Campus News
August 30, 2010
Faculty-taught QUEST courses open
Emory QUEST courses to debut this fall invite the community to examine the inner workings of the brain, to study the coexistence of science and religion, and to reawaken the author within.
“Course participants are learning from nationally recognized experts in their fields,” says Philip Wainwright, associate dean of international and summer programs, who was involved in assembling the course roster. “Our faculty genuinely want to engage the community and foster public scholarship.”
Now in its third year, QUEST partners with Emory College and the Center for Lifelong Learning to deliver a menu of academically focused, non-credit courses developed and taught by Emory faculty for staff, alumni and interested community members.
Several course topics are linked to campus events scheduled this fall. In October, Emory will welcome Canadian author Margaret Atwood, as part of the Richard Ellmann Lectures in Modern Literature, and His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in his role as Presidential Distinguished Professor.
Dovetailing with the Dalai Lama’s visit, Arri Eisen, director of the Emory College Program in Science and Society, and Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, director of the Emory-Tibet Partnership, will discuss in their QUEST course how the diverse cultures of science and religion can engage productively.
In “The Lifecycle of the Human Brain,” taught by Patricia Bauer, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Psychology, participants will learn how the brain develops from infancy to old age.
For those yearning to write the next great American novel, Jim Grimsley, senior resident fellow in creative writing, will reveal “The Truth About Fiction.” Classroom discussions will focus on central fiction-writing elements, such as point of view, character development and narrative energy, supplemented by writing assignments and readings from author Flannery O’Connor.
In “World Religions and Why They Matter,” Laurie Patton, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Early Indian Religions, and Shalom Goldman, professor of Hebrew and Middle Eastern Studies, will explore the major world religions as dynamic communities of change and dissent in the 21st century.
For more information on fall courses or to register, visit cll.emory.edu/.
