Intended cohort: First-Year da Vinci Scholars A seminar–studio course investigating language as image, object, and cultural force. Through hands‑on printmaking and seminar discussion, students explore text as material practice within artistic, rhetorical, and social contexts.Instructor(s): Professor Lenny Salas Moreno and Professor Lani Shapton
Intended cohort: da Vinci Scholars; may be open to broader undergraduate audience This course explores how climate science is communicated, contested, and acted upon. Students analyze misinformation, rhetorical strategies, and community engagement models while completing public-facing, multimodal, and experiential projects grounded in real-world climate challenges.Instructor(s): Professor Megan Ritchie
Intended cohort: da Vinci Scholars; open to broader undergraduate audience An introduction to how science works, how scientific knowledge develops, and how ethical issues arise in research practice. Students examine major scientific discoveries alongside questions of responsibility, communication, and public trust in science.Instructor(s): Professor V. Ramamurthy
Intended cohort: da Vinci Scholars; open to all undergraduate levels An interdisciplinary seminar–studio course integrating field observation, mindfulness, biology, and book arts. Students create handcrafted books that synthesize scientific observation, reflective writing, and artistic practice.Instructor(s): Jeannette Stargala
Intended cohort: da Vinci Scholars; open to all undergraduate levels An interdisciplinary humanities–environmental studies course examining the origins, manifestations, and solutions to environmental degradation and climate change, centered on perspectives from the Global South. Through case studies spanning the Americas, Hawai‘i, Ireland, South Africa, and beyond, students explore the histories of settler colonialism, resource extraction, and cultural othering while engaging deeply with Indigenous and non‑consumerist environmental stewardship practices. Experiential learning includes visits to the UM Library, the Lowe Art Museum, the Gifford Arboretum, and the Sustainable Garden. Students complete weekly reflections and a culminating “biography of the land” essay synthesizing environmental history, ecology, climate futures, and sustainable practices.Instructor(s): Professor Suja R. Sawafta
The Buddhist tradition from a variety of angles and in several cultural contexts. We will attend to the ideas for which Buddhism is famous, while situating Buddhist practitioners in their social contexts at key historical moments. Throughout we will give attention to the issue of our own perspective and what it means to think across the porous borders of culture in an interrelated world.
This course introduces students to China’s major religious and philosophical traditions—Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and popular practice—through an interdisciplinary lens that blends history, philosophy, anthropology, and the history of science. In addition to classical texts and cultural traditions, students explore correlative cosmology (a premodern Chinese framework linking the cosmos, environment, and human body), theories of qi and vitality that intersect with Chinese medicine, and the modern applications of religious perspectives.
This course explores the modern world through the lens of archaeology by focusing on the defining material of our era: plastic. Framed as an inquiry into the “Plastics Age,” the course examines how synthetic polymers—first developed in the early twentieth century—have transformed technology, culture, and the environment in ways that distinguish the Anthropocene from earlier archaeological periods.
Students investigate plastics from multiple perspectives: their invention, production, use, disposal, and long-term afterlives; their environmental and health impacts across land, water, and atmosphere; and their broader social, economic, and political meanings. The course also considers how different publics engage with plastics through education, art, activism, and policy. Throughout the semester, shared themes such as media, capitalism, toxicity, dystopia, and time connect archaeological methods to urgent contemporary questions about sustainability and human futures.
This course explores how insights from psychology help explain key problems in international relations, including war, diplomacy, deterrence, and crisis decision‑making. Rather than focusing on states or systems, the course centers on individuals—political leaders and publics—and examines how emotions, cognitive biases, personality, and evolutionary influences shape political judgment and behavior.
Designed as a discussion‑based seminar with no prerequisites, the course integrates methods from political science, psychology, and history, making it an excellent fit for da Vinci Scholars interested in interdisciplinary thinking and the real‑world implications of human decision‑making in global politics.
