History, Culture, and The Arts

Tolkien and Imagination

Ruben Garrote

Tues., Thurs., 3:30P-4:45P

In this course students will read and discuss Tolkien’s essays, poems, and stories, tracing the origins of his invented worlds and uncovering the great themes he wove throughout them. Students will learn how Tolkien’s work has been studied and interpreted. Finally, students will engage in interpretation of his work and of its interpretations, and they will apply their own powers invention to the creation of their own imagined world.

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The Conservative Tradition

Ruben Garrote

Tues., Thurs., 2:00P-3:15P

This course will involve readings in Conservative political philosophy, but politics is not all that Conservatism encompasses.

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Beyond Entertainment: The Influential Power of Music in Society

Ernesto Fernandez

Online

Music plays an important role in our daily lives and in shaping society. It accompanies us in our daily activities and as an outlet for our feelings. This omnipresence of music raises several questions: how does music affect our lives?

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Food and Culture: History, Traditions, and Health

Monica Smith

Online

In this course, students will expand their culinary horizons and learn about new and exciting dishes and beverages that they may not have otherwise encountered. We will delve into the rich culinary traditions of Italy, Thailand, India, the Middle East, Japan, China, and Mexico, examine the unique ingredients, flavors, and techniques that define each country's cuisine. We will also consider the historical, cultural and religious influences that shape food and beverage choices in these regions, as well as the role of consumables in shaping and reflecting social norms and values, politics, as well as health and well-being.

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Searching Minimalism through Japanese Literature and Play

Masako Kubota

Online

This course will examine minimalism from Japanese literature by Kamo no Chomei and Zeami. We will learn how to create Haiku and will enjoy attending group Haikai, Haiku critique group activities in our class. Multi perspective approaches are used to view “Noh play” to understand Zeami’s artistic simplicity and explore the mountain side of Kyoto by viewing the film, and imagine “Hojyoki” written by Chomei. After we have learned about the ultimate simplicity by great Japanese artists, we will implement these ideas in our daily lives and use them for environmental sustainability.

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Creative Non-Fiction: Personal Essays

Elizabeth Hanly

Tues., 2:00P-3:15P (Online Live)

This is a course in storytelling, in writing and reading creative nonfiction.

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Art Medical History to the Renaissance

Amilcar Castellano Sanchez

Mon., 1:00P– 3:30P

This course encompasses the study of medical world history as it has occurred through time portrayed in different forms of art, i.e. visual, written, performed in a global perspective thus emphasizing certain areas in this review such as: anatomy, physical diagnosis, different types of illness -with a focus on infectious diseases-; a few specialties such as: obstetrics / gynecology, surgery, and psychiatry amongst others also including selected examples of preventive medicine and therapeutic approaches; all from the perspective of the vast historical registry available to us.

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Radical Female Voices

Niurca Marquez

Wed., 2:00PM-3:15PM (Hybrid)

n this course, we will explore themes around place-making and positioning (in arts, humanities and sciences) from a feminist perspective. We will engage with the writings of Audre Lourde, Gloria Anzaldúa, Simone de Beauvoir, bell hooks, Adriana Cavarero, Hannah Arendt, and adrienne maree brown, among others.

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Westworld

Rhona Trauvitch

Wednesday, 11:00A-12:15P(Hybrid)

This course is an interdisciplinary adventure in Westworld. Our core material is the first season of the television series created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy (2016), a tapestry of science fiction, philosophy, narratology, and machine learning. Our course’s overarching question is What is the difference between the park’s hosts (androids) and guests (humans)? Over the course of the semester we hope students will come to realize that this difference is not nearly as large, solid, or obvious as may appear. Since we are indeed comparing, the theme of the course is fungibility and to learn about this theme we will study the philosophy of analogy.

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The Power of Black Music in America: Its History, Language, and Culture from the Past Until Today

Trina Sanders

Online

In this course, we will examine Black music's power and how it has shaped Black History in the past and today.

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The Tao of Sports

Joseph Lichter

Mon., Wed., 12:30P–1:45P

In the “The Tao of Sports”, students analyze the unique and popular human experience called sports particularly by examining them through a lens of physical and social sciences.

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Miami Stories

Maikel Right

Friday, 11:00A-12:15P (HYBRID)

Miami Stories invites students to delve into the vibrant tapestry of Miami's cultural communities through the lens of virtual reality storytelling. This immersive course empowers students to create VR experiences that bring to life the rich traditions, values, food, music, and practices of their cultural backgrounds in Miami, Florida. Utilizing cutting-edge VR technology, the course covers storytelling fundamentals, world-building, research, and VR production.

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Art in Miami

John Bailly

Every other Fri., 10:00A-3:45P

Art in Miami offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves into the contemporary art world of Miami. The class will visit museums, artists collectives, artists’ studios, and galleries. Students will have the opportunity to assist artists on their projects. All class meetings will be off campus; students need to provide their own transportation.

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Lifetech and the Intersectionality of Life Expansion

Robert Hacker

Tuesday, 9:30A-12:00P

What would happen if we could live forever? Would we achieve the things we thought were impossible because time was our biggest limitation? Would humanity be improved for the better? In this course, we will discuss what it means for humans to be immortal, if it is possible, and the repercussions of immortality on humankind. We will discuss the capacities of technologies, machines and theories that may make immortality an option for humans in the future. We will discuss the impact that immortality might have on our meaning of life and a human's purpose. We will discuss our human nature, biologically, psychologically and culturally, in an attempt to determine if immortality truly is possible and what affects it will have on the way we interact with one another.

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Ukraine 101

Malgorzata Durygin

Mon. and Wed., 12:30P– 1:45P

This course will provide students with an opportunity to survey Ukraine, investigating basic issues related to the Ukrainian language and cultural heritage including art, music, literature, and cuisine, and its significant contributors. Ukraine with its past and its current fight for freedom and democracy, as well as the significance of Ukraine as the center of the struggle for international values globally, and the present and future of the rule of law, democracy, and security for the larger world, and, in turn, to develop an ability of multiple viewpoint analysis of the world and become motivated to act and collaborate locally and globally.

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Every Species is a Masterpiece

Gretchen Scharnagl

Tues., Thurs., 3:00PM - 4:15PM

This class considers how we look at ourselves, and how we look at animals, plants, and fungi, and how this influences how we think of all. What are our varying relationships? We will discover how ancient, ubiquitous, and complicated - the truths, abstractions, and symbology - of our fellow earth dwellers can be.

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Myth and Ritual in Film, Part 1

Adam Gorelick

Tues.,Thurs., 12:30P - 1:45P

This course applies theoretical discussions of myth and ritual to the contemporary medium of film.

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Third World Film: Africa

Elizabeth Hanly

Online

This QM approved fully online course will focus on African film.

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Art as Persuasion

Pioneer Winter

Online

Art as Persuasion fully online course focuses on the cultural and political appropriation of visual and performance art for the purposes of public conformity, propaganda, and dissent (1935-present day).

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Graphic Voices

Gretchen Scharnagl

Tues., Thurs., 1:00PM - 2:15 PM

We will read and discuss graphic works ranging from the graphic novel, to outsider artist comics, and including coloring books, to discover the potential of this language to disseminate important stories and historic, social, psychological, artistic or scientific content.

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The Economics of Inequality and Distribution

Jorge Zumaeta

Online

The purpose of this course is to explore the extent of inequality, its causes and its consequences, and policy recommendations that are being considered to mitigate social and economic disparities.

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Classic Banned Lit Club

Gabriela Icabalceta

Thurs., 9:30A-10:45A (Hybrid)

Book bans are the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational material – of images, ideas, and information – that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in the light of standards applied by the censor.

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Adult Topics on Narrative Medicine

Amilcar Castellano-Sanchez

Wed., 1:00P– 3:30P

This course aims to bring forth the unbreakable -- yet not well-valued and sparsely characterized -- connection between the worlds of text (narrative, poetry, short stories, memoirs, interviews, and film adaptations) to the worlds of medical ailments and medical practice.

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Miami in Miami

John Bailly

Every other Wed., 10:00A-3:45P

Miami in Miami is an experiential seminar which examines the historical, social, and cultural identity of Miami. Class meeting will be off campus at a variety of different setting-everything from hiking in the Everglades to walking on Ocean Drive. All class meetings will be off campus; students need to provide their own transportation.

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Song of Life

Adam Gorelick

Tues.,Thurs., 2:00P - 3:15P

This is a course about poetic forms, but mostly it’s about writing poetry. Students will read, research, and attempt several poetic forms including epic, sonnet, free verse, haiku, elegy, limerick, sestina, and others. The key feature of the course will involve workshopping together original poetry and providing constructive feedback.

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You Crit Like a Girl: The Unique Role of Women in Gaming, Entertainment, and Media

Connie Viamonte

Tues., 12:00P- 1:30P (HYBRID)

This course will investigate gender through the lens of modern media and entertainment.

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Black Nightmares: Deconstructing Symbolism and Race in Horror Stories

Trina Sanders

Online

This course will explore the themes of racism meets horror stories. This course will use the dark fantasy horror television series “Lovecraft Country” to uncover blackness, queerness, fantasy, and the struggle against racism and imperialism.

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History of Colonial Latin America as Experienced Through the Arts

Javier Mendoza

Tues., Thurs., 9:30A-10:45A

This course is a survey of the history of Latin America from 1500-1800 through music written and performed in Latin America, visual art created in Latin America, and Literature/Poetry. Serious classical and liturgical music is covered along with known folk traditions. History is taught through the music, visual art, literature, and social construction.

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Human Identity and Resilience: Third Space/Third World

Niurca Marquez

Wed., 3:30P-4:45 PM (Hybrid)

This course analyzes the root and development of three of the most common terms used to describe cultural and/or racial mixing or blending and uses them as a starting point to examine the performance and literature about the experience of the "third" or liminal spaces. You will learn about these three distinct terms for mixed cultural expressions and what they mean in a series of fields like sociology, psychology, religion, gender studies, ethnography, performance and the arts, to name a few.

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Banquet with the Bards

Erica del Riego

Tues., Thurs.,2:00P-3:15P

This course focuses on human's relationship to food and the rise in food insecurity in the United States due to the Covid 19 Pandemic.

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The Pursuit of Perfection

Jennifer Houston

Tues., 2:00P - 4:30P

This course we will look at perfectionism through the lens of religious practices, sociocultural norms, and business expectations at both the organizational and employee level. We will discuss and discover our own definitions of perfection as we move through the different modules and topics designed to aid in the understanding of how perfectionism is experienced on a global level. We will also examine the impact that the pursuit of perfection can have on the physiological, psychological, and interpersonal wellbeing of individuals.

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Culture and Expression: Yesterday's Censorship, Suppression and Propaganda

Jason Calloway

Wed., 9:00A - 11:30A

For as long as humankind has gathered in groups, we have sought to express ourselves through various means: music, visual art, dance, speech, and literature.

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