Professor: Hilary Zedlitz
4 credits
Questions are one of the most important tools we have for learning, solving problems, and building relationships. The ability to ask clear, thoughtful questions shapes how we understand ourselves, work with others, and respond to challenges in the world around us. In research, questions drive discovery and innovation. In business, strong questions help leaders make better decisions, improve organizations, and build trust within teams. In the arts and sciences, questions open new ways of thinking and help us challenge assumptions. Learning how to ask good questions is therefore not just an academic skill, but a practical one that applies across professions and everyday life.
This course explores the role of questions and question-making. Drawing from survey methodology, ethnographic research, leadership and business studies, journalism, political science, philosophy, and history, we will examine how questions shape decision-making, problem-solving, and human connection. We will look at how leaders use questions to guide teams, how researchers design surveys and interviews that produce meaningful knowledge, and how journalists and ethnographers use observation and conversation to better understand people and communities. We will also consider how workplaces, classrooms, and institutions influence which questions are encouraged, which are avoided, and how different methods of asking can lead to very different kinds of answers.
Hilary Zedlitz is a political scientist who specializes in American politics, particularly the intersections of religion and nonreligious identity, political psychology, and political behavior. She will be completing her PhD at the University of Michigan this summer and joining the CHC Faculty as a Visiting Instructor for the 2026-27 academic year.