Schedule of Classes

Term

School

Subject

General Education

RESULTS:College of Arts & Sciences, Advent Semester 2026

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Art History

A survey of the visual arts of India, China, Japan, and neighboring countries from prehistory to the present. The major monuments consisting of architecture, sculpture, and painting are discussed. Both indigenous and cross-cultural aspects of each art work are examined in the light of style, iconography, and historical context.

Using gender as a lens for examining works of art in the Japanese tradition from the thirteenth through twentieth centuries, this course examines a wide variety of formats and mediums, including corpse paintings, cross-dressing performers, and prints of the modern girl. Participants will identify and analyze varying interpretations of gender through time and across culture and address issues associated with applying contemporary gender theory to pre-modern works. Topics to be covered include: Buddhist ideas of the feminine, voyeurism in early modern woodblock prints, and the role of gender in contemporary art.

This advanced lecture course explores how the visual language known as the “Renaissance” was expressed in art in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas from approximately 1400 to 1600. The course considers how the ideals and values of Renaissance visual culture expanded and transformed as they reached different parts of the world through trade and colonization. How did the meanings and narratives associated with the Renaissance shift when they were imposed outside of Europe and navigated through the hands of both willing and unwilling contributors? While consistently exploring this question, students will also interrogate how art historians define and identify Renaissance art to ensure an inclusive and critical understanding of its visual entanglements.

A survey of European painting and sculpture from the 1780s to 1900, with an emphasis on the social and political contexts in which the works were created. While the focus is on the art of France, that of Germany, Spain, and England is also discussed.

This course will examine the international movements grouped under the names Earth Art and Environmental Art. We will trace the historical development of these movements from the 1968 exhibition “Earthworks” up to the present day. The course tracks the changing aesthetic, political, biological, economic, technological, and climatic forces that influence such art, from the participatory approaches of the 1960s to the activist engagement with environmentalism today. The class seeks to understand the historical conditions that have given rise to such art and demonstrate ways in which artists have sought to intervene in and affect a changing environment.

This course examines how people of different races and ethnicities in Latin America were represented in art during the period of Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule (approximately 1500-1820). The course focuses primarily on how Europeans used both religious and secular art to maintain a vision of a complex and diverse set of indigenous ethnic groups (Nahua, Taino, Aztec, Maya, Inca, etc.), as well as people of Asian and African descent as simply the colonial “other.” We will explore how these images were informed by broader social, political, and religious motivations, while also examining if and how some representations confronted and challenged hegemonic identity norms.

A seminar designed to introduce students to the research methods and interpretive approaches of art history. Written as well as oral assignments develop students' research and communication skills. Each year the seminar focuses on a specific historical, cultural, or thematic topic chosen by the instructor.

Asian Studies

This course provides a comprehensive overview of Asian cultures and societies from the viewpoint of cultural anthropology. Students will acquire insights into historical legacies (including colonialism, postcolonial nation-building, and Cold War politics) as well as contemporary social trends (such as migration, globalization, displacement, and environmental crises) that have shaped and continue to affect the social and cultural dynamics within the region and beyond.

How do film and literature inform our understanding of the evolving concepts of art, ideology and material conditions in modern China? How have literary and cinematic representations changed over the last century to accommodate and facilitate social transformations? What are the characteristics of the cultural productions from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan? This course helps students develop a critical sense and appreciation for Chinese cinema and literature. Taught in English.

This course investigates the cultural, historical, and social meanings of food in China and Chinese diaspora communities around the world. We examine how culinary practices reflect understandings of body and health, define social class, express regional differences, and link China to broader global networks. Using food as a critical lens, this course explores how Chinese identity and tradition have been constructed, contested, and reimagined across time and space. All readings are in English and all films include English subtitles. Course taught in English.

The course examines the principles and concepts of development and focuses on major development problems and policies, both domestic and international. Topics of analysis include theories of economic growth and development, poverty and income distribution, population, human capital, agricultural and rural development, and international trade.

A survey of Indian philosophy from the Vedic period to the present day. Special focus is given to the dialogic relationship between Indian and European philosophy, and to the way in which colonialism in India shaped both traditions. Students are challenged to reflect critically on Western perspectives of philosophy and to consider how Indian thinkers can enrich our understanding of the discipline.

Beginning in the third century B.C.E., China began construction of its Great Wall, an attempt to keep out "barbarian invaders." Since that time, China has had an uneasy relationship with foreign powers. Students analyze early Chinese conceptions of its proper relations with foreign powers, contemporary relations with Japan and the United States, and attempts by foreigners to change Chinese politics, culture, and economy. Readings emphasize Chinese notions of nationhood and the dynamics of globalization.

This course examines key Buddhist philosophical concepts and explores a diversity of traditions along with their historical contexts. Investigations of the ways these traditions are lived are elucidated by short biographies. Buddhist modernism is also considered using themes such as globalization, gender roles, science, commodification, and popular culture.

Biology

A study of ecology, evolution and biological diversity, with an emphasis on scientific investigations in the natural areas in and around the university. The course, which is scheduled for one afternoon each week, meets the general education requirement for a natural science course but does not fulfill the requirement for a laboratory science course.

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