Fall 2026 Seminar Summaries

AI for Everyone?

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have already had numerous social, artistic, economic, and political implications. This seminar will help you understand what AI is, how it works, and where it’s used—without assuming deep prior experience. In class we will examine several popular AI programs to learn what they can do and what they cannot do. This seminar experience includes the use of AI.

Underneath the Covers: Songs and Their Stories

From ABBA to ZZ Top, and Afropop to Zydeco; audiences, performers, and songwriters have a rich and complicated history that reveals much about the human experience. By sampling selected works that have been “covered” by multiple artists, we will examine these connected and overlapping groups and then explore what they reveal about artistic expression, commercialism, history, identity, race, and social interaction, among many other concepts. We will consider the art of songwriting and composition, and the role that interpretation plays in changing a given work’s impact and communicative qualities. Together, let’s see what’s Underneath the Covers.

Does Chocolate Have a Dark Side?

Nearly everyone loves some kind of chocolate, but no one thinks enough about the origin of their chocolate to the supply chain to get it to the consumer. Chocolate’s versatility reaches back centuries, yet emerges routinely in our social lives, our environmental concerns, our health applications and our aesthetic experiences. This seminar uses chocolate to make connections across the natural and social sciences and the humanities and the arts. The seminar will challenge student assumptions about chocolate and allow them to develop critical thinking and writing skills.

Banned Books

According to Penn America’s “Index of School Book Bans,” over 1600 books were individually banned from schools and libraries between 2021-2022 alone! While we can’t capture the whole spectrum of these ongoing book controversies in this seminar, we will read a selection of books that have been “banned” recently for a variety of reasons and in a variety of places, in the greater context of important, groundbreaking books that have been variously “banned” over a much longer span of time.

Taking a Walk in a Painting: Velazquez’s Las Meninas

“A princess, a nun, a dwarf, a dog, and an artist walk into a room.” It could be the beginning of a joke, but these are only some of the strange characters in Diego Velázquez’s famous painting, Las Meninas (1656), considered by many to be the world’s greatest artwork. There is eternally something enigmatic about the painting: What mysterious codes are concealed in the painting’s complicated composition and mathematics? What desires are you possibly harboring, that a semester-long journey will reveal?

Healing Women

This seminar is a feminist, interdisciplinary exploration of modes of healing employed by women (and others) in different religious and cultural traditions and socio-historical contexts. We will focus on how specific cultural and religious traditions conceptualize gender, gender roles, bodies, health and illness. Some of the questions we will investigate are: Who has the knowledge, power and authority to heal? How does violence impact individual and communal health? What methods are used to heal trauma? How is individual healing connected to communal transformation? What role does story-telling play in healing and transformation? What are the connections between healing and activism?

All About Love

In this seminar we will examine the concept of love through multiple disciplinary perspectives, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, social justice, and feminist studies. Throughout the semester, we will collectively explore questions like: What is love? We use this word in many ways - we love a new pair of shoes, our dog, our family member, our romantic partners - but what does it mean? How is our view of love shaped by our culture? How are our ideas and expressions of love shaped by our identity and experiences? How can we use the concept of love for the betterment of society?

Why Do We Talk Like This?: Language, Identity and Meaning

How do we use language to express who we are, connect with others, and navigate the world around us? This seminar explores language as a powerful social, cultural, and cognitive tool. We will examine everyday communication including slang, dialects, bilingualism, texting, media, and storytelling, while learning how language shapes identity, belonging, and power. Through discussion, observation, and guided writing, we will analyze real-world language use and reflect on our own communication practices. The seminar supports key academic skills such as critical reading, research, and argumentation while helping us make connections across disciplines and our lived experiences.

“We can be heroes”: Heroes from the past to today

Everyone loves myths, especially those with a protagonist undertaking dangerous missions and gaining new insights into their identity. Whether in film, novels, or video games, heroes always fascinate. Traditional interpretations of why these myths appeal to us focus on the well-worn archetypes operating beneath the surface of our favorite tales, but the early monomyth “hero’s journey” approach fails to capture the rich diversity of hero myths found all over the world. This seminar introduces students to myths from many time periods and cultures conveyed in a variety of media. Students will reflect on what the attributes a given culture ascribes to its heroes tell us about that society’s values, identity, anxieties, and worldview.

Legends, Myths, and Folktales in East Asia

Everything has a story. Peoples, states, societies, cultures, traditions, identities, religions, and ideologies are all built on stories, and as these stories traverse the passage of time, they become legends, myths, and folktales. This seminar introduces the world of East Asia through the stories of old. Analyzing various sources such as oral traditions, foundational myths, heroic literature, religious epic tales, historical records, and more, students explore core principles and beliefs which form the basis of East Asian societies. By also examining modern representations of these stories which pervade daily life such as pop music, video games, webtoons, mangas, dramas, and movies, we uncover how these tales contributed to the shaping of East Asia and the world today.

Going to the Dogs

Humans and dogs began living together as a team thousands of years ago. As a matter of fact, more homes in the U.S. include dogs than human children! This interdisciplinary seminar ponders dogs and the dog-human relationship through various lenses and methods. We will explore the relationship between the two species, thinking about human cultural development as it intertwines with dogs, analyze the portrayal of dogs in popular media and literature, and examine the biology of dogs using comparative methods to teach us about human as well as dog physiology. Also, an introduction to community-based/service learning provides an avenue for understanding issues of human-dog interaction outside of the classroom. Dog interactions will be part of the seminar.

What We Keep: The Art, History, and Economics of Collecting

This seminar explores the art and practice of collecting, from everyday objects to priceless works of art. Why do people collect, and what do collections reveal about identity, memory, power, and desire? Through case studies ranging from museums to comics, pop culture, and digital collectibles, students examine the cultural history, aesthetics, and economics of collecting. The seminar combines discussion, readings, visual analysis, and hands-on projects to investigate how objects acquire meaning and value. Students will also reflect on their own collecting habits to better understand the human impulse to gather, preserve, and display.

Race and Racism Around the World

This seminar introduces students to college-level critical thinking, reading, and writing through looking at what “”race”” is from several perspectives: the historical development of the idea of race, scientific racism and the current science of human biological diversity; the contemporary forms of institutional racism and racism as a lived experience both in the US and around the world; and the movements for racial justice that have resurged recently. Students will be encouraged to bring a critical academic lens to both the world around them (eg. current events/news) and to their own everyday lives.

Playing to Learn

Play is a common activity in many species of animals and all human cultures. From the rat whisperer to Russian psychologists, we will learn about animal and human play research and the role of play in learning, development, and education. The seminar will explore philosophies and theories of schools with play-based programs, studying approaches to education such as Montessori, Waldorf, forest, democratic, and expeditionary schools as well as unschooling. Students will collaboratively plan and present a play/performance/theater-based science activity to children in a local elementary school.

Intelligence: Natural, Artificial, and Fake

What does it mean to be intelligent? What does it mean to think? What does it mean to know? These questions are essential to have a sophisticated understanding of what is perhaps the most debated technological advance of the last decade, namely Artificial Intelligence (AI). For all the real and imagined implications of AI, most of us remain largely oblivious to its theoretical underpinnings. In this seminar, we’ll go over questions such as: What is AI? Does it think? Does it know? Does it care about knowing? Can it care? What does it do to its users? Does it augment their intelligence? Does it offload cognitive skills? In the spirit of Padeia, to answer these questions we’ll draw upon a range of disciplines including philosophy, biology, psychology, linguistics, and more.

Wheels and Deals: A Survey of Television Game Shows

What is a game show? Who is Monty Hall? Would you like the final answers to these and many other questions? Then come on down as we explore the fascinating world of television game shows. We will begin by studying the history of game shows. Then, we will attempt to define the genre by asking questions such as, “Is The Voice a game show?” In addition, we will study optimal strategies of various game shows to determine the best way to win big bucks. Students will even get a chance to create their very own game shows.

Running for Your Life!

Humans depend on movement to maintain health, yet modern conveniences and societal structures often discourage physical activity. To bridge this gap, we must make intentional choices to stay active by integrating movement into our daily lives, rethinking our environments, and shifting cultural norms to align with our evolutionary needs. This seminar will explore the fundamental role of physical activity in human health, examining the biological, historical, and social factors that have shaped our reliance on movement. We will also investigate the growing “pandemic” of physical inactivity and discuss strategies to promote a more active lifestyle in today’s world.

Unlocking Well-Being: Ancient Paths to Happiness

We’re often told that happiness comes from searching within to find our “true self.” But over two thousand years ago, China’s greatest thinkers argued for something far more powerful. They believed that instead of searching for a “fixed” identity, we should focus on staying flexible, embracing the unpredictable, and building ourselves through small daily habits. Join us as we explore these ancient writings in translation and discover how “The Way” offers a timeless blueprint for well-being in our modern world.

Taylor Swift, Feminism, and our FYS Era

It’s me, hi! The Taylor Swift FYS that is definitely not the problem. In this seminar, we will use each era of Taylor Swift’s career as a case study for phenomena in contemporary feminist politics. From the use of fairy tale imagery in “Debut” to the expectations placed on female celebrities in “Life of a Showgirl” and every era in between, students will explore feminist themes through listening sessions of Taylor’s music, documentary viewings, a simulation unpacking Taylor’s work to reclaim her masters, and the creation of their own Eras Tour. Swifties, casual fans, and first time listeners welcome.

Fixing Broken Minds

The prevalence of mental illness increases with each generation. Its negative effects range from staggering economic costs to unparalleled emotional suffering and lost lives. Mental health professionals across a wide variety of disciplines devote their careers to battling mental illness through understanding and treatment. In this seminar we will explore this battle through open-minded inquiry via readings, discussion, and debate. We will contemplate the meaning of mental illness and grapple with the weight of a profession that holds lives in its hands.

Telenovela Economics: Love, Loss, and Growth in Latin America

Why are some Latin American countries rich and others poor? How do economic policies impact millions of lives across the region? This seminar explores the fundamental economic forces that have shaped Latin America, from Argentina’s puzzling decline to Chile’s market reforms, from Mexico’s trade relationships to Brazil’s growth challenges. Through real-world case studies and interactive data analysis, we will explore important concepts such as labor productivity, unemployment, inflation, income inequality, and institutional development. No economics background is required! By the end of the seminar, you will develop critical thinking, academic writing, and research skills while exploring one of the world’s most dynamic regions.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to you

You’re expected to offer it. You definitely notice when you don’t get it. But what actually is respect? Is the civic behavior encouraged in political debates related to the unwritten rules of emoji etiquette or to what Aretha famously sang about? Does chasing respect liberate our individuality or trap us in social hierarchies? Through lenses of philosophy, history, cultural analysis, and more, we’ll dissect this concept from multiple angles and explore it via academic research, creative projects, and informed discussions to find out what respect means…to you.

Envisioning Tomorrow’s Environments

This seminar explores creative solutions to contemporary environmental issues in global contexts. Based on a 2015 documentary that visits ten countries, the seminar promotes understanding ways people work together to improve society and considering how you, too, can imagine improved relationships to the environment. We will follow a path from awareness to reflection, including college-level skills-building, to gathering information on real-world initiatives that inform lives and shape communities. By analyzing how others rethink small-scale agriculture, energy models, urban planning, and local economies, students will personally and collectively develop their ability to become agents of change.

What is Race in America?

The concept of race has been studied and debated for centuries, specifically in the US. Recently there has been a reawakening of the masses where questions of human differences abound. Race and racism in particular, after the death of George Floyd in June 2020, have weighed heavily on the minds of Americans. In this seminar we will explore what race actually is and how it has manifested in the US historically, intellectually, and socially. How did we get to this point where society is so fragmented by conflicting racial ideology and politics of identity? If we can deconstruct racial difference, can we perhaps create national unity?

From Cave Paintings to Avatars: Self-Representation in the Age of Technology

We live in a hyper-self-focused age of constant reflection—it’s estimated that this generation will take 25,000+ selfies in a lifetime. While technology has accelerated new forms of self-examination, the drive to represent ourselves through art, science, and literature is timeless. This seminar will explore how autobiography, film, and traditional craft shape our sense of identity, and how technology influences how we document and shape who we are.

From Cancer to Forensics: How is DNA Changing Our World?

DNA is more than the blueprint of life. It shapes everyday life in ways you might not expect. In this seminar, students will explore how genetic information is used – and sometimes misused – in medicine, criminal investigations, and ancestry research through case studies, discussions, and real-world examples. Topics include how genes and the environment contribute to cancer risk, the limits of using DNA evidence in criminal investigations, and ethical questions surrounding genetic privacy and personal identity. Get ready to think critically and uncover the fascinating ways DNA is influencing your life and the world around you.