Liberal Studies


LS2-101H (EN228H)
The Victorian Illustrated Book
Prof. Catherine Golden

This honors course studies the relationship between literature and the visual arts in the Victorian period (1837-1901). It focuses on exemplary illustrated novels and stories (e.g. by Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, and Beatrix Potter), picture-poems (e.g. Dante Gabriel Rossetti), and critical studies in aesthetics and literature (e.g. Horace, Plato, and Lessing)> Part of the adult reading experience, pictures did not simply embellish the Victorian illustrated book as we often conceive of illustration today; rather, pictures added meaning to a text, which, in turn, influenced how these images were "read". In this writing-intensive course, students will write frequent short papers and complete four writing projects, each involving revision. Students will also complete a creative project. Moreover, the course provides you with the exciting opportunity of engaging in primary research by putting on an exhibition in the Lucy Scribner Library using materials from the Fox Collection. Each class member will have an active role in the exhibition.

 

LS2-150H
Literacy and Social Power
Prof. Joanne Devine

Reflecting back on a number of topics introduced in Liberal Studies 1, this course asks students to develop an understanding of both the cognitive and social dimensions of literacy. Students read material from an array of sources and disciplines, including literacy studies, sociology, anthropology, history, education, and literature. This is a writing intensive course, and students are expected to develop and improve their writing abilities as well as their abilities to read material from a wide variety of disciplines with understanding and critical insight. Students will also be expected to develop a research project in the area of literacy. This work would involve a review of relevant primary sources; development of an hypothesis; data collection; data analysis; and interpretation of results. This paper will be assessed in terms of both process and product.



LS2-194
Genocide and Justice
Prof. Matthew Hockenos

This course examines the genesis of international human rights, the legal mechanisms and institutions developed to enforce these rights, and the strategies used by societies to come to terms with massive human rights abuses. The honors component consists of a weekly additional hour-long meeting focusing on the United Nations. In particular we consider the origins and outcomes of the dilemma the UN faces as a relatively weak multi-national institution when it confronts sovereign nations guilty of committing human rights abuses. In addition to examining the history and origins of the United Nations, its constituent parts, and the tools at its disposal to stop and prosecute human rights abuses, we investigate the role of the UN in three case studies (Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda) and look at the current situations unfolding in which the UN is involved or poised to get involved, such as in East Timor, Kosovo, and Angola. Counts towards the International Affairs and Law & Society minors.

 

LS2-206H (PS333)
Sleep and Dreams
Prof. Holley Hodgins
 
Sleeping and dreaming is a universal experience that is little understood. Sleep and dreams are curious phenomena, in that we have vivid experiences of emotions, thoughts, and sensations, and yet have total muscular paralysis, i.e., we are unable to move, and usually are not aware that we are asleep. In this course, we will examine the experiences of sleeping and dreaming, and will consider narratives about the meaning and function of sleep and dreams, and will consider narratives about the meaning and function of sleep and dreams that have been constructed in different cultures, times, and disciplines. Specifically, we will examine accounts of dreaming from neuroscience, non-empirical western psychology, and a few non-western cultures. In addition, we will pay attention to and experience our own sleep and dreams by journaling and by participating in the sleep laboratory as sleepers and experimenters.
 


LS2-222H
InSite: Exploring the Visual
 
How will the process of seeing lead to discovery? In this course we will follow the trail of this question as we explore how objects, the display of objects, and the sites where we encounter objects create meaning.  The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, the Skidmore Campus and the surrounding area will serve as our primary research sites as we study how museum display and the appearance of ordinary objects in our everyday landscapes give shape to ideas and experiences.  Drawing from the disciplines of museum studies, visual art, cultural studies and cultural geography, we will investigate the process of seeing as a practice in interdisciplinary thought as well as a method for identifying how the visual helps to form the knowledge base of different disciplines.  Throughout this course, visual projects that explore site-specific elements of display will accompany in-depth analysis of verbal and visual texts.