1. Time and the Past, Present, and Future
Time is one of the most important aspects of human life. From ancient civilizations watching the periodic motions of the stars in order to know when to plant crops to modern societies using atomic clocks to coordinate Global Positioning System technology, humans have constructed time to govern our daily lives and our lifetimes. In this seminar, we will examine how this social construct has affected human institutions. We will ask questions such as: How do individuals perceive time? How do we think about the past and the future – and the present? The short-term and the long-term? We will discuss the invention of timepieces, such as the clock, the watch, and the calendar. How have these technological innovations influenced human society? Taken together, our look at time and timekeeping will help us understand the links between the two as well as history, technology, and our own experiences. Students will also research and then produce a video illustrating a topic of their choosing. We may do a field trip to the US Naval Observatory (home of timekeeping in the United States) and may do a field trip to the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania.
Professor: Windsor Morgan, Physics & Astronomy
Time: MF 11:30
2. Digital Culture: From Instagram to World of Warcraft
In this course, we will examine how digital technology and the Internet have affected the way we structure our lives—socially, aesthetically, and politically—in the twenty-first century. Specific topics to be covered include the viability of journalism in the digital era, the cultural significance of user-generated content, the social function and economic value of social media sites, and the development of gaming as an aesthetic medium. In the process of exploring these issues, we will also examine the materiality of both software code and the Internet. How does code work as a language or form of thinking? And how does the Internet get from wherever it originates to our laptops and mobile phones? We will address these questions by analyzing web sites, mobile apps, video games, and a variety of cultural texts (both televisual and literary), while also reviewing recent scholarly work on digital culture by scholars of literature, communication, technology and law.
Professor: Gregory Steirer, English
Time: MF 11:30
3. Molecules of Madness
How does the brain function? How does the mind falter? What is the relationship between these two? The field of medicine has greatly benefited from our understanding of the molecular basis of normal human functioning, and we’re now able to treat diseases using this knowledge. But what about mental illness and its treatment? There is a growing public awareness that mental disorders can be inherited, but without a basic understanding of the role that the nervous system plays in mental illness, we cannot begin to find truly effective treatments. This course will delve into the field of clinical neuroscience, an emerging interdisciplinary science that attempts to provide a basic understanding of both the human nervous system and the complex behavioral patterns we describe as mental illnesses. We will examine the biological foundations of mental disorders such as addiction, anorexia, autism, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, phobias, depression and schizophrenia. We will be reading two texts -- Molecules and Mental Illness, by Samuel H. Barondes and Clinical Neuroscience, by Lambert & Kinsley, and each student will read a popular first-person account of a mental disorder and present this topic to the class. Writing assignments will range from reaction papers, poetry, posters and letters, to research reports on both normal brain function and mental illness.
Professor: Teresa A. Barber, Psychology
Time: MWF 11:30
4. Cancelled
5. Can Stories Save the World? Empathy, Narrative, and Social Justice
In this course we will be exploring the ways in which stories – as told in fiction, memoir, and film – can affect the heart as well as engage the mind. We will be reading narratives that call upon us to empathize with people who may be different from us and who endure forms of oppression, but whose stories reveal their creativity and resilience. We will be exploring questions such as: how does narrative create empathy in the reader with those who are different? How can reading change the reader and broaden his or her sympathies with people who suffer discrimination? How can narrative help us to create more just societies? Why is memory an important part of achieving social justice?
Our narratives will allow us to enter the lives of African Americans; Native Americans, Asian and Haitian immigrants to the U.S., and slum dwellers in Mumbai, India. We will read such books as Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Edwidge Danticat’s Brother I’m Dying and see such films as Slumdog Millionaire. Students will be searching for narratives in the files of students who attended the Carlisle Indian School in the late 1890s and early 20th century, and they will have a field trip to New York City to visit the 9/11 museum. In addition to a research paper and short analytic papers, students will have the opportunity to do a creative project which can involve creative writing, a blog, photography, art, and/or music.
Professor: Sharon O’Brien, American Studies
Time: MF 11:30
6. Seeking Ideas from Fiction for Improving Humanity’s Relationship with Our Environments
Modern humans do not know how to live without significantly harming our environments, the environments we depend upon to live. Creating a future where all humans can thrive for generation after generation within healthy, magnificent environments will require new ways of living. We need new ways of organizing societies, new technologies, and new conceptions of what it means to live a full human life. Many genres and forms of fiction present alternatives to our current modes of living. In this seminar, we will seek out a wide variety of ideas from a diverse array of fictional works and imagine how to implement them in the real world. Working individually, in small groups, and as a class, this seminar will develop a critically-analyzed collection of ideas for improving how humans interact with our environments.
Professor: Brian Pedersen, Environmental Science
Time: MWF 12:30
7. The Code of Life: Promises and Progress of the Human Genome Project
* This seminar is part of a Learning Community called Understanding the Human Genome: Implications for the Individual and Society.
The sequencing of the first human genome was completed in 2003 at a cost of approximately $3 billion. A little more than a decade later technology has advanced such that a human genome can be sequenced for approximately $1000, and scientists are increasingly utilizing information from genome sequences to study evolution, improve diagnosis and treatment of disease, and understand thousands of human traits. This course will begin with an exploration of some of the key findings from the human genome project, and their implications for the individual and society. As we wrestle with what it means to know our own genome sequence, we will discuss the social, ethical, and moral issues that have arisen from the sequencing of the human genome, including genetic determinism, eugenics, and access to and appropriate use of genome sequence information. Finally, we will explore the idea of personalized medicine, and discuss the progress toward prevention and treatment of various human diseases. Throughout the course, we will learn how to critically examine, discuss, and analyze scientific information and ideas, and will use these skills to create clear academic writing.
Professor: Dana J. Wohlbach, Biology
Time: MF 11:30
8. R U Talking 2 Me? Conversation in the Age of Texting, Tweeting, and Snapchatting
Social media have opened new worlds of communicating and connecting with people. But it is through conversation, in which we share our ideas and feelings and listen to the ideas and feelings of others, that we develop and experience our humanity. The technology genius Steve Jobs knew this; dinners with his children were device-free times. Conversation seems to be a simple act, but it has profound effects. Research shows conversations lead to self-knowledge; to rich relationships with our families, friends, and lovers; to creativity and innovation; and to greater productivity and success at work. With all these proven benefits, you would think that everyone would be clamoring to converse. Increasingly, though, people are anxious about and fearful of having conversations with other people. Even toddlers are gravitating to Siri. Talking with sociable machines seems to be safe, convenient, and comforting. Yet, one-sided commentary, such as those enabled by hashtags and YikYak, can cause a targeted individual great humiliation and pain. In this course, we’ll explore the research on the power of conversation, on why it’s easier to turn to our phones than to another person, and on how talking to machines changes us. We’ll use our experiences at a residential college, where we live with one another as a community of scholars, to consider what we might lose when we stop conversing with each other and what we can gain when we listen, share, and talk face-to-face. We’ll read books and articles, view films, and write about how we connect with one another. And, be forewarned, we will have conversations!
Professor: Helen Takacs, International Business & Management
Time: MF 11:30
9. Mental Illness: From Movies to Memoirs
In the movie, Trainspotting, the actor, Ewan McGregor, portrays the character, Mark Renton, a young heroin addict. How accurate is the movie’s portrayal of drug addiction? What can we learn about drug addiction from watching a movie such as Trainspotting? This course will attempt to answer such questions by studying the topic of mental illness from a variety of perspectives. First, we will examine selected mental illnesses (e.g., drug addiction) from a scientific perspective, reading scholarly articles on a particular condition. Such articles will focus on the etiology, symptoms, treatment and prognosis of a particular illness. Second, we will examine mental illness from a “popular” or media account of the condition. To this end, we will read about selected mental illnesses as described in non-scholarly publications (e.g., Time Magazine) and depicted in classic movies (e.g., Psycho). Third, we will examine mental illness from a “first-person” perspective, reading memoirs or autobiographies from people suffering from certain mental illnesses. In the end, the goal of the course is to help students recognize that our understanding of mental illness is influenced by the many ways mental illness is depicted and represented in our society. A discussion-style approach will be adopted in which we review primary and secondary sources pertaining to a certain mental illness. Out-of-class viewing of a few films, followed by in-class discussion of these films, will be expected. Written assignments (e.g., article, discussion and movie questions and position papers) also will accompany the viewing of the films. A guest speaker from the regional transgender advocacy group. TransCentral PA, will visit the class. Finally, students will select a memoir, autobiography or a case-study involving a person afflicted with a particular mental illness (e.g., depression) to serve as the primary source for an individual oral presentation at the end of the semester.
Professor: Anthony S. Rauhut, Psychology
Time: MWF 11:30
10. Hope or Threat? Migrants in History, Popular Culture, and the Media
Immigration plays a central role in the American founding narrative, but American perception and reception of immigrants have been ambivalent and attitudes have ranged from open arms to distrust. Immigrants have been welcomed as new citizens or rejected as a menace to national values and culture. Mixed feelings about migrants have been common also in other countries of immigration around the world. Current debates about migration and refugees crises in Europe and the Mediterranean are part of a broader historical phenomenon. Perspectives change over time, but there is also a recurrent repertoire of topics and stereotypes which have proven flexible and adaptable to changing cultural, social, and political circumstances. This seminar will examine current debates about the reception of migrants and the changing images of particular migrant groups in historical context. We will analyze migration to the United States and other countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia in comparison, looking at parallel developments, similarities, and differences. Discussions and writing projects will engage with historical and contemporary sources. Students will contribute to a blog with commentaries about global perceptions of migrants in historical and contemporary perspectives.
Professor: Marcelo Borges, Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies
Time: MF 11:30
11. Game Changers, Gaffes, and Zingers: Debates and Debating
In George W. Bush’s acceptance speech to the 2004 Republican National Convention, the president famously told listeners at home “Even when we don't agree, at least you know what I believe and where I stand.” Bush’s comment speaks to the idea that being labeled a flip-flopper might be the absolute worst thing you could be accused of in contemporary American politics. Many politicians, and many private citizens, would much rather be wrong than admit to changing their mind. In this course, we will focus on the topic of persuasion in American politics. We will study the impact of speeches, ads, talk radio and many other types of political communication as we evaluate how and when people’s opinions might actually change. A particular focus of this class will be on presidential debates, and we will gather as a group to watch all of the 2016 U.S. presidential debates live. This class will emphasize the development of each student’s speaking skills. Over the course of the semester, all members of the class will participate in a formal, moderated one-on-one debate on a key issue affecting American politics.
Professor: David O’Connell, Political Science
Time: MWF 11:30
12. Food Justice
Food justice asserts that people should have the right to access sustainable, culturally appropriate, and fairly harvested food regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status, citizenship, ability, religion, or community affiliation. Food justice activism questions the role dominant food corporations play in the treatment of laborers and the environment. Drawing from US and international examples, we will take an integrated approach to examining food from harvest, to access, to waste. We will examine these issues through academic articles, books, documentaries, and popular media sources from the fields of environmental studies, geography, and sociology. A review of food access and poverty in Carlisle will animate course themes. Student groups will research, write, and record a public service announcement podcast on food justice.
Professor: Heather Bedi, Environmental Studies
Time: MF 11:30
13. No Playing Allowed: Banned and Censored Theater
When Nora from Ibsen’s A Doll’s House walked out on her husband and children, her exit shocked the audience and the moment became known as “the door slam heard around the world.” Plays have historically had the power to provoke and perturb as they try to comment on and change the real life happening outside the theater. We will explore some of the more controversial and riotous plays of the past and those from the present that still have the power to cause debate and dissension. Among the plays we will explore and view on film or live when possible are Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (RIOTS Greek anti-war/pro-sex play), Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession (SCANDAL unrepentant brothel owner), Mae West’s Sex (ARREST cast for indecency), Kushner’s Angels in America (PROTESTS homosexual content), Wedekind’s Springs’ Awakening (BANNED scandalous subject matter), McNally’s Corpus Christie (CONTROVERSY anti-Christian). Be prepared for debates and exploration through writing and research of the power, danger and potential of play.
Professor: Karen Kirkham, Theatre & Dance
Time: MF 11:30
14. Text, Image, Memory: Graphic Novels as Personal Narratives
Graphic novels, or narratives using comic-type images and text, are becoming increasingly popular around the globe. What is more, artists are adopting this medium more and more to recount personal histories and memories, especially those that relate to adversity and hardship. Why is the graphic novel a popular choice for this genre of storytelling? How do images and text interact to create compelling narratives of personal struggle and discovery? Finally, what can we learn about our self and the world from others’ experiences? This course’s curriculum engages a variety of cultures and histories and includes authors from around the globe, with works such as Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, and Stephane Heuet’s graphic adaptation of Marcel Proust’s Combray. In this course, students will develop and refine skills pertaining not only to textual analysis, research, and writing, but also to visual literacy and critique -- abilities that are increasingly imperative in today’s world where social and news media regularly inundate the public with video and images. With this in mind, the class will take a field trip to Dickinson’s Trout gallery to learn more about reading and analyzing visual art from the museum staff. While most assignments are designed to cultivate and hone conventional research and writing practices, students will have the opportunity to explore their own artistic tendencies by using illustrations and imagery to accompany their work.
Professor: Adeline Soldin, French
Time: MF 11:30
15. Pensar en la Pelota: Thinking about Soccer and Society in Latin America
Why is soccer (Spanish American fútbol or Brazilian futebol) the most popular sport on the planet? More than any other sport, the common language found in this simple game transcends geographical borders and barriers of class, gender, ethnicity, religion and education. According to Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano, “pocas cosas ocurren, en América Latina, que no tengan alguna relación, directa, con el fútbol” (few things happen in Latin America, that are not directly related to soccer). The populist nature of soccer has been both celebrated and criticized by Latin American intellectuals nearly since its arrival to the American continent in the late-nineteenth century. Latin America is a complex, culturally and linguistically diverse region, yet in most countries throughout the region, the ubiquity of soccer remains an undeniable common thread. While soccer play and spectatorship can be powerful vehicles for connecting and unifying people, rampant corruption, discrimination and violence continue to plague the modern game. In this course, students will analyze and discuss relationships between soccer, history, politics and society through the lens of literary and cinematographic production and soccer scholarship in Latin America. Students will write short analytical papers with drafts and revisions. In addition, each student will write and present an independent research project that addresses an impact of soccer on society through interpretive analysis. Opportunities will also be given to increase understanding of the topic through informal blog writing and reflective experiential learning opportunities.
Professor: Shawn Stein, Spanish and Portuguese
Time: MF 11:30
16. Black Lives Matter
Responding in part to murders of black Americans in 2013 and 2014, protestors across America have proclaimed, “Blacks Lives Matter.” These protests, and the circumstances to which they are a response, raise a variety of important and difficult questions. Given, for instance, that America has had a black president for nearly eight years, and that the Civil Rights Movement has become a standard part of the American curriculum, why does racism persist in America? How should we resist racism? Are there especially effective means for doing so? What exactly is racism? For that matter, what exactly is race? In this first-year seminar, by reading, discussing, and writing critically about works of history, memoir, fiction, sociology, and philosophy—and watching a few good films—we will strive to get good answers to these questions. Works will include Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me.
Professor: Chauncey Maher, Philosophy
Time: MWF 11:30
17. Writing and Resistance: The Emergence of an Afro-Cuban Aesthetic
For many years, Cuba has been a source of fascination for North Americans and the wider world. As U.S.-Cuba relations continue to evolve, it is important to nuance our understandings of our Caribbean neighbor. This seminar, which focuses on Afro-Cuban cultural production, considers how literature has represented and reproduced the experience of blackness on the island for the past two centuries. From the slave Francisco Manzano to Cuba’s national poet, Nicolás Guillén, and feminist poet Nancy Morejón, Afro-Cubans have used writing as a tool of resistance, providing alternative perspectives on cubanidad (Cubanness) that have shaped national identity and culture in profound ways. Students will explore the deep roots of Afrocubanismo through a wide range of texts: the autobiography of a former slave, folk tales, poems, music, and santería practices. Particular attention will be devoted to identifying connections between poetry and politics and the dominant discourses against which Afro-Cubans have written. How did the Harlem Renaissance period strengthen transnational relations between Black writers in the U.S. and the Caribbean? Why are there enduring tensions between Havana and Oriente (the Eastern province), where many revolutionary movements have begun? How did the 1959 Cuban Revolution impact Afro-Cubans, and what issues still linger in a society that Fidel Castro hoped would be post-racial?
Professor: Mariana Past, Spanish & Portuguese
Time: MF 11:30
18. Finding Meaning: An Introspective Examination of Life’s Purpose in College and Beyond
Researcher and author Tom Rath states “the pursuit of happiness” is a shortsighted personal goal. The latest research from Rath and others have placed particular emphasis on the value of meaning. In this experiential learning course, students will embark on a semester-long journey to find the meaning in their own lives. Through thought-provoking readings, class discussions, and personal reflections, students will be able to answer questions including:
• What is my life’s mission?
• What are my personal values?
• What is my role in my community?
• What does it mean to be a global citizen?
• How can I influence others to pursue meaning in their own lives?
Beyond readings and exercises, students will also be involved in service learning activities working with local non-profit agencies and take part in field trips to local destinations to help discover their life’s purpose. The semester will conclude with students producing a podcast which will serve as a framework during their undergraduate studies and well beyond.
Professor: Steve Riccio, International Business & Managment
Time: MF 11:30
19. Public Health, Private Lives
From the development of powerful drugs and vaccines to advances in treating chronic disease, modern medical science has made tremendous strides in keeping patients alive and returning them to health. But these advances present challenges. The expense of modern treatments put healthcare out of reach for many in the Third World at the same time that jet travel links these countries more closely to us than at any time in our history. Even in America, poverty still plays a role in an individual’s health and access to healthcare. In a strange twist, our efforts to eradicate some diseases have resulted in more virulent forms of the same disease, requiring increasing expenditures to stay ahead of the microbes. We will examine how policies and laws enacted for the good of society sometimes conflict with what the individual patient wants or needs. Primary readings will include The Healing of America by T.R. Reid, The Panic Virus by Steven Johnson and selected shorter readings from a variety of other sources.
Professor: David Crouch, Chemistry
Time: MF 11:30
20. Ideas That Have Shaped The World
Why do ideas matter? What is the relationship between the individual and community? How can we define human nature? What is justice? Are there universal moral principles, or are our actions considered moral according to the moment and place in which we find ourselves? Explore these and other fundamental issues of humanistic inquiry through a series of compelling and influential texts. Fifteen faculty members from nine different disciplines developed this exciting course.
This year, six professors will join with students to read and discuss the work of authors as diverse as Homer, Plato, Augustine, Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Jefferson, Marx, DuBois, Duras, and Achebe. Faculty have focused the seminar reading list around the question, "How do the ideas of these authors - all from different cultures and eras - resonate across time and help us to understand our present experience within a global community?" Furthermore, studying carefully the work of outstanding thinkers, readers, and writers is one of the best ways to learn to read, think, and write well yourself. Because all sections of the course will read the texts simultaneously, conversations will extend beyond the classroom. The seminar also features six plenary lectures by guest speakers and Dickinson faculty on themes and issues central to the readings that students and faculty in all course sections will attend together.
Click here for additional information on the seminar, list of texts and faculty for 2016 on the Humanities Collective page.
Professor: Melinda Schlitt, Art & Art History
Time: MF 11:30
21. Ideas That Have Shaped The World
Professor: Mara Donaldson, Religion
Time: 11:30 MF
22. Ideas That Have Shaped The World
Professor: Ted Merwin, Judaic Studies
Time: MF 11:30
23. The Economic History of the World: Why Some Countries are Rich and Others are Poor
For most of human history, income per capita has remained stagnant. To the extent that output increased, thanks to some technological developments, population quickly increased as well, keeping individual living standards unchanged. For hundreds of thousands of years, humanity had been in a “Malthusian trap”. Even the change from hunter-gatherers to agriculture, although it led to a large increase in population, did not increase individual living standards. Yet, around two centuries ago, something truly unprecedented happened. Starting in the Low Countries and Britain, people escaped the Malthusian trap for the first time, and living standards skyrocketed ever since. For example, across many indicators, the poor in United States today have much better living conditions that the richest Americans a hundred years ago. This economic revolution has gradually, and so far unequally, spread around the world. What caused the change? Will this exponential economic progress continue? What are the obstacles to bringing the entire world out of poverty?
Professor: Vlad Tarko, Economics
Time: MF 11:30
24. Cancelled
25. Cancelled
26. Suffragettes, Radicals, and Riveters: How Women in the First World War Made the World Modern
A century after World War I, we are accustomed to women having political and economic power. But when the war began in 1914 it was illegal for women to vote or work in the professions and using birth control could send you to prison. How did we “get modern”? In this seminar, we’ll use film and literature to explore how the war catalyzed women to shape social change-- in politics, cultural ideas about equality, and work. Our method of inquiry will place controversial texts in the context of readings in social history. Our central texts will be two recent films (Testament of Youth and Suffragette, both 2015), two novels (Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, 1925 and Pat Barker’s The Eye in the Door, 1993) and Woolf’s 1938 polemic Three Guineas. We’re really lucky to have the US Army War College and the Military History Institute Archives just a mile away. We’ll take field trips to talk with scholars there about military and social history, and students will have access (and guidance) in using primary archival materials for a research paper.
Professor: Wendy Moffat, English
Time: MWF 11:30
27. The Empire Strikes Back: The Transformation of London into the World’s Most Multicultural City
London today is one of the world’s great cities (some would say the world’s greatest city). The City of London is at the center of the global economy; the Westminster parliamentary model has been emulated by countries the world over; the theater of the West End is world-renowned; and the city’s multicultural population makes it one of the most diverse, cosmopolitan places on earth. While London has long attracted migrants, the post-World War II period marked a profound transformation in the city’s population. Citizens of the crumbling British Empire—reconstituted as the Commonwealth—made their way to Britain, and especially to London, from across the globe, but most significantly from the Caribbean, South Asia, and Africa. In this seminar, we will use a variety of sources (including, but not limited to, literature, artwork, film, and scholarly works) to examine the forces underlying postwar trends in Commonwealth migration to London, the opportunities and challenges facing new arrivals in the city, and the evolving social and political response to an increasingly multicultural UK.
Professor: Kristine Mitchell, Political Science and International Studies
Time: MWF 12:30
28. In Search of the Sports Gene: Hurting or Enhancing the Olympic Dream?
* This seminar is part of a Learning Community called Understanding the Human Genome: Implications for the Individual and Society.
Have you ever heard someone say “I’m not a runner” or “I don’t have the body for gymnastics”? This seminar will examine the truth behind these statements by exploring the science behind extraordinary athletic performance. The sequencing of the human genome has allowed us to address the role of genetics in complex traits like athletic performance like never before. However, does knowledge about our genes limit us, or does it allow for more personalized training and goals? Readings and discussions will focus on the traits and habits of elite athletes, and students will debate the question of how limited we are by genetics. In order to explore this topic experimentally, students will have the opportunity to analyze one of their own genes, a-Actinin-3, which is expressed in fast-twitch muscle fibers. The presence of this gene product in fast-twitch muscle fiber has been correlated with elite sprint performance. This project will include guest speakers with expertise in sports training. Through readings, discussions, writing, hands-on experiments, and guest speakers, students will develop a basic understanding of the human genome and explore the impact that genetic knowledge has on society with regard to sports performance.
Professor: Tiffany Frey, Biology
Time: MF 11:30
29. War and Memory in East Asia
*This seminar is part of a Learning Community on War and Memory in Easy Asia.
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were a tumultuous period in East Asian history, marked by a series of wars that affected the lives of millions and irrevocably changed the landscape of foreign relations in the region. This course explores how collective memories are formed and the sometimes tenuous connections these memories have with past events. In addition to key conflicts, such as World War II, the Korean War, and the American War in Vietnam, we will also explore related controversies that remain heated topics of debate in domestic and international politics today. This investigation into collective memory will involve in-depth engagement with texts, images, and films. By the end of the semester, students will gain experience expressing their ideas in a range of argumentative styles using the analytic tools, including film analysis, that we practice in class. Students will evaluate responses to historical controversies in the realms of academia, politics, and popular culture, and consider how these debates shape the ways in which we understand past conflicts.
Professor: Alex Bates, East Asian Studies
Time: MWF 12:30
30. War and Memory in East Asia
*This seminar is part of a Learning Community on War and Memory in East Asia.
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were a tumultuous period in East Asian history, marked by a series of wars that affected the lives of millions and irrevocably changed the landscape of foreign relations in the region. This course explores how collective memories are formed and the sometimes tenuous connections these memories have with past events. In addition to key conflicts, such as World War II, the Korean War, and the American War in Vietnam, we will also explore related controversies that remain heated topics of debate in domestic and international politics today. This investigation into collective memory will involve in-depth engagement with texts, images, and films. By the end of the semester, students will gain experience expressing their ideas in a range of argumentative styles using the analytic tools, including film analysis, that we practice in class. Students will evaluate responses to historical controversies in the realms of academia, politics, and popular culture, and consider how these debates shape the ways in which we understand past conflicts.
Professor: W. Evan Young, History
Time: MWF 12:30
31. It’s Just a Theory: Public Perceptions of Science
The public has seemingly always had a tenuous relationship with science and scientists, from Galileo’s trial for heresy to the teaching of evolution in public schools. In this course, you will examine some notable scientific controversies, starting with when science clashed with religions, governments, and even itself, and ending with contemporary issues that impact education, economics, and public health. You will read contemporary scientific literature and popular media, and try to figure out who’s getting it right, who’s getting it wrong, and who has an agenda.
Professor: Jason Gavenonis, Chemistry
Time: MF 11:30
32. Lost in Interpretation: How Literature and Philosophy Can Help Us Become Smarter Viewers and Better People
“Midway in the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost.” This is the beginning of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, where the famous pilgrim’s journey through the afterlife begins. Lost (2004-2010), the ABC television series telling the story of a group of travelers shipwrecked on a desert island in the Pacific Ocean, begins in a similar way. The opening scene features one of the travelers, Jack Shephard, lost in a forest looking for his way on a likewise challenging journey. Lost asks its viewers to pay attention to many intertextual literary and philosophical references: not only there are relevant parallelisms with Homer’s Odyssey and Shakespeare’s The Tempest, but some of the characters are named after philosophers (Locke, Rousseau, Bentham, and Hume, among others). They also read or quote literary and philosophical classics. Most importantly, Lost raises questions that philosophers have discussed for centuries: How does a community get organized and live together? Who is the “Other” and how does a community deal with difference? What governs people’s choices: destiny or free will? What is most conducive to fulfill people’s goals and desires: reason or faith? Is power related to trust, coercion, or surveillance? What is the relationship between fiction and real life? Lost does not raise these fundamental questions in an abstract way: it enacts them through its narrative, mise-en-scène, cinematography, characterization, relationships between characters, and the enigma of the island. Setting aside the tricky commingling of “high” and “low” texts, we will discuss these questions and attempt to create our own interpretations by watching Lost, searching for its intertextual references, constructing a class repository of annotated sources, and reading a selection from the philosophical and literary texts that Lost evokes, such as: Dante, Shakespeare, Locke, Rousseau, Sartre, Said, Foucault, and Appiah, among others. Ultimately, we will discuss how quality television today may constitute a new form of valuable culture. And who knows, entertaining the connections between our vision of Lost and our experience as readers might just unlock a new hatch in the island.
Professor: Nicoletta Marini-Maio, Italian and Film Studies
Time: MF: 11:30
33. Cancelled
34. Unfinished Business: Education and the American Civil Rights
This course examines education as a focal point of the American Civil Rights Movement and explores the wide-ranging implications of the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The course begins with a brief analysis of the segregated public school system that existed in the first half of the twentieth century, a system sanctioned by the “separate but equal” doctrine upheld in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and considers the factors that led to the Court’s eventual reversal. Drawing from legal documents, memoirs, case studies, and documentary films, we will examine desegregation from multiple perspectives including those of black teachers, principals, students, parents, Civil Rights activists, political figures, and organizations such as the NAACP and the White Citizens’ Council. In addition to exploring the implications of desegregation for individual students such as the Little Rock Nine, we will discuss issues such as busing, school closings, teacher transfers, and white flight. Finally, we will consider the extent to which the goals of school integration and equity have been achieved in American society today.
Professor: Sarah Bair, Education Studies
Time: MWF 12:30
35. Cancelled
36. Will the Poor Always Be with Us?
Almost all of us are accustomed to living in comfort with all of our basic necessities satisfied--and then some. Most of us have our own rooms, regular meals, spending money, and educations from good high schools. However, most of the world’s young people are not as fortunate, and many live in countries where everyday life is a struggle for survival. Although not as prevalent, poverty exists in America too. What are our responsibilities or duties to do something about this? Do we have any responsibilities at all or is it up to the less fortunate to work hard to improve their own situation? You will select an aspect of poverty, carry out research and write a paper based on your work. Your topics can look at poverty anywhere in the world—even in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
The seminar will examine poverty and explore issues in education and health care, while considering ways to improve the quality of life in countries all over the world. The emphasis will be on countries where I have personally worked, and we will examine ongoing activities to address these issues and meet some people who are devoting their lives to this work. We will also see videos and pictures to truly better understand what is happening and try to see why the poor are getting poorer and why their numbers appear to be increasing. Examples of some of the topics we will examine include: HIV/AIDS in Africa; dangerous forms of child labor in Latin America, Africa, and Asia; and the lack of basic education, especially for girls. Together we will examine what people are doing for themselves to make their lives better.
Professor: Kjell Enge, Anthropology
Time: MF 11:30
37. Exploring American Wilderness
Walk northeast from the Dickinson College Farm and within minutes you will arrive at the Appalachian Trail, one of America’s national scenic trails. Each year, millions of Americans visit the Trail and other protected wilderness areas to immerse themselves in the natural world. In contemporary literature and film, wilderness is often portrayed as a refuge, a place to get away from it all. What is it that we value about wilderness and the wild? How have our values changed over time? This course explores the evolution of attitudes and policy toward wilderness in the United States. We will analyze the environmental effects of these practices as well as the social implications with respect to race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Sources that will inform our analysis will include essays, articles, films, and short field trips.
Professor: Holley Friedlander, Mathematics & Computer Science
Time: MF 11:30
38. Within Marginal Confines: Exploring Coercing Myth, Language and Identity
At any given moment, any of us may find ourselves on the “outs,” not really knowing why. In this seminar we explore how to come to terms with being on the “outs” by examining the characters who struggle with how others identify them. We examine how they prefer to identify themselves, how others identify them and how they struggle to overcome those imposed identities. We also explore the myths underlying identities that confine them to marginal spaces, the language—and register—used to construct, those confines as well as the language of struggle to liberate identities from those confines. We will read novels that develop complex characters and see those characters through lenses of cultures other than our own and witness the characters’ world through their eyes as best as we can; we aim not to identify characters on our terms, rather to understand how and why they ultimately identify themselves. We will also view short artistic and documentary films that will inform our perspective by shedding light that would help us focus the lens we use. For assessment, we will generate an annotated bibliography in MLA style as well as compose multiple versions of each of four essays sequenced in theme, scope and complexity.
Professor: Abraham Quintanar, Spanish & Portuguese
Time: MF 11:30
39. Reading and Writing Short Stories
In “Reading and Writing Short Stories,” we’ll study literary short fiction from a diverse group of American and international authors. The focus will be on very contemporary work – almost all of it from the 21st century – which ideally will afford us the opportunity to look ahead to what the future of the genre might look like in our increasingly technological age. Your writing in the class will include both scholarly and creative projects. Every student will be required to write at least one piece of original fiction, and every student will have some of his/her creative work discussed in class. Students will also attend at least two literary events during the fall semester, either on campus or nearby.
Professor: Susan Perabo, English
Time: MF 11:30
40. Fire and Ice: Volcanoes, Glaciers, and the Fate of Humanity
This course will explore the scientific understanding of Earth's climate over the past two million years, focusing on its connections with volcanoes, glaciers and humans. You will learn the basics of how climate, volcanoes and glaciers work, and their effects on people in order to explore several questions. Are humans a direct result of drastic climate changes? Should we care that glaciers are rapidly disappearing? Will the next eruption of Yellowstone destroy the world? We will explore these questions via readings from popular books and magazines, scientific journals, classroom experiments, movies and videos, and fieldtrips. As a semester long project, you will select either a place (e.g., Mt. Rainier or the Greenland ice sheet) or an event (Krakatoa eruption of 1883) to examine in detail. The project will culminate with a written analysis as well as a final presentation, which can be in any format (video, dance, poetry, spoken-word, song, etc.) that best communicates your understanding of the connections between the topic and humanity.
Professor: Ben Edwards, Earth Science
Time: MWF 11:30
41. Mountain people, Traditional Knowledge, and the Environment in China
Mountain people, culturally distinct from China’s majority population, inhabit the rugged terrain running south and southeast from the Tibetan Plateau along the courses of some of Asia’s most important rivers. Historically, this upland terrain has been a sparsely populated area, relative to China’s vast lowland communities dependent on wet rice agriculture. While by no means isolated from markets and changing technology, people in upland areas developed more sustainable agricultural systems than lowlanders. Recently these flexible agricultural systems have been radically disrupted, as mountain people have been affected by neoliberal state policies that compel cash-cropping, migration to cities, and population displacement. Uplanders also differ markedly from lowlanders in their cultures and how their non-centralized societies are organized. However, like all populations in the East and Southeast Asian regions, upland communities have been affected by long term changes in climate that have impacted temperatures and rainfall. This seminar is mainly concerned with how to understand the relationships between upland communities and the changing environments, both natural and political, that they inhabit. While we work on developing our writing competencies in this course, we also take time to develop our culinary skills by cooking some local foods typical of southwest China.
Professor: Ann Hill, Anthropology
Time: MWF 11:30
42. Galileo’s Commandment
Bertolt Brecht, in his play The Life of Galileo, wrote that Galileo Galilei, the father of the scientific method, said: “Science knows only one commandment: contribute to science.” This seminar will focus on those men and women who have dedicated their lives to this commandment, how they view the activity called science, and how their efforts to follow its one commandment are viewed by society. By reading the best of their writings, we will explore how, with their energy and imagination, they assembled the edifice of modern science. We will explore how the rest of society has understood and mis-understood science and its creators. We will confront two contrasting views of scientists as seen through the eyes of Hollywood: the “Mad Scientist” and the “Scientist as the Romantic Hero.” In addition to reading and discussing great science writing and plays such as Brecht’s The Life of Galileo, Stoppard’s Arcadia, or Frayn’s Copenhagen, seminar members will also view and discuss films that highlight stereotypes about scientists. Other activities may include a trip to a national laboratory or to a performance of one of the plays we will read.
Professor: Robert Boyle, Physics & Astronomy
Time: MWF 12:30
43. The Great Recession: An In-Depth Examination of the Recent Financial Crisis, Causes, and Aftermath
The Great Recession, a term coined to describe the recent recession from December 2007 to June of 2009, has transformed the political, economic, and social environment in the United States and worldwide. The vulnerability of a previously secure asset, housing, and the foundation of the “American Dream,” has been called into question. This seminar examines the causes, events, and consequences of the recent financial crisis and recession. We will carefully consider the main catalyst of the Great Recession, the housing bubble, and investigate the mechanisms through which the housing crises spread to the financial sector. Furthermore, the responses of monetary policy, fiscal policy, and regulatory agencies will be analyzed. Students will read The Subprime Solution by Robert J. Shiller, House of Debt by Atif Mian and Amir Sufi, and Getting Off Track by John B. Taylor. These three books present a variety of perspectives on the causes of the Great Recession, giving students the chance to critically evaluate and reflect on the different schools of thought. In addition, special attention will be paid to the portrayal of the financial crisis in the popular media, including an examination of films such as Inside Job, The Big Short, and Margin Call.
Professor: Emily C. Marshall, Economics
Time: MF 11:30
44. Drama and the American Dream
America is often called "the land of opportunity," and nothing seems to speak as specifically to the endless sense of possibility that is often synonymous with America as the idea of The American Dream. In this course, we will work to understand the powerful impact of this idea by attempting to create a definition of The American Dream. To construct our definition, we will consider how the dream plays out in the lives of the characters that inhabit many of the most notable plays of the 20th century and thus far into the 21st century. What is it that these people strive for? Why does it drive them, sometimes to outrageous lengths, to achieve their goals? Why do so many of them seem unhappy? As we consider our definition, we will discuss the elements that create The American Dream, consider how or if it has changed over the years, and discuss whether it was, is, and will be possible to attain. We will begin our consideration of the dream by close reading "Death of a Salesman. Other dramas may include "Fences," "The Normal Heart," and "Glengarry Glen Ross," as well as others. As we read these plays we will also discuss the craft of the playwright as he or she creates the characters, unfolds the story, and brings the play to its conclusion.
Professor: Sha’an Chilson, English
MWF: 12:30
45. Where is the Next Silicon Valley?
When one thinks about innovation and entrepreneurship in the U.S. context, Silicon Valley immediately comes to mind. There are various theories that attempt to explain the ways in which Silicon Valley was established. In this seminar we will explore the various events and processes that contributed to the emergence of industrial districts around Silicon Valley as well as in Route 128 and Israel. We will try to answer questions concerning competition and culture in these regional clusters. Why do certain technology firms gravitate to these regions? How do some firms manage to flourish, even when economic hardships hits, while others fail? How was Israel able to transform its market so that Tel Aviv trumped Boston as the urban area with the most venture activity following San Francisco? Our reading will be interspersed with films and guest speakers. We will also take a field trip to the Ben Franklin TechCelerator.
Professor: Anat Beck, International Business & Management
Time: MWF 11:30
46. How America Eats: Food and Culture in America
As diverse Americans, why do we eat what we eat, and how has this changed over time and place? From Maine lobster, to Southern cornbread, to Lancaster County Amish “whoopee pies,” from 19th century knishes to 21st century bulgogi, immigrants have brought foods and food practices that sustained and constructed their identities in America, and that have become part of multi-cultural American cuisine. We’ll examine our country’s diverse culinary heritage in relation to particular racial-ethnic groups (German, Italian, African-American Chinese, and Mexican). We’ll also look at “food tourism” in relation to the foodways of the Amish of southeastern Pennsylvania. The seminar will include a meal in an Amish home. Through our study we’ll explore how culture is sustained and constructed by cooking, serving, eating, and “locavore” agricultural practices. We will consider foods, culinary practices, gender and food consumption practices and patterns as key elements in cultural formation, and consider where food can take us in an understanding of culture that other means cannot.
Professor: Beth Graybill, Religious Studies/Women & Gender Studies
Time: MF 11:30