This seminar aims to teach a broad range of skills whose application spans a wide variety of disciplines, in an unusual and arresting way: through various sorts of puzzles. Students will also learn some of the little-known history of puzzles and their relationship to education. The students will be presented with various conundrums and be given guidance as needed to think through how to solve the seemingly unsolvable (hence learning to think through puzzles). They will also learn, through puzzles, how to think (hence, thinking, through puzzles). This is the double meaning of the course title.
The material taught in this course would be appropriate for any students interested in cultivating their problem-solving skills in a broad manner. It should stimulate a love of learning and an entrée into a diverse range of academic endeavors. The difficulty level of some puzzles in each section would probably be equally perplexing for the most astute professor as they would for a mere freshman; but the teaching will be simple enough to be accessible to the average high school student. Each unit of the course will teach important skills to the students regardless of their starting level.