Below are the WAYS 102 Seminars that will be offered in Spring 2027.
Is tech’s rapid transformation of our world sacrificing our connection to nature? This course explores the social and cultural implications of technological advancements, and their dynamic relationship with nature. From smartphones to renewable energy, we'll examine how technology has both enhanced and challenged our connection to the environment. We'll also delve into mind-bending concepts like whether technology has a life of its own and the paradoxical relationship between tech’s responsibility for the climate crisis and its role in solving it. Join the debates on whether technology has replaced nature, if they can coexist in harmony, and what our technological future might hold.
The Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, the Mothman---these are the names of just some of the elusive creatures that stalk through humanity’s imagination. The uncanny, the unknown, the misunderstood creatures of myth have fascinated and inspired scientists, artists, and authors alike for centuries. This course will explore the role cryptids and mythical creatures play in the human consciousness, the similarities that link some of our greatest fears across cultures, and the biology upon which many of these monsters are based. We will develop skills to research, analyze, and construct written arguments about cryptids from a variety of habitats around the world. We will also explore the numerous techniques writers employ to capture ideas and thoughts into organized prose and implement those skills to create written works of our own.
This course introduces you to critical analysis of fandoms and how to write about them in an academic context. We will consider how fans use media to highlight racism, sexism, transphobia, and other oppressive systems. We will also examine fan practices of composition as a model for public writing.
This course will investigate some of the weird, the wild, the mysterious, the unusual, the too-good-to-be-true occurrences that, at least, some people have believed for a time. You'll develop reading, writing, and critical thinking skills as we reveal the facts behind a number of famous, infamous, and less-famous frauds and hoaxes. The topics for the course will largely come from the realms of archaeology and anthropology, but, from time to time, we will draw upon examples from other related academic disciplines.
In Language and the Human mind, as we learn about the writing process we will also learn about the fascinating relationship between language, thought, and worldview. Does the language you speak impact how you perceive and interact with the world? Does the language you speak affect how you experience time, physical features such as color, or even your ability to save money for the future? What is special about human languages, and how are these different from other animal communication systems? How are language, worldview, and culture intertwined, and what do we lose when a language dies? How important is language preservation to maintain cultural and linguistic diversity in the world?
Who gets to tell your history and why? What role do national myths play in telling history? This course focuses on national myths and erasure of people’s histories in media, museums, and National Historical Parks. We focus on the erasure of black cowboys from the American West, queer history from the women’s rights movement, trans history from Stonewall, and radical youth movements from Latino history.
Modern society is built upon the mineral resources that we extract from the Earth. But how do a bunch of rocks and minerals get turned into cell phones, art, or even milkshakes? In this class we will learn about minerals, how they form, the social and environmental costs of extracting them, and how they are used to build the world around us.
Do you know the difference between a conga and a djembe? Have you ever wondered why there are so few women percussionists? Drumming has frequently been a male-dominated practice, but that has continued to change over the past several decades. This course will examine the unique music and lives of trailblazing women drummers, especially in light of significant gendered shifts since the late Twentieth Century and emergence of new musical practices for women. We’ll learn about percussive traditions in cross-cultural contexts including samba, bata, taiko, and salmunori, in addition to touching on women’s roles as drummers in popular music
Why do women write science fiction? Ursula LeGuin, author of The Left Hand of Darkness, suggests that science fiction is really a thought experiment about the present, and the writers we will study, including Le Guin, James Tiptree Jr., and Octavia Butler, tackle such relevant issues as gender identity, reproduction and the environment.
Why do we “watch” birds? Many years ago, we identified a bird after shooting it and examining it on a table in a lab. Eventually someone asked: do we have to kill the birds first? Then we started to identify birds in the field, which led to field guides that provided systematic ways to identify birds. Then, birdwatching became birding. What's the difference? When and how did this happen? Finally, birders became citizen scientists, providing their observations to scientists, such as those at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology via eBird, who then use these data to study birds. Does this really help the birds? Or could it sometimes harm them if word got out about a particularly vulnerable bird?