Master of Liberal Arts

This is a course in the history of Hollywood. It seeks to unravel Hollywood’s complex workings and explain how the business and politics of the film industry translate into the art of film. We will trace the American film industry from Edison to the internet, asking questions such as: What is the relationship between Hollywood and independent film? How has the global spread of Hollywood since the 1920s changed the film industry? How has Hollywood responded to crises in American politics (e.g., world wars, the cold war, terrorism)? And how have new technologies such as synchronized sound and color cinematography, television and the VCR, and new digital technologies changed film and the film industry? We will look closely at representative studios (Paramount, Disney, and others), representative filmmakers (Mary Pickford, Frank Capra, and George Lucas, among many, many others), and we will examine the impact of industrial changes on the screen through close film analysis and weekly screenings.

  From the Middle Ages to the present, stories about King Arthur, the brave deeds of the knights of the Round Table, and Merlin's mysterious prophecies have mesmerized readers and audiences. In this course we will study nearly 1000 years of literature about King Arthur, beginning with Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century History of the Kings of Britain, which inaugurated an era of great Arthurian romances in English, French, and German, and ending with the recently acclaimed novel, The Book of Arthur, in which the narrator discovers an unknown Shakespearean play about King Arthur. Throughout the course, we will think about what legends about Arthur mean to the way we write history and the ways in which we view our collective pasts (and futures). Assignments will include weekly response papers, an oral presentation, and a final exam. Texts include works by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chretien de Troyes, Marie de France, Thomas Malory, Mark Twain, and Arthur Philips.

Texts are tools, extending the capacity to transmit complex, creative thoughts from one human being to another. Whether performed before a live audience or lifted off the page in a private act of reading, no text truly exists until it has blossomed in the recipient’s mind, the author’s ideas mated with our ideas, the intimate faculties of our being evoked to respond. What can a dialogue between literature and the performing arts teach us about the dynamics of representation and the event of the text? How does the spoken word put gesture into voice or theater wed action with emotion, and how can we as writers in any genre achieve such dimensionality and presence on the page?  This workshop will explore the life of words, the fact of the body, and their subtle intersections.  We will read and explore on both sides of the equation, theory and practice, performance and literature, but mostly we will write, accumulating a portfolio of work.  Students will participate in weekly peer review. Revision is expected. This is a workshop that will teach all writers to write persuasively and evocatively. Bring your willingness and curiosity.

The global arena is described by some theorists as a realm of perpetual conflict. Others argue that, given the right circumstances, sovereign states can find ways to achieve cooperation, peace and increased global prosperity.  Still other theorists argue that international politics is “what you make of it” – and focus on the importance of norms and identities – not interests – in shaping international outcomes. This course will examine theoretical and policy perspectives regarding the question of international conflict and cooperation, with a specific focus on understanding the circumstances under global actors  -- including states, international organizations and nongovernmental organizations – achieve sustainable cooperative outcomes.

What can we learn by conceiving of “faith” as a verb—of faith as an action? How then should we live? These questions form the crux of contemporary dilemmas for all informed citizens curious about re-thinking the roots of shared centers of value and power. We will begin our study by examining meanings of “faith” and “religion” as distinguished from “belief” in the works of W.C. Smith and James W. Fowler. Once “faith” is understood as a verb, as an active way of “knowing” reality and of “being in the world,” critical questions can be raised as to the contents of faith. No longer simplistically understood solely in terms of “belief in the creed” of an organized religion, we will begin to see that we can and do have “faith” in many things even if we are avowed agnostics or atheists. Furthermore, once we turn to a critical definition of religion, we will see that this concept is not limited to what happens in a church, synagogue or temple but what happens in other areas of our lives as well, not the least of which includes what happens on the political and commercial floors of our government buildings and financial institutions both at the local and national levels. Finally, a definition of “ritual” broadly conceived will enable us to see the ways in which we are shaped to adhere to certain forms of belief by participating in public and private rituals whether or not we are aware of it. With these theoretical underpinnings in place, we will explore the music and movement of a subversive martial art called Capoeria; the humble practice of birthing social justice by standing ‘out of the way;’ and attempts at direct impact social action of ‘militant pacifism.’ Several guest presenters from various faith backgrounds and diverse approaches to practicing justice will join us at key junctures in the class. Course materials and assignments will include compelling documentaries, community-based experiential learning, small group "think tanks," mini-lectures, and larger group dialogue. There will also be chances for participant-observation at a field-site of your choosing and bibliographic research. In this course, you will be encouraged and challenged to find ways to relate this class to ongoing research (such as developing a Capstone) through innovative engagement with the course's themes, methods, and topics.