Summer 2008 Courses
Think Green! Please consider the environment before printing this webpage.SUMMER 2008 V55.0209 Natural Science I: Quarks to Cosmos
Summer Session I: May 19 - June 27, 2008
Prof. Adler (Physics) syllabus
Modern science has provided us with some understanding of age-old fundamental questions, while at the same time opening up many new areas of investigation. How old is the Universe? How did galaxies, stars, and planets form? What are the fundamental constituents of matter and how do they combine to form the contents of the Universe? The course will cover measurements and chains of scientific reasoning that have allowed us to reconstruct the Big Bang by measuring little wisps of light reaching the Earth, to learn about sub-atomic particles by use of many-mile long machines, and to combine the two to understand the Universe as a whole from the sub-atomic particles of which it is composed.
SUMMER 2008 V55.0510 World Cultures: Russia Between East and West
Summer Session I: May 19 - June 27, 2008
Prof. Kotsonis (History) syllabus
Focuses on distinctive historical and geographical dichotomies and issues in Russian culture. Emphasis is on primary documents, including literary works, travel notes, works of art, and political statements from all periods, chosen to establish the particular matrix of competing positions that make up the Russian national and cultural identity.
SUMMER 2008 V55.0700 Expressive Culture: Topics - The Graphic Novel
Summer Session II: June 30 - August 8, 2008
Prof. Borenstein (Russian & Slavic Studies) syllabus
Examines the interplay between words and images in the graphic novel, a hybrid medium with a system of communication reminiscent of prose fiction, animation, and film. What is the connection between text and art? How are internal psychology, time, and action conveyed in a static series of words and pictures? What can the graphic novel convey that other media cannot? Authors include Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman, Peter Milligan, Charles Burns, Carla Speed McNeil.
SUMMER 2008 V55.0710 Expressive Culture: Words
Summer Session I: May 19 - June 27, 2008
Prof. Borenstein (Russian & Slavic Studies) syllabus
What is literature or the literary? Is there a literary language that works differently from ordinary language? What is literary style and form? What does it mean to tell a story, and how is it different from telling a lie? Paying particular attention to questions of manipulation and emotion, we examine the status of fiction and representation through short stories, novels, and graphic novels by a range of authors, including Dostoevsky, Coetzee, Brautigan, Moore, Lethem, and Babel.
