PAH 150B3 - Secrets: How Humans Hide Things From Each Other

Human beings are secretive creatures, hiding things from one other for pleasure, profit, preservation, and power. Some secrets delight and enrich, others anger and impoverish, and still others save or threaten lives. Most importantly, everyone has a secret...and often more than one. The purpose of this course is to explore the secrets humans keep and the ways they do so. Over the span of the term we will: 1) unpack the nature of secrets and the implications of reserving and revealing them; 2) survey the types of things people and groups hide and share; 3) examine common techniques and technologies for keeping secrets safe; and 4) highlight a number of mechanisms people deploy to steal and divulge secrets. We will also put our growing knowledge of secrets to the test through a variety of applied projects.