The modern world has been shaped by and founded on the exploration for and utilization of petroleum. The ‘Oil Age’ in which we live has been dominated by the political, historical, and scientific realities of oil, and any attempts to understand global political history or the modern global climate science debate require an understanding of this critical industry and its history. Here, we will investigate the oil industry through its role in and feedback with history, politics, and science.
This course was submitted for General Education status in Historical Perspectives and is being redesigned for Fall 2015 as part of the Big Ideas course catalog. The new version of the course includes two 'lecture-‐style' meetings per week and one 'discussion-‐style' session in a TILE classroom for small group activities and active learning. The course will bridge the gap for students between high school and university learning by helping them learn how to learn and focusing on the critical skills required for success at the university level. Skills such as note-‐taking, comprehension of written source material, and completion of study guides are all graded assignments during the first half of the semester of this course. Additionally, multiple guest lecturers will be incorporated into the course from a range of professions within the public and private sector to expose students to voices from outside of the academy on a range of important contemporary issues.
