Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars
Winter
Quarter 2007
Ancient Near
East 19, Seminar 1
Archaeology and
Virtual Reality: The Greco-Roman
Willemina Wendrich
In this course, we will explore the use and usefulness of virtual reality
in order to understand archaeological sites in dimensions of time and space.
Willemina Wendrich is an Associate Professor of Egyptian Archaeology at
the Department for Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. She directs the UCLA
excavations in the Fayum Oasis in
Comparative Literature 19,
Seminar 1
The Short Works
of Franz Kafka, or How
the Modern World
Works
Kathleen Komar
An examination of the short works of one of the world's most famous and
puzzling authors, Franz Kafka. Kafka has been labeled everything from
Existentialist to Realist, from mystic to comic. This seminar will examine the
implications that Kafka's unique perspective has for our own times. Students
write three questions based on readings to shape each class discussion.
Kathleen L. Komar is Professor of Comparative Literature and German at
the
is the author of several books.
Comparative
Literature 19, Seminar 2
Poets and Desire
Ross Shideler
Representations of desire in poetry range from blatantly sexual to the esthetic
ideal, and the object of desire might be person or painting. Poems by Sappho,
Catullus, Mallarme, Yeats, and W. Stevens will be studied to see how they
express or approach desire. Other international poets read include C.
Baudelaire, C.P. Cavafy, P. Valery, and G. Ekelof, and some contemporary
American poets such as Louise Gluck, Sharon Olds, and Alice Fulton. This
seminar will be conducted within a context in which students wary of or unfamiliar
with poetry can do close reading and participate in open discussions.
Ross Shideler is a professor
of Comparative Literature who works on 19th-20th-century Swedish, French,
English and American literature. He has
published many articles, translations of plays by the Swedish author Per Olov
Enquist and of Swedish poets as well as poems of his own. His books include: Voices Under the Ground: Themes and Images
in the Early Poetry of Gunnar Ekelöf, Per
Olov Enquist: A Critical Study; and Questioning
the Father: From Darwin to Zola, Ibsen, Strindberg, and Hardy as well as
having written and edited with Kathleen Komar, Lyrical Symbols and Narrative Transformation.
Design | Media
Arts 19, Seminar 1
What Is
Interactive Media?
Erkki Huhtamo
Interactivity and interactive media have been among the most repeated
buzz-words of media culture for more than a decade. Still, their actual meaning
is far from clear. There is not a single theoretical book fully devoted to
interactivity, exploring its theoretical, cultural and historical
underpinnings. In this seminar, we will develop a broader understanding of
interactivity, particularly in relation to media, art, and design. We will discuss
different definitions of interactivity and explore its relationship to earlier
phenomena like mechanization and (full) automation. We’ll review a wide variety
of interactive applications, ranging from interactive media art and interactive
entertainment to cinema and design. The goal of this seminar is to lead its participants
to a more critical understanding of the concept and its uses.
Erkki Huhtamo
is a Professor at the Department of Design | Media Arts. He is a media
archaeologist, writer, and exhibition curator. He has published extensively on
media archaeology and media arts, lectured worldwide, created television
programs, and curated media art exhibitions. His research deals with topics
like peep media, Marcel Duchamp's optical experiments, the use of 3-D imaging
by media artists, the pre-history of the screen, and the archaeology of mobile
media. He is currently working on two books, one about the 19th century moving
panorama, and another on the archaeology of interactivity.
English 19, Seminar 1
Sex and Violence
in the Narrative Art
of William
Hogarth
Charles Batten
"I have endeavoured," wrote William Hogarth (1697-1764),
"to treat my subjects as a dramatic writer: my picture is my stage, and
men and women my players." The most important engraver of
Charles Batten is an Associate Professor in the Department of English. He
is the author of Pleasurable Instruction:
Form and Convention in Eighteenth-Century Travel Literature.
English 19, Seminar 2
Words, Feelings,
Things: How to Read a Poem
Paul Sheats
An informal weekly hour of reading and discussing a few poems, bringing our
collective experience together in appreciation and understanding. In this seminar
we will examine such questions as What makes a group of words a poem? How can
poetry illuminate our individual lives and also our society? How does a poem
survive its own historical time? What happens to ordinary language when it is
made into a good poem? What is metrical language and poetic form?
Paul Sheats is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of English. He has taught English poetry at UCLA,
Haverford, and Harvard, and has published books, editions, and articles on the
poetry of the English romantic period.
English 19,
Seminar 3
Fantasy, Fairy
Tales, and New Worlds of Possibilities
Jenny Sharpe
In this seminar, we will explore contemporary retellings of ancient stories
inhabited by werewolves, trolls, magicians, and genii. What relationship do
fantasy and fairy tales have to the real world? How does its narrative
perspective transform telling of a tale? Does magic still have place in the modern,
technological world? We will explore how writers reinvent the folk tale for the
modern world by reading their reinterpretation of traditional stories like Red
Riding Hood, Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Gingerbread Boy, Arabian Nights, and
The Ballad of Fa Mu Lan, among others.
Jenny Sharpe is a Professor of English who specializes in postcolonial
literature, postmodern fiction, and magical realism. She has published books
and essays on film, fiction, and poetry from the Caribbean and
English 19,
Seminar 4
Medieval Trial
by Combat: Law, Chivalry,
Theology, and
Spectacle
Eric Jager
In this seminar, we will consider one of the most controversial practices
of medieval
Professor Jager earned his Ph.D at the
English 19,
Seminar 5
The Satan
Seminar
Henry Kelly
In this seminar, we will review all of the references to Satan (Devil) in
the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament, and analyze the various
functions assigned to Satan in each instance.
Henry Kelly is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of English. He has
been a Professor of English and Medieval-Renaissance Studies at UCLA since
1967; he has published many writings on religious studies.
Ethnomusicology 19, Seminar 1
The Cognitive Science of Music in Science Fiction
Film
Roger Kendall
In this course, we will view such films as Metropolis, Forbidden Planet,
and excerpts from others such as Star Trek and Star Wars. In addition, vintage
TV shows such as Time Tunnel are incorporated. Discussions and analyses will center
on how the music incorporated in these films exhibits elements of experimental
semiotic theory and aspects of meaning that have percolated through decades of
science fiction in media. Connections of visual and musical elements will be a focus
of the analysis.
Roger A. Kendall is a Professor of Systematic Musicology in the
Department of Ethnomusicology. His research interests include the
psychoacoustics of timbre in natural versus synthetic contexts, the tunings of
the Gamelan, and the cognitive processes in musical expression and
communication. He was a consulting editor for Music Perception for 15 years.
Recently, he has built a model of musical meaning in film and animation. He
tests his experiments using an original computer program, MEDS (Music
Experiment Development System) that is used internationally.
Film and Television 19,
Seminar 1
The Art of Cinematography
William
McDonald
Who is
responsible for the camera and lighting decisions on feature films? The cameraperson? The cinematographer?
The director of photography? All of them, for they are the same person. This
seminar, will survey the technological and artistic developments of
cinematography within the
William
McDonald is a veteran cinematographer whose credits include dramatic and
documentary films. He is head of the Cinematography Program in the
Film
and Television 19, Seminar 2
Introduction to Film Making: So You Want
to Make Movies?
Barbara Boyle
Three screenplays are read
without disclosing the title of screenplay or resulting movie. Analysis and
discussion will center on visual style, cast, director, music, and other
essential elements used to convey tone and message of movie made from script.
Films actually made from screenplays are then shown so that the relationship
between the literary (screenplay) and the visual (film and all its components)
is understood. This course will also introduce a glossary of basic film
industry terms. Three feature length motion pictures will be viewed.
Barbara Boyle is a Professor and Chair
in the Department of Film, Television & Digital Media, and a
film and television producer.
Boyle's credits include Phenomenon, Instinct, Bottle Rocket, Eight Men Out,
Mrs. Munck, and The Hi-Line. Her company, Sovereign Pictures, has financed and
distributed internationally 25 films, including My Left Foot, Cinema Paradiso,
Reversal of Fortune, Impromptu, Hamlet, and The Commitments. Sovereign's films
were nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won four. While president of Valhalla
Motion Pictures, the company produced 22 episodes of Adventure, Inc., the
documentary, True Whispers, and the feature films, Clockstoppers, and The Hulk.
She serves on the board of Project: Involve, and is a past president of
IFP/West and Women In Film. Boyle has received the Crystal Award and the Alumni
of the Year from
French 19, Seminar 1
How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman!
Jean-Claude
Carron
The title of
this seminar is borrowed from a Cannes Festival Award-winning 1971 film by
Brazilian author Nelson Pereira dos
Jean-Claude Carron is a Professor in the Department of French and
Francophone Studies. He has published books on French Renaissance poetry and on
François Rabelais, as well as articles on history of ideas, philosophy and
literature, rhetoric, poetry, dialogues, theater, Montaigne, Mallarmé, etc. He
is currently working on the history of gastronomy. The Fiat Lux seminar is
related to his interest in 16th-century philosophy and the birth of skepticism
in
German 19, Seminar 1
Three Penny
Opera: John Gay, Bertolt Brecht,
and Kurt Weill
Wolfgang Nehring
A discussion of Brecht's most famous work, based upon John Gay's “Beggar's
Opera” and was particularly successful through the music of Kurt Weill. In this
seminar, we will examine the questions What did Brecht find in the old play?
What did he do with it? What is the role of Brecht’s team? Discussion topics include
entertainment vs. politics, theater as means of criticism of bourgeoisie and
capitalism, and ideas and music.
Wolfgang Nehring has been a Professor of German for 35 years at UCLA. His
expertise is German Culture and Literature from the 18th Century to the Present
German 19,
Seminar 2
Writing about
Love in the High-Middle Ages
James Schultz
This seminar will focus on two great love stories of the Middle Ages:
Abelard and Heloise, and Tristan and Isolde. The former historical figures
struggle over the nature and meaning of their love in a series of
brilliantly-crafted letters. The latter fictional characters achieve their
supreme literary representation in the romance of Gottfried von Strassburg.
These two texts- letters of Abelard and Heloise and Gottfried's Tristan
romance-provide opportunity to consider how medieval ideas of love differ from
ours as well as how medieval writing about love differs from ours.
Dr. Schultz received his BA from Harvard in 1969; and his PhD from
Music 19, Seminar 1
Global Rap: Hip-Hop Outside of the
Robert
Walser
Rap music
emerged from
Robert Walser
is a Professor of Musicology at UCLA. He is the author of Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music, and editor of Keeping Time:
Philosophy 19, Seminar 1
Faith, Reason, and Politics:
Shaping the
Medieval World
Calvin Normore
Peter Abelard and
Bernard of Clairvaux represent two poles of thought- Christianity and politics
in the 12th century. Famous as lover, poet, and philosopher, Abelard
(1079-1142) got in on the ground floor of contemporary conceptions of all
three. Equally famous as theologian, founder of a new kind of more austere
monastery, impetus behind the Second Crusade, and architect of centralized late
medieval Church, Bernard (090-1153) had enormous influence inside and outside
the medieval church. The two confronted one another at a council called (under
Bernard's influence) at Sens in 1140, at which Abelard's work was condemned. This
seminar explores the lives and central ideas of each, the environment in which
they worked, the way they were regarded by their contemporaries, and the way
they are regarded today.
Calvin Normore
is Professor in the Philosophy Department at UCLA. His research is largely in
medieval and early modern philosophy and he has written several articles on
Peter Abelard but, as yet, none of Bernard.
Scandinavian 19, Seminar 1
Scary Movies: Film, Folklore, and
Ideology
Timothy Tangherlini
Ghosts, UFOs, psychopaths, evil corporations, Satanists, serial killers,
wild conspiracy theories, unlikely ways to be killed, and even more unusual
ways to survive. These are but some topics that come up time and again in both
urban legends and popular film. Sometimes, popular films are based entirely on
these legends (“Scream,” “Urban Legend,” “Men in Black”); other times, they
simply make use of similar motifs. Although they keep us entertained and frightened,
there is more to these stories and their presentation than simple
entertainment. Exploration of how the storytelling of legends can be used to
endorse
ideological
positions. This seminar will focus on how this process translates into popular
film. Its goal is to develop an understanding
of how narratives, particularly those that aim to create fear, can be used for
local or global political ends.
Timothy Tangherlini is a Professor of folklore in the Scandinavian Section and the
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. His research interests span from
Old Icelandic morphology to Korean punk rock. He has written several books on
storytelling, and the ideological uses to which people put stories. His
books include, Interpreting Legend
and Talking Trauma: Paramedics and Their
Stories.
Theater 19, Seminar 1
Medicine in the
Arts and Humanities
Shelley Salamensky
Medicine is much more than simple biology. In this seminar, we will explore
a wide variety of lively materials concerning patient, doctor, body, mind, and
the magic of science.
S.I. Salamensky is an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Performance
Studies, and also teaches European Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative
Literature. She is working on a book entitled Immaterial Science: Pain,
Cure, and the Staging of Knowledge.
Anthropology 19, Seminar 1
American Indian Population Decline from
Circa 1492- 1900: Was it Genocide?
Russell Thornton
The American Indian population of what is now the
Russell Thornton is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at UCLA. He
is a registered member of the Cherokee Nation (
Anthropology 19, Seminar 2
Stone-Age
Hunting from A to Z
P. Jeffrey Brantingham
Hunting of small and large game animals has been a key feature of human
adaptations for more than 2 million years. This seminar surveys archaeological
evidence for key behavioral, technological, and ecological features of
Paleolithic (Stone Age) hunting adaptations. Topics include hunting, scavenging
in competition with large-bodied predators, and the role that human hunting may
have played in several large-scale animal extinctions.
P. Jeffrey Brantingham is a Paleolithic archaeologist specializing in the
Middle and Upper Paleolithic of East Asia. His current research is focused on
investigating the timing of the human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau.
Asian 19,
Seminar 1
Crisis in
Northeast Asia: Nuclear
John Duncan
John Duncan is a historian of
Chicano Studies 19, Seminar 1
After the
Rebuilding at Ground Zero
In this seminar,
we will study public debates about the effort to rebuild at ground zero in
Economics 19, Seminar 1
How Rational Are
You?
William Zame
An exploration of the idea that human decision-making is not by rational
utility-maximizers in the traditional sense. Many behavioral theories suggest
that in each human there is not a unique agent that makes economic decisions;
rather, there are many selves with contradictory preferences. Thus,
self-control is important in making of economic decisions and factors that
affect self-control may play a vital role in the rationality of economic
choices of agents. These factors can be systematically examined in the laboratory,
and results have wide-ranging applications for economic policy because
consequences of this policy depend critically on degree of rationality of
economic decisions.
William Zame received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from
Economics 19, Seminar 2
The “Winner's
Curse” in Common Value Auctions
Hugo Hopenhayn
This seminar examines the phenomenon of “winner's curse.” Winner’s curse
occurs when a person who wins at an auction wishes he or she had not won. Since
many other interesting phenomena have the same basic structure as common value
auctions, insights learned about auctions in the laboratory have significance in
other areas where unhappy winners are important, such as political contests and
voting behavior, jury decisions, and companies racing to discover and patent an invention.
Professor Hopenhayn received his PhD in economics from the
Education 19,
Seminar 1
The Possibilities
and Difficulties of
Urban K-12
Public Education
Eloise Metcalfe
This seminar will examine and discuss what is happening in Los Angeles
K-12 public schools in low income areas, using a social justice framework.
Dr. Metcalfe has extensive public school experience in
Education 19,
Seminar 2
Education and
Globalization: Critical Concepts
Carlos Torres
This seminar will analyze the implications of globalization in education
with specific focus on what is happening in Los Angeles, addressing in particular
the voices of teachers and how they see the processes of globalization
affecting teaching, instruction, curriculum, and policy.
Dr. Torres is a political sociologist of education, who is Professor of
Social Sciences and Comparative Education at GSEIS. He is the Director of the
Paulo Freire Institute at GSEIS, and a Founding Director of the Paulo Freire
Institute in
Geography 19, Seminar 1
American Rivers: History of Environmental Change
The objective
of this course is to offer students a basic understanding of rivers and how human
agency has changed them in the
Geography 19,
Seminar 2
Hammer of the
Gods: Climate Change and
Human History
Glen Macdonald
Today we face the specter of rapid climate change caused by increased
greenhouse gasses. However, this is not the first time such challenges have
confronted humans. This seminar explores the nature
and causes of past episodes of rapid climate change and evidence of their
impact upon prehistoric humans and historic civilizations, including those in the
Near East,
Glen MacDonald is a Professor of Geography and of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology. He has published over 100 articles on environmental and
climatic change and also an award-winning book on Biogeography. In addition to
awards for his research, he has won the UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award and
has appeared on the Discovery Channel, as well as national and regional news
programs.
History 19,
Seminar 1
How We Remember
the Bomb
Ludwig Lauerhass
The first military use of atomic bombs devastated
Ludwig Lauerhass, Lecturer Emeritus in History, has taught and researched
widely on themes of nationalistic and national identity in Latin America and
the
History 19,
Seminar 2
Terrorists and
Door Kickers: Terrorism and Counterterrorism, Past and Present
Patrick Geary
Since 9/11, enormous attention has been focused on the ability of small,
non-state organizations to inflict tremendous damage on powerful states, but
such asymmetric
warfare is hardly novel. This seminar looks at a variety of approaches to
understanding terrorism, as well as efforts in the past and present to defeat
it.
Although a professor of history since 9/11 Dr. Geary has become involved
in assisting the US Joint Special Operations University and the Naval
Postgraduate School in developing approaches to teaching elite special
operations officers how to face the challenge of the new terrorist environment.
This seminar is a way for Professor Geary to share what he has learned with
UCLA students.
History 19,
Seminar 3
The Rise and
Fall of Communism
Arch Getty
A survey of the rise and fall of communism, from Marx's original theories
to the collapse of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev, with emphasis on theory
and its application in practice in a variety of historical settings. This seminar
is conducted in a discussion-type format.
A specialist in the history of the Soviet Communist Party, Dr. Getty is
the author of five books and more than 40 research articles, mostly on the
Stalin period of Soviet history. He is a professor of history at UCLA, a
History 19,
Seminar 4
Political
Documentaries in American Society
Vinay Lal
Among the most remarkable aspects of contemporary American life is the recent
efflorescence of the political documentary. Though the tradition of political
documentaries first gained prominence in the 1960s, the last decade has
witnessed an extraordinary revival of the documentary form. Participants in
this seminar will view important documentaries such as “The Fog of War,” “The
Corporation,” and “Why We Fight,” with the intent not merely to understand the phenomenon
of the documentary, but to also ask certain questions, such as What exactly is a
documentary form? What does it document? What is its relation to other archives? and
How can one distinguish between documentaries and propaganda films?
Vinay Lal is an Associate Professor of History and Asian American
Studies, and Chair of the South Asia IDP. He writes widely on Indian history
and politics, the Indian Diaspora, Indian cinema, and also on contemporary
American politics. He has a column on American affairs in the Economic and Political Weekly,
History 19,
Seminar 5
“No Pasaran”: The
Spanish Civil War in
Music and Cinema
Gabriel Piterberg
The Spanish Civil War was an early and tragically unsuccessful attempt to
nip fascism in the bud in the 1930s. It gave rise, however, to an unprecedented
international solidarity at the level of common idealist people. This seminar
analyzes the revival of spirit and lore of that era through contemporary
popular song and film.
Gabriel Piterberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of History
at UCLA. He was born in
History 19,
Seminar 6
Teofilo Ruiz
This seminar is an introduction to the complex ethnic and architectural
history of
Teofilo Ruiz is a Professor of History at UCLA. His area of research is
medieval and early modern
History 19, Seminar 7
Honor and Shame in the Clash
of
Civilizations and Religions
Scott
S. Bartchy
Honor
and shame are core cultural values for the vast majority of human beings, including
most Muslims. Ignoring this fact has led to serious and avoidable misunderstandings
of world events and mistakes in US foreign policies, which have been based most often on the western
individualistic values of achievement and guilt. This seminar involves reflection
on values with which students were raised as well as achievement of deeper
understanding of ways in which honor/shame values continue to influence
self-perception, gender roles, and group practices of more than five billion
people.
Professor Scott
Bartchy specializes in the comparison of the great religious traditions, their
histories, and their effects on culture and human behavior. He teaches courses
in the history of religion and directs UCLA's Center for the Study of Religion
and the undergraduate major in the Study of Religion. In his research, he uses
insights from cultural anthropology to understand the religions of the
Honors
Collegium 19, Seminar 1
LGBT is Not a
Sandwich: Straight Talk on the Effects of Silence on Sexual and Gender
Minorities in Los Angeles
Ronni Sanlo and Suzanne Seplow
This seminar informs students through active discussion and participation
about the myriad ways in which people and communities are affected by issues of
sexual orientation and gender identity. Topics include the history of sexual
orientation issues, health and legal issues of sexual and gender minority
people, sexual/gender identity development, and legal issues directly affecting
UCLA and
Ronni
Sanlo is the director of the
Suzanne L. Seplow, Ed.D., is
a graduate of the GSEIS Educational Leadership program at UCLA. Her focus is on
maintaining living/learning communities that foster positive impacts on student
learning. She specializes in learning
communities, environmental influences, and student development theory.
Honors Collegium 19, Seminar 2
The Black
Student Experience at UCLA
Kelly Lytle-Hernandez and La'Tonya Rease-Miles
This seminar examines the social, academic, and political concerns facing
Black Bruins, and explores how Proposition 209 has affected the UCLA black
student community. It asks the question, how can students affect change at
UCLA?
La'Tonya Rease
Miles is Associate Director of AAP and Director of the AAP Mentoring Programs.
Professor Kelly
Lytle-Hernandez is an Assistant Professor of History. Both participate in the
Faculty In Resident Program.
Honors Collegium 19, Seminar 3
Perceptions of Americans Abroad: Discussions
with Visiting Fulbright Scholars
Ann Kerr
In the post 9/11
world, there is a greater than ever need for Americans to know more about the rest
of the world and to understand how we are perceived abroad. This seminar
affords students the opportunity to see ourselves as others see us by hearing
visiting Fulbright scholars from around the world speak about their countries
and the perceptions of
Ann Zwicker
Kerr, a native of Southern California, has spent a total of 15 years living,
studying, and teaching in the
the
Honors
Collegium 19, Seminar 4
Jigga Who? The Cultural Impact of Jay-Z
La'Tonya Miles
This seminar is
an examination of the dynamic career of rapper and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z. The discussions
focus on the state of hip-hop culture from 1995 through the present, focusing
particularly on the artist Jay-Z. (NOTE: This
seminar is for Transfer students only, a PTE is required to enroll.)
Dr. La'Tonya
Rease Miles is the Director of the AAP Mentoring Program and is a Faculty-in-Residence.
Law 19,
Seminar 1
Financing
War
Steven Bank
Significant
changes in the
Professor Bank
teaches tax and business law courses and is Faculty Director of the UCLA
Program in Business Law & Policy. Much of his research focuses on the
history of taxation in the
Law 19,
Seminar 2
Changes
in Social Welfare and What Has Happened to Poor Single-Mother Families
Joel Handler
This seminar will
discuss the history of aid to poor single mothers and their children (formerly “AFDC”)
now known as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (“TANF”) The welfare reform
of 1996, “Ending welfare as we know it,” leading to a decline in the welfare
rolls. We will discuss what has happened with poverty and inequality since then,
with an emphasis on working mothers and their children in low-wage labor markets.
Joel Handler is a Professor in
the
Law 19,
Seminar 3
Frances Olsen
This seminar examines the various
roles of law in promoting or impeding social change through the lens of
political trials. We will learn about the origin and potential of jury
nullification, the uses of courtroom by revolutionaries as political platform,
and recent government efforts to suppress these traditional outlets of
political expression.
While working as an attorney,
Frances Olsen represented a number of political activists, including the Native
Americans who staged the last major uprising against the federal government at
Tel
Law 19, Seminar 4
Inequality, Tax Policy and Distributive Justice
Kirk Stark
This seminar will examine the growing inequality of income and wealth in
the
if anything, tax policy should (and can) do about it. Topics to be discussed
include the progressivity of the income tax, taxing inheritances, the flat tax,
progressive consumption taxes, how the tax system should treat
low-income households, and redistributive school finance reform.
Professor Kirk Stark teaches Federal Income Tax, Taxation &
Distributive Justice, Multi-state Taxation,
and Property. His research focuses on broad issues
of tax policy relating to fiscal federalism, state and
local taxation, and school finance reform. Professor Stark was elected
"Professor of the Year" in 1999
and 2002, and received the University Distinguished Teaching Award in 2003.
Where Are We Going
with IT?
We will read and discuss two recent books addressing the future of
information technology (“IT”) in organizations; a subject that should concern
any student preparing for a working career. This seminar will also identify our
own collective expectations and concerns about working with IT.
E. Burton Swanson is a Professor of Information Systems at UCLA's
Complexity
Science: An Overview of
Order-Creation
Science
Bill McKelvey
Complexity is a curious mix of
complication and organization that we find through the natural and human
worlds. Nobel Laureate Murray Gell-Mann says it is about finding simplicity
beneath surface complexity. Science as we know it studies forces and trends
toward equilibrium. Complexity science is “order-creation science.” If there is
no Intelligent Designer, how do new order, new structure, and new processes
appear in the physical, biological, and social worlds? Complexity science is
about the "0th" Law of Thermodynamics- how order appears out of
randomness. It is about normal science done backwards, often called New
Science. This seminar will introduce you to this new science and it will be a conversion
experience!
Bill McKelvey received his BA
(physics, business economics, mathematics, music) from
Sociology 19, Seminar 1
Contemporary Chinese Immigration
Min Zhou
Designed as an introduction to contemporary Chinese immigration, this seminar will examine how historical events and cultures in the homeland and American society, patterns of social relations, and ethnic and host social structures, have interacted to affect the process of adaptation and life chances of Chinese immigrants and their offspring. In this seminar, students will become more aware of the social forces that bind Chinese immigrants and their families together, the dynamics of social institutions in ethnic community and in larger society which mediate between individuals and their increasingly complex physical environment, and determinants of status attainment. Through the study of a particular immigrant group, students will understand better the various structural and cultural factors that affect the process of immigrant adaptation. Students will also see more clearly the invisible threads which connect Chinese immigrants with other immigrants.
Min Zhou is a Professor
of Sociology and Asian American Studies at UCLA. Her main areas of research are
international migration; ethnic and racial relations; education and the new
second generation; immigrant youth;
Sociology 19,
Seminar 3
Migration as
Business: The Migration Industry
in Global
Perspective
Ruben Hernandez-Leon
The burgeoning global migration industry is a complex of profit motivated
services that foster, facilitate and sustain international migration. Migration
industry includes services of smugglers (“coyotes”), labor contractors,
transportation companies, travel agencies, communication and remittance
businesses, mail-order bride services, false and valid documentation
procurement, and legal and paralegal consulting, among others. This seminar
looks at the role of the migration industry in a variety of international migratory flows,
in the context of Mexico-U.S. stream and, specifically,
Professor Hernandez-Leon’s current areas of research are the new
destinations of Mexican immigration in the
Southeast Asian 19, Seminar 1
The War in
George Dutton
This seminar examines the wars in
George Dutton is an Assistant Professor in the Asian Languages and
Cultures Department and is Chair of the Southeast Asian IDP. He is both a
generalist teaching on Southeast Asian history and culture, and a specialist in
Vietnamese history. His has written on Vietnamese history, including topics
ranging from 18th-century poetry to 1930s political satire. He recently
published a book on an 18th-century Vietnamese peasant uprising. He is also
strongly interested in the American war in
Urban Planning 19,
Seminar 1
Sprawl: The American
Dream, or Nightmare?
Randall
Crane
What
is sprawl, is it good or bad, and what should be done about it? Many urban areas, in the
Randall Crane is a 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
co-authoring Travel by Design: The Influence of Urban
Form on Travel."
Women's Studies 19, Seminar 1
Law and Nature: What Ecofeminism Contributes
to the Debate
Taimie Bryant
As a branch of
feminism, ecofeminism examines the connections between the degradation of
nature and the oppression of women. Yet ecofeminism itself contains different perspectives
and types of analysis. For example, some ecofeminists argue that since
traditional women's work brings women (more so than men) into contact with
nature, human destruction of nature has a particularly negative impact on
women. Some ecofeminists work more from a perspective that the degradation of
nature is fundamentally about degrading women because women are seen as “natural.”
Since ecofeminism contains highly theoretical perspectives as well as pragmatic
concerns about humans' treatment of nature and the environment, this course
will examine differences among ecofeminists and applications of their ideas.
Whenever possible, those theoretical and pragmatic concerns will be reviewed
through a lens of legal reform that takes into account ecofeminist concerns. The
course will also compare ecofeminist thought to liberal and radical feminist
thought.
Taimie Bryant
holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from UCLA and a J.D. from Harvard. She has been a
member of the
Astronomy 19, Seminar 1
The Invisible
Universal and Life in the Solar System:
From Alpha to Omega
David Cline
This seminar is a non-mathematical discussion of the current
understanding of the dark universe that is mostly made up of invisible dark
energy, dark matter, and neutrinos. Normal matter (of which humans are made)
makes up less than four percent of the universe; stars, less than half of a
percent. How invisible dark matter leads to the formation of galaxies and
stars. Some stars explode, producing neutrinos and heavy elements that
constitute materials from which life originates and complex molecular systems
were likely formed. We trace the distribution of heavy elements to the period
five billion years ago. They also were incorporated into organic materials that
eventually led to the origin of life on earth. This seminar is also a discussion
of the search for life elsewhere in the solar system that may involve the very
same organic molecules.
Professor David B Cline received his Bachelor of Science in Physics (cum
laude) from
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences 19, Seminar 1
Cosmic Evolution: How Everything is Connected
By the Arrow of Time
Richard Turco
A discussion of how matter has evolved over the course of time, since the
beginning of the universe to the present. This seminar will emphasize the processes
by which complexity and organization arise and grow in natural and manmade
systems. Will explore the empirical evidence for inevitable and irreversible
transformation of matter, leading toward life and beyond, along the arrow of
time.
Richard Turco is a faculty member of the Department of Atmospheric and
Oceanic Sciences, and the Institute of the Environment, where he was its
founding director. His interests include the causes of global climate change,
the impacts of technology on the environment, and issues regarding how
technology might be used to geoengineer the environment to benefit society. He
led the research team that discovered the "nuclear winter" effect,
and has written a book on this subject with the late Carl Sagan.
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences 19, Seminar 2
The Environmental
Transformation of the
Alex Hall
Though signs of global climate change can be seen all over the earth, the
arctic and surrounding land areas are currently experiencing a particularly
dramatic change, including the loss of sea ice and snow cover, the disappearance
of permafrost, and the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. This seminar examines
the reasons the arctic is warming so much more rapidly than the rest of the world
and the consequences of arctic change for the northern regions and the global
environment. Since climate change is comparable to what’s already occurring in the
arctic and is anticipated for the rest of planet in the coming century, focus
on the
Professor Hall studies climate change from global and regional
perspectives, and is the author of several publications on the topic. He
teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. When he arrived at UCLA, he created
a general education course called Climate Change (AOS1), which now regularly
enrolls over 170 students.
Biomedical
Engineering 19, Seminar 1
Truth and
Questions in Orthopedics
Howard Winet
The demand for solutions to fracture healing problems has spawned a variety
of orthopedic devices, but the rush to application has outrun the scientific
evidence for effectiveness. Using a class reader, lectures including a guest
surgeon and an engineer, and discussion, this seminar explores how the needs
for scientific rigor and clinical demands have conflicted historically,
beginning with Bacon's separation of religion from science, through the entrance
of science into medicine in the late 1700s. This seminar examines current FDA
requirements for safety and efficacy of orthopaedic implants. The development
of orthopaedic fixation devices serves as a focus and example of how this
transformation is now underway.
Dr. Winet has held an Adjunct Professor appointment in the Department of
Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA since 1998 and has collaborated with many faculty
in the Biomedical Engineering IDP. He has been involved in developing and
teaching core courses in biomechanics and biomaterials for the graduate
biomedical engineering program. In addition, Dr. Winet has been serving as
advisor and co-chairing Ph.D. committees for biomedical engineering students.
He has published over 10 book chapters, 40 peer reviewed, 90 presentations, and
has taught over 15 courses and given numerous lectures on topics in
neurophysiology, biophysics, orthopaedics, biomechanics, and biomaterials at
CalTech, Southern Illinois University, USC, and UCLA.
Chemistry 19, Seminar 1
Chemistry and Art
David Scott
This seminar will discuss the interactions between chemistry and art,
including how chemical knowledge over the thousands of years in which art has
been produced has been a critical factor in art and how it is made. Chemistry
is also very important in the conservation of art for the future, and helps in the
design of new materials and methods for conservation of our heritage. This
seminar will explore some of these interactions.
Professor David A. Scott is Chair of the IDP in Archaeological
Conservation and is a full professor in Art History. He has a Ph.D. in chemistry
and is interested in the deterioration of ancient metals, corrosion, pigments,
and coatings.
Community
Health Sciences 19, Seminars 1 and 2
Cosmo Says
You're Fat? I Ain't Down with That: Nutrition and Body Image Life Skills
Jill De Jager and Pamela Viele
This seminar will examine the personal, social, and environmental factors
that influence college students' eating behaviors and body image. Students will
learn to apply these theories in developing an individualized plan to eat well,
be active, and feel good about their bodies. Students will also learn practical
skills with applications to stress management, positive body image, and
nutrition as they participate in a critical evaluation of popular diets,
healthy body weights, sports nutrition, fitness, supplements, muscle builders,
media body ideals, and self-destructive thoughts.
Jill DeJager, MPH, RD is a registered dietitian with a background in
exercise physiology and public health. In addition to her current role as
UCLA's Nutrition Education Coordinator, she functions as an Adjunct Professor
of nutrition at Mount San Antonio Community College. She is currently the chair
of UCLA's Eating and Activity Task Force which seeks to maximize the success of
students by minimizing modifiable nutrition and fitness-related health threats.
Pamela Viele, PhD, MPH holds dual appointments at UCLA as the Director of Health Education
in the
Dentistry 19,
Seminar 1
Research
Management for Young Scientists
and Creative
Minds
Ichiro Nishimura
This seminar will enhance the understanding of the challenges of managing
scientific research in the industrial, academic, and government laboratory
settings. Three representative laboratories- Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center
(PARC), MIT's Media lab, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, are discussed in-depth.
Students will investigate the factors influencing design and initial
establishment of research centers. We will discuss organizational structures
and recruitment issues. Students will also investigate various managerial
considerations with unique aspects on discovery in research centers.
Discussions include personnel and funding management. We will examine methods
evaluating performance, outcome, research strategy, and direction-setting of
research centers.
Professor Nishimura received his dental training at the
Dentistry 19,
Seminar 2
Current Issues
in Evidence-Based Research in Dentistry
Francesco
Chiapelli
This seminar will introduce the emerging domain of evidence-based
research (“EBR”) in the health sciences of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing,
with an emphasis in clinical dentistry. We will look at concepts such as
systematic review, meta-analysis, number needed to treat, intention to treat,
acceptable sampling, etc. Students are presented with web links and research
literature in EBR as it pertains to clinical decision-making in the dental
office. Current issues about implementations of evidence-based dental practice
are perused.
Dr. Chiappelli obtained a master's degree from UCLA in research methods
and statistics. After completing his PhD and post-doctoral fellowships at UCLA,
he joined the
Earth & Space Sciences 19, Seminar 1
Evolution: How It Works and Why It Matters
Bruce Runnegar
A review of the mechanisms of evolutionary change, ranging in scale from
biomolecules to populations and discussions of the importance of evolution to
human activities. Topics include the origin of life, fossil records, viral
evolution, drug resistance, human origins, the possibilities for life beyond
Earth, and artificial life.
Bruce Runnegar is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Spaces
Sciences and the
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 19, Seminar 1
Parasites: Eating us Alive
Don Buth
This seminar will introduce students to the parasitological half of the
animal kingdom by way of popular text that emphasizes historical aspects of
this biological phenomenon. Humans as hosts are emphasized. Topics include how
parasites have influenced human evolution and human history.
Donald G. Buth, PhD
Human Genetics 19, Seminar 1
Genetic Counseling: Making Genetics Real
Christina
Palmer and Michelle Fox
This course
focuses on the fascinating field of Genetic counseling. Genetic counseling
combines psychology and science to explain the role of genetic information in the
lives of individuals and society. By ‘making genetics real,’ genetic counselors
help individuals to understand genetic information and to make decisions about
its use, for example, through genetic testing for conditions such as cancer,
Alzheimer's disease, and cystic fibrosis. Through the exploration of case
histories in each of the areas of genetic counseling specialization, we will discuss
the ethical dilemmas facing individuals in approaching their genetic future.
Christina
Palmer, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry &
Biobehavioral Sciences. She is a trained genetic counselor and provides genetic
counseling for neuropsychiatric conditions at UCLA. She conducts research in
psychiatric genetics and the genetics of hearing loss.
Michelle Fox, M.S., is an Adjunct
Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics in the David Geffen School
of Medicine at UCLA. She is a trained genetic counselor and coordinates the
Pediatrics/Adult Genetics Clinic at UCLA and coordinates the UCLA Predictive
Huntington Disease Program.
Material Science and Engineering 19,
Seminar 1 (Canceled)
Introduction to Ancient Technologies and
Nanostructured Materials
Loanna Kakouli
In this seminar, we will explore the technological achievements in
antiquity and ancient nanostructured materials that find parallels in modern
manufactured materials. How could ancients produce materials without having the
infrastructure and scientific knowledge that we have today? Students will be introduced
to archaeometric research- the interface between materials science and
archaeology. Representative readings and site visits to museums and
archaeomaterials analysis laboratories explore the similarities and differences
between modern and ancient methods of materials manufacture. The study of
ancient technologies and materials can stimulate scientific curiosity and new
ideas, and can assist development of problem-solving skills.
Assistant Professor Ioanna Kakoulli, with a joint appointment at
Materials Science and Engineering at UCLA and the UCLA/Getty Conservation
Program, is a specialist in diagnostic technologies for the study and
conservation of archaeological materials. Her current research interests focus
on the technology of the manufacture and alteration processes of ancient
pigments, the study of artifacts using non-invasive methods of examination, and
the exploration of the potential of spectral imaging technologies. In addition
to researching ancient materials and technologies, she has also conducted
research in the conservation science of porous materials.
Material Science and Engineering 19,
Seminar 2 (Canceled)
High Technology:
Its Role in Shaping Society
and the Future
Ya-Hone Xie
The high-tech industry has unique attributes compared to other, more
traditional industries. This seminar is an exploration of the past, present,
and future of the high-tech industry, its characteristics, its impact on our
daily lives, our society, and the world as a whole. Subjects of discussion are
led by students' literature searches. Some students will be designated as
discussion leaders for each class. Each is assigned a general topic area for
literature search. Each discussion leader makes a short presentation
summarizing findings, followed by a class discussion. This seminar includes a tour
of the UCLA nano-fabrication facility.
Born in
Nursing 19, Seminar 1
When You Snooze, You Lose: Sleep Disorders
and Cardiovascular Risk
Mary Woo
This seminar, will give an overview of sleep disorders and their link to
cardiovascular disease in all age ranges, from children to older adults. It
includes a brief introduction to normal sleep, symptoms of abnormal sleep, and
ways to improve sleep. Current and potential treatments for sleep disorders are
also reviewed.
Dr. Woo's research emphasizes brain-heart interactions, using sleep
studies and brain imaging techniques. Her publications are in the areas of
obstructive sleep apnea, sudden infant death syndrome, heart failure, and
congenital central hypoventilation syndrome.
Pediatrics 19, Seminar 1
Being a Doctor to Children with Heart Problems:
Diagnoses, Treatment, and Physiology
Daniel Levi
This will be an introduction to the world of pediatric cardiology. This seminar
will include the nature of children’s heart problems, the technology used to
diagnose and treat disease, and what children go through in the process. It
will provide a first-hand look at the technology and procedures in
echocardiography and catheterization labs. It will also introduce the profession
of pediatric cardiology and the process of medical education through medical
school, residency, and fellowship.
Dr Levi is a Pediatric Cardiologist at the Mattel Children's Hospital at
UCLA. The majority of his time is spent in the hospital caring for children
with congenital heart disease. Within pediatric cardiology, Dr Levi has focused
on using catheters rather than surgery to correct heart problems in children.
In collaboration with the UCLA Department of Material and Aerospace
Engineering, he is developing a novel thin-film nitinol heart valve for non-surgical,
percutaneous insertion in children. He completed a Pediatrics residency at UCSF
and a Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship at UCLA.
Pediatrics 19, Seminar 2
Edward McCabe
and Linda McCabe
This seminar will involve discussions and readings on the barriers to
access genetic testing. Students have to attend the
Edward R.B. McCabe, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor of Pediatrics and Human
Genetics, Executive Chair of Pediatrics, and Physician-in-Chief of the Mattel
Children's Hospital. He is the Director of the
Linda McCabe, Ph.D., is an Associate Adjunct Professor of Human Genetics
and Pediatrics.
Physiological
Science 19, Seminar 1
On Human Nature:
Evolution and the Future
of the Human
Animal
Alan Grinnell
A reading and discussion of seminal books by two of the most profound
thinkers in human evolution and behavior: E.O. Wilson and Jared Diamond. This seminar
examines the evolution of humans from just another large mammal to his unique
status in the animal kingdom. We will discuss the evolutionary forces that led
to the "great leap forward" to modern man, and evolutionary
explanations for our bizarre (by animal standards) physical and behavioral
characteristics. A consideration of why civilizations developed at different
rates on different continents, and why they tend to collapse.
Dr. Alan Grinnell, Professor of Physiology and Physiological Science, is
a neurobiologist with an interest in the neurobiological bases of behavior and the
mechanisms of evolution.
Psychology 19, Seminar 1
The Psychology of Personal Control
Richard S. Marken
Our human propensity to control the world around us has produced our
greatest human achievements (such as Beethoven's 9th) and our worst human
failures (such as oppression and war). This seminar will examine human
controlling from the point of view of a theory of human behavior called control
theory. Why personal control is essential for our psychological wellbeing and
why it can also create problems that can actually lead to loss of control.
Presentation of new approach to studying behavior (test for controlled
variable) and to answering familiar questions about behavior, such as what is
effect of divorce on children or how can I reduce level of stress I feel.
Consideration of how scientific understanding of personal control might help us
find ways to improve human condition for ourselves as well as for society as a
whole.
Richard S. Marken, Ph.D., is a research psychologist and human factors
engineer. Dr. Marken was Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of
Psychology at
Statistics 19, Seminar 1
Statistics and Who You Are
Mahtash
Esfandiari
Undergraduate students spend a majority of their time acquiring knowledge
that prepares them for entering the job market, though they rarely have the opportunity
to learn more about who they are. This seminar presents the use of statistics
and testing theory to help students assess themselves in terms of attributes
that are key factors for leading happy and successful lives. It will introduce a
series of surveys in areas such as self-concept, career aspiration, achievement
motivation, leadership skills, teamwork, stress management, etc. How to use
knowledge of testing and statistics to interpret survey results. Students take
surveys of their choice, use knowledge acquired to do self-assessment, and gain
some awareness that may help them work toward happier and more successful
lives.
Professor Esfandiari has had many years of experience teaching and
conducting research in the areas of testing, measurement, statistics,
evaluation, education, and cross-cultural education. During the last decade, he
has evaluated numerous educational, social, entrepreneurial, civic, and
law-related programs involving thousands of students all over the