May 08, 2024  
2021 - 2022 Academic Catalog 
    
2021 - 2022 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Search


 

 

Special Topics-Spring

  
  • ENG 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Beginning Fiction Workshop

    2 credits (Spring)
    In this beginning fiction workshop, we’ll put our stories under a microscope and examine them piece by piece. We’ll break down the anatomy of our narratives to look at their basic mechanics (plot, dialogue, sentence-level writing, etc.) and also closely examine the more ethereal elements that bring a story to life  interiority and empathy, first and foremost). We’ll read some published works but focus primarily on our own, honing our skills as both writers and editors. Workshop submissions should be freestanding short stories only (no novel excerpts, please–though all of the concepts we discuss will apply to novel-length projects as well!).

    Prerequisite: ENG 120 
    Note: Meets April 8 to May 13. Half-semester deadline apply.
    Instructor: Lombardo
  
  • ENV 495-01 - Senior Seminar: The Anthropocene

    4 credits
    The Anthropocene. In the three and-a-half billion-year history of life on Earth, there has been no species quite like Homo sapiens. Through our intelligence, ingenuity and sense of dominion, humans have forged a new geological Epoch in Earth’s history: the Anthropocene, an inflection point in the trajectory of life on Earth. We have warmed the atmosphere to the extent that humans have prevented (or at least delayed) the next Ice Age. We are causing Earth’s sixth great extinction event, creating a future that may be attenuated of biodiversity and bereft of wilderness. The domestication and exchange of species between continents has created strange new ecosystems. By manipulation of their genetic code, we have created new species. We have created the first known extraterrestrials, from Apollo moonwalkers to microbes hitchhiking on Mars landers. Every student at Grinnell College will be coming of age during the Anthropocene. The seminar will explore what’s in store for them. Prerequisites: Open to Junior and Senior Environmental Studies Concentrators

    Prerequisite: Open to Junior and Senior Environmental Studies Concentrators
    Instructor: Campbell
  
  • FRN 350-01 - Advanced Topics in Lit & Civilization

    4 credits
    Staging the Revolutions. The French Revolution and the accompanying Haitian Revolution provide intense philosophical debates, vivid events, and dramatic personalities that have fascinated playwrights and theatrical directors. In this seminar, we will read four plays that depict events of the Revolutions: 1789 by Ariane Mnouchkine, Ca ira(Fin de Louis) by Joel Pommerat, Dialogues des Carmelites by Georges Bernanos (and the later opera by Francis Poulenc), and La Tragedie du Roi Christophe by Aime Cesaire. For each work, we will try to understand the historical events that inspired the play and the writer’s perspective on those events, but also the director’s theatrical vision for bringing the Revolution to the stage. Students will complete a research project with a significant digital component. Prerequisite: French 312 or 313. HARRISON

    Prerequisite: FRN-312 or 313
    Instructor: Harrison
  
  • GLS 295-01 - Special Topic: Contemporary Japanese Fiction

    4 credits (Spring)
    See JPN 295-01 

  
  • GLS 303-01 - Studies in Drama I

    4 credits
    See Theatre 303. Description not available. Prerequisite: May vary depending on topic but can include 200-level coursework in English, foreign languages, Classics, History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Anthropology, Art, Theatre or dramatic literature/criticism/theatre history. May be repeated once for credit when content changes. MEASE, DELMENICO.

    Prerequisite: May vary depending on topic but can include 200-level coursework in English, foreign languages, Classics, History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Anthropology, Art, Theatre or dramatic literature/criticism/theatre history.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • GRE 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Aristophanes

    4 credits (Spring)
    Reading of Aristophanes’ comedy Birds in Greek. Discussions and selected scholarly readings will give special attention to genre and form, style, humor, and performance. 

    Prerequisite: GRE 222  or equivalent
    Instructor: Dixon
  
  • GRM 295-01 - Special Topic: Feminist Literatures from the German-speaking Worlds

    4 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: GWS 295-03 .  In this course we study selections of feminist texts from the German speaking world with a focus on Black and Jewish writers. This course introduces authors and genres representing important literary currents and historical developments. By the end of this course, students will deepen their knowledge of different text types and genres, feminist key concepts, text analysis, literary theory, and close readings.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Poetzl
  
  • GWS 295-01 - Special Topic: Epistemic Injustice and Resistance

    4 credits (Spring)
    See PHI 295-01 

  
  • GWS 295-02 - Special Topic: Race, Sexuality, and Protest: 1968 - Present

    4 credits (Spring)
    As the U.S. returned to a more familiar political landscape in January 2021, many regarded the future with apprehension. What, of the preceding four years, should we regard as anomalous to the Trump presidency? What might have more enduring legacies? In this course, we turn to histories of radical,intersectional activism since the Civil Rights movement to consider what these traditions of resistance can teach us about the upheavals of the last several years. 

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Lewis
  
  • GWS 295-03 - Special Topic: Feminist Literatures from the German-speaking Worlds

    4 credits (Spring)
    See GRM 295-01 

  
  • GWS 295-04 - Special Topic: Trans Film and Media

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course provides a critical perspective on our current conjuncture of mainstream trans visibility and representation via a focus on film and other media since the 1990s. The course surveys both popular depictions as well as alternative cultural production by and for trans communities. Central attention will be paid to how trans representations intersect with race, capital, immigration, and disability; the class will also critically unpack the fraught relationship between cultural representation and political “progress.” 

    Prerequisite: GWS 111 
    Instructor: Lewis
  
  • GWS 395-02 - Advanced Special Topic: Black Feminist Thought

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course is a study of the major contributions of Black feminist thinkers to social justice movements and to the field of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies in the United States. In addition to reading foundational texts in Black Women’s Studies by authors such as Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Angela Y. Davis, and Patricia Hill Collins, class participants will consider more recent work by Black feminist thinkers, such as Marquis Bey, Brittney Cooper, Jennfer Nash, and Feminista Jones. Exploration of the work of visionary writers such as Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, and Jessica Care Moore, will help students to understand the numerous ways that this important intellectual tradition has contributed to the project of creating a more just and equitable society. 

    Prerequisite: GWS 111  and GWS 249 .
    Instructor: Johnson
  
  • GWS 395-03 - Advanced Special Topic: Studies in Film Theory

    4 credits (Spring)
    See ART 395-01  and HUM 395-01 

  
  • GWS 495-01 - Senior Seminar: Disruptive Bodies

    4 credits
    Synonyms for ‘disruptive’ include being unruly, unsettling, transgressive, deviant, threatening, disobedient, and problematic. This GWSS seminar takes on the concept of disruptive social bodies to examine how minoritized individuals and groups resist their subordination and claim areas of society reserved for “normals.” Drawing on the conceptual resources of the course, students will undertake projects in which they will empirically investigate some aspect of the lived experience and social significance of a disruptive body. Prerequisite: senior status; Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies Major; Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies 111 and 249. STAFF

    Prerequisite: GWS-111, 249 and Senior Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies major
    Instructor: Beauboeuf
  
  • GWS 495-02 - Senior Seminar: Disruptive Bodies

    4 credits
    Synonyms for ‘disruptive’ include being unruly, unsettling, transgressive, deviant, threatening, disobedient, and problematic. This GWSS seminar takes on the concept of disruptive social bodies to examine how minoritized individuals and groups resist their subordination and claim areas of society reserved for “normals.” Drawing on the conceptual resources of the course, students will undertake projects in which they will empirically investigate some aspect of the lived experience and social significance of a disruptive body. Prerequisite: senior status; Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies Major; Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies 111 and 249. STAFF

    Prerequisite: GWS-111, 249 and Senior Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies major
    Instructor: Beauboeuf
  
  • HIS 295-02 - Special Topic: Classical Asia

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course surveys the history of Ancient East Asia (China, Japan, and Korea) with some comparative notes on South Asia, especially India. We will look at how people in each culture created their distinctive identities, experienced the world around them, and inscribed their thinking into texts that have become the “Asian Classics.” This course also echoes the current antiracist movement in the US by reflecting on ethnic conflicts in East Asian history.  

    Prerequisite: HIS 100 , or second-year standing.
    Instructor: Luo
  
  • HIS 295-03 - Special Topic: Modern History of Israel/Palestine: Society, Culture, and Politics

    4 credits (Spring)
    Israel/Palestine history is marked by contest and difference and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a hot-button issue for many. This course will offer a historical introduction to this conflict, beginning at the nineteenth-century and closing with present-day developments. The course will pay attention to the social, cultural, and political dimensions of this history. Through readings, memoirs, poetry, and films from diverse perspectives, this course will critically engage with the complexities and nuances of this conflict.

    Prerequisite: HIS 100 
    Instructor: Almohsen
  
  • HIS 295-04 - Special Topic: Reckoning with the past in modern Africa

    2 credits (Spring)
    This course explores the state and community mechanisms instituted after apartheid in South Africa and the genocide in Rwanda to document histories of violence and confront legacies of injustice. Transitional and restorative justice practices (i.e. the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Rwandan gacaca community court system) will provide a focal point of comparison, but we will also consider other post-conflict means of collective self-reflection through cultural expression, public commemoration, and grassroots and student activism. 

    Prerequisite: HIS 100 , or second-year standing.
    Note: Dates January 24 to March 18. Half-semester deadlines apply.
    Instructor: Prevost
  
  • HIS 295-05 - Special Topic: Black Abolitionist Thought

    4 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: POL 295-04 .  This interdisciplinary course examines the tradition of Black abolitionist thought in the United States. Studying the writings of key figures like David Walker, Frederick Douglass, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells, and W.E.B. Du Bois, students will explore how Black abolitionist activists theorized race, gender, law, rights, equality, resistance, freedom, and democracy; and consider how the contemporary movement to abolish prisons and policing has roots in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century racial justice activism.

    Prerequisite: HIS 100 POL 101 , or second-year standing if taken as HIS-295.   POL 101  if taken as POL-295.  
    Instructor: L. Ferugson
  
  • HIS 295-06 - Special Topic: History of the Black Press, News, and Media

    1 credits (Spring)
    This short course will cover the evolution of black news papers, periodicals, magazines and the turn to digital media with a focus on topics such as abolition, civil rights, and black family life.

    Prerequisite: HIS 100  or second-year standing.
    Note: Dates: February 28 to March 18. Short course deadlines apply.
    Instructor: Odom
  
  • HUM 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Stuff: Introduction to Material Culture Studies

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of material culture studies. Participants explore extraordinary and everyday objects from the perspectives of art history, museum studies, gender and sexuality studies, religious studies, philosophy, anthropology, and history. Students also learn kinesthetically in the MLab studio spaces at the Stew in downtown Grinnell, where we develop firsthand knowledge of the materials, forms, ornaments, and functions of stuff. 

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Maynard
  
  • HUM 295-01 - Special Topic: Mapping Racialized Trauma in Schools

    2 credits (Spring)


    Cross-listed as: EDU 295-01  or SST 295-01 .  Using a combination of curriculum theory, critical geography, and scholarship on the afterlives of slavery and desegregation, this course will examine the roots of racialized trauma in U.S. schools and how mapping and spatial analysis can help us to reclaim schools as sites of liberation.

     

    Prerequisite: None.
    Note: Dates: January 31 to March 16. Half-semester deadlines apply.
    Instructor: Jones

  
  • HUM 295-02 - Special Topic: Digital Journal Publishing Building an Audience

    4 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: SST 295-02 .  Course covers all aspects of Rootstalk: A Prairie Journal of Culture, Science, and the Arts. Students expand the definition of a journal, shaping content for the Spring 2022 issue in traditional forms (text and images) but also learning to create online digital content including podcasts, video essays, short films, and audio files. Special focus for this class: formulation of audience-building strategies, including discussion and study of analytics, social media, and outreach to special populations.

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Instructor: Andelson, Baechtel
  
  • HUM 295-03 - Special Topic: How Natural Disasters Affects the Cultural Narrative of the Arts

    2 credits (Spring)
    This course will undertake comparative analysis of the cultural narratives constructed around Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina (2005) and the 2010 Haitian earthquake from the perspective of creative arts.  Students will interrogate and identify emergent/critical alliances and networks that encapsulate and celebrate the protest, dissent, and incivility of resilience embodied in indigenous and marginalized communities.

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Note: Dates: January 31 to March 11. Half-semester deadlines apply.l
    Instructor: Moise
  
  • HUM 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Studies in Film Theory

    4 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: ART 395-01  and GWS 395-03 .  This course presents an advanced introduction to film theory following a chronological approach, from early realist and formalist works, to modern, postmodern and avant-garde iterations, to contemporary feminist revisionist cinema. In this writing-intensive module we will look at key theoretical concepts surrounding authorship, spectatorship, as well as embodiment, gender, race, queerness, and cultural identity. We will engage these complex feminist topics from an intersectional and decolonial perspective foregrounding migration, neoliberalism, technology, and emancipatory struggle as catalysts behind the evolution of film theory in the contemporary moment.

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Instructor: Nikolopoulou
  
  • JPN 295-01 - Special Topic: Contemporary Japanese Fiction

    4 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: GLS 295-01 .  In this course, we will read contemporary Japanese fiction (in English translation) from the 1990’s to the present with an emphasis on women and/or minority  writers within Japan. We will consider how these texts grapple with a range of social issues, such as: the afterlives of the Japanese empire, gender and sexuality, post-90’s economic recession, a declining birth rate, as well as xenophobia and the rise of right-wing nationalism. We will also consider what it means to read  these works in English translation, thinking critically about the ways that national identity is refracted through a global literary marketplace. Readings and discussions in English. 

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Hofmann-Kuroda
  
  • JPN 295-02 - Special Topic: Conversational Japanese

    2 credits (Spring)
    This course is for those students who have finished Intermediate Japanese I (JPN 221) or an equivalent course. This course will focus on practicing conversational skills on different aspects such as in business, casual and polite situations.

    Prerequisite: JPN 221 
    Instructor: Shiomi
  
  • LIN 295-01 - Special Topic: Loanword Adaptation

    4 credits (Spring)
    When and why do languages borrow words from other languages? How do languages adapt foreign words to their native sound systems? Through a variety of case studies, this course explores the phonetic and phonological changes that languages apply to loanwords in order to incorporate them into their lexicons. We will also compare different theories of loanword adaptation and consider how different linguistic and social contexts affect the outcome of borrowing.

    Prerequisite: LIN 114 LIN 270 , or CLS 270 
    Instructor: Glewwe
  
  • LIN 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Tone

    4 credits (Spring)
    How are tones both similar to and different from consonants and vowels? What has the study of tone contributed to linguistics? This course explores the many facets of tone in the world’s languages, from the phonetics of tonal inventories to the complexity of tonal phonology to the interaction of tone and syntactic structure. We will also consider how languages develop tone, how to study tone in the field, and the relationship between tone and music. 

    Prerequisite: LIN 216 , LIN 270 , LIN-295-Special Topic: Phonetics & Phonology, LIN 317 , or CLS 270 
    Instructor: Glewwe
  
  • MAT 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Discovering the Art of Mathematics

    4 credits (Spring)
    What is the mathematics of music? Can you mathematically determine if two jumbled-up (but separate) knots are really the same knot (or not)? Can all maps be properly shaded with four colors? Assuming no math background beyond basic arithmetic, this course will explore a host of topics involving numbers, puzzles and games. With a spirit of curiosity and exploration, the engaging and beautiful world of mathematics will be brought alive.

    Prerequisite: None. 
    Instructor: Wolf
  
  • MAT 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Applied Data Science

    4 credits (Spring)
    See STA 395-01 

  
  • MUS 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Tap is Music

    1 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: THD 195-01 .  Hoofing and tap dancing continue to live at a nexus, however marginalized, of American culture and consciousness. We - as musicians, dancers, actors,  performers, thinkers, artists, humans, and as institutions - have much  to learn from tap dancing. When a discipline is divided a wholeness is lost: tap reunites what was once one. This course explores facets of tap dance fundamentals, musical collaboration, and cultural contexts and awareness, through rehearsal, reflection, experimentation, and performance.

    Prerequisite: None.
    S/D/F only.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • PHE 295-01 - Special Topic: The Power of the American Journey II: Social Justice and the Olympic Movement

    4 credits (Spring)
    See AMS 295-01  and SOC 295-01 

  
  • PHI 295-01 - Special Topic: Epistemic Injustice and Resistance

    4 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: GWS 295-01 .  This course will examine harms done to people in their capacity as knowers such as silencing, gas-lighting, epistemologies of ignorance and other forms of epistemic oppression. We will study strategies for resistance that center black feminist epistemologies, critical race theory, and indigenous storytelling methodologies. Readings include Dotson, Collins, Medina, Alcoff, Mills, Archibald & Linda Tuhiwai Smith.

    Prerequisite: PHI 111 GWS 111 , or second-year standing.
    Instructor: Nyden
  
  • PHI 295-02 - Special Topic: Environmental Ethics

    4 credits (Spring)
    What is environmental ethics and why is it necessary? How should the human-nature relationship be understood? Is nature instrumentally valuable or intrinsically valuable? What special ethical challenges do global climate change and the global food system pose? This class aims to introduce students to both anthropocentric and non-anthropocentric perspectives on these questions, and will consider, in particular, the approaches of ‘enlightened anthropocentrism’, the land ethic, deep ecology, ecofeminism, and the environmental justice movement. 

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Instructor: Fennell
  
  • PHI 295-03 - Special Topic: Theory and Praxis: Decolonial, Anti-Racist, and Feminist Perspectives on Revolution

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course will introduce students to critical theory by examining how leading critical theorists have addressed questions related to theory and praxis. In particular, the course will focus on the importance of theory for social critique and for transformative social action. We begin with foundational texts of critical theory including Marx, Freud, Adorno, and Benjamin. We then turn to later interventions, including the critical race theory of Frantz Fanon, Bayard Rustin, and Angela Davis. 

    Prerequisite: PHI 111  or PHI 121  (previously offered as PHI 195 Philosophy for Life)
    Instructor: Mulaj
  
  • PHI 392-01 - Adv Studies/Sellars and After

    4 credits
    A philosopher’s philosopher, Wilfred Sellars is among the most influential (and difficult) figures of twentieth century philosophy. Works such as Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind signaled a sea change in the analytic tradition, pushing it beyond its initial commitment to logical positivism. Sellars’ legacy is his powerful synoptic vision of philosophy, sometimes called Inferentialism, which juggles metaphysical naturalism with a commitment to normativity. His ideas have been taken up by other leading figures such as John McDowell, Robert Brandom and Richard Rorty. In this seminar we will investigate Sellars’ views, both in their original context and in their continuing relevance today. Prerequisite: Philosophy 253, 254, 256, 257, 258 or 271. NEISSER

    Prerequisite: PHI-253, 254, 256, 257, 258, or 271
    Instructor: Neisser
  
  • PHY 295-01 - Special Topic: Biophysics

    4 credits (Spring)
    An introduction to the physics of biological systems. Topics include Browninan motion, diffusion, entropy, free energy, entropic forces, self-assembly, biopolymer physics, molecular machines, membrane physics. 

    Prerequisite: PHY 132 
    Instructor: Hasegawa
  
  • POL 295-01 - Special Topic: Political Behavior and Public Opinion

    4 credits (Spring)
    According to democratic theory, Americans’ collective wants and hopes have value and should translate into policy via representative government. But empirical research warns us that the average American is politically unknowledgeable, uninterested, and unsophisticated. Is public opinion meaningful? Should elites heed or discard it? Can the American voter be rehabilitated or is she best relegated to the sidelines? Topics: issue voting, non-attitudes, heuristics, retrospection, framing, media effects, partisanship, polarization, social identity, stereotypes, prejudice, emotions, social capital. 

    Prerequisite: POL 101 
    Instructor: Virgin
  
  • POL 295-02 - Special Topic: Electoral Systems

    4 credits (Spring)
    The American electoral system is but one way to translate votes into seats; other countries have designed their democracies quite differently. This course explores such comparative diversity, in particular its effects on outputs about which scholars normatively care (e.g., voter turnout, party viability, representation, government durability, satisfaction with democracy). The course also attends to the origins of national systems and explores the circumstances under which they change. 

    Prerequisite: POL 101 
    Instructor: Virgin
  
  • POL 295-03 - Special Topic: Public Attitudes on American Democracy

    4 credits (Spring)
    See SST 295-03 

  
  • POL 295-04 - Special Topic: Black Abolitionist Thought

    4 credits (Spring)
    See HIS 295-05 

  
  • POL 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Direct Democracy and Referenda

    4 credits (Spring)
    Should governments ask their citizens what they want? Do referendums improve democracy or promote equality? This course explores the normative and empirical arguments in favor and against referendums. It explores the ways in which the direct will of the people is institutionalized, the increasing use of referenda globally, and the consequences of framing important constitutional questions in single-issue questions that only have yes/no answers. We will focus on their impact in transitions to democracy, democratic reversal, peace processes, secessionism and populism.

    Prerequisite or co-requisite: POL 219 ,  POL 255 POL 257 POL 258 POL 261 POL 262 , or POL 273 
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Sala
  
  • REL 295-02 - Special Topic: Pilgrimage, Voyage, Journey

    4 credits (Spring)
    In this course, we consider why people travel, what might be gained or lost by traveling, and what is unique to the experience of travel. We draw from memoir, fiction, film, and journalism in considering the effects of travel on travelers, non-travelers, local communities, and the world at large. We examine links between travel and broader historical and social phenomena and ways that travel has been linked to ideas of the religious and the “spiritual.”

    Prerequisite: REL 101 REL 102 REL 103 REL 104 REL 105 , or second-year standing.      
    Instructor: Blaber
  
  • REL 295-03 - Special Topic: Reckoning with the Holocaust

    4 credits (Spring)
    How might the Holocaust trouble notions of history, testimony and representation? What kinds of ethical, theological, and philosophical traditions might the Holocaust call into question? In the wake of the Holocaust, what must be re-thought? In this course, we grapple with these questions through careful examination of memoir, philosophy, theology, poetry, art, and literature, while considering historical shifts in scholarship about the Holocaust and asking what is at stake in studying the Holocaust today. 

    Prerequisite: REL 101 REL 102 REL 103 REL 104 REL 105 , or second-year standing.     
    Instructor: Blaber
  
  • RUS 295-01 - Special Topic: Comrades in the Kitchen: Russian Food and Culture in the Soviet Century

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course will explore Russian food culture through the lens of literature, art, poetry, film, and popular culture. Drawing from Russian literature, cookbooks, cultural histories, art, film, folklore, and memoirs, we will use the methodologies of textural analysis and food history to research, write, and speak about how food and food culture reflects the human experience in Russia, with particular focus on the Soviet twentieth century: from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. We will also consider critical writing about the relationship between food and culture, and create a food blog to present our own critical views about Russian cooking and culture. A central part of our course will involve hands-on practice of the preparation and consumption of Russian (and Soviet) food.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Armstrong
  
  • SAM 295-01 - Special Topic: Modern History of Israel/Palestine: Society, Culture, and Politics

    4 credits (Spring)
    See HIS 295-03 

  
  • SOC 295-01 - Special Topic: The Power of the American Journey II: Social Justice and the Olympic Movement

    4 credits (Spring)
    See AMS 295-01 

  
  • SOC 295-02 - Special Topic: Sociology of Robots

    4 credits (Spring)
    What remains in an era of Artificial Intelligence? and, “How will/have our relationships to the machines changed our relationships to other humans? These are the central questions that will drive this course. Students will learn about precursors to today’s androids and artificial intelligence, study media depictions of machines and their relationship to humans, and choose one device/machine to study on their own. The course is designed to apply social science methods of inquiry to the cultural consequences of machine life. 

    Prerequisite: SOC 111 
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Erickson
  
  • SOC 295-03 - Special Topic: Environmental Sociology

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course provides an overview of environmental sociology as a sub-discipline: introduces students to the essential concepts, theories, and methods used in environmental sociology, enabling students to identify and examine the way sociological concepts can be applied to environmental concerns academically, creatively, and practically. 

    Prerequisite: SOC 111 
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Bacon
  
  • SOC 295-04 - Special Topic: Sociology of Food and Agriculture

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course applies the sociological imagination to a subject matter of both global importance and local significance. Students will consider the way food intersects with culture and identity, explore how norms, policies, and economics influence food consumption and production, and delve into the ecological and environmental justice questions surrounding food and agriculture. 

    Prerequisite: SOC 111 
    Instructor: Bacon
  
  • SOC 395-02 - Advanced Special Topic: Quantitative Tools for Social Research

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course offers students an overview of two quantitative methodological tools that sociologists frequently use to arrive at conclusions about the social world: survey and experimental data analysis. After delineating the uses, assumptions, and limitations that underlie these tools, the course will take a hands-on approach to data collection, preparation, and analysis. The course will also place considerable emphasis on a substantive interpretation of the results to ensure that data analysis is not divorced from social theory. Students will be expected to complete an individual project as part of the requirements for this course. 

    Prerequisite: SOC 291  and MAT 115 SST 115 , or STA 209 
    Instructor: Pandian
  
  • SPN 295-01 - Special Topic: Learning from the Latinx Community II

    2 credits (Spring)
    The main goal of this course is to provide students with a long-year community-engaged practicum at a community organization serving Latinxs. In addition, the course will include talks by community experts about different topics related to the Latinx community. This course intends to promote social change through critical learning and reflection, respectful understanding of others, civic dialogue, and informed action while continuing to hone Spanish language skills. Both the partner course offered in the fall and this course must be taken in the same academic year because of the community-engaged experience. 

    Prerequisite: SPN 295-01  and permission of instructor.
    Instructor: Valentin
  
  • SST 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: SPARK Innovation Challenge

    2 credits (Spring)
    Students are provided with a framework and guidance as they research and present solutions to social problems in the community using a hybrid approach based on applied anthropology, design thinking, and policy analysis.  Students may focus on issues they have identified themselves, or tackle an issue identified by a Grinnell community organization.  While not required, all student are encouraged to pitch their solutions for the chance to win up to $10,000 as part of the Wilson Center’s SPARK Challenge.  All SPARK participants must enroll in the class for credit or as an audit.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Note: Dates: January 31 to April 25. Half-semester deadlines apply.
    Instructor: Roper
  
  • SST 295-01 - Special Topic: Mapping Racialized Trauma in Schools

    2 credits (Spring)
    See HUM 295-01  or EDU 295-01 

  
  • SST 295-02 - Special Topic: Digital Journal Publishing Building an Audience

    4 credits (Spring)
    See HUM 295-02 .

  
  • SST 295-03 - Special Topic: Public Attitudes on American Democracy

    4 credits (Spring)


    Cross-listed as: POL 295-03 .  This course examines the attitudes of the American public on liberty, equality and liberal democratic institutions using the Grinnell College National Poll. Students will study core democratic principles and contemporary challenges to democracy, design poll questions to examine attitudes about these principles in the American public, and analyze responses to those questions after the poll is fielded.

    Note: when taken as POL-295, this course satisfies the American politics distribution requirement of the Political Science Major. 

    Prerequisite: SST 115  or STA 209  only if taken as SST-295; POL 101  is also required if taking as POL-295.
    Instructor: Hanson

  
  • SST 295-04 - Special Topic: Ethical Leadership in an Interconnected World

    1 credits (Spring)
    This class uses the topic of ethics in an interconnected world to address communications and leadership skills important for workplace success.  You will not be taught about right versus wrong. Rather, the focus is upon identification of ethical issues, methods for analyzing such issues, advising about such situations to organizational leaders, and addressing ethics as workplace leaders. We will address ethical issues as they apply to large and small for-profit businesses, the non-profit sector, and within government. Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership. 

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Note: Dates: April 11 to May 9. Short-course deadlines apply.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • STA 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Applied Data Science

    4 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: MAT 395-01 .  Students will work in small teams on an applied data science project completing the full spectrum of the data science process including developing the problem statement, collecting and processing data, identifying and employing mathematical and/or statistical methods to extract information from the data, implementing the quantitative methods in an appropriate programming environment, and generating conclusions supported by data. 

    Prerequisite: CSC 207  and STA 230 , MAT 306 , or STA 310 
    Instructor: McMannamy
  
  • THD 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Tap is Music

    1 credits (Spring)
    See MUS 195-01 .  

  
  • THD 195-02 - Introductory Special Topic: Costume Crafts and Construction

    4 credits (Spring)
    This is a course in costume technology, including machine sewing, handwork, makeup, hair, masks, jewelry, millinery, puppetry, dyeing methods, and the use of both traditional and non-traditional materials.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Howell-Gritsch

Special Topic - Fall and Spring

  
  • HIS 195-01 & 02 - Introductory Special Topic: Comparative Herbalism

    2 credits (Fall and Spring)
    Comparative Herbalism explores the historical and current use of plant-based healing practices across the globe, highlighting how and why various cultures have incorporated plants into their healing traditions. Multi-disciplinary in both structure and content, students will participate in makers’ labs, write short essays, and create a digital story that narrates either the use of a particular plant or the treatment of a particular condition across herbal cultures in history and the present. This course is offered Fall and Spring semester. 

    Prerequisite: None.
    Note: Section 01 - fall - Dates: August 30 to October 11. Half-semester deadlines apply.
    Section 02 - spring - Dates: April 4 to May 9. Half-semester deadlines apply.
    Instructor: Lewis

Statistics

  
  • STA 209 - Applied Statistics

    4 credits (Fall and Spring)
    The course covers the application of basic statistical methods such as univariate graphics and summary statistics, basic statistical inference for one and two samples, linear regression (simple and multiple), one- and two-way ANOVA, and categorical data analysis. Students use statistical software to analyze data and conduct simulations. A student who takes Statistics 209 cannot receive credit for MAT 115  or SST 115 .

    Prerequisite: MAT 124  or MAT 131 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • STA 230 - Introduction to Data Science

    4 credits (Fall and Spring)
    This course introduces core topics in data science using R programming. This includes introductions to getting and cleaning data, data management, exploratory data analysis, reproducible research, and data visualization. This course incorporates case studies from multiple disciplines and emphasizes the importance of properly communicating statistical ideas.

    Prerequisite: STA 209 . Suggested: CSC 151  or computer programming experience.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • STA 309 - Design and Analysis of Experiments

    4 credits (Spring)
    In addition to a short review of hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, and 1-way ANOVA, this course incorporates experiments from several disciplines to explore design and analysis techniques. Topics include factorial designs, block designs (including latin square and split plot designs), random, fixed, and mixed effects models, crossed and nested factors, contrasts, checking assumptions, and proper analysis when assumptions are not met.

    Prerequisite: STA 209 , MAT 336 , or STA 336 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year. Offered in alternate years.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • STA 310 - Statistical Modeling

    4 credits (Fall)
    This course will focus on investigative statistics labs emphasizing the process of data collection and data analysis relevant for students conducting data-driven research in any field.  These labs will incorporate current events and interdisciplinary research, taking a problem-based approach to learn how to determine which statistical techniques are appropriate. Topics will typically include nonparametric tests, designing an experiment, and generalized linear models.

    Prerequisite: STA 209 STA 230 ,  MAT 336 , or STA 336 .  
    Instructor: Kuiper
  
  • STA 335 - Probability and Statistics I

    4 credits (Fall)
    See MAT 335 .

  
  • STA 336 - Probability and Statistics II

    4 credits (Spring)
    See MAT 336 .


Studies in Africa, Middle East, and South Asia

  
  • SAM 254 - Jews, Multiculturalism, and Antisemitism

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    See ANT 254 

  
  • SAM 401 - Research Colloquium

    2 credits (Fall or Spring)
    This research colloquium gives students doing advanced work in African Studies, Middle East Studies, and/or South Asian Studies an opportunity to revise, expand, and workshop a research product in a peer community and to present their findings in a public forum. Collective outcomes may include panel presentations at campus symposia or off-campus conference, special issues of undergraduate journals, or digital exhibitions.

    Prerequisite or co-requisite: ENG 360 ENG 390 , FRN 305 FRN 342 , HIS 334, HIS 371, MUS 322 POL 356 REL 394 THD 304 , 395, 397, 495, or 499 with permission.
    Instructor: Staff

Theatre and Dance

  
  • THD 100 - Performance Laboratory

    1 or 2 credits (Fall and Spring)
    Guided participation, for major theatre and dance productions, in theatrical performance, choreography, assistant directing, stage managing, dramaturgy, or design and crew work on sets, lights, props, costumes, or makeup. Qualified students examine problems of production in the theatre while solving these problems in rehearsal and performance. May be repeated for credit.

    Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
    Note: (A maximum of 8 practica credits may count toward graduation.) S/D/F only.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • THD 104 - Dance Technique I

    2 credits (Fall and Spring)
    Beginning dance technique; the principles, terminology, and developing a physical/kinesthetic understanding of concert dance techniques. Areas of emphasis include but are not limited to ballet or modern dance. Within both choreography and improvisation, dancers use their bodies as instruments for personal expression in individual and group explorations. May be repeated for credit.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Hurley
  
  • THD 111 - Introduction to Performance Studies

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    An examination of dramatic performance in its broadest cultural contexts. This foundational course is designed to encourage critical thinking about the inclusive field of performance and how it is created, including orality, festivals, living history museums, trials, political conventions, and sporting events. Students explore both texts and performance events to analyze “What makes an event performance?” and “How is performance made and understood?” Because knowledge is embodied as well as textualized, students will both write and perform components of their final class projects.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Note: Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Delmenico
  
  • THD 113 - Movement for the Performer

    4 credits (Fall)
    Practical exploration of movement and bodily-based trainings based on Nikolais and Laban techniques as an alternative means to theorize the integration of mind and body. Students develop greater physical awareness and articulation for stage, athletics and other applications. Studio-based exercises and activities investigate daily movement practices, improvisation and an introduction to composing in movement.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Miller
  
  • THD 115 - Theatrical Design and Technology

    4 credits (Fall and Spring)
    A hands-on, experiential introduction to the design elements of theatre and dance production. Topics include a history of Western theatre architecture and stage forms, scene painting, properties, lighting, sound, drafting, makeup, and costuming. Emphasis is placed upon the design and implementation of theatrical scenes from a variety of historic eras and the analysis of the ways in which the design elements influence performance style.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Thomas
  
  • THD 117 - Introduction to Acting

    4 credits (Fall and Spring)
    This class helps students develop a strong foundation in the theories and techniques of acting while also embracing new opportunities presented by the use of online mediums. Using Stanislavksi’s seminal text An Actor Prepares as the foundation, students develop their skills in dramatic analysis, character development, movement, voice, acting for the camera, and improvisation. Assignments include a monologue puppet theatre performance, podcast, and a short video-based production. This class is open to all students. No acting experience is necessary.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Quintero
  
  • THD 201 - Theatre History I

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    Cross-listed as: GLS 201 . Through lecture, discussion, and practicum this course investigates leading examples of world performance from the classical and medieval periods in Western Europe and Asia, the Americas, Renaissance Europe, and 17th & 18th-century Europe. Through engagements with literary, historical, and critical texts, we will situate landmark performance texts within their sociopolitical and artistic contexts. Our study will also engage in explorations of dramaturgy (how the theatrical past comes alive on contemporary stages), historiography (debates in the writing of theater history), and dramatic and performance theory.

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • THD 202 - Theatre History II

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    Cross-listed as: GLS 202 . Through lecture, discussion, and practicum this course investigates leading examples of world performance from 1800 to the 21st century. Our examinations will engage Melodrama, Modernism, twentieth-century avant-garde movements, and postmodernism. Through engagements with literary, historical, and critical texts, we will situate landmark performance texts within their sociopolitical and artistic contexts. Our study will also engage in explorations of dramaturgy (how the theatrical past comes alive on contemporary stages), historiography (debates in the writing of theater history), and dramatic and performance theory.

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • THD 203 - American Theatre

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    Cross-listed as: GLS 203 . A study of American theatre from the early 20th century to the present. Students examine a variety of different theatrical styles, ranging from plays by canonical authors (including O’Neill, Williams, Miller, Albee, Wilson, Mamet, and Shepard) to experimental works by artists who challenged the conventions of mainstream theatre (including Cage, Kaprow, Beck, Finley, and Wilson).

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Quintero
  
  • THD 204 - Dance Technique II

    2 credits (Fall and Spring)
    Intermediate and advanced dance technique; physical and kinesthetic study involving more complex movement patterns and sequences, phrasing, musicality, and stylistic considerations. Areas of emphasis include but are not limited to ballet or modern dance. Within both choreography and improvisation, dancers use their bodies as instruments for personal expression in individual movement as well as partnering with others. May be repeated for credit.

    Prerequisite: THD 104  or equivalent experience.
    Instructor: Hurley
  
  • THD 205 - Dance Ensemble

    2 credits (Fall and Spring)
    Dance Ensemble is a performing ensemble engaged in the development, rehearsal and production of contemporary dance works choreographed by faculty and guest artists. Exposure to diverse choreographic approaches provides the opportunity to expand technical, stylistic and interpretive range. Students gain collaborative skills through improvisation and the contribution of movement material to certain choreographic projects. Dance ensemble is open to students with previous dance and theatre background, and students interested in applying themselves as invested movers.

    Prerequisite: Entry into Dance Ensemble takes place at an Audition/Informational Workshop held at the beginning of each semester. Course registration closes at end of Add/Drop period.
    Note: (A maximum of 8 practica credits may count toward graduation.) S/D/F only.
    Instructor: Miller
  
  • THD 210 - Contemporary Dance in a Global Context

    4 credits (Fall)
    Contemporary dance practices have been challenging deeply held beliefs on art and life since the early 19th century. This hard to define genre has roots in modern and post-modern dance theory, and draws from dance disciplines as diverse as Ballet, Modern, Bharantanatyam, Butoh, Hip-Hop; as well as other disciplines. This course explores origins, styles, icons, purpose, myths and key concepts of the form from a survey of work produced by contemporary choreographers across the globe.

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Note: Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Miller
  
  • THD 211 - Performance Studies Survey

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    Course content may include a range of topics in Performance Studies, focusing on verbatim/ethnographic plays, post-colonial and global performances, community-based theatre, or avant-garde performance practices. This survey course explores the theories and methodologies of contemporary non-traditional theatrical forms and culminates in student-created performances.

    Prerequisite: Any 100-level Theatre and Dance course.
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Delmenico
  
  • THD 217 - Intermediate Acting

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    An intensive performance laboratory for students to explore different modes of performance and further develop and refine their acting skills. With an emphasis on psychological realism, students stage a series of individual and group performances designed to enhance their critical engagement of performance as both the subject and method of their study.

    Prerequisite: THD 117 .
    Note: Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Quintero
  
  • THD 225 - Choreography: Developing Physical Ideas

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course focuses on the fundamentals and theories of choreographic processes explored through formal and experimental models and their socio-historical contexts. Improvisation and composition are used to explore the structural elements and movement vocabularies that are used to devise physical ideas for the stage that emerge as choreography and staged direction for theatrical works. Students will present their work in an end of the semester showing.

    Prerequisite: THD 104 , THD 113 , or any 200-level Theatre and Dance course.
    Instructor: Miller
  
  • THD 235 - Directing

    4 credits (Fall)
    In this class, you will explore a variety of directing theories and practices as you develop your own distinctive directorial voice, vision and style. We will address the work of renowned stage directors and theoreticians as well as recent trends in live-streaming, interactive media, and video-sharing networking services. Designed as an experimental laboratory, this class will investigate new approaches to online rehearsals, performer/audience relations, and the development of original performance content. Whereas theatre generally emphasizes the liveness of the staged event, this class explores the unique possibilities presented by online performances. You will learn the fundamentals of directing traditional text-based plays including conducting pre-production dramaturgical research, identifying the “spine” (main through-line) of the text, scoring the dramatic actions and beats of the script, developing a ground plan, exploring different rehearsal techniques, blocking, and producing a final online performance. This course equally emphasizes process and product, stressing the importance of developing an organized approach to directing at this early stage in your artistic career. Permission from the professor or THD 117 are pre-requisites.

    Prerequisite: THD 117 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Quintero
  
  • THD 240 - Design for Performance I

    4 credits (Fall)
    An exploration of the design fundamentals common to each facet of theatrical design: scenery, lighting, costumes, and makeup. Such elements as design procedure from conception to realization, research techniques and materials, period style, and design history are emphasized.

    Prerequisite: THD 115  or ART 111 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Thomas
  
  • THD 245 - Lighting for the Stage

    4 credits (Fall)
    Introduces the student to the art of lighting design, process, and the practice of lighting the stage for the theatre, opera, dance, industrials, television, and video. Students develop the knowledge, vocabulary, and skills necessary to become a master electrician, assistant lighting designer, and beginning lighting designer.

    Prerequisite: THD 115  or THD 240 , or ART 111 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Thomas
  
  • THD 250 - Digital Media Design for Performance

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)


    This course will provide a survey of the integration of digital technology across a variety of live performance genres and its effects on both design and performance possibilities. Students will explore digital performance history and theory, engage in a series of assignments to understand digital hardware and software, and apply digital technology in their own aural, visual, and interactive performance work. 

     

    Prerequisite: THD 115  or second-year standing.
    Note: Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Thomas

  
  • THD 303 - Studies in Drama I

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    Cross-listed as: GLS 303 . A seminar-style course in dramaturgy, focusing on a central topic in the history and theory prior to 1850. The course will emphasize the development of methodologies and research strategies useful for the theatre practitioner and the researcher. Past topics for this variable-content course have included Greek Drama, Theory of Comedy (Aristophanes to Stoppard), English Medieval and Renaissance Drama; Hamlet and Revenge Tragedy, Shakespeare’s Comedies and Tragedies. May be repeated once for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.

    Prerequisite: May vary depending on topic but can include 200-level coursework in English, foreign languages, Classics, History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Anthropology, Art, Theatre or dramatic literature/criticism/theatre history.
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Delmenico
  
  • THD 304 - Studies in Drama II

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    Cross-listed as: GLS 304 . A seminar-style course in dramaturgy, focusing on a central topic in the history and theory of theatre and performance. Studies in Drama II covers topics after 1850. The course will emphasize the development of methodologies and research strategies useful for the theatre practitioner and the researcher. Past topics for this variable-content course have included Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov; Beckett’s Prose and Plays; Beckett and the Theatre of the Absurd; British Drama since World War II; and Postcolonial Theatre. May be repeated once for credit when content changes. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.

    Prerequisite: May vary depending on topic but can include 200-level coursework in English, foreign languages, Classics, History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Anthropology, Art, Theatre or dramatic literature/criticism/theatre history.
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Instructor: Delmenico
  
  • THD 310 - Studies in Dance

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    A combined seminar and practice course for advanced study of a selected topic in dance or contemporary performance that will be detailed each time the course is offered (topics are announced in the Schedule of Courses). The course will employ a variety of materials and methods for advanced research in dance as a cultural, social, historical, and artistic phenomenon. Topics could include: Dance and Technology, Community and Performance; Dancing Gender and Sexuality; and The Choreography of Political Protest. May be repeated once for credit. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.

    Prerequisite: Any 200-level Theatre and Dance course.
    Note: Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • THD 311 - Studies in Performance

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    An advanced-level, variable-topic course that combines theoretical and historical study with practical investigation. Possible topics include adaptation and performance of literature or nonfiction and devised or community-based performance. Students will work as individuals or within groups to research, create, and present a final performance project.

    Prerequisite: THD 201 , THD 202 , THD 203 , THD 210 , or THD 211 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Staff
  
  • THD 317 - Advanced Performance

    4 credits (Spring)
    This variable topic course focuses on classical and contemporary modes of performance. Possible areas of emphasis include Greek, Elizabethan, French neoclassic, contemporary docudrama theatre, Asian theatre, and performance art. Course emphasis is on scene study, performance, and directing. May be repeated when content changes.

    Prerequisite: THD 210 , THD 211 , THD 217 , or THD 235 .
    Note: Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Quintero
  
  • THD 340 - Design for Performance II

    4 credits (Fall)
    An in-depth exploration of designing for the stage, with the specific area of design (scenery, lighting, costumes) announced each time the course is offered. Emphasis is on script or dance “text” analysis and the evolution of design from first reading to first performance.

    Prerequisite: THD 240 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Thomas

Variable Topics - Fall

  
  • ANT 104-01 - Anthropological Inquiries

    4 credits (Fall)
    Anthropology of the Everyday: Language, Food, Place, and Material Culture. What is Anthropology? What does it mean to be human: how are we all the same and what do our differences tell us about all of the ways to be human? How can these answers help us address big complex questions like global inequality and adaptations to climate change? This course explores these questions, diving into the four fields of Anthropology through the various ways that we interact with culture in our daily lives: language, food, space, and material culture.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: de Wet
  
  • BIO 150-01 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry

    4 credits (Fall)
    The Effects of Climate Change on Organisms. We will examine the effects of predicted changes in temperature, moisture and carbon dioxide levels on organismal and ecosystem function through experimental investigation. We will focus on the effects of such changes on the physiology and metabolic functioning of organisms, as well as on biogeochemical processes of ecosystems. This course will be taught in a workshop format, meeting twice a week for three hours. Class time will be devoted primarily to discussions and lab work, examining theoretical aspects of organismal and ecosystem functioning, design and implementation of lab-based experiments, and the interpretation of our results in the context of extensive ongoing climate change research. 

    Instructor: P. Jacobson
  
  • BIO 150-02 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry

    4 credits (Fall)
    The Language of Neurons. In this course students will actively learn how biologists study the nervous system. Specifically, students will work as neuroscientists for a semester and will attempt to learn something novel about how nerve cells communicate with one another at chemical synapses. Students will present their findings at the end of the semester via both oral and written presentations. Papers resulting from a substantial independent project will be published in the class journal, Pioneering Neuroscience: The Grinnell Journal of Neurophysiology. Students with a strong background in high school physics will benefit most from this section of Biological Inquiry. 

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Lindgren
  
  • BIO 150-03 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry

    4 credits (Fall)
    Regeneration. In this course we will investigate regeneration using studies from phanaria, fish and axolotl. Based on critical reading of the literature, students will design and carry out independent research projects, analyze and report the results in scientific papers, posters and oral presentation. The class will combine lecture, lab, and discussion. 

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Lafontant
  
  • BIO 150-04 - Introduction to Biological Inquiry

    4 credits (Fall)
    Microbial Pathogenesis. In this course we will investigate strategic pathogenetic microorganisms use to thrive inside the human body. Topics addressed will include: the biology of bacteria and viruses, factors important for virulence, how antibiotics work, and how microorganisms become resistant to them. Students will participate in research aligning with the Tiny Earth Project, a program designed to identify novel antimicrobial compounds. Based on critical reading of the literature, students will design and carry out independent research projects, analyze and report the results in scientific papers, posters and oral presentation. The class will have two, three hour meetings per week, which combine lecture, lab, and discussion. 

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Hinsa
 

Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10