Fall 2024

Over the course of the semester, we will study representative films from different eras, cultures, and genres. Through discussions of films and readings as well as written assignments, we will dig into topics including film sound theory, the history of film sound technology, and sociocultural and historical contexts for trends in film sound styles and aesthetics. The course will develop critical thinking and listening skills that are unique to film sound. Given the global ubiquity of film, these skills will benefit students as a form of cultural literacy.

Exploration of the ethical, emotional, psychological, and cultural significance of art and aesthetic experience, with emphasis on contemporary issues.

The course is an elective that examines human behaviors in relation to race and gender from psychological, sociological, and technological perspectives. These perspectives will be viewed in terms of contemporary societies throughout the African diaspora. At the end of the term, students will demonstrate their knowledge by creating a presentation for an adverse audience while taking a supportive position of a social issue relating to race and/or gender.

What really makes a story “Jewish”? The international Jewish short stories studied in this course are immersed in the Jewish experience yet many of these authors reject the “Jewish author” label. Their voices give us insight into the world in which they live and the ideas that live in their imagination. The themes in these stories are universal in our experience as Jews. Their word choice, their characters and the words they speak, and the persona who tells the story all paint a picture of a theme, an idea, the thoughts they have. Students will learn about the surprisingly diverse Jewish settings and environments that enliven the Jewish short story and analyze the language the characters use and the narrator uses to establish the theme of the story. In this way, students will assess how an author can use this genre as a way to reflect on what makes up Jewish identity. As we will see, the Jewish experience in modernity and the conflicts and challenges it has struggled with has been the subject of a significant body of literature. We will read and discuss representative works of fiction by Jewish writers from the late nineteenth century to the present, translated from various languages including Hebrew, Yiddish, English, German, and Russian, among others. Building on the literary techniques studied in this course, students will be given the option to write either traditional analytic essays or develop their own original short story, to explore their sense of the Jewish experience over time and space.

This class draws on literary narratives and film to discuss the relationship between the Zionist dream of Homeland and the marginal figure of the Palestinian, both as perceived external threat and as the “Other” within Israeli society. Alongside these we will consider wand compare works written by Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel in response to Occupation, human rights abuses, and oppression. The core question we will address concerns the writer’s empathic response to the plight of the Other: Palestinians, the Arab minority within Israel, and Israeli Jews themselves. This course focuses on the artist’s response to Israeli politics and culture and issues such as human rights, Israel’s historical relations with its Arab neighbors, as well as its current struggle to accommodate a nascent Palestinian nation.

Other dynamics to be examined will include: the influence of the literary imagination on Israeli and Palestinian society; the role of dissent and protest in Israeli society; the Jewish state’s ambivalence regarding Jews of Arab origin. We will consider how the narrative forms of literature and cinema often challenge the rigid lines formed in ideological narratives to distinguish the “West” from the “East” and expose the contradictions in the dominant narrative. The instructor will also create opportunities for students to participate in a lively dialogue about the recent Gaza war, current news headlines, and important cultural and political trends in Palestine and Israel whenever possible.

This course provides students with the opportunity to delve into the rich and varied cultures of the Muslim world, as depicted through captivating narratives crafted by prominent directors hailing from diverse Muslim-majority countries. From the poetic masterpieces of Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami to the evocative storytelling of Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan, students will have the chance to explore and navigate the intricate dimensions of identity, tradition, and societal evolution within the region. The course also showcases the works of acclaimed directors such as Asghar Farhadi (Iran), Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine), Naji Abu Nowar (Jordan), and Nadine Labaki (Lebanon), providing a comprehensive view of the complex realities and cultural richness of the Muslim world.

This graduate seminar course provides instruction in advanced techniques of script analysis. A script can be interpreted as a documentation of a past production, and as a springboard for a future production. Script analysis is the analysis of the component parts of a given play. Such analysis allows theatre practitioners to comprehend the dramatic structure and theatrical style of a play so as to understand its working parts. Script analysis also allows theatre artists to uncover how a play was conceived in its initial context so as to explore how it may be reconceived in a new context. Since any given play is a product of its historical moment, a script’s dramaturgy, or its architectural structure, is constructed in response to the dramatic and theatrical conventions of its time. As such, there is no one method of script analysis applicable to all plays. We will therefore explore different approaches to script analysis conducive to different dramatic forms and theatrical styles.

In this course, we will delve into the captivating world of Native American prayers. We will read, analyze, and discuss the intricate structure, evocative poetic style, and powerful performance of these sacred texts. This immersive experience will involve hands-on examination, including transcription and translation, of original prayer texts in a variety of Native American languages, such as Navajo, Chatino, and Kuna. Through this in-depth exploration, we will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the rich cultural and linguistic diversity reflected in the spiritual traditions of indigenous peoples.

This class examines the work of twentieth-century French philosopher Michel Foucault. Foucault combined philosophy and history in his work and in the process transformed what was meant by both. We will look at Foucault’s specific methodology, as well as read his most influential works, including The Order of Things, Discipline and Punish, and The History of Sexuality. Doing so, we will discuss questions of method, truth, history, knowledge, power, and subjectivity and trace the modern invention of delinquency and sexuality.

This course introduces students to the field of public history, which once referred primarily to the work of trained historians in non-academic settings—history museums, historical societies, archives, etc. In recent years, however, the definition has expanded to encompass any mode of historical practice focused on sharing historical information with public audiences and public engagement. This course surveys the growth and development of public history, its relationship to academic scholarship, its role in the American historical profession, and the settings where public history is practiced. Readings and assignments consider theoretical and methodological programs, challenges commonly faced by public historians, how lay audiences learn about the past, and the role of the media in shaping popular views of history.

From Charlie Chaplin’s 1917 silent movie Easy Street to the 2018 film First Reformed, feature films have explored the promises and shortcomings of religious faith and institutions. Because films about religion consider values, beliefs, or perspectives that are important at the time of their release, popular films about religion can serve as an index to religious anxieties and preoccupations. This course will trace the history of religion and film decade by decade from the silent era to the twenty-first century, focusing on the themes, values, and contexts of films about Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—the predominant religions in North America.

This class draws on literary narratives and film to discuss the relationship between the Zionist dream of Homeland and the marginal figure of the Palestinian, both as perceived external threat and as the “Other” within Israeli society. Alongside these we will consider wand compare works written by Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel in response to Occupation, human rights abuses, and oppression. The core question we will address concerns the writer’s empathic response to the plight of the Other: Palestinians, the Arab minority within Israel, and Israeli Jews themselves. This course focuses on the artist’s response to Israeli politics and culture and issues such as human rights, Israel’s historical relations with its Arab neighbors, as well as its current struggle to accommodate a nascent Palestinian nation.

Other dynamics to be examined will include: the influence of the literary imagination on Israeli and Palestinian society; the role of dissent and protest in Israeli society; the Jewish state’s ambivalence regarding Jews of Arab origin. We will consider how the narrative forms of literature and cinema often challenge the rigid lines formed in ideological narratives to distinguish the “West” from the “East” and expose the contradictions in the dominant narrative. The instructor will also create opportunities for students to participate in a lively dialogue about the recent Gaza war, current news headlines, and important cultural and political trends in Palestine and Israel whenever possible.

This course provides students with the opportunity to delve into the rich and varied cultures of the Muslim world, as depicted through captivating narratives crafted by prominent directors hailing from diverse Muslim-majority countries. From the poetic masterpieces of Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami to the evocative storytelling of Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan, students will have the chance to explore and navigate the intricate dimensions of identity, tradition, and societal evolution within the region. The course also showcases the works of acclaimed directors such as Asghar Farhadi (Iran), Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine), Naji Abu Nowar (Jordan), and Nadine Labaki (Lebanon), providing a comprehensive view of the complex realities and cultural richness of the Muslim world.

This class examines the work of twentieth-century French philosopher Michel Foucault. Foucault combined philosophy and history in his work and in the process transformed what was meant by both. We will look at Foucault’s specific methodology, as well as read his most influential works, including The Order of Things, Discipline and Punish, and The History of Sexuality. Doing so, we will discuss questions of method, truth, history, knowledge, power, and subjectivity and trace the modern invention of delinquency and sexuality.