250. Sophomore Seminar. Open to Honors students. (3). (SS).
Section 001 – Cholera Pandemics: Model Systems for Evaluating Societal Attitudes.
Cholera pandemics provide model systems for retrospectively correlating
societal attitudes with the methods used in eventually providing a solution
to a large-scale social problem. The main text will be The Cholera Years
by C. E. Rosenberg. (Whitehouse)
Section 003 – The Discovery of the Universe. The purpose of this seminar is to discuss a very important topic in the history of science: the processes by which astronomers came to suspect, investigate, and then describe accurately the universe of galaxies. We will begin with the work of a German musician, William Herschel, in the eighteenth century, and end with the work of a Missouri lawyer, Edwin Hubble, in the 1920's. Readings and student projects will be based on primary sources and works by historians of science. I do not expect prospective students to have a science background beyond, say, a course in high school physics or completion of a lower-level astronomy course here. This is NOT a science; it is, instead, an opportunity for us to study the ways in which scientific knowledge advances and the human nature of scientific work. (Lindner)
251. Sophomore Seminar. Open to Honors students. (3). (HU).
Something of Value. We will read and reread a few great books: Oedipus
Rex, Plato's Protagoras and Gorgias, Shakespeare's Tempest,
Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, G.B. Shaw's St. Joan, and Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Our main concern
will be to discuss what we value, and why we value it, and how we arrive
at such determinations. For the first half of the term we will prepare one
text for discussion each week; in the second half of the term we will use
what we have read and talked about to inform our discussion of our main
topic. Outlines of seminar papers due March first; seminar papers April
first. Meets one long evening a week, chez moi. (Hornback)
Section 002 – The Search For Solutions. This course seeks to explore types of problems which arise in the course of research in the humanities, the social sciences and the sciences, and methods employed to solve them. One-third to one-half of the course will treat such matters as formulation of topics for investigation, the nature of research assumptions, types of models, patterns and organizational procedure, and the like. The remainder of the course will present guest lecturers from the main divisions of knowledge who will discuss issues in their current research. (Orlin)
Section 003 – Seminar on Contemporary European Cinema. The best cinema of this period presents a remarkably frank and rich portrait of these societies, often more critical than would be allowed in journalistic prose or in literature. The reason for this can be sought not only in the mechanisms of "cultural politics" as they apply to the arts in these countries, but also in the nature of film language itself. The image is more malleable and more ambiguous then the word. It can create symbols out of everyday objects, and its distinctive features (of composition, lighting, color, camera angle, patterns of motion) can be semanticized within a film or body of films. In this way it speaks a multivalent language; it can "say" things without having explicitly (that is, verbally in terms of the logical motivations of the plot) said them. It can pass the censorship where a novel dealing with the same themes and issues might not. Thus the seminar will address the possibilities of film language as they have revealed themselves in the specific social, political, cultural, and ideological context of Central Europe. Students will do one seminar report each, and write three (3) papers, but the predominant format of the course will be discussion. (Eagle)
252. Sophomore Seminar. Open to Honors students. (3). (NS).
Section 001 – The History of Science and the Art of Humbug. This course
centers around the evolution of modern medicine, including early Western
medical concepts and the introduction of the scientific method. In addition, attention will be directed at current fads: acupuncture, ESP, astral projections, chiropractic, diets, etc. (Malvin)
493. College Honors Seminar. Upperclass standing; and permission
of instructor or of the Honors Director. (3). (N.Excl).
Section 001 – DeRoy Seminar: Poetry. This course for junior and senior
Honors students will be taught by Galway Kinnell, one of the most distinguished
poets writing in English today. The course will be both a creative writing
workshop and a study of poetry. Enrollment is not restricted to full-time
poets or English concentrators. Students will be selected, however, on the
basis of their writing and their academic preparedness for such a course.
Applications may be picked up at the Honors Office (1210 Angell Hall); they
should be turned in to Bert Hornback prior to 15 November. Overrides for
students selected by Galway Kinnell will be available on 1 December. (Kinnell)
Section 002 – Numbers, Reasons, and Data. (Foundations of Measurement
in the Biological and Social Sciences) Scientists in a great variety
of fields now spend most of their effort analyzing large collections of
numbers. What drives this pervasive symbolism of "data," and how
does it relate to scientific influence and discovery? This seminar will
consider the different ways in which numbers are claimed to be realistic.
We will see if there is anything in common, such as the notion of "precision,"
underlying the many disciplinary tactics for the measurement of extended
systems and processes. Readings will range widely throughout the natural
and social sciences. Although students have no background in statistics
or math, it will be helpful to have struggled at length to measure something.
By application only. (Bookstein)
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