The Harvard Sampler

Jennifer M. Shephard; Stephen Michael Kosslyn; Evelynn Maxine Hammonds

Published by Harvard University Press 2011

The Harvard Sampler

Liberal Education for the Twenty-First Century

Jennifer M. Shephard , Stephen Michael Kosslyn and Evelynn Maxine Hammonds

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674062900

Overview
Contents

About this book

From Harvard University, one of the world’s preeminent institutions of
liberal education, comes a collection of essays sampling topics at the forefront of academia in the twenty-first century. Written by faculty members at the cutting edge of their fields, including such luminaries as Steven Pinker, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, and Harry R. Lewis, these essays offer a clear and accessible overview of disciplines that are shaping the culture, and even the world.

The authors, among the most respected members of Harvard’s faculty, invite readers to explore subjects as diverse as religious literacy and Islam, liberty and security in cyberspace, medical science and epidemiology, energy resources, evolution, morality, human rights, global history, the dark side of the American Revolution, American literature and the environment, interracial literature, and the human mind. They summarize key developments in their fields in ways that will both entertain and edify those who seek an education beyond the confines of the classroom.

It is sometimes said that youth is wasted on the young. It could also be said that college, too often, is wasted on college students—that only after graduating does a former student come to appreciate learning. To those wishing to revisit the college classroom—as well as to those who never had the opportunity in the first place—this book gives a taste of the modern course at Harvard. The essays are stimulating and informative, and the annotated bibliographies accompanying each chapter provide invaluable guidance to the life-long learner who wants to pursue these fascinating topics in depth.

Author information

Shephard Jennifer M. :

Jennifer M. Shephard is Special Initiatives Program Manager, Division of Social Science, FAS, Harvard University.Kosslyn Stephen M. :

Stephen M. Kosslyn is John Lindsley Professor of Psychology in Memory of William James, Emeritus, Harvard University, and Director, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.Hammonds Evelynn M. :

Evelynn M. Hammonds is Dean of Harvard College and Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University.

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Enhancing Religious Literacy in a Liberal Arts Education through the Study of Islam and Muslim Societies Ali S. Asani Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
American Literature and the American Environment: There Never Was an “Is” without a “Where” Lawrence Buell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	32
The Internet and Hieronymus Bosch: Fear, Protection, and Liberty in Cyberspace Harry R. Lewis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution: Pattern, Process, and the Evidence Jonathan B. Losos Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Global History for an Era of Globalization: An Introduction Charles S. Maier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
Medical Detectives Karin B. Michels Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
The Human Mind Steven Pinker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Securing Human Rights Intellectually: Philosophical Inquiries about the Universal Declaration Mathias Risse Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	212
What Is Morality? T. M. Scanlon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
Energy Resources and the Environment: A Chapter on Applied Science John H. Shaw Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
Interracial Literature Werner Sollors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	311
“Pursuits of Happiness”: Dark Threads in the History of the American Revolution Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 392
Illustrations
- Other: 8 color illustrations, 20 halftones, 4 tables

eBook

Published: November 29, 2011
ISBN: 9780674062900