Course Number: INQR 1776

Associated Pathways:

The term “American Dream” is familiar, but what role, specifically, does the imaginative play in American literature and culture, past and present? This course focuses on the power of imagination to shape a nation through the analysis of fiction, poetry, film, essays, comics, advertising, and historical documents. We will use diverse social histories as a means to explore contemporary experience, focusing on the tension between American dreams and American realities.  Requirements include reading/viewing responses, student presentations, and a semester capstone assignment that allows students to choose between a textual or multimedia  project.

Course Number: INQR 1963

Associated Pathways: Cognitive Science; History; Science, Technology, and Society

If you've heard that your phone is eavesdropping on your conversations or that ChatGPT is going to replace teachers / writers / programmers / etc., you're probably already thinking about what AI means to society. In this class, we will be digging deeper into that question. We will learn about the specific technologies that get lumped under the "AI" umbrella. We will be studying the historical figures and moments that lead to the state of AI today and determining what we can infer from them about next steps in AI development. Many people are alarmed by the possibilities of AI. By developing a more in-depth historical understanding of the development of this technology, you will be able to identify which of these fears are justified and rebut those fears that aren't.

Course Number:  INQR 1960

Associated Pathways: Artificial Intelligence; Mind, Brain, and Intelligence; Ethics, Integrity, and Social Responsibility; Science, Technology, and Society; Thinking with Science

In this course, we will explore the nature of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how will it shape the world in the decades to come.  The course examines the ideas that enable machines to see, use language, and reason, and investigates how these machines will affect the world.  The progression of AI-based technologies promises to transform many aspects of society. The goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the capabilities of modern AI technologies, with an emphasis on being able to critically assess where they can provide societal value, and where they may create new societal challenges.

Course Number:  INQR 1180

Associated Pathways: Extent & Limits of Rationality; Well-being: Body & Mind; Video, Performance & Social Practice

Listening to each other, ourselves, and our surroundings can be a transformative experience that enhances well-being. In this course, a heightened awareness to sound will be developed through experiential exercises, creative projects, collaborations, readings, lectures, and discussion. The course introduces “Deep Listening,” a practice developed by pioneer composer and humanitarian Pauline Oliveros to enhance and expand listening abilities and to encourage creative work. 

Course Number:  INQR 1030

Associated Pathways: Electronic Arts; Media & Culture; Video, Performance and Social Practice

Television is considered a defining social, political and cultural feature of consumer culture. Television is morphing into something more expansive and diverse. In this course, we will study the impact of television and learn to make it. Through hands-on experience, students produce and direct their own multi-camera projects. Students work on technical and creative aspects of production. Students learn to operate studio gear including green screen, live switcher, cameras, audio, teleprompter, lights, etc.

Course Number: INQR 1250

Associated Pathways: 

Course description coming soon!

Course Number:  INQR 1610

Associated Pathways: Design, Innovation & Society*

**Please note, this course is restricted to DSIS majors only**

The first design studio in the Design, Innovation, and Society studio series introduces DIS majors to general design through a series of short projects. We learn the basic steps of design processes, from problem definition to concept ideation and selection, to quick low-resolution prototyping. The projects stress creative thinking and critical analysis, partnered with close discussions of how design and society intersect. This is a communication-intensive course.

Course Number: INQR 1040
Associated Pathways: Creative Design & Innovation; Electronic Arts; Environmental Futures; Fact & Fiction; Media & Culture; Video, Performance, and Social Practice

Documentary in the 21st Century: Identity Production is a production course investigating the course of documentary history leading to a focus on digital media representations today. This course will incorporate critical thinking with production.  With focus on aesthetic and formal considerations, students will be asked to produce a series of multimedia projects investigating their vision of themselves in the world.

Course Number: INQR 1550

Associated Pathways: Fact and Fiction; Literature and Creative Writing

A study of novels and short stories exploring the cultural contexts, social impacts, and ethical implications of film, television, robotics, simulations, info/bio technologies, the World Wide Web, Internet privacy, social media, mass advertising and entertainment, and fake news. Discussions, reading quizzes, written essays, and oral presentations based on the readings

Course Number:  INQR 1150

Associated Pathways: Ethics, Integrity & Social Responsibility; Gender, Race, Sexuality, Ethnicity & Social Change; Living in a World of Data; Philosophy; Public Health

The ability to sequence complete genomes has had a revolutionary impact on medicine, agriculture, our environment and the very idea of what it means to be “human”. Genomic medicine will impact virtually everyone in the United States in the coming decades. As informed citizens, it is important that we have a working understanding of genomics and its implications for individuals and for society at large. These conversations are critical to ensure the ethical and accessible use of genomics and to allow us to make informed decisions on both personal and public-policy levels. This course will explore the science, ethics, and history of genetic research and genomics, using case studies to illustrate and personalize the issues at hand.

Course Number: GSAS 1600
Associated Pathways: Game Studies

**This course is restricted to GSAS majors only**

This course surveys 5000 years of game history, from ancient Sumer/Sumerian to the latest next-generation consoles and MMOGs. In parallel with this historical tour, several major theories will be examined about the nature of play and the nature of games. Along the way, it will also look at how games and play influence the cultures they are found in, and how culture in turn influences how people structure their leisure time will also be considered.

Course Number:  INQR 1562

Associated Pathways: Creative Design & Innovation; Graphic Design

Color is used every day to help us decode information, inform communications, influence our buying decisions, distinguish scientific properties, and impact our emotions and health. In this course, we’ll study the impact of color and learn how to use it effectively. Through a series of creative hands-on graphic design projects, we will investigate color memory, relativity, and subjectivity, communicating with color, physiological and psychological responses to color, and color across cultures.

Course Number: INQR 1560
Associated Pathways: Fact and Fiction; Gender, Race, Sexuality, Ethnicity, and Social Change; Graphic Design; Interactive Media/Data Design; Strategic Communication

A survey of the historical origins and cultural impact of several mass media, including television, film, radio, the Internet, and print media.

The course aims to increase media literacy through analysis of specific media products, as well as discussion of broad topics such as: advertising and commercialization; politics and censorship; gender, race, and social identity.

Course Number:  INQR 1140

Associated Pathways: Artificial Intelligence; Ethics, Integrity, and Social Responsibility; Extent & Limits of Rationality; Living in a World of Data; Logical Thinking; Mind, Brain & Intelligence; Well-being: Body & Mind

This course is an introduction to the philosophy of mind and cognitive science. Students meet in small sections to have class discussions and debates about questions like: What are minds? Are minds physical or non-physical? Do humans have free will? Does reliance on technology turn humans into cyborgs? How close are humans to building an intelligent robot or machine? Do we want this to be a goal? Students will learn how make a philosophical argument, and how to express them in writing or through an oral presentation.

Course Number:  INQR 1110

Associated Pathways: Environmental Futures; Sustainability; Well-being: Body & Mind

**This course is limited to first-year students enrolled in the Vasudha Living and Learning Community**

This course focuses on the social and ecological aspects of humans in the natural world. It emphasizes critical thinking about where humans come from and where they are going as a species. The course draws on historical perspectives and addresses contemporary issues such as climate change, national energy resources, and the local foods movement. The course includes readings as well as student projects, field trips, guest lectures, and “ethnographic” assignments about this consumer society.

Course Number: INQR 1973

Associated Pathways: Fact & Fiction; Media & Culture; Video Performance and Social Practice

This is a contemporary culture course focusing on current political and social issues and their representation in the news media in the United States (which will be set within a historical and global framework) and in contemporary culture, such as films, exhibitions, and works of art.

Course Number: INQR 1200

Associated Pathways: Economics; Economics of Banking and Finance; Economics of Decision-Making; Economics of Healthcare Markets; Economics of Policy and Regulations; Economics of Quantitative Modeling; Economics of Technology and Innovation

Economics is the study of our choices. Traditionally, these choices have been framed as how to best employ scarce resources to produce goods and services and distribute them for consumption. To describe these choices, we will introduce you to the concepts of opportunity cost, demand and supply theory, and market structures and consider the role of government in making resource allocation choices.

A foremost objective will be to identify and evaluate multiple diverse perspectives on contemporary and complex global issues and address their implications for social equity and welfare. We strive to take a critical look at these perspectives while practicing and applying the subject matter of economics.

Course Number:  INQR 1300

Associated Pathways: Art History, Theory & Criticism; Fact & Fiction; Gender, Race, Ethnicity & Social Change; Video, Performance & Social Practice

This course will investigate the emergence and transformations of the concept of race in the history and culture of the United States by analyzing films. Hollywood classics will be featured, and will also be contrasted with documentary and independent films. The course will focus on social and political contexts, as well as the film’s critical reception and film form.

Course Number:  INQR 1666

Associated Pathways: Gender, Race, Sexuality, Ethnicity & Social Change

This course explores the role of religion in different cultures and in the everyday lives of people around the world. It will introduce students to key concepts, themes, and debates in social science. The role of religion and rituals will be examined through classic texts in anthropology, sociology, political science, and in ethnographic cases relating to different types of societies, from traditional to modern American cultures. It will begin with some basic theoretical issues before discussing contemporary issues such as the relations between nation and religion, violence and religion, climate change and religion, and “magical thinking” in technology and science. 

Course Number:  INQR 1110

Associated Pathways: Ethics, Integrity & Social Responsibility; History; Law & Policy; Public Health; Science, Technology & Society; Sustainability; Thinking with Science

An introduction to the social, historical, and ethical influences on modern science and technology. Cases include development of the atomic bomb, mechanization of the workplace, Apollo space program, and others. Readings are drawn from history, fiction, and social sciences; films and documentary videos highlight questions about the application of scientific knowledge to human affairs. The class is designed to give students freedom to develop and express their own ideas. This is a communication-intensive course.

Course Number: INQR 1700

Associated Pathways: Art History, Theory & Criticism; Creative Design & Innovation; Music & Culture; Music Composition & Production; Well-being: Body & Mind

A communication-intensive course designed for students to develop their own voice as a songwriter. The course surveys the methods of successful songwriters, highlighting aspects of melody, lyrics, harmonic progression, story-telling, audience, and social context. Students develop a portfolio of their own original songs and lyrics, presented weekly and performed in a studio or live setting at the end of the term.

Course Number:  INQR 1240

Associated Pathways: Environmental Futures; Sustainability

Students in this course participate in a series of class debates, presenting and cross-examining the arguments of those who have a stake in various environmental controversies (about energy, toxic chemicals, consumption, etc.). Students also work in groups to design a proposal for a project to help solve an environmental problem. Throughout the course, students are encouraged to develop their own environmental values and ideas. This is a communication-intensive course.

Course Number:  INQR 1962
Associated Pathways:  Understanding Human Behavior; Well-being: Body and Mind

How do you know what you are feeling? How do you know what others are feeling? This course is an introduction to the emerging field of Social and Affective Neuroscience — one focused on understanding the brain mechanisms of emotions within and between individuals. You will explore emotions and empathy from neuroscience and other fields within a historical, developmental, and sociocultural context. Special attention will be paid to considering body and mind relationships and well-being.

Course Number: INQR 1175

Associated Pathways: Thinking with Science; Well-being: Body & Mind

How do people maintain a sense of well-being in their lives? Each person’s path to well-being in body and mind is unique—arising from an awareness of our needs, goals and what each finds fulfilling. The theme of curiosity will be used to explore what makes people tick, what makes them feel balanced, stressed, or calm. This interdisciplinary course uses practice-based learning, in-class writing, lectures, creative play, and reading.

Course Number: INQR 1961

Associated Pathways:

Description coming soon!