| source Berkeley (X) |
level |
department Interdisciplinary Studies (X) |
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Enrollment limits are set by the faculty, but the suggested limit is 25.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
In recent years, the pace of international transfers of technology, funds, resources, information, and even populations has increased dramatically. This cross-cultural diffusion has raised complex and interesting moral issues, issues which this course seeks to explore. We will examine some of the emergent ethical issues in international affairs, with particular attention to those involving technological development. Such issues include the effect of mass media and the Internet on cultural integrity, the politics of environmental regulation, ethical implications of genetic engineering, and others. In each case, the student will explore the relevant historical and empirical background as well as the salient moral and political debates. We will draw on classical, academic, and popular sources, including contemporary films, to explore the ramifications of such issues in modern culture. The goal of the course is to provide the student with an interdisciplinary introduction to key areas of conflict in the next century.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
This is an interdisciplinary survey course that seeks to understand how we define justice, evil, and individual responsibility in modern society. In particular we are going to probe carefully how humans reflect on and practice the process of moral reasoning. We will focus on human behavior in extreme situations: war, life and death conflicts, genocide and mass killing, as well as competing conceptions of human freedom. The course has a distinctive dual purpose. On the one hand we want to encourage the learning of critical thinking skills. This includes the ability to systematically evaluate information and competing moral claims. Also, it is intended as an exposure to the interdisciplinary approach. That is, how can different perspectives illuminate the same issue? With this in mind the course draws on important work from philosophy and ethics, social psychology, jurisprudential analysis, historical-political accounts, and personal memoirs.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
In this course, we will utilize works in the humanities and the social sciences in order to explore a number of dimensions of self-deception in the modern world. The focus will be upon the willingness to falsify both personal life as well as one's position in the public sphere. The course will begin with an examination of the psychological dimension, emphasizing the importance of the nature of unconscious experience. In this context, we will examine how self-awareness is shaped by personal relationships, especially family arrangements. In addition, we will look at the manner in which people often engage in acts of self-deception with regard to the political realm.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
Introduction to central theoretical investigations concerning the construction and organization of social life. Using some works from the "classical" traditions of social theory as well as some examples of contemporary analysis, this course will explore such topics as the nature of power and social/historical change, the nature of economic production and consumption, the meaning of difference--racial, sexual, class--the development of institutions, etc.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
Introduction to classical and contemporary analyses of the development and construction of individual identity, the concepts of subjectivity and agency, and notions about the inner life. An exploration of the construction of meaning and communication through an examination of works from discourse analysis, symbolic anthropology, literary and film studies.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
This course is designed to sharpen our skills in understanding what happens when the world of images and words meet. Starting with the work from the Western "classical" tradition we will proceed to investigate how word/image constellations operate in a variety of media, including sculpture and poetry, painting and prose, death masks, tableaux vivants, photography, and advertising. Also listed as Scandinavian C114.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
This course surveys the technological revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries, it then focuses on the development of the computer and the Internet. The final part examines the impact of the Internet on social movements.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
This interdisciplinary course is an introduction to the complex interplay of transnational values, international rights and legal institutions that increasingly govern social, cultural and geopolitical interactions in our contemporary world. Theoretical and methodological tools from the social sciences, jurisprudence, and philosophy will be applied im the analyses of these interplays. A study of rights and norms presupposes not only an understanding of the empirical evolution of rights traditions (including constitutional traditions) in a variety of global regions, but also an understanding of the theories of rights and laws that support such traditions as they are embedded in them (just war theories, peace theories, etc.) The study of rights and norms also requires an exploration of the transformations of crucial international norms and rights due to the formation of supranational institutions and organizations in the 20th century (UN, UNESCO, GO's, etc.). The course will provide the students with an opportunity to place emerging transnational rights institutions into a historical and geopolitical framework.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
The focus of this course will be on the various ways the nature and trajectory of modern capitalism has been interpreted. Our stress will be on post-Marxist works of analysis. The initial focal point will be on the work of Max Weber and Joseph Schumpeter, as well as important current debates in economic history and social theory generated by their work. Both Weber and Schumpeter display a strong fascination and elaboration with the work of Marx. The way they analyze Marx is very revealing about the way contemporary analysts seek to understand the capitalist system. We will also consider a number of current efforts that look at the systemic nature of capitalism. In particular, we are interested in how economic historians now see the development of capitalism. We also want to examine the Weberian tradition in terms of the role of culture in shaping economic behavior. Debates about the nature of globalization will also be considered as well as analysis of the changing nature of work.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
Industrialization, urbanization, and economic growth in the global North. Locational patterns in manufacturing, retailing trade, and finance. Geographic dynamics of technical change, employment, business organization, resource use, and divisions of labor. Property, labor, and social conflict as geographic forces. Local, national, and continental rivalries in a global economy, and challenges to U.S. dominance. Also listed as Geography C110.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
Case studies of the foreign mass media. Focus may be on the press and publishing, broadcasting, documentaries, or new media. Possible topics: Pacific Rim press; mass media in China; Israeli and Palestinian media. Also listed as Mass Communications C160 and American Studies C160.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
In this course, we will trace some of the substantive changes and transformations taking place in contemporary Europe in the areas of culture, society, and politics. In particular, we will look at the effects of massive migration flows--due to globalization processes--on the national culture of the core countries and examine the ways in which particular national cultures react to the increasing multiculturization of Europe. The goal of the course is, first of all, to familiarize students with a variety of cultural, social, and political innovations that accompany the formation of multicultural Europe. This involves (1) an examination of the traditional concepts of nationhood and citizenship, and (2) a study of the Europeanization of culture. Also listed as Geography C152, History C176, and International and Area Studies C145.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
Topics include electronic community; the changing nature of work; technological risks; the information economy; intellectual property; privacy; artificial intelligence and the sense of self; pornography and censorship; professional ethics. Students will lead discussions on some of these topics. Also listed as Computer Science C195.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
In the last decade, information technology (IT) has moved from back-office applications aimed at improving productivity to strategic applications that can radically change the dynamics of companies, industries, and economic sectors. This course will explore the technological, economic, and social conditions that have made such "killer apps" possible. Students will learn how to think strategically and entrepreneurially about IT, whether for personal, business, or nonprofit applications.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
This is a recommended course for ISF majors. Students will develop a proposal for the senior thesis, locate research sources on campus, engage in preliminary research on their thesis topic, and develop a preliminary but solid bibliography.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
This course offers an introduction to interdisciplinary quantitative and qualitative research methods. It will enable the students to deepen and clarify their research topics and to tailor their methodological approaches to their disciplinary inclinations. They will build a grounded bibliography on their research topic and acquire the skills to survey the basic conceptual and theoretical arguments on their particular topic. By the end of the semester, they will have written a critical survey of the literature on their topic which will serve as the introductory chapter to the thesis. Students who write honors theses will also contact faculty on campus who have expertise in the students' research area.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
The preparation and presentation of a senior thesis pertaining to the student's individual area of concentration within the interdisciplinary studies field major.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page
Entails writing a bachelor's thesis pertaining to the student's individual area of concentration within the interdisciplinary studies field major. The completed thesis will be read by the thesis adviser and one other faculty member.
Score: 10.456062 Details | Listing | Web page