Home College Distribution

CAS:  Elective Credit Only
GSB:  Entrepreneurship Theme Credit, Marketing Concentration Credit, UL BSAD Minor Cr.
CALS: Social Science
CEMS: ENGR: Gen Ed Elective, CS,STAT,MATH: check with your academic advisor
RSENR: Consult with your academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with your academic advisor
CESS: Consult with your academic advisor

Course Syllabus

This course examines new product development from a variety of perspectives including historical analysis, problem solving, creativity and ideation, and entrepreneurial thinking. Throughout the course, we consider the notion of product at its most broad to include offerings of goods, services, ideas, experiences, and causes. The course will be based on four main topics. We will look back to the history of innovation and its role in shaping the marketplace we live in today. From there, we review current perspectives on the forms of innovation and theories of innovation. Next, the course introduces students to a variety of creation/ideation techniques to apply in problem-solving and innovation efforts. The course concludes with analysis of the methods of communicating and evaluating innovation efforts.

Throughout the course, students will be creating a portfolio of work related to an innovation in the area (good, service, idea, experience, cause) of their choice. This portfolio will be built through research, current events analyses, presentations, and writings integrating course concepts and practices into the student’s chosen area for innovation. Ultimately, these portfolios will be presented in Poster Session format in an Innovation Fair, in lieu of a final exam. The portfolio itself will allow the student to showcase the semester’s work and to share that information with members of the UVM community.

Home College Distribution
CAS:  Humanities
GSB:  Humanities Core
CALS:  Humanities, Social Science
CEMS: ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; Math/Stat/CS/DS students check with your advisor
RSENR: Consult with academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with academic advisor
CESS: Consult with academic advisor

Major/Minor Requirements
This course counts toward the History major and minor in the Africa/Asia/Mid East/Global Category
This course counts toward the Religion major additional course
This course counts toward the Middle East Studies minor

Are Islam and human rights compatible?  Both human rights and Islam raise universal claims that may conflict in some cases.  In this course, we will consider various attempts by religious and legal theorists to reconcile these claims through reinterpreting Islam or deriving human rights from Islamic sources. We will explore the practical side of these issues by examining legal documents and legal practices in various Muslim countries, paying special attention to the status of women and non-Muslim minorities.  We will also examine tensions arising from Muslims living in Europe and North America, such as recent debates over secularism and religion, and multiculturalism and the scope of tolerance.

Course grades will be based on students’ participation in and contribution to seminar discussions and written assignments. At least one of these written assignments will be a research paper.

Home College Distribution
CAS:  Literature
GSB:  Language & Literature Core – prior to 2016 Catalogue, Humanities Core 2016+
CALS: Humanities, Social Science
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; CS, STAT,MATH: check with your academic advisor
RSENR: Consult with your academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with your academic advisor
CESS: Consult with your academic advisor

Major/Minor Requirements
This course counts toward the English major and minor as ENGS 113: Topics in Gender

Course Syllabus

This course addresses a paradox: how truly creative work might begin in what we steal from others. In literary contexts, we call such “theft” adaptation. The course will investigate the art of adaptation in a theoretical way—what is creativity? what is adaptation?—in an analytical way—by reconstructing how specific literary artists have adapted the work of their predecessors—and through our own creative efforts—by doing our own creative adaptations. Units for the course will include: 1) an introduction to the “Theory of Adaptation”; 2) “Hamlets,” in which we will consider everything from Shakespeare’s original borrowing from his sources to modern adaptations of the play; and 3) “Film Adaptation,” in which we will consider specific examples of how filmic art emerges from source-texts. Along the way, we might also consider examples of adaption ranging from Biblical adaptation to the modern novel, and our own creative efforts will include short mash-ups and longer group efforts.

Home College Distribution
CAS:  No distribution credit,  Non-European Cultures
GSB:  Humanities Core – Catalogue 2016+
CALS:  Social Science
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; CS, STAT,MATH: check with your academic advisor
RSENR: Consult with your academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with your academic advisor
CESS: Consult with your academic advisor

Major/Minor Requirements
This course counts toward the Environmental Studies major and minor in the College of Arts and Sciences (other colleges: please consult your advisor).
This course counts toward the Latin American & Caribbean Studies major and minor

Contemporary Latin-American artistic representation is as diverse as its peoples, and encompasses a plurality of cultural expressions and complex relationships.  This course will explore the interdisciplinary landscape of “ecocriticism” as an emerging field in the environmental humanities and address how Latin American representation engages with the multidimensional aspects of environmental issues.  Case studies from Amazonia, Mexico and Easter Island will enable observations of how some of these issues manifest in specific time and scale.  We will discuss fictional and non-fictional texts, oral narratives, film and other expressive forms that reflect on diverse cosmologies from the region.

Home College Distribution

CAS:   CAS Credit only
GSB:   Social Science Core
CALS:  Humanities, Social Sciences   
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; Math/Stat/CS/DS students check with your advisor
RSENR:  Consult with Academic Advisor
CNHS:    Consult with Academic Advisor
CESS:    Consult with Academic Advisor

Major/Minor Requirements

This course counts toward the Environmental Studies major and minor in the category of 100-level environmentally-related coursework (for students in all colleges)

Course Syllabus

Much has been made of the contemporary environmental concept of the Anthropocene: the Age of Humans. Scholars, who promote the delineation of this age, point specifically to anthropogenic climate change as a fundamental driver shaping the physical world. As such, environmental conditions, and the cultures that exist in them, are transitioning into something that is markedly different from what human civilization has known.

In this course, we will investigate the emerging literature of the Anthropocene as an avenue to understand the meaning of ecological uncertainty, with human-induced climate change as a main component of it. Beginning with Bill McKibben’s 1989 book The End of Nature, we will explore how contemporary writers, fiction and nonfiction, are articulating the tension implicit in living in a radically changing world, one in which our expectations of season, cycle, and ‘normal conditions’ have come into flux. In particular, we will focus on the tendency to write about this era and phenomenon as a time of eco-apocalypse.

Home College Distribution

CAS:  Humanities
GSB:  Humanities Core
CALS:  Humanities
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; Math/Stat/CS/DS students check with your advisor
RSENR: Consult with your academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with your academic advisor
CESS: Consult with your academic advisor

Course Syllabus

This course introduces students to the comparative study of religion, spiritual, and psycho-physical practices - exercises by which individuals and groups deepen, develop, challenge, and transform their perceptions and capacities for action in harmony with religious, moral-ethical, or philosophical ideas.  The course covers a range that stretches from ancient Green and Roman philosophers (Stoics, Epicurians, Skeptics and Neoplatonists), the yogis and monks of ancient medieval South and East Asia, medieval Christian ascetics and Renaissance mages, to practitioners of modern forms of westernized yoga, martial arts, ritual magic, and forms of "civil religiosity" such as environmental activism.  Readings of ancient texts and contemporary philosophical writings will be complemented by practical exercises and writing and presentation assignments.

Home College Distribution

CAS:  CAS Elective Credit
GSB:  Humanities General Education Core
CALS:  Social Science
CEMS:  ENGR:      ; Math/Stat/CS/DS
RSENR: Consult with your academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with your academic advisor
CESS: Consult with your academic advisor

Course Syllabus

The classroom experience is set in a (not-so-distant, not-so-hypothetical) future where the World Health Organization and global leaders must decide if a universal vaccination regimen will be mandated for all citizens of the planet. Using historical and current evidence, the question of mandated universal vaccination will be put "on trial", where students will be assigned to either the “prosecution" or “defense" team and research various aspects of vaccine biology, public health policy, and the tension between what might be best for the population vs. what might be best for the individual. Students will be challenged, both individually and in a team, to consider all aspect of the issue and construct a clear persuasive argument for or against a universal vaccination mandate. The course will culminate in a fully enacted mock trial that will be conducted over the last two weeks of the semester. While rooted in the paradigm of clinical vaccine decision making, the primary goal of the course is to work with students to create a compelling, well-justified academic argument based on their own research.

Home College Distribution
CAS:  Non-Lab Natural Science
GSB: Natural Science Core (non-lab)
CALS: Social Science
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; Math/Stat/CS/DS students check with your advisor
RSENR: Consult with your academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with your academic advisor
CESS: Consult with your academic advisor

Major/Minor Requirements
This course counts toward the Geology BA major, BS major, and minor as "additional courses in geology or approved science
This course may fulfill a Physics requirement; majors should consult with the chair of the Physics Dept.

This seminar will explore the inner workings of science by examining classic examples of scientific discoveries that were ultimately debunked and discarded by the mainstream scientific community.  From N-Rays and Polywater to Cold Fusion and Digital Biology, we will explore what makes science work by critically evaluating its failures.  Lastly, we will turn a critical eye towards issues such as Scientific Creationism/Intelligent Design, Homeopathy, Free-Energy Machines, Global Warming and other contemporary issues of interest to the class.

Home College Distribution

CAS:   Non-Lab Science
GSB:   Elective Credit Only
CALS:    Natural Science
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; Math/Stat/CS/DS students check with your advisor
RSENR: Consult with academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with academic advisor
CESS: Consult with academic advisor for General Education Requirement Approval

Course Syllabus

Ecological gaming will examine key ecological concepts through the lens of computer simulation games / challenges written in the R programming language (No experience in R programming is required and simulation code will be provided by the instructor). Many ecological concepts are intuitively obvious but when an ecosystem is observed as a whole entity, the vast complexity created by the numerous components creates confusion. The overarching goal of this course is to instill a foundation of ecological concepts by breaking down ecological complexity into simple, digestible pieces. Topics will include the concept of an ecosystem, niche dynamics, fitness (and other life history concepts), inter and intra-species competition, predator-prey interactions, trophic levels, food webs and evolution. To augment learning about these ecological concepts, there will be weekly discussions of many of the exciting ecological stories and foundational ecology papers. Students will get a glimpse of the R programming language, which will hopefully diminish the fear of tackling this computer language in future courses.

Home College Distribution

CAS:   No CAS Credit
GSB:   Social Science Core 
CALS: Social Science
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; Math/Stat/CS/DS students check with your advisor
RSENR: Consult with Academic Advisor
CNHS: Elective – Consult with Academic Advisor for further clarification
CESS: Consult CESS advisor for General Education Requirement Approval

Health policy proposals are often controversial. Demographic trends and public health crises, such as childhood obesity, signal continued rise of health care costs, worsening health disparities, and shortened life expectancy for children currently born in the U.S. Compelling epidemiologic data and scientific evidence suggest strategies to prevent disease and illness.  So why can't we, as a nation, translate science into practice to benefit our citizens? Progress in population health is driven by both scientific advances and societal norms, and proposed health policy measures may be controversial, sometimes creating momentum and other times becoming a barrier to progress. We will study access to health care, preventing childhood obesity, binge drinking on college campuses, pandemic preparedness, immunizations, and other issues, to understand what impedes our collective progress towards a healthier society. We will read, discuss, and debate selected scientific papers from well-known medical journals (no pre-requisites required), find information from "high quality" sources, and use written assignments to facilitate learning.

Home College Distribution
CAS:  Literature
GSB:  Humanities Core
CALS:  Humanities
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; Math/Stat/CS/DS students check with your advisor
RSENR: Consult with academic advisor
CNHS: Elective – Consult with Academic Advisor for further clarification
CESS: Consult CESS advisor for General Education Requirement Approval

Major/Minor Requirements
This course counts toward the European Studies major and minor in the "European Culture and Thought" category

Course Syllabus

The course explores the role of women in traditional European fairy tales, both as characters and, to a lesser extent, as authors. We will read fairy tales dating from the sixteenth throwh the twenty-first centuries, and hailing from Italy, France, Germany, and England; we will also view and discuss the film adaptations of some of the stories. Students will become familiar with some of the classics of 'fairy tale analysis, including the structuralist work of Vladimir Propp and the psychoanalytic interpretation of Marie Louise von Franz. Readings will be in English and films will have English subtitles. Evaluation will be based on class participation, three short essays, a midterm, and a final exam. "Women and Fairy Tales in the European Tradition" fulfills category B of the Italian Studies Major and Minor (significant Italian content).

Home College Distribution
CAS: Humanities
GSB: Social Science or Language Literature
CALS: Humanities, Social Science
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; Math/Stat/CS/DS students check with your advisor
RSENR: Consult with academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with academic advisor
CESS: Consult academic advisor

Major/Minor Requirements
This course counts toward the Political Science major and minor in the "Political Thought" category

Course Syllabus

In this course we will discuss the nature of citizenship in a democracy - its character, values and obligations. Focusing primarily on the American example, we will ask questions such as: Do citizens in a democracy differ from citizens in other regimes? Does democratic citizenship produce unique obligations toward the government (or toward the world at large)? Do democratic citizens require special democratic virtues, or a special set of shared beliefs, in order to fulfill their obligations? These and related questions will be explored by studying mainly (but not exclusively) American texts by classic authors such as James Madison, Henry Thoreau, Henry Adams, and John Dewey, and contemporary philosophers and social scientists such as Richard Rorty, Martha Nussbaum, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Robert Putnam.

Home College Distribution

CAS:  No CAS Distribution – CAS Elective Credit
GSB:  Elective Credit Only 
CALS:  Natural Science
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; Math/Stat/CS/DS students check with your advisor
RSENR: Consult with academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with academic advisor
CESS: Consult academic advisor 

Animal agriculture is a significant portion of our national agricultural economy and foods of animal origin play a significant role in our global food system. A striking but lesser known fact is that animal-derived food products have been an important factor in human evolution (e.g., eating meat has led to increases in the size of both the human body and brain). Current dietary patterns derive from the changes in food production that started with the industrial revolution and from the more recent construction of a global food economy. With increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, obesity, and food-borne diseases, animal products are coming under increasing scrutiny. Broad areas of focus reflect global patterns of consumption of meat, dairy, eggs, fish, and their products.

We will explore the connection between animal products, their nutritional attributes, and human and public perception. Particular emphasis will be placed on functional and value-added foods, biotechnology in animal agriculture, as well as animal product quality and safety issues. The course utilizes an interactive approach, involving a broad spectrum of methods including lectures to build fundamental knowledge, student forums to stimulate debate and understanding, individual and group assignments to develop key skills in writing and presenting, and the use of computer-aided learning.

Home College Distribution

CAS: Non-lab science
GSB:  Elective credit only
CALS: Physical Science
CEMS: ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; CS, STAT,MATH: check with your academic advisor
RSENR: Consult with academic advisor
CNHS: Consult with academic advisor
CESS: Consult with academic advisor

Course Syllabus

Energy is a dynamic quantity that pervades space and time to their limits. Continuously changing form, morphing from one type to the next, never created nor destroyed, yet always decaying from a highly ordered state to one with many possibilities, energy is the stuff that manifests matter and the thing that manifests time. The dynamics of energy fabricate reality and elucidate existence, and yet, at the same instant, conceal the future from observation until it becomes the now.

Energy is a term that is often used in colloquial conversations yet is rarely subjected to rigorous definitions nor to critical thought processes and analyses. Even still, the scientists and engineers who make their livelihood studying, shaping, converting, and manipulating energy will necessarily admit, if they are honest, that even they do not truly know what energy actually is. That’s correct; there is very little scientific agreement as to what energy actually is. Yet enigmatically, humans have become incredibly proficient at quantifying, tracking, and manipulating energy.

A glib and unsatisfying definition of energy is that it is everything in existence. Yet, one might argue that this is, in fact, a quite accurate and rigorous definition as well. In this class, we will strive to fill in the spectrum between glib and rigor as we explore the transient nature of energy and its influence on our physical reality from the smallest of the microscales to the largest scales of the universe.

Home College Distribution
CAS: Humanities
GSB: History Core prior to Fall 2016 catalogue, Humanities Core 2016+
CALS: Social Science
CEMS:  ENGR: Gen Ed Elective; CS, STAT,MATH: check with your academic advisor
RSENR: Consult with Advisor
CNHS:  Consult with academic advisor
CESS: Consult with academic advisor

Major/Minor Requirements
This course counts toward the European Studies major and minor "European History and Society" category
This course counts toward the History Major and minor in the "European" category
This course counts toward the Holocaust Studies minor

Course Syllabus

This seminar is situated at the nexus of history, German and European Studies, and international relations. It will explore a range of social, political, and cultural developments in the two German states that emerged from the rubble of the Second World War. Major themes will include how the German states coped with the legacies of the past and the political realities of the present. The division of Germany embodied the division of the world into two hostile blocs during the Cold War. Having unleashed a brutal war of conquest, and having perpetrated murder on a massive scale, Germany stood morally bankrupt in 1945. We will analyze how the legacy of the Holocaust affected German politics East and West, influenced the relations of the two German states with the other countries, shaped both German societies internally, and impacted on German reunification in 1990. Ever since German unity, the Germans also have to come to terms with the history of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), leading to a situation termed doppelte Vergangenheitsbewältigung – coping with the legacies and memories of two German dictatorships.