Category: Inside Only Classes

MATH 112/ Precalculous II: Trigonometry/ Professor AJ Rise

CHN 410/510/ Dream of the Red Chamber/ Steve Durrant

Few would dispute the claim that the 18th century masterpiece Dream of the Red Chamber (also known as The Story of the Stone) is the greatest novel to have ever been written in China. The novel can be read primarily as a story of a love triangle, as an account of the decline of a wealthy aristocratic family, as the story of a Peter Pan-like boy who refuses to grow up, as an account of the interactions between Confucianism on the one side and Daoism/Buddhism on the other, as a kind of cosmic drama, as a virtual encyclopedia of Chinese culture in the 18th century, or in all of these ways at once. It is so rich that an entire discipline, known as “Red Studies” (Chinese hongxue 紅學) has developed around this text. For us, reading Dream presents a problem: the novel is approximately 2500 pages in its English translation. Students will read a 320-page abbreviation of the novel and then read a series of sample chapters in their entirety. There will be a considerable amount of reading, perhaps 750 pages, but students will leave the class with a good idea of this novel, and, I hope, an adequate foundation to become true “dreamers” by continuing on to read the entire text, should they wish to, in the years ahead.

GEOG 410/510/ Geography of the Mexican-American Borderland/ Professor Scott Warren

PSY 407/507/ Asking Psychological Questions and Interpreting Psychological Answers/ Professor Inga Schowengerdt

Learning how to think like a scientist about psychological issues will change your life because this ability is uniquely empowering, allowing people to evaluate data and claims about why people feel, think, and act the way they do. We all want to understand the psychology of ourselves and each other better, and people skilled in thinking like scientists about these questions can engage confidently with psychological research and writing because they understand how such research is conducted, how data is reported, how to draw their own conclusions about data and assess others’ claims and interpretations. When you are able to see psychological phenomena and findings in this way, you are also less likely to be misled or manipulated by bad research, pseudo-science, or misinformation, or to make common errors in judgment. It is a key skill set for those who want to increase their critical agency in an interconnected and data-driven world.

ENG 410/510/ Writing Life: Autofiction, Memoir, and Finding Truth through Fiction/ Professor Amanda Knopf

ANTH 161/ Cultural Anthropology/ Professor Tami Hill

Cultural Anthropology is the study of individuals and groups within the context of culture. Anthropology draws on many disciplines (history, politics, economics, gender studies, philosophy, linguistics) in the exploration, description, and interpretation of how people use culture to make meaning out of their lives. In this course, we will use the lens of various groups, countries, and cultures across the globe to examine the following topics: how humans have organized themselves over time and across space, religion and ritual, social identity, difference and inequality, colonialism and globalization, immigration and refugees. My main approach is to make the “familiar strange and the strange familiar”—helping us to question our own cultural beliefs and practices which we may take for granted and assume as “natural”—while trying to better understand other cultural practices that we might initially consider strange or bizarre.

GEOG 410/510/ Environment, Society, and the Imagination of Place/ Professor Scott Warren

In geography, delineating regions is one of our most basic tasks. But it is not an easy task. To do it well requires a keen eye to places and their characteristics. Often, the process of regional delineation reflects our imagination of a place and what we think it is like more than its actual characteristics. And the act of dividing up the world into distinct regions, when political or economic power is involved, has profound consequences for people, their livelihoods, and the environment. The course is divided into three parts. First, we learn what the sub discipline of regional geography teaches us about this basic task, and we reflect critically on the relationship between regional delineation, power, and imagination. Second, we dive into the geography of the North American Southwest, the region in which I live and a place often defined more by imagination than reality. Third, students reflect on the places and the regions in which they are from, whether they define that as the Pacific Northwest or elsewhere.

GEOG 442/542/ Urban Geography/ Professor Leslie McLees

Urban geography is the study of the development of cities and the people in them, with a focus on how the built environment and people shape each other. The spaces we live in are planned, built, maintained, and debated by government and non-governmental agencies as well as thousands of individual residents. This class explores the evolution of cities; urban hierarchies, space and belonging; global cities; urban land use patterns; urban renewal; residential segregation, race, and immigration; urban poverty and homelessness; and the challenges and opportunities of life in urban settings.

MATH 111/ College Algebra/ Professor AJ Rise

Algebra needed for calculus including graph sketching, algebra of functions, polynomial functions, rational functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, linear and nonlinear functions.

PS 405/605/ Democracy and Power in Contemporary American Politics/ Professor Gerry Berk

This class examines the ongoing debate about the health and future of American democracy. Some argue that the problem is that politicians violate norms that are necessary to keep the system healthy. Others argue that there are deeper causes of the threats to democracy. The US has seen a massive rise in economic inequality, in which powerful corporations have come to dominate the political process. Racial hierarchy remains a persistent problem, which keeps the US from becoming a fully inclusive democracy. While vigorous social movements have emerged in the past decade to address these issues, the challenges to American democracy persist.

PSY 407/507/ SPANISH – Psychological Perspectives on Social Conflict/ Professor Tamara Niella

This course is centered on Social Psychology, a discipline of science that utilizes the scientific method to comprehend human behavior within a social context. Initially, the class will delve into the foundations of the scientific method, providing an understanding of how knowledge in this field is established. Next, we will explore key findings pertaining to the origins and characteristics of social conflicts, such as political polarization and ideological extremes. A focus of our course will be the role of face-to-face dialogue to encourage idea exchange between differing viewpoints to aid conflict resolution. Throughout the course, we will discuss how these topics can be applied to daily life.

PHIL 410/510/ Ethics Through Science Fiction/ Professor Caroline Lundquist

Today, as in the past, our technology often outpaces our ethics. Here, traditional ethical philosophy is of limited use. We– ethicists and laypeople alike– tend to focus our ethical reflection on the here and now, or on the problems that already confront us. The same is rarely true of science fiction, which from its inception has not only anticipated the technologies that will shape our world, but has also, and perhaps more importantly, called readers to think about the ethical consequences of that reshaping. Science fiction therefore has a special role to play in contemporary ethical thinking, by pointing out in advance the ethical questions that are likely to arise in response to technologies that do not yet exist. This course enlists an array of historical and contemporary science fiction in order to revive and rethink some of the most pressing questions in historical ethics in the light of emerging scientific and technological advancements (such as artificial intelligence, genetic manipulation, body modification, cloning and social engineering), and in order to imagine, articulate and begin to address the ethical questions that may and should arise in response to these advancements. In this course we prepare ourselves to fall with grace into the strange new world that is already on the horizon, and approaching fast.

MATH 101/ Math/ Professor AJ Rise

Math 101 is designed as a “bridge” to college math. It starts with a review of some fundamental concepts and then goes over the basics of algebra and other concepts needed for the more advanced math classes.

GEOG 410/510/ Regional Geography/ Professor Scott Warren

In geography, delineating regions is one of our most basic tasks. But it is not an easy task. To do it well requires a keen eye to places and their characteristics. Often, the process of regional delineation reflects our imagination of a place and what we think it is like more than its actual characteristics. And the act of dividing up the world into distinct regions, when political or economic power is involved, has profound consequences for people, their livelihoods, and the environment. The course is divided into three parts. First, we learn what the sub discipline of regional geography teaches us about this basic task, and we reflect critically on the relationship between regional delineation, power, and imagination. Second, we dive into the geography of the North American Southwest, the region in which I live and a place often defined more by imagination than reality. Third, students reflect on the places and the regions in which they are from, whether they define that as the Pacific Northwest or elsewhere.

GEOG 343/ 510/ Power, Culture, and Place/ TBD

This course is about power, culture and place. These terms are closely entangled with personal and social life. Strangely though, these concepts—and many others related to them—are rarely the subject of conscious reflection. Rather, they commonly seem to lurk in the shadows of the material world and the conscious mind. Inseparable from these concepts is the question of space—its definitions, production, partitions, regulations, in/access, etc. Taking a geographic approach, this course aims to shed light on these concepts, how they shape and are shaped by space, and how they impact personal and collective life. The goal is for the students to engage with concepts and theories in contemporary cultural geography and make connections with their own personal experiences.

CHN 410/510/ Chinese Literature/ Professor Steve Durrant

Few would dispute the claim in the title of this class that the 18th century masterpiece Dream of the Red Chamber (also known as The Story of the Stone) is the greatest novel to have ever been written in China. The novel can be read primarily as a story of a love triangle, as an account of the decline of a wealthy aristocratic family, as the story of a Peter Pan-like boy who refuses to grow up, as an account of the interactions between Confucianism on the one side and Daoism/Buddhism on the other, as a kind of cosmic drama, as a virtual encyclopedia of Chinese culture in the 18th century, or in all of these ways at once and in other ways as well. It is so rich that an entire discipline, known as “Red Studies” (Chinese hongxue 紅學) has developed around the study of this text. Now, reading Dream presents a problem: the novel is approximately 2500 pages in its best English translation, more than we can tackle in a single quarter. What I intend to do is guide students through a 320-page abbreviation of the novel and then have them read a series of sample chapters in their entirety. There will be a considerable amount of reading, perhaps 750 pages, but students will leave the class with a good idea of this novel, and, I hope, an adequate foundation to become true “dreamers” by continuing on to read the entire text, should they wish to, in the years ahead.

ANTH 161/ Introduction to Cultural Anthropology/ Professor Tami Hill

Cultural Anthropology is the study of individual and groups within the context of culture. Anthropology draws on many disciplines (history, politics, economics, gender studies, philosophy, linguistics) in the exploration, description, and interpretation of how people use culture to make meaning out of their lives. In this course, we will use the lens of various groups, countries, and cultures across the globe to examine the following topics: how humans have organized themselves over time and across space, religion and ritual, social identity, difference and inequality, colonialism and globalization, immigration and refugees.

My goal in this course is to illustrate how anthropology can help us to better understand, interpret, analyze, and appreciate ourselves, our cultures, and the world around us. My main approach is to make the “familiar strange and the strange familiar”—helping us to question our own cultural beliefs and practices which we may take for granted and assume as “natural”—while trying to better understand other cultural practices that we might initially consider strange or bizarre. Basically, I think Cultural Anthropology makes life more interesting and I want to show you why and how this is true through this course.

GEOG 410/510/ Geography Of The Anthropocene/ Professor Scott Warren

In this course we explore the relationship between nature and culture, and the many ways that humans have modified the earth. Many scientists, writers and other observers have asserted that humankind has “come to rival nature” in our ability to shape the earth and its systems (e.g., human-caused climate change). These observers argue that this ability to change nature and shape natural systems to our liking has ushered in a new era of geological history called the “Anthropocene.” We will interrogate this claim, reflect on its significance and theoretical underpinnings, and develop a better understanding of the drivers and consequences of global change.

PSY 407/507 / Psychological Perspectives on Social Interaction and Influence / Professor Inga Schowengerdt

How does social interaction contribute to what we perceive to be real, believe to be true, and how we behave? What factors and processes determine who, or what, we are influenced by, and how? Can individual and collective practices of interaction and influence catalyze social change and movements? Finally, what can psychology teach us about maximizing our own experience of social interactions use of social influence therein? In this course, we address these questions through the lenses of psychological theory, exploring both foundational research and contemporary applications and innovations. Throughout, we make connections between research to current social issues, ethical issues in investigation and interventions targeting social interaction and influence, and ground our discussion of theory in lived experience.

GEOG 410/510 / Power, Culture, and Place / Professor Sanan Moradi

This course is about power, culture and place. These terms are closely entangled with personal and social life. Strangely though, these concepts—and many others related to them—are rarely the subject of conscious reflection. Rather, they commonly seem to lurk in the shadows of the material world and the conscious mind. Inseparable from these concepts is the question of space—its definitions, production, partitions, regulations, in/access, etc. Taking a geographic approach, this course aims to shed light on these concepts, how they shape and are shaped by space, and how they impact personal and collective life. The goal is for the students to engage with concepts and theories in contemporary cultural geography and make connections with their own personal experiences.

MATH 111 / College Algebra / Professor Craig Tingey 

Study of functions including graphs, operations and inverses. Includes polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic functions and their applications, and systems of equations.

GEOG 410/510 / Geography of the Anthropocene: Global Change / Professor Scott Warren

In this course we explore the relationship between nature and culture, and the many ways that humans have modified the earth. Many scientists, writers and other observers have asserted that humankind has “come to rival nature” in our ability to shape the earth and its systems (e.g., human-caused climate change). These observers argue that this ability to change nature and shape natural systems to our liking has ushered in a new era of geological history called the “Anthropocene.” We will interrogate this claim, reflect on its significance and theoretical underpinnings, and develop a better understanding of the drivers and consequences of global change.

ANTH 161 / Introduction to Cultural Anthropology / Professor Tami Hill  

Cultural Anthropology is the study of individual and groups within the context of culture. Anthropology draws on many disciplines (history, politics, economics, gender studies, philosophy, linguistics) in the exploration, description, and interpretation of how people use culture to make meaning out of their lives. In this course, we will use the lens of various groups, countries, and cultures across the globe to examine the following topics: how humans have organized themselves over time and across space, religion and ritual, social identity, difference and inequality, colonialism and globalization, immigration and refugees.

My goal in this course is to illustrate how anthropology can help us to better understand, interpret, analyze, and appreciate ourselves, our cultures, and the world around us. My main approach is to make the “familiar strange and the strange familiar”—helping us to question our own cultural beliefs and practices which we may take for granted and assume as “natural”—while trying to better understand other cultural practices that we might initially consider strange or bizarre. Basically, I think Cultural Anthropology makes life more interesting and I want to show you why and how this is true through this course.

GEOG 468/568 /  Geography of Food Systems / Professor Leslie McLees

This class explores different ways of understanding how food systems have developed and how they both reflect and impact our society. In this class, we will explore some of the roots of what constitutes healthy eating, the role of race in the production and consumption of food, and how policy, the economy, and even religion impact the availability of certain types of food today.

GEOG 410/510 / Landscapes of Climate Change / Professor Leslie McLees

This course will provide a spatial understanding of how climate change occurs both from a scientific perspective and a cultural perspective. After an overview in climate change science, we will survey regions of the world to combine science with cultural approaches that impact how people interact with and understand their local landscapes. This class is meant to provide a grounded sense of the complexity of how climate change is understood around the world. This approach highlights how science and culture evolve and interact to produce both distinctive landscapes and diverse, creative adaptations to the changing planet.

GEOG 410/510 / Geography of the Anthropocene: Global Change / Professor Scott Warren

In this course we explore the relationship between nature and culture, and the many ways that humans have modified the earth. Many scientists, writers and other observers have asserted that humankind has “come to rival nature” in our ability to shape the earth and its systems (e.g., human-caused climate change). These observers argue that this ability to change nature and shape natural systems to our liking has ushered in a new era of geological history called the “Anthropocene.” We will interrogate this claim, reflect on its significance and theoretical underpinnings, and develop a better understanding of the drivers and consequences of global environmental change.

CAS 407/507 / Reconciliation after Intra-Community Violence / Professor Katie Dwyer  

All too often, communities are split by conflict and violence. In this class, we will engage with theories of reconciliation and case-studies of societies that have worked toward healing, even in the aftermath of terrible and long-lasting conflicts. Some principles of forgiveness or co-existence are specific to cultural groups and situations. Others might be more individual, and even perhaps universal. For students who have taken past classes on intercultural communication, conflict resolution, and social movements, this class is an excellent next step. If this is your first time engaging with complex issues of culture and conflict, I hope you will find you already know much more than you might have otherwise thought.

PS 405/605/ Democracy and Power in Contemporary American Politics / Gerry Berk

This class examines the ongoing debate about the health and future of American democracy. Some argue that the problem is that politicians violate norms that are necessary to keep the system healthy. Others argue that there are deeper causes of the threats to democracy. The US has seen a massive rise in economic inequality, in which powerful corporations have come to dominate the political process. Racial hierarchy remains a persistent problem, which keeps the US from becoming a fully inclusive democracy. While vigorous social movements have emerged in the past decade to address these issues, the challenges to American democracy persist.

MATH 107 / University Math III / Professor Craig Tingey 

The main goal of this course is to see many branches of mathematics and areas where real world problems can be solved by using mathematics. Prerequisite: Math 095 and/or Math 105, 106, or other college-level math. On your application please note if you have taken one of these or other college-level math classes.

CHN 410/510 / A Reading and Discussion of the Great Imaginative Buddhist Novel Journey to the West (Xiyou ji) / Professor Stephen Durrant

Few novels in world history have been more beloved and have contributed more to popular culture than the sixteenth century Chinese novel Journey to the West, or the shorter version we will read The Monkey & The Monk (497 pp). The inspiration was an actual journey from China to India in the sixth century by the great Buddhist scholar-monk Xuanzang (596?-664 CE) to obtain Buddhist scriptures, which he could then translate and share with the Chinese world of his time. His trip across the deserts and mountains of Central Asia inspired stories, some highly fantastic. Despite the novel’s fantasy and playfulness, it is often read as a serious Buddhist allegory of the journey toward enlightenment and has been classified as one of the four masterworks of Ming dynasty (1368-1644) fiction. Reading and discussing this novel, I promise, will be quite a trip!

GEOG 410 / Geography of the Mexican-American Borderland / Scott Warren 

This regional geography course explores the environment, history, culture, politics, and economy of the United States and Mexico borderland. The borderland is a contact zone where cultures come together and break apart, where multibillion dollar industries exist alongside intense poverty, and where crises and problems (both real and imagined) seem to never end. As a geography course, we are especially interested in the relationship between people and place in the borderland, and how people’s lives are impacted by the international line. In this class we will put the problems of the border into a larger context and move toward a deeper understanding of this important region.

MATH 106 / University Math / Craig Tingey 

Topics include mathematics of finance, applied geometry, exponential growth and decay, and a nontechnical introduction to the concepts of calculus. The goal of the course is to begin to think and reason mathematically in many different areas which is why formulas and memorization are not emphasized.    

PPPM 410 / End-of-Life Care in the United States

We will discuss issues around end-of-life care, including what it means to die in the U.S. and problems with our current healthcare system and ways to improve it. This includes discussions of health policy, medical ethics, different philosophies toward death, as well as end-of-life care for incarcerated individuals. This issue has become more urgent in the U.S. for both the general and incarcerated populations; by 2030, 20% of the U.S. population will be elderly (aged 65+) and exceed the number of children for the first time in the history of the U.S. It is well recognized that the current system is not working and is incredibly costly.

PSY 410 / Psychological Perspectives on Self and Identity / Inga Schowengerd

The psychological constructs of identity and self will be utilized to survey the varying ways in which the experience and nature of “one’s own sense of self” is examined and elucidated across the major sub-fields of psychology, including: developmental; personality, social, cognitive, abnormal, counseling, organizational, occupational, humanistic, existential, and transpersonal psychology. Particular consideration will be given to the significance of such cultural and contextual factors as race, ethnicity and gender.

PSY 510 / Evolutionary Psychology: Theories, Findings, and Future Possibilities / Holly Arrow

This course investigates how the tools of evolutionary theory have been applied to develop and test ideas about human behavior and the many forces (cognition, culture, development, emotion, social influence) that shape this behavior. We will examine the intellectual history of evolutionary psychology, including the insights, assumptions, and blind spots that have guided the development of theories, the choice of questions, and the collection and interpretation of data. We will also speculate about new questions / ideas / hypotheses that could be explored using the concepts and methods developed by evolutionary psychology and associated fields.

CHN 410/510 “Contemporary Chinese Literature: Reading and Study of Mo Yan’s Novel Life and Death are Wearing Me Out” / Professor Stephen Durrant

Students enrolling in this class will read the Chinese Writer Mo Yan’s novel Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, which won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first China-based winner of this prestigious award. Mo Yan is also of interest because he has been the object of considerable criticism, mostly political in nature. In defense of himself, Mo Yan said in his Noble Prize speech “for a writer, the best way to speak is by writing. You will find everything I need to say in my works. Speech is carried off by the wind; the written word can never be obliterated.” Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out paints a vivid account, largely from the perspective of the Chinese countryside, of the fifty years from Mao’s rise to power to the dawning of the new millennium in 2000. As a result, it gives the reader an opportunity to learn something of those decades, at least from one fascinating point-of-view, and thus provokes conversation about this critical period of Chinese history.

PSY 407/507  “Psychological Perspectives on Self and Identity” / Professor Inga Schowengerdt

The psychological constructs of identity and self will be utilized to survey the varying ways in which the experience and nature of “one’s own sense of self” is examined and elucidated across the major sub-fields of psychology, including: developmental; personality, social, cognitive, abnormal, counseling, organizational, occupational, humanistic, existential, and transpersonal psychology. Particular consideration will be given to the significance of such cultural and contextual factors as race, ethnicity and gender.

GEOG 410/510 “Geography of the US/Mexico Borderlands” / Professor Scott Warren

This regional geography course explores the environment, history, culture, politics, and economy of the United States and Mexico borderland. The borderland is a contact zone where cultures come together and break apart, where multibillion dollar industries exist alongside intense poverty, and where crises and problems (both real and imagined) seem to never end. As a geography course, we are especially interested in the relationship between people and place in the borderland, and how people’s lives are impacted by the international line. In this class we will put the problems of the border into a larger context and move toward a deeper understanding of this important region.

PS 275 “Legal Process” / Prof. Alison Gash

This class explores the nature of the American judiciary—its structure, its players and its impact on American public policy–in order to understand its capacity to handle these stressors. We will start from the premise that the American judicial system displays a unique set of characteristics, specifically a focus on what some scholars refer to as “adversarial legalism.” During the first half of the class we will analyze the components of the American judicial system. How did American law develop? What is the role of law in American culture? What contributions have lower courts, state courts and the Supreme Court made to American public policy and the functioning of government? What is the impact of professional legal culture on the practice of law? How do plaintiffs experience the American legal system? The second half of the course explores the role of the courts in adjudicating over issues regarding civil rights, civil justice, criminal rights, and politics.

CLAS 301 “Greek and Roman Epics” / Professor Mary Jaeger

The main project of this class is to survey the three greatest surviving epics of classical antiquity. Gaining familiarity with these texts contributes to any student’s store of cultural knowledge. They are fundamental to understanding almost any part of the culture of the Greco-Roman world and provide a valuable background for the study of art and literature from antiquity to the present day. Reading and rereading them will inform you and help you become observant; discussing and writing about them will help you become more articulate.

SOC 410/510 “Race, Gender, and Poverty in the United States” / Professor Ellen Scott

This country was founded on principles of inequality, despite aspirations otherwise stated in the Constitution. In the generations since, the fundamental inequalities based on race, gender and class, as well as other bases of difference and identity, remain foundational to our society. While the way social inequality is exercised and enforced has changed, the fact of our society being built on a bedrock of inequality has persisted, and class inequality is greater now than at any time in the history of this nation. In this course, we will read about the structures and experiences of race, gender and class inequality in the United States through ethnographies, sociological sources that rely on in-depth, rich data to examine complex social conditions.

GEOG 410/510 “Mexican-US Borderlands” / Prof. Scott Warren

This regional geography course explores the environment, history, culture, politics, and  economy of the United States and Mexico borderland. The borderland is a contact zone  where cultures come together and break apart, where multibillion dollar industries exist alongside intense poverty, and where crises and problems (both real and imagined)  seem to never end. As a geography course, we are especially interested in the  relationship between people and place in the borderland, and how people’s lives are  impacted by the international line. In this class we will put the problems of the border  into a larger context and move toward a deeper understanding of this important region. 

GEOG 410 “Identities in Borderlands” / Prof. Belén Noroña (Our Program’s First Class Taught in Spanish)

Este curso explora identidades y raíces Latinas en los Estados Unidos. Abordamos este tema desde las perspectivas de las relaciones coloniales de poder, nuestra relación con el espacio que habitamos, así como nuestra relación con territorios habitados por nuestros ancestros, familias, y comunidades dentro y fuera de los Estados Unidos. En este curso vamos a generar pensamiento crítico sobre nuestras identidades Latinas, y vamos a explorar las ricas transformaciones culturales de las poblaciones Latinas y su aporte en los Estados Unidos y en espacios fronterizos. En este curso aprenderemos sobre conceptos de colonialidad y raza, pensamiento Indígena Latinoamericano, pensamiento Chicano/a, y conceptos geográficos sobre identidad, lugar, y territorio.

PHIL 102 “Ethics” / Prof. Caroline Lundquist’s

The fundamental assumption behind this course is that reading, writing, thinking and talking  about ethics can help us to become better people, live richer, more meaningful lives, and  inspire us to work together to improve our world. Hence the chief purpose of this course is to  foster a meaningful and ongoing engagement with key ethical questions (also called moral  issues). The philosophical aim is for us all to practice analyzing and honestly assessing our  opinions and the opinions of others. This process of analysis and assessment may lead to changes  in our ethical views, or it may strengthen those we already hold.

We will begin by examining a selection of potential “threats” to ethics, including relativism,  egoism, false consciousness and moral luck, and then consider whether or to what extent moral  theories can help mitigate those threats and guide our ethical thinking. In the process, we will  consider numerous questions that have historically posed, and continue to pose, serious  challenges to ethical philosophers. We end by applying our tentative beliefs and conclusions to a  selection of contemporary moral issues.

PS 275 “Legal Process” / Prof. Alison Gash

This class explores the nature of the American judiciary—its structure, its players and its impact on American public policy–in order to understand its capacity to handle these stressors. We will start from the premise that the American judicial system displays a unique set of characteristics, specifically a focus on what some scholars refer to as “adversarial legalism.” During the first half of the class we will analyze the components of the American judicial system. How did American law develop? What is the role of law in American culture? What contributions have lower courts, state courts and the Supreme Court made to American public policy and the functioning of government? What is the impact of professional legal culture on the practice of law? How do plaintiffs experience the American legal system? The second half of the course explores the role of the courts in adjudicating over issues regarding civil rights, civil justice, criminal rights, and politics.

CAS 407/507 “Intercultural Communication and Conflict Resolution” / Prof. Katie Dwyer

This course will explore concepts in intercultural understanding as well as build skills in conflict resolution, cross-cultural work, coalition building, and individual self-reflection. We will examine both the broad frameworks for discussing cultural differences as well as thinking through the ways identity and context influence our experience of the world and our encounters with one another. Conflict resolution theories and skills will be a focus. We will also discuss intercultural encounters in a variety of specific contexts, including education, the workplace, and in humanitarian efforts. We will ground these concepts in our own experiences, and include real-world applications in our own lives. 

GEOG 410 “Landscapes in Lit and Life” / Prof. Shaul Cohen

GEOG 468 / CONTEMPORARY FOOD SYSTEMS / LESLIE MCLEES 

This class explores different ways of understanding how food systems have developed and how they both reflect and impact our society. In this class, we will explore some of the roots of what constitutes healthy eating, the role of race in the production and consumption of food, and how policy, the economy, and even religion impact the availability of certain types of food today.

PS 410/510 DEMOCRACY AND POWER IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POLITICS / GERRY BERK

In this class, we will examine the ongoing debate about the health and future of American democracy. Some argue that the problem is that politicians violate norms that are necessary to keep the system healthy.  Others argue that there are deeper causes of the threats to democracy.  The US has seen a massive rise in economic inequality in the past generation and has also failed to solve the problem of racial hierarchy. Vigorous social movements have emerged to address these problems with some success, but problems remain.  Students will read 4 contemporary books (graduate students will read 5); write 4 response papers and a longer final paper at the end of the class. 

PPPM 410 END-OF-LIFE CARE IN THE U.S. / NICOLE NGO

We will discuss issues around end-of-life care, including what it means to die in the U.S. and problems with our current healthcare system and ways to improve it. This includes discussions of health policy, medical ethics, different philosophies toward death, as well as end-of-life care for incarcerated individuals. This issue has become more urgent in the U.S. for both the general and incarcerated populations; by 2030, 20% of the U.S. population will be elderly (aged 65+) and exceed the number of children for the first time in the history of the U.S. It is well recognized that the current system is not working and is incredibly costly. 

CAS 407 / INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION / KATIE DWYER

This course will explore concepts in intercultural understanding as well as build skills in conflict resolution, cross-cultural work, coalition building, and individual self-reflection. We will examine both the broad frameworks for discussing cultural differences as well as thinking through the ways identity and context influence our experience of the world and our encounters with one another. Conflict resolution theories and skills will be a focus. We will also discuss intercultural encounters in a variety of specific contexts, including education, the workplace, and in humanitarian efforts. We will ground these concepts in our own experiences, and include real-world applications in our own lives.