Apr 26, 2024

2011-2012 University Catalog

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2011-2012 University Catalog [Archived Catalogue]

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Course Renumbering

Commencing with the 2013-14 academic year the University began a multi-year course renumbering. For additional information visit the Course Renumbering page on the Office of the Registrar website.

Renumbered Course List

Division of Liberal Arts
Many courses within the Division of Liberal Arts commencing with the Summer and Fall 2014 terms will be offered under new course numbers. Students registering for Summer 2014 coursework and beyond will do so using the new course numbers.

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Liberal Arts - Languages & Literature
	LALL 930 - Shakespeare 3 credits The dramatic works of the supreme writer of the English Renaissance: Shakespeare. A selection of his comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances are read. Focuses on the plays not only as literary accomplishments but also as theatrical performances existing in three-dimensional space. Concerned with both the parameters of the original Renaissance stage and with modern translations and transformations of the plays. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LALL 951 - American Playwrights 3 credits A study of the American theater in the past 75 years, looking at the works of such authors as O’Neill, Miller, Williams, Albee, and Shepard. Theater trips as well as showings of filmed plays. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LALL 953 - Art of Song Lyric 3 credits A study of how modern song lyrics developed from the ancient tradition of lyric poetry and folk ballads and hymns. Close analysis of notable song lyrics in terms of the theme, settings narrative, character, imagery, drama and emotion. Genres include opera, blues, jazz, cabaret, musical comedy, rock, and hip-hop. Popular and classical songs are examined to show the problems and challenges of putting words to music. Performance and interpretation will also be considered. There is a substantial writing requirement: students may elect to study song lyrics or librettos or to write original song lyrics of their own. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LALL 955 - Dante in the Modern World 3 credits The course explores Dante’s journey in the Divine Comedy, his search for order, for answers to ultimate questions, and his inspiration of artists in various media, such as Baudelaire, T.S. Eliot, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Rodin, Rauschenberg. The main subject for the study is ‘Inferno’ with references to the Purgatorio and the Paradiso. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LALL 961 - Avant Garde Cinema 3 credits This course examines the arts and history of experimental film and video. The class emphasizes the development of non-traditional forms and structures, specifically the exploration of mental states, visual metaphors and process. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LALL 963 - American Film Genres 3 credits A consideration of a particular film genre and style in cinema, which may include film noir, horror, comedy, political film, and independent film, and varying from semester to semester. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LALL 964 - Electronic Video 3 credits The course traces the history of video as an art form from the early 1960s to the present. Basic film concepts are reviewed in their application to emerging new electronic formats. Video art is examined in all of its aspects as computer art, installation, and sculpture. The survey explores the variety of styles, genres, and forms that constitute the distinctive achievement of American video art. The videotapes and documentation of artists’ projects are examined and placed within the social and cultural context in which they were produced. The market forces and the political/psychological systems shaping the audience and creating an increasingly problematic role for artists are an important consideration. Prerequisites LACR*102
	LALL 965 - Literature and Film: From Text to Screen 3 credits Explores the conceptual and the technical leap between the written text and its transformation to a cinematic text on the screen. The students examine what happens to plot, characterization, bound and free description when a narrative text is converted to an audio-visual presentation. In certain examples, the transformation of narrative structure is from the novel to the screenplay to the finished film. Students gain insights into the relationships between written and filmed dialogue, between written description and cinematic mise-en-scene, between the novel’s omniscient narrator and the film’s voice-over. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LALL 966 - Becoming an Artist 3 credits Texts by Mann, Rilke, Joyce, and Cather are used to explore the idea of artistic vocation in the modern era, leading to exploration in the fields of poetry, sculpture, painting, music, and opera. Prerequisites LACR*102
	LALL 973 - Advanced Playwriting 3 credits A follow-up to Playwriting. Students further develop their writing and revising skills. In addition, the class analyzes selected contemporary plays and write playwrights’ critiques of modern theatrical practices. Students complete a polished one-act or radio drama. Prerequisites LALL*873
	LALL 974 - Advanced Poetry Workshop 3 credits An extension of the knowledge and experience of reading and writing poetry that students gained in the Poetry Writing Workshop. Students write, revise, and critique original poems, review individual books of poems, and survey the broad sweep of contemporary poetry. Prerequisites LALL*871
	LALL 975 - Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop 3 credits A follow-up to the Fiction Writing Workshop. Students produce, critique, read, and revise short stories in a more intensive environment. Goals are to hone critical skills, develop and refine students’ individual voices, and provide a portfolio of finished pieces. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	THEA 355 - Playwriting 3 credits This workshop course introduces students to the discipline of writing for theater and radio. Focusing on the elements necessary for the creation of producible scripts, the student develops practical skills leading to the creation of a short work for stage or radio by the end of the semester. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
Liberal Arts - Period Interpretation
	LAPI 811 - Art Nouveau and Aestheticism 3 credits Many threads of social, political, cultural, technological, architectural, crafts, and art history are drawn together to explore the foundations of Art Nouveau and Aestheticism and their manifestations in Europe and the United States. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 817 - Self and Nature: the Dynamics of Romantic Landscape 3 credits This course features literature and painting of the Romantic era in England and Germany, with excursions to France and America and into the medium of music. We observe how landscape description in Romanticism developed a new vocabulary for experience of the self and the self’s relation to nature and community. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 820 - Rome From Julius Caesar Through Nero 3 credits This course is a study of the transition of Rome from a Republic to an Empire, focusing on the Julio-Claudian line, which began with Julius Caesar and ended with Nero. This course examines the historical background and the religious, social, and economic issues that facilitated such a transition. Accompanying the transition was a flourishing of poetry, due in part to the patronage system and in part to increased literacy of the Roman people. Economic prosperity among the upper classes led to an increased demand for architecture, visual arts (painting and sculpture), and public entertainment (theater, music and dance, spectacles, gladiatorial combats). At the same time, the division among the social classes became even more dramatic, and government censorship and intrusion into private life emerged as major concerns under Augustus. Through the use of primary sources, class handouts, and independent study, students are encouraged to investigate the transition from Republic to Empire and to explore possible parallels in contemporary U.S. history. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 821 - Religion, Art and the Apocalypse: 1850 - 1914 3 credits An examination of the apocalyptic themes in the context of modern intellectual and artistic developments in the West at the turn of the 20th century. Connections are drawn between religious interpretations of the Apocalypse and the apocalyptic motifs in modern art and literature. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 822 - Age of Reason, Age of Satire: 18th Century England 3 credits “The course examines the cultural history of England in the 18th century, focusing on two preoccupations of the day: rationalism and satire. The class introduces the philosophic and political documents that justified the American and French Revolutions, and then turns to satire in fiction in the visual arts. The term closes with a discussion of 20th century satire, our legacy from the Enlightenment and Revolutionary periods.” Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 823 - Victorian England: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? 3 credits This course is a study of the two faces of Victorian England: 1) the respectable and highly moralistic image reflected in much of the art as well as in social and cultural norms, and 2) the underbelly of violence and perversion, reflected not only in the decadent artists of the 1890s but also in the social underworld of Jack the Ripper and the increasing population of prostitutes. The course also examines the historical background and the political, social, and economic issues that made such a dichotomy virtually inevitable. Artists who understood this dichotomy, in varying terms, are emphasized: Stevenson, Tennyson, Browning, the Pre-Raphaelites, Gilbert and Sullivan, Wilde, and Beardsley. Through reading, lectures, class discussion, and independent study students investigate the two faces of Victorian England and explore possible parallels in contemporary U.S. society. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 824 - “orientalism”: 19th Century European Eyes on the Middle E. 3 credits “The ‘Orient’ (the land and its peoples included in the Ottoman Empire in the Near East, North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, and the Arabian peninsula) as seen by 19th century European travelers, artists, poets, adventures, wayfarers, do-gooders, soldiers, and colonial officials; i.e., ‘outsiders’ in cultures they observed, imagined, marveled at, or exploited - sometimes all of them simultaneously - in their art. The history and culture of 19th century colonial expansion is studied as is the modern discourse surrounding it.” Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 825 - Age of Melancholy 3 credits Renaissance models of the self and their assimilation into artistic work. An exploration of how social forces drove individuals toward subjectivity and looks at how the then current medical models coped with this new concern through 16th and 17th century lyric and dramatic poetry. Parallels are also traced among literature, print culture, and music. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 826 - Renaissance: Politics, Religion and Money 3 credits “A exploration of three modern interpretations of the Renaissance, political, religious and economic against central texts from the period to both test their validity and gain a wider understanding of the texts themselves. Modern interpretations include those of Burckhardt, Weber, and Marx.” Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 827 - Greece: Democracy and Empire 3 credits Greece: Democracy and Empire is an introduction to classical Greece. It explores the historic forces, intellectual currents, and cultural and social phenomena that shaped 5th century Athens and analyzes the tensions between imperialistic aspirations and artistic production. The course investigates the way in which the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars shaped and challenged Greek ideas about humanness and civilization. It analyzes and interprets Greek drama to see the extent to which it attempted to work out the often contradictory values in the culture. Students examine both extant theoretical writings on dance and the vase painting to understand their performative aspect. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 828 - Philadelphia in the Age of Enlightenment 3 credits Philadelphia in the Age of Enlightenment considers the history of Philadelphia from 1750 to 1800, and the place of Philadelphia within the history of colonial British North America and the early United States. This multi-disciplinary course focuses on the history, politics, art, literature, science, and philosophy of that place and time. The course emphasizes Philadelphia’s role as the center of Enlightenment thought in America. Prerequisites LACR102 and LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).
	LAPI 830 - 19th Century Gothic 3 credits This course examines the 19th century Gothic Arts Movement in literature, dance, painting, architecture, and music. The irrational, nightmare world of the Gothic revolts against the orderly Enlightenment, immerses us in the darker side of Romanticism, and leads us to the 20th century’s fascination with the subconscious and the shadow self. Prerequisites LACR102 and LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).
	LAPI 831 - Chartres Cathedral: Politics, Society, And the Arts in 12th - 13th Century France 3 credits “A consideration of the architecture, sculpture, stained glass, illuminated manuscripts, costume and liturgical vessels, and music that contributed to Chartres Cathedral, the major gothic monument of the 12th-13th century France. At the end of the course, we consider the work presently being done to configure a sacred space in New York to honor the 9/11 site.” Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 832 - Bodily and Spiritual Love in the Middle Ages 3 credits An investigation of the language of erotic and religious love in the rich art and thought of the late Middle Ages. Resources include painting, book illumination, music, spiritual literature, theology, philosophy. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 834 - Age of the Medici: 1375-1500 3 credits A study of Florence in the Renaissance in the context of other Italian city-states. Covering the period from the republican regime at the end of the 14th century to the Medici’s assumption of power as dukes, the course examines the pursuit of humanistic studies that sustained the republican ideology of that society; Florence’s political and societal evolution from a republic to an autocratic regime; the flourishing arts and sciences, particularly under the rule of the Medici. It also investigates why, at that time, the city enjoyed an exceptional burst of intellectual and artistic creativity despite the erosion of political freedom. In the course we make use of primary sources and modern scholarship. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 836 - Study Abroad: 18th Century London and Bath 3 cr, 3 hrs This course complements LAPI 822 Age of Reason, Age of Satire. The 14 day excursion will consider essential aspects of English Enlightenment culture - architecture, collecting and museum building, spa and social life, science, imperial expansion - with site visits to Bath, Greenwich, the British Museum, John Soane’s House, Kenwood House, the Tate Britain, the Wallace Collection, etc. Students willl attend twice-weekly lectures, keep a trip journal, and, after our return, submit a substantial paper on Enlightenment England. Prerequisites Prerequisites: LACR 102 and LACR 210 Not repeatable for credit.
	LAPI 920 - Berlin: The 1920s 3 credits The 20th century saw a cultural shift of nearly seismic proportions from communal sources of identity to an apparent freedom to invent the self, from work ethic to consumer values, from traditional word-based forms of expression to a visual culture. The artists and writers of Weimar, Germany were among the first to register these revolutionary social changes and to articulate the tensions they continue to generate. The course emphasizes film, photographic and graphic arts, and performance from Berlin. Examples include works by Bertolt Brecht, Fritz Lang, and John Heartfield. The course connects the past to the present by comparing issue-based art of the 1920s with cultural critiques by contemporary media artists. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 923 - The Age of Apartheid 3 credits By focusing on the apartheid era of South Africa, this interdisciplinary course explores critical issues of the 20th century, such as racism, economic exploitation, urbanization, and political protest. We use South African theater, literature, and music to understand the culture that gave them birth, and read original sources written by leaders such as Gandhi, De Klerk, and Mandela. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 924 - Existentialist Paris: 1938-1959 3 credits An examination of the central ideas and creative works associated with Parisian Existentialism and the way in which they both shaped, and were shaped by, the cultural period in which they emerged: Nazi-occupied Paris, the liberated Paris after World War II, and the Cold War. Other artistic productions not specifically linked with existentialism but which emerged during its period of ascendance are also explored. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 925 - New York in the 1950’S 3 credits This course investigates the arts centered in 1950s New York (with an emphasis on jazz, literature, and painting) in the context of a decade characterized by rising consumerism, conformity, corporate capitalism, and emerging popular arts that would reshape American culture from then on. This is also the decade of Red Scare paranoia, A-bomb anxiety, Cold War blues, and deep doubts about the American Dream. In addition to the assigned readings, papers, and discussions, students pursue their own interests in the decade through individual projects in the second half of the course. As a supplement to the course, a number of special screening of films important to the decade are shown several times during the term. Students are expected to see and complete exercises on at least three of the films. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 926 - Les Amis de Paris: 1904-1913 3 credits This course examines the friendship and work of a select group of artists living in Paris between 1904 and 1913. Studying the biographical and interpersonal layers of their relationships and artwork provides new insight into the legacy of these masters. The literature of Gertrude Stein, Apollinaire, and others, the visual art of Picasso, Matisse and the Cubists, as well as other materials and mediums contribute to understanding how this particular circle of friends cultivated the artistic and intellectual leaps that created Modernism. Interdisciplinary methods for creating cultural models are explored. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 927 - Becoming Modern: 1900-1914 3 credits An exploration of the innovations in the arts in the first decade and a half of the 20th century when becoming Modern was the challenge facing every artist. The results were works that called into question almost every previous assumption about the arts. This was a period also characterized by radical changes in technology, in science, in philosophy, and in politics. This course investigates a wide range of material in order to bring some clarity to the elusive term “”modern.”” In addition to the assigned readings, papers, and discussions, students pursue their own interests in the decade through independent study side trips in the second half of the course. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 928 - Franco’s Spain: An Open Wound 3 credits Spanish history from 1700 to the present, focusing most heavily on the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975). Students learn about the War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713), the Bourbon Monarchy and Eighteenth Century Reforms (1700-1808), the Peninsular War (1808-1814), the turbulent 19th century, the First Republic (1873-74), the military dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923-1930), the Second Republic (1831-36), the transition to democracy (1975-1978), and Spain since the death of Franco. Students also discuss Spanish poetry (Miguel de Unamuno), art (Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, and Pablo Picasso), novels and plays (Hemingway’s ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and Lora’s ‘Yerma’), and memoirs about the Spanish Civil War (George Orwell’s ‘Homage to Catalonia’). Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 929 - Age of the Masses 3 credits Age of the Masses: From Versailles to September 1, 1939, focuses on the aftermath of WWI and looks at the period as one where the dissolution of old social orders led to the emergence of the crowds as catalysts in the tensions between liberalism, conservativism and socialism. Students will look at essays, poems, films, and listen to music. The most extensive part of the course, however, will consider the work of three poets, Cesar Vallejo, W.H. Auden, and Bertolt Brecht to analyze the ways in which each of these writers commented on central historic events, while exploring the tensions between art and wider social concerns, ultimately testing the humanistic assumptions inherent to all works of art against historical reality. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 930 - Age of Consumer Culture 1945 - 1972 3 credits The course explores the way in which consumer culture redefined America in the post-war period and transformed its culture. This course explores the reconfiguration of space, focusing in particular on the rise of the suburb, television and malls, and the ways in which these redefined the role of public and private, reshaping art, politics and audiences. Students will look at poetry, fiction, and the visual arts and trace their reaction from an initial anti-materialistic critique to gradual incorporation and appropriation. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 931 - Thunder At Dusk: Art and Politics in Turn-Of-The-Century Vienna 3 credits This course examines signature developments in painting, theater, music, poetry, fiction, philosophy, psychology and design in the extraordinary environment of turn-of-the-century Vienna. Figures sure to be covered include Freud, Mahler, Schoenberg, Kafka, Trakl, Klimt, Schiele, and others. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 932 - Race At the End of the 20th Century 3 credits n the last decade of the 20th century, many writers, politicians, and artists attempted to take stock of race relations in the United States. Bill Clinton’s assertion that Americans still had some “”unfinished business’ in this area was demonstrated by events such as the LA riots and the OJ Simpson verdict. By focusing on this period, we will explore the ongoing issues of race and racism in our society, as well as how they intersect with issues like class and gender. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 933 - Hard Times: Arts of the Great Depression 3 credits In 1935, Congress voted a New Deal for artists. This experiment in public arts funding was short-lived (Congress soon had second thoughts), but the writers, actors and photographers of “”The Project”” left a remarkable testimony to what we were, what we still are - and to what we long become as a nation. Tax dollars for federal theatre wasn’t a vote-getter in Texas, but during The Great Depression everyone went to the movies. Gangster movies, screwball comedies, and musicals gave a everybody a good time during hard times. Furthermore, even the funniest period films take a serious look at our American ambivalence toward success, wealth and power. New cultural forces changed public life; it was in 30s radio that we first see media transforming American politics. Although we will look at traditional mediums - murals, prints, posters, and public sculpture - and read poetry and novels from the period, our emphasis will be on media culture. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103, and LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 934 - The Blues 3 credits This course examines African-American social and cultural history at the crossroads of folklore, literacy narrative, and politics as it is reflected in and expressed by the musical idiom of the blues. Drawing from folk traditions, song, historical texts, documentary film, recorded and live music, dramatic literature, and dance, the course will apply interdisciplinary and ethnographic modes of analysis to interpret modern American cultural and social history. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).
	LAPI 935 - Spain After Franco: the Flowering of the Arts Since 1975 3 credits This course provides a close examination of the visual and performing arts of Spain, from the 1980s to the present day. Through selected readings, in-class discussions, film screenings, field trips, guest speakers, lecture-demonstration, and student presentations, we will develop an in-depth understanding of what this complex culture is like, how it became that way, and how it is likely to develop in the future. Artists to be studied include Basque sculptor Cristina Ignesias, ballet choreographer Nacho Duato, flamenco superstars Paco de Lucia, Estrella Morente, and Sara Baras, plus filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 936 - Post-World War II Amsterdam 3 credits Amsterdam is known as a place of tolerance. By concentrating on Amsterdam’s history, art, and culture following World War II, this concept of tolerance will be described and analyzed, with the ultimate purpose of seeing if it really exists, and if it does exist, what it is and why it is. Also, given the recent murders of politician Pim Fortuyn and filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by extremists in traditionally non-violent Holland, the course will examine whether this famed tolerance in now under threat. The first part of the course will look at early Dutch history and culture as a prerequisite for understanding contemporary Amsterdam. The great bulk of the course will concentrate on the post-World War II period through a study of history, philosophy, literature, film, architecture, painting and photography. Included in this course will be a reading of Albert Camus’s novel ‘The Fall’, an analysis of art movements like DeStijl and CoBrA, a look at modern Dutch architectural movements such as the Amsterdam School, a viewing of the film ‘Submission’, directed by Theo Van Gogh, and a reading of ‘Infidel’, an autobiographical work by the controversial politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LAPI 937 - The Jazz Age 3 credits This course explores The Jazz Age, the years immediately following World War I. Topics include The Roaring 20s, The Jazz Age and Race in New Orleans, The Harlem Renaissance, The Literature of the Period, and The Stock Market Crash of 1929. Course materials include music, pictiom, historical documents, and essays on cultural history. Prerequisites LACR102 and LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).
Liberal Arts - Philosophy & Religion
	LAPR 811 - Topics in Philosophy 3 credits This course examines selected topics in Western philosophy. Primary sources comprise most of the readings. The course focuses on developing an understanding of the arguments of selected Western philosophers and attempting to analyze the various ideas they present. To do this, we examine some of the “”big questions”” that appear in philosophy - questions concerning the nature of reality, the definition of terms such as “”justice”” and “”happiness”“, and the meaning of “”values.”“ Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 812 - Chinese Philosophy 3 credits This course introduces basic principles in Chinese philosophy, particularly Daoism and Confucianism. Students examine philosophical texts such as the Dao De Jing, the Zhuangzi, and the Analects, working from primary sources. In the process, students will gain an understanding of Chinese thinking in metaphysics, ethics, and other areas of philosophy. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 813 - Greek Philosophy 3 credits Topics in Greek philosophy, with an emphasis on the works of the pre-Socratics, Plato, and the Stoics. Emphasizes the development of ability to understand the arguments of selected Greek philosophers and analyze the various ideas they present. To do this, some of the “”big questions”” that appear in Greek philosophy - questions concerning the nature of reality, the definition of terms such as “”justice”” and “”happiness”“, and the meaning of “”values”” is examined. Primary sources comprise most of the readings. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 831 - The Bible 3 credits The main themes of the Bible are explored from a modern, critical, nondenominational point of view. No knowledge of the Bible is assumed. Using historical and literary analysis, continuities as well as differences between the Hebrew and Christian scriptures are examined. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 832 - World Religions 3 credits An exploration of world religious traditions originating in Africa, America, China, India, Japan, and the Middle East. Religions are studied in their historical and cultural context, including their development into various forms over the years and in different places, and their beliefs regarding the cosmos, society, the self, and good vs. evil. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 841 - Comparative Religion: Asia 3 credits A study of the world’s Asian religions through their historical development, beliefs, sacred literature, and the works of contemporary writers. The course discusses Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Yin-Yang school of mysticism. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 842 - Comparative Religions: Religions In America 3 credits A historical study of beliefs and practices of various religious groups that have shaped American culture, including Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Scientologists and others. We discuss traditional main-line groups as well as newer movements, and pay special attention to ethnic and racial minorities, as well as to women in American religion. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 843 - Christianity 3 credits
	LAPR 850 - Introduction to Aesthetics and Art Theory 3 credits A selective survey of the development of modern aesthetics from the late 18th century to postmodernism with special emphasis whenever possible in the influence of theory and artistic practice (e.g. Jeff Wail, the films of Eric Rohmer, Danto, and Warhol). Prerequisites LACR102 and LACR210
	LAPR 851 - Arts Criticism 3 credits A writing course designed to promote understanding and interpretation of the arts across a multidisciplinary spectrum and to provide students with the basic tools of critical analysis. Group discussion and selected readings. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 853 - Ethics 3 credits The history of ethics and the fundamental ethical problems that have concerned philosophers for the past 2,500 years. The study begins with Plato and Aristotle and extends to the contemporary analytic philosophy, phenomenology, and existentialism. Problems include the “”is/ought”” distinction, the ultimate objective of life, religious issues, human rights, justice, and welfare. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 855 - Style in Art 3 credits A seminar exploring the question of style in the literary, visual, and performing arts as well as in craft and applied arts (including film, industrial design, and the fashion industry). We consider theories about organicism and periodicity in style, as they relate to tradition, trends, social and economic conditions, and evolving cultural norms. Themes include: ateliers and authorship; historic “”revivals”“: changing standards of beauty and form; and stylistic phases in the careers of major writers, artists, and composers. The aim of the course is to develop a practical, descriptive vocabulary for the analysis of artistic style. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 862 - Dance & Expressive Culture 3 credits Dance is woven into the mythology, theater, music, poetry, and literature of many cultures. The course considers dance as it has influenced and has been influenced by these forms of creative expression in the Western World. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 863 - The Symphony from Beethoven to Mahler 3 credits The long century of Romanticism and Revolution coincides with the ascendancy of the Central-European symphony as the preeminent expression of abstract musical thought - indeed the embodiment of art as philosophy. The course charts the origins and evolution of the genre in the changing relationships between aesthetics and politics throughout the 19th century; the rise of the interpretive conductor as well as technical developments in musical instrument design that fueled the symphony’s broad appeal; and the historical continuities underlying the construction of the artist-hero, the tortured genius and “”maker of the worlds.”” Individual works selected for close examination will fall into the four categories: the seminal works of Beethoven; the Romantic generation from Mendelssohn to Brahms; the post-Wagnerian synthesis of orchestral writing, from Bruckner to Tchaikovsky; followed by the genre’s earliest dialogue with modernity in the symphonies of Mahler. Prerequisites LACR*102
	LAPR 911 - Contemporary Philosophy 3 credits An examination of some of the problems occupying today’s philosophers and the strategies they have devised to address them. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 913 - Existential Philosophy 3 credits This course considers selected concepts in Existential philosophy. These will be discussed in the context of selected works from Dostoyevsky, Sartre, Camus, Nietzsche, and others. The course examines further many of the issues concerning epistemology, ethics, and the search for meaning brought up in LAPR 811. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 914 - Modern Russian Thought: Philosophy, Literature, Mysticism 3 credits “Cultivates an understanding of modern Russian thought in its various manifestations and an acquaintance with a critical appreciation of the thinkers discussed. A special attention is paid to comparative and interdisciplinary issues, focusing on “”Russia and the West”“, and how Russian intellectuals reacted to the challenge of Western thought and culture in the 19th and 20th centuries. Students read and discuss the works of many prominent Russian philosophers, including Nikolai Berdiaev and Lev Shestov, a Russian ?migr? mystic and founder of Theosophy, Elena Blavatsky, as well as world renowned Russian writers, Lev Tolstoi, Fiodor Dostoevskii. “ Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 915 - World Philosophies 3 credits An overview of world philosophies from ancient China, India and Greece through the medieval Jewish/Christian/Muslim philosophical speculations to the modern European thought of Kant, Hegel and their successors. The course will be focusing on the “”big questions”” concerning the nature of reality, the self, the existence of God, social and personal virtues. Primary sources comprise most of the readings.
	LAPR 932 - Eastern Religions 3 credits This course explores the following religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism. Each is studied in its historical and cultural context, including its development into various forms over the years and in different places, and its beliefs regarding views of the cosmos, society, the self, and good and evil. In addition to a text, students read from the literature of each religion. Prerequisites LACR*102
	LAPR 933 - Zen Buddism 3 credits An examination of the Zen understanding of being human: the problem of human existence Zen seeks to resolve, the liberation it claims to achieve, the meaning of the satori or “”Awakening”” which Zen claims is the basis of this liberation, the Zen koan as the meaning through which the Awakening is attained, the art that results from Awakening, and the possible contributions of Zen to the contemporary spiritual, philosophic, and artistic situation in the West. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 950 - Aesthetics Seminar 3 credits Advanced philosophic problems that are related to works of art and discourse about works of art. Focus varies from year to year but may include Postmodernism, Neo-Marxism, reception aesthetics, and gender and sexuality identity. Prerequisites LACR102 and LAPR850
	LAPR 951 - Art, Media and Society 3 credits “A seminar exploring the identity crisis of the modern artist in the period since the industrial revolution and the rise of the middle class. Conflicts or collaborations between the fine arts and commercialism, including mass media and new technology, from Romanticism and the arts and crafts movement to Pop Art and the Web. Issues of authorship, production, quality, and permanence. Who determines taste, and why? Does high art have a future?” Prerequisites LACR102 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Junior year (75 credits).*
	LAPR 961 - Opera and Politics 3 credits Throughout its history, whether at court or in public theaters, opera has exhibited a magnetic pull on artists and audiences attracted to the exploration of political themes. This course examines operatic instantiations of the conflict between social conformity and personal freedom, the hedonistic abuse of power, the glorification of past achievements in order to deflect attention from present impotence, the retreat from political disillusionment, and idealized interior worlds. General commentary on musical, formal, and dramatic elements characteristic of historical periods alternates with closer analysis of specific works. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 962 - Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes 3 credits This course will investigate the role of the impresario Serge Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes in both shaping and echoing the course of artistic revolution in Paris from c. 1909-1929. Several Diaghilev ballets will be introduced, viewed, and critiqued. Particular attention will be given to Picasso and Stravinsky, Fitzgerald and Pound. In passing, students look at the ideas of Sigmund Freud on the unconscious and invented myths, particularly as they are reflected in Nijinsky’s ballets, Rites, Faun, Jeux, and Spectre. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LAPR 972 - Women and Sex Roles 3 credits An introduction to the history of women and to theories of gender. An interdisciplinary course combining history, literature, and the visual arts. Slide lectures on images of women in art, myth, and religions, from ancient times to modern. Economic and historical factors affecting how women have lived. Definitions of masculinity and femininity. The nature-nurture debate over hormonal differences. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
Liberal Arts - Science & Math
	LASM 801 - Fundamentals of College Mathematics 3 credits An introduction to the fundamental mathematical principles and operations used in undergraduate courses in the physical and social sciences. Topics include sets, logic, probability, statistics, number theory, algebra, and geometry. Meets with LACR 226. Prerequisites LACR009, LACR100, or LACR*101
	LASM 802 - Calculus 3 credits An introduction to calculus with the emphasis on the applications of differential and integral calculus to the physical and social sciences. Prerequisites LACR102 and LASM801; students with equivalent college-level mathematics, or precollege advanced algebra and geometry should request special permission.
	LASM 803 - Probability 3 credits This class introduces some of the most fundamental ideas in classical probability. Polling techniques, casino gambling, weather forecasting, and lotteries are a few areas in which the principles of probability directly influence our lives. Modern science depends upon probability to build mathematical descriptions of the real world. This course explores the concepts of probability in an intuitive and accessible way, understandable to beginners. Topics include sample spaces, counting, conditional probability, and the concept of independence, game theory, random variables, and the law of large numbers. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 810 - Life Sciences 3 credits Life forms in the context of current adaptations and evolutionary history. Special emphasis is placed on an exploration of evolutionary relationships, ecological specialization, and the dynamic relationships of organisms in an integrated ecosystem. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 811 - Contemporary Issues in Life Sciences 3 credits Each semester this course explores one area of current research in the life sciences by focusing on three significant issues in the current scientific literature. Students participate in a series of semi-independent inquiry activities. For each research issue, student teams complete a challenge that demonstrates their ability to understand, collect, interpret, and apply appropriate information in order to propose solutions and to convince classmates of the success of their approaches. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 830 - Physical Sciences 3 credits An investigation of astronomy, geology, and other physical sciences, including the origin of the universe and solar system and the nature of physical science, matter, and energy. This course provides a background for understanding the problems of the impact of science on human values. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 831 - Physics 3 credits An introductory college physics course. The first semester covers kinematics, dynamics, energy structural analysis, and waves; the second semester concentrates on a study of light, electricity, and magnetism. Both semesters include the frequent references to architecture, design, and the fine arts. A background in algebra is required. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 832 - Physics 3 credits A continuation of the study begun in LASM 831. Prerequisites LASM*831
	LASM 913 - Urban Wildlife 3 credits An examination of the ways in which humans and other animals interact in shared and contiguous environments based on semi-independent field studies carried out by students on selected species. After an introduction to common species and a short period of directed study, teams of students plan, carry out, and analyze one short-term (4-week) study of one species of their choice that inhabits urban Philadelphia. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 914 - Human Genetics 3 credits Explores the fundamentals of genetics through the study of our own species, Homo Sapiens. Introduces the students to the study of inheritance and how molecular, physiological, environmental, and behavioral mechanisms affect the measurable characteristics of humans around the world. Topics include genetic diseases and unusual physical characteristics among others. Using local resources, students engage in problem-solving activities in comparative biology. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 915 - Perception 3 credits The structure and function of the senses of vision, audition, olfaction, gustation, touch, temperature, kinesthesis, time, and the brain and nervous system are considered as they relate to perception. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 916 - Evolution in Modern Perspective 3 credits Evolution is the unifying theoretical foundation of all the life sciences. This course explores the mechanisms that produce evolution, and their meaning for our current knowledge in biology, conservation, medicine, agriculture, and related sciences. Students also consider the effect(s) that society’s awareness of evolution has had on social institutions such as law, literature, politics, and education. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 917 - Brain and Behavior 3 credits This course is an introduction to the organization of the brain and nervous system and to their interactions with other body systems that produce observable behavior. Topics include brain structure and function, neurological changes over the life cycle, and the effects of malfunctions. Students learn about specific brain structures and how they contribute to or produce specific behavioral characteristics. We explore the neurochemistry of drug addiction, degenerative diseases, and psycho-active drugs, as well as other current topics of interest. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 921 - Dynamic Anatomy 3 credits The structure of the body as it relates to form (size, shape, and proportion) and support (posture, position, and movement). In-depth exploration of the location, orientation, and actions of the major muscle groups, joints, and bones, and how they differ by gender through the life cycle. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103 Priority enrollment to majors in the School of Dance.
	LASM 931 - Concepts of Modern Physics 3 credits This course surveys important concepts in twentieth century physics, including chaos theory, cosmology, quantum mechanics, and relativity. Without mathematics, we examine the tumultuous changes that have taken place in the scientific view of space, time, and physical reality. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 932 - Pseudoscience in Contemporary Society 3 credits The methods and issues of contemporary science. Explores how scientific information is used in society through an examination of scientific, near-scientific and pseudoscientific claims, including strange creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, miracle cures for diseases, and paranormal phenomena. The question of how funding might affect scientific research is also examined. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASM 951 - Technology, Culture and Society 3 credits “This course explores the complex relationship among technology, cultural paradigms, and popular consciousness. We study and analyze such questions as: What is technology?; Does technology necessarily imply progress?; and How does technology define reality?; Students examine these and other related themes through readings and other media.” Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	MUSC 354 - Music and Mathematics 3 credits This course is designed to enable the student to understand the fundamental relationship between music and mathematics. Students will be introduced to such mathematical concepts as numerical systems, quantities, spatial relationships, groups, sets, indeterminacy, and fractals. The course will examine the influence of those concepts in musical composition through the analysis of musical scores from a variety of composers including Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Schonberg, Berg, Webern, Carter, Crumb, Babbitt, and Xenakis. Course readings will further explore the philosophical and practical connections between musical creativity and mathematics. Students must possess functional music literacy. Familiarity with 20th century music is recommended. Prerequisites LACR102, MUSC204, or MUSC*206
Liberal Arts - Social Sciences
	LASS 810 - Modern American History 3 credits A study of contemporary developments, values, and issues as a product of 20th century phenomena. The course seeks to understand the dramatic changes that have occurred in American society over the last fifty years.
	LASS 811 - History of China 3 credits The time span is from the earliest days to the present, with special emphasis on the modern period and relations with the United States and the Western powers. Intellectual and cultural developments take precedence over political and economic history. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASS 812 - History of Japan 3 credits The history of Japan; the time span is from the earliest days to the present, but special emphasis is placed on the modern period and relations with the United States and other Western powers. Intellectual and cultural developments take precedence over political and economic history. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASS 813 - History of Classical World 3 credits The history of ancient civilizations in the Near East and Europe. Egyptian, Greek, and Roman history, religion, philosophy, and culture. Readings from selected ancient texts and slides of art works illuminate the culture of these civilizations and provide links with the present world. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASS 814 - History of Medieval Europe 3 credits The history of medieval Europe from the Germanic settlements to the establishment of Christianity and the feudal social expansion of the late Middle Ages are important topics for the course. A wide range of readings and the use of examples of medieval art promote a broad interpretation of this period. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASS 815 - History and Culture of Latin America 3 credits The history and culture of Latin America, including indigenous as well as European cultural sources. National distinctions and the origins of modern society in the area will be developed. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASS 816 - History and Culture of Latin America 3 credits The history and culture of Latin America, including indigenous as well as European cultural sources. National distinctions and the origins of modern society in the area will be developed. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASS 817 - The Culture of the Italian Renaissance 3 credits A comprehensive study of the political and social conditions in Italy from the end of the 14th until the middle of the 16th century that led to the artistic and philosophical flowering known as the Renaissance. Not only are the contributions of the larger states of Milan, Venice, and Florence be explored, but also the princely courts of Mantua, Ferrara, and Urbino. Reading Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’ and portions of Castiglione’s ‘The Courtier’ is an essential part of the course. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASS 818 - Revolutionary Era in the Americas, 1775- 1826 3 credits “The revolution that created the United States was but one of many American/Trans-Atlantic revolutions during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. From 1775-1826, wars for independence erupted through the Americas - from Boston to Buenos Aires - culminating in the birth of nineteen new nations, while another kind of revolution, in France, produced and spread its own fervor across the Atlantic and into much of the America - and the world beyond.” Prerequisites LACR210 Student must have completed the 1st semester of their Sophomore year (45 credits).*
	LASS 820 - Individual & Society 3 credits An examination how the individual person is related to society, considering the ways in which society is a separate reality that regulates and even defines the personality and identity of the individual person. After covering some introductory material on culture, definitions of situations, social location, socialization, and deviance, a few sociological works are examined in depth that discuss such subjects as street gangs, ethnicity, social mobility, suicide, morality instincts, and the nature of the self. How the individual can be free in the context of the constraints of society is a major issue addressed within the course. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103 Priority enrollment to Art Education majors and concentrations.
	LASS 821 - American Civilization I 3 credits An in-depth study of the origins of American society with an emphasis on the particular political, social and cultural patterns that shaped the course of American development. The first semester surveys the process of settlement, colonial societies, independence, the growth of the egalitarian spirit, and the Civil War. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103
	LASS 822 - American Civilization II 3 credits An examination of some the ways in which contemporary society and culture, including the arts and media, are related. For example, which people choose which forms of culture for their use, why do they use them, what effect does the culture have on the people who use them, and what interest does society have in regulating which culture people have access to? The course considers the categories of high and popular culture, the nature of social and cultural hierarchy, the social values transmitted by popular culture and media, and perspective on censorship. Prerequisites LACR102 or LACR103

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Courses

Course Renumbering

LALL 930 - Shakespeare

LALL 951 - American Playwrights

LALL 953 - Art of Song Lyric

LALL 955 - Dante in the Modern World

LALL 961 - Avant Garde Cinema

LALL 963 - American Film Genres

LALL 964 - Electronic Video

LALL 965 - Literature and Film: From Text to Screen

LALL 966 - Becoming an Artist

LALL 973 - Advanced Playwriting

LALL 974 - Advanced Poetry Workshop

LALL 975 - Advanced Fiction Writing Workshop

THEA 355 - Playwriting

LAPI 811 - Art Nouveau and Aestheticism

LAPI 817 - Self and Nature: the Dynamics of Romantic Landscape

LAPI 820 - Rome From Julius Caesar Through Nero

LAPI 821 - Religion, Art and the Apocalypse: 1850 - 1914

LAPI 822 - Age of Reason, Age of Satire: 18th Century England

LAPI 823 - Victorian England: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?

LAPI 824 - “orientalism”: 19th Century European Eyes on the Middle E.

LAPI 825 - Age of Melancholy

LAPI 826 - Renaissance: Politics, Religion and Money

LAPI 827 - Greece: Democracy and Empire

LAPI 828 - Philadelphia in the Age of Enlightenment

LAPI 830 - 19th Century Gothic

LAPI 831 - Chartres Cathedral: Politics, Society, And the Arts in 12th - 13th Century France

LAPI 832 - Bodily and Spiritual Love in the Middle Ages

LAPI 834 - Age of the Medici: 1375-1500

LAPI 836 - Study Abroad: 18th Century London and Bath

LAPI 920 - Berlin: The 1920s

LAPI 923 - The Age of Apartheid

LAPI 924 - Existentialist Paris: 1938-1959

LAPI 925 - New York in the 1950’S

LAPI 926 - Les Amis de Paris: 1904-1913

LAPI 927 - Becoming Modern: 1900-1914

LAPI 928 - Franco’s Spain: An Open Wound

LAPI 929 - Age of the Masses

LAPI 930 - Age of Consumer Culture 1945 - 1972

LAPI 931 - Thunder At Dusk: Art and Politics in Turn-Of-The-Century Vienna

LAPI 932 - Race At the End of the 20th Century

LAPI 933 - Hard Times: Arts of the Great Depression

LAPI 934 - The Blues

LAPI 935 - Spain After Franco: the Flowering of the Arts Since 1975

LAPI 936 - Post-World War II Amsterdam

LAPI 937 - The Jazz Age

LAPR 811 - Topics in Philosophy

LAPR 812 - Chinese Philosophy

LAPR 813 - Greek Philosophy

LAPR 831 - The Bible

LAPR 832 - World Religions

LAPR 841 - Comparative Religion: Asia

LAPR 842 - Comparative Religions: Religions In America

LAPR 843 - Christianity

LAPR 850 - Introduction to Aesthetics and Art Theory

LAPR 851 - Arts Criticism

LAPR 853 - Ethics

LAPR 855 - Style in Art

LAPR 862 - Dance & Expressive Culture

LAPR 863 - The Symphony from Beethoven to Mahler

LAPR 911 - Contemporary Philosophy

LAPR 913 - Existential Philosophy

LAPR 914 - Modern Russian Thought: Philosophy, Literature, Mysticism

LAPR 915 - World Philosophies

LAPR 932 - Eastern Religions

LAPR 933 - Zen Buddism

LAPR 950 - Aesthetics Seminar

LAPR 951 - Art, Media and Society

LAPR 961 - Opera and Politics

LAPR 962 - Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes

LAPR 972 - Women and Sex Roles

LASM 801 - Fundamentals of College Mathematics

LASM 802 - Calculus

LASM 803 - Probability

LASM 810 - Life Sciences

LASM 811 - Contemporary Issues in Life Sciences

LASM 830 - Physical Sciences

LASM 831 - Physics

LASM 832 - Physics