Society Culture and Thought

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Term
Time & Day Offered
Level
Credits
Course Duration

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,

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,

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,

Emotion and the Brain — PSY2117.01

Instructor: Harlan Fichtenholtz
Credits: 4
How do people understand end express emotions? How do emotions change brain function? Does emotional information make us more or less able to focus and engage with the world? The goal of this course is to understand the intricate ways in which the brain processes and expresses emotions. We will take a neuroscientific approach to understanding the interrelationship between

Encountering the Abenaki Nation — ANT2212.01

Instructor: Miroslava Prazak
Credits: 2
Bennington College is located on the ancestral lands of the Abenaki, the People of the Dawnland. How do we come to know about their lives, their culture, society and their history? This course offers an exploration of sources and knowledge, of discovery and of ways of seeing. Using films, stories, archaeological evidence and scholarly texts we will begin to explore and

Endangered Psychotherapies — PSY2170.01

Instructor:
Credits: 4
Health insurance companies and Federal regulators are moving the American health care system--including psychotherapy--toward "evidence-based treatment." For psychotherapy, that means a movement in the direction of short-term behaviorally-focused treatments, which can be manualized and evaluated quickly and cleanly. This movement thus imperils a rich tradition of

English(es) Past, Present and Future — LIN4107.01

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 4
The intent of this course is to equip students which the knowledge and skills necessary to critically evaluate oft-encountered depictions of English as a “global” or “modern” language, and to contextualize their personal interactions with English by integrating knowledge of how it has existed at earlier points in time, the diversity of ways in which it exists presently, and the

Environment and Public Action — APA2122.01

Instructor: David Bond
Days & Time: MO,TH 1:40pm-3:30pm
Credits: 4

Today it is clear that the environment matters. In activism and scholarship and public policy, the environment has become a potent (if sometimes obligatory) point of reference. Less attention, however, has focused on the emergence of the environment itself as a converging field of action for advocacy, science, and statecraft. In this seminar, we

Environmental Political Theory — ENV4240.01

Instructor: John Hultgren
Credits: 4
What is nature? Who gets to speak for nature? What is the institutional arrangement, political economic system, and form of political community best suited to cultivating a more sustainable relationship with the more-than-human realm? These questions are most effectively grappled with by putting political theory into conversation with environmental studies. In cultivating this

Environmental Political Theory — SCT4153.01

Instructor: John Hultgren
Credits: 4
What is nature? Who gets to speak for nature? What is the institutional arrangement, political economic system, and form of political community best suited to cultivating a more sustainable relationship with the more-than-human realm? These questions are most effectively grappled with by putting political theory into conversation with environmental studies. In cultivating this

Environmental Political Theory — POL4240.01

Instructor: John Hultgren
Credits: 4
What is nature? Who gets to speak for nature? What is the institutional arrangement, political economic system, and form of political community best suited to cultivating a more sustainable relationship with the more-than-human realm?  These questions are best grappled with by putting political theory into conversation with environmental studies. In cultivating this

Environmental Political Theory: Climate, Coronavirus, and the Commons — POL4258.02

Instructor: John Hultgren
Credits: 4
What is nature? Who gets to speak for nature? What is the institutional arrangement, political economic system, and form of political community best suited to cultivating a more sustainable relationship with the more-than-human realm? These questions are most effectively grappled with by putting political theory into conversation with environmental studies. The first half of

Epistemic Justice — PHI2162.01

Instructor: Catherine McKeen
Days & Time: TU,FR 10:30am-12:20pm
Credits: 2

How does one’s social positionality affect one’s status as a knower? Who is heard? Who is believed? This seven-week course is focused on questions of justice and power in relation to knowledge. We will engage with recent work in social epistemology—philosophical theories of belief and knowledge—with an emphasis on feminist epistemologies, anti-racist epistemologies, and

Essays of Walter Benjamin — VA4235.02

Instructor: Anne Thompson
Credits: 2
The works of German philosopher and cultural theorist Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) endure as sources of fascination, inspiration and critical reflection across disciplines. With a focus on his significance for artists and curators, this seminar looks at selections from Benjamin’s famous and lesser-known writing, from his seminal essay “The Work of Art in the Age of

Existentialism and Phenomenology — PHI2128.01

Instructor: Karen Gover
Credits: 4
Phenomenology is the philosophical study of the structures of human experience, whereas existentialism is the study of human existence. These two movements intersect and overlap in the history of philosophy. This course undertakes a survey of these movements and their central concepts as they are found in the writings of such thinkers as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger,

Experimental Sound Practices — MSR2123.01) (cancelled 5/6/2024

Instructor: Senem Pirler
Credits: 4
In this introductory course, students will expand their understanding of music by delving into experimental sound practices. During this course, students will create sound compositions,  electroacoustic pieces, and performances/installations. The topics will include soundscape composition, binaural sound recording,  introduction to modular synthesis,

Experimental Sound Practices — MSR2123.01

Instructor: Senem Pirler
Credits: 4
In this introductory course, students will expand their understanding of music by delving into experimental sound practices. During this course, students will create sound compositions,  electroacoustic pieces, and performances/installations. The topics will include soundscape composition, binaural sound recording,  introduction to modular synthesis,

Explorations in Public History — HIS4106.01

Instructor: Eileen Scully
Credits: 4
This class introduces students to the fundamentals of Public History, meaning history that is generated for wide audiences through collaborations with communities, stakeholders, and professional academics. Working closely with the independent Village School in North Bennington, and various guest specialists, students will develop a working knowledge of Public History, and gain

Explorations in Public History — HIS4106.01

Instructor: Eileen Scully
Credits: 4
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of Public History, meaning history generated for wide general audiences through collaborations among community activists, historians, museum professionals, artists, preservationists, archivists, and policymakers. Public History is an umbrella for the fascinating universe of museums, landmarks, historic sites, memorials,

Explorations in Public History — Canceled

Instructor: Eileen Scully
Credits: 4
This class introduces students to the fundamentals of Public History, meaning history that is generated for wide audiences through collaborations with communities, stakeholders, and professional academics. Through student-led discussions and short weekly assignments, students will develop a working knowledge of Public History, its scope, controversies and opportunities. A major

Exploring the World through Research — ANT4238.01

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 4
How do social scientists gather primary data for the study of social life? This workshop course provides an opportunity for students to learn and practice the fundamental non-positivist research techniques necessary to study of social phenomena, namely interviewing, participant observation, and focus group discussions. Workshops and field projects will provide

Exploring the World through Research — ANT4238.01

Instructor: Miroslava Prazak
Days & Time: TBA
Credits: 4
How do social scientists gather primary data for the study of social life? This workshop course provides an opportunity for students to learn and practice the fundamental non-positivist research techniques necessary to study of social phenomena, namely interviewing, participant observation, and focus group discussions. Workshops and field projects will provide the opportunity

Exploring the World Through Research — ANT4238.01

Instructor: Miroslava Prazak
Credits: 4
How do social scientists gather primary data for the study of social life? This workshop course provides an opportunity for students to learn and practice the fundamental non-positivist research techniques necessary to study of social phenomena, namely interviewing, participant observation, and focus group discussions. Workshops and field projects will provide the opportunity

Fake Revolution: Media Culture and Hollywood's Insurrection Fantasy — FV4331.01

Instructor: Jen Liu
Credits: 2
In this course, we will explore Hollywood's fixation with fictional revolutions as depicted in big budget sci fi and fantasy TV and films throughout the 20th and 21st century, often unified by themes such as the triumph of the underdog, traumatic but narratively low-stakes sacrifices, and totalitarian overlords who bear superficial resemblance to real world geopolitical powers,