Catalogue 2018-2019 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
College Courses
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The college course program was established to ensure that students can have direct exposure in their years at Vassar to some important expressions of the human spirit in a context that is both multidisciplinary and integrative. The aim of a college course is to study important cultures, themes, or human activities in a manner that gives the student experience in interpreting evidence from the standpoint of different fields. The courses relate this material and these interpretations to other material and interpretations from other fields in order to unite the results of this study into a coherent overall framework. The interpretations are expected to be both appreciative and critical and the artifacts will come from different times, places, and cultures.
College Course: I. Introductory
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CLCS 100 - The Theater of Chekhov and Stanislavski: Higher, Lighter, Simpler, More Joyful
1 unit(s)
This course is designed to explore the major works of late nineteenth-century playwright Anton Chekhov. Through careful reading, discussion, writing, and occasional performance of these works students will discover the ways in which this Russian dramatist has come to shape what’s thought of as modern drama. By looking at each play act by act, Seagull, Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya, and The Cherry Orchard the class will explore the links they share to one another as well as to theatrical tradition at large. The work of Constantine Stanislavski, first to stage these works (as well as the artist to develop the process of “method” acting, and to define the role of the modern stage director), will be used to better understand these plays and their performance. Though this course will be of particular interest to students of theater, non-theater students are encouraged to enroll. Christopher Grabowski.
Open only to first-year students; satisfies college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2018/19.
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CLCS 101 - Civilization in Question
1 unit(s)
(Same as GRST 101 and MRST 101 ) In the past, college curricula in this country were often organized around the idea of the “Great Books” of “Western Civilization.” Today though, the very idea of a Western literary canon has been challenged as a vehicle for reinforcing questionable norms and hierarchies and silencing other important perspectives. In this class we read well-known ancient, medieval and Renaissance texts with a view to how they themselves question the civilizations from which they emerge. A unique feature of this class is that it is taught by faculty from three different disciplines who bring a variety of interpretive practices to bear on the texts. This creates a classroom environment in which dialogue is the means to discovery. Students are encouraged to be part of the conversation both during class and in weekly discussion sections. Readings may include such authors as Homer, Aeschylus, Plato, Augustine, Chretien de Troyes, and Machiavelli. Nancy Bisaha, Rachel Friedman, and Christopher Raymond.
Two 75-minute periods plus extra periods.
Not offered in 2018/19.
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CLCS 150 - Revolution, Evolution, and the Global Nineteenth Century Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as HIST 150 and VICT 150 ) The world as we know it largely came into being during the nineteenth century. Marked by social, political, cultural, and technological transformations, the nineteenth century witnessed the emergence of modernity out of the instabilities of change. Railways crisscrossed continents; European empires expanded; agricultural laborers flocked into mushrooming urban centers; and the enslaved, the colonized, and the disenfranchised around the world fought for liberty and citizenship. In this course, we consider these and other nineteenth-century transformations in a global context by focusing on the interconnections between North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Our investigations are organized around five core areas: revolutions, emancipations, evolution and progress, popular culture, and the domestic sphere. Students analyze a variety of sources, including novels, plays, short stories, photographs, early films, paintings, periodicals and pamphlets, government documents, letters, music, and scientific works. The course is team taught with occasional guest lectures. Lydia Murdoch and Susan Zlotnick.
Three 50-minute periods.
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CLCS 151 - Introduction to Contemplative Studies Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course provides an introduction to how people deepen and broaden their attention and awareness, and why it matters for individuals and societies. Cultures and disciplines have long traditions for promoting concentration and reflection, and students will explore and appraise such practices and perspectives. In addition to working with scholarly “third person perspective” sources on contemplative process, students engage in a variety of contemplative practices (which provide “first person perspective”, and occasionally “second person perspective”). Topics may include critical contemplative pedagogy; embodied experience; non-violent communication; deep listening; cultivating attention and intention; storytelling; emotion and motivation; language and thought; contemplative movement; contemplative arts; social activism; constructing contemplative places; visualizations; imagination; improvisation; interdependence; contemplative leadership; personal and institutional transformation; and taking a critical decolonizing approach to contemplative studies itself. Readings include extensive scholarly and practice-based sources. Assignments include journaling, observing, interviewing, and critiquing sources and experiences. Carolyn Palmer.
Two 75-minute periods.
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CLCS 160 - Issues in Feminism: Bodies and Texts Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as WMST 160 ) This course is an introduction to issues in feminism with a focus on the female body and its representations. We read and write about a variety of texts, consider historical objects as well literary documents, and analyze visual materials from art, fashion, advertising, and film from the nineteenth century to the present. Particular focus is given to women’s bodies in visual, material, and literary culture. We make use of Vassar resources such as the Rare Book Collection, the Costume Shop and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Kathleen Hart.
Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
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CLCS 183 - Vassar For Veterans Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
This course is designed to help Posse veterans acclimate to Vassar and introduce them to the array of campus resources available to them. It gives Vassar veterans the opportunity to explore the issues and challenges they face as non-traditional students at a residential liberal arts college, and it identifies strategies for making the transition to college and succeeding within Vassar’s rigorous academic environment. Taught by the Posse Faculty Mentor.
Open to first-year Posse veterans.
One 2-hour group meeting and one 1-hour individual meeting per week.
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CLCS 189 - Navigating New Places and Times: Successful Transitions to College Life Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course is designed particularly for students with a strong need and desire to develop knowledge, cultural practices, and resources that promote personal wellness, academic success, and leadership ability in the college environment. Specifically, it introduces first-year students to the learning community that is Vassar, helping students explore campus resources, understand college practices, and build skills necessary for successful navigation of, and contribution to, college life. Drawing on standpoint epistemology and testimonio, this course approaches the time of transition into college as a process of personal reinvention, in which the student simultaneously retains a sense of home and self, engages in personal exploration, and transforms to become a member of a new learning community. As students analyze a variety of texts, engage in exercises that encourage self-awareness, and cultivate a network of allies with peers, faculty, administrators, and staff, they are expected to explore scholarly and artistic ways of thinking, writing, collaborating, and being. Among the questions the course considers are: How is Vassar’s learning community organized, what are its conventions, and what are useful points of access? How might a student honor their roots while continuing to grow further away from them? This course is open to first-year students only, and one component of the course requires six sessions, at an off-campus site, in addition to regular class meetings. Candice Lowe Swift.
Prerequisite(s): Registration is by permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods plus extra periods.
College Course: II. Intermediate
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CLCS 256 - Building Inclusive Communities Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
0.5 unit(s)
(Same as EDUC 256 ) As Vassar College continues to work toward establishing a community characterized by a strong sense of inclusion and belonging, and one that can sustain challenging dialogues, we seek to support this college-wide goal. This course explores four critical themes related to developing and sustaining inclusive communities: personal growth and well-being; intimacy; social identity & power; and effective communication & conflict resolution. Skills and knowledge in these areas can be immediately applied to nurturing more supportive, resilient, and effective student living situations, clubs, teams, classes, and the college-wide community. They are also very important to success and well-being beyond college life – in family and personal relationships, work situations, civic engagement and volunteer situations, activist groups, etc.
Enrolled students should be prepared to step outside their “comfort zones.” They should have an interest in actively engaging in class discussions and experiential exercises, they should have an interest in learning techniques, gaining tools and increasing skills to effectively communicate across differences (differences in living styles and habits, differences in social identity, and differences in personal identity), they should be prepared to explore how vulnerability can benefit them and their relationships, and to explore the relationship between their own personal growth and well-being and the well-being of the communities they are a part of. Candice Lowe Swift.
First six-week course.
One 3-hour period.
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CLCS 284 - Reclaiming the Sacred: Holism, Wisdom, and Wellness Semester Offered: Spring
0.5 unit(s)
In this highly experiential 6-week course, we start by surveying key findings of psychology and anthropology to explore understandings and practices related to human well-being. Based on these, students design “personal journeys” of activities they wish to experiment within and outside of the classroom, to nurture senses of joy and purpose in their personal and collective lives. We draw on the work of scholars and artists from a variety of traditions, including Robert Holden, Audre Lorde, Kristin Neff, Sobonfu Somé, Tara Brach, bell hooks, Joanna Macy, Brené Brown, Thich Nhat Hanh, as we explore wellness and wisdom traditions. Key themes are gratitude and presence, self-compassion and vulnerability, and healthy relationships with emotions and adversity, and wellness practices include weekly meditations and gratitude circles.
Much of the work in these fields in the United States has been highly represented by and attentive to practices rooted in Western European and mainstream American, middle- and upper-middle class epistemologies from these regions. We will explore what wisdom and knowledge are in that work for all of us, while also incorporating perspectives from Asia, Africa, and of people of color and lower-income people in the U.S. We consciously invite a critical lens and alternative perspectives.
This course is highly experiential and requires of students a desire to try activities and explore topics that may be outside their comfort zone. Students should come prepared to take risks, try new things, be engaged, and be supportive of each other. Course offered by Candice Lowe Swift, co-facilitated with Jeff Golden.
Second six-week course.
One 3-hour period.
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CLCS 290 - Field Work
0.5 or 1 unit(s)
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CLCS 298 - Independent Research
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
College Course: III. Advanced
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CLCS 301 - History, Memory, and Legacies of the Holocaust
1 unit(s)
After WWII the Holocaust emerged as a universal evil that holds lessons beyond the boundaries of Western civilization. While scholars have been relying on different theoretical models to understand the Holocaust, reflection on this unprecedented genocide itself has shifted theoretical discussion in many disciplines. This course looks at the legacies of the Holocaust from a variety of different disciplines by discussing texts, films, and memorials with German students at the University of Potsdam. The exchange takes place at two different levels in the course of the semester: together with their German partners, students discuss readings and work on research projects in the MOO, our online learning environment at Vassar; and in a second phase, Vassar students travel to Berlin and German students to New York to complete on-site research for their projects. Maria Höhn, Silke von der Emde, Debra Zeifman.
By special permission.
One 3-hour period.
Not offered in 2018/19.
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CLCS 302 - Adaptations
1 unit(s)
(Same as ENGL 302 and MEDS 302 ) If works of art continue each other, as Virginia Woolf suggested, then cultural history accumulates when generations of artists think and talk together across time. What happens when one of those artists switches to another language, another genre, another mode or medium? In the twenty-first century we may reframe Woolf’s conversation in terms of intertextuality—art invokes and revises other art—but the questions remain more or less unchanged: What motivates and shapes adaptations? What role does technology play? Audience? What constitutes a faithful adaptation? “Faithful” to what or whom? In this course we consider the biological model, looking briefly at Darwin’s ideas about the ways organisms change in order to survive, and then explore analogies across a range of media. We’ll begin with Virgil’s Georgics; move on to Metamorphoses, Ovid’s free adaptations of classical myths; and follow Orpheus and Eurydice through two thousand years of theater (Euripides, Anouilh, Ruhl, Zimmerman); painting and sculpture (Dürer, Rubens, Poussin, Klee, Rodin); film and television (Pasolini, Cocteau, Camus, Luhrmann); dance (Graham, Balanchine, Bausch); music (Monteverdi, Gluck, Stravinsky, Birtwistle, Glass); narratives and graphic narratives (Pynchon, Delany, Gaiman, Hoban); verse (Rilke, H.D., Auden, Ashbery, Milosz, Heaney, Atwood, Mullen, Strand); and computer games (Battle of Olympus, Shin Megami Tensei). During the second half of the semester, we investigate other adaptations and their theoretical implications, looking back from time to time at what we’ve learned from the protean story of Eurydice and Orpheus and their countless progeny. M. Mark.
One 3-hour period.
Not offered in 2018/19.
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CLCS 384 - Transnational Queer: Genders, Sexualities, Identities
1 unit(s)
(Same as INTL 384 and WMST 384 ) What does it mean to be Queer? This seminar examines, critiques, and interrogates queer identities and constructions in France and North America. In what ways do diverse cultures engage with discourses on gender and sexuality? Can or should our understanding of queerness change depending on cultural contexts? Through guest lectures and discussion seminars, the course examines a broad range of queer cultural production, from fiction to cinema and performance. Topics include such diverse issues as queer bodies, national citizenship, sexual politics, legal discourse, and aesthetic representation. All lectures, readings, and discussions are in English. Vinay Swamy.
Prerequisite(s): First-Year Writing Seminar and one 200-level course.
By special permission.
One 3-hour period.
Not offered in 2018/19.
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