In this course, students will explore canonical texts in Western political thought as well as political works borne of (but not limited to) feminist philosophy, philosophy of race, queer theory, and crip theory. In conversation with these varying perspectives, students will grapple with questions concerning equality, opportunity, rights, and justice. By investigating and destabilizing the canon, this class will offer students a critical history of Western political philosophy, with an emphasis on thinkers often overlooked within the field. The course will include lectures, discussions, student presentations, and long and short form writing assignments.

 Elective

What is phenomenology, and why does it matter for art? This course will serve as an introduction to phenomenology and some of its central methods, themes, and questions. Working within and between philosophy, art, and design, we will explore how phenomenology can enliven and enrich artistic practices, and how artistic practices can broaden and enrich our understandings of perception, sensation, and embodied experience. We will consider a range of philosophical views, from canonical figures in the field (Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty) to key insights from critical phenomenologists (Alia Al-Saji, Mariana Ortega, Lisa Guenther) who question how socially and historically contingent systems of power shape our experiences in and of the world. Students will be required to complete weekly readings and participate in class discussions. The course will also include long and short form writing assignments as well as student presentations.

Elective

In this course, we will investigate two central questions: how are sounds shaped by place and power, and how are place and power ​​negotiated/reconstituted in and through sound? Building on the works of Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer, this course will explore "soundscapes" as fecund sites of social and political inquiry. Through readings, recordings, and soundwalks, we will question how the soundscape functions both as a sonic place and as a way of making sense of that place. The course will include lectures, discussions, and short writing assignments. For the final project, students will analyze a soundscape of their choosing, paying specific attention to its structural components (keynote sounds, signals, soundmarks, etc.) as well as its social, political, and economic resonances.

Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences is an introductory course in which students are encouraged to develop the skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing that are common to the disciplines represented in the Department of History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences (HPSS). Sections focus on the topics typically addressed within the department's disciplines; through discussion about key texts and issues, students are introduced to important disciplinary methodologies and controversies. All sections have frequent writing assignments, which, combined with substantial feedback from HPSS faculty, afford students the opportunity to develop the strategies and techniques of effective writing. There are no waivers for HPSS-S101 except for transfer students who have taken an equivalent college course.

- First-year students are registered by the Division of Liberal Arts.

- Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections that are offered in the Fall and Spring semester.

Major Requirement | BFA 

Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences is an introductory course in which students are encouraged to develop the skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing that are common to the disciplines represented in the Department of History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences (HPSS). Sections focus on the topics typically addressed within the department's disciplines; through discussion about key texts and issues, students are introduced to important disciplinary methodologies and controversies. All sections have frequent writing assignments, which, combined with substantial feedback from HPSS faculty, afford students the opportunity to develop the strategies and techniques of effective writing. There are no waivers for HPSS-S101 except for transfer students who have taken an equivalent college course.

- First-year students are registered by the Division of Liberal Arts.

- Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections that are offered in the Fall and Spring semester.

Major Requirement | BFA