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Term
Time & Day Offered
Level
Credits
Course Duration

The Politics of Pedro Almodóvar — SPA4603.01) (cancelled 6/3/2024

Spring 2025
Instructor: Sarah Harris
Credits: 4
Sometimes called apolitical or ahistorical, many of Pedro Almodóvar’s luscious films have met with consternation, if not distain, by Spanish critics. Yet Almodóvar leads the jury for the 2017 Cannes film festival. In fact, Spanish film scholar Paul Julian Smith notes that while “Pedro Almodóvar is now the most successful Spanish filmmaker of all time, whether that success is

The Politics of Soul: Music, Emotion, Embodiment — MHI4305.01

Spring 2021
Instructor: Joseph Alpar and Brian Michael Murphy
Credits: 2
How do various musical traditions seek to carry listeners toward a realm of emotional feeling and even to mystical experience?  From soul in American rhythm and blues, to tarab in Arab music, hüzün in Turkish music, saudade in Brazilian music, and duende in Spanish Flamenco, there are numerous concepts that describe
Music Society Culture and Thought

The Politics of Student Movements in the '60s — SCT2141.01

Spring 2020
Instructor: John Hultgren
Credits: 2
To most of you, the 1960’s might seem like ancient history. There wasn’t even social media! You might be surprised to find out that many of the problems confronted by the student movement during that time are the same as problems we see today. Although the student uprisings seemed focused on the Vietnam War, many other issues were part of the struggle: workers strikes,
Society Culture and Thought

The Post-Pandemic House — ARC4402.02

Fall 2020
Instructor: DSherefkin@bennington.edu
Credits: 4
The rapid and profound disruption to life prompted by COVID-19 will have lasting impacts on architecture and the built environment. Houses have become sites for both economic production and the education of children. We will examine alternative forms of domestic architecture from history, and from other cultures where multiple generations and multiple programs have co-existed.
Visual Arts Environment

The Power and Ethics of Photography — PHO2178.01

Spring 2026
Instructor: Farzana Wahidy
Days & Time: TU 8:30am-12:10pm
Credits: 4

This course delves into the influence and impact of photography by examining the works of iconic and contemporary photographers. Students will explore how photography has shaped visual culture and society, gaining a deeper understanding of its power as an artistic and documentary medium. Ethical considerations are central to the course, as

Photography

The Power and Ethics of Photography — APA4172.01) (cancelled 2/5/2025

Spring 2025
Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 4
This course delves into the influence and impact of photography by examining the works of iconic and contemporary photographers. Students will explore how photography has shaped visual culture and society, gaining a deeper understanding of its power as an artistic and documentary medium. Ethical considerations are central to the course, as students will analyze the
CAPA

The Power and Ethics of Photography — PHO2178.01

Fall 2025
Instructor: Farzana Wahidy
Days & Time: TU 8:30am-12:10pm
Credits: 4

This course delves into the influence and impact of photography by examining the works of iconic and contemporary photographers. Students will explore how photography has shaped visual culture and society, gaining a deeper understanding of its power as an artistic and documentary medium. Ethical considerations are central to the course, as students will analyze the

Photography

The Power of Art — APA2142.01

Fall 2016
Instructor: Souleymane Badolo
Credits: 1
Art has the power to help people in communities to communicate, to mobilize, to educate and to understand their living situation.  Art can help political movements find their voice, and connect people to planning visions for the future.   Beginning in 2014, protests in Burkina Faso organized against the current political dictatorship.  Life was very difficult for
CAPA

The Power of Art — APA2142.02

Spring 2018
Instructor: Souleymane Badolo
Credits: 2
Art has the power to help people in communities to communicate, to mobilize, to educate and to understand their living situation. Art can help political movements find their voice, and connect people to planning visions for the future. Beginning in 2014, protests in Burkina Faso organized against the current political dictatorship. Life was very difficult for the people.
CAPA

The Power of Art — APA2142.01

Spring 2018
Instructor: Souleymane Badolo
Credits: 2
Art has the power to help people in communities to communicate, to mobilize, to educate and to understand their living situation. Art can help political movements find their voice, and connect people to planning visions for the future. Beginning in 2014, protests in Burkina Faso organized against the current political dictatorship. Life was very difficult for the people.
CAPA

The Power of Art — APA2142.01

Spring 2017
Instructor: Dana Reitz
Credits: 1
Art has the power to help people in communities to communicate, to mobilize, to educate and to understand their living situation.  Art can help political movements find their voice, and connect people to planning visions for the future.  Beginning in 2014, protests in Burkina Faso organized against the current political dictatorship.  Life was very difficult for
CAPA

The Power of Image — SPA4305.01

Fall 2021
Instructor: Sarah Harris
Credits: 4
The Mexican photographers, Manuel Álvarez Bravo and Graciela Iturbide, and the Chilean documentary film director, Patricio Guzmán, have a common call: to document the impossible. In this course, we will explore the different ways in which each of these artists use images to capture and re-frame the complexity of their cultural heritage, as well as the beauty and intricacies of
Cultural Studies and Languages

The Power of Image — SPA4305.01

Fall 2024
Instructor: Lena Retamoso Urbano
Credits: 4
The Mexican photographers, Manuel Álvarez Bravo and Graciela Iturbide, and the Chilean documentary film director, Patricio Guzmán, have a common call: to document the impossible. In this course, we will explore the different ways in which each of these artists use images to capture and re-frame the complexity of their cultural heritage, as well as the beauty and intricacies of
Cultural Studies and Languages

The Problem of Sylvia Plath — LIT2122.02

Fall 2021
Instructor: Mark Wunderlich
Credits: 2
Sylvia Plath is one of the most widely-read and influential poets of the 20th century, yet her work has been read through the lens of her biography in ways that have serious consequences of interpretation. Knowing what we do about the life of this important artist, how can we read the poems and prose in ways that counter the received narratives of tragedy and self-destruction?
Literature

The Process and Ethics of Using Hacked and Leaked Data — CS4139.01

Spring 2024
Instructor: Michael Corey
Credits: 4
The advent of big data has also led to the advent of big data leaks. As the size of data leaks the ability to research, learn from, and report on these leaks has likewise become increasingly complicated. Beyond the technical ability to analyze this data, there are questions of cyber security when dealing with data of unknown provenance. Thirdly, there is the thorny question of
Science and Mathematics

The Prose Poem — LIT4280.01

Fall 2017
Instructor: Phillip Williams
Credits: 2
The prose poem challenges the very notion of genre—but what are the implications of this challenge and how does it reframe the perceived disciplinary limits of literature itself? Students will learn the history of the prose poem beginning in 19th-century France through its contemporary usage. Reading a book a week, there will be discussion about form and function, the nuance of
Literature

The Prose Poem — LIT4280.02

Fall 2016
Instructor: Michael Dumanis
Credits: 2
The prose poem challenges the very notion of genre—but what are the implications of this challenge and how does it reframe the perceived disciplinary limits of literature itself? Students will learn the history of the prose poem beginning in 19th-century France through its contemporary usage. Reading a book a week, there will be discussion about form and function, the nuance of
Literature

The Prose Poem — LIT4280.02

Spring 2022
Instructor: Phillip B. Williams
Credits: 2
The prose poem challenges the very notion of genre—but what are the implications of this challenge and how does it reframe the perceived disciplinary limits of literature itself? Students will learn the history of the prose poem beginning in 19th-century France through its contemporary usage. Reading a book a week, there will be discussion about form and function, the nuance of
Literature

The Prose Poem — LIT4280.01) (day/time updated as of 10/9/2023

Spring 2024
Instructor: Michael Dumanis
Credits: 2
Is a poem still a poem when it replaces line and stanza with sentence and paragraph? If so, what components are essential to a poem? What is the distinction between a prose poem and a flash fiction? In this course, we will read a wide range of paragraphs and book-length collections of paragraphs as we familiarize ourselves with the history and range of the prose poem. We will
Literature

The Psychology of Class — PSY4224.01

Fall 2016
Instructor: Ella Ben Hagai
Credits: 4
In recent years there has been renewed interest among psychologists regarding how individuals' socio-economic position shape their psychology. In this class we will explore how class background shapes people's emotions, tastes (for food, music or art), and political ideologies. We will study these questions using both classical sociological theories (Marx, Weber, and Bourdieu)
Society Culture and Thought

The Psychology of Feelings and the Social Construction of Emotions — PSY4105.01

Fall 2018
Instructor: Ella Ben Hagai
Credits: 4
This advanced course provides a general introduction to the basic science of feelings and emotions, including evolutionary, neurophysiological, and cognitive approaches. In addition to examining the psychological processes with which emotions are privately felt, we will examine the social construction of emotions. We will explore how culture, gender and class backgrounds shape
Society Culture and Thought

The Puppet Project — DRA4244.01

Spring 2025
Instructor: Tilly Grimes
Credits: 4
Part performance, part design, part construction, this class will center around the creation of characters, fabricating them, and then bringing them to life. We will also explore an overview of the history and use of puppets in storytelling and different forms of puppet performance. We will also look at different Puppetry practitioners practicing today. Although we will
Drama

The Question of Art in the Twentieth Century — AH2232.01

Spring 2022
Instructor: Carly Rudzinski
Credits: 4
What is art? This question proved central to the evolution of artistic practice in the West during the twentieth century. The push to define and redefine art was entangled with several other queries: What cannot be considered art? What does an artist do (or not do)? What (or who) is “modern”? What distinguishes art from life itself? Looking at the social histories from
Visual Arts

The Real Betty Parsons — VA4121.02

Fall 2018
Instructor: Anne Thompson
Credits: 2
Gallerist Betty Parsons was every bit as maverick as the Abstract Expressionist painters she so famously debuted. An artist in her own right and a lesbian, she championed women, gay and bisexual artists and other practitioners outside the white, macho midcentury scene. A reconsideration of this history shapes a course that positions Parsons within today’s discourse as a hybrid
Visual Arts

The Real Housewives of Lit — LIT2528.01

Fall 2023
Instructor: Manuel Gonzales
Credits: 4
Beginning with Medea and Lysistrata, we will look at various women, 'housewives' you might say (though I wouldn't, not to their faces) through literature, possibly moving into Taming of the Shrew and MacBeth, skipping ever so lightly into the 19th century to pop in on Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë, before moving firmly into the modern literature of the early- and mid- and
Literature