Discovery Seminars

Are you not ready to welcome our new robot overlords? Have you been burned by social media, are sick of AI slop, or think you'll scream if you hear one more scary prediction about technology in your future? This seminar transports you to a world before modern tech, when even writing could be considered a suspect technology, and uses past civilization as a basis on which to construct a life that puts human flourishing first, and employs technology to assist, rather than to replace or threaten, that flourishing. We start with Plato's Phaedrus and ancient ideas about artificial intelligence, and move from there to experiment with authentic human experiences and a life-way sustained by real social connection rather than by apps. Whether you're a skeptic or a fan of today's technology, if you're ready to explore what it means to be human, this is the class for you!

Session: C
Day/time: Wednesday, 3:35-4:25 p.m.
Class #: 34546

Did you know that lemurs are only found in Madagascar, the giant Komodo dragons are only found in a few islands of Indonesia, and that the Hawaiian Islands have no native ants or snakes? In this Discovery Seminar, we will explore why the animals found on islands can be so different from the ones on the mainland. We will learn how evolution goes wild on islands: shaping the formation of so many unique species on islands, both in terms of number and variety. Through readings, short films and discussions we will learn about some basic principles of island ecology and evolution. No prior background in biology is needed but curiosity to learn about this topic will be handy.

Session: C
Day/time: Wednesday, 4:40-5:30 p.m.
Class #: 26219

There are many ways to experience time in storytelling. Through short stories, novels, poetry, and film this seminar will explore four of those methods (the line, the frame, the wave, and all time is now) and examine what they do to the stories, but also what they do to us.

Session: C
Day/time: Monday, 2:30-3:20 p.m.
Class #: 34544

Over 80 years since the detonation of the first atomic bomb in New Mexico, policy makers remain concerned over how to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons, balancing this fear against promises that nuclear power plants could produce cheap electricity for the masses.

Topics for discussion will be selected from the following questions:

• What is the difference between the nuclear fuel cycle related to power plants and the production of ìspecial nuclear materialsî for weapons?
• How are treaties that purport to control the development of such weapons enforced?
• What is the overlap between the relatively new (but rapidly growing) field of nuclear forensics and the more mature areas of criminal forensics?
• What are the health effects of exposure to radioactivity?
• What can we learn from historical case studies?
• How should we design border crossings when considering the goal of interdicting radioactive contraband?

We will address these questions through a review of the evolution of our understanding of the atom, the discovery of radiation, and the principles of radioactive decay. Readings and lectures will be combined with in-class exercises/discussions. Lectures will focus on the essential components of various nuclear weapons, their telltale signatures, and classic case studies.

Session: C
Day/time: TBD
Class #: TBD

What can ancient cities, Renaissance masterpieces, volcanic landscapes, medieval towns, Mediterranean islands, and traditional cooking tell us about Italy today?

In this Discovery Seminar, students will take a virtual journey across Italy by exploring some of the countryís most famous and culturally important places. From historic city centers and works of art to dramatic coastlines, volcanic landscapes, food traditions, and island communities, each stop will open a window into Italian history, identity, and everyday life.

Students will consider how these places have been remembered, protected, and reimagined in film, music, literature, visual art, popular culture, and local tradition. Along the way, we will ask how tourism, environmental change, preservation, and community life shape the future of Italyís cultural landscapes. At the end of the seminar, students will choose a new Italian site not covered in class and investigate what it reveals about Italyís broader cultural story.

No knowledge of Italian is required, just curiosity and enthusiasm.

Session: C
Day/time: Monday, 3:35-4:25 p.m.
Class #: 29280

Public health is all around us, often in ways we never notice, especially if it's working. This seminar explores how public health shapes our everyday lives, from the food we eat and the water we drink, to disease outbreaks, environmental hazards, and the policies designed to keep communities healthy worldwide. Students will explore key moments in public health history, how public health systems work in the U.S. and around the world, the basics of epidemiology and data, outbreak investigation, environmental health, and public health policy. Movies, real-world examples, and current events will bring public health concepts to life.

Session: C
Day/time: Thursday, 4:30-5:20 p.m.
Class #: 34547

AI isn't just writing essays and recommending videos, it's helping decide who gets watched, targeted, or protected. This Discovery Seminar explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping national security in the real world. Students examine how AI is used in intelligence gathering, surveillance, drone operations, and military decision-making, as well as the powerful companies and technologies operating behind the scenes. From data platforms like Palantir to algorithmic tools used by governments, the course pulls back the curtain on how modern security actually works. Rather than focusing on technical coding, the course emphasizes understanding, questioning, and evaluating how AI systems influence global power, conflict, and accountability. By the end of the seminar, students will have a clear, grounded understanding of how AI shapes contemporary national security-and why it matters far beyond the headlines.

Session: C
Day/time: Friday, 2:30-3:20 p.m.
Class #: 34545

We live in an extraordinary era of space exploration! Rapid technological advances are enabling unprecedented capabilities for human exploration of the Moon and Mars, as well as ambitious scientific missions across the solar system. In the years ahead, space activities will increasingly become an everyday part of our lives.

This seminar will explore near- and long-term plans for solar system science missions and human exploration of the Moon and Mars two cornerstones of NASA's program. It will also examine the benefits to society, as well as the challenges, associated with the growing role of the private sector in low Earth orbit and cislunar space.

Finally, the seminar will highlight ASU's significant role in today's rapidly evolving space landscape and its contributions to future exploration endeavors. ASU graduates will be uniquely positioned to contribute to and help shape the next chapter of space exploration.

Session: C
Day/time: Monday, 1:25-2:15 p.m.
Class #: 34542

In recent years, the island of Taiwan has established close relationships with ASU and the state of Arizona. This class provides an interactive and interdisciplinary introduction to the culture and society of Taiwan from a wide range of perspectives. Students will study and take part in an emerging history of connection between Taiwan and ASU by learning about a variety of topics, including Taiwanese film, food, pop culture, literature, history, and politics. Wherever possible, students in the course will take part in events and programming sponsored by the Asia Center at ASU, interacting with leading scholars and community figures central to the establishment of relationships between Taiwan and ASU.

This course is a perfect introduction for students who are considering studying abroad or working in Taiwan.

Session: C
Day/time: Friday, 1:25-2:15 p.m.
Class #: 34543

Not all photosynthesis produces oxygen. Long before oxygen accumulated in Earthís atmosphere, microbes evolved ways to use sunlight without splitting water, and organisms using these strategies still thrive today. This seminar explores anoxygenic photosynthesis: how it works, where anoxygenic phototrophs live, and what they reveal about Earthís past and present.

Students will examine microbes that use light for energy while drawing electrons or carbon from sulfur compounds, hydrogen, iron, or organic matter. Through discussion, accessible scientific readings, case studies, and short student-led activities, we will investigate their habitats, their roles in major biogeochemical cycles, and selected connections to environmental science and astrobiology. No prior knowledge of microbiology or biochemistry is required.

I would be happy to adjust the length or wording to meet catalog and marketing requirements, but I would prefer that the current version not be published as written because the title and description should accurately represent the seminar I proposed and intend to teach.

Session: B
Day/time: Monday, 2-3:50 p.m.
Class #: 20483

First announced by President Richard Nixon in 1971, the ìWar on Drugsî promised to protect Americans from the harms of drug use. More than 50 years later, many scholars, policymakers, and communities argue that this approach has failed. Drugs remain widely available, overdose deaths have risen sharply, and millions of people have been incarcerated, often with unequal effects across race, class, and neighborhood.

This seminar examines what went wrong and what alternatives might look like. Students will explore current debates about cannabis legalization, fentanyl and the overdose crisis, addiction treatment, harm reduction, policing, incarceration, and public health. Through discussion, case studies, and short readings, we will consider how drug policy affects individuals and communities, and how the United States might imagine more effective and humane responses.

No prior knowledge is required, just a willingness to think critically about one of the most urgent public policy issues of our time.

Session: C
Day/time: Tuesday, 3-3:50 p.m.
Class #: 26217

Is your food safe? Your medicine? Who decides, and how do we know they got it right? A century ago, the answer was often that nobody was checking, and people died because of it. In this seminar, we'll read two gripping true stories by science historian Deborah Blum: The Poison Squad and The Poisoner's Handbook. These follow the chemists and investigators who exposed poisoned food, faked medicines, and undetectable murders, and helped build the safety systems we now take for granted. Along the way we'll wrestle with a harder question than is "regulation: good or bad?î namely, how a system built to protect us can still get things wrong, and what that means for how we should think about safety today. Discussion-based, built around two great reads, no science background required.

Session: B
Day/time: Wednesday, 2-3:50 p.m.
Class #: 29946