O.K. so, let's design a course.
A course that has a calendar entry as follows:
ASIC 200 (3) Global Issues in the Arts and Sciences: Selected global issues explored through the methodologies and perspectives of both the physical and life sciences and the humanities and social sciences. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Second year standing in the Faculty of Arts or Faculty of Science.
And a rationale as follows:
The rationale for this course is based on the growing salience of the global issues facing human society and the educational challenge these issues represent. Global issues (such as climate change, the spread of infectious disease, the use of genetically modified organisms, and water and food security, among many others) cannot be understood without literacy in both the arts and the sciences. And yet, UBC students are given few opportunities early in their undergraduate experience to develop their understanding of global issues in a way that promotes the necessary literacy in the physical and life sciences and the humanities and social sciences. This course will encourage an audience of students drawn from both the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Arts to appreciate the need for new and innovative interdisciplinary approaches (bridging the Arts and Sciences) to solve the complex problems of the 21st century.
Hot damn! Excited? I know I am.
Now let's set some background to the design of this course. First, this has everything to do with this. And second, I'm the token science dude involved. My partner in this venture is Dr. Allen Sens, who happens to be Chair of UBC's International Relations program (part of the Department of Political Science), and is the token humanist dude.
So, first thing to worry about is an introductory lecture, so I thought it would be kind of cool to place up the lecture slides as I figure them out, partly to gain feedback from both a content but also from an aesthetic point of view.
Anyway, keep a look out for these slideshows...