Interdisciplinary Explorations of Human Problems

Catalog description

Climate change, racism, lack of accessibility, poverty, moral disagreement, civil conflict, access to water, and piracy are all examples of enduring human problems. This shell course allows students to explore a single “human problem” across disciplines, bringing together knowledge from liberal arts, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, health, arts and design. Students will read transformative texts across a variety of disciplines and apply those texts to a single modern “human” problem in this project-based course. Students will pay particular attention to the social and ethical components within the texts, the problem, its causes, and proposed solutions. The possible problems are intentionally broad and reach across multiple disciplines. Students will be expected to apply their understanding to practice-based projects in interdisciplinary groups and then present their findings, demonstrating both the breadth and depth of their understanding, as well as their creativity. Throughout the semester and in each assignment, students will explore the ethical and social implications of the course topic, exploring the ways different disciplinary approaches assess and think about ethical and social problems and their possible solutions.