This course is part of an integrated science learning experience combining water resources, mathematical modeling and energy using the new Hampshire College Kern Center, built to the Living Building Challenge Standard, as a case study. Students will meet twice a week to explore the science behind the systems of the living building in their specific discipline. Once a week all three classes (NS132, NS140 and NS143) will meet together to complete interdisciplinary projects, share expertise, and form a collaborative science learning community.

Students in this course will learn about the biological function of selected human organs and systems through the study of actual medical cases. Not all human systems will be covered, but students will gain a good understanding of how diseases affect the body and how they are diagnosed. Working in small teams, students will develop diagnoses for medical cases through reviewing descriptions of patient histories, physical exams, and laboratory findings.

This course can be summed up as: everything you wanted to know about aliens but were afraid to ask (a scientist). The course will explore the topic of extraterrestrial intelligence from the perspective of several different fields. We will look at the history of UFO sighting claims and analyze the reliability of eye-witness testimonies, explore psychological & sociological reasons behind claims of alien abductions, and analyze the current state of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) from the perspective of astronomy and planetary research.

This course is an upper level research seminar designed for students who wish to learn how to perform research with infants and young children, and how to apply those research methods to answer questions in the domain of cognitive psychology. The course will cover all areas of setting up and running an infant study using behavioral measures, including theory, methods, and the practical aspects of running infant research. Students will read and present relevant literature and will learn how to design, run, code, and analyze infant studies.

This seminar is for advanced students whose work involves mind, brain, or behavior and who are studying disciplines in the cognitive, brain, or psychological sciences. Students will select the topics to covered, choosing journal articles, essays, or books in each area. Each week students will be expected to write a discussion paper or contribute to a web forum and to engage in intensive discussion during the single class meeting. Leadership of at least one class meeting, and an extended paper on one of the course issues is also required.

This course is an intensive investigation of the linguistic structure of an unfamiliar and little-studied language - Klamath (maqlaqsyalank), once spoken by thousands of people in southern Oregon and now effectively extinct. A linguistic "isolate" (not obviously related to other languages), Klamath offers an important perspective on the hypothesis that there are universal, species-general properties of linguistic capacity.

Does form determine content? For example, perhaps semantic structures of language have the effect of shaping the possible narratives of story telling. Or, aspects of a medium's technology may set the parameters of the cultural forms of expression that are distinctive to that medium. In both cases, there is something implicit in the means of communication that determines how it can be used - and in ways that might not be obvious to the language speaker/ writer or media producer/user. This course will explore these speculations from the perspectives of linguistics and media studies.

Evolutionary computation is an artificial intelligence strategy based on natural evolution, in which candidate solutions are evaluated and recombined based on their performance. Agent-based systems use a collection of information to solve a complex task, while possibly providing for planning, communication, error recovery, and learning. In this course we will study and combine these two techniques and apply them to virtual simulations of games such as Capture the Flag, Robocup, RoboRescue, Quidditch, and others. Emphasis is placed on the design and implementation of course projects.

How do we help people learn about, understand, and enact pro-environmental behavior (e.g., drive less, political action, consumer choice)? We will explore this question through the example of the ocean. Marine ecosystems are under immense human pressures. Ninety percent of fish stocks are overfished; coral reefs are dying; dead zones are growing; ocean acidity is increasing. These all have human consequences, often disproportionately impacting marginalized people (poor; indigenous; minorities).

There are many types of games that tell stories from modern digital AAA titles (like Bioshock Infinite) to 1980s classics (text adventures) to roleplaying games. But how can you create a compelling narrative in a boardgame or card game? This class will look at the confluence of story, character, and game design and how these are combined with board games. Students will study other media, analyze their use of narrative, and study other board games that employ heavy narrative.