printer friendly pageTHINK 51: The Spirit of Democracy
This course provides an overview of the challenges and aspirations facing ideals of democracy. It deals both with competing visions of what democracy might be, and their actual realization not only in the US but around the world. It will begin with the debate over the American founding and move eventually to the ¿third wave¿ of democratization around the world in the late 20th century as well as its more recent retrenchment. The problems of democratic reform are continuing and recurrent around the world. Democratic institutions are subject to a living dialogue and we intend to engage the students in these debates¿at the level of democratic theory and at the level of specific institutional designs.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-SI
THINK 52: World of Words
In this course, we define and make sense of the world around us through the words we use. Students will be asked to consider how words are formed, and who chooses what gets accepted into the dictionary. What do words reveal about status, class, race? Why are there so many derogatory words for women, but so few for men? We will enquire about how the words we use have changed over time, both through shifts in meaning, and through the life and death of words. We¿ll seek to discover how different cultures make sense of the world through specific sets of words, but also why the world loses an average of one language every two weeks. We¿ll explore how we create new names for things, from a `refrigerator¿ to `Google¿. We¿ll ask how words function in relation to the Internet, and how coding can be thought of as language. Words are the key to understanding the minds and ideas of a people and in tracing the biographies of words we are able to discern how the world was, is, and might be perceived and described. The course will be structured through a sequence of weekly words that are the starting point for a discussion on a major characteristic of the dynamic and fascinating world of words.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
THINK 53: Food Talks: The Language of Food
In this course, we examine how the ways we talk about food offers us a window into history, psychology, culture and economics. We ask students to think critically about language and taste as well as explore the hidden meanings and influence of the language that surrounds us. Students will analyze the language of food through menus, recipes, Yelp reviews, TV food shows, as well as the history and etymology of food words. Some of our examples will be drawn from East Asian food and culture in addition to, and as a point of contrast with, foods and cultures that may be more familiar to students.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI, THINK, WAY-A-II, College
Instructors:
Carlisle, L. (PI)
;
Ganir, P. (PI)
;
Jurafsky, D. (PI)
...
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Instructors:
Carlisle, L. (PI)
;
Ganir, P. (PI)
;
Jurafsky, D. (PI)
;
Krejci, B. (PI)
;
Matsumoto, Y. (PI)
;
Rodriguez, G. (PI)
THINK 54: 100,000 Years of War
If you had been born 10,000 years ago, the chance that someone would kill you was more than 1 in 10, but if you were born in the twentieth century AD it was more like 1 in 100, despite that century¿s world wars, genocides, and nuclear weapons. In the 2010s, it is just 1 in 150. This course tries to explain this astonishing shift away from violence. We will look at the history of war from the Stone Age to the robot age, including the conflicts of the 2010s; and we will draw on everything from anthropology and archaeology to biology and psychology, as we try to answer one of the biggest questions of all: will there ever be a world without war? Students learn how to approach a big, complex, and often very politicized question in an analytical manner.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-SI
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