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Course Criteria
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2.00 Credits
Did you like the colorful, quirky "Amélie" (2001) and the Academy Award winning documentary "The March of the Emperor" (2005)? or how about those crazy frog-eating sisters in the animated film "Les Triplettes de Belleville" (2003)? Then come learn about more French films of the 21st century. All films will have subtitles so previous knowledge of French is necessary.
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2.00 Credits
Mutants, genetically engineered spiders, alien powers and technology fill the comics and movie screens. Do these things even exist? Could there be any kind of rational explanation for a teenage boy squirting spider silk from his wrists? Could a genetic mutation allow someone to walk though walls, give them the power of a magnet or to read minds? Let's bring a rational mind to the study of superheroes and see just how we could make them work. Getting the DNA of rock from a solar flare isn't even trying at a rational explanation. Bring us your favorite comic/movie characters, and as a class we'll rip 'em to shreds and put them back together.
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2.00 Credits
In this course we will use the text of the same name to study game-theoretic implications of Omnipotence, Omniscience, Immortality and Incomprehensibility. Game Theory was developed over 50 years ago by John von Neumann, John (A Beautiful Mind) Nash and their colleagues and instantly revolutionized the way we think about an array of subjects from finance and economics to law and natural science. In this course we will apply game theory to theology, leading us to provocative questions about religion from a game theorist¿s viewpoint. There are absolutely no mathematical prerequisites for this course, we will lay the necessary foundation for game theory, discuss the emerging science of competition, and think deeply about some ancient questions that humanity has struggled with throughout the millennia.
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2.00 Credits
This class will study the notion of the apocalypse or "the end of the world" in mythology, literature, film, graphic novels, and science. Why are people drawn to these stories, and why do we continue to tell them? What do the different causes/incarnations of The End say about our culture? And how the heck did the darkest apocalyptic novel in recent memory end up as an Oprah Book Club selection? We will begin by considering early apocalyptic myths, such as the floods in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament. We will then move on to such novels as Kurt Vonnegut's 'Cat's Cradle', Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' and Tim LaHaye's 'Left Behind', films such as 'On the Beach', 'Planet of the Apes' and 'Children of Men', the graphic novel 'Y: The Last Man', and other eschatological texts. We will also consider the new popular science book 'The World Without Us', which explores what would become of the planet Earth and its natural and manmade structures if human beings suddenly ceased to exist. The course will culminate with a "Design Your Own Apocalypse" project, in which students either write their own fictional end-of-the-world stories, or present a scientifically-based what-if scenario (dirty bombs? global warming? the die-off of honeybees?) that could spell disaster for our culture.
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2.00 Credits
This course is based on the assumption that those considered lunatics, ranters or doomsayers by our society's mainstream frequently have very interesting things to say. Using a mix of highly controversial short essays, indy films, and internet websites, we'll explore a wide variety of impassioned riffs -- from third-wave feminism, queer theory, and radical environmentalism to race nationalism, revolutionary anarchism and religious fundamentalism. Each week we'll be asking the same basic question: are these people nuts, or what?! No prior experience with fanaticism required; weirdos welcome; open mindedness a must.
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2.00 Credits
Is beauty *really* in the eye of the beholder or do some things appeal to all humans? People have found beauty in diverse phenomena -- the human form, Fibonacci series, nature, and art -- and beauty ideals vary from culture to culture. Yet, all humans want (need?) beauty in their lives. We will investigate practices such as body decoration, fashion, and art in order to compare cultural conceptions of beauty. The value of beauty is also an issue. Navajo wisdom, for instance, held that to walk in beauty was the greatest good fortune, while Dada artists, facing the atrocities of World War II proclaimed that people did not deserve beauty. Students will be asked to present one cultural practice and analyze what it tells us about the role of beauty in human life. Our exploration of these topics will take place through videos, virtual tours, readings, slides, and field trips in search of beauty.
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2.00 Credits
The Declaration of Independence states that each person has a basic right to the pursuit of happiness. But it is in one thing to exercise this right; it is another thing for the pursuit to be successful. Philosophers, psychologists, and economists have recently become very interested in the nature of happiness and the reasons why people succeed or fail in attaining it. Questions addressed will include, for instance, how much difference such things as age, health, wealth, work, luck, pleasure, love, temperament, status, and community make to whether people are happy. We will conduct experiments in savoring, mindfulness, novel pleasures, gratitude, selflessness, service, and unforgettable moments of intellectual joy.
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2.00 Credits
One of the most fascinating aspects of Gary Larson's comic "The Far Side" is that he does a masterful job of delving into human nature. Larson also uses "The Far Side" as a humorous medium to illustrate history and scientific fields ranging from biology and chemistry to physics and math. In this seminar we will perform a historical, scientific, psychological, and sociological analysis of our world using "The Far Side." We will not only delve into human culture; we will also analyze the behavior of other organisms using "The Far Side."
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2.00 Credits
Life is often complicated, sometimes exceedingly so. Much of our everyday experience is unexpected, apparently whimsical, seemingly beyond our control. How is it that some aspects of our experience are regular, predictable, tamable, while others appear to be the outcome of some cosmic game of chance? Is the universe a crazy patchwork of phenomena, some understandable, some beyond explanation? In the process of answering these questions we will construct a variety of fractals (including a fractal tree), define fractal dimension, study various forms of chaos and growth, and finally enter into the depths of the Mandelbrot set. If there is time we will also look at cellular automata, sometimes known as the game of life. All of this using just high school mathematics!
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2.00 Credits
Attention Muggles! By order of Educational Decree #101, it is hereby announced that a seminar shall be given at Alfred University on the "Science and Psychology of Harry Potter." While a fantasy series may not seem like a valid starting point for studying science, J.K. Rowling was meticulous enough in her world-building that we can investigate how her world works. Rowling's world also provides a window into the psyche. We will expect you to be familiar with all 7 novels before the class starts, and will read two additional books, "The Science of Harry Potter" and "The Psychology of Harry Potter." We will consider the aerodynamics of Quidditch, time travel and time turners, traveling with Portkeys and Floo Powder, the Natural History of Magical Creatures, teenage angst, friendships, psychological defense mechanisms, wisdom, and all sorts of psycho-isms.
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