Courses

A study of the historical and philosophical foundations of: A. the humanities; B. the sciences; and C. the social sciences. Each section of the seminar concentrates on an appropriate theme. Two sections are ordinarily taken during the sophomore year and one section during the junior year. May not be taken Pass/Fail.

Spring Semester information

300AA: HoScho AH Sem:Graphic Narratives, Graphic Subjects: Art, Death, and Intrigue in the Graphic Novel

Sex, plague, and murder in a 1970s Seattle suburb. Superheroes, anti-heroes, and political intrigue during the Cold War era. Frankenstein, nanotechnology, and shadow governments in the 21st century. Planetary exile on a women's off-world penal colony. As a medium that uses both text and image to tell stories, graphic novels and sequential art often captures humanity's best and worst impulses. This course explores how graphic storytelling interrogates life, death, and the political intrigue that often defines the human condition. Specifically, we will interrogate the characteristics and tropes operative in these graphic narratives, engage with current scholarship about sequential art, and explore several sub-genres including utopian/dystopian narratives; cyber punk aesthetics; and the memoir. Course texts include Alan Moore's Watchman, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Charles Burns' Black Hole, Victor LaValle's Destroyer, and Bitch Planet Vol. 1 & 2, to name a few.

300AB: HoScho AH Sem:The (dangerous and outdated?) art of truth-telling/truth-seeking

"Perhaps no one has yet been truthful enough about what 'truthfulness' is." --Nietzsche

Canadian journalist Terry Glavin recently made this statement: "Honestly, what I find more troubling than the fact that the truth doesn't seem to matter [with regards to media] is that it doesn't seem to matter that the truth doesn't matter." I find this troubling, too. How can the truth not matter? And yet, in so many spheres--politics, education, media--it often seems to be subjugated to confirmation bias. Setting aside esoteric philosophical questions like "What is Truth"? or "Is there Truth?", I want to explore with you--through literature, podcasts, music, art--our current relationship to this amorphous thing we call truth. We'll look at truth-telling and truth-seeking as two sides of a coin, and consider their interdependence. Where do people seek truth? Is the seeking solitary or collective? Do we know the truth when we see/hear it? Is there an obligation to communicate "truth" once you've "found" it? We'll jump into the FIRE (that is, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the Free Press) addressing the elephant in the room on college campuses: What is the relationship between truth and free speech? We will seek out examples of artists/writers/thinkers that are getting people to receive the truth they're trying to tell.

300AC: HoScho AH Sem:Wild Style: Hip Hop Aesthetics

Through readings and multimedia engagement, Wild Style: Hip Hop Aesthetics, explores the music, dance, and visual culture associated with the Hip Hop genre. This interdisciplinary course seeks an understanding of the subcultural tendencies that led to the creation of Hip Hop as well as the commercial tendencies that transformed it into a global cultural phenomenon. Students will gain an understanding of aesthetic philosophy as it relates to Hip Hop, African Diasporic/African American Music and Dance traditions, and the visual culture of graffiti, fashion, music videos, and films.

300BC: HoScho SM Sem:Food Systems and Sustainability

"What's for dinner?" Though this perennial question may seem banal, when considered through the lens of sustainability, which requires consideration for social equity, environmental integrity, and economic viability, it becomes one of the most important questions of the 21st century. The incredible advances in food production developed through the wonders of chemistry, physics, and computer science, and supported through policies advantaging so-called economic efficiencies have brought marvelous advances in society and prosperity to billions of people now living on this finite planet. These gains come at a cost: an estimated 800 million people are currently undernourished, eco-systems are threatened by pesticides and fertilizer run-off. As the population of the globe increases so do the costs to people and the planet. Society must pursue sustainable agricultural practices in order to preserve both the Earth's ecosystems and human dignity.

In this course, students will explore all aspects of the modern food system with an eye towards identifying problems and suggesting sustainable practices. Students will learn sustainability and systems theory, soil science and plant biology, food commodity economics, and agricultural politics while also applying this understanding to applied active-learning projects on Ullem Campus Farm. Students will gain practical experience with sustainable agriculture methods, enjoy class out of doors, and learn how to contribute to global environmental solutions.

300CB: HoScho SS Sem:Cult and Conspiracy

Everything that you think you know about the world is false. This course will give you the truth. And it's all true: Hollow Earth, Flat Earth, shadow people, lizard people, simulation theory, the surveillance state, the deep state, crisis actors, chemtrails, cryptids, UFOs, UAPs, alien bodies, alien abductions, QAnon, birthers, truthers, hoaxers, false flags, Manchurian candidates, militias, insurgents, useful idiots. How can we rationally understand this fascinating and sometimes menacing constellation of cults and conspiracies? In 1972, British sociologist Colin Campbell defined "cult" as any religious group formed in opposition to "dominant cultural orthodoxies." More recently, political scientist Michael Barkun expanded Campbell's definition beyond "deviant" religion to include the broader spectrum of conspiracy theories rooted in "outsider ideas" and "stigmatized knowledge" rejected by government, academic, and scientific authority. This course explores the formation of communities around "oppositional" knowledge. We will examine how cultic and conspiratorial knowledge move freely and rapidly through print and digital media, assuming the aspect of "truth" by the speed and volume of dissemination. We will consider how social psychology and political theory respond to this phenomenon, as well as intersections with accounts of antisemitism, antiglobalism, racism, and populism through case studies such as the Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate, the 9/11 Truth movement, and QAnon. Finally, we will read some recent works of fiction, including Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, Jess Walter's The Zero, and John Darnielle's Universal Harvester, that illuminate the murky, fluid, and volatile matrix of our cultural moment.

300CC: HoScho SS Sem:Access to Justice and Poverty Law

This course explores the meaning of access to justice, in the context of the United States legal system, especially for those who cannot afford to hire an attorney. We will examine the history and the role of civil legal aid and pro bono representation in the current delivery system. Innovations in bridging the justice gap will be explored.

Fall Semester information

300AA: HoScho AH Sem: Bloods vs. CRISPR: Interdisciplinary Bioethics

Is abortion wrong? What about cloning, or animal research, or having children--or not? In this course, we will explore these and other important ethical topics in medicine, biology, and related fields and consider their implications for ethical life and thought in general.

300AB: HoScho AH Sem: The Beat Generation

The "Beat Generation" marks a literary and cultural period from the early fifties to the mid-sixties in which rebellion against mainstream American postwar family values was beginning to surface. This interdisciplinary course looks at the literature of this era in its cultural and political contexts, and examines the impact upon subsequent writers and artists. Some of the authors we'll cover will include "canonical" Beat writers Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Gregory Corso, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti; Black Beat writers LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Ted Joans, and Bob Kaufman; rebel women Diane DiPrima, Joyce Johnson, Anne Waldman, and Hettie Jones. We will also see some Beat-era films (and representations of "beatniks" in the popular culture of the period) and hear some Beat-era music.

Since this course also fulfills DePauw's "S" requirement, students in this class will be expected to participate actively in speaking and listening activities that will include presentations, performances of texts, and discussions in various modes, both formal and informal.

300AC: HoScho AH Sem: Performing Culture: Ancient Drama and Society

Most of us encounter Greek tragedies in isolation, as required readings in Greek and Roman mythology or culture surveys. Many have read the _Ajax_ as an example of the 'heroic temper' and a prime example of Sophoclean tragedy. Ajax, outraged by a slight to his honor, who tries to murder his commanders and then ultimately commits suicide in shame. The play, however, was performed at a particular time and place, during a festival in which Athenians paid tribute to orphaned children whose fathers had died in battle. This is but one small example of how context matters to Greek and Roman tragedies and comedies; they are performed within specific cultural conditions and themselves perform the culture.

In this course we will read a wide range of Greek tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, Greek comedies by Aristophanes and Menander, Roman comedies by Terence and Plautus, and the horrific Neronian-era tragedies of Seneca. All of these are foundational texts for later tragedy and comedy. Our focus will be on plays less frequently encountered in introductory Classics courses. While exploring the literary and dramatic qualities of the texts we will also investigate how drama serves to express and respond to particular cultural moments.

300BA: HoScho SM Sem: Evolution and Human Nature

The Philosopher Daniel Dennett once called evolution "the single best idea anyone ever had." If this claim has any merit, then surely evolutionary perspectives can shed light on important questions about human nature in general, and issues like cooperation, aggression, sex and gender, aesthetics, emotion, cognition, moral judgments, and environmental concerns in particular. We will look at current and historical attempts to develop scientific accounts of human nature, and examine their strengths, weaknesses, and motivations.  The course offers an opportunity to explore how the ¿single best idea anyone ever had¿ can be applied to human nature and important contemporary concerns.

300CA: HoScho SS Sem: Feminist Inquiry

Feminist Inquiry prepares students to research and write senior theses in WGSS; it is also useful for juniors and seniors planning to undertake interdisciplinary capstone research (e.g., Honor Scholars, Environmental and Media Fellows, PACS and Global Health students). This course is structured to provide an in-depth overview of both feminist methodology, including theories of what constitutes an ethics of feminist research, and appropriate methods to conduct inter/disciplinary research. We explore some of the many questions that drive feminist inquiry, such as: What makes research feminist? Does gender and sexuality matter in research and do minoritized groups have specific experiences and perspectives that can improve research and/or eliminate bias? How can intersectionality theory be operationalized methodologically? What is at stake if minoritized groups are left out of research initiatives? Do feminist research questions require alternative research methods to get at new ways of seeing the world? You will practice different methods (e.g., interviews, survey development, content analysis and coding) in class and will conduct your own mini research project that is grounded in one of the feminist methodological frameworks discussed and that utilizes one or more of the methods outlined in the syllabus. You will also pick up helpful tools to make research and writing easier. Projects can be tailored to your interests.
This course is cross-listed with WGSS 350. While there are no specific prerequisites, it is helpful for students to have had a course in WGSS or SOC prior to taking this course.

300CB: HoScho SS Sem: The Power of Pop: How Pop-Culture matters in Politics, Economics and Society

Whether we actively seek it out or not, pop-culture permeates everything around us- our entertainment, our news, our consumption habits, and our politics. In this course we will examine this often-dismissed area of our collective experience seriously by examining how scholars and commentators across political science, history, economics and cultural studies, to name a few disciplines, understand the significance of pop-culture. We will consider questions such as the role of pop-culture in representing dominant and marginalized identities and why this matters, the pop-culture memorialization of key events, the role of culture industries in the economy, the pop-culture of conservative and right-wing movements, the importance of pop-culture in state's soft-power as well as the impact of celebrities on various policy issues, in an election year where this may be particularly salient. We will ponder these questions through the lens of various cases of 'texts' - drawing on students' interests and the instructor's research interests in Bollywood and KPop, and be attentive to pressing issues in pop-culture from the West as well as the Global South. Students will research a topic of their choice applying class concepts and materials.