BIG PROBLEMS COURSES
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Big Problems Courses, 2024-25
Alternate Reality Games: Theory and Production
Patrick Jagoda (Cinema & Media Studies)
Heidi Coleman (Theater & Performance Studies)
To apply, submit writing through the online form: https://forms.gle/QvRCKN6MjBtcteWy5
Communicating Science: For Peers and the Public
Paul Sereno (Organismal Biology and Anatomy)
Chana Haouzi (Architecture)
Jeremy Manier (Communication and Public Affairs)
Digitizing Human Rights
Nicholas Briz (Media Arts and Design)
Jennifer Spruill (Social Sciences)
Harm Reduction in the Overdose Era
Harold Pollack (Social Services Administration)
John Schneider (Global Health)
Sense & Sensibility & Science @UChicago
Reid Hastie (Business)
Jordan Kemp (Physics)
Sensing the Anthropocene
Jennifer Scappetone (English)
Amber Ginsburg (Visual Arts)​
Thinking Psychoanalytically: From the Sciences to the Arts
Anne Beal (Social Sciences)
Understanding Practical Wisdom
Anne Henly (Psychology)
Howard Nusbaum (Psychology)
Urban Design with Nature
Sabina Shaikh (Environmental Studies)
Emily Talen (Urban Studies)
Why aren't humans replacing themselves? What are the consequences?
Dorian Abbot (Geophysical Sciences)
Anup Malani (Law)
Big Problems Courses, 2023-24
Abortion: Morality, Politics, Philosophy
Jason Bridges (Philosophy)
Dan Brudney (Philosophy)
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Are we doomed? Confronting the End of the World
James Evans (Sociology)
Daniel Holz (Physics)
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Digitizing Human Rights
Nicholas Briz (Media Arts and Design)
Jennifer Spruill (Social Sciences)
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Disability and Design
Michele Friedner (Comparative Human Development)
Jennifer Iverson (Music)
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Drinking Alcohol: Social Problem or Normal Cultural Practice?
Michael Dietler (Anthropology)
William Green (Neurology)
From Fossils to Fermi's Paradox: Origin and Evolution of Intelligent Life
Paul Sereno (Organismal Biology)
Sarah London (Psychology)
Leslie Rogers (Astronomy)
People in Motion: Rethinking Transit in Chicago and Beyond
Evan Carver (Environment, Geography, and Urbanization)
Luke Joyner (Architectural Studies)
Reimagining Our Future: Past, Present and Future of Campus-Neighborhood Relations
Paul Sereno (Organismal Biology)
Chris Skrable (Chicago Studies)
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Sense & Sensibility & Science @UChicago
Reid Hastie (Business)
Jordan Kemp (Physics)
Sustainabilty and Computing
Andrew Chien (Computer Science)
Luis Bettencourt (Ecology and Evolution)
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Understanding Practical Wisdom
Anne Henly (Psychology)
Howard Nusbaum (Psychology)
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Urban Design with Nature
Sabina Shaikh (Environmental Studies)
Emily Talen (Urban Studies)
​Water Water Everywhere?
Susan Gzesh (Social Sciences)
Abigail Winograd (Art History)
Big Problems Courses, 2022-23
Alternate Reality Games: Theory and Production
Patrick Jagoda (Cinema & Media Studies)
Heidi Coleman (Theater & Performance Studies)
To apply, submit writing through the online form: https://forms.gle/QvRCKN6MjBtcteWy5
Diasporic Narratives and Memories
Olga Solovieva (Comparative Literature)
Bozena Shallcross (Slavic Languages & Literatures)
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Disability and Design
Michele Friedner (Comparative Human Development)
Jennifer Iverson (Music)
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Sensing the Anthropocene
Jennifer Scappetone (English)
Amber Ginsburg (Visual Arts)​
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Topics in Medical Ethics
Dan Brudney (Philosophy)
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Understanding Practical Wisdom
Anne Henly (Psychology)
Howard Nusbaum (Psychology)
Urban Design with Nature
Sabina Shaikh (Environmental Studies)
Emily Talen (Urban Studies)
​Water Water Everywhere?
Susan Gzesh (Social Sciences)
Big Problems Courses, 2021-22
Diasporic Narratives and Memories
Olga Solovieva (Comparative Literature)
Bozena Shallcross (Slavic Languages & Literatures)
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Digitizing Human Rights
Jennifer Spruill (Social Sciences)
Nick Briz (Media Arts and Design)
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Disability and Design
Michele Friedner (Comparative Human Development)
Jennifer Iverson (Music)
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Drinking Alcohol: Social Problem or Normal Cultural Practice?
Michael Dietler (Anthropology)
William N. Green (Neurobiology)
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Food: From Need to Want, or, Ethics and Aesthetics
Laura Letinsky (Visual Arts)
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Narrating Migration
Josephine McDonagh (English Language & Literature)
Vu Tran (Creative Writing and English Language & Literature)
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Sensing the Anthropocene
Jennifer Scappetone (English)
Amber Ginsburg (Visual Arts)
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Thinking Psychoanalytically: From the Sciences to the Arts
Anne Beal (Social Sciences)
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Urban Design with Nature
Sabina Shaikh (Environmental Studies)
Emily Talen (Urban Studies)
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What Does it Mean to be Free to Speak?
Andreas Glaeser (Sociology)
Genevieve Lakier (Law School)
Big Problems Courses, 2020-21
Are we doomed? Confronting the End of the World
James Evans (Sociology)
Daniel Holz (Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics)
Border Crossings: Reading and Making the Literature of Migration
Maud Ellmann (English Language & Literature)
Rachel DeWoskin (English and Creative Writing)
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From Fossils to Fermi’s Paradox: Origin and Evolution of Intelligent Life
Paul Sereno (Organismal Biology and Anatomy)
Leslie Rogers (Astronomy)
Sarah London (Psychology)
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Thinking Psychoanalytically: From the Sciences to the Arts
Anne Beal (Social Sciences)
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Topics in Medical Ethics
Daniel Brudney (Philosophy)
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Understanding Practical Wisdom
Anne Henley (Psychology)
Howard Nusbaum (Psychology)
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Urban Design with Nature
Sabina Shaikh (Environmental Studies)
Emily Talen (Urban Studies)
Big Problems Courses, 2019-20
AUTUMN 2019
Urban Design with Nature
Sabina Shaikh (Environmental Studies)
Emily Talen (Urban Studies)
WINTER 2020
Climate Change in Media and Design
Patrick Jagoda (Cinema & Media Studies)
Benjamin Morgan (English)
Disability and Design
Michele Friedner (Comparative Human Development)
Jennifer Iverson (Music)
How Does It Feel to Be an Outlier? Narratives of Medical 'Otherness'
Peggy Mason (Neurobiology)
Nora Titone (Court Theater)
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Medical Ethics: Central Topics
Daniel Brudney (Philosophy)
SPRING 2020
Drinking Alcohol: Social Problem or Normal Cultural Practice?
Michael Dietler (Anthropology)
William N. Green (Neurobiology)
Science and Christianity
Dorian Abbot (Geophysical Sciences)
Daniel Fabrycky (Astronomy & Astrophysics)
Lea Schweitz (Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago)
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Thinking Psychoanalytically: From the Sciences to the Arts
Anne Beal (Social Sciences)
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Understanding Practical Wisdom
Anne Henly (Psychology)
Howard Nusbaum (Psychology)
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For more detailed information about past and current course offerings, please download the Big Problems section of the college course catalog.