Work

(Offered as POSC 145 and EDST 145) This course will explore the role of work in the context of American politics and society. We will study how work has been understood in political and social theory. We will also consider ethnographic studies that explore how workers experience their lives inside organizations and how workplaces transform in response to changing legal regulations. These theoretical and empirical explorations will provide a foundation for reflections about how work structures opportunities in democratic societies and how re-imagining work might unleash human potential.

Theory of Knowledge

This is a course on epistemology, the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. We humans are in the business of believing, knowing, justifying, and rationalizing. Our capacities for acquiring, sharing, and participating in the production of knowledge bear significantly on our flourishing. In this course we will investigate the relationship between core epistemic concepts, including knowledge, belief, justification, and truth. Is knowledge more valuable than mere true belief? Why? What is the nature of epistemic justification? How are evidence, belief, and rationality related?

Environmental Philosophy

(Offered as PHIL 225 and ENST 228) Our impact on the environment has been significant, and in recent decades, the pace of change has clearly accelerated. Many species face extinction, forests are disappearing, and toxic wastes and emissions continue to accumulate. People are being displaced, and even our climate is changing. These are all well-established scientific facts and the prospect of a general environmental calamity seems all too real.

Appetite

(Offered as NEUR 317 and PSYC 317) Although the ingestive act per se is clear and simple, understanding the multifarious influences that are distilled into the decision at any given moment to eat, or not to eat, remains a ponderous challenge for scientists. The obesity epidemic of the last several decades continues to spread across the globe, leading to a rise in metabolic diseases and more pressing need than ever to understand the neurobiological controls of eating and body weight.

Pleasure and Addiction

​This course will explore the brain mechanisms underlying motivated behaviors and the dysfunctions that can lead to addictive and compulsive behaviors. Why can some people be casual gamblers while others are hooked into a spiral of addiction after just one betting experience? Are these the same brain circuits as those affected by drugs, and can we look to them to also understand eating disorders, pathological social media use, etc.? The course will use a neurobiological orientation to study the neurocircuitry and neurochemistry underlying addiction in its many forms.

Digital Music

(Offered as MUSL 182H and THDA 182H) This course provides individual performance instruction in digital music production and recording including sound capture, mixing, mastering, and use of Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) to create music. Students have weekly lessons with the instructor with an expectation of five hours per week of practice. The course is open to students of any level, beginning to advanced, and it may be repeated.

Admission with consent of the instructor. Fall and spring semesters.

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Music in the 20th Cent.

Political turmoil, artistic movements, and cultural shifts all left their marks on the music of the twentieth century and we will follow history's course through the lens of various composers, musical styles, and artistic movements.

Requisite: MUSI 111 or 211, or consent of the instructor. Fall semester. Department faculty.

 

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Sacred Sound

(Offered as MUSI 123 and RELI 120) This course examines the relationship between music, sound, and religion in a broad, comparative perspective. We will devote particular attention to the intersections of religious sounds and racialized and minoritized communities. In the context of major world religions, new religious movements, and traditional spiritual practices, we will address fundamental issues concerning sacred sound: How does music enable and enhance the ritual process? How is sound sacred and what are its effects and affects?

Asia-Pacific War

(Offered as HIST 477 and ASLC 477) The fifteen years of war conducted by Japan—variously referred to as the Pacific War, the Great East Asian War, the Fifteen-year War, World War II, and the Asian-Pacific War—continue to shape the politics and diplomacy of Asia. This seminar examines how the experience of war during the 1930s and 40s are captured in the memory and history of Japan, East Asia, and the United States. The principal questions guiding our discussions will be: What is the relationship between history and memory in our media-saturated world?

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