Cluster courses provide opportunities to study special themes or historical periods from the perspective of two or more different disciplines at once. Each course is developed to integrate with one or more courses in other fields to show how different disciplines complement each other to form a more comprehensive understanding of a given topic. All courses within a given cluster meet at the same time, so the students can all meet together periodically to explore the cluster theme. In some clusters, the classes meet together all the time so that the different disciplines are integrated throughout the course.

 

As part of the B.A. and B.S. humanities area requirement, the College requires that all students, including humanities majors, take an interdisciplinary cluster course (specially designated courses taught by faculty from at least two different departments, one of which must be in the Division of Humanities or the Department of History). Students should also discuss with their advisers how cluster courses fit into their personal degree programs. As a general guide, individual courses in each cluster:

 

• Count toward fulfillment of the humanities requirement for the B.A., B.S., and B.A./M.D. degrees.
• Count, if they are numbered 300 or above, toward the 36 junior-senior hours of electives required for graduation.
• Count toward fulfillment of the departmental requirements for majors in the field in which the course is taken.
• Can be taken for graduate credit if numbered 300 or above, with departmental approval.

The following is a partial list of cluster courses now available. There are no prerequisites for any of these courses. See entries under the relevant departments for more detailed explanations of the contents of each course.

African and African American Women and Creativity
ART 300CF
A&S 300CF
SOCIOL 303CF

The African Diaspora in the Arts and Culture
ART 300CB
ART 300CD
COMM-ST 400CB

American Social Film: Silver Screen and the American Dream
AMER-ST 300CD
COMM-ST 402CD
ENGLISH 300CD
HISTORY 400CP/500CD

Ancient World/Cinema
CLASSICS 300CY
ENGLISH 300CY
HISTORY 400CY/500CY

Archaeology of Ancient Disasters
CLASSICS 300CZ
GEOLOGY 326CZ

Biological and Ethical Issues in Aging
NAT-SCI 430PC
PHILOS 401PC

Body Images in Medicine and the Arts
A&S 304CM
ART 300CM
COMM-ST 400C

Clio and the Other Muses: History and Culture in 5th Century Athens
CLASSICS 300CS
ENGLISH 300CS
HISTORY 400CS

Courts and Culture in the High Middle Ages
ENGLISH 400CF
FRN-LNG 400CF
HISTORY 400CF/500CF

Critical Issues in Women’s/Gender Studies
ENGLISH 300CW
HISTORY 400CW
SOCIOL 303CW

Culture, Kultur, Civilisation: Identity Formation in the Middle Class
FRN-LNG 400CI
HISTORY 400CI

Environmental Sustainability
ENV-SCI 332CZ
UPD 332CZ

Film Adaptation
COMM-ST 406CD
ENGLISH 406CD
   

Healing and the Arts
ART 300CH
A&S 490CH
CONSVTY 300CH
THEATRE 300CH

Intro to German Studies
GERMAN 313
HISTORY 400GS

Making the Modern in France: Dance, Art, Music, and Literature
ART-HIST 402CC
FRN-LNG 402CC

Mexico, Central America and the Human Condition
ECON 300CM
FRN-LNG 300CM
HISTORY 300CM/500CM

Nazi-Occupied Europe & the Holocaust
FRN-LNG 400CM
HISTORY 400CM

The Practice and Study of Creativity
CNSVTY 497CH
THEATRE 401CH

Radical Changes Since 1945
ART-HIST 400CE
COMM-ST 403CE
ENGLISH 300CE
HISTORY 400CE/500CE

Religion in America
HISTORY 401A
SOCIOL 303CP
RELIG-ST 401

Roman Revolution; History and Culture from Gracci to Augustus
CLASSICS 300CR
ENGLISH 300CR

Women in the Ancient World
CLASSICS 300CB
ENGLISH 300CB

Students should also look for other specially designated cluster course offerings under one of the following course numbers, ART 300, ECON 300CS, ENGLISH 300, PHILOS 400, POL-SCI 300, PSYCH 300CS, SOCIOL 303, AND THEATRE 300CR.