During the first part of the semester, students in the Dancing in the Community course collaborate to create an interactive lecture demonstration of dances based on their interests and backgrounds. The program will be adapted for audiences of all ages and abilities. The second half of the semester, students will travel to various venues in the Pioneer Valley to perform. Performances will be held during the Tuesday/Thursday class period. A strong background in dance is not required but students must be interested in movement and willing to perform. Enrollment limited to 12.

Students hone their writing skills (defined broadly to include critical thinking, research and documentation, argument development and mastery of written English) as they enhance their understanding of an issue of current import and consequence. They read and write in a variety of genres (ranging from experience narratives to academic essays) and supplement their required reading with excursions to scholarly and cultural venues at Smith. Prerequisite: One WI course or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 15.: Michael Pollan writes in Omnivore’s Dilemma that the U.S.

This two-semester course leverages students’ previous coursework to address an engineering design problem. Students collaborate in teams on real-world projects sponsored by industry and government. Regular team design meetings, weekly progress reports, interim and final reports, and multiple presentations are required. Prerequisites: Senior standing in engineering, EGR 220, 270, 290, 374 and at least one additional 300-level engineering course, or permission of instructor. This course requires an ability to work on open-ended problems in a team setting. Corequisite EGR 410D.

Analog and digital circuits are the building blocks of computers, medical technologies, and all things electrical. This course introduces both the fundamental principles necessary to understand how circuits work and mathematical tools that have widespread applications in areas throughout engineering and science. Topics include, Kirchhoff’s laws, Thévenin and Norton equivalents, superposition, responses of first-order and second-order networks, time-domain and frequency-domain analyses, and frequency-selective networks. Required laboratory taken once a week.

Analog and digital circuits are the building blocks of computers, medical technologies, and all things electrical. This course introduces both the fundamental principles necessary to understand how circuits work and mathematical tools that have widespread applications in areas throughout engineering and science. Topics include, Kirchhoff’s laws, Thévenin and Norton equivalents, superposition, responses of first-order and second-order networks, time-domain and frequency-domain analyses, and frequency-selective networks. Required laboratory taken once a week.

This project-based course examines the geochemical reactions between water and the natural system. Water and soil samples collected from a weekend field trip serve as the basis for understanding principles of pH, alkalinity, equilibrium thermodynamics, mineral solubility, soil chemistry, redox reactions, acid rain and acid mine drainage. The laboratory emphasizes wet-chemistry analytical techniques. Participants prepare regular reports based on laboratory analyses, building to a final analysis of the project study area. One weekend field trip.

A journey through the 4.6 billion-year history of global change, with a focus on extraordinary events that have shaped the evolution of Earth and life through time. These events include the earliest development of life, the buildup of oxygen in the atmosphere, the devastation of the living world by catastrophic mass extinctions, the tectonic rearrangement of continents, the alternation of ice ages and eras of extreme warmth, and the evolution of modern humans.

A one-semester introduction to Brazilian Portuguese designed for speakers of Spanish, aimed at basic proficiency in all four language modalities: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Classes are in Portuguese and students’ individual knowledge of Spanish supports the accelerated pace of the course, with contrastive approaches to pronunciation and grammar. The course also provides an introduction to aspects of the cultures of Brazil, Portugal and Portuguese-speaking Africa, with discussion of authentic audio-visual materials and short texts. Enrollment limited to 18.

The study of social behavior considered from a psychological point of view. Topics include interpersonal behavior, intergroup behavior and social cognition. Prerequisite: PSY 100 or PSY 269. Concurrent enrollment in PSY 372 is encouraged. Enrollment limited to 25 students.

Emphasis on the development of oral proficiency, with special attention to reading and writing skills, using authentic materials such as poems and short stories. Students completing the course normally enter 220 or 230. Prerequisite: 101. Enrollment limited to 18 per section. Priority is given to first-year students.