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FALL 2011 FRESHMAN SEMINARS
Please note that students may take a maximum of THREE All sections are open to students of all majors Enrollment in Freshman Seminars will be limited to After that date, any remaining spaces will be offered to continuing lower division students. CLAIRE TREVOR SCHOOL OF THE ARTS Don Hill received the outstanding professor of the year award 2009 for the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Mr. Hill is the Vice-chair and Head of Stage Management for the Drama Department. He is a life coach with over 35 years of working in the professional theatre. Students will enjoy reading and discussing health topics that address many issues in which they are interested in or are involved with. This seminar will transition students from passive, memorization-type learning, to an active, analytical and critical learning style with practical application for personal and public health.Required textbook: Educating Instead of Medicating in Public Health, University Readers, by Zuzana Bic and Ramon. P. Oblepias Llamas, www.universityreaders.com Dr. Zuzana Bic, has Doctorate degrees in both Public Health and Medicine. She is the author of the book No More Headaches, No More Migraines. Dr. Bic studies the impact and application of "lifestyle medicine" (nutrition, physical activity, stress management) on slowing the process of aging and developing of other chronic diseases (headaches, diabetes II, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, ibromyalgia /chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, cancer, depression, drug abuse, and others.). She is also working to develop health literacy programs for the K-12 curriculum and for the general public and is an advisor for the Students' Public Health Association at UCI (see http://pha.zotters.org.)
Assignments:
Frances Jurnak is a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics in the College of Medicine. Her research specialty is structural and functional biochemistry, with strong personal interest in nutritional biochemistry. Dr. Jurnak has taught nutrition for one year and has given numerous seminars on the topics presented in class.
The Changing Face of Beauty in the Age of Extreme Makeovers Marketing, multiculturalism, and the explosion of reality Readings from: Dr. Wong is a facial platic surgeon in the Department of Otolarngology- BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Nature Walks in Plant Cell and Devlopmental Biology Three 3-hour nature walks (e.g., Aldrich Park, UCI Ecological Preserve, UCI Arboretum, Duck Ponds, Irvine Arboretum, UC South Coast Field Station) will be scheduled at an organizational meeting. On those walks, we will look at phenomena that are in the center of interest to research in plant cell and developmental biology, such as plant tumors, galls and nodules, the effect of stress on plants, mechanisms that determine the shape and color of plants or drive fertilization and seed production. We will take pictures and produce a photographic summary (website) of the walks to conclude the course. It is my goal to open the students'' eyes for previously unnoticed wonders and to change the way they view and walk green nature in the future. There will be one organizational class meeting to schedule the three nature walks (evenings or weekends) and to select the locations. There will be a concluding meeting week 10. Attendance at all meetings and nature walks is required. Dr. Hoffmann has previously taught this course as a Biological Sciences Freshman Seminar. He has been a plant biologist at UC Irvine for more than 30 years. HUMANITIES Politics and Power We will read and discuss Machiavelli''s "Prince" both famous and infamous for its advice to princes as concerns the acquisition and maintenance of power. How ''immoral'' is Machiavelli''s advice? Born and trained in Germany, Dr. Schwab has been teaching in the US for nearly 30 years. His main field is Continental European Philosophy, with emphases on Nietzsche, Existentialism,and French Philosophy. The Spanish Language Worldwide: Its History and Contemporary Usage 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 Dr. Schwegler is Professor of Spanish Linguistics, and Director of Global Cultures. He recieved his Ph. D. from UC Berkeley in Romance Linguistics, and also has a business degree from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He has published several books and over 50 scholarly articles. Telegraphs, Telephones, TVs and Tweets: New Media in Historical Perspective This course will explore the various ways that the world has been changed and continues to be changed by shifts in technologies of communication. The goal will be to place the transforming effects of the Internet and related digital developments into a long-term perspective. In many ways, what they have done to shrink the globe and alter our sense of time and space is novel, but in other ways these developments and the fears and hopes they inspire echo things that have happened before. Jeff Wasserstrom is a specialist in Chinese history and world history, who is very interested in issues of globalization and protest. In addition to writing for specialized publications, he contributes regularly to newspapers, magazines, online journals of opinion, and blogs, and he helped found "The China Beat," an electronic magazine devoted to Chinese culture and politics. INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SCIENCES Do it Yourself Electronics Have you ever wanted to build a cool electronic gadget like a digital music player or a remote controlled car? This seminar will introduce all the basics that you will need to start making projects on your own. This will be a hands-on class so you will be required to spend about $100 total on parts that you will build with. We will cover very practical issues, like how to buy electrical parts, how to wire components together, and how to read a component data sheet. You do not need to know about electronics to take this seminar but you should have written a program in the past, in any computer language. Ian G. Harris is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at UCI. He received his BS degree in Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990. He received his MS and PhD degrees in Computer Science from the University of California San Diego in 1992 and 1997 respectively. His research interests involve the security and testing of hardware and software systems. PHYSICAL SCIENCES The Elements: Past, Present, and Future How were the elements discovered? What personal stories are involved in their discoveries? How are elements currently being used, and what new elements might yet be discovered? This seminar will explore these topics through reading, class discussion, and group presentations. Students will have the opportunity to explore research currently conducted at UCI. Reading: "The Disappearing Spoon", Sam Kean Dr. Link is a Lecturer in Chemistry and teaches organic chemistry lab courses. Her research background includes reaction methodology and mechanistic studies. Current work is focused on development of new teaching experiments, incorporating new technologies in teaching labs, and exploring the effects of TA training on the undergraduate teaching lab experience. Problem Solving Through Recreational Mathematics This course is for everyone who enjoys problem solving and critical thinking. Using the wonderful book “Problem Solving Through Recreational Mathematics” as our guide, we will explore some of the most fun recreational math problems, and we will learn interesting mathematics along the way. An active participation in problem solving is expected from each student, but no particular mathematical talent is required. Dr. Alessandra Pantano obtained her B.S. degree at the University of Tor Vergata, in Rome, Italy, in 1999, and
her Ph.D. from Princeton University, in 2004. Both degrees are in pure mathematics, with theses in Representation
Theory. From 2004 to 2007 she was a H.C. Wang Assistant Professor at Cornell University, and came to UCI in 2007 The Chemistry of Health and Disease How can we prevent or forestall diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer''s, Parkinson''s and so on? What is the best way to remain fit, active, vital, and young at heart all the way into your 80s? Join us for this exploration at the molecular level, and learn how lifestyle changes can minimize your risk. Elementary knowledge of chemistry would be helpful, but is not essential. Professor Shaka has been at UCI for 22 years, and does research in NMR, and in nuclear and radiochemistry. He has an active interest in the chemical underpinnings of nutrition, exercise, hormesis, and other factors on human health. Chemistry Around Us Topics involving chemistry are in the news every day. What is in the water we drink? Should we use food colors? Should we use biodiesel fuels? Is there really global warming? Why are drugs playing an increasingly important role in our lives? During our discussions you will learn about some basic chemistry concepts which will make it easier to understand how chemistry affects your everyday life and plays a role in our global challenges. Dr. Taagepera received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research involved physical organic chemistry and is now focused on chemistry education, specifically how students build logic structures applying Knowledge Space Theory in general and in organic chemistry. She has received numerous teaching awards and organized outreach programs for K-12 students and teachers. The Quest for Life in the Universe People have been asking "are we alone" and "are we unique" from as far back as there are any records. Answers have ranged from "life, even intelligent life, must be very common" to "human intelligence is the only sort possible." Recent developments in astronomy, geosciences, and biology have made it possible to say that planets, including potentially habitable planets, must be common and that the processes leading up to appearance of life on earth may easily have happened elsewhere. The seminar will explore what we know about these topics and how we know them. There will be weekly reading assignments from "Life in the Universe" by Steven J. Dick, and students will be asked to come to class prepared both to ask and to answer questions based on the reading and their other activities during the week. Full participation will guarantee a B in the course. Students wishing to receive As will be asked to write about some topic they choose from a list of things provided by the instructor. Virginia Trimble is a native Californian and a graduate of Hollywood High School, UCLA, and the California Institute of Technology. Her current scientific interests encompass structure and evolution of stars, galaxies, and the universe and of the communities of scientists who study them. She serves on committees, boards, and panels of more than a dozen professional organizations and foundations and has a publication list with about 500 items on it, ranging from "Motions and Structure of the Filamentary Envelope of the Crab Nebula" (her PhD dissertation) to productivity and impact of optical telescopes (a study recently completed with a high school student summer intern).
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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 © 2011 The Regents of the University of California All Rights Reserved |
