Byrne Seminars

Professor: Jonathan Holloway (President, Rutgers University)

Description: We live in an era of extreme political polarization, increasing social instability, and declining faith in the nation’s institutions and the virtues of civil discourse. How might we, as individuals, chart a path out of this troubling state of affairs? What role can we play in confronting the accumulating challenges in our society? What should we reasonably expect of our institutions and what do these institutions owe us? What are our responsibilities to be good civic actors when we are confronted by a public discourse—the arena where political rhetoric, corporate news, social media, advertising, and opinion culture interact—that appears uninterested in speaking to our common values?

This course addresses these questions via a series of conversations with distinguished leaders from the corporate, political, non-profit, media, and faith communities, all of which help constitute “the public.”

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 01

Professor:  Casimir Kulikowski (Computer Science)

Description: Most recently AI has become notorious for what is expected from ChatGPT and its Large Language Models, frequently able to generate remarkably sensible comments and answers to questions. Yet it also makes clumsy mistakes like inventing fictitious people and references to back-up its texts, while generating fake images is a major activity on the web. Deep Learning methods of artificial neural networks that draw on enormous amounts of data is being hyped as a panacea for solving a wide range of problems, with companies are promoting  self-driving automobiles, drones, investment strategies, and even medical diagnosis. But the hype and fatal accidents with self-driving vehicles have many wondering whether the next “AI Winter” will come soon - when enthusiasm and funding from industry and government dries up as result of AI not delivering on its promises. Critical human abilities of “thinking” visually and metaphorically present tremendous challenges for AI, and ethical and social problems abound. This seminar will take a look at how AI has evolved, and just how far today’s novel techniques can be pushed – and whether or not they might hope to deliver on the claims that robots will outstrip humans with their smart behaviors in our lifetimes and whether a “singularity” is coming, where machine intelligence is able to surpass living beings routinely.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 34

Professor: Julia Maxwell (Rutgers Libraries)

Description: Libraries are often thought of as quiet, dusty places full of old books. Although libraries do have lots of books, they are also sites of community action, creativity, scientific research, and so much more! This Byrne seminar will introduce you to the different ways libraries play a role in both public and academic life, and will give you some tools to help you best leverage the libraries at Rutgers and in your community. Through discussion, experiential learning, and reflection, you will develop a greater understanding of how libraries “fit” in our modern political, social, and digital worlds.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 15

Professor: Derek Shendell (Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice)

Description: This Byrne Seminar will focus on selected NJ communities with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/NJ Department of Environmental Protection designated Superfund or abandoned hazardous waste sites now also potentially impacted by climate change, including extreme weather events and natural disasters year-round. Discussions will incorporate an interdisciplinary perspective across public health, environmental and engineering sciences, socio-demographic factors, and justice issues. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 26

Professor: Farzad Yousefian (Industrial Engineering)

Description: This Byrne Seminar provides first-year students with an introduction to the use of mathematical modeling for decision-making in engineering and science. The lectures will include the discussion of a series of examples where linear optimization models are employed for capturing challenging decision-making problems. They will also include the discussion of how these mathematical models can be solved using programming languages such as Python and Microsoft Excel. The lectures will include hands-on in-class and out-of-class experiments where the students will be engaged through small coding assignments.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 30

Professor: Andy Egan (Philosophy)

Description: It’s frequently useful to be able to make a compelling, well-constructed argument for something. (For the thesis of your term paper, on behalf of your favored candidate in the election, or for what you take to be the best decision about which movie to go to, or where to have dinner...) It’s also frequently useful to be able to effectively process, understand, and critique other people’s arguments, in order to decide whether to accept them and/ or how to effectively rebut them. In this seminar we’ll look carefully at arguments and how they work, and learn a technique for representing the structure of arguments in an especially clear and perspicuous way. We’ll practice this technique on a number of important philosophical arguments about (for example) morality, the existence of God, and the relation between minds and brains.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 39

Professor: J. T. Roane (Africana Studies and Geography)

Description: This seminar will explore Africana Studies, geographic, and historical approaches to the climate emergency. We will learn to use archival research, historical mapping, oral history, and critical cultural analysis to consider an alternative origin story for climate catastrophe and the Anthropocene from the vantage of African Diasporic as well as Indigenous communities that begins before the systematic burning of coal or oil, which are usually posited as the origins of the current climate crisis. We will also use these tools to consider formulations of the future that move beyond a green horizon dependent on extraction and war in the larger global context. We will work experimentally in a “humanities lab” model to recover this history and also to translate it into various cultural products, including film, fiction, poetry, songwriting, K-12 curricula, op-eds and other modes that are meaningful to students and which have circulation beyond traditional academic assignments. As part of this course, we will also use physical and virtual field trips to connect with food and environmental justice organizers in New Jersey, the wider region, and beyond. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 40

Professor: Lisa Klein (Materials Science & Engineering)

Description: What is needed to improve the sustainable energy technologies we already have? What is needed to make new technologies practical and clean in the area of energy generation? We will explore energy storage in devices such as batteries and energy conversion in devices such as solar cells and fuel cells. We will talk about active research at Rutgers on alternative energy materials and systems. In the lab, we will assemble and test our own dye-sensitized solar cells.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 11

Professors: Jacob Feldman and Karin Stromswold (Psychology)

Description: Movies are a virtual laboratory of cognitive science, from the perceptual functions that make them possible (apparent motion, the perception of 3D form) to the thematic content of the movies themselves (memory, language, and the cognitive and neurological disorders as featured in many films). This seminar explores a variety of topics in cognitive science as illustrated by a selection of popular movies which students will watch. Examples include short-term memory (as illustrated in the movie Memento); longterm memory (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind); dementia (Still Alice); language disorders (L’enfant Sauvage); philosophical conundrums of artificial intelligence (Blade Runner); and the epistemology of perception (The Matrix). Through viewing and directed discussions of these movies, the seminar will introduce students to the cognitive and perceptual functions that allow viewers to comprehend the action on the screen as well as the psychological functions and dysfunctions the movies depict.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 54

Professor: Milton Heumann (Political Science)

Description: We begin with reading a journalistic account of criminal justice in Chicago. This is followed by a more general discussion of criminal justice across many cities. Next a prosecutor, defense attorney , and judge speak to the seminar and share their experiences with particular emphasis on their most memorable cases and with their most poignant insights from their careers working in the courts. Students have the opportunity to carefully question the speaker, and test hypotheses derived from the readings against the speakers’ experiences. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 32

Professor: Alan Robock (Environmental Sciences)

Description: Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid as large as Mt. Everest hit what is now the Yucatan Peninsula at a speed ten times faster than the fastest bullet fired from a rifle.  Debris from the impact blew into space and reentered the atmosphere as an immense swarm of shooting stars that burned essentially all the global forests and grasslands, leaving behind a thin global layer containing rock from the asteroid and from Mexico, as well as smoke from the fires.  This layer marks one of the greatest extinctions in Earth history including not just dinosaurs, but also fish, plankton, ammonites, and plants making up about 75% of the known species on the planet.  The major culprit in these extinctions was sudden loss of sunlight and Ice Age temperatures lasting a decade.  A nuclear war with just a few hundred of the world’s 12,000 nuclear weapons targeted on densely populated cities could plunge Earth into the same types of conditions that the dinosaurs experienced.  A war between India and Pakistan could lead to 1 to 3 billion deaths from starvation due to agricultural failure, while 6 billion people might die from a war involving Russia and the U.S.  This course describes the evidence for how the dinosaurs died, and how their deaths parallel what might happen to people after a nuclear war.  We also will reflect on what we can do personally and together to prevent a nuclear war, so that we don’t end up like the dinosaurs.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 08

Professor: Peng Liu (Asian Languages and Cultures)

Description: This seminar will introduce students to basic concepts in Mahayana Buddhism. It will familiarize students with Buddhist institutions and cults in premodern China, Japan, and Korea. Students will also read excerpts from The Lotus Sutra, The Vimalakirti Sutra, The Diamond Sutra, and The Platform Sutra, which have been widely transmitted and venerated among monastic and lay Buddhists in East Asia. In addition to reading religious texts, students will see how Buddhist teachings are vividly embodied in secular works, such as miracle tales, poetry, and visual arts. They will recognize the influences of Buddhism on secular/popular writings and understand how abstract Buddhist philosophy transforms into quotidian aesthetic experiences. During the semester, the class will have two field trips to museums in NYC, where students can have an opportunity to closely examine Buddhist murals, statues, and ritual objects.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 49

Professor: Sunita Chaudhary (Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey)

Description: In this seminar, you will learn how the most recent discoveries through cancer research are being translated into cutting-edge treatments for cancer patients. New approaches utilizing computer-assisted diagnostics, medical imaging and statistical pattern recognition allow for a more accurate diagnosis of a range of malignancies. Comprehensive genomic profiling of tumors through next-generation sequencing technologies offers the promise of personalized cancer therapy with targeted drugs. We will discuss the innovative immunotherapy approaches that are being utilized to harness the immune system in the fight against cancer and translational clinical trials that are being tested to study novel drugs in patients.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 56

Professor: Frederick Curry (Dance)

Description: In response to the dramatic increase in reported levels of anxiety in society, there is a deepened appreciation of embodied approaches to wellness.  In this seminar, students will embody Pilates Mat exercises originally developed by Joseph Pilates (1883-1967) and Clara Pilates (1882-1977) as evolved through the contemporary, student-centered, evidence-based approach of Polestar Pilates.  Physically, Pilates Mat exercises increase range of motion, strength, flexibility, coordination and alignment. Emotionally, Pilates Mat offers strategies for self-regulation and social-emotional wellness.  Both physical and emotional benefits will be addressed in the seminar.  Variations and modifications of exercises and integration of props will be used to help students address their individual needs.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 04

Professors: Elif Sendur and Nancy Martin (English Writing Program)

Description: What do we mean when we refer to an “Authentic Self”? Does it exist and, if so, how is our sense of it created? How does it change over time? How do we present it to friends, family, strangers, ourselves?  Moreover, how many different versions of ourselves do each of us possess? This course aims to guide you on a journey of self-discovery by exploring the concept of "selfhood" through various interdisciplinary perspectives. Our focus will be on establishing a sense of self through creative acts and storytelling. Throughout the course, we will analyze films, theoretical texts, short stories, letters, and other art forms to better understand the process of constructing one's identity. We will also consider how the many facets of identity are fundamentally shaped by our social and cultural context, our assumptions about subjectivity and action, our gender’s role in expressing ourselves and our desire for recognition in order to become a self. We will eventually attempt to create an image of ourselves through the discussions that we collectively engage in this seminar. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 47

Professors: Karl Matthews (Food Science)

Description: This course provides a window into the world of food microbiology and food science. We will explore popular trends and myths related to food microbes. Discussions will center on topics including probiotics, double-dipping, food safety myths (the five-second rule), and how to avoid foodborne illness when traveling. Finally, we will address the issue of food additives/antimicrobials in the context of food safety.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 02

Professor: Meredith Melendez (Agriculture and Natural Resources)

Description: The American public spent over $75 billion dollars on fresh produce in 2022, yet only a fraction of the population understands how their produce is grown and distributed. Large scale human illness outbreaks on commodities such as lettuce have resulted in periodic empty grocery store shelves. Farms in New Jersey and across the nation have had to implement human pathogen risk reduction practices to meet federal requirements, maintain their market channels, and ensure a quality product. These risk reduction practices require educational training for the farmer and farm workers, extensive record keeping, and detailed risk assessments for high-risk activities. Priority areas of focus are agricultural and post-harvest water quality, biological soil amendments of animal origin, worker health and hygiene, food contact surface sanitation, and produce traceability. This seminar will discuss the realities of preventing human pathogen outbreaks on fruit and vegetable farms and how these practices impact farmers and consumers.  This seminar will also address how to properly handle produce in the home to further reduce human pathogen survival and growth. Participants will have a better understanding of how their produce is grown, harvested, handled and distributed so that the nation is supplied with quality domestic produce.  

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 09

Professor: Mark Robson (Plant Biology; Dean of the School of Graduate Studies)

Description: There are almost eight billion people in the world today and the population will grow to close to ten billion by 2050.  Almost eighty five percent of the population live in developing countries.  One of the challenges for this ever-growing population is providing a secure food supply.  We will discuss the trends in global food production and the technology used to increase global food supply. We will also explore the ever-growing global obesity epidemic – while there are 900 million under nourished people in the world there is a larger number of people, close to 1.4 billion, who are overweight.  Finally, we will look at the overall health of the global population, their jobs, their lifestyle, and the relationship to global environmental health issues, in particular those dealing with problems such as water and air pollution, food production and safety, and infectious and occupational diseases. Professor Robson will share experiences from developing countries in Southeast Asia and West Africa. Case studies and current research will be used as illustrations.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 06

Professor: Lei Yu (Genetics)

Description: Humans have been using nature-made ingredients (herbs, minerals, and extracts from plants and animals) to treat diseases since ancient times. In modern day science, medicine-making is one of the largest industries and job markets for the college-educated. In this Byrne seminar, we will use examples of potion-making from the Harry Potter book series as a literary platform, and introduce the knowledge and scientific approaches for medicine-making science and processes. This class will have assigned reading and extensive in-class discussions, both as a full class, and in small groups. The objective is to introduce the students to biomedical research, and to develop skills in critical thinking. By the end of the course, students should be conversant with the subject area about the modern medicine-making process, the basics of how biomedical research is conducted, and how it applies to real-world examples. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 31

Professor: Paul Meers (Plant Biology)

Description: Biotechnology has been perceived and portrayed in various ways by Hollywood and filmmakers around the world. In this course, we will explore the occasionally wide gap between public perception and the way science really "works." Students will view and discuss the portrayal of bio- and nanotechnologies in popular movies from this country and possibly some select international films. Misconceptions and accurate portrayals will be analyzed to introduce students to a basic understanding of the latest exciting work in rapidly emerging areas such as genomics and epigenetics. Students will present thumbs up/thumbs down science movie reviews as a required assignment.

Course Number: 11:090:101:03

Professors: Alice Liu (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) and Samuel Gunderson (Molecular Biology and Biochemistry) 

Description: Neurodegenerative diseases occur when nervous system cells (neurons) in the brain and spinal cord begin to deteriorate. Changes in these cells cause them to function abnormally and eventually result in the cells' demise. As neurons deteriorate, an individual may first experience relatively mild symptoms — problems with coordination or remembering names. But as huge numbers of neurons die, symptoms progressively worsen. Ultimately, many of these diseases are fatal. Today, ~5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease (AD); 1 million from Parkinson's (PD); 400,000 from multiple sclerosis (MS); 30,000 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), and 30,000 from Huntington's disease (HD). Because neurodegenerative diseases strike primarily in mid- to late-life, the incidence is expected to soar as the population ages. If left unchecked 30 years from now, more than 12 million Americans will suffer from neurodegenerative diseases.  Finding treatments and cures for neurodegenerative diseases is a goal of increasing urgency. Huntington’s Disease is caused by a single gene mutation and transmitted by autosomal dominant mode.  This genetic background is much simpler than the common AD & PD.   HD can be a useful model to better understand the pathogenic mechanism in ND in general and in so doing help to chart therapeutics development.
Part of the goal of this Byrne seminar is for you the student (1) to learn the basics of macromolecular structure and function, and (2) to have a better appreciation and understanding of how mutant proteins can drive disease pathogenesis using HD as a principal example.   

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 13

Professors: John Chatlos (University Behavioral Healthcare, Psychiatry) and Lyra Stein (Psychology)

Description: The “Framework of Spirituality” (Chatlos 2021), a science-based process for exploring a new understanding of spiritual experience will be the foundation for this unique course. The limits of Erik Erikson’s Stage of Adolescent “Identity versus Role Confusion” will be reviewed as we learn about identity formation. The course will then explore an alternative approach to youth development that empowers self-worth (self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-competence) and dignity (reason, compassion and courage) as key to personal spiritual awareness. A newly developed “Teen Guide to Transform the World” will guide each session as students will practice exercises in personal transformation toward discovering their unique purpose and possible contribution to the world. This is an experiential course that will foster sharing of personal experiences to integrate spiritual principles into their college years making them more productive. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 03

Professors: Chloe Hawkings (Entomology) and Benjamin Lintner (Environmental Science)

Description: Understanding global climate dynamics is an essential part of adapting our society to be more sustainable. As climates change around the world, insects can be a useful model to assess these ecological impacts. Insects are the most diverse group of animals on the planet and provide necessary ecosystem services in all terrestrial environments. As temperatures change it is important to assess how insects adapt. Insects intersect with humans in many ways which can change as a result of climate change. Understanding the dynamics of pests and focusing on the abundance of insects in tropical environments can aid our understanding of ecosystem health. In this seminar we focus on the mechanics of climate change and look at the effect on insect populations.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 01

Professors: Chloe Hawkings and Alvaro Toledo (Entomology)

Description: Insects play a key role in global health but despite this, they are an underappreciated component. Insects that are unintentionally introduced to non-native ecosystems can negatively affect food security, human health and disrupt normal ecosystem functions, while many insects provide crucial ecosystem services in their natural ecosystems. As the world increases global trade and urbanization, and our climate changes, it is crucial to understand components of insect biology and their intersection with human societies to make informed decisions which protect environmental health. In this seminar, we focus on the role insects play in global health and explore systems of food security, human diseases, environmental health and scientific policy

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 10

Professor: Derek Shendell (Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice)

Description: This course addresses indoor air and environmental quality (IEQ or IAQ) problems and mitigation approaches. The course examines major sources, commonly identified pollutants (exposure agents or risk factors for acute and chronic adverse health effects), and factors determining pollutant concentrations in indoor environments. The course also examines health risks associated with various IAQ problems in contrast to other relevant types of health risks (from outdoor air, etc). Risk management options and recommendations, including regulatory and technical approaches, will be reviewed and discussed.  

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 27

Professor: Barbara Angeline (Dance)

Description: Jazz dance, as an African-American based art form, has been marginalized in its artistic validity and often invisibilized in American history. But the placement of jazz dance in the arts and in time is at the heart of social responsiveness, commercial industry and historical story-telling. Jazz dance enables us to understand social events and the people who lived and shaped them. This is a dance class! Students will explore jazz dances and their connections to time, events and people. Students will learn the power of dance as a physical communication, capable of spotlighting, addressing and shaping society and its experiences.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 51

Professors: Evelyn Wang (Dance) and Paul Ocampo (Dance)

Description: This course will investigate various dances, traditional arts and culture of Taiwan, the Philippines, and neighboring countries. Through the language of dance, students will learn traditional arts and cultures using practices and modality that are fun, interactive and informative. This seminar is designed for students who want to expand their understanding of dance as an emblem of cultural identity and an expression of social order. Along with the practice of dance, we will experience how to prepare traditional foods associated with respective festivities. The food serves as a conduit for a holistic experience to deeper comprehension of Asian cultural arts and heritage. This seminar will include a field trip to New York City.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 36

Professor: Ronald Quincy (School of Social Work)

Description: In this seminar students will work on capacity building projects with the co-instructors to support several civil society and nonprofit organizations in Kenya. Students will engage with the Mandela Washington Leadership Fellowship Alumni on their Civil Society Organization Projects in Kenya through the use of electronic media (e.g. Skype). The seminar will engage students with Johnson & Johnson leaders based both in the U.S. and in sub-Saharan Africa about best practices in managing and leading African Civil Society Organizations. Students will take a trip to the U.N. to attend an international conference related to African Civil Society Organizations.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 33

Professors: John Pavlik (Journalism & Media Studies)

Description: Understanding the nature and impact of digital technology on media and society is the focus of this seminar. Students examine the changing nature of media in the digital environment, including social media, and their consequences, especially implications for civility, democracy, journalism and beyond. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 22

Professors: Scott Ordway (Music) and Anette Freytag (Landscape Architecture)

Description: The natural world has always been a primary source of inspiration for musicians. In recent years, composers have continued this tradition by creating powerful works in response to contemporary environmental issues such as global warming, carbon emissions, and wilderness conservation, among others. In this seminar, students will listen to and discuss classical and contemporary vocal and instrumental works that address and celebrate humanity’s efforts to live in harmony with the natural world. They will furthermore investigate how video, sound recordings, and digital tools of analysis and fabrication can change both the perception and the representation of our environment. They will get insight in how to use these tools for their own research, compositions, and designs.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 21

Professor: Timothy Power (Classics)

Description: When it comes to Greek myths, “mythography” is not the same as “mythology.” Mythography refers to the writing down of myths, myths that mostly came into the world as oral tales, passed down in unwritten songs and poems and by word of mouth. Already in antiquity, however, these once-oral myths began to be systematically collected by individual authors and set down in writing, mostly in prose handbooks, though sometimes too in wildly creative poems such as Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In the first half of this seminar, we’ll explore the rise of mythography in ancient Greece and Rome, the various methods it employed, and the ways it shaped the Greek myths and still influences our own appreciation of them. In the second half, we’ll look at various modern mythographies and discuss how they both continue and depart from the ancient traditions. We’ll discuss well-known retellings of myths for children such as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys and D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths as well as novelistic rewritings such as Margaret Atwood’s Penelopiad and, of course, the Percy Jackson series. Along the way, we’ll try our own hands at writing and rewriting Greek myths in different mythographic styles.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 45

Professor: Lauren Neitzke Adamo (Earth & Planetary Sciences)

Description: The goal of this seminar is to explore, examine, and discuss some of the most important and potentially life altering geoscience issues affecting our society.  Through a mixture of guest lectures, field trips, class discussions, and hands-on in class activities; students will learn about topics such as climate change, the search for oil and other natural resources, sea-level rise, the exploration of the moon and other extraterrestrial planets, and more!  This course will provide a space for students to discuss these topics with leading experts in the field, as well as examine how some of this science is communicated to the public with trips to local natural history museums and discussions with formal and informal educators.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 20

Professors: Chloe Kitzinger and Nicholas Rennie (German, Russian, and East European Languages and Literatures)

Description: In February 1887, Friedrich Nietzsche came across a French translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground in a bookstore in Nice and experienced an intense and joyful “instinct of affinity.”  Although Dostoevsky probably never read Nietzsche (and Nietzsche discovered Dostoevsky near the end of his working life), both writers were obsessed by a central modern question: how can people live, think, and act after the end of commonly shared faith in God? They came to opposite answers, but their works remained closely intertwined for generations of readers, from Shestov and Berdyaev to Heidegger, Sartre, and Camus; from Franz Kafka and Virginia Woolf to Ralph Ellison and J.M. Coetzee. In this co-taught seminar, you will have the chance to discover major works by Dostoevsky and Nietzsche and explore the narrative and intellectual dialogue between them, alongside its lasting repercussions for 20th-century literature and thought. Throughout the semester, we will also think about how and why to read these two enduringly influential, irreducibly troubling writers now. Core texts include Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground (1864) and excerpts from Crime and Punishment (1866), and excerpts from Nietzsche’s The Gay Science (1882) and Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-85). First-time readers warmly welcomed!

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 38

Professor: Simon Wickhamsmith (English Writing Program)

Description: Look out of your window and find something which has not been crafted, sown, destroyed, manipulated, or imposed by humans. Are we really the most powerful, the most intelligent species? (And what do we mean when we talk about power and intelligence, anyhow?) If we keep quiet, and listen instead, if we stop trying to do something, and observe instead, we will notice that, at the same time as we try to adapt the world around us, the world around us is undergoing its own process of adaptation. But rather than thinking of opposition - of imposition versus adaptation, of humans versus nature - we could instead look at how we fit into what the Potowatomi environmental scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer calls the “democracy of species”. This course will ask you to look at the world in a new way, neither to condemn our human species, nor to elevate nature for sentimental reasons, but in order to consider how we can refine our perception of where we, as individuals and as a species, fit in alongside, and enjoy the company of - inter alia - wood and water, tarantulas and tardigrades, cats and cassowaries, the common cold and the Covid-19 virus. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 48

Professors: Sara Elnakib (Family and Community Health Sciences) and Kathleen Howell (Rutgers Cooperative Extension)

Description: Time management and planning skills are essential to a student's success. This seminar will introduce students to strategies to help balance newfound freedom with what is required to succeed academically.  This course focuses on pursuing academic success while recognizing the importance of rest, social connections, extracurricular activities, and personal well-being. This seminar will explore creative calendaring, planning, and organization techniques, as well as introduce several types of journaling methods (i.e., bullet, manifestation, prompted, etc.), to curate days in a way that maximizes energy, boosts productivity, and focuses on what is important and nourishing in life. There is no recipe that fits all, but planning in a way that works for each student's personality type is key to living an intentional and meaningful life.  

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 06

Professor: Aaron Mazzeo (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering)

Description: Pulp-based paper has conveyed information with printed lettering, diagrams, and illustrations for hundreds of years. In these conventional formats, the flipping or turning of pages has required human manipulation. Recent research efforts are beginning to add life and active functionality to paperbased structures in the form of mechanical grippers, manipulators, and locomotors. In this hands-on seminar, students will review state-of-the-art research in paper-based robotics (i.e., paperbotics) and active origami, and then exercise creativity to build paper-based machines that will be capable of motion and interaction with humans. By also planning the aesthetics of their projects, participants in this seminar will go beyond building gadgets to craft functional pieces of art. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 16

Professor: Hylke De Jong and Pilar Rau (Anthropology)

Description: From an anthropological perspective, Play is serious business. Games, competitions, and sports are activities in which risk and randomness abound, and yet are constrained by rules and carefully isolated from normal everyday life, as “play.” Play in Prehistory and the Present thinks critically about Play in society. We will use anthropological and archaeological theory and methods to examine structured and spontaneous play cross-culturally and its physical residues in the past to make sense of human activities that are frivolous, serious, and often both. We will explore diverse cases, from baseball magic, gambling, and football hooligans to ancient forms of play that blur the boundaries of sport, religious ritual, and warfare, as well as contemporary non-Western examples. Anthropology and archaeology frameworks will help us analyze topics such as superstition, magic, luck, ritual, competition, fate, wealth, communal violence, nationalism, and social hierarchies and divisions in familiar sports and games. Students will apply these insights and learn about anthropological research by designing their own ethnographic projects that observe and analyze the sport or game of their choice.  As a group we will observe and analyze a Rutgers home game (football in the fall or basketball in the Spring).

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 41

Professors: Christopher Manente (Executive Director, Rutgers Center For Adult Autism Services) and Vanessa Bal (Applied Psychology)

Description: There are currently more than 5,000,000 adults with autism living in the United States, with 50,000 more that “age-out” of their school-based educational entitlement every year. Many adults with autism are without access to high-quality services and supports. As a result, these individuals are often relegated to long adult lives characterized by social isolation, unemployment, untreated psychological and physical health conditions, and near complete reliance on parents, family, and other caregivers to meet their basic needs. This situation represents a crisis for many adults with autism and their families. This current state of affairs is largely due to a lack of trained staff, an absence of research related to the most effective practices for supporting adults with autism across settings & contexts, and few existing models for the delivery of high-quality clinical services. This seminar will examine the nature of autism and the many ways in which a diagnosis of autism can impact a person's life throughout adulthood. Additionally, the seminar will provide a guided exploration of the historical context of society's views and awareness related to autism and the many iterations of models for services and supports that have been implemented ranging from confinement in segregated institutional settings, other community-based models of care, and recent innovative models of services and support that are currently emerging for this population. The seminar will place a particular emphasis on the dire need for highly skilled practitioners from a variety of academic and professional disciplines to get involved in the development of innovative solutions to the multitude of challenges faced by autistic adults in their pursuit of a meaningful adult life in their communities. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 39

Professor: Andrea Spaeth (Kinesiology and Health)

Description: Many young adults face challenges with attentional focus. This impacts academic performance as well as social interactions. The use of social media and stress related to recent global events has increased the prevalence and severity of this issue. This course will discuss attentional focus as a construct (class 1) and how it is impacted by social media use (class 2) and stress (class 3). In addition, we will learn and practice several evidence-based techniques that improve an individual’s ability to focus and sustain their attention (class 4: mindfulness, class 5: progressive relaxation, class 6: structured scheduling and minimizing distraction, class 7: slow reading, class 8: active listening). We will also conclude by exploring how several commonly-used substances impact attentional focus (class 9: caffeine and other stimulants and class 10: alcohol and cannabis). Concepts covered in the course will span neuroscience, physiology and psychology. The goal is to empower students with knowledge and tools to improve their ability to focus their attention in a variety of settings.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 29

Professors: Chiara Sabina (School of Social Work) and Victoria Banyard (School of Social Work)

Description: A look at the daily news, classes on human history, and the lived experiences of people in our communities and families often show us that adversity, stress, oppression are all around us. But so are strengths and resilience. Resilience science is the study of factors that lead to well-being and thriving in spite of difficulties. This course will introduce students to the science of resilience, an interdisciplinary area of study that includes ideas from across the social sciences including psychology, social work, public health, history, sociology but also has connections to literature and art. Students will learn how researchers define and study strengths and resilience. They will learn what practices and factors promote thriving and well-being. Students will practice applying some evidence-based practices in their own lives through both in-class active learning activities and course-long project of their own choosing. Class meetings will be enhanced by guest speakers who teach and practice well-being enhancing strategies. Emphasis in this seminar will be on learning about strengths across the human social ecology include those that are within individuals, in relationships, and in communities.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 23

Professor: Amy Miele (Student Affairs)

Description: This course provides an introduction and exposure to the principles of restorative justice and its application to the treatment of social problems. In this course, we will focus on the fundamental principles and practices of restorative justice, explores the needs and roles of key stakeholders (victims, offenders, communities, and justice systems), outline the basic principles and values of restorative justice, and introduces some of the primary models of practice. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 18

Professor: J.D. Bowers (Dean, Rutgers Honors College)

Description: This seminar explores the contemporary case studies of injustices, violence, atrocities, and catastrophes, as well as then, the responses to them by communities of victims, stakeholders, interventionists, and the many levels of society. Using your free subscriptions to both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (available to you through the Rutgers University Library System) we will identify, read, explore, and research stories of violence and the responses to them. Through such a lens we will learn how to discern fact from opinion, how to read the news for long-term cycles (and avoid the trap of the short-term or headline-based cycles), and how to have productive conversations on the issues of the day. Our goal will be, each week, to read, dive deeper, discuss, and develop informed views and understandings so that we can sustain an appropriate and informed level of discourse throughout our lives as we encounter news stories and their impacts on ourselves and the world around us. At the end of the course, your objective will be to produce a brief OpEd piece addressing one story and issue that we have explored.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 35

Professor: Xiangmin Liu (Labor Studies) and Jingang Yi (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering)

Description: The widespread adoption of robots and automation in various industries has a transformative impact on the evolving nature of work and employment. On the one hand, these technologies enable businesses to automate many tasks currently performed by humans, leading to higher efficiency and productivity. On the other hand, the widespread adoption of these technologies has led to changes in the skill sets that are required for many jobs, as well as the creation of new job opportunities in the areas such as design, programming, and maintenance that did not previously exist. This course aims to introduce first-year college students to the fields of robotics and automation and stimulate their interest in understanding the relationship between science, technology, and the future of work. In lectures, students will learn a wide variety of multidisciplinary topics, such as technological innovations, labor markets, and workforce development. During lab visits, students will see first-hand how the principles and theories they have learned in the lectures are applied n real-world scenarios. Furthermore, they will have the experiential learning opportunity to engage in practical, hands-on research activities. Overall, this course will help students to develop their creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. These skills are important for academic success in the fields of engineering and social sciences, and can be valuable in other areas of study and in life in general.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 14

Professor: Yanping Jiang (RWJMS Family Medicine and Community Health)

Description: 

Addressing health disparities is essential to improve population health. However, health disparities are rooted deeply in structural and social factors, particularly socioeconomic status. In this seminar, we will focus on discussing important directions in socioeconomic health disparities research to provide essential knowledge to understand socioeconomic gradient in health and skills to conduct social determinants of health research. 

1) Applying a biopsychosocial approach to study the impact of socioeconomic status on various chronic health conditions and lifestyle behaviors. 
2) Socioeconomic status and health over the life course.
3) The use of intersectionality to study the intersection of socioeconomic status and other identities (e.g., race) on health disparities. 

Active participation will help students develop a comprehensive understanding of socioeconomic health disparities and build their skills to develop their scientifically sound research questions related to social determinants of health. This seminar will be grouped with theoretical discussions, concepts of socioeconomic health disparities research, and empirical articles discussion. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 43

Professors: Yanhong Jin (Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics) and Mary Wagner (Pharmacy)

Description: Both science and experience suggest that our diet directly correlates with our brain function and how we feel. When we eat nutrient-dense foods, our brains function on a higher level – meaning we can learn, think, and memorize information in a greater capacity. An appropriate diet improves cognitive function and overall wellness. Yet, mindful eating is influenced by socioeconomic factors and behavioral factors. In this seminar, students will explore and learn about issues related to food and health such as: a) the impact of food on personal health; b) innovative and sustainable agriculture that supports the environment; and c) the way food access and affordability impact the social determents of health. This seminar will also discuss the potential health complications and environmental consequences related to our current eating styles and introduce the concept of mindful eating. The course will be an adventure where students are empowered to explore, observe, and document their eating behaviors and their connection to food through self-discovery and active learning. This information may lead the students to become inspired to work with their community to address issues of food justice. 

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 07

Professor: Li Cai (Biomedical Engineering)

Description: Bioengineering and regenerative medicine seek to develop new therapies for patients with injuries and degenerative diseases. The source of cells for these therapies remains a hot topic of interest. The unlimited potential of stem cells has ignited the creativity and imagination of scientists across multiple disciplines. Future development of this technology depends on increased understanding and effective utilization of stem cells. This seminar will introduce students to the biological, biomedical, biomaterial, bioengineering of this new discipline, and the world of stem cells. We will discuss the definition, origin, and classification, as well as applications of the stem cells in regenerative medicine. Upon completion of this seminar, students will know the intellectual and conceptual vocabulary required to further pursue an interest in stem cell research and the regenerative medical profession. This course is a combination of lectures and discussion sessions focusing on stem cell and bioengineering related topics.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 02

Professor: Elizabeth Matto (Eagleton Institute of Politics)

Description: This course is premised on the notion that, in order for democracy to work, individuals need to be able to talk with one another. Addressing public policy challenges requires reasoned deliberation, critical thinking, and open and civil discourse—the exchange of ideas from different perspectives based on shared facts and conducted with respect and curiosity. This seminar considers why engaging in honest and respectful political discussion is integral to American democracy’s success and explores productive ways to go about it. Students will observe and analyze a range of political exchanges and will be given opportunities to interact with political practitioners and practice the skills of political discussion.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 46

Professor: Kristoffer Shields (Eagleton Institute of Politics)

Description: As the chief executives of their states, governors shape policy, set the state agenda, and act as their state’s representatives in the public eye. Put simply, the governor is usually the most important and powerful person in the state during his or her term(s) in office. No wonder, as we look ahead to 2020, that governors and former governors will once again be on the short lists of potential candidates. Of all the tests a governor can face, however, perhaps none is as important—and difficult—as dealing with the after-effects of a natural disaster. Hurricanes, fires, and floods can be unpredictable, but the importance of a governor’s performance in the aftermath of such an event is certain. This course will begin with a quick look at the office of the governor in general: What is a governor? How do gubernatorial powers differ from state to state? And what role does the governor play in the U.S. federal system? We will then move on to look at this central example of a governor’s power and responsibility: shepherding his or her state through the trauma of a natural disaster. We will use a series of three case studies to research and examine a governor’s range of options in such a challenge, culminating with a long look at our own state’s experience following Super Storm Sandy. We will hear from the people who were involved in the recovery efforts, analyze the political and real-life effects of their decisions, and research what works and what doesn’t when a governor is forced to become the “consoler-in-chief.” 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 28

Professor: Amitabh Lath (Physics and Astronomy)

Description: In this seminar, we will investigate the concept of The Arrow Of Time by first understanding entropy. We will learn to use the Python programming language to calculate probabilities, and from that develop an understanding of entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. We will discuss the ideas of entropy and decay as they appear in literature and culture, including the hold they have in the collective imagination that leads to the rejection of quantitative metrics that show disease, war, and violence decreasing, and the average human condition improving. Finally, we will divide into groups to design and construct working time measurement devices. Using commonly available materials, the groups will make devices to measure one hour as accurately as possible. No clocks allowed!

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 52

Professor: Sharon Lydon (Associate Dean of Alumni and Corporate Engagement, Rutgers Business School)

Description: Throughout history, and certainly during the history of the United States and Rutgers University, progress has been synonymous with leadership. The revolutionary understanding of leadership is that it is everywhere and in everyone’s capacity. While some may be born with a number of the attributes needed for outstanding leadership, it is well accepted, that leadership is something that can be learned and that can be studied. This seminar explores qualitative and quantitative research “on leadership,” and reviews research and theory toward the goal of empowering students to be leaders in all aspects of life, including college, career, and community. Topics include leadership in academic, corporate, and nonprofit work environments, as well as leadership styles and competencies. Relevant issues related to women and ethnic minorities will also be discussed. The course includes readings and dynamic discussion, debate, role-play scenarios, and real-world visibility and exposure to leadership with distinguished course co-instructors, and guest speakers from academic, health care sector, and corporate leadership contexts. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 59

Professor: Doyle Knight (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering)

Description: Since the first piloted and powered flight by the Wright Brothers on December 17, 1903, humankind has sought to fly faster and farther. The first flight lasted twelve seconds and travelled 36 meters. Forty-four years later on October 14, 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier reaching a speed of Mach 1. Another fourteen years later in April 1961, Major Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel at hypersonic speed -- more than five times the speed of sound. This Byrne seminar will examine the unique aeronautical issues of hypersonic flight, the history of hypersonic aircraft and current hypersonic aircraft programs.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 12

Professor: Arnold Glass (Psychology)

Description: Ask me to tell you the story of my life, and I will weave an answer based on what I best remember of my experiences. But are all of my memories true? Did they really happen? Thirty years ago human memory was believed to be the result of some sort of recording device in the brain. We now know that autobiographical memory is a narrative that is constantly being rewritten. So, some of our memories of past experiences are in fact false. In this seminar, we will examine the popular theories of memory of the past hundred years and the scientific evidence of today. We will consider the new view of memory as something malleable and its implications for society.  

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 08

Professor: Trip McCrossin (Philosophy)

Description: The problem of evil, as Susan Neiman has described it, is the perniciously difficult to satisfy “need to find order within those appearances so unbearable that they threaten reason’s ability to go on,” as when (at times incomprehensibly) bad things happen to (at least relatively) good people, and (at least relatively) good things to (at times incomprehensibly) bad people. Central to her watershed perspective on the problem are two related propositions. She proposes, on the one hand, that midway through the Enlightenment, the problem of evil developed, in addition to the traditional theological version—according to which human reason strains, in the above “find order” spirit, to reconcile conspicuous human suffering with faith in divine wisdom, power, and benevolence, which either makes or allows it to happen—a more secular version as well. Here, while it’s no longer in response to suffering’s ostensibly divine origin, reason strains similarly nonetheless, so much so as to call into question, as the theological version does already, reason’s very ability to make the order it so fervently desires. She goes on to propose, on the other hand, that in response to both versions of the problem primarily two competing perspectives arise, which competition defines us still today, beginning with the public rivalry between Rousseau’s and Voltaire’s, the former insisting that “morality demands that we make evil intelligible,” the latter that “morality demands that we don’t.” The seminar is designed to have participants work together to identify and elaborate the various ways in which these competing perspectives endure in philosophy and popular culture.

Course Number: 01:090:101:37

Professor: Dayna Weintraub (Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs; Assessment, Strategy, and Planning) and Tori Glascock (Student Affairs)

Description: This seminar is designed to help students build foundational skills and knowledge during their first year at Rutgers–New Brunswick that will help to set the stage for an exceptional university experience. Guided by five student learning outcome domains, students have opportunities to engage in programming that promotes growth in and out of the classroom. Through discussion about the student learning outcome domains, challenging our own points of view, engaging in perspective taking, and reflection, this class will be a catalyst for first year students to challenge themselves in a thoughtful environment while also learning about campus partners, how to navigate resources, and create meaningful connections with peers. This class will engage students in discussion about integrating learning to build leadership capacity and cultivate community. Accompanying the introduction to the student learning outcome domains will be an overview of research and assessment tools that we use to make meaning of student data. Students in this seminar will be exposed to new areas of thought that can spark new intellectual curiosities while building confidence in navigating the college environment.

Course Number: 01:090:101:58

Professor: Min Kwon (Music)

Description: This seminar offers an inspiring, interactive, and intensive exploration of what it means to play music and to listen to music. What does it do for us? Is it only about emotion and motion? Does it come to us or come from us? Celebrated pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff said, “Music is enough for a lifetime, but lifetime is not enough for music." Join your Rutgers professor, a classical concert pianist, whose life pursuit in music took her to all 50 States of the US and to over 60 countries, whose musical collaborators and students come from multiple nationalities and cultures; What does it mean to open ourselves fully to this richly gratifying world of music? Music of ALL genre and styles, including but not limited to — classical, jazz, blues, pop, rock, hip-hop, musical theatre, country, new-age, soul, funk, and K-pop — will be invited for discussion and exploration.  Bring your favourite types of music (that you cannot live without) and be prepared to argue why it is so.  We will examine what makes the music and why it pulls on each of our heartstrings.  As diverse and disparate as it may sound, these different types of music has more in common than you think, as do the humans who make them. Music is life. Music is us! 
 

Course Number: 01:090:101:55

Professor:  Casimir Kulikowski (Computer Science)

Description: Most recently AI has become notorious for what is expected from ChatGPT and its Large Language Models, frequently able to generate remarkably sensible comments and answers to questions. Yet it also makes clumsy mistakes like inventing fictitious people and references to back-up its texts, while generating fake images is a major activity on the web. Deep Learning methods of artificial neural networks that draw on enormous amounts of data is being hyped as a panacea for solving a wide range of problems, with companies are promoting  self-driving automobiles, drones, investment strategies, and even medical diagnosis. But the hype and fatal accidents with self-driving vehicles have many wondering whether the next “AI Winter” will come soon - when enthusiasm and funding from industry and government dries up as result of AI not delivering on its promises. Critical human abilities of “thinking” visually and metaphorically present tremendous challenges for AI, and ethical and social problems abound. This seminar will take a look at how AI has evolved, and just how far today’s novel techniques can be pushed – and whether or not they might hope to deliver on the claims that robots will outstrip humans with their smart behaviors in our lifetimes and whether a “singularity” is coming, where machine intelligence is able to surpass living beings routinely.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 41

Professors:  Erica Goldblatt (School of Social Work) and Judith McCoyd (School of Social Work)

Description: Historically, attacks on reproductive healthcare affect the most oppressed and marginalized groups, including people of color, queer individuals, and people with disabilities (Ross & Solinger, 2017). By incorporating the Reproductive Justice (RJ) framework into university education, we help to enhance awareness of these inequities and promote advocacy. Reproductive Justice is a human rights orientation developed as a response to the dominant, neoliberal “choice” framework of white feminists in the 1990s. RJ’s founder, Loretta Ross, and her organization, SisterSong, argued that society must attend to issues of economic justice, the environment, immigrants’ rights, and disability rights. She observed that discrimination based on race and sexual orientation are systemic in nature and affect an individual person’s decision-making processes, particularly as they make reproductive decisions. This course introduces new learners to the tenets and implications of reproductive justice: the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, the right to parent in safe and healthy environments, and the right to sexual, gender, and bodily autonomy.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 05

Professor: Ioannis Androulakis (Biomedical Engineering)

Description: Traumatic psychosocial events in early life, aka Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs: neglect, maltreatment, caregiver stress/depression, domestic/community violence) have been associated in epidemiological studies with increased lifetime risk of adverse health outcomes, including chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases and cancer, as well as psychiatric disorders. ACEs can have devastating, long-lasting effects on children’s health and well-being. In New Jersey, 41 percent of children 0-17 years have experienced some of form of adversity during their early formative years. Nationwide, more that 46 percent of the 34 million children under the age of 18 are experiencing some form of adversity. This Byrne seminar will explore how to engage scientists, clinicians, policy-makers, practitioners and communities to work together advancing our fundamental understanding of the links between ACE and late-life health impacts and develop evidence-based approaches to mitigate the impact of ACEs and helping every child have a healthy start in life.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 01

Professor: Gal Hochman (Agricultural Economics)

Description: This seminar provides interdisciplinary coverage of the design, operation, management, and economics of water reuse systems for finfish and plants growing on soilless platforms. By the end of the course, the student should have a fundamental knowledge of the design and management decisions influencing these systems and how research led us to the current technologies. Throughout the course, we will use the case of striped bass and aquatic plants as an example. Replenishing striped bass numbers by reintroducing aquaculture-raised juveniles into native habitats can be achieved with the macrophyte aquaculture system (MAS). By employing duckweed’s and macroalgae’s water purifying and nutritive qualities, the MAS couples’ fish and macrophyte growth into a single, closed setup that rears bass sustainably and cost-effectively. By reducing the need to purchase water cleaners and fish food, the MAS boasts several advantages of these aquatic systems, leading to lower production costs and environmental impacts over traditional aquaculture. In this example, research led to understanding the alternative feeds’ value by determining if partial MAS-grown vegetation diets can cultivate striped bass as successfully as commercial pellet diets.  

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 10

Professor: John Brennan (Chemistry and Chemical Biology)

Description: This seminar will focus on contemporary societal issues from the perspective of a chemist.  Where relevant, we will outline the original science leading to commercial applications that were intended to better humanity.  We will assess the unintended consequences of these applications, and we will discuss what science is now doing in response. When possible, we will visit Rutgers laboratories focusing on solutions to these problems.    

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 45

Professor: Jim Miller (Marine and Coastal Sciences)

Description: What are the global geopolitical and policy implications of climate change? This seminar will introduce students to global climate change that is occurring in response to increasing levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases. After an introduction to the science of climate change, we will focus on potential future changes in water resources, both globally and in New Jersey, including the potential for increased floods and droughts, sea-level rise and coastal salt-water intrusion, and changes in groundwater reservoirs. Hands-on assignments will include learning about the sources of water in students’ hometowns, how the water is obtained and processed, and what local companies are doing to address climate change. This seminar may include a boat trip on the Raritan River and/or a field trip to a local water processing plant.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 32

Professor: Galina Bolden (School of Communication & Information)

Description: It is taken for granted that mealtimes are an important domain for our relationships with family members and friends, both for socializing and for social development.  What exactly happens at mealtimes though?  This Byrne seminar draws on field video recordings of families (at home) and friends (in dorms, off-campus housing, and other locations) to explore the workings of communication and relationships at mealtimes.  We will investigate the following topics: relationship implications of requesting and offering food, complimenting and complaining about food, telling stories and reminiscing, squabbles during meals, and managing (mis)behavior. You will learn techniques for analyzing everyday communication through structured in-class exercises and discussion. A short homework exercise (30 minutes) will be assigned each week to consolidate analytical skills. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 04

Professors: Tracy Davis (Comparative Medicine Resources)

Description: This course provides a broad overview of the multidisciplinary field of gerontology with an emphasis on key sociological, biological, and psychological aspects of aging. A special focus will be placed on the increasing population of older adults, the diversity among older adults, and career opportunities within the aging field.  Students will be encouraged to explore their own attitudes and beliefs about aging, what it means to age successfully, and gerontology courses and programs at Rutgers University.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 08

Professor: Richard Lutz (Marine and Coastal Sciences) and Costantino Vetriani (Biochemistry and Microbiology)

Description: The seminar will focus on deep-sea exploration from the origins to present times, and discussions will be based on a mix of oral presentations and documentaries. The seminar will expose students to the deep-sea environment and its inhabitants, and it will include discussions on ongoing ecological and microbiological research conducted at Rutgers in the most extreme environments on the face of the planet (e.g., deep-sea hydrothermal vents with temperatures in excess of 700°F located at depths of 1 - 2 miles beneath the ocean surface). The biotechnological potential of the deep-sea - e.g., the discovery of chemical compounds isolated from deep-sea vent organisms that may have pharmaceutical potential for curing certain types of cancer - will also be discussed. "Hands on" activities will include interactive exchanges between students and the professors focused on historical videos of deep-sea exploration. Among others, these videos include an Oscar-winning film documenting the initial biological expedition to deep-sea vents in 1979 (led by the first Director of Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences) and a special, large-screen Blu-ray showing for the class of an IMAX film entitled "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea" that was co-produced by Rutgers University featuring Rutgers scientists and research efforts. Rutgers was recently ranked 4th in the world among oceanographic research institutions and this seminar will expose the enrolled students to not only the cutting edge, deep-sea exploration that played a critical role over the years in helping Rutgers achieve that prominent world stature, but also to the many opportunities available to them related to oceanography at the University.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 01

Professor: Xenia Morin (Plant Biology), Joshua Miller (Nutritional Sciences), and James Simon (Plant Biology)

Description: All that most people want is appetizing food to eat that is convenient, affordable, and safe. But, where does our food come from, and what are the consequences of our food choices and preferences, not only for our own health, but also the health of the planet? Join us on an exploration of a new concept called "One Nutrition", developed here at Rutgers. One Nutrition is based on the recognition that food and nutrition is not only essential to human and animal health, but that human and animal nutrition are interdependent and dependent on a healthy environment and a healthy planet. In this course, together we will trace the path food takes from its sources to our plates and stomachs, stopping along the way to consider both practical and existential factors that influence what we eat, including sustainability, environmental health, economics, ethics, food science, culinary science, and nutrition. We will also explore the role of research and innovation in advancing the One Nutrition approach to feeding the planet. This course is sponsored by the One Nutrition Program and the Center for Agricultural Food Ecosystems, New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition & Health, and the Program in Agriculture and Food Systems, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 05

Professor: Nicholas Bello (Animal Science)

Description: “Globesity” is the term used by some to describe the worldwide impact of obesity. Several treatments are available for obesity, but do any of them work? In this seminar, we will explore the causes and consequences of obesity and current treatment strategies. Through hands-on experiments, we will analyze neural pathways that control food intake and body weight and examine how obesity drugs work. We will explore obstacles to long-term treatment and efficacy standards of the FDA.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 09

Professor: Mark Robson (Plant Biology; Dean of the School of Graduate Studies

Description: This five-week seminar will discuss what we eat and the origin of foods and how we grow and prepare them. We will look at the two ends of the food supply, the one billion people who suffer from lack of calories and food insecurity and the one billion people who are now clinically obese and suffer from a series of non-communicable diseases. We will talk about how food is grown, shipped, and marketed. We will discuss personal choices and better eating.

Course Number: 11:090:101:06

Professors: Nicole Kasatkin and Shannon Trujillo (Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences) 

Description:  Have you wondered why you have blue eyes? Does breast cancer seem to run in your family? Can genetics help solve murder mysteries? In this seminar, we will dive into how our genetics shape our lives every day. Our genetics can determine how we look, how we act, and whether we have a predisposition to certain health conditions. On the other hand, your genes do not necessarily dictate your destiny. We will explore the role of genetics in our lives through the lenses of various specialties: cancer, reproductive sciences, and pediatrics. You will be introduced to hot topics such as direct-to-consumer testing (23andMe, Ancestry DNA, etc.), pharmacogenomics, and the ethics of genetics research and testing. Genetic counselors, Nicole Kasatkin and Shannon Trujillo, will share real-world experiences, patient stories, and current advancements. Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to engage in discussion, observation of videos, and reflection.  

Course Number: 01:090:101:42

Professor: Triveni Kuchi (Rutgers Libraries)

Description: With emerging information and communication technologies, the plethora of information constantly generated is overwhelming. Such an information environment directly affects the way you discover, keep, use, or re-use information for your research. How do you manage your bazillion files? What organizing schemes or strategies for managing information are out there? What works, what doesn’t, and why? This course will focus on understanding what information management entails; and how it requires an active, deliberative selection among alternatives, and a critical and habitual pursuit of analyzing and re-categorizing information. Through readings, class discussions, hands-on labs, and guest speakers, students will reflect, analyze, compare and use information organizing schemes or tools for managing a variety of different types of information. Final presentations will allow each student to creatively explore particular information management tools that are used at either the organizational or the individual level.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 33

Professor: Lei Yu (Genetics)

Description: Our behavior patterns are deeply rooted in our genes. Not only do they include patterns of physical behaviors, but also patterns of cognition and thought processes. We readily observe such patterns in everyday life, even though it is not easy to determine their genetic roots. In this Byrne seminar, we will use examples of behavior patterns from the Harry Potter book series as a literary platform to introduce scientific approaches for studying behavior genetics. This class will involve extensive class participation and discussion. The focus will be to introduce the students to research and to develop skills in critical thinking.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 36

Professor: Barbara DeMarco and Vaishali Singhal (School of Health Professions)

Description: Thinking of a career in healthcare? Then this is the Byrne Seminar for you. Follow a patient’s journey to health while learning about a variety of health professions. Experience what it is like to help someone learn to walk again, to detect diseases from a small speck of blood, and to look into the heart as it delivers oxygen to our vital organs. Join us for a ten-week tour around the body while learning about the exciting professions that restore wellness and health. Course Description: This course is designed to introduce the student to a wide spectrum of healthcare careers including Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant, Clinical Laboratory Services, Nutritional Sciences, Health Informatics, Psychiatric Counseling, Diagnostic Imaging, and Clinical Research. Utilizing a case-based approach, students will follow a patient through their journey of recovery while gaining introductory knowledge about the health professions and the patients that they serve. Additionally, students will be able to explore evaluation tools and treatment modalities and participate in simulated clinical experiences.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 44

Professor: Lily Todorinova (Rutgers Libraries)

Description: In this course, we will develop an understanding of information as a commodity, with a richly contested value for both individuals and societies. This course will engage with different types of information inequalities, such as those between economically rich/poor societies, as well as situations where information is restricted or censored. From the level of societies, information is politically and economically charged. The ubiquity of information technology in the West makes it easy to overlook the persistence of vast areas of information poverty in the world. This global digital divide of access to technology and information literacy, continues to threaten human rights, development goals, and political stability. Information also has a private and personal value. We will examine case studies of how governments and corporations quantify information and what this means about our own information “worth.” In addition to class discussions, we will develop information literacy skill s and use scholarly resources available through the Rutgers University Library to explore these topics.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 31

Professors: Chloe Hawkings and Alvaro Toledo (Entomology)

Description: Insects play a key role in global health but despite this, they are an underappreciated component. Insects that are unintentionally introduced to non-native ecosystems can negatively affect food security, human health and disrupt normal ecosystem functions, while many insects provide crucial ecosystem services in their natural ecosystems. As the world increases global trade and urbanization, and our climate changes, it is crucial to understand components of insect biology and their intersection with human societies to make informed decisions which protect environmental health. In this seminar, we focus on the role insects play in global health and explore systems of food security, human diseases, environmental health and scientific policy.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 15

Professors: Max Haggblom (Biochemistry and Microbiology) and Lee Kerkhof (Marine and Costal Sciences)

Description: This seminar will examine the prospects of life on Mars, and elsewhere in the Universe. Not “little green men”, but microorganisms. We will explore how life is thought to have evolved on Earth and, with a focus on microbial life, identify the limitations and constraints to life as we know it. We will discuss how the NASA Exobiology program aims to understand the phylogeny and physiology of microorganisms whose characteristics reflect the nature of primitive environments or exoplanets. By examining the requirements and limitations to life on Earth and elucidating diverse microbial metabolisms and adaptations to extreme environments we can understand the potential of life to adapt to conditions on other planets or icy moons. By the end of the course, students should be conversant with the question of what is life and how we search for it in other worlds.

Professor: Barbara Angeline (Dance)

Description: Jazz dance, as an African-American based art form, has been marginalized in its artistic validity and often invisibilized in American history. But the placement of jazz dance in the arts and in time is at the heart of social responsiveness, commercial industry and historical story-telling. Jazz dance enables us to understand social events and the people who lived and shaped them. This is a dance class! Students will explore jazz dances and their connections to time, events and people. Students will learn the power of dance as a physical communication, capable of spotlighting, addressing and shaping society and its experiences.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 38

Professor: Jeff Friedman (Dance)

Description: This seminar offers students a framework for thinking interdisciplinarily, including the arts, humanities and $.T.E.M. fields, and provides 3 case-studies that exemplify this framework from the working scholarship and artistic production of the instructor. A workshop with a guest artist provides hands-on experience.

Professors: Evelyn Wang (Dance) and Paul Ocampo (Dance)

Description: This course will investigate various dances, traditional arts and culture of Taiwan, the Philippines, and neighboring countries. Through the language of dance, students will learn traditional arts and cultures using practices and modality that are fun, interactive and informative. This seminar is designed for students who want to expand their understanding of dance as an emblem of cultural identity and an expression of social order. Along with the practice of dance, we will experience how to prepare traditional foods associated with respective festivities. The food serves as a conduit for a holistic experience to deeper comprehension of Asian cultural arts and heritage. This seminar will include a field trip to New York City.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 29

Professor: Derek Shendell (Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice)

Description: This course addresses indoor air and environmental quality (IEQ or IAQ) problems and mitigation approaches. The course examines major sources, commonly identified pollutants (exposure agents or risk factors for acute and chronic adverse health effects), and factors determining pollutant concentrations in indoor environments. The course also examines health risks associated with various IAQ problems in contrast to other relevant types of health risks (from outdoor air, etc). Risk management options and recommendations, including regulatory and technical approaches, will be reviewed and discussed.  

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 21

Professor: Ronald Quincy (School of Social Work)

Description: In this seminar students will work on capacity building projects with the co-instructors to support several civil society and nonprofit organizations in Kenya. Students will engage with the Mandela Washington Leadership Fellowship Alumni on their Civil Society Organization Projects in Kenya through the use of electronic media (e.g. Skype). The seminar will engage students with Johnson & Johnson leaders based both in the U.S. and in sub-Saharan Africa about best practices in managing and leading African Civil Society Organizations. Students will take a trip to the U.N. to attend an international conference related to African Civil Society Organizations.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 35

Professors: Ines Rauschenbach and Ramaydalis Keddis (Biochemistry and Microbiology)

Description: What did surgery look like before doctors washed their hands and used aseptic technique? What allowed scientists to discover that microbes recycle carbon and nitrogen in the environment? How did people fear the unknown Spanish flu pandemic and how does this compare to the COVID pandemic of 2020? This seminar will highlight those questions and more to allow students to understand the impact that microbiology has had on society over the past hundreds of years and which experiments and discoveries shaped the knowledge that we have today. The course will include readings, mini lectures, discussion, and hands-on activities that will spotlight the past and present of microbiological discoveries.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 03

Professor: David Tulloch (Landscape Architecture)

Description: From Grand Canyon to Acadia to the Dry Tortugas, National Parks and Parklands are designed to send all sorts of messages to their visitors. This class will explore ways that national parks (focusing primarily on those in the US) communicate messages to visitors. Designers have also employed precisely aligned roads and buildings rich in symbolism to communicate with visitors at an experiential level. Published materials, such as the impressively consistent NPS brochures used at every park, and carefully designed signs provide an overt system of communication. The seminar will visit a NPS site to look for messages and learn more about this amazing network of natural treasures. 

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 08

Professor: Lauren Neitzke Adamo (Earth and Planetary Sciences)

Description: The goal of this seminar is to explore, examine, and discuss some of the most important and potentially life altering geoscience issues affecting our society.  Through a mixture of guest lectures, field trips, class discussions, and hands-on in class activities; students will learn about topics such as climate change, the search for oil and other natural resources, sea-level rise, the exploration of the moon and other extraterrestrial planets, and more!  This course will provide a space for students to discuss these topics with leading experts in the field, as well as examine how some of this science is communicated to the public with trips to local natural history museums and discussions with formal and informal educators.

Course Number: 01:090:101:17

Professors: Sara Elnakib (Family and Community Health Sciences) and Kathleen Howell (Rutgers Cooperative Extension)

Description: Time management and planning skills are essential to a student's success. This seminar will introduce students to strategies to help balance newfound freedom with what is required to succeed academically.  This course focuses on pursuing academic success while recognizing the importance of rest, social connections, extracurricular activities, and personal well-being. This seminar will explore creative calendaring, planning, and organization techniques, as well as introduce several types of journaling methods (i.e., bullet, manifestation, prompted, etc.), to curate days in a way that maximizes energy, boosts productivity, and focuses on what is important and nourishing in life. There is no recipe that fits all, but planning in a way that works for each student's personality type is key to living an intentional and meaningful life.  

Course Number: 11:090:101:14

Professors: Aaron Mazzeo (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)

Description: Pulp-based paper has conveyed information with printed lettering, diagrams, and illustrations for hundreds of years. In these conventional formats, the flipping or turning of pages has required human manipulation. Recent research efforts are beginning to add life and active functionality to paperbased structures in the form of mechanical grippers, manipulators, and locomotors. In this hands-on seminar, students will review state-of-the-art research in paper-based robotics (i.e., paperbotics) and active origami, and then exercise creativity to build paper-based machines that will be capable of motion and interaction with humans. By also planning the aesthetics of their projects, participants in this seminar will go beyond building gadgets to craft functional pieces of art. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 09

Professor: Megan Lotts (Rutgers Libraries)

Description: Play can create a dynamic narrative that promotes engagement and community, as well as fosters creativity and problem-solving which are crucial to innovation.  Play also builds strong communication and social skills, and these skills can be helpful when creating knowledge, performing scholarly research, or engaging with one’s peers. Play can be all-inclusive, encourage exploration and cross-disciplinary collaboration, as well as a chance to embrace failure as a positive part of learning. Developing creativity and problem-solving skills are experiences that are often lacking in higher education and yet a skill that many students are familiar with and will need in their future careers. This course will look closer at play, why it is an important part of our everyday lives, as well as its presence in higher education. This course will involve readings, creating games, keeping a play journal, field trips, and more. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 26

Professor: Kristin Dana (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Description: Robotics and automation are increasingly becoming part of our everyday lives.  We are beginning to glimpse the future  with automated vehicles, robots in hospitals, telepresence robots, robots collecting trash and cooking food, rescue robots and farming robots. The traditional objective of robotics research has been to provide automated platforms that operate at high-speed, accurately and consistently, such as in the context of manufacturing systems. As robots are deployed in a wider variety of domains that are closer to humans, it becomes important to consider other aspects, such as safety, adaptability to human needs, and nuanced societal impacts. Robotics has the potential to improve the quality of  life both at the individual and societal level. To shape the  early stages of the robotics design process, we consider the following question  addressing questions: How will these robots help people and society? What are the potential unintended consequences of this technology? How can robots serve critical individual and societal needs? How can costly mistakes be avoided in robotics technology development and adaptation? The course will discuss issues in an emerging field called socially cognizant robotics that considers robotics technologies and discusses how these technologies can impact society and individuals.  The course will give a tour of six underlying interconnected sub-disciplines of socially cognizant robotics:  (1) robot embodiment, (2) control, (3) computer vision, (4) language processing, (5) cognitive science,  (6) public policy.  These topics  range from traditionally technical fields to those which support human interaction as well as policy issues to mediate robotics adaptation in society.  The course will also discuss a new research program at Rutgers called SOCRATES, socially cognizant robotics for a technology enhanced society.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 03

Professors: Dan Swern (School of Communication and Information) and Richard Anderson (Division of Continuing Studies; Rutgers Makerspace)

Description: Cities face challenges when it comes to messaging about available social services, historical curiosities, and creative culture. Community access isn’t necessarily limited by financial or bureaucratic barriers, but through wayfinding and navigation due to poor signage or a dearth of public information. Through web-based tools in XR (extended reality, inclusive of augmented and virtual reality), our smartphones can give us the ability to immediately reveal resources hidden in plain sight as well as provide on-the-fly context and insight for both our built and natural environments. XR integrates real world experience with virtual world access. When produced as a robust community-based ecosystem, XR adds another layer of texture to the places where we live and work, and fundamentally changes the way we think about a traditional neighborhood. By using the mobile camera to frame and interact with the world, we're helping people frame and interpret what they are seeing. Through the use of game mechanics and incentives, we're enhancing and encouraging exploration and fighting isolation between individuals. Students will learn augmented reality 3D-modeling and game development in Unity (ubiquitous developer software), and meet with New Brunswick community and nonprofit leaders to marry their applied technical and creative skills with real world service access needs. Deiner Park on College Avenue Campus will serve as the real world workspace for XR development as it is public space right on campus that represents a convergence of unique creative, environmental, residential, transportation, and service access challenges and opportunities to be explored in the technology lab.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 06

Professor: Ani Javian (Dance)

Description: As yoga, meditation, and other somatic techniques become popularized, the word “mindful” gets tossed around in our culture without truly considering its significance. What does it mean? This seminar works toward understanding and experiencing mindfulness via an introduction to general somatic principles such as self-reflection, sensory awareness, and body/mind integration. Through guided movement explorations and other opportunities for increased self-awareness, we may become more adept at tuning in to our interior selves, to the world around us, and to the earth that supports us. There will be some movement, some drawing, and some discussion as we practice listening to cultivate a holistic body/mind approach to our daily lives. No prior movement experience is necessary. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 24

Professor: Carl Kirschner (Spanish and Portuguese)

Description: The world of intercollegiate athletics has changed dramatically from the days of regional competitions without media coverage to the present national stage with television and internet coverage. What were the factors underlying the change? What role have the universities played? What role has the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) played? This seminar will review the history of intercollegiate athletics with a special emphasis on the last ten years. Significant case studies of positive and negative behaviors by players, coaches, and universities and the reactions (sanctions) by the NCAA will be studied.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 39

Professor: Patricia Morton (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)

Description: Using present day examples from stem cell and spinal cord injury research and clinical trials, this course will enable students to look beyond the headlines to the underlying facts and issues in scientific research, to critically raise and examine ethical questions, and to understand that the purpose of science is to improve the lives of people. Students are encouraged to find and report on examples in movies, television, newspapers, magazines, journals, and other contemporary sources. The class includes tours of the W. M. Keck Center and Stem Cell Research laboratories. In addition, one session will feature a guest and family dealing with spinal cord injury who will share their experiences and answer questions.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 27

Professor: Hal Salzman (Planning and Public Policy) and Donna Gustafson (Chief Curator, Zimmerli Museum)

Description: In this seminar we examine the movements and counter-movements to war, both hot and cold wars of the past 100 years, through the lens of the visual arts, photography, film, and music, and will include guest lectures by artists along with museum and/or gallery visits. The seminar explores Art (Gustafson) and Public Policy (Salzman) to examine how recent and current policy issues have been and are represented in the arts, and the role of artists in public discussions of policy.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 07

Professor: Joan Bennett (Plant Biology)

Description: The language describing human anatomy and physiology was largely written by men. Perhaps for this reason, much of the medical jargon describing women’s biology can be misleading or have negative connotations. This course will give a basic overview of women’s biology and will cover male and female reproductive anatomy, the menstrual cycle and menopause, birth control, pregnancy, labor and delivery, childbirth anesthesia, lactation, sex determination, and diseases of the reproductive system. The class is meant to be a non-technical introduction to obstetrics and gynecology, with commentary of changes that have occurred in recent years. Demonstration materials will be used in each class session.

Course Number: 11:090:101 section 02

Professor: Gary Minkoff (Management and Global Business)

Description: In this seminar, student participants will be introduced to the entrepreneurs, inventors, supporters, and investors that make new businesses and new ventures happen in New Jersey. We call this the local ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation and Rutgers is a central player in this process of new venture creation. We will learn about entrepreneurship from alumni, faculty, and guest speakers from around New Jersey and participants will be able to develop and pitch their own ideas to a panel of entrepreneurial students and alumni.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 25

Professor: Doyle Knight (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)

Description: Over the past fifty years, high speed passenger trains have emerged as a critical transportation resource throughout the world. The era began with the Japanese Bullet Train (Tōkaidō Shinkansen) first service on 1 October 1964. The Japanese high speed train system now provides over 400 million passenger trips per year, and travels at a top speed exceeding 300 km/hr. Similar high speed passenger trains have been developed in Europe, China and the US. The Byrne Seminar will trace the development of high speed passenger trains and their future.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 37

Professor: Nicole Houser (Assistant Dean for Curriculum Internationalization, Rutgers Global)

Description: Are you interested in learning more about the linguistic and cultural diversity of our community? Would you like to participate in a new research project that documents the rich linguistic diversity of Rutgers New Brunswick? In
this course, you will conduct field work to collect and analyze various types of linguistic data (signs, advertisements, interviews with community members) to investigate all languages spoken in the New Brunswick community, present and past. Your findings will contribute to a large-scale research initiative on linguistic
diversity at Rutgers, “The Linguistic Landscape Project.”

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 15

Professors: Trip McCrossin (Philosophy)

Description: The problem of evil, as Susan Neiman has described it, is the perniciously difficult to satisfy “need to find order within those appearances so unbearable that they threaten reason’s ability to go on,” as when (at times incomprehensibly) bad things happen to (at least relatively) good people, and (at least relatively) good things to (at times incomprehensibly) bad people. Central to her watershed perspective on the problem are two related propositions. She proposes, on the one hand, that midway through the Enlightenment, the problem of evil developed, in addition to the traditional theological version—according to which human reason strains, in the above “find order” spirit, to reconcile conspicuous human suffering with faith in divine wisdom, power, and benevolence, which either makes or allows it to happen—a more secular version as well. Here, while it’s no longer in response to suffering’s ostensibly divine origin, reason strains similarly nonetheless, so much so as to call into question, as the theological version does already, reason’s very ability to make the order it so fervently desires. She goes on to propose, on the other hand, that in response to both versions of the problem primarily two competing perspectives arise, which competition defines us still today, beginning with the public rivalry between Rousseau’s and Voltaire’s, the former insisting that “morality demands that we make evil intelligible,” the latter that “morality demands that we don’t.” The seminar is designed to have participants work together to identify and elaborate the various ways in which these competing perspectives endure in philosophy and popular culture.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 14

Professor: Johanna Bernstein (Assistant Dean for Global Programs; Chemistry and Chemical Biology)

Description: What is that sculpture made of? How does an artist choose which materials to use? How long will these materials last? How can you tell if something is a fake? We will answer these questions by looking at art and cultural objects from the point of view of an artist or craftsman, a scientist, an art conservator, and a historian. Using a series of case studies from museums and cultural institutions around the world, this seminar will show how technological advances have influenced the creation of art and our ability to examine them. Topics will include forensic analysis and the degradation of materials, technical art history, and analytical sciences applied to the preservation and conservation of historic objects.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 30

Professors: Todd Mowery and Justin Yao (RWJMS, Otolaryngology)

Description: Our senses allow us to perceive and interpret the world. This course will explore our understanding of neuroplasticity (i.e., how our brain and nervous system learn and acquire new capabilities) within our sensory systems. The first part of the course will cover "critical" periods of developmental plasticity across our sensory systems. The second part of the course will explore differences between plasticity, learning, and perceptual behavior in young, adolescent, and aging sensory systems. The final part of the course will discuss how sensory disorders such as hearing loss, blindness, and nerve injury interact with each stage of plasticity.  

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 10

Professor: Stephen Schnetzer (Physics & Astronomy)

Description: This seminar explores what we have learned about the fundamental physics of elementary particles and cosmology over the past fifty years along with the current mysteries and unknowns. Through discussions, students will gain an idea of what fundamental physics research is and the pressing questions that we are currently striving to answer. The seminar is based on an article by Steven Weinberg from the New York Review of Books entitled “Physics: What We Do and Don’t Know.” The seminar will be at a serious level, but the use of mathematics will be kept to a minimum. Students who have taken college-prep level mathematics in high school should be well prepared.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 34

Professor: Andrea Baldi (Italian)

Description: The seminar addresses the representation of walking in Western cultures. Rooted in the everyday, in ordinary gestures, the experience of walking is pivotal to the shaping of our experience of place. Strolling relates to our most immediate way of staying in the world, examining and describing it. In the wake of modernity, the new urban subjects have fashioned walking as a style of apprehension and appropriation of their surroundings. Through their “rhetoric of walking,” their choices of itineraries, passers-by devise their own maps of the city, appropriating its spaces. As it constitutes a primary way of relating to others and perceiving the environment around us, walking is a recurrent motif in literary and cinematic texts. Since antiquity, this practice has been prominently recorded in literature as a paradigm of a dynamic relationship with the outside world, often leading to detachment from the mundane sphere, and prompting reflection and introspection. Such observation of our living space is culturally encoded and, with its shifts and transformations in the course of time, reflects changing attitudes and customs, highly influenced by social and economic factors. Walking through the city is also, and foremost, codified by gender, as demonstrated by the various models of flânerie, in which the gender identity of the passer-by shapes the observation of urban space. Walking sets in motion essential processes regarding reflection, knowledge, and writing. It is, ultimately, a call to participation in the world, as well as a process of cognitive discovery, moving from the outside to the inside. In the seminar we will explore these fascinating issues, analyzing an array of captivating literary and visual texts. Thus, we will raise and ponder questions about our own experience of walking in the metropolis. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 02

Professor: Michael Shakarjian (Pharmacology and Toxicology)

Description: In this seminar we will examine potential weapons of biowarfare---including biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons---from several perspectives. Topics include their mechanism of action, biological impact, detection and recognition, epidemiology, and treatment. Using risk assessment and critical thinking we will evaluate the potential dangers and effectiveness of using these types of weapons. We will also investigate strategies for defense against attacks, and the bioethical challenges of anti-bioterror research.

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 23

Professors: Labros Sidossis (Kinesiology and Health)

Description: The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the concepts of wellness of healthy lifestyle for the prevention and treatment of lifestyle-related diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, stroke and obesity. Students will gain an insight into the concept of wellness, become familiar with the components of healthy lifestyle (e.g., nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress, social life etc.) and understand the role of lifestyle choices in health promotion and disease prevention. Students will gain evidence-based knowledge to adapt a healthy lifestyle during their studies at Rutgers University

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 28

Professor: Dajung Woo (School of Communication and Information)

Description: This seminar aims to provide a dedicated space for first-year students to learn and reflect on who they are as an individual and a member of many organizations (e.g., Rutgers University, employer, and interest groups). Our sense of self identity shapes how we approach daily interactions with those around us; and the daily communication, in turn, can change how we view ourselves. To gain theoretical and pragmatic insights into the important role of communication in identity management, this seminar will offer an overview of how communication scholars have studied various identity-related issues and what the research has found. Students will read empirical research articles and engage in lively discussions to exchange their interpretations of the articles. In addition, TED Talk videos and guest speakers will provide additional insights to promote students’ active engagement with the topic. This seminar will begin with discussion of individual-level identity formation, challenges, and tensions, including how people manage their multiple identities. Then, in the second half of the seminar, we will examine how identity is managed at the group-level (such collaboration teams and departments within a corporation) as well as at the organizational-level (such as how companies manage their brand identity). After this seminar, students will be empowered with the knowledge to think critically about and manage their identities productively as they navigate college life and prepare for future careers. Students will also be motivated and encouraged to see their multifaceted identity as a strength rather than an obstacle in both personal and professional lives. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 32

Professors: Rebecca Mark (Institute for Women’s Leadership) and Mary O'Dowd (Rutgers Health)

Description: Unequal power relations, poverty, violence, and decreased access to education disproportionately affect women, girls, and non-binary people, creating barriers to attaining the best possible level of health. Without access to quality healthcare, plagued with intergenerational diseases brought on by systemic racism and violence, those identifying as women are facing an international health crisis.  At the same time, women are not only caring for the health of children and the elderly, but they are also disproportionately in essential low-paying and non-paying caretaker roles in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and communities. Women have also played the role of powerful advocates for change, often focused on those without power. This seminar will explore the leadership of women within the context of current challenges and progress in women’s health with research and programs at Rutgers. The seminar will allow students to make meaningful connections with women leaders in New Jersey and at Rutgers providing an opportunity to see the diversity of professions and professionals working in the fields of healthcare, and public health. We will learn from case studies in the new volume Junctures in Women’s Leadership: Health Care and Public Health edited by Mary E. O’Dowd (guest professor for the course) and Ruth Charbonneau. Students will have a chance to meet with authors, public health advocates, physicians, nurses, other healthcare professionals, and activists.  

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 40

Professor: John Evans (Dance)

Description: This seminar will help you focus on finding calm in your life while joining the ranks of busy college students. Through the study and practice of yoga, we will explore how to build a stronger mind-body connection. This seminar will assist you in learning how the practice of yoga can support a happy and healthy life. Through centering and breathing techniques, strengthening and stretching yoga postures, and simple meditations, students will begin to gain a better sense of well-being. We will investigate mindfulness trainings and yoga sequences throughout the ten-week seminar. 

Course Number: 01:090:101 section 19