This seminar is an introduction to some dimension of the history of a nation, region, people, culture, institution, or historical phenomenon selected by the respective instructor. Students will come to understand, and develop an appreciation for: the origins and evolution of the people, cultures, and/or political, economic, and/or social institutions of a particular region(s) of the world. They may explore how human encounters shaped individual and collective identities and the political, economic, and social orders of the region/nation/communities under study. Instructors prioritize critical reading, engaged participation, and focused writing assignments.

In this seminar we’ll explore the transformation of knowledge that took place between the sixteenth and the eighteenth century, and which is usually described as the Scientific Revolution. During this period, the criteria for assessing what counts as sound evidence changed significantly, as did those to judge whether an argument is valid, a belief credible, or whether somebody is an expert. We’ll learn about the social and cultural contexts in which modern science emerged, and we’ll realize how its history is entangled with the histories of religion, empire, capitalism, race, and gender. How did science compare to other traditions and to forms of magical knowledge? How did it gain such an unparalleled global authority? And why is this authority now openly challenged in the political discourse? These questions are key to understand our contemporary condition of inhabitants of technologically complex societies. And they take us straight to the ultimate question: Why trust science?

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills