What does artistic production look like during a time of cultural unrest? How did America's poets help shape the political landscape of the American 60s and 70s, decades that saw the rise of the Black Panthers, 'Flower Power,' and Vietnam War protests? Through reading poetry, studying films and engaging with the music of the times we will think about art's ability to move the cultural needle and pose important questions about race, gender, class, and sexuality. We will study Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, Audre Lorde, Eileen Myles, and others. We will talk about The Beats, The San Francisco Renaissance and The New York School poets.

This seminar will study the principles of effective storytelling, whether on stage or on film. Aristotle's Poetics and Robert McKee's Story will be used to read Greece tragedies as if they were screenplays and contemporary dramas in the light of a 2,500-year critical tradition. Typically weekly reading/viewing will include an ancient and a modern drama and critical essays address fundamental questions, both technical - e.g. What makes a good plot and involving characters? - and larger ones - What do stories do for us? To what human needs does drama seem to respond?

This is a hands-on seminar and laboratory experience about the engineering design of motorcycles. Students will restore or repair a vintage Triumph motorcycle and will compare it to previous restorations of the same make and model of motorcycle from other years (1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, and 1964). No previous shop or laboratory experience is necessary, and we welcome liberal arts students as well as engineering students. The class meets twice each week. Each session starts with a 90-minute precept followed by a 90-minute laboratory.

This course explores the meaning of sound, music, and noise in American culture. While considering how peoples' lives in the past were shaped by what they heard, we will simultaneously turn our historical tools toward understanding the role of sound in our own lives today.

This seminar will equip students to wade into and engage with Americans' current fascination with the "founders": the group of American politicians who presided over the new nation. It will do so by digging deeply into American history during the early national period, as well as by giving students opportunities to perform their own research and analysis. It will examine politics, high and low, as well as cultural and intellectual developments. By making these moves, and, crucially, by thinking about how we make them, the course will teeter constantly between its express content and meta-lessons about historical methodology and practice.

This seminar will address three questions. How do we create narratives about what happened in the past? What meaning do those narratives have for the present? What are the ethical implications of how we both create and use those narratives? We will investigate why the past is a contested ground and why this contestation is never morally or ideologically neutral, while discussing possible ways of mediating these contestations. The case studies will include Confederate Monuments; The Wounded Knee Massacre, the French Revolution; the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 against Spanish rule in New Mexico; and the Battle of Thermopylae.

Languages are systems of communication, but they are also social institutions, ideological battlegrounds, instruments used to homogenize populations, define citizenship, and create social hierarchies. In this seminar, we discuss language as part of the social, cultural, and political machinery that enabled the rise of the nation-state, linguistic colonialism, hybrid identities and multilingualism in the 21st century. We approach language as social practice, raise critical awareness of the ways in which language is linked to cultural value and national identity, and deconstruct the notions of linguistic authority and nativism.

When, where, why and how did human language originate? There are no definite answers, but findings from many different areas of investigation (including paleontology, archeology, linguistics, animal communication, neurobiology, genetics, statistics), when considered in conjunction, shed light on these old and fascinating questions. Current research often gives rise to contrasting interpretations and hypotheses; the seminar will attempt to present a balanced picture and invite students to weigh all evidence.

See website

The nature, causes, and consequences of US and global inequalities of income, wealth, happiness and life expectancy. US economic inequality has surged since 1980. Women earn less than men, African Americans earn less than whites, rural workers earn less than metropolitan workers, the bottom 50% earns less than the top 1%. Why? What can policy do to reduce inequality? How does inequality affect justice? Is poverty or inequality the more serious problem? Is inequality intrinsically bad or bad chiefly in its consequences? Do moral obligations to reduce inequality extend beyond national borders or stop at the water's edge?

See website

How did the USSR move from mass Gulag servitude to Khrushchev's shocking denunciation of Stalin, which gave rise to a miraculous cultural flowering? This "Thaw" in Soviet society included the people embracing American jazz and Western fashion, developing a habit for speaking the truth, and yes, successfully launching Sputnik. In this class, we will examine documents, histories, artifacts, novels and we will view some fabulous 1950s Soviet movies.

What would a Marxism for the 21st century look like? Our seminar will examine the contemporary viability of Marx's fundamental concepts - such as labor, exploitation, ideology, and revolution. How must these concepts be reimagined to account for the specific shape of contemporary capitalism? What can Marxism learn from forms of critical thought that have emerged more recently, especially those concerned with race and gender? Subtopics include student-debt, social media and communicative capitalism, eco-Marxism, #Blacklivesmatter, Occupy Wall Street.

Discussing religious rights, James Madison called conscience the "most sacred of all property.". Indeed, special protection of religious conscience and practice has been characteristic of American law since the beginning. But is the privileged status of religious liberty over other liberties a mere historical contingency, a practical necessity in a bygone era of brutal religious conflicts? Or are there more general, philosophical reasons for privileging religious liberty? In this seminar, we shall engage with the writings of various authors and consider the philosophical case for such special legal protection of religious liberty.

This cross-cultural exploration will survey the presence of the religious in modern popular visual productions (print and film) in the West (US, France, and Belgium), and the East (North Africa, Iran, and Japan). The materials will expose students to the three monotheist religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), as well as Buddhism and Shinto, and will introduce them to the history and the art of American, European, and Japanese graphic novels and animated films.

Do you enjoy plays, movies and comics about strong-willed characters, each with unique strengths, who must learn to work together to defeat a common enemy? Have you always wanted to better understand how our immune systems work? If so, this seminar is for you, because it will empower you to bring cells of the immune system and the parasites they fight to the stage or screen! Instruction in playwriting and immunology will be paired with discussion of readings and films. Writing assignments will help you build your plays/screenplays piece by piece, with feedback, and will culminate in a performance of class works.

This seminar will explore some of the critical contributions of (mostly Allied) scientists, engineers, and mathematicians during World War II.

This seminar will explore the complex history of the fairy tale genre and address the many critical questions it raises. The readings will include the canonical texts by the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault but also many other, lesser-known versions, ranging from Ancient Rome to the Italian Renaissance and the French 18th century, as well as interpretations of these stories by historians, folklorists, psychoanalysts, and literary critics. The second half of the course will examine the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde and conclude with contemporary Anglo-American retellings of the classical narratives.

This course will focus on cross-cultural issues surrounding representation in documentary filmmaking, both in front of and behind the lens. Through film production, screenings and texts, we will explore the question of "who has the right tell whose story, and why?" Students will direct two documentaries each: one set in their own cultural sphere, the other set outside of it. Each student will direct these films while another student assists them. They will then switch roles, giving every student exposure to the construction of four different documentaries. They will also write a final paper reflecting on their experience making these films.

This course examines the ancient life and modern afterlife of a variety of classical myths in different literary traditions. We follow the development of particular mythical figures (e.g., Odysseus, Orpheus, Helen) from their ancient sources to their modern iterations and transformations. We will be thinking in particular about the cultural work that myths accomplish. Is the use of myth opposed to an interest in the modern or the contemporary? How do modern artists use myth to give voice to characters traditionally ignored or to challenge conventional narratives? Can myths still help us tell our own stories?

Produced from the post-World War II period to the present, the Italian, French, German, and Polish films we will study in this seminar establish a theoretical framework for the analysis of Fascism, its political ideology, and its ethical dynamics. We shall consider such topics as the concept of fascist normality, the racial laws, the morality of social identities (women, homosexuals), the Resistance, and the aftermath of the Holocaust. An interdisciplinary approach will be combined with learning basic concepts of film style, technique, and criticism.

How does the use of one's imagination spark social and systemic change in the world? What does it mean to devote one's life to this kind of work? Blurring the lines between the creative and political experience, students will be introduced to the radical contemporary practices that interdisciplinary artists use to build creative, impactful lives. Our texts will include live and recorded performances, as well as historical and theoretical secondary sources. Every other week the class hosts an artist talk series featuring pioneering artists.

In today's democratic and liberal order, the idea of monarchy seems to belong to the past. Nevertheless, kings and queens still hold an important role in political imagination, not only in fairy tales but also, and perhaps more importantly, in the cultural roots of many peoples and religions. Monarchy still captivates the minds of many Jews when they think about their political past. In this course we will analyze the seemingly contradictory views of monarchy in the Hebrew Bible. We will then embark to seek answers to this problem in the Jewish tradition, from the ancient rabbis to contemporary scholarship.

It is often said that we are living in an age of conspiracy theory; critics rue the noxious impact these theories seem to have on our social relations, our democracy, and our public health. In this seminar, we will trouble the category itself. What are conspiracy theories? How do they differ from other ways of knowing about the world? Do they even exist? Who are the 'they' who believe them, as opposed to the 'we' who do not? We will consider how conspiracy theory has been defined and analyzed by an array of experts, focusing on American culture while also learning to think comparatively across cultural contexts.

How do stories influence our understanding of politics? What role do state actors play in shaping the cinematic narratives we see on screen? This first-year seminar will introduce students to the field of political science by placing American and international films in conversation with scholarship on power, politics, and storytelling. Each week we will study a film, read related research, and analyze how one informs our understanding of the other. The course will cover ethnic politics, broadly conceived with a particular focus on civil disobedience, protests and political violence.

See website

Qué es una frontera? How has the US-Mexico border been configured and imagined since colonial times? What does it mean to live in-between nations, languages and worldviews? This seminar will explore the concept of the border and borderland spaces from a humanistic and historical perspective. We will reflect on the border as a geographical space but also as a discursive site where authors reflect on dreams, (land) struggles, trans-nationalism, language, identity, race, gender, and human rights. Some reading knowledge of Spanish is desirable but not required.

Princeton students are naturally focused, if not actually fixated, on success. But success has a less well-understood sibling, which is often a precursor and even prerequisite for that success, whether in science, athletics, business, or the arts: failure. Failure is usually a regrettable event, but it can become a truly strategic resource, invaluable in its ability to show us - sometimes painfully and reluctantly - what we don't yet know but need to, in order to succeed. This seminar offers a unique interdisciplinary window into the "other 'f' wor[l]d" of failure - a chance to see firsthand how valuable it can be in the pursuit of success.

This seminar will examine piracy and copying in many forms, from illegally reproduced private letters to lawful knockoff fashion designs. We will explore piracy in literature, art, photography, and music, along with copyright law, users rights, and fair use. We will pay close attention to lawful piracies - in areas such as publishing, tattooing, chefs' recipes, and cattle-ranching - and to ethical rules that have served to control and punish them.

Why does free speech matter? What are its limits? This course introduces students to contemporary legal, ethical, and political debates about the freedom of speech. Readings will include American constitutional cases and scholarly commentary. Though the course will use historical materials to develop its arguments, the main focus will be normative: it will address questions about what polities, institutions, and individuals should do, rather than focusing on what they have done or commonly do.

This seminar is focused on contemporary issue in Bioethics particularly on developments on the biomedical frontier that generate significant ethical, and/or legal and/or public policy issues. We address ethical, legal and policy issues arising out of the evolving doctor/patient relationship, the contemporary use of human subjects in clinical trials, and such issues as eugenics in its classical and contemporary form, genetic engineering in animals and plants, rights of non-human animals, ethical perspectives on suicide and physician assisted suicide, IVF, gestational motherhood and the shifting definition of families.

Why do Americans struggle to be healthy? The coronavirus pandemic has amplified the inadequacies of America's public health system: social disparities, dystopian politics, and structural racism interfere with government responsibilities, accurate information for individual decisionmaking, and access to health services. We will examine the policies and politics that animate modern challenges to the public's health, including those exposed by the current pandemic and other challenges such as drug use: opioids and tobacco; vaccines; access to health care; environmental justice, among other topics.

What are monsters made of, and why do we make them up? How does the monster, or the alien, or the other function in the human imaginative ecology? The core of our course will be reading medieval and medievalizing fantasy. Our aim is to discover how monsters have re-shaped the human, by engaging us in fantastic discourses full of wonder and adventure. We will also attack the ethical problems that "others" open up, querying the complex social elements of fear and of stereotypes. All that is needed to join this adventure is your keen curiosity and robust engagement throughout the semester. Monsters, here we come!

This seminar examines the history of antislavery thought and politics from the mid-eighteenth century through the Civil War. Historians now rightly place slavery at the very center of any account of the history of the United States. Less attention, though, is generally given to the history of American antislavery. Organized antislavery politics originated in the British American colonies and developed in the new polity alongside proslavery politics. Their interaction and its results will be our focus.

What is money, and when did it first emerge? What is a market, and when did modern capitalist markets - in commodities like land and raw materials, or in assets like stocks and corporate debt - emerge? Finally, what is cryptocurrency: money, a commodity, an asset, or a market? In this class, we will learn to answer questions like these analytically and historically, sharpening our concepts and testing them against the best scholarship on the past. Perhaps most importantly, we'll learn to assess how these historical developments have been morally justified by their participants and by those who view them through lenses used in our century.

Data is everywhere. Using site-specific research methods, students will explore their local environs, on campus and beyond, searching for data and the patterns and stories that follow. They will collect their observations in evolving archives, iterating on modes of communication (including documentary drawing, sensory visualization, and information design). The output of the course will consist of small weekly projects and responses to data-driven readings, films, design, and art, culminating in the production of a larger creative data visualization project, which illuminates a local story or pattern via data uncovered during the semester.

This seminar will explore, primarily in American literature, themes of individual and cultural identity from 19th century texts (Irving, Poe, James) to 20th and 21st century fiction and selected works of art, photography, and film. Students will write 1-2 page papers each week, present an analysis and discussion of a text or art-work, and write a paper of 12-15 pages. Questions will be: Is the "American Dream" an ideal, a shared cultural identity, or is it a chimera? How does the "Dream" manifest itself in individual works of art?

Lasers are not focused, and quantum leaps are tiny. This freshman seminar first explores the science behind quantum technologies. What makes a physical object "quantum", and what does it mean for the way it behaves? The future of quantum technologies, especially quantum computation and quantum cryptography are discussed. Besides the technical aspects, this freshman seminar also explores the use of "quantum" in popular culture, media, film, and literature. This seminar is open to all first-year students, and does not require any specialized prerequisites beyond general high school science and mathematics.

We study "tissue engineering" as a vehicle to improve critical thinking skills. Future scientists, doctors, and medical policy makers need tools to evaluate new technologies for their benefits and limitations, but we are often introduced to advances in science through media that may lack in-depth assessment. Three papers are assigned; emphasis changes from impressions of discussion topics to detailed analysis of hypotheses, claims, and results. The final meeting is a brainstorming session where we devise a strategy for "organ regeneration." A basic understanding of chemistry and biology is required.