“For there is no subject which is so much wrapped up in mystery and on which one can write whatever one likes without any risk of being proved wrong.” I.K. Taimni wrote these words about yoga, highlighting how prone the practice is to non-evidence-based claims. In this course, we will explore what it means for evidence to be “scientific,” and use the topic of yoga to practice differentiating between quality science and pseudoscience. Along the way, we will study the biological basis for the benefits and harms of yoga and mindfulness practices. This class will include a significant movement component (daily yoga practice), so please let the instructor know as soon as possible if you will benefit from modifications to make this more accessible.

Body in Motion is a body-centered creative process course. Our movements, gestures, stories, and physical actions are the materials for individual and collective creative exploration. Drawing on somatic exercises, movement composition and improvisation, we will broadly investigate the interconnection between body and mind, between ideas and their kinesthetic manifestation and between expression and physical form. How does movement communicate? What do our bodies already know and how might our bodies become a source of new knowledge for us? We will explore our movement potential, move extemporaneously, analyze movement, and arrange movement drawing on a variety of creative processes. During our three and half weeks together, the fundamental aim is to become a community of movers and thinkers. No previous specialized physical or dance abilities are necessary to participate in and enjoy this course.

In this course, you will interrogate assumptions, structures, processes, and meanings within the concept of the “manifesto.” We’ll study film manifestos from various artists, movements, and time periods in cinema and watch films relevant to these manifestos, examining – through close reading and visual and narrative analysis – how each film puts its guiding manifesto’s theory into practice. Drawing upon this study and a series of personal creative and craft responses, you will write your own film manifestos, then make short films that exemplify your manifestos’ ideals. This course meets the requirements for the Creative Process designation by asking you to investigate and clarify, for yourselves, “Why me? Why this work? Why now?” Serious consideration of the artistic possibility and power of the manifesto will ground attention to your own experiences and creative ideas, helping you codify vague senses of “taste,” preference, and personal values into an aesthetic and ideological framework that explicitly guides your filmmaking processes and reflections.