Freshman Seminars Fall 1999
African Worlds
Sandra Barnes, Professor of Anthropology
This course concentrates on popular culture in sub-Saharan Africa.
It examines the way people reflect on and represent various aspects
and issues in their daily lives, in public media, and through a diverse
range of performative and creative outlets. It explores the way cultural
traditions are created, promulgated, and perpetuated. It looks at the
way popular culture deals with pleasure and pain; identity, difference,
and diversity; wealth and power; modernity and history; gender relations;
suppression, resistance, and violence; and local versus global processes.
In short, popular culture will serve as a window through which to observe
contemporary life. (Distribution)
anth (025) 018.401 or afst (010) 018.401 | Tuesday | 1:30 – 4:20
Identity, Intimacy and Maturity
Vivian Seltzer, Professor of Human Development and Behavior
Psychological development is ongoing throughout life. Specific age periods are defined as critical periods of development when psychological identity is either resolved or remains unfulfilled as a result of premature closure or identity diffusion. Identity, intimacy and maturity are related concepts; independent but intertwined. A full identity reinforces psychological readiness for intimacy (which may or may not be accompanied by physical intimacy). Possession of identity and the ability it brings to engage in intimate relations profoundly affects attainment of psychosocial maturity.
This course examines both the process and content of critical areas of psychosocial functioning. Both the idiosyncratic nature and the interrelated dimensions of each of the three periods are examined as are definitions, positive and/or negative contributing forces, manifestations, irregularities and so forth.
Readings introduce the theoretical framework which underpins these
three concepts. Class seminars present their theoretical linkages and
raise further issues; class projects and assignments allow for pragmatic
analyses. (Distribution)
frsm (233) 104.301 | Tuesday | 1:00 – 4:00
Dilemmas in International Development
Richard Estes, Professor, School of Social Work
Students will be exposed to the interplay of international forces that inhibit the progress of developing nations and can actually add to their maldevelopment.
They will undertake an original piece of research on an international
development topic of special interest to them. They will also be invited
to meet with prominent professionals in the international development
community. (Distribution)
frsm (233) 106.301 | Wednesday | 2:00 – 5:00
Integrity
Joan Goodman, Professor of Elementary Education and Howard Lesnick,
Professor of Law
The concept of integrity as a moral value has been aptly called both
fundamental and elusive. Drawing on readings from literature, philosophy
and the social sciences, this course will examine the meaning of integrity
and the reasons underlying its centrality and elusiveness. We will also
consider the ways in which it may come to play a defining role in decision
making, in our personal lives as students, teachers, and citizens and
in the ethics of such professions as business, education, law and medicine.
(Distribution)
frsm (233) 128.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 10:30 – 12:00
Consumer Culture
Robert Blair St. George, Associate Professor of Folklore and Folklife
This seminar will explore the formative impact of the consumption of
commodities—their acquisition, possession, and advertising imagery—on
concepts of self and society. Why and how does consumption shape culture
as a set of interpretive practices that is distinctly modern? How does
consumer culture condition our understandings of desire and hedonism,
of virtue and restraint? By looking at such activities as advertising,
personal refinement, architectural reform, world’s fairs, and shopping,
we will attempt to answer these and other basic questions concerning
commerce, culture, and civil society. (Distribution)
hist (317) 108.401 or folk (221) 100.401 | Tuesday & Thursday |
10:30 – 12:00
Science and Utopia
Mark Adams, Professor of the History and Sociology of Science
This seminar explores the role of scientific, technical and social
knowledge in shaping concepts of a future “ideal society.”
Each week, we will read and discuss a utopia. After working through
the “classic” utopias of Plato, Campanella, Andrea and Bacon,
we will see how the experience of 19th and 20th century science, and
the “utopian experiments” of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia,
led to an updating of the tradition (as in Huxley’s Brave New World)
and to its ultimate repudiation in various classic “dystopias”
(such as Orwell’s 1984). (Distribution)
hssc (321) 007.301 | Monday | 2:00 – 5:00
Disease and American Culture
Elizabeth Toon, Lecturer in History and Sociology of Science
Influenza and Ebola, syphilis and aids, breast cancer and heart disease—whether
rare or pervasive, disease frightens and threatens us, shaping our identities
and our interactions with others. In this class we will look at how
scholars and others have written about disease, and we will begin to
explore our own ideas about illness, contagion, risk, danger, and death.
Course materials include historical and social scientific studies of
medical knowledge and the experience of illness. We will conclude the
course by examining and critiquing contemporary representations of disease
and illness.
hssc (321) 008.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 12:00 – 1:30
Language in Native America
Eugene Buckley, Associate Professor of Linguistics
This course serves as a introduction both to linguistics (the scientific study of human language) and to the languages native to North America (their nature and distribution, typological similarities and differences). The emphasis is on language in its historical, social, and cultural context. Three main topics are covered:
1. Historical linguistics: how the languages of the Americas are grouped
into families; how languages change over time; what the study of language
change tells us about prehistory.
2. Language in culture and society: how language reflects the categories
that are important to a culture; some important ways in which the categories
in North American languages differ from those in English.
3. Language and thought: ideas about how language and thought are interrelated;
to what extent does your language affect the way you see the world?
Examples and discussion of all these phenomena are based on data from
a wide variety of American Indian languages.
Each student “adopts” a particular language to examine from
various perspectives throughout the semester. Grading is based on regular
language reports, homework assignments, and three short papers (one
on each topic area).
This course is affiliated with watu and as such satisfies one-half
of the writing requirement: students receive extensive comments on each
paper and the grade is based on a revised version of it. For more details
visit (http://www.ling.upenn.edu/ ~gene/courses/59). (Distribution)
ling (381) 059.301 | Monday & Wednesday | 3:00 – 4:30
Terrorism
Stephen Gale, Associate Professor of Political Science
This course is designed to stimulate an interest in the philosophy
and methods of terrorism; to illustrate the varieties of conditions
under which methods of terrorism are used; to outline the institutional
conditions which permit and support the use of terrorism; and to understand
the problems involved in “solving” the terrorism dilemma.
(Distribution)
psci (505) 009.301 | Tuesday | 3:00 – 6:00
What’s the World Coming To?
John Ikenberry, Associate Professor of Political Science
The turn of the century raises big questions about the future of world
politics. Will the next century look significantly different from this
one? What forces—technology, human rights, democracy, terrorism,
the rise of China, etc.—will shape the prospects for war and peace,
prosperity and security, in the next century? What are the big de-bates
about global politics after the Cold War? Will the United States play
a leading role in the next century as it has in this one, or is it destined
to decline? Wither Asia and Europe in the next century world order?
This freshman seminar will probe these questions and others. The class
will be organized around a series of books and articles that present
distinctive and powerful statements about what is coming down the world
political road. Students will be required to present short memos each
week on these readings. The seminar will be organized around class discussion
and presentations. Apart from increasing the student’s appreciation
of the big issues and debates about the coming world order, the seminar
hopes to strengthen the student’s ability to “read and discuss”
books—to become a thoughtful critic and engaging reader. (Distribution)
psci (505) 009.302 | Monday | 1:30 – 4:30
Tolerance
Ellen Kennedy, Associate Professor of Political Science
How important is a tolerant culture to creating and maintaining democracy?
Modern political theory gives no single answer. One theory argues that
homogeneity, whether religious, ethnic or ideological, is the precondition
of a democratic state. Another answers that, far from undermining democracy,
diversity and dissent are essential in democratic society. Some proponents
of that view regard promotion of difference as the very purpose of democracy.
This seminar examines the concept of toleration in a series of classic
texts in Western political philosophy and as a prominent feature of
contemporary debates in Europe and America on the meaning of an open
society. Students will be evaluated on their knowledge of the texts
and their practical implications.
Each participant will be required to give at least one presentation
and write two essays on topics chosen in consultation with me. (Distribution)
psci (505) 009.303 | Thursday | 2:00 – 5:00
Constitution Making
William Harris, Associate Professor of Political Science
This is a seminar in constitutional theory which will focus on the problems of creating or restructuring a political order by writing and adopting the design of that order in a set of words contained within a text. The course will have a large component of political and interpretive theory, as well as American political thought. There may be some materials from other constitutional systems besides the United States. However, the course is primarily a way of looking analytically at the founding of the American Constitution by considering how a new constitution would be written, argued for, and ratified more than 200 years later—then questioning the nature of its authority. After more than two centuries of experience in interpreting the existing constitutional document, how might a constitution maker draft a new one to take into account the problems that we have discovered?
Requirement: Extensive reading and active scholarly discussion; one
short analytical paper, one medium-length paper; and a final essay examination.
This is a General Honors course; however, half of the seats are reserved
for students who are not in the General Honors program. (Distribution)
psci (505) 187.301 (gh) | Tuesday & Thursday | 3:00 – 4:30
Male-Female Communications, East and West
Franklin Southworth, Professor of South Asian Studies
Every individual has a unique way of speaking. Some of our differences in speech style are individual, while others are affected by our gender, our upbringing, ethnic group membership, place of origin, socio-economic class, age, or other factors. These differences can enrich, and sometimes complicate, our verbal interactions with other members of our society.
This course looks at these differences in a cross-culturally oriented framework which emphasizes the social context of face-to-face communication, both verbal and nonverbal. We will be concerned with communication in male groups, in female groups, and in mixed groups, in our own society and in others; we will look at aspects of social behavior which correlate with communicative differences. We will seek explanations of communicative differences in terms of the socialization process and the different social roles which we play as men or women, and as members of different social groupings.
Apart from learning about interactions between language and social life in our own and other societies, the course is designed to enhance observational skills and to encourage an analytical approach to the study of verbal and nonverbal communication. One weekly two-hour session will be devoted primarily to discussion of the readings (which include writings by linguists, anthropologists and sociologists, social and educational psychologists, political scientists, and others) with minimal lecturing. A second one-hour session will be used for observation and practice, including simulated interactions and films. In all of our discussions, we will attempt to bridge the cultural experiences of North Americans and those of members of other societies (particularly South Asians).
The first eight weeks of the course will acquaint students with the
main assumptions made about this subject by works in a number of different
disciplines. The remaining time will be spent on individual research
projects, including discussion of individual readings. The papers and
projects will involve both library research and observational research,
and will include four short (2-page) papers on specified subjects, and
one final paper on individual work. Regular attendance and participation
in discussion are expected. (General Requirement)
sars (593) 013.401 or wstd (677) 013.401 | Wednesday | 2:00 – 5:00
American Society: “The Sixties”
Ivar Berg, Professor of Sociology
This dinner seminar will meet from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays in
Professor and Mrs. Berg’s quarters in the Quad; it is open only
to the students in the Wendy and Leonard Goldberg House. The course
will examine the forces that gave both the curious shape and explosive
context to the 1960s. We will be joined by visiting Penn scientists,
humanists and social scientists. The course will serve both as an introduction
to the social sciences and as a vehicle for understanding the sources
of stability and of change in “post-modern” society. The 1960s,
(which included the college years of a great many of our first year
students’ parents) both recapitulated many distinguishable trends
in the Republic’s history and introduced numerous new themes that
would inform America’s culture, politics, economic debates and
foreign policy planks in the last years of the old, and will likely
shape the early years of the new century. Please contact rogersj@pobox.upenn.edu
for information about this course. (Distribution)
soci (589) 041.301 | Tuesday | 5:30 – 8:30
Society and History
Ewa Morawska, Professor of Sociology
At the turn of the 21st century attention is focused on the future,
but how much about our lives and social world is determined by the past?
How does history shape our personal lives, preferences and identities?
How does contemporary society—including its economy, culture, and
politics—reflect the events of the past? In this seminar, we will
explore how the past matters to the present by looking at individual
biographies and at the group experiences of peoples of different nationalities,
races and ethnicities, and religions. Course requirements include active
participation in class, a book review, a term paper, and leadership
of one class discussion.
soci (589) 041.302 | Tuesday & Thursday | 10:30 – 12:00
Media in American Society
Diana Crane-Herve, Professor of Sociology
This course will examine the role of television, newspapers, film and
advertising in American society. We will analyze the impact of the media
on social and political institutions and on the American Public, factors
affecting the selection and interpretation of news for broadcast and
publication, and the economic and ideological connections between broadcast
and print media and advertising. (Distribution)
soci (589) 041.303 | Monday & Wednesday | 3:00 – 4:30
Urban Analysis with Computers
Robert C. Douglas, Director of Social Science Computing
The objective of this seminar is to introduce students to team building, while developing their inductive research skills through the analysis of factors influencing the spatial structure of United States metropolitan areas.
Students form metropolitan area research teams and learn to use computers
to:
• collect data on the socio-economic characteristics of people
in 200 zipcodes in the United States.
• map and graph these data searching for patterns in population
density, income, education, and housing.
• test hypotheses.
• make team PowerPoint presentations of research results.
• write individual research reports.
This course fulfills the Quantitative Skills Requirement. (Distribution)
soci (589) 041.401 or urbs (657) 100.401 | Tuesday & Thursday |
3:00 – 4:30
War and Peace: Theories of the Causes and Prevention
of War
William Evan, Professor of Sociology
Seven theories of the causes of war will be tested by case analyses
of well-documented wars through history—from the Peloponnesian
Wars to the Yugoslav War. The concluding session of the course deals
with five theories and strategies for the
prevention of war. (Distribution)
soci (589) 052.301 | Wednesday | 2:00 – 5:00
Sector II: History and Tradition
Jewish Law and Ethics
Barry L. Eichler, Associate Professor of Assyrian
An introduction to the literary and legal sources of Jewish law within
an historical framework. Emphasis will be placed upon the development
and dynamics of Jewish jurisprudence, and the relationship between Jewish
law and social ethics. (Distribution)
ames (465) 152.401 or jwst (353) 152.401 | Tuesday & Thursday |
9:00 – 10:30
Historical and Cultural Perspectives on Cities
Richard Zettler, Associate Professor of Anthropology
This seminar is intended to be an in-depth look at cities in a number
of different culture areas and over a long span of time. It will investigate,
for example, the background to the origins of complex, urban society
in the Near East and the
characteristics of cities in that area in the ancient and classical
periods, the early Islamic era and in modern times. The seminar will
begin by considering definitions of “the city” which have
been put forward, and end on the same note by criticizing those definitions,
and perhaps formulating one of its own. The seminar will have a mixed
lecture-discussion format. (Distribution)
anth (025) 175.402 or urbs (657) 175.402 | Tuesday & Thursday |
12:00 – 1:30
The Future of the Past
James O’Donnell, Professor of Classical Studies and Vice Provost
for Information Systems and Computing
We study history to widen our sense of the human possibility, but the
more remote the culture, the harder it is to connect what we study with
our own experience. The technologies of cyberspace seem to make the
gap between us and the pre-electric past wider still. This seminar will
bridge the gap. The first readings will come from contemporary literary
and philosophical interpretations of cyberculture and its relation to
the past. We will then shift gears and read a small number of “classic”
texts with minds attuned to cyberpossibilities. Texts to be read (in
whole or in part) include: J. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck; S. Pinker,
How the Mind Works; W. Gibson, Neuromancer; Plato, Phaedrus; Vergil,
Aeneid; Augustine, Confessions. (Distribution)
clst (101) 161.301 | Tuesday | 1:30 – 4:30
Postwar Germany and the Holocaust
Frank Trommler, Professor of German
We know much about the Holocaust. Countless document collections, memoirs,
and testimonies have shed light on the worst chapter of 20th century
history. Less is known about how Germans dealt with this cataclysm since
1945. How have writers, politicians, and teachers, young and old people,
perpetrators and bystanders, East and West Germans reacted to this event
which is still haunting this country. Every decade seems to bring a
new widely discussed encounter with the past; in the 1990s it is the
debate about a Holocaust memorial which is to be built in Berlin, the
capital of a newly united Germany. This seminar will illuminate the
developments since 1945 with special emphasis on literature which has
been a catalyst for inquiries into memory and guilt. Readings of Günter
Grass, Christa Wolf, Jurek Becker, Peter Weiss, together with discussions
of policies and political texts and visual documentaries, will be the
basis for a thorough introduction to an important chapter of our time.
A field trip to the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington will be organized.
(Distribution)
grmn (293) 004.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 12:00 – 1:30
The Birth and Life of Words
Beatrice Santorini, Lecturer in German and Linguistics
English belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, but its vocabulary reflects a rich history of language contact, with other Indo-European languages (notably French, Latin, and Greek) as well as with unrelated ones (such as Japanese and the languages of Native America). This course considers the following:
• Comparative linguistics: What is a cognate? How are languages
determined to be related? How is it possible to reconstruct languages
like Indo-European for which there are no written records?
• Sound change: What is sound change? How did English spelling
come to be as apparently crazy as it is? Is sound change a thing of
the past, or is it still ongoing in present-day English?
• Semantic change: What are the ways in which words can change
their meaning?
• Borrowing: What kinds of words are borrowed, and what is unique
about borrowing in English? What are the main sources of English vocabulary?
Grading is based on regular homework assignments and a term paper.
You will receive extensive comments on a first draft of the term paper,
and the grade reflects your revisions. See (http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/005).
(Distribution)
grmn (293) 005.301 | Monday, Wednesday & Friday | 11:00 – 12:00
Heresy, Dissent and Inquisition
Paul Mosher, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries
Heresy—at once the horror of the middle ages in the West and one
of its shaping movements—has been a preoccupation of thinkers since
Socrates drank his hemlock. In this seminar we will study and discuss
selected original sources in translation which treat the origins and
development of popular heresies in Western Europe, the heretics and
their beliefs, the Inquisition and other efforts to repress them, and
the impact of religious dissent and repression on the evolution of church,
state and modern society. The basis of the course grade will be discussion
and short papers based on source readings. This seminar will be taught
in the private Penn library of Henry Charles Lea, the greatest 19th
century scholar of the Medieval Inquisition. (Distribution)
hist (317) 101-301 | Thursday | 3:00 – 6:00
Literature of Dissent
Benjamin Nathans, Assistant Professor of History
Can the pen really be mightier than the sword? What kind of people
dare to speak truth to power, and what arguments and values do they
employ? In this seminar we will study some of the classic literature
of dissent, including biblical prophecy, ancient Greek critiques of
popular rule, the Protestant Reformation, the revolutionary Enlightenment,
and the dissident movements of our own century in Nazi Germany, the
Soviet Union, and contemporary China. Across this spectrum we will be
concerned with the intellectual strategies of resistance to systems
of power perceived as illegitimate or unjust, and the power of the word
in political and public life. By analyzing how the desire for fundamental
change has been articulated in a variety of historical contexts, we
will sharpen our skills in critical reading and group discussion. Students
will also write several short papers on selected primary sources. (Distribution)
hist (317) 102.301 | Monday | 2:00 – 5:00
The Rise and Fall of the British Empire
Lynn Lees, Professor of History
How and why did a small set of islands off the western coast of Europe
come to dominate much of North America, the Caribbean, Africa, South
and Southeast Asia between 1700 and 1940? Why did Britain’s control
of its colonies collapse so fast between 1945 and 1970? What was the
impact of empire on the colonized? The seminar will examine case studies
of and explanations for empire. Films, primary sources, and fiction
will be used to analyze attitudes toward empire. Each student will write
a paper on some aspect of decolonization or colonial nationalism in
an area of his or her choice. (Distribution)
hist (371) 102.302 | Wednesday | 2:00 – 5:00
Human Nature in European Thought
Stuart Semmel, Mellon Fellow in the Humanities Forum
One key theme of European intellectual history since the Enlightenment
has been the effort to determine what “human nature” is. Philosophers,
social theorists, and political reformers have asked such questions
as: How is human nature to be distinguished (or not) from animal nature?
Can understanding it allow one to construct an ideal human society?
Are there competing varieties of human nature? This course will examine
writings from the 18th to the 20th centuries, placing debates in the
context of political, social, and cultural change. Readings will include
selections from Rousseau, Fourier, Darwin, Freud, and others. (Distribution)
hist (317) 102.303 | Tuesday | 2:00 – 5:00
The American Revolution in American Culture:
History and Perception
Daniel Richter, Professor of History
“What do we mean by the American Revolution?” an aged John
Adams asked
in 1818. The question is still relevant. What does a great historical
event like this mean to those who lived through it and, especially,
to us, more than two centuries later? This seminar will examine the
Revolution as a social, political, and cultural phenomenon, with an
emphasis on how people through the years have defined its importance
and the lessons it supposedly teaches. Popular images in modern films
and books, interpretations by academic historians, and first-hand accounts
by the Revolutionaries will be part of our effort to understand something
about how
people make sense of their nation’s past. (Distribution)
hist (317) 103.301 | Wednesday | 2:00 – 5:00
Conspiracies in History
Lee Cassanelli, Associate Professor of History
Throughout history, ideas of “conspiracy” have helped people
explain events that otherwise seem unexplainable; have justified repressive
measures against individuals or groups believed to be conspiring; and
have stirred the imaginations and shaped the public agendas of communities
and sometimes entire nations. Case studies will include charges of conspiracy
raised against religious sects (European freemasons, Chinese secret
societies, the Catholic Church), political and economic movements (Mau-Mau
in colonial Kenya, communist parties, Molly Maguires), and such phenomena
as the Mafia, the Broederbond of South Africa, and the assassinations
of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. Students will examine the
historical evidence, the social significance, and the political consequences
of particular “conspiracies” with the aim of comparing and
generalizing over time and space. (Distribution)
hist (317) 106.301 | Monday & Wednesday | 3:00 – 4:30
Revolution in the Middle East
Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Assistant Professor of History
This seminar will focus on the various revolutions—cultural, political,
religious, military, and economic—that have swept the Middle East
in the 20th century. We will be looking at the conflict within various
countries; intra- and inter-state ethnic rivalries; fighting between
various countries; and the battles between the middle eastern world
and the imperialist system that created it. Weekly readings, discussion,
and short papers. (Distribution)
hist (317) 106.302 | Monday | 2:00 – 5:00
Picturing Asia: Western Images of East Asia 1549-1999
Frederick Dickinson, Assistant Professor of History
From “Oriental despotism” to the Asian “economic miracle”
to Asia in “crisis,”
this seminar will examine Western images of East Asia from the 16th
century to the present. How have Western observers recreated our image
of East Asia over time? How does this compare with the images generated
by East Asian writers for consumption in the West? We will study the
problem of cross-cultural analysis and consider changes in the image
of Asia as an integral component of national development of the West.
(Distribution)
hist (317) 106.303 | Tuesday | 3:00 – 6:00
Cultures in Contact in the Atlantic World, 1440-1800
Kathleen M. Brown, Associate Professor of History
This course introduces students to a global cultural and economic community
in history—the Atlantic World from 1440 to 1800—through an
examination of primary documents, interpretive essays, films, and survey
texts. Students will explore several important themes of early modern
history and culture: the rise of nation states; voyages of discovery;
cultural encounters of Europeans, Africans, and indigenous Americans;
the emergence of colonial plantation cultures; global trade networks
and the path of tropical commodities; and the changing nature of colonial
identities during the 18th century. This course is designed to provide
students with basic skills in critical reading, thinking, and writing.
We will discuss different interpretations of historical sources, the
uses of evidence, and the construction of persuasive arguments. These
skills are necessary for most disciplines and professions but are especially
valuable for aspiring history majors. Freshman General Honors Course.
Non-Honors students need permission. (Distribution)
hist (317) 113.301 | Tuesday | 2:00 – 5:00
History of Computing
Staff
Whether in films, such as Dr. Strangelove, or in futuristic novels
such as Neuromancer, computers have come to occupy a rich presence in
the American cultural landscape. Yet all the different images of computers—including
its earliest identity as a “Giant Brain”—are really the
product of a rather recent history. This course employs the tools of
history to uncover the social forces of postwar America that gave rise
to many different forms of computing. (Distribution)
hssc (321) 012.301 | Tuesday | 1:30 – 4:30
Historical Perspectives on Mental Illness
James Moran, Mellon Fellow in the Humanities Forum
Mental illness has long been a source of fascination in western society.
But, perceptions of and responses to mental illness have varied widely
from one era and social context to the next. This course explores major
themes in mental illness from the pre-asylum era to the present. Included
in weekly discussions and readings will be an examination of non-institutional
customary responses to insanity; religious and secular outlooks on mental
illness; the rise to prominence of the asylum as a social and medical
institution; the development of professional psychiatry; psychoanalysis
and the “Freudian” revolution; the challenge of the bio-medical
approach to mental illness; deinstitutionalization; and the role of
the anti-psychiatric or “survivors” movement. We will explore
these themes through weekly readings, fiction, visual materials including
slides and films, and assignments. (Distribution)
hssc (321) 050.301 | Thursday | 1:30 – 4:30
Worldviews in Collision: The Counterreformation and the Scientific
Revolution
Victoria Kirkham, Professor of Romance Languages
This seminar explores the radical conflicts that developed in Europe
when the authority of the Roman Catholic Church was challenged by the
Protestant reformers and shaken by new scientific discoveries of the
16th and 17th centuries. Our readings will include Machiavelli, Luther,
Copernicus, and Galileo, seen through their own writings, those of their
contemporaries, and as they have been recreated by two 20th century
playwrights (Osborn’s Luther, Brecht’s Galileo); Counterreformation
Art in slide presentations (the “Mannerist” style, the Baroque,
Marino, and the Marinisti), and an Italian Utopia (Campanella’s
City of the Sun), presented in the context of the Utopistic thought
that arises as a response to great paradigm shifts in history. (Distribution)
ital (349) 260.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 12:00 – 1:30
Bilingualism in History
Gillian Sankoff, Professor of Linguistics
This course takes a historical approach to tracing (and reconstructing) the nature of language contacts and bilingualism over the course of human history. Contacts between groups of people speaking different languages, motivated by trade, migration, conquest and intermarriage, are documented from earliest records. At the same time, differences in socio-historical context have created different kinds of linguistic outcomes. Some languages have been completely lost; new languages have been created. In still other cases, the nature and structure of language has been radically altered. We will review the reasons for and nature of bilingualism in situations ranging from the nomadic or horticultural societies of the Amazonian region, of southern Africa, or of precolonial Australia and New Guinea; to the languages of intercommunication along the great trade routes of antiquity; to the genesis of pidgin and creole languages in the plantation societies of the 16th– 19th centuries; to the imposition of new languages by colonial governments; to the assimilation of immigrants in modern industrial societies.
The course will introduce the basics of linguistic structure through
a discussion of which aspects of language have proved to be relatively
stable, and which are readily altered, under conditions of bilingualism.
Languages may readily borrow words from each other, but do they maintain
their structural integrity? Do bilinguals keep their languages apart?
Are “mixed languages” a reality, or simply a way of stigmatizing
the way bilinguals sometimes speak? Note: knowledge of another language
is not a prerequisite for taking the course. (Distribution)
ling (381) 054.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 12:00 – 1:30
Introduction to the Problems of Philosophy
Staff
This seminar is designed for students who are approaching philosophy
for the first time. We will examine central philosophical problems from
topics such as the existence of God, the mind-body problem, free will,
theory of knowledge, ethics, and the scientific method. Four alternative
sections are offered. (General Requirement)
phil (493) 001.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 3:00 – 4:30
phil (493) 001.302 | Tuesday & Thursday | 9:00 – 10:30
phil (493) 001.303 | Tuesday & Thursday | 10:30 – 12:00
phil (493) 001.304 | Tuesday & Thursday | 1:30 – 3:00
The Idea of Nationalism
Stephen Steinberg, Executive Director of Penn National Commission on
Society, Culture, and Community, Philosophy
Nationalism has been one of the dominant geo-political forces of the past two hundred years, and its continuing power has been amply demonstrated by recent events in Ireland, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and elsewhere. This course will explore such questions as: What is a nation? Do nations differ from states and peoples? Does every identifiable group have a valid claim to a nation-state of its own? How are claims to national identity to be justified? Does the recognition of claims to national or ethnic identity confer special rights, responsibilities or privileges? Is nationalism compatible with our notions of rationality, individualism, and universalism? How does nationalism relate to notions of self-determination, “closeness,” separateness, exceptionalism, and racial, cultural or ethnic superiority?
Throughout, our focus will be on the conceptual and theoretical issues
raised by competing notions of nationalism, rather than on the history,
sociology, or geo-politics of its concrete manifestations in particular
cultures. We will explore the development of nationalism from the universalist
political thought of the Enlightenment through the ethno-centrism of
19th century German Romanticism to contemporary theorists who see nationalism
and group identity as central issues in current cultural and epistemological
debates over modernity and post-modernism. Though our emphasis will
be on the philosophical issues raised by the idea of nationalism, we
will draw examples of its various theoretical formulations from American,
German, Jewish, Third World, and other nationalisms that reflect its
diverse and sometimes problematic manifestations. Readings usually include
Kedourie, Kant, Rousseau, Fichte, Mill, Nussbaum, Taylor, Toulmin, Renan,
Acton, May, Hollinger, Walzer, Buber, Arendt, Avineri, Miller, Lenin,
Fukuyama, and Derrida. (Distribution)
phil (493) 018.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 1:30 – 3:00
Christian Origins
Robert Kraft, Professor of Religious Studies
Christianity did not begin in a vacuum—indeed, it emerged from the complex Jewish world of which we catch a glimpse in the Dead Sea Scrolls and blossomed into various forms among the “mystery religions” of the Greco-Roman world around the Mediterranean Sea and farther east. In this course we will explore those developments in the first two centuries of the common era, with a focus on the evidence preserved in the earliest surviving Christian writings, including the New Testament collection. The goal of the course is neither conversion nor its opposite, but understanding as best we can from this distance what the participants in the various developments thought was happening, and how they shaped and were shaped by their worlds.
We will get very involved in discussing what can be known about the
period, and how much we as interpreters contribute to any resulting
“historical” picture. Get down and dirty with the ancient
materials; it shouldn’t hurt much! Join the excursion into some
of the deepest roots of Western society. (Online course materials can
be accessed through the instructor’s home page.) (Distribution)
rels (541) 135.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 10:30 – 12:00
“The Sun of Islam Shall Rise in the West:”
An Introduction to the Religion of Islam and Muslim Americans
Barbara von Schlegel, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Last year the United States Supreme Court Justices convened a special session. The ruling: Patrons and sculptor of the figure of Muhammad in the historical frieze encircling their courtroom had only honorable intentions. Concerns about depicting the Prophet of Islam, raised by some American Muslims, were addressed and the frieze remains unchanged. Aversion to figural art is a well-known sentiment among many Muslims, Jews, and, at certain periods, Christians. What else does Islam, the last of the three Abrahamic monotheistic religions, share with Judaism and Christi-anity? Of the world’s one billion Muslims, about five million reside in the United States today. How is “the fastest-growing religion in America” practiced by Muslims from a wide range of backgrounds, especially in the African-American community?
This course is a comprehensive introduction to Islam in a variety of
geographic settings from the rise of the religion in the 7th century
to the present. We try to understand Islam in contemporary experience
as well as in religious texts. In the first part of the course, we will
explore the Qur’an, the life of Muhammad in political and sacred
history, sectarian developments, and Sufism (Islamic mysticism). In
the second part of the course, we focus on ritual life in Islam, Islamic
“fundamentalism” and the West, American Islam, and Islamic
feminism. The course lectures are supplemented with discussion, slide
presentations, and films. Although not required, students are encouraged
to take part in a class visit to the Overbrook Mosque in Philadelphia.
(We will discuss the date of the trip in class.) A course syllabus,
with requirements and schedule of topics, is available at the instructor’s
web site. (Distribution)
rels (541) 143.401 or ames (465) 136.401 | Tuesday | 3:00 – 6:00
Empire in Literature and Film
Tina Lu, Assistant Professor of Chinese Literature in the Department
of Asian and Middle Eastern
By examining a wide variety of sources, this class will discuss what
an empire is. Specifically we are concerned with the idea of empire,
and how various thinkers and writers have dealt with it—and how
the idea of empire continues to influence literature, television, and
film of our own day. We will also be discussing how empire and nation
differ. We approach this problem through an eclectic grouping of texts:
among them, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, writings by political thinkers
like Francisco de Vitoria and J. G. Herder, excerpts from late imperial
Chinese plays, and a variety of contemporary pop culture sources. We
will explore such questions as: How is Chinese romantic comedy of the
Qing Dynasty marked by the concerns over what an empire ought to be?
Why is the enemy of the Jedi an empire? Why did Hitler call his Germany
the Third Empire? In what way do the adventures of the crew of the Enterprise
seem to recapitulate the colonial empires of the early modern period?
(Distribution)
ames (465) 098.301 | Wednesday | 2:00 – 5:00
Chinese Archaeology
Nancy Steinhardt, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
How has archaeology rewritten the history of ancient China and early
Chinese art? That is the question we will answer in this seminar. Each
week we will examine artifacts excavated in Chinese tombs to try to
understand what they tell us about daily life and philosophical attitudes
in ancient China. We will explore famous tombs such as the Tomb of the
First Emperor and less well-known artifacts of peoples such as the Scythians
and Qidan. We will compare the excavated material with what we can find
out about ancient China from other sources, especially literature and
standard historical accounts, to find out whether the ideas put forth
in history and literature are accurate. Finally, we will study Chinese
art in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Philadelphia
Museum of Art in comparison to the excavated objects. (Distribution)
ames (465) 179.301 | Tuesday | 1:30 – 4:30
Possessing Women
Linda Chance, Associate Professor of Japanese Studies and Undergraduate
Chairperson in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
A man from Tennessee writes Memoirs of a Geisha. A Japanese novelist
tells the story of the “comfort women” who served the Japanese
army. A 10th century courtier poses as a woman writing the first woman’s
diary. Poets from Byron to Robert Lowell, through Ezra Pound to Li Po,
have written as though they were women, decrying their painful situations.
Is something wrong with this picture, or is “woman” such a
fascinating position from which to speak that writers can hardly help
trying it on for size? In this course we will look at male literary
impersonators of women as well as women writers. Our questions will
include who speaks in literature for prostitutes—whose bodies are
the property of men—and what happens when women inhabit the bodies
of other women via spirit possession. Readings will draw on the Japanese
tradition, which is especially rich in such cases, and will also include
Western and Chinese literature, anthropological work on possession,
legal treatments of prostitution, and film. Participants will keep a
reading journal and write a paper of their own choosing. (Distribution)
ames (465) 187.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 10:30 – 12:00
“What Do You See?”—“Wonderful
Things!”
Paul F. Watson, Associate Professor in History of Art
That question, that response were first uttered at the threshold of
an Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb in 1922. 1999 will not take us to Egypt
but nevertheless we will see wonderful things. Our seminar will introduce
us to ways of looking at and thinking about the world right here—dormitories,
libraries, a professional school or two, museums, pictures and places.
We shall look at all of these as carefully crafted objects of art, for
starters, then as historical artifacts embedded in the culture of their
particular times, and finally as the carriers of much older meanings.
Our looking and learning will keep us on the road for most of the semester
(weather permitting) but we’ll begin with stuff we carry in our
own pockets. Bring a one dollar bill to the first class on the 8th of
September next, and you will see wonderful things. (Distribution)
arth (033) 100.301 | Wednesday | 2:00 – 5:00
Dress, the Body, and Representation
Susan Sidlauskas, Assistant Professor of the History of Art
Recent studies in a variety of fields have confirmed that what people wear in visual representation (painting, sculpture, photography, prints, film) is not to be taken lightly. Costume—whether it is invented for the occasion or culled from what the depicted society “really” wore—can be used to signify an enormous range of meanings, not only about a figure’s economic or social status, but about their gender identity, sexuality and even political affiliation. This course will not be a connoisseur’s survey of the history of costume, but will be an attempt to grapple with how costume intersects with, and changes, visual culture. We will concentrate on the modern era (1760 – present), but will explore some important precedents in antiquity, the middle ages, and the Renaissance.
We will plan trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume
Institute in New York, and also to the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s
Costume Collection. (Distribution)
arth (033) 100.302 | Thursday | 1:30 – 4:30
Ancient Art in the Modern Museum
Ann Blair Brownlee, Senior Research Scientist in the Mediterranean Section
of the University Museum, Adjunct Assistan Professor of the History
of Art
The extensive collections of the University of Pennsylvania Museum
will be the focus of this seminar, which will examine the place of ancient
Greek and Roman art in the late 20th century museum. Assuming the role
of the museum curator, we will consider the history, theory and practice
of collection management, conservation, and display, and also examine
ethical issues such as cultural appropriation and illicit excavation
and the art market. The experience of the museum visitor will also be
considered, as we study ways to make the art and archaeology of the
classical world accessible to a wider public. We will devote part of
the semester to a survey of the art and archaeology of ancient Italy,
in preparation for the seminar’s final project, the planning and
design of an exhibition. The seminar is taught in conjunction with the
Ancient Studies/Museum Residential Program in Harnwell College House.
(Distribution)
arth (033) 100.303 | Tuesday | 1:30 – 4:30
Dreams and Dream Interpretations
Peter Struck, Assistant Professor of Classical Studies
Dreams can provide an extraordinary window on a culture, its imagination,
its social organization, its cultural expectations, and its irrational
beliefs. Dreams in literary works reveal what the author thinks dreams
are like, and how he expects his audience to interpret them. Explicit
dream theories tell us how people in Antiquity dealt with these “irrational”
elements in their culture. Apart from ancient literary works, a whole
dreambook, full of examples and interpretations, has come down to us.
In this seminar we will look at a wide variety of famous texts from
Greek and roman literature, pagan and Christian, and some comparative
material from the Near East. We will also read some Freud, and some
other secondary literature, and think about how Freud’s ideas influence
our reading of ancient texts, and to what extent that is permissible.
All texts studied will be in translation—no knowledge of Greek
or Latin will be necessary. All that is needed for this course is a
waking mind and an interest in the psychology of Antiquity. (Distribution)
clst (101) 106.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 3:00 – 4:30
Literature and Human Nature: Historical Perspectives
on Mental Illness
Jan Mieszkowski, Mellon Fellow in the Humanities
Forum
What does it mean to be human? Why is it so important to us that we be different from gods, animals or machines? If we are obviously mortal, corporeal entities, why do we feel it necessary to distinguish ourselves from ghosts or angels? This course considers what happens when we turn to literature to seek answers to these familiar yet perplexing questions. We will examine how concepts such as culture and civilization are used to control the border between the human and the non-human. We will also ask whether it is language itself that inextricably ties humankind to its others.
Authors will include Sophocles, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, J.W.V. Goethe,
Heinrich von Kleist, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley,
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and William Faulkner. All readings will be in English.
(Distribution)
coml (113) 010.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 3:00 – 4:30
Love Among the Ruins:Denaturalizing the Marriage
Plot
Elizabeth Freeman, Mellon Fellow in the Humanities Forum
This course will examine two related problems: love and narrative.
We will consider a range of important historical forms through which
bodies and feelings have been socialized into Western culture’s
vision of “love,” exploring theories and representation of
platonic, courtly, companionate, romantic, and marital love. We will
also consider “singularity” and homosexuality as social forms
in dialogue with love and marriage, and cousinship, adoption, avuncularity,
and other queer forms of kinship in dialogue with the nuclear family.
Concurrently, we will examine the kinds of narrative that cluster around
each of these forms: we will work through essays and dialogues, short
stories, a Shakespearean comedy, “plotless” and plot-centered
novels, and prose poetry. In part, we will continually be asking how
narrative form represents, reflects, and contests the energies of different
ideologies of “love.” Authors may include Margaret Atwood,
Plato, Aristotle, Carson McCullers, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Madame
de Lafayette, Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Chopin, Mark Twain, Toni Morrison,
Henry James, and Gertrude Stein, as well as a number of films and material
on the gay marriage debate. Secondary readings will include such theorists
and historians as Lawrence Stone, John Boswell, John Gillis, Fredrich
Engels, Nancy Miller, Stanley Cavell, D.A. Miller, Roland Barthes, Eve
Sedgwick, Michael Moon, Hortense Spillers, and others. (Distribution)
engl (197) 016.303 | Tuesday & Thursday | 10:30 – 12:00
Topics in Literature:1399–1999 Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales
David Wallace, Professor of English
Six hundred years ago, in September 1399, King Richard ii was forced
from the throne of England by Henry Bolingbroke; soon after he was murdered
in Pontefract Castle. Geoffrey Chaucer, poet and servant to King Richard,
survived the death of his master and was awarded a pension by Bolingbroke
(now King Henry iv). But Chaucer survived only until October 1400. Chaucer
scholar Terry Jones (of “Monty Python”) claims he was murdered:
whatever the case, it will be fascinating to see how our own experience
of pmt (pre-millennial tension) compares with the fin de siècle
experiences of an earlier century. (Distribution)
engl (197) 016.302 | Tuesday & Thursday | 1:30 – 3:00
Perspectives in French Literature
Philippe Met, Professor of Romance Languages
This undergraduate survey course is designed to provide students with
a thorough overview of the French literary tradition, from the 12th
to the 20th centuries, and at the same time to unify a broad variety
of works under the rubric of textual eroticism and romance. Drawing
on major plays, poems and prose narratives, students will be asked to
explore such issues as: evolving conceptions of “love” in
literature; the play between sexuality, religion and socio-economic
systems; the constitution of subjectivity through desire; narcissism,
incest, donjuanism and the family romance; the rhetoric of seduction
as opposed to that of idealization, virtue and sacrifice; the relationship
between the individual, the amorous couple, and the public sphere. All
readings and class discussions will be in French. (General Requirement)
fren (229) 221.303 | Tuesday & Thursday | 10:30 – 12:00
Food for Thought: Cannibalism and Gastronomy
in Literature and Film
Simon Richter, Associate Professor of German
Simply put, this course offers students an opportunity to reflect on
the cultural meaning of food in human life. A choice selection of works
of literature and film will allow us to explore the cultural, philosophical,
and aesthetic issues related to hunger, gastronomy, and cannibalism.
Films will include: Eating Raoul, Parents, Delicatessen, Alive!, Tampopo,
Like Water for Chocolate, and Babette’s Feast. Among the authors
we will read are: Franz Kafka, Knut Hamsun, Isak Dinesen, and Laura
Esquivel. Needless to say the seminar will require the occasional empirical
exercise—also known as eating—in conjunction with the films
and literature that concern us. A perfect opportunity to learn more
about the culinary scene in Philadelphia. All readings and class discussions
will be in English. (Distribution)
grmn (293) 007.301 | Monday, Wednesday & Friday | 2:00 – 3:00
Songwriting in the 20th Century
Anna Weesner, Assistant Professor of Music
Songs are everywhere. The musical world we inhabit is perhaps as open
and inclusive as it has ever been, crossing cultures and styles in a
way that makes stylistic boundaries once taken for granted no longer
viable. At the same time, people make ferocious personal claims for
music, singling out a style, a performer, or a composer as representing
their music, the music of their generation, of their lifestyle, of their
heart. This course will alternate between an analytical approach and
a critical approach to the study of a wide range of songs composed throughout
the 20th century. We’ll study musical techniques associated with
songwriting from the point of view of the listener, including melody,
harmony, form, rhythm, instrumentation, style, and text-setting. We’ll
also pose far-ranging questions, such as, what makes a song a song?
What makes a song a good song? What is the difference between an art
song and a pop song? This course will occasionally focus on specific
composers, such as Cole Porter, Charles Ives, John Harbison, and Liz
Phair, and will also consider the musical ramifications of collaboration,
covers and re-makes. This course will seek to foster development in
listening skills through listening assignments and quizzes; the work
of the class will include writing assignments, analytical projects,
and class presentations. (Distribution)
musc (441) 014.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 3:00 – 4:30
Sector IV: Formal Reasoning and Analysis
Introduction to Mathematical Analysis
Charles Epstein, Professor of Mathematics
Introduction to mathematical reasoning by discussion of the basic theorems
encountered in calculus. It is intended for those students who might
like to study more advanced mathematics by giving a more balanced view
of what mathematics is actually like than calculus courses alone can
provide. This is a half-credit course and does not satisfy the General
Requirement. There are two alternative sections of this course.
math (409) 200.301 | Tuesday | 12:00 – 1:30
math (409) 200.302 | Thursday | 12:00 – 1:30
Introduction to Modern Algebra
Peter Freyd, Professor of Mathematics
This course is an introduction to mathematical reasoning. Topics include
the
principle of mathematical induction, the notion of an equivalence relation,
and
the properties of the ring of integers. It is intended for students
who might like to study more advanced math. It provides an introduction
to the basic 300-level course in algebra. The instructor acts as the
advisor for the students and assists them in choosing the appropriate
300-level course for the following year. This is a half-credit course
and it does not satisfy the General Requirement. There are two alternative
sections of this course.
math (409) 204.301 | Tuesday | 1:30 – 3:00
math (409) 204.302 | Thursday | 1:30 – 3:00
Evolution of the Brain
Thomas Schoenemann, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
An introduction to the study of the evolution of the human brain. Comparative
(cross-species) perspectives will be emphasized, along with evolutionary
biological costs of neural tissue. Basic brain structure, function,
and development will be reviewed. The fossil evidence as well as indirect
evidence (archaeological and comparative) will be discussed. Current
controversies and theories about the causes and consequences of hominid
brain evolution will be reviewed, including the possible role of language,
tool use, sociality, dietary shifts, and other behavioral adaptations.
(General Requirement)
anth (025) 179.301 | Monday, Wednesday & Friday | 11:00 – 12:00
Structural Biology
Stanley J. Opella, Professor of Chemistry
Structural biology is the scientific method of describing, predicting, and changing the properties of plants, animals, and humans, based on obtaining and analyzing detailed 3-dimensional images of proteins. It is a direct outgrowth of the intellectual and technical revolutions that occurred during the last decade and is emerging as the most powerful approach to understanding biology and solving problems in medicine.
We will discuss how macroscopic biological properties, such as reproduction and locomotion, are determined by microscopic chemical properties of proteins. Enormous changes in biological function, such as those that accompany hereditary diseases like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia, result from minute changes in individual proteins. Much larger changes, however, are tolerated without apparent consequence to some other proteins. It is this selectivity that provides opportunities for the biotechnology industry to alter biological functions in ways thought to guarantee profits. We will also discuss how research results, especially those of structural biology, are presented to its various audiences. The entire dissemination process will be discussed.
The proteins of hiv, the retrovirus that is the causative agent of aids, will be usedas examples to demonstrate the enormous influence of research and communication in structural biology. The broad range of medical, social, and political problems associated with aids can only be understood and solved through structural biology.
This is a year long course, offering 1/2 credit each semester. This
course is for students pursuing the Vagelos Scholars Program; permission
needed from the department. Please contact Dr. Ponzy Lu, biochemistry@sas.upenn.edu,
898-4771. (General Requirement)
chem (081) 022.301 | Thursday | 2:00 – 3:30
Freshman Recitation Evolution of the Physical
World
Gino Segre, Professor of Physics and Stephen Phipps, Associate
Professor of Geology
This course will explore the “Big Bang,” and the origin of
elements, stars, Earth,
continents, and oceans. Students must register for both the lecture
and a recitation. The recitation listed below is restricted to freshmen
and is led by Professor Phipps. (General Requirement)
geol (289) 003.401 (lec) | Tuesday & Thursday | 1:30 – 3:00
geol (289) 003.402 (rec) | Tuesday | 3:00 – 4:00
Freshman Recitation Introduction to Geology
Reginald Shagam, Adjunct Professor of Geology
This course is an introduction to the processes and forces that form
the surface and the interior of the Earth. We will discuss changes in
climate and the history of life. We will also discuss earth resources
and their uses. Students must register for both the lecture and a recitation.
The recitation listed below is restricted to freshmen and is led by
Professor Shagam. (General Requirement)
geol (289) 100.001 (lec) | Monday, Wednesday & Friday | 11:00 –
12:00
geol (289) 100.201 (rec) | Monday | 2:00 – 3:00
Honors Physics I Mechanics and Wave Motion
Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, Professor of Physics
This course parallels and extends the content of the introductory physics
course
for science and engineering students. It is the first semester of a
small-section
three-semester sequence for well-prepared students. Topics include classical
laws of motion, interaction between particles, conservation laws and
symmetry principles, rigid body motion, wave motion, kinetic theory
and thermodynamics. Prerequisites: math 140 and 141. Students must register
for the lecture and the lab. Non-honors students need permission. (General
Requirement)
phys (497) 170.301 (lec) | Monday, Wednesday & Friday | 10:00 –
11:00
| Monday | 2:00 – 3:00
| Tuesday | 11:00 – 12:00
phys (497) 170.302 (lab) | Wednesday | 1:00 – 3:00
The Physicists
Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, Professor of Physics
This seminar will involve qualitative discussions of some of the 20th
century’s great discoveries in physics and of the lives of some
prominent physicists within the scientific and political matrix including
Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Enrico Fermi, Lise Meitner,
Richard Feynman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Luis Alvarez and Edward Teller.
We will conclude with talks by Penn professors about the exciting work
in astrophysics, biophysics, condensed matter physics and particle physics.
Prerequisite: high school algebra. (General Requirement)
phys (497) 007.301 | Tuesday & Thursday | 1:30 – 3:00
Human Nature: Classical and Modern Perspectives
Justin Aronfreed, Professor of Psychology
This seminar presents an historically-ordered series of readings from original sources, coupled with active weekly discussions. We will emphasize the essence and boundaries of mankind’s natural heritage—enduring timeless dispositions of mind and action which transcend individual selves or social institutions. Perspectives from within Western civilization will be used to exemplify sweeping conceptions of the human condition. These will begin with earlier mythological, religious, and philosophical sources, and progress toward modern scientific paradigms of making inquiry into nature.
The seminar will draw its exemplars from antiquity, the later Greco-Roman
period, the medieval and Renaissance eras, the Enlightenment, the mid-19th
century, the early 20th century, and the present time. Two weeks will
be given to each perspective. All seminar members will read the same
basic sources (approximately 100 pages each week) and will be expected
to show intellectual initiative in all weekly discussions. Formal requirements
consist primarily of a bi-weekly paper on each perspective.
This seminar is well suited to students who show the following: 1) articulate
ease
of intellectual expression in both spoken and written English; 2) a
desire for some
serious investment in ideas and the life of the mind; 3) a warm willingness
to engage the natural science component of a liberal education. Special
consideration will be given to honors students. (General Requirement)
psyc (521) 050.301 | Thursday | 3:00 – 6:00