Orissi, one of the major classical dance styles of India, combines both rhythmic movement and expressive mime. This class will be devoted to the principles of Orissi dance: the synthesis of foot, wrist, hand and face movement in a lyrical flow to express the philosophy of yoga. Throughout the quarter we will study tala (rhythm). Students will keep a journal of class notes, discuss the readings and have cross-cultural dialogues.

We will examine the spread of our species out of Africa into South and Southeast Asia, Australia, New Guinea, Europe, the Americas, and the Pacific, which began about 125,000 years ago. We will draw on evidence from archaeology, palaeobotany, ice-age geology, and molecular genetics, paying particular attention to how that evidence is gathered and interpreted.