What is The Cosmos?

Paul Aspinwall, Professor, Mathematics

For over a hundred years we have understood that spacetime is not flat and that its precise geometry is central to understanding the structure of the universe. In this course we will carefully introduce the concept of spacetime and in what sense it can be curved. From this we will be able understand the notion of the big bang and the expanding universe. The ideas of cosmic inflation and the multiverse will be explored. If time allows, we will discuss black holes, how they rotate, and how a time machine can naively be constructed.  

Dan Scolnic, Associate Professor, Physics

How observation and scientific insights can be used to discover properties of the universe. Topics include an appreciation of the night sky, properties of light and matter, the solar system, how stars evolve and die, the Milky Way and other galaxies, the evolution of the universe from a hot Big Bang, exotic objects like black holes, and the possibility for extraterrestrial life. Prerequisite: high-school-level knowledge of algebra and geometry.

Angelina Lucento, Assistant Professor, Art, Art History, and Visual Studies

This course explores the history of the US/Soviet Space Race through the lens of art and visual culture. We seek to understand: What was the Space Race? How did it shape culture and geopolitics in the twentieth century? How did it change our broader understanding of what and who is in a universe? Each seminar meeting with center around a different chronological theme. We will begin with a prehistory of the Space Race, reading translated texts by Russian mathematician Konstantin Tsoilkovsky, the father of the idea of space flight, and the American astronomer Edwin Hubble. We will then move on to a discussion of the Space Race’s specific origins during the World War II era development (and deployment) of nuclear weapons by ally-turned-enemy states. Following this foundational introduction, the rest of the course will be devoted to the study of the specific events and associated cultural phenomena that defined the space race: US and Soviet rocket mania, the release of Sputnik, Gagarin’s flight into space, Apollo 11, the space shuttle program, and the building of International Space Station “Mir.”
 

Priscilla Wald, Professor, English
Julianne Werlin, Associate Professor, English

In the beginning was literature, and literature was word magic: spells, curses, riddles, prayers, heroic tales, dream visions, the secret names of the divinity. From the first, literature in all of its forms offered a way to bend the world to the writer’s (or singer’s) will: to stir occult forces latent in nature and in invisible worlds beyond, and while much has changed since ancient times, this magic has remained. However much we conduct our lives by the light of rational ideals, when it comes to what we deeply (maybe secretly) desire, hope, or fear, how quickly we enter an occult world where a prayer, a hex, a chant, a song, are the verbal forms that most candidly address who we are or would like to be. Literature at its most magical—a mode that takes many forms—draws its power from the occulted wishes, dreams, hopes, and fears in the heart and soul of humanity. From messages to the beyond and apocalyptic visions, from alchemical formulas to shamanic rituals, this course will explore the rich history of the relationships among literature, magic, and the occult: the  desire to reveal universal laws and alter personal fates, to accrue unearthly powers and command demons, to save the soul from death, and we will look closely at the magical cosmos from which even the most seemingly earthly literature derives its power.

Readings might include works by such authors as William Shakespeare, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Mary Shelley along with short writings on alchemy, William Blake, Edgar Allan Poe, and Zora Neale Hurston along with short readings in spiritualism, the occult, and the transit between realms (such as the Tibetan Book of the Dead) and Philip K. Dick, James Merrill, John Yau, and Nnedi Okorafor, along with readings on magic and shamanism.

Jennifer Knust, Professor, Religious Studies

Is the world ordered and arranged or is it a chaos? Was there a time when the universe was not? Was it generated and will it end or is it eternal and everlasting? Who made it, if anyone? Ancient and medieval stargazers contemplated these and other questions, looking to the heavens to solve riddles of existence, fate, consciousness, and beauty, and to navigate ways of being and moving in the world. Listening in on the song of the stars, this class encounters premodern religions, literatures, and the enchanted cosmos.

Michael S. Domeracki, Director of Constellations and Adjunct Professor, Religious Studies

The beings of the cosmos have ranged from helpful, to evil, to downright terrifying, but in all cases, said something about what it is to be human and our role in the universe. This class explores the dynamic nature of these beings as students will investigate their stories, depictions, and roles and how they interact with humanity. With a concern to move beyond the dominant narratives, this class draws from ancient to present mythologies and illuminates the gender, ethical, and social considerations evident in these constructions. In a journey through these imagined realities, we will explore the existential questions of humanity as we witness communities and cultures wrestle with self-understanding and the human relationship to the cosmos and the beings who live there.

Lisa Andres, Lecturing Fellow, Thompson Writing Program

In a 1955 episode of Disneyland titled “Man in Space,” Walt Disney began by saying:

“Discoveries that were miracles a few short years ago are accepted as commonplace today. Many of the things that seem impossible now, will become realities tomorrow.”

As much as Disney’s films dominated and defined the present, Walt himself always had an eye to the future, as his plans for the city of Epcot and his fascination with Tomorrowland reveal. This section of Decoding Disney will explore the “new frontier” in Disney’s films: possible topics may include Walt Disney’s Tomorrowland episodes as well as contemporary films such as Toy Story (1994), Treasure Planet (2002), Wall-E (2008), Strange World (2022), and Elio (2024). In the second half of the course, we’ll broaden our scope to consider Disney’s expansion of the Star Wars (The Mandalorian; Andor + Rogue One) universe as well as the MCU multiverse (Spiderman: No Way Home; Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness; Ant-Man: Quantumania) as we prepare for the release of Avengers: Doomsday.

Lisa Andres, Lecturing Fellow, Thompson Writing Program

What does Taylor Swift have to do with The Cosmos? Well, in August of 2024, NASA’s official Tumblr compared the eras of the universe to Swift’s Eras Tour, peppering the post with numerous Swiftie-references. And, just months earlier, when Swift kicked off the European leg of The Eras Tour, concert-goers received a surprise: the addition of The Tortured Poets Department era to the setlist. Notably, during “Down Bad,” an UFO appears “in the sky” above Swift: the combination of spotlights and lasers were used to bring to life the alien abduction metaphor which Swift uses to describe the otherworldly experience of the relationship. References to the cosmic and celestial appear through Swift’s discography, and this course proposes to trace their evolution as well as examine Swift’s songwriting on a more micro-level, as someone “trying to find [their] place in this world.”

Cheryl Spinner, Instructor, Thompson Writing Program

The past decade has witnessed the renaissance of the witch, which last had its height amidst the “goth weirdos” of the 1990’s. Currently, patches, t-shirts, and pins pepper Etsy with statements like “Support Your Local Coven” and “‘We Are the Granddaughters of the Witches You Could Not Burn.’” Books and think-pieces have been published about this current phenomenon by popular tarot readers, astrologists, and witches, all of whom address the feminist, queer, activist potential of these practices. Most recently, performing powerhouse Taylor Swift has been accused of witchcraft on stage during her record-breaking concert, “Eras,” and Swifties are experiencing a real psychological condition known as “post-concert amnesia.”