(Offered as AMST 130 and BLST 130) The hustle and flow of bodies, ideas, inequalities and solidarities is core to our increasingly globalized world. This course offers an introduction to the Americas as a transnational space. We will explore the interplay of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality from interdisciplinary perspectives. We will draw examples from the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Students will learn through a variety of methods including textual analysis, feminist ethnography, archival research, and cultural studies.

[R] This interdisciplinary introduction to Black Studies combines the teaching of foundational texts in the field with instruction in reading and writing. The first half of the course employs How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren as a guide to the careful reading of books focusing on the slave trade and its effects in Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. Important readings in this part of the course include Black Odyssey by Nathan Huggins, Racism: A Short History by George Frederickson, and The Black Jacobins by C. L. R.

Honors students take three courses of thesis research, usually, but not always, with the double course load in the spring (499D). The work consists of seminar programs, individual research projects, and preparation of a thesis on the research project.

Open to seniors. Fall semester. The Department.

Independent reading or research course. A full course. Does not normally count toward the major.

Fall and spring semesters. The Department.

(Offered as BIOL 440 and ENST 441) Conservation biology is a highly interdisciplinary field, requiring careful consideration of biological, economic, and sociological issues. Solutions to biodiversity conservation and environmental challenges are even more complex. Yet, conservation is a topic of timely importance in order to safeguard biological diversity.

(Offered as BIOL 371 and BCBP 371) A study of the molecular mechanisms underlying the transmission and expression of genes. DNA replication and recombination, RNA synthesis and processing, and protein synthesis and modification will be examined. Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems will be analyzed, with an emphasis upon the regulation of gene expression. Application of modern molecular methods to biomedical and agricultural problems will also be considered. The laboratory component will focus upon recombinant DNA methodology.

This is an advanced cell/molecular biology course that will introduce students to translational research, which seeks to bridge our knowledge of disease mechanisms to the development of therapeutic strategies. We will investigate the cellular and molecular pathophysiology of  HIV/AIDS, Glioblastoma Multiforme, and Diabetes. Students will engage with scientific literature with a focus on recent innovations in cellular and molecular techniques. We will explore how these techniques provide insight into disease mechanisms and drive therapeutic innovation.