HIST 295 - Seminar: Topics in History

FDR: HU
Credits: 3-4

Spring 2018, HIST 295-01: Place and Race: Euro-Exceptionalism in Late-Modern Science (3). The notion of Euro-exceptionalism has been critically discussed ever since the decades following WW II when decolonization, post-colonialism, and anti-racism began to attract widespread scholarly attention. Much of the critical literature has focused on the economics and politics of European imperialism. Little attention has been paid to the fact that Eurocentricity and Caucasian-supremacist thought received significant scientific input during the period 1750-1950. In this course, the involvement of science in the construction of Euro-exceptionalism are comprehensively explored, in particular the role played by Humboldtian geographical science and Darwinian evolution theory. (HU) Rupke.

Fall 2017, HIST 295A-01: Darwin and his Critics: the History of Evolutionary Biology (3). HIST 295A is for all class years and all majors. HIST 395A is for history majors, with additional required writing and research. The theory of organic evolution is widely considered one of the greatest discoveries of modern science, impacting science and society alike. By and large, the theory has been identified with Darwin and his famous On the Origin of Species. Yet, to what extent is Darwinian theory a cultural construct rather than a factual discovery? In opposition to orthodox Darwinians, such as Ernst Mayr and Richard Dawkins, there have been many critics, ranging from intelligent design advocates in the Anglo-American world to structuralist evolutionary thinkers in the Germanic world, the latter often allied to liberal Christianity. (HU) Rupke.

Fall 2017, HIST 295B-01: Science, the Paranormal and the Supernatural (3). HIST 295B is for all class years and all majors. HIST 395B is for history majors, with additional required writing and research. This course explores the fascinating history of the uneasy relationship between science and its contested boundaries where fact and fiction overlap. In modern - especially late-modern - times, science has become the adjudicator of truth - truth in terms of fact and law-like rationality. The result has been a retreat of the occult, of many superstitions, and the uncovering of fallacies and frauds. Yet large sectors of modern society have remained enamored of the paranormal. Even scientific practitioners themselves, including Nobel Laureates, have kept alive a belief in telepathy, precognition and such-like phenomena. Equally persistent, especially in religious circles, has been the conviction that miracles do happen; and, again, great scientists and medical practitioners have supported these and similar notions. More recently, the study of “wonders” has emerged as a separate field of inquiry: anomalistics.  (HU) Rupke.