The goal of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason is to give an account of human knowledge and its limits. This requires a careful analysis of the structure of human experience, the foundations of scientific knowledge, and the ways in which we try (and often fail) to extend our knowledge beyond what experience can teach us. This course will involve a close reading of the entirety of the Critique of Pure Reason. Along the way, we will discuss topics including the nature of matter and mind, free will, and the existence of God. Prerequisite: One prior philosophy course Fulfillment: Humanities Advanced Course.
This course covers Passive DC circuit elements, Kirchoff’s laws, electric power calculations, analysis of DC circuits, Nodal and Loop analysis techniques, voltage and current division, Thevenin’s and Norton’s theorems, and source-free and forced responses of RL, RC and RLC circuits. Prerequisite: MATH-SHU 131 or MATH-SHU 201. Fulfillment: CE required; EE required; Core Curriculum Science Experimental Discovery in the Natural World.
This course introduces a range of theories that have influenced art history, which here refers to both the purported narratives of the history of art and the practice of re/writing such narratives. We will analyze biography as a mode of art history; connoisseurship, iconography, formalism, and post-structuralist theory; Marxist and feminist approaches; and queer and trans* methods. Recognizing the Eurocentrism in the texts considered foundational to the discipline of Art History, we will examine the ways that art history was conceptualized in East Asia. The aim is to acquire knowledge of key art historical approaches; to apply that knowledge to assess works of art and art historical texts; and to analyze the impact of the historically specific relationship between the visual text and the viewer/historian on our knowledge of art. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: Humanities Foundations or Introductory Course.
This course provides an introduction to literary theories and methodologies. We will analyze such different approaches to literary expressions as classical, modern, structuralist, post-structuralist approaches; Marxist, colonial and post-colonial approaches, including feminist and post-human methodologies for different literatures. The course will emphasize the shifts and turns in these approaches. The aim is to acquire knowledge of a variety of literary approaches at work when reading literature and of the relationships between text, author, writing and audience. Pre-requisites: None Fulfillment: Humanities Foundations/Introductory course(18-19: Critical Concepts/Survey).
What makes a “good death”? How do people imagine, interpret, and describe the processes of dying? How do individuals respond to, live through, and move beyond the death of others? How do beliefs, customs, material cultures, and social structures co-constitute the lived realities of death? Drawing on insights from medical anthropology, anthropology of religion, and anthropology of ethics, this course explores diverse perspectives on the “good death”. With a primary ethnographic focus on China, using an interdisciplinary and comparative approach, we will investigate: 1) the sociocultural constructions of death, 2) the processes of aging and dying, 3) the practices of end-of-life care, 4) debates about voluntary death, 5) how the living deal with the deceased, and 6) how people live with irrevocable losses. Prerequisite: GPS Fulfillment: CORE SSPC/IPC; GCS Major Elective: Chinese History, Society, and Culture.
What happens when one major human civilization that originates from one end of the earth comes to meet with another that thrives on the other? Will they prove themselves capable of a fruitful engagement that leads to peace and friendship based on mutual respect and understanding rather than distrust or even mutual destruction? What is the role of language in this cross-cultural encounter? This course aims to explore one such encounter, a truly unusual case in terms of its scale and splendor, namely that between China and the West in the modern period broadly defined. Surely we will not ignore the problems–political, ideological, as well as technical–that arise in this interactive process, but our focus will be on the sunny side of that encounter, on the example of those who embrace and embody through their creative and intellectual work the ideal of a harmonious though culturally diverse world. Prerequisite: None Fulfillment: CORE HPC/IPC; GCS Chinese Media, Arts, and Literature.
Our goal is to map China. But rather than making maps through calculations or grids, we will be mapping China conceptually and theoretically. This is to say that in studying China’s regions, physical geography, political territories, cities, counties, and people, our goal is to develop skills for thinking about China spatially. With thousands of years of recorded history and a political system oriented to progress and national development, China is often imagined in terms of linear time. However, from ancient walled cities to the Mao-era work-unit system to the more recent migrations of rural labor, understanding how political, commercial, and social spaces are organized is essential for understanding China’s past and present. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or above. Fulfillment: CORE SSPC or IPC; GCS elective The Politics, Economy, and Environment of China; Social Science Focus Environmental Studies 200 level; Humanities Interdisciplinary or other Advanced course ( 18-19: Critical Concepts or Topic).
In this course, we will see how people in China have used psychology to build a modern nation and promote modern values. Beginning in the early 20th century, we will encounter missionaries trying to replace superstition with science, reformers challenging gender relationships, and intellectuals who critiqued the Chinese character. As we move through the century, we will trace how various people have applied psychological techniques for very different purposes: creating healthy citizens for a new state, instilling a revolutionary spirit, managing corporate employees, and raising exemplary children. During the semester, each student will conduct textual and/or ethnographic research about an aspect of psychological expertise or mental health in contemporary China. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or above. Fulfillment: CORE STS; GCS Elective: Chinese History, Society, and Culture; Social Science Focus Anthropology 200 level.
How did people in ancient and modern China understand health and treat illness? Historically and now, has “Chinese medicine” been an insular or open system? What can health perceptions and healing practices tell us about historical changes in China and its changing relationship with the world? Drawing on insights from the history of medicine and medical anthropology, this course explores health and healing in China through five chronologically organized units and one diachronically comparative unit. We will consider the cosmological, philosophical, and sociological factors that shape different visions of health. We will examine how local and global political processes affect healing practices and their perceived legitimacy and investigate what illness and remedy-seeking experiences reveal about the wider contexts in which medical activities take place. Prerequisite: CCSF-SHU 101L GPS
Examples of complex organizations include hospitals, schools, places of employment, the government, the military, churches, and prisons. Where do those organizations come from? What accounts for organizational success and failure? How can we make organizations better for individuals and society? This course examines different types of organizations, organizational goals and outcomes, institutional authority and structure, organizational change, and organizational fields. Most importantly, the goal of this course is to expand your knowledge and understanding of the relationships between organizations and society. You will learn to develop a critical lens and an analytical framework that can apply to understand specific complex organizations. This course will help you to think about how you might better survive and thrive in our organizational world! Prerequisite: Sophomore Standing. Fulfillment: Social Science core or Sociology focus 300 level.
Exposes students to some of the most provocative and entertaining novels written in Japanese since the end of the Second World War. Students see how the collapse of totalizing ideologies brought by Japan?s defeat led to an extremely fertile and yet somewhat atomized literary landscape. In this new postwar terrain, it became increasingly difficult to think of literature in terms of ?schools? or ?influences,? as questions of cultural and individual identity became harder and harder to answer in a world of material prosperity and cultural hybridization.
French philosopher Jean Baudrillard proposes the concept of hyperreality as the condition in which human consciousness struggles to discern between actual reality and simulations of reality, particularly within societies that are deeply influenced by advanced technology. In the 21st century, hyperreality has become ubiquitous in mediated life, as society becomes more intertwined with social media, virtual and digital environments, and performance spaces. In this course students will engage in the aesthetics and theories of hyperreality in order to create a performative happening that reflects on the embodied experience of contemporary life. Through collaborative research, students will integrate choreography, improvisation, technology, and visual elements to craft an immersive experience that collapses boundaries between performers and audiences. Students will be encouraged to explore experimental compositional strategies where communication unfolds across screens, through bodies, and within designed environments by employing digital performance and mixed reality techniques. Potential tools and techniques which may be utilized include artistry in real time technology, live streaming in performance, motion capture, machine learning, TouchDesigner and wearable technology. This class will include critical discussions and hands-on workshops during which students will refine their artistic vision. Participants are invited to devise an interdisciplinary performance practice in order to bring their installations into being. By engaging in this course, students will gain practical experience in creating and producing interactive installations activated by performance, aiming to create transformative projects where reality and the contemporary imagination converge.
This course will provide undergraduate students with an understanding of the political and governmental processes that influence New York City. The course will explore the structure of the municipal government, the role of the mayor and city council, the way in which state and regional agencies affect public services, and the role of the media in the political life of New York City.
Topics in Interactive Media Arts courses are courses within the broader field of emerging media, covering a wide range of topics depending on the expertise of the current course instructor. This course will cover a specific emerging media topic from a practical and/or theoretical perspective. Students will learn about the topic from readings, discussions, and writings, as well as through hands-on assignments and projects. Students can enroll in multiple “Topics in IMA” courses simultaneously in one semester and receive full credits for each course. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: IMA elective; IMB IMA/IMB elective.
The spectrum of Extended Reality (XR) – encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) – brings with it several opportunities for new possibilities for game design, interactive storytelling, and more. While implementations of these technologies and associated theory have existed for a number of years, the recent technical and commercial resurgence means that developing skills in critical thinking and creative aptitude with regards to AR and VR is incredibly timely. To this end, rather than studying only contemporary discourse around XR technologies which frames it as a new development or passing fad, this class will also look at more well-established principles of both AR and VR – such as object presence and other aspects of existing theory. Furthermore, it analyses such technologies through a theoretical and critical lens, placing them within the wider history of the arts.
While all art is political, not all art is designed to engage directly with policy debates. This course will explore various ways that art is incorporated into advocacy, and how non-artistic advocates understand the role of art in their work. Students will leave this course with a better understanding of how advocates think about art and artists in their advocacy, how they might partner with advocates on issues they care about, and how to maximize the impact of their art on policy debates.
Focusing on motion capture (ak. MoCap), this class introduces basic performance skills alongside 3d graphic manipulation to create real-time virtual experiences. In this class we will have the opportunity to build sets, produce interactive props, and design unique characters to tell stories or engage with audiences. Utilizing Optitrack Motion Capture system, Blender, Motionbuilder, and Unreal Gaming Engine; we will create, rig, animate, and perform as avatars.
Over the past 3 years, we have seen many aspects of our lives thrust online. Increasingly, we are working, learning, socializing with family and friends, attending live performances and more through 2D grids of video feeds on platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet. These communication tools have become essential for remote communities to connect, yet fail to replicate many of the most engaging, messy and human aspects of our in-person experience. What happens when we break out of this grid and explore new forms of real-time social interactions online using webcam video and audio? Recent explorations in this realm have shown the promise of spatial metaphors in creating engaging real-time social interactions online. In this course, students will create their own series of experimental social spaces that explore these questions: how does the shape and nature of our environment affect the way we communicate? What unique forms of real-time expression and sharing might be possible online (and only online)? How might we design experiences for the unique social dynamics we want to support? Students will be exposed to principles of spatial design as well as a series of open source Javascript tools for arranging live webcam video and audio in 2D and 3D space in the browser. They will use WebGL (through the three.js library) to build 2D and 3D environments, and will be exposed to WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communications) and Node.js to add interactivity to those environments.
In this course, we will focus on gender as a central mode of identity exploration in contemporary art within the digital age, adopting a multidisciplinary and interactive approach. Over a course of six sections, we will analyze how contemporary artists, from diverse backgrounds, delve into various facets of gender identity within the context of digital art history. This exploration will encompass their interactions with new media styles, mediums, reception, and critical analysis. We will raise essential questions: How does technology in interactive art contribute to gender equality? To what extent does an artist’s gender identity influence the interpretation of their digital work? We will critically engage with gender studies, examine gender’s profound impact on digital creation, and explore the socio-cultural influences at play. Through weekly readings and group interactive activities, class discussions, and a final VR exhibition on a related topic of their choosing, students will explore gender’s relevance to digital art creation, examine materials highlighting how gender shapes digital art, analyze socio-cultural factors influencing gender and sexuality in digital contemporary art, and apply their insights to interactive media.