First Year Inquiry courses fall 2008 (PSTL 1525W)
Multidisciplinary ways of knowing
Balancing on the Thin Green Line: Sustainability through Science, Art, and Advocacy
Instructors: Linda Buturian, Tina Frederickson, Jay Hatch
Disciplines represented: Art and Literature, Persuasive Written and Oral Communication, Environmental Sciences
Description: Sustainability is defined as meeting our needs today without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs. In what ways has the human population reached koyaanisqatsi (life out of balance) and what places of our living are we still balancing on a thin green line? Is Gross National Product a better measure of human well-being or is Gross National Happiness? Can both co-exist? Through the interdisciplinary kaleidoscope of art and literature, environmental science, and oral persuasion, we will explore the meanings of these questions, search for answers, and let the world know what we find out.
Global Hotspots
Instructors: David Arendale, Irene Duranczyk, Barbara Hodne
Disciplines represented: History, Mathematics, Literature
Description: We will approach the common question, “Can one person make a difference?” by exploring the many factors—including individual people—that influenced events in Rwanda, Pakistan and El Salvador, three 20th century “hot spots” where political and social tensions erupted in violence. We’ll use quantitative reasoning to analyze numbers and relationships, connect with individual lives through literature, and understand the forces of change in history. For our capstone, students will apply their learning to a current hot spot, predicting future outcomes, and recommending practical interventions. Applying these multiple perspectives to current events, the common question becomes more real and meaningful.
Food for Thought...and Action
Instructors: Murray Jensen, Gary Peter, Mike Stebleton
Disciplines represented: Biology, Education, Law, Psychology
Description: Food plays an integral part in our daily lives, but how much do you know about that burger you just ate? In this course, team-taught by a biologist, a social scientist, and a lawyer, we’ll examine food through a variety of perspectives – scientific, sociological/psychological, literary, legal – to come to a better understanding of its impact on our world. Using writing, discussion, oral presentations, and other mediums, we’ll consider the following question: Can you make a difference by educating yourself and others about where food comes from and how to make informed choices about what you eat? At the end of the semester, students will present a final capstone project on a food-related subject.
Widening Circles
Instructors: Molly Collins, Kris Cory, Karen Miksch
Disciplines represented: Law, Literature, Writing
Description: All of our actions – whether deliberate and carefully considered or reactive and unconscious – have consequences and effects. In this course, we are interested in understanding the ways our actions can make important differences. We will question whether the individual is always the agent for change, or whether the context that surrounds the individual helps or hinders social action. The instructors will bring their backgrounds in law, writing, literature, American studies, and working with multilingual students to examine how experiences and stories are represented in art, literature, legal cases, and film. Student work will culminate in a multi-media capstone project that invites them to document a person or community that is making a difference.
Critical Moments in Human Stories
Instructors: Daniel Detzner, Heather Dorsey, Rashné Jehangir
Disciplines represented: Literature, Performing Arts, Rhetoric, Social Science
Description: Critical moments are turning points where something shifts and the shift can have ripple effects that change the trajectory of a person’s life, community, nation and world. This course explores the question, “Can one person make a difference?” through the themes of story, context, and choice as they relate to critical moments. Using materials from the social sciences, humanities, and theatre arts we will explore the complexity of critical moments through contemporary and historical lenses with specific attention to genocide in Rwanda, Hurricane Katrina, and the Salem Witch trials. The capstone project will include telling your own story using biographical objects, examining the narrative story of others and creating collaborative group performances. No previous training or experience in theatre arts is required.
Can One Person Make a Difference: A Question of Leverage
Instructors: Leon Hsu, Susan Staats, Catherine Wambach
Disciplines represented: Anthropology, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology
Description: Can one person make a difference? Sometimes, if we leverage our resources! The concept of leverage originated in physics. Leverage also means using what you have to accomplish something more. In this course we will focus on how to do more with the resources we have by using tools such as levers and by organizing ourselves into groups. We will consider how groups reach tipping points—when fads take off and political paradigms shift. We will also consider when groups make good decisions and what causes group decision-making to derail.
May 2008