Sociocultural anthropology is the comparative study of human societies and cultures. This course is designed to introduce students to central areas of anthropological inquiry, a range of key theoretical perspectives and the discipline’s holistic approach. Through field-based research projects, students will also gain familiarity with the discipline’s qualitative research methods (especially participant observation). While students will encounter the works of key historical figures in the discipline, they will also discover current debates on globalization and transnationalism. Finally, this course also strives to cultivate students’ ability to reflect critically on their own identities and cultures, thereby gaining a greater understanding and appreciation for diversity and an improved set of intercultural communication skills.
Food studies uses food to explore and analyze society in the present and past. Scholars engage in the critique of power and movements for change. They work across borders and disciplines, using a range of methods. Students learn about key concepts, thinkers and the field’s development. Special attention is given to Franco- American conversations concerning gastronomy, cuisine, taste and terroir.
Using ethnographic case studies, considers issues of power and political institutions from the cross-cultural and holistic perspectives of anthropology. Discusses diverse definitions of power, authority, and charisma and relates them to the development of a variety of approaches in the field of anthropology, and the social sciences more generally.
Documentary filmmaking enables a creative mode of inquiry about the world, a person, a landscape, an issue, or even ourselves. It encourages an open-ended layering of observations: visual, auditory, movement-based, historical and even fictional, as a rich backdrop to researching a topic. This workshop class will introduce students to a range of documentary video practices and impart technical skills to create their own documentary shorts. We will ask questions, watch, play, experiment, respond and explore how form contributes to content. We will engage issues in contemporary documentary practice from the avant-garde to commercial production as inspirations for your own inquiry into your ideas. Students will use research, framing, sound, duration, juxtaposition and different editing strategies to explore their ideas. While we will cover "traditional" documentary genres (interview-based, observational, essay, etc), we will also explore expanded and experimental documentary strategies.
This course looks at how culture promotes connections between humans, their landscapes and ecosystems. We will be discussing the different ways humans use, interact, engage and manipulate the natural world that surrounds them. Central to an understanding of this relationship is the meaning people give to the concept of nature. This course will explore the leaning attributed to nature across different cultural contexts and religious traditions.
This studio course provides an introduction to the basic ideas and techniques needed for the comprehension and construction of the built environment. Starting with elemental design concerns, students will be asked to use what they learn in order to create ever larger and more complex entities. Site-specific assignments making use of Paris and its history will oblige the students to engage in the “conversation” of the urban world.
This studio course provides an introduction to the basic ideas and techniques needed for the comprehension and construction of the built environment. Starting with elemental design concerns, students will be asked to use what they learn in order to create ever larger and more complex entities. Site-specific assignments making use of Paris and its history will oblige the students to engage in the “conversation” of the urban world.
For students with little or no previous experience in drawing or painting. First analyzes still life objects in basic plastic terms starting with value. Concentrates during each class session on a new painterly quality until a sufficient visual vocabulary is achieved so that more complicated subjects such as the nude can be approached. Work will be done in oil.May be taken twice for credit.
For students with little or no previous experience in drawing or painting. First analyzes still life objects in basic plastic terms starting with value. Concentrates during each class session on a new painterly quality until a sufficient visual vocabulary is achieved so that more complicated subjects such as the nude can be approached. Work will be done in oil.May be taken twice for credit.