Registration reopened Jan. 12, and spring's shopping period, the allotted time during which students can try out and add classes to their schedules, will run until Jan. 31. Within the arts departments, spring 2011 offers many exciting and innovative choices that will liven up any weekly routine.The Music department has among its wide selection two new, especially unique options this semester. "Music and Dance from Ghana" offers students the chance to work with Ghanaian instructor Nani Kwashi Agbeli, who has taught dance and drums in schools in Ghana as well as in the United States. The course is being brought to Brandeis students by MusicUnitesUS, an initiative at Brandeis that seeks to bring people of different backgrounds and cultures together by sharing a love of music.

Director of MusicUnitesUS Prof. Judith Eissenberg (MUS), told justArts what makes this opportunity one that shouldn't be passed up: "A one-time exposure can be thrilling and ear-opening, but an immersion, which is what this semester-long course offers, invites a student to learn from the inside. ... The process is no longer a comparative one but one that is located in and through the tradition." According to the course description, there will be a chance to study and perform using traditional Ghanaian instruments, vocal call-and-response pieces and choreographed dance numbers, all of which will culminate in a semester-end performance. "Even the name of the course is a lesson; in traditional African performance, the arts are intertwined-music and dance are part of the performance. Music is expressed through the body, dance is expressed through the music, and so on," said Eissenberg. The class will meet on Thursday nights from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Another interesting musical option for students is "Women and Music, Past and Present: Style, Identity, Culture." The course will be taught by Profs. Vivian Montgomery (MUS) and Liane Curtis (MUS), who are both scholars at the Women's Studies Research Center. According to its syllabus, the course "will consider the role of women from a range of perspectives: as creators and performers of music, and shapers of culture, and also the concept of 'woman' as an abstraction evoked and depicted in musical works composed by both men and women," and will span the time period from 1080 to the present day. Part of the course will require attendance at the Alive by Her Own Hand "fest-conference" on Jan. 22 and 23. The conference will be held at Brandeis and feature many female musicians performing in addition to several speakers who will discuss their experience as female artists. Another unique aspect of the course is the activism project, which Montgomery told justArts will be modeled after the work Curtis has done "advocating for performance of women composers' works, as well as the healthy presence of women in the major orchestras and other musical institutions."

The Fine Arts department also has some good choices for classes, including an architecture course called "Modernism Elsewhere." Taught by Prof. Talinn Grigor (FA), the course will offer exciting hands-on opportunities such as field trips to Boston and Cambridge, a two-part model-building project and case study projects in which students team up and present to the class the history of modernism within the context of various locations around the world.

There is also a class called "Palestinian and Israeli Art, Film and Visual Culture: Intersecting Visions." The class, according to Prof. Gannit Ankori's (FA) syllabus, will teach about the historical and current conflicts in the Middle East by looking at the changes in art through two different textbooks, one Israeli and one Palestinian. Ankori writes, "in a region subsumed by turmoil and conflict, Israeli and Palestinian artists have been tenaciously engaged in the creation of vibrant and innovative works of art. Characterized by diversity and boldness, these paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs, films, performances and videos both reflect and transcend the violent contexts in which they are being produced."

Within the Film, Television and Interactive Media program, Prof. Shilpa Davé's (AMST) class, "Race and American Cinema," with its inclusion of many great American films including Crash, Do the Right Thing and The Gentleman's Agreement in its list of texts, looks very promising. The syllabus reads, "This course will explore how images of racial and ethnic minorities such as African Americans, Jews, Asians, Native Americans and Latino/as are reflected on the screen, as well as the ways that minorities in the entertainment industry have responded to often limiting representations."

The class includes a basic introduction to film at the start of the semester to put all students on the same level of terminology since a lot of class time will be spent discussing the films that will be screened every Monday night.

It is clear from these great options that the arts at Brandeis are becoming extremely hands-on and culturally eye-opening. No topic is too controversial or sensitive to be discussed, and many of the professors for the above courses have firsthand experience in their subject. Don't pass up the opportunity to fill your schedule with these creative and mentally stimulating courses.