First-Year Seminar Selection

Dr. Marcia Morgan // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

What role does memory play in carving out the future, both for individuals and for society as a whole? What obligation do we have as individuals and communities in questioning and remembering the past to live our lives ethically? In this course we will explore multiple aspects of memory understood from individual and societal perspectives. We will look at various ways in which individuals and societies have shaped their future in positive and negative ways. For example, we will view diverse representations of reparative memory from around the globe, including cases in South Africa, the US, and Europe.

Like other FYSs, writing is a core value of this course. Our readings and discussions will focus on works by philosophers, musicians, architects, artists, journalists, and other thinkers who help us understand some of the most profound historical moments of the recent past.

Dr. Jim Bloom // TR 12:30-1:45

Students will examine texts and images and address the three questions in the seminar title: questions such as:

• What has made the phrase "the real world” so ubiquitous and so influential?
• Who gets to decide what is and isn't part of "the real world”?
• Where exactly is this "real world"?

Assignments will include critical reading of texts, photos, paintings, as well as critical reading (intentional observation) of objects, environments, cyberspaces, and "lived experiences." Reading assignments will serve as points of departure for a range of writing assignments in a variety of formats and for class discussions and presentations designed to enable seminar members to learn from one another.

Dr. Greg Collins // TR 11:00-12:15

In this seminar, we will explore the interplay of culture, commerce, and innovation as we examine the Panamá, Erie, and Lehigh canals. The construction and operation of canals moved people and ideas, furthering diversity in Central America and aiding the women’s suffrage movement. Reduced shipping costs helped bring coal to burgeoning industries and improved food affordability and access, an effect that continues to this day. Human ingenuity conquered long standing obstacles while leaving an indelible mark on affected landscapes and ecologies. We will draw parallels between these outcomes and current affairs, such as energy and the environment, immigration, and the flow of information. Through our look at canals, we will come to consider human progress and the challenges and benefits that it brings. We will read firsthand accounts of the canals, from people who worked them and from noted authors like Twain and Stowe, and we will examine shipping records to learn about who, what, and how many have moved along these waterways. We will pen lyrics to a canal song, write an op-ed for a 19th century newspaper, and craft a critical paper using canals to discuss progress and the lessons that the past can teach us about tomorrow.

Dr. William Gryc // TR 12:30-1:45

A stranger comes up to you on the street, saying that he lost his wallet and needs $5 for bus fare home. It’s a small but common con, a touching narrative to part a naive mark with their money. And it works. But there are bigger cons with bigger payoffs and more elaborate schemes. Why are these big cons successful, and what does their success imply about their victims? Related to con artists are frauds, people who misrepresent and lie about themselves to others for personal gain. Why do people believe liars and frauds? What strategies do liars employ to get us to believe them and why does it work? And finally we come to us. While we may think of ourselves as honest, it turns out that it is difficult for humans to be completely honest, particularly with themselves. Self-deception and unconscious bias is so ingrained in us that it is difficult to self-diagnosis it. Can we free ourselves of self-deception and see beyond its veil? In this class, we will view these questions through a lens of behavioral economics, where we see that irrationality appears to be an all-too-common part of human thought. In fact, through that lens, we will see that often each individual is both the perpetrator and the mark. However, being conscious of the cognitive pitfalls and traps can help us be vigilant against lies and bias, both external and internal.

Prof. Sara Vigneri // TR 12:30-1:45

True crime has long been popular, and that popularity has only increased with the emergence of podcasts. Why are we fascinated by murderers and serial killers? And what are the ethics when journalists focus on, and possibly glorify, violence? Does true crime coverage re-victimize the victims and their families? This course will explore popular true crime podcasts, examine the dilemmas journalists face when covering true crime and the dangers of commodifying fear. We will consider the choices journalists make in deciding who to talk to, which information to include, the questions they ask and the impact these choices have on the public’s perception of crime.

Dr. Mike Opal // TR 12:30-1:45

In a famous passage from the novel In Search of Lost Time, the taste of a madeleine suddenly evokes in the narrator images of his past he had forgotten. Much the same happens in the film Ratatouille when a food critic is taken back to his lower-class upbringing by a peasant dish. This course will consider that peculiar ability of food as a sensory experience to contain and conjure meanings both personal and political. To what extent are our most individual experiences of taste or smell shaped by larger forces, and what resources do our culinary experiences give us in understanding and responding to those forces? We will read from a variety of genres of food writing—memoir, poetry, restaurant reviews—and scholarship on food and agriculture to explore the relationship between the history of food, economics, politics, ecology, and sensation. We will discuss the role of gender, race, and class in the experience of food. The diversity of what we read will give you many ways to approach the topic in your own writing for the course, which will consist of two short review essays and two formal academic essays, as well as a small amount of casual
writing.

Prof. Rebecca Lustig // TR 12:30-1:45

When you think of someone knitting, what do you imagine? Is it an old lady in a rocking chair? Perhaps you’ve seen pictures of activists knitting “Pussyhats” in preparation for the 2017 Women’s March? Or maybe you have seen pictures in the media of Olympic athlete Tom Daley knitting before a dive?

In this course we will analyze knitting as a cultural practice, considering and challenging our assumptions as we explore the reclamation of the “domestic arts” as a form of craftivism. We will practice some knitting techniques (no prior experience is required!) and reflect on the embodied experience of knitting. Assignments will include short, easy knitting projects followed by informal written reflections on each experience. We will read essays on how artists including Judy Chicago, the Guerrilla Girls, Lisa Ann Auerbach and others have used practices historically associated with female labor to challenge structures of power, and how other social activists are using knitting and other crafts to draw attention to the most important issues of our time.

Through longer written assignments we will connect our own personal experiences of knitting to the larger conversations about social identities, consumerism, and privilege that we find in our readings. Required materials for knitting will be provided.

Dr. Tiffany Montoya // TR 12:30-1:45

What's your favorite kind of music? Do you like pop music, rap, indie, metal, classical or jazz? Do you find a sense of camaraderie with people who like the same music as you? Have you ever felt like the lyrics of a song perfectly described how you were feeling or matched the situation you were in? Music has mirrored the feelings and situations of entire groups of people, like punk for the young working class youth of the 70s and 80s, or rap originating among Black youth in American cities. Blues arose out of the slave experience on Southern plantations and psychedelic music spoke to a generation of young pacifists who wanted to challenge societal norms and stop a war. Music, and its impact on us, and on society as a whole, will be the backdrop of this class. Philosophy is the art of thinking deeply, critically, and creatively about something that you normally take for granted. We will be engaging in the philosophy of music from a variety of different types of media: 7

from cultural critics to philosophers throughout the ages, from the lyrics of our favorite songs, to music videos, and documentaries about music-centered cultural movements.

Dr. Jordanna Sprayberry // MW 2:00-3:15

Is it the scent of fall leaves carried on crisp air, or the unceasing rumble of ocean waves that gives you a moment of pause and peace? Human relationships with nature have been the subject of paintings, prose, and science. This course will take you on a literary exploration across biomes: from familiar forests to red rock deserts. We will explore both the art and science of our species’ rapport with the natural world, comparing authors’ depictions of their wilderness affairs with psychological- and physiological-studies on the relationship between human health and exposure to the outdoors. This exploration will take the form of lived experiences, scholarly readings, in-class writing, and periodic formalized essays.

Prof. Sharon Albert // TR 12:30-1:45

In this course, we will read, think, and write about maps: how we use them, how we make them, and the power they have to inform, to transform, and to shape how we understand our world. Readings will include work on the significance of maps as visual representations of space and the authoritative power they can wield. We will also read texts dealing with the history of cartography, as well as some travel literature and geographies, real and imagined. Our questions will explore the assumptions that underlie the making and using of maps. For instance: What gets included on maps? How are they oriented? What gets left out? Who makes the maps? How do maps sustain structures of power? And how and when can they be instruments of change? Students will use the theoretical work we read to create their own critical analyses of maps, and will also think and write analytically about the creation of maps and how maps are used.

Dr. Elizabeth Bergman // TR 12:30-1:45

From iconic movie moves to viral internet memes, a wide variety of people garner fame by performing public-facing dancing. In Dancing Celebrity: Choreographies of Fame and Power in Global Pop Culture, we will examine how dance operates in the construction and reception of celebrity personas and explore how diverse identities and ideologies are expressed in the exchange between celebrities and consumer audiences. Using examples from entertainment and sports stars to political personalities to reality TV and social media celebrities, this course brings together ideas from the interdisciplinary fields of popular dance studies, media studies, and celebrity studies to ask questions about power, representation, spectatorship, identity, and identification in contemporary societies. By considering the theories and histories of celebrity alongside popular dance scholarship, we will analyze how dance is engaged across diverse transnational, cultural, and social contexts to build star/brand images, connect fan communities, and express potent ideas about race, gender, sexuality, ability, age, and class. Movement and film analysis methods will be introduced and applied; a range of pop culture-focused assignments will offer opportunities to develop descriptive and analytic writing skills.

Dr. Brett Fadem // TR 12:30-1:45

The gathering of intellectual talent for the construction of the atom bomb was attended by many of the world's most creative scientists. The product of their labors, however, was the most destructive weapon yet assembled. This seminar will explore the lives of these geniuses, the environment of the Manhattan Project, and the ethical issues that wove their way through the daily existence of scientists both in the United States and Europe. While some of the major players appeared to be deeply engaged with the ethical minefield that surrounded them, others seemed oblivious, and a few went so far as to adopt an attitude of active disengagement. We will explore these issues both from a modern perspective and from that of the participants.

Dr. Michael London // TR 12:30-1:45

In this FYS, our subject matter will be creative improvisation in the context of music. As creative people who want to develop our talents and learn to better collaborate with others, we will explore our analytical writing while we participate in experiential activities, make music, explore movement, develop our discussion skills, and unlock our improvisational abilities. We will focus on how to think, write, and discuss complex ideas critically as we learn and explore together. In exploring our “muses”, we'll read about creative people and their process in various performance areas that feature music, such as theater, dance, improvisation, and poetry. The group of peers will also be a “live text” as we create together and then analyze that experience, applying wisdom from varied texts and each other. We will also learn how to observe and analyze our experiences toward strengthening our individual and collective “Muse”.

Dr. John Sullivan // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

We are surrounded by utopian visions of technology in our popular culture. New innovations such as cloud computing, mobile apps, and now artificial intelligence (AI) promise to make our lives easier, more productive, and more enjoyable. What’s often missing in our popular imagination are the broader social, economic, and cultural contexts that help us understand the real impacts of technology on our society. As critical media scholar Mar Hicks argues, “we are witnessing a period in which it is becoming ever more urgent to recognize that technological progress without social accountability is not real progress - and that in fact it is destructive to the democratic institutions and norms we have long held up as ideals.” This FYS will explore some of these broader contexts. We’ll examine where our visions of utopian futures come from by looking at Hollywood visions of AI (in movies like “Wargames” and “AI”) and consider how Silicon Valley and the “tech bro” culture have shaped these visions. We’ll also consider other important topics in our tech culture such as: the rise of cloud computing and its ecological impacts; computer algorithms and systems of discrimination and oppression; AI, copyright, deepfakes, the rise of disinformation, and the management of war; social media and the human effects of online content moderation; and finally the history of Luddism and the emergence of movements for tech freedom and justice in the 21 st Century. This course will also introduce students to effective means of reading and organizing college-level readings and will develop their skills as effective writers.

Dr. Hunter Holt // TR 12:30-1:45

In this writing seminar, we will analyze education and schooling as major sites of struggle during the “long” civil rights movement. Teaching of the movement often centers the voices of male leaders, is confined to the U.S. South, and portrays teachers as inactive participants. By exploring the perspectives of teachers, women, young people, and other overlooked political actors, we will nuance these commonly told narratives and consider what counts as activism, who can be an activist, and what activism can accomplish. By analyzing books, films, music, and other primary sources, we will examine fuller stories of segregation and desegregation, study geographical locations across the U.S., and use the writing process to connect past examples of activism to contemporary movements for social justice. While much of the course will focus on teachers’ and students’ efforts to end inequality in public schooling, we will also learn about how education was used to advance the movement on other fronts, such as the Citizenship Schools. By writing about and discussing how education intersected with other issues, we will gain a more comprehensive understanding of the movement and how local communities demanded educational equity as a part of a longer struggle for civil and human rights.

Dr. Alec Marsh // TR 12:30-1:45

The abortive “coup” of Jan. 6, 2021 is certainly the most lurid recent event in US politics. Now, although officially recognized by the courts as an insurrection, the constitutional ramifications remain unclear and contested as recent cases involving the so-called “insurrection clause’ of the 14 th Amendment to the Constitution make clear. Nor are these completely resolved by the Supreme Court decision to allow Mr. Trump on the ballot in November. A year ago, the famous bipartisan report by the “Jan. 6 Committee” was published and has been accepted by the Colorado Courts as authoritative. Our first task as a seminar will be to read and write about this long text to see what story it tells, then to pursue the many loose ends, some of which will be decided in court during the summer and while our class is meeting. We will learn much as key witnesses and key participants, and other principals who ducked subpoenas or declined to testify, citing their 5 th Amendment rights--including both the President and the Vice-President of the United States who were not deposed by Congress--may be compelled to testify under oath in open court. By the time we convene in the fall, even more will have come to light. In short, there is a wealth of primary and secondary material to consider, which will suggest myriad topics for your papers, no matter what your political views may be. To be clear, this is not “a witch hunt” by other means; rather, this class is our chance as citizens and students to learn as much as we can about the major domestic political crisis of our time.

Prof. Gabriel Dean // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

Wicked, Spring Awakening, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown, and of course, the cultural juggernaut, Hamilton: innovations in Broadway musicals since the new millenium have boldly instituted new genre forms and norms, while at the same time remaining in conversation with the history of this beloved art form. In this course, we will read, listen to, bop with, analyze, and write about musicals from the powerfully romantic Light in the Piazza, with its nods to European operetta to the distinctly American Black queerness of A Strange Loop. As a class, we will explore where the form has moved in the last quarter century and occasionally consider, through the creation of our own songs and lyrics, where it's headed. Our academic writing will put these texts, as well as others such as Caroline or Change, The Color Purple, In the Heights, or Fun Home into critical conversation with cultural commentary and literary and dramatic criticism. No music skills necessary.

Dr. Sally Richwine // TR 2:00-3:15

This seminar will examine the ‘single story’ of disability and difference in American culture, identifying how this story has been defined and shaped across time and populations within the context of culture, public policy, education, and issues of identity. The idea of the single story, originated by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, asks us to think about how dominant beliefs come to govern perceptions and implicitly shape our understanding of the world. In our course, we’ll try to unweave the single story of disability by asking questions like: What do we know about disability and difference and how have we come to know it? How is disability and difference being represented, or, in some cases, misrepresented? How do these representations influence and shape beliefs and perpetuate the ‘single story’ carried by others? Students will investigate these portrayals and narratives through media, popular culture, and scholarly journal readings. In-class reflections and thoughtful critique brought to discussions will allow students to analyze these representations with a critical eye for accuracy, common stereotypes, and themes that may be problematic in shaping beliefs–students may in fact see how they have the power to propel and enable individuals and communities to move toward further integration and empowerment. Writings will ask students to analyze their own preconceptions and apply their developing knowledge base and insights in order to compare, contrast and analyze representations of disability and difference as illustrated by popular culture and scholarly sources.

Prof. Susan Falciani Maldonado // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

Muhlenberg College has a rich history that serves as a microcosm for wider educational, racial, gender, and historical trends that were happening nationally in the 19th and 20th centuries. By examining how World War II, the civil rights movement, or the women’s movement played out on our campus, students have the opportunity to experience Muhlenberg in a unique way. Students will engage with historical archival sources including the Muhlenberg Weekly, the College’s yearbook, collections of correspondence, oral histories, and more. We will examine the nature of how and why archives are collected, whose history is collected, and how reflecting on Muhlenberg's history can influence today's student experience.

Dr. Jim Peck // MW 12:30-1:45

Maybe it's not an accident that when we leave a lamp on overnight in a theatre, we call at a ghost light. In many times and places, theatre has trafficked in ghosts. This course examines the confluence of theatre and the spectral. Why do ghosts walk the stage in so many theatrical traditions? Often, theatrical ghosts impel the living to answer the claims of a traumatic, unresolved past. What do these hauntings reveal about the shape of personal memory? Of collective memory? We will focus on theatre but will also consider writings about ghostliness from other disciplines. Encounters with psychoanalysis, sociology, and philosophy will inform our interpretation of the stage ghost. Why is the theatre a persistently haunted space? How do these visitations of the dead facilitate processes of remembering, mourning, and reckoning for the living? Towards what future?

Prof. Tina Hertel // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

When was the last time you sat down and wrote—not typed but “pen and paper” wrote—a letter to someone? Received a letter? This seminar will examine the history, psychology, and art of letter-writing and other epistolary formats. We will discuss the extent to which, as some cultural critics claim, letter-writing is dying and what implications that might have for our culture. But we will also consider alternative possibilities—that, rather than dying, letter writing is assuming new and vital forms. We will look at letter-writing as a cultural practice, explore famous letters in their historical context, learn about who writes letters and why, appreciate epistolary fiction, and analyze the impact of digital technology on this communication format. We will use the epistolary practice of online journaling to deepen our understanding as we explore, analyze and discuss a wide range of letters and other epistolary practices. And yes, there will be some actual letter-writing!

Dr. Dawn Lonsinger // W 7:00-9:30pm

Bodily metamorphosis is abundant in literature; from Greek and Roman mythology to contemporary literature we find bodies transforming into something other than human: animals, monsters, plants, ghosts, machinery, etc. This course will explore how and why writers and filmmakers have focused on people as they negotiate such bodily transformations, both conspicuous and subtle. Whether the physical transformations are the result of choice, force, or chance, we will discuss the purpose, connotations, and consequences of these transformations within the literary and filmic works in which they are found. We will consider how a body in transformation becomes a site of contention for various sociopolitical forces. How do these transformations reflect the anxieties regarding specific cultural and ideological developments and failures within a given time and place? How do such transformations speak to common human concerns about identity, change, agency, and the often-complicated relationship between what we think of as the human mind/heart/soul and the limits and capabilities of the human body.

Prof. Sara Vigneri // TR 9:30-10:45 am

We love a good high school sports redemption story. But at what cost? What happens when we turn high school athletes into sports heroes? We will read the true stories that inspired Hoosiers and Friday Night Lights and consider what is gained and lost when true stories get the Hollywood treatment. Students will critically examine the impact youth sports can have on both the athletes and their communities and explore who wins and who loses when we put pressure on kids to be superstars.

Prof. Karen Tuerk // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

Environmental advocacy has positively impacted society in many ways, but how did the Green movement of the 20th century exacerbate global ecological inequities? As climate change urgently demands action, how do we create policy that equally serves both developed and developing regions? Nations are seeking sustainable energy alternatives, but what constitutes a just transition and who should pay for it?

In this seminar, we will explore the science of climate change and the social movement of climate justice by considering environmental issues leading to and emerging from a rapidly warming planet. Through both formal and informal writing assignments, we will examine our relationship with the natural world as consumers, community members, and components of the biosphere. Scholarly essays, policy documents, news articles, documentaries and fiction will initiate conversations about how we collectively create just environmental policy and practices.

Dr. Erika M. Sutherland // TR 3:30-4:45 pm

From the earliest recorded history, humans have thought about food as something much more than physical sustenance. Proof of this can be found in nearly any context or medium, but in this course we will explore the concept of food as a marker of culture and change. In the Lehigh Valley’s large and surprisingly diverse Hispanic immigrant communities, food is at once a marker of assimilation and a nostalgic link to a distant homeland or disappearing culture. Looking at food through the eyes of filmmakers and the words of poets, historians, visionaries, and activists, we will learn to consider food ourselves as an object of study and a lens through which broader issues can be analyzed. Exploring local restaurants and food stores, you will be able to add your own sensorial and analytical impressions to this mix.

Dr. Lilianne Lugo Herrera // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

Have you ever watched movies and TV shows that included plays’ excerpts, or that followed the lives of actors? Conversely, have you witnessed video projections or live camera feeds in a theater setting? This course aims to analyze the relationship between the worlds of cinema and performance. We'll explore theater traditions from diverse cultures across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, as seen by filmmakers in the 20th and 21st century. We will also pay attention to the uses of modern technology in contemporary theater, and how women playwrights and directors use it to challenge the spectator perception of social and political issues. Throughout the course, you will be asked to write formally and informally, and to thoughtfully engage with the course materials. Our exploration will ultimately lead to an understanding of the delicate balance between the ephemeral nature of live performances and the enduring impact of film.

Dr. Leticia Robles-Moreno // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

Witchcraft has been often seen as fearsome, evil, or dangerous. Burning witches, literally or metaphorically, has often been used as a tool for controlling bodies, marking some individuals as deviant or contaminated because their value systems or cultural practices clash with the dominant society. In a similar way, indigenous, female, queer, and racialized peoples have been seen as alarming “others” and thus pushed to the margins of societies that cannot understand their magical powers. Pop culture has explored the subversive power of witchcraft in terms of race, gender, and class through Willow Rosenberg’s queerness, and an all-female of color cast of the Charmed remake, etc. Some of these depictions, although appealing, somehow miss the complexity of fluid/hybrid identities: witches cannot be contained in one specific label. It is for this reason that contemporary movements of political resistance have reclaimed witchcraft as a sign of self-identification and cultural heritage: intersectional feminism includes redefinitions of women’s struggles, and immigrants’ rights activism vindicates being part of different worlds at the same time. In particular, Latinx and Afro-Latinx thinkers and doers have embraced Brujería as a site of belonging.

Our FYS seminar explores the magic of being “different:” What does it mean to be a witch? Where does the power of fluid/hybrid identities reside? From where does the fear of witchcraft originate? Why are there forbidden sides within witchcraft, forbidden books, and forbidden spells? What can witchcraft do? And why are people taking the streets in Peru, Argentina, Spain, and other parts of the world to protest social oppression by chanting: “we are the daughters of the witches you couldn’t burn?”

Dr. Jason Kelsey // TR 12:30-1:45 pm, TR 3:30-4:45 pm [Note that two sections of this seminar will be offered.]

This course will examine film, television, and other media, paying particular attention to ways science can be misrepresented, distorted, or fabricated in them. The effects of scientific inaccuracies on attitudes about public health, environmental protection, food production, resource utilization, technology, the scope and limitations of science, and funding priorities will be discussed. The semester will start with introductions to both science as a way of knowing and critical concepts of film analysis. We will then assess the validity of the scientific claims made or implied in films including The Martian, Contagion, Jurassic Park, Planet of the Apes, Blackfish, Jaws, and TV episodes of The Simpsons. We will also contrast the ways scientists are portrayed in these works, defining multiple archetypes (e.g., ‘mad’, ‘evil’, ‘brave’, ‘obsessed’, ‘genius’), and link these differences to the believability of the science presented in each. Film screenings outside of class are required.

Dr. Matt Moore // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

The value and allure of Wilderness, its threats, challenges and mystery, have long been emblems of American independence, thought and consciousness. But how we think of and relate to the natural world has changed dramatically over the course of our nationhood. Alongside histories of nation building and development, Americans have been engaged in reproducing and revising the concept of Nature (and its purest incarnation, Wilderness) through political, representational, and performative acts for centuries. A concept, rather than a collection of material objects we simply see out the window, Nature is a discursive formation--something we have written, painted, filmed, narrated, legislated, philosophized and curated into being with intention, and perhaps to our detriment.

In this class, which is linked to "Reading Museums" and to the Center for Ethics’ theme of “Repair,” we will focus on the social construction and curation of Nature as well as the facticity of the natural world and our ethical relations to it. We will ask how a history of representing and exhibiting the natural world, especially in the American context, has contributed to impending environmental (and social) catastrophe, and what representation might do to change the course of our ecologically fraught future.

We will read seminal works by writers like Annie Dillard, Rachel Carson, Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, and Roderick Fraser Nash; Indigenous and African-American perspectives on land and nature; and works by a diverse range of contemporary nature writers, historians, eco-philosophers, and environmental ethicists. We will analyze natural spaces including arboretums, nature centers and parks alongside poetry, paintings, films, short stories, novellas, documentaries, environmental policy, and maybe even reality TV as ways of approaching the mythos of the natural world. Together with students enrolled in "Reading Museums," we make considerable forays into nature and its museums, seeking to challenge our own ways of looking and engaging with the nonhuman world as a small act of repair.

Prof. Linda Miller // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

In this seminar, we will look at museums as texts - as objects to read and interpret - and will try to understand the cultural assumptions that guide the design of museums. This semester, we will focus specifically on nature and on wilderness "museums." We will explore both conventional museums, like art museum exhibits of landscape paintings or perhaps aquariums and zoos, and less conventional museum spaces, like botanical gardens, state and national parks, and arboretums. All of these spaces, however, have been curated - or thoughtfully organized with some purpose in mind. Our task is to think deeply about the choices these curators have made and to consider how these spaces now affect how we see, understand and imagine wilderness. What stories do these museum spaces tell? To what extent are the museums arguing for a particular way to engage with wilderness? And what do these exhibits tell us about who we are as a culture and as people- about what we value and hold dear. Since our primary texts will be museums, we will take many field trips on weekends to local museums, parks and arboretums. We will learn through careful observation and experience. On campus, we will participate in many Center for Ethics lectures and workshops on its theme of “Repair" and consider the extent to which our museum narratives work with or against this idea of "repair." We will also read, write, and think deeply about our experiences both inside and outside our classroom. We will read, for instance, essays by nature writers Annie Dillard, Rachel Carson, Henry David Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, John Muir and museum studies theorists Adam Gopnik and Tony Bennett. This seminar will work closely with the other DANA seminar, The Idea of Wilderness: we will regularly meet as one group; share readings and assignments; go on all field trips together. As much as possible both seminars will be team-taught by Professors Miller and Moore.

Dr. Brian Mello  // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

Images of migration play an important role in defining political discourse, policy debates, and public opinion about the immigrant experience. In a defining moment prior to the Brexit vote, populist rightwing political leader, Nigel Farage, stood in front of a poster of a line of refugees fleeing the Syrian Civil war, declaring the moment a breaking point. Cartoons of early 20th century Italian immigrants to the US depicted rat-like images of knife wielding socialists, anarchists, and mafia members exported “direct from the slums of Europe.” And in 2009 the European Union awarded its LUX Award to the film Welcome, which explores the plight of refugees in Calais, France. This writing intensive first year seminar will invite students to analyze and think about the ethics of representing the migrant experience by examining and writing about the representation of the migrant experience in novels, films, and documentaries. Throughout, we will also consider ethical concerns faced by academic research about and representations of the migrant experience. Key questions we will explore include who gets to represent the migrant experience, and how do various representations get deployed to advance political, social, and academic arguments?

Dr. Jack Gambino // TR 12:30-1:45 pm

Public monuments have been an important way for a community to represent itself by glorifying its heroes, symbolizing its cultural identity, or commemorating the victims of past injustices. The building of public monuments, however, is as much a source of division as it is a unifying tribute to a people’s identity. Recent protests over Confederate war memorials, Christopher Columbus statues, and George Floyd memorials are only the latest examples of the controversies surrounding public monuments and their meaning. This seminar examines the politics of public commemoration by means of monuments.

What purposes do monuments play in our public life Who or what should these monuments represent? What should they look like and where should they be placed? Why do we choose to construct monuments at certain historical moments and not others? Who gets to make these decisions and who is excluded from the decision making? What happens when monuments become outdated, offensive, and the focal point of protest? Who gets to tear down monuments? Is tearing down a statue an erasure of history or the debunking of a myth? This seminar will examine these questions by focusing on important controversies (mostly in the U.S.) around public monuments past and present.