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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
V. Ramachandran The explosive growth of the Internet has fundamentally changed how business is conducted. Many of the online services that people use every day rely on important technological advances that motivate and support their success. This course introduces students to the computer science that drives electronic commerce and its consequences for society. Among other topics, students discuss how the Internet's design permits so many uses without being managed by one single entity; how compression and security have affected the distribution of entertainment and have affected the legal system; how to search through and organize massive amounts of information, and how doing so creates new markets and new business opportunities; how a mathematical model of human behavior helps the design of online auctions; and how web interaction and collaboration have created educational and social communities, making problems easier to solve and bringing people together in new ways.
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3.00 Credits
G. Gogel This course examines cancer as a disease and as a public health issue. The readings concern the epidemiology of cancer, research to discover causes, research to discover treatments of cancer, psychological responses to life-threatening illness, and methods for preventing cancer. In workshops, students study the logic and methods used by scientists to identify the causes of cancer and to formulate methods of treatment and prevention. The workshops include analysis of statistical correlations between cancer incidence and suspected causes. Finally, students examine in detail a suspected cause of cancer, a treatment for cancer, a method of prevention, or a topic related to personal responses to life-threatening illness, and present their findings in a poster session.
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3.00 Credits
A.J. Tierney The relationship between the mind and the body has been a topic of speculation and controversy through human history. This course explores this relationship by examining how psychological and social factors influence human health. Proponents of Western medicine have frequently dismissed a mind-body link as folklore; others, especially writers for the popular media, have claimed that the mind has miraculous power to cure disease. In recent years, scientists have conducted numerous studies aimed at discovering how thoughts and emotions actually influence physical health, and what mechanisms underlie this influence. Students evaluate this literature, learning about the effects of beliefs, emotional states (depression, anxiety), personality characteristics, and stress on people's susceptibility to and recovery from illnesses. Students also explore literature suggesting that psychological approaches can prevent or treat physical conditions. By doing hands-on experimentation, students learn how to measure stress and even how to control their own physiological responses to it. The course emphasizes the value and limitations of using Western scientific methodology to gain knowledge, and contrasts this approach with ideas from "alternative" and Eastern approaches to medicine
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3.00 Credits
K. Harpp This course examines the scientific evolution of nuclear weapons and the historical context in which they were developed. World War II made urgent the exploitation of atomic power for military purposes. Topics include the scientific thought that made harnessing nuclear power possible, the political pressure that shaped that process, the ramifications of the bomb for science and politics during and immediately after the war, and the subsequent impact of nuclear bomb use on the population and the environment. The course includes consideration of post-WWII developments of nuclear weapons, weapons testing, and nuclear power generation, with an emphasis on their environmental impact.
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3.00 Credits
C. Nevison Cryptography is the practice of encrypting or encoding messages and information in order to hide their contents from eavesdroppers. Its beginnings can be traced back to ancient civilizations. Efforts to break codes in order to uncover the hidden messages have developed into the science of cryptanalysis. Together, cryptography and cryptanalysis make up what is called cryptology. Throughout history cryptology has played an important although necessarily hidden role in politics, diplomacy, and war. It has acquired renewed significance in the last several years due to its crucial role in the efforts to preserve the privacy of messages and transactions sent through the Internet. This course provides an overview of cryptology and its various aspects. The course examines several classic ciphers, as well as more modern cryptographic methods such as the data encryption standard (DES) and public key cryptography. Mathematical concepts are developed as needed. Computer work includes the use of spreadsheets to experiment with some simple enciphering and statistical analysis of encoded text. The course also examines some of the history of cryptology, its social and political implications, and recent developments affecting computer security.
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3.00 Credits
N. Stolova What is the relationship between language and cognition To answer this question this course explores the interrelation between verbal expression and such cognitive faculties as bodily experience, imagination, memory, categorization, and abstract thought. The study of language as a cognitive phenomenon is a relatively new discipline. It originated in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since then, cognitive linguistics has been a rapidly growing field that has both benefited from and contributed to its allied disciplines of cognitive psychology, cognitive anthropology, and cognitive neuroscience. The course begins by examining the advantages and shortcomings of the cognitive perspective on the different levels of language (e.g., sounds, words, sentences, texts, etc.). Students explore the connections of cognitive linguistics with the related fields that are broadly referred to as the "cognitive sciences." No background in linguistics is required, but interest in linguistics is expected.
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3.00 Credits
E. Woods Many of the important issues that confront society, from health-related concerns to environmental protection, are scientific at their core, and society relies almost exclusively on the news media for information about them. However, a lot can happen to scientific data on its way to becoming a headline. Politicians, industries, and other groups have a stake in the perception of scientific issues and can potentially influence the content and presentation of news. This course dissects the forces that control perception of scientific news and provides strategies for obtaining more detailed information. The course comprises a series of self-contained units that each focus on a single issue and may include such disparate topics as the Atkins diet, the Kyoto Protocol, nanotechnology, the human genome project, and space exploration, as well as some of the students' choosing. Each unit begins with a general introduction to the underlying science, moves on to explore social, political, and economic aspects, and culminates with a writing assignment or class-wide participatory event.
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3.00 Credits
This course is crosslisted as COSC 150. For course description, see "Computer Science: Course Offerings."
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3.00 Credits
This course is crosslisted as MATH 102. For course description, see "Mathematics: Course Offerings."
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3.00 Credits
L. Reid The United States was founded on the proposition that "all men [sic] are created equal." Nevertheless, over 200 years later, systematic disparities in economic, social, and physical well-being still exist between Whites and people of color and between men and women. This course explores psychological influences that contribute to prejudice and oppression by majority groups, and how the experience of prejudice and oppression can shape the psychology of minority groups. The focus of the course is on Black-White relations in the United States, but gender relations and relations involving immigrants and other racial and ethnic groups are also considered. The course adopts a scientific perspective, begins with an overview of the scientific method and scientific reasoning, and incorporates "hands-on" activities. The links between scientific evidence and social policy, and current controversial issues are also explore
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