This course provides an introduction to the study of
the human experience in the modern world. It brings
together the history of major milestones in the
modern era, from the mid-18th century to the 21st
century, and prominent theoretical frameworks that
are employed to analyze this transformative period in
the history of our species. SPS 102 is designed to be
a follow-up of SPS 101 and thus compliments the
content and the academic skills that were previously
introduced. There are three central aims of this
course. The first aim is to present our students the
challenges and potential in the scientific study of
human experience through the introduction of various
analytical tools from disciplines such as history,
sociology, anthropology and economics. The second
aim is to provide the intellectual foundations that
would help our students to understand the dynamics
of the contemporary world around them by
historicizing its relatively recent formation in the
history of humanity. Finally, this course also aims to
emphasize the structured use of language, in this
case English, for the purposes of knowledge
production and critical analysis. It accepts the role of
language in humanities and social sciences as
important as calculus is for physics. To that end, it
pays special attention to critical reading and writing
as evident from the course structure.
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