Fall 2025: “Decisions and Learning” taught by Prof. Joseph Kable (Neuroeconomics) and Prof. Karen Detlefsen (Philosophy)
This course will introduce students to neuroeconomics, philosophy, and their intersection as these disciplines grapple with questions surrounding decision- making and learning. In the neuroeconomics stream, students will read research that combines economic, psychological, and neuroscientific approaches to study decision-making and learning. In the philosophy stream, students will engage with a range of texts to reflect on questions such as the role and nature of human agency in decision-making and learning, and the ethical contexts in which we make decisions and learn. The course will focus on our current understanding of how our brains give rise to decisions, and how this knowledge – together with insights from philosophy – might be used to constrain or advance economic and psychological theories of decision-making. A key theme throughout the course is the interaction between the empirical and the normative, in both disciplines. Topics covered will include how individuals make decisions under conditions of uncertainty, how groups of individuals decide to cooperate or compete, and how decisions are shaped by social context, memories, and past experience.
Spring 2026: “Cook, Eat, Think: The Biology and History of Food” taught by Prof. Kimberly Bowes (Classical Studies) and Prof. Scott Poethig (Biology)
This course is based on the premise that almost everything humans do is ultimately about food. To understand how the world works, in the past and the present, we therefore need to understand food—what it is, how we acquire it, how we modify it, and how it influences human activity on both a large and small scale. This course will consider the chemistry, structure, and physiology of plants and animals, and principles of genetics and evolution as illustrated by the origin and genetic modification of domesticated animals and plants. We will also consider the history, practice, and future of agriculture in a changing environment; the miracles and tragedies of food distribution from the Roman empire to the great famines of the 19th and early 20th century; and the ways in which food has shaped literature and cultural production from the ancient world until today.
Admissions Questions
- What’s the most enjoyably challenging thing you did in high school, and why was it both enjoyable and challenging? (200 words max)
- Which of these statements best describe you? Select a maximum of two:
- a. In high school, I focused my academic energies towards achieving a particular career goal, which I want to continue in college.
- b. I am not sure of my planned major, because I have a range of interests.
- c. I love it when I realize my classes are talking about the same thing, but in different ways.
- d. I want to solve the world’s problems, and I have figured out a set of classes that will help me do that.
- Pick one of the statements you selected to answer question #2 and tell us more about why it is true of you. (200 words max)
- “As individuals age, they get better at making decisions. Societies – not so much.” Do you agree? If so, how do you explain the learning process – or the lack thereof? If you disagree, explain why. (200 words max)
- Food is not just a chemical/biological entity, but a product of history. Explain. (200 words max)
- The number of Liberal Arts majors at American universities, including Penn, has steadily declined over the past 10 years. Given that a Liberal Arts education promises to cultivate critical thinking, creativity, the ability to view things from multiple perspectives, effective communication, and analytic skills – qualities highly relevant to modern societies – how do you account for that decline? (200 words max)