Humanities Center Seminar (HUMC 294)
In a world awash in information, what is special about a university education, especially an interdisciplinary education grounded in the liberal arts? The Story of Now is a one-unit tuition free course that brings together artists, scientists, humanities scholars, engineers, social scientists and other distinguished faculty across USD's curriculum to discuss the nature of information in the modern world.
In this summer class, faculty members introduce incoming first-year students to the different ways that academic disciplines help us develop critical intellectual skills so that we can make a sustained positive impact in the world. Taught remotely, this course will be highly participatory and introduce students to the interdisciplinary nature of a USD liberal arts education.
Week 1
The Differences Between Information and Knowledge
- Speakers
- Readings
- Laura Getz, PhD | Psychological Sciences
How Expectations Shape Perception, Cognition and Memory - Arietta Fleming-Davies, PhD | Biology
Data Literacy: A Citizen’s Guide to Graphs, Statistics, and How to Know When People are Lying to You - Kristin Moran, PhD | Communication Studies
TikTok, Truth and the Law - Susie Paulik Babka, PhD | Theology and Religious Studies
What is "Truth"? How are Truth and Perception Related?
Week 2
Why are We Confused About What is True?
- Speakers
- Readings
- Evan Crawford, PhD | Political Science and International Relations
How Partisan Identity Influences Conceptions of Truth - Jen Wenzel, PhD | Psychological Sciences
The Tentative Yet Reliable Nature of Scientific Knowledge - Kathy Marsh, PhD, RN | Nursing
What Should an Educated Citizen Know about Public Health Disparities? - Millicent Fullmer | Copley Library
Visual Discernment - Image Manipulation and Deepfakes
Week 3
Systems that Shape Our Lives and Perceptions
- Speakers
- Readings
- Melissa Rovner | Art, Architecture + Art History
Humanists for Spatial Justice: Critical Studies of the Built Environment and its Historical Representation - Amanda Makula | Copley Library
Profit, Power, and Privilege: The Business of Knowledge - Kailey Giordano, PhD | English
Women, Science and Human Control over Nature: The Work of Margaret Cavendish - Susannah Stern, PhD | Communication Studies
The Imperative of Critical Media Literacy in the 21st Century
Week 4
Understanding the Past Helps Us Understand the Present
- Speakers
- Readings
- Brittany Asaro, PhD | Languages, Cultures and Literatures
How to Really Gain Knowledge (and Other Lessons from Leonardo da Vinci) - Derrick Cartwright, PhD | Art, Architecture + Art History
Modeling Democracy: Black Panther Party Activism and Art - Kate DeConinck, PhD | Theology and Religious Studies
Memorialization and Memory - Holly Hamilton-Bleakley, PhD | Philosophy
What the Ancients Can Teach Us about Political Sustainability
Week 5
Using Interdisciplinary Knowledge to Make Change
- Speakers
- Readings
- Drew Talley, PhD | Environmental and Ocean Sciences
Educating Women and Girls for the Planet - Gillian Shaffer, MFA | Art, Architecture + Art History
Design for Climate Change - Frank Jacobitz, PhD | Mechanical Engineering
Design Thinking and Changemaking - Casey Dominguez, PhD | Political Science and International Relations
Knowledge for Democratic Citizenship