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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.

In this course we will examine the role of music as a vehicle for political and social change in Africa. Our focus will be music-making throughout the continent of Africa during the nationalist struggles that resulted in independent African states and how musicians responded (and continue to respond) to the persistent challenges faced by those post-colonial states.

Together with calculus, linear algebra is one of the foundations of higher-level mathematics and its applications. This is NOT just the algebra you know from high school. There are several perspectives one can take on linear algebra: it is a method for handling large systems of linear equations, it is a theory of linear geometry (including in dimensions larger than three), it is matrix algebra, and it is a theoretical structure that appears throughout mathematics, physics, computer science, and statistics.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, mathematics underwent a vast expansion, into new, exciting, and increasingly counter-intuitive realms. The subject risked mystification and mutual incomprehensibility between experts in different sub-fields. In the first part of the twentieth century, a group of French mathematicians, under the pseudonym Bourbaki, undertook an ultimately successful program to use the foundation of set theory to put all of mathematics onto a common conceptual and logical foundation.

“Music is something that you can’t see, and painting is something that you can’t hear...so they balance each other’.” (1)

How do we organize data to solve complex problems efficiently? This course studies the fundamental structures and algorithms that form the cornerstone of computational problem-solving. Building upon the programming foundations established in CS1, we will explore how algorithmic thinking and sophisticated data organization enables us to tackle increasingly challenging computational problems.

Have you ever imagined speaking in the language of computers, and transforming your ideas into actions that computers can perform? This course is a gateway to discovering the art and science of programming, a crucial skill that serves as the backbone of computer science. But computer science transcends mere programming. Our actual aim is to nurture your ability to think like a computer scientist.

Have you ever wondered what a computer is and how it actually works?  In this course, we’ll answer the hardware half of this question.

This course will serve as an introduction to working with circuits in a lab setting. We will learn about the relatively simple rules necessary for working with analog circuits and how those rules can be used to build objects of growing complexity. We will then move on to understanding how to build circuits that can measure properties of and interact with their surroundings.

This course will explore the construction and experience of gender and sexuality in the Middle East through a performative lens. Drawing on research in ethnomusicology, queer and gender studies, anthropology and Middle Eastern history, the course will examine performance (music, dance, theater, poetry and more) as a process of representation, assertion, and sometimes transgression of sexuality and gender identities. This course will delve into the ways that performance, gender, and sexuality relate to ethnicity, nationalism, modernity, colonialism, and religion.

For students doing work-study or internships, we will focus on three core areas of professionalization. First, each week will journal our work weeks, discussing and sharing our work experiences in a round-table. Second, we will build our professionalization skills, especially networking (in person and on LinkedIn), resume writing, and doing practice interviews. Finally, we will work on writing 5-year plans, to help us figure out where we’d like to be a few years after graduation. More specifically

The large-scale consumer web has been defined by epochs. The first epoch was defined by the user as consumer: large companies created content which was consumed by the masses. The second web epoch (web 2.0) has been defined by consumer creators, large companies own and deliver content created by users to other users (Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, …). The third web epoch is—if you believe the hype—to be defined by self-ownership of content.

This course explores the life, works, and revolutionary contributions of Harry Partch (1901–1974), one of the most original and influential American composers of the 20th century. Partch was a pioneer of microtonal music and developed a unique 43-tone scale, which led him to construct his own instruments to realize his visionary compositions. Students will examine Partch’s unconventional approach to tuning, his rejection of equal temperament, and his philosophy of music as an integrated theatrical and corporeal experience.

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 course explores music from early Indigenous music right on up to present day practitioners. Some of the traditions studied and practiced will include: Native American, Inuit, Québecois, Appalachian, African-American, Irish, Scottish, British Isle traditions, Cajun, Blues, Gospel, Mariachi, and Conjunto music. Instrumental, dance, and ballad traditions are studied and researched, and experienced first hand. Students must bring a guitar, banjo, mandolin, or fiddle (or other social instrument) to class for purposes of furthering personal music making through traditional forms.

Journalism & Democracy is the result of a grant and partnership with the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont, a national network of student journalism programs around the United States. The course recognizes the essential role that the arts and culture play in a healthy democracy.

This is an advanced improvisation class for students from all disciplines. We will learn the concepts of complexity and advance our skills in pattern recognition, self-organization, emergent structuring, and development of movement, verbal, visual and design vocabularies. Collaborative processes will be explored to further different forms of creative practices, both to address an artistic practice and a dialogic practice.

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%.

Formal logic is the study of the structure of reasoning itself—how arguments are built, when they succeed, and why they fail. In an age of information overload, knowing how to dissect an argument, detect reasoning errors, and construct rigorous proofs is a superpower. This course introduces the foundations of formal logic, with an emphasis on precision, clarity, and critical thinking tools. From everyday statements to abstract puzzles, you will learn how to translate ideas into symbolic form and test their validity.

This course is the requirement for all graduate students in the Masters in Public Action program to teach as part of their studies. Students will consult with the Director of the MFA in Public Action to identify the classes, develop the Syllabi, and have ongoing feedback about their teaching and course development. throughout the term. 

This course is required for all graduate students enrolled in the MFA in Public Action program. In-depth research connected to their Plan, their professional work and their teaching is required. This research can take the form of reading, writing, archival work,
interviews and creative practice. A body of research is required at the end of each term related to their studies. 

The Graduate Seminar in Public Action is required of all students in the MFA in Public Action program. This seminar focuses on their current professional work. Each student will identify at the beginning of each term the professional work to be accomplished. This can be located at 51�������� or in another professional venue anywhere in the world. This professional work will be exhibited, shared, published or created over the term. A public sharing of the work is encouraged to a larger audience. 

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 51��������'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.