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Scribner Seminars
Director of the First Year Experience: Beau Breslin
Student Academic Development Coordinator: Chrisana McGill
All Scribner Seminars are interdisciplinary. The seminars invite
students to think about the liberal arts as a whole, to challenge
their preconceived notions about inquiry and knowledge, to examine
issues from multiple perspectives, and to make connections across
disciplines. Faculty instructors participate not only as specialists
in particular fields of knowledge, but as models of people who have
themselves been liberally educated, and are thus able to apply their
thinking to a variety of new as well as familiar experiences.
Seminar topics change from year to year; students should consult the online Catalog
for the latest offerings.
SSP 100. SCRIBNER SEMINAR 4
These interdisciplinary seminars introduce students to perspectives on
a particular subject of inquiry. Each seminar, limited to 15
first-year students, allows participants to work together closely and
also acts as a foundation and context for future college studies.
Faculty instructors develop the seminar theme around their research
and scholarly interests. In addition, faculty instructors serve as
mentors and advisors to the students enrolled in the seminars. During
each seminar, students enhance their abilities to read critically,
communicate ideas both orally and in writing, and relate the seminar
to their educational goals. All first-year students must
take one Scribner Seminar in their first semester. This course must be
taken for a letter grade.
Africa in Stereotypes
Are Africans really isolated and uncivilized? Is there really an
African race? How has Africa been portrayed in Western museums,
movies, and the mass media? And what do these portrayals reveal about
Africa and about the West? In this seminar we will learn to analyze
critically North American and European stereotypes about Africa south
of the Sahara desert. While the main focus of this course is the
criticism of Western stereotypes, students will also be introduced to
Africa's own complexity, dynamism, and diversity from the perspective
of anthropology and other social and humanistic disciplines. S. Silva, Anthropology
American Liberty: Our Enduring Struggle Over Our Constitutional Rights
Why are Americans so obsessed with the idea of individual liberty?
Where did this fixation come from? Is it healthy for an American
Republic to be so protective of the rights of the individual citizen?
If not, what can we do to stem the tide and return to some notion of
community to the center of our constitutional discourse. In this
course, students will explore the concept of American freedom by
examining the constitutional, historical, and philosophical
foundations of our liberal experiment. We will focus on how
institutions-in particular the U.S. Supreme Court-have
shaped America's unique conception of liberty. In our examination of
American liberty, students will explore the right to privacy, the
right to free speech, and the protections afforded by the equal
protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment,
including those rights afforded individuals on America's death row. As
an integral part of the seminar, students will work on an actual death
penalty defense. Students will be responsible for conducting primary
research with the aim of providing the most effective defense possible
for a specific death row inmate. B. Breslin, FYE
American Memories
How does memory work? What is the relationship between the past and
memory, between memory and history? How do individual and collective
memories influence, complement, and contradict one another? How are
memories reconstructed, interpreted, transmitted and transformed? In
this seminar, we explore disciplinary and interdisciplinary
perspectives on American memories, personal and public, considering
some of the many ways Americans have remembered (and forgotten)
specific people, places, and events in our national past, such as
Abraham Lincoln, colonial Williamsburg, and the Oklahoma City bombing.
Students will examine various cultural mechanisms of memory
production—monuments, museums, and movies—and will explore the
historically distinct ways in which memories have been reconstructed,
used and abused. G. Pfitzer, American Studies
The Broadway Musical: An American Cultural Lens
Have you ever seen musical theater professionally staged on Broadway,
or participated in a high school show? Was the production merely
entertaining, or did it also encourage you to think about the issues
raised through the show's coordinated efforts of writing, singing,
acting and dancing? Students in this seminar will consider the diverse
artistic ingredients of a musical that must blend in achieving a
collaborative balance. We will study the creative process: how a show
evolves, why adjustments occur, and how artists make decisions; but we
will also look beyond, by exploring recurring sociological
perspectives evident throughout 20th century American musical theater
history. The Broadway musical provides a looking glass into our
nation's shifting cultural attitudes, challenging societal issues, and
individual and collective struggles and triumphs. The musicals we will
examine include South Pacific (gender, race and prejudice); West Side
Story (urban violence); Hair (confronting established conventions);
and Sweeney Todd (ethical and moral dilemmas). Students' final
projects will focus on a specific musical and the questions it raises. C. Joseph, Music
Can Machines Think?
Can machines think? To help us answer this question, we will study the
history of artificial intelligence, a field that influences and is
influenced by many disciplines, including computer science, economics,
philosophy, psychology, biology, and neuroscience. We will consider
the problems that researchers in artificial intelligence attempt to
solve. In addition, we will explore the techniques used to develop
intelligent machines by writing our own simple computer programs that
play games, learn, and evolve. No previous programming experience is
required. (The capacity to think is a must, however.) T. O'Connell, Mathematics and Computer Science
Children's Literature Revisited
What do Little Women, Alice in Wonderland, The Tale of Peter Rabbit,
Where the Wild Things Are, and Harry Potter have in common? These
titles and characters have hooked child readers through the ages,
influencing our reading habits as adults. Far more than charming
picture books for children, the genre of children's literature has a
rich history that runs through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
and ranges from fairy tales and bedtime stories to comic strips,
fantasy, science fiction, and adventure tales. Participants in this
seminar will follow Alice down the rabbit whole to enter the world of
children's literature, exploring its history, cultural mores, and
audience. We will revisit children's literature from the perspectives
of history, education, aesthetics, gender and multiculturalism and
learn to "read" texts and illustrations. In addition to literary and
visual analysis, students will read to young children, give oral
reports, and create an illustrated children's book. C. Golden, English
China and the West: The Myth of the Other
What shapes our images of the Other? How do people perceive the Other in
a given historical period or in certain cultural milieus? In this
course, we will introduce and examine the experience of the Other from
both Chinese and Western standpoints. Students will look at China as an
idealized utopia in the eyes of some eighteenth-century Europeans or as
the land of ignorance described in some early modern literature.
Students will also explore various Chinese responses to the West. In
discussing such issues as orientalism vs. occidentalism, and cultural
relativism vs. universalism, we will examine the polemics of cultural
difference in ethical terms. M. Chen, Foreign Languages and Literatures
Cycles of Marriage and Divorce
During the past century, the number of marriages ending in divorce
reached historically unprecedented rates. At the beginning of this
century, couples previously excluded from marriage are nevertheless
eager to wed. Students in this seminar investigate continuities and
changes in marriage—both as a social institution and as a private
experience of two people. Drawing on research studies and expressive
narratives, we explore how social scientific and literary approaches
differ and intersect in illuminating cycles of marriage and divorce. S. Walzer,
Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work
Den of Antiquities: The Illicit Market in Ancient Art
What is the difference between collecting and looting antiquities?
What constitutes ownership of an art object? What distinguishes
individual from museum collections? What are the ethical obligations
of collectors? Students will examine the trade in antiquities
stretching from the first "collector," a Roman general who stole art
from Sicily after sacking it in 212 BCE, to Lord Elgin's "purchase" of
the Parthenon marbles in 1806, to the current scandals in the trading
of ancient art that have embroiled NYC's Metropolitan Museum and the
J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Our discussions will include the
most recent controversies that have embroiled the museum, gallery and
auction house worlds, pitting national interests against private
enterprise. Various museum collections will serve as a laboratory for
our study of these questions: the Tang, local museums, and the
Metropolitan Museum in NYC. L. Mechem, Classics
Diversity, Intercultural Understanding, and You: Why Does Skidmore Care?
This course explores issues of diversity, specifically within American
higher education and particularly within Skidmore College. The course
will introduce students to theory, research, and practice related to
diversity topics and will encourage them to develop their own
understandings of historical and contemporary issues. Students will
examine how we research and think about race, class, gender,
sexuality, and other relevant issues. Considering the historical
context of diversity in American higher education and increasingly
global diversity, students will work toward understanding why
Skidmore has set Intercultural and Global Understanding as a goal for
student learning and engagement and in what ways curricular and
cocurricular programs contribute to meeting that goal. L. de la Luna, Education Studies; M. Martin, Campus Life
Drug Discovery: From Laboratory Bench to Pharmacy Stack
How often do you take medication? Every year, the pharmaceutical
industry produces new medicines that help cure many diseases ranging
from depression to AIDS to cancer. However, the process of inventing a
new drug is very complex. Statistics show that only one in five
thousand promising lead compounds becomes an approved drug. More
importantly, it takes almost 15 years and roughly 1–2 billion dollars
to transform a promising compound in a laboratory into an approved
drug in a pharmacy, which illustrates the complexities involved in
bringing a drug to market. Students in this course will explore issues
involved in drug discovery and development, including how medicines
are invented, how they are tested, who regulates the drug-approval
process, who monitors the safety of the drug while and after it is
being approved and how pharmaceutical companies manage the cost of
drug failure. Together, with some case studies, we will discuss some
of the controversies that focus on the role of the FDA in the drug-approval
process as a whole. R. Nagarajan, Chemistry
Earth System Evolution: The First Four Billion Years
Are there golden threads permeating Earth's history that could
contribute to the optimization of the human condition and the
longevity of our species? If so, where are they preserved and by what
signs might we recognize them? The Earth System has evolved over the
past 3.5 billion years through interactions between the planet's solid
surface, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. While changes in the
planet's inanimate components have been predominantly cyclic in
character, biospheric components ranging from bacteria to ecosystems
have evolved by adapting to global change through the development of
synergistic survival mechanisms. This course is a study of global
evolution from prebiotic times to the present to seek out modes of
change and adaptation within the Earth System that may be applicable
to envisioning a sustainable future for Homo sapiens. R. Lindemann, Geosciences
Educating Citizens for the American Republic
Drawing on the writings of a number of prominent American citizens, we
will consider the education that is fitting for citizens of a republic,
who prize freedom and equality. American thinkers have long noticed that
American democracy requires certain moral and intellectual virtues of
its citizens. What are these virtues? What sort of education will foster
them? We will begin our study of these questions with readings from the
colonial period and continue with selected writings by nineteenth and twentieth
century authors. We will conclude the seminar by considering the
education offered at liberal arts colleges, which have been described as
"distinctively American." Students will meet some of America's great
political, historical, and literary figures, while formulating their
aspirations for their own educations. N. Taylor, Government
European Integration
Will the new Europe challenge U.S. supremacy as a superpower, or is it
destined for global irrelevance? Students will explore the process of
European integration from the wars of the past century through the
establishment of the European Union, from the destruction of the
Berlin Wall through the adoption of a common currency. How will Europe
face the important challenges that remain? How will the member
countries define their common interests and deal with their remarkable
diversity? Students will examine these issues through the varied
lenses of history, geography, political science, and economics. J. Bibow, Economics
Food: Why We Eat What We Eat and Where It Came From
Why do we eat what we eat? Is it nature, nurture, or do we just eat
what's available? In this course students will use tools from many
different disciplines to examine this question. Historical,
sociological, economic, scientific, religious and aesthetic
approaches to the subject of culinary choices will inform our
discussions throughout the semester. We will proceed from the
foraging of the ancient world, through early human civilizations,
Greek and Roman times, medieval eastern cultures, the Far East, early
European cultures, African cultures, to the contributions of the
Americas, as we study how we arrived at the food we eat today. Along
the way, we will share meals representative of the cultures and
cuisines we study. U. Bray, Mathematics
How Do Women Look? Woman as Object/Subject in Contemporary American Visual Culture
Do blondes have more fun? Are lesbians really "invisible"? How
do women look? Women have long been subject to an excruciatingly exacting
visual evaluation from both men and women. In this class we will
examine the representation of women in a variety of media (visual art,
television, films) spanning the 1970s to today, considering how these
images, through emphasizing weight, race, and sexuality, objectify
women, encouraging the view to visually "consume" and appraise them.
However, women also actively look—at themselves, at each other, and at
men. We will consider whether a woman's gaze can ever be as active as
a man's, and if there might be alternatives to the controlling,
patriarchal gaze. K. Hauser, Art and Art History
The Human Body—From Science to Society
What happens to the human body when science and society clash? What
types of decisions do we make about food, exercise, body weight, and
anti-aging products? Do we make decisions about health care, exercise
and wellness based upon societal norms or informed science? In this
seminar, students will explore the myriad physiological and
sociocultural factors that cause or contribute to certain human health
conditions. Students will investigate such topics as ideal body
weight, body image, proper diet, and appropriate exercise regimens.
Additionally, students will consider how perceptions of exercise,
fitness, and health are influenced by aging, physical disability, or
injury. P. Fehling, Exercise Science
Human Dilemmas
As you begin college, you are confronting the recurring dilemmas that
define and shape our lives: Who am I? What exactly am I? What is my
relationship to others? What is my responsibility to them and to the
world? As biologist E. O. Wilson contends in his 2002 book, The Future of
Life, life is "an insoluble problem, a dynamic process in search of an
indefinable goal. [It is] neither a celebration nor a spectacle but
rather, as a later philosopher put it, a predicament" (xxii). "Human
Dilemmas" will challenge your conventional assumptions surrounding these
predicaments as we focus our attention on interdisciplinary readings,
critical thinking, and academic inquiry. Debates, field trips, and
writing will move us toward an understanding of what it means to be
human in our contemporary world. C. Berheide, Sociology;
J. Delton, History;
S. Goodwin, English;
P. Hilleren, Biology;
K. Kellogg, Environmental Studies;
C. Moore, Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work;
I. Park, Art;
L. Rosengarten, HEOP
Human Origins: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry
This course will focus on questions stemming from universal human
efforts to understand who/what we are. Were we created on the sixth
day, or have we evolved over hundreds of thousands of years? How has
thinking about these questions changed over time? What can archaeology
tell us? What, more recently, genetics? What have been the
difficulties in gaining persuasive answers to these questions? In
addition to the option of having their own DNA analyzed by the
Genographic Project under the aegis of National Geographic, students
will engage in reading, laboratory work, field trips, focused
discussions, and several and varied writing assignments to gain
informed perspectives on disciplinary differences in posing and
answering such questions, as well as a clearer sense of how we imagine
and understand ourselves to be. B. Possidente, Biology; P. Roth, English
Images of Work in Literature, the Arts, and Popular Culture
What is it like to manage or be managed? Students in this seminar will
examine the concept of work and the complex issues faced by workers
and leaders in organizations and society using the varied perspectives
of literature, the arts, and popular culture. Work is a central life
experience that can be understood using sociological, psychological,
and managerial theories and models. Through the lenses of film,
literature, dance, music, theater and pop culture, the course will
illustrate these interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks and the
experience of work. We will study work-related topics such as employee
mentoring and coaching, business ethics, power and authority,
entrepreneurship, work/life balance, leadership, and white vs. blue
collar work in the context of films such as Wall Street, works of
literature like The Great Gatsby, and plays such as Arthur Miller's
All My Sons. The richness and accessibility of these textual,
artistic, and visual examples provides a powerful context for
understanding the complexities of the work experience. C. D'Abate, Management and Business
Imagine That!
What role does imagination play in our ability to tell the difference
between fact and fiction? Memory and anticipation? What is it about an
evocative poem or intriguing novel that brings images to the mind of
the reader? Are children really more susceptible than adults to the
power of imagination? What roles does imagination play in the minds
and works of artists, scientists, and literary figures? The purpose of
this seminar is to explore intriguing questions such as these from
both disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. In the process
we will examine why many scholars (including scientists, philosophers,
historians, and literary critics) propose that imagination is the key
to powerful writing, transformative educational experiences including
the development of empathy, and effective legal decision making. This
seminar is also about knowing. Our study of the neurological deficits
associated with brain fictions will serve as one metaphor for
exploring what it means to know. By selecting some of the reading
material and leading discussion on a topic of their choice, students
will share ownership in the seminar. Imagine
that! M. Foley, Psychology
Industry and Innovation
Did anyone envision the personal debt crisis when the credit card was
invented in 1951? Did anyone anticipate that cafés and hotels would
use WiFi as a competitive advantage when the Internet was developed in
1980? Students will examine the connection between innovation and
industry in this course. Drawing upon disciplines such as management
and business, economics, government, law and information science,
students will explore Disruptive Innovation Theory; Resources,
Processes and Values Theory and Value Chain Evolution Theory. Students
will also engage in a service learning project that will involve
analyzing and assessing the benefits and costs of real-time
innovations associated with sectors such as alternative energy, campus
safety and business communications. T. Harper, Management and Business
Italian Cinema
What do Rossellini, De Sica, Visconti, Fellini, Wertmuller, Scola,
Tornatore and Benigni have in common? Students in this seminar will
examine 20th century Italian society's crises and transformations by
analyzing the social, political and cultural movements that have
defined Italian culture through film and literature. Students will
view and explore Italian cinematic Neorealism, examine the role in
Italian cinema of director-authors, analyze Italian 20th century and
classical literary works, and discuss cinematographic adaptations of
those works. In additions, students will learn how to read a film and
analyze the translation process from a literary text to film. Films in
Italian with English subtitles. G. Faustini, Foreign Languages and Literatures
The Latin American Urban Experience
In this seminar, students explore the role of the city in the
development of Latin American societies and cultures from pre-colonial
times to the present. Latin America's capital cities, in particular,
encapsulate a country's political, industrial, financial, commercial,
entertainment, intellectual, cultural, and religious identities. On
their streets and in their public and private buildings, which have been
built and rebuilt for hundreds of years, rich and poor, native and
immigrant, men, women and children have worked, celebrated, rioted,
studied, created, voted, fought, thrived, suffered, loved, hated,
demonstrated, and lived. Students focus on Mexico City (Mexico) and
Buenos Aires (Argentina) as the case studies in which to read the
evidence of the historical, political, social, economic, and cultural
life in continental Spanish America, since many characteristics of their
urban experience are shared by other cities throughout the continent.
Supplementary materials from port cities like Havana (Cuba) and from Rio
de Janeiro and Brasilia (Brazil), which began as Portuguese colonies,
will provide some contrast, and student projects on other key urban
centers will conclude the seminar. J. Dym, History, and P. Rubio,
Foreign Languages and Literatures
Leather, Paper, Lead: Artists' Books, History and Process
What do books mean to you? The development of writing, printing,
visual text and book forms reveals a wealth of sociopolitical,
cultural, economic, and religious identity at any given place and
time. Students will combine an interdisciplinary examination of books
with the design of books in the studio to examine the role that books
have played throughout history, with a particular emphasis on the 20th
century artist's book as an intersection of literature and art. We
will investigate rare, unique books from the Scribner Library Special
Collections to decipher their history and context in order to develop
an appreciation of books as objects, historical documents, and
significant intellectual and cultural resources. Through critical
study of these original works as well as creative bookmaking
assignments, students will experience the unique interplay between
word, image, page, identity, and meaning that the genre of artist's
books reveal. K. Leavitt, Art
The Mind's I
The unconscious is not an object or place or part of the body, but an
imaginary construction. What it is, where it is, what it contains, and
how it relates to the conscious self are questions that have generated
vastly different responses from scientists, philosophers, artists, and
writers, who have represented the unconscious in various and colorful
ways: as a repository of memories, as a primal wilderness, as a
mysterious archaeological site, and even as a separate personality. In
this seminar, we'll examine writings about the unconscious to ask
questions about human nature, free will, sources of creativity, and, not
least, how one develops a sense of true self. L. Simon, English
Perception and Reality: Psychology and Artistic Expression
"Seeing is believing." We typically trust our perceptions of the
world, but is that trust justified? In this seminar, we will use
psychological research, plays, novels, artwork, and movies to explore
a number of questions. How does your visual system construct the world
you perceive? What might visual illusions tell you about your visual
system? What roles do artists play in allowing you to see the world
differently? Do your unconscious thoughts and desires influence your
behavior? How important are your memories for determining who you are
and what would happen if you lost them? Would the world look the same
to you if you were autistic? Through the exploration of such questions
we will gain a better understanding of the complexities and
ambiguities involved in "seeing." By the end of the seminar, you may
come to believe that "seeing is deceiving." H.
Foley, Psychology
The Philosophic Basis of the American Founding
What are the philosophic principles of the liberal democracy under which
we live? After examining the thought of the Christian political thinkers
who had originally guided political life in the new world—the political
thought that our founders rejected—we turn to the work of John Locke,
the philosopher who laid out most clearly and explicitly a wholly new
understanding of political life, especially through his argument for
individual natural rights. We then turn to the writings of the American
founders, especially of Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Jay, and the
"Anti-Federalists," to see how Locke's understanding of human beings
came to guide those who were victorious in the debate over what the
guiding principles of the new American regime would be. We conclude the
seminar with an examination of slavery in the writings of Fredrick
Douglass, and with Lincoln's attempt to defeat slavery by appeal to the
original principles of the founding. The seminar will introduce students
to the close study of texts in political philosophy, political theology,
constitutional thought, political rhetoric, history, and literature. T.
Burns, Government
Psychological Theories of Social Justice
In this seminar, students will learn to think critically about a variety
of social justice issues and policies in the areas of redistributive
justice, procedural justice, distributive justice, and expressive
justice. These theories have relevance to issues related to criminal
justice, justice in the course and in legal proceedings, justice in the
workplace, justice in war, and politics and justice in international
affairs. Using different social and psychological frameworks, students
will analyze theories of punishment and the use of the death penalty,
ideas of what it means to be responsible for a crime and competent to
testify in court, analyses of affirmative action policies,
considerations of justice warfare and problems of global poverty, and
definitions of human rights. In our analyses, we will consider multiple
questions such as: What is a just way to punish people who commit
crimes? Do tough prison policies help deter crime and make society
safer? Is the "not guilty by reason of insanity" verdict just? Can young
children serve as credible witnesses in court? How fair is affirmative
action? Are human rights culturally universal? Is justice gender biased?
Why do we go to war, and is there such a thing as a "just war"? V. Murphy-Berman, Psychology
Radical Children's Writers of the 18th and 20th Centuries: Those "Barbarous and Didactic" Women
Students will explore the nature of 18th and 20th Century "feminist"
children's books through an interdisciplinary lens, including an
examination of attitudes toward these groundbreaking female children's
writers, the religious and cultural foundation of these perspectives,
early "flickers of feminism," literary criticism, feminist writings,
and the harsh censorship against these authors by the "strict literary
police." Students will read selected works of female writers
beginning with Sarah Fielding's The Governess (1749) and ending with
Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993), in order to understand parallels
between these women writers separated by more than 200 years. S. Lehr, Education Studies
Rich, Free, & Miserable: The Failure of "Success" in America
Why is the American Dream in trouble? With unparalleled resources and
opportunities, this should be the best time and place to live in human
history. Despite may positive signs, the social fabric of American
society is thinning. Decreasing time devoted to family and neighbors,
increasing energy spent working and shopping, widespread patterns of
unhealthy and damaging consumption, and growing distrust and
incivility in public life are all too common patterns reflecting this
decline. Students will examine the deteriorating state of community in
America, focusing on the lack of balance between the three great
spheres of social life: the economic sphere, civil society, and the
polity. More specifically, students will pursue the following
questions: What are the most important strengths and weaknesses of
American society? What are the realistic possibilities for retaining
the strengths and addressing the weaknesses? How can we as individual
citizens help restore balance to our society and in our own
lives. J. Brueggemann, Sociology
River Goddesses of India: Religious Purity and Environmental Pollution
This course will introduce students to disciplinary and
interdisciplinary perspectives on three river goddesses of India, with
the goal of understanding the complex relationship between religion
and the environment in India. We will explore the vision (darsan) of
and devotion (bhakti) to the goddesses to understand how Hindus see
the goddesses as both transcending the rivers yet present in them. We
will also explore political and scientific research to understand the
environmental pollution of the rivers. We will discuss issues such as
the following: How can a river simultaneously be religiously pure yet
environmentally polluted? How can the goddess be both transcendent and
immanent? Does Hindu religion hinder or support cleaning up river
pollution? What is the legacy of Gandhi for the environment? Students
will use interdisciplinary approaches to explore these issues of myth
and ritual, literature and poetry, theology and science, art and
politics. J. Smith, Religious Studies
Travel Writing and Gender: Identity, Place, and Power
What does travel writing have to do with identity, knowledge, and
power? Focusing on women's travel writing during two distinct
historical periods, students will read representative narratives from
the period of "high imperialism" (mid-19th to early 20th century) when
European women recorded their voyages to Africa and the Middle East.
These travel narratives will serve as a point of departure for
examining the multiple and sometimes conflicting relationships between
place, politics, and identity. Students will also study the ways in
which these narratives serve today as evidence in a range of
disciplines, including history, geography, women's and postcolonial
studies. Turning to the contemporary period, we will read travel
narratives by "Other" women, typically silent in colonial travel
accounts, who speak of their experience of boundaries, dislocation,
and exile. We will ask what location and identity mean in the era of
globalization. Throughout, this seminar will encourage students to
analyze and interrogate the perceived oppositions between
colonizer/colonized, self/other, home/elsewhere center/margin taking
into account how other features of authorial identity, including
class, ethnicity, and sexuality, shape women's travel experiences and
narratives. A. Zuerner, Foreign Languages and
Literatures
Twentieth Century Apparel in the United States
How has history helped shape the dress of contemporary men, women, and
children? Through critical reading, films, expert speakers, and field
trips, students will examine the social, cultural, economic, artistic,
and technological forces that have helped shape apparel in the U.S.
through the 20th century and beyond. Students will explore American
dress from 1898 to 2008 to identify the conformists and rebels of
every era: from the Arrow Collar Man and the Gibson Girl to
bell-bottom-clad hippies and Jackie Kennedy. Students will also
consider influences from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Coursework will also focus on changes in manufacturing, marketing, and
retailing, from the U.S. sweatshops of yesterday to the Internet
shopping of today. B. Balevic, Management and Business
The Virtual Republic: American Politics in the Media Age
Is the American "mediathon" sapping the public's interest in, engagement
with, and knowledge of politics? In this seminar, students explore the
influence of the mass media on political debate, political engagement,
and public policy in the United States. We trace the development of the
mass media from the turn of the 20th century to the present, assessing
critically the claim that this development has contributed to an
increasing coarsening of political discourse, a growth in public
disaffection with politics, and a diminution of the government's
capacity to solve pressing social and economic problems. We will examine
the effect of radio and television on political oratory, the genesis and
evolution of "political marketing," the rise of an "adversarial press,"
and the implications of the "new media" for American politics. R. Seyb, Government
Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs
In this seminar, students will explore one of the great epic dramas of
Western culture, Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs. Few artworks in any
medium have been more admired and reviled, more imitated and
repudiated, in short, more influential and controversial, than
Wagner's four-opera cycle. Students will explore these rich works
through study of their texts (in translation), of their music and
staging (through audio and video recordings), and of a wide range of
critical commentaries and primary sources. Readings will reflect the
cross disciplinary approaches to the work, and will include, among
others, excerpts from the Nibelungenlied, the Edda, and the Saga of
the Volsungs. Additional readings, including Wagner's own prose works
and letters, will come from writers such as Arthur Schopenhauer,
Joseph Campbell, Robert Donington, George Bernard Shaw, and Friedrich
Nietzsche. No prior study of German or music is needed for this
course. T. Denny, Music
Without Bound? An Exploration of Human Population Growth
Throughout history the human population has doubled many times. Will
the population continue to grow without bound? If not, how many people
can the earth support? In this course students will use tools from
many different disciplines to explore issues surrounding population
growth. We will begin with a discussion of population demographics
throughout history. We will then explore simple mathematical models to
describe population growth and consider many of the social issues
connected to population growth such as carrying capacity,
sustainability, city development, food supply, and
fertility. R. Roe-Dale, Mathematics and
Computer Science
Word and Image
Through Western culture, one can trace a long tradition of written
literary texts—lyric and epic poems, novels, critical essays—that
describe visual works of art and that ask their readers to reflect
about the fundamentally different natures of reading and seeing. On
the other hand, innumerable paintings and statues use scenes and
characters from written works as a topic for visual representation. In
this seminar, we will explore this fascinating interplay between the
written and the visual arts historically and thematically. To grasp
more specifically the shape and intricacies of the topic, we will
first examine how the written/visual interaction surfaces in certain
twentieth-century texts. We will then go back to the first major text
of Western Literature, Homer's Iliad, and analyze how the
written/visual interplay finds its original articulation in the way
Homer describes the shield that Hephaïstos crafts for Achilles. At
this point we will follow the phenomenon chronologically, bringing our
investigations into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. M. Wiesmann, Foreign Languages and Literatures
Writing in America
What can a writer tell us about America that a scholar cannot?
Students of history often turn to novels such as The Great Gatsby or
Sister Carrie for a more nuanced description of the American
experience than is available in many textbooks. But this country has
also been defined and redefined by its literary nonfiction writers—men
and women who produce not political documents or opinion journalism
but beautifully crafted essays that, as Joseph Wood Krutch once
claimed, "get closer to some all-important realities than any number
of studies could." In this seminar we will examine the realities of
art, education, race, class and gender in America by studying what
James Baldwin, E.B. White, Joan Didion, and Zora Neale Hurston (among
many others) have had to say about them. We will also use the work of
the most celebrated essayists of the past century to inform and
inspire our own writing on America. L. Hall, English
Seminars in London
The Nature of Comedy
Comedy can delight, disarm, dismay, and persuade, deliver an argument
or posit social change. But what comedy is, where it comes from, and
what it is for has been much debated. Nevertheless, we all know comedy
when we see it-don't we? Studying comedy in England, though, we will
be surprised by the foreignness of British humor, coming as it does
from a history, traditions and social and linguistic conditions we do
not share. That foreignness will challenge our assumptions about the
naturalness, the accessibility, the easiness of comedy as artifice, as
a product of a particular time, place, and culture, and as a valid,
versatile, and effective mode of expression. First-year Skidmore
students studying comedy in England, moreover, will have the special
advantage of experiencing first hand the incongruities between
expectation and experience that lie at the heart of comedy.
We will study various theories of comedy, laughter and humor; read and
view some choice examples of comic genres; and examine our own ideas
about what funny is and what funny means. We will engage seriously
with the critical readings, in order to use, question, and challenge
them. K. Greenspan, English
Where Are We?
How did Columbus run into North America when he was trying to
establish a route to India? How could pirates accurately predict where
merchant ships would be when the merchant ships themselves found it
difficult to determine their own position? Why did some believe that
the yelps of wounded dogs might help to establish a ship's position at
sea? In examining these questions, students will explore the science
that is involved in determining longitude and latitude, in determining
time and also the nature of time itself. In learning the story of
British clockmaker John Harrison who won "The Longitude Prize" in 18th
century Britain, students will consider the social, political, and
economic consequences of accurate navigation and of mapmaking in the
context of British and European history in the 18th and 19th
centuries. Students will also explore the science of determining time
and place in the 20th and 21st centuries. M. Hofmann, Associate Dean of the Faculty
Prior Seminars
Africa Through Its Changing Cinema H. Jaouad, Foreign Languages and Literatures
Afterlives: Cultural Constructions of Life after Death R. Janes, English
Ancient Genes in the Land of Plenty P. Arciero, Exercise Science
Blacks in Film K. Ford, Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work; J. Woodfork, American Studies
Designing a Mind F. Phillips, Psychology
Environmental Problems. Economic Solutions? M. Das, Economics
Eyes Wide Open: Encountering Environments Through the Visual Arts J. Sorensen, Art and Art History
Hollywood's Portrayal of Science K. Nichols, Geosciences
In the News: Science Sound Bites S. Stitzel, Chemistry
Ireland in the New Century J. Kennelly, Management and Business
Italy, Fascism, and Jews S. Smith, Foreign Languages and Literatures
Japanese Animation M. Inamoto, Foreign Languages and Literatures
Jewish-Christian Relations from Jesus Christ to Mel Gibson M. Hockenos, History
The Killing State: Capital Punishment in America B. Breslin, Government
Latin American Image and Reality A. Vacs, Government
Law, Religion, and Society C. Kopec, Management and Business
Life in the North Woods J. Ness, Biology
Liquid History: The River Thames (London Program) T. Lewis, English
Made in God's Image? Women and Men in Medieval and Renaissance Europe P. Jolly, Art and Art History
The Mathematics and Politics of Secure Digital Communication G. Effinger, Mathematics and Computer Science
Money and Value: What's it Worth? S. Belden, Management and Business
Movers and Shakers: An Exploration of Cloth and Dance through Personal Practice D. Fernandez, Dance); Mensing, Margo (Art and Art History
The Music Between Us (London Program) G. Thompson, Music
Myth Conceptions: The Making and Taking of Legends D. Curley, Classics
The Non-Euclidean Revolution M. Huibregtse, Mathematics and Computer Science
Nothing Doing: Space of Modern Thought G. Burton, Foreign Languages and Literatures
The Nuclear Legacy W. Standish, Physics
Popular Kabbalah and Contemporary Culture M. Segol, Philosophy and Religion
Self and Desire R. Lilly, Philosophy and Religion
Sextants, Nutmeg, Maps, and Muskets: Medieval Technology in the Age of Exploration E. Bastress-Dukehart, History
Shakespeare was Jewish? L. Opitz, Theater
Thinking for Yourself B. Boyers, English
An Unsettled Place: 400 Years of Remaking the Hudson Region Landscape R. Scarce, Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work
Waging War, Making Peace R. Ginsberg, Government
Who Governs Saratoga Springs? B. Turner, Government
