Course Listing | 51��

Fall 2017

The Nouveau Roman — LIT4181.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Annie Dewitt

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

This course will examine the emergence of the "new" avant-garde French novel which came to prominence in the 1950's. We will investigate how these novels questioned the role of literary realism and narrative authority, often subverting traditional elements of fiction including: plot, character, and the all-knowing intelligence of the omniscient narrator. We will also consider

Literature

The Philosophy of Democracy — PHI2132.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Paul Voice

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

This course examines the philosophical grounds of democracy as well as the critique of democracy. We ask what values and practices ought to anchor our understanding of democracy and engage with debates about the value of democracy. This class requires close reading of primary philosophical texts and a number of written papers.

Society Culture and Thought

The Prose Poem — LIT4280.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Phillip Williams

Days & Time:

Credits: 2

The prose poem challenges the very notion of genre—but what are the implications of this challenge and how does it reframe the perceived disciplinary limits of literature itself? Students will learn the history of the prose poem beginning in 19th-century France through its contemporary usage. Reading a book a week, there will be discussion about form and function, the nuance of

Literature

Theoretical Ethics: The Nature of Moral Judgments — PHI4129.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Paul Voice

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

Theoretical Ethics aims to uncover the sources of moral knowledge and the foundations of moral obligation. You will engage in a detailed reading of several moral theories and study contemporary interpretations and applications of these theories. You will be expected to contribute substantially to class discussion, write two essays and present a draft of your final essay to the

Society Culture and Thought

Toward a Rigorous Art History — AH2109.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Vanessa Lyon

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

A “rigorous study of art” became the goal of Philosopher and Cultural Critic Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) when his growing distaste for the outlook and methods of his art history professor—the famous and foundational Heinrich Wölfflin—caused him to consider publishing an account of “the most disastrous activity I have ever encountered at a German university.” Striking a balance

Visual Arts

Traditional Music Ensemble — MPF4221.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: John Kirk

Days & Time:

Credits: 2

We will study and perform from the string band traditions of rural America. Nova Scotia, Quebecois, Irish, New England, Scandinavian, African American dance and ballad traditions will also be experienced with listening, practice (weekly group rehearsals outside of class), and performing components. Emphasis on ensemble intuition, playing by ear, and lifetime personal music

Music

Traditional Music of North America — MHI2135.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: John Kirk

Days & Time:

Credits: 2

This course explores music from early native music through contemporary singer-songwriters. Some of the traditions we draw from include African, Native American, Quebecois, Appalachian, Irish and Scottish, British Isle traditions, Cajun, Blues, Gospel, and Conjunto music. Instrumental, dance, and ballad traditions are explored. Students must bring a guitar, banjo, mandolin, or

Music

Transcendentalism and its Discontents — LIT2208.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Benjamin Anastas

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

A comprehensive survey of American Transcendentalism through the writing of its major figures (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller) as well as more overshadowed club members like Orestes Brown, Bronson Alcott and Ellery Channing. We will explore the contentious debate the movement set off among thinkers of the time and come to a keen understanding of

Literature

Twentieth-Century American Women Playwrights — DRA2183.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Maya Cantu

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

This course examines the ways in which American female playwrights of the twentieth century engaged with modernity, feminist and civil rights movements, concepts of national and cultural identity, and a wide range of theatrical genres and styles--from the realist problem play and “Golden Age” Broadway comedy through modernism and the avant-garde. Exploring the diversity

Drama

Unpacking The Vault: Hidden Narratives in the Bennington Art Collection — VA4137.02

Fall 2017

Instructor: Anne Thompson

Days & Time:

Credits: 2

The Bennington art collection is a kind of mystery. Sequestered in a basement space called "the vault,” the collection’s contents—its depth and breadth—are not fully known. On display around campus are some Abstract Expressionist–era paintings by celebrated former students, faculty, and area residents such as Helen Frankenthaler, Paul Feeley, and Jules

Visual Arts

VAPA Evolving — ARC4111.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Donald Sherefkin

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

VAPA was conceived as a facility that would provide an "...evolving environment for the performance of all forms of art and open to the most challenging ideas and personalities from either inside or outside the college environment..." [The Art Policy Committee, 1964] VAPA has undergone significant change over the course of forty years, with new programs and studios created for

Visual Arts Environment

Violence — ANT4116.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Noah Coburn

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

This course is a cross‐cultural exploration of violence. We will ask: What is violence? How do we experience, perceive, think and write about violence as a political concept? The course will begin with the political philosophy of violence. It will then move to ethnographies written about violence and look at how other

Society Culture and Thought

Violin/Viola — MIN4345.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Kaori Washiyama

Days & Time:

Credits: 2

Advanced private instruction. Studies in all left-hand position and shifting and an exploration of various bow techniques. Students can select from the concerto, sonata repertoire, short pieces and études for a study designed to develop technique, advance musicianship and prepare for performance. Corequisites: Must participate and perform at least twice in Music Workshop

Music

Virginia Woolf: Honors Seminar — LIT4526.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Marguerite Feitlowitz

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

In this Seminar, we will focus intensively on the fiction and nonfiction of Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) whose enormous output, experimental techniques, and intellectual reach revolutionized the form and subject matter of both the novel and the essay. As a thinker and social critic, Woolf is artful, radical, and full of complication—a foundation for modern feminism and pacifism,

Literature

Visible Language: Word and/as Image — DRW4401.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Mary Lum

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

The observed world is covered with words, both visible and invisible. This advanced drawing course aims to underline the tensions and comforts of the relationship between words and images in visual art. Through assigned drawing problems that call upon students to complete and present visual work regularly, topics will include, sign and structure, juxtaposition, concrete poetry,

Visual Arts

Visual Arts Lecture Series — VA2999.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Visual Arts Faculty

Days & Time:

Credits: 1

Each term, Bennington offers a program of five lectures by visiting arts professionals: artists, curators, historians and critics, selected to showcase the diversity of contemporary art practices. Designed to enhance classroom activities of various disciplines in the Visual Arts and to stimulate campus dialogue around topical issues of contemporary art, these thematically

Visual Arts

Visual Arts Lecture Series Seminar — VA4218.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Vanessa Lyon

Days & Time:

Credits: 2

This discussion-animated seminar provides art historical, cultural, and critical contexts for the Visual Arts Lecture Series (VALS): Ways of Seeing: Movements, Migrations, Diasporas. The course also provides opportunities for engagement with visiting artists, curators, critics, and historians. Consistent participation, independent research, writing assignments, and

Visual Arts

Walking and Writing — LIT2398.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Akiko Busch

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

The workshop will examine the literary traditions of walking and writing, focusing on how the first can assist the second. Themes will include walking as a passage; walking as escape; walking as a meditation; walking towards something; walking away from something; and those times when walking manages to be both of these things. Of his outings in Concord, Henry Thoreau said

Environment Literature

What is Sculpture? — SCU2106.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Jon Isherwood

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

How do we make it? How do we talk about it? And what does it mean? This course invites students to investigate the fundamental principals of sculpture while encouraging exploration of classical and contemporary approaches. Sessions are intensive explorations into a variety of techniques and materials including plaster, wood, cardboard, Styrofoam and metal. Regular slide

Visual Arts

What Is the Truth? World War II from the Japanese Perspective — JPN4709.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Ikuko Yoshida

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

What is the truth in history? Is there one truth? In this course, students learn World War II from the Japanese point of view by reading and examining Japanese history textbooks, novels, essays, and films. Historical events such as the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima can be perceived differently depending on whether you study them in Japan or in America

Languages

Women in Latin America — SPA4502.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Jonathan Pitcher

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

Latin American feminism is conventionally read like any other form of feminism, as an absence attempting to become present. Pivoting around a selection of short stories by the likes of the Ocampos, Bombal, Garro, Valenzuela, Poniatowska, Peri Rossi, Allende, and Schweblin, along with criticism and political contextualization, we will discuss such conventional readings,

Languages

Working With Light — DRA2234.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Michael Giannitti

Days & Time:

Credits: 2

Lighting design has the powerful ability to shape the experience of an audience. Its practice incorporates elements of artistry and craft and should interest those working in all aspects of visual and performing arts. In addition to hands-on work with theatrical lighting equipment in and outside of class, awareness of light, play analysis and conceptualization, light sources,

Drama

World Vocal Ensemble — MPF4126.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Kerry Ryer-Parke

Days & Time:

Credits: 2

This class is for confident, adventurous singers wishing to study and perform music from areas where group singing has strong roots in tradition. We will explore different ways of producing vocal sound, such as the Balkan “hard voice”, the rounder sounds of South Africa, and the unusual tunings of Caucasus Georgia while learning about the secular and

Music

“Why Not the Whole World?” Historical Perspectives on US Migration Politics — HIS2176.01

Fall 2017

Instructor: Eileen Scully

Days & Time:

Credits: 4

There have always been borders. Crossing borders has always been complicated. Paradoxically, cosmopolitan hospitality requires strong sovereign governments and strong national identities. How else can good behavior and tolerance be induced and compelled among large populations of longer-settled earlier arrivals? This course explores the historical complexities of crossing

Music