"Language, Literature, and Resistance This course examines the roles of language and resistance in the development of the ideas, concerns, and preoccupations of African American authors as expressed in various, multi-genre literary pronouncements. By doing so, this course allows students to assess the values and aesthetics that are not only representative of African American literature, but that also define the historical context from which the literature emerges.

Each week, we will explore one great structure - how it was engineered and constructed, and its impact on structural engineering and society in general. Students will learn about these structures through reading, calculations, hand drawings, and discussions. In addition to gaining an appreciation for the built environment and civil infrastructure, students will learn about the civil engineering major and gain academic success skills to propel them through the engineering major.

This first-year seminar introduces students to how stress and well-being influence learning, motivation, and adjustment to college life. Students will explore how the nervous system responds to stress, how these responses affect attention, energy, and academic performance, and how supportive practices can help students feel more regulated and resilient. Through discussion, low-stakes reflection, and experiential activities, students will develop awareness and practical strategies to support thriving during the transition to college.

In today's polarized climate, students often grapple with when to speak up and when to hold back. This course explores the complexities of free speech, academic freedom, and self-censorship in higher education. Through case studies, discussions, and real-world examples, students will examine how campus culture, institutional policies, and social dynamics shape what gets said - and what doesn't.

This course, How Learning Happens, provides an in-depth exploration of the habits and practices that will make you a successful college student. Through a combination of lectures, discussions, readings, and practical activities, students will engage with the educational psychology underlying those habits and practices including how to get the most out of lectures, how to read hard texts, how to prepare for a test, and how to manage academic anxiety. The course aims to equip students with the executive function skills that are essential for any field of study.

In this class, we will talk about LGBTQ+ issues as they relate to children and adolescents at school, from preschool to college. We will also share "college tips" to help you successfully navigate your first year at UMass, and do a lot of personal self-reflection on themes such as: your own identity, beliefs, values, reasons for going to college, goals for this academic year, and priorities for your college experience.

Water is one of the basic elements needed for life systems to exist and survive. Although it is abundant, it is only sometimes available where needed. This course will cover concepts and issues related to water resources through regional and global ecosystem perspectives.

American left-wing, radical traditions have been central to pushing forward ongoing struggles for equal rights: "liberty and justice for all." Among Millennials and Gen Z, the popularity of democratic socialists Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Zohran Mamdani are signifiers of the interest among youth to left wing ideas and movements. Yet long-term, anti-communist and anti-labor ideologies have largely buried widespread consciousness of the rich spectrum of dynamic, impactful, U.S. radical traditions.

This seminar invites first-year students to explore interconnection as a way of understanding themselves, their learning, and their place in a rapidly changing world. Drawing on ideas about consciousness, mindful attention, digital media use, belonging, well-being, and the social, emotional, and ethical dimensions of learning, the course asks how our habits of thinking, relating, and communicating shape both personal and collective life.

Prime numbers (integers with no proper factors) have long been a subject of fascination, but in the modern world they have also become instrumental in crucial applications such as cryptography. We will discuss various aspects of the theory and application of prime numbers, including: counting prime numbers; prime numbers with special properties (e.g., Mersenne and Fermat primes, or primes one more than a square); finding large prime numbers; applications to cryptography; the spectre of quantum computing.