Summer 2012 Courses
Summer 2012 course descriptions are currently tentative and subject to change.
Think Green! Please consider the environment before printing this webpage.
SUMMER 2012 MAP-UA 209 Natural Science I: Quarks to Cosmos
Summer Session I: May 21 – June 29, 2012
Prof. Budick (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 Session I: May 21 – June 29, 2012
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 2012 MAP-UA 710.001 Expressive Culture: Words
Summer Session I: May 21 – June 29, 2012
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? What kinds of stories do we tell about our lives? 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 Barth, Borges, Gogol, Melville, Roth, Tolstoy.
SUMMER 2012 MAP-UA.710.002 Expressive Culture: Words
Summer Session I: May 21 – June 29, 2012
Prof. Borenstein (Russian & Slavis Studies) syllabus
Fantasy, Science Fiction, Reality. All fiction allows authors to create their own worlds; science fiction and fantasy bring this element of the creative process to the forefront. We look at science fiction and fantasy as literary genres, examining their rules, the ways in which these rules are broken, and the genres' strengths and potential. What do science fiction and fantasy do that mainstream fiction does not? What is the connection between narrative form and the representation of reality? Authors include Asimov, Delany, Dick, Heinlein, Le Guin, Lem.
SUMMER 2012 MAP-UA 711 Expressive Culture: The Graphic Novel
Summer Session II: July 2 - August 10, 2012
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.
