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Culture of Surveillance

The word “surveillance” often conjures up George Orwell’s dystopian world in 1984, where a totalitarian government had obliterated intellectual and political freedoms and kept an ever-watchful eye on its citizens. Today, mass surveillance certainly exists in the United States, everything from local traffic cameras to federal agencies monitoring our electronic communications. Edward Snowden revealed just how much the U.S. government knows about us. Yet, there are other kinds of surveillance that we often fail to recognize.

Biomimicry: Using Nature as a Model for Contemporary Design

This course will emphasize the research, analysis, and exploration of natural patterns and systems as a model for contemporary design. After researching recent biomimicry developments in industry, the sciences, and other fields, students will employ several design media (including but not limited to: drawing, photography, digital modeling, and 3-D printing) as an analytical method in their investigations of nature's "systemness." In the words of Dr. Janine Benyus, after 3.8 billion years of research and development, nature knows what works, what is appropriate, and what lasts.

Say What? Let's Talk: Learning to Listen and Speak Across Difference

Have you ever found yourself wondering, “Did that person just say that?”? Have you ever felt like someone just didn’t understand where you were coming from? Have you ever found yourself caught off-guard by a comment and weren't sure how to respond? In this course, students will take stock of the aspects of their personal and social identities and how those identities shape their perspectives and life experiences. Topics will include emotional intelligence, active listening, empathy, civility, and other topics as they relate to diversity and inclusion.

The Devil's Music

When rock-and-roll surged in popularity in the mid-1950’s, some groups were horrified by the “savage rhythms” and the sexual double entendre of the lyrics, calling it “the Devil’s music.” Beatles records were burned in 1966, and censorship has continued, including banning videos from MTV, preventing groups from performing on talk shows, and cutting songs from the radio.  However, this is not only a recent phenomenon.

Moth to the Flame: Modern Satire and Dystopia

Satirical and dystopian works often illuminate pressing issues, present humorous scenarios, and/or portray fantastic visions of post-apocalyptic worlds.  While we are drawn to the fictional escape these works can provide, through them we are also encouraged to question our own realities and ponder both the best and worst humanity has to offer. In this course, we will read a variety of works, including Herland, Fight Club, and This Perfect Day, and watch films such as Idiocracy, The Meaning of Life, and V for Vendetta to examine the function of satire in modern times.

Neuroscience of Stress

When you get up to give a talk in front of your peers, your body responds just like an antelope being chased by a lion. Stress is an adaptive physiological response to stimuli that present an immediate threat to an organism present in all vertebrates. In humans this survival mechanism can be hijacked, wreaking havoc on the body and mind. This course will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to explore the science behind the relationship between stress, brain, body, and behavior. We will cover the biological mechanisms of stress and the neural pathways that coordinate the stress response.

From Farmyard to Pets: Our Evolving Relationship with Animals

Do you own pets? Perhaps it feels more like they own you. What do our current relationships with animals look like and how do they affect us? As we begin to treat animals such as dogs and cats as family members, what issues will arise and how will we resolve them?  This class will focus on our interactions with other species, starting with domestication before moving on to the many ways our life styles have impacted wildlife. With more and more species affected by climate change and habitat loss, do we have a moral responsibility to address their suffering?

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Gil Scott-Heron's 1970 poem and song-"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"-expressed Black rage as well as criticized consumerism and the Nixon presidency. His phrase is also an apt phrase to characterize the uniqueness of the Seventies. To some, the decade merely filled the gap between the idealistic Sixties and the shallow "Big Eighties." However, a reassessment of the Seventies yields a different story: consider the contributions of the anti-war movement to ending the Vietnam War.