FR 481 Global Literary Experiments in the Other Arts: A Photrographic Approach Spring 2019 Open Seats

Posted by Tim on January 28, 2019 in General Education Requirements, Honors Experiences, Registration and Seminar Information

The photographic image has undoubtedly been a decisive artifact in the construction of modern life. Today, we take more pictures and see the results faster than ever, given the technology that most people with a cellphone have access to. But why do we love taking pictures? Why is the “selfie” so ubiquitous? What are we after? Has that changed since photography’s beginning, not so long ago, in the mid-19^th century?

The word “photography” was invented by resorting to Greek, linking light, “photos,” and writing, “graphein,” suggesting that this practice of recording images on a surface is a way of writing with light. This form of writing has developed a productive dialogue with literature, as a longstanding creative practice of writing that draws on reality and language… and their uncanny underside. Feeding on literature’s special potential to express unacknowledged dreams, psychoanalysis has provided a vocabulary to consider that enigmatic underside, where words and images exceed conscious will and established discourses. This course considers the relations photography maintains with perception, signification, time, history, pleasure, desire, sexuality, and political agency, among other factors. Such an investigation will take us forward: to interrogate the sense and effects of current and future photographic practices, from everyday Instagram smartphone shots to photojournalism, to photography in contemporary art galleries. And it also takes us back: to 19^th-century Paris as a starting point, where photography finds important roots with inventors Daguerre and Niépce, and where a certain medical practice that involved photography, namely, Dr. Charcot’s experiments and theories of hysteria, led to the invention of psychoanalysis, a field that gave rise to the concept of the unconscious in ways highly relevant, in turn, to experimental photography and literature. And further back… to fairy tales Charles Perrault introduced to the literary cannon at the end of the 17th century, which still intrigue us today (Blanche Neige/Snow White, for instance). The trajectories of photography, psychoanalysis, and literature are therefore intertwined in rich ways that we explore in this course. How, for instance, does photography transform literary works? And what do literature and psychoanalysis reveal to users of photographic images about themselves, or about the bodies and world they see through photography? Can photographs make visible what remains unacknowledged, unthought, yet shaping our reality? These are questions that certain photographers and writers actively explored, drawing on plastic experiments, psychoanalytic theory, and on the unique knowledge that literary works can give access to. The discussion remains open for you (and your camera) to join. *French majors and minors (or readers of French) are strongly encouraged to read in French whenever possible.

Spring Social Work undergraduate electives- open to all undergraduates

Posted by Tim on November 2, 2016 in Academics, Registration and Seminar Information, UB Curriculum

SW 401A Black Masculinities

This course concerns the exploration of Black masculinity and the various policies that shape how Black male identity is viewed in America and how those policies shape the gendered perspectives/behaviors of the Black male. Consistent with an interdisciplinary approach the course will focus on a number of domains that impact Black men such as the prison industrial complex, poverty, violence, education and draw from a number of disciplines such as social work, history and sociology. We start our consideration of this topic with an examination of the institution of slavery in America between the 17th century and the beginning of the 20th century which set the foundation for Black masculinity in America. Theories that aim to explain Black male outcomes will be incorporated throughout the course.

Wednesdays from 9 to 11:50am

319 Filmore

3 Credits

Registration #: 23191

Instructor: Christopher St. Vil

SW 401B Introduction to Black Male-Female Relationships: A Historical and Contemporary Analysis

This course will introduce students to the historical and contemporary issues facing black male-female relationships. Through this course students will use a trauma informed perspective to 1) develop an understanding of the historical and contemporary context of black male-female relationships 2) assess intervention strategies and 3) propose their own solutions for addressing these pressing issues.

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 12:20pm

138 Bell Hall

3 Credits

Registration #: 23331

Instructor: Noelle St. Vil

CL205 “Heroes” Offered Spring 2017

Posted by Tim on November 2, 2016 in Academics, Registration and Seminar Information, UB Curriculum

The Department of Classics will offer three sections of one of its CL (Composition and Literacy) 2 courses in spring 2017.  The course, Classics (also abbreviated CL) 205 “Heroes,” has been a very popular offering historically, and we believe that it will continue to be a course that students will find interesting and rewarding in its new life as a CL2 offering.  The course deals with heroic figures of antiquity and the Middle Ages, such as Achilles, Beowulf, the Arthurian knights, and so on, as presented in traditional literary sources, and also in more contemporary presentations (film, television etc.).

“Heroes” is a study of the heroic figure in ancient and medieval literature, and also in modern popular culture. Readings and writings will focus on heroic figures of the Odyssey and Iliad, the Mahabharata, Beowulf, and the Arthurian Cycle,  but will also incorporate non-Indo-European traditions such as those of Gilgamesh and the Bible. Contemporary portrayals in cinema, television and graphic media will be examined as well. This course is designated a Communication and Literacy 2 course and as such entails intensive student writing. On average, no less than 1/3 of class meetings will be devoted to writing instruction. Such instruction will entail discussion of Classics disciplinary genres, the various audiences and purposes of these genres, and library/research skills, as well as time devoted to in-class peer workshops, and also instruction in disciplinary style and citation practices, evaluation and integration of secondary sources into student writing, and so on.

Winter Social Work Electives Open to Undergraduates

Posted by Tim on October 25, 2016 in Academics, General Education Requirements, Online Courses, Registration and Seminar Information, Research Information and Opportunities, Winter Session

Winter Social Work Electives Open to Undergraduates