(Offered as HIST 181 [AF/TE/TR/TS] and BLST 121 [A])  This course focuses on the long twentieth century in Africa, from the onset of colonial rule in the 1880s through to the present moment of global engagement. We have three major questions that we will be pursuing throughout the semester. The first concerns the various images of Africa and Africans as they have been conceived in the West and then exported back into African societies. Can we distinguish the image from the reality, the myth from the reportage?

(Offered as MUSI 128 and BLST 344). This course examines the relationship between blues music and American culture. Using Amiri Baraka's influential 1963 book of music criticism, Blues People, as a central text, we will explore ways in which the "blues impulse" has been fundamental to conceptions of African-American identity. At the same time, we will trace the development of African-American music through its connection to West African musical traditions and through its emergence during slavery and the Jim Crow South.

[R] This interdisciplinary introduction to Black Studies combines the teaching of foundational texts in the field with instruction in reading and writing. The first half of the course employs How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren as a guide to the careful reading of books focusing on the slave trade and its effects in Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. Important readings in this part of the course include Black Odyssey by Nathan Huggins, Racism: A Short History by George Frederickson, and The Black Jacobins by C. L. R. James.

Honors students take three courses of thesis research, usually, but not always, with the double course load in the spring. The work consists of seminar programs, individual research projects, and preparation of a thesis on the research project.

Open to seniors. A double course. Fall semester. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Honors students take three courses of thesis research, usually, but not always, with the double course load in the spring (499D). The work consists of seminar programs, individual research projects, and preparation of a thesis on the research project.

Open to seniors. Fall semester. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Independent reading or research course. A half course. Does not normally count toward the major.

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: Varies by course but includes independent research, independent writing, reading and evaluating primary literature, data analysis, and quantitative reasoning.

Independent reading or research course. A full course. Does not normally count toward the major.

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: Varies by course but includes independent research, independent writing, reading and evaluating primary literature, data analysis, and quantitative reasoning.

The origin and maintenance of sexual reproduction stands as one of the great mysteries of evolutionary biology. This seminar will explore the nature of sex and sexual reproduction across organisms, consider hypotheses for its origin and maintenance, and study its diverse consequences in populations.

Independent reading or research course. A full course. Does not normally count toward the major.

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: Varies by course but includes independent research, independent writing, reading and evaluating primary literature, data analysis, and quantitative reasoning.

(Offered as BIOL 301 and NEUR 301) An analysis of the molecules and molecular mechanisms underlying nervous system function, development, and disease. We will explore the proteins that contribute to the unique structure and function of neurons, including an in-depth analysis of synaptic communication and the molecular processes that modify synapses. We will also study the molecular mechanisms that control brain and synapse development as well as neuronal death and degeneration.