Freshman Inquiry
Freshman Inquiry (FRINQ) forms the foundation for the University Studies program. This year-long sequence of courses introduces students to Portland State's general education goals and to the opportunities available in university life. FRINQ courses are interactive and theme-based, with each theme exploring topics and issues using an interdisciplinary approach to show how they can be understood from different perspectives.
Faculty members from various disciplines teach courses as a team. Each faculty member is paired with an upper division student, or peer mentor, who leads the smaller mentor inquiry sessions. Classes include lecture and group dialogue on course content, student-led discussions based on homework assignments, and creative opportunities to challenge and expand
thinking.
Summer Term 08 Frinq Themes
CYBORG MILLENIUM
9:15a-11:20a MTWR Sections 101B, 102B, and 103B.
20TH century revolutions in quantum physics, information technology and genetics have profoundly altered the human experience of the 21st century. This course explores the impact of computers, genetics engineering, particle physics and new imaging technologies on, among other things, concepts of humanity, society, privacy and cultural identity. We will look at changes underway in social relations, legal doctrines, political values and environmental consciousness. From workplace surveillance to email retrieval, from prenatal genetic screening to cloning, from human consciousness to artificial intelligence, students will consider the dangers, opportunities and ethical ambiguities inherent in new technologies. Through stories, films, case studies, field research, art, books and original projects, students will have a wide range of outlets through which to explore and express their own questions and ideas, and to mediate among differing viewpoints. ** Co-Requisite: Mentored Inquiry.
THE WORK OF ART
9:15a-11:20a MTWR (Sections 191A, 192A, 193A)
“The Work of Art” explores the function that art plays in our lives on three levels:
• It examines works of art from a dance of disciplines -- philosophy, architecture, visual arts, performance, advertising, science, literature, history, popular culture, etc. -- and shows how to gain meaning from them.
• It looks at the work that goes into the production of these artifacts: the technical expertise and creativity required of artists in the disciplines.
• It looks at the work art does in the world -- how it shapes, reflects, disguises, complicates, challenges, or brings reality to our assumptions about the world. How is it, for example, that the artistic products of various disciplines impact our understanding of gender, class, national, and racial identities? What are the artistic levers with which we can move our world forward? What can looking through the lens of “art” at the products from a broad range of disciplines reveal about ourselves, our culture[s] and our society? How does the art we do and the art we experience shape our identity? How does it disguise or reveal our essence, heal our hearts, and enable our joy? How does art influence cultural change? How can we use the arts to build community? ** Co-Requisite: Mentored Inquiry.
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