Spring 2026 Course Search

Chemicals often get a bad rap, from headlines warning of "toxic chemicals" to marketing labels that boast "chemical-free or all natural" products. But what are we really afraid of? In this course, we’ll use chemophobia as a starting point to explore the fundamental principles of chemistry. Why do certain substances evoke fear, and are those fears grounded in science? Through a combination of lectures, discussions, and hands-on experiments, students will critically examine the chemical nature of  us, everyday substances, from food and water to cosmetics and cleaning agents.

This course delves into the interdisciplinary art of screendance, examining the mediatization of the moving body within cinematic and site-specific contexts. By exploring the dynamic collaboration between camera, body, and environment, students will study a range of methods used by film and video artists—both historical and contemporary—while also developing their own experimental approaches.

This 2-credit course will explore the use of medium format film, its purpose, benefits and drawbacks, and the appeal of photographing with a significantly larger film than 35mm. Students will learn about the history of medium format film, the versatility of its sizes that varies from camera to camera and how to enhance their photographic practice with its use. Most of the coursework will involve developing, photographing, printing digitally and in a darkroom, and scanning negatives made with medium format film.

This class is fundamentally an advanced rehearsal techniques class for actors and directors with a focus on physical sensory work. The questions investigated include: What is substitution and how can it help bring the relationships of a play to life? How do you create the physical, sensory world of the play? Where are you coming from when you enter a stage from the wings? How do you personalize and endow the set and props your character thinks of as real?

In this course, we will explore various projects that aim to connect people with their surroundings and communities.
We will also explore the strategies that various artists have implemented to increase their audiences and interest in the arts.
We will analyze and design projects that seek sustainability, diversification, and access to the experience of art and culture.

By evaluating environments we could design artistic projects that promote art, artistic education, and the promotion of cultural products as actions to build community, identity, and a creative economy.

Fundamentals of 2-D animation principles will be explored through drawing, from basic motion cycles to straight-ahead animation. Students will primarily work with wet/dry mediums on paper, with additional instruction in After Effects compositing workflow, and digital drawing. Weekly exercises will explore a variety of animation techniques to create short projects. While Screenings, critiques and demonstrations parallel regular viewings of student work.

Catastrophic events—droughts, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and landslides—are growing in frequency and intensity around the world. As more of the global population concentrates in urban areas, the nature and consequences of these natural hazards are taking on a distinct and often violent shape in today’s metropolises and megacities. This course investigates how urban life reshapes both the impact of disasters and our capacity to respond to them.

This course is an introduction to the theory of knowledge in the analytical tradition. We will engage with topics such as skepticism about the external world, the nature of belief, truth, and justification, as well as foundationalism and coherentism,, internalism versus externalism, along with other topics.

John Rawls (1921-2003) was arguably the most important and influential political philosopher of the twentieth century. His first major work, A Theory of Justice (1971) transformed the field of political philosophy and his ideas and arguments remain at the center of the philosophical debate on the question of justice. This course consists of a careful study of the main arguments in his early and late work as well as a consideration of some of the critical literature.