The material on this page is from the 1999-2000 catalog and may be out of date. Please check the current year's catalog for current information.
Professors Andrucki, Chair, and Kuritz, Acting Chair (winter semester); Associate Professor Nero; Assistant Professors Seeling and Kelley; Ms. Plavin, Mr. Pope.L, Mr. Williamson, Ms. Vecsey, Mr. Fuchs, Ms. Warren, and Ms. Williamson Winter 2000 Theater Addendum Notes Short Term 2000 Theater Addendum Notes The major in theater combines the study of dramatic literature from the Greeks to the present with work in acting, directing, dance, and design. Students thus acquire skills in production and performance while learning the history of one of the world's major forms of artistic expression. Majors are prepared for graduate work in the humanities or for further professional training in theater. The theater major is also a valuable asset for a wide variety of careers - such as business, law, or teaching - requiring collaborative effort, public poise, imagination, and a broad background in the liberal arts. In addition to its academic work, the department annually produces more than a dozen plays, dance concerts, and other performance events in its three theatres. These require the participation of large numbers of students, both majors and nonmajors. All members of the community are invited to join in the creation of these events. Majors in theater and rhetoric who are interested in secondary-school teaching should consult the Department of Education about requirements for teacher certification. The theater major is required to complete the following:
Pass/Fail Grading Option: No restrictions on the use of the pass/fail option within the major. Added 11/5/99. Effective beginning with Winter 2000 semester. Secondary Concentration in Theater. The secondary concentration in theater consists of six courses or units and other production and performance credits. Students interested in pursing a secondary concentration should consult with the department chair. Secondary Concentration in Dance. The dance program emphasizes original, creative work in dance, integrated into the mainstream of a liberal-arts education. The secondary concentration in dance consists of six courses or units and other production credits.
The following courses or equivalents are required:
One course from among: Students are expected to take modern technique and/or ballet twice a week and perform in two productions a year for a minimum of two years. In addition, 2.5 production credits are required. A summer at the three-week Bates Dance Festival is recommended, but not required. Pass/Fail Grading Option: No restrictions on the use of the pass/fail option within the secondary concentrations. Added 11/5/99. Effective beginning with Winter 2000 semester. General Education. Any theater Short Term unit except s50 may be used to fulfill the General Education requirement in humanities. Courses 101. An Introduction to Drama. A study of the elements of drama and performance focusing on selected periods in theater history: fifth-century Athens, England in the Renaissance, France in the seventeenth century, Russia and Scandinavia in the nineteenth century, and postmodern America. Readings may include works by Sophocles, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Molière, Ibsen, Chekhov, Brecht, Fornes, and S.-L. Parks. Topics for discussion include styles of acting and performance, the varieties of theater space, the principles of scene design, the function of the director, and the relationships between stage and society. Attendance at films and performances supplements work in class. M. Andrucki. 102. An Introduction to Film. A survey of film style and technique, including an overview of film history from the silent era to the present. Enrollment limited to 70. M. Andrucki. 110. Women in Film. This course investigates the depiction of women in film from the silent era to the present. Using feminist film criticism as a lens, it examines the impact of these film images on our society. The history of women filmmakers is also surveyed, highlighting the major contributors in the field. Enrollment limited to 50. E. Seeling. 130. Introduction to Design. An approach to the principles and elements of design, offering instruction in drawing, simple drafting, sculpture, painting, and costume and mask construction. Accompanying research in world styles of visual expression informs the exploration of line, mass, shape, time, space, light, and color. Research topics may include African festival, Islamic design, Asian dance-drama, European carnival, and Russian fairground theater. The goal of the course is to "tease out" a fresh expression using the simplest of elements. No previous artistic or theatrical training is required. Enrollment limited to 14. E. Seeling. 132. Stagecraft. This course provides an introduction to the technical skills and techniques used to stage theater productions. Students are introduced to theater terminology, stage lighting equipment, scenery and property construction, scene painting, sound engineering, and theater management. Crew work on department productions required. Enrollment limited to 25. J. Williamson. 200. The Classical Stage. According to the mad Frenchman Artaud, classical drama was the original "theater of cruelty." This course studies the aristocratic violence and punitive laughter of about a dozen tragedies and comedies from Aeschylus to Racine. Correlated readings in the theater history and dramatic theory of classical Greece and Rome, Elizabethan England, and seventeenth-century France establish the social and intellectual context for the most challenging and disturbing body of drama in the Western tradition. Required of all majors. Not open to students who have received credit for Theater 201. Open to first-year students. M. Andrucki. 210. The Revolutionary Stage. From 1700 to 1900, Europe was transformed by the revolutionary currents of radical politics, industrialization, and Romantic individualism. This course studies the impact of these forces on the central dramatic ideas of character and action in plays by (among others) Beaumarchais, Goethe, Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, and Shaw. Correlated readings in theater history and dramatic theory establish the cultural and intellectual context for these subversive playwrights. Required of all majors. Open to first-year students. P. Kuritz. 220. The Modern Stage. A visionary modern theorist of the stage wrote from his asylum cell, "We are not free and the sky can still fall on our heads. And the theater has been created to teach us that first of all." By examining the mirrors and masks of Pirandello and Genet, the incendiary rallying cries of Kaiser and Brecht, the erotic and violent silence of Pinter and Handke, and the surreal iconoclasms of Apollinaire and Shepard, this course surveys the ways the contemporary theater seeks to elucidate the baffling condition of humanity. Correlated readings in theater history and dramatic theory explore a cultural context that proclaims "ALL WRITING IS GARBAGE." Required of all majors. Open to first-year students. M. Andrucki. 225. The Grain of the Black Image. A study of the African American figure as represented in images from theater, movies, and television. Using the metaphor of "the grain" reduced by Roland Barthes and Regis Durand to "the articulation of the body...not that of language," this course explores issues of progress, freedom, and improvement, as well as content versus discontent. Correlated readings in critical literature and the major classical plays by Hansberry, Baraka, Lonnie Elder, and others, as well as viewings of recent movies and television shows. Open to first-year students. W. Pope.L. 226. Minority Images in Hollywood Film. African American scholar Carolyn F. Gerald has remarked: "Image means self-concept and whoever is in control of our image has the power to shape our reality." This course investigates the ideological, social, and theoretical issues important in the representation of racial and ethnic minorities in American film from the Depression to the civil rights movement. It examines the genres, stereotypes, and gender formations associated with film images of Native Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans. Open to first-year students. W. Pope.L. 227. Seventies and Eighties Avant-Garde Theater and Performance Art. This course is a hands-on poetic exploration of the binary territories of "language as object" and "subject as language" as they have been articulated in the work of contemporary performance-theater artists from Robert Wilson, Richard Foreman, and Fluxus to Holly Hughes, Karen Finley, and Jim Neu. Some background in performance is recommended. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 12. Written permission of the instructor is required. W. Pope.L. 228. Puppet Theater Workshop Production I.This course provides students an opportunity to participate in the development and production of a new play for puppet theater. Modified Bunraku, rod, and shadow puppets, as well as object animation, may be used in conjunction with live actors as dictated by the script. Participants help develop the script and learn puppet history, design, construction, and manipulation. The course culminates in workshop presentations of the play, with students performing and managing the technical needs of the production. Recommended background: Acting strongly recommended. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 14. E. Seeling. 231. Scene Design. A study of the dynamic use of stage space, from Renaissance masters to twentieth-century modernists, offering instruction in scale drawing, drafting, scene painting, model-making, and set construction. Students may use scheduled departmental productions as laboratories in their progress from play analysis and research to the realization of the design. This course focuses on the use of visual imagery to articulate textual idea, and is recommended for students with an interest in any area of drama and performance. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 101 or 130. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. Written permission of the instructor is required. E. Seeling. 232. Lighting Design: The Aesthetics of Light. This course provides an introduction to the unique aesthetic and technical considerations a lighting designer must make. Students examine the modern lighting aesthetic by studying popular culture and learning to translate these images to the stage. Students also are required to serve on a lighting crew for one of the department's productions and design part of the spring dance concert. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): one of the following: Theater 101, 130, or 132. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. Written permission of the instructor is required. J. Williamson. 233. Costume Design. An approach to costume design offering instruction in drawing the figure, color rendering, script and character analysis, and the various skills of costume construction from pattern-making to tailoring. Work in fabric printing, mask-making, and makeup is available to students with a special interest in these areas. Research in period styles informs the exploration of the design elements of line, shape, and color. The goals of the course are skill in the craft and the flair of creation. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 101 or 130. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 14. E. Seeling. 240. Playwriting. After reviewing the fundamentals of dramatic structure and characterization, students write one full-length or two one-act plays. Recommended background: two courses in theater or in dramatic literature. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. W. Pope.L. 241. Spanish Theater of the Golden Age. This course focuses on the study of Spanish classical drama of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Reading and critical analysis of selected dramatic works by Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina, Calderón de la Barca, Miguel de Cervantes, Ana Caro and María de Zayas, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, among others offer an insight into the totality of the dramatic spectacle of Spanish society during its imperial century. Conducted in Spanish. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Spanish 215 or 216. This course is the same as Spanish 241. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. B. Fra-Molinero. 242. Screenwriting. This course presents the fundamentals of screenwriting: plot, act-structure, character development, conflict, dialogue, and format. Lectures, writing exercises, and analyses of contemporary films, such as Happiness, American Beauty and Sleepless in Seattle, are used to provide the student with the tools to create a short screenplay. Prerequisite(s): Theater 240. Written permission of the instructor is required. Open to first year students. Enrollment is limited to 12. W. Pope.L. First offered Fall 2000. 250. Twentieth-Century American Dance I. Dance activity in America presents an overwhelming array of talent and diversity ranging from turn-of-the-century artists such as Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis, through such mid-century innovators as Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey, to Merce Cunningham and the Judson Dance theater in the sixties. In addition to these artists, the course studies dances from musicals and ballets by choreographers such as George Balanchine and Agnes De Mille. Most works are seen on video, but students also attend live performances. Open to first-year students. M. Plavin. 251. Dance Composition. Through movement experiences, discussions, and readings, this course explores a variety of approaches to the creative process, such as improvisation; short compositional studies; and problem-solving techniques involving imagery, art, and music. Emphasis is on creation and organization of these movement materials into a coherent and communicative whole. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15. M. Plavin. 252. Twentieth-Century American Dance II. This course focuses on a variety of contemporary questions in dance, including the following: What is the "body image" that grows out of our culture's view of the body? How do cultural diversity and cultural blending influence contemporary dance? How are gender roles and sexuality finding expression through movement? Discussions center on the ways choreographers and dancers confront these issues. Most works are seen on video, but students also attend live performances. Open to first-year students. M. Plavin. 253A. Dance Repertory Performance I. Modern dance consists of a plethora of styles with each choreographer's process and technique expressed through his or her work. In this course, students experience three points of view with three different guest artists as each guest artist sets a piece on them during an intensive short-term residency. Students perform each piece informally at the end of each residency and in a formal setting on the stage with costumes and lights at the end of the semester. Recommended background: previous dance experience. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. Written permission of the instructor is required. M. Plavin. 253B. Dance Repertory Performance II. Continued study of dance for performance with artists in residence. Prerequisite(s): Theater 253A. Enrollment limited to 20. Written permission of the instructor is required. M. Plavin. 261. Beginning Acting. This course introduces the student to the physiological processes involved in creative acting. The student studies the Stanislavski approach to the analysis of realistic and naturalistic drama. Exercises leading to relaxation, concentration, and imagination are included in an improvisational context. Studies in motivation, sense perception, and emotion-memory recall lead the student to beginning work on scene performance. Not open to senior majors in theater. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 16. P. Kuritz. 262. Acting for the Classical Repertory. Students extend their basic acting technique to explore the classical dramas of the world's stages. The unique language of the dramas - verse - is explored as both an avenue to character study and to vocal and physical representation. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 261. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff. 263. Voice and Speech. Students examine the nature and working of the human voice. Students explore ways to develop the voice's potential for expressive communication with exercises and the analysis of breathing, vocal relaxation, pitch, resonance, articulation, audibility, dialect, and text performance. Recommended background: one course in acting or performance or public speaking. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. K. Vecsey. 264. Voice and Gender. This course focuses on the gender-related differences in voice from the beginning of language acquisition through learning and development of a human voice. A variety of interdisciplinary perspectives is examined according to the different determinants of voice production - physiological, psychological, social interactional, and cultural. Students explore how race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and age affect vocal expression. Students also analyze "famous" and "attractive" human voices and discuss what makes them so. Recommended background: Theater 263 and/or Women's Studies 100. This course is the same as Women's Studies 264. Open to first-year students. K. Vecsey. 300. Theories of the Stage. A survey of some of the major Western ideas about the moral, political, and spiritual purposes of the theater. Readings include selections from The Republic, Aristotle's Poetics, essays by Renaissance and eighteenth-century neoclassicists, and works by various radicals and romantics of the modern era. Prerequisite(s): one of the following: Theater 200, 210, 220, 225, Classics 202, English 213, or 214. Staff. 360. Independent Study. Independent work in such areas as stage management, directing, and speech. Departmental approval is required. Students are limited to one independent study per semester. Staff. 363. Playing Comedy. Students extend their basic acting technique to explore the peculiar nature of comic performance on stage. Concepts of normalcy, incongruity, ignorance, power, and situation are applied to comic traits, invention, and diction. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 261. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. 365. Special Topics. Offered occasionally in selected subjects. Staff. 370. Directing. An introduction to the art of directing, with an emphasis on creative and aesthetic problems and their solutions. Included is an examination of the director's relationship to the text, the design staff, and the actor. The approach is both theoretical and practical, involving readings, rehearsal observation, and the directing of scenes and short plays. Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): Theater 261. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. 457, 458. Senior Thesis. By departmental invitation only. A substantial academic or artistic project. Students register for Theater 457 in the fall semester and for Theater 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both Theater 457 and 458. Staff. Short Term Units s10. Bates Theater Abroad. Bates students produce a play in a theater outside the United States. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff. s11. Theater in London. A study of contemporary theater production in London. For four weeks student attend a variety of plays and performance events from the classical to the avant-garde. Concurrently, students read a number of important modern critical texts on the nature and purpose of the stage, including works by Brecht, Beckett, Artaud, and Peter Brook. During the fifth week of the unit, students return to Bates to write about their experiences in London. Recommended background: one course in theater or dramatic literature. Written permission of the instructor is required. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 15. M. Andrucki. s22. Contemporary Performance Poetry. An investigation of poetry as a performance medium. Included is a historical overview comparing the European traditions of Dadaism, Futurism, and their proponents in America to the Afro-American tradition exemplified by Shange, Baraka, and present-day hip-hop rappers. The approach is theoretical and practical, utilizing readings, discussion, film, recordings, and texts created and performed by students. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. W. Pope.L. s24. Advanced Performance-Theater. Within a festival/workshop format and working under the supervision of faculty and visiting artists, students explore and extend their knowledge of making performance-theater. The unit includes physical work and studio games; reading/discussion of cutting edge performance-theater practice and theory; creating, performing, and producing performance-theater works; and master classes and performances by visiting artists. There is a materials fee of $25.00 per student. Recommended background: Theater 227. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 24. Written permission of the instructor is required. E. Seeling, W. Pope.L. s25. Ballroom Dance: Past to Present. From 1875 through the turn of the century, social dancers in America rebelled against proper dance and the court dances of Northern Europe and Great Britain. This gave a new look to dance, introducing exotic, playful music and a new attitude of what social dance in America could be. In this unit, students learn the movements and study the cultures and histories of dances that were inspired by this new music. This unit begins with dances from the early 1900s and continues through ragtime, the swing era, the Latin invasion, jitterbug, and disco, to the present day of dancesport. The unit culminates with three performances based on the swing, the tango, and Latin American rhythms. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. M. Plavin. s26. Theater Production Workshop I. Working under faculty supervision and with visiting professional artists, student actors, directors, designers, and technicians undertake the tasks necessary to produce a play. Readings and discussions explore various ways of understanding and producing a text. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. s28. The Living Stage: Theater in New York. A study of contemporary theater focusing on the experience of live performance in New York City. An initial on-campus period of reading and discussion of relevant modern texts precedes about two weeks of intensive theatergoing in New York. The unit surveys works from the Broadway mainstream to the farthest reaches of "off-off-Broadway," and includes performances by artists and ensembles representing the enormous variety of cultural perspectives available in America's largest city. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. M. Andrucki. s29A. Dance as a Collaborative Art I. The integration of dance and the other arts for the purpose of producing a forty-minute piece that is performed mostly for elementary school children. The productions, usually choreographed by guest artists during the first two weeks of Short Term, encompass a wide variety of topics from dances of different cultures to stories that are movement-based. Subject matter varies from year to year. Students participate in all aspects of the dance production necessary to tour for a three-week period of teaching and performing in schools throughout Maine. Open to dancers and non-dancers. Enrollment limited to 25. M. Plavin. s29B. Dance as a Collaborative Art II. Continued study of the integration of dance and the other arts for performance. Prerequisite(s): Theater s29A. Enrollment limited to 25. M. Plavin. s29C. Dance as a Collaborative Art III. Further study of the integration of dance and the other arts for performance. Prerequisite(s): Theater s29B. Enrollment limited to 25. M. Plavin. s30. Theater Production Workshop II. Experienced students, working under faculty supervision and occasionally with visiting professional artists, produce a play under strict time, financial, and material constraints. Readings and discussions explore various ways of understanding and producing a play. Prerequisite(s): Theater s26. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. s32. Theater Production Workshop III. The most experienced theater students work under faculty supervision and in leadership positions with other students in the production of a play. Readings and discussions challenge students' notions about acting, directing, and design for the theater. Prerequisite(s): Theater s26 and s30. Written permission of the instructor is required. P. Kuritz. s36. Work-Study Internship in Theater. Qualified students participate in the artistic and educational programs of professional theater companies. Each intern is supervised by a staff member. By specific arrangement and departmental approval only. Recommended background: two courses in acting, directing, design, or playwriting; participation in departmental productions. Open to first-year students. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff. s50. Individual Research. Registration in this unit is granted by the department only after the student has submitted a written proposal for a full-time research project to be completed during the Short Term and has secured the sponsorship of a member of the department to direct the study and evaluate results. Students are limited to one individual research unit. Staff.
The major in rhetoric offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of human communication. Students complete a series of core courses in rhetorical theory and criticism, complemented by courses on language, media, and communication drawn from the curricula of other departments. All students complete a senior thesis. The major in rhetoric consists of eleven courses distributed as follows:
General Education. Any rhetoric Short Term unit except s50 may be used to satisfy the General Education requirement in the humanities. Courses 150. Trials of Conscience. Why do people sue when they could kill? This course examines trials from the classical and medieval periods (e.g., Socrates, Joan of Arc), as well as theoretical models for the role of litigation in Western culture. The course considers the role litigation plays in both generating and containing a critique of dominant ideology. It explores the interpretative problems that the rhetorical nature of the sources poses for historical analysis of these trials. Students analyze the rhetorical strategies that the actors in these trials deployed to fashion an identity in opposition to their communities, and analyze why these strategies usually failed at the trial but succeeded in subsequent historical memory. All readings are in English. This course is the same as Classical and Medieval Studies 150. M. Imber. 155. What is Rhetoric? Although the oldest discipline, rhetoric may be the least understood. Aristotle defined rhetoric as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." In this course, students learn to identify the various means of persuasion and understand how they work in different rhetorical situations. Rhetorical artifacts examined include political speeches, campaign advertising, television programs, print ads, editorials, music, film, Internet sites, and social movement rhetoric. Required of all majors. Open to first-year students. S. Kelley 160. Classical Rhetoric. The Romans ran the ancient world by the sword, but also by the word. This course explores how they did the latter. Readings include classical works about rhetoric, examples of classical oratory, and the variety of exercises by which the practice of rhetoric was taught. Writing assignments include analyses of speeches by classical orators, as well as a range of ancient rhetorical exercises such as fables, speeches of praise and invective, persuasive speeches to historical figures, and mock courtroom speeches. The course concludes with an examination of the Gettysburg Address and consideration of its debt to classical rhetorical theory. All readings are in English. This course is the same as Classical and Medieval Studies 160. M. Imber. 185. Public Discourse. This course is designed to develop an awareness of and skill in the techniques needed by a speaker in varying situations, from the large gathering to the small group. Students study and compose public speeches on various political issues. Enrollment limited to 24. S. Kelley. 195. Documentary Production. This course provides an introduction to documentary production, including videography, sound, lighting, and editing. Students learn both to produce documentaries and to recognize the importance of production decisions in shaping the meanings and influence of documentaries. Students collaboratively produce short documentaries on subjects of their own design. Recommended background: prior production experience and coursework in film criticism. Enrollment limited to 16. Written permission of the instructor is required. D. Warren. 255. Moving Pictures: The Rhetoric of Committed Documentary. Committed documentary filmmakers and photographers have traditionally sought to expose social problems, challenge ways of seeing, and mobilize support for political action. This course surveys the history and rhetorical techniques of documentary film and photography from the social reformers of the nineteenth century to the bold experimentalists of the present. Special attention is devoted to the work of women documentarists. Extensive film viewing is required. Open to first-year students. Staff. 260. Lesbian and Gay Images in Film. This course investigates the representation of lesbians and gays in film from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the contemporary independent filmmaking movement. Topics may include the effect of the "closet" on Hollywood film, homophobic imagery, international queer films, "camp" as a visual and narrative code for homosexuality, independent filmmaking movement, and the debates about queer visibility in contemporary mass market and independent films. Open to first-year students. C. Nero. 265. The Rhetoric of Women's Rights. Prior to the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920, women were almost totally without political, economic, or social power. Because of their situation, women necessarily employed rhetorical means to attain the goal of women's suffrage. This course is a study of the oratory of the women's suffrage movement. Specifically, it highlights the barriers women faced and how they dealt with those difficulties rhetorically. Students in this course learn and apply the tools of rhetorical criticism in order to identify, describe, and evaluate the speakers of the movement and their ideas. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 30. S. Kelley. 275. African American Public Address. This course is a study of the history of oratory by African American women and men. Students examine religious, political, and ceremonial speeches. Historical topics include the abolition of slavery, Reconstruction, suffrage, the black women's club movement, Garveyism, and the civil rights and Black Power movements. Contemporary topics include affirmative action, gender politics, poverty, education, and racial identity. Open to first-year students. C. Nero. 278. The Rhetoric of Nuclear Culture, 1939-1964. The first quarter-century of the nuclear age witnessed the development, use, testing, and threatened use of atomic weapons. This course examines the diverse political, social, and cultural responses to life in the shadow of the bomb, including government public-relations campaigns, schoolhouse rehearsals for Armageddon, and organized political protest. Weekly laboratory sessions feature documentary and fiction films on nuclear issues, from Duck and Cover to Dr. Strangelove, from Godzilla to The Atomic Café. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. Staff. 289. Hate, the State, and Representation. This course examines the representational strategies that the state employs to establish and maintain a stable identity among its constituencies by identifying and disciplining "deviance." Possible topics include: body politics in the French Revolution; race and role models in contemporary culture; nationalism and sexuality in Western Europe; citizenship, "rootlessness," and the Roma (Gypsies) in Eastern Europe; and race, disease, and genocide in the Tuskegee syphilis experiment. This course is the same as Art 289 and Political Science 289. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 54. C. Nero, J. Richter, E. Rand. 291. Introduction to Debate. A theoretical and practical study of academic debate designed for students without extensive previous experience in the activity. Lectures in debate theory are accompanied by student participation in several different debate formats, including a regularly scheduled public-discussion forum. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. Staff. 331. Rhetorical Theory and Practice. A study of the historical evolution of rhetorical theory through reading and analysis of primary texts, from classical times to the present. Students write, present, and discuss papers analyzing divergent rhetorical perspectives and refining their own. Specific attention is given to feminist and African American rhetoric. Prerequisite(s): one course in rhetoric. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15. S. Kelley. 360. Independent Study. Independent work in such areas as stage management, directing, and speech. Departmental approval is required. Students are limited to one independent study per semester. Staff. 365. Special Topics. Offered occasionally in selected subjects. Staff. 386. Language and Communication of Black Americans. Charles Dickens wrote in 1842 that "all the women who have been bred in slave states speak more or less like Negroes, from having been constantly in their childhood with black nurses." This course examines the linguistic practices of African Americans alluded to by Dickens. Readings focus on the historical development of "Black English" as a necessary consequence of contact between Europeans and Africans in the New World; on patterns and styles of African American communication such as call-and-response, signifying, and preaching; and on sociopolitical issues such as naming traditions, racial/ethnic identity, gender and language acquisition, and education and employment policy. Recommended background: Philosophy 266. Enrollment limited to 15. C. Nero. 390. Contemporary Rhetoric. A seminar devoted to the close textual analysis of recent and provocative political discourse. The texts for analysis are drawn from various media, including controversial political speeches, documentaries, music, and advertising. This course is designed to offer students extensive personal experience in criticism and to introduce key concepts in critical theory and practice. Enrollment limited to 15. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff. 391. Topics in Rhetorical Criticism. The topic varies from semester to semester. The seminar relies largely upon individual student research, reports, and discussion. Enrollment limited to 15. Staff. 391A. The Rhetoric of Alien Abduction. This seminar examines the discourse surrounding UFOs and alien abduction. Texts are drawn from various media including print, television, film, and the Internet. Topics for discussion revolve around issues of social influence and popular culture. The course examines conspiracy, narrative, television criticism, the Internet, the rhetoric of outer space, and intertextuality. Prerequisite(s): one course in rhetoric. Recommended background: Rhetoric 331 or a criticism course. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 15. S. Kelley. 457, 458. Senior Thesis. A substantial academic or artistic project. Students register for Rhetoric 457 in the fall semester and for Rhetoric 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both Rhetoric 457 and 458. Staff. Short Term Units s18. The Goldberg Canon: Makin' Whoopi! Whoopi Goldberg has been a locus of cultural contradictions since her arrival in the public's consciousness. Her dark skin and perennially nappy hair defy cultural standards about female beauty, yet she is one of a handful of actresses who can open big budget hollywood films. The same Hollywood film industry acknowledges her as a "leading lady," yet it has seldom given her "leading lady" roles. This course examines Goldberg's film and television performances, her career as a humorist, and her controversial persona as an antagonistic public figure. Some of the social and cultural issues students address in this unit include skin color and hair texture chauvinism, the grotesque and the comical, racial and gender stereotypes, black lesbianism, and discourses about the black female body. Open to first-year student. C. Nero. s21. Documentary Video Production. In this unit, students direct and produce video documentaries on subjects of their own selection. Classic documentaries are viewed and discussed in class. Students make weekly presentations of their work-in-progress and analyze the works of others. Prior course work or production experience in film or video is recommended. Enrollment limited to 12. Written permission of the instructor is required. D. Warren. s23. Debate Touring. Students research, analyze, prepare briefs upon, and debate a public-policy topic selected by the instructor for presentation to various audiences. Recommended background: Rhetoric 291. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 4. Written permission of the instructor is required. Staff. s30. TV Criticism: Prime-Time Women. In this unit, television programs are examined to understand how they negotiate social issues. Specifically, rhetorical approaches to television are employed to underscore the usefulness of critical attention to television discourse. Programs such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Bewitched, Charlie's Angels, The Honeymooners, I Dream of Jeannie, and Murphy Brown are examined to reveal how women's roles have been articulated and represented to the American public. The development of feminist themes are then examined in contemporary television programs, such as Law and Order, The X Files, Ally McBeal, Friends, and Sex in the City, to assess the current condition of "prime-time women." Prerequisite(s): one course in rhetoric. Recommended background: a course in criticism/critical methods. Open to first year students. S. Kelley. s50. Individual Research. Registration in this unit is granted by the department only after the student has submitted a written proposal for a full-time research project to be completed during the Short Term and has secured the sponsorship of a member of the department to direct the study and evaluate results. Students are limited to one individual research unit. Staff.
|