WELLNESS 1

Select an issue or topic in wellness to analyze through the four general education lenses. You will also analyze the issue’s or topic’s relationship to culture and society. 

***SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENT***

Specifically, you must address the critical elements listed below.

I. Introduction: You will compile a series of critical analyses of a single issue/event in wellness through the four general education lenses: history, humanities, natural and applied sciences, and social sciences.

A. Topic: Using the four lenses, explain how an issue/event within wellness has or has not influenced modern society.

II. Lens Connections: In this section of your assignment, you will describe the connections between your issue/event and each of the four general education lenses.

A. What is the connection of your issue/event to the lens of history for determining its impact on various institutions? Utilize evidence from theory and research to support your analysis.

B. What is the connection of your issue/event to the lens of the humanities for determining its impact on various institutions? Utilize evidence from theory and research to support your analysis.

C. What is the connection of your issue/event to the lens of the natural and applied sciences for determining its impact on various institutions? Utilize evidence from theory and research to support your analysis.

D. What is the connection of your issue/event to the lens of the social sciences for determining its impact on various institutions?

Utilize evidence from theory and research to support your analysis. Be sure to begin the research process early and use evidence from your research to support your responses. Refer to course resources, the LibGuide for this class, and any other pertinent resources to support your responses. Although at least two sources are required for each lens, note that you may use the same source for more than one lens if applicable. Relevant current news sources may be used with instructor approval.

4 LENSES OF EDUCATION

The humanities are “disciplines [that] concern the study of distinctively human actions and works; for example history, philology (language, literature, linguistics), philosophy, theology and studies of Antiquity” (Cosgrove, 2009, para. 3). You can see that the humanities cover a wide range of subjects and disciplines, but remember that they focus in on our actions and works as human beings. What does listening to a Beethoven symphony tell us about the time period? How did people value and experience his work at that time and what does that tell us about their culture?

The social science lens looks at how humans act in their social environment. While the humanities also studies human action, social sciences more specifically look at our social relations, our relationships and our societies.  Specific disciplines within the social sciences may sound familiar to you such as: political science, psychology, sociology and anthropology (Social Science, 2017). When thinking about the social sciences, think of all the ways we interact with the people around us.

The natural sciences are best described as “a modern method of understanding the physical universe based on observation, hypothesis formation, and experimental verification” (Haught, 2011, para 1). Understanding our natural world through testable hypotheses gets at the root of this lens. Common disciplines within the natural sciences are:  astronomy, geology, chemistry, physics, and biology, and some cross-disciplines like oceanography, environmental science, and computer science (Haught, 2011). Researchers in these fields are concerned with making hypotheses, testing and proving results through direct data driven evidence.

History may perhaps be the most familiar lens, where it is simply put, the story of humanity’s past. Historians use materials such as books, newspapers, magazines, diaries, photographs, art, artifacts, oral testimonies and more to trace events and look at patterns. They are “concerned with causality, that is, why certain outcomes happened as they did, and how they are linked to earlier events” (History, 2017, para 1). History can inform the future by analyzing what happened and why.