The aim of this course
is no less than to stretch the individual and institutional boundaries
of
our knowledge. As a humanist scholar, I hope that
all of us who are humanists can learn to
appreciate science as a vital and exciting endeavor,
an act of creative imagination--a cultural value
humanists are often quick to claim for themselves alone.
And I hope that the scientists in the course
learn that the knowledge they seek is not just "there"
to be found but is culturally invested, and so
involves all the hopes and dreams and values of our culture--not
just peripherally or as a contaminant, but integrally and as a necessary
part of science.
Insofar as we represent
our respective disciplines, this inter-disciplinary course can act to
stretch the boundaries of our fields: we may return to
our respective institutional homes with an
enhanced understanding of the motivations and fears of
our cultural "other," and of this powerful
shared enterprise, science.
Required Books:
Bertolt Brecht, Galileo
James D. Watson,
The
Double Helix (Norton edition)
Stephen Hawking,
A
Brief History of Time
Connie Barlow, ed.,
From
Gaia to Selfish Genes
Aldous Huxley, Brave
New World
Stephanie Strickland,
True
North
Steve Martin, Picasso
at the Lapin Agile
--plus additional short readings as provided.
Course Requirements:
This course is a
seminar. Although I will from time to time present some material
through
lecture, usually we will meet together to think through
the material before us. Since we are a small
group this year, this will demand the active participation
of each and every one of us. Attendance is
mandatory; more than three absences will affect your
final grade, more than six will require me to
send Frankenstein's monster
after you.
note: All VAST courses include a "fourth hour" every week, which instructors may use at their discretion. We will use this fourth hour for our movie showings, as well as a play and a special exhibit. The movies and play will be in the evenings, times to be arranged. Please not that these events are a requirement of the course; if you cannot attend, you must make alternate arrangements and notify me.
Prior to every class
meeting for which there is a reading assignment, you are required to post
an entry onto the Conference Board associated with this
Home Page. Deadline for posting is one hour beforeclass.
Posting
is not required on days when paper drafts are due. Only students enrolled
in this course are allowed to read and post to this
conference board, which you should use to address issues raised in class,
ask questions of me or of each other, and speculate on the questions that
I have posted regarding the day's assigned readings.
I will often use your comments as starting points for class discussions--our
goal is for each person to come with something to say. I will keep copies
of postings, to which I will refer when I assign the final grade for the
course; Conference Board participation will count for 15% of your final
grade.
Papers: there will be four
papers for this course, one tied to a panel presentation. Each paper
will be
developed through several drafts. On editing days,
bring THREE copies of your paper to class. All
work done out of class and given to me or to others to
read must be typed, double-spaced, with
standard margins and numbered pages, and all citations
must be up to scholarly standards.
Our W.A.'s this
semester are Mark Cosslett and Heather Bastian. You are required
to meet with your W.A. four times during the course of the semester, although
of course he or she can be available to help you at other times as well--as
will I. Just give us a call--
Tentative Schedule of Classes:
I. Introduction: The "Two Cultures": Literature as a way of knowing Science
M Jan. 22 Introduction: what are our assumptions
and stereotypes?
Assn for Wed: pick one or two of Birkerts' questions, and write out your
response in a page or two (typed
or handwritten); bring to class.
W Jan. 24 Science in popular culture today
Assn for Fri: Read "The Knife"; begin your Conference Board postings.
---> movie, "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" time and place TBA<---
F Jan. 26 Discussion: science, monsters, tools,
and hope
Assn: Read "The Creative Process", then look over the two handouts; in
your conference
board posting, analyze the similarities and differences between the two.
* * *
M Jan. 29 Defining Science
Assn: Read Snow, "The Two Cultures"; Lewis, "Science and Humanities," Scudder,
"How Agassiz Taught ...";
post to conference board.
W Jan. 31 "The Two Cultures"; Assignment for
Paper #1
Assn: Read Galileo, scenes 1-8 (pp. 47-97). Don't forget to post!
F Feb. 2 Galileo I: Galileo as science
teacher
Assn: Finish Galileo, scenes 9-14 (pp. 98-129). Post to board.
* * *
M Feb. 5 Galileo II: "Eppur' si
muove."
Assn: Read "The Scientific Revolution." Post to board.
W Feb. 7 Galileo III: "New Philosophy
calls all in doubt": Revolution in Science
Assn: Draft for Paper #1
F Feb. 9 Draft for Paper #1 Due
Assn: Read "Metaphors We Live By" and "Reframing the Debate on Health Care
Reform by Replacing Our
Metaphors"; post!
* * *
II. Science as Literature: the language
of science
M Feb. 12 Metaphors We Live By
Assn: Read Case Study #1: Galileo [xerox]. In your conference posting,
1) note what surprises you most about
this text, and 2) tentatively identify passages which seem to you obviously
"rhetorical." What makes this text so
difficult to read?
W Feb. 14 Rhetoric in Science I: Galileo
Assn: Read Case Study #2: Darwin [xerox]. Again, in your conference posting,
discuss what you notice: what
surprises you, what sounds "rhetorical." Do you find Darwin more or less
difficult than Galileo?
F Feb. 16 Rhetoric in Science II:
Darwin
Assn: Read Case Study #3: Watson and Crick (in Double Helix 92-108, 237-41).
Finish Paper #1.
* * *
M Feb. 19 Rhetoric in Science III: Watson
and Crick
Paper #1 Final Due
Assn: First installment of Paper #2: popular science writing (*for details
see assignment handout)
W Feb. 21 The language of popular science: In-class
Analysis
Assn: Paper #2, second installment: public science writing.
F Feb. 23 The language of public science:
In-class Analysis
Assn: Paper #2, third installment: professional science.
* * *
M Feb. 26 The language of professional science:
In-class Analysis
Assn: put all three installments together in Paper 2, first draft
W Feb. 28 The languages of science, conc.
Assn: complete Paper #2, first draft.
—> special exhibit: Black Inventions, Farinon Center, Feb. 28-March 1 < ------
F March 2 Draft of Paper #2 Due: In-Class
Editing
Assn: Read James Watson, The Double Helix; post.
* * *
M March 5 The Double Helix I: pp. 1-82
Assn: finish Double Helix; please also read the xeroxed excerpt from Sayre
("Rosalind Franklin & DNA"), as well as Stent's "Introduction" (xi-xxiii);
Crick's short piece, "The Double Helix: A Personal View" (137-45), and
Klug's comment about Rosalind Franklin (153-57).
W March 7 The Double Helix II: pp. 83-133
Assn: Read A Brief History of Time (at least to pg. 63); post.
---> Movie, "A Brief History of Time" time and place TBA<---
F March 9 Brief History I
Assn: continue reading Brief History: pp. 64-117; post.
* * *
March 12-16 SPRING BREAK
* * *
M March 19 Brief History II
Assn: complete Brief History; post.
W March 21 Brief History III: is this science
or religion?
Paper #2 Final Due
Assn: Read "The Sexual Metaphor" and "Are We Programmed?"; post.
III. Metaphors in Science: from
Gaia to the Selfish Gene
F March 23 Programming and Other
Living Metaphors
Assn: Read From Gaia to Selfish Genes pp. 3-44 (Gaia); post.
* * *
M March 26 Science as Ideas: The Gaia Hypothesis
Assn: Look through the rest of G-SG; chose the topic that you will present
to the class as panel member.
W March 28 Gaia, Science, Metaphor and Religion:
Assignment for Paper #3
Assn: 1) Read G-SG ch. II, "Merged Beings" (47-83) for Monday;
2) Begin work on Paper #3 by preparing to present one of the remaining
"ideas" in G/SG.
F March 30 CLASS CANCELLED: Polanyi writing
due in my mailbox, P316, by 4:30 p.m.
* * *
M April 2 Panel #1: Merged Beings
Assn: Read G-SG ch. V, "Nature, Nurture, and Sociobiology" (147-91)
W April 4 Panel #2: Sociobiology, pro and con
Assn: Read G-SG ch. VI, "Selfish Genes" (195-232).
F April 6 Panel #3: Selfish Genes,
or, Genes 'R Us (aren't they?)
Assn: Read G-SG ch. VII: "Reflections" (235-48)
* * *
M April 9 Panel #4: Reflections
Assn: Finish draft of Paper #3.
W April 11 Draft of Paper #3 Due; in-class editing
Assn: begin reading Brave New World; post.
F April 13 Brave New World I
Assn: continue reading Brave New World; post.
* * *
M April 16 Brave New World II
Assn: more Brave New World; see the movie and post.
---> Movie, "Gattaca" time and place TBA<---
W April 18 Brave New World III
Assn: Finish Brave New World; post.
F April 20 Brave New World IV
Assn: Finish Paper #3
* * *
M April 23 Paper #3 Final Version Due
Assn: read Picasso at the Lapin Agile; post
IV. Epilogue: What story shall we
tell?
--> special showing! Picasso
at the Lapin Agile, Williams Ctr, Wed., April 26--time TBA <---
W April 25 Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Assn: first draft of Paper #4.
F April 27 First draft of Paper #4 Due; in-class
editing session
Assn: Read "Objectivity, Value Judgement, and Theory Choice"; post.
* * *
M April 30 Understanding Kuhn
Assn: Strickland, True North; post.
W May 2 The Future of Poetry: Stephanie
Strickland
Assn: True North; "Einstein's Dream"; last post!
F May 4 Poetry and Science: Two truths
or one?
Assn: finish Paper #4
*** Paper #4 Due on or before Thursday, May 10 in my mailbox ***