Spring 2018 Intermediate Learning Communities
Washington, DC Internship — GOV 395 & GOV 396
This learning community exposes students to the workings of the governmental and political processes in Washington, DC. Through internship assignments, classroom instruction, and directed readings and research, students will develop a greater appreciation of the policy-making process. The courses are offered in Washington, DC (each course is a 2-unit course), and registration is by permission of the instructor.
GOV 395-IL Washington Internship — Kraus
and
GOV 396-IL Dynamics of American Government — Kraus
Albany Internship — GOV 390 & GOV 391
This learning community exposes students to the workings of the governmental and political processes in Albany, NY. Through internship assignments, classroom instruction, and directed readings and research, students will develop a greater appreciation of the policy-making process. The courses are offered in Albany, NY (each course is a 2-unit course), and registration is by permission of the instructor.
GOV 390-IL New York State Gov. & Politics — Kraus
and
GOV 391-IL New York Legislature Internship — Kraus
Two-Unit ILC for Nursing Majors: Nutritional Strategies
This learning community, intended for Nursing majors, looks at the cellular nutrition of eukaryotes (humans) vs. the nutrition of prokaryotes (bacteria). It also covers the similarities and differences in the structure, function and role of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins and trace elements in humans and bacteria. Finally, it looks at the immunological aspects of nutrition across the human life span compared to the immunological aspects in disease prevention.
MI 200-IL Microbiology — Bobbitt — Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00–2:30 pm
MI 200L Microbiology Lab— Select any section of MI 200L (one 2-hour lab per week)
NR 224-IL Nutrition & Health — Aurelus — Fridays 8:00–11:00 am
Two-Unit ILC: Public Speaking for Business — FI 201 & SPC 103
In addition to addressing the apprehension of public speaking, this ILC is an ideal addition for the business student. Utilizing principles of finance concepts, participants will learn how to effectively present financial information about their company to various stakeholders groups. Students learn skills that allow them to speak informatively, persuasively, and in groups. Through these techniques, students cultivate personal style that results in more powerful presentations, which is a skill that is important to one’s academic and professional advancement.
FI 201-IL Principles of Finance — Tully — Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:00–2:30 pm
SPC 103-IL Public Speaking — Fenley — Mondays & Wednesdays 1:00–2:30 pm
Two-Unit ILC: Blues, Boycotts and the Journey towards the Promised Land — MU 209 (D) & GOV 268 (D)
The pain, struggle, resilience and triumphs of African Americans are documented in many ways. During slavery a rich, imaginative oral tradition thrived. Black influence on popular and dance music became more and more apparent and the Negro Spiritual and Ragtime attracted much admiration. Post-civil war suffering produced the Blues. Blues and Ragtime blended, were influenced by literate whites and Creoles, and Jazz began. Meanwhile, Black leadership emerged anew and established itself.
African American political thought remains a rich and indispensable resource for revealing both the aspirations and the injustices of the nation from its inception and before. This body of work confronts lived despair and promotes cultural flourishing at once. It challenges the nation to be more democratic, more just, more equal.
Many African Americans confronted the dominant culture, as Blacks sought to overcome cultural and systemic prejudice and struggled for equality. Literate thinkers, preachers and activists built on oral traditions and created a body of compelling literature. Blues and Jazz became “the American soundtrack,” broke down racial barriers and evolved into some of the most sophisticated improvisatory art forms the world has ever known. The power struggle of American Blacks has influenced and inspired liberation movements all over the world.
MU 209-IL The History of Blues and Jazz (D) — Wesby — Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 11:20 am –12:20 pm
GOV 268-IL African American Political Thought (D) — Moynagh — Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:20 am – 12:50 pm
One-Unit, Team-Taught ILC, Including Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Spring Break Travel to Venice: Sights, Sounds, and Tastes of Renaissance Italy — AR 291 or TH 105
This team-taught ILC is also an Expanding Your Horizons offering. This course will give students an introduction to the enchanting city that has inspired artists, writers, playwrights, and architects for centuries. Team-taught with a theater historian and a studio artist, we will read novels, analyze plays, study famous theaters, and create art pieces inspired by the great paintings and architecture of Venice. The highlight of the course is a 10 day trip to Venice (and a few surrounding cities) during spring break. Students will be asked to write several papers about the literature we read and complete a portfolio of drawings and collages. This course is a hybrid of studio art and various kinds of art appreciation and study. No Italian is required although we encourage the study of language for a deeper appreciation of culture.
AR 291-IL: Seeing and Making Art in Venice — Toth — Thursdays 1:00–4:00 pm
or
TH 105-IL: Theatre Appreciation — Ruff — Thursdays 1:00–4:00 pm
One-Unit, Team-Taught ILC, Including Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Spring Break Travel to Peru: Exploring Cultural and Environmental Health in Peru — AN 291 (I) or CH 540 (I) with CH 540L
This team-taught EYH-ILC explores rural health in the Middle Moche Valley of Peru. On-campus course meetings will provide students with introductory information about basic anthropological concepts including perspectives on health, foodways, inequality, and Peruvian culture. During spring break students will travel to Trujillo, Peru to work in several communities that partner withMOCHE Inc, a NGO with long term commitment to middle valley communities. As part of exploring the impacts of environmental pollutants on rural health in the Middle Moche Valley the students will carry out basic water quality, ambient and indoor air quality testing in select households. Since various particulate matters are linked to adverse health effects the students will engage in real time sampling of respirable particulate matters in indoor air during active cooking period. Upon return, students will process their samples. This work will lead to a contextualized awareness about pollutants as well as promoting culturally sensitive remedial measures aimed to improve quality of life in the communities.
AN 291-IL:Exploring Cultural and Environmental Health in Peru (I) — Gagnon — Wednesdays 1:00–2:30 pm
or
CH 540-IL with CH 540L-IL: Environmental Pollution and Health (I) with Lab (fulfills General Education requirement of science with a lab) — Alauddin — Wednesdays 1:00–2:30 pm
One-Unit, Team-Taught ILC, Including Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Winter Break Travel to Cuba: Desire, Nostalgia and Agony in Cuban Literature and Film — FM 291 (I) or SP 291 (I)
Since the 1959 Revolution, Cuba has been the repository of multiple and contradictory interpretations. It is paradise and it is hell, it is inclusion and it is isolation, it is stunning and it is in ruins. Regardless of these paradoxes, Cuba is without doubt one of the most fascinating places in the world. This course examines the history of Cuba before and after the revolution through written texts and documentaries. Before and after the trip to Cuba, students will explore the idealization of the revolution, its successes and failures, and the ways in which the island has changed in recent years. In Cuba, students will spend two weeks with experts learning about film production and Cuban culture.
Cuba Trip Dates: January 3–15, 2018
SP291-IL: Desire, Nostalgia and Agony in Cuban Literature and Film (I) — Sánchez — Wednesdays 2:40–4:10
FM291-EY: Cuban Cinema and Literature (I) — Cartelli — Wednesdays 2:40–4:10
One-Unit, Team-Taught ILC: From Table to Laboratory: Exploring Food Choice — HI 239 or PS 239
The course will be organized around three principal themes: sweetness, hunger, and our microbiomes. Why were people so driven to obtain sugar and to use it to satisfy such a high percentage of their caloric needs? Psychological and historical research reveals much about this. Furthermore, we now see sugar regarded almost as a toxin! Was the fasting of a medieval saint the psychological equivalent of “anorexia nervosa,” a disease first described by late Victorian doctors? And how does medieval fasting and Victorian anorexia compare to our contemporary understanding of eating disorders? We are alarmed by stories of food contamination but is our fear well founded? In our zeal for “clean” food and bodies have we overlooked the need to “feed” the microbes that live inside us? We will explore why there’s so much anxiety about eating.
HI 239-IL: From Table to Laboratory: Exploring Food Choice — Smith — Mondays and Wednesdays 11:20 am – 12:50 pm
or
PS 239-IL: From Table to Laboratory: Exploring Food Choice — Nolan— Mondays and Wednesdays 11:20 am – 12:50 pm
One-Unit, Team-Taught ILC: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and the Dystopian Novel — EN 226 (W) (D) or GOV 317 (W) (D)
This team-taught writing-intensive course offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of civil and human rights as well as civil liberties. In it we will read several dystopian novels such as George Orwell’s1984and Margaret Atwood’sA Handmaid’s Talewhich raise a series of provocative questions about the human condition under oppressive regimes. We will consider these in the light of the contemporary state of human rights in international affairs, along with case law focusing on civil rights and civil liberties.Several controversial contemporary issues such as gender relations, the right to privacy, surveillance, and the Global War on Terror will be examined. Students will be expected to deliver an integrated final project that demonstrates critical thinking and involves both a written component and an oral presentation.
EN 226-IL: American Cultures and Literatures (English literature designation) (W) (D) — Schotter — Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:40–4:10 pm
or
GOV 317-IL: Civil Liberties and Human Rights (W) (D) — Ghosh— Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:40–4:10 pm
One-Unit, Team-Taught ILC: Art, Writing, and Visual Culture in the Middle East — AH 220 (I) or AB 291 (I)
Art, Writing, and Visual Culture in the Middle East will introduce students to a range of art objects, literatures, works of architecture, and other modes of material culture which, in part, define the diversity of this region.Middle Eastern history and culture is vital in understanding the geographical area that extends from Egypt to Afghanistan as the region in which Islam arose and developed.This course will cover the different periods of origin, early development and imperial climax of material culture through the Ottoman Empire (650-1800) and into the modern day.Various major regions will be covered: Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, Anatolia, Syria-Palestine, Egypt, North Africa (Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco), and Spain.Major monuments of architecture, sculpture, painting, and calligraphy will be explored as will the development of the powerful and sometimes enigmatic concepts of Islamic and Arabic art within the context of the Middle Eastern cultures that created them, considering such factors as geography, history, religion, folklore, cuisine, politics, and philosophy.
AH 220-IL: Islamic Art and Architecture (I) — Scott — Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:40–11:10
or
AB 291-IL: The History of Middle Eastern Art and Culture — Henri (I) — Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:40–11:10
One-Unit, Team-Taught ILC: Terrorism: The DIY of WMDs — CH 291 or GOV 253
Does North Korea have a hydrogen bomb, a neutronbomb, or an atomic bomb? The media may not know the difference, but you will (and know how to make each one). This course will examine both the theory and science behind the growing phenomenon of the use of terror as a form of political expression. The course will investigate terrorism from institutional and historical perspectives, and include a detailed examination of the chemistry behind nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.
CH 291-IL: Chemistry of WMDs — Richardson — Mondays and Wednesdays 11:20–12:50
or
GOV 253-IL: The Politics of Terrorism – Snow— Mondays and Wednesdays 11:20–12:50
One-Unit, Team-Taught ILC: Civil Rights Movement Explorations — HI 236 (D) or TH 229
This collaborative history and theatre ILC will examine the modern Civil Rights Movement and create theatre performance piecesappropriate to ideas associated with the national fight for racial equality in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The course will run as a colloquium and acting workshop in which historic texts and artistic works are read, shown, discussed and dismantled. We will discover truths about American history, the individual creative process in relation to the evolution of student ideas. Students will be asked to risk not knowing in order to discover. The course texts will include historic research materials related to students' projectsas well asselected readings, speeches, and archival films. Course materials will include—but not be limited to—props,costumes, and set pieces necessary for works.
HI 236-IL: The Civil Rights Movement (D) — Reynolds — Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00–2:30
or
TH 229-IL: Devised Theatre — McCarthy — Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00–2:30
One-Unit, Team-Taught ILC: Murder and Mayhem: Covering Crime and Navigating the Legal System — SPC 252 or JR 291
Crime is news, and today’s focus on digital journalism pressures reporters to deliver news about crime as soon as it happens, in real-time. Crime reporters must know how to avoid convicting a defendant with their choice of words as they cover a trial, when to withhold details about victims of sensitive crimes, and how to determine if images of crime scenes are too graphic to post or publish. They need a solid understanding of the criminal process and court systems at the county, state and federal levels. This team-taught ILC will teach the foundation skills of crime reporting and the basic elements of trial advocacy, including opening statements, cross-examination, objections and closing arguments. It will culminate with a mock trial that will be covered in real-time as a breaking news event.
SPC 252-IL: Mock Trial — Pinto — Wednesdays 6:00–9:00 pm
or
JR 291-IL: Covering Crime and the Courts — Reagan —Wednesdays 6:00–9:00 pm
SPC 252-IL Mock Trial (Pinto).This class is designed to teach and practice the basic elements of trial advocacy, including opening statements, direct and cross-examination of witnesses, objections, and closing arguments. Everyone will be expected to participate extensively in class, and significant preparation outside of class will also be required. Because of the participatory nature of the class, regular attendance is essential. The class will culminate in a trial open to the entire College at the end of the semester. By the end of the semester, students will have increased competency in preparing delivery, and evaluating public speeches.
JR 291-IL Covering Crime and the Courts (Regan). Crime is news, and today’s focus on digital journalism pressures reporters to deliver news about crime as soon as it happens, in real-time. Crime reporters need a solid understanding of the criminal process and court systems at the county, state and federal levels. They must know how to avoid convicting a defendant with their choice of words as they cover a trial, when to withhold details about victims of sensitive crimes, and how to determine if images of crime scenes are too graphic to post or publish. The course will also explore the public’s threshold for crime news and how responsible crime reporting can minimize harm rather than create panic.
One-Unit, Honors Team-Taught ILC: Cities and Perversities: Art and Literature in Turn-of-the-Century Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and Barcelona (W) (I) — AH 326, EN 310, or FR 310
This honors team-taught ILC focuses on the art and literature in the fin-de-siècle in four major European centers: Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and Barcelona. The works of the period are studied in relation to issues of national identity as a response to the shock of metropolitan life, sexuality, the impact of psychoanalysis, escapism and withdrawal to the interior. We will undertake a detailed reading of some of the major literary works of the period by authors such as Marcel Proust, Colette, Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke and Arthur Rimbaud. Artistic movements studied include Symbolism, Expressionism, Art Nouveau and Jugendstil. The course attempts to understand the shared visual and literary language of turn-of-the-century Europe, while illuminating the special contributions of each city. The course includes museum visits, films, special lectures and shared readings and assignments.
AH 326-HL (Honors ILC) Cities and Perversities (W) (I) — Morowitz — Mondays 1:00–4:00 pm
or
EN 310-HL (Honors ILC) Literature in Turn of the Century (W) (I) — Stalcup— Mondays 1:00–4:00 pm
or
FR 310-HL (Honors ILC) Literature in Turn of the Century (W) (I) — Stalcup— Mondays 1:00–4:00 pm
One-Unit, Honors Team-Taught ILC: The Big Change: Capitalism, Globalization and Climate Change — EC 291 or HI 291
This course will examine the connection and linkages between capitalism (markets) and climate change. We will begin with an examination of the contemporary structure of global capitalism and the nature of climate change. Then we will engage in an exploration of possible policies and techniques designed to deal with climate change and their consequences for our society.
EC 291-HL (Honors ILC)The Big Change: Capitalism, Globalization and Climate Change — Leacy — Wednesdays 6:00–9:00 pm
or
HI 291-HL (Honors ILC)The Big Change: Capitalism, Globalization and Climate Change — Rappaport — Wednesdays 6:00–9:00 pm
One-Unit, Honors Team-Taught ILC: Pirates, Colonizers, and the Cultures of Capitalism — EN 332 (W) (D) or AN 291
This honors course will examine the rise of western capitalism and the origins of American democracy in relation to the African, Asian, and American continents. Europeans colonized these other spaces as explorers, merchants, spies, evangelists, and pirates. Imaginative literature from the 16ththrough early 19thcenturies reflected a tense dialogue among colonizers and colonized as some attempted to justify slavery and conquest and others attempted to resist and find freedom. This course combines anthropological study of this foundational moment in world history and literary study of some of the classics of early American authors such as Phillis Wheatley and Benjamin Franklin as well as notorious pirates. As Puff, Biggie, and Lil’ Kim once rapped, it’s all about the Benjamins.