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General Education

GENED 1099 - Pyramid Schemes: What Can Ancient Egyptian Civilization Teach Us?

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2023
Canvas Site

Prof. Peter Der Manuelian
Mon. and Wed. 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
 

How does ancient Egypt enlighten our times about what defines a civilization, and were those ancient humans, with their pyramids, hieroglyphs, and pharaohs, exactly like or nothing like us?

How much of your impression of the ancient world was put there by Hollywood, music videos, or orientalist musings out of the West? How accurate are these depictions? Does it matter? This course examines the quintessential example of the “exotic, mysterious ancient world” – Ancient Egypt – to...

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GENED 1177 - Language in Culture and Society

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2022
Course Site

How are language, culture, and society related?

The relation is complicated rather than simple, problematic rather than straightforward. To begin to explore this question, we discuss key theoretical issues and illuminating examples that begin to sketch out an approach to linking language, culture, and society. Specifically, we consider the following problems:

  • How is language use a kind of social action? (It is something we do; it has social effects.)
  • How does language organize and provide access to shared concepts and beliefs...
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GENED 1128 - The Conduct of Life in Western and Eastern Philosophy

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2022
Canvas Site

Prof. Michael Puett
Thurs. 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

A study of approaches in the philosophical traditions of the West and the East to the conduct of life. Philosophical ethics has often been understood as meta-ethics: the development of a method of moral inquiry or justification. Here we focus instead on what philosophy has to tell us about the first-order question: How should we live our lives?

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GENED 1126 - Race and Caste

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2022
Canvas Site

Prof. Ajantha Subramanian
Tues. and Thurs. 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
Sever Hall 102

Click here for a video preview of this course.

Race and caste are two of the most enduring forms of social stratification. While their histories date well before the advent of political democracy, they have taken on new forms in the context of democratic social transformation and capitalist development. In this course, we will grapple with the meanings, uses, and politics of race and caste historically and in the contemporary moment.... Read more about GENED 1126 - Race and Caste

GENED 1093 - Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Cares? Reimagining Global Health

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2021
Course Site

Profs. Arthur Kleinman, Salmaan Keshavjee, Anne Becker, and Paul Farmer
Tues. and Thurs. 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Science Center Hall B

If you are sick or hurt, whether you live or die depends not only on biological factors, but social ones: who you are and where you are, what sort of healthcare system is available to help you survive, and what kind of care is available to help you recover, if society believes you deserve it.

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GENED 1091 - Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2021
Course Site

Prof. Michael Puett
Mon. and Wed. 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM
CGIS South S010

What is the best way to live a fuller and more ethical life? Concretely what should we do to begin to live in a more flourishing and inspiring way? Questions such as these were at the heart of philosophical debates in China. The answers that classical Chinese thinkers developed in response to these questions are among the most powerful in human history. Regardless of whether one agrees with them...

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GENED 1105 - Can We Know Our Past?

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2021
Course Site

Profs. Rowan Flad and Jason Ur
Mon. and Wed. 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
CGIS South S010

What happened in the past? How do you know? Even though today we take great pains to document every major event that occurs, more than 99% of human history is not written down. How, then, can we determine with any certainty what people did, let alone thought about, hundreds, thousands, and even millions of years ago?

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GENED 1044 - Deep History

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2021
Course Site

Profs. Matthew Liebmann and Daniel Smail
Tues. and Thurs. 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
Harvard Hall 202

When does history begin? To judge by the typical history textbook, the answer is straightforward: six thousand years ago. So what about the tens of thousands of years of human existence described by archaeology and related disciplines? Is that history too?

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