Course Modules

The Center for the Arts has developed two models for pedagogical collaboration between artists and non-artists. A course module is defined as two to four class sessions within an existing course in which the host of the course co-creates the module with an artist (or if the host is an artist, he/she co-creates the curriculum with a non-artist). Modules provide a way for campus presenters to move beyond the typical workshop or master class conducted by visiting artists and introduce artists into the classroom in a structured way. 

Sustainable bird blind designed by students in ARST 436: Architecture II

Students are exposed to multiple perspectives through course modules and are afforded the opportunity to experience the research methods of the artist in a non-arts setting, thereby gaining an appreciation of the arts as a valid means of investigating and understanding subject matter. The artists are introduced to new research partners, the non-arts faculty members gain skills they can use in approaching course material, and students who might not otherwise engage with an artist see the arts as a means of exploring a subject in new ways. For the faculty artists who participate, it becomes a way to begin a research collaboration across disciplinary boundaries that can lead to future projects with non-arts faculty colleagues.  

While many courses at Wesleyan could contain modules, modules listed below were developed in collaboration with Feet to the Fire.

Fall 2007

ECON 148: The Economics of Climate Change

Gary Yohe, Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, and Ann Carlson, Choreographer

Spring 2008

ARST 436: Architecture II

Elijah Huge, Associate Professor of Art & Art History

ANTH 232: Alter(ed)native Approaches: Middletown Lives

Gina Ulysse, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, and Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., Printer/bookmaker

E&ES 359: Global Climate Change

Johan Varekamp, Professor and Chair of Earth & Environmental Sciences, and Tula Telfair, Associate Professor of Art & Art History

GOVT/EAST 362: Civil Society in Comparative Perspective

Mary Alice Haddad, Assistant Professor of Government, and Eiko Otake, Choreographer/dancer

ARHA 362: Issues in Contemporary Art

Nina Felshin, Adjunct Lecturer in Art & Art History, and Suzanne O'Connell, Associate Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences and Environmental Studies

DANC 309: Advanced Modern Dance Technique

Katja Kolcio, Assistant Professor of Dance, and Barry Chernoff, Professor of Biology, Earth & Environmental Sciences, and Environmental Studies

Fall 2008

AST 430: Astronomical Pedagogy

William Herbst, Professor of Astronomy, and Marion Belanger, Photographer

E&ES 170/AFAM 213: Environmental Justice and Sustainability

Barry Chernoff, Professor of Biology, Earth & Environmental Sciences, and Environmental Studies

Spring 2009

PHYS 105: The Physics of Sustainability

Brian Stewart, Professor of Physics, and Dic Wheeler, Artistic Director of ARTFARM, a local theater company

DANC 378: Repertory and Performance

Nicole Stanton, Associate Professor of Dance, Michael Singer, Assistant Professor of Biology, and Andrea Olsen, Professor and Chair of Middlebury College Dance Department

MUSC 521: Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies

Nicole Stanton, Associate Professor of Dance

Fall 2010

THEA 205: Prison Outreach Through Theater

Ron Jenkins, Professor of Theater, and Howard Needler, Professor of College of Letters

Fall 2011

GOVT/EAST/ENVS 304: Environmental Politics and Democratization

Mary Alice Haddad, Associate Professor of Government and Environmental Studies, and Katja Kolcio, Associate Professor of Dance and Environmental Studies