This course examines how thinkers have grappled with questions from ancient debates on justice and political order to contemporary critiques of liberal democracy. As a “great books” course, this class involves the extensive but rewarding reading of foundational texts. These includes works by thinkers such as Plato, Rousseau, Kant, Mill, Foucault, and Shklar. We will trace key shifts in political thought, from classical ideals of governance to modern debates on sovereignty, democracy, and capitalism. By engaging with foundational texts, students will gain a deeper understanding of the political structures that shape our world as well as the intellectual traditions in which they are embedded.

What is the thing we call "science"? What do scientists actually do in their private laboratories and in the public arena? How do personal and structural factors like ambition, the availability of data and/or funding, or the competitive race to succeed shape the practice of science and its impact on the world? Concentrating on post-WW2 science, this course examines how scientists and engineers have grappled with these questions. As a "great books" course, this class involves the deep reading of three foundational texts that capture the human drama behind scientific progress.

James Watson’s The Double Helix (1968) is a first-person unfiltered memoir that describes the events behind his and Francis Crick's discovery of the structure of the DNA and makes no bones that it was fame and success that motivated them as much as the pursuit of the truth.

Tracy Kidder’s Pulitzer-winning The Soul of a New Machine (1981) is a look at what it takes to invent, build, and manufacture a new kind of mini-computer exploring the role of money, office politics, competition, and just the difficulty of getting things to work.

John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood (2018) is the story of Theranos, a Silicon Valley start-up that was the talk of the town and of venture funding until it was revealed that the technology it claimed to have built simply did not exist. It is a cautionary tale--also frequently hilarious--about the nature of scientific fraud and why it happens.

By engaging with these texts, students will gain a deeper understanding of the human and institutional structures that shape modern science.

This course can be used to fulfill the requirements for the minor in Science, Technology, and Society.

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Requirements class fulfills