Writing Fellows Courses - Fall 2010
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
GNSS 0090 - Bodies Out of Bounds
In this seminar, students will examine what happens to bodies—and the world around them—when they refuse to stay within "normal" boundaries. Course readings focus on literature from the early modern period to the present; film and contemporary cultural theory will be used for comparison and context. Readings range from Dekker and Middleton's play The Roaring Girl to Octavia Butler's Dawn from the Xenogenesis Trilogy; films include Ma Vie en Rose.
Instructor: Gail E. Cohee
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.
Instructor: Stephen Parman
HIAA 0050 - Illustrating Knowledge
This seminar will investigate the history of scientific illustration from the first printed books to the present, using works in Brown's special collections libraries. Students will investigate the exchange of ideas and the development of specializations and modes of representation in the arts and sciences, from manuscript herbals and early printed maps to photographically illustrated textbooks and computer imaging.
Instructor: Evelyn Lincoln
ITAL 0751 - When Leaders Lie: Machiavelli in International Context
Niccolò Machiavelli's pragmatic view of the tenuous relationship of ethics to politics has cast him alternatively as the founder of modern political science, the architect of realpolitik, and the proponent of "consequential morality," or the notion that the ends justify the means. This course examines the writings of Machiavelli as well as the precedents and comparisons for his ideas in the Greek and Islamic world, and in a wider European context. The seminar concludes with an exploration of the relevance of Machiavelli to the twenty-first century, focusing in particular on the politics and ethics of the Iraq war.
Instructor: Caroline Castiglione
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.
Instructor: Patricia Sobral
Courses Open to All Students
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.
Instructor: Keisha-Khan Perry
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.
Instructor: Stephen McGarvey
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.
Instructors: Tricia Serio and Judith Bender
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.
Instructor: Jin Li
EDUC 1130 - Economics of Education I
How do we attract good teachers to public schools? What are the economic returns to early-childhood intervention programs? These are just two examples of important education policy questions. This course introduces key concepts of microeconomic theory and uses them to analyze these and other policy questions. Organized around a structured sequence of readings. Prerequisite (one of the following): ECON 0110, EDUC 1020, POLS 0100, SOC 0130, or the equivalent.
Instructor: John H. Tyler
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.
Instructor: Danny Warshay
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.
Instructor: Stephen McGarvey
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.
Instructor: Alexander Levitsky
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 behavior in social contexts.
Instructor: Gregory Elliott
SOC 1430 - Social Structure and Personal Development
This course investigates the relationship between one's place in the social structure and one's own personal growth. Social aspects of individual growth and change throughout the life course will be examined, along with social factors involved in the failure to find a meaningful place for oneself in society.
Instructor: Gregory Elliott