Interim 2022. On-Stage in the British Isles.
Interim 2021, 2020, 2019. “The Horror!”
Kurtz’s last words in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness could have referred to his fear of death, his anguish over his physical decay, his reflections on his moral decay, or the ease with which the rational succumbs to the irrational and violent. All of these are generative ideas for horror films, which share an interest in the disturbing. Despite its focus on fear and anxiety, this form of cinema has found a welcome audience for well over a century.
Horror films range widely in the central subject of their representations: the supernatural, the monstrous, the psychotic, and the apocalyptic are variants. The manner in which such films have represented their subjects has also varied. Sub-genres such as body horror, splatter film, and slasher film involve extremely graphic depictions of violence, and their preoccupation with punishment and pain has led some to see many such films as misogynistic and others to complicate this reading.
In this interim we will study horror films from the 1920s to 2016 to study film technique, the development of the genre, the historical circumstances of particular films, and the broader implications of their representations.
Interim 2018. Imag(in)ing the 18th Century.
1660-1833 is rife with contradictions in all aspects of European society: religion, politics, science, art, and literature. In Britain, for example, the Jewish Naturalization Act of 1753 promised a new era of religious toleration, but, resulted in an outpouring of antisemitism that led to its repeal. In the 1772 Somerset Case, Chief Justice Mansfield ruled that James Somerset, a slave, could not legally be kept as a slave in England and was therefore a free man; yet, England continued to participate in the slave trade until 1807 and allow slavery in its colonies until 1833.
This course studies the history and culture of eighteenth-century Europe and the Americas through the lens of cinema. Some works, such as Barry Lyndon (1975), directed by Stanley Kubrick, are adaptations of earlier texts, in this case, a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray published in 1844 but set in the mid-18th century. Other works, such as Steven Spielberg’s Amistad (1997), Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006), and Nate Parker’s Birth of a Nation (2016), focus on significant events and figures. Assigned readings will enrich our understanding of these films.
Coursework includes a semester-long response journal, group selection and discussion of a film, and an e-portfolio.
Interim 2017. Food and Food Cultures in France.
Interim 2015. Mountain-Biking the Carolinas.
From mountains to low country, South Carolina and North Carolina offer a stunning variety of mountain-biking trails. We’ll combine day-trips to local trails with two three-day trips to more distant parts of these states. In addition mountain-biking, you’ll also learn wilderness camping skills including cooking and first-aid. The combination of challenging climbs, exhilarating descents, and breath-taking scenery will demonstrate why this outdoor sport has become so popular. Overnights offer a deeper appreciation for national and state park systems and their inhabitants such as deer, coyote, fox, raccoon, and owl.
Interim 2014, 2013, 2012. Outdoors in the Upstate.
Gain experience in variety of outdoor activities such as camping, mountain biking, and kayaking. The course includes a Wilderness First Aid course, an introduction to mountain-biking with 3 days of trail rides, an introduction to kayaking, and three days of sea kayaking on the South Carolina coast. Coursework includes select reading, attendance, and multimedia journals.
Interim 2010, 2009. Camping 101.
Students will develop the skills necessary to plan and safely execute multi-day trips in a wilderness setting. The course begins with basics: appropriate clothing, diet, meal preparation, shelter, and sanitation. We’ll employ these skills during an overnight within the first 2 weeks of the course. These weeks also include discussion of assigned reading and a Wilderness Advanced First Aid course hosted by the Glendale Outdoor Leadership School. The first-aid course combines classroom study and hands-on simulations to teach students how to diagnose and treat the injuries and illnesses that most often occur on outdoor excursions. WAFA certification is an excellent credential for those interested in employment in the field of outdoor recreation or outdoor education. On the 25th, we’ll begin preparations for our 3-day trip. We’ll work together to plan all aspects: destination, daily travel, and meals. We’ll end the course by composing multimedia journals that reflect student experiences and group presentations that highlight group experiences.
Interim 2015 (offered). Sea-Kayaking the Sea Islands.
Stretching from South Carolina to Florida, the Sea Islands form a unique marine environment, and sea-kayaking is the perfect way to explore them. The bulk of “Sea-Kayaking the Sea Islands” consists of an 11-day trip. We’ll spend four days at Hunting Island State Park learning the fundamentals of sea-kayaking (equipment and paddle strokes) and expedition sea-kayaking (navigation and rescue techniques) from Eric Gibbons, a long-time guide and outfitter in Beaufort, SC with extensive expedition experience. After that, we’ll travel to Georgia’s Crooked River State Park and launch our 7-day sea-kayaking expedition to Cumberland Island National Seashore, the largest barrier island in the Sea Island chain. Because barrier islands have both ocean-front and estuaries, they are critical to a variety of wildlife including sea-turtles, bottlenose dolphins, blue crab, whitetail deer, feral horses, bobcats, raccoons, resident and migratory waterfowl, and the American alligator. While our success in circumnavigating Cumberland Island (roughly a 45-mile paddle) depends in large part on winds, weather, and tides, we are certain to experience the pleasures and challenges of outdoor travel and living and to end the course with the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct our own sea-kayaking adventures.
Interim 2014 (offered). Baja Sea-Kayaking Adventure.
Explore the stunning coastline of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez on a 15-day sea-kayaking expedition led by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), one of the most respected sources for wilderness education. NOLS instructors teach you to lead rather than simply drift behind a guide. Each day, we’ll kayak in small groups through waters rich in sea lions, dolphins, marine turtles, and migratory whales; if we’re fortunate, we’ll see vaquita (the world’s smallest porpoise) and manta rays. We’ll have ample time out of the boats to snorkel coastal reefs and hike the lunar landscape of the Baja Peninsula. At night, we’ll make camp on the shoreline wilderness, cook on camp stoves, and sleep under the stars. Graduates of NOLS courses refer to the experience as “transformative.” Whether drawn to its educational, recreational, or experiential element, you’ll come to view this interim as that unique moment in your college career when you accomplished something unexpected and experienced something unforgettable.
Interim 2013 (offered). globalbike Tanzania.
Join people from Tanzania, Kenya, and the United States on a journey through the countryside surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro. Over six days, we’ll cycle portions of a 250-mile route, getting to know each other, stopping in towns and villages, and experiencing the beauty of rural Tanzania. Our group will include people of various ages and levels of ability, and the trip’s emphasis is on building community rather than covering miles. A support vehicle and crew from Summits Africa will accompany us throughout the trip providing food, water, and even a lift for those who want a break. Along the way, we’ll stay in a variety of locations ranging from hotels to campgrounds to tented lodges. Communal meals provide opportunities to share experiences with the other participants, many of whom belong to organizations that share globalbike’s interests—creating and empowering communities, oftentimes through sports. At some of these stops, we’ll help globalbike distribute bicycles to organizations that will use them to assist people in the areas we’ve ridden through. Although most of our international team will head home after nine days, the Wofford group will remain in Tanzania for a three-day safari in some of its most spectacular parks: the Tarangire, Lake Manyara, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (a UNESCO World Heritage site). When we return to campus for the final week of interim, we’ll put our experience to work hosting a fundraiser for globalbike.
Interim 2008 (offered). Sea-Kayaking Florida’s Everglades.
This interim begins with an eight-day expedition in Florida’s 10,000 Islands region, an aquatic preserve within the Everglades—roughly 6,000 square miles of wetlands stretching inland from the Gulf of Mexico. By traveling in sea-kayaks, we will have access to both the shallow wetlands and also the larger expanses of water in the Gulf, which increases our opportunities for wildlife viewing to include manatees, turtles, and dolphins. Two instructors from the North Carolina Outward Bound, an internationally esteemed wilderness education school, will lead the expedition. In addition to teaching kayaking skills and introducing this unique environment, our instructors will teach us camping and travel skills that meet Leave No Trace standards—a method of enjoying wilderness environments while minimizing one’s effect on them. On our return to Wofford, we will work in groups to prepare a written document that reflects our experiences and our knowledge of the 10,000 Islands region and a multimedia presentation to be delivered on the final day of interim. In order to emphasize both the transference of the skills learned during the expedition and also the local opportunities for kayaking, we will take two day-trips during the last week of the course: a 15-mile paddle on the Broad River and a tour on Lake Jocassee.