English

The audio-visual essay (or video essay or videographic criticism of videographic film and moving image studies) is a prominent 21st Century methodology and form of pedagogy and research in film and media studies. With its roots in a variety of moving image practices, from video installation to fan vids, the audio-visual essay has emerged to occupy a range of forms (supercuts, desktop documentaries, deformative, poetic, explanatory, to name a few) and is produced by a range of practitioners in differing contexts. This course explores this variety while foregrounding what the audio-visual essay offers the film and media scholar, in both theory and practice. Students engage with key audio-visual essays and scholarship in the field as well as creating their own audio-visual work in a series of practice-based workshops. No prior experience with video editing or video essay making is necessary.

This course explores the formation and development of educational thought throughout Western history. It analyzes the influence that the rise of modern democracy - and the social, philosophical, and political transformations it entailed - had on our vision of education. As the Church's authority gradually declined in the eighteenth century with the emergence of Enlightenment ideas, new ways of thinking about the role of the state and the purpose of education emerged. Education became increasingly tied to political life and was seen as a central element for the development and stability of modern democratic societies. A central theme throughout the course, therefore, concerns the political function of education: Who should control education? Why should the state intervene? For whom is it intended? The course studies the way various thinkers have thought about the purpose of education, whether it is to shape moral character, to prepare citizens for civic life, to train workers for economic productivity or to foster personal emancipation and freedom. By studying the long and complex history of educational thought in its political and social contexts, this course offers an invaluable training for thinking critically and flexibly about the political challenges of our own time.

This course introduces undergraduate students to the labs in the chemistry department. Through the lab visit experience as a small group, students learn the diverse aspects of research in cutting-edge chemistry. Groups will visit 9 labs. Students produce two term-reports and a summary regarding lab visits. 

This course introduces key concepts and theories in organizational behavior (OB), examining human behavior and behavioral issues in organizations from both individual and organizational perspectives. Topics include perception and decision-making, motivation, team dynamics, leadership, power and influence, and organizational culture. Through application of OB theories, the course develops the ability to critically and creatively analyze management issues at the individual, team, and organizational levels, evaluate risks and benefits of alternative solutions, and apply concepts to real-world business problems. Emphasis is placed on clear and professional communication, effective functioning in multicultural organizational settings, and reflection on personal strengths and areas for development within organizational contexts.

This course introduces Bayesian data analysis using the WinBUGS software package and R. Topics include the Bayesian paradigm, hypothesis testing, point and interval estimates, graphical models, simulation and Bayesian inference, diagnosing MCMC, model checking and selection, ANOVA, regression, GLMs, hierarchical models and time series. Classical and Bayesian methods and interpretations are compared.

This course explores Italian cinema and the evolution of Italy’s film industry through the critical analysis of key genre categories and filmmaking modes (neorealism, auteur cinema, comedy, spaghetti western, the thriller, political film, migration cinema). These genre categories are represented by a series of films that span from the post-war period to today. Students are introduced to the critical concepts that underpin film analysis, while also developing a strong understanding of genre theory. Through close readings of individual films the course explores how genre categories and conventions can be used to discuss issues of social change and progress throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. In particular, it examines questions of national identity, gender representation and the reception of popular genres.

This interdisciplinary course examines the biological, psychological, social, and cultural dimensions of sleep and circadian rhythms. We will investigate the science behind sleep: its functions, regulation, and role in health, cognition, and emotion.  

In parallel, the course will explore how sleep has been represented in literature, visual art, music, and film. We will consider how artists and thinkers have interpreted dreams, memory, insomnia, and altered states of consciousness, and how these portrayals reflect and inform our evolving understanding of the sleeping mind. 

Topics include What Is Sleep, and Why Does It Matter; The Physiology of Sleep; Circadian Rhythms and Biological Timekeeping; Sleep and the Brain; Dreams: Science and Symbolism; Sleep and Society; Sleep Disorders; Sleep in Art, Music, and Film 

There is no prerequisite for this course; however, a basic understanding of neuroscience, biology, and physiology concepts will be beneficial for students. 

This course covers advanced theories of International Relations. The course explores central questions of international politics by examining the different traditions of thought about the character and nature of "the international." The course goes beyond realist and liberal theories to explore a counter-history of the theory on international politics and covers topics such as Marxism, feminism, post-colonialism, international political sociology, migration, environmental studies, and critical approaches to the international order and its institutional structures. The course examines how "the international" was constructed as a field of study throughout capitalist modernity, and how these theories are connected to the practice of international relations. It ends by relating international theory to contemporary events, such as the global war on terror and the rise of the far-right.

This course examines the cultural reality of being human, as well as the distinct evolutionary journey (within the Order Primates) to become human.