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First-Year Courses
Earlham Seminars
AAAS 150 THE BLACK EXPERIENCE: AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
OF STRUGGLE AND OVERCOMING (4
credits)
This course aims at understanding the distinctive circumstances that define African-American selfhood and relationships. Students examine the black experience by studying America's experiment in democracy, paradox of slavery, problem of the color line, predicament of racial oppression, civil rights movement and need for reconciliation coupled with transcendence.
AAAS 150 CLASS AND GENDER IN THE CIVIL
RIGHTS MOVEMENT (4 credits)
This seminar discusses how the constructions of class and gender in post World War II southern black communities affected the development of the civil rights movement in the region. Using memoirs, oral testimonies, biographies, essays and historical monographs students look at the ways in which issues of class and gender mediated the activist experience and created different movements for black men and black women, for the black middle class and the black working class.
AAAS 150 WOMEN AND CIVIL RIGHTS (4 credits)
Women were an essential, and often dominant, part of the civil rights movement in both the North and the South. Yet few of us know those who collectively and individually gave their time, talents and lives to the struggle to expand democracy, realize racial justice and secure human rights in America. This course focuses on the unique and indispensable leadership of such women as Ella Baker, Gloria Richardson, Fannie Lou Hamer, Septima Clark and Ruby Doris Smith as well as the contributions of hundreds of women in the campaigns such as those in Montgomery, Little Rock, Harlem, Mississippi and Birmingham. Additionally, the course examines the ways in which gender politics affected the direction and presentation of the movement.
BIOL 150 INSECTS AND HUMAN SOCIETY (4
credits)
Insects pervade many aspects of human culture. Humans eat insects, fear insects, rely on insects and admire their beauty. This course explores the influence of insects in literature, music, art and film as well as agriculture, medicine and food.
CLAS 150 FEASTING AND FASTING: FOOD IN THE ANCIENT WORLD (4
credits)
Food is necessary to sustain life; that is a universal truth. And yet, the types of food people choose to eat (and to avoid eating) as well as the ways in which they eat them often give meals a much greater significance than simple sustenance. The ancient Mediterranean world was no exception. This course explores how patterns of feasting and fasting were used in antiquity to express cultural identity, social power and religious belief. Using a combination of ancient literature and archaeological evidence, we will explore a range of case studies from different eras and cultures within Mediterranean antiquity, including sacrificial feasts for the gods, the Greek symposium and the lavish banquets of well-to-do Romans.
CLAS 150 GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY (4
credits)
Interfering gods and triumphant heroes, magical beasts and hapless victims all populate the stories of ancient Greece and Rome. This course examines many of the most popular myths, such as Theseus and the Minotaur, Helen and the fall of Troy, Romulus and Remus, and the founding of Rome. The aim of the course is to understand how these myths influenced — and were influenced by — the ways in which the Greeks and Romans viewed the world and their place in it. Questions to explore may include: What differences do we see in the myths as they are told in literature or represented in art? How does the medium affect which elements of a myth individual artists and poets chose to portray? What do these myths reveal about ancient societal and moral values? What can they tell us about our own values?
CLAS 150 LEGENDS OF THE TROJAN WAR (4
credits)
The stories of the Trojan War were among the oldest and most important myths of ancient Greece, encapsulating the traditional values and ideals of Greek society. Adopted by the Romans and passed down through European literature, these legends live on in our own society. This course examines the uses and adaptations of the Trojan War saga from antiquity to the present, looking at the stories as they appear in art, literature, film, poetry and music. Emphasis is placed on identifying artistic choices and exploring the ways in which those choices are culturally influenced.
CLAS 150 SWEET PERSUASION (4
credits)
Persuasion is important in our lives. People try to persuade us
to do all kinds of things, e.g., to buy their products, to cast
a vote for them, to worship as they worship, to see the world as
they see it and even to join them in intimate relationships. This
course aims to help us understand persuasion more fully. The study
of persuasion began in antiquity, and that is where we will begin.
Students explore Plato's Gorgias and Phaedrus and then turn to
Aristotle's
Rhetoric. With this foundation we examine some modern instances
of persuasion, a novel, a history, some poems, advertisements and
more. We conclude with each of us creating something we intend
to be persuasive.
ECON 150 BUBBLE, BUBBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE (4
credits)
This course examines speculative markets. Students consider the theoretical explanations, historical occurrences, and social implications of speculative markets. A portion of the course focuses on what is meant by speculation and under what type of conditions speculative markets arise. The history of speculative markets covers a wide variety of examples including the tulip mania, U.S. housing and the dot.com bubbles. In addition, we will study speculation in international capital markets and the institutions responsible for stabilizing them.
ENG 150 OF MONSTERS AND MARVELS (4
credits)
Tannakin Skinker, the hog-faced gentlewoman, was born in or about 1618 to parents wealthy and kind enough to buy her a small silver dining trough and a wedding dress she never wore. She, like the subjects of other Early Modern ballads and pamphlets, was part of a new print culture that prized the unusual (like Tannakin), the menacing (like the Witch of Edmonton) and the villainous (like Richard III). It also included some of the most prominent writers of the day, like William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Elizabeth Carey. Their influence, like their interest in the unusual, is still with us. This course explores the origins and development of this writing about unusual things, using a selection of Early Modern and modern-day texts from authors like Shakespeare, Jonson and Carey, as well as Mikhail Bakhtin, Natasha Korda, Peter Stallybrass, Jim Paul and Gayle Rubin.
ENG 150 INTRODUCTION TO NATIVE AMERICAN
LITERATURE (4
credits)
This course focuses on how American Indian writers discuss such concepts as identity, sovereignty and history in their creative works. Particular attention is paid to situating texts in their cultural, political and social contexts. Readings include such authors as Getrude Simmons Bonnin, Louise Erdrich, Esther Bellin, LeAnne Howe, Craig Womack and James Welch.
ENG 150 SEXUAL AND SPIRITUAL LOVE IN THE
MIDDLE AGES (4 credits)
This class reads literature of the late Middle Ages from across Europe: including Boccaccio, Dante, Petrarch and Chaucer. All of these authors write about spiritual love and about sexual love, sometimes entirely integrating the two. This class includes a great deal of reading, most of which will be quite funny and some of which explores 14th-century attitudes toward sexuality and toward religion.
ENG 150 WOMEN AND LOVE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN LITERATURE (4
credits)
This class studies narrative poems from a number of European languages, including work by Dante, Chaucer, Boccaccio, some women mystics and anonymous Arthurian poets. Students investigate how these medieval texts create an idea of romantic and spiritual love and how they portray the role of women in relationships. How do these portrayals of love and of women shape our ideas of these concepts today? How are they different from our ideas today? Students research the idea of love or women's roles in the Middle Ages. The class works on strategies for college-level writing and analysis, through essay writing and revision.
ENG 150 WRITING WOMEN'S LIVES (4
credits)
An exploration of how women have been spoken about and have
spoken for themselves in literature. Readings include novels,
poetry, autobiographies and memoirs from the British and American
traditions as well as from a variety of cultures or nations such
as Ba's So Long a Letter from Senegal, Riverbend's Baghdad
Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq and Adnan's Sitt
Marie Rose from Lebanon.
Also includes speculative fiction with texts by writers such
as Atwood, Winterson and Butler and the graphic memoir Fun
Home.
Students create their own writings of women's lives in both analytical
and imaginative forms.
GEOS 150 OUR NUCLEAR LEGACY (4
credits)
This seminar examines the history of the nuclear fuel cycle from the perspective of science. The course starts with the early discoveries of radioactivity and nuclear chemistry, progresses through the geologic controls on uranium mineralization and the methods of exploration, extraction and milling and culminates with an examination of environmental impacts, including bioaccumulation of radionuclides, mill tailings and high-level disposal.
GER 150 BRUISED IDENTITIES: VIENNA CIRCA
1900 (4
credits)
Considering works of a number of writers, artists and intellectuals, this course examines how these works reflect a turbulent, exciting time in our history. The arrival of the 20th century brought with it many challenges for the Viennese. Life as they had always known it was changing drastically, with some parts of it even disappearing forever. New directions in the arts, science and medicine, new ideas about political and social structures, new senses of ethnic and national pride all had a dizzying effect on the Viennese of the old K and K Monarchy. Had the beautiful symphonies of a stately and graceful Vienna now become a series of thunderous cacophonies? Had that which always had been proper, right and good now lost its meaning? In examining these questions and these bruised identities, students consider, among others, the works of Schnitzler, Hofmannsthal, Kafka, Freud and Klimt.
GER 150 DREAMS AND DELUSIONS: PROSE, DRAMA
AND FILM STORIES FROM GERMAN-SPEAKING EUROPE (4
credits)
From the Romantic notion of dreaming as fantasizing and imagining an ideal world, to dreaming as a kind of "wish fulfillment" inspired by Freud, to Kafkaesque nightmares about a world gone mad — this course explores what certain writers, thinkers and film makers have to say about the nature of the human condition. The texts are in English translation, the films have subtitles, and no knowledge of German is required; however, an interest in German-speaking Europe is welcome.
HIST 150 EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY: A
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY OF FOOD AND DRINK IN AMERICA (4
credits)
This course examines the roles that food and drink have played in American society and culture. Exploring how eating and drinking have shaped American identities and the ways in which these practices have intersected with issues of gender, ethnicity and class, students gain understanding of how and why these practices have changed over time and what they reveal about American society and culture.
HIST 150 FAITH AND COMMITMENT (4
credits)
This course explores a series of texts in which authors have recorded their thoughts about faith and commitment. Some of these texts are widely regarded as classics; others are not as well known. They all share a human consciousness attempting to give form to the nature of faith and the challenges of commitment, and to reflect on their significance for humanity.
HIST 150 THE INKLINGS AND THEIR TIMES (4
credits)
This course explores the lives, times and writings of a group of
British scholars and authors who met regularly but informally during
the 1930s at Oxford University. Reading and critiquing each other's
writings, they discussed current events and literary and cultural
matters. They referred to themselves as the Inklings, and their
most regular participants included C.S. Lewis and his brother Warren,
J.R.R. Tolkien and his son Christopher, Charles Williams, Nevill
Coghill, Owen Barfield, Hugo Dyson, Robert Havard and others.
HIST 150 IS HISTORY BUNK? (4
credits)
In May of 1916, speaking with Charles Wheeler of the Chicago
Tribune, Henry Ford remarked, "History is more or less
bunk." But is it? What did Ford mean, and what's bunk? According
to Wikipedia, a handy, even if not always a reliable source: "Bunkum
is…speech making designed for show or public applause. It
is now more usually used to mean nonsense or humbug.…"
We'll
test the accuracy of Ford's judgment about history by starting
with a closer examination of bunk and its related concepts. And
once we work out our own sense of those concepts, we may be in
a better position to decide whether history actually is bunk, or
whether the reality is more complicated than that. We'll do this
by examining some examples of history which we'll define, at least
tentatively, as a narrative account of past events that purports
to be true and authorizes its truth claims by appeals to independently
verifiable evidence.
HIST 150 MODERN ANTI-SEMITISM (4
credits)
This course explores the intellectual, cultural and political origins of "modern" anti-Semitism, and the role it has played in modern European history as both a widespread social and cultural prejudice, and a state policy. The course asks how anti-Semitism emerged in modern European societies. Our work focuses more particularly on the 19th century rise of anti-Semitism that took place within the fold of imperialism and the rise of scientific racism, and the differences between its Western and Eastern European expressions. It examines how "racial anti-Semitism" emerged in the early 20th century and was implemented by the Nazi Regime with the "Final Solution," the specificity of Nazi anti-Semitism; and the way the Holocaust forever changed the way Europe defined the "Jewish question." Our readings are driven by the following questions: Is anti-Semitism another form of racism? How has "jewishness" been imagined through the prism of difference? How appropriate is the term "anti-Semitism" in naming hostility towards the Jews and Judaism? How has anti-Semitism persisted and how have its manifestations changed? Readings include primary texts, novels, political tracts and historical monographs.
HIST 150 NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATION IN THE
19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES (4 credits)
This seminar explores attempts to provide formal education to Native American students in the 19th and 20th centuries. We look at 19th century native educational efforts, the work of missionaries and the boarding school experience, as well as movements toward cultural pluralism and native-led instruction in the 20th century. Topics such as assimilation, acculturation, resistance, identity and self-determination are discussed.
HIST 150 WORKERS AND ACTIVISTS: A CLASS PERSPECTIVE
ON U.S. HISTORY (4
credits)
The United States is often portrayed as a classless or "middle class" society, but the last 30 years have been marked by increasing concentrations of the wealth of a few and increasing poverty, erosion of economic security and alienation of the rest. This seminar raises basic questions about class and its intersection with the ideals of democracy in the United States, as well as race and gender. Readings focus on three time periods: 1) the Revolutionary period and its impact on the institutions, ideology and structures that affect class issues today; 2) the late 19th century and profound labor issues generated by industrialization and immigration; and 3) the contemporary period as labor faces the challenges of globalization and inequitable distributions of wealth and power.
JPNS 150 INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE LITERATURE (4 credits)
This course surveys Japan's major literary texts from contemporary
fiction and film to classics and poetry. Students also learn
basic critical skills for analysis. Beginners of literature and/or
Japanese studies are especially welcome.
PHIL 150 ARE YOU MY MOTHER? AND OTHER QUESTIONS
CONCERNING IDENTITY (4
credits)
P.D. Eastman's book, Are you my Mother?, is usually classified
as a "child's book," but the question it poses concerning
how we identify ourselves is far from childish. This course uses
Eastman's text as a starting point for a much larger philosophical
discussion concerned with some of the attempts that western tradition
has employed in tackling questions of personal, political, sexual,
ethnic, racial and national identity.
PHIL 150 PHILOSOPHY, PEACE AND JUSTICE (4
credits)
This seminar concentrates on questions of peace and justice from a philosophical perspective. Two goals are examined: (1) understanding the fundamental questions of philosophy and how they relate to politics, society, culture and our everyday life in general and (2) understanding the connection of philosophy to peace and justice. What do we mean when we use the concepts "justice" and "peace"? How do they differ from their opposites "injustice" and "war"? What are the presuppositions of our desire to live in a peaceful and just society or world? Does philosophy help us to achieve peace and justice? Students come to understand the difficulties, as well as the philosophical problems associated with, peace and justice issues and see how questions of peace and justice require extensive conceptual clarity and historical sensitivity.
PHYS 150 COSMOLOGY: FROM STONEHENGE TO THE
ACCELERATING UNIVERSE (4 credits)
Particularly appropriate for those with a strong interest in physical
science and/or mathematics, this seminar investigates one of the
oldest and most exciting of humankind's intellectual adventures:
the attempt to understand the physical universe as a whole and
our place in the evolving cosmos. From both historical and scientific
perspectives, students consider the historical development of major
ideas in astronomy, physics and mathematics that provide the foundation
for the development of modern cosmology. We then examine the evidence
supporting the contemporary idea that we live in an expanding and
accelerating universe which began in a "big bang" some 14 billion
years ago. This course includes observations from the Earlham observatory,
sessions in the Earlham planetarium, collaborative readings and
discussions of a scientific text and various articles. Learning
to express, discuss and debate ideas both orally and in writing
is a major focus of the seminar.
POLS 150 CHINA'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE WEST (4
credits)
The seminar traces the relations between China and the West from
1800 to the present. Students examine Imperial China's relations
with the West in 1800, increased trade contacts with the West in
the early 1800s leading to the two Opium Wars of 1839-42 and 1856-60,
China's efforts to "defensively modernize" against imperialism
from 1860-1949, the People's Republic of China's foreign policies
from 1949-76, and finally, China's expanded relations with the
West in the age of globalization. Students investigate how Chinese
experiences in each of these periods have influenced China's current
diplomatic, military and economic relations with the West.
POLS 150 POLITICAL LEADERSHIP THROUGH POLITICAL
BIOGRAPHY (4 credits)
The course examines political leaders in both constitutional and authoritarian settings. Readings include biographies of Jefferson, Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Churchill and Hitler, among others.
PSYC 150 MADNESS AND MENTAL ILLNESS (4
credits)
This course looks at the phenomenon of mental illness from historical, medical, psychological, biographical and cinematic perspectives. Students examine how mental illness is defined and classified, how it manifests in individual lives, and how the occurrence and treatment of mental illness is viewed by society at large. Several types of mental illness are explored through their representations in popular culture, especially in first-person accounts and feature-length films.
PSYC 150 MEN AND WOMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS:
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX AND GENDER (4 credits)
Through readings, discussions and activities, students explore what it means to be male or female, masculine or feminine. The course examines the extent to which sexual identity is biologically and/or culturally determined, drawing on biological and psychological research as well as history and personal narratives.
REL 150 BALANCING ACT: LIFE IN THE SPIRIT AT HOME AND AT WORK (4
credits)
In this class we focus on the ways family life and spiritual commitments intersect with work. We explore different family patterns and faith communities in the USA by reading histories, plays and novels, and we consider the ethical dynamics of the vocational choices we discover and observe. Assignments include papers (both reflective and expository), library research and group presentations.
REL 150 LOVE, PROTEST AND HOPE (4
credits)
The purpose of this seminar is threefold: 1) to expose students to the structural/spiritual challenges posed to Christian love (in its agape, eros and philia forms) by U.S. cultural and political history; 2) to enable students to focus the key characteristics of love to their praxis (action and reflection) in society and the world; 3) to create a context in which students challenge one another to face serious issues and encourage one another toward resistance and hope in the service of love. Guiding questions in this seminar include, "What does the principle and/or virtue of love have to do with what it means to be human?" and "Is love simply romantic or indiscriminate and therefore antithetical to justice, or can love take the form of justice?" Students wrestle with the issues of love, protest and hope in conversation with voices from African American (including "Womanist"), Native American, U.S. Latina/o and Latin American communities.
REL 150 PLANETARY CRISIS, HOPE AND THE RELIGIOUS
IMAGINATION (4 credits)
With readings in fiction, history, theology and ethics, this course explores the possibilities and pitfalls of utopian thinking in our present global context. Highlighting the role of the religious imagination in shaping reality, it pays special attention to the impact of Christian apocalyptic on the modern world. A key goal is to help students develop an outlook on the future that inspires hope and motivates action to promote a livable future on the planet.
REL 150 RELIGION: FOR AND AGAINST THE COMMON
GOOD (4 credits)
This course traces how religion has been cast as a force of both good and ill on the world stage with regard to such questions as peace and justice, human rights and civil liberties. Quaker thought and practice are among the topics discussed.
REL 150 SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (4
credits)
In this seminar students read from the New Testament, especially the gospels, with a focus on discovering how to explore ways of living a spiritual life. Students engage the religious questions of the New Testament in the historical context of the first century, seeking connections between the meaning of the New Testament for its first readers and possible meanings for readers today. The course examines a variety of interpretations — feminist, African American and Latin American liberationist voices — and explores artistic expressions and spiritual practices that interpret and engage New Testament texts.
SOAN 150 JACKIE ROBINSON: RACE, SPORT AND
THE AMERICAN DREAM (4 credits)
Based on the premise that Jackie Robinson transcended sports and
that his arrival was a defining moment in the history of the Untied
States, this course examines how he transformed the American and
political scene as an athlete, civil rights leader and American
hero. It explores how Robinson's struggles and achievements help
us understand the nexus between race, sport and American social
institutions.
WMNS 150 WRITING WOMEN'S LIVES (4 credits)
This course explores how women have been spoken about and have
spoken for themselves in literature. Readings include novels,
poetry, autobiographies and memoirs from the British and American
traditions as well as from a variety of cultures or nations such
as Ba's So Long a Letter from Senegal, Riverbend's Baghdad
Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq and Adnan's Sitt
Marie Rose from Lebanon. We'll travel in Speculative
Fiction with texts by writers such as Atwood, Winterson and Butler
and "read" the
graphic memoir Fun Home. We will do our own writing
of women's lives in both analytical and imaginative forms. |
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