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Origins of the English Novel — LIT4145.01

Fall 2015

Instructor: Annabel Davis-Goff

Days & Time: TBA

Credits: 4

The first English novel appeared more than a hundred years after the publication, and translation into English, of Don Quixote. Where did the English novel come from? And how did it develop? We will read the works of Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, and excerpts from those who came before them. Students will write two essays. Corequisite: Students are required to be in

Literature

Origins of the English Novel — Canceled

Spring 2015

Instructor: Annabel Davis-Goff

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

The first English novel appeared more than a hundred years after the publication (and translation into English) of Don Quixote. Where did the English novel come from? And how did it develop? We will read Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, among others. Students will write two essays.

Literature

Ornithology — BIO2208.01

Spring 2021

Instructor: Blake Jones

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

Discover birds like you’ve never seen or heard them before. This class takes an integrative approach to ornithology, as we will explore avian species from the perspective of human culture, evolution, natural history, development, ecology, conservation, physiology, genetics, behavior, functional morphology, and even quantum mechanics. This course will explore topics

Science and Mathematics

Ornithology (with Lab) — BIO2208.01

Spring 2027

Instructor: Blake Jones

Days & Time: M/Th 3:40PM-5:30PM, F 8:00AM-10:20AM (Lab)

Credits: 5

Discover birds like you’ve never seen or heard them before. This class takes an integrative approach to ornithology, as we will explore avian species from the perspective of evolution, natural history, development, ecology, conservation, physiology, genetics, behavior, functional morphology, and even quantum mechanics.

Biology

Ornithology (with Lab) — BIO2208.01

Spring 2024

Instructor: Blake Jones

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

Science and Mathematics

Other People's Worlds — ANT4129.02

Fall 2020

Instructor: MPrazak@bennington.edu

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century a European based world-economy came into existence. Fueled by the philosophy of mercantilism, traders followed, and sometimes were, explorers seeking riches in the lands discovered in the search for trade routes. The resulting contact between cultures led to fundamental transformations of all the societies and cultures involved.

Society Culture and Thought

Other People’s Worlds — ANT4129.01

Spring 2024

Instructor: Miroslava Prazak

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

Society Culture and Thought Black Studies

Other People’s Worlds — ANT4129.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Miroslava Prazak

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century a European based world-economy came into existence. Fueled by the philosophy of mercantilism, traders followed, and sometimes were, explorers seeking riches in the lands "discovered" in the search for trade routes. The resulting contact between cultures led to fundamental transformations of all the societies and cultures

Society Culture and Thought

Otherness in Performance — DRA2218.01

Spring 2014

Instructor: Jean Randich

Days & Time:

Credits: 2

This course examines dramatic texts that thematize otherness as a concern. Why has difference served as a compelling way of defining the normative? What role does stereotype play? How do artists of color respond to the dominant culture and create alternate identifications? We will consider plays, films, and musicals that feature the representation of difference in gender, race,

Drama

Otherness in Performance — DRA2218.01

Spring 2017

Instructor: Jean Randich

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

This course examines dramatic texts and films that thematize “otherness” as a concern. How has “difference” served as a compelling way of delimiting the normative? What role does stereotype play? How do artists of color, gender, and other cultures respond to the dominant culture to create alternate identifications? We will consider plays, films, and works of art that feature

Drama

Our Chemical World — CHE2119.01

Fall 2024

Instructor: Fortune Ononiwu

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

Chemistry is all around us, shaping the world we live in and influencing our daily lives in fascinating ways. Have you ever wondered about the chemical compounds found in plants or fungi? Have you wondered what's in your drinking water or household cleaners? In this course, we will explore the fundamental principles of chemistry while delving into these questions and more.

Science and Mathematics

Our Curated World: Seeing a Trend Through the Lens of Tradition — VA2243.01

Fall 2019

Instructor: Anne Thompson

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

From bookstore shelves to restaurant menus, a widening swath of contemporary life seems to involve, even require, the hand of a curator. So what exactly does it mean to BE a curator? Where did the profession of curator originate and how has it evolved? This introductory class considers historical examples of acquisition and display from the sixteenth century to today;

Visual Arts

Our Curated World: Seeing a Trend through the Lens of Tradition — VA2243.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Anne Thompson

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

From art biennials to restaurant menus, a widening swath of contemporary culture seems to involve, even require, the hand of a curator. So what exactly does it mean to BE a curator? How and why did this activity develop into a profession and from a profession into a trend? Where did the role of curator originate and how has it evolved over time? To answer these questions, this

Visual Arts

Our Monsters, Ourselves — SPA4715.01

Spring 2015

Instructor: Sarah Harris

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

"We live in a time of monsters," writes Jeffrey Jerome Cohen in Monster Theory. As beings who mix categories or defy categorization altogether, monsters may be apt emblems for a postmodern age, yet it would be a mistake to imply that monsters are a creation of postmodernity. The monstrous figures that dominate popular contemporary culture come from a long artistic tradition,

Languages

Our Monsters, Ourselves — SPA4715.01

Fall 2013

Instructor: Sarah Harris

Days & Time: TBA

Credits: 4

'We live in a time of monsters,' writes Jeffrey Jerome Cohen in Monster Theory. As beings who mix categories or defy categorization altogether, monsters may be apt emblems for a postmodern age, yet it would be a mistake to imply that monsters are a creation of postmodernity. The monstrous figures that dominate popular contemporary culture come from a long artistic tradition,

Languages

Our Monsters, Ourselves — SPA4715.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Sarah Harris

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

"We live in a time of monsters," writes Jeffrey Jerome Cohen in Monster Theory. By mixing categories or defying categorization altogether, monsters may be apt emblems for a postmodern age, yet it would be a mistake to imply that monsters are a creation of postmodernity. The monstrous figures that dominate popular contemporary culture come from a long artistic tradition,

Languages

Out of Dark Noise: The History of Black Documentary Poetics — LIT4357.01

Spring 2022

Instructor: Carly Rudzinski

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

“Dark noise,” as Black video artist Lawrence Andrews calls it, is an alternate truth-building system. The idea of dark noise indicates a sort of failed consensual reality, or in Audre Lorde’s terminology, a “chaos of knowledge.” Dark noise is the area outside of the state-sanctioned truth that the justice system, for instance, relies upon. As such, we will use the phrase “dark

Literature

Out of the Ordinary: Costume Design for Fantasy — DRA4256.01

Fall 2021

Instructor: Charles Schoonmaker

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

How do you design clothes for a world that that does not exist? In this class we will be doing that with a series of projects. Worlds may be extraterrestrial, riffs on human history in the manner of Game of Thrones, or purely an invention of the author. We will explore methodology to find inspiration in the worlds of art, science, costume history, and our own imaginations.

Dance Drama

Out of the Ordinary: Costume Design for Fantasy — DRA4126.01

Spring 2018

Instructor: Charles Schoonmaker

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

Drama

Out of the Woods: Advanced Reading in Conservation and Ecology — BIO4191.01

Fall 2026

Instructor: Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie

Days & Time: WE 2:10pm-4:00pm

Credits: 2

The idea of old growth forests evokes romantic notions of "wild" and "natural" landscapes, especially in Vermont where our settler-colonial history includes rapid and widespread deforestation for logging and agriculture. How do ecologists identify "old growth" and what lessons about ecological structure, function, and processes can we learn from these

Environment Biology

Outsiders Within: Pariahs, Parasites, and Other Others — POL4208.01

Spring 2016

Instructor: Eileen Scully

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

Who counts--and who does not count--as a rights-bearing member of a community? What criteria do communities rely upon to determine membership? These questions about inclusion, exclusion, and membership are familiar to students of the social sciences. In this course, we will move beyond the familiar categories of insiders and outsiders to investigate the “outsiders within,”

Society Culture and Thought

Packaging the Body: The History of Fashion — DRA2223.01

Fall 2015

Instructor: Charles Schoonmaker

Days & Time: TBA

Credits: 4

This class will examine the history of fashion, primarily in the western world, from ancient to modern. The class will be oriented towards the use of historic costume by costume designers. Students will explore art works illustrative of the period styles and the interpretation of those styles by designers, often in films. We will also contextualize clothing as a part of social

Drama

Packaging the Body: The History of Fashion — DRA2223.01

Fall 2013

Instructor: Charles Schoonmaker

Days & Time: TBA

Credits: 4

This class will examine the history of fashion, primarily but not exclusively in the western world. The class will be oriented towards the use of historic costume by costume designers. Students will explore art works illustrative of the period styles and the interpretation of those styles by designers. Corequisites: Dance or Drama lab assignment.

Drama

Paganism — HIS4107.02

Fall 2015

Instructor: Stephen Higa

Days & Time: TBA

Credits: 2

When the Roman Empire became Christian early in the 4th century, traditional Greco-Roman religions as well as the various local and indigenous religions of Europe and the Mediterranean were all lumped into one new category of difference and otherness: the pagan. In this seven-week course, we will examine the creation of "paganism" by the early medieval Christian

Society Culture and Thought

Paint to Motions — MA2108.01

Fall 2021

Instructor: Sue Rees

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

Paint to motions an introductory course that explores animation with as little digital, technical involvement as possible. It is catered to those who are curious about the medium but put off by the technicalities. Working with the most immediate methods of giving movement to still images. We will focus mostly on traditional animation, namely hand-drawn animation, stop motion

Visual Arts