More descriptions are coming in every day. As they are received from faculty, they will be posted here. If you have specific questions, or if there is no description listed, please contact the faculty member directly.

Focal Point Seminar Courses are available only to First-Year students.

ISP 101 301 Course #33531
REPRESSION & MEMORY/LAT AMER
M W F 9:40 AM - 10:40 AM LPC Masud,Maria D
The recent history of Latin America has been marked by cycles of political and social repression: the “dirty war” in Argentina; the military coup in Chile; the “death squads” in Central America; among others, have generated a rich documentation of books, articles, films and desperate public calls for justice, i.e.: the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. These diverse sources seek to explain how those repressive forces overthrew democratic governments and of their action for consequences for civil society. Likewise, they document the attempts by groups and individuals in those respective societies to find processes that would bring justice to the individuals directly and indirectly affected by the repression.

ISP 101 302 Course #33532
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
M W F 9:40 AM- 10:40 AM LPC Hauser,Mark W.
In this course we will be exploring three central topics, piracy in the early modern period; the geography of piracy; and piracy in the information age. With the recent distribution of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, we have a unique opportunity to explore these very issues. Not only will students be able to bring to the seminar their own knowledge about piracy, we can begin to use that knowledge to explore popular constructions. By utilizing seventeenth century pirate narratives and archaeological sites students can begin to explore the question where did piracy actually occur? The last theme, piracy in the information age will explore audio and video piracy framed in copyright law and academic piracy- intellectual integrity.

ISP 101 303 Course #33533
PSEUDO-SCIENCE
M W F 9:40 AM-10:40 AM LPC Porter,Nicole S
We live in the most technologically advanced society in the most technologically advanced time in history. Yet, "weird" beliefs and superstitions are widespread. Many people believe in mind reading, past-life regression therapy, abductions by extra-terrestrials, witches, ghosts, and other supernatural notions. Although science is the foundation of modern technological achievements, many eschew real science in favor of pseudoscience notions such as "scientific creationism", "scientific evidence of racial superiority", "recovered memory syndrome", "alternative medicine". Such supernatural beliefs are prevalent among people of all occupations and every educational and income level. In this course, the student examines several well-understood, psychological processes such as, 1) our sensitivity to coincidence, 2) penchant for developing rituals and habits to counteract feelings of anxiety or impatience when filling time or when marking expected changes in lifestyles, 3) a fear of failure, 4) attempts to cope with uncertainty, and 5) a need for control of our destinies that often result in irrational beliefs and superstitious and erroneous behavior. The student will discover exactly how superstitions, erroneous decisions, and weird beliefs are a result of common thinking patterns invoked by attempts to cope with the complexity and uncertainties of life (especially the social aspects of life). Many of these thinking patterns are close to good norms of rationality, whereas others depart sharply from them. Since the good and poor thinking patterns co-exist, we are simultaneously both rational and irrational. The student is introduced to, and encouraged to use, the methods of skepticism to counteract the twin mental positions of cynicism and gullibility that result from the typical application of our typical thinking patterns as coping techniques.

ISP 101 304 Course #33534
MARX
M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC McIntyre,Michael A

ISP 101 305 Course #33535
SUGAR
M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC Tikoff,Valentina K
This Focal Point seminar will introduce students to the complex historical and contemporary dimensions of a ubiquitous commodity: sugar. In particular, students will the ways that sugar has fundamentally shaped the development of much of the Western hemisphere (especially the Caribbean), from the transatlantic slave trade to the Cuban Revolution and beyond. The course also will explore the continuing legacies and debates over the impact of sugar on domestic public and environmental policy in the U.S. today.

ISP 101 306 Course #33536
PUBLIC & PRIVATE SPACES
M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC Ross,Nathan

ISP 101 307 Course #33537
UNITED NATIONS
M W F 10:50 AM-11:50 AM LPC

ISP 101 308 Course #33538
ALTERNATIVE FUELS...
M W F 12:00 PM-1:00 PM LPC Morsch,Layne A

ISP 101 309 Course #33539
TIANANMEN SQUARE
M W F 12:00 PM-1:00 PM LPC Bowden,Darsie M
The goal of this course is to gain insight into the complexities of modern China through the lens of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations that took place in June 1989 in Beijing. Using the Internet, novels, documentary and feature films, historical accounts, personal accounts, interviews (both on-line and in-person), we will explore the events leading up to the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square and elsewhere in China, the forces that resulted in the violent suppression of the protest, and the present-day ramifications and contradictions within China. A ten-week course on China can only be introductory. This course promises to more than a history course or a lesson in politics but rather a glimpse or series of glimpses into the lives of people who have been shut off from the West for nearly half a century and the accompanying rhetoric with and through which they live their lives. Students will be encouraged to investigate as fully as possible their own personal interests and intellectual connections to the events we read about, see and discuss.

ISP 101 310 Course #33540
FOLK ROCK TO ROCK FOLK 1950-70
M W F 12:00 PM- 1:00 PM LPC Isackson,R.J. J
Our American musical history of the second half of the 20th century corresponds to our social and historical progress. From the folk music of the 1950's, sung by the Weavers, Odetta, and Miriam Makeba, to the music of the Woodstock generation, the music connects with pleas for fair employment practices, protests against racial and social inequality, to differences between life in urban and suburban America. The Civil Rights movement can be traced in song. The course will focus on the connection between our country's heritage and how music both reflects and affects our history. There will be readings from at least two texts.

ISP 101- 311 Course #33541
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
M W F 1:10 PM-2:10 PM LPC Goedde,Christopher G
This seminar examines the events surrounding the construction of the first atomic bomb, beginning with the discovery of the atomic nucleus at the turn of the twentieth century, and continuing through to the first three nuclear explosions: the Trinity test in New Mexico and the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The main goal of the seminar is to understand how and why a group of scientists (supplemented by thousands of technicians, construction workers, machinists, etc.) came to build what they called "the gadget." We will first discuss how and why the bomb came to be built, including both the scientific discoveries that made an atomic bomb possible and the historical events that led to the large-scale, secret military-run project to build the bomb. We will then focus on the relationship between science and society: how society affects the way science is done and how society decides whether and how to use the technological products of science. Finally, we will discuss the ethics of the Manhattan Project from the perspectives of the scientists involved, the government, and the citizenry at large.
This course is by nature interdisciplinary-it draws on topics and methods from several different academic areas. It is partly a science course, partly a history course, partly a political science, and partly a philosophy course. Because of this, we will draw upon and develop skills from all these disciplines. Much of our introduction to this wide range of subjects will be through the assigned readings and selected videos; the main focus of the seminar is on learning to analyze and synthesize this material and on developing the ability to communicate, both verbally and in writing, at the university level. However, we will also make use of some of the quantitative reasoning skills that are characteristic of the physical sciences.
This is also a seminar course, in which all students are expected to participate in the classroom discussions. Most days we will spend discussing and analyzing the assigned reading for that day. In addition to discussing the readings, students will write a series of two-page papers throughout the quarter. The topic of each writing assignment will be a question based on the readings and classroom discussion. Students will be expected to answer the question, basing their responses on the material in the readings, or formulate an opinion on the topic and support it with facts. There will also be a midterm and a comprehensive final exam.

ISP 101 312 Course #33542
FOOD AND POLITICS
M W F 1:10 PM-2:10 PM LPC May,Catherine R
This course explores the relationships and connections between food and politics. Politics may be defined as “who gets, what, when, why, and how. This definition points to the underlying power relationships inherent in the political. To study the politics of food is to study the power relationships involving food. In other words, food may be understood as a type of language, reflecting cultural values, political practices, ideological perspectives, and the socialization process. Through an investigation of food, students will be able to explore the world of politics

ISP 101 313 Course #33543
GERMAN CINEMA
M W F 1:10 PM-2:10 PM LPC Suglia,Joseph V
The cinema is far too rich of a medium to be limited to entertainment. During the German Festival for Short Films in 1962, twenty-six young German filmmakers composed the Oberhausen Manifesto, which declared that a new cinema had come into being, the purpose of which was to unsettle one’s established notions of how art, society, and culture function. This seminar will focus on origins and development of this "new German cinema." Eight exciting films will be screened. The course will be conducted exclusively in English. No knowledge of German is required.

ISP 101 314 Course #33544
ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE/AMERICA
M W 3:30 PM-5:00 PM LPC Leclair,Elizabeth E

ISP 101 315 Course #33545
FOOD & PHILOSOPHY
M W 3:30 PM-5:00 PM LPC Valgenti,Robert T
This course explores the relationships and connections between food and politics. Politics may be defined as “who gets, what, when, why, and how. This definition points to the underlying power relationships inherent in the political. To study the politics of food is to study the power relationships involving food. In other words, food may be understood as a type of language, reflecting cultural values, political practices, ideological perspectives, and the socialization process. Through an investigation of food, students will be able to explore the world of politics.

ISP 101 316 Course #33546
BODIES/MEANINGS/CULT/SEX/RELG
M W 3:30 PM-5:00 PM LPC Furman,Frida K

ISP 101 317 Course #33547
FILM IMAGES OF LOS ANGELOS
M W 3:30 PM-5:00 PM LPC

ISP 101 318 Course #33548
JUST WAR
M W 3:30 PM-5:00 PM LPC Callahan,Patrick T

ISP 101 319 Course #33549
THEATRE HAPPENINGS
M W 10:10 AM-11:40 AM LPC Windingstad,Holly L
This course explores the emergence of Happenings, Assemblages and Environments and their phenomenon. This inquiry will include the work of Alan Kaprow, Jackson Pollock, Yayoi Kusama, Jim Dine and Robert Whitman. We will examine the background of the artists, historical perspective between artist and society, and context of social and cultural influence. Primary focus is placed on experiencing the art form, though reading Happening scripts, watching recorded performances, visiting Assemblages and providing models for students to engage in analysis and criticism of works. In the process students will become familiar with the history of Happenings, Environments and Assemblages, competing theories of why the art forms developed and the major transformations they have made to contemporary art movements. Students will also discuss the influence and relevance this art form may have to their generation. Students will be called on to support supposition and their own questions we discuss in class with reflection papers in a sketch book and three research papers. Completing the quarter, students will engage in the process of planning and implementing a Happening, Assemblage and/ or Environment. Importance will be placed on working as a group to develop their own issue and feature audience involvement. This course aims to understand the questions of why the art form emerged, consider the themes of gender, race and social issues in the artwork, and the contemporary response to the subject matter as depicted in this art form.

ISP 101 320 Course #33550
LITTLE MAN IN RUSSIAN LIT
M W 4:00 PM-5:30 PM LPC Ginzburg,Elizabeth

ISP 101 321 Course #33551
PRISON SYSTEM & EDUCATION
F 8:30 AM-11:45 AM LPC Lorr,Michael J
This course will be an effort to bring students into the economical, political, sociological, and cultural current of the realities of the contemporary prison system. In order to help students start thinking about this topic academically and existentially, the course will have a focus, academically, on books and films past and present relating to the theme of prison and education. Existentially, it will focus on the Cook County Jail and a program there called PACE or Programmed Activities for Correctional Education. This program tries to help pretrial detainees get their GED. Throughout the quarter students will be expected to tutor pre-trial detainees within this program at Cook County Jail. At all times the class will focus on Chicago, Illinois and then broaden our thinking to the state, the national, and finally the global. By looking at the institution of prison and education, the course will focus on how crime is defined, legislated, perpetrated, punished, and perpetuated.

ISP 101 322 Course #33582
REAL CAVEMEN
T Th 8:30 AM-10:00 AM LPC Mayo,Larry W
This course will focus on a specific question regarding human evolution: who were the so-called "cavemen," and what is their relationship to modern humans? There are several important reasons for focusing on this particular topic in human evolution. One is to separate myth from reality with regard to these early beings who came to be popularly known as "cavemen." A second issue is whether these beings are direct ancestors to modern humans, or a side branch that became extinct. A third concerns the issue of human diversity, which, during the last 200 years or so, many scientists have characterized as racial.

ISP 101 323 Course #33583
WORLD FORESTS
T Th 8:30 AM-10:00 AM LPC
What organism is at once the most massive, the tallest, and the longest-living on earth? If you guessed "tree", you are right: The oldest recorded tree, a coastal redwood known as "Eon" was 6,200 years of age. Another redwood beat the record for height with a 370-ft treetop. The weightiest tree, a giant sequoia, tipped the scale at 2000 tons - Compare that to the largest blue whale, weighing a mere 190 tons! The focal point of this course is the fantastic and greatly under-appreciated tree: The course focuses on forest ecology and conservation, but also looks at tree origins, intrigue, societal values, representations in art and literature and their prospects for a bright future in an increasingly human-dominated biosphere. We will explore themes in forest ecology, conservation, and societal values through classroom discussions, debates, and activities that incorporate student experiences and ideas, and information in art and literature. To make real our understanding of forests, we will visit local nature preserves and survey tree-lined streets – Chicago’s urban forests. You will conduct a study of urban forests in your neighborhoods in terms of tree size, age, species type and effects on the physical environment (light levels, temperature, wind speed). With this information, we will make conclusions about the health and diversity of these heavily managed forests, and their values to urban society and wildlife.

ISP 101 324 Course #33584
OCCULTISM, POLITICS&POPULAR CU
T Th 8:30 AM-10:00 AM LPC Winslade,Jason L
This course explores occultism as a Western phenomenon, consisting of magical and mystical practices that penetrate everyday life. For some practitioners, it is a religion, for others a form of self-exploration and actualization, and for still others, a site of personal politics and activism. We will discuss the structures and philosophies of the secret society, of initiation as a cultural performance, and the practice of ritual magick in its various forms. We will trace the connections between magick, Wicca, secret societies, and popular culture, in texts ranging from the dollar bill to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

ISP 101 325 Course #33585
ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION/CHICAGO
T Th 10:10 AM-11:40 AM LPC Bramble,Judith
Ecological Restoration in Chicago: the protection of Chicago’s wilderness: Wise land development decisions made at the start of this century have meant that the greater Chicago area encompasses some of the most diverse ecological environments in the state, significant not only in the variety of habitats represented, but also in the number of threatened and endangered species it contains. New environmental challenges to biodiversity threaten to undo all of the good of the past. We will examine the nature and value of biological diversity from scientific, cultural and historic perspectives: what is biodiversity, why is it threatened, why should we care and what can we do about it? We will also closely examine a Chicago case study in ecological restoration that has become a national model for citizen action and has resulted in an unlikely controversy, pitting nature lovers against each other as they challenge each other's vision of nature.

ISP 101 326 Course #33586
INTIMATIONS OF MORALITY
T Th 10:10 AM-11:40 AM LPC Krell,David F

ISP 101-327 Course #33587
TERRORISM:THEORY & PRACTICE
T Th 10:10 AM-11:40 AM LPC Layton,Azza S
Through focused study of the CIA, this course will explore the phenomenon of terrorism in general and state-sponsored terrorism in particular. This course analyzes the claim that the United States, through the CIA, has been responsible for fomenting terrorism around the world. Through readings, written assignments, group projects, Internet research, class presentations and discussions, students will analyze cases of CIA overt and covert operations. We will examine the methods by which the CIA contributed to the waves of military dictatorships starting with Iran’s in 1953. We will explore the “unfamiliar U.S. Foreign Policy,” cases of undeclared war against other countries in order to influence political and economic conditions-undeclared war cloaked in covert operations, where the US government funds, trains, and aids oppressors to terrorize their own population. Does the US government conduct low intensity conflict operations, which involve assassinations, torture, rape, acquiring information by all means, police operations against citizens, undermining democratically elected governments, and destroying and/or contaminating land and water sources? If so, when and why does this happen? Under what circumstances does the CIA do this? And why such operations are limited to Asia, Africa, and Latin America and not Europe?

ISP 101 328 Course #33588
PSYCHOLOGY OF FAIRY TALES
T Th 10:10 AM-11:40 AM LPC Johnston,Guillemette C
With a strong emphasis on a literary approach, this course proposes to analyze fairy tales of diverse cultures in light of their psychological significance. Using theoretical perspectives developed from Jungian and Freudian psychology, we will bring out on the one hand the basic role of fairy tales in portraying the development of individual maturity, and on the other hand the typical though universal themes found repeatedly in tales from different cultures.

ISP 101 329 Course #33589
NAZI HOLOCAUST/GERMAN CHURCHES
T Th 10:10 AM-11:40 AM LPC Furman,Roy S

ISP 101 330 Course #33590
BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATN
T Th 10:10 AM-11:40 AM LPC Lakebrink,Joan M
The Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas, 1954, will be used as a focus for exploring the concept “separate but equal.” The U.S. system of jurisprudence will be one lens through which to study this phenomenon. Separateness within a society will be examined from the African American point of view in its historical context from colonial times to the present. The legal decisions, history, political discourse and literature will be used to help understand the African American status in the USA.

ISP 101 331 Course #33591
SEARCH/EXTRA TERRESTRIAL INTEL
T Th 11:50 AM-1:20 PM LPC Phillips,Joseph Patrick
Proof of the existence of a naturally-occurring, extra-terrestrial intelligence would be both one of the greatest scientific discoveries and a unique, self-affirming cultural development. As a scientific discovery it would offer us our first opportunity to study and exchange knowledge with a civilization formed by a completely different natural history. Culturally it would give us an “existence proof” that at least one other technological society has so far staved off self-annihilation. Both the cultural and scientific payoffs of the successful search for extra-terrestrial intelligence have enthralled the public and have influenced politics and pop-culture.
This course will cover the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence from multiple scientific perspectives: chiefly those of physicists, chemists and biologists. We will also cover science-based cultural and political views of SETI.

ISP 101 332 Course #33592
DREAMS AND DREAMERS
T Th 11:50 AM-1:20 PM LPC Larrabee,Mary J
Dreaming is an activity that happens everywhere, possibly to everyone. The course will question the nature of this activity and its relevance in the lives of individuals. It will look at writings from the early Greeks to contemporary writers, drawing from philosophers, religious studies scholars, neuroscientists, anthropologists, and psychological theorists in order to study the many different explanations of why we dream. The study of dreams through intellectual theories will be complemented by the use of an experiential method for understanding dreams, one rooted in individual experience, called Experiential Focusing; this method will allow us to study the possibly differing results of interpretation through the intellect with theory and through an embodied self. Students will be required to keep a dream journal, lead class discussions, and do several written and group projects.

ISP 101 333 Course #33593
JOURNEY TO THE WEST
T Th 11:50 AM-1:20 PM LPC Perkins,Franklin

ISP 101 334 Course #33594
SYMMETRY
T Th 11:50 AM-1:20 PM LPC Pereira,Peter D
Symmetry, or near symmetry, abounds in the world around us. You can see it in natural objects such as butterflies, beehives, animals, the human body, fruits and nuts, flowers, snowflakes, waves, or geological formations. You can see it in artistic productions such as paintings, sculpture, poems, novels, or musical compositions. You can see it in cultural artifacts such as textiles and carpets, decorative patterns, corporate logos, technological inventions, architecture, tiling, or agriculture. And you can see it in scientific theories about molecules, crystals, genes, primitive organisms, astronomy, gravitation, electricity, or the human psyche. While these topics are often studied separately, we will try to look at them from a common perspective. During the first week, we will look at the world around us, describing and analyzing what we see. Then, for about 3 weeks, we will take an abstract look at symmetry considering questions about types of symmetry, relations between various symmetries, combinations of symmetries, harmony and proportion, fuzzy symmetries, and anti-symmetries. Though this will introduce a mathematical perspective, no special knowledge of mathematics beyond that required of any entering freshman will be assumed. After this, we will apply this abstract knowledge to a variety of phenomena that reflect students' interests, considering approaches to symmetries in various cultures. (Islamic art, Yemeni textiles, Turkish carpets, Navaho blankets, Mayan architecture, Hindu sculpture, Japanese origami, African masks, impressionist paintings, Renaissance music, or Pythagorean philosophy are all possibilities.) Finally, in the last portion of the course students will be asked to construct something -- perhaps a poem, a model, a musical composition, an art object, a computer program, or an essay -- and then to analyze its symmetrical or asymmetrical properties. These constructions will be critiqued by the rest of the class and could become part of the student's portfolio.

ISP 101 335 Course #33595
MOLIERE/COMEDY/SOCIAL CRITIQUE
T Th 11:50 AM-1:20 PM LPC Suozzo Jr,Andrew G

ISP 101 336 Course #33596
YOGA SUTRAS
T Th 11:50 AM-1:20 PM LPC Johnston,Guillemette C
This course is based on the text Yoga Sutras of Patañjali. This text, which provides the authoritative exposition of classical Yoga and underlies all yoga practice as it currently exists in India and throughout the world, has been ascribed to the semi-mythical grammarian and yogi Patañjali, about whom essentially nothing is known. Best estimates place the composition of this work around 200 CE.

ISP 101 337 Course # 33597
NEW YORK
T Th 1:30 PM-3:00 PM LPC
ISP 101 338 Course #33598
THE AGE OF GOYA
T Th 1:30 PM-3:00 PM LPC Hara,Jacqueline M

ISP 101 339 Course #33599
FILM/PHOTOGRAPHY/NUCLEAR AGE
T Th 1:30 PM-3:00 PM LPC Yin,Tzu Ching
Do images represent reality? Or, are they just objects?
During WWII and the Cold War period, scientists used the technologies of photographs and films to measure and document the effect of the bomb. Later on, documentary filmmakers used film and photography to portray the impact of the bomb and to serve as witness and testimony to the physical and psychological damage it did. In the 60’s, artists also used artistic expression in film and photography to recollect the memory and fantasy of war and nuclear culture. How do nuclear images affect our daily life and global culture? How did the nuclear film/photograph affect audiences’ collective memory? How does nuclear technology affect the human race? This class uses film and photography to explore the context of the development of the Atomic Bomb and the infrastructure of the Manhattan Project, and to examine the response by the public during the Cold War period. Class content includes how photography and film served as documentary and artistic expression during and after the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It also raises questions considering if images were justified and whether they portrayed the complexity of the moral issues involving the scientists who helped build nuclear weapons. Through such readings as those of Susan Sontag and Rachel Fermi, we will also question from multiple perspectives how nuclear images affect the collective memory and recognition of historical events. In all cases, we will focus on how the bomb and its representation were approached from a variety of social, national, political, and aesthetic points of view.

ISP 101 340 Course #33600
REVOLUTION
T Th 3:10 PM-4:40 PM LPC Thompson,Kevin B

ISP 101 341 Course #33601
RIGOBERTA MENCHU
T Th 3:10 PM-4:40 PM LPC Martinez,Susana S
This seminar will focus on the accomplishments and controversy surrounding one of Latin America’s most well known human rights activists. Rigoberta Menchú was born in Guatemala and she is of Mayan descent. She first came to international prominence following the 1983 publication of her testimonio or memoir that has been translated to more than 11 languages. Her book chronicles in compelling detail the violence and misery that she and her people suffered during Guatemala’s brutal civil war. The book focused world attention on Guatemala’s human rights violations and led to her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992. In 1999, a book by the anthropologist David Stoll challenged the veracity of key details in Menchú’s account, generating a storm of controversy. In this seminar, students will read and discuss Menchú’s moving story, watch documentaries, and become informed about the role of the U.S. in Guatemala.

ISP 101-342 Course #33602
COMING OF AGE
T Th 3:10 PM-4:40 PM LPC Morano,Michele M

ISP 101 343 Course #33603
IRISH MYTH & POLITICS
T Th 3:10 PM 4:40 PM LPC Winslade,Jason L
From Guiness to Leprechauns to Riverdance, Irish culture has become quite a commodity. Yet the troubled history of the Emerald Isle, with its constant invasions and colonizations, is often glossed over and romanticized. This course will examine the connections between Irish myth and history and contemporary Irish politics, in several multidisciplinary methods. We will examine the various Irish myth cycles and how particular stories continue to have resonance in today's cultural and political situation. Further, we will explore the presence and function of myth in contemporary Irish culture through storytelling and music, history, current political events, and popular “Celtic” culture.

ISP 101 344 Course #33604
ENDANGRED SPECIES/HABITAT
T Th 3:10 PM-4:40 PM LPC Meritt Jr,Dennis A
This course will work to develop a definition of “endangered” and see how well the definition works as it applies to a range of life forms, including plants, animals, and natural habitats. The course will explore the probable causes of endangerment, consider the impact of our own species as well as that of natural occurrences, discuss possible solutions, and explore ways people can become involved and affect a long-term solution. Students will take periodic quizzes and examinations, write a major term paper, and give an oral presentation

ISP 101 601 Course #33605
KENNEDY PRESIDENCY
M W 11:50 AM-1:20 PM LOOP Brask,James
The facts surrounding the assassination of the thirty-fifth president, John F. Kennedy, remain the subject of enduring speculation, fantasy, and mystery. This course examines four areas: 1.) the presidency of John F. Kennedy; 2.) the argument against conspiracy; 3.) the argument that a conspiracy existed and the controversy over the participants, content, and scope of that possible conspiracy; 4.) the current state of research into the question of who may have killed Kennedy and why.

ISP 101 602 Course #33606
DOCUMENTARY AS HIST RECORD
T Th 8:30 AM-10:00 AM LOOP Boruch,Michael

ISP 101 603 Course #33607
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
T Th 2:50 PM-4:20 PM LOOP Simo,Gloria A
This course will explore the life, philosophy and work of one of the most creative and distinctive architects of the 19th and 20th centuries. Frank Lloyd Wright had many interesting views of the world that still influence us. The course includes the biographic study of his life and career. From an educational perspective, we will examine his formal and informal education and training and explore how his thoughts on art and architecture influenced the way that our homes look today. We will examine how his views on ideal communities are seen as idealistic and how his designs are focused on a deep respect for the environment. We will explore how his religious and ethical philosophy shaped the way he lived his life and how this perspective was also shaped by the major historical events of his day. The historical perspective will also look at Mr. Wright's personal philosophy in comparison to and in contrast with several of his contemporaries.

ISP 101 604 Course #33608
GENDERED VOICE
T Th 3:10 PM-4:40 PM LOOP Leigh,Susan A

ISP 101 901 Course #33609
JAMAICA
M 5:45 PM-9:00 PM LPC
This course will examine how the “idea” of Jamaica has been produced in and through specific historical contexts: slavery and resistance, Rastafarianism, obeah and reggae music, colonial sexualities and contemporary sex tourism, and dancehall culture. The goal of the course is to introduce students to the various perspectives by which scholars have approached Jamaica as an idea, a process, a product, and an identity.

To facilitate this (multi-faceted and interdisciplinary) exploration of Jamaica as an idea, students will engage with a variety of materials: readings based on scholarly research, personal narratives, fiction, original documents, films, music and poetry, and performance. Through engaged reading and focused writing, we will explore how the production and reproduction of specific ideas about Jamaica not only shape the everyday realities of contemporary Jamaicans, but also how we, as residents of North America see, interact with and understand the complex realities of modern Jamaica.

ISP 101 902 Course #33610
RETHINKING AESTHETICS
M 5:45 PM-9:00 PM LPC Girson,Matthew

ISP 101 903 Course #33611
1968: AMERICA TRANSFORMED
T 5:00 PM-8:00 PM LPC Wolfinger,James D
This course offers a biography of 1968. Historians are increasingly coming to see that year as a watershed moment in American history. The Tet offensive revealed Vietnam as an un-winnable war; Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, ending most people’s hope for peaceful social change; Lyndon Johnson refused to run for president; and Richard Nixon rode into office on the shoulders of a new political force, the “silent majority.” It is not too much to suggest that 1968 marked a turning point in America, when many people took a more sour view of the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and national politics. This course will rely on books and articles, but also use film and primary documents to help students think about the ‘60s from a broad political, social, and cultural context.

ISP 101 904 Course #33612
GAMING & GAMES OF CHANCE
W 5:45 PM-9:00 PM LPC Chin,William
Two of the popular played games of chance are blackjack (twenty-one) and poker. These games form the most interesting examples of games of chance where risky decisions can profitably be made based on probability theory and game theory. Of particular interest is the theory and practice of card-counting in blackjack, and the mathematics and psychology of poker strategy. We shall deal with the basics of such analyses and indicate how they have been developed. Some requisite rudimentary probability theory statistics and their foundations will be introduced. The theory shall be refined with examples, concrete problems and live play, all tied in with mathematical and psychological theory. We will examine these and other games of chance, focusing on they how be played with positive expectation (or not). Fallacies regarding gambling and their psychological bases will be discussed in the context of games, and generalized to other decision-making processes. Moral, cultural and legal issues surrounding “gambling” will also be addressed.

ISP 101 345 Course #33613
HEART/MIND/SU SHI/POET/PAINTER
T Th 3:10 PM-4:40 PM LPC Hansman,Curtis B

ISP 101 346 Course #34178
HARLEM RENAISSANCE
M W F 2:20 PM-3:20 PM LPC Kohli,Amor N