Human society evolves through our interactions with the natural environment. Many of the environmental challenges today derive from the industrialization and urbanization process around the globe in the past three millennia. Focusing on the region of East Asia, this course examines key environmental issues in both historical and contemporary contexts. We will start with discussing people's perception of nature in pre-industry East Asia and its relevance today. Then we will take a closer look at major disasters in recent history, such as draught, flood, earthquake, and plague, and examine how civil societies and state powers responded to those challenges. On infrastructure enthusiasm, we will study the proliferation of mega concrete dams and their environmental and human tolls. On industrial pollution and health, we will focus on the tragedies of mercury poisoning and black lung cancer. In the rapid urbanization process, how the changes of land use and our life style have reshaped our relations with the environment. In the battle with climate change and environmental injustice, how do we evaluate the role of bottom-up environmental activism and authoritarian environmentalism? Exploring those issues would help us contextualize the intimate connections between nature, culture, economy, and political powers in East Asia and thus deepen our understanding of this region's role in global sustainability. This course requires students to do weekly assigned readings, engaging in class discussions, writing short reflection essays, and doing a final research project.

Elective

Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences is an introductory course in which students are encouraged to develop the skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing that are common to the disciplines represented in the Department of History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences (HPSS). Sections focus on the topics typically addressed within the department's disciplines; through discussion about key texts and issues, students are introduced to important disciplinary methodologies and controversies. All sections have frequent writing assignments, which, combined with substantial feedback from HPSS faculty, afford students the opportunity to develop the strategies and techniques of effective writing. There are no waivers for HPSS-S101 except for transfer students who have taken an equivalent college course.


Major Requirement | BFA

Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences is an introductory course in which students are encouraged to develop the skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing that are common to the disciplines represented in the Department of History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences (HPSS). Sections focus on the topics typically addressed within the department's disciplines; through discussion about key texts and issues, students are introduced to important disciplinary methodologies and controversies. All sections have frequent writing assignments, which, combined with substantial feedback from HPSS faculty, afford students the opportunity to develop the strategies and techniques of effective writing. There are no waivers for HPSS-S101 except for transfer students who have taken an equivalent college course.

Transfer and upper-level students should register for one of the evening sections.

Major Requirement | BFA

Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences is an introductory course in which students are encouraged to develop the skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing that are common to the disciplines represented in the Department of History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences (HPSS). Sections focus on the topics typically addressed within the department's disciplines; through discussion about key texts and issues, students are introduced to important disciplinary methodologies and controversies. All sections have frequent writing assignments, which, combined with substantial feedback from HPSS faculty, afford students the opportunity to develop the strategies and techniques of effective writing. There are no waivers for HPSS-S101 except for transfer students who have taken an equivalent college course.

Major Requirement | BFA

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 robots 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 artificial intelligence. 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 write weekly reading responses, give oral presentations, and complete a final research project.

Elective

Violence threatens and impedes human civilization. As the world becomes more connected through high-speed internet, artificial intelligence, and the global economy, people's peace of mind and inner connection may get less attention. Someone who lacks the understanding and practice of peace and nonviolence may resort to violence when conflict arises in our competitive world. Above all, even a single act of violence may cause long-lasting harm to society. But, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, we can choose: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation." Unlike outbursts of violence, peace and nonviolence require creative study, practice, effort, and courage. Thus, the study of nonviolence and peace is emerging as a critically important field of scholarship, research, and training in both academic and non-academic settings. This course aims to provide introductory but crucial knowledge in the field of Nonviolence and Peace Studies. The course focuses on philosophical, social, and psychological factors contributing to violence and the creation of peace and nonviolence, particularly relevant to personal, interpersonal, and global mental health and well-being. Students will learn about ancient and modern nonviolence and peace philosophies and well-known thinkers, including Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Maha Ghosananda, and Aung San Suu Kyi. We will also explore nonviolent strategies and tactics applied to social change movements, and contemporary research studies on nonviolence and peace. Course assignments will include applied learning opportunities to personal and community settings of violence and peacebuilding. Students must demonstrate comprehension of fundamental philosophy and practice perspectives of nonviolence and peace. This course employs a cooperative group study format focused on a problem-based learning approach to peacebuilding. The semester will conclude with a group presentation by the students on a selected personal or social issue and its remedy through nonviolent interventions.

Elective

The question, What is the meaning of life? is unclear in large measure because the word "meaning" is ambiguous. The various ways "meaning" can be construed, both objectively and subjectively, in everyday life and in the philosophical arena will be explored. Literature, film, and philosophical texts will be used as vehicles to illuminate how reflection, experience, and transitions through life's stages influence assignment of value to one's existence.

Elective

This course examines the historical, social, and cultural interrelationships between cities, regions, and food systems.  How have urban regions produced, processed, and distributed food across space and time?  How have foodways influenced public and private life?  Major course topics will include the meanings of food in human societies; the role of science and technology in nutrition and diet; food security and sovereignty; sustainability and resilience in food systems; and community-based food planning and policy governance.

Elective

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.

Elective

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.

Elective

China has been undergoing tremendous changes in the modern era. This course explores the Chinese political and social transformations from the beginning of the Qing Dynasty until today. After a broad survey of modern Chinese history in the past four centuries, including the Manchu conquest, the Nationalist Revolution, the Communist Revolution, the Great Famine, the Cultural Revolution, and the Reform and opening-up era, we will take a closer look at the political and social structure, one-child policy, frontier/ethnic issue, urban/rural discrepancy and other issues in modern China. Through readings and discussions, this course will deepen our understanding of China from a critical as well as an empathetic perspective.

Elective

We live in a complex social and physical world. The goal of this course is to examine how we perceive, process, and use information to interact with the world around us, and how our social partners impact our thinking. Using examples from research with animals and from across the human lifespan, we will explore topics such as attention, learning, memory, and categorization. For example, how does the way your dog approach problem solving differ from what you do? We will also examine each of these topics from a social lens, understanding how mental processes can be influenced by others. This course will help you better understand your own thinking, applying your own experiences to discussions, readings, and experimental design.

Elective

Welcome to The Art of Healing.  We will begin with a general overview and introduction to counseling techniques, with specific attention to the therapeutic applications of art making. Students will be introduced to the foundational aspects of art therapy, creative expression and the use of art media to treat both emotional and physical illness.  

This is an experiential course that will emphasize practice as well as didactic information. This course will review how the creative arts can be used in the counseling process, focusing on music, dance and movement, imagery, visual arts, literature and writing.   Students will be provided information on the history, rationale, and benefits of using artistic methods, as well as trends in the use of the arts in counseling. Course meetings include lectures, class discussions, films, and peer exchanges. 

Elective

How and why does fear motivate human action? In what ways do we try to address the effects of fear, both individually and collectively? How do things like morality and religion inform our solutions to the problem(s) of fear? To what extent do concepts such as virtue or ethics hold up in the face of fear? In this class we will use literature from the horror genre as well as excerpts from select philosophers, to address these questions. In addressing these questions, this course speaks to how both the horror genre specifically and literature more generally aid philosophy in its attempt to help us understand important aspects of the human experience.

Elective

What is the study of ethics? What does it mean to be moral? What do we owe ourselves, our communities, and our world? Why does it matter? In this course, students will explore what it means to live ethically according to a range of philosophical texts and thinkers. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to think critically about the terms of specific ethical debates, as well as the social, cultural, and economic frameworks that shape them. Students will be challenged to engage with ethics not simply as a tradition, but as a praxis that extends beyond the classroom into our everyday lives. The course will include lectures, discussions, and student presentations. In addition to three short papers, students will develop a final project investigating ethics within their own areas of interest.

A version of this course was taught previously as an S101: Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences. If you took this topic as your S101, please do not enroll in this course.

Elective

What is the study of ethics? What does it mean to be moral? What do we owe ourselves, our communities, and our world? Why does it matter? In this course, students will explore what it means to live ethically according to a range of philosophical texts and thinkers. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to think critically about the terms of specific ethical debates, as well as the social, cultural, and economic frameworks that shape them. Students will be challenged to engage with ethics not simply as a tradition, but as a praxis that extends beyond the classroom into our everyday lives. The course will include lectures, discussions, and student presentations. In addition to three short papers, students will develop a final project investigating ethics within their own areas of interest.

A version of this course was taught previously as an S101: Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences. If you took this topic as your S101, please do not enroll in this course.

Elective

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.

Elective

Ever feel sleepy or sleep deprived? Been to a city that never sleeps? As our immediate worlds speed faster and faster, and work becomes 24/7, this course asks what role do sleep, rest, and dreams play in our societies today? This course examines the social dimensions of resting or sleeping in different cultures across the world. It will introduce students to anthropological studies of sleep and dreaming. We will think through sleep science, psychologies related to sleep, religious stances on sleep, and the economics of sleep from a social science perspective.

As artists and designers we will also brainstorm about the ways in which sleep objects and environments affect sleep and rest. Students will produce comparative studies of sleep environments and practices across cultures. As with most anthropological courses, special attention will be paid to questions of equity, rights, and cross-cultural understandings. Contrary to popular expectation there will be no napping in this course.

Elective

Tradwives, alpha males, clean girls, femboys, bimbos…There is a seemingly endless supply of labels for contemporary versions of femininity and masculinity, all with their own norms, aesthetics, and critics. This course acts as an introduction to gender studies through the modern internet’s taxonomy of gendered labels. We will learn about the systems of power that led these trendy genders to emerge, how they relate to race, economy, and sexuality, and how they challenge and uphold structures of domination. Using feminist and queer theory, we'll analyze digital objects like TikToks and memes as we think critically about the present and future of gender.

Elective

This course presents Indigenous-produced, -directed, and -acted productions from all over the world. It provides a cultural and artistic framework for world Indigenous filmmaking and centers classic cinema and film pieces that are foundational works. Through lectures, screenings, discussion, project work, and guest speakers the students will learn how to identify various narratives, aesthetics, styles, approaches and delivery of story from indigenous groups from around the world.

Elective