Sexy and Scholarly: A Guide to 2012 Course Names
The title of a class on Course Offerings can sometimes be the difference between a full roster and an empty one. The art of naming a course requires the skill of alliterative allusions, pop culture wordplay, a bit of sensationalism, and of course: a carefully placed academic colon.While this past spring offered some stiff competition with its Beyoncé class ("Run the World: Black Women and Popular Music Culture from Modernity to the Millennium"), this Fall's academic options offer a banquet of classes, ranging from the boldly worded to the plain and simple. Some sexy course names next semester include:Race and the City (AAS/AMS 386): Sarah Jessica Parker's Weave
"The course cover a diverse array of topics including: ghettoization, urban renewal, the creation of public housing, popular music (Jazz, Motown, Hip Hop), public art and graffiti, literature of urbanity, the fair housing movement, deindustrialization and gentrification."
The Ordinary (ARC 425): Hey, Look At That Bench
"This course examines the notion of the "ordinary," and the ways in which it has been exploited as a site of inquiry in the architectural debate, particularly from the mid-1950s to the present."
Topics in Contemporary Architectural Theory - Kissing Architecture (ARC/MOD 577): Yes, We Used The Word "Friction", Get Your Head Out Of The Gutter
"The seminar will argue that architecture has consistently propelled itself through its embrace of other cultural forms and that most key moments in the advancement of 20th century architecture are related to the conceptual and material friction generated by contact between architecture and other mediums."
Anxious Megalopolis: Shanghai's Urban Cultures (1842-2012) (ART/ARC 459): We Build Shit Fast, And Then It Falls Over "This seminar will cover the emergence of Shanghai's vibrant urban culture as it evolved into the complex megalopolis of today." Networks: Friends, Money and Bytes (ELE 381): How To Make Facebook Friends And Win Followers
"This course is oriented around 20 practical questions in the social, economic, and technological networks in our daily lives. How does Google sell ad spaces and rank webpages? How does Netflix recommend movies and Amazon rank products? How do I influence people on Facebook and Twitter?"
The Medieval Romance: Writing Sex and Death (ENG/MED 314): Because There Aren't Enough Butt Jokes in Chaucer
"We will focus on the romance's fascination with spectacle, luxury, love, myth, death, and rule, and consider the ways in which the recurrent subjects of identity, mourning, economics, and religious devotion subvert or reinforce structures of authority and belief."
Life on Earth: Chaos and Clockwork of Biological Design (EEB/MOL 211): Someone Read Burgess When Coming Up With Course Names
"Why do some microbes produce slime and others do not? Why are males brightly colored in some species, but in others females are the showy sex? Why do humans have knees that fail whereas horses and zebras do not? These and other 'why is it so' questions related to the origin and history of life, genetic code, biochemistry, physiology, morphology and body plans, sex and reproduction, cooperation, and ecosystems will be explored."
Art for Everyone (VIS 219): But Not The British Children
"This studio class will address the increasing social pressure on art to become more widely distributed, immediately accessible, and democratically produced. For the past fifty years, expanding definitions of what art might be fueled by a greater emphasis on active audience participation have encouraged an atmosphere in which anyone can claim to be an artist."