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special topics Courses SINGLE SEMESTER FALL 2009 *Philosophy An examination of central areas of philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. Topics will include the relation of morality to religion, the existence of God, personal identity, and the nature of the human mind. Although combining elements of Philosophy 101 and 102, for crediting purposes, this course is equivalent to Philosophy 101. *Approaches to Religion This course is an introduction to the comparative study of religions and will focus on the theme of the “self,” as understood in three religious traditions: Christianity, Hinduism, and Zen Buddhism. Students will analyze the theme first in terms of the debates within each tradition and then, by way of contrast, compare those interpretations with transpersonal and transformational theories of self developed by scholars of religion. Students will read an autobiographical work for each tradition along with a primary text on participant spirituality. *Media, Materialism, and Feminism Part I of this course will cover body image and power to include media’s impact on body image, body commodification, and eating disorders. Part II will cover environmental sustainability and ecofeminism to include Fromme’s rationale for why we are driven to stay busy and consume unnecessary things. Additional themes in Unit II include the impact of media and materialism on mental health, and issues related to stereotyping, power distributions, and globalization (e.g., how Western society commodifies and consumes other cultures. A media literacy service learning project will take place after reading about media literacy interventions, especially those targeting pre-teen and teen youth. *The Future Perfect Human: Cyborgs, Clones, Werewolves, God The course’s focus will be humanism and how it is conceptualized in texts from both the medieval and contemporary periods, initially in terms of the liberal humanist construction of the human. That critical engagement with “the human” as it continues to be conventionally understood will prepare students to read differently the medieval human and the postmodern human through the ways the nonhuman and the superhuman are defined and imagined in each era. Ultimately, we will consider how these conceptions of the non- and, especially, super-human influence our attitudes toward the human and, by extension, humanities within the university – and what is says about and can offer to the contemporary (and future) human. A primary concern of this course is to engage students with fundamental questions of temporality, pushing them to situate texts and views in dialogue across the usual divide of time and place. From the premodern period, we will look to Christian theology and its manifestations in mystical writers, hagiography, and popular religious belief and to fantastic literature and romance. We will read theoretical discourse on both issues and will analyze films and fantastic literature. *Death & Dying This course aims to analyze the topic of dying and death from a cross-cultural perspective. A major goal will be to make students aware of similarities between cultures regarding dying, death, and bereavement, while at the same time noting diversity. The significance of death rituals within the social structure of societies will be emphasized. Topics to be covered include: attitudes toward death throughout the life cycle, customs for the dying just prior to death, living with dying, biomedical issues, euthanasia, the business of dying, legal aspects of dying, mourning rituals, burial rites and other rites regarding final disposition of a dead body, the biological and social meanings of dying and death, children and death in different cultures, religion and death attitudes, death and the environment, suicide, and grieving throughout the life cycle. *World Politics World politics has been in a state of extraordinary transition. Today’s world of international relations is an arena that links domestic and foreign affairs around the globe, raising a host of complex issues and questions. As an introduction to the dynamics of international politics, this course includes in depth analysis of the actors, structures, and issues that make up the essence of international relations. We are going to study competing theoretical perspectives, state and non-state actors, the evolution of the international system, cooperation and conflict, globalization and interdependence, international institutions, human rights, environmental pressures, population problems and other important issues in world affairs. *Optical Geographies Over recent centuries human culture has taken a profoundly visual turn. This course charts the increasing salience of visual culture by considering the emergence of new optical technologies, from printing to photography to film to satellites. These new information-gathering and information-representing technologies have been central to the scalar transformation of life over the modern period. This course focuses on how such new technologies change our (understandings of) culture and its interaction with our environment. Geography is an especially visual discipline, with its tradition of representing space through maps, and the course will detail the evolution of cartography. We will also pay attention to the cultural landscapes that become visible through the remote sensing of the world around us and to the implications of such modern cultural landscapes. The goals of the course include giving students a framework within which to critically engage our visual culture and hands-on experience with remotely sensed materials such as aerial photographs and satellite images. It also underlines for students the interdisciplinary nature of the liberal arts tradition, marrying perspectives from disciplines as disparate as geography, arts management, political science and photography. * Introduction to International Studies COURSES OFFERED IN THE HONORS PROGRAM IN BUSINESS *Business and Consumer Ethics This course is designed to broaden students' awareness of the moral problems and responsibilities that have accompanied the growth of business institutions in our society. Through a selection of historical writings in philosophy, economic theory and political theory, students will examine some classical views about the nature of business activity, profit and the concept of an economic market. *Business Research Methods
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