Faculty launch new collaborative teaching experiments in Humanities

Howard Bloch
September 1, 2015

Pairs of faculty from different disciplines will co-teach new courses especially designed for students interested in the interdisciplinary Humanities major. The courses will appear under two headings, “Modernities” and “Interpretations.” For the fall semester, Cowles Professor of Political Science Steven Smith and Sterling Professor of French Howard Bloch will offer a study of philosophy, social thought, and key literary works linked to two key moments in modernity, the Enlightenment and the period of the “great upheaval” (1870-1915). In the spring, Professor Bloch will team up with Professor Tina Lu of East Asian Languages and Literatures for an in-depth look at the classic 18th century Chinese novel, The Dream of the Red Chamber. Both courses are seminars with limited enrollment. While preference will go to students interested in the Humanities major, all undergraduate students in any major are invited to apply.

In subsequent years different pairs of faculty will offer additional new courses designed especially as interdisciplinary core seminars under the Modernities and Interpretations headings.