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THINK 1: The Science of MythBusters

How do scientists actually go about answering practical questions? How does science function as a way of understanding our world, and -- importantly -- how does it differ from other approaches?nnAs its point of departure, this course will examine and critique selected episodes of the television series, MythBusters (Discovery Channel), which tests the validity of many popular beliefs, including myths, rumors, traditions, and stories, in a variety of imaginative ways. We will take the opportunity to delve more deeply into the applicability of the scientific method in understanding a vast range of real-world problems, and into the practical acquisition of fact-based knowledge, which together form the cornerstone of all science. The intellectual framework of this course will be based, first and foremost, on skeptical inquiry, combined with the other key ingredients of good science, which include: careful experimental design, meticulous observation and measurement, quantitative analysis and modeling, the evaluation of statistical significance, recovery from failure, and the continuous cycle of hypothesis and testing. We hope to inculcate in our students " a taste for questioning, a sense of observation, intellectual rigor, practice with reasoning, modesty in the face of facts, the ability to distinguish between true and false, and an attachment to logical and precise language. " (Yves Quéré, 2010 Science 330:605).
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-AQR, WAY-SMA

THINK 2: The Art of Living

Where do our ideals for living come from, and how should they be structured? How do we justify them in the face of criticism? What role do great works of art play in this creative process?nnnOur lives are not simply given to us, but also something we make: as we examine the circumstances of our existence, recognizing certain facts as immutable and others as subject to our control, each of us faces the challenge of fashioning out of them a way of living that is both meaningful and justifiable. The Art of Living will explore different ways to think about the nature of that challenge ¿ how to accommodate conflicting demands and values, how to make our choices ¿artfully,¿ how we might use works of imaginative literature to inspire us. We will read important works of literature and philosophy, each of which implies a different value by which to live, whether reason, authenticity, community, art, or faith. In each case, you will be presented with different perspectives and asked to work out for yourself what you find most persuasive, thereby fine-tuning skills essential to your own lifelong project of self-construction.
Last offered: Autumn 2012 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER

THINK 3: Breaking Codes, Finding Patterns

Why are humans drawn to making and breaking codes? To what extent is finding patterns both an art and a science? nnnCryptography has been used for millennia for secure communications, and its counterpart, cryptanalysis, or code breaking, has been around for just slightly less time. In this course we will explore the history of cryptography and cryptanalysis including the Enigma code, Navajo windtalkers, early computer science and the invention of modern Bayesian inference. We will try our own hand at breaking codes using some basic statistical tools for which no prior experience is necessary. Finally, we will consider the topic of patterns more generally, raising such questions as why we impute meaning to patterns, such as Biblical codes, and why we assume a complexity within a pattern when it¿s not there, such as the coincidence of birthdays in a group.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-AQR, WAY-FR
Instructors: ; Holmes, S. (PI)

THINK 4: Can the People Rule?

How did our ideas about democracy as a universal norm evolve from a term once used to describe a handful of ancient Greek city-states? Would American democracy function better if we applied ancient practices that allowed the people to rule more directly and knowledgeably?nnnnIn this course, we will explore the idea of democracy through the experience of the American republic, focusing on the constitutional experiments of the Revolutionary era and the 19th-century democracy analyzed by Alexis de Tocqueville. We then address contemporary criticisms voiced against many democracies today: that the public is not well informed and therefore incapable of governing. You will read and learn to draw on major works of political theory to think critically about the complexities of American democracy. You will also be asked to participate in a two-week experiment in Deliberative Polling, which involves gathering citizens in random groups to study and discuss issues. Through this exercise, you will explore whether this structure might offer an attractive or complementary alternative to representative rule.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, WAY-SI

THINK 5: Constituting Justice

How does justice incorporate the ideals of freedom, equality, and security? How are these ideals balanced against each other? How are they made concrete in the U.S. Constitution and law? nnnIn this course we consider three core ideals that animate the idea of justice: freedom, equality, and security. We explore the relationship between these different concepts through an interdisciplinary inquiry that includes political philosophy, history, and law. In your reading, writing, and thinking, you will move between the realm of abstract ideas and actual legal cases. We begin with the philosophical roots of the ideals of freedom, equality, and security, and then focus on their articulation in the U.S. Constitution and the overarching U.S. legal framework. Students will learn to analyze the distinctive challenges posed to the ideals of freedom, equality, and security by 21st century developments such as the emergence of the internet and the rise of non-state warfare.
Last offered: Autumn 2012 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, WAY-SI

THINK 6: Everyday Life: How History Happens

To what extent can individuals¿ daily actions influence world events, and to what extent are individuals influenced by world events? nnnThis course investigates the relationship between private lives and public affairs. We will trace how small acts contribute to global change and, in turn, how global change can shape one¿s sense of self. We will explore the shifting mentalities of individuals during the most dramatic transformations in 20th century Europe ¿ World War I, communist revolution, the rise of Nazism, World War II, the Holocaust, and the Cold War. Through analysis of memoirs, diaries, essays, novels, and state documents, you will examine how social and political developments can reveal the very boundaries between self and society. To make this exploration more personal, you will develop a fictional persona that you will keep throughout the quarter through which you explore the everyday workings behind momentous change.
Last offered: Autumn 2012 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 7: Journeys

Is death final or only the beginning of another journey? How do the mysteries of destination give rise to our most basic questions of purpose, meaning, and faith, and challenge us to consider our proper relation to others?nnn nnJourneys will examine works written across a span of some 2,300 years, from Chinese philosophy to American short stories. Each of these forms and genres presents some essential aspect of the journey we all share, and of the various passages we make within that one great journey that relentlessly challenge and transform us even as we advance toward what the poet Thomas Gray called our "inevitable hour." By reading, discussing, and interpreting these works, we will ask you to consider how each text compels us, by the penetration of its vision and the power of its art, to make part of our own journey in its company.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER

THINK 8: Sustainability and Collapse

What does it mean to live sustainably? How do our different definitions of nature ¿ scientific, literary, cultural, and historical ¿ shape the way we answer that question? nnnSustainability and Collapse will explore what people in different places and periods of time have envisioned as successful ways of living with nature and how such ways of life have come under pressure. We will focus particularly on the interface between scientific and humanistic approaches to questions of environmental sustainability through a study of novels, historical texts, and works of biogeography. You will learn to ask how textual and visual images inform our ideas about what it means to live sustainably. We will then consider whether those ideas are in accordance with or in conflict with scientific understandings of human uses of nature. This course takes on some of the fundamental problems that presently confront our global community.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II

THINK 9: Technological Visions of Utopia

How do science and technology shape the frameworks for imagining utopian or dystopian societies? nnnSir Thomas More gave a name to the philosophical ideal of a ¿good society¿ ¿ a word that is now a part of common language: utopia. In the almost 500 years since More¿s Utopia appeared, changes in society ¿ including enormous advances in science and technology ¿ have opened up new possibilities for the utopian society that More and his predecessors could not have envisioned. At the same time science and technology also entail risks that suggest more dystopian scenarios ¿ in their most extreme form, threats to humanity¿s very survival. We will look at several works that consider how literary visions of society have evolved with the progress of science and technology. The readings begin with More and include examples of more technologically determined visions of the late 20th century, as imagined in works of fiction.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER

THINK 10: Voyages and Visionaries

How did cross-cultural contact between Europe and Asia in the pre-modern era produce our modern concept of civilization? nnIn this course we examine five moments of intellectual encounter in the pre-modern era among civilizations of the eastern hemisphere, including India and China and what we now call the Middle East. Through the eyes of scholars, pilgrims, and missionaries, you will learn to map the itineraries of early travelers and to analyze their experiences from a comparative perspective. We will focus on reconstructing the worldviews and geographical imaginations that inform each text with reference to historical maps and images.
Last offered: Autumn 2012 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 11: Bioethical Challenges of New Technology

How might we apply ideas from ethical theory to contemporary issues and debates in biotechnology?nnnThis course will provide critical encounters with some of the central topics in the field of bioethics, with an emphasis on new technologies. Controversies over genetic engineering, stem cell research, reproductive technologies, and genetic testing will provide an opportunity for you to critically assess arguments and evidence. We will begin with an overview of the field and the theoretical approaches to bioethics that have been derived from philosophy. You will then have the opportunity to engage in debate and learn how to identify underlying values and how to apply ideas from ethical theory to contemporary problems.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER
Instructors: ; Magnus, D. (PI)

THINK 12: Century of Violence

What is modern about modern mass violence? nnnThis course explores the evolution, varieties, and logic of mass violence from the early 20th century to the present day. You will engage with and analyze primary accounts of such violence by victims, observers, perpetrators, and courts. We will then consider the effectiveness of various efforts to confront genocides and crimes against humanity in international courts and institutions, past and present. We start with the emergence of genocide as a modern, international issue; proceed with colonial massacres in early 20th century Africa; move to the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire and WWI; Nazi and Nazi-inspired racial murder; communist-induced mass violence in the Soviet Union and Asia; ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia; and end with an examination of the recent genocides in Rwanda, Sudan, and the Middle East.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Weiner, A. (PI)

THINK 13: Epic Journeys

What makes an epic hero? How does the epic poem externalize our quest for identity and self-definition?nnnnThe human quest for identity and self-knowledge is the oldest story of human culture. It almost always involves a confrontation with death. As the epic hero journeys across the physical world and descends into the underworld to visit the dead and seek counsel from them, he gradually comes to understand himself in a deeper, more meaningful way than before he set out on his journey. In this course, you will learn to engage in depth with some of the great epics of the Western tradition, beginning with The Epic of Gilgamesh and ending with Dante's masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. In each case, we will consider the unique goals of each hero's journey and the obstacles he must confront in order to reach his destination, with particular attention to the themes of violence in self and society, exile and alienation, the encounter with ancestors, the female voice, and divine guidance. We will focus on how the hero's search for a moral identity in relation to his community connects to current definitions of the ethical life in relation to political violence, war, honoring the dead, and confronting our mortality.
Last offered: Winter 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 14: From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe: Science, Philosophy and Religion

How and why did the Copernican revolution in astronomy ¿ which placed the Sun at the center of the solar system rather than the earth ¿ have such a profound effect on the relationship between science, philosophy, and religion? How did it ultimately lead to the secularization of modern society?nnnThis course examines the defining moments when western science, philosophy, and religion became disentangled from one another, eventually leading to the development of our modern secular culture. As background for understanding the Copernican revolution and its aftermath, we begin with a brief examination of Plato and Aristotle, and how these two Ancient Greek thinkers were later taken up in the medieval period, resulting in a synthesis in which science, philosophy, and religion were intimately interconnected. Against this background we will then focus on the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries and encounter thinkers who during their lifetimes defied easy categorization: Were Galileo and Newton philosophers or scientists? What about Descartes and Leibniz? In reading texts that we now understand as belonging to one or the other category, we will see how the two disciplines eventually became sharply distinguished from one another ¿ which then led, in turn, to the modern separation between science and religion.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Friedman, M. (PI)

THINK 15: How Does Your Brain Work?

How to learn to formulate questions about the brain that are observable, testable, and answerable? What is the relationship between the biology and chemistry of the brain and the mind that lets us talk, walk, laugh, love, learn, remember, and forget?What might neuroscience reveal about what makes us human? The human brain is the most complex organ known. It has evolved over time by adapting to the various behavioral and environmental constraints. The validity of common beliefs about the brain and the structure of the brain and the nervous system; how the elements of the brain function and how together these units produce action. The brain evolved in response to natural selection like all other biological structures. Evolutionary comparisons that illuminate questions about brain function including: What are the origins and consequences of brain damage, how and where do drugs act, how do you collect information about the world and how do you interpret and understand it? Through interactive lectures and discussions, this course is directed at understanding the biological mechanisms of brain function, from its individual components to functioning brains. Students learn to analyze how the science of the brain has emerged through the study of experiments and other observations. In the final project, studentsl learn to critically assess, analyze, and write about a popular media representation of brain science from available scientific literature.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-SMA
Instructors: ; Fernald, R. (PI)

THINK 16: Is the Universe Just? Explorations in the Classics

What can the Classics teach us about understanding justice and injustice? nnnDo you ask yourself whether your life is controlled more by your own free choices or by your genetic code? Do you worry whether a superpower can function without hubristic arrogance? Do you ponder what constitutes the Good Life? If these sorts of issues are central to your intellectual and personal growth, this course will demonstrate to you that the ancient Mediterranean world was equally consumed with questions about the nature of human society and human existence. We will explore certain recurring themes within classical text such as the relationship between power and gender; gods and humans; innocence and evil. We will read a wide and deep selection of important and influential literary texts from the Near East, Greece, and Rome, spanning from c.2000 BCE to the first century BCE. The readings will include creation texts, epic, lyric, tragedy, and philosophy.
Last offered: Winter 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 17: The Poet Re-Making the World

Can poetry change the world?nnnPoets use form and language to hold up a mirror to the events that change the world and the making of a poem can also be the re-making of a world. We will read and study poetry from different historical, cultural, and poetic traditions, and explore whether something as individual as artistic expression can help us cope with the social and political events that bring suffering and destruction. The course follows the adventures of the individual poet: from a young man caught in the trenches of the First World War, to a Japanese haiku master of the 17th century, to an American Beat, to an English woman trapped in the conventions of her time, to a contemporary U.S. soldier in Iraq. Poets show us the many similarities, as well as rich cultural differences, between us all.
Last offered: Winter 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 18: Rebellious Daughters and Filial Sons of the Chinese Family

How has the family been broken, preserved, and reinvented in the fast-changing world of revolution and modernization?nnnnRebellious Daughters and Filial Sons of the Chinese Family follows the theme of the Chinese family in fiction and film to investigate the core values that hold it together in the midst of great historical change. You will learn to interpret both fiction and film as visual and textual narratives that illuminate the multiple aspects of family and community. We will explore how modernization, colonialism, revolution, war, and immigration disrupt traditional home and family. Through film and text, we will discover the various poignant attempts to rebuild family relations in the midst of such dislocation. As you embark on your college education and take leave of your own families, you might start to consider how your familial ties shape your concept of self, your emotional attachment to community, social relationships with society, and political consciousness.
Last offered: Winter 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 19: Rules of War

When, if ever, is war justified? How are ethical norms translated into rules that govern armed conflict? Are these rules still relevant in light of the changing nature of warfare? nnnWe will examine seminal readings on just war theory, investigate the legal rules that govern the resort to and conduct of war, and study whether these rules affect the conduct of states and individuals. We will examine alternative ethical frameworks, competing disciplinary approaches to war, and tensions between the outcomes suggested by ethical norms, on the one hand, and legal rules, on the other. Students will engage actively with these questions by participating in an interactive role-playing simulation, in which they will be assigned roles as government officials, advisors, or other actors. The class will confront various ethical, legal, and strategic problems as they make decisions about military intervention and policies regarding the threat and use of force in an international crisis.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, WAY-SI

THINK 20: Ultimate Meanings: The Stories Buddhists Tell

Does human existence have some ultimate meaning or purpose? What are we here for, and how should we live our lives? Can the stories used by the world¿s religions help us answer these questions? nnnFor a religion which teaches that we have no selves, Buddhism has produced many great stories with many great characters. In this course students will read and think about some of these stories, drawn from the Buddhist tradition in the many forms which it developed as it spread across Asia. We will look at the biography of the founder, the Buddha, the tales of his previous lives, the stories of his disciples, and of later saints and heroes, religious practitioners and ordinary folk. In reading these stories we will investigate how they elaborate a persuasively constructed world of meaning in terms of which people can make sense of their own personal histories, and from which they can learn how to lead a good and meaningful life.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors: ; Harrison, P. (PI)

THINK 21: Folklore and Literature in Russia and Beyond: Vampires, Talking Cats, and Frog Princesses

What is ¿folklore¿ and what is its purpose? How do we decide if something is authentically ¿folk¿ and does it matter? Why are Eastern Europe and Russia associated with the idea of folklore?nnnFor the past two centuries, elite writers, composers, and artists have found inspiration in the stories, songs, and beliefs of their grandparents, their servants (or their slaves), and their neighbors. This class asks what ¿folklore¿ means and what purposes ¿ political and philosophical as well as artistic ¿ it can serve. We begin with examples from around the world: the German Brothers Grimm as well as the Americans Alan and John Lomax. Then we turn to Eastern Europe and the role it has played in the Western European and American imagination as the home of the archaic and the authentic, from the vampires of Transylvania to the oral epics of the Bosnian Serbs to the nostalgic idea of the Jewish shtetl to the fantasy of Soviet communism as a survival of a pre-capitalist order. Students will analyze both folk and elite texts, and will experiment with gathering oral texts and transforming them just as the writers we study did.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Safran, G. (PI)

THINK 22: Who Owns the Past? Archaeology, Heritage and Global Conflicts

Who owns the past? Is cultural heritage a universal right?nnThis course interrogates the relationship between the past and the present through archaeology. Increasingly, heritage sites are flash points in cultural, economic, and religious conflicts around the globe. Clearly history matters ¿ but how do certain histories come to matter in particular ways, and to whom? Through close study of important archaeological sites, you will learn to analyze landscapes, architecture, and objects, as well as reflect on the scholarly and public debates about history and heritage around the world. Far from being a neutral scholarly exercise, archaeology is embedded in the heated debates about heritage and present-day conflicts.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Hodder, I. (PI)

THINK 23: The Cancer Problem: Causes, Treatments, and Prevention

How has our approach to cancer been affected by clinical observations, scientific discoveries, social norms, politics, and economic interests?nnnApproximately one in three Americans will develop invasive cancer during their lifetime; one in five Americans will die as a result of this disease. This course will expose you to multiple ways of approaching the cancer problem, including laboratory research, clinical trials, population studies, public health interventions, and health care economics. We will start with the 18th century discovery of the relationship between coal tar and cancer, and trace the role of scientific research in revealing the genetic basis of cancer. We will then discuss the development of new treatments for cancer as well as measures to screen for and prevent cancer, including the ongoing debate over tobacco control. Using cancer as a case study, you will learn important aspects of the scientific method including experimental design, data analysis, and the difference between correlation and causation. You will learn how science can be used and misused with regard to the public good. You will also learn about ways in which social, political, and economic forces shape our knowledge about and response to disease.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-AQR, WAY-SMA
Instructors: ; Lipsick, J. (PI)

THINK 24: Evil

What is evil? Are we naturally good or evil? How should we respond to evil?nnThere are many books and courses that focus on the good life or the virtues. Yet despite their obvious apparent presence in our life and world, evil and the vices are rarely taken as explicit topics. We will read philosophical and literary texts that deal with the question of evil at an abstract level and then use other readings that help us focus on more practical implications of the meaning and consequences of evil. By exploring the issue of evil, we will confront larger questions about the nature of humans, the responsibility to address evil as a society, and the moral and ethical ways we might begin to define what is evil.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER

THINK 25: Evolution on Earth

How does evolution, the foundation of biology, underlie the diversification of life on earth? What are the mechanisms of evolution, and how are they discovered and explored? What are the practical implications of evolution for agriculture, medicine, and the future of life on earth?nnnThe history of life on earth is inextricably intertwined with the history of geological change on earth. Early ideas about biological evolution came from young people who went on wild adventures. Their observations generated ideas about what must have happened; but since, at the time, little was known about the mechanisms of inheritance, they were never to know how it happened. In time, two major advances came along: a much more comprehensive fossil record that substantiated many of their ideas, and a deep understanding of genetic mechanisms of inheritance. In parallel, the idea of geologic forms as dynamic, especially volcanic eruptions and plate tectonics, provided a new narrative of earth history that informed ideas about spreading and changing life forms. Then mechanisms of developmental biology showed how inherited genes carry out recipes for building bodies with certain structures. nnnWe will examine evolution from scientific, historical, and artistic perspectives, including evolution of microbes, plants, animals, and humans, and implications of evolution for medicine. The course will include introductory lectures, some in class and some online, discussion sessions, and three team projects for each student. Student teams will examine topics of their choosing in depth and create reports that will be assembled into a comprehensive book.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-SMA
Instructors: ; Scott, M. (PI)

THINK 26: How Do You Build a Nation? Inclusion and Exclusion in the Making of Modern Iran

Why were minority religious groups excluded from the majority's vision of a Shi'i Iranian nation? How and when were women included as citizens of a new Iran? nnIn this course, specific attention will be paid to key events of the 20th century that shaped modern Iran: the Constitutional Revolution (1905-11), the 1953 coup, the White Revolution (1963), the Islamic Revolution (1978-79), the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), and the post-revolutionary period in general. Through a close reading of key poems, short stories, and films created in this period, this course will identify major inclusionary and exclusionary forces in the process of nation-building in 20th-century Iran. Specific attention will be paid to issues of ethnicity, religion, and gender. In addition to reading texts (poetry and prose) and watching films, students will be called on to present critiques of these literary and cinematic products in the form of brief oral presentations and short writing assignments. The final project will involve interviewing Iranian expatriates on issues covered in the lectures. Students will work in small groups to produce short videos of these interpersonal encounters.
Last offered: Spring 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 27: Human Rights and Humanitarianism

Why do certain governments and citizens feel obliged to ease the suffering of distant people in need? How did the humanitarian sensibilities and human rights discourses that now define global politics come into being?nnnnIn this course, you will consider how contemporary ethical motivations for human rights and humanitarianism have developed. We will investigate the emergence and transformation of these ideas through the study of key historical events in the modern world ¿ slavery and its abolition, colonialism, the World Wars, apartheid, decolonization, and the Cold War. We will then consider how this longer history has influenced the ways activists, NGOs, and governments today draw attention to global crises and abuses. Our ultimate objective is to gain an understanding of how the language and ideals of human rights and humanitarianism emerged from the context of liberalism, capitalism, and imperialism.
Last offered: Spring 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 28: Media and Message

How do different media embody information? What are the implications for the ways we understand the world and our place in it?nnVisual media are conduits for information and narrative but are experienced very differently. We will explore a range of historical and contemporary media, with an emphasis on the ways that different media present, organize, and structure information as forms that are ¿read¿ or experienced. You will be asked to compare, for example, how different media explore the same or similar content: examples might be viewing the film version of Hellboy as compared to reading the comic book, or considering how a historical event such as the D-Day landings is understood differently via photography, film, and interactive games. We start with considerations of the illuminated book, print, painting, and photography and move to the more recent cinema, television, and interactive and computational media.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II

THINK 29: Networks: Ecological, Revolutionary, Digital

Why is the word network used to describe the behavior of computers, ants, and people? Do all these networks share certain properties? What might we learn by comparing them?nnnWe like to think of social networks as a contemporary phenomenon. But before Facebook, individuals organized themselves in social networks; before Twitter, revolutionaries used media to communicate and coordinate their messages. In fact, even animal societies are networked. Through project-based exercises, you will learn to study, analyze, and write about networks from the perspectives of a biologist, a computer scientist, and a historian. We will retrace social networks in the 18th and 21st centuries, observe the organization of animal networks, and investigate the structure of online networks. Our goal is to use the concept of the network to deepen our understanding of the natural world, historical change, and our own social lives.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-SI

THINK 30: Race Matters

What are race and ethnicity? How do they shape society and individual experience? What role do they play in identity formation?nnnGoing to school and work, renting an apartment, going to the doctor, watching television, voting, reading books and newspaper, or attending religious services are all activities that are influenced ¿ consciously and unconsciously ¿ by race and ethnicity. In this course, we will draw on scholarship from psychology, genetics, history, and cultural studies to understand contemporary racial formations and cultural representations. We will look at how recent research on the human genome has reinvigorated biological conceptions of race and ethnicity, engage in activities that highlight the psychological consequences of race and ethnicity, and analyze selected race-relevant memes that appear in popular media.
Last offered: Spring 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 31: Reimagining America: Cultural Memory and Identity Since the Civil War

We will focus on how Americans negotiated issues of cultural memory and national identity through a close analysis of historical texts, novels, poems, films, paintings, cartoons, photographs, and music. Our interpretations will foreground the particular themes of race and nationhood; freedom and citizenship; and changing notions of individual and collective identity. Our assumption in this course is that history is not available to us as a set of events - fixed, past, and unchanging. Rather, history is known through each generation's interpretations of those events, and these interpretations are shaped by each generation's lived experience. What stories get told? Whose? And in what ways? The stories we choose to tell about the past can shape not only our understanding of the present, but also the kind of future we can imagine and strive to realize.
Last offered: Spring 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

THINK 32: Subversive Acts: Invention and Convention in the 20th Century

Can art subvert social practice and politics? nnnIn this course, we will learn how to "read" art and analyze the ways aesthetic objects can raise larger conceptual questions about culture, society, and change. We will do this by investigating the broad range of artistic, social, and political meanings of the term "avant-garde" in the 20th century. The course looks at some of the key moments in avant-garde art in Europe, including Dadaism and Futurism, with a particular emphasis on Russia. Through an examination of various aesthetic case studies, we will be able to ask the larger question of whether art can actually challenge social conventions and established political ideologies.
Last offered: Spring 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK

THINK 33: The Water Course

How can we balance all the competing, and growing, demands for freshwater? When you turn on your tap, where does the water come from?nnnWater is essential for life. But, around the world, governments and citizens are challenged to balance the human demands on our freshwater resources, while protecting the integrity of natural ecosystems. At the core of the challenge is our limited understanding, in many parts of the world, of the watershed-scale hydrologic cycle ¿ the course that the water follows from rainfall, to river, to groundwater, to ocean, to atmosphere, and back again. The Water Course takes students along that course, exploring the role that natural systems and human systems play in impacting both the quantity and quality of our freshwater. We will consider questions surrounding decisions about water allocation, and discuss new scientific methods that provide support for science-based decision making in the management of freshwater resources. You will connect global-scale issues to your personal experiences with water through a quarter-long project investigating both water quantity and water quality for a city or watershed in the western U.S. You will produce a numerical model, and make approximations, to describe a complex natural system. Using online resources you will explore the pathway that water takes from rainfall to your tap.
Last offered: Spring 2013 | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-AQR, WAY-SMA

THINK 39: Energy? Understanding the Challenge, Developing Solutions

How much energy do we need to run the world and what energy resources can we use? How do we convert those resources into energy services? What are the economic, environmental, and security costs of energy services? How will energy markets address the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emission? Energy is the lifeblood of human societies. Energy use is intricately woven through the fabric of the productive (and comfortable) lives we live in the developed world. We use energy to move and sometimes make fresh water, grow food, transport it to markets, heat, cool, and light our dwellings and workplaces, communicate and compute, and travel the world. We worry about energy security and fret about the cost of gasoline. And as world population continues to grow and the developing world seeks to use energy for the services we enjoy, the challenge of supplying the energy the world needs will grow commensurately. Energy is also a primary way human activities interact with global air, water, and biological systems that provide essential services to us and the planet. Balancing our interactions with those systems will require dramatic changes to the world¿s energy systems in the decades to come. This course examines the energy challenges, opportunities, and choices that lie ahead.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-AQR

THINK 40: A Transition Toward Sustainability

What are the most critical sustainability challenges facing us in this century? How can natural and social sciences, humanities, and technology fields interact to contribute to their solution? How do we balance the needs and desires of current generations with the needs of future generations?nnThe term ¿sustainability¿ seems to be everywhere. Businesses, cities, non-governmental organizations, individuals, and universities such as Stanford use the term to characterize decisions that make sense for the well-being of people as well as the environment. Beyond the popular use of the term is an emerging field of study that focuses on the goals of sustainable development¿improving human well-being while preserving Earth¿s life support systems (air, water, climate, ecosystems) over the long run¿and explores how science and technology can contribute to the solution of some of the most critical problems of the 21st Century. The goal of this course is to engage you in critical thinking and analysis about complex sustainability challenges and to encourage you to consider the need for integrative solutions that draw on different disciplines. We will examine some of the major problems of sustainable development (including issues related to food, water, and energy resources, climate change, and protection of ecosystem services), grapple with the complexities of problem solving in complex human-environment systems, and participate in the design of effective strategies and policies for meeting sustainability goals. You will learn to develop policy briefs addressing sustainability issues in the university, local communities, state and the nation as well as work on team projects with decision makers that address real-life challenges in your local area.
Terms: Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-SMA

THINK 41: The Conscious Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Consciousness, Memory, and Personal Identity

How do our common-sense conceptions of the mind and of ourselves hold up against the growing body of psychological and neurobiological knowledge of the brain? How is your mental life anchored to your physical self?nnYou wake up from a dreamless sleep and suddenly everything's buzzing with color and sound. Somehow your brain sustains this rich landscape of experience, integrating it with a repertoire of memories to constitute yourself. This course probes the neurobiological bases of these familiar yet miraculous facets of the mind. You'll learn to analyze primary philosophical and scientific texts, using basic knowledge of the brain to assess and even innovate experiments that could shed light on the nature of consciousness and personal identity.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-SMA

THINK 42: Thinking through Africa: Perspectives on Wealth, Well-Being, and Development

What is human well-being? How do we define it? How do we measure it? What do we mean when we talk about certain parts of the world as "developed" and others as "underdeveloped" or "developing"? How do improvements in human well-being come about? In this course, we will explore concepts of wealth and well-being by focusing on the African experience. We will equip you with the tools and techniques of three diverse disciplines "history, political science, and engineering" as you tackle essential questions about the meaning of development and how to measure it, the long-run impact of historical events, the role of politics in the development process, and the challenges of engineering improvements to human well-being. You will tackle primary source documents as we explore the slave trade and colonial rule; you will engage cutting-edge social science as we dissect contemporary trends; and you will learn how engineers are grappling with the importance of the contexts in which they operate. Students will also engage directly with contemporaries at African universities throughout the quarter.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
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