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 .

The public health community - individuals and organizations - have an important role to play in shaping how populations receive and gain access to accurate health information. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines health communication as "the and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health." This class will provide an introduction to the issues and methods associated with effective communication of health related information.

How hot is lava? How can volcanic eruptions be predicted? Learn the answers to these questions and more as we jump into the hot topic of volcanology. This course will begin covering the basic geologic context of volcanoes including where, why, how and what volcanoes erupt. Other topics will include monitoring of active volcanoes, their impact on climate, and the huge range of hazards to society that volcanoes present. Did you know that human evolution hit a bottleneck around 70,000 years ago? It's believed that was due to a supervolcano eruption!

The world will end. Political science can shed light on how--and can also help us avoid that date for as long as possible. In this course, we will investigate the role of politics in the end of the world, from nuclear war to global climate change to asteroid strikes.

Choreographers and other movement artists have explored technology as a way to challenge the boundaries of their own work, discover new ways to fulfill their creative vision and broaden their fields. From revolutionary uses of light, to computer programming and motion capture, to live and recorded video, to sensing and wearable technologies and more, dance making has evolved alongside innovations in technology. In this course, we will study pioneering works and figures in dance and technology.