ISF is offering TWO new courses this upcoming Fall semester. Any Berkeley student may use these courses to satisfy L&S Breadth requirements. Please check the ‘Rules & Requirements’ section on the Class Information page via the Class Schedule or view the details below. Prospective ISF students (registered at UC Berkeley) may use either course to satisfy a declaration requirement and current ISF students may use either course to satisfy a Course of Study requirement with their ISF faculty advisor’s approval.
ISF 110: Fundamental Texts: The State
Students with Research Fields in or relating to the following may be interested in this course: History and Culture of Capitalism, Law and Society, Globalization and Development; Political Science, Legal Studies, History, Philosophy, Political Economy
This course examines how thinkers have grappled with questions from ancient debates on justice and political order to contemporary critiques of liberal democracy. As a “great books” course, this class involves the extensive but rewarding reading of foundational texts. These includes works by thinkers such as Plato, Rousseau, Kant, Mill, Foucault, and Shklar. We will trace key shifts in political thought, from classical ideals of governance to modern debates on sovereignty, democracy, and capitalism. By engaging with foundational texts, students will gain a deeper understanding of the political structures that shape our world as well as the intellectual traditions in which they are embedded.
Satisfies Philosophies & Values breadth for L&S
Monday & Wednesday 11am-1pm
Cory 241
Class #:33468
Units: 4
ISF 130: Humanistic Inquiry: Theories and Methods
Students with Research Fields in or relating to the following may be interested in this course: Visual Culture, History and Culture of Capitalism; Language, Culture, and Identity; Anthropology, History, Comparative Literature, Sociology, Philosophy, Rhetoric
What is theory and why should we engage with it? In what way does it inform our methods of interpreting literary and cultural production? How can theory enable us to formulate forms of critique? In this course, we will survey some of the most important theoretical traditions and methods from the 19th-21st century. The course is organized around three conceptual clusters that will allow us to trace lines of influence across centuries and theoretical traditions: 1. Commodity, Consciousness, Affect; 2. Colonialism, Race, Other; 3. Climate, Species, Entanglement. Each cluster will be paired with a literary study text to highlight the ways in which theory can inform methods of reading and analysis. All material in English; no German needed.
Satisfies Arts & Literature breadth for L&S.*
*If students enrolled in ISF 130 wish to satisfy AL breadth, please submit the APR correction form to submit a request to L&S Advising.
Days, times, location TBD
Class#: 34151
Units: 4