Seminar introduces you to current technology issues and popular applications used today. You will explore such issues as: the use of networking technologies, web 2.0 and communication, ethics, and the internet, security and protection of information, commumication privacy and monitoring, and big data and IPO trends. You will utilize technology applications including a Wike, Prezi (a zooming presntation editor), storify, Pinterest, Infographics, Instagram, and current visualizations methods for PowerPoint.

In this class, we will explore the use of plant materials in conventional and alternative medicine systems to gain an understanding of the importance of these plant materials in human health.

An introduction to climate and weather followed by consideration of the cause(s) of global warming and air pollutants, such as ozone and sulfate aerosol. Biological effects of global warming and air pollution on humans animals and plants and major ecosystems will be considered in depth. Goal is to take away a basic understanding of how global warming affects you and the world around you.

A large portion of the dietary needs of humans are met through foods derived from horticultural crops. The nutritional value of these foods may be altered by plant genetics (species, varieties) and by crop and soil management. This course will address the changes in food composition that may develop in response to selection of plants and management of food crop production, concentrating on the kinds of plant-derived foods that provide a particular nutrient for humans.

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.

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.

The UMass area has attracted visitors and residents since the 19th century with its cultural riches, including nature mediated through art and culture. The seminar will look at history and contemporary artists, writers, businesses, and institutions that foster and contribute to this, beginning with 19th century tourism and extending to the fine and popular arts and artists today and in recent decades. The course will include consideration of painting and sculpture, writing including fantasy and children's literature, illustration, nonfiction writing, and animation.

This seminar will explore the natural history and conservation biology of New England vertebrate wildlife. We will learn about the historical ecology of the New England landscape from the end of the last ice age to the present. This historical perspective will focus on how the natural landscape has changed due to both natural and human caused mechanisms. In response to changes in the landscape came changes in the populations of wildlife. In addition to landscape changes, wildlife has also responded to many human caused stressors (over-exploitation, pesticides, habitat degradation).

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Not available at this time