Transformative Ideas
Transformative Ideas offers students the opportunity to participate in courses that promote open and civil cross-disciplinary dialogue about “Transformative Ideas” — those enduring questions and big ideas that change lives, link cultures, and shape societies around the world.
Fall 2024 Courses
The aim of this course is to familiarize students with how teleology and notions of purpose have influenced, and continue to influence, various areas of biology and philosophy. Is there purpose in the world, or is the idea of a goal-directed purpose a bankrupt notion that refuses to go away? To consider this question we will examine the roots of teleological explanations in ancient thinking, objections to it that arose during the modern period, how Darwin’s theory changed the landscape, and then we will consider some of the current debates regarding teleology as they impact contemporary philosophy and science.
What does looting reveal about the nature of human creativity, ideals, and values? Who owns the past? Or, better, who decides who owns the past? Finally, how does ownership of the past shape the present–and the future? This course is a study of cultural heritage theft from antiquity until today with attention to the materiality, temporality, geography, ethics, aesthetics, economics, and politics of plunder and its display.
4 Duke Immerse Courses on Civil Discourse
PUBPOL 290S-20 Uncivil Discourse: The Media’s Role in America’s Argument with Itself
PUBPOL 290S-30 Free Speech on the College Campus: Embracing the 1st Amendment and Civil Discourse
PUBPOL 290S-10 The Public Sphere and Democratic Process
Human Agency and Responsibility: The Stories of 2,500 years
Loving, Living, Learning: The Art of Love in Western Literature
Theoretical and practical understanding of the elements of effective advocacy, especially as applied to policy issues. Focus on oral communication (both formal public speaking and interactive exchange), written exposition, and presentation skills. Emphasis on the human dimensions of the communication process-voice and body behavior, audience evaluation, focus, control and self-awareness. Identifies techniques for minimizing communication distraction, developing confidence in presentation situations, and analyzing informational requirements.
The digital age has enhanced human life in many ways: communication is faster, medicine is better, and our knowledge of the world is deeper. But it has also changed the nature of work, society, and our sense of well-being, and raised fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of human life. This course asks what it means for humans to flourish in a digital age. It considers how new technologies through the centuries have impacted human flourishing, making certain aspects easier and others harder, and perhaps even altering our conception of what flourishing looks like. Our ultimate goal is to ponder together how we should practically live in today’s digital age.
Americans today live in a time of deep political polarization, intellectual isolation, and intense partisanship. We rarely have genuine and open interactions with those with whom we disagree; when we do, we often do so on the assumption that they are not just wrong but are irrational and immoral. This class aims to explore this phenomenon in its sociological, political, ethical, and psychological dimensions. What are the causes, costs, and remedies of our polarization? Can friendships exist across ideological divides? Students are asked to openly discuss controversial political topics, while attempting to cultivate intellectual virtues and build a community of trust amid disagreement.
The course will provide an overview of research in the scientific study of human strengths and happiness. We will discuss psychological theories, research, and intervention techniques that help us understand the positive, adaptive, and creative aspects of human behavior. How can psychologists explain the fact that despite difficulties, most people manage to live lives of dignity and purpose? We will learn about the beginnings of the field of positive psychology and how researchers define and measure happiness. Then, I will discuss misconceptions about happiness (e.g., can money buy happiness?) and the scientifically validated factors/strategies to help us thrive. We will end by reviewing critically what we learned and evaluating the limitations of the available science of happiness.
A significant part of this class is dedicated to providing the impetus to put better habits into place. Knowledge alone cannot build happiness; we need experiences. Therefore, I will provide practical exercises to try in your personal life. I will also push you to consider how these strategies can be implemented to not only boost your own happiness but also to make a difference in other people’s lives.
Finally, we will critically evaluate the limitations of positive psychology research, including issues such as ethics, replication crises, cross-cultural variations, and barriers related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will also explore the potential role of emerging technologies like AI in promoting or hindering happiness.
By the end of the course, you will hopefully be able to:
- Understand the science of the factors that contribute to happiness, as well as the pitfalls and misconceptions in such a pursuit.
- Critically evaluate the quality of scientific studies and related media articles on positive psychology.
- Integrate some of the principles and helpful strategies in your own life to increase your own happiness and make a difference in your community.
Fall 2023 Courses
What does it look like for a human life to go well? What leads to human flourishing or “happiness” or “success”? What is freedom? Love? Justice? What is the basis for ethics? What is our relationship to the natural world? What is the significance of death? How do our beliefs (or lack thereof) about God or the gods shape how we view the world? We will examine how philosophical or religious traditions around the globe have answered life’s biggest questions. Traditions may include Confucianism, Islam, Christianity, Stoicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, scientific naturalism, expressive individualism, and utilitarianism. Taught by a team of Professors led by Jed Atkins (Classics, Philosophy, and Political Science), including Alex Rosenberg (Philosophy), Wenjin Liu (Philosophy), David Wong (Philosophy), Kavin Rowe (Divinity), Natalie Hannan (TI/Philosophy), and Abdullah Antepli (Public Policy).
This course examines the nature, ends, and practice of medicine as it relates to the human condition. How can medicine foster human flourishing and well-being — individual and social — against the experience of injury, pain, and suffering? Students will explore answers to this question within a variety of historical and contemporary contexts. Includes an informed, balanced discussion of important debates in contemporary medical ethics. Taught by a team of scholars led by Professor José Gonzalez (Classical Studies) and Farr Curlin (Medicine, Trent Center, Divinity) and including instructors from African & African American Studies, Biology, Family Medicine, Global Health, and the Trent Center.
Underlying many current debates about social and economic policy are three fundamental worldviews, imperfectly captured by the labels conservatism, liberalism, and progressivism/socialism. While the course will focus on the development of liberalism in its various instantiations through time, by examining the arguments of its critics and their various interactions, we will gain a better understanding of all three traditions. Taught by Bruce Caldwell (Economics) and a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Kenan Institute for Ethics.
This course explores the most important questions at the intersection of science and religion. Core topics include faith and reason; the history of science and religion; contemporary cosmology and the origins of the universe; God and time; the existence of fine-tuning; evolution, randomness and design; the neuroscience of free will; the science of the soul; the possibility of miracles; and science and morality. Taught by Dr. Alfredo Watkins (TI/Kenan), Dan McShea (Biology), Len White (Neuroscience), Katherine Brading (Philosophy) with expert guest speakers on these topics from inside and outside of Duke.
From Babylon and Persia to Greece and Rome, empires have risen and fallen, but they always seem to make a comeback. Their defenders point to the stability they bring to a chaotic world. Their detractors point to the harsh rule required to maintain them. This course explores arguments for and against empire, drawing on history, philosophy, and political theory, with a focus on the Greeks and Romans. Then, in light of the parallel problems of empire and global governance, we will ask what lessons we can learn for the practice of international affairs today. Contemporary topics include global institutions, international economics, foreign intervention, East Asia policy, and NATO and Eastern Europe. Taught by Dr. Alfredo Waktins (TI/Kenan).
What does it mean to live in harmony with animals, each other, and nature? The fate of humanity is intricately intertwined with that of the natural world, yet we often fail to seriously consider our relationship with it. How does our relationship with nature shape our capacity to live in and build healthy communities? What is the proper role of markets and technological innovation in our quest for a sustainable and flourishing future? Examine these questions and more in an interdisciplinary course taught by Matthew Young (Kenan) with Rebecca Vidra (Nicholas School) and Norman Wirzba (Divinity and Nicholas School).
Boccaccio’s Decameron occupies a crucial place in the multi-millennial discourse about love for a simple reason: it transforms love into a verb. Boccaccio’s often-censored stories show love in action, as a transformative experience that can delight, degrade, deceive, derange, destroy, and even divinize. Exploring love in its many forms—carnal lust, familial affection, platonic friendship—Boccaccio challenges and subverts ideas found in Dante, Virgil, Ovid, Catherine of Siena, and Petrarch. During the semester we will analyze censored editions and translations to understand the political consequences of Boccaccio’s revolutionary stories whose attention to the body, desire, language, gender, cultural difference, and freedom both shaped social thought from Machiavelli to Pasolini—and continues to provoke new ideas about the problem of love today. Taught by Martin Eisner (Romance Studies).
Americans today live in a time of deep political polarization, intellectual isolation, and intense partisanship. We are defined in terms of our differences, and our disagreements often appear to be intractable. We rarely have genuine and open interactions with those with whom we disagree; when we do, we often do so on the assumption that they are not just wrong, but are irrational, immoral, and contemptible. This class aims to explore this phenomenon in its sociological, political, ethical, and intellectual dimensions. What are the causes and costs of our polarization? Is it possible to remedy our common ailments? Are we able to call upon “the better angels of our nature” and build and maintain civic and personal friendship across our differences and disagreements? This class explores these and many other questions and will do so in an experimental fashion—testing many of these questions in the context of “case studies” in hot-button political issues. Taught by John Rose (Kenan).
The digital age has enhanced human life in many ways: communication is faster, medicine is better, and our knowledge of the world is deeper and broader. Yet it has also raised fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of human life: How do digital technologies encourage us to view one another, the world, even ourselves? How have they changed the nature of work, society, and our own sense of well-being? In light of these and other challenges, this course asks what it means for humans to flourish in a digital age. As one framework for answering this question, we will consider ways in which technological advances through the centuries have impacted human flourishing. How have previously new technologies made certain aspects of flourishing easier and other aspects harder? How have they perhaps even altered our conceptions of what flourishing looks like? Together, we will ponder a range of aspects of human flourishing, some timeless and others that change over time in response to advances in technology. In all of this, our ultimate goal is to ponder together how we should practically live in today’s digital age. Taught by Alex Hartemink (Computer Science) and Aaron Ebert (Kenan, Religion).
Fall 2022 Courses
What does it look like for a human life to go well? What leads to human flourishing or “happiness” or “success?” How do our beliefs (or lack thereof) about God or the gods shape our answers to life’s big questions? We examine how the following philosophical or religious traditions around the globe have answered these questions, beginning with their founders: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Stoicism. Taught by instructors from Classical Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, the Sanford School of Public Policy, and Duke Divinity.
This course examines the nature, ends, and practice of medicine as it relates to the human condition. How can medicine foster human flourishing and well-being — individual and social — against the experience of injury, pain, and suffering? Students will explore answers to this question within a variety of historical and contemporary contexts. Taught by instructors from African & African American Studies, Biology, Classical Studies, Family Medicine, Global Health, and the Trent Center.
Boccaccio’s Decameron occupies a crucial place in the multi-millennial discourse about love for a simple reason: it transforms love into a verb. Boccaccio’s often-censored stories show love in action, as a transformative experience that can delight, degrade, deceive, derange, destroy, and even divinize. Exploring love in its many forms—carnal lust, familial affection, platonic friendship—Boccaccio challenges and subverts ideas found in Dante, Virgil, Ovid, Catherine of Siena, and Petrarch. During the semester we will analyze censored editions and translations to understand the political consequences of Boccaccio’s revolutionary stories whose attention to the body, desire, language, gender, cultural difference, and freedom both shaped social thought from Machiavelli to Pasolini—and continues to provoke new ideas about the problem of love today. Taught by Martin Eisner of Romance Studies
What is science? How is it conducted, and who takes part? What are the legal, ethical, and political considerations that accompany scientific inquiry? We will examine such questions in this course, which will investigate the relationship between science and the people that participate in it, whether they be experts or members of the public. Taught by Jennifer Jhun of Philosophy.
What is power? Must violence create and maintain it, or can culture alone do some of that work? We will explore how cultural formations have understood and even shaped the relationship between power and politics on public stages of all sorts, from theater to the battlefield. Reading include Aristotle, Machiavelli, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Wole Soyinka, Alfred Jarry, and Caryl Churchill, among others. Taught by Douglas Jones of Theater Studies and English.
All of us routinely make use of a whole range of moral categories in our everyday lives. But do we really have a clear conception of, say, friendship, justice, or sin? If pressed, can we tell the difference between remorse and regret or self-awareness and self-recognition? Could we explain even to those most dear to us the link between evil and suffering or love and forgiveness? Drawing on a wide range of short philosophical, religious, and literary writings from Plato to the present (as well as some film selections), our aim will be to understand moral concepts of which we routinely make use, through too often with little or no clarity. Taught by Thomas Pfau of English
Underlying many current debates about social and economic policy are three fundamental worldviews, imperfectly captured by the labels conservatism, liberalism, and progressivism/socialism. While the course will focus on the development of liberalism in its various instantiations through time, by examining the arguments of its critics and their various interactions, we will gain a better understanding of all three traditions. Taught by Bruce Caldwell of Economics and Alfredo Watkins of the Kenan Institute for Ethics
Who helped transform the musician from servant to seer? Is it possible to love the art and abhor the artist? Who put the “modern” in musical modernism? Is the teaching of music still largely governed by a man who was born more than 330 years ago?
The arts embody feelings and ideas and in the history of the arts, certain creative individuals have exerted an enormous influence on the trajectory of their art form. In Western music, specific composers during different style periods have been profoundly influential on music and culture, transforming the ways music is made and culturally perceived. This course examines the influence of Bach, Beethoven, Wagner and Stravinsky on their own time periods and subsequent generations of musicians and artists. Taught by Harry Davidson of Music