Exploratory Core Courses, 2024-2025

What drives people to become revolutionaries? What do they hope to accomplish? How do their ideas of revolution shape states, societies, cultures, mass movements, and everyday lives? And what does life look like after revolution? This course will consider the history and lived experience of revolution and its aftermath. It will trace a variety of revolutionary movements from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, exploring how revolutionary ideas shaped Eastern Europe, Russia, Italy, the Americas, Iran, and more. Through a range of media including diaries, novels, manifestos, poetry, posters, graffiti, statistical reports, art, and film we'll study how intellectuals, artists, workers, and activists portray revolution and envision its uncertain futures. We will look at both the broad political forces that shape revolution and the intimate reaches of revolutionary theory to the private lives of individuals.  

How do objects of art shape the human experience? In what ways do such artifacts provide evidence of, or contribute to, political, social, religious, economic, and other historical transformations? How are they absorbed into or excluded from the ever-evolving canon of great works, and what are biases and consequences of canonization? In this process of interrogating the canon, we explore the various approaches used by art historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, and other scholars of material culture. The Pantheon in Rome, Michelangelos Sistine Chapel Ceiling, the Benin Bronzes, Picassos Les Demoiselles dAvignon, Hokusais The Great Wave, and the Los Angeles highway system are among the works that we will investigate.

Brain-Computer-Interfaces (BCI's) are direct communication pathways between brain circuits and external devices such as smartphones, cameras, or robotic arms. The course surveys the BCIs that augment, assist and restore brain functions compromised in neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. 

This course examines the historical and cultural significance of food in Italy, exploring how Italian cuisine shapes national identity and plays a central role in Italys global image. Through lectures, readings, and culinary practices, students will investigate the intersection of food, culture, and society in both historical and contemporary contexts. The course has a lab component, where students will engage in hands-on cooking, and is capped at 15 students to ensure an interactive experience. 

What do witches, werewolves, vampires, and the 1980s "Satanic Panic" have in common? They all embody societal fears of "the Other" ¿ the ultimate threatening, devilish outsiders. We will investigate how different eras and cultures have defined and reacted to supernatural "Others." You will engage with primary sources, analyze pop culture through a critical lens, deconstruct and critically evaluate media messages to identify underlying ideologies and cultural mores. Our wide-ranging exploration will take us from early modern European witchcraft and werewolf prosecutions to the realm of the undead, including draugr and vampires. We will examine elite magic like necromancy and the sometimes-blurry line between magic and religion through practices such as exorcism. We will also tackle modern day manifestations of the supernatural through the more recent "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s (when fear of occult forces infiltrating music, games, and daycare centers gripped the nation) and how pop culture representations of the supernatural reveal perennial cultural anxieties.

This course explores the history and present state of artificial intelligence and robotics. Drawing on different theories of scientific and technological innovation, students will discuss the socioeconomic, political, ethical, cultural, and environmental implications of AI and robotics development. They will assess the benefits and risks of advanced informatic machines, ask tough questions about the ethical responsibilities of researchers, and investigate short- and long-term policies for governance and regulation.   

In this course, students will not only learn about the history of and science behind gene editing but also take a deep dive into the ethics of this technology. Students will have the opportunity to read the primary literature as well as expert opinions on a variety of public dilemmas raised by gene editing tools. The course will culminate with a final project about the future of the field and its evolving ethical landscape.  

This course examines varying historical, cultural, and legal understandings of human reproduction, paying special attention to questions of race, class, gender, sexuality, and dis/ability. Students will learn about how different media representations shape social constructs of family, motherhood, pregnancy, and parenting. They will also examine the role of legal rights and concepts such as agency and freedom in the reproductive justice framework.  

Technological innovations such as transistors, lasers, global positioning systems, and smartphones have produced enormous economic dividends, but primarily for the wealthiest Americans. This course explores the links among scientific innovation, economic prosperity, and social values in the United States. Students will examine why recent explosions of technology have led to highly uneven distributions of prosperity, what this reveals about existing political forces and frameworks, and what it would take to produce more beneficent outcomes.