1 - 10 of 25 results for: EALC

Ideas matter. Concepts such as progress, technology, and sex, have inspired social movements, shaped political systems, and dramatically influenced the lives of individuals. Others, like cultural relativism and historical memory, play an important role in contemporary debates in the United States. All of these ideas are contested, and they have a real power to change lives, for better and for worse. In this one-unit class we will examine these "dangerous" ideas. Each week, a faculty member from a different department in the humanities and arts will explore a concept that has shaped human experience across time and space.

Under conditions of global environmental change and mass extinction, how will humanity share the planet with wildlife? This course invites undergraduate students to consider this question under the guidance of two biologists and a literary scholar. We will engage with a range of interdisciplinary scholarship on how humans seek to study, understand, exploit, protect, and empathize with charismatic megafauna. We ask how regional differences in culture, political economy, and ecology shape conservation efforts.

This course examines the need for, and approaches to, rebalancing models of innovation-driven economic growth in the broader context of society and sustainability. After an overview of the historical outcomes of previous industrial revolutions, we examine how trends toward increasing social inequality, tension between globalism and isolationism, and greater authoritarianism are exacerbated in the era of digital transformation, comparing different economic systems (e.g. China, India, Japan, and the U.S.) as realized in their socio-political and cultural contexts. We then discuss approaches toward rebalancing existing systems, including metrics for evaluating economic performance, in order to satisfy the imperatives of social, environmental, and economic sustainability.

Students research, write, and present a capstone essay or honors thesis. All EALC undergraduate majors must take this course, be it for the senior capstone essay or honors thesis.

Capstone essay course for EALC students writing a senior capstone essay and/or conducting research with their advisor.