Cultural Studies and Languages

Literature as Resistance: The works of Rosario Castellanos — SPA4304.01

Instructor: Rosario de Swanson

Credits: 4

Although Rosario Castellanos (1925-1974) is recognized as one of Mexico’s most important writers, she did not live to see the impact of her contributions to the feminist revolution of the latter half of the twentieth century, participate in the first Conferencia Mundial de la Mujer that took place in 1975 in Mexico City, or in the recent Encuentro Internacional de Mujeres que

Cultural Studies and Languages

L’Afrance: un livre/un film — FRE4607.02

Instructor: Noëlle Rouxel-Cubberly

Credits: 4

Vive l’Afrance! This film title (Gomis, 2001) summarizes the goal of this course: an exploration of the rich variety of shared and conflicting francophone identities. Constructed within or outside of France, the identities studied in this course will encompass West African, French, and/or Caribbean spaces. The discussion of notions such as « créolisation » and «

Cultural Studies and Languages

Making the Invisible, Visible: Creating from the Margins — SPA4306.01

Instructor: Lena Retamoso Urbano

Credits: 4

Cultural Studies and Languages

Modernizing the Nation: From the Edo Period to the Meiji Period — JPN4120.01

Instructor: Ikuko Yoshida

Credits: 4

During the Edo Period (1603-1868, Japan closed its doors to other countries for about two hundred fifty years, and this isolation helped Japan develop its own unique culture. It, however, ended in 1867 when Japanese culture was introduced to the Western world at an International Exposition in Paris. On the contrary to the Edo period, the next era, Meiji, brought rapid

Cultural Studies and Languages

Mother Figure and Motherly Figures in Italian Literature and Culture - Taught in English — ITA2117.01

Instructor: Barbara Alfano

Credits: 4

Cultural Studies and Languages Literature

Mouvements — FRE4610.01

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro

Days & Time: MO,TH 10:00am-11:50am

Credits: 4

This course will examine movement–travel, migration, and transition–in the French-speaking world. We’ll examine the travel tale as philosophical form (Candide), the sonnet, Orientalism, the graphic novels of Marjane Satrapi, films of Josephine Baker, queer movement in the work of Abdellah Taïa, the North Atlantic Triangle (Maboula Soumahoro), and the gender transition of

French

Mouvements — FRE4404.01

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro

Credits: 4

This course will examine movement--travel, migration, and transition--in the French-speaking world. We'll examine the travel tale as philosophical form (Candide), the sonnet, Orientalism, the graphic novels of Marjane Satrapi, queer movement in the work of Abdellah Taïa, the North Atlantic Triangle (Maboula Soumahoro), and the gender transition of Océan. Students will write a

Cultural Studies and Languages

Multilingualism and Cognition — PSY4249.01

Instructor: Anne Gilman

Days & Time: MO,TH 10:00am-11:50am

Credits: 4

How are language and thought connected, and does speaking multiple languages affect these connections? Most people have had the experience of struggling to come up with a particular word or phrase, sometimes recalling it after a substantial delay. This course will unpack the mental processes involved in that experience and explore the ways that cognitive

Cultural Studies and Languages Linguistics Psychology

Myths and Legends from the Spanish-Speaking World — SPA2113.01

Instructor: Lena Retamoso Urbano

Credits: 5

Students with little or no background in Spanish will learn the language through an immersion in the study of wide array of rural, urban, modern, and ancient folk tales from the Spanish-speaking world. An examination of Spanish and Latin American foundational narratives, as well as popular texts and cultural artifacts, will allow students to consider

Cultural Studies and Languages

Occhio all'Italia I: Italian Culture in Depth — ITA4217.01

Instructor: Barbara Alfano

Credits: 2

This course takes its name from an online magazine that students of Italian at Bennington produced each Spring between 2016 and 2019. Our class will look closely at several aspects of Italian culture and history, with particular attention to art. Students will cap the course with a research project and create a multimedia journalistic piece for Occhio all'Italia's last issue,

Cultural Studies and Languages

Occhio all'Italia II: Italian Culture in Depth — ITA4218.02

Instructor: Barbara Alfano

Credits: 2

This course builds on the preceding "Occhio all'Italia I." It takes its name from an online magazine that students of Italian at Bennington produced each Spring between 2017 and 2019. The class keeps its focus on Italian culture and history, with particular attention to art that we will explore with the help of 3D technology. Students will cap the course with a research project

Cultural Studies and Languages

Orientalism and Exoticism — FRE4808.02

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro

Credits: 2

This class will focus on how French and Francophone cultures have imagined and represented non-westerners and, in particular the civilization of the Middle East, the Maghreb, and Africa. We will study the visual arts, literature (Abdellah Taia and Maryse Condé), and film with a thematic focus on the issues of race and sexuality. Theoretical and critical texts will also inform

Cultural Studies and Languages

Paris on Screen — FRE4498.01

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro

Credits: 4

In this intermediate-low level course, we will study the representation of the city of Paris on film in order to examine modernityʹs challenges to tradition. In particular, we will focus on the question of how urban communities and city dwellers react to increasing disconnectedness, anonymity, and solitude. We will also examine contemporary urban planning and the repercussions

Cultural Studies and Languages

Paris on Screen Tradition and Modernity — FRE4498.01

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro

Credits: 4

In this intermediate-low level course, we will study the representation of the city of Paris on film in order to examine modernityʹs challenges to tradition. In particular, we will focus on the question of how urban communities and city dwellers react to increasing disconnectedness, anonymity, and solitude. Films may include Tanguy, La Haine, Chacun cherche son chat, Paris,

Cultural Studies and Languages

Paris on Screen: Tradition and Modernity — FRE4498.01

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro

Credits: 4

In this intermediate-low level course, we will study the representation of the city of Paris on film in order to examine modernityʹs challenges to tradition. In particular, we will focus on the question of how urban communities and city dwellers react to increasing disconnectedness, anonymity, and solitude. Films may include Tanguy, La Haine, Chacun cherche son chat, Paris,

Cultural Studies and Languages

Paris on Screen: Tradition and Modernity — FRE4498.01

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro

Credits: 4

In this intermediate-low level course, we will study the representation of the city of Paris on film in order to examine modernityʹs challenges to tradition. In particular, we will focus on the question of how urban communities and city dwellers react to increasing disconnectedness, anonymity, and solitude. We will also examine contemporary urban planning and the repercussions

Cultural Studies and Languages

Perceptions of Reality in 20th Century Latin American Literature — SPA4722.01

Instructor: Sarah Harris

Credits: 4

This advanced Spanish course is a study of the different mechanisms that representative Latin American authors of the 20th century use to create a particular way of perceiving reality. By altering perceptions of space and time, rethinking the limits of language, and exploring the inner world of the subject and the unconscious, these authors attempt to produce a new literary

Cultural Studies and Languages

Perceptions of Reality in 20th Century Latin American Literature — SPA4722.01

Instructor: Lena Retamoso Urbano

Credits: 4

This advanced Spanish course is a study of the different mechanisms that are representative of what Latin American authors of the 20th century use to create a particular way of perceiving reality. By altering perceptions of space and time, rethinking the limits of language, and exploring the inner world of the subject and the unconscious, these authors attempt to produce a new

Cultural Studies and Languages

Pop Culture in Taiwan — CHI4123.01

Instructor: Ginger Lin

Credits: 4

In this course, a selection of audio, video, and print media on pop music, food, fashion, and social media, among other aspects of popular culture In Taiwan, will serve as a source of authentic input for the study. Students will explore the role of pop culture in shaping modern Taiwanese and Chinese societies through in-class discussions while developing their competencies in

Cultural Studies and Languages

Pop Culture in Taiwan and China — CHI4123.01

Instructor: Ginger Lin

Credits: 4

Cultural Studies and Languages

Post-Mao Chinese Rock and Roll — CHI4511.01

Instructor: Ginger Lin

Days & Time: TU,FR 2:10pm-4:00pm

Credits: 4

This course examines the evolution of Chinese rock music in the post-Mao era, focusing on influential artists such as Cui Jian, Dou Wei, and Zuo Xiao Zu Zhou. Their lyrics not only reflect significant historical and social transformations in China after Mao but also capture the cultural shifts brought by economic reforms, the one-child policy, and the experiences of migrant

Chinese

Prima dell'_Amica geniale_: Elena Ferrante's Short Novels — ITA4613.01

Instructor: Barbara Alfano

Credits: 4

Elena Ferrante's novels are all written in the first-person. The narrator of her stories and their fictitious author weave a fabric in which they purposely overlap, suggest non-existent biographical references, lie to tell some truth, and ultimately consign to the reader a particular authorial profile as much as unforgettable female protagonists. This course explores the

Cultural Studies and Languages Literature

Prominent Works of Japanese Authors — JPN4713.01

Instructor: Ikuko Yoshida

Credits: 4

How many names of Japanese authors can you list? Do you know which Japanese authors won the Nobel Prize in literature? Early works of Japanese literature demonstrate strong influences from Chinese literature, and again Japanese literature was influenced by Western literature in the late-19th Century and early-20th Century. In this seventh term Japanese course, students will

Cultural Studies and Languages

Propaganda in Modern Chinese Culture — CHI4122.01

Instructor: Ginger Lin

Credits: 4

Whether on banners hung in public places or in shrill voices blaring from one of the millions of loudspeakers spread across the country, propaganda slogans have been a major aspect of the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to forge a modern socialist society. In this course, a selection of these slogans from the beginning of the communist era up to the present will be used as a

Cultural Studies and Languages

Propaganda in Modern Chinese Culture — CHI4603.01

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski

Credits: 4

From banners displayed in public spaces to the resounding messages broadcasted through millions of loudspeakers nationwide, propaganda slogans have played a pivotal role in the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to cultivate a modern socialist society. This course will delve into a curated selection of these slogans spanning from the early communist era to the present day,

Cultural Studies and Languages