Arts and Humanities

• Arts & Humanities (general & Visual Arts)
• Arts & Humanities(OCW)
   
  • Architecture (OCW)
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  • Archaeology (OCW)
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  • History (OCW)
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  • Languages and Linguistics (OCW)
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  • Literature (OCW)
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  • Music and Performing Arts (OCW)
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  • Philosophy and Religion (OCW)
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History - Open Courseware (OCW)

Topics in the History of Philosophy: Kant

Critique of Pure Reason, special focus on questions about idealism, ignorance of things in themselves, and about what, if anything, idealism has to do with this kind of ignorance, Kant's distinctive account of space, matter, and force, an alternative, and unorthodox, interpretation of Kant's distinction between phenomena and things in themselves: readings, related resources, study materials

Philosophy of History

Seminar in Political Philosophy [16 sessions and audio files]

History of Ancient Philosophy

survey of history of ancient Greek philosophy from the Milesians through Aristotle: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, Ship of Theseus, Parmenides, Zeno, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Atomism, Socratic Definitions, Meno's Paradox, Plato's Phaedo, forms, "one over many", allegory of the cave, criticism of forms, Plato's cosmology, Aristotle's categories, Aristotle on change, four causes, texts & essays, search engines, links, news, just for fun

Galileo and Einstein

explores two revolutions in perception of the universe, Galileo (realization that what we see in the heavens—the moon, the planets, the sun and stars—are physical objects), Einstein (space and time are not as straightforward as they first appear, but related to each other in a simple but unexpected way)

New York City - A Social History

peoples who have built the city and competing efforts by different numbers to authorize their dreams for the city, its development and legacy for the shaping of the city, political and cultural interests, ideologies and players who shape and reshape the city as Manhattan, as New York and as the Metropolis [Study this course with others]
 

Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600

international analysis of impact of epidemic diseases on western society and culture from the bubonic plague to HIV/AIDS and experience of SARS and swine flu, infectious disease and its impact on society, development of public health measures, role of medical ethics, genre of plague literature, social reactions of mass hysteria and violence, rise of the germ theory of disease, development of tropical medicine,comparison of social, cultural and historical impact of major infectious diseases, emerging and re-emerging diseases
 

Science, Magic and Religion

science and religion as historical phenomena that have evolved over time, Examines the earlier mind-set before 1700 when into science fitted elements that came eventually to be seen as magical, how Western cosmologies became "disenchanted", Magical tradition transformed into modern mysticisms, political implications, discussion concerning science in totalitarian settings as well as "big science" during Cold War
 

Art and Photo History

beginnings of Photography, Early Portraiture (JMC and Nadar), landscape in painting and photography, Photography and documentation, Art Objects, Depicting movement and Futurism, Impressionism and post-impressionism, Art photography, Colour Photography, Matisse and Picasso, Dada and Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, Australian Photography since the 1970's, Digital Photography: Suggested reading

Revolting Ideas

instructive episodes in the history of Western science; insight into how the methodological constraints, specialized language, interpretive restrictions, and stringent requirements of proof that define the work of the scientific community have shaped and reshaped our explanations for the "what," "how," and "why" of natural phenomena.