This course provides a quantitative introduction to the physical principles that govern the universe. The laws of gravity, thermal physics, atomic physics, and radiation will be applied to develop understanding of a variety of astrophysical phenomena. These include: the formation of stars and planets, the life cycle of stars, and the nature of the interstellar medium. This course is intended for students majoring in astronomy and serves as a gateway to the more complex topics covered in upper-division astronomy classes.

What is the shape of the universe? How do stars die? What happens when galaxies collide? This course will provide an introduction to the nature and evolution of stars, our Milky Way galaxy, other galaxies, and the origin, size, shape and fate of the universe itself. We will explore how the fields of extragalactic astronomy and cosmology emerged and continue to evolve, and will touch on many of the big unanswered questions in these fields.

Fall semester. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Students will conduct independent research under faculty direction.

Independent reading course.

Fall and spring semesters. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Students will conduct independent research under faculty direction.

(Offered as HIST 471 [AS/TC/TS/P] and ASLC 471.) China’s successful market reforms and recent rise as an economic superpower has led to increasing scholarly interests in the historical roots of China’s commercial prowess. In this research seminar, we will study China’s time-honored entrepreneurial tradition and the making of market and business institutions between the mid-sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries when China experienced explosive commercial development.

(Offered as ASLC 360 and RELI 360) What does it entail, and feel like, to embrace the modern world from a Buddhist perspective? The course examines key issues that have shaped the development of modern Buddhism across East Asia, while fostering a critical assessment of some fundamental assumptions in the making of the modern age.

(Offered as RELI-285, ASLC-285, and ENGL-301)  An exploration of several salient questions concerning the Qur’ān, the Islamic Revealed Book. How have Muslims explained the Qur’ān’s own proclamation of its supernatural origin and its miraculous quality?  How does the Qur’ān engage with and respond to the Hebrew Bible and Christian scriptures? Who has the authority to interpret the Qur’ān and why? These are just a few of the tantalizing questions that will occupy us over the course of the semester.

(Offered as HIST 273 [AS/TC/TE/TR/TS/P/C] and ASLC 273 [SA]) Are myth and history related? Do scholars interpret literature to write history? What happens when stories travel through time and across oceans? Do epics migrate with people? We answer these questions through the Ramayana, one of the most famous epics in the world.

(Offered as RELI 255 and ASLC 256) A systematic exploration of the place of ethics and moral reasoning in Buddhist thought and practice. The scope of the course is wide, with examples drawn from the whole Buddhist world, but emphasis is on the particularity of different Buddhist visions of the ideal human life. Attention is given to the problems of the proper description of Buddhist ethics in a comparative perspective.

Fall semester. Professor M. Heim

How to handle overenrollment: null

(Offered as HIST 173 [AS/TC/TE/TR/TS/P/C] and ASLC 173 [SA])