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the open classroom: two days of teaching visit opportunities

visits-gradiantclick on a tab for class details
for each day and to register.

would you like to watch one of your colleagues teach to see how they manage the classroom, engage students, or address challenging subjects? do you ever feel like you toil in private to learn how to teach?
you’re not alone.

on september 5th and 6th, the cft will host the open classroom: two days of teaching visit opportunities.

too often in higher education we instructors do not have the opportunity to watch and discuss each other’s teaching, and therefore we struggle in what pat hutchings has called, “pedagogical isolation.” the 2022年世界杯中国小组赛积分 has long worked to change this isolation by creating occasions for pedagogical community.

all faculty and graduate students are welcome to register. each time you visit a class, you get one entry in a raffle for a $100 gift certificate for the group of nashville originals restaurants, which will be awarded during the reception.

click on the tabs above to register for whichever class best suits your schedule and curiosities. then be sure to come to the the open classroom reception on wednesday, september 6th, from 3:00pm to 4:00pm in the heard library community room. there the hosts and visitors will have an opportunity to reflect on their teaching and celebrate vanderbilt’s pedagogical community and you will have a chance to take home the $100 gift certificate!

host: andrew hostetler, assistant professor of the practice of social studies education
peabody college, teaching & learning

class: ssed 3260/6240: human geography
an examination of the human and cultural aspects of various regions of the world including the spatial manifestations of culture, population distribution and movements, language, religion, ethnicity, political geography and resource issues. the course examines human geography themes at local, national and international levels and probes the nature of geographical thinking and the characteristics of geography as a social science.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 8:10am – 11:00am
location: wyatt center 102 (currently)

register

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host: douglas fisher, associate professor of computer science
school of engineering, electrical engineering & computer science

class: eecs   cs 4260: introduction to artificial intelligence
an introduction to principles of and perspectives on artificial intelligence

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 8:10am-9:25am
location: featheringill-jacobs hall 134

register

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host: catherine mctamaney, associate professor of the practice of teaching & learning
peabody college, teaching & learning

class: educ 1220: society, the school and teacher
a foundations course for incoming first year students in the teacher education program addressing the history of public education, current controversies and the peabody conceptual framework for teacher education

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 8:10am-9:25am
location: mayborn hall 205 (lecture hall)

register

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host: larisa desantis, assistant professor of earth & environmental sciences
college of arts & science, earth & environmental sciences     

class: ees 4820: paleoecological methods
advanced lecture course for undergraduate and graduate students. tools used to interpret past environments and climates, including plant microfossils, pollen and phytoliths, vertebrate morphology, and dental microwear and mesowear. geochemical tools such as stable isotopes and rare earth elements. integrating methods from paleontological and anthropological studies, including the use of databases and meta-analyses. readings from primary sources and a field trip to the gray fossil site supplements course content. students complete a collaborative group project that is typically published in a peer-reviewed journal.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 9:35am-10:50 am
location: stevenson center 1 (math) 210

register

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host: gautam biswas, cornelius vanderbilt professor of computer science
school of engineering, electrical engineering & computer science

class: cs 6364: intelligent learning environments
theories and concepts from computer science, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and education for designing, building, and evaluating computer-based learning environments

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 9:35am-10:50 am
location: featheringill-jacobs hall 129

register

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host: rory dicker, senior lecturer in women & gender studies
college of arts & science, women & gender studies

class: wgs 3250w: contemporary women’s movements
many people interested in contemporary feminisms don’t know much about feminist history, so this course begins by discussing the women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s. this background is particularly important for a study of third wave feminism, the topic of the second half of the course, because often the third wave is defined in distinction to real or imagined concepts of the second wave.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 9:35am-10:50am
location: buttrick hall 205

register

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host: richard blackett, professor of history
college of arts & science, history

class: hist 2570: caribbean history
this course looks at the history of the caribbean from columbus (1492) to castro (1959)

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 9:35am-10:50am
location: calhoun hall 203

register

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host: jeffrey tlumak, associate professor of philosophy
college of arts & science, philosophy

class: phil 3601: metaphysics
this semester we will trace, clarify, and evaluate competing, systematically interconnected commitments about the nature and existence of ourselves, the world around us, and god. on september 5 we will be in the midst of focusing on free will.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 9:35am-10:50am
location: furman hall 007

register

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brent evans, assistant professor of public policy & higher education
peabody college, leadership, policy, & organizations

class: lpo 7860: research design & data analysis i
this course is designed to introduce students to the theory and practice of social science research. the goal is to make students effective consumers of educational research.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 9:35am-10:50am
location: wyatt center 130 (computer lab)

register

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host: michelle sulikowski, principal senior lecturer in chemistry
college of arts & science, chemistry

class: chem 2221: organic chemistry structure, function and reactivity of organic molecules.
this course features the use of guided lecture notes for large classes. guided lecture notes promote a balance between note taking, active listening and processing and is a more engaging alternative to a powerpoint deck. research has shown this approach to be highly effective for high cognitive demand courses.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 9:35am-10:50am
location: stevenson center 4309

register

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host: alexandra sargent capps, senior lecturer in theatre
college of arts & science, theatre

class: thtr 2781: the history of fashion
this course is a survey of western fashion from ancient to modern. we will be spending the first few weeks of the class focused on a dive, or human centered design project, in which we will explore the relationship of sustainability to fashion, culminating in an informational pamphlet which we will distribute on campus. we will then study the history of fashion through the lens of this modern perspective.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 9:35m-10:50am
location: buttrick hall 202

register

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host: tim vogus, professor of management
owen school of management, organization studies

class: mgt 6342: leading teams and organizations 1
leading executives, recruiters, and alumni consistently state that their organizations need individuals with strong leadership skills, a command of the dynamics of high-performance teams, as well as an understanding of organization design and human resource management tools. with that in mind, lto has been designed to help develop each of these skill sets: leadership skills (conceptual and reflection skills), building and sustaining high-performance teams, and understanding organization design and human resource management tools.

on september 5th will include an in-class team decision making exercise and the class will be discussing team decision-making biases.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 9:40am-11:10am
location: management hall, 220

register

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host: alan wiseman, cornelius vanderbilt professor of political economy
college of arts & science, political science

class: psci 2259: political strategy and game theory
undergraduate course that exposes students to game theory and various applications of game theory in political science

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 11:00am-12:15pm
location: commons center 335

register

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host: sheri shaneyfelt, principal senior lecturer in history of art
college of arts & science, history of art

class: hart 3320: early renaissance florence
upper-level survey lecture course on italian renaissance art, painting and sculpture in fifteenth-century florence. ghiberti, donatello, masaccio, fra angelico, and botticelli. stylistic progression; iconographic interpretation and meaning; the role of patronage and audience; and original physical and cultural context.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 11:00am-12:15pm
location: cohen hall 324

register

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host: susan verberne-sutton, senior lecturer in chemistry
college of arts & science, chemistry

class: chem 2100: analytical chemistry
analytical chemistry provides knowledge on instrumentation and statistical significance of data.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 11:00am-12:15pm
location: stevenson center 2212

register

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host: tim vogus, professor of management
owen school of management, organization studies

class: mgt 6342: leading teams and organizations 2
leading executives, recruiters, and alumni consistently state that their organizations need individuals with strong leadership skills, a command of the dynamics of high-performance teams, as well as an understanding of organization design and human resource management tools. with that in mind, lto has been designed to help develop each of these skill sets: leadership skills (conceptual and reflection skills), building and sustaining high-performance teams, and understanding organization design and human resource management tools.

on september 5th will include an in-class team decision making exercise and the class will be discussing team decision-making biases.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 11:20am-12:50pm
location: management hall, 220

register

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host: jane landers, gertrude conaway vanderbilt professor of history
college of arts & science, history

class: hist 8610: atlantic world history
this graduate seminar explores the history of the atlantic world created when europe, africa, and the americas began to interact. after reviewing a variety of theoretical and disciplinary approaches to the study of the atlantic world, we will read a series of monographs and articles designed to acquaint you with the best and most recent scholarship in this rapidly-growing field. our time frame covers from the mid fifteenth century to the early nineteenth century. major themes will include the consequences of atlantic expansion for european, african and indigenous societies, the rise of atlantic economies, the african slave trade, the circulation of peoples, religions, ideas, and material culture throughout the atlantic, and the atlantic world revolutions that ended colonialism in most of the americas.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 12:30pm-3:30pm
location: featheringill-jacobs hall 200

register

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host: chalene helmuth, senior lecturer in spanish & portuguese
college of arts & science, spanish & portuguese

class: span 1111-08: ecocritical perspectives in latin american fiction
this first-year writing seminar traces the development of ecocritical perspectives in latin american literature in pre-columbian to 21st-century texts from chile, colombia, costa rica, cuba, mexico, and peru. we explore how matters of environmental health and justice emerge as we introduce students to the fundamentals of literary analysis and research. (conducted in english)

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 1:10pm-2:25pm
location: sutherland house 106

register

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host: james fraser, associate professor of urban studies
peabody college, human & organizational development     

class: hod 2100: understanding organizations
understanding organizations is a core requirement for hod undergraduates focusing on the dynamics of primarily work organizations throughout the last century.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 1:10pm-2:25pm
location: home economics building, 102

register

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host: mark wollaeger, professor of english
college of arts & science, english   

class: engl 2200: foundations of literary study
foundations of literary study is a course for prospective english majors focusing on close reading; analytic writing; historical context; abstract reasoning in theory; creative expression.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 2:35pm-3:50pm
location: buttrick hall 308

register

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host: joel harrington, professor of history
college of arts & science, history   

class: hist 2250: reformation europe
a survey of the social, religious, political and economic developments and individuals in 16th century europe.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 2:35pm-3:50pm
location: calhoun hall 423

register

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host: david lewis, professor of political science
college of arts & science, political science

class: psci 2245: the american presidency
this course provides an introduction to the study of the american presidency.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 2:35pm-3:50pm
location: buttrick hall 101

register

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host: paul stob, associate professor of communication studies
college of arts & science, communication studies

cmst 1500: fundamentals of public speaking
this course allows students to study the ideas and principles of public speaking and to put them into practice, focusing especially on how to analyze, formulate, and develop cogent arguments.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 2:35pm-3:50pm
location: cohen hall 324

register

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host: robert barsky, professor of literature, and of law
college of arts & science, french & italian; law

class: fren 4027: emile zola: from naturalist novels to social activism (in french)
a course on the work of Émile zola.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 2:35pm-3:50pm
location: buttrick hall 305

register

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host: latonya trotter, assistant professor of sociology
college of arts & science, sociology

class: soc 3301: society and medicine
this course focuses on the cultural and social factors in the perception, definition, diagnosis, treatment, and distribution of disease. doctor-patient relations; role of nurses and other health professions. social consequences of hospitals, medical technology, medical specialization, and health insurance.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 4:00pm-5:15 pm
location: calhoun hall 203

register

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host: corbette doyle, senior lecturer in leadership policy & organizations
peabody college, leadership, policy, & organizations

class: lop 6130 strategy & analytics i
this course focuses on developing business acumen across institutional contexts. this includes insight about how the organization generates value, its revenue model and key expense drivers, strategic goals, and the metrics most useful for monitoring and evaluating progress toward those strategic goals.the course relies heavily upon a constructivist pedagogy (pbls in particular), with polling used for formative assessments.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 4:10pm-7:00pm
location: 4:10-5:15 in the lobby of the commons; then in 100-b hobbs

register

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host: anjali forber-pratt, assistant professor of human & organizational development
peabody college, human & organizational development

class: hdc 6150: counseling diverse populations
study of value systems and behavior patterns of diverse populations as well as variables related to age, gender, life style, language, religion, social class, geography, and developmental stage. provides counselors and mental health specialists with knowledge of diverse life styles in order to be more effective in serving the needs of persons from diverse populations.

date: tuesday sept 5th
time: 4:10pm-7:00pm
location: mayborn hall 205

register

host: bill christie, professor of finance
owen school of management, management & finance

class: mgt 6331: managerial finance 1
the course offers an introduction to corporate finance at the mba level. the class itself with deal with understanding and measurement of risk in financial markets.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 8:00am – 9:30am
location: management hall, room 222

register

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host: douglas schmidt, cornelius vanderbilt professor of computer science
school of engineering, electrical engineering & computer science

class: cs 891: introduction to concurrent java programming in android
cs 891 provides students with a deep understanding of conceptual and practical aspects of designing, implementing, and debugging concurrent software apps using patterns and frameworks related to java and android. key topics covered in this course include: (1) developing, documenting, and testing apps using object-oriented frameworks and functional programming features associated with java and android, (2) reuse of patterns and software architectures, and (3) developing concurrent software using java and android.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 8:45am-10:00am
location: engineering science building room 44

register

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host: bill christie, professor of finance
owen school of management, management & finance

class: mgt 6331: managerial finance 2
the course offers an introduction to corporate finance at the mba level. the class itself with deal with understanding and measurement of risk in financial markets.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 9:40am-11:10am
location: management hall, room 222

register

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host: virginia scott, professor of french
college of arts & science, french & italian

class: fren 2203: intermediate french language and cultures
french 2203 is an intermediate course focusing on language and culture. course is taught in french

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 10:10am-11:00am
location: calhoun hall 117

register

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host: todd graham, professor of biological sciences
college of arts & science, biological sciences

class: bsci-1510-01: introduction to biological sciences
an integrative approach to the science of life for science and engineering students. macromolecular structure and function. cell structure, reproduction, metabolism, and energy production. genomes, replication, gene structure, rna, and protein synthesis.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 10:10am-11:00am
location: stevenson center 4309

register

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host: marshall eakin, professor of history
college of arts & science, history

class: hist 2490: brazilian civilization
this course is a survey of brazilian history and culture since 1500

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 10:10am-11:00am
location: calhoun hall 320

register

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host: ellen armour, carpenter associate professor of theology
divinity school, theology

class: div 6801.01: constructive theology i
constructive theology i introduces students to contemporary and historical perspectives on topics central to the christian faith: how to think about god, jesus christ, sin and salvation, for example.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 11:10am-12:00pm
location: divinity school 122

register

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host: paul laibinis, professor of chemical & biomolecular engineering
school of engineering, chemical & biomolecular engineering

class: chbe 6120: applied chemical kinetics
graduate level development of the underlying processes and apparent physicochemical relationships that govern chemical reactions. topics directed toward the understanding of reaction mechanisms, the analysis of experimental data, the development of suitable models, and applications to the process industries.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 11:10am-12:00pm
location: olin hall 134

register

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host: michael bess, chancellor’s professor of history
college of arts & science, history

class: hist 2720: world war ii
a multi-disciplinary survey of the origins, impact, experiences and legacy of the largest war in history.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 11:10am-12:00pm
location: furman hall 114

register

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host: craig smith, associate professor of psychology, and associate dean, peabody college
peabody college, psychology & human development

class: psy-pc 1207: minds, brains, contexts, & cultures
as the introductory course for the major in cognitive studies, this course examines humanity’s unique cognitive abilities and their limitations, the nature of intelligence, and how our thinking is shaped and controlled by our situational contexts, and by our broader culture. on september 6 we will be wrapping up the first unit, in which we look at how our cognitive abilities are different and more powerful than, but also similar to, those of other species. one of the issues we will explore that day are the implications of our unique abilities for being responsible for the stewardship of the planet.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 11:15am-12:25pm
location: hobbs 100b

register

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host: lily claiborne, senior lecturer in earth & environmental sciences
college of arts & science, earth & environmental sciences

class: ees 1510: dynamic earth: introduction to geology
an introductory survey course in physical geology and earth systems.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 12:10pm-1:00pm
location: stevenson center 4327

register

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host: jessie hock, assistant professor of english
college of arts & science, english

class: engl 8331: renaissance lyric
[note: this is a three hour seminar, but guests should feel free to leave at the break halfway through]
this graduate seminar is intended as an introduction to english lyric poetry from the mid-sixteenth through the mid-seventeenth century, as well as an exploration of contemporary theorizations of lyric poetry both around and beyond the renaissance. while it is not a survey (shakespeare and spenser, for example, will get short shrift), we will cover most of the important poetic genres and movements of the period, including petrarchism, metaphysical poetry, cavalier poetry, pastoral, devotional lyric, and more. furthermore, the seminar aims to support students’ development not just as readers and critics of renaissance literature and culture, but as readers, critics, and teachers of poetry in general; it will thus function as a practicum of sorts in reading, analyzing, and writing about verse. throughout the course, we will look both backwards and forwards in time, attending on the one hand to the classical forbearers of renaissance lyric, and on the other to the payoffs those lyrics have today, in terms of influence but also in terms of theories of lyric. our focus on the latter will take us, in the final weeks of class, beyond the renaissance to consider the poet who has come to be vital to contemporary theorizations of lyric, emily dickinson, and also into students’ own fields of specialization in the form of presentations on final projects, which will hopefully combine what we have learned of renaissance lyric with their own interests and fields.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 12:10pm-1:00pm
location: buttrick hall 310

register

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host: lori troxel, professor of the practice in civil & environmental engineering
school of engineering, civil & environmental engineering

class: es 1401 (06): introduction to engineering
this course introduces students to civil engineering. students build concrete walls, test them, and make repairs. they study how risk and resilience are part of the decision making process in infrastructure projects.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 12:10pm-1:00pm
location: featheringill-jacobs hall 298

register

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host: julie johnson, professor of the practice in electrical engineering & computer science
school of engineering, electrical engineering & computer science

class: es1401-09: introduction to engineering/cs
students learn how to create mobile apps while working through the stages of project design

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 12:10pm-1:00pm
location: alumni hall 204

register

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host: virginia scott, professor of french
college of arts & science, french & italian

class: fren 3113: advanced french grammar
french 3113 is an advanced grammar course focusing on communication in diverse communities in contemporary france. course is taught in french.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 1:10pm-2:00pm
location: furman hall 109

register

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host: nilanjan sarkar, professor of mechanical engineering; professor of electrical engineering & computer science
school of engineering, mechanical engineering

class: me 4271/5271: introduction to robotics
introduction to robotics focuses on the history and application of robots. robot configurations including mobile robots. spatial descriptions and transformations of objects in three-dimensional space. forward and inverse manipulator kinematics. task and trajectory planning, simulation and off-line programming.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 1:10pm-2:00pm
location: featheringill-jacobs hall 132

register

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host: katherine crawford, professor of history and women’s & gender studies
college of arts & science, history

class: hist 2840: sexuality and gender in the western tradition since 1700
this course explores topics in the history of gender and sexuality by comparing materials from earlier periods with present-day issues. topics include lgbtqi rights and activism; intersectional problems in race, class, gender, and sexuality; and activist responses to gender and sexuality issues.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 1:10pm-2:00pm
location: calhoun hall 103

register

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host: steve buckles, principal senior lecturer in economics
college of arts & science, economics

class: econ 1010: principles of macroeconomics
an introduction to economics. normally the first course majors and nonmajors take. this course explores the role of scarcity and prices in allocating resources. national income, fluctuations in unemployment and price level, monetary and fiscal policy.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 1:10pm-2:00pm
location: wilson hall103

register

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host: david lewis, professor of political science
college of arts & science, political science

class: psci 2245: the american presidency
this course provides an introduction to the study of the american presidency.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 2:35pm-3:50pm
location: buttrick hall 101

register

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host: shaul kelner, associate professor of sociology and jewish studies
college of arts & science, sociology

class: js 2400: american jewish life
a class on the sociology of american jews. this course examines diversity, individualism, and change in jewish life. food and culture, memory and identity, gender and assimilation, reform-conservative-orthodox culture wars.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 2:10pm-3:00pm
location: calhoun hall 203

register

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bonnie dow, dean of humanities, professor of communication studies
college of arts & science, communication studies

class: cmst 3002: rhetoric of the american experience, 1945-present
survey of great speeches by american leaders

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 2:10pm-3:00pm
location: buttrick hall 206

register

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host: melanie hundley, associate professor in the practice of education
peabody college, teaching & learning

class: ened 3380/6380: teaching writing and multimedia composition
this course focuses on the teaching of writing, looking at both traditional school-based writing practices and digital writing practices. the students engage with the content both as writers and as teachers of writers.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 2:10pm-3:25pm
location: wyatt center, 201

register

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host: elizabeth (christin) essin, associate professor of theatre history
college of arts & science, theatre

class: 2202w: theatre history and drama ii, european stages
overview of european theatre history and dramatic literature from the 17th to 20th century with a focus on performance as representative of social, political, and economic movements.

date: wednesday sept 6th
time: 2:10pm-3:00pm
location: buttrick hall 305

register