Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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KHC AH 101: (MIS)REPRESENTING HISTORY IN ART
An examination of the ways that historical events have been depicted by artists from antiquity to the present, with an emphasis on the intentional misrepresentation of events ("fake news") to serve the needs of the artists' patrons, usually ruling elites. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness. -
KHC AH 103: Experimental Art
This seminar investigates how visual and performance artists have wildly expanded our definition of what art is, including an exploration of new techniques, theories, markets, and political implications of art in the 20th and 21st centuries. How Does Art Happen? Who Is Art For? How Do You Make Art History? We will consider artists that challenged viewers' and philosophers' ideas about what makes something a work of art. These experimental artworks brought new people into the story of art history, expanding our understanding of who can be an artist (all of us). Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC AM 101: Whose Schools: Power, Equality and Public Education
How can we fulfill Thomas Jefferson's promise for public schools "which shall reach every description of our citizens?" The course examines significant eras, debates, and struggles for equality in U.S. education, with a particular focus on current policies in Boston. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, The Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy. -
KHC AN 102: The Lives of Others: The Power, Politics, and Ethics of Storytelling
This course delves into the ethical and political dimensions of storytelling, explores various cultural and historical forms of storytelling, and examines the deployment of storytelling in applied contexts such as narrative medicine. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
KHC AN 103: Animals among Humans
This course, "Animals among Humans," complements a hitherto existing course, KHC AN 101, Human among Animals." Comparing and contrasting humans and (other) animals, It explores the relations between them, with emphasis on the experiences of the nonhuman animals themselves. [The other course, Humans among Animals, also explores human-animal comparisons, contrasts, and interactions, but it does so with emphasis on the experiences of the humans involved.] Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Critical Thinking. -
KHC AN 104: Wildlife Conservation
Through team-based approaches, students learn about threats to wildlife and natural habitats, identifying community-based root causes. They apply their own disciplinary expertise and passions to develop creative solutions to these problems, culminating in the production of a final conservation video. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, The Individual in Community, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC AN 105: Conflict: The Human Condition
What can we learn about the human condition when we think through conflict? Unlike premodern forms of political authority and social organization, modern sociopolitical forms sanction specific forms of adversarial interaction as positive, regulative forces while banning forms of conflict as unwanted, corrosive influences on sociopolitical order. Students will engage with a rich array of multidisciplinary writings on human conflict as well as theatrical, literary, and cinematic takes on the primacy of adversarial relations for understanding the human condition. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. -
KHC EC 103: Housing Policy: An Economic Perspective
This course introduces students to economic analysis through the study of housing policy. The course covers both microeconomic issues related to housing affordability and macroeconomic issues related to the stabilization of the housing market and the Great Recession. Throughout, the course will teach students economic principles and how use data to assess economic arguments. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Research and Information Literacy. -
KHC EH 103: Race in America: Understanding the Present by Exploring the Past
Course explores how contemporary racial crises have surprising histories and deep roots in America's cultural imagination. Slave owning in New England? "Black Lives Matter" and 100-year old Confederate memorials? Books, movies, TV drama, journalism today and their urgent historical background. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy. -
KHC EK 104: Appreciation of music in a STEM context
This course leverages the relationship that students, who are not averse to STEM fields, have with music in order to turn them into GEEKS! It uses the electric guitar as a gateway to musical acoustics, electroacoustics, psychoacoustics and hands-on projects. No formal music training is required; the only prerequisites are the ability to appreciate music in some vaguely defined sense, and to try understand this appreciation with precise terms. The course will be supported by field trips, demos and projects. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Quantitative Reasoning II, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC EN 102: Ancient and Modern Quarrels: Fiction and Philosophy Since 1900
The "ancient quarrel" between literature and philosophy. Ancient works by Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle; existentialist writing by Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, De Beauvoir, Ellison; contemporaries such as Sontag, Robinson, Coetzee. What good is art and narrative? What are their powers, limits, dangers? Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking. -
KHC EN 103: Poetry as Activism
Do artists have a responsibility to bear witness to their times? This course explores the work of contemporary poets who directly engage the current moment, who show us that art can function as political action. Among the controversial topics that these authors draw attention to and comment on are racial injustice, mass incarceration, war, LGBTQ rights, immigration policy, and environmental devastation. Through our course texts and students' own poems, we will consider the ethics of appropriation and representation, as well as the use of personal experience and found documents in poetry. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, The Individual in Community, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC EN 104: Writing Lives: The Craft and Forms of Literary Biography
Literary writers craft characters. Many were characters as well--in their own lifetime and after their deaths. In this course, we explore the character of the writer as portrayed in multiple genres including fiction, essay, biography, autobiography, obituaries, and docudramas. We ask how does our perception of an artist change over time? How might literary biography serve as a lens to discuss changing conceptions of creativity, trends in historiography, and the development of literary canons? Our four case studies focus on Emily Dickinson, Louisa May Alcott, Toni Morrison, and Sylvia Plath. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Research and Information Literacy, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC FT 102: UnAmerican Cinema
This course seeks to understand American film history in light of one set of events: the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings on communism in the film industry and the resulting industry blacklist. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy. -
KHC FT 103: Screenwriting: Doing Justice Through Adaptation
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120).
This course will analyze the responsibilities of adapting socially significant source material for the screen. The lessons from case studies will assist students in their effort to identify impactful source material, research related topics, and develop a screenplay adaptation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC HC 301: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Challenges I
Climate change is one of the biggest environmental, social, political and technical challenges humanity will face over the next century. We ask: What is climate change? How has the world's climate changed over time? How did scientists identify climate change and develop consensus about its causes and likely effects? What are the likely consequences of climate change in different regions of the world? What can be done to reduce the production of greenhouse gases and mitigate the impact of climate change? Who bears moral responsibility for climate change? The course uses a variety of discipli Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. -
KHC HC 302: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Challenges II
68.5 million people were displaced from their homes by wars and persecution by the end of 2017. What disciplines and methodologies will help us understand this unprecedented global crisis? A premise of this course is that any understanding of the contemporary refugee crisis requires interdisciplinary study, and the most effective solutions are developed by teams like the interdisciplinary groups you will form in this class. The refugee crisis will provide a lens through which to understand nation/states, culture, identity, technology, trauma, and human resilience. Effective Spring 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
KHC HC 401: Epistemologies and the Process of Inquiry
This course introduces students to a variety of research methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative research techniques, data analysis and visualization, and interdisciplinary strategies relevant to students in all disciplines. The course material will be couched in a provocative current issue, such as urban development or gun violence in an effort to engage students in robust conversation. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Quantitative Reasoning II, Research and Information Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
KHC HC 451: Kilachand Keystone Proposal Workshop
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120), 3.0 cumulative GPA, B or better in prior Kilachand coursework.
KHC HC 451 will take students through the process of writing a research question or goal, doing preliminary research and writing an annotated bibliography, designing a feasible project, securing an advisor, and producing a convincing Keystone Project Proposal. Students will learn how to present the significance of their projects in clear language that non-specialists can understand. The Keystone Project Proposal is required of all students pursing the Kilachand Keystone Project, and is optional for students fulfilling the Kilachand Research Requirement through other pathways. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Writing- Intensive Course. -
KHC HC 501: People in Process: Lives & Works
Students discuss case studies that highlight the impact of innovative research on culture and examine the major challenges that face our society, from access to higher education to health care to race and gender in the workplace. The course also supports students ongoing work on their senior projects. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following Hub area: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
