Courses in the FIG:
UGST 109 FIG Seminar
XXXX | XXXX | 16460 | 1 Credit
Some AI companies are pursuing “artificial general intelligence” or even “artificial super-intelligence”. What would an encounter with non-human intelligence be like? Science fiction writers have explored encounters with extra-terrestrial and artificial intelligence for generations, from Lem’s sentient planet Solaris to more recent movies like Arrival and Project Hail Mary. Meanwhile anthropology can help us understand diversity and common patterns in human cultures, while studies of animals from crows to octopus can help us think about what is likely to be common across different forms of intelligence. Let’s think together about what a really alien intelligence could be like, what it might have in common with us, and how it might differ. Let’s think especially about how we might recognize and interact with alien intelligence. Would we have empathy for it, and it for us? To what extent could we even recognize and comprehend it? And especially, how might we interact with it? We will watch parts of some science fiction and documentary movies together in class and make one outing together to a science fiction movie related to our topic. I will also ask you to do a bit of reading out of class, including short science fiction and some accessible studies of animal cognition. Aside from viewing together, class time will be devoted mainly to discussion.
CS 109 Introduction to AI
Science (>3) | Tuesday/Thursday | 16:00-17:20 | 16698 | 4 Credits
+Dis | Wednesday | 17:00-17:50 | 16700
Let’s harness artificial intelligence (AI) to do better, deeper work. In CS 109 we’ll build a basic understanding of AI and use current tools like chatbots in hands-on projects, building skill in using AI effectively and responsibly. Exercises will include specializing chatbots (without coding) to individual student interests. We’ll also discuss policy issues in current and emerging applications of AI. Students from all majors are welcome, with no requirements for background in computing or advanced mathematics.
ANTH 161 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Social Science (>2) | >GP | >IC | Tuesday/Thursday | 10:00-11:20 | 10383 | 4 Credits
+Dis | Friday | 10:00-10:50 | 10385
The study of individuals and groups within the context of culture. The course examines the sociocultural, political, economic, and psychological lives of people and the interconnections among these. In this course, we will examine many fundamental topics in cultural anthropology. We will begin with an overview of the basic tenets and explore methods and theory in cultural anthropology as a way of viewing peoples around the world. We will probe the ways in which culture impacts thinking, feelings, and moral beliefs in virtually all areas of life.
We will then turn to specific issues including gender, family life, and sexuality, inequality, poverty, and medical and political systems. We will discuss the ways in which colonialism, globalization and the West in particular has affected cultures worldwide.
One of my goals is to, in the words of Melford Spiro, "make the strange familiar and the familiar strange," meaning that what we take for granted and seems "natural" is, in fact, culturally constructed, and that, on the other hand, what seems "unnatural," bizarre," "wrong" and even "evil" may be understood both in its cultural context and for its links to our shared human experience. I hope you'll come away from this course with an appreciation for the various ways in which people create, adapt to, resist, and change their culture.
