2012-2013 Academic Year Calendar - Marianopolis

General Education: Humanitiessolving is placed in the hands of theaudience? How does theatre thenbecome an empowering politicaland social experience? How is this areflection of the changing globaltimes?Body SmartsHow do top athletes and performerslearn to use their bodies in suchexceptional ways? Is there such athing as bodily-kinestheticintelligence? The notion of bodilyintelligence is addressed throughexamination of recent research onkinesiology (science of movement),principles of motor skill acquisition,sports psychology, and somaticeducation (developing awareness ofthe soma, what the Greeks refer to as“the living body”). In the labcomponent of the course concepts areexplored through exercises. Studentsalso follow their own development ofa chosen skill through journalingusing Timothy Gallwey’s book TheInner Game of Tennis as a guide.At the PodiumPeople are creatures of knowledge.We have shaped the world with thisknowledge in the form of institutions,ideas, industries, systems andcivilizations. Transfer of knowledgethrough communications systems isnecessary for all of these transformations.Often taken for granted is theessential communication undertakenin the verbal context: public speaking.In this course, students explore thetheory and practice of public speakingin order to become more proficientcommunicators.Gender BenderThis course is about gender and howit intersects with every aspect of ourlives. It looks at the origins ofgendered power relationships as wellas gender in action, and exploresways of moving towards genderequality. Course content includeshistorical and contemporarysituations, and an understanding anduse of feminist methodology andqueer theory.The Stuff of NonsenseIn this course students explore a widevariety of examples of nonsense:jokes, nonsense literature, nonsensefilm, surrealistic painting andnonsense music. Students see thatsuccessful nonsense contains internal,dynamic and cohesive qualitieswhich make it meaningful—full of"sense." Students are encouraged tore-evaluate the ingrained rationalisticsystem of value that dominates themodern, technological civilization ofthe West, and to consider whether, insociety which values reason over theemotions, the nonsense artist mayprovide a necessary escape valvefrom a narrowly rationalistic universe.Sounds of MusicThe human experience of music isshaped by a complex combination offactors: the physical properties ofsound; human physiology; auditoryperception and cognition; culturaltraining; social and business interests;and the technologies available forsound production, preservation anddistribution. This course offers amultidisciplinary and cross-culturalexploration of these influences andthe links between them.The Soundtracks of Our LivesA broad ranging exploration ofmusical genres and communities,this course explores the role of musicin the formation of groups. Somemusical genres have engenderedcommunities, and some communitiesseem predisposed to adopt certainkinds of music. By using a varietyof approaches, from modern criticaltheory and the social sciences,students look at some of the waysmusic and communities are interconnected.The course starts with ahistory of American popular music,and then explores ideas about musicalgenres and some of the ways thosegenres have been used to understandcommunities (punk, heavy metal, andwomen's music, for example).What Lies Beneath, Introduction toArchaeologyArchaeology, the study of man’s pastthrough surviving material remains,fascinates with its ability to shed lighton the lives of others. This class looksat archaeology, both as a disciplineand as a changing body of knowledge.Various methodologies, sites andartefacts from all over the world areexamined, with an emphasis on theMediterranean civilizations.Knowledge in Ancient RomeAncient Rome experienced manytroubles, including: constant war,slavery, plague, social inequality,dictatorship, military anarchy, andreligious conflict. How then did thiscivilization last for over 1000 years?Topics include: philosophy, literature,medicine, law, foreign policy, propaganda,slander, representations ofsexuality, the roles of women, and theportrayal of the ancient world in film.Science in SocietyThis course examines science as asystem of knowledge by looking at aseries of case studies. Studentscontrast arguments for why scienceoffers a unique form of knowledgewith studies that show how scientific39