NEH Enduring Questions Course on the Nature of the Cosmos

FAIN: AQ-50223-10

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN 55455-2009)
J.B. Shank (Project Director: September 2009 to September 2014)

The development of a course for undergraduates that explores ancient, religious, and scientific cosmologies.

This proposal requests support for the development of an Enduring Questions course pursuing the question, What is the nature of the cosmos and how do we, as humans, find our place within it? The course focuses on comparative analysis of the cosmologies of several cultures from the ancient period to the 19th century. It presents three comparative unit on 1) Antique Cosmologies, 2) Western Monotheisms, and 3) The Beginnings of Modern Scientific Cosmology. Overall, the course uses deep historical inquiry and predisciplinary textual and visual analysis to empower students to recognize and scrutinize the cosmological assumptions at play in their own lives.

Associated Products

Globalizing Scientiae (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Globalizing Scientiae
Author: J.B. Shank
Author: Carla Nappi
Author: Robert Morrison
Author: Roger Hart
Abstract: Roundtable discussion on global approaches to the history of science at the Scientiae 2015 meeting in Toronto
Date Range: May 2015
Location: Scientiae 2015 meeting, Toronto, CA

Book Review, Toby E. Huff, Intellectual Curiosity and the Scientific Revolution: A Global Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2010) (Article)
Title: Book Review, Toby E. Huff, Intellectual Curiosity and the Scientific Revolution: A Global Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
Author: J.B.Shank
Abstract: Book review of Toby Huff's global history of the beginnings of modern science.
Year: 2012
Primary URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/490052
Primary URL Description: link to the article from Project Muse
Format: Journal
Publisher: Journal of World History

Beyond the Scientific Revolution: Thinking Globally about the History of Moder Science (Book)
Title: Beyond the Scientific Revolution: Thinking Globally about the History of Moder Science
Author: J.B. Shank
Author: Carla Nappi
Author: Harold Cook
Author: Jorge Canizares Esguerra
Author: Ahmed Ragab
Author: Daniela Bleichmar
Author: Harun Kucuk
Editor: J.B. Shank
Abstract: A set of articles rethinking the category of the European Scientific Revolution as the beginning point of modern science
Year: 2017
Access Model: Subscription only
Publisher: Brill, as part of the Journal for Early Modern History
Type: Edited Volume
Copy sent to NEH?: No

What is the Nature of the Cosmos (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: What is the Nature of the Cosmos
Author: J.B. Shank
Abstract: J.B. Shank was awarded the Morse Alumni Association Award for Distinguished contributions to Undergraduate Education at the University of Minnesota, and his awarded celebrated in particular his NEH funded course on "The Nature of the Cosmos."
Year: 2016
Primary URL: http://www.scholarswalk.umn.edu/awards/aoce/pdf/2016/Shank-poster.pdf
Audience: Undergraduate

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