Journey of the Universe weaves together the discoveries of the evolutionary sciences together with humanities such as history, philosophy, art, and religion. This course draws on the Journey of the Universe Conversations, a series of 20 interviews with scientists and environmentalists. The first 10 interviews are with scientists and historians who deepen our understanding of the evolutionary process of universe, Earth, and humans.
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The second 10 interviews are with environmentalists, teachers, and artists who explore the connections between the universe story and the practices for a flourishing Earth community.
Course 2 of 3 in the Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times Specialization.
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Welcome to Journey Conversations: Weaving Knowledge and Action!
Learn what this course is about, who's teaching it, and other ways you can explore this topic. Meet and greet your peers as well!
Introduction – Journey of the Universe Conversations
The universe’s evolutionary development forces it to leave eras and to start new eras, which is taking place in our own moment in time. We’re in one such moment. We are being pushed out of the industrial era into a new era of Earth’s history”.
WEEK 2
Beginning of the Universe: Galaxies, Stars, and the Solar System
A star is required for the production of carbon and oxygen and a galaxy is required for the production of stars. So the Milky Way galaxy as a whole is required for our hands. Understanding our cosmological nature is the first step into a new era.
WEEK 3
Emergence of Life, Learning, and Humans
We discuss the oxygen crisis two billion years ago and the endosymbiosis that dealt with it creatively. We too will deal with the enveloping crises of our time, first of all by tending to them, by taking responsibility for them.
WEEK 4
Becoming a Planetary Presence: Communities, Cities, and Economics
The story of the isolated neutron’s quick decay and the neutron+proton’s long term stability as an illustration of the synergistic effects that will take place in Eco-cities. In ways we can only guess at, these new mutually enhancing relationships will lead to a qualitatively new vitality.
WEEK 5
Embodied Knowing: Food, Energy, and Health
Understand the universe as self-organizing. Consider galaxies. It is the spiral structure of a galaxy that enables it to construct stars. Elliptical galaxies have lost this structure and have lost the capacity to construct stars. With planets it’s similar. The water, soil, and air enable it to bring forth life year after year. Soil in particular is a dynamic structure that required three billion years of life to construct. But it’s here now. So long as we maintain its health and integrity, it will bring forth food. But to lose that dynamic structure or to lose the dynamic structure of the oceans is to regress back billions of years.
WEEK 6
Emerging Earth Community: Teaching and the Creative Arts
Humans need to live for something greater than themselves if they are ever to achieve happiness and fulfillment. One way to achieve this goal is to teach children the full nature of our universe. Not just our technologies and our sciences and our arts and entertainments, but the story of the universe itself and what is taking place all around and through them.
