1
COURSE
LISTING
SPRING 2016
Aesthetics in Context
FIRST-UG701.001
Tue & Thu,6:20-7:35
1 Washington Place, Room: 501
Instructor: Christopher Trogan
Philosophical aesthetics is naturally concerned with problems pertaining to the arts in general, but there are issues that must also be examined within the context of the particular arts. This course will begin with an examination of broad issues in aesthetics: What is art? What is beauty? What is expression and emotion in the arts? Is there such a thing as “good taste?” We will then consider particular issues within the context of painting, photography, film, music, and the popular arts (specifically popular music and television). Some questions posed will be the following: What does it mean for a painting to be “about” or to “express” something? How should we think of photography—as a means by which we can actually see things and people in situations that no longer exist or as simply a means of registering the world? What is it about film that gives the medium its peculiar illusion-making power? What exactly is music? Does it represent and express in the same way as other art forms? What value is there in popular music and television? Readings will be drawn from Benjamin, Danto, Eco, Gombrich, Greenberg, Heidegger, Kant, Kivy, Plato, Scruton, and others. In addition to contributing regularly and actively to class discussions and activities, students will be required to compose frequent responses and reflections, write two formal essays (4-5 pages each), present a research proposal, and complete a final research paper (8-10 pages).
American Cinema: 1960 to the Present
CINE-UT 51.0001
Tuesdays, 6:20-9:50pm
Cantor Cantor Film Center 36 E 8th St., Room: 102
Instructor: Jacobus Verheul
American cinema has consistently positioned itself at the intersection of technology, entertainment, and art. In its first sixty years, it gradually developed into a mode of audiovisual storytelling, aesthetic experimentation, and industrial craftsmanship. By the 1960s, however, American cinema found itself at a crossroads. Much like US society, filmmakers of the time sought to formulate a variety of responses to the nation’s radical shifts in cultural identities, political values, and aesthetic conventions. Focusing on the cultural politics of race, gender, class, and political ideology, this course chronicles the sixty-year evolution of mainstream, independent, and experimental American cinema since the 1960s. We will discuss the steady decline of Hollywood and address the subsequent emergence of a cinema of experimentation, which New Hollywood had re-appropriated into the “new normal” by the late 1970s. The tension between normativity and subversion also structures our discussion of the 1980s, when independent productions challenged Hollywood’s white, middle-class, and domestic mores and, in doing so, contributed to an ideological and creative overhaul of mainstream filmmaking. We will then concentrate on the steady dissolution of this vibrant independent sector into a conglomerate studio system in the 1990s, which, in an era of reactionary politics, facilitated the conservatism of American filmmaking in the 2000s. Last but not least, we will consider the impact of the current digital turn in American cinema, in which filmmakers rely on digital effects to enhance their vision and ultimately decide to abandon celluloid altogether.
RECITATIONS (Choose one)
Wednesdays, Room 646
Section 006 / 3:30-4:45pm / Class # 15683
Section 007 / 4:55-6:10pm / Class # 15684
American Constitution
POL-UA 330.001
Mondays 5.00 PM - 7.30 PM
19 West 4th Street, Room 101
Instructor: Peter Rajsingh; Alan Porter; Mateo Vasquez
Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution through the reading of Supreme Court opinions. Distribution of constitutional power among Congress, the president, and the federal courts; between the national government and the states; and among the states. Constitutional law and American political and economic development. Cases are read and discussed closely for their legal and philosophical content.
Ancient Egyptian Art
ARTH-UA 110.001
Mon & Wed 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM
Silver Center100 Washington Square E. Room 301
Instructor: Ann Roth
Traces developments in the sculpture, painting, and architecture of ancient Egypt from predynastic beginnings through the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms until the conquest of Augustus (3100–40 B.C.E.). Special emphasis on Egyptian art in the context of history, religion, and cultural patterns. Includes study of Egyptian collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.
Animal Studies: Keeping Animals
ANST-UA 600.001
Wednesdays 5.00 PM - 7.30 PM
19 University Place, Room: 229
Instructor: Nicolas Delon
We interact with nonhuman animals in a great variety of ways, including many captive settings. We live with animals, share space with them, exert control upon them, and keep them in many different sorts of places and contexts, from our houses to circuses, from zoos to wildlife reserves, from farms to labs, from streets to parks. These relationships range from domestication, use, control or defense to peaceful coexistence, protection, companionship or friendship. The course aims to investigate the intricacies of these many ways of keeping animals both from empirical and ethical standpoints, and the underlying ethics of captivity (of both humans and nonhumans). The materials draw from social and natural sciences, arts and humanities, and philosophy.
Anti-Semitism: Then and Now
HBRJD-UA 137.001
Tue & Thu 2.00 PM - 3.15 PM
King Juan Carlos Center – Basement
Instructor: Robert Chazan
Over the lengthy span of more than three thousand years, Jews have suffered recurrent violence and despoliation and have been often projected in pejorative and dangerously provocative imagery. This course will examine the history of the negative imagery, with a special focus on its evolution in Europe over the past one thousand years.
Arab Theatre & Film:1960s to Present
MEIS-UA 747.001
Mon & Wed 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM
Kevorkian Center, 50 Washington Square S, Room LL2
Instructor: Naila Atrach
Examines recent trends in contemporary Arab theatre and film, contextualizing these within a broader history of Arab performance. Particular attention is given to how experimental practitioners have explored issues of human rights and the control of territories under the modern state. Strategies addressed include the conflation of the past and present as a means of exploring the persistence of the colonial power structure in the modern Arab world; the use of the parable to speak truth to power; the incorporation of the populist entertainment forms that directly engage the audience; and the use of familiar tales to explore new political realities.
Cinema & Literature
DRLIT-UA 504.001
Wed. 2:00-4:45
Cantor Film Center36 E 8th St,Room: 101
Instructor: William Wolf
Exposes the student to various modes, such as expressionism, social realism, and the projection of the hero. One film is viewed per week and analyzed with reading assignments that include novels, plays, and poems. The objective is to exploit the potentiality of different media and to make vivid and intellectual the climate of Europe on which these media so often focus.
Education as a Social Institution
EDST-UE 1606.001
Tue & Thu 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM
Bobst Library Lower Level, Room 150
Instructor: Laura Davis
Part of the common pedagogical core, this course provides an introduction to the social foundations of education. The structure of education in terms of the rights & responsibilities of teachings, administrators, community members & policy makers in relation to the rest of the society are explored from both legal & sociological credits of view. Comparisons with education & schooling in other countries are made. The study of particular school & professional issues includes diversity, student variability, bilingualism, & special education in terms of their effects on policy, practice, & student & teacher rights.
Recitation: Mon6.20 PM - 7.35 PMat 25W4 C-18 with Lauren Lefty
Environmental Studies
ENSTU-UF 101.001
Tue & Th 4:55PM- 6:10PM
Academic Resource Center / 18 Washington Place, Room: Lower Level 02
Instructor: Astrid Cerny
Through the application of fundamental physical and chemical processes, humans attempt to harness the environment for their particular needs. In examining this most significant dimension of modern life, this course emphasizes both its harmful and beneficial aspects and deals with such topics as air and water pollution, transportation, energy resources, and waste control. The political context in which these problems occur is also examined.
Greek Tragedy & Modern Greece: Re-imagining Greek Tragedy
DRLIT-UA 971
Tuesdays 3.30 PM - 6.00 PM
285M 8FL
Instructor: Taxidou, Olga
The encounters with Greek Tragedy throughout the ages have not only shaped our understanding of theatre in the Western canon, but have also informed basic concepts and theories of classicism, neo-classicism and humanism more broadly. A privileged genre in aesthetic theory, its powerful roles (like Clytemnestra, Oedipus, Antigone) have had a huge impact on modern thinking, from psychoanalysis and philosophy to legal and political theory. This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to Greek Tragedy, bringing together critical languages from Classics, Theatre Studies, Performance Theory, but also philosophy and critical theory. Through a series of close readings of key play-texts by the three tragedians – Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides – this course will analyze the development of Greek tragedy as a dramatic genre and vehicle for performance within the context of the democratic city-state. It will also look at the ways these texts have been re-written and re-imagined for performance within the broader context of modernity. The course will also have a workshop element.
Health Policy in a Global World
UGPH-GU 40.002
Tue & Thu 2.00 PM - 3.00 PM
19 West 4th Street, Room 102
Instructor: Jennifer Pomeranz
This course introduces students to key concepts in health policy formation, implementation and evaluation in a global context. Using a comparative lens, students explore organization, financing and delivery of health care services and health systems around the world and examine the role of governmental, private, and non-profit agencies in delivering health care and other services. The course is multidisciplinary, employing public policy, sociological, political science, economic, and ethical perspectives. The overall goal is to build an understanding of the fundamental ideas, issues, and problems currently debated in global health policy and management and to provide a foundation for future studies and careers in the global health field. Epidemiology in a Global World and Health and Society in a Global Context are recommended but not required pre-requisites for the course.
History of Modern Ireland (1845-1922)
HIST-UA 183.001
Mon & Wed 4.55 PM - 6.10 PM
Ireland House,1 Washington Mews, Room 102
Instructor: Miriam Nyhan
Examines the period from the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland to the achievement of partial independence in 1922. Topics covered include the Union and its aftermath; the growth of nationalism in 19th-century Ireland; the Great Famine of 1845-1851 and its long-term economic, social, and political consequences; the shaping of modern Ireland; Fenianism and the Land War; the Irish cultural revival; the policy of Home Rule and Unionist reaction; the 1916 Rising; and the War of Independence.
History of Russian/ Soviet Cinema
DRLIT-UA 522.001
Mondays 5.00 PM - 7.30 PM
Silver Center100 Washington Square E. Room 518
Instructor: Mikhail Iampolski
An examination of the history of Russian cinema from its beginnings. The main focus is on landmarks of cinematic art and on the cultural specificity of Russian cinema. The survey also includes questions of cinema and politics (cinema as a propaganda tool), and cinema and the market. Artists discussed include Eisenstein, Vertov, Pudovkin, Kuleshov, Barnet, Shub, Kozintsev, Trauberg, and Tarkovsky. Topics include cinema and revolution, the cinema of the Russian avant-garde and constructivism, cinema and totalitarianism, and socialist realism in film.
Introduction to Science and Society
HIST-UA 94.001
Mon & Wed 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM
238 Thomson Street, Global Center for Academic & Spiritual Life,Room 369
Instruction: Myles Jackson
The goal of this course is to provide a background to the plethora of techniques proffered by the humanities and social sciences in studying the history of science, technology, and medicine. This course will include lectures, student presentations, and lively discussions. Although this course covers a plethora of disciplines and their methodologies, students are encouraged to see how various tools from one field can be fruitfully applied to another. Topics include: Christian Aristotelianism, the rise of experimentation and the Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment Science, Darwin’s theory of evolution and the church, eugenics in 20th-century America, machines and humans during the 19th and 20th centuries, historical explanations of disease, gene patenting, race and genes, and the history of HIV/AIDS. In short this course, which should be taken early on in the Science-and-Society minor, will not only offer an intellectual map for students to plan and craft their own individual program, it also invites students to think synthetically, organically, and creatively on how various disciplines can be brought together with a view to elucidate the scientific, technological, and medical enterprises.
Introduction to US Education Historical and Contemporary
HIST-UA 60.001
Mon & Wed 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM
19 University Place, Room 102
Instructor: Carol Anne Spreen
Recitations:
Section: 004 Mon 4.55 PM - 6.10 PM at 12 Waverly Place, Room: L114
This course will introduce you to the central themes, issues, and controversies in American education. What is the purpose of “school”? How did schools begin, in the United States, and how have they evolved across time? How do children learn? How are they different from each other, and why and when should that matter? How should we teach them? And how should we structure schools and classrooms to promote learning?
Introduction to Russian Literature I
RUSSN-UA 811.001
Tue & Thu 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM
Paulette Goddard Hall,79 Washington Square E. Room B06
Instructor: N/A
A survey of the Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century, from romanticism to the beginning of realism. The reading list includes major works by Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, and Dostoevsky. All works are read in translation.
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
BRJD-UA 126.001
Mon & Wed 2.00 PM - 3.15 PM
Meyer Hall4 WASHINGTON PLACE,Room 122
Instructor: Daniel Fleming
Introduces studnets to the modern study of the Bible from historical, literary, and archaeologival points of view. Reading and analysis of texts in translation.
Introduction to Web Design and Computer Principles
CSCI-UA 4.008
Mon & Wed 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM
Courant Institute / Warren Weaver Hall 251 Mercer Street, Room 202
INST: Lee-Suan Huang
Prerequisite: Three years of high school mathematics or equivalent. No prior computing experience is assumed. Students with computing experience should consult with the computer science department before registering. Offered every semester. 4 points. This course introduces students to both the practice of web design and the basic principles of computer science. The practice component of the course covers not only web design but also current graphics and software tools. The principles section includes an overview of hardware and software, the history of computers, and a discussion of the impact of computers and the internet.
Investigating Journalism
JOUR-UA 501.001
Mondays 6.20 PM - 8.50 PM
5 Washington Place, Room 101
Instructor: Adam Penenberg
This lecture course will introduce you to issues in journalistic writing and reporting, such as the choices journalists face in method, style, and form; the political impact of the news media; questions of sensationalism, bias, and diversity, and the current digital upheaval. To better understand what journalism has been and might be, students are also introduced to a selection of the best journalism, from Edward R. Murrow on migrant farm workers to Adrian Nicole LeBlanc on family life around the drug trade in the Bronx. Your work will be reading the assigned pieces, coming to class ready to comment on and question them, preparing for some tests and producing a paper of two during the semester. (Unlike most of the courses in the Carter Institute and the Journalism major, this is not a reporting and writing course, though reporting and writing will often be discussed.
Israeli Politics and Society
HBRJD-UA 710.001
Mon & Wed 2.00 PM - 3.15 PM
King Juan Carlos Center 53 Washington Square South – Basement
Instructor:Avraham Shilon
Examines the power structure and mechanisms of contemporary Israeli politics beginning with the emergence of the provisional government in 1948. Traces how Israel's national institutions, key basic bills and the legislation mechanism, and electoral system developed. The course also examines key fault lines in Israeli social, political, and economic life, including Jewish-Arab relations; the balance between the welfare state and economic liberalism; Union workers and gender relations.
Journalism Ethics & First Amendment Law
JOUR-UA 502.001
Mondays 6.20 PM - 8.50 PM
Silver Center100 Washington Square E. Room 411
Instructor: David Kaplan
This 14-week class is divided equally between ethics and the law. Through the weekly lecture and assigned readings, students are exposed to the various ethical and legal issues surrounding the field of journalism and come away with a clear sense of the role of the journalist in society and the issues that affect that mission today.This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.