Fall 2011

This course will give students an understanding of how the Earth’s climate changes naturally, as well as how humans are driving this change. We will explore what is likely to happen in the future, resulting both from natural change and change driven by the human-caused rise of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and other […]

This course explores the beliefs and cultures of Islam and the Muslim world. It covers the life and teachings of Muhammad, major themes of the Qur’an, and the primary differences between Sunni and Shi’i Muslims. It also introduces aspects of Muslim cultures in the Middle East and South Asia in order to demonstrate the plurality […]

This course tracks the downward spiral of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire, starting from around 146 BC when Rome first firmly established herself as the world power and continuing through the Battle of Actium of 31 BC, where Octavian established his sole reign as ruler of the Mediterranean. The main […]

With an eye to the esthetic qualities of the human body in motion, this course surveys diverse forms of dance in many cultures of the world in order to deepen our appreciation of the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual dimensions of this universal mode of expression. We begin with studying how and why the human body […]

Travels in Consciousness, taught by Norman Austin, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Classics, will explore the history of consciousness as reflected in a variety of texts. Readings will range widely, from Bronze Age Greece to American authors of the Twentieth Century. By “consciousness” is meant the ways in which individuals conceive of themselves and […]

Gothic literature, theater, and (more recently) films have been a part of Western culture for over 250 years and have presented us, in disguise, with heightened — and sometimes lurid and monstrous — symbols of what really haunts us as a culture in our individual, social, and cultural sub-conscious. This course will look at how […]