Spring 2011 Course Work

San Rafael California
Status? Full time Humanities and Cultural Studies student
Major? Philosophy
Why? The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living, and because I'm deep.
Where? Dominican University of California

Here are the courses I'm scheduled to take this coming spring. The current semester has been all about writing. The spring semester seems to be all about reading. Lots and lots of reading.

PHIL 1104 - Philosophy of Human Nature
Inquiry into the enduring questions of human nature including the meaning and purpose of human life, the questions of its spiritual origin and destiny, its capacities for good and evil, the scope and limits of its freedom, the nature of knowing, and the question of immortality, drawing upon a range of Western thought. Particular attention is given to the tension between classical religious and philosophical views and those stemming from modern human sciences such as psychology, sociology, and sociobiology.

This course is being taught by a PHD Fulbright Scholar 

RLGN 1076 - Western Religions
An exploration of one or more of the major religious traditions of the Western world–Judaism, Christianity, and Islam–in their historical and cultural contexts, examining how each conceives the nature of reality, the goals of human life, and the way to those goals. 



HIST 3306 - Ancient Sumer/Egypt
Explores the origins, history, and legacy of ancient Summer and Egypt upon the Western experience. Special attention will be placed on geography and river systems (Tigris-Euphrates, Nile) of the Fertile Crescent as well as how architecture, art, literature, and politics reflected a deep fascination with life's mysteries including man's perennial quest for meaning as exemplified by the epic of Gilgamesh and immortality as exemplified by the pyramids and Egypt's cult of the dead. Field trips will be an integral part of the class.  

Humanities Seminars: The Great Books Course

A university or college Great Books Program is a program inspired by the Great Books movement begun in the United States in the 1920s. The aim of such programs is a return to the Western Liberal Arts tradition in education, as a corrective to the extreme disciplinary specialisation common within the academy. The essential component of such programs is a high degree of engagement with whole primary texts, called the Great Books. The curricula of Great Books programs often follow a canon of texts considered more or less essential to a student's education, such as Plato's Republic, or Dante's Divine Comedy. Such programs often focus exclusively on Western culture. Their employment of primary texts dictates an interdisciplinary approach, as most of the Great Books do not fall neatly under the prerogative of a single contemporary academic discipline. Great Books programs often include designated discussion groups as well as lectures, and have small class sizes. In general students in such programs receive an abnormally high degree of attention from their professors, as part of the overall aim of fostering a community of learning. 

This course is being taught by Professor Harlan Stelmach, my academic advisor and all around scholar. His academic street cred is pretty substantial.

That is the plan for next semester. In my next blog installment, I plan on writing some thought about what is has been like to enter college as an adult. Obviously, the experience is much different than entering in one's teens.

Also, I've agreed to mentor a 21 year old Dominican undergrad who hails from Oakland California. He's been struggling with school and life. I met with him the other day and hope I can be of benefit to him.

Capt Chris