Monday and Wednesday, 6:30-9:00, Baltimore
Dr. Drew Leder What is ‘service’? Why is it so important to the human spirit and community? What are the problems and pitfalls I encounter as I try to serve others? How can I integrate other-directed service with my own need for financial stability and personal fulfillment? How can my work in the world be meaningful and satisfying? These are not merely theoretical questions; our life is an expression of the answers we formulate. Still, philosophers and spiritual texts, both Western and Eastern, can do much to help us think through these crucial issues. Throughout the course we will weave together theoretical understandings and personal experience. Students will have the opportunity to reflect upon their own lives, and to be challenged and illuminated by a variety of rich texts. Days and meeting times TBD; Baltimore; Course includes a 10-day trip to Paris, France, June 18-28
For details, contact either of the two instructors
Dr. Sharon Nell, Dr. Elliott King The course will focus on the work and lives of three public intellectuals—Emile Zola, Simone de Beauvoir and Azouz Begag. In addition to looking broadly at the involvement of these writers in French cultural life within each specific period—Second Empire and Third Republic France, the Post-World War II period, and contemporary France—the group will explore the involvement of these three public intellectuals with a major cultural/political issue of the time. Tuesday and Thursday, 6:30-9:00, Columbia
Dr. James Quirk Why don't countries with McDonalds go to war with each other? What are the real costs (and benefits?) of American energy dependence? What has been the most effective poverty alleviation scheme of the last century (hint: not the World Bank and IMF)? How can you turn trees into HDTVs? And will you ever be able to retire? This course approaches these and other political economy enigmas with lively and erudite discussions of the classics, the controversial, and current events.
Tuesday and Thursday, 6:30-9:00, Timonium
Dr. Arthur Sutherland
This is an interdisciplinary seminar on generosity. The course is interested in giving and sharing as a theme in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Particular attention is paid to generosity as an expression of divine and human natures. Topics include stewardship, cooperation, stinginess, greed, hoarding, noblesse oblige, the greater good, and non-financial aspects of generosity critical to living well such as forgiveness, empathy, and optimism. Monday and Wednesday, 6:30-9:00, Baltimore
Dr. Russell Cook A survey of American independent filmmakers who have influenced mainstream cinema, including Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, Michael Snow, Jordan Belson, John Whitney, Stan VanDerBeek, Nam June Paik, and Andy Warhol. Forgoing commercial careers, these artists went ‘underground’ to retain artistic freedom in their choice of subjects and techniques. Students draw upon readings, lecture, and screenings to critique underground films in class discussions and papers.
Tuesday and Thursday, 6:30-9:00, Columbia
Dr. Brian Murray
This seminar examines a series of very popular American books published during a time of rapid and continuing change; it seeks to discover how these works reflected values and attitudes that prevailed when they were published, and how they may have contributed to the mass culture we live in today. Students will be asked to participate in seminar-style discussions and research-based activities that will help illuminate the mental atmosphere in which these works appeared, while also showing how they influenced continuing intellectual, artistic, and social trends. Along the way, we will discuss the phenomenon of the ‘bestseller’ assisted by appropriate readings from social critics and literary historians. Titles include William Lederer, A Nation of Sheep (1960), John Updike, Couples (1968), Mario Puzo, The Godfather (1969), Germaine Greer, The Female Eunuch (1970), Charles Reich, The Greening of America (1970), and Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind (1988). Tuesday and Thursday, 6:30-9:00, Timonium
Dr. Randall Donaldson An exploration of modern discourses on and of the city. For centuries the city has captivated the mind and the spirit of human beings in numerous ways. As a locale, the city has frequently inspired the imagination. It has often been the site of avant-garde experimentation and the testing ground for new theories. As an environment, the city has been home to burgeoning technology and often the embodiment of social order as well as disorder. A cross-sectional examination of the modern city is undertaken from the vantage point of a variety of disciplines. The city under scrutiny varies from semester to semester; Baltimore will be the object of study this semester. |
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