Fiat Lux Seminars: Honors Collegium 98
Spring Quarter 2003

The full range of Fiat Lux Seminars have been listed by three categories to help students navigate to their area of interest.

Arts & Humanities
Culture & Society
Science and Technology



Language Tests: Gatekeepers or Door Openers?
Lyle Bachman, Applied Linguistics/TESL

Language tests have become a pervasive part of our education system and society, being used for a wide variety of purposes such as university admissions, placing students into foreign language programs, hiring employees with foreign language ability, and identifying English language learners in schools. But how valid are language tests as measures of language proficiency? How useful are language tests for making these high-stakes decisions? What are the consequences, both beneficial and harmful, of using language tests for these purposes?

Professor Bachman has extensive international experience in language test development. His publications include Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing and Language Testing in Practice (with Adrian S. Palmer), both of which received the MLA's Mildenberger Award for Outstanding Research Publication.

The Emperor and the Slave: The Stoic Philosophy of Life According to Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius
David Blank, Classics

How should I live? How can I control my life in a world, which often seems to be against me? Two men of very different backgrounds, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the Roman slave Epictetus, shared the same Stoic philosophy, and their answers to these questions have been the subject of much interest recently. Their books are reported to be on the bedside tables of magnates and politicians. Their philosophy of Stoicism has also been revived as a respectable option for the modern philosopher. This seminar will examine the Stoicism of Marcus and Epictetus to understand its principles and to see how satisfactory it would be as a way to govern one's life today. Topics of particular interest will be: knowing what is up to us and what is not; the place of the individual and of moral responsibility in a world ruled by fate; moral virtue as the sole good; ethical writing and spiritual exercise. The class meets every other week for two hours, beginning First Week. The five meeting dates are: April 2, April 16, April 30, May 14, and May 28.

David Blank studies ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy. His particular interests lately have been in the philosophy of language and in the reconstruction of the papyrus rolls from Herculaneum.

Mysticism in Classical Music
Roger Bourland, Music

The course examines Gregorian Chant, Bach's penchant for numerology, and his own brand of Christianity, Mozart's interest in freemasonry, Beethoven's sacred late choral music, Alexander Scriabin's interest in Theosophy, "mystic chords," and the relation of color and sound, Bela Bartok's love of pattern and nature, Igor Stravinsky's late choral work, Arvo Part and John Tavener's mystic minimalism, and George Crumb's love of mystery, magic and ceremony. The class meets every other week for two hours, beginning Second Week. The five meeting dates are: April 7, April 21, May 5, May 19, and June 2.

Roger Bourland (Ph.D Harvard), a Professor in the Department of Music, has composed music for orchestra, wind ensemble, chorus, chamber music, film, theater, dance, and radio which have been performed throughout North America and Europe. His teachers included Gunther Schuller, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner and Earl Kim. His most recent composition, "The Crocodile's Christmas Ball and other Odd Tales" for chorus and wind ensemble, was premiered by five groups around the country in December 2002.

Ghost Stories and the Rise of Experimental Psychology
Frederick Burwick, English

Once considered spirits trapped in afterlife by a curse, ghosts were redefined in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as hallucinations. This seminar will examine "ghost stories" in relation to the emerging science of mental pathology.

Frederick Burwick, Distinguished Scholar of the British Academy (1992) and of the Keat-Shelley Association (1998). His Poetic Madness and the Romantic Imagination (1996) received the Outstanding Book of the Year Award presented by the American Conference on Romanticism.

Farce: The Medieval Sitcom
Sharon King, Comparative Literature

Five hundred years ago, audiences of all kinds--rich and poor, young and old--enjoyed 30-minute comedies with recurring characters and stock types: squabbling spouses with in-law troubles, quarrelsome neighbors, mischievous hired help, crafty salesmen. Often performed right before (or after) dramas in which death and injury abounded, the comedies lightened the mood by presenting ordinary people with ordinary problems that they somehow managed to muddle through. This class will show the hilarious debt TV sitcoms owe farces of the 15th and 16th centuries, as well as discuss the ways modern sitcom and medieval farce do differ, in content and in format. The class meets on 5 irregular Fridays for two hours, beginning Second Week. The five meeting dates are: April 11, April 25, May 2, May 16, and May 30.

Sharon King has her doctorate in Comparative Literature and is currently an Associate at the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at UCLA. She has numerous studies on the intersections of theatre and war, both in comedy and tragedy, among which is her book City Tragedy on the Renaissance Stage in France, Spain and England, due out in 2003. Her numerous translations include Clever and Pleasant Inventions by J. Prevost, the first book on sleight-of-hand magic in the French language, as well as many late medieval plays which she has performed in the U.S. and in Europe.

Kafka's Short Fiction - or How Does the Modern World Work?
Kathleen L. Komar, Comparative Literature

Franz Kafka was a German speaker in a Czech city - and a Jew in a German-speaking population. This double alienation helped him to understand the alienation of the modern world in general at the beginning of the 20th century. His name has become an adjective (Kafka-esque) that signals the inescapable absurdity of the modern condition. We will read several of Kafka's short fictional pieces in order to analyze what kinds of alienation he captures in his narratives and how that alienation works. I believe his texts will help us understand our own current social condition as well as give us insight into other modernist writers of the first half of the 20th century.

Kathleen Komar is a professor of Comparative Literature who works primarily in German, American and French literatures. She earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Princeton University in 1977. She served as a member of the advisory committee of the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA). Komar has published on a wide variety of topics from Romanticism to the present in both American and German literature. Her books include Pattern and Chaos: Multilinear Novels by Dos Passos, Faulkner, Döblin, and Koeppen (1983), and Transcending Angels: Rainer Maria Rilke's "Duino Elegies" (1987). She co-edited with Ross Shideler the volume Lyrical Symbols and Narrative Transformations (1998). A recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1989.

Words Can Never Hurt Me?
Pamela Munro, Linguistics

Participants will study the function and effect of derogatory terms based on ethnicity, religion, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, disability, etc., in their "literal" use and as speakers apply them to additional individuals.

Pamela Munro is a Professor of Linguistics specializing in the study of American Indian languages, the creation of dictionaries, and American college slang.

So, What is a Religion Anyway?
Vincent Pecora, English

The course will investigate different ideas about the nature of religion. One is a historical theory, one is sociological, and one is psychological. The ultimate goal is to understand the complex nuances the term can have at the present time. The class meets every other week for two hours, beginning Second Week. The five meeting dates are: April 7, April 21, May 5, May 19, and June 2.

Vincent P. Pecora is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also Director of the Center for Modern and Contemporary Studies and the Humanities Consortium at UCLA. He is the author of Self and Form in Modern Narrative (1989), Households of the Soul (1997), and the editor of Nations and Identities: Classic Readings (2001), and he has published numerous essays in literary criticism and theory. His current research concerns the problem of a theory of religion.

Transparencies: Films by UCLA Students
Carol Petersen, Writing Programs

We'll talk with students in UCLA's MFA directing program and view their films, which offer engaging, diverse perspectives on the communities represented in Los Angeles. The class will meet every other week for two hours, beginning First Week. The five meeting days are: April 1, April 15, April 29, May 13, and May 27.

Carol Petersen is UCLA's Director of Academic Affirmative Action. She has taught writing courses and team-taught courses in diversity, conflict, and conflict resolution; the history and politics of affirmative action. As a photographer, she has exhibited work in the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, the Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Gallery, and the Skirball Cultural Center and published photos in Racial and Ethnic Relations in America (McLemore, Romo, and Baker, eds.), the Los Angeles Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  
World Musics on the Move
Helen Rees, Ethnomusicology

Transnational musical encounters and fusions have long existed, but today political, economic, and virtual globalization both speeds the process and raises new issues of ethics and representation.

A specialist in Chinese music, Professor Rees has helped Chinese musicians with overseas tours, and continues to conduct research on traditional Chinese ritual and tourist musics.

Jewish American Short Fiction: Particular, Universal, and Individual
Kenneth Reinhard, English

Discussion of short stories by Jewish American writers from the early part of the twentieth century to the beginning of the twenty-first, including Anzia Yezierska, Abraham Cahan, Bernard Malamud, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Henry Roth, Cynthia Ozick, Nathan Englander, Pearl Abraham, and others. Such topics as the role of alienation, assimilation, and de-assimilation and the problems of creating and inhabiting multiple and often contradictory communities will be discussed.

Kenneth Reinhard is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at UCLA. He received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in English and American Literature in 1989. His fields of research and teaching include the History of Critical and Aesthetic Theory, Jewish Studies, and Psychoanalysis. He is Director of the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies, Co-Chair of the UCLA Theory Seminar, and Co-Editor of the University of Minnesota Press book series "Psychoanalysis Under Construction." He is the author, with Julia Reinhard Lupton, of After Oedipus: Shakespeare in Psychoanalysis (Cornell UP, 1993), as well as articles on Freud, Lacan, Levinas, Henry James, Jewish Studies, and the Bible.

Louis Armstrong and the Ascent of Jazz
Robert Walser, Musicology

This course will have two intersecting topics. We'll study the music, writings, and life of trumpet player and singer Louis Armstrong, one of the most influential and successful musicians of the twentieth century. And as we trace his career we'll consider the unlikely ascent of jazz up the ladder of cultural prestige, from dangerous subcultural practice to dominant popular music to "America's classical music." How did the same sounds come to have such different meanings?

Students need not have any prior musical background.

Robert Walser is a Professor and a Chair of Musicology. He earned doctorates in both classical performance and musicology and he specializes in American music, especially jazz and other popular musics. He is the author of Keeping Time: Readings in Jazz History (Oxford, 1999) and Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music (Wesleyan, 1993).

Foreigners in Ancient Egypt
Willeke Wendrich, Near Eastern Languages

From the earliest periods of Egyptian history onward the depiction of foreigners in Egyptian art and architecture is very negative. Foreigners are synonymous with 'the enemy'; they represent fundamental chaos that has to be fought. It is the task of the Pharaoh to maintain order by ritually destroying the foreigners. Quite gruesome are the depictions of the peoples of the neighboring countries as bound captives, literally under the feet of the Pharaoh. On the other hand there is the everyday reality of Nubians serving in the Egyptian army and of Syrian merchants settling in Egypt and becoming wealthy and prosperous. This seminar explores the tension between the ideological and practical position of foreigners in ancient Egypt.

Willeke Wendrich teaches Egyptian Archaeology In reply to: the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. She has a PhD from Leiden University (The Netherlands) and her research interests are social/gender aspects of ancient Egyptian technology and ethno-archaeology. She has (co-) directed excavation and survey projects at Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea coast), Yemen and the Fayum.

Tours to and Discussions of Free Campus and Near Campus Artistic Venues
Tom Wheatley, Theater

Students must select (and attend) three of our half dozen listed-excursions to free venues and performances on and near UCLA's campus. We will discuss these in class, in order to broaden the awareness of the art, music, dance and theater that surrounds us here. In addition, each student must select and attend an 'independent venue' of this nature and report on it to the class. This may be done in pairs, if warranted. Some related reading material will be assigned, and a test may be given, as well. Near perfect attendance is required to pass this course.

Dr. Wheatley has taught and directed theater at UCLA since 1973. He has also directed on the London 'fringe'. He has co-starred on TV shows and been featured on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize play 'All the Way Home'. He has performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival, the American Conservatory Theater, The Teatro di Roma, the Actor's Studio (of which he is a life member), and with Robert Wilson's production of 'Lear', as the silent King.

Word Up: The Oral Tradition in African American Poetry
Richard Yarborough, English

For decades, the oral tradition was the primary mode of literary expression for blacks in the U.S. With the spread of written literacy, however, the number of African Americans producing fiction, poetry, and autobiographies grew dramatically. In the late 19th century, black writers began to turn back to oral expression for thematic and formal models. In this seminar, we will consider how African American writers have adapted blues, sermons, folktales, and other oral forms. Although our primary focus will be on Langston Hughes, we will look at the work of Nikki Giovanni and Gil Scott-Heron, among others, as well as at the current popularity of rap and spoken word.

Richard Yarborough is an Associate Professor of English and a Faculty Research Associate in the Center for African American Studies. Associate general editor of the Heath Anthology of American Literature, he is also the director of Northeastern University Press's Library of Black Literature reprint series. He received UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1987, and from 1997 through 2001 he served as Director of the Center for African American Studies.

Superstitions Around You
Olga Yokoyama, Slavic, Applied Linguistics, and TESL

Although superstitions may seem to you to be a thing of the past and a feature of a pre-modern society, you will find out that this is not the case as soon as you begin to focus on superstitious beliefs held by people around you (and yourself). In this seminar, we will learn various theories on what superstitions are, their genesis, and why they continue to florish today. Participants will engage in fieldwork: they will observe and record superstitions weekly and bring them to class for discussion.

Professor Olga Yokoyama was trained at Harvard University (PhD 1979). She has been teaching in the UCLA Slavic Department since 1995 and in the Applied Linguistics and TESL Department since 2002. Her research interests are in the areas of Slavic linguistics and pragmatics and include intonation, gender linguistics, the linguistics-literature interface, folk language and folklore.

"The Hobbit": Tolkien's View of Good & Evil in the Community
Jules Zentner, Scandinavian

The Hobbit will be read and analyzed in terms of J.R.R. Tolkien's view of the battle between Good & Evil as it affects the world, individuals and members of communities. This seminar meets for 75 minutes per week. The course will meet Week One through Week Nine.

Dr. Zentner received his doctorate from UC Berkeley after doing much of his preparation at the University of Uppsala and University of Stockhom in Sweden. He has taught at Berkeley, the Univ. of Minnesota, and UCLA

"The Fellowship of the Ring": Tolkien's View of Good and Evil in the Community
Jules Zentner, Scandinavian

The Fellowship of the Ring will be read and analyzed in terms of J.R.R. Tolkien's view of the battle between Good & Evil in the world, the individual, and the community.

Jules Zentner received his doctorate from UC Berkeley after much of his preparation for it at the University of Uppsala and the University of Stockholm in Sweden. His teaching has been at Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, and UCLA.




The Logic of Political Strategy:
Making and Breaking Coalitions

Kathleen Bawn, Political Science

Effectiveness in politics requires understanding the logic of coalitions. Effective politicians know how to form coalitions by linking their goals to the goals of others. They know how to disrupt rival coalitions by introducing new, divisive issues. Most of all, effective politicians know how to assess the political environment - what other players want, and how goals are achieved. We will study examples of how effective politicians have used the logic of coalitions to further their goals and to thwart their rivals.

Kathleen Bawn (Ph.D., Economics, Stanford University, 1992) is Associate Professor of Political Science at UCLA. She uses game theory and other mathematical modeling strategies to understand how coalitions are shaped by institutions and interests. Her work has appeared in "American Political Science Review," "American Journal of Political Science," "Legislative Studies Quarterly," and "British Journal of Political Science."

Sprawl: The American Dream, or Nightmare?
Randall Crane, Architecture and Urban Planning

What is sprawl, is it good or bad, and what should be done? Complaints center on the loss of open space and natural habitat, and the associated traffic, pollution, and traffic. Suburbs are also considered lonely. Perhaps most plainly, sprawling areas are both unattractive and uninspiring. We will read some provocative accounts of life in the suburbs, and how cities do and should grow. The idea is to better understand how confusing a set of issues this is - especially in the LA region - and why that matters.

Randall Crane is Professor of Urban Planning and Director of Undergraduate Programs in the School of Public Policy & Social Research. His research interests include urban environmental and development problems in the U.S. and abroad, with a focus on behavior/built environment interactions. Among his current projects, he is studying the causes and impacts of "sprawl" and is co-author with Marlon Boarnet of "Travel by Design: The Influence of Urban Form on Travel" (Oxford, 2001).

When to Throw Away the Key: "Three Strikes and You're Out" and Crime Control Policy
Mark Kleiman, Public Policy and Social Research

What does California's "Three Strikes and You're Out" say? What does it do in practice? Is the law just? Does it reduce crime? What are the alternatives? This course will use the "Three Strikes" as a lens through which to view the larger problem of crime control policy.

Mark Kleiman is Professor of Policy Studies. His research focuses on drug policy and crime control, and he is active in advising governments at all levels on those issues. He previously served as Director of Policy and Management Analysis for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

After-School Movement in L.A. Public Schools: Challenges and Controversy
Kathy O'Byrne, Psychology

Public schools in Los Angeles are under scrutiny for low student test scores, high student-teacher ratios and insufficient resources. The after-school program movement has been designed to address some of these challenges. Take a look at the facts about the state of our schools, the controversy over how best to serve children and families, and the efforts from the public and private sector to address these issues. The course includes guest speakers and opportunities to participate in local after-school programs in middle schools.

Kathy O'Byrne is a licensed psychologist and Executive Director of the UCLA Center for Experiential Education and Service Learning (CEESL). She works with a Los Angeles County collaborative task force formed to design, implement and evaluate after-school programs for middle schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The Center (CEESL) places UCLA undergraduates in after-school programs through service-learning courses in several disciplines, credit-bearing internships and educational award programs.

The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?
Ismail Poonawala, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Are Islam and the West on a collision course, as the author of the "Clash of Civilizations," claim? The image of Islam as militant, fundamentalist, and anti-American religion, as portrayed by the mass media, has gripped the minds of our government. But these monolithic perceptions about Islam stem from a long history of mutual distrust and hostility. This seminar will examine the West's relation with Islam from the very beginning, dispel the stereotypical images, and demonstrate the vitality and the diversity of the Islamic revival.

Ismail K. Poonawala is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. His books and articles deal with various aspects of Islam. He also teaches Contemporary Islamic Thought.

Race, Religion, and Region: The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction
Janice L. Reiff, History

This class will consider the issues of race, religion, class, and region raised by the arrival of 57 New York City "orphans" at their new homes in Arizona's mining country in 1904 and what they reveal about American society more generally.

Professor Reiff teaches American social and history and directs the UCLA Oral History Program. Her research considers ethnicity, race, class, and place in 20th century America.

LGBT is Not a Sandwich, or Straight Talk about Gay Issues in America
Ronni Sanlo, Education

The course explores the ways in which American culture is affected by sexual orientation and gender identity issues. Topics include an overview of the historical perspective; legal and political issues specifically relating to education; sexual identity develop; the impact of bullying and harassment in schools and colleges; the relationship between sexual orientation discrimination and all other forms of discrimination; how to be an ally; and the impact of sexual orientation issues on all people regardless of their sexual orientation.

Ronni Sanlo is the director of the UCLA LGBT Campus Resource Center and lecturer in the Graduate School of Education. Her three books - Working with LGBT College Students: A Handbook for Faculty and Administrators; Unheard Voices: The Effects of Silence on Lesbian and Gay Educators; and Our Place on Campus are published by Greenwood Press. Ronni is the originator of the award-winning Lavender Graduation, an event that celebrates the lives and achievements of LGBT students. Ronni lives on the campus of UCLA as a member of the Faculty-in-Residence program.
  
Archaeology and Identity: Ancient Ruins as Points of Consensus and Flashpoints for Conflict
Monica L. Smith, Anthropology

In many nations, archaeological remains become symbols of shared identity and a proudly-displayed link with the past. But in other countries, such remains have become highly contested places of struggle. Sometimes those remains are even deliberately destroyed, as in the case of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. Why does the archaeological past evoke such strong feelings in a group of people? How has it been used to proclaim solidarity or incite rebellion? We'll look at how archaeology is viewed in a variety of countries, and discuss how heritage is not just something in the forgotten past but a critical part of identity in the modern world.

Dr. Smith is an archaeologist who has gained field experience in a variety of countries worldwide, and has a strong interest in archaeology and heritage. A recent arrival to UCLA's Department of Anthropology, she has also taught at the University of Arizona and the University of Pittsburgh. Her current research projects are in India and Bangladesh.

How Much Do We Deserve? - Inequality and U.S. Tax Policy
Kirk J. Stark, Law

Does Kobe Bryant deserve $13 million per year? Do those who earn the minimum wage deserve $5.15 per hour? Should we redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor and, if so, how much? This seminar will examine the growing inequality of income and wealth in the United States and ask what, if anything, U.S. tax policy should do about it. Topics to be discussed include the progressivity of the income tax, taxing inheritances, the flat tax, progressive consumption taxes, and a universal basic income.

Kirk Stark is a Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law. He teaches Federal Income Taxation, Corporate Tax, Taxation and Distributive Justice, and Multistate Taxation. His current research focuses on issues relating to fiscal federalism and state and local taxation, including projects on the deductibility of state/local taxes and tax limitation initiatives such as California's Proposition 13 and the more recent "Right to Vote on Taxes Act." Professor Stark was elected "Professor of the Year" in 1999 and 2002.

Campaign Advertising - What Works and Why?
Lynn Vavreck, Political Science

Today's candidates, especially for President, spend most of their campaign warchests on advertising. The 30-second television spot is a standard feature of most political elections, and attack advertising is on the rise. What consequences do campaign ads have? Should we be concerned about the rise of attack campaigning via advertising? Or, are there surprising benefits to citizens that arise when candidates confront one another on the issues? These are some of the questions we'll discuss.

Lynn Vavreck is an assistant professor of political science. She studies campaigns and elections, with an emphasis on systematically characterizing candidate behavior in campaigns and how it affects voters. Her work on fundamental considerations and candidate contact was published in The British Journal of Political Science and the American Journal of political science, respectively. She also works on campaign advertising. This research appears in The Journal of Politics, American Politics Review, and in her edited volume with Bartels.

Biogeography of Santa Cruz Island: Field Analysis of Critical Conservation Issues
Hartmut S. Walter, Geography

Serious overgrazing, pigs, and the spread of introduced weeds have created extinction problems for the island fox and other species. This field seminar on a remote Channel Island will assess the damage to the island and explore practical conservation measures for habitat restoration. [Students will be responsible for lodging and food costs at the UC island field station.] Meeting dates are as follows: One-hour Seminar Orientation: April 3, 5:00-5:50 p.m., in 1261 Bunche Hall. Field Trip Organization meeting: May 8, 5:00-5:50 p.m.; Weekend Field Expedition: May 16-18. Final Meeting: May 29, 5:00-5:50 p.m.

Prof. Walter is an ecologist and biogeographer who has studied island biodiversity around the world. He believes that field instruction is the best way to explain environmental concepts, to motivate students, and to find solutions for the mounting problems at the interface of nature and society. He is one of several UCLA faculty members who use Santa Cruz Island as a field laboratory.

Images of War in Literature for Children
Virginia Walter, Information Studies

How do children make sense of war? This course focuses on children's books as social artifacts that reveal prevailing values. We will read and discuss contemporary children's novels and picture books about war in an effort to understand the messages and information being communicated to children. The class will meet every other week for two hours, beginning First Week. The five meeting days are: April 2, April 16, April 30, May 14, and May 28.

Virginia Walter is a former Children's Librarian, a published author of books for children, and a member of the 2004 Newbery Committee, charged with selecting the most distinguished American book written for children in 2003. She teaches and writes about social issues in Children's Literature.

Critical Problems in American Intelligence Agencies
Amy Zegart, Public Policy and Social Research

Although the September 11th terrorist attacks may not have been preventable, recently declassified information suggests that the U.S. intelligence community did not perform as well as it should have. This seminar starts by examining the critical problems hampering U.S. intelligence efforts before 9/11. We then turn to history, tracing the origins and evolution of the CIA. Finally, we connect past to present, examining competing explanations of why the intelligence community adapted poorly to the rise of terrorism after the Cold War.

Amy Zegart is an Assistant Professor of Policy Studies. She received her B.A. from Harvard College and her Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University, where she studied under Bush National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Her book, Flawed By Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS and NSC, won the highest dissertation award in Political Science. She has worked on the Clinton NSC staff and the Bush 2000 Presidential campaign. Zegart is currently writing a book about why U.S national security agencies adapted poorly to the rise of terrorism.




You Are What You Drink: How Safe Is Your Water?
Thomas C. Harmon, Engineering and Applied Science

Water is life to all of us and water supply management is central to California's (over-) development. We will take a closer look at the water we drink every day: tap water, bottled water, reclaimed wastewater, and (in the near future) desalinized seawater. What are the risks (real vs. media-driven) posed by our drinking water supply? What are some of the impending threats to the safety and sustainability of this supply? Example topics include "toilet-to-tap" concerns and the Hinckley case of hexavalent chromium (as seen in "Erin Brockovich").

Tom Harmon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at UCLA. He also chairs the UCLA Institute of the Environment's Minor Program, and is the Associate Director of the UC Toxic Substances Research & Teaching Program. His research and teaching interests are concerned with the fate and transport of contaminants in natural and engineered environments. His most recent efforts are through UCLA's Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS), where he is studying the deployment of early warning water quality sensors.

The Science of the Singing Voice
Patricia Keating, Linguistics

This seminar will look at what is known about singing, in terms of the anatomy and physiology of voice production: how breathing, phonation, and articulation affect the sound of the voice. The equipment in the Linguistics Department's Phonetics Lab will be used to examine the action of the vocal folds, airflow and pressure during singing, and the resulting acoustic characteristics. Participants need not be singers, but it is hoped that participants will include at least some people willing to volunteer for lab demonstrations.

Patricia Keating is a Professor of Linguistics and the Director of the Phonetics Laboratory, where she teaches courses on the production and acoustics of speech. Before coming to UCLA in 1981, she received her Ph.D. in Linguistics at Brown University and was a post-doc in the Speech Communications Group at MIT. In 1986 she won a UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award and has recently directed several student research projects on aspects of the speaking voice. She is not a trained singer, but enjoys amateur singing and looks forward to extending what she knows about speech to the domain of the singing voice.

Great Projects: The Building of America
Steven Margulis, Engineering and Applied Science

The history and development of the United States over the last century is strongly linked to several engineering projects that have transformed our daily lives. In this course we will learn about several large engineering projects and examine their impact on our society. While these projects can be considered great engineering feats, the history, people, politics, and societal implications behind them make their stories interesting and relevant to not only those interested in the technical details behind their building, but to a general audience. The goal of the course is to enlighten students about what goes into building these projects, bring them alive by highlighting the people directly involved in them, and understanding the benefits and consequences on our society. The class will meet every other week for two hours, beginning First Week. The five meeting dates are April 1, April 15, April 29, May 13, and May 27.

Steve Margulis is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering. His teaching and research interests are in hydrology and water resources engineering. He is also interested in the history of engineering projects and the role they have played in our society.
  
Energy and the Environment
Anthony F. Mills, Engineering and Applied Science

This seminar will address one of the most critical problems facing the state, nation and world in the 21st century, that is, the conflicting demand of an adequate energy supply and protection of the environment. Students will be given opportunities to investigate and discuss a broad range of current and potential energy sources, as well as their impact on the environment and potential methods for mitigating degradation of the environment. Students will discuss quantitative assessments of the various issues that have potential different viewpoints/conclusions allowing students to gain accurate and practical viewpoints. In addition, career opportunities and required education will be discussed.

Anthony F. Mills (PhD UC Berkeley, 1965) is a Professor in the Engineering and Applied Science. Research areas: Convective heat and mass transfer, condensation heat transfer, ablation and transpiration cooling, perforated plate heat exchangers, aerosol transport.

Publications - textbooks: Mills, A.F. "Heat Transfer" 2nd edition, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1999 Mills, A.F. "Basic Heat and Mass Transfer", 2nd edition, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1999 Mills, A.F. "Mass Transfer" Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 2001

Playing with Chance
Juana Sanchez, Statistics

This seminar consists of playing games of chance (widely understood) with computers in a lab. We can't predict for sure the outcome of many things but in many cases we can predict how often some outcomes may happen. Probability theory is a field that teaches us how to make those predictions. Computer simulations using random numbers allow us to make them easily without having to learn all the mathematics involved in a probability course; for example, using random numbers in the computer, we can predict what is the chance that the sum of the numbers in 10 rolls of a die is bigger than 25, or what is the chance that two friends meet if they will wait for no more than 15 minutes for the other to arrive, or what is the chance that we would succeed at completing a task, among other things. Our goal will be to acquire hands-on experience at self-discovering the answers to probabilistic prediction questions and the laws of chance using the random numbers in the lab.

Professor Juana Sanchez, Ph.D. Washington University, St. Louis, 1989. She taught at the University of Missouri before she came to UCLA, Department of Statistics. Her research interests include Statistics Education, Time series, Bayesian Probability Theory, and applications of Statistics in Diabetes Research. She has published in several journals, such as the Journal of the American Cancer Institute, Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, and Advances in Econometrics.





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