This course is designed as an introduction to the immune system. Our goal is to understand the basic elements of the immune system and the mechanisms by which these elements protect us from infectious agents, growth of tumors and other pathologic conditions. The overview design of the course will not preclude us from exploring a few areas in depth and students will also have an opportunity to dig deeply into an area of their choosing when writing papers and doing group presentations. We will stress the experimental basis of each concept we discuss.

Number theory is the branch of mathematics that deals with the properties of whole numbers. This is an area in which simplicity and complexity meet in an astonishing way. Therefore, in this course you will be presented with problems that, in most cases, are very easy to state, but whose degrees of difficulty range from very easy to incredibly difficult. We will focus on learning the tools and techniques that are used to attack problems in the field and beyond.

This course is a broad introduction to the practices of sustainable agriculture and organic farming. It includes experience in the field, combined with study of the underlying science and technology of several key agricultural topics and methods, as well as some more economic/political aspects. We will focus on sustainable and/or organic methods that minimize the use of nonrenewable resources and the associated pros and cons.

Molecular ecology utilizes the spatial and temporal distribution of molecular genetic markers to ask questions about the ecology, evolution, behavior, and conservation of organisms. This science may utilize genetic variation to understand individuals, populations, and species as a whole ("How does habitat fragmentation affect connectedness among populations?" "From where do particular groups originate?").

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are evolving computerized tools that greatly facilitate describing, modeling, and managing our natural resources. In this course, we will learn GIS tools, specifically ArcGIS and Google Earth, necessary to map and analyze natural resources, focusing on the Hampshire College campus. We will learn about making and using maps, using technology ranging from counting footsteps to satellite navigation (Geographic Positioning Systems, GPS). We will learn how to create new GIS data as well as find appropriate existing data.

Ecosystems are defined by the interactions between the plants, animals, microorganisms, and abiotic environmental features that affect them. This course will cover the flows of energy, carbon, and nutrients within ecosystems, tracing the key processes that govern ecosystem function. Through the course, we will develop the connections between organisms, abiotic factors, and ecosystem processes.

This course will be an introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics, with examples drawn from the fields of ecology, agriculture, public health, and clinical medicine. The approach will mainly be applied and hands-on; students will complete a workbook of statistical problems, collect and analyze data as a class, design and carry out small individual projects, do weekly problem sets plus revisions, and read and interpret data from the literature. We will learn to use common computer packages for statistical analysis: Excel and Minitab.

Environmental microbiology is the study of microbial activity and diversity in both natural and artificial environments. The subject is inherently multidisciplinary-relying upon contributions from analytical chemistry, geosciences, environmental engineering, public health, ecology, evolution and microbiology. Microbes represent the very origin of life on earth, and they comprise the basis of our biological legacy. They remain crucial to global biogeochemical cycling, which supports the continuance of life on our planet, turning over those elements that represent the basic ingredients of life.

This course extends the concepts, techniques and applications of an introductory calculus course. We'll detect periodicity in noisy data, and study functions of several variables, integration, differential equations, and the approximation of functions by polynomials. We'll continue the analysis of dynamical systems taking models from student selected primary literature on ecology, economics, epidemiology, and physics. We will finish with an introduction to the theory and applications of Fourier series and harmonic analysis. Computers and numerical methods will be used throughout.

Do you have an idea for a science fiction story? Can it be developed into a short film? In this course students will develop science fiction short films that have a basis in scientific ideas from the fields of biology, astronomy, physics, or scientific ethics. Students are expected to work in small groups towards a goal of producing short films and writing an individual paper justifying the science used in their film. Students with some experience in science, film, or creative writing are welcome. Prerequisite: one science OR film OR creative writing course.