Philosophies of Death and Dying

What are our moral obligations to other animals? Should non-human animals have legal rights and moral standing? If so, on what basis? How does the moral treatment of animals change across the contexts of food, research, captivity, and the home? Historically, western philosophers construct the animal in opposition to the human. Why? What is an “animal” and why is the “human” contrasted with it? How does language shape and produce our relationships with animals? How is the animal represented and characterized, and how does this representation impact our thinking about animal ethics?

This discussion-based course explores the relationships between humans and non-human animals. Drawing on fiction, philosophy, and ethology, we will examine our beliefs and assumptions regarding animals, human-animal relations, and the ethical implications of the human-animal binary. This course will focus on a wide range of theoretical approaches, including the traditions of animal liberation and animal rights as articulated by thinkers such as Tom Regan and Peter Singer, the growing field of animal studies as represented by thinkers like Jacques Derrida, and current debates in practical ethics, such as animal experimentation, hunting, and invasive species.

Upon completion of the course, students will have refined their understanding of the concept of the animal and they will be familiar with the key legal and ethical debates regarding human-animal relationships. Course requirements include class discussions, weekly writing exercises, a midterm exam, and a final paper or project. Students should come to this class prepared to read challenging philosophical essays and to share their ideas with others.

This course draws on multiple disciplines and interdisciplinary fields (anthropology, literature, philosophy, psychoanalysis, history, postcolonial and feminist studies) to explore questions about authoritarian and anti-authoritarian contexts and practices. Authoritarianism, broadly defined, is characterized by centralized power, repression of dissent, and pressure to obey authority. Dictatorship, totalitarianism, and fascism all name forms of authoritarian regimes. It can be easy to recognize authoritarianism when it has become established in such forms. But what does it look, feel and sound like in terms of how it can infiltrate our daily systems? In this class, we will consider how authoritarianism can take hold through looking at dynamics of power in the relations, discourses and structures that make up everyday sites such as the home, family, the school, places of worship, and the workplace. On the flip side, we will also consider examples of collaboration in contexts of conflict and disagreement. What does working (and learning, teaching, and living) together in contexts of conflict, and with multiple forms of difference and disagreement, involve? The course will include attention to the significance of the nation-state as a form of political organization that dominates the globe today. We will also consider examples of social and political movements that have emerged in response to state repression in the 20th and 21st centuries in different parts of the world, as well as contemporary discourses about racism and anti-racism, sexual violence, war, capitalism and economic power, and disagreement and conflict.

Some of the questions we will examine over the term include: How do we understand relations between truth and power (and how are these terms defined)? How do we know what we think we know (epistemology)? What is structural power? What is the significance of relations between individual and group for how we respond to tensions between “individual freedom” and “collective or community wellbeing”? What is the significance of private/public distinctions for politics? Course materials will likely include work by Louis Althusser, Nur Amali Ibrahim, Benedict Anderson, Hannah Arendt, Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida, Frantz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Verónica Gago, Adolf Hitler, William Mazzarella, George Orwell, Edward Said, Carl Schmitt, Timothy Snyder, Gayatri Spivak and Luisa Valenzuela, among others. We will also draw on contemporary news, social media and film. Students will be evaluated based on small group projects, weekly reading responses, and a mid-term paper.

This course introduces students to the molecular and cellular processes that are essential for life. We will initially cover some basic chemistry to develop a common language for discussing the complex molecular events that are the basis of the structure and function of cells. This class will explore cellular processes involved in metabolism, communication, growth, and reproduction. There is a strong emphasis on the understanding the genetic basis of these processes as well as how these processes are controlled, and we will delve into the structure and function of the DNA molecule in some detail. We will examine how our understanding of genetic processes and genome sequencing has led to applications in research, medicine, agriculture, and industry, with time also devoted to discussion of the social and ethical consequences attached to these technological innovations. Students will be evaluated on participation, performance on problem sets and quizzes throughout the term, and a final oral presentation.

This is one half of a 20-week, two-term introductory course in biology, providing an overview of the discipline and prerequisite for many intermediate and advanced biology courses. The course will emphasize biological structures at the level of whole organisms and organs and their role in the survival and reproduction of individuals and the evolution of populations . We will explore principles of evolution, classification, anatomy and physiology, epidemiology, behavior, and basic ecology. The primary focus of the course is on vertebrate animals and vascular plants, but we will make forays into other phylogenetic lineages at intervals. Weekly field and laboratory studies introduce students to the local range of habitats and a broad array of protists, plants, and animals. Attendance at two lectures and one lab each week is required; course evaluation is based on class participation, exams, preparation of a lab/field notebook, and a presentation. It should be stressed that this course emphasizes the unity of the organism within its environment. Ideally students will subsequently enroll in Biology:Cells and Molecules in order to further their exploration of issues in a more reductionist form, but neither course is a pre-requisite for the other.

This course will provide students with a toolbox of techniques in statistical analysis, with a focus on the biological sciences. Students will learn how to choose and apply a variety of widely used statistical tests, how to design experiments and studies with statistical analysis in mind, and how to use a range of specialized statistical approaches for data types frequently encountered in the biological sciences. The methods we will cover include parametric and nonparametric tests; approaches designed for categorical, ordinal, and continuous data; biodiversity statistics and ordination methods; Bayesian vs. frequentist inference; and robust experimental design. The class will highlight the assumptions involved in statistical inference and the conditions that must be met in order to use statistical tests appropriately. In the lab, students will use the statistical programming language R to explore, display, and analyze data using the methods covered in class. By the end of the term, students should be able to choose appropriate analytical methods for a wide range of data types, design statistically valid experiments, and write code for basic statistical tests in R. Students will be evaluated based on daily homework assignments, weekly lab work, several take-home exams, and a final group presentation based on an original analysis of an archived data set chosen by the students. Note: each student should have a laptop for lab (PC preferred; limited support will be provided for Mac users). Contact the instructor if you do not have your own laptop.

What is the nature of self? What is the nature of mind? Why do we suffer? What is enlightenment? This course introduces students to the foundations of Buddhist philosophy and practice. Buddhism encompasses a variety of different traditions, teachings, practices, and goals. In this class, we will adopt a philosophical perspective to explore a range of Buddhist thinking on topics such as reality, consciousness, nothingness, and ethical conduct.

We will begin by reading Asvagho?a's Buddhacarita, which tells the story of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha. Next, we will study the Theravada, Buddhism's foundational structure, and then proceed to explore the later Mahayana teachings. This course will study primary literature, including excerpts from the Pali Canon and several Mahayana sutras, alongside selections from contemporary thinkers such as Thích Nhat Hanh, angel Kyodo williams, and Pema Chödrön. Along the way, we will discuss suffering (dukkha), emptiness (suññata), impermanence (anicca), non-self (anatta), interdependence or dependent uprising (pa?iccasamuppada), desire (tanha), the four noble truths, the eightfold path, liberation and enlightenment (nibbana), action and causation (kamma), wisdom (pañña), compassion (karuna and bodhicitta), and our responsibilities to other beings.

Although this course primarily focuses on Buddhist theory and Buddhist texts, students will be briefly introduced to different meditation and mindfulness practices through a series of guest speakers and a weekend visit to the Morgan Bay Zendo in Surry, Maine. This course will be conducted in seminar style with an emphasis on class participation. No prior background in Buddhism or philosophy is required. Course requirements include class participation, weekly writing assignments, a midterm essay, and a final project.