course descriptions
LIBST 201 The Introductory Seminar: It’s About Time
The introductory course explores how Time impacts human existence and how it is viewed by classical and contemporary writers, poets, and scientists. Selections from the Bible and Saint Augustine, and readings from Plato and Einstein, are juxtaposed against Zen Buddhist and Native American thought. You are introduced to interdisciplinary study and shared inquiry, both of which sharpen the critical reading, writing and discussion skills utilized throughout the program.
LIBST 202 The Self: Visions of the Self
What do we mean when we refer to the “self”? Seeing oneself is no easy matter. Do we see what others see, or is that just a mask hiding the true self that is working behind it? This course draws on materials from ancient and modern thinkers; you will consider how people such as Sophocles, Vincent Van Gogh, William Shakespeare, and Maxine Hong Kingston have discovered and defined the self.
LIBST 203 Nature: Perspectives on Nature
This course explores the basic yet complex relationship that all humans share with nature. You may read works from Charles Darwin and Annie Dillard, John Muir and John Haught, and other close observers of nature. You will discuss varying perspectives on the causes and effects of environmental destruction, and consider which theories offer humanity the best chance for survival. You may also participate in a nature retreat or an alternative first-hand observational experience.
LIBST 204 Society: The Quest for Community: Rethinking the American Dream
American voices give evidence of a distinctive people, rich in democratic ideals and diverse in social and political practice, literary texts, music, and art. This course considers whether our national passion for individual rights and private interests has undermined our public purpose. You will reflect on questions of community and identity in American life through Native American voices, colonist and patriots, our founding texts, plus literary contributions from such writers as Alexis De Toqueville, Martin Luther King, Jr., Maya Angelou, and Bill Moyers.
LIBST 205 The Sacred: Ways of Being Religious
This course is a conversation about the meaning of the sacred, and how people seek encounters with the sacred through diverse religious traditions. Through classic and contemporary art, literature, philosophy and other disciplines you explore Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam, plus the faith practices of indigenous people. You ponder the search for the divine and its place in contemporary religious practice.
LIBST 206 Ways of Knowing: Interpretive Frameworks
What do we know and how do we know it? Can we know things independent of human experience? In this course you are encouraged to extend beyond traditional boundaries to explore and value diverse ways of knowing and seeking knowledge. From the ancient writings of Aristotle to the work of Carl Jung, Margaret Atwood and Octavio Paz, you consider how dreams, intuition, language, myth, and metaphor play into your values, assumptions, and beliefs, and how these influence your perceptions of what you know.
LIBST 207 Ethics: Work, Leisure and the Good Life
Ethical choices are rooted in cultural, temporal, and geographic contexts as well as in enduring moral truths. This course draws on philosophy, theology, economics, literature and the arts to examine such concepts as the work ethic, egalitarianism and materialism, and their relationship to the ethical life. You may read and consider works from an eclectic group of writers such as Aristotle, John Stuart Mill, Sigmund Freud, Mary Shelley, and Studs Terkel.
LIBST 208 Crossing Boundaries: Race, Gender, Class, and the American Experience
This course examines the historical roots of contemporary social issues by considering questions of identity relating to the American Experience. Through readings, multi-media presentations, and the insights of guest facilitators, you will reflect on and discuss myths, realities, and stubborn stereotypes that surround identity, voice, and visibility. In questioning how these intersect in a complex web of cultural, social, and economic realities, you will experience a more acute awareness and understanding of the American Experience.
LIBST 209 The Technological Age: Science, Technology, and Human Values
As a result of advancements in science, agriculture, economics, medicine, and information technology, society has evolved in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. This course challenges you to question how developments in science and technology have influenced our culture. Readings from various texts shape a dialogue about the consequences of the intersection of science and human values.
LIBST 210 The Creative Process: Imaginative Living in a Complex Age
This course explores the creative process in art, business, science, and daily life. You are encouraged to stretch the limits of your imagination and inventiveness. In order to focus more on the process of creativity than on its products, you examine significant texts and artworks, study the writings of highly creative people, practice techniques for releasing creative awareness, and complete an individual creative project.
LIBST 211 The Integrating Seminar: Your Capstone Experience
This course prepares you for your Final Project in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program. It allows you to synthesize what you have learned in the courses throughout the program in order to channel your interests into a design for an integrating final project.
LIBST 212 The Final Project
The Final Project offers you an opportunity to explore in depth a topic of strong personal interest within the context of the program’s course work. Your Final Project may take the form of an original creative work, an exhibition or performance, an organizational change proposal, or an applied project. All Final Projects require a substantial, scholarly, written component.
