Class Schedules

This course will deal with aspects of human anatomy and physiology of special interest to women and/or those who identify as women, especially relating to sexuality and reproduction. Biological topics covered will include menstruation and menopause, sexuality, conception, contraception, infertility, abortion, pregnancy, cancer, and AIDS. Advances in assisted reproductive technologies, hormone therapies, and genetic engineering technologies will be discussed. Three lecture hours each week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

This course will deal with aspects of human anatomy and physiology of special interest to women and/or those who identify as women, especially relating to sexuality and reproduction. Biological topics covered will include menstruation and menopause, sexuality, conception, contraception, infertility, abortion, pregnancy, cancer, and AIDS. Advances in assisted reproductive technologies, hormone therapies, and genetic engineering technologies will be discussed. Three lecture hours each week.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of disease and health in human populations and the application of this understanding to the solution of public health problems. Topics include measurement of disease and health, the outbreak and spread of disease, reasoning about cause and effect, analysis of risk, detection and classification, and the evaluation of trade-offs. The course is designed to fulfill and extend the professional community's consensus definition of undergraduate epidemiology. In addition to the techniques of modern epidemiology, the course emphasizes the historical evolution of ideas of causation, treatment, and prevention of disease. The course is a required component of the concentration in Community and Global Health.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

An introductory statistics course with an emphasis on multivariate modeling. Topics include descriptive statistics, experiment and study design, probability, hypothesis testing, multivariate regression, single and multi-way analysis of variance, logistic regression.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

An introductory statistics course with an emphasis on multivariate modeling. Topics include descriptive statistics, experiment and study design, probability, hypothesis testing, multivariate regression, single and multi-way analysis of variance, logistic regression.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

An introductory statistics course with an emphasis on multivariate modeling. Topics include descriptive statistics, experiment and study design, probability, hypothesis testing, multivariate regression, single and multi-way analysis of variance, logistic regression.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

An introductory statistics course with an emphasis on multivariate modeling. Topics include descriptive statistics, experiment and study design, probability, hypothesis testing, multivariate regression, single and multi-way analysis of variance, logistic regression.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to the basic principles of research in psychology, with an emphasis on statistical techniques used in psychological science. We examine how to test psychological hypotheses using various statistical analyses, and we consider the pros and cons of experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational research designs. The course includes a weekly laboratory component in which students develop proficiency with statistical software, writing reports in American Psychological Association style, and familiarity with experimental techniques unique to behavioral research. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100 Permission of instructor is required for first year students.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to the basic principles of research in psychology, with an emphasis on statistical techniques used in psychological science. We examine how to test psychological hypotheses using various statistical analyses, and we consider the pros and cons of experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational research designs. The course includes a weekly laboratory component in which students develop proficiency with statistical software, writing reports in American Psychological Association style, and familiarity with experimental techniques unique to behavioral research. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100 Permission of instructor is required for first year students.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q2

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

An introduction to ethnographic field interviewing learned in the context of individually run student field projects. Focuses on the anthropologist-informant field relationship and the discovery of cultural knowledge through participant observation and ethnosemantic interviewing techniques. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 101 or ANTH 111 or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Poor and minority populations have historically borne the brunt of environmental inequalities in the United States, suffering disproportionately from the effects of pollution, resource depletion, dangerous jobs, limited access to common resources, and exposure to environmental hazards. Paying particular attention to the ways that race, ethnicity, class, and gender have shaped the political and economic dimensions of environmental injustices, this course draws on the work of scholars and activists to examine the long history of environmental inequities in the United States, along with more recent political movements-national and local-that seek to rectify environmental injustices.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

Poor and minority populations have historically borne the brunt of environmental inequalities in the United States, suffering disproportionately from the effects of pollution, resource depletion, dangerous jobs, limited access to common resources, and exposure to environmental hazards. Paying particular attention to the ways that race, ethnicity, class, and gender have shaped the political and economic dimensions of environmental injustices, this course draws on the work of scholars and activists to examine the long history of environmental inequities in the United States, along with more recent political movements-national and local-that seek to rectify environmental injustices.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course examines the dying process and the ways that humans beings come to terms with their mortality in different societies. We will learn how people die in major illnesses and critically analyze controversial issues regarding brain death, suicide, and euthanasia. We will survey funerary traditions from a variety of cultures and compare the social, spiritual, and psychological roles that these rituals play for both the living and the dying. We will examine cultural attitudes towards death; and how the denial and awareness of human mortality can shape social practices and institutions. Finally, we will consider issues regarding the quality of life, the opportunities and challenges of caregiving, and hospice traditions around the world.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

In this course, learners will explore key topics in adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH). Topics will range from the impact of adolescent physical, sexual, and social development on sexual behavior to policy and programmatic issues influencing ASRH outcomes in low-resource communities around the world. Emphasis will be placed on the social, economic, environmental, behavioral, and political factors that affect adolescent's sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Important clinical topics such as contraception, adolescent pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted infections will be discussed from the United States and international perspective. Upon successfully completing this course, learners will be able to identify a range of issues important to adolescent sexual and reproductive health and understand key policy topics pertinent to adolescent sexual and reproductive health both in the United States and around the world.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course examines the experiences, causes, and treatments of the major forms of distress and disorder codified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), including schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, stress disorders, and personality disorders. We critically evaluate theories and research derived from biological, genetic, psychological, interpersonal, and social-cultural perspectives. Group B course. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100 or PSYC 180

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The linear and logistic modeling techniques from STAT 155 are augmented with the three foundational machine learning tasks: regression, classification, and clustering.  The course explores techniques central to these tasks, including methods of data exploration, supervised and unsupervised learning, parametric and nonparametric modeling, and model training and evaluation.  As required by the application of these sophisticated techniques, the course also introduces foundational statistical computer programming concepts. Prerequisite(s): STAT 155.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

The linear and logistic modeling techniques from STAT 155 are augmented with the three foundational machine learning tasks: regression, classification, and clustering.  The course explores techniques central to these tasks, including methods of data exploration, supervised and unsupervised learning, parametric and nonparametric modeling, and model training and evaluation.  As required by the application of these sophisticated techniques, the course also introduces foundational statistical computer programming concepts. Prerequisite(s): STAT 155.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

The linear and logistic modeling techniques from STAT 155 are augmented with the three foundational machine learning tasks: regression, classification, and clustering.  The course explores techniques central to these tasks, including methods of data exploration, supervised and unsupervised learning, parametric and nonparametric modeling, and model training and evaluation.  As required by the application of these sophisticated techniques, the course also introduces foundational statistical computer programming concepts. Prerequisite(s): STAT 155.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

This course examines the geographical dimensions of health and disease, emphasizing global and domestic public health issues. Key approaches and themes include the social determinants of health; health equity; how place influences individual health; health equity; epidemiological mapping and spatial analysis; environmental health; environmental justice; the relationship among demographic change, economic development, and population health; the geography of pandemics; the disease ecology approach to infectious and vector-borne diseases; and the challenges of global health governance in the 21st century, with special emphasis on emerging infectious diseases.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course will equip you with the skills and intuition to think about politics in a more critical and organized way.  You will practice the scientific method - identifying a problem worthy of study, developing testable hypotheses, designing a research strategy, gathering data, analyzing data, and interpreting your results - and contemplate the philosophical conundrums that underlie our efforts to describe, explain, and interpret complex phenomena. Empirical Methods: The department requires its majors to take one course in empirical research methodology before their senior year. In addition to this course, there are a number of other courses that fulfill this requirement, including: POLI 272, SOCI 269, SOCI 270, SOCI 275. In some cases, research methods courses taken in other social science disciplines may be used to fulfill this requirement following approval by the political science department chair.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Social scientists have many methodological approaches to choose from in their research toolkit ranging from qualitative to quantitative to comparative historical. Each of these approaches allows us to see and understand society from different perspectives, sometimes offering us complementary snapshots and other times presenting us with contradictory information. How, then, can we engage evidence to make claims about the social world? What even counts as evidence and who gets to speak for whom? Social Science Inquiry is part of a methods training sequence that emphasizes quantitative social science inquiry-that is, the approach to social science research that entails statistically analyzing relatively large datasets and emphasizes concerns such as measurement, replicability, objectivity, generalizability, and causal inference. However, this methodological approach is not without its critics. Therefore, this course begins by being in conversation with quantitative social science's critics, examining the abuse of quantitative knowledge in social science research and how quantitative social scientists have themselves been complicit in building many of the tools now at the center of contemporary ethical debates over online privacy, digitization, facial recognition, AI, and their use in policing, surveillance, and border enforcement. Taking the stance that quantitative methods are tools with the capacity to either build up or break down social structures, we will work with municipal data from the City of Minneapolis to explore how quantitative methods may be, in sociologist Ruha Benjamin's words, "retooled" to serve emancipatory and abolitionist purposes. Readings will focus on case studies from social science research and critical texts from science and technology studies. Methods-training content will specifically entail the use of R and will cover inferring population characteristics from survey samples, estimating causality and predicting outcomes using linear regression, the principles of probability and estimating statistical uncertainty, and how to critically read quantitative information presented via figures and tables.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course introduces and explores the major health problems facing developing countries, and the main approaches to remediation. The course considers the social determinants of health, and the need for public health programs to address the root causes of health inequities as well as illness itself. Focus is at the country, international-organization, and donor levels. Attention will be given to major indicators, recent trends, policies, and metrics for monitoring progress. A case study, such as international tuberculosis control, will be used as an applied analysis.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to the diverse field of microbiology, including prokaryotes, archaea, viruses, and eukaryotic microorganisms. We will explore the ways microbes interact with their environments, in particular their diverse and complex relationships with humans. The course includes regular discussion of primary literature and an emphasis on written and oral communication. In the laboratory, students will practice fundamental microbiology techniques and data analysis, and lead hypotheses-driven independent investigations. Three lecture hours and one three-hour laboratory each week. Prerequisite(s): BIOL 170, BIOL 190 and BIOL 200; CHEM 211 recommended.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

What is "disability" and what does an understanding of disability tell us about human experience more generally? What is a "disability identity" and what implications might claiming that identity have for psychological well-being and social change? How do stereotypes of disabled people and expectations of "normality" affect everyone's lives (not just those with disabilities)? Why don't many Deaf people consider themselves "disabled?" What might we learn from shifting the "problem" of disability from the individual person to the social environment? How do sexism, racism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of oppression influence how different bodies are viewed, treated, educated, and experienced? This course will explore questions that emerge from thinking about the experience of disability (and its intersection with identities based on gender, race, class, and sexuality). Our work together will be grounded in critical disability and Deaf studies frameworks that are themselves informed by and in conversation with feminist, queer, and critical race theories and perspectives. Through a consideration of the socially, culturally, linguistically, and historically constructed meanings of physical, sensory, and cognitive "impairments," the course will rely on theoretical and empirical readings from psychology and related disciplines, personal essays, film/video, and guest visitors as we explore the social and psychological meanings of disability. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100; PSYC 201 or STAT 155; and one intermediate Psychology course.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Econometrics is the theory and practice of analyzing economic data. We investigate and implement methods economists use to test theories, evaluate and establish causal inference, and conduct economic forecasts. Students learn to design, conduct, and evaluate empirical work in economics and other social sciences. We apply acquired skills through a final research project that integrates secondary research, economic theory, and econometric analysis. We take a "hands on" approach by practicing each week's material in the Economics Department's computer lab. This course counts as a Group E elective. Prerequisite(s): ECON 361; and one of the following: STAT 155 or GEOG 378 or PSYC 201. A grade of C- or higher required for all prerequisites.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Econometrics is the theory and practice of analyzing economic data. We investigate and implement methods economists use to test theories, evaluate and establish causal inference, and conduct economic forecasts. Students learn to design, conduct, and evaluate empirical work in economics and other social sciences. We apply acquired skills through a final research project that integrates secondary research, economic theory, and econometric analysis. We take a "hands on" approach by practicing each week's material in the Economics Department's computer lab. This course counts as a Group E elective. Prerequisite(s): ECON 361; and one of the following: STAT 155 or GEOG 378 or PSYC 201. A grade of C- or higher required for all prerequisites.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

A one-credit culminating seminar, meeting weekly for one hour in the spring term, in which issues in community and global health are discussed from an interdisciplinary perspective. In addition to sponsoring lectures by notable public health professionals, the seminar will also provide opportunities for students to share the work they have done on their CGH project in a public presentation. Credit for the CGH project is earned upon successful completion of the senior seminar. Typically, this seminar will be taken in the student's senior year. S/SN grading only.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course involves collaborative research with a faculty member on a current problem in immunology. Students participate in intensive reading of primary literature, journal-club style presentations, detailed experimental design and written and oral presentation of proposed research projects. The laboratory component focuses on acquiring independent research skills, gaining technical expertise and carrying out novel research. Three lecture/discussion hours and four to six hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisite(s): BIOL 190 and BIOL 200; junior or senior standing; and permission of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

This course involves collaborative research with a faculty member on a current problem in immunology. Students participate in intensive reading of primary literature, journal-club style presentations, detailed experimental design and written and oral presentation of proposed research projects. The laboratory component focuses on acquiring independent research skills, gaining technical expertise and carrying out novel research. Three lecture/discussion hours and four to six hours of laboratory per week. Prerequisite(s): BIOL 190 and BIOL 200; junior or senior standing; and permission of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of disease and health in human populations and the application of this understanding to the solution of public health problems. Topics include measurement of disease and health, the outbreak and spread of disease, reasoning about cause and effect, analysis of risk, detection and classification, and the evaluation of trade-offs. The course is designed to fulfill and extend the professional community's consensus definition of undergraduate epidemiology. In addition to the techniques of modern epidemiology, the course emphasizes the historical evolution of ideas of causation, treatment, and prevention of disease. The course is a required component of the concentration in Community and Global Health.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

An introductory statistics course with an emphasis on multivariate modeling. Topics include descriptive statistics, data visualizations, multivariate linear regression, logistic regression, probability, model building and interpretation (i.e., confounding variables, causal diagrams, data context), and statistical inference (i.e., confidence intervals and hypothesis testing).

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

An introductory statistics course with an emphasis on multivariate modeling. Topics include descriptive statistics, data visualizations, multivariate linear regression, logistic regression, probability, model building and interpretation (i.e., confounding variables, causal diagrams, data context), and statistical inference (i.e., confidence intervals and hypothesis testing).

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

An introductory statistics course with an emphasis on multivariate modeling. Topics include descriptive statistics, data visualizations, multivariate linear regression, logistic regression, probability, model building and interpretation (i.e., confounding variables, causal diagrams, data context), and statistical inference (i.e., confidence intervals and hypothesis testing).

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

An introductory statistics course with an emphasis on multivariate modeling. Topics include descriptive statistics, data visualizations, multivariate linear regression, logistic regression, probability, model building and interpretation (i.e., confounding variables, causal diagrams, data context), and statistical inference (i.e., confidence intervals and hypothesis testing).

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

An introductory statistics course with an emphasis on multivariate modeling. Topics include descriptive statistics, data visualizations, multivariate linear regression, logistic regression, probability, model building and interpretation (i.e., confounding variables, causal diagrams, data context), and statistical inference (i.e., confidence intervals and hypothesis testing).

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to the basic principles of research in psychology, with an emphasis on statistical techniques used in psychological science. We examine how to test psychological hypotheses using various statistical analyses, and we consider the pros and cons of experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational research designs. The course includes a weekly laboratory component in which students develop proficiency with statistical software, writing reports in American Psychological Association style, and familiarity with experimental techniques unique to behavioral research. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100 Permission of instructor is required for first year students.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to the basic principles of research in psychology, with an emphasis on statistical techniques used in psychological science. We examine how to test psychological hypotheses using various statistical analyses, and we consider the pros and cons of experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational research designs. The course includes a weekly laboratory component in which students develop proficiency with statistical software, writing reports in American Psychological Association style, and familiarity with experimental techniques unique to behavioral research. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100 Permission of instructor is required for first year students.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to the basic principles of research in psychology, with an emphasis on statistical techniques used in psychological science. We examine how to test psychological hypotheses using various statistical analyses, and we consider the pros and cons of experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational research designs. The course includes a weekly laboratory component in which students develop proficiency with statistical software, writing reports in American Psychological Association style, and familiarity with experimental techniques unique to behavioral research. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100 Permission of instructor is required for first year students.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q2

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q2

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q2

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

An introduction to ethnographic field interviewing learned in the context of individually run student field projects. Focuses on the anthropologist-informant field relationship and the discovery of cultural knowledge through participant observation and ethnosemantic interviewing techniques. Prerequisite(s): ANTH 101 or ANTH 111 or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course examines issues of health, illness, and healing from a variety of anthropological perspectives. From a cross-cultural perspective, we will examine the diversity of beliefs about human health and sickness, and a variety of healing practices by which people treat them. From the perspective of critical epidemiology, we will wrestle with recurrent problems of socioeconomic inequalities, ecological disruptions, and their impact upon the differential distribution, prevention, and treatment of human diseases. Previous courses in anthropology are recommended but not required.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course examines the experiences, causes, and treatments of the major forms of distress and disorder codified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), including schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, stress disorders, and personality disorders. We critically evaluate theories and research derived from biological, genetic, psychological, interpersonal, and social-cultural perspectives. Group B course. Prerequisite(s): PSYC 100 or PSYC 180

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The linear and logistic modeling techniques from STAT 155 are augmented with the three foundational machine learning tasks: regression, classification, and clustering.  The course explores techniques central to these tasks, including methods of data exploration, supervised and unsupervised learning, parametric and nonparametric modeling, and model training and evaluation.  As required by the application of these sophisticated techniques, the course also introduces foundational statistical computer programming concepts. Prerequisite(s): STAT 155.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

The linear and logistic modeling techniques from STAT 155 are augmented with the three foundational machine learning tasks: regression, classification, and clustering.  The course explores techniques central to these tasks, including methods of data exploration, supervised and unsupervised learning, parametric and nonparametric modeling, and model training and evaluation.  As required by the application of these sophisticated techniques, the course also introduces foundational statistical computer programming concepts. Prerequisite(s): STAT 155.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

The linear and logistic modeling techniques from STAT 155 are augmented with the three foundational machine learning tasks: regression, classification, and clustering.  The course explores techniques central to these tasks, including methods of data exploration, supervised and unsupervised learning, parametric and nonparametric modeling, and model training and evaluation.  As required by the application of these sophisticated techniques, the course also introduces foundational statistical computer programming concepts. Prerequisite(s): STAT 155.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

This course examines the geographical dimensions of health and disease, emphasizing global and domestic public health issues. Key approaches and themes include the social determinants of health; health equity; how place influences individual health; health equity; epidemiological mapping and spatial analysis; environmental health; environmental justice; the relationship among demographic change, economic development, and population health; the geography of pandemics; the disease ecology approach to infectious and vector-borne diseases; and the challenges of global health governance in the 21st century, with special emphasis on emerging infectious diseases.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The study of environmental hazards stands at a key point of intersection between the natural and social sciences. Geography, with its focus on human-environment interactions, provides key analytical tools for understanding the complex causes and uneven impacts of hazards around the world. We will explore the geophysical nature and social dimensions of disasters caused by floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires. For each of these hazard types, we apply theoretical concepts from major hazards research paradigms, including quantifying the human and economic impacts of disaster; assessing, managing, and mitigating risk; and reducing the impacts of disaster, not only through engineering works but also by reducing social vulnerability and enhancing adaptive capacity. Looking into the future, we will discuss how global-scale processes, such as climate change and globalization, might affect the frequency, intensity, and geographical distribution of environmental hazards in the decades to come.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The study of environmental hazards stands at a key point of intersection between the natural and social sciences. Geography, with its focus on human-environment interactions, provides key analytical tools for understanding the complex causes and uneven impacts of hazards around the world. We will explore the geophysical nature and social dimensions of disasters caused by floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires. For each of these hazard types, we apply theoretical concepts from major hazards research paradigms, including quantifying the human and economic impacts of disaster; assessing, managing, and mitigating risk; and reducing the impacts of disaster, not only through engineering works but also by reducing social vulnerability and enhancing adaptive capacity. Looking into the future, we will discuss how global-scale processes, such as climate change and globalization, might affect the frequency, intensity, and geographical distribution of environmental hazards in the decades to come.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course will equip you with the skills and intuition to think about politics in a more critical and organized way.  You will practice the scientific method - identifying a problem worthy of study, developing testable hypotheses, designing a research strategy, gathering data, analyzing data, and interpreting your results - and contemplate the philosophical conundrums that underlie our efforts to describe, explain, and interpret complex phenomena. Empirical Methods: The department requires its majors to take one course in empirical research methodology before their senior year. In addition to this course, there are a number of other courses that fulfill this requirement, including: POLI 272, SOCI 269, SOCI 270, SOCI 275. In some cases, research methods courses taken in other social science disciplines may be used to fulfill this requirement following approval by the political science department chair.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

After a brief but essential global history of drugs, this course will focus primarily on the 20th century to the present. We will examine histories of substance use and abuse, temperance and prohibition, the "War on Drugs," the shifting concept of addiction as a moral failing to addiction as a treatable disease, as well as study the history of the recovery movement and harm reduction. This course is not intended to be an exhaustive, comprehensive history of the subject-but it will provide you with a solid base from which to explore other aspects of this fascinating and contentious aspect of human history.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

After a brief but essential global history of drugs, this course will focus primarily on the 20th century to the present. We will examine histories of substance use and abuse, temperance and prohibition, the "War on Drugs," the shifting concept of addiction as a moral failing to addiction as a treatable disease, as well as study the history of the recovery movement and harm reduction. This course is not intended to be an exhaustive, comprehensive history of the subject-but it will provide you with a solid base from which to explore other aspects of this fascinating and contentious aspect of human history. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Gender," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.

General Education Requirements:
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course introduces and explores the major health problems facing developing countries, and the main approaches to remediation. The course considers the social determinants of health, and the need for public health programs to address the root causes of health inequities as well as illness itself. Focus is at the country, international-organization, and donor levels. Attention will be given to major indicators, recent trends, policies, and metrics for monitoring progress. A case study, such as international tuberculosis control, will be used as an applied analysis.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Why are there large-scale health inequalities? While many popular accounts emphasize differences in individual bodies or behavior, this course examines how social processes affect individuals, populations, and their health, placing special emphasis on stigma and discrimination. We study theories that account for the ways that stigma and discrimination can act as social determinants of health, examine research that seeks to isolate the ways that stigma and discrimination can affect health and health disparities, and use this material to think creatively about potential solutions to health inequalities. There are no prerequisites for this course.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Doctor, occultist, magician. The great healers of the Renaissance fashioned themselves not as surgeons (how barbarous), but magi. They sought to cure ailing patients through a combination of drugs, bloodletting (with a knife or leeches), and magical remedies (amulets, casting, exorcism). What might it have been like to be a doctor or a patient in an age of enchantment? What did “holistic” medicine look like during the Renaissance and after the Reformation? How did literature shape cultural understanding of the doctor- patient relationship, nursing as gendered labor, and disease as a blight or a curse? In addition to reading plays, poems, and short prose romances, we will examine the writings of notable Renaissance doctors and healers, chart the rise of royal and civic hospitals, and learn about the transmission of scientific and medical knowledge from the East to the West. Students will have the chance to conduct independent and original archival research and hone their writing skills in community. This course counts for the Renaissance period requirement for the English major and the Community and Global Health Concentration. No prerequisites, but familiarity with early modern English is an asset.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to the diverse field of microbiology, including prokaryotes, archaea, viruses, and eukaryotic microorganisms. We will explore the ways microbes interact with their environments, in particular their diverse and complex relationships with humans. The course includes regular discussion of primary literature and an emphasis on written and oral communication. In the laboratory, students will practice fundamental microbiology techniques and data analysis, and lead hypotheses-driven independent investigations. Three lecture hours and one three-hour laboratory each week. Prerequisite(s): BIOL 170, BIOL 190 and BIOL 200; CHEM 211 recommended.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Quantitative Thinking Q1

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

Econometrics is the theory and practice of analyzing economic data. We investigate and implement methods economists use to test theories, evaluate and establish causal inference, and conduct economic forecasts. Students learn to design, conduct, and evaluate empirical work in economics and other social sciences. We apply acquired skills through a final research project that integrates secondary research, economic theory, and econometric analysis. We take a "hands on" approach by practicing each week's material in the Economics Department's computer lab. This course counts as a Group E elective. Prerequisite(s): ECON 361; and one of the following: STAT 155 or GEOG 278 or PSYC 201. A grade of C- or higher required for all prerequisites.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Econometrics is the theory and practice of analyzing economic data. We investigate and implement methods economists use to test theories, evaluate and establish causal inference, and conduct economic forecasts. Students learn to design, conduct, and evaluate empirical work in economics and other social sciences. We apply acquired skills through a final research project that integrates secondary research, economic theory, and econometric analysis. We take a "hands on" approach by practicing each week's material in the Economics Department's computer lab. This course counts as a Group E elective. Prerequisite(s): ECON 361; and one of the following: STAT 155 or GEOG 278 or PSYC 201. A grade of C- or higher required for all prerequisites.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Econometrics is the theory and practice of analyzing economic data. We investigate and implement methods economists use to test theories, evaluate and establish causal inference, and conduct economic forecasts. Students learn to design, conduct, and evaluate empirical work in economics and other social sciences. We apply acquired skills through a final research project that integrates secondary research, economic theory, and econometric analysis. We take a "hands on" approach by practicing each week's material in the Economics Department's computer lab. This course counts as a Group E elective. Prerequisite(s): ECON 361; and one of the following: STAT 155 or GEOG 278 or PSYC 201. A grade of C- or higher required for all prerequisites.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Econometrics is the theory and practice of analyzing economic data. We investigate and implement methods economists use to test theories, evaluate and establish causal inference, and conduct economic forecasts. Students learn to design, conduct, and evaluate empirical work in economics and other social sciences. We apply acquired skills through a final research project that integrates secondary research, economic theory, and econometric analysis. We take a "hands on" approach by practicing each week's material in the Economics Department's computer lab. This course counts as a Group E elective. Prerequisite(s): ECON 361; and one of the following: STAT 155 or GEOG 278 or PSYC 201. A grade of C- or higher required for all prerequisites.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials