Courses

Interdisciplinary, discussion-based seminars that provide students with a foundation in the theory and methods of: A. the arts and humanities; B. science and mathematics; and C. the social sciences. These interdisciplinary seminars offer students opportunities via discussion and/or writing to explore implications, connections, and other perspectives (e.g., philosophy, ethics, law, arts, policy, history, politics, medicine/health, the other sciences, etc.). By design they explicitly connect two areas of the DePauw curriculum, i.e., two disciplines within the CLAS, the CLAS with the SBL, or the CLAS with the Creative School.
These courses are open to all DePauw students, although priority is given to students enrolled in the Honor Scholar Program. Students in the Honor Scholar Program take one course each in AH, SM, and SS; each of these courses can be used to fulfill DePauw's distribution requirements. May not be taken Pass/Fail.

Fall Semester information

300AA: HoScho AH Sem:King Arthur: Archaeology, History, and Legend

The figure of Arthur as a 'good' king resonates strongly in the historical, mythic, and cultural imagination of the British Isles, Brittany, and beyond. This course examines the material contexts, the early written evidence, and the oral traditions that authors, bards, and artists developed into the epic cycle of Arthur and Camelot. The course starts with Stonehenge and ends with Malory's Morte d'Arthur (1470, printed 1485), a publication that popularized Arthurian tales on a grand scale and whose framework still shapes modern retellings. The course will consider the contradictions and complications of the Arthur cycle, the complex symbolism of its varied characters (e.g., Merlin, Guinevere, Mordred, Morgan le Fay, Percival) and features (e.g., the Round Table, Excalibur, Avalon, the Grail Quest), and their enduring resonance. Students will prepare, present, and lead discussions on assigned materials during the first half of the course, write two papers respectively on the prehistoric and Roman backgrounds for Arthur, and complete their work for 'W' certification with a paper and presentation on a film related to this foundational set of stories about the ideals and burdens of leadership.

300AB: HoScho AH Sem:History, Lineage, and Impact of Sound in Black American Music

An examination of the history and lineage of select African American artists and music through the lens of sound and its influence on generations of creators in American music. A project in sound creation will serve as the culmination. We will listen to artists who have had a profound influence on the way music sounds and explore how creativity, eclecticism, social movements and technology have contributed to the soundscape of America and the world. Synthesis and the component parts of sound creation will offer an opportunity to explore your own creativity.

300BA: HoScho SM Sem:Evolution and Human Nature

The Philosopher Daniel Dennett once called evolution "the single best idea anyone ever had." If this claim has any merit, then surely evolutionary perspectives can shed light on important questions about human nature in general, and issues like cooperation, aggression, sex and gender, aesthetics, emotion, cognition, moral judgments, and environmental concerns in particular. We will look at current and historical attempts to develop scientific accounts of human nature, and examine their strengths, weaknesses, and motivations.  The course offers an opportunity to explore how the "single best idea anyone ever had" can be applied to human nature and important contemporary concerns.

300BB: HoScho SM Sem:Climate Change - Science and Action

300CA: HoScho SS Sem:The Power of Pop: How Pop-Culture matters in Politics, Economics and Society

Whether we actively seek it out or not, pop-culture permeates everything around us- our entertainment, our news, our consumption habits, and our politics. In this course we will examine this often-dismissed area of our collective experience seriously by examining how scholars and commentators across political science, history, economics and cultural studies, to name a few disciplines, understand the significance of pop-culture. We will consider questions such as the role of pop-culture in representing dominant and marginalized identities and why this matters, the pop-culture memorialization of key events, the role of culture industries in the economy, the pop-culture of conservative and right-wing movements, the importance of pop-culture in state's soft-power as well as the impact of celebrities on various policy issues, in an election year where this may be particularly salient. We will ponder these questions through the lens of various cases of 'texts' - drawing on students' interests and the instructor's research interests in Bollywood and KPop, and be attentive to pressing issues in pop-culture from the West as well as the Global South. Students will research a topic of their choice applying class concepts and materials.

300CB: HoScho SS Sem:Introduction to Human Rights

What are human rights, where do they originate, and how do they function in today's legal and political arenas? To whom are human rights accessible? Who is responsible for protecting your human rights? This course will introduce students to human rights as an interdisciplinary area of study and practice. It exposes students to the field of study of human rights that can be applied across all disciplines. In this course, we will investigate human rights within historical, political, legal, and cultural frameworks, posing questions about what they are, how they work, and whether they have any restrictions. This course will also consider the contextual approach to human rights from a globalized perspective-African, Asian, Middle East, European and Western perspectives. This course will further reflect on the contextual, culturally diverse, and universalist approaches to rights. Students will be exposed to the works of practitioners and activists and understand how and why we use the lens of human rights to examine contemporary issues including women's rights, children's rights, prisoner's rights, gender issues, etc.

300CC: HoScho SS Sem:Feminist Inquiry

This course offers hands-on experience in the interdisciplinary field of Women's Studies. Students will survey research methods by reading excellent examples that show how various research methods have been applied; by reading about, and discussing, the practical details and the ethical issues involved in doing research; and by applying research methods themselves in class exercises and the undertaking of an individual project. Prerequisite: WGSS 140.

Spring Semester information

300CB: HoScho SS Sem:Rhetoric and Popular Culture