PSY 250 - Oxford as Text

HIS 280 PHI 280

This particular cross-listed course will explore the role that Oxford, England has played in the intellectual, literary, philosophical, and religious history of the Anglo-world. From the origins of Oxford – one of the first European universities of the 12th century – we find a tradition of philosophical reflection on self, God, the world. How does a place serve as a catalyst for philosophical reflection, religious fervor, and creative imagination? How does place affect the way we perceive the world around us? What has the field of psychology studied about space and place and the human psyche? From Roger Grosseteste, John of Salisbury, John Wyclife, and the Oxford Reformers through Lewis Carroll’s Alice and C.S. Lewis’ Narnia, we uncover ideas, fantasies, life and death-all worlds emerging from a small midlands town on a tributary of the Thames. How did the microcosm of this university town birth ideas and influence individual historical, philosophical, and literary figures all of which will have worldwide influence? How was an environment fostered in which the life of the mind flourished? We will read a wide range of texts across disciplines to explore these ideas. This course will include an intense reading and study period in Oxford during the summer which will offer students a chance to study in the very place where scientific ideas, intellectual and religious history, philosophical puzzles, and imaginary worlds meet.

3 credits.
Spring. With Travel During Summer.

Esse non videri — “To be, not to seem.”

BROOKLYN

LONG ISLAND

ONLINE

PSY 250 - Oxford as Text