Advancement of Public Action

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Term
Time & Day Offered
Level
Credits
Course Duration

Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and Public Action — MOD2136.04

Instructor: Brooke Allen; Alison Dennis
Days & Time: TBA
Credits: 1
Since its publication in 1843, Charles Dickens’ allegorical tale about a miserly businessman has never gone out of print. While the novella’s holiday-themed story is widely known, a close reading of the original text reveals sharp criticism of industrial capitalism and its devastating impact on social welfare. In this module we will read A Christmas Carol aloud together and

Digital Life — MS2104.01

Instructor: Brian Michael Murphy
Credits: 4
Digital technology is changing our understanding of what it means to be human, and rewriting our definitions of life, the body, love, death, and other concepts and embodied experiences. Through engaging contemporary narratives like The Circle and Black Mirror, we will explore the theory of technogenesis—the idea that humans have always coevolved with their tools. We will read

Digital Materiality — MS4101.01

Instructor: Brian Michael Murphy
Credits: 4
“The cloud” is not in the sky, but is comprised of thousands of securitized data centers and fiber optic networks that span continents. Undersea cables still carry nearly all internet traffic that travels across oceans. How can we critically analyze these massive systems that are often either invisible or too large to see all at once? This course will explore the materiality of

Digitizing Photographs — APA2360.01

Instructor: Susan Sgorbati
Credits: 1
This course will introduce students to digitizing negative photographs, slides, and help them understand that digitizing negatives and slide photographs preserves them from physical decay and deterioration that can occur over time, and enhance accessibility to their photographs. Students will be asked to bring their negative photographs or slides for digitizing, editing, and

Dirt Line — APA2011.01

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 4
Soil reveals stories about climate, communities and time.  Dirt as a material has been used in forms of communication, from drawing, building, ceremony, to boundary lines. As ancient geological formations, over time, break down, these structures are incorporated into soil, and in our current climate we are witnessing vast changes in soil health. This course will explore

Documentary Poetics — LIT4576.01

Instructor: Franny Choi
Days & Time: WE 2:10pm-5:50pm
Credits: 4

Drawing from news articles, interviews, archival materials, and more, writers throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries have sought to document the world through poetry. As Phillip Metres writes, such poets often collage first-person narratives with found materials in order to “give voice to stories of people and movements that the mass media

Dramaturgies of Care — APA4169.02

Instructor: Susan Sgorbati
Credits: 1
We all need more care. That much is clear. As it pertains to modern social justice and public action projects, the imperative to incorporate systems of care and healing into the greater conversation has increased dynamically. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and increased environmental issues due to climate change, it has become even more vital to consider holistic care

Droughts Floods - an Economic Analysis of Natural Disasters — PEC2107.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 4
Extreme fluctuations in rainfall and temperature may bring about drought and flood conditions in a region, but, the experiences of these natural extremes are not similar for all regions of the world. Neither are their effects similar for all people living in an affected region. Why are the disaster experiences spatially different? Why are the disaster exposure effects unequal

Drumming: An Extension of Language — MIN2120.01

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 2
This course serves as an introduction to rhythms and musical practices from Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean. Using indigenous percussion instruments from these regions, students will learn to play traditional and hybrid rhythms. There will be discussions and scheduled response papers on readings, podcast, and films pertaining to global issues from these regions, as well as an

Drumming: An Extension of Language — MIN2120.01

Instructor: Michael Wimberly
Credits: 4
This course serves as an introduction to rhythms and musical practices from Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean. Using indigenous percussion instruments from these territories, students will learn to play traditional and hybrid rhythms. There will be discussions and scheduled response papers on readings, podcast, and films pertaining to global issues from these territories, as

Earth Journalism — APA4249.01

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 2
Living as we do in the era of the Anthropocene, in which human activities are the main force reshaping our planet, it has become increasingly important to communicate and improve public understanding of global environmental challenges. These include the transformative impacts of climate change, the loss of biodiversity, the vulnerability of food systems, the

Economic Inequality — PEC4124.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Days & Time: MO,TH 3:40pm-5:30pm
Credits: 4

Economic inequality is often described in terms of uneven distribution of income and wealth. Yet, more importantly, it reflects uneven access to opportunities, advantages, and life chances. Why do some people enjoy a higher standard of living and better quality of life than others? Are such inequalities fair and

Economy and Ecology — PEC2253.01

Instructor: Lopamudra Banerjee
Credits: 2
Simply put, economics deals with the material world, and ecology is concerned with the living world. How do the two worlds meet and interact? This seminar explores this intriguing question. This broad question can be analyzed in terms of more pointed queries: What are the feedbacks between the economic and the ecological systems? How do markets and incentives affect people’s

Edible Matters: Cartography and the Cultural Biography of Food — APA4149.01

Instructor: Yoko Inoue
Credits: 4
Food, place and politics. This course investigates food in the globalized world considering political economy, history of colonialism and cultural identity. Focusing on various geographical locales, we examine the economic factors, socio-political structures and cultural implications behind what determines a crop’s value based on power relationships and global trade strategies.

Educating for a Democracy — POP2281.02

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 1
Democracy in the United States is being threatened and countless Americans do not understand enough of our country’s history or political systems to comprehend the threat. This has led to inaction by the American people, media outlets that share disinformation and individuals who care more about power than participating in democratic governance. To reach this point, it took

Education for a Democracy: The Patrick J. Leahy Public Policy Forum — APA2017.02, section 2

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 2
Patrick J. Leahy was United States Senator from Vermont from 1975 to 2023, a career that put him front and center in American history for almost fifty years. This course invites historians, politicians, and those who know Leahy best to discuss and analyze the key policies that impacted American democracy on the local, national, and international levels. We will examine how

Education for a Democracy: The Patrick J. Leahy Public Policy Forum — APA2017.01, section 1

Instructor: Eileen Scully
Credits: 4
Patrick J. Leahy was United States Senator from Vermont from 1975 to 2023, a career that put him front and center in American history for almost fifty years. This course invites historians, politicians, and those who know Leahy best to discuss and analyze the key policies that impacted American democracy on the local, national, and international levels. We will examine how

education policy —

Instructor: Brian Campion
Credits:
Improving literacy, reforming school discipline, civic education, universal school meals. These are all issues that the Vermont legislature worked to advance in the 2021 biennium. This class will assess each of the major pieces of legislation. What did each initiative try to achieve, how it will impact education and what policies are still need to improve education in Vermont.

Effective Public Action: Case Studies — APA2116.01

Instructor: Eileen Scully
Days & Time: TBA
Credits: 2
What kind of world are we making? What kind of world should we be making? What kind of world can we be making? We explore these questions through case studies of successful public action, ranging from local projects to global initiatives. Working together to identify the complex variables and design principles of successful models, students collaboratively develop frameworks

Electroacoustic Band Workshop — MPF4122.01

Instructor: Senem Pirler
Credits: 4
This course is an open forum for research and development of live performance methodologies and compositions involving electroacoustic sounds through collaborations. In this workshop, we will explore text scores, graphic scores, improvisation techniques using both acoustic and electronic sources. The research and practice areas include but are not limited to electroacoustic and

Embedded Arts: Exploring Social Practice Work — APA2361.04

Instructor: Susan Sgorbati
Days & Time: MO,TH 1:40pm-3:30pm
Credits: 1

This course examines diverse methodologies used in the creation and presentation of socially engaged public artwork. Utilizing interdisciplinary research and community collaboration, students will investigate local issues and explore real-world interventions that unlock the civic imagination. How can artistic approaches to social interaction develop conversations, raise

Embracing Difference — ANT2107.01

Instructor: Miroslava Prazak
Credits: 4
Why are cultures and societies so different, and simultaneously, so similar? This introductory course examines some of the theoretical and methodological approaches of anthropology in exploring human culture and society. We explore various ethnographic examples to develop an anthropological perspective on economy and politics, social organization, kinship and family life,

Endeavor Environmental Action Post Fellowship Class — APA4161.01

Instructor: Judith Enck
Credits: 1
Students who spent their field work term as Environmental Action fellows will meet as a cohort to report on their experiences to other students about their host organizations, what worked and what didn't work, and what they learned.  There will be focus on skills building that will support the students in their work to advance environmental justice and social justice

Endeavor Environmental Action Post-Fellowship Course — APA4161.01

Instructor: Alexis Goldsmith
Days & Time: TBA
Credits: 1

This is the post-fellowship course for students selected to participate in the Endeavor Environmental Action Fellowship Program. The class is designed to sharpen each student’s skills and capacities for success in their future work, and ultimately, to successfully advance environmental justice issues, address complex societal challenges,