Course Listings

1st Half Semester Course This senior capstone course will challenge students with an application of fundamental concepts from earlier coursework, particularly computational modeling, to the topic of molecular machines. With potential applications in drug delivery and molecular electronics to development of "nanocars", molecular machines are an emerging field. The first artificial molecular machine was synthesized in 1994 and the 2016 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Stoddart, Sauvage, and Feringa for their work with molecular machines. In-depth exploration will connect overarching themes in the major and provide a powerful launching point for written comprehensive exam preparation. Critical engagement with the primary literature and diverse modes of oral and written presentation will be emphasized. This one-half credit course is required of all chemistry majors and meets twice each week for the first half of the semester.

REL-290-01=CLA-111-01 1st Half Semester Course In this half semester course, we will go on a little 'Tour of Hell', so to speak, and explore a wide array of underworld conceptions in ancient Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian sources. Why? Ideas about death, the underworld, an afterlife in general, are all historical not timeless, and exploring that history allows us to engage our own ideas about death more actively. In our time, we keep death at a firm distance, isolating it into the clinical space. It is the domain of professionals. For the ancients, death was part of life and there is a substantial ancient literary tradition of 'descending' to visit the underworld; to observe, search, behold, and, sometimes, to escape. The theologies and social histories of hell are dynamic and shifting and we aim to trace that dynamism in order to gain understanding of the history and power of hellish ideas. In addition to classroom discussions, expect to visit a cemetery, a morgue, and an epic trick-or-treat event. (Can be taken along with REL 290-02, "Afterlife," or independently).

First-Half semster course. Can religious beliefs by adequately analyzed or explained by cognitive science? If so, how and to what extent? If not, why not? These are the questions that this course will address. The relatively new field of cognitive science is the scientific study of the human mind, drawing on fields like psychology, anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and neuroscience. The course has 3 parts. First, we'll read what some cognitive scientists have to say about religion, e.g. Pascal Boyer, Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought. Second, we'll read some philosophical and theological critiques of these ideas. Third, in light of these critiques, we'll consider their adequacy to the task of analyzing or explaining religious beliefs.

REL-290-01=CLA-111-01 1st Half Semester Course In this half semester course, we will go on a little 'Tour of Hell', so to speak, and explore a wide array of underworld conceptions in ancient Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian sources. Why? Ideas about death, the underworld, an afterlife in general, are all historical not timeless, and exploring that history allows us to engage our own ideas about death more actively. In our time, we keep death at a firm distance, isolating it into the clinical space. It is the domain of professionals. For the ancients, death was part of life and there is a substantial ancient literary tradition of 'descending' to visit the underworld; to observe, search, behold, and, sometimes, to escape. The theologies and social histories of hell are dynamic and shifting and we aim to trace that dynamism in order to gain understanding of the history and power of hellish ideas. In addition to classroom discussions, expect to visit a cemetery, a morgue, and an epic trick-or-treat event. (Can be taken along with REL 290-02, "Afterlife," or independently).