ARTS 1100

Students will be introduced to a broad range of liberal arts-related fields of study within the academic world. They will explore various disciplined-based and interdisciplinary approaches to a specific, current and compelling unifying theme, which will change periodically. Students will learn a number of key concepts and methods that shape and inform the perspectives developed in these fields, and how they articulate and inform one another. They will learn to view their world through multiple, and sometimes contrasting, perspectives and develop intellectual skills which are essential for learning in various disciplines and for continued learning in life beyond the University. Section information text: “Islands Beyond Oneself” : No one is an island, wrote John Donne—but islands have long captured the human imagination as spaces of isolation, connection, experimentation, and exception. This course examines islands not only as geographical entities but as social, political, historical, and psychological constructs. Drawing from the interdisciplinary field of Island Studies, students will explore how islands are defined, experienced, governed, and represented, and why they often “feel” different from continental spaces.