Summer courses offer chance for academic exploration
Courses on the regional culture of the Hudson River, an introduction to functional anatomy, and a religion course focusing on magic are still accepting registration this summer.
View of Troy from the Hudson
(Courtesy Library of Congress)
Robert J. Naeher will teach “Regional Culture: Hudson River,” an American studies offering which will provide an introduction to the history, literature, and art of the Hudson River Valley. The Hudson River is considered as an environmental entity, an economic and political concern, and especially as a cultural symbol. The course considers four centuries of American experience on the Hudson, with special emphasis on the 19th century, when the Hudson had its greatest influence on regional and national culture.
Course highlights will include field trips to the Albany Institute of History and Art, which has a special exhibition on the Hudson River School this summer; the Saratoga Battlefield, site of the turning point of the American Revolution; and Peebles Island near Troy, a stop along the Erie Canal.
The four-credit course is scheduled July 1 to Aug. 2.
Two additional courses that are still registering students are “Kinetic Anatomy: The Moving Body” and “Witch, Wizard, and Sorcerer: Magic, Ritual, and Religion.”
Karen Arciero of the Health and Exercise Science Department and Sarah DiPasquale of the Dance Department will teach the course, a four-credit Exercise Science option that fulfills the natural sciences requirement. Geared for students (athletes, dancers, and non-athletes) interested in careers in the health profession, the course offers an introduction to the principles of functional anatomy. Through a combination of lecture, demonstration, discussion, class projects, and lab-based activities, students will explore the muscles of the body and how those muscles function to enable human movement. Students will gain knowledge of physiology, gross anatomy, and the functional component of movement. The course begins Tuesday, May 28.
Catherine Burns is the instructor for “Witch, Wizard, and Sorcerer: Magic, Ritual, and Religion.” In her course description she explains, “What, precisely, is magic? Think about Harry Potter’s education at Hogwart’s, the accusations made at the Salem witch trials, or any other description of magical activity you can find. Magic is generally understood to be some kind of ritual action – speech, movement, inscription – which acts to manipulate the supernatural. How is that different than prayer or other religious rituals? Various answers have been proposed, involving differences in the deity or deities involved, in context, in control, in identity or even gender of performers. In this course we will consider the disputed history of magic and religion, the nature of ritual activity, and, yes, learn a few spells along the way.” The four-credit Religion course begins Tuesday, May 28.
For details on Skidmore’s Summer Programs, including registration and fee information, please click here.
