This course is centered on the islands of the Caribbean Sea and uses the people, images, and stories most often associated with the Caribbean as a means of understanding the diverse peoples and nuances of the region¿s islands. The course critically analyzes these ideas by exploring legacies of colonialism, piracy, music, film, social revolutions, sport, tourism, and other related ideas.

CONN 350: Political Cinema offers an interdisciplinary examination of film as a reflection of political ideas and social change. The course focuses on how international films present themes such as state formation, nationalism, political economy, and conflict. It explores the techniques filmmakers use to construct narratives that engage with issues of power and governance, inviting students to consider how visual storytelling mirrors and influences political discourse.

This course examines global values chains, which are the full range of activities across multiple countries required to bring a product from conception to its end use and beyond. We trace the entire life-cycle of goods from their beginnings as raw materials to products sold to consumers to discarded or recycled things. We analyze the political, economic, and social processes that shape the products¿ flow from beginning to end in the world.

This interdisciplinary course explores the complex relationships between race, health, and genetics through the lens of social, biological, and psychological sciences. We will examine how racism affects health outcomes, how stress is biologically embedded through epigenetics, and how historical and social trauma impacts generations.

This class is primarily a ¿welcome-to-college¿ class¿ one that introduces you to a liberal arts education, to various departments and disciplines with their own distinct ways of asking questions, and to skills you will need for navigating college and careers. A major focus in the class will be developing connections through the class project. The class will alternate between class sessions that focus on your success as a college student and course content.

This course examines healing, health, and care from interdisciplinary perspectives in the context of medicine and public health. Designed especially for students on pre-health pathways, it examines how definitions of health and healing are shaped by ethical, cultural, spiritual, technological, and structural factors.

In this course students will read selections from three ethnographies across different regions of South Asia to examine the relationship between law, gender and justice.

Games are more than entertainment¿they are tools for understanding complex systems, fostering creativity, and navigating the challenges of strategy, society, and storytelling. This course delves into how games, from ancient pastimes to modern competitions, have evolved to shape collaboration, ignite competition, and sharpen strategic thinking. Through hands-on gaming activities, role-playing simulations, and a semester-long group project, students will uncover how games model real-world systems and equip players to navigate complex challenges in dynamic environments.

In this Connections first-year seminar, you will find your place at Puget Sound and learn important skills for success on campus and in life, all while learning about the French Revolution. Because the French Revolution was multi-faceted, passionate and complex, it provides a useful entryway into exploring the disciplines at the foundation of a liberal arts education. During the semester, each student will put ideas into action as they play the role of a person who really lived during the French Revolution in a community-building and empathy-inspiring student-led academic game.

Nature has come up with exciting solutions to tackle different environmental conditions. This has now influenced a variety of fields such as architecture, technology, visual art and fashion design - spider silk inspired textiles, shell inspired armor or buildings inspired by sponges. This course will provide a broad framework of such design principles in use, and ask students to create their own biologically inspired designs to tackle real world problems.