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WINTER 2005 FRESHMAN SEMINARS
The School of Biological Sciences also offers freshman seminars during spring quarter. For more information, please visit http://freshmanseminars.bio.uci.edu/. Please note that students may take a maximum of three freshman seminars for credit, so long as subjects vary, over their entire university career.
CLAIRE TREVOR SCHOOL OF THE ARTS I AM A CAMERA Stephen Barker, Drama Tu 11:00-11.50am, Mesa Court Community Center Course Code 87552 NOTE: This class is being held in Mesa Court Housing. Please be aware that your travel time will be greater than 10 minutes if you are coming from central campus. For a map of Mesa Court, please go to http://www.housing.uci.edu/ug/mc/. How do making (and receiving/interpreting) images contribute to making us who and what we are? What do images have to do with creating or amplifying our sense of gender, race, ethnicity, family and personal history, and memory? Having a closer look at our own relationship to images can tell us a good deal about ourselves and how we construct that self. Stephen Barker, professor, BA Amherst College; MFA (Drama) Studio ’68 of Theatre Arts, London; MFA (Dance) London School of Contemporary Dance; MFA (Creative Writing) University of Arizona; PhD (English Literature, Literary Theory and Criticism) University of Arizona. Formerly professional actor/director and dancer/choreographer. Has published extensively on Nietzsche, Derrida, Beckett, Blanchot, and others, as well as on critical and aesthetic theory. Books include Autoaesthetics: Strategies of the Self After Nietzsche; Excavations and Their Objects: Freud’s Collection of Antiquity; Signs of Change: Premodern, Modern, Postmodern; Bodytheory; and Interrogating Images. He lives in Irvine and Provence with his wife Michelle, a clinical psychologist Changing Nature of American Jazz Dance Bob Boross, Dance F 9:00-9:50am, MAB 317 Course Code 87576 American jazz dance has regularly adopted new looks as styles, technology, and popular culture have evolved throughout the twentieth century. Yet, the fundamental basis of jazz dancing - feeing and reacting to rhythm - still remains the same. This seminar will examine the roots of jazz dance, its philosophy, societal influences, and the pioneers of the changing nature of American jazz dance. Bob Boross is head of the jazz, tap, and musical theatre dance areas of the UCI Dance Department, and holds an M.A. in Individualized Study in Jazz Dance from New York University. After performing on Broadway in the 1981 revival of Can-Can, choreographed by Roland Petit, Bob became a teacher and choreographer in jazz dance and musical theatre. In theatres across the country he has choreographed Annie Get Your Gun, Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Pirates of Penzance, and for UCI - Victor/Victoria. His concert dances have been seen in New York City at the Broadway Dance Center Performance Outlet and at Dancespace, in Los Angeles with the 2002 Gypsy Awards show and Spectrum Dance in LA, and Texas with Discovery Dance Group. His piece "Cool," a finalist in the Jazz Dance World Congress Choreography Competition, will soon join the repertory of the London Studio Center Jazz Dance Company in England. The Arts: Communication and Engagement Nohema Fernandez, Music Th 2:00-2:50pm, MM 316 Course Code 87554 Learn to experience the arts as a dynamic, rather than passive, activity. The goal of the arts is to communicate with and engage the "observer". This seminar explores the means by which both creator and interpreter make participants out of observers. Nohema Fernández is dean of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. She is a pianist who records and performs widely throughout the United States and Europe Framed: Women in the Visual Arts Catherine Lord, Studio Art T 4:00-4:50pm, ACT 3203 Course Code 87560 We'll examine critiques of the representation of women in pop culture and high art as well as the historical status of women artists. The main focus of the class, however, will be key moments and pivotal works in the recent history of feminist art. These will be a means to understand not only the changing roles of women in contemporary art, but the relation of culture and politics to the making of art, and to the working process of an artist. Catherine Lord is an artist and writer who is interested in feminism and cultural politics. Her essays and fiction have been widely published. She is the author of text/image book, The Summer of Her Baldness: A Cancer Improvisation, and is currently working on a demented encyclopedia entitled The Effect of Tropical Light on White Men. The Changing Technologies of Music Alan Terricciano, Dance Tu 8:00-8:50pm, Mesa Court Community Center Course Code 87578 NOTE: This class is being held in Mesa Court Housing. Please be aware that your travel time will be greater than 10 minutes if you are coming from central campus. For a map of Mesa Court, please go to http://www.housing.uci.edu/ug/mc/. Through readings, interactive demonstration and listening projects the course will survey the changes in performance, reception and context of western musical practices resulting from new technologies. Beginning with Edison, the course will examine the impact of analog recording, electronic instruments, synthesis and digital signal processing on our pracitce and perception of music. Alan Terricciano is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Dance department. He is a composer and pianist and is responsible for all musical activities in the Dance department. His compositions have been performed internationally and he has performed throughout the United States. High Anxiety: Practical Approaches to Coping with Public Speaking Nerves Philip Thompson, Drama W 11:00-11:50am, PSTU 1110 Course Code 87579 Glossophobia or fear of speaking is often listed as a "# 1 fear." In this seminar we will read some theoretical work on performance anxiety as well as researching some "helpful tips." Finally, we'll practice some techniques from the Theatre for reducing anxiety and relaxing the voice Philip Thompson is an Assistant Professor who earned his M.F.A from the University of California, Irvine. He teaches voice and speech and works as a voice and dialect coach for professional and university productions. Most recently served as voice and text coach for Twelfth Night at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (his sixteenth production there). Coached the past six seasons at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Appeared as an actor at the Grove and Illinois Shakespeare Festivals. As a master teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, he teaches in national training workshops in New York and Chicago. He also erves as secretary for the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA). HENRY SAMUELI SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING Essays in Engineering, Science, and Technology Michael McNally, Civil & Environmental Engineering TBA, TBA Course Code 87562 The paradox of the essay is that intimate and accurate detail of a subject from a defined and often personal point of view can lead to interpretations and generalizations of very broad scope. And all in typically very few words. The essay may well be the ideal symbiotic mechanism with which engineers, scientists, and technologists can broach subjects with broad non-technical ramifications from the relative safety of facts and figures of the technical world. As a plus, such an essay is typically a technical delight in itself. In this seminar we will read and discuss essays on a wide variety of topics directly relevant to engineering, science, and technology, and indirectly relevant to just about everything else. Michael McNally studies travel behavior from both technical and non-technical perspectives. He thinks that students, especially engineering students, don't read nearly enough. See me at: http://www.its.uci.edu/~mcnally/. Power and Propulsion - Breaking Barriers Through Materials Science and Engineering Daniel Mumm, Chemical Engineering & Materials Science Tu 11:00-11:50am, SSL 117 Course Code 87564 Our ability to design more powerful propulsion systems, more efficient energy production systems, and more environmentally friendly energy conversion devices is often limited by the available materials. In this seminar, we will explore discoveries and developments in materials science that have led to tremendous advances in the performance of power and propulsion systems. We will explore in detail (1) the materials used in aircraft gas turbine engine systems to answer the question of “what’s pushing my airplane”; (2) the materials at the core of fuel cell systems, devices that may revolutionize the future of electrical energy production and distribution; and (3) the challenge that hypersonic flight presents to materials engineers. We will look at the critical materials and explore how the properties of such materials are determined by the underlying structure - from the atomic scale to the macro-scale. The course will also include inspection of fuel cell and gas turbine systems affiliated with the Advanced Power and Energy Program here at UCI. Daniel Mumm has been a faculty member at the University of California, Irvine, since January 2003. He received his B.S. (1988) in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Minnesota and his Ph.D. (1994) from Northwestern University. He has previously held research positions at the Rockwell Science Center, Harvard University and Princeton University. Dr. Mumm’s expertise lies in the area of advanced materials and structures. His primary research interests involve the development of materials for power generation systems, propulsion, integrated sensing, advanced vehicle concepts and platform protection. His research efforts integrate high-resolution chemical and micro-structural characterization, novel imaging and spectroscopy techniques, numerical simulations, mechanical testing, and thermo-mechanical exposure in order to understand, and ultimately control, the factors that influence the performance and durability of complex structures and material systems Nano Materials and Devices for communications Chen Tsai, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Every other Wednesday 12:30-2:20pm, SSL 105 Course Code 87572 This freshman seminar course will introduce the freshmen to the basics of nanoscale materials and devices relevant to communication system applications. Chen Tsai is a Professor of Electrical Engineering.and Computer Science since 1980. He is currently Professor, above-scale. He has research expertise in Integrated Otics, Microwave Magnetics, Nano Science and Nano Technologies. He has co-authored some 450 research papers and won a number of national and international awards and honors including the 1995 UCI Faculty Senate Distinguished Research Lectureship Award. GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT The Commercialization of Teenagers Mary Gilly, Graduate School of Management Every other Wednesday 1:00-2:50pm, MPAA 130A/B Course Code 87555 Corporations spend billions of dollars annually to understand and target teenagers. While much of this money is spent on overt marketing techniques such as advertising and market surveys, an increasing amount is spent on less open marketing tools. The course will discuss marketing techniques such as peer-to-peer marketing, product placement and teen consultants. The consequences of these efforts to relieve kids of their money will be explored. Mary C. Gilly is a Professor of Marketing in the Graduate School of Management. Her research interests include consumers and technology, including online shopping, seniors and the Internet, and the role of email during military deployments. Global Business: Asia and Europe Joanna Ho, Graduate School of Management Every other Wednesday 3:00-4:50pm, MPAA 120 Course Code 87558 In this freshman seminar, I will cover global issues such as financial reporting systems, corporate governance, global outsourcing, and the impact of national culture on business practices. The topics will include countries in Europe (e.g., France, Germany, and United Kingdom) but an emphasis will be placed in Asia (e.g., China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan). Dr. Ho (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is interested in how to improve accountants' and auditors' decision making. Her research includes studying the role of cognitive characteristics in accountants' knowledge acquisition and in evaluating their judgement performance and the role of expertise on auditors' information search, going-concern judgments and probability assessments. Her other research interests include management performance evaluation and compensation systems, the impact of accounting system changes on managers' resource allocation and pricing decisions, and how to use of information technology to streamline company operations. Website: http://www.gsm.uci.edu/~ho/. SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES Global Cynics: Recent Japanese Fiction, Manga, and Anime Jonathan M. Hall, English & Comparative Literature Th 10:00-10:50am, Mesa Court Community Center Course Code 87557 NOTE: This class is being held in Mesa Court Housing. Please be aware that your travel time will be greater than 10 minutes if you are coming from central campus. For a map of Mesa Court, please go to http://www.housing.uci.edu/ug/mc/. This seminar examines the transnational circulation of Japanese fiction, manga, and anime in the 1990s and early 2000s. Besides familiarizing seminar members with key examples of the global proliferation of Japanese popular and mass cultural texts both out of and into Japan, the seminar engages local structures of de/politicization and nostalgia that motivate the global interest in these texts. Materials are read against Japanese, East Asian, and North American cultures of cuteness, innocence, alienation, and cynicism. All Japanese materials are presented in translation or, in the case of visual texts, with subtitles. Jonathan M. Hall reseraches and teaches Japanese film and modern literature. His interests also include critical theories of East Asia, psychoanalysis, gender studies, and queer theory. Literature of Citizenship Julia Lupton, English & Comparative Literature F 1:00-1:50pm, HH 251 Course Code 87561 This course describes paradigms of citizenship in classical literature and contemporary contexts. What is a citizen, and in what context? Who is the non-citizen, and how, if at all, can he or she cross into the circle of citizenship? Does citizenship primarily describe a set of rights or a set of responsibilities? What forms of literature give voice to the aspirations and paradoxes of citizenship (oratory, drama, the open letter, for example?) Julia Reinhard Lupton is (Associate) Professor of English and Comparative Literature. She is the founding director of Humanities Out There, UCI's nationally-recognized humanities outreach program, and the author of *Citizen-Saints: Shakespeare and Political Theology* (forthcoming University of Chicago Press, 2004). Professor Lupton has begun work on a new book entitled "The Literature of Citizenship." The Spanish Language Worldwide Armin Schwegler, Spanish W 3:00-3:50pm, HH 105 Course Code 87575 This "fun course" studies the history and contemporary usage of Spanish worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on Latin American dialect varieties (including Mexican, Cuban, Argentinean, Colombian, and USA Spanish). By taking this course students will gain a better appreciation for (1) how and why a once very marginal tongue has become one of the world's major languages, (2) the extent to which Spanish dialects differ today, and (3) how Spanish evolved from Roman times into what it is today. No prior knowledge of spoken or written Spanish required. (bold and underline last line) Born in Switzerland and resident of the USA since 1975, Professor Schwegler has learned Spanish and about 10 other languages. His research on the Spanish language and its dialects have taken him to virtually every corner of Latin America (he often does field work in remote jungles in South America). The author of over 40 scholarly articles and several books, he is currently writing a monograph about PALO MONTE, an Afro-Cuban ritual language used in voodoo-like ceremonies. Prof. Schwegler has been a guest professor at several universities in Europe and the United States, and recently spent 2 years in Costa Rica as Director of UC's Education Abroad Program. In the fall of 2002, he taught at the University of Havana and did field work in Cuba for his new book. SCHOOL OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SCIENCE Future Impacts of Biological and Computer Sciences and Technologies Pierre Baldi, Information and Computer Science M 1:00-1:50pm, Middle Earth, Harrowdale Study Room Course Code 87551 NOTE: This class is being held in Middle Earth Housing. Please be aware that your travel time will be greater than 10 minutes if you are coming from Mesa Court or the School of the Arts. For a map of Middle Earth, please go to http://www.housing.uci.edu/ug/me/. This seminar will examine some of the current trends in biological and computer sciences and technologies and extrapolate them into the future. Specific topics will be selected depending on student interest. Examples of possible topics include: (a) artifical intelligence; (b) the Internet; (c) embryonic stem cells; (d) human cloning; (e) nanotechnology; (f) bioethics. Pierre Baldi is a professor in the School of Information and Computer Science, in the Department of Biological Chemistry (College of Medicine), and the founder and director of the UCI Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics. Dr. Baldi received his PhD in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology in 1986. Dr. Baldi main areas of research are computational biology, bionformatics, data mining, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. He is the author of over 80 scientific articles and several books. Beyond his scientific interests, Dr. Baldi has long-standing interests in more philosophical issues related to bioethics and what it means to be human in light of the current technological revolution in biology and computers, as exemplified by the Human Genome Project and the Internet. He is the author of a trade book on these topics: The Shattered Self--The End of Natural Evolution (MIT Press). Cyber-Puzzlers Michael Goodrich, Information and Computer Science M 11:00-11:50am, HH 251 Course Code 87556 This seminar will explore problem solving and critical thinking through the study of puzzlers and brain teasers, focusing on problems related to computer science. Problem solutions will need only high school mathematics and logic. Professor Goodrich's research is directed at the design of high performance algorithms and data structures for solving large-scale problems motivated from information assurance and security, the Internet, information visualization, and geometric computing. He is also interested in computer science education. Web Personalization: Technology, Opportunities and Risks Michael Pazzani, Informatics Class will meet at 6:00-6:50pm on the following weeks: Week 1: No Class Week 2: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday Week 3: No Class Week 4: Monday, Tuesday Week 5: No Class Week 6: Monday Week 7: No Class Week 8: Monday Week 9: No Class Week 10: Monday and Tuesday Location: TBA Course Code 87566 The delivery of information over the Internet has made possible a variety of personalization service that tailor the information delivered, e.g., news, advertisements, or purchasing selections to the interests of the user. This seminar will explore the technology, such as user profiling and collaborative filtering that recommends items to the user. Applications such as junk mail filtering, personalized shopping, and dealing with information overload will be discussed. The societal implications of this technology will be explored with a focus on the impacts on privacy. Michael J. Pazzani is the Director of the Information and Intelligent Systems Division of the National Science Foundation. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA and is a full professor at the University of California, Irvine where he also served as department chair of Information and Computer Science. He has served as CEO of AdaptiveInfo a company involved in personalization solutions for the mobile web. He has published numerous papers in machine learning, personalization, information retrieval, and cognitive science. Students in Dr. Pazzani's research group have been involved with personalization in a variety of companies including Tivo and Yahoo. SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES DEEP TIME Gregory Benford, Physics Th 11:00-11:50am, FRH 4135 Course Code 87553 We seldom think of time as a tool. Yet thinking in deep time scales can serve to solve, or at least frame, some grave current dilemmas. We shall explore how humanity has tried to leave messages and monuments for very long time scales. Gregory Benford is a working scientist, a professor of physics at the UC Irvine since 1971. He specializes in astrophysics and plasma physics theory and was presented with the Lord Prize in 1995 for achievements in the sciences. He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and Phi Beta Kappa. Over the years, he has been an advisor to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United Sates Department of Energy, and the White House Council on Space Policy. Currently he holds research grants from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His first book-length work of non-fiction, Deep Time (1999), examines his work in long duration messages from a broad humanistic and scientific perspective. Introduction to Physics & Astronomy at UC Irvine Roger McWilliams, Physics M 10:00-10:50am, FRH B012 Course Code 87563 Physics & Astronomy majors, and those considering becoming a major, will be given an introduction to the research topics and people in the department, learning what topics are exciting and touring the facilities in which the work is pursued. Learn about the department's leading edge science and scientists and what is done outside the classroom at Irvine. Professor McWilliams earned his Ph.D. in 1980 from Princeton University and the B.A. from the University of California, Irvine in 1975. Prior to finishing his Ph.D. he joined the faculty at UCI. His teaching has been recognized with multiple awards for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education at UCI. He was the inaugural winner of the UC systemwide Presidential Faculty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research recognizing his leadership in creating and overseeing undergraduate research opportunities. He is founding director of the Campuswide Honors Program and founder of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. I breathe: the science of our atmosphere Sergey Nizkorodov, Chemistry W 3:00-3:50pm, SSL 119 Course Code 87565 The main goals of the class are to introduce the students to the basics of atmospheric sciences and to help our future scientists, doctors, politicians, and engineers better appreciate the impact of human activities on the atmospheric environment. The discussion topics will include the history of atmospheric research, the current status and the evolution of the Earth atmosphere, basic physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere, comparison between the atmosphere of Earth and other planets of the solar system, the problems of air pollution and smog, worldwide environmental problems related to the atmosphere such as global warming and ozone layer degradation, environmental policies, and current topics in atmospheric research. Sergey Nizkorodov received his undergraduate education from Novosibirsk State University, Russia, and his graduate education from Basel University, Switzerland. After doing postdoctoral research at the University of Colorado at Boulder and then at the California Institute of Technology, he joined the faculty at the UCI Chemistry Department in 2002. He teaches analytical, physical and atmospheric chemistry courses, and does research on chemistry of particulate matter in the atmosphere. Prime Obsession Bernard Russo, Mathematics TBA, TBA Course Code 87567 The Riemann Hypothesis is a very deep assertion about basic properties of ordinary numbers. Its story includes cryptic notes, missing manuscripts, close calls, false leads and dead ends, and a host of characters. It has a $1 million prize on its head. The Riemann Hypothesis concerns prime numbers. Easily phrased questions about primes can be quite sophisticated: How to tell if a number is prime? If it is not prime, how to factor it? How many primes are there? Is there a pattern to how the primes occur? The Riemann Hypothesis is concerned with the last question. In 1859, Bernhard Riemann, a mathematician at the University of Gottingen, on his election to the Berlin Academy of Science delivered a short paper in which, expanding on ideas of his mentors, he profoundly rephrased these questions in a completely different form. In the century and a half since, his supposition (now called the Riemann Hypothesis) has assumed prime mathematical importance. The seminar circles around the Riemann Hypothesis, explaining what it means and how it came to be, and recounts stories about people involved with it. Professor Russo has been a UCI faculty member since 1965. He served as Chair of Department of Math in 2001-04 and he was Associate Secretary of the American Mathematical Society in 1998-2002. The Quest for Life in the Universe Virginia Trimble, Physics W 8:00-8:50am, FRH 2111 Course Code 87571 "Are we alone?" is one of the oldest of human questions. The seminar will explore what is meant by "life" and by "universe", the existence of habitable planets orbiting other stars and how one might look for them, and the significance of extraterrestrial life in human literature and history. Virgina Trimble is a graduate of Hollywood High School, UCLA, and the California Institute of Technology and holds an honorary MA from Cambridge University. Her current research interests embrace the structure and evolution of stars, galaxies and the universe, and of the communities of scientists who study them. She currently holds offices in the International Astronomical Union, the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, and serves on assorted committees for about half a dozen other professional organizations and foundations. She has received assorted, mostly minor, awards from the US National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Astronomical Society (London), the American Association of Physics Teachers, and a good many others. Publications? Well, she's had 500, but who's counting? SCHOOL OF SOCIAL ECOLOGY Health Care Fraud Paul Jesilow, Criminology, Law & Society W 4:00-4:50pm, SEII 2373 Course Code 87581 Students will receive an introduction to the area of health-care fraud and abuse. The course will highlight the negative effects of the behavior on various aspects of health in the United States. Professor Jesilow is interdisciplinary by training and that is reflected in his use of several perspectives to approach his subject matter, as well as his use of qualitative and quantitative tools in his research, including interpretive historical methods, reviews of case files, interviews, and statistical techniques. Professor Jesilow is currently completing a book on survivors of the disappeared in Guatemala, as well as collecting data on the regulation of health care in the U.S. and Sweden. The Politics of Crime Valerie Jenness, Criminology, Law & Society M 6:30-7:20pm, Middle Earth, Gandalf’s Classroom Course Code 87559 NOTE: This class is being held in Middle Earth Housing. Please be aware that your travel time will be greater than 10 minutes if you are coming from Mesa Court or the School of the Arts. For a map of Middle Earth, please go to http://www.housing.uci.edu/ug/me/. Every society has crime. It’s a fact of collective living. However, how different societies and the same society at different points in time think about, experience, and respond to crime varies considerably. With this in mind, this course focuses on “the politics of crime” in the U.S. in the modern era. In particular, we will examine the relationship between crime, fear of crime, and the development and implementation of policies designed to respond to crime. Valerie Jenness is Professor and Chair of Criminology, Law and Society and Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. She is the author of three books--Making Hate a Crime: From Social Movement to Law Enforcement Practice (2001), Hate Crimes: New Social Movements and the Politics of Violence (1997), and Making it Work: The Prostitutes' Rights Movement in Perspective (1993)–as well as numerous book chapters and articles on the politics of crime. She's not a known criminal. SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Congratulations, Mr. President. Now What? Matthew Beckmann, Political Science F 8:30-9:20am, SSPB 5250 Course Code 87580 A lot is expected of U.S. presidents, especially those having just won an election. However, as presidents themselves will tell you, campaigning can be easier than governing. As President Clinton put it, “You campaign in poetry and govern in prose.” In this seminar we will explore various challenges facing contemporary presidents while simultaneously analyzing our newly-elected president’s performance in meeting them. We will conclude the seminar by examining the connections (or lack thereof) between campaigning for the White House and governing once there. Matthew Beckmann is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC Irvine. His research interests involve Washington politics, especially those involving the White House and Congress. He received his bachelor’s degree at UCLA and his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. Video Games and Behavior Michael D'Zmura, Psychology TBA, TBA Course Code 87577 Computer and console games are very popular,particularly among younger people. Whyare they so popular? What elements of their design make them especially catchy? What positive behaviors do they encourage? What about the downside: video game addiction, promotion of violence and social withdrawal? Psychology can help inform the debate on these topics. Michael D’Zmura is a Professor in the Department of Cognitive Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Rochester in 1990. Fast Food Nation: Life Under Golden Arches Judith Treas, Sociology W 9:00-9:50am, Middle Earth, Gandalf’s Classroom Course Code 87570 NOTE: This class is being held in Middle Earth Housing. Please be aware that your travel time will be greater than 10 minutes if you are coming from Mesa Court or the School of the Arts. For a map of Middle Earth, please go to http://www.housing.uci.edu/ug/me/. Americans spend more than a billion dollars on fast food each year. Launched in Southern California half a century ago, the fast food industry now stands for the best and worst of American civilization. Our seminar ponders how McDonald's pioneering principles of efficiency, predictability, and control have spread to religion, health care, and even higher education. Discover why Golden Arches cast such a long shadow over the lives of 3.5 million fast food workers, the future of Western ranching, the health of consumers, and the cultures of the globe. Judith Treas studies aging and the life course, population, family, and social inequality. Her recent research has addressed cross-national differences in family attitudes and behavior as well as the lives of elderly immigrants to the U.S. She is a co-editor (with Richards and Scott) of The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Families. Civilizations as Dynamical Networks Douglas White, Anthropology Th 2:00-2:50pm, 2296 SSPB 4250 Course Code 87573 Worldwide anthropological and historical studies in the context of world civilizations, 1200AD to 2005. Douglas White is a network anthropologist, Europeanist and comparativist who is also on the External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute in Complexity Studies and the Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He has 40 years of varied international experience in the use of mathematical approaches in the social sciences. The Hand and Human Intelligence Charles Wright, Psychology F 2:00-2:50pm, SSPB 3218 Course Code 87574 The human hand is a miracle of biomechanics, one of the most remarkable adaptations in the history of evolution. In this course, we will explore the suggestion that it is the unique structure of the hand and its evolution in cooperation with the brain that led to the development of the aspects of intelligence that set humans apart from other animals. Along the way, this course will delve into a variety of areas: cognitive neuroscience, language, artistic expression, education, and the nature of intelligence. Professor Wright is currently chair of the Department of Cognitive Sciences. During his ten years at UCI he has also served as associate vice chancellor in Research and Graduate Studies. The topic for this seminar arises from his 25 years of research studying how people control movements (mostly of the hand) and learn skills. |
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| Freshman Seminar Program 256 Aldrich Hall Irvine, CA 92697-5675 Phone (949) 824-6987 Fax (949) 824-3469 A Division of Undergraduate Education Program © 2006-2008 The Regents of the University of California All Rights Reserved |
