David Nchia & Brigitte Randall

Human Nature: Propaganda

The word "propaganda" refers to a collection of techniques for mass influence. In this course, we will examine how these techniques depend upon enduring qualities of the human condition from the perspectives of Communication and History. We will also explore the implications of our vulnerability to propaganda for decision-making in a democracy.

Eric Dodge & Jeff Brautigam

Human Nature: Economics and History

An examination of the central questions about human nature through the dual lenses of economics and history.

Margot Tomsen & Bill Kubik

Human Nature: Literature and Politics

This class examines major political and social issues through the lens
of works of literature. The focus is on the possibilities and bounds of
politics as a realm for human development.

Ruth Turner, Pete Worcester, & Adam Howard

Human Nature and the Environment

A study of human nature from the perspectives of social science and natural science. Will focus on the relationship between human nature and the environment with consideration of stability and change through particular attention to human nature during times of natural disaster.

Xiaolong Wu & Rick Bennett

Human Nature: Water for the Wise

This class will examine landscape paintings from Eastern and Western Art and use those paintings to explore significant questions about Human Nature: In what ways are human beings part of the natural world and in what ways are they separate and distinct? How do depictions of clouds, trees, mountains, and water symbolize human virtues, values, strengths, and weaknesses? How do colors, shapes, and lines in paintings work together to create harmony or tension, and how do those artistic elements suggest ways that people can live in harmony with nature and within society? These and other questions will be explored within both Eastern and Western artistic and philosophical traditions.

Jared Bates & Emily Strunk

Human Nature: Spiritual or Worldly?

How should we think about what it is to be human? How should we think about what makes up a good life or the right way to live? How should we think about our ethical obligations to others or to the social group in which we live? This course approaches these questions about human nature from the perspectives of theology and philosophical naturalism. Theological approaches see being human as involving an essential connection with God, while naturalistic approaches see human nature through the lenses of the natural and social sciences. By the end of this course, students will have developed an understanding of both these approaches and so will be in a position to decide whether the approaches conflict or can hang neatly together.

Ted Farrell & Jack Ramey

Human Nature: The Human Comedy

It has often been noted that all people of all cultures smile. Is the same thing true about laughter? Is there something universal about humor, or is it culturally specific? What do people find funny, witty, or humorous? Is all humor, as Mark Twain once suggested, based on pain? Did people hundreds or even thousands of years ago laugh at the same things we laugh at now? What larger (darker?) purposes might comedy serve? Is laughter part of what makes us human? These are just a few of the questions we will explore and discuss through an examination of verbal and visual texts, ancient and modern: plays, films, stories, jokes, cartoons, graffiti, and other cultural artifacts.

Deb Whistler

Human Nature: Aesthetic Experience

This class will explore the creative process as a fundamental part of the human experience using the lens of both art and science. Art is not created in a vacuum, but the artist is trying to communicate with a viewer. One of the influences on this communication is the nature of how our brains make sense of visual images and interpret our surroundings. Thus, both disciplines when brought together can give deep insights into our human nature. The class will examine both the creation of the art work and the connection between the artist and the viewer in how we are influenced by works of art.

Dennis McDonald

Human Nature: Nature/Nurture

Why do all humans smile? Why do we live in groups? Why do we all share similar sexual behavior? Are these and the many other shared behaviors making up "human nature" part of our genetic inheritance or part of our cultural inheritance? Can we freely choose our own "human nature," or are we constrained by our genetic and/or cultural inheritance? What can we learn about human nature by studying the cultures of other animals? Using readings, videos, and field trips to observe human and animal behavior, this course will examine these kinds of questions in the ages-old nature/nurture debate.

Bill Altermatt, Miriam Pittenger, & Karen Porter

Human Nature: Past,Present,&Future

In this course, we will examine human nature from the disciplines of anthropology, Classics, and psychology. We will focus on what we can learn about human nature from examining our past (both historic and pre-historic), present (current thinking about essential human qualities), and future (the exploration of human nature issues in science fiction).