CTI - Core Texts and Ideas

Core Texts and Ideas: CTI

Lower-Division Courses

CTI X01G. Introduction to Ancient Greece.

Greatness of Greece as reflected in Greek history, literature, philosophy, art, religion, and politics. No knowledge of Greek is required.

CTI X02. Classics of Social and Political Thought.

Explores the origins of social scientific thought in the history of political philosophy and traces the development of one or more of the social sciences in modern times. Focuses on fundamental ideas about human nature, civil society, and politics, explored through reading such authors as Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Freud.

CTI X03. Competing Visions of the Good Life.

Introduces the great rival conceptions of the moral basis and goals of political life as elaborated by revolutionary thinkers throughout the history of political philosophy, including Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, late modern critics of the Enlightenment, and others.

CTI X04. Topics in World Religions: Traditions and Texts.

A study of basic religious texts, including both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, examined from various perspectives (including comparative, historical, philosophical, and literary), with emphasis on the fundamental questions and ideas raised in those texts.

CTI X05G. Introduction to the Old Testament.

Introduction to the many interpretations of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) and its meaning in the context of its historical and cultural setting in the ancient Near East.

CTI X05N. Introduction to the New Testament.

Examines representative examples of the texts found in the Christian New Testament and selected noncanonical writings. Focuses on historical setting and systematic methods of interpretation.

CTI X06D. History of the Religions of Asia.

Eastern religions: an introduction to the basic forms and the historical development of the religious traditions of India, China, and Japan.

CTI X10. Topics in Core Texts and Ideas.

Introduction to fundamental texts and questions that have helped shape the world.

CTI X10.3. Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion.

A critical examination of various conceptions of God and of the relationship of the human and the divine.

CTI X15C. The Bible and Its Interpreters.

Seeks to develop a wide-ranging familiarity with the Jewish and Christian Bibles and with the dominant modes of ancient, medieval, and early modern biblical interpretation. Readings include an extensive range of primary sources, including both the Scriptures themselves and some of their most influential exegetes.

CTI X19S. Topics in Core Texts and Ideas.

This course is used to record credit the student earns while enrolled at another institution in a program administered by the University's Study Abroad Office. Credit is recorded as assigned by the study abroad adviser in the College of Liberal Arts. University credit is awarded for work in an exchange program; it may be counted as coursework taken in residence. Transfer credit is awarded for work in an affiliated studies program.

Upper-Division Courses

CTI X20. The Classical Quest for Justice.

Introduces students to classical political thought through a study of seminal works of antiquity, focusing on those of Plato and Aristotle.

CTI X21. The Theoretical Foundations of Modern Politics.

Examines competing foundations of the ongoing development of political and social modernity. Examines a selection of major authors from Machiavelli to Nietzsche.

CTI X21F. Spinoza and Modernity.

Introduction to the core of Spinoza's writings and the diverse reactions they have elicited. Examines Spinoza's refusal of mind-body dualism, as well as a transcendent god or ideal as a way of understanding Spinoza's concepts and ideas.

CTI X22. Critics of Modern Liberalism.

Selected critics of the philosophy of the Enlightenment from both the Left and the Right, and from the time of Rousseau to the present.

CTI X23. Might and Right among Nations.

Major alternative approaches to the question of the moral character of international relations, as elaborated by some of the greatest political thinkers.

CTI X24. Politics and Literature.

Explores the "old battle between the poets and philosophers," in which the two sides battle for recognition as the deepest source of wisdom about politics and ethics. Includes readings from great works of political philosophy and literature.

CTI X25. Morality and Politics.

Interdisciplinary readings from major works exploring issues of ethics and leadership.

CTI X25C. Citizenship and Patriotism.

Examine the idea of patriotism and citizenship over history, from classical antiquity to contemporary times. Analyze the moral and political value of patriotism, nationalism and cosmopolitanism.

CTI X25D. Chinese Ethics and Political Philosophy.

Examine Chinese ethical and political philosophy, with an emphasis on the Confucian tradition, through close reading of major works. Analyze ideas from the course both philosophically and historically.

CTI X25M. Liberty and Empire: Machiavelli.

Explore Machiavelli's reputations through the examination of his works and analyze how those reputations relate to Machiavelli's own positioning and self-understanding.

CTI X25P. Thomas Paine, Liberalism, and the Enlightenment.

Analyze the purpose and philosophy of Thomas Paine's writings in their relation to the political thought and politics of his time.

CTI X26C. Constitutional Interpretation.

Designed to improve reasoning and communication skills through constitutional interpretation. Determining what the Constitution means, how to determine what it means, and who should determine what it means.

CTI X26J. African American Social and Political Thought.

Examines the speeches and writings by major theorists and critics of the prophetic tradition of black political thought.

CTI X26L. Civil Liberties.

Explore the United States constitution and Supreme Court with a focus on civil rights and liberties.

CTI X26R. Regime Perspectives on American Politics.

Explore American politics and culture and examine how the parts of America fit together as a whole.

CTI X26S. Structure of Individual Liberties.

Explore the ways in which the Constitution protects individual rights while accommodating the often competing claims of state, groups, and communities.

CTI X27C. Archaic Greece: Society and Culture.

CTI X27D. The History of Rome: The Republic.

A survey of Roman history from the founding of Rome to the death of Julius Caesar.

CTI X27E. Roots of Democracy.

Examine the historical development and ideological underpinnings of Athenian democracy, the first known democracy, from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE. Explore a broad range of primary sources and some secondary scholarships and gain a familiarity with the key principles and practices of this unique participatory government in its political, historical, and intellectual context.

CTI X28D. Death and the Afterlife in Graeco-Roman Antiquity.

Explore the afterlife from Near Eastern myths and Homer through Greek and Roman antiquity to the early Church Fathers.

CTI X29. The Ancient Historians.

Examines the main works of ancient historiography, and provides grounding in the central issues with which these works engage.

CTI X29S. Topics in Core Texts and Ideas.

CTI X30J. Jerusalem and Athens.

Examine the age-old confrontation between the teaching of the Bible and the politics and philosophy of the ancient Greeks.

CTI X30M. Machiavelli: Politics and Culture.

Through Niccolo Machiavelli's chief writings, consider the local, regional, Mediterranean, European, and global aspects of his work.

CTI X30R. The Political Thought of the Reformation.

Examine the thought of the Reformation, especially of Martin Luther and John Calvin, including both their chief theological ideas and the implications of these ideas for politics and ethics. Explore the themes of justification; free will and predestination; original sin; the doctrine of the two kingdoms; the roots and nature of political authority; the question of toleration; the relationship between divine, natural, and civil law; and the status of the papacy.

CTI X31. Origins of Liberalism.

Examine the theory of liberal democracy through a study of its development in historical, religious, and political contexts.

CTI X32. The Sacred and the Secular in Modern European Thought.

Introduces key themes and methodologies of intellectual history and social theory by exploring the dueling approaches to secularization and sacralization in modern European thought.

CTI X33. Rousseau and His Legacy.

Examine Rousseau's complex legacy through the reading of his essential political texts and reading contemporary responses to his thought.

CTI X35C. History of Christian Philosophy.

Examines the history of Christian philosophy through classic Christian thought, concerning what can be known and how people should live.

CTI X35E. Hegel and the Formation of Modern European Identity.

An in-depth study of how Hegel identifies the social conditions necessary for personal self-realization but also for freedom by means of political community.

CTI X35M. Marx and Marxist Theory.

Introduction to the writings of Karl Marx as well as to those of his intellectual successors in Europe and around the globe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

CTI X38. The Question of Relativism.

Examine the idea of relativism: what relativism is, what the fact and value distinction is, how the idea of moral relativism has shaped modern political thought, and what the arguments for and against relativism are. Explore the philosophic roots of the position in authors like Max Weber and Friedrich Nietzsche, as well as critics of relativism like Leo Strauss.

CTI X39. The Pursuit of Happiness.

Investigate happiness and how it is attained. Examine contrasting perspectives on happiness or human flourishing offered by major thinkers, both religious and secular, representing different epochs, cultures, and theoretical approaches.

CTI X39M. The Meaning of Life.

Investigate the meaning of life, exploring pre-modern perspectives, modern views including those of the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries, and contemporary problems such as whether AI poses new threats to meaning in life.

CTI X40. Ancient Epic.

Explore epic poems of Greece and Rome in translation.

CTI X41. Moral Agency In Greek Tragedy.

Subjects include the masterpieces of Greek tragedy, the social and cultural background of the texts, and questions posed by the texts.

CTI X42. Satan and the Idea of Evil.

Explore the history and breadth of Satan's role as a character (or background presence) in literature while developing close-reading techniques for literary analysis that can be applied across diverse eras, forms, and genres.

CTI X43. Love in the East and West.

CTI X44. Epics and Heroes of India.

Focus on India's classical epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, with emphasis placed on understanding the epic characters in relation to the heroic traditions of premodern India, as well as on the role of the epics in contemporary Indian political and religious culture.

CTI X44D. Dante.

CTI X44E. War and Epic Literature.

Examine the genre of epic literature through its evolving representation of war and conflict, with specific attention paid to political, social, historical, and artistic contexts, as well as to its historical reception in art, literature, film, and music.

CTI X44M. Italian Masterpieces.

Study of representative texts in visual arts, film, literature, and opera, from the Renaissance to the present, in their historical context.

CTI X45L. Leadership: King Arthur to Queen Elizabeth.

Explores major works of English literature, poetry, and drama from the 14th-16th century and European philosophy, with special attention to the universal question: what makes a good leader? Historical and current analysis of how authors model the duties of good citizens in idealized and critical depictions of fictional leaders--like King Arthur and his knights--and real leaders--like Richard II, Henry V, and Elizabeth I, as well as works written to advise rulers on good governance.

CTI X45M. John Milton and the Enlightenment.

Examine the impact of Milton's political and social writings by pairing Milton's political prose with eighteenth-century Enlightenment texts from both sides of the Atlantic. Discover the role Milton's ideas played in shaping the foundations of liberty in both Britain at the Glorious Revolution and in North America at the American Revolution.

CTI X46. The Major Works of Dostoevsky.

Explores the dilemmas of homicide, suicide, patricide, and redemption in the novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

CTI X47. The Russian Novel.

A survey of classic Russian authors as well as experimental works from the nineteenth through the twenty-first century.

CTI X48. War and Revolution in Russian Literature and Culture.

Examines Russian narratives of war and revolution as represented in fiction, cinema, and journalism.

CTI X50. Masterworks of World Drama.

Studies major tragedies, comedies, and historical plays from various epochs, including at least one of Shakespeare's plays. Explores themes related to ethics, politics, and human nature, as well as the craft of the playwright. Students attend and discuss at least one play performance.

CTI X51. The Idea of the Beautiful.

Classical philosophical discussions of the idea of the beautiful (or noble or sublime), illustrated through selected works of art, drama, and literature. Explores the human perception of and response to beauty and its relation to such ideas as happiness and the promise of happiness, moral nobility or selflessness, and the divine. Philosophical works are studied in connection with examples drawn from the arts and are considered in their historical contexts.

CTI X52D. Early Italian Renaissance Art to 1470.

Traces the beginnings of the "rebirth" (renaissance) of the visual arts, from the end of the Middle Ages to the heyday of the Medici. Works of art are analyzed both in formal terms and in relation to contemporary society, religion, philosophy, economics, statecraft, gender, and other significant issues.

CTI X54. Abraham and Abrahamic Religions.

Examines the figure of Abraham as portrayed in the Bible and the reception of that portrayal in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

CTI X54F. The Five Books of Moses.

Study the socio-historical circumstances that gave shape to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Examine how these five books achieved the status of sacred literature.

CTI X54J. The Book of Job.

CTI X54L. Law and Justice in the Bible.

Examine the legal traditions of the Torah (Pentateuch) and what they reveal about the practice of law and justice in ancient Israel and the wider biblical world.

CTI X54P. Biblical Prophecy.

An introduction to the diversity of prophetic literature in the Old Testament, its historical development, social context, and Near Eastern parallels.

CTI X55. The Bible in the Colonial Americas.

Varied perspectives on the central role played by the Old Testament in the construction of colonial cultures in the Americas.

CTI X55C. Law, Liberty, and Faith.

Consider medieval ideas about the proper relation between law, liberty, and faith, and the arguments against them made by modern philosophers and theologians.

CTI X55R. The Age of Reformation.

Examines late medieval religion, the rise of Protestant movements, and the Catholic response in their cultural, political, and social contexts.

CTI X55S. Origin of the Idea of Religious Liberty.

Explore the origin of the idea of religious liberty in the history of political philosophy, focusing on its early modern development in core texts.

CTI X55T. Debating the Bible in the Twenty-First Century.

Examine the ways in which individuals, primarily in the United States, have regarded the Bible as relevant or irrelevant to contemporary life. Discuss contemporary controversial issues in which the Bible has played a role and how these relate to earlier controversies, such as the position of the Bible on slavery.

CTI X57. Islamic Theology.

CTI X63. The French Revolution and Napoleon.

Analysis of the social, political, and economic origins and outcomes of the French Revolution and Napoleon's empire.

CTI X65. Classics of Social Scientific Thought.

Studies a selection of foundational modern classics in economics, psychology, sociology, political science, and anthropology, drawn mainly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

CTI X71. Einstein in the Age of Conflict.

Following the life and work of Albert Einstein, course examines the rise of the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics upon the stage of international political upheaval.

CTI X71D. Darwin on Origin of Species.

Explore Darwin's argument for evolution in its original context.

CTI X71M. History of Mathematics.

Survey major mathematical developments beginning with the ancient Greeks and tracing those developments through Hindu-Indian mathematics, Arabic mathematics, and European mathematics up to the nineteenth century.

CTI X71N. Newton's Principia.

Examine key sections of Newton's Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis.

CTI X71S. Science and Religion to Newton.

Explore the complex relationship between science and religious faith in medieval and early modern Europe beginning with Galileo Galilei's trial before the Roman Inquisition. Examine themes including the understanding of God and nature, authority (classical and scriptural) versus observation, the wide range of knowledge-making practices, the persistence of magic, and the influence of power and patronage.

CTI X71T. Science and Religion from Newton to the Present.

Explore historical views regarding the relationship between science and religion since the time of Isaac Newton. Analyze controversies about mechanical philosophy, natural theology, evolution, the Big Bang, free will, selfish genes, and miracles through primary source readings. Explore the societal impacts of these controversies.

CTI X72. Darwin and the Politics of Evolution.

A careful reading of Darwin's influential Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, together with an examination of the religious, political, and scientific controversies the book has inspired from its first publication to the present day.

CTI X72M. Great Works in Biology.

Explore the history of biology through a close study of several major texts. Analyze controversies about authority, classification, extinction, evolution, and genetics. Emphasize primary source readings from influential figures who addressed these and other relevant questions.

CTI X73. Great Works In Medicine.

Examine signature works in the history of medicine.

CTI X74. Biology, Behavior, and Injustice.

Explores questions about human behavior related to biological factors as compared with personal experiences and societal standards.

CTI X75. Topics in Core Texts and Ideas.

Study of classic texts, connected historically or thematically.

CTI X75.1. The Qur'an.

Explore the history, language, style, and themes of the Qur'an.

CTI X75.4. Art and the City in Renaissance Italy.

Art, architecture, and emerging civic identity in Florence, Siena, Venice, and other Italian Renaissance city-states.

CTI X75.5. Science and Religion: Newton-Present.

Examine classic texts, connected historically or thematically.

CTI X75.7. Archaic and Classical Greece.

Survey of Greek history from the emergence of the city-states to the rise of Macedonia.