English

This course examines the study of preferences and experimental aesthetics within its historical context, the main themes of neuroesthetics and topics of debate in the field, and the methodologies used in the empirical study of aesthetics. The course discusses topics including the definitions of art, empirical aesthetics, Darwin and evolutionary perspectives, sensory systems , reward systems, scenes and landscapes, motion, color, faces and body, and current debates and future developments. The course requires basic knowledge of the foundations of cognitive psychology, of perception, and of the neural basis of behavior.

In this course, students learn about various research tools, such as participant observation and qualitative interviewing. Students learn how to take field notes and are introduced to various forms of interviewing, such as the structured interview, the in-depth interview, focus groups, and life history interviews. Taking field notes and interviewing are practiced in and outside of the classroom. Moreover, students are guided through the process of crafting a feasible research question and the appropriate design for future studies they conduct. The research questions provide the basis for students' investigations. What is to be investigated is entirely up to the student(s). However, they are provided with guidance in the formulation of their topics. In this course, students have to conduct at least one interview, thus they need to have access to a tape recorder and/or video camera. This is a time and labor-intensive skills training, especially once the data collection has begun. Most of the required work is done outside of the class setting. Students are expected to work independently and should count on having to invest an extra two to four hours per week in interviewing, transcribing the interviews, and working on the data analysis. This course is for students with a background or sincere interest in sociology, anthropology, and/or cultural studies.

This course provides a study of the principal aspects of language acquisition, particularly as it relates to the case of second languages, examining the main theories of language acquisition while focusing particularly on English as a first and second language. Topics covered include: input, interaction, and output-- language as a generator of second languages; acquisition in natural and formal contexts; the language learner-- individual variables and the age factor; acquisition and communication strategies-- pragmatics and interaction in English as a second language; research methodology in second language acquisition.

Cinema dance is an intensive workshop to make a short film. The practicum is offered over four intensive days under the supervision of FAMU faculty. Entering the practicum with an explored given theme, students (in teams of five) proceed through all stages to the production of a 5-minute narrative film. Stages include preparation of screenplay under mentorship supervisor, creating shot list, rehearsing actors, receiving instruction on technical equipment, shooting on location, and the post-production processes of editing and creating a soundtrack. Every phase of their work is carried out under the supervision of faculty mentors, and the support of FAMU production staff.

David Lewis (1941-2001) was one of the most important philosophers of the 20th Century. He made significant contributions to philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of science, decision theory, epistemology, meta-ethics and aesthetics, and most significantly to philosophy of mind and metaphysics. Despite the wide range of issues addressed in Lewis' work there is a unifying method and systematicity. This course provides an overview of Lewis' contributions by focusing on some of his key writings on various topics such as modal metaphysics, human supervienience, analytic functionalism, counterfactuals, counterpart theory, de se content, contextualism about knowledge, scorekeeping in a language game, etc. The course is oriented around a single philosopher and his work, but attention is also given to the connections between Lewis' philosophy and the enduring problems of traditional philosophy.

This course is a thematic introduction to the major artistic and cultural trends of East Asia, with a focus on the history of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese art. We study major developments and issues in the art of each culture, discussing mutual influences and cross-cultural artistic flows, as well as the many cultural and artistic differences between cultures in the region. Major monuments of East Asian art will serve as our primary evidence. We focus on how to look at works of art and architecture in an art historically-informed way, how to articulate what our visual responses might mean, and how to begin answering some of the questions our observations of the objects may raise. Our goal is to enable you to better appreciate, analyze, evaluate, and interpret works of art, both those that seem familiar at first glance and those that do not. In addition to becoming familiar with major works of art in weekly slide lectures, you are expected to develop, through weekly readings and discussion, an understanding of the various approaches major scholars in the field of art history and East Asian studies have developed to examine them. You are expected to evaluate and try out some of these methods in your own research, written work and class discussion. The course is divided into three discrete sections that focus respectively on China, Korean, and Japan. Although these three regions engaged in extensive cultural interchanges during the period of time covered by this course, each also developed its own artistic styles and forms. Discussions of these cross-cultural interactions are constant subtheme, especially as our shared understanding grows over the course. Whether the aims of their creators were philosophical, spiritual, political, social, economic, or purely aesthetic, we seek to better understand them, as well as the context in which they were acquired and cherished, the uses to which these monuments may have been put, and the grounds for both their original and subsequent appreciation. Thus, the goals of this course include developing visual and historical tools you can use outside the confines of this class to explore art and visual culture.