NU Splash Biography

The World Bank recently declared that "in the developing world, corruption is public enemy number one". Come investigate how these trillions of dollars in diverted public funds devastate economies and undermine democracy across the developing world. We'll particularly focus on informal power and knowledge networks in Russia and Eurasia, as well as ways to fight corruption and promote democracy.

Have you ever wanted to write a song parody like Weird Al does? Of course you have! So bring in something to sing about, and let's make it happen! Along the way we'll pick up some tidbits about rhyme, meter, and singable words—which are of course applicable to more than just song parodies. Ability to sing is not required.

French is a beautiful and useful language spoken not only in France, but also in countries across the world, from Canada to Haiti to Mali. Come learn some basic French, while listening (and singing along!) to some fabulously catchy popular French music.

Modern ICBMs (inter-continental ballistic missiles) can deliver multiple, individually targeted warheads to anywhere in the world in under half an hour. An entire war, that could obliterate whole continents, could be over within a day. Yet despite the incredibly destructive potential of these weapons, the 70 years since their invention have been remarkably peaceful. How could nuclear weapons possibly promote peace, and how have they changed the ways in which we think about war? And why is the US so afraid of Iran getting nuclear capabilities (and why does Kenneth Waltz think it'd be great)?

Three stacked bars of color painted on a red background. Thinly mixed paint poured across a canvas. A huge, menacing black cube. The art of the last century can seem silly at first glance, but once you understand the theory behind it, whole new ways of looking at art--and the world--emerge. Come learn about the ideas and brushstrokes that have shaped the last century, and find out whether or not painting really is dead!

Have you ever wondered why and how different languages are written in completely different ways? Then come learn the hidden components of Chinese characters, why Japanese has three different sets of characters, the origins of our alphabet, why Russian use Cyrillic instead of our Latin alphabet, and how different languages are better suited for different types writing systems. Although it is possible to more or less represent the words in any language with any other writing system, the way a language is represented on paper can have deep political motivations and be deeply tied up in a region's cultural identity.

A world-wind tour of music and instruments from Java, China, Russia, the Netherlands and Appalachia. Taking both a thematic and regional approach, we will look at both similarities in instrument design and unique cultural differences. There will be audio recordings and possible live demonstrations.