Let’s face it: education plays a major role in our lives.
We devote much of our time acquiring skills to prepare ourselves for future careers.
But you are more than your career.
You, along with more than 7 billion other people, exist within a complex web of relationships
with families, friends, and co-workers.
You are a citizen with obligations to others around you.
You are a thinking being who every so often reflects on your place within society, and,
at times, your place within the universe.
This interdisciplinary course captures these facets and does not shy away from the “big
questions”.
While exploring a vast range of intersecting topics, we will focus on four fundamental
questions.
“How do we know what is real?”
What does it mean to know or understand anything at all?
Can we discover “truth” without tainting it with our own judgments?
We’ll discuss what it means to know something scientifically, and learn how to distinguish
scientific knowledge from artistic, religious and philosophical ways of understanding the
world.
Though each of us holds our own beliefs and unique ways of knowing, not all opinions about
others and the world are “equally right”.
We’ll learn how to formulate “clear and distinct” ideas and begin to recognize why
we should care about “getting it right”.
“What makes us who we are?”
Cosmologists hypothesize that the universe began with a “big bang” over 13 billion
years ago which means the elements that make up our bodies are very, very old; indeed,
we are actually made of stardust!
Natural selection shapes biology, but might evolution also shape aspects of who we are
as a species such as an evolved moral code?
While we are our bodies, we are at the same time more than our biology.
Our individual identities are always embedded within intersecting and dynamic social and
cultural narratives.
“What forces shape our world?”
The word “force” is a broad term that refers to physical laws, natural processes,
and social influences.
Forces that shape our world also affect aspects of the human condition.
Climate change is a force that is changing, and will continue to change, our world.
Globalization is a polarizing force that advantages some countries, corporations, and groups of
people while disadvantaging other countries, corporations, and groups of people.
There are many other dynamic forces that shape our world that you will soon learn more about.
Finally, “What makes us happy and gives life meaning?”
The thought of winning the lottery is a source of extreme bliss for many.
But everyone already knows that money cannot buy real happiness.
So what does make us happy?
Is happiness best understood as always getting what you want?
Do we have to understand what it means to suffer in order to get a glimpse at true happiness?
Why do some seem happier than others?
Can happiness even be measured?
We’ll also attempt to uncover whether or not there is a link between happiness and
living a meaningful life.
Let this course be a catalyst for deepening your understanding of what a Liberal Studies
course entails.
You can further develop your knowledge by exploring other electives that focus on the
dynamic of human conflict in war and terrorism, examine the meaning of relationships in the
philosophy of love and sex, explore the allure of conspiracy theories that circulate on the
Internet, unearth the origins and diversity of life, to list only a few of the possible
topics you can learn more about.
Our individuality is born out of a collection of internal and external forces.
The next time you wake up in the morning ask yourself what is the causal chain of events
that brought you here.
The answer is more intricate and perplexing than you may think.
This course, along with other Liberal Studies courses, will help give you a glimpse into
what that answer might be.
These courses not only better prepare you for your future career but also broaden your
understanding of life by helping you to become a more perceptive and engaged citizen in this
boundless world.