Valerie Anishchenkova (German, Russian, and Asian languages and literature)
A new course, Egyptian Cinema at the end of the 20th Century: Cultures, Histories, and People, is for students of all levels. It introduces students to Egyptian culture through its cinema. Since the 1970s Egyptian films have become increasingly illuminating representations of social, political, and historical events and trends.

Cristelle Baskins (art and art history)
Renaissance on Film is a new seminar that looks at how modern films represent the Italian Renaissance, especially considering how theories of pictorial space and narrative have affected modern film making as well as the field of art history. Students will be asked to think about analysis and interpretation, the construction of arguments, techniques of persuasion, and audience reception.

Brian Brenner (civil and environmental engineering)
A revision of CEE10: Introduction to Civil Engineering, will reorganize the content and include newly designed activities, including a walking tour of the Tufts campus on which students observe and evaluate the pedestrian truss bridge to Dowling Hall, star anchors in the Ballou Hall façade, and slope stability on the Paige Hall walkway.

Claire Conceison (drama and dance)
Play Translation and Cultural Transmission is a new course designed for students of foreign languages and drama to examine plays in translation. Students will hone their own translation skills, and reflect critically on implications of material choice and translation styles. Such work necessitates close reading, a critical approach, and sensitivity to cultural differences.

Brian Jordan (English)
Art and Social Change, a new addition to the English 2 offerings, poses the question: Can art act as a vehicle for social change? The class will look at contemporary filmmakers, writers, photographers, musicians and other artists who try to reflect and engage the world around them through their art. Students will analyze and respond to artists’ creative decisions and strategies of engagement, while examining how art takes on a life of its own through its audience.

Ikumi Kaminishi (art and art history)
FAH 106: Japanese Art and Animé is a new course in Japanese art history. Capitalizing on the global interest in Japan’s animation (animé) films and comic books, this course helps students to evaluate critically the validity of the distinction between fine arts and comics and to discover that “pop” culture is not merely a modern phenomenon. The class will develop skills to view anime critically as an historical product that addresses various issues, including gender, traditions, and religious values.

Anne-Christine Rice (Romance languages)
A revision of French 21, Composition and Conversation, makes critical thinking an integral part of this course, which focuses on the study of films. Films provide the opportunity to analyze and reflect on one’s own native language and culture, thereby enabling students to think critically about a foreign language and culture.

Marta Rosso-O’Laughlin (Romance languages)
As a part of a larger project that will be published in the near future, a series of activities for Spanish language classes is developed. Students will be asked to analyze, describe, contrast, and compare various situations. Focusing on the cultural component of language, exercises will elicit language appropriate to the students’ level of proficiency while also help to develop critical thinking skills.

Don Weingust (drama and dance)
A revision of Drama 1, Comedy and Tragedy, focuses on processes by which a piece of dramatic literature makes the journey toward theatrical production. The course is designed to enhance student’s understanding of the critical and creative processes by introducing then to a variety of theatrical practitioners and theorists and attending several live performances.

Past Program Participants:

2007  |  2006  |  2005  |  2004  |  2003  |  2002  |  2001  |  2000  |  1999

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