FOUNDATIONS OF INQUIRY [BSC 101]
Fall 2009 Section Sub-Titles and Descriptions
The Foundations of Inquiry (BSC 101) is a course in critical thinking, research skills, and the liberal arts as seen through interdisciplinary themes selected by each instructor. The interdisciplinary theme and sub-title chosen by each BSC 101 instructor for fall 2009 is listed below. Find the three most intriguing topics listed below and report them on your Fast Track Form. We will try to register you for your first choice. [click here for a Word version of this information]
Theories of Prejudice and its Overcoming in Western Philosophy and Society
John Abromeit
In the Western philosophical tradition, wisdom, reason and liberal education have often been understood as the result of a process of overcoming prejudices, which are usually defined as unquestioned assumptions about or distorted perceptions of the world, other people or even one’s own self. We will examine a number of philosophical and historical texts, from Classical Antiquity to the present, which address the question of prejudice. For each text we will pose the following questions: What are the origins and/or causes of prejudice? Why are prejudices harmful? How is possible to overcome them and to attain a state of wisdom, reason or higher education? Along the way we will also examine a few skeptics who defend prejudices of various kinds, deny the possibility of ever completely overcoming them or who call into question the value of wisdom, reason or liberal education.
Philosophical Bedrocks: An Introduction to Critical Thinking in the Liberal Arts
Barish Ali
In a broad sense the theme of this course will be the diversity of ideas. By reading some of the most inspirational and intriguing ideas from great thinkers of antiquity and today we will achieve a better understanding of the intellectual foundations of our world. Not only will we read selections from the bedrock of Western philosophy, science, social theory and religion, we will also read ideas and examine art emerging from Buddhist and Islamic societies. For instance, we will be reading writings by great women and men who shaped our intellectual world. Take, for instance, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud – three great minds of modern Western thought who, over the period of 1850-1920, transformed our entire way of looking at reality. Darwin created doubt that we were created in the image of God; Marx dismantled what we thought were traditional economic certainties, and Freud discovered the unconscious, causing us to question whether or not we know what we are thinking and what we desire. This course will therefore initiate students into the Liberal Arts, with a particular focus on critical and creative thinking; the course will also teach students how to apply research skills to interdisciplinary topics. By the end of the course, students will develop greater intellectual curiosity and will be eager to explore different beliefs and values.
The Many Faces of Power
Stephen Andre
The meanings of the word power include possession of controlling influence, (physics) the rate of doing work and possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities) required to do something or get something done. A quick search of Britannica yields 50 topics/fields that can take the modifier of "power". Examples are electrical power, international power, power play and military power. These, and other meanings, will be explored during this section of BSC101.
Holistic Inquiry: Authoring Your Identity, Crafting Your Future.
Catherine G Ansuini
Closed as of 21 July. Approaching inquiry from a holistic stance dignifies the acquisition and processing of all stimuli and arrival at knowledge as personal, unique, and resulting from the integrative association of each individual’s mind, body and spirit. The whole or totality of a person is different from the sum of their parts. Everything matters in some manner. How it matters is for us to discover.
Technology and Our Planet
Proves Banks, Jr.
Closed as of 21 July. Dorothy stated in the Wizard of Oz, "Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My." Technology makes our lives more comfortable, but at what cost? We will critically examine issues concerning our comfort--Lions, Tigers, and Bears: where are they?
Planning For the Future -- Business
Richard Bihr
Closed as of 1 July. We will consider topics like: Planning for College Success; Differences in Culture, Ethnicity, Age, Gender, and Ability; Understanding the Financial Planning Process; Managing your Money; and selected topics in Intercollegiate Athletics, Wellness, Hospitality and Tourism.
Are We Free or Are We Slaves?
Daniel Blum
We enslave ourselves in a myriad of ways but, primarily, through inadequate critical thinking. Students will explore their self-enslavement and will be confronted with the possibility that they are slaves to unexamined prejudices and passions. By critically examining the world of Plato, Blake, Delacroix, Lincoln, Dostoyevsky, Darwin, Camus, and others, students can acquire the tools of emancipation and attain personal and intellectual freedom.
The Good Life: A Critical Examination
J C Carbonara
A description is not yet available.
Individuality and Inspiration
Anthony Chase
Closed as of 1 July. Where do new ideas come from? Why are some people able to assert their individual values, while others fearfully or forcefully go along with the pack? Students will use biography, history, news, and literature to explore these issues, and will use reflective writing to explore their own values and aspirations. Please note that this is a change in title and description.
Who Are You?
John D Draeger
Closed as of 1 July. This course explores the rudiments of critical thinking that underlie the liberal arts, including work in the Arts, Humanities, Social and Natural sciences. In particular, we will consider what sorts of beings we take ourselves to be. For example, we must adhere to the same physical laws that govern the birds, bees, flowers, and trees as well as subatomic particles. But are we simply the configuration of our physical parts? Each of us was born into a particular family in a particular time and location. We are identified by our race, class, gender, and sexual orientation as well as by our decisions to become students, parents, club members, and friends. Each of these categories is influenced by the art and literature of our particular period in our particular location. This course will only begin to consider the forces that make us who and what we are, but it is my hope that you will learn the critical thinking tools necessary to carry out your investigation.
Thinking about Teaching: Reflection as a Professional Skill in Teaching Careers
Kathleen Falconer
Closed as of 1 July. At Buffalo State, teacher education candidates are expected to understand the science of their profession and to learn how to become caring, safe, and knowledgeable practitioners. This is best done through a process of critical self-study known as reflection. In this course, we will examine how teachers apply theory into their practice by assessing their effectiveness in promoting learning. We will learn the habits of mind that assist reflective practice such as inquiry, perspective, and connecting new learning to past experience. Reflection is an excellent framework for developing critical thinking skills that will assist students in all areas.
The Religious Factor
Marianne Ferguson
How much has religion influenced politics, art. Science, literature, morality and war? We will critically analyze the beneficial and negative effects of Religion on global events.
Global Warming
Camille Holmgren
Thinking critically about global warming. We’ll look at global warming from different liberal arts perspectives and tackle questions like: What is the science behind global warming? Will an increase in global temperatures affect our way of life as individuals and as a society? Will global warming impact the economy? Is global warming an important issue in politics? How is global warming portrayed in art?
Citizenship, Politics and Religion
Anthony Hotchkiss
Closed as of 21 July. We shall explore ways of using critical thinking to distinguish between the good, the bad and the ugly in government and religion.
Gender, Sex and Feminism
Jennifer S. Hunt
Closed as of 1 July. What does it mean to be a woman or a man? In this course, we will consider how several disciplines, including the social sciences, natural sciences, art, and literature, investigate gender and sex and what insights each of them provides. We’ll also consider how feminist theory has challenged academic work on gender.
Uses of Language
David Landry
We will explore the ways we use language and it uses us, the ways that language can create our world and the ways that, in the hands of power, it can enslave us. We will explore interactions between our biology, as understood through neuroscience, and our responses to different types of public discourse including advertising, political discourse, religious language, common usage like cliché and slang. We shall critically examine the media, especially the tensions among print, broadcast, and the Internet as well as literature, especially short fiction and poetry. The readings will be short and daily comments on them will be required.
Media and Society
Hsiang-Ann Liao
Closed as of 1 July. This course is designed to explore the role of the media in our lives. We will approach this topic from various perspectives, such as examining the relationship between the public, politicians, and the news media, exploring the nature of advertising and consumer culture, and looking at how communication technology transforms human interaction. Students will learn the practices and structure of our current media environment, the nature of media audience, how to decode media messages, and how the media affect the ways we perceive the world around us.
Law versus Politics versus the Media versus Ethics: The Liberal Arts
Jon Lines
Closed as of 21 July. There will be a basic introduction to critical thinking: what is critical thinking, different kinds of arguments, logical fallacies, and the use (and misuse) of knowledge and evidence in argumentation. We will apply this knowledge to a critique of everyday things we are exposed to in life (such as advertising, the practices of the mass media, ethics, science, and politics). Students will also apply critical thinking skills to their academic (or personal) interests and have the opportunity to educate the class about these interests. Students’ interests will guide much of the content of the class and, along the way, all students will get at least some exposure to different areas of knowledge.
The Evolution of Evolutionary Thought
Amy McMillan
What is the theory of evolution and how has it evolved? How has evolutionary theory affected human societies and how have these societies influenced evolutionary thought? Should other theories be taught in classrooms or, for that matter, are there equivalent but contradictory theories? We will explore these and other questions surrounding the ideas introduced by Darwin 150 years ago. BIOLOGY MAJORS ONLY
Interconnections between the Arab, French and Jewish Cultures and Literatures
Rafika Merini
Some of the greatest world literature was produced by the Arabs, the French and the Jews. We will examine similarities and areas of agreement over differences and areas of conflict in an effort toward building a foundation for a better future understanding among these peoples whose cultures intersect and connect throughout history.
Urban Sustainability -- Oxymoron?
Wende Mix
Worldwide, the majority of the humans live in locations that are urban in character. In the United States, 80% of the population lives in cities. Urban areas are complex systems that constantly adapt to economic, political, social, and environmental stresses; whose problems cannot be siloed into any one discipline, but must be addressed in the context of many disciplines. A common definition of sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs ("Brundtland definition" of the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development). In order for cities to become truly sustainable, how must individuals as well as organizations and businesses change? This class will explore how past urban planning and policies, although well intentioned, may not have resulted in sustainable practices. We will learn how sustainability is often driven by a bottom up, not top down, process. We will discuss how the actions and efforts of individuals (joined by a common belief) have been changing our urban scenes. We will focus on the power of the human voice. We will consider what each individual can do to make the future brighter and we will discuss motivational strategies for individuals and organizations that may be effective in bringing change. We will explore how effective new Urbanism, Smart Growth policies and LEED design standards are changing for urban environments. The class will critically evaluate these policies using case studies from Edens Lost and Found, a PBS series on urban sustainability, and The Greening of Southie, a film examining LEED design from the professional planning and common man perspectives. Other topics we may debate include: How does wealth influence individual roles in sustainable practices? What are the crucial equity issues that come to play in supporting sustainable development? Are capitalism and sustainability complementary or inharmonious?
People, Food and Cultures
Suk Oh
Closed as of 1 July. In this section, students will learn critical thinking skills necessary for making better decisions and successful career beyond college education. These skills shall be acquired from liberal education and research skills that cultivate the inquiring mind. Our interdisciplinary theme revolves around the saying, "we are what we eat." Everyone daily faces the questions of what to eat and drink for good health. Students will discuss healthy foods and learn skills for healthy food habits.
The Science of Superheroes and Super-villains
Dr. Maria Pacheco
Closed as of 21 July. If gamma rays can’t turn a 128 pound weakling into the Incredible Hulk, what can? Are Spiderman’s powers those really of a spider? What sort of damage could an insane super-genius like Lex Luthor do with chemical and biological weapons? Just how close are we to creating robotic appendages for our bodies? Explore the background of well-known superheroes and supervillains by asking questions that lead to discussions about the limits of science, the laws of nature and the future of technology.
Representations of Power
Susan Mary Paige
An exploration of representations of power while integrating the elements of critical thinking into the liberal arts. Students will use written media (City of Light; The Art of War; Up from Slavery; Civil Disobedience) as well as movies (V for Vendetta, The Producers, Braveheart, The Great Debaters) to discuss and write about these topics with a formal debate as a culminating activity.
Should I Join the Military?
William Raffel
The National Guard is offering up to $30,000 in signing bonuses in addition to the regular salary. Should you accept? How do the risks to your body and life, combined with the possible need to harm others, balance against the money and patriotic service to one’s country? If you refuse, who should accept and why? Should we return to a mandatory draft? For everyone or men only? This section of BSC 101 will empower you to form your own conclusions about a number of issues concerning military service, since your taxes help pay for it.
Einstein’s Big Idea: E = mc2
Ram C Rai
We will explore the impact of the Einstein’s most celebrated equation E = mc2 on science and society. It is natural to wonder how Einstein derived such a simple but powerful equation that indicates mass and energy are equivalent. We will also discuss the minds behind Einstein's great discovery.
How will you be remembered? Celebrating life and leaving a legacy
Susan Schroeder
Closed as of 21 July. A course description is not yet available.
Technology and You
Barbara Sherman
We will take a look at how technology is impacting our lives (as individuals, as students, as friends, as professionals) in a variety of contexts (home, school, work, government and society). Based on student suggestion and consensus, contemporary technology topics (such as privacy, security, communications, media, intellectual property, authentication, trust, identity theft, ethics, social networking, the digital divide, technology overload, pervasive technology, Internet addiction, information overload, technology across the curriculum, technology use in industry, et cetera ) will be fair game for critical analysis. We will also consider how technology has changed and continues to change the election process. Computer Information systems majors only as of 1 July
The Theater Space: From Ritual to Performance
Donn Youngstrom
The space we use for activities affects the activity itself. In particular, space informs theatrical productions and they return the compliment. We shall focus on theater architecture and performance spaces. We shall look at specific theater spaces like Shea’s, Alleyway, Irish Classical and TOY, Torn Space and others and attend performances on and off campus.
