What does it mean to have an accent or speak a dialect? In this course, we will examine major dialects of English spoken in the United States and discuss how they relate to geography, age, gender, and race. We will interrogate our own perceptions of who "has an accent" and think critically about the social attitudes surrounding speech. Students will learn how to discover features of their own dialect and conduct informed discussion on dialect variation here at UMass and elsewhere.

Do you see stories everywhere? Are Instagram stories your creative sparks? Was the date who showed up in a mismatched pair of socks your next superhero? Does the voice in your head speak coherently to you and even engage you in conversation? If your answer to any of these questions was a yes, you are probably a `Creative Type?. In fact, you are probably a `Creative Type? irrespective of your responses to these stupid questions.
In this class we will find out the answer together. Numerous researchers are studying creativity around the world to isolate its unique spark.

What is the best way to live a good and meaningful life? Some say the best life is a life of happiness, while others say it is a life of virtue or human flourishing. Some religious people believe that God makes life meaningful. On the other hand, perhaps life is ultimately not meaningful. Or perhaps we can create our own meaning. In this seminar we will critically engage with these answers, compare them with one another, and consider how they apply to concrete situations.

From the highly cooperative colonies of naked mole-rats to the exclusive monogamy of prairie voles, we will investigate social structures across the animal kingdom and how they might have evolved. Why are some animals solitary, while others live in large groups? Why are social bonds important to us? In this course, we will look at fascinating examples of what social relationships look like in different species, and how they are shaped by hormones, ecology, and evolution.

Language is uniquely human and, as such, is essential to our daily lives. But what happens to our language when the structure of our brains is altered? In this seminar we will gain a basic understanding of language through a scientific lens, with a particular focus on its biological and neural basis.

That Honeycrisp apple you ate today was thousands of years in the making. If we suddenly abandoned our corn fields, corn as we know it would cease to exist. This course is designed for students intrigued by the science that produced our modern fruit and vegetable crops, as well as those generally interested in plant biology and evolution. We will explore the intricate relationship between humans and plants, focusing on how humans have re-shaped plant biology for their own benefit.

The fastest man on Earth, Usain Bolt, can run at a top speed of 29 mph, but cheetahs can go 0-60 mph in less than three seconds. The fastest marathoner runs at a pace of 5 min per mile, but a Bar-headed goose can keep that pace while flying 1,000's of miles over the Himalayas. For every feat of human athleticism, there is a more impressive example in the animal kingdom. So, how do they do it and why can't we? In this course, students will ask questions about the limits of human athleticism and find answers in the science of comparative physiology.

What are minerals used for? You may think of shiny gemstones worn as jewelry or metallic ores. But what about in your cell phone? How about in wind turbines and solar panels? How about asbestos? did you know this is a mineral? Not only will we answer these questions, we will learn how minerals are characterized and identified, as well as discuss the controversies surrounding mining. We will also visit a collection of world-class minerals and the laboratories that study them.

Life on Earth has gone through five mass extinction events caused by volcanic eruptions, ice ages and clashing continents. Scientists are now sounding the alarm on a sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. We will learn about the incredible diversity of life and explore how humans are altering environmental conditions and pushing many species to extinction.

Hidden signals in the night sky betray a turbulent realm wherein the seeds of life on Earth were formed. Complex patterns in starlight from the most immense structures in the universe provide our only connection to our cosmic history. In this course you will follow the chemical and structural evolutionary tale of the cosmos and its relevance to life on Earth. Along the way, you will discover many challenges astronomers, and indeed all scientists, face in making inferences from their observations .