2013-14 Undergraduate Index A-Z
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Sociology [clear]
| Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days of Week | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters |
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Stephanie Coontz
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Weekend | S 14Spring | This program explores changes in the social construction and cultural expectations of family life and intimate relations, from colonial times to the present. We begin by delving into the very different values and behaviors of colonial families and then trace changes in love, marriage, parenting, and family arrangements under the influence of the American Revolution and the spread of wage labor. We study the gender and sexual norms of the 19th century, including variation by race and class, then examine the changes pioneered in the early 20th century. We discuss the rise of the 1950s male breadwinner family and then follow its demise from the 1960s through the 1980s. We end the quarter by discussing new patterns of partnering and parenting in the past 30 years,Readings will be challenging, and there will be frequent writing assignments. All students are expected to complete all assignments and participate in workshops and seminar discussions. Credit depends upon consistent attendance and preparation and a demonstrated mastery of the subject matter.This class is excellent preparation for graduate work or professional employment in history, sociology, law, American studies, social work, and psychology. Ir provides needed context and background for people working in the social services or education. | sociology, history, family studies, research, social work, teaching, family law and counseling. | Stephanie Coontz | Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | |||
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Mary Dean
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | F 13 Fall | Doing well while doing good is a challenge. Whereas some kind of help is the kind of help that helps, some kind of help we can do without. Gaining wisdom to know the paths of skillful helping of self and others is the focus of this four-credit course. We will explore knowing who we are, identifying caring as a moral attitude, relating wisely to others, maintaining trust, and working together to make change possible. | Mary Dean | Tue | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Yvonne Peterson, Michelle Aguilar-Wells and Gary Peterson
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Weekend | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | How does a group of indigenous people from different countries: (1) create an activity to reclaim ancient knowledge? (2) develop communication strategies in the 21 century to build a foundation to support gatherings numbering in the thousands? (3) relate tribal governance/rights to state agreements and understandings? (4) appraise economic impacts on local/regional economies when a Tribe hosts a canoe journey destination? and, (5) how does one move to allyship with indigenous people and begin preparation for the historic journey from coastal villages of Northwest Washington to Bella Bella in British Columbia, Canada?Evergreen has a history of providing community service coordinated with the Center for Community-Based Learning and Action (CCBLA) to Tribes during the canoe journeys. This program expands the venture by researching the canoe journey movement, understanding Treaty rights and sovereignty, economic justice, cultural preservation, and the social economic, political and cultural issues for present day Tribes participating in the 2014 canoe journey to Bella Bella. As a learning community, we’ll pose essential questions and research the contemporary phenomenon of the tribal canoe journeys to get acquainted with Tribes and Canoe Families and the historic cultural protocol to understand Native cultural revitalization in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.Upper-division students will have the option to engage in service learning volunteer projects and program internships during winter and spring quarters. All students will participate in orientation(s) to the program theme and issues, historic and political frameworks, and work respectfully with communities and organizations. Participation in this program means practicing accountability to the learning community and to other communities, interacting as a respectful guest with other cultures, and engaging in constant communication with co-learners. | Yvonne Peterson Michelle Aguilar-Wells Gary Peterson | Mon Tue Wed Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Joli Sandoz and Gillies Malnarich
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | "Placing yourself in the changing world is a worldchanging act," writes Edward C. Wolff, researcher and specialist in the natural history of global change. In we will learn the integrative skills needed to influence and adapt to change as we consider selected social and ecological paradoxes facing us and future generations. Program participants will have multiple opportunities to develop the habits of mind of analytic, creative, and resilient thinkers who take the time to formulate problems before seeking solutions and who work with others to create life-affirming choices. Clear and thoughtful writing and opportunities to develop personal perspectives on cultivating a culture of resilience and community-building across significant differences will be essential components of our work together.Throughout the program, we will place ourselves in the swirl and mix of complex problems. Program participants will discover hidden dimensions of the "familiar" as we rely on close observation and current qualitative and quantitative research to help us first envision and then move toward communities in which all people thrive. During fall, program members will examine contemporary issues in health, education, and sustainable community—identifying people's concerns, developing analytic frameworks, and generating questions for further inquiry. Research in winter quarter will deepen our understanding of the challenges facing local communities and how government, non-profit organizations, and the "public" engage with them. Spring work will focus on dynamic community-building, including planning, decision-making, and collaborative action. Students in spring will also work through a complex problem of their choice, integrating theory and practice.In all program efforts, we will be especially attentive to the following lines of inquiry and their implications: how best to address inequities and complexity within community-building efforts, how to gather and use public information to serve the common good, and how to steer present change into a sustainable future. | Joli Sandoz Gillies Malnarich | Mon Wed Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Bill Arney and Michael Paros
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | Most of you are in school because you want to live a better life; many of you probably think about what it might mean to live a good life. Is a good life one full of pleasure and devoid of suffering? A moral life? A long and healthy life? Of course, it is possible that the good life cannot be defined at all and simply has to be lived and attended to. Let's start with the premise that most of our reliable, useful knowledge comes from science. Scientists work according to philosophically sound methodologies, which include commitments to impersonal inquiry and trying, always, to find the data most likely to defeat their favorite hypotheses; they work in open communities of other scientists, all of whom are obligated to be vigilantly critical of their colleagues' work; they generally qualify their claims to knowledge based on the limitations of their methodologies and their understandings of the probabilities of their claims being incorrect. But can science help us to be , to live a good life? Some think that science can help us recognize, even define, our values, and we will explore this possibility from the perspectives of neuroscience, brain evolution, psychology, social science and philosophy. Some say that science can never answer questions of morality or what it means to live a good life, or even a better life; something more is necessary, they say. Reading and written assignments, faculty presentations and deliberate discussions with vigilantly critical colleagues will assist students in an independent inquiry about how science can help a person live better with regard to some question of critical concern to the investigator(s). This program explores the power and limitations of scientific inquiry. Students should be able to imagine themselves discussing neurotransmitters and the moral life in the same sentence, but they should know that any education aims, finally, to help them know themselves. | Bill Arney Michael Paros | Mon Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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David Shaw
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | This China studies program will take an in-depth look at modern China through the perspective of the social sciences, building on readings and issues discussed in the lower-division fall program China: A Success Story? However, any student with an interest in China or East Asian studies should be able to join the program in winter or spring quarter and succeed in their studies. Our overriding goals are to understand today's China as a vital global power, while critically exploring the lingering influence of its rich yet strife-torn cultural past on behavior and decisions made at the national, institutional and individual levels. Building on our shared texts and themes, students will do independent research individually or in small groups, becoming experts in a particular facet of Chinese business, economy. society and/or sustainability. Our work will also extend beyond uniquely Chinese experiences into topics on which the future of Asia, the global economy and our small planet depend, including the natural environment, paths to ecological, social and economic sustainability and strategies to redress economic inequalities and social dislocations. China's environmental history, its rural-urban dynamic and its economic development will also serve as core threads through both quarters of study. During winter quarter, we will study ancient Chinese texts (in translation), as well as popular and academic articles, books, films and documentaries on China, particularly those exploring and reinterpreting ancient themes. Chinese philosophy, comprised of the primary "Three Teachings" of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, will inform our study of Chinese culture. Sun Tzu's will introduce us to one of the world's oldest sources of strategic thought and Chinese concepts of leadership. Other topics likely to be covered include China’s trade and travel with the outside world, the Chinese diaspora, China's contact and interactions with foreign powers and its industrialization and political transformations from an imperial dynasty to a republic to a Communist state. Spring quarter we will focus on present-day China. We will examine China's current image as a dynamic economic powerhouse and “global factory” and as an enigmatic political player internationally. We will also look at its internal, problematic quests for domestic harmony, a well-functioning legal system and a truly civil society.In both quarters, we will meet in seminar, workshop and lecture settings. Weekly readings from books, popular media (newspapers, magazines) and academic journal articles should be expected for seminar and workshop. A peer-review approach will be taken in a Writing and Research Workshop to complement individual or small-group efforts on their research projects. Regular meetings for tai chi are also highly likely, alternating with film and documentary viewings to build a closer familiarity with Chinese culture and society. Finally, in spring quarter, students will make an individual presentation on a book they have read and critically reviewed on their own. Another student completing the same reading will provide feedback on the presentation based on their reading of the book. This should expand the range of perspectives covered beyond the readings assigned to the entire class.Separate enrollment in Chinese language courses is strongly encouraged as a complement to this program. This program would also serve as good preparation for students who plan to travel to China via independent learning contracts or subsequent study abroad programs. | David Shaw | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | ||||
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Peter Bohmer
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen - Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | S 14Spring | The outcome of current social and economic problems will shape the future for us all. This program focuses on analyzing these problems and developing skills to contribute to debates and effective action in the public sphere. We will address major contemporary issues such as national and global poverty and economic inequality, immigration, incarceration, climate change, and war. U.S. economic and social problems will be placed in a global context. We will draw on sociology, political science, economics and political economy for our analysis, with particular attention to dimensions of class, race, gender, and global inequalities.We will analyze the mainstream and alternative media coverage of current issues and of the social movements dealing with them. We will build our analyses using data-driven descriptions, narratives of those directly affected, and theories that place issues in larger social and historical contexts. Students will be introduced to competing theoretical frameworks for explaining the causes of social problems and their potential solutions (frameworks such as neoclassical economics, liberalism, Marxism, feminism, and anarchism). We will study how social movements have actively addressed the problems and investigate their short- and long-term proposals and solutions as well as how they would be addressed in alternative economic and social systems.We will choose the specific issues to be investigated in the program as spring 2014 approaches, so that our study will be as relevant as possible. For each topic examined, we will combine readings with lectures, films, and workshops, along with guest speakers and possible field trips as appropriate to observe problems and responses first hand.Students will write short papers on each of the social problems we analyze. In addition, you will study in more depth and report on one of the economic or social issues we are studying. | Peter Bohmer | Tue Wed Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Spring | ||||
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Ariel Goldberger
Signature Required:
Fall Winter
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | This academic offering is devoted to studies, research and explorations of creativity, imagination and innovation from various disciplinary and inter-disciplinary frames of reference. This program will take the original focus on collaborative education and interdisciplinarity of the college very seriously and will rely on student energy, interest and initiative. Students will be asked to collaborate with the faculty to design, direct, and engage a program of studies focused on the latest developments in the study of creativity, imagination, and innovation. The goal is to endow studies with personal relevance, agency, and passion. The faculty will act as a facilitator and guide helping you when difficulties arise, but may not be able to provide expertise in all areas.Students will be strongly encouraged to pursue their interests, to weave them into the class to create a vibrant learning community, and to organize their studies with unique combinations of subjects, imaginative modes of study, and activities. For example, students may study creativity by blending theory and practice, and through the lens of fields like psychology, myth studies, education, cultural studies, writing, literature, arts, consciousness studies, or any combination, including subjects not mentioned, agreed upon with the faculty. Participants will collaborate with the faculty to design common activities such as seminars, and an independent project, based on team or individual interests. Students are welcome to include, as part of their practicum, or project, internships in fields that foster creativity and imagination, and are advised to initiate the required paperwork with Academic Advising as necessary.Focused individuals with a lively sense of self-direction, discipline, and intellectual curiosity are strongly encouraged to apply. | Ariel Goldberger | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Laura Citrin and Anne de Marcken (Forbes)
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | What are emotions, sentiments, and feelings? What functions do they serve, both for the individual and for society? In this full-time, two-quarter program, we will use social pyschology, scientific research, creative writing, and literary and film analysis as methods of inquiry into the ways that emotions are connected with cultural ideologies and assumptions. We will study the ways emotions are expressed, avoided, embraced, and rejected according to complex display rules that vary across and within cultures based on gendered, raced, and classed social norms. Underlying all of this discussion will be an analysis of the ways that power operates on and through us to get under our skin and into what feels like our most personal possessions: our emotions. If we read between the lines, what is the subtext of our cultural narratives about fear, love, guilt, anger…? We will look to literature and film for examples of dominant and alternative narratives, and we will experiment with creative writing—fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid forms—as both a mode of expression and a method of inquiry: a way of looking under the surface of our habitual reactions and cultural norms.Fall QuarterWe'll survey the "big six" emotions: anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, surprise and fear, as well as the socio-moral emotions like embarrassment, contempt, shame, and pride. We will also discuss the field of positive psychology and its analysis of the positive emotions (e.g., joy, hope, interest, love) and the role they play in what positive psychologists refer to as "the good life." We will consider published psychology research and literature from the field of social psychology, and students will design, propose and lay the groundwork for Winter Quarter research projects. Through analysis of films and literary and critical texts, students will consider how stories convey, evoke, and manipulate our emotions. They will develop fluency with critical terminology and concepts related to narrative, literary and cinematic theories. Through creative writing assignments and workshops, students will cultivate facility with elements of narrative discourse such as scene, summary, description, exposition, and dialogue.Winter QuarterOur interrogation of emotions will continue winter quarter with greater focus on independent, in-depth, and finely-crafted work. In addition to continued reading, screening and discussion of literary, critical and research-based texts, students will conduct the primary research projects approved during Fall Quarter, and will work to develop a portfolio of creative work representative of their inquiry. Winter quarter is an opportunity to participate first-hand in knowledge production within the interdisciplinary domain of affect studies, and to engage directly in the contemporary critical/creative discourse as art-makers.The interrogation of emotions in this program will occur via readings, screenings, lectures, research and creative writing workshops, and student-led seminars. Designed as a two-quarter program, the Fall Quarter will lay the foundation for more in-depth work in Winter. We strongly encourage students to enroll who are interested in sustained inquiry. | Laura Citrin Anne de Marcken (Forbes) | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Eric Stein and Toska Olson
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | “My soul would be an outlaw.”—Harlan Ellison, 1965Play incites the experience of aliveness, drawing us out of the routinized patterns of the everyday into realms of spontaneity, risk and imagination. Through play, the ordinary becomes temporarily disrupted: rules of propriety are suspended, social roles are inverted and everyday objects transform into the monstrous or fantastic. The vibrant, potentially transgressive nature of play raises questions about how it stands in relation to the forms of power that order society and shape us as individuals. How we play, when we play, and who we play with may unsettle these forms of power or become a part of how they operate. In this interdisciplinary program we will explore play as a creative pathway for the development of an authentic self, and also as a bold challenge to social mechanisms that limit autonomy and create borders between people. When we play, is there something we are playing against? What can the study of play teach us about the nature of power?In fall, we will explore how play has been shaped culturally and historically, with a focus on childhood in the United States and around the world. We will consider how the emergence of modern school discipline, the commodification of toys, the patterning of gender in childhood and the persistence of bullying has both constrained possibilities for play and allowed new forms to emerge. We will use ethnographic field studies of playgrounds, toy stores, children’s museums and primary school classrooms as the basis for creative work designing play structures, games, exhibits and school workshops. By exploring childhood play, we will gain an understanding of power dynamics between children and teachers, parents and children and among children themselves. Winter quarter will emphasize the strategic, symbolic forms of play that arise through adolescence and adulthood. We will consider how subcultures play with fashion, food, collections, fetishes and other social “tastes” to both mark and subvert hierarchies of class, gender and race. We will investigate the construction of “high” and “low” culture and the controlling notions of disgust, purity and danger through studies of tastings, sports tournaments, carnival and mass entertainment. We will also study humorous forms of verbal play and body play that have the capacity to construct or violate normalized social practices.Spring quarter turns to explorations of utopia and transgression in play. We will consider how particular forms of pleasure and desire are normalized and resisted, and how leisure and fantasy can reverse or co-opt power. Our inquiry will encompass topics such as science fiction, sexuality, space and architecture. Library research and ethnographic fieldwork will form the basis of a creative culminating project.Our studies will be grounded in sociology, anthropology and history, but will turn to other fields, including philosophy, education, literature and visual studies, to enrich our understandings of play. Readings may include works by Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Foucault, Douglas, Barthes, Bourdieu, Stewart and Butler. Throughout the year, students will engage in seminars, films, workshops, fieldwork exercises, writing and research projects designed to deepen their knowledge and apply theory to real-world situations. | Eric Stein Toska Olson | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||
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Carolyn Prouty, Trisha Vickrey and Wenhong Wang
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | This introductory, three-quarter interdisciplinary program explores the basics of health and illness through the lenses of biology, chemistry and medical sociology. We will focus on the social, cultural and scientific aspects of human health and health care primarily in the U.S., with some comparative examination of global health topics. Our case-based approach will incorporate human biology, anatomy, physiology, nutrition, general chemistry and statistics, while also examining the social aspects of health, illness, and health care.Enhancing our study of human systems biology and chemistry, we will examine topics such as epilepsy, cancer, diabetes, tobacco, and HIV/AIDS, how cultures interact with medical systems, and end-of-life decision-making. These specific topics will provide a platform to explore health care systems and health care reform, social and cultural constructions of health and illness, the social determinants of health, role development of health care professionals and their relationships with patients, and ethical issues involved in medical fields. We’ll also cover basic descriptive and inferential statistics, which will give us quantitative tools to untangle some of the complex issues within these topics.Program activities will include lectures, seminar, lab work, workshops, small-group problem solving, guest lectures, film viewing, and individual and group projects. Students will undertake writing, and statistical assignments focused on interpreting and integrating the topics covered. Students will learn the foundational skills of scientific research; how to find, interpret, and evaluate primary medical literature; and how to critically examine issues related to human health through a variety of lenses.Students who complete three quarters will have a solid foundation in human biology, chemistry, human anatomy, physiology, nutrition, statistics, and medical sociology with a working knowledge of the scientific, social and ethical principles relating to human health and public health. | Carolyn Prouty Trisha Vickrey Wenhong Wang | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||
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Laura Citrin and Kathleen Eamon
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 14Spring | How does shame differ from disgust, guilt and embarrassment? How does shame function both socially and individually? In this program, we will pursue a set of themes and questions clustered around . We will look at attempts in social psychology, sociology, psychoanalysis, and philosophy to define shame, to differentiate it from its neighboring emotions and states (like disgust, guilt, embarrassment, etc.), and to understand how it functions both socially and individually. We will look at both general theories and case studies, ranging from topics like morality and moralization, marginalization, bodies and shame, the social life of the emotions, feminist critiques of shame, as well as turning our attention to “counter-shame” movements like sex positivity. Our work in psychoanalysis and philosophy will likely include readings by Hegel, Freud, Lacan, Donald Winnicott, Slavoj Žižek, Hannah Arendt, and Michel Foucault. Our work in social psychology and sociology will draw from Silvan Tomkins, Erving Goffman, Michael Lewis, Thomas Scheff, June Tangney, and Susan Miller. And we will examine at least one novel that deals thematically with shame: Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, We will be reading broadly in both contemporary and historical texts, engaging in seminar discussion and writing workshops, and writing reflective, expository, and research papers on shame and related phenomena throughout the quarter. Although any background in the fields of psychology or philosophy will be helpful, successful participation in the inquiry does not depend on it; however, we do recommend the program for students with some lower division experience with the humanities and/or the social sciences. | Laura Citrin Kathleen Eamon | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | |||||
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Peter Dorman
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Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | There are of poor people in the world today, and even more who have limited access to health care, education and political and cultural opportunities. The word commonly used to refer to the process of economic growth and the expansion of opportunity is development—but there is enormous disagreement over how this word should be understood or even whether it should be used at all. This program will examine development on multiple levels: historical, philosophical, political and economic. It will place the quest for development in the context of European colonial expansion, military conflict and the tension between competing cultural frameworks. In doing this, it will combine “outside” views of development, as seen by administrators and experts, with the “inside” views of people who are most directly affected by development and its absence. At the same time, there will be a strong push toward usable knowledge: learning the skills that are essential for people who work in the field of development and want to make a dent in this radically unequal world. Economics will be an important contributor to our knowledge base; the program will offer introductory-level micro- and macroeconomics, with examples drawn from the development experience. Just as important is statistics, since quantitative methods have become indispensable in development work. We will learn about survey methodology and techniques used to analyze data. Another basis for this program is the belief that economics, politics and lived experience are inseparable. Just as quantitative techniques are used to shed light on people’s experiences, their own voices are essential for making sense of the numbers and can sometimes overrule them altogether. We will read literature that expresses the perspective of writers from non-Western countries, view films and consider other forms of testimony. The goal is to see the world, as much as possible, through their eyes as well as ours.Spring quarter will be devoted primarily to research. It will begin with a short, intensive training in research methods, based on the strategy of deeply analyzing a few papers to see how their authors researched and wrote them. After this, depending on the skills and interests of students, an effort will be made to place them as assistants to professional researchers or, if they prefer, they can pursue their own projects. We will meet as a group periodically to discuss emerging trends in development research and practice, as well as to help each other cope with the difficulties in our own work. By the end of three quarters, students should be prepared for internships or further professional studies in this field. | Peter Dorman | Mon Mon Wed Thu Thu | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Douglas Schuler
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8, 12 | 08 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | We are surrounded with problems that aren't going away; problems that cannot be solved by individuals acting alone. At the same time, a variety of powerful barriers often stand in the way of working together successfully. And all too frequently, the institutions that are supposed to help in these matters seem either oppositional or ineffectual.How can we develop and nurture the "civic intelligence" that will help ensure our actions produce the best outcomes? What sorts of creative and, often courageous, actions, events, policies, and institutions are people devising to help meet these challenges? And how can these "add up" to more widespread and enduring social change? As John Robinson of UBC's Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability stated, "If we can't imagine a better world, we won't get it."Social innovation helps us to create and ponder possible futures. Civic intelligence is an evolving, cross-disciplinary perspective that examines, proposes, initiates, and evaluates collective capacity for the common good. It builds on concepts from sociology and other social sciences but also intersects with most — or all — of the other disciplines including the hard sciences, education, cognitive science, the media, and the humanities. In this three quarter program we will focus our efforts—both reflective and action-oriented—on the theory and practice of social innovation and civic intelligence in which "ordinary" people begin to assume greater power and responsibility for creating a future that is more responsive to the needs of people and the planet. We will consider and critique cases of collective action as diverse as the World Social Forum and the Occupy Movement in addition to local and regional approaches in Thurston County and beyond.Throughout the program we will gain understanding and skills through collaborative projects, workshops, films, experiments, games, and group processes. All quarters will include theoretical readings and workshops. Spring quarter will also involve student projects with the goal of effecting real-world change.During fall we will focus on deliberation, collective intelligence, patterns and pattern languages, media, social movements, and the sociology of knowledge. Students will help determine the topics for winter and spring but reasonable candidates include education, alternative economics, collective memory, cooperation, media, participatory design, inequality, or war and peace.Students registering for 12 credits will be working within CIRAL, the Civic Intelligence Research Action Laboratory, for 4 of their credits. CIRAL is designed to help support ongoing, student-led, collaborative projects. It is intended to foster sustained and engaged relationships with groups, organizations, movements, and institutions. In addition to our regular meetings times and the work that they undertake outside of class these students will meet each Wednesday before class from 4:30 to 6:00. | Douglas Schuler | Wed Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Ulrike Krotscheck
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen - Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | Why, after 2,000 years of historical perspective, do we still find meaning in the works of Homer and Aristotle, Julius Caesar and Virgil? What can we learn from Athenian experiments in democracy or the formation and fall of the Roman Empire, as an alternative to republicanism? Why are ancient Greek and Roman images and ideas still represented in so much of our contemporary culture? The principles of classical literature, architecture, philosophy, theater and politics still permeate our society in this increasingly multicultural and globalized world. In these three quarters, we will explore the significant and unassailable ways in which ancient Greece and Rome have influenced our understanding of the world and many more tangible aspects of our contemporary culture.Each quarter will focus on a slightly different variation on our theme, and students may either stay in the program for the duration of the year, or join according to their interests in any one quarter. Continuing students over the three quarters will help organize and deliver content for new students, cementing the learning that they have already accomplished by sharing their knowledge with newcomers. On the other hand, new students in the winter and spring will actively participate in the formation of learning communities in which the faculty is not the sole provider of content. This program will support first year and sophomore students in their transition to college, while also providing a solid foundation in the origin of western civilization. It will be an intensive reading- and writing-based experience that will prepare students for upper-level work in the humanities and social sciences. Program activities will also include work on the Academic Statement Initiative.The three quarters will be organized as follows: In the fall, we will begin by learning the history of the ancient world. We will explore how this narrative has been handed down to us through historiography and archaeology, and what information and misinformation we can garner from it. We will study archaeological sites, art and architecture, and interrogate the uses of these visual canons in our own surroundings. In the winter, we will explore the influence of classics in modern films of every genre, from to and ?. We will read and analyze the ancient myths and epics that form the basis for the film interpretations, and discuss both the universal and the not-so-applicable lessons, themes and morals contained in the modern adaptations. The ancient Mediterranean was the stage for the earliest attempts in Western democracy and republicanism. Some of these experiments were more successful; some were less successful. We will examine these political innovations and compare them to our own contemporary systems of government. We will investigate the rights of citizens and the selection of who is allowed to participate in the political process and why. We will discuss the roles (or lack thereof) of foreigners, women and slaves. We'll read Aristotle, Plato and Cicero to understand ancient political ideologies and realities and to analyze how these have helped us build the foundation of our modern political system. | Ulrike Krotscheck | Mon Wed Thu Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | ||
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Allen Olson, Douglas Schuler and Emily Lardner
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | The promise of a liberal arts education has always had two dimensions: the opportunity to develop personal skills and abilities and the opportunity to develop the skills and abilities needed to engage meaningfully in a diverse society. In this program, we will focus on both aspects while exploring the transformation of ideas and ideas about specific transformations.Our explorations will be set within a context of 'transformations' as viewed from multiple disciplines. For example, we will study the physics of energy transformations within the context of climate change. We will consider transformations in thinking made possible by skillful and attentive reading and writing. We will explore the use of social theory and technology in social transformation. We anticipate additional topics such as transformational geometry and its role in both mathematics education and computer graphics. At the core of this program will be guided instruction at multiple levels in writing and mathematics as well as a general focus on the creation, critique, and communication of ideas.While we study the theme of transformations from disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, we will also look at the role of education and the specific goals of each student. Andrew Delbanco argues that a liberal arts education helps "people take stock of their talents and passions and begin to sort out their lives in a way that is true to themselves and responsible to others." To this end, we will ask each student and the learning community as a whole a variety of questions: In what ways will you and your college classmates transform the world after you graduate from Evergreen? What knowledge and skills will you need to participate in and contribute to these transformations? What do we need to know and be able to do in order to not just survive but thrive in the present? How can you use your education to contribute to the wider public good? How is education itself transformational, and what type of education is best to promote the learning we need?The design and structure of this program attempts to find ways to build on what incoming students already know, especially students who transfer into Evergreen after completing work leading to significant learning in other contexts. Our definition of "transfer student" includes community college transfers as well as veterans of the military and individuals returning to college after starting their careers. The program is also designed to support students who plan to become teachers and need specific credits in mathematics and other areas.The program is based on creating and sustaining cohorts of learners, and we aim to develop a sense of community that extends beyond the first year of a transfer student's time at Evergreen. Students who have participated in the Transformations program are welcome to return in future years to serve as peer mentors, project team members, research associates, or casual observers. A variety of credit options are available for these future roles. | Allen Olson Douglas Schuler Emily Lardner | Mon Wed Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Douglas Schuler
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
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Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | V | V | Evening and Weekend | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | considerable Civic intelligence attempts to understand how "smart" a society is in addressing the issues before it and to think about – and initiate – practices that improve this capacity. It is a cross-cutting area of inquiry that includes the sciences – social and otherwise – as well as the humanities. Visual art, music, and stories, are as critical to our enterprise as the ability to analyze and theorize about social and environmental issues.Although there are many ways to engage in this research, all work will directly or indirectly support the work of the Civic Intelligence Research and Action Laboratory (CIRAL). These opportunities will generally fall under the heading of "home office" or "field" work. The home office work will generally focus on developing the capacities of the CIRAL lab, including engaging in research, media work, or tech development that will support the community partnerships. The field work component will consist of direct collaboration outside the classroom, often on an ongoing basis. Students working within this learning opportunity will generally work with one or two of the clusters of topics and activities developed by previous and current students. The first content clusters that were developed were (1) CIRAL vs. homelessness; (2) environment and energy; and (3) food. In addition to a general home office focus cluster on institutionalizing CIRAL, another focused on media and online support.We are also hoping to support students who are interested in the development of online support for civic intelligence, particularly CIRAL. This includes the development of ongoing projects such as e-Liberate, a web-based tool that supports online meetings using Roberts Rules of Order, and Activist Mirror, a civic engagement game, as well as the requirements gathering and development of new capabilities for information interchange and collaboration.Normally students taking this option will have worked with Doug Schuler previously or are otherwise familiar with CIRAL and the idea of civic intelligence. Students who are interested in type of work and have not met those informal requirements are encouraged to take the program in 2013-14.Please go to the catalog view for additional information. | Douglas Schuler | Wed | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Douglas Schuler
Signature Required:
Fall Winter Spring
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Research | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | V | V | Evening and Weekend | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | considerable Civic intelligence attempts to understand how "smart" a society is in addressing the issues before it and to think about – and initiate – practices that improve this capacity. It is a cross-cutting area of inquiry that includes the sciences – social and otherwise – as well as the humanities. Visual art, music, and stories, are as critical to our enterprise as the ability to analyze and theorize about social and environmental issues.Although there are many ways to engage in this research, all work will directly or indirectly support the work of the Civic Intelligence Research and Action Laboratory (CIRAL). These opportunities will generally fall under the heading of "home office" or "field" work. The home office work will generally focus on developing the capacities of the CIRAL lab, including engaging in research, media work, or tech development that will support the community partnerships. The field work component will consist of direct collaboration outside the classroom, often on an ongoing basis. Students working within this learning opportunity will generally work with one or two of the clusters of topics and activities developed by previous and current students. The first content clusters that were developed were (1) CIRAL vs. homelessness; (2) environment and energy; and (3) food. In addition to a general home office focus cluster on institutionalizing CIRAL, another focused on media and online support.We are also hoping to support students who are interested in the development of online support for civic intelligence, particularly CIRAL. This includes the development of ongoing projects such as e-Liberate, a web-based tool that supports online meetings using Roberts Rules of Order, and Activist Mirror, a civic engagement game, as well as the requirements gathering and development of new capabilities for information interchange and collaboration.Normally students taking this option will have worked with Doug Schuler previously or are otherwise familiar with CIRAL and the idea of civic intelligence. Students who are interested in type of work and have not met those informal requirements are encouraged to take the program in 2013-14. | Douglas Schuler | Wed | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall |