INST 3006 - Of Protons and Poetry: Creativity Across the Science/Humanities Divide

Hours: 3
Examining the sometimes fraught relationship between the sciences and the humanities. The history of the disciplines and the debate, tracing the journey to their current configuration. Exploring possibilities for a new, shared framework for the sciences and the humanities, examining the role that creative inquiry plays in both. Engaging with some classic articulations of this debate: C.P. Snow’s “The Two Cultures”; E.O. Wilson’s Consilence: The Unity of Knowledge; and Stephen Jay Gould’s The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister’s Pox. Applying the debate to a series of historical case studies and contemporary problems (for example: sustainability, a complex area of interest across multiple fields of study). Possible readings: Stephen Jay Gould, The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister’s Pox E.O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Ann Fisher-Wirth, Laura Gray-Street, and Robert Hass, The Ecopoetry Anthology Wendell Berry, Life is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition Alan Lightman, A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit C.P. Snow, “The Two Cultures.”
Prerequisites: Jr standing or above, and a minimum of one course from at least four of the following INST threads: 2000, 2200, 2400, 2600, and 2800. Not open to students with credit for any INST 3000-level course.

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INST 3006 - Of Protons and Poetry: Creativity Across the Science/Humanities Divide