SUMMER 2022 CORE-UA 204, Physical Science: Einstein's Universe
Prof. Budick (Physics)
Session I: May 23, 2022 - July 6, 2022
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 2022 CORE-UA 510, Cultures & Contexts: Russia Between East and West
Prof. Kotsonis (History) [Syllabus]
Session I: May 23, 2022 - July 6, 2022
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 2022 CORE-UA 555, Cultures & Contexts: Brazil
Prof. Robbins (Spanish & Portuguese) [Syllabus]
Session I: May 23, 2022 - July 6, 2022
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 2022 CORE-UA 700, Expressive Culture: See It, Read It: Photography and Writing in Latin
Prof. Davila (Spanish & Portuguese) [Syllabus]
Session I: May 23, 2022 - July 6, 2022
What is a photograph? How do we read photographs? How has photography shaped history and fiction, our ideas of the self and of others? The purpose of this course is to analyze the history of photography in its relation with textual productions in XX and XXI century Latin American writers. We will begin by studying how the technology of photography (which arrived in Latin America almost simultaneously with its creation in Europe) contributed to a particular visual construction of Latin America and was incorporated into literary writings from the Caribbean, Central America, and the Southern Cone. The main objective of the course will be to analyze the use of photography in literary and extra-literary texts, from texts that use photography as its discursive axis (but without containing real photographs) to texts that play on the page with photographic reproductions. Topics include: photography and history, photography and archive, photography and madness, photography and the city, photography and memory, and photography and eroticism. We will consider texts and photographs by Roberto Arlt, Leopoldo Lugones, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Elena Poniatowska, Mario Bellatin, Juan Villoro, Graciela Iturbide, Sara Facio, Ximena Berecochea, and Paz Errázuriz, among others. This course will count toward any of the majors and minors offered in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
SUMMER 2022 CORE-UA 740, Expressive Culture: Performance
Prof. Shimakawa (Performance Studies) [Syllabus]
Session I: May 23, 2022 - July 6, 2022
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.