2010-11 Undergraduate Index A-Z
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Philosophy Of Science [clear]
| Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days of Week | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters |
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Algebra to Algorithms
Richard Weiss |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | We rely on mathematics as a powerful language for understanding the natural world and technology. Mathematical models allow predictions of complex systems, and modern computing has both magnified the power of those models and helped shape new models that increasingly influence our lives. Computer science, as a constructive branch of mathematics, relies on mathematics for its culture and language of problem solving, and it also enables the construction of both deterministic and statistical mathematical models. Patterns that appear in the natural world and are expressed in mathematical models can also be applied to the visual arts. We rely on mathematics as a powerful language for understanding the natural world and technology. Mathematical models allow predictions of complex systems, and modern computing has both magnified the power of those models and helped shape new models that increasingly influence our lives. Computer science, as a constructive branch of mathematics, relies on mathematics for its culture and language of problem solving, and it also enables the construction of both deterministic and statistical mathematical models. Patterns that appear in the natural world and are expressed in mathematical models can also be applied to the visual arts. In this program, we will explore connections between mathematics, computer science, the natural sciences, and graphic arts. We will develop mathematical abstractions and the skills needed to express, analyze and solve problems arising in the sciences. In addition, we will explore how to program interesting visual shapes using simple geometry. The regular work of the program will include seminars, lectures, problem solving workshops, programming labs, problem sets, and seminar papers. The emphasis will be on fluency in mathematical and statistical thinking and expression along with reflections on mathematics and society. Topics will include concepts of algebra, algorithms, programming and problem solving, with seminar readings about the role of mathematics in modern education and society. This program is intended for students who want to gain a fundamental understanding of mathematics and computing before leaving college or before pursuing further work in the sciences or the arts. | college algebra, introductory computer programming, problem solving, and mathematics and computing in society. | Richard Weiss | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Animal Behavior and Zoology
Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying biology ecology field studies philosophy of science zoology Signature Required: Fall |
Program | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | What do animals do, how do they do it, and why? In this year-long investigation of animal behavior, students will answer these questions through extensive use of the scientific literature, in-depth discussions of the evolutionary and ecological theories that are fundamental to the study of behavior, independent research projects, and several weeks in the field, including two weeks in the Pacific Northwest during fall quarter. Animals hibernate, forage, mate, form social groups, compete, communicate, care for their young, and so much more. They do so with the tools of their physiology, anatomy, and, in some cases, culture, for reasons having to do with their particular ecology and evolutionary history. In this program, we will begin with a review of animal diversity, and continue our studies of behavior from both a theoretical and an empirical perspective. Students will be expected to engage some of the complex and often contradictory scientific predictions and results that have been generated in this field, through lectures, workshops and take-home exams, as well as to undertake their own, intensive field research. In fall quarter, students will conduct short-term field projects, and become skilled in library research. In winter quarter, we will continue to learn theory and statistics, and will continue field work as well. In spring quarter, having studied the methods, statistics and literature frequently used in behavioral research, students will generate their own hypotheses and go into the field to test them through extensive, independent field research or internships. Field work might be in a variety of locales from the Pacific Northwest to Central America. Any field work outside the United States will be organized as independent learning contracts. Students will return to campus for the last two weeks of spring quarter to complete their data analysis and present their research. Some topics covered in this program will include mating systems, territoriality, female mate choice, competition, communication, parental care, game theory, plant/animal interactions and convergent evolution. Several readings will focus on one group of animals in particular: the primates, including Homo sapiens. | field biology, evolution, ecology and other life sciences. | Bret Weinstein Heather Heying | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Bodies: Medical and Literary
Sara Huntington and Bill Arney |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | Jean-Jacques Rousseau, , 1762 Sapphire, Push We ground our studies in representations of the body, medical and literary. Our aim is the recovery of common sense. Fall quarter will be devoted to the medicalized body, which is represented through statistics, specialized imaging technologies, and myriad tests. We will study the effects of people being taught to think of living in terms of "risk factors," and the effects of mapping ourselves onto grids of probabilities instead of, for example, paying attention to one's body. As a group, we will pursue the medicalized body through case studies: the recent revision of recommendations on screening for breast cancer; and Huntington's Chorea, a neurodegenerative disease that can be diagnosed with a definitive genetic test and that, as such, presents a human dilemma, extending beyond medical ways of knowing and being. We will read critiques of "gene talk," the way "genes" have "reshaped not only political, social, or medical concepts, but the very perception of the self," as the German historians of medicine, Barbara Duden and Silja Samerski, put it. Throughout the quarter, we will pursue Rob Crawford's argument that "health" has become the modern locus for one's understanding of the moral self. (Just think about the commonplace, "I've been pretty good. I'm eating better, exercising; I've kept my cholesterol down..."). This quarter will introduce students to library research, compositional rhetoric, scientific logic, basic topics in the philosophy of science, the history of medicine, and socio-historical critiques of modern scientific medicine. Each student will complete an independent project on a medical/biological topic of personal concern, resisting the urge to write a fair and balanced research paper and, instead, producing a legitimate piece of writing. Winter quarter will be devoted to satire as a literary form that focuses relentlessly on the messy reality and moral presence of the body. While students are immersed in the rhetorical strategies employed by canonical masters such as Jonathan Swift, we will investigate the methods of more contemporary works- and Sacha Baron Cohen's -asking: how is the satiric attack embodied? As we examine the ways in which satire interrupts human folly, we share the possibility of making room for common sense. By producing satires of our own, we will locate the body-our own more or less lively lumps of flesh-not in a professional scientific or pedagogic discourse but in a common lot. Authors like Ivan Illich, Martin Buber, Martha Nussbaum, Michel Foucault, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Wendell Berry will complement our explorations in satire and will assist in our search for the story that binds us in a moral order that makes us human. Again, students will pursue a significant independent project, a satire, and should be prepared to push the boundaries of their own depravity, all for the sake of becoming more moral and more whole, more human. The program will involve contemplative practices- , walking meditations-and students may decide to enroll in an extracurricular weekly yoga class offered only to members of this program. The yoga class is not required, but if you choose to enroll a fee will be payable to the instructor. | compositional rhetoric, philosophy of science, history of medicine, independent research, satire, humanities and social sciences, writing, education, and medicine. | Sara Huntington Bill Arney | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||
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Foundations of Health Science
Kevin Francis, Michael Paros and Paula Schofield biochemistry biology chemistry health history philosophy of science Signature Required: Winter Spring |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | This program takes an integrated and thematic approach to the health sciences, exploring introductory concepts in biology and chemistry with a focus on health, medicine and disease. It is designed for students contemplating work in a healthcare field who want to learn about how the body functions on a macroscopic, microscopic and molecular level, as well as students interested in public health or public policy who want a solid foundation in biology and chemistry. It is also suitable for students who seek an opportunity to study rigorous science as part of a liberal arts education. Our organizational framework is a systematic examination of diseases that have a large impact on global health, based on the World Health Organization's list of the top ten causes of death. We will study cancer, maternal health and perinatal conditions in fall quarter; infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and influenza in winter quarter; and cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes and depression in spring quarter. Within this framework, students will explore basic chemical and biological concepts, as well as the role of the pharmaceutical industry in society and the role of the FDA in clinical drug testing. Students will also explore ethical, historical and public policy questions raised by each disease. Class activities will include significant laboratory and instrumentation work, lectures, workshops, seminars, group projects, textbook assignments and case studies. This program will develop critical scientific reasoning and quantitative skills. Communication skills, both written and oral, will also be emphasized. Students will work on their techniques of argumentative and scientific writing through essays, lab notebooks and reports, and participation in a writing workshop. Students will gain the hands-on skills that are essential for working in the health sciences. There will also be opportunities to carry out lab-based projects in spring quarter. This program will link students with clinics, hospitals, government public health departments or other health-related organizations for volunteer service. During fall quarter, students will select and research the work of a local agency. They will then design a part-time internship that allows them to contribute to the work of this organization throughout winter quarter. Completion of this program will give students many of the prerequisites they need for careers in the allied health fields and public health, as well as preparation for further upper division study in biology and chemistry. | biology, bioethics, chemistry, education, epidemiology, genetics, health sciences, history of medicine, immunology, medicine, nutrition, physiology and anatomy, and public health. | Kevin Francis Michael Paros Paula Schofield | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Methods of Mathematical Physics
EJ Zita astronomy mathematics philosophy of science physics Signature Required: Winter Spring |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | A close examination of the complex and varied world around us reveals a high degree of underlying order. Our goal as scientists is to understand and explain this order. Mathematics is the language created (or discovered) to describe the order observed in physics. The goal of this advanced program is to introduce the mathematical language we use to describe and create physical models of our natural world, and to better understand both. To that end, we will study a number of key physical theories and systematically develop the mathematical tools that we need to understand them. We plan to begin, in fall quarter, with a review of series, complex numbers and linear equations, including matrixes, concentrating on their applications to physics, such as rotations, circuits and the simultaneous solution of linear equations. We will continue with ordinary and partial differential equations, with applications to classical mechanics, including oscillators, waves, Laplace's equation, Poisson's equation, and other fundamental examples in physics. Students will plan research projects in teams. In winter, we plan to connect differentiation with integration via vector analysis (applications in electromagnetism), Fourier Series (applications to waves, e.g. acoustic oscillations on the Sun and at the Big Bang), and variational calculus. We will go deeper into areas begun in fall. For example, we would like to take vector analysis deeper into tensor analysis, with applications such as general relativity. Students will carry out their research projects in teams. In spring, students may continue with a full-time study of electromagnetism and vector calculus, or may continue independent contract work on their research projects in teams. Students might also have the option to begin a study of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Students will be encouraged to present their research at a regional professional physics meeting. Our program work will consist of lectures, tutorials, group workshops, student presentations, computer labs, seminars on the philosophy and history of physics and mathematics, essays and responses to essays. Teamwork within an integrated learning community will be emphasized, 1) for best learning practices, and 2) to model work within mature scientific communities. | chemistry, education, engineering, history, mathematics, philosophy, and physics. | EJ Zita | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Science Seminar
EJ Zita |
Course | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 6 | 06 | Day | WWinter | In conjunction with , 15 students are invited to join our seminar for 4 credits. We will explore issues in modern physics such as cosmology, string theory, gravity and quantum mechanics. We will read about the beauty and importance of experimental and theoretical physics/mathematics. There is no physics/math prerequisite for this program. Science Seminar students will interact with advanced physics/math students in seminar. We will share our insights, ideas, and questions about the readings and our wonder about the universe. Students will write approximately three essays and many peer responses, and will meet with their seminar team before each class to post pre-seminar assignments. Learning goals include deeper qualitative understanding of physics and the scientific method, and improved skills in writing, teamwork, and communication. | EJ Zita | Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | ||||
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Science Seminar
EJ Zita |
Course | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 4, 6 | 04 06 | Day | FFall | In conjunction with , 15 students are invited to join our seminar for 4-6 credits. We will explore issues in modern physics such as cosmology, string theory, the "God particle" or Higgs boson, gravity and quantum mechanics. We will read about the beauty and importance of classical experiments, and equations such as E=mc . Science Seminar students will be able to interact with advanced students in physics and math. We will share our insights, ideas, and questions about the readings and our wonder about the universe. Students will write two essays and four peer responses, and will be expected to meet with their seminar team at least one day beforeeach class to post pre-seminar assignments. Learning goals include deeper qualitative understanding of physics and the scientific method, and improved skills in writing, teamwork, and communication. | EJ Zita | Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Thinking Straight: A Cooperative Approach to Critical Reasoning
David Paulsen |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | Do you want to work on improving your critical reasoning skills? This program is ideal for students with an interest in exploring techniques of critical reasoning. The program will be taught in a discussion/workshop format with only occasional mini-lectures to set the stage for class work. The program will focus on techniques of understanding and criticizing arguments and theories. It will emphasize a cooperative, dialogic approach to deciding what to believe. Thinking Straight will cover standard topics in informal logic including argument reconstruction, assessment of validity and fallacies. The program will contain an extensive discussion of ethical theory and reasoning about moral issues. It will examine ethical reasoning embedded in some films as well as in case studies. We will explore as well some topics concerning statistical and scientific reasoning. We will apply critical reasoning techniques to a number of contemporary, contentious issues found in a variety of texts including selections from books, newspaper editorials and columns, Web documents, and journal articles. Students will be expected to gather material and make presentations that clarify and assess the reasoning underlying important current issues. They will be evaluated on the basis of performance on assignments, in class discussion and project work, an annotated portfolio of material they collect over the quarter, as well as exams.Students will deal with the elements of the program through a series of structured workshops, including small and large group discussion as well as mini-lectures and assignments. In addition, students will be expected to submit essays growing out of the topics covered in the ethics component of the program and participate in a team project leading to a cooperative, critical exchange that debates two sides of a question in front of the class by providing arguments and appropriate criticism. | This program is ideal for first and second year students as well as others with an interest in exploring techniques of critical reasoning. As well as students interested in further study of philosophy and of law. | David Paulsen | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring |