All life requires water to survive. Where do we get our water? Where does it go? Will there always be enough? How can we manage our water resources to ensure there is enough? What policies affect these decisions? This course explores these topics using a systems approach to gain an understanding of how our water resources are intimately tied with the surrounding ecosystem. Topics include the water cycle, hydrologic budgets, urban stormwater management and low impact development.

What is happening with forests around the world? Some are coming back, others are moving up slope, and still others are disappearing. In this course we will look at an international set of case studies on forest transitions (either deforestation or restoration) and degradation. Through a political ecology lens, we will evaluate global imperatives, national policies, and local actions to "save the forest," while we unpack the local economic, social and political structural drivers of forest transition.

Wherever one looks there seems to be an association between wealth and health. With notable exceptions, the greater an individual, family or large social group's access to resources, the better their health status. This rule generally applies across time and space and at the micro- and macro-levels. But just how and how well it applies also varies. In this course we will start with the data showing the connections between wealth, inequalities and health. We will then focus on understanding the processes by which wealth is causally linked to health.

When the HIV virus was first identified as the cause of AIDS, people never imagined there would still be no cure 35 years later. What's happened in all that time? What is taking so long? In this seminar, we will read about the milestones of HIV research and discuss why finding a cure or vaccine has proven to be very difficult. Students can expect to learn about the life cycle of the HIV virus, methods of transmission, current tools for research, and social and political issues associated with the epidemic.

Health involves all aspects of our lives. Many people claim that the mind, body, spirit, and environment are all aspects that interact to influence a person's sense of well-being. High-quality health care must support the whole person. There are many terms used to describe approaches that are not considered conventional Western medicine. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine.

This course will explore the concept of color and its use in the visual arts from the perspective of a physicist. We will cover the basics of wave mechanics and electromagnetic theory needed to describe light as an electromagnetic wave, the absorption and emission of light through quantum-mechanical processes, and basic optics. We will then explore the relation between these physical principles and the fundamentals of color theory and its application in painting.

From the basic structures of biological compounds, to the movement of compounds within a cell, to the combined activities of tissues that contribute to the function of an organ, to the structures of complete organisms, the phenomena of life are both intellectually and aesthetically stimulating. This course will explore the complexities of life and use them as inspiration for creating art. We will learn the science in the classroom and laboratory and then move to the studio where students will utilize their comprehension of biological phenomena to create design and art projects.

The physical and psychological components of stress, identification of personal stress response patterns and techniques for daily stress management. Enrollment limited to 20. 

1815-1914: a century of fundamental change without a general war. The international order established at the Congress of Vienna and its challengers: liberalism, nationalism, Romanticism, socialism, secularism, capitalism and imperialism.

Topics course.: What is Ignorance? Is it simply lack of knowledge? What is its relation to illusion, deception, self-deception? What is the difference between being ignorant of something and ignoring it? Is ignorance something for which one can be held responsible? Something for which one can be punished? Something for which one can be rewarded? To what social and political ends has ignorance been put, and how?