Summer 2018
SUMMER 2018 CORE-UA 204, Physical Science: Einstein's Universe
Prof. Budick (Physics) [Syllabus]
Session I: May 21 – July 1, 2018
Addresses the science and life of Einstein in the context of 20th-century physics, beginning with 19th-century ideas about light, space, and time in order to understand why Einstein's work was so innovative. Einstein's most influential ideas are contained in his theories of special relativity, which reformulated conceptions of space and time, and general relativity, which extended these ideas to gravitation. Both these theories are explored quantitatively, together with wide-ranging applications of these ideas, from the nuclear energy which powers the sun to black holes and the big bang theory of the birth of the universe.
SUMMER 2018 CORE-UA 510, Cultures and Contexts: Russia-Between East and West
Prof. Kotsonis (History) [Syllabus]
Session I: May 21 – July 1, 2018
Focuses on distinctive historical and geographical dichotomies and issues in Russian culture. Emphasis is on primary documents, including literary works, travel notes, works of art, and political statements from all periods, chosen to establish the particular matrix of competing positions that make up the Russian national and cultural identity.
SUMMER 2018 CORE-UA 554, Cultures and Context: Italy
Prof. Albertini (NYU Florence)
The Renaissance, from the Black Death of 1348, that decimated the population of the Italian peninsula, to the Protestant reformation and the subsequent religious wars that plagued Europe for centuries. Geographically we concentrate on Florence but also take into account the polycentric nature of the Italian Renaissance and the political and cultural peculiarities of its capitals, in particular Rome and Mantua, which we visit. We also look at the web of relationships woven by the thousands of merchants, bankers, scholars, artists, criminals, and pilgrims who roamed the streets of Italy and Europe at the time. Methodologically we look at a wide variety of primary sources: from letters and diaries to literary works, from diplomatic dispatches to artworks (paintings, sculptures, buildings) to films. Particular attention is given to Machiavelli, the most influential, yet misunderstood thinker of the Renaissance.
SUMMER 2018 CORE-UA 555, Cultures & Contexts: Brazil
Prof. Robbins (Spanish & Portuguese) [Syllabus]
Session I: May 21 – July 1, 2018
Brazilian culture in a global context: For five centuries, Brazil has found itself at the crossroads of international commerce. Numerous indigenous groups, Portuguese, Africans of various ethnicities, Spaniards, French, Dutch, and British have all played central roles in the fashioning of Brazil—the only modern nation whose name derives from the commodity (Brazilwood) it would first export in great quantity. And while commerce provided the initial impetus to bring these groups—often violently—together, their prolonged contact shaped an exceptionally rich cultural history in Brazil. Through popular music, cinema, soccer, visual art, and literature, we revisit some of these encounters, in order to examine how they have shaped Brazilian culture, as well as how this culture has, in turn, engaged with the world around it.
SUMMER 2018 CORE-UA 740, Expressive Culture: Performance
Prof. Shimakawa (Performance Studies) [Syllabus]
Session I: May 21 – July 1, 2018
What “counts” as performance? Does it have to be on a stage? (And what counts as a stage?) Why do performers perform? (And what difference does that performance make?) We consider a wide range of performances—on the stage, page, screen, and street—in order to explore these questions, focusing on performance as a form of cultural expression, as a site of cultural change, and as a building block for “culture” itself.
SUMMER 2018 CORE-UA 9554, Cultures and Contexts: Germany
Prof. Ertman (Sociology)
Session I: May 21 – July 1, 2018
Introduce students to modern German culture through the works of seven emblematic figures—both positive and negative—whose ideas have helped shape, for good and for ill, that culture over the past century and continue to do so in varying degrees in our own day. We begin with Lessing and Kant, Enlightenment thinkers whose values in part provide the legitimacy for today’s democratic Federal Republic of Germany, then turn to the ambiguous universal genius Goethe, long considered the country’s equivalent to Shakespeare but whose relationship to enlightened values is far from clear. Next we examine the case of Richard Wagner, perhaps the most influential artistic figure of the 19th century, who saw his own masterpieces of music drama as proof of German cultural superiority and whose theoretical writings provided the basis for the racist national socialist theory of culture. Friedrich Nietzsche, first a supporter and then a vocal opponent of Wagner, was also later idealized by the Nazis, though his writings attacked and even ridiculed the German nationalism of his day. We then analyze the self-presentation, as found in Mein Kampf, of Adolf Hitler himself, the impact of whose life and horrific deeds continues to cast a shadow on an almost daily basis over Germany. Finally, we turn to the great, recently deceased East German writer Christa Wolf, who for most of her life fervently believed that her communist homeland was the "better Germany," even while illustrating the reality and human costs of this state in her novels. Extensive readings from all of these figures will be supplemented by lecture tours through relevant areas of greater Berlin and an extended day trip Weimar and Leipzig.