Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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KHC PO 104: War and Memory in the American Experience
This seminar examines three questions: How do we remember (and forget) war? Who does the remembering? What is the relationship between war memory and war making? The relationship between war and memory is explored via the American experience. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Individual in Community, Creativity & Innovation -
KHC PY 102: Chance, Fluctuations and Their Relevance to Our Daily Lives
Randomness is ubiquitous in our lives, from attending an outdoor concert when there is a 40% chance of rain to understanding the role of chance in income inequality. The purpose of this course is to introduce concepts and methods that will foster an understanding of chance and to provide the tools to draw informed conclusions from incomplete information. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking. -
KHC PY 104: Energy and Society
"Energy powers the world." This seminar explores that pithy statement, beginning with basic concepts and definitions. Students examine the history of human uses of energy, how energy arises in different realms (physical, chemical, biological), the primary sources of energy, how to transmit and store energy, and the politics of energy, seeking to answer the ultimate question: "What should be the path forward to a sustainable, environmentally sound, equitable energy future?" Students will demonstrate their understanding through problem sets/short essays, a mid-term exam, and a final project. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Scientific Inquiry II, Critical Thinking. -
KHC RH 101: Serious Comics: Graphic Narrative and the Representation of History
This course explores the use of nonfiction comics (also known as graphic narrative) to represent catastrophic history. Assigned texts include book- length works that use the comics form to depict the Holocaust, the Islamic Revolution, Hiroshima, the Bosnian War, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Hurricane Katrina, the AIDS epidemic, and 9/11. Throughout, we will consider the impact of the comics form on our understanding of devastating history. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC RH 102: A Nation Riven: Turbulence and Transformation in 1960s America and Today
What can the social and political ferment of the Sixties teach us about the issues of the present day? Do the ideals of 1960s radicals still ring true? Why did the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1965 lead to racial unrest rather than reconciliation, and how does this history resonate in the rhetoric of Black Lives Matter? Why did foundational American beliefs like Free Speech place idealists at odds with mainstream American society, and what lessons does the campus free speech movement of the 1960s have for student activists today? Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking. -
KHC RH 103: A Reexamination of Childhood through Children's Literature and Community-Based Learning
How have authors of classic works of children's literature addressed the liminal space between childhood and adulthood? How might this study give us insight into our own experiences? By studying childhood at the intersection of children's literature and community-based learning, students will deepen their understanding of how individuals are shaped by the stories that define their childhood. The course traces the development of children's literature in Western culture from classic fairy tales to the development of the novel and short story to today's picture books. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, The Individual in Community, Critical Thinking. -
KHC RH 104: The Pursuit of Happiness
What is happiness? Can we hope to achieve it and how should we pursue it? We will study how happiness has been understood by different cultures over time, and students will engage with diverse authors and genres from scripture, philosophy, and social science. Students will write three essays, and keep a reading journal. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Critical Thinking. -
KHC RH 105: The Lived City
What makes cities thrive? How do cities foster community or how do they fail to do so? How does the way a city is built and designed inform these questions? Readings by some of the great urban thinkers and planners of the 20th century (Baudelaire, Benjamin, Wirth, Gehl, Whyte, Chakrabarti), case studies of urban activists and innovators (Riis, Olmsted, Jacobs), guided group walks of the city, and lessons in close observation, culminating in a creative map making project. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, The Individual in Community, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC RN 102: Sacred Spaces
Comparative approach to sacred space in world religions, examining pilgrimage, shrine architecture, literary and artistic representations, living saints, and violent incidents. Effective Fall 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Aesthetic Exploration, Critical Thinking. -
KHC RN 103: Islam in the Eyes of the West
An introduction to how and why Islam came to be viewed as a static, essentialized tradition opposed to the West. Covers Orientalist and neo- Orientalist debates about Islam and provides a historical survey of the texts, practices, and beliefs of the Islamic tradition, from the 7th century to the present, in the Middle East, South Asia, North Africa, and the U.S. through a study of the Quran, poetry, philosophy, and political treatises. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. -
KHC SM 102: Reforming the U.S. Health Care System
In this seminar, students explore the U.S. health care system and those of six other nations, analyzing policy challenges through team projects that evaluate evidence-based reform strategies, and take into account economic, social, political, managerial, ethical, legal, and regulatory factors. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Research and Information Literacy. -
KHC SO 102: Health Justice
This course puts five pressing social problems related to human, animal, and planetary health under a microscope, examining the dynamics that led to these problems and innovative policies and practices that are being developed to address them. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Research and Information Literacy. -
KHC ST 111: Studio 1
In Studio I, Kilachand students hone their writing, critical reading and thinking, and analytical skills. Students explore fundamental ethical, aesthetic, and social concerns posed by challenging texts and events. They compose their own writing, with attention to the modes and genres of expression, media, and evidence appropriate to the goals of the piece and its designated audience. Students revise their writing with significant individual attention in conferences with their instructors. Students register for one section of Studio I in fall semester of their first year. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub areas: First-Year Writing Seminar. -
KHC ST 112: Studio 2
In Studio 2, Kilachand students hone their writing, critical reading and thinking, and research skills. Students learn the fundamental techniques of academic research, develop their own research projects, and write and revise a research paper. This project is developed in stages throughout the semester with significant individual attention in conferences with Studio instructors. Students register for one section of Studio II in spring semester of their first year. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Writing: Research & Inquiry. -
KHC TH 102: Aesthetics and Dance: Form and Structure
This course looks at three major theories of art and applies them to dance. How do we view and perceive dance? The theories that provide us the most insight are the mimetic/representation, formal, and expression theories. While these theories have been in existence for centuries, we will use them to consider visual art, theater, and music, and then focus on dance. How is movement and gesture organized to tell a story, convey an idea and/or create an aesthetic experience? How do we make sense of this nonverbal form of communication and increase our appreciation for dance's power to engage? Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC UC 104: The Ethics of Food
Choices about what food to eat pervade our everyday lives. This course explores the ethics of such choices. We'll examine arguments for vegetarian and vegan diets, for eating organic, for eating local, and for restricting oneself to only humanely raised and slaughtered meat. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. -
KHC UC 105: Liberty, Fanaticism & Censorship
From Socrates's execution for speech that 'corrupted the youth' and Jesus's crucifixion for claims that threatened empire to today's debates about cancel culture, disinformation, and social media censorship, questions about free speech and its political, ethical, and religious consequences have been central to western history. This course examines some of the enduring issues animating these questions with an eye to their ongoing significance. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. -
KHC UC 106: Biomedical Enhancement and the Future of Human Nature
Biomedical technologies are increasingly being used to enhance the biological, cognitive, and psychological capacities of otherwise healthy human beings. Although the enhancement enterprise aims to increase levels of human wellbeing, it also raises a host of ethical concerns, such as worries that it will exacerbate inequality, undermine authenticity, devalue diversity, or even pose an existential threat to the human species. This course will survey the ethics of biomedical enhancements carried out through the administration of drugs, genetic modifications, and human-machine interfaces. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Ethical Reasoning, Critical Thinking. -
KHC VA 104: More than a Face: What Masks Reveal
Other faces, frames, transformations and disguises, masks speak to what it is to be human among other humans, unifying the body and the psyche in ways few objects do. Participants study the complexity of masks as a cross- disciplinary nexus. Effective Spring 2021 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation. -
KHC XL 103: Problems in Propaganda and Persuasion
How does propaganda move people to action by appealing not to reason but to emotions? Theories and material from Germany, Russia, Poland, Italy, China, Japan, USA, the Middle East; totalitarian ruler-cult & mobilization for war; propagandistic use of media technologies. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
