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Fall 2026 LCAL Courses

82-209: Contemporary French Cinema

Instructor: Sebastien Dubreil
Days:ÌýMondays & Wednesdays, 12:30 to 1:50 p.m.

This course is taught in English.

This course analyzes major developments in French cinema over the past fifty years, with occasional reference to earlier movements such as the French New Wave, to explore how filmmakers have represented, questioned and reimagined French society. Through close analysis of films from diverse periods and genres, the course examines cinema as a critical lens on social change, cultural identity, power and belonging in France. French cinema has long served as a space for negotiating tensions around class, race, gender, immigration, religion, memory and national myths. From postwar transformations and urbanization to debates surrounding postcolonialism, marginalization and social justice, filmmakers have used aesthetic innovation and narrative experimentation to challenge dominant representations and make visible alternative perspectives.Ìý

This course foregrounds how cinema both reflects and actively shapes public conversations about who belongs in France and how French society understands itself. Students will engage with fiction and documentary films by established and emerging filmmakers whose work interrogates social hierarchies, institutional structures and everyday lived experience. Attention will be paid to cinematic form as well as content, including questions of realism, authorship, ethics of representation and the relationship between film, history and politics. Rather than offering a comprehensive survey, the course emphasizes critical viewing and interpretation, encouraging students to see film as an evolving cultural practice embedded in broader social and historical contexts. By situating contemporary works in dialogue with earlier cinematic traditions, the course highlights continuities and ruptures in how French cinema has addressed social justice and collective identity.

82-268: Introduction to Italian Film

Instructor: Giuseppina Gemboni
Days: Mondays & Wednesdays, 12:30 to 1:50 p.m.

Fulfills The Arts Gen Ed | Taught in EnglishÌý

This course provides an overview of Italian cinema from the Fascist era to the present day. The course aims to analyze major directors' works and understand the most important genres, themes and tools used in Italian cinema. While exploring the history of Italian cinema, students will also learn about the history of Italy and examine the socio-economic context in which these landmarks were produced. The course will involve discussions on movies by renowned filmmakers such as Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, Michelangelo Antonioni, Lina Wermuller and many more. Films in Italian with English subtitles. Readings and discussion in English.

82-294: 19th Century Russian Masterpieces

Instructor: Olga Klimova
Days: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 12:30 to 1:50 p.m.

Fulfills Contextual Thinking Gen Ed | Taught in EnglishÌý

Russian literature of the 19th century was shaped by its engagement with the so-called accursed questions — "accursed" for being urgent and inescapable but possibly unanswerable. What is the self? What is the meaning of life and of death? What is truth? What is justice? What does it mean to live a righteous life?

In Russia these existential quandaries fell within the purview not only of philosophers but also of the poets and prose writers we will consider in this course. While the course roughly follows the chronology of the 19th century, it is structured around these accursed questions rather than by literary movement or genre. There are two reasons for this. First, Russia's literary culture began to develop later than other traditions; as a result, Russian authors of the 19th century were exposed to many different movements and often participated in several at once. Second, and relatedly, many authors worked across genres and in dialogue with philosophers, critics, novelists and poets. They published in "thick journals," composed of texts ranging from the literary to the journalistic to the academic. For these reasons, it is difficult to categorize these authors along stylistic or generic lines. As philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev observes, what united them was an abiding interest in the most profound existential questions.Ìý

Students in this course will examine how an author's use of genre, affiliation with particular literary movements and socio-political commitments inflected their treatment of the accursed questions. Students will become familiar with not only the cultural artifacts of this fertile century but also the circumstances — historical, cultural, institutional — in which these artifacts were created. They will also be encouraged to reflect on how these perennial accursed questions are articulated at present, and what that reveals about our own socio-political commitments and generic loyalties. This course is taught in English and cross listed as 76-299.

82-282, Section C: Interpreting Global Texts & Cultures

Instructor: Candace Skibba
Days: Mondays & Wednesdays, 9:30 to 10:50 a.m.

Fulfills Humanities Gen Ed | Taught in EnglishÌý

Literature, film, music, art, theater and other forms of humanistic artistic expressions, play an important role in society. Few moments in life are as moving as listening to the right song at the right time, and many of us can list films and/or books that have shaped who we consider ourselves to be. Beyond the individual level, artistic expressions have also influenced revolutions, businesses, science and politics. The list goes on and on. Yet, we often take culture and artistic expressions for granted. What is their role and value in society? How can we interpret these cultural artifacts? Is there a right or wrong interpretation? These are some of the questions we will explore in this class.Ìý

Fall 2026 Philosophy Courses

80-490/790: Philosophical and Practical Aspects of AI (NEW!)

Days: Tuesday & Thursday, 2 to 3:20 p.m.Ìý
Instructor: Kun Zhang

Artificial Intelligence has deep roots in both philosophy and computer science and has undergone major paradigm shifts, from symbolic AI to statistical learning, deep learning, foundation models, causal AI and embodied AI. This course examines the historical development of AI, analyzing the motivations, strengths, and limitations of each paradigm, as well as the types of problems they aim to address. We explore foundational contributions from thinkers and scientists such as Aristotle, Augustine, Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Immanuel Kant, Gottlob Frege, Alan Turing, Marvin Minsky, Herbert Simon, Judea Pearl, Geoffrey Hinton, Demis Hassabis and Richard Sutton, among others. Through these perspectives, we investigate the philosophical foundations, practical advances and societal implications of AI.

80-287: Language Variation & Change

Days: Tuesday & Thursday, 9:30 to 10:50 a.m.

Where does the Pittsburgh "needs washed" structure come from? Why do people in the South say "y'all", and why is it spreading to the rest of the country? Is social media changing how people speak, and if so, how are the changes similar or different from the ways that languages have always changed? How do accents and other linguistic features trace migration patterns through history? In this course, students will learn about the ways languages and dialects differ and change. We'll look at the social, cultural, geopolitical and psychological factors that cause languages to change, and find that, while the end result is the astonishing linguistic diversity we're all familiar with, the principles that explain this diversity are remarkably constant across space and time. This course has been revamped so that it requires no prerequisite, and no prior linguistic knowledge is assumed.Ìý

No Prerequisite! Appropriate for first-year students!

80-286: Morphology

Days: Monday & Wednesday, 7 to 8:20 p.m.

How many words do you know? Is 'gonna' one word or two? How many meanings does 'unlockable' have? If someone can be 'inept', why can't they be 'ept'? In this course we study the linguistics of words and word formation, known as morphology. We begin by asking what a word is, about the internal structure of words, and how new words are formed. Throughout, we will consider these questions from a cross-linguistic perspective, looking at morphological data from a wide range of languages. We will also consider how morphology interacts with other subfields of linguistics, including phonology, syntax and semantics. Finally, we will survey morphological questions from the perspectives of language acquisition, psychology, and cognitive science.Ìý

Prerequisite: 80-180: Introduction to Linguistics

80-384/684: Linguistics of Turkic Languages

Days: Monday & Wednesday, 3:30 to 4:50

In this course we look at languages from within a single language group, Turkic. Turkic languages are spoken across continental Asia and include such languages as Turkmen, Tatar, Kazakh, Uighur, and Uzbek. In this course we concentrate especially on Yakut (Sakha) and Azerbaijani. Modern Turkish will provide a reference language. We look at various linguistic systems within each language (phonology, morphology, syntax, and writing systems) both to understand each particular language and to see how the languages are related. We consider the impact of diachronic factors on the synchronic study of language. This course can be seen as an extended case-study for applying concepts and analytical strategies from basic linguistics, as taught in Introduction to Linguistics, Phonetics and Phonology, Invented Languages, and other relevant courses.Ìý

Prerequisite: 80-180: Introduction to Linguistics OR Instructor Permission (email: twerner@andrew.cmu.edu) Ìý

Fall 2026 CMIST Courses

84-200 A2/84-600 A2 (Micro-Mini Course): Security War Game Simulation

Instructor: Mieke Eoyang
Units: 3Ìý
The course will be taught over one weekend: Friday, Nov. 6, from 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 8, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This micro-mini will feature a crisis scenario in the Indo-Pacific in which participants are assigned roles as government or private sector actors navigating an escalating technology and national security crisis. Teams operate inside a deliberately contested information environment — one polluted with misinformation, cyber disruption and adversarial deception — and must analyze intelligence, develop policy options, negotiate across competing interests, and coordinate responses as the scenario evolves, in direct response to their moves. The 18-hour campaign is structured across three days, using the Operational Gaming Engine (OGE) to drive consequence modeling in real time. OGE's multi-agent architecture draws on frontier models selected to reflect the reasoning patterns and strategic orientations of the actors being simulated, ensuring adversarial fidelity that generic AI facilitation cannot replicate.

84-345 A2/84-645 A2 (Mini-2 Course): Hackers, the Law, and Policy Responses

Instructor: Mieke Eoyang
Units: 6Ìý
Days: Wednesdays, 7 to 9:50 p.m.

As the internet has developed, individuals have tested the bounds of acceptable behavior, engaging in activities that have caused disruption, harm or otherwise infringed on established rights. As these disruptions — real and potential — were discovered, policy makers reacted to them by establishing new rules to direct, limit or outlaw the behaviors that led to the disruption. In this class, we will review foundational hacking cases and examine the policy debates that flowed from them, and the ways in which laws and policies changed in response to understand the frameworks and legal limitations we operate within today.

84-393/84-693: The U.S. Congress: Legislative Progress or Paralysis?

Instructor: Connor PhillipsÌý
Days: Monday & Wednesday, 12:30 to 1:50 p.m.

Seemingly everyone across the political spectrum agrees that Congress is broken: paralyzed by conflict between and within the parties, out of touch with the needs and concerns of the American people, and incapable of acting swiftly or competently to address the nation's problems. Yet considering the daunting task Congress faces in legislating for an incredibly diverse nation of 340 million people while its members represent constituencies with starkly differing interests, perhaps it is more surprising that the body functions at all.Ìý

This class investigates how Congress overcomes the obstacles to action it faces as well as whether the institution has operated less effectively in recent years, and if so, the reasons why. Specifically, we will scrutinize what the legislative process looks like in practice and how the structure of Congress interacts with the electoral, partisan, ideological and interest-group influences on its members to determine their behavior.Ìý

To accomplish this objective, we will apply rational choice theory to analyze Congress as social scientists do while also evaluating the limitations of this approach. In addition, we will examine the place Congress occupies in the broader governmental system, exploring its relationships with the presidency, courts and federal bureaucracy. Throughout the semester, we will assess Congress's performance in terms of effectiveness and representation along with what can be done to improve it.

84-314: Politics, Technological Change, and Economic Growth

Professor: Mark KamletÌý
Days: Monday & Wednesday, 2 to 3:20 p.m.

It’s a rare opportunity to learn from someone who is not only an expert in the curriculum, but also spent decades helping to build the very foundation of the Carnegie Mellon experience. Since joining ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ in 1976, Mark Kamlet has been a primary architect of the university—serving as Dean, Provost, and a visionary for its global footprint.

Professor Kamlet’s classroom is where high-level economics meets real-world action. With a Ph.D. from Berkeley and a background in mathematics, he bridges the gap between complex data and public policy. From serving on tech start-up boards and National Academy of Science panels to co-directing the Collaboratory Against Hate, his work is always at the cutting edge of what matters now.

Don’t miss the chance to learn from a scholar who has defined what it means to be a Tartan. Join Professor Kamlet for his course this fall!

Fall 2026 Eberly Center & StuCo Courses

Eberly Center: 99-461/761: Tutoring, Teaching, and Leading through Education

Why does the United States spend $27 billion annually on "extra" educational services? In this course, we explore the systemic traditions and policies that prevent students from learning effectively during the school day and the resulting inequities for families who cannot engage external support.

This course bridges the gap between academic research and experiential learning through three core pillars:

1. Engagement: Provide 25+ hours of peer tutoring to high schoolers via the global, open source Schoolhouse.world platform.Ìý
2. Intellectual Inquiry: Analyze the connection between teaching and learning, the laws impacting educators, and the role of digital platforms in modern pedagogy.Ìý
3. Leadership & Citizenship: Gain a broader understanding of the opportunity gap. We will examine how resource access affects student performance across different environments and discuss our civic responsibility to impact this ecosystem.

Through reflection, iteration, and direct engagement, students will see firsthand how ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ research changes the landscape of supplemental education for underserved populations.

StuCo: 98-067: We Are Not Alone: Supporting Peers’ Mental Health

Instructors: StuCo taught by Gavin Kelly and Hailey CintronÌý
Day and Time: Thursday, 3:30 to 4:50 p.m.

Are you interested in mental health and peer support? Consider enrolling in We Are Not Alone, a StuCo taught by Gavin Kelly and Hailey Cintron. This class invites students into the Highmark Well-being Lab, where they will learn to support themselves and their peers through mental health struggles. Each week, students are offered a unique opportunity to learn directly from mental health professionals. Together, we will engage in inclusive and open class discussions, practice peer support skills through various frameworks, and learn about available resources for self-care and treatment."

Fall 2026 Art Courses for Non-Majors

Photography:

62-141: Black and White Photography I

Available Sections:

• Monday, Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
• Tuesday, Thursday: 10 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
• Tuesday, Thursday, 2 p.m. to 4:50 p.m.

62-241: Black and White Photography II

Days: Monday, Wednesday: 2 to 4:50 p.m.

62-281: Intermediate Digital Photography

Days: Tuesday, Thursday: 2 to 4:50 p.m.

62-166: Photography in the Dark

Days: Tuesday, Thursday: 7 to 9:50 p.m.

62-282: Staged Photography

Day: Friday: 10 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. & 2 to 4:50 p.m.Ìý

62-167: Instant Photography: The Unrepeatable Image (A1 mini)

Days: Monday, Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.

62-168: The Infinite Roll: Cell Phone Photography (A2 mini)

Days: Monday, Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.

Find course descriptions for all fall 2026 photography classes

60-105: Cultural History of the Visual Arts

Days: Monday, 7 to 9:20 p.m. (Section A) & Wednesday, 7 to 9:20 p.m. (Section B)Ìý
Professor: Maria Elena VersariÌý

Cultural History of the Visual Arts I (in the fall) covers the period from Antiquity to the end of the 1700s and features masterpieces and lesser known works in Western and Non-Western art.Ìý

60-109: Creature Features

Day: Tuesday, Ìý7 to 9:50 p.m.Ìý
Professor: Liz KurtzmanÌý

In this course, we will watch films with murderous sharks, man-made horrors, and creatures from beyond the stars to better understand what makes a monster.Ìý

60-122: Comics

Days: Tuesday and Thursday, 7 to 9:50 p.m.Ìý
Professor: John PeñaÌý

In this course, students will learn practical and technical skills to communicate their ideas more effectively through comics and sequential art.Ìý

60-136: Ceramics

Days: Monday and Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. (Section A) & 2 to 4:50 p.m. (Section B)Ìý
Professor: Yoko Sekino-BovéÌý

An introduction to three-dimensional form in clay, including hand building, sketching and modeling for larger fireable clay forms, throwing on the wheel, and basic glazing techniques.Ìý

60-157: Drawing

Days:Ìý

• Monday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 1:50 p.m.Ìý
• Tuesday and Thursday, 2 to 4:50 p.m.
• Monday and Wednesday, 7 to 9:50 p.m.

Professors: Julia Betts, Alli Lemon, and London WilliamsÌý

In this class, you’ll learn perceptual, analytical, and structural drawing skills that allow you to both more accurately and more expressively create an image on paper.

Fall 2026 Drama Courses for Non-Majors

54-185: Writing Stand-Up Comedy

Do you find yourself wishing you could make the perfect joke, but just can't seem to word it? Do you spend an embarrassing amount of time watching Instagram reels of comedians doing crowd work? To many, stand up comedy feels like one of the most intimidating art forms one can pursue; this course aims to combine creative narrative structure, parody and sketch comedy to give you the tools you need to nail the punchline every time. This course will examine the craft of storytelling and the origins of stand-up across the world, all the way from New Yorker cartoons to Saturday Night Live. Students will leave with the ability to confidently use literary devices to construct a 5-10 minute stand up set and gain public speaking skills that will serve any future academic endeavor or career. This course will consist of daily writing practice, discussion and workshop in order to hone not only writing skills, but also to practice giving and receiving feedback.

54-195: Rewriting Shakespeare: A Feminist Workshop

We all know that William Shakespeare made incredible strides in both drama and literature, but I'm sure you can agree that some of his characters seem to get the short end of the stick over and over again. In this class we will rewrite Shakespeare in order to give a voice to some of the female characters whose stories feel incomplete. Ophelia kills herself, Lady Macbeth kills herself, Desdemona is murdered, Isabella is coerced into marriage, Titania gives up the only thing she loves. We will take a journey together and finally give these characters the endings they deserve.

54-183: Intermediate Playwriting: Character as an Entry Point

Often, a good play is a seduction. A character is the seducer. Their job is to draw us into their world, to convince us to care about their problems, and to keep us in the theater until the play ends. In this course, we will look at the techniques artists use to seduce us through characterization. This class is an intermediate playwriting class, designed for students who are interested in writing plays, have already taken a writing class or two, and are looking for a class where you are encouraged to prioritize and focus on writing for a semester. In this class, we will read excerpts from contemporary plays by writers like Gracie Gardner, Samah Meghjee, and Sanaz Toossi. We will then meet to discuss how these writers build out character through techniques like monologues, scenes, and worldbuilding, and how you can steal their methods and use them for your own purposes. For the first half of the semester, you will complete a weekly playwriting assignment of about 5-10 pages each week. For the second half of the semester, you will work on a final project, a play between 10 and 90 pages. These characterization tools are foundational craft skills upon which you can build out your own unique writing practice and authorial voice. Whether your preferred medium of artistic expression is writing, performance, design, or something else entirely, learning how to write compelling characters will help you approach your practice with a focus on understanding and empathy. If you want, this course could be the first step in your writing career.

54-192: Acting Ensemble for Non-Majors

Days: Tuesday & Thursday, 1 to 2:50 p.m.Ìý
Instructor: Jonathan Vandenberg

ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ School of Drama announces the fall 2026 course DRA 54-192: Acting Ensemble for Non-Majors. Students perform scenes from Ancient Greek Tragedy directed by graduate theatre directing students. Please note, the course requires outside time memorizing and rehearsing scenes. Entry to the course is by audition. All levels of actors are encouraged to audition.Ìý

Auditions: Tuesday, Aug, 25, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m., Purnell Center for the Arts, Room 301Ìý

To Join this Course:

1. Add yourself to the waitlist for DRA 54-192: Acting Ensemble for Non-Majors.Ìý
2. .Ìý
3. .Ìý

Please perform a dramatic monologue of two minutes or less. If you have experience with classical scripts, such as Shakespeare or Greek Tragedy, a classical monologue is welcomed.Ìý

Tip: Avoid delivering your monologue directly to the auditors. Instead, choose a focal point just above their heads or above their heads and slightly to the side. Commit to it as your scene partner’s eyeline.Ìý

Actors may be asked to read sides (short excerpts from a scene).Ìý

If you have any questions at all, please contact course instructor Jonathan Vandenberg at jvandenberg@cmu.edu.Ìý

Above all, enjoy! We hope to have the pleasure of seeing you audition.

54-215: Theater History I: 500 BCE - 1640

Days: Tuesday & Thursday, 12:30 to 1:50 p.m.

Theater History 500 BCE to 1640 is the first in a three-part world theater history sequence designed to explore the development of dramatic forms, theater practices, and performances from the 5th century BCE to today. Theater History 500 BCE to 1640 investigates histories and theater performance (scripts, embodiment, design, audiences, conventions, cultural functions, etc.) within local and global social, artistic, and political contexts.