All Courses

• Social Psychology

  This course introduces students to the field of social psychology - the scientific study of how people think about, feel about, interact with, influence, and relate to one another. Topics covered include self and social perception, social influence, beliefs and attitudes, altruism, and intergroup processes. Where relevant, we will discuss if and how findings in social psychology can be applied in real-world contexts such as health, work, and relationships.

• Reading Cultures: Collection, Travel, Exchange II (Section 97)

  This course in the sequence of Reading Cultures considers the centrality of movement, migration and travel to the study of culture.

• Reading Cultures: Collection, Travel, Exchange II (Section 92)

  This course in the sequence of Reading Cultures considers the centrality of movement, migration and travel to the study of culture.

• Reading Cultures: Collection, Travel, Exchange I (Section 92)

  This course in the Reading Cultures sequence is devoted to the analysis of "collection" as a form of cultural activity. Reading texts such as Ovid's

• Reading Cultures: Collection, Travel, Exchange I (section 91)

  This course in the Reading Cultures sequence is devoted to the analysis of "collection" as a form of cultural activity. Reading texts such as Ovid's

• Inquiry, Conversation, Argument: What Does Business Owe Society?

  Inquiry, Conversation, Argument (ICA) is a one-quarter intensive writing seminar that supports students in developing the skills and habits of mind necessary to participate at the University of Chicago and beyond. By emphasizing analytical composition and revision, this course helps students understand, practice, and appreciate writing as a recursive process. This process is both challenging and valuable, as it produces and refines ideas through sustained critical inquiry and as a means of cultivating free expression.

• Organic Chemistry Workshop

  Organic chemistry is a critical course for many, particularly those seeking careers in the medical arts as well as an array of scientific disciplines. However, as its content is both unique and substantively distinct from many science courses that students have taken previously, it has developed a reputation as being a course that is challenging, memorization-based, and extremely hard to master.

• Media Aesthetics: Image, Text, Sound I

  This course focuses on images, imitation, and seeing. Images may seem to simply reflect the real, but they just as often distort or distance viewers from it.

• Media Aesthetics: Image, Text, Sound II

  This course focuses on writing, reading, and signs.

• Introduction to GIS and Spatial Analysis

  This course provides an introduction and overview of how spatial thinking is translated into specific methods to handle geographic information and the statistical analysis of such information. This is not a course to learn a specific GIS software program. The goal is to learn how to think about spatial aspects of research questions, as they pertain to how the data are collected, organized and transformed, and how these spatial aspects affect statistical methods. The focus is on research questions relevant in the social sciences, which inspires the selection of the particular methods that are covered. Examples include spatial data integration (spatial join), transformations between different spatial scales (overlay), the computation of “spatial” variables (distance, buffer, shortest path), geovisualization, visual analytics, and the assessment of spatial autocorrelation (the lack of independence among spatial variables). The methods will be illustrated by means of open source software such as QGIS and R.

• Introductory Game Theory

  How should one bid at an auction in order to win at the lowest possible hammer price? How do firms behave when they possess market power but also face competition? Why do companies engage in R&D races in order to release their new products sooner than their competitors? Why do the Republicans and the Democrats almost always ended up choosing moderates as their party nominees in presidential races? To what extent can the veto power of presidents allow them to influence legislative outcomes?

• Introduction to Data Science II

  This course is the second quarter of a two-quarter systematic introduction to the foundations of data science, as well as to practical considerations in data analysis. A broad background on probability and statistical methodology will be provided. More advanced topics on data privacy and ethics, reproducibility in science, data encryption, and basic machine learning will be introduced. We will explore these concepts with real-world problems from different domains.

• Inquiry, Conversation, Argument: What Does the Idea of Utopia Suggest About Human Nature?

  Inquiry, Conversation, Argument (ICA) is a one-quarter intensive writing seminar that supports students in developing the skills and habits of mind necessary to participate at the University of Chicago and beyond. By emphasizing analytical composition and revision, this course helps students understand, practice, and appreciate writing as a recursive process. This process is both challenging and valuable, as it produces and refines ideas through sustained critical inquiry and as a means of cultivating free expression.

• Human Being and Citizen II

  In this course in this sequence, we examine conceptions of the human good in connection with practices of the self as they pertain to virtue, the social order, spiritual beliefs and practices, and community.

• Human Being and Citizen I

  The course in this sequence explores the ways that ancient literary, philosophical, and religious texts (from the Greek, Mesopotamian, and Abrahamic traditions) conceive of, express ideals about, and articulate tensions in conceptions of human and divine law and justice, affective life, human striving, and the human being as such.

• Science, Culture, and Society in Western Civilization III: From Natural History to Biomedicine

  This is a three-week intensive course in the history of the life sciences, taught on-site at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. In this course, you will learn about crucial turning points in natural history, biology, and medicine between the 1800s and the present. You will also visit key locations in those transformations, conduct historical research in archives and using historical instruments, and gain experience in both modern and historical techniques in biology, ecology, and the life sciences. Topics and activities include: - A visit to Penikese Island, location of the first natural history school in the United States; - A visit to the New Bedford Whaling Museum to learn about the history of whales, whaling, and natural science; - Hands-on research in salt marsh ecology; and - An examination of the conjoined histories of squids and neuroscience. This course will satisfy one credit in the Science, Culture, and Society Civilization Sequence.

• Inquiry, Conversation, Argument: (Why) Should Freedom of Expression Be Defended as a Right?

  Inquiry, Conversation, Argument (ICA) is a one-quarter intensive writing seminar that supports students in developing the skills and habits of mind necessary to participate at the University of Chicago and beyond. By emphasizing analytical composition and revision, this course helps students understand, practice, and appreciate writing as a recursive process. This process is both challenging and valuable, as it produces and refines ideas through sustained critical inquiry and as a means of cultivating free expression.

• Colonizations III: Decolonization, Revolution, Freedom

  This course considers the processes and consequences of decolonization both in newly independent nations and former colonial powers. Through an engagement with postcolonial studies, we explore the problematics of freedom and sovereignty; anti-colonial movements, thinking and struggles; nation-making and nationalism; and the enduring legacies of colonialism.

• Self, Culture and Society 1 (92)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence. The first course in the sequence deals with the conceptual foundations of political economy and theories of capitalism and meaning in modern society. The social theories of Ibn Khaldun, Smith, Marx, and Weber, supplemented by historical and ethnographic works, serve as points of departure for considering the characterizing features of the modern world. Particular emphasis is given to socioeconomic structure, theories of historical change, possibilities for individual freedom, the meaning of work, and globalization. Classes are conducted as discussion seminars, rather than lectures, focused on the texts assigned. The focus will be on understanding complex arguments regarding the nature of modern social life.

• Self, Culture and Society 1 (91)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence. The first course in the sequence deals with the conceptual foundations of political economy and theories of capitalism and meaning in modern society. The social theories of Ibn Khaldun, Smith, Marx, and Weber, supplemented by historical and ethnographic works, serve as points of departure for considering the characterizing features of the modern world. Particular emphasis is given to socioeconomic structure, theories of historical change, possibilities for individual freedom, the meaning of work, and globalization. Classes are conducted as discussion seminars, rather than lectures, focused on the texts assigned. The focus will be on understanding complex arguments regarding the nature of modern social life.

• Self, Culture and Society 1 (97)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence. The first course in the sequence deals with the conceptual foundations of political economy and theories of capitalism and meaning in modern society. The social theories of Ibn Khaldun, Smith, Marx, and Weber, supplemented by historical and ethnographic works, serve as points of departure for considering the characterizing features of the modern world. Particular emphasis is given to socioeconomic structure, theories of historical change, possibilities for individual freedom, the meaning of work, and globalization. Classes are conducted as discussion seminars, rather than lectures, focused on the texts assigned. The focus will be on understanding complex arguments regarding the nature of modern social life.

• Self, Culture and Society 3 (91)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence. The sequence starts with the conceptual foundations of political economy and theories of capitalism and meaning in modern society. Students then consider the cultural and social constitution of the self, foregrounding the exploration of sexuality, gender, and race. In the third course of the sequence, students critically examine dominant discourses of science, individuality, and alterity, keeping an eye towards the application of social theory to contemporary concerns. Beginning with post-modern, post-colonial, and other critiques of sciences of self, culture, and society (as articulated by Kuhn, Foucault, and Said), the course investigates how new theories arise and new problems are addressed, how new perspectives (more global, more inclusive) test and challenge, and how social scientists change, renew, and improve their insights. The course focuses on topics of contemporary concern, including the human impact on the environment, feminism outside the West, and the rise of global cities. Classes are conducted as discussion seminars, rather than lectures, focused on the texts assigned. The focus will be on understanding complex arguments regarding the nature of modern social life.

• Self, Culture and Society 3 (92)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence. The sequence starts with the conceptual foundations of political economy and theories of capitalism and meaning in modern society. Students then consider the cultural and social constitution of the self, foregrounding the exploration of sexuality, gender, and race. In the third course of the sequence, students critically examine dominant discourses of science, individuality, and alterity, keeping an eye towards the application of social theory to contemporary concerns. Beginning with post-modern, post-colonial, and other critiques of sciences of self, culture, and society (as articulated by Kuhn, Foucault, and Said), the course investigates how new theories arise and new problems are addressed, how new perspectives (more global, more inclusive) test and challenge, and how social scientists change, renew, and improve their insights. The course focuses on topics of contemporary concern, including the human impact on the environment, feminism outside the West, and the rise of global cities. Classes are conducted as discussion seminars, rather than lectures, focused on the texts assigned. The focus will be on understanding complex arguments regarding the nature of modern social life.

• Self, Culture, and Society 1 (93)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence.

• Self, Culture, and Society 3 (93)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence. The sequence starts with the conceptual foundations of political economy and theories of capitalism and meaning in modern society. Students then consider the cultural and social constitution of the self, foregrounding the exploration of sexuality, gender, and race.

• Self, Culture, and Society 2 (93)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence. The sequence starts with the conceptual foundations of political economy and theories of capitalism and meaning in modern society.

• Visual Language: On Images - September Term at MBL

  Through studio work and critical discussions on 2D form, this course is designed to reveal the conventions of images and image-making.

• Visual Language: On Images

  Through studio work and critical discussions on 2D form, this course is designed to reveal the conventions of images and image-making. Basic formal elements and principles of art are presented, but they are also put into practice to reveal perennial issues in a visual field. Form is studied as a means to communicate content.

• Game Theory I

  The origins of game theory in political science reach back to the arms race at the height of the cold war. Since then, its applications in political science have proliferated to explaining regime transitions, civil war conduct, and even climate change. This quarter will be taught as an introduction to applications of game theory in Political Science. It will be centered on topics of electoral competition, allocation of public goods, political lobbying, voting in legislatures, and the formation of government coalitions. We will cover basic solution concepts, including the Nash Equilibrium and the Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium. Many other game theorists have been recognized by the Swedish Academy, including, Roger Myerson, Robert Aumann, Amartya Sen, Eleanor Ostrom, Jean Tirole and most recently, in 2020, Paul Milgram and Richard Wilson.

• Schooling and Identity

  This is an advanced, discussion-based seminar, open to both undergraduate and graduate students, examining the dynamic relations between schooling and identity. We will explore how schools both enable and constrain the identities available to students, especially adolescents. We will examine these relations from multiple disciplinary perspectives, applying concepts from anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies to understanding how students not only construct identities for themselves within schools, but also negotiate the identities imposed by others.

• America in World Civilization II

  The American Civ sequence examines America as a contested idea and a contested place by reading and writing about a wide array of primary sources. In the process, students gain a new sense of historical awareness and of the making of America. The course is designed both for history majors and non-majors who want to deepen their understanding of the nation's history, encounter some enlightening and provocative voices from the past, and develop the qualitative methodology of historical thinking. The nineteenth-century segment of America in World Civilizations asks: What happens when democracy confronts inequality? We focus on themes that include indigenous-US relations; religious revivalism and reform; slavery, the Civil War, and emancipation; the intersection between women’s rights and anti slavery movements; the development of industrial capitalism; urbanism and social inequality.

• Basics of Corporate, Banking and Investment Finance

  This course introduces the basics of corporate finance, investments, and banking, with an emphasis on real-world applications. It is a rigorous introduction to various facets of financial economics that a practitioner in the field handles, preparing you for a career in financial economics and allied industries including banking, investment management, and capital markets. It also serves as a gateway to the more advanced courses on these topics. We shall discuss capital structure, corporate valuation, financial statement analysis, cost of capital, interest rates, yield curve analysis, monetary policy impact, risk and return analysis, portfolio theory, capital asset pricing model and financial instruments. Friday lab sessions will include a case study, discussions with industry alumni, and preparation for upcoming recruiting cycles.

• Modern Latin American Art

  This course investigates the development of Latin American art from the early nineteenth century to the present. Through the study of representative artists, movements, and works, we will trace this history from the formation of art academies in newly independent Latin American nations through the region’s rise to prominence in an increasingly global art world.

• Summer Intensive Elementary French

  Summer Intensive Elementary French is an online eight-week course designed for students with no prior French to develop intermediate proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening for use in everyday communication. Students will acquire an in-depth review of the very basic patterns of the language.

• Elements of Economic Analysis 2

  This course examines demand and supply as factors of production and the distribution of income in the economy; it also considers some elementary general equilibrium theory and welfare economics.

• Forensic Biology: “Who done it?” – DNA tells the story

  This course is designed to introduce the field of forensic biology to those with an introductory biology background.

• Quantum Quickstart

• Biology and Its Modern Applications (Online)

• Biology and Its Modern Applications (Session 1)

  This course aims at developing the basic concepts that form the crux of life from both structural and functional perspectives. It will cover cellular functioning and organization and the transformation of energy. In addition, concepts of evolution and natural selection will be investigated.

• Internet Censorship and Online Speech

  Information dissemination and online discourse on the Internet are subject to the algorithms and filters that operate on Internet infrastructure, from network firewalls to search engines. This course will explore the technologies that are used to control access to online speech and information, and cutting-edge technologies that can empower citizens in the face of these information controls. You will learn about and experiment with technologies to control online discourse, ranging from firewalls that perform network traffic filtering to algorithms for content personalization and content moderation.

• Building the New Venture

  This course is designed for undergraduate students with a curiosity about business and particularly entrepreneurship and small business or not-for profit organizations.It is not necessary that students be planning to start a venture in the near or even distant future. Each week will feature a specific entrepreneurial skill. For those who may be interested in starting or running a business or non-profit, this class will provide an essential foundation for the process, skills and resources required as well as the opportunities available.

• Introduction to Creative Coding

• Sarah Baartman through Schitt's Creek: An Introduction to Gender and Popular Culture

  Throughout the twentieth century, numerous theorists have argued that genders are learned, enacted, and ascribed identities, worked out through interaction. As such, the production of gender as category is carried out in relation to cultural models and artifacts people use to make sense of, model and reject gendered identities, characteristics, and roles. This undergraduate course takes popular culture, including film, television, literature, and social media, as a starting point for understanding the often taken-for granted characteristics deemed gendered in Western culture and elsewhere. Attending to race, class, sexuality, age, and other social categorizations throughout, we will marry gender and queer theory with works on representation and postfeminism, attending particularly to how ethnographic works have apprehended the role of media in producing, propagating, contesting, and distilling cultural notions of gender. While we will heavily examine widely-disseminated, economically-powerful imagery, we will also attend closely to alternative, resistant, and activist media, and to creative consumption or reparative reading. This class will meet online for nine synchronous sessions.

• Critical Videogame Studies

  Since the 1960s, games have blossomed into the world’s most profitable artistic and cultural form. This course attends to a broad range of video game genres, including roguelikes (Hades), horror games (Until Dawn), visual novels (Butterfly Soup), cozy games (At Winter’s End), time loop games (12 Minutes), serious games (Never Alone), idle games (Cookie Clicker), and several others. The course is organized according by genres, which have been selected to invite thought about formal, historical, cultural, and sociopolitical dimensions of games. Readings by theorists including Ian Bogost, Mary Flanagan, and Mark J.P. Wolf will help us think about the field of videogame studies. In addition to weekly reading and a series of short exercises (designed to practice different modes of writing and creative development), students will also complete a final project.

• America in World Civilization III

  The American Civ sequence examines America as a contested idea and a contested place by reading and writing about a wide array of primary sources. In the process, students gain a new sense of historical awareness and of the making of America.

• Cinema, Media and Society: A Global Survey

• Film and the Moving Image

  This course seeks to develop skills in perception, comprehension, and interpretation when dealing with film and other moving image media. It encourages the close analysis of audiovisual forms, their materials and formal attributes, and explores the range of questions and methods appropriate to the explication of a given film or moving image text. It also examines the intellectual structures basic to the systematic study and understanding of moving images. Most importantly, the course aims to foster in students the ability to translate this understanding into verbal expression, both oral and written.

• Stars

  At the beginning of the 20th century, two astronomers: Ejnar Hertzprung and Henry Norris Russell independently took catalogues of stars and plotted their brightness as a function of their color. The result, now known as the HR diagram, was to become one of the most influential diagrams in astrophysics. It showed that, contrary to one's naive expectation, the distribution of stars was highly structured. The efforts to understand the HR diagram extended for the better part of the 20th century and paralleled the development of modern physics. In this course we will use the HR diagram as a starting point to address two fundamental questions: what is a star? And how does it evolve?

• Black Holes

  White dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes, the so-called compact objects, are among the most remarkable object in the universe. Their most distinctive feature which ultimately is the one responsible for their amazing properties is their prodigiously high density. All compact objects are the product of the final stages of stellar evolution. White dwarfs have masses comparable to that of the Sun but with the size of the Earth, they come from "smallish" stars that run out of nuclear fuel and settle down to a quiet life of slowly fading away. Neutron stars and black holes come from much more massive stars that end their lives in a spectacular explosion known as a supernova. In a neutron star the mass of the Sun is concentrated in the size of a city. The density is so high that even electron and proton get squished together to form neutrons (hence the name). In a black hole the density is so high that nothing can counter gravity and eventually the collapsing star folds the space-time around itself and disappears inside a "surface of no return”- the event horizon. In this course we will address the progenitor problem--which stars become which compact object. We will examine the properties of each type of compact object and address the issue of their remarkable structure. For the case of black holes, we will see that they are completely geometrical, and in some real sense, the most perfect objects in the universe.

• Summer Intensive Elementary Japanese

  You will develop four skills—speaking, writing, listening, and reading. You are expected to spend four to six hours outside of class each day for review and preparation for the following day. This 8-week summer intensive course is equivalent to three quarters of Elementary Japanese (10100-10300) during the regular academic year (30 weeks).

• Foundations of Psychological Research

• Introduction to the Arts of the Italian Renaissance

  This course will familiarize students with developments in the art production in Italy from the 15th through the early 17th centuries. The course will survey a broad range of objects and settings, and familiarize students with relevant media and techniques, as well as important intellectual, social, and political developments that informed the production and reception of art in the period. Students will hone their skills in visual analysis and their ability to engage art and express positions and observations about art orally and in writing. The major assignments for the class will include a presentation and a final project. Students will prepare daily discursive or creative responses to the readings and study the responses of their peers to engage in a collaborative, object-based critical inquiry. Whenever possible, we shall prioritize objects in local collections to which we are more likely to gain access during or after the conclusion of the course. Background readings will be complemented by selected original texts in translation and exemplary art historical scholarship on the period.

• Statistical Methods and Applications

  This course introduces statistical techniques and methods of data analysis, including the use of statistical software. Examples are drawn from the biological, physical, and social sciences.

• Economics from an Experimental Perspective (Session 1)

• The Philosophy of Love

  Love is one of the most important, profound things in life; and yet, it is notoriously hard to articulate just what love is. In this course, we will inquire about the nature of love, addressing some of the central questions that have occupied philosophers of love. Why do we love what we love? Who can love, and who can be loved? What does love demand of us, and how can we love well? What is the relationship between love and morality? And what is love? We will seek an understanding of love that can account, in particular, for the central role that love plays in human life – the sense in which it is “what makes the world go ‘round.” We will discuss historical and contemporary philosophical texts, such as Plato’s Symposium, bell hooks’ all about love, and Harry Frankfurt’s The Reasons of Love, as well as literature and film. In the course of our inquiry, we will consider the ways that philosophical reflection – with its focus on conceptual clarity, rational argumentation, and communicative precision – can be enriched by literature and film while, in turn, helping us to better understand literature, film, and life.

• Mind and Reality

• Developmental Psychology: Theories and Techniques

• Introduction to Religious Studies

  What is religion? Is it the source of truth? Is it fiction? Believe it or not, religion affects what we think, what we do, and how we situate ourselves and others.

• Introductory Statistical Methods and Applications for the Social Sciences

  This course introduces and applies fundamental statistical concepts, principles, and procedures to the analysis of data in the social and behavioral sciences. You will learn to compute, interpret, and apply commonly used descriptive and inferential statistical procedures as they relate to social and behavioral research. These include z-test, t-test, bivariate correlation and simple linear regression with an introduction to analysis of variance and multiple regression. The course emphasizes understanding normal distributions, sampling distribution, hypothesis testing, and the relationship among the various techniques covered. It will integrate the use of R as a software tool for these techniques. After completion of the course, you will be able to (1) differentiate, utilize and apply statistical description and inference to applied research in behavioral sciences or other disciplines, (2) understand and be able to utilize various forms of charts and plots useful for statistical description, (3) understand and utilize the concept of statistical error and sampling distribution, (4) use a statistical program for data analysis, (5) select statistical procedures appropriate for the type of data collected and the research questions hypothesized, (6) distinguish between Type I and Type II errors in statistical hypothesis testing, (7) understand the concepts of statistical power and the influence of sample size on inference, and (8) summarize and write up the results that can be understood by a non-statistician. This course is equivalent to SOCI 20004/30004, CHDV 20101/3010, PSYCH 20100, SOSC 26009/36009, and other introductory level applied statistics courses. This course is NOT equivalent to STAT 22000.

• The American Presidency

  This course examines the institution of the American presidency. It surveys the foundations of presidential power, both as the Founders conceived it, and as it is practiced in the modern era. This course also traces the historical development of the institutional presidency, the president's relationships with Congress and the courts, the influence presidents wield in domestic and foreign policymaking, and the ways in which presidents make decisions in a system of separated powers.

• Principles of Microeconomics

  This course introduces the principles and applications of price theory, which is a fundamental framework to analyze the decision-making process of individuals and firms.

• Creative Writing

• Systems Programming I

  This course is the first in a pair of courses designed to teach students about systems programming.

• Introduction to Computer Science I

  This course is the first of a pair of courses that are designed to introduce students to computer science.

• Policy Implementation

  Good public policy has the potential to advance justice in society. However, once a policy or program is established, there is the challenge of getting it carried out in ways intended by the policy makers or program designers. This course explores some of the common obstacles, dilemmas, and opportunities that emerge when governments and non-governmental actors attempt to put a policy into effect. Focusing on the United States, we will draw on organizational theory and case studies in public education and transportation policy to delve into the black box of policy implementation.

• The SDG Challenge Program: Sustainable Development Goals and Policy Intervention

  The

• Introduction to Python Programming with Applications to Astrophysics

  This course is intended for students who are planning to major in Astrophysics to introduce them to programming using Python. It will review basic code elements and data structures commonly used in Python and introduce Python libraries, such as numpy and scipy, and the concepts of vector operations that greatly aid scientific computations with Python. Plotting graphs and data using Matplotlib library will also be introduced.

• Pathways in Data Science

• Practical R Programming

  This course covers a practical set of skills vital to modern statistics and data science in handling messy, real-world data. Throughout the course, students will practice reproducible research with version control and literate programming. They will think algorithmically with base R objects, control flow, functions, and iteration.

• Principles of Macroeconomics

  Building on the analytical framework developed in ECON 10000, this course introduces macroeconomic theory and its applications in public policy. Coverage includes measurements, the determination of income, output, unemployment and inflation, long-run economic growth, business cycles, financial market and banking, monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade and finance, and history of thought. UC students may substitute "ECON 20200: The Elements of Economic Analysis III" for this course in the business economics track.

• The Point Program for Public Thinking Summer Workshop: Democracy and the Elites

  The Summer Workshop provides a space for undergraduate students interested in journalism, criticism, politics, art, and nonprofit work to learn about and practice engaging the public through dialogue and writing. The theme of this workshop is "Democracy and the Elites". Some of its central questions will be: Who qualifies as an elite in a democracy, and what kind of authority do they possess? Are there good ways of being an elite as well as bad ones? What "responsibilities" do intellectual elites have to the public? And how do we navigate situations where democratic majorities oppose values or actions that we as intellectuals consider to be right or just? You will address these and related questions in conversation with one another as well as with various philosophical, political, artistic, and religious traditions. For your final assignment, you will outline a longform essay or design a project to foster public conversation about democracy and elites on your own college campus.

• The Point Program for Public Thinking Summer Workshop: Art and Immorality

  The Summer Workshop provides a space for undergraduate students interested in journalism, criticism, politics, art, and nonprofit work to learn about and practice engaging the public through dialogue and writing. The theme of this workshop is "Art and Immorality". Some of its central questions will be: Is it possible, or justifiable, to enjoy art we consider immoral? Does beauty have moral or political value? Can “good” art be dangerous? Can it be virtuous? Does art have a role in self-improvement or social progress? You will address these and related questions in conversation with one another as well as with various philosophical, political, artistic, and religious traditions. For your final assignment, you will outline a longform essay or design a project to foster public conversation about art and morality on your own college campus.

• What is Truth?

  Today more than ever we are confronted with the urgent question of what is true. From stories about supposedly stolen elections to conspiracy theories about vaccines and 5G, how we decide what counts as the truth is constantly up for debate – and the debates have potentially serious consequences. With politically polarized information in the news and new technologies like generative AI to circulate falsehoods on social media, it has never been more important to examine how we know what is true and to consider how we can argue and debate about our beliefs responsibly and effectively.

• Introduction to Quantitative Modeling in Biology

  Although mathematics and biology have traditionally not gotten along, recent advances in molecular biology and medicine have made biological experiments essentially quantitative. This course introduces mathematical ideas that are useful for understanding and analyzing biological data, including data description and fitting, hypothesis testing and Bayesian thinking, Markov models, and differential equations. Students acquire hands-on experience working with data and implementing mathematical models computationally using the R programming language. The two main goals are to acquire computational skills and conceptual familiarity with mathematical models used in biological research.

• Contagion: Infectious Agents & Diseases (Session 2)

  COVID, Zika, Ebola, HIV, SARS…in our increasingly globalized and mobile world, infectious diseases can emerge and spread faster than ever before, making epidemics, even pandemics, a real possibility. That, together with increasing antibiotic resistance, makes understanding where these threats come from and how we can control their spread one of the most urgent issues of our time. In this three-week course, students will learn about the origin, biology, and evolution of some of the most feared viruses, such as Ebola, HIV, and Influenza, and lethal bacteria such as E. coli.We will explore the nature of emerging diseases and will use particular examples to discover how we can predict and control their spread. Our dependence on microbes from an evolutionary point of view will also be discussed. Students will have access to the state-of-the-art laboratory facilities at the University of Chicago for hands-on activities such as PCR, CRISPR, DNA sequencing, DNA sequence analysis, viral culture and antibody studies all applied to the study of infections and immunity (and will not be exposed to dangerous materials).

• Contagion: Infectious Agents & Diseases (Session 1)

  COVID, Zika, Ebola, HIV, SARS…in our increasingly globalized and mobile world, infectious diseases can emerge and spread faster than ever before, making epidemics, even pandemics, a real possibility. That, together with increasing antibiotic resistance, makes understanding where these threats come from and how we can control their spread one of the most urgent issues of our time. In this three-week course, students will learn about the origin, biology, and evolution of some of the most feared viruses, such as Ebola, HIV, and Influenza, and lethal bacteria such as E. coli.We will explore the nature of emerging diseases and will use particular examples to discover how we can predict and control their spread. Our dependence on microbes from an evolutionary point of view will also be discussed. Students will have access to the state-of-the-art laboratory facilities at the University of Chicago for hands-on activities such as PCR, CRISPR, DNA sequencing, DNA sequence analysis, viral culture and antibody studies all applied to the study of infections and immunity (and will not be exposed to dangerous materials).

• Biomolecules of Life (Session 2)

  This course will introduce students to the molecular building blocks of life (i.e., proteins, including enzymes, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids) and explain their structure and function. Students will also learn how these molecules impact human health and contribute to disorders and diseases. Lab work will involve modern techniques used in biochemical and molecular biology research such as molecular modeling, rational drug design, and enzymatic assays. At the end of the course, students will work in groups to prepare and present a scientific poster. Exams will also be used to assess students' understanding.

• Biomolecules of Life (Session 1)

  This course will introduce students to the molecular building blocks of life (i.e., proteins, including enzymes, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids) and explain their structure and function. Students will also learn how these molecules impact human health and contribute to disorders and diseases. Lab work will involve modern techniques used in biochemical and molecular biology research such as molecular modeling, rational drug design, and enzymatic assays. At the end of the course, students will work in groups to prepare and present a scientific poster. Exams will also be used to assess students' understanding.

• Introduction to Money and Banking

  The course focuses on monetary policy and central bank's attempts to stabilize prices and promote maximum sustainable economic growth. Topics include the structure of the Federal Reserve, the conduct of monetary policy, the term structure of interest rates, risk valuation, management of banking, and financial crises.

• The Workings of the Human Brain: From Brain to Behavior

• Introduction to Biological Psychology

  This course will introduce undergraduate psychology students to the fundamentals of biological psychology and neuroscience. We will concentrate on the biological processes that underlie human and animal behavior. This course satisfies the upper division undergraduate core breadth requirement for the undergraduate major in Psychology.

• Introduction to Econometrics (Session 3)

  The objective of this course is to introduce students to the practice of econometrics. The course will focus on the use of multiple regression as a tool to establish causal relations. The course emphasizes all steps of the process of empirical research: data collection, analysis, and presentation (both written and oral).

• Biology and Its Modern Applications (Session 2)

  This course aims at developing the basic concepts that form the crux of life from both structural and functional perspectives. It will cover cellular functioning and organization and the transformation of energy. In addition, concepts of evolution and natural selection will be investigated.

• Elements of Economic Analysis 1

  This course is an introduction to the "economic approach" as it is applied to consumer behavior. We will stress the notion that individuals maximize their well-being, as they conceive it, subject to resource constraints.

• Explorations in Neuroscience: Neurons, Behavior, and Beyond

  How does the brain work, and how do changes in brain structure and function give rise to neurological conditions and deficits? Developing a deeper understanding of the brain has been deemed one of the 21st century’s Grand Challenges, and this course will draw on different research methodologies to begin unraveling one of life’s greatest mysteries.

• How Societies Work (or Don't)

  How do societies work? Why do they so often seem to break down and fail? Should we even expect societies to “work” as cohesive entities, or should we assume that they are always rife with conflict, inequality and power struggles?

• Approaches to Digital Humanities Using Python

  This course introduces students to:

• Fascism

  Developments in recent years have clearly shown a resurgent interest in "fascism". While it designates a phenomenon which might concern everyone, it is also a term used more often in the manner of an insult than a precisely defined concept. One might even say it is what W.B. Gallie once called an essentially contested concept—not because many claim it for themselves today, but on the contrary, because virtually everyone denounces it in their own specific way.

• Summer Intensive Elementary Spanish

  Summer Elementary Spanish is an eight-week course which helps beginning students build a solid foundation in the basic patterns of written and spoken Spanish and their use in everyday communication. The course is specifically designed to help students obtain functional competency in speaking, reading, writing and listening in Spanish. The curriculum in Summer Elementary Spanish is the equivalent of SPAN 10100-10200-10300 during the regular academic year, and successful completion of the fulfills the language competency requirement for UChicago students in the College.

• A Brief History of Doom: Ragnarok & Other Apocalypses

  This course examines the idea of the “end of the world” as conceived in Old Norse, biblical, and other traditions, ancient and modern. Topics to be discussed include visions of the apocalypse and afterlife in Norse Mythology (Snorri’s Edda, The Poetic Edda, The Saga of the Volsungs), the Book of Revelation, Shakespeare’s King Lear, Wagner’s Ring cycle, and Marvel’s Thor franchise. Students will consider how thinking about “the end” has shaped the present in varied historical and cultural contexts.

• Language, Culture, and Education

  In this course, we examine past and current theories and research about differential educational achievement in US schools, including: - Theories that focus on the characteristics of people (e.g., their psychological characteristics, their internal traits, their essential qualities); - Theories that focus on the characteristics of groups and settings, (e. g., ethnic group culture, language, school culture); and - Theories that examine how cultural processes mediate political-economic constraints and human action. Course discussion will focus on understanding the ways in which language and/or culture are conceptualized in these theories and their educational consequences, especially for racialized students from historically marginalized communities in the US.

• Visual Language: On Images (Session 1)

  Through studio work and critical discussions on 2D form, this course is designed to reveal the conventions of images and image-making. Basic formal elements and principles of art are presented, but they are also put into practice to reveal perennial issues in a visual field. Form is studied as a means to communicate content. Topics as varied as, but not limited to, illusion, analogy, metaphor, time and memory, nature and culture, abstraction, the role of the author, and universal systems can be illuminated through these primary investigations. Visits to museums and other fieldwork required, as is participation in studio exercises and group critiques.

• Visual Language: On Images (Session 2)

  Through studio work and critical discussions on 2D form, this course is designed to reveal the conventions of images and image-making. Basic formal elements and principles of art are presented, but they are also put into practice to reveal perennial issues in a visual field. Form is studied as a means to communicate content. Topics as varied as, but not limited to, illusion, analogy, metaphor, time and memory, nature and culture, abstraction, the role of the author, and universal systems can be illuminated through these primary investigations. Visits to museums and other fieldwork required, as is participation in studio exercises and group critiques.

• Contemporary Art

  Did you ever have a curiosity about why a banana on a wall came to be considered art—or why it in fact, might be considered a prank? This introductory course will focus on how to talk about contemporary art of the United States, both in written and spoken format.

• Nutritional Science

  This course examines the underlying biological mechanisms of nutrient utilization in humans and the scientific basis for setting human nutritional requirements. The relationships between food choices and human health are also explored. Students consider how to assess the validity of scientific research that provides the basis for advice about how to eat healthfully. Class assignments are designed to help students apply their knowledge by critiquing their nutritional lifestyle, nutritional health claims, and/or current nutrition policy issues.

• Data Science in Quantitative Finance and Risk Management

• The Theory and Politics of Capitalism

• The Age of Capital: Freedom and Crisis

• Religion and Unbelief

• Fundamentals of Psychology: Theory & Research

• The Global Political Economy: Power and Inequality

• Pathways in World Politics

• Gravitation to Levitation: Physics from Supernova to Superconductor (Session 1)

• Gravitation to Levitation: Physics from Supernova to Superconductor (Session 2)

• Think Like a Physicist: The Physics Problem Solver’s Toolkit

• The Philosophy of Life and Death

• The World of Greek Philosophy

• Quantitative Evaluation for Public Policy (Session 2)

• Quantitative Evaluation for Public Policy (Session 1)

• Career Insight: Business and Entrepreneurship

• Career Insight: Law and Social Impact

• Career Insight: Technology and Innovation

• Career Insight: Healthcare and Biological Sciences

• Pathways in Molecular Engineering

• Proof-based Discrete Mathematics

• Legal Reasoning and Institutions

• Human Rights: Foundational Concepts, Global Challenges

• Elements of Human Capital Theory: The Economic Science of People

• Introduction to Macroeconomic Models

• Pathways in Economics

• Economics from an Experimental Perspective (Session 2)

• Understanding AI: Challenges, Changes for How We Communicate

• Organic Chemistry in the Lab and the Field

• Biotechnology for the 21st Century (Session 2)

• Biotechnology for the 21st Century (Session 1)

• Mathematical and Computational Research in Biological Sciences

• Physics of Stars: An Introduction

• African Civilization 2

  African Civilzation 2 examines the transformations of African societies in the long nineteenth century. At the beginning of the era, European economic and political presence was mainly coastal. By the end of the era, nearly the entire continent was colonized. This course examines how and why this process occurred, highlighting the struggles of African societies to manage internal reforms and external political, military, and economic pressures. Students examine these processes through various primary sources (such as visual and material sources, cultural artifacts, and personal accounts) that highlight African perspectives on these processes. Assignments include oral presentations, document analyses, essays, and team projects.

• African Civilization 1

  African Civilization 1 considers literary, oral, linguistic, and material sources to investigate African societies and states from the early Iron Age through the emergence of the Atlantic World. Case studies include: the empires of Ghana and Mali, the Swahili Coast, Great Zimbabwe, Nok of Nigeria, and medieval Ethiopia. We also consider religious and spiritual transformation, including Islam in Africa, as well as the origins and effects of European contact, and the emergence of the transatlantic trade in enslaved human beings. Students examine these times and places through primary sources (such as cultural artifacts, visual representations, myths, and memoirs) which illuminate African perspectives on these different places and times. Assignments include oral presentations, document analyses, essays, and team projects.

• Introduction to Computational Biology

  What can a person’s genome reveal? Could it predict the diseases they may develop? Modern biology produces vast amounts of data, and analyzing this data requires mathematical and computational approaches.

• Introduction to Econometrics (Session 1)

  The objective of this course is to introduce students to the practice of econometrics. The course will focus on the use of multiple regression as a tool to establish causal relations. The course emphasizes all steps of the process of empirical research: data collection, analysis, and presentation, both written and oral. Multiple examples of this process will be discussed. You will be expected to read and evaluate existing research. You will apply the techniques discussed in class to a topic of your choosing. You will write a paper and present your results to the class.

• Young Innovators Climate & Energy

• Woodson Summer Scholars

• Neubauer Phoenix STEM Summer Scholars

• Neubauer Family Adelante Summer Scholars

• Emerging World Leaders

• Exploring Frontiers

• Young Innovators Program

• Parrhesia Ambassador Program

• Emerging Rural Leaders 10th

• Emerging Rural Leaders 9th

• Emerging Rural Leaders 11th

• Research in the Biological Sciences

• Stones and Bones

• History of Western Civilization 2

  This sequence fulfills the general education requirement in civilization studies. The purpose of this three-course sequence is (1) to introduce students to the principles of historical thought and to provide them with the critical tools for analyzing tests produced in the distant or near past, (2) to acquaint them with some of the more important epochs in the development of European civilization since the sixth century B.C.E, and (3) to assist them in discovering the developmental connections between these various epochs.

• History of Western Civilization 1

  This sequence fulfills the general education requirement in civilization studies. The purpose of this three-course sequence is (1) to introduce students to the principles of historical thought and to provide them with the critical tools for analyzing tests produced in the distant or near past, (2) to acquaint them with some of the more important epochs in the development of European civilization since the sixth century B.C.E, and (3) to assist them in discovering the developmental connections between these various epochs. The first course (13100) focuses on the history of Classical civilization, beginning with the world of Homer and ending with the world of St. Augustine. The sequence does not present a general survey of European history, but rather undertakes an intensive investigation of original documents bearing on a number of discrete topics in European civilization (e.g., the Roman Republic, or the origins of the First World War). These original documents are contained in the nine-volume series published by The University of Chicago Press, The University of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization. The course also draws on supplementary materials from the work of modern historians.

• Introduction to the Macroeconomics of Monetary and Fiscal Policy

  This course examines monetary and fiscal issues in the macroeconomy.

• Readings in World Literature II

  The theme for this course in the Readings in World Literature sequence is "Autobiography/Writing the Self." This course examines the nature of autobiographical writing from a wide range of cultural and historical contexts, including texts such as Augustine's

• Quantitative Portfolio Management and Algorithmic Trading

  This course teaches quantitative finance and algorithmic trading with an approach that emphasizes computation and application. The first half of the course covers key tools for “quants” via case studies in quantitative investment that illustrate allocation, attribution, pricing, and risk management. You will have a chance to learn classic models as well as more modern, computational approaches, all illustrated with application. The second half of the course focuses on designing, coding, and testing automated trading strategies in Python, with particular consideration to market models, infrastructure, and order execution.

• On Time and Space

  This studio course focuses on the fundamentals of pre-production, production, and post-production techniques using digital video.

• Readings in World Literature I

  Our theme for this course of Readings in World Literature is "The Epic". Beginning with the oldest extant literary text known to mankind,

• Summer Intensive Intermediate Ancient Greek

  Summer Intensive Intermediate Greek combines extensive reading of texts with a comprehensive review of Classical grammar and syntax; it prepares students for advanced courses in Greek and for the use of Greek texts in their research. Texts studied are taken from a variety of representative and important Classical authors, and include prose works from e.g. Plato, Herodotus, Lysias or Thucydides, and poetry works from e.g. Euripides, Sophocles or Homer. The course also involves the intensive review of basic grammar and regular practice with reading at sight.

• Summer Intensive Introductory German

  Summer Introductory German is an online 7-week course designed for students wishing to develop intermediate proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking for use in everyday communication. You will work with authentic materials as well as gain familiarity with the different cultures of the German-speaking countries. Summer Introductory German is the equivalent of the 10100-10200-10300 sequence offered during the regular academic year at the University of Chicago, and satisfies the university competency requirement.

• Summer Intensive Introductory Ancient Greek

  Summer Introductory Ancient Greek comprises a thorough introduction to the Classical Greek language in eight weeks. This intensive course includes daily class meetings, review sessions, sight reading, homework assignments, and quizzes. We will begin reading simple Greek on the first day, and by the end of the eight-week course you will have read unadapted Greek prose and poetry from Plato, Homer, Herodotus, Euripides, Demosthenes, and other authors. This course is the equivalent of a full year of college Greek and prepares you for second-year text-based Greek courses at UChicago and elsewhere.

• Introduction to Development Economics

  The course explores one of the most pressing global challenges: poverty. Through a microeconomic and empirical lens, students learn to analyze the economic lives of the poor, examining why poverty persists, and which interventions have been effective to sustainably improve the lives of poor people in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

• Intro to Genres: Writing for TV: The Writers’ Room

  In this course, you’ll learn the craft of writing for television by collaboratively developing a pilot script for an original television series set in the South Side of Chicago. Modeled on the “writers’ room,” we’ll research and develop the concept, characters, the outline, and create a plan for the series. In addition to being introduced to the fundamentals of storytelling through lectures, discussions, screenings, and script analysis, you’ll also work collaboratively with a team, constructing a daily agenda, brainstorming, researching, pitching, discussing ideas, and composing in screenwriting format. By the end of this hands-on course, you will be armed with a set of techniques and skills that will support your professional development as a writer.

• Self, Culture and Society 2 (92)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence. The sequence starts with the conceptual foundations of political economy and theories of capitalism and meaning in modern society. In the second course of the sequence, students consider the cultural and social constitution of the self, foregrounding the exploration of sexuality, gender, and race and tackle questions about the construction of self and society. The works of Durkheim, Freud, de Beauvoir, Fanon, and others inform investigation of symbolic representation, the strength of social forces, the unconscious, culture, ethics and violence, sexuality, gender, and race. Classes are conducted as discussion seminars, rather than lectures, focused on the texts assigned. The focus will be on understanding complex arguments regarding the nature of modern social life.

• Self, Culture and Society 2 (91)

  The “Self, Culture, and Society” sequence introduces students to a broad range of social scientific theories and methodologies that deepen their understanding of basic problems of cultural, social, and historical existence. The sequence starts with the conceptual foundations of political economy and theories of capitalism and meaning in modern society. In the second course of the sequence, students consider the cultural and social constitution of the self, foregrounding the exploration of sexuality, gender, and race and tackle questions about the construction of self and society. The works of Durkheim, Freud, de Beauvoir, Fanon, and others inform investigation of symbolic representation, the strength of social forces, the unconscious, culture, ethics and violence, sexuality, gender, and race. Classes are conducted as discussion seminars, rather than lectures, focused on the texts assigned. The focus will be on understanding complex arguments regarding the nature of modern social life.

• Visual Language: On Images

  Through studio work and critical discussions on 2D form, this course is designed to reveal the conventions of images and image-making. Basic formal elements and principles of art are presented, but they are also put into practice to reveal perennial issues in a visual field. Form is studied as a means to communicate content. Topics as varied as, but not limited to, illusion, analogy, metaphor, time and memory, nature and culture, abstraction, the role of the author, and universal systems can be illuminated through these primary investigations. Visits to museums and other fieldwork required, as is participation in studio exercises and group critiques.

• ZZZ Placeholder Pre-College Class

  ZZZ Placeholder Class Testing

• ZZZ Placeholder BOTH Class

• Marine Ecosystems: From Microbiomes, to Conservation, Climate & Beyond

  This course is designed for rising 2nd years with interests in microbiology, the environment, and society. More specifically, the course is designed for students considering a science major, as well as non-majors who are looking for broad exposure to geosciences, environmental and climate science, microbiology, molecular biology, and the intersection between society and science.

• Introduction to Spatial Data Science

  The course reviews a range of methods to explore spatial data relevant in social science inquiry. Spatial data science is an evolving field that can be thought of as a collection of concepts and methods drawn from both statistics/spatial statistics and computer science/geocomputation. These techniques deal with accessing, transforming, manipulating, visualizing, exploring and reasoning about data where the locational component is important (spatial data). We will primarily focus on data gathered for aggregate units, such as census tracts or counties (e.g., unemployment rates, disease rates by area, crime rates). Specific topics covered include the special nature of spatial data, geovisualization and visual analytics, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and local cluster detection. You will learn and apply open source geospatial software tools, specifically GeoDa, developed at the Center for Spatial Data Science at UChicago.

• Health and Society in Chicago

  This course will introduce students to the social sciences of health and medicine, using the city of Chicago as an extended case study.

• Linear Algebra

  This course takes a concrete approach to the basic topics of linear algebra. Topics include vector geometry, systems of linear equations, vector spaces, matrices and determinants, and eigenvalue problems.

• Labor Economics

  This course is an introduction to labor economics with an emphasis on applied microeconomic theory and empirical analysis. Topics to be covered include: labor supply and demand, taxes and transfers, minimum wages, immigration, human capital, creativity over the lifecycle and unemployment. For each topic we will describe the basic economic framework used in the analysis, analyze associated cases studies and draw conclusions about what we have learned. Most of the examples will be based on U.S. labor data. A special attention will be given to randomized trials and experimental methods to infer causality.

• Acting Fundamentals

  This course introduces fundamental concepts of performance in the theater with emphasis on the development of creative faculties and techniques of observation, as well as vocal and physical interpretation. Concepts are introduced through directed reading, improvisation, and scene study.

• Econometrics

  This course covers the single and multiple linear regression model, the associated distribution theory, and testing procedures; corrections for heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation, and simultaneous equations; and other extensions as time permits. Students also apply the techniques to a variety of data sets using PCs.

• Elements of Economic Analysis 3

  As an introduction to macroeconomic theory and policy, this course covers the determination of aggregate demand (i.e., consumption, investment, the demand for money); aggregate supply; and the interaction between aggregate demand and supply.

• Biogeography and Distribution of Species

  Students will explore various aspects of the biota of the region surrounding the Marine Biology Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA.

• Approaches to Social Science Research Design

  This course explores critical foundations of social science research design. The course will place an emphasis on how social scientists identify and create data to empirically examine social phenomena through a variety of different theoretical and methodological approaches. It will cover the relationship between research questions, design, and generating data across different methodological and epistemological approaches in the social sciences.

• Human Rights in World Civilizations I

  This is part one of a sequence exploring how human rights have been constructed across transnational, imperial, national, and local spaces in a variety of idioms while exposing students to their contested genealogies and limits.

• Studying Online Cultures: An Introduction to Digital Ethnographic Methods

  "Virtual worlds are places of imagination that encompass practices of play, performance, creativity and ritual.” – Tom Boellstorff, Ethnography and Virtual Worlds. This course is designed to provide students in the social sciences with a review of ethnographic research methods in an online environment, exposure to major debates on virtual ethnographic research, and opportunities to try their hand at practicing fieldwork virtually.

• Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast (September Term)

  This course presents the science behind the forecast of global warming to enable the student to evaluate the likelihood and potential severity of anthropogenic climate change in the coming centuries. It includes an overview of the physics of the greenhouse effect, including comparisons with Venus and Mars; predictions and reliability of climate model forecasts of the greenhouse world. This course is part of the College Course Cluster program, Climate Change, Culture, and Society. This course covers the same material as PHSC 13400, but is organized using a flipped classroom approach in order to increase student engagement and learning.

• Computing for the Social Sciences

  This is an applied course for social scientists with little-to-no programming experience who wish to harness growing digital and computational resources. The course focuses on analyzing data and generating reproducible research through the use of the programming language R and version control software. Topics include coding concepts (e.g., data structures, control structures, functions, etc.), data visualization, data wrangling and cleaning, exploratory data analysis, etc. Major emphasis is placed on a pragmatic understanding of core principles of programming and packaged implementations of methods. You will leave the course with basic computational and R skills. While not becoming expert programmer, you will gain the knowledge of how to adapt and expand these skills as they are presented with new questions, methods, and data.

• History of Western Civilization 3

  This sequence fulfills the general education requirement in civilization studies. The purpose of this three-course sequence is (1) to introduce students to the principles of historical thought and to provide them with the critical tools for analyzing tests produced in the distant or near past, (2) to acquaint them with some of the more important epochs in the development of European civilization since the sixth century B.C.E, and (3) to assist them in discovering the developmental connections between these various epochs.

• Introduction to Data Science I

  Data science provides tools for gaining insight into specific problems using data, through computation, statistics and visualization. This course introduces students to all aspects of a data analysis process: from posing questions, designing data collection strategies, management+storing and processing of data, exploratory tools to visualization, statistical inference, prediction, interpretation and communication of results. Simple techniques for data analysis are used to illustrate both effective and fallacious uses of data science tools. Although this course is designed to be at the level of mathematical sciences courses in the Core, with little background required, you will develop computational skills that will allow you to analyze data. Computation will be done using Python and Jupyter Notebook.

• Exoplanets

  The past two decades have witnessed the discovery of planets in orbit around other stars and the characterization of extra-Solar (exo-) planetary systems. We are now able to place our Solar System into the context of other worlds and a surprising conclusion that most planetary systems look nothing like our own. A challenging next step is to find planets as small as the Earth in orbit around stars like the Sun. The architecture of planetary systems reflects the formation of the parent star and its protoplanetary disk, and how these have changed with time.

• Drawing and the Making of Architecture

  This course focuses on the practice of drawing in the making of architecture. It explores the act of tracing lines on a surface as the foundation of design: a word that evokes through its own origins the very moment of architectural invention. As the most direct expression of the architect’s ideas and an operative form of non-verbal thinking, the physical response of the hand to media contributes crucially to the creative process. This intensive studio experience will offer an unmediated encounter with a range of techniques: we will test different tools and conventions to understand the interaction throughout history between drawing’s materiality and design practice. Parallel to this, we will discuss a wide selection of readings critically, thus reconstructing the evolving theory of representation in architectural writings and the relevance of graphic expression to both theorists and practitioners. Ultimately, the course will introduce students to norms and conventions of technical drawing by revealing a primary tool in the production of architecture from the point of view of its makers.

• Visual Language: On Images

  Through studio work and critical discussions on 2D form, this course is designed to reveal the conventions of images and image-making. Basic formal elements and principles of art are presented, but they are also put into practice to reveal perennial issues in a visual field. Form is studied as a means to communicate content.

• Waves, Optics & Heat

  Topics include mechanical waves, sound, light, polarization, reflection and refraction, interference, diffraction, geometrical optics, heat, kinetic theory, and thermodynamics. (L)

• Mechanics

  Topics include particle motion, Newton's Laws, work and energy, systems of particles, rigid-body motion, gravitation, oscillations, and special relativity. (L)

• Introduction to Macroeconomic Analysis: A Data Driven Approach

  This course offers a comprehensive exploration of neoclassical macroeconomic models, designed for students who have previously studied the principles of macroeconomics.

• Contemporary Dance Practices

  This hybrid studio/seminar course offers an overview of the formal techniques, cultural contexts, and social trends that shape current dance practices. Through both scholarly and practical approaches to course content, students will gain a working knowledge of a wide range of formal and aesthetic approaches to dance. Other topics include the influence of pop culture, the role of cultural appropriation, and the privileging of Western-based perspectives within dance presentation, education, scholarship, and criticism. Selected readings and viewings will supplement movement practice to give historical, cultural, and political context.

• Comprehensive General Chemistry 1

  This is the first in a three-course sequence that is a comprehensive survey of modern descriptive, inorganic, and physical chemistry for students with a good secondary school exposure to general chemistry. We will cover atomic and molecular theories, chemical periodicity, chemical reactivity and bonding, chemical equilibria, acid-base equilibria, solubility equilibria, phase equilibria, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, kinetics, quantum mechanics, and nuclear chemistry. Examples will be drawn from chemical, biological, and materials systems. The laboratory portion includes an introduction to quantitative measurements, investigation of the properties of the important elements and their compounds, and experiments associated with the common ions and their separation and identification. Attendance at discussion and laboratory sessions is required.

• Archival Methods and Historical Thinking

  Archival Methods & Historical Thinking interrogates the concepts, theories, and practices of the archive from a historical perspective.

• Marketing Management

  The objective of the course is to provide an intro to marketing strategy. The course develops a common framework (3Cs/4Ps) to analyze real world problems presented in business cases and synthesize recommendations addressing strategic marketing issues. Numerous tools used to support the framework are also introduced. GOALS:

• Comprehensive General Chemistry 2

  This is the second in a three-course sequence that is a comprehensive survey of modern descriptive, inorganic, and physical chemistry for students with a good secondary school exposure to general chemistry. We will cover atomic and molecular theories, chemical periodicity, chemical reactivity and bonding, chemical equilibria, acid-base equilibria, solubility equilibria, phase equilibria, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, kinetics, quantum mechanics, and nuclear chemistry. Examples will be drawn from chemical, biological, and materials systems. The laboratory portion includes an introduction to quantitative measurements, investigation of the properties of the important elements and their compounds, and experiments associated with the common ions and their separation and identification. Attendance at discussion and laboratory sessions is required.

• Comprehensive General Chemistry 3

  This is the third in a three-course sequence that is a comprehensive survey of modern descriptive, inorganic, and physical chemistry for students with a good secondary school exposure to general chemistry. We will cover atomic and molecular theories, chemical periodicity, chemical reactivity and bonding, chemical equilibria, acid-base equilibria, solubility equilibria, phase equilibria, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, kinetics, quantum mechanics, and nuclear chemistry. Examples will be drawn from chemical, biological, and materials systems. The laboratory portion includes an introduction to quantitative measurements, investigation of the properties of the important elements and their compounds, and experiments associated with the common ions and their separation and identification. Attendance at discussion and laboratory sessions is required.

• Discrete Mathematics

  This course emphasizes mathematical discovery and rigorous proof, which are illustrated on a refreshing variety of accessible and useful topics. Basic counting is a recurring theme and provides the most important source for sequences, which is another recurring theme. Further topics include proof by induction; recurrences and Fibonacci numbers; graph theory and trees; number theory, congruences, and Fermat's little theorem; counting, factorials, and binomial coefficients; combinatorial probability; random variables, expected value, and variance; and limits of sequences, asymptotic equality, and rates of growth.

• The Drug Discovery Process: from Lead to the Clinic

  Over the course of the past century, advances in the medical arts have substantially changed the arc of the human experience. Indeed, average lifespans have more than doubled, some ailments like polio and smallpox have essentially been eradicated, and overall quality of life has substantially improved. Yet, despite our current abilities, innumerable challenges remain. They include cases of antibiotic resistance for which we have no available treatments, our inability to cure cancer, and the increased incidence of ailments such as obesity and depression that might result, in part, from elements of modern life.

• Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences II

  This course covers multivariable calculus: functions of more than one variable, parameterized curves and vector fields, partial derivatives and vector derivatives (div/grad/curl), double and triple integrals, line and surface integrals, and the fundamental theorems of vector calculus in two and three dimensions (Green/Gauss/Stokes). This is the second in a sequence of mathematics courses for physical sciences majors.

• Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind

  This course introduces students to issues and questions that have defined scholarship in the philosophy of mind as well as to prominent theories in the field. Starting from Descartes and the articulation of a general "mind-body problem," we will go on to investigate particular mental phenomena (such as beliefs, emotions, sensations, and intentions) by considering what philosophers have said about them, drawing primarily from the 20th century and the analytic tradition. We will read works in Dualism, Identity-Theory, Functionalism, and Eliminativism. Besides offering a brief survey of the field, this course equips students with the resources for evaluating whether some particular view provides an adequate account of human mindedness. (B)

• Media & Psychology: Causes and Consequences of Media Use across the Life Span

  This course will examine the interactions between media and humans from both a developmental and socio-cultural psychological perspective. Topics will include young children's learning from media; adolescents' social media identities and experiences as well as mental well-being; media influences on violence, stereotypes & prejudice, susceptibility to “fake news” and more. You will engage in your own research study on a topic of your choosing related to media and psychology as part of this course. This September Term course will focus on small group discussions and incorporate guest speakers, films, and possible field trip outings.

• Psychological Research Methods

  This course introduces concepts and methods used in behavioral research. Topics include the nature of behavioral research, testing of research ideas, quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection, artifacts in behavioral research, analyzing and interpreting research data, and ethical considerations in research.

• Introduction to Mathematical Probability

  This course covers fundamentals and axioms; combinatorial probability; conditional probability and independence; binomial, Poisson, and normal distributions; the law of large numbers and the central limit theorem; and random variables and generating functions.

• Congress in Chaos? Understanding Legislative Function and Dysfunction

  This course will introduce students to the workings of the contemporary Congress. We will examine who runs for — and who wins — seats in Congress, the lawmaking processes in the House and Senate, and the roles of parties and leaders in the two chambers. We will take stock of changes in the operation of the House and Senate, focusing in particular on the problems associated with extended debate in the Senate and leadership selection in the House. We will then consider Congress’s role as a policymaker. How does Congress make public policy? What factors inhibit legislative productivity? Who has input into the process? Finally, we will assess Congress’s performance during periods of economic, cultural, and political turmoil. Is policymaking too partisan or too hard to do well? Is the public’s disapproval of the first branch warranted?

• Biodiversity and Genomics: Exploring the Marine Animal Diversity of Woods Hole Using Molecular Tools

  In this course, you will have the opportunity to explore the large diversity of marine animal species in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and its surroundings. We will combine fieldwork with genomic and bioinformatic approaches to study different aspects of the evolution, ecology, taxonomy, physiology, and biogeography of marine animals in this unique location. You will integrate knowledge and analytical tools from different biological disciplines to develop short research projects. During the three weeks of the course, you will have access to the Marine Biological Laboratory's collection of living marine animals, participate in ongoing research projects at MBL, and contribute data that will advance our understanding of marine biodiversity.

• Introduction to Biochemistry

  This course is an introductory biochemistry course, intended to provide basic knowledge of chemical processes underlying cellular metabolism. It examines in plants and animals the chemical nature of cellular components, enzyme kinetics, mechanism of enzyme activity, energy interconversions, and biosynthetic reactions, including template-dependent processes and some aspects of metabolic control mechanisms.

• Electricity & Magnetism

  Topics include electric fields, Gauss' law, electric potential, capacitors, DC circuits, magnetic fields, Ampere's law, induction, Faraday's law, AC circuits, Maxwell's equations, and electromagnetic waves. (L)

• Drama: Embodiment & Transformation

  This course seeks to develop an appreciation and understanding of a variety of processes by which dramatic scripts are theatrically realized, with an emphasis on the text’s role in theatrical production rather than as literature. Students will learn a range of theatrical concepts and techniques, including script analysis and its application to staging, design and acting exercises. Students will be required to act, direct, and design. Throughout the course we will investigate how theater – as a collaborative art form – tells stories.

• Elementary Logic

  An introduction to the concepts and principles of symbolic logic. We learn the syntax and semantics of truth-functional and first-order quantificational logic, and apply the resultant conceptual framework to the analysis of valid and invalid arguments, the structure of formal languages, and logical relations among sentences of ordinary discourse. Occasionally we will venture into topics in philosophy of language and philosophical logic, but our primary focus is on acquiring a facility with symbolic logic as such.