General Studies 197 F: Science, the Public, and Contemporary Culture: Understanding The Meaning of It All (SLN: 20364)
Tues 1:30-2:20pm (1 credit), PAR 106
Instructor:Lauren Archer,Communications
How can we understand The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist as a piece of rhetoric? This seminar will explore the various rhetorical features of this text by digging deep into the text to understand it on both a microscopic and macroscopic level. The Meaning of It All will be examined as an example of science communication, and compared to other formats of science communication such as news reports, science-based television shows, and science fiction films and literature. The course will also use Feynman's text to consider questions about the role of science in our own contemporary moment and how it intersects with politics, religion, art, and other realms of culture.
General Studies 197 G: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: Feynman on Learning and Discovery (SLN: 20365)
Wed 1:30-2:20pm (1 credit), MGH 242
Instructor:Ben Aaronson,College of Education
This seminar explores the activity of learning and its potential impact on the world through the thought of Richard Feynman. We will follow Feynman as he works on the top-secret Manhattan Project, sluggishly begins an academic career, and creates international incidents. Lessons about life and learning emerge as he attempts to tackle the most complex problems in the universe. We will find that Feynman's insights on learning, pulled from his eclectic life experiences, are relevant to any field of human endeavor.
General Studies 197 H: Science, Pseudoscience, Certainty: Discussions based on Richard Feynman's The Meaning of it All. (SLN: 20393)
Wed 12:30-1:20pm (1 credit), MGH 242
Instructor:Bruce Hevly, History
What counts as certain knowledge? Can we distinguish science from pseudoscience? Can science establish ethical systems? How do Feynman diagrams reflect postwar University education? This seminar will explore these and other fundamental questions through the work of Richard Feynman and the writings of other contemporary historians of science on indeterminacy in modern physics, physics as counter-culture, and science as a model for religion and political life The seminar concludes with a discussion of what questions the University might best address in today's world.
