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Brooklyn Institute for Social Research @ Online Classroom
Embark on a captivating exploration of Mesopotamian civilization through archaeology and material culture. Join us at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research as we delve into the origins, structures, and legacy of this ancient society, unraveling its significance amidst historical interpretations and contemporary geopolitical contexts. Uncover the complexities of Mesopotamia's urbanization, social structures, and technological advancements, and discover how its material remains offer insights into our understanding of the past and present.
May 8th
6:30–9:30pm EDT
Meets 4 Times
Brooklyn Institute for Social Research @ Online Classroom
Uncover the entwined history of psychoanalysis and state power in a captivating exploration of repression tactics. Join us at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research as we delve into the intersections of Freudian theory with military strategy, urban policing, and guerrilla warfare. Through an array of diverse readings, we'll analyze how psychoanalytic concepts have been utilized to pathologize dissent and justify both state and revolutionary violence, raising critical questions about power, resistance, and the psyche.
May 12th
2–5pm EDT
Meets 4 Times
Uncover the profound roots and enigmatic nature of numbers as you explore their historical, mathematical, and philosophical dimensions. Join us in a captivating exploration of the concept of number, examining its evolution, cultural significance, and the fundamental questions it poses about the nature of reality.
Numbers are so common, so seemingly intrinsic to human life, that it’s baffling to recall that, for millennia, many humans did not use them at all. How, then, did the use of numbers come to be? Were they, in some sense, discovered? Are they qualities of the natural world or truths outside of time and space? Or, are numbers human creations—concepts devised to help us analyze, organize, and manipulate the world. If numbers “work,” are they therefore, in some sense, “real”?
In this course, we will examine the concept of number from various points of view: mathematical, historical, cultural, philosophical. We will consider the history and evolution of numbers and numeric systems: the prehistoric origins of the “natural numbers” (i.e., the positive integers) in the fundamental human activity of counting; the development of tally systems and numerals as symbolic/syntactic representations of numbers; and the use of different base systems, such as the “sexagesimal” (base 60) system used by the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians, the decimal (base 10) place-value representation of numbers that we use today, and the binary (base 2) system fundamental to modern computation. Students will look at the foundations of arithmetic, algorithms, and the branch of mathematics called “number theory.” And we’ll consider the expansion of the concept of number beyond the natural numbers: to negative numbers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, complex (or “imaginary”) numbers, and infinite numbers. As we proceed, we’ll constantly pose and repose the central question: what, really, are numbers?
Readings will include selections from Arithmetic by Paul Lockhart; Numbers and the Making of Us: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures by Caleb Everett; The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics by Stanislas Dehaene; The Universal History of Numbers by Georges Ifrah; Number Words and Number Symbols: A Cultural History of Numbers by Karl Menninger; and The Foundations of Arithmetic by Gottlob Frege.
This course is available for "remote" learning and will be available to anyone with access to an internet device with a microphone (this includes most models of computers, tablets). Classes will take place with a "Live" instructor at the date/times listed below.
Upon registration, the instructor will send along additional information about how to log-on and participate in the class.
In any event where a customer wants to cancel their enrollment and is eligible for a full refund, a 5% processing fee will be deducted from the refund amount.
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The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research was established in 2011 in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Its mission is to extend liberal arts education and research far beyond the borders of the traditional university, supporting community education needs and opening up new possibilities for scholarship in the...
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