Honors Course Archive

At the turn of the 20th century, the growth of commercial publishing and the spread of periodicals helped revolutionize the ways literature was produced and read in China. Now, in the early 21st century, the internet has opened up radical new vistas for China’s writers and readers. What is the literature that has been produced and circulated through these modern media? What roles have developments in media and technology played in the story of China’s modern literature? How have technological developments and literary trends shaped, and been shaped in turn, by the nation’s social and political changes over the course of the last hundred years? In this course we will explore these questions by discussing a variety of Chinese literary works in English translation and a selection of secondary scholarship.
Lecture and discussion. Students will be required to prepare ~150 pages of reading a week; participate in class discussion; submit weekly postings and reading notes; contribute to one group presentation; and take two midterms. No language requirements; lecture, discussion, and readings will be in English. No prerequisites; previous college-level coursework on any aspect of China or on literature of any sort is helpful but not required.

All built space begins as a fiction, the telling of a story that is translated into tangible physical form- taking shape in brick and mortar, and concrete and glass. Architecture becomes the setting for multiple stories for its occupants and observers, a means of seeing, experiencing and representing the world. This seminar explores the spatial stories told by architecture, in the ways built environments exist as more than physical artifacts but as a series of events, moments and impressions in time and place. We will study primary texts and their related monuments that range from the ancient to modern, like the Epic of Gilgamesh (ca 2100 BCE) and the Mesopotamian cities of Ur and Babylon, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) and the Gothic manor house, and Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor’s, Batman: Death by Design (2012) and Gotham City/New York. Readings by intellectual theorists on spatial thinking such as Michel de Certeau and Neil Leach will aid us in drawing out thematic relationships that will include origin stories and myths of destruction, nature and territory, heroes and ghosts, and sacrifice and desire.

The class will also require direct engagement with the environment, integrating field trips within the city of Seattle. Students will be encouraged to experiment with visual and verbal methods of inquiry for understanding space, creating a class blog for sharing their views and producing a personal sketchbook with writings, drawings and images as an instrument of critical inquiry. Students will acquire a vocabulary for understanding the built environment as a setting and as an agent in telling stories – and for appreciating architecture not just as a physical artifact but as a social and perceptual construct.

Speak, Memory, Pnin, Lolita, and Pale Fire plus short stories

Offered jointly with Latin 301. Additional section times TBD.

Students enrolling in the special offering will attend Latin 301: Intensive Elementary Latin. Additionally, students will meet in a small section for critical analysis of historical and cultural aspects of the Latin language in ancient Rome, with an emphasis on making productive and illuminating connections between the study of Latin and students’ other interests and goals.

As part of course requirements, students will participate in pre-assigned discussion groups. A discussion question will be presented each week on Wednesday in class, and then posted on the Course Canvas website. E-discussions will be conducted within each assigned group. Your discussion comments are due by the following Monday. Participation in discussions will be graded.

Students will be required to write a 15 page research paper focused on the Sustainable Development Goals, set in 2015 (http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/) to be achieved by 2030. Students will choose a lower or middle-income country and describe what their country’s Health Goal is, and how it applies to the in-country AIDS epidemic. As part of SDGs, countries have committed to a 90-90-90 target for their AIDS epidemics. Students will summarize the current in-country AIDS epidemic in terms of its epidemiology (disease transmission and spread) and compare it to the epidemic in that country in 2000. Students will describe in-country HIV/AIDS evidence-based prevention and treatment (medical/clinical and/or behavioral), and social or economic programs that were designed to reduce the in-country AIDS epidemic. Students will then document the evidence on how their country is progressing in its 90-90-90 goals, and explain whether and why they think their chosen country will or will not achieve its 90-90-90 goal by 2030. Students will provide documented evidence from research, WHO/UNAIDS/CDC/USAID reports, as well as in-country Ministry of Health reports to back up their explanations. Papers will be due last week of class (week of May 30, 2016) on JUNE 3, 2016.

For Honors students: Students are encouraged to archive items from this course in their Honors learning portfolios. Readings, lecture notes, and your paper, are examples of items that might assist with reflection on experiential learning and ways of thinking within and across disciplines. The Honors electronic learning portfolios span students’ undergraduate years and are best used as an ongoing, dynamic forum for the integration of knowledge. In addition to archiving items, students are also asked to take a few minutes to write-up a paragraph or two describing the significance of the archived items and how what they learned in the course contributed to their larger experiences, goals, and thoughts about education and learning.
The course grade is based on the weighting of the paper at 90%, 10% for participation in discussions.

Bioengineering is an interdisciplinary field based on medicine, science, and engineering. BIOEN 215 is suitable for all Honors students, as no previous science/engineering experience or coursework is necessary. BIOEN 215 addresses several topics of general interest to students (such as ethical considerations in clinical trials and research methods, identification and analysis of relevant research, and problem solving) that align well with the mission and values of the Honors Program.

BIOEN 215 is intended to introduce students to the types of problems that bioengineers attempt to solve and the skills needed to address these problems. Students will be taught engineering skills such as engineering design, identification and analysis of current research literature, how to read scientific articles effectively, and technical writing.

The course is built around 3 modules that introduce a different bioengineering need and problem: diagnostic tests for cancer, artificial organs and medical devices, and global health. Each module will introduce different engineering design constraints, including technological, ethical, and societal considerations. Many important issues in bioengineering, such as effective scientific communication and regulatory issues, will be introduced in the context of a relevant module.

Lectures will provide overviews and case studies of the bioengineering problems. In addition, lectures will explore problem-solving techniques, including methods for self-directed inquiry, and information and tools to address ethical, social, and legal issues in bioengineering. The steps of the engineering design process will be addressed throughout the quarter, in the context of the particular module’s topic.

Finally, students will utilize the knowledge and skills gained throughout the quarter by working in teams to identify specific bioengineering challenges and propose and evaluate engineering solutions to those challenges, ultimately communicating results in oral and written reports.

There is no prerequisite for this course; students only need an interest in medicine, science, and engineering. This course is geared toward first year students interested in majoring in bioengineering, but is appropriate for non-science/non-engineering majors in any stage of their undergraduate career.

Pain presents a challenge as a problem in science, as a problem in health policy and patient treatment, and as a problem in understanding deeper human experiences. Pain is a universal experience. While all of us have experienced acute pain following surgery or an injury, not all of us have experienced chronic pain, which is pain that persists after tissue healing has occurred, usually > 3 months after injury. In this seminar course, we will explore pain from multiple perspectives. Some of these include the physiology, pathophysiology and psychology of pain, the epidemiology of and risk factors for pain, the subjective experience of pain. Readings, short lectures, and discussions will address the “sciences” of pain, the expression of pain in literature, philosophic analyses of pain, and social science/anthropologic analyses of pain and its role in different cultures.

Students will be evaluated on the basis of a term paper on a topic of interest to the student (after discussion with one of the instructors), weekly “thought” pieces based upon the week’s reading, and class participation.

We encourage students from any discipline to enroll in the course. It is specifically designed to incorporate multidisciplinary perspectives, and presupposes only a general education and inquisitiveness.

Portfolio Contribution: Term paper and collated weekly writing.

The class will meet for three hours, once per week during the Spring Quarter of 2015. Students will be provided with a reading list for each session; it is our expectation that every student will read some of the suggested materials prior to the class and be able to enter into a discussion of the day’s topic. Lectures by the faculty will be kept to a minimum; the class time will be spent discussing the topic and the readings. We expect each student to turn in at the beginning of each class meeting a 1-2 page brief review of the readings that the student has undertaken for that session. Each student will be required to write a term paper of 10-20 pages length on a topic related to pain of his/her choice. Discussion of the proposed topic with one of the faculty prior to writing is strongly suggested. There will be no final examination. The grade will be based upon class participation (50%) and the term paper (50%).

Why are some problems considered serious social problems and others are not? From youth crime, violence and abuse, homelessness and poverty, racial and gender inequality, to the AIDS epidemic, there are several social ills plaguing our society today. Yet, at various times, and in different places, certain issues become labeled by different people as being serious social problems. This course will explore how three major social problems in the United States and other countries have come to be identified as important problems. The course is split into four main sections. To begin, we will explore a sample of sociological perspectives used to investigate and explain social problems by sociologists. We will then discuss three broad social problems in the U.S. and other societies; juvenile and criminal justice, poverty and inequality, and HIV/AIDS. We will learn descriptive and statistical information about these issues, apply different sociological perspectives to the problems, and explore how sociologists have investigated these problems. Upon completion of this course you will be able to discuss:

-Various sociological perspectives and methods used to investigate and explain social problems
-Different ways to describe and understand juvenile and adult criminal justice in the United States and how these approaches compare to international perspectives
-The extent and nature of poverty and inequality in the United States
-The different frameworks we can use to explain and solve poverty and inequality
-How the AIDS epidemic has come to be identified as a social problem in the United States and how it has been identified similarly/differently in African countries

Reacting to the Past is an innovative (and now national) curriculum consisting of elaborate role-playing games set in the past. Students are asked to take on roles grounded in classic texts in the history of ideas. As in any game, participants work towards the realization of goals that can be either faction-driven, personal, or both. Class sessions are for the most part run and structured by students, who make oral and written presentations on behalf of their positions, enter into negotiations and form alliances, and sometimes even declare war against their opponents. The instructor will provide background and readings, offer guidance and strategy advice, grade oral and written work, and serve also as the source of unexpected challenges such as plagues or famines with which participants must then cope. The main purposes of the class are to immerse students in the complexities of particular historical situations and to help them engage meaningfully with ideas and texts. Additionally, reacting classes provide students with the opportunity to practice life skills such as working together in groups, articulating and defending points of view orally and in writing, and crafting compromises. Three games will be played in this class, all centered on particular aspects of religion and politics in the middle ages. The first presents students with Emperor Henry IV barefoot in the snow outside the walls of Canossa in 1077; the second plunges them into the debates taking place in the French and papal courts as King and Pope go head to head in 1302; and the third recreates the debates convulsing the French court as to what to do in the wake of Joan of Arc’s capture in May of 1430. No previous acting experience is assumed; the only requirement is a willingness to commit oneself fully to the game!

This course has 3 aims: 1) To introduce students to contemporary human trafficking as one of the darkest sides of globalization, but also in relation to historical forms of slavery and issues of human rights, international migration and trade/labor flows, and socioeconomic conditions that give rise to the commodification of some people by other people; 2) To build students’ understanding of the scope, scale, and complex dynamics of human trafficking; 3) To equip students to assess the current state of anti-human trafficking efforts with appreciation for the difficulty of such efforts, and to begin strategizing more and better ways to combat human trafficking.

These aims will be accomplished through a) the reading, written analysis of, and in-class discussion of relevant texts produced by concerned government bodies and nongovernmental organizations as well as scholars; b) visits by local experts representing local and/or national law enforcement, providers of services to trafficking victims, and community organizers; c) written analyses of case studies and a research paper on a particular aspect of the problem of human trafficking and/or efforts to combat it; d) completion of a service learning assignment during the latter half of the quarter which will involve volunteering with Seattle Against Slavery 3-4 hours/week for five weeks. There will be a few small quizzes on key terms/concepts, but no midterm or final exam.

What’s it like to live in Seattle? Can you put it into words?

This course considers a range of writers who have taken on that challenge and, in a variety of ways, in different eras, have depicted life in Seattle. Reading assignments for this class include fiction, poetry, vignettes, essays, and popular song lyrics that explore the city, its history, its geography, and its diverse population.

One of the goals of this course is to ask how literary representations have shaped, conformed to, diverged from, and /or contested prevailing images of Seattle. In popular culture and commercial contexts Seattle is often associated with economic cycles of boom and bust; it has been cast as a town beset by provinciality, or as a singular locale that has evolved from pioneering outpost to radical hotbed to hi-tech hub. Often defined as a gateway to the great outdoors, Seattle has also been called a livable city and a city of neighborhoods. It has come to be known, too, as a hip city, celebrated for its coffee culture, grunge music, and cutting edge arts scene. The texts selected for this course illuminate, complicate, and enrich such understandings of the city. As Peter Donahue remarks in Reading Seattle: The City in Prose, literature may serve to “amplify, augment and add to” readers’ own experiences of Seattle, making the city more legible to them and guiding them to interpret it with new insight.

This course also notes that Seattle has emerged as one of America’s most literate cities. In Seattle, literary festivals, readings, bookstores, and special events abound. In order to encourage students to discover and experience some of that cultural vitality, there will be opportunities to work with community organizations that promote writing in and about Seattle. Students may choose to volunteer 2-3 hours a week, to reflect on their experiences in connection with issues raised in classroom discussion and reading assignments, and to include written reports of their activities in their Honors portfolios. Students who prefer may write a 7-8 page research paper or web-based project in lieu of service learning.

Students will compose several drafts of their essay assignments and they will receive peer review along with feedback from the instructor. Editing and revision are an integral part of the process of writing; students will rework their essays in order to refine their prose, articulate their views, and practice proofreading, citation and documentation of sources.

Are the ancient Romans still relevant to modern conversations and ways of life? This course invites students to develop ways to strengthen their skills in various kinds of writing by developing a range of historically, linguistically and culturally informed modern ways to write about the ancient world. Some class work will include exploration of the vocabulary, syntax and rhetorical devices of the Latin language. Students will also develop a research project on an issue in the ancient world of especial interest to them. Assignments will also include essays and various kinds of informative and persuasive writing. Writing projects will require meticulous citation of primary and secondary sources, and will be revised on the basis of several drafts and peer review. Projects will be gathered into a portfolio along with a final reflection. Some previous exposure to the Latin language is desirable, but not required.

In recent discussions about the shape, scope, and formation of power in the context of economic globalization and neoliberalism the idea of biopower, first developed by the French theorist, Michel Foucault, has gained primacy. In this course we will explore the possibilities and pitfalls of biopower as a description and analysis of power in the contemporary moment as well as its relevance to our understanding the deployment of power over “life itself” at several key points in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries-those that witnessed colonization, industrialization, and racial slavery. In so doing we will construct a genealogy of the concept beginning with a reading of Foucault’s work and moving across a variety of philosophical and theoretical texts that directly engage with Foucault. We will also explore recent scholarship that implicitly supplements or in other ways “corrects” Foucault’s theory of biopower through engagement with questions of genocide, incarceration, internment, the prison industrial complex, racial slavery, and the ascendance of knowledge about the human genome and the governance of life at the molecular level.

The aim of the course is threefold: 1) to excavate a genealogy of the concept of biopower in Foucault’s work; 2) to explore the various ways in which this concept has been set to work by other thinkers; and 3) to collectively expand and refine the concept of biopower with the goal of making the concept useful for our own scholarly and political purposes. To this end roughly half of the course will be devoted to analysis of carefully selected cultural texts (mainly literature and film) that in some way treat biopower and/or that enable us to theorize it further.

This course merges the academic study of Hip Hop with the practice of building a regional Hip Hop archive. Students will study the notion of Hip Hop from scholarly points of view, community perspectives, and from personal engagements, while at the same learning skills to contribute to the development of a regional Hip Hop archive in the UW Libraries. They will critically investigate Hip Hop in the Puget Sound, looking at its and origins, trajectory, and context within PNW music history. They will learn about socially constructed issues in relation to Hip Hop such as racism/systems of white supremacy, misogyny/patriarchy/sexism, and other oppressions. These discussions will be grounded in Seattle’s own history of segregation and censorship.

Questions that drive this course include: What is Puget Sound Hip Hop? Is it important and, if so, why and for whom? How does contemporary Puget Sound Hip Hop interface with Seattle’s legacy of racial segregation? How has Puget Sound Hip Hop challenged inequalities and how has it been co-opted to support inequality? What does it mean to archive Hip Hop? What power differentials are at play when building an academic archive of a community’s expressive culture? How is UW perceived among Seattle’s Hip Hop communities?

This course approaches the study of social hierarchies – based upon power inequalities of gender, class, sexuality, race, species, religion, and ability – through the lens of creative storytelling. We will explore these issues, as well as processes of social change and peace-building, through science-fiction writing and film, especially pieces that examine utopic or distopic futures. Engaging students’ interest and their creative brains, the course aims to bring a critical eye to ‘entertaining’ stories, as well as to unpack critiques of our contemporary world, which are embedded in many such tales. Close reading of science-fiction novels and short stories, and viewing films & TV series, will be coupled with readings in critical theory (i.e. feminist, critical race, Indigenous, post-colonial and queer theory). These pieces will provide students with the tools to think critically about difference, inequality and social control, in order to analyze these elements within science-fiction & fantasy story-telling.

During the quarter, we will read classic texts and recent novels from a variety of authors. We will explore several themes in this work, including: race and xenophobia; gender, sexuality and heteropatriarchy; class, capitalism, and structural violence; state power, territory, social order, and oppression; environment, climate change, and interspecies life/death; technology, genetics, and ‘tampering with’ nature; spirituality and religion, and violence and peace.

The course will be discussion driven and students will be expected to be actively engaged in classroom & online discussion spaces. Assignments will include short weekly writing reflections (in blog format) and a piece of work to be included in students’ Honors Portfolios. The final class project will be either an analysis piece drawing together at least three examples of science-fiction from the course and analyzing these using theory read in class or researched by the student. Or, students may produce a piece of creative fiction along the lines of the utopic/distopic science fiction we read throughout the quarter (this can be original fiction or fanfiction).

This course will provide an understanding of the scientific, geographic, and social context necessary for evaluating threats and mitigating the ecological and human impacts of global climate change in the Arctic.

For the first time in the history of the planet humans are causing changes on a global scale – the Anthropocene. Scientists discovered global climate change, identified its human origins, and are forecasting change to every corner of the globe. There is overwhelming consensus about the facts underpinning our knowledge of climate change. Powerful forces are aligned against implementing changes necessary to mitigate climate impacts. By introducing uncertainty, and doubt about scientists’ motives, complexity and uncertainty have been turned into disagreement, undermining the public’s understanding and belief in climate science.

Understanding climate change requires an interdisciplinary approach that considers natural and social sciences, art, and the role of activism. A first step is to understand the often complex and sometimes perplexing science of climate change, in all its disciplines. Beyond the natural sciences, we can learn from history how past civilizations succumbed to climate change, we can further examine how the human brain limits our ability to process complex problems in a moral context. Just as importantly, we can explore how artists and musicians work with scientist to extend the expression of hard facts to intellectual and emotional enrichment.

The course will begin by building a foundation for understanding climate change causes and impacts, including atmospheric science, oceanography, chemistry, and ecology. First comes information on how the atmosphere works and mechanisms of climate alteration. Next, how the ocean works, atmospheric-ocean interactions, and their role in climate alteration. Then we will follow with key ecosystems and species in Arctic.

Interwoven with the science will be discussions of how Arctic states are working together to mitigate climate change impacts. Arctic indigenous peoples are also working with Arctic states to engage in the climate change discussion. The course consider the impacts of climate change to those nations and people, and also how they are contributing through literature, music, art.

Student learning goals:

Students planning to enroll in this course should have completed at least one Natural World and one Individuals and Societies course at the 200 level or above. Students will be reading, interpreting, and analyzing materials from a broad range of disciplines with guidance from the instructor. With good comprehension and writing skills, students from all schools and departments can be successful in this class. At the end of this course, each student will be able to:

-Explain climate change in the context of atmospheric and oceanic systems, with an emphasis on effects to humans and ecosystems.
-Recognize the role of art, music, and activism in communicating science and affecting policy.
-Describe how Arctic indigenous people understand and articulate climate change.
-Describe and compare the advantages and disadvantages of climate policy strategies and their differing impacts on the environment and humans.
-Display a leadership role in the classroom community through discussion, group learning, and class presentations.

Class assignments and grading:

In-class participation – 10%
Discussion briefs and short writing assignments – 35%
Quizzes – 20%
Group Project – 15%
Final Paper – 20% (no final exam)

This course is being jointly offered with the Jackson School of International Studies and the Arctic Studies interdisciplinary program.

Introduces a range of theories, ideas, techniques, and processes of still photography in a fine art context. Emphasizes photography’s creative potential.

Introduction to systematic inorganic chemistry: representative elements, metals, and nonmetals. Includes coordination complexes, geochemistry, and metallurgy. Additional material on environmental applications of basic chemistry presented. Includes laboratory. No more than the number of credits indicated can be counted toward graduation from the following course groups: 162, 165 (5 credits); 165, 312 (5 credits).

For chemistry majors and otherwise qualified students planning three or more quarters of organic chemistry. Structure, nomenclature, reactions, and synthesis of organic compounds. Theory and mechanism of organic reactions. Studies of biomolecules. Includes introduction to membranes, enzyme mechanisms, prosthetic groups, macromolecular conformations, and supramolecular architecture. No more than 4 credits can be counted toward graduation from the following course groups: CHEM 239, CHEM 337.

Basic programming-in-the-small abilities and concepts including procedural programming (methods, parameters, return values) , basic control structures (sequence, if/else, for loop, while loop), file processing, arrays and an introduction to defining objects.

Continuation of CSE 142. Concepts of data abstraction and encapsulation including stacks, queues, linked lists, binary trees, recursion, instruction to complexity and use of predefined collection classes. Prerequisite: CSE 142.

Sequence covers the material of 124, 125, 126; 307, 308, 318. Third quarter of the first year of a two-year accelerated sequence. May not receive credit for both 126 and 136. For students with above average preparation, interest, and ability in mathematics.

Introduction to proofs and rigor; uniform convergence, Fourier series and partial differential equations, vector calculus, complex variables. Students who complete this sequence are not required to take 309, 324, 326, 327, 328, and 427. Third quarter of the second year of an accelerated two-year sequence; prepares students for senior-level mathematics courses.

Electromagnetic waves, optics, waves in matter, and experiments in these topics for physical science and engineering majors. Lecture tutorial and lab components must all be taken to receive credit. Credit is not given for both PHYS 116 and PHYS 123. Prerequisite: MATH 126, MATH 129, or MATH 134, any of which may be taken concurrently; PHYS 122.

Focusing on four key global trends (urbanization, technological change, aging societies, and globalization) as identified by McKinsey & Company, this seminar explores how these disruptive trends are changing our society. In particular, we will identify potential ways the Millennium generation will adapt to, cope with, and perhaps even embrace these disruptive changes.

The course will examine opportunities and challenges presented by these disruptions. We will employ scenario planning and other tools, including a macro perspective of the implications for resource allocation.

Students will be forced to think critically and make in-class presentations to defend their recommendations. Deliverables include participation, presentations, teamwork, and papers.

We’ll read a book manuscript written by the instructor, scheduled for publication next year by Oxford University Press. It examines the extraordinary case of Costa Rica, the only full-fledged independent country that has abolished its military and which also consistently ranks among the “happiest” countries on earth – in a league with the Scandinavian countries, despite the fact that Costa Rica is much less wealthy. The idea is to explore this country’s unique situation, how and why it demilitarized, the effects this has had, and what, if anything, we can learn from its experience. No prior knowledge of Costa Rica, militarization or demilitarization, or “happiness research” is required. The only expectation is that participants will read the manuscript (which is a work-in-progress and will be distributed as a Word doc) and come to class prepared to discuss it, suggest improvements, agree or disagree, and generally participate!

This project based seminar is the culminating seminar in this year’s GLP Waseda curriculum. It is restricted to current students in the Honors GLP Waseda Japan Exchange.

This is an introductory course to international business. International business differs from local business in many aspects. If a company wants to conduct business in foreign countries, it must confront the following situations that differ from its home country: language, currency, culture, policies, market size, economic growth, demographic changes, appropriate marketing technique, and so forth.

In the first half of the course I will provide short lectures and discuss some materials/ideas on international business. No previous knowledge about business or economics is necessary.

Further, there will be no exams or papers. However, participants will be expected to contribute to the class discussion. I will ask you to complete a group work presentation in the second half of the class. Here is an example of the presentation topic: “Suppose you start up your own business in a country outside of the US. What should you do in order to maximize the profits from your business in that country?” Class-participation (not just attendance) and the uniqueness of the group work presentation are important for the final evaluation.

This offering is a hybrid course. Course meeting every other week starting Thursday, March 31 in MGH 206 between 3:30-6:30p, and online.

Explore the recent history of the dramatic advances in artificial intelligence science and robot technology and their impacts on our culture and lives. Research the extent that robots and computers have freed whole swaths of jobs and occupations from the necessity of human involvement. Attempt to understand the current reach of “machine thought” or A.I., and try to make realistic predictions of where this science/technology is likely to lead. Finally, we will confront the question of whether we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the central role of humans in the future of civilization: That is, while we will (hopefully) be around to experience the future, we may not necessarily be in control.

The course will involve wide ranging readings on the impact of automation/robots in our economy, and the effects, good and bad, on our economy. We will explore the question of whether machine thought will advance to the critical point of machines being able to design and build the next generation of “machine thinkers”. Most importantly, we need to address the question of whether there is anything about being a human that ultimately a (very advanced) machine cannot do much better.

The goal to explore the vast resources of the internet, and the ideas presented in our entertainment media and contrast and compare these results with academic research on the same subjects. Is the hype real, or is it simply a product of our culture’s current obsession with what is trending?

This is a course for students who have always been fascinated with the rapid advance in technology, and find themselves wondering if the ever increasing pace of technological advancement is necessarily always a good thing.

This honors seminar seeks to explore the interface between poetry and the healing arts and science. In an age when technology dominates our daily experience, the emotional parameters of illness are often overshadowed. The human brain has not changed in the last ten thousand years in its need for expression surrounding fear and grief. We will review brain anatomy and physiology, and correlate brain domains thought to be essential to the creative process and the use of functional MRI scans to investigate these brain structures.

Students will start by acquiring basic poetic craft and techniques to bring music and emotion into language. The history of poetry in medicine will be examined: its value in retrospective reflection, as a tool for teaching compassion to medical students, and as a vehicle for expression in mentally and physically afflicted patients. Renowned physician-poets will be discussed and each student will participate in vocalization of a selection of their poems. Cross cultural traditions will be honored.

The format of the class will be in a round table, workshop tradition with constructive, collegial critique. Each student will be required to generate “in-class” writing as well as weekly writing assignments, and to create 3-4 poems relevant to illness, death and healing. A broad spectrum of environmental, socio-political and personal grief can be the subjects for powerful poems that move us.

An editor, co-editor and graphic design artist and publicity agent will be chosen by the class to produce a 30-40 page book of poetry for publication by the University by the end of the seminar. A group reading at the University Bookstore or Seattle venue, in which all students must participate, will be graded as the final examination. My role will be as a facilitator and guide to provoke thought, to generate innovative poems, and to open minds and hearts to the possibilities of poetry for self exploration in the realm of illness, death and healing.