Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Great earthquakes have shaped both the Earth and history. Here we consider the causes of earthquakes, assessments of their hazard, as well as their impact on human society through an analysis of contemporary and historical ruptures. Further we discuss the future of earthquake hazards on a more populated planet and how technological approaches are allowing us to prepare for earthquakes before they happen.

Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, today supported by genetics, is often seen as antagonistic to religion. Buddhism is one of the world's major religions, yet is sometimes described as scientific. In fact, science and religion have a lot to say to each other, in particular about what can be done versus what should be done. This course explores points of contact between evolutionary genetics and Buddhism, centering on the notion of "emptiness," and building knowledge of each so that ethical questions about animals in research, genetic testing, and human genetic engineering can be discussed.

Plants and animals imitate one another and their surroundings to escape notice and avoid predators. This seminar explores the evolution of mimicry and camouflage using case studies that reveal the range of visual, behavioral, acoustical, and chemical means by which this deception is accomplished.

This course explores state-of-the-art research, tools and measurements used to investigate and predict climate change through ongoing studies at the Harvard Forest's 3,500 acre outdoor laboratory in Petersham, MA. The seminar consists of four weekend-long field trips (Friday evening-Sunday) to the Harvard Forest and a final on-campus meeting. Students develop skills for evaluating, discussing, and presenting the ecological evidence for climate change, including feedbacks between forests and the atmosphere and long-term impacts on forest ecosystems.

This seminar addresses central issues in the philosophy of healthcare, investigating how some fundamental questions in this field have been answered and exploring alternatives. Questions addressed include: What is health? What is healthcare? Does health have special moral significance? Is there a human right to health? Why do persons and communities differ in their health outcomes and when are these differences considered unjust? Are we responsible for our own health outcomes? The course focuses on questions of class, race, gender and aging in its discussion of justice in health and examines ethical questions in global health.

The seminar will apply scientifically quantitative methods to understanding a number of problems of general public concern, and provide insight into the roles of a scientist in public affairs by understanding diverse problems of the environment, pollution, and public health. The topics will be selected in the first two weeks from those that are topical at the time.

By the latest estimates, more than half of us will meet the criteria for a diagnosable mental illness at some point in our lives. Rates of many disorders -from autism and ADHD to eating disorders and depression-have apparently been increasing substantially in recent decades. What do we know about the causes of mental illness? This seminar will explore the role of nature, nurture, and culture in our understanding of mental illness. We will draw on a broad range of disciplines-from psychology, psychiatry and anthropology to genetics and neurobiology-to examine the roots of normal and abnormal behavior.

Explores medical, legal, and ethical aspects of medical care, with particular attention to medical decision-making at the beginning and end of life, participants in research on human subjects, human reproductive technologies, mental illness, and experimentation on animals. Historical background of present-day medical practices and relevant law to be discussed.

Principles of modern physics are based on simple but at the same time deep concepts. Many of these concepts are naturally encountered when solving mathematical puzzles. The aim of this seminar is to illustrate the connection between physics and mathematics and use simple ideas and puzzles to shed light on this relation. We will also draw upon ideas encountered in the context of string theory and higher dimensional realizations of our universe. Recommended for students deeply interested in both physics and mathematics.

Exposes students considering careers in science or engineering to environment of a modern research laboratory. Research teams construct, perform, analyze, and report on cutting-edge experiments in physical, engineering, and biological sciences. Projects provide insight into the mathematical, mechanical, electronic, chemical, computational, and organizational tools and skills that characterize modern experimental science. Past projects focused on atomic, nuclear, and solid state physics, materials science, dynamical systems, and biophysical science. Projects highlight both team and individual effort.

After a century of studying how to cure mental illness, scientists have started to explore what makes us happy. What have they discovered? In this course, we will critically examine the findings from the new science of happiness revealing how they are altering our understanding of what happiness is, the optimal ways to achieve and increase it, the role of circumstance in its occurrence, its effect on our bodies, and its place in human nature.

We will read a selection of Darwin's publications, as well as his private correspondence, paying close attention to the man behind the science as revealed by his writings. We will get to know Darwin, the avid breeder of pigeons, lover of barnacles, devoted father and husband, gifted correspondent and tactician, and remarkable backyard scientist. Together, the class will reproduce ten of Darwin's classic Down House experiments and observations that were central to his case for natural selection and evolution.

How do we conceptualize "normal" growth and development? In this seminar, we will examine stages of child development from many vantage points: neurobiological, physical, cultural, and psychological. Readings will include classic papers on development, textbook chapters that provide overviews of specific developmental stages, recently published research articles on brain development and genetic inheritance, selected contemporary children's and young adult literature, personal memoirs, and short stories written about childhood. We will also examine clips from contemporary films. Assignments will consist of three short response papers and a longer final paper. There are no prerequisites for this course.

What does food do to our bodies? What does a healthy diet entail? Explores and critically evaluates diet recommendations and knowledge about the role of diet in maintaining health. Discusses the obesity epidemic, with a focus on childhood obesity and the role of school lunch programs. Explores local resources including Harvard Community Gardens and Food Literacy Program and how meals are prepared at the Harvard University Dining Services. Discusses genetically modified foods and mindful cooking and eating. Will review the book "Eat, drink, and be healthy". Hands-on experience in nutrition education.

Synthetic biology is an emerging multi-disciplinary field of research aimed at developing solutions to problems impacting our individual lives and ultimately our long-term survival as a species. We need to find alternative and renewable sources of energy and food, new ways to process and recycle limited resources, and tools to detect and address environmental pollutants. These and other challenges can be addressed by the development of microorganisms re-engineered to perform new functions. In this "hands-on" laboratory course students will design experiments and build and then test synthetic biological systems. Additionally, students will present and discuss selected topics in synthetic biology.

Large and small, simple and complex, self-evident and confusing, emotions in all their variety are a fundamental part of life. But just what are emotions? Are they the same in all cultures? What, if any, functions do they serve? Can we control our emotions? What role do they play in development, personality, relationships and well-being? What effects can they have on physical health? And do they present special challenges to scientific study? This seminar will take up these and other fundamental questions, and will discuss methods used to study emotion and the current state of knowledge about human emotion.

Brain function serves as the basis for how we make rational and irrational decisions, learn to read or not (dyslexia), learn and remember or not (amnesia), empathize and understand the perspective of another or not (autism). The mind is shaped by the interaction of the brain and environment. Our understanding of the brain enables us to attempt to modify the environment to enhance the mind. This course will look at these issues in individuals with normal brain function and those with neurological disorders.

This course examines dreams with an emphasis on their relation to the creative process and problem solving. It draws on psychology predominantly-neurophysiology, clinical, and personality research while also including perspectives from history, religion, art, literature, and anthropology. We'll visit a sleep laboratory and a dream-artist's studio. Students will keep a dream journal, and engage in exercises to improve dream recall, influence content toward lucidity and other goals, and to interpret your dreams. Students will write a term paper on a dream-related topic of their choice.

This seminar will offer an integrated historical-neurobiological-neurological introduction to foundational and transformative ideas in the ~3,700 year history of neuroscience, brain science, and "lay" neurology - all accessible to freshmen with interests from history, art, and literature to economics, social policy, and business to neuroscience / life sciences. No background will be assumed. Rather, historical vignettes and sources will be tied to modern understanding of elements of the nervous system, their organization, function, and modes of investigation and manipulation. Some historical contexts, often including war, disease, serendipity, and technology advancement, will be highlighted as advancing knowledge in surprising ways.

Introduces students to the nature of mental illness based on recorded interviews of people suffering from a variety of psychiatric conditions. Investigates what illness and treatment are like from patient's perspective. Interviews supplemented by readings which include a variety of patient narratives. Provides background on categories of mental illness, the varieties of treatment available, and the nature of the illness experience itself.

"Cancer" represents hundreds of different diseases with a wide variety of causative mechanisms. We will study the biology of cancer and what makes a normal cell become a cancer one, delving into acquired and inherited genetic abnormalities and effects of environmental factors, such as nutrition, radiation, and tobacco. Current approaches to cancer will be discussed from prevention and early detection to treatment of survivorship.

This interactive seminar will allow students to obtain greater understanding of global health issues through critical comparative analysis of healthcare systems of selected countries from the developed, emerging and developing world. Weekly sessions will comprise of student-led discussion that revolves around an important healthcare issue. Domain expert guest speakers will be included allowing students to network with thought leaders. Student will explore in-depth a topic of their choice and prepare a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Energy use underpins much of our current global society, but there is widespread agreement that our current energy use cannot continue. We will explore physical, economic, social, governmental, and spiritual aspects of our current energy consumption. We will then consider what drives people to propose change. Finally, we will consider what changes we ourselves propose should be made during the next 1 year, 5 year, and 20 year period. Students will pick at least one change and describe how that change could be made, including considering losses that will be required for that change to be realized.

In this course, we will discuss philosophical questions about death and immortality. What is death? Is there a moral difference between "brain death" and the irreversible loss of consciousness? Is the classification of a person as dead a moral judgment, or is it an entirely scientific matter? Is death a misfortune to the person who dies? How can death be a misfortune if you are no longer around to experience that misfortune? Is it possible to survive after death? What does it mean for you to survive after your death? Is there such a thing as an immaterial soul distinct from your body? Is immortality something you should want in the first place? Even if you do not live forever, is it nevertheless important that humanity continues to exist after your death? By discussing these questions about death, we will hopefully gain insight about the importance and meaning of life.

Taken up by many ethnic groups in America, the short story has been used to convey experiences with immigration and assimilation, discrimination and oppression, generational divides, and interactions across difference. Examination of such short stories opens up readers to a deeper understanding of America's multiethnic landscape. Together we will examine historical context for the short story's ongoing role in American culture, its relationship with publishing houses and critics, as well as its adaptability to new technologies. Reading Toni Morrison, Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Diaz, and Sherman Alexie, among others, we will consider ties that both link and divide our multiethnic world.

Beliefs about the supernatural (God, heaven) are traditionally taken to be the central feature of religion. Recently scientists and critics have attacked religious belief, reviving anti-supernatural arguments against religion and suggesting that it be overcome by rational, scientific thinking. And yet religion remains. Not only does it remain, but it continues to exert tenacious influence personally, culturally, and politically. Why is this? This seminar considers the status of religious belief and looks at alternate understandings of what religion involves and does. Readings range from "new atheists" to philosophers and theorists of religion, modernity and ritual, to evolutionary biology and neuroscience.

Reads classical waka, its modern descendant the tanka, and examples of linked verse (renga) and modern poems in free and prose-poem forms. (And haiku too!) Focuses on themes such as desire, renunciation, time, memory, war, death, sorrow, and receptivity. Students keep a diary of their encounters with the new poetry, practice the art of sequencing, and make their own translations based on literal renderings and explanations of Japanese originals.

Jesus has inspired great works of art, literature, and music, but Christians have not always agreed on the function of beauty. This seminar will consider Christian aesthetics, art (Italian Renaissance), and music (Bach, Messiaen, and spirituals), but the focus will be on literary works of St. Francis, Dante, Herbert, Donne, Hopkins, Hawthorne, Melville, C.S. Lewis, and O'Connor. The abiding question will be: In what ways does aesthetic form-- beauty-- enhance, qualify, complicate, or obscure the gospel?

What do we really see when we look at a work of art? This seminar is an exercise in evaluating artistic composition as it presents itself to the viewer. Primarily devoted to looking and talking about what we think we see, what we actually see, and how it informs interpretation, but with consideration as well of what experts say we should see - in order to explore the degree to which literal looking aids or is aided by contextually informed looking. Works by Raphael, Caravaggio, Bernini, Velazquez, Turner, Renoir, Sargent, Klimt, Schiele, Kandinsky, Bacon, Richter (subject to change).

This course examines the last century of American dance through the lens of technologies of the stage, body and transnational exchange. Beginning with a survey of American influence on European ballet, this class explores the beginnings of American modern dance with Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis through their creative dialogue with German choreographers Rudolph von Laban and Mary Wigman. By considering the body as a site of study, conversations around feminism, identity, and innovation will place such quintessentially "American" artists as George Balanchine and William Forsythe into global context, and bring dance into a larger art-historical and technological frame.

People everywhere tell stories to express both the verities and contradictions found in experiences of everyday life. Based on storytelling traditions, a narrator shapes the story to reflect his or her own intentions, making it personally expressive as well as publicly meaningful to a particular audience. This seminar examines the nature of storytelling, its enduring appeal, and its ability to adapt to multiple technologies (print, film, internet). Participants engage in the storytelling process itself.

This seminar explores the nature of religious belief and various ways of reasoning about God, in light of philosophical arguments and recent research in the cognitive sciences. Questions that will be subjected to a systematic analytical examination include the rational and psychological bases for belief in God, the metaphysical possibility of an afterlife, and the relation between faith and reason (including the relation between religious belief and scientific knowledge). We will also discuss various philosophical arguments for the existence of God, different conceptions of the soul, the problem of evil, and the relation of religion to morality.

The goal of representing the 3-dimensional world on a 2-dimensional surface dates back at least as far as the approximately 30,000 year old cave drawings. For all of these past centuries there were relatively few people who could create realistic 2 dimensional images of the people and things that wanted preservation. Although photography has changed this there are still significant differences between the images that most people create and the photographs of our leading photographers. In this seminar we will discuss the artistic history, the nature of vision and the fundamental physics on which modern digital photography is based.

Reconstruction - the period of economic rebuilding and philosophical reorientation that followed the American Civil War - was an unprecedented moment of historical rupture. Reconstruction sought quite simply to remake an entire society at once, from one day to the next replacing slavery with the ideals of free labor and democratic participation. In this seminar, we will consider Reconstruction as a set of historical events and as a narrative problem. In other words, while learning about this unheralded moment of change in American history, we will also ask how Reconstruction became a story to be passed down from one generation to the next - by novelists, poets, historians, political scientists, and filmmakers.

Provides an introduction to acting by combining elements of a discussion seminar with exercises, improvisations and performance activities. Uses improvisation to improve group/ensemble dynamics, minimize habitual behaviors and to develop characters. Explores a range of acting techniques designed to give students greater access to their creativity, imagination and emotional life. In the later part of the term we will work on monologues. Students also attend and critique productions at the Loeb Drama Center and other theaters in the Boston area.

Was Shakespeare a misogynist, a feminist, or a product of his time? Was he homosexual? That these questions remain controversial four hundred years after Shakespeare's death testifies to the sensitive complexity with which Shakespeare handled the topics of sex and gender. This course explores how sexuality and gender function in numerous plays, sonnets, and narrative poems. Since words like "feminist" and "homosexual" did not exist in Shakespeare's lifetime, the course will introduce historically responsible methods of analyzing our subject matter. In the case of the plays, we will focus on performance, including modern films and period use of boy actors.

This course will explore the literature of the monstrous, with a particular focus on two extraordinary periods: the Renaissance and the Romantic era. From moral monstrosities like the overreaching Faust to physical monstrosities like Frankenstein's creature, monsters defy the order of things. Their very bodies may transgress the norm, or their ambitions seek to overthrow our entire world. What does the monster mean? And what do these figures reveal about our attitudes toward the future, toward cultural outsiders, toward the body and the boundaries between human and non-human? Authors include Montaigne, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Goethe, Byron, and Shelley.

What do Muslims think of acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam, the mixing of religion with politics, the status and rights of women, the hegemony of the "West"? This seminar investigates the viewpoints of prominent Muslim writers on these and other "hot button" issues as reflected in novels, short stories and poetry from different parts of the world. Explores a range of issues facing Muslim communities in various parts of the world by examining the impact of colonialism, nationalism, globalization and politicization of Islam on the search for a modern Islamic identity. Readings of Muslim authors from the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Europe and America.

Since the earliest days of cinema, filmmakers have looked to the past for inspiration. Historians have often dismissed cinematic versions of the past for their inaccuracies and simplications. This seminar adopts a more open-minded view of historical movies to explore the potential of film as a medium for understanding and representing history and to consider some of the "big" questions of history. Movies covering a wide chronological range and drawn from a variety of sub-genres will be included. ?

"Dirty and Dangerous" explores the relationship between people and the material world by focusing on the "dark side" of natural and human-made environments. How have people in the US perceived and experienced dangers associated with climate, landscape, toxins, disease, and the built environment? Focusing on the late 19th century until today, the course is organized around three types of environment: wilderness, homes, and workplace. We will draw on a range of sources, including poetry, fiction, films, activist writing, historical scholarship, and a "Toxic Tour" of Boston, examining dangers, fears and anxieties about these various environments in their historical context.

From the earliest years of its "discovery" to the rise of the Machu Picchu Facebook portrait, travelers have played the most intriguing roles in Latin America: advocates of the continent's beauty, protectors of its cultures, scientists and conquerors, voyeurs, consumers and looters. How can we understand these travelers, and how have they understood themselves? In this freshman seminar we will look at a variety of accounts of historians, anthropologists, filmmakers, and travelers, in order to answer these questions. We will think about the content and form of these texts, while also contextualizing these documents historically, and considering their audiences, their genres and ideologies.

This seminar explores extreme states of mind: the feeling of fear and wonder that philosophers call the sublime. Sublime experiences are so intense that they overwhelm our senses and our ability to express ourselves, jamming the system. The rediscovery of the sublime in the late eighteenth century coincided with a cultural shift from viewing the Alps as a site of fear to a place of awe and beauty, a shift reflected in Romantic art and literature. It reappears in modernism, in forms that range from Gothic fiction to the technological sublime of skyscrapers, the Wild West, and novels on the "posthuman" sublime of life after ecological catastrophe.

Often described as the world's most powerful court, the US Supreme Court has not always enjoyed high prestige or unquestioned authority. The Court's significance has waxed and occasionally waned, with the variations typically depending on surrounding currents in the nation's social and political history. Examines the history of the Court from the nation's founding to the present. Highlights relation between constitutional law and ordinary politics, and the ways in which they influence one another.

This seminar explores issues in the theory and practice of democracy through the lens of the twenty years of economic, political, and social turmoil across the globe between the two World Wars. By focusing intensively on a historical context in which no political value could be taken for granted and few dared say what the future might hold for the structure of human community, we will explore the depths of democratic polity and its limits for both the past and the present.

What are the goals of mathematics education at the middle and high school level, and how do these goals impact our evaluation of the success or failure of math education in America? Why does math education at these levels matter? What societal structures (historic, economic, political, cultural) impact mathematics education? How does math education in turn impact societal structures? As the world changes, how do the goals of mathematics education change, and in what ways? We will explore these issues to become more educated participants in this ongoing discussion.

This seminar will examine the experiences of those Germans defined as "Aryan" in the Third Reich, that is, those not directly persecuted by the regime. How did they adjust (or not adjust) to the changes brought to everyday life by the Nazi regime? How did their behaviors and attitudes change in ways that helped or hindered the regime and its racial agenda? How would we define the boundaries of collaboration or consent within this society? Readings will explore aspects of German society under Nazism including the experiences of young people and women, consumption, popular culture, and the question of terror.

Human rights practitioners confront numerous ethical, strategic, and legal dilemmas in their struggles for social justice. This freshman seminar explores the underlying legal framework in which human rights advocates operate, and then uses specific case studies to consider the various challenges they must grapple with in their work. The seminar is designed to encourage students to critically evaluate the human rights movement while offering an introduction to some of the essential tools and strategies used by human rights advocates, including advocacy, litigation, documentation, and report writing.

What are museums? What exactly do they do, and why? Do they have a future? Traces the history of museums from their beginnings centuries ago to the modern institutions of today. Considers objects and their conservation, the role of museums in contemporary society, finances, dual–and sometimes conflicting–functions of scholarly research and public display, exhibit design, legal and ethical issues, and other challenges. Sessions include field trips to museums at Harvard and elsewhere in the Boston area to view public exhibits and "behind-the-scenes" collections that the public rarely sees.

Investigates the use of legal processes in addressing religion-based conflicts, a leading source of tension in modern societies. The seminar will explore theoretical approaches to accommodating religious diversity and examine existing models of religion-state relationships. Drawing on legal cases from the US, Turkey, India, Israel, Spain, Canada, and England, the seminar will also familiarize participants with contemporary debates involving religion: the wearing of Islamic headscarf, religion and education, the funding of religious institutions, etc.

How do the "laws of war" regulate the conduct of the United States in the "Global War on Terrorism?" This seminar examines the historical development of two legal concepts: jus ad bellum, which determines the legitimacy of the use of armed force; and jus in bello, which defines the duties of soldiers and belligerent states. Drawing on this background, the seminar explores how these laws have influenced U.S. military and anti-terrorism operations since 9/11.

This course addresses some of the fundamental issues of the nature of the self, issues which appear at the intersection of religion and psychology: Where do we turn for ultimate meaning? What happens when individuals undergo some sort of crisis and radically change their belief system or how they engage with the world? How do we face death? The course will focus on the ways in which both individuals and cultures create frameworks of meaning. The readings explore philosophical, psychological, and literary perspectives on these issues and questions and include works by Freud, Dostoevsky, William James, Flannery O'Connor and others.

This course explores the origins and development of human evolutionary theory in parallel with the discovery and study of our "cousins," the Neanderthals. Readings and discussions highlight breakthroughs in evolutionary theory since the 17th century, ranging from the Darwinian revolution to the field of "evo-devo." The recent history of the Neanderthals is explored in detail, which mirrors intellectual developments in biological anthropology ranging from the re-conceptualization of race to innovations in recovering ancient DNA.

Intimate, subjective and transitory, the sense of smell has the power to evoke memory and emotions, to mark places and persons, and give rise to both desire and disgust. Lacking a well-defined vocabulary, smell can be elusive. Yet, as evidence of disease, crime, gender, race, sexuality, the sacred and profane, scent lingers on in judgment. How does this verdict coalesce - in medicine, public health and law? We will sample various scents and use them as the occasion for writing and reflection -- shared and yet privately known, these olfactory forays will serve as our experience of an impossibly common sense.

Studies how human rights perspective illuminates relations between state authority and individuals and defines standards of behavior that societies agree to aspire to reach. Topics include the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, rights in political and economic spheres, the rights of women, children, and refugees, international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and the state, regional, and international processes and structures that establish and monitor the regime of international human rights law.

This course adopts interdisciplinary perspectives toward understanding how health and mental health problems and well-being are manifest, if and how common patterns are changing, and how circumstances and contexts impact outcomes. We examine similarities and differences based on gender, race/ethnicity and other personal and social characteristics. Topics include everyday stress, body image, eating disorders, depression, substance abuse, sexual activity and gender-based violence. Throughout, we traverse the boundary between health and illness in order to explore the role of individuals, their social support networks, and health care professionals in developing and guiding positive strategies for coping and healing.

Explores the theories of political legitimacy and justified resistance to authority developed by the persecuted Protestants during the French Wars of Religion, and traces the influence of these ideas about political obligation and religious conscience on some of the major figures in modern political philosophy from Hobbes to Kant. Students should be prepared to engage in both historical detective work and philosophical reflection. All required reading will be in English.

Approaches Nazi persecution of European Jewry from several disciplinary perspectives. Presents background and narrative of the Holocaust, introduces the use of primary historical sources, and studies some of the major historiographical debates. Evaluates religious and theological reactions to the Holocaust -- uses literary, cinematic, and theological sources. Considers the role played by the Protestant and Catholic churches and theologies in the Holocaust. Assesses role played by the Holocaust in today's world, specifically in the United States.