HUMAN STUDIES
█ ACADIA: EXPLORING THE NATIONAL PARK IDEA Ken Cline Course limit: 24 Cost: $40 Using Acadia National Park as a case study, this course explores the various facets of “the national park idea” and what it means for Americans in terms of history and identity. Through direct experiences in one of the “crown jewels” of the park system, the class examines the historical, ecological, cultural, social, legal, economic, and spiritual context in which national parks are formed and continue to exist in the 21st century. We work with National Park Service professionals to look at various aspects of park management and day to day challenges of implementing the national park idea. Weekly field trips, journals, service learning opportunities, and projects provide ideas of management and experience in Acadia. We explore, through reading and writing, the broader themes of wilderness preservation, attitudes toward nature, the history of conservation, and the commodification of nature. This experiential class is specifically geared toward first-year students and they are given preference for enrollment. Assignments include journal writing, short exercises, a group project/service learning opportunity, short presentations, and papers.
█ ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY Ken Hill Course limit: 16 This course focuses on the segment of the human life spanning from puberty to early adulthood. In this class we examine the physical, cognitive, social, and moral aspects of adolescent growth and development. Topics considered include adolescent relationships (peers, family, romantic), adolescent issues (identity formation, at risk behavior, schooling, stereotypes), and a personal critical reflection on one’s own adolescent experience. The main objectives of this course are to: provide students with a working knowledge of theories of psychology which pertain to early adolescent development; help students develop abilities to critically analyze information and assumptions about the development of adolescents; consider contemporary issues and concerns of the field; and to afford students the opportunity to explore their own adolescent development. Course work entails lecture, discussion, extensive case analysis, and a field component. Prerequisites: Educational Psychology, Personality and Social Development, or other introductory level psychology course.
█ ADVANCED COMPOSITION Anne Kozak Course limit: 10 This course has two goals: to aid the student in developing and refining a style; and to make the student cognizant of the interaction between style, content, and audience. To achieve these goals, students write several short papers or one or two longer ones, meet regularly with the instructor, edit and discuss the exercises in Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph Williams, and participate in review sessions. Prerequisites: signature of instructor. Offered every winter.
█ THE AESTHETICS OF VIOLENCE Bill Carpenter Course limit: 25 Cost: $15 This course examines the origin and aesthetics of violence in Western culture. We begin with the question: what are the long term human effects of a civilization dominated by the image of a murdered god? We develop the focus on representations of violence in classical and contemporary literature and film. For theory, we read Aristotle’s Poetics, Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy, Ren, and Girard’s Violence and the Sacred. We study classical tragedy (Oedipus Rex, The Bacchae, Medea) along with Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho. Discussions are supplemented by a film series clarifying the debate over contemporary film violence by placing it in mythic context. Natural Born Killers, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Ride the High Country, and Clockwork Orange are among works studied. Student reports bring us up to date on current issues and cases of domestic and serial violence, as well as the politics of censorship, the representation of violence in visual art, the issue of pornography, and the myth of the victim hero. To clarify the issue of real versus represented violence, we make a class field trip to the Bangor Auditorium for a professional wrestling match.
69