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This course presents a chronological survey of the history of art through an examination of leading artists and thematic trends in artistic practice from 1975 to the present.

This course examines art and architecture in Italy ca. 1400 to ca. 1600, a period noteworthy for celebrated artists including Donatello, Masaccio, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian.

How do we understand the art that has come out of the great art revolutions of the late 19th and 20th centuries? Even a viewer who is equipped with basic principles for viewing art may be at a loss in addressing modern visual work.

What is philosophy and what is it for? Modern philosophers have often devoted themselves to posing and solving abstract and difficult theoretical questions. But their modern focus on theory differs from ancient and medieval philosophers for whom philosophy was primarily a practical matter.

This discussion course will focus on the relation between the U.S. Congress and the Presidency. Beginning with the colonial background, it will examine the constitutional framework and the evolution of legislative and executive power, using primary documents and contemporary secondary sources.

The Giza Pyramids are ubiquitous images of ancient Egypt’s greatness, sophistication, and power at the dawn of human history, but what came before, and what after? Why were they built and by whom? Behind every great image lies a message and a history; this course will pursue 4,000 years of ancient Egypt’s earliest first great dynasties.

This second course in the “From Western to World Civilization” sequence focuses on the history of the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, including the rise of Islam, the Renaissance, Reformation, the Age of Exploration, to the eve of the French Revolution.

Take your fiction or nonfiction to the next level in this critique-focused workshop. Bring a hard copy of your story or chapter to the first class session, and throughout this six-week course you'll be guided to a deeper and more cohesive work.

Essentially defining the culture of the nineteenth century, the operas of the Italian Giuseppe Verdi and the German Richard Wagner continue to form the most stable theatrical repertory of the present day.

Over the past century and a half American writers have created a body of literature great in its illumination into the deeps of the human condition and our own lives. This course offers a wide range of themes and authors.

Death – the one event which happens to everyone, but which no one will be around to experience – presents many philosophical puzzles: whether it is some kind of misfortune to die (or not), whether immortality would be any better, how to die well, and above all how to understand human life in terms of its end.

In this course, you will receive daily writing prompts (either via email or in person) as you develop your own writing practice and craft knowledge through reading and workshop discussion.

This course will introduce you to creative writing, from generating ideas to revising drafts. Find your voice and develop your craft through in-class and at-home writing exercises, and through discussions of your own and your fellow students’ written work.

America in the era after World War II has birthed a society and cultural life filled with divisions and contradictions. This course will examine the roots and manifestations of the conflicts and the competing visions of a new America.

What makes a piece of art great? What makes it deep, interesting, and meaningful? Just as we learn how to read fiction, we must learn the basic principles of visual art in order for the interaction to be worthwhile.

China’s economic development has today brought the world to the brink of a new superpower conflict. While American politicians accuse China of stealing US technology and jobs, Chinese leaders condemn Western double standards and insist that China’s economic success has enriched the world.

How Islam and its intellectual tradition are responding to the challenges of modernity? To what extent the diversity and transformations within Islamic thought over time can prevent clashes with the Western world?

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an emblematic Victorian figure, representative not least of his age’s relentless concern about the Condition of England. Industrial capitalism and urbanization were transforming an age-old landscape.

Why is every performance different, when the score remains the same? This course will provide insight into the decision-making process of an interpreter and the factors involved and offers an overview of some of the great and frequently notorious conductors of the historical and modern eras.

Animism—the belief that animals, places, and things all have a “soul” or spiritual essence—may be one of the oldest known forms of religion. Interestingly, this supposedly primitive tradition experienced something of a comeback among some of the twentieth century’s most prominent English writers.

Few forms beckon like the personal essay. There is its whisper-in-your-ear intimacy, the mining of an "I" (and eye), the signature movement of mind as a drive for understanding that is highly individual manages to tap and thrum with what connects us, with the universal. For the writer, the potential for ideas is unlimited.

The Writer's Studio Monthly Writing Group is designed for students working in creative nonfiction or fiction. Focused on monthly workshops, the group also provides writers a sense of community as well as an outlet for discussion of both practice and form.

In this introductory course, we will explore the art and craft of writing memoir. Students will draw upon their life experiences to create works that will explore both individual lives and the human condition in general. In-class writing exercises will be aimed at beginning larger pieces of writing.

Our multi-year exploration of the Iliad approaches its midpoint, beginning with book 9 and the appeal to Achilles to return to battle. Achilles’ refusal of Agamemnon’s over-the-top offer to reconcile arguably sets the poem on its genre-making course.

Our multi-year exploration of the Iliad approaches its midpoint, beginning with book 9 and the appeal to Achilles to return to battle. Achilles’ refusal of Agamemnon’s over-the-top offer to reconcile arguably sets the poem on its genre-making course.

Stay motivated while writing your novel! This online class will offer craft discussions, intensive study of a mentor text, instructor feedback on a synopsis and eighty pages of work, and opportunities for revision.

Do you need structure, deadlines, insight, and a creative community to produce your best work? This eight-week, multi-genre (fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry) online writing group is designed to provide that and more.

Where does your writing come from? How can you access the deeper realms? In this class, we will experiment with different forms of meditation and visualization, in service of our writing. Meditation can help to calm anxieties and remove obstacles.

An entertaining picture of this most visceral of musical traditions will emerge through our consideration of CDs, DVDs, musical analysis, and contemporary documents. The swashbuckling careers of Liszt, Rubinstein, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and Paganini will be placed in the context of the evolution of the virtuoso concerto.

Audiences love to see heroes who are thrown into tailspins then manage to snatch surprising victories. Learn how to test your character’s noble cause, their beliefs, and their very identity with story-driving twists that keep audiences riveted.

The Shari‘a represents the totality of religious, legal and moral guidelines, the will of God for human life as a whole. It serves as the guiding framework for Muslims in their quest for a harmonious life with the rest of the universe.

It’s easy to get lost when revising your manuscript for publishing consideration, but there’s good news: the synopsis, pitch, and query letter that accompany your submission can also serve as your GPS through the revision process! Fine-tune these tools in this hands-on workshop to take control and fine-tune your manuscript.

Just as in real life, characters are defined by their internal conflicts and their most crucial relationships. In this class, we’ll deploy internal character contradictions and shape-shifting antagonists to enrich your characters, theme, and story.