Term Specific Course Descriptions - Fall 2013
(those not found in Catalog)

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AH-251N 001 Art of the Buddhist World
Presents an overview of Buddhist art and architecture, beginning with its origins in South Asia and tracing its dissemination into East and Southeast Asia.  A variety of media will be examined and interpreted within the context of Buddhist religious practice, regional artistic traditions, and shifting religious doctrine.  Topics including the origin of the Buddha image, pilgrimage and modes of worship, Buddhist iconography, and the intersection of Buddhist religion and politics will be discussed. (Designated a non-Western cultures course).     

AH-351N 001 The Art of Colonial India
Examines the impact of British colonial expansion on the art and architecture of South Asia between 1750 and 1947.  This class explores the ways in which visual forms engaged with imperial ideologies, either promoting or resisting Western presence in India.  Paintings, photographs, buildings, monuments, and other objects produced by both indigenous and European artists will be considered alongside primary source texts and seminal writings on post-colonial theory.  Issues including race, gender, religion, class/caste, and the politics of display will be addressed as they relate to artistic production in this period. (Designated a non-Western cultures course).

AH-375D 001 African Textiles and Dress
African textiles and dress is the focus of this seminar. Working with actual collections, we will explore this fascinating topic from a variety of perspectives, including issues of production; materials; and aesthetics; textiles and dress as visual currency, as markers of identity, and as text; the impact of colonialism, trade and globalization; and African fashion in the contemporary world.  (Designated a non-Western cultures course).

AM-103W 002 Intro to American Studies:  The Wizard  of  OZ
An interdisciplinary analysis of The Wizard of Oz, this course will examine the numerous adaptations of L. Frank Baum’s classic tale to introduce students to the study of American culture, past andpresent. Students will read critically, think historically, practice interdisciplinarity, andacknowledge the intersections of race, class, andgender in order to analyze the ways that The Wizard of Oz, in its many versions, has reflected andshaped American culture. Students will consider primary andsecondary sources that explore Oz through a range of media (fiction, film, theater, television, andmusic) andfrom a variety of disciplinary perspectives. In addition to reading Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), students will consider MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939); the “super soul” Broadway musical, The Wiz (1975), andits 1978 film adaptation; Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (1973); Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1996); Stephen Schwartz’s 2003 Broadway musical version of the Maguire novel; ABC television’s The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz(2005); andthe television mini-series Tin Man (2007).  (Fulfills expository writing and social science requirements).

AM-236 001 Jazz, Race, and Gender
This course is neither a “traditional” historical survey of jazz styles and musicians, nor a close reading of the structures of the music itself. Rather, Jazz, Race, and Gender is an interdisciplinary introduction to theories of race and gender – as they intersect with other social categories such as class, sexuality, and nation – as lenses for studying jazz and its impact on US culture. Focusing mainly on US expression from the 1920s to 1960s, we will consider the ways that racial and gender dynamics have shaped the history and criticism of American jazz culture. Through reading, listening, viewing, discussing, and writing, students will learn skills for analyzing the meanings of gender and race within jazz contexts.  (Designated a Cultural Diversity course; fulfills humanities requirement.)

AM-376X 001 Black-Jewish Studies
Many have characterized American Blacks and Jews as marginalized groups sharing a “special relationship.”  In this seminar, we will use a range of primary sources (including music, memoirs, novels, television shows, and Hollywood films) as well as scholarship from a variety of disciplines to explore political, religious, artistic, pop-cultural, and familial connections – real and imagined – between Blacks and Jews in the United States over the course of the twentieth century. We will pay special attention to the ways that constructions of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, class, and region intersect with those of Jewishness and Blackness during different historical moments.

AN-231V 001 Anthropology of Food
Examines the relationships between food, the self and society both in the United States and throughout the globe. If eating is the act of taking the world into our own bodies, how does this affect how we view the world? Are we what we eat or what we do not eat? Is every bite we take a vote for a certain world? Drawing on cultural roles of foods in societies throughout the world, students consider these questions by looking at anthropological approaches to consumption, identity, political economy, the body, and food. Students investigate controversies such as globalization, the environment, genetically modified foods, vegetarianism/veganism, the "obesity crisis," and disordered consumption. Prerequisite: AN-101

AN-251C 001  Archaeological Research Methods 
An introduction to the methodological and theoretical approaches by which archaeologists recover, analyze, and interpret the material remains of the past. Students engage in excavation, recording, and mapping activities, followed by the analysis and interpretation of excavated materials.  Prerequisite: AN-101 and AN-102.

AN-252C 001 Archaeological of the Middle East
This course introduces students to early human societies of the Middle East. While ancient Mesopotamia is the most famous cultural sphere attested to in the archaeological record of the region, the Middle East has been host to a variety of other important socio-cultural phenomena from the origins of agriculture to the development of major world religions. Students will find out in this course that the archaeology of the Middle East also has much to tell us about some of the biggest topics in anthropology including the origins of humanity, the development of social inequality, and the state. There are nearly two-million years of human occupation in the Middle East and this course will cover a number of topics beginning with early hominin dispersals out of Africa and ending in the late Roman Empire. (Designated a Non-Western cultures course and fulfills the Social Science Requirement).

AN-351A 001 Senior Project Design   
A seminar for students to design and start a senior project for the Anthropology Senior Seminar (AN366.) Students will develop a project focus, write a functional outline, document a literature search, and analyze preliminary data.  Prerequisite: AN-101 and AN-102 and permission of instructor. Open to senior majors only.  Seniors are recommended to take AN-351A before enrolling in AN-366 Senior Seminar. Must be taken S/U.

AN-351C 001 Anthropology of Consumption
An engagement with the anthropology of consumption. Students will examine how commodities and consumption mediate the self, identities, bodies, and the environment. The course will move through the “lifecycle” of commodities – from gestation to birth to life and to death – throughout the world. Topics will include: factories, shipping, shopping, use, and garbage. Students will consider anthropological approaches to exchange theory, identity, commodity chains, world systems theory, and garbage/waste.  Prerequisite: AN-101, AN-102, and AN-270; ES Students: Junior standing,  AN-101, and one additional Anthropology course. 

AN-351D 001 Biological Approaches to Medical Anthropology
This course explores the relationship between evolutionary theory and topics in biological and medical anthropology. We will examine various topics including evolution, health, medicine, and human biological variation. It will introduce students to this evolutionary perspective on disease, while also considering non-evolutionary aspects of common diseases, such as social, political, and cultural aspects of human health and illness. The goal of this course is to begin to unravel how natural selection, adaptation, and phylogeny provide insights into human health and disease (and therefore the treatment of disease). Prerequisite: AN-101 and AN-102.

AN-352D 001 Archaeology of Religion and Ritual
An examination of human cultural practices surrounding concepts of reasoning, spirituality, the supernatural, and the afterlife. Topics will include the relationship of humans to the environment, the use of ideology and power, and symbolic innovation and conquest. Throughout the semester, we will use various sources of evidence from the archaeological record (e.g., artifacts, art, text) to investigate the ritual activities of people in the past, as well as historical documents and ethnographic accounts of modern descendants of past peoples.  Prerequisite: AN-101 and AN-102.

BI-351 001 The Biology of Athletes
Members of every major taxonomic group have evolved amazing athletic feats – from ballistic spore dispersal in fungi and flying seeds in plants, to the speed and maneuverability of hummingbirds and cheetahs, to the breadth of human athletic performance.  We will explore and compare the performance, the physiology, and the mechanics of these extreme athletes in an evolutionary context.  Students will also gain some basic knowledge of the cutting edge technologies used to measure such athletes.  Prerequisite: Completion of BI-105, BI-106 and any BI-200-level lecture/lab course.

BI-352 001 Genetics of Autism
A comprehensive study of the genetic basis of Autistic Spectrum Disorders.   Approaches will include the definitions of autism and its incidence, family studies of heritability, molecular analyses, genome-wide studies, gene by environment interactions, current research in progress and potential future research directions.  Candidate genes and mechanisms will be examined.  The lab will include an experiment on a current mouse model for autistic behavior.

CH-351 001 Atmospheric Chemistry
This course introduces students to the physical and chemical processes that control the Earth’s atmosphere and climate. Topics will include the mechanisms that regulate the flow of energy in the atmosphere, the role of atmospheric aerosols and solar radiation in climate change, and Global Chemical Cycles. In addition, we will explore how anthropogenic activities influence the chemical balance of the atmosphere.  Prerequisite: CH-222

CS-376B001  Operating Systems  
This course introduces basic concepts of computer operating systems. Examples include virtual memory, memory management, input/output, process scheduling, processor scheduling, synchronization, interprocess communication, multiprogramming, and file systems.

English Department Course Descriptions can be found here - http://cms.skidmore.edu/english/courses/upload/Prospectus-Fall-2013.pdf

ES-352C 001 The Politics of Food, Agriculture and Social Justice
Our world is in a food crisis. Rising prices, diminishing grain reserves, and global climate change—with implications for agriculture, crop yields, and water resources—raise fears of chronic hunger, vulnerability, and the erosion of our natural resources. Starting with food production and agriculture, this course critically examines the global agro-food system, including the processing, transport, and marketing of food, and concludes with the politics of food consumption. We will focus on the problems with dominant forms of producing and distributing food, including the many environmental and social inequalities they produce, and what people are doing about them. Although most would agree that the problems with the food system are systemic and global in scale, and come from the way food is produced, current solutions tend to focus on creating alternatives on the local scale, privileging the needs and desires of consumers. Through case studies, the course will provide you an opportunity to think deeply about strategies how agro-food systems can promote social justice and environmental sustainability and whether current alternative solutions to the problems in the global agro-food system are adequate.   Prerequisite: ES-100 or the permission of the instructor.  

ES-352C 002 Global Environmental Governance: Climate Change
As the magnitudes of the Earth’s environmental problems have increased and globalization integrated human activities, many environmental issues have also become global issues. Responding to growing concerns about environmental degradation, livelihoods and economy, governments have signed over a thousand international treaties to protect and manage the environment. Similarly, elaborate tools and systems were developed for observing and modeling the behavior of the global environment and translating this knowledge into global policy advice. However, environmental governance involves much more than the work of governments. It is also about questions concerning how we make environmental decisions and who makes them. Heightened concern about environmental quality has increased demand for leaders and analysts who can navigate the political, economic, scientific and technological dimensions of these issues to inform critical policy decisions in a multinational context. This course explores the politics of addressing environmental problems from a global perspective, dealing with who is responsible, how they yield their power, and how they are held accountable. The course will examine the role of policymakers, scientists, non-state actors in the formation of environmental policy and the management of it, and focus on the challenges of addressing global environmental problems while accommodating cross-national differences in interpretations of scientific risk and uncertainty. The course's focus will be global climate change, yet it will also address other case studies including deforestation, biotechnology and hazardous waste. As an upper level seminar, participation in class discussions is crucial to the success in the course. The assignments include an exam, a video-conference with UN ambassadors, collaborative in-class exercises, primary document reviews and a research project.  Prerequisite: ES-100 or GO-103 or IA-101 or the permission of the instructor.

ES-352C 003 US Public Land and Oceans: Policy, Management, and Current Events
Public lands and oceans are our natural and national heritage. State and federal agencies manage, and at times mismanage, public lands and oceans for their diverse recreational, wilderness, resource, economic, ecosystem, watershed, range, and wildlife values.  Through case studies and issue investigation, this class will examine the policies, laws, philosophies; the social, cultural, religious, economic, political interests; and the science that influence the management of state and federally owned public resources.  We will explore active stakeholders in the public lands and oceans policy arena, which include a diversity of advocates, agencies, tribes, non-governmental organizations, researchers, and industries.  This class will include special guest speakers, films, and field trips.  Students will take a participatory role in current environmental policy and resource management decisions by offering written comments through the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Letters to the Editor of newspapers. Students will also work in pairs on a semester-long Issue Investigation and Action Research Project that includes a research paper and oral presentation as well as take an in class midterm examination.  Prerequisite: ES 100 or the permission of the instructor.

EX-361A 001 Nutrition and Bioenergetics
An investigation of the many specific aspects of nutrition in health and exercise. Students will acquire an understanding of the biochemical and physiological adaptations following nutritional manipulation and supplementation. Primary focus will be on recent research examining nutrient metabolism in exercise and disease prevention.

FG-263 001 Of Demons, Doppelgängers, and Madmen: The Uncanny in German Romanticism
This course explores philosophic ideas and aesthetic concepts fundamental to German Romanticism, in particular its fascination with the fantastic and the demonic.  The language of instruction is German. Prerequisite: FG 206 or FG 208.

FI-363 001 True Blood: Ghosts, Monsters and Vampires in Italian Literature
What is fantastic literature? Is there an Italian tradition of fantastic writing? Do Italian authors share the fascination with the supernatural (ghosts, mysterious creatures, and the world of the dead) of their Northern counterparts? This course will explore the fantastic theme from the earliest narratives in the late nineteenth century―based on the examples of the masters of the genre such as E.A. Poe and E.T.A. Hoffmann―to contemporary times. Students will analyze the works by, among others, Tarchetti, Papini, Savinio, Bontempelli, Buzzati, and Landolfi. Special attention will be paid to women writers of the fantastic, Invernizio, Ortese, Capriolo, and more.

FL-263 001 Latinidades: Reconfiguring Identities in the U.S.  
This course explores the work of Latino/a writers considering the ways in which they have depicted and imagined the experiences of moving between and within nations and the impact these movements have had in the configuration of Latino identities

FS-363 001 Special Studies Spanish
This course will focus on Rayuela (or Hopscotch), written by Julio Cortázar, a novel that marked a turning point in Latin American literature for the originality of its format and for the richness of its style. The author's note at the opening of the book advises the reader to approach the book in one of two possible ways. The first one is the progressive, classical manner: from chapters 1 to 56. The second one is by "hopscotching" through the entire set of 155 chapters according to a "Table of Instructions" designated by the author. But Cortázar also leaves the reader the option of choosing his/her own unique route through the book. How to read it then? Each student will arrive at a conclusion through the analysis and discussion of the historical, political, and social contexts that surrounded this novel and that defined the Latin American Boom.

GE-251C 001 Advanced Oceanography
The examination of several systems in the ocean and the interactions of physics, chemistry, biology, and geology (where appropriate) in each of these systems.  The class will focus on areas such as estuaries, the upper ocean (air-sea interaction and phytoplankton growth), eddies, and reefs.  Primary attention will be given to science issues, with the consideration of human interactions and policy for some parts of the course.  Prerequisite: GE-112

GO-251C 001 Women, Politics and Power
An overview of the role women have played in politics throughout history –from their emergence as political players in society to breaking the glass ceiling in politics. Throughout the course we will examine a range of topics including the political participation of women; the history of women's movements; voting differences and political divisions amongst women. We will answer the following questions: What factors enhance the chance women will participate? Do women bring different perspectives to politics and leadership? Do they behave differently to men while in office? We will also consider the politics of a number of public policies having a special impact on women – employment discrimination, equal opportunity and motherhood. Particular attention will be devoted to key women in American Politics – including, but not limited to, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonya Sotomayor.   

GO-351A 001  Capitalism and its Critics
Global political events since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the demise of Soviet Communism in 1991 seem to herald the triumph of capitalism.  Yet even proponents of capitalism acknowledge that this victory has been accompanied by a broad range of political and moral challenges.  Our course will focus on the core philosophic arguments both for and against capitalism in an effort to better understand the grounds on which the free market has been praised and blamed.  Our goal is to transcend narrowly partisan arguments and to ascend to the permanent questions of political philosophy that are implicated in this debate over the free market: namely, whether capitalism promotes or inhibits the pursuit of virtue and excellence, whether capitalism promotes or inhibits the quest for justice, whether capitalism promotes or inhibits the realization of human freedom, and whether capitalism promotes or inhibits the sustenance of vibrant communities    

GO-365 001  Making States, Building Democracies
Why are some countries democratic while others are not? What are the causes and consequences of state building and state collapse? Issues of state making, institutional effectiveness, and state failure are central to global development and security. The conditions under which democracies emerge and are consolidated are also enduring concerns for the scholars of Comparative Politics, as well as policymakers. This course is an advanced seminar in Comparative Politics. It focuses on state making, institutional effectiveness, state failure, transitions to democracy, and democratic consolidation, among other topics. Students will analyze and discuss some of the classic works in Comparative Politics, as well as cutting-edge research in the field. The course aims to equip students with the analytical skills to assess empirical evidence and to evaluate the validity of causal arguments.

HI-298 001 Introduction to the Modern Intellectual History of the Arab Middle East
This is an introductory course in Middle Eastern history tracing the development of modern intellectual discourse as manifested in the writings of the prominent Arab thinkers from the period of the Arab Renaissance (late 19^th century) to the present time. In this course, we will explore major intellectual works and focus on issues such as: The tension between tradition and modernity, post-colonialism and the West, gender and women's rights, religion and secularism, freedom and political oppression, exile and up rootedness, nationalism and collective memory.

IA-251A 001 Life on the Line. Identify Formation on the U.S./Mexico Border       
What happens when policy hits the ground?  On the U.S./Mexico border, decisions made in Washington have a practical effect on the ever-evolving identity formation of border culture along the 2,000 mile line that divides the two countries.   As ideologies clash, violence surges, and homelessness increases with the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants to Mexico cities in both countries deal with the fall-out.  In this course, students examine how the implementation of laws changes daily border life, and why border relations are relevant to those who are not geographically immediately impacted by them.

Students explore the consequences of the past two decades of profound changes that have taken place in U.S./Mexico border cities since the North American Free Trade Agreement was officially launched.  Students consider the philosophy and geopolitics of decision-making that involves U.S/Mexico relations as governments, drug cartels, paramilitary groups and politicized church volunteers struggle to establish their own nation-realm along the border.   On a larger scale, students examine as well the concept of international borders and their social and historical significance.

Through the study of immigration policy, the NAFTA accord, and Homeland Security initiatives, along with exposure to border literature, journalistic articles, interviews with human rights activists and victims of violence, students gain a strong understanding of the realities of policy-making and implementation on the U.S./Mexico border.

ID-251A 002 Meaningful Life and Work
An informal discussion about what makes life meaningful to us and how to reflect that meaningful life through our work.  We commonly think about the answers to three questions: what are we good at, how do we want to spend our time, and what is important to us?  In this course, we will explore the fourth dimension of work life: vocation.  What do I feel called to do with my one blue chip in life?  What work will make life more worthwhile for me in the larger scheme of things?  What work will benefit the world?  What work will satisfy my soul?

The format will be one weekly 80-minute class in which we will discuss selected articles (by authors like Scott Peck, Thomas Moore, Dorothy Day, Gandhi, M.L. King, Jr., and Leo Tolstoy) or about significant figures in our culture with guest discussants from our Career Development Center, Skidmore faculty, and the One Roof Center in Saratoga Springs.  We will also screen relevant movies.  The student project will be to interview a person you deem to be a living model of a good life.  Two papers.  Time and place tba after organizational meeting. 

IA-351 001 Global Illicit Markets: Sex, Drugs, Guns, Money, Corruption and Globalized Black Market Trade

Globalization has resulted in the increased mobility of people, capital, goods, and ideas as well as the shrinking of worldwide markets for products and services. However, these changes have also have fostered a corresponding explosion in illicit activities that operate in the shadows of government approval.  From human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children in international migration, to the spread of transnational criminal organizations which rely on laundered money as well as corporate and government corruption to control vast underground networks transporting counterfeit goods, stolen art, rare species, conflict diamonds, illegal weapons as well as counterfeit and contraband drugs, this course will focus on the dark, seedy underbelly of the global economy that is often difficult to distinguish from legitimate aspects of international commerce. Students will examine the rise of this phenomenon, the role of conflicts in illicit trade and the actors, governments, firms and industries involved in such transactions. The objective will be to apply economic, political and cultural theoretical lenses and bring international business perspectives to the analysis of these markets. Students will explore the effects of illicit activities on a myriad of industries, using case studies of illicit activities involving firms such as Wal-Mart, HSBC, News Corporation, Avon Products and Siemens. Students will analyze the impact of these illicit activities on individuals, organizations, industries, governments and states as well as examine policy strategies for responding to these issues at the local, organizational, national, regional and international levels.

ID-251A 001 Islam and the West, Correcting Misperceptions in Person
A 1-credit course that will put eight Skidmore students in weekly conversation (via Skype) with a group of eight students currently enrolled in universities in Muslim countries.  The format is eight two-hour per week video-conferenced discussions, under the guidance of two highly trained facilitators, about topics such as culture, identity, stereotyping, media bias, immigration and integration, structures of power, religion and society, and any other topics relevant to student interests.  In addition, two introductory sessions and two de-briefing sessions are required with the campus-based sponsor (Richard Chrisman, Director of Religious and Spiritual Life).  The contact with Islamic university students is by arrangement with Soliya, a Cairo/New York/Toronto based educational NGO who also provides the discussion facilitators.  A final project is required in which each student creates a mock video news report of a significant world event and presents to the others on-line for analysis and discussion.  Time and place tba.

MB-351 001 What's the Big Idea  
This course is designed to help you find your inner entrepreneur.  Whatever your major, creative thought does matter, and this course will give you the tools necessary to turn your creativity into opportunity.  Students will work in small groups to develop and write a business plan that will provide the framework to take an idea for a product, service or technology to market. In this course students will learn how to vet an idea, size a market, prepare a comprehensive plan for launching a new business, how to structure a business and how to fund that business.  In this course students are expected to interact with the business community, be able to work effectively in teams, and be active participants in classroom discussions and exercises.  The course will consists of class lectures by successful entrepreneurs, class discussion based on assigned readings, development and presentation of business plans in sections, vetting of ideas by class members and experienced entrepreneurs, and presentation of a comprehensive business plan at the end of the semester in both written form as well as in a power point presentation.  Participation in the Frierich Business Plan Competition and the New York State Business Plan Competition is encouraged (participants are exempt from exam requirements).

MB-351 002 Innovationand the Structure of American Industry
Why and how does innovation occur in some industries and not in others?  Students will explore historical and contemporary theories of innovation within the context of varied industry structures and macro-environmental factors.  Using Innovation Masters and other print and online sources, students will study the nature, frequency, defining characteristics and rate of innovation in approximately ten industries.  Further, students will examine the interrelationships among a variety of industry environments, organizational forms and industry structures, allowing students to gain an understanding of organizational and industry evolution. 

MU-205 001 Taiko and the Asian American Experience
In this course we will examine the origins of Taiko drumming in Japan and consider how the tradition has developed in North America over the past four decades.  We will discuss the role of Taiko drumming in the Asian American Movement, explore different styles of contemporary Taiko in Asian America, and gain basic drumming competency.  Through the integration of academic and performance study we will consider and experience Taiko drumming as a prominent and dynamic Asian American performing art. (Fulfills Cultural Diversity requirement.)

MU-205 002 Music, Culture, and Performance: Indonesia
This course combines academic and performance study of music to explore a global music culture.  Taking an ethnomusicological approach, students will learn about the history and culture of a global musical tradition while also studying basic performance skills. No previous musical experience is required. (Fulfills Humanities requirement)

MU-344B 001 Ethno Seminar: Music & Tourism
This course seeks to address a specific type of niche tourism - music tourism - within the lager context of tourism studies. Through an historical overview of tourism and a survey of sites of cultural tourism, students examine the ways in which tourism figures into the formation of musical practices both for tourist and local consumption. Readings, lecture, discussion, and individual projects address issues of cultural (musical) authenticity, globalization, festivalization, and heritage activities. No previous musical experience is required.  *Contact Lei Ouyang Bryant (lbryant@skidmore.edu) for special permission to register if you have not completed MU242.

MU-363 001 Jazz Discourses   
An advanced seminar on jazz and language for music majors in their senior year.  Reading and listening materials may include poetry, drama, fiction, essays, criticism, memoir, oral history, sung lyrics, scat singing, vocalese, subvocalization, and linguistic-instrumental parallels.  Coverage of writers such as Ralph Ellison, Eudora Welty, James Baldwin, Jack Gelber, Amiri Baraka, and Allen Ginsberg; and musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, and Jon Hendricks.  The course will culminate in a substantial research paper. 

NS-213B 001 Cell and Molecular Neuroscience
Exploration of neurons and neural networks from a cellular and molecular perspective.  Topics will include the electrical properties of neurons, cellular communication and synaptic transmission, behavior, development and cell death. Additionally, we will cover research methods through reading of primary literature and lab work.  Lab will introduce techniques in cell culture, immunocytochemistry, western blotting and gene knockdown; techniques will then be applied to independent group work.  Three hours of lecture and three hours of lab weekly, with some additional work outside formal lab hours.  Prerequisite: NS-101, BI-105.  (Fulfills natural science requirement.)

NS-313A 001 Mechanisms of Alzheimer's Disease
This course will explore the mechanisms and theories mediating neuronal death in Alzheimer’s disease.  We will explore the known biology and genetics, and consider how factors including aging, glucose metabolism, plasticity and stress can cause neurons to become vulnerable over time, discuss cutting edge research including genomic studies, and examine research methods and techniques used in the field.  Typical class meetings will consist of lectures and discussion of primary literature.  Students will write an NIH-NRSA style grant proposal on an Alzheimer's research topic.  Grant-writing workshops throughout the semester will allow students to peer-review proposals and receive feedback on their own drafts.  Three hours of lecture per week.  Prerequisite: NS-101, BI-105, plus previous or concurrent registration in either NS-213 (Cell and Molecular Neuroscience) or BI-247.

PS-212A 001 Clinical Psychopharmacology
This course will examine the therapeutic effect of drugs used to treat mental disorders from a neuropharmacological perspective.  During the first third of the course, students will be taught fundamental aspects of synaptic function and psychopharmacology (pharmacokinetics & pharmacodynamics), as well as experimental methods used to develop and test novel pharmaceuticals.  The remainder of the course will be dedicated towards discussing specific mental illnesses, associated neurochemical pathophysiology, and current drug treatment strategies.  Anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, anti-psychotics, and drugs used to treat ADHD will be covered.  By the end of the semester, you will be familiar with the primary syndromes used to diagnosis each disorder, the neurochemical pathways implicated in psychopathology, and specific (receptor-mediated) mechanisms of drug activity.  Prerequisite: PS-101 or NS-101. This course also serves as a 200-level PS elective for the Neuroscience major.

PS-312A 001 Child Clinical Psychology
This course will explore the practice of clinical psychology with children and adolescents.  In this discussion-based course, students will learn about childhood psychopathology risk and protective factors, empirically validated treatments and the impact of government mental health policies.  Particular attention will be paid to how working with children in clinical settings differs from working with adults. Prerequisites:  PS 214 or PS 308

PS-312A 002 Psychological Trauma
Since the time of Freud, psychology has explored the connections amongst traumatic events and subsequent psychopathology.  An extensive clinical and research literature has been devoted to discerning the contributions of biological, emotional, cognitive and social factors to the varied responses of those who experience trauma in their lives.  This course is designed to explore the contemporary empirical and clinical literature in psychological trauma and trauma pathology.  We will look at various types of trauma events that people suffer; war, rape, serious accidents, debilitating disease, childhood physical and sexual abuse, natural disasters, crime.  We will explore the ways in which these events produce unique effects as well as more common stress effects.  We will explore individual differences in terms of the trauma response including psychological and physiological reactivity, psychological vulnerability and the concept of resilience.  We will examine buffers of the trauma response including social and family support, religious affiliation and socioeconomic status.  Finally we will look at what types of treatments are effective for people suffering from trauma reactions and what the future holds in terms of new discoveries for trauma victims.

PS-312A 003 Pheromones and Behavior
This seminar will delve into the exciting world of chemical communication (communication by taste and smell) between animals. Animals from fish to fleas and earthworms to elephants rely heavily on chemical signaling to communicate with members of the same species and to attract or repel members of other species. This course will explore pheromones and other chemical signals involved in reproduction, scent marking & territorial behavior, social organization, and recruitment & alarm. We will also thoroughly discuss putative human pheromones.

PS-312B 001  The Remembered Past
The scientific study of memory is much like a river—going wide and deep--including the study of memory for episodic details (or the “what” and “where” of events), knowledge learned (often over many episodes), and procedural skills (such a playing the piano). This seminar will focus on what it is that people remember about episodes (in life and in the lab) as well as their sense of “being there” in those episodes (or the remembered past).  The seminar will address the cognitive and neuroscientific underpinnings of this remembered past.  In the process, the seminar will draw from empirical studies, autobiographical literary works, fiction, case studies, photographs, and historical documents.  In taking this interdisciplinary approach to the study of the remembered past, the seminar will consider whether different paths to the study of memory (expressed in theoretical frameworks, questions asked, methodologies, and evidence) lead to conflicting or converging conclusions about the remembered past.  As part of the seminar requirements, students will share responsibility in the selection of some readings, actively participate in discussions, conduct memory studies, lead discussion about a topic of special interest, and write several papers (including a final project that brings seminar themes to a new, related topic).  This seminar satisfies the Perception/Cognition cluster requirement.  Prerequisite: Three courses in psychology; PS-306 recommended.

PS-312B 002  Applied Behavior Analysis and Functional Assessment
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) and functional assessment theories are the hallmarks of treatments used with autistic and other developmentally disabled individuals.  ABA is the use of classical behavior modification techniques to modify problem behaviors.  Functional assessment is based on the theory that all behavior serves a purpose and through the understanding of the “function” of the behavior you can design more effective behavior modification techniques. This course provides an in-depth look at these practices and how they have been applied to a variety of different treatment modalities.  Through the use of lecture, readings, discussions, and hands-on projects, students will gain an understanding of these various techniques and how they are utilized to modify maladaptive behavior.  Prerequisite: PS-101.

SO-251 003 Cultures of Resistance: Art, Music, and Social Movements
Drawing from an interdisciplinary perspective, we will investigate themes including the role of art in social movements, in contemporary democracies, and in social change. Course units include the Black Arts Movement, the music of the Civil Rights movement, and feminist art of the 1970s and women's music festivals.  We will consider intersectional identities and aspects of race, class, and gender in social movements, collective representations, and struggles for social inclusion. Throughout the semester we will look at how the art of protest varies through time and circumstance, and the ways in which art mediates between those with power and those who are marginalized or excluded.

SO-251 004 High School Onscreen
This course examines key concepts in the sociology of education through media representations of the high school experience.  Largely focusing on the U.S., this course will examine the goals and purposes of high school education, identity formation, stratification, and social reproduction, among other issues.  Texts include articles, books, film, and TV shows.  We will use documentary and fictional media as case studies for the examination of theory and critical issues.  This is a course in media analysis and cultural studies alongside a more traditional introduction to the sociology of education focused on the social world of the American high school.

SO-351 001 Sociology of Immigration and Immigrant Adaptation
What are and have been the patterns of immigration to the U.S.?  How do immigrants adapt once they arrive here?  We will examine historical and contemporary patterns of immigration to the United States, the processes of immigrant adaptation that have followed, and the changes and continuities in U.S. immigration policy and in prevailing attitudes towards foreign-born and non-white peoples.   Some early theorists suggested that all immigrant and minority groups were bound to “melt” into American society.  Students in this course will come to sociologically informed conclusions about how true this view was of 20^th century immigrants and how likely it is for immigrants in the 21^st century. Permission of instructor.  

SO-351 002 Youth Culture In and Out of School
How do schools react to youth culture?  How is youth culture formed and experienced in relation to school?  An examination of youth culture, subculture, and identity formation through the lens of schools, this course combines elements of urban and cultural sociology alongside the sociology of education.  Of particular interest is the Birmingham Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies (British-based youth culture post-World War II), the rise of American hip hop culture, and both oppositional and mainstream youth identities.

TX-201C 001 GLITTER AND DOOM: Art and Politics in Berlin History
A two-course learning experience combining a 3-credit preparatory course taught on campus in Fall 2013 TX 201C) and a 1-credit travel seminar in Berlin in January 2014  (TX 202).  This seminar explores German history and culture with special attention to the complex interplay between art and politics.  After studying on campus, the city of Berlin and the surrounding region will be our classroom for the ten-day travel seminar. Berlin is a city continually reinvented itself.  In its 775-year history, Berlin has been at the center of many of Europe's major political, social, and artistic, developments. This seminar examines Berlin's turbulent history over the last 400 years and focuses on those moments that exemplify the glitter and doom of the German cultural heritage.  Students study the Enlightenment, neo-classical art and architecture, and the rise of Prussian militarism through the life of Frederick the Great.  We then explore the construction of a German nation-state through war, art, and Bismarck's political doctrines. Primary emphasis in this course is on 20th-century Berlin as the site of many of Germany's greatest artistic accomplishments and its fall into the barbarism of two world wars, two dictatorships, and genocide.  We review the roaring 20s by juxtaposing innovations in the arts to the social, economic, and political upheavals.  In our study of the Third Reich, we examine Hitler's monumental architectural visions and the "degenerate art exhibition," read memoirs of those persecuted, and learn about the topography of terror.  In the aftermath of WWII, Berlin became a divided city and the battle line in the Cold War between two opposing political systems.  We study the history behind the construction and fall of the Berlin wall and the secret Stasi prison in Hohenschönhausen.  Finally, we learn about 21stt-century Berlin, Germany's vibrant capital city of 3.4 million inhabitants that is renowned for its innovative artistic scene, world-class museums and concerts, diverse ethnic population, peaceful democratic government, and forward looking Zeitgeist.