As the study of knowledge and related concepts;like justification, rationality, and evidence,;epistemology is of central importance, and not;just to philosophy. This course provides an;introduction to epistemology through a number of;epistemological problems or puzzles about;skepticism, dogmatism, and humility.

Contemporary medicine gives rise to a variety of;moral and philosophical questions. Some of the;questions we will discuss include: Is the concept;of disease objective? What moral duties do we;have to those at the beginning and the end of;life? How should limited health care resources be;distributed? What are the responsibilities of;medical researchers towards their subjects? Do we;have reason to be worried about the growth of;technology in medicine? Are the basic;institutions of medicine just?

This course cultivates sound reasoning. Students will learn to see the structure of claims and arguments and to use those structures in developing strong arguments and exposing shoddy ones. We will learn to evaluate arguments on the strength of the reasoning rather than on the force of their associations and buzzwords.

An introduction to ancient Greek philosophy,;focusing mainly but not exclusively on the works;and ideas of three Athenian philosophers who;worked and taught in the period between the;Persian Wars and the rule of Alexander the Great,;more than 2,300 years ago: Socrates, Plato, and;Aristotle. Topics to be discussed include: What;is the nature of the self? What is truth, and how;can it be known? What kind of life should we;live? We will work to understand each;philosopher's responses to these questions, but;we will also learn to develop our own answers.

This course will explore topics that philosophers have grappled with for thousands of years, and that still undergird (or sometimes threaten to undermine) our understanding of the world, our knowledge, ourselves, and each other. In historical and modern texts of the Western intellectual tradition, we will discuss questions such as: Are we all selfish? What makes right actions right, if anything? Do you know anything at all about the future? Are you really free if your actions are caused?

A charting of the paths taken by Poland,;Czechoslovakia, and Hungary from the;post-totalitarian regimes of the '60s through the;fall of the Berlin Wall and on to membership in;the European Union. Topics include;strategies of political control and opposition,;the uses of consumer culture, breaks and;continuities between Communist and liberal;capitalist orders, and national particularities;to the regional project of undoing ;dictatorship. Sources reach from the elite to the;everyday, and extend to film and fiction. Methods;are comparative and interdisciplinary.

How have Americans -- and those contending with;America -- envisioned and reached for more just;and inclusive communities? What historical;circumstances have opened opportunities for more;robust democratic forms to emerge in the face of;oppression? We will consider structural barriers;to meaningful inclusion, involving racism,;wealth, poverty, property, citizenship, gender,;sexuality, disability, and dissent, as well as;efforts to overcome them through concerted action;and cultural struggle in the arts and public;humanities. What public stories shape our;connections with one another?

This course explores the complex, often comic,;and ultimately tragic history of Bohemia, a;territory located today in the Czech Republic,;but previously a part of the Habsburg Monarchy,;then of Czechoslovakia, and then of Hitler's;Third Reich. Students will complement historical;studies with autobiographical material and;contemporary fiction, beginning with the;Revolution of 1848, progressing through the;achievements and worrisome trends of Emperor;Francis Joseph's 68-year reign, and concluding;with the world wars.

We explore the history of human-environment interactions in North America from precolonial times to the present from different cultural perspectives. How have such human activities as migration, colonization, and resource use depended on or modified the natural world? How have different cultural perceptions of and attitudes toward environment shifted through time and helped to reshape American landscapes? Case studies include ecological histories of Native America and Euro-America, slavery and land use, wilderness and conservation, and environmental racism and social justice.

A colloquium focusing on the cultural, social,;and political life of New York City, with special;reference to its uneasy relationship to American;society as a whole. Examination of New York;politics, writers and artists, architecture,;immigrant communities, economic role, and;shifting power relations. Accompanying film;series and possible field trip to New York City,;with historical walking tours.