HOME /

Classes

If There is No God, All is Permitted: Theism and Moral Reasoning (Gen Ed 1161)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

Can we have confidence that our moral claims are true?

 

Ethics & Civics icon with text

Jay Harris

For centuries in the West, Jewish and Christian thinkers (among others) have asserted that moral judgment is impossible without some concept of the deity. So convincing were they that one important character created by a Russian author of the nineteenth century was led to express the idea (if not exactly the words), "if there is no God, all is permitted."... Read more about If There is No God, All is Permitted: Theism and Moral Reasoning (Gen Ed 1161)

American Capitalism (Gen Ed 1159)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

What is capitalism and how has it unfolded in American history?

 

Histories, Societies, Individuals icon with text

Sven Beckert

How did capitalism emerge, expand and transform daily life in North America over the past 500 years? In this course, students will gain an in-depth understanding of how North America turned from a minor outpost of the Atlantic economy into the powerhouse of the world economy, how Americans built a capitalist economy and how that capitalism, in turn, changed every aspect of their lives.... Read more about American Capitalism (Gen Ed 1159)

Satire (Gen Ed 1010)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

Is satire a dying art, and do we need it?

 

Aesthetics & Culture icon with text

Ambrogio Camozzi Pistoja

A course on satire, its power and limitations, from Classical Rome, through medieval Italy, to Elizabethan theatre and 19th-20th century American cartoonists. Serving as both a critique of social norms and the oppression of minorities (anti-women, anti-Jews, etc.), satire has been one of the most practiced and effective languages in Western culture.... Read more about Satire (Gen Ed 1010)

Rationality (Gen Ed 1066)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

In an era of fake news, conspiracy theories, quack cures, science denial, and paranormal woo-woo, the well-being of the world depends on an understanding of rationality, why it is so easily eclipsed by irrationality, and how the rational angels of our nature can prevail.

 

...

Read more about Rationality (Gen Ed 1066)

Poetry Without Borders (Gen Ed 1057)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

Why do poems and poets today boldly cross the borders of language, geography, form, and how are those border-crossings charged politically, ethically, and aesthetically?

 

Aesthetics & Culture icon with text

Stephanie Sandler

A stem with berries attached and a curved hand casting a shadow, both resting on a piece of wood.

Without borders, can there be poetry? The border of white paper surrounds printed poems; national boundaries keep cultural and linguistic traditions distinct; and aesthetic practice and its conventions create genres and demarcate poetry from music or dance or film. How poetry requires but also perversely challenges these limits will be the subject of this course.... Read more about Poetry Without Borders (Gen Ed 1057)

Sound and Music Perception (Gen Ed 1106)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

 

Our whole life experience must pass through our sensory systems; are we getting the truth or are we being deliberately misled, and if so, to what purpose?

 

Science & Technology in Society icon with text

Eric Heller

Humans perceive sound in amazing and sometimes mysterious ways. This is exploited in many audio experiences and technologies. Using readily available laptops, audio devices, sound sources, and software, students will explore their own and classmates' sound and music perception, including accessible and original collaborative research projects.... Read more about Sound and Music Perception (Gen Ed 1106)

Classical Mythology: Myth in Antiquity and Today (Gen Ed 1110)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

Why do some stories get told over and over for thousands of years, and how do those ancient tales still shape (and get shaped by) us today?

 

Aesthetics & Culture icon with text

Rachel Love

The myths of ancient Greece and Rome embody both our worst nightmares and our most fabulous fantasies. Heroism, happy endings, and everlasting love blend with disturbing themes of parricide, cannibalism, incest, misogyny, and unthinkable violence.  The resulting stories have fascinated generations of artists, writers, and thinkers, and this course will serve as an introduction to this distant but strangely familiar world. We will move from the very first works of Greek literature through the classic Greek tragedies and the Roman tales in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.... Read more about Classical Mythology: Myth in Antiquity and Today (Gen Ed 1110)

Ballots and Bibles: Why and How Americans Bring Scriptures into Their Politics (Gen Ed 1062)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

Why do Americans’ sacred texts have a close, frequently fraught relationship with their political history?

 

Histories, Societies, Individuals icon with text

David Holland

In 2018, in a public speech to law enforcement officers, the attorney general of the United States used a scriptural passage to defend tougher implementation of immigration laws. His reference bewildered observers who were unaware of a long tradition of citing Romans 13 in American political controversies, including such formative conflicts as the American Revolution and the sectional crisis over slavery.... Read more about Ballots and Bibles: Why and How Americans Bring Scriptures into Their Politics (Gen Ed 1062)

Law, Politics, and Trade Policy: Lessons from East Asia (Gen Ed 1119)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

Must the East Asian Growth Miracle always lead to trade wars or can international law bring cooperation?

 

Histories, Societies, Individuals icon with text

Christina Davis

How do states balance the challenges and opportunities of international markets? Importing ideas and resources while exporting manufactured goods underlies the East Asian growth miracle but also builds conflict with other governments. This course examines the transformative role of trade policy for Japan, Korea, and China. From the “unequal treaties” of the nineteenth century to the World Trade Organization today, trade law binds the interactions between East Asia and the world.... Read more about Law, Politics, and Trade Policy: Lessons from East Asia (Gen Ed 1119)

Artificial and Natural Intelligence (Gen Ed 1125)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

What does it mean for a machine to be intelligent, how does current artificial intelligence compare with animal intelligence, and should we be worried?

 

Science & Technology in Society icon with text

Venkatesh Murthy

What is intelligence? An inquiry into the nature of intelligence can take different forms – philosophical, biological, mathematical or technological. In this course, we will use machine intelligence (everything from voice recognizing smartphones to game-playing computers) as a handle to think about natural intelligence (brains and behavior of animals). Although we will start with big, general questions, we will quickly move to concrete queries about brains and computers.... Read more about Artificial and Natural Intelligence (Gen Ed 1125)

Permanent Impermanence: Why Buddhists Build Monuments (Gen Ed 1083)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

Why do Buddhists build monuments despite the core teaching of ephemerality, and what can we learn from this paradox about our own conception of time and space?

 

Aesthetics & Culture icon with text

Jinah Kim and Eugene Wang

Banner of Buddhism images

Everything changes. This is, in its simplest and most fundamental formulation, one of the essential teachings of Buddhism. Buddhist communities throughout history have preached, practiced, and written about the ephemerality and illusoriness of our everyday lives and experiences.... Read more about Permanent Impermanence: Why Buddhists Build Monuments (Gen Ed 1083)

Reclaiming Argument: Logic as a Force for Good (Gen Ed 1051)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

Argument and persuasion are features of all of our lives that can be as challenging and fraught as they are unavoidable and essential; what is the best way for us to handle them?

 

Ethics & Civics icon with text

Edward J. Hall

Our lives are awash in argument and persuasion. This course aims to teach you how to manage argument and persuasion in your own life – not just with skill, but ethically.... Read more about Reclaiming Argument: Logic as a Force for Good (Gen Ed 1051)

Vision and Justice: The Art of Race and American Citizenship (Gen Ed 1022)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2024

How does culture—from images of racial violence to Confederate monuments—determine who counts and who belongs in the United States?

 

Aesthetics & Culture icon with textHistories, Societies, Individuals icon with text

Sarah Lewis

How has visual representation—from videos and photographs to sculptures and memorials—both limited and liberated our definition of American citizenship and belonging? Art is often considered a respite from life or a reflection of the times, but this class examines how art actually has created the times in which we live.... Read more about Vision and Justice: The Art of Race and American Citizenship (Gen Ed 1022)

Pages