printer friendly pageRELIGST 106: Religion and the Environment: The Moral Meanings of Nature
What does it mean to live in "harmony" with nature? What do humans seek and find in nature and our relationship to it? How have understandings of nature oriented human actions and values and given "place" to humanity in the cosmos? From religious texts to Deep Ecology, American conservationism to Buddhist and Romantic nature poetry, naturalist critics of religion to religious naturalists, and finally debates over the role of religion in dealing with environmental crisis, this course is designed as a general introductory survey of the topic of religion and the environment. It will be guided by the question of how conceptions of nature have been a source of reflection on the goals of life and the ways in which humans are to understand their existential "lot". Readings will include primary texts from major religious traditions, poetry, and scholarly and philosophical texts from figures including, among others, Descartes, Goethe, Nietzsche, J.S. Mill, Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Gary Snyder, and Peter Singer.
Last offered: Autumn 2013
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
RELIGST 119: Gandhi and His Legacy: Violence and Nonviolence in the World and in Ourselves
Gandhi, the pioneer of nonviolent political struggle in the first half of the 20th century, is used as a springboard to study violence more broadly¿what it is, what it does to individuals and societies, how it can be addressed and transformed. Special attention to connections between (non)violence on an individual/personal level and in the larger world. New format includes both academic study and experiential workshops
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Hess, L. (PI)
RELIGST 233: The Ethics of Religious Politics (ETHICSOC 233R)
Is it possible for a deeply committed religious person to be a good citizen in a liberal, pluralistic democracy? Is it morally inappropriate for religious citizens to appeal to the teachings of their tradition when they support and vote for laws that coerce fellow citizens? Must the religiously committed be prepared to defend their arguments by appealing to 'secular reasons' ostensibly accessible to all 'reasonable' citizens? What is so special about religious claims of conscience and expression that they warrant special protection in the constitution of most liberal democracies? Is freedom of religion an illusion when it is left to ostensibly secular courts to decide what counts as religion? Exploration of the debates surrounding the public role of religion in a religiously pluralistic American democracy through the writings of scholars on all sides of the issue from the fields of law, political science, philosophy, and religious studies.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Sockness, B. (PI)
SIMILE 93: Science in the Making Integrated Learning Environment
SIMILE is a new residentially-based program organized around the question of when something we might call "science" identifiably began, what it became, and what it might become. While we may believe that science, technology and medicine represent some of the powerful tools we have for making a difference in the world, SIMILE challenges students to consider these as dynamic and changing fields of knowledge which must be understood in their historical, cultural and social contexts. Only then can we consider how new ideas, interpretations, technological artifacts and systems respond to societal needs within the limits of what is possible but also, importantly, in light of what might even become plausible.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, THINK, WAY-SI, College
Instructors:
Aranda, M. (PI)
;
Findlen, P. (PI)
;
Haring, K. (PI)
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Instructors:
Aranda, M. (PI)
;
Findlen, P. (PI)
;
Haring, K. (PI)
;
McDonough, K. (PI)
;
Proctor, R. (PI)
SLE 92: Structured Liberal Education
Three quarter sequence; restricted to and required of SLE students. Comprehensive study of the intellectual foundations of the western tradition in dialogue with eastern, indigenous, and postcolonial perspectives. The foundations of the modern world, from late antiquity through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution. Authors include Dante, Descartes, Shakespeare, and texts from Chinese and Islamic traditions.
Terms: Win
| Units: 8
| UG Reqs: College, GER:DB-Hum, GER:IHUM-2, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing SLE
Instructors:
Bogucki, M. (PI)
;
Coggeshall, E. (PI)
;
Culverhouse, Z. (PI)
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more instructors for SLE 92 »
Instructors:
Bogucki, M. (PI)
;
Coggeshall, E. (PI)
;
Culverhouse, Z. (PI)
;
Hicks, L. (PI)
;
Landy, J. (PI)
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Lougee, C. (PI)
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Mann, P. (PI)
;
Sabol, J. (PI)
;
Watkins, G. (PI)
SYMSYS 122: Artificial Intelligence: Philosophy, Ethics, & Impact (CS 122)
Recent advances in computing may place us at the threshold of a unique turning point in human history. Soon we are likely to entrust management of our environment, economy, security, infrastructure, food production, healthcare, and to a large degree even our personal activities, to artificially intelligent computer systems. The prospect of "turning over the keys" to increasingly autonomous systems raises many complex and troubling questions. How will society respond as versatile robots and machine-learning systems displace an ever-expanding spectrum of blue- and white-collar workers? Will the benefits of this technological revolution be broadly distributed or accrue to a lucky few? How can we ensure that these systems respect our ethical principles when they make decisions at speeds and for rationales that exceed our ability to comprehend? What, if any, legal rights and responsibilities should we grant them? And should we regard them merely as sophisticated tools or as a newly emerging form of life? The goal of this course is to equip students with the intellectual tools, ethical foundation, and psychological framework to successfully navigate the coming age of intelligent machines.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
Instructors:
Kaplan, J. (PI)
TAPS 12N: To Die For: Antigone and Political Dissent (CLASSICS 17N)
(Formerly
CLASSGEN 6N.) Preference to freshmen. Tensions inherent in the democracy of ancient Athens; how the character of Antigone emerges in later drama, film, and political thought as a figure of resistance against illegitimate authority; and her relevance to contemporary struggles for women's and workers' rights and national liberation. Readings and screenings include versions of
Antigone by Sophocles, Anouilh, Brecht, Fugard/Kani/Ntshona, Paulin, Glowacki, Gurney, and von Trotta.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Rehm, R. (PI)
TAPS 13N: Law and Drama
Preference to Freshmen.Beyond the obvious traits that make a good (court room) drama, theater and jurisprudence have much more in common. Just as drama is engaged not only in entertainment but also in examination of social conventions and mechanisms, so law is not only concerned with dispensing justice but with shaping and maintaining a viable human community. In this class we will read and discuss a series of plays in which court proceedings are at the center of dramatic action and concluding with an investigation of the new genre of documentary drama.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Jakovljevic, B. (PI)
;
Chakrabarti, S. (TA)
TAPS 163D: Shakespeare: The Ethical Challenge (ENGLISH 163D)
Was the eighteenth century right in proclaiming Shakespeare to be the greatest moral philosopher? What are the ethical challenges Shakespeare's major plays still pose for us? Can we divorce ethical decisions from the contingencies of experience? We will ask a series of normative ethical questions (to do with pleasure, power, old age, self-sacrifice, and truth telling) and attempt to answer them in relation to the dramatic situation of Shakespeare's characters on the one hand and our own cultural situation on the other. The ethical challenge of Shakespearean drama will be set against selected readings in ethical theory.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Lupic, I. (PI)
TAPS 180Q: Noam Chomsky: The Drama of Resistance
Preference to sophomores. Chomsky's ideas and work which challenge the political and economic paradigms governing the U.S. Topics include his model for linguistics; cold war U.S. involvements in S.E. Asia, the Middle East, Central and S. America, the Caribbean, and Indonesia and E. Timor; the media, terrorism, ideology, and culture; student and popular movements; and the role of resistance.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Rehm, R. (PI)
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