College Bulletin 2014-2015 
    
    Sep 27, 2024  
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College Bulletin 2014-2015 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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Mathematics and Statistics
  
  

  • MATH 069. Combinatorics

    This course continues the study of material begun in MATH 029 . The primary topics are enumeration and graph theory. The first area includes, among other things, a study of generating functions and Polya counting. The second area is concerned with relations between certain graphical invariants. Additional topics may include one or more of the following topics: design theory, extremal graph theory, Ramsey theory, matroids, matchings, codes, and Latin squares.
    Prerequisites: Grades of C or better in MATH 029  and at least one other course in mathematics numbered 27 or higher, or permission of the instructor.
    1 credit.
    Alternate years. Fall 2014. Chen.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/mathematics-statistics
    Mathematics and Statistics 


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  • STAT 001. Statistical Thinking

    Statistics provides methods for collecting and analyzing data and generalizing from their results. Statistics is used in a wide variety of fields, and this course provides an understanding of the role of statistics in these fields and in everyday life. It is intended for students who want an appreciation of statistics, including the ability to interpret and evaluate statistical claims critically but who do not imagine they will ever need to carry out statistical analyses themselves. (Those who may need to carry out statistical analyses should take STAT 011 .) This course cannot be counted toward a major in mathematics, is not a prerequisite for any other course, and cannot be taken for credit after or simultaneously with any other statistics course, including AP Statistics and ECON 031 .
    Prerequisite: Four years of traditional high school mathematics (precalculus).
    1 credit.
    Each semester. Fall 2014. Spring 2015. Everson. Schofield.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/mathematics-statistics
    Mathematics and Statistics 


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  • STAT 011. Statistical Methods

    STAT 011 prepares students to carry out basic statistical analyses with the aid of computer software. Topics include basic summary statistics and graphics, design of surveys and experiments, one and two-sample t-tests and tests of proportions, chi-square tests, and an introduction to linear regression and analysis of variance. The course is intended for students who want apractical introduction to statistical methods and who intend to do, or think they may eventually do, statistical analysis, especially in the biological and social sciences. Students who receive credit on entrance for the Statistics AP Exam should not take this course; they have placed out of it and will lose their AP credit if they take it.
    Prerequisite: Four years of traditional high school mathematics (precalculus).
    Eligible for COGS credit.
    Note that STAT 011 overlaps considerably with ECON 031 ; both courses cover similar topics, although ECON 031  focuses more on economic applications while STAT 011 draws examples from a variety of disciplines.
    1 credit.
    Each semester. Fall 2014. Spring 2015. Cook, McConville. McConville, Schofield.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/mathematics-statistics
    Mathematics and Statistics 


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  • STAT 021. Elementary Topics in Statistics: Quantitative Paleontology

    This course will explore current areas of research in paleobiology and macroevolution. For instance, does evolutionary change generally occur gradually or in short bursts? How reliably does the fossil record preserve information about ecosystems? What factors make species more likely to go extinct? To answer these and other questions, paleobiologists use a range of statistical and mathematical techniques. We will emphasize conceptual understanding and applications of such quantitative methods, rather than their underlying theory or proofs. Class meetings will include a combination of lectures, discussion of journal articles, and conversations with leading paleontologists via Skype.
    Prerequisite: BIOL 002 , or STAT 011  or equivalent.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/mathematics-statistics
    Mathematics and Statistics 


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  • STAT 031. Data Analysis and Visualization

    This course will study methods for exploring and modeling relationships in data. We introduce modern techniques for visualizing trends and formulating hypotheses. We will also discuss methods for modeling structure and patterns in data, particularly using multiple regression and related methods. The format of the course emphasizes writing assignments and interactive problem solving using real datasets.
    Statistics Prerequisites: Credit for AP Statistics, STAT 011 , STAT 061 , or ECON 031 ; or STAT 001  and permission of the instructor.
    Eligible for COGS credit.
    Writing course.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Spring 2015. McConville. Wang.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/mathematics-statistics
    Mathematics and Statistics 


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  • STAT 032. Topics in Statistics: Data Analysis Projects in Public and Social Policy

    This course is offered occasionally, when it was last offered in spring 2011 it was a Community-Based Learning project course in data analysis. Students worked in teams on a semester-long data analysis problem. Projects were drawn from data from local organizations in order to attempt to answer questions of direct importance to them. A key objective of the course is to expose students to the variety of challenges faced by the data analyst. Topics may include multiple regression, analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and other related methods. Students research the scientific background of their problem and consult with the local organizations from which their data came.
    Prerequisite: STAT 011 , or permission of the instructor.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/mathematics-statistics
    Mathematics and Statistics 


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  • STAT 061. Probability and Mathematical Statistics I

    This course introduces the mathematical theory of probability, including density functions and distribution functions, joint and marginal distributions, conditional probability, and expected value and variance. It then develops the theory of statistics, including parameter estimation and hypothesis testing. The emphasis is on proving results in mathematical statistics rather than on applying statistical methods.
    Prerequisites: MATH 033  or MATH 034  or permission of the instructor. STAT 011  or the equivalent is strongly recommended.
    Students needing to learn applied statistics and data analysis should consider STAT 011  or STAT 031  in addition to or instead of this course.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Schofield.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/mathematics-statistics
    Mathematics and Statistics 


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Mathematics and Statistics - Seminars
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Modern Languages and Literatures
  

  • LITR 006G. First-Year Seminar: Exploring the Boundaries of Travel Writing

    This first-year seminar examines the formation of cultural identity through the lens of mobility and travel. The specific focus of this course will enable students to grapple with topics related to transcultural encounter and representations of otherness. Students will be asked to engage in critical readings of texts that complicate traditional notions of travel. They will also develop a keen perception of how spatial dynamics and historical contexts shape the perspectives from which travel is narrated. Works included in the course are colonial texts, narratives of exile and Holocaust deportation, literary road trips and documentary travelogue films.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  
  

  • LITR 009S. First-Year Seminar: A New World: Conquests, Encounters and Dialogues in and around Latin America (W)

    This first-year seminar explores the New World that resulted from the “discovery,” colonization and exploitation of Latin America by the Europeans, particularly the Spanish. The encounter between the “Old” and the “New” Worlds was a two-way exchange in which new cultures emerged from the ruins of those destroyed, and the way of conceiving of the world and the self was utterly transformed for all involved. We will read texts by Europeans who encountered others and imposed upon them, but also texts by the defeated, where they tell their side of the story. Furthermore, we will pay special attention to those subjects in between different worlds, from Florida and Peru to Mozambique and Japan. Readings include texts by Columbus, Cortés and Las Casas; Aztecs, Mayans and Incas; and More, Montaigne and Shakespeare. In English.
    Eligible for LASC Credit.
    Writing Course.
    (Cross-listed as SPAN 009 )
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Valencia.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  
  
  
  

  • LITR 016CH. Substance, Shadow, and Spirit in Chinese Literature and Culture

    This course will explore the literary and intellectual world of traditional Chinese culture, through original writings in English translation, including both poetry and prose. Topics to be discussed include Taoism, Confucianism, and the contouring of Chinese culture; immortality, wine, and allaying the mundane; and the religious dimension, disengagement, and the appreciation of the natural world. The course also will address cultural and literary formulations of conduct and persona and the expression of individualism in an authoritarian society.
    (Cross-listed as CHIN 016 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Berkowitz.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 017F. First-Year Seminar: Literature and Medicine

    Portrayals of doctors provide a great opportunity to discover some classic works of French Literature, including Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid, Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Proust’s Swann’s Way, and Albert Camus’ The Plague. Other authors studied are Montaigne and Diderot. Students focus their discussions on the relationship with patients when these are seen as both humans beings and objects of science. Another topic of interest is how literature can be viewed as therapeutic. Throughout the seminar, we try to understand what had made these works original in their times and a source of admiration up to our days. Texts and discussions in English.
    (Cross-listed as FREN 017)
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Blanchard.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  
  
  

  • LITR 021J. Modern Japanese Literature

    An introduction to Japanese fiction from the Meiji Restoration (1868) to the present day, focusing on how literature has been used to express the personal voice and to shape and critique the concept of the modern individual. We will discuss the development of the mode of personal narrative known as the “I novel” as well as those authors and works that challenge this literary mode. In addition, we will explore how the personal voice in literature is interwoven with the great intellectual and historical movements of modern times, including Japan’s encounter with the West and rapid modernization, the rise of Japanese imperialism and militarism, World War II and its aftermath, the emergence of an affluent consumer society in the postwar period, and the impact of global popular culture and the horizon of new transnational identities in the 21st century. All readings and discussions will be in English.
    (Cross-listed as JPNS 021 )
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 021R. Dostoevsky (in Translation)

    Writer, gambler, publicist, and visionary Fedor Dostoevsky is one of the great writers of the modern age. His work inspired Nietzsche, Freud, Woolf, and others and continues to exert a profound influence on thought in our own society to the present. Dostoevsky confronts the “accursed questions” of truth, justice, and free will set against the darkest examples of human suffering: murder, suicide, poverty, addiction, and obsession. Students will consider artistic, philosophical, and social questions through texts from throughout Dostoevsky’s career. Students with knowledge of Russian may read some or all of the works in the original.
    (Cross-listed as RUSS 021 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2016. Staff.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  
  
  

  • LITR 024J. Japanese Film and Animation

    This course offers a historical and thematic introduction to Japanese cinema, one of the world’s great film traditions. Our discussions will center on the historical context of Japanese film, including how films address issues of modernity, gender, and national identity. Through our readings, discussion, and writing, we will explore various approaches to film analysis, with the goal of developing a deeper understanding of formal and thematic issues. A separate unit will consider the postwar development of Japanese animation (anime) and its special characteristics. Screenings will include films by Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Imamura, Kitano, and Miyazaki.
    (Cross-listed as JPNS 024 /FMST 057)
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 025A. War in Arab Literature and Cinema

    This course will explore literary and cinematic representations of war in the Arab world, focusing on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, the Lebanese Civil War, and the Iraq wars. We will look at poetry, fiction, memoir, prison narratives, film, and experimental texts. Through the examination of a variety of experiences, genres, and perspectives, we will ask questions like: How do narratives of war contribute to the formation of national, local, and Arab identities? How has the experience of war impacted understandings of religion, masculinity, gender, and domestic violence? We will identify common themes and images, and also investigate how these patterns change and develop in different spatial and temporal contexts.
    Eligible for ISLM and PEAC credit.
    (Cross-listed as ARAB 025  )
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 026R. Russian and East European Science Fiction

    Science fiction enjoyed surprisingly high status in Russia and Eastern Europe, attracting such prominent mainstream writers as Karel Čapek, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Evgenii Zamiatin. In the post-Stalinist years of stagnation, science fiction provided a refuge from stultifying official Socialist Realism for authors like Stanisław Lem and the Strugatsky brothers. This course will concentrate on 20th-century science fiction (translated from Czech, Polish, Russian and Serbian) with a glance at earlier influences and attention to more recent works, as well as to Western parallels and contrasts.
    (Cross-listed as RUSS 026 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Forrester.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 027CH. The Story in Dynastic China

    In this class we will read in translation and discuss a fair sampling of imperial China’s most renowned stories. In exploring the most celebrated and influential examples of narrative literature from early times into the Qing dynasty, we will look at these stories, some short, others quite elaborate, in terms of overt structure and content, as well as backgrounded literary and cultural material, and we will address their production and consumption in literati and popular contexts. We also will consider these writings in terms of the formulation of enduring cultural contours of character, allegory, and lyricism; individual and society; aesthetics and emotion; imagination and realism; heroism and valor. All readings will be in English, mostly translations of original texts, with some supplementary writings about traditional Chinese fiction.
    (Cross-listed as CHIN 027 )
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Berkowitz.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 029A. Arabs Write the West

    Drawing on historical, fictional, and autobiographical narratives, this course investigates Arab representations of the Occident. These texts explore cultural encounters, both at home and abroad, border crossings, hybridity, experiences of colonialism and neocolonialism, the psychology of Orientalism and Occidentalism, processes of assimilation and resistance, and the question of contact zones. Differences in geography, period, context, and positionality will provide a variety of perspectives on the theme. Works by Abd Al-Rahman Al-Jabarti, Rifa’a Al-Tahtawi, Yahya Haqqi, Sulaiman Fayyad, Tayyib Salih, Leila Ahmed, and Fadia Faqir will be discussed. This course is taught in English.
    Eligible for ISML credit.
    (Cross-listed as ARAB 029 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Al-Masri.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 030A. Literature of Resistance

    This course explores Arabic texts that take a stand against contemporary political, social, or economic realities. Fiction and non-fiction accounts as well as poetry will be investigated alongside experimental contemporary genres and blogs to uncover the different ways in which Arabs are attempting to rewrite the world around them. The theme of resistance-against colonialism, state oppression, social codes, and literary norms-will shape our discussions. New narratives inspired by the Arab uprisings will receive special focus. This course is taught in English.
    Eligible for ISLM or PEAC credit.
    (Cross-listed as ARAB 030 )
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Smith.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 035J. Narratives of Disaster and Rebuilding in Japan

    This course will explore documentary and fictional representations of the modern Japanese landscape and cityscape in crisis, with special attention to the role of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster as a catalyst for change in contemporary Japan. Documentaries and fictionalizations of the 2011 “triple disaster” reignited debates over cultural trauma and the ethics of representing disaster. Through the study of literature, film, and critical discourse, we will examine the historical and cultural implications of such famous 20th-century disaster narratives as Godzilla and Japan Sinks, as well as the latest writing and films from Japan, in the context of public debates about safety, sustainability, and social change after the March 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster.

    The course is a part of the BMC 360° course cluster “Perspectives on Sustainability: Disasters and Rebuilding in Japan.” The final project for the 360° course cluster will involve an exhibition utilizing objects and texts in the Trico special collections and archives. Readings and discussions will be in English. Course enrollment is limited; priority for registration will be given to 360° students and Japanese and Asian Studies majors and minors.
    Eligible for ASIA or ENVS credit.
    (Cross-listed as JPNS 035 )
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 041J. Fantastic Spaces in Modern Japanese Literature

    As Japanese society has transferred rapidly in the 20th century and beyond, a number of authors have turned to the fantastic to explore the pathways of cultural memory, the vicissitudes of interpersonal relationships, the limits of mind and body, and the nature of storytelling itself. In this course, we will consider the use of anti-realistic writing genres in Japanese literature from 1900 to the present, combining readings of novels and short stories with related critical and theoretical texts. Fictional works examined will include novels, supernatural tales, science fiction, and cyber-fiction by authors such as Tanizaki Junichirô, Abe Kôbô, Kurahasi Yumiko, and Murakami Haruki.
    Writing course.
    (Cross-listed as JPNS 041 )
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 042R. Revolutionary Theater

    We start with Konstantin Stanislavsky’s founding of the Moscow Art Theatre, whose revolutionary approach to acting, directing and set design exertsa profound effect on Western theater to this day. Concurrently we will examine Anton Chekhov’s four major plays and their integral part in the success of the Moscow Art Theatre. We then examine the effect of the Soviet revolution on Russian theater from two viewpoints. On the one hand, we will follow the arc of directors and playwrights such as Vsevelod Meyerhold who embraced the Soviet revolution and reflected this embrace in their radically innovative and futuristic productions and set designs. On the other hand, we will follow the tragic arc of playwright Mikhail Bulgakov and his stormy relationship with the Moscow Art Theater and the Soviet regime by reading his plays and his bitingly funny satire Black Snow.
    (Cross-listed as RUSS 042 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Johnson.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 045A. Contemporary Thought in the Arab World

    This survey course will trace some of the main themes, problems and issues that have been debated among Arab thinkers and intellectuals since the latter part of the 19th century. The course will start with the 19th century but emphasize discussions following the military defeat of 1967 and the ensuing cultural and political crisis. Discussions related to “turath” (heritage), the different strategies of its reading and interpretation, and the possibilities of using these readings to confront the contemporary challenges of a globalized world will be the center of attention of the course.

    Readings for the course will comprise three types of texts: historical and social background, translations of texts by the different thinkers under discussion, and articles and essays that interpret and critique these thinkers.
    Eligible for ISLM credit.
    (Cross-listed as ARAB 045 )
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 047R. Russian Fairy Tales

    Folk beliefs are a colorful and enduring part of Russian culture. This course introduces a wide selection of Russian fairy tales in their esthetic, historical, social, and psychological context. We will trace the continuing influence of fairy tales and folk beliefs in literature, music, visual arts, and film. The course also provides a general introduction to study and interpretation of folklore and fairy tales, approaching Russian tales against the background of the Western fairy-tale tradition (the Grimms, Perrault, Disney, etc.). No fluency in Russian is required, although students with adequate language preparation may do some reading, or a course attachment, in the original.
    Eligible for INTP credit.
    (Cross-listed as RUSS 047 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2016. Forrester.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 049S. Cervantes’ Don Quixote : The Narrative Quest

    What is it about Don Quixote’s tilting at windmills and acting as if life followed the rules of fiction that has captivated the imagination of so many writers and thinkers ever since it was written in Spain four hundred years ago? This course explores Cervantes’s Don Quixote (1605-1615) through theoretical texts, from Bakhtin to Foucault, from Lukacs to Borges, in order to think about Cervantes’s innovations in narrative technique, the possibility of interpretation, and the nature of fiction and reality. Students will acquire tools of literary analysis and theory. In English.
    (Cross-listed as SPAN 049 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Valencia.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 051J. Japanese Poetry and Poetics

    Japanese poetic forms such as haiku, renga, and tanka have had a great impact on modern poetry across the world, and have played a central role in the development of Japanese literature and aesthetics. This course will examine Japanese poetry from its roots in ancient oral tradition through the internet age. Topics include the role of poetry in courtship, communication, religion, and ritual; orality and the graphic tradition; the influence of poetic models from China and the West; social networks and game aesthetics in renga linked poetry; and haiku as a worldwide poetic form. Course projects will include translation and composition in addition to analytical writing. Readings will be in English, and there are no language requirements or other prerequisites; however, the course will include a close examination of Japanese poetic sound, syntax, meter, and diction, or how the poems “work” in the original language.
    (Cross-listed as JPNS 051 )
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Gardner.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 054G. German Cinema

    This course is an introduction to German cinema from its inception in the 1890s until the present. It includes an examination of early exhibition forms, expressionist and avant-garde films from the classic German cinema of the Weimar era, fascist cinema, postwar rubble films, DEFA films from East Germany, New German Cinema from the 1970s, and post 1989 heritage films. We will analyze a cross-match of popular and avant-garde films while discussing mass culture, education, propaganda, and entertainment as identity- and nation-building practices.
    Eligible for FMST credit, fulfills national cinema requirement.
    Writing course.
    (Cross-listed as GMST 054 /FMST 054)
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  
  
  
  

  • LITR 069CH. Taste and Aesthetics in Chinese Cultural Traditions

    This course will explore various dimensions of taste and aesthetics in traditional Chinese culture, from the earliest times into the recent past. Broader aspects of the course will include concept, form, and substance in classical literary, and philosophical formulations; ritual practice and ceremonial performance; and continuities and disjunctures in private vs. public and individual vs. societal taste. More focused readings and discussions will concern food, alcohol, tea, and the culinary arts; appreciation, aesthetics, and poetics in music, painting, calligraphy, literature, sculpture, and theater; the harmony of the human body and the evaluation of beauty and suitability in men and women; landscape appreciation and visions of the natural world; leisure and the passa tempo pursuits of Go, flower and tree arrangement and elegant gatherings.
    Eligible for ASIA credit.
    (Cross-listed as CHIN 069 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Berkowitz.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  
  
  
  
  

  • LITR 074J. Japanese Popular Culture and Contemporary Media

    Japanese popular culture products such as manga (comics), anime (animation), television, film, and popular music are an increasingly vital element of 21st-century global culture, attracting ardent fans around the world. In this course, we will critically examine the postwar development of Japanese popular culture, together with the proliferation of new media that have accelerated the global diffusion of popular cultural forms. Engaging with theoretical ideas and debates regarding popular culture and media, we will discuss the significance of fan cultures, including the “otaku” phenomenon in Japan and the United States, and consider how national identity and ethnicity impact the production and consumption of popular cultural products. We will also explore representations of technology in creative works, and consider the global and the local aspects of technological innovations, including the internet, mobile phones, and other portable technology. Readings and discussion will be in English. The course will be conducted in a seminar format with student research and presentations comprising an important element of the class. Previous coursework in Japanese studies or media studies is recommended but not required.
    (Cross-listed as JPNS 074 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Gardner.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 074S. Queer Issues in Latin American Literature & Cinema

    This course will map new forms of representation and interpretation at play in a set of queer issues emerging on recent Latin American literature and cinema. Emphasis will be on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender subjectivities. The aim is not merely assembling a corpus of readings around the notion of minority sexualities but to analyze how sexuality is culturally constructed in specific spatial and temporal geographies. We will also investigate the ways in which literary genres are disturbed and redeployed by queer interventions, and how cinema becomes a privileged medium for empowerment and visibility. Taught in English.
    Eligible for LASC and GSST credit.
    (Cross-listed as SPAN 074 )
    1 credit.
    Spring 2016. Martínez.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 077F. Caribbean and African Literatures and Cultures in Translation

    Through close reading and discussion of African and Caribbean texts, originally written in French, we will examine the “re/wri/gh/t/ing” of the local and national pre/ post/colonial H/h/istories. The emphasis will be on some cultural, social and racial issues and on their rendering in distinct literary forms: language, rhythm, influences, ruptures, etc. The theoretical readings of CLR James, F. Fanon, A. and S. Césaire, E. Glissant, among others, will guide our analysis. Taught in English; and there will be a 0.5 credit French Attachment for students reading in French.
    Eligible for BLST credit.
    (Cross-listed as FREN 077)
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  
  

  • LITR 083J. War and Postwar in Japanese Culture

    What was the Japanese experience of the World War II and the Allied Occupation? We will examine literary works, films, and graphic materials (photographs, prints, advertisements, etc.), together with oral histories and historical studies, to seek a better understanding of the prevailing ideologies and intellectual struggles of wartime and postwar Japan as well as the experiences of individuals living through the cataclysmic events of midcentury. Issues to be investigated include Japanese nationalism and imperialism, women’s experiences of the war and home front; changing representations and ideologies of the body, war writing and censorship, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japanese responses to the occupation, and the war in postwar memory.
    (Cross-listed as JPNS 083 )
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  

  • LITR 086R. Nature and Industry in Russian Literature and Culture

    From pre-Christian religion and folklore based in forest, steppe and tundra and the enduring role of peasant culture to today’s Neo-Pagans, Russian culture has been closely bound to nature, developing sustainable agricultural practices, honoring “Moist Mother Earth” and (even sophisticated city dwellers) heading out to gather berries and mushrooms. But the Soviet era pursued science-fictional plans to redesign whole landscapes, make rivers flow backwards and even revolutionize plant genetics (Trofim Lysenko). In practice, such projects led to a shrinking Aral Sea, massive pollution of industrial and agricultural sites, and the worst nuclear disaster in human history (Chernobyl)-at great human cost. Writers have both supported industrial transformation and resisted industrialization. This course will trace the evolution of these elements of Russian culture, focusing on expressions of ideology in literature. No knowledge of Russian is necessary, but students with the language may do some reading in the original.
    (Cross-listed as RUSS 086 )
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Forrester.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


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  • LITR 091CH. Special Topics in Chinese Literature and Culture in Translation: Dancing Across Borders; the Body, Aesthetics and Ideologies in 20th Century China

    This course uses dance as a unique artistic and theoretical prism to analyze the complex interplay among the body, aesthetics, and ideologies in 20th-century China. The goal of the course is to familiarize the students with the transnational and transcultural context within which modern dance was first introduced into China from the West via Japan, and to show the students how to situate the evolving trajectory of dance in China in the power struggles among competing political agendas, aesthetics, ideologies, and art forms. This course teaches the basic methods to read, reconstruct, and analyze dance works. The reading materials are all in English.
    Eligible for ASIA credit.
    (Cross-listed as CHIN 091 )
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/modern-languages-literatures
    Modern Languages and Literatures: Literatures in Translation 


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Music - Introductory Courses without Prerequisite
  

  • MUSI 001. Introduction to Music

    This course is designed to teach intelligent listening to music by a conceptual rather than historical approach. Although it draws on examples from popular music and various non- Western repertories, the course focuses primarily on the art music of Europe and the United States. Prior musical training is not required. It is assumed that MUSI 001 students will not know how to read music. This course is taught with little or no use of musical notation.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 003B. Jazz and the Trans-Atlantic African Diaspora

    From its earliest formations, jazz music has been inherently transcultural and particularly elemental to the cultural identity of individuals and communities identifying with the African Diaspora. This course posits improvisation-that is, encountering and working around borders while reacting to the impeding and facilitating possibilities they present-as a necessary and highly potent condition of cultural liminality. Accordingly, this course suggests that musical and cultural improvisatory performances can carve out discursive space within the socio-political systems that marginalize these communities. Drawing on the methodologies and scholarship of social sciences and the performing arts, we will explore this dynamic through interdisciplinary case studies in the Trans-Atlantic African Diaspora, with attention to local interpretations of global jazz culture and fusions of local music with jazz performance aesthetics. Also, the course will critically engage with the politics of collective identity, exploring how communities drawn together through a common genre marker or diasporic affiliation can themselves reproduce marginalizing hierarchies.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 004A. Opera

    Combine great singing with the vivid colors of an orchestra, with acting and theater, with poetry, dance, painting, spectacle, magic, love, death, history, mythology, and social commentary, and you have opera: an art of endless fascination. This course will survey the history of opera (from Monteverdi through Mozart, Wagner, and Verdi to Gershwin and Stravinsky), with special emphasis on and study of scenes from selected works.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Milewski.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 004B. The Symphony

    This course will examine the history of the symphony from its beginnings in music of the late Baroque period to the end of the 20th century. We will examine a number of important symphonic works by such composers as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, Chaikovsky, Mahler, Shostakovich, and Gorecki in order to discuss issues of genre, form, and performance forces in the context of shifting historical and social trends.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 005. U.S. Pop Music History

    This course will feature a survey of U.S. popular music from the late 19th century to present day. Discussion of individual case studies of music, musicians, and communities-in-music and significant movements and musicians-such as racial appropriation of R&B in 1950s rock and the performance of gender in glam rock-and will also take a look at the process of history-making by studying lesser known artists and critiquing the exclusionary practices of canon formation. We will discuss popular music as an industry and the effects of capitalist commerce on music-making, as well as political and socio-cultural interventions on music-making and distribution. Examples will include radio payola, legislated censorship, intellectual property law, public noise ordinances, reality music television, and illegal file-sharing practices.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Lomanno.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 005C. Traditional Musics of World Cultures

    Introduction to world music and ethnomusicology via a set of case studies on traditional music and music-making practices. This course stresses music as an integral to–constitutive of, rather than separate from–the culture in which it is rooted. Within this framework we will discuss how the concept of “tradition” does not necessarily imply historical fact, but can be more influenced by understandings of and nostalgic feelings about “the past” as commentary and critique of the present. The course’s final project will consist of individual ethnographic projects, in which students engage with a local community group or musicians involved in some form of traditional music practice.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Lomanno.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 006. The Arts as Social Change

    This course aims to bring together students with an interest in investigating and investing in social change work through the arts. Our seminar community will engage in discussion of readings and video viewings, will host and visit local leaders from the arts and social change movement, and will engage in fieldwork opportunities as required parts of the course. Papers, journals, and hands-on projects will all be included.
    This course fulfills a prerequisite requirement for dance major and minors.
    Eligible for PEAC credit.
    (Cross-listed as DANC 004 )
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 006B. Music of the Holocaust and World War II Era

    This course will explore the various contexts and motivations for music making during the Holocaust and World War II era. In the universe of the Nazi ghettos and concentration camps, music was a vehicle for transmitting political rumors, controversies, stories, and everyday events as well as a form of spiritual resistance. In the broader context of war, it was used for political and nationalist agendas. This course will draw on a wide range of music, from folk songs and popular hit tunes to art music intended for the concert stage.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 009A. Music and Mathematics

    This course will explore the basic elements of musical language from a scientific and mathematical perspective. We will work collaboratively to uncover relationships and features that are fundamental to the way that music is constructed. Although intended for science, mathematics, engineering, and other mathematically minded students, the course will introduce all necessary mathematics; no specific background is required. Some knowledge of musical notation is helpful but not required. This course provides the necessary background to enable students to enroll in MUSI 011.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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Music - Theory and Composition
  

  • MUSI 011.01. Harmony, Counterpoint, and Form 1

    This course will provide an introduction to tonal harmony and counterpoint, largely as practiced in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. Topics include simple counterpoint in 2 parts, harmonization of soprano and bass lines in four-part textures, systematic study of common diatonic harmonies, features of melody and phrase, and the Blues.
    Prerequisites: Knowledge of traditional notation and major and minor scales; ability to play or sing at sight simple lines in treble and bass clef.
    Keyboard skills lessons may also be required for some students.
    All MUSI 011 students must register for an appropriate level of MUSI 040A for 0 or 0.5 credit.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Kochavi.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 011.02. Harmony, Counterpoint, and Form 1

    This seminar will provide an introduction to tonal harmony and counterpoint, largely as practiced in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. Topics include simple counterpoint in 2 parts, harmonization of soprano and bass lines in four-part textures, systematic study of common diatonic harmonies, features of melody and phrase, the Blues, and classical theme and variation techniques. Certain examples for analysis will be drawn from current repertoire of the College Orchestra, Chorus, and Jazz Ensemble.
    Prerequisites: Knowledge of traditional notation and major and minor scales; ability to play or sing at sight simple lines in both treble and bass clef.
    Keyboard skills lessons may also be required for some students.
    All MUSI 011 students must register for an appropriate level of MUSI 040A for 0 or 0.5 credit.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Kochavi.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 012. Harmony, Counterpoint, and Form 2

    This course will provide continued work on tonal harmony and counterpoint, largely as practiced in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. Topics include two-voice counterpoint, harmonization of soprano and bass lines in four-part textures, phrase structure, small and large scale forms, modulation and tonicization, and analysis using prolongational reductions. We will also study minuet form in detail, culminating in a final composition project.
    Keyboard skills lessons are required for all students in MUSI 012.
    All MUSI 012 students must register for an appropriate level of MUSI 040B for 0 or 0.5 credit.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Levinson.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 013. Harmony, Counterpoint, and Form 3

    Continues and extends the work of Music 12 to encompass an expanded vocabulary of chromatic tonal harmony, based on Western art music of the 18th and 19th centuries. The course includes analysis of smaller and larger works by such composers as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, and Wagner; in-depth study of such large-scale topics as sonata form; and written musical exercises ranging from harmonizations of bass and melody lines to original compositions in chorale style.
    Keyboard skills lessons may also be required for some students.
    All MUSI 013  students must register for an appropriate level of MUSI 040C for 0 or 0.5 credit.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Levinson.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 014. Harmony, Counterpoint, and Form 4

    This course provides continued work in chromatic harmony and 18th-century counterpoint, largely as practiced in Europe. It will primarily take the form of a literature survey. For the first half of the semester, our focus will be on short pieces; during the second of the semester we will study keyboard fugues and other larger-scale works. This course includes a service-learning project.
    Keyboard skills lessons may also be required for some students.
    All MUSI 014  students must register for an appropriate level of MUSI 040D for 0 or 0.5 credit.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Levinson.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 018. Conducting and Orchestration

    This course approaches the understanding of orchestral scores from a variety of perspectives. We will study techniques of orchestration and instrumentation, both in analysis of selected works, and in practice, through written exercises. The history, and philosophy of conducting will be examined, and we will work to develop practical conducting technique. Score reading, both at the piano and through other methods, will be practiced throughout the semester.
    Prerequisite: MUSI 012 , or permission of the instructor.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. Hauze.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 062. Proseminar in Jazz Studies: History, Theory, and Improvisation

    Designed as an intensive, seminar-style introduction to jazz studies, this course provides an overview of major styles, innovations, and scholarly theories of U.S. jazz through cultural history, music theory, and performance practice. Each unit and case study will draw equally on jazz scholarship and research, analytical listening and transcription, and an in-class performance lab. Individual class sessions will vary among seminar discussions, theory and analysis sessions, guest presentations, and performance workshops on improvisation. Students will complete both individual and group assessments, along with a culminating final project and presentation on a particular period or performer.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.

Music - History of Music
  
  
  
  
  

  • MUSI 024. Opera Production Workshop

    Opera is a collaborative art form, involving composing, writing, performing, stage directing, choreography and design. In this workshop-based class, students will gain a basic understanding of opera as an art form and experience all aspects of the rehearsal and production process. The class culminates in the performance of an original opera written, directed and performed by faculty and students in collaboration with students from a nearby elementary school.
    (Cross-listed as THEA 005 )
    Open to students with permission of the instructors.
    1 credit.
    Spring 2015. TBD.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 025. American Musical Theater

    Musical theater has often been considered a quintessentially American genre. But how has it helped Americans to understand America. This survey will trace the genre’s musical and dramatic development and explore representations of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Musicals considered will include: Show Boat, Porgy and Bess, Cradle Will Rock, Oklahoma!, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd and Wicked. Students will have the opportunity to work with the department’s Fall 2014 production of Guys and Dolls.
    Prerequisite: MUSI 011 or permission of the instructor.
    1 credit.
    Fall 2014. Baranello.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 030. Music of Asia

    An introduction to selected musical traditions from the vast diversity of Asian cultures. Principal areas will include classical music of India, Indonesian gamelan from Bali and Java, ritual music of Tibet, ancient Japanese court music, Turkish classical music and others. These music will be studied in terms of their technical and theoretical aspects as well as their cultural/philosophical backgrounds. Western musical notation and terminology, including scale types and intervals, will be used. This course fulfills the World Traditions component of the music major.
    Eligible for ASIA credit.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 033A. Caribbean/Latin America

    This course will focus on the collective genius of the folk, traditional, and popular musics of Cuba and Brazil, such as Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian religious music, changüí, son, danzón charanga, son montuno, timba, samba enredo, samba reggae, afoxé, bossa nova, capoeira, maracatú, mangue beat, pagode, and many others. Selected musical genres will be studied for their sounds and formal characteristics, as well as their cultural origins and histories, and occasionally, comparisons will be drawn with musical styles from the U.S., and musics of the respective immigrant populations in the U.S. will be discussed. The class will feature some hands-on demonstrations by guest artists and the instructor. Materials and assignments will include audio recordings, videos, journal articles, textbook chapters, and other writings, mostly drawn from the field of ethnomusicology.
    Prerequisite: Knowledge of traditional music notation and major and minor scales. Recommended, but not required: Knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese.
    This course fulfills the world traditions component requirement for the music major.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 035. Foundations of Ethnomusicology

    This course provides an introduction to the history, methodologies, and theories of ethnomusicology. Through review and analysis of past case studies, we will discuss the development of the discipline, engaging with fundamental questions about the relationships among music, culture, scholarship, and advocacy. This course material and assessments will be designed in an interdisciplinary fashion, drawing primarily from music analysis and the social sciences. In addition to individual and collaborative assignments, students will produce ethnographic portfolios of a nearby group or community to be presented at the end of the semester.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


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  • MUSI 038. Color and Spirit: Music of Debussy, Stravinsky, and Messiaen

    A study of 20th-century music focusing on the great renewal of musical expressions, diverging from the Austro-German classic-Romantic tradition, found in the works of these three very individual composers, as well as the connections among them, and the resonance of their music in the work of their contemporaries and successors.
    Prerequisite: MUSI 011 or the equivalent.
    1 credit.
    Not offered 2014-2015.
    http://www.swarthmore.edu/music
    Music and Dance: Music 


    Access the class schedule to search for sections.
  
 

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