Credo Department Courses
CRDO Inquiry Seminars – Credo students are to enroll in Inquiry Seminar sections specifically structured for Credo students. The topics vary from year to year and are paired with oral or written communication courses that connect Credo students into the larger Credo student community. CRED 131 D – Germany, Third Reich, Holocaust, 4 credits. CRED 222 N, A – Life in the Universe, 4 credits. E1. This course will begin with an introduction to the nature of science and what distinguishes it from other modes of thinking. Then we will discuss the current state of the knowledge about life on Earth. Using this foundation, we will then begin exploring the possibilities of life existing elsewhere. In this section, we will focus on the recent discoveries of extrasolar planets and their composition, the habitable zone, the search for finding earth-sized planets in that one and finally ways we are searching for signatures of life and, in particular, extraterrestrial intelligence among the stars. CRED 224 B, S – American Exceptionalism, 4 credits. E1. This course addresses the history, the development, and the current status of the idea of American exceptionalism, the idea that there is something unique and even preeminent about the United States. We consider the economic, cultural, political and moral implications of this idea. CRED 231 E – The Renaissance Lecture, 4 credits. E1. This course explores the art and literature of Renaissance Italy and includes an Exploration Seminar component, a trip to Italy, during midsemester break. CRED 232 E – Arthurian Legends, 4 credits. E2. This course explores the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, from medieval origins to modern interpretations, including literature, movies, art and music. CRED 236 H – Existentialism and World Cinema, 4 credits. The meaning of our existence became an especially acute problem in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Science seemed to be undermining the authority of religion. Psychology, especially the discovery of the unconscious, seemed to undermine our self-knowledge. And the industrial revolution seemed to undermine our status as human beings, since it seemed to convert human beings into mere extensions of machines. The great existential questions are: What does it mean to be a human being? Is there a God? Is there free will? How does one live authentically and free oneself from “bad faith”? We will be considering these questions as they are addressed in the great existentialist works of philosophy, literature and film. CRED 480 – Independent Study, 4 credits.
Course Catalog
