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Catalogue 2016-2017 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course Descriptions
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American Studies: Core Courses |
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AMST 366 - Art and Activism in the United States Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 366 , ART 366 , and WMST 366 ) Topic for 2016/17b: Exquisite Intimacy. An interdisciplinary exploration of the work and role of quilts within the US. Closely considering quilts as well as their creators, users, keepers, and interpreters, we study these integral coverings and the practices of their making and use with keen attention to their recurrence as core symbols within American history, literature, and life. Lisa Collins.
Prerequisite(s): permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period.
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AMST 382 - Documenting America
1 unit(s)
The demand for documentation, the hunger for authenticity, the urge to share in the experiences of others were widespread in the first half of the twentieth century. A huge world of documentary expression included movies, novels, photographs, art and non-fiction accounts. This course explores the various ways in which some of these artists, photographers, writers and government agencies attempted to create documents of American life between 1900 and 1945. The course examines how such documents fluctuate between utility and aesthetics, between the social document and the artistic image. Among the questions we consider are: in what ways do these works document issues of race and gender that complicate our understanding of American life? How are our understandings of industrialization and consumerism, the Great Depression and World War II, shaped and altered by such works as the photographs of Lewis Hine and Dorothea Lange,the paintings of Jacob Lawrence, the films of Charlie Chaplin, the novels and stories of Chester Himes, William Carlos Williams and Zora Neale Hurston, the non-fictional collaboration of James Agee and Walker Evans. Miriam Cohen and Patricia Wallace.
Not offered in 2016/17.
One 2-hour period.
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AMST 383 - Indigenous New York Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as URBS 383 ) Over half of all Native American people living in the United States now live in an urban area. The United States federal policies of the 1950’s brought thousands of Indigenous peoples to cities with the promise of jobs and a better life. Like so many compacts made between the United States and Native tribes, these agreements were rarely realized. Despite the cultural, political, and spiritual losses due to Termination and Relocation policies, Native American people have continued to survive and thrive in complex ways. This seminar examines the experiences of Indigenous peoples living in urban areas since the 1950’s, but also takes into consideration the elaborate urban centers that existed in the Americas before European contact. Using the New York region as our geographical center, we examine the pan-tribal movement, AIM, Red Power, education, powwowing, social and cultural centers, two-spiritedness, religious movements, and the arts. We study the manner in which different Native urban communities have both adopted western ways and recuperated specific cultural and spiritual traditions in order to build and nurture Indigenous continuance. Finally, in this course, we understand and define “urban” in very broad contexts, using the term to examine social, spiritual, geographical, material, and imagined spaces in which Indigenous people of North America locate themselves and their communities at different times and in different ways. Molly McGlennen.
One 2-hour period.
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AMST 384 - Native Religions/Americas
1 unit(s)
(Same as ANTH 384 and LALS 384 ) The conquest of the Americas was accompanied by various intellectual and sociopolitical projects devised to translate, implant, or impose Christian beliefs in Amerindian societies. This course examines modes of resistance and accommodation, among other indigenous responses, to the introduction of Christianity as part of larger colonial projects. Through a succession of case studies from North America, Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, the Andes, and Paraguay, we analyze the impact of Christian colonial and postcolonial evangelization projects on indigenous languages, religious practices, literary genres, social organization and gender roles, and examine contemporary indigenous religious practices. David Tavárez.
Prerequisite(s): prior coursework in Anthropology, American Studies or Latin American Latino/a Studies or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
One 2-hour period.
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AMST 386 - Baseball and American Society
1 unit(s)
Baseball has been more than merely a game in American life and history. It has permeated American culture, and reflected U.S. society. The more one peels away the layers of baseball’s history, the more one finds that baseball emerges as a barometer of American culture. From challenges to racial segregation to campaigns for labor rights, baseball has mirrored and engendered social, economic, and political change in America. This course grapples with the multifaceted meanings and experiences of baseball in American society, with a particular focus on how baseball reflects, reinforces, and sometimes challenges social inequalities. We work with diverse texts to explore baseball in relation to enduring questions about race, class, and gender as well as emergent debates about globalization, new statistical measures, performance enhancing drugs, and the growing sport-media complex. Exploring broad questions about sports, culture, and society, this course is not just for baseball fans. William Hoynes.
Not offered in 2016/17.
One 2-hour period.
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AMST 387 - On Campus Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course is designed as a literary and cultural investigation of academic life in the US. Taking a long historical view we will read some examples of what is called “the campus novel”: Mary McCarthy’s The Group, John Williams’s Stoner, Philip Roth’s The Human Stain, and Lorrie Moore’s A Gate at the Stairs. We will also discuss a wide range of essays, extending from memoir to cultural critique, addressing the language of campus life and its politics. Here are a few examples: Laurel Johnson Black on a working-class student at an elite institution; Louis Menand on the humanities revolution; Elizabeth Armstrong on parties on campuses; Lisa Wade on gender and hookup culture; the public letter addressed to Brock Turner by the woman he raped on Stanford campus; Laura Kipnis on Title IX cases; Ta-Nehisi Coates on “the Mecca” that was Howard University; Claudia Rankine on daily conversations mined with hidden violence; Hua Hsu on “civility wars”; and, of course, Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast on the food in Vassar dining. This is an exploratory course and my hopes are that each one of you will bring more to it than is already there, and take the conversation in new directions. Amitava Kumar.
Not offered in 2016/17.
One 2-hour period.
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AMST 389 - From the Natural History Museum to Ecotourism:The Collection of Nature
1 unit(s)
(Same as ENST 389 ) From the rise of the Natural History Museum, the Bureau of Ethnology, and early endeavors to create a national literature, the appropriation of American Indian lands and Amerian Indians (as natural objects) offered Euro-Americans a means to realize their new national identity. Today, the American consumer-collector goes beyond the boundaries of the museum, national park, and zoo and into ecotourism, which claims to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate money, jobs, and the conservation of wildlife and vegetation. This course investigates historical and current trends in the way North Americans recover, appropriate, and represent non-western cultures, ‘exotic’ animals, and natural environments from theoretical and ideological perspectives. Course readings draw from the fields of anthropology, archaeology, museology, literature, and environmental studies.
Not offered in 2016/17.
One 2-hour period.
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AMST 399 - Senior Independent Work
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
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American Studies: Electives |
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AMST 182 - Centering Black Women and Girls’ Lives Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 182 , ANTH 182 , EDUC 182 , SOCI 182 , and WMST 182 ) Vassar College, as one of the seven sisters, has a long history of being at the forefront of controversial and critical conversations about issues that confront women’s lives. In line with that history, this course contributes to this important tradition by expanding and extending the historical and contemporary discourses on women and intersectionality that have become so vibrant on Vassar’s campus and beyond. Specifically, it provides students with a critical space to consider and be challenged by how they define, understand, think about, talk about and write at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, spirituality, art and literature in the U.S. Colette Cann, Luis Inoa, Candice Lowe Swift, and Samuel Speers.
Second six-week course.
One 3-hour period.
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AMST 213 - American Music
1 unit(s)
(Same as MUSI 213 ) The study of folk, popular, and art musics in American life from 1600 to the present and their relationship to other facets of America’s historical development and cultural growth.
Prerequisite(s): one unit in one of the following: music; studies in American history, art, or literature; or permission of the instructor.
Alternate years. Not offered in 2016/17.
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AMST 214 - History of American Jazz
1 unit(s)
(Same as MUSI 214 ) An investigation of the whole range of jazz history, from its beginning around the turn of the century to the present day. Among the figures to be examined are: Scott Joplin, “Jelly Roll” Morton, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Thomas “Fats” Waller, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, and Miles Davis. Brian Mann.
Prerequisite(s): one unit in one of the following: music, studies in American history, art, or literature; or permission of the instructor.
Alternate years. Not offered in 2016/17.
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AMST 217 - Studies in Popular Music Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 217 and MUSI 217 ) Topic for 2016/17b: History of Rock. This class examines the social history of rock from Elvis Presley to the present through examination of musical trends, socio-economic and demographic changes, social and political movements and issues in fandom, production and reception. Seminal artists and events are examined along with the development of genres, subcultures and accompanying trends like fashion, slang, literature, identity politics, as well as the influence of TV, film, radio, video, art, the internet and the music industry. Issues of race, class, gender, age, politics, censorship and hybridity will form the backbone of the course, as well as rock beyond the Anglophone world as a global art form. Justin Patch.
Recommended: one unit in either Music, Sociology, or Anthropology.
Two 75-minute periods.
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AMST 231 - Native American Literature
1 unit(s)
(Same as ENGL 231 ) Drawing from a wide range of traditions, this course explores the rich heritage of Native American literature. Material for study may comprise oral traditions (myths, legends, place naming and story telling) as well as contemporary fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Authors may include Zitkala Sa, Black Elk, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Silko, Louise Erdrich, Simon Ortiz, Sherman Alexie, and Joy Harjo. Molly McGlennen
Not offered in 2016/17.
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AMST 235 - The Civil Rights Movement in the United States
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 235 ) In this interdisciplinary course, we examine the origins, dynamics, and consequences of the modern Civil Rights movement. We explore how the southern based struggles for racial equality and full citizenship in the U.S. worked both to dismantle entrenched systems of discrimination—segregation, disfranchisement, and economic exploitation—and to challenge American society to live up to its professed democratic ideals. Lisa Collins.
Not offered in 2016/17.
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AMST 249 - Encounter and Exchange: American Art from 1565 to 1865 Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as ART 249 ) This course provides a survey of the visual arts made in the United States (or by American artists living abroad) until 1865, beginning with the first European representations of Native Americans in the 16th century and ending with Alexander Gardner’s images of death and destruction on the battlefields of the U.S. Civil War. It emphasizes the significance of cross-cultural encounter and international exchange to the creation and reception of artworks produced in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, and prints. Our approach will be both chronological and thematic, considering topics such as the role of art in the construction of national identity; the origins of the U.S. art market; and the tensions of class, gender, race, and ethnicity in early American art.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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AMST 251 - Modern America: Visual Culture from the Civil War to WWII Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as ART 251 ) This course examines American visual culture as it developed in the years between the Civil War and World War II. Special attention is paid to the intersections among diverse media and to such issues as the emergence of new forms of mass imagery, consumerism, cosmopolitanism, regionalism, abstraction, gender, primitivism, mechanized reproduction, and the rise of modern art institutions. Artists studied include Winslow Homer, Timothy O’Sullivan, James McNeill Whistler, Thomas Eakins, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Aaron Douglas, and Edward Hopper, among others.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or a 100-level American Studies course, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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AMST 257 - Reorienting America: Asians in American History and Society Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 257 and SOCI 257 ) Based on sociological theory of class, gender, race/ethnicity, this course examines complexities of historical, economic, political, and cultural positions of Asian Americans beyond the popular image of “model minorities.” Topics include the global economy and Asian immigration, politics of ethnicity and pan-ethnicity, educational achievement and social mobility, affirmative action, and representation in mass media. Seungsook Moon.
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AMST 275 - Race and Ethnicity in America
1 unit(s)
This course examines “white” American identity as a cultural location and a discourse with a history—in Mark Twain’s terms, “a fiction of law and custom.” What are the origins of “Anglo-Saxon” American identity? What are the borders, visible and invisible, against which this identity has leveraged position and power? How have these borders shifted over time, and in social and cultural space? How has whiteness located itself at the center of political, historical, social, and literary discourse, and how has it been displaced? How does whiteness mark itself, or mask itself? What does whiteness look like, sound like, and feel like from the perspective of the racial “other”? What happens when we consider whiteness as a racial or ethnic category? And in what ways do considerations of gender and class complicate these other questions? We read works by artists, journalists, and critics, among them Bill Finnegan, Benjamin DeMott, Lisa Lowe, David Roediger, George Lipsitz, Roland Barthes, Chela Sandoval, Eric Lott, bell hooks, Cherríe Moraga, Ruth Frankenberg, James Baldwin, Homi Bhabha, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, James Weldon Johnson, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, William Faulkner, Nathanael West, Alice Walker, and Don DeLillo. We also explore the way whiteness is deployed, consolidated and critiqued in popular media like film (Birth of a Nation, Pulp Fiction, Pleasantville) television (“reality” shows, The West Wing) and the American popular press.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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AMST 280 - The Book in America Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 280 ) This course examines the history and influence of books and printing in American society from earliest times to the present. We touch on a range of topics, including the place of books in the colonial era and the new republic, the spread of printing technologies in the 19th century, the emergence of large publishing houses and rising rates of literacy, the role of libraries, bookstores, and book clubs, modernist publishing, the rise of the paperback, the work of private presses, artist’s books, and the effect of recent technologies on reading. Along the way we consider questions relating to the production, dissemination, and reception of texts. The Archives & Special Collections Library serves as a laboratory for the course. Guest speakers and one or more field trips enhance our study of key topics. Ronald Patkus.
Two 75-minute periods.
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AMST 281 - Theirs or Ours? Repatriating Individuals and Objects Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as ANTH 281 ) Collecting Native American objects and human remains was once justified as a way to preserve vanishing cultures. Instead of vanishing, Native Americans organized and asked that their ancestors be returned, along with their grave goods, and other sacred objects. Initially, museums fought against the loss of collections and scientists fought against the loss of data. Governments stepped in and wrote regulations to manage claims, dictating the rights of all parties. Twenty years after the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) repatriation remains a controversial issue with few who are truly satisfied with the adopted process. This course examines the ethics and logistics of repatriation from the perspectives of anthropology, art, history, law, museum studies, Native American studies, philosophy, and religion. Recent U.S. cases are contrasted with repatriation cases in other parts of the world, for repatriation is not just a Native American issue. April Beisaw.
Two 75-minute periods.
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AMST 356 - Contemporary American Poets Semester Offered: Spring
1.0 unit(s)
(Same as ENGL 356 ) Topic for 2016/17b: Contemporary Native American Poets. In our course, we study contemporary North American Indigenous poets through various lenses, including American Indian Literary Nationalism, Indigenous Transnationalisms, and tribally-specific frames. Poets include Natalie Diaz, Adrian Louis, Sherman Alexie, Luci Tapahonso, Wendy Rose, and Orlando White among others. Molly McGlennen.
One 2-hour period
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AMST 367 - Artists’ Books from the Women’s Studio Workshop
1 unit(s)
(Same as ART 367 and WMST 367 ) In this interdisciplinary seminar, we explore the limited edition artists’ books created through the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York. Founded in 1974, the Women’s Studio Workshop encourages the voice and vision of individual women artists, and women artists associated with the workshop have, since 1979, created over 180 hand-printed books using a variety of media, including hand-made paper, letterpress, silkscreen, photography, intaglio, and ceramics. Vassar College recently became an official repository for this vibrant collection which, in the words of the workshop’s co-founder, documents “the artistic activities of the longest continually operating women’s workspace in the country.” Working directly with the artists’ books, this seminar will meet in Vassar Library’s Special Collections and closely investigate the range of media, subject matter, and aesthetic sensibilities of the rare books, as well as their contexts and meanings. We will also travel to the Women’s Studio Workshop to experience firsthand the artistic process in an alternative space. Lisa Collins.
Prerequisite(s): permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
One 2-hour period.
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AMST 380 - Art, War, and Social Change Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as SOCI 380 ) In recent years the “War on Terror” has expanded. Many politicians are eager to declare “World War III,” and the refugee crisis continues to challenge the world. Militarism is increasing, and the public may once again come to accept the idea of sending ground troops abroad. In a climate such as this, it is vital to consider how nations conceptualize war, and equally important how groups and individuals might argue against it. To address these issues, this course looks at a body of work that challenges the precepts of war, or mourns its losses. Works include novels, films, music, art, memorials, poetry, and photography. Marque Miringoff.
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Anthropology: I. Introductory |
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ANTH 100 - Archaeology Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
Popular media depicts archaeology as a search for lost treasures of an explicit or implied monetary value. In reality, an artifact’s value lies not in its gold or gemstone content but in the information that object provides about the past. This academic archaeology is a scientific pursuit with artifacts, things made or modified by people, as the primary data source. Instead of searching for ancient astronauts and the lost city of Atlantis, academic archaeologists are searching for evidence about how past communities were organized and how they dealt with cultural or environmental change. The answers to such questions allow us to learn from the past as we face our own challenges. This is the true value of archaeology. This course examines both popular and academic archaeology, critiquing them against the scientific method. April Beisaw.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 120 - Human Origins Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course introduces current and historical debates in the study of human evolution. Primate studies, genetics, the fossil record and paleoecology are drawn upon to address such issues as the origins and nature of human cognition, sexuality, and population variation. Zachary Cofran.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 140 - Cultural Anthropology Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
An introduction to central concepts, methods, and findings in cultural anthropology, including culture, cultural difference, the interpretation of culture, and participant-observation. The course uses cross-cultural comparison to question scholarly and commonsense understandings of human nature. Topics may include sexuality, kinship, political and economic systems, myth, ritual and cosmology, and culturally varied ways of constructing race, gender, and ethnicity. Students undertake small research projects and explore different styles of ethnographic writing. Colleen Cohen, Martha Kaplan, and Candice Lowe Swift.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 150 - Linguistics and Anthropology Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
This class introduces students to the multiple senses in which languages constitute “formal systems.” There is a focus on both theoretical discussions about, and practical exercises in, the phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics of human languages. We also consider the origins of natural languages in various ways: their ontogenesis, their relationship to non-human primate signaling systems, and their relationship to other, non-linguistic, human semiotic systems. Moreover, we examine the broader social and cultural contexts of natural languages, such as their consequences for socially patterned forms of thinking, and their relationship to ethnic, racial and regional variation. The course is intended both as the College’s general introduction to formal linguistics and as a foundation for advanced courses in related areas. David Tavárez.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 170 - Topics in Anthropology
1 unit(s)
Introduction to anthropology through a focus on a particular issue or aspect of human experience. Topics vary, but may include Anthropology through Film, American Popular Culture, Extinctions, Peoples of the World. The department.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 182 - Centering Black Women and Girls’ Lives Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 182 , AMST 182 , EDUC 182 , SOCI 182 , and WMST 182 ) Vassar College, as one of the seven sisters, has a long history of being at the forefront of controversial and critical conversations about issues that confront women’s lives. In line with that history, this course contributes to this important tradition by expanding and extending the historical and contemporary discourses on women and intersectionality that have become so vibrant on Vassar’s campus and beyond. Specifically, it provides students with a critical space to consider and be challenged by how they define, understand, think about, talk about and write at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, spirituality, art and literature in the U.S. Colette Cann, Luis Inoa, Candice Lowe Swift, and Samuel Speers.
Second six-week course.
One 3-hour period.
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Anthropology: II. Intermediate |
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ANTH 201 - Anthropological Theory Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
In this course we explore the history of intellectual innovations that make anthropology distinctive among the social sciences. We seek to achieve an analytic perspective on the history of the discipline and also to consider the social and political contexts, and consequences, of anthropology’s theory. While the course is historical and chronological in organization, we read major theoretical and ethnographic works that form the background to debates and issues in contemporary anthropology. Candice Lowe Swift.
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 140 . Corequisite: ANTH 140 .
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 232 - Topics in Biological Anthropology Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course covers topics within the broad field of biological (or physical) anthropology ranging from evolutionary theory to the human fossil record to the identification of human skeletal remains from crime scenes and accidents. Bioanthropology conceptualizes cultural behavior as an integral part of our behavior as a species. Topics covered in this course may include human evolution, primate behavior, population genetics, human demography and variation, or forensic anthropology.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2016/17a: Biocultural Perspectives on Human Variation and Race. This course examines the nature of human variation, in the contexts of genetics, anatomy, history, and society. The course begins by surveying biological variation, both adaptive and selectively neutral, in humans. We then focus on what the term ‘race’ means biologically, and why this concept does not describe human variation. Moving from biology and genetics, we examine psychological and historical origins of racialist thinking in the United States. This historical overview segues into an analysis how racial categories are used in biomedical research today. Through the framework of the developmental origins of health and disease, we review the biological mechanisms whereby social inequality results in health disparity. Over the course of the semester, students will learn about why humans vary, what this variation does and does not tell us about people, and the ways in which the social reality of race becomes manifest in biology. Zachary Cofran.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 235 - Area Studies in Archaeology Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
This course is a detailed, intensive investigation of archaeological remains from a particular geographic region of the world. The area investigated varies from year to year and includes such areas as Eurasia, North America, and the native civilizations of Central and South America.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2016/17a: Archaeology of Native North America. Native Americans have been in North America for at least the last 10,000 years. From the archaeological record of their cultures, we can see how they farmed in the scorching desert, hunted in the frozen tundra, and traded resources between groups over thousands of miles. Native creativity and resiliency is evident in their past and their present, as indigenous archaeologists and community archaeology programs are changing how archaeology is done, who it is done by and for, and what questions are asked of the past. This course will survey the archaeology of two distinct geographical culture areas, the Southwest and the Northeast. The Southwest, centered on the four-corners of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, is characterized by elaborately painted pottery and standing stone ruins. The Northeast, from Maryland to Maine, is characterized by an unpainted pottery and architectural remnants that are visible as stains in the soil. Because of its greater aesthetic appeal, the Southwest has received much more attention. This contrast will allow us to examine how knowledge of the past is constructed by archaeologists, museum professionals, descendant communities, and public interest. April Beisaw.
Topic for 2016/17b: Central Asian Prehistory. Central Asia is at the crossroads of the East and West. Now comprised of the Former Soviet Union’s “-stans”, archaeology and ethnography reveal a deep antiquity with many unanswered questions. Who were the Andronovoans that buried horses and chariots here 2,000 years ago? How are they related to the Scythians, who are known for their elaborate tattoos? Who built the geometrically patterned earthworks and why? Starting with the earliest traces of human occupation in the region, possibly 1,000,000 years ago, this course assesses the evidence of early Central Asian populations. Linking past and present, the course also examines the role of prehistory in shaping identity of modern Central Asian states. Zachary Cofran.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 240 - Cultural Localities Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
Detailed study of the cultures of people living in a particular area of the world, including their politics, economy, worldview, religion, expressive practices, and historical transformations. Included is a critical assessment of different approaches to the study of culture. Areas covered vary from year to year and may include Europe, Africa, North America, and India.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2016/17a and b: The Pacific. An introduction to the contemporary cultures and complex histories of peoples of the Pacific, and to important anthropological insights that have resulted from research in the Pacific (including, e.g., gender, interpretive ethics, environmental challenges, anti-colonial political religious movements, and the powers of gifts and commodities). The course explores the diversity of indigenous Pacific societies, from chiefly kingdoms such as Fiji, Tonga and Hawaii, to egalitarian societies in New Guinea, with attention as well to Asian diaspora histories in Hawaii and Fiji. The course analyzes the European cultural fascination with the “exotic” or “Edenic” Pacific, as well as Pacific islanders’ own visions and versions of their history and goals. Martha Kaplan.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 241 - The Caribbean
1 unit(s)
An overview of the cultures of the Caribbean, tracing the impact of slavery and colonialism on contemporary experiences and expressions of Caribbean identity. Using ethnographies, historical accounts, literature, music, and film, the course explores the multiple meanings of ‘Caribbean,’ as described in historical travel accounts and contemporary tourist brochures, as experienced in daily social, political, and economic life, and as expressed through cultural events such as calypso contests and Festival, and cultural-political movements such as Rastafarianism. Although the course deals primarily with the English-speaking Caribbean, it also includes materials on the French and Spanish speaking Caribbean and on diasporic Caribbean communities in the U.S. and U.K. Colleen Cohen.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
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ANTH 243 - Mesoamerican Worlds Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as LALS 243 ) A survey of the ethnography, history, and politics of indigenous societies with deep historical roots in regions now located in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. This course explores the emergence of Mesoamerican states with a vivid cosmology tied to warfare and human sacrifice, the reconfiguration of these societies under the twin burdens of Christianity and colonial rule, and the strategies that some of these communities adopted in order to preserve local notions of identity and to cope with (or resist) incorporation into nation-states. After a consideration of urbanization, socio-religious hierarchies, and writing and calendrical systems in pre-contact Mesoamerica, we will focus on the adaptations within Mesoamerican communities resulting from their interaction with an evolving colonial order. The course also investigates the relations between native communities and the Mexican and Guatemalan nation-states, and examines current issues—such as indigenous identities in the national and global spheres, the rapport among environmental policies, globalization, and local agricultural practices, and indigenous autonomy in the wake of the EZLN rebellion. Work on Vassar’s Mesoamerican collection, and a final research paper and presentation is required; the use of primary sources (in Spanish or in translation) is encouraged. David Tavárez.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 244 - Indian Ocean
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 244 ) This course re/introduces alternative modalities of belonging through a focus on multiple cultures and peoples interacting across the Indian Ocean. Using historical works, ethnographies, travel accounts, manuscript fragments, and film, we explore the complex networks and historical processes that have shaped the contemporary economies, cultures, and social problems of the region. We also critically examine how knowledge about the peoples and pasts of this region has been produced. Although the course concentrates on northern Africa, eastern Africa, southwest India, the Arabian Peninsula, and islands are included in our consideration of the region as a cultural, economic, and political sphere whose coastal societies were especially interconnected. Topics include: imperialism, globalization, temporality, cosmopolitanism, labor and trade migrations, religious identification, and gender. Candice Lowe Swift.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 245 - The Ethnographer’s Craft Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as URBS 245 ) This course introduces students to the methods employed in constructing and analyzing ethnographic materials through readings, classroom lectures, and discussions with regular field exercises. Students gain experience in participant-observation, fieldnote-taking, interviewing, survey sampling, symbolic analysis, the use of archival documents, and the use of contemporary media. Attention is also given to current concerns with interpretation and modes of representation. Throughout the semester, students practice skills they learn in the course as they design, carry out, and write up original ethnographic projects. Candice Lowe Swift.
Two 75-minute periods plus two 75-minute workshops outside of regular class hours.
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ANTH 247 - Modern Social Theory: Classical Traditions Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as SOCI 247 ) This course examines underlying assumptions and central concepts and arguments of European and American thinkers who contributed to the making of distinctly sociological perspectives. Readings include selections from Karl Marx, Emile Durheim, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, W.E.B. Du Bois and Erving Goffman. Thematic topics will vary from year to year. Seungsook Moon.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 250 - Language, Culture, and Society Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course draws on a wide range of theoretical perspectives in exploring a particular problem, emphasizing the contribution of linguistics and linguistic anthropology to issues that bear on research in a number of disciplines. At issue in each selected course topic are the complex ways in which cultures, societies, and individuals are interrelated in the act of using language within and across particular speech communities.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2016/17b: Language, Culture, and Society. This course is an advanced introduction to the main theoretical paradigms within linguistic anthropology. It also trains students in the methodologies for recording, transcription, and analysis of naturally occurring speech. The course begins by introducing the theoretical foundations of the anthropological approach to language structure and use. It also presents methodological paradigms for studying language use as part of social and cultural practice, such as the ethnography of communication, poetics and performance, and conversation analysis. The third part introduces theoretical frameworks that connect language structure and use to broader social, political, and economic processes, focusing on language socialization and language ideologies. The final weeks examine the interventions of linguistic anthropology in the study of identity, social inequality, and mass media. Readings include three monographs in linguistic anthropology by Keith Basso (Wisdom Sits in Places), Bambi Schieffelin (The Give and Take of Everyday Life), and Norma Mendoza-Denton (Homegirls). This course provides the theoretical and methodological preparation for advanced courses in anthropology and other related areas. Louis Römer.
Topic for 2016/17b: Language and Power. (Same as AFRS 250 ) How can the study of language and its use advance our understanding of power and political action? This course analyzes how language and rhetorical prowess are essential for the distribution and exercise of power through the discussion of readings on political oratory, rumor and scandal, and satire. Readings on mass media and the public sphere illustrate the role of language in political mobilization, the formation of collective identities, and the enforcement of social inequalities and exclusion. Readings on campaigns and electoral politics explore the use of language for the performance of civility and moral virtue, as well as the covert mobilization of class, racial, gender, and ethnic stereotypes. Finally, readings on democracy promotion campaigns in post-colonial settings explore the use of language in the affirmation and contestation of ideals of secularism, liberal democracy, and modernity. Students apply methodological and theoretical tools of linguistic anthropology to analyze the structural features and the political effects of real world examples of political satire, scandal, and oratory. Louis Römer.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 255 - Language, Gender, and Media
1 unit(s)
This course offers a systematic survey of anthropological and linguistic approaches to the ways in which gender identities are implicated in language use, ideas about language, and the dynamic relationship between language and various forms of power and dominance. It is organized as a cross-cultural and cross-ethnic exploration of approaches that range from ground-breaking feminist linguistic anthropology and the study of gender, hegemony, and class, to contemporary debates on gender as performance and on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual/transgender identities. An important topic will be the representation of gender identities in various forms of media. However, we also investigate the multiple rapports among gender identities, socialization, language use in private and public spheres, forms of authority, and class and ethnic identities. Students will learn about transcription and analysis methods used in linguistic anthropology, and complete two projects, one based on spontaneous conversations, and another that focuses on mass media. David Tavárez.
Not offered in 2016/17.
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ANTH 259 - Soundscapes: Anthropology of Music
1 unit(s)
(Same as MUSI 259 ) This course investigates a series of questions about the relationship between music and the individuals and societies that perform and listen to it. In other words, music is examined and appreciated as a form of human expression existing within and across specific cultural contexts. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the social life of music, addressing historical themes and debates within multiple academic fields via readings, recordings, and films. Justin Patch.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or Music, or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
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ANTH 262 - Anthropological Approaches to Myth, Ritual and Symbol
1 unit(s)
What is the place of myth, ritual and symbol in human social life? Do symbols reflect reality, or create it? This course considers answers to these questions in social theory (Marx, Freud and Durkheim) and in major anthropological approaches (functionalism, structuralism, and symbolic anthropology). It then reviews current debates in interpretive anthropology about order and change, power and resistance, the enchantments of capitalism, and the role of ritual in the making of history. Ethnographic and historical studies may include Fiji, Italy, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Seneca, and the U.S. Martha Kaplan.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
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ANTH 263 - Anthropology Goes to the Movies: Film, Video, and Ethnography
1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 263 ) This course examines how film and video are used in ethnography as tools for study and as means of ethnographic documentary and representation. Topics covered include history and theory of visual anthropology, issues of representation and audience, indigenous film, and contemporary ethnographic approaches to popular media. Colleen Cohen.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or Film or Media Studies or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods, plus 3-hour preview laboratory.
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ANTH 266 - Indigenous and Oppositional Media
1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 266 ) As audiovisual and digital media technologies proliferate and become more accessible globally, they become important tools for indigenous peoples and activist groups in struggles for recognition and self-determination, for articulating community concerns and for furthering social and political transformations. This course explores the media practices of indigenous peoples and activist groups, and through this exploration achieves a more nuanced and intricate understanding of the relation of the local to the global. In addition to looking at the films, videos, radio and television productions, and Internet interventions of indigenous media makers and activists around the world, the course looks at oppositional practices employed in the consumption and distribution of media. Course readings are augmented by weekly screenings and demonstrations of media studied, and students explore key theoretical concepts through their own interventions, making use of audiovisual and digital technologies. Colleen Cohen.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods, plus one 3-hour preview lab.
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ANTH 268 - Religion, Repression, and Resistance in Latin America Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as HIST 268 and LALS 268 ) What was it like to live in a society where crimes of thought and religious transgressions were prosecuted and punished? How did various populations confront and resist inquisitorial activities? What is the legacy of the Inquisition in the Americas? This course addresses these and other questions through a focus on the Latin American Inquisition and Extirpation (ecclesiastic attempts to reform or destroy Precolumbian indigenous religions). The course tracks the emergence of Inquisition tribunals in Mexico City, Lima, and Cartagena after 1571, and the Catholic Church’s prosecution of indigenous idolatry and sorcery. It focuses both on trends in prosecution, torture, and punishment, and on the dynamic responses of those who were either targets or collaborators: indigenous peoples, Jews, Africans, female healers, people of mixed descent, and Protestants. Towards the end of the course, based on students’ interests, we also review other select case studies of religious control and resistance in Latin America. Students proficient in Spanish or Portuguese are encouraged to work with primary sources. David Tavárez.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 281 - Theirs or Ours? Repatriating Individuals and Objects Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as AMST 281 ) Collecting Native American objects and human remains was once justified as a way to preserve vanishing cultures. Instead of vanishing, Native Americans organized and asked that their ancestors be returned, along with their grave goods, and other sacred objects. Initially, museums fought against the loss of collections and scientists fought against the loss of data. Governments stepped in and wrote regulations to manage claims, dictating the rights of all parties. Twenty years after the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) repatriation remains a controversial issue with few who are truly satisfied with the adopted process. This course examines the ethics and logistics of repatriation from the perspectives of anthropology, art, history, law, museum studies, Native American studies, philosophy, and religion. Recent U.S. cases are contrasted with repatriation cases in other parts of the world, for repatriation is not just a Native American issue. April Beisaw.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ANTH 290 - Field Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1.5 unit(s)
Individual or group field projects or internships. May be elected during the college year or during the summer. Open to all students. The department.
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ANTH 297 - Reading Course in Archaeological Field Methods Semester Offered: Spring
0.5 unit(s)
Ms. Johnson.
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ANTH 298 - Independent Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Individual or group project of reading or research. May be elected during the college year or during the summer. The department.
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Anthropology: III. Advanced |
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ANTH 300 - Senior Thesis Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
The department.
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ANTH 301 - Senior Seminar Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
A close examination of current theory in anthropology, oriented around a topic of general interest, such as history and anthropology, the writing of ethnography, or the theory of practice. Students write a substantial paper applying one or more of the theories discussed in class. Readings change from year to year. Martha Kaplan.
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ANTH 305 - Topics in Advanced Biological Anthropology Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
An examination of such topics as primate structure and behavior, the Plio-Pleistocene hominids, the final evolution of Homo sapiens sapiens, forensic anthropology, and human biological diversity.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2016/17b: A New Human Species. The 2013 discovery of an extinct species of human, Homo naledi, was remarkable for a number of reasons. First, the bones were discovered deep within a cave system which may suggest ritual burial behavior. Second, the number of bones recovered in just one field season is more than most sites have produced in decades of excavations. Thirdly, data from the site was made publically available using 3D scanning technology, setting a new standard in open access science. As with most major discoveries, the Homo naledi project also has its controversies. Some claim that the all-female excavation team was a publicity stunt. In this course, both the science and social saga of Homo naledi are examined to reveal the human side of science that is often underappreciated. Directly comparing the Homo naledi fossils with living and extinct humans, students will reconstruct this animal for themselves. Zachary Cofran.
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 232 or permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period.
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ANTH 331 - Topics in Archaeological Theory and Method Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
The theoretical underpinnings of anthropological archaeology and the use of theory in studying particular bodies of data. The focus ranges from examination of published data covering topics such as architecture and society, the origin of complex society, the relationship between technology and ecology to more laboratory-oriented examination of such topics as archaeometry, archaeozoology, or lithic technology.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2016/17a: Disaster Archaeology. (Same as ENST 331 ) When did humans first experience disaster? Since their earliest manifestations, towns and cities have suffered dramatic disasters such as super storms, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes - which often led to their abandonment. Slower disasters, such as droughts and plagues, caused groups to reorganize in response to loss of resources, including their most vulnerable community members. Natural processes become cultural disasters when people get caught in them, and have to make decisions about risks to lives, livelihoods, and property. Newer forms of cultural disasters include nuclear events, sunken ships, and crashed planes, but these too can be studied through archaeology. Disasters have their own histories as they are often the result of processes set in motion long before there is a clear toll. Despite their cause, disasters often leave us wondering why the event happened and how we can better prepare against future threats. Archaeological methods allow us to learn from what remains, to piece together the events that led up to a disaster, the events that unfolded during it, and the decisions that were made after it. This course surveys the archaeological record of environmental and cultural threats, including El Niños, volcanic eruptions, and the release of nuclear radiation. April Beisaw.
Prerequisites: previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period.
Topic for 2016/17b: Technology and Ecology. (Same as ENST 331 and STS 331 ) Examines the interactions between human beings and their environment as mediated by technology, focusing on the period from the earliest evidence of toolmaking approximately up to the Industrial Revolution. Student research projects often bring the course up to the present. Includes experimentation with ancient technologies and field trips to local markets and craft workshops. Lucy Johnson.
Prerequisites: previous coursework in Anthropology or Environmental Studies, or permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period plus one 4-hour lab.
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ANTH 351 - Language and Expressive Culture
1 unit(s)
This seminar provides the advanced student with an intensive investigation of theoretical and practical problems in specific areas of research that relate language and linguistics to expressive activity. Although emphasizing linguistic modes of analysis and argumentation, the course is situated at the intersection of important intellectual crosscurrents in the arts, humanities, and social sciences that focus on how culture is produced and projected through not only verbal, but also musical, material, kinaesthetic, and dramatic arts. Each topic culminates in independent research projects.
May be repeated for credit if the topic has changed.
Topic for 2016/17b offered under ANTH 383 .
Prerequisite(s): ANTH 150 or ANTH 250 or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
One 3-hour period.
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ANTH 363 - Nations, Globalization, and Post-Coloniality
1 unit(s)
(Same as INTL 363 ) How do conditions of globalization and dilemmas of post-coloniality challenge the nation-state? Do they also reinforce and reinvent it? This course engages three related topics and literatures; recent anthropology of the nation-state; the anthropology of colonial and post-colonial societies; and the anthropology of global institutions and global flows. Martha Kaplan.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
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ANTH 364 - Travelers and Tourists Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
The seminar explores tourism in the context of a Western tradition of travel and as a complex cultural, economic and political phenomenon with profound impacts locally and globally. Using contemporary tourism theory, ethnographic studies of tourist locales, contemporary and historical travel narratives, travelogues, works of fiction, post cards and travel brochures, we consider tourism as a historically specific cultural practice whose meaning and relation to structures of power varies over time and context; as a performance; as one of many global mobilities; as embodied activity; as it is informed by mythic and iconic representations and embedded in Western notions of self and other. We also address issues pertaining to the culture of contemporary tourism, the commoditization of culture, the relation between tourism development and national identity and the prospects for an environmentally and culturally sustainable tourism. Colleen Cohen.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period.
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ANTH 365 - Imagining Asia and the Pacific
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 365 ) Does “the Orient” exist? Is the Pacific really a Paradise? On the other hand, does the “West” exist? If it does, is it the opposite of Paradise? Asia is often imagined as an ancient, complex challenger and the Pacific is often imagined as a simple, idyllic paradise. This course explores Western scholarly images of Asia (East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia) and of the island Pacific. It also traces the impact of Asian and Pacific ideas and institutions on the West. Each time offered, the seminar has at least three foci, on topics such as: Asia, the Pacific and capitalism; Asia, the Pacific and the concept of culture; Asia, the Pacific and the nation-state; Asia, the Pacific and feminism; Asia, the Pacific and knowledge. Martha Kaplan.
Prerequisite(s): previous coursework in Asian Studies/Anthropology or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
One 2-hour period.
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ANTH 383 - Creolizing the World: Language, Empire, Globalization Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 383 ) The era of mass migration, multilingualism, and hybrid identities that we live in today began with European imperial expansion into the Americas five centuries ago. Our globalized world today cannot be understood separately from the histories of imperialism and colonialism. This course examines the role of language in imperial projects, anti-colonial resistance, post-colonial states, and multilingualism in postcolonial settings. This course also traces how imperial legacies continue to inform attitudes about language in today’s transnational global economy. Themes include language contact and language change, anti-colonialism, and nationalism, the creolization of language and culture, post-nationalism, global languages, language shift, and language revitalization. The first section of the course discusses colonial linguistic policies and missionary efforts. The second focuses on language contact and the emergence of pidgins and creoles in colonial situations. The third section treats the role of language in anti-colonial movements, and in post-colonial discourses of modernization and development. The fourth section examines colonial legacies that shape ongoing conflicts surrounding language rights and language policy. Drawing on readings on language death and language revitalization as legacies of imperial rule and post-colonial state formation, the final weeks of the course address the relationship between imperialism, the emergence of English as a global lingua franca, and the emergence of transnational linguistic blocs such as La Francophonie and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. Louis Römer.
Prerequisite(s): prior coursework in Anthropology or Africana Studies, or permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period.
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ANTH 384 - Native Religions of the Americas
1 unit(s)
(Same as AMST 384 and LALS 384 ) The conquest of the Americas was accompanied by various intellectual and sociopolitical projects devised to translate, implant, or impose Christian beliefs in Amerindian societies. This course examines modes of resistance and accommodation, among other indigenous responses, to the introduction of Christianity as part of larger colonial projects. Through a succession of case studies from North America, Mesoamerica, the Caribbean, the Andes, and Paraguay, we analyze the impact of Christian colonial and postcolonial evangelization projects on indigenous languages, religious practices, literary genres, social organization and gender roles, and examine contemporary indigenous religious practices. David Tavárez.
Prerequisite(s): prior coursework in Anthropology, American Studies or Latin American Latino/a Studies or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
One 2-hour period.
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ANTH 389 - Identities and Historical Consciousness in Latin America Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as LALS 389 ) This senior seminar explores in a highly strategic fashion the emergence and constant renovation of historical narratives that have supported various beliefs and claims about local, regional, national and transnational identities in Latin America and Latino(a) societies since the rise of the Mexica and Inca empires until the present. By means of a variety of anthropological and historical approaches, we examine indigenous forms of historical consciousness and the emergence of new identity discourses after the Spanish conquest, major changes in collective identities before and after the emergence of independent nation-states, and some crucial shifts in national, regional and ethnic identity claims that preceded and followed revolutions and social movements between the late nineteenth century and the present. Students complete an original research project, and the use of primary sources in Spanish or Portuguese is encouraged. David Tavárez.
One 2-hour period.
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ANTH 399 - Senior Independent Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Individual or group project of reading or research. May be elected during the college year or during the summer. The department
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Art: I. Introductory |
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ART 125 - The Sound of Space: Intersecting Acoustics, Architecture and Music Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as MUSI 125 and PHYS 125 ) The disciplines of acoustics, architecture, and music are often treated in isolation, resulting in the loss of many synergistic connections. This course will bring these three different but intersecting disciplines together in an exciting new way through a collaborative team-teaching process. The course will explore the physical nature of music in the built environment, focusing on the generation, transmission, and reception of music in a variety of spaces across campus. An introduction will first be given for each discipline, then the intersections of these seemingly disparate, yet closely related fields will be studied through a combination of lecture, group discussion, and hands-on investigation. Student teams will adopt a key acoustical space on campus, which they will present during a processional performance by a Vassar choral group open to the public at the end of the semester. David Bradley, Christine Howlett, and Andrew Tallon.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 160 - Art and Social Change in the United States Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as AMST 160 ) In this first-year seminar, we explore relationships between art, visual culture, and social change in the United States. Focusing on twentieth and twenty-first century social movements, we study artists and communities who have sought to inspire social change–to cultivate awareness, nurture fresh ideas, offer new visions, promote dialogue, encourage understanding, build and strengthen community, and inspire civic engagement and direct action–through creative visual expression. Lisa Collins.
Open only to freshmen; satisfies the college requirement for a Freshman Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 170 - Introduction to Architectural History
1 unit(s)
(Same as URBS 170 ) An overview of the history of western architecture from the pyramids to the present. The course is organized in modules to highlight the methods by which architects have articulated the basic problem of covering space and adapting it to human needs. Nicholas Adams.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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Art: II. Intermediate |
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ART 210 - Art, Myth, and Society in the Ancient Aegean
1 unit(s)
(Same as GRST 210 ) Eve D’Ambra.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or coursework in Greek & Roman Studies, or permission of the instructor.
NRO available to non-majors.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 211 - Rome: The Art of Empire
1 unit(s)
(Same as GRST 211 ) From humble beginnings to its conquest of most of the known world, Rome dominated the Mediterranean with the power of its empire. Art and architecture gave monumental expression to its political ideology, especially in the building of cities that spread Roman civilization across most of Europe and parts of the Middle East and Africa. Roman art also featured adornment, luxury, and collecting in both public and private spheres. Given the diversity of the people included in the Roman empire and its artistic forms, what is particularly Roman about Roman art? Eve D’Ambra.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or one unit in Greek and Roman Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 215 - The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as GRST 215 ) Ancient Egypt has long fascinated the public with its pyramids, mummies, and golden divine rulers. This course provides a survey of the archaeology, art, and architecture of ancient Egypt from the prehistoric cultures of the Nile Valley through the period of Cleopatra’s rule and Roman domination. Topics to be studied include the art of the funerary cult and the afterlife, technology and social organization, and court rituals of the pharaohs, along with aspects of everyday life. Eve D’Ambra.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or one unit of Greek and Roman Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 218 - The Museum in History, Theory, and Practice Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course surveys the long evolution of the art museum, beginning with private wonder rooms and cabinets of curiosity in the Renaissance and ending with the plethora of contemporary museums dedicated to broad public outreach. As we explore philosophies of both private and institutional collecting (including that of the college and university art museum) we use the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center as our first point of reference for considering a range of topics, such as the museum’s role in furthering art historical scholarship and public education, its acquisition procedures, and challenges to the security, quality or integrity of its collections posed by theft, by the traffic in fakes and forgeries, or the current movement to repatriate antiquities to their country of origin. Assignments include readings and group discussions, individual research projects, and at least three one-day field trips to museums in our area (including Manhattan) to allow us to examine the many different approaches to museum architecture and installation. Susan Kuretsky.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , and permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 219 - The First Cities: The Art and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as GRST 219 and URBS 219 ) The art, architecture, and artifacts of the region comprising ancient Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, and Turkey from 3200 BCE to the conquest of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE. Beginning with the rise of cities and cuneiform writing in Mesopotamia, course topics include the role of the arts in the formation of states and complex societies, cult practices, trade and military action, as well as in everyday life. How do we make sense of the past through its ruins and artifacts, especially when they are under attack (the destruction wrought by ISIS)? Eve D’Ambra.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or 106 or one unit in Greek and Roman Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 220 - Cathedral, Castle, City, Cloister: the Architecture of the Middle Ages Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
A survey of the greatest moments in Western, Byzantine and Islamic architecture from the reign of Constantine to the late middle ages and the visual, symbolic and structural language developed by the masters and patrons responsible for them. Particular attention is paid to issues of representation: the challenge of bringing a medieval building into the classroom, that of translating our impressions of these buildings into words and images, and the ways in which other students and scholars have done so. Andrew Tallon.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , coursework in Medieval Studies, or permission of instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 221 - The Art of Faith: Sacred Objects of the Middle Ages
1 unit(s)
A selective chronological exploration of the art of western Europe from early Christian Rome to the late Gothic North, with excursions into the lands of Byzantium and Islam. Works of differing scale and media, from monumental and devotional sculpture, manuscript illumination, metalwork, to stained glass, painting and mosaic, are considered formally and iconographicallly, but also in terms of their reception. Students work directly with medieval objects held in the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center and with manuscripts in the Special Collections of the Vassar Library. Andrew Tallon.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , coursework in Medieval Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 230 - Art in the Age of Van Eyck, Dürer and Bruegel Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
The Northern Renaissance. Early Netherlandish and German art from Campin, van Eyck and van der Weyden to Bosch, Bruegel, Dürer and Holbein. This transformative period, which saw the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century and the explosive turmoil of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, generated a profound reassessment of the role of images in the form of new responses toward human representation in devotional and narrative painting and printmaking as well as developments in secular subjects such as portraiture and landscape. Susan Kuretsky.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 231 - The Golden Age of Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer
1 unit(s)
An exploration of the new forms of secular and religious art that developed during the Golden Age of the Netherlands in the works of Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer and their contemporaries. The course examines the impact of differing religions on Flanders and the Dutch Republic, while exploring how political, economic and scientific factors encouraged the formation of seventeenth century Netherlandish art. Susan Kuretsky.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 235 - The Rise of the Artist, from Giotto to Leonardo da Vinci Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
A survey of Italian art c. 1300 - c.1500, when major cultural shifts led to a redefinition of art, and the artist emerged as a new creative and intellectual power. The course considers painting, sculpture and decorative arts by artists including Giotto, Donatello, Botticelli, and Leonardo. Our study of artworks and primary texts reveals how a predominantly Christian society embraced the revival of ancient pagan culture, elements of atheist philosophy, and Islamic science. We also discuss art in the context of nascent multiculturalism and consumerism in the new city-states; the importance of new communications systems, such as print; and artistic exchange with northern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean centers of Baghdad and Constantinople. Other topics include art theory and criticism; techniques and materials of painting and sculpture; experiments with multimedia and mass production; developments in perspective and illusionism; ritual and ceremonial; and art that called into question notions of sexuality and gender roles. Yvonne Elet.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 236 - Art in the Age of Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
An exploration of the works of these three masters and their contemporaries in Renaissance Italy, c. 1485 - c. 1565. The primary focus is on painting and sculpture, but the course also considers drawings, prints, landscape, gardens, and decorative arts, emphasizing artists’ increasing tendency to work in multiple media. We trace changing ideas about the role of the artist and the nature of artistic creativity; and consider how these Renaissance masters laid foundations for art, and its history, theory and criticism for centuries to come. Other topics include artists’ workshops; interactions between artists and patrons; the role of the spectator; ritual and ceremonial; and Renaissance ideas about beauty, sexuality and gender. Yvonne Elet.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 249 - Encounter and Exchange: American Art from 1565 to 1865 Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as AMST 249 ) This course provides a survey of the visual arts made in the United States (or by American artists living abroad) until 1865, beginning with the first European representations of Native Americans in the 16th century and ending with Alexander Gardner’s images of death and destruction on the battlefields of the U.S. Civil War. It emphasizes the significance of cross-cultural encounter and international exchange to the creation and reception of artworks produced in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, and prints. Our approach will be both chronological and thematic, considering topics such as the role of art in the construction of national identity; the origins of the U.S. art market; and the tensions of class, gender, race, and ethnicity in early American art.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 251 - Modern America: Visual Culture from the Civil War to WWII Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as AMST 251 ) This course examines American visual culture as it developed in the years between the Civil War and World War II. Special attention is paid to the intersections among diverse media and to such issues as the emergence of new forms of mass imagery, consumerism, cosmopolitanism, regionalism, abstraction, gender, primitivism, mechanized reproduction, and the rise of modern art institutions. Artists studied include Winslow Homer, Timothy O’Sullivan, James McNeill Whistler, Thomas Eakins, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Aaron Douglas, and Edward Hopper, among others.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or a 100-level American Studies course, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 254 - The Arts of Eastern, Southern, Central and Western Africa Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 254 ) This course is organized thematically and examines the ways in which sculpture, painting, photography, textiles, and film and video function both historically and currently in relationship to broader cultural issues. Within this context, this course explores performance and masquerade in relationship to gender, social, and political power. We also consider the connections between the visual arts and cosmology, identity, ideas of diaspora, colonialism and post-colonialism, as well as the representation of the “Self,” and the “Other.”
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , one course in Africana Studies, or permission of the instructor.
The Non-Recorded Option is available to non-majors.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 256 - The Arts of China Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 256 ) This course offers a survey of art in China from prehistory to the present. The remarkable range of works to be studied includes archeological discoveries, imperial tombs, palace and temple architecture, Buddhist and Taoist sculpture, ceramics, calligraphy, painting, and experimental art in recent decades. We examine the visual and material features of objects for insight into how these works were crafted, and ask what made these works meaningful to artists and audiences. Readings in primary sources and secondary scholarship allow for deeper investigation of the diverse contexts in which the arts of China have evolved. Among the issues we confront are art’s relationship to politics, ethics, gender, religion, cultural interaction, and to social, technological, and environmental change. Mr Seiffert.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , one Asian Studies course, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 258 - The Art of Zen in Japan
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 258 ) This course surveys the arts of Japanese Buddhism, ranging from sculpture, painting, architecture, gardens, ceramics, and woodblock prints. We will consider various socioeconomic, political and religious circumstances that led monks, warriors, artists, and women of diverse social ranks to collectively foster an aesthetic that would, in turn, influence modern artists of Europe and North America.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or a 100-level Asian Studies course, or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 259 - Art, Politics and Cultural Identity in East Asia Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 259 ) Topic for 2016/17b: Manga, Anime, and the Visual Arts of Japan. Manga (cartoons, comics) and anime (hand-drawn or digital animations) are global phenomena deeply rooted in the visual arts of Japan. This course surveys the history of manga and anime from premodern times to the present. Our attempt to understand the real and imaginary worlds conjured through manga and anime images demands careful study of artists’ materials, techniques, and solutions to problems of visual design and composition. We trace the history these images from early sources in painting and woodblock-printed illustrations, through the twentieth century and into the present, as manga and anime gain an increasingly central role in popular culture. We investigate the many abiding themes which manga and anime address, including gender, ethnicity, politics, social life, religion, and technology: worlds natural and supernatural, and the divergent possibilities, whether human, posthuman, or transhuman, that such worlds entail. Gregory Seiffert.
ART 105 or ART 106 or one 100-level Asian Studies course, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 262 - Art and Revolution in Europe, 1789-1848
1 unit(s)
A survey of major movements and figures in European art, 1789-1848, focusing on such issues as the contemporaneity of antiquity in revolutionary history painting, the eclipse of mythological and religious art by an art of social observation and political commentary, the romantic cult of genius, imagination, and creative self-definition, and the emergence of landscape painting in an industrializing culture. Brian Lukacher.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 263 - Painters of Modern Life: Realism, Impressionism, Symbolism Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
A survey of major movements and figures in European art, 1848-1900, examining the realist, impressionist, and symbolist challenges to the dominant art institutions, aesthetic assumptions, and social values of the period; also addressing how a critique of modernity and a sociology of aesthetics can be seen developing through these phases of artistic experimentation. Brian Lukacher.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 264 - The Nature of Change: the Avant-Gardes Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 264 ) Radical prototypes of self-organization were forged by the new groups of artists, writers, filmmakers and architects that emerged in the early twentieth century as they sought to define the future. The course studies the avant-gardes’ different and often competing efforts to meet the changing conditions that industrialization was bringing to culture, societies and economies between 1889 and 1929, when works of art, design, and film entered the city, the press, the everyday lives and the wars that beset them all. Molly Nesbit.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods and one weekly film screening.
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ART 265 - The New Order of Media, Message and Art, 1929-1968 Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 265 ) When the public sphere was reset during the twentieth century by a new order of mass media, the place of art and artists in the new order needed to be claimed. The course studies the negotiations between modern art and the mass media (advertising, cinema, TV), in theory and in practice, during the years between the Great Depression and the liberation movements of the late 1960s-the foundation stones of our own contemporary culture. Neither the theory nor the practice has become obsolete. Molly Nesbit.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 .
Two 75-minute periods and one weekly film screening.
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ART 266 - Art, Urgency, and Everyday Life in the United States Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 266 and AMST 266 ) An interdisciplinary exploration of how a range of U.S. based creators–through their artistic practices, aesthetic choices, and expressive interventions–are grappling with urgent issues of our time. Lisa Collins.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or coursework in Africana Studies, American Studies, Women’s Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 268 - The Activation of Art, 1968 - now
1 unit(s)
(Same as MEDS 268 ) This course studies the visual arts of the last thirty years, here and abroad, together with the collective and philosophical discussions that emerged and motivated them. The traditional fine arts as well as the new media, performance, film architecture and installation are included. Still and moving images, which come with new theatres of action, experiment and intellectual quest, are studied as they interact with the historical forces still shaping our time into time zones, world pictures, narratives and futures. Weekly screenings supplement the lectures. Molly Nesbit.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 .
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods and one weekly screening.
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ART 270 - Renaissance Architecture
1 unit(s)
European architecture and city building from 1300-1500; focus on Italian architecture and Italian architects; encounters between Italian and other cultures throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. Nicholas Adams.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or ART 170 or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 271 - Early Modern Architecture
1 unit(s)
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or ART 170 , or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 272 - Buildings and Cities after the Industrial Revolution
1 unit(s)
(Same as URBS 272 ) Architecture and urbanism were utterly changed by the forces of the industrial revolution. New materials (iron and steel), building type (train stations, skyscrapers), building practice (the rise of professional societies and large corporate firms), and newly remade cities (London, Paris, Vienna) provided a setting for modern life. The course begins with the liberation of the architectural imagination around 1750 and terminates with the rise of modernism at the beginning of the twentieth century (Gropius, Le Corbusier). Nicholas Adams.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 273 - Modern Architecture and Beyond Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as URBS 273 ) European and American architecture and city building (1920 to the present); examination of the diffusion of modernism and its reinterpretation by corporate America and Soviet Russia. Discussion of subsequent critiques of modernism (postmodernism, deconstruction, new urbanism) and their limitations. Issues in contemporary architecture.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or ART 170 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 275 - Rome: Architecture and Urbanism
1 unit(s)
(Same as URBS 275 ) The Eternal City has been transformed many times since its legendary founding by Romulus and Remus. This course presents an overview of the history of the city of Rome in antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque period, and modern times. The course examines the ways that site, architecture, urbanism, and politics have interacted to produce one of the world’s densest urban fabrics. The course focuses on Rome’s major architectural and urban monuments over time (e.g., Pantheon, St. Peters, the Capitoline hill) as well as discussions of the dynamic forms of Roman power and religion. Literature, music and film also will be included as appropriate. Nicholas Adams.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or ART 106 , or ART 170 or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2016/17.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 279 - Four Architects of the Modern Era Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as URBS 279 ) The course considers the architecture, the design work, and the subsequent reputations of the greatest architects of the twentieth century, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Alvar Aalto, and Louis Kahn. A comparative discussion of these architects and their work entails a close of examination of their major works and architectural theories in the context of cultural change during the twentieth century. Nicholas Adams.
Prerequisite(s): ART 105 or 106 or ART 170 , or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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ART 280 - Architectural History Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as URBS 280 ) Topic for 2016/17b: The Architectural Monument: Building Memory from Antiquity to Present. Debates over memorials to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and challenges to named buildings on campuses have raised questions about memorializing history in contemporary society. What events or people should be commemorated? What should monuments look like and how should they relate to the urban fabric? Debates over history, memory, and the construction of identity are not unique to our times, but have been a focus of intellectual discourse since antiquity (if not since the prehistoric period!). This course examines the monumental cultures of Greece and Rome and their reception in western civilization in order to consider the roles monuments played in different societies’ evolving conceptions of the past. We consider these questions from a variety of anthropological, philosophical, art historical, and archaeological perspectives. Our ultimate aim is to reflect critically on the ways in which perceptions and reconstructions of the past shape our current cultural values, laws, and institutions. Megan Goldman-Petri.
Prerequisites: ART 105 or 106 , ART 170 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
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