Liberal Studies Human Values (Graduate) (LSHV)
LSHV 6000 Utopia and the Future 3 Credits
This interdisciplinary course will seek to understand and analyze human visions of our planet’s future. We will move between history, literature, political theory and cinema to explore contesting visions of Utopia. Philosophers, priests and artists around the globe have long speculated about the nature of the “perfect society,” how to achieve it and where to find it. However, it was an Englishman, Sir Thomas More, who coined the name we all use today in 1516: “utopia”. In the 506 years since More’s book Utopia appeared, changes in human history, including enormous advances in science and technology, the spread of liberal democracy and globalization, the challenges of climate change, and mostly recently the paralyzing shock of global pandemics, have all radically altered the deployment of the word. How can we understand the word in the 21st century? How has it been articulated in non-Western worlds? Particular attention will be paid to feminist works, as well as African-American, Russian and Japanese ones.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6001 The GlobalSouth:Pltcs,Lit,Film 3 Credits
This course looks at the geographical, cultural, and political notion of a "Global South" through the lens of literature and film. The term "Global South" is a geographical reference to regions that have large inequalities in living standards, life expectancy, and access to resources. However, should the Global South just be reduced to a metaphor for underdevelopment and poverty? To answer this question, we will explore the ways in which the Global South, especially its politics, is represented and described in literature and film from regions as diverse as the Caribbean, Africa, South Asia, and Oceania. We will examine whether literary and cinematic representations reinforce, transform, or disrupt notions of a developing Global South. In doing so, we will also consider and interrogate the idea of a “developed” Global North.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6002 Political Theology 3 Credits
There is no question that we are witnessing a revival of political theology as an academic discipline; a theology that has, through the ages, adapted to exigencies like secularization, globalization, religious pluralism, et al. As an academic discipline, political theology addresses questions such as, the relationship between theology and politics; the relationship between Church and State; the role of religion in public life; and, to what extend religious belief might/should shape our political discourse. Introduction to Political Theology is a graduate course that explores the historical roots of political theology, while examining the philosophical, theological, and sociological relationship between religious faith and political life in civil society. Class readings will highlight some of the primary sources that influenced religious and secular practices and the ordering of society through the ages.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
LSHV 6003 Relig Freedom Supr Court 3 Credits
This course examines the intersection/symbiosis/clash of law and religion in the United States from Colonial times through the present, including the most recent Supreme Court decisions. We begin with an examination of the historical antecedents of the two Religion Clauses of the First Amendment -- the anti-establishment clause, which prohibits government action respecting the "establishment" of religion (yet expressly avoids the definition of that term); and the free exercise clause, which proscribes governmental prohibition of the “free exercise” thereof (while expressly avoiding the definition of that term as well). How can we square these two freedoms? And what exactly constitutes "religion"? The Constitution is silent. We must look elsewhere for guidance – elsewhere in the United States Supreme Court.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6004 Ethics, Society in Digital Age 3 Credits
The transformation of social and personal life by computing, internet, and information technologies is now pervasive, raising deep ethical challenges. Who, or what, is really in control? Social media is often anti-social, political speech gets more uncivil, private matters are promptly public, and web browsing lets programs survey and manipulate users' minds. Main topics include the ethics of digital technologies, Big Data and information privacy, freedom of speech and censorship, regulation of social media, disinformation and propaganda, 'ethical hacking' and cybercrime, intellectual property, defending cyberspace, and access for disadvantaged and disability groups.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6006 After Empire: Cul, Pol, Soc 3 Credits
The statue of a 17th-century slave trader, Edward Colston, toppled in Bristol by BLM protesters in the spring of 2020, sparked a global conversation about Britain’s attitudes to race, slavery, identity, empire, and belonging. This has also led to a renewed debate about the moral and ethical underpinnings of British and other European empires as well as highlighted the complex and interconnected legacies that were left behind around the world, from Cape Town to Washington, DC. For example, the impeachment trial of Warren Hastings, the British Governor-General of India, by the House of Lords in the late 18th century was cited as a precedent during the 2021 impeachment deliberations in the United States Senate. In this class, we use an interdisciplinary lens of theoretical readings, literature, and film, along with sources such as historical documents, print media, documentaries, and oral histories to consider the complex cultural, political, and economic legacies of colonialism that continue to shape global societies to this day.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6007 Free Speech and Supreme Court 3 Credits
Free Speech is very much about line-drawing. We are generally agreed that political speech, no matter how heated, is the hallmark of an open society, and highly protected under the First Amendment. We are also generally agreed (per Justice Holmes) that you can't cry fire in a crowded theater when there is no fire; and that child pornography is bereft of any constitutional protection. Those are easy. What about the gray areas, where unfettered speech is a threat to safety, to reputation, to national security, to morality? In pushing the free speech envelope, how far is too far? Where (if at all) should society -- and the Supreme Court -- draw the line? Justice Brandeis, a champion of free speech, noted that "freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth." Justice Jackson, also a proponent, nonetheless cautioned that speech free of reasonable fetter, if unchecked, can lead to anarchy and convert the Bill of Rights "into a suicide pact." Who is right? Or are they all right? When is speech so uncivil that domestic tranquility takes precedence? What is lost and what is gained as a society in resolving these tensions? This course grapples with these issues. Through historical analysis and case study of the leading Supreme Court speech cases from the Founding to the present, we will examine the interplay between speech and censorship, liberty and order; majoritarianism and libertarianism; and the legal, societal and ethical implications of the Supreme Court's First Amendment pronouncements in this volatile, contentious/perpetually vexing area.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
LSHV 6008 Social Brain, Moral Mind 3 Credits
This course examines advances from cultural anthropology, social psychology, moral psychology, and neuroethics that are impacting conceptions of human nature, our proclivity to be social, and our capacity to be moral. The implications of these developments on theories of ethics are explored.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6009 Alienation Self-Identity 3 Credits
In the last two hundred years, Europeans and Americans have frequently used the notion of alienation in conceiving of themselves. In fact, we might characterize these two centuries as a time in which, paradoxically enough, humans’ identity has been integrally linked with being, in some sense, ‘strange.’ The course will attempt to make sense of the many links and tensions between alienation and self-identity -- or strangeness and the self -- by examining strong voices in the development of the contemporary identity. While we will discuss all of the works in class, primary responsibility for composing a theory of the complex relationship between alienation and identity will rest upon the participants in the course. All written assignments will offer opportunities to articulate and develop those theories, as will class discussion and class presentations. The course will culminate in an examination of the artist Lucas Samaras for his modeling of the strange self.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
LSHV 6010 Responsibility, Ethics, Life 3 Credits
The notion of responsibility is a core moral category and cuts across a wide range of practical moral problems. This course will investigate the nature of responsibility in ethics, with attention to its historical meaning in philosophy and theology and the major role it plays in a few key modern figures like Kant, particularly the idea of moral agency and imputation. Relatedly we will explore the role of responsibility in modern theological ethics (Schweiker, Jonas, etc.) and the connections to technology. Then we will explore responsibility in a few key moral areas, including: a) the notion of "professional responsibility" in the professions, b) the notion of "corporate responsibility," c) "responsibility to protect" in human rights and international affairs, d) responsibility for others in the idea of global solidarity, e) responsibility for the environment/climate, and f) responsibility toward integrity in craft and work. Attention will be paid to cross-cultural conceptualizations of responsibility.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6011 The Reflective Professional 1 Credit
The mission of the School of Continuing Studies at Georgetown University is to “deliver a world-class, values-based education to a diverse array of communities and individuals throughout their academic and professional careers” guided by a value of “exemplifying Georgetown’s shared Jesuit values.” But what are these Jesuit values? Why do they matter in your education at Georgetown SCS? And how do you put them into action in your professional lives? These questions feel more urgent today as reflective professional are being called upon in every sector of professional practice to address longstanding barriers to economic and social justice. The pandemic continues to shed a light on these challenges and invites a more generous response from our graduates rooted in our University mission and values.
This popular course, offered annually since 2016 as “Jesuit Values in Professional Practice,” is an interdisciplinary journey into mission-driven leadership and explores the concepts, application, and implications of leadership theory grounded in Jesuit spirituality. The course is open to any degree-seeking SCS student as an open elective and embraces a “whole person” approach to education by including regular personal and communal reflection, presentations by mission-driven leaders at Georgetown and beyond, and direct community service opportunities facilitated by Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice, Research, Teaching & Service. Questions? Reach out to course faculty and SCS Associate Director for Mission Integration, Jamie Kralovec (pjk34@georgetown.edu).
This popular course, offered annually since 2016 as “Jesuit Values in Professional Practice,” is an interdisciplinary journey into mission-driven leadership and explores the concepts, application, and implications of leadership theory grounded in Jesuit spirituality. The course is open to any degree-seeking SCS student as an open elective and embraces a “whole person” approach to education by including regular personal and communal reflection, presentations by mission-driven leaders at Georgetown and beyond, and direct community service opportunities facilitated by Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice, Research, Teaching & Service. Questions? Reach out to course faculty and SCS Associate Director for Mission Integration, Jamie Kralovec (pjk34@georgetown.edu).
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6012 Forbidden Texts 3 Credits
This course is a seminar exploration of forbidden texts, defined broadly, through in-depth examination of texts which were banned at some point, somewhere, in some fashion. The class will analyze each text’s social context, authorship, reasons for censorship or scandal, and historical legacy. Concurrently, we will examine how the scholarly literature has evaluated the works in question; fit them into a historical framework; and constructed various theories as to what constitutes a text worth forbidding. Following analysis of such cases, students should be able to construct a typology of factors which might render a work controversial, and test that typology against an outlined creation of their own.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6013 SCOTUS/Constitution/ShapingUSA 3 Credits
Alexander Hamilton, in making his pitch for ratification of the Constitution, wrote in The Federalist No.78: "Whoever attentively considers the different departments of power must perceive that, in a government in which they are separated from each other, the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them.... It proves incontestably, that the judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power." Hamilton's soothing minimalist assurances notwithstanding, Chief Justice John Marshall proved not only to be a major annoyance to President Jefferson (and Congress, as well as State governors, legislatures and judges); he established the until-then quiescent Supreme Court as a power center. On and on it went. This course takes a contra-Rushmorean approach to the exercise of power in the United States. Tracing the development of the nation through key Supreme Court decisions from Marbury v. Madison to the Fall 2023 Term of the Court that concludes in June 2024, it focuses on the unelected power center at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. Consider: Marshall, not Jefferson, laid the groundwork for the modern American nation by articulating decidedly non-Jeffersonian concepts in Marbury and McCulloch. Earl Warren, not Congress or the President, reinvigorated the Fourteenth Amendment and implemented the Second Reconstruction through Brown v. Board of Education. And Warren Burger toppled a vast criminal enterprise operated out of the Oval Office, saying in essence, the emperor is not clothed in executive privilege Teflon (United States v. Nixon). So much for "the weakest branch." On and on it goes.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6014 Nation-State the Islamic Veil 3 Credits
This course will take a ‘government and international affairs’ approach to examining the geopolitics of the veil in three nation-states, with the primary focus on Turkey. We will examine 1. Secularist rationales for eliminating the veil in nation-states and what it cues to nascent nationalistic groups, 2. The forces of modernity and Westernization in MENA countries, 3. Turkey’s half-European half-Central Asian cultural foci, 4. France’s colonial policies in Algeria and their impact on current events.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6015 Democracy: Theory and Practice 3 Credits
Political philosophers have argued that people always strive for liberty- under just governments. Political historians have figured that democracy's global spread was inevitable. Now pundits talk about democracy's retreat, "illiberal" democracy, and a "post-truth" world. Defining the genuine nature of democracy, setting valid criteria for democratic governing, and ranking countries from most to least democratic, are now more important than ever. We will explore theories of human rights, civil liberties, social justice, and citizen participation to observe their work in practice across a variety of established and newer democracies. What will be democracy's future? The strategies of anti-democratic agendas, domestic and foreign, also compel the question of whether a democracy like the United States can resist misinformation and propaganda more effectively than undemocratic nations.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6016 Treason, Terrorism, Betrayal 3 Credits
This course will employ an interdisciplinary approach to examine the motivations and situations that lead some individuals to pose a threat to U.S. national security. The course will draw on a range of disciplines and approaches including anthropology, psychology (cognitive, cultural, social, forensic), linguistics, narratology, and positioning theory, among others, to gain insight into the decision-making calculus that leads certain individuals to “cross the line”, i.e. to make personal decisions to take actions that will ultimately damage U.S. national security.
The course qualitatively divides threats by individuals to U.S. national security into three categories: treason, terrorism, and betrayal. The first third of the course will focus on individuals who have agreed to work as an agent of a foreign government to provide protected U.S. information damaging to U.S. national security. Various frameworks and analytic approaches that have been used to understand their behavior will be introduced and critiqued.
The second third of the course will focus on terrorism and the analytic attempts to understand the pathways that lead to radicalization and potentially extremist behavior directed at the U.S. by individuals. The final third of the course will focus on betrayal by individuals who have obtained security clearances but have violated their secrecy agreement through the unauthorized release of classified information to the public that endangers U.S. national security.
The course qualitatively divides threats by individuals to U.S. national security into three categories: treason, terrorism, and betrayal. The first third of the course will focus on individuals who have agreed to work as an agent of a foreign government to provide protected U.S. information damaging to U.S. national security. Various frameworks and analytic approaches that have been used to understand their behavior will be introduced and critiqued.
The second third of the course will focus on terrorism and the analytic attempts to understand the pathways that lead to radicalization and potentially extremist behavior directed at the U.S. by individuals. The final third of the course will focus on betrayal by individuals who have obtained security clearances but have violated their secrecy agreement through the unauthorized release of classified information to the public that endangers U.S. national security.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6017 Media/Politics of Natl Sec 3 Credits
This course will examine the interaction between the politics, policy, and the press and US national security. LSHV-350 will provide students the opportunity to study recurrent themes in political debates around defense, foreign policy, and security in the United States; the role of public opinion and media in shaping decisions, policy formation and implementation(and as a tool of US security policy); and how new media affects the national security of the United States.
The first half of the course (weeks 1–6 approx.) will focus primarily on the political institutions and processes around national defense, foreign, and intelligence policy. The second half of the course (weeks 7-13 approx.) will examine evolution in media, its impact on both the political process and national security.
The class will review and discuss the tension and conflict between constitutional, civic, and ethical responsibilities in relation to political ideology and questions of journalistic integrity and professional obligations versus artistic license — all as they relate to US national security.
The first half of the course (weeks 1–6 approx.) will focus primarily on the political institutions and processes around national defense, foreign, and intelligence policy. The second half of the course (weeks 7-13 approx.) will examine evolution in media, its impact on both the political process and national security.
The class will review and discuss the tension and conflict between constitutional, civic, and ethical responsibilities in relation to political ideology and questions of journalistic integrity and professional obligations versus artistic license — all as they relate to US national security.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6018 U.S. Cults:Relig Extrem/Meanin 3 Credits
Religious extremism is a reaction to the perceived chaos and loneliness of modern life, and understanding why people join and how people leave is crucial. This course will take a socio-psychological approach to understanding how cults in America originate, who is attracted to joining, and the legal issues cults generate.
We will explore such issues as:
-Are cults protected under ‘religious liberty’ laws?
-What defines a religion?
-Why are some cults prone to violence?
Is ‘brainwashing’ an actual phenomenon?
-Are cults always ‘bad’?
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6019 Globalization: Path to Present 3 Credits
“The past is the present. It’s the future, too.” Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey into Night
“The exchange and spread of…information, items, and inconveniences, and human responses to them, is what shapes history. What drives history is the human ambition to alter one’s condition to match one’s hopes.” McNeill & McNeill, The Human Web
“The history of interactions among disparate peoples is what shaped the modern world.” Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel
“…a long-term historical perspective does enable us to draw some meaningful conclusions about the past and present and to make educated forecasts for the future.” Robert B. Marks, The Origins of the Modern World
This course is a selective introduction to some of the key issues and main themes of global history. History is a way of learning, and one goal of this course is to promote a better understanding of globalization and its impact on inter-societal relations by taking a broad historical approach.
“The exchange and spread of…information, items, and inconveniences, and human responses to them, is what shapes history. What drives history is the human ambition to alter one’s condition to match one’s hopes.” McNeill & McNeill, The Human Web
“The history of interactions among disparate peoples is what shaped the modern world.” Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel
“…a long-term historical perspective does enable us to draw some meaningful conclusions about the past and present and to make educated forecasts for the future.” Robert B. Marks, The Origins of the Modern World
This course is a selective introduction to some of the key issues and main themes of global history. History is a way of learning, and one goal of this course is to promote a better understanding of globalization and its impact on inter-societal relations by taking a broad historical approach.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6020 Bioethics and Public Health 3 Credits
The protection of public health meets many policy and ethical challenges while prioritizing community welfare. Disasters, epidemics, wars, and other health emergencies place special burdens on health care systems and medical professionals. Biomedical principles help to ensure that patient safety, human rights, and citizen involvement are respected during phases of public preparedness, communication, mobilization, treatment, and recovery. Particular attention is given to clinical ethics, triage ethics, pandemic ethics and vulnerable populations, vaccine and drug trials, research ethics and patient rights, justice in health care distribution, health surveillance, and big data. Many questions at the intersections of public health, medicine, and ethics will be explored: How have technoscience advances in the health sciences exemplified principled values at every stage – from experimental research to translational application? Why must the public carefully consider moral principles that motivate diverse and sometimes opposed convictions about public health programs? Where does the public’s ability to understand health science, and the public’s moral judgments about medicine, play a critical role in the development and deployment of new healthcare technologies? How might government measures to paternalistically protect and improve public health come into conflict with other important values such as liberty, autonomy, and justice? Where can balances be found between maximizing health benefits for a whole population and serving the particular needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and individuals?
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
LSHV 6021 Death, Soul the Afterlife 3 Credits
This course will ask the following simple questions with their not-so-simple answers: What is the larger context into which the ideas of “death” and “the soul” fit? What did the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, among the myriad pagan, polytheistic traditions of antiquity, believe about death, the soul, and an afterlife? How did those beliefs change and not change with the advent of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? How are the beliefs on this subject the same for these three “Abrahamic” traditions and how do they differ from each other? How has such thinking changed and how has it not, in arriving into the “modern“ era?
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
LSHV 6022 Russia Through Western Eyes 3 Credits
This course is grounded in the belief that without knowledge of the past one cannot understand the present. The course is based on a diversity of sources, including fiction, travelogues and variety of professional fields including history, political science, and journalism. Students will examine different and often opposing points of views on Russia’s past, present, and conceivably future. To complement class readings, the class also will view three films.
A key goal of this course is to promote a better understanding of the role of Russia in today’s world by looking at the historical and present-day images of it in order to understand they have affected Russia’s relations with the West. An additional goal of the course is to help students think critically about modern political events in part through drawing on historical precedent. Historical analysis is at its core an examination of cause and effect and change over time. As the historian Robert B. Marks noted in book The Origins of the Modern World, “…a long-term historical perspective does enable us to draw some meaningful conclusions about the past and present and to make educated forecasts for the future.”
A key goal of this course is to promote a better understanding of the role of Russia in today’s world by looking at the historical and present-day images of it in order to understand they have affected Russia’s relations with the West. An additional goal of the course is to help students think critically about modern political events in part through drawing on historical precedent. Historical analysis is at its core an examination of cause and effect and change over time. As the historian Robert B. Marks noted in book The Origins of the Modern World, “…a long-term historical perspective does enable us to draw some meaningful conclusions about the past and present and to make educated forecasts for the future.”
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6023 History of Genocide 3 Credits
This course is a seminar exploration of the modern history of human rights, humanitarianism, and war crimes, conducted through the examination of several cases of mass violence, some of which have come to be labeled “genocide.” The class will first consider genocide in world history, then the rise of “human rights” and humanitarian activism since the 19th-century founding of the Red Cross. The class will then interrogate the evolution of the terms “war crimes” and “genocide,” their technical meaning in international case law, and report the abuse of the term “genocide” to further state and group interests. Following such theoretical orientation, students present the literature covering several outbreaks of systemic violence. During this course we explore how engaged activists, diplomats, and historians think about, analyze, and interpret such violence; discuss the nature of our historical knowledge; and evaluate different theories that ground our views of such violence.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6024 Ethical Decision-Making 3 Credits
This course uses literature and film as case studies to explore the challenges and complexities of making ethical and moral decisions in our working and professional lives. The use of literature and film allows students to examine the nature of moral dilemmas and moral decision-making in real-life situations that are most often ambiguous, involve trade-offs and sacrifices, and are influenced by a multitude of internal and external factors. The class will be open and interactive, including discussion, debate, student presentations, and student sharing of their own personal work experiences that they feel relate to the materials and issues raised.
The particular literary works and films used in this course have been chosen so that they have clear application to the kinds of moral conflicts that arise in work settings such as personal values vs. institutional or enterprise values, loyalty vs. misplaced loyalty, workplace discrimination, whistleblowing, the morality of money, the morality of “selling,” women’s roles and sexual harassment, pressure to conform, and moral courage.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6025 Understandng Terrorsm/Terrorst 3 Credits
This course examines the terrorist threat and government responses. It has been designed in the context of events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, and subsequent actions in response to those attacks.
The course initially considers the international environment from which terrorism emanates and then proceeds to focus on the definitions of terrorism, terrorist group's motivations and tactics, US policies and defensive mechanisms to counter-terrorism, and terrorism's future. Students will develop an understanding of the dynamics of terrorism and counterterrorism.
The course objective is to provide students with a solid foundation upon which further expertise can be developed on an issue that will confront the United States and the international community for the foreseeable future.
The course initially considers the international environment from which terrorism emanates and then proceeds to focus on the definitions of terrorism, terrorist group's motivations and tactics, US policies and defensive mechanisms to counter-terrorism, and terrorism's future. Students will develop an understanding of the dynamics of terrorism and counterterrorism.
The course objective is to provide students with a solid foundation upon which further expertise can be developed on an issue that will confront the United States and the international community for the foreseeable future.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6026 Travel and Pilgrimage 3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6027 Secularism Church/State Rel 3 Credits
This course discusses theories about regulating engagements between religion and politics. Religious organizations and governing powers can benefit from neutral restraints preventing each side from dominating the other. Secularism in principle offers a third option besides the government controlling religion (tyranny) and a religion controlling government (theocracy). A variety of secularisms are surveyed around the world, where types of separations between church from state have developed within different socio-cultural contexts. The experiences of France, the USA, Turkey, Israel, India, and China, along with a selection of additional nations, are represented. Historical, anthropological, sociological, political, philosophical, and theological perspectives contribute to studies of secular institutions adopting religious functions and religions responding to rising secularity. By our time, the civil peace promised by secularism has only been partially realized. Religious adherents can use voting in elections, mobilizing in protests, and even terrorizing violence to get preferential treatment from their governments. Secularist voices can sound intolerant towards all religions and hostile to religious freedoms, thereby threatening rather than defending core democratic values such as individualism, diversity, and pluralism. Re-designed compromises between religious and secularist agendas now require global attention.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6028 Cities on Celluloid 3 Credits
Cinema and cities both offer built environments of seductive experiential richness. There is also a given historical connection between them as products of the same industrial and social transformations. The 21st century has seen the rise of megacities, migrant fragmented communities and global mediascapes. Can existing theoretical frameworks contain new formations from across the globe? What remains of the twentieth century's ideas of the city and its corresponding cinematic visions in films in the 21st century? How does the modern European and North American city correspond to the new megacities of Latin America, Africa and Asia?
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6029 Untangling the Middle East 3 Credits
All too often the problematic of the Middle East is considered from too narrow a viewpoint. Many are the experts and authorities who understand the ins and outs of Arab culture or of Islam or of the Israelis or the Iraqis or the Egyptians. Rarely if ever does one encounter a discussion that encompasses the extraordinary array of complications that interweave each other to yield an answer to the question as to why this is such a difficult region of the world. The intention of this course is to do that: to make accessible to an intelligent reader and auditor that array of complications. As such my intention is to offer a primer: each of the areas encompassed can be studied in greater detail through further discussion or reading.
My goal is not to propose a given solution, in fact, but to explore and explain the problem as a starting point for thinking about solutions. My hope is also to present different issues evenhandedly, from different perspectives, which is a second flaw I find in most presentations of the region: that they are two one-sided, whether obviously or subtly.
My goal is not to propose a given solution, in fact, but to explore and explain the problem as a starting point for thinking about solutions. My hope is also to present different issues evenhandedly, from different perspectives, which is a second flaw I find in most presentations of the region: that they are two one-sided, whether obviously or subtly.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6030 Environ Ethics ClimateJustice 3 Credits
Environmental ethics explores human-nature relationships to question the ecological impact and long-term sustainability of human activities on the planet. Historical, philosophical, sociological, theological, political, and scientific aspects of environmentalism are discussed. Topics include the Anthropocene epoch and human alterations to ecology and climate; environmental matters from economic perspectives; pollution regulation; conservation and wilderness restoration; access to scarce natural resources; poor nations suffering from climate disasters; environmental activism and green movements; animal rights; and genetically modified organisms.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6031 Security and Development 3 Credits
This course will examine a selected set of critical interrelated subjects and current issues that lie at the security-development nexus, from historical-empirical, analytical, policy, and moral perspectives. Consistent with the foregoing LSP goals, the required reading assignments, class discussions, and major research paper(s) seek to foster analytical thinking, comparative study, interdisciplinarity, and humanistic values-based assessments of the nettlesome security-development nexus in global perspective, particularly in developing countries and the related policies pursued by their governments and external actors.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6032 Russian Politics as Culture 3 Credits
In this course, we shall study Russia from 1855-2018 as a traditional society confronted with the challenge of modernity. Our primary source materials will be taken from some of the major works of Russian literature and cinema of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov,
Solzhenitsyn, Pudovkin, and Eisenstein, among others, will provide us with the living material through which we shall trace changes and continuities in Russian society over the last 150 years. In our post-Soviet unit, we shall pay particular attention to the role of Ukraine in the formation of modern Russian self-identity, in view of current events. We will also consider the present-day importance of the 1917 centennial.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6033 Applied Research Methods 3 Credits
Studying and understanding social phenomena requires the ability to understand and conduct rigorous, methodologically sound research as well as proficiency in evaluating the research of others. Learning to think scientifically is a particular skill that will serve students well in thinking critically about the theories they learn throughout their academic careers. How do we know that theories are valid? What evidence can we bring to bear to support or refute them? What are possible alternate explanations for the phenomena we observe?
This course will introduce students to an array of quantitative and qualitative methods in an applied, practical manner. Students will learn the basics of data collection and management, survey methodology, how to use and interpret linear and maximum likelihood statistical models (logit/probit), process tracing, content analysis, basic experimental design for social science, social network analysis, interview and focus group techniques as well as practical and logistical issues of field work. The elements of good research design will also be woven throughout the course.
This course will introduce students to an array of quantitative and qualitative methods in an applied, practical manner. Students will learn the basics of data collection and management, survey methodology, how to use and interpret linear and maximum likelihood statistical models (logit/probit), process tracing, content analysis, basic experimental design for social science, social network analysis, interview and focus group techniques as well as practical and logistical issues of field work. The elements of good research design will also be woven throughout the course.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6034 Sci, Tech and Soc 20th Cent 3 Credits
The development of new scientific advances and novel technologies powerfully interact with the cultural context of moral norms, social institutions, political forces, and legal regulations, which in turn shape the utilization of emerging technosciences. This course examines these engagements during the twentieth century in terms of public understanding of science and technology, ethical viewpoints on important technosciences, and the broader social impacts due to technoscience on global scales.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6035 Religion Politics in the US 3 Credits
The scholarly literature on American political parties is vast. This course examines the major themes and research on the role and contributions of political parties to the maintenance of democracy in the United States. We will survey the parameters of the literature, including the structure and operation of party organization, the role and effects of political parties in government (Executive Branch, Congress, Judiciary), and the origins, stability, and party identification within the American electorate and its effects on political interest, attitudes, and behavior. Topics to be covered in depth include two-party vs. multi-party systems, party polarization (the blue-state/red-state divide), and presidential elections. During the semester, we also will follow events leading up to the 2006 midterm Congressional elections and discuss and analyze all developments surrounding the 2008 presidential elections in light of our readings.DLS and MALS students only.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6036 White Nationalism 3 Credits
Although the Unite the Right rally on August 11 and 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia lies in the past, its repercussions continue to divide the nation. Cries of White Nationalism continue to abound with little agreement on what it actually means, why it erupted when it did, and why it continues to attract such a large following. White Nationalism is not a recent phenomenon. Although the phrase was not commonly used until the early 1950s, its roots lie far deeper in the nation’s past. This course begins by examining the financial, social, and cultural conditions commonly associated with the movement today. But it then delves into its roots in such topics as American exceptionalism; what it means to be a nation founded on an idea, versus “blood lines”; the nation’s often contradictory responses to being seen as a nation of immigrants; its “scientific” defense in the eugenics movement in the early decades of the twentieth century; Americans’ persistent insistence on identifying the “other,” which has served to inform the very definition of what it is to be an American; and a comparative study of White Nationalism as it exists in other parts of the world. White Nationalism has been defined as a type of nationalism, which seeks to develop, or to maintain, a white racial and national identity. However, what white racial and national identity means has never been entirely clear. White Nationalists generally avoid the term “white supremacy,” as they believe it too narrowly focuses their agenda, which includes a range of groups and ideologies. As a result, to best understand White Nationalism the word “white” needs to be addressed literally and figuratively and, at times, even as a metaphor. It includes white supremacy, but although there is considerable overlap, they are not the same. As this course will show, there is much more to the story.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6037 Truth and Authenticity 3 Credits
What we think affects how we see, and what we see affects what we believe. This course examines visual veracity and how images and the presentation of information impact our conceptions of truth, reality, and authenticity. Whether it is a fake object inserted into the art historical record, a fake social media profile intended to deceive, or fake news created to sway public opinion, the resulting attack on what we believe to be real can be devastating. Students will examine and compare empirical approaches in the behavioral and cognitive sciences that aid in opinion formation and decision-making, explaining our gullibility to misinformation, capacity for groupthink, and knowledge acquisition. We will explore social theories of cognition and why we tend to think we know more than we do, and how this belief can be manipulated. This course also explores why we are so easily deceived. Students will review empirical research and hear case studies from industry-leading guest speakers that provide explanations for these phenomena as they relate to arts and culture, religion, politics and democracy, health outcomes, and our self-knowledge. Students will
gain familiarity with Deep Fakes and how synthetic media and accompanying misinformation have emerged into a destructive political and social force. Lastly, the course will explore some of the efforts to combat our broken information ecosystem, driven largely by images and video that make it nearly impossible to tell what is real and what isn’t.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Students in the DLS-LIST program may not enroll.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Master of Arts Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 6038 The Human Condition 3 Credits
What makes us human? How much of this is a part of our “nature” (e.g., biological hardware, chemistry, and physiological changes) and how much of it is due to how we are nurtured (our socialization, cultures, and social interactions)? This course explores some of the most central aspects of the human condition and asks, “What makes us tick?” The class explores competing paradigms derived from a combination of studies and research from biology, medicine, psychology, sociology, economics, anthropology, archaeology, and historical observation. The structure of the course is inspired by the concept of a “hierarchy of needs”—beginning with essential “lower order” aspects of the human condition moving up toward the problems and issues that are more often the focus of life once the essentials of life have been obtained. The course challenges the notion that 21st century human beings are all that different from those that existed in 100, 1,000, or even 10,000 years ago. It also seeks to understand how human behavior can vary so much across cultures now. Reading material for the course also includes a combination of original source excerpts from the world’s religious and legal texts, and philosophers and scientists such as John Locke, René Descartes, B.F. Skinner, John Watson, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Adam Smith, Sun Tzu, Niccolò Machiavelli, Edward O. Wilson. Lecture and the course readings are supplemented with suggested journal articles including current research as well as multimedia excerpts on each week’s topics.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LSHV 6039 Axial Age Philosophy Theo 3 Credits
The “Axial Age” from c.1100 BC to 400 BC witnessed the origins of most of the world’s great religions and philosophies from Europe and the Middle East to India and China. Monotheistic, transcendental, and nature religions arose and competed with idealistic, materialistic, and ethical philosophies. Reading their foundational texts of wisdom about God, creation, human nature, the good life, and the civic order will provide a comparative survey of philosophy and theology.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
LSHV 6040 Democracy and Secularism 3 Credits
Democracy’s global dominance once seemed inevitable and irreversible. Presently we observe democracy’s retreat, “illiberal” democracy, and a “post truth” world. Defining democracy, setting criteria for democratic constitutions and governance, and ranking countries from most to least democratic, are urgent academic agendas. We will explore human rights, civil liberties, social justice, religious freedom, and citizen participation to observe how they work in practice for established and newer democracies. Are religions promoting or eroding democracy today? Secularism in principle offers a third option besides the government controlling religion (tyranny) and a religion controlling government (theocracy). Different types of secular separation between church and state have developed in different socio-cultural contexts. The experiences of France, USA, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, India, and China, along with a selection of additional nations, are represented.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6041 Utopia-Dystopia: Surveil/Cntrl 3 Credits
Variously imagined in works as disparate as Gilgamesh, Plato’s Republic, and Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, utopias are ultimately political visions. Though formally introduced as a term in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1551), the vision of a society where “all is well” and yet is “no place” has been revisited, reimagined, and inverted in hundreds of works of literature and film. Through primary and secondary texts, this course examines the philosophical, religious, political, cultural/historical underpinnings of the utopian vision and, conversely, the dystopian revision. The course will engage works such as Plato’s Republic and Laws, More’s Utopia, Hobbes’s Leviathan, Andreae’s Christianopolis, Bellamy’s Looking Backward, Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (and the Hulu miniseries), and Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia, among others. Dystopias feature surveillance and control of individuals through political, corporate, bureaucratic, technological, and sometimes philosophical or religious systems. Propelling the course are fundamental questions: What is the good society (and how to achieve it)? What accounts for the widespread popularity of dystopic literature, film, and television? How does a book like Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four become embraced and weaponized today by conservatives and liberals alike? Where does social media fit on the utopian-dystopian scale? Whose facts? What facts? How does democracy survive in a world of “alternative facts”? In this class we will research such questions using interdisciplinary approaches that borrow from critical theory, philosophy, literature, and film, along with historical records and Internet data, among other sources.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6042 Russian Disinformation 3 Credits
This course blends theory with real-world events to examine the ethical obligations of the executive branch to counter foreign-backed disinformation circulating in the homeland. Core questions will be asked such as where is the line between government overreach, and not doing enough? Should the executive branch be involved? How can the executive branch interject itself into American speech and still maintain legitimacy? The class will study the philosophy behind foundational liberal democratic underpinnings like the social contract, trust, and legitimacy and then see the influence of national events on their application. To gain insights, the class will apply how ethics should guide outcomes and then juxtapose it against the reality of a hyper-polarized environment.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the DLS-LIST or MALS-LIST programs.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6043 Science and Human Nature 3 Credits
The natural sciences and social sciences have constructed theories of nature and conceptions of human nature. If our species is entirely natural then physics, ecology, evolutionary biology, and physiology may determine what human beings basically are, and which features define our humanity. Building from that anthropological definition, sociology and psychology try to explain human drives, behaviors, relationships, and cultures with theories yielding insights into our values, ethics, laws, and politics. Are we really so easily categorizable and predictable? We still think of ourselves in non-natural ways, such as beliefs about conscious choice, free will, moral responsibility, and spirituality. Today, genetic engineering, neurotechnology, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence are changing what it means to be human, and how to become more than human. At the same time, leaving human nature in the hands of technoscience could be impeding progress towards liberation, equality, and justice. Satisfies the science and society MALS course.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
LSHV 6044 History of Witch-Hunts in U.S. 3 Credits
As proposed in the nation’s Declaration of Independence, “government by the people” was built on the premise that the people could be trusted to govern in a free and open society. Underscoring that premise was the belief that such a nation had a special destiny that could only be defeated by internal corruption. The fear of such an “enemy within” arrived with the first settlers and has persisted in the nation’s history in “witch-hunts” once focused on those actually believed to be witches, but that have continued long after we – or at least most of us – have ceased to believe in witches. The ever popular, and often misunderstood, Salem witch trials, will serve as a case study, but the course will begin centuries earlier and continue down to the present time. In each case, common themes will be identified, and lessons drawn, as to causes and effects of witch-hunts that continue to threaten the premises on which the nation was founded.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies department.
LSHV 6045 Religion and Conflict 3 Credits
Religious terrorism is on the rise. Even a cursory glance at world affairs will show that religion and politics is at the heart of today’s ongoing struggle between nations and ideology. Religion may be a motivator and catalyst in rallying popular support for waging war, and in fact may play a significant role in nurturing communal strife among various faith groups in their struggle to achieve governmental control. This course is designed to acquaint students with the analytical study of religion, politics, conflict and religious terrorism on the world stage. By design, the course is interdisciplinary, covering areas in religion (theology/philosophy), sociology (ethno-religious & identity conflicts), ethics and politics. Students will have an opportunity to focus on one or more of these areas for their semester paper. This course will help students comprehend the global resurgence of religion in intra-state and international affairs, and will focus on specific areas in the world where religion is the primary issue. Through classroom lecture and discussion, reading assignments, media and student presentations, we will address the role religion and politics play in various global conflicts, the determination of whether religion is the basis of a given conflict, and possible resolutions to these conflicts.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
LSHV 6046 AI and Transhumanism 3 Credits
Transhumanism is the belief that technology can allow us to improve, enhance and overcome the limits of our biology. More specifically, transhumanists believe that by merging man and machine via biotechnology, molecular nanotechnologies and artificial super intelligence, one day science will yield humans that have increased cognitive abilities, are physically stronger, emotionally more stable and have indefinite life-spans. This path, they say, will eventually lead to "posthuman" intelligent (augmented) beings far superior to man - a near embodiment of god. This course is intended to give students an overview of a number of hot topics at the intersection of technical, scientific, ethical and religious debates in our society. Specifically, by the end of this course, students should be able to understand the major facts about the accelerated development of scientific concepts and technologies.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the DLS-LIST or MALS-LIST programs.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies department.
LSHV 6047 Theory, Culture Society 3 Credits
In this course, we will examine significant theoretical texts which focus on subjects of nationalism, orientalism, colonialism, globalization, democracy, liberalism, identity, ideology, race, class, and gender. Spanning across historical moments as well as geographic spaces, we will look at how these topics have been shaped and reshaped in time and in different contexts. Using an interdisciplinary lens, we will begin by reading excerpts from seminal texts by Enlightenment and nineteenth-century thinkers such as Kant, Descartes, Voltaire, Locke, Adam Smith, Rousseau, Marx and Engels. We will then examine selected writings by Foucault, Said, Benedict Anderson, Fanon, and Césaire along with other major 20th- and 21st-century cultural theorists and writers, in particular from the Global South, who have fashioned the way we think about power, culture, politics, and society. We will also ask and answer the all-important question, “Why theory?” by applying what we read to a diverse and varied range of cultural and political (con)texts.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the DLS-LIST or MALS-LIST programs.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6048 Neuroethics and Society 3 Credits
The brain sciences are changing our minds, materially as well as intellectually. Vast social impacts are already arriving. Brain scanning is mapping the mind’s cognitive areas, and starting to read our thoughts. Brain stimulation is changing how consciousness and thinking perform their mental tasks. Neurointerfacing is connecting computing with thinking to control prosthetics and engage the internet. Neuroenhancements offer brain boosts and faster learning, and maybe better decisions. Are we ready for re-thinking what we think the mind is? Are we prepared to alter or abandon traditional views about free will, agency, character, and moral responsibility? This course addresses issues, questions, and problems of neuroscience and technology addressed by the growing field of neuroethics. Key ethical concerns arriving with such neuroscientific and neurotechnological progress will be examined as the 21st century continues to astonish us with innovations in brain science. Along the way, a new paradigm for neuroethical principles to guide research and implementation will be presented.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6049 New Physics for Psych/Theology 3 Credits
Newtonian Physics has governed scientific discourse for the last 300 years, and is still valid and important at the macro level. But Newtonian Physics has always been seen as incomplete or inadequate in that it was deterministic, and left no room for the human experience of free will, or for God's actions within the world, the universe, the multiverse. This began to change at the beginning of the last century with the work of Thompson, Rutherford, and Bohr leading to the understanding of atomic structure, beginning with protons, neutrons, and especially electrons but continuing with seemingly endless demonstrations leading to "zoo" of subatomic particles. It is at the sub-atomic level that Newtonian Physics breaks down, leading to the rapidly growing field of Quantum mechanics to explain what can be known and understood about the interactions of these subatomic realities. At this level we now know that what we call "matter" exists simultaneously in two forms, particles and waves. It is at this level that the "behaviors' of the components of all that we think of as matter seem to exercise independence and freedom. At this level we can only speak of probabilities not certitude. This independence and freedom within all that is real accordingly re-opens within the sciences space for legitimate explorations into the nature of life, consciousness and free will, as well as God's activity within material existence. Explorations include even new understandings of what life after death might mean.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the DLS-LIST or MALS-LIST programs.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6050 Emotions and Senses 3 Credits
From raging kings and cursing monks in medieval Europe to ‘being cool’ in twentieth century America, to FOMO in the present day, scholars in psychology, history, anthropology, sociology and other disciplines are increasingly aware that emotions differ across cultures and over time. Intriguingly, this realization quickly followed the emergence of a similar realization about the historical and cultural particularities of the supposedly ‘natural’ five senses. This seminar explores scholarship from emotions studies and sensory studies from a range of world regions and time periods in order to explore the contingent nature of the range of experiences we associate with the English words “sensing” and “feeling.” How and why are new ways of feeling invented in particular contexts? What is the relationship between emotional norms, sensory experiences, and political power, gender, religious practice, or consumer habits? Are emotions really what make us human or do we share that capacity with other creatures? Can trees feel pain? How might knowledge of emotional and sensorial regimes contribute to the crafting of fiscal or immigration policies or the delivery of mental health care? Each of these questions requires us to confront deeper epistemological and philosophical questions about the relationship between the mind & the body, the individual & society, biology & culture. The class will consider scholarship by historians, psychologists, neuroscientists and cognitive scientists, linguists, anthropologists and others to explore the often quite fraught relationship between an individual’s biological capacity to feel and the social contexts that shape the expression of that capacity.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies or Master of Arts Liberal Studies degrees.
LSHV 6051 Antisemitism: Antiq to Today 3 Credits
This course offers a cultural, global history of antisemitism from antiquity to the present. Antisemitism is a remarkably resilient form of hatred that has survived across the centuries. Indeed, the fear and animosity toward Jews that we call antisemitism is the oldest continuous global tradition of hatred for any single group. In this course, we will explore antisemitism across a range of different time periods and countries with attention to varying political, social, economic, religious, and cultural contexts. We begin with negative images of Jews in the pre-Christian Hellenistic world and follow anti-Jewish beliefs and sentiment as they evolve through Christian anti-Judaism to modern, racial antisemitism and finally, 20th and 21st century anti-Zionism and the recent upsurge in antisemitism during the last few years. The purpose of this course is to understand antisemitism as a complex, ever evolving yet stubbornly resilient form of hatred that acts as a kind of social thermometer and a useful index of the health of society, revealing the serious moral disturbance and illness of a society. We will read a variety of primary and secondary sources and will also study several cases of antisemitic scapegoating and persecution, including the Dreyfus Affair, the lynching of Leo Frank, and the Beilis Affair. By studying antisemitism across time and a number of different nations and cultures, students will gain an understanding of (1) how Jews have repeatedly struggled to survive, withstand, and overcome prejudice and hate and (2) how Jews have tried to balance their desire to pursue successful lives and acculturate to the dominant Christian cultures of their homelands while preserving their culture, religion, language, and social practices. Students will also learn to use their insights into the causes of and reactions to antisemitism to better understand other forms of racism, bigotry, and prejudice, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the DLS-LIST or MALS-LIST programs.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6052 Epic Poetry: Greek/Roman Trad 3 Credits
The purpose of this course is threefold. Our first goal is to enjoy three of the more sublime works in the Western literary canon: the two surviving Greek epic poems that illuminate aspects of the Trojan War—the Iliad and the Odyssey—and the primary Roman epic poem, the Aeneid, that is modeled in large part on a combination of these Greek models. Our second goal will be to use these three poems as a stepping-off point for a consideration of some of the differences between Greek and Roman culture and thought: what sorts of issues, ideas, and qualities distinguished these two worlds from each other, and which features were endemic to them both? Our third goal will be to place the three poems in the larger context of epic (and lyric) poetry in the Western tradition with a brief exploration and discussion of other works that precede the Iliad and Odyssey, follow these poems but precede the Aeneid and follow the Aeneid—down to our own time.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the DLS-LIST or MALS-LIST programs.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6053 Intersect of Sci, Phil, Theo 3 Credits
This course highlights the dynamic evolution of scientific thought, its philosophical foundations, and the crucial interplay with theological perspectives. The relationship between science and the Catholic Church throughout history is a complex tapestry woven with conflict, coexistence, and collaboration. This course will focus mostly on relevant developments and events in Western Europe (where modern science began) and will trace this evolving relationship, revealing how each period’s scientific advancements and philosophical insights interacted with theological doctrines. The intricate tapestry of the relationship between science and the Catholic Church is woven with periods of conflict, coexistence, and collaboration, reflecting the evolving dynamics of human understanding. This course delves into how philosophical insights and scientific advancements have historically interacted with theological doctrines, influencing and shaping each other from antiquity through the modern era.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the DLS-LIST or MALS-LIST programs.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6054 Science, Society and AI 3 Credits
The modern history of science and technological discoveries to the present are surveyed, to track methods of empirical inquiry and examine major impacts of theories on the understanding of humans, our capabilities, and our interactions with each other and the world. Through standpoints from science, innovations in technosciences, and
incorporations of artificial intelligence into our capabilities, it is possible to reimagine and reinterpret how we experience life and engage with the social world. Scientific advances powerfully interact with the cultural context of moral norms, social institutions, political forces, and legal regulations, which in turn shape the utilization of emerging technosciences. This course examines these engagements from the 1940s to the present day and into the near-future. The course emphasizes the public understanding of science
and technology, the growing role of AI in academic and professional fields, ethical viewpoints on technosciences, and broader social impacts due to technoscience on global scales.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6055 Culture of Conspiracy in Amer 3 Credits
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the MALS-LIST program.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6056 Sci, Evol, Impact on Society 3 Credits
Science, Evolution and Impacts on Society
In this course, students will focus on the scientific method and analyze scientific research that assesses how evolutionary and environmental factors impact humans and other living organisms today. Students will also learn anatomy and genetics as it relates to the material.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 6057 Soil to Society 3 Credits
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 6058 Philosophy Ethics of Warfare 3 Credits
This course explores the philosophical foundations and ethical issues inherent to the development, engagement, and deterrence of biological warfare. Biological warfare, defined as the weaponization of pathogens, toxins, or biotechnological tools to cause harm, raises profound questions about morality, international law, and the boundaries of science. Students will critically examine the history of biological warfare, from ancient uses of disease as a weapon to modern concerns involving gene editing, synthetic biology, neurocognitive techniques and tools, and dual-use research of concern (DURC).
Central to the course is the philosophical interrogation of what it means to weaponize life itself. Lectures will discuss just war theory, deontological and utilitarian ethics, virtue ethics, and cosmopolitan approaches to human security. Students will query whether biological warfare can be morally justified, and how nations should respond to adversaries who might pursue it. The course also emphasizes contemporary challenges, such as activities of proxy and non-state actors, and the risks of emerging technologies that blur the line between medicine and weaponry. Students will write policy briefs, and develop frameworks for ethical decision-making that consider both national security imperatives and global humanitarian concerns.
Restrictions: INCLUDE - Graduate level; School of Continuing Studies college; MA in Liberal Studies degree and Doctor of Liberal Studies degree
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LSHV 6059 The Idea of America 3 Credits
The United States has been described as a nation founded on an idea, making it unique from other countries. The “idea” is commonly traced to the Declaration of Independence, considered the defining statement of our national identity and the moral statement by which we live as a nation. With the approaching 250th anniversary in July 2026 setting the stage, the purpose of this course is to identify the ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence, their origin, their evolution, their expression in the Declaration, and their fate in the years following independence. Attention will be paid not only to the unfolding narrative of this critical period in our history, but also to the seminal documents and interpretations that contribute to our understanding of the ideas in the Declaration of Independence.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 7000 MALS FND: Science and Society 3 Credits
The history of science and its ongoing discoveries are surveyed, to track methods of empirical inquiry and examine the major impacts of scientific theories on the understanding of humans, our capabilities, and our interactions with each other and the world. Scientific and humanistic perspectives on being human, and on trying to be more human, are often deeply divergent. Yet the methods of scientific inquiry are as cognitively and creatively human as any endeavor we undertake, for better comprehending our humanity and our place in the world. Through the standpoint of science, and innovations in technosciences, it is possible to reimagine and reinterpret how we experience life and engage with the social world. Scientific advances powerfully interact with the cultural context of moral norms, social institutions, political forces, and legal regulations, which in turn shape the utilization of emerging technosciences. This course examines these engagements from the 1940s to the present day and into the perceivable near future. The course emphasizes the public understanding of science and technology, ethical viewpoints on important technosciences, and broader social impacts due to technoscience on a global scale.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the MALS-LIST program.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 7001 MALS FND: Norms and Ethics 3 Credits
“Norms and Ethics,” as an MALS foundational course, is intended to “examine basic methods and issues around moral and ethical concerns and enduring challenges of the human pursuit of the good life across cultures” (as defined on the “Curriculum” webpage). The course aims to equip students with intellectual and critical skills utilized across the curriculum. This course examines ethics, human inquiry that investigates the nature of the moral life, norms of right and wrong individual behavior and institutional structures, and the nature of human goods. Most fundamentally, ethics is a way of life—disciplined inquiry into some of the most basic modes of thought and action. Ethics is not mere puritanical counting up “dos” and “don’ts” but about how we shape our actions and behaviors in light of our most basic values, hopes, and goods. We will focus on these issues through a historical and theoretical examination of the major developments in ethics in the Western tradition and by thinking about norms and ethics framed by various concepts (e.g. justice) and areas of application (e.g. political institutions). We will consider comparative analysis, both its possibilities and limits. Religious and philosophical sources will be explored. Coupled with our historical examination of the core ethical traditions, we will explore their application in contemporary situations—personal relationships and individual lives, the workplace, professional settings, healthcare and bio-ethics, the environment, the military, politics, and business.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 7002 MALS FND: Social Sciences 3 Credits
This is one of four required foundational courses (humanities, social sciences, science & society, and norms & ethics) offered by the LSP to facilitate graduate-level interdisciplinary study and research throughout the MALS curriculum. They aim to improve your analytical, research, and writing skills so you can realize the full potential of your learning experience throughout the program. They provide a solid intellectual foundation for your elective courses; enhance your ability to conduct research on important issues treated in your other courses; and prepare you for success in your capstone thesis project.
This Social Sciences course will first, through assigned and self-selected readings and projects, provide a solid understanding of, and practical experience in, interdisciplinary studies and research methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative. It will examine the relationships between and among the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, with regard to both their subject matter and underlying theories. Focusing directly on anthropology, history, economics, psychology, sociology, and political science/international relations, it will explore their distinctive concepts and theories, and how their scholarly practitioners advance interdisciplinary theory and research. Finally, throughout the course we will reflect on how the humanities/social sciences/natural sciences implicate and engage issues of values, norms and ethics.
This Social Sciences course will first, through assigned and self-selected readings and projects, provide a solid understanding of, and practical experience in, interdisciplinary studies and research methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative. It will examine the relationships between and among the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, with regard to both their subject matter and underlying theories. Focusing directly on anthropology, history, economics, psychology, sociology, and political science/international relations, it will explore their distinctive concepts and theories, and how their scholarly practitioners advance interdisciplinary theory and research. Finally, throughout the course we will reflect on how the humanities/social sciences/natural sciences implicate and engage issues of values, norms and ethics.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies, Liberal Studies or Liberal Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 7003 MALS FND: Humanities 3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 7940 MALS Independent Study 1-3 Credits
This course is for MALS students only and requires department approval.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the MALS-LIST program.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 7949 Tutorial: Liberal Studies 1-4 Credits
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
LSHV 7990 MALS Thesis Proposal 3 Credits
During the MALS Thesis Proposal course, students work directly with the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies faculty director to produce an annotated bibliography (including the state of the question and the 20 most important works on the topic) and thesis statement, which prepare students for thesis writing in the subsequent semester. Students are expected to attend all class sessions, meetings with the University librarians for research consultations and any additional meetings determined by the faculty director.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 7991 MALS Thesis Writing 3 Credits
The MALS Thesis Writing course must be taken upon completion of the MALS Thesis Proposal course (LSHV 800) in the subsequent fall or spring semester and is the final curricular requirement for the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies degree. In the MALS Thesis Writing course, students will work directly with their appointed thesis mentor to produce a master’s thesis and participate in a thesis defense. Students are expected to work directly with their thesis mentor and library representatives to actively write and produce the thesis argument. At the commencement of the thesis writing semester, students will develop milestones in consultation with the thesis mentor to ensure consistent progress.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
LSHV 7992 MALS Continuous Reg. (HT)
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 7993 MALS Thesis Prop. Wksp. (HT)
Effective Fall 2013, (a) this course will carry an automatic program fee of $500, (b) may only be taken once after receiving an "Incomplete" in Thesis Writing, and (c) has been re-numbered from 991/992.
If students do not complete Thesis Writing, s/he must register in the next semester in "MALS Thesis Continuous Registration I" which carries a $500 fee charge, is 0-credits and is part-time status. Students may take "MALS Thesis Continuous Reg. I" only once. If the student decides to withdraw from Thesis Writing before the deadline, s/he can pursue the 36-cr./Coursework degree plan.
No exceptions will be considered.
If students do not complete Thesis Writing, s/he must register in the next semester in "MALS Thesis Continuous Registration I" which carries a $500 fee charge, is 0-credits and is part-time status. Students may take "MALS Thesis Continuous Reg. I" only once. If the student decides to withdraw from Thesis Writing before the deadline, s/he can pursue the 36-cr./Coursework degree plan.
No exceptions will be considered.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Pass/Fail Default
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Master of Arts Liberal Studies degree.
Enrollment limited to students in the School of Continuing Studies college.
LSHV 7994 MALS Thesis Writing (HT) 3 Credits
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Master of Arts Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 8000 DLS Foundational 1 3 Credits
This course introduces the student to the history, rationale, and focus of graduate Liberal Studies as a doctoral field. It provides a framework for the entering doctoral student in terms of establishing the foundations and interdisciplinary focus of graduate work in the field. There are three stages to the course. (1) It begins with a broad overview of the pre-modern Western tradition, with guest lectures and readings from the classical to the early modern eras, designed to provide historical context for the emergence of modernity in the Western tradition. (2) In the second part, the emphasis shifts to methodology and research as a way of preparing the entering doctoral student for graduate Liberal Studies at Georgetown University. Readings and additional guest lectures help the student develop a fuller sense of how particular disciplines function within the context of interdisciplinary analysis. (3) The final section of the course involves an in-class workshop on research methods and then a final set of round table student presentations on their research topics for the term paper. The research topic will be chosen, in consultation with the professor, so the student can explore some aspect of his/her stated area of interest for the D.L.S
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 8001 DLS Foundational 2 3 Credits
This seminar examines cross-cultural thinking about the nature of knowledge. In Western philosophical terminology, this is a matter of epistemology, which determines the methods and criteria for attaining reliable knowing. In turn, epistemology is significantly determined by ontological assumptions or the determination of what actually exists when one gets beyond mere appearances to view the world correctly. A comparative examination reveals very different ways cultures have approached the nature of knowledge, revealing that there are different ways of defining it. We will explore these different ways of framing knowledge through Western and East Asian Daoist and Buddhist sources. The first half of the course lays out fundamental differences between them, particularly as applied to the realms of social theory, aesthetics, and theories of personhood. The second half of the course looks at how these comparative epistemological traditions play out in the contemporary debate about religion and science, and whether or not they are compatible. This examination triangulates between the voices of Christian theology, contemporary Western philosophy, and Buddhism.
,br> The examination of two different cultural approaches does not presume a neat division between them. Rather, comparison brings out innate tensions within Western tradition itself, which the perspective of a different cultural system helps to highlight. For that reason, comparative study enables greater understanding of one’s home tradition, in addition to expanding one’s knowledge base.
,br> The examination of two different cultural approaches does not presume a neat division between them. Rather, comparison brings out innate tensions within Western tradition itself, which the perspective of a different cultural system helps to highlight. For that reason, comparative study enables greater understanding of one’s home tradition, in addition to expanding one’s knowledge base.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 8002 DLS Foundational 3 3 Credits
Students in the DLS program are joining a centuries-long series of conversations and heated debates concerning the deceptively simple questions that lie at the heart of Liberal Studies, philosophical inquiry, and human values: How do we know? How do we make meaning out of the world and experience? How do we represent reality? How do we interpret reality? How do we form and rewrite traditions of knowledge, language, and power? What does it mean to live a good life?
In the third DLS core course, “Reading through Time” students will continue to explore how these questions have been posed and answers have been attempted in pre-modern, modern, and postmodern critical contexts, in which positivist, humanist outlooks upon the world have radically shifted to deconstruction and “posthuman” perspectives. We will explore these questions through a series of paired readings in fiction and critical theory, divided into interrelated thematic units. Our readings will focus on works that question and rewrite master narratives, and explore the nature of subjectivity, the limits of self and others, and history and fiction. At the end of the semester, students will be familiar with some of the major currents in critical theory.
In the third DLS core course, “Reading through Time” students will continue to explore how these questions have been posed and answers have been attempted in pre-modern, modern, and postmodern critical contexts, in which positivist, humanist outlooks upon the world have radically shifted to deconstruction and “posthuman” perspectives. We will explore these questions through a series of paired readings in fiction and critical theory, divided into interrelated thematic units. Our readings will focus on works that question and rewrite master narratives, and explore the nature of subjectivity, the limits of self and others, and history and fiction. At the end of the semester, students will be familiar with some of the major currents in critical theory.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 8003 DLS Foundational 4 3 Credits
Understanding the philosophical basis and ethical responsibilities of research are critical to developing an appreciation for the tenor, methods and conduct of scholarly investigation. What is a hypothesis? What is a thesis? What is a theory, and how do we know that theories are valid? What evidence can we bring to bear to support or refute them? What are possible alternate explanations for the phenomena we observe? And fundamentally how is research engaged in ways that are technically right and morally “good”?
This course will introduce students to the basic philosophy of research as a scientific endeavor, and will ground the methods and conduct of such enterprise to an understanding of its apt effort as a human “good”. Concepts of inquiry, investigation and formal analyses will be discussed. Constructs of validity, reliability and value will be addressed. Obligate elements of responsible conduct of research will be detailed, and key ethico-legal issues and problems – and their avoidance and resolution will be provided.
This course will introduce students to the basic philosophy of research as a scientific endeavor, and will ground the methods and conduct of such enterprise to an understanding of its apt effort as a human “good”. Concepts of inquiry, investigation and formal analyses will be discussed. Constructs of validity, reliability and value will be addressed. Obligate elements of responsible conduct of research will be detailed, and key ethico-legal issues and problems – and their avoidance and resolution will be provided.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 8999 DLS Directed Reading 3 Credits
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.
Students in the School of Continuing Studies college may not enroll.
LSHV 9992 MALS Thesis Continuous Reg
Effective Fall 2013, (a) this course will carry an automatic program fee of $500, (b) may only be taken once after receiving an "Incomplete" in Thesis Writing, and (c) has been re-numbered from 991/992.
If students do not complete Thesis Writing when registered for that course (LSHV-499 or LSHV-899) or in their first semester of "MALS Thesis Continuous Registration I" s/he must register in the next semester in "MALS Thesis Continuous Registration II" which carries a $500 fee charge, is 0-credits and is part-time status. Students may take "MALS Thesis Continuous Reg. II" only once.
Thesis writing students can only take Continuous Registration twice before being required written approval for a third and final semester of Continuous Registration. If the student does not receive approval for a third semester of Continuous Registration, or fails to complete the thesis in the third semester of Continuous Registration, s/he must decide to either (a) withdraw from Thesis Writing without a tuition refund or (b) receive a final "F" grade and degree candidacy will automatically be terminated.
If the student decides to withdraw from Thesis Writing before the deadline, s/he can pursue the 36-cr./Coursework degree plan.
No exceptions will be considered.
If students do not complete Thesis Writing when registered for that course (LSHV-499 or LSHV-899) or in their first semester of "MALS Thesis Continuous Registration I" s/he must register in the next semester in "MALS Thesis Continuous Registration II" which carries a $500 fee charge, is 0-credits and is part-time status. Students may take "MALS Thesis Continuous Reg. II" only once.
Thesis writing students can only take Continuous Registration twice before being required written approval for a third and final semester of Continuous Registration. If the student does not receive approval for a third semester of Continuous Registration, or fails to complete the thesis in the third semester of Continuous Registration, s/he must decide to either (a) withdraw from Thesis Writing without a tuition refund or (b) receive a final "F" grade and degree candidacy will automatically be terminated.
If the student decides to withdraw from Thesis Writing before the deadline, s/he can pursue the 36-cr./Coursework degree plan.
No exceptions will be considered.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Master of Arts Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 9993 MALS Continuous Reg. I
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 9994 MALS Continuous Reg
Level: Graduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 9997 DLS Qualifying Exam
This section of DLS Qualifying Exam Prep is intended for students who have enrolled in the program primarily on a part-time basis (3-6 credits per semester) and who intend to complete their DLS Qualifying Exam at a similar pace. This section counts as Half-Time Status.
Notes: DLS students only. 36 hrs completed. Student provides exam checklist to Asst. Dean by Sept. 15th. Course certifies half-time status Repeatable course Fall and Spring terms with DLS Director approval
Notes: DLS students only. 36 hrs completed. Student provides exam checklist to Asst. Dean by Sept. 15th. Course certifies half-time status Repeatable course Fall and Spring terms with DLS Director approval
Level: Graduate
Grading: Pass/Fail Default
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 9998 DLS Thesis Proposal
After completing the DLS Qualifying Exams (LSHV 990), students are required to register for DLS Thesis Proposal (LSHV 995) before moving on to DLS Thesis Writing (LSHV 996) the following semester.
Level: Graduate
Prerequisites: (LSHV 990 or LSHV 9997) or LSHV 993
Grading: Pass/Fail Default
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.
LSHV 9999 DLS Thesis Writing
The Doctor of Liberal Studies thesis is expected to demonstrate a level of competence and academic rigor in the field of interdisciplinary studies comparable to, though distinct from, the equivalent level of competence and rigor expected in a Ph.D. thesis in a disciplinary field. Topics are limited to the liberal arts and social sciences and must be approved by the DLS Director. The Doctoral Thesis represents the creative synthesis of primary sources and secondary materials. Students must follow the Graduate Liberal Studies Guidelines for Thesis Writers provided each student upon successful completion of the Qualifying Examination for steps and procedures in the preparation and defense of the Thesis Proposal as well as the submission, defense, and approval of the DLS thesis. The Guidelines are also online, liberalstudies.georgetown.edu/DLS students/resources/thesis. Additionally, the student must follow the “rules” of manuscript preparation according to the methods provided in A Manual for Writers, 8th edition, Kate Turabian, in particular, the choice of one of the two suggested styles for citations.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Pass/Fail Default
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
Enrollment limited to students in a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree.