HPSS Courses
HPSS S101-15
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Wednesday/Thursday.
We are living in a time of unprecedented not only availability of information but also variation in the quality of information. Newspapers, cable news, social media, and old-fashioned gossip are all prone to biases and ulterior motives, yet we depend on them for much of our knowledge on current events. If we are to have an accurate understanding of the world, then it is imperative that we examine both the forces that drive these various forms of media and their effects on ourselves and society. We can do this in various ways, but not least among them is through the informed use of peer-reviewed books and articles. In this course, we will learn how to unlock the power of social scientific knowledge to gain a clearer understanding both of who, and what, is shaping the messages we receive every day as well as the effects of those messages and their media on ourselves and our communities. First, we will examine the transition from written to audiovisual media and its effects on politics and economics. Then, we will explore the rise of social media and its effects on users and society through the lens of social psychology. For the final project, students will collect and analyze a series of Social Media videos (TikTok, Reels, YouTube, etc.) on a topic of their choice and compare and contrast their message with scholarly works on the same subject. There will also be a series of lower-stakes assignments that strengthen the writing mechanics and conventions needed for success on the final project.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-16
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Tuesday/Thursday.
We are living in a time of unprecedented not only availability of information but also variation in the quality of information. Newspapers, cable news, social media, and old-fashioned gossip are all prone to biases and ulterior motives, yet we depend on them for much of our knowledge on current events. If we are to have an accurate understanding of the world, then it is imperative that we examine both the forces that drive these various forms of media and their effects on ourselves and society. We can do this in various ways, but not least among them is through the informed use of peer-reviewed books and articles. In this course, we will learn how to unlock the power of social scientific knowledge to gain a clearer understanding both of who, and what, is shaping the messages we receive every day as well as the effects of those messages and their media on ourselves and our communities. First, we will examine the transition from written to audiovisual media and its effects on politics and economics. Then, we will explore the rise of social media and its effects on users and society through the lens of social psychology. For the final project, students will collect and analyze a series of Social Media videos (TikTok, Reels, YouTube, etc.) on a topic of their choice and compare and contrast their message with scholarly works on the same subject. There will also be a series of lower-stakes assignments that strengthen the writing mechanics and conventions needed for success on the final project.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-17
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Tuesday/Thursday/Friday.
We seem to encounter psychology often and in many different ways in our daily lives. Yet, what truly does the field of psychology consist of? And how does the field define and describe who we are? In this course, we will explore “personality” from the perspective of major psychological theories and research. We will consider how different areas of psychology explain how personality is developed and what different aspects of our personality are related to other aspects of our lives. While reviewing several key topics and research studies in personality psychology, this course aims to cultivate skills in critical thinking, reading, analysis, research, and writing. Throughout the course, there will be a variety of assignments that will support students in writing a paper on a psychological topic.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-18
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday.
The course will provide a basic introduction to international human rights, their historical foundations, and conceptual frameworks, as well as their importance in international politics using multidisciplinary perspectives on human rights, including international relations and international law, history, social anthropology, and gender studies.
Throughout the course, we will discuss specific case studies, current and historical events, national and international human rights violations, as well as domestic and international laws, key actors, and international legal instruments in the protection of human rights. We will employ a critical and feminist approach, in an attempt to think critically about hegemonic human rights discourses, when examining indigenous, cultural, and environmental rights, women’s rights, the rights of LGBTI communities, migrants and refugees.
Students will work on a series of short papers, collaborative discussions, and small group presentations.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-19
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Wednesday/Thursday.
Has “law and order” always had the political connotations it does today? In pondering this
question, students will learn about the craft of history, how it is studied, researched, and written. Students will trace the history with a consideration of three origin stories:
(1) the construction of racial hierarchy
(2) the policing of socio-economic boundaries
(3) state-building and political development.
Specific issues include criminal enforcement in the American Revolution; the birth of urban police forces; law enforcement’s role in slavery, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow; 20th century reformers and anti-vice crusades; the FBI, national security state, and the bipartisan wars on crime since the late twentieth century. More generally the course aims to teach students what it means to study history, how to learn the major narratives, themes and subject matter that drive historical debates, and how to empower themselves to join the fray of historical discourse with their own well-informed perspectives.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-20
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
Has “law and order” always had the political connotations it does today? In pondering this
question, students will learn about the craft of history, how it is studied, researched, and written. Students will trace the history with a consideration of three origin stories:
(1) the construction of racial hierarchy
(2) the policing of socio-economic boundaries
(3) state-building and political development.
Specific issues include criminal enforcement in the American Revolution; the birth of urban police forces; law enforcement’s role in slavery, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow; 20th century reformers and anti-vice crusades; the FBI, national security state, and the bipartisan wars on crime since the late twentieth century. More generally the course aims to teach students what it means to study history, how to learn the major narratives, themes and subject matter that drive historical debates, and how to empower themselves to join the fray of historical discourse with their own well-informed perspectives.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-21
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
This course draws on broad themes and problems in the History of American Technology for its content such as Technology and Material Culture, Inventing and Innovation, Technology and the Workplace, Time and Technology, and Technologies of Communication. Within each of the themes we trace past technologies through to the present and examine debates that engage historians of technology and historians in general. The overall writing elements of the course will focus on developing a research paper including choosing a topic, writing a thesis statement, pulling together sources and developing an annotated bibliography, writing an introduction and outlining the paper, writing a draft of the paper, submitting the final paper and presenting the paper to the class.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-22
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
The 20th-century contest for empire between capitalism and communism killed millions of persons in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, degraded the environment and risked its nuclear destruction, and led to the anti-Islamic basis of American policy since 9-11. Through the close examination of key primary and secondary sources, writing assignments, and class discussions and presentations, students will learn to think, speak, and write critically about the geopolitical, economic, cultural, ideological, and domestic forces that shape American foreign relations to this day.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-23
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Tuesday/Thursday.
This is a course about how to think, write, and read philosophically. Samples of classic philosophical writings in existentialism on topics such as free will, personal identity, subjective value, the existence of God, and the meaning of human existence will be the launching pads for students’ oral and written analysis. Philosophical and literary texts in addition to class discussions will be used to encourage close scrutiny of underlying assumptions, logical progression, and how well claims are substantiated. By noting the strengths and weaknesses in the arguments of others and practicing the skill of philosophical argumentation, students will be better able to navigate through the thickets of challenges arising from everyday living as persons of careful thought and considered action.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-24
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
This course is designed to be an introduction to key concepts in the study of the fantastic, a
fundamental analytic category in several scholarly disciplines, including literature, psychology,
anthropology, art, and religion. Privileging a religious studies perspective, we will specifically
focus on theoretical approaches to studying supernatural beings in a broad range of traditions
that includes Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Shintoism, Christianity, Afro-Caribbean and Native
American religions. Aside from gaining a basic understanding of how each of these traditions
has interpreted the classifications of god, ghost, and monster, we will also explore how ideas of
the supernatural are manifested in materiality, narrative, visual objects, and other arenas of
human culture. The course serves as a gateway to studying other topics in the HPSS
department. As such, it encourages students to improve their critical reading skills and develop
strategies for effective persuasive writing.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-25
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
You may register for this section if your EFS studio days are Monday/Wednesday/Friday.
The discipline of anthropology is in many ways defined by its reliance on ethnography, a term which can refer to both the method and product of anthropological research. Good ethnographic writing and research collects and disseminates powerful images. They are often presented as striking written vignettes designed to bring distant readers into worlds both strange and familiar. Along with an exploration of this type of visual writing, this course will prioritize visual approaches to ethnography, including sketches, photographs, comics, and film. The aim of this course is to familiarize students with the role of visual thinking in the anthropological canon, the theory used to interpret ethnographic images, and the practice of producing these types of images. Throughout the course, students will keep a handwritten journal/sketchbook to record observations from life. A final essay will draw from these observations with the theory and concepts we learn in class.
Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-26
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to be an introduction to key concepts in the study of the fantastic, a fundamental analytic category in several scholarly disciplines, including literature, psychology, anthropology, art, and religion. Privileging a religious studies perspective, we will specifically focus on theoretical approaches to studying supernatural beings in a broad range of traditions that includes Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Shintoism, Christianity, Afro-Caribbean and Native American religions. Aside from gaining a basic understanding of how each of these traditions has interpreted the classifications of god, ghost, and monster, we will also explore how ideas of the supernatural are manifested in materiality, narrative, visual objects, and other arenas of human culture. The course serves as a gateway to studying other topics in the HPSS department. As such, it encourages students to improve their critical reading skills and develop strategies for effective persuasive writing.
Open to transfer students.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S101-27
TOPICS: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, & THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
We seem to encounter psychology often and in many different ways in our daily lives. Yet, what truly does the field of psychology consist of? And how does the field define and describe who we are? In this course, we will explore “personality” from the perspective of major psychological theories and research. We will consider how different areas of psychology explain how personality is developed and what different aspects of our personality are related to other aspects of our lives. While reviewing several key topics and research studies in personality psychology, this course aims to cultivate skills in critical thinking, reading, analysis, research, and writing. Throughout the course, there will be a variety of assignments that will support students in writing a paper on a psychological topic.
Major Requirement | BFA
HPSS S139-01
DIGITAL CULTURE: HOW COMPUTERS TOOK OVER THE WORLD
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course provides a framework for understanding how and why digital technology came to define the modern world. We will first explore the history of “reasoning” machines from ancient automata to analogue computers, before turning to modern digital media. Readings will contextualize the past 100 years of digital history, introducing students to the cultural legacy of the personal computer, the internet, and AI. We’ll ask: how are computers unlike other technologies? How does digital media shape our perceptions? And how much of culture can we capture in data? Students will produce weekly reading responses, give oral presentations, and complete a final research project.
Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students.
Elective
HPSS S173-01
FROM OPIUM TO ATOMIC BOMB: THE MAKING OF MODERN EAST ASIA
SECTION DESCRIPTION
East Asia has the largest population and one of the most vital economies in the world today. While serving as an economic powerhouse, the region also faces persistent social, cultural, and political challenges. Many of those challenges, such as the tension on the Korean peninsula and across the Taiwan strait, could be traced to the earlier history. This course provides an introduction to the histories of East Asia over the last four centuries. It would examine significant events in the region's history, including the encounter with the West, colonialism and imperialism, the rise of nationalism and Communist revolution, decolonization, World War Two, and the impact of the Cold War. We will explore the historical forces behind the changes of East Asian politics, society and cultures. Furthermore, through analyzing the historical complexity of East Asian affairs, we hope to contribute to the fostering of a peaceful, rational, and dynamic mechanism in the region.
Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students
Elective
HPSS S198-01
CAPITALISM & THE ENVIRONMENT: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
The field of sociology was born out of the vast disruptions to traditional social relationships occasioned by the emergence of capitalism. These societal transformations have touched every aspect of human life, and it is also the case that the rise of capitalism has fundamentally transformed humans' relationship with the natural environment. This course focuses on the latter transformations and explores both classical and contemporary sociological literature on the topic with the guiding question of whether capitalism and earth's natural systems can sustainably co-exist. Students will complete four two-page application-focused response papers spaced throughout the semester and will complete an analytical project related to the rise, fall, and toxic legacy of Gorham Manufacturing Company in Providence, RI.
Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students
Elective
HPSS S214-01
TIBETAN BUDDHISM & THE ART OF HAPPINESS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to invite students on an exploratory journey to the basics of Buddhist history, culture, philosophy, psychology, ethics, and logic in the part of the world known as Tibet. Through the in-depth study, the students will acquire a more profound understanding of the Buddhist worldview. The course will examine Buddhism's origins, the chronology of its introduction into Tibet, and influential figures and events in its development over the past 1500 years. Students will be invited to explore fundamental Buddhist teachings and practices to achieve well-being, meditation, enlightenment, and happiness. Specific attention will be given to how Buddhist forms of compassion, meditation, and wisdom traditions can contribute to peace and happiness in a chaotic and politically conflicted world. The course will conclude with an analysis of the rapidly growing interest in Buddhism in the west, for example, its potential for neuroscientific research on mind-body connections. Note: Students should understand that this is a course exploring one of the world's great belief systems and should be viewed as a course in religious studies, not a religion course. Therefore, there will not be any form of proselytizing, and there is no expectation for students to adopt Buddhism as their belief system.
Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students
Elective
HPSS S219-01
UNDERSTANDING MODELS OF DIS/ABILITY
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This class will provide an overview of models of dis/ability (e.g.: Moral/religious, Medical, Social, Critical theory and Bio-psychosocial). We will explore the schools of thought that these models developed from through theoretical and illustrative readings and movies. Throughout the class we will investigate how these models influenced thinking about dis/ability and the subsequent program and policies that developed from this thinking. A recurring theme of this class will be to understand the intersection of gender, dis/ability, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students
Elective
HPSS S224-01
EARLY NEW ENGLAND: POWER AND IDENTITY
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This lecture course will consider the history of the New England region from colonization to the American Civil War. Students will encounter three main stories:
(1) the construction of racial and political identity through conflict and war, from the Pequot War of the 1630s to the Civil War of the 1860s
(2) the struggle between slavery and freedom over roughly the same period
(3) the interaction between material factors and ideas in shaping society and culture in the 1600s through 1800s.
We will discuss major indigenous groups, their presence long before English settlement and their continuing survival; the complicated legacies of Puritan politics and thought; how the major wars between indigenous people and Anglo settlers drove the institutionalization of slavery, imperialism, and even the Salem witch trials; transformations in political economy; the rise and fall of African enslavement in the region; Black and indigenous experiences in the American Revolution; early 19th century labor, reform, abolitionist and feminist social movements; Bostonian hegemony; and New England’s radically shifting relationships with the Atlantic World, North America, and the early United States. Through readings, class discussions, written work and examinations students will improve their skills in engaging history as an analytical discipline.
Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students
Elective
HPSS S226-01
MODERN AMERICAN HISTORY
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course serves as a survey of U.S. history since the Civil War, as well as an introduction to history as a discipline. The class discussions, readings, and assignments will track three major stories: the restructuring of national power in relation to American society and the world; the dramatic transformation of the American economy; and the redefinition of national identity and belonging along racial, gender, class, and other lines of differentiation. The overarching theme of these three interlocking stories is the contested promise of American freedom, from the aftermath of the Civil War, Reconstruction and the Plains Wars to the elections of Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden. This course will familiarize students with fundamental skills for historical work, aiming to empower them to understand and contest historical narrative and to use historical reasoning in other life contexts.
Prerequisite: HPSS-S101 for Undergraduate Students.
Elective