Our multi media course is based on authentic documents and interviews with native speakers from all walks of life in order to introduce students to German language and culture alike. An interactive learning software, as well as related Internet webpages, will serve as a first-hand introduction to the German-speaking countries and will encourage students to use everyday language in a creative way. Text and audio-visual materials emphasize the mastery of speaking, writing, reading, and listening skills that are the foundation for further study.

Independent reading or research. A written report will be required. A full course.

Approval of the Departmental Chair is required.  Fall and spring semesters. The Department.

Only the surface of the earth is accessible for direct study but, as a two-dimensional surface, it represents a very incomplete picture of the geologic character of the earth. The most fundamental realms of the earth--the core and mantle--cannot themselves be observed. Even the uppermost part of the crust, where the lithosphere and hydrosphere interact to determine the quality of the environment in which we live, is hidden.

A study of igneous and metamorphic processes and environments. Application of chemical principles and experimental data to igneous and metamorphic rocks is stressed. Identification, analysis, and mapping of rocks in laboratory and field. Four hours of class and three hours of laboratory per week.

Requisite: GEOL 271. Spring semester. Professor Cheney.

An overview of the dominant sedimentologic processes operating in both modern and ancient depositional environments. Students will learn how to examine and interpret features of sedimentary rocks and how to assess temporal or spatial patterns in sequences of sedimentary rocks. Students will then use these observations to expand their understanding of Earth history. Three hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory each week.

Requisite: GEOL 111. Recommended requisite: GEOL 121. Spring semester. Professor Jones.

For at least 3.5 billion years, the Earth’s surface environment has supported some form of life. What geologic processes first created and now maintain this environment? To what extent has life modified this environment over geologic time? What conditions are necessary for a planet to be conducive to life? What are the natural processes that operate at the Earth’s surface? This course looks at the environment from a geologist’s perspective.

As the science that considers the origin and evolution of the earth, Geology provides students with an understanding of what is known about the earth and how we know it, how the earth “works” and why we think it behaves as it does. In particular this course focuses upon the earth as an evolving and dynamic system where change is driven by energy generated within the earth.