Fall 2005
AEB3103
Principles of Food and Resource Economics
Credits: 4
Instructor: Evan Drummond
Meeting Time: MTWR 5, F 5
Meeting Location: FAB 105, CBD 234
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: S
AEB 3103 is a comprehensive, introductory economics course with emphasis on the economics of agriculture, the food industry and natural resources in a global context. The course includes both microeconomics and macroeconomics. The microeconomic portion of the course emphasizes production economics and the theory of the consumer. The macroeconomic portion of the course deals with the role of government in a domestic and global environment with particular emphasis on agricultural policy and trade. The Honors section of this course entails a weekly enrichment session that meets on Fridays at the regularly scheduled time slot. This seminar deals with current events, supplements to course topics, and a case study of a major agribusiness firm. There are no extra tests or exams associated with the seminar. Some extra reading is required. The grade from the seminar is based on attendance and participation. It constitutes 20% of the final course grade. Students in the Honors section are expected to complete all requirements of the regular section.
Evan Drummond (a.k.a. The Food Dude) is Professor of Food and Resource Economics and Senior Associate Director of the University Honors Program. His areas of interest include food policy and international economic development. He teaches introductory agricultural economics and is co-author of a book for that course. In his second year at UF he was selected Teacher of the Year by the students of the College of Agriculture and in his first year of eligibility was chosen as the national Teacher of the Year (with more than ten years experience) by the American Agricultural Economics Association.
ALS2931
Biology and Natural History of Fireflies
Credits: 3
Instructor: James E. Lloyd
Meeting Time: TR 8-9
Meeting Location: EYN 2216
Writing or Math Req: W - 2000
Gen Ed: B
NOTE: This class is located in the Entomology Building on Natural Area Drive near Performing Arts Center. Please plan accordingly.This course views the biology/natural history of an interesting family of beetles to present major aspects of organismic biology, including techniques and philosophy, and gives experience in field and lab with useful procedures in biology and natural history, and methods in biology instruction. Studies includes field identification, observation, and quantification of firefly signals, flash signal recording and analysis; basic electronics with circuit development and manufacture; collection and recognition of human and livestock parasites “whose” hosts firefly larvae prey upon; and museum practice including collecting and curating, and the use and development of identification keys.
The primary text is a firefly manual by the Prof, which is a collection of essays and field and lab-project texts and directions, and is distributed over the semester as required. Students purchase a "fireflyer's kit" as described on the first day of class. The kit includes an introductory field guide to insects, stop watch, thermometer, micro-pen, head lamp, and pen light. There will be afternoon and nocturnal field trips, an optional overnight weekend camping expedition, and other weekend trips, if appropriate. Attendance is required on about five evening field trips during the semester.
Final grade will take into account: attendance and punctuality; performance/industry/focus in the lab and on nocturnal and afternoon field trips to firefly habitats; several always announced and carefully described quizzes, both open and closed book as described beforehand; and two short term papers on subjects to be announced. Each student will have a portfolio in the Prof's lab, where quizzes, tests, term papers, and miscellaneous items are accumulated. At the end of the semester the Prof. will evaluate the portfolios, for industry in and quality of scholarship, and will subjectively assigned a grade. But, note, to quote from the student evaluation by one fireflyer, “Dr. Lloyd kicks ass.”
James E. Lloyd is a graduate of SUNY at Fredonia, University of Michigan, and Cornell University. He served four years in the US Navy as an electronic technician in a patrol squadron. He joined the UF faculty in 1966 and currently is Professor Emeritus of Entomology and Nematology. During his tenure at UF he has taught several undergraduate and graduate courses, and served on the graduate committees of some 50 graduate students. He has studied fireflies in the field for 43 years in North America, Jamaica, southern Mexico, Thailand, Colombia, and New Guinea, and has published about 100 scientific papers and book chapters, and about 50 book reviews and editorials; has given 90 invited lectures at universities in the US and elsewhere; organized and edited several published symposia on behavioral ecology; identified about 15,000 preserved firefly research specimens for museums and other institutions and individuals; and his photographs of fireflies and other insects appear widely in text books and magazines. Prof. Lloyd has for several years been preparing a natural history/taxonomic monograph on fireflies, a study manual for firefly natural history/biology courses, and a field guide to North American fireflies.
ALS2931
Fred's Food Factory
Credits: 3
Instructor: Evan Drummond
Meeting Time: MWF 8
Meeting Location: HUME 119
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: I S
Food. Essential for life yet taken for granted by most of us. Issues associated with the production, distribution and consumption of food will be examined from economic, social, political and ethical perspectives within a global context. Some typical issues will include: Why do we pay farmers to not produce? Should we save the family farm? Are we ready for genetically altered food? Do you want to eat irradiated food? Americans are overweight and Somalis are starving--why? Corporate governance in major agribusiness. The course will require regular attendance and participation in topic discussions. Grades will be based on class participation, two papers and two exams.
Evan Drummond (a.k.a. The Food Dude) is Professor of Food and Resource Economics and Senior Associate Director of the University Honors Program. His areas of interest include food policy and international economic development. He teaches introductory agricultural economics and is co-author of a book for that course. In his second year at UF he was selected Teacher of the Year by the students of the College of Agriculture and in his first year of eligibility was chosen as the national Teacher of the Year (with more than ten years experience) by the American Agricultural Economics Association.
ALS2931
Some Like it Hot; a Discussion of Animal Thermal Biology
Credits: 3
Instructor: Daniel Hahn
Meeting Time: MW 8-9
Meeting Location: EYN 2216
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: B
How do fish survive under the polar ice? What can live in the steaming waters of a hot spring? Are fevers helpful or harmful? These questions and more will be covered in this Honors course on Thermal Biology. This will be an introductory course using extreme examples from the animal world to illustrate basic principles in biology. We will survey a wide variety of behaviors and physiological adaptations that animals use to deal with heat and cold and make ties back to how our own bodies work. The course format will be small and informal combining short lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on experiments (many with insects which are my specialty). Grading will rely on a combination of participation, short assignments, scheduled quizzes, and a project/term paper. Please note that the Entomology and Nematology building (Bldg 970) is located on Natural Area Drive near the Performing Arts Center. Don’t worry, you will be allowed an extra 15 minutes to get there from your previous class (i.e., class begins at 3:15 and ends at the normal time of 4:55), and there is both plenty of available parking at the Entomology and Nematology building and frequent bus service from main campus to help you get to us.
Dr. Daniel A. Hahn is an Assistant Professor of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida. His interests include understanding why animals vary so much in shape, size, and physiology (for example, why do rabbits have relatively big ears and mice small ones?) and using animals with unusual behaviors and physiologies to study basic processes in human diseases; especially diabetes, obesity, and infertility.
ANT2410
Cultural Anthropology
Credits: 3
Instructor: Brenda Chalfin
Meeting Time: T 4, R 4-5
Meeting Location: CBD 310, CBD 310
Writing or Math Req: W - 2000
Gen Ed: I S
This course provides an introduction to cultural anthropology for majors and non-majors alike. The class is designed to provide an overview of both the tenets and controversies of the field of cultural anthropology. Students will be introduced to the founding concerns of the discipline: the distinctive status of humans as cultural creatures, an appreciation of social and cultural diversity, and the value of studying indigenous peoples and small-scale societies. It also addresses the field’s growing preoccupation with material and political inequality, the world-systems of capitalism and colonization, and the unstoppable mobility of persons, ideas, and objects we attribute to globalization.
Course topics include
• The Concept of Culture
• Ethnographic Research and Representation
• Kinship and Family Life
• Gender and Sexuality
• Politics, Violence and Identity
• Globalization and Transnationalism
The course reading tacks between the study of seemingly remote and insular communities in New Guinea, West and Central Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East, and mainstream American society, to reveal the varied ways people make meaning and organize relationships in a turbulent world. We also look closely at the methods used by anthropologist to learn about and represent cultural difference and diversity.
Dr. Brenda Chalfin is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida. She specializes in Economic and Political Anthropology and is an affiliate of the University of Florida's African Studies Center. Dr. Chalfin has spent many years pursuing field research in West Africa. She is especially interested in the impact of economic change on rural populations and processes of state restructuring. These concerns are addressed in her book Shea Butter Republic: State Power, Global Markets and the Making of an Indigenous Commodity (Routledge, 2004). In other publications she examines the relationships between border zone communities and state agents. In her courses, Dr. Chalfin stresses the relevance of Anthropology to understanding social change in the US and beyond.
ANT4740
Intro to Forensic Science
Credits: 03
Instructor: Jason Byrd
Meeting Time: T 7, R 7-8
Meeting Location: HUME 119, HUME 118
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
This course will address the various disciplines within the forensic sciences. Specifically, this course will focus on the application of the medical and natural sciences to forensics. The development of the medical examiner, coroner, and crime laboratory systems within the United States will be discussed as well as the scientific and non-scientific methods used to establish human identity, and the pathological conditions commonly found in forensic casework. This is a three-credit course designed to familiarize the student with the application of science to law and the courtroom.
Dr. Byrd is a Board Certified Forensic Entomologist and is a past Chairman of the American Board of Forensic Entomology. Dr. Byrd is currently the Associate Director of Forensic Science at Florida Gulf Coast University, and instructs courses in forensic science in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of Florida. Dr. Byrd is a member of the Disaster Operational Response Team under the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He is also a Regional Team Leader for the Florida Emergency Mortuary Response System. Dr. Byrd has combined his formal academic training in Entomology and Forensic Science to serve as a consultant in both criminal and civil legal investigations throughout the United States. Dr. Byrd has conducted over 100 workshops specializing in the education of law enforcement officials, medical examiners, coroners, attorneys, and other death investigators on the use and applicability of arthropods in legal investigations. He has published numerous scientific articles on the subject of forensic entomology, and has also published two books dealing with the use of insects in legal investigations.
AST2037
Life in the Universe
Credits: 3
Instructor: Stephen Gottesman
Meeting Time: MWF 6
Meeting Location: BRT 3
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: P
The origin of living organisms is intimately connected to the universe. From the Big Bang came hydrogen and helium, and from the interiors of stars came the heavier elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. Thus, the existence of life on Earth is closely connected with the chemical evolution of the galaxy and its stars. When physical and chemical conditions on earth were appropriate, the subsequent biochemical evolution culminating in self-reproducing living organisms was inevitable, according to many scientists.
It is clear that we must consider the history of our galaxy, the origin of our solar system, and the early development of the earth. Then, we can discuss ideas about how life evolved from these early environmental conditions. This will allow us to generalize the temporal and physical requirements for life to form. Do these conditions exist elsewhere in our solar system, and what are the implications of the answer to this question?
How likely is it that these prerequisites are duplicated in other stellar systems in our Galaxy? What is the probability that stable planetary systems can form around stars, and what might be the effects of stellar evolution on the planetary environment.If planetary systems meeting our criteria are likely, how probable is it that an environment will evolve that will support life. Finally, what environmental factors may guide the evolutionary development of simple cellular organisms into intelligent beings.
If intelligence appears to be widespread, how can we search for it? What strategies should be pursued? What efforts in this regard are being made today, and are being planned for the near future?
Course requirements will include: regular attendance; participation in class discussions; periodic, short essays; a mid-term examination; and a final term paper with associated group projects. There will be no final examination.
Stephen Gottesmanis a Professor of Astronomy. He trained as a radio astronomer at Jodrell Bank in Great Britain, and earned the Ph. D. degree from the University of Manchester. His special interests include the properties of galaxies, their dynamics, structure and the extent and magnitude of their dark matter content. He has also studied various aspects of the interstellar medium. His interests in astrobiology are long standing and he helped to create this course for the astronomy curriculum. He is a past chairman of the Department of Astronomy. If students have any questions concerning this or other astronomy courses or topics, Professor Gottesman encourages them to e-mail him at gott@astro.ufl.edu
CHI1130
Beginning Chinese I
Credits: 5
Instructor: Cynthia H. Shen
Meeting Time: MTWRF 3
Meeting Location: LIT 237
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
As one of the most widely used languages in the world, Chinese is spoken natively by an estimated population of about 1.3 billion. This course teaches the standard Mandarin, which serves as the official language of China and Taiwan and is one of the four official languages in Singapore. In cultivating students' language ability the course will endeavor to integrate the four skills essential in language acquisition: listening, speaking, reading and writing. While providing students with grammatical and structural analysis of language to facilitate a better comprehension, the course will create many occasions for students to communicate in the target language so as to expediate the command of their communication ability in Chinese. Since the Chinese language is intimately related to its culture, cultural implications of the language will be occasionally introduced to enrich the learning experience.
Dr. Cynthia Hsien Shen is a native Chinese speaker. She grew up in Taipei, Taiwan. She was awarded a B.A. degree from the National Taiwan University. She pursued her graduate studies in the U.S. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Cincinnati and Cornell University. She taught and served in various positions at the Gainesville Chinese School before she joined the Department of African & Asian Languages and Literatures as a lecturer.
CHM2047
One-Semester General Chemistry
Credits: 4
Instructor: Jeffrey Krause / Randy Duran
Meeting Time: MTWF 2, R 5 / MTWF 2, R 6 / MTWF 7, R 2 / MTWF 7, R 3 / MTWF 7, R 4
Meeting Location: LEI 207, WEIM 1094 / LEI 207, FLO 100 / LEI 207, DAU 342 / LEI 207, MAT 13 / LEI 207, FLG 275
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: P
Students must have a good (AP, IB) high school chemistry background or an SAT II score of 630 or higher to enroll in this course. At Preview sessions, advisors will verify that these requirements are met. This course is suitable for chemistry and biological science students including those intending medical, dental, and veterinary professions. Good mathematics skills and disciplined, focused study habits help.
Note:Engineering students whose majors require a total of eight hours of chemistry credit may enroll in CHM 2047 and its lab with the expectation of fulfilling the remaining four credit requirement with CHM 3120, Analytical Chemistry, and its lab or another approved Chemistry course. Engineering majors that require only one chemistry course (e.g., CHM 2045) [aerospace, computer, electrical, industrial and systems, and nuclear engineering] may enroll in CHM 2047 and its lab to satisfy the chemistry requirement.The course condenses the usual two-semester sequence of undergraduate general chemistry into a single semester consisting of this lecture course and a companion lab, CHM 2047L, for a total of 5 credit hours (instead of the usual 8 in the two-semester sequence). Although some fundamental knowledge of chemistry is assumed, the course covers most of the general chemistry topics in detail. It fulfills the general chemistry prerequisite so students can begin advanced courses (such as analytical, organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry) earlier than usual.
The course has four lecture days a week and a discussion period each Thursday run by the teaching assistant. The lectures cover the basic principles of chemistry (e.g., atomic theory, bonding, thermodynamics, kinetics, states of matter, etc.) and are supplemented with guest lectures by faculty involved in modern chemical research. The discussion sections are run in smaller groups to allow for more detailed consideration of the material. The course grade is determined by progress tests, a final exam, and homework assignments.
Dr. Jeffrey Krause is a associate professor in the Chemistry Department. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Randy Duran is a professor in the Chemistry Department, an Honors Program science and engineering advisor, and director of UF's Beckman Scholars program. He received his Ph.D. from the University Loius Pasteur, Strasbourg France in 1987.
CHM3217
One Semester Organic Chemistry
Credits: 4
Instructor: Nigel Richards
Meeting Time: MTWF 8
Meeting Location: FLI 50
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
CHM3217 is a relatively small class that focuses on problem solving based upon understanding of structure and reaction mechanisms. This course is the first part of a CHM 3217-3218 organic/biochemistry class. These two classes together satisfy both organic chemistry and biochemistry requirements for CLAS, IDS, and microbiology majors. It is not accepted by food science or pharmacy. It is accepted by the Junior Honors Medical Program, most Medical schools (State of Florida, Harvard, Chicago, Hopkins, etc.), graduate programs, Vet school, and Dental schools, except the Dental school at the University of Florida.
Dr. Nigel Richards is a professor in the Chemistry Department. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.
CHM3218
Bioorganic Chemistry
Credits: 4
Instructor: Nicole Horenstein
Meeting Time: MTWF 6
Meeting Location: FLI 50
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
Co-req: CHM2211L
An introduction to the basic concepts of biochemistry and molecular biology from the structural and mechanistic perspective of organic chemistry.
Dr. Nicole Horenstein is an associate professor in the Chemistry Department. She received her Ph.D. from the Columbia University.
CLA3501
Women in Antiquity
Credits: 3
Instructor: Judy Ann Turner
Meeting Time: MWF 6
Meeting Location: LIT 117
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: H I
Women in ancient Mediterranean world (emphasis upon Greece and Rome) are the subject of the course. The topic remains controversial among ancient historians. Until recently historians did not question the preponderance of our ancient evidence which originates from ancient males(authors, artists, lawmakers) and often reflects a male-biased or vastly distorted view of females. Inscriptional evidence and careful analysis of archaeological and written texts offer a much different, less stereotyped depiction of ancient women. Our course goal is to attempt a more accurate understanding of females in ancient societies. Through use of film, slides, primary and secondary resource readings, and discussion the class will investigate ordinary and extraordinary women from Minoan Greek times through the fall of the Roman Empire. We will explore ancient females' expected and actual societal roles, occupations, and lifestyles. Special attention will be given to females in religion since religious involvement always was one notable way for ancient females to achieve the highest status (and occasionally great independence) and power in their societies.
Judy Ann Turner (Ph.D. in Ancient History, University of California) was the Andrew Mellon Research/Teaching Fellow at the University of Southern California '84-'85 and taught at Cal Poly State University '85-'89. In Florida, she has taught at SFCC (Humanities, '90-'93) and at U.F.(Honors Program and Classics Dept.) since 1993. In 1997 (summer) she taught for College Year in Athens. She has served as an officer of the Gainesville Society of the Archaeological Institure of America for over a decade. Publications include articles on Greek Priesthoods and on sacerdotal women in the Linear B tablets. She is writing a book on Greek priestesses and ancient cults.
CLT3930
Women Authors
Credits: 3
Instructor: Konstantinos Kapparis
Meeting Time: T 7-9
Meeting Location: LIT 119
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: H I S
Does it matter whether an author is male or female? Is there a difference between a book written for a male readership and one written for a female readership? To what extent are any existing differences the product of cultural stereotypes? The purpose of this course is to explore these important questions. The course presents a number of female authors through the last two and a half thousand years of Greek literature and assesses their contribution. It also explores the question whether female Greek authors have added to Greek literature as a whole alternative perspectives, dimensions and points of view. Students will have the opportunity to explore erotic poetry, realism, historiography, theatre, novel, city and country life, modern day angst, mysticism and existentialism as experienced and presented by the female authors included here. This course is expected to give rise to some interesting discussions in the class, raise further awareness on some important social issues of our times, provide some original insights into Greek literature and culture over the centuries, and serve as an opportunity to read engaging and entertaining literature.
Course Website: http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/kapparis/WomenLiterature.html
Kostas Kapparis is Associate Professor of Classics, and Associate Director of the Center for Greek Studies. He studied at the University of Crete, and the University of Glasgow. He has taught at the University of Glasgow and the Queen's University of Belfast. In Florida he teaches ancient and modern Greek literature and history. His research interests are centered in the fields of ancient Greek prose Literature, especially the Attic Orators, social history and gender studies, and the history of medicine and science.
CLT3930
Ancient Greek Medicine and Literature
Credits: 3
Instructor: Bruce Kraut
Meeting Time: W 8-10
Meeting Location: LIT 117
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: H I S
Ancient Greece, the birthplace of western civilization, gave us a foundation not only for democracy, law, mathematics and literature, but also for medicine. The medical treatises of Hippocrates offer a unique perspective on the emergence of rational medicine and are just now being fully appreciated as the great milestones of human thought which they represent. The literature of ancient Greece teems with material on death, disease, healing, and the human condition. The Hippocratic corpus helps to shed new light on these texts. This course will review some of the great literary works of ancient Greece, beginning with Homer, Hesiod, and Herodotus, then focusing on the fifth century B.C.E. --the Golden Age--with the dramas of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. The students will also be provided with numerous excerpts from other contemporary writers, including dramatists, philosophers and historians. Our discussions will navigate back and forth between the works of these literary masters and the medical treatises in elucidating ancient perspectives on health, philosophy and life. The student will gain an understanding and appreciation of Greek literature as well as of various aspects of ancient medical thought and medical practice. The student is not expected to have any preparation in classical languages or in science and medicine, but each student is expected first and foremost to keep up with the reading assignments and also to participate fully in class discussions. There will be periodic, short presentations by each student based on material from the readings and a term paper of the student's choice at the end of the course.
Bruce Kraut received his Ph.D. in Classical Philology from Princeton University and his M.D. from Emory University. He is a former Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Georgia and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Classics at the University of Florida and a Pediatrician in private practice. His special interests include Greek drama, Greek papyri, and ancient medicine.
CPO4000
Asian Politics
Credits: 3
Instructor: Benjamin Smith
Meeting Time: T 7, R 7-8
Meeting Location: MAT 15, MAT 15
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: I S
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the politics and political economy of Southeast Asia for advanced undergraduates. A major theme running through the course is the connection between politics and economics. Politics and governments do not exist in a vacuum. Political decisions (or a failure to make them) have economic ramifications, and economic variables (economic policies, development, crises) influence politics. Among the questions we will examine and debate are the following:
• Is there a link between economic development and democratization?
• Is there a link between political authoritarianism and rapid economic growth?
• How do political institutions affect economic policymaking?
• How have economic crises affected the demands for political change?
• What were the political and economic causes of the Asian economic miracle?
• Were the underlying causes of the Asian economic crisis political or economic in nature?
• How can we explain the variation in individual country responses to the crisis?
• What is the future for democracy in Southeast Asia?
Benjamin Smith, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. Washington 2002). He is also affiliated with the Asian Studies Program. His teaching interests include comparative politics, research design and the comparative method, Southeast Asian politics, and the political economy of development. His research interests include the politics of resource wealth, state formation, regime change and democratization. His book, Hard Times in the Land of Plenty: Oil, Opposition, and Late Development, is forthcoming with Cornell University Press. Smith’s articles have appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of International Affairs, and in an edited volume on Islamic activism. From 2002 to 2004, he was an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. His research has been supported by grants from the Social Science Research Council, the Ford Foundation, the United States-Indonesia Society, and the American Institute for Iranian Studies. He is currently working on research focused on political decentralization in new democracies, the persistence of authoritarianism since the Third Wave, and on the persistence of democracy in a handful of oil-rich countries.
CRW2100
Fiction Writing
Credits: 3
Instructor: Staff
Meeting Time: W 9-11
Meeting Location: MAT 102
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: C
Prereq: CRW1101 or junior or senior standing.
This course will continue instruction in basic techniques of voice, plot and character, while introducing advanced ones. Students read a lot of good stories, and write a few themselves. Samuel Johnson said, "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money." Juniors of seniors who have not taken CRW1101 or 1301 must have strong composition skills.
CRW2300
Poetry Writing
Credits: 3
Instructor: Staff
Meeting Time: R 9-11
Meeting Location: TUR 2306
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: C
Prerequisite: CRW 1301.
In this workshop you'll learn some matter-of-fact poetry writing techniques as well as some more fancy ones. You'll also write poems and read some difficult and thrilling poetry of the past and the present. By the end you may be able to say, with Humpty Dumpty, "I can explain all the poems that ever were invented - and a good many that haven't been invented just yet."
ECO4935
Empirical Research
Credits: 4
Instructor: Larry Kenny
Meeting Time: MW 7-8
Meeting Location: MAT 251
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
This course develops skills in the development and empirical testing of economic models. Toward this end, each student will develop and test his or her own empirical economic model. The course is broken into three parts, which are described below.
• We begin the first part with a discussion of how knowledge advances and a self-contained development of statistical testing of hypotheses with regression analysis. To gain some feeling for what constitutes good empirical economic research and for what constitutes mediocre empirical economic research, we then read and discuss several published papers in economics. We also examine how papers on positive economics are best written. Finally you will be shown how easy it is to run regressions on a PC.
• In the second part, you present a proposal that develops the hypotheses to be tested and describes how they will be tested. You must ascertain whether the data that are required to test the hypothesis are available. Your proposal should describe your sample (e.g., all states in 1980, annual data from 1950 to 1990), the variables you will create, your predictions about the effect of each independent variable on your dependent variable, and from what sources your data will be obtained.
• In the third part, you present a complete description and analysis of your results. In your handout, develop your predictions, describe your sample, indicate how your variables were constructed, discuss whether your results support or refute your hypothesis and whether your independent variables have a big impact on the dependent variable. In the second and third parts there also will be some discussion of other empirical papers, statistical problems, and issues involving economic data. The final paper develops the predictions and discusses how the data were gathered and the hypotheses tested.
Larry Kenny was chairman at UF for 7 years and serves on the editorial boards for the journals Public Choice and Education Finance and Policy. His research has dealt with inequality in school spending, adoption of school vouchers, the structure of taxes in different countries, the effects of a candidate's economic performance and voting record on electoral success, voter information and turnout, the effects of voter enfranchisement on government spending, term limits, the determinants of how efficient schools are and redistribution.
EDF1005
Introduction to Education
Credits: 3
Instructor: Jeff Hurt
Meeting Time: MWF 5
Meeting Location: LIT 117
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
The main purpose of the course is to familiarize prospective educators with historical, societal, and current issues in regard to the teaching profession. For students considering teaching, or wanting an idea of what teaching involves, this would be a very good opportunity to see up close what the profession involves. Students must volunteer 30 hours in a school system during the semester. The guidelines and expectations for this field experience will be provided. All oral and written work is expected to be exemplary. Students will have opportunity to earn bonus points.
EES4401
Public Health Engineering
Credits: 3
Instructor: Joseph J. Delfino
Meeting Time: T 7-8, R 8
Meeting Location: BLK 213, BLK 213
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: P
Prereqs: AP or college level science will be helpful.
Application of engineering principles to protect public health. Areas covered include water supply, waste treatment, air pollution, radiological health, occupational health, milk and food sanitation, vector control, solid wastes and housing hygiene.
This is a non-traditional engineering course. Class discussion is emphasized. In addition to topics in the catalog description, the course will cover public health aspects of current news events, to include natural disasters, environmental law, economics and eithics, contaminants in food and the environment, endocrine disruptor compounds and their environmental impact, environmental security and ways in which environmental and health threats are assessed.
Joseph J. Delfino is Professor and Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences (EES). He served as Department Chairman from January 1990 through August 1999, Interim Chaiman during 2002-2003 and has been on the faculty since 1982. Previously, he served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and other institutions, including the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he was concurrently a 1st Lt and Captain in the USAF.
ENC3254
Writing for Prelaw Students
Credits: 3
Instructor: Creed Greer
Meeting Time: MWF 5
Meeting Location: ROL 115
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: C
It is no exaggeration to say that in courts of law people's lives depend on the character of words. It is also true that the livelihood of lawyers depends on their ability to put language to its most productive ends. It is with these ideas that we take up the subject of writing and law. Lawyers are notorious for producing impenetrable documents. On the other hand, some of the most eloquent writing about our society has been set down by attorneys and judges. Our job will be to learn what we can from those well-stated arguments and opinions and to avoid what makes legal writing so notoriously difficult to read. This course is designed to be, in large part, a practical workshop on the most common forms of legal writing. It is also a consideration of the character of legal communication in general. To these ends, we will write three documents: a legal brief, a legal memorandum, and an analytical essay. In writing the first two, we will become familiar with legal research and law library resources. In the analytical essay we will examine how common perceptions of legal institutions are played out in popular venues, such as film or theater, as well as in the media. In all of the writing we will develop the rhetorical skills of argument and persuasion while mastering the basic elements of style. Several field trips, including at least one to the county court and one to the law school's moot court, will show how speaking is integral to this discipline. Hence, our course also has an oral communications component wherein students will learn the basic skills of legal debate.
Creed Greer is Associate Program Director and Senior Lecturer in the Humanities for the Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1989. Dr. Greer’s specialties include professional and technical communication, composition, and recent literary theory. Since joining the Dial Center in 1995, he has conducted research in and developed disciplinary writing courses for undergraduate and graduate-level work in law, engineering, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and business administration.
ENC3254
Speaking and Writing for Premed Students
Credits: 3
Instructor: Mickey Schafer and Christa Arnold
Meeting Time: MWF 4
Meeting Location: ROL 115
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: C
Medical professionals have a special obligation to communicate without ambiguity, either in the written or spoken word; they depend on their communication skills to interact productively with other medical experts, their colleagues, clients and their families, and the public at large. This team-taught course will provide students with the opportunity to participate in a range of activities: researching, processing, and sharing medical information with others. Students will learn to do research using medical databases and other research tools, as well as discovering how best to organize and present their findings to other medical professionals or patients. The physician must often act as intermediary between the specialized world of scientific research and the more pragmatic world of the general public; consequently, we will also investigate how best to present technical medical information to the layperson. This course is predicated on the idea that the ability to write and speak clearly are learned skills, not innate talents, which means that better communication can be learned by practice. Students will experiment with a range of communication strategies in class: lectures will be followed by focused written and oral activities that allow students to put theory and strategies into practice. We will read and dissect examples of both good and bad writing in order to learn from them, in addition to examining several types of medical writings: written patient instructions, technical/research papers, case reports, and patient records. Students will also participate in a variety of speaking assignments in class, ranging from impromptu to prepared presentations. We will discuss techniques for improving public speaking, interviewing and listening skills, and patient-doctor communication.
Christa L. Arnold, Ph. D. and Mickey Schafer, Ph.D. are faculty members in the Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication. Dr. Arnold's past positions include Assistant Professor in Speech Communication at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She has taught over ten different communication courses on the collegiate level but specializes in public address courses. Dr. Arnold has over 40 International, National, and Regional competitive research papers with several winning top paper awards. Her research in the area of Speech Communication includes publications in International, National, and Regional journals. Dr. Arnold also has skills in Forensics, having competed in Speech and Debate, as well as having coached Forensics teams. She has also been nominated to America’s Outstanding Names and Faces. Dr. Schafer’s background is in linguistics, applied and theoretical. Her specialities include medical professional communication, cross-cultural communication, and composition for professionals in various fields.
ENC3254
Speaking and Writing for Engineers
Credits: 3
Instructor: Creed Greer
Meeting Time: MWF 3
Meeting Location: ROL 105
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: C
Note: This course will substitute for ENC 2210, Technical Writing. This course has been expressly designed for engineering students to equip them for speaking and writing assignments associated with undergraduate coursework and careers in the field of engineering. Students will learn valuable techniques and tools that will help them become effective communicators of technical material, capable of organizing and expressing ideas to satisfy the demands of both general and specialist audiences. Writing and speaking assignments will mirror actual tasks in school and in the field. In the process, students will learn how to become critical evaluators of their own communication skills by commenting on and evaluating the spoken and written work of peers in class. The primary writing assignments include a résumé and a cover letter, a procedural manual, and a final team design proposal. Oral assignments include an interview supporting the cover letter and résumé, a presentation of the team proposal, and role-playing as peer reviewers of other team projects.
Creed Greer is Associate Program Director and Senior Lecturer in the Humanities for the Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1989. Dr. Greer’s specialties include professional and technical communication, composition, and recent literary theory. Since joining the Dial Center in 1995, he has conducted research in and developed disciplinary writing courses for undergraduate and graduate-level work in law, engineering, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and business administration.
ENL4333
Shakespeare
Credits: 3
Instructor: Sidney Homan
Meeting Time: T 4, R 4-5
Meeting Location: TUR 2346, TUR 2346
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
Note: This course is especially intended for English majors.
ENL 4333 Shakespeare [Learning by Doing] Professor Homan
The focus of this course is on performance, on plays as not just texts but as something happening in space and time, and ratified by an audience. Therefore, we learn about a Shakespeare play by doing it, and so each student works with a scene partner, with whom they rehearse a scene, stage it for the class, and then work with the director to polish and evaluate their work. No experience in the theatre is required, and, historically, Mechanical Engineering majors have done as well as Theatre majors who have done no better than English majors. Scene work will be graded on the intent of the actors, what they put into it--not finesse. The course’s major paper will be an assessment of your experience doing the scenes.
Again, the assumption is that a play is not just the words on the page but also the sub-text (the history of the character as devised by the actor), movement, gesture, blocking, as well as the physical dimensions of the stage itself--set, lighting, props, costumes.
We will be examining, from the actor’s and director’s standpoint—as well as the critic’s and scholar’s as they influence production--Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
Author of books on Shakespeare and the modern theatre, Professor Homan also works in commercial and university theatres as an actor and a director. Students in the course often go on to work with him in the theatre. Indeed, students in this course will be assisting Professor Homan as he prepares for a spring-term production of The Taming of the Shrew at the Acrosstown Repertory Theatre.
A Professor of English at the UF, Sidney Homan has written some twelve books on Shakespeare and the modern playwrights. He is also an actor and director in commercial and university theatres. The Artistic Director of the Acrosstown Repertory Theatre, he will be directng THE TAMING OF THE SHREW there in March/April 2006. He is also a member of the theatre's improv company, "Yes, But . . . !" At present, he is collaborating with a colleague in the Sociology Department on a book about Hitler in the movies, and he has finished a memoir called A FISH IN THE MOONLIGHT.
EXP3104
Sensory Processes
Credits: 3
Instructor: Keith White
Meeting Time: MWF 3
Meeting Location: PSY 130
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: B
An introductory survey of the human senses and their role in perception, considering how we sense the physical environment and what factors influence our perception of it. The capacities and the limitations of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell are explored from physiological and behavioral perspectives. Inasmuch as the phenomena under study can also be experienced, lectures are frequently supplemented with demonstrations and discussions. The aim is to improve understanding of how one's own perceptions may plausibly relate to structures and functions of the nervous system.
Keith D. White, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology with joint/affiliate appointments in Ophthalmology, Clinical and Health Psychology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the McKnight Brain Institute. He also is a Research Scientist in the Brain Rehabilitation Research Center of the North Florida/South Georgia Veteran's Affairs Medical Center. His research concerns vision and visual perceptions, altered visual perceptions in individuals with psychiatric disorders, and the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging to study neuroplastic changes during rehabilitation of stroke patients.
FRE2200
Intermediate French 1
Credits: 3
Instructor: Staff
Meeting Time: MWF 6
Meeting Location: ROG 106
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
Prereq: FRE 1131, or the equivalent; Coreq: FRE 2240.
Devoted to grammar review and composition, this course and its sequel, 2201, develop reading and writing skills in French.
GEO2474
Geography of Now
Credits: 3
Instructor: Joshua Comenetz
Meeting Time: T 4, R 4-5
Meeting Location: TUR 3012, TUR 3012
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: I S
The geographic foundation of current events includes both human and physical factors. International conflict and cooperation usually involves neighboring states, whose political relationships are determined in part by demographic, cultural, and economic differences. The physical form of the earth's landmasses and related patterns of climate and resource distribution also influence international affairs, as does a state's ability to project power beyond its immediate neighbors. This course will cover the geography of international relations, with a focus on major long-term conflicts and on the geographic background of events in the news at the time the course is offered. Particular attention is paid to regions that are most in the news and most affect US foreign policy (including the Middle East, China, Africa, Europe/EU).
Instructor's website with link to course syllabus: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/comenetz/
Joshua Comenetz is Assistant Professor of Geography. His research centers around topics in cartography (mapmaking) and population geography, including mapping the connection between natural hazards and population change and interpreting the geographic distribution of ethnic or religious groups. He has a PhD from Minnesota. As an instructor he has taught courses in population geography, cartography, Jewish studies, and data quality analysis. Dr. Comenetz's email address is comenetz@geog.ufl.edu.
GEO3427
Plant/ Health Spirituality
Credits: 3
Instructor: Nigel Smith
Meeting Time: T 7-9
Meeting Location: TUR 3012
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: I S
Plants used in treating the sick and enhancing health, both organic and spiritual, are explored with examples drawn from around the world. The course thus surveys plants used in healing, communicating with the supernatural, and in bringing aesthetic pleasure. The scope is international with an emphasis on understanding the sacred origins of many of today’s “drug” plants such as marijuana and how cultural and ecological diversity have contributed to a rich array of plants domesticated for their ability to help users achieve altered states of consciousness. The role of traditional healers, their practices and perspectives, is discussed. Public health surprises occur with some frequency, such as the emergence of AIDS as a global threat to human health in the last few decades, so the course underscores the importance of conserving plant biodiversity and indigenous knowledge to enhance options for tackling future challenges to human health. The emerging market for "organic" foods is also explored within the context of a desire for "healthier" food and reducing damage to the environment. Political, economic, and environmental issues surrounding the development of transgenic foods (derived from crops that have been developed with the use of recombinant DNA technology) are analyzed since movements have arisen in some countries to ban such foods on health grounds. The growing demand for plant-based dietary supplements, such as energy boosters, is examined along with regulatory issues.
Nigel Smith is a professor of geography whose primary area of research is the management and conservation of natural resources in the humid tropics, especially in the Amazon. He is currently conducting field research on land use change in the headwaters of the Amazon in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, and is also studying the use of wild fruits by people in the lowlands of the Peruvian Amazon. The author of a dozen books, Professor Smith was awarded a TIP teaching award in 1996.
GER1130
Beginning German I
Credits: 5
Instructor: Christina Overstreet
Meeting Time: MTW 7, RF 7
Meeting Location: AND 32, MAT 114
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
Discover German is unlike any other language course you may have had! All materials are presented online in VISTA. You need a gatorlink account, a computer, and a head set to participate in this course. Since Discover German aims to teach the language from the beginning in the context of the German culture, we have many 'live' links to German sites and pictures. Think of it as working with an e-book: each chapter has a dialog, grammar pages, exercises, and homework assignments. All homework is done online and maybe oral or written. For example, you will read and listen to a dialog and questions about that dialog. Then you will record your answers, attach your soundfile to the assignment and submit it. For written assignments, you simply write/copy your word file into the submission area and click 'submit'. The instructor will provide individualized and immediate feedback.
The Discussion Board will be used as a 'springboard' for conversation in class. For example, you "virtually" shop for furniture by going to IKEA (practicing numbers, vocabulary etc.) or you google Ritter Sport Schokolade. When you come to class, you are prepared to tell your classmates in German what furniture you bought and what chocolate you like best.
Students also write, perform, and video record 'Situationen'. For example, you may go shopping for winter clothes with a friend, buy tickets for a theater performance in Berlin, or create a 'Before' and 'After' Commercial Spot (using the imperative mood and comparative and superlative of adjectives).
Yes, you are required to learn the grammar! Discover German grammar pages are written in English for you to study at home. Grammar exercises are interactive and you can practice on your own at your own pace.
For more information, please got to http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/overstre/
Christina Overstreet is a lecturer in the Department of Germanic and Slavic studies and a doctoral candidate in the College of Education. She is a native speaker of German and trained in Foreign Language Pedagogy and Second Language Acquisition. Ms. Overstreet has directed the Summer Program at the University of Mannheim and has extensive experience in teaching German language and culture on the beginning and intermediate levels. She has been instrumental in developing and teaching web-based courses that present language in the context of culture. Her research interests include the effective integration of new technology into the foreign language classroom. In her free time, Ms. Overstreet enjoys walking at the beach and traveling.
GLY1073
Introduction to Global Change
Credits: 3
Instructor: David Hodell
Meeting Time: TR 3, W 2-3
Meeting Location: WM 202, RNK 210
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: P
The Earth can be thought of as a complex system of interacting components that includes the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere. The human species has increased its population and technology to the point where we are no longer passive members of the earth system. Rather, we have begun to modify components of the earth system by our industrial and agricultural activities. GLY1073 seeks to understand the complex issues of global environmental change that challenge society today (e.g., greenhouse warming, ozone depletion, deforestation, acid rain, desertification, biodiversity, etc), from a systems' perspective. Students will learn to view the Earth as a complex system of interacting components that exchange mass and energy, and we will explore the complex linkages and feedback processes that exist among its components. This system's perspective fosters an appreciation for how the Earth works as a whole and provides the conceptual framework for discussion of relevant global change issues. The laboratory portion of the course consists of a series of simple computer models using a system modeling software package called Stella. Models build upon one another throughout the semester and include population growth, energy resources, carbon cycling and the earth's climate system. No advanced knowledge of computers or modeling is assumed or required. Students will also undertake a term project on some issue of global change that will be presented in class using PowerPoint and published electronically on the Web. Honors students are encouraged to browse the class homepage at http://ess.geology.ufl.edu to learn more about the class.
David Hodell is Professor of Geology and originator of the Earth System Science Program. His area of research is paleoclimatology, which seeks to understand how Earth’s climate has changed through geologic time. He was the recipient of a TIP (Teaching Incentive Program) Award, a curriculum development award from NASA and OIR (Office of Instructional Resources) to specifically develop this course in Earth System Science. Dr. Hodell was awarded Honors Professor of the Year in 2001-2002.
GLY2010C
Physical Geology
Credits: 4
Instructor: Michael Perfit
Meeting Time: MWF 4, R 6-7
Meeting Location: WM 210, WM 141
Writing or Math Req: W - 4000
Gen Ed: P
This course is designed to give Honors students an understanding and appreciation of the materials and processes that have shaped the Earth and continue to affect our natural environment. The first part of the course deals with the origin of the earth and the development and application of plate tectonic theory. We will discuss the origin and occurrence of various rock types and volcanoes and I emphasize the dramatic and often devastating aspects of volcanic eruptions. In addition, I spend a significant amount of time discussing the sea floor, ocean ridges, the interior of the earth, earthquakes and mountain building. We will also discuss topics that range from groundwater in Florida to mass extinctions on Earth and tsunamis.
I have limited the class size to about 15 so that I can have maximum interaction with students. Although most of the students probably do not plan to major in the geosciences and some will probably admit to being rather "science-phobic". Geology is a science that can be seen and experienced nearly every day and can be appreciated outside the realm of the classroom, long after graduation. I have developed this course so that the classroom lectures, outside readings and lab exercises enhance the text and will hopefully capture the student’s attention and imagination. The laboratory section is designed to give you some "hands-on" experiences with geologic materials and data. Hopefully, we will be able to take a few field trips so that students can experience real geology.
Mike Perfit is a geochemist who spends much of his time deep beneath the surface of the ocean investigating deep-sea volcanoes and the spreading of the Earth's tectonic plates. He is Professor of Geology and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Geological Sciences. His specialty is igneous petrology, the study of the origin of rocks formed from magma. He uses that and his training in geochemistry and marine geology to study the Earth's last great frontier: the abyssal depths of the ocean. He has participated in over 25 major oceanographic cruises to places as distant as Papua New Guinea and has had over 30 dives in the manned submersible ALVIN to depths greater than 12,000 feet. The discoveries he and his colleagues have made on the East Pacific Rise and Juan de Fuca Ridge have garnered attention in the public media including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, Discovery, and a few TV productions. He has published over 90 scientific articles in journals and books and his photographs have appeared in magazines such as Earth and Alaska Geographic.
HIS3931
Islam in African History
Credits: 3
Instructor: Susan O'Brien
Meeting Time: MWF 4
Meeting Location: FLI 11
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: H I
The instructor has not yet submitted a course description
HIS3931
Honors Imperialism
Credits: 03
Instructor: Jessica Harland-Jacobs
Meeting Time: MWF 5
Meeting Location: FLI 11
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
This course on the history of imperialism will range widely across time and space. We will touch on the empires of the Ancient world, Spain and Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and (much later) the United States of America. But we will focus primarily on the British Empire, from its initial English/ Atlantic incarnations to its global sway of the Pax Britannica era to its decline in the twentieth century. Coming to terms with empire and the interaction between colonizers and the colonized is critical to grasping most themes in modern British history. The British arguably had a greater impact abroad than any other imperial power.
Understanding the significance of imperialism to British history is not only about examining the activities of Britons’ overseas, but also about studying the impact of the empire on metropolitan British culture, the empire’s strike back, if you will.
Not surprisingly, scholars in many different academic disciplines, ranging from history to political science to literature, are thoroughly engaged in the concept of empire. We too will adopt an interdisciplinary approach as we examine various historical and contemporary manifestations of imperialism and empire-building.
Jessica Harland-Jacobs is an assistant professor in the Department of History. She specializes in the history of modern Britain, the British Empire, and imperialism. She is completing a book entitled _Builders of Empire: Freemasons and British Imperialism, 1717-1918_ and currently working on the question of the relationship between imperialism and religion. She has taught at UF for five years and in that time offered several seminars and served as Undergraduate Coordinator for the History Department.
HUM2210
Western Humanities 1
Credits: 3
Instructor: James Hodges
Meeting Time: MWF 4
Meeting Location: LIT 119
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: H I
This section of Honors Humanities is a survey of Western culture from ancient Greece through the Renaissance, with readings from literature, philosophy, and religion. In addition to selections from the Bible, the course includes The Iliad, plays from Sophocles and Euripides, Plato's Republic, The Aeneid, Dante's Inferno, Machiavelli's The Prince, and Shakespeare's King Lear. Readings about and viewings from classical, medieval, and renaissance architecture, sculpture, and painting are also part of the curriculum. There will be a series of reaction papers required on the assigned readings and a cultural event report.
This section will be taught by James Hodges, Professor of English, Emeritus, from the University of Florida. Professor Hodges, in addition to his thirty-three years on the faculty at UF, has also taught at the Sewanee Military Academy (Tennessee), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and East Tennessee State University. He holds degrees from Vanderbilt University (B.A. and M.A.) and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
HUM2230
Western Humanities 2
Credits: 3
Instructor: James Hodges
Meeting Time: MWF 5
Meeting Location: LIT 119
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: H I
This section of Honors Humanities is a survey of Western culture from the Eighteenth Century to the present, with readings from literature, psychology, and philosophy. The course includes Voltaire’s Candide, Goethe’s Faust, Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Dostoyevski’s Notes from Underground, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and other plays, T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and other poems, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, and Sartre’s No Exit and other plays; also included are Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents and Jung’s Man and His Symbols. Readings about and viewings from architecture, sculpture, and painting are also part of the curriculum. There will be a series of reaction papers required on the assigned readings and a cultural event report.
This section will be taught by James Hodges, Professor of English, Emeritus, from the University of Florida. Professor Hodges, in addition to his thirty-three years on the faculty at UF, has also taught at the Sewanee Military Academy (Tennessee), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and East Tennessee State University. He holds degrees from Vanderbilt University (B.A. and M.A.) and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
IDH2931
Business & Leadership Writing
Credits: 3
Instructor: Vikram Rangala
Meeting Time: T 6-8
Meeting Location: HUME 118
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: C H
Writing in the world of work is not done for a grade or praise, but to inspire action and create relationships. Therefore, a professional writing course cannot focus only on technique. It must also consider the processes and contexts within which an individual document gets written. Much of leadership, in business or anywhere, consists of creating or altering perceived contexts, and guiding others along healthy, meaningful processes. For example, a manager who has repeatedly acted in ways that lessen trust and create resentment cannot write a peppy memo to the troops and reasonably expect it to unite and cheer them. It is likely to backfire unless she remains aware of the other ways in which she has influenced them. Writing assignments will include personal and analytical essays, as well as business documents such as memos. While this is not a technical writing course, careful attention to grammar, word choice, and spelling are ways in which writers show care, professionalism, and competence. I will therefore grade written assignments both for technical excellence and for the way in which they show understanding of people, situations, and likely results. Our readings will include topics such as the psychology of persuasion, ethics, and how organizations foster excellence, as well as the writings of successful leaders in a variety of positions and times.
Vikram Rangala is the Honors Writing Coach. He received his BA from Rice University and his MFA in creative writing from UF. He has been named Honors Professor of the Year and also teaches Professional Writing for the Warrington College of Business’ graduate programs.
IDH2931
Magic and Witchcraft
Credits: 3
Instructor: Judy Ann Turner
Meeting Time: MWF 4
Meeting Location: LIT 117
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: H I
"Magic and witchcraft, the fear of daemons and ghosts, the wish to manipulate invisible powers--all were very much a part of life in the ancient world." Georg Luck, Arcana Mundi, p. xiii. The occult, folklore, mystery cults, oracles, and superstition--the 'darker side' of religious experience--impacted the lives of average Greeks and Romans much more than did the Olympian or 'civic' gods. Yet this significant feature of ancient religious practices receives little attention in scholarship. This course is an effort to lessen the void in topics of ancient religion available to students. Through the use of film, lecture, reading of ancient (in translation) and modern sources, the course will examine origins and practices of ancient magic, witchcraft, mystery cults, demonology, astrology, alchemy, religious 'possession'and other occult subjects. We will explore continuity or resurgence of some ancient occult practices, and if schedules permit, there will be some guest speaker talks on course topics.
Judy Ann Turner (Ph.D. in Ancient History, University of California) was the Andrew Mellon Research/Teaching Fellow at the University of Southern California '84-'85 and taught at Cal Poly State University '85-'89. In Florida, she taught at SFCC (Humanitie s, '90-'93) and at U.F. (Honors Program and Classics Dept). since '93. She has been an officer in the Archaeological Institute of America, Gainesville Society for more than a decade. Her publications include articles on sacerdotal women in the Linear B tablets and and article on Greek Priesthoods. She is writing a book on Greek priestesses and ancient cults.
IDH2931
Writing & Love
Credits: 3
Instructor: Vikram Rangala
Meeting Time: M 6-8 / W 6-8
Meeting Location: HUME 118 / HUME 118
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: C H
Writing and loving are similar disciplines requiring similar decisions: a willingness to put aside one’s self, careful attention to detail, a willingness to see people and things as they are and value them, relentless sincerity, a modicum of grace, a sense of humor. Writing and love are both sometimes painful. Both must be done even when we don’t feel like it, even without inspiration. Both are likely to make us embarrass ourselves. This is not a lightweight course, not a support group, not a course in romance fiction, not really about romance at all. Love, in this definition, is not romantic love. It is not a feeling, not something to fall into. It is a verb, a practice, a way of engaging the world; it is a willful action. Most of the problems we face, together and individually, are ultimately problems of how to love: they require us to make better decisions about what to say to each other, how to see each other and ourselves, about what is important, about how to better give of ourselves. Writing is about precisely those decisions. Students will write personal essays weekly. They will also be required to practice writing every day for 10 to 30 minutes. There will be regular, though short, reading assignments, but in this course, the students themselves are the primary text. Whereas in other courses you study a subject, in this course we study ourselves. Weekly essays will be graded rigorously for grammar and style. Students will also be asked to get physical exercise, at their own level and pace, for 30 minutes three times a week.
Vikram Rangala is the Honors Writing Coach. He received his BA from Rice University and his MFA in creative writing from UF. He has been named Honors Professor of the Year and also teaches Professional Writing for the Warrington College of Business’ graduate programs.
IDH2931
Media and Society
Credits: 3
Instructor: Jon Roosenraad
Meeting Time: T 3, R 3-4
Meeting Location: WEIM 1076, WEIM 3020
Writing or Math Req: W - 4000
Gen Ed: S
This course will focus on the specific problems of the mass media as well as the role of media in society. These topics will be presented in a seminar environment by the instructor, with occasional guest lecturers and presentations by class members. Grading: there will be a research paper, a midterm exam and a final exam. Text: Introduction to Mass Communications by Agee, Ault and Emery.
Jon Roosenraad is a professor of journalism and assistant dean for Student Services in the College of Journalism and Communications. He has been on the UF faculty since 1968 and was chair of the journalism department from 1978 to 1994. He has taught courses in writing, editing and media/society. For many years he has taught the required Problems and Ethics of Journalism course (JOU 4700). He is the grader for the Continuing Education correspondence version of this course. He has worked on newspapers at Michigan and Florida. He earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Michigan, a master's degree in journalism from Michigan State and a PhD in sociology from Florida State.
IDH3931
Survivor: Tribal Experiences and Cultural Relativity
Credits: 3
Instructor: Matthew Curtis
Meeting Time: T 2-3, R 2
Meeting Location: HUME 118, HUME 118
Writing or Math Req: W - 4000
Gen Ed: I S
In recent years the CBS television series, Survivor, has received high viewer ratings and much commercial (and some critical) success. Many viewers eagerly await each week’s episode to see how the contestants of different genders, personalities, ethnic backgrounds, life histories, ages, and occupations interact and communicate with each other. How will they negotiate their individual identities as well as their group “tribal identities”? How will they make decisions, what rules will they create, and who will lead in making the decisions? What secret societies and bonds will develop, and how will the contestants use these relationships to their advantages? How will they divide up daily tasks, and acquire and distribute food and shelter? When anthropologists study human groups, they ask these same questions. Survivor, provides a starting point for examining basic aspects of small-scale human social organization. This course incorporates episodes of Survivor 3 Africa with topical lectures, readings, films, and discussions focused on Africa and more particularly relating to issues such as gender, age, group identity, non-kinship alliances, value of non-kinship ties, food acquisition, human-environmental issues, and health. Survivor provides a forum in which to critically assess the concept of “tribe” as a useful (or not useful) construct to describe social organization among some societies in Africa. In addition, aspects of African archaeology, history, geography, religions, music, art, and popular culture are explored. The course requirements include a map quiz, two non-cumulative exams, and a short research paper.
Matthew C. Curtis is an anthropological archaeologist and Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Florida with a specialization in later Holocene African archaeology. Curtis received a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology with highest honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1992 and a Master of Arts in anthropology and Certificate in African Studies from the University of Florida in 1995. His research interests include the archaeology of ancient complex societies and urbanism in eastern Africa, regional settlement analysis in archaeology, culture contact and interaction, and cultural resource management and education in Eritrea. Since 1997, Curtis has conducted archeological research in the highlands of Eritrea, northeast Africa. During 1999-2000, Curtis was a Fulbright fellow to Eritrea, served as a lecturer in the University of Asmara Department of Archaeology, and directed the Greater Asmara Regional Archaeological Survey Project (GARASP). Curtis returned to Eritrea in 2001 to co-teach the University of Asmara’s archaeological field school and continue regional archaeologocial research with the University of Asmara and National Museum of Eritrea. He is co-author of a recent Antiquity article (Schmidt and Curtis 2001) concerning regional archaeological investigations and the ancient Ona culture of Eritrea.
IDH3931
Freud and Philosophy
Credits: 3
Instructor: Gayle Brown
Meeting Time: M 11-E2
Meeting Location: HUME 118
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: H I
The basic goal of the course is to examine the contrasting world views of Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. Both men wrestled with the core questions of human existence: Does God exist? What is love? How ought we to think about sex? What is the meaning of life? Both Freud and Lewis, as young boys, possessed intellectual gifts that foreshadow the profound impact they would make as adults. Both suffered significant losses early in life. Both had difficult, conflict-ridden relationships with their fathers. Both received early instruction in the faith of their family and acknowledge a nominal acceptance of that faith. Both jettisoned their early belief system and became atheists when in the teens.” (The Question of God, pp. 34-35.) However, as Nicholi goes on to note, Lewis eventually rejected atheism and whole-heatedly embraced the faith of his childhood. Freud did not. Our question: Why? We will begin the course by reading Lewis’ autobiography, Surprised by Joy in which he speaks frankly about his early life experiences and his later conversion to Christianity. Then we will examine Lewis’ defense of the Christian faith in Mere Christianity. We will also read Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters which is one of his most imaginative works-the book is a series of letters between Screwtape, an experience devil, and his neophyte nephew, Wormwood, who is on assignment to secure the damnation of a certain young man. Although Lewis lived nearly a full generation after Freud, it is clear from Freud’s work that it was the Judeo-Christian world view that Freud sought to displace. Freud was, first and foremost, a medical doctor. He sought to give a scientific explanation of the human experience. Students will be expected to complete a 15-20-page term paper. There will be no mid-term or final.
G.M. Brown was born in the South Pacific in the late 1960s. She traveled widely throughout the United States and Europe in her youth. She spent her undergraduate years at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., graduating in 1991 with bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and psychology. She later moved to Gainesville, where she began graduate studies in philosophy at the University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy in 1999, specializing in epistemology and metaphysics. That same year, she was named Graduate Student Teacher of the Year. She has taught a wide-variety of courses in philosophy in both the Honors Program and the Philosophy Department at UF, including ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of science. She also teaches the popular “Tao of Star Trek” course. In addition to philosophy, her academic interests include poetry, literature, archeology, theology, theoretical physics and evolutionary biology.
IDH3931
Ethics: Theory and Practice
Credits: 3
Instructor: Gayle Brown
Meeting Time: T 11-E2
Meeting Location: HUME 118
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: H
The aim of this course is to help students reason more clearly and effectively about moral issues. The subject matter of the course can be divided roughly into two parts. First, we want to explore general issues about morality: what is morality? Is there a systematic way of understanding our moral judgements? What principles should we use to decide difficult moral issues? Rachels' book provides a description of the ways in which different moral theories have answered these questions. The second and main part of the course consists of an examination of difficult moral problems such as abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and affirmative action. Our focus shall be three-fold. First, we want to see how different moral theories may lead to different conclusions about what the right response is to these problems. Second, we shall aim to be as precise as we can about the arguments supporting these conclusions. Third, we want to critically evaluate these arguments--that is, we want to determine whether they are good arguments or bad arguments. It is important to realize that philosophy is not fundamentally about imparting information; it is about learning to reason more carefully and thoroughly. Thus, the main objective of the course is to improve students' skills in understanding and evaluating arguments.
Required Texts:
James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999), third edition.
James E. White, Contemporary Moral Problems (New York: West, 1997), sixth edition.
G.M. Brown was born in the South Pacific in the late 1960s. She traveled widely throughout the United States and Europe in her youth. She spent her undergraduate years at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., graduating in 1991 with bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and psychology. She later moved to Gainesville, where she began graduate studies in philosophy at the University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy in 1999, specializing in epistemology and metaphysics. That same year, she was named Graduate Student Teacher of the Year. She has taught a wide-variety of courses in philosophy in both the Honors Program and the Philosophy Department at UF, including ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of science. She also teaches the popular “Tao of Star Trek” course. In addition to philosophy, her academic interests include poetry, literature, archeology, theology, theoretical physics and evolutionary biology.
IDH3931
Music and Health
Credits: 3
Instructor: Miriam Zach
Meeting Time: T 5-6, R 6
Meeting Location: MUB 144, MUB 144
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: H I
We will explore the relationship of music and medicine via readings, recordings, lectures, discussions, and musical experiences, investigating the history, theory, and practice of the creative power of music in health care settings. In addition to reviewing music therapy research in the medical literature, we will study the work of musicians-physicians, medical problems of perfoming artists, medical histories of composers, and music in hospitals. Students are expected to listen to musical compositions of various styles and genres, be able to identify them by composer, historical context, stylistic and aesthetic characteristics, and their potential use as treatment in clinical application. There will be two tests and a research paper/creative project presentation. Required readings include: Joseph Machlis and Kristine Forney's The Enjoyment of Music, chronological version, 9th edition with accompanying CD's; and Randall McClellan's The Healing Forces of Music.
Miriam Zach, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, is a musicologist, concert organist, and Founding Director of the International Women Composers Library (PO Box 5566, Gainesville, FL 32627-5566). After the University of Chicago she lived in Europe for five years teaching at the Universitat Bielefeld, Germany and performing. In 1992 and 1997 she was named International Woman of the Year by the International Biographical Center in Cambridge, England for her distinguished service to music. Dr. Zach can be reached by email at minerva@ufl.edu.
IDH3931
People of the Pueblos: Prehistory of the American Southwest
Credits: 3
Instructor: Matthew Curtis
Meeting Time: T 4-5, R 4
Meeting Location: HUME 118, HUME 118
Writing or Math Req: W - 2000
Gen Ed: I S
This course surveys the archaeology and early history of Native American cultures of the American Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Colorado, Southern Utah, and adjacent regions, including Northern Mexico, Baja California, Southeastern California, Southern Nevada, and West Texas). During the first six weeks of the course we will discuss the historic-period Native American cultures of the Southwest from an anthropological perspective, concentrating on aspects of sociopolitical and socioeconomic organization, kinship, and religion. We will focus on the following living/historic cultures: Hopi, Zuni, Taos, Cochiti, Walapai, Yavapai, Havasupai, Mohave, Seri, Mayo, Maricopa, Quechan, Cocopa, Tarahumara/Raramuri, Navaho, and Apache groups. During the last ten weeks of the course we will move back in time, exploring the archaeology of Native American cultures of the Southwest from earliest times to the beginning of the nineteenth century AD. We will examine the major cultural developments and debates concerning the archaeological record, with examples from archaeological sites throughout the Southwest. We will discuss Clovis, Folsom, Archaic, Fremont, Patayan, Hohokam, Mogollon, Sinagua, Casas Grandes, Anasazi, Mimbres, Salado, and other prehistoric culture groups/periods and explore the archaeology of such intriguing sites as Olsen-Chubbuck, Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, Bandelier, Montezuma Castle, Aztec Ruins, Hovenweep, Snaketown, Grasshopper Pueblo, and Paquime/Casas Grandes, among others. Course requirements include two non-cumulative exams and one short research paper.
Matthew C. Curtis is an anthropological archaeologist and Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Florida with a specialization in later Holocene African archaeology. Curtis received a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology with highest honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1992 and a Master of Arts in anthropology and Certificate in African Studies from the University of Florida in 1995. His research interests include the archaeology of ancient complex societies and urbanism in eastern Africa, regional settlement analysis in archaeology, culture contact and interaction, and cultural resource management and education in Eritrea. Since 1997, Curtis has conducted archeological research in the highlands of Eritrea, northeast Africa. During 1999-2000, Curtis was a Fulbright fellow to Eritrea, served as a lecturer in the University of Asmara Department of Archaeology, and directed the Greater Asmara Regional Archaeological Survey Project (GARASP). Curtis returned to Eritrea in 2001 to co-teach the University of Asmara’s archaeological field school and continue regional archaeologocial research with the University of Asmara and National Museum of Eritrea. He is co-author of a recent Antiquity article (Schmidt and Curtis 2001) concerning regional archaeological investigations and the ancient Ona culture of Eritrea.
IDH3931
Age of the Blockbuster
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dana Peterson
Meeting Time: T 4-6, R 5
Meeting Location: HUME 119, HUME 119
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: H
This course examines American popular culture in the Age of the Blockbuster. Beginning in the mid-1970s--Steven Spielberg released Jaws on June 30, 1975; Stephen King published his first novel, Carrie, in 1974; George Lucas launched Star Wars in May 1977--the Age of the Blockbuster heralded America's current obsession with bigger, louder, and richer. This section of IDH 3931 will ask students to think critically about American popular culture in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Students, therefore, should be interested in learning more about who "we" are, and in turn, be willing to consume as much "culture"--i.e., movies, books, TV, music, sports, advertising--as they can. Students will also be expected to share these experiences in classroom discussions and presentations. Course requirements include a series of reading responses/journals and a group project.
Dana H. Peterson is on parole for a variety of offenses committed on his (unfortunately under-publicized) nationwide 1985 crime spree that ended just outside Dollyland in Tennessee. He currently teaches at the University of Florida under his mother’s maiden name, Staff. Highly regarded for the level of expertise he brings to a variety of subjects, Dr. “Staff” also directs the AIM Program, the university’s initiative to help disadvantaged students succeed at UF. Though Dr. Peterson died at the end of 2004, he still continues to teach this course as part of his penance for how he lived his life. He also continues to answer emails, so feel free to contact him at peterson@clas.ufl.edu.
IDH3931
First Year Florida
Credits: 2
Instructor: Staff
Meeting Time: M 3
Meeting Location:
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: None
IDH3931
Medical Greek
Credits: 3
Instructor: Bruce Kraut
Meeting Time: W 5-7
Meeting Location: HUME 119
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: H
This course will introduce students to the Ancient Greek language through readings in Ancient Greek Medical Texts, with an emphasis on the works of Hippocrates. Students will learn enough Greek vocabulary, syntax and grammar to translate selected passages from the Hippocratic Treatises, while the remainder of each treatise chosen will be read in English and discussed. This is not an etymology or medical terminology course. This course does not fulfill any part of the CLAS or Journalism language requirements.
Bruce Kraut received his Ph.D. in Classical Philology from Princeton University and his M.D. from Emory University. He is a former Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Georgia and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Classics at the University of Florida and a Pediatrician in private practice. His special interests include Greek Drama, Greek Papyri, and Ancient Medicine.
IDH3931
Current Issues in Higher Education
Credits: 3
Instructor: Jeanna Mastrodicasa
Meeting Time: R 8-10
Meeting Location: LIT 119
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: I S
College campuses are simply a microcosm of society as a whole, yet institutions of higher education face unique challenges and issues. This course will discuss current issues in higher education, including merit scholarships (such as Bright Futures), town-gown relations, types of universities, admissions, diversity issues, intercollegiate athletics, student attitudes and perceptions, and more. This class will be of particular interest for education, political science, or journalism majors, but any student who likes to discuss current events or the complicated issues facing society will enjoy this class. This class uses an online course platform as part of the class. This class combines lectures and class discussions, as well as a few out of class experiences.
Requirements: The reading will include a few books and reading the Chronicle of Higher Education each week. There is one test and two short research papers (8 pages each) for this class.
Jeanna Mastrodicasa is the Associate Director of the Honors Program at UF. An avid old school hip hop fan, Jeanna enjoys hearing herself pontificate about higher education and many other unrelated topics such as politics, travel, and cooking. She completed her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration at UF in May 2004. While at UF, she has served as the Assistant Dean of Students for Orientation and as an academic advisor/pre-law advisor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She earned a Master of Science degree in College Student Personnel from the Leadership Studies Unit in the College of Education at the University of Tennessee. She also holds a J.D. and a A.B.J. from the University of Georgia. Interested students can e-mail Jeanna at jmastro@ufl.edu with questions, or can argue the historical significance of the Beastie Boys.
IDH3931
The Tao of Star Trek
Credits: 3
Instructor: Gayle Brown
Meeting Time: W 11-E2
Meeting Location: HUME 118
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: H I
Our general aim in this course is to explore various philosophical issues through the medium of science fiction. We will be spending the semester in the place where philosophy and science fiction intersect. Science fiction affords us an excellent venue for philosophical exploration. Some of the best philosophy is driven by thought-experiments-imaginary scenarios that are designed to illuminate some difficult philosophical questions. For example, we might imagine that you and I were to switch brains, or that a transporter mishap results in the fusion of two people into a single person, and then we might ask ourselves what our thoughts about such bizarre circumstances contribute to our understanding of who and what we are.
Philosophy is the exploration of the concepts we employ to understand ourselves and the world around us. We want to examine how we think. Sometimes, upon examination, our pre-theoretical notions turn out to be inadequate. How then shall we respond? What are we to say? Science fiction writers have always looked to philosophy as a fertile source of ideas. Many episodes of the various incarnations of Star Trek are inspired by issues in philosophy, while films such as "A Clockwork Orange," "The Matrix," "12 Monkeys" and others borrow from philosophy in more ways than can easily be counted. Philosophy and science fiction are kindred spirits, for they are both animated by a sense of wonder and by the seemingly limitless possibilities that lie before us.
G.M. Brown was born in the South Pacific in the late 1960s. She traveled widely throughout the United States and Europe in her youth. She spent her undergraduate years at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., graduating in 1991 with bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and psychology. She later moved to Gainesville, where she began graduate studies in philosophy at the University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy in 1999, specializing in epistemology and metaphysics. That same year, she was named Graduate Student Teacher of the Year. She has taught a wide-variety of courses in philosophy in both the Honors Program and the Philosophy Department at UF, including ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of science. She also teaches the popular “Tao of Star Trek” course. In addition to philosophy, her academic interests include poetry, literature, archeology, theology, theoretical physics and evolutionary biology.
IDH3931
College Experience through Film
Credits: 3
Instructor: Scott Francis
Meeting Time: R 7-8
Meeting Location: HUME 119
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: S
This course will focus on: (1)Discovering, discussing, interpreting, and critiquing how and why this large, research-oriented university operates; and (2)Examining how undergraduates grow, learn, and change. The mechanism for this quest is an exploration of a particular genre of American movies: films about college. By watching these films we hope to spark a discussion about questions such as: Why go to college? Who runs this place...and how is it done? What roles do students play? What is the role of intercollegiate athletics? What happens to students in college? What roles do gender, race, ethnicity, class, and sexual orientation play in undergraduate culture? What are our idealized visions of the college experience? What are our experiences in college and how do these differ from the college life portrayed in films? The course is structured according to themes. Each theme will be explored in a lecture/discussion one week, followed by a film the next week, and discussed the third week. Students will learn how to think critically about higher education and media representations of it. You will be asked to consider how your experiences in college are similar or different to representations of college life in film, to lectures about college life in class, and to experiences of college shared by others in the class. We will also ask you to focus attention on how you learn what you learn in college, how you learn in relation to how others learn, and what you want to continue to learn.
Scott Francis is originally from South Orange, New Jersey and attended Richard Stockton College located next to Atlantic City. At Stockton, Scott developed his passion for college students, education, and personal development. He played baseball for two years and was highly involved in campus activities. Scott received his MS in College Student Personnel from Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL. Scott is an idiot savant of sorts in that he can be 90% accurate in naming each and every Super Bowl winner, the score, and the game MVP. Scott's passions are most reality TV, movies, baseball and football. He is a longtime Yankees, Jets, and Nets fan, and has not missed a University of Florida home football game since he arrived here in 2000. Scott's greatest claim to fame is that he graduated middle school and high school with Lauryn Hill, Albert Calloway (BET), and Zach Braff (Garden State, Scrubs).
IDH3931
African Pop Culture
Credits: 03
Instructor: Fiona McLaughlin
Meeting Time: M 6-7, W 6
Meeting Location: LIT 119, LIT 119
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: H I
This course will examine popular forms of contemporary African cultural expression and how they reflect people's views on topics that range from political oppression and economic crises to religion and gender within an increasingly globalized postcolonial context. The course will have a special focus on popular Islamic religious expression in Africa, and will be taught in conjunction with the Harn Museum exhibit, " A Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal." Genres to be studied include music and dance, fashion, popular painting, literature, and film, as well as mixed fonns that defy categorization. Students will become familiar with theoretical approaches to popular culture and modernity, especially Islamic modernity, and will engage in critical thinking about problematic terms such as 'popular,' 'traditional,' and 'modem,' especially with regard to the study of African and Islam. If there is enough interest, we will organize a two-week long study abroad trip to Senegal as soon as the semester ends.Students will be required to write three critical papers of 8-10 pages in length over the course of the semester. There will be no exam.
Please note:
This course is being taught in conjunction with the Ham Museum exhibit, " ASaint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal." This is a unique opportunity to take a close look at the popular dynamics of a contemporary Muslim society.Depending on student interest, there will be an additional study abroad in Senegal component to the course.
Dr. Fiona McLaughlin (PhD in Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin, 1992) is Associate Professor of African Languages and Linguistics at the University of Florida.
She has worked extensively in west Africa, spending approximately five years teaching
and doing research in Senegal. She has taught at the Gaston Berger University in Saint-
Louis, Senegal, and was a Fulbright professor at the Abdou Moumouni Dioffo University
in Niamey, Niger. In addition to working on the morphology and phonology of
Senegalese languages and the sociolinguistics of urban Africa, she is also very interested
in Islam and popular culture in Africa and has published articles on Islam and popular
music in Senegal. These include "Islam and Popular Music in Senegal: The Emergence of a 'New Tradition."' Africa 67(4):560-581. [1997]; and "'In the name of God I will sing
again, Mawdo Malik the good': Popular music and the Senegalese Sufi tariqas." Journal of Religion in Africa, 30(2):191-207. [2002]. She is currently completing an article entitled "Youssou N'Dour's Egypt: a musical experiment in (supra)local Islam."
IDH3931
College… A Novel Idea
Credits: 3
Instructor: Melissa Johnson
Meeting Time: MWF 3
Meeting Location: LIT119
Writing or Math Req: W - 4000
Gen Ed: H
This course involves reading and writing about the college experience from the perspectives of students, faculty, and family members. Course participants will read several novels, discuss and reflect on relevant themes in class and on WebCT, and attend out-of-class events on campus. Students will compare their personal college experiences to those found in novels, class discussions, and campus events. While course attendance and participation will play a major role in grading, students also will be graded on short reaction papers and a final project. The readings will include several novels, tentatively: I am Charlotte Simmons (selective parts), The Lords of Discipline, Blue Angel, A Hope in the Unseen, Tuesdays with Morrie, as well as smaller articles or chapters posted on WebCT.
Melissa Johnson is the newest member of the Honors Program advising staff. Prior to her position in Honors, she was the Assistant Director of New Student Programs. Melissa has a BA in Classical Studies and History and an MEd in Higher Education Administration from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In the past, Melissa has played a tin can in a John Cage concert, portrayed a shrieking teenager in Bye Bye Birdie, and taught students how to dance like Janet Jackson in the "If" video. A self-proclaimed shop-a-holic, Melissa enjoys traveling, mentoring and advising current and emerging student leaders, and the power of good accessories. Feel free to contact her at mjohnson@aa.ufl.edu. Melissa will be assisted by Danny Fay. Danny is a senior English major. He has worked in the Honors Office for as long as he can remember. He is an avid reader and loves to discuss books and food.
IDH3931
Music and Dance in Global Perspective
Credits: 3
Instructor: David Akombo
Meeting Time: T 5-6, R 6
Meeting Location: LIT 119, LIT 119
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: H I
This course will explore music and dance in global perspectives with specific references to social and cultural contexts. We will focus on three continents: Africa, Asia and South America. Topics will include, but are not necessarily limited to, the history of music and dance, different genres of dances, cosmologies and ethnographies in different cultures within these three continents.
This course is intended to help the students to discover the role music and dance play in contemporary non-western societies. In some of these societies music and dance are a dynamic and driving force that animates the life of the society. Music and dance are therefore integral parts of the life of every individual in many different ways. These manifestations will, however, vary from society to society and from culture to culture even within the same geographic location. For example, African children take active roles in music and dance, making musical instruments by the age of three while playing musical games that prepare them to participate in all areas of adult life - including fishing, farming, hunting, attending weddings and funerals and performing similar rites.
This course will help the students place music and dance in context. They will synthesize and analyze the union of music and dance and how this one composite whole create a core form of the art in many parts of the world. This union of music and dance amounts to a total realization of the unequalled aesthetic experience. This concept may help explain why some languages in Africa and Asia have no precise noun to define music and dance. The art of music and dance is so inherent in humans that it is too superfluous to even have a particular referent noun.
David Otieno Akombo is a doctoral student in the School of Music at the University of Florida. His interest in music, dance and healing led him to found Music Therapy International, (MTI) a non-profit organization designed to provide musical interventions to children with different syndromes such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Akombo holds degrees from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Point Loma N. University in California and Kenyatta University in Kenya. Akombo taught music in several elementary, junior, high schools and colleges in Kenya before moving to the United States. He has composed, arranged and published many songs. Most of Akombo's own arrangements have won several awards at the music festivals in East Africa. As a member of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM), and the Society for the arts in Healthcare (SAH), Akombo is actively involved in community educational programs in Florida, Ohio, Colorado and New York.
IDH3931
Neurotheology
Credits: 3
Instructor: Lou Ritz and Gene Thursby
Meeting Time: W 10-E1
Meeting Location: AND 19
Writing or Math Req: W - 6000
Gen Ed: H
Are religious and spiritual experiences brain-based? If they are, what are the implications to understanding brain circuitry? If they are not, what are the implications to our understanding of who we are? Our course - Neurotheology -will investigate the neural correlates of religious and spiritual experiences and the implications of such relationships.
The course will consist of weekly presentations and discussions led by the course instructors. Student group dialogue and exchange will be emphasized. Topics to be explored include: organization of higher cortical function in the human brain; effects of cortical brain lesions on our perception of reality; the variety of religious experiences; modern brain imaging; meditation and spiritual experiences; brain correlates of meditation; eastern and western views of the mind; how the brain constructs reality; attention and awareness; mind-body medicine; psychedelics and mystical experiences; the neurobiology of emotions; the God gene - the genetic basis of spiritual experiences.
The instructors are founding members of the University of Florida Center for Spirituality and Health, and co-teach a well-received Honors course in Spirituality and Health Sciences. (For more information, see http://www.spiritualityandhealth.ufl.edu).
Dr. Lou Ritz is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience, within the College of Medicine and the McKnight Brain Institute. His research interests, funded by the National Institutes of Health, are concerned with spinal cord injury and repair. He is the course director for Medical Neuroscience, taken by all first year medical students, and for Functional Human Neuroanatomy, taken by a diverse group of graduate students. Dr. Ritz is a co-director of the John Templeton Spirituality and Medicine Award, for incorporating spirituality, cultural diversity, and end-of-life issues into the UF medical school curriculum.
Dr. Gene Thursby is an Associate Professor of Religion in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He has been a Fulbright Fellow in India and has participated in several international seminars and teaching institutes sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. He teaches courses on theories of religious experience and on new religious movements.
IDH3931
Disease and Society
Credits: 3
Instructor: Robert Kwong
Meeting Time: T 3, R 3-4
Meeting Location: HUME 119, HUME 119
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: I S
This course examines diseases and epidemics have affected society. Famous disease and known outbreaks discussed include leprosy, Black Plague, anthrax, HIV/AIDS and SARS. Discussions will focus on how fear, misperceptions and mass hysteria impact healthcare education, healthcare delivery and societal or cultural norms. It is the goal of this course to provide insight and awareness about why healthcare providers need to be better educated about the social effects disease have; it is the hope students will become compassionate and sensitive to those individuals who suffer from discrimination or ridicule because of the disease for which they are affected. This will course will require significant student participation, a research paper and poster presentation is required at the end of the term.
Robert Kwong graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in Biology and continued to get his M.S. in Biomedical Science at Barry University in Miami, FL. He has taught pre-health courses in the Biology departments at National-Louis University, North Park University and Loyola University of Chicago since 1995. While at Loyola University he was a Learning Assistance Counselor helping students learn the "right" study strategies for science coursework. Robert is now the Chief Pre-Health Professions Advisor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida.
IDH3931
Introduction to Forensic Anthropology
Credits: 03
Instructor: Jason Byrd
Meeting Time: T 8-9, R 9
Meeting Location: HUME 119, HUME 118
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: S
Forensic anthropology, an applied subfield of biological anthropology, is a science that utilizes methods developed in skeletal biology, archaeology, and other forensic sciences to solve cases of medico-legal significance. This course is a three-credit class designed to present how forensic anthropologists help resolve modern and historic crimes both in the laboratory and the field. Students will be introduced to the techniques that forensic anthropologists use to recover and identify individuals who died as a suicide, homicide, accidents, and mass disasters
Dr. Byrd is a Board Certified Forensic Entomologist and is a past Chairman of the American Board of Forensic Entomology. Dr. Byrd is currently the Associate Director of Forensic Science at Florida Gulf Coast University, and instructs courses in forensic science in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of Florida. Dr. Byrd is a member of the Disaster Operational Response Team under the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He is also a Regional Team Leader for the Florida Emergency Mortuary Response System. Dr. Byrd has combined his formal academic training in Entomology and Forensic Science to serve as a consultant in both criminal and civil legal investigations throughout the United States. Dr. Byrd has conducted over 100 workshops specializing in the education of law enforcement officials, medical examiners, coroners, attorneys, and other death investigators on the use and applicability of arthropods in legal investigations. He has published numerous scientific articles on the subject of forensic entomology, and has also published two books dealing with the use of insects in legal investigations.
IDH3931
Collegiate Computing
Credits: 01
Instructor: Jonathan Ohlrich and Jason Bell
Meeting Time: T 10
Meeting Location: CSE E211
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
Ask not what you can do for your computer, but what your computer can do for you. This course will explore the role of computers on the college campus. Students will learn the history, application and socio-cultural effects of the computer hardware and software commonly associated with college campuses (web browsers, spread sheets, presentation software, web editing/design, etc.). The instructors will teach students how to perform useful tasks such as setting up a wireless network, building your own PC and creating a webpage. We will also examine online popculture such as The Facebook, LiveJournal and other related sites as well as the impact that technology has had on college social structures. There will be weekly projects and/or readings that will tie the lecture in to current events on and off campus. The course will not meet the last few weeks of the semester to allow students time to complete their final projects.
Jonathan Ohlrich is a Ph.D. student from the CISE department. His research interests include artificial intelligence and collegiate education. Jonathan is currently a teaching assistant for Object Oriented Programing and has previously TA'd Introduction to CIS2. Jason Bell is the webmaster for the UF Honors Program. He creates and maintains websites for several different departments on campus. Jason has worked with the Honors Program for several years and served as a Preview advising assistant in 2003 and 2004.
IDH3931
Emerging and re-emerging diseases and Public Health Interventions in Latin America
Credits: 3
Instructor: Alba Amaya-Burns
Meeting Time: M 10-EI
Meeting Location: HUME 119
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: I S
This course is an overview of environment related health issues in Latin America with focus in Central America: the role of geography, policy, cultural, ethnic, gender, mass media, and economy in health status. A broad range of problems will be reviewed from the pre-Hispanic era in Central America to current health issues: geographic distribution, etiology, clinical manifestations with emphasis on control and prevention of the mayor emerging and re-emerging communicable diseases. Some of the diseases we will explore include Cholera, dengue, leptospirosis, malaria, tuberculosis, cysticercosis, toxoplasmosis, chagas, diarrhea and respiratory infections. We will also explore regional and country efforts to halt HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; the relationship between health systems and civil society; international public health interventions and their effects in the region; and mental and communicable diseases that arise from natural disasters and their management. The course will also look at international organizations such us Doctors Without Borders, The International Red Cross, and The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS and Malaria and their successes in Latin America. This course is for students interested in international affairs, pre-medicine, anthropology, and health sciences.
Alba Amaya Burns, MD, is Adjunct Faculty in the College of Public Health and Health Professions. She graduated from the University of Nicaragua, the National University of El Salvador and The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London University. Dr. Burns worked as dengue and leishmaniasis specialist at the Wellcome Trust Tropical Medicine project at their London headquarters. She also served as Director of primary health centers in El Salvador and as Infectious Diseases Manager for USAID in El Salvador. As part of the USAID team of the El Salvador, she also was the representative on the Country Coordinating Mechanism for the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB and was a member of USAID's HIV/AIDS technical Group for Central America.
IDH3931
Immigration, Race, Gender and Ethnicity in American Culture
Credits: 3
Instructor: Esther Romeyn
Meeting Time: T 4, R 4-5
Meeting Location: LIT 119, LIT 119
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: I S
The goal of this course is to introduce the student to various social and cultural issues related to the experience of immigration and the place of ethniciy within American culture. The primary focus will be on the period between 1880 and the present. The class is structured around the reading of four autobiographies. We will explore the meaning of such concepts as immigration, ethnicity, ethnic identity, Americanization, acculturation, globalization, and transnationalism by drawing on social and cultural theory. We will examine how ethnicity is experienced, in particular in relation to such factors as language, memory, race, and gender. We will also discuss the tension between ethnic diversity/pluralism and national unity, and the parameters of contemporary debates about such issues as bi-lingual education and affirmative action.
Required Readings:
Abraham Cahan, The Rise of David Levinsky; Piri Thomas, These Mean Streets; Maxine Hong Kingston, Woman Warrior; Richard Rodriguez, Hunger of Memory
Esther Romeyn received her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota. She taught in the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program at Arizona State University from 1998 until 2005. Her main interests lie in Ethnic Studies, Cultural Studies, Performance Studies, Jewish Studies, Urban Studies, and cross-cultural psychology. Her publications are concerned specifically with immigrant acculturation as a process of cultural “translation” (or “mistranslation”); the performance of ethnic identity (in daily life, festivals, parades, and theater); and the shifting boundaries of “race” in American culture.
IDH4715
Professional Development Strategies
Credits: 1
Instructor: Fiona Barnes and Kellie Roberts
Meeting Time: T 3, R 3
Meeting Location: LIT 119, LIT 119
Writing or Math Req: None
Gen Ed: None
This course will be especially useful for studnets applying to the Truman, Goldwater, Udall, Beinecke awards in late fall. This S/U course will help you identify and target scholarships and fellowships among the myriad available to undergraduate students - this course will be especially useful for students applying to the Truman, Goldwater, Udall, Beinecke awards in late fall. It will also provide you with opportunities to perform a variety of self-assessments, including the Myers-Briggs test, so that you may identify your own strengths, weaknesses and motivations in applying for these scholarships and awards. This course aims to assist you to compete for the most prestigious career-making scholarships, helping you to determine the activities and ideas you should pursue during your undergraduate years to make you a highly attractive candidate for lucrative, high profile scholarships and awards. The course will analyze the criteria evaluators use in screening applicants and discuss the kinds of on-campus and community-wide activities that tend to make you an appealing candidate. We will also focus on writing resumes/cvs, research and personal statements, all genres integral to the fellowship/scholarship search, as well as to job searches and applications to prestigious graduate programs. We will end by focusing on oral communication skills needed in the interview and social settings.
The process of applying for scholarships and awards requires a great deal from you. In particular, you should be an effective and persuasive writer as well as a confident and articulate speaker. Therefore, this team-taught course, designed by both a writing expert and a communication expert, will benefit you while you prepare for this process.
Fiona Barnes and Kellie Roberts designed and have taught this course since its inception in the fall of 2000. Fiona Barnes, Director of Business Communication in the Warrington College of Business, will teach you techniques for writing clear, focused resumes and logical, persuasive personal and research statements. Kellie Roberts, Interim Director for the Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, will provide you with an opportunity to improve your interviewing skills and interpersonal communication.
IDH4905
Researching Internships
Credits: 1
Instructor: Sheila Dickison
Meeting Time: W 9-10
Meeting Location: LIT 119
Writing or Math Req: None