Academics » Academic Catalog » Academic Programs » Shared Passages Seminars

Shared Passages Seminars

The three Shared Passage Seminars serve as both preparation for, and integration of, the rich, transformational components of the K-Plan. First-Year Seminars prepare students for further work at the College by focusing on writing and communication, introducing global or intercultural ideas, and encouraging students to reflect on their transition to college. Sophomore Seminars delve more deeply into cultural issues and intercultural understanding, preparing students for study abroad and living in a global world. Senior Seminars focus on integrating students' Kalamazoo College experiences and preparing them for future lives beyond "K." Disciplinary seminars integrate students' experience inside and outside a particular major, while interdisciplinary seminars allow students from a variety of majors to apply diverse aspects of their Kalamazoo education to an interesting topic or problem.

First-Year Seminars

Inaugurated in 1990, First-Year Seminars involve faculty from many different departments, who develop special topics courses that introduce students to the critical thinking and writing skills required in college, including a particular focus on intercultural understanding. Kalamazoo College's First-Year Seminars

  • help students achieve college-level skills, particularly in critical thinking, writing, and speaking;
  • help students find and develop a voice through writing, speaking, analytical reading, and discussion;
  • are taught in a discussion rather than a lecture format;
  • integrate collaborative and group work, research strategies, peer reviewing, and effective discussions, all promoting active, engaged learning;
  • contain a significant intercultural component, appropriate to an internationally-focused college; and
  • include a "Survivor in the Library" session, intended to help students learn research techniques and apply them to a focused project.

Students write frequent, short papers, with many opportunities for revision. Writing Consultants from the college's Writing Center offer guidance on projects. Peer Leaders assigned to each Seminar serve as mentors. First-year academic advising is linked to the Seminars; students are advised by either the professor or a co-advisor.

Sophomore seminars

SEMN201/ANSO 266/RELG 266Culture, Religion, and NationalityDesigned as a Sophomore Seminar, this course focuses on the connections and disjunctures between culture, religion, and nationality. By conducting ethnographic research with religious communities in the Kalamazoo area, students will develop a set of intercultural knowledge, attitudes, and skills that can be applied during their study abroad and will leave the course with an understanding of the ways that the processes of culture, religion and nationalism, transnationalism, and immigration play out in their own lives and in the dynamics of faith communities in the U.S. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores only.
SEMN/ARTX204Drawing Today: Uncommon VisionsDrawing Today introduces current themes in drawing and provides an innovative approach to basic skill development required to produce images in a contemporary context. Students will read and discuss issues related to art and visual culture from around the world. Class time will be divided between discussion of important issues in contemporary art and hands on drawing instruction. Homework will include daily readings and weekly drawing projects that will allow students the opportunity to reflect upon theory and their assumptions of what drawing is and who it is that produces it. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/RELG/ARTX205Religious Art/Material CultureThis course explores the relationship between religion and art. The arts, whether in the form of painting, sculpture, architecture or kitsch, are often vehicles for religious devotion and expression. At the same time, devotion to a divine figure has inspired some of the world's most beautiful pieces of art. Religion and art form a symbiotic relationship which can simultaneously be in tension and/or cohesive. Looking at various primary and secondary sources from a variety of religious traditions, we explore this tension and cohesion, which can be a window into larger societal and cultural issues. Given that we live in a mechanical age, special attention will be paid to the material production of religious kitsch and the place of religious art in the market. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ARTX206Ceramics: World PotteryWorld Pottery is a hands-on studio course with a significant research component. This course is intended as a pre- or post-study abroad seminar. Class time will be used to introduce students to a variety of clay bodies and clay-forming techniques from historical and regional perspectives. Creative assignments ask students to consider and critique the role of cultural exchange and image appropriation within historical ceramics and in their own creative work. Projects will also investigate the roles of different types of pottery within contemporary American society, as a point of reference and departure. Each student will propose, execute and present a research project related to their study abroad site. Lectures, critiques, and discussions will focus on individual and societal assumptions about pottery. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: ARTX 120, ARTX-220, ARTX 125, or permission. Sophomores Only
SEMN207Antibiotics: Global Health & Social JusticeThis course will explore the world of antibiotics. When and how they should be used, and the limitations of their use. The chemical structural variability of antibiotics will be discuss, and the reason for their differences will be addressed. A good portion of this course will focus on discussing the ethics of the global availability of antibiotics, especially in light of emerging and growing microbial resistance. The course will be focused on comparing issues affecting infectious health and treatment in Central/South America, in Asia, and in Africa to those in the USA.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ENGL208Food and TravelIn this writing-intensive class we will study the possibilities of journalism and creative nonfiction through the various forms of food writing and its relationship to place. Through reading and writing, we will explore food as sustenance, as a route through memory, as a reflection of culture and place, as both personal and public, and as history and politics. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: ENGL-105 or ENGL-107 and Sophomores Only.
SEMN/ARTX214Framing DifferenceThis course will combine research and studio components, split more or less evenly. The research topic, broadly painted, will be fine art documentary practices, grounded with an entry-level hands-on studio component (using both film and digital photography). There are two motivations for this course: to give students creative control of photographic tools (technical, formal, conceptual) prior to their leaving for study away, but also to explore the issues and ethics of photographic documentary practice. While the broad research topic is documentary practice (theory/tradition), this course will place particular emphasis on the ethics of photographing outside of one's own group. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/PHIL215Human Rights & International LawAlthough the rhetoric of human rights is widely used people are often confused about the theoretical grounding of human rights. This course examines different philosophical theories of human rights. We start with a look at the main contemporary approaches for conceptualizing human rights: the basic human-interest approach, the capabilities approach and the newer ?political? approach (among others). Then we will look at some key debates related to human rights: the challenges posed to human rights by forms of relativism and skepticism, whether and how there is a distinction between civil and political human rights on the one hand versus social and economic human rights on the other, whether and when human rights violations trigger international (diplomatic, economic, military) intervention and reasons why some authors worry about the ?inflation? of human rights rhetoric in popular discourse.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ENGL217World Indigenous Literatures: The People and the LandA selective study of the literary traditions and contemporary texts of indigenous peoples around the world, focusing on indigenous communities in regions where Kalamazoo College students study and with a particular emphasis on texts that explore the complex relationships between indigenous communities and the land they claim as their own. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ENGL218Post-Colonial LiteratureThis course will investigate some of the central issues in the field of post-colonial literature and theory, such as how literature written in the colonial era represented the colonized and impacted those who were depicted and how writers and readers deployed literature as a method of exploring new possibilities of identity. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN219Magical RealismMagical realism is a genre that combines elements of the fantastic with realism often in order to imagine utopias or resist restrictive aspects of society. This course will examine the genre, interrogate its relationship to other genres of fantasy, and consider the relationship between the aesthetic patterns of the genre and its potential for social advocacy. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/CHIN220Chinese Food CultureChinese culture is among the most food-conscious ones. Through China's long history, food has always been a means of communication, a symbol of good life, and at the same time a target of criticism for its indulgence and improper distribution. Additionally, it has been a provision for healthcare, and a rich resource of linguistic expressions and literary allusions and metaphors. These will be the topics of the seminar, which should be a meaningful and effective pathway to the core of Chinese life and philosophy. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ENGL227Opium & the Making of the Modern WorldThis course traces the social and literary history of opium across the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. In addition to exploring the drug as a trope of the "exotic East," this course also understands opium as an important catalyst of imperial development and global domination. Analyzing autobiography, poetry, and fiction, the course focuses on depictions of travel and circulation to understand how opium has activated anxieties about gender, sexuality, and race over the last two centuries and to recognize how the illicit drug trade continues to shape current patterns of diasporic movement and global exchange.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/RELG230Same Sex, Gender, and ReligionThis sophomore seminar explores the intersection of religions, same-sex affection/love/relations, and the category of gender. At the most basic level we examine what different religions have to say about sexuality, in particular, non-heterosexualities. We look at the role that gender plays in these constructions of these sexualities, and we return to our starting point to analyze the role of religions in these constructions of gender and same-sex sexualities, affections, love, and/or relations. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ANSO233Capitalisms and SocialismsThis course will look at different political and economic systems around the world and across times. Ideological debates tend to idealize and simplify the notions of capitalism and socialism, thus ignoring the fact that neither of those systems exists in the vacuum of its "pure" theoretical form. We will explore various elements of capitalist and socialist systems and how these elements mix together in different countries. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN234/HIST 236End of Christendom: Piety, Ritual, and Religious Upheaval in the Sixteenth CenturyThis course examines the complex social, cultural, religious, and political repercussions of religious reform over the course of the long sixteenth century, from the earliest glimmers of discontent among Hussites and Lollards to the violent wars of religion that characterized the seventeenth century. Topics include lay piety and religious ritual, the reform of daily life, confessional antagonism, print culture and propaganda. Primary sources on this topic are plentiful, and we pay particular attention to the exceptionally rich visual sources of this period. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/PSYC235Psychology of Crossing BordersThis course is designed for those who would like to have an introduction to the psychology of studying abroad. It includes coverage of a number of topics that are germane to understanding the process of crossing cultures. It is particularly relevant for students who wish to reflect deeply on their experience of studying abroad. There will be a special focus on the reflective process while learning to journal and write reflective papers. An intercultural project done in Kalamazoo will be required. Reflective papers and tests will be required every three weeks. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: PSYC-101 & Sophomores Only
SEMN236/FREN 301SIntroduction to French and Francophone StudiesIntroduction to literary, cultural, and historical topics. An interactive, discussion-based course helps students acquire skill in the reading and interpretation of French and African texts, presented in their cultural and historical contexts. The seminar will focus on cultural and literary texts from the French-speaking study abroad destinations of Alsace, Auvergne, and Sénégal. Course offers opportunities for refinement of written and presentational skills. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: FREN-203 & Sophomores Only
SEMN/PSYC/ANSO238Culture and Psychology of Arab-Muslim SocietiesThis course provides an introduction to Arab-Muslim societies and cultures. It draws on readings from multiple disciplines to cover social structure and family organization in tribal, village, and urban communities, core value systems associated with the etiquettes of honor-and-modesty and with the beliefs and practices of Islam, and influences on psychological development through the life-span. It also will examine the processes of "modernization" and "underdevelopment," the conflict between Westernization and authentic "tradition," the "Islamic revival," and the crisis of identity experienced by youth.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ECON240Economics of Global TravelersThis Sophomore Seminar examines how economics can contribute to a better understanding of the world and our place in it. We will look at differences, similarities, and linkages among the economies of various nations. We will study flow of money, products, people, technologies, and ideas across national borders. The approach will be non-technical with an emphasis on understanding economic ideas. We will spend more time writing and discussing than on models or equations.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN241/GERM 202Reading European Cities: Istanbul, Vienna, BerlinThis course, taught in English, will address the questions of how we may understand a culture by learning to "read" its cities. Texts range from maps, travel guides, histories and architecture to films, memoirs, and fiction - an array of genres that highlights the status of the modern city as both a physical place and an imaginary construct. Istanbul, Vienna, and Berlin will serve as case studies for the practice of reading and interpreting urban narratives, and the course will culminate with student research projects and presentations on the cities in which they plan to study abroad, or a city of their choice. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/JAPN242Contested HistoryThis course will examine two major sites of contested history: the controversies surrounding the proposed exhibit of the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian and those related to Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines the war dead in Tokyo Japan. Our goal is not to arrive at a definitive judgment on any of these events or sites, whether on political, military, or ethical grounds. Instead, we will interrogate various perspectives, placing them in the context in which they operated and critically analyzing their argumentation. By doing so, we will achieve not only a complex view of the events and sites but of the frames of understanding through which people -- participants and witnesses, scholars, politicians -- arrive at their conclusions. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN244Infectious Diseases & Global HealthThis sophomore seminar will cover infectious diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases, microbes as agents of bioterror and contemporary infectious diseases. Factors contributing to their emergence, from biological, historical and cultural points of view, and will be discussed and applied to daily life and to study abroad. Controversial topics such as the anti-vaccine movement will also be covered. This course adopts an interdisciplinary approach by incorporating guest speakers from other departments, and through partnering with the senior seminar "Topics in Health Studies" for your major project. By the conclusion, you should be armed with the skills needed to analyze infectious disease reporting as it arises in the future.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ANSO255You Are What You Eat: Food and Identity In a Global PerspectiveThe goal of this course is to examine the social, symbolic, and political-economic roles of what and how we eat. While eating is essential to our survival, we rarely pay attention to what we eat and why. We will look at the significance of food and eating with particular attention to how people define themselves differently through their foodways. We will also study food's role in maintaining economic and social relations, cultural conceptions of health, and religion. Finally, the class examines the complex economic and political changes in food systems and the persistence of food's role as an expression of identity, social and ethnic markers. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN256/MUSC 205Music and IdentityMusic serves multiple roles: a force for social transformation, a flag of resistance, a proclamation of cultural identity, a catalyst for expressing emotion, an avenue to experiencing the sacred. Students will look at identity through the lens of contemporary and traditional American music and will consider how race, ethnicity, age, gender, national identity, and other factors express themselves in and are shaped by music. The ability to read music is not required; a love of music and an interest in American culture are essential. No music reading or basic theory knowledge is required. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ENGL264Global ShakespearesShakespeare is the most translated, adapted, performed, and published Western Author. Just what this means to Western and non-Western cultures is at the heart of this course. What does it mean to think of Shakespeare as a colonizing force? What additional ways are there to see the influence of his works? Many cultures have written back to Shakespeare, addressing race, sexuality, gender, and religion from their own cultural perspectives. What do exchanges between differently empowered cultures produce and reproduce? We'll tackle such questions as we read works by Shakespeare and literary/film adaptations from around the globe. And, closer to home, how do different communities in the United States receive and write back to Shakespeare? How do issues of race and class, especially, affect access to Shakespeare? A service learning project with the Intensive Learning Center of the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home will allow your students there, and our class, to consider those questions. As we work with these students to write their own adaptations of Othello, we'll all consider how writing back to Shakespeare might be a good way to empower students to question the assumptions his plays make. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/THEA265First TheatresThis sophomore seminar will survey the "first theatres" of many different areas of the pre-modern world -- including the Abydos Passion Play of ancient Egypt, Yoruba ritual, ancient Greek & Rome, Japanese Noh Theatre, early Chinese music drama, Sanskrit theatre of India, and European Medieval theatre. Through research, discussion, and critical thinking exercises, students will be encouraged to view performance as an intercultural and continually developing phenomenon in both art and daily life. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/AFST/HIST271Nelson Mandela & the Anti-Apartheid MovementThere are times when specific people, places and moments in history capture the imagination of the world. This occurs when that specificity speaks volumes to the human condition and offers lessons that we all sense are important. Such has been the case with Nelson Mandela and anti-apartheid movement. This course will use Mandela and the evolution of, and struggle against, apartheid as a window into some of the 20th century's most complex issues. Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/THEA275Theatres in the Age of PrintThis sophomore seminar will survey the theatre in Cultures in the Age of Print 1500-1900, including the Italian Renaissance, Spanish Golden Age, Neoclassical France, Elizabethan England, Japanese Kabuki and Bunraku Theatre, Indian Kathakali Theatre, English Restoration, and European and American melodrama of the 19th century. Through research, discussion, and critical thinking exercises, students will be encouraged to view performance as an intercultural and continually developing phenomenon in both art and daily life. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only
SEMN/ANSO278Space, Place, and LandscapeThis course is an introduction to core concepts in cultural geography. Students will develop skills in spatial analysis as a useful, critical way of investigating the dynamics of culture and social structure. The course places particular emphasis on how power dynamics around race, gender, sexuality, class, nationalism, and colonialism are geographically embedded and constituted. This course is a Shared Passages Sophomore Seminar.Prerequisite: Sophomores Only

Senior seminars

SEMN402Complex World ProblemsComplex system theory leads to new ways of thinking about world problems, and new observations about competition and cooperation (or lack thereof) in worldwide efforts to address global and local challenges. Topics of discussion will include: evolutionary perspectives on language; cultural and social norms; biological and social epidemics; risk management; and hnumanoid robots. While the class is not technical, it is based on a scientific approach. The class is appropriate for any seniors interested in our complex world and for juniors, if space is available.
SEMN403Global ViolenceThis course takes up the problem of global conflict and violence, asking participants to frame these phenomena in personal terms: what does the present (and historical) fact of global violence demand of us as individuals? How can a modern life take on meaning in a world that is constantly circumscribed by acts of violence (domestic, political, local and international)? Taking examples from both classic texts on violence (Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem; Akira Kurosawa's film Roshomon) and the most recent commentary (Slavov Zizek's Violence and First as Tragedy, Then as Farce) and filmmaking on the subject (Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine) as our guide, this class will explore the systemic origins of and range of possible responses to violence, ultimately asking students to reflect upon the meaning of violence in their own lives and their strategies for responding to this omnipresent phenomenon.
SEMN404Leading for Social JusticeThis course is designed for sophomores who want to hone their knowledge and skills around leading for social justice. Such knowledge and skills include catalytic leadership, intercultural competence, collaboration, cultural understandings of leadership, and critical reflection. We will specifically seek out students who are currently engaged in leadership activities on campus. We intend to aim the course at the point of praxis, engaging the course participants in discussions of social justice, leadership theory and practice, and the intersections between them. They will be expected to apply the concepts discussed in the course in their day to day leadership activities. This will provide the opportunity for students to critically reflect on their own leadership on campus, particularly in terms of the degree to which their leadership furthers social justice and embodies the principles and practices we are reading and discussing. This course stems from our own social justice leadership work with community leaders around the country.
SEMN405Persuasion: Written, Oral & Non-VerbalThis senior seminar will utilize the knowledge students have obtained in previous coursework and will demonstrate how these areas of their learning come together to answer two questions: 1. What are the factors that affect decision-making including: human brain physiology (biology), culture (anthropology), social values (sociology and philosophy), and personality (psychology). 2. How can ideas be presented in a manner likely to persuade others through the use of logic (philosophy) word choice and sentence structure (English) and presentation (theater).Prerequisite: Senior Standing
SEMN415Creating Sustainable Cities in the Post-Industrial EraThis course focuses on understanding America's present land use policies and practices and exploring new ways cities and suburbs can become thriving communities today and in the future. The course will also investigate options available to students as citizens and/or professionals in order to affect change through urban revitalization, attention to social and economic development, energy resources, and local food.
SEMN492/IAST 490National IdentityThis course, an interdisciplinary senior seminar on the subject of national identity, asks students to consider what it means to be a citizen of a nation. Our course will begin with a discussion of basic concepts such as nation, national identity, and nationalism, as well as an introduction to important theoretical frameworks and recent scholarship. This will be followed by case studies in which we will examine the nature, sources, and consequences of national identity on individual nations. In each instance, we will analyze the characteristics of national identity as it relates to other forms of collective identity (i.e., religious, ethnic, territorial, etc.). We will also discuss the relationship between national and individual identity, and the role that national identity plays in modern politics and society. The overarching question we will be exploring is: What does the existence of national identity say about us? And how can an understanding of the meaning of national identity help us to better communicate with the governments and peoples of other nations in an age of globalization? This course is a Shared Passages Senior Seminar.Prerequisite: Seniors Only
SEMN495Bulding the Archive: Baldwin & His LegacyIn February of 1960, James Baldwin delivered an address, "In Search of a Majority," at Stetson Chapel which he later included in his collection of essays, Nobody Knows my Name. This seminar will approach this visit (and Baldwin) as a site of analysis. As an actual event, the occasion left artifacts (correspondence, publicity, newspaper accounts, published essay). The event also can be read within the legacy of other Civil Rights era visitors to the college, including Charles V. Hamilton (co-author of Black Power: The Politics of Liberation) and others. Moreover, as a writer who addressed national and international identity, racial politics (personal and cultural), and sexuality, Baldwin's various writings remain relevant even as they locate themselves within particular historical moments. Through close attention to Baldwin and his milieu, this course will invite students to engage their own experiences and disciplinary knowledge within what has been termed the "archival turn" in recent scholarship.
SEMN495F/CRIT 295FCritical Theory & Social Just ColloquiumCritical Theory and Social Justice Colloquium is year-long, one-unit course that meets once a week during fall, winter, and spring terms. Its central goal is to prepare students to actively host, participate in, and subsequently reflect upon three high-profile campus events. The three events will consist in keynote addresses, panel discussion, and Question-and-Answer gatherings involving three central contemporary figures in philosophy: namely, Axel Honneth, Judith Butler, and Jean Copcic. This year's theme is mutual recognition and the ideal of undamaged identities as the normative ideal of critical social inquiry. The course counts as Shared Passage Senior Seminar, though it is open to sophomores and juniors, and it is considered to be the capstone experience for Critical Theory concentrators. Please see Chris Latiolais for further information.
SEMN495S/CRIT 295SCritical Theory & Social Just ColloquiumCritical Theory and Social Justice Colloquium is year-long, one-unit course that meets once a week during fall, winter, and spring terms. Its central goal is to prepare students to actively host, participate in, and subsequently reflect upon three high-profile campus events. The three events will consist in keynote addresses, panel discussion, and Question-and-Answer gatherings involving three central contemporary figures in philosophy: namely, Axel Honneth, Judith Butler, and Jean Copcic. This year's theme is mutual recognition and the ideal of undamaged identities as the normative ideal of critical social inquiry. The course counts as Shared Passage Senior Seminar, though it is open to sophomores and juniors, and it is considered to be the capstone experience for Critical Theory concentrators. Please see Chris Latiolais for further information.Prerequisite: SEMN-495W
SEMN495W/CRIT 295WCritical Theory & Social Just ColloquiumCritical Theory and Social Justice Colloquium is year-long, one-unit course that meets once a week during fall, winter, and spring terms. Its central goal is to prepare students to actively host, participate in, and subsequently reflect upon three high-profile campus events. The three events will consist in keynote addresses, panel discussion, and Question-and-Answer gatherings involving three central contemporary figures in philosophy: namely, Axel Honneth, Judith Butler, and Jean Copcic. This year's theme is mutual recognition and the ideal of undamaged identities as the normative ideal of critical social inquiry. The course counts as Shared Passage Senior Seminar, though it is open to sophomores and juniors, and it is considered to be the capstone experience for Critical Theory concentrators. Please see Chris Latiolais for further information.Prerequisite: SEMN-495F
SEMN/ARTX496S.P.A.C.E.A senior-level service-learning course that explores the relationship between art and activism, social justice, community and/or civic engagement. Students from both art AND non-art disciplines/majors will work together in small groups similar to mini "think tanks" to develop ideas for interdisciplinary artworks and/or events that could be created with community partners like Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes and Education for the Arts, among others. Project design is primarily theoretical--groups will draft (as their final product) a formal proposal and/or project grant based on their project concept. Among the questions students will investigate during the term are: How can art facilitate our experiences in public and private spaces? Who has access to a space? How do we share space and interact within it? Class and project workspace is housed off-campus in the Park Trades Center. Professional skills such as responsible partnering, grant seeking/writing, and project design will also be covered. This course is a Shared Passages Senior Seminar.Prerequisite: Seniors Only
SEMN499Senior CapstonesA Senior Shared Passages Capstone course. Topics will vary from course to course.Prerequisite: Seniors Only
SEMN499Senior Capstones: Ethnic Studies PracticumThe demand for more representation has been heard, and this course is part of an attempt to practically do something about it. Through careful exploration of the current state of the field (of Ethnic Studies, American Studies, Critical Ethnic and American Studies), listening to/conversing with peers and faculty at Kalamazoo College, examining the current curriculum, researching how other colleges construct their Ethnic Studies programs, we will, together, design a concentration/department and present this to the Kalamazoo College community. This capstone is your chance to become familiar with different ways of approaching American culture, religion, society, politics, economics and history. Perhaps, most importantly, it is your opportunity to make a substantive impact on the college curriculum, one that could impact diversity and student success for future classes and generations. Prerequisite: Seniors Only
SEMN499Senior Capstones: Sustainable and Community Supported AgricultureThis course will offer students the opportunity to learn about an increasingly popular alternative to the mainstream food economy from the inside. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms create partnerships between farmers and local community members who invest in a farm for a season or longer in exchange for benefits that may include a portion of the farm's harvest, educational resources, on-farm celebrations, and access to farmland. Students will explore the history, present incarnations, and future possibilities of community supported agriculture and its effects on both communities and farmers while working and learning at a local CSA farm.Prerequisite: Seniors Only
SEMN499Senior Capstones: Effective Community MembershipA Senior Shared Passages Capstone course. Topics will vary from course to course.Prerequisite: Seniors Only
SEMN499Energy and Environmental Policy- World WideA Senior Shared Passages Capstone course. Topics will vary from course to course.Prerequisite: Seniors Only