Undergraduate Courses

Some additional information about this semester's courses can be found at the Arts and Sciences course descriptions page.

Fall 2024 (Term 2251) 

HPS 0410 Einstein: Modern Science and Surprises (30695)
John Norton
TH 9:00-9:50
Do astronauts age more slowly? Can a finite universe have no edge? Is time travel possible? Can time have a beginning? Does the moon change because a mouse looks at it? Surprisingly, modern science answers yes to all these questions. This course provides simple-to-understand explanations of these and other related questions, their broader philosophical significance and their histories. The course is suitable for students with no science background but with an interest in the world of modern science.
 
HPS 0430 Galileo and the Creation of Modern Science (15544)
Paolo Palmieri
TH 9:30-10:45
The unique combination of history and philosophy offered in this course emphasizes education as a process of freedom.  Galileo Galilei was the decisive figure in the rise of modern science. In this course you will learn historical and philosophical skills that will enable you to understand how Galileo ushered in a new era in astronomy ; how he revolutionized the concept of science ; how he astounded the theologians, who eventually condemned him to life imprisonment. We will place Galileo in the broader intellectual, social, and religious context of early modern Europe. There are no prerequisites, no quizzes, no final exam.
 
HPS 0515 Magic, Medicine and Science (30706)
Sloane Wesloh
MW 9:30-10:45
No course description available.
 
HPS 0515 Magic, Medicine and Science (19349)
Paolo Palmieri
MW 9:30-10:45
The unique combination of history and philosophy offered in this course emphasizes feminism, diversity, and queer creativity. This course traces the history of the scientific revolution from feminist, sexual and ecological perspectives focusing on the philosophical and science-fiction works of Margaret Cavendish. You will read selections from her ground-breaking books such as the philosophical novel The blazing world and learn LGBTQIA+ perspectives regarding the scientific revolution, diversity, women, medicine, and magic. There are no prerequisites, no quizzes, no final exam.
 
HPS 0611 Principles of Scientific Reasoning (11283)
Kamyar Asasi Josheghani
W 6:00-8:30
No course description available.
 
HPS 0612 Mind and Medicine (30710)
Caitlin Mace
T 6:00-8:30
No course description available.
 
HPS 0612 Mind and Medicine (27902)
Laura Matthews
H 6:00-8:30
No course description available.
 
HPS 0612 Mind and Medicine (30707)
TBA
MW 3:00-4:15
No course description available.
 
HPS 0612 Mind and Medicine (30708)
TBA
TH 11:00-12:15
No course description available.
 
HPS 0612 Mind and Medicine (30709)
TBA
TH 1:00-2:15
No course description available.
 
HPS 0612 Mind and Medicine (25398)
Laura Matthews
TH 2:30-3:45
No course description available.
 
HPS 0612 Mind and Medicine (27905)
Laura Matthews
MW 4:30-5:45
No course description available.
 
HPS 0613 Morality and Medicine (11138)
Jonathan Fuller
MW 1:00-1:50
No course description available.
 
HPS 0613 Morality and Medicine (27218)
Dzintra Ullis
W 6:00-8:30
No course description available.
 
HPS 0613 Morality and Medicine (30167)
TBA
TH 9:30-10:45
No course description available.
 
HPS 0613 Morality and Medicine (20548)
TBA
M 6:00-8:30
No course description available.
 
HPS 0621 Problem Solving: How Science Works (28655)
Tanner Leighton
TH 1:00-2:15
No course description available.
 
HPS 1508 Classics in History of Science (30711)
Harrison Payne
H 6:00-8:30
The goal of this course will be to build a partial picture of natural philosophy (science) in the 16th-18th centuries (focusing on the 17th). We will do this by closely examining Rene Descartes’ scientific textbook The Principles of Philosophy. It will act like a lens through which we will peer into a myriad of interesting and historically important scientific explanations, while we try to understand how natural philosophers (the forerunners of modern-day scientists) thought and worked. We will look at topics like the first full theory of the structure of the earth the foundations of geology, a theory of the structure of the solar system called the vortex theory of planetary motions, an explanation of the nature of light, theories concerning the heart and blood circulation, and more. Hopefully, after the course is complete, we all will have a much more detailed understanding of how Descartes and his contemporaries thought and worked, and a picture of the natural philosophy in the 17th century. There will be no quizzes and tests.
 
HPS 1612 Philosophy of 20th Century Physics (30712)
Bixin Guo
T 6:00-8:30
No course description available.
 
HPS 1653 Intro to Philosophy of Science (29594)
Sandra Mitchell
MW 1:00-1:50
No course description available.
 
HPS 1670 Philosophy of Neuroscience (30713)
Mara McGuire
M 6:00-8:30
No course description available.
 
HPS 1682 Freedom and Determinism (30714)
Siddharth Krishnan
MW 4:30-5:45
No course description available.

3-27-24