Spring 2009 Courses
Seminars for First-Year Students
HNR 133 The Nature of Science
Professor Kathy Gallucci
General Studies Distribution: (Non-lab) Science
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30-12:10
The nature of science includes both knowing how science works (the process of science), as well as knowing what science understands about the natural world (scientific knowledge). The process of science is a way of explaining the natural world by asking questions and collecting data through experiments and observations, by using logic, imagination, and curiosity. This process results in the construction of scientific theories and laws. However, scientific knowledge is the result of hypotheses that have been tested, evidence that has been scrutinized, and conclusions that remain tentative, pending new evidence. In other words, science must also be able to justify its knowledge claims. This course will explore the nature of science by addressing science as a process to gain knowledge about the natural world and as an enterprise that must be held responsible for those knowledge claims.
HNR 132 History of Religion in the United States
Professor Charles Irons
General Studies Distribution: Civilization
Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:40-3:10
This course will offer a selective survey of American religious history, from pre-Columbian times to the present. Using the disciplinary tools of an historian, we will address together three related questions: (1) What is religion? (2) What is the relationship between American religious belief and American culture? (3) How do we evaluate some Americans’ persistent determination to identify their country as a “Christian” nation, despite the presence of overwhelming religious diversity? Examples of course content that engage these questions include: European Americans’ religious motivations for colonization; the religious character of settlers’ interactions with Indians and Africans; the durability of African religious systems; secular causes and counterparts to the First and Second Great Awakenings; America’s legacy of anti-Catholicism; religion, ethnicity, and local identities in the urban north; the distinctive American iteration of the contest between religion and science; the rise of “seeker” churches; and the recent [re]politicization of religious belief.
Team-Taught Courses for Second-Year Students
HNR 234 Bioinformatics: The Digital Code of Life
Professors Linda Niedziela (Biology) and Lynn Heinrichs (Computing Sciences)
General Studies Distribution: Science (does count for lab science) or Society
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30-12:10
DNA is often called “the blueprint of life,” but is this really accurate? We often think of a blueprint as a detailed plan for how to put a building together, but living things are more complicated than buildings. In biology, a genome contains all the information needed to create and maintain a copy of a living organism. The genetic code is carried in the DNA. Genome sequencing can decipher the code to provide a “blueprint” of how the DNA is organized, but once the “blueprint” is defined, the biggest challenge still remains – understanding what it means and how it can be used to improve our quality of life. Biologists and computer scientists are closely collaborating in the field of bioinformatics to do just that.
This course introduces students to bioinformatics, the use of computers to gather, store, search, and analyze biological data. The goal of bioinformatics is to discover knowledge about organisms for use in such fields as human health, agriculture, energy, and the environment. In this course, students will use biological databases and Internet tools to analyze DNA, RNA and protein sequences; compare sequences; predict molecular structure related to function; and develop evolutionary family trees. Throughout the course, problem-solving techniques will be applied to real-world scenarios that consider the societal, legal, and ethical issues surrounding bioinformatics applications. No prerequisites are needed.
HNR 230 Exploring Consciousness
Professors Mat Gendle (Psychology) and Jeffrey Pugh (Religious Studies)
General Studies Distribution: Society or Civilization
Meeting time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:40-3:20
Gaining an understanding of the nature of human consciousness is one of the great intellectual problems faced by both science and religion. For centuries, philosophers, scientists, and theologians have debated the unitary nature of human experience. In the past 100 years, remarkable advances have been made in the study of the human brain, and the biological underpinnings of many psychological processes related to consciousness are beginning to be understood. Although correlations between neural activity and certain facets of conscious experience have been documented, the precise characterization of human consciousness remains an elusive goal. This course will discuss current and historical theories and research on consciousness (from the fields of religious studies, philosophy, physics, and neurobiology) in an attempt to formulate an integrated view of the differing and competing conceptualizations of the nature of consciousness and self-awareness.
Upper level Courses
Upper-level GST seminar GST 313 - Law, Faith, and Tolerance
Professor Peter Felten
Meeting time: TBA In this seminar we will examine how three very different societies (Puritan New England, Ming China, and contemporary U.S.) answer the question: What is permissible for people in our community to believe and to do, and what is not? By looking across time and culture, we will explore how people have attempted to resolve enduring dilemmas at the intersection of religion and politics. Although we will begin and end the semester in a traditional seminar format, most of the term we will play simulations that are part of the Reacting to the Past project. In each game, every student will assume the role of a figure during a time of historical conflict. To win a game, a student must understand and apply ideas from important historical texts to persuade other students that a particular view of law, faith, and tolerance should prevail. The fundamental goal of this class is to help all of us think in more complex, critical, and reflective ways about the relationships between law, faith, and tolerance.
