Museum Studies Course Descriptions

An examination of basic biological principles underlying current biotechnology in the fields of human genetics and genetic engineering. Discussion of methods of basic scientific research, the impact of technology on society, and ethical problems in human and agricultural genetics. Credit not applicable to biology major. Weekly laboratories will introduce basic experimental methodology and procedures.

Explores the relationship between physics and music, covering such topics as vibrations, waves, interference, resonance, wave forms, scales and temperament, physics of musical instruments, characteristics of auditoriums, impact of electronics. Weekly laboratory.

A study of the chemistry underlying topics of interest to artists and art historians. Topics may include: papermaking; pigments, dyes, and binders; photography; glass and ceramics; metals; and printmaking. The course is designed for all students. Combined lecture and laboratory.

Explores energy production, storage, and usage as they are currently practiced. Certain emerging technologies will also be addressed. Environmental and socio-economic impact will be discussed in the context of limitations imposed by the laws of physics. Students cannot receive credit for this course if they have previously received credit for CHEM 112/ENST 112

An in-depth exploration of archives and archival research. The course will address the theory and practice of locating, contextualizing, interpreting, and using archival primary sources. Students will work directly with collections in the University Archives and produce a digital project based on their research.

An introduction to the science of learning and how it applies to educational contexts. Topics include brain structure and development; types of memory and learning processes; approaches to building knowledge, skills, and understanding; and factors that drive more powerful and successful learning. Each student will arrange their own practicum of three hours per week in a school class or similar learning environment.

Introduction to the broad variety of activities and locations developed by historians to reach the general public, such as museums, libraries, and archives, historic preservation, documentary filmmaking, oral history, podcasting, historical editing, and community activism. This course examines public historians’ theoretical and ethical concerns in addition to developing relevant skills. Emphasis on experiential learning via field trips, interviews with practitioners, and individual and group projects.

A course in the quantitative description of chemical equilibria in solution (acid-base, complexation, redox, solubility) using classical, separation, electrochemical, and spectrochemical methods of analysis. This course covers methods of quantification, statistics, and data analysis as applied to modern chemistry. Students will have the opportunity to individually design projects. Three lectures and two laboratory periods per week. PREREQUISITES: CHEM 116, placement exam, or consent of instructor; concurrent enrollment in CHEM 211 required

Presents the research process in archaeology and offers an overview of essential data-collection and analysis techniques, including site survey and excavation, settlement pattern analysis, lithic analysis, and ceramic analysis. Students will take part in field research. When this course is scheduled at 8-noon TR, class will dismiss early for scheduled convocations. PREREQUISITES: ANTH 120

Historic preservation endeavors to identify and conserve historic objects, properties, and landscapes. It has become a focal task for many anthropologists today. This course introduces students to the basic theory of historic preservation, the laws guiding practice, and the techniques used by historic preservation professionals.

Artist books are explored in a variety of forms including accordions, exposed and non-adhesive bindings, pop-ups, box making and alternative structures. Letterpress along with other forms of printmaking and surface treatments will be used. Techniques of cutting, folding, sewing, gluing, printing and working in dimension are examined in detail. Unique content is expected for each project. PREREQUISITES: Any 100-level Studio Art course

This workshop is an introduction to the Adobe Creative Suite programs including Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. The class is project centered, allowing each student to explore the multi-faceted and contemporary nature of each program. Methods in image construction, graphic design, typography, application, and output will be explored in detail.

An introduction to the interactions between organisms and the environment. Explores the role of physical, chemical and biotic processes--including human activities--in determining the structure and function of populations, communities, and ecosystems. Topics include resource availability, competition, predation, symbiosis and natural and anthropogenic disturbances such as disease, biological invasions, pollution and climate change. Lecture and laboratory.

A study of the development of 19th-century European art that traces the emergence of movements such as Romanticism, Realism, and Impressionism. Readings and class discussion consider how political instability, industrialization, imperialism, and the growth of popular culture influenced production, style, and presentation of painting and sculpture. PREREQUISITES: ARHI 101 or sophomore standing

An introduction to new media within a fine art context. Digital photography, experimental video, sound, photo book design, and blogging are covered as students use the Internet as a venue for presenting projects. The evolution of technology, new media theory, contemporary art discourse, and visual culture are examined through projects, readings, lectures, demonstrations, discussions, critiques, and visiting artist presentations. Mac-based. PREREQUISITES: Any 100-level Studio Art course

An examination of American art, 1776-1940. This course considers the growth of landscape, genre, and history painting, as well as portraiture, in the context of changing ideas about nationalism, class, race, and gender. Architecture and sculpture are also discussed in terms of how visual culture shaped early ideas about nationhood. PREREQUISITES: ARHI 101 or sophomore standing

In this course students make projects that engage with space. Lectures, discussions, readings, and critiques will investigate contemporary interdisciplinary practices that involve site-specific installation of works of art, everyday objects, performances, projections, etc. Interactive works and immersive virtual reality will also be considered. Students will create a self-designed installation project that will be planned and executed over the duration of the term. PREREQUISITES: FIST 100, ART 100, ART 105, or ART 110, or consent of instructor

In the 19th century, Britain was at the height of her imperial and industrial powers, with a burgeoning middle class with increased spending power. Against this background, this course examines the painting (including Turner, Constable, the Pre-Raphaelites, the High Victorians), architecture, furniture, and interiors of the period, utilizing the wealth of examples in London’s museums, galleries, and buildings. Offered at the London Centre. PREREQUISITES: Must be attending the Lawrence London Centre.

The course introduces the cultures of Latin America through a survey of its major movements and artists from the early 19th century to the present. Image-based lectures will be accompanied by discussion of visual and thematically related texts (i.e., biographies, letters, scholarly articles) and carefully selected fragments of videos.Taught in Spanish. PREREQUISITES: One 300-level course in Spanish or consent of instructor

The heart of this course is an annual symposium organized around a well-defined topic with both scientific and policy components — e.g., nuclear waste disposal, global warming. Each year, two or three nationally recognized experts on the selected topic are brought to campus. In the weeks before a visit by one of the major speakers, students, together with environmental studies faculty, read and discuss papers suggested by the speaker. The speakers meet with students in the seminar following their public lecture, providing students with an opportunity to interact directly with scientists and policy makers at the forefront of environmental issues.

Introduction to art museums and exhibitions as objects of critical inquiry, and to issues and practices in the art museum field. Topics will include: history and evolution of collecting and display; museum exhibitions and knowledge formation; collection practices and ethics; exhibition theory and design; controversies, institutional critique, and the artist-as-curator. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing

A study of art since 1960. Students will examine a diverse range of art works and the theories and strategies that have informed their production and exhibition. Students will learn about how artists today respond to such issues as gender, racial and ethnic identity, globalization, market capitalism, and new media and technology. PREREQUISITES: ARHI 101 or sophomore standing

An introduction to the ancient peoples of North America from the initial colonists to the peoples who encountered European colonists some 13,000 years later. Special emphasis is given to the ancient inhabitants of the Great Lakes region. PREREQUISITES: ANTH 120

A continuation of ART 222, exploring historical and contemporary bindings, and letterpress printing with an emphasis on conceptual ties between structure, process, and function. Additional surface treatments and printing techniques are used in conjunction with altered, collaborative, dimensional, movable books, and historical binding. More advanced techniques of binding, printing, and working in dimension are examined in detail to enhance the conceptual and visual narrative inherent to this sequential medium. PREREQUISITES: ART 222 or ART 226

Much of the public’s interest in archaeology focuses on “mysteries” of the past or allegedly “unexplainable” phenomena. Since the past is largely impossible to know, it is easy to uncritically fill it with products of the imagination rather than products of ancient peoples. This course examines some of these “imaginary” pasts and the practice of creating them. PREREQUISITES: ANTH 120

An exploration of ethical and legal concerns surrounding archaeology: the ownership and treatment of archaeological remains and relations between archaeologists and descendent communities. Topics include the ethics and legality of collecting looting, and the antiquities market; archaeology and nationalism; repatriation of skeletons and artifacts; and professional responsibilities of archaeologists. PREREQUISITES: Sophomore standing and ANTH 120, an ARHI course (preferably ancient to Renaissance), or consent of instructor

To provide an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Book History, which should help students think more critically about the impact of material culture on intellectual activity. The course will be taught as a speaking intensive seminar, which means that students will frequently be responsible for presenting reading material and leading discussion in the first half of class. PREREQUISITES: Junior standing or consent of the instructor.

An examination of a particular topic in ancient art history. Students are expected to carry out independent research. The topic will change periodically. Course may be repeated when the topic is different. Not open to students who have previously received or need to receive credit for ARHI 301 with the same topic.

An examination of a particular topic in medieval or Renaissance art history. The topic will change periodically. Course may be repeated when the topic is different. Students are expected to carry out an independent research project that will serve as preparation for ARHI 680.

An examination of a particular topic in modern or contemporary art history. Students are expected to carry out independent research, culminating in a research paper. The topic will change periodically. Course may be repeated when topic is different. Not open to students who have previous received credit for ARHI 341.

Topic for Fall 2024: Copy, Homage, or Forgery: The Question of Authenticity in Art
In 1935, cultural theorist Walter Benjamin asserted that the authentic “aura” of an artwork is rooted in originality and site-specificity. These questions about authenticity have only intensified into the 21st century as technology frames how we see and understand visual culture. How is authenticity visualized, valued, and understood today? Focusing on case studies from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, this seminar will explore, historicize, and contest such concepts as the authorship, appropriation, reproduction, simulacrum, and forgery. The course will culminate in a research project. PREREQUISITES: One 200-level course in art history or consent of instructor TBD

Even in a “market” economy, the preponderance of economic activity is carried out through firms and other organizations. The course examines economic theories of the firm, and explores some of the canonical questions, such as why are there firms, how the separation of ownership and control of a firm shapes decision making, what determines the boundary between organizations and markets (e.g., make-or-buy decisions), what types of firms are most innovative, and how new technologies affect organizational structure. PREREQUISITES: ECON 300 or GOVT 271

This seminar explores issues in contemporary education. Topics vary by term and focus on controversies or innovations in educational systems, practices, and policy or in the relations between school and society. May be repeated when topic is different.

Topics TBD

An examination of a particular topic in art history that does not fit the chronological format of the other 400-level topics seminars in art history. Course may be repeated when topic is different. Not open to students who have previously received credit or need to receive credit for ARHI 381.

An examination of a particular topic in contemporary anthropology. The specific topic investigated changes each year. Students are expected to carry out independent research on the topic, either through a review of relevant literature or through field or laboratory work.

Topic for Fall 2024: Food Justice Movements
PREREQUISITES: Junior standing or two courses in anthropology or consent of instructor This course draws upon the theories, methodologies, and cultural knowledge of anthropology to explore food justice movements. It takes a systemic perspective that holistically examines cultural arrangements controlling food production, distribution, preparation, consumption, and food as symbol and meaning in food media & food cultures. It explores what it means to approach the study of food systems through the lens of justice.

An examination of a particular topic in contemporary archaeological research. The specific topic investigated changes each year. Students are expected to carry out independent research on the topic, either through a review of relevant literature or through field or laboratory work.

Topic for
This course

A continuation of ART 322, exploring advanced research into combining book making techniques, with exploration of formal, theoretical and technical issues related to artist books as an expressive art form. Alternative and experimental processes are used to further develop the conceptual and visual narrative. The emphasis is for each student to produce a self-designed project that focuses on creating a cohesive body of work. PREREQUISITES: ART 322

Intended to serve as a capstone experience for students in studio art, this course is designed to complement and work in conjunction with the student’s preparations for the Senior Exhibition. It will cover the practical concerns relevant to working as a professional artist along with current issues pertinent to the contemporary art world. PREREQUISITES: Senior standing and declared major in Studio Art or consent of the instructor

Senior capstone in which students will benefit from direct input and feedback on their scientific writing and oral presentation skills as they complete senior experience projects and papers. Successful completion of BIOL 650 includes participation in BioFest, a symposium of biology senior experience projects during spring term. PREREQUISITES: Major in biology or biochemistry, or in neuroscience with departmental approval; and senior class standing or departmental approval

This course will examine the theories and methods practiced in art history. It will concentrate on key texts, from antiquity to the present, relating to the history and criticism of art and visual culture. Readings will include authors and texts that have come to define the discipline, and more recent authors who have begun to challenge those defining texts. PREREQUISITES: Junior standing