My.SDSU will be unavailable for students and staff on the following dates/times:
Friday April 19 at 6pm - Saturday April 20 at 10am
Course Search
Buddhism is so much more than a major world religion. It's an insightful, gripping, and inspiring exploration of consciousness and the conflicting impulses coursing within us. Buddhism isn't a dogmatic ideology demanding obedience. It's an invitation to deep self-examination, meaningful autonomy, and a real shot at happiness and liberation. Join us as we explore Buddha's core teachings, and the myriad ways its universal insights have been applied throughout the world.
Format: 70% Lecture, Q&A and Interactive discussion
October 25 - November 29
Are you looking for current fiction and thought pieces on the major cultural and racial issues facing us? Award winning, best-selling author Zadie Smith explores the intersections of gender, ethnicity, race, class, and culture in her fiction and essays. The London-born daughter of a Jamaican mother and English father, Smith tackles complex issues of how people of different backgrounds can live together. In this overview, we'll discuss her novels, including “White Teeth”, “On Beauty”, and “Swing Time”, as well as her latest essay collection “Intimations” completed in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
Format: 60% Lecture, 40% Interactive discussion
October 4 - October 4
This course offers a glimpse at four pivotal debates, like the Dead Sea Scrolls and Masada, that engulfed the Jewish people at different periods. We’ll examine the background, motives, ideologies, key events, and aftermath of these flare-ups. We’ll seek to understand the underlying ideologies that led to each clash, explore why these debates occurred when they did, study how the two sides interacted with each other and lived through the tension, discuss the consequences of the debate, and learn by what means these disputes were resolved. Together, we’ll discover how these debates shaped the Jewish future in important ways.
Format: 50% Lecture, 50% Interactive discussion/debate
Join us for a colorful slide show at the pioneering legacy of John Spreckels with historian Dr. Sandra Bonura. She authored the newly released biography, “Empire Builder: John D. Spreckels and the Making of San Diego.” After “discovering” the bankrupt village of San Diego in 1887, Spreckels left everything to follow his heart. His moves were so decisive & sweeping that he soon controlled the majority of all industry. At the top of the 20th century, one in fifteen San Diegans worked for him. To the charge that San Diego's troubles were derived from the city being a “one-man town,” Spreckels responded, “If being a one-man town is bad for the town, take it from me, it’s hell for the ‘one man’!”
Format: 75% Lecture, 25% Interactive discussion
In this lecture, you’ll learn how scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have created a drug that can lure stem cells to damaged tissue and improve treatment efficacy—a scientific first and a major advancement for the field of regenerative medicine. This discovery could improve current stem cell therapies designed to treat neurological disorders such as spinal cord injury, stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and other neurodegenerative disorders; and expand their use to new conditions, such as heart disease or arthritis.
Format: 60% Lecture, 40% Q&A
The history and biogeography of agriculture elucidates not only where fruits and vegetables originated, but how they become part of a global food supply chain. This supply chain has led us into the era of fast/processed foods that harm the planet and human health. Our global food distribution system is plagued by myriad conditions that have led to increasing food insecurity, currently exacerbated by a global pandemic and economic stress. These complicated and interwoven issues result in widespread food waste.
Format: 80% Lecture, 20% Q&A and Interactive discussion
Have you ever wondered how and why highway alignments were selected in San Diego? We’ll learn how routes have evolved from the 1950's, from when engineers drew a "pencil line" on a map to the complex processes of today. We’ll discuss past routes where community and environmental concerns were not a high priority, including ones where neighborhood activists stopped projects that would have bisected their communities. Today, community feedback and environmental aspects play critical roles in project development. Please join us on this journey exploring how our communities were built around and often times through the network of routes that we use today
Format: 70% Lecture, 30% Interactive discussion
Deadly diseases have profoundly shaped the course of world history. In fact, it can be credibly argued that throughout history, disease has been and will likely remain humankind's greatest and most dangerous adversary. As you enter a world of old and new "normals," you’re invited to explore the widespread influence disease has had and will continue to have upon human events. You’ll learn how nature has provided lethal microbes with the necessary evolutionary mechanisms to survive despite the plethora of vaccines and other contrivances humanity has put forward to eliminate them.
Format: 90% Lecture, 10% Q&A
Do you feel stressed, stuck, or anxious? Do you tend to run out of energy before noon? Are you interested in keeping your body and mind supple, strong and healthy? Join us for this 4-week immersion in the world of Chinese Medicine through the study and practice of Chi Kung, an ancient form of energy cultivation. You’ll unlock pockets of vital energy trapped behind doors of tension and stagnation. You’ll also learn about the acupuncture meridians in your own body and discover the possibility of turning your morning cup of coffee into your own Chi practice!
Format: 20% Lecture, 10% Interactive discussion, 70% Hands-on activity/practice
Other than Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin is arguably the most important figure in the history of science. While he was not the first scientist to put forth a theory of evolution, it was his specific evolutionary theory that succeeded in becoming the basis of modern biology. Discover how Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection has provided the most cogent explanation for the origins of all forms of life great and small. Together, we’ll learn why his theory has had (and continues to have) such a controversial impact on science and society.
Format: 90% Lecture, 10% Q&A