189H Seminars

From spray-painted graffiti to community murals, from guerrilla street sign campaigns to sidewalk chalking, the wide, wonderful practice of street art (both pre-approved and unsanctioned) has grown in stature and importance in the public consciousness since the mid-1960s--it is a graffiti revolution! In this class, we will explore how graffiti practices highlight the unique relationships that develop between artists, communities, and society-at-large within the urban environment. We will study this public form of expression from early graffiti writing and the birth of hip hop, to its current use as the voice of resistance and protest. Graffiti’s power can be double-edged. Artists contribute to creative placemaking and transforming neighborhoods, but simultaneously can open the door to gentrification. This project-based class facilitates an understanding of the practices, style and struggles of street art by tackling subject matter such as intersectionality, the environment, personal expression and public interventions.

No artistic experience is necessary, but an open mind and the ability to embrace experimental practices is expected!

Greenhouse gasses generated by human activity are causing an increased frequency of extreme weather events, record-hot summers, and melting glaciers. The problem has seeped into our collective imaginations, generating numerous apocalyptic visions of the future and a widely felt climate anxiety.

Yet, the effect of climate change on life on Earth represents an enormous opportunity to understand nature in an integrative way. Heat, water, and other physical features of the environment (e.g., acidity, gases) have broad effects on physiology, and these effects ‘scale up’ to impacts on organisms, populations, communities, and even whole biomes. Changes in one species may affect another species or even the physical environment, causing ripple effects throughout natural systems. Thermal stress, among other changes, may drive evolutionary responses, further changing the make-up of ecological communities. Understanding the biological effect of climate change requires, at a minimum, some ability to connect the dots among processes and organisms.

In this course, we will strive to connect the dots and follow the likely trails of effect from adding CO2 to the atmosphere to changes in natural phenomena. We will map out a logical flow of consequences and investigate the evidence for steps along the trail. We will then integrate across effects to make educated guesses about complex but critical climate impacts on things that many people care about, like coral reefs, polar bears, and coffee, and things we worry about, like malaria and growing food.

This course will bring together a series of novels from around the world to explore a central question: How do contemporary authors use the representation of food as a way of engaging themes like family, belonging and the immigrant experience, cultural exchange and adaptation, and individual and collective cultural identity? Primary texts will include The Hundred-Foot Journey (India/France), The Mistress of Spices (India/USA), The Vegetarian (South Korea), Kitchen (Japan), Salt Houses (Palestine), and Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico). Secondary texts will illuminate relevant cultural and culinary contexts, as a way of deepening student understanding of the primary texts. The course activities and assessment methods -- including collaborative analysis, group discussion, in-class writing, oral presentations, and a final exam -- will challenge students to explore the course texts in detail while developing various abstract, intertextual and transcultural connections. Extra-credit activities will give students an opportunity to sample some of the multicultural cuisine found in Lincoln.

Science fiction narratives have always utilized racial allegories. From the existential anxiety of invading alien civilizations following the model of European colonizers to mutant factions clashing over whether to integrate into a society that sees them as a hostile threat, this class will use the works of science fiction writers and auteurs like H.G. Wells, Jordan Peele, Alex Garland, and Stan Lee to explore what futurism, parallel universes, and technology can teach us about racial dynamics and symbolism.

This class will explore Viking culture, looking at several aspects including their role as fearsome conquerors and explorers, their relationships with other cultures and peoples through trade, and the influence of their faith systems on their culture, as well as how they viewed these figures of myth and legend that have lived on to today in various forms.

Fictional stories about disaster and apocalypse offer a robust opportunity to explore key issues in the field of geography – from physical geography to human geography. In this class, we will look at key representations of geography from popular disaster and apocalypse films to gain a deeper understanding of the landscape(s) we inhabit and the complexities of global change.

Both humans and artificial intelligence tools learn, but who wins the intelligence race? This seminar class will use psychology and creativity research, activities, and discussion to understand how humans fine-tune learning and creativity to develop expertise. This field of study offers implications for self-growth and the future of education. Have we reached a point where AI can do our work for us? Maybe, but how will it impact creativity and talent?

We all know that zombies aren’t real… right? But what about a parasite that makes mice lose their fear of cats and end up as lunch? Or a virus that makes people terrified of a glass of water? In this class, we’ll sort the fact from the fiction and explore the wonderfully weird world of the brain. Using cases of both real and fictional disorders, we will explore the ways in which the typical brain functions. Along the way we will cover common neuroscience methodologies, important historical contributions, and relevant current theories. By the end of this course you will have developed a broad understanding of the field of neuroscience and be well prepared to repel a zombie apocalypse, should one occur.

For over one hundred years we have been enthralled by the movies! Undoubtedly film is the central mode of artistic cultural expression in our world today. Much of our social discourse revolves around our shared experiences of the cinema. In this course, students will explore the worlds of film by 1. Watching; 2. Reading (both films and screenplays); 3. Contextualizing; 4. Talking (in class discourse); 5. Writing (both analytically and creatively), and, last but not least, 6. Enjoying the pleasures of the cinema. This Honors seminar will introduce students to the art of film and the craft of screenwriting; key moments of film history and the social, historical, and artistic context surrounding the films; and, through the reading of screenplays, how films develop from page to screen. Students will not only watch some of the great films of the last 100 years, but they will also learn how to read films as “texts,” by applying analytical and critical methods to their viewing of films. As we view/read the films, students will also have the opportunity to read a number of screenplays (and a few short novels) to learn the craft of screenwriting, and they will write their own short screenplay as one of their class projects. Students will also learn the craft of the film review by writing two film reviews during the course of the semester.

This class takes students on an immersive journey through the vibrant history and cultural impact of American musical theatre. From its origins to contemporary innovations, this course delves into the evolution of musical theatre as a dynamic and influential art form. Through a combination of live performances, lectures, discussions, readings, and multimedia presentations, students will explore key milestones, groundbreaking works, influential artists, and significant cultural moments that have shaped the American musical landscape. Topics covered include the Golden Age of Broadway, the process for writing musicals, the rise of concept musicals, pop culture jukebox musicals, live action and musicals on film, technology and multimedia on stage, the impact of diversity and representation, and the intersection of musical theatre with social and political movements. Emphasizing critical analysis and creative exploration, the course encourages students to engage deeply with the material, develop their own perspectives, and appreciate the enduring legacy of American musical theatre. We will explore musicals such as Rent, West Side Story, Hamilton, Cabaret, Hair, and others!

From spray-painted graffiti to community murals, from guerrilla street sign campaigns to sidewalk chalking, the wide, wonderful practice of street art (both pre-approved and unsanctioned) has grown in stature and importance in the public consciousness since the mid-1960s--it is a graffiti revolution! In this class, we will explore how graffiti practices highlight the unique relationships that develop between artists, communities, and society-at-large within the urban environment. We will study this public form of expression from early graffiti writing and the birth of hip hop, to its current use as the voice of resistance and protest. Graffiti’s power can be double-edged. Artists contribute to creative placemaking and transforming neighborhoods, but simultaneously can open the door to gentrification. This project-based class facilitates an understanding of the practices, style and struggles of street art by tackling subject matter such as intersectionality, the environment, personal expression and public interventions.

No artistic experience is necessary, but an open mind and the ability to embrace experimental practices is expected!

Throughout time, human beings have been fascinated with music. Research in the psychology of music has uncovered much regarding how musicians acquire the ability to convey emotional intentions as sounded music, how listeners perceive it as feelings and moods, and how this powerful process relates to social and cultural dynamics. This course addresses these broad themes, giving specific attention to topics such as: development and learning, motivation, expressivity and artistic interpretation, creativity, performance anxiety, listener preferences and emotional response, and the roles of music in society.

The former Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren famously said, “I always turn to the (newspaper’s) sports pages first, which records people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.” In the subsequent six decades, sport has moved closer and closer to the front pages. Collectively, sports would be considered among the biggest industries in America, and with it are the inherent issues and ethical considerations we examine in this course. Sport is one of the few places in our society you will find the confluence of economics, class, gender, race, and identity. To study sport is to take a close examination of who we are as Americans, and as citizens of the world. In this course we will examine the issues and ethics of a variety of institutions, including college and professional sports, the media, the sports business, and what role fans play in these dynamics.

As the global population grows, and our world becomes increasingly interconnected via processes of globalization, our social and natural worlds are becoming further interwoven. International travel creates a pathway for previously limited outbreaks of disease to spread. The internet creates a pathway for the illumination of once hidden social and ecological crimes. This course will explore contemporary public and environmental health case studies from around the world through the lens of environmental justice. Environmental justice involves the fair and equal treatment and involvement of all people in efforts to care for and access environmental resources. We will investigate current cases of environmental concern in urban areas, remote indigenous communities, local and international law, and the development of local and international public health practices and collaborative efforts.

This class takes students on an immersive journey through the vibrant history and cultural impact of American musical theatre. From its origins to contemporary innovations, this course delves into the evolution of musical theatre as a dynamic and influential art form. Through a combination of live performances, lectures, discussions, readings, and multimedia presentations, students will explore key milestones, groundbreaking works, influential artists, and significant cultural moments that have shaped the American musical landscape. Topics covered include the Golden Age of Broadway, the process for writing musicals, the rise of concept musicals, pop culture jukebox musicals, live action and musicals on film, technology and multimedia on stage, the impact of diversity and representation, and the intersection of musical theatre with social and political movements. Emphasizing critical analysis and creative exploration, the course encourages students to engage deeply with the material, develop their own perspectives, and appreciate the enduring legacy of American musical theatre. We will explore musicals such as Rent, West Side Story, Hamilton, Cabaret, Hair, and others!

This class will explore how we understand the complex interplay of sex and gender in children’s literature, a genre which emerged, arguably, in the late eighteenth century. Many stories from this time period have become classics and versions of them are still well known today—examples include Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and L. Frank Baum’s The Land of Oz. As we read the original versions of these tales, we will take as fully historicized view of how children’s literature translated (and edited) real cultural relations – in other words, what did these stories have to say about how girls and boys should and could behave when they were first published? What can they teach us about growing up? How do those lessons reflect cultural norms and expectations, especially around gender?

For this course we will explore various facets of conservation, from real-world dilemmas to theoretical paradigms in approaching conservation. Each week we will discuss different facets of conservation including: historical approaches at home and abroad, ethical considerations of conservation work, the anthropological approach, using biodiversity hotspots, the role of NGOs and field stations, ecotourism positives and negatives, the good and bad of COVID on conservation, conservation genetics and habitat restoration. Each week we will have a lecture, 2-3 readings from peer-reviewed sources, and a discussion on the focal topic. Weekly reflections on the conservation topic will be used to assess comprehension of course topics. The final project will be an 8-10 minute presentation on a conservation approach, program, or issue of your choosing.

In 2017, the film Wonder Woman offered viewers a refreshingly 21st-century, socially conscious, and feminist conceptualization of what a female action hero could be. For years, movie studios have resisted female-led—never mind female-directed—blockbuster action films. This attitude and absence of many competitors suggest that Wonder Woman stands alone in our popular imagination. In truth, the film’s success is a culmination of a long and fascinating history of female action heroes in American culture. In this class we will explore that history of female action heroes in 20th and 21st century American popular culture, primarily in film and television, but also in other media. We will examine these figures in the comparison to their male counterparts and traditional heroic archetypes, and consider female action heroes within the context of the evolution of feminism(s) and changing attitudes about women’s strength, abilities, and roles in society.