Winter at Wesleyan

Division I Arts and Humanities

FULLY ENROLLED - CCIV 220/ENGL 219: Homer and the Epic
Elizabeth Bobrick

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: HA
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click here

  Location: Public Affairs Center 421
  Schedule: Weekdays, 10:00am – 12:00pm, and 2:00pm – 4:00pm

  In this course we will read Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey in translation. These epics of war and homecoming, the first major texts of the Western literary tradition, have inspired and influenced historians, literary and visual artists, from at least the 6^th century BCE to the present day. Through close reading, we will consider issues such as the heroic code; the relations between humans and gods; and the structure of Homeric society (e.g., the culture of fame; the status of women; and the importance of clan and community). We will also read the 5^th century tragedies Ajax and Philoctetes by Sophocles, and a number of contemporary critical essays to help us frame our discussions.

AMST 294/MUSC 293: Mapping Culture
Eric Charry

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: HA MUSC
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click here

  Location: Music Studios 301
  Schedule: Jan. 8-11, 14, 16-18, 10:00am-12:00pm, 1:00pm-4:00pm

  What is a culture, how can it be intimately wrapped up in a location, and how can that be
  mapped out to better understand its inner workings? In the face of globalization and pervasive online communities, what can conventional wisdom--“location, location, location” and “All politics is local”--tell us about the importance of actual places in cultural formations? We will first orient ourselves with a wide range of music mapping projects, as well as projects that directly address the significance of a location (Nile Project, Playing for Change). From a base in the interdisciplinary field of ethnomusicology, we will then examine how scenes and subcultures can congeal in particular places and times, mapping them in New York City’s Lower East Side (punk), Greenwich Village (urban folk revival), and South Bronx (early hip hop). Deploying a broad conception of culture, we will cover other art forms (e.g. graffiti and other street art) and social formations. Haight Ashbury (SF) 1960s counterculture, Laurel Canyon (LA) 1970s singer-songwriters, Chicago 1980s post-disco house, and London 1980s post-punk goth will provide complementary case studies. These examples will provide models before students embark on their own to map out a culture of their choice as their final project, using either Google maps or Story Maps. Readings on theories of place and of subcultures will provide blueprints for issues to be explored, including how group identity and a sense of community can be locally constructed and the significance of physical in-person contact in a world of increasingly virtual relationships.

FULLY ENROLLED - ARST 190/IDEA 190: Digital Art
Christopher Chenier

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ART
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: To come

  Location: Digital Design Studio (in DAC)
  Schedule: 10:00am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-3:00pm

  This experience will introduce students to the digital arts, an area of creative practice encompassing computer-based art from GIFS and graphics to cutting edge digital fabrication tools. While developing the critical and methodological tools to engage problems in our digital culture, students will acquire the practical skills necessary to create and communicate digitally. Sessions will emphasize the ways software is used for project development, prototyping, and experimentation. Most of our time will be spend in Adobe Creative Cloud. The core elements of CC will be covered through workshops in image editing, graphics, layout, and type. Translating digital files into physical objects, students will work with a laser cutter, large format inkjet printers, and a CNC mill.

CEAS 347: Contemporary East Asian Cinema
Lisa Dombrowski

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: HA CEAS
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click here

  Location: CFA Hall (Ring Family Performing Arts Hall)
  Schedule: Jan 8-10, 12pm-4pm and 6pm-10pm; Jan 12, 6pm-10pm; Jan 13-14, 12pm-4pm and 6pm-10pm; Jan 15, 12pm-4pm; Jan 17-20, 12pm-4pm and 6pm-10pm; lunch and final presentations on Jan 23

  This is a seminar on comparative narrative and stylistic film analysis that focuses on contemporary pictures from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan, regions that have produced some of the most exciting commercial and art cinema in the past 30 years. We will begin by examining narrative and stylistic trends at work in the region and by considering individual films in a historical and industrial context. We will then develop our film analysis skills via formal comparison of the aesthetics of individual directors working in both popular and art cinema traditions. Each class meeting will include a screening plus lecture and discussion, as well as break time.

  Prior to the beginning of winter session, students will watch several video lectures introducing key analytical concepts, complete course readings, screen paper for assignment films, and create two plot segmentations and a shot breakdown of a film scene in preparation for future assignments. All course material, including video lectures, readings, assignments, and assignment films, will be available via course Moodle by the beginning of winter break.

  Assessment will be based on participation in discussion, in-class exercises, two 6-7p. analytical papers, and a group presentation. 

  The course has no prerequisites and is open to all students. The course does not count toward completion of the Film Studies major.

THEA 301/DANC 311: Immersive Theater: Experiential Design, Material Culture, and Audience-Centered Performance
Tom Pearson

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: HA THEA
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click here

  Location: Class meeting - Theater Studios 101, Rehearsals - Theater Studios 114
  Schedule: Jan 8-10, 12-14, 17, 19-23, 12:00pm-4:00pm. Rehearsal/research period 5:00pm-8:00pm

  This course offers a comprehensive exploration of Third Rail Projects' approach to crafting and performing in immersive performance formats.

  This course requires no previous theater, dance, or performance experience to participate, and each student will be allowed to enter the course work through his/her own lens and expertise.

  Students will work closely alongside Co-Artistic Director Tom Pearson to explore Third Rail's toolbox of techniques, including:

  • Developing presence and clarity around audience engagement
  • Remaining spontaneous and responsive to the changing landscape of an active audience
  • Generating game play for crafting immersive scenes
  • Understanding ritual, narrative, and audience initiation through the study of a scene from one of our immersive productions

  This course meets once a day for four hours of intensive workshops, which will explore a new aspect of immersive theatre in depth each day. Students are expected to spend three hours each afternoon doing individual/group project work, which they will present to the class the following day. The course will culminate in a final performance showing everything learned.

Division II Social and Behavioral Sciences

GOVT 311: US Foreign Policy
Douglas Foyle

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS GOVT
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click here
  

  Location: Public Affairs Center 422
  Schedule: Jan. 8-11, 15-18, 9:00am-11:30am, 1:00pm-3:30pm. Take home final due January 23.

  This course provides a survey of the content and formulation of American foreign policy with an emphasis on the period after World War II. It evaluates the sources of American foreign policy including the international system, societal factors, government processes, and individual decision makers. The course begins with a consideration of major trends in U.S. foreign policy after World War II. With a historical base established, the focus turns to the major institutions and actors in American foreign policy. The course concludes with an examination of the challenges and opportunities that face current U.S. decision makers. A significant component of the course is the intensive discussion of specific foreign policy decisions.

  No prior knowledge of U.S. foreign policy or international politics is assumed other than what might be gathered from keeping up with the current events.

CANCELLED - CSPL 127/ECON 127: Introduction to Financial Accounting
Martin Gosman

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS ECON
  Prerequisites: ECON 101 or ECON 110
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click Here

  Location: Exley Science Center 139
  Schedule: January 8-11, 14-18, and 21-23, 12:30pm-4:30pm

  In this course, no prior accounting knowledge is required or assumed. Students learn how
  accountants define assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses and where those items appear
  in firms’ balance sheets and income statements. The purposes and limitations of these two
  financial statements as well as the statement of cash flows are considered. Students gain an
  understanding of the accounting choices allowed to firms for reporting to stockholders and
  creditors and learn how the use of different accounting methods for similar economic events
  creates challenges for analysts. Instances of questionable financial reporting and strategies
  that can aid in their discovery are addressed. Later assignments focus on ratio analysis of
  actual firms’ financial statements, including techniques to identify firms in financial trouble.

FULLY ENROLLED - QAC201/SOC257/GOVT201/PSYC280/NSB280: Applied Data Analysis
Lisa Dierker

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM QAC
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click here

  Location: Exley Science Center 189
  Schedule: January 10 and 11 (Thurs and Friday) 14 and 15 (Monday and Tues), 17 and 18 (Thurs and Friday) and 21 (Monday). For the first 6 days, the schedule will be 9:00am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 4:00pm. On the last day (January 21), we will meet 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

  In this project-based course, you will have the opportunity to answer questions that you feel passionately about through independent research based on existing data. You will develop skills in generating testable hypotheses, conducting a literature review, preparing data for analysis, conducting descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, and presenting research findings. The course offers one-on-one support, ample opportunities to work with other students, and training in the skills required to complete a project of your own design. These skills will prepare you to work in many different research labs across the University that collect empirical data. It is also an opportunity to fulfill an important requirement in several different majors.

AMST 294/MUSC 293: Mapping Culture
Eric Charry

• Click for course Description

  Gen Ed Area Dept: HA MUSC
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click here

  Location: Music Studios 301
  Schedule: Jan. 8-11, 14, 16-18, 10:00am-12:00pm, 1:00pm-4:00pm

  What is a culture, how can it be intimately wrapped up in a location, and how can that be
  mapped out to better understand its inner workings? In the face of globalization and pervasive online communities, what can conventional wisdom--“location, location, location” and “All politics is local”--tell us about the importance of actual places in cultural formations? We will first orient ourselves with a wide range of music mapping projects, as well as projects that directly address the significance of a location (Nile Project, Playing for Change). From a base in the interdisciplinary field of ethnomusicology, we will then examine how scenes and subcultures can congeal in particular places and times, mapping them in New York City’s Lower East Side (punk), Greenwich Village (urban folk revival), and South Bronx (early hip hop). Deploying a broad conception of culture, we will cover other art forms (e.g. graffiti and other street art) and social formations. Haight Ashbury (SF) 1960s counterculture, Laurel Canyon (LA) 1970s singer-songwriters, Chicago 1980s post-disco house, and London 1980s post-punk goth will provide complementary case studies. These examples will provide models before students embark on their own to map out a culture of their choice as their final project, using either Google maps or Story Maps. Readings on theories of place and of subcultures will provide blueprints for issues to be explored, including how group identity and a sense of community can be locally constructed and the significance of physical in-person contact in a world of increasingly virtual relationships.

Division III Natural Sciences and Mathematics

FULLY ENROLLED - PSYC 316/NS&B 316: Schizophrenia and Its Treatment - Fully Enrolled
Matthew Kurtz

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM PSYC
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click here

  Location: Fisk 121
  Schedule: Weekdays 10:00am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-3:00pm, except no class on January 21. 

  The goal of the seminar will be to critically investigate the concept of schizophrenia as a unitary disease construct, from historical, neuroscientific, and phenomenological approaches, and the implications of these views for our understanding of treatment in the disorder. How are we to make sense of a psychiatric disorder that has changed so substantially in definition over time, with wide interindividual difference in symptom expression and functional outcome, a wide array of competing theories regarding etiology and biological mechanisms, and correspondingly diverse treatment interventions? We will engage these questions through three separate units that will evaluate the disorder from three different levels of analysis: (1) readings in the history of psychiatry and the perspective they cast on schizophrenia as a unitary disease concept; (2) an analysis of contemporary work in neuroimaging and experimental cognition in the disease and the current status of creating a coherent account of neurocognitive mechanisms of the disease, as well as a neurocognitive approach to novel interventions; (3) new work on understanding the experience of the disease from first-person accounts and the systematic analysis of these accounts as a window to understanding heterogeneity in the disease and novel approaches for therapy.

FULLY ENROLLED - COMP112: Introduction to Programming (with Python 3)
James Lipton

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  Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM MATH
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Student Option
  Syllabus: Click here

  Location: Art Workshops 112
  Schedule: M-F, 10:00am-12:00pm, 1:00pm-4:00pm

  In this course students will be introduced to programming, using the Python language, from scratch. No background at all is required. Students will acquire basic coding skills that will enable them to continue with more advanced programming courses, or to learn about more advanced applications in many fields. This would include data analysis applications or coding web and phone apps and games. In this course we will cover basic program construction techniques including the use of function definitions loops and classes. We will work towards a final graphical game project using a popular graphical user interface called TkInter. Students may propose alternative graphical project ideas. The choice of programming language, Python, is based on a number of considerations: it is one of the most widely used languages in the world today. Many resources (additional packages) are available for Python for web development, machine learning, data science, graphics, map and GPS applications, games, interfaces to Google, Facebook and Twitter. This is a "hands-on" course: students will spend close to half of class time writing or completing programs in class, with the instructor giving assistance and making comments one-on-one. There is no better way to learn how to code than by doing it.

FULLY ENROLLED - QAC201/SOC257/GOVT201/PSYC280/NSB280: Applied Data Analysis
Lisa Dierker

• Click for Course Description

  Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM QAC
  Prerequisites: None
  Grading Mode: Graded
  Syllabus: Click here

  Location: Exley Science Center 189
  Schedule: January 10 and 11 (Thurs and Friday) 14 and 15 (Monday and Tues), 17 and 18 (Thurs and Friday) and 21 (Monday). For the first 6 days, the schedule will be 9:00am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 4:00pm. On the last day (January 21), we will meet 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

  In this project-based course, you will have the opportunity to answer questions that you feel passionately about through independent research based on existing data. You will develop skills in generating testable hypotheses, conducting a literature review, preparing data for analysis, conducting descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, and presenting research findings. The course offers one-on-one support, ample opportunities to work with other students, and training in the skills required to complete a project of your own design. These skills will prepare you to work in many different research labs across the University that collect empirical data. It is also an opportunity to fulfill an important requirement in several different majors.