Dive into the origins of epics such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Lao Tzu’s Dao De Jing, Dante’s Inferno, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana. Classes will see performances by modern Southeast Asian storytellers who use some of the ancient narrative techniques. You will also explore the ways modern theater has been influenced by religious ritual, Shakespeare, Molière, Japanese Noh drama, Chinese opera, and Southeast Asian puppet theater.

In your Philosophy and Political Thought courses, you will explore writings by ancient philosophers-the Roman Cicero, the Chinese Sun Tzu and St. Augustine of Hippo. Read Confucius' Analects, Plato's Republic, and Machiavelli's The Prince. What do the attitudes of these different thinkers tell us about modern international politics? Rather than reading brief excerpts of many texts, students will focus on a limited number of works, studying each one in considerable depth. You will learn the methods of interpreting major texts of cultures distant in time and space from your own. You will also develop writing skills through a carefully planned sequence of assignments, ranging from brief response papers to longer essays on literature, art, philosophy, and political thought.

In this course you develop a familiarity with statistics and probability, required to interpret quantitative data in any field. Quantitative Reasoning goes beyond traditional statistics courses by exploring visual representations of data and the use of complex databases, topics that are becoming increasingly important in the 21st Century.

This course introduces students to the major institutions of society, government, and economy; training you to think critically and in an informed manner about the way these institutions shape the lives of individuals and groups.

Dive into the origins of epics such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Lao Tzu’s Dao De Jing, Dante’s Inferno, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana. Classes will see performances by modern Southeast Asian storytellers who use some of the ancient narrative techniques. You will also explore the ways modern theater has been influenced by religious ritual, Shakespeare, Molière, Japanese Noh drama, Chinese opera, and Southeast Asian puppet theater.

In your Philosophy and Political Thought courses, you will explore writings by ancient philosophers-the Roman Cicero, the Chinese Sun Tzu and St. Augustine of Hippo. Read Confucius' Analects, Plato's Republic, and Machiavelli's The Prince. What do the attitudes of these different thinkers tell us about modern international politics? Rather than reading brief excerpts of many texts, students will focus on a limited number of works, studying each one in considerable depth. You will learn the methods of interpreting major texts of cultures distant in time and space from your own. You will also develop writing skills through a carefully planned sequence of assignments, ranging from brief response papers to longer essays on literature, art, philosophy, and political thought.

Was Newton wrong about the foundations of physics? Is string theory science? Is modern genetics science or technology? These are some of the topics in physics and evolutionary biology that you will explore in "Scientific Inquiry," taken by all students regardless of their previous preparation in science. "Scientific Inquiry" is the first module in the Common Curriculum’s natural sciences. Rather than focusing on techniques or specific knowledge, as is generally done in introductory science courses, this module emphasizes how scientific knowledge is obtained, supported, and challenged, an understanding of which is crucial for all citizens of the modern world.

In your second year, all students take two courses designed to give them more advanced tools for the analysis of social science problems. "Modern Social Thought” introduces you to the major theories of society of the 19th and 20th centuries, drawing on knowledge gained in the first-year study of Philosophy and Political Thought. You read the works of the major thinkers who developed economics, sociology, and psychology, and explore how their insights remain relevant to social problems in the 21st century.

Was Newton wrong about the foundations of physics? Is string theory science? Is modern genetics science or technology? These are some of the topics in physics and evolutionary biology that you will explore in "Scientific Inquiry," taken by all students regardless of their previous preparation in science. "Scientific Inquiry" is the first module in the Common Curriculum’s natural sciences. Rather than focusing on techniques or specific knowledge, as is generally done in introductory science courses, this module emphasizes how scientific knowledge is obtained, supported, and challenged, an understanding of which is crucial for all citizens of the modern world.

During your third and fourth years, while focusing on your major, you will also continue to explore historical and current issues through two interdisciplinary courses, of which this is one. Study in depth a particular time and place different from your own. Bring your learning from the Common Curriculum to bear on a detailed case study, which might include a historical event such as the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 or the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Or you might choose a great work of literature, art, or music to analyze in its historical context - trends in art, philosophy, and society.