We will read selected works and work together to interpret them, understand their relevance to the times in which they were written and to the advancement of Western thought. We will also assess how to apply them in our own time. Because this span of time is extensive, events generated on the shores and the immediate hinterlands of the Mediterranean Sea will receive special attention. Geographic topics include the distinctions between space and place, place and spatial interactions, the role of place in defining nature and culture, the local and global, and the connections of place and self. Geographically based ILS questions include the relationship of place to issues of power, morality, free will, objectivity, and the distinctions between rules and laws.
Atomism is to an extent reductionist while systems analysis is generally holistic.
In the systems approach used here plants influence humans while humans influence plants. The lectures are related to the twentieth century human experiences. They are designed to be relevant biology for the humanities students with relevant humanities agriculturalists, to stimulate as well as to inform. Whenever humans are part of an investigation, scientists tend to overemphasize the actions of individual humans. They identify with the humans in the scientific model.