First-Year Studies

FIYS 104: Pizza and the World: A History

Throughout time and across borders, humans have consumed food for nourishment, pleasure, prestige, and commensality, among a host of other reasons. Practices of growing, gathering, processing, cooking, transporting, and exchanging foods and food commodities have helped bind individuals and communities together even while serving to draw distinctions between groups, nation-states, empires, and even modern corporations. This course uses a specific food, pizza, to examine the global interactions, conflicts, migrations, economic integrations, and confluences of power, culture, technologies, and tastes that have connected and divided humans across the major cultural regions of the world. We cover the historical introduction and spread of new foods like grain, dairy, and tomatoes – the basic food ingredients of pizza – and the transformation of communities, cultures, technologies, and ecosystems that followed. Additionally, we gain hands-on experience working with these three ingredients in different physical settings.

---

FIYS 105: Music in Chicago

Chicago offers its residents a musical soundscape as rich and as varied as any city in America. The city has a long history of classical music performances through organizations such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Ravinia Festival. Jazz and the Blues evolved in Chicago and can be heard in clubs across the city. Chicago also offers a diverse collection of ethnic and world music festivals nearly every weekend of the year. In this course, we will explore Chicago's unique soundscape through three main areas: classical music, jazz and the blues, and world music. Our investigation will involve frequent field trips, some as a class and some in smaller groups. We will study the history of music in the city and will also cultivate active listening skills. This course requires participation in some evening and/or weekend field trips or events, so consider your other commitments (such as off-campus employment or a fall/winter sports participation) as you identify courses of interest to you. No prior musical skills are required.

---

FIYS 106: Medical Mysteries of the Mind

This course is for beginning students interested in exploring the human brain in a rigorous interdisciplinary way. If you are intensely interested in how your brain helps you think, feel, sense, read, write, eat, sleep, dream, learn and move, this course is for you. You will learn how brain dysfunction causes complex medical illnesses, like Alzheimer's, Autism, and Schizophrenia. You will meet Chicago's world-class neuroscientists through guest seminars and class-trips to famous laboratories. You will debate ethical dilemmas that face society and dissect human brains. Lastly, you will present at the Brain Awareness Week on campus. One year each of high school biology and chemistry is recommended.

---

FIYS 107: College Access and Completion

(Public Policy: College Access and Completion.) This course explores key issues surrounding the accessibility of college in the United States, including questions about college debt, college funding formulas, and the impact these policies have on the ability of students from various identity groups to afford and attend college. Furthermore, the course considers factors that impact students’ ability to complete their college degrees, as well as policies that might help close the "graduation gaps" that exist between different populations of students and increase college completion rates. Finally, the course works to quantify the economic "worth" of a college diploma in the United States and the implications that graduation gaps (racial, socioeconomic, etc.) have on societal outcomes.

---

FIYS 107: College Access and Completion

(Public Policy: College Access and Completion.) This course explores key issues surrounding the accessibility of college in the United States, including questions about college debt, college funding formulas, and the impact these policies have on the ability of students from various identity groups to afford and attend college. Furthermore, the course considers factors that impact students’ ability to complete their college degrees, as well as policies that might help close the "graduation gaps" that exist between different populations of students and increase college completion rates. Finally, the course works to quantify the economic "worth" of a college diploma in the United States and the implications that graduation gaps (racial, socioeconomic, etc.) have on societal outcomes.

---

FIYS 108: Critical Thinking Post-truth World

(Separating Fact from Fiction: Critical Thinking in a Post-truth World.) In this class the student investigates information, truth, and facts as cultural products shaped by social forces. The student cultivates critical thinking skills while investigating topics including propaganda, disinformation, statistical assertions, research and publication methodologies, rumor, gossip, myth, internet veracity, and folk belief.

---

FIYS 109: From Tie-Dye to AI

(From Tie-Dye to AI: Psychedelics, Cannabis, and the Quest for Enhanced Consciousness) This course explores the significant cultural, technological, and societal impact of cannabis and psychedelics from the 1960s to the present. By integrating historical contexts, contemporary issues, and future perspectives by linking these substances to Silicon Valley-based visions of Artificial Intelligence, the course provides students with a compelling understanding of the subject matter and the cultural history of its representational evolution. Students will examine this journey from countercultural resistance to mainstream acceptance, exploring key movements from the Merry Pranksters to modern machine intelligence. Special attention will be paid to how these substances have influenced creativity and innovation, shaped discussions around consciousness expansion, and contributed to current developments in AI and human potential.

---

FIYS 110: Examining Educational Opportunity

This course examines equity issues in public education in America today. We focus this semester on one major school reform issue: how schools can work to address inequality in educational outcomes among African American, LatinX, and White student populations. What facets of school structure, curriculum, school culture, or resources are related to this problem? We investigate urban educational environments, but also consider broader issues of segregation/integration and the distribution of resources in rural and suburban environments. The course considers the importance of racial identity formation, family relationships, cultural beliefs, and traditions in building perspectives on learning and the schooling process. Ultimately, the course tackles the questions: What do Americans believe about the quality of and problems in public education today? What are promising practices in reform to create public schools that give all students the opportunity to fulfill the American Dream?

---

FIYS 111: Dark Age Jesus

Roman law established the traditional orthodox (small ‘o’) view of Jesus Christ as a unique human individual who was believed to be (forever and always) both God and Man. One God, One Emperor, One Church was a prescription meant to shore up a fracturing empire’s political and social stability. Just as the Roman imperial version of Jesus buttressed Roman imperial needs, in the aftermath of that empire’s transformation into various successor states a multivalent Christ served the needs of early medieval rulers, missionaries, and clerics, among others. This course explores early medieval (c. 500-1000 CE) thought surrounding the figure of Jesus Christ. Students examine a variety of texts, art, and things from a period in which Jesus could appear as an abstracted compass on a map, a victorious warrior, a glowing pink sunset, or even a crying tree.

---

FIYS 112: Wild Chicago

(Wild Chicago: Exploring the Urban Jungle.) This course will offer students a clear understanding of the wildlife around us and how humans interact with their environment. The goal for the class is to help students think and write clearly and critically, form educated opinions and defend those opinions about a wide range of environmental issues in urban environments. Based on our own observations we will also learn how to ask educated questions about the relationships between humans and the environment. By visiting with a carefully selected group of environmental professionals and regularly observing and recording information on the environment in which we live, we will explore how wildlife interacts with humans on an everyday basis.

---

FIYS 113: Music and Math

In this course, students will investigate the connections between the fields of music and mathematics. Commonalities to be explored will include the musical concepts of rhythm, meter, scales, tuning, and temperament, and the mathematical concepts of geometric series, rational and irrational numbers, modular arithmetic, and symmetries of the square. No previous knowledge of music theory is required, only a desire to use critical and analytical skills to understand and appreciate music.

---

FIYS 114: Media Art & Technology

(From Now On: Media Art & Technology.) Digital media, technology and the arts have become potent forces creating changes in aesthetics, communication, social engagement, political movements, and economic conditions. From social media to Virtual Reality, the lines between reality and artifice blur. As these forces combine, reconfigure and create innovations, how will these changes impact our everyday experience? What we should expect in the world of work? Mass access to design software allows everyone to be a maker capable of creating shifts in cultural and social trends. How can one thrive in a such a dynamic world? Artists have played an important role as a counterpoint to mass-media by creating work that articulates important questions and examines such changes. Through discussions, readings, exercises and projects the course examines the impact of new fields in art and technology. This course will help students to identify, learn about, and potentially create tools to navigate a technologically dense future.

---

FIYS 115: Climate Change Across Disciplines

This course explores arguably the most pressing issue of our time: climate change. While we examine the fundamental physical science of global warming, the focus is on the social, cultural, political, economic, ethical, and psychological perspectives of climate change. Through this variety of disciplinary lenses, we critically examine the predicted and current consequences of climate change and how it impacts groups of people here and around the world. Our analysis includes the global, national, and local political efforts made to address and, for some, deny the problem. We also explore both the consequences of AI's growing impact on our energy sector and AI's potential to help us solve the climate crisis. The class examines how our society is generating the problem and if technological advancement is enough to solve it or if greater social/political change is necessary.*

---

FIYS 116: Reimagining the Stage

(Reimagining the Stage: AI and the Performing Arts) This course explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and the performing arts. Students examine the potential of AI as a creative tool, analyzing its applications in areas such as playwriting, design, marketing and virtual reality performances. The course delves into the ethical implications of AI, including its impact on human creativity and the future of the industry. Through a combination of conceptual analysis, practical experimentation, and critical discussion, students develop a nuanced understanding of the opportunities and challenges presented by AI in the performing arts.

---

FIYS 117: Becoming Adult in Times of Change

(Becoming Adult in Times of Change: Liminal States.) You probably don't have a word for it, but the world right now is in a liminal state. In anthropology, a liminal state is a time of being betwixt and between, when things are not the same as they were before, but they haven't yet found a new normal. Starting college is also a liminal state, because you're not really a high school student anymore but not quite a college student. This course focuses on figuring out your liminal state in three ways: 1) exploring the idea of liminality, including the idea that all of college is a liminal space before adulthood; 2) challenging you (literally) to try something new on a regular basis, while maintaining a "beginner’s mind"; and 3) exposing you to tools you will need in your college and adult life, ranging from negotiating politics at dinner parties to exploring career options. If you've read this far and didn't get put off by the scary title or your assumptions about what this course would be, you have what it takes.

---

FIYS 118: Chicago, First City of Comedy

In 1955, Viola Spolin and Paul Sills founded the Compass Players in Chicago and established the city as the birthplace of improvisational theater. Chicagois now home to Second City and dozens of other improv clubs that both feature and train aspiring comedians and actors. It also hosts Chicago SketchFest, the world's largest sketch comedy festival. In this course we will examine the early development of improv in Chicago and analyze the role of Chicago improv in humor production today. We will take class trips to comedy clubs, to attend shows and discuss this genre with practitioners and instructors. Students will learn to distinguish among different types of humor production and reception, and will consider the value of improv beyond the realm of entertainment (e.g., how improvisational theater games may help individuals prepare for the unexpected on the stage and in life).

---

FIYS 119: Chicago Media Industries

Over the last 170 years, Chicago has been home to a diverse and vibrant set of media industries. From the founding of the Chicago Tribune in 1847, to the production of iconic films like Ferris Buehler's Day Off in the 1980s, to the current boom in television production started by Dick Wolf's Chicago Fire franchise in 2012, there is no doubt that Chicago has made an indelible mark on the U.S. media landscape. In this class, we will examine the history, policies, and practices of Chicago media industries, including print, film, radio, and television. We will also look at the way Chicago media industries have been impacted by larger political and economic trends, such as new media's effect on the newspaper industry, and growing international competition for Hollywood investment, known as "runaway production." This course will include a field trip to a Chicago media company as well as famous movie locations around the city.

---

FIYS 120: Religious Violence and Coexistence

How do people of different religious faiths interact? How do they create professional and personal relationships—and what limits are placed on those relationships, either by law or by the individuals themselves? Conversely, what causes hostility and even violence between faiths? How do people go about "othering" those whose beliefs and practices are different than their own? This course investigates these eternal questions through an in-depth study of relations between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in the ancient and medieval Mediterranean world. We begin with the earliest interactions between these religious traditions, as Christianity and Judaism diverged from common roots into separate faiths in the first two centuries of the Common Era, and as Islam emerged in the seventh century. In our second unit, we study medieval Spain, where Christians, Jews, and Muslims coexisted relatively peacefully for centuries, but where that toleration crumbled in the later Middle Ages, culminating in the expulsion of Jews (1492) and Muslims (1502) from the kingdom, and in the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition.

---

FIYS 121: Photographic Modernism

(Photographic Modernism and the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Understandings of History) This course focuses on the histories and theories of photography from roughly 1890 to 1945 (the modernist period). Using primary and secondary sources class discussions, exercises, and writing assignments the course considers the innovations of the photographic medium as well as the ways in which photography intersects with cultural and social ideas and technologies of the period. Through the work of modernist photographers from Alfred Stieglitz to Henri Cartier-Bresson, we explore the social and cultural impact of photography and the many ways in which photographic material frames and helps us to understand the world historically and today. This course interrogates issues surrounding the development of AI technology relative to historic photographs, including the ethics of photographic production, manipulation, and dissemination using AI. AI specific discussions might include the use of AI technology on photographs, the practice of manipulating historic photographs with AI technology, and creating AI images that purport to be from time periods well before this technology existed.

---

FIYS 122: Visual Art and Poetry

The poet Horace once proclaimed that "as is painting, so is poetry" (ut pictura poesis). In context he was saying that, like paintings, some poems are interesting up close, others only from far away. But what happens when we consider the creative relationship between a poem inspired by and written about some form of visual art like sculpture, painting, sketching, architecture, etc.? Is the poem just a vivid description of the work of art (ekphrasis), or does the poet make conclusions about what is seen? While reading the poem, can you remake the object without physically seeing it? When viewed, what features are left out? What is emphasized? Many more questions follow. Yet, giving visual art a voice – its voice – via poetry is daring. Done well, it is captivating. By reading poems and viewing works from different eras and places, we explore an evolving relationship between poetry and the visual arts.

---

FIYS 123: Global Epidemics: From Aids to Zika

What makes an infectious disease become an epidemic, such as the 2014 outbreak of Ebola in west Africa, or that of Zika in Brazil in 2015? Moreover, how did COVID, which appeared in 2019, so quickly become a pandemic? Why does it take so long for pharmaceutical companies to construct a vaccine that protects against disease-causing organisms? In this course, we explore the medical, biological, and molecular complexities of a variety of infectious diseases that plague the world, such as malaria, Dengue fever, and COVID. We study the viruses, bacteria, and parasites that cause the diseases, how they are transmitted, and the chemical and biological challenges of making and distributing vaccines in less developed countries. In addition to class discussions, writing assignments, and oral presentations, students investigate microbial morphology through a high-powered laboratory microscope—and even make bacterial art.

---

FIYS 124: Transatlantic Cinema

(Transatlantic Cinema: Aesthetics of Resistance.) This course examines visual representations of resistance across a wide range of cultural contexts, from Africa to Europe to the Americas. Many of the forms of resistance that we explore in this class stem from questions of identity association and discrimination, whether historical, cultural, political or gender-based. Students learn to analyze film and other visual representations as forms of social engagement, seen through characters' strategies of resistance for societal and personal transformation.

---

FIYS 125: The Truth About Lies

(The Truth About Lies: Misinformation, Fake News, and BS) Ever wonder why people believe some of the outlandish things they see online? This course dives into the psychology of misinformation, fake news, and BS, showing how and why we’re all so easily fooled. Using an interdisciplinary approach, we explore how and why false or misleading information spreads, as well as the cognitive and social/personality factors that make individuals more or less susceptible to believing it. We also address various individual and societal interventions aimed at counteracting the spread of misinformation and improving everyday decision-making in an information-saturated world. This course is designed to sharpen your critical thinking skills and help you learn to spot BS wherever it shows up – whether in the media, politics, or your own social media feed.

---

FIYS 126: Becoming Human in the Age of AI

As artificial intelligence advances, the boundaries between human and machine blur, challenging our understanding of what it means to be human. This course explores cultural, ethical, and philosophical questions around AI, drawing on Western, Indigenous, African, Asian, and other perspectives to examine human identity, creativity, work, and the environment in an AI-driven world. Through global case studies and ethical frameworks, students investigate how diverse cultural traditions shape approaches to AI’s impact on privacy, intellectual property, and sustainability. Engaging with AI’s real-world applications in various cultural settings—such as Confucianism, Ubuntu, Indigenous movements for data sovereignty, and Japan’s AI-driven elder care—students gain a deeper, global perspective on humanity’s evolving relationship with intelligent technology.

---

FIYS 127: Pandemic History: The Black Death

Since early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has reminded the world of a harsh reality familiar to nearly everyone in premodern history: in a time without vaccines or robust public health interventions, virulent and novel pathogens and the pandemics they caused were frightening facts of life. Infectious diseases have shaped humankind since the late Neolithic era, but the Black Death (or, simply, "plague") of the mid-14th century was the most catastrophic pandemic in human history, in terms of the mortality rate of the populations it impacted. From the mid 1340s to the 1350s, the plague claimed the lives of nearly half of the people living in the affected areas of Africa, Asia, and Europe. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Black Death, while also discussing earlier (6th century) and later (19th-20th century) outbreaks of plague. We begin by establishing a baseline understanding of the causative factors, symptoms, spread, and treatments of plague. We then turn to the unique genomic and human history of this illness and its cultural, economic, environmental, religious, and political impact. We also explore multiple facets of the human response to these natural disasters which ranged from prayer and medical treatments to quarantines and scapegoating. In addition to addressing the history of the plague, this course offers a lens through which to view the current pandemic and future public health challenges.

---

FIYS 128: Robots & Brains:Fantasies & Facts

Will computers ever become conscious? Will robots ever have the degree of sentience described in science fiction or shown in films? How does the human mind emerge from the workings of the human brain? How is our brain different from, and simultaneously similar to, the brains of other animals? How are the 'wet brains' of animals different from, and similar to, the 'dry brains' of computers? Readings will include introductory materials on the brain, on mind and consciousness, on science fiction stories about robots, on scholarly and popular articles from current work in neuroscience and artificial intelligence. The course will include films, computer simulations, guest lectures, and field trips, all related to brain, mind, robots, and artificial intelligence.

---

FIYS 129: Reading College

No, that isn’t a misprint. This is not a course on reading in college, though you're in college and we’ll certainly be reading. This is a course on how to read and interpret college as an institution and concept: how it has been represented in literature, criticism, film, and popular culture and how these representations enhance, distort, and sometimes transform academia. Course texts will include novels, short stories, essays, criticism, films, TV shows, and archival materials that describe (and often criticize) the postsecondary academic experience in the United States. We’ll examine these texts in light of our own personal experiences, with the goal of coming to a better understanding of college as an institution, our own aims and roles within that institution, and how we can inspire change within that institution and our society more broadly.

---

FIYS 130: The Science of Cooking

Since 1992, the term molecular gastronomy has become part of understanding the world’s cuisine. This course examines the chemistry and physics of cooking, and the physiology of taste and flavor. We explore such questions as what is the science behind making a foam or gel; how do you prevent food bacteria from forming; and what does it mean to temper chocolate? The science of cooking includes the important works of Hervé This, Heston Blumenthal, Ferran Adria, José Andrés, and Grant Achatz, among others. We read their work and not only become familiar with the latest materials and methods of the world’s most innovative cuisine, but also learn how these methods may be part of the solution to ending world hunger. We work with a chef to perform experiments to elucidate the theory we will be studying.

---

FIYS 131: Civil Disobedience/Pol Obligation

(Civil Disobedience and Political Obligation.) Every society imposes rules upon its members; without such rules societies could not exist. In liberal societies individuals agree to constrain their behavior through a social contract. That is, individuals consent to their own rule by the majority. Social contracts are considered the most just methods of social organization, because members consent and because rights are traditionally preserved. Rule is maintained through a codified law, made known to all, with proscribed punishments for failure to obey. But sometimes the obligation to obey society conflicts with other obligations: to family, to God, to justice. These conflicts cause crises in both the individual and in society. Our course will explore these crises historically and theoretically. Antigone, the heroine of Sophocles' ancient Greek play, made the choice of obeying the religious commandments but in doing so violated the laws of the city. Socrates, on being condemned to death by Athens, was offered the opportunity to escape the city and save his life, but refused for it would mean breaking the laws of the city. When individuals commit civil disobedience, when they purposely and publicly break a law they feel to be immoral or unjust, how should society react? Is there a minimum of obligation that can be demanded? Can civil disobedience be justified? If so, can violence against the state also be justified? Our course explores these questions through traditional literature, such as the writings of Plato, Shakespeare, Locke, Thoreau, King, and Malcolm X.

---

FIYS 135: Watchmen and Society

In 1986, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons published Watchmen, a groundbreaking twelve-issue limited comics series that imagined an alternate history in which comic-book superheroes were real, while exploring the moral ambiguities of the vigilantism and messianic fantasies that characterize the genre. Three decades later, the television writer and producer Damon Lindelof created the Watchmen TV series for HBO, a kind of sequel to the original comic that re-centered the story on America's history of racist violence, beginning with a vivid recreation of the 1921 massacre of Black Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma and moving into a story about racism and policing in 2019 Tulsa. Lindelof's widely acclaimed "remix" goes under the hood of Moore and Gibbons' original story to explore and ramify its complex themes, while placing an all-too-timely focus on issues of racialized violence. In this course, students read and discuss the original Watchmen with an eye to how Moore and Gibbons use the techniques unique to comics to tell their story; they then shift to watching and discussing the nine-episode series, examining the ways in which it deconstructs the already deconstructive original comic, reimagining its characters and situations to address the meanings of superheroes in the era of Black Lives Matter.

---

FIYS 136: Athena and Apollo

Early in the Iliad, the half-sibling gods Apollo and Athena descend on the walls of Troy as vultures to watch staged, single combat. This spectacle of slaughter is often used to point out the gods' grim pleasure in abusing humans – their disguises as carrion birds being highly symbolic. Yet, both gods were revered for their influences on human lives and culture. Apollo, the dissolute god of oracles and disease, could reveal the future, then take it away. Athena, the chaste goddess of combat and intellect, was a skilled artisan, the advocate of cunning heroes and sophisticated city-states. Intriguingly, both gods were understood to be avatars of reason and justice. Yet, over millennia it will be Athena who widely comes to embody wisdom and reason, while Apollo comes to represent the fine arts, especially poetry and music. Why is this so? How did this happen? In this course, we dig into the seductive mythmaking surrounding each god and give account to the crude experience of human ambition which co-opted and altered their myths to explain fraught historical realities.

---

FIYS 137: Demonology

Demonology—the systematic study of demons and other nefarious spirits—is not usually taken seriously as an academic pursuit. Demons are often derided as mere superstitions and depicted as an underbelly of religious belief that is not appropriate for orthodox practice or polite conversation. This course takes a different approach, suggesting that demonology provides an important language for naming and discussing various forces in the world that we find harmful or dangerous, whether seen or unseen, human or nonhuman. Demons can therefore help people describe various personal and social threats, including disease, violence, greed, prejudice, mental illness, and death itself. Different traditions of demonology from around the world are considered, including examples from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, and Zoroastrian religious traditions, as well as the uses of demons in popular culture, critiques of capitalism, and contemporary political discourse.

---

FIYS 138: Art in Chicago

While Chicago’s extensive contributions to modern architecture are known throughout the world, it’s been a critical center of visual art in all media since its earliest years. This course explores the rich and dynamic history of art-making in Chicago from before the Great Fire of 1871 to the present, as well as the city’s role as a center for experimentation and learning in the visual arts. Throughout its history, Chicago has been home to an art community that has always charted its own path, free from the constraints of more commercial centers like New York, and in so doing has had great impact on visual art and our broader visual culture. The city itself is a critical resource for this class, as course content - in the form of readings, discussion, and various activities - is augmented by visits to diverse art institutions and meetings with influential art-makers.

---

FIYS 139: Stem & Soc: Power, Identity, Ethics

(Stem and Society: Power, Identity, and Ethics.) This course looks at alternative ways of thinking about STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and the interconnections of STEM with society from a lens of identity, power, (in)equity, ethics, and justice. The course explores how, for example, bias and inequity are encoded in technological tools and platforms. We consider how, as perpetual consumers of data, we might interrogate data and claims based on data from a justice and equity lens. We ask questions such as: Do numbers speak for themselves? Is all science right or good? How can data account for multiple forms of knowledge and ways of knowing?

---

FIYS 140: Global Science Fiction

Science fiction is more popular than ever: it is almost impossible nowadays to avoid superhero movie “universes,” while dystopian novels such as The Handmaid’s Tale - and their TV adaptations - are everywhere. This market seems to be dominated by Anglo-American science fiction, but Anglophones do not have a monopoly on this genre. How does science fiction from other regions and languages embrace and address its (multi-) cultural diversity, and how does it differ from Anglo-American science fiction? Is the experience of reading science fiction different because that work originated in another language and culture? This course explores these questions through texts and films from all over the world. Even if originally published in other languages, all texts will be available in English.

---

FIYS 142: Dostoevsky on Good and Evil

Is a student who murders a wealthy old pawnbroker justified in his murder, if he uses her money for the common good? Can a novelist realistically represent a purely good person, or would readers regard such a person as nothing more than an "idiot"? If the Devil visited one's bedroom, what would he look like and what conversation might he make? These are just a few of the fascinating questions prompted by Fyodor Dostoevsky's novels. This course will explore the evolution of Dostoevsky's literary and intellectual work leading up to his final novel of ideas, The Brothers Karamazov. We will focus on the genesis and development of that novel through Dostoevsky's contact with other novelists, such as Turgenev and Dickens. We will explore the novel against Dostoevsky's dramatic biographical and historical context. And we will examine the provocative philosophical, theological, political and aesthetic debates his novel broaches--debates that are as relevant today as they were in Dostoevsky's day.

---

FIYS 143: Public Art in Chicago

This course is devoted to a first-hand examination of public art in Chicago and its suburbs, including mural painting and sculpture, among other genres. Using photographic documentation, background readings and research, lectures, group discussions, individual research-based and analytical writings, and select visits to see artwork, students gain insight into the factors involved in the rhetorical construction of cities through public art. The class tackles issues including: textual analysis, semiotic meaning, visual culture, the construction of public memory, and persuasive writing in an effort to gain practical academic skills while learning about an important facet of the rich cultural experience that Chicago holds for residents, commuters, and tourists.

---

FIYS 144: Sacred Spaces in Chicago

What do high-steeple churches, personal shrines, pagan festivals, Japanese gardens, and Hindu temples have in common? All are examples of the creation, use, and maintenance of sacred spaces. Individuals and groups representing nearly every religious tradition employ specially designated buildings, grounds, and surrounding natural features. In this course we study several examples of sacred spaces, consider how they are formed, and why they are used as they are. We ask questions about architecture and design, and also focus on the employment of the spaces. We look to the spiritual practices that take place inside them: everything from worship, ritual, and meditation to eating and drinking.

---

FIYS 145: Home: An American Idea

Through literature, art, public policy, history, architecture and other disciplines, this course explores the idea and reality of home in America. Topics may include why military veterans and queer teenagers, in particular, lack housing; how home ownership cements a family's status as "middle-class;" the consequences of racial and ethnic restrictions on home ownership which impedes entry to that middle class; white homesteading in the American West and the displacement of indigenous people from their homes; the post-WWII housing boom; the growth of the American suburb and the consequential rise in urban and racial neighborhood poverty; the design of homes and their impact on familial relationships; how the recent pandemic turned homes into workplaces and schools. Students should expect some off-campus excursions.

---

FIYS 146: BFFs: Besties and Gender

(BFFs: Besties and Gender in Literature and Film) From Betty and Veronica to the Golden Girls, “besties” raise a number of seemingly unanswerable questions. Are our best friends our missing piece—the “other half” of an equivalent soul—or do opposites attract? Does the intimacy of friendship ever compete with the love shared between romantic partners: that is, are friends ever really “just friends”? What does it mean to be a best friend in our own culture, and how does this compare with the place of this special bond in other cultures and other distant eras? In this course, we examine contemporary representations of friendship from television programs to classic novels. After learning to analyze literary and cinematic representations of friendship, students end the course with their own creative representation and philosophies of friendship and gender.

---

FIYS 147: Government and Markets

Why is the government involved in some aspects of our lives more than others? This question can be answered in many different ways, depending on one's theoretical background. Different economists would provide different analyses of the government's role, especially as it relates to business and markets. They would also base their arguments on fundamental economic theories. The primary goal of this course is to develop an understanding of economic markets and issues where governments have become important participants. Both in the United States and abroad, governments take an active role in the economics of education, the environment, health care, big business, poverty, and unemployment, among other issues. Although the course will be approached from an economic perspective, the topics relate to other fields of study as well, and particularly to the fields of politics and sociology.

---

FIYS 148: Fashion, Culture, and Communication

Fashion is more than simply how we dress. Among other things, it is a means of personal expression, a reflection of an historical moment, and an international industry. In this course we explore what fashion means at various points in history by considering how the political and social climate of the time period produces expectations for what should/should not be worn, by whom, and for what purpose. The course therefore situates fashion in terms of both its production and consumption, exploring its role in relation to identity and body politics (race, gender, sexuality, class), art and status, nationhood and the global economy, and celebrity and popular culture.

---

FIYS 150: Entrepreneurship in Action

Entrepreneurship involves more than merely starting a new business that addresses a problem worth solving or innovating within an existing organization; it is a life skill that contributes to success in any field. This course explores the history of entrepreneurship through case studies, articles, and other activities. Students investigate the evolution of entrepreneurial best practices and pitfalls throughout the years. We dissect recent successes and failures in the world of entrepreneurship, and examine the role of technology in the future of the field.

---

FIYS 152: The Politics of Population

When you were born, you joined about 6 billion other humans on this planet, but by 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach 9.7 billion. What are we going to do with everyone? In this course, we explore the intersections between population growth and its impact on security, economics, and the environment. We explore a range of national efforts to manage population growth, from China’s infamous "One Child Policy" to measures implemented in Japan and Singapore to encourage childbearing. We investigate how the international community shifted from a population control approach to one that prioritizes reproductive health, with accompanying debates surrounding reproductive choice; whether imbalanced sex ratios in a society lead to increased violence, including sex trafficking; and how sustainable development goals inform demographic policies, with particular attention to the impact on both women worldwide and on citizens of the Global South.

---

FIYS 153: History Reversed; You to the World

Usually, history courses start deep in the past, and move towards the present. In this class, we flip the script, and start with you, right here, right now, at Lake Forest College. By tracing our individual ancestries, we will situate our local lives at the College and in the city of Chicago within a global historical context. Using large-scale datasets and wide-ranging historical sources, we will explore Chicago as a global city of immigrants and the Midwest as an ancient civilization of indigenous peoples. Rewinding from the present, the course will chart a global path back thousands of years to the origins of the human species in Africa. By investigating and debating how change happens over time, we will understand our own place in history.

---

FIYS 154: The Irish in Chicago

This course places Irish history in context and examine the large-scale emigration from Ireland to the United States in the mid-19th century. It traces the destinations of the Irish as they settled in America and focuses primarily on those who came to Chicago. It researches where and how the Irish community lived in the city and surrounding areas. It examines how the Irish immigrants contended with the darker side of this new life through impoverished times and the rise of mob activity, and yet, how the cultural aspects of Irish life (among them sports, music, dance, art, crafts, literature, and theater) not only survived the transatlantic crossing, but thrived in their new home, and continue to be part of life for the Irish community in 21st-century Chicago.

---

FIYS 155: Chicago: Land of Hope

In the half-century following World War I, millions of African Americans left the American South in the Great Migration. Settling in northern cities like Chicago, which many called the “Land of Hope,” black migrants dramatically reshaped American life and culture. This course explores the connections between that history of northward movement and African American cultural production and experiences. We do this through a special focus on Chicago, where the black population grew from just over 44,000 to more than 1.1 million. We read closely and contextualize a variety of texts, including novels, plays, photographs, maps, sociological surveys, oral histories, and correspondence. We examine the historical significance of these texts from a variety of disciplinary perspectives - including history, literary and film criticism, sociology, critical race studies, and cultural studies

---

FIYS 158: Women Onstage: Antigone to Beyoncé

(Women Onstage: From Antigone to Beyoncé.) "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman."—Simone deBeauvoir

Gender is learned—a collection of behaviors that we all learn to replicate through a kind of performance that happens on and offstage. In this course, we will think about how this understanding of gender plays out in performance spaces. We'll take a broad look at the ways women have been portrayed onstage in different kinds of theatrical performance, from plays to music. We'll look at how women have expressed themselves and addressed political issues through theatre and performance—and how their voices have, at times, been excluded. We'll look at the changing answers to the question—what is a woman?

---

FIYS 159: Theatre and Medicine

This course investigates the intersections of art and science, from therapeutic applications of theatre and performance to plays about medicine. Such collaborations have produced interactive exhibits to teach audiences about neuroscience, used actors to help train doctors, and created plays to educate the public about medical issues. Students in this course read plays, watch performances, and participate in workshops with pioneers in the field of art therapy. Students consider how different kinds of knowledge inform and enrich each other, and they learn about the incredible discoveries that come about when artists and scientists work together. The course makes use of Chicago's vibrant theatre scene to see live plays and meet artists who explore these disciplinary intersections in their work.

---

FIYS 161: Narrative and Knowledge Production

(Narrative and Knowledge Production: Storytelling, Identity, and the Rhetorical Impact of AI) Telling stories is a fundamental part of being human. We share stories of our families, friends, and experiences. We examine religious texts, myths, folklore, and the media for insight into ourselves and others. We create, share, and explore internal narratives to better make sense of the world. However, the significance of storytelling is often undervalued in the world of academic knowledge production. In this class, we examine narrative and how it is used to offer legitimacy for our actions and beliefs. Moreover, we look closely at narrative’s relationship to knowledge production and how narrative is interwoven with facets of identity, such as race, gender, sexuality, social class, and ability. We read critical, feminist, working class, and queer theory and examine how writers from nondominant identities use narrative to articulate their own complex position in relation to education and culture. This course demonstrates that stories are both ubiquitous and integral in knowledge production and that they can both subvert and reinforce the status quo.

---

FIYS 163: Independent Media in Chicago

This course focuses on the role played by independent media in the contemporary cultural landscape. Students become familiar with the workings of different independent media, as represented by the workings of film-makers, music venues, newspapers, zines, comic books, video games, and record labels that survive without direct connections to the large corporations that dominate the mass mediated culture in the U.S. At all times, readings concerning the role of the media in society contextualize the importance of the independent media. This class features several trips to the sites where these media outlets operate, with likely visits to: Quimby’s Queer Store, The Hideout, Kartemquin Films, and The Chicago Reader. Paper assignments find students applying these experiences to the broader meanings of independent media. Students get a first-hand look at what the production of culture looks like in the context of independent media in Chicago.

---

FIYS 164: Archaeology of Chicago

This course introduces the discipline of archaeology by exploring the city of Chicago, using it to discuss and to engage with the social complexity found in the urban U.S. Archaeology, a disciplinary subfield of anthropology, considers the material traces of human behaviors. Historical archaeological research looks at the complex interrelation of materiality with the documentary record, revealing everyday experiences and social relations and can challenge dominant narratives. Through the lens of archaeology, including recent AI-aided technologies for data visualization and reconstruction, we explore Chicago as a key site within a precontact trail system, its place as a multicultural fur trade entrepôt, the attention from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, and its current preeminence as a global city. Readings cover foundational concepts in archaeology; an introduction to historical archaeology; historical background on Chicago; and recent examples of analysis, interpretation, and broader dissemination through AI-aided technologies.

---

FIYS 165: Theater in Chicago

Chicago’s rich and dynamic theater scene is renowned for its diversity, innovation, and historical significance. Chicago is the birthplace of improvisational theater, with pioneers like Del Close, Viola Spolin, and others creating the foundations for modern improvisation. The city's improv theaters—Second City, iO, and The Annoyance—have trained many famous comedians and actors, making improv a hallmark of Chicago's theater identity. Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater are all nationally recognized and offer a range of productions from classic plays to contemporary works, along with innovative new writing and experimental productions. With hundreds of theaters around the city, including storefront theaters, black box venues, and experimental spaces, Chicago is known for its diverse range of productions—from large-scale musicals and dramas to cutting-edge experimental works and intimate performances. This course will include reading, discussion, and experiential learning, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of Chicago’s theatrical landscape. Students not only delve into the history of Chicago theater, but also get a chance to see productions firsthand and engage with the vibrant performance culture of the city. This course requires participation in some evening and/or weekend field trips or events, so consider your other commitments (such as off-campus employment or a fall/winter sports participation) as you identify courses of interest to you.

---

FIYS 166: The Uses and Misuses of Psychology

Science can be a powerful tool to transform society, but the applications of scientific knowledge can result in either beneficial or detrimental outcomes, regardless of scientists’ intentions. This course examines the societal ramifications, both real and imagined, of landmark discoveries from the field of psychology. For example, the work of B.F. Skinner greatly increased our understanding of how both animal and human behavior can be shaped through interactions with the environment, but these same principles of operant conditioning have been used by the U.S. military to produce soldiers who are more effective at killing in combat. We consider social, cultural, political, financial, and historical contexts as influential moderators of both science itself as well as the ends for which it is used. Readings include a mix of scholarly literature, popular sources, and works of fiction.

---

FIYS 167: Baseball in Chicago

What does the study of baseball tell us about life in Chicago? In this course, we will examine this question from a variety of perspectives. We will explore both the history of baseball in Chicago as well its contemporary influences on civic and cultural life. Drawing on their field trips to both Wrigley Field (Cubs) and U.S. Cellular Field (White Sox), students will consider how the two different stadiums and fan bases help to illuminate some of Chicago's geographic, racial, and class-based divides. We will also examine the current political and economic controversies surrounding the renovation of Wrigley Field. In this interdisciplinary course, students will see how a variety of academic disciplines, including history, sociology, anthropology, economics, politics, and religion, illuminates our understanding of America's national pastime.

---

FIYS 168: Free Speech on Campus

On college campuses like our own, there can be a tension between the values of free speech and open inquiry on one hand, and the need to create an inclusive and comfortable environment for all community members, on the other. In this course, we examine this potential tension by critically interrogating and questioning various recent examples where such conflicts developed. In particular, we focus on examples where there were calls to limit and/or ban the use of certain phrases/images/texts/arguments. Throughout our pursuit of this matter, our aim is to model how to discuss sensitive political matters with civility and empathy, and how to discuss charged topics while being thoughtful.

---

FIYS 169: Recreational Mathematics

Puzzles, paradoxes, and brain teasers have inspired many young people to pursue careers in science, and more than one achievement in mathematics has emerged from the desire to solve difficult puzzles. In this course we will examine many famous (and not-so-famous) puzzles, and explore famous games such as Sudoku, tic-tac-toe, and monopoly, to gain insight into all manner of phenomena. To guide us in our mathematical diversions, we will read essays by Martin Gardner, Ian Stewart, Peter Winkler, Terence Tao, and other popular mathematics writers. In addition, we will view documentaries and conduct group discussions to explore multiple aspects of mathematics.

---

FIYS 170: Representation,Political & Personal

The first year of college is an opportunity to consider what sociologist Erving Goffman called the “presentation of self,” or the ways that individuals try to make a favorable impression upon others. This course employs an interdisciplinary approach, with a bit of sociology, a bit of psychology, and a lot of political science, to investigate the ways in which people seek, as Dale Carnegie put it, to “win friends and influence people.” Many case studies are drawn from the interactions between politicians and the voters whose support they hope to win; after all, few individuals spend more time thinking rigorously about their presentation of self than elected officials and their staffers. We use examples from national politics, but also take field trips to meet with and observe elected officials around the North Shore and in Chicago. We investigate the art of political representation and how elected officials seek to win constituents’ trust, as well as the possibilities of personal “re-presentation” that first-year students engage in when they arrive in this new college environment.

---

FIYS 171: My Brain Made Me Do It

(My Brain Made Me Do It: Neuroscientific Challenges to Free Will.) We assume that people have free will. If someone decided to take this course, for instance, we would assume that they chose to take it freely. And if someone did something immoral like steal, we would think that they acted freely and that they should be held morally responsible for their actions as a result. While we may take free will for granted, many neuroscientists and philosophers claim that recent neuroscientific evidence offers new challenges to it. If, for example, our brains show patterns of activity that suggest we will make a particular decision before we are conscious of making it, did we decide freely or was our decision pre-determined? We explore these new challenges to free will and moral responsibility and the important moral puzzles that follow from them. For instance, should someone who commits assault - potentially due to the effects of an undiagnosed brain tumor - be imprisoned for that crime? In the course, students develop their analytic writing skills by clearly representing the arguments of the authors who present these new challenges and then by developing their own responses to them.

---

FIYS 173: Am I a “Normal” Kid?

(Am I a “Normal” Kid? Analyzing Messages of Power and Cultural Hegemony in Youth Texts.) Every type of text that young people encounter, from books and cartoons to songs, movies, and magazines, contains underlying messages about what is deemed “normal,” valued, and expected in our society. Such texts reflect the worldviews of dominant cultural groups (i.e., white, middle class, heteronormative), which serve to legitimize these views and minimize and oppress the norms and values of non-dominant groups. This course addresses issues of culture, power, oppression, and social justice; critical literacy theories. such as critical race theory and queer theory; and content/text analysis research methods. Students analyze a variety of texts aimed at youth such as advertisements, songs, and fiction books to study how the texts indirectly send messages about what is “normal” in our society and how they perpetuate the systemic marginalization of non-dominant cultural groups. Students also read scholarly works about cultural hegemony and critical literacy to inform their analysis of the youth texts.

---

FIYS 174: Chicago's Museums

Chicago's renowned museums and exhibition spaces make it a destination for culture lovers the world over. From the Field and DuSable Museums to Hull House and the Art Institute, Chicago is home to a vast array of cultural, historical, and scientific repositories whose holdings include some of the greatest artifacts of human endeavor, contributing immensely to the city’s identity. This course introduces students to some of these museums, with an emphasis on art institutions, while also examining their historic and current roles in the life of the city. Topics include the management, collections, curation, audience, programming, and architecture of these institutions. One museum will be selected for in-depth investigation. Working individually and in small groups, students will research its various functions and present their findings to the class. Because of conflicts with field trips, fall and winter athletes should not register for this course.

---

FIYS 175: Frankenstein: Myth of the Monstrous

It's alive! This course will take Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, first published in 1818, as its jumping-off point for a semester's exploration of this uncannily persistent tale of horror, now a byword for the dark side of science and modernity. Shelley's novel gives us so much - the archetypes of mad scientist and monster, inquiries into the origins of evil and nature versus nurture, questions about gender, sexuality, class, and race - that we could easily spend the whole semester studying the novel and the gothic culture that it emerged from. But we will also look at film adaptations, read plays, stories, and poems on the theme of the monstrous, and consider contemporary "Frankensteins," from atomic energy to drag queens to genetically engineered corn. This writing-intensive course will keep literature at its center but will also, as the above suggests, take turns into cultural studies and other disciplines.

---

FIYS 177: Black Activism in Chicago

("You Can’t Jail the Revolution:" Black Activism in Chicago.) Since its original non-native settlement in 1780 by Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, a Black man of Haitian descent, Chicago has been a space for Black people to make their presence felt. This visibility has often come with struggle and strife. From Ida B. Wells to Fred Hampton to Camesha Jones, Black women and men in Chicago have claimed space and freedom despite the institutions working against them. This course will look at the history of Black activism in the city, using a variety of sources, including newspaper articles, speeches, autobiographies, interviews, documentaries, and films. This course will also utilize our proximity to Chicago and engage in field trips to witness Black activism in Chicago in action. We will investigate what it means to be an activist, what issues are important to Black activists in and around the city, what strategies Black activists have used over time, and what the costs of activism are.

---

FIYS 178: Politics in Film, Politics of Film

In this course, we discuss political questions as presented in American and foreign films, both classic (Dr. Strangelove [UK, 1964], The Cranes are Flying [USSR, 1957]) and modern (Thank You for Smoking [USA, 2005], Parasite [South Korea, 2020], The Lives of Others [Germany, 2006], I Saw the Sun [Turkey, 2009]). We focus on five major themes: democracy and dictatorships, migration and citizenship, capitalism and inequality, social movements and revolutions, and international conflicts and wars. We investigate how and why these issues are depicted in films in different ways, depending on where and when the film was produced. Students discuss the appeal of political films as entertainment; they also read political science scholarship that critically examines political issues raised in films. Films thus serve, in this course, as the medium through which to examine how and why political problems emerge and are resolved. We also ponder the question: do films shape the way we think about politics or does politics shape the way we view films?

---

FIYS 179: Bob Dylan: Music and Text

Musician, Poet, Social Activist, Reluctant Celebrity, Nobel Prize Winner – these are just some of the roles that Bob Dylan has played over the past 60 years. During that time, he has exerted an outsized influence on popular culture. This course explores Bob Dylan’s songs with a detailed look at their musical and lyrical content. We examine his musical influences, especially his relationship to Woody Guthrie, and his poetic inspiration, including Rimbaud, Petrarch, and Whitman. We also examine the numerous cover versions of his songs by musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Adele, The Byrds, Garth Brooks, and others. No previous musical experience is required, only a desire to both listen and read critically.

---

FIYS 180: Philosophy of Humans and Animals

Western philosophers since Aristotle - at least - have claimed that human beings, as a species and alone among species, are capable of complex reasoning. The seventeenth-century French philosopher Descartes, famously, denied that non-human animals have minds or could think, claiming that they are essentially robots. From these kinds of premises, philosophers have inferred a wide range of ethical and religious claims, e.g., it is ethically permissible to eat non-human animals. Alternative claims, however, have just as long a history. In this course, we will read and discuss an array of philosophical opinions on the similarities and differences between humans and other animals, and the practices of industrial farming, training animals to work or entertain, building and patronizing zoos, animal experimentation, and other controversial topics. This course requires participation in some evening and/or weekend field trips or events, so consider your other commitments (such as off-campus employment or a fall/winter sports participation) as you identify courses of interest to you.

---

FIYS 182: Borders and Boundaries

This is an uncontroversial claim: nouns are persons, places, things, and ideas. Yet, the precise lines separating a person, place, or thing—and thus delineating their purpose and nature—are more complex. Consider, for example, the type of existence that a historical artifact has in a museum. Labeled and placed within a glass case, it becomes an object of study and observation. However, in its original deployment, it may have been a tool to complete a task, a document that communicated information, or a good exchanged in trade. Whether as an object in a museum or as a thing in a world, its very being emerges from an intricate web of relations. What we determine the object to be is very much affected by where we find it. In different ways, the boundaries surrounding persons, groups (such as a group of citizens of a nation), and places also have hidden intricacies. This course is a study of these limits and the way that their openness or rigidity affects many features of the human and natural world. We study philosophical sources from ancient India, the United States, and Europe, alongside material from the disciplines of history, robotics, film, and literature. Moreover, students engage with case studies of boundaries claimed within the city of Chicago, the nation of the US, and groups around the world.

---

FIYS 183: Law, Literature and Logic

A lawyer arguing a case tries to shape that case into a coherent, persuasive story: a dry recitation of facts and law is not enough. So, law is a literary - a story-telling - enterprise. And a dramatic one: fiction writers and filmmakers use crimes, investigations, court proceedings, and punishments to generate interest in their works. And yet, we still tend to think of literary flourishes as deceptive - after all, one meaning of “to tell a story” is “to tell a lie.” Legal reasoning, moreover, often seems arcane or merely manipulative, aimed more at obscuring the truth than revealing it. In this course we look into the complex and often bewildering interplay among law, literature, and logic, with the hope of illuminating all three - and with the hope of improving your writing skills, your reasoning skills, your rhetorical skills, and your argumentative skills.

---

FIYS 184: Why College? A Chicago Story

Why go to college? Over time, students, families, teachers, employers, and politicians have answered this question in very different ways. In this course, we will explore the changing meaning and realities of college-going in Chicagoland from the 18th to the 21st centuries: from classical finishing school for white clergymen, to teacher-training for new cohorts of women and African Americans, to socialization into a radical youth culture, to "human capital" investment for a knowledge economy. We'll use a range of historical and contemporary sources to answer the questions: Why go to college? Who gets to go to college? Why is college so expensive? Through discussions, debates, and written reflection, we will dig into the past struggles and policy decisions that shape what college means for you here at Lake Forest College today.

---

FIYS 185: Graphic Medicine

This course examines the visual aspects of the practice of medicine by focusing on medical comics and graphic novels collectively known as graphic medicine. During our semester, we study how visuals support medical diagnoses, assist in communication between doctor and patient, and record experiences of illness via medical staff, patients, and caregivers. To have the clearest understanding of what is at stake in our study, we also make our own visuals and comics that respond to and use both primary and secondary sources. All told, we gain insight into some of the most important themes in contemporary graphic medicine. (Great artistic ability is not required in this course, but a commitment to sketching, drawing, and doodling is.)

---

FIYS 186: Free Speech

Undoubtedly, one of the most important rights that citizens in liberal democracies possess is the right to freely express themselves without fear of governmental sanction. However, while it may be easy to defend the right of free speech in the abstract, when faced with particular utterances that offend, shock, and/or harm, many of us will defend certain limitations on speech as morally appropriate or politically necessary. This course will be an examination of when, if ever, it is appropriate to restrict speech. Is there an absolute right to free speech? If so, does it only apply in certain public settings? And is the notion of "hate speech" a coherent idea? We will examine such questions (and many others) through a rigorous examination of iconic Supreme Court cases, classic works in political philosophy, and contemporary debates in politics, sociology, and psychology.

---

FIYS 187: Religion in Gilded Age Chicago

Students in this course will study the history and context of religion in Chicago at the turn of the century, roughly 1870-1930. We will examine pivotal events in the shaping of Chicago's religious communities, including religious immigration and the building of the city's major churches and synagogues, the World's Parliament of Religions in 1894, the rise of faith healer and self proclaimed prophet John Dowie, the arrival of the Baha'i movement, and new occult and metaphysical movements. In addition to written histories, this course makes use of field trips and historical archival material. This course requires participation in some evening and/or weekend field trips or events, so consider your other commitments (such as off-campus employment or a fall/winter sports participation) as you identify courses of interest to you.

---

FIYS 188: Fantasy Fiction of the Inklings

(Tolkien, Lewis, and the Literature of the Inklings.) Bilbo Baggins, Gollum, and Smaug. Mr. Tumnus and the White Witch. Sound familiar? If you thought you'd left those familiar fantasy figures behind with your childhood reading, think again. This seminar will revisit the delightful fantasy worlds of Middle-Earth, Narnia, and other imagined places by examining the rich literary legacy of Tolkien, Lewis, Williams, and Barfield—a group of British writers known as the "Inklings," who were pioneers of twentieth-century fantasy fiction. This course will involve close reading of major fiction and nonfiction by these authors (and their influential precursors) as well as opportunity to discuss the fascinating biographical, historical, theological, and aesthetic context of their works. The seminar will pay especial attention to the Inklings’ intellectual and artistic indebtedness to the medieval past, to their discourses about religion, politics, and ethics, and to the way their fiction refracts major twentieth-century events, particularly World Wars I and II.

---

FIYS 189: Digital Dawn: Hum, Cyberspace & AI

(Digital Dawn: Humanity, Cyberspace, and the Rise of Artificial Intelligence) This course explores the development of cyberspace, the migration of human activity to its digital platforms, and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the “first intelligent creations” that reside entirely in a digital space. We will explore new and pressing questions about human identity and the necessary responses caused by AI's rapid advancement. The course will tackle the complexities arising from AI’s growing influence in the real world, including a range of emerging issues, regulatory concerns, and policy-making challenges. We will trace the historical trajectory of generative AI, from its science fiction roots to its connections to remix culture and social media. We will explore everything from advanced deep learning technologies to the creation of AI-generated content and the development of AI as a potential companion for humans. We will highlight the ethical challenges posed by these technologies, with emphasis on equal access to computational resources and inherent biases in AI datasets.

---

FIYS 190: Effects of Social Media & AI

(Understanding the Effects of Social Media and AI) Facebook and Tumblr were all the rage in the mid 2010s. Today, it’s TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat. Tomorrow, who knows? Just as fast as internet and social media platforms change, so too does our relationship with this technology. Are you as dependent on it as you were in high school? Can your mood change for the better after two minutes on your smartphone? In this course, we will examine our social media use from a psychological, social, and ethical perspective. After a brief study of the rise of social media in the 2000s, we study its effects on teenagers and young adults of intersecting identities, and how we carry those impacts into adulthood. We consider how the introduction of AI – chatbots and algorithms – has made social media more powerful in the past decade. We explore how AI has transformed social media platforms, as algorithms use our data to personalize content but contribute to misinformation and increasing polarization. And we analyze how AI impacts issues of race and social class. Ultimately, we work to figure out what it means to ensure that our use of social media and the internet is healthy and productive.

---

FIYS 191: Voices of Leadership

“Voices of Leadership” invites students on a journey through perspectives of leadership ranging from mythic tales of an ancient Botswanan village to reports from leaders and thinkers from the contemporary United States. Students examine topics such as diverse leadership styles, the intersection of ethics and power, and the ethical and human challenges facing today’s emerging leaders in the age of artificial intelligence (including questions of data bias social impact). The seminar fosters critical thinking and nuanced understanding of leadership in different contexts, encouraging students to engage with the material both in individual assignments and group activities. Students develop their own leadership voices, equipped to apply their insights in their own lives.

---

FIYS 192: Public Policy & Law: Police Reform

The murder of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests questioning the legitimacy of America's policing tactics. Visceral images of police brutality spurned rallying cries to "defund the police" and hold officers and departments accountable, as some Americans pushed for a reevaluation of traditional policing systems deemed ill-equipped to deal with the multifaceted issues endemic in criminal behavior, including addiction, mental illness, poverty, and racism. And yet, the vast majority of policing remains unchanged; notably, voters in Minneapolis, the site of Floyd’s murder, rejected proposals to reallocate police funds, and courts have repeatedly rejected cases that would end qualified immunity defenses for law enforcement. Through a legal lens focusing on legal case studies and media literacy, and through discussions with legal and police experts, this course will evaluate the policy issues and arguments at the heart of policing reforms and consider how effective public policy could bring about meaningful reform.

---

FIYS 193: Mathematics & the Theater

What do the arts contribute to mathematics? How does STEM find a home in the theater? In this course, we investigate the value that each of these domains brings to the other, the overlap between them, and the blank spaces waiting to be filled by the next generation of artists and mathematicians. Students read plays and watch performances incorporating mathematical concepts and history, meet with professionals whose work exists at the intersections of arts and science, and learn how artists can help us make sense of scientific data – and vice versa. In addition, the course will explore Artificial Intelligence and the theater, with emphasis on “algorithmic theater” and large language models such as ChatGPT.

---

FIYS 194: Peace Studies

This course explores the interdisciplinary field of scholarly inquiry and advocacy known as Peace Studies, which seeks paths to end violent conflict and build ethical and harmonious interpersonal, societal, and global relationships. The course considers a range of peace-related topics, including peace concepts and disputes, peace networks, trends in violence, and gender and security. Much of this course focuses on the peace advocacy of one of Chicago’s most famous social activists, Jane Addams (1860-1935). Best known for her settlement work with poor immigrants in Chicago, Addams believed that pacifism would benefit marginalized populations, from poor immigrants in Chicago’s 19th Ward to industrial workers and farmers across the United States. She passionately opposed World War I, believing strongly that people from different nations and cultures were capable of interacting peacefully to advance their shared interests, and that it was necessary to form international institutions that would resolve disputes diplomatically and ensure lasting international peace, security, prosperity, and justice.

---

FIYS 195: Governing the Global Climate

(Public Policy: Governing the Global Climate.) In this seminar, students investigate the politics and policy making of on-going efforts to establish and manage a system of global climate governance. The emission of greenhouse gases associated with industrialization has steadily increased global temperatures over the past 150 years. If emissions are not reduced dramatically over the next decade or so, climate scientists have concluded that the environment will experience major and irreversible damage that threatens life on earth as we know it. For decades, countries and other international actors have been striving to build a governance system for the global climate, one that allows for the adaptation to climate change and the mitigation of its effects - and that urgently steers the world toward a post-carbon, renewable energy future. Students use concepts and models drawn from the academic disciplines of political science, economics, and public policy to study the polycentric system of global climate governance that has emerged since the late 1980s. As a major contributor to climate change and a leading global actor, the United States has a critical role to play in determining the development and effectiveness of global climate governance. Consequently, students also study how American domestic politics has shaped the United States' climate policy at home and abroad.

---

FIYS 196: American Playwrights in Chicago

Chicago is home to a vivid and diverse theater scene that includes everything from tiny stages in the back rooms of bars to glitzy Broadway-style productions. This course examines a selection of American-authored plays from the Chicago season as the materials for an introduction to literary studies. As such, the course considers the plays we see and read as an occasion to develop skills in critical thinking, research, and writing. A secondary objective is to connect the various plays to particular moments or themes in American history and culture. We proceed from the acquisition of a simple critical vocabulary for describing a play’s form and content, through character study, to more complex questions of the director’s decisions in taking a play from the page to the stage.

---

FIYS 197: Tools of Science, Mysteries of Art

How are forged works of art detected? Conversely, how is the authenticity of cultural heritage material determined? How do museums identify colorants and use them to date artwork? Can the identification of dyes and pigments help decipher trade routes? Scientists have developed tools to help answer these and other questions posed by curators, art historians, and collectors. In this course, students learn about the scientific tools used to study cultural heritage materials, including carbon dating, infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Students read introductory material, newspaper articles, scholarly articles, and case studies to examine how scientific tools have been used to decipher an artist’s intent, date works of art, identify trade routes, authenticate artwork, and discover forgeries. This course includes a field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago.

---

FIYS 198: Criminal Justice in Chicago

In Criminal Justice in Chicago, we will analyze historical and contemporary Chicago criminal cases to consider how criminal justice is doled out in the Second City. We will focus on the seemingly disparate cases of four Chicagoans: Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, notorious jazz-age murderers, legendary R & B artist R Kelly, and Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, convicted in the murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Despite the differences in the defendants, nature of crimes, backgrounds, and outcomes of these cases, we will examine some of the common themes surrounding their cases to gain a better understanding of how high-profile criminal justice cases are handled in Chicago. We will also draw distinctions between such high-profile cases and more routine violent crime cases charged and tried in Chicago. This class will include classroom visits by professionals from a variety of fields (e.g., legal, media) with personal ties to the cases.

---

FIYS 199: The Past and Future of a Plague

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of a disease that has afflicted humanity for its entire history: tuberculosis (TB). We begin by establishing a baseline understanding of the etiology, epidemiology, symptoms, and treatments (past and present) of tuberculosis. We then turn to the unique history of this illness and its cultural, economic, and political impact. TB may be the only epidemic disease closely equated with glamor and genius: idealized in the nineteenth century as a "beautiful death," TB influenced understanding of beauty, fashion, and the creative process. The reality of TB, however, is that of a terrible disease that particularly ravages marginalized groups, including the poor, industrial laborers, sex workers, migrants, the unhoused, and indigenous or enslaved peoples in European colonial empires. Our study of TB thus illuminates the intersection of disease with systems of oppression based on race, class, and gender. The course concludes with an examination of the recent history and possible futures of TB, including its deadly confluence with HIV/AIDS and the evolution of multi-drug resistant strains of the bacterium.