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Mammalogy

Mammalogy is, as it sounds, the study of mammals. In this class, we will study mammalian behavior, ecology, evolutionary history, taxonomy, distribution, morphology, and other topics. Our focus will be mammals of North America, though we will also cover some mammals from other regions of the world. By the end of the semester, you will be familiar with and will have learned to identify most of the mammals that occur in the northeastern United States.

Basic Epidemiology

As the basic science of public health, this course examines the causes and distribution of population health and the foundations of epidemiologic study design and basic analysis. This course also explores the issues relating to the impact and burden of chronic and
infectious disease, specifically how disease disproportionately affects marginalized and underrepresented populations.

Biostatistics: Dealing with Data

A fundamental aspect of practicing biology-related science (be it through the lens of ecology, medicine, public health, etc.) is dealing with data. Data analysis requires much more than picking the correct statistical test. Data sets are being generated at an exponential rate and the potential for combining public data sets to ask new scientific questions is immense. In this course, we will learn to use the free, open-source software program R (the industry standard) for cleaning, organizing, and analyzing biological data sets (including data visualization).

Asia: Beyond the Great Wall

Asia is currently one of the most dynamic and consequential regions in the world. This course seeks to answer the following questions to make sense of this vast and diverse area: How is the “West” (and especially the U.S.) to understand Asia’s rise in the global context? What political and economic factors explain developmental success and failure in the region? Will Asia decide the future of democracy in the global context? Does thinking about Asia as a region makes sense like a European Union?

Modern China

This course covers three revolutions in modern Chinese history: 1) the rise of the Communist Party; 2) the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, using memoirs of Chinese who lived through that decade; 3) the “economic revolution” of the 1980s and 1990s in the context of the Pacific Rim region. Fulfills HU requirement. Also offered through Asian Studies and Peace Studies.

Postcolonial Film, Literature and Theory

Postcolonial Literature and Theory:
This course introduces a distinct way of organizing literary study, substituting for the study of national traditions the notion of postcoloniality as a global condition affecting not only literature but also categories we use to think about human experience: relations between colonizers and colonized and between culture and power; identity, authenticity and hybridity; roots, motherland, mother tongue; nationality.