Family + Alumni/ae Weekend Schedule

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Academic Classes

Art History 101, Perspectives in World Art
Katherine Boivin, associate professor of art history and visual culture; director, art history and visual culture; coordinator, medieval studies
Perspectives in World Art introduces the diversity of the visual arts worldwide over the course of two semesters: painting, sculpture, architecture, and other artifacts from the Paleolithic period through 1500 CE, followed by works from Europe, Asia, and Africa studied chronologically for historical context.

Biology 122, Beautiful Birds
Ellie Diamant, visiting assistant professor, urban ecologist and evolutionary biologist
This laboratory course exposes nonmajors to a variety of key concepts and scientific skills in biology through exploring the magnificent, diverse world of birds: what makes birds birds, including their unique physiology, evolutionary histories, sexual selection, and conservation biology. Students use the campus as an outdoor classroom.

Citizen Science
Kate Huffer, assistant director of Citizen Science
Through the lens of the PCB contamination and cleanup in the Hudson River, the Citizen Science Program tackles urgent, present-day questions related to water contamination, and works to place these conversations in the students’ daily lives, using laboratory investigations and discussion to focus on the creation and analysis of scientific evidence.

Economics 258, Ecological Economics
Birte Strunk, assistant professor of economics
The course offers an introduction to the field of ecological economics with a focus on the themes of climate change, inequality, and growth/degrowth. Included are the theoretical foundations of the field, including Indigenous perspectives, global trade dependencies, and environmental justice movements.

Literature 131, Women in Leadership
Erin Cannan, vice president for civic engagement; deputy director, Center for Civic Engagement
Deirdre d'Albertis, dean of the College; professor of english
Michelle Murray, associate professor of political studies; chair of social studies division
In 2025, why aren’t more women in leadership positions? Identity is an urgent conversation in 21st-century politics and everyday life, including awareness of gendered experiences. We explore stories in our culture around women and power, both from an academic and from a real-world perspective. Network building will be explicitly addressed.

Literature 282, Like Family: Domestic Worker Characters in Fiction
Marina van Zuylen, Clemente Chair in the Humanities at Bard College; national academic director, Clemente Course in the Humanities
This course delves into the idea that female domestic workers (maids, nannies, cooks), often portrayed as invisible and powerless, can also wield considerable influence over their employers. We examine the comedic tradition through history, then tackle the social implications of figures that are both part of and excluded from the household. 
 
Music 177, Jazz Through the Prism of History I
Angelica Sanchez, assistant professor of music
The focus of this course is an exploration of the Black American art form called jazz against the backdrop of American history. We will gain a deeper awareness of the history of jazz from an economic, social, and political perspective, as well as expanding listening skills to identify style, instrumentation, and content within the jazz idiom.

Political Science 261, Student Voting: Power, Politics, and Race in the Fight for American Democracy
Jonathan Becker, executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs; director, Center for Civic Engagement; professor of political studies
Simon Gilhooley, associate professor of political studies
The course is an interdisciplinary examination of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 and outlaws age discrimination, using it as a prism through which to examine the history of disenfranchisement and the fight for voting rights in the United States. The role of college communities, particularly Historically Black Colleges and Universities, is the central focus.

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Academic Classes

Architecture 213, Urbanization and Climate Change: A Counternarrative
Ross Adams, assistant professor of architectural studies
What is urbanization and how does it relate to climate change? Climate-conscious urban development often exacerbates social inequalities while doing little to slow climate change. This course engages scholarly literature, films, and other media to develop a counter-history to these processes, which can be traced to colonialism and world capitalism.

Computer Science 251, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 
Annabel Rothschild, assistant professor of computer science
This introduction to the principles and techniques of artificial intelligence will explore the relevance of artificial intelligence techniques to particular application areas, as well as discussion of the role of AI in society. Techniques include automated reasoning, machine learning, evolutionary learning, heuristic search, and behavior-based robot control.

First Year Seminar
Kathryn Tabb, assistant professor of philosophy
Assumptions about government and public life, here and abroad, are being challenged in disconcerting ways. This incarnation of First-Year Seminar explores the questions that arise over the obligations and possibilities of citizenship, and the very notion of a collective society. Students read important works from across history drawn from literature, philosophy, political theory, science, and the arts that have shaped how people think about citizenship and civic membership. 

History 241, Popular Culture in Africa
Folarin Ajibade, assistant professor of African history
From film to photography, music to fashion, the forms of popular culture that we consume significantly shape how we see ourselves and interact with others. This course explores the history of popular culture in Africa, how these cultural forms developed, and how they relate to local and global events.

Literature 125, The Odyssey of Homer: An Intensive Reading
Daniel Mendelsohn, Charles Ranlett Flint Professor of Humanities
This intensive reading of Homer’s Odyssey is designed to introduce students to profound techniques of reading and thinking about texts. Students will face issues particular to this genre (the archaic Greek world, oral composition, the Homeric Question) and to this text (“sequels,” epic cycle, the prominence of women, narrative closure), as well as poetry and self-discovery.

Literature 267, The Land of Disasters: A Cultural History of Catastrophic 'Japan'
Chiara Pavone, assistant professor of Japanese
Writer Murakami Haruki has affirmed, “To be Japanese means . . . to live alongside a variety of natural catastrophes.” This course will examine this claim. We will trace Japan’s history of natural and man-made disasters and engage with issues shaping the perception and representation of disasters. We then situate these pieces in a larger cultural and technological history.

Physics, Demystifying Quantum
Paul Cadden-Zimansky, associate professor of physics
This year marks 100 years since the formulation of quantum mechanics. In this course for nonscience majors, we’ll figure out what is so important about quantum science and technology, separating science fact from science fiction, and possibilities from unfounded hype. Students will come to see that the quantum realm is the world they’ve been living in all along.

Political Science 270, All Politics is Local
Jonathan Becker, executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs; director, Center for Civic Engagement; professor of political studies
Erin Cannan, vice president for civic engagement; deputy director, Center for Civic Engagement
Malia DuMont '95, vice president for strategy and policy; chief of staff
Why does local government matter? Although local government plays a critical role in citizens’ daily life, the structure and activities of local government are poorly understood. This course asks: How do local politics intersect and differ from state and national politics? What experiments in local governance can inform the national discourse on democracy?