Are you interested in fiction writing but don?t know where to start? In this course, students will participate in a professional-grade writer?s workshop geared for beginners. With the guidance of the instructor, an award-winning graphic novelist and ethnographic writer, they will read seminal short fiction and instructive texts and participate in group and individual writing exercises. Students will learn to talk about and analyze short fiction and will develop their own pieces through formal workshopping with peers and consultation with the instructor.

In this seminar, we will explore the amazing diversity of animal mating and reproduction. We will investigate how animals find and select mates, how male and female sexual imperatives differ, the wide variety of means and methods by which animals reproduce, and more. We will also ponder some ?why? questions, such as ?Why do males and females differ??, ?Why are many sexual behaviors so extreme and elaborate??, and ?Why does sex exist??

How and what did students learn in the Middle Ages? Did they have a syllabus? Where did they obtain their books? What exactly did they read, and how did they read it? Did they pull all-nighters before exams? "Getting Medieval" will ask twenty-first century students to take a look at their medieval predecessors with an eye to the aspects they all do and don't share. The course highlight will be a recreation of a medieval classroom.

The dramatic decline in honeybees over the past several years related to Colony Collapse Disorder has raised the public's awareness to the importance of these insects in our everyday life. This seminar will use the popular book 'Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honeybee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis' by Rowan Jacobsen as a guide to examine the importance of bees in our society, the possible causes of declining honeybee health, as well as learn more about the biology and social society of bees.

What is the nature of the self? What makes us really us? Do we create ourselves, or are we just the products of our environment? What does it mean to be an authentic individual as opposed to an inauthentic person living in `bad faith?? Is there even a true self at all? This course examines the ideal of `authenticity?. The main text will be Charles Guignon?s On Being Authentic, which offers an insightful survey of classical and modern views about authenticity.

Serbo-Croatian VIII (Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian VIII) is an intermediate-level course in Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian for students who have completed Serbo-Croatian I-VII or the equivalent. The course is offered through the Five College Mentored Language Program. The course format includes small group conversation sessions and individual tutorials. Students studying Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian develop speaking, listening, reading, writing, and cultural etiquette skills needed for study abroad in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, or Montenegro and to support course work in European Studies or Balkan Studies.

A study of the punk movement in the USA from the mid-1970s through the 1990s, which will introduce first-year students to critical theory and the study of popular culture. (See attached for bibliography and suggested weekly topics).

Collaboration is key to the process of creating theater. This First Year Seminar will provide students with a framework for collaboration while also introducing them to the process and resources of The Department of Theater at UMass. In our discussions, students will gain an understanding of the working relationships between artistic and technical collaborators, emphasizing the importance of creativity and craftsmanship in theater.

Economic inequality has risen in recent years to rival one of the most unequal periods in US history - the 1920s. This course will examine the social, political and economic origins of inequality in the United States. It will also draw on social science literature that examines the impact of inequality on health, violence, educational performance and economic opportunity.