Spring 2024 Quest 2 Courses

What is the evidence for global climate change, how will it affect us and what can we do about it? Further, how is modern science done and used in society?

How might we reconnect the world with agriculture and food systems through Agritourism?

Algorithms are everywhere in our lives. They recommend videos, target ads, run factories, drive cars, run power grids, ... But what exactly is an algorithm, how are they described and analyzed, and are the results of algorithms always accurate and fair?

What is life, what are the conditions necessary for life, and where can we find those conditions in the universe?

How do we tackle the climate change crisis and mitigate its impact on humans?

How do we grow healthy crops and sustainable food systems that support the diversity of the local communities that they serve?

Humans can be created with specific “designer” characteristics, but should we? We will examine the technologies behind how the human genome can be modified and discuss the controversies surrounding these technologies.

In this course, students will explore their ability to address problems in clothing production and promotion. They will ask the questions “how might consumers write to advocate for sustainable strategies in the fashion industry?” and “to which target readers might consumers communicate their concerns?”

When am I in a community, and when am I in a cult? When is conformity good for me, and when is it not?

Can Europeans sustain traditional food culture, competitive levels of food production, and improve population health while achieving the goals of Agenda 2023 and the European Green Deal? 

How do we feed a growing global population in the face of nutritional, environmental, and economic challenges?

What is the relationship between society, the built environment, and the natural environment, and what does it mean to develop in a sustainable way?

How do we understand social problems from a global perspective? How can we create a globally informed policy framework to address global social problems?

Why are Americans less happy now than ever before and what can social science teach us about how to address this problem?

What is poverty, and how can we eradicate it by synergizing economics, human capital, the environment, and human well-being?

How does the law help us to conserve and protect wildlife populations in the United States?

Is the severity of the current global loss of biota sufficiently great to be regarded as a “mass extinction”, comparable to other “great dying” episodes that are identifiable in the geological record of the past 550 million years of Earth’s history?

How can citizens identify and use high quality news coverage of local and state governments to foster their own and others’ effective participation in democracy in their communities and their states?

How can different people view the same evidence yet form or retain different conclusions?

Can AI be inclusive of all ways of speaking all languages?

A Question to Answer for Spring 2024 Quest Course on Law, (In)justice and Social Problems

GOP Presidential candidate Ramaswamy advocates “a constitutional amendment to raise the voting age from 18 59 25, but to still allow 18-year-olds to vote if they either pass the same civics test required of immigrants to become naturalized citizens, or else to perform 6 months of military or first responder service.”  How does Ramaswamy’s position: 1) frame a social problem claim, 2) propose law as a solution, 3) complement or alter existing due process rights, and 4) complement or alter current equal protection principles? 

How can humanity adapt to sea level rise?

Why is it important to embrace global microbial literacy for your own health and the health of our planet?

Can we explore plants for human medicine to address current societal health problems?

What are the main controversies surrounding human sexuality and how do these intersect with a person, society, culture, and government?

How do cosmic events that took place billions of years ago and millions of light years away, affect our lives and humanity today?

How do the disciplines of art and science converge in astrophotography to help us explore and express our relationship with the cosmos?

Can science create new technologies that will address present bottlenecks in agricultural production while securing a healthy, equitable diet and minimizing impacts to the environment?

What social, political, biological, and environmental factors led to historic disease outbreaks? What would happen if our planet experienced a pandemic today? How can we prepare for the next disease pandemic?

Why do human decisions often result in unintended consequences on the environment, and how can we better predict and prevent them?

How can we best manage freshwater resources to meet the growing needs of society while maintaining healthy freshwater ecosystems?

How do the bones of our human skeleton reflect the history of life and why is it important?

What is romantic love, and how do the experiences, expectations, discourses, and desires related to romantic love help us to understand ourselves and others?

How can we more critically consume maps to increase our understanding of the world we inhabit?

How can agricultural and environmental policy be used to address emerging food security and environmental threats around the world? 

Are plants crying out for help and we can’t hear? Do plants talk? Do plants remember? Do plants see?

How are humans altering the number, relative abundance, and distribution of species on Earth via changing land use, urbanization, globalization, and climate change and how are these changes impacting ecosystem services and the human experience?

What are the economic trade offs involved in thinking about climate change and what types of policies have economists come up with to model and address the impacts of global climate change?

How will we meet our energy needs based on available resources in a way that is environmentally friendly, economically viable, fair, and politically attainable?

How do we tackle the climate change crisis and mitigate its impact on humans?

Humans can be created with specific “designer” characteristics, but should we? We will examine the technologies behind how the human genome can be modified and discuss the controversies surrounding these technologies.

What do we eat, and how can we eat for a more sustainable future?

Why are Americans less happy now than ever before and what can social science teach us about how to address this problem?

GOP Presidential candidate Ramaswamy advocates “a constitutional amendment to raise the voting age from 18 to 25, but to still allow 18-year-olds to vote if they either pass the same civics test required of immigrants to become naturalized citizens, or else to perform 6 months of military or first responder service.”  How does Ramaswamy’s position: 1) frame a social problem claim, 2) propose law as a solution, 3) complement or alter existing due process rights, and 4) complement or alter current equal protection principles? 

What social, political, biological, and environmental factors led to historic disease outbreaks? What would happen if our planet experienced a pandemic today? How can we prepare for the next disease pandemic?

How can we more critically consume maps to increase our understanding of the world we inhabit?