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CORE 107-18: Exploration and Discovery II (Spring 2016 Watson)

Should the legal drinking age be lowered to 18? Should Lewis & Clark College ban smoking on campus? What risks or benefits does legalized marijuana present for Oregon? Is vaping safer than cigarettes? These are the types of questions about drug and alcohol use that we face as a society. But how do we answer them? Scientific journals, the popular press, and the internet are awash in information (good, bad, and very bad) that can help shape our opinions and decisions. But how do we make use of it? How can we separate the good information from the bad?

This section will focus on one of the key features of being a literate and active member of a democracy: the ability to locate, think about, and make arguments with data. While we will indeed use numbers to explore the scientific and social ramifications of alcohol and substance use, this will not be a “math” class in the conventional sense. Nor, it must be said, will this be a “humanities” class in the conventional sense. We will likely spend less time dissecting texts than other E&D sections, or at least not in the same way. Instead, we will think about how quantitative reasoning can shape and strengthen arguments about academic research, public policy, literature, and the choices we make in our daily lives.
Category: Spring 2016

CORE 107-19: Exploration and Discovery II (Spring 2020 Starling)

What does it mean to be “well”? How do humans in various cultures define and attribute meaning to pain? How do they determine the effectiveness of a given treatment? Where do they locate healing agency (the power to make one well)?

This course examines these and other questions about the relationship between healing, spirituality, and culture by reading and discussing scholarship from the fields of religious studies, anthropology, sociology, and history. We will look at examples from a variety cultural contexts including ancient Greek, Chinese and Native American traditions. We will pay particular attention to the way in which dominant frameworks of authority for explaining sickness and health have changed over the last 200 years in the West, leading us to inquire into the contemporary appeal of “alternative medicine” in Portland in 2020.
Category: Spring 2020

CORE 107-23: Exploration and Discovery II (Spring 2020 Leonard)

Multidisciplinary approaches to studying a diverse, world of ideas, methods, and perspectives. Theme, and content vary by section, but all seminars, display historical and disciplinary breadth and, focus upon topics in the liberal arts tradition., Past spring section themes have included the Art, of War, Am I My Brother's Keeper?, and, Understanding How We Understand the Mayans.

COURSE OVERVIEW, THIS SECTION:

What is the self? How do we come to know the self? What is consciousness and where does it reside? These questions have fascinated philosophers and scientists for centuries. In the age of virtual reality and artificial intelligence, they have become more relevant than ever. Legal scholars, neuroscientists, and ethicists are embroiled in inquiry about the rights and responsibilities of artificial intelligence and downloaded consciousness (also known as “whole brain emulations”). But how do experts determine the answers to these questions, and what assumptions are best left behind? This course will draw on scientific journals, the popular press, and internet sources to examine identity in the virtual age. In the course of our quest, we will expand our ability to locate, think about, and make arguments with data.

While the heart of this E&D section is in Psychological Science, we will use a broad and interdisciplinary approach. We will use numbers and data visualization to explore virtual identities and bring these resources in conversation with long standing philosophical case studies such as Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. We will also draw on scholarship grounded in the social sciences regarding inequalities in our digital lives, particularly as they impact racial and sexual minorities. Alongside these content questions, we will evaluate the role quantitative reasoning can play in shaping the future of human-tech interaction.
Category: Spring 2020

CORE 107-23: Healing, Spirituality and Culture (Spring 2019 Starling)

What does it mean to be “well”? How do humans in various cultures define and attribute meaning to pain? How do they determine the effectiveness of a given treatment? Where do they locate healing agency (the power to make one well)? This course examines these and other questions about the relationship between healing, spirituality, and culture by reading and discussing scholarship from the fields of religious studies, anthropology, sociology, and history. We will look at examples from a variety cultural contexts including ancient Greek, Chinese and Native American traditions. We will pay particular attention to the way in which dominant frameworks of authority for explaining sickness and health have changed over the last 200 years in the West, leading us to inquire into the contemporary appeal of “alternative medicine” in Portland in 2019.
Category: Spring 2019

CORE 107-24: Exploration and Discovery II (Spring 2015 Pyatkevich)

Multidisciplinary approaches to studying a diverse, world of ideas, methods, and perspectives. Theme, and content vary by section, but all seminars display historical and disciplinary breadth and focus upon topics in the liberal arts tradition. Past spring section themes have included the Art, of War, Am I My Brother's Keeper?, and, Understanding How We Understand the Mayans.
Category: Spring 2015

CORE 107-25: Exploration and Discovery II (Spring 2016 Pyatkevich)

Multidisciplinary approaches to studying a diverse, world of ideas, methods, and perspectives. Theme, and content vary by section, but all seminars, display historical and disciplinary breadth and, focus upon topics in the liberal arts tradition., Past spring section themes have included the Art, of War, Am I My Brother's Keeper?, and, Understanding How We Understand the Mayans.
Category: Spring 2016

CORE 107-25: Exploration and Discovery II (Spring 2020 Watson)

This section of E&D will focus on one of the key features of being a literate and active member of a democracy: the ability to locate, think about, and make arguments with data. While we will indeed use numbers to explore the scientific and social ramifications of alcohol and substance use (and lots of other things, too), this will not be a “math” class in the conventional sense. Nor, it must be said, will it be a conventional “humanities” class. Instead, we will consider how quantitative reasoning can shape and strengthen arguments about academic research, public policy, literature, and the choices we make in our daily lives.
Category: Spring 2020

CORE 107-29: Exploration and Discovery II (Spring 2015 Miner)

Multidisciplinary approaches to studying a diverse, world of ideas, methods, and perspectives. Theme, and content vary by section, but all seminars, display historical and disciplinary breadth and, focus upon topics in the liberal arts tradition., Past spring section themes have included the Art, of War, Am I My Brother's Keeper?, and, Understanding How We Understand the Mayans.
Category: Spring 2015

CORE 107-32: Exploration and Discovery II (Spring 2015 Miner)

Multidisciplinary approaches to studying a diverse, world of ideas, methods, and perspectives. Theme, and content vary by section, but all seminars, display historical and disciplinary breadth and, focus upon topics in the liberal arts tradition., Past spring section themes have included the Art, of War, Am I My Brother's Keeper?, and, Understanding How We Understand the Mayans.
Category: Spring 2015

CORE 120-03: Words (Spring 2023 Smith)

Words teaches students to explore the meaning and, significance of texts via close reading and, analysis, and to express that analysis orally and, in writing. Specific content and topics will vary, with instructors.

Course Description: 120-03
THE ROMANTIC GENERATION

The words “Romantic” and “Romanticism” hold a myriad of meanings for most of us. We watch “Rom-Com” films, see ads that sell “Romantic” products and experiences, and listen to Romantic music. In this course we will investigate the origins of Romanticism, the philosophical ideas and ideals that galvanized a generation of writers, artists and musicians, read, hear, and study the music and literature of the 19th- century Romantic artists, and spend some time reading critiques of their work by their contemporaries and more current writers. We will investigate the role of the artist (music, literature and art) in 19th-century society, the and search for parallels between the 19th century and our own time. Finally, we will look at how the ethos of the 19th century has shaped our own experiences as creators and consumers of art. Are we, ourselves, a generation of 21st-century Romanticists?
Category: Core Curriculum
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