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Fall 2003
FYS 101A First Year Seminar (AH) The Pursuit of 3 credits
Wisdom in Everyday Life: Montaigne's
Essays in Postmodern Times
(PermReq) Grade Method: REG
GFR/GER:Meets A/H. GDR:Meets H. Akin to
Shakespeare, his younger contemporary
across the English Channel, French author
Michel de Montaigne continues to give much
pleasure to audiences some 400 years after
the first publication of his three books
of essays. This seminar is intended for
students who enjoy delving into such
topics as what makes life worth living;
what you can do when illness and
misfortunes befall you or your loved ones;
what is more important, diversity of
singularity; the rewards of virtue and
whether it is worth the trouble; the value
of a good friend, those kinds of
questions. The seminar will focus on close
readings of a selection of Montaigne's
essays followed by in-class debates on the
issues he so tantalizingly probes from all
directions, with students taking different
sides. Student will also write brief
response papers and practice writing
essays in the manner of Montaigne, which
they will share with one another, and
which will be bound into a volume at the
end of the semester. We will make
connections to other major figures of the
Renaissance and try to fit in a trip to
the Renaissance section of the Walters Art
Museum. The seminar will help develop
critical reading, speaking and writing
skills.
[2852] 0101 TuTh.......1:00pm- 2:15pm (PHYS107) MOORJANI, A
FYS 101C First Year Seminar (AH) Beethoven's Music 3 credits
& Cultural Legacy
(PermReq) Grade Method: REG
GFR/GER:Meets A/H. GDR:Meets H. Few
figures in Western musical history possess
such an enduring fascination as Beethoven.
He is one of those artists-such as
Shakespeare or Michelangelo-who is so
central to Western cultural history that
any telling of this "story" is scarcely
conceivable without them. This course will
have three main aims. The first aim is
that of attaining a greater understanding
of Beethoven's music through close
listening of representative works from all
three periods of his artistic output. The
basic elements of Beethoven's musical
forms will be explained and certain works
analyzed closely. Later, individual group
will present for the class analyses of
their favorite works. The ability to read
music is not required, and all analysis
will be aurally based. Second, it is hoped
that these efforts will lead to a deeper
understanding of the notion of abstract
music; that a piece of music can unfold a
coherent and powerful experience through
purely musical means, without the crutch
of a text or program. In Beethoven's time
this was a radically new notion, and it
was largely due to his influence that it
has become inseparable from the high
cultural prestige of classical music.
Third, this course will focus on the
hertiage of Beethoven's entire cultural
setting, the Golden Age of German culture
and its role in propagating a "spiritual"
form of cultural enlightenment, intended
to be both universal in its ideals and
specific in speaking directly to each
person's "innermost soul." Readings form
recent critical approaches will question
the relevance and validity of this legacy,
including the notion of "high art" itself
in our persent culture. This course will
require several short assignments, one
longer paper and several test based
largely on the assigned listening.
[2854] 0101 TuTh......11:30am-12:45pm (FA 212) COX, F
FYS 102A First Year Seminar (SS) Images of Madness 3 credits
(PermReq) Grade Method: REG
GFR/GER:Meets SS. GDR:Meets S. In
contemporary society, virtually everyone
goes to movie theaters or views feature
films at home on videos, DVD's or
television. For many people, films,
regardless of their accuracy, serve as a
major source of information on social
issues, including mental illness. This
course reviews Academy Award-winning films
depicting mental illness to consider the
influence of motion pictures on the public
perception of social issues, policies and
services. Beginning with The Snake Pit
(1948) through As Good as it Gets (1997),
we will analyze films using a historical
framework and in conjunction with assigned
readings that address cultural
stereotypes, societal attitudes and the
public's response toward people with
mental illness. We will look at the
history of treatment and services for
person with mental illness, social work
practice and service delivery networks. In
addition, we will explore critical
concepts in social work practice and
policy related to people with mental
illness. The class will engage in critical
thinking, analysis and discussion of these
issues, including social work's role as
advocate and change agent. Class
assignments, case studies and group
exercises will help us to understand the
potential power of the mass media,
specifically films, and to question our
awareness of and response to mental
illness.
[2855] 0101 Tu.........4:30pm- 7:00pm (PHYS107) TICE, C
FYS 103A First Year Seminar (MS) Physics Through 3 credits
the Decades (MS)
(PermReq) Grade Method: REG
GER:Meets M/S. GDR:Meets M. In this
course, we will study some of the greatest
ideas in modem physics. These ideas have
been used pments in physics have led to
our present-day understanding of to the
smallest size where the concept of a
length remains valid (10-" meters).Since
this journey parallels the history of
modern physics, particular emphasis will
be placed upon the evolution of the
science of measurement and the way in
which developments in physics have led to
our present-day understanding of the
nature of the universe. We will study how
modern astronomy has led to an
understanding of the size and history of
the universe. We will explore Einstein's
theory of relativity and see how both
length and time are relative, not
absolute, quantities. We will try to
understand how the fundamental forces of
nature act by the exchange of carrier
particles that can be created according of
the Heisenberg uncertainty principle; a
theory that led to the death of
determinism in our description of nature.
[2856] 0101 TuTh.......8:30am- 9:45am (PHYS201) ROUS, P
FYS 103B First Year Seminar (MS) Paradigms and 3 credits
Paradoxes: Attempt to Understand the
Universe
(PermReq) Grade Method: REG
GER:Meets M/S. GDR:Meets M. There are at
least two types of scientific activities,
acquiring and generating data, and
inquiring and generating general modes of
understanding. The latter will dominate
this course. I will endeavor to point out
some remarkable features of the universe
requiring no more scientific background
than that gained from high school
chemistry. Some topics for the course
follow. Matter doesn't collapse, shrink or
disappear-it has size, weight, and
sometimes shape. We take this for granted.
Positive and negative charges attract. The
atomic nucleus is positive and electrons
are negative, Why don't these parts of
atoms get closer and closer... closer,
and eventually collapse? In other words,
we ask, not why are atoms so small but why
are they so big? This topic is not merely
philosophical. Questions of fuel
efficiency and national defense arise as
naturally as those of existence of the
universe. There are 26 letters in the
English alphabet. There are 4 letters in
the genetic code and some 100 chemical
elements in the periodic table. There are
millions of distinct words, individual
organisms and chemical compounds. Are
these numbers 26, 4, and 100 small or are
they large? As such, our study includes
the nature of language, information and
life, Consider the number question,
3.14159265357988... Its goes on forever
without repeating:the first billion digits
are known.The exact value of the number is
unknown, but is it unknowable? Fifty
digits allow us to measure the known
universe with a precision better than the
size of an atom. Hatmakers set the number
question equal to 3. The study of this
question tells us about the nature of
numbers, measurement, design and industry.
[2857] 0101 MW.........2:00pm- 3:15pm (BS 120) LIEBMAN, J
FYS 105A First Year Seminar Understanding Human 3 credits
Beings
(PermReq) Grade Method: REG Human beings appear to
be rather special creatures: we are
mammals who form and live in very complex
societies; we paint, write poetry and make
art; we go to war; we are capable of a
dazzling array of emotions; we make
discoveries about the world; we invent
technology to change the world and we
spend a lot of time thinking about
ourselves and about the meaning of our
lives. By reading and talking about
material in evolutionary theory and
genetics, in pyschology, philosophy and
literary theory, we will survey the
different ways in which scholars and
scientists have tried to understand and
explain human beings. We will be
particulary interested in how these
perspectives are related to one another
and in the question of whether one
perspective is superior to the others. In
addition, we will try to 'inhabit' theses
perspectives more fully by learning to
write in different styles: the
documentary, the analytical and the
creative.
[2858] 0101 MW.........3:30pm- 4:45pm (FA 536) DWYER, S
FYS 105B First Year Seminar Enhancing Citizenship 3 credits
via the Internet
(PermReq) Grade Method: REG What does it mean to be
a good citizen? Often we take for granted
that we live in a democracy, and we pay
too little attention to exercising our
responsibilities in maintaining our
nation's ideals and principles. Given the
challenges that we obviously face now in
this new millennium, a renewed sense of
the importance of citizenship and personal
responsibility is urgently required by us
all. This seminar course, then, will
address these and related questions and
issues when the internet is used a medium
for finding information about citizenship
and for advocating and practicing
citizenly conduct. During the semester,
students will work individually and in
small groups to learn about the definition
of citizenship, how the web applies to
citizenship and the Internet's impact on
representative government. The class time
will be used for supervised laboratories,
individual presentations and group
discussions. Students will learn how to
search for information on the internet and
how to write essays on the results of
those searches. They will also learn how
to make brief presentation to the class
and how to lead a discussion. Learning how
to search for information and how to write
and speak about their findings and
opinions within a comfortable setting will
help students gain skills and confidence
in their use of these essential tools for
their future academic and vocational
success.
[2859] 0101 TuTh......10:00am-11:15am (ECS 333) EMURIAN, H
FYS 105C First Year Seminar Science and Religion: 3 credits
The Battlefield of Evolution
(PermReq) Grade Method: REG There is no more classic
argument than that over the superiority of
science of versus religion. This debate
has sparked controversy for centuries on
many issues, but has been most prominent
in the discussion of evolution. Did Darwin
empty the churches of Europe? Does the
theory of evolution point to a world
without purpose? Is evolution an atheists'
religion? Should "creation science" be
taught in state schools? With both sides
deeply entrenched in their perspectives,
little dialogue has actually taken place.
This interdisciplinary course is such a
dialogue. With readings spanning history,
biology, sociology and theology, we
explore the origins of modern science, the
ideological split between the church and
science, the rise of evolutionary theory
and the creationist response. We will
trace the debate from the 15th century to
present day. The goal of the course is not
to resolve the debate on evolution, but to
understand the origin, construction and
impact of both perspective. For some it
will be an intellectual exercise, for
others a journey into their personal
beliefs. Much class time will be occupied
by student presentations, panel debates
and class discussions, requiring
everybody's active participation. There
will also be regular video sessions
looking at prominent debates. Students
will write both reflective essays and
factual reports, requiring research from
the library, Internet, video and audio
footage. Final projects will be performed
by teams made up of two or three students,
working under the quidance of a faculty
mentor to research a particular issue
raised during the course. These teams will
produce reports that will be published on
the Internet as part of a long-term
intitative to increase dialogue between
all religious faiths and science for
student at UMBC.
[2860] 0101 MW.........3:30pm- 4:45pm (ITE 239) FREELAND, S
FYS 105D First Year Seminar Intermedia: The Poetics 3 credits
of Everyday Life
(PermReq) Grade Method: REG What is an artistic
experience? Does art exist in our daily
lives? Do artists possess special talents
or can anyone experience creativity?
Artists of the last half of the 20th
century pursued an art form that
stimulated the intellect without requiring
expensive materials, or time-consuming
crafts. In modern life, perhaps a visual
and acoustic traffic pattern is more
melodic than the symphonies of a great
orchestra? Or perhaps a perfectly produced
tuna fish sandwich surpasses all the joy
felt in front of a painting in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art? If adults find
themselves engaging in such playfuls acts
of pride then perhaps everyone creates a
performance everyday. Intermedia artists
have appreciated unusual takes on ordinary
experiences and created public
performances out of them. These artists
worked in poetry, music, film,
photography, painting, theater and dance
creating one interdisciplinary art form
they called Intermedia. A collection of
Intermedia art objects, poetry, prints,
books and time-based media is held within
the Albin O. Kuhn Specials Collections
Library at UMBC as the Dick Higgins
Collections at UMBC. Students will have
hands-on access to this significant
collection as a learning tool for
experiencing Intermedia art. The emphasis
of this course will be on discussion and
presentation of a weekly journal, along
with basic hand-made forms illustrating
the ideas of their journal. Students will
consider how meaning is created in their
everyday lives while given the rare
opportunity to have hands on access to
musuem quality artwork in the Dick Higgins
Collection at UMBC. During the semester,
the collection will be on display at the
AOK Library Gallery, and a renowed guest
artist will work with students in a
performance workshop as part of the
course. Students will meet in the Special
Collections Department, which is located
on the first floor of the AOK Library,
through the Gallery.
[7662] 0101 TuTh......10:00am-11:15am (TBA) MOREN, L