Classes - Rachel Malcolm Ensor Ph.D.

// photo theory and criticism // Introduction to photographic criticism and its application in photographic practice. Through readings, writings and practical exercises, students will gain a broad based knowledge of critical approaches to the photographic image. Syllabus
// images of africa - the construction of racism // The objective of this course is to study images, history and culture of Africa and Africans from the colonialist period to the 20th century. The course also strives to reach an understanding of the ideas that informed the perceptions of Africans about Colonials and Colonials about Africans. Syllabus
// images of war - goya to star wars // The objective of this course is to study the history of war and how artists have responded to war through all the mediums of the arts. The course will cover various subjects including: The historical context of the artist The cultural context of the artist How do arts of the time period relate to one another? Do they portray the same experience? Syllabus
// twentieth-century U.S. history// This is a fundamental course in U.S. history. It helps students appreciated their national heritage and provides the context to explore intelligently our collective, alternative futures. This course seeks to equip students with an understanding of basic social and political issues such as economic and environmental policy as well as the evolution of competing perspectives-conservative, liberal and radical- on these questions. It provides an informational foundation for the social sciences and employs their techniques to describe and interpret the past. Syllabus
// world history: after 1500 // This course surveys the development of the modern world from 1500 to the present. It focuses on the interaction of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas and the integration of the continents into a West-centered global capitalism. Emphasis is on aspects of the scientific, technological, economic, social and political transformations the world has undergone since 1500. Admittedly, there will be a lot of significant material we will not cover due to time constraint, but there will be enough time to explore complex and diverse processes of global change and, where appropriate, compare past global transformations with the revolutionary changes the global community is currently experiencing. Syllabus
// the african american experience at the confluence of the ohio and the mississipi rivers, 1820-1890// This course includes two weeks of hands-on training in historic restoration and preservation with the Heritage Conservation Network and six weeks of primary source history research focused on the African American experience from 1820 to 1890 on the lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers in Illinois and Kentucky. Our goal will be to find and document the histories of African American contributions and life in the area during the last three quarters of the nineteenth century. Syllabus
// the U.S. in the sixties// The objectives of this course are to understand the multiple layers of cultural history that impacted great change in the U. S. during the 60s. Hippies, conservatives, beats, students and soldiers were all reacting to the conservative or liberal actions of American culture. Understanding the iconography of material culture, responses in music and prose of the era is key to being able to answer the question, What were the 60s in the USA? And then again, some say it is too early to define the 60s. Syllabus