From computers, Keaton to cocido, new courses at Worcester colleges offer wide variety

WORCESTER ― Each year, the colleges of Worcester introduce a new slate of courses for students to take. As the world continues to evolve, the courses around Worcester's institutions of higher learning are modified to reflect those changes.

New courses being introduced and reformatted in 2024 are designed to help students better understand the past, the present and the future in different ways, from working on artificial intelligence programming to eating ají de gallina (Preuvian cream chicken).

Quest to understand AI

Perhaps the buzziest topic in 2024 is artificial intelligence, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute is leading the charge in educating students on the potential and challenges of expanded AI use with its course AI, Design and Society, being offered for the first time this fall.

The course is based around teaching students how to build and use AI systems, while also understanding the challenges further reliance and use of AI will place on society.

“We really wanted to give the students the opportunity to grapple with the big philosophical questions around AI,” Sarah Stanlick, a professor at WPI teaching the course this fall, said. “Students are being told it is the great new hope and there are all sorts of great things on the horizon, but there are also challenges. There are environmental costs, opportunities that it falls into the wrong hands, and a lot of questions and considerations.”

Gillian Smith, another professor teaching the course this fall, said students at WPI know that AI will have a major impact on their lives and future careers, but are uncertain what that impact will be.

“We are seeing and hearing from a lot of students that they know AI is going to change something about their future lives, about their future careers and what they study, but they don’t always understand how or what that means,” Smith said. “This course gives them an opportunity to explore those concerns, interests and excitements up front.”

America, reflected through film

After producing a film series last spring that focused on Worcester native and controversial director Samuel Fuller at Quinsigamond Community College , professor Mark Bates identified a need for a film course at the college, which led to him creating Survey of Hollywood Film, 1920 to Present, which is designed to demonstrate to students how the entertainment of movies has reflected American sentiments across the last 100 years.

“I try to get students to think about how films reflect historical periods. How they provide a window into what America was like in terms of values of the period, whether that be related to race, social class, gender, and so forth,” Bates said. “I tell the students that you can’t understand American history if you don’t have some sort of understanding of this major artform that has played such a pivotal role in shaping the country throughout the 20th century.”

Bates said his plan is to start by showcasing Buster Keaton silent films from the 1920s and highlighting the changes in Hollywood, from the gangster pictures of the 1930s, to science fiction in the 1950s, to the historical exclusion and recent inclusion of Black and female directors in the medium.

“We’ve always been storytelling creatures, and there is no argument that over the last 100 years, the major narrative art form across the world has been cinematic,” Bates said. “I tell students to take this seriously; this is a serious academic field. There is quite a lot of writing involved and there is a term paper at the end, and just like literature, this is a very serious art form.”

Food is identity

“Food is always about more than food,” Maryanne Leone, a professor at Assumption University , said.

Leone is teaching the course Food in the Hispanic World this fall. While Leone has taught the course before, this will be the first time since 2021, and the first time she will be teaching it with all students present in the classroom, meaning the class can actually share meals together and discuss the different aspects of food that build an identity and a society.

“This course focuses on food in its cultural, historical, political, economic and social dimensions as a way to gain insights into the Spanish-speaking world and also develop students' competencies in the Spanish language,” Leone said.

Leone said a key aspect of the course is teaching students the meaning of food beyond just what it tastes like, and how food has a wide-ranging relationship with different cultures that they represent.

Leone is hoping the course can develop a connection between the city and students.

“Worcester has such a diverse culture, and now that we are not in the pandemic, I want the students to go out and engage with with a local restaurant, talk to the people working there and write about not only the sensory impressions they have there but to do some research and find the cultural connection food has with the Spanish-speaking community,” Leone said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: From computers, Keaton to cocido, new courses at Worcester colleges offer wide variety