Extra-Departmental Courses

Humanities Courses 2008-2009

Humanities 10. An Introductory Humanities Colloquium
Catalog Number: 3983 Enrollment limited to 36.
Stephen J. Greenblatt and Louis Menand
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2-3:30, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17

The course is designed for students interested in concentrating in a Humanities discipline. We cover major works of literature and ideas from Homer, Plato, and Aristotle to Nietzsche, Freud, and Joyce. Many of the texts have thematic connections; we hope that all of them will stimulate interest in the kinds of issues addressed in humanistic studies.

Note: Ninety-minute lecture-discussion, plus one-hour section led by the instructors.
Note:This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts A or the General Education requirement for Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding.

[Humanities 11. Self, Serenity, and Vulnerability: East and West]
Catalog Number: 2401
Michael J. Puett and Roberto Mangabeira Unger (Law School)
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.

A comparative inquiry into forms of moral consciousness and their metaphysical assumptions in the high cultures of the East and West. Background concern: divergent ways in which philosophy, religion, and art in the East and West have dealt with the fear that our lives and the world itself may be meaningless. Foreground theme: contrast between two existential attitudes—staying out of trouble and looking for trouble. Texts include Chinese, Indian, ancient Greek, and modern European philosophy.

Note:Expected to be given in 2009–10.

[Humanities 12. “Strange Mutations”: Classical and Renaissance Representations of the Human Condition]
Catalog Number: 9725
Christopher D. Johnson
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged

The course examines how foundational Western literary and philosophic texts represent the nature, meaning, and limits of human existence. Focuses on diverse ways becoming and being human are represented in antiquity and then considers how these representations are transformed and combined in the Renaissance. Authors include Sappho, Homer, Plato, Ovid, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Cervantes, and Descartes. Close attention given to the literary and rhetorical aspects of the course readings.

Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts A.

[Humanities 16. Existential Fictions: From Saint Augustine to Jean-Paul Sartre and Beyond]
Catalog Number: 3016
Verena A. Conley
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14

This course examines problems of existence in relation to self and other in the world from the early Christian era to our days. It shows how existence preoccupies major writers who have approached its implications (and the dilemmas it inspires) in different ways. At stake are the redemptive powers of religion, thoughts about the death of God, the limits of atheism, and philosophies of becoming.

Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts A.

Extra-Departmental Courses 2008-2009

Extra-Departmental Course 186
Introduction to Health Care Policy
Catalog Number: 4045
Michael Chernew (Medical School)
Half course (fall term). Tuesday, Thursday, 10-11:30; and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12,13

Provides overview of US health care delivery system, components, and policy challenges. The health care system is considered from different "stake holder" perspectives: analyses roles of patients, patients, providers, health plans, and payers. Considers objectives, constraints, incentives, knowledge, and conduct. Evaluates problems faced by each actor in the system. What makes health care so hard to reform? Can we count on consumerism to improve quality? Reading includes selections from medical sociology, economics, politics, and ethics.

Note: Offered jointly with the Kennedy School as HCP-100. Meets at the Kennedy School.
Note: This course may not be taken for credit in addition to General Education 186.

Extra-Departmental Course 187
The Quality of Health Care in America

Catalog Number: 4832 - Enrollment: Limited to 35
David Blumenthal (Medical School), Donald M. Berwick (Medical School), Howard H. Hiatt (Medical School), and Warner Slack (Medical School)
Half course (spring term). Tuesday & Thursday, 4:30-6, with one hour weekly sections. EXAM GROUP: 18

Offers information and experiences regarding most important issues and challenges in health care quality. Overview of dimensions of quality of care, including outcomes, overuse, underuse, variation in practice patterns, errors and threats to patient safety, service flaws, and forms of waste. Each session focuses on one specific issue, exploring patterns of performance, data sources, costs, causes, and remedies. Explores desirable properties of health care systems that perform at high levels in many dimensions of quality.

Note: This course may not be taken for credit in addition to General Education 187.