Writing Fellows Courses - Fall 2009
Writing Fellows courses help students improve their writing skills by working with a Brown undergraduate who has been trained in composition and pedagogy. In a "fellowed" course, students receive detailed commentary on at least two paper drafts during the semester. Professors receive the first drafts, annotated by the Writing Fellows, along with the final papers, so that they may review the process of their students' work.
First-Year Seminars
ANTH 0066P - Transnational Lives: Anthropology of Migration and Mobilities
How do individuals, families, and communities grapple with the new forms of existence brought forth by migration? This course goes beyond macro-economic explanations of why migration happens to explore what migration does: the effects of mobility on a range of practices that include parenting, health, gender roles, marriage, politics, and anthropological research itself. We will consider three overlapping issues: the everyday practices of transnational living in a variety of cross-cultural settings; the theory and methodology anthropologists use to understand local experiences of migration; and the ways migration has been politicized. Open to first-year students only.
Tuesday/Thursday 2:30 - 3:50 p.m.
Jessaca Leinaweaver, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
ECON 0180B - The Welfare State in America
Introduction to the economic aspects of the major welfare programs provided by government in American Society; Social Security, Health Care and Insurance, Education, Environmental Control. The focus of the course will be on the benefits and costs of each program and proposals for altering the scope of the public sector. Open to first-year students only.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 9:00 - 9:50 a.m.
George Borts, Professor of Economics
FREN 0720A - From Courtly Love to Postmodern Desire
From twelfth-century courtly literature for contemporary film, this course explores the enduring romance between French culture and Eros. The ambiguities of desire are brought to the fore across changing religious and social contexts. Readings include Duras, Flaubert, Freud, and Baudrillard. Open to students who receive a 5 (AP test), 700 and above (SAT II) or with instructor's permission. Open to first-year students only.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 12:00 - 12:50 p.m.
Virginia Krause, Associate Professor of French Studies
GEOL 0160I - Diamonds
Examines both the science and human history of diamonds, and shows how they have interacted over the years. Investigates how and where diamonds are formed in nature and what they tell us about the Earth. At the same time, explores the role diamonds have played in our history and culture. Open to first-year students only.
Tuesday/Thursday 9:00 - 10:20 a.m.
Stephen Parman, Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences
GRMN 0750A - Faust and the Faust Legend
Variations on the Faust theme focus on the role of knowledge in modern society. How do we define what we know? How do we accommodate knowledge with belief? What are the limits of human knowledge and can they satisfy us? Texts from the Reformation to the present: Marlowe, Calderon, Goethe, Turgenev, Lunacharski, Mann, Valery, Bulgakov, Kerouac, Havel. In English. Open to first-year students only.
Tuesday/Thursday 1:00 - 2:20 p.m.
Katherine Goodman, Professor of German Studies
HIST 0970B - Tropical Delights: Imagining Brazil in History and Culture
This course examines the many ways that Brazilians and foreigners have understood this vast continent-size country, ranging from early European explorers' anxieties about cannibalism to modern images of the Amazonian rainforest, Rio De Janeiro's freewheeling Carnival celebrations, and the array of social movements mobilizing for social justice. Using historical sources, literature, movies, and popular culture, this seminar will consider how images and projections of Brazil have shaped national and international notions about the country. Open to first-year students only.
Thursday 4:00 - 6:20 p.m.
James N. Green, Associate Professor of History
POBS 0810 - Belonging and Displacement: Cross-Cultural Identities
This course focuses on the representation of immigrants, migrants, and other "border crossers" in contemporary literature from Brazil and other countries. How do people respond to the loss of home and the shift to a new culture? Is "going home" possible? How do individuals deal with dual or triple identities? Piñon, Lispector, Scliar, Rushdie, Salih, Cristina Garcia, V. S. Naipaul and others. Conducted in English. Open to first-year students only.
Tuesday/Thursday 9:00 - 10:20 a.m.
Patricia Sobral, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
POLS 0820L - Philosophy of the American Founding
In framing our political system in the Constitution, whom did the Founders rely on for their theoretical framework? In this course, we will explore the works of Montesquieu, Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Mercy Otis Warren, and other contributors to the Constitution. Open to first-year students only.
Thursday 4:00 - 6:20 p.m.
Wendy Schiller, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Science
RELS 0090E - Faith and Violence
This course explores the relationship between religious texts and rhetoric and violence. How do sacred texts promote or discourage violence, and how have later religious communities understood (and continue to understand) these texts? While the course will focus mainly on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, occasional Asian examples will be used. No prerequisites. Open to first-year students only.
Wednesday 3:00 - 5:20 p.m.
Michael Satlow, Associate Professor of Judaic Studies
Courses Open to All Students
ANTH 0310 - Human Evolution
This course examines the theory and evidence of human evolution in the past, present, and future. Topics include evolution and adaptation, biocultural adaptation, fossil evidence, behavioral evolution in primates, human genetic variation, and contemporary human biological variation.
Wednesday 3:00 - 5:20 p.m.
Stephen McGarvey, Professor of Community Health
AFRI 0600 - Race, Gender, and Urban Politics
This course introduces the methods and practice of studying black urban life with a primary focus on US cities. We will critically examine the urban cultural studies debates concerned with race, gender, class and sexuality. The approach of the course will be interdisciplinary, drawing upon works from anthropology, literature, history, music, and film. Topics include tourism, immigration, poverty, popular culture, gentrification, violence, and criminalization.
Tuesday/Thursday 9:00 - 10:20 a.m.
Keisha-Khan Perry, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies
BIOL 2150 - Scientific Communication
This course focuses on the effective dissemination of scientific information through oral and written communication. Through practical examples of activities common to the profession (writing a grant proposal, presenting research work orally, and preparing a critical review of a submitted scientific manuscript), students will develop the skills necessary to effectively communicate scientific ideas, experiments, and results. Each of the activities will be dissected into key sets that will be individually developed with the aid of interactive discussions and peer review.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 11:00 - 11:50 a.m.
Tricia Serio, Associate Professor of Medical Science, and Judith Bender, Professor of Biology
EDUC 1020 - The History of American Education
This course introduces students to the historical study of schooling in the U.S. Drawing together social, political, economic, and cultural perspectives, we will explore how public schooling has related to different groups in American history.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 10:00 - 10:50 a.m.
Tracy Steffes, Assistant Professor of Education
EDUC 1850 - Moral Development and Education
This course examines contending approaches to moral development and its fostering in the home, school, and peer group. Topics include philosophical underpinnings of moral theory, cognitive and behavioral dynamics of moral growth, values climate of contemporary American society, the role of schooling, and variations attributable to culture and gender. Prerequisites: EDUC 0800, 1270, or 1710, or COGS 0630, or PSYC 0810.
Tuesday/Thursday 10:30 - 11:50 a.m.
Jin Li, Associate Professor of Education
ENGN 1930X - Entrepreneurship and New Ventures: A Socratic Approach to Innovation Analysis and Application
Taught via Socratic method, this course will use case studies that explore essential elements of the entrepreneurial process: Defining Entrepreneurship; Recognizing Opportunities and Developing Business Models; Assembling The Team; Raising Financial Resources; Managing Uncertainty; Managing the Growing Venture; and Realizing Value. Guests will include successful entrepreneurs and expert practitioners who will highlight practical approaches to entrepreneurial success.
Tuesday/Thursday 10:30 - 11:50 a.m.
Danny Warshay, Adjunct Lecturer in Engineering
HIST 1230 - European Intellectual History: Exploding the Modern
The overarching theme of the course is the relationship between modernity and the primitive as manifested in major cultural, aesthetic, and political movements in the 20th century. Films are an integral part of the course.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 1:00 - 1:50 p.m.
Mary Gluck, Professor of History
PHP 1070 - The Burden of Disease in Developing Countries
This course defines and critically examines environmental, epidemiologic, demographic, biomedical, and anthropological perspectives on health and disease in developing countries. Changes in the underlying causes of morbidity and mortality during economic development will be emphasized as we focus on the biosocial ecology of diseases. Guest lecturers will cover different diseases and public health perspectives.
Monday/Wednesday 8:30 - 9:50 a.m.
Stephen McGarvey, Professor of Community Health
RUSS 1290 - Russian Literature in Translation I: Pushkin to Dostoevsky
This course surveys major works of Russian literature of the early and mid-19th century. Authors to be studied include Karamzin, Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Turgenev, Leskov, and Dostoevsky. No knowledge of Russian is required.
Tuesday/Thursday 10:30 - 11:50 a.m.
Alexander Levitsky, Professor of Slavic Languages
SOC 0020 - Perspectives on Social Interaction: An Introduction to Social Psychology
This course introduces the discipline of sociology by examining the individual in social situations. Students will explore the social development of the person, the development of interpersonal relationships, and the problems of integrating the individual and the social system. For each area, the personal and situational factors that bear upon the issue will be investigated. The objective is to deepen understanding of the behavior of people in a social context.
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 2:00 - 2:50 pm
Gregory Elliott, Professor of Sociology
SOC 1430 - Social Structure and Personal Development
The relationship between one's place in the social structure and one's own personal growth. Investigates the social aspects of individual growth and change throughout the life course. Also examines social factors involved in the failure to find a meaningful place for oneself in society.
Tuesday/Thursday 9:00 - 10:20 a.m.
Instructor: Gregory Elliott, Professor of Sociology