Gen Ed 1199 | Fall 2025 | Course Listing | Canvas Site
Tuesday, 12:45 PM – 2:45 PM
How do we learn and why?
From birth, we embark on a lifelong journey of learning that shapes nearly everything we know and do, and ultimately who we become. Yet, we often fail to examine the implicit assumptions and approaches underlying our learning. In addition, we often overlook the importance of unlearning – the process of letting go of inaccurate information, misguided beliefs, harmful biases, limiting mindsets, and unproductive habits to make room for new learning. Unlearning has always been essential for replacing outdated and simplistic ideas with updated and sophisticated ones. Today, it has become even more critical due to contemporary challenges such as societal polarization and media echo chambers, the impact of generative AI and other technologies on traditional practices, the necessity for challenging the status quo to envision a more just society, and the urgent need for dialogue, understanding, and empathy in an increasingly tribalistic world.
Intentionally examining the purposes and processes of learning and unlearning will help us become more effective (un)learners, and ultimately, illuminate how these processes can foster human flourishing in our current world and for future generations.
In this course, we will engage with fundamental questions and debates, including:
What does it mean to learn and unlearn? How do individuals prioritize the diverse purposes of learning, such as cultivating intellect, developing moral values, fostering personal growth, preparing for citizenship, and beyond? How do our experiences and cultural contexts influence our understanding of learning? How do we learn, and why do we learn in the ways that we do? When do we feel motivated or demotivated? How do schools nurture or stifle children’s natural curiosity? Do students learn better through teachers’ instruction or independent exploration? How do we monitor, evaluate, and adjust our own learning processes? How might generative AI be used to support or hinder learning? How do we decide what is worth learning and what should be unlearned? Why do we struggle to change our minds and habits, and what strategies can effectively facilitate this transformation?
We will examine the cognitive, metacognitive or self-reflective, emotional, social, and moral dimensions of learning and unlearning. We will use a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary lens, analyzing cases from East Asian and Western cultures and draw insights from psychology, neuroscience, education, and philosophy.
Class sessions are highly interactive and emphasize active learning. Students will engage in a range of activities including lectures, discussions, debates, case studies, interviews, group teaching exercise, storytelling, guest speaker sessions, and reflections on both personal learning processes and the pedagogical design of this course.
This course welcomes all students to enroll and requires no prerequisites.