Course descriptions are not final and may be changed at or before the first class. For enrolment instructions, students should consult the Course Planning guide and see to see Timetable Builder the scheduled day and times.
First Term – May-June
HPS300H1 - The biopolitics of nature conservation, 1958-present
Course instructor: Gabrielle Doiron
Delivery Method: In-person
In the last 30 years, debates on strategies for addressing intensifying ecological crises, including the biodiversity crisis, have divided conservation biologists, Indigenous land stewards, social scientists, and the public. Drawing from the work of environmental historians and human geographers, this course examines the biopolitics of nature conservation, with a particular focus on debates concerning the management of introduced species in North America. Going back to 1958, the year Charles Elton published the book that inspired the founding of invasion biology twenty years later, this course examines scholarship on the politics of ecological restoration and ‘rewilding,’ the ‘wilderness’ construct and notions of purity in landscapes, and the native/alien species dichotomy. Starting with the understanding that ecological concepts are constructs with historical-cultural contexts, this course introduces students to a critical environmental history of biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration in North America that is relevant to future ecologies here and beyond.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)\
HPS302H1 - Topics in Philosophy of Science: Experimentation, Social Movements, and Scientific Knowledge
Course instructor: Andrew Jones
Delivery Method: In-person
This course explores the relationship between science and culture by examining how social movements and moral norms shape scientific knowledge making practices. Looking at topics such as animal and medical experimentation, countercultural science, the role of parent-experts in autism research, and Cold War science, we will think critically about the way knowledge production is driven by actors and factors that are not typically regarded as being integral to science.
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
Exclusion: HPS208H1
Second Term – July-August
HPS200H1 – Science and Values
Course instructor: Joel West
Delivery Method: In-person
An introduction to issues at the interface of science and society. Including the reciprocal influence of science and social norms, the relation of science and religion, dissemination of scientific knowledge, science and policy. Issues may include: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons; Genetic Engineering; The Human Genome Project; Climate Change.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief, and Behaviour (2)
HPS301H1 - Topics in the History of Science: Living with the Bomb: The History of Groovy Psychology, from the Human Potential Movement to Contemplative Science
Course instructor: Andrew Jones
Delivery Method: Lectures – In-person
We often think about psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience (the “mind sciences”) as being centered around studying the mind and restoring health. But in the second half of the 20th century, a movement emerged that sought to harness the knowledge produced by the mind sciences to maximize human potential.
This course examines the development of the Human Potential Movement in the 1960s and its lasting impact on psychological research. Beginning in the mid-20th century, we will look at historical examples of psychological researchers who developed theories and practices aimed at “self-actualization.” We will think about how these theories and practices were embedded in political, cultural, and social contexts, and consider how the mind sciences shape our understandings of ourselves in the modern world. We will ask: How were countercultural values and practices translated into the mainstream mind sciences? How did gender norms influence understandings of human potential? What happens when prison psychiatrists draw on theories of human potential? How did the mind sciences seek to explain religious practices and experiences? We will address these questions by looking at topics such as the development of “growth centers,” psychedelic drug research, hippy midwifery, and contemplative neuroscience.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)