51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ

Sustainable development has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It calls for concerted efforts towards building an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future for people and planet. For sustainable development to be achieved, it is crucial to harmonize three core elements: economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection. Ending poverty in all forms is vital.

This 7 week course will shift how drummers think and play the drum set. Students will be encouraged to move beyond just playing beats and grooves to thinking more compositionally. If you are able to play the drums, we will not completely ignore rhythms, however,learning how the drum set can be a melodic and harmonic instrument is one of the directions students will explore. Students will explore a variety of approaches using but not limited to, found objects, membranophones, ideophones, electronics, and the human voice.

This course provides a vibrant introduction to the traditional West African rhythms and movements of the Mandingo and Wolof communities. Students will embark on a journey through both drumming and dancing disciplines, mastering intricate rhythms that will expand their musical vocabulary and enhance their dance techniques.

This is an introductory course to international public law and its relevance in today’s complex and interconnected world. 

In this course we will be taking a hands on approach to understanding the lever harp both historically and compositionally. We will be building and stringing small 19 string harps which will be used as the basis for our compositional work where students will be creating new works of varying length for the lever harp to be presented at the end of the semester. We’ll look at what techniques are and are not achievable, what makes this instrument unique to other harps, and how to include it in larger compositional contexts.

This class will examine the current diplomacy and process of a new Convention for the United Nations on Conserving the River Deltas. We will hear from some of the lead partners on the project: The Transboundary Water In-Cooperation Network (TWIN), co-founded by CAPA and the Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security at the University of Vermont, and the African Centre for Climate Action and Rural Development (ACCARD) directed by Freeman Oluohor.

In this class we will explore the practice of meditation as a physical and mental training exercise. In class meditation and discussion, as well as outside reading and writing assignments, will explore Eastern and Western persepctives on ourselves and the world.

The ash trees on campus are dying from an introduced beetle. Ash trees make up about 8% of Vermont’s forests and their foliage contributes to our iconic fall colors. They are culturally important trees with deep connections to art from Indigenous basket making to Beyonce’s Louisville slugger in Lemonade. The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) beetle arrived in North America in Michigan in 2002; it was first confirmed on the Bennington campus in late 2024. The mortality rate of EAB-infested ash trees is 99.97%.

Plastic pollution has emerged as a significant environmental issue in the past few years, particularly on how plastics affects health, environmental justice, climate change and water quality.  This is an environmental policy class iwth a focus on public action.  This class will explore the dimensions of the production, use and disposal of plastics and the need for innovation.  In the spirit of 51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ's Center for the Advancement of Public Action (CAPA),much of the assigned homework will include taking public action.

The United States is experiencing unprecedented challenges that are destroying the foundations on which our society was built. Our strongest institutions are faltering under political pressure. The Supreme Court, once an independent arbiter of justice, is rudderless; making decisions based on political ideology rather than the law. The President and Congressional leadership are committed to dismantling social safety nets and slashing scientific investments in education and public health.

In this course, we will explore restorative practices and their origins, principles, strengths and weaknesses, and theories that underlie them.