Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, DML 241

Songwriters from George Harrison to the Zombies have written odes to how a person moves. From our gait to the lightest flickering of our fingers, our movements convey truths about our lives—our state of being, our cultural contexts, our likes and dislikes. Taken to a presentational level, dance can serve as a tool to explore invisible histories, community building, and cultural vernaculars. Since the way we move provides us with a powerful tool to create, question, and disrupt, how can dance provide a structural framework to address topics such as the construction of gender or race in America...

How do we really hear others—listen to, absorb, and consider the thoughts of the person in front of us? Our ideologies and moral values shape our identity and behavior, and they also possess the power to unite or drive us apart. In this fractured world, we could all benefit from listening with a sense of openness and empathy to the beliefs and narratives of those with opposing views, without compromising our own core values. Jesse Graham will help us explore the art of listening in these ideologically diverse and divisive times.

You are what you eat! Eating and food are an integral part of our daily lives, whether we’re grabbing a quick meal on the run, sitting down for fine dining, or having a family meal. There has been an explosion of interest in food in the media—from books to reality TV competitions to travel documentaries to blogs and apps. But food is not just a basic human need; it’s also a social and cultural means of expression and interaction as well as a pressing environmental issue. Karen Tongson teaches a popular May-mester module on food culture and food politics. Join her to explore...

The planet faces many challenges both old and new—poverty, educational access, healthcare, and environmental degradation. But how can we approach these problems in a sustainable format that will allow for real progress and change? Surely a key aspect of being human is finding ways to preserve and better not only humanity but also the environment. While there are those committed to finding solutions, we also see the income disparity gap rise and our natural resources become increasingly squandered. Currently, the world is divided between the public/nonprofit sector that focuses energy on...

Dana Gioia, USC Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture, moderates an evening with celebrated poet Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, who will read her poems and discuss her journey from Asian-American international student to career as a writer, academic, and scholar of cultural exchange. Selected students will also be asked to read from her collection, followed by discussion and reaction.

Humans are social animals and have survived as a species through the construction of community. Community in our digital age now has multiple forms and meanings. From Facebook to Twitter to Tumblr, we are continually finding new ways to construct and extend communities in the cyber world. Facebook primarily allows you to maintain and strengthen connections and communities you have formed offline, but social media like Twitter and Tumblr allow you to build a community with those you’ve never met. Since we can now easily carry on conversations and build relationships with individuals...

Historians, political scientists, and economists such as Samuel Huntington and Niall Ferguson see clashes between civilizations emerging as the central issue of the 21st century. Americans, meanwhile, are increasingly seeing in diversity an energizing good. As our planet becomes more unified through technology, dissenting localisms are gaining strength. These have emerged in dialectical opposition to globalization and the forces leading to technological unification. Under the guidance of Professor of History Peter Mancall, students will explore past epic encounters in world history, and...

“Our bodies are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners.”—William Shakespeare

As modern medicine has permitted a greater understanding of how our bodies function, our perception of them has changed as well. Individuals in the early modern era, like Shakespeare, thought the body was composed of the “four humours,” and that achieving a balance between the senses and passions was tied to one’s well-being. This session will probe what it was like to live in an early modern body and ask whether we could—and still can—rely on our senses as a...

Using theatre and aesthetics to advance diplomacy with China may be the most polymathic approach to international relations to date. In this Polymathic Pizza session, discover with University Professor Geoffrey Cowan how his life and work as academician, as playwright, and his position as a foundation president have intersected to engage China's leadership and its citizenry politically and culturally. The aesthetic dynamic of this polymathic equation will launch the discussion naturally into the political and academic aspects of Professor Cowan’s diverse life/work and will inspire...

For the first time in human history the urban population outnumbers the rural. While cities represent prominent centers of trade, finance, innovation, and education, there are wide-ranging social and ecological tradeoffs associated with these concentrations of people and power. Local air, climate, and water systems are degraded as a result of the transformation of native landscapes into urban environments, which, in turn, pose increasing threats to human health and quality of life among residents. Cities are now pursuing alternative development strategies aimed at minimizing adverse impacts...