Temperature influences the world as we know it, shaping individual molecules, vast landscapes, and everything in between. From Antarctic fish that circulate anti-freeze proteins in their blood, to desert jackrabbits that use their ears as cooling factories, earth's organisms have evolved fascinating adaptations to survive in their thermal habitat. In this course, we will explore how temperature shapes the evolution and ecology of the natural world around us.

Everyone needs to eat! How are major food crops developed to feed the world? In this course we will learn how conventional breeding and modern genetic techniques are used by scientists for crop improvement. What is the biology underlying these methods? What does it mean for a plant to be genetically modified? What resources exist to improve crops to face current food security issues such as changing environmental conditions, pest management, and increasing demand? Apply your knowledge and propose your own food security solution at the end of the semester!

This course will go over specific skills and strategies that can help new college students find success in a new social and educational environment. College can really be a brave new world for many students, the large campuses, being away from home, it can all be truly overwhelming. While we all take our Math, Science, and History courses in high school, we don?t all learn the skills necessary to navigate the world of higher education.

In this first year seminar course, students will explore learning and teaching with feminism in mind. Students are expected to read and respond to select texts, participate in critical dialogues, and present a final paper/project, in order to reflect on how their understanding about feminism informs their lived experiences as incoming college students and prospective scholars of education.

Gain strategies and skills to pass the MTEL

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.

Most of us have probably had the experience of talking to a phone or computer and being misunderstood. Why does this happen? And how do these technologies actually work? In this course, we will learn the science behind voice recognition technology systems like Siri, Google Now, and Alexa. We will examine sound waves to discover how computers (and humans) get complex meaning out of them. Students will work directly with voice recognition technology and will investigate the sound waves produced by their own voices.

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.

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.

Though reading often seems automatic and effortless, it is an extremely impressive cognitive feat. This seminar reviews what is known about how the mind accomplishes this task. Among other topics, we will address the neural systems underlying reading, the sources of individual differences in reading skill (including dyslexia), the process of learning to read, and reading in non-alphabetic writing systems (e.g., Chinese).