CIVILIZATION PROGRAM
The required program in Civilization is a basic, foundational course at Claremont
McKenna College. Classes will be intensively participatory and taught by faculty
from several departments. The material will both prepare for and complement
the student’s subsequent work in virtually any discipline. Roughly one-half
of the texts are common to all sections, with the remainder chosen by the instructor.
Classes may be supplemented by evening events
(e.g. lectures or films) in which all sections participate.
The course is a required general education requirement for all CMC students.
For further information, contact Professor Valenza, Director of the Civilization
Program.
Course
10. Questions of Civilization.
An intensely participatory, seminar-style course that examines philosophical,
social, aesthetic, and scientific questions fundamental to individuals in their
relationship to society and the world. Among these questions are:
- What does it mean to be human?
- What is a good person and the role of the individual in society?
- What is the nature of science and knowledge?
- What is the nature of religion and religious experience?
- What is the meaning of art and aesthetic experience?
Via vigorous discussion and writing, students cultivate an informed understanding
of such issues, and develop a clear voice to express their own evolving positions.
They learn further how various prevailing views on these matters have suffused
historical traditions and continue to underlie current cultures. Course materials
incorporate texts covering a wide range of ages and continents (typically including
writers such as Plato, Confucius, and Freud), as well as diverse contemporary
sources from various media. First and second semester. Staff
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