This interdisciplinary course delivers the unified 13.8-billion-year story of the universe through eight major thresholds of increasing complexity. It moves seamlessly from the Big Bang and the birth of stars and elements, to planet formation and the emergence of life, human evolution, the rise of civilizations via agriculture and writing, and finally the Industrial Revolution and today’s globalized world. A recurring theme (“Goldilocks Conditions”) explains the precise circumstances that enabled each leap in complexity, blending cosmology, astronomy, chemistry, geology, biology, anthropology, and modern history.

Learning Objectives 

•  Trace the scientific processes and historical milestones behind the formation of the universe, stars, elements, planets, life, humans, societies, and industry.
•  Analyze how Goldilocks Conditions repeatedly allowed greater complexity to emerge across cosmic and human scales.
•  Connect deep-time perspectives with contemporary issues such as sustainability, globalization, and climate change.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

•  Articulate a coherent, evidence-based narrative of cosmic and human history.
•  Apply interdisciplinary thinking to link physics, chemistry, biology, and the social sciences.
•  Evaluate today’s challenges through the lens of 13.8 billion years of change, empowering them to see humanity’s place in the universe and act thoughtfully in the Anthropocene.

This course traces the full chronological evolution of human spirituality and religion. It begins with primal prehistoric beliefs (animism, shamanism, rituals, and early answers to “Why are we here?” and “What happens when we die?”), moves through ancient and classical traditions, then examines the origins, core teachings, rituals, and historical contexts of the major world faiths (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) before concluding with modern religious movements and new spiritualities.

Learning Objectives 

•  Map the historical development of religious and spiritual traditions from prehistory to the present day.
•  Compare and contrast core beliefs, practices, rituals, and sacred texts across primal, ancient, and major world religions.
•  Analyze recurring themes such as the divine, morality, the afterlife, and humanity’s place in the cosmos, along with the cultural and social forces that shaped each tradition.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will:

•  Demonstrate broad religious literacy.
•  Articulate the distinctive features and shared patterns of global belief systems.
•  Understanding religion’s central role in shaping human history and culture.
• Engage thoughtfully and respectfully with contemporary religious diversity.

This course journeys through the world’s greatest mythological traditions. It opens with the foundational myths of Ancient Greece (gods, heroes, creation, and epic cycles from Gaia and Prometheus to the Trojan War and Oedipus). It continues through Ancient Rome, Northern Europe (Norse, Irish, and Finnish legends including Odin, Thor, and the Kalevala), Asia (Mesopotamian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean epics), the Americas, Ancient Egypt and Africa, and Oceania, covering creation stories, divine families, heroic quests, tricksters, and end-of-world prophecies from every inhabited continent.

Learning Objectives 

•  Trace the major myths, gods, heroes, and legendary cycles of each cultural tradition and their historical contexts.
•  Compare recurring universal themes (creation, the afterlife, heroism, morality, and humanity’s relationship with the cosmos) across civilizations.
•  Analyze how myths served as explanations, moral guides, and cultural glue for ancient societies.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will:

•  Possess a comprehensive map of global mythology.
•  Recognize shared archetypes and distinct cultural voices.
•  Appreciate mythology’s enduring influence on literature, art, and modern storytelling.
•  Engage respectfully with the world’s diverse cultural heritage.

This course presents the entire Christian Bible as one unified, continuous narrative. It moves chronologically from Genesis (Creation, Eden, Flood, Patriarchs) through the Exodus and the Law, the Historical Books (conquest, judges, kings, exile, and return), Wisdom literature and the Prophets, the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus in the Gospels, the birth of the Church in Acts and the apostolic letters, and finally the apocalyptic vision in Revelation.

Learning Objectives 

•  Trace the grand redemptive arc of Scripture from Creation to the New Jerusalem.
•  Identify key events, characters, covenants, and recurring themes that connect the Old and New Testaments.
•  Understand how the Old Testament foreshadows and finds fulfillment in the New Testament story of Jesus.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will: 

•  Possess a clear, chronological grasp of the Bible’s overarching story.
•  Demonstrate improved biblical literacy across genres and eras.
•  Recognize central themes of creation, covenant, redemption, and hope.
•  Appreciate the Bible’s profound influence on history, culture, and faith today.

This course journeys through the evolution of storytelling across continents and centuries. It begins with Heroes and Legends (3000 BCE–1300 CE), epics and classics from Gilgamesh, the Iliad, Oedipus, Beowulf, One Thousand and One Nights, and more. It then moves through the Renaissance to Enlightenment (1300–1800) (Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Molière), Romanticism and the Rise of the Novel (1800–1855) (Wordsworth, Austen, the Brontës, Melville, Dickens), Depicting Real Life (1855–1900) (Flaubert, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Verne), Breaking with Tradition (1900–1945) (Kafka, Joyce, Fitzgerald), Postwar Writing (1945–1970) (Orwell, Salinger, Nabokov, Beckett), and ends with Contemporary Literature (1970–present) (Morrison, Rushdie, Murakami, and global voices today).

Learning Objectives 

•  Map the major periods, movements, authors, and landmark works of world literature from antiquity to the present.
•  Examine how literary forms (epic, drama, novel, poetry) and themes evolve in response to historical and cultural change.
•  Compare universal human concerns (love, power, identity, justice, mortality) across global traditions.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will: 

•  Command a clear timeline of literary history.
•  Recognize enduring archetypes and period-specific innovations.
•  Read critically across genres and cultures.
• Understand how stories both reflect and shape the human experience throughout time.

This course charts the 2,600-year story of scientific discovery across six eras. It begins with The Beginning of Science (600 BCE–1400 CE) (early astronomy, mathematics, optics, and biology from Thales, Archimedes, Zhang Heng, and Ibn al-Haytham). It continues through the Scientific Revolution (1400–1700) (Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton), Expanding Horizons (1700–1800) (Linnaeus, Lavoisier, Franklin), A Century of Progress (1800–1900) (Darwin, Faraday, Mendel), A Paradigm Shift (1900–1945) (Einstein, Planck, Hubble, Wegener), and ends with Fundamental Building Blocks (1945–Present) (Watson & Crick, Feynman, Hawking, genome editing, and Gaia theory).

Learning Objectives 

•  Trace the major scientific breakthroughs, key figures, and paradigm shifts from antiquity to the present day.
•  Examine how scientific ideas in physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and earth sciences evolved in response to new evidence and technologies.
•  Analyze the interplay between science, culture, and society across historical periods.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will: 

•  Command a clear timeline of scientific history.
•  Recognize recurring themes of observation, experimentation, and revolutionary thinking.
•  Understand the human stories behind landmark discoveries.
• Appreciate how science continues to reshape our understanding of the universe and our place within it.

This course traces the chronological development of anthropology as a discipline, structured around five key eras: Early Anthropology (pre-1918), Anthropology Between the Wars (1918–1950), Post-War Anthropology (1950–1980), Modern Anthropology (1980–2000), and Contemporary Anthropology (2000 onward). It examines foundational concepts (e.g., evolutionism, the “noble savage,” cultural relativism, language and religion) through functionalism, reciprocity, structuralism, cultural materialism, and feminist approaches, to postmodern themes (e.g., gender performativity, power, commodities) and current frontiers (e.g., multispecies ethnography, genomics, media, ethics, and futures). Each era highlights influential ideas, methodologies, and socio-political contexts that shaped how anthropologists understand culture, society, identity, and human experience.

Learning Objectives 

•  Identify major theoretical shifts and paradigms across anthropological history.
•  Analyze how historical and social contexts influenced key ideas (e.g., evolution vs. relativism, materialism vs. interpretation).
•  Compare competing frameworks and their contributions to concepts of culture, power, identity, and human nature.
•  Critically evaluate anthropology’s evolving role in addressing global issues and ethical questions.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

•  Articulate the historical foundations of modern anthropology and explain pivotal ideas from each era.
•  Critically compare theoretical approaches and apply historical insights to contemporary debates.
•  Assess anthropology’s ethical responsibilities and future directions with informed perspective.
• Demonstrate clear, evidence-based analysis of how the discipline has continuously redefined what it means to study humanity.

This course delivers a comprehensive introduction to the life sciences, organized around the book’s major thematic sections: Life (cells and physiology), Food and Energy (metabolism, photosynthesis, respiration), Transport and Regulation (circulation, homeostasis, hormones), Brain and Behavior, Health and Disease, Growth and Reproduction, Inheritance (genetics and DNA), Diversity of Life and Evolution (natural selection, speciation), and Ecology (ecosystems, niches, human impact). It explores foundational mechanisms and landmark ideas, from cell theory and the double helix to cloning, the molecular clock, and the Gaia hypothesis, showing how living systems function and interconnect across every scale.

Learning Objectives 

•  Explain core biological processes at molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecological levels.
•  Trace key scientific discoveries and their historical context within each major area of biology.
•  Analyze interconnections between energy flow, regulation, genetics, evolution, and environmental relationships.
•  Recognize biology’s relevance to health, biotechnology, and planetary sustainability.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

•  Clearly describe and link fundamental mechanisms of life, inheritance, evolution, and ecosystems.
•  Apply biological principles to real-world contexts such as disease, genetic engineering, and human environmental impact.
•  Critically discuss how major ideas have shaped modern biology and continue to address contemporary challenges.
• Demonstrate an integrated understanding of life’s unity and diversity.

This course traces the evolution of psychological thought through its major schools and paradigms: Philosophical Roots, Behaviorism (responding to the environment), Psychotherapy (the unconscious determines behavior), Cognitive Psychology (the calculating brain), Social Psychology (being in a world of others), Developmental Psychology (from infant to adult), and Psychology of Difference (personality and intelligence). Students explore landmark ideas, experiments, and thinkers: from Galen, Descartes, Wundt, Pavlov, Freud, Skinner, and Piaget to Milgram, Zimbardo, Bandura, and beyond, thus revealing how psychology has explained mind, behavior, learning, emotion, development, and individuality.

Learning Objectives 

•  Trace the historical development of psychology and its shifting paradigms.
•  Compare core assumptions and methods across behaviorist, psychoanalytic, cognitive, social, developmental, and individual-differences approaches.
•  Identify key experiments and theorists and their lasting contributions.
•  Analyze how different schools explain learning, personality, social influence, and mental processes.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

•  Clearly articulate the central principles and historical context of each major school of psychology.
•  Critically compare theories and apply them to real-world behavior and contemporary issues.
•  Evaluate the strengths, limitations, and ethical dimensions of psychological perspectives.
•  Demonstrate an integrated understanding of psychology’s breadth and its ongoing relevance to human experience.

This course provides a chronological survey of philosophical thought: The Ancient World (700 BCE–250 CE), The Medieval World (250–1500), The European Renaissance and the Age of Reason (1500–1750), The Age of Revolution (1750–1900), The Modern World (1900–1950), and Contemporary Philosophy (1950–present). It explores enduring questions of reality, knowledge, ethics, freedom, existence, and society through landmark ideas and thinkers, from Thales, Laozi, Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Kant, Nietzsche, Sartre, Foucault, Derrida, and current voices.

Learning Objectives 

•  Trace the historical progression of philosophical ideas across major eras and traditions.
•  Identify and explain core contributions of influential Eastern and Western philosophers.
•  Compare competing approaches to fundamental questions about human life and the world.
•  Analyze how philosophy reflects and shapes its cultural and historical contexts.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

•  Articulate the central ideas and historical significance of major philosophers from antiquity to the present.
•  Critically compare philosophical positions across periods and traditions.
•  Connect historical concepts to contemporary debates on ethics, society, and existence.
•  Demonstrate an integrated understanding of philosophy’s global evolution and ongoing relevance.

This course surveys the chronological evolution of Western classical music: Early Music (1000–1400), Renaissance (1400–1600), Baroque (1600–1750), Classical (1750–1820), Romantic (1810–1920), Nationalism (1830–1920), and Modern (1900–1950). It examines landmark works and composers, from anonymous chant and Machaut to Palestrina, Monteverdi, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner, Verdi, Mahler, Debussy, Stravinsky, and beyond. As such, the course highlights stylistic shifts in melody, harmony, rhythm, form, and expression alongside their cultural and historical contexts.

Learning Objectives 

•  Trace the development of musical styles, forms, and techniques across major historical periods.
•  Identify key composers, representative works, and their innovations.
•  Analyze how music reflects and shapes its social, religious, and political environments.
•  Compare the defining aesthetic and structural characteristics of each era.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

•  Clearly describe the musical traits and historical significance of each period.
•  Recognize and discuss major works and composers with informed context.
•  Critically connect musical developments to broader cultural movements.
• Demonstrate an integrated understanding of Western music’s continuous evolution and enduring relevance.

This course traces the chronological development of chemistry from its practical origins to its modern molecular and nuclear frontiers: Practical Chemistry (ancient crafts), The Age of Alchemy, Enlightenment Chemistry, The Chemical Revolution, The Industrial Age, The Machine Age, The Nuclear Age, and A Changing World. It explores transformative ideas and discoveries, from brewing, soap-making, gunpowder, and phlogiston to atomic theory, the periodic table, synthetic dyes, polymers, radioactivity, enzymes, DNA, nanomaterials, and genome editing. This exploration illustrates chemistry’s profound influence on science, industry, medicine, and everyday life.

Learning Objectives 

•  Trace the evolution of chemical concepts, theories, and laboratory techniques across historical eras.
•  Identify landmark experiments, scientists, and breakthroughs that shaped the discipline.
•  Analyze chemistry’s intersections with technology, industry, medicine, and society.
•  Examine the shift from empirical alchemy to atomic, quantum, and molecular understanding.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:

•  Articulate the key ideas and paradigm shifts that define each stage of chemistry’s history.
•  Connect historical discoveries to contemporary applications in materials, energy, medicine, and sustainability.
•  Critically evaluate chemistry’s role in human progress and global challenges.
• Demonstrate an integrated view of chemistry as both ancient craft and cutting-edge science.