In this course, students will learn to create dynamic worlds with diverse populations, mythology, and characters for games and animation. Students will use a variety of techniques and work flows to develop and design worlds for their concept. World building gives a rich and dynamic canvas on which to develop characters, obstacles, motivations, macro and micro issues, and conflicts and resolutions. Such practice allows for more robust and consistent worlds in which to set singular or serial events in linear and non-linear ways.

This course will explore how narratives live and die; how society can endanger them and bring them to fruition; how various environments, social and natural, influence production of language and narrative. Among these environments, we will look at writing in and about prison, concentration camps and environmental disaster, with special attention dedicated to the topics of censorship and language death, which we will treat as political and social environments of their own kind. We will ask questions like: (1) Why are narratives censored and why are so many languages dying?

This course will cover intermediate topics that pertain to the production of visual imagery with the tools of three-dimensional computer graphics (CG). Lectures, readings, and homework assignments will explore subjects including organic shape modeling, character articulation, character animation, extensions to the basic shading and lighting models, and procedural animation. Students will be expected to complete individual projects and participate in group exercises that explore CG as both a standalone medium and as an integral part of modern film/video production.

This course exposes students to several major artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. For each of these techniques we start by looking at basic definitions and theoretical considerations, followed by looking at open source software packages that implement the AI approach, and then how to use these software packages for decision-making steps within larger applications. Techniques we look at include: searching, decision trees, artificial neural networks, evolutionary computation, Hidden Markov Models, and Naive Bayes Classifiers.

Cetaceans (whales and dolphins) are often considered to be among the smartest creatures on Earth. Popular accounts abound of tool use, self-recognition, name-like signals, complex songs, and intricate societies. But what do we really know? We will read scientific literature as well as a recent book about the topic, "Deep Thinkers," and discuss topics such as brain size and structure, cognition, communication, social behavior, culture, tool use, and conservation issues relevant to cetaceans.

In this course, we will explore the explicit and implicit assumption that learning occurs in museum spaces. Many museums (art, science, etc.) and designed museum-like spaces such as aquariums, sculpture gardens, and historical centers, often collectively called "informal learning institutions," frequently include educational components in their mission statements or goals. Yet, how are these components enacted or realized? Several questions will drive our inquiry: How do we define learning in these settings? How do we measure learning in these settings?

This course will examine the ways in which current technology facilitates and even encourages the collection of information on individuals, the ways in which that information can be used, pros and cons of such tendencies, and a variety of techniques to either expand or restrict the sharing and collection of data. The course will both deal with the mathematical foundations of these techniques and its social implications. No previous computer experience is required for the course.

This course will look at the way Darwin's theory of biological evolution was received in the Muslim world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and how these debates have played out to contemporary times. We will encounter early defenders of Darwin's ideas like Sayyid Ahmad Khan in British India and the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Muhammad Abduh, as well as critics such as the proponent of pan-Islamism, Jamal al-din Afghani.

This course will survey the main theoretical ideas in animal behavior. We will explore physiological, developmental, functional and evolutionary bases of behavior as well as issues in the study of communication and cognition. The main reading and discussion material for the course will be John Alcock's textbook, "Animal Behavior: an Evolutionary Approach". Readings will also be drawn from journal articles in the professional scientific literature, and emphasis will be given to studies focusing on marine mammals where appropriate.

Words are the basic linguistics units of a language and the ability to recognize a word is a fundamental component of reading. For many years most of the research in reading was conducted in English, and it was assumed that what was true for reading English words would also be true for words in other languages. However, many languages differ in striking ways from English and studying these languages can be useful in illustrating the different ways that people approach reading.