Cultural Studies and Languages

Course System Home All Areas of Study Cultural Studies and Languages

Select Filters and then click Apply to load new results

Term
Time & Day Offered
Level
Credits
Course Duration

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

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

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

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

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,

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

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

Paris on Screen — FRE4498.01

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro
Days & Time: MO 3:40pm-5:30pm & WE 4:10pm-6:00pm
Credits: 4

In this 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 urban planning and design as well the question of how urban communities and city dwellers react to increasing disconnectedness, anonymity, and solitude.

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

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,

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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,

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

Queer French — FRE4805.01

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro
Credits: 4
In this advanced course, we will examine French culture's engagement with questions of sexuality and gender, with a focus on authors, artists, theorists, and others who have questioned ideas of normative sexuality from the Middle Ages through the 21st century. Authors and texts to be studied may include Marie de France, Louise Labé, Madeleine de l’Aubespine, Montaigne,

Queer French — FRE4805.01

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro
Credits: 4
In this advanced course, we will examine French culture’s engagement with questions of sexuality and gender, with a focus on authors, artists, theorists, and others who have questioned ideas of normative sexuality from the Middle Ages through the 21st century. Authors and texts to be studied may include Marie de France, Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses soeurs, Montaigne,

Queer French (in English) — FRE2109.02

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro
Credits: 2
In this course, we will examine French culture’s engagement with questions of sexuality and gender, with a focus on authors, artists, theorists, and others who have questioned ideas of normative sexuality from the Middle Ages through the 21st century. Authors and texts to be studied may include Marie de France, Gabrielle d’Estrées et une de ses soeurs, Montaigne, l’Abbé de

Queer French (in English) — FRE2109.02

Instructor: Stephen Shapiro
Days & Time: MO 3:40pm-5:30pm & WE 4:10pm-6:00pm
Credits: 2

In this course, we will examine French culture’s engagement with questions of sexuality and gender, with a focus on authors, artists, theorists, and others who have questioned ideas of normative sexuality from the Middle Ages through the 21st century. Authors and texts to be studied may include Marie de France, Gabrielle d’Estrées et l'une de ses soeurs, Montaigne, l’Abbé de