American culture is so ubiquitous that it is extremely difficult for young college students to see how exotic Americans really are and appreciate the wonder and uniqueness of their own lives and contexts. Our insider status hinders attempts at cultural introspection, and we are rarely compelled to examine our morés, folkways, and customs. This course will reintroduce students to their own culture and create a framework for their future cultural investigations and understandings.

What does it mean to be a citizen? How have notions of "citizenship" and a "public sphere" been central to understandings of, and struggles for, equality throughout American history? This course explores the evolution of American citizenship — its changing legal contours and cultural meanings — in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It will focus on the racial and gender dimensions of this history, both dominant discourses constructing an exclusively white-male citizenry and popular practices challenging it.

This first-year seminar takes an innovative approach to U.S. history by examining people, goods, ideas and forces that crossed U.S. borders during a period of tremendous change: the late-19th century and the first half of the 20th century. This period witnessed the intensification of industrial capitalism and world trade, the large-scale migration of populations, overseas military adventurism and colonialism, and world war. Bound up in each of these processes were new debates over the meanings of democracy, citizenship, gender, race, class and national identity that continue to have serious implications into the present. This course asks what the boundaries of American history are — in cultural, social, political, economic and territorial terms — and what can be learned about U.S. history by tacking across the borders of that history as it is traditionally defined. What can be learned about the United States by examining what are often conventionally thought to be its "edges"?: contested territorial frontiers, the experiences and imaginations of immigrants, the borrowing of political models from abroad, the transit of commodities between countries. This course hopes to suggest that these very dynamics, far from being marginal to U.S. history, are central to it.

This course examines the interaction between different racial groups in the U.S. from the 19th century to the present. Conventionally, such studies focus solely on the hackneyed Black-white paradigm of U.S. race relations. This seminar explodes that dichotomy, searching for a broader historical model, including yellow, brown, red, and ethnic white.

We will critically interrogate the history of contact that exists between these diverse “groups,” and whether conflict or confluence dominates their interaction. If conflict, what factors have prevented meaningful alliances? If confluence, what roles have these groups played in collectively striving for a multiracial democracy?

This course is an introduction to Asian American women's writing that emphasizes the critical analysis of a variety of fictive and non-fictive literature and that helps students build their interpretive skills and improve their arguments and expository writing. Topics we may explore include:

• stereotypes and Orientalism;
• the relation between memory, story, and history;
• the uses of autobiography;
• women of color literature and theory;
• femininity, culture, and the family;
• sex and desire;
• violence within and without the home;
• mixed heritage;
• homophobia; and
• im/migrant experiences.

Course requirements: an oral presentation, two essays, several short responses, and a final exam.

From the lynching advocated in D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation to the feminization of East Asian bodies in David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly, to ethnographies of mail order brides and sex tourism, this course will examine the intimate links between race and sexuality. Through ethnography, film, literature and diverse histories, we will investigate how race gets sexualized and how sexualities get racialized through processes of globalization and in particular local and national settings.

This course will include mid-term and final papers, as well as short weekly reading responses. Grades will be based on the quality of written work, on class participation, and on attendance.

This seminar explores ways various world communities make meaning of bodies. It treats the body as a medium of communication, expressive culture, and habitual action. Topics will include: gesture and movement; facial expression; body decoration and beauty; gender; bodily etiquette; the body in performance; spatial design; sports/martial arts and others. Students are expected to participate in class discussions and to prepare rigorously for them (completing each reading twice and keeping a diary). Requirements: writing assignments and term paper.

This course examines women in the life, history, and mythology of Buddhism from its inception in South Asia through its elaborations in Central, East and Southeast Asia. We will approach the subject from several perspectives, including the historical, traditionalist, and feminist. We begin with a study of Buddhist nuns, laywomen and saints in the early tradition, after which we explore the emergence of Buddhist goddesses in the Mahayana. We conclude with notable Buddhist women of modern Asia and their roles as religious teachers, politicians and social activists.

This course examines the emergence of the Modern Girl, a figure who appeared around the world in cities from Tokyo to Berlin, Beijing to Bombay, and Shanghai to New York City in the early to mid twentieth century. As an embodiment of border-crossing, trans-cultural interaction, and interdisciplinary representation, the Modern Girl figure requires us to approach her with open minds and makes transnational and interdisciplinary approach indispensable for this course. Through an interdisciplinary investigation of the literary, performing arts, visual arts, and cinematic representations of the Modern Girl in China throughout the twentieth century, this course will guide students in thinking about issues of social reality, cultural representation, and political implications of the Modern Girl phenomenon in East Asia.

Everyday, four million people pass through Tokyo’s Shinjuku station, the busiest train station in the world. This is 40 times more than the entire population of Ann Arbor. Responding to such staggering statistics, this course explores representations of the crowd in Tokyo in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will consider how the crowd is evoked in visual culture by looking at popular magazines, woodblock prints, and postcards. We will also consider a number of literary, cinematic, and artistic works with particular attention paid to themes of disaster, sacred pilgrimage, political activism and entertainment. Ultimately, students will gain from this seminar an introduction to the history of Tokyo itself, with its peculiar intersection of topography and ideology, as well as a greater appreciation of the extent of the city’s urban planning and the breadth of its representation.

Recent events have brought the debate about the relationship between religion and violence into the foreground of public debate. Do religions justify and cause violence or are they more appropriately seen as forces for peace and tolerance? In the context of secular modernity, religion has been represented by some as a primary cause of social division, conflict and war, whilst others have argued that this is a distortion of the 'true' significance of religion, which when properly followed promotes peace, harmony, goodwill and social cohesion. Coinciding with the global re-surfacing of religious violence is the work of the media that can be seen both as a key agent in transforming the public's reception of the relationship between religion and violence, and in many ways affecting the course of national and international politics itself. Focusing on events such as 9/11, the war against terrorism, and other conflict scenarios, this course will explore the intersections between religion, violence, media through a combination of theoretical and empirical readings backed up with relevant audio-visual materials.

Deals with the origin and history of matter, as found in various astronomical bodies including planets, stars, and galaxies. Students learn how clues to the history of matter are found in the abundance patterns of objects studied by astronomers.

Credit Exclusions: Credit is granted for a combined total of 12 credits elected in introductory biology.

All human cultures have seasoned their foods. Although hunger makes us eat, it is flavor that controls what we choose to eat. Some typical questions:

• How do the chemical senses detect savory flavors and what do we know about the neurophysiology of their pleasures?
• Do plants taste attractive or repellent to animals?
• How do natural or artificial seasonings affect your health?
• Can dieters successfully replace calories with seasonings?

Credit Exclusions: Credit is granted for a combined total of 12 credits elected in introductory biology.

All human cultures have seasoned their foods. Although hunger makes us eat, it is flavor that controls what we choose to eat. Some typical questions:

• How do the chemical senses detect savory flavors and what do we know about the neurophysiology of their pleasures?
• Do plants taste attractive or repellent to animals?
• How do natural or artificial seasonings affect your health?
• Can dieters successfully replace calories with seasonings?

This course examines the life and legacy of Malcolm X, considering him both as an historical figure whose ideas and actions were part of a specific historical moment, and as an iconic, almost mythical figure whose image continues to stand as a powerful symbol. Our focus will be on understanding Malcolm X’s influence on the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, when various organizations and individuals claimed to be carrying on his legacy. In addition, we will critically assess the ways in which his legacy continues to be constructed and used to represent that period of Black struggle. Our investigation will be guided by three broad objectives.

• First, we will study Malcolm X’s life leading up to his emergence as a national and international figure of Black resistance.
• Secondly, we will examine the contours and depth of his activism and its relationship to the broader African American freedom movement. This will include a close look at the various ways in which his ideas and his example as a political activist dramatically impacted the emergence of the Black Power movement following his assassination in 1965.
• Finally, we will analyze and interpret contemporary representations of Malcolm X in both scholarly and popular forms, allowing us to better understand his legacy and his place in narratives of African American history.

Throughout the academic term, we will take care to highlight the ways that ideas and images are used to construct historical meaning — that is, to make sense of the past and its relationship to the present.

For most of the last half the twentieth century, scholars, journalists, and policy advocates have considered African American men to be in a state of crisis. This course provides a critical examination of works that aim to document and interpret that crisis. We will explore a range of arguments produced in the past thirty years that aim to define the state of Black masculinity and the social condition of African American men. These works will stimulate our effort to pose and answer questions about what, if anything, constitutes a condition of crisis for African American men and what needs to happen to and for them in order to improve their prospects in American society.

From the lynching advocated in D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation to the feminization of East Asian bodies in David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly, to ethnographies of mail order brides and sex tourism, this course will examine the intimate links between race and sexuality. Through ethnography, film, literature and diverse histories, we will investigate how race gets sexualized and how sexualities get racialized through processes of globalization and in particular local and national settings.

This course will include mid-term and final papers, as well as short weekly reading responses. Grades will be based on the quality of written work, on class participation, and on attendance.

Taking its title from the Langston Hughes poem, this seminar will explore psychological aspects of race, ethnicity, and other cultural differences in the United States. What are some of the opportunities and obstacles to our joining with Hughes in affirming, "They'll see how beautiful I am . . I, too, sing America?" Topics will include stereotyping, communication, cooperation, conflict, justice, and discrimination. For example: What are psychological theories about how individuals and groups might most benefit from life in pluralistic societies? What are some psychological dynamics of stereotyping? What are possible connections between various forms of discrimination (for example, racism, sexism, homophobia, and anti — Semitism)?

This introductory seminar course will examine identity development and oppression as we challenge ourselves to think critically about our social identities and worldviews. Social or group identities include for example, race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. These identities are predicated upon a social structural system that advantages some groups and disadvantages others. As such, this course will also explore how inequities in our multicultural and multiethnic U.S. society impact identity development and relationships between groups.

This course examines the interaction between different racial groups in the U.S. from the 19th century to the present. Conventionally, such studies focus solely on the hackneyed Black-white paradigm of U.S. race relations. This seminar explodes that dichotomy, searching for a broader historical model, including yellow, brown, red, and ethnic white.

We will critically interrogate the history of contact that exists between these diverse “groups,” and whether conflict or confluence dominates their interaction. If conflict, what factors have prevented meaningful alliances? If confluence, what roles have these groups played in collectively striving for a multiracial democracy?

This seminar provides a literary survey of catastrophic love, the standard language and motifs such portrayals entail, and the place of the individual vs. society in these conflicts. We begin with the lyric poets Sappho and Catullus, a selection of Greek epigram, and a close discussion of three Platonic dialogues that focus on the correct interpretation of Eros and erotic desire. We then turn from Antiquity to Modernity, and read together three classic modern works that showcase the disasters wrought by love that transgresses social boundaries: Goethe's Werther, Stendahl's Red and the Black, and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. The seminar will conclude with a reading of Forster's long unpublished novel Maurice. Principle requirements are excellent attendance, frequent in-class participation, and the composition of several short essays in the course of the academic term.

An exploration of the meaning of Rome in popular culture. In this course, we will examine how contemporary culture uses Rome to measure social values. Rome is both the extreme other — a society devoid of any moral compass (something we see in HBO's new Rome series) and also a society that reflects our own best virtues: courage, loyalty, austerity. Students will read mystery novels from a variety of historical perspectives, view Rome in contemporary film and television, and collectively write their own whodunnit.

The Mediterranean has often served as the setting for stories of sea voyages, dramatic shipwrecks, and isolated island life. This course takes students on a journey through the literature of this maritime world, beginning with Homer’s Odyssey and Sophocles’ Philoctetes. Along the way we will travel further afield to examine how overseas exploration and colonialism in the Renaissance are reflected in Shakespeare’s Mediterranean plays. To end, we will return to the themes of Homeric epic and Sophoclean tragedy as observed through the lens of New World post-colonialism in Derek Walcott’s updated treatments of travelers lost and found in the Mediterranean.

As viewed through the ‘cultural lens’ of the Iliad and the Odyssey, ‘The World of Homer’ explores the emergence of Greek society - as a highly competitive, elite- and shame-oriented culture. Both of these early epics will be read and analyzed in their entirety, as an appreciation of the wide and vivid cultural canvas in which the ancient Greeks recognized the origins of their social and religious attitudes and institutions; and forever meditated upon the pathos and fragility of the human condition

What may occur when we approach academic reading as a contemplative practice? This course will explore this question via three core, interrelated experiences: 1) an introduction to and hands-on experience with simple Zen Buddhist contemplative practices; 2) close readings of short texts from a variety of genres; 3) supplementary readings designed to expose participants to (a) a history of the contemplative practices we are engaged in; (b) alternative, related conceptions of reading as contemplative practice; (c) “model” contemplative readings; (d) debate concerning the ethical (or “worldly”) value of contemplative practices. These three core experiences will be knotted together into six clusters, each lasting two weeks, each oriented around a short text and a contemplative practice. Attendance in class and all readings will be mandatory. In addition students will be required to maintain a structured journal and sustain the contemplative practice introduced in a given cluster at home (minimum 3 days per week for fifteen minutes).

The course introduces first-year students to cultural studies in general and Dutch Studies in particular, integrating social, political, and economic history with literary renderings, and artistic representations of colonialism. The Netherlands has been an active participant in shaping the world as we know it, through mercantile and political involvement around the globe. The Dutch were colonizers of Indonesia and its many islands, founders of New Amsterdam/New York, traders in West Africa, first settlers in Capetown in South Africa, and the first trading partners with the Japanese. The Netherlands held colonial power over Suriname until 1975; other West Indies islands, i.e., Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao are still part of the Dutch Kingdom. We will trace the origin and development of the Dutch expansion in the world, how countries were conquered and political systems were established. Mercantile gains as shown in the spice trade and the many aspects of the slave trade will be emphasized. The role of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), once called the world's largest multinational in the 17^th and 18^th century, will be examined. We will read from the vast body of Dutch literary works related to the East and West Indies, started as early as the 17^th century.

This is not a first-year seminar and is not restricted to freshmen.

This course explains how to solve single and multi-agent decision problems and emphasizes that problems to which these techniques can be applied are ubiquitous. The first half of the course emphasizes the following techniques: unconstrained optimization, constrained optimization, sequential decision making, and game theory. Students learn how to use these techniques to solve stylized problems by hand and more realistic, complex problems using two elementary software tools. Every technique is developed using illustrations not only from economics but also from biology (in particular, behavioral ecology) and from daily life. In the second half of the course, students learn how to apply these same techniques to problems discussed in the popular press. The course requires MATH 115 (or equivalent).

ECON 195 is only open to Honors students.

John Milton is considered by many to be the most compelling, and the most maddening, poet in the English language. His subjects were enormous: the nature of creation, the origins of sin, the interdependence of free will and obedience, knowledge and mortality, sex and the state. His technical mastery — his sheer command of poetic line and poetic image — is unsurpassed. His career confounds the divisions we take for granted: Milton was at once an ivory tower intellectual and a practical servant to a revolutionary Commonwealth, a poet of empire and an anti-imperialist, a radical reformer in religion, governance, and relations between the sexes, and also a defender of patriarchy. We will devote our term to Milton's masterpiece, Paradise Lost, using the poem as our handbook for broad discussions about the aesthetic, political, social and religious questions it opened to vivid scrutiny. Students who are not in the Honors program may request permission of the instructor to register for this course.

This course is an introduction to Asian American women's writing that emphasizes the critical analysis of a variety of fictive and non-fictive literature and that helps students build their interpretive skills and improve their arguments and expository writing. Topics we may explore include:

• stereotypes and Orientalism;
• the relation between memory, story, and history;
• the uses of autobiography;
• women of color literature and theory;
• femininity, culture, and the family;
• sex and desire;
• violence within and without the home;
• mixed heritage;
• homophobia; and
• im/migrant experiences.

Course requirements: an oral presentation, two essays, several short responses, and a final exam.

The purpose of this seminar is to begin to understand at both the global and local levels, the emerging responses to major problems resulting from unprecedented environmental changes. Initiatives to achieve future sustainability will be the focus of the seminar.

We will begin with a multidisciplinary examination of global environmental and related social changes. Focus will be on the needs of humans and other life forms, including the biophysical conditions on which life depends. Interconnections between the natural environment and social and cultural systems will be emphasized. To help develop a "global" perspective, we will identify implications of these changes for local communities, particularly in the U.S.A.

By critically examining the multiple meanings of "sustainable development" and "sustainability" and related practices, the seminar will address the emerging choices and actions for change. Emphasis will be on changes being pursued by communities, organizations, and individuals in response to growing perceptions of the unsustainability of established values and behaviors. Also, we will examine our own lifestyles in relation to achieving greater sustainability.

To understand initiatives to achieve greater sustainability in local geographical communities, we will study the topics of sustainable consumption, land use, food security and agriculture, materials use, and business and economy. Discussions of these topics will draw upon print and electronic resources, presentations by guest practitioners, and community based experiences of the seminar's members. Readings will come from a wide range of publications including core books of readings by different authors (e.g., People, Land and Community, Vital Signs 1999, and Eco-Pioneers) and articles from a variety of journals (e.g., The Futurist, Science, Resurgence, Harvard Business Review, and Co-op Quarterly).

Seminar members over the course of the academic term will select and complete a project of their choice. Each seminar member will be expected to involve herself/himself in relevant learning activities of their choice beyond the seminar and within the University as well as the surrounding community. If they choose to, students will have the opportunity to pursue and integrate into their seminar work service learning experiences related to the pursuit of sustainability. Information and other learning from these involvements will be incorporated in the seminar.

Writing assignments will include options for individual choice and utilize the forms of a journal and integrative essays expressed as op-ed articles, short research papers directed to different audiences, news articles, and book reviews. Essential parts of the seminar learning process will include thorough preparation for discussions and active participation in presenting and discussing ideas as well as in actively listening and responding to other seminar members. Assignments will be mostly individual but some will involve groups

Inquiry into the fundamental changes occurring in the natural environment (including humans) and in human social systems and culture, to explore the question "To what extent, in what ways and why are current trends in human impacts on the environment and social relations unsustainable/sustainable? The seminar will introduce the major contrasting responses being made to this question along with their differing scenarios of the future in terms of their visions, strategies, and examples of practices to be pursued.

Learning resources will be selected from four types of information: (1) scientific, (2) religious/spiritual, (3) documentation of innovative environmental, social (including economic and political) and technological practices and (4) personal experiences and commitments. Religions to be considered include those of Native Americans and other indigenous peoples as well as world religions, e.g., Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. The consideration of spirituality is based on individuals' experiences and recognition of "sacred" or "ultimate" realities that are variously understood and characterized.

Students will be asked to engage in interdisciplinary, seminar based inquiry through reading and thinking critically, reflecting on and analyzing their own values, beliefs and practices, sharing the results of their own inquiries through discussions, writing, and presentations and by comparing and contrasting their own beliefs and ideas with others who have different backgrounds and current values, beliefs and goals.

It is expected that students enrolling in this seminar will have differing backgrounds of knowledge and experience in relation to the environment, science, religion/spirituality, and unsustainability/sustainability. Both students with religious commitments are welcome as well as students who are agnostics, atheists or who would describe themselves as secular humanists, skeptics, and “undecided" or by some other name for their highest values and related belief systems and practices. This opportunity for participatory inquiry will require enrolled students to engage in respectful dialogue along with acceptance of people with backgrounds and present commitments and beliefs that are different from their own.

There has never been a greater chasm between the importance of science to society and society's understanding of it. Reporting on scientific discoveries and technological advances are often biased, inaccurate, or wrong. We will examine the relationship between science and the media and try to answer the following questions: Is scientific reporting fair, accurate, and informed? Is it sensationalist? Can the public evaluate the scientific information presented to them? How do scientists communicate their work? We will use case histories, primarily from the earth and environmental sciences to address these questions. We will cover the basic concepts and facts behind each case, and discuss its presentation to the public. We will use a variety of resources ranging from newspaper and TV reports to the Internet. Members of the university and local media will participate.

No prerequisites. High school science highly recommended. Evaluation will be based on midterm and final projects.

Credit Exclusions: No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in GEOSCI 135. Those with credit for GEOSCI 115 may only elect GEOSCI 145 for 2 credits.

This seminar course is intended for first-year students with no previous knowledge of, or experience in, the earth sciences. The material introduces students to the history of the Earth from its formation in the solar nebula, through the development of the continents, oceans, atmosphere, and life to its present state as an active planet. The course explains how various features of the Earth 'work,' including continental drift, volcanoes, and the formation of most rocks; how theories are developed in geology; and how the magnitude of time has been determined. The course is divided into two halves. In the first half, the basic concepts are explained. In the second half, each student makes a presentation covering a relevant subject followed by discussion. Assessment is by two one-hour examinations and the oral presentation, which forms the basis for a term paper. Regular assigned readings from the course text book are essential. Enrollment is limited to first-year students only. Upperclassmen will not be allowed to register for the course.

Credit Exclusions: Those with credit for GEOSCI 107 or 205 may only elect GEOSCI 147 for 2 credits. Those who have credit for both GEOSCI 107 and 205 may only elect 147 for 1 credit.

This first-year seminar examines the geologic origin, as well as economic and societal impact of natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, tsunamis, climate change, and meteorite impacts through lectures, discussion, student presentations, and research projects.

One of the most dramatic developments in the sciences is the suggestion that a meteorite impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. This controversial idea is one of many that will be addressed in this course, which deals broadly with the evolution and extinction of life on Earth. After an overview of the history of life, we will examine high-profile debates on whether major evolutionary events and mass extinctions occur gradually or catastrophically, whether dinosaurs are really extinct, and other topics.

Three books are required:

Title: On the Origin of Species
Author: Darwin, Charles
ISBN: 0140432051

Title: Extinction: Bad Genes or Bad Luck?
Author: Raup, David
ISBN: 0393309274

Title: The Meaning of Fossils
Author: Rudwick, Martin
ISBN: 0226731030

Medieval Bibles — handwritten books — came in a striking variety of forms: they were sometimes modest in size, sometimes gargantuan; sometimes undecorated, often embellished with rich ornament, elaborate initials, and lengthy cycles of images that drew out the significance of the biblical word for readers. In this seminar we will study the historical reception of the books of the Bible in a concrete way. Beginning in earliest Christian times we will look at the kinds of manuscripts in which the Old and New Testament texts were transmitted across the centuries in Christian communities, and we will consider the changing conditions under which the texts were copied and studied. We will examine the efforts of scribes, correctors, and editors to keep the biblical texts error-free and of translators, commentators, and illustrators to keep them ever relevant. Students will learn a good deal about medieval art, culture, and religion and acquire skills in visual and textual analysis. They will have the opportunity to examine actual ancient papyri and medieval manuscripts in University of Michigan collections.

This first-year seminar takes an innovative approach to U.S. history by examining people, goods, ideas and forces that crossed U.S. borders during a period of tremendous change: the late-19th century and the first half of the 20th century. This period witnessed the intensification of industrial capitalism and world trade, the large-scale migration of populations, overseas military adventurism and colonialism, and world war. Bound up in each of these processes were new debates over the meanings of democracy, citizenship, gender, race, class and national identity that continue to have serious implications into the present. This course asks what the boundaries of American history are — in cultural, social, political, economic and territorial terms — and what can be learned about U.S. history by tacking across the borders of that history as it is traditionally defined. What can be learned about the United States by examining what are often conventionally thought to be its "edges"?: contested territorial frontiers, the experiences and imaginations of immigrants, the borrowing of political models from abroad, the transit of commodities between countries. This course hopes to suggest that these very dynamics, far from being marginal to U.S. history, are central to it.

This first-year seminar focuses on the establishment of British colonial rule in the Americas, Asia, and Africa from the 16th through the 20th centuries. We will consider the political, economic and cultural forces at work during this period. Themes of the seminar include race, gender, and sexuality; travel and exploration; ideologies of colonial rule; the economics of empire; and resistance to imperialism and criticisms of empire that emerged in both Britain and its colonies by the 20th century. We will explore such themes through novels and nationalist proclamations, women's writings, travel literature, and films.

History begins in ancient Greece with individuals writing about their own times. The urge to explain one's own times (and life) has persisted right down to today. This course looks at how and why such works have routinely shaped our understanding of history.

This course will explore the history of modern Scotland, especially the history of the twentieth century to the present, through a range of readings and other materials. Scotland is often presented in popular culture through a series of stereotyped images, often involving sheep and sheep byproducts, or allegedly emblematic moments, typically involving uprisings and oppression. We will try to expand our understanding of Scotland to include its modernity, its internal differences, its urbanity, its relations to other places, and its failure to comply with clichés.

Particular emphasis will be placed on the ways in which writers, filmmakers, and even musicians have represented modern Scotland, although we will read a series of works of historical scholarship and political argument to help us understand the contexts in which such cultural works have been created. This course will also offer opportunities for students to explore particular interests within the broad framework, e.g., the rise and fall and rise of Scottish nationalism, language debates, the politics of land ownership, Scotland in Hollywood film, what's particularly Scottish about Scottish social problems, North Sea oil and gas, Scotland in the post-imperial era, or the works of particular Scottish writers or artists. NO background in British or Scottish history or literature is assumed, and students from all majors are welcomed.

Inspired by John Berger’s path-breaking book, Ways of Seeing and more recent explorations of the cultural meanings of images, museum displays, and material objects, this seminar introduces students to the visual culture of American history. Drawing on paintings, maps, political cartoons, family photographs, furniture, quilts, advertising, and films, we will consider how looking at the variety of visual sources earlier Americans left behind illuminates the past for us in ways that sometimes complement but more often supplement our understanding of the richness and diversity of American lives.

In 1947, Britain’s colonial rule over India came to an end after almost 200 years. However, what should have been a victory for Indian nationalism was marred by India’s Partition, which entailed dividing India along religious lines into two countries, India and Pakistan. The Partition led to massive shifts in population and widespread violence: 12 million people moved – in a matter of months – across the new international borders and approximately one million people were killed. This major event in 20th-century history continues to vex South Asia to this day. The continuing hostility between India and Pakistan that has resulted in three wars, two of them over the disputed territory of Kashmir, is only one of Partition’s lingering effects.

This seminar has two primary objectives. The first is to understand the Partition of India in comparative perspective. British India was one of many territories partitioned in the 20th century (Ireland and Palestine are other prominent examples of areas partitioned by the British) and the idea surfaces to this day as a means to quell conflict between groups divided by ethnicity, religion, or sect (as it has in the context of Iraq). The second objective of this course is to examine how the Partition of British India has been represented through three genres that have emphasized different aspects of the event and its lasting impact: history, literature, and film.

NO prior knowledge of South Asian history necessary, and students from all concentrations welcomed.

According to the contemporary philosopher Susan Neiman, “The eighteenth century used the word Lisbon much as we use the word Auschwitz today” (Evil in Modern Thought, 2002). This single event lasting about five minutes (followed by a fire and a tsunami), which we would classify today as a “natural” disaster, appears to have fundamentally changed the course of eighteenth century’s history and thinking in the Western World. Located between religious and secular interpretations, “Lisbon” became the metaphorical eponym for “evil” altogether.

An incident like the Lisbon earthquake offers rich opportunities for reflecting on history as a discipline between what we assume to be facts and their interpretation. This course introduces students to the study of history by examining this single event and its contexts from a variety of angles. In addition to reconstructing and interpreting the earthquake through historical sources representing a variety of historical subspecialties (e.g. political history, history of philosophy, history of urban planning, history of science among others), we will also explore the value of different kinds of primary sources, including theoretical, historiographical, fictional, visual, and architectural documents as well as authors such as Kant, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Kleist. Particular emphasis will be placed on guided research and critical interpretation of non-fictional and fictional historical materials.

Much of our current knowledge of early civilizations is due to the deciphering of ancient scripts and languages, which requires an understanding of how scripts and languages work as well as a bit of luck. This course examines successful decipherments of the past (e.g., of Egyptian and of languages written in cuneiform scripts), recent breakthroughs (e.g., in deciphering Mesoamerican languages), and cases that remain unsolved. Hands-on exercises are based on real examples.

This course explores the use of language in relation to sexuality, with particular emphasis on the development of sexual identities. We examine how speakers use different aspects of language, such as a narrative, word choice, and pronunciation, to build sexuality-based social structures, such as sexual orientations and behavioral categories, e.g. slut, stud, or prude. We also explore the role of language and sexuality in the construction of issues like class, race, or subcultural affiliation. Students become familiar with current research in language and sexuality as well as the fundamentals of designing and interpreting socio-linguistic research.

Credit Exclusions: No credit granted to those who have completed a 200-level or higher Mathematics course.

Plane geometry provides a context for studying mathematical proofs in an accessible but rigorous way. Students learn the special style of reasoning used in proofs, starting with some of the basic theorems of Euclidean geometry. Building on that experience, they work on more difficult but beautiful theorems such as Ceva’s theorem, the nine-point circle theorem, Ptolemy’s theorem, and Morley’s theorem.

Credit Exclusions: No credit granted to those who have completed a 200-level or higher Mathematics course.

If you’ve ever wanted to know more about the science of constructing and attacking secret codes, then this course would provide a helpful introduction. Our primary goal is to understand the mathematical tools from combinatorics, number theory, and probability that underlie cryptologic methods. A strong mathematical background would be helpful.

Do you believe in God?

If you are a philosopher, then you are already stymied by the question. First you’ll want to know what I mean by the word ‘God.’ So, let me ask, more precisely, whether you believe in the existence of a being with personal qualities, who created the universe, who is all-knowing, wholly good and loving, and infinitely powerful. But, don’t answer this question; your answer would only be a bit of autobiography — like whether or not you like tomatoes — and so not philosophically interesting.

One question that is of interest to philosophers is whether one rationally ought to believe in the existence of such a being. Is the belief rational, justified, or supported by the evidence? (And what should count as evidence here, anyway?) Now that is a question worth answering, for if the belief is justified, then it would be irrational not to believe in God.

But maybe it is too much to demand reasons or evidence for every belief. Isn’t it sometimes perfectly rational to believe something on faith rather than evidence? Often, of course, it is clearly irrational to believe something on faith (like when you’re on the jury in a murder trial). So, if faith is sometimes appropriate, when is it so? These are also questions worth answering.

On the other hand, doesn’t the undeserved suffering that saturates human existence show that the existence of a loving (etc.) deity is literally impossible? If so, then it would be irrational to believe in God’s existence no matter one’s faith or reasons.

The aim of this class is to answer, if possible, such questions. We'll read and discuss some of the most important modern work on these subjects by professional philosophers. There will also be reading quizzes, a midterm exam, two short papers, and a final.

Our discussions will center on the relationship between reason and emotion, their respective roles in determining our choices, actions, and the overall shape of our lives. Other classic philosophical questions having to do with the metaphysical relationship between mind and body, the nature and extent of scientific knowledge will be introduced in relation to this central question. Readings will be drawn from the works of Plato, Descartes, and contemporary philosophers.

Humans are free. We are capable of free choice and action. When we act freely, nothing makes us do what we do, so we could have acted differently. Thus, if circumstances (like fear, pain, or oppression) compel or determine an act — so that one could not have acted differently — then it was not done freely.

The universe, on the other hand, follows the laws of nature. Causes produce their effects in strict accord with those laws. So every event is determined by its causes to occur precisely as it does, and it could not have occurred differently.

But humans are parts of the universe! So, every human choice and action is an event determined by its causes in accord with the laws of nature. Since it must therefore occur exactly as it does, in no case could one have chosen or acted other than as one did. So humans are not free.

Just a little thinking and we’ve put ourselves into a terrible bind. That’s philosophy. The aim of the class is to get out of the bind, if we can, by re-examining these concepts and assumptions as carefully and rationally as possible. That too is philosophy. We'll read and discuss some of the most important modern work on these subjects by professional philosophers. There will also be reading quizzes, a midterm exam, two short papers, and a final.

The course examines the conceptual foundations underlying our current scientific understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe. The subject is viewed through four astrophysical windows: the universe as a whole; galaxies; stars; and planets. We explore how these various settings provide the essential ingredients for the genesis of life. Finally we examine the evolution of scientific thought that enabled humans to develop an understanding of the universe around them.

This interdisciplinary seminar critically examines the condition of contemporary Brazilian women and African Brazilians and their struggle to gain cultural, economic, and sociopolitical equality. Our focus is on questions and perspectives concerning both the literary and socioeconomic aspects of gender, race, class inequality, resistance and transformation.

The format includes group discussions, activities, regularly assigned readings and papers, class presentations, film screenings, and Internet/library research.

This course is taught in English; this is not a Portuguese language course.

Estimated Cost of Course pack: $30

This seminar will study the relationship between law and psychology within a general framework. We examine a number of real cases that have been covered by the popular press (e.g., the trial of Lorena Bobbitt) as well as some fictional accounts (e.g., Grisham's "A Time to Kill") with regard to how the law defines the limits of personal responsibility. We will also discuss the psychological import of legal issues such as the insanity defense and battered wife syndrome. Each student will write a weekly commentary as well as a "closing argument" that will be presented to the class for one of the cases under consideration.

The purpose of this seminar will be to explore the concepts of identity, alienation, and freedom as psychological and philosophical concepts. The orientation, however, will be specific and applied to the normal situations and predicaments that college students experience. Questions to be considered: surviving as an individual in a large and often impersonal university; living up to and/or dealing with the expectations of parents and teachers; questioning authority in the context of the classroom; trading — off career pressures and personal goals in setting educational priorities.

Of special importance will be the examination of the sometimes frightening loss of a sense of identity that often accompanies significant alterations in lifestyle, such as that experienced by students in the transition from high school to college or, later, in the transition from college to the "real world." (NOTE: Three hour session scheduled on Thursday is designed to accommodate occasional showing of movies. Class session is usually less than two hours.)

Taking its title from the Langston Hughes poem, this seminar will explore psychological aspects of race, ethnicity, and other cultural differences in the United States. What are some of the opportunities and obstacles to our joining with Hughes in affirming, "They'll see how beautiful I am . . I, too, sing America?" Topics will include stereotyping, communication, cooperation, conflict, justice, and discrimination. For example: What are psychological theories about how individuals and groups might most benefit from life in pluralistic societies? What are some psychological dynamics of stereotyping? What are possible connections between various forms of discrimination (for example, racism, sexism, homophobia, and anti — Semitism)?

This introductory seminar course will examine identity development and oppression as we challenge ourselves to think critically about our social identities and worldviews. Social or group identities include for example, race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. These identities are predicated upon a social structural system that advantages some groups and disadvantages others. As such, this course will also explore how inequities in our multicultural and multiethnic U.S. society impact identity development and relationships between groups.

How do issues of race, intergroup relations, and social group identity impact possibilities for building community in a democratic society? Students will explore issues of civic engagement and community building in a democratic society, taking into account issues of power and celebration, conflict and coalition, differences and common ground. This course is part of a larger program called FIGS (First-year Interest GroupS). Students in all of the FIGS seminars will participate in a day-long retreat on Sunday, September 7th from 8:30-5:00.

Is the human mind just a kind of computer that happens to be constructed from neurons? In this seminar, we'll debate this question by considering relevant work in artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. We'll also critique how this work is presented in the popular media.

When people leave the University of Michigan upon graduation, in what ways are they different from when they began? How does university life influence your marriage, your income, and most importantly (for this course) your thinking skills? How can you change the way you proceed through the university (from choosing your major, courses, and sleep habits) that can improve your chances for learning and success?

The primary goal of this course is to learn about the psychology of learning and thinking in the context of the university. How long do your memories last? What factors influence how well and for how long you will learn information? How will your thinking change as you progress through the university? Are some people better at learning than others? How much does effort/practice play a role in how much you learn? How do alcohol, drugs, anxiety, sleep, hormones, etc affect how well you learn and think?

Students will be introduced to the fundamental concepts of learning and memory particularly as they relate to research in non-human animals. Classic texts and original papers will be read and reviewed. In-class exercises will also be employed to aid in students' understanding. Topics will include the history of the laboratory study of learning/memory, pavlovian, and skinnerian theories. In addition to class-room lectures and discussion, this class will also emphasize the development of scientific writing skills using both in-class and out-of-class assignments.

This seminar examines how we relate to other animals, especially mammals and birds, and how they relate to us. We will examine relationships with domestic animals and how human behavior increasingly threatens the survival of wildlife. We will consider arguments for and against factory farming, hunting, and the use of animals in experiments. Students will also examine their own beliefs and behavior toward other species. Readings and videos will include scientific studies on animal consciousness, behavior and emotions as well as case studies of particular human-animal relationships that challenge prejudices about other species. We will meet a few animals in class as well as visit a local animal sanctuary.

This course will explore documentary media as a tool for social change. The history of social documentary will be examined through screening and discussion and sessions with guest artists. Students will work in small groups, partnering with a community organization or non-profit group to produce short productions on digital video. The class will also cover media aesthetics and technical skills needed for production work, including camera, sound, and editing.

This course looks at the way writing is functioning in the new configurations of Russian culture and society in the post-Soviet age. How has “high literature” adjusted to the dramatic transformation of the country and its cultural values and practices; what sort of popular forms (detective fiction, romance, etc) thrive; how does the new publishing world work, and what does it produce; who wins literary prizes and why; what is the relationship between TV and literature today; can Russia still claim (as it used to in the Soviet period) to be the “most reading nation in the world,” and, if so, why and to what effect?

That America is a nation of immigrants is one of the most common yet truest statements. In this course we will survey a vast range of the American immigrant experience: that of the Irish, Germans, Jews, Italians, Blacks, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, Koreans, and Japanese. Immigration to America can be broadly understood as consisting of four major waves: the first one, that which consisted of Northwest Europeans who immigrated up to the mid-19th century; the second one, that which consisted of Southern and Eastern Europeans at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th; the third one, the movement from the South to the North of Black Americans and Mexicans precipitated by two World Wars; and the fourth one, from 1965 on, is still ongoing in the present, of immigrants mostly from Latin America and Asia. At all times, our effort will be to understand the immigrant past of these ethnic groups, both for what it tells us about the past as well as their present and possible future.

How do we develop the practice of civic engagement along with the skills of boundary-crossing in order to build a strong democracy comprised of people with perspectives and viewpoints that differ from our own? This seminar explores a wide range of issues on social identity and intergroup relations, notions of community, and everyday politics and democracy. It examines the possibilities for building community across race, gender, and class as students explore their own racial and social group identities.

An introduction to the sociological study of inequality through an analysis of three of its fundamental dimensions — class, race and gender. The course will explore how each of the three dimensions of inequality is related to the development of modern capitalist society as described by Marx and Weber. The course will provide an introduction to basic concepts in class analysis, to contemporary issues in feminist theories of gender, and to recent work on the social construction of race. It will also trace both the similarities and differences among the three dimensions, their relationship to one another and to the underlying dynamics of capitalist modernity.

Texts include Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting Buy in America; Richard Feldman and Michale Beltzold, End of the Line: Autoworkers and the American Dream; Susan Kessler and Wendy McKenna, Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach; Oyeronke, Oyewumi, The Invention of Women; Joe Feagin and Melvin Sikes, Living with Racism: The Black Middle Class Experience; Ron Takaki, Iron Cages: Race and Culture in Nineteenth Century America, as well as selected readings from Marx and Weber.

This seminar will focus on how people listen to music and music's impact on communities of people who listen to it. In the first weeks of the course, students will learn how to listen to music and explore the interaction of different elements of music, such as rhythm, melody, and harmony. As we begin to listen to a wider range of music, we will explore the impact of music in cases such as the Paris riot of 1913 following the performance of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" or the reaction of King George to the "Hallelujah Chorus" at the conclusion of Handel's "Messiah." We will consider the impact of popular music, religious music, and the band as examples of how music has reached out into all types of communities. Students will attend three musical events and write reviews of each based on concepts explored in class. The professor will present and perform numerous examples of music on the piano, there will be invited soloists and chamber ensembles, and students who wish may share their musical talents in class.

Issues of human sexuality and gender are explored from many perspectives including historical, cross-cultural, religious, and physiological. All people are sexual throughout their lives, although the expression of our sex and gender is one of the most diverse and controversial areas in personal and public arenas. The diversities of biological sex, gender identity, gender roles, sexual orientation, sexual identity, and sexual behavior and the interplay among them are presented and reinforced through readings, exercises, videos, guest speakers, and weekly written assignments. We will discuss sexual difficulties such as infertility, STDs, sexual dysfunction, and sexual victimization along with prevention and treatment strategies. We will examine social and political issues such as civil rights for sexual minorities, sex and the law, date rape, pornography, the impact of AIDS, public and private morality.

Issues especially relevant for students are explored, including:

• choice of sexual partners and behaviors
• the influence of drugs, alcohol, and smoking on sexual function and sexual decision-making
• sexual values and religious attitudes toward sex, and
• the wide range of possible lifestyles from celibacy to polyamory to paraphilias.

The course requires access to the Internet and uses a variety of Web-based resources and communication modes, as well as a textbook and readings from various journals. Weekly short papers and a semester project are required. Opportunities for help with developing presentation skills are available.

We study the development of medicine as a science and how the perception of it has been changed through the media. Students explore their own beliefs about medicine through literature such as The House of God, The Intern Blues, The Double Helix and movies and television series such as the Story of Louis Pasteur, The Hospital, Medic, Ben Casey, Marcus Welby, M.D., ER, and Saint Elsewhere, as well as more recent offerings such as John Q, House, and Grey's Anatomy. Much of the course focuses on the discussion of ethical issues and the crystallization of students' own beliefs about medicine in the 20th century.

This is a service-learning course that integrates traditional coursework with personal reflection and community involvement. The goal of the course is to explore the dynamics of formal and informal education in urban settings. This course will help university students to understand the effects of social history and culture on the social identity of young children and how community members, especially elders, help to create and support positive roles for young children within this community. Students work closely with members of the community and program staff to document cultural beliefs and practices that help to shape social identity and social expectations within the community.

As a requirement for the course, students complete five hours of service each week in the Detroit public school system to develop practical service-learning models. Assisting educators in implementing these developed programs will give students the opportunity to put into practice the theory of service-learning.

Students will examine the development of dentistry from its origins to its present status as a scientifically-driven health care discipline. Students will evaluate critically how science has influenced the development of dentistry as a discipline for the past century and explore how emerging scientific disciplines are likely to change the practice of dentistry in the next millennium.

Please attend every session if possible. If you are unable to attend a class, please email me beforehand. This is not a lecture course with a final written exam. Students will be expected to participate in class discussions, ask questions, and offer opinions.

"Health Care, Privilege, and Community" will consist of four sections. The first will provide an overview of medical and health care concepts and terms as they relate to multiculturalism. The understanding of these concepts will be critical for students, as they lay the groundwork for the remainder of the course. The class will examine issues relating to consumers of health care, which will include discussions of the major ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Many of the class discussions will focus on these new consumers, such as various ethnic communities, elders, and other interest groups that have been "left behind" as major players in health care. In addition, the class will take a look at physicians and other types of health care providers with special attention to the providers from the major demographic groups.

Thirdly, we will examine the dilemmas within our health care system. Class discussions will focus on health disparities, ethical issues related to research in different ethnic groups, and discrimination in health care. Finally, solutions to the present health care dilemmas will be discussed. We will investigate the future challenges for equitable health care based on the demographic changes that have occurred in the United States over the last two decades. It will be important for students to gain an understanding of how these changes have resulted in new important consumers and providers of health care services. Subsequently, a discussion of current health disparities today will be an integral part of understanding whether they will persist in the future. [Several spaces reserved for participants in Michigan Community Scholars Program]

There will be two texts, group projects in the form of "Journal Clubs," and an individual book review in both written and oral form. Journal Clubs are an important part of the continuing education of medical professionals. Journal clubs meet regularly to discuss current studies on subjects of mutual interest. The class will divide into JCs to explore various aspects of medical school. This project would accomplish several goals: help you build your group participation skills, develop web skills and increase your practical, current knowledge of medical schools. In addition, this project will introduce you to a wide range of information sources. The Clubs can decide specific topics, such as: How Medical Schools Differ; The Admissions Process; Trends in Medical Education; What Undergraduate Majors are Possible; Patterns in Specialty Choice; Getting a Residency; Staying Balanced in Medical School, and many others. The Journal Clubs will make a group presentation to the seminar. Individual book reviews will also be presented to the seminar. Each student will choose an individual book that is an autobiography of a medical student or a physician. (Other kinds of book are possible.) The student will make a presentation to the seminar, discussing the themes of the book and what insights it provides, as well as submit a review of the book covering these topics.

Seminar Panels:
There will be three panels during the seminar. One of first-year medical students; one of fourth-year medical students, and one of doctors in practice.

GRADING:
Group Project: 30%
Individual Book Review:30%
General participation and Attendance at FORUM: 30%
Thoughtfulness of discussion participation and questions raised:10%.

WEEKLY TOPICS:
The American Medical Profession: A Brief History
Becoming a Doctor: The Educational Process
Becoming a Doctor: The Socialization Process
Great Discoveries of Medical Science
Explaining the Evolution of the American Health Care System
Trends in the Health Care System Today: Corporatization and Managed Care
Women in the Medical Profession; International Medical Graduates
Doctors and the Media
Doctors and Patients: The Doctors’ View; The Patients’ View
Medicine in the 21st Century: Telemedicine; The Genetics Revolution

This course will examine the broad social and economic impacts of alcohol, with an emphasis on the effects of alcohol on health. Information will be presented on the historical perspective on alcohol and its role in the United States since the twentieth century. Students will consider the many impacts of alcohol on individuals, families, organizations, and broader society. By exploring how we are socialized into drinking and what changes could be made to positively alter the way this socialization occurs, students will gain a greater understanding of the role played by family, culture, peers and the alcohol industry in the development of drinking patterns. At the same time they will learn how to foster a more mature approach to, and responsible use of, alcohol. Classes also provide opportunities to engage in stimulating discussions with faculty and other experts from within the University of Michigan.

Indeed this is the age of scientific discovery! With each passing day, knowledge in the life sciences is increasing exponentially in many areas, including stem cell biology, patterns of birth defects, and the phenomena of aging, dying and death. This new information, while important to human health, surfaces the complex and intertwining issues of ethics and values that will be of special consideration in this seminar. Each of the daily learning modules and projects in this seminar is designed to expand our current thinking about the intersect between world of scientific discovery and its impact on human health and society.

Biological Perspectives. The plan of the human body can serve as a keystone as we probe the interplay of genes, cells, morphogenesis, and the environment in which we live. A myriad of biological advances could be considered, but three exciting topics especially jump out:

1. Birth defects and population patterns
2. Phenomena of aging, dying, and death
3. Immensely provocative "stem cells"

This last topic alone opens up a world of biological concepts and principles that can influence our understanding of how the human body — your human body — is shaped prior to birth and throughout life. Thus, "life inside the box."

Ethical and Societal Perspectives. However stimulating "life inside the box" may be, that is not the whole story! In the excitement of so many dramatic scientific advances over the last ten years, efforts to understand the ethical implications have not kept pace. It is vital that researchers and clinicians be aware of and sensitive to the legal, cultural, and societal issues spawned by their work. What principles and policies should be in place to guide further research and application of such discoveries? Answering this question focuses our attention on those environmental events occurring outside biology laboratories and outside our own human bodies, i.e., "life outside the box.”

This course examines the discourses and practices of development and population control targeting non-western countries. The course situates these discourses and practices in histories of colonial encounters, international politics, and global relations of power and inequalities. We will survey a diverse range of debates among the critics of population and development policies and projects in order to see how such debates have succeeded or failed in altering hegemonic approaches to development with new approaches that attend to peoples' histories, social locations, and health and human rights. The course will analyze these discourses and practices with reference to local politics and realities of uneven development that produce gender, class, and ethnic disparities. Although the course material focuses on non-western countries, Africa in particular, we will also look at some examples of how these discourses are projected on poor communities elsewhere including the U. S., such as in the recent case of Katrina-New Orleans.

Rights are foundational to our concepts of law, citizenship, and even to concepts of ourselves as human beings. We debate public issues in terms of rights, and we also refer to our rights in everyday interactions and casual speech. Supposedly American culture is saturated with rights talk and awash in lawsuits, much to the dismay of some critics. Rights have been an important part of movements on behalf of women, people with disabilities, sexual minorities, transgender people, and racial minorities. Conservatives have taken up rights language, too, characterizing gay rights as “special rights” and mobilizing against religious discrimination. In this class we will back up to some very basic questions about law in our society, undertaken through the study of rights. What are rights, and where do they come from? How do ordinary people come to understand themselves as possessing them? What are some criticisms of our rights culture? How have rights campaigns promoted social change through the law, and how effective have they been? Readings will be drawn from different disciplinary perspectives on rights in contemporary law and culture, with a focus on gender- and sexuality-based rights. The instructor has determined that this course will not be open to upper-level students; please do not e-mail with requests.