Splash Biography

This course serves as an introduction to the contemporary phenomenon of globalization and its effects, or implications, for both "developed" and "developing" countries. With a particular emphasis on the inequality produced by the new global order, we focus on separating theory from practical, "lived", reality. In our analysis, we will pay special attention to social actors: institutions of global governance (IMF, WB, UN, NGOs), governments, and indigenous groups.

As Europe begins to emerge from the Dark Ages, interest in the classical Greco-Roman world leads to a rebirth of antiquity we refer to as the “Renaissance.” Marked by incorporation of classical elements in the context of 15th century Europe and an evident shift in the way art is seen and done, the Renaissance is said to be the beginning of the Modern period of art. While there is debate about this, in this course we seek to understand the beginnings of this period in Italy in order to make sense of later artistic developments, such as the famed art of the High Renaissance (including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael).

In this class we will discuss some of the works of the Spanish writer Federico García Lorca. The theme that we will focus on is the repression of sexuality. This theme is repeated throughout Lorca's works and is a fundamental element in the development of an understanding and eventually analysis of the author's writing. As a Surrealist writer, Lorca tends to use diction and syntax that many students of his work find confusing and inexplicable. However, in this course we will demonstrate that meaning can always be extracted, even from Surrealist texts which many people simply dismiss as nonsensical. We will conduct an overview of Lorca's turbulent life, as well as analysis of his play The House of Bernarda Alba and select poems, in an attempt to delve deeper into the theme of sexual repression that is so evident in the author's writing. Because I know not everyone is able to read advanced Spanish texts, we will use English translations of certain excerpts from the play and the poems. As a side note, I'd like to point out that the way in which we will carry out this course will be very similar to Humanities classes in college. What that means is you will get to experience college first-hand before actually getting there, which gives you that much of an edge over the competition. I look forward to seeing you October 2nd ready to learn about and discuss the great Lorca!