various techniques upon the expression of a work; the characteristics and limitations of different media. Students will work from observation, conceptual ideas and imagination. Course includes drawing projects, individual and group crits, slide lectures, museum and gallery visits. Prerequisite: Fine Arts Foundations or consent.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTS H243  SCULPTURE: MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES  (1.0 Credit)

Markus Baenziger, Zachary Hill

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This course is designed to give students an in-depth introduction to a comprehensive range of three-dimensional concepts and fabrication techniques. Emphasis will be on wood and metal working, and additional processes such as casting procedures for a range of synthetic materials and working with digital tools including a laser cutter and CNC equipment will be introduced in class. Course may be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: ARTSH104 or permission from the instructor.

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H243  SCULPTURE: MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES  (1.0 Credit)

Markus Baenziger, Zachary Hill

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This course is designed to give students an in-depth introduction to a comprehensive range of three-dimensional concepts and fabrication techniques. Emphasis will be on wood and metal working, and additional processes such as casting procedures for a range of synthetic materials and working with digital tools including a laser cutter and CNC equipment will be introduced in class. Course may be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: ARTSH104 or permission from the instructor.

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H250  THEORY AND PRACTICE OF EXHIBITION: OBJECTS, IMAGES, TEXTS, EVENTS  (1.0 Credit)

John Muse

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An introduction to the theory and practice of exhibition and display. This course will supply students with the analytic tools necessary to understand how exhibitions work and give them practical experience making arguments with objects, images, texts, and events.

ARTS H251  PHOTOGRAPHY: MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES  (1.0 Credit)

William Williams

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Students are encouraged to develop an individual approach to photography. Emphasis is placed on the creation of color photographic prints which express plastic form, emotions and ideas about the physical world. Work is critiqued weekly to give critical insights into editing of individual student work and the use of the appropriate black-and-white photographic materials in analog or digital formats necessary to give coherence to that work. Study of the photography collection, gallery and museum exhibitions, lectures and a critical analysis of photographic sequences in books and a research project supplement the weekly critiques. In addition students produce a handmade archival box to house their work, which is organized into a loose sequence and mounted to archival standards. Prerequisite: Fine Arts 103 or equivalent.

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H251  PHOTOGRAPHY: MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES  (1.0 Credit)

William Williams

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Students are encouraged to develop an individual approach to photography. Emphasis is placed on the creation of color photographic prints which express plastic form, emotions and ideas about the physical world. Work is critiqued weekly to give critical insights into editing of individual student work and the use of the appropriate black-and-white photographic materials in analog or digital formats necessary to give coherence to that work. Study of the photography collection, gallery and museum exhibitions, lectures and a critical analysis of photographic sequences in books and a research project supplement the weekly critiques. In addition students produce a handmade archival box to house their work, which is organized into a loose sequence and mounted to archival standards. Prerequisite: Fine Arts 103 or equivalent.

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

ARTS H333  EXPERIMENTAL STUDIO: PAINTING  (1.0 Credit)

Ying Li

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Students will build on the work done in 200 level courses to develop further their individual approach to painting. Students are expected to create projects that demonstrate the unique character of their chosen media in making their own art. Completed projects will be exhibited at the end of semester. Class will include weekly crits, museum visits, visiting artists' lecture and crits. Each student will present a 15- minute slide talk and discussion of either their own work or the work of artists who influenced them.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ARTS H343  EXPERIMENTAL STUDIO: SCULPTURE  (1.0 Credit)

Markus Baenziger

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

In this studio course the student is encouraged to experiment with ideas and techniques with the purpose of developing a personal expression. It is expected that the student will already have a sound knowledge of the craft and aesthetics of sculpture and is at a stage where personal expression has become possible. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Fine Arts 243A or B, or consent of instructor

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTS H351  EXPERIMENTAL STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY,EXPERIMENTAL STUDIO: PHOTOGRAPHY  (1.0 Credit)

William Williams

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Students produce an extended sequence of their work in either book or exhibition format using black and white or color photographic materials. The sequence and scale of the photographic prints are determined by the nature of the student's work. Weekly classroom critiques, supplemented by an extensive investigation of classic photographic picture books and related critical texts guide students to the completion of their course work. This two semester course consists of the book project first semester and the exhibition project second semester. At the end of each semester the student may exhibit his/her project.,Students produce an extended sequence of their work in either book (ARTSH351A) or exhibition (ARTSH351B) format using black and white or color photographic materials. The sequence and scale of the photographic prints are determined by the nature of the student's work. Weekly classroom critiques, supplemented by an extensive investigation of classic photographic picture books and related critical texts guide students to the completion of their course work. This two semester course consists of the book project first semester (351A) and the exhibition project second semester (351B). At the end of each semester the student may exhibit his/her project.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTS H351  EXPERIMENTAL STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY,EXPERIMENTAL STUDIO: PHOTOGRAPHY  (1.0 Credit)

William Williams, Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Students produce an extended sequence of their work in either book or exhibition format using black and white or color photographic materials. The sequence and scale of the photographic prints are determined by the nature of the student's work. Weekly classroom critiques, supplemented by an extensive investigation of classic photographic picture books and related critical texts guide students to the completion of their course work. This two semester course consists of the book project first semester and the exhibition project second semester. At the end of each semester the student may exhibit his/her project.,Students produce an extended sequence of their work in either book (ARTSH351A) or exhibition (ARTSH351B) format using black and white or color photographic materials. The sequence and scale of the photographic prints are determined by the nature of the student's work. Weekly classroom critiques, supplemented by an extensive investigation of classic photographic picture books and related critical texts guide students to the completion of their course work. This two semester course consists of the book project first semester (351A) and the exhibition project second semester (351B). At the end of each semester the student may exhibit his/her project.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ARTT H160  VISUAL STORYTELLING: AN ACTING AND FILMMAKING WORKSHOP  (1.0 Credit)

John Muse

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This course offers a unique collaborative approach to visual storytelling in narrative and fiction film, combining the technical and creative aspects of both acting and filmmaking. Co-taught by a filmmaker and an actor-director, students will gain foundational skills in acting and film production, focusing on the specific demands of narrative storytelling. Through hands-on projects, students will work on both sides of the camera, learning to act, direct, and contribute to the technical production process. Crosslisted: VIST, ARTT. Lottery Preference: VIST and ARTT students (when offered in Fall, 4 spaces reserved for first years)

ASTR H341  ADVANCED TOPICS: OBSERVATIONAL ASTRONOMY  (1.0 Credit)

Karen Masters

Division: Natural Science
Domain(s): C: Physical and Natural Processes

Observing projects that involve using a CCD camera on a 16-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Projects include spectroscopy; variable star photometry; H-alpha imaging; imaging and photometry of galaxies and star clusters; instruction in the use of image processing software and CCD camera operation. Students work in groups of two with minimal faculty supervision. Formal reports are required. Prerequisite(s): ASTR H204

(Offered: Fall 2026)

COML H142  INTRODUCTION TO VISUAL STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Erin Schoneveld

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An introduction to the trans-disciplinary field of Visual Studies, its methods of analysis and topical concerns. Traditional media and artifacts of art history and film theory, and also an examination of the ubiquity of images of all kinds, their systems of transmission, their points of consumption, and the very limits of visuality itself. Crosslisted: Visual Studies, Fine Arts, Comparative Literature

(Offered: Fall 2026)

COML H205  LEGENDS OF ARTHUR  (1.0 Credit)

Maud McInerney

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An exploration of the Arthurian legend, from its earliest versions to most recent retellings. The tradition of Arthurian tales is complex and various, combining Celtic and Christian mythologies. Sometimes called the "matter of Britain" the Arthurian narrative has been critical in establishing national and ethnic identities ever since the Middle Ages. Medival notions of chivalry and courtly love also raise fascinating questions about the conflict between personal and private morality, and about the construction of both identity and gender.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

COML H210  SPANISH AND SPANISH AMERICAN FILM STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Raquel Parrine Sant'Ana

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Exploration of Latin American film. The course will discuss approximately one movie per week. The class will focus on the analysis of cinematic discourses as well as the films’ cultural and historic background. The course will also provide advanced language training with particular emphasis in refining oral and writing skills. This course is conducted in Spanish. Crosslisted: Spanish, Comparative Literature. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 102, or placement, or instructor consent.

COML H212  UNLEARNING CLASSICS  (1.0 Credit)

Ava Shirazi

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course explores how contemporary writers and artists can help us re-learn the way we understand the ancient world. Each week students will examine a contemporary creative practice (e.g. creative writing, installation and multi-media art, music, photography, and performance) alongside a selection from ancient Greek literature or art. We will focus on both the works themselves and the practices of writers and artists—we’ll talk about how one gives us a way into the other. We will pay particular attention to how research, archives, and “interdisciplinarity” are an inherent part of the creative process. Our goal is twofold: to explore 21st century responses to the ancient world, and to examine how 21st century practices challenge and question notions of the “classics” and how we study them. Crosslisted: Classical Studies, Comparative Literature

COML H223  VISUALIZING NATIONS: AFRICA AND EUROPE  (1.0 Credit)

Imke Brust

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course will explore ideas of nation-building in regard to the transnational relations between Europe and Africa. We will discuss African and European experiences of nation-creation to distinguish between exclusionary and inclusionary visions of nation states, and focus in particular on literary texts from Great Britain, Germany, and France in comparison with literary texts from Nigeria, South Africa, and Algeria.

COML H256  ART AND THE MEANING OF LIFE  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

You must change your life. This line of poetry written by Rainer Maria Rilke has always had an enormous impact on readers. But can a poem actually change our lives or our thinking? What about other artforms like film or painting? These questions will be central to the journey undertaken in this course, which examines how philosophers, writers, and filmmakers have sought to give forms of meaning to the world through diverse kinds of expression. Crosslisted: COML. Lottery Preference: None

COML H262  TOP GERMAN CINEMA: #METOO WOMEN AND FILM  (1.0 Credit)

Imke Brust

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course meets twice a week and will either be taught in English with an extra-session in German or in German if all registered students speak German. It is the aim of this course to contextualize the #MeToo Movement in a transnational U.S. - European context. We will read a variety of texts and watch selected European/U.S. films that impacted the historical relationship between and representation of women in film. While this course focuses primarily on female directors, our discussion will also include the works of some male directors. Crosslisted: German, Comparative Literature

(Offered: Fall 2026)

COML H270  THE ART OF SPORTS: ANCIENT AND MODERN  (1.0 Credit)

Ava Shirazi

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course explores the visual and poetic life of sports, ancient and modern. It brings together cultural criticism, visual analysis, and historical study to theorize the beauty of athletics. Concepts of the body, gender, race and performance, and tropes such as "for the love of the game," "feel for the game" and "poetry in motion" will organize our work on the sensory and aesthetic dimensions of sports. No prior expertise in classics, art or sports necessary. Crosslisted: COML,VIST.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

COML H311  QUEERING THE SHORT FORM  (1.0 Credit)

Swetha Regunathan

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

In this course students will watch short films that center queer identity and experience and put them in conversation with theory (Jack Halberstam, Jose Esteban Munoz, Sara Ahmed, Sianne Ngai, et. al) We will ask: what constitutes the canon? What are queer affects? What does the short form offer visual storytellers? Conversely, how might queerness reimagine the short form? All students will write two short papers and produce a final essay video project. Crosslisted: VIST,COML,GSST Pre-requisite(s): VIST 142 - Intro to Visual Studies

COML H324  MEDIA WORLDS  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

It’s no secret that media shape the world around us. Cell phones use GPS to help us navigate through traffic and platforms like Instagram connect us to millions of people. Have things always been this way? How did people react to new technologies like film or television in the past? How do modern media impact us now? For German credit there will be an extra 60-minute session in German. Crosslisted: GERM,COML,VIST.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

CSTS H209  CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY  (1.0 Credit)

Ryan Warwick

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An introduction to the primary characters and stories of Greek and Roman mythology including cosmic creation, Olympian and other deities, and heroes both as they appear in Greek and Roman literature and art and as they are later represented in modern art, music, and film. Crosslisted: Classical Studies, Comparative Literature, Religion

(Offered: Spring 2027)

CSTS H212  UNLEARNING CLASSICS  (1.0 Credit)

Ava Shirazi

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course explores how contemporary writers and artists can help us re-learn the way we understand the ancient world. Each week students will examine a contemporary creative practice (e.g. creative writing, installation and multi-media art, music, photography, and performance) alongside a selection from ancient Greek literature or art. We will focus on both the works themselves and the practices of writers and artists—we’ll talk about how one gives us a way into the other. We will pay particular attention to how research, archives, and “interdisciplinarity” are an inherent part of the creative process. Our goal is twofold: to explore 21st century responses to the ancient world, and to examine how 21st century practices challenge and question notions of the “classics” and how we study them. Crosslisted: Classical Studies, Comparative Literature

CSTS H222  CREATING CLASSICS: A VISUAL WORKSHOP ON PASOLINI & GREEK DRAMA  (1.0 Credit)

Ava Shirazi

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Can our engagement with the past be a creative action? A reclaiming of ancient ideas and media? This seminar-workshop hybrid answers such questions through collaborative scholarship and experiments with Greek tragedy and its afterlife in cinema.

CSTS H270  THE ART OF SPORTS: ANCIENT AND MODERN  (1.0 Credit)

Ava Shirazi

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course explores the visual and poetic life of sports, ancient and modern. It brings together cultural criticism, visual analysis, and historical study to theorize the beauty of athletics. Concepts of the body, gender, race and performance, and tropes such as "for the love of the game," "feel for the game" and "poetry in motion" will organize our work on the sensory and aesthetic dimensions of sports. No prior expertise in classics, art or sports necessary. Crosslisted: COML,VIST.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

EALC B355  ANIMALS, VEGETABLES, MINERALS IN EAST ASIAN LITERATURE & FILM  (1.0 Credit)

Shiamin Kwa

Division: Humanities

This semester, we will explore how artists question, explore, celebrate, and critique the relationships between humans and the environment. Through a topics-focused course, students will examine the ways that narratives about environment have shaped the way that humans have defined themselves. We will be reading novels and short stories and viewing films that contest conventional binaries of man and animal, civilization and nature, tradition and technology, and even truth and fiction. “Animals, Vegetables, Minerals” does not follow chronological or geographical frameworks, but chooses texts that engage the three categories enumerated as the major themes of our course. We will read and discuss animal theory, theories of place and landscape, and theories of modernization or mechanization; and there will be frequent (and intentional) overlap between these categories. We will also be watching films that extend our theoretical questions of thes e themes beyond national, linguistic, and generic borders. You are expected to view this course as a collaborative process in which you share responsibility for leading discussion. There are no prerequisites or language expectations, but students should have some basic knowledge of East Asian, especially Sinophone, history and culture, or be willing to do some additional reading (suggested by the instructor) to achieve an adequate contextual background for exploring these texts.

EALC H112  MYTH, FOLKLORE, AND LEGEND IN JAPAN  (1.0 Credit)

Hank Glassman

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

An introduction to stories of the weird and supernatural in Japan and a reflection on genre and the scholarly enterprise of taxonomy-making. Readings from Buddhist miracle plays, early modern puppet drama, etc., supplemented by scholarly secondary sources.

EALC H132  JAPANESE CIVILIZATION  (1.0 Credit)

Hank Glassman

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

A broad chronological survey of Japanese culture and society from the earliest times to the present, with special reference to such topics as belief, family, language, the arts, and sociopolitical organization. Readings include primary sources in English translation and secondary studies.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

EALC H204  JAPANESE POETRY AND POETICS  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

In this course, we investigate texts central to the traditions of classical Japanese poetry before the nineteenth-century. While most of the time we will engage directly with poetry anthologies and treatises, we will also analyze narrative fiction that feature poems, looking at social and performative contexts. Through assignments and hands-on activities, students will gain familiarity with key critical and aesthetic concepts, using these analytical tools to more fully experience art and literature. Lottery Preference: EALC, Majors, Minors, Senior, Junior in that order

EALC H205  EAST ASIAN PUPPETRY AND PERFORMANCE  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

In this course, we investigate the history and practice of traditional puppetry forms in East Asia and bring them into conversation with contemporary performance genres. While puppets are often considered as subject to total control by their manipulators, we will question this perceived assumption. In each unit, critical discussion of a text or performance is paired with a practical component that invites students to think about puppets by performing with them. Lottery Preference: EALC Major, EALC Minor, VIST Junior, VIST Senior

EALC H231  PRE-MODERN JAPANESE LITERATURE  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This is a course introducing classical and medieval Japanese literature, and also related performance traditions. No background in either East Asian culture or in the study of literature is required; all works will be read in English translation. (Advanced Japanese language students are invited to speak with the instructor about arranging to read some of the works in the original or in translation into modern Japanese.) The course is a chronological survey of Japanese literature from the tenth century to the fifteenth. It will focus on well-known texts like the Tale of Genji and the Pillow Book, both written by women, and the ballad-form Tale of the Heike.

EALC H239  VISIONS OF JUSTICE: INTERSECTIONALITY AND LEGAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN ASIAN CINEMA  (1.0 Credit)

Emily Hong

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course aims to deepen understandings of Asian struggles for justice and representation through independent films by Asian (including diaspora) directors. We will analyze films that offer a window into legal and social movement struggles for gender justice, self-determination, and environmental justice. Crosslisted: Visual Studies; Anthropology; East Asian Languages & Cultures; Peace, Justice and Human Rights

(Offered: Spring 2027)

EALC H247  DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE IN EAST ASIAN RELIGIONS  (1.0 Credit)

Hank Glassman

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course engages the rich textual and visual traditions of China, Korea, and Japan to illuminate funerary and memorial practices and explore the terrain of the next world. Students will learn about the culturally constructed nature of religious belief and come to see the complexity and diversity of the influences on understandings of life and death. The course is not a chronological survey, but rather alternates between modern and ancient narratives and practices to draw a picture of the relationship between the living and the dead as conceived in East Asian religions.

EALC H306  JAPANESE BOOK ART AND PRINTING  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

We will focus on Japanese book art from early illustrated scrolls to contemporary artists' books and explore a range of printmaking processes. Each unit is paired with a hands-on exercise that introduces a printmaking or bookmaking technique. Through readings, discussions, and hands-on activities, students will gain vocabulary to describe the materiality of printed books and contemplate their social and conceptual implications, discovering how books and printing can challenge perceived assumptions about art and reading. Lottery Preference: EALC and VIST students

EALC H335  JAPANESE MODERNISM ACROSS MEDIA  (1.0 Credit)

Erin Schoneveld

Division: Humanities

This curatorial seminar examines the technological shifts and cultural transformations that have shaped Japanese artistic production and practice from the early 20th-century through the present day. Readings from pre-modern through contemporary sources, film screenings, and museum field trips, will be included. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher. Enrollment limited to 15 students.

EALC H370  ADVANCED TOPICS IN BUDDHIST STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Hank Glassman

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

Advanced course on a topic chosen annually by instructor. The purpose of this course is to give students with a basic background in Buddhist Studies deeper conversancy with a particular textual, thematic, or practice tradition in the history of Buddhism. Prerequisite(s): Junior class standing, enrollment in advanced Japanese or with a similar level of reading proficiency. Also one course in Buddhism or permission of the instructor where the student has basic knowledge about Buddhist thought in East Asia.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ENGL B205  INTRODUCTION TO FILM  (1.0 Credit)

Devin Daniels

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course is intended to provide students with the tools of critical film analysis. Through readings of images and sounds, sections of films and entire narratives, students will cultivate the habits of critical viewing and establish a foundation for focused work in film studies. The course introduces formal and technical units of cinematic meaning and categories of genre and history that add up to the experiences and meanings we call cinema. Although much of the course material will focus on the Hollywood style of film, examples will be drawn from the history of cinema. Attendance at weekly screenings is mandatory.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ENGL B267  THEORIES OF THE IMAGE  (1.0 Credit)

Devin Daniels

Our contemporary world contains a seemingly endless amount of images, from television and cinema to the jpegs, gifs, and memes of social media and the internet, but this was not always the case. This class will consider how theorists and philosophers reckoned with the rise of the image and the birth of “image culture.” What exactly is an image? What happens when an image can be reproduced and disseminated at unimagined speeds? What happens when that image moves? What sort of gazes does the image produce, and what are the social and political power of such gazes? We will pay particular attention to how the invention of cinema changed the meaning of the image at the end of the 19th century and how, in turn, the end of World War II (with the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the discovery of the Nazi’s extermination camps) challenged the meaning of cinema, undermining its supposed ability to show us what was “real.” In asking these and related questions, this course will provide students with a robust understanding of film theory and of different theoretical and historical approaches to the image. We will consider a wide range of methods—including Marxism, critical race theory, feminist theory, and psychoanalysis—and view a number of photographic, cinematic, and digital images against which we can test these theories. Fulfills Film Studies Theory course requirement

ENGL H200  LITERATURE, POPULAR CULTURE, AND THE AMERICAN LEFT  (1.0 Credit)

Gustavus Stadler

Division: Humanities

A study of how writers, cultural critics, filmmakers, and musicians of the 20th-century US left envisioned the relationship between art and politics in a mass-mediated culture, including attention to work by major theoreticians of the "popular. Prerequisite(s): Freshman Writing

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ENGL H200B  LITERATURE, POPULAR CULTURE, AND THE AMERICAN LEFT  (1.0 Credit)

Gustavus Stadler

Division: Humanities

A study of how writers, cultural critics, filmmakers, and musicians of the 20th-century US left envisioned the relationship between art and politics in a mass-mediated culture, including attention to work by major theoreticians of the "popular. Prerequisite(s): Freshman Writing

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ENGL H205  LEGENDS OF ARTHUR  (1.0 Credit)

Maud McInerney

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An exploration of the Arthurian legend, from its earliest versions to most recent retellings. The tradition of Arthurian tales is complex and various, combining Celtic and Christian mythologies. Sometimes called the "matter of Britain" the Arthurian narrative has been critical in establishing national and ethnic identities ever since the Middle Ages. Medival notions of chivalry and courtly love also raise fascinating questions about the conflict between personal and private morality, and about the construction of both identity and gender.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ENGL H225  SHAKESPEARE: THE TRAGIC AND BEYOND  (1.0 Credit)

Kimberly Benston

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An "introductory emphasis" study of the major tragedies and related histories, comedies, and romances, with special reference to the evolution of dramatic form, poetic style, characterization, and ideology as they are shaped by Shakespeare's persistent experimentation with dramas of extravagant will, desire, tyranny, skepticism, and death. Particular attention will be paid to key scenes in an effort to assess both Shakespeare's response to contemporary literary and cultural concerns and the internal reformation of his own craft. Prerequisite(s): First Year Writing

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ENGL H232  THE GRAPHIC NOVEL: NARRATIVES IN LONG-FORM COMICS  (1.0 Credit)

Joshua Kopin

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course will explore narrative representation in the comics medium, particularly the way graphic narratives accommodate multiple literary genres such as fiction, fantasy, memoir, biography, and history. By examining the interplay between image and text in graphic novels, it will consider the aesthetics and politics of visual literacy and multi-modality in relation to representations of history, memory, cultural difference, mental illness, gender, sexuality, political struggle, and trauma.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ENGL H252  ROMANTIC POETRY & CRITICISM  (1.0 Credit)

Hannah Schultz

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

A reading of Blake, Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats, with attention to early/late works and to the interfiliation of theory and poetry.

ENGL H255  IN THE WRITERS’ ROOM: SCREENWRITING FOR TELEVISION  (1.0 Credit)

Swetha Regunathan

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

In the TV world, stories are built in the “writers’ room,” where writers come together to create a successful show. In this course students will study the craft of episodic screenwriting by simulating the collaborative spirit of the writers’ room. As they learn screenplay structure and form, visual storytelling techniques, dialogue, character development, and story arc, students will produce one episode for a class anthology project and participate in a final community table read event. Crosslisted: ENGL. Lottery Preference: VIST minors, Creative Writing Concentrators, ENGL majors

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ENGL H361  TOPICS IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIT: THE NEW BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT  (1.0 Credit)

Asali Solomon

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course will begin with an exploration of the literary achievement of the Black Arts Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, engaging with its political and cultural context. We will then move into contemporary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, theory and popular culture, articulating the relationship between mainstream artists of the late 20th and 21st century and the ideals of BAM. Prerequisite(s): Two 200-level English courses or instructor consent

ENGL H373  TOPICS IN BRITISH LITERATURE: MODERNIST NARRATIVES,TOPICS IN BRITISH LIT: THE MODERNIST ANTHROPOCENE  (1.0 Credit)

Hannah Schultz

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

A study of the historical, aesthetic, and epistemological implications of literary modernism in Britain. The course explores narrative strategies writers such as Conrad, Ford, Joyce, Woolf, Bowen, West, Rhys, and Durrell devised to bring coherence and resolution to the experience of crisis and fragmentation associated with modernity.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ENGL H373B  TOPICS IN BRITISH LIT: THE MODERNIST ANTHROPOCENE  (1.0 Credit)

Hannah Schultz

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ENVS H317  ECOLOGIES OF COOPERATION: PARTICIPATION AND PRAXIS IN PHILLY ARTS, CULTURE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ORGS  (1.0 Credit)

Dylan Gauthier

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Ecologies of Cooperation is an interdisciplinary TriCo Philly course that explores how visual arts, the humanities, and cooperative organizing shape contemporary ecological thought and practice in an urban context. Students will engage directly with Philadelphia’s networks of artist-run organizations, cooperative businesses, community gardens, and mutual aid formations to investigate how environmental awareness, care, and stewardship is not only represented, but actively reproduced through participatory and collective practices. Philadelphia is a rich terrain for studying and practicing the social production of ecological thought and action. Through readings, expert guest and site visits, cooperative engagements, and arts-based research, students will immerse themselves in the living networks of people, places, and practices shaping the city’s environmental future(s). Combining seminar discussion with field-based research in Philadelphia as part of the Tri-Co Philly Program, students will draw on environmental humanities, political ecology, social practice art, and urban studies to analyze how collective structures emerge, endure, and transform. The city will serve as our primary text, offering grounded examples of how shared ownership, collective decision-making, and cultural production can help imagine more just and resilient ways of living together in a time of environmental precarity. This course will be taught in Philadelphia. Crosslisted: VIST. Pre-requisite(s): ENVS 101 or equivalent (or instructor permission) and at least one 200 or 300 level social science or laboratory science course, or equivalent. Priority in registration will be given to students participating in the Tri-Co Philly Program (https://www.haverford.edu/philly-program). Remaining seats are available to other Tri-Co students, by lottery, if demand exceeds remaining spaces in the course. If you are interested in the program, you must fill out the application, which is due on Sunday, April 5, by noon. This program includes registering for two of three of the program’s courses, which include this course or MATH B195 Biostatistics: Data, Health and Ethics in Philadelphia or ARTH061/ENVS056 Art and Culture of Indigenous Philadelphia: From Shackamaxon to the Present. Those not participating in the Philly program do not need to complete the application and can simply pre-register for the class. Lottery Preference: Tri-Co Philly Program students, Majors, Minors >> Seniors, Juniors, in ENVS or VIST

(Offered: Fall 2026)

ENVS H338  CREATIVE ENVIRONMENTALISMS: FIELD EXPERIMENTS FOR PERFORMING NATURE  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression; B: Analysis of the Social World

This course explores creative process within the context of environmental interventions. It offers multi-disciplinary creative exercises to help students become the innovative and creative environmental professionals.The course unfolds as hands-on workshop through a series of micro-experiences, helping students evolve into fully-conscious, creative environmental professionals who approach communities empathically and connect to Nature profoundly, ethically facilitating the voices of humans and non-humans, as part of researching, assisting, protecting, and promoting fragile places under threat. Crosslisted: ENVS,PEAC,VIST. Lottery Preference: ENVS majors

(Offered: Spring 2027)

FREN B105  DIRECTIONS DE LA FRANCE CONTEMPORAINE  (1.0 Credit)

Manali Allen

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Ce cours se donne pour but de vous faire goûter à la culture française actuelle, mais aussi de vous donner une idée claire de la société où elle naît. Nous en aborderons des aspects très variés en nous concentrant sur ces institutions dont le fonctionnement la distingue d’autres pays (école, hôpital, etc.). Les films que nous allons voir nous permettront d'analyser ces particularités françaises. Il s’agit également de vous encourager à vous exprimer aisément en français : les discussions seront privilégiées et nous réviserons régulièrement des points de grammaire afin d’améliorer votre expression tant écrite qu’orale. Au terme de ce cours, vous pourrez vivre en France sans vous sentir sur une planète étrangère. Prerequisite: FREN 005 or 101.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

GERM H223  VISUALIZING NATIONS: AFRICA AND EUROPE  (1.0 Credit)

Imke Brust

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course will explore ideas of nation-building in regard to the transnational relations between Europe and Africa. We will discuss African and European experiences of nation-creation to distinguish between exclusionary and inclusionary visions of nation states, and focus in particular on literary texts from Great Britain, Germany, and France in comparison with literary texts from Nigeria, South Africa, and Algeria.

GERM H256  ART AND THE MEANING OF LIFE  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

You must change your life. This line of poetry written by Rainer Maria Rilke has always had an enormous impact on readers. But can a poem actually change our lives or our thinking? What about other artforms like film or painting? These questions will be central to the journey undertaken in this course, which examines how philosophers, writers, and filmmakers have sought to give forms of meaning to the world through diverse kinds of expression. Crosslisted: COML. Lottery Preference: None

GERM H262  TOP GERMAN CINEMA: #METOO WOMEN AND FILM  (1.0 Credit)

Imke Brust

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course meets twice a week and will either be taught in English with an extra-session in German or in German if all registered students speak German. It is the aim of this course to contextualize the #MeToo Movement in a transnational U.S. - European context. We will read a variety of texts and watch selected European/U.S. films that impacted the historical relationship between and representation of women in film. While this course focuses primarily on female directors, our discussion will also include the works of some male directors. Crosslisted: German, Comparative Literature

(Offered: Fall 2026)

GERM H324  MEDIA WORLDS  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

It’s no secret that media shape the world around us. Cell phones use GPS to help us navigate through traffic and platforms like Instagram connect us to millions of people. Have things always been this way? How did people react to new technologies like film or television in the past? How do modern media impact us now? For German credit there will be an extra 60-minute session in German. Crosslisted: GERM,COML,VIST.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

GSST H202  QUEER OF COLOR VISUAL CULTURE  (1.0 Credit)

Gina Velasco

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course explores the representation of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality within multiple forms of visual culture, including film, video, and mass media. In particular, we will examine the politics of representation in visual culture produced by and about queer communities of color. Drawing on queer studies, feminist studies, ethnic studies, visual culture studies, and film studies, this course will introduce students to the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of queer of color studies. Throughout the course, students will develop their skills of visual analysis, which they will integrate with their analysis of written texts. Lottery Preference: Gender and Sexuality concentrators

(Offered: Spring 2027)

GSST H311  QUEERING THE SHORT FORM  (1.0 Credit)

Swetha Regunathan

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

In this course students will watch short films that center queer identity and experience and put them in conversation with theory (Jack Halberstam, Jose Esteban Munoz, Sara Ahmed, Sianne Ngai, et. al) We will ask: what constitutes the canon? What are queer affects? What does the short form offer visual storytellers? Conversely, how might queerness reimagine the short form? All students will write two short papers and produce a final essay video project. Crosslisted: VIST,COML,GSST Pre-requisite(s): VIST 142 - Intro to Visual Studies

GSST H332  INTO THE THREAD: GENDER AND TEXTILE ARTWORK IN LATIN AMERICA  (1.0 Credit)

Raquel Parrine Sant'Ana

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Long dismissed as “women’s work,” fiber art carries quiet insurgency in its threads. Emerging from Indigenous, Black, and mestizo communities, its textures expose how race, labor, and intimacy intertwine. From domestic spaces to museum walls, Latin American feminist and queer artists have used fiberwork to unravel colonial legacies and re-stitch desire, memory, and resistance. Taught in Spanish, this course traces how touch, texture, and craft become acts of embodied, anti-colonial transformation. Crosslisted: SPAN,GSST,VIST

HART B235  CRITICAL APPROACHES TO VISUAL REPRESENTATION: IDENTIFICATION IN THE CINEMA  (1.0 Credit)

Matthew Feliz

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course is writing intensive. An introduction to the analysis of film and other lensed, time-based media through particular attention to the role of the spectator. Why do moving images compel our fascination? How exactly do spectators relate to the people, objects, and places that appear on the screen? Wherein lies the power of images to move, attract, repel, persuade, or transform their viewers? Students will be introduced to film theory through the rich and complex topic of identification. We will explore how points of view are framed by the camera in still photography, film, television, video games, and other media. Prerequisite: one course in History of Art at the 100-level or permission of the instructor. Enrollment preference given to majors and minors in History of Art and Film Studies. Fulfills Film Studies Introductory or Theory course requirement. This course was formerly numbered HART B110; students who previously completed HART B110 may not repeat this course.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

HART B275  MUSEUM STUDIES: HISTORY, THEORY, PRACTICE  (1.0 Credit)

Monique Scott

Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

Using the museums of Philadelphia as field sites, this course provides an introduction to the theoretical and practical aspects of museum studies and the important synergies between theory and practice. Students will learn: the history of museums as institutions of recreation, education and leisure; how the museum itself became a symbol of power, prestige and sometimes alienation; debates around the ethics and politics of collecting objects of art, culture and nature; and the qualities that make an exhibition effective (or not). By visiting exhibitions and meeting with a range of museum professionals in art, anthropology and science museums, this course offers a critical perspective on the inner workings of the museum as well as insights into the “new museology.” Not open to first-year students. Enrollment preference given to minors in Museum Studies. This course was formerly numbered HART B281; students who previously completed HART B281 may not repeat this course.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

HART B365  EXHIBITING AFRICA: MEANING MAKING ACROSS THE AFRICAN DIASPORA  (1.0 Credit)

Monique Scott

At the turn of the 20th century, the Victorian natural history museum played an important role in constructing and disseminating images of Africa to the Western public. The history of museum representations of Africa and Africans reveals that exhibitions—both museum exhibitions and “living” World’s Fair exhibitions— has long been deeply embedded in politics, including the persistent “othering” of African people as savages or primitives. While paying attention to stereotypical exhibition tropes about Africa, we will also consider how art museums are creating new constructions of Africa and how contemporary curators and conceptual artists are creating complex, challenging new ways of understanding African identities.This course was formerly numbered HART B279; students who previously completed HART B279 may not repeat this course.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

HART B380  TOPICS IN FILM STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Homay King

Division: Humanities

This is a topics course. Course content varies. Prerequisite: one course in History of Art at the 100- or 200-level or permission of the instructor. Enrollment preference given to majors and minors in History of Art and Film Studies. This course was formerly numbered HART B334.

(Offered: Fall 2026)

HIST H256  ZEN THOUGHT, ZEN CULTURE, ZEN HISTORY  (1.0 Credit)

Hank Glassman

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

What are we talking about when we talk about Zen? This course is an introduction to the intellectual and cultural history of the style of Buddhism known as Zen in Japanese. We will examine the development and expression of this religious movement in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Crosslisted: East Asian Languages & Cultures, History, Religion

HLTH H304  CRITICAL DISABILITY STUDIES: THEORY AND PRACTICE  (1.0 Credit)

Kristin Lindgren

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An examination of work in critical disability studies across a range of humanistic disciplines and an exploration of how disability theory and engaged community practice inform and shape one another. The course includes a weekly praxis partnership with the Center for Creative Works, a community artspace for artists with intellectual disabilities.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

ICPR H250  THEORY AND PRACTICE OF EXHIBITION: OBJECTS, IMAGES, TEXTS, EVENTS  (1.0 Credit)

John Muse

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An introduction to the theory and practice of exhibition and display. This course will supply students with the analytic tools necessary to understand how exhibitions work and give them practical experience making arguments with objects, images, texts, and events.

MATH H337  DIFFERENTIAL GEOMETRY  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Natural Science
Domain(s): C: Physical and Natural Processes

A study of the differential geometry of curves and surfaces. Concepts covered include both the local theory (including metrics, curvature, and geodesics) and the global theory, including the Gauss-Bonnet theorem. Prerequisite(s): MATH 317 or MATH 216 with special permission, or instructor consent

MEST B201  SOCIETY AND CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE EAST THROUGH FILM  (1.0 Credit)

Manar Darwish

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course is designed so that students begin to acquire a knowledge and understanding of the contemporary Arab world through film. A main focus would be society and the representation of family life with all its intricacies. Because the region is extremely diverse and the life of its people and their experiences are, especially in the present, complex, it is necessary to select only a few of the countries in the region and their cinemas to focus on. This should allow for deeper study and meaningful conclusions. The cinemas of several Arab countries will be examined. Egypt has always been and to a large extent remains the center of Arabic-language cinema; three quarters of all Arabic-language feature films having been produced there. Films by famous directors such as Youssef Chahine and Shadi Abdel Salam, among others, will be appropriate to consider. But films from other Arab countries, e.g., from North Africa and the Middle East, will also be included for comparison and a more comprehensive picture.

MUSC H251  STRANGE MUSIC: MONSTERS, GHOSTS, AND ALIENS ON STAGE AND SCREEN  (1.0 Credit)

Richard Freedman

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Scholars of film often speak of the camera as an “all-seeing eye.” But what role does the ear play in cinematic experience? This course will explore the history, character, and function of music (and sound) in the first half of the twentieth century (and beyond): how they worked with (and against) the camera’s gaze to complicate narratives, to articulate time, and more generally to represent feeling and identity. This term will put special focus on the non-human: monsters, ghosts, aliens, and more generally the idea of the magical or supernatural. What does such radical Otherness sound like? How has it been represented musically? And how have composers and sound designers put such conventions to work in films of the last 100 years, from Metropolis and Nosferatu to Dune and Arrival? To answer these questions we’ll explore the silents, the early sound film and (especially) the long arc of composers (from Eric Korngold to Bernard Herrmann and from John Williams to Hans Zimmer. We’ll consider the legacy of Romanticism, the possibilities of Modernism, and even the Avant Garde, and learn about orchestration, harmony and thematic process as they contribute to cinematic narrative. We will also consider various theories of sound, music, and film staked out by film and operatic composers themselves, as well as critical and scholarly essays by leading writers on the monstrous, the alien, and the supernatural. Crosslisted: VIST Prerequisite(s): No formal prerequisite, but some previous study of either music or visual media would be helpful

PEAC H338  CREATIVE ENVIRONMENTALISMS: FIELD EXPERIMENTS FOR PERFORMING NATURE  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression; B: Analysis of the Social World

This course explores creative process within the context of environmental interventions. It offers multi-disciplinary creative exercises to help students become the innovative and creative environmental professionals.The course unfolds as hands-on workshop through a series of micro-experiences, helping students evolve into fully-conscious, creative environmental professionals who approach communities empathically and connect to Nature profoundly, ethically facilitating the voices of humans and non-humans, as part of researching, assisting, protecting, and promoting fragile places under threat. Crosslisted: ENVS,PEAC,VIST. Lottery Preference: ENVS majors

(Offered: Spring 2027)

PHIL H119  WHAT DOES PHILOSOPHY HAVE TO DO WITH SOCIAL MEDIA?  (1.0 Credit)

Qrescent Mali Mason

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

What relationship does philosophy have to issues arising in the contemporary world? What relationship does philosophy have to our experiences with and usages of digital social media? What sorts of digital humanities projects might be born of the intersection of philosophy and digital social media? Through a survey of answers to these questions in the history of Western philosophy from the Ancient Greeks to contemporary thinkers, students in this course will be asked to think critically about the significance of difference to their relationship with others and their experience of their horizons.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

PHIL H264  THE OPPOSITIONAL GAZE: ART TRAVERSING THE BINARY  (1.0 Credit)

Qrescent Mali Mason

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Through a survey of visual, literary, and performance arts primarily by Black and Latina women (e.g., Lorraine O’Grady, Adrian Piper, Christina Sharpe, Ana Victoria Jiménez) this course seeks to theorize the many dimensions of the oppositional gaze, with a focus on the ways these thinker-artists challenge, critique and disrupt various binaries that they identify with the history of western philosophy. Crosslisted: AFST,VIST.

RELG H106  INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM  (1.0 Credit)

GT H

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course is a general survey of the religion of Islam, encompassing history, beliefs, sacred texts (Qur'an and ?adith) and their interpretation, religious law, Sufism, philosophy, art, and science. Particular attention is given to Muslim practice and to Islam as a total way of life. Salient topics include modernity and modernism; statism, nationalism and imperialism; as well as gender, sexuality, marriage, and the family.

RELG H112  MYTH, FOLKLORE, AND LEGEND IN JAPAN  (1.0 Credit)

Hank Glassman

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

An introduction to stories of the weird and supernatural in Japan and a reflection on genre and the scholarly enterprise of taxonomy-making. Readings from Buddhist miracle plays, early modern puppet drama, etc., supplemented by scholarly secondary sources.

RELG H131  THE LURE OF IMAGES: RELIGION AND VISUAL MEDIA  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course examines representations from figural forms to abstractions, found objects and beautiful writing to understand the power of sacred imagery. We will examine formats from medieval manuscripts and painted walls to films, panoramas and comic books to observe the dynamics that emerge among viewers and images in spatial contexts ranging from altar pieces, sculpture, stained glass and painting in neo-Gothic churches, calligraphy in mosque and shrine interiors, deity icons in Hindu temples and potent fabrics in Buddhist monastic complexes. Crosslisted: VIST.

RELG H209  CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY  (1.0 Credit)

Matthew Farmer, Ryan Warwick

Division: ,Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An introduction to the primary characters and stories of Greek and Roman mythology including cosmic creation, Olympian and other deities, and heroes both as they appear in Greek and Roman literature and art and as they are later represented in modern art, music, and film. Crosslisted: Classical Studies, Comparative Literature, Religion

(Offered: Spring 2027)

RELG H209  CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY  (1.0 Credit)

Matthew Farmer, Ryan Warwick

Division: ,Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An introduction to the primary characters and stories of Greek and Roman mythology including cosmic creation, Olympian and other deities, and heroes both as they appear in Greek and Roman literature and art and as they are later represented in modern art, music, and film. Crosslisted: Classical Studies, Comparative Literature, Religion

(Offered: Spring 2027)

SOCL H221  SOCIOLOGY OF ART  (1.0 Credit)

Elise Herrala

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): B: Analysis of the Social World

The aim of the course is to introduce the relationship between art, culture, and society. Prerequisite(s): SOCL 155A, or SOCL 155B, or permission of instructor

(Offered: Fall 2026)

SPAN H210  SPANISH AND SPANISH AMERICAN FILM STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Raquel Parrine Sant'Ana

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Exploration of Latin American film. The course will discuss approximately one movie per week. The class will focus on the analysis of cinematic discourses as well as the films’ cultural and historic background. The course will also provide advanced language training with particular emphasis in refining oral and writing skills. This course is conducted in Spanish. Crosslisted: Spanish, Comparative Literature. Prerequisite(s): SPAN 102, or placement, or instructor consent.

SPAN H332  INTO THE THREAD: GENDER AND TEXTILE ARTWORK IN LATIN AMERICA  (1.0 Credit)

Raquel Parrine Sant'Ana

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Long dismissed as “women’s work,” fiber art carries quiet insurgency in its threads. Emerging from Indigenous, Black, and mestizo communities, its textures expose how race, labor, and intimacy intertwine. From domestic spaces to museum walls, Latin American feminist and queer artists have used fiberwork to unravel colonial legacies and re-stitch desire, memory, and resistance. Taught in Spanish, this course traces how touch, texture, and craft become acts of embodied, anti-colonial transformation. Crosslisted: SPAN,GSST,VIST

VIST H105  INTRODUCTION TO PERFORMANCE STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course introduces students to foundational concepts and embodied practices relevant to the study of theater and performance. We will focus on the intersection between dramatic texts and performance and approach textual analysis and performance through parallel methodologies: as scholars, we will read, reflect on, and write critically about texts and performances; as performers, we will explore a variety of techniques to create “applied interpretations,” interpretations that take form in performance. Lottery Preference: First Year Students and VIST Minors

VIST H110  FOUNDATIONS IN FILMMAKING  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

The fundamentals of digital film production. Students will learn the grammar of key film genres and basic filmmaking craft, including cameras, lighting, sound techniques, and nonlinear editing, creating four short films in the genres of animation, experimental, documentary, and fiction.

(Offered: Fall 2026, Spring 2027)

VIST H113  BLACK VISUAL CULTURE: AN INADEQUATE SURVEY OF THE LATE 19TH TO 20TH CENTURIES  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course seeks to ask the question: How do we see blackness? How have we learned to see the thing we’re always surrounded by and have so many questions of? How do we know blackness through the visual and/as the racial? What if blackness uses the racial-visual to be known but refuses to be seen and represented so easily? What do we do then? Lottery Preference: 5 slots for first year students; preferences for VIST Minors

VIST H117  DESIGN AND DIGITAL FABRICATION: SYSTEMS, TOOLS, AND MATERIAL FORM  (1.0 Credit)

Kent Watson

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This course investigates the relationship between computational design and material fabrication through hands-on making. Students will develop foundational design principles and fabrication literacy, learning not only how to operate tools but how digital systems structure aesthetic and material possibilities. Using 3D modeling, 3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC machining, they will translate digital models into physical form through iterative prototyping, foregrounding material constraint, precision, and design intention. Lottery Preference: VIST minors

(Offered: Spring 2027)

VIST H118  GAME DESIGN: RULES AND PLAY  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This course provides students with the tools needed to understand, analyze, and build games as designed experiences. During the semester, we will take a close look at games and how design choices shape meaning, interaction, and player experience. We will examine games as systems of communication, exploring how visual, spatial, and procedural elements work together to create meaningful play. Lottery Preference: 1st Year Students and VIST minors

(Offered: Spring 2027)

VIST H131  THE LURE OF IMAGES: RELIGION AND VISUAL MEDIA  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course examines representations from figural forms to abstractions, found objects and beautiful writing to understand the power of sacred imagery. We will examine formats from medieval manuscripts and painted walls to films, panoramas and comic books to observe the dynamics that emerge among viewers and images in spatial contexts ranging from altar pieces, sculpture, stained glass and painting in neo-Gothic churches, calligraphy in mosque and shrine interiors, deity icons in Hindu temples and potent fabrics in Buddhist monastic complexes. Crosslisted: VIST.

VIST H142  INTRODUCTION TO VISUAL STUDIES  (1.0 Credit)

Erin Schoneveld

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An introduction to the trans-disciplinary field of Visual Studies, its methods of analysis and topical concerns. Traditional media and artifacts of art history and film theory, and also an examination of the ubiquity of images of all kinds, their systems of transmission, their points of consumption, and the very limits of visuality itself. Crosslisted: Visual Studies, Fine Arts, Comparative Literature

(Offered: Fall 2026)

VIST H145  SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: DESIGNING OBJECTS OF PLAY  (0.5 Credit)

Kent Watson

Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Emphasizing digital design and remote digital fabrication, this course invites students to think critically about objects of play. What materials are used in toy design? What are the environmental implications of mass production? How can thinking about communities of play help us imagine solutions to problems of isolation? Crosslisted: Independent College Programs, Visual Studies

VIST H160  VISUAL STORYTELLING: AN ACTING AND FILMMAKING WORKSHOP  (1.0 Credit)

John Muse, Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This course offers a unique collaborative approach to visual storytelling in narrative and fiction film, combining the technical and creative aspects of both acting and filmmaking. Co-taught by a filmmaker and an actor-director, students will gain foundational skills in acting and film production, focusing on the specific demands of narrative storytelling. Through hands-on projects, students will work on both sides of the camera, learning to act, direct, and contribute to the technical production process. Crosslisted: VIST, ARTT. Lottery Preference: VIST and ARTT students (when offered in Fall, 4 spaces reserved for first years)

VIST H203  UKIYO-E: THE ART OF JAPANESE PRINTS  (1.0 Credit)

Erin Schoneveld

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course explores the evolution of Japanese woodblock prints, artists, collectors, and exhibition practices from the 17th century through the present day. Crosslisted: East Asian Languages & Cultures, Visual Studies

VIST H212  UNLEARNING CLASSICS  (1.0 Credit)

Ava Shirazi

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course explores how contemporary writers and artists can help us re-learn the way we understand the ancient world. Each week students will examine a contemporary creative practice (e.g. creative writing, installation and multi-media art, music, photography, and performance) alongside a selection from ancient Greek literature or art. We will focus on both the works themselves and the practices of writers and artists—we’ll talk about how one gives us a way into the other. We will pay particular attention to how research, archives, and “interdisciplinarity” are an inherent part of the creative process. Our goal is twofold: to explore 21st century responses to the ancient world, and to examine how 21st century practices challenge and question notions of the “classics” and how we study them. Crosslisted: Classical Studies, Comparative Literature

VIST H218  REALTIME INTERFACES FOR CREATIVE EXPRESSION  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression; C: Physical and Natural Processes

Realtime Interfaces for Creative Expression is a 200-level course for artists, performers, and computer science students with an interest in developing novel interactive software applications for the creation of digital art, responsive environments, and new media performance. Students will use the graphical programming environment Max to dynamically control, process, and generate digital audio and video content. Assignments will touch upon a number of related disciplines including interactive computer music, algorithmic and generative art, and video synthesis. Prior experience with coding and/or digital art-making is recommended. Pre-requisite(s): None Lottery Preference: VIST Minors

VIST H226  IMAGING PUBLIC SEX UTOPIAS: A PRODUCTION WORKSHOP  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This praxis course examines the tension between art and that which is considered obscene: queer porn, public shamelessness, and deviant sexualities such as kink and sex work. We will develop projects that explore the powerful potential of the utopian imagination using techniques of GIF animation, self portraiture, and video. Lottery Preference: Visual Studies Minors

VIST H228  EXPERIMENTS WITH 60S PERFORMANCE: A FLUXUS ARTS WORKSHOP  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

In this workshop course, we will reenact event scores from performance artists of the 1960s, including primary sources from Yoko Ono, Adrian Piper, Alison Knowles, and George Brecht. Akin to a theatrical script or a musical score, an event score, a poetic script for performance, questions whether the performance is its documentation, the textual-visual component, or its restaging and activation with the body. Lottery Preference: Visual Studies minors

VIST H230  POSTWAR JAPANESE CINEMA  (1.0 Credit)

Erin Schoneveld

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course provides an introduction to Japanese cinema from the immediate Postwar period of 1945 to the present day. Focusing on films by influential directors including Ozu Yasujiro, Kurosawa Akira, and Mizoguchi Kenji among others we will consider how Japanese filmmakers use cinema to investigate issues of truth, beauty, identity, and nationhood in an attempt to answer fundamental questions regarding life and death in Japan’s Postwar period. Crosslisted: East Asian Languages & Cultures, Visual Studies, Environmental Studies

(Offered: Spring 2027)

VIST H232  BLAQUEER EYE: THE LOOK AND FEEL OF REAL  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Beginning with behind-the-scenes documentary of a female illusionist pageant The Queen (1968) and ending with the cancellation of HBO’s ballroom reality television competition show Legendary (2021), this course finds interest in the textured lives of gender and sexually creative African descendants in the U.S. and how their lives have been translated into the terms black, queer, and trans in public imagination. Lottery Preference: Visual Studies minors, then Film Studies minors

VIST H233  DECOLONIZING VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY: FILMMAKING WORKSHOP  (1.0 Credit)

Emily Hong

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This is a hybrid video production and theory course which grapples with the entanglements between ethnographic film/documentary and colonial structures of power. We will bring a decolonizing lens to explore—through texts, screenings, and making films—major modalities in the field including sensory ethnography, indigenous media, and feminist experimental film. Crosslisted: Visual Studies, Anthropology Prerequisite(s): at least one course in Anthropology or Visual Studies

(Offered: Fall 2026)

VIST H235  NARRATIVE DIGITAL PRODUCTION - FROM SCREENPLAY TO FINISHED VIDEO  (1.0 Credit)

Charles Woodard

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

In this course will learn the technical fundamentals of planning and creating narrative videos, from concept to finished product. We will focus on creating screenplays and storyboards; planning around bringing the pre-production materials to life, and editing footage into a finished video to share. We will be utilizing screenplay applications and editing software found in VCAM while discussing how to streamline video production logistics surrounding fictional or narrative work. Lottery Preference: VIST minors first, second year students second.

VIST H236  PRISON MEMORY AND CARCERAL IDENTITY: A FILM PRODUCTION WORKSHOP  (1.0 Credit)

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

This oral history, interviewing, and filmmaking course focuses on carceral narratives and prison memory, particularly those of the Graterford Diaspora. The course will develop students' film production literacy when engaging carceral narratives and prison memory on film. Additionally, students will learn how to collect oral history interviews from members of the Graterford Diaspora, preserving and amplifying their stories while fostering collaborative, constructive feedback. Lottery Preference: Visual Studies minors

VIST H237  VIRTUAL THEATERS: FROM CLOSET DRAMA TO PANDEMIC THEATER  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course probes the nature and limits of theater by exploring a range of theatrical texts from various centuries whose relation to performance is either partially or fully virtual, including philosophical dialogues, closet dramas, radio drama, novel chapters in dramatic form, artists’ books that mix page and stage, drama about internet and social media, and remote online theater on platforms like Zoom. Lottery Preference: VIST Minors

VIST H238  PAPER & PIXELS: AN INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL ANIMATION  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Animation is not the mere act of creating an illusion; the word “animation” comes from the Latin word “anima,” meaning “soul,” “spirit,” or “life.” Animators breathe life into the inanimate and invisible worlds of images, objects, thoughts and feelings. In this hands-on course, you will bring these worlds to life through the means of analog and digital animation. You will learn fundamental techniques of pixilation, direct animation, rotoscoping, sound design, stop animation, basic character creation and rigging. You will also learn the history of these styles, how they have evolved over the years and their impact on art and culture. By the end of the semester, you will use the technical and conceptual tools you’ve learned to create both an individual and collaborative animation. Lottery Preference: VIST minors

(Offered: Fall 2026)

VIST H239  VISIONS OF JUSTICE: INTERSECTIONALITY AND LEGAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN ASIAN CINEMA  (1.0 Credit)

Emily Hong

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course aims to deepen understandings of Asian struggles for justice and representation through independent films by Asian (including diaspora) directors. We will analyze films that offer a window into legal and social movement struggles for gender justice, self-determination, and environmental justice. Crosslisted: Visual Studies; Anthropology; East Asian Languages & Cultures; Peace, Justice and Human Rights

(Offered: Spring 2027)

VIST H240  SENSING TEXTILES  (1.0 Credit)

Solmaz Eshaghloogalougahi

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

What can textiles tell us beyond what we see? In this course, we explore textiles through touch, sound, and memory. Throughout the semester, you will analyze art, experiment with making, engage in discussions, and create your own projects using textiles, sound, or mixed media. Together, we will discover how textiles connect people, cultures, and stories in meaningful ways. Lottery Preference: Visual Studies minors

(Offered: Fall 2026)

VIST H250  THEORY AND PRACTICE OF EXHIBITION: OBJECTS, IMAGES, TEXTS, EVENTS  (1.0 Credit)

John Muse

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

An introduction to the theory and practice of exhibition and display. This course will supply students with the analytic tools necessary to understand how exhibitions work and give them practical experience making arguments with objects, images, texts, and events.

VIST H251  STRANGE MUSIC: MONSTERS, GHOSTS, AND ALIENS ON STAGE AND SCREEN  (1.0 Credit)

Richard Freedman

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Scholars of film often speak of the camera as an “all-seeing eye.” But what role does the ear play in cinematic experience? This course will explore the history, character, and function of music (and sound) in the first half of the twentieth century (and beyond): how they worked with (and against) the camera’s gaze to complicate narratives, to articulate time, and more generally to represent feeling and identity. This term will put special focus on the non-human: monsters, ghosts, aliens, and more generally the idea of the magical or supernatural. What does such radical Otherness sound like? How has it been represented musically? And how have composers and sound designers put such conventions to work in films of the last 100 years, from Metropolis and Nosferatu to Dune and Arrival? To answer these questions we’ll explore the silents, the early sound film and (especially) the long arc of composers (from Eric Korngold to Bernard Herrmann and from John Williams to Hans Zimmer. We’ll consider the legacy of Romanticism, the possibilities of Modernism, and even the Avant Garde, and learn about orchestration, harmony and thematic process as they contribute to cinematic narrative. We will also consider various theories of sound, music, and film staked out by film and operatic composers themselves, as well as critical and scholarly essays by leading writers on the monstrous, the alien, and the supernatural. Crosslisted: VIST Prerequisite(s): No formal prerequisite, but some previous study of either music or visual media would be helpful

VIST H255  IN THE WRITERS’ ROOM: SCREENWRITING FOR TELEVISION  (1.0 Credit)

Swetha Regunathan

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

In the TV world, stories are built in the “writers’ room,” where writers come together to create a successful show. In this course students will study the craft of episodic screenwriting by simulating the collaborative spirit of the writers’ room. As they learn screenplay structure and form, visual storytelling techniques, dialogue, character development, and story arc, students will produce one episode for a class anthology project and participate in a final community table read event. Crosslisted: ENGL. Lottery Preference: VIST minors, Creative Writing Concentrators, ENGL majors

(Offered: Fall 2026)

VIST H259  LIFE IS (A) SHORT: FICTION FILMMAKING WORKSHOP  (1.0 Credit)

Swetha Regunathan

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression

Life is (a) Short: Fiction Filmmaking Workshop (level 200) In this intermediate production course, students will usher a short film from pre-production to final exhibition. Production elements (cinematography, locations, casting) and post-production concerns (editing, color, and sound) will inform how we (re)envision our stories. This will culminate in a short fiction film to be screened for the community. All students are required to bring a brief script or treatment to the first week of class. Prerequisite(s): VIST 110: Foundations in Film Production, H233: Decolonizing Visual Anthropology OR up to the instructor's discretion

(Offered: Spring 2027)

VIST H264  THE OPPOSITIONAL GAZE: ART TRAVERSING THE BINARY  (1.0 Credit)

Qrescent Mali Mason

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Through a survey of visual, literary, and performance arts primarily by Black and Latina women (e.g., Lorraine O’Grady, Adrian Piper, Christina Sharpe, Ana Victoria Jiménez) this course seeks to theorize the many dimensions of the oppositional gaze, with a focus on the ways these thinker-artists challenge, critique and disrupt various binaries that they identify with the history of western philosophy. Crosslisted: AFST,VIST.

VIST H266  SENSORY ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS  (1.0 Credit)

Emily Hong

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): B: Analysis of the Social World

Through this course, students will develop ethnographic research and writing skills using sensory detail (taste, touch, sight, sound, smell and feeling) to evoke people, places, and things. Assignments are primarily writing-intensive with additional fieldwork and multimodal (e.g. photography, film) exercises. Crosslisted: Anthropology, Visual Studies Prerequisite(s): Any Anthropology course

VIST H267  BEAUTY PROBLEMS: RHETORIC, AESTHETICS, PHILOSOPHY  (1.0 Credit)

John Muse

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course will examine a series of problems that beauty and other sensuous pleasures make for philosophy, film, and contemporary art. Works will include those of Plato, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, Isaac Julien, Elaine Scarry, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Fred Moten and others.

VIST H270  THE ART OF SPORTS: ANCIENT AND MODERN  (1.0 Credit)

Ava Shirazi

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course explores the visual and poetic life of sports, ancient and modern. It brings together cultural criticism, visual analysis, and historical study to theorize the beauty of athletics. Concepts of the body, gender, race and performance, and tropes such as "for the love of the game," "feel for the game" and "poetry in motion" will organize our work on the sensory and aesthetic dimensions of sports. No prior expertise in classics, art or sports necessary. Crosslisted: COML,VIST.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

VIST H275  RACE AND REPRESENTATION IN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression; B: Analysis of the Social World

This is an introductory cross-listed (Visual Studies/Anthropology) production course on the theory and practice of documentary filmmaking through an exploration of race onscreen. The objective of the course is to enable students to build a critical awareness of the ways in which film and media in general perpetuate racist discourses and representations and explore how students can challenge such representations through their own filmmaking practices. As inspiration, we will watch and study a wide variety of innovative documentary films that bring alternative voices and histories to screen and read/watch filmmaker interviews. Classes will combine elements of a studio (sharing and critiquing filmmaking work in progress) and seminar (discussing weekly themes). Crosslisted: VIST. Lottery Preference: Visual Studies minors, then Anthropology majors/minors, then Film Studies minors

VIST H277  MEDIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Social Science
Domain(s): B: Analysis of the Social World

What can we learn about the Middle East by examining media? What can we about media by studying institutions of production and practices of consumption in the Middle East region? In this course, we will read ethnographies of media from the Middle East and look at and listen to media. We will explore cases from different countries, from Egypt to Syria, Turkey to Afghanistan, from Lebanon to Palestine/Israel. Crosslisted: VIST. Pre-requisite(s): 100-level course in social sciences, or humanities. Lottery Preference: Senior anthropology students have a priority to take the class.

VIST H305  EAST ASIAN ART AND THE ENVIRONMENT  (1.0 Credit)

Erin Schoneveld

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

This course examines the relationship between environment and the arts in China and Japan. In particular, how artists engage with and respond to nature through varied modes of artistic production and exhibition. Crosslisted: East Asian Languages & Cultures, Environmental Studies, Visual Studies

(Offered: Spring 2027)

VIST H308  HOW TO READ BLACK FEMME AVATARS  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course is an in-depth and engaged study of Uri McMillian’s book Embodied Avatars: Genealogies of Black Feminist Art and Performance (NYU Press, 2015). In it, McMillian presents a history of visual and performance artists like Ellen Craft, Lorraine O’Grady, Adrian Piper, Nicki Minaj, whose oeuvres can be understood through the lens of black feminist study and theory. Lottery Preference: Visual Studies minors

VIST H309  THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ARDMORE  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Through close looking, performance experiments, and scholarship on reality television in general and the Housewives franchise in particular, this course will investigate the way that the production of reality in these shows—the very visual quality of film, filter, and light dependent on revenue dictated by viewership—changes along lines of identity causing us to wonder if the Housewives not only change our culture, but also our (view of our) lives. We will tinker around with performance and production work inside and outside the classroom to question the fabric of our own realities and how we can share in its weaving. Lottery Preference: VIST minors, GSST concentrators, AFST concentrators

VIST H310  ILLNESS AND DISABILITY IN ART AND PERFORMANCE  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

This course introduces students to important concepts and practices relevant to the study of illness and disability in art and performance. We will approach illness and disability through parallel methodologies: as scholars, we will read, reflect on, and write critically about how art and performance help us understand illness and disability as embodied experiences, and as makers, we will try a variety of hands-on activities to explore illness/disability as forms of resourcefulness and experimental thinking. Lottery Preference: VIST minors

VIST H311  QUEERING THE SHORT FORM  (1.0 Credit)

Swetha Regunathan

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

In this course students will watch short films that center queer identity and experience and put them in conversation with theory (Jack Halberstam, Jose Esteban Munoz, Sara Ahmed, Sianne Ngai, et. al) We will ask: what constitutes the canon? What are queer affects? What does the short form offer visual storytellers? Conversely, how might queerness reimagine the short form? All students will write two short papers and produce a final essay video project. Crosslisted: VIST,COML,GSST Pre-requisite(s): VIST 142 - Intro to Visual Studies

VIST H317  ECOLOGIES OF COOPERATION: PARTICIPATION AND PRAXIS IN PHILLY ARTS, CULTURE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ORGS  (1.0 Credit)

Dylan Gauthier

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Ecologies of Cooperation is an interdisciplinary TriCo Philly course that explores how visual arts, the humanities, and cooperative organizing shape contemporary ecological thought and practice in an urban context. Students will engage directly with Philadelphia’s networks of artist-run organizations, cooperative businesses, community gardens, and mutual aid formations to investigate how environmental awareness, care, and stewardship is not only represented, but actively reproduced through participatory and collective practices. Philadelphia is a rich terrain for studying and practicing the social production of ecological thought and action. Through readings, expert guest and site visits, cooperative engagements, and arts-based research, students will immerse themselves in the living networks of people, places, and practices shaping the city’s environmental future(s). Combining seminar discussion with field-based research in Philadelphia as part of the Tri-Co Philly Program, students will draw on environmental humanities, political ecology, social practice art, and urban studies to analyze how collective structures emerge, endure, and transform. The city will serve as our primary text, offering grounded examples of how shared ownership, collective decision-making, and cultural production can help imagine more just and resilient ways of living together in a time of environmental precarity. This course will be taught in Philadelphia. Crosslisted: VIST. Pre-requisite(s): ENVS 101 or equivalent (or instructor permission) and at least one 200 or 300 level social science or laboratory science course, or equivalent. Priority in registration will be given to students participating in the Tri-Co Philly Program (https://www.haverford.edu/philly-program). Remaining seats are available to other Tri-Co students, by lottery, if demand exceeds remaining spaces in the course. If you are interested in the program, you must fill out the application, which is due on Sunday, April 5, by noon. This program includes registering for two of three of the program’s courses, which include this course or MATH B195 Biostatistics: Data, Health and Ethics in Philadelphia or ARTH061/ENVS056 Art and Culture of Indigenous Philadelphia: From Shackamaxon to the Present. Those not participating in the Philly program do not need to complete the application and can simply pre-register for the class. Lottery Preference: Tri-Co Philly Program students, Majors, Minors >> Seniors, Juniors, in ENVS or VIST

(Offered: Fall 2026)

VIST H324  MEDIA WORLDS  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts); B: Analysis of the Social World

It’s no secret that media shape the world around us. Cell phones use GPS to help us navigate through traffic and platforms like Instagram connect us to millions of people. Have things always been this way? How did people react to new technologies like film or television in the past? How do modern media impact us now? For German credit there will be an extra 60-minute session in German. Crosslisted: GERM,COML,VIST.

(Offered: Spring 2027)

VIST H332  INTO THE THREAD: GENDER AND TEXTILE ARTWORK IN LATIN AMERICA  (1.0 Credit)

Raquel Parrine Sant'Ana

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Meaning, Interpretation (Texts)

Long dismissed as “women’s work,” fiber art carries quiet insurgency in its threads. Emerging from Indigenous, Black, and mestizo communities, its textures expose how race, labor, and intimacy intertwine. From domestic spaces to museum walls, Latin American feminist and queer artists have used fiberwork to unravel colonial legacies and re-stitch desire, memory, and resistance. Taught in Spanish, this course traces how touch, texture, and craft become acts of embodied, anti-colonial transformation. Crosslisted: SPAN,GSST,VIST

VIST H338  CREATIVE ENVIRONMENTALISMS: FIELD EXPERIMENTS FOR PERFORMING NATURE  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: Humanities
Domain(s): A: Creative Expression; B: Analysis of the Social World

This course explores creative process within the context of environmental interventions. It offers multi-disciplinary creative exercises to help students become the innovative and creative environmental professionals.The course unfolds as hands-on workshop through a series of micro-experiences, helping students evolve into fully-conscious, creative environmental professionals who approach communities empathically and connect to Nature profoundly, ethically facilitating the voices of humans and non-humans, as part of researching, assisting, protecting, and promoting fragile places under threat. Crosslisted: ENVS,PEAC,VIST. Lottery Preference: ENVS majors

(Offered: Spring 2027)

VIST H399  CAPSTONE FOR VISUAL STUDIES MINORS  (1.0 Credit)

Swetha Regunathan

Division: Humanities

Examines art, writing and exhibition practices centering in particular cultural contexts. Explores artists and curators who link art, identity, and politics, and the environment in their practice. Focuses on developing practical skills related to archival research, analysis of visual material and critical making. To be taken in fall semester of senior year. Prerequisite(s): Visual Studies minor

(Offered: Fall 2026)

WRPR H111  POWER, PLACE, AND FILM  (1.0 Credit)

Division: First Year Writing

This writing seminar introduces students to film analysis through the themes of power and place and covers topics such as colonialism and imperialism, immigration, inequality, etc. Open only to first-year students as assigned by the Director of College Writing.

WRPR H138  RACE AND GENDER IN AMERICAN HORROR FILM AND FICTION  (1.0 Credit)

Division: First Year Writing

This course unravels various tropes that haunt the horror genre, exploring how horror film and fiction reflect the values, mores and fears of a collective unconscious, with special emphasis on the ways in which racial stereotyping and gender violence are often deployed as horror tropes. We look closely at portrayals of violence, shock, resistance and power, asking how race and gender play central roles in the production of fear, terror, monstrosity and its subversion. Pre-requisite(s): Open only to first-year students as assigned by the Director of College Writing. Lottery Preference: Only first year students are eligible for these seminars.

WRPR H169  WRITING VISUAL CULTURE: ART, CINEMA, AND GRAPHIC NARRATIVE  (1.0 Credit)

Staff

Division: First Year Writing

In an age where our interactions with images have both proliferated and been made shallow by social media and generative AI, deep encounters with images are increasingly rare and valuable. This course deals with the reading and writing of visual culture, focusing on both literary and critical modes of writing about art. Open only to first-year students as assigned by the Director of College Writing.

(Offered: Spring 2027)