A gateway to more advanced courses. These colloquium develop skills in expository writing and critical thinking in French. Materials include novels, films, essays, and cultural documents. Students may receive credit for only one section of FRN 230. Enrollment limited to 16. Basis for the major. Prerequisite: FRN 220 or permission of the instructor. An introduction to works by contemporary women writers from Francophone Africa and the Caribbean. Topics to be studied include colonialism, exile, motherhood, and intersections between class and gender.

The Connecticut Valley region is rich with geologic features that can be reached by a short van ride from Smith. This is a field-based course that explores that geology through weekly trips and associated assignments during which we will examine evidence for volcanoes, dinosaurs, glaciers, rifting continents, and Himalayan-size mountains in Western Massachusetts. Students who have taken FYS 103 Geology in the Field are not eligible to take GEO 102. This class, when taken in conjunction with any other 100-level course, can serve as a pathway to the Geoscience major.

An exploration of the concepts that provide a unifying explanation for the causes of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and the formation of mountains, continents, and oceans. A discussion of the origin of life on earth, the patterns of evolution and extinction in plants and animals, and the rise of humans. Students planning to major in geosciences should also take GEO 102 concurrently.

By permission of the director. Variable credit.

Admission by permission of the Program in Middle East Studies, normally for junior and senior minors in Middle East Studies, and for qualified juniors and seniors from other departments. Offered both semesters each year.

This course shows students how to apply appropriate learning strategies to extend and refine their academic capacities. Course content includes research on learning styles, motivation, memory and retrieval, as well as application of study skills and introduction to college resources. The interactive format includes personal inventory and reflection, guest speakers, leadership activities, and study groups for science, engineering and mathematics courses. Enrollment limited to 20 AEMES scholars. Mandatory grading S/U.

A study of the leading ideas of the Western political tradition, focusing on such topics as justice, power, legitimacy, revolution, freedom, equality and forms of government - democracy especially. Lecture/discussion format taught in independent sections, with one or more sections designated Writing Intensive (WI sections are limited to 20). Open to all students. Entering students considering a major in Government are strongly encouraged to take the course in their first year, either in the fall or the spring semester.  Offered both semesters each year.

A study of the leading ideas of the Western political tradition, focusing on such topics as justice, power, legitimacy, revolution, freedom, equality and forms of government - democracy especially. Lecture/discussion format taught in independent sections, with one or more sections designated Writing Intensive (WI sections are limited to 20). Open to all students. Entering students considering a major in Government are strongly encouraged to take the course in their first year, either in the fall or the spring semester.  Offered both semesters each year.

Topics course. For many philosophical and religious thinkers, desire has been a source of some anxiety: depicted as being by their very nature powerful and insatiable, desires appear to weaken people's capacities to control themselves and at the same time to open up opportunities for other people to control them. Focusing especially on the important of desire to a consumer society, we shall be examining questions such as: Is it possible to make a clear distinction between need and desire? To what extent are desires plastic, pliable, amenable to re-shaping?

Arranged in consultation with the department. Admission for junior and senior majors by permission of the department.