These interdisciplinary seminars provide a capstone to the General Studies experience. GST Seminars offer the following:
Seminar Application (for faculty)
These seminars help create cognitive dissonance for students. As Meyers points out, "Students cannot learn to think critically until they can, at least momentarily, set aside their own visions of the truth and reflect upon alternatives."
GST seminars also set clear, high-level course objectives and develop assignments that measure these objectives.
GST 300-499. ADVANCED INTERDISCIPLINARY SEMINARS
These seminars are the capstone of the General Studies Program. Students work with faculty to examine an issue or topic from multiple viewpoints.The subjects of these seminars are chosen by individual faculty members and vary from semester to semester. More than 25 different topics are offered each academic year.The diverse topics reflect the expertise and interests of faculty from across the campus, and allow students a wide range of choices. These courses require advanced critical thinking skills: students must weigh multiple opinions, evaluate theoretical and ethical positions and define and defend their own personal standpoints. Taken in the third or fourth year of study, these seminars are writing intensive, requiring students to write frequently and in a variety of ways. Prerequisite: Open to students in the third or fourth year of study. Students who have questions about their eligibility should see the director of General Studies.
These topics may, or may not, be offered in the future.
This interdisciplinary seminar explores the male and female experience of coming of age in America. We will study major psychological and sociological theories of adolescence, and examine how the transition from childhood to adult life is represented in literature and film. This course is writing intensive. This course is writing intensive. Open to students in the third of fourth year of study. Counts toward Women’s/Gender Studies minor.
This course will examine the role of invention and technology in society. Synthesizing elements of engineering, computer science, economics, history, business, and sociology, this course investigates technology both as a reflection of and as a catalyst for cultural identity and social change. Recent topics have included virtual worlds, artificial life, cyborgs, the do-it-yourself hacker ethic, posthumanism, resistance to change, and the diffusion of innovations. Using a combination of reflective and researched essays, live action role playing games, video games, films, simulations, and presentations, students will reconcile their own technology experiences with the common portrayal of technology in history and in contemporary culture. This course is writing intensive. Open to students in the third of fourth year of study.
What is beauty? How does beauty function as a political force within society? This class will explore a variety of issues surrounding beauty, including: the political implications of beauty norms; the sociology of beauty, including the connections between beauty and racism; the claim that beauty is part of our genetic heritage; and the philosophical claims concerning beauty and justice. This course is writing intensive. Open to students in the third of fourth year of study. Counts toward Women’s/Gender Studies minor.
Freedom of expression is a particularly relevant issue during times of war. We’ll explore the tension between the public’s right to know and issues of national security. We’ll address issues such as hate speech, pornography and campaign finance reform in terms of the value of the speech and benefits and harms to society. We’ll also look specifically at new media issues such as libel, privacy and obscenity in the digital age. Those on the fringe who challenge the traditional way of thinking about freedom of speech will take a central role in this course. This course is writing intensive. Open to students in the third of fourth year of study.
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