Final course grades will be determined by:

• Quizzes (6) –12%
• Discussions (6) –16%
• Assignments (12) – 42%
• Reflection papers (7) – 30%

Module 1

Mind, Body and Soul

Explore the relationship between our body and mind and how the brain is connected to our thoughts, feelings and behavior.

Module 2

The Divine Spark

Examine intelligence, memory and learning and the critical part each play in helping us understand our lives and the world.

Module 3

The Journey of Life

Identify how we can honor and describe the themes around our life’s development – how we grow and develop physically, morally and cognitively.

Module 4

Search for the Self

Consider different ways personality and motivation have been theorized to understand how your personality affects the way you relate to others and how you might evaluate yourself.

Module 5

The Science of Love and Hate

Learn about the dark side of social life. Explore prejudice, discrimination and group hostility.

Module 6

Brokenness and Healing

Discover tools and techniques to help our culture engage in conversations that both raise awareness and encourage interventions in mental health.

Module 7

The Outward Turn – “Until They Rest in Thee”

Explore how psychology illuminates and intersects with your journey toward spiritual and emotional wholeness.

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Final course grade is determined by:

• Weekly discussions.
• Weekly assignments.
• Final project.
• No tests or quizzes.

Module 1

Beginning the Journey: Thinking Critically About Music

Prepare for the journey into American music by learning how to analyze musical style and how to think about music as culture.

Module 2

Finding America in the Music: Race in Performance

Travel back to Al Jolson singing Gershwin’s “Swanee” on Broadway in 1919 and Marian Anderson’s monumental Lincoln Memorial concert in 1939 exploring the roles of social inequity.

Module 3

Scandals of Early Rock and Roll: Elvis and the Beatles

Explore the impact of technology on American music culture and also how Christian beliefs and stances on race affected the consumption and reception of new musical styles.

Module 4

Anthems of Change: A Farm, an Opera House, a Prison

Explore three use case studies from the late 1960s and question the popularity and interpretation of music.

Module 5

Songs Heard ’round the World: Live Aid and Farm Aid

Learn about the impact of Live Aid and the hope to bring many of music’s greatest artists together simultaneously in two venues – one in London and another in Philadelphia – for a philanthropic purpose.

Module 6

Broadcasting Identity: From MTV to the VMAs

Immerse yourself in performances by Nirvana on MTV Unplugged in 1993 and Miley Cyrus on the VMAs in 2013, which might strike you as an odd pairing.

Module 7

Rewriting America: Hip Hop Comes to Broadway

Delve into the widely popular musical Hamilton and the truly remarkable accomplishment of universal acclaim, considering the musical rewrote the myth of the founding fathers.

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Final course grades will be determined by:

• General Quizzes over course content –20%
• Discussion Posts and student interactions about Primary Historical Written sources –30%
• Analysis of Primary Historical artifacts (pottery, a drum, silver coins, etc.) – 20%
• Map Study: Shifting national borders – 5%
• Data Study: Demography of the Atlantic Slave Trade over 300+ years – 5%

· Final essay exam over major themes (e.g., the World Wars) – 20%

MODULE 1

Introduction to the Course: Interpretive Framework & Historical Methodology

The course begins with attention to how historians approach their work before turning to an exercise in historical methodology.

MODULE 2

Travelers Famous and Anonymous: Origins of the Early Modern World

Travelers were connecting the globe prior to Christopher Columbus. We get to know a few of those individuals: a European Catholic, a north African Muslim, a Chinese navigator. Then we consider the forced migration of millions of anonymous travelers.

MODULE 3

Emancipations in the Atlantic World

The ideas of the Enlightenment spurred calls for “liberty” in North America, France, the Caribbean, and Spain’s colonies. And new readings of Christian scriptures contributed to moral calls for the end to slave trafficking in the Atlantic.

MODULE 4

The European Moment in World History, 1750-1914

Innovations in technology and energy resources spurred the Industrial Revolution in Europe. New wealth and technological superiority allowed industrial powers (including the U.S.) to rise to a new position of dominance worldwide.

MODULE 5

China, Japan and the West to the 1930s

One Chinese writer opined in 1898: “It is a principle that the new is strong but the old is weak.” This unit juxtaposes the very different fortunes of China and Japan, especially after the 1850s, and asks questions about why that occurred.

MODULE 6

The Generation of the World Wars

Combustive forces that had been growing more intense during the late 19th century erupted, both in Europe and East Asia, in destructive wars that had reshaped the global order by 1945 and introduced new threats to human security and well-being.

MODULE 7

Global Themes since 1945

The Cold War became the defining factor shaping not only U.S.-Soviet relations, but cultural, political and economic developments in every corner of the globe. With its demise in 1990, one scholar who sought to explain global events in the post-Cold War era described the moment as a “clash of civilizations.”