Check out our recently added Self and Society course, as well as changes to a Scientific Reasoning and Discovery section (with the changes in red!), just in time for Spring 2016 registration!
Gender Activism in the Muslim World
Professor Kelly Pemberton
HONR 2048.MV – 3 Credits
CRN: 77947
R 1:00-3:30 PM
Course Description: This undergraduate course is suitable for students who have little to no background in Islamic studies or the Muslim world. It focuses on women’s rights activism and activists in Muslim-majority countries and Muslim communities in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and North Am. We will explore this activism with respect to the intersection of history, society, and geopolitics, using the theoretical lens of socio-cultural anthropology, and in consideration of of cultural complexes and social relationships within their particular historical contexts and geographic environments. These perspectives will give us a unique vantage point for exploring some of the present characteristics of women’s rights activist communities in Muslim-majority lands and communities, including coalitions among secularists, Islamic, and non-Muslim religious groups, while we investigate some of the major cultural and ideological factors that are shaping these movements. The course will feature at least one guest speaker who is a Muslim activist for women’s rights, and will also offer an opportunity for an off-campus visit to a local mosque or Muslim community center.
Human Biology- The Nutrition Edition
Professor Carly Jordan
HONR 1034:MV2 – 4 Credits
CRN: 77382
TR 9:00-10:50 AM
Fulfills: CCAS: Natural/Physical Science with Lab, ESIA: Science, GWSB: Science
Course Description: Every day we hear all sorts of claims about how to live a healthy life. From what to eat to whether or not to get a vaccine or take a certain drug, we are constantly bombarded with advice about how to live our lives.Who do you listen to? How do you know if the claims you hear are true? In this course, you will develop science literacy and critical thinking skills necessary to make sense of the information you encounter every day. You will learn quantitative skills and basic statistics that will help you interpret data. The major project in this course will be to find a claim and investigate its validity. You will determine the legitimacy of its makers, learn where to find primary sources to support or refute the claim, propose additional studies to help clarify confusing information, and create a dissemination piece to share your understanding with your peers. In this course, we will analyze serious medical claims and silly urban legends, but we will do it all using sound logic and the scientific method. At the end of the semester, you will be armed with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about your health.
Note: Spring 2016 will focus on the science of nutrition, metabolism, and exercise.
