Course Offerings
Fall Semester of 2021
History 150: Great Books of the Western Historical Tradition
Professor James Melton
Course Time: MW 2:30pm-3:45pm In Person
Note: Fulfills a History, Society, Cultures General Education Requirement
Certain great books have been influential across the centuries, and continue to influence the way we think, act, and understand ourselves today. Major themes of the course are the history of religion, politics, economics, biology, and psychology.
Political Science 150: Foundations of American Democracy
Professor Thomas
Course Time: MW 5:30pm-6:45pm In Person
Note: Fulfills a History, Society, Cultures General Education Requirement
Discussion based course on the foundational ideas that underlie American democracy and other major American political debates from the revolutionary era to the present. Readings drawn from classic texts and original documents, speeches and writings of leading American political figures.
Religion 170 - The Bible
Professor Rosy Kandathil
Course Time: MW 1:00pm-2:15pm In Person
Note: Fulfills a Humanities, Arts, and Performances General Education Requirement
The Bible remains the most influential collection of writings in the Western world, and a working knowledge of its contents provides the basis for recognizing its presence in art, music, literature, philosophy, politics, and law. This course is designed to acquaint the beginning student with the major characters, narratives, history, and prevailing interpretations of the Bible (Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament), with a view towards appreciating its ongoing relevance for our modern world. Emphasis will be placed on primary reading of the biblical texts and class discussion. Students will discover how to explore the Bible for themselves and develop their own careful and considered opinions about its meaning. This course is part of the ECAS Voluntary Core Curriculum Program.
Philosphy 185 - Great Works
Professor Rebekah Spera
Course Time: TuTh 1:00pm-2:15pm In Person
Note: Fulfills a Humanities, Arts, and Performances General Education Requirement
The Modern period in Europe (which spans roughly from the end of the Renaissance up through the end of the 18th century) was an era of tremendous upheaval not only in social, political, and economic spheres but also in the arena of philosophy. Philosophers shifted away from the version of Aristotle inherited from scholastic Medieval philosophy as they questioned anew the humanity's place in the cosmos, the possibility of knowledge about the world, the nature of matter and causality, the link between the mind and body, and the methods proper to philosophical inquiry. These philosophical currents and controversies shape the contours of philosophical thought to this day. In this course, we will look at how philosophers in the 16th through the 18th century wrestled with questions concerning knowledge, the nature of reality, and the method proper to philosophical inquiry.
Art History 252- European Painting, 1590-1789
Professor Sarah McPhee
Course Time: TuTh 1:00om-2:15pm In Person
Note: Fulfills a Humanities, Arts, and Performances General Education Requirement
This course will survey major works of painting and sculpture in seventeenth-century Italy, France, and Spain. We will consider the careers of artists such as Caravaggio, Bernini, Poussin, and Velázquez and the patronage of private citizens, popes, and kings. Throughout we will explore the interactions between artistic production and political, religious, and scientific developments in seventeenth-century Europe.
MESAS 170/Philosphy 185 - Plato and Aristotle
Professor Kevin Corrigan
Course Time: MW 5:30pm-6:45pm In Person
Note: Fulfills a History, Society, Cultures General Education Requirement
An opportunity to explore special topics and thinkers not offered in the standard curriculum, or to explore aspects of the standard curriculum in greater depth and detail than the ordinary curriculum courses allow.
Classics 150 - Masterworks of Classical Literature
Professor Donghyun Jeong
Course Time: MW 2:30pm-3:45pm In Person
Note: Fulfills a Humanities, Arts, and Performances General Education Requirement
This reading-intensive class introduces students to some of the major authors, works, and genres of the classical canon, stretching from the 8th century BC epics of Homer to the works of Imperial Rome. We will wrestle with the major themes and concerns of a variety of ancient poetic and prose texts.
Fall Semester of 2020
History 150: Great Books of the Western Historical Tradition
Professor James Melton
Course Time: TuTh 2:40pm-3:55 PM ONLINE
Note: Fulfills a History, Society, Cultures General Education Requirement
Our focus is on classic works from Graeco-Roman antiquity to the present. Authors range from Thucydides, Julius Caesar, and Machiavelli to Nietzsche, Freud, and Fanon. Through the reading and analysis of these and other selected texts, the course explores ways they have informed how we think about everything from war, politics, and colonialism to sex, violence, and the human psyche. Our class is at heart an exercise in cultural literacy, one that seeks to familiarize students with some of the most influential works in the Western intellectual tradition. Course requirements include regular quizzes, two short papers, and two take-home examinations.
History 190: George Orwell and Winston Churchill
Professor Patrick Allitt
Course Time: TuTh 9:40am-10:55 AM
Note: Fulfills a First Year Seminar Requirement
The course will study George Orwell and Winston Churchill’s writings on politics, patriotism, imperialism, war, socialism, and equality. Among the assignments will be Orwell's Animal Farm and Homage to Catalonia, and Churchill's Second World War and Eminent Contemporaries. Three short papers, a mid-term and a final exam. The course is affiliated with the Voluntary Core Curriculum, Emory's great-books program.
Political Science 150: Foundations of American Democracy
Professor Ahmed Siddiqi
Course Time: W 4:20pm-5:35 PM ONLINE
Note: Fulfills a History, Society, Cultures General Education Requirement
This class is a study of the basic principles of American political life: democracy, equality, and liberty. Through a close reading of core texts of the American political tradition, we will attempt to see how these ideas took hold in the US, what arguments were made on their behalf, and what possible pitfalls there are for a society dedicated to them.
Religion 170 - The Bible
Professor Eric Moore
Course Time: Tu 9:40am-10:55 AM ONLINE
Note: Fulfills a Humanities, Arts, and Performances General Education Requirement
In REL 170: The Bible, we discuss seminal passages in both the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) and the New Testament. Our aim is to better understand the passages themselves—main characters, plotlines, story gaps, ethical priorities, et cetera—as well as their enduring legacy. Thus, we will also explore the underlying concerns, intertextual echoes, and contemporary significance of these renowned parts of the bible.
Physics 253 - Modern Physics
Professor Erin Bonning
Course Time: MW 9:40am-10:55 AM ONLINE
Note: Fulfills a Science, Nature and Technology with Lab Requirement
This course will cover the special theory of relativity, wave and particle properties of electromagnetic radiation and matter, introduction to quantum mechanics, Schrodinger equation, atomic models, and simple molecules.
Sociology 150 - Great Works in Social Thought
Professor Frank Lechner
Course Time: TuTh 11:20am-12:35 PM ONLINE
Note: Fulfills a History, Society, Cultures General Education Requirement
This course examines a variety of great works in Western social thought, both key texts and selected works of art, from the European Middle Ages to recent decades, to reflect on ideas about individual and society, freedom and equality, and order and progress that shaped modern culture, and thereby to illustrate the thrust of a tradition now being debated.
Environmental Sciences 215 - Great Books of the Geosciences
Professor Anthony Martin
Course Time: MW 9:40am-10:55 AM ONLINE
Note: Fulfills a Continuing Writing Requirement
Geology and paleontology are essential sciences for understanding how the earth, its life, and environments changed through time. This class explores their 18th and 19th century roots by reading, discussing, and writing about books of those times, cultivating an appreciation for their lasting scientific influence.
English 150 - Great Works of Literature: Shakespeare
Professor Sheila Cavanagh
Course Time: MW 9:40am-10:55 AM ONLINE
Note: Fulfills a Humanities, Arts, and Performances General Education Requirement
This course, which serves as part of the Voluntary Core Curriculum, looks at Shakespearean drama from a variety of perspectives. The plays exist as printed texts, as performances and adaptations (live and on screen), and as documents and performances in a wide range of settings around the world. In this class, we will read and view a number of Shakespeare’s plays and will interact with arts practitioners to discuss the lasting influence of these works.
Classics 150 - Masterworks of Classical Literature
Professor Niall Slater
Course Time: TuTh 9:40am-10:55 AM ONLINE
Note: Fulfills a Humanities, Arts, and Performances General Education Requirement
Western literature begins with the songs of Homer. Epic song begets drama, and drama, both tragic and comic, shapes patterns of narrative that flow on into various forms of prose. This course studies masterworks that helped define both classical culture and the imagination — cultural, moral, and literary — of their successors.