Core Seminar Fall 2015 Sub-Theme Course Descriptions
The Idea of the Human
Cohort: Prof. Maksim Vak (003) Prof. Jessica Rosenberg (004)
Monday Noon-2:30
The Virtue and Vice of Disobedience
What does it mean to be human? Both sections of our cohort team will address the
question by thinking of humans as animals who must realize their humanity through
civic engagement. The importance of civic engagement will be examined through the
conditions for and effects of political action in civil disobedience. What are the
necessary conditions for free actions? What is the difference between real political
actions and conformist political actions? Is violence the best response to violence?
Case studies of civil disobedience will range from the obviously political, such as the
deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray, to the cultural, such as
evaluations of sneaker culture, hip-hop, and humor.
Cohort: Prof. Carole Maccotta (005) & Prof. William Burgos (006) –
Monday 2:00-4:30
Imagining Community: Dance, Art, and Language.
We are born within specific communities (Black. Latino, Muslim, etc), which often
belong to a larger “whole” (the United States, Europe, Russia, China, etc). The artistic
productions of these communities, however, often reflect values that differ from and
even conflict with those of the dominant culture.
In this section, we will focus on how minority groups represent themselves to the
majority group via dance, arts and language. And we will ask ourselves, to what extent
are these representations of real or imagined differences?
Cohort: Prof. Rory Moore (007) & Prof. Corinne Reilly (008)- Monday 5:00-7:30
With some variation, the word idea features as a type of ideal, aspirational yet
irreplicable, in philosophical thought. An idea is a concept, given meaning through
discovery, through imagination, through naming. The idea that we are human bears
investigation, and in this writing intensive interdisciplinary seminar we will do precisely
that. Specifically, we will explore our humanity by imagining our worlds—those that
exist, those that may exist, and those that have never existed. We will question how
these worlds develop and why, and what role we play in creating, maintaining, and even
changing them as we aspire to an understanding of the idea of the human.
Cohort: Prof. Joseph Kaminski (012) & Prof. Sara Campbell (011) –
Tuesday Noon-2:30
Prof. Joseph Kaminski
“This section of Core Seminar follows the thread of people's expressions from their
cultures' unique heritages and immigrations to civil reflections of people sharing the
same rights. The course begins with neighborhoods of cultures seen in architecture,
sounds, foods, music, rituals, and events, threading though decades of discrimination
and unequal treatments of immigrant peoples. The course concludes with the
examination of people’s civic engagement with government and media through
protesting for shared rights.”
Prof. Sara Campbell
In this section of Core Seminar we will look at the human reaction to authority: when do
we obey and when do we disobey? We’ll inquire into the place of resistance in the arts,
in science and in politics. We will question when political resistance is morally justified,
and even obligatory; what music tells us about rebellion; and how science advances in
large part through skepticism and dissent. If you like to act out or act up, this course is
designed for you.
Cohort: Prof. Radh Achuthan (013) and Prof. Van Baird (014)
Tuesday-Thursday, 1:30-2:45
THINK GLOBALLY / ACT LOCALLY, (TG /AL) :
Both sections will evaluate selected problems from a global viewpoint and then
conceptualize local solutions that would have an impact on the global problem. For
example, Thinking Globally; fossil fuels are non-renewable resources being consumed as
though that energy resource is an inexhaustible entitlement to serve the needs of the
developed world. If that is not the case, alternate renewable energy sources like solar
must be brought into operation. Acting Locally; would photovoltaic solar installation on
LIU buildings reduce energy dependency on fossil fuels? Lead to engaging the debate for
tension and violence in other parts of the world in seeking to secure these resources?
Reduce the overall monthly LIU electricity bill, leading to savings in the energy budget at
LIU? In TG/Al , we will generate and examine other similar themes at the Flatbush Ave
Extension.
Cohort: Prof. Tejan Waszak (020) and Prof. Yusuf Juwayeyi (021) –
Saturday 9:30-Noon
This semester we will focus on the sub-themes of “socialization” and “the other”.
Some questions that both class sections will consider: What does it mean to be
human? What makes one human different than another human? Who is “the
other”? What makes a human different than a non-human? What are our needs? Are
our needs different than the needs of others? We will explore different perspectives
outside of what we might be used to, open our minds to new experiences and
examine our place in the global community.
Description TBA: Monday-Wednesday 1:00-2:15 Elizabeth Dalton (009) and Robert
Baker (010)
Description TBA: Wednesday 9:30-Noon Barbara Parisi (015) and Eric Lehman
(016)
Description TBA: Thursday 3:00-5:30 Linda Zelski (017), Pamela Sneed (018) and
Yani Perez (019)
Description TBA: Prof. Morgan Schulz (001) Prof. Michael Pelias (002) Prof.