Courses

• KHC ST 112: Studio II
  Much of social science research consists of formulating and evaluating claims about how processes unfold in our interconnected world. Increasingly, quantitative methods are used to evaluate such hypotheses and to suggest fruitful grounds for new research. The goals of this studio are threefold. First, the course endeavors to give students both a basic mathematical and a conceptual understanding of several statistical tools most commonly used by researchers across the social sciences. The course does not require any prior mathematical background beyond high school algebra. Armed with only a few simple tools, everyone can understand the basics behind descriptive statistics, correlation, regression analysis, and hypothesis testing. Second, the course examines how social scientists try to make sense of the world: how they frame questions, develop theories of causation, operationalize key concepts, and test hypotheses. Third and finally, the course will instruct students in the use of a statistical software package, STATA, and equip them with the necessary tools to use and transform existing data sets, create new ones, and conduct original empirical research. The Quantitative Studio meets weekly in the first part of the spring semester
• KHC VA 101: Art for the City
  Visual Art is a universal language where diverse areas of professional specialization can intersect and find a new voice and way of speaking to many people instead of an esoteric and isolated few. Significant social, political, and moral issues of our time require the ability to think from multiple points of view. This ability can be developed into a visionary skill, which in turn can be embodied in enduring and powerful forms of artistic communication. In this course students will examine the ways that visual art embodies contemporary issues and how these issues relate to content found in the liberal arts study disciplines including The Social Sciences, The Natural Sciences, and Life Sciences. This course will include a diverse range of contemporary practices in many art forms that we will discuss as a group through frank discourse. We will investigate the impact of visual arts on diverse domains of 'real world' industries and communities locally in the Boston Area and compare these with projects made worldwide. We will do this through lecture presentations, peer to peer dialogue, student to professional dialogue and research. The course will culminate with individual illustrated reports in the form of online portfolios.
• KHC XL 101: Global Shakespeares
  A Kuwaiti playwright, in the aftermath of 9/11, casts Hamlet as a jihadi terrorist and Ophelia as a suicide bomber. Hollywood directors set Othello and Taming of the Shrew adaptations in American high schools. The College Board, as it does almost every year, includes a Shakespeare essay on the AP English Literature exam. What can these diverse events tell us about the cultures that produce them and the plays that inspire them? Why do contemporary writers feel the need to parrot and parody "Shakespeare," and how much of this activity is about Shakespeare at all? This seminar provides an introduction to reading and writing about Shakespeare's plays. But it also takes a step back to consider Shakespeare as a phenomenon. Among others we'll look at feminist Shakespeare, postcolonial and nationalist Shakespeare, and sci-fi Shakespeare. Beyond learning about particular offshoots and adaptations, the deeper point is to make sure you never read a "Great Book" the same way again.

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