Dana Matthiessen - Teaching

Independent Teaching

Race: History, Biology, Psychology, Philosophy (syllabus). Spring 2021

Course description: As recent events make clear, race has played a highly consequential part in American society. This course aims to provide you with the tools and concepts to think about race and racism in a nuanced and reflective way. Such understanding can only be gained by bringing together several disciplines in an interdisciplinary manner. Thus, the course will move from philosophical reflection on the reality of race, to historical accounts of the rise of modern race concepts, to the psychology and ethics of race and race discourse. In particular, we will examine the following questions: What are races? What is racism? Does genetics show that races are real? Where does the concept of race come from? Is it a recent historical invention? How has it influenced the sciences? Should we be color-blind? How does race contribute to one’s identity? How do racial categories and attitudes affect our cognition and our institutions? How should they? Students with a variety of views on the topics are equally welcome. The course aims to encourage the critical assessment of your prior understanding of ‘race’ and ‘racism’ as well as engaged and respectful discussion of issues relevant to our everyday lives.

Here are some things my students said about this class.

And some examples of their class projects.

Sample assignments:
Question bridge
Film response
Final project

Morality and Medicine (syllabus). Spring 2019, Fall 2020, Summer 2021, Spring 2023

Course description: Ethical dilemmas in the practice of health care continue to proliferate and receive increasing attention from members of the health care profession, ethicists, policy makers, and the general public as health care consumers. In this course we will examine a number of ethical issues that arise in the context of contemporary medical practice and research by analyzing articles and decision scenarios. Topics to be covered typically include the physician-patient relationship; informed consent; medical experimentation; termination of treatment; genetics; reproductive technologies; euthanasia; resource allocation; and health care reform. Students who successfully complete this course will be able to identify and analyze different philosophical approaches to selected issues in medical ethics; have gained insight into how to read and critically interpret philosophical arguments; and have developed skills that will enable them to think clearly about ethical questions as future or current health care providers, policy makers, and consumers.

Here are some things my student said about this class.

Sample assignments:
Active reading
Analytical comment
Documentary response

Magic, Medicine, and Science (syllabus). Fall 2018

Course description: Today’s scientific theories and methods are the outgrowth of a historical development dating back to antiquity. In this course we trace the emergence of modern science with an emphasis on the diverse strains of thinking that preceded the scientific era and form its backdrop, from Greek and Levantine cosmology and medicine to the magical traditions that blossomed in the Renaissance. The largest share of the course will focus on the years 1500-1700 CE in Europe. We will discuss some celebrated innovators of this period such as Galileo and Newton alongside their lesser-known contemporaries, with the aim to arrive at an understanding of the scientific revolution enriched by historical context.

Some examples of student projects.

Additional Teaching Interests