WittSems: The WittSems (short for Wittenberg Seminars) are small, topical courses designed by individual instructors or teams of instructors based on their intellectual interests and training. Required of all first-year students, the WittSems serve as an introduction to the core matters of academic inquiry at Wittenberg.
Making Coffee: Putting a human face on your cup
Dr. Nancy McHugh (Philosophy) and Dr. Tammy Proctor (History)
Team-taught section
9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday
Coffee, variously considered an elixir, drug, health risk or necessity, has played a major role in the shaping of modern world history. From the political and philosophical societies gathered at coffeehouses in Europe to the Jewish and Muslim merchants who introduced coffee to wide audiences in commercial centers, people have used coffee as cultural and commercial exchange. This course looks at the history and philosophy of “coffee cultures” since the 1500s. We will ask questions about the cultural diversity of coffee cultures, explore the labor dynamics in supplying this commodity to the world, and delve into the deeper puzzles of coffee’s role in stimulating political action, philosophical debate, and religious ceremony. WARNING: coffee will be consumed in this class!
New Worlds in the Old World
Dr. Ty Buckman (English) 3:00-4:00 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Before films presented us with fantastic life forms and unfamiliar civilizations in distant galaxies, before anyone had thought to write science fiction or fantasy novels, before we had fully mapped our own planet, people were fascinated by the idea of “new worlds,” of places completely foreign to their own experience. In this interdisciplinary seminar, we will use the resources of literary criticism, history, and anthropology to study several of these new world encounters and ask the twin questions: What is the appeal of the new world as a concept? How does experience of the old world shape an encounter with the new? We begin our journey with the archetypal travel adventure Homer’s Odyssey, voyage with a small band of Vikings as they “discover” America in the Vinland Sagas, follow Marco Polo on his Travels along the Silk Road in thirteenth-century Asia, debate the merits of Sir Thomas More’s vision of an ideal society in Utopia, and finally visit the magical island on which Shakespeare set his late play, The Tempest. As an epilogue, we will invert the course theme and spend our last few weeks studying an old world in the new world—reading about and visiting an Amish community here in Ohio. Participants will be expected to contribute to the success of the seminar by reading faithfully, writing papers, taking part in class discussions and debates, keeping a reading journal, and eating one very large Amish supper.
From the Steppes of Chinggis Khan
Dr. Marcia Frost (Economics)
9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday
In the 13th century perhaps 130,000 Mongol horsemen under the leadership of Chinggis Khan swept out from the steppes of north central Asia, conquered vast regions of Eurasia, established the world's largest ever land empire, and stimulated an extensive transfer of peoples, knowledge and cultures. Today the Mongol homeland, nestled between southern Siberia and the Gobi desert, is undergoing profound and rapid change from an isolated, totalitarian, communist state to an outward-looking, vibrant, capitalist democracy. In this seminar we will explore both the Mongol past and the present: who are these Mongol people? How do they interact with their natural environment? How do they earn a living? worship? play? What have they accomplished? How can they ensure that their 21st century transition will improve the welfare of all Mongolians? We will use the tools of numerous disciplines—geology and geography, anthropology and economics, religion and political science, history and the arts—as we explore these questions. Course materials may include folk tales and epics, travelers' accounts, music, film and numerous articles and books. Through reading, listening and watching assignments, informal and formal writing, class discussion and independent investigation, students will learn about the human experience across both time and space.
Art and the Human Body from Leonardo to Now
Dr. Alejandra Gimenez-Berger (Art)
12:30-2:00 Tuesday and Thursday
The beautiful body is an obsession in popular culture. This course explores the cultural significance of representations of the human body and embodiment in art and popular culture. The anatomies by Leonardo da Vinci will serve as our point of departure as we trace the artistic, scientific, and ethical concerns that inform the Western understanding of the body. We will examine the impact of artworks from diverse time periods, ranging from the Renaissance to Japanese anime. Our readings will be drawn from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, psychology, medicine, cultural studies, science, and fiction. Students will produce a creative self-portrait series (textual or visual) in response to class discussions.
Mind, Body, World
Dr. Janice Glowski (Religion)
2:10-3:40 Tuesday and Thursday
What is the mind, and what is the body? Are they separate entities that interact periodically, or are they intricately linked and somehow dependent upon each other? Do the mind and body bear any relationship to the external world one inhabits? Do the answers to these questions have an impact on a person’s life and how cultures function? This course explores the nature of the mind, body and world, and their relationship to each other, through a comparative examination of Western and Asian religious/philosophical theory, artistic expressions and cultural practices. The course will also look briefly at contemporary socio-religious movements that have used answers to these questions as a foundation for social action. Students will gain both intellectual and experiential knowledge of how the mind, body and world have been understood by different cultures over time. Since the course includes group work and hands-on activities, student participation is critical. Formal assessment is based on quizzes, exams, writing assignments and participation. Writing-Intensive.
Pop Music around the World: Local Flavor vs. Global Domination
Dr. Dan Kazez (Music)
9:10-10:10 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
The cultural distinctiveness of non-Western countries is evident to all the senses. We note this in food, clothing, and music, to name but a few elements of culture. Will this distinctiveness decline as the United States increasingly “exports” its culture to non-Western countries? In this Witt Sem, we will examine (1) the extent to which the popular music of various non-Western countries has maintained its local flavor, and (2) how and why the music of the West has entered the popular music styles of these countries. The ability to read music is required. We will examine printed music (sheet music), listen to recorded music, and study the soundtracks of non-Western feature films. The course will, in large part, consist of learning how to research, collect, and present information.
Why We Believe Weird Things
Dr. Jeff Brookings (Psychology)
2:10-3:40 Tuesday and Thursday
“Watching television causes autism.” “Playing Mozart to infants increases their intelligence.” “Prayer cures cancer.” These and other sensational claims are reported daily by the popular media, who usually present them as factual because there is—purportedly—scientific evidence of their validity. But what qualifies as scientific evidence, and how do we distinguish scientifically- supported conclusions from plausible-sounding but unsubstantiated, untestable assertions? In this course, we begin by defining what science is and how it differs from pseudoscience. We then consider the basic perceptual and cognitive mechanisms through which humans gather and process information about the world, emphasizing errors in thinking and reasoning that, despite scientific evidence to the contrary, predispose us to believe “weird” things. Finally, we will use what we have learned to investigate phenomena of particular interest to behavioral scientists, including extrasensory perception, subliminal perception and persuasion, astrology, criminal profiling, faith healing, and repressed memories. Our goal is to be open to novel claims, coupled with the determination to subject those claims to scientific scrutiny.
The Cosmos as Seen by Science and Faith
Dr. Anders Tune (Campus Pastor)
9:40-11:10 Tuesday and Thursday
Science provides a compelling explanation of how the universe came about, and Christian thought, informed by faith, gives a coherent account of what the universe's existence means. And, for many decades, these two views of the cosmos found themselves in conflict with each other. Yet in recent years a dialogue between science and Christian faith has generated intriguing new perspectives, and even some surprising agreements. This seminar will study this dialogue and what these two views tell us about the universe. What are the views of science and faith of the beginning, existence, and future of all things? What can these two views learn from each other? How might they each contribute to the flourishing of human and non-human life?
Personal Financial Planning: What? Me Worry?
John Fenimore (Management)
1:50-2:50 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
“Inflation is Rising,” “Home Prices Drop,” “Economy Falters,” “Credit Card Issuers Target College Students,”….. These are a few of the headlines about stories we see on TV or the newspaper. They highlight the constantly changing nature of our financial environment. Indeed, these changes, along with the changes in our own lives: family, health and job, make personal financial planning both necessary and challenging. This WittSem provides the framework and tools for preparing plans that will serve as personal road maps for goal achievement, and emphasizes the dynamics of life changes on the financial planning process. We will build a model that links together all the major elements of effective money management and how to use it to address all of the major financial planning issues and problems that individuals encounter in their lives.
Adaptations: Seen the Book, Read the Movie
Dr. Kent H. Dixon (English)
3:00-4:00 Monday, Wednesday and Friday (Lab 4:10)
How often have we heard: “The book was better than the movie.” Was it really? Is it always; only sometimes; never? Why, why not? In addressing these perplexing questions, the course will explore the nature of the two genres, the grammar and aesthetics of both film and fiction. The works will range from adaptations (Cold Mountain) to ironic quotations (O, Brother, Where Art Thou?); both of these take off from Homer’s Odyssey, which we will read in full. We will look at plays adapted to movies, short stories adapted to feature films (e.g., Alexi’s Smoke Signals, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness), as well as novels such as No Country for Old Men, or McCarthy’s latest if it’s out by fall, The Road.
I’m thinking of Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road—seen that yet? It’s a good conventional read. If you watched the TV series Mad Men…same ‘50s period.
Pursuant to plumbing these various literary and cinematic genres, students will be assigned several short creative writing projects—exploring dialogue, dramatic structure, and a short adaptation of their own. (Strictly creative work is not graded downward: it can raise your grade, never lower it.) In addition to the smattering of creative work, there will be a series of short critical papers (four or five one-pagers), possibly a one longer one, a reader/viewer’s log, and two exams—a combination of take-home and objective.
There is a “lab” mentioned in the course listing: that’s to keep you in class every so often to see through to the end of a film begun during the class period. These labs are not crucial, except for the pizza, because they can be ‘made up’ by borrowing a copy of the film or checking one out of the library, or so on. So, if you have a 5:00 p.m. on your schedule, it need not conflict with this WittSem. If you want a head-start this summer, see a lot of movies, and get started on the Fagles translation of Homer’s Odyssey. If you’re really good, read Homer’s Iliad (not in the course, alas). These two are the foundation, loosely speaking, of all modern romance (the guy gets home, back to his wife and family, and has a fabulous and wrenching time doing it) and tragedy (the best are doomed, or even die before your eyes).
Winners and Losers: Competition in our everyday lives
Dr. Kathy Calabrese (Education)and Dr. Regina Post (Education)
Team-taught section
9:10-10:10 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
This course will investigate competition in our everyday lives by looking at questions such as: Does competition create winners and losers? Does it build community or tear it down? Does it foster security or insecurity? Does it build character or character flaws, pride or false pride? We will consider competition from personal, cultural, social, political, and economic perspectives with the goal of reaching personal and individual understandings about when competition is appropriate or inappropriate, productive or unproductive; effective or ineffective. As a result, participants will begin to recognize the sources, reasons, and effects of competition in various situations and be better able to fashion their responses appropriately.
The Power of Dance
Ligia R. Pinheiro (Theatre and Dance)
1:50-2:50 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
How does dance influence our understanding of proper social behavior? How does dance help unite people? How does dance help us define gender identity and shape our aesthetic values? This course will explore dance in various contexts and look at how dance affects our perception of self, of society, of religion, and of the world in which we live. In this course, students will view and learn various forms of dance, from the Court of Louis XIV to early 20th century American ballroom. Throughout history dance has had a close connection with religious beliefs, accepted moral and social behavior, and the perception of beauty. By looking at dance in connection with these various contexts we will investigate the power of dance in shaping our identity and attitude towards the dancing body. Embark on a journey of exploration of dance in various settings and places around the world, and discover how our own culture grapples with the Power of Dance.
St. Petersburg: Myth and Soul of a Russian City
Dr. Lila Zaharkov (Foreign Languages and Literature)
12:30-2:00 Tuesday and Thursday
From the cradle of the Russian Revolution to the cradle of Russian Rock Music! From the founding father Peter the Great to the Youth of St. Petersburg today! What other city in the world was founded by the decree of One Man? Became the new capital of the Russian Empire, only to lose it again after 1917 and in the process had three names as well as its mythical ones? Survived a 900-day Siege during World War Two and remains the Jewel of the Russian State today. We will study the history of this unusual, marvelous city, the writers who lived and wrote in and about St. Petersburg,(Pushkin, Dosteovsky, Turgenev to name only a few as well as its cultural monuments of art, music(including Russian Rock!) and contacts with college students who live there today!
You Can't Say That! Censorship and Free Speech
Dr. Stefne Broz (Communication)
3:00-4:00 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Can a racist group make inflammatory remarks whenever and however they want? What if those remarks spur violence? Should we as a society be able to censor speech that we find offensive? If so, who decides what is offensive? Our Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech," but in fact our freedom of speech has been abridged in many different ways. This WittSem is designed to introduce you to learning in a liberal arts context through the topics of censorship and free speech because understanding your rights and restrictions is essential for you to function in this information age. We will consider the various facets, controversies and contexts of this First Amendment freedom, learn how different disciplines approach the subject, and consider how you are affected by free speech issues. You will learn how to use factual information from a variety of disciplinary perspectives in order to explore your own values and opinions on the subject and ultimately arrive at informed, thoughtful conclusions that you can present, explain and defend to others.
Food, Film, & Fiction: China & Beyond
Dr. Shelley W. Chan (Foreign Languages and Literature)
Team-taught section
12:30-2:00 Tuesday and Thursday
“A man is what he eats." What does this Hindu aphorism mean in the context of contemporary Chinese consumption of food in film and fiction? Since its history has long been dominated by famines, food has become an obsession of all Chinese people, producing an excessive amount of discourse of eating and drinking in modern Chinese literature and cinema. This course deals with gastrology as both a theme and a technique of fictional and filmic narratives in a food-oriented culture. While the material need for food is a basic instinct, food also finds its way into desire, cult, and elixir. Food functions as a poison and antidote for pains and pleasure at the same time. We will examine how food exercises its mighty power through the human body and textual body, and how storytellers twist their tongues between culinary arts and literary/cinematic arts. Furthermore, alimentary allegory is often employed as socio-political criticism by hungry authors and artists from China and beyond.
Materials for this course would come from both fields of fiction and film: stories and novels by Lu Wenfu, Mo Yan, Su Tong, Liu Heng, and Yu Hua; movies including Eat Drink Man Woman by the Taiwan director Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou's Red Sorghum and To Live, and Huang Jianzhong's Rice from mainland China. To begin our gourmet course with a classical appetizer, I order the earliest extant Chinese gastrotext—the chapter of "Basic Flavors" from Spring and Autumn Annals of Mr. Lü. For a comparative cultural study, let us also turn to the menu of other Asian and Western films and fictions of food, for example, Juzo Itami's Tampopo (Japan), Laura Esquivel's novel Like Water for Chocolate with its cinematic adaptation directed by Alfonso Arau (Mexico), and Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (Britain). To enhance academic flavors to our dishes, some spices of history, theory and criticism should be added from Chang Kwang-chih's anthropological survey of Chinese food culture and Roland Barthes' semiology of the food system. In addition to weekly journals and class presentations, students are required to write a final paper on a cuisine that reflects on a (cross-)cultural aspect in the end of the course. Bon appétit!
Food, Film, & Fiction: China & Beyond
Dr. Howard Y. F. Choy (Foreign Languages and Literature)
Team-taught section
2:10-3:40 Tuesday and Thursday
"A man is what he eats." What does this Hindu aphorism mean in the context of contemporary Chinese consumption of food in film and fiction? Since its history has long been dominated by famines, food has become an obsession of all Chinese people, producing an excessive amount of discourse of eating and drinking in modern Chinese literature and cinema. This course deals with gastrology as both a theme and a technique of fictional and filmic narratives in a food-oriented culture. While the material need for food is a basic instinct, food also finds its way into desire, cult, and elixir. Food functions as a poison and antidote for pains and pleasure at the same time. We will examine how food exercises its mighty power through the human body and textual body, and how storytellers twist their tongues between culinary arts and literary/cinematic arts. Furthermore, alimentary allegory is often employed as socio-political criticism by hungry authors and artists from China and beyond.
Materials for this course would come from both fields of fiction and film: stories and novels by Lu Wenfu, Mo Yan, Su Tong, Liu Heng, and Yu Hua; movies including Eat Drink Man Woman by the Taiwan director Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou's Red Sorghum and To Live, and Huang Jianzhong's Rice from mainland China. To begin our gourmet course with a classical appetizer, I order the earliest extant Chinese gastrotext—the chapter of "Basic Flavors" from Spring and Autumn Annals of Mr. Lü. For a comparative cultural study, let us also turn to the menu of other Asian and Western films and fictions of food, for example, Juzo Itami's Tampopo (Japan), Laura Esquivel's novel Like Water for Chocolate with its cinematic adaptation directed by Alfonso Arau (Mexico), and Peter Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (Britain). To enhance academic flavors to our dishes, some spices of history, theory and criticism should be added from Chang Kwang-chih's anthropological survey of Chinese food culture and Roland Barthes' semiology of the food system. In addition to weekly journals and class presentations, students are required to write a final paper on a cuisine that reflects on a (cross-)cultural aspect in the end of the course. Bon appétit!
Society and the Human Embryo
Dr. Michelle McWhorter (Biology)
10:20-11:20 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Ever wonder how you developed as an embryo? Do you know what the term “cloning” means? Are you curious about how stem cells are produced and how they can be utilized to treat human disease? Have you ever wondered what impact the environment may have on human embryonic development? In this course, we will discuss how the human embryo develops during its time in the womb. In addition, we will investigate how society impacts the embryo; for example, we will discuss the regulations (or lack thereof) society has placed on embryonic manipulation and the regulation of the chemicals which are allowed to be used for pest control on our food supply. Discussions will not only include the biological foundations of these topics, but also the economic, social, and political aspects. Finally, the common misconception that the developing human embryo is safe from external agents will be explored; a number of external agents (such as viruses, pesticides, and drugs) will be analyzed for their potential detrimental effect on human embryo development.
Romanticism and Revolution
Dr. Robin Inboden (English)
1:50-2:50 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
It was the worst of times, it was the best of times (at least from the vantage point of Charles Dickens, writing decades later. But the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution did change the way we think about government, work, class structures, nature, and the place of the individual in the world, even today. During this time of great social change, literature and the other arts responded to these changes and created a few revolutions of their own. We will learn about everyday life as well as “world-historical” events in the late 1700's and early 1800's, and we will learn this mainly through reading and watching historical narratives and the literature of the times. We will also learn about Romanticism in painting and music, about how changing ideas of social class changed ideas about and in literature, and how this period changed our whole concept of the artist in society. The graded work of the course will include an informational presentation, several creative assignments, and several analytical papers. Also plan on communing with nature, watching some great movies, and having an art adventure.
Science, Religion, and the Politics of Intelligent Design
Dr. Edward Hasecke (Political Science)
1:50-2:50 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
The rise of Intelligent Design in the last decade as a proposed alternative to the theory of evolution has reignited a national debate over the teaching of evolution in high school biology classes. We will use the controversy over teaching intelligent design to explore several different questions: is intelligent design a scientific theory? Can the scientific method and religious belief be reconciled? Does teaching intelligent design violate the establishment clause in the First Amendment? What does this debate reveal about the nature of politics? We will read work by Michael Behe, Richard Dawkins, Steven Jay Gould, Kenneth Miller, and others.
Countercultures and Voices of Dissent
Dr. Rick Incorvati (English)
12:40-1:40 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
While it may not initially seem that groups like the hippies, the Goths, the Amish, and the Quakers have much in common, they do share the intent to live according to values that diverge—sometimes sharply—from those that guide the prevailing way of life in our country. In this WittSem, we’ll focus our attention on writings that articulate unconventional ideas and that have inspired people to travel some unbeaten paths. We’ll read some texts that will strike us as openly radical (including works by an anarchist, a writer from the Beat generation, and some environmental activists), but we’ll also come across ideas that may not initially seem revolutionary but actually are (including those ascribed to Socrates and those that crop up in the New Testament). To get a more intimate sense of how such a countercultural society might actually function, we’ll also take some time to visit and share a meal with an Amish family. This course is writing intensive, and we’ll be addressing our topic from both a literary and a sociological perspective.
Judaism and Christianity: The 2000 Year Conversation
Dr. Rochelle Millen (Religion)
12:30-2:00 Tuesday and Thursday
This seminar examines the ongoing relationship between Judaism and Christianity beginning in the first century. Through analysis of primary texts, as well as some secondary ones, the course will familiarize the student with the variety of ways that Judaism and Christianity interacted over the centuries of Western history. Students will read Christian sources on Judaism and Jewish sources on Christianity; will study the medieval disputations of the thirteenth century; and also focus on Luther's writings on Judaism. The early modern period, as well as the nineteenth and twentieth centuries will be discussed through the exploration of primary documents. The central focus of study will be the questions of how and why Jews and Christians came to view each other as religious opponents and what does this 2000 year conversation tell us about the nature of religious truth and religion in general. The course will conclude with discussions of interfaith efforts and analysis of their implications for us all.
What Would Jesus Do?
Dr. Darlene Brooks Hedstrom (History) and Dr. Miguel Martinez-Saenz (Philosophy)
3:00-4:30 Monday and Wednesday
Team-taught section
Using Christianity as the lens, this course challenges students to examine the complex relation between beliefs and actions by calling into question the idea that the endorsement of moral principles necessitates inhabiting the world in one particular way. Students will assess to what degree the New Monastics and Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo and others Red Letter Christians are illustrating the message set forth in the Gospels. While the course focuses on the New Monastics and Red Letter Christians, students will consider how beliefs and actions intersect in Abrahamic religious traditions. Students will visit sacred spaces (mosques, synagogues and churches) in Springfield and beyond, read authors who examine Christianity from within and outside the tradition, and participate in service activities that may provide opportunities for reflection about the way one’s beliefs entail action. It is important to note that this course is neither a history of Christianity nor pretends to take a comprehensive look at the way Christianity is practiced in the world today. Importantly, it is open and appropriate to students of any or no faith tradition.
To Infinity and Beyond—What does that really mean?
Dr. Brian Shelburne (Mathematics)
9:40 – 11:10 Tuesday and Thursday
Infinity is a difficult concept with a long history. Zeno’s paradoxes grappled with infinite processes using them to “prove” that motion is impossible; Aristotle wrote “The infinite has potential existence … There will not be an actual infinite” thereby acknowledging that while there is no largest number or no smallest fraction (the potential infinite), the concept of grasping the infinite as a whole (the actual infinite) was impossible. Galileo (1564 – 1642) pointed out that while on one hand the squares like 1, 4, 9, etc. were obviously fewer in number than the integers 1, 2, 3, … , yet on the other hand for every square there was a corresponding integer 12 =1 , 22 = 4, 32 = 9 etc. It wasn’t until the late 19th century the Georg Cantor (1845 – 1918) grasped the “actual infinite” not only showing that the integers and their squares were the same infinity but that there were larger infinities than these and in fact, a (potentially) infinite number of larger infinities!
But the study of the infinite is by no means restricted to mathematics. This course will be a study of infinity and the infinitesimal as it appears in geometry, aesthetics (arts & literature), science, philosophy, religion and culture as well as mathematics and puzzles.
East Meets West in Art Music
Dr. Christopher Durrenberger (Music)
12:40-1:40 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
This seminar will take you on a musical journey into the cultures of East Asian and Western civilizations. Interdisciplinary issues will include examining how each historical period's music relates to the visual arts, regional and global politics, economic and philosophical issues. After a brief introduction to basic musical material structure and form, a selective survey spanning approximately 1600 years of music will ensue. This will be accomplished through interactive multimedia (the WWW, audio and video-enhanced) classroom lectures, attending concerts, writing short research and response papers, periodic exams and oral presentations.
Sustainability, Science and Springfield
Dr. Andrew Scholl (Geography)
10:20-11:20 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Sustainability has becoming a very popular catchphrase in the past few years, but what does it actually mean to be sustainable? Generally defined as using natural resources at rates that allow people to live a high quality life today while not limiting the ability of future generations to be able to live a high quality life, the concept of sustainability has become one of the most challenging issues facing society today, and also one of the most contentious. Nevertheless, global concerns about climate change, deforestation, access to freshwater, and the ability to feed ourselves have placed sustainability debates in the spotlight in both developed and developing nations. The field of sustainability has developed as an interdisciplinary field between the areas of scientific knowledge, technological innovations and economic, social and political concerns. In this course we will explore what sustainability is and how it relates to our lives here at Wittenberg and also the global community. We will look at the role of scientific research in the field of sustainability and our understanding of the environment and natural resources. In addition we will study specific environmental issues, and the challenges facing society when those issues are considered in the context of people’s lives and livelihoods. Course work will involve and independent research project into a specific environmental issue, and also a group project exploring a sustainability issue on either the Wittenberg campus or the city of Springfield.
What is Language?
Dr. Terumi Imai (Foreign Languages and Literature)
12:30-2:00 Tuesday and Thursday
Even if you have not asked yourself this question, you may have studied a foreign language and noticed how different the language is from English. You may also have found it difficult to learn a foreign language. In this course, you will learn the fundamental principles of language that are common to all human languages and how and why different groups of people speak differently. We will look at the factors such as region, gender, age, ethnicity, and social status.
'La Vie Boheme': Life as Art in the Modern Age
Dr. Hester Westley (Art)
12:40-1:40 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Every culture implies its opposite, a counterculture. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the counterculture life captured the attention--and imaginations--of the various artistic communities in France, England, and America. Viewed largely as eccentric, subversive, and 'free', the bohemian life offered an openness to ideas and a freedom of expression that we can only begin to understand now. This course will read widely in historical and creative accounts of the bohemian life, and it will draw heavily upon the visual arts as well as the literary developments of the nineteenth century. Exposed to a range of perspectives on la vie boheme, the student will be required to submit several short essays, a journal of his/her own accounts of the bohemian life, and participate in several artistic events outside of the class. A pervasive presence throughout the twentieth century, la vie boheme will work to answer pressing questions about the role of art, the role of imagination, and the place of the individual in the Modern Age.