The spring semester of the year-long Honors capstone course is devoted to carrying out and writing up the research projects that students designed in the fall. Students will both complete their own independent research projects and provide comments and suggestions on each other's work at weekly class meetings. The majority of the semester will be devoted to data collection as well as the analysis and interpretation of research findings. Students will prepare the final reports associated with their thesis research, in the form of an archivable Honors Thesis.

This course focuses on heritage, in both its tangible and intangible forms. Using three themes, we critically consider why the past matters. In section one we focus on heritage policy, examining how certain places or practices are recognized as ?heritage? under US laws such as the National Register of Historic Places or international guidelines such as UNESCO?s World Heritage List. The second section focuses on sustainability, exploring the increasingly common use of heritage tourism as a form of sustainable economic development.

Overview of the history of African-Americans from the development of colonial slavery and the rise of African-American communities and culture. African background; Black protest tradition including abolitionism; the distinct experience of Black women. (Gen.Ed. HS, U)

An introduction to atomic scale simulations for materials science applications relevant to the design and optimization of materials, especially at the nanoscale. Topics include numerical techniques, algorithms, and simulation procedures commonly employed to study the energetics and kinetics of surfaces, to compute bulk properties of solids, and to model defects in solids. Hands-on experience with standard modeling and visualization packages and with writing small simulation programs.

An introduction to atomic scale simulations for materials science applications relevant to the design and optimization of materials, especially at the nanoscale. Topics include numerical methods, algorithms, and simulation procedures commonly employed to study materials thermodynamics and kinetics, mechanical response, and electronic properties. Hands-on experience with standard molecular modeling and visualization packages and with writing simulation programs.