Spring 2026 Course Search

This spring semester course, taught each year by different members of the Music faculty, serves as a workshop and forum for seniors to develop, present, and receive feedback on their advanced work in Music. Senior projects may take many forms, reflecting the breadth of creative practice in Music; performances, installations, musical plays, recordings, research projects, publications, or interdisciplinary collaborations are all viable options.

The Voice Performance Intensive is an advanced voice technique course designed for experienced singers looking to elevate their vocal craft and take their performances to the next level. We will explore a diverse range of singing styles, including classical, contemporary, and other genres, enabling students to develop a versatile portfolio of repertoire. 

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 advanced Chinese course engages students in a deep exploration of China’s two most influential philosophical traditions—Confucianism (儒家) and Daoism (道家)—through direct engagement with authentic classical texts. We will read selections from The Analects (《论语》) by Confucius, The Daodejing (《道德经》) by Laozi, and the Zhuangzi (《庄子》), accompanied by the instructor’s own translations to facilitate comprehension of classical Chinese.

This course will examine the comic in French theatre, literature, politics, and film in order to answer a deceptively simple question: What makes us laugh? In theoretical readings we will consider whether laughter is a universal, cross-cultural function. Additionally, we will look at special, sub-genres of the comic, such as satire and parody, in order to question the relationship between comic genres and the real world. Does comedy seek to change the world or does it merely want to point to its foibles? Is it a progressive or conservative mode?

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.

The Voice Performance Intensive is an advanced voice course designed for experienced singers looking to elevate their vocal craft and take their performances to the next level. We will explore a diverse range of singing styles, including classical, contemporary, and other genres, enabling students to develop a versatile portfolio of repertoire. 

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.

Scholar and translator Elizabeth Gray traces the uncertain history of the ghazal in The Green Sea of Heaven: Fifty Ghazals from the Diwan of Hafiz: "Some believe that the classical Persian ghazal evolved from the nasib, the brief and often erotic prologue t

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.