Core 1 is a lecture and discussion course that is designed to introduce you to UC Merced’s faculty, our research, and the academic fields in which we work. The course capitalizes on an interdisciplinary approach to explore how different experts, from what have been called “the two cultures” (humanist and scientist), view the world and analyze information. The intent is to demonstrate, through examples, that complex questions are best understood not from a single, decoupled perspective, but by insights gained from different—even seemingly disparate—approaches.
Your questions and ideas will be central to the learning process. Among the questions we will address are: What is a university, and what role do we have in shaping it? What counts as knowledge? How is knowledge produced, assembled, and disseminated? In what ways do academic disciplines intersect? In what ways do they differ? The answers to such questions will guide us as we work together to forge an entirely new and unique academic community.
