This is a two-term interdisciplinary course that focuses on relevant, creative and critical thinking practices in Arts and Social Sciences disciplines, and on the connections between them. Each week we study a different discipline with a different professor/public intellectual, with ‘platform classes’ that set the course contexts, preparatory readings, in-class discussions, written assignments and field trips. This course is not an introduction to or survey of these disciplines, but follows an interdisciplinary Cultural Studies approach which enjoys and values participants’ own situated knowledge—of both the areas you live in, Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside/Downtown South and nearby, and your own life interests—as well as academic knowledge; is responsive to participants’ interests; and changes in both theme and content each year.
Classes take place on Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:30 pm on UBC’s West Point Grey Campus. They include a lecture, small group discussions based on assigned readings (made available on the UBC Canvas website), and groundwork some weeks—short writing exercises that you will be returned with feedback.
