DC-1: Foundations of Inquiry
Component-1, Foundations of Inquiry, focuses on the development of skills and practice in understanding through reasoned study and discourse.
Students fulfill this requirement by succeeding in the five courses described below.
- DC 111 Persuasive Speaking
- DC 119 Reading & Writing in the Academy with Lab Support* or DC 120 Reading & Writing in the Academy*
- DC 125 Quantitative Reasoning**
- DC 130 Introductory Logic
- DC 140 – DC 190 Through Cultural Lenses (students are required to complete one):
* The minimum grade for satisfying this requirement and moving on to a Through Cultural Lenses course is C-.
** Students whose majors require MA 221, MA 225, or SS 221 may use that course in place of DC 125.
*** DC 190 is for Honors Students only; it is required of all Honors Program students.
DC-2: Roots of Our Contemporary Society
DC-2, Roots of Our Contemporary Society, builds on and further develops the skills at the heart of component-I, while directly ad-dressing the second educational goal by engaging our heritage and intellectual history such that students are brought to reflectively understand their own identities, origins, heritage, and values in relation to our collective past.
Students fulfill this requirement by passing one course from each of the following thematic groups with no duplication of disciplines. At least two of those four courses must be writing focused (writing focused courses are designated with an * below and the phrase “(Writing focused)”at the end of their course descriptions. No duplication of disciplines.
Prerequisite for all DC-2 courses: Through Cultural Lenses.
Cosmos
‘Cosmos’ courses are based in the ancient time-period and look at the development of a coherent intellectual frame-work that allowed people to make sense of human existence and the context in which humans lived. While the temporal focus must be in the ‘ancient’ period, a course in this section must also draw explicit and extended connections between the time-period under study and the modern world, and preferably to other time-periods too.
Cosmos courses: DC 200-219
- DC 200: Cosmos (transfer credit only)
- DC 203: Patterns in nature
- DC 210: Myth and Reason*
- DC 212: Discovering Ancient Voices*
- DC 214: Speaking of Jesus*
Institutions
Institutions courses focus on the creation and development of an institution at the core of the Western tradition. While the temporal focus must be in the ‘medieval’ period, a course in this section must also draw explicit and ex-tended connections between the time-period under study and the modern world, and preferably to other time-periods too.
Institutions courses: DC 220-239
- DC 220: Institutions (transfer credit only)
- DC 221: Culture and Tradition Through Art
- DC 224: Faith, Reason, and Knowledge in the Medieval World
- DC 231: Married or Single? Medieval Women Speak Up*
- DC 232: Walking on Two Feet*
Revolutions
Revolutions courses focus on a major aspect of the changes that occurred from the American and French revolutions to the end of the nineteenth century that fundamentally al-tered important dimensions of European life and subsequently led to significant changes for essentially all human societies. While the temporal focus must be on the ‘revolutionary’ time-period itself, a course in this section must also draw explicit and extended connections between the time-period under study and the modern world, and preferably to other time-periods too.
Revolutions courses: DC 240-259
- DC 240: Revolutions (transfer credit only)
- DC 241: Industrial Revolutions
- DC 242: Ferment of Revolutions
- DC 251: Enlightenment and the Age of Revolutions*
- DC 252: We the People*
Innovations
To satisfy the ‘innovations’ designation, a course will focus on some aspect of the rise of new technologies, and the effects they have had on wars, the creation of the modern world of human affairs, how humans interrelate, or on the environment. The time-period that is the focus for this section is the first half of the twentieth century. While the temporal focus must be on the first half of the twentieth century, a course in this section must also draw explicit and extended connections between the time-period under study and the modern world, and preferably to other time-periods too.
Innovations courses: DC 260-279
- DC 260: Innovations (transfer credit only)
- DC 261: Global Interactions
- DC 262: International Relations
- DC 263: Biotechnology
- DC 271: Cinema, Story, and Society*
- DC 274: Intercultural American Modernism*
DC-3: Issues in Contemporary Life and Culture
DC-3 brings together much of what is required to prepare students to engage as civically minded, compassionate leaders, making a positive impact in the community informed by respect for the diversity and interdependence of its inhabitants.
Fulfillment of this requirement entails completing a group of four courses designed to serve as the core of a minor in an interdisciplinary, value-laden area. Each minor explores a problem or issue in our contemporary world that is, by its very nature, multi-disciplinary and acknowledges the complex interdependence of diverse factors and stakeholders, rather than simplistic, linear cause and effect abstractions.
Students fulfill this requirement by passing completing one of the following Minors that Matter:
Biorisks
Some of the most serious social concerns and risks of our time, including emerging (and re-emerging) infectious diseases, food and water security, the development of new biotechnologies, and environmental quality, are intrinsically biological. The Biorisks minor explores how we might ad-dress these potential biological risks through an intervention or response, thereby taking responsibility for our collective future.
Requirements for the Biorisks focus area:
- DC 125: Quantitative Reasoning or DC 210: Myth and Reason
- DC 263: Biotechnology
- EV 221: Introduction to Environmental Science
- DC 261: Global Interactions
- PH 337: Bioethics
- DC 472: Experimental Design [Fall course, all other gen. ed. courses must be completed prior to taking this course]
Ethnic and Racial Relations:
This minor focuses on ethnic and racial relations with an eye to how these large-scale group designations are fos-tered and manipulated and how the divisions they entail can be overcome. These distinctions have resulted in slav-ery, genocide, and the systematic impoverishment and de-humanization of a great many human beings, and are clearly at the heart of numerous conflicts in the world to-day. For America specifically understanding prejudice and its effects is of enormous ethical and practical significance.
Requirements for the Ethnic and Racial Relations focus area:
- SO 226: Social Problems
- Two of the following three:
- PS 236: Social Psychology
- PH 335: Identities and Inequalities
- DC 475: Ethnic and Racial Relations [Fall course, all other gen. ed. courses must be completed prior to taking this course]
Gender, Justice, and Equity:
The Gender, Justice, and Equity minor is designed to in-crease the students’ interdisciplinary knowledge about the gendered nature of experience and the ways that gender, sexuality and other identities shape and are shaped by history, culture, and society in today’s challenging, diverse, and complex world. Understanding the issues around gender, opportunities for advocacy, and ways to continue to strive for equity is essential in an educated society. The Gender, Justice, and Equity minor captures a variety of social justice issues facing women and gender diverse individuals across the world.
Requirements for the Gender, Justice, and Equity focus area:
- DC 180: Through Cultural Lenses: Hair
- DC 231: Married or Single? Medieval Women Speak Up
- HU 225: Introduction to Gender Justice
- PS 229: Psychology of Gender
- SO 325: Global Perspectives on Gender
- DC 476: Gender, Justice, and Equity [Fall course, all other gen. ed. courses must be completed prior to taking this course]
Information and Misinformation
Our society is faced with a proliferation of information in the media, spread through digital technologies, and inherent in everyday communications. Yet establishing agreement on what is factual and true is often extremely problematic. The exploration of this cluster of issues addresses the challenges of navigating truth in a media landscape flooded with information and disinformation. Students will critically examine the ethical and social implications of disinformation. This minor prepares students to understand, evaluate, and respond to misinformation in ways that promote a more informed and inclusive society.
Requirements of the Information and Misinformation focus area:
- DC 130: Introductory Logic
- DC 271: Cinema, Story, and Society
- CS 320: Opinion Shaping and Propaganda
- PS 102: General Psychology II
- CS 444: Freedom of the Press or HI 446: War and Society
- DC 473: Unraveling Misinformation [Fall course, all other gen. ed. courses must be completed prior to taking this course]
Longtermism
(this minor is restricted to students in the Honors Program and a requirement of the Honors Program):
The most urgent issues facing human communities today are issues that will only be resolved through the collaboration of people with different kinds of knowledge and experience. From the climate emergency to resource scarcity to the myriad problems created by the inter-connectedness of modern global culture, the world faces new challenges both large and small that will require new, diverse, and flexible modes of thinking and research. The Honors Mi-nor seeks to produce thinkers that will take on the challenge that is the future – thinkers able to create just and sustainable solutions to dynamic global and local challenges…thinkers able to envision and help create a more equitable and livable future for everyone.
This is a self-constructed minor that serves as the core of the Honors Program.
Requirements for the Longtermism, Honors minor:
- DC 190: Through Cultural Lenses: The City
- HO 399: Honors Tutorial
- DC 479: Longtermism: Honors Research [Fall course, all other gen. ed. courses must be completed prior to taking this course]
- Three additional courses related to the project’s topic. See Honors Committee Adviser for specific requirements and consultation.