How Science Might Work — Discussions on the Philosophy of Science
Instructors: Lutz Froenicke and Leslie A. Lyons, Department of Population Health and Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine
Description: This seminar course will examine selected topics of historical and current philosophical discussions on sciences, among them questions like: “How do scientists decide what kind of knowledge is scientific?” or “Do scientists apply the same rules in trying to “prove” theories as they do in trying to “disprove” them?” Other questions will be “How do fundamental changes in the scientific worldview occur?” and “How can theories be proven in social or biological science? By statistics?”
In teams, students will be expected to lead one discussion each week regarding an assigned topic. Each week students leading the discussion will be required to research a specific topic by reading provided primary literature. They will also be expected to acquire historic background information to the topics by library or internet searches.
Students should gain knowledge of some of the major trends in the philosophy of science. By discussing historical and current philosophical interpretations of science, students should garner awareness of and hone skills in the critical analyses of research plans, scientific discoveries and publications. This seminar is for any science or non-science major and a science background is not a pre-requisite.Format: To prepare for each presentation, students will need to spend time outside the assigned class time researching the historic circumstances of the provided topic. Each seminars topic will be presented in a 20-minute oral presentation to start the class followed by discussion. Additionally, each remaining student will be expected to study provided secondary literature regarding the topic. For 5 of the topics additional sources should be researched and summarized in a one page report. Acceptable articles include but are not limited to historical, magazine and newspaper articles, etc as long they contribute to the discussion. Grading: This is a 1-unit pass fail course. Students will be expected to attend all classes, lead one discussion section following their oral presentations, prepare 5 one page articles in total and actively participate in all discussions. Oral presentations will constitute 35% of the grade, article summaries will constitute 30% and class participation constitutes the remaining 35% of the course grade.
About the Instructors: Dr. Froenicke is a member of the Department of Population Health and Reproduction. His research interests include comparative cytogenetics, comparative genome mapping in mammals and the reconstruction of ancestral genomes. His current research focuses are non-human primate physical genome maps. Leslie Lyons has a doctorate in genetics and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health & Reproduction in the School of Veterinary Medicine. Her research interests include the genetics and inherited diseases of cats and comparative genetics in cats, dogs, horses and primates. She has been interviewed by the press as part of her participation of the cloning of the domestic cat and has witnessed and been part of the production of several science programs for public and cable television. Dr. Lyons currently teaches a core course in veterinary genetics to the freshman veterinary students and is a member of the Genetics, Forensic Science and Comparative Pathology graduate groups.