Themes

What role do artists play in the face of oppression?
In this course, we will reflect on the creative responses to tyranny and explore various ways individuals and societies have expressed resistance to power through poems, music, short stories, visual art, articles, and political cartoons.

How reliable are human perceptions and memories?
In this course, you will question the different factors that affect our judgment and decision-making. You will do so critically examine your beliefs and understand where they come from.

What does a person call home? 
In this course, you will learn about how a person living abroad integrates into a new society and culture. You will also examine how this decision affects the individual and his family through learning about different experiences.

How does a person perceive beliefs and values through reading heroic tales?
In this course, you will look at folktales, myths, films, and textual explorations of the mythical, literary and historical and formulate concepts of the heroic and demonic.

How do films present different nationalities, ethnicities and identities? 
In this course, you will interpret and examine theoretical issues pertaining to identity through comparative readings of various films from different eras.

What is the relationship between education and success? 
In this course, you will contextualize your educational experiences through analyzing different ideas about learning. This course promotes motivation, creativity and discipline for your university career.

How does science affect what people buy?
In this course, you will learn the science behind advertising and consumerism through applying different persuasion techniques.

What makes you the person that you are?
In this course, you will explore yourself and your surroundings through different theoretical and practical approaches of the human consciousness and the “self” in sciences, psychology, philosophy, the arts, and religion.

What does it mean to be human?
In this course, you will reflect on the importance of identity in an age of globalization. You will also examine the different ethical issues facing humankind in a world full of societal dominance. 

Why do humans desire to establish a paradise on Earth?
In this course, you will understand the concepts behind why citizens attempt to create a perfect world. You will analyze different literature such as Plato’s Republic and Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games.

What impact have technological inventions had on human life?
In this course, you will reflect on the importance of the digital age--its effect on our communication, our knowledge and our relationships with other people and our environment.

What do people label as a “high” or “low” culture? 
In this course, you will explore the two cultural worlds and analyze their meanings through their differences. Students are also expected to challenge their views and examine the "grey" area in between the forms of "high" and "low" culture.

How can we save the natural world? 
In this course, you will consider current environmental challenges by looking at what makes us feel connected to the world around us. You will explore through the lenses of culture, art, science and spirituality.

What is friendship?

In this course, you will explore key issues around friendship from the perspective of philosophy, biology, literature, the social sciences, and popular culture, paying special attention to the way social media and social distance have complicated and are set to transform this key relationship.

What does the food we eat say about us? 

In this course, you will explore what we eat and investigate how it has evolved over time, what social meanings it holds, and how it is connected to larger global currents like colonialism and migration.