2020-2021 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Courses of Instruction
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Russian |
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RUS 101 - Elementary Russian I 1 course unit
An introduction to basic grammar and vocabulary as well as communication skills in Russian within its cultural contexts. Students will use a variety of authentic text and media resources to acquire and enhance linguistic skills. The first semester is designed for students with no prior knowledge of Russian; the second is for students with limited background in Russian. Assignment by placement test. Four class hours per week plus Language Learning Center assignments.
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RUS 102 - Elementary Russian II 1 course unit
An introduction to basic grammar and vocabulary as well as communication skills in Russian within its cultural contexts. Students will use a variety of authentic text and media resources to acquire and enhance linguistic skills. The first semester is designed for students with no prior knowledge of Russian; the second is for students with limited background in Russian. Assignment by placement test. Four class hours per week plus Language Learning Center assignments.
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RUS 203 - Intermediate Russian I 1 course unit
An accelerated review of basic Russian grammar through speaking, reading, writing, and other linguistically appropriate activities. The introduction of more advanced grammatical structures and a variety of authentic text and multimedia resources will enhance the students’ linguistic skills and sociocultural awareness of the Russian speaking world. The development of functional skills and communicative ability is emphasized. Students also acquire the linguistic tools needed to continue learning Russian as it pertains to their fields of interest. Assignment by placement test. Three class hours per week plus Language Learning Center assignments.
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RUS 204 - Intermediate Russian II 1 course unit
An accelerated review of basic Russian grammar through speaking, reading, writing, and other linguistically appropriate activities. The introduction of more advanced grammatical structures and a variety of authentic text and multimedia resources will enhance the students’ linguistic skills and sociocultural awareness of the Russian speaking world. The development of functional skills and communicative ability is emphasized. Students also acquire the linguistic tools needed to continue learning Russian as it pertains to their fields of interest. Assignment by placement test. Three class hours per week plus Language Learning Center assignments.
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RUS 302 - Russian Conversation & Composition 1 course unit
Students watch and discuss feature films produced in Russia. Extensive practice in the development of conversational and writing skills based on the analysis and synthesis of cultural information from a variety of authentic sources, including texts, film, newscasts, and TV. Increased acquisition of vocabulary, expansion of listening comprehension, stylistic analysis of contemporary film texts.
Prerequisite(s): RUS 204 - Intermediate Russian II .
Meets general academic requirement W.
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RUS 303, 304 - Advanced Russian Conversation & Composition 1 course unit
Students watch and discuss feature films produced in Russia. Advanced practice in the development of conversational and writing skills. In-depth study of idiomatic expressions and advanced lexical and stylistic analysis of contemporary literature and film.
Prerequisite(s): RUS 302 - Russian Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement W when offered as 304.
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RUS 305, 306 - Readings in Russian Literature 1 course unit
An introduction to Russian literature from Pushkin to the present with emphasis on developing the students’ command of language skills. Selected readings in Russian will include poetry, prose, and drama.
Prerequisite(s): RUS 204 - Intermediate Russian II .
Meets general academic requirement HU (and W when offered as 306).
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RUS 320 - Russian Culture & Civilization 1 course unit
Students study and discuss selected topics in Russian intellectual thought and artistic self-expression in their historical contexts and engage in cross-cultural analyses of Russia vis-à-vis the West. Readings, lectures, and discussion range from early Russian social practices to today’s Russia and from national identity to ethnic conflicts, injustice, violence, and crime. We will examine cultural artifacts, short stories, documentaries, scholarly articles, and up-to-date media commentary. Taught in English.
Offered in alternate years.
Meets general academic requirement HU and DE.
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RUS 402 - Twentieth Century Russian Literature in Translation 1 course unit
Students study the works of Bunin, Sholokhov, Pasternak, Solzhenitsyn, Brodsky, and Alexievich as well as their experiences with and relationship to the Bolshevik revolution, ethnic and religious prejudice, censorship, the GULAGs, violence, and injustice. Harshly persecuted, self-exiled, or expelled from Russia, these philosophical frontrunners earned Nobel Prizes and recognition by the West. Short stories, novels, poetry, as well as literary criticism from 1917 to the present will be analyzed and discussed.
Meets general academic requirement DE and HU.
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RUS 490 - CUE: Russia & the Near Abroad .5 course unit
Advanced study and analysis of selected areas in Russian Studies designed for majors and other qualified students. Students complete a CUE project linked to any Russian course listed higher than 304. Students write an integrative research paper and conduct a formal presentation connecting content from at least two upper-level Russian courses. Special emphasis is placed on advanced textual analysis, scholarly discussion, and writing. Project proposals are approved by a CUE faculty advisor prior to course registration. Required for all majors in Russian Studies.
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RUS 970 - Russian Independent Study/Research
Each independent study/research course is to be designed in consultation with a faculty sponsor.
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Semester in Washington |
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WSH 950 - Special Topics for the Washington Seminar 1 course unit
The course will vary considerably from semester to semester and will utilize the variety of interests and specialties of the consortium faculties. The topic for the semester will be announced in advance. Visits to offices and agencies will be included as will meetings with officials and experts in Washington. Some examples of special topic courses are Public Relations Seminar, Violence and Values, Photojournalism, and Controversy & the Supreme Court.
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WSH 960 - Washington Semester Internship 2 course unit
Each student will serve 25 to 30 hours each week in an internship in an office or agency in Washington, usually in a field related to the student’s major. A formal written report will be submitted to the Muhlenberg supervising faculty member at the conclusion of the internship. Pass/fail only, except for students enrolled in a practicum where letter grades A through F are assigned.
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Shankweiler Scholars |
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SHK 150 - Medicine as a Human Endeavor .5 course unit
Shankweiler Scholars will explore the human dimensions of the practice of medicine in this seminar course. Assignments will consider how aspects of art, culture, ethics, history, religion, or literature inform or frame medicine and medical research. Weekly discussions will be led by Muhlenberg faculty representing a broad range of academic disciplines. Class meets once per week for 1.5 hours.
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SHK 250 - Medicine & Society .5 course unit
Shankweiler Scholars will prepare for and host one or more public speakers on campus as part of the annual Shankweiler Scholar Public Lecture Series. Assignments will include reading and discussing the body of literature (or other texts) associated with the speaker(s); making arrangements for the lecture(s); and hosting the speaker(s) while they are on campus.
Prerequisite(s): SHK 150 Medicine as a Human Endeavor
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Sociology |
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SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology 1 course unit
What is sociology? How do sociologists go about their work? How is society structured? Is inequality an inherent part of human life? How and why do societies change? This course introduces the central concepts and principles of major sociological perspectives. It provides an overview of the study of social institutions, social stratification, and social change.
Taught every semester.
Meets general academic requirement DE and SL.
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SOC 224, 225 - American Ethnic Diversity 1 course unit
This course is designed to provide a general overview of the field of the sociology of race and ethnic relations with a particular emphasis on the historical situations and experiences of various immigrant and minority groups in American society. We will first examine the socio-political and economic history of a variety of minority and immigrant groups. A substantial amount of course material will then focus on analyzing the varying structural conditions and institutional barriers that affect the different strategies by which various minority and immigrant groups have sought entry and success in dominant society. Finally, throughout the course, discussions will be devoted to examining specific institutions and the various ways in which constructions of racial and ethnic categories and hierarchies are produced and reproduced in the U.S.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement DE (and W and is a linked (IL) course when offered as 225).
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SOC 235 - Inequality & Power 1 course unit
The study of inequality (how it emerges, its various manifestations, and why it persists) is a cornerstone of sociology. This course is designed for those who are interested in the theoretical conceptions and critiques of power and privilege and their combined effects on socio-political and economic life. The course is divided into three parts: a brief survey of the various theoretical perspectives of inequality and stratification; an examination of the complex intersections of race, ethnicity, and class structures in American society; and a discussion of gendered effects of migrant work within a global and comparative perspective.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement DE.
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SOC 243 - Sexuality & Gender 1 course unit
In this class we will use sociological perspectives to explore sex, sexuality, and gender. We will examine the mechanisms of power that construct and regulate our identities, behaviors, and very bodies. In particular we will look at how sex, sexuality, and gender are shaped by law, research, medicine, “sexperts,” the media, and our family and friends. We will also look at how sex, sexuality, and gender permeate our daily lives, often in ways we do not even see.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
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SOC 270-279 - Topics in Sociology 1 course unit
Selected courses with a specialized focus that are not contained within the regular sociology curriculum. Such topics might include Urban Sociology or Criminology.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
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SOC 302 - Sociological Theory 1 course unit
An investigation of the classical foundations of social thought in sociology. The course concentrates on the original works of theorists such as Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and other important authors from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well as contemporary theorists. Analyses of central theoretical paradigms and questions are explored.
Taught every fall semester.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement W.
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SOC 311 - Research Design in Sociology 1 course unit
This course provides experience in the design and implementation of sociological research. It introduces quantitative and qualitative techniques for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data. The epistemological issues that underlie sociological research, the ethical questions involved in research, and the assumptions on which various research strategies are based are examined. The strengths and weaknesses of the most commonly used methods are evaluated. Students will design an original research project.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology and one elective.
Meets general academic requirement W.
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SOC 312 - Quantitative Methods for Social Data 1 course unit
This course focuses on quantitative methods. Students will learn how to use statistics to address research questions in sociology, using popular statistical packages such as SPSS to analyze data.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 311 - Research Design in Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement W.
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SOC 313 - Qualitative Methods 1 course unit
This course provides a theoretical and practical introduction to multiple forms of qualitative research methods and the numerous phases of conducting a qualitative research project, including project proposal, data collection, data management, analysis, interpretation, linking findings to theory, and presenting data. It will also engage questions about what we can know, strategic and ethical concerns, and the use and impact of self in doing research. The course assignments include a series of structured exercises to provide experience in collecting and analyzing data, as well as an original research project.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 311 - Research Design in Sociology .
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SOC 317 - Sociology of Health 1 course unit
In this course we will explore the social aspects of health, illness, and the health care system in the contemporary United States. This will include an introduction to the theoretical underpinnings of medical sociology and health disparities as well as examinations of the social and historical construction of medical problems and disease, the relationship between health care providers and patients, the health care system, and pressures that are transforming the medical sciences. This seminar provides a survey of a number of topics related to health, illness, and the health care system. Students will have the opportunity during the semester to delve more deeply into an issue of special interest or importance to them.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
Meets general academic requirements SL and DE.
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SOC 320 - Environmental Sociology 1 course unit
This course analyzes the social causes and consequences of environmental change. We explore the relationships among production, consumption, population, technology, and environment. The major theoretical paradigms in environmental sociology are used to analyze environmental issues. Some of the questions we address include: Is “green” capitalism possible? Does population growth lead to environmental degradation? Can technical fixes solve environmental problems? Has the environmental movement been successful?
Taught every other year.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement SL.
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SOC 323 - Sociology of Food 1 course unit
This course relies on a sociological lens to uncover the complexity behind what is an everyday activity by examining the inter-related systems of production, processing, marketing, and consumption of food across and within international, national, regional, and local markets. We will consider what, when, how, and with whom we eat and discover how various aspects of food consumption and production can be understood in terms of the organization of society’s social institutions as well as the structure of social relations among the individuals that comprise that society.
Taught every other year.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
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SOC 325 - Imagined Communities: The Sociology of Nations & States 1 course unit
This course aims to elucidate the complex interactions between nation and state by examining the nationalist experiences of several post-colonial and non-Western societies in Southeast Asia. A central part of this examination will entail addressing questions of citizenship and identity amidst contemporary socio-political and economic changes. Readings will focus on some of the central debates in the sub-field of political sociology as well as the dominant theoretical paradigms in the study of nations and nationalisms. A substantial part of the course will focus on a critical analysis of the institutional processes underlying state formation and nation-building as well as assessing the impact of globalization on institutional and group-level definitions of national, ethno-cultural, religious, and gender identities.
Taught every other year.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement DE.
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SOC 340 - Development & Social Change 1 course unit
This course analyzes development from a sociological perspective. It examines different theoretical models for understanding macro-level social change, such as modernization theory, dependency theory, and world-systems theory. Possible topics for exploration include the environment, economic development, revolution, urbanization, population, and poverty.
Taught every other year.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement SL.
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SOC 342 - Boundaries & Belonging: Sociology of Diasporas 1 course unit
This course will investigate the impact of historical and contemporary movements of peoples across international borders and on definitions of citizenship and identities by raising questions about the permeability of national borders and the fluidity of cultural boundaries. A close examination of how globally dispersed peoples maintain and cultivate real and imagined ties to the ideals of a “homeland” or “place” reveals the cultural and institutional productions of transnational migrant communities that challenge the binary boundaries of “home” and “abroad.” Relying on a sociological perspective, we will consider the negotiations of belonging within and between these peoples and their host societies and study the different forms of transnational, diasporic, and cosmopolitan identities that result from such negotiations. In particular, case studies will include, but are not limited to, that of the Chinese and African Diasporas.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement DE.
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SOC 350 - Social Movements, Protests, & Conflicts 1 course unit
A sociological investigation of the causes and consequences of social movements. The course will examine both historical and contemporary social movements in the United States and elsewhere to understand the underlying social, economic, political, and demographic factors that cause their emergence and that influence their evolution. Movements as diverse as the Civil Rights movement and the White Supremacy movement will be examined.
Taught every other year.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement SL.
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SOC 352 - Global Migration & Transnational Communities 1 course unit
This seminar will explore the global flow of people across national boundaries in the late twentieth century and the ways in which these dispersed peoples build and maintain social networks across national borders. As such, we will be looking at the reasons that have impelled people to move about the globe, the ways that transnational social identities are being constructed among globally dispersed peoples, and the challenges that new social formations pose to the dominance of the nation-state as the primary source of social identities and political loyalties. This course will survey key current theoretical debates in the study of international migration with an emphasis on related literature dealing with gender, race and ethnicity, transnational practices and identities and cultural hybridity. The course is anchored in the US case, but we will consider other nations and the lessons they provide.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology or instructor permission.
Meets general academic requirement DE.
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SOC 450 - CUE: Senior Seminar in Sociology 1 course unit
A sociology seminar in which students participate in a collective research and/or applied project. Open only to sociology majors and minors or by permission.
Taught every spring.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 302 - Sociological Theory and SOC 311 - Research Design in Sociology .
Meets general academic requirement W.
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SOC 970 - Sociology Independent Study/Research
Each independent study/research course is to be designed in consultation with a faculty sponsor.
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Spanish |
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SPN 101 - Elementary Spanish I 1 course unit
An introduction to basic grammar and vocabulary as well as communication skills in Spanish within its cultural contexts. Students will use a variety of authentic text and media resources to acquire and enhance linguistic skills. This first semester is designed for students with little or no background in Spanish. Assignment by placement test. Four class hours per week plus regular out of class conversational and cultural events.
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SPN 102 - Elementary Spanish II 1 course unit
An introduction to basic grammar and vocabulary as well as communication skills in Spanish within its cultural contexts. Students will use a variety of authentic text and media resources to acquire and enhance linguistic skills. SPN 102 is designed for students with a minimal basic background in Spanish. Assignment by placement test. Four class hours per week plus regular out of class conversational and cultural events.
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SPN 202 - Spanish for Heritage Speakers I 1 course unit
Students who grow up hearing Spanish spoken at home come to the college language class with a set of skills and challenges that are different from those of students learning Spanish as a second language. Spanish for Heritage Speakers offers these students a focused setting in which they can capitalize on their already developed abilities in speaking and, especially, listening, while developing a richer and more precise vocabulary and strategies to navigate variations in register and regional and contextual usages. SPN 202 presupposes no prior formal study of Spanish and will focus especially on developing strong reading and writing skills, supported by a solid understanding of formal grammar. The cultures of Hispanic America and of Latinos in the United States will form the backbone of this course, with an eye at encouraging students to integrate their family traditions and lived experiences into their broader studies, activities, and goals. Class is conducted in Spanish.
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SPN 203 - Intermediate Spanish I 1 course unit
An accelerated review of basic Spanish grammar through speaking, reading, writing, and other linguistically appropriate activities. The introduction of more advanced grammatical structures and a variety of authentic text and multimedia resources will enhance the students’ linguistic skills and sociocultural awareness of the Spanish speaking world. The development of functional skills and communicative ability is emphasized. Students also acquire the linguistic tools needed to continue learning Spanish as it pertains to their fields of interest. Assignment by placement test. Three class hours per week plus regular out of class conversational and cultural events.
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SPN 204 - Intermediate Spanish II 1 course unit
An accelerated review of basic Spanish grammar through speaking, reading, writing, and other linguistically appropriate activities. The introduction of more advanced grammatical structures and a variety of authentic text and multimedia resources will enhance the students’ linguistic skills and sociocultural awareness of the Spanish speaking world. The development of functional skills and communicative ability is emphasized. Students also acquire the linguistic tools needed to continue learning Spanish as it pertains to their fields of interest. Assignment by placement test. Three class hours per week plus regular out of class conversational and cultural events.
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SPN 301 - Spanish Conversation & Composition 1 course unit
Intensive practice of spoken Spanish with emphasis on techniques of oral expression, vocabulary development, and persistent grammatical difficulties. Discussions will be based on contemporary cultural readings, films, and other multi-media materials. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Offered every semester.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 204 - Intermediate Spanish II .
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SPN 303 - Spanish for Heritage Speakers II 1 course unit
Students who grow up hearing Spanish spoken at home come to the college language class with a set of skills and challenges that are different from those of students learning Spanish as a second language. Spanish for Heritage Speakers offers these students a focused setting in which they can capitalize on their already developed abilities in speaking and, especially, listening, while developing a richer and more precise vocabulary and strategies to navigate variations in register and regional and contextual usages. SPN 303 focuses especially on developing strong reading and writing skills, supported by a solid understanding of formal grammar. The cultures of Hispanic America and of Latinos in the United States will form the backbone of this course, with an eye at encouraging students to integrate their family traditions and lived experiences into their broader studies, activities, and goals. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 202 Spanish for Heritage Speakers I
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SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition 1 course unit
Focused work in Spanish composition allowing students to develop creative, professional, and academic writing styles. Emphasis is placed on structure, style, and content as well as grammar. Classic and contemporary texts, films, and other multi-media resources will provide stylistic models as well as a cultural context for writings. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Offered every semester.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 301 - Spanish Conversation & Composition or SPN 303 Spanish for Heritage Speakers II .
Meets general academic requirement W.
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SPN 310 - Spanish for the Professions 1 course unit
Using real-life case studies and scenarios, this course introduces students to professional practices in the Hispanic world. Contacts with local professionals, both inside and outside of the classroom, allow students to explore the numerous possibilities of using their linguistic and cultural knowledge of Spanish beyond the academic environment, such as working for companies with international offices, NGOs, and other institutions in Latin America, Spain, and in the growing Spanish-speaking communities of the United States. The specific areas explored will be based on students’ own interests and majors in order to assist them in developing their future career path while incorporating Spanish within those goals. This course focuses on acquiring the proper writing, analytical, and oral presentational skills necessary for such careers. In addition to linguistic training, students learn techniques for cross-cultural analysis vital to conducting business and other professional endeavors in Spanish-speaking contexts. Taught in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 301 - Spanish Conversation & Composition or SPN 303 Spanish for Heritage Speakers II
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SPN 320 - Civilizations of Spain 1 course unit
An introduction to contemporary Spain in all of its rich complexity and ever-more visible diversity. Starting with a survey of the artistic, architectural, and historical heritage of Spain, the course connects Spain’s intellectual, economic, and social movements with a broader sense of how the nation connects with it regional parts and global partners. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Offered every year during the fall semester.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 301 - Spanish Conversation & Composition or SPN 303 Spanish for Heritage Speakers II .
Meets general academic requirement HU.
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SPN 322 - Civilizations of Latin America 1 course unit
An introduction to contemporary Latin American life with its intellectual, economic, and social phenomena as well as its regional aspects, highlighting factors that unite and that distinguish this area of the world. The course also surveys the artistic, architectural, and historical heritage of Latin America; addresses the challenges of globalization; and considers the political and economic role of the United States. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Offered every year during the spring semester.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 301 - Spanish Conversation & Composition or SPN 303 Spanish for Heritage Speakers II .
Meets general academic requirement DE and HU.
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SPN 407 - Spanish Interpreting 1 course unit
With a rapidly growing Latino and Hispanic immigrant population, the Lehigh Valley offers Spanish students a unique opportunity to hone their spoken language skills and cultural understanding. This class blends on-campus preparation in the basic theories and methodologies of oral interpretation with community-based practical experience, investigation, exploration, and reflection. Work with community partners working closely with Spanish speaking clients is contextualized during weekly classes, providing a solid introduction to local Hispanic/Latino culture and concerns. Students should expect to commit about 5 hours per week to the community service learning component of this course.
Prerequisite(s): One 400-level course in Spanish, SPN 303 Spanish for Heritage Speakers II ,or approval of instructor.
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SPN 408 - Spanish Translation 1 course unit
The Lehigh Valley is undergoing demographic changes that call for new and better communication between English- and Spanish-speaking communities. This course prepares students to create effective bridges, translating written documents and other texts from English to Spanish and Spanish to English. As a service learning course it incorporates collaborative projects with organizations working closely with Spanish-speaking clients. Weekly classes will provide a solid introduction to the basic theories and methodologies of written translation with special focus on the specific needs and concerns of the local Latino and Hispanic immigrant communities. The class is conducted in Spanish, though given the special nature of English/Spanish and Spanish/English translation, class discussions may include Spanish, English, or even Spanglish. Students should expect to commit about 5 hours per week to the community service learning component of this course. Designed to complement SPN 407 - Spanish Interpreting .
Prerequisite(s): One 400-level course in Spanish or approval of instructor.
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SPN 410 - Heroes and Sinners 1 course unit
A study of representative works of Spanish literature of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. Emphasis is placed on the literary analysis of both major and marginal genres, such as epic poetry, the fable, ballads, the miracle story, the picaresque novel, and mystic poetry. We will highlight the historical and socio-cultural context of these period texts, paying special attention to the relationships among Christian, Arabic, and Jewish cultures coexisting in the Iberian Peninsula at the time. We will also explore the way in which these different cultural products were experienced by their mainly illiterate audiences, through private performance (communal readings, moral exemplum, teaching lessons) and public performance on the stage or the street (theatrical productions, puppet shows, songs, and dances). Texts are accompanied by a number of films/videos based on the literary works and/or the historical period. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement HU.
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SPN 411 - Don Quijote 1 course unit
Don Quijote is one of the greatest and most humorous books ever written, and this course offers an in-depth study of Cervantes’s masterpiece, providing structural and historical insight into the birth of the modern novel. We will examine Don Quijote, as an emblem of artistic and social modernity in the West and as a multi-faceted cultural icon central to the humanities, exploring issues such as the nature of reality and illusion, heroism, humor, adventure, freedom and self-fulfillment, racial tolerance, love, the consequences of reading, metafiction, games, and truth. This course will also investigate the transition from an oral to a written culture and the importance of printing, and we will explore the problem of Spanish national identity through the emerging imperial processes of political and cultural exclusion. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement HU.
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SPN 412 - Text and Stage 1 course unit
This course is an introduction to early modern drama of the XVI and XVII centuries from a performance-based approach. Students will read, analyze and interpret some of the most important plays produced during the Spain’s so-called Golden Age by authors like Cervantes, Lope, Tirso, and Calderón. We will focus on textual analysis and performance as two fundamental elements in the understanding and appreciation of Spanish theatre. Students will have access to the plays from different angles: 1) as texts to be studied analytically; 2) as cultural and historical exponents of a specific period; 3) as objects of literary and theatrical research; and 4) as productions waiting to be staged. After an introductory account of early modern Spanish theater and comedia performance then and now, classes are organized around three phases resembling those of theater production: text analysis, pre-production workshop, and staging. Note: By the second part of the semester students will need to schedule additional time outside the classroom to rehearse and complete the production of a short play or scenes for the stage. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement HU.
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SPN 413 - From the Golden Age to the Silver Age 1 course unit
A study of the plays, poetry, and novels of eighteenth and nineteenth century Spain, reflecting the social, political, and ideological changes leading up to and throughout the Industrial Revolution. Special attention will be paid to the different roles of writer, narrator, and reader through textual clues. Taught in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement HU.
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SPN 414 - Spanish Identity in Times of Change 1 course unit
Literature has always reflected the character and context of its creators, opening a window to a sometimes distant past. So how do we study the texts of today? In this exploration of contemporary literature we will develop tools with which to interpret the cultures and contexts of today’s - and tomorrow’s - Spain. Emphasis is placed on literary reflections of the changes to the concept of national identity in Spain, spanning the harrowing realization in 1898 that Spain was no longer host to an empire, through the harsh repression and massive emigration under Franco’s rule, to the new reality of Spain as home to fast-growing immigrant communities. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Offered in alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement HU.
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SPN 415 - The Literature of Conquest & Colonization in Spanish America 1 course unit
Reading and discussion of poetry and prose by Indoamerican writers of the Pre-Columbian era and by Spanish American writers from the fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Students will explore how literary components such as theme, character, and imagery represent the rise and fall of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and its resulting confluence of indigenous, African, and European cultures as they trace the development of Spanish American literature from its earliest expressions in pre-conquest cultures to the first declarations of defiance against the Spanish Crown by colonial writers. Emphasis is placed on an understanding of the technical development of various genres within each literary period as well as on the thematic content of work as it relates to the period’s historical, political, social, and philosophical content. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement DE and HU.
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SPN 416 - Postcolonial Realities in Spanish American Literature 1 course unit
Reading and discussion of selections by Spanish American writers from the late nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. For many Spanish American authors, obscuring the line between reality and fantasy becomes a literary game in the search for true reality within countries racked by civil strife that underscores the postcolonial paradigm in the Americas in terms of the subaltern issues of race, gender, and social class. Thus, students will delve into the artistic subconscious as they examine the legacy of the Spanish Conquest in the prose and poetry of literary periods that include modernismo, posmodernismo, and vanguardismo as well as the Boom and Post-Boom with their techniques of realismo mágico and realismo crítico. Emphasis is placed on an understanding of technical development of various genres within each literary period and on thematic content of work as it relates to that period’s historical, political, social, and philosophical context. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement or DE and HU.
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SPN 417 - Contemporary Spanish American Novel 1 course unit
An in-depth study of the development of the novel in both the pre- and post- “boom” periods of the Spanish American narrative. Emphasis is placed on an analysis of the literary techniques and thematic aspects of the works in relation to the various artistic and philosophical movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Offered in alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement DE and HU.
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SPN 418 - Hispanic Literature & Film 1 course unit
An analysis of the relationship between literature and film, focusing on texts from Spain and/or Spanish America and their film adaptations. Issues to be discussed include film adaptation as a cultural construct; narrative voice in literature and film; the transformation of the written word to a visual image; and the relationship between politics, literature, and film. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Offered in alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement HU.
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SPN 419 - Border Literature 1 course unit
An exploration of contemporary narratives by Latino writers in the United States who focus on the border experience, understood as both a geographical and cultural phenomenon. Emphasis will be placed on the analysis of the literary techniques employed in the development of the narrative form within its political, social, and cultural context. Topics include issues of class, ethnicity, and gender. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement DE and HU.
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SPN 420 - Human Rights Literature in the Americas 1 course unit
A literary exploration of the nature of human rights in the Americas through a close examination of representative works of various genres, such as poetry, the short story, the novel, and drama. Emphasis is placed on an understanding of literary theory and technique within the historical, political, and philosophical context of each work. In this way, students will explore thematic issues such as the legal and ethical rights inherent in citizenship within the world and specifically within the Americas with respect to ethnic and religious minorities, women, gays, and political dissidents. Areas of comparison/contrast will include Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba, and the United States. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): SPN 304 - Advanced Spanish Conversation & Composition .
Meets general academic requirement DE and HU.
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SPN 450-499 - CUE: Senior Capstone Seminar: Transatlantic Issues in Hispanic Literatures & Cultures 1 course unit
The senior Capstone Seminar is a topics-based course in Spanish that will allow students to take their understanding of Hispanic literatures and cultures and apply it to broader multicultural and international perspectives. Whether focusing specifically on literature or centering on broader social, cultural, or linguistic issues, students will examine aspects of the on-going dialogue between Spain and the Americas within their historical, social, and political contexts. The explicitly comparative approach will both broaden and consolidate students’ understanding of language as a living process rooted in cultural contexts, a process essential in a pluralistic American society and in a world where nations―even those bound by a history of colonialism―are interdependent in increasingly complex ways. Students will work individually and collaboratively to design, research, and present their critical analyses and findings in a thoughtful and thought-provoking way using theoretical approaches consistent with the discipline. Class is conducted in Spanish.
Prerequisite(s): One 400-level course in Spanish or approval of instructor.
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SPN 970 - Spanish Independent Study/Research
Each independent study/research course is to be designed in consultation with a faculty sponsor.
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Speech |
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SPC 250 - Basic Speech 1 course unit
An introduction to the principles of public speaking. Concentration on the development of assurance and good platform presence through making frequent short speeches of simple expository or narrative types.
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Sustainability Studies |
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SUS 350 - Community Sustainability in Costa Rica 1 course unit
Students explore solutions to complex community problems related to sustainability in Costa Rica. During the spring semester students develop projects and prepare for the two-week study/research/travel experience to Costa Rica at the end of May. Preparation includes study of the area’s ecological diversity; political, cultural, and social issues; research skills; and service in the Allentown Community. In Costa Rica students explore a variety of habitats, live in and interact with members of a small town, and conduct both community service and independent research projects. Research projects focus on ecology, sociology, culture, sustainability, and public health of the region. One objective is to remove the blinders of specific discipline-based learning and our own culture to enable us to develop sustainable solutions.
Meets general academic requirements DE and SC and satisfies the IL requirement.
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SUS 355 - Climate Change & Sustainable Development in Bangladesh 1 course unit
This team-taught course examines the impact of climate change on economic, social, and political development by focusing on the nation of Bangladesh. In addition to introducing students to the science and politics of climate change, the course also examines the specific environmental, economic, and social changes confronting Bangladesh’s political development since its independence; investigates the environmental and social consequences of state-sponsored development strategies, especially recent market-based “neo-liberal” policies; and evaluates new “sustainable development” strategies that are emerging as a response to the challenges posed by climate change.
Meets general academic requirement DE and IL.
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SUS 365 - Local Sustainability 1 course unit
This course will take an integrated approach to analyzing sustainability at the local level, specifically looking at communities in the Lehigh Valley, and exploring human-environment issues within the context of the relationship among individuals, institutions, and ecology. This course focuses on teaching students science as a way of knowing and illustrating the importance of integrating scientific understanding with other disciplinary and societal perspective to advance sustainability in our local community. This is a field trip based, service-learning course where students will apply understanding of globally important sustainability issues to locally relevant situations through a series of 8-10 interactive field trips, reflective journaling, and community engaged research. The class will culminate with semester-long service-learning projects, collaboratively designed and conducted with our community partners. These projects will have students scientifically assessing current sustainability efforts and developing recommendations to advance our community partners’ missions by effectively integrating scientific understanding with our community partners’ experiences with outreach and communication, natural resource management, and local political and social engagement. Priorities for research will be determined in collaboration with community partners, and results and recommendations will be shared with and used by our community partners to advance their missions.
Prerequisite(s): Any single course in the Sustainability Studies Minor.
Meets general academic requirement SC and IL.
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SUS 405 - Sustainable Solutions 1 course unit
An integrative approach to developing sustainable solutions to meet the needs of human society by integrating environmental, economic, and social justice issues on local, regional, and global scales. Through readings, writing, presentations, digital research and dissemination, and field and laboratory work students will identify and explore complex problems. Then through project-based and integrative learning students will explore potential solutions that might help achieve sustainability objectives. Students will study the issues and focus on innovation & business solutions, policy approaches, individual action, stakeholder participation, campaign strategy, and dissemination related to solving the problems being analyzed.
Prerequisite(s): Any three courses in the Sustainability Studies Major or Minor.
Meets general academic requirement W.
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SUS 960 - Sustainability Studies Internship 1 course unit
Internships arranged with local, national, and international public or private organizations in the areas of development, environment, and sustainability in practice.
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SUS 965 - Sustainability Studies Practicum .5 - 1 course unit
Under faculty supervision students will serve as interns with local, national, and international public or private organizations in the areas of development, environment, and sustainability in practice. The practicum includes a significant academic (written, presentation, and/or production) component. Practica must be approved by the Program Director.
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SUS 970 - Sustainability Studies Independent Study/Research
Each independent study/research course is to be designed in consultation with a faculty sponsor.
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Performance Theory, History, Literature |
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THR 100 - Theatre & Society: An Historical Introduction 1 course unit
Students in this course study the historical development of world theatre with an emphasis on the western dramatic tradition as a way of understanding how the theatrical experience reflects the society in which it exists. A broad range of theatrical literature and theoretical material will be explored. The members of the class will attend several live theatrical performances and are required to participate in 2 laboratory hours per week.
This is the foundation course for the theatre major. Students planning to major in theatre must complete this course in their first year.
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THR 105 - Performance & Society 1 course unit
This foundational course introduces first year students to the critical and historical study of performance in its widest sense. We ask: What does it mean to perform? Why do people perform? How do performance events shape social reality? How do they constitute, regulate, or disrupt power formations? How do forms, formats and meanings differ across cultures, times and places, and how do they relate to one another? Contextualizing theatre within a broader array of performing activities such as dance, music, ritual, play, sports, political protest, and everyday social behaviors, we interrogate the ideological, formal and functional aspects of performance as a mode of social production.
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THR 212 - Performance Studies 1 course unit
This course introduces the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of Performance Studies and investigates the human body engaged in symbolic action using methods drawn from such disciplines as the performing arts, cultural anthropology, ritual studies, and popular culture studies. Thus, it analyzes aestheticized forms like theatre, performance art, dance, and music but also inquires into cultural performances like political protests, fashion shows, sporting events, and worship services. Students will learn the basic history of the field and develop a working knowledge of its scholarly methods and proclivities.
Prerequisite(s): THR 100 Theatre & Society: An Historical Introduction
Meets general academic requirement W.
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THR 213 - Collective Creation in the Americas 1 course unit
This course critically analyzes the connections among diverse theories, artistic proposals, and plays and performances based on collaborative processes. From colonizing mindsets to revolutionary movements, and to gestures of resistance against authoritarianism, art imagines a stage for political transformations. Is it possible to trace this active response in theatre theories and practices and, most importantly, to generate collaborative works that reclaim transnational dialogues to imagine new worlds? To what extent is it possible to find artistic voices that intersect personal concerns and socio-political landscapes? Classes incorporate theoretical reflections, collaborative experiences and digital collaborations.
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THR 221 - Jewish Drama 1 course unit
In Europe, until the middle of the nineteenth century, Jewish characters (with a few minor exceptions) only appeared in stage productions created by non-Jews. In general, these performances of “Jewishness” perpetuated extremely negative stereotypes that were a major factor in the development of the virulent anti-Semitic attitudes that led to mass migration and the almost complete destruction of the vibrant European Jewish community by the middle of the twentieth century. In spite of this dark history, a profound change occurred with the coming of the enlightenment at the end of the eighteenth century and the integration of many newly emancipated Jews into western intellectual and artistic life during the late nineteenth century. Through a tiny minority in most western nations, including the United States, Jews, often barred from participation and employment in many areas of the economy, became major players in the development of the modern art theatre and the growing urban entertainment industry. Jews were welcomed in the relatively liberal “show business.” By exploring the Jewish drama and examining a range of Jewish plays, films, and broadcasts, students in the course will, hopefully, gain significant insights into important issues of ethnic identification and assimilation, political repression, Jewish self-hatred, gender construction, and the influence that popular performance culture, both lowbrow and highbrow, has had on Jewish history, western social history, and our own performance of self.
Prerequisite(s): THR 100 Theatre & Society: An Historical Introduction
Meets general academic requirements HU and DE.
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THR 225 - Race & Performance 1 course unit
This course will consider multiple forms of contemporary performance (including theatre, performance art, visual art, and pop culture) by artists of color, alongside writings on performance and race, to think about belonging and alternative forms of world-making. This course will ask: what difference might it make to think of race as performative? How might the analytic of performance equip us to identify and enact anti-racist and anti-xenophobic strategies for everyday practice? This course will engage foundational texts to performance studies and offer an interdisciplinary approach to scholarship in critical ethnic studies and race theory, gender and sexuality studies, and performance studies.
Meets general academic requirement DE.
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THR 301, 302 - Feminist Theories of the Theatre 1 course unit
This course introduces students to the intellectual viewpoints, critiques, and new questions (and the new objects of study to match the new questions) that have arisen in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries’ feminist theories of the theatre. In order to move through the theoretical models employed by feminist critics in the theatre, we will begin with those key essays in film theory, semiotics, and materialist analysis that contributed to the current body of theoretical feminist material. By reading theories of reception and representation, of race and whiteness, and of unmaking mimesis, students will become familiar with analyses articulated by contemporary scholars. As objects of study upon which to practice these theoretical approaches, the class will read contemporary plays of feminist writers.
Prerequisite(s): THR 100 - Theatre & Society: An Historical Introduction or permission of instructor.
Meets general academic requirement W when offered as 302.
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THR 325 - Memory Matters 1 course unit
This course will consider multiple ways in which visual and performance art, photography and literature, as well as different sites of memory throughout the Americas, have transformed aesthetics as a form of critical engagement, offering reflections about the politics of memory. Our course will be guided by the following questions: What can a body do to affect other bodies’ understanding of their past, present, and future contexts, and how does this relationship question notions of spectatorship and perception in aesthetic critique? How do the design, distribution, and location of memory sites, art installations, and conceptual art projects follow or counteract political interests?
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THR 327 - Cartographies of Performance & Politics 1 course unit
This course critically analyzes the connections among diverse theories, artistic proposals, plays, performances, and activist projects throughout the Americas. From Bertolt Brecht to Augusto Boal, and from theatre groups’ engagement with social struggles to current tactical activism and street protests, embodied theatricality can be conceived as a tool for individual creativity and collective projects to struggle for social justice. How are artists from the Americas reconfiguring Western-based understandings of arts and politics, and to what extent transnational mobility generates a new map of the Americas?
Meets general academic requirement W.
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THR 336 - The History of Queer Performance 1 course unit
This course charts the significant but often obscured influence of queerness on Western performance culture - and therefore, on Western culture as a whole - since the late nineteenth century. We will explore historical records of the personal and professional lives of playwrights, actors, directors, producers, designers, and critics, as well as consider the impact of major historical and performance events, both mainstream and queer, within the past 150 years. With a foundation in the history of sexual identity in the modern public sphere, we wrestle with the problems of investigating and analyzing queer performance practices (both on and off stage). Focused primarily on the United States and Britain, the course investigates how economic, social, and political anxieties have fueled apprehension about non-mainstream sex/gender identity, as well as art. Of particular interest is how these combined anxieties have thwarted, and can continue to hinder, the work of the queer theatre historian.
Prerequisite(s): THR 100 - Theatre & Society: An Historical Introduction or permission of instructor.
Meets general academic requirement HU and W.
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THR 337 - History of the American Musical Theatre 1 course unit
Students will study the history and development of American musical theatre from the era of early minstrel shows of the 1840s to the present day. As a crucial element of American culture, the study of musical theatre can lead to a deeper understanding of how issues of race, gender, ethnicity, and national identity impacted popular stage entertainment as the nation moved through the industrial revolution, civil and world wars, periods of massive immigration, depression, and increasingly complex technological change.
Prerequisite(s): THR 100 - Theatre & Society: An Historical Introduction .
Meets general academic requirement HU.
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THR 339, 340 - Post-Independence African Theatre 1 course unit
This course examines theatre in Africa beginning from the anticolonial independence movements of the 1950s and continuing to the present. It does not purport to offer a comprehensive view of Africa’s diverse theatrical traditions but examines several regions, heritages, and time periods, attentive to both commonalities and differences. Particular attention will be given to theatre’s function as an agent of social and political change. Theoretical concerns are likely to include theatre and nationalism, negritude and its critics, the relationship between theatre and ritual, the role of women, and the interaction of indigenous African performance practices with western theatre.
Prerequisite(s): THR 100 - Theatre & Society: An Historical Introduction or permission of instructor.
Meets general academic requirement HU and DE (and W when offered as 340).
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Theatre Studio Performance: Acting |
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THR 150 - Introduction to the Art of Acting 1 course unit
A survey of acting theories and practice culminating in the rehearsal and performance of scenework. The course is designed for non-majors and those who plan to major in theatre but have limited previous acting training. The first part of the semester will examine a variety of approaches to the art of acting, including those of Stanislavski, Artaud, Brecht, the Elizabethans, and one or more non-European traditions. Students will be asked to consider the basic assumptions about the nature and function of theatre implied by each approach. The balance of the work will consist of exercises to explore the intentional and communicative nature of concentration, introductory Meisner technique, improvisation, and the acquisition of a basic acting vocabulary. To gain a practical understanding of the preparatory work, each student, with one or more partners, will rehearse and perform a scene from the modern American theatre. Meets four hours per week.
Meets general academic requirement AR.
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THR 151 - Voice & Speech for the Actor 0.5 course unit
Employing approaches devised by voice and speech trainers such as Kristin Linklater, Cicely Berry, Arthur Lessac and Patsy Rodenburg, this course aims to help actors (1) release and refine natural, connected, supported vocal sound, (2) establish clear, articulate speech, and (3) connect breath to thought to action. Students will explore their voices as individual instruments of expression, aiming not to “perfect” their sound but rather to identify vocal habits and tendencies. Along the way, students will learn about physiology, vocal health and hygiene, and supported vocal production, in order to lay the foundation for an enduring high-quality vocal technique to serve them throughout their lives as actors.
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THR 155 - Movement for the Actor .5 course unit
This course is designed for actors of all levels and is intended to help actors build a tension-free, resilient, expressive, present physical instrument. Presence, space, play, shape, energy, relationship, strength, release, breath - these are all essential elements of the actor’s process that reside in and radiate from the body. We will explore these elements as an ensemble and create both ensemble and individual pieces that utilize these elements as tools of storytelling. Along the way, we will build awareness of individual actor tensions and habits and explore ways to balance and organize the body. Exercises will be drawn from Frantic Assembly, Ruth Zaporah, Viola Spolin, Annie Loui, Viewpoints, yoga, contact improv, Rudolf Laban, and more. No prior movement or dance experience is required. This course is open all bodies of all abilities.
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THR 157 - Stage Combat .5 course unit
This course is a hands-on comprehensive introduction to sword fighting for theatrical presentation. Students will be trained in the safe use and execution of the rapier and dagger techniques. They will be taught basic footwork, parries, offensive and defensive moves and choreography and then apply techniques to scene work. Attention will be given to the rehearsing of given fight choreography as it applies to the stage. Class will culminate in a skills proficiency fight test to be adjudicated by a qualified Fight Master with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD).
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THR 250 - Acting Process 1 course unit
The beginning class in the acting sequence, this class lays the foundations for the ultimate goal of the acting program: to create actors who know how to work on a role within the context of the play and who have flexibility in their craft. The focus will be on acting process, including relaxation work; how to critique; commitment to language, sound, emotional connection, and movement; the active choice; and actor’s text analysis. Actors will be judged on their individual growth and also on their ability to work as an ensemble member within the class. This course is the building block leading into scene work and a requirement of the class will be a fully staged scene. Possible readings from Stanislavsky, Peter Brook, Chekhov, Williams, Shephard, and other writers. Films may be shown as an example of craft. Class meets for six hours a week.
Prerequisite(s): THR 100 - Theatre & Society: An Historical Introduction
Meets general academic requirement AR.
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THR 251 - Acting II: Scene Study 1 course unit
Building on the foundations taught in Acting I, this class moves the student actor into scene work. Primary focus in the class is on American realistic text with the possibility of moving into increasingly difficult texts from the modern canon. Class will explore the tools of the actor, including text analysis, critique, commitment to action, linking choices to the larger structure of the play, theatricality, language, impulse work, and style. Actors will be judged on their individual growth and also on their ability to work as an ensemble member within the class. Playwrights may include Hellman, Kushner, O’Neill, Churchill, Fornes, among other writers. Films may be shown as an example of technique. Will meet for four hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): THR 250 - Acting Process .
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THR 341 - Intermediate Acting: Shakespeare & His Contemporaries 1 course unit
This course affords the intermediate acting student an opportunity to explore methods for rehearsing and performing pre-modern texts by William Shakespeare and other English Renaissance playwrights such as Ben Jonson, Cristopher Marlowe, Thomas Middleton and John Webster. With a focus on the practical demands of heightened language beginning with classical prose and moving into verse, the course addresses technical, stylistic, historical, and interpretive considerations as they relate to the feat of performance. Special attention is paid to (1) linguistic energy, (2) the synchrony of thought, action and speech, and (3) the relationship between the vocal life of the actor and the experience the character. An emphasis on voice/speech development supplements study by providing insight to enhance the student’s execution of language. The course is designed to build upon a foundational understanding of acting with the assumption that, despite formal differences inherent in the material, classical characters can be understood as operating within the same recognizable psychological parameters as contemporary characters. Performing classical texts is also acknowledged as requiring a shift in acting-style, and as such, is capable of providing actors with tools applicable to a variety of period and/or genre work.
Prerequisite(s): THR 250 Acting Process
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THR 350 - Acting Classical Verse 1 course unit
This advanced acting class investigates methods for approaching, rehearsing, and performing pre-modern lyric texts, such as those by William Shakespeare and his contemporaries. With a focus on the practical demands of heightened language, the course addresses technical, stylistic, historical, and interpretive considerations as they relate to the feat of performance. Special attention is paid to linguistic structure as well as to its relationship to the individual experience of the actor/character. A directed emphasis on voice and speech development complements study by providing physical conditioning aimed at enhancing the student’s production of poetic language. Topics of study also include verse structure, metrical variation, rhythm, language-as-action, forward movement, prose, phonetic word fabric, and imagery. The course acknowledges the modern actor’s psychological approach to text (regardless of period) while at the same time recognizing that classical plays require actors to make distinct shifts in both acting-style and psychology. Graded performance projects involve advanced scene work from Shakespeare’s oeuvre. Class will meet for four hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): THR 251 - Acting II: Scene Study .
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THR 351 - Commedia dell’Arte 1 course unit
This is an advanced acting class that explores comic performance from the classical French, Italian, and Spanish traditions. Scenes from the plays of Goldoni, Gozzi, Moliere, Marivaux, Beaumarchais, and Cervantes will be analyzed and performed. In addition, the study of the stock Commedia dell’Arte characters (Arlecchino, Pantalone, Brighella, Dottore, Capitano, etc.) will allow the actor to improvise with masks in order to expand vocal and physical abilities. Students in the class are required to write and perform contemporary scenes in the style of the Commedia, and elements of comedy will be researched through the viewing of current films and plays in order to trace the influence of this tradition on contemporary practice. A final performance will take place in a community venue.
Prerequisite(s): THR 251 - Acting II: Scene Study .
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THR 352 - Experiments in Acting 1 course unit
This course is designed to explore the extremes of tragedy and comedy, and to combine them in the specific style of Samuel Beckett, as “tragi-comic.” With readings from Sophocles, Friederich Nietzche, Antonin Artaud, Joseph Chaikin, and Peter Hall, the class discovers the dynamics of Greek chorus, the presence of the neutral mask and the building of a clowning act. Texts from Electra and Waiting for Godot are studied in depth and serve as inspiration for writing a scene in a tragi-comic style. Films are assigned every week.
Prerequisite(s): THR 251 - Acting II: Scene Study .
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THR 357 - Intermediate Acting: Acting Political - Bringing Feminist Texts to Life 1 course unit
Performing scripts with feminist intentions requires actors to master several performance methodologies while also calling upon those actors to work through theorectical lenses such as intersectional analyses, disabilities studies, and, of course, theories of comedy. Students will read texts which invite feminist questions and rely upon specifically “resistant” acting styles used by marginalized theatre-makers. These styles of performance include, for instance, the tragical-farcical (“high-low”) acting as called for by the great American writer, Suzan-Lori Parks, with her politically charged scripts as well as an anti-realistic “downtown Lesbian camp” style to bring performance texts generated by “The 5 Lesbian Brothers” or the Native American group, “Spiderwoman”, to humorous life onstage.
Prerequisite(s): THR 250 Acting Process
Meets general academic requirement DE.
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THR 363 - Intermediate Acting: Contemporary Scene Study 1 course unit
Acting is revealing; revealing the part of you that marries you to the heart of the play. The new course is designed to provide further exploration of, and build upon, previously established understandings of the complexity of the art and techniques of Acting. Student/actors will be taught how to apply different methods (Stanislavski, Hagan, Adler, and others) based on the genre and essence of the play. The actors will be assigned scenes that will ask for them to analyze the text with an eye out for wht approaches would serve each particular playwright. In-depth research of the playwright will be required; presentations on the playwright given. The “critical thinking” student will develop a comprehension of the different rehearsal techniques that serve different situations.
Prerequisite(s): THR 250 Acting Process
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THR 365 - Intermediate Acting: Meisner 1 course unit
“Every Little Moment Has A Meaning All Its Own” - This course seeks to assist actors in finding and releasing truth within every moment of their work. Students will be introduced to the teaching principles of Sanford Meisner and his influence on and method of training for the actor. The class content will focus on the reality of doing by incorporating the exercises of repetitions, point of view, independent activities, emotional preparation, and scene study. Designed as an opportunity to experience more fully and deeply the act of listening and responding spontaneously to everything that is actually happening as it is happening, the work looks to embrace the concept that acting is living truthfully under the given/imaginary circumstances.
Prerequisite(s): THR 250 Acting Process
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THR 367 - Intermediate Acting: Stanislavski’s Psycho-Physical Technique 1 course unit
This intermediate course is intended for those actors who are interested in going deeper in realist scene study. Our focus will be on the psycho-physical technique of Stanislavski, with its emphasis on exploring the behavior of a character. Students will be given intentionally challenging scenes from realist playwrights such as Chekhov, Ibsen, and Kushner as an arena in which to practice Stanislavski’s techniques for creating rich, three dimensional characters through a deep investment in the moment to moment doing on stage. Students will work primarily on two-person scenes, but some attention will also be given to ensemble scenes and creating a sense of community on stage.
Pre- or co-requisite: THR 250 Acting Process
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THR 407 - Advanced Acting: Advanced Shakespeare Workshop 1 course unit
Building upon techniques introduced in THR 350 , this course affords the upper-level acting student opportunities to do advanced performance training with classical verse. Focusing primarily on Shakespeare’s histories and tragedies, as well as on verse texts by other English Renaissance playwrights, the course aims to deepen the student’s psychophysical fluency with performing poetically intricate material. As with THR 350 , the course is organized around addressing increasingly complex demands of heightened language, beginning with approaches to speeches and soliloquies, and continuing into work on advanced metrical variation, artifice, linguistic patterns/patterns of thought and action, and heightened musicality. The course also considers feats of editing and adapting classical verse material for performance, as well as artistic and political interpretive considerations related to the contemporary reclamation and re-staging of classical European texts.
Prerequisite(s): THR 350 Acting Classical Verse
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THR 409 - Advanced Acting: Solo Performance 1 course unit
Students will explore the world of solo performance and create their own performance pieces through creating, developing, and rehearsing within a focused process of personal discovery. Elements of movement, voice and monologue work, and ensemble activities will be incorporated to assist students in shaping their artistic voices and releasing their personal visions as writers, performers, and theatre-makers. The course will also examine forms of solo work, solo plays, and solo artists. All will be incorporated as actors seek out the stories waiting to be told within themselves and, in turn, explore the relationship, partnership, and possibilities that exist between story-teller and spectators within the theatrical space. The class will culminate with a public performance.
Prerequisite(s): THR 250 Acting Process
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THR 423 - On-Camera Acting 1 course unit
This upper level course is designed to introduce students to the skills required to work effectively on camera. Using material drawn from the professional world, students will work in a variety of on-camera genres that may include commercials, daytime, primetime (sitcom and drama), and film. Class time will be divided equally between shooting and viewing, and students are expected to engage critically with both their own work and their classmates. Analytical viewing assignments from each of the genres will be required.
Prerequisite(s): THR 251 - Acting II: Scene Study .
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THR 425 - Acting the Song 1 course unit
In this course, students will develop a common language and approach to the study and practice of song interpretation and musical theatre performance through mind, body, and emotion. Through the use of a variety of techniques and exercises beginning with personalization and sense imagery as tools for song interpretation along with fundamentals of acting learned through Acting I and II the actor will develop the skills necessary to tell the story, illuminate the lyric and capture the attention and imagination of an audience. Acting the Song is combined with specific attention and detail with the technical elements in the music and how it functions in order to enhance the lyric, create the mood, and heighten the emotional content. This class focuses on the preparation of the singer-actor as the interpreter of song using a variety of popular American and Musical Theatre vocal styles. Students develop a flexible, expressive vocal instrument with a personalized approach – music, lyric, and interpreter as one.
Prerequisite(s): THR 251 - Acting II: Scene Study .
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