Three of the University's best-known professors are planning to co-tech an experimental seminar next spring aimed at "cross-fertilization" among their respective disciplines, Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz said yesterday.
Dershowitz said he will team up with Professor of Geology Stephen J. Gould and Porter Professor of Philosophy Robert Nozick to offer the seminar, called "Thinking About Thinking."
The seminar, targeted primarily at graduate students, will examine controversial topics and compare the ways in which they are analyzed from the perspectives of law, science and philosophy, said Dershowitz, who conceived of the course.
"I think it is important for a university to remember it is a university. We should encourage this kind of cross-fertilization," Dershowitz said.
The seminar will be limited to 45 students, drawn equally from the three disciplines, said Dershowitz, a well-known civil liberties expert who defends the rights of publishers of pornography and writes a column in Penthouse.
Gould entered the spotlight with his theories of geology and human evolution. Nozick is a widely read civil libertarian.
Dershowitz said that discussion topics could range from sexuality and religion to animal rights and extrasensory perception.
"We are going to touch on a great number of problems which each of our disciplines have touched on and, hopefully, touched on in a different way," Dershowitz said.
Dershowitz said he did not expect the professors to present a united front on all the issues before the class.
"We are not going to tell people we think differently. We are going to show people we think differently," Dershowitz said. "None of us are going to sit back and accept others' opinions. We are going to challenge others' points of view."
The students will be divided into 15 working groups of three--consisting of one student from each discipline.
"I'm looking forward to it. I think it will be fun," Gould said, adding that he did not know enough about the course yet to comment further. Nozick could not be reached for comment.
Dershowitz said that next year's seminar will only be a "first run," but he added that it could be expanded in future years if it is successful next spring.
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