Time Schedule:
Ronald Stanley Krabill
BIS 300
Bothell Campus
Introduction to advanced work in interdisciplinary studies centered on broadly based questions and problems. Stresses the skills necessary to engage in upper-division research and learning in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program.
Class description
Autumn 2008
This course is designed to introduce students to the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (IAS) program and concepts of interdisciplinary knowledge more generally. It will be loosely structured around questions of how ideas are put into action and how actions and events shape ideas; in other words, how knowledge is produced and why ideas matter. Like many courses you’ll take in IAS, this course hopes to improve your ability to read closely, write and think critically, communicate clearly, research effectively and work collaboratively. Much of the course will involve an interplay between discussion of primary and secondary materials on the one hand, and your own writing about those materials on the other. As such, the course content is less important than students’ understanding of and engagement with the complex process of producing knowledge, both individually and socially. Students should leave this course with a new awareness of their own role as not only consumers but also producers of knowledge. For more information, feel free to contact me at rkrabill@u.washington.edu.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Discussion, group work, film, occasional lectures, and writing.
Recommended preparation
Enthusiasm for learning is the most important preparation for this course.
Class assignments and grading
Assignments will include collaborative research and presentations, both formal and informal written assignments, and other critical thinking exercises.
