WWU / Fairhaven College of Interdiscipinary Studies
300 Level Courses, Spring 2009
300 Independent Study
Intermediate level independent study project. Typically, an independent study at this level builds on earlier work in this content area or with this topic. With the guidance of a faculty sponsor, the student developed a proposal identifying learning objectives related to the specific topic area. The proposal also described the resources necessary to complete the study and the criteria for demonstration and evaluation of learning. Additional documentation about the specifics of this project are available on Fairhaven's website.
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23089 303a Core: Interdisciplinary Concentration Seminar
Rowe 5 Credits
Materials Fee: $6.84
Meets the following Core Requirement: Fair 101a, 201a, 203a, and 305a. Required of students undertaking an Interdisciplinary Concentration.
Note: Required of all students pursuing the Interdisciplinary Concentration as their major. The Concentration
Proposal must be completed and filed at least three quarters before graduation.
This seminar is designed to assist you with your development and writing of an interdisciplinary self-designed concentration. It will serve as a forum for discussion, guidance, and support during the proposal writing process. While your Concentration Committee must finally approve your proposal, you will work collaboratively in small groups, meeting with each other weekly, and meeting with the instructor individually in order to write your learning proposal and identify relevant courses and experiences to help you achieve your educational goals. Here are some of the questions we will examine through this process:
- What are the appropriate guidelines and requirements involved?
- What exactly is it you want to achieve in your degree?
- How can your intentions be given effective shape and form?
- Who should be on your committee?
- How do the parts of your concentration work together conceptually?
- What are the best vehicles for your learning?
- What should you put in and what should you leave out of your concentration?
Text: Handbook provided.
Credit/Evaluation: Work steadily on your proposal, meet regularly with your group, contribute to the development of your group members' proposals, work cooperatively, prompt attendance to all meetings. Credit for the course is granted when your completed committee-approved proposal has been filed with the Fairhaven Records Office and a regular self evaluation form is submitted to the instructor.
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23090 305a Writing & Transition Conference
McClure 3 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 101a or 201a
The Writing Portfolio and Transition Conference are Core graduation requirements for all Fairhaven College students. Your Writing Portfolio will be a selective collection of your academic writing and an introductory statement of self-assessment about your writing at this point in your education. It will be reviewed and assessed by two Fairhaven faculty, including your advisor. Your Transition Conference is a rite of passage officially moving from the "Exploratory" stage of Fairhaven's program into the "Concentrated" stage of your educational plans. You should embark on these requirements when you and your faculty advisor agree you're ready for them.
This is not a class, however you must attend one of the following orientation meetings:
Wed. April 1, noon-1 in Room 340; or
Thursday, April 2, 3:30-4:30 in Room 314.
In order to receive credit for FAIR 305a you must:
1) Submit your Writing Portfolio & 2 copies of green Writing Portfolio Evaluation Form to Jackie McClure by Monday, April 20. Writing Portfolios must follow the format outlined on the green Writing Portfolio Instructions and Evaluation Form (available in the front hall at Fairhaven College and in the Student Guide to Fairhaven.)
2) Schedule and Conduct your Transition Conference and write your Transition Conference statement and submit it to all conference participants. Consult your faculty advisor and the yellow Transition Conference form for details.
3) After your Transition Conference, submit your Transition Conference form to Jackie McClure in the main office with the signatures of all participants.
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23225 312d Issues in International Studies: Settler States
Ó Murchú 5 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 203a or Instructor Permission
Materials Fee: $6.85
Meets the following core requirement: Society and the Individual II
How was white supremacy institutionalized in the American South and in South Africa? How were Jim Crow and Apartheid structured and maintained? How were those systems resisted and how did they break down? How were US and South African segregation similar and different?
This course introduces students to the study of Apartheid in South Africa as the axis for the comparative study of systems of ethnic control in settler colonial states. We begin by studying the similarities and differences between Apartheid and Jim Crow with their shared roots in the economic exploitation of enslaved or colonized African labor. We examine the tensions between exclusion and exploitation as strategies of racial control.
In the second half of the course we turn to more contemporary comparisons of South Africa and Israel, where Apartheid is frequently invoked by critics to describe Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Is the comparison apt or merely a rhetorical cudgel used against Israel? How are economic relations between Israelis and Palestinians different from those between whites and Africans in South Africa? If the apartheid analogy is apt, why have the Palestinians not produced either a mass democratic movement to end the occupation or a transcendent magnanimous leader like Nelson Mandela?
In addition to the primary comparisons to the United States and Israel, we also briefly explore comparisons between the racial orders and peace processes in South Africa and in Brazil and Northern Ireland, respectively.
Texts: WHITE SUPREMACY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN AMERICAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY by Fredrickson; LIBERATION AND DEMOCRATIZATION: THE SOUTH AFRICAN AND PALESTINIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENTS by Younis; SEEING MANDELA: PEACEMAKING BETWEEN ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS by Adam and Moodley. Articles or book chapters by Gay Seidman, Anthony Marx, John McGarry, and Padraic O'Malley.
Credit Evaluation: Regular class attendance (no more than two absences for credit); completion of reading assignments; preparation for seminar and participation; a quarter long research paper or equivalent project employing South Africa in comparative historical analysis.
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23304 WMNS 313 American Women's Studies: 1850-Present
Anderson 5 credits
Note: As a Women Studies course, this class may be taken for a letter grade. Fairhaven students are encouraged to elect S/U grading and participate in the customary narrative evaluation process.
This course will seek to understand patterns of continuity and change in ordinary women's lives from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Central to our exploration of the opportunities and constraints that have shaped women's lives will be a consideration of the complexities with which their experiences have differed across lines of class, race, ethnicity, geographic location and sexuality. We will explore several interrelated themes: women's relationships and how relations of power have shaped their interactions; changing ideas about the nature and status of women¹s work, both unpaid and paid; ongoing political struggles to gain increased civil and political rights; images of women in art, media and popular culture; and changing notions of women's "proper" role. We will consider the specific historical contexts in which these changes and continuities have evolved and piece together a mosaic of women's experiences through essays, primary documents, and women's personal narratives.
Texts: WOMEN'S AMERICA: REFOCUSING THE PAST by Kerber and De Hart; and a personal narrative to be selected from the following: COMING OF AGE IN MISSISSIPPI by Moody; HALFBREED by Campbell; QUIET ODYSSEY by Lee; FORGED UNDER THE SUN by Lucas; NISEI DAUGHTER by Sone; LAKOTA WOMAN by Crow Dog; or THROUGH HARSH WINTERS by Kikumura.
Credit/Grade/Evaluation: This is a seminar course in which students will be responsible for raising questions to frame our discussion of common readings. Assignments will include presenting and evaluating a primary source, conducting an oral history interview with a woman over 50, analyzing a first-person personal narrative, ethnography, or biography and comparing it to the oral history interview in order to gain a deeper understanding of the historical context of individual women's lives, and a final essay providing a synthesis of a central theme in the readings and activities of the course.
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23189 323g Imaginative Writing II: Writing and Illustrating Children's Books
Cornish 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 222g or 222h, or a creative writing course.
Materials Fee: $6.84
Meets the following Core Requirement: Humanities and the Expressive Arts II
"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!"
It's been over forty years since Maurice Sendak won the Caldecott Medal for WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, a book which continues to enter the imagination of each generation. How did this simple text of ten sentences become a children's classic? From THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT to MADELINE, WINNIE-THE-POOH to GEORGE AND MARTHA, stories from childhood--and the heroes who inhabit those stories-- often stay with us more vividly than the books we read as adults. This class looks at some of our favorite picture books and how they are constructed, especially the magic by which text and illustration work together to tell a story (six pages of "Wild Things" have no text). In what way does a book for young children differ from one for adults? C.S. Lewis once said, "I am almost inclined to set it up as a canon that a children's story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children's story." Students explore this question of audience, as well as other aspects of the picture book, by creating their own texts and illustrations in a workshop setting (that is, through generative prompts as well as critique). Although this is not a survey class, students familiarize themselves with the genre by reading and studying a number of picture books over the quarter. Let the wild rumpus start!
Text: To be announced. Students will also be responsible for a class text printed from postings on Blackboard.
Credit/Evaluation: Students are expected to make a commitment to the class. Such commitment requires steady effort in one's own work (the timely completion of assigned writing and reading), as well as thoughtful, active responses to work done by others. Rewriting of drafts and essays is also required for credit; a portfolio of all writing done during the term will be due at the end of the quarter. Regular, prompt attendance is expected; more than three absences and you will not receive credit for the class. Evaluation includes a final picture book project.
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23094 330e Ethnobotany
Tuxill 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 206a or equivalent
Materials Fee: $6.84
Meets the following Core Requirement: Science and Our Place on the Planet II
For thousands of years plants have provided humankind with food, medicine, fuel, shelter, and inspiration. This course concerns the science of ethnobotany--the study of interactions between people and plants. We will examine the historical geography of plant use by human societies worldwide, and the many ways that botanical resources continue to contribute to our wellbeing today. Ethnobotanical perspectives on conservation, grassroots development, environmental education, and sustainable living also will be highlighted. During the course we will gain practical skills for identifying and utilizing the Pacific Northwest flora, and put our skills to work in an applied research project.
Texts: PLANTS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST by Pojar and MacKinnon and NORTHWEST WEEDS by Taylor. Other required readings will consist of journal articles, book chapters, and essays made available electronically.
Credit/Evaluation: As part of the course, students will be expected to:
1) Prepare a collection of at least 20 plant specimens, including identification and documentation of uses for each plant collected.
2) Research, write and present a case study of ethnobotanical knowledge and its practical applications.
3) Contribute to a collaborative class field project aimed at documenting and interpreting ethnobotanical information of the native and cultivated Northwest flora.
Regular class attendance and informed contribution to discussions is essential. Students will also be evaluated on their grasp and understanding of the themes and issues presented in the readings, including the foundations of plant identification and the ethical aspects of ethnobotanical research and plant use.
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23095 334p Field Science: Marine Ecology of Northwest Washington
Bower 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 206a
Materials Fee: $17.28
Meets the following Core Requirement: Science and Our Place on the Planet II
Northwest Washington is blessed with extensive and beautiful inland marine waters, including the Strait of Juan De Fuca, the Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound, and many smaller bays and inlets. These waters are also fascinating biologically. Many rivers deliver nutrients to the marine ecosystem, while complex currents and tides mix the nutrients in the water, providing the life source for plankton, zooplankton, and the many interesting and important species of invertebrates, fish, birds, and marine mammals. At the same time, these marine waters are threatened by the resource use and pollution generated by the ever-growing Pacific Northwest human population. In this field course we will examine all of these things. We will learn to identify common marine species, and will seek an understanding of how the NW inland marine ecosystems work - from intertidal zones to the deeper pelagic waters. We will also consider the threats to the marine environment and evaluate what is being done to preserve and restore its integrity.
Texts: To Be Determined - I will email students in March to let them know what texts I have chosen.
Credit/Evaluation: Regular attendance and informed participation in classes and field trips, ability to learn to identify species of marine algae, invertebrates, birds, fish, and marine mammals. Two drafts of a group scientific field research project based in the marine environment.
Note: This class will meet for all day field trips on four Fridays during the quarter. We will not meet on the other six Fridays, although some of these Fridays may be used for doing group research.
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23163 334q Science and Music of Natural Sounds
Bower 5 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 206a or instructor permission
Materials Fee: $41.22
Meets the following Core Requirement: Science and Our Place on the Planet II
In this field course we will visit local places while learning to tape record sound - both natural (birds, frogs, mammals, and environmental sounds) and human influenced (factories, farms, trains, marina sounds etc.). Our original recordings will be entered into the Fairhaven Library of Sounds. Pairs of students will design, record, and edit a "soundscape" for inclusion in our class CD. Student-led seminars will use our readings and recordings to focus on such topics as how and why animals produce sound, how sound travels through the environment, the relationship between natural sounds and music, and explorations of the history of sound and how humans have influenced that history.
Texts: THE SOUNDSCAPE by Murray Schafer and other readings as assigned.
Credits/Evaluation: Regular attendance, informed participation in class discussions, several short writing assignments, completion of the "soundscape" audio project.
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23096 335b Global Inquiry
Anderson 1 Credit
Prerequisites: Fair 201a or equivalent
Materials Fee: $13.03
This independent study workshop is designed to help students consider their options for independent travel/study projects abroad. It seeks in particular to take the mystery out of applying for an Adventure Learning Grant. Topics will include how to develop project ideas, the qualities of successful proposals and personal statements, and strategies for developing international connections.
Texts: To be determined.
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23097 335n Visioning Sustainable Futures
Bornzin 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 201a or Eng 101, and previous course work and experience in sociopolitical or environmental issues from sociopolitical perspective
Materials Fee: $10.41
Meets the following Core Requirement: Science and Our Place on the Planet II
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself: what is your ideal living environment -- your ideal world? Why should we humans, creative social beings that we are, settle for anything less?
In this class we will work together to develop a vision of a future Whatcom County (or Cascadia Bioregion) in which we would be happy to live--a vision which respects and supports the life and health of people in all their rich diversity as well as the other animals and plants that share this place with us. We will supplement this process with inspiration from various readings and especially from conversations and class visits with other local visionaries in the county who are already engaged in the daily challenge of creating a healthier future. In the process we will inevitably encounter the question of how to accommodate diverse visions, values, and goals. Is a shared, inclusive vision even possible?
Task groups within the class may focus on particular realms such as food, housing, land use, energy, health care, transportation, education, political structure, economic and legal systems, family and interpersonal relationships, relations with the rest of the world, philosophical foundations, etc. -- according to the particular interests of class participants.
Texts: Required: ECOTOPIA by Callenbach; WORLDCHANGING: A USER'S GUIDE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY by Steffen. Recommended (available for checkout): THE SUSTAINABILITY REVOLUTION: PORTRAIT OF A PARADIGM SHIFT by Edwards and Orr; TOWARD SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES: RESOURCES FOR CITIZENS AND THEIR GOVERNMENTS by Roseland; ECOVILLAGE LIVING: RESTORING THE EARTH AND HER PEOPLE (2002), by Jackson and Svensson, eds.
Credit/Evaluation: Students are expected to attend regularly, to engage the assigned readings, to participate actively in class discussions, to think seriously about, develop, and imaginatively articulate their own visions of a sustainable future in a five to ten page paper; to participate in a task group, researching and reporting to the class some particular aspect of their future vision. Passion, commitment, openness, and a willingness to share and support others will be valuable assets in creating an exciting and visionary learning community.
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23292 336b Topics in Social Issues: Human Rights in Africa
Akinrinade 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 203a or equivalent
Materials Fee: $13.03
Meets the following Core Requirement: Society and the Individual II
This course examines the state and contemporary practice of human rights in Africa. It reviews efforts aimed at human rights promotion and protection, in the context of colonialism and neo-colonialism, apartheid, the authoritarianism of the post-colonial African State and recent health challenges that threaten the welfare and dignity of individual Africans. It aims to develop awareness of the varying context of human rights violations in Africa. Topics to be covered include the role of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights; human rights and democracy; the NEPAD initiative and prospects for greater human rights protection; economic, social, and cultural rights; the public health challenge -- HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; human rights of women, children, and other vulnerable groups (migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons); human rights and armed conflict in Africa; challenges to and future prospects for human rights in Africa. This course situates Africa in the global human rights movement and enhances understanding of human rights laws, policies, and practices.
Texts: (Recommended) HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA: FROM THE OAU TO THE AFRICAN UNION by Murray and,INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW IN AFRICA by Viljoen.
Credit/Evaluation: Conducted in a seminar format, all students are expected to attend class, prepared and on time, and participate actively. Your evaluation will take account of the quality of participation, oral presentation, and two assignments. Students are required to prepare reaction papers on the readings for each class session. Regular unexcused absences will affect your evaluation. All assignments must be completed to receive academic credit in this course.
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336b Topics in Social Issues: Psychology of Symbols
Brewer 4 credits
Prereq: Fair 203a or equivalent
Materials Fee: $13.03
Meets the following Core Requirement: Society and the Individual II
How have graphic symbols been used to communicate ideas and concepts throughout time? This course explores the psychology and applications of symbolic language, the representational use of graphic symbols and images for communication both between people and within one's personal realm. The course will also review the historical use of symbols in various societies to define how universal, cultural, and personal symbols have functioned as a form of communication within societies.
As a theoretical foundation, we will look at Carl Jung's concept of the unconscious mind, both personal and collective, and his influential work determining universal symbols and archetypes. Based on his precept that the unconscious, imaginative life is as real a part of the life of an individual as is the conscious, we will explore his work with various symbolic mediums including:
- symbol patterns emerging from intuitive circular drawings, mandalas, which he called "cryptograms" ---messages from the soul
- psychological types and archetypes
- dream symbols
Texts: JUNG: A BEGINNER'S GUIDE by Berry and SIGNS & SYMBOLS by Dhanjal and suggested reading of MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS by Jung.
Credit/Evaluation: Students select a related topic of interest to research and explore. Students will complete a culminating project and present their project to the class. Projects may involve creative products, academic works, collaborative experiences or other approved format.
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336b Topics in Social Issues: Exploring Post-Modern Forms of Schooling and Education
Marshak 4 credits
see Classfinder for times
Prereq: Fair 203a or equivalent
Materials Fee: $13.03
Meets the following Core Requirement: Society and the Individual II
Note: see the full course description for this class on the Fairhaven website.
This course will start off on two tracks. For students who are new to the topic: we will learn about the differences between pre-modern, modern, and post-modern forms of education and how each of these forms corresponds with a particular kind of consciousness, as described by the spiral dynamics model. We will consider the dominant elements in modernist schooling. Then we will examine the multiple forms of post-modern schooling, including Montessori, Waldorf, free/democratic schools, and Enki, and other forms of post-modern education that do not employ the social form of the school. We will also explore a holistic curriculum, including intuition, the mind-body system, subject and community connections, and earth and soul connections.
For students who have completed the winter course, Humane, Post-Modern Visions of Schooling: during the first half of the course, you will engage in a guided independent study into the post-modern form(s) of education of your choice and a weekly seminar with your colleagues in this track and the instructor.
During the second half of the course students from both tracks will meet together to share what they have learned and to further explore this question: if we believe that we absolutely need to make forms of post-modern education much more widely available to young people, how can this be accomplished?
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23190 336n Topics in Science: Drugs
Lotts 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 206a or equivalent
Materials Fee: To be determined: See Student Account
Meets the following Core Requirement: Science and Our Place on the Planet II
Ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment. In this course, we will examine the relationships between humans, the "drug" culture, and the global ecosystem in which they exist. From the trillion dollar U.S. Drug War to record-breaking profits for pharmaceutical firms, there are obvious connections between the human obsession with medication and broader social, political, and economic processes. This course will challenge students to look beyond these processes to investigate the larger ecological context in which human use and abuse of drugs has far-reaching effects on environmental sustainability and global biodiversity.
The collective investigation will consider:
1) how and why plants manufacture phytochemicals and, in turn, how those chemicals affect human medicine, ritual, political systems, arts, and economies; and
2) the environmental impacts of waste, energy use, and concentrated toxicity that result from the mass harvesting, production, and consumption of legal and illicit drugs. Through individual research projects, readings, and focused group discussion, students should exit this course with a deeper understanding of the complexity of the drug culture and with a new ecological perspective for analyzing human drug consumption.
Texts: COCAINE: AN UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY by Dominic Streatfield, and other books, reports, articles, and videos as announced.
Credit/Evaluation:
Attentive attendance is required. Students are expected to participate actively in class discussions and exercises, to challenge and defend their ideas, to ask questions, and to develop new lens through with to view the drug culture. Evaluation will also be based on the successful completion of reflection assignments and an individual research paper.
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23191 336v Topics in Art: The Tempest
Burnett 5 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 202a or equivalent
Materials Fee: $10
Meets the following Core Requirement: Humanities and the Expressive Arts II
Be not afeared; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
This spring, we will attempt the impossible task--undertaken by hundreds of thousands of theater groups before us--of presenting a production of Shakespeare's most mysterious, dreamlike play, THE TEMPEST. We will study the play and a range of critical interpretations to appreciate it as a literary text of uncommon complexity, power and beauty. But we will also explore the play with an eye and ear for its life on the stage and screen, and view several past performances to get a sense of the range of possible interpretations.
In addition to studying the play, from the first day we will begin the process of mounting a full production--casting, rehearsing, staging, costuming, music, lights, dance, etc--to be performed for the public at Fairhaven the last week of Spring quarter.
Class members will all be expected to participate fully in the production, and should understand that, though much of the work will be during scheduled class times, as with any theatrical production, rehearsals and production work will extend into evenings as the quarter progresses.
No theater experience is necessary: Anyone interested in acting, directing, staging and theatrical design, lighting and media, costuming, music, dance, stage management and publicity--as well as immersion into a world of magic, intrigue, comedy and romance--is invited to join us.
Credit/Evaluation: Regular, engaged attendance and full participation in activities is a must: more than three classes missed, without credible excuse, will result in no credit. Requirements: pick a character in the play, and write an essay exploring that character in terms of theme, image, and relation to other characters. Write an essay in response to one of the critical essays discussed in class. Participate--as actor or production personnel--in the development and performance of this production. Keep a log of the process, including a concluding essay on the experience.
Texts: THE TEMPEST, by Shakespeare, plus selected articles.
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23098 341r Psychology of Mindfulness and Well-being
Jack 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 206a or equivalent or instructor permission
Materials Fee: $6.85
Meets the following Core Requirement: Society and the Individual II
We all face difficult experiences, guaranteed as part of being alive. In response, human beings have created a range of methods to deal with crises and negative life events. Recent research spanning disciplines as diverse as bio-behavioral medicine, the cognitive and affective neurosciences, physics and psychology have uncovered the benefits of the practice of "mindfulness," now proven through numerous studies to reduce stress and emotional suffering. In this class on the psychology of mindfulness, we will examine what mindfulness is, its relationship to well-being, its origins, and whether and how it reduces stress.
Mindfulness, as a method, is a means of training the mind to be keenly aware of sensory phenomena and the flow of thoughts in the present moment. It is learned through "meditation," or quieting the body to sharply focus awareness on thoughts and sensations as they arise. Though originating in Buddhist contemplative traditions, mindfulness meditation has been adopted by a number of medical schools, mental health training and treatment programs. This adaptation has been encouraged by Buddhist scholars, including the Dalai Lama, most notably at the Mind and Life Conferences for psychologists, physicists, neurologists, and philosophers. Mindfulness meditation is being offered to prisoners by volunteers, and used in a wide variety of settings, not as a spiritual practice but as a way of fostering well-being through stress reduction. As Western psychologists are documenting through rigorous studies, mindfulness can alter brain states, attentional capacities, clarity, physiological responses, and well-being.
In this class, we will study what mindfulness means, focusing on results of mindfulness and how to critically appraise these results. In addition to mindfulness we will consider the method of autogenic training, a form of relaxation. We will learn how to employ two of these proven stress reduction techniques ourselves (mindfulness and autogenic training), and to question how and whether they influence the development of empathy, health and well-being. Our methods will include the third-person approach using the scientific method, which examines stress reduction from a presumed objective position outside ourselves. First-person approaches, which study mindfulness and stress reduction from a subjective position, are also important. Can a scientific study of mind, stress and mindfulness leave out what is ever-present for humans, our own experience?
Students can expect to have a relaxing, yet exciting, experience in this class.
Texts: THE MIRACLE OF MINDFULNESS by Hanh, WHEREVER YOU GO, THERE YOU ARE: MINDFULNESS MEDITATION IN EVERYDAY LIFE by Kabat-Zinn, J and a series of articles from the Summer Research Institute of the Mind and Life Institute, 2008, at which I was a Senior Investigator.
Additional articles will be available on Blackboard.
Credit/Evaluation: Informed, thoughtful participation in class discussions and regular attendance. Students' learning will be assessed through a final project, two short papers, and a journal that demonstrates engaged reading and practice.
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23247 342u Culture & Eating Disorders
Jack 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Previous course in psychology or instructor permission
Materials Fee: $13.64
Meets the following Core Requirement: Society and the Individual II
Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia affect millions of people, primarily women, in Western countries and now are spreading rapidly through the global community. These disorders appear to be unique among psychological illnesses regarding the degree that they are influenced by sociocultural factors. What are the origins of this rapidly spreading epidemic in our world? Are some groups within the US and the world protected from developing this disorder; if so, why? Are men becoming more vulnerable to eating disorders at this time?
Together we will explore these questions, and more. We will consider gender, ethnicity, and culture as factors involved in the development or prevention of eating disorders. We will also question whether two trends in Western cultures - the sharp increase in obesity in children and adults as well as the rise in eating disorders - share common origins.
Films, speakers and student participation in examining current media that reflect themes of the class will run throughout the quarter.
Texts: THE BODY PROJECT: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF AMERICAN GIRLS by Brumberg, EATING DISORDERS: ANATOMY OF A SOCIAL EPIDEMIC by Gordon, and WASTED: A MEMOIR OF ANOREXIA AND BULIMIA by Hornbacher.
Credit/Evaluation: Thoughtful, informed class participation and regular attendance are required. Students' learning will be assessed through two short reflection papers and a final project that demonstrates engaged reading and thought.
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23101 355w Installation Art
Feodorov 4 Credits
Prerequisites: 200-level or higher studio art class
Materials Fee: $25.70
Since the late 1950's Installation Art has become internationally accepted as an integral part of the contemporary art world. Instead of thinking of art as something that hangs on a wall or sits on a pedestal in a gallery or museum, artists have experimented with creating spaces that are artworks in themselves in order to alleviate the physical and conceptual distance between the artwork and viewer.
This class will explore the work of numerous artists who have pioneered this art form as well as artists who work with Installation today. Students will be responsible for reading assignments, keeping a sketchbook and giving two short artist presentations to the class. Students will also create and document three installation projects. Contemporary subjects will be addressed in three-dimensional spaces using combined media such as video, audio, found objects as well as painting and/or drawing. We will also discuss topics such as audience/viewer participation, site specificity and social relevance.
Text: FROM MARGIN TO CENTER: THE SPACES OF INSTALLATION Art by Reiss.
Credit/Evaluation: Credit will be based upon regular and punctual attendance, active informed participation in class discussions, and timely completion of all assignments and projects.
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23102 375h Audio Recording II
Vita 4 Credits
Materials Fee: $71.47
Prerequisite(s): FAIR 275h
Audio Recording Techniques II takes the concepts introduced in Fair 275h, Audio Recording Techniques I, and allows the student to apply and practice them in a "hands-on" manner, with the goal of becoming familiar with and competent in the use of all of the gear in the Fairhaven Recording Studio. Students will complete two small-group multi-track recording projects and will have the opportunity to work on other recording sessions as well. Through the students' work on these projects they will learn efficiency and speed in the techniques of tracking, overdub, and mixdown sessions. The recording projects will be evaluated by the instructor as well as the other students in the class. This course also starts the development of critical listening skills as well as the creative and imaginative expression possible in audio recording. Students will keep a detailed journal of their session work.
Texts: None.
Credits/Evaluation: Each student must finish the assigned projects which will be critiqued by the instructor and peers based on sound quality, balance, clarity and realization. Overall evaluation will be made based on effort, participation, and growth as an engineer.
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23300 375n Embodied Futures
Scot Nichols 4 credits
Prerequisites: Fair 201a
The world has changed dramatically and is changing dramatically. With the growing complexity of the world we need a radical new inquiry, a new worldview that can intelligently encompass, perceive, interact and frame the complexity. Through an in depth 10 week course we will look through the cross pollination of interdisciplinary studies that gives insight to this new world. It is at the edges of academic disciplines that innovations and discovery of new understanding occur. The ground that gives continuity to this course will be the body, but more specifically the growing field of somatics. Soma is Greek for the "lived experience" or the interdisciplinary investigation of life lived from the inside out.
Embodied Futures will investigate the edges of interwoven relationships between our self, our communities, our world and effects of media, technologies and science. The multitude of disciplines will include, but are limited to; somatics, neuroscience, psychophysiology, philosophy, neurobiology, and biopsychosocial studies. Not only will this course be demanding on an academic level, but also core to this investigation will be personal experiential investigations. Understanding solution-based change will require that we ask essential questions about our "lived experience" and how we relate to the world. This class will explore how to support change, growth and development in behavior, in learning, and in our communities. The Soma is the interface of experience for the outer world and must be studied in relationship to exponential complexity. This is an unprecedented time in human history where we have more access to infinite forms of information/data/media and technological power. How are we changing our behavior with these new forces? Are these forces disembodying? How do we become synthesizers of seemingly disparate information to create new order, new patterns and learn to work in collaborative ways? We will be exploring alternative ways to facilitate learning, understanding, and empathy. This course is a radical re-orientation to learning and sharing learning to inspire a shift in ourselves and in our world. This is indeed an experimental course that will require each of us to take a new positioning in the learning experience. We will work in multimodal ways: lecture, cognitive, body centered, media, movement, art, left and right brain, and collaboratively.
Texts: Will be in the form of a reader and will include, Thomas Lewis et al, A General Theory of Love; J. Krishnamurti, Education and the Significance of Life; Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers will rule the future; Peter Hershock, Buddhism in the Public Sphere; Nick Totten, Body Psychotherapy: An Introduction; and more.
Credit/Evaluation: Regular attendance and informed discussion. Weekly Journal and class blog entries. Demonstration of synthesized information through three collaborative group projects and finally a paper expressing one's learning.
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23103 375p Audio MD Disk Edit
Vita 2 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FAIR 375h
Materials Fee: $38.25
Note: Meeting times will be determined on the first Friday of the quarter.
This class will introduce students to mixing and editing sound on a computer using Digidesign's Pro Tools LE software (version 7.4) and the Digi002 digital audio interface. Covered topics will include:
- importing and recording sound into Pro Tools,
- editing and manipulating sound waves,
- the use of plug-ins and an overview of mastering processes such as compression/limiting,
- dithering and overall equalization.
As this is primarily a mixing class, already recorded material (from Audio II or otherwise) is helpful. Students will be expected to attend class regularly, demonstrate critical listening skills through critique of their classmates work and will be expected to apply the skills learned in previous Fairhaven recording classes to their mixing projects.
Texts: Reprinted materials.
Credit/Evaluation: Students will keep a journal of their progress and the projects will be evaluated throughout the quarter by the instructor and the other members of the class.
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23104 375q Pro Tools HD Recording
Vita 2 Credits
Prerequisite(s): FAIR 375P
Materials Fee: $38.25
Note: Meeting times will be determined on the first Friday of the quarter.
This class will give students with advanced recording experience the opportunity to record and mix on a Pro Tools HD professional recording system. Students will enhance their knowledge of Pro Tools and learn how to use this software in conjunction with a Digidesign Control 24 control surface. Students will be expected to conduct at least two recording/mixing sessions throughout the quarter and prepare a final mix for in-class critique. We will look at the specifics of digital recording, including how to maximize resolution throughout the recording process.
Students will also learn how to properly configure Pro Tools HD hardware and software components, how to set up session templates and how to utilize each component of the HD system. This course will also look at new ways to use Pro Tools' plug-ins and audio editing features.
Texts: Reprinted materials.
Credit/Evaluation: Students will keep a journal of their progress and the projects will be evaluated throughout the quarter by the instructor and the other members of the class.
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23105 375t World Issues Group Study
Osterhaus 3 Credits
What do we, as engaged citizens, know and understand about global issues and ourselves in a world faced with the complex issues of growing economic disparities, fragile democracies, environmental degradation, wars on terrorism, homeland security, civil liberties, military expenditures, racial profiling, globalization, and ethnic/religious conflicts? What is our awareness of and participation in local and global efforts for peace and justice? In addition to the weekly forums of speakers, videos, and discussions open to the campus and Bellingham community, students in the class will participate in weekly research and discussion of the issues.
Texts: Students will read a book of their choice related to global concerns and read/listen to alternative media sources.
Credit/Evaluation: Regular attendance and participation in the class discussions, reading of one book of their choice related to global concerns followed by an oral and written book report, weekly reading of/listening to four alternative media sources, two reflection papers, weekly acting for positive social change. Students will be evaluated on meeting the above requirements, their ability to critique and research alternative media sources, their analysis and understanding of the inter-connection of issues, the relationship of the local to the global and the personal to the political.
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23298 375v Workers of the World -CANCELLED -
COURSE CANCELLED
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23107 378e Whatcom Civil Rights Project Practicum
Helling Variable Credits
Prerequisite(s): FAIR 201a or any writing intensive course.
Materials Fee: $29.58
Suggested Skills: Strong writing skills, ability to work well with diverse populations, confidentiality and reliability.
**You do NOT have to be a Fairhaven student to take this class**
Prereq: Override required. You do NOT have to be a Fairhaven student to participate!
COURSE DESCRIPTION UPDATED 3/10/09:
"Volunteer Advocate" role (2 credits):
- Attend volunteer training
- Attend Weekly practicum meetings
- Be on call one evening a week for interviews
- Explore non-legal advocacy needs of person at interview
"Legal Interviewer" role (3 credits): - Must have taken FAIR 377 class previously or concurrently
- Facilitate Volunteer Training
- Attend weekly practicum meetings
- Be on call one evening a week for interviews
- Explore legal needs of person at interview
- Present cases to Attorney Review Panel
If any one wishes to earn more credits than is designated for their role, they must arrange in advance with the instructor to complete additional projects for the WCRP.
About the Practicum
Working in conjunction with the Whatcom Human Rights Taskforce, LAW Advocates and the Law and Diversity Program, the Whatcom Civil Rights Project (WCRP) provides legal assistance and advocacy to victims of discrimination. ALL Western students are invited to participate.
Persons in the "interviewer" role interview victims and write legal memos on potential cases. They meet with the instructor (and fellow students) to discuss the case. Finally, persons in the "interviewer" role present the case orally before the Attorney Review Panel.
Persons in the "advocate" role also assist in the intake interviews, focusing on the non-legal needs of the party harmed. Under the direction of the Whatcom Human rights Taskforce, advocates prepare an Advocacy Plan for each case following the intake interview. Advocates are trained in the advocate training offered once per quarter (advocates do not need prior experience or training).
In this practicum both interviewers and advocates will be on-call for a weekly three hour shift in the evening to conduct intake interviews at Fairhaven College throughout the quarter. To participate, students must recognize their responsibility to the WCRP and the victims. This includes confidentiality, reliability, sensitivity to diverse populations, and ability to meet deadlines.
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23109 378f Court Watch
Helling Variable Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 203a or equivalent or instructor permission
Materials Fee: $15.00
Meets the following Core Requirement:
*This is a variable credit class. You are entitled to 3 credits if you perform the tasks listed below. If you want more than 3 credits, you must arrange this with the instructor IN ADVANCE by agreeing to undertake additional work.
Pre-req: must get instructor's permission to take this course (e-mail for override); Fairhaven 211b American Legal System strongly recommended.
The Whatcom County Court Watch's (WCCW) mission is to encourage equal treatment for victims of domestic violence while students and the community learn about the judicial system through observation.
This course will:
1) Train student and community observers to watch protection order hearings.
2) Provide feedback to interested parties on judicial proceedings.
Students must engage in the following:
1) Attend class weekly on Wednesdays, 4-4:50 p.m.
2) Observe court weekly during one of the following shifts:
Whatcom Superior Court: Mon or Wed at 9 a.m., Thurs at 8:30 a.m.
Whatcom District Court: Mon-Thurs at 8:30 a.m., Fri at 3 p.m.
3) Record detailed notes on observations
4) Assist in analyzing data and drafting report
Texts: Training Manual given in class, BATTERED WOMEN IN THE COURTROOM by Ptacek.
Credit/Evaluation: excellent attendance in class (only one absence) and in court, active participation in class discussion, and faithful and intelligent written monitoring of courts.
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23110 381g Topics in Literature: Playwrights Who Love Language
Larner 4 Credits
Materials Fee: $13.44
Meets the following Core Requirement: Humanities and the Expressive Arts II
This course explores the work of playwrights who love language. Poets, inventors, idiomizers, inventive connoisseurs of the way people speak, or might speak. When the sound of the language itself helps propel the action of the drama, when the taste-in-the-mouth of the words animates the meaning, the play explodes into a sensous, luscious feast, and acting becomes an ecstatic rite. Audiences go wild. We will read, taste, and savor, and find new ways, through the language, to approach the play. Those of us who write, or want to write drama, can try our hand at it, becoming immersed in those waters; and those of us who prefer to stay on the critical/appreciative shore, can learn what might happen when we jump in a dreamboat and cruise the critical lake in a bracing mist, in the cloud of poetry coming off the waters.
We will look at a large variety of writers, from honored poets of the stage like Shakespeare and Marlowe, to more recent versifiers like Anderson and Fry, to contemporary lyricists like Eliot, Beckett and Overmeyer, and Kennedy. We will look at political satirists (Kushner, Edgar) and inventors who can play with language more as gesture than as speech (Parks), and others who use the idioms of speech to imprison their characters and crystalize small worlds (Mamet).
We will read, write, and recite, on our way to exploring and expanding critical and creative sensibilities in the world of drama, and having an adventure with the languages we find there.
Texts: Texts will be selected from the work of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlow, Christopher Fry, Maxwell Anderson, T.S. Eliot, Samuel Becket, Eric Overmeyer, Adrienne Kennedy, David Edgar, David Mamet, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, Timberlake Wertenbaker, and others.
Credit/Evaluation: We count on the presence of students who want to be members of a collaborative, mutually supportive learning community, so reliable attendance, faithful and timely preparation of assignments for class, and a willingness to share one's perceptions, understandings, and arguments in class with others are all expected. Students will be working both on common texts for class discussion, and on solo assignments, reporting back to class. There will be a final project, which can be creative or scholarly (or some inventive combination!).
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23276 386e Topics in Humanities: History of Popular Music
Purdue 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Fair 202a or equivalent
Materials Fee: $13.03
Meets the following Core Requirement: Humanities and the Expressive Arts II
In this course we will examine the history and development of popular music song form from the beginning of rock and roll to the present day. We'll look at the sources of rock music, primarily Tin Pan Alley, rhythm and blues, and country music. We'll follow various lines of development from those sources but will stay mainly focused on rock and soul. In an attempt to move beyond the traditional focus on popular music from the U.S. and the U.K., we will also explore in some depth popular music from Brazil and Japan over roughly the same time period. The focus on form will allow us to talk about musical characteristics over time, and to chart where specific forms originate and how those forms are used across various genres of rock and soul. By looking at popular music in Brazil and Japan, we'll investigate how these same forms are used and adapted in those countries, and will consider unique characteristics of popular music in those countries.
Text: WHAT'S THAT SOUND?: AN INTRODUCTION TO ROCK AND ITS HISTORY by Covach, John.
Credit/Evaluation: Regular attendance and participation in class; five written analyses of song forms (to be posted on the class blog); five brief written reactions to either the course text or to music heard in class (also posted on the class blog); and a final presentation of 15 to 20 minutes. These presentations will take one of two approaches: "filling in the gaps" or "expanding on the text." In the first approach, students will select an artist or genre not mentioned in class and seek to connect this music to the historical and formal themes explored in the course. In the second approach, students will select an artist or genre that is covered in class, but explore this music in more depth, revealing aspects not otherwise addressed.
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23133 399b Contemporary American Indian Issues
Rowe 4 Credits
Prerequisites: Amst 202 or Fair 263 or Hist 275; also offered as Amst 315.
Materials Fee: $2.00
Meets the following Core Requirement: Humanities and the Expressive Arts II
Presents selected topics in Indian/White relations such as land claims, treaty rights, cultural appropriation, environmental racism and religious freedom. An appreciation of the historical context and Native perspectives of these issues is essential for constructive, non-violent conflict resolution. Our common reading and discussions will assess the success of recent Indian legal struggles to resolve divisive issues. Students' small group projects will allow for additional examination of additional specific and timely issues.
Students will write several short essays in response to readings, films, and lectures and prepare a small-group research and teaching project on an approved topic to be shared with the seminar.
Texts: Required: BLOOD STRUGGLE: THE RISE OF MODERN INDIAN NATIONS by Wilkinson. Recommended: THE STATE OF NATIVE AMERICA by Jaimes.
Credit/Evaluation: Evaluation for granting credit will be based on prompt and regular attendance; prepared and meaningful participation in discussions and the effectiveness of the research and teaching project.
