The complex numbers, described by Leibniz as amphibia between existence and non-existence, are now an important tool for both pure and applied mathematics. They have a fruitful geometric interpretation, provide an algebraic closure to the reals (in the sense that all polynomials with coefficient in C have roots in C), and allow, with a more coherent theory than for real variables, the development of the calculus. The important exponential function, in particular, extends elegantly to the complex domain.

This course develops the basic geometric, algebraic, and computational foundations of vector spaces and matrices and applies them to a wide range of problems and models. The material will be accessible to students who have taken at least one semester of calculus and is useful to most consumers of mathematics. The course focuses on real finite dimensional vector spaces and inner product spaces, although abstract and infinite-dimensional vector spaces will be discussed towards the end of the semester.

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.

Disease has influenced our civilization, and our civilization has influenced disease. How have the food industry, the media, politics, and technology affected our health? How have different races, genders, sexual orientations, and geographic locations been affected by modern disease? In this course, we will examine the relationship between disease and culture and how life as we know it has been affected. This course is designed to accommodate new pre-med requirements to consider culture as a part of health.

NS 248 is an introduction to the principles and practice of epidemiology and the use of data in program planning and policy development. The course covers the major concepts usually found in a graduate-level introductory course in epidemiology: outbreak investigations, study design, measures of effect, internal and external validity, reliability, and causal inference. Assigned readings are drawn from a standard textbook and the primary literature.

This course will examine the structures and processes that contribute to the inner-workings of the cell. This knowledge helps to inform many other fields and is vital in understanding our bodies. We will develop this knowledge through paired seminar and laboratory sections. Students will complete independent research projects to examine one aspect of the cell, and will communicate the results in oral and written formats.

2009 was the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species." The concept of biological evolution pre-dates Darwin. However, when Darwin presented a provocative mechanism by which evolution works (i.e., natural selection), he catapulted an idea to the forefront of biology that has precipitated 150 years of research into the nature and origin of organic diversity. This course will serve as an introduction to the science of evolutionary biology.

This introductory course will explore the process of doing scientific research in a molecular biology lab. Students will learn numerous techniques in the lab, including DNA isolation, PCR, gel electrophoresis, restriction enzyme mapping, cloning, and basic microscopy. Additionally, we will investigate the historical and conceptual aspects of these approaches. Students will engage in semester-long research projects where they design and carryout experiments, collect and analyze data, and report their conclusions in written and oral formats.

Are we what we eat? We eat foods for social and cultural reasons, and we eat foods because they contain nutrients that fuel our cells and allow us to function -- grow, think, and live. The quest for food is a major evolutionary theme and continues to profoundly shape ecological, social, and human biological systems.

Water and life in the American Southwest For plants, animals and people in the arid regions of the American Southwest, water is life. Many cultures have developed in the region and have adapted to frequent and episodic droughts in different ways. In this class we will first learn about the climate, geology, soils, and ecology of the Southwest and then the history of human habitation from the Ancestral Puebloans up through modern Phoenix, AZ, one of the most rapidly growing parts of the US.