Ways of Knowing empowers students to become active producers of knowledge by introducing them to scholarly ways of thinking, reading, and writing across the University. Students analyze a variety of multidisciplinary texts that raise questions about power, institutions, and identity. In Summer 2023, Ways of Knowing will focus on the ways knowledge is produced, manipulated, disseminated, and consumed. Students gain an understanding of the diverse--and intersecting--ways that scholars ask questions and generate knowledge. Most importantly, students will use this understanding to make their own contribution to this scholarly conversation.

Ways of Knowing empowers students to become active producers of knowledge by introducing them to scholarly ways of thinking, reading, and writing across the University. Students analyze a variety of multidisciplinary texts that raise questions about power, institutions, and identity. In Summer 2023, Ways of Knowing will focus on the ways knowledge is produced, manipulated, disseminated, and consumed. Students gain an understanding of the diverse--and intersecting--ways that scholars ask questions and generate knowledge. Most importantly, students will use this understanding to make their own contribution to this scholarly conversation.

This course introduces students to humanistic frameworks, methods, and tools for thinking critically about our screen- and data-saturated environments. Starting with the premise that studying these environments involves both reading theory and working with data, this course consists of reading discussion seminars alongside a weekly "collaboratory" where students will learn the basics of coding, computational analysis, and visualizing cultural data. As we explore these approaches to the study of media, culture, and technology, we will consider the stakes of such inquiry from the standpoint of racial justice, ethics, and equity.

We will study the life and work of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). His mission as an author begins with a journal entry he wrote while overlooking the sea north of Copenhagen: "What I really need is to get clear about what I must do, not what I must know, except insofar as knowledge must precede every act. What matters is to find a purpose." We will follow in Kierkegaard's footsteps, both literally and figuratively.