All About the Bike, William Watts
This is the second semester of a two-semester sequence on cycling as a sport, as a means of transportation and as a source of recreations. In this semester, we will focus semester on fashion and safety in cycling, the health benefits off cycling, public policy and cycling, and cycling and the shape of the urban environment. Student in this section will cycle regularly, and they will go on group rides. Completion of this course will also satisfy the Indianapolis Community Requirement, for which students will be required to do 20 hours of work in the community.
The Art of Literature Now 2, Grant Vecera
We will study recently published essays and short stories from the Best American Series in order to better understand ourselves and the human condition at large. Such texts will function to some extent as models for the types of writing students will perform, but the texts will also function as artifacts with which we can hopefully make deep & complex philosophical, psychological, social, religious, historical, political, & aesthetic inquiries intrinsic to the liberal arts tradition. Because the texts will be almost exclusively American, cultural criticism will pervade our intellectual investigations, and students will obtain many opportunities to reflect upon their roles and identities as members of various communities and as earthlings. Semester one is not prerequisite to semester two, but students who enroll in this topic in the fall are expected to enroll in this topic in the spring.
Call of the Wild, Angela Hofstetter
Drawings of horses, stags, and bulls on the caves of Lascaux illustrate that animals have captured the human imagination since the dawn of the Paleolithic era as food, workers, companions, and fellow warriors: our path to modernity tells the tales of a relationship paradoxically fraught with violence and love. The intensity of this primordial fascination erupted with new vehemence in nineteenth-century America, England, and France as discussions of transmutation (what became evolution) destabilized the already fragile line distinguishing man and beast. This First Year Seminar adopts an interdisciplinary approach to how questions of animals and animality were developed across both generic and national boundaries: the burgeoning fields of anthropology, zoology, and sociology will be read alongside art and literature of the period. In addition to the controversial writings of Charles Darwin, Carol Adams, and Marc Bekoff, texts will include Edgar Allen Poe and others.
Change Agents, Leaders, Decision Makers, Laura Rodman
i In this class we will examine the role and characteristics of change agents and leaders on the individual, community and organizational level within a society. Modern day, historical, fictional and personal perspectives will be explored, examined and compared. We will consider the dilemmas involved in ethical decision-making and examine the choices change agents and leaders make. The student will have the opportunity to reflect on their own decision-making process and their roles as change agents and leaders.
Classic Rome & Ancient Greece (Honors), Royce Flood
Many elements of Western culture were born in Classical Greece and ancient Rome. In this course we will study these two civilizations, learning about their historical development, the everyday lives of their citizens, their religions, arts and technical achievement, and exploring our debt to them. Students will engage in extensive reading of literature and will complete significant writing assignments.
Contemporary Writers , Susan Neville
A course focusing on the works of contemporary writers. Texts for the course will be chosen primarily from the works of writers who will be coming to campus during the year as part of the Visiting Writers Series, the James J. Woods Science Writers Series, and other events and series that bring writers to Butler. In the course of reading and discussing the works of contemporary writers, students will cultivate the skills necessary for critical thinking, oral communication, and effective writing. The course will also serve as an introduction to the vitality of the liberal arts. Class will involve discussion, student presentations, and writing strategies.
Darwin’s Daydreams: Bioethical Dilemmas & Medical Oddities, Barbara Campbell
This is a two-semester course. Students who enroll in this topic in the fall are expected to enroll in this topic in the spring. Semester one is a prerequisite for semester two. The popularity of written and visual texts such as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Mystery Diagnosis, and Gunther von Hagens’ controversial “Body Worlds” exhibitions, all speak to our contemporary fascination with the human body. This course will explore depictions of health, illness, and disability through literature, nonfiction, and film with a particular focus on those perceived or classed as different. We will consider the relationships between science and art, medical professionals and patients, and the body and mind.
Elementary, My Dear Watson , Johnston and Holmes
How do people think, and are there ways to do so correctly vs. incorrectly? This course answers such questions, focusing on deductive reasoning as an interesting study in its own right. (Hence an introduction to logic will begin and form the heart of the course.) The course also defines and describes inductive reasoning, and then looks at characters in literature, drama, and film who illustrate the deductive and inductive methods. Sherlock Holmes is one such character, and students will analyze, using the methods introduced, his statements that lead to conclusions in books, movies, and TV shows about him.
Endangered Languages , Michael Heinz
It is estimated that 60% to 90% of the world’s languages are endangered. In this one-semester seminar we will focus on the phenomenon of language extinction in order to explore questions directly related to self, community and world: What is language? What factors cause languages to change? Is the ongoing loss of linguistic diversity significantly linked to the worldwide reduction in biodiversity? A major component of the seminar will be active discussion of weekly readings. Students will develop their writing skills through weekly assignments. There will also be in-class presentations of research projects.
Faith, Doubt and Reason , James McGrath
This is a two-semester course. Students who enroll in this topic in the fall are expected to enroll in this topic in the spring. Semester one is a prerequisite for semester two. Faith Doubt and Reason. Reading and discussion of classic philosophical religious and literary texts exploring the ways in which human beings have reflected on their relationship to God; the world and their fellow human beings. In the first semester (‘The Search for God’), we will focus on how human beings have sought to know and understand God and the world and on how that search has shaped the way humans define themselves. In the second semester (‘The Search for Community’), we will focus on how human beings have sought to define themselves in terms of the various communities to which they belong, including families and clans, ethnic communities, nations and faith communities. The interaction and interconnections of faith, doubt and reason will receive attention in both semesters.
Faith, Doubt and Reason Faith, Doubt and Reason 2, Brent Hege
In the second semester of this year-long course, we read and discuss philosophical, religious and literary texts, exploring how human beings define themselves in terms of the various communities to which they belong. We examine different explanations of injustice and prescriptions for creating a more just world.
Faith, Doubt, & Reason 2 (Honors), Paul Valliere
In the second semester of this year-long course, we read and discuss philosophical, religious and literary texts, exploring how human beings define themselves in terms of the various communities to which they belong. We examine different explanations of injustice and prescriptions for creating a more just world.
Gender and the Law, Hilary Buttrick
This course will explore the relationship between gender and the law. Course topics include the suffrage movement, reproductive rights, and workplace equality. Through the study of case law, essays, films, and short stories, we will explore changing gender roles and discuss the way the law reacts to those changes. Students will learn to critically read, analyze and discuss important court decisions that show how our legal system deals with gender-related issues.
The Heroic Temper 2 , Rebecca Ries
The Roman comic playwright Plautus once remarked, “I want to follow up on this, whether we are our own selves or somebody else’s, lest one of our neighbors changed us when we weren’t looking.” A poetic genre is always in flux, as poets attempt to carve out a space for their own ideas. Roman poets, such as Vergil and Ovid, looked to previous masters of epic poetry, and found within those models room for their own projects. In this course, we will be interested in how these poets explored the untapped potentials of epic poetry. How do poets of different generations find creative potential in an age old model such as Homer? Why do we continue to turn to these poems? How do we tap into the past to understand our own world? As in the first semester of this sequence, we will be exploring our thinking through writing and discussions.
Heroic Temper: Roman Reimagin ed (Honors), Chris Bungard and Becky Ries
The Roman comic playwright Plautus once remarked, “I want to follow up on this, whether we are our own selves or somebody else’s, lest one of our neighbors changed us when we weren’t looking.” A poetic genre is always in flux, as poets attempt to carve out a space for their own ideas. Roman poets, such as Vergil and Ovid, looked to previous masters of epic poetry, and found within those models room for their own projects. In this course, we will be interested in how these poets explored the untapped potentials of epic poetry. How do poets of different generations find creative potential in an age old model such as Homer? Why do we continue to turn to these poems? How do we tap into the past to understand our own world? As in the first semester of this sequence, we will be exploring our thinking through writing and discussions.
History of the World in 8 Questions, John Cornell
Identity and Culture II Identity and Culture: Coming of Age in a Changing World, Deborah Corpus
What tells us who we are? How does one develop an image of self? Students will use the lenses of literature, psychological theory, art, and history to examine depictions of “coming of age” across cultures and time periods. Aristotle wrote, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Through this seminar, students will use “art” in its broadest sense to explore the significance of “coming of age.” Semester I: Coming of Age in America. Semester II: Coming of Age in Other Cultures and Other Times. Semester one is not a prerequisite for semester two.
Imaginative Sojourns 2 , Alessandra Lynch
A topic will be explored allowing students to reflect on “big questions” about themselves, their community and their world. Students will develop the capacity to read and think critically, to write clear and persuasive expository and argumentative essays. Students will understand the liberal arts as a vital and evolving tradition, to develop capacities for careful and open reflection on questions of values and norms and to develop the ability to carry out research for the purpose of inquiry and to support claims.
La Musica!: Classical Music in the 21st Century, Lisa Brooks
Students will consider the relevance of classical music to 21st century American life. We will study classical music as a “product” and ourselves as “consumers”. Finally, we will focus on the music of a particular society-Nazi Germany-to examine even broader implications of music, including propaganda and censorship. Semester one is not a prerequisite to semester two.
Looking for Shangri-La 2, Jim Keating
Semester one is not prerequisite to semester two. Students who enroll in this section in the fall are expected to enroll in this section in the spring. Looking for Shangri-La. This year-long seminar will explore the works of several important writers in their search for their Shangri-La–the perfect personal expression in the fictions they create. Shangri-La is, of course, elusive for all of them, and our work will be to examine where their searches have taken them and the legacies they have left behind, found in their novels, plays, prose, and poetry. The writers for our study will likely include William Shakespeare, Mary Shelley, Joseph Conrad, and Graham Greene, among others.
Metamorphosis, Mary Jo Wright
In this course, we’ll use the frameworks of literature, performing arts, liberal arts, and technology to enter into conversation around the central topic of metamorphosis and its stages and how this process applies to our community, our world, and us. We will study a variety of novels, such as The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, graphic novels, media clips, videos and other resources as we explore our topic. We may even dissect a grasshopper or two! This course is designed to help you develop the skills necessary for critical reading and thinking, oral communication, and writing. In accordance with the liberal arts curriculum at Butler University, this seminar will encourage you to ask the most significant of questions: who you are, what
Philosophy of Love &Friendship , Tiberiu Popa
This course is meant chiefly as an introduction to the philosophy of love and friendship. It is not a philosophy course strictly speaking, though, and we will tackle plenty of literary and sacred texts – among other things – that are relevant to our topic and that encourage reflection on the nature of love and friendship. Our survey of some of the most influential views on the subject will be decidedly interdisciplinary, and we will consider carefully the connections between love and topics as diverse as morality, personal identity and mysticism. During the second half of this course (i.e. in the spring of 2013) we will also explore a range of types of love and attachment that are not (or not only) interpersonal: patriotism, adherence to certain ideologies, consumerism etc.
Philosophy, Psychology &Person: Is Star Trek’s Commander Data a person?
Virgil Whitmyer
What about Hal, the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey? In this course we will think about just what it means to be a person. We will examine what philosophers have historically thought makes us persons. Using various media (including books, films, and lab work) we will also consider how this question has been transformed by more recent advances in psychology, robotics, and other cognitive sciences. An important question will be whether human beings are the only persons, or whether other things like non-human animals and robots might qualify. Finally we’ll explore the relation of these questions about personhood to other things we care about — like rationality, autonomy, responsibility and free will.
Rebels with a Cause , Christine Smith
This First Year Seminar will analyze challenges to authority, with attention to the way those challenges are reflected in fiction and non-fiction. Larger questions such as – what constitutes a rebellion? why and how do we rebel? what role does the rebel serve in society? – these will become topics for discussion and writing integrated with the texts used. In the course of reading and discussing these works of literature, students will cultivate the skills necessary for critical thinking, oral communication, and effective writing. The course will also serve as an introduction to the vitality of the liberal arts. As a seminar the class will be structured around student discussion as well as student presentations, in class writing and writing workshops. The second semester will consider the American Civil War, called at its outset the War of the Rebellion, will emphasize the common soldier and his family, and will require a genealogy project. Semester one is not prerequisite to semester two.
Re-enchantment:The Grimm Truth , James Hanna and Mindy Dunn
This is a two-semester course. Students who enroll in this topic in the fall are expected to enroll in this topic in the spring. Semester one is a prerequisite for semester two. Once upon a time, in lands all over the world, fairy tales were passed on through generations, carried over continents by the voices of storytellers. This semester we will be re-learning how to read fairy tales, working to uncover the layers of meaning hidden to us by our modern eyes too readily satisfied by the obvious morals of Disney movies; will ask why fairy tales are important, why their shelf lives are so long; will investigate how the tales themselves have shape-shifted from the oral into text and media and how this affects their worth; all while asking ourselves “what is a fairy tale”? Our second semester will take a giant leap from the fantasy of fairy tale into the genres of “reality”: creative non-fiction and memoir. This course is the first-semester offering of the year-long First-Year Seminar.
Revisiting the Cabin II (Honors), Jason Lantzer During the first portion of Revisiting the Cabin, the focus was on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic Uncle Tom’s Cabin, looking not only at the book itself but also the historical events that shaped it and its author. In this second portion, the focus will shift to accounts written by actual slaves who actually gained their freedom in ways that Stowe recounted in fictional terms. The purpose is not only to study and contextualize this genre of historic literature, but also to see how well Stowe did (or not) in capturing what was really occurring in her book.
Rock & Roll High School , Robert Stapleton
This is a two-semester course. Students who enroll in this topic in the fall are expected to enroll in this topic in the spring. Semester one is a prerequisite for semester two. Like rock and roll itself, this class will be a hybrid, an extended jam of threads and themes as we map the ideological geography of youth culture through literature, music, film, and art. This is not a history of rock and roll class, but rather an ongoing inquiry into the collective expressions of rebellion, coming-of-age, and generational battles. Semester one will examine the rise of youth culture through 1975.
Roots and Regions: Cultural Regionalism, Bruce Bigelow
Students will read and write about fiction and nonfiction that reflect the cultural regions of the United States. In the fall we will examine literature from the Midwest, the South, and the Northeast. In the spring semester we will shift our focus to Southern California, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest. Two questions we will consider are, do we find regionalism an important influence on our identities and where is home or homeland for us, and why? Semester one is not a prerequisite to semester two.
Scary Stories II – Monsters on the Campus, Rocky Colavito
We’ll continue the investigation of scary stories with this course, which will concern itself with the use of monsters and the monstrous within the literary canon. Students will read widely in both literary and scholarly works that examine monsters as characters, adversaries, symbols, and thematic embodiments. In so doing, students will develop their own definitions and conceptions of monsters and their literary, social, and cultural functions.
Science and Sustainability , Nathan Tice
Recently, the concept of “sustainability” and “going Green” have pervaded our society, media, and culture. However, this terminology runs the risk of just becoming “buzz words” with either ambiguous meanings or very little content to support its claims. Being Green ends up to be little more than a ploy used to sell products or boost public image. Using scientific principles to critically analyze the facts behind these sorts of sustainability claims, including energy efficiency, reducing carbon footprint, limiting waste or toxic byproducts, is essential to understanding the myths and realities that accompany the sustainability movement. This course will cover various sustainability topics relevant in a 21st Century society and seek to critically analyze them through the lens of science, including chemistry, biology, and agricultural and ecological studies.
The Significance of Place, Jeff Frawley
In this class, we will analyze how the components of a place–its landscape, architecture, cultural geography and population–in turn reflect back upon and influence the people who live within this place. It is important to keep in mind that by “place” we might mean a space either physical or metaphorical in nature, as large as a country or as small as a single room. For this class, we will be looking at places as rhetorical or argumentative texts–that is, we will learn to “read” places for clues in order to better understand what these places claim about the people who inhabit them. Through analyzing various mediums, including literature, film, advertisements and travel writing, and also through dissecting the physical features of real places, we will answer several important questions: Is a person necessarily shaped by the places in which she or he lives? What does it mean to be from a place? How can we capture the spirit and essence of unique places through writing and film?
The Sound and the Funny, Bryan Furuness
Comedy can be serious stuff, as rich and dark and heartbreaking a path toward meaning as anything more sober. When it’s done right, the ridiculous is the sublime. In this course, we’ll look at a range of books and movies and stand-up performances, including works by Diogenes, Nathanael West, Richard Pryor, and Lorrie Moore. We’ll talk about how humor can be a way to get at the truth of such grim stuff as war and grief, how it can be a weapon for the marginalized, and how that weapon can disarm not only others, but also yourself. This course is the first semester offering of the year-long Literary Studies First-Year Seminar. Semester one is not prerequisite to semester two. Students who enroll in this topic in the fall are expected to enroll in this topic in the spring.
Spellbound: Quest for Magic II Spellbound: The Quest for Magic in Speculative Fiction and the Arts., Stephan Laurent-Faesi
Throughout the ages, the fascination with the otherworldly, the supernatural, the magical element has been a great source of inspiration for writers, choreographers, musicians, and other artists. From the tales of 1001 Nights to A Mid-summer Night’s Dream, from The Lord of the Rings to contemporary fantasy literature, magic is ever-present, sometimes for the good, now and again in the purpose of evil. Similarly, the art of dance abounds with tales of the fantastic; musicians have given a voice to many a fairy tale; and artists have painted or sculpted countless mythological figures. This course will explore the many faces of this quest for magic in an inter-disciplinary way, with selected readings from the genre of fantasy literature, viewings of masterworks of ballet and modern dance, and musical examples from great symphonic and operatic works. Note: Semester one is prerequisite to semester two.
Sympathy for the Devil , Natalie Carter
In this seminar, we will eschew reductive simplifications of good/evil, right/wrong, and moral/immoral in order to delve into what makes a truly “great” villain. What is that elusive quality that makes an often-very-devious antagonist more “likeable” than an often-very-righteous protagonist? Why is it so discerningly easy for some villains to win the reader/viewer/public over to their point of view? Although the primary focus of this seminar is literary, we will utilize a variety of mediums-both fiction and non-fiction-to examine these questions in-depth.
Transylvania: Legend, Fiction, Adriana Varga
Transylvania has captured the dark side of the Western imagination with its harrowing legends, fiction, and history. In reality, this is one of the most richly multi-ethnic and multi-culturally diverse regions of East-Central Europe. In this course, we will explore its history, myths, folklore as well as its musical and architectural treasures. We will read celebrated authors who wrote about or in Transylvania, such János Arany, Bram Stoker, Liviu Rebreanu, and Herta Müller. We will also watch films like Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1931), and True Blood (2008), trying to better understand how Western culture uses “Transylvania” to reflect upon itself.
Travelers & Tourists 2
Robin Turner
This is a two-semester course. Students who enroll in this topic in the fall are expected to enroll in this topic in the spring. Semester one is a prerequisite for semester two. Studying travel and tourism allows us to look deeply at ourselves, our communities, and the world. When we leave home for a day, for a few weeks, or for many months, we have the opportunity to engage with the unfamiliar, to engage directly with difference, and to develop new perspectives. But travel and tourism are not innocent. Tourism involves privilege-the ability to choose to go somewhere else-and tourism affects “natives”-those people who live in the places to which we travel-as well as travelers. Travel brings people into what Mary Louise Pratt calls the “contact zone,” a space in which people with different histories, experiences, and unequal power and privilege encounter and affect one another. In this two semester seminar, we will examine travel and tourism from multiple perspectives.
Voyages to Terra Incognita, Dannen, Brockmann
When European colonial powers arrived in the “New World” they found complex societies full of riches – in resources, peoples, and cultures. From present-day Arizona, California, Texas, and southward, the Spanish and Portuguese – later the French, British, and Dutch – imposed colonial governments, resettled populations, exploited minerals, and cultivated agricultural resources, and they also transformed the cultural organization of the peoples inhabiting this region. Geographic and temporal voyages will allow this class to examine some of the impacts of this “encounter” – impacts that still reverberate in the present day Americas and the world. Students will consider how new world “others” have been conceptualized since the colonial encounter, and also examine how we view Latino “others” and ourselves.
Wilderness: Act of Creation, Meredith McAllister
At the end of this course, you will have an understanding of the environmental movement and how it emerged from our American perspective of “wilderness”. This will include the philosophical, historical, and legal background of wilderness and the environmental movement. Both ecological and sociological approaches to environmental and conservation problems/solutions, current issues, and current research related to these concepts will be explored.
Writing on Drugs II, Michael Vance
Drugs, both licit and illicit, are ubiquitous in our everyday lives, whether through personal consumption, consumption by others, or through informational, advertising, and entertainment media. Given this ubiquity it is no surprise that various forms of writing “on” drugs, drug use and abuse, and drug culture arise and engage/enrich our consciousness about drugs. This course investigates the various types of literary writing concerning drugs, the scholarship that arises concerning this subject, and the various issues with drugs (rehabilitation, addiction, public policy) within the framework of literature.
World Beats:Word, Image, Sound, Adriana Varga
Are literature and the arts very different media or can they intersect and influence each other? How do literary texts, music, and art cross cultural and temporal borders? In this course, we will explore relationships between world literature and the arts: fiction, poetry, music, painting, drama, dance, and film. We will read works by authors such as Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Toni Morrison, Chris Abani, Michel Houellebecq; hear music by Rameau, Stravinsky, Bartók, Cage, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker; explore paintings by artists as diverse as Van Eyck, Vermeer, and Frantisek Kupka.
The World of J.R.R.Tolkien , Jon Porter
J. R. R. Tolkien is best known for his novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, works popular since they were first published, even more so now thanks to Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaptation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. But Tolkien was more than just a fantasy writer; he was a ground-breaking medieval scholar who loved his work so much that he created fictional works rooted in the language and traditions of the Anglo-Saxon, Norse, Gothic, and Celtic cultures that he studied. In this seminar, Tolkien’s works and Jackson’s films will serve as vehicles for engaging a study of the medieval past and its cultures, while also comparing the novelist’s intentions with those of the film-maker.