Skip to main content

Practical Elements of Time Travel

“We study history so that we can know the past, engage the present, and impact the future.” Fall semester 2023 opened with racist graffiti sprayed on the sidewalk outside of Whitman Hall. Rumor has it that white faculty still say the “n-word” in their classes. Being a person of color (POC) at a predominantly white institution (PWI) is challenging. It also represents a challenge for actively anti-racist people, regardless of their ethnicity.

Restorative Circles & K-12 Education

Why are K-12 schools moving to restorative practices rather than traditional forms of school discipline? What does it look? What do students, teachers and administrators think of it? What is needed to make it work? And finally, is it effective? Let's take a look at restorative circles and find out how several schools in the North Country are implementing them to address issues from belonging to acceptance to addressing the devastating harm of racial incidents.

Our Animal Kin

This course explores human-animal connections and their spiritual and ethical implications. Moving between writings from Western and Indigenous worldviews, we consider how humans have rightfully or wrongfully imagined animals over time and across cultures, the relationships we have forged with other animals (including those that are currently under threat and that have recently been lost in an age of 'species loneliness'), and what obligations and responsibilities we may have to safeguard and foster the welfare of other species.

Madness, Mayhem and Murder

Defining Madness through society and its depiction in art and film. Students will learn about how the definition of madness has changed throughout the years and how this has changed the treatment of people. The students will also practice their own self-care while researching current media trends in mental health and its personal effects on the students. Multiple cultures will be discussed.  This course fulfills the FYS and SS general education requirements.

Extreme Physiology & Medicine

What happens to the body and mind at the limits of human endurance? How do humans acclimate physiologically to extreme environments, such as Mt. Everest, Antarctica, the Sahara Desert, the ocean depths, and space? This course investigates how geographic exploration has transformed modern medicine and our understanding of how the human body is capable of surviving extreme duress. You will learn core principles of cardiovascular, respiratory, water balance, and stress physiology by studying human performance under adverse conditions.

Inside the Two Koreas

This course introduces culture and society in twentieth century Korea (1900 to the present). The course will overview major historical topics in modern Korean society—colonization, Korean War, economic and social developments, to the most recent phenomena of Korean Wave. By reading, watching, and discussing various materials, this course provides students opportunities to trace salient cultural features of the Korean societies in the north and south.

Speak Up: Rhetoric and Public Speaking

This course introduces concepts and skills of public speaking rooted in the rhetorical tradition and is designed to develop effective presentation skills, critical thinking, and astute listening. In addition to researching, constructing, and delivering speeches, students will learn the principles of rhetorical analysis and critique. In the FYS Seminar students will expand on their research and writing skills to practice academic level writing. This course counts as PCA 111 and fulfills the FYS and ARTS general education requirements.

This is Your Brain on Music

Why do we like the music we like?  What makes a musician? According to Siu-Lan Tan, “the field of psychology of music is concerned with the processes by which people perceive, respond to, and create music, and how they integrate it into their lives.”  We will explore the physical properties of sound and the perception and cognition of melody, rhythm, and musical structure.  We will also consider the question of meaning in music, and the social, emotional, and universal significance of music. How musical are nonhuman animals?

Defending the North American Environment

The dire warnings of climate change can leave a person feeling helpless and with little hope of affecting positive change for our own times and the future. What difference can a single individual make to assure the long-term stability of our natural environment? Although singular actions are important, history provides examples of successful collective action; of communities recognizing an environmental problem and taking action to address it. Canada and the United States share a terrestrial border that is more than 5,500 miles long.