Are we alone? For generations, humanity has wondered if there is life elsewhere in the cosmos. In this course we will learn about how scientists across disciplines are tackling this question, and discover how we may be closer to finding an answer than we ever have been before. Along the way we will also tackle the philosophical, ethical, and societal dilemmas that we'll face on this journey such as "What is life?", "Should we announce our presence in the cosmos?", and "Is humanity ready to learn if we truly are alone?".
Is medicine dying as a profession? How is the professional power of physicians developed in different kinds of societies? Are the forms taken to strengthen or limit professional power different in societies with different contrasting political economies? Is state power central in the analysis of professional power? What is the relationship between the state and the medical profession and where are doctors better off? In this tutorial we will examine the changing status of the medical profession in six countries – the United States, Britain, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands and Canada. We will explore the extent to which nation states have singled out the professional guilds for control. Readings will include McKinley's and Hafferty's The Changing Medical Profession, Kruase's Death of the Guilds, and OECD's Internal Markets in the Making.
This is a varying topics course that will be held at Marion prison, where Ohio Wesleyan students will form a learning community with a select group of men at the prison. In 2025, the topic will be philosophy and social change. Readings by Immanuel Kant, Emma Goldman, Simone Weil, James Baldwin, and others will guide us in exploring questions related to responsible engagement in social and cultural change. Class discussion will provide an opportunity for sharing perspectives on these issues with people from diverse backgrounds.
From its inception, film noir has been defined as a culturally diverse genre, style, sensibility and movement. Over the years, noir has adapted to its historical times and cultural contexts, and has experienced re categorisation of its history, development and expansion, as well as investigation of this artistic impulse to represent psycho-social anxieties, political dilemmas and violence, and its challenge to traditional views of gender by means of its pervasive aesthetic.
The primary focus of this course is to introduce students to the origins, developments, distinguishing elements, and ideological uses of classic hollywood and international noir and neo noir cinema in all its variants (gothic noir, detective, and police procedural). The course includes a selection of films from the first half of the twentieth century to the present, as well as critical articles that analyze this genre from different perspectives (history, sociology, psychology, feminism). The main objectives of this interdisciplinary course are two. First, to give students a better understanding of the use of this broad and complex genre as a cultural space to discuss, denounce, and advance social and political issues at a national and global level. Second, to provide students with the basic tools to analyze the selected works critically and logically. Particular attention will be given to gender role representation, noir aesthetics and recurrent leitmotifs.
The course will include theoretical exposition, collective discussion of primary works and secondary readings, weekly written assignments, individual presentations, and a final short film noir project. Group III. Writing Credit.
In this Honors section of the First-Year Writing Seminar, students will learn a range of techniques to create more strategically structured paragraphs and more forceful, stylish sentences. Students will read the essays of other writers regularly and will read and comment on other students' work. Through both experiences, students will develop their awareness of different writing strategies and writerly voices. The course will also provide an introduction to the specialized resources of a university library, increasing students' confidence in their ability to find & engage with the best scholarly sources for future research papers.
Chemistry is the language used by molecules to coordinate and regulate all biological processes. This course is designed to help students 'decode' that language, and strengthen and enrich their understanding of communications between molecules that drive cellular processes. The focus of the course will be on the structure and function of three major classes of biomolecules: proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, as well as catabolic processes of carbohydrate fuel sources (glycolysis, citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation), membrane transport and enzyme kinetics. The laboratory provides experience with current biochemical techniques and their applications.
This course explores the influence of classical civilizations, particularly Greece and Rome, on the development and identity of the American republic and its empire. By examining foundational texts from both the ancient and modern worlds, students will learn how classical ideas shaped America's political structures, cultural philosophies, and societal norms from the revolutionary era to the present day. The course will focus on three major themes: the impact of classical education on the framers of the American Constitution, the role of classical texts in justifying the Southern antebellum social order, and the use of Roman imperial imagery in conceptualizing the American empire.
This course offers an exploration of various aspects of Roman civilization and culture during its period as a Republic. The Roman Republic existed for nearly 500 years and so we will focus our attention on certain points of "activity." The sources that we will primarily use for this course are largely concerned with politics, war, and religion. For this reason, those topics will loom large for this course, but other aspects of Roman culture will be emphasized as well (e.g., sports and literature). This course is designed to enable students to gain a good understanding of why and how Rome was able to expand into an empire. The hope for this course is twofold. First, that students gain a better understanding of a culture both removed in time and space. Second, to prepare students to explore Rome during its period as an autocracy, i.e. the Roman Empire, in Classics 322. An honors in course will require the student to complete additional readings and to meet regularly with the professor. Additionally, there will be a final research paper on a question which the student will create while working with the professor during the course of the semester.
How did Renaissance authors go about creating their art? This course uses Renaissance poetic theory and practice as a framework for studying major works of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature. Among the contexts to be considered are humanism, classicism, court culture, theology, gender ideology, and print culture. Authors studied may include More, Shakespeare, Marlowe, the Sidneys, Spenser, Wroth, Jonson, Donne, Herbert, Herrick, Marvell, and Milton. Gen Ed Competency: Listen, Imagine, and Understand
The fifty years between 1785 and 1835 saw one of most significant outpourings of artistic creativity in world history. Extraordinary poets (Coleridge, Wordsworth, Keats, Byron), pathbreaking novelists (Austen, Edgeworth, Scott), and a variety of literary eccentrics (Baille, Blake, De Quincy) utterly transformed British literature and gave us the contemporary meaning of some of the most important words in the lexicon: "nature," "culture," "imagination," "artist," and "literature." In this course, we will read a wide variety of poetry, fiction, drama, and non-fiction prose. Topics will include Romanticism's roots in the eighteenth century; theories of poetry, beauty, and artistic inspiration; and the relationship of Romanticism to revolution, religion, and war.
This seminar examines the social, political, intellectual, military, and constitutional developments of the American Revolutionary era from 1750 throughout ratification of the Constitution.
This course is designed to provide an in-depth understanding of food, nutrients and how nutrients are digested, absorbed and used in the body. This course builds on previous content covered in Introduction to Nutrition, but will take a more physiological and biochemical approach to nutrition processes. We will outline complex metabolic pathways as well as functions of various micronutrients. In addition, we will find and utilize current scientific literature to write a review of a specific topic related to a nutrient. Students completing the Honors requirement will use this literature review to create a research proposal based on gaps in current knowledge. Prerequisites: NUTR 100.2, CHEM 110, and BIOL 251 or permission from the instructor. Writing requirement.
Leading philosophers and intellectual currents from the early Greeks to the Roman Period. The major emphasis is on the genesis of western thought among the pre-Socratic philosophers, and its crystallization in the works of Plato and Aristotle.
This course construes bioethics broadly to encompass medical ethics, biological research, and health-related public policy. Topics covered typically include abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, medical paternalism, obligations of medical personnel to tell the truth, confidentiality, medical experimentation and informed consent, genetic control, intervention and research, reproductive technology, allocation of medical resources, alternative and complementary therapies, medical capitalism, and the right to health care. Gen Ed Competency: Act Responsibly
Although the US is known and often proclaimed as the land of immigrants, immigration remains a controversial issue. The course asks: How do immigration institutions, Homeland Security, and immigration courts function? Is the United States a dreamland for all types of immigrants? How do different types of immigrants form families and seek jobs? How has immigration to the US evolved over time, and what political and economic forces shape it? What effects do immigrants have on jobs and the economy? In what ways do race, class, gender, and legal status impact immigrant communities' experiences in the US? The course will incorporate film and multimedia to better understand immigrant experiences. The course will also feature activists and experts as guest speakers. No prerequisites. Honors-in-course available.
How do we build a better world? This course examines social justice movements, forms of activism and advocacy, power, and models for building more socially just societies. Through a comparison of different social movements for racial, gender, and economic justice, it analyzes various alternatives for organizing society and theories of social justice. It discusses the nature and inter-relationship of capitalism, socialism, democracy, the state, and civil society. We draw upon different social movement theories and examples to analyze when and why social movements emerge, what factors influence how and why people engage in activism and collective action, how movements promote change, and what tactics have been successful. Through course projects, students will analyze contemporary social movements (e.g. Black Lives Matter), observe and reflect on campus activism, and develop skills as an activist and agent of change. No prerequisite.
This intermediate-advanced level course will introduce students to a variety of artistic texts (including literature, painting, and cinema) as well as other cultural materials from the Spanish-speaking world. This will allow students to gain a greater appreciation for the artistic expressions of the Hispanic world and the historical context to which they belong, while building their linguistic, communicative, critical and analytical skills. Prerequisite: SPAN 225 or placement above 225.
This course is designed to be taken the semester preceding the senior honors project (490H). In this course, students will first identify an area of inquiry and a faculty member who will serve as their honors research mentor. Students will begin to formulate a research thesis or define a creative project and learn how to conduct relevant background research in different disciplines. The seminar will culminate in an honors project proposal to be submitted to the honors program that is developed in collaboration with a student's thesis mentor. The process will include peer- review from fellow honors students in the seminar.
This course is taken in the same semester as the senior honors project (490H). Students will meet weekly to share their progress and their scholarly work with fellow honors students. This course allows students to practice their oral and written communication skills about their scholarly or creative works to a diverse audience without close knowledge of their discipline. The course also provides opportunities for students to practice scholarly discourse across disciplinary boundaries.
Certain great books have played key roles in capturing public attention and motivating citizen action in the modern environmental movement. This course will use these books as inspirations for in-depth study of the scientific ideas that underlie the ongoing environmental issues discussed in each text. For example, students may read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson while studying pesticide effects on the environment and Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez to motivate an examination of how climate change affects the Arctic landscape. Newer works are also sparking interesting conversations among environmental scientists, such as Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which explores the merging of Native American and western science perspectives on nature, and Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes, which documents organized deception on climate change by the fossil fuel industry. Scientific papers on the topics in each environmental book will also be assigned and students will discuss the status of scientific knowledge on each environmental issue at the time each book was written as compared to our current understanding. We will also consider the importance of these books in the environmental movement and discuss the different roles that science and literature play in our human understanding, exploration and reactions to the natural landscape and environmental crisis. Some field trips to natural areas or exhibits may be scheduled.
Time. Everyone knows what it is, but nobody can define it. We won't succeed in defining time in this tutorial either, but we will investigate many attributes and associations of time: how time has been measured throughout history, time as a fourth dimension, time dilation, the arrow of time, the history of time, the reversibility of time, time travel, time perception.
This course is an introduction to philosophy via the undead. With their help, we will take up a number of philosophical questions, including the following. Is death bad? Is undeath worse? Does human life have meaning? Would the life of a zombie be any more or less meaningful? What, if anything, makes a person one-and-the-same through time? Could a person become a zombie or would that simply be the end of them? Is the mind or consciousness a necessarily non-physical aspect of us? Could an indistinguishable physical replica of us be unconscious? Would immortality be good (for us)? Might an immortal have a good reason for becoming mortal? Along the way we will watch a number of movies having in one way or another to do with the undead and with the philosophical themes we wish to take up. We will dedicate some weeks to the discussion of these movies, not confining ourselves to the philosophical questions they may raise.
"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book." – Henry David Thoreau
In this class, we will read a selection of books that have changed—and continue to change—lives. Some books transform us by having a decisive impact at a particular moment in our lives; others become life-long companions that continue to provide guidance, comfort, and inspiration. In addition to reading these life-changing works, we will consider a series of related questions: what is a "classic"? Is there a difference between reading a book on paper or on a screen? Can reading change us for the worse as well as for the better? And how are we to evaluate Ralph Waldo Emerson's claim that "'Tis the good reader who makes the good book"? Diversity Course; Think Aesthetically Gen Ed Competency.
This class is appropriate for students of any major (and required for English majors and minors). It provides a wide-ranging—and sometimes free-wheeling!—introduction to the study and appreciation of literature. Together, we will read a wide variety of classic literary texts—including works of fiction, poetry, drama—and cultivate the skills of close reading and thoughtful analysis. Along the way, we will experiment with different theoretical approaches to literary interpretation, including feminism and psychoanalysis. We will also consider some fundamental questions: What makes literature different from other kinds of writing? What kinds of knowledge and experience do literary works offer their readers? Does the meaning of a literary text change depending on where and when it is read and who is doing the reading? Writing Course; Write and Speak Effectively Gen Ed Competency.
This seminar examines famous, and infamous, trials to understand significant legal, social, and cultural issues in U.S. History. Additionally, we will consider how legal institutions and legal values, such as notions of justice and rights, have evolved over the course of U.S. history. Some trials will also illuminate race and gender issues. For example, the U.S. Government's prosecution of Susan B. Anthony for voting and the prosecution of "The Scottsboro Boys" in segregated Alabama. No prior knowledge of law or legal history or specific U.S. History is expected. Professor Terzian will provide the contextual history to understand the trials.
How do societies change? How have cultures been changing? Is society as we know it coming to an end? This course explores the local and global forces that have been changing societies and cultures around the world. We compare past and contemporary societies, and think about what the cultures and societies of the future will be like. We study examples about the influence of technological, political, economic, and environmental changes on societies and cultures, the changing forms of social inequality, and the ways in which societies and cultures influence one another. In their research projects students will analyze examples of the major social and cultural trends of our time, and also look at how our actions themselves change our societies and cultures. Gen Ed Competency: Listen, Imagine, and Understand
This course is designed to be taken the semester preceding the senior honors project (490H). In this course, students will first identify an area of inquiry and a faculty member who will serve as their honors research mentor. Students will begin to formulate a research thesis or define a creative project and learn how to conduct relevant background research in different disciplines. The seminar will culminate in an honors project proposal to be submitted to the honors program that is developed in collaboration with a student's thesis mentor. The process will include peer- review from fellow honors students in the seminar.
This course is taken in the same semester as the senior honors project (490H). Students will meet weekly to share their progress and their scholarly work with fellow honors students. This course allows students to practice their oral and written communication skills about their scholarly or creative works to a diverse audience without close knowledge of their discipline. The course also provides opportunities for students to practice scholarly discourse across disciplinary boundaries.