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Achieving eXcellence in Liberal Education

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First-Year Seminars 2007/2008

 

Recently added for Spring 2008

Biological Sciences 115F Section 6
Current Issues in Biomedicine

The course will focus on important biomedical issues that are currently the topic of public discourse and debate.  Within the broad category of biomedicine, the course will focus on three general subject areas: pharmaceuticals, genes, and infectious diseases.  Topics for discussion may include: treatment for addiction, performance-enhancing drugs, weight loss supplements, gene therapy, and sexually transmitted diseases.  A brief overview of ethical principles will be discussed at the outset of the course.  Selected readings of current biomedical issues will be studied and discussed.  
SPRING. [3] Kaplan. (P)

East Asian Studies 115F Section 2
Performing Emotion in Late Imperial Chinese Drama and Fiction

From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the cult of emotion: theatricality performativity; sympathy and sociality; expression and representation; print culture and new public reading; construction of interiority in fiction.  
SPRING. [3] Lam. (INT)

East Asian Studies 115F Section 3
Remember to Forget: Memory and its Discontents in Late Imperial Chinese Culture

Philosophical and religious meanings of memory from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries; Chinese and Western mnemonics; architecture and memorial sites; testimonials and memoirs; nostalgia and mourning; fictional discourse of forgetfulness.  
SPRING. [3] Lam. (INT)

German 115F Section 1
The Artificial Body: Alternative Representations of the Human in German Fiction and Film

The fascination and horror generated by the many forms of “almost human” beings, from automatons to robots, androids, cyborgs, and bodiless existence, inspire us to wonder who we are, what we are, and where we are going. Today, as fiction seeps into reality, technology continues to erode the dividing line between human and machine. What is the body? How artificial are we already? Our focus will be on contradictions as well as erasure. In what way do German texts articulate the yearning for and fear of more technology? How does the theme of the artificial body simultaneously function both as the dream of male birth and feminist territory? What is next, do we want it, and do we have a choice? What other questions does the theme of the artificial human raise, from Goethe’s Homunculus to stem cell research? The goal of this course is to encourage students to formulate similar questions, while providing students with a sufficient background to see their questions as part of a historical-cultural tradition. Early texts include Goethe’s Faust II, excerpt on Homunculus (1832), E. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Sandman (1817) in conjunction with Freud’s The Uncanny (1919), Heinrich von Kleist’s Käthchen from Heilbronn (1808) and On the Marionette Theater (1810), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1831), and Georg Büchner’s Leonce and Lena (1836). Twentieth-century works include Robert Wiene’s film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Paul Wegener-Carl Boese’s film The Golem (1920), Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis (1927), Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Visit (1956), and Ridley Scott’s film Blade Runner (1992). We will inform ourselves on the status of cloning and stem cell research today. Readings will be in English (no knowledge of German required).
SPRING. [3] Setje-Eilers (HCA)

History of Art 115F Section 8
The Photograph: Image, Art, Document

What kind of image is a photograph? From the public announcement of its invention in 1839 to current debates over the death of the medium and its digital rebirth, photographers, philosophers, and critics have debated the meaning of photography.  But no one has doubted its central role in our society.  The cultural theorist W. J. T. Mitchell even described the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth century as the “visual turn,” fuelled by the dizzying array and wide availability of photographic images.  As the twenty-first century continues, our world, and, more importantly, our perception of the world, is determined by the photographic image.  This course takes the photograph as its subject of inquiry to evaluate its contradictory status as image, art, and document.  Throughout the course of the semester, we will read various critical texts on photography that provide insight into possible meanings for the medium.  These will provide a framework for our analysis of the assumptions, biases, and functions of photography in the modern world.  We will take a thematic approach to the material, creating a dialogue each week between a selected text relevant to and photographic examples from a broad range of cultural production, including but not limited to: advertising, fine art photography, documentary photography, photojournalism, and family snapshots. Whenever possible, the seminar will meet at area libraries, archives, and museums.  
SPRING. [3] O’Neill. (HCA)

Philosophy 115F Section 19
Race and U.S. Democracy

The objective of this seminar is to explore critically the founding principles, conditions, customs, habits, and practices that defined and gave shape and direction to the development of the United States of America as a purportedly “democratic” nation-state.  Achieving democracy, ‘with justice for all’, has been compromised—and was at the Founding—by agendas for social, political, economic, and cultural orderings according to which power, in various forms, was to be gained and exercised predominantly, and to their advantage, by a particular racial group and its ethnic subgroups—“white” people—while curtailed or denied for persons of other racial and ethnic groups.  We will work to enhance our understandings of what continues to be one of this country’s most enduring and vexing challenges: how to achieve and maintain a stable and just “democratic” nation-state with a demographically dynamic population consisting of varying numbers of similar and different racial and ethnic groups.  We will explore these matters through a historically informed reading of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, which will provide us with a particularly acute perspective on the U.S. American democratic republic as it was being developed in the first half of the 1800’s and assess the legacies of those developmental efforts and consequences.
SPRING. [3] Outlaw. (US)

Philosophy 115F Section 20
Ancient Cosmologies Across Cultures

Most ancient cultures offer their own theory about how the world was created.  How do these cosmologies differ within a particular culture, and how do they differ across cultures?  What can we learn by comparing them?  Some ancient cultures attribute the creation of the world to a deity, while others attribute it to mere chance.  What, if anything, can this teach us about the cultures themselves, and what can this teach us about cosmology?  In this course, we shall investigate these questions as we examine the cosmologies of ancient Greece, ancient China, and ancient Africa.  This cross-cultural comparison creates a unique context in which we shall investigate philosophical issues of cosmology, such as the concept of time and the notion of creation.
SPRING. [3] Jelinek. (P)

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African American and Diaspora Studies

African American and Diaspora Studies 115F, Section 1
Race, Sports, and American Culture

Race, Sports, and American Culture will engage race in America from the turn of the last century (1900) to the present. Myths and truths will be interrogated and explored. For example, how have sports via race helped to shape American culture? How have sports made contributions to both racial integration and racial stereotyping? Has Title IX achieved gender equity? Has it helped to level the playing field with regard to access and participation for women from racial minority groups? The course will be interdisciplinary in its approach, using history, critical race theory, women’s studies, and film.
FALL. [3] Whiting. (SBS)

African American and Diaspora Studies 115F, Section 2
Race and Sexuality in Contemporary Hip Hop

In this course we will examine historically constructed images of black masculinity, femininity, and sexuality in relationship to contemporary images in hip hop culture, which is in many ways a reflection of social and political hierarchies in society at large. In our analysis of hip hop, students will also be introduced to existentialist philosophical concepts such as “objectification,” “the gaze,” “performativity,” and “authenticity.” Other interconnected themes to be taken up in the course include the relationship between African traditions of oral history (e.g., griots) and the oral traditions of American hip hop, economics and hip hop’s embrace of capitalism, and violence (including institutionalized violence, intra-racial
violence, and violence against women).
FALL. [3] Gines. (P)

African American and Diaspora Studies 115F, Section 3
Neither Jezebel, Mammy, nor Sapphire: African American Women, 1619–1991

Beginning with the Middle Passage and ending with the Clarence Thomas–Anita Hill Supreme Court confirmation hearings, we will examine the extraordinarily diverse roles of African American women throughout United States history. We will deal with stereotypes about African American women that have evolved over the course of American history, and interrogate terms such as matriarchy, mammy, and welfare queen. We will also focus on black women’s political activism and public roles. Through close reading of historical documents, films, music, and contemporary scholarship, we will analyze black women’s personal, social, economic, cultural, and political lives.
FALL. [3] Curwood. (US)

American Studies

American Studies 115F, Section 2
Food for Thought: The Social History of America through Food

Writing in the eighteenth century, Brillat-Savarin proclaimed, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” One way to understand the making of America is to look at its relationship to food. While Europeans may not have found a land of gold and spices, they did, nonetheless, encounter a land of plenty. From the North Atlantic, with its cod-rich waters, to the Western Plains, where tens of millions of bison roamed, food would become the major pawn in the political strategies of states. Thirst for rum and an appetite for sugar would give rise to the slave trade. And revolution would rise from a tea-filled harbor. The course will be organized chronologically but will go beyond a simple study of history to include works of literature, folklore, film, popular culture, and women’s studies. We will look at how food marks social, racial, and gender differences, as a means for understanding American identity. The course will cover a wide range of topics, from accounts of New World foods, the development of regional food customs, the industrialization of food production, historical and contemporary instances of excess and lack of food in American history, and anorexia.
FALL. [3] Kevra. (US)

 

Anthropology

Anthropology 115F, Section 1
The Conquest of Mexico

The conquest of Mexico was a major watershed in the history of the New World, not only because it meant the defeat of the Aztecs and the victory of the Spaniards, but also because it set in motion a series of profound changes that would permanently alter both cultures and the entire world. We approach the material on the Conquest as one of the most fully documented episodes of massive culture change in human history. When Spanish conquistadors invaded Mexico in the early sixteenth century, they encountered a remarkably sophisticated civilization with dense urban populations. Composed of dozens of distinctive Nahuatl-speaking ethnic groups, the native groups of central Mexico have come to be known today as the Aztecs. This course examines the organization and structure of the Aztec empire on the eve of the Conquest; Aztec social, political, and economic organization; warfare and religion; the origins and expansion of the Spanish empire in the New World; the events and processes of the Conquest; and early Colonial-period economics, society, and politics in central Mexico. Materials for the course will be drawn from a wide variety of archaeological, historical, geographic, art historical, and ethnographic data.
FALL. [3] Fowler. (INT)

Anthropology 115F, Section 4
Ancestors of Aztec and Incas

Approximately four thousand years ago civilizations first appeared in various regions of the Americas. Many aspects of ancient New World societies were very different from those in other past societies of the world, including the use of mind-altering substances, human sacrifice, ritual pilgrimage, mummy worship, shamanic religion, and intricate political systems. What explains these unusual patterns and practices? This seminar explores the first civilizations of Mesoamerica and the South American Andes and compares their distinct evolutionary trajectories and ultimate demise. We will pay particular attention to recent discoveries and ongoing controversies surrounding such civilizations as Maya, Moche, and Tiwanaku. Anthropological theories regarding the origins and dynamics of the first civilizations will be examined in light of the evidence from archaeological sites, monumental architecture, burial practices, ritual activity, and art.
SPRING. [3] Janusek. (SBS)

Anthropology 115F, Section 5
Religion in Cross-Cultural Encounters: Conversion and Transformation in the Americas

Processes of cross-cultural negotiation and translation in religious encounters between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Discussion of colonial strategies of religious eradication and substitution, and indigenous responses to them. Everyday negotiations of religious meaning and practice. Archaeological and historical study of missionary encounters. Focused case studies from throughout the Americas, ranging from colonial to present times.
FALL. [3] Wernke. (SBS)

Astronomy

Astronomy 115F, Section 1
The Nature of Discovery— From America to Mars

What is the process of exploration that leads to fantastic new discoveries as humans travel to the ends of the earth and through space and as scientists and engineers carry out basic research? Case studies such as the voyages of Columbus to the New World, the voyages of Apollo to the moon, the robotic exploration of the planets, and the study of the human genome will be used to illustrate how scientific research is carried out, how the surprises of discovery take place, and how the treasures of exploration advance our quality of life through new knowledge and technology.

Important issues for America will also be discussed, including the national decision to explore, the creative actions that result from the decision, the management of the exploration process, and the communication of the expected and unexpected results. There is no unique text for the course, but sources include the following: Where Next Columbus: The Future of Space Exploration edited by Valerie Neal, The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin, Mars and the Mind of Man by Ray Bradbury,
and Broca’s Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science by Carl Sagan.
SPRING. [3] Chappell. (MNS)

Biological Sciences

Biological Sciences 115F, Section 2
The Human Genome

Heralded as “the code of codes,” “the essence of life,” and “more significant than splitting the atom or going to the moon,” the Human Genome Project has captured the interest of both the popular press and scientists alike. What do these three billion A’s, C’s, G’s, and T’s really encode? Time magazine announces on its cover that this alphabet soup encodes “the God Gene,” and the scientists state that the code will have the “utmost impact on medicine and science of the twenty-first century.” In this seminar, we will investigate the human genome and differentiate the science from the science fiction by examining scientific literature and primary research articles. We will learn how (or if) the human genome defines us while debunking the myths that surround race, genetic screening, evolution, and human cloning.
SPRING. [3] Benson. (P)

Biological Sciences 115F, Section 3
Environmental Toxins, Mechanisms, Politics, and Corporate Interests

The biological, social, economic, and political impact of methyl mercury, atazine, dioxin, bisphenol-A, and methyl bromide will be studied in detail. These compounds represent mutagens, carcinogens, teratogens, and endocrine disruptors. The compounds are currently present at overly toxic levels in some regions, and they represent a long-term threat to the biosphere and to public health. Numerous legal, economic, and political battles have been and will continue to be fought over the creation and/or use of the compounds for commercial gain. Approximately half of the material considered in the course will deal with the latter issues and the remainder with the biological mechanisms of toxicity. Both high school biology and chemistry are recommended.
FALL. [3] LeStourgeon. (P)

Biological Sciences 115F, Section 4
Darwin and the Theory of Evolution

“When on board H.M.S. ‘Beagle,’ as naturalist, I was struck with certain facts about the distribution of the organic beings . . . which seemed to throw light on the origin of species, that mystery of mysteries…” Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has not only illuminated the sciences but also has become a concept that unifies science. In this course, we will explore the scientific emergence, development, and impact of Darwin’s evolution theory. We will begin by reading Origin of Species and follow the scientific revolution into the next century and into this century. We will discuss topics such as the modern synthesis, modes of speciation, modern concepts in molecular and macro-evolution, sociobiology, creationism, intelligent design, and human evolution. Readings will be drawn from Darwin, Ernst Mayr, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, E. O. Wilson, Steven Pinker, and Richard Lewontin.
SPRING. [3] Benson. (MNS)

Biological Sciences 115F, Section 5
Medicine and Biology

The role of language in learning and understanding. Medicine and biology seem worlds apart from other sciences, but actually they are deeply connected to the physical sciences and to mathematics. Part of the reason for the apparent disconnect between the biological sciences and physical sciences is the languages these disciplines use to explain things. Physics uses math, which is abstract and expressed in numbers and equations, whereas biology uses a spoken/written language, such as English. We will explore how these apparently distinct scientific languages overlap, what their limitations are, and specifically how math and physics connect to biology and medicine. We will consider examples from medicine, which is per force practical and realistic, and physics, which deals in idealizations of the real world. What happens, for example, when biology/medicine and math/physics address the same question, e.g., how the brain works, genetics, or evolution? Is math truly indispensable to science, as scientists and philosophers assert? And, therefore, is biology merely behind physics; or are there fundamental differences among the sciences that in effect determine the language? We will explore these ideas through readings and discussions, and students will be asked to come up with their own examples that illustrate the role of language in the art of explanation.
FALL. [3] DeFelice. (MNS)

Chemistry

Chemistry 115F, Section 1
Chemical Biology—A Tool for Solving Human Problems

With chemical biology we have the potential to solve human problems. Chemical biology is an interdisciplinary field that uses chemical approaches to solve biological problems in human medicine. Chemists, biologists, and medical researchers from the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology will discuss their research, how it can be used to solve human problems, and where it might lead us in the future. Students will gain an intimate understanding of how science is conducted by interacting with scientists in the trenches. A study of the history, nature, and philosophy of science will help students understand the potential and pitfalls of science. This course is recommended for students who have completed high school chemistry or one semester of college chemistry.
SPRING. [3] Sulikowski. (MNS)

Classical Studies

Classical Studies 115F, Section 2
Spectacle in the Ancient World: Theater and Sports

Blockbuster films, sporting events with tens of thousands of spectators, sports and media stars with fan clubs and ardent admirers, and riots begun by enraged fans are commonplaces of the modern world, but every one of these has a precedent in Greek and Roman antiquity. Annual dramatic festivals in Athens attracted tens of thousands of spectators who were enthralled by the doings of mythological figures in the dramas and amused by the satires of contemporary politicians in the comedies. The Olympic Games held every four years and other sporting events held elsewhere in Greece were the origin of the professional sports we love today. In the Roman world, the gladiators in the arena were the super sports stars of antiquity, and Roman fans of the chariot races held in the circus were responsible for more than one memorable and bloody riot in the streets of the ancient city. This seminar traces the forms of ancient spectacle in theater and sport and the viewer reactions to them. A view of these events will come from a reading of ancient tragedies and comedies, as well as a look at the archaeological remains of the theaters, amphitheaters, sanctuaries, and race tracks where the ancient spectacles were held.
FALL. [3] Tsakirgis. (INT)

Classical Studies 115F, Section 3
Women, War, and Human Rights in Antiquity

Humanitarian principles are an important ideal but prove difficult to sustain in Western culture. Though we advocate human rights and deplore war crimes, abuses of civilians by soldiers recur. This course will offer a more historically grounded perspective on this problem by exploring the practices of Greek and Roman military aggression against unarmed peoples and the responses in Greek and Roman literature that challenge these practices. In antiquity, what are now considered war crimes against civilians were a basic part of war. Armies were known to have rounded up the relatively defenseless inhabitants of a conquered area, eliminated any “undesirables,” and delivered the surviving victims, many of whom were women and children, into slavery. In conjunction with these practices, however, significant voices of dissent appear. Homer, Aeschylus, Thucydides, Euripides, Vergil, Tactius, Epictetus, the anonymous authors of the Sibylline Oracles, and others challenge this aspect of ancient military “business as usual” by thoughtfully representing the victim’s suffering and/or the conquerors’ rapacity. Their writings do not yet articulate a notion of inviolable human rights, with the possible exception of the Stoics, yet they work in that direction by portraying these military practices as inherently degrading and unjustifiable. Students in the course will study the Greek and Roman military methods of subjugating noncombatants and will elucidate how the dissenting literature constitutes an emergent resistance movement, the conflicting dynamics of which persist in modern society in updated forms. Our chronological scope will be broad, spanning from the Mycenaean period to the early Roman Empire, but our topics will remain focused on how the above struggle manifests itself in Greek and Roman culture.
SPRING. [3] Gaca. (P)

Classical Studies 115F, Section 4
The Politics of Gladiator: Representations of Romans in the Cinema

Filmmakers have always felt a powerful attraction to the Romans. From the time of the earliest moving pictures to the modern epic film, characters such as Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Spartacus, and Caligula have taken center stage. The portrayal of Roman civilization, moreover, has served as cinematic shorthand for Empire writ large—including the good, bad, and ugly facets of imperialism. We will explore what it means to be “Roman” on the big screen. We will juxtapose Roman historical sources with the movies that use and abuse them. We will examine the historical contexts of films that promote or despise the Roman Empire and its values, and ask what it means for a society to appropriate a Roman identity. The goal of the course will be threefold: first, students will gain firsthand knowledge of primary historical materials; second, they will examine the many different stories that can be told from the same sources and address the politics of representation; third, they will become more critical viewers and writers. Films viewed will include
Cabiria, Cleopatra, Spartacus, Gladiator, Ben-Hur, and the new Hannibal.
SPRING. [3] Krauss. (HCA)

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Earth and Environmental Sciences 115F, Section 1
Science, Voodoo Science, and Democracy

Why do people believe outrageous ideas, such as UFO abductions, quantum healing, and extrasensory perception? How can courts award multibillion-dollar settlements in lawsuits that scientists say have no basis in fact? Science is supposed to help us tell sound reasoning from nonsense, but a lot of nonsense claims to be scientific. How can we tell the difference? When scientists themselves disagree, are there good tests to distinguish good science from bad, or are the labels merely political epithets? In a democracy, should scientific expertise be weighted differently from the common person’s common sense? When should the public defer to scientists and when should scientists defer to the public?

We will examine different ideas about what science is and how it determines truth. We will study examples of good science and bad science, emphasizing cases where the public has a direct interest in the quality of the science. Case studies will include toxic and carcinogenic pollutants, cold fusion, homeopathic medicine, stratospheric ozone depletion, and “toxic tort” litigation. Authors we will read include Karl Popper, Jacob Bronowski, Stephen Jay Gould, Irving Langmuir, and Richard Feynman.
FALL. [3] Gilligan. (P)

Earth and Environmental Sciences 115F, Section 2
The Earth’s Oceans in the Global Environment

This seminar will introduce students to the planet’s oceans and the vital role they play in our lives. In addition to looking at some of the physics, chemistry, geology, and biology of the marine environment and how these aspects are interconnected in the ocean system, we will consider societal factors affecting progress in marine science, changing popular attitudes toward the oceans, and key current policy implications of marine science. This is an exciting time for marine science as new technologies are giving us better access to the growing amount of information we have about the vast and largely unexplored ocean environment. From our increased understandings of the world’s oceans we know that they form the basis of the Earth’s life support system, and that humans have the capacity to alter basic global processes. Readings will come from the scientific literature, popular science books on the oceans, and from a number of recent reports from governmental and nongovernmental organizations on the health of the marine environment.
SPRING. [3] Johnston. (MNS)

Earth and Environmental Sciences 115F, Section 3
Volcanoes: Earth and Human Impacts

Volcanic eruptions are among the most spectacular of all natural phenomena. They are also manifestations of processes that guided the development of the Earth and shaped our environment. They have had major impacts on human history and continue both to threaten and to inspire society. We will explore many of the facets of volcanism from standpoints of aesthetics, scientific curiosity, and society. For example: How do volcanoes work, and how do we know? How have they influenced humans in the past, and how might they influence us in the future? How can we predict their behavior, or can we? How does society respond to natural threats and to uncertainty about threats? Case studies, including real-time monitoring of active volcanoes, along with popular and scientific literature and historical interpretations, will form the basis for our investigations.
SPRING. [3] Miller. (MNS)

East Asian Studies

East Asian Studies 115F, Section 1
Self and Cyborg in Japanese Animation

Can one be human in a nonhuman body? At what point do technological enhancements to the body diminish one’s humanity? To what extent can an artificial intelligence develop a sense of self? What is the relationship between body, mind, self, and identity? How do visual and electronic media construct and deconstruct self-identity? Who are you? These are but a few questions that this course tackles through the medium of Japanese animation (anime), examples of which are well known for taking up challenging philosophical and psychological issues such as these. Unlike common American assumptions about animation being limited to children’s cartoons, anime knows no such limits. On levels of theme, content, form, and target audience, anime ranges widely. The subset of this great variety that this course focuses on represents some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking work created for feature-length theatrical release and for TV series broadcasts in Japan. Anime treated includes the works of Oshii Mamoru (Patlabor 2, Ghost in the Shell, Innocence), Kon Satoshi (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Paranoia Agent), Anno Hideaki (Neon Genesis Evangelion), and Nakamura Ryutaro (Serial Experiments Lain). Outside screenings on Monday evenings required.
FALL. [3] Figal. (INT)

Economics

Economics 115F, Section 4
Economics of Globalization

Meaning and evolution of economic globalization. Critical analysis and assessment of its impact on employment and growth, income distribution and poverty, child labor, environmental quality, and North-South relations. Risks of periodic financial crises and the role of international financial institutions after the East Asian financial crisis. Coping strategies for the negative effects of globalization.
FALL, SPRING. [3] Ketkar. (SBS)

English

English 115F, Section 2
African American Literature and Its Image in Film and Video

African American literature arose from the specific experience of marginalization in the United States. As such, the representations, mythologies, and tensions of the community are communicated through both oral and published texts. Because the writers of this tradition write to dismantle notions of racial, sexual, and color stereotypes, this body of literature has inspired both film and television movie industries, spawning a corpus of films and videos that reveal the tensions between these texts and the construction of stereotypes and identity within our culture. In this course we will examine both the literature and representation of the texts in film and video. We will explore questions about the politics of production and publication. We will, of course, examine the texts themselves, and how the visual reproductions filter, essentialize, exaggerate, and mutate the original texts. The course opens with an examination of identity in early African American novels and cinema. It continues with pieces from the Harlem Renaissance and the Protest Period. As we move to more contemporary works, we will scrutinize the role of the African American filmmakers’ interpretations of the literature in terms of difference and assimilation. The texts for this course are novels, films, and movies made for television.
FALL. [3] Salvant. (HCA)

English 115F, Section 7
Women Poets in America

In this seminar, we will trace the development of American women’s poetic voices and study the work of several poets, beginning with Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) and ending with Adrienne Rich (b. 1933). Poets include Gertrude Stein, H. D., Marianne Moore, Louise Bogan, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Elizabeth Bishop, Muriel Rukeyser, Gwendolyn Brooks, Anne Sexton, and Sylvia Plath. Contemporary poets will be studied in portfolio, and we will pay particular attention to the plethora of multicultural expression since 1980. Students will be required to keep journals of reading responses, to meet regularly in small groups outside of class, and to attend the literary readings (two or three) sponsored by the Department of English during the semester. There will be one significant writing project, biographical in nature, and two or three shorter pieces (topic and style to be chosen by students
after consultation with instructor). FALL. [3] A. Mikkelsen. (HCA)

English 115F, Section 18
Worlds of Wordcraft: Digital Narrative and Virtual Reality

Computer games are transforming the entertainment industry, generating $12.5 billion in revenue in 2006 and attracting countless adults as well as children to virtual play. Are online games generating new interactive modes of narrative? How do multimedia environments transform the age-old patterns of quest romances that structure much game play? Is the line between virtual and real experiences erased by the fusion of online communities, role-playing, and escapist fictions? Can computer games be pedagogical tools, as some academics maintain, or are they only addictive, sedentary, and antisocial activities? These questions will animate our consideration of digital narrative forms.

Co-taught by the head of Information Technology Services and a professor of English, the course will meet in a multimedia seminar room, allowing us to explore the fundamentals of game design. Students will be required to subscribe to an online game. Readings will range from Spenser’s Faerie Queene to Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash and include hypertext fiction and critical writings such as Bolter and Grusin’s Remediation: Understanding New Media, Edward Castronova’s Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games, Steven Johnson’s Everything Bad Is Good for You, and Pierre Lévy’s Collective Intelligence: Mankind’s Emerging World in Cyberspace. Students will write three papers, contribute weekly to a blog, and work on a collaborative game space of their own.
FALL. [3] Clayton and Hall. (HCA)

 

French

French 115F, Section 1
The French Experience in the Americas

A study of the history of the French experience in the Americas, beginning with pre-Colonial cod fishing expeditions, the settlement and growth of New France, the Conquest of Quebec, and continued French presence in North America (New England, French-speaking Canada, and Louisiana). Unsuccessful attempts at colonization, such as in Florida and Brazil. A wide variety of sources will be used: the cartographic record, missionary letters and related documents, such as the Jesuit Relations, encounter narratives found in the writings of explorers such as Cartier in Canada and Jean de Léry in Brazil. We will also look at literary representations of the French experience in the New World by French and Anglo writers such as Longfellow’s epic “Evangeline,” a poetic rendering of the Acadian deportation of 1755, as well as literary works and film from Quebec. We will conclude by taking stock of the current state of French in America and questions of linguistic and cultural survival.
FALL. [3] Kevra. (INT)

French 115F, Section 2

Urban Tales: Adventures in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Paris
A study of images of Paris and Parisian life in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature, painting, and photography. Using a range of literary and visual texts, including short stories, poetry, architectural plans, paintings, and photographs, we will explore the emergence and representation of the distinctive urban spaces of the boulevard, the apartment building, the restaurant, and the department store at a time of revolutionary changes in political, social, and artistic life. Close readings of descriptive narratives by Balzac, Baudelaire, Zola, and Apollinaire will be complemented by analyses of visual representations by Daumier, Caillebotte, Manet, Degas, and Man Ray. Readings and discussions will emphasize the following themes: the city as a locus of social and political tension, as a setting that inspires revolution in art and politics, and as a place of shifting images of masculinity and femininity.
SPRING. [3] Raycraft. (INT)

 

German

German 115F, Section 2
Representing the Holocaust

Critics take different positions when it comes to the question of how one “ought” to represent the Holocaust. In order to make sense of the rise of Nazism and its consequences, in order to acknowledge and pay tribute to the millions dead, what tools can we and should we use? How do we compare the relative claims and ambitions of “objective” historical analysis, personal testimony, literary and dramatic fiction, architectural monument, or popular film? This seminar will investigate the particular strengths and limits of a wide range of texts and images, facts and fictions that each in its own way claims to represent some “truth” of the Holocaust. We will also discuss the social and political context of these representations and consider the meaning of the Holocaust in contemporary American culture.
FALL. [3] Eigen. (HCA)

 

History

History 115F, Section 1
The Arab-Israeli Conflict

The Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the most intractable conflicts in modern times. The seminar will examine the modern roots of the conflict, including the roots of Arab Nationalism and Zionism, the Mandate period, and the changing nature of the struggle since the establishment of Israel in 1948. While our primary focus will be on the local and regional antagonists, we will also consider the shifting internal dimensions of the conflict.
FALL. [3] Longwell. (INT)

History 115F, Section 2
From Potsdam to Vietnam: Era of American Preeminence

In this seminar we will examine the era from the end of the Second World War until the Tet offensive of 1968, the period in which the United States became a superpower. Among the issues we will explore are the ideological roots of American foreign policy, the effect of American intervention on other countries, the domestic consequences of America’s empire, and the causes of American decline. The readings will include primary sources as well as memoirs and secondary literature.
FALL. [3] Schwartz. (US)

History 115F, Section 4
Destruction of the Indies

The conquest of the New World by the Spanish conquistadors may be one of the greatest epic adventures in our history. It also announced one of the most tragic and controversial chapters in the history of empire building. This seminar will focus on the demographic disaster that overcame the Aztec and Inca empires and the subsequent controversy (sparked by eyewitnesses in the sixteenth century) which persists in academic circles today.
FALL. [3] Landers. (INT)

History 115F, Section 7
Social History of American Medicine

Examines social impact of health issues in nineteenth- and twentieth-century American society; emphasis will be placed upon the development of several health professions; the evolution of medical students, hospitals, and other institutions; the interactions between medicine and race, gender, and class; and the impact of disease in American society.
SPRING. [3] Dickerson. (US)

History 115F, Section 10
American Civilization since 1945

This seminar will introduce students to some of the major themes in American history from the end of the Second World War to the present. Themes will include the development of a distinct American identity, the creation of the Welfare State, and the rise of the United States as a world power. The seminar will emphasize the reading and discussion of primary documents from this era and the writing of analytical and interpretive essays. Readings will include writings of central actors (e.g., diplomats and political figures) and ordinary people, alongside academics and activists in order to explore the American experience since 1945.
Students may not have credit for both 171 and 115F, Section 10.
FALL. [3] Fergus. (US)

History 115F, Section 11

Presidential Politics: College Studies, Social Movements, and Civic Activism
This seminar examines the participation of college students in presidential campaigns of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries and the national issues that motivated students to participate in the electoral process. Looking specifically at presidential elections since the 1960s, this seminar will examine student participation in movements such as the sit-ins of the 1960s, Freedom Summer 1964, the effort to lower the voting age, and the peace movement, and will examine how economic, social, and cultural issues have influenced American college life and attitudes toward politics and civic engagement.
FALL, SPRING. [3] Dalhouse. (US)

History 115F, Section 14
Gender, Sex, and Race in American History and Culture

How do we understand the intersection of gender, sex, and race in United States history and culture? This seminar explores this question, beginning with the Sally Hemmings/Thomas Jefferson controversy in the twentieth century. Then, building on the histories of men and women from multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds and sexualities, we will examine the intersection of gender, sex, and race in United States history and culture from the colonial period to the present. Topics include the politics of interracial sex, racial and sexual violence, shifting constructions of manhood and womanhood, tensions over race in the feminist movement, and discourses on race, gender, and citizenship.
SPRING. [3] Brimmer. (US)

 

History of Art

History of Art 115F, Section 6
Social Values of Art

The public is interested in the monetary value of art, yet concern for “market” value often obscures more important factors that determine the social value of art. This seminar will explore how different societies value art at different points in time. How, for instance, do works that challenge the establishment (satiric prints, Impressionist paintings, Pop Art parodies) reflect a social purpose and reveal a political agenda?
To answer this we shall study examples that help us understand how different audiences perceive different creative statements. We will consider questions of social context for private commissions as well as in public works, such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Students will consider a number of related issues that are ultimately tied to society’s expectations of and reactions to art.
FALL. [3] Mode. (HCA)

 

Humanities

Humanities 115F, Section 2
Americans in Paris

This first-year seminar looks at Paris as an historic and cultural phenomenon, examining why Americans have been so fascinated with this city. Readings and projects cover the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries and include the history and evolving concept of the city. Through people such as Franklin, Paine, Stowe, Cassatt, Stein, and Hemingway, the history of American visitors, expatriates, artists, and writers whom they have encouraged, Paris will be explored. Writing projects will be biographical, touristic, architectural or artistic, and historical, giving students the opportunity to try different literary forms in exploring Paris as an urban reality and Paris as a myth. The course will include films and other media, as well as readings from letters, documents, travel literature, and novels.
FALL. [3] Raycraft. (HCA)

 

Jewish Studies 115F, Section 4
Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs: Black-Jewish Relations in the 1950s and 1960s

Blacks and Jews have shared a long and varied history together, particularly in the American context, as there have been strong forces pulling the two groups simultaneously together and apart. Through an examination of historical and literary texts, as well as of visual images, this course will explore that shared history, focusing on the period of its greatest intensity, the 1950s and 1960s. In exploring this history, the course will show examples of Black-Jewish relations ranging from the heights of utopian cooperation to the depths of dystopian conflict, with many halfway points in between. Issues of ethnicity and diversity in America will be explored, to show them more complex than simply matters of color, race, or creed.
FALL. [3] Meyer. (HCA)

Jewish Studies 115F, Section 5
Gender, Sexuality, and Desire in Jewish Literature

Do images of the Jewish mother and the neurotic Jew in American popular culture originate from the Bible? In this course we will study the history of Jewish culture through an examination of changing representations of gender in Jewish literature and film. We will look at texts that both represent and challenge accepted ideas about gender roles, male and female sexuality, marriage, and beauty ideals. We will also consider whether male and female writers portray gender differently. Our readings will span a broad range of literary texts, from biblical stories to contemporary American Yiddish literature. Topics to be discussed include same-sex desire, Jewish mothers, henpecked husbands, drag, and representations of the Jewish body. This course will serve as an introduction to both gender studies and Jewish literature. No prior knowledge of Jewish culture is required.
FALL. [3] Schachter. (HCA)

Jewish Studies 115F, Section 6
Arab and Israeli Poetry and Fiction: Mirrors and Contrasts across Frontiers

This seminar will focus on ways contemporary literature and other arts in Israel and in neighboring countries have been informed and influenced by religious traditions (primarily, Jewish and Islamic) as well as diverse aspects of culture. At the core of our discussion will be the complex relationship between cultures and artistic productions. Issues regarding language, identity, gender, geography, borders, exile, and migration, history, homeland, and memory will figure prominently.
We will be reading English translations of novels, short stories, and poems by a wide range of writers, men and women, including A. B. Yehoshua, Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz, the poet Adonis, Yehuda Amichai, Etgar Keret, Ghassan Kanafani, Yehudit Katzir, Hanan al-Shaykh, Ruth Almog, and Fadia Faqir. We will also listen to music from various traditions and watch films produced by contemporary Arab and Israeli directors. In our reading, viewing, and listening, we will attend to the array of distinctive voices, styles, themes, and perspectives. Our acquaintance with this rich, lively, tense, vibrant scene will lead naturally to a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the Middle East than that afforded by news stories reported in the general media.
SPRING. [3] Hibbard. (HCA)

Jewish Studies 115F, Section 7
From Einstein to Chomsky: Revolutionary Sciences in Jewish America

This course will survey the work by American Jews who were interested in “new scientific techniques” aimed at uncovering the structural, mathematical, psychic, poetic, or biological basis of language. The impetus for this interest came from an age-old concern with “magical language,” a belief that new technologies would require new standardized approaches to language analysis, and a Cold War interest in propaganda, anti-propaganda, decoding, and translating. The fact that so much of this work was getting undertaken by left-leaning Jews in university settings adds a whole dimension to this crucial part of our recent history.
SPRING. [3] Barsky. (SBS)

 

Latin American Studies

Latin American Studies 115F, Section 2
Nobel Laureates in Literature from Latin America and the Caribbean

In this course we will read and analyze works by Nobel Laureates in literature from Latin America as well as the Francophone and Anglophone Caribbean. These writers will include Gabriela Mistral (Chile, 1945), Saint-John Perse (Guadeloupe/France, 1960), Miguel Ángel Asturias (Guatemala, 1967), Pablo Neruda (Chile, 1971), Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia, 1982), Octavio Paz (Mexico, 1990), Derek Walcott (Saint Lucia, 1992), and V. S. Naipaul (Trinidad, 2001). Because of his profound influence on Latin American writers, we include William Faulkner (USA, 1949) among the Nobel Laureates whose works we will study.
FALL. [3] Miller. (INT)

 

Mathematics

Mathematics 115F, Section 1
Mathematical Truth

What is mathematical truth? What is the role of proof in mathematics? How do mathematicians communicate mathematical ideas? Topics to be covered will come from a wide range of elementary mathematics. Logical foundations of mathematics. Presenting mathematical ideas, definitions, theorems, proofs, and examples. Using equations, diagrams, variables, and quantifiers. Basic logic, proof by contradiction, induction. Generalization, special cases, analogies. The use of lemmas and corollaries. Refining, simplifying, and rewriting proofs. Organizing problem solving. Writing for an audience. Grading based on weekly writing assignments including expositions about mathematics, presentations of known results, organized notes from lectures, and original problem solving. Recommended for beginning calculus students.
FALL. [3] Tschantz. (MNS)

Mathematics 115F, Section 2
Mathematics and Games

Hold ’em or fold ’em? Deal or no deal? Is the price right? Examination of the mathematics and historical motivation of popular games of chance, solitary games like Sudoku, game shows, board games, and dilemmas. What constitutes a fair game? Develop new games. The mathematics covered includes basic probability, expected value and simple combinatorics. Writing assignments will include clear, precise, and well-organized instructions for games, covering all possible outcomes, explaining underlying mathematics, historical background, and unique interpretations of dilemmas.
SPRING. [3] Rafter. (MNS)

 

Medicine, Health, and Society

Medicine, Health, and Society 115F, Section 1
Medicine, Health, and the Body

The course explores the way medicine shapes our understanding of health and the body in modern American society. Focusing on medicine as both science and social phenomenon, we will investigate several interrelated questions: How does medicine classify the body as sick or healthy? How do individual and collective experiences of health and disease influence medical theory and practice? How does medicine affect the way we interact with both sick and healthy bodies (including our own)? And how do contemporary social and cultural factors influence medicine’s potential impact on health and the body? Readings and class discussion will form the basis of our inquiry.
FALL. [3] Boyd. (P)

 

Music Literature

Music 115F, Section 3
Music and Modernism: The Plunge into the Abyss

An investigation into the dramatic changes in Western musical style at the beginning of the twentieth century (including Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Bartok). Listening assignments and discussions of music; readings and discussions on cross-currents among music, literature, and the plastic arts. Major focus will be on the relationships between Modernism and tradition, and on the connections between historical events and artistic production. This seminar will satisfy 3 hours of the
Humanities requirement. FALL. [3] Rose. (HCA)

 

Philosophy

Philosophy 115F, Section 2
Limits of the Human in Philosophy and Film

We will examine the limits of what counts as human in relation to both animals and machines in philosophy and film. Within the history of philosophy, we will take up the following questions: How did animals acquire language to become human? What is the relation of human beings to other animals? What are our ethical obligations to them? What does the study of animals tell us about ourselves? Can we imagine a machine, computer, or robot that could be considered a person? What criteria would such a machine have to meet? Could we have ethical obligations to robots or androids? The use of film will make vivid these philosophical questions. In films such as The Island ofDr. Moreau and Planet of the Apes, we see speculations on the origins of human society. In films such as Cat People and The Wolf Man, we see images of the human turned back into animal. And, films such as Blade Runner and I, Robot address issues about our relation to thinking, feeling machines. These films raise questions about what it means to be human and the limits of the human.
FALL. [3] Oliver. (HCA)

Philosophy 115F, Section 5
Green Cities

In this course, we will apply ethical theories to urban environmental issues. It has long been a prevalent view that cities are environmentally unsustainable or “unfriendly,” and historically, the modern urban planning movement originated from this perspective, committed as it was to ameliorate the overcrowded conditions and rampant disease characteristic of urban life in the nineteenth century. We will see, however, that some contemporary cities are environmentally sustainable in significant respects, and many other cities can and should be made to become that way. Making cities environmentally sustainable, further, is more than just planting trees, preserving green space, or establishing recycling programs. It is also about land use integration, participatory democracy, and social equity. To address these and related concerns, key topics for the course include interpretations of “nature” and “sustainability,” human settlement patterns, democracy, economic sustainability, sprawl, environmental justice, and the implementation of urban environmental principles. Some authors whose works we will read are Garrett Hardin, Ian McHarg, Kevin Lynch, Richard Sennett, Mike Davis, and Carole Pateman. This course integrates ethical theory and environmental urban planning, and students in the seminar will actively contribute to this exciting field by engaging in class discussion, organizing a group presentation, and writing three original essays.
FALL. [3] Bremer. (P)

Philosophy 115F, Section 12
Bioethics: Conflicting Voices in Medicine and the Life Sciences

This course is designed to introduce students to moral issues in medicine and the life sciences. Emphasis will be placed on examination of the moral habits and traditions students bring to these issues, and on the tools for moral reasoning available for resolving them. The focus will be on those issues and problems most likely to be routinely encountered as individual questions or as policy issues, such as genetic testing and diagnosis, the ethics of managed care, social justice in the distribution of scarce health resources, and care at the end of life.
SPRING. [3] Churchill. (HCA)

Philosophy 115F, Section 13
Music, Self, and Society

In this seminar, we will investigate a number of philosophical questions about music and musical meaning with an ear toward contemporary music to which students actually listen. Philosophy and music share an uneasy and sometimes turbulent relationship. Plato fears music’s effect on the balance of soul and society. Friedrich Nietzsche celebrates music as a check on an overreaching reason and enervating morality. Theodor Adorno saw in some modern music, but no popular music, a glimmer of hope for freedom within an ever more tightly administered world. A number of contemporary philosophers, following nineteenth-century music critic Eduard Hanslick, argue that music itself does not really mean anything at all. What, if anything, can music tell us about ourselves and about our society? Are all of these questions simply mistakes resting on an over-intellectualized notion of what music is? No special knowledge of music is required, but we do some listening that will be partially determined by the interests of the class.
FALL. [3] Neufeld. (HCA)

Philosophy 115F, Section 14
Classical Conceptions of Living Well, Europe and Asia

In this course we will explore the question of what it means to live well as human beings. We will orient ourselves to this question by reading classical Greek and Asian texts—texts that have provided major historical bases for contemporary thought. In these texts we will find original formulations of basic life questions with which many of us still wrestle today, such as, what do “goodness,” “excellence,” and “justice” mean? What do I have to do in order to live well? How are my efforts to live well connected to others’ efforts? Understanding both the questions and classical thinkers’ responses to them enables us to think about our own lives more deeply, to adopt or depart from whatever “wisdom” they may represent, and more deliberately and intelligently to assume responsibility for determining the quality of our lives. Texts include Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Eudemian Ethics, The Bhagavad Gita, Confucian Analects and Doctrine of the Mean, Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, and Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
FALL. [3] Schoenbohm. (HCA)

Philosophy 115F, Section 17
The Compelling Power of the Undead

This course examines the anxieties we have regarding portrayals of what is undead, or not quite alive, like zombies, golems, and vampires. Readings and films focus on the influence of the undead on philosophical thinking and on various other aspects of contemporary culture, such as superstition, capitalist consumption, social injustice, and political authority.
FALL. [3] Holt. (HCA)

Philosophy 115F, Section 18
Prison and Exile Writing

It is no exaggeration to assert that many of the most important literary documents of civilization were written either in prison or under conditions of forced exile. In fact, the two founding traditions of the West, the biblical and philosophical, are products of imprisonment and exile. In this light, it is indeed surprising that the centrality of the prison to literature is generally overlooked. This course will investigate the intricate dialectical relations between political persecution and writing. The twofold question explored in the course will be (1) How does the fear of persecution determine the form of writing, and (2) How does prison and exile literature represent various modes of resistance to the violence at the heart of culture. Insofar as the prison will serve as the icon for the civilized sanction of violence, prison and exile writings will provide an insight into the inseparable relations between the individual, intellectual writer, and the destiny of a group or people. Although the course will focus on the concrete experience of prison and exile, we shall also explore the question of prison as metaphor, especially evident in the representation of the body as the soul’s prison.
SPRING. [3] Dobbs-Weinstein. (HCA)

 

Physics

Physics 115F, Section 1
Bogus Science

In this class we will study some recent and notorious examples of bad science— cases involving deliberate fraud by scientists as well as examples of claims and reports by well-meaning individuals that have turned out to be bogus. The pursuit of science is supposed to include various safeguards to test the validity of new knowledge and discoveries, such as peer review of publications, testing whether results can be reproduced, and application of “the scientific method.” But there have been many notorious examples of deliberate fraud by scientists including the successful publication of claims that have subsequently been shown to be false, and sometimes ridiculous. This course will examine some of the more illustrative cases of deliberate fraud and bad science that have been uncovered and the motives behind their perpetrators. Many such cases reveal defects in the manner in which science and academic matters are reviewed, while others demonstrate how the media and the public can be manipulated by unscrupulous charlatans. In reviewing these cases we will try to examine how science is supposed to operate to avoid these lapses and why bogus science succeeds.
FALL. [3] Gore. (P)

Physics 115F, Section 2
What Is Matter?

This course will survey the development of our current model of matter from our traditional understanding of atoms and molecules to our present understanding of leptons and quarks. We will examine the critical experiments and theories that led to these discoveries and how our view of what is fundamental has changed. We will also discuss how forces arise and the mediating particles for forces, such as bosons. For the last third of the course, we will discuss current developments such as dark matter and neutrino oscillations. We will also delve into the strange world of quantum mechanics and its applications without using any advanced mathematics. Familiarity with basic algebra is assumed.

The course will be based on materials from the American Physical Society Web site, “What is fundamental?” These materials will be supplemented with other materials provided to students from various articles in scientific journals.
FALL. [3] Ramayya. (MNS)

 

Political Science

Political Science 115F, Section 1
American Foreign Policy: Roots, Goals, and Impacts

The United States came into being as a rather weakly united set of former British colonies strung out along the Atlantic seaboard of North America in 1776. Now, 229 years later, it is arguably the most powerful state in the history of the world. Yet critics typically denounce U.S. foreign policy, currently as well as in the past, as unrealistic, uninformed, chaotic, inconsistent, and even blundering. What have been and what are the major goals of American foreign policy? Have past policies been well designed to achieve those goals, and are current policies likely to help the United States to achieve its foreign policy objectives? Could past policies have been and should current policies be modified in ways designed to increase the probability that American foreign policy goals are achievable? Are there foreign policy goals that have been or are overlooked, avoided, or under-emphasized by American foreign policy makers? This course will examine each of these questions, with a view toward developing the problem solving and analytical skills of its students, and to strengthen their proficiency in reading, speaking, and writing about foreign policy choices in politically and ethically difficult situations. The writing assignments will focus on debates about contemporary issues such as globalization (e.g., outsourcing), the war on terrorism and in Iraq, the International Criminal Court, human rights, ballistic missile defense, and global warming.
FALL. [3] Ray. (SBS)

Political Science 115F, Section 3
Terrorism

An overview of terrorism as a political science puzzle. Throughout the semester, the main questions to which most of our discussions and readings will relate are 1) Why do nonstate groups turn to terrorism and 2) How should states respond to terrorism? By the end of the semester, students should be able to speak and write critically about the various answers that scholars, policy makers, the law enforcement community, and terrorists themselves have given to these questions. Three other objectives for the course are 1) To familiarize students with the history, goals, structures, and tactics of groups that have used terrorism, past and present; 2) To help students improve their public speaking and presentation skills; and 3) To help students improve their writing skills.
FALL. [3] Carroll. (SBS)

Political Science 115F, Section 4
The United States Supreme Court

This course will explore the Supreme Court’s history and its membership, the politics of selecting justices, the internal procedures and rules that govern its work, and the theories constructed by political scientists and legal scholars about judicial decision making. We will also examine the ways in which other government policy makers respond to the Supreme Court’s decisions as well as its impact on American society.
SPRING. [3] Corley. (SBS)

 

Psychology

Psychology 115F, Sections 1 and 3
General Psychology

A survey of modern scientific psychology. Discussion is focused on such topics as maturation, perception, motivation, learning, thinking, remembering, emotion, intelligence, special aptitudes, and personality development. Evaluation of research through experience as a subject in current research or by means of evaluation of published research. Satisfies the prerequisite of 101 for all other psychology courses; students may not receive credit for both 101 and 115. This course will count toward a major in psychology.
FALL. [3] Section 1, Fox. (SBS)
SPRING. [3] Section 3, Fox. (SBS)

Psychology 115F, Section 8
Human Memory and the Brain

This is a freshman seminar on theories and research in human memory.  If we had no memory, we would not be able to function.  Memory is essential to all activities.  By comparing situations where memory is successful to ones in which memory fails, researchers have been able to discover and document many principles that allow us to predict human memory performance in a wide range of situations.  One purpose of this course is to introduce you to these principles and the knowledge we have accumulated about how memory works.  Another purpose of this course is to give you an appreciation for, and hands-on experience with, the kinds of experiments researchers conduct to test their theories about why we remember or forget things.  Memory is never directly observed and we need not even be aware of its influence; rather its existence is inferred from some particular behavior or some change in level of performance.  Therefore, special attention will be given to the type of evidence needed to support theories of remembering and forgetting.
SPRING. [3] Zbrodoff. (MNS)

Psychology 115F, Section 11
Consciousness and the Unconscious

An enduring conflict in psychology surrounds the degree to which human behavior is influenced by conscious versus unconscious mental activity. This course explores historical and current perspectives on conscious and unconscious processing. After working to define what conscious and unconscious processes are, we will investigate the ways that different psychological schools have understood conscious and unconscious processes. To introduce students to the variety of ways psychologists have examined these phenomena, we will examine the perspectives of psychodynamic, early empirical, cognitive and affective, and neuroscientific methods of studying conscious and unconscious activity. Thought papers will be assigned to help students focus on how their own behavior may be influenced by conscious and unconscious mechanisms. A final course paper and presentation will allow students to perform a critical integration of different perspectives on the conscious and unconscious influences on a topic of their choice (with instructor approval). Classes will include lectures, discussions, and in-class demonstrations.
FALL. [3] Benning. (SBS)

Psychology 115F, Section 12
The Psychology of Eating Disorders

Examination of how biology, psychology, culture, and environment combine to cause anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorders. Major theories and approaches to assessment, treatment, and prevention. Related phenomena such as compulsive exercise, bodybuilding, and steroid abuse. Readings include popular accounts of what it is like to have and overcome an eating disorder as well as scholarly writings from a wide range of scientists. Writing assignments emphasize critical thinking through assessing relevant literature, evaluating evidence, and applying these skills to topics relevant to eating disorders.
SPRING. [3] Schlundt. (SBS)

 

Religious Studies

Religious Studies 115F, Section 1
God, Sex, and the Earth

This course examines the relations among ideas of the sacred, gendered humans, and the earth. Religions have foundational myths or cosmologies that help make sense of who we are, our place in the world, ourselves (as bodies, minds, and spirits), and how we ought to behave. Ideas and images of creation, heaven, and earth, and right or wrong actions between and among beings dictate our thinking and our doing. Our image of the Divine, “Super Nature,” our assumptions about the proper relations between sexual bodies, and the proper relations of humans to “nature” are all connected. Students will examine their own beliefs about these issues and will begin creating an ecological picture or map that depicts our place in the universe. Each student will work on mapping his or her own landscape, and in addition to three reflection papers, the class will plan and carry out a literal “hands-on” experience with a local environmental program. (Digging in the dirt!)
FALL. [3] Welch. (HCA)

 

Sociology

Sociology 115F, Section 1
America in the Sixties

This seminar re-examines the sixties— one of the most tumultuous decades of the twentieth century—from the vantage point of historical sociology, a perspective that takes seriously the interplay of social structure, culture, biography, and history. The central themes of the course include the African American Freedom Movement (from Southern civil rights struggles to Black Liberation struggles), cold war, hot war (Vietnam), and antiwar student movements, New Left and New Right, women’s liberation, counterculture, and more. Sociological emphasis is placed on social change and social movements.
FALL. [3] Isaac. (SBS)

Sociology 115F, Section 2
The Artist and the City

This seminar takes a sociological approach to understanding the relationship between urban living and artistic expression. We will examine how creativity may be conceived as not only a property of individuals, but also something that is nurtured in particular ways by concrete social circumstances.
FALL. [3] Lloyd. (SBS)

Sociology 115F, Section 6
Womb to Tomb: The Life Course

Birth, school, work, coupling, child rearing, retirement, death. People all over the world experience many of the same life events and life stages. But beliefs about the forms these stages should take, and the order in which they should occur, vary from one society to another and over historical time. Should puberty signal the end of schooling? Does it make a difference if you have kids before you find a life partner? What about people who work after they retire? This course explores the many stages that make up individual lives, as well as the rites of passage that mark transitions between those stages—quinceañeras, proms, virginity loss, divorces, to name a few— placing individual biographies in the context of broader social changes. How gender, race/ethnicity, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, and other aspects of social identity influence people’s ideals for and experiences of life stages will be a major theme as well.
SPRING. [3] Carpenter. (SBS)

Sociology 115F, Section 9
Gangs and Gang Behavior

What is a gang? What is a “gang member”? How are gangs structured and what do gang members do? What are the consequences of gang membership? How does society attempt to control gang behavior? These are some of the primary questions that form the core of this seminar focusing on gangs and gang behavior in the United States. This seminar has four thematic sections. We will begin the seminar by discussing the social problem of defining gangs and gang members, the history of gangs in the United States, and the extent and nature of the contemporary gang situation. In the second section, we will discuss the process of joining a gang and the causal factors associated with it, the typical behaviors of gang members, and the consequences of gang membership (including its effect on criminal activity and criminal victimization). Next, we will discuss structural differences in contemporary gangs, with a focus on ethnic and gender differences in gangs. The final section of the course concerns the approaches used to control gang behavior, including the use of legal injunctions, police interventions, and prevention policies. During the entirety of this course, we will use the empirical literature and the sociological perspective to critically evaluate common perceptions of gangs and gang behavior (especially those perpetrated by the media).
FALL. [3] Ezell. (SBS)

Sociology 115F, Section 10
Crops That Changed the World

This interdisciplinary seminar examines the social, biological, and economic links between crops, cultures, and production technologies. Topics include: zones of origin for world crops; plant domestication and the “agricultural revolution”; the spice trade and European expansion; sugar, tobacco, and slavery in the Americas; New World crops; lost crops of the Incas; and coffee in Brazil. The production, financing, processing, and distribution of crops that changed the world. The Malthusian dilemma—demography versus food production. The Green Revolution in rice and wheat. Energy crops. Sustainable agriculture. Future prospects. Research tools.
FALL. [3] Lang. (SBS)

Sociology 115F, Section 13
Salem and Other Witch Hunts: Witch Trials as Sociological Crucibles

Many students are acquainted with the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 via Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, and the recent film version of the play starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. However, it usually comes as a surprise to students when they discover that the Salem trials occurred toward the end of three centuries of similar witch trials, collectively referred to as the “early modern witch craze.” The seminar focuses on the Salem witch hunts in the context of that wider craze and as a “sociological” crucible for illuminating the structure, causes, and changing dimensions of community turmoil. We will discuss questions such as: Why were most of the people executed for witchcraft women? When and how did the stereotype of the heretic witch develop, and how does it relate to characteristics of other stigmatized groups? How did the witch craze vary and spread among different societies? What effect did apocalyptic crises such as war, famine, and plague have on the search for witches? How does the Halloween tradition relate to the witch craze? Are there contemporary parallels to the Salem witch hunts? (e.g., Satanic panics, ritual child abuse, political witch hunts, etc.).
SPRING. [3] Jensen. (SBS)

 

Spanish

Spanish 115F, Section 2
The Border Identities

In this seminar, we will consider that the fluid nature of identity might help us to better understand the Latin American experience. Is a person who doesn’t speak English, identifies him or herself with the culture, traditions, and values of a Spanish, French, or Dutch-speaking Caribbean island, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States, an American? Is a person who doesn’t speak Spanish, identifies him or herself with the culture, traditions, and values of a Quechuaspeaking border region of the Andes, Peruvian? Could the comparison of these two examples lead us to a better understanding of what troubles and constitutes national identity both in the United States and in Latin America? This course will attempt to answer some of these questions by first studying examples of the complex identity of the United States in the literature emerging from its borders, and then comparing these to similar examples in literature produced at the borders of Latin American countries.
Much of the United States borders Latin America, and many Latin Americans have made this country their home. Bilingual, bicultural writers from the East to the West Coast, such as Junot Díaz, Richard Rodríguez, and Sandra Cisneros have thought about this condition, and have written about their troubled identities in their essays, short stories, and novels. Their work is both strikingly different from and similar to the essays, short stories, and novels of Latin American writers who describe a similar experience but from a different geographic location. Writers at the borders of their culture such as Rosario Castellanos, Julia Alvarez, and Clorinda Matto de Turner have described the promise and difficulty of straddling the borders of countries as diverse as Mexico, Perú, and the Dominican Republic. We will read the works of these writers within a circular geographic pattern designed to make the problem of national identity in Latin America more familiar to a student population eager to learn, but unfamiliar with, its cultures and traditions. The course begins with the more familiar work of U.S. Latino writers, moves away from the United States to the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Andean region, only to return to the U.S. border at the end of the course. We will also screen films in this course (both from Hollywood and by independent filmmakers) that will help us approximate this problem and its implications for our own sense of identity.
FALL. [3] Trigo. (HCA)

 

Theatre

Theatre 115F, Sections 1 and 2
Treasure or Trash: Examining Theatrical Credibility

What constitutes a worthwhile theatrical experience? Why do certain texts endure the passage of time better than others? What makes one theatrical experience seem better than others? This seminar offers a behind-the-scenes look at the onstage and backstage collaboration essential to a complete theatrical production. There will be readings on and discussions of the nature of theatre, its individual elements, and its necessary place in the realm of human experience. Students will have the opportunity to gain first-hand experience as designer, playwright, director, or actor. In this class, we will read some of theatre’s most enduring plays, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Waiting for Godot,as well as attend several live productions. In past years, classes have evaluated local productions of plays ranging from Phantom of the Opera to Glass Menagerie. By writing critical analyses of the productions observed, and through class discussions, students will develop a better understanding of the specific contribution of each individual to the theatrical experience. From text to stage, from spectator to critic, this class explores the universality of theatre. Students may not receive credit for both Theatre 115F and Theatre 100.
FALL. [3] Section 1, J. Hallquist. (HCA)
FALL. [3] Section 2, Franck. (HCA)
SPRING. [3] Section 1, Ullom. (HCA)

 

Women’s and Gender Studies

Women’s and Gender Studies 115F, Section 1
Women in Law and Literature

Feminist jurisprudence provides an analysis and critique of women’s position in patriarchal society and examines the nature and extent of women’s subordination. It explores the role of law in maintaining and perpetuating patriarchy. This course will trace literary representations of women from classical antiquity to the present, focusing both on how women have been excluded from full participation in the social, political, and economic life of the societies in which they lived, and on their efforts to achieve autonomy. Texts include Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Cleage’s Flying West, Euripides’ Medea, and Flaubert’s Madame Bovary.
FALL. [3] Fesmire. (P)

Women’s and Gender Studies 115F, Section 2
Tales Told and Retold: From Gilgamesh to Harry Potter

A culture defines itself by its myths. Like history, myth tells us about what happened to the people who shared a culture. But myth does much more than record a series of events. Rather than merely reporting specific events in the political or cultural development of a society, myths tell us about the most fundamental values and ideals of a group. Myths also perpetuate tradition by transmitting culture from one generation to the next. This class will examine fundamental mythemes (creation stories, the hero’s journey, star-crossed lovers) in the epic of Gilgamesh. Ancient texts will include Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Beowulf, and The Letters of Abelard and Héloise. Modern texts will include John Gardner’s Grendel, Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, and the films O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Finally, we will use what we have learned to assess the popularity of the Harry Potter series.
FALL. [3] Fesmire. (HCA)

 

First Year Writing Seminars for 2006 - 2007

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