It illuminates the Canadian experience, by looking at Canada's history but also by stepping outside, using the creation and breakup of Yugoslavia to explore identity, culture and nationality and to give students new perspectives. Sources range from histories to literature to the experience each participant brings to the seminar. Using examples of myths from different regions as our starting point, we will analyze both traditional and contemporary myths, drawing attention to different critical approaches that reveal how myths function in our society. The objective of the course is to arrive at ways of understanding the meaning of myth and discuss how it serves as an important tool in reinforcing ideas, establishing social norms and construction identities. Science and Social Choice Decisions must be made by society in a wide variety of situations.
Many decisions involve scientific information, ethical considerations, and economic consequences.
Scientific information may be incomplete, however, and the consequences of the decisions unpredictable. We discuss several contemporary topics which explore the interactions between science and social values, including the problems of making decisions in the face of some uncertainty. This is a seminar course for first-year students who wish to sharpen their oral and written communication skills. The course begins by linking iprovements in writing to improvements in reading. The students select the readings for the second term.