Robert Shelton refers to himself as the “eccentric person” among his faculty colleagues in Michigan State University's Lyman Briggs College.
About half of LBC’s faculty teach the sciences while the other half teach what’s known as HPS – history, philosophy and sociology.
“However,” Shelton said, “I am neither an H, a P nor an S.”
Shelton has an undergraduate degree is in chemistry and English, and his Ph.D. is in English. He teaches, among other things, an introduction to HPS.
“Essentially we’re teaching students how to ask questions about what it means to understand a problem historically, sociologically and philosophically,” he said.
Among Shelton’s many areas of interests are late-19th and early-20th century British literature; the philosophy, sociology, and history of science; the American Renaissance; and science fiction and literary utopias.
LBC is a residential college devoted to studying the natural sciences and their impact on society. Learn more about the college at www.lymanbriggs.msu.edu/.
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