Courses
"Waters Breathe, Too: An Anthology" mural created by the students in the Fall 2023 Introduction to Creativity, the Arts and Social Transformation course, under the guidance of renowned Argentinian artist and human rights activist and scholar Claudia Bernardi.
Photo Credit: Toni Shapiro-Phim
Courses for the Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation (CAST) minor are from the creative arts, humanities and social sciences.
For complete information on CAST courses, see the Online University Bulletin and the Spring 2025 Schedule. Instructors, please see the guidelines on cross-listing courses and developing core courses with CAST.
Spring 2025 CAST Offerings
Jennifer Cleary|T,F 12:45 PM–2:05 PM
Prerequisite: THA 2a or THA 10a.
Focuses on the experiential research and applied practice of wellness models for theater-makers. Students gain theoretical and practical knowledge around various roles, responsibilities, boundaries, and priorities within a rehearsal and production process. The course conceptualizes theater as both an art form and a wellness/healing practice within communities, cultures, and in therapeutic/milieu settings, while simultaneously investigating the ways in which the wellness conceptualization applies for theater-makers in practice. Why do theater-makers engage in this work? What brings us into the profession, and what keeps us there? How does identity and empowerment show up in these spaces? How might new professional roles centered around wellness, equity, diversity, inclusion, and safety (such as intimacy direction) move the field forward into a more sustainable wellness model? The course engages with artistic tensions such as: process and product; self-care and community care; teamwork and boundaries; aesthetics, time, and success. Students gain foundational skills in group process, communication, collaboration, boundary-setting, conflict resolution, and in generating one’s own professional and personal artistic goals. Students will imagine ways in which they can implement these models in their artistic communities. Usually offered every year.
Toni Shapiro-Phim | T 2:20 PM–5:10 PM
Highlights the aesthetic, political, social, and spiritual potency of dance forms and practices as they travel, transform, and are accorded meaning both domestically and transnationally, especially in situations (or in the aftermath) of extreme violence and cultural dislocation. Usually offered every third year.
William Chalmus | F 2:20-5:10 PM
Presents, analyzes, and discusses art that provokes controversies, discomfort, and other strong responses. This class will focus on a broad range of artistic expressions, including visual art, theater, film, music, and literature with Brandeis faculty as well as visiting artists. Final project consists of students finding, articulating, and advocating for provocative art from multiple perspectives. Note: Students are responsible for attendance and assignments during the shopping period and must be present in those classes to be enrolled off the waitlist.
Usually offered every semester.
Core Electives
Toni Shapiro-Phim | T 2:20 PM–5:10 PM
Highlights the aesthetic, political, social, and spiritual potency of dance forms and practices as they travel, transform, and are accorded meaning both domestically and transnationally, especially in situations (or in the aftermath) of extreme violence and cultural dislocation. Usually offered every third year.
Dorothy Kim | T,F 12:45 PM–2:05 PM | F 10:10 AM–11:00 AM
IClass has a required lab component and yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation.
To consider how to decolonize book history and “maker culture,” the class examines colonial erasure, colonial knowledge production, race, gender, disability, neurodiversity, sexuality in making an alternative book history that includes khipu, girdle books, wampum, pamphlets, zines, and wearable media technology. Usually offered every third year.
Elizabeth Bradfield | M 2:30 PM–5:20 PM
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Enrollment is by instructor permission after the submission of a manuscript sample. Please refer to the schedule of classes for submission information.
A creative writing workshop focused on writing essays and poems that engage with environmental and eco-justice concerns. Readings, writing assignments, and class discussions will be augmented by field trips. Usually offered every second year.
Fernando Rosenberg | M,W 2:30 PM–3:50 PM
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
By reading (and listening to) modern short stories (20th and 21st century) from different Spanish-speaking countries, we will reflect on the power of storytelling and narrative for shaping subjectivity and community. Going from known literary classics (Borges, García Márquez) to contemporary, emerging younger authors (Bolaños, Enriquez, Schweblin), we will examine relevant topics that traverse Latin American cultural history (colonization, multi-ethnicity, oral and lettered cultures), as well as more contemporary struggles (gender identity, youth culture, ecological concerns). The literary concerns of this class dovetail with political and historical aspects, as issues of colonization, national identities, minoritarian or subaltern voices, and gender struggles, are at the core of Latin American literature. This class includes creative components (writing fiction in Spanish, podcast storytelling, translation) as forms of assessment, which students can choose instead of more traditional forms of interpretation. Usually offered every third year.
Bradford Garvey| T,F 9:35 AM–10:55 AM
Open to all students. Required of all Cultural Studies track majors.
What are we listening to? Applies engaged listening skills and critical analysis for a deeper appreciation of (non-Western) music as a cultural expression. Focuses on particular traditions as well as social context, impact of globalization, cultural production, cultural rights, etc. Usually offered every year.
Taylor Ackley | M,W 4:05 PM–5:25 PM
Explores the transformative potential of song through historical study, musical analysis, and creative engagement. Each week students will study songs, paired with readings from relevant discourses in women’s, gender and sexuality studies, critical race theory, working-class studies and others. While some time will be spent on protest music and its connections to social movements, the course will primarily focus on the under-examined power of song in contexts of family/community history, alternative cultural discourse, and covert resistance. Our emphasis will be on American popular music from the 20th and 21st centuries, but examples and inspiration will be drawn from other cultures and traditions as well. Throughout the semester, students will work on creative projects, culminating in the composition of an original poem or song. Usually offered every second year.
Adrianne Krstansky | T,F 9:35 AM–10:55 AM
May be repeated once for credit.
The COVID pandemic exposed the ongoing questions of how we make theater. This course asks if we could reinvent the theater, how would we transform what is possible in performance, design, text, and collaboration? We will explore the process of collaborative creation from the idea to performance. All students work as performers, directors, writers, and designers in a creative laboratory supporting the creation of original and adapted theater pieces, based on material that resonates with the group. You will be challenged to grow artistically in your area of interest. Students will learn particular devising techniques, such a Viewpoints and Moment work. Usually offered every second year.
Jennifer Cleary | T,F 11:10 AM–12:30 PM
Explores the individual discovery in human creativity and how this journey impacts the quality and inclusivity of teaching and learning both inside and outside of educational spaces. Students will dig into their own educational experiences and their relationship to creativity in this creativity-engaged space. Using the theoretical stages of creativity, students read research, reflect on their own experiences, try new creative endeavors, and engage in creative collaboration with others with the lens towards inspiring and supporting learning. Students are asked in the course to expand their own creative reach and risk-taking capabilities. Usually offered every second year.
Creative Arts Electives
Will Chalmus | F 2:20–5:10 p.m.
Presents, analyzes, and discusses art that provokes controversies, discomfort, and other strong responses. This class will focus on a broad range of artistic expressions, including visual art, theater, film, music and literature with Brandeis faculty as well as visiting artists. Final project consists of students finding, articulating and advocating for provocative art from multiple perspectives. Note: Students are responsible for attendance and assignments during the shopping period and must be present in those classes to be enrolled off the waitlist.
Usually offered every semester.
Toni Shapiro-Phim | T 2:20 PM–5:10 PM
Highlights the aesthetic, political, social, and spiritual potency of dance forms and practices as they travel, transform, and are accorded meaning both domestically and transnationally, especially in situations (or in the aftermath) of extreme violence and cultural dislocation. Usually offered every third year.
Christopher Frost | M,W 9:05 AM–10:55 AM
Beginning-level course. Preference to first-year students and sophomores. May be repeated once for credit if taught by different instructors.
Exploration of three-dimensional aspects of form, space, and composition utilizing a variety of materials and sculptural techniques. Emphasizes students' inventing of images through the use of modern materials and contemporary ideas about sculpture. Assignments are based on abstract thought and problem solving. The intent of this course is to give students a rich studio experience and promote a fresh and meaningful approach to visual concepts.
Usually offered every semester.
This is a popular class and can be a challenge for students outside of the department to get a spot in the class. Still place yourself on the waitlist but if you are interested in taking a 3D course, we recommend you also consider placing yourself on the waitlist for another studio art course, including topic-driven sculpture classes. You may also explore other mediums such as painting, printmaking, and lens-based media. All studio art courses explore foundations in art-making practices. There is an enrollment limit of 0 so that we can prioritize our majors and minors getting into this course. Students outside of the department will be enrolled after early registration is complete. If you have not declared your major or minor, reach out to Christine Kahn (cekahn@brandeis.edu) to express your interest in enrolling AFTER you have placed yourself on the waitlist. We cannot guarantee your enrollment though and encourage students to declare to avoid this in the future. Please do not contact the faculty member teaching the course about enrolling as the administrative staff is enrolling students throughout early registration. Additional questions? Reach out to Christine Kahn.
Tory Fair | T,F 9:35 AM–11:25 AM
Beginning-level course. Preference to first-year students and sophomores. May be repeated once for credit if taught by different instructors.
Exploration of three-dimensional aspects of form, space, and composition utilizing a variety of materials and sculptural techniques. Emphasizes students' inventing of images through the use of modern materials and contemporary ideas about sculpture. Assignments are based on abstract thought and problem solving. The intent of this course is to give students a rich studio experience and promote a fresh and meaningful approach to visual concepts.
Usually offered every semester.
This is a popular class and can be a challenge for students outside of the department to get a spot in the class. Still place yourself on the waitlist but if you are interested in taking a 3D course, we recommend you also consider placing yourself on the waitlist for another studio art course, including topic-driven sculpture classes. You may also explore other mediums such as painting, printmaking, and lens-based media. All studio art courses explore foundations in art-making practices. There is an enrollment limit of 0 so that we can prioritize our majors and minors getting into this course. Students outside of the department will be enrolled after early registration is complete. If you have not declared your major or minor, reach out to Christine Kahn (cekahn@brandeis.edu) to express your interest in enrolling AFTER you have placed yourself on the waitlist. We cannot guarantee your enrollment though and encourage students to declare to avoid this in the future. Please do not contact the faculty member teaching the course about enrolling as the administrative staff is enrolling students throughout early registration. Additional questions? Reach out to Christine Kahn.
Lu Heintz | M,W 1:20 PM–3:10 PM
Beginning-level course. Preference to first-year students and sophomores. May be repeated once for credit if taught by different instructors.
Exploration of three-dimensional aspects of form, space, and composition utilizing a variety of materials and sculptural techniques. Emphasizes students' inventing of images through the use of modern materials and contemporary ideas about sculpture. Assignments are based on abstract thought and problem solving. The intent of this course is to give students a rich studio experience and promote a fresh and meaningful approach to visual concepts.
Usually offered every semester.
This is a popular class and can be a challenge for students outside of the department to get a spot in the class. Still place yourself on the waitlist but if you are interested in taking a 3D course, we recommend you also consider placing yourself on the waitlist for another studio art course, including topic-driven sculpture classes. You may also explore other mediums such as painting, printmaking, and lens-based media. All studio art courses explore foundations in art-making practices. There is an enrollment limit of 0 so that we can prioritize our majors and minors getting into this course. Students outside of the department will be enrolled after early registration is complete. If you have not declared your major or minor, reach out to Christine Kahn.
Peter Kalb | M,W,Th 11:15 AM–12:05 PM
The history of photography from its invention in 1839 to the present, with an emphasis on developments in America. Photography is studied as a documentary and an artistic medium. Topics include Alfred Stieglitz and the photo-secession, Depression-era documentary, Robert Frank and street photography, and postmodern photography. Usually offered every third year.
Muna Güvenç |T,Th 2:20 PM–3:40 PM
Trains students in developing the ability to conduct architectural and urban analysis of the built environment. Through a comparative case-study approach, based on selected readings, real spaces, and creative projects, students will better understand architectural and urban design in relation to social, cultural, human, and political aspects.
Usually offered every year.
Thomas Hall | M 7:05 PM–09:55 PM
Join the Brandeis Improv Collective and learn how to become more fluidly and joyfully creative, both individually and in a group, through an exploration of musical improvisation. This ensemble is suitable for any student with an interest in having fun playing with other people, regardless of previous experience in improvising or instrumental skill level. Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Yields half-course credit. Placement auditions will be held at the start of the semester. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (MUS 80a,b; MUS 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. May be undertaken as an extracurricular, noncredit activity by registering in the XC section.
The semester culminates with a performance in Slosberg Recital hall.
Usually offered every semester.
Bradford Garvey| T,F 9:35 AM–10:55 AM
Open to all students. Required of all Cultural Studies track majors.
What are we listening to? Applies engaged listening skills and critical analysis for a deeper appreciation of (non-Western) music as a cultural expression. Focuses on particular traditions as well as social context, impact of globalization, cultural production, cultural rights, etc. Usually offered every year.
Benjamin Paulding | M,W 5:40 PM–7:00 PM
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Yields half-course credit. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b ' 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. Instruments will be supplied by instructor.
Students in this course will study and perform a repertory of traditional music and dance of a variety of ethnic traditions from Ghana, West Africa. The drum ensemble includes bells, rattles and drums. The vocal music features call-and-response singing in local languages. The dances have choreographic formations as well as opportunity for individual expression. Drumming and dancing are closely intertwined; work will culminate in a final performance.
Usually offered every year.
Benjamin Paulding | M,W 5:40 PM–7:00 PM
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Yields half-course credit. A maximum of four course credits will be allowed for all enrollments in Ensemble (80a,b ' 88a,b) alone or Private Instruction and Ensemble together. Instruments will be supplied by instructor.
Students in this course will study and perform a repertory of traditional music and dance of a variety of ethnic traditions from Ghana, West Africa. The drum ensemble includes bells, rattles and drums. The vocal music features call-and-response singing in local languages. The dances have choreographic formations as well as opportunity for individual expression. Drumming and dancing are closely intertwined; work will culminate in a final performance.
Usually offered every year.
Jennifer Cleary| T,F 11:10 AM–12:30 PM
The COVID pandemic exposed the ongoing questions of how we make theater. This course asks if we could reinvent the theater, how would we transform what is possible in performance, design, text, and collaboration? We will explore the process of collaborative creation from the idea to performance. All students work as performers, directors, writers, and designers in a creative laboratory supporting the creation of original and adapted theater pieces, based on material that resonates with the group. You will be challenged to grow artistically in your area of interest. Students will learn particular devising techniques, such a Viewpoints and Moment work. Usually offered every second year.
Andie Berry | T,F 12:45 PM–2:05 PM
Explores dramatic literature and performance traditions from across the globe. Examines the ways various artists have engaged theater to express, represent, and interrogate diversity and complexity of the human condition. Usually offered every year.
Humanities Electives
Howie Tam | T,Th 5:30 PM–6:50 PM
ExTaking as its start in the Cold War, when the fear of Communist ideology and scientific advances reached its feverish peak, and ending with today’s increasing amalgamation of machine and humanity, this course opens a field of cultural inquiry into more than half a century of Transpacific imaginations of technological progress and its shadow of social retrogression. We will think capaciously about issues of colonialism and extraction in the name of science in the Pacific, transnational racialized labor and its post-apocalyptic life, techno-orientalism and the fantasy of Asiatic cyborgs, artificial intelligence and its affective concerns, as well as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and what it has to teach us about the human condition. In the wake of the highly racialized Covid-19 pandemic and its thorny questions regarding the health of the body politic, this course will introduce students to some of the most prominent examples of science fiction by diasporic Asian writers who have been inspired by the vast and multitudinous Transpacific as a space not only of conquest and competition but also of promise and possibility.
Usually offered every third year.
Ulka Anjaria | M,W,Th 1:20 PM–2:10 PM
An introduction to popular Hindi cinema through a survey of the most important Bollywood films from the 1950s until today. Topics include melodrama, song and dance, love and sex, stardom, nationalism, religion, diasporic migration, and globalization. Usually offered every third year.
Dorothy Kim| T,Th 3:55 PM–5:15 PM | F 9:05 AM–9:55 AM
Course includes a mandatory lab and yields 6 credits.
Addresses a long durée history of the games through the lens of transmedia. This then is the start pointing to examine how transmedia theory may help unpack issues in what I call 'literary games' from the medieval chess board, dice game, to digital multi-player video games now. Within a discussion of transmedia we will address the various theories about narrative and play that have animated discussions about games from the Middle Ages to contemporary media. This class will also center race, gender, sexuality, disability, class in thinking through the issues of transmedia and the gaming cultures that have most recently been in the political mainstream news in relation to far-right politics. Usually offered every third year.
David Sherman| M,W,Th 11:15 AM–12:05 PM
This experiential course is a workshop for students to craft and perform stories for live audiences at Brandeis and elsewhere in the Boston area. Through a series of collaborative exercises and rehearsals, students will develop a repertoire of several kinds of stories, including autobiographies, fictions, folk tales, and local history. We will tell our individual and group stories, as a team, at youth programs, open mics, and other public spaces. Usually offered every second year.
Dorothy Kim| T,F 12:45 PM–2:05 PM | F 10:10 AM–11:00 AM
Class has a required lab component and yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation.
To consider how to decolonize book history and “maker culture,” the class examines colonial erasure, colonial knowledge production, race, gender, disability, neurodiversity, sexuality in making an alternative book history that includes khipu, girdle books, wampum, pamphlets, zines, and wearable media technology. Usually offered every third year.
Elizabeth Bradfield | M 2:30 PM–5:20 PM
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Enrollment is by instructor permission after the submission of a manuscript sample. Please refer to the schedule of classes for submission information.
A creative writing workshop focused on writing essays and poems that engage with environmental and eco-justice concerns. Readings, writing assignments, and class discussions will be augmented by field trips.
Usually offered every second year.
Sara Hascal | M, W 2:30 PM -3:50 PM
Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.
Enhances students' oral communication skills by analyzing and discussing family dynamics, fostering empathy and ethical reflection. Develops cultural awareness by examining Israeli societal values, trauma, and conflict resolution, promoting a nuanced understanding of diverse perspectives based on popular Israeli television series "In Treatment."
Usually offered every year.
Fernando Rosenberg | M,W 2:30 PM–3:50 PM
Prerequisite: HISP 109b or HISP 111b, or permission of the instructor.
By reading (and listening to) modern short stories (20th and 21st century) from different Spanish-speaking countries, we will reflect on the power of storytelling and narrative for shaping subjectivity and community. Going from known literary classics (Borges, García Márquez) to contemporary, emerging younger authors (Bolaños, Enriquez, Schweblin), we will examine relevant topics that traverse Latin American cultural history (colonization, multi-ethnicity, oral and lettered cultures), as well as more contemporary struggles (gender identity, youth culture, ecological concerns). The literary concerns of this class dovetail with political and historical aspects, as issues of colonization, national identities, minoritarian or subaltern voices, and gender struggles, are at the core of Latin American literature. This class includes creative components (writing fiction in Spanish, podcast storytelling, translation) as forms of assessment, which students can choose instead of more traditional forms of interpretation.
Usually offered every third year.
Ilana Szobel | T,Th 2:20 PM–3:40 PM
Taught in Hebrew.
An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context.
Usually offered every second year.
Mariam Sheibani | T,Th 2:20 PM–3:40 PM
An examination of the teaching and practices of the Sufi tradition. Explores the foundations of Sufism, its relation to other aspects of Islam, the development of Sufi teachings in both poetry and prose, and the manner in which Sufism is practiced in lands as diverse as Egypt, Turkey, Iran, India, Malaysia, and Europe.
Usually offered every second year.
Social Sciences Electives
Shoniqua Roach | M,W 4:05 PM–5:25 PM
Formerly offered as AAAS 136a.
Critical examination of the historical, political, economic, and ideological factors that have shaped the lives of African-American women in the United States. Analyzing foundation theoretical texts, fiction, and film over two centuries, this class seeks to understand black women's writing and political activism in the U.S.
Usually offered every second year.
Shoniqua Roach| M,W 2:30 PM–3:50 PM
Introduces students to theories, debates, and critical frameworks in African Diaspora Dance Studies. How is black movement political? What makes a dance "black"? How do conceptualizations of gender and sexuality inform our reading of dancing bodies? Uses African diaspora, critical dance, performance, and black feminist frameworks to examine the history, politics, and aesthetics of "black dance."
Usually offered every year.
Yuri Doolan | M,W 4:05 PM–5:25 PM
Examines performances of Asian/American women and how they have changed over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We analyze American film, television, and stage performances to trace the shifting, yet continuous participation of Asian/American women on screen and scene in the United States. Important issues include Orientalism and representation, race and racism, immigration and diasporas, militarism and hypersexualization, yellow face practices then and now, as well as assimilation and resistance. We ask: what have dominant representations of Asian/American been like from the silent film era to the current digital age? How have the figures of the lotus blossom, the dragon lady, the trafficked woman, the geisha, the war bride, the military prostitute, the orphan, among other problematic tropes emerged to represent Asian/American women? How has the changing political, social, and cultural position of Asian/Americans shaped their participation in media production, as well as their media representations in the United States broadly speaking? Students will leave this course with a strong understanding of how media and culture shapes the racial and sexual formation of Asian Americans, as well as how to interact with that media and culture beyond just consumption but instead towards analysis and critique too. Usually offered every second year.
Melissa Stimell | T,Th 2:20 PM–3:40 PM
Introduces transitional justice, a set of practices that arise following a period of conflict that aim directly at confronting past violations of human rights. This course will focus on criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations, memorials, and the contributions of art and culture.
Usually offered every second year.