Fall 2014 Past Course Descriptions

In the Fall of 2014 DavidsonLearns offered courses covering writing, humanistic studies, Russian literature, environmental studies, Middle Eastern current events,  and sports history.

Click here for Current courses.  


It's My Story and I'm Stickin' to It                                      ** Course is complete **

A chance to record our life stories as we remember them and want others to know. We will reflect and write and consider some contemporary writings.

Question: Who will tell your story if you don't?
Answer: Someone who doesn't know you.

Suggested readings: 
Justice Sonya SotoMayor, My Beloved World (Random House, 2014)
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Instructor: Jean Stewart Berg
Met on Tuesdays from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
September 16, 23, 30, October 7, and 14.
Fee: $60
Location: Temple Kol Tikvah, 605 South Street, Davidson

A Good Life: How does one live it?                                   ** Course is complete **

This course will examine the ways in which a “good life” has been defined and prescribed in the West, beginning with the Greeks and ending with contemporary theory and studies on happiness.   We will look to Buddhist traditions and meditation as a counterpoint to Western modes of thinking about a good life.  Areas of course content will include ethics, philosophy, religious studies, and psychology (with a nod to neuroscience).

Text: 
Jonathan Haidt, Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (Basic Books, 2006)
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Instructor: Celia Sinclair
Met on Tuesdays from 7:00PM to 8:30PM
September 16, 23, 30, October 7, 14, and 21.
Fee: $72
Location: Temple Kol Tikvah, 605 South Street, Davidson

Dostoevsky                                                                       ** Course is complete **

This course aims to enrich students’ reading experience of this classic author by studying Dostoevsky in the context of his own life and time. While Dostoevsky’s writings have acquired international renown and have transcended their own time and place, in order to appreciate the full extent of his stylistic innovations and his philosophical daring, we need to understand the historical context from whence they came. Class lectures and discussion will acquaint students with Dostoevsky’s biography and literary milieu, while also pointing out the major characteristics of his writings and his important philosophical and social themes. We will read Poor Folk, which made his name in the 1840’s; The Double, which almost ruined his reputation in 1848; and Crime and Punishment, which announced his triumphant return to literature after years spent as a convict in a Siberian prison camp, and established Dostoevsky’s works as world classics.

Required Texts:
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Poor Folk. trans. Robert Dessaix (Ardis) ISBN 9780882337555
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Double. trans. Evelyn Harden (Ardis) ISBN 9780882337579
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment. trans. Pevear and Volokhonsky (Vintage Classics) ISBN 9780679734
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Instructor: Dr. Irina Erman
Met on Wednesdays from 4:00PM to 5:30PM
September 17, 24, October 1, 8, 15, and 22.
Note: September 24 met at Davidson Parks and recreation Classroom
Fee: $72
Locations: Temple Kol Tikvah, 605 South Street, Davidson and
Davidson Parks and Recreation, 865 South Street

Current Issues in Environmental Studies                           ** Course is complete **

This course explores a range of environmental issues from various disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives.  Topics include Climate Change, Environmental Health, Environmental Policy and Economics, Urban Nature, and American Environmental Poetry.  Dr. Cindy Hauser (Chemistry), Dr. Brad Johnson (Geology), Dr. David Martin (Economics), and Dr. Jeff Rose (Geography) will deliver guest lectures.  All the instructors teach in the Environmental Studies Department at Davidson College.  Individual sessions combine lecture and discussion.

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Instructor: Dr. Annie Merill
Met on Wednesdays from 7:00PM to 8:30PM
September 17, 24, October 1, 8, and 15.
Note: September 24 met at Davidson Parks and Recreation Classroom
Fee: $60
Locations: Temple Kol Tikvah, 605 South Street, Davidson and Davidson Parks and Recreation, 865 South Street

 The Unnatural Phenomenon of the Arab Spring                ** Course is complete **

In connection with Davidson College's Department of Theatre’s fall production of The Prophet, a play about the Jan 25 Egyptian Revolution, we will tackle the key issues surrounding the phenomenon known as the Arab Spring.  Participants will discuss and be exposed to contextual materials about the unrest in the Middle East since 2011.  During the fall semester, the class will attend a screening of the Oscar nominated film The Square; a lecture by Khaled Fahmy, the chair of history at the American University in Cairo; and the production of The Prophet, opening on November 19, 2014.

We will read two interesting perspectives on the subject:
James Gelvin, The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs To Know (Oxford University Press, 2012)
Marwan Bishara, The Invisible Arab: The Promise and Power of the Arab Revolution (PublicAffairs, 2012)
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Instructor: Dr. Samer Al-Saber
Met from 7:00 to 9:00PM on Monday, September 15; Monday, September 29; and Tuesday, November 18 when the class joined Dr. Fahmy for a private discussion.  Film The Square screening and discussion was on Monday, October 20 in the 900 room of the Alvarez College Union on the Davidson College campus.
Public lecture by Dr. Fahmy was on Monday, November 17, in Sloan Music Center Tyler-Tallman Recital Hall on the Davidson College campus.  
Performance of The Prophet and talk back was on Wednesday, November 19.
Fee: $48 (included ticket to The Prophet)
Locations: Class discussions at Temple Kol Tikvah, 605 South Street, Davidson. 
The screening of The Square was in the 900 room of the Alvarez College Union  and the public lecture was in the Sloan Music Center Tyler-Tallman Recital Hall on the Davidson College campus.
The performance of The Prophet was at The Barber Theatre on the Davidson College campus.

** Course is complete **
Baseball weaves a thread through generations of our society. Apart from its obvious entertainment impact, baseball overlaps with our history of presidents, wars, economy, media, politics, and geography.  The sport also reflects our attitudes about race, ethnicity and morals.  Dr. Barto aims to shed new light on old perceptions, debunk myths, and encourage participants to debate past and present themes. In short, this course will explore baseball both between and outside the lines.  Topics might include some of the following: Origins & Myths; Performance Enhancing Drugs; Race Relations; Baseball during the Depression; Mementos; or Business/Economics.

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Instructor:  Dr. Jeff Barto
Met on Thursdays from 7:00PM to 8:30PM
October 23, 30, November 6, and 13.
Fee: $48
Location: Temple Kol Tikvah, 605 South Street, Davidson

Intermediate/Advanced Poetry Workshop                         ** Course is complete **

A workshop for those who have taken Beginning Poetry and/or Intermediate Poetry or who are published poets. Our poet for special study is Maxine Kumin, and an anthology of her best poems will be supplied on the first day of class.  Our time will be divided between the study of Kumin and the analysis of student poems. Students should bring eleven copies of a poem to class each week.

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Instructor:  Dr. Tony Abbott
Met  on Tuesdays from 7:00PM to 9:30PM
October 28, November 4, 11, 18, and 25.
Fee: $60
Location: Temple Kol Tikvah, 605 South Street, Davidson
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