Course Listings

How have cannibals, aliens, and monsters helped create a more civil world? This class explores how filmmakers use "fringe" genres like horror and sci-fi to tackle political, social, and cultural issues that mainstream cinema must avoid or sanitize. From the chilling examination of race and class in 1970s exploitation films to the way dystopian sci-fi challenges social norms, government control and surveillance Learn how "lowbrow" entertainment serves as a tool for discussing taboo topics: sexuality, poverty, racism, mental health, environmental destruction, disabilities, and government surveillance. We'll watch films that made audiences squirm, question, and even revolt, and then we learn to analyze the political subtext hidden within their wild plots and characters. Grab your popcorn, and let's uncover how genre cinema gets the job done.

In this drawing animation course, students will not only develop their drawing skills but learn how to bring their drawings to life with simple, 2D collage animation techniques. Using Adobe After Effects and Photoshop software, the class will create a series of short, visually experimental animations using various traditional physical drawing media and flatbed scanners. Although it is certainly possible to try, this class does not focus on traditional hand-drawn animation methods of creating multiple drawn frames to create the illusion of movement, (it's much easier and less time-consuming than that to animate a drawing in After Effects.) No previous drawing or software editing experience is required for this course.

"Old pond-frog jumps in-sound of water." So runs the famous haiku by Basho. Is it religious? For the Japanese, yes. In Japan religion and art are arguably the same thing. In this course we'll ask how and why. We'll study Japanese ideas about art and religion (e.g. emptiness, solitude, "sublime beauty"), and how they appear in Japanese literature. We'll read selections from Japanese poetry (including haiku), No drama, a classic novel (The Tale of Genji), and some short stories by Murakami and Kawabata.

rade politics are a complex nexus of domestic and international politics, economic conditions, global and regional institutions, business interests, and civil society. This course aims to provide an understanding of trade politics in the Asia-Pacific region - the largest market and manufacturing base in the world. The course introduces the latest developments in the Pacific Rim by reviewing the current status of global trade. This course has three main modules. First, the Trade in Goods module explains what trade looks like, how global trade works, and the barriers to trade. We will synthesize your understanding of trade by discussing advanced topics like global value chains and trade wars. Second, the Trade in Services and Digital Trade module introduces trade without physical existence. We will also address the recent controversies about trade (de-)regulations. The third module analyzes trade politics within and beyond the Asia-Pacific countries. In the end, students will learn about the top-down and bottom-up decision-making processes for trade policies. There are no prerequisites for this class. Students should be ready for active participation in student-oriented learning.

ENG-270-01=BLS-270-01 What does reading literature teach us about the connections between race and the law? How can legal and literary works be read to understand issues of race and justice? In this class, we will discuss how literature (both fiction and non-fiction) examines the way the law negotiates and reinforces systems of race, bias, and racism. We will think about the ways that a literary text depicts the law and encourages us to be effective critics of the law. Assigned reading materials include Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and legal writings by writers such as Michelle Alexander and Cheryl Harris. Assignments will include reading quizzes, short papers, oral presentations on the readings, a midterm, and a final exam. Students interested in attending law school or doing work in public policy in the future are highly encouraged to take the course.

BLS-270-02=ENG-310-01 African American Stories in Print and Film. Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Amiri Baraka's play, Dutchman, Toni Morrison's classic novel, Beloved, and Colson Whitehead's award-winning book, The Underground Railroad, are all African American authors whose work have been made into movies. In this course students will read and analyze African American literature in tandem with film adaptations. Students will be introduced to Literary Studies and Film Studies, through a Black Studies perspective.

Harlem Renaissance and Black Ex-Patriots in Paris In this seminar, students will study the U.S. Harlem Renaissance and the experiences of Black ex-patriots in 1920s Paris. During the post-war period, African American artists, writers, and intellectuals redefined Black identity and artistic expression in the United States, while others sought creative and personal freedom abroad. Paris, in particular, became a refuge for many Black Americans disillusioned by racial prejudice in the U.S. This migration was sparked in part by the presence of United States infantry bands that played--and played jazz--during World War I. The arrival of jazz in France ushered in Jazz Age Paris, where figures like Josephine Baker, Ada "Bricktop" Smith, Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins, and Benny Carter transformed the city's cultural landscape. Parisian clubs became legendary spaces where music and ideas mingled, drawing major talents worldwide and offering artists more freedom than in the United States. Throughout the course, students will read historical monographs that provide context for this era, including Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light, Negrophilia: Avant-Garde Paris and Black Culture in the 1920s, Making Jazz French: Music and Modern Life in Interwar Paris, and Harlem in Montmartre: A Paris Jazz Story Between the Great Wars. The course will also examine American literature from the period, such as Invisible Man, The Souls of Black Folk, and Sweat. Discussions and readings will focus on the influence of jazz in Paris and that of the Harlem Renaissance to draw connections between Harlem and Paris as the global centers of Black modernism that shaped Black artistic and intellectual history in the early 20th century.

Forensic Chemistry. The continued popularity of crime scene analysis dramas and literary whodunits reflect society's fascination with criminal investigation. This introductory survey course in chemistry will focus on the theme of forensic science. Designed for non-science concentrators, this class explores the historical and philosophical developments in chemistry, as well as applications of chemical principles to criminalistics in the laboratory setting. Topics include the development of the atomic theory of matter, atomic structure, chemical bonding, thermodynamics, the chemistry of life (organic and biochemistry), and forensic analysis. In addition, the course will explore the role of forensics in law enforcement, data ethics, bias, and issues relating to equity and social justice. Some elementary mathematics will be used. Class meetings are complemented by a required laboratory activity each week. Partially fulfills the College laboratory science requirement, but cannot be combined with CHE-101 or CHE-111 to complete this distribution requirement. This course does not satisfy major or minor requirements for chemistry or those for the biochemistry major. Only one course from CHE-101, CHE-102, or CHE-111 may be counted toward the total number of credits required for graduation.

Forensic Chemistry. The continued popularity of crime scene analysis dramas and literary whodunits reflect society's fascination with criminal investigation. This introductory survey course in chemistry will focus on the theme of forensic science. Designed for non-science concentrators, this class explores the historical and philosophical developments in chemistry, as well as applications of chemical principles to criminalistics in the laboratory setting. Topics include the development of the atomic theory of matter, atomic structure, chemical bonding, thermodynamics, the chemistry of life (organic and biochemistry), and forensic analysis. In addition, the course will explore the role of forensics in law enforcement, data ethics, bias, and issues relating to equity and social justice. Some elementary mathematics will be used. Class meetings are complemented by a required laboratory activity each week. Partially fulfills the College laboratory science requirement, but cannot be combined with CHE-101 or CHE-111 to complete this distribution requirement. This course does not satisfy major or minor requirements for chemistry or those for the biochemistry major. Only one course from CHE-101, CHE-102, or CHE-111 may be counted toward the total number of credits required for graduation.

Enrollment is instructor permission. This course is designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of advanced methods used in modern organic chemistry research. Students will gain hands-on experience with laboratory techniques necessary for working with air-sensitive, organic, and aqueous reaction conditions, as well as methods of purification and analysis like chromatography and spectroscopy. In addition, students will learn about the application of organic chemistry principles to the synthesis of small molecule fluorescent dyes. This course will emphasize critical thinking, creative problem solving, data analysis, and scientific communication skills through maintaining a detailed laboratory notebook, a cumulative research report, weekly technical discussions, and oral presentations. This course does not count towards the major if CHE487 or CHE488 is also taken. Enrollment is by instructor permission.

2nd half semester course. Genetic engineering has transformed our ability to conduct biological research-and alter organisms for use in agriculture and medicine. This course will look in depth at the processes used to introduce new genetic material into organisms and techniques for altering gene expression and genes themselves, including RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9. The course will focus on genetically engineered foods as well as RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 in research, in medicine and agriculture. The core readings for the course will be primary literature papers and case studies.

2nd half semester course. According to a recent study, 13% of all FDA approved drugs target nuclear receptors. These include drugs to treat cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol and thyroid diseases. Nuclear receptors are proteins that modulate gene expression through the recruitment of repressor or activator complexes, ultimately controlling expression of downstream gene products. This course will examine the structure and function of the steroid, thyroid and retinoic acid receptors in the cell and drugs that modulate these systems.

1st half semester course. This course will provide students with a strong foundation in the Python coding for chemistry applications. No prior programming experience is required. Students will learn to process and visualize various chemical and biochemical data using Python. Topics will include plotting data, performing simulations, storing, viewing, and modifying chemical structures, and performing bioinformatic sequence analyses of proteins.

1st half semester course. This senior capstone course will challenge students with an application of fundamental concepts from earlier coursework to the topic of dyes. From textiles to medicine to cutting-edge experiments using fluorescence, dyes are chemical tools with a long and interdisciplinary history. In-depth exploration will connect overarching themes in the major and provide a powerful launching point for written comprehensive exam preparation. Critical engagement with the primary literature and diverse modes of oral and written presentation will be emphasized. This one-half credit course is required of all chemistry majors and meets twice each week for the first half of the semester.

CLA-113-01=HIS-210-01 During the debates over the ratification of America's Constitution, some of the most influential Founding Fathers wrote under classical pseudonyms like Publius, Brutus, and Cato. In fact, when Europeans first arrived in the Americas, they often looked to historical models from the ancient past to make sense of the "New World." Chief among these was the example of Ancient Rome, which profoundly influenced the colonial societies that took shape in the wake of English, Spanish, and Portuguese conquests. This course will examine the history of Ancient Rome and its reception in the Americas. We will focus on historical episodes in which debates about Rome and its legacy played a key role, ranging from the founding of the American Republic to the Spanish conquest of Mexico. This is a first-half semester course. If students register in this section, they cannot take the second-half semester course that is the same (i.e. students cannot take both CLA-113-01 and CLA-113-02)

CLA-113-02=HIS-210-02 During the debates over the ratification of America's Constitution, some of the most influential Founding Fathers wrote under classical pseudonyms like Publius, Brutus, and Cato. In fact, when Europeans first arrived in the Americas, they often looked to historical models from the ancient past to make sense of the "New World." Chief among these was the example of Ancient Rome, which profoundly influenced the colonial societies that took shape in the wake of English, Spanish, and Portuguese conquests. This course will examine the history of Ancient Rome and its reception in the Americas. We will focus on historical episodes in which debates about Rome and its legacy played a key role, ranging from the founding of the American Republic to the Spanish conquest of Mexico. This is a second-half semester course. If students register in this section, they cannot take the first-half semester course that is the same. (i.e. students cannot take both CLA-113-01 and CLA-113-02)

CLA-113-03=HIS-210-03 Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey - epic poems about the Trojan War and Odysseus' homeward journey - stood at the heart of ancient Greek culture. Before they were written down, however, bards sung them around campfires for half a millennium. Those intervening centuries saw climate change, famine, disease, massive movements of population, and the collapse of major civilizations around the Eastern Mediterranean. And so this course investigates the archaeological record to ask: Do the Iliad and the Odyssey mirror such events or are they merely stories? What historical truths do the poems reflect? And how has the work of Wabash students and faculty contributed to our knowledge? This is a first-half semester course. If students register in this section, they cannot take the second-half semester course that is the same (i.e. students cannot take both CLA-113-03 and CLA-113-04)

CLA-113-04=HIS-210-04 Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey - epic poems about the Trojan War and Odysseus' homeward journey - stood at the heart of ancient Greek culture. Before they were written down, however, bards sung them around campfires for half a millennium. Those intervening centuries saw climate change, famine, disease, massive movements of population, and the collapse of major civilizations around the Eastern Mediterranean. And so this course investigates the archaeological record to ask: Do the Iliad and the Odyssey mirror such events or are they merely stories? What historical truths do the poems reflect? And how has the work of Wabash students and faculty contributed to our knowledge? This is a second-half semester course. If students register in this section, they cannot take the first-half semester course that is the same (i.e. students cannot take both CLA-113-03 and CLA-113-04)

This course provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts and techniques of computer graphics. Students will explore both theoretical and practical aspects of graphics programming, including rasterization, geometric transformations, rendering, shading, and basic animation. The course covers essential topics such as the graphics pipeline, 2D and 3D representations, color models, and texture mapping. In addition to traditional graphics programming, students will be introduced to parallel computing concepts with simple CUDA programming to accelerate certain graphics computations.

CSC-338-01=MAT-338-01 Machine learning as a term was first coined in 1959 by Arthur Samuel, based on work he did developing a computer checkers game. The area has grown vastly since then and is used for applications from self-driving vehicles to ChatGPT. This course will explore both the theory and practice of machine learning models and algorithms.

In this course, we will explore one example of an educational policy/practice that has been adopted in selected schools and districts to improve student learning and/or engagement: arts integration. Historically, visual and performing arts activities have been introduced into core content instruction in U.S. schools to increase student interest and engagement, and to improve and deepen student learning. Strategies have included not only showing students examples of artworks and performances as a part of instruction, but teaching and allowing students to creat their own drawings, paintings, sculptures, and performances to demonstrate their mastery of content area skills. These strategies have been used not only in fields typically considered to overlap with the arts, such as English Language Arts and social studies, but also in math and science classrooms. Over the course of the semester, we will read and evaluate studies that detail effects upon student learning, and also experiment with modes of instruction using the arts in ways that have been studied. NOTE: This course is in progress for approval as EDU-245 Special Topics in Education Studies, with Behavioral Science distribution credit.

With an eye toward issues of equity and justice within and across public schools and their communities in rural, suburban, and urban settings, students in this course will explore the various elements of historical, cultural, economic, social, and political influences that shape public education in the U.S. Through a variety of course texts, including academic publications, documentaries, and podcasts, students will be introduced to the ways in which socioeconomic (poverty/wealth) diversity and sociocultural (racial/ethnic) diversity within schools and communities characterize public schools in various settings. As part of an investigation into how schools function in rural, suburban, and urban communities, the class will use civic mapping to examine the ways in which community dynamics and lack of resources can exacerbate inequities at the same time identify community assets and partnerships that provide support and resources for a more just and equitable public school experience for all students. Finally, the class will study how a variety of school districts within urban, rural, and suburban communities characterized by distinctive demographics have diverse needs and resources that often determine schools' unique curricular and programmatic offerings.

ENG-270-01=BLS-270-01 What does reading literature teach us about the connections between race and the law? How can legal and literary works be read to understand issues of race and justice? In this class, we will discuss how literature (both fiction and non-fiction) examines the way the law negotiates and reinforces systems of race, bias, and racism. We will think about the ways that a literary text depicts the law and encourages us to be effective critics of the law. Assigned reading materials include Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and legal writings by writers such as Michelle Alexander and Cheryl Harris. Assignments will include reading quizzes, short papers, oral presentations on the readings, a midterm, and a final exam. Students interested in attending law school or doing work in public policy in the future are highly encouraged to take the course.

ENG-310-01=BLS-270-02 African American Stories in Print and Film. Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Amiri Baraka's play, Dutchman, Toni Morrison's classic novel, Beloved, and Colson Whitehead's award-winning book, The Underground Railroad, are all African American authors whose work have been made into movies. In this course students will read and analyze African American literature in tandem with film adaptations. Students will be introduced to Literary Studies and Film Studies, through a Black Studies perspective.

In this course, students will explore the history and theories of German language theatre and engage in discussions about cultural appropriation, stereotypes, and ethical representations on stage. Students will also create and perform their own play in the style of Epic Theatre, using approaches and techniques they have learned to provoke thought and engagement about a relevant societal problem of their choosing. The first half of this course will be what you might expect from a typical humanities seminar: there will be readings, discussions, and a few brief lectures. The second half of the semester will be focused on theatre practice, including collaborative and creative work in the classroom and reflection at home. The course will culminate in a performance, in which every student will participate in a capacity in which they feel comfortable.

HIS 200: Drugs and Society Modern History What is a drug? This course examines the history of drugs in society by first asking what a drug or intoxicant might be. The class will then consider how different cultures have accepted or rejected drugs based on their usefulness or danger to the social order. We will examine changing cultural attitudes toward drugs, the rise of modern drug regulation, and the development of pharmaceutical drugs. For example, why did drinking coffee and tea become an accepted activity, but smoking opium was increasingly frowned upon during the nineteenth century? Why did Viagra become medically acceptable, but mercury fell out of favor to treat disease in the 20th century? Key topics will include: The growth and regulation of the opium trade in the 19th century Drugs and Sports The cultural, economic, and social factors shaping alcohol policies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries The medicalization of drug use The impact of drug regulation and the emergence of the global war on drugs in the 20th century The historical interpretations of Cannabis, Alcohol (Tequila, Absinthe), Meth, Viagra, Chocolate, etc. This course suits all students interested in history, sociology, and public health. By the end of the course, students will have developed critical thinking and analytical skills better to understand the historical relationships between drugs and various communities. There is no immersion trip associated with this course, but to be blunt, in addition to short assignments and two exams, students will have a daily dose of reading and discussion.

HIS 200: Drugs and Society Modern History What is a drug? This course examines the history of drugs in society by first asking what a drug or intoxicant might be. The class will then consider how different cultures have accepted or rejected drugs based on their usefulness or danger to the social order. We will examine changing cultural attitudes toward drugs, the rise of modern drug regulation, and the development of pharmaceutical drugs. For example, why did drinking coffee and tea become an accepted activity, but smoking opium was increasingly frowned upon during the nineteenth century? Why did Viagra become medically acceptable, but mercury fell out of favor to treat disease in the 20th century? Key topics will include: The growth and regulation of the opium trade in the 19th century Drugs and Sports The cultural, economic, and social factors shaping alcohol policies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries The medicalization of drug use The impact of drug regulation and the emergence of the global war on drugs in the 20th century The historical interpretations of Cannabis, Alcohol (Tequila, Absinthe), Meth, Viagra, Chocolate, etc. This course suits all students interested in history, sociology, and public health. By the end of the course, students will have developed critical thinking and analytical skills better to understand the historical relationships between drugs and various communities. There is no immersion trip associated with this course, but to be blunt, in addition to short assignments and two exams, students will have a daily dose of reading and discussion.

HIS-200-02=REL-290-01 How will the world end? When will the world end? Will the world end at all? On Saturday March 25, 2023, Donald Trump held a rally in Waco, Texas. Why there? Last January, the Doomsday Clock moved closer to midnight for the first time in two years. Wars in Israel and Palestine have renewed fundamentalists' focus on the return of Jesus. What does this all mean? This course will study the history of how these questions have been posed and answered from Jewish and Christian communities in the ancient Mediterranean world to Christians in medieval Europe to contemporary America. Using the lenses of social and cultural history, we will examine how these apocalyptic ideologies have been shaped by historical events and how subgroups have interacted with, and often changed, society.

This is a first-half semester course. If students register in this section, they cannot take the second-half semester course that is the same. During the debates over the ratification of America's Constitution, some of the most influential Founding Fathers wrote under classical pseudonyms like Publius, Brutus, and Cato. In fact, when Europeans first arrived in the Americas, they often looked to historical models from the ancient past to make sense of the "New World." Chief among these was the example of Ancient Rome, which profoundly influenced the colonial societies that took shape in the wake of English, Spanish, and Portuguese conquests. This course will examine the history of Ancient Rome and its reception in the Americas. We will focus on historical episodes in which debates about Rome and its legacy played a key role, ranging from the founding of the American Republic to the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

This is a second-half semester course. If students register in this section, they cannot take the first-half semester course that is the same. During the debates over the ratification of America's Constitution, some of the most influential Founding Fathers wrote under classical pseudonyms like Publius, Brutus, and Cato. In fact, when Europeans first arrived in the Americas, they often looked to historical models from the ancient past to make sense of the "New World." Chief among these was the example of Ancient Rome, which profoundly influenced the colonial societies that took shape in the wake of English, Spanish, and Portuguese conquests. This course will examine the history of Ancient Rome and its reception in the Americas. We will focus on historical episodes in which debates about Rome and its legacy played a key role, ranging from the founding of the American Republic to the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

CLA-113-03=HIS-210-03 Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey - epic poems about the Trojan War and Odysseus' homeward journey - stood at the heart of ancient Greek culture. Before they were written down, however, bards sung them around campfires for half a millennium. Those intervening centuries saw climate change, famine, disease, massive movements of population, and the collapse of major civilizations around the Eastern Mediterranean. And so this course investigates the archaeological record to ask: Do the Iliad and the Odyssey mirror such events or are they merely stories? What historical truths do the poems reflect? And how has the work of Wabash students and faculty contributed to our knowledge? This is a first-half semester course. If students register in this section, they cannot take the second-half semester course that is the same (i.e. students cannot take both CLA-113-03 and CLA-113-04)

CLA-113-04=HIS-210-04 Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey - epic poems about the Trojan War and Odysseus' homeward journey - stood at the heart of ancient Greek culture. Before they were written down, however, bards sung them around campfires for half a millennium. Those intervening centuries saw climate change, famine, disease, massive movements of population, and the collapse of major civilizations around the Eastern Mediterranean. And so this course investigates the archaeological record to ask: Do the Iliad and the Odyssey mirror such events or are they merely stories? What historical truths do the poems reflect? And how has the work of Wabash students and faculty contributed to our knowledge? This is a first-half semester course. If students register in this section, they cannot take the second-half semester course that is the same (i.e. students cannot take both CLA-113-03 and CLA-113-04)

The four lads from Liverpool were arguably the most significant cultural event of the mid-20th c, from popular music to fashion, politics, and religion. This immersion course will study the Beatles in their social, political and cultural context, from post-war Britain of the 1940s, through the economic and social recovery of the 50s, and the swinging and turbulent 60s. We will use a range of methods including social and cultural history as well as musicology. After extensive study of the history and music of the period, we will travel to Liverpool and London during Thanksgiving recess to visit Beatles' sites and key historical museums such as the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool and the Imperial War Museum in London.

Harlem Renaissance and Black Ex-Patriots in Paris In this seminar, students will study the U.S. Harlem Renaissance and the experiences of Black ex-patriots in 1920s Paris. During the post-war period, African American artists, writers, and intellectuals redefined Black identity and artistic expression in the United States, while others sought creative and personal freedom abroad. Paris, in particular, became a refuge for many Black Americans disillusioned by racial prejudice in the U.S. This migration was sparked in part by the presence of United States infantry bands that played--and played jazz--during World War I. The arrival of jazz in France ushered in Jazz Age Paris, where figures like Josephine Baker, Ada "Bricktop" Smith, Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins, and Benny Carter transformed the city's cultural landscape. Parisian clubs became legendary spaces where music and ideas mingled, drawing major talents worldwide and offering artists more freedom than in the United States. Throughout the course, students will read historical monographs that provide context for this era, including Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light, Negrophilia: Avant-Garde Paris and Black Culture in the 1920s, Making Jazz French: Music and Modern Life in Interwar Paris, and Harlem in Montmartre: A Paris Jazz Story Between the Great Wars. The course will also examine American literature from the period, such as Invisible Man, The Souls of Black Folk, and Sweat. Discussions and readings will focus on the influence of jazz in Paris and that of the Harlem Renaissance to draw connections between Harlem and Paris as the global centers of Black modernism that shaped Black artistic and intellectual history in the early 20th century.

"History of Mexico" will introduce students to the Aztecs and Mayans, the rise of the Spanish colony, the fight for independence in the early 1800s, the rise of the republic throughout the 19th century, the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1940s, the reign of a single party until 2000, and recent 21st century history. Throughout the class, students will read secondary and primary sources that explore these larger historical processes as well as unique aspects of Mexican history. For example, students will learn about student activism, queer history, soccer, and wrestling. The course includes an immersion trip to Mexico City during Thanksgiving Break 2025.

"History of Mexico" will introduce students to the Aztecs and Mayans, the rise of the Spanish colony, the fight for independence in the early 1800s, the rise of the republic throughout the 19th century, the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1940s, the reign of a single party until 2000, and recent 21st century history. Throughout the class, students will read secondary and primary sources that explore these larger historical processes as well as unique aspects of Mexican history. For example, students will learn about student activism, queer history, soccer, and wrestling. The course includes an immersion trip to Mexico City during Thanksgiving Break 2025.

General theory and application of probability and statistics, including probability for finite sample spaces, discrete and continuous distributions, marginal and conditional distributions, mathematical expectation, variance, moment-generating functions, functions of random variables, the Central Limit Theorem, sampling distributions, the methods of estimation and their application, hypothesis testing, regression and correlation. This course is offered in the fall semester. This course is equivalent to MAT-253 and MAT-254, and will satisfy the program requirements that these courses fulfill (i.e., for majors in FEC or MAT). Students may not receive credit for this course and either MAT-253 or MAT-254.

This course gives an introduction to mathematical finance, drawing on applications from both Main street (loans and mortgages) and Wall Street (stocks, bonds, futures, derivatives) to provide motivation and context. A simple, yet essential, guiding question for the course is how much value will $1 invested in a savings account or stock be worth in the future. Special emphasis is given to the efficient market hypothesis and arbitrage. When replication arguments alone are not enough to predict prices of risky contracts, we use the binomial pricing model and geometric Brownian motion. This course is equivalent to MAT-251 and MAT-252, and will satisfy the program requirements that these courses fulfill (i.e., for majors in FEC or MAT). Students may not receive credit for this course and either MAT-251 or MAT-252.

CSC-338-01=MAT-338-01 Machine learning as a term was first coined in 1959 by Arthur Samuel, based on work he did developing a computer checkers game. The area has grown vastly since then and is used for applications from self-driving vehicles to ChatGPT. This course will explore both the theory and practice of machine learning models and algorithms.

The four lads from Liverpool were arguably the most significant cultural event of the mid-20th c, from popular music to fashion, politics, and religion. This immersion course will study the Beatles in their social, political and cultural context, from post-war Britain of the 1940s, through the economic and social recovery of the 50s, and the swinging and turbulent 60s. We will use a range of methods including social and cultural history as well as musicology. After extensive study of the history and music of the period, we will travel to Liverpool and London during Thanksgiving recess to visit Beatles' sites and key historical museums such as the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool and the Imperial War Museum in London.

MUS-204-01=REL-195-01 This course considers examines the relationship between different kinds of music and Christianity. We'll discuss examples from chant in Medieval monasteries to Contemporary Christian pop music, using the music to examine the societal, political, and aesthetic priorities of specific times and places in history. We will also consider the concept of "sacred music" in a broad sense, examining how its definitions have changed over time.

1st half semester course. PSY-210-01=NSC-210-01 In recent decades, our understanding of the benefits of mindfulness for our health and flourishing has greatly improved. And today, we find ourselves at a point where the neural basis of mindfulness, and the impact of mindfulness interventions on the brain, are becoming more clear. In this course, we will consider the relationship between mindfulness and stress, attention, emotion regulation, and body awareness through the lens of the available neuroscience literature. We'll also consider the potential for mindfulness to be cultivated (through formal mindfulness-interventions, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy), and the strength of the evidence that mindfulness interventions can produce positive changes in nervous system function, as well as the potential for people to experience adverse outcomes in mindfulness training.

Could a computer genuinely think? Are we in a simulation? Is there a God? Are we free to choose how we will act in the world? What do we owe to one another, and to ourselves? Is it really a good idea to think critically, or should we trust what experts tell us? Could a banana duct-taped to a wall really be a work of art? How would you go about answering these questions? Philosophers think through these questions, and many others, by developing and critiquing arguments for possible answers to them. This course will serve as an introduction to philosophy via an in-depth study of philosophical arguments such as these. In the course, you will learn to use argument-mapping software to clearly and precisely articulate the structure of philosophical arguments so that you can understand and evaluate them more effectively. In addition to introducing you to some fascinating philosophical topics, this course will greatly improve your skills in reading and writing texts (including articles and papers for other classes!) that contain arguments.

Here are some things that I take myself to know. The world around me is real, and not merely a simulation. The universe is billions of years old, and did not come into existence five minutes ago. Antarctica is a continent, but the Arctic is not. There are 211 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. The sun will rise tomorrow. But how do I know those things? What reliable information can I really have about the world around me? These questions are made particularly pressing by the existence of philosophical skepticism, according to which it is impossible for us to know what the world around us is actually like. Despite skepticism's absurd appearance, it is of enduring interest because of the power of the arguments in favor of it. Thus, to study skepticism, we will direct most of our attention to the careful study of arguments. The arguments we study will come from classic and contemporary philosophical works, and we will study them by using software called MindMup to map their structure. This will put us in a position to understand and evaluate these skeptical arguments, with an eye toward determining how we can have knowledge of the world around us.

PHI-319-01=PPE-329-01 Winston Churchill famously said that democracy was the worst form of government - except for all the others. In this course, we will examine the love-hate relationship between political thought and democratic power. We will explore various theories of democracy, as well as old and new criticisms of popular rule. Our two guiding questions will be: what is democracy, and is it a good idea?

Despite the political upheavals through which actually existing socialism underwent during the 20th century, Karl Marx's (1818-1883) philosophy continues to be useful not only for describing social relations in the 21st century, but also for providing norms to criticize these social relations. However, while orthodox Marxism explained social relations along the single category of class oppression, contemporary thinkers from the global south such as Charles Mills (1951-2021) and Enrique Dussel (1934-2023) offer innovative interpretations of Marx's central ideas to explain and criticize racial and colonial forms of oppression. Common to Mills and Dussel is that their appeal to Marx aims to challenge liberal ethical and political conceptions of justice and injustice by accounting for the material aspects of the social world. This senior seminar will introduce students to Marx's philosophy through a detailed analysis of Mill's and Dussel's interpretations, as well as to these thinkers' challenge to ethical and political liberalism. Among others, these discussions will lead us to consider topics in the philosophical areas of social ontology, epistemology, and ethics.

Trade politics are a complex nexus of domestic and international politics, economic conditions, global and regional institutions, business interests, and civil society. This course aims to provide an understanding of trade politics in the Asia-Pacific region - the largest market and manufacturing base in the world. The course introduces the latest developments in the Pacific Rim by reviewing the current status of global trade. This course has three main modules. First, the Trade in Goods module explains what trade looks like, how global trade works, and the barriers to trade. We will synthesize your understanding of trade by discussing advanced topics like global value chains and trade wars. Second, the Trade in Services and Digital Trade module introduces trade without physical existence. We will also address the recent controversies about trade (de-)regulations. The third module analyzes trade politics within and beyond the Asia-Pacific countries. In the end, students will learn about the top-down and bottom-up decision-making processes for trade policies. There are no prerequisites for this class. Students should be ready for active participation in student-oriented learning.

PHI-319-01=PPE-329-01 Winston Churchill famously said that democracy was the worst form of government - except for all the others. In this course, we will examine the love-hate relationship between political thought and democratic power. We will explore various theories of democracy, as well as old and new criticisms of popular rule. Our two guiding questions will be: what is democracy, and is it a good idea?

Trade politics are a complex nexus of domestic and international politics, economic conditions, global and regional institutions, business interests, and civil society. This course aims to provide an understanding of trade politics in the Asia-Pacific region - the largest market and manufacturing base in the world. The course introduces the latest developments in the Pacific Rim by reviewing the current status of global trade. This course has three main modules. First, the Trade in Goods module explains what trade looks like, how global trade works, and the barriers to trade. We will synthesize your understanding of trade by discussing advanced topics like global value chains and trade wars. Second, the Trade in Services and Digital Trade module introduces trade without physical existence. We will also address the recent controversies about trade (de-)regulations. The third module analyzes trade politics within and beyond the Asia-Pacific countries. In the end, students will learn about the top-down and bottom-up decision-making processes for trade policies. There are no prerequisites for this class. Students should be ready for active participation in student-oriented learning.

2nd half semester course. Mindfulness has become increasingly popular in programs to help support health and wellness. Studies of mindfulness programs have focused on a range of potential benefits, from stress reduction and managing blood pressure, to helping with substance abuse and sleep quality. In this course, we focus on the psychology of stress and focus on developing mindfulness through practices drawn from Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR), adapted for the college classroom. We will also consider how mindfulness today (which is often presented as set of secular tools) has roots in several contemplative traditions. Class activities will focus heavily on active participation in components MBSR and application of mindfulness to our daily life.

1st half semester course. PSY-210-01=NSC-210-01 In recent decades, our understanding of the benefits of mindfulness for our health and flourishing has greatly improved. And today, we find ourselves at a point where the neural basis of mindfulness, and the impact of mindfulness interventions on the brain, are becoming more clear. In this course, we will consider the relationship between mindfulness and stress, attention, emotion regulation, and body awareness through the lens of the available neuroscience literature. We'll also consider the potential for mindfulness to be cultivated (through formal mindfulness-interventions, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy), and the strength of the evidence that mindfulness interventions can produce positive changes in nervous system function, as well as the potential for people to experience adverse outcomes in mindfulness training.

MUS-204-01=REL-195-01 This course considers examines the relationship between different kinds of music and Christianity. We'll discuss examples from chant in Medieval monasteries to Contemporary Christian pop music, using the music to examine the societal, political, and aesthetic priorities of specific times and places in history. We will also consider the concept of "sacred music" in a broad sense, examining how its definitions have changed over time.

"All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor" (Gal 2:10). In this course, we will work to remember the poor in the ancient world, working mostly with Jewish and Christian texts from antiquity, before thinking about contemporary initiatives to address poverty. We will consider the legal traditions regarding poverty in the Hebrew Bible, the economic context of the early Jesus movement, the Roman economy, the Pauline "collection", the institutionalization of alms giving, the moral and theological significance given to wealth and poverty, and the economic language used to structure theological concepts like salvation.

How have Christians understood and practiced fatherhood throughout church history? What principles and sources of authority have guided men and families as they have sought to live out their faith in this area? This course examines Christian convictions and customs in relation to fatherhood in Scripture and the early church, and then primarily in western church history, with particular focus on the American context. What has fatherhood looked like among Christians? How have they viewed and raised their children, and to what ends? What shapes might fatherhood take in the contemporary world?

Some people want to change the world for the better on the basis of their faith. Some people want to develop their own self and interior life on the basis of their faith. But what about the person who wants to do both? This course proposes that each of those goals works better if pursued in tandem with the other. The class blends discussion of key texts with other innovative activities. We will visit churches who do extraordinary things in service to the common good and in hopes that social transformation can happen. All students will also participate in one weekend retreat where we can have longer conversations over campfires and hikes to get to a deeper level of understanding what part of the social fabric we want to work on. This course has no prerequisites, but it does require that students who take it commit to serious thought about who they want to be as a man, a father, a husband, a worker, on the one hand, and what kind of of society they want their kids, their spouse, their co-workers and their fellow man to live in. Readings will include classics from the Christian theological tradition such as Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther, Dorothy Day, Thomas Aquinas, and Howard Thurman, as well as some biblical passages. We will also read philosophers and sociologists about what kinds of social transformation is possible and under which conditions. Finally, we will look at some voices from outside the Christian tradition in Islam, Judaism, and political theory.

Are religion and science in conflict with each other? In agreement? How or why, one way or the other? These are our questions. We'll do two main things in this course. First, we'll take a careful look at the different "ways of knowing" that are characteristic of science and religion, respectively. Second, we'll look at several models for thinking critically and responsibly about how they are related. Readings will include selections from Bertolt Brecht, Alan Lightman, Jacob Bronowski, Adam Frank, and others, as well as some classic texts in the history of science. This is a first-half semester course.

This course investigates the beliefs and practices of new, marginal, and dissenting American religious groups, which are often labeled "sects" or "cults." We will draw upon the sociology of religion to understand these terms and new religious movements and reformist groups in general. Primarily, we will focus on the history, theology, and practices of groups such as Mormons, Pentecostals, Branch Davidians, the Peoples Temple, Scientology, and the New Age movement.

HIS-200-02=REL-290-01 How will the world end? When will the world end? Will the world end at all? On Saturday March 25, 2023, Donald Trump held a rally in Waco, Texas. Why there? Last January, the Doomsday Clock moved closer to midnight for the first time in two years. Wars in Israel and Palestine have renewed fundamentalists' focus on the return of Jesus. What does this all mean? This course will study the history of how these questions have been posed and answered from Jewish and Christian communities in the ancient Mediterranean world to Christians in medieval Europe to contemporary America. Using the lenses of social and cultural history, we will examine how these apocalyptic ideologies have been shaped by historical events and how subgroups have interacted with, and often changed, society.

We tend to focus our energies on building a happy and secure future for ourselves; yet in a real sense we live surrounded by death, threatened by the impermanence of our relationships and by the fragility of life on our planet. The fear of death and the dread of what comes afterward is part of the human experience, both in the ancient and modern world. Yet, in our time, we keep death at a firm distance, isolating it into the clinical space. It is the domain of professionals. On the other hand, there is a substantial ancient literary tradition of 'descending' to visit the underworld and 'ascending' to visit the heavenly; to observe, search, behold, and, sometimes, to escape. Death was part of life. However, these places are far from static conceptions. The theologies of the afterlife develop in notable ways. In this course, we will go on our own 'Tour of Heaven and Hell', so to speak, and explore the wide array of underworld and afterlife conceptions in ancient Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian sources. Why? It is illuminating and historically rich to observe the development and function of the afterlife in relation to social and political and religious concerns. We will also embark on a cemetery restoration project and delve into the material aspects of death.

"Old pond-frog jumps in-sound of water." So runs the famous haiku by Basho. Is it religious? For the Japanese, yes. In Japan religion and art are arguably the same thing. In this course we'll ask how and why. We'll study Japanese ideas about art and religion (e.g. emptiness, solitude, "sublime beauty"), and how they appear in Japanese literature. We'll read selections from Japanese poetry (including haiku), No drama, a classic novel (The Tale of Genji), and some short stories by Murakami and Kawabata. This is a second-half semester course.

This course will introduce tudents to the art of theatrical lighting design. Students will come to understand the basics of contemporary lighting technology, learn the history of theatrical lighting, and get hands-on experience by creating and executing a lighting design for a mainstage production. From the use of color theory and the psychological effects of light to angle theories and drafting, the process of creating lighting environments for theatre, music, and dance performances has applications far beyond the stage; lighting design is a critical element in film and digital media production as well as interior design and architecture. This course is appropriate for first-year students.