New Wintersession and Spring 2008 Courses

(Pending approval by Academic Council)

Department of Art History

ARTH 318 New England Arts and Architecture

McNamara

This seminar course will introduce students to the visual and material culture of New England from the period of European contact to the end of the 20th century, with particular emphasis on Boston and environs. Course readings, lectures, and discussion will address the broad range of artistic expression from decorative arts to cultural landscapes, placing them in their social, political and economic contexts as well as in the larger context of American art and architecture. A major theme of the course will be the question of New England's development as a distinct cultural region and the validity of regionalism as a category of analysis. The course will include a number of required field trips to New England museums and cultural institutions.

Prerequisite: ARTH 101 or permission of the instructor.

Distribution: Arts, Music, Theatre, Film, Video

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

Department of Chemistry

CHEM 306 Seminar

Topic B: Computational Chemistry

Arumainayagam

The focus of this seminar course will be computational chemistry, the application of computer-based models of matter to the design of new materials and to the understanding of chemistry. The goal of this course is to have students discover how computational methods can supplement their experimental work by providing fresh insights into chemical problems. Ab initio methods (Hartree-Fock and post-Hartree-Fock), density functional theory, semi-empirical methods, molecular mechanics, and molecular dynamics will be used to calculate molecular properties, model reaction dynamics, and calculate rate constants. While theory will be emphasized in sufficient detail for the student to understand the basis and validity of the calculations, the emphasis of the course will be on hands-on computer-based projects.

Prerequisites: 211

Distribution: Natural and Physical Sciences

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

East Asian Language and Literature

New:

EALL 225/325 Traditional Romances of East Asia (in English)

Widmer

The course begins with a brief introduction to an eleventh-century novel from Japan, Morasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji. This work shows considerable awareness of Chinese culture, but the design is entirely original and the aesthetics typically Japanese. There is no influence at all between Genji and our next subject, Cao Xueqin's eighteenth-century masterpiece, The Dream of the Red Chamber, also known as The Story of the Stone. However, the similarities point to shared East Asian traditions, and the contrasts can be traced to major differences in the aesthetics of China and Japan. At the end of the semester we will take up two other pieces, one each from Korea and Vietnam. These two, as well, fit into a larger East Asian syndrome but exhibit national characteristics at the same time. This course may be taken as either 225 or, with additional assignments, 325.

Prerequisites: 225 open to all students; 325 one 200-level course in either Chinese or Japanese Language and Literature required

Distribution: Language and Literature

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

Chinese Language and Literature

New:

CHIN 326 The City in Modern Chinese Literature and Film (in English)

Song

This seminar will focus on one of the most important topics of modern Chinese culture: the urban imagination. Analyzing how metropolis and urban life are represented and imagined is central to an understanding of the differently articulated forms Chinese modernity has taken throughout the twentieth century. We will examine the literary and visual representations of the city in modern China through close analyses of the novels, short stories, films, photographs, and paintings that illuminate Chinese urbanism. The cultural manifestations of such Chinese metropolises as Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taipei will be extensively discussed.

Prerequisites: One course at the 200 or 300-level in East Asian Languages and Literatures, East Asian arts, history, philosophy, or religion.

Distribution: Language and Literature

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

Environmental Studies

ES 242 War and Environment

Adelson (Biological Sciences)

From ancient combat through two World Wars, from Vietnam through the Cold War, from the Gulf War to the battle against terrorism, environment has played an important role in warfare as both cause and effect. This course explores ecological pressures of overpopulation and resource scarcity as causes for war, and environmental degradation, including scorched earth, displaced populations, and poisoned water, as effects of war. First, we study the relationship between war and environment from pre-history through 1900. Next we will concentrate on the twentieth century. Finally, we will look at the relationship today, especially in light of the war on terror and modern high-tech warfare. One mandatory weekend fieldtrip.

Prerequisite: None

Distribution: Social and Behavioral Analysis

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

Department of Education

EDUC 325 English as a Second Language for Asian Language Speakers: Pedagogy, Theory, and Practice

Kim Han

An intensive study of the pedagogy of English as a Second Language. Through readings, classroom activities, and observation, we will examine how to teach English to speakers of other languages, especially to students whose first language is an Asian language. Taught by an experienced classroom teacher and lecturers from different language and cultural backgrounds, this seminar will provide an introduction to English as a Second Language theory and teaching practices and an examination of how culture, especially Chinese, Korean, and Japanese culture, affects second language learning. Fieldwork in a language teaching program is required.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

Distribution: Epistemology and Cognition

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

Extradepartmental

EXTD 310 Ethics and Differences

Prabhu

A course on the idea of difference in historical perspective; focuses on ethical aspects of claiming/identifying difference. Study of difference in texts by the Philosophers of the Enlightenment, journals or personal papers of voyagers and colonial administrators, fiction, reflections on method by anthropologists, Twentieth Century-critical/philosophical work, and medical ethics. Emphasizes critical thought and expression. Focuses on methods for close reading/study to generate and develop research questions. Individual assignments based on students’ interests/disciplines. Possible themes of difference include gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, class, disability, and differential power in individual or group relationships.

Prerequisite: Open to seniors; juniors by permission of the instructor.

Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

Department of Political Science

POL1 356 Seminar. The Politics of American Citizenship

Harper

Citizenship is an organizing concept in politics. Citizenship is about boundaries, and, as anthropologist Mary Douglas noted, “all borders are dangerous.” This course considers what is so dangerous about citizenship by examining citizenship controversies in the United States. We will look at such issues as birthright citizenship, dual nationality, and the public policy of naturalization. We will examine how race, sex, and age affect access to citizenship. We will think about the rights and obligations of citizens and noncitizens. Readings include contemporary legal and historical sources. The course also will explore how citizenship in the United States, a classic immigrant country, is the same but different from citizenship in other ethnic and civic based states. Students will attend a naturalization ceremony and meet with civil servants involved with naturalization. The class involves formal and informal debate and writing in different styles in political science.

Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors by permission of instructor. Enrollment limited; interested students must fill out a seminar application available in the political science department office or on the department Web site.

Distribution: Social and Behavioral Analysis

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

Department of Psychology

PSYC 246 Asian American Psychology

Charmaraman

This course is an introduction to the psychological experience of Asian Americans including historical, socio-political, educational, and cultural influences that shape personality and mental health. Asian-Americans consist of different groups with diverse cultural customs, languages, acculturation experiences, and histories in the U.S., yet they are often lumped together as one racial group in mainstream psychological research. Using psychological theory and research as a guiding framework, we will explore the foundational concepts of culture, ethnicity, and race as they relate to East Asian as well as South and Southeast Asian Americans. Topics to be addressed include family relationships, identity development, acculturation, model minority stereotypes, racism and discrimination, media images, gender and sexuality, psychopathology and other issues affecting Asian American communities.

Prerequisites: 101, AP score of 5 or permission of instructor.

Distribution: Social and Behavioral Analysis

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

Department of Spanish

SPAN 321 Seminar. Havana: Literary and Popular Cultures

Rubio

The urban space of Havana serves as the central location for this course, in which a variety of literary and popular culture genres (i.e., prose, chronicle, theatre, performance, film) from multi-national sources are gathered with the goal of acquiring a close understanding of Cuban cultural production. Framed throughout the historical periods of Republican-era (1902-1959) and the ongoing Revolution-era (1959-present), the course engages in analyzing Cuba's search for a national identity, particularly through Havana's cultural development. Themes explored pertain to literary and artistic representational aesthetics, Revolution-era mass culture, exilic culture, and trans-national discourses, given the thriving Cuban-exile and Cuban-American diaspora.

Prerequisites: Open to junior and senior majors or by permission of instructor.

Distribution: Language and Literature

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

The Writing Program

WRIT 125 15 Women and Memoir: Shaping a Life

Johnson (The Writing Program)

This course explores how writers select and fashion events from their own lives to provide context for their ideas. For women writers especially, this “revision” of personal experience has proved a powerful forum for addressing artistic, social, and political issues. Readings will include essays and selections from autobiographies by Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Joan Didion. Mandatory credit/non-credit.

Prerequisite: None

Distribution: None

Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

WRIT 125 16, 17 Athletes and Artists

Johnson

In studying the intersections of sport and art in America, we will analyze the ways in which athletes and athletics have been represented in literature and film, and we will examine how writers and others use sport as a metaphor or find deeper meaning in it. We will also consider philosophical questions regarding the nature of art and of athletics and their proper role in our society. In addition, we will explore the relationship between athletics and the liberal arts, particularly in light of recent arguments that an increasing focus on athletics is undermining the academic mission of certain schools.

Prerequisite: None

Distribution: None

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

WRIT 125-19 Hamlet: Poem Unlimited

Cain (English)

The topic for this course will be Shakespeare’s Hamlet—the greatest of all plays, a towering artistic achievement that is as vital and provocative as ever and open to endless inquiry. We will study the text intensively; enjoy and examine a number of film adaptations; survey treatments of the play by major critics, intellectuals, philosophers, and psychologists of the past (e. g., Samuel Taylor Coleridge, A. C. Bradley, Sigmund Freud); and explore the play’s fascination and importance for contemporary scholars and literary theorists (e.g., René Girard, Harold Bloom).

Prerequisite: None

Distribution: None

Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0

WRIT 125 20 Primates and Us

Pepper (The Writing Program)

The animal and the human may be closer than we think. Where we draw the line between them is indicative of how we situate ourselves in the natural world. For example, if we consider intelligence to be a uniquely human attribute, we may cultivate particular attitudes toward animals. The great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons), even as they stand on the verge of extinction, offer an extraordinary window through which to explore the human/nature divide. In this course, we will consider these amazing creatures and the remarkable studies that have been done of them, as well as our common evolution and our ongoing relationships, cultural, biological, and scientific.

Prerequisite: None

Distribution: None

Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0

· Jennifer Lewis, Assistant Registrar for the Curriculum

· jlewis@wellesley.edu

· Office of the Registrar

· Date Created: October 11, 2007

· Last Modified: November 8, 2007

· Expires: June 1, 2008