Course descriptions

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

When we reconsider, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only First and Second-Year students are eligible to enroll in Craft of Prose.

Today, Coca-Cola is present in every African nation. By most estimates, it is the single largest employer on the continent, with a multiplier effect that means that each formal job generates roughly ten more. This writing seminar investigates what Coca-Cola's profound footprint in Africa can teach us about both African agency and the ways in which multinational capitalism intersects with social and cultural forces. Students will identify a contemporary problem that sits at the nexus of Coca-Cola's work in Africa, which may include sustainability around water, plastic, and energy; women's empowerment; youth empowerment; politics; and more. Students will then investigate this problem for a white paper and, thereafter, an op-ed. As with any writing seminar, this course will center on drafting, peer review, and revision in our quest to become adaptable writers of authentic genres.

How do we conceptualize and perform ourselves as political actors? How can rhetoric and philosophy work together to craft viable strategies for advocacy and novel forms of deliberation? As Arabella Lyon argues in her book, Deliberative Acts, Democracy, Rhetoric, and Rights, theorists of radical democracy routinely acknowledge the rhetorical dimension of politics, but they sometimes fail to offer a practical description of how deliberation actually functions in the service of democratic norms. Following Lyon, we will study the rhetorical strategies involved in coining new political vocabularies, advocating for new rights, articulating injustice, and fostering the recognition of previously unrecognized categories of identity.

Numerous divides dominate discussions of life in the U.S.: Polarization rooted in political parties. Deepening income inequality. Stalemates over how to address global crises like climate change, human migration, and public health. The list is long. Tensions between politics and religion can exacerbate any of these divides. For some of us, this situation can feel overwhelming, making us apathetic or leaving us questioning whether any change is possible. Others of us end up looking for someone to blame or believing the worst of our fellow community members. How do we combat such feelings and build connections that make a difference? How do we build democratic power and mutual respect across difference? This class examines how local leaders and groups have worked to overcome such divides to bring change to their communities. By building partnerships between religious communities, citizen groups, labor unions and the like, people are making democracy work and bridging divides. Through class dialogue, writing projects, and students' own research, we will explore together how we can bridge divides in the many communities and groups we are a part of and how rhetorical and writing knowledge can play a role in it.

A sense of belonging allows us to engage, achieve, and be our best selves. It is closely related to mattering and takes on heightened importance in school settings. In this critical writing seminar we will delve into the current research on belonging in higher education. Using scholar Terrell Strayhorn's latest book College Students' Sense of Belonging, we will examine the critical role belonging plays in learning; how our social identities intersect to affect our sense of belonging; how involvement, such as in clubs, can contribute to or diminish belonging; and, most importantly, concrete strategies for fostering belonging in college environments. Students will develop their writing skills through peer review, multiple drafts and revisions of a white paper and op-ed, and midterm and final portfolios.

Too often society draws a firm line between scientists and writers. This creates a dangerous dichotomy where scientific data becomes trapped in an echo chamber, preventing important findings from being shared and understood by the public. It doesn't matter if you have the best data in the world if you can't communicate it with the world. Critical, audience-aware writing is key to promoting civic dialogue about the pressing issues that affect us all--from climate change and vaccine research to access and equity of science education. Budding scientists of today are not only our future researchers, but also the leaders we need to advocate for a better future--one where scientists unite with those from all walks of life to tackle the epic challenges that face humans and the ecosystems we depend on. To do this scientists must learn to expand their worldview, for example, by embracing terms like STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) instead of STEM. By expanding our vocabulary, we expand our practices and our connections to each other, while simultaneously dismantling siloed communication. We become more effective community members with enriched civic lives built on an understanding of interdependence. In this course we will use the book Don't Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style by Randy Olson, a Harvard educated marine biologist who left his tenured professorship to become an independent feature filmmaker to make documentaries about hotbutton topics like evolution and global warming. In the book he details his own journey of unlearning certain academic habits in order to become a better communicator. His book provides effective tools for connecting with diverse communities using civic dialogue. In the scientific world of facts and figures, it is essential to understand the power of words and the importance of training future generations to wield theirs well.

How might our voices be heard and reach through the din of an ever-changing and increasingly complex world? This course seeks to introduce concepts and practices of critical engagement -- with ourselves, with our communities, with the world -- to help us learn how to amplify our voices through writing and other practices of engagement in civil discourse. Through readings of adrienne maree brown's Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds and Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation, we will dig deep into brown's approaches to facilitation and mediation shaped by her 20+ years of experiences of social justice movement building and informed by her Black Feminist and Afrofuturist outlooks on changemaking. Through these approaches, brown seeks to help readers weave together the individual, interpersonal, and socio-political aspects of our lives. Improving students' practices of critical reading and writing is our concern in this course, and students will develop their research, analytical, metacognitive, and critical-thinking skills through writing assignments and peer workshopping. Through draft and revision, students will be writing white papers, and public opinion pieces on topics of interest related to our course text. As a Paideia-designated course, we will pay particular attention to issues relating to civic dialogue, personal & social wellness, and citizenship.

The question "Where are you from?" evokes a myriad of responses which can vary along socio-political, cultural, and economic fault-lines. We conceptualize our identities through the meanings we attach to place; conversely, we conceptualize place, geographically speaking, through the lens of our identities. For example, residents who live on the north side of a city may perceive themselves as different from residents who live on the south side of a city, and vice versa. This phenomenon of differentiated identity mediated through place occurs at a variety of geographical and regional scales, from the local to the transnational. Using Yi-Fu Tuan's Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience, this course examines how space, place, and identity rhetorically interconnect as we navigate conceptual differences to arrive at shared understandings.

Museums' foundational purposes -- to represent heritage through collections, preservation, and visual presentation -- are now questioned. Museums are being called upon, in the words of Decolonize Latinx, to "name anti-Black racism and begin the work of establishing new practices that resist and reject white supremacy." Some museums have begun repatriating ill-gotten or stolen materials, for instance, as seen with Brown University's Haffenreffer Museum's ongoing project to return over 80 indigenous remains and artifacts to the Hopi people. The class will explore how such institutions are -- or should be -- responding to calls for change, critically examining cultural exchanges occurring in museums. We will open with Michael Murawski's Museums as Agents of Change (2021), which studies how museums replicate conditions as well as respond to mounting critiques. Students' research will investigate how these critiques are being put into practice and how the futures of museums might be reimagined. The course will entail on-site interviews with museum professionals about how they perceive the longevity of transformative practices.

How do race and racism fit into, shape, and inform contemporary food justice movements? In this critical writing seminar, we will read a collection of essays in Black Food Matters: Racial Justice in the Wake of Food Justice to help us answer this question. Edited by scholars Hanna Garth and Ashante M. Reese, this collection focuses on issues of Black farming, urban agriculture, food (in)security, and much more. Refining students' practices of critical reading and writing skills is our foremost concern in this course, in addition to improving research, analytical, metacognitive, and critical-thinking skills through writing assignments, discussions, and peer workshopping. Students will be writing explanatory papers and public opinion pieces on topics of interest related to Hanna Garth and Ashante M. Reese's text.

What happens in your brain when you can speak two languages? Is bilingualism a cognitive advantage, or is it more taxing on the brain? Around the world, bilingualism is the norm rather than the exception: many people use two or more languages for work, education and personal communication. While the connection between language and the brain has been well established, the brains of bilinguals are just beginning to be studied in depth. In The Bilingual Brain by Albert Costa, we are introduced to cutting-edge research in neurolinguistics and cognitive science, revealing what happens in a human brain that functions in two languages. Students pursue their own research and writing in topics related to language, linguistics or cognitive science.

In most of the world, multiple therapeutic traditions co-exist, sometimes symbiotically and at others competitively. Many societies have radically different ideas and practices concerning health, the body and disease than in the US. And these ideas and practices are contested both within these societies and between different societies in an emerging global world. In this writing seminar, we will examine several contested topics within the field of medical anthropology. This course is designed to improve students' writing skills via peer review, multiple drafts and revisions of essays, and midterm and final portfolios.

In most of the world, multiple therapeutic traditions co-exist, sometimes symbiotically and at others competitively. Many societies have radically different ideas and practices concerning health, the body and disease than in the US. And these ideas and practices are contested both within these societies and between different societies in an emerging global world. In this writing seminar, we will examine several contested topics within the field of medical anthropology. This course is designed to improve students' writing skills via peer review, multiple drafts and revisions of essays, and midterm and final portfolios.

Did ancient aliens build the pyramids? What happened to the lost city of Atlantis? Why didn't the world end in 2012, as predicted by the ancient Maya people? Archaeology, the study of history through excavations and objects of the past, inspires endless theories about the past. What evidence do fantastic/pseudo-archaeologists use to create such theories, and what is real? Students will solve these mysteries by analyzing Feder's arguments in Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology. Students will learn how the use and misuse of archaeology and history has actually supported nationalistic agendas, racial biases, and religious movements. Students will develop their critical thinking and research skills through collaborative discussion, peer review, and writing the white paper and op-ed.

Did ancient aliens build the pyramids? What happened to the lost city of Atlantis? Why didn't the world end in 2012, as predicted by the ancient Maya people? Archaeology, the study of history through excavations and objects of the past, inspires endless theories about the past. What evidence do fantastic/pseudo-archaeologists use to create such theories, and what is real? Students will solve these mysteries by analyzing Feder's arguments in Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology. Students will learn how the use and misuse of archaeology and history has actually supported nationalistic agendas, racial biases, and religious movements. Students will develop their critical thinking and research skills through collaborative discussion, peer review, and writing the white paper and op-ed.

In 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognized colonialism's contributions to the climate crisis, citing its "historical and ongoing patterns of inequity." This was the first time this group of climate experts formally acknowledged colonialism, despite decades of activists, writers, artists, and researchers around the world emphasizing the devastations of colonial extractions. A sole focus on the present and future of the climate crisis obscures a deeper understanding of how the crisis came to be. This course asks: How have colonial processes of extraction, control, dispossession, knowledge-making, and violence produced the climate crisis as well as enduring inequalities? How does the past intimately structure the possibilities of the present and future? How can an understanding of colonialism's --historical and ongoing-- effects deepen calls for climate justice? We will read Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore's History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet to better understand the development of contemporary crises. How have nature, money, work, care, food, energy, and lives become devalued? The goal of the course is to provide students with conceptual tools for historicizing climate change, analyzing colonial and capitalist relations of power, and developing research and writing skills to make historically-grounded arguments that intervene in contemporary debates and consider what justice can look like in practice.

In 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognized colonialism's contributions to the climate crisis, citing its "historical and ongoing patterns of inequity." This was the first time this group of climate experts formally acknowledged colonialism, despite decades of activists, writers, artists, and researchers around the world emphasizing the devastations of colonial extractions. A sole focus on the present and future of the climate crisis obscures a deeper understanding of how the crisis came to be. This course asks: How have colonial processes of extraction, control, dispossession, knowledge-making, and violence produced the climate crisis as well as enduring inequalities? How does the past intimately structure the possibilities of the present and future? How can an understanding of colonialism's --historical and ongoing-- effects deepen calls for climate justice? We will read Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore's History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet to better understand the development of contemporary crises. How have nature, money, work, care, food, energy, and lives become devalued? The goal of the course is to provide students with conceptual tools for historicizing climate change, analyzing colonial and capitalist relations of power, and developing research and writing skills to make historically-grounded arguments that intervene in contemporary debates and consider what justice can look like in practice.

Fossil fuels structure many aspects of contemporary life, from geopolitical relations to everyday energy use, from guilt about one's carbon footprint to organizing against extractive industries. Oil, coal, and natural gas also make relations of power visible within extraction zones, via pipelines, through pollution and contamination, in legislation, and beyond. In this course, we will read David Bond's Negative Ecologies: Fossil Fuels and the Discovery of the Environment to ask how the frequently taken-for-granted category of "the environment" is defined through its relationship to hydrocarbon harms. Through ethnographic and historical analysis, Bond explores the consequences of fossil fuels through the scientific establishment of thresholds of toxicity, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, tar sands oil extraction in Alberta, pipeline protests, petrochemical contamination, and oil infrastructure in the Caribbean. Students will investigate the social, political, and ecological effects of fossil fuel damage, and develop a white paper and op-ed that distill their analyses and propose alternatives.

The internet is rife with posts that hold large fashion retailers accountable for plagiarism and other unethical practices like cultural appropriation, including charges that Target appropriated Mexican artist Felix d'Eton's rainbow pride design for T-shirts, and that Forever 21 and Zara represented as their own the work of independent designers. Posting about such practices on their Instagram and TikTok accounts gives consumers an opportunity to demonstrate social responsibility. Such crowdsourcing is increasingly playing a significant role in policing fashion intellectual property (IP). Unfortunately, social media users who participate in such policing do not themselves benefit as workers or consumers, although solicited influencers are sometimes compensated for such work. This writing seminar will commence its study of the topic by reading and analyzing Minh-Ha T. Pham's Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Social Media's Influence on Fashion, Ethics, and Property (Duke, 2022). We will consider the irony of how crowdsourced regulation of fashion creativity and copynorms often reproduces Western standards of fashion ethics, creativity, and IP, and can support racist exploitative norms. This writing seminar is transdisciplinary in nature and encourages students to research and engage with the topic in fields they find most interesting, for example, the arts, social media, psychology, legal studies, entrepreneurship and marketing.

In 1911, three men hid in a closet in the Louvre overnight, leaving the next morning with Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa hidden under a blanket. During World War II, the Nazi regime stole thousands of art works from Jewish families. The Iraq war in the early 2000s precipitated large scale archeological looting. And in 2011, the prominent New York City art gallery Knoedler was discovered to have sold more than 40 forged Abstract Expressionist works. The development of the modern global art market, with paintings and sculptures by famous artists fetching millions of dollars at auction, has been shadowed by a black market sustained by fraud, forgery, looting, and theft, with an estimated billions in annual losses. In this course, we will examine the economic and cultural challenges created by art crime. Students will have the opportunity to assess and synthesize research on a chosen area of art crime, and to produce their own arguments on these topics.

In 1911, three men hid in a closet in the Louvre overnight, leaving the next morning with Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa hidden under a blanket. During World War II, the Nazi regime stole thousands of art works from Jewish families. The Iraq war in the early 2000s precipitated large scale archeological looting. And in 2011, the prominent New York City art gallery Knoedler was discovered to have sold more than 40 forged Abstract Expressionist works. The development of the modern global art market, with paintings and sculptures by famous artists fetching millions of dollars at auction, has been shadowed by a black market sustained by fraud, forgery, looting, and theft, with an estimated billions in annual losses. In this course, we will examine the economic and cultural challenges created by art crime. Students will have the opportunity to assess and synthesize research on a chosen area of art crime, and to produce their own arguments on these topics.

Home to one sixth of humanity, India holds a vast population and with it, a vast infrastructure inclined to count: a dizzying array of bureaucratic institutions, private corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and business families together relentlessly seek, and in turn comprise, statistical data to govern citizens, manage commerce, and target and retain customers. In this seminar, we will read Rukmini S's Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us About Modern India to learn to critically interpret and employ statistics on a wide range of behaviors and institutions, including how everyday Indians relate to cops and courts; how they vote; how they eat, pray, love, and marry; and how they work and spend money. Probing this information will allow us to better understand the reliability of data to support opinions, generalize behaviors and trends, and apply in academic, business, and policy-oriented research.

Star Wars. Harry Potter. Jurassic Park. Jaws. Some movies are defined as much by their sound worlds as their plots and characters. Hear the piercing first notes of the Star Wars fanfare, the noble melody welcoming us to Jurassic Park, the menacing motif of a lurking, murderous shark, and you are transported. In this course we will discuss the unique role music plays in film. A focus on John Williams, whose 50-plus Academy Award nominations are second to only Walt Disney, will guide our exploration of this special artistic dimension. Watching a variety of clips from beloved films along the way, we will learn how music drives and transcends the movie experience.

The Bachelor and The Bachelorette (ABC), Top Chef, Real Housewives (Bravo), Keeping Up with the Kardashians (E!), Queer Eye and Bling Empire (Netflix). Love it or hate it -- Gary Oldman once called reality television a "museum of social decay" -- reality television has enormous influence in American entertainment, accounting for half of all programming on broadcast and cable. Part of the attraction of reality TV is that it is "unscripted." But in this course, we will examine the powerful cultural scripts that reality TV programming helps to create around identity, especially identities related to gender and race. Using Rachel Dubrofsky's scholarly monograph The Surveillance of Women on Reality TV: Watching The Bachelor and The Bachelorette as a starting point, we will consider how gender, race, sexual orientation, and class are represented in reality television. What does the new Netflix series Bling Empire tell its audience about Asian American identity; how does Queer Eye represent queer male friendship? What about representations of (dis)ability in Love on the Spectrum? How do these representations impact gendered and racialized bodies? How does reality TV reflect, but also influence, our lived realities?

The Bachelor and The Bachelorette (ABC), Top Chef, Real Housewives (Bravo), Keeping Up with the Kardashians (E!), Queer Eye and Bling Empire (Netflix). Love it or hate it -- Gary Oldman once called reality television a "museum of social decay" -- reality television has enormous influence in American entertainment, accounting for half of all programming on broadcast and cable. Part of the attraction of reality TV is that it is "unscripted." But in this course, we will examine the powerful cultural scripts that reality TV programming helps to create around identity, especially identities related to gender and race. Using Rachel Dubrofsky's scholarly monograph The Surveillance of Women on Reality TV: Watching The Bachelor and The Bachelorette as a starting point, we will consider how gender, race, sexual orientation, and class are represented in reality television. What does the new Netflix series Bling Empire tell its audience about Asian American identity; how does Queer Eye represent queer male friendship? What about representations of (dis)ability in Love on the Spectrum? How do these representations impact gendered and racialized bodies? How does reality TV reflect, but also influence, our lived realities?

For as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Ancient people used myths to explain the "unexplainable", like the creation of the universe, the origins of a culture, good vs. evil, proper human behavior, natural catastrophes, and death and the afterlife. People from different worlds with no contact with each other share stories of great floods, virgin births, the hero's quest, human cannibalism, sacrifice, gods killing one another, and the afterlife. In this course, we will examine ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Norse myths to reveal differences, similarities, and our shared human need to explain the unknown. Students will improve their critical reasoning, academic writing, and research skills in this cross-cultural course.

Each year, nearly 1.7 million people in the US suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). In the case of falls or blunt traumas sustained by injuries in the military, workplaces, sports, or vehicle accidents, the cause of a TBI is clear. Other causes are unknown, and the brain injury may not be immediately obvious. Now, researchers in a range of disciplines from neuroscience to sociology are better understanding the short- and long-term effects of such injuries, whether it is a mild injury or more severe. These effects can be serious: ranging from emotional and behavioral changes, to speech, communication, and memory lapses. As we are better understanding the emotional, educational, and economic consequences of TBIs, caregivers, parents, policymakers, and patients are doing more to manage and care for those affected. In this writing seminar we will start by reading The Traumatized Brain, a book written by two neuropsychiatrists, Rao and Vaishnavi. After reading and analyzing the book, we will develop research projects on topics of your interest and write a research-based white paper and an opinion piece. Shorter assignments will include logical reasoning exercises, academic reading, research, professional peer reviews, and writing for various audiences.

Few of us stop to consider how we learned to fulfill our very basic need for food. In this class, we will explore what the research indicates on how and why we eat what we do, as well how food is part of our larger social worlds. Understanding that food is both symbolic and material, we will think about the way food signals our identity (hot chicken or fried cheese curds, anyone?), how our eating is swayed by marketing, and how food production is changing our global climate. While this class focuses on a topic of relevance to us all and will touch on research from several different academic disciplines, the emphasis throughout will be on analysis, research, and genre.

Few of us stop to consider how we learned to fulfill our very basic need for food. In this class, we will explore what the research indicates on how and why we eat what we do, as well how food is part of our larger social worlds. Understanding that food is both symbolic and material, we will think about the way food signals our identity (hot chicken or fried cheese curds, anyone?), how our eating is swayed by marketing, and how food production is changing our global climate. While this class focuses on a topic of relevance to us all and will touch on research from several different academic disciplines, the emphasis throughout will be on analysis, research, and genre.

What does it mean to be normal? When it comes to the human body and its needs, wants, and desires, the concept of normal is often unattainable. Yet, there is an enormous amount of value placed on one's capacity to look, be, sound, act... normal. So, is normal a question of ability, sexuality, health, size, or something else entirely? How are we as humans ever supposed to fit such a definition? Working from Alison Kafer's Feminist Queer Crip (2013), we will draw from disability studies and queer theory to consider the impacts such ideas of normalcy have on the body. Ultimately, we can question normalcy to understand how we are positioned as students, writers, and bodies that try to, but always exceed, being normal.

Steph Curry breaking the all-time record for three-pointers. Teams losing on purpose to secure better draft picks. Multiple social media scandals and their resulting apologies. The renaming of the Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena. How and why did the NBA get so modern? This seminar will explore and interrogate the intersections of superstardom, analytics, and digital media that have led to the $70 billion industry becoming such a force to be reckoned with, often at the consternation of fans and at the expense of its star players' health. We will use Steven Secular's 2023 monograph The Digital NBA: How the World's Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch as a case study to guide our analysis of the interdisciplinary problems a large, multinational entity like the NBA opens up. We will use Secular's book to help us understand academic inquiry and research, focusing on reasoning structures, evidence, and citation practices. In turn, writers will be introduced to a variety of new writing situations and strategies to sharpen their skills of analysis, research, and critical writing.

Steph Curry breaking the all-time record for three-pointers. Teams losing on purpose to secure better draft picks. Multiple social media scandals and their resulting apologies. The renaming of the Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena. How and why did the NBA get so modern? This seminar will explore and interrogate the intersections of superstardom, analytics, and digital media that have led to the $70 billion industry becoming such a force to be reckoned with, often at the consternation of fans and at the expense of its star players' health. We will use Steven Secular's 2023 monograph The Digital NBA: How the World's Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch as a case study to guide our analysis of the interdisciplinary problems a large, multinational entity like the NBA opens up. We will use Secular's book to help us understand academic inquiry and research, focusing on reasoning structures, evidence, and citation practices. In turn, writers will be introduced to a variety of new writing situations and strategies to sharpen their skills of analysis, research, and critical writing.

Everyone seems to want to belong to a vibrant community, but few people seem able to define what constitutes "community" in the first place. Furthermore, we often think of "the good life" in terms of individual happiness or success, and yet can still feel lonely no matter how accomplished we become. Perhaps the solution to these common issues is simply "figure it out together." The central question of this seminar is How should people live together with one another? With the present rise in loneliness, social fracturing, and the loss of "third spaces" between home and work where people organically socialize, what lessons can we learn from past experiments in intentional community-building? Using Kristen Ghodsee's book, Everyday Utopia, this seminar explores how historical, and sometimes radical, attempts at creating community can teach us what to strive for, avoid, and value as we all seek to figure out what "the good life" means for us and our communities.

We seem to be living in times of uncertainty. Trying to make sense of the overlapping environmental, social, and economic crises that dominate the present moment, the simple question of "how did we get here?" can seem overwhelming. Perhaps more importantly, how do we find hope and even wonder in the world today? This seminar explores how people, power, and the environment make places what they are, for better and worse. Reading Laura Ogden's case study of "environmental change and colonial history... in the Fuegian Archipelago of southernmost Chile and Argentina," we will explore how people, power, and the environment interact to shape our understanding of "place." All places are defined by their environments, the people who live there, and (increasingly) global networks of trade and power. Understanding how to make the world a better place requires first understanding how any particular place is made. As we explore place-making, we will find areas of hope, and even wonder, that offer lessons in how people and environments can flourish despite histories of exploitation and unrelenting climate change.

We seem to be living in times of uncertainty. Trying to make sense of the overlapping environmental, social, and economic crises that dominate the present moment, the simple question of "how did we get here?" can seem overwhelming. Perhaps more importantly, how do we find hope and even wonder in the world today? This seminar explores how people, power, and the environment make places what they are, for better and worse. Reading Laura Ogden's case study of "environmental change and colonial history... in the Fuegian Archipelago of southernmost Chile and Argentina," we will explore how people, power, and the environment interact to shape our understanding of "place." All places are defined by their environments, the people who live there, and (increasingly) global networks of trade and power. Understanding how to make the world a better place requires first understanding how any particular place is made. As we explore place-making, we will find areas of hope, and even wonder, that offer lessons in how people and environments can flourish despite histories of exploitation and unrelenting climate change.

Concerns about privacy and tensions over institutional secrecy saturate our culture. Acts of concealment occur on a spectrum from the personal level, such as the use of encrypted messaging, to national experiences with hearings about how sensitive information is kept safe. In this course, we will trace how the fields of detection and surveillance have now reached the point where surveillance (often using some degree of AI) and information policies raise new privacy questions by altering the distinction between public and private space. We will discuss cultural implications of concealment and suppression in practices of secrecy and surveillance, investigating what is at stake for individuals as well as the collective citizenry. With Neil Richards' Why Privacy Matters as our course text, we will consider how the present fight for privacy is at the center of cultural questions in society and our freedom within it. We will consider what motivates both watchers and those watched to protect or access information, be they individuals or governing power structures. Students will develop their critical thinking and research skills through collaborative discussion, peer review, and critical writing that is source informed.

Concerns about privacy and tensions over institutional secrecy saturate our culture. Acts of concealment occur on a spectrum from the personal level, such as the use of encrypted messaging, to national experiences with hearings about how sensitive information is kept safe. In this course, we will trace how the fields of detection and surveillance have now reached the point where surveillance (often using some degree of AI) and information policies raise new privacy questions by altering the distinction between public and private space. We will discuss cultural implications of concealment and suppression in practices of secrecy and surveillance, investigating what is at stake for individuals as well as the collective citizenry. With Neil Richards' Why Privacy Matters as our course text, we will consider how the present fight for privacy is at the center of cultural questions in society and our freedom within it. We will consider what motivates both watchers and those watched to protect or access information, be they individuals or governing power structures. Students will develop their critical thinking and research skills through collaborative discussion, peer review, and critical writing that is source informed.

Few of us stop to consider how we learned to fulfill our very basic need for food. In this class, we will explore what the research indicates on how and why we eat what we do, as well how food is part of our larger social worlds. Understanding that food is both symbolic and material, we will think about the way food signals our identity (hot chicken or fried cheese curds, anyone?), how our eating is swayed by marketing, and how food production is changing our global climate. While this class focuses on a topic of relevance to us all and will touch on research from several different academic disciplines, the emphasis throughout will be on analysis, research, and genre.

What happens in your brain when you can speak two languages? Is bilingualism a cognitive advantage, or is it more taxing on the brain? Around the world, bilingualism is the norm rather than the exception: many people use two or more languages for work, education and personal communication. While the connection between language and the brain has been well established, the brains of bilinguals are just beginning to be studied in depth. In The Bilingual Brain by Albert Costa, we are introduced to cutting-edge research in neurolinguistics and cognitive science, revealing what happens in a human brain that functions in two languages. Students pursue their own research and writing in topics related to bilingualism, drawing from behavioral science, linguistics, psychology or neuroscience.

Do we need help choosing what to eat? How much to save for retirement? Whether to check the organ donor box at the DMV? Certain behavioral economists think so. This section will explore how everyone from city planners to nutritionists to the Internal Revenue Service engages, knowingly or not, in "choice architecture" that influences everyday decisions. Fusing behavioral economics, psychology, public policy, and design, such "nudges" aim less to incentivize or discourage choices than gently encourage "better" habits for individuals and, in turn, society at large. This seminar will address questions of freedom, choice, and paternalism at the heart of Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sustein's bestselling book Nudge, with the broader goal of learning how we ourselves might become perceptive and influential in designed contexts we encounter each day.

Digital writing strategies using computer algorithms and AI are not new to many creative writers. With the popularity of tools like Chat-GPT and Bard, conversations about storytelling and the impact of AI on creative writing are increasing as rapidly as new users and audiences are coming to the technology. In this seminar, we will write for a variety of audiences and purposes while considering the ways AI plays a role in shaping the narrative landscape in our networked present. No previous experience with poetry or programming is required.

Digital writing strategies using computer algorithms and AI are not new to many creative writers. With the popularity of tools like Chat-GPT and Bard, conversations about storytelling and the impact of AI on creative writing are increasing as rapidly as new users and audiences are coming to the technology. In this seminar, we will write for a variety of audiences and purposes while considering the ways AI plays a role in shaping the narrative landscape in our networked present. No previous experience with poetry or programming is required.

While writing workshops are generally thought to be hosted by libraries, schools, or literary centers, there is a rich history of poetry workshops in prisons, union halls and workers' centers. In this course, working from Mark Nowak's Social Poetics, we will explore what Nowak calls, borrowing from Howard Zinn, a people's history of the poetry workshop. Our focus on this history of poetry workshops and the workshop's potential for solidarity and change will take us from the Watts Rebellion in LA of 1956 to the Attica Prison riots, to the anti-apartheid protests in South Africa to Nowak's own Worker Writers School, a monthly workshop for low-wage workers, founded at a Ford Factory in 2011. In this course we will write for a range of audiences, genres and goals towards developing a rhetorical flexibility that will aid you in professional and academic writing situations.

"Absolutely unmixed attention," the philosopher Simone Weil once wrote, can be a force as powerful as prayer. In today's screen-saturated world, however, our attention is constantly compromised by divisive political rhetoric, invasive marketing techniques, and disruptive digital technologies -- not to mention the constant threat of environmental catastrophe. Guided by Jenny Odell's best-selling book How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, we will ask how we might responsibly escape the demands of a world obsessed with productivity -- without escaping our responsibility to the life that inhabits it. Despite the course title, we will produce substantial writing during the semester, as we explore the political, aesthetic, and ecological consequences of concepts such as "attention," "nothingness," and "usefulness."

If you've found yourself wondering lately why so many people seem suddenly interested in the game of chess, you're not alone. Thanks to the popularity of Netflix's The Queen's Gambit, the rise of e-sports and live-streaming, and numerous other factors, the ancient "game of kings" has arguably never been more popular. In this class, we will examine why chess holds such a powerful appeal in contemporary society and explore how the all-too-neglected concept of "play" might speak to important social problems facing our world. Using Robert Desjarlais's book Counterplay: An Anthropologist at the Chessboard as our guide, we will consider the cultural, historical, and philosophical reasons why "Chess gets a hold of some people, like a virus or a drug" -- and, moreover, why it seems to have gotten such a hold of our twenty-first century moment. We'll ask: What sorts of biases and assumptions about race, class, and gender are embedded in and revealed over the chessboard? Why are chess metaphors ("pawns," "stalemates," etc.) used so persistently in political and professional rhetoric? How can the recent dominance of computers in the chess world help us understand the drawbacks and potentials of artificial intelligence? Finally and most importantly: how might discovering and recovering our capacity for creativity, passion, and play be indispensable for our lives as students, activists, and professionals -- or even as just plain humans? In addition to welcoming chess enthusiasts of all skill levels, this class will especially appeal to those interested in the fields of anthropology, sociology, and the humanities writ large.

"Absolutely unmixed attention," the philosopher Simone Weil once wrote, can be a force as powerful as prayer. In today's screen-saturated world, however, our attention is constantly compromised by divisive political rhetoric, invasive marketing techniques, and disruptive digital technologies -- not to mention the constant threat of environmental catastrophe. Guided by Jenny Odell's best-selling book How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, we will ask how we might responsibly escape the demands of a world obsessed with productivity -- without escaping our responsibility to the life that inhabits it. Despite the course title, we will produce substantial writing during the semester, as we explore the political, aesthetic, and ecological consequences of concepts such as "attention," "nothingness," and "usefulness."

In this course we will look at the rise of feminist zines--small, self-published, DIY publications made by girls for girls-- and their role in creating feminist counterpublics. Do you have a photocopier and something to say? You have the first steps to creating your own zine. In these micro publications, girls built networks to share information and entertainment, and co-created a social justice framework against bigotry, misogyny, and inequality. In this class, we'll research the rise of feminism, girlhood aesthetics, media culture, arts and crafts, and popular culture. Using Elizabeth Groeneveld's Making Feminist Media: Third-Wave Magazines on the Cusp of the Digital Age as our starting point, we will explore how feminist zines from the 1990s anticipate, persist, and differ from online feminist activism today. Students will be asked to write in a variety of genres and audiences.

As readers, researchers, and writers in this seminar, we will explore our complex climate system, the causes of climate change, and the measures needed to mitigate and adapt to it. We will begin with a close reading of George Ropes' newly published book, Waking Up to Climate Change. Ropes is the founder and author of ClimateYou.org, which has been following the story of climate change with extensive gathering and analysis of research studies, innovations, catastrophes, and signs of progress. Ropes' introduction will launch our exploration of the multifaceted ways that climate change affects energy, weather and climate, people and nature, laws and leaders, and finance. Students, in turn, will choose one of these broad topics for their own research and writing project for this seminar, which will include a white paper (policy) and an op-ed (opinion piece).

Humans have a profound capacity to alter our environment. These changes can devastate and disrupt entire ecosystems and threaten the survival of species, including our own. As great as the human ability to destroy can be, recent activism and research show how our ingenuity and creativity can lead to important organizing efforts and discoveries that can protect, nurture, and even restore damage to the environment that we have caused. In this course, we will read Elizabeth Kolbert's Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future as the foundation for our own research project. Kolbert's investigative journalism and science writing engages with the efforts of biologists, engineers, physicists and others working on a range of efforts to address the crisis. We'll learn more about the complexities of the question Kolbert poses: Can we change nature, this time, in order to save it? We will also consider the influence of social networks and the multiple dimensions of lobbyist and activist groups, along with an exploration of the finance sector and how investments have a part in this larger set of concerns. Upon a close reading and analysis of Kolbert's book, students will choose a research topic related to the climate crisis and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it.

In 1973, PBS began airing a daring new television program called An American Family, which anthropologist Margaret Mead speculated "may be as important for our time as were the invention of drama and the novel for earlier generations: a new way to help people understand themselves." Mead's prediction proved prescient, because An American Family ushered in a genre that, more than fifty years later, has proliferated globally: reality television. But to what extent is the second half of Mead's assertion true? How can shows like An American Family "help people understand themselves"? This writing seminar will explore the history of reality television and its impact on contemporary culture, within the United States and globally. Using Ruth Deller's Reality Television: The TV Phenomenon That Changed the World as our guide, we will examine how producers and consumers of reality television interpret and employ the genre as a tool to understand themselves, others, and the world.

In 1973, PBS began airing a daring new television program called An American Family, which anthropologist Margaret Mead speculated "may be as important for our time as were the invention of drama and the novel for earlier generations: a new way to help people understand themselves." Mead's prediction proved prescient, because An American Family ushered in a genre that, more than fifty years later, has proliferated globally: reality television. But to what extent is the second half of Mead's assertion true? How can shows like An American Family "help people understand themselves"? This writing seminar will explore the history of reality television and its impact on contemporary culture, within the United States and globally. Using Ruth Deller's Reality Television: The TV Phenomenon That Changed the World as our guide, we will examine how producers and consumers of reality television interpret and employ the genre as a tool to understand themselves, others, and the world.

From healthcare inaccessibility to environmental crises and the unhoused, "the crisis of care" reveals interdependent strains on people and the systems meant to sustain their needs. The common element uniting these issues is care: given and received, intimate and planetary, observed and ignored. In this seminar, we will examine the politics of care by asking, quite literally, "Who cares?" and "Who cares for whom?" Through our reading of The Care Manifesto, a collaboratively authored text by a group of scholars and activists called The Care Collective, we will consider the work that goes into caring for ourselves, for others, and for the planet. What does this work consist of, who performs it, and why? Students will have the opportunity to interrogate the liberatory potential of self-care, as well as its reinforcement of social stratification, inequity, and alienation. "We live in a world where carelessness reigns," the Collective writes, "but it does not have to be this way."

Global corporate consulting firms such as McKinsey, Deloitte, and Accenture are typically retained by client companies seeking to streamline business operations, maximize revenue, and keep ahead of industry competitors. The choicest of client accounts entail complex, long-term strategic and technological investments and operational know-how that yield billions of dollars in annual revenue for consultants. Yet do these firms act with their clients' best interests in mind? What is at stake for clients' reputations when consultants' recommendations are implemented, but fail, whether at the cost of profit, the environment, or even human lives? In this seminar, we will seek to answer these and related questions by engaging with Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe's book When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm. We will read case studies on McKinsey's work in the tobacco and opioid industries, with global oil companies, and as advisors to the governments of China, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia. Considering these will help us to critically think and write broadly about the business practices and ultimate accountability of some of the world's best-known companies.

Global corporate consulting firms such as McKinsey, Deloitte, and Accenture are typically retained by client companies seeking to streamline business operations, maximize revenue, and keep ahead of industry competitors. The choicest of client accounts entail complex, long-term strategic and technological investments and operational know-how that yield billions of dollars in annual revenue for consultants. Yet do these firms act with their clients' best interests in mind? What is at stake for clients' reputations when consultants' recommendations are implemented, but fail, whether at the cost of profit, the environment, or even human lives? In this seminar, we will seek to answer these and related questions by engaging with Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe's book When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm. We will read case studies on McKinsey's work in the tobacco and opioid industries, with global oil companies, and as advisors to the governments of China, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia. Considering these will help us to critically think and write broadly about the business practices and ultimate accountability of some of the world's best-known companies.

Where does violent crime fit in prison abolition discourse and strategy? In this critical writing seminar, we will focus on Restorative justice activist Danielle Sered's Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair to help us answer this question. Until We Reckon asks us to rethink the role of prisons and incarceration in our society, centering discussion of violent crime, restoration for survivors, and harm repair. Honing students' practices of critical reading and writing skills is the primary goal of this course. Students will also improve their research, analytical, metacognitive, and critical-thinking skills through writing assignments, in-class discussions, and peer workshopping. Through draft and revision, students will be writing explanatory papers and public opinion pieces on topics of interest related to Danielle Sered's text.

Do we need help choosing what to eat? How much to save for retirement? Whether to check the organ donor box at the DMV? Certain behavioral economists think so. This section will explore how everyone from city planners to nutritionists to the Internal Revenue Service engages, knowingly or not, in "choice architecture" that influences everyday decisions. Fusing behavioral economics, psychology, public policy, and design, such "nudges" aim less to incentivize or discourage choices than gently encourage "better" habits for individuals and, in turn, society at large. This seminar will address questions of freedom, choice, and paternalism at the heart of Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sustein's bestselling book Nudge, with the broader goal of learning how we ourselves might become perceptive and influential in designed contexts we encounter each day.

The theory of governance known today as "neoliberalism" is most often understood as a mainly economic policy. But, particularly in its initial theorizations, neoliberalism was also, perhaps even mainly, a philosophic doctrine that emphasized the centrality of a certain concept of law in and for human civilization as such. The leading figures of what would only later become known as "neoliberalism" criticized existing economic theories for neglecting basic questions of legal theory and argued that capitalism could not be saved from the perils of socialism and communism without a renewed understanding of, and insistence on, the rule of law. In this course, we shall take this, the "legal theoretical" origin of neoliberalism, as a point of departure for understanding neoliberalism. Our concern will be for the place of the body in the law, and our case study will be the impact of neoliberalism on biotechnology as we read Melinda Cooper's Life as Surplus: Biotechnology and Capitalism in the Neoliberal Era and ask why playing with the building blocks of life poses such a primordial temptation to the legal theory of neoliberalism.

Are young people losing their ability to write properly because of technology? Are women more talkative than men? Which languages are more sophisticated than others? Social scientists examine language with rigorous research methods in order to know if languages opinions are fact or fiction. In this writing seminar we will read Abby Kaplan's Women Talk More Than Men...And Other Myths About Language Explained, to understand how linguists study patterns in language. The book covers recent research drawing from linguistics, cognitive science, sign language studies, and quantitative data analysis. Students then choose topics related to language and linguistics for their own research and writing.

This writing seminar focuses on a scholarly inquiry in the field of Linguistics, the study of human language and its structure. This seminar will introduce students to scholarly conversations on a specific topic in this discipline as a basis for understanding discipline- and profession-based writing. This includes types of reasoning, evidence, citation practices, and other means of creating, testing, and sharing knowledge with diverse audiences. Throughout, students are introduced to new writing situations and means of sharpening their skills and learning how to be adaptive, effective writers.

Imagine you're on a train going from New York to Philadelphia, and you hear many different languages spoken by people on the train and in the towns along the way. A long time ago, the Lenape languages were spoken in these areas, but they have disappeared now. Why do languages disappear? Is it possible to bring a language back to life, like Hebrew was brought back in the early 20th century? Is this a good or a bad thing? This course focuses on a book called "Language Death" by David Crystal, and its goal is to explore both the sad questions about languages dying and the more hopeful question about keeping languages alive and strong.

Imagine you're on a train going from New York to Philadelphia, and you hear many different languages spoken by people on the train and in the towns along the way. A long time ago, the Lenape languages were spoken in these areas, but they have disappeared now. Why do languages disappear? Is it possible to bring a language back to life, like Hebrew was brought back in the early 20th century? Is this a good or a bad thing? This course focuses on a book called "Language Death" by David Crystal, and its goal is to explore both the sad questions about languages dying and the more hopeful question about keeping languages alive and strong.

Recent developments in machine learning have placed the extraordinary power of sophisticated algorithms quite literally at our fingertips. The future development of fields as diverse as the logistics of transportation, healthcare, marketing, security and military strategy, finance, and scientific research are effectively unthinkable without the continued integration of AI and its associated infrastructures. AI clearly brings many benefits to our lives, but the profound reach of this ubiquitous technology also raises increasingly urgent ethical questions. Are we prepared to let self-driving cars make life or death decisions concerning the safety of passengers and pedestrians? Are we comfortable allowing autonomous weapons systems to plan and carry out military operations? Can we trust facial recognition systems to police our communities? This course introduces students to the field of AI ethics using the critical and descriptive vocabularies of philosophy and science and technology studies. We will read Mark Coeckelbergh's Political Philosophy of AI in order to examine the ethical dilemmas posed by the increasingly pervasive presence of AI in our lives.

Recent developments in machine learning have placed the extraordinary power of sophisticated algorithms quite literally at our fingertips. The future development of fields as diverse as the logistics of transportation, healthcare, marketing, security and military strategy, finance, and scientific research are effectively unthinkable without the continued integration of AI and its associated infrastructures. AI clearly brings many benefits to our lives, but the profound reach of this ubiquitous technology also raises increasingly urgent ethical questions. Are we prepared to let self-driving cars make life or death decisions concerning the safety of passengers and pedestrians? Are we comfortable allowing autonomous weapons systems to plan and carry out military operations? Can we trust facial recognition systems to police our communities? This course introduces students to the field of AI ethics using the critical and descriptive vocabularies of philosophy and science and technology studies. We will read Mark Coeckelbergh's The Political Philosophy of AI in order to examine the ethical dilemmas posed by the increasingly pervasive presence of AI in our lives.

We know so much about the universe but not where it will ultimately end up. How will the universe end? What can we learn from contemplating the possibilities for the ultimate future of everything? This writing seminar will start by exploring this topic of the possible futures for the universe, from vacuum decay to a big crunch or rip, with The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack. This will give us the background and jumping off point for our writing projects in formal or academic areas, as well as public or professional. We will develop and enhance critical reading, writing, and peer review skills as we learn about the fate of our universe as an introduction to the latest ideas of cutting edge physics (from the established quantum mechanics to the unknowns of string theory) and cosmology. (No physics or astronomy knowledge needed!)

We know so much about the universe but not where it will ultimately end up. How will the universe end? What can we learn from contemplating the possibilities for the ultimate future of everything? This writing seminar will start by exploring this topic of the possible futures for the universe, from vacuum decay to a big crunch or rip, with The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack. This will give us the background and jumping off point for our writing projects in formal or academic areas, as well as public or professional. We will develop and enhance critical reading, writing, and peer review skills as we learn about the fate of our universe as an introduction to the latest ideas of cutting edge physics (from the established quantum mechanics to the unknowns of string theory) and cosmology. (No physics or astronomy knowledge needed!)

The recent surge in populism around the world has greatly renewed interest in the forms and techniques of far-right demagoguery and mass manipulation. First systematically theorized in the 1930s to explain the mass basis of fascist movements, such techniques exploit and reinforce conformity to rigid conventionality, preoccupations with power and strength, contempt for weakness, and hatred of enemies. Such characteristics provide the soil in which anti-democratic politics proliferate, which appeal neither to reason nor to the rational self-interest of its would-be followers but to the irrationality of strong psychological and emotional needs. What are these needs and to what extent are they socially and economically produced? To what extent is mass manipulation specific to modern political, economic, and social conditions? Is demagoguery inherent to all forms of political agitation or specific to far-right movements? Why are these politics so often accompanied by deep-seated racial prejudice and hatred that are seemingly immune to attempts to rationally dispute or disabuse? We will explore these themes through the text Prophets of Deceit: A Study of the Techniques of the American Agitator by Nobert Guterman & Leo Lowenthal. Originally published in 1949, the monograph nonetheless permits, even demands, application to the current political milieux which it anticipates with uncanny prescience.

The recent surge in populism around the world has greatly renewed interest in the forms and techniques of far-right demagoguery and mass manipulation. First systematically theorized in the 1930s to explain the mass basis of fascist movements, such techniques exploit and reinforce conformity to rigid conventionality, preoccupations with power and strength, contempt for weakness, and hatred of enemies. Such characteristics provide the soil in which anti-democratic politics proliferate, which appeal neither to reason nor to the rational self-interest of its would-be followers but to the irrationality of strong psychological and emotional needs. What are these needs and to what extent are they socially and economically produced? To what extent is mass manipulation specific to modern political, economic, and social conditions? Is demagoguery inherent to all forms of political agitation or specific to far-right movements? Why are these politics so often accompanied by deep-seated racial prejudice and hatred that are seemingly immune to attempts to rationally dispute or disabuse? We will explore these themes through the text Prophets of Deceit: A Study of the Techniques of the American Agitator by Nobert Guterman & Leo Lowenthal. Originally published in 1949, the monograph nonetheless permits, even demands, application to the current political milieux which it anticipates with uncanny prescience.

In recent years, the Victorian concept of a "surplus population" has reemerged within critical accounts of contemporary global capitalism to make sense of the intractability of the permanently unemployed and the growing numbers of people radically excluded from the world market. By reading William I. Robinson's The Global Police State [2020], we will examine the means and methods by which governments have policed this surplus humanity through mass incarceration, state and public surveillance, state violence, increased police powers, the militarized administration of immigration and refugees, and the permanent mobilization for war. To what extent do these forms of repression and social control secure the rule of the global capitalist system? Do those who benefit the most from the staggering levels of wealth inequality require such violent means to secure their interests? To what extent does this global police state function as an engine of generating profits and accumulating capital in a period of stagnating economic growth and the seeming ineluctable obsolescence of many kinds of labor? Does this system of social control require a conscious ruling agent, or can it function in the interests of the few without their direct control? Students will engage these questions and the course topic through a variety of assignments that develop foundational writing and analytical skills applicable to academic, professional, and public writing situations.

A sense of belonging allows us to be more compassionate, more humane, and more tolerant of outsiders. In this course we will investigate ways to create belonging in our everyday lives. Using psychologist Geoffrey Cohen's latest book Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides as our guide, we will look at how situations can shape us and how we can shape situations; how to read others with empathy; how we experience being stereotyped and how we can help push back; and, most importantly, concrete strategies for fostering belonging in school, work, community, and politics.

Have you ever read a news article, watched a TV commercial or a music video, and wondered about its power to get into your head? This course examines how modern media engage in the rhetorical art of persuasion. Rather than focusing on social media, we'll be looking at professional media: everything from news to advertising to entertainment. We're bombarded with media rhetoric daily, and often we're aware of it as a means of manipulating our thoughts and actions, yet we consume and often succumb. We're all products of our media's unrelenting rhetorical machinations. In this seminar we'll study the rhetoric of persuasion in modern media, its historical development, and the ways it draws us into its milieu. We'll investigate how these media unite us and divide us, and hopefully come to understand them well enough to resist being pawns of the rhetoric we encounter. As a student in this seminar, you'll learn much about rhetorical strategies, critical thinking, and critical writing theory and practice. You'll produce two major pieces, a white paper and an op-ed, as well as shorter assignments designed to increase your writing knowledge and your self-awareness as a writer: keys to meeting the writing tasks in your future.

Have you ever read a news article, watched a TV commercial or a music video, and wondered about its power to get into your head? This course examines how modern media engage in the rhetorical art of persuasion. Rather than focusing on social media, we'll be looking at professional media: everything from news to advertising to entertainment. We're bombarded with media rhetoric daily, and often we're aware of it as a means of manipulating our thoughts and actions, yet we consume and often succumb. We're all products of our media's unrelenting rhetorical machinations. In this seminar we'll study the rhetoric of persuasion in modern media, its historical development, and the ways it draws us into its milieu. We'll investigate how these media unite us and divide us, and hopefully come to understand them well enough to resist being pawns of the rhetoric we encounter. As a student in this seminar, you'll learn much about rhetorical strategies, critical thinking, and critical writing theory and practice. You'll produce two major pieces, a white paper and an op-ed, as well as shorter assignments designed to increase your writing knowledge and your self-awareness as a writer: keys to meeting the writing tasks in your future.

Are you worried about your dating prospects? Have you and your friends ever wondered whether anyone was serious about dating, or looking for love anymore? Believe it or not, we have societally pondered these questions throughout history. That is, historically, we have been both fascinated and concerned with dating and the prospects of the process. Therefore, in this course, we will venture on a journey to understand how we have come to conceptualize and date the way that we do. We will read Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating by Moira Weigel, which employs a feminist lens to trace the development of modern dating.

Are you worried about your dating prospects? Have you and your friends ever wondered whether anyone was serious about dating, or looking for love anymore? Believe it or not, we have societally pondered these questions throughout history. That is, historically, we have been both fascinated and concerned with dating and the prospects of the process. Therefore, in this course, we will venture on a journey to understand how we have come to conceptualize and date the way that we do. We will read Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating by Moira Weigel, which employs a feminist lens to trace the development of modern dating.

How did you decide which foods would occupy space in your refrigerator? To make this decision, you likely assessed factors like whether food items were affordable or expensive, organic or processed, and if they were craft or mass-produced. These distinctions allow us to see that the food we eat may mean more than sustenance. Thus, in this class, we will employ a sociological lens to understand the meanings we give to food. We will explore how our meanings for food allow people to do things such as develop tastes, construct identities, gain membership to gastronomic systems, and distinguish categories of people (e.g., class). As we gain a greater understanding of these food meanings, we will be able to make sense of food trends such as the rise of gourmet, organic, ethnic, and diet foods. We will read Discriminating Taste: How Class Anxiety Created the American Food Revolution by Margot Finn to understand how class serves as one of the underlying factors that inform our food meanings.

When we examine the narrative of the ideal family, it is often portrayed as a site of unconditional love and care. However, families can also be sites of pain, trauma, and uneven distributions of labor. For many, the concept of family loyalty can often include keeping each other's secrets and hiding harm and dysfunction from public view. In fact, many people turn away from biological families and toward "chosen" families when in need of care, love, and understanding. In this seminar, we will look at the history of family abolition and its threads through various other movements, examine variations in cultural models of family, and imagine new models of collective care together.

When we examine the narrative of the ideal family, it is often portrayed as a site of unconditional love and care. However, families can also be sites of pain, trauma, and uneven distributions of labor. For many, the concept of family loyalty can often include keeping each other's secrets and hiding harm and dysfunction from public view. In fact, many people turn away from biological families and toward "chosen" families when in need of care, love, and understanding. In this seminar, we will look at the history of family abolition and its threads through various other movements, examine variations in cultural models of family, and imagine new models of collective care together.

If you were to get sick today, who would take care of you? Are there people or institutions you imagine as having the responsibility for your care? In our society, we have tended to assign care duties to family units and healthcare systems, meaning those who do not have access to a family or to traditional healthcare have to look elsewhere for care or lack access to it altogether. In this course, we will examine the limitations of our current legal and social frameworks for care in order to imagine what other possibilities for care exist. We will ask: in what ways can we reimagine an interdependent and thriving society by restructuring how we understand, organize, and provide care for each other.

Somehow people seem to deny reality, believing the Earth is flat, doubting vaccines, and rejecting climate change. How is that possible? How can we communicate and convince people otherwise? Why do people believe in bizarre conspiracy theories and resist the truth? In this writing seminar we will explore these questions raised in How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason by Lee McIntyre. That will be our starting point in choosing topics for a variety of writing projects, from more formal or academic, to public and professional. We will develop and enhance critical reading, writing, and peer review skills through this lens of science denialism and learning how to fight back.

When we reconsider ideas, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only Juniors and Seniors who have not fulfilled their writing requirement, and Junior transfers who have not transferred writing credit from a previous institution, are eligible to enroll in Critical Composing.

When we reconsider ideas, break old habits, or question the status quo, we entertain the unfamiliar. Mental experiments like these require us to suspend judgement, reexamine assumptions, and open our minds to alternatives--but it's often easier said than done. To explore strategies and rewards of rethinking, students will read Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton Professor and #1 New York Times bestselling writer Adam Grant. Grounded by research in psychology, management, and applied sciences, Grant shows how reviewing intuition can foster learning, personal growth, effective interpersonal communication, and the success of whole organizations. We will survey common biases, learn to critically evaluate sources, and account for competing perspectives in pursuit of an adaptive mindset applicable across fields and majors. Students will choose a related research topic and engage in a series of research and writing projects organized around it. Only Juniors and Seniors who have not fulfilled their writing requirement, and Junior transfers who have not transferred writing credit from a previous institution, are eligible to enroll in Critical Composing.

Using the book, Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet, this writing seminar examines climate change using a data-driven approach that focuses on concrete actions and achievable solutions. Drawing on scientific evidence, such as the total US greenhouse gas emissions being 6,340 metric tonnes in 2021, a 2.3 percent decrease since 1990 (EPA), we will study the science with a view that empowers us with discourses of hope rather than doom, and a data-driven approach to building sustainable futures for the earth and all its inhabitants. This course focuses on audience, both in relation to climate change, and as a key concept in writing studies. Unearthing a wealth of scientific data with nuance that goes beyond the headlines, we will consider communication as a tool for positive change. The seminar aims to build skills in the areas of reading, critical thinking, reasoning, research, and rhetorical analysis.

The objective of this course is to prepare you to be a writing tutor. This course will advance your knowledge of writing, the field of writing studies, and how to teach and learn advanced writing skills. You will read and research a range of topics and use a variety of teaching and learning strategies: collaborative work, one-on-one peer-review; individual conferences and feedback; presentations and role-playing and, of course, writing. Another emphasis of the course is on refining your explanatory skills, from organizing your thoughts to speaking succinctly. Our course meets twice weekly, along with some hours outside of class to shadow experienced tutors as well as to do some practice tutoring yourselves.