FALL 2008 TRANSFER SEMINARS
CLAIRE TREVOR SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Art of Collaboration and Consensus Decision Making
Lisa Naugle, Dance
Th 2:00-2:50pm, MAB 317
Course Code 87602
Successful collaboration requires artful communication as individuals work on steps and procedures that are small portions of a larger accomplishment. Brainstorming, creative thinking and consensus decions making are valuable skills which foster one's ability to make significant contributions to teamwork.
Lisa Naugle is a Professor in the Department of Dance. She holds a Ph.D and MFA from New York University. Her research explores the convergence of contemporary performance, improvisation and interactive media technologies. Her choreography has been performed in London, Amsterdam, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Budapest,Prague, Brazil, Spain, Colombia, Korea, China and Canada, as well as throughout the USA. In the UCI Dance Department, she is the Artistic Director of the Improvisaiton Performance Ensemble.
SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Cruise the News in Biology
Rudi Berkelhamer, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Tu 4:00-4:50pm, DBH 1422
Course Code 87601
This seminar will focus on several new biological findings and/or areas of interest that have been in the news in the past year with an eye to critically evaluating them. Students in the class will choose those on which they would like to focus and will discuss the findings and how to learn more about the questions they raise. For several of the topics, the class will compare the popular press version (newspaper, magazine, online reporting) with what is found in the scientific literature. Techniques for reading and understanding difficult scientific articles will be presented and practiced.
Rudi Berkelhamer is a faculty member in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education. She has designed and taught a broad range of Biology courses at UCI including the Experimental Biology Laboratory Class (Bio Sci 100LW), a problem-based learning class on Current Issues in Biology, and several Upper Division Writing in Biology classes. As Associate Dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education, Dr. Berkelhamer's responsibilities include oversight for the new student programs for both freshmen and transfers.
DONALD BREN SCHOOL OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SCIENCES
Hobby Electronics
Ian Harris, Computer Science and Engineering
M 11:00-11:50pm, DBH 1422
Course Code 87604
Have you ever wanted to build a cool electronic gadget like a digital music player or a remote controlled car? This seminar will introduce all the basics that you will need to start making projects on your own. This will be a hands-on class so you will be required to spend about $100 total on a book and on parts that you will build with. We will cover very practical issues, like how to buy electrical parts, how to wire components together, and how to read a component data sheet. You do not need to know about electronics to take this seminar but you should have written a program in the past, in any computer language.
Ian Harris is currently the Chair of the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) program. He received his BS degree in Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990. He received his MS and PhD degrees in Computer Science from the University of California San Diego in 1992 and 1997 respectively. His research interests involve the security and testing of hardware and software systems. His current research projects include security testing, embedded software, and hardware/software validation.
Information Technology in the Popular Press
Amelia Regan, Information and Computer Science
M 3:00-3:50pm, ICS 432
Course Code 87610
In this seminar we will read, and discuss stories related to information technology in newspapers, magazines and web sites such as Slashdot. Each week, students will be expected to bring in at least one story to share with the class.
Amelia Regan studies applications of information technologies and optimization methods for logistics and supply chain management. She spends most of her time building mathematical models and developing computer based algorithms for solving these problems.
SCHOOL OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES
Welcome to the Quantum Mechanics of the Real World
Kieron Burke, Chemistry
W 5:00-5:50pm, DBH 1420
Course Code 87600
Much of modern chemistry, materials science, and engineering benefits from quantum mechanical calculations done on computers. This seminar will be a whirlwind intellectual ride, taking students from the weird world of quantum mechanics to computational materials design and nanoscience, in 10 one-hour discussions. The only requirements are:
(a) knowing how to differentiate functions
(b) a fascination with what can be achieved by deep, careful thinking and
(c) a degree of recklessness
Students will leave this course with a conceptual understanding of quantum mechanics and how it impacts much of today's science, and quite possibly a headache, too.
Kieron Burke has studied quantum mechanics and thought about how to apply it to real materials challenges since he was 17. He has made some progress (see http://chem.ps.uci.edu/~kieron/dft/), but still has much to learn.
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Globalization: Problem or Panacea?
David A. Smith, Sociology
M 11:00-11:50am, SSPB 4206
Course Code 87603
The word "globalization" is familiar to anyone tuned into global media, and is rapidly emerging as the favorite mantra of political leaders, business executives and news reporters all around the world. It is clearly one of those faddish buzzwords that is frequently used but rarely defined (and heavily laden with ideological implications). But, after the events of September 11, 2001, the reality of globalization and a growing awareness of global interconnectedness (particularly among usually insular US citizens) is an important issue that seems relevant to our everyday lives. The on-going US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with heightened awareness of international terrorism, have “brought the world home” to many Americans – for the first time in many years global issues dominate the national political debates. In this seminar we will explore what “globalization” means. We will try to examine the long-term historical origins of a modern world-system, as well as grapple with more recent worldwide political and economic changes that occurred in the last two or three decades. Finally, we’ll analyze and discuss whether a world beset with myriad problems (grinding poverty and inequality, international tension and terrorism, severe ecological threats, etc), is better or worse off given the current level of "globalization." Has an increasingly integrated world become a better one, where problems are more easily solved? Or, as the globalization critics argue, has this phenomena just made things worse for many or most people on the planet? Finally, how can we as citizens and "ordinary people" constructively participate in our new globalized society?
David A. Smith is a Professor of Sociology. He teaches Sociology 3 (Introduction to Social Problems) every year, is a former department Undergrad Director and is Co-Editor of the major sociology journal, Contemporary Sociology. His main scholarly interest is in the political economy of the world system, with expertise in Third World development, global urbanization, global commodity chains, and social change in East Asia. He has recently published articles in academic journals such as Review of International Political Economy, Urban Studies, Studies in Comparative International Development and Social Forces. His books include a co-edited volume entitled, A New World Order? Global Transformations in the Late Twentieth Century, a solo-authored book, Third World Cities in Global Perspective, and two recent co-edited collection, States and Sovereignty in the Global Economy and Labor Versus Empire.
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