There are more than 200,000 species of viruses that are unknown to us. How often do you come down with a nasty cold? What causes viruses to wreak havoc in an organism that is many orders of magnitude bigger than itself? Are viruses alive? Are viruses good or bad? This seminar will explore what viruses are and how they play an important role in human health (both good and bad). We will address these questions and discuss how viruses are grown and studied in the lab. Additionally, the course will include visits to some labs at UMass that do exciting virus research.

Exercises in play construction involving characterization, dialogue, and plot development; and completion of a short playscript.

Do you know your legal rights?

Do you think UMass buildings like the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, the Campus Center, and Southwest are ugly? In this class, we will explore the history of Brutalism and how you can learn to love (or at least not hate?) these not-so-gentle giants. You will also learn where the word "Brutalism" came from, how the term is a poor translation (or happy accident, depending on the way you look at it) of the original French beton brut (literally "raw concrete"), and the legacy Modernism left behind, aesthetically and politically.

When it comes to human caging, the U.S. leads the world. There are now over two million people in the nation's jails and prisons. This is a relatively new phenomenon, with the incarceration rate soaring 500 percent over the last 40 years. All of this is happening at a time when the rate of violent crime has been stable or declining. So, what explains these trends? This course will introduce you to the chronological, political, and institutional development of the U.S. carceral state.

At schools across the country, and right at UMass, students are mobilizing for justice and making demands together! What happens when we get loud and demand our colleges and universities do better? What resources and visions have students won, and how? Whether you are already working in student-led social movements or are curious about getting involved, this seminar will be a space to learn about student activism today, share resources on student-led movements, and gain some practical skills related to organizing.

In this first-year seminar, we will read about and discuss many of these issues that are so pervasive in our daily life that we rarely pay attention to them. The hope is that we can go through our time in college paying a little bit more attention, making more intentional choices, rather than simply floating downstream.

In this course we will study one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet, through its film, musical, performance, visual art, and novel adaptations. We will consider questions such as what is an adaptation? What counts as an "original" vs. an adaptation? What is Shakespeare's role in our contemporary context? How can we learn more about Romeo and Juliet by studying how it has been represented and retold in new contexts and through new genres? How do adaptations or retellings critique and/or reaffirm norms and power structures?

Do you like ancient mythology? Are you a lover of art? Are you interested in getting out of the classroom and exploring different art and archival collections at UMass? This course will take a unique look at ancient Mediterranean mythology along with just some of the countless art pieces and architecture these stories have inspired over the last two thousand years. Every two weeks will focus on a specific mythological story from Greece and the Rome.