POWER & IMAGINATION

Symbols of power—political, economic, cultural—permeate our lives and shape our sense of individual and group identity. These identities are created in cultures in which roles, hierarchy, and authority are communicated through signs and mechanisms imbedded in our images, myths and stories. Where do these shared signs come from, and how do they shape the ideals, values, and power relationships within society? This course will explore the interwoven relationship between domination, resistance, and empowerment through stories of power represented in art, science, and politics. An examination of historical and contemporary case studies will consider how art and science both form and are in turn shaped by public perception. Special attention will be paid to the role of media and technology in constructing and manipulating common images, defining ideas of the self, and reclaiming misrepresented identities.

Faculty 

Evguenia Davidova is a European historian who specializes in the 19th century, “It took me a while to realize that I like making drastic changes in my life. I have been deciphering 19th-century manuscripts in various archives for a very long time, an exciting effort in challenging my eyes and brains that led to a Ph.D. in history. I also worked on a project ‘History of Roma/Gypsies in Eastern Europe’ and, like these nomads, have traveled a lot. My imaginary travels into the past and my curiosity about the future influenced my decision to leave my native country Bulgaria and to move to the USA. Hence it is not a coincidence that my current research interests focus on travel literature. In my spare time I enjoy reading books, listening to music, and watching movies.”

Alan MacCormack has been with the University Studies Program since 1999. He is a zoologist and ecologist with a doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an undergraduate degree from Antioch College. Alan has worked with pesticide pollution, the social behavior of wasps, bird migration, and biological rhythms. Current interests include evolutionary theory, science education and the philosophy of science. He is happy to discuss almost anything other than golf and reality shows.

Alton Straub
 

Anmarie Trimble is editor of Born Magazine ( www.bornmagazine.org ), an experimental online publication that features collaborations between writers and multimedia artists. She's particularly interested in the impact of multimedia on the literary arts, and she has lectured extensively on this subject for technology and literary audiences. This intersection between technology and writing stems from a life-long passion for science that influences her poetry. Her poetry has appeared in Black Warrior Review and Field: Contemporary Poetry and Poetics, and other publications. She has also worked in the Web industry as an editor and researcher, developing web sites and kiosks for Experience Music Project, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, PBS, and others. When she’s not gardening or studying dance, she dreams of being official poet to the first manned mission to Mars.