Fall 2026

This course explores the broad field of sustainable agriculture. This class consists of a series of field trips, meeting with a cross-section of local producers ranging from organic vegetable farms, mushroom cultivation, livestock, flower farms. Through these field trips, readings, and in class discussion, students will explore pathways to creating sustainable

This course provides its students with a deep and expansive exploration of the field of psychology. As a diverse field of study, psychology is broadly defined as the study of human behavior. Psychology has numerous sub-areas of study that take different research approaches to examine biological, social, and cultural factors and how they influence behavior, mental processes,

This foundational class covers modes of reasoning used in quantitative sciences and mathematics. While learning the art of mathematical modeling, i.e. translating the physical systems/real-life situations into mathematics, we will apply problem solving and practice effective communication of mathematics. This process involves isolating the essential variables and

This course is an introductory level print media and drawing class. Students will learn about relief printmaking through demonstrations of techniques, hands-on experience, and critiques. Techniques include but are not limited to wood cut and linoleum cut. With this simple process, we will be able to explore color printing in depth. This course is also an

This course is designed for students with no prior string instrument experience. Admission is on a first come, first served basis. Classes will be one on one, individual lessons.

Daily practice  of 10 to 15 minutes is expected, in order for students to become familiar and comfortable with the basic mechanics of playing viola.

Experience with reading

This high-intermediate Japanese course explores the vibrant world of J-pop as a powerful reflection of Japanese society, identity, and cultural transformation. Far beyond catchy melodies, J-pop serves as a living archive of Japan’s evolving values, youth culture, gender roles, technological advancements, and international influence.

A practicum in playing and hearing the gamelan, the Central Javanese percussion orchestra. Students will learn about court and local traditions of Indonesia while playing classic works of karawitan (loosely translated as “weaving”), the multilayered repertoire of Central Java. Weekly rehearsals will focus on navigating the intricate levels of irama

This course recognizes the essential role that the arts and culture play in a healthy democracy. Arts and culture invite us to experience perspectives and ways of life different from our own; they shape conversations about freedom, equal rights and other values that are at the core of American society; and they help us engage with the world in new and important ways.

"Live forever!" is the chosen mantra of the louche, monied and relentlessly insular group of Classics students at the center of Donna Tartt's now classic literary suspense novel The Secret History. Under the influence of their classics professor Julian Morrow--a "divine" with special status on the campus of Hampden College, a dark mirror-image of our own campus-

In this course, students will examine the building blocks which make up the interlocking systems of language and observe how those systems are enacted and granted layers of meaning through social practice. Beyond developing an understanding of the basic mechanics of sound systems, word-meaning relations, and the expression of grammatical values in languages of the world, we

Students with little or no Spanish will learn the language through an immersion in Latin American painting. While there will be some discussion of standard tactics such as stylistic nuances and artists’ biographies, it is expected that we will rapidly develop sufficient linguistic ability to focus on movements, ranging from the republican art of nation

The class will be both looking at abstraction from quilts, to architectural patterns, to botanical structures as well as more figurative based work. The class will include a mixture of creating assemblages in a variety of means and materials, and using both digital and analogue means. Objects will be cut out digitally as well

Carl Friedrich Gauss wrote: "The study of Euler's works will remain the best school for the different fields of mathematics, and nothing else can replace it." The thesis of this class is that this is still true today. Leonhard Euler's (1707–1783) collected works run to 81 volumes and over 35,000 pages, the publication only having been (mostly) completed in 2022. Most of

This course will focus on reading and analyzing a variety of autobiographical writing forms as well as perfecting your written French through creative autobiographical writing. Literary readings will offer both a critical perspective on a wide variety of autobiographical genres as well as models for

Together with calculus, linear algebra is one of the foundations of higher-level mathematics and its applications. This is NOT just the algebra you know from high school. There are several perspectives one can take on linear algebra: it is a method for handling large systems of linear equations, it is a theory of linear geometry (including in dimensions larger than three),

This 2-credit course will introduce the use of large format cameras and explore the 4x5 film format to analyze the differences between this format and the smaller ones. Students will be using pinhole cameras, 4x5 field cameras, 4x5 monorail cameras, and some extra tools that the photography area has dedicated for large format photography.

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 texts studied in this course will encompass West African, French, and/or Caribbean spaces. The discussion of notions such as « créolisation » will allow students to

Mallet Percussion Ensemble offers an environment for students to explore several mallet keyboard instruments, including the marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, and African balafon. MPE's coursework is designed to link music theory, improvisation, and composition through the bi-weekly practice of playing scales, arpeggios, modes, and chord progressions while

Beginning, intermediate and advanced group lessons on the mandolin will be offered. Students will learn classical technique on the mandolin and start to develop a repertoire of classical and traditional folk pieces. Simple song sheets with chords, tablature, and standard notation, chord theory, and scale work will all be used to further skills. History of the Italian origins

This class will examine contemporary cconflicts through the lens of complex systems. The class will include a 16 hour training in Mediation and Negotiation skills. Through readings, discussion, exercises and role-plays, the class will examine and deconstruct the complexities of current democratic and environmental issues related to local, national and global governance, We

In this class we will explore the practice of meditation as a physical and mental training exercise and

“If you are really doing it, you don’t have time to watch yourself doing it.” Sanford Meisner was an actor and founding member of the Group Theater. He went on to become a master teacher of acting who sought to give students an organized approach to the creation of truthful behavior on stage within the imaginary circumstances of a play. This class focuses on

This course is recommended for all students considering working in sculpture and interested in mild steel design/fabrication methods. It is open to anyone with a curiosity about materials and building processes. There are fundamental introductions to gas, arc, electric welding, forging, fabrication techniques like cutting and grinding

A seminar in analyzing the diverse streams of musical minimalism. We'll look at minimalism's conceptual roots in the 1960s, and trace influences from the visual arts, as well as early works of Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Fluxus, Cage, and the UK's Scratch Orchestra. The seminar will combine on-the-score and aural analysis, contrasting open score,

Modern Guitar is a one on one private lesson.  Occasionally if two students are about the same level the class will accommodate two students at a time.

It is expected that a firm grasp of all the concepts taught in Beginning and Intermediate Guitar are fully understood.<