91618 |
HUM 160 The Landscape
of Knowledge |
Leon Botstein
|
. . W . . |
7:00
- 9:00 pm |
RKC 103 |
N/A |
This two-credit course,
designed primarily for first-semester first-year students, will meet once a
week. It is based on an experiment that carries the amusing name of The
Floating University. The idea for the course emerged from frustration with the
failure of colleges and universities to introduce entering students to a
variety of subjects before they choose their fields of concentration. To
rectify this problem, a group of people from outside academic institutions have
challenged a select group of colleges and universities to offer a
straightforward introduction to the range of subjects, issues, and methods at
the forefront of research and speculation that now concern scholars,
scientists, and writers. Even though students may not decide to concentrate in
a particular subject, they will be able to identify its value and contribution
to their chosen field of study and the world at large.
The course will consist of
seventeen lectures, each on a discrete subject, especially prepared for the
purposes of this course. The lecturers, who represent the best in their fields,
will include, among others, Leon Botstein (Bard) on art, Paul Bloom (Yale) on
psychology, Saul Levmore (University of Chicago) on
economics, Steven Pinker (Harvard) on linguistics, Tamar Gendler
(Yale) on the philosophy of politics and economics, David Helfand
(Columbia) on cosmology, Joel Cohen (Rockefeller and Columbia) on demography,
Rebecca Goldstein (Harvard) on epistemology, Shawn Achor
(Harvard) on happiness, John Gaddis (Yale) on history, Michio
Kaku (CUNY) on physics, Assaf
Zeevi (Columbia) on statistics, Doug Melton (Harvard)
on biomedical research, and Lawrence Summers (Harvard) on education.
Before each class, students
will be required to listen to the lecture online, read assigned texts, and be
prepared to participate in a robust group discussion led by a guest expert
drawn primarily from those who teach at Bard. There will be one paper, and a
midterm and final in-class essay examination. Although the course is best
suited for first-semester students, others interested in enrolling should
contact either Peter Gadsby or Leon Botstein. The
course is designed to supplement a full 12 or 16 credit load.
What is Religion?
In
spite of repeated announcements of its demise, religion remains a vibrant and
powerful force in the modern world.
Whether one considers oneself religious or not, religious literacy is a
basic requirement for citizens of a modern society. This is all the more true in a global context
where religion often stands in as a marker for significant cultural
differences. In these workshops, which
will be offered throughout the academic year, students will encounter various
living religious traditions. While each
workshop will be devoted to a different religious tradition and will be taught
by its own instructor, they will all follow a parallel structure, with
attention given to both the theory and the practice of the tradition and with
an examination at the end of the session. Each one-credit module will meet for on
Mondays and Thursdays for three and a half weeks. Students may choose to enroll
in just one module, or they may take several modules. A student who successfully completes four
modules will satisfy the Rethinking Difference requirement.
91634 |
HUM 135 KS What is Tibetan Buddhism? |
Kristin Scheible |
M . . Th . |
6:00 – 7:20 pm |
OLIN 102 |
DIFF |
1
credit Whether as an image of the Dalai
Lama gracing the cover of Newsweek or recent scenes of maroon-robed monks
protesting the Olympic torch relay, Tibetan Buddhism has become a visible
tradition even outside of
91635 |
HUM 135 BC What is Fundamentalism? |
Bruce Chilton |
M . . Th . |
6:00 – 7:20 pm |
OLIN 102 |
DIFF |
1
credit Fundamentalism is one of the most
misunderstood of religious phenomena, frequently confused with literalism in
general, or with traditional or militant forms of faith. Those intellectual
mistakes frequently lead to bad social policy. Understanding the phenomenon is
the beginning of wisdom.
Fundamentals came to be asserted in the