Interdisciplinary Courses (IDI)

These IDI courses are offered through Student Affairs:

• IDI 1500/ESL 1 and IDI 1510/ESL II: Learning Center
• IDI 3250/Fundamentals of Leadership: LEAD Center
• IDI 3000/Practicum in Peer Advising: Advising Center

The following 1000-level courses are limited to freshmen:

Added Fall 2009 (12/05/08):
Culture and Society in the West
IDI 1000 / 4 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
An introduction to important themes of Western history and culture from archaic Greece to 1500, and a study of representative texts, documents, or art objects from the various historical periods. Students examine materials regarding ancient Greece; the Hellenistic and Roman era; the influence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on Western thought; the medieval period; and the early Renaissance.

Added Fall 2009 (1/06/09):
Revolutions in Painting and Poetry:
Romanticism, Futurism, Modernism, Surrealism, and Beyond
IDI 1010 / 4 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
Traces several of the explosive developments in European and American poetry and painting between the beginning of the 19th century and the middle of the 20th. Students examine the social and historical contexts of these developments and investigate how artists and poets responded to parallel challenges. Readings are drawn chiefly from primary sources and include excerpts from Keats, Baudelaire, van Gogh, Rilke, Marinetti, Breton, and Mondrian.

Added Spring 2010 (1/06/09):
Gender, Class, and Conflict in Western Arts and Culture
IDI 1020 / 4 credits / Spring
An examination of literature and the arts is essential to a complete understanding of Western European culture and thought. Students study an eclectic mix of opera, film, psychoanalysis, and drama, examining constructs of class and gender and the ways in which some artists have attempted to dismantle them.

Added Spring 2010 (12/05/08):
Crossroads of Culture
IDI 1030 / 4 credits / Spring
Surveys important intersections of human civilization, particularly the interactions of Western Europe with global culture. Art and technology are emphasized, including Greek theatre, Anglo-Saxon poetry, Iberian caliphate science and aesthetics, comparative world faiths, conurbation aspects, print and paint technologies, perspective and polyphony, intellectual property, and immersive culture. Several external writing workshops are required. As a final project, students create collaborative original works using cultural attributes studied.

Added Fall 2010 (11/24/08):
Landmarks in the Development of the West
IDI 1040 / 4 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
The development of the West is traced from its earliest historical origins through 1500. This course begins with study of ancient Mesopotamia, the “cradle of Western civilization,” proceeds with investigations of the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, and then considers early Christian and Islamic culture and society. Finally, currents in medieval Europe leading up to the Renaissance are examined. Art and literature are studied, in addition to historical texts.

Added Fall 2009 (11/24/08):
Engaging Texts
IDI 1080 / 4 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
Exploring texts in humanistic fields, this course looks at the way authors have engaged various fields in the modern and postmodern worlds. Students read primary source material and have an opportunity to see how particular texts develop the conversations in at least one of the following areas: history, literature, philosophy, art history, and cinema studies.

Added Fall 2009 (11/24/08):
Texts From Western Traditions
IDI 1090 / 4 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
An examination of what have been called the major texts of Western civilization—from the early Greek materials of Hesiod and Homer through Dante’s Divine Comedy, which marks the transition from the medieval period to the Renaissance.

Added Fall 2009 (11/24/08):
The Development of the West: The Early Years
IDI 1105 / 4 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
The ancient and medieval worlds are explored through historical, philosophic, literary, and artistic works. These works are used to examine the development of the West and its relation to the developing Near, Middle, and Far East. While the emphasis varies, this course draws on the instructor’s areas of expertise to investigate the development of the culture, as well as the social, economic, and political history of the West.

Added Spring 2010 (11/24/08):
The West Since the Renaissance
IDI 1110 / 4 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
What is the meaning of the Enlightenment and the subsequent developments in history, literature, politics, economics, and science? How are exploration, colonization, and imperialism related? This course explores both the nature of the Enlightenment and the world that emerged from it, with attention to the challenges that face Enlightenment certainties and views.

Added Spring 2010 (11/24/08):
Conquest and Freedom: Legacies of the West
IDI 1120 / 4 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
Examines the evolution of Euro-American society from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Expansion, colonialism, and industrial capitalism were justified by the language of enlightenment, yet both European and American identity developed in relation to the encounter with and conquest of other peoples. The development of Euro-American cultural identity is explored by analyzing historical, philosophical, political, and literary texts and visual and performing arts.

Updated Jan. 6, 2009