Liberal Arts and Sciences Courses

In this course, students continue to develop and explore their poetry skills at a high level. This course is of special value to students interested in songwriting, composition, poetry, spoken word, and creative writing. Students delve deeply into both poetic form and content. They develop their language skills as they explore fixed forms and free verse. The course also provides students an opportunity to develop further their love of and appreciation for poetry as an art form.

Spoken Word and Slam Poetry is all about studying, writing, and performing in the exuberant, genre-defying, political, personal, raucous, and powerful performance poetry scene. In this class, through poetry and theater exercises, students will seek their own poetic voices and the most powerful ways to express them to an audience. They begin by exploring the history and cultural context of performance poetry, from the ancient competitions of Greece, to Walt Whitman, the Beats, and The Last Poets, progressing to the modern forms of performance art, rap, and slam poetry (the competitive part of spoken word), the revolutionary heart of the modern performance poetry movement. Students will watch performances by the greats and create their own great performances, respecting, but also transcending the traditional and sometimes stilted boundaries of poetry. The Boston talent will come to class, in the form of guest performers, and students will get out of the classroom, discovering the thriving Boston slam scene. The semester will culminate with an end-of-semester poetry showcase and slam, in which all students participate. This is not about finger-snapping and bongo-playing, so leave your beret at the door. No experience necessary, just enthusiasm!

This advanced workshop expands and evolves the students' experience in the world of slam, spoken word, and performance poetry. Students have the opportunity to examine and create group pieces, conceptual art, unusual poetic forms, and effective slam competitions strategy. Students will work within a wide variety of poetic styles, from hip-hop to confessional, and examine a broader spectrum of performers. Students have some automy in designing their own projects and reading lists. Students will also engage in experiencing, analyzing, and further developing their own unique artistic compositions. Guest performers and teachers will be featured and the semester will culminate with an end-of-semester poetry showcase.

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar challenges students to examine and redefine the way we view artistic space. Students will explore various definitions of art, investigate the presence and role of art in the community, and discover where art is created and performed. In the 21st century, artistic spaces have been redefined and expanded beyond the studio or concert hall. Public art, collaborative projects and spaces, and accessibility to art will be explored. Students will look at ways that art can be used beyond traditional boundaries. This course helps students discover and advocate for issues facing artists and creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives students tools to understand the role of art in society, to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, and expose their own biases. Students will draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for a more informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of the role of art in society. 

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar’s unique focus is on the city and institutions that we call home. Students will explore Boston including their immediate surroundings, and will learn how historical and contemporary issues inform the city and its citizens. In addition, students will learn about the history of Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, so that they can better appreciate the institutions and how they weave into the city’s fabric. This course helps students discover the city in which they are living and advocate for issues facing students, residents, and artists. It creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives students tools to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, and expose their own biases. Students will draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for a more informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of connections between a city, its people, history, and culture. 

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar’s unique focus is on the artist’s engagement with and response to the social and political world. Students will develop habits of mind that help them evaluate media as sources of information, analyze issues, and persuasively support their views. The course helps students discover and advocate for the issues they care most about and creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives them tools to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, expose their own biases, and examine emergent events, ideas, and trends through multiple lenses. Students will engage collaboratively in weekly responses to events and draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for a more informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of the world. 

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar’s unique focus is on the artist’s engagement with the community. Through in-class and service activities, students will learn about the connections between cultural, political, and social conditions and the needs of specific populations within the community. This course helps students discover and advocate for issues facing our community and creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives students tools to approach situations, to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, expose their own biases, and examine the issues surrounding their service assignment through multiple lenses. Students will engage in weekly reflections activities and draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for a more informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of the world. 

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar’s unique focus is on the city of Valencia and on the experience of studying abroad. Students explore Valencia including their immediate surroundings, and learn how historical and contemporary issues inform the city and its citizens. In addition, students learn about Berklee and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Students engage in activities with the goal of reflecting on the study abroad experience in order to increase their intercultural and interpersonal skills and foster personal growth. This course creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives students tools to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, and explore their own biases. Students draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for an informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of connections among a city, its people, history, and culture. 

The emphasis of this course is on language acquisition: developing a basic level of oral and written comprehension and a certain degree of self-expression. The study of elementary French grammar will be fundamental to this class. Note: This course is not available to students for whom French is one of their primary languages and/or primary languages of instruction.

This course is a continuation of LFRN-151. The emphasis of the course is on continued language acquisition and on developing more advanced oral and written comprehension and self-expression. Students will expand their knowledge of grammar which is a fundamental aspect of this class. Note: This course is not available to students for whom French is one of their primary languages and/or primary languages of instruction.

In this course, students acquire oral and written communication skills in French. The topics presented are representative of French society and the Francophone world, and the communicative tasks are taught within the framework of authentic situations. Students learn to speak, listen, and write in personal, public, professional, and educational situations that simulate real life. Observation and reflection are at the core of the learning process. Students observe linguistic phenomena in the material provided and learn to deduct grammar rules from it. The true appropriation of language emanates from the students themselves. This class takes a hands-on and real-life approach to language acquisition. Note: This course is not available to students for whom French is one of their primary languages and/or primary languages of instruction.In this course, students acquire oral and written communication skills in French. The topics presented are representative of French society and the francophone world, and the communicative tasks are taught within the framework of authentic situations. Students learn to speak, listen, and write in personal, public, professional, and educational situations that simulate real life. Observation and reflection are at the core of the learning process. Students observe linguistic phenomena in the material provided and learn to deduct grammar rules from it. The true appropriation of language emanates from the students themselves. This class takes a hands-on and real-life approach to language acquisition.

This course enables students to acquire advanced oral and written communication skills. The topics presented are representative of French society and the Francophone world, and the communicative tasks are taught within the framework of authentic situations. Students learn to speak, listen, and write in personal, public, professional, and educational situations that simulate real life. Students learn to speak about people and events, to read authentic French texts and more. Observation and reflection are at the core of the learning process. Students will further expand their knowledge of grammar---syntax, verb tenses, etc.---and apply what they have learned in previous courses. Students observe linguistic phenomena in the material provided and learn to deduct grammar rules from it. The true appropriation of language emanates from the students themselves. This class takes a hands-on and real-life approach to language acquisition. Note: This course is not available to students for whom French is one of their primary languages and/or primary languages of instruction.