Much like humans, animals differ in how they think, feel, and act, known as their personality. The field of animal personality has seen a massive increase in interest from the scientific community and public in the past 20 years. In this class we will review the ways that animal personality is measured and validated in a variety of animal orders and across different fields (e.g., psychology, ecology, biology). We will then go on to discuss its relationship with other individual differences, like health and cognitive performance.

Most of earth's surface is covered by oceans, giving our "blue marble" a unique look. Oceanic waters make it both nice and dangerous to live near the coasts. We will learn here about oceans by means of key questions. Where did all this water come from? What can we learn about the nature of the seas and their inhabitants? How have these creatures changed oceans through time? How do geology and tectonics determine the depth of an ocean basin? How do marine currents, the Coriolis effect, and strange ice-like substances in the sea floor influence global climate?

This course digs into the geologic time scale in the context of the evolution and interaction of life, sediments, rocks, oceans, and air during the past few billion years. Some topics covered are: ice ages and greenhouse atmospheres, continental drift, extinctions and radiations of flora and fauna, the early evolution of earth, and absolute and relative dating of rocks. Students collaborate during class meetings to develop a nuanced understanding of the data and methods that define the geologic time scale in scientific literature.

This course is an introduction to the study of religion, assessing the nature of religion and methodological approaches through an examination of subject matter drawn from numerous traditions.

Judaism is a 3,500-year-old tradition that has developed over time as Jewish communities all over the world creatively interacted with the different cultural and historical milieus in which they lived. This course explores the ways in which Judaism has sought to transform ordinary life into sacred life. What are the ways in which Judaism conceives of God, and what is the meaning of life? What roles do study, prayer, ethics, sex, marriage, family, rituals of the life cycle, and community play in Judaism?

This course will examine a range of ways in which Islam has constructed women -- and women have constructed Islam. We will study concepts of gender as they are reflected in classical Islamic texts, as well as different aspects of the social, economic, political, and ritual lives of women in various Islamic societies.

This course invites its participants to place critical race and gender studies perspectives in dialogue with the emergence of new religious movements in the United States. Course participants rely on the presupposition that only through a thorough examination of religious traditions on the 'margin' can we fully understand the textured meaning of American religious history as a sub-discipline. Privileging the founding stories and institutionalization of minoritized American religious groups, the course considers how subaltern voices have shaped and transformed American religious life.

This course examines historically and culturally diverse examples of Buddhist ethical thought and practice. We will ask: How do Buddhists in different times and places define morality? What motivates individuals and communities to care for one another? How hard is it to be "good"? Why bother? What kinds of persons embody Buddhism's highest ethical ideals?

Do bodies matter in religious traditions? Whose bodies matter? How do they matter? By studying religious body ideals and practices, we examine the possibilities and problems different kinds of bodies have posed in religious traditions. Topics include religious diet, exercise, and dress; monasticism, celibacy, and sexuality; healing rituals, and slavery and violence. We pay special attention to contemporary challenges to problematic body ideals and practices coming from feminist, disability, postcolonial, queer, and trans theorists and activists.

Judaism is a 3,500-year-old tradition that has developed over time as Jewish communities all over the world creatively interacted with the different cultural and historical milieus in which they lived. This course explores the ways in which Judaism has sought to transform ordinary life into sacred life. What are the ways in which Judaism conceives of God, and what is the meaning of life? What roles do study, prayer, ethics, sex, marriage, family, rituals of the life cycle, and community play in Judaism?