Complex Problems & Enduring Questions - expand your world expand yourself - fall 2021 courses for first-year students - Boston College
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Complex Problems & Enduring Questions
fall 2021 courses for first-year students
expand
your world
expand
yourself
The Core
The centerpiece of a Jesuit education has always been a Complex Problems Courses
common curriculum that emphasizes the study of defining Each of these six-credit courses, team-taught
by professors from different disciplines,
works in the humanities, natural sciences, and social
satisfies at least two Core requirements.
sciences. The Boston College Core Curriculum is designed Complex Problems courses consist of lectures
to provide a broad understanding of the forces that have and weekly lab sessions, along with a weekly
meeting during the evening for reflection.
shaped the world by challenging students to think across
the disciplines in order to make good decisions, and to Enduring Questions Courses
communicate effectively in an increasingly complex world. These linked pairs of courses are taught by
professors from different disciplines, who
collaborate on exploring a single, long-standing
To fulfill Core requirements, each student must complete:
question for students to address throughout the
1 course in Arts: Art, Art History, Film, Music, Theatre semester. The same group of 19 students takes
each class. Four evening reflection sections will
1 course in Cultural Diversity be scheduled over the course of the semester.
2 courses in History 1 course in History l Taken together, the courses are worth six credits
1 course in History ll and fulfill at least two Core requirements.
1 course in Literature: Classics; English; Romance Languages
and Literatures; Eastern, Slavic,
and German Studies Some Complex Problems or Enduring Questions
courses fulfill three Core requirements by
1 course in Mathematics
also satisfying the Cultural Diversity Core
2 courses in Natural Science: Biology, Chemistry, Earth and requirement through either Difference, Justice
Environmental Sciences, Physics and the Common Good in the U.S. (DJCG)
or Engaging Difference and Justice (EDJ).
2 courses in Philosophy
2 courses in Social Science: Economics, Political Science,
Psychology, Sociology
Scan the QR code with
2 courses in Theology: 1 course in Christian Theology your smartphone to learn
1 course in Sacred Texts and Traditions more about the courses
1 course in Writing
To view all courses that satisfy Core requirements, visit:
bc.edu/core
Student comments in this brochure taken from anonymous survey responses
Fall 2021 3
as a member of the class of 2025, you are invited to
enroll in Boston College’s innovative, team-taught Core courses: Complex Problems
and Enduring Questions. Each one is collaboratively taught by two faculty members
from different academic departments, and each is designed to engage students in
interdisciplinary explorations of topics of critical importance. These include areas such
as ethics and engineering; race and violence; markets, cultures, and values; economics,
law, and health policy; the value of freedom; psychological and literary perspectives of
disability; and more.
Complex Problems and Enduring Questions courses extend inquiry beyond the classroom
to labs, reflection sessions, conversations with outside speakers, and off-campus field
visits, creating an intensive shared learning experience for both teachers and students.
They exemplify Boston College’s innovative approach to Core education by establishing
a foundation for students’ intellectual development and preparing them to become
engaged, effective world citizens.
You will have the opportunity to enroll in this fall’s Complex Problems and
Enduring Questions courses when you register during your summer
orientation session. Both are worth six credits and fulfill two of the
University’s Core Curriculum requirements. In November, you will
be eligible to register for spring 2022 Complex Problems and
Enduring Questions courses, which are also listed in this brochure.
To view faculty members describing their courses and for more
information, visit bc.edu/complexenduring
4 Fall 2021 | complex problems cour ses
Complex Problems
courses will use
PODs for their weekly Reflection
sessions. With PODs (Purposeful,
Ongoing Discussion), upper-
class students mentor first-year
students in tackling course material
through intellectual conversations
and reflections. Through this
engagement, students connect
content to their daily lives. PODs
help BC fulfill its mission to
produce “men and women for
whom discernment is a habit.”
complex problems courses | Fall 2021 5
Life, Liberty & Health: The Economics, Crisis and Storytelling in the Age
Policy and Law of Healthcare of Climate Change
(UNAS170201 + ECON170201) (ENGL173301 + EESC172001)
Mary Ann Chirba, BC Law Min Song, English
Tracy Regan, Economics Hilary Palevsky, Earth and Environmental Sciences
▶ Fulfills1 History II + 1 Social Science + Cultural ▶ Fulfills 1 Literature + 1 Natural Science
Diversity through EDJ
The realities of a changing climate, including
Recently, health has become a central focus of intensified extreme weather events, rising sea
political infighting, public discord, and personal levels, and strengthening heat waves and droughts,
worry. Health care and health insurance now are already being felt by frontline communities
dominate everything from think tanks to Jimmy around the world. This course focuses both on
Kimmel Live! Meanwhile, concussions go up, NFL hearing stories about climate change as told by
ratings go down, drug prices soar, and opioid abuse climate writers, scientists, and members of frontline
damages individuals, families, the health care communities, and telling these stories ourselves.
system, and the economy. Such complex issues are We will examine storytelling as it works across
best understood through interdisciplinary study. mediums and genres from literature to scientific
These paired classes will introduce basic principles data visualizations, and consider what it means to
of economics, law, and public policy through the write an essay, produce a graph, create a podcast,
lens of contemporary problems involving enduring or make a film. Students in the course will read,
questions of government authority and individual watch, and analyze examples of climate storytelling,
autonomy, morality and ethics, social justice, and broadly defined, and produce their own personal
human rights. essays, infographics, podcasts, and/or films. Some
This course meets: Lecture T TH 3–4:15 p.m. questions we’ll foreground throughout the semester
Reflection T 6–7:25 p.m. and Lab as scheduled are: How do we communicate the science and the
human impacts of the climate crisis? Whose ways
To register for this course:
of knowing and lived experiences do we privilege?
1. Register for both UNAS170201 and ECON170201 How can the stories we tell move society toward just
2. Register for one of the following Labs climate solutions?
• UNAS170202 M 9–10:50 a.m. This course meets: Lecture T TH 1:30–2:45 p.m.
• UNAS170203 M 11:30 a.m.–1:20 p.m. Reflection T 6–7:25 p.m. and Lab as scheduled
• UNAS170204 W 9–10:50 a.m. To register for this course:
• UNAS170205 W 11:30 a.m.–1:20 p.m. 1. Register for both ENGL173301 and EESC172001
3. Choose your POD reflection section. 2. Register for one of the following Labs
All sections meet T 6–7:25 p.m.
• EESC172002 M 1:30–3:20 p.m.
• UNAS170206 ·UNAS170209 • EESC172003 W 1:30–3:20 p.m.
• UNAS170207 ·UNAS170210 • EESC172004 F 10–11:50 a.m.
• UNAS170208 • EESC172005 F 1–2:50 p.m.
3. Choose your POD reflection section.
All sections meet T 6–7:25 p.m.
• EESC172006 ·EESC172009
• EESC172007 ·EESC172010
• EESC172008
6 Fall 2021 | enduring questions cour ses
When Life Happens: Disability and the Stories
We Tell (UNAS170401)
When Life Happens: Psychology Views Disability
(UNAS170501)
Clare Dunsford, English
Penny Hauser-Cram, Lynch School of Education
and Human Development
▶ Fulfills 1 Literature + 1 Social Science + Cultural
Diversity through EDJ
What makes a life worth living?
What is the meaning of disability? How do those
with disabilities and their families view themselves
and their place in society? How does society
view them? In the literature course, students will
read memoirs, fiction, and essays written by and
about those with disabilities, analyzing rhetorical
strategies and questions of representation. In
the psychology course, students will explore the
meaning of disability from the historical and cultural
perspectives promoted by the social sciences and
consider the ways in which psychology has both
advanced and restricted those with disabilities.
Together we will reflect on what disability can tell us
about what it means to be human.
These course lectures meet:
• UNAS170401 T TH 9–10:15 a.m.
• UNAS170501 T TH 10:30–11:45 a.m.
Reflection will be held: T 6–7:50 p.m.
(4 times per semester)
“I believe this course is
great in helping students
to learn how to
draw connections between
different disciplines.”
enduring questions cour ses | Fall 2021 7
The Role of Literature in Understanding the Truth-telling in Literature (ENGL170101)
Complex Meaning of Justice (ENGL172901) Truth-telling in History (HIST170101)
The Rule of Law and the Complex Meaning Allison Adair, English
of Justice (UNAS171901) Sylvia Sellers-García, History
Marla DeRosa, English ▶ Fulfills 1 Literature + 1 History I
R. Michael Cassidy, BC Law
Is it possible to tell the truth about the past?
▶ Fulfills 1 Literature + 1 Social Science
When does the imagination produce truth? Do
What does justice mean and what role do lawyers, literary techniques reveal truth or obscure it? History
authors, and dramatists play in illuminating the many and English understand “truth” in different ways.
complex issues underlying various conceptions of These courses consider both perspectives, using
justice? texts drawn from medieval to modern times and
Through the analysis of fiction and nonfiction, students from Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
in these linked courses will discover multifaceted These course lectures meet:
conceptions of justice and injustice in our society. The • ENGL170101 T TH 10:30–11:45 a.m.
courses will ask fundamental questions about justice:
• HIST170101 T TH 1:30–2:45 p.m.
How do we define justice? Are lawyers more often
portrayed as impediments to justice or as champions Reflection will be held: TH 6–7:50 p.m.
of justice, and which portrayal is more accurate? What (4 times per semester)
do we mean by the “rule of law?” What happens when
a person’s moral values conflict with the obligations of
the law? How have these questions and tensions been
portrayed by dramatists throughout the ages? In what
ways can literary texts serve as arguments for justice?
Shared texts between the two courses will likely include
A Civil Action and Just Mercy.
These course lectures meet:
• ENGL172901 T TH 12–1:15 p.m.
• UNAS171901 T TH 1:30–2:45 p.m.
Reflection will be held: T 6–7:50 p.m.
(4 times per semester)
8 Fall 2021 | enduring questions cour ses
revolution, modernization, capitalism,
War and Peace: Literature and Historical
democratization, and economic booms and busts. It
Experience (UNAS171501)
has also become a powerhouse producer of popular
War and Peace: History and Literary Truths and art cinema. In these paired courses, students
(HIST172701) will explore the relationship between politics and
culture as they learn how historians and filmmakers
Thomas Epstein, Classical Studies
have grappled with the tumultuous events of the
Nicole Eaton, History
past 75 years.
▶ Fulfills 1 Literature + 1 History II These course lectures meet:
How does War and Peace speak through its • UNAS171601 T TH 12–1:15 p.m.
historical context and as a description of a perennial • UNAS171701 T TH 1:30–2:45 p.m.
human situation? Reflection will be held: W 6–7:50 p.m.
War and Peace is a great and massive novel. Its (4 times per semester)
primary subject, the effect of the Napoleonic Wars
on Russia, seem distant from our contemporary
concerns. Yet its fundamental questions—How shall The Value of Work: Significance through
I live and what is worth dying for? Is war a necessary Literature (ENGL172801)
evil, or something greater, or different? How does The Value of Work: A Philosophical Examination
our social-historical experience construct our (PHIL172101)
identity?—are as relevant today as ever. Approaching
these and other questions from our separate Micah Lott, Philosophy
disciplines, we will attend both to the historical and Aeron Hunt, English
literary context in which War and Peace was written ▶ Fulfills 1 Literature + 1 Philosophy
and to the ways it speaks to us today.
What role and significance does work have in
These course lectures meet:
flourishing lives and good societies?
• UNAS171501 T TH 1:30–2:45 p.m.
This course pair offers Boston College students
• HIST172701 T TH 3–4:15 p.m.
the opportunity to reflect on the significance and
Reflection will be held: T 6–7:50 p.m. meaning of the human activity of work—an activity
(4 times per semester) that is likely to occupy a large portion of their lives.
Around the globe, politicians promise "good jobs,"
and scholars discuss automation and "the future
From Hiroshima to K-Pop: Historical Perspectives
of work." But what is a good job? What form of
(UNAS171601)
value is most central to work as a part of a good
From Hiroshima to K-Pop: Filmmakers' life—financial reward? social purpose? personal
Perspectives (UNAS171701) fulfillment? How do individuals and communities
Ingu Hwang, International Studies understand and achieve justice and meaning at
Christina Klein, English work?
These course lectures meet:
▶ Fulfills History II + Arts
• ENGL172801 M W F 11–11:50 a.m.
How did East Asia emerge from the wreckage of the • PHIL172101 T TH 10:30 –11:45 a.m.
Second World War to become the dominant political,
Reflection will be held: W 6–7:50 p.m.
economic, and cultural force it is in the world today?
(4 times a semester)
What is the relationship between politics and
popular culture? Since 1945, East Asia has
experienced the Cold War, civil war, communistenduring questions cour ses | Fall 2021 9
Geographies of Imperialism: Theology of Art of Creativity: Crisis and Transformation
Colonization (THEO170701) (PHIL170901)
Geographies of Imperialism: History of Art of Creativity: Buzzword to Artwork
Colonization (HIST171601) (ARTS170101)
Natana DeLong-Bas, Theology Richard Kearney, Philosophy
Elizabeth Shlala, Assistant Dean, Core Curriculum Sheila Gallagher, Art, Art History, and Film
▶ Fulfills 1 Theology (Sacred Texts & Traditions) + 1 ▶ Fulfills 1 Philosophy + 1 Arts
History II + Cultural Diversity through DJCG and EDJ
How does the creative power of imagination—with
The age of empires is past—or is it? its myths, stories, and philosophies—transform our
In this course, we examine the enduring ideas of lives and make us more deeply human?
empires and their challengers through the present What is creativity? Where does it come from
day using the lenses of history and theology and how is it nurtured? How does it mirror or
(Christianity and Islam). Beginning with the reimagine prior acts of creation by gods and men?
traditional geographies of maps, we explore how How does creativity relate to vital issues of human
empires colonized not only territories with physical development and politics today? One course in
borders but also bodies and minds, using race, these linked offerings addresses these questions
gender, sexuality, ethnicity, education, laws, and philosophically with texts from Greek and biblical
institutions. Using the British and French empires narratives to modern theories of the creative
in the Middle East and North Africa as case studies, imagination in romanticism, existentialism, and
we will identify and question how to overcome the postmodernism. The other course is a hands-on
boundaries still imposed on people today. studio art class that is based on the assumption
These course lectures meet: that creative people are made through making. It
• THEO170701 M W F 1–1:50 p.m. explores how creativity works through art production
and experimental problem solving.
• HIST171601 M W F 2–2:50 p.m.
These course lectures meet:
Reflection will be held: TH 6–7:50 p.m.
(4 times per semester) • PHIL170901 T TH 1:30–2:45 p.m.
• ARTS170101 T TH 3–4:30 p.m.
Reflection will be held: TH 6–7:50 p.m.
(4 times per semester)
“This is one of the best classes
you could ever take while at Boston College.
There is no better way to engage in
scholarly research and debate than
through this class.”1 0 Fall 2021 | enduring questions cour ses
How do scientific understandings of basic life
Worlds of Moby-Dick: What Historical Forces
forms enlighten our understanding of the human?
Shape a Book´s Greatness? (HIST170401)
How do humanistic understandings shape our
Reading Man, God, and the Whale in Melville´s comprehension of the natural world? This course
Moby-Dick (ENGL171401) explores these questions by drawing parallels
between human behaviors and those of the minutest
David Quigley, History, Provost and Dean of
of living forms—microbes. Pairing microbiology with
Faculties
literary, philosophical, and critical readings allows
Michael Martin, Associate Dean, Morrissey College humanistic and scientific disciplines to converse:
of Arts & Sciences What does each mean by “life”? What does it mean
▶ Fulfills 1 History II + 1 Literature to be “social”? How are humans both alike and
different from other creatures? We will ask how
What makes a great work of art great? other life forms explain our existence and how an
These courses, rooted in the legacy of Herman expanded scientific understanding results in new
Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851) and its historical context, definitions of the human.
explore its literacy structure, philosophical meaning, These course lectures meet:
and its reflection of the cultural, political, and
• BIOL171001 T TH 10:30–11:45 a.m.
economic fault lines of nineteenth-century America
as it hurtled toward civil war. Together, these courses • ENGL173001 T TH 12–1:15 p.m.
consider three questions: What are the ideals and Reflection will be held: T 6–7:50 p.m.
politics of slavery and freedom or fate and free will? (4 times per semester)
How are belief and knowledge, hope, and despair
related in modernity? And how do we read in this
work the story of a whaling voyage, the face of a
Encountering Inequalities: The Historical Politics
whale, the mind of God, and the historical forces of Inequality (HIST1726)
that transformed the nineteenth-century United Encountering Inequalities: Disparity and Protest
States and the world? Art (ENGL1731)
These course lectures meet: Carlos Zúñiga Nieto, Core Fellow, History
• HIST170401 T TH 12–1:15 p.m. John Brooks, Core Fellow, English
• ENGL171401 M W 12–1:15 p.m.
▶ Fulfills 1 History II + 1 Literature
Reflection will be held: T 6–7:50 p.m.
(4 times per semester) How are inequalities normalized, and how might
their normalcy be challenged?
How did we arrive at our current racial and
Microbes and Us: Exploring Nature and the socioeconomic inequality, and how can we
Human from a Microbiology Perspective understand this moment in a historical context?
(BIOL171001) These paired courses will familiarize students with
how power and resistance relate to race, ethnicity,
Microbes and Us: Exploring Nature and the
and class. Students will learn to recognize the types
Human in the Environmental Humanities
and origins of inequalities as well as their political
(ENGL173001)
impacts on U.S. democracy and democracies around
Babak Momeni, Biology the world. Our discussions will focus on the myriad
Elizabeth Kowaleski-Wallace, English ways civil society and traditional liberal thought
create unequal systems and how marginalized
▶ Fulfills 1 Natural Science + 1 Literature
communities resist them.
How does pairing the study of the natural sciences with
the humanities help us discover the nature of human life?enduring questions cour ses | Fall 2021 1 1
There are two sections of this course:
Grief and Resistance: Theological Responses to
These course lectures meet: Climate Change (THEO1713)
• HIST172601 M W F 9–9:50 a.m.
Grief and Resistance: Social Responses to
• ENGL173101 M W F 10–10:50 a.m. American Gun Violence (SOCY1726)
Reflection will be held W 6–7:50 p.m.
Russell Powell, Core Fellow, Theology
(4 times per semester)
Nora Gross, Core Fellow, Sociology
OR
▶ Fulfills 1 Theology (Christian Theology) + 1 Social
• HIST172602 M W F 12–12:50 p.m.
Science + 1 Cultural Diversity through EDJ
• ENGL173102 M W F 1–1:50 p.m.
Reflection will be held: T 6–7:50 p.m. How do people affectively cope with threats to life?
(4 times per semester) And how do these threats effectively motivate moral
and political responses?
Today’s generation of college students faces twin
Spiritual Exercises: Engagement, Empathy, Ethics
existential crises: rampant gun violence and a rapidly
(THEO170101)
changing climate. While these crises can induce
Aesthetic Exercises: Engagement, Empathy, us to despair, these courses examine the response
Ethics (MUSA170101) of grief as a source of moral, social, and political
creativity. In one course, we consider how grief in
Brian Robinette, Theology
the wake of various forms of gun violence is not
Daniel Callahan, Music
only shaped by social inequalities but also used to
▶ Fulfills 1 Arts + 1 Theology (Christian Theology) motivate resistance. In the other, we explore the
moral and theological resonances of our grief over
How might we train for encounters with beauty and
deteriorating planetary systems and the inequalities
the sacred?
produced from them. Ultimately, we consider how to
One objective of these linked courses is to help be hopeful amidst these catastrophes.
students realize that their own personal experiences
There are two sections of this course:
can be the departing point for—and even the
subject of—scholarly inquiry; that theology, the These course lectures meet:
arts, and philosophy are not mere disciplines to • THEO171301 M W F 9–9:50 a.m.
be learned but practices that are indispensable to • SOCY172601 M W F 10–10:50 a.m.
being alive and serving the common good. Another Reflection will be held: W 6–7:50 p.m.
aim is for students to realize that deeply meaningful (4 times per semester)
experiences—whether of the true, the beautiful, and
OR
the good or the divine in the world and in one’s self
—often don’t just happen. Instead, such experiences • THEO171302 M W F 1–1:50 p.m.
are usually the result of being situated in the right • SOCY172602 M W F 2–2:50 p.m.
place and time with the right preparation and Reflection will be held: W 6–7:50 p.m.
mindset; in other words, they are usually the result (4 times per semester)
of a certain type of exercise.
These course lectures meet:
• THEO170101 T TH 12–1:15 p.m.
• MUSA170101 T TH 1:30–2:45 p.m.
Reflection will be held: T 6–7:50 p.m.
(4 times per semester)Fall 2021 | enduring questions cour ses coming spring 2022
You will be able to register for spring 2022 courses
Flawed Founders: George Washington and the
in November. More information about these courses
Mythology of a Heroic President (POLI105101)
will be provided prior to registration.
Flawed Founders: King David and the Theology
of a Political Hero (THEO171001) Complex Problems
Marc Landy, Political Science Making the Modern World: Design, Ethics and Engineering
David Vanderhooft, Theology (History ll & Natural Science)
▶ Fulfills1 Social Science + 1 Theology (Sacred Texts &
Powering America: The Past and Future of Energy, Technology and the
Traditions)
Environment (History ll & Natural Science)
How can we understand the greatness of heroic
political founders who are also flawed human
Enduring Questions
beings?
Ancient Israel’s monarchy and America’s Holocost, History, Representation & Memory (History II)
constitutional democracy represent two historically Holocost, History, Representation & Memory (Art)
influential and innovative political systems. Each had
a major founder, King David and George Washington Shifting Forms: Political Belonging in Song and Film (Social Science)
respectively, who transcend their times and exemplify Shifting Forms: Sexuality and Belonging in Modern Literature (Literature)
greatness. David’s messianic identity and theological
The Making of the Modern Mind: Morality (Social Science)
legacy remain enduring elements of Jewish and
Christian theological reflection. Washington’s The Making of the Modern Mind: Mathematics (Math)
mythological status persists in the American secular
For the Love of the Game: Theology of Sport
imagination. Yet both figures betrayed significant
(Theology, Christian Theology)
personal flaws: temper, self-doubt; political
For the Love of the Game: Sociology of Sport (Social Science)
conniving; immoral treatment of women, slaves,
and peers; dubious military judgement. Must great Morals and Metaphysics: Political Perspectives (Social Science)
founders also be moral exemplars? What obligations
Morals and Metaphysics: Theological Perspectives
do we have today to celebrate, condemn, study, and (Theology, Christian Theology)
understand these Flawed Founders?
These course lectures meet: The Good Life (Literature)
• POLI105101 T TH 12–1:15 p.m. The Good Life (Theology, Christian Theology)
• THEO171001 T TH 1:30–2:45 p.m.
Family Matters: Stories of Adoption and Kinship (Literature)
Reflection will be held: TH 6–7:50 p.m. Family Matters: Psychology of Adoption (Social Science)
(4 times per semester)
Rhetoric of Social Inequality in America (Literature)
Social Inequality in America (Social Science)
Narative and Myth in American Culture: The Case of Disney (Literature)
Social Norms and Values (Social Science)
Revolutionary Media: How Books Changed History (History I)
Revolutionary Media: How Books Changed Us (Literature)
gasson hall 109 Coming of Age: Film (Arts)
140 Commonwealth Avenue Coming of Age: Literature (Literature)
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 Scan the QR code
with your smartphone Animals in the Moral Imagination: Art and Empathy (Arts)
to learn more Animals in the Moral Imagination: Beyond Human Justice (Philosophy)
bc.edu/core about the coursesYou can also read
