1 00:00:05,059 --> 00:00:05,850 MICHEL DEGRAFF: OK. 2 00:00:05,850 --> 00:00:08,940 So the course is, at its core, very intensive learning, 3 00:00:08,940 --> 00:00:11,830 so every single text that we read 4 00:00:11,830 --> 00:00:13,580 includes at least two disciplines. 5 00:00:13,580 --> 00:00:16,270 So when we talk about, say, linguistics, 6 00:00:16,270 --> 00:00:19,340 we look at linguistics from a very historical perspective, 7 00:00:19,340 --> 00:00:21,010 but also from a very social perspective. 8 00:00:21,010 --> 00:00:23,790 So basically, we look at language in society. 9 00:00:23,790 --> 00:00:25,480 We don't just focus on English, per se. 10 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:29,040 And we do the same with writing, with literature, 11 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:30,030 with anthropology. 12 00:00:30,030 --> 00:00:34,300 There's always a larger lens that brings in at least two 13 00:00:34,300 --> 00:00:35,515 or three disciplines. 14 00:00:35,515 --> 00:00:39,670 So-- and plus we also bring in guest speakers 15 00:00:39,670 --> 00:00:42,430 from various disciplines having to do 16 00:00:42,430 --> 00:00:45,520 with the international studies, anthropology, 17 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,720 history, of course, linguistics, my own field. 18 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:51,610 And also, the students themselves, they 19 00:00:51,610 --> 00:00:54,060 come from interdisciplinary backgrounds. 20 00:00:54,060 --> 00:00:58,290 So some of them are scientists, but others do women's studies, 21 00:00:58,290 --> 00:00:59,290 anthropology, biology. 22 00:00:59,290 --> 00:01:01,090 So we all, I think, in the course, 23 00:01:01,090 --> 00:01:06,760 we're primed to look at the issues of blacks in the US 24 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,760 from a very interdisciplinary perspective. 25 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:11,440 From the student perspective, if we 26 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,540 think of this notion of interdisciplinary, 27 00:01:13,540 --> 00:01:17,630 I think many of them come from the science, for example, 28 00:01:17,630 --> 00:01:18,700 so they're engineers-- 29 00:01:18,700 --> 00:01:21,020 I think we have mostly engineers in the course, 30 00:01:21,020 --> 00:01:23,709 and we have also some scientists biology, brain 31 00:01:23,709 --> 00:01:24,625 and cognitive science. 32 00:01:24,625 --> 00:01:27,910 And in these fields, often, they look at particular problems 33 00:01:27,910 --> 00:01:29,060 from very-- 34 00:01:29,060 --> 00:01:30,620 relatively narrow perspective. 35 00:01:30,620 --> 00:01:33,520 So I think that, for many of them, indeed, 36 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,650 it may have been the first course they 37 00:01:35,650 --> 00:01:39,130 took that exposed them to a broader range of fields 38 00:01:39,130 --> 00:01:42,180 within one course.