You are on page 1of 125

COURSE CATALOG

APPLICATION DEADLINES: Application must be submitted via the web at


Autumn Quarter introsems.stanford.edu
Friday, September 4, 12:00 noon
Winter Quarter
Friday, November 30, 12:00 noon
Spring Quarter
Friday, March 5, 12:00 noon
How to Apply for Autumn Quarter
Seminars
See pages 5–7 for more detailed information.
New students may want to consult with their Academic Di-
rectors regarding their interests and plans, as well as consid-
er their placements for the Introduction to the Humanities
(IHUM) and, if applicable, the Program in Writing and Rhetoric
1 (PWR 1) classes before submitting their applications. (You
may also petition to change IHUM and/or PWR 1 placements
should you be admitted to a seminar for which the meeting
time conflicts.) You may apply to up to three seminars each
Together with other undergrad- quarter, but you must submit a separate application for each.
uate courses and programs, the No priority is given to early applications.
Stanford Introductory Seminars Applications will be available at the Introductory Semi-
will serve you as foundations nars website (http://introsems.stanford.edu). If you are
unable to access the web, use the application at the back of
for broad and deep scholarly
this catalogue (the form can be photocopied) and submit
explorations. On behalf of the
applications at the Stanford Introductory Studies (SIS) office,
Stanford faculty, I invite you to 3rd floor, Sweet Hall, Stanford, CA 94305-3091; fax (650) 736-
read the course descriptions 2797.
carefully and select a course
that offers you the best oppor- APPLICATION DEADLINES
tunity for intellectual explora- Autumn Quarter—Friday, September 4, 12:00 noon
tion, challenge, and growth. We Winter Quarter—Monday, November 30, 12:00 noon
Spring Quarter—Friday, March 5, 12:00 noon
look forward to seeing you in
the seminars. Please check Axess (http://axess.stanford.edu) or
the Introductory Seminars website (after August 17) for
Harry J. Elam, Jr. changes in course information and for the most up-to-date
Senior Associate Vice Provost day, time, and location information for the current quarter.
for Undergraduate Education, This information should be confirmed before applying to a
class to ensure it continues to fit your schedule. Use the class
Olive J. Palmer Professor in the
number to search for classes in Axess. Once you have been
Humanities, and Faculty Direc-
admitted to a seminar, you will also use this number to regis-
tor of Stanford Introductory ter for the course.
Studies Day, time, and location are arranged by the enrolling
department. If you have trouble locating this information,
please call the enrolling department or the SIS office for as-
sistance.
Check the Introductory Seminars website to see
whether or not you have been admitted to the course(s) to
which you applied. Your application status will be posted by
5 pm on September 15. Where admission selections have not
yet been posted on the web by the first day of class, students
should attend the first class meetings so that they remain on
the list of interested applicants.
Contents
How Introductory Seminars Fit into Your Stanford Education 2
The Big Picture Starts with a Small Class 2
Finding and Building Your Intellectual Community 3
Using this Catalogue to Help Find Your Intellectual Interests 4
Pursuing Your Interests Outside the Classroom 4

Any Questions? How to Select and Apply for an Introductory Seminar 5


Types of Courses 5
Stanford Introductory
Scheduling 5
Studies Office Selecting a Class 6
3rd floor Application Deadlines 6
Sweet Hall Completing and Submitting Your Application 6
Stanford, CA Checking Your Application Status 6
Enrolling 6
94305-3069
Tips on Applying to Seminars 7

phone: (650) 723-2631 Frequently Asked Questions 8

fax: (650) 723-0631 From Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR) 10


Sophomore Advising and How It Works 10
e-mail: Sophomore Advising: Frequently Asked Questions 10
introsems@stanford.edu
Autumn Course Descriptions and Faculty Profiles 11
web: Freshman Preference 12
http://introsems.stanford.edu Sophomore Preference 35

Winter Course Descriptions and Faculty Profiles 50


Freshman Preference 51
Sophomore Preference 66

Spring Course Descriptions and Faculty Profiles 78


Freshman Preference 79
Sophomore Preference 97

Indices
Faculty Index 109
Course Index 111
Department/Program Index 114
GER Index 115
Write-2 Index 118

Course Selection Worksheet (Tear-out sheet) 119


WINNERS
How Introductory Seminars Fit into
Your Stanford Education

2007–2008 The Big Picture Starts with a Small Class


On a campus replete with opportunities (and requirements),
you might be asking yourself why you should take an Intro-
THE STANFORD INTRODUCTORY SEMINARS ductory Seminar.
EXCELLENCE AWARD recognizes exceptional Here are a few reasons. If you are thinking about possible
student work produced in a Freshman or majors, the focused, in-depth environment of a seminar is an
Sophomore Seminar by students in their first ideal place to try out an area of interest. These courses are
or second year at Stanford. The award was introductory in the sense that little prior background is ex-
inaugurated in 2005-06. Faculty-nominated pected, but they are intended to be real investigations in the
work is reviewed by a committee of faculty and methods and materials of a particular discipline. You’ll learn
academic staff in the office of the Vice Provost
to think like a professional geologist or a musicologist. In
for Undergraduate Education.
some cases, you can explore potential careers—like psychia-
try or biocomputation—that you might not otherwise gain
Natural and Science and Medicine exposure to before graduate school.
Rob Gillete Ryan, “‘Water, Water, Everywhere’:
You may also explore a field that intrigues you but that
the modern scourge of cholera;” final paper for
lies outside your primary academic interest. An engineer
John Boothroyd’s seminar, “Modern Plagues.”
might enroll in “Graphic Narratives: Word, Image, Sound, Si-
lence,” satisfying his interest in this narrative form along with
Humanities
the General Education Requirement in Humanities and the
Ellie Freedman, “The Resounding Silence:
second quarter writing requirement. The intimacy of these
Language and its Absence in Brenda Hillman’s
‘Pieces of Air in the Epic’ and Marianne Vil- classes encourages you to stretch yourself by trying on new
lanueva’s ‘Mayor of the Roses’;” final paper in ways of thinking. Feel free to experiment with an Introduc-
Valerie Miner’s seminar, “Imagining Women: tory Seminar; you’ll find all sorts of unexpected benefits by
Writers in Print and in Person.” diving into a new discipline.
Allow yourself to imagine the excitement in subjects that
Engineering may seem far afield from the interests you first brought to
Jaramillo Halady & Sarkar Román, “Wireless college. As a first- or second-year student, you have the lib-
Headphones Design,” final project for Andrea erty to be open to the entire spectrum of intellectual pursuits
Goldsmith’s seminar, “The Art and Science of at Stanford. Indeed, this is the best approach toward defin-
Engineering Product Design.” ing your own personal and particular passions and to design-
ing an education, including both coursework and activities
Social Science (such as research), that will best enable you to explore these
Samuel Quinn Slack, “On-Line Chinese-English passions. Many faculty and advanced students will tell you
Dictionary,” final project for Martin Kay’s semi- that they first discovered their own interests in unexpected
nar, “Translation.” places through an encounter with an enthusiastic instructor
or with a fascinating question that seized their imagination
and wouldn’t let go. While some students arrive at college
with firm plans for their education and career, many more
discover their talents and interests through a combination
of serendipitous encounters and a willingness to investigate
things outside of the obvious choices. You will have the most
satisfying education and have the most to contribute if you
seek out what compels you personally, and if you do not un-
necessarily limit yourself with preconceptions. No one will
dictate your academic path for you at Stanford.

2
Finding and Building Your Intellectual Community

By taking an Introductory Seminar, you have the privilege of you in terms of learning the analytical tools of a discipline; it
working with members of the Stanford faculty in their role as can also expose you to possible ways to tailor your academic
scholars. With them, you will explore a question that illumi- choices to your own needs and interests. You might know
nates a facet of a discipline and thereby share in the thrill of that you want to be a physician, but the major you’ll choose
active discovery. In preparing these courses, we have asked to prepare yourself, the specific field in which you may even-
faculty to share the excitement that motivates their own tually specialize, and the route to and through professional
scholarship and to engage students in the methodologies medical training all remain to be determined. Finding knowl-
that drive their quest for the creation of new knowledge. edgeable faculty and peers with whom to discuss such choic-
Whether an Introductory Seminar has a broad scope es will be invaluable to you down the road.
or is focused on a specialized field of inquiry, whether it is Introductory Seminars also open doors to learning
an adjunct to a larger introductory lecture or concentrates opportunities beyond the classroom through research. All
on a subject not offered anywhere else in the undergradu- Introductory Seminars provide the exciting possibility of en-
ate curriculum, these courses all spring from the intellectual gaging Stanford’s most esteemed faculty on topics that fasci-
enthusiasms of their instructors and gain their success from nate them. Their enthusiasm can be contagious, and because
the energy of the students enrolled in them. Faculty often say these seminars are designed to foster long-term mentoring,
that the Introductory Seminars they have taught have been further possibilities for collaboration through research can
among the most rewarding classes in their teaching careers. develop. Working with a faculty mentor, students can join a
The fresh perspectives of their freshman and sophomore laboratory team on campus, research a topic through Stan-
students often give the faculty new insights into their own ford’s extensive library and archive collections, or travel to
research. fieldsites around the world.
One of the best reasons to take Introductory Seminars While many seminars provide students with exposure to
is to connect with faculty and students who share your in- research methods or hands-on project design, a few semi-
terests. Getting to know some faculty members well should nars are specifically designated as research-based seminars.
be an important goal early in your Stanford career, whatever In these courses, students will be introduced to current re-
your long-term plans. Faculty can give you advice on aca- search methodologies in the field and will also collaborate
demic planning, mentor you in a research project, introduce with the instructor to design and explore research questions
you to colleagues, write letters of recommendation, and gen- relating to the topic. Students may also have the opportu-
erally serve as guides and models for your intellectual pur- nity to continue their research in projects after the course is
suits. The Introductory Seminars are a terrific place to engage over. These seminars are indicated in the individual course
with faculty over your shared interests in an intimate setting. descriptions.
Similarly, you may not find other students in your dorm who A few seminars focus on community-based learning,
understand your enthusiasm for comparative anatomy and combining service and study to enhance student learning
physiology of animals, but you will find them in the freshman while illuminating and informing community service experi-
seminar on that subject. The relationships formed in these ences. Faculty work with the Haas Center for Public Service to
classes can be an ongoing support network to you for the design activities which may lead to ongoing service oppor-
rest of your time at Stanford and beyond. The shared intellec- tunities for participating students. Individual course descrip-
tual labor of the seminar can provide a critical foundation for tions indicate where service activities are a focus.

3
Using this Catalogue to Help Find Your Intellectual Pursuing Your Interests Outside the Classroom
Interests
Read through all the course descriptions and biographies, The Office of Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR)
even for seminars in areas in which you don’t expect to major is your campus nexus for information on getting involved
or you don’t yet have any experience. Use the Course Selec- in research and creative arts opportunities for freshmen and
tion Worksheet included in this catalogue to note any semi- sophomores. UAR programs are designed to serve students
nars that catch your interest. Refer to that list to brainstorm who are new to research and creative arts activities, as well as
about which seminars you might want to take in any given those with considerable experience who are able to take on
quarter, and also more generally about which directions advanced, independent projects. UAR offers grants directly
seem most appealing to you at this point in your academic to students of all classes who are engaged in rigorous and
career. Look for themes that might suggest areas you’d like to original independent projects under the mentorship of Stan-
explore in your time at Stanford. Take note of which depart- ford faculty members. These grants can support research or
ments are on your list and which faculty. Share this list with creative arts work in any discipline, including the fine arts,
your Pre-Major Advisor, Academic Director, a family member, humanities, engineering, social sciences, and natural scienc-
or a friend. They may be able to help you see patterns and es, and they include a special grant and mentoring program
suggest directions for you to explore. for sophomores: the Chappell Lougee Scholars Program. UAR
Be open-minded about what interests you and persis- also provides funds to faculty and departments to support
tent in trying to take a seminar. Although some of the semi- undergraduates with close mentorship and training in schol-
nars are over-subscribed each quarter, many others will still arship and research. The hallmark of these programs is the
have space available at the beginning of the term. You will opportunity for students to work as research or creative as-
find many fascinating instructors and topics by browsing the sistants on faculty projects. UAR sponsors the Symposium of
list of space-available courses on the Introductory Seminars Undergraduate Research and Public Service, a campus wide
website. Keep in mind that students who have not yet taken showcase of undergraduate research and service projects
an Introductory Seminar will have preference for courses held each year in the afternoon on the Thursday preceding
later in the year (see FAQ for details). You can also look in the Alumni Weekend. The projects on display at the symposium
Stanford Bulletin for related classes in the same department can inspire freshmen and sophomores to pursue their devel-
or with the same instructor. Lastly, take the initiative to go to oping intellectual interests in a faculty-mentored research or
the faculty member’s office hours to discuss ways of pursuing creative project, or a public service initiative.
your common interests. Students interested in pursuing research are encouraged
to meet with their UAR Academic Director; contact informa-
tion can be found at http://ual.stanford.edu/AP/advising/
MakeAdvisingAppointment.html. UAR Advisors in Sweet
Hall are also available to meet with students by calling: (650)
723-2426.

4
How to Select and Apply for an Scheduling
Introductory Seminar The varying number of units and class times for Introductory
Seminars ensures that with careful planning all students will
Introductory Seminars give freshmen and sophomores the be able to enroll in a small-group course during both their
chance to work in small-group settings with some of Stan- first and second years. Still, all Introductory Seminars have
ford’s most esteemed faculty from students’ very first days on limited enrollment, so students must apply and be admitted
campus. The courses are designed to create an environment before enrolling. Admission selections will be available prior
that fosters long-term mentoring relationships between stu- to the start of each quarter. Should admission selections for a
dents and faculty. particular course not yet have been posted on the web by the
Faculty from the schools of Medicine, Engineering, Earth first day of class, students should attend the first class meet-
Sciences, Education, Business, and Law have joined their col- ings so that they remain on the list of interested applicants.
leagues from the School of Humanities and Sciences to offer Waitlisted students should attend that class and also
courses designed to encourage students to become active select and attend alternative classes during the first week
participants in the processes of learning and critical inquiry. in case they are not admitted to their Introductory Seminar
of choice. Students will be able to find out the status of any
Types of Courses pending application(s) by the end of the first week of the
quarter.
ENROLLMENT
MAXIMUM UNITS CODE

Freshman 16 3–4 F, Sem


Preference
Seminars

Sophomore 14 3–5 S, Sem


Preference
Seminars

Sophomore 5 1–2 S, Dial


Preference
Dialogues

All Stanford freshmen, sophomores, and first-year trans-


fer students are eligible to apply to any of the courses listed
in this catalogue. Sophomores will have priority for sopho-
more preference courses, but freshmen will be admitted on
a space-available basis. Similarly, freshmen will have priority
for freshman preference courses, but sophomores will be ad-
mitted if space is available. First-year transfer students will
have the same priority status as sophomores.

5
Selecting a Class Application Deadlines

The first step is to discuss your choices with your advisor or Autumn Quarter—Friday, September 4, 12:00 noon
Academic Director. The courses in this catalogue are grouped Winter Quarter—Monday, November 30, 12:00 noon
by the quarter in which they are offered—autumn, winter, Spring Quarter—Friday, March 5, 12:00 noon
and spring—and are arranged by type of course (freshman
preference or sophomore preference) and then alphabeti- NOTE: The online application form will be available approxi-
cally by department. Each course description contains infor- mately two weeks before each deadline. There is no priority
mation about the topic, prerequisites, and units, as well as given to early applications.
a biographical profile of the faculty instructor. Courses that
have been certified to satisfy a General Education Require- Completing and Submitting Your Application
ment are identified.
Once you decide to apply to an Introductory Seminar, choose
A number of seminars are certified to fulfill the second-
up to three courses per quarter and complete a separate ap-
level Writing and Rhetoric Requirement (Write-2) and will
plication for each. Applications will be available on the web
emphasize oral and multimedia presentation.
at http://introsems.stanford.edu and should be submit-
Students may apply for up to three seminars each
ted online. If you are unable to access the web application,
quarter. Students admitted to more than one seminar may
a faxed or emailed application may be submitted (see the
be moved to the waitlist for their lower ranked course(s) to
application form at the back of this catalogue for the ques-
make space for waitlisted students who are not admitted to
tions). Submit your emailed or faxed application by the
any other seminar. Students should therefore be sure to rank
deadline to the Stanford Introductory Studies office (email:
their preferences if they apply to more than one class. Stu-
froshsophprograms@stanford.edu; fax: 650-723-0631) no
dents may enroll in additional courses if spaces are available
later than the deadlines listed above. All applications will be
after the initial sign-up period. A list of these open classes
considered equally.
will be posted on the Introductory Seminars website and
sent to advisors during the first week of classes.
For courses marked Lottery, students will not write ap- Checking Your Application Status
plication essays. Admission will be determined by a ran- Go to the Introductory Seminars website to see whether or
dom draw, with priority given to students whose class year not you have been admitted to the course(s) to which you
matches the seminar preference and who have not yet taken applied. Your application status will be posted as soon as it is
a seminar, irrespective of student priority ranking. available, by 5 pm on September 15 for autumn quarter and
Students interested in taking a course from a specific in advance of the first day of classes for winter and spring.
professor may find the index of faculty members at the back Once you have been accepted, you may enroll in the course.
of this guide particularly useful. An index of course titles is Where admission selections have not yet been posted for a
also included, along with an index of participating depart- particular course on the web by the first day of class, students
ments and programs and an index of courses fulfilling Gen- should attend the first class meetings so that they remain on
eral Education and Writing Requirements. the list of interested applicants. Waitlisted students should
also attend the first class meetings to indicate their ongoing
Checking Day, Time, and Location interest and ensure that their spot is not given away.

Day, time, and location are arranged by the enrolling depart-


Enrolling
ment and are made available before each quarter begins.
The most current day, time, and location information will be Use the class number to enroll in Axess once you have been
available in Axess and on the Introductory Seminars website admitted. You must self-enroll in Axess as enrollment is sepa-
(after August 17 for autumn quarter courses). This informa- rate from the application and selection process. (Axess en-
tion should be confirmed before applying to a class to assure rollment is closed until the selection process concludes.) If
it continues to fit your schedule. Use the class number to you experience difficulty locating class information, please
search for classes in Axess. call the enrolling department or the Stanford Introductory
Studies office (650-723-0631) for assistance.

6
Tips on applying to seminars

1. Tell a story about yourself and your


interest in the subject. Faculty look for
At students with diverse backgrounds

introsems.stanford.edu, and attitudes. The better the instructor

you can can understand your motivations and


approach, the more likely he or she will
t look for updated information be to keep you in mind in constructing
on seminars, including day, time, the final class list.
and location
t apply to seminars
t check your application status after the 2. Write a well-crafted paragraph or
deadline two for the application questions.
t once admitted, get the class number
to use for enrolling in Axess
(axess.stanford.edu) 3. Proofread and share your essays
with an advisor, family member, or
friend.

4. Keep an open mind about what


might interest you. Remember that
while some seminars are over-sub-
scribed, many others will have spaces
available after the application dead-
line.

7
Frequently Asked Questions
What are faculty looking for in selecting among room for waitlisted students who have not been admitted to
student applications? any other seminar. If you are listed as admitted to multiple
courses when application statuses become available—or if a
Faculty are seeking an enthusiastic group of students who
course is listed as having space available after the application
will bring a variety of interests and perspectives to explore a
period—you may enroll in more than one.
topic together. With the exception of any prerequisites not-
ed in the individual course descriptions, they do not expect I want to apply to three classes, but can’t decide
students to come to an Introductory Seminar having previ-
how to rank them. Is it absolutely necessary to list
ously studied the subject formally. The most successful ap-
my rank preferences on the application form?
plications provide a few thoughtful, well-written paragraphs
about what interests the student in the topic, what particular The application program requires a ranking status, and does
questions, passions, or perspectives he or she will bring to its not accept duplicate rankings.
study, and what prior experiences he or she may have had in
If I enroll in an autumn quarter Introductory Semi-
this area.
nar, will it hurt my chances to take another seminar
I’m a freshman and want to take a course labeled in the winter and spring?
sophomore preference. Will this be possible? Preference in admission for winter and spring quarter courses
Freshmen are admitted to sophomore-preference courses will be given to students who have not previously enrolled in
on a space-available basis, assuming they meet all necessary an Introductory Seminar or in Sophomore College. In many
prerequisites and obtain the consent of the instructor. (Stu- instances, though, the large number of courses being offered
dents can ask permission to participate in a seminar from an will make it possible for students to enroll in another class.
instructor by email, during office hours, or at the first class Because classes are sometimes canceled or may be highly
meeting.) over-subscribed, it is not advisable to avoid applying to semi-
nars that interest you in autumn or winter in the hope of plac-
I’m a sophomore and want to take a course labeled ing oneself in a higher preference category for a seminar later
freshman preference. Will this be possible? in the year.
Sophomores are admitted to freshman-preference courses
I didn’t get into any of the Introductory Seminars I
on a space-available basis, assuming they meet all necessary
prerequisites and obtain the consent of the instructor.
applied for. Is there any chance I will still be able to
enroll in one?
I’m a transfer student. Am I eligible to apply to Yes. A list of courses that still have space available will be
Introductory Seminars? posted on the Introductory Seminars website during the first
First-year transfer students may apply to Introductory Semi- week of classes. You should attend the next meeting of any
nars with the same priority status as sophomores throughout class with space available to indicate your interest in enroll-
their first three quarters at Stanford. You may also enroll in ing. You should also go back to your advisor to discuss other
a freshman or sophomore seminar that has space available ways to pursue your interests. In future quarters, consider
after the application deadline with the instructor’s consent. coming in to the Stanford Introductory Studies office before
Check the list of classes with space available on the Introduc- the deadline for coaching on how best to approach applying
tory Seminars website during the first week of classes. for introductory seminars.

How do I find out whether I’ve been admitted to I want to take a seminar to satisfy a GER or WRITE-2.
the class for which I applied? Should I elect the CR/NC option if it’s available?
Your application status will be posted on the website (http:// No. If you want an Introductory Seminar to count towards
introsems.stanford.edu) as soon as it becomes available completion of the GER or WRITE-2, you must take it for a let-
following the application deadline. ter grade.

Will it be possible for me to enroll in more than one Are there additional steps in applying for WRITE-2
seminar? courses?
Students who are selected by the instructor for more than one No. If you are admitted to a WRITE-2 seminar, your quarter
course will automatically be accepted in their highest-ranked assignment will be changed to that quarter if the initial as-
choice, but may at SIS’s discretion be moved to the wait- signment was different, and that seminar will automatically
list of their lower-ranked seminar(s). This process will make be considered your first choice PWR section if that is your

8
assigned quarter. If it is your assigned quarter, however, you What is Stanford Introductory Studies (SIS)?
should go ahead and rank the rest of your PWR 2 choices on Our programs include the Introductory Seminars (Freshman
the PWR website. Seminars and Sophomore Seminars and Dialogues), Intro-
duction to the Humanities, Program in Writing and Rheto-
How does the application and selection process ric, Structured Liberal Education, Stanford Writing Center,
work for a lottery course? and September Studies at Stanford (Sophomore College,
A random draw is performed on the list of applicants in the Arts Intensive Program, and Honors College). SIS guides
first preference category. For example, the first category for and supports Stanford undergraduates’ academic transi-
a winter quarter freshman seminar includes freshmen who tion from high school into university-level study. While SIS
have not yet participated in a seminar, irrespective of rank- helps the newest members of the Stanford community learn
ing. If there are more spaces than applicants in this category, to be successful university students through intensive inter-
then everyone in that category is admitted, and the remain- actions with peers and faculty, SIS also aims to teach these
ing empty spaces are allotted randomly to each of the succes- students behaviors and habits of mind that will serve them
sive lower preference categories: freshmen who have taken a in their lives beyond the university as productive citizens of
seminar previously; sophomores and transfer students who the world. To these multiple ends, the curricular programs
have not yet participated in a seminar or Sophomore College; of SIS engage students in the analysis and interpretation of
and all other sophomores and transfer students complex texts, introducing them to the kinds of transforma-
tive questions explored in the university community and by
I want to apply for an Introductory Seminar, but I educated people everywhere. Students learn to read criti-
won’t be returning to campus until after the dead- cally, judge carefully, and discern complex meanings that will
line. How can I complete my application? serve them in any context they encounter. In lectures and
Send your form via the web, email, or fax. Please call SIS to small seminars across a range of SIS programs, students form
confirm whether there is an additional class-specific applica- strong relationships with peers and faculty while learning to
tion question in addition to the two standard questions on understand and practice methods of inquiry particular to a
the sample application form on the back cover of this cata- range of disciplines, from the humanities to the social and
logue. natural sciences. As part of these varied academic experienc-
es in SIS, students will actively reflect on their development
I’m an upperclass student and want to take an as learners and thinkers. While some will choose to pursue
Introductory Seminar. Is this allowed? careers as researchers and scholars, all will have acquired the
While juniors and seniors may not apply in advance to Intro- skills to be life-long learners.
ductory Seminars, you may enroll in a seminar that has space
available after the application deadline with the instructor’s What is the Office of Undergraduate Advising and
consent. Check our list of classes with space available on Research (UAR)?
the Introductory Seminars website during the first week of The Office of Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR)
classes. coordinates advising for students who have not declared
a major. UAR helps all students, freshmen through seniors,
I’m trying to enroll for an Introductory Seminar in develop their scholarly interests through broad academic
Axess, but the system won’t let me. What’s wrong? exploration, the declaration of a major, and engagement in
Enrollment for Introductory Seminars is closed until after the research and creative arts opportunities. Freshmen are as-
application process is concluded. Once you are admitted to signed to a Pre-Major Advisor according to their academic
a course, use the class number to enroll. WRITE-2 classes re- interests and their residence. All freshmen and sophomores
quire permission numbers to enroll, which will be given indi- also work closely with their Academic Director and other UAR
vidually through the application status page on the website Academic Advisors in Sweet Hall and the Athletic Academic
to admitted students. Resource Center (AARC). Some sophomores participate in
the Sophomore Mentoring Program (see FAQ above).
What is the Sophomore Mentoring Program?
Some faculty who have taught Freshman Seminars or Soph-
omore College volunteer to continue working with their
students through a formal advising relationship during the
students’ sophomore year. If your Freshman Seminar instruc-
tor volunteers to participate and you have not yet declared a
major, you will be given an opportunity to sign up in May.

9
From Undergraduate Advising and Research (UAR)

Sophomore Advising and How It Works Sophomore Advising:


Advising in the sophomore year differs from advising in the
Frequently Asked Questions
freshman year in two ways. First, the multitude of possible
intellectual pursuits—from individual courses to majors— When should I start thinking about classes to take
opens up to you in ways that you may not have discovered autumn quarter?
during your first year at Stanford. Second, while advising Now! Before you return to campus. Registration for Autumn
resources expand concomitantly with expanded choices, we Quarter opened on 1 August, and you should have already
expect that you will take more responsibility for seeking out received an email letter from your UAR Academic Director
the advice you need. inviting you to be in touch by email or telephone to discuss
your plans.
If you have not yet declared a major, you will continue to work
with your UAR Academic Director and Pre-Major Advisor. How do I choose a major?
While you will receive frequent email communication from
 t Preview major descriptions and requirements in the
your Academic Director, it is up to you to schedule meetings
Stanford Bulletin and on department and program
with her/him. This approach is likewise true for your Pre-Ma-
websites.
jor Advisor.
 t Make an appointment with the faculty director of
undergraduate studies in prospective majors.
If you return to campus uncertain about your advisor, please
 t Discuss options with your UAR Academic Director or
visit: http://ual.stanford.edu/AP/advising/MakeAdvis-
an Academic Advisor in Sweet Hall.
ingAppointment.html, or call the UAR main office at (650)
 t Attend Majors Nights and the Sophomore Symposium
723-2426.
in Toyon Hall, both of which will be held early in
Autumn Quarter.
 t Try a Sophomore Seminar or Dialogue

When do I have to declare a major?


Students are strongly encouraged to declare a major by the
end of sophomore year, and must declare by the end of au-
tumn quarter of junior year. Undeclared students in junior
standing will find their winter quarter enrollment on hold
until they officially declare their major.

Who will answer my questions about health profes-


sions, law, business, and education?
t The UAR has handouts and experienced advisors who
answer basic questions about preparation in these areas.
tScheduled appointments and drop-in appointments are
available. Call (650) 723-2426, stop by the UAR reception
desk in Sweet Hall, first floor, or visit ual.stanford.edu.

How can I find out about careers related to my


major?
The Career Development Center has information about ca-
reer paths for various majors. See http://cardinalcareers.
stanford.edu.

10
AUTUMN COURSES

Application must be submitted via the web at


introsems.stanford.edu

Application Deadline for Autumn Quarter is


Friday, September 4 at 12:00 noon

11
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS 115N ANTHROPOLOGY 21N

The Global Positioning System: Where The Anthropology of Globalization


on Earth Are We, and What Time Is it? F, SEM | 3-4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-SocSci
MW 10:00a–11:50a; 360-361A
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci
See Axess or SIS website for day, time, and location
M ore than half of the world’s population will soon reside
How do we determine where we are? We will discuss the in cities around the world. Globalization is often credited
with providing the incentive, and undeniably the necessity,
many kinds of navigation technology, from dead reckoning
to sextants to satellite navigation using the Global Position- for people residing in rural areas to migrate to urban centers.
ing System (GPS). Plenty of hands-on experience will be avail- Yet cities are not always looked upon as places of desire in
able with sextants and GPS receivers. We will use the GPS the ways one readily thinks of Paris, London, Tokyo, or New
receivers to play geo-caching, which is an elaborate GPS/ York. Indeed, not all cities are created equal. This seminar will
Internet-enabled treasure hunt. Along the way, we will learn explore the challenges social analysts face in interpreting the
how GPS works. More important, we will discover that GPS effects on cities of global restructuring of the economy, poli-
does not always work, and we will speculate about why, and tics, and culture. Urban centers in Africa, Latin America, Asia,
as well the United States and Western Europe, will help form
AUTUMN

what could be done to improve its performance.


counter-narratives to cities as utopian spaces of progress and
longing. We will explore the representation of cities as they
Per Enge is the Kleiner-Perkins, Mayfield, are created in popular media such as novels and films and by
Sequoia Capital Professor of Engineering. academic genres such as ethnographies, policy statements,
After the grounding of the Exxon Valdez, he and urban planners’ projects. The seminar will draw upon
designed a navigation system for ships that the insights offered by anthropology to provide an orienting
is now used by more than 1.5 million vessels place from which to situate a discussion about an explicitly
and land-based users worldwide. More re- interdisciplinary object, global cities.
cently, the Wide Area Augmentation System
(WAAS) was designed and prototyped in
Stanford’s GPS Laboratory, which Professor Enge directs. Paulla Ebron is associate professor in an-
WAAS, which already has millions of marine and land-based thropology. She has taught at Stanford for
users, recently was approved for aircraft operation. GPS Lab- 13 years. She has conducted field research
oratory engineers have also developed systems that guide in The Gambia among praisesingers who
tractors for farming operations, combine GPS with television were responsible for keeping oral tradi-
signals to navigate indoors, and place GPS receivers in stacks tions. Praisesingers, or jalis, are credited
of money to help catch bank robbers. with generating an international interest
in The Gambia and West Africa more gen-
erally. The book based on this project is entitled Performing
Africa. A second project builds from the first research to trace
the historical connections between coastal West Africa and
the coastal southeastern region of the United States.
Professor Ebron comes to her interest in cities through a
collaborative project she is working on that is focused on
Philadelphia.

12
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
APPLIED PHYSICS 79N ASIAN LANGUAGES (JAPANGEN) 75N

Energy Choices for the 21st Century Around the World in Seventeen
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
Syllables: Haiku in Japan, the United
TTh 1:15p–3:05p; McCull 130 States, and the (Digital) World

There are many attractive possibilities for meeting the fu- F, SEM | 3-4 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
TTh 2:15p–3:45p; 20-21B
ture energy needs of the United States and the rest of our
planet. As of now, a fluid mix of technologies is evolving. In
this course, we will review the basic physics of energy sourc- There are probably more practitioners of haiku, a seven-
es, the technologies that might be employed, and the related teen-syllable form of poetry originating in Japan during the
public policy issues. This will enable us to make some esti- late 1400s, than of any other genre of poetry in the world.
mates of the trade-offs and societal impacts of different en- In the United States, grade-school children are routinely as-
ergy technologies. Students will be expected to participate in signed the task of writing three-line verses (not haiku, purists
discussions and prepare a paper on a selected technology or protest; but, if not, then what are they?); and people of all
a related public policy issue. There will be local field trips to ages publish their attempts in little journals, on paper and
see some energy technologies and learn from local experts. online, everywhere from Australia to Zimbabwe. In this class

AUTUMN
The goal is to help students understand how quantitative we will answer the question, “How (and why) did haiku come
estimates of policy options are a necessary step in making to be so popular?” Our approach will entail examination of
rational choices for a sustainable world energy economy. the historical origins of the haiku form in Japan, its place in
This seminar is most immediately accessible for under- the discourse of Orientalism/Japonisme during the 19th and
graduates with some science background, but we are partic- early 20th centuries, its appropriation by devotees of Zen (so-
ularly interested in a balanced class with a mix of technology called) and the Beat Poets in the United States after the Pacif-
and public policy interests. ic War, and its more current transformation into a global form
through the advent of the Internet. Along the way, we will
deal with issues such as the nature of literary genres, patterns
Theodore H. Geballe, professor emeritus of cross-cultural understanding (and/or misunderstanding)
of applied physics and of materials science through the arts, and literary communities, using that term
and engineering, has contributed to nation- in the concrete sense of coteries or salons and in the abstract
al studies of transportation and energy sense of “audience” or “public.” Our primary reading material
problems. He has served on national com- will be selected haiku in English translation, but we will also
mittees concerned with corporate automo- look at the following: some linked-poetry (the genre from
tive fuel efficiency (CAFE) standards, and he which haiku derives); haibun (haiku with prose introduc-
recently participated in a workshop consid- tions); critical comments by practitioners, famous and not-
ering a national grid that would combine electrical and hy- so-famous; a “haiku novel”; a memoir; and a few websites.
drogen energy sources. He has long been interested in the
use of superconductivity to improve electrical generation
and transmission, and is co-author of a proposal for a novel Steven D. Carter began his study of Japa-
thermionic heat engine. nese language and culture as an under-
graduate at Brigham Young University, re-
ceiving his BA in Japanese with minors in
John D. Fox is a group leader at SLAC Na- English and history in 1974. He received an
tional Accelerator Laboratory and a consult- MA and PhD from UC-Berkeley, concentrat-
ing professor in applied physics. His re- ing on classical and medieval Japanese po-
search interests center on particle-beam etry. Before coming to Stanford in 2003, he
dynamics and high-speed signal-process- taught at UCLA, Brigham Young, and UC-Irvine, serving as
ing systems. His technology interests in- chair of the East Asian Languages and Literatures Depart-
clude energy and transportation technolo- ment at the latter institution for 10 years. He is the author of
gies. On the policy side, he is interested in 10 books and numerous articles on premodern Japanese lit-
how societal desires and values (as reflected in land use, ur- erature and culture and is an award-winning translator. His
ban design, and architecture) influence the demand for and interest in Japanese gardens and the place of “nature” in Jap-
choices of energy. He has received the Dean’s Award for Dis- anese civilization began in the late 1960s when he first visited
tinguished Teaching. the Japanese-style garden in Washington Park, Portland, Or-
egon, a few miles from his childhood home.

13
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
BIOLOGY 11N BIOLOGY 34N

Biotechnology in Everyday Life Hunger


F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci
MW 2:15p–3:45p; 420-245 TTh 4:15p–5:30p; Herrin T185

Prerequisites: This seminar is intended for students interested in


life-science majors who have a strong desire to read scientific
S ensing and responding to hunger are among the most
primitive biological experiences. All organisms have evolved
papers and discuss the implications of research.
mechanisms and behaviors to survive temporary or sus-
By reading original papers that represent pioneering contri- tained nutrient limitation. In this course, we will explore hun-
ger from many vantage points. We will examine starvation
butions in key areas of biotechnology, students will learn the
responses in organisms ranging from bacteria and worms
major techniques of molecular biology and genetics, study
to bears and humans. Which signals and receptors inform
how those techniques are applied, and discuss how they
the individual that it is sated or hungry? What do the experi-
might be used. The Monday class meeting will be an analysis
ments done during World War II tell us about the effects of
of a scientific paper. On Wednesdays, we will explore how so-
starvation on the human body and psyche? What is known
ciety debates whether genetic engineering will change our
AUTUMN

about the biology and genetics of human appetite and/or


world and even the human species. We will learn the meth- energy storage diseases such as obesity, anorexia, and dia-
ods that are the foundations for recombinant DNA technolo- betes? What is the effect of chronic hunger on children’s de-
gy. We will analyze methods for constructing transgenic food
veloping brains? What happens when a mammal hibernates?
and the criticisms of its use, how genetically engineered mi-
How good is the evidence for caloric restriction in promoting
crobes should be released and monitored, and the accuracy
longevity? We will learn of the fascinating quest to identify
of medical diagnostics and forensic testing. The course will
vitamins as well as catastrophic famines and their causes. In
examine how the success of somatic genetic (not heritable)
the latter part of the course, we will turn our attention to the
correction of human diseases uses transgenic technology relationship between agriculture and hunger. How do agri-
and whether somatic successes should be extended to trans- cultural and food distribution practices prevent or reinforce
form humans or to modify other primates to grow organs for patterns of hunger in the world? Can modern agriculture
humans.
sustain the world’s burgeoning population? Is there a role for
recombinant DNA technology in improving the nutritional
Virginia Walbot earned her BS in biological quality of food? What are effective global and local solutions
sciences at Stanford. Her senior thesis, on to hunger? Can we predict the effects of climate change on
why no plants grow under eucalyptus trees, world hunger patterns?
changed her orientation from plant ecology Students will use what they learn to develop a high-
to plant biochemistry and molecular biolo- school biology curriculum. This curriculum will use the theme
gy, which she pursued as a graduate stu- of hunger to develop and illustrate fundamental concepts in
dent at Yale (PhD 1972) and postdoctoral biology.
fellow at the University of Georgia. Since re-
turning to Stanford in 1981, she has focused on corn, study- Kathryn Barton is a staff member in the
ing how transposable elements, or jumping genes, modulate Department of Plant Biology at the Carne-
rapid genetic change and how anthers develop. gie Institution and an associate professor by
courtesy in the biology department. She
began college, as many do, with an interest
in medicine, but was quickly seduced by
the beauty and elegance of basic genetic
research. She earned her PhD in genetics at
the University of Wisconsin and followed this with postdoc-
toral research in plant biology at the University of Pennsylva-
nia. She runs a laboratory at the Carnegie Institution’s De-
partment of Plant Biology on the Stanford campus, where
her group studies the molecular biology of plant growth and
development.

14
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
BIOLOGY 38N CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 35N

Photosynthesis: From Basic Mechanisms Renewable Energy for a Sustainable


to Biofuels World
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
TTh 2:15p–3:30p; See Axess or SIS website for location MWF 9:00a–9:50a; See Axess or SIS website for location

The amount of sunlight intercepted by the Earth represents C ontinued population growth and a dramatically increas-
many thousands of times the energy demands of the inhabit- ing world-wide standard of living are rapidly increasing en-
ants of the planet. Much of the sunlight is absorbed by plants ergy consumption and environmental impacts. We are now
and used in the process of photosynthesis to form hydro- faced with perhaps one of the most serious challenges to the
carbons that serve, directly or indirectly, in the production well-being of our planet and our world society. We need new,
of our food as well as numerous nonfood products. Because improved, and sustainable technologies for fuels production,
of increasing energy demands, there is a growing focus on energy conversions, and energy consumption.
understanding photosynthetic processes and harnessing the In this course, we will begin with an overall appraisal of
energy gathered by the photosynthetic apparatus to satisfy our current dilemma. We will learn the terminology, relevant

AUTUMN
our daily energy needs. This course will first provide a basic science, and calculations that allow us to evaluate existing
view of photosynthetic processes in terrestrial and aquatic and proposed technologies. With this background, we can
environments. It will then explore biological and chemical then explore the technologies that give us hope—wind, nu-
methods for capturing the energy of sunlight, how this light clear, biofuels, photovoltaics, and hydrogen fuel cells—while
energy can be converted to usable forms of energy, including realizing that technical development and capital deployment
biofuels, and the potential impact of anthropogenic energy will be needed at huge, and possibly unprecedented, scales.
generation on the health of the planet. Finally, we will discuss how government policies and
funding, private sector investment, raw materials supply is-
Arthur Grossman has been at the Carnegie sues, and overall environmental impact assessments must all
Institution and Stanford since 1982. He has be integrated into solutions that enable a sustainable future
worked on many projects, with a special fo- for our descendents.
cus on elucidating the ways in which pho-
tosynthetic prokaryotes and eukaryotes ac- James Swartz is the Leland T. Edwards Pro-
climate to their nutrient environments. He fessor of the School of Engineering and a
has also helped develop Chlamydomonas member of the National Academy of Engi-
reinhardtii as a reference organism for ge- neering. His research group focuses on “cell-
nomic studies. In 2002 he received the Darbaker Prize for his free biology.” Their work in microbial me-
work on microalgae, an award given by the Botanical Society tabolism and protein expression aims at the
of America, and in 2009 he received the Gilbert Morgan Smith development of new water purification
Medal for excellence in published work on both freshwater technology, patient-specific vaccines for
and marine algae, which is given once every three years by the treatment of cancer, and photosynthetic organisms de-
the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Grossman’s most re- signed to serve as clean and renewable sources of energy.
cent work has addressed questions relating to organisms
that thrive in the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park
and in the oligotrophic oceans.

15
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
CHEMISTRY 25N CLASSICS (CLASSGEN) 6N , DRAMA 12N

Science in the News Antigone: From Ancient Democracy to


Contemporary Dissent
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only
T 2:15p–4:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location
F, SEM | 3-5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, EC-Gender
TTh 1:15p–3:05p; Roble G17
This seminar discusses science issues that are in the news.
Possible topics include diseases such as avian flu, HIV in-
fection, SARS, and malaria; environmental issues, including
This seminar focuses on Sophocles’ great tragedy, Antigone.
We approach the play from three perspectives: the charac-
climate change and atmospheric pollution; future energy
ter Antigone as an archetype of political dissent; the story as
sources; evolution and genomics; stem cell research; and
evidence of the tensions inherent in the democracy (ancient
nanotechnology. The primary materials for discussion are re-
Athens) in which it was produced; and the myth as a para-
ports in the popular media (e.g., the New York Times and The
digm for modern philosophical and ethical approaches to
Economist) and non-specialist scientific media (e.g., Scientific
social change. In addition to Sophocles’s play, we will study
American and Science), especially those publications avail-
modern dramatic and filmed versions of the Antigone story,
able on the Web. An objective of the course is to encourage
including works by Bertolt Brecht, Jean Anouilh, Athol Fu-
AUTUMN

students to read some of the more accessible survey litera-


gard, Margarethe von Trotta, and A. R. Gurney. Short excerpts
ture and original literature. on the ethical importance of Sophocles’s text (by Hegel, Marx,
Kierkegaard, and Heidegger) will help us understand how an
Hans C. Andersen is a professor in the ancient text can illuminate contemporary issues such as the
chemistry department. His research uses status of women, the struggle to save the environment, and
statistical mechanics to develop mathemat- resistance to illegitimate political authority.
ical and computational methods to advance
the understanding of the properties of mat- Rush Rehm, professor of drama and clas-
ter, with special emphasis on equilibrium sics, works extensively in the area of Greek
liquids and supercooled liquids. He is best tragedy. His books include Aeschylus’ Orest-
known for his work on the structure of sim- eia: A Theatre Version; Greek Tragic Theatre;
ple liquids and the development of various computer simula- Marriage to Death: The Conflation of Wed-
tion techniques for the study of liquids. He teaches under- ding and Funeral Rituals in Greek Tragedy;
graduate and graduate courses in general and physical The Play of Space: Spatial Transformation in
chemistry and has won two teaching awards at Stanford. Greek Tragedy; and Radical Theatre: Greek
Tragedy and the Modern World. He teaches courses on dra-
matic literature of various periods and teaches acting and
directing to drama students.

16
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
CLASSICS (CLASSGEN) 22N CLASSICS (CLASSGEN) 30N

Technologies of Civilization: Writing, The Spell of Orpheus


Numbers, Money
F, SEM | 3-5 Units | Letter Grade Only
F, SEM | 3-4 Units | Letter Grade Only MW 9:00-10:30; Educ 130
MW 1:15-2:05; Educ 130
S inger, shaman, lover, and murder victim, Orpheus has fas-
For the last 5,000 years, civilization has been growing at an cinated creative artists and thinkers for more than two mil-
exponential rate. The keys to this growth are the technolo- lennia. His magical power of song has inspired composers
gies of civilization: writing, numbers, and money. These tech- from Monteverdi to Philip Glass, while the tale of his attempt
nologies allow the creation of complex societies and enhance to bring his wife back from the dead has provided hope for
human cognition. We will investigate the role of cognition in ancient cult members and material for modern cinema. We
shaping history and the role of history in shaping cognition. will explore the Orpheus myth in detail, starting with the an-
The perspective of the course is global, with an emphasis on cient sources, and then follow his story throughout Western
the Western tradition and its ancient Greek roots. art, literature, music, dance, philosophy, and film. Readings
and viewings will include works by Athenian vase-painters

AUTUMN
Reviel Netz is professor of classics and, by and American pop artist Jim Dine, operas by Gluck and Of-
courtesy, of philosophy and history. His re- fenbach, poetry by Ovid, Rilke, and Apollonius, and films by
search ranges from the study of ancient sci- Jean Cocteau and Marcel Camus, as well as secondary works
ence – where he is considered a leading on Greek religion, myth, and the reception history of classical
authority – to cover diverse fields such as literature.
environmental history and poetics. His aca-
demic books are The Shaping of Deduction Richard Martin received his PhD from
in Greek Mathematics: a Study in Cognitive Harvard in 1981. He is a specialist in Greek
History, The Transformation of Mathematics in the Early Medi- poetry, especially Homer. His interests
terranean: from Problems to Equations, The Works of Archime- include ethnopoetics, Irish studies, and
des, vol. I, Barbed Wire: An Ecology of Modernity, The Archime- modern Greek. He is the Antony E. and
des Codex (with W. Noel; a popular account translated into Isabelle Raubitschek Professor in Classics.
more than 15 languages), Positions of Stress: Essays on Israeli He maintains a website at http://www.
Literature Between Sound and History (in Hebrew, with M. stanford.edu/dept/classics/home/
Arad), and Ludic Proof: Greek Mathematics and the Alexandrian Community/faculty/rmartin.html.
Aesthetic.
Throughout his research, Netz is engaged with ques-
tions such as: What makes things work? Why is mathematics
persuasive? Why is poetry moving? The answer to such ques-
tions involves both cognition, as well as its historical setting
—the combination investigated in this class.

17
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
CLASSICS (CLASSHIS) 23N / HISTORY 13N COMPUTER SCIENCE 21N

Slavery and Rebellion in Ancient Rome: Can Machines Know? Can Machines
Spartacus in Legend and History Feel?
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
MW 3:15-4:30; 110-111O MW 9:30a–10:45a; 90-92Q

S partacus and his army of slaves resisted the power of the M ental attitudes such as knowledge, belief, desire, inten-
Roman legions for two years and became the stuff of legend. tion, and many others are ordinarily attributed to people, and
After providing a brief introduction to Roman history, this sometimes, grudgingly, also to animals. Can they be ascribed
seminar will explore slavery in ancient Rome in its psycho- to machines as well? Can the light sensor have a belief? Can
logical, social, and economic dimensions. Against that back- your pool cleaning robot have an intention? How about your
ground, the discussion will analyze the causes of Spartacus’s tax-preparation software? If the answer is no, why not? If the
rebellion. Finally, the course will consider how the traumatic answer is yes, what are the rules of such ascription, and do
end of the rebellion – the crucifixion of 6,000 slaves along the they vary as we move from humans to machines? We will not
Appian Way – gave rise to a legend popularized in Stanley settle this question in this seminar, since no one has yet, but
AUTUMN

Kubrick’s 1960 film. people have some strong opinions on these matters, and we
will study some of these. Our texts will range from philoso-
Richard Saller was appointed professor of phy to neuroscience to computer science in general to artifi-
history and classics and became the dean of cial intelligence in particular. The material will include logic,
the School of Humanities and Sciences on probability theory, and elements of computation. Students
April 1, 2007. His books and articles have will be expected to (a) actively participate, (b) present a pa-
concentrated on Roman social and eco- per, and (c) write a term paper.
nomic history, in particular, patronage rela-
tions, the family, and the imperial economy. Yoav Shoham received his PhD in comput-
He has written, taught, and lectured on a er science at Yale and worked as a visiting
variety of subjects in Roman history and Western civilization, scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Sci-
including history-writing in Greek and Roman antiquity, bi- ence before joining Stanford’s faculty in
ography and fiction, the development of the Roman family, 1987. His research in artificial intelligence
gender in the Roman household, and the Roman economy. includes formalizing common-sense sys-
tems (e.g., notions such as time, causation,
and mental state) and multi-agent systems
(e.g., agent-oriented programming and coordination mecha-
nisms). Currently he is working on problems at the interface
of computer science and game theory, including foundation-
al theories of rationality, online auctions, and electronic com-
merce. His recent publications include: Multiagent Systems:
Algorithmic, Game-Theoretic, and Logical Foundations; Essen-
tials of Game Theory: A Concise, Multidisciplinary Introduction;
and Combinatorial Auctions. Professor Shoham is a fellow of
the Association for Advancement of Artificial Intelligence
(AAAI), and a charter member of the International Game The-
ory Society.

18
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
COMPUTER SCIENCE 47N COMPUTER SCIENCE 74N

Computers and the Open Society Digital Dilemmas


F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
MW 3:15p–4:30p; Gates 100 TTh 11:00a–12:15p; Gates100

C omputers and the networks that connect them have a tre- I n this seminar we will explore the effects of computer tech-
mendous impact on all aspects of society. They are chang- nology on our society, with special attention to controver-
ing the way we collectively understand what is going on in sies such as the sharing of electronic entertainment over
our world, how we debate what to do about it, and how we the Internet, electronic privacy, and cybercrime. Technology
take action in the social and political realm. This course will in elections will be another focus, including topics such as
examine the nature of technologies, the changes they have voter registration databases, electronic voting, and Internet
produced, and the potential for new design. voting.
The course will emphasize critical analyses of current Technological background will be taught as necessary, in
trends such as blogging, social networks, and instant mobile as non-technical a way as possible, to understand the issues.
communication and examples of what happens when people The course will involve readings, discussion, guest speakers,

AUTUMN
communicate in new ways. Readings will include case stud- small group projects, and one or two field trips.
ies, discussions of basic principles (e.g., privacy, equity, and
sustainability) and current press coverage. They will be bal- David L. Dill is a professor of computer sci-
anced between explorations of beneficial advances and ex- ence and, by courtesy, electrical engineer-
amination of potential problems and concerns. Guest speak- ing, and he has been on the faculty at Stan-
ers who have participated in the development of computers ford since 1987. He received his PhD in
and the Internet will share their experiences and enter into computer science from Carnegie Mellon
debates on controversial issues. Students will work individu- University. His primary research interests
ally and in small research groups, develop the capacity for are computational systems biology, formal
critical thinking, and use the results as the basis for discus- verification of system designs, and elec-
sions both in class and online. tronic voting. Professor Dill is a fellow of both the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Association for
Terry Winograd is professor of computer Computing Machinery and a recipient of the Electronic Fron-
science, specializing in human-computer tier Foundation’s Pioneer Award.
interaction. He was one of the founding fac-
ulty for the Hasso Plattner Institute of De-
sign at Stanford (the “d.school”) which pro-
motes innovative design thinking in the
creation of new technologies. He was a
founder of Computer Professionals for So-
cial Responsibility, a professional organization that addresses
the social and political consequences of computer-related
technologies. He also advised the students who founded
Google and is on their technical advisory board. He has writ-
ten several books on artificial intelligence and interaction de-
sign, including Bringing Design to Software, which connects
his interests in computers and design.

19
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
DRAMA 11N ECONOMICS 11N

Dramatic Tensions: Theater and the Understanding Our Welfare System


Marketplace
F, SEM | 2 Units | Letter Grade Only
T 7:00p–8:30p; Econ 139
F, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
TTh 3:15p–5:05p; Roble G15
Co-requisite: ECON 1A. An understanding of basic concepts of
labor markets, taxes, and transfers is recommended.
This freshman seminar examines the current theater scene
in the United States and the United Kingdom. Over the past
20 years, the combined influences of media, postmodernism,
Welfare-reform legislation passed by the federal govern-
ment in the mid 1990s heralded a dramatic step in the move-
and visual and anti-text-based communication have surpris-
ment that has been termed the devolution revolution. The
ingly put more emphasis, not less, on the verbal artistry and
centerpiece of this legislation is the transfer of much respon-
spoken poetry of the theater. So who are the poets of OUR
sibility for antipoverty programs to the states. States now
stage? We’ll read a cross section of contemporary playwrights
have had their first opportunity since the War on Poverty of
from the better-known masters of the form (David Mamet,
the 1960s to undertake radical changes in the design of their
August Wilson, John Guare) to emerging artists.
AUTUMN

public-assistance programs. This seminar will explore how re-


Is narrative realism incomplete, or dead? Or has it merely
cent reforms have changed the welfare system and examine
moved to HBO? What is the state of the profession, as prac-
who is affected by these changes. In addition to conventional
ticed in today’s commercial (Broadway and West End), fringe,
welfare programs (e.g., food stamps, AFDC, TANF, SSI, Medic-
and non-profit theaters? Who are the premiere playwrights
aid), we will examine other governmental policies assisting
and directors? And who are the major producers? The semi-
low-income families. These will include direct income-transfer
nar will give the lay of the land, artistically and commercially,
programs (e.g., Earned Income Tax Credit and income taxes)
presented from the standpoint of a working playwright who
and labor-market regulations imposed by governments to
has received an education in the ways of theater as it is prac-
enhance the earnings of poor families (e.g., minimum wages
ticed and underwritten today. We will read extensively from
and overtime rules). We will apply economics principles to
the work of a wide spectrum of playwrights from the 1980s
understand the effectiveness of these programs and their
through today. We’ll also look at work on tape and DVD. Two
consequences on the behavior of families.
optional field trips will be arranged to productions at San
Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre and the Berkeley
Repertory Theatre. Thomas MaCurdy holds a joint appoint-
ment as a senior fellow at the Hoover Insti-
tution and a professor of economics. He is
Amy Freed is the author of The Beard of
also a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute
Avon, Freedomland, Safe in Hell (all commis-
of Economic Policy Research, an adjunct fel-
sioned by South Coast Repertory Theater
low at the Public Policy Institute of Califor-
(SCR)), The Psychic Life of Savages, and other
nia, a research associate of the National Bu-
plays. Her work has been produced at SCR,
reau of Economic Research, and a member
New York Theater Workshop, Seattle Reper-
of standing committees that advise the U.S. Bureau of Labor
tory, American Conservatory Theater, and
Statistics, the U.S. Census, the Congressional Budget Office,
other theaters around the country. Restora-
and the Institute for Research on Poverty. Professor MaCurdy’s
tion Comedy debuted at Seattle Repertory in December 2005.
research falls broadly in the area of human resources, with its
She recently completed You, Nero, a full-length play con-
main focus on the impacts of low-income support programs,
cerned with the destruction of humanism in first-century Ro-
income transfers, and tax systems on human development
man theater and how this refracts with our current culture.
and economic activity. His most recent work includes: Evalu-
Amy Freed has been the recipient of the Joseph Kesselring
ating State EITC Options for California; What Happens to Fami-
Award, the Charles MacArthur Award, is a multiple winner of
lies When They Leave Welfare?; and Does California’s Welfare
the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award, and was a Pulitzer finalist
Policy Explain the Slower Decline of Its Caseload? Professor Ma-
for Freedomland. She is artist-in-residence in Stanford’s Dra-
Curdy earned his PhD in 1978 from the University of Chicago.
ma Department and is currently working on commissions for
He lives at Stanford with his wife and three sons.
SCR, the Old Globe, and Playwright’s Horizons.

20
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 14N ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 20N

Things about Stuff Hacking Things


F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
TTh 9:30a–10:45a; 200-217 See Axess or SIS website for day, time, and location

No prerequisites other than curiosity and the eagerness to ask


questions in class.
I n this course, you will build autonomous cars that compete
in a race against the clock. You will learn how to design a com-
plete system by bringing together the various disciplines of
M ost curricula necessarily present truncated, generally lin- electrical engineering such as control theory, circuit design,
ear histories of technology. But the stories behind “disrup- microprocessor programming, and semiconductor device
tive” inventions such as the telegraph, telephone, wireless, physics. We will organize in teams of two to design and build
television, transistor, and chip are arguably as important as robots that are capable of driving along a track completely
the inventions themselves. These stories are a natural way to autonomously, based on off-the-shelf radio-controlled toy
elucidate broadly applicable scientific principles, and they cars. At the end of the course, all teams will compete in a race
happen to be fun, too. As an accompaniment to these sto- against the clock. The course requires a lot of dedicated and

AUTUMN
ries, students will study numerous consumer devices and fun lab work.
have the opportunity to build some projects (including bat-
teries and semiconductors made from pocket change). The
Peter Peumans joined the electrical engi-
small class size is intended to facilitate close interaction, and
neering department at Stanford as an assis-
students are encouraged to propose study topics of interest
tant professor in January 2004, after obtain-
to them.
ing his PhD from Princeton. At Princeton, he
worked with Steve Forrest on organic pho-
Thomas H. Lee received his BS, MS and ScD tosensitive devices such as photodetectors
in electrical engineering from MIT. In 1990, and solar cells. His work led to several high-
he joined Analog Devices, where he de- efficiency organic solar cell device architec-
signed high-speed clock recovery devices. tures. Professor Peumans is a Robert N. Noyce Faculty Scholar
In 1992, he joined Rambus Inc., where he and a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER
developed high-speed analog circuitry for award. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the Kath-
500-megabyte/s CMOS DRAMs. He has also olieke Universiteit Leuven, in Belgium, in electrical engineer-
contributed to the development of PLLs in ing in 1998. His current research interests include organic
the StrongARM, Alpha, and AMD K6/K7/K8 microprocessors. electronics, new devices/systems built from silicon, organics
He joined the Stanford electrical engineering faculty in 1994. on silicon, and molecular electronics.
His research focuses on gigahertz-speed wireline and wire-
less integrated circuits built in conventional silicon technolo-
gies, particularly CMOS.
Professor Lee has received two Best Paper awards and
co-authored a Best Student Paper at the International Solid-
State Circuits Conference, and he is a Packard Foundation
Fellowship recipient. He also has been an IEEE Distinguished
Lecturer of both the Solid-State Circuits and Microwave
Societies. He holds 35 U.S. patents, has written two books
(Planar Microwave Engineering and The Design of CMOS
Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits), and cofounded Matrix
Semiconductor. An avid amateur violinist and tenor, he has
performed chamber music with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and sang
with the chorus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for many
years.

21
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 21N ENGLISH 61N

What Is Nanotechnology? British Romanticism and Poetic Form


F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
F 2:15p–4:05p; Terman m33 TTh 2:15p–3:45p; 60-118

Prerequisites: High school math, physics, and chemistry


The flourishing of poetry after the French Revolution marks
the commencement of a modern tradition of English verse.
Nanotechnology is an often used word and it means many The great Romantics – Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats,
things to different people. Although those in the science and Shelley, and Byron – made poetry an art of inwardness, it is of-
engineering world have some notion of what nanotechnol- ten said, turning its concerns away from God and Politics and
ogy is, the perception from society at large may be entirely toward the epic depths of the human soul. This understand-
different. In this course, we start with the classic paper by ing of Romantic poetry has involved a disproportionate fo-
Richard Feynman (“There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”), cus on its fits of passion and tides of emotion; the Romantics,
which laid down the challenge to the nanotechnologists. it is said, did not care about poetic form, which they saw as
Then we discuss two classic books that offer a glimpse of false and confining. Yet many of Romantic poetry’s “greatest
AUTUMN

what nanotechnology is: Engines of Creation: The Coming hits” take place in traditional forms: hymn, ode, elegy, sonnet,
Era of Nanotechnology, by Eric Drexler, and Prey, by Michael and so forth. In this class we will explore the Romantics’ pro-
Crichton. Drexler’s thesis sparked the imagination of what lific and innovative use of poetic forms to arrive at a clearer
nanomachinery might do, whereas Crichton’s popular novel understanding of how they mobilized the resources of their
channeled the public’s attention to this subject by portraying craft in order to describe the contours of modern selfhood.
a disastrous scenario of a technology gone astray. We will use
scientific knowledge to analyze the assumptions and predic-
Christopher Rovee’s course offerings in
tions of these classic works. We will draw upon the latest re-
the English department have centered on
search advances to illustrate the possibilities and impossibili-
18th- and 19th-century British literature, in-
ties of nanotechnology.
cluding classes on the gothic tradition in
literature and film, British aestheticism, and
H.-S. Philip Wong joined Stanford in Sep- the 19th-century lyric. His book, Imagining
tember 2004 after 16 years at IBM Research the Gallery: The Social Body of British Roman-
(T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown ticism, treats Romantic museum culture and
Heights, New York). While at IBM, he shaped the politics of visuality. He is currently working on three proj-
and executed IBM’s strategy on nanoscale ects: a book about art and waste in Victorian England; a col-
science and technology and the roadmap lection of essays about early photography; and a verse-biog-
for silicon technology. His research interests raphy of the English designer, poet, and socialist William
are in nanoscale science and technology, Morris.
semiconductor technology, solid state devices, and electron-
ic imaging. He is interested in exploring new materials and
fabrication techniques and novel device concepts for future
nanoelectronic systems. These devices often enable new
concepts in circuit and system designs. His research also in-
cludes explorations into circuits and systems that are device-
driven.
Professor Wong is a fellow of the Institute of Elec-
trical and Electronics Engineers and has served in various
capacities on its committees, conferences, societies, and
publications. More information can be seen at his website
http://www.stanford.edu/~hspwong and http://nano.
stanford.edu. He is the producer of a widely viewed educa-
tion video on carbon nanotube on YouTube (http://nano.
stanford.edu/nanovideo/).

22
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
ENGLISH 62N ENGLISH 64N

Eros in Modern American Poetry Growing Up in America


F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
TTh 3:15p–4:45p; 160-319 MW 1:15p–3:05p; 80-115

This course will introduce ways of discussing and writing To what degree is it possible to describe an American ex-
about varieties of modern and contemporary poetry. We will perience? How are different people included in or excluded
look at poems in traditional measures as well as several kinds from the imagined community that is America? How do race,
of free verse to determine whether the languages of poetry class, gender, and sexuality affect a person’s experience of
explore ranges of experience—intellectual and emotional— belonging to this country? These are some of the questions
not found in other forms of writing. We will discuss the para- we will consider as we familiarize ourselves with the great di-
doxical ways in which some writers, in the interest of contem- versity of childhood and young-adult experiences of people
poraneity, have made use of poetry from the past and from who have grown up in America. We will read and discuss nar-
other cultures, including Chinese, Japanese, Native Ameri- ratives (some fictional, some autobiographical) written by
can, Greek, and Latin. Also, we will look at the treatment of men and women; by urban, suburban, and rural Americans;

AUTUMN
California history and politics, especially local history, in some and by Asian Americans, African Americans, Native Ameri-
of these poems. Among the poets we will read are William cans, Latina/os, and European Americans. Throughout the
Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, Yvor Winters, course, we will explore how these writers, through different
Janet Lewis, Louise Bogan, Theodore Roethke, N. Scott Mo- rhetorical and aesthetic strategies, write the self in literature.
maday, Guy Davenport, Lucille Clifton, and the haiku mas- Authors include Toni Morrison, Sherman Alexie, Maxine Hong
ters Basho, Buson, and Issa. Central to the course will be Eros Kingston, Junot Díaz, Dorothy Allison, Helena Maria Viramon-
the Bittersweet, in which the poet and classicist Anne Carson tes, and Tobias Wolff.
reads Sappho, the great Greek love poet, in light of Plato, and
argues for a relationship between the incursions of Eros and Paula M.L. Moya, an associate professor of
the contemplation of knowledge. We will do close readings English, teaches courses in American litera-
of a manageable number of short poems. Students will par- ture, Chicana/o and U.S. Latina/o literature,
ticipate in class discussions and write brief papers each week, and minority and feminist theoretical per-
leading to a more comprehensive project at the end of the spectives. She is the author of Learning from
quarter. Experience: Minority Identities, Multicultural
Struggles, has published several essays on
Kenneth Wayne Fields, professor of Eng- Chicana feminism and Chicana/o identity,
lish and creative writing, is a poet, the au- and is co-editor (with Michael Hames-García) of an anthology
thor of The Other Walker, Smoke, Sunbelly, titled Reclaiming Identity: Realist Theory and the Predicament
and The Odysseus Manuscripts, as well as es- of Postmodernism. She has two daughters, and she grew up in
says on modern writers such as William Car- America.
los Williams, H.D., Wallace Stevens, Yvor
Winters, Janet Lewis, Jorge Luis Borges,
Wendell Berry, and Stéphane Mallarmé. He
received his PhD from Stanford in 1967, and he has taught
the advanced poetry writing workshops for the Stegner Fel-
lows for more than 30 years. He teaches courses in American
short fiction and poetry, American Indian literature, and
French symbolist poetry, as well as courses in American film
noir and the Western. He is director of undergraduate studies
in the Creative Writing Program.

23
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
ENGLISH 65N ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SYSTEMS SCIENCE 37N

Contemporary Women Writers of Fiction Energy and the Environment on the


Back of an Envelope
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum
TTh 1:15p–3:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-NatSci
TTh 2:15p–3:30p; TERMGR 156
A ccording to novelist Nadine Gordimer, fiction “as a form and
as a kind of creative vision…must be equipped to attempt Prerequisite: This course will emphasize calculations, but will
the capture of ultimate reality at a time when (whichever way not require math skills beyond basic algebra.
we choose to see it) we are drawing nearer to the mystery of
life or losing ourselves in a wilderness of mirrors…”
This seminar is interested in groundbreaking work that
Q uantitative understanding of the Earth can help inform
decisions about our civilization’s energy supply. Vast amounts
attempts the “capture of ultimate reality” in our time. In a sto-
of energy will be needed to allow the world to develop out
ry dealing with the aftermath of 9/11, one of Deborah Eisen-
of poverty and disease this century. But our planet is heating
berg’s characters thinks: “One kept waiting for that shattering
up as result of the coal, oil, and gas we are already using. How
day to unhappen, so that the real – the intended – future, the
can we provide enough energy to support future growth and
AUTUMN

one that had been implied by the past, could unfold.” Given
development throughout the world without damaging our
the exigencies of this new century, the writers in our syllabus
natural environment?
can’t afford to be blind to the refractions and illusions of the
Simple “back of envelope” calculations can facilitate
“wilderness of mirrors,” just as they can’t afford to idealize “the
evaluation of potential solutions to this problem. This course
mystery of life.” How, then, do these writers resist convention
will focus on simple quantitative observations and calcula-
while portraying intimacy, sexuality, love, and child-rearing?
tions (algebra only, no calculus). Class sessions will include
On the other hand, how do they handle subjects tradition-
both in-class problem-solving and discussion of climate, the
ally the province of male writers, like war, torture, violence,
carbon cycle, development, economics, wind, the sun, water,
exile?
biomass, nuclear energy, power storage and transmission,
This seminar will explore the work of diverse writers hav-
geoengineering, and predictability of the future. Student
ing in common the fact that they are all women who are alive
projects will help to build an informational web site. Read-
and writing now, and writing in ways that contribute to our
ings will include both scientific articles and hand-outs pre-
contemporary sense of politics domestic and global, of sex
pared for the class.
and sexual orientation, and of love and its manifold mean-
ings. Form will vary, because we will read not only novels but
short-story collections and essays. Creative writing exercises Ken Caldeira is a senior member of the Car-
will illumine our understanding of these works. The writers negie Institution’s Department of Global
on our syllabus include Nadine Gordimer, Deborah Eisen- Ecology staff and a professor, by courtesy, in
berg, Edwidge Danticant, Alice Munro, Michelle Latiolais, and Stanford’s Environmental Earth System Sci-
Louise Erdrich. ences department. Professor Caldeira has a
wide-spectrum approach to analyzing the
world’s climate systems. He studies the
Elizabeth Tallent is the award-winning au-
global carbon cycle; marine biogeochemis-
thor of the short-story collections In Con-
try and chemical oceanography, including ocean acidifica-
stant Flight, Time with Children, and Honey.
tion and the atmosphere/ocean carbon cycle; land-cover and
She has also written a novel, Museum Pieces,
climate change; the long-term evolution of climate and geo-
and a critical study, Married Men and Magic
chemical cycles; and energy technology. He is a lead author
Tricks: John Updike’s Erotic Heroes. Professor
of the “State of the Carbon Cycle Report,” a study requested
Tallent’s short stories have been published
by the U.S. Congress. From the early 1990s to 2005, he was
in literary magazines, including the New
with the Energy and Environment Directorate at the Law-
Yorker and Harper’s Magazine, as well as in short story collec-
rence Livermore National Laboratory where he was awarded
tions. She has served as director of the Creative Writing Pro-
the Edward Teller Fellowship (2004), the highest award given
gram and been awarded several prizes for her teaching.
by that laboratory. Caldeira received his B.A. from Rutgers
College and both his M.S. (1988) and Ph.D. (1991) in atmo-
spheric sciences from New York University.

24
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
HISTORY 14N HISTORY 54N, AFRICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES 54N

The Crusades African American Women’s Lives


F, SEM | 5 Units | Letter Grade Only F, SEM | 4-5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum
MW 1:15p–3:05p; Encina W106 TTh 12:35p–2:05p; 460-334

This course is devoted to an examination of the Western A frican American women have been placed on the periph-
Christian holy wars in the Middle Ages, from the 11th to the ery of many historical documents. This course will encourage
15th centuries. The class will examine the origins of the phe- students to think critically about historical sources and to use
nomenon (puzzling, perhaps, given early Christian pacifism), creative and rigorous historical methods to recover African
the motivations of the crusaders, and how the crusade be- American women’s experiences.
came a total cultural institution (meaning a practice at the Drawing largely on primary sources such as letters, per-
center of Christian identity even for non-practitioners). We sonal journals, literature, and film, this course explores the
also will compare the conduct of crusading warfare with everyday lives of African American women in 19th- and 20th-
non-religious warfare and look at the simultaneous presence century America. We will begin in our present moment and
of holy war and non-bellicose exchanges between Christians look back on the lives and times of a wide range of African

AUTUMN
and non-Christians. Readings will be a mixture of primary American women, including Charlotte Forten Grimké, a 19th-
(medieval) sources and secondary (scholarly) studies. century reformer and teacher; Nella Larsen, a Harlem Renais-
sance novelist; Josephine Baker, the expatriate entertainer
Philippe Buc, professor of history, has and singer; and Ida B. Wells and Ella Baker, two luminaries of
taught at Stanford since 1990. He was edu- civil rights activism. We will examine the struggles of African
cated in Paris and the United States and is a American women to define their own lives and improve the
specialist in medieval religion and politics. social, economic, political, and cultural conditions of black
Currently, he is working on a history of communities. Topics will include women’s enslavement and
Christian religious violence, inclusive of ter- freedom, kinship and family relations, institution and com-
ror, martyrdom, and holy war. With Amir munity building, violence, labor and leisure, changing gen-
Weiner (History Department), he has taught der roles, consumer and beauty culture, social activism, and
an IHUM class called, Mass Violence in History: From the Cru- the politics of sexuality.
sades to the Genocides. See his website: http://www.stan-
ford.edu/dept/history/people/buc_philippe.html. Allyson Hobbs is an assistant professor of
American history. She received a BA from
Harvard and a PhD from the University of
Chicago. She is currently at work on a book
manuscript that examines the phenome-
non of racial passing in the United States.
Drawing on historical sources as well as lit-
erature and film, she argues that passing
was never an entirely individualistic or opportunistic enter-
prise. Instead, her work turns on the communal politics of
passing and reveals the centrality of family relationships to
this practice. She focuses on 19th- and early 20th-century Af-
rican American social and cultural history. Her research inter-
ests include racial mixture, migration and urbanization, iden-
tity formation, and the intersections of race, class, and
gender.

25
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
HISTORY 91N LINGUISTICS 5N

Mao Zedong: The Man Who Would What’s Your Accent? Investigations in
Become China Acoustic Phonetics
F, SEM | 5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-SocSci F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-SocSci
T 2:15p–4:05p; 260-008 TTh 3:15p–4:45p; 200-013

A s one of the most powerful leaders of the 20th century, What goes into making your accent sound the way it
Mao Zedong is also one of the least understood. This course sounds? In this seminar, we will study phonetic variation
investigates Mao’s life, including his early anthropological across accents of English by examining the accents of semi-
work, his reinterpretation of Marxism, his ascendance to nar participants. We will conduct experimental design and
power within the Chinese Communist Party, his formulation analysis of the acoustics of speech using the Praat software
of a theory of guerrilla warfare, his socioeconomic vision of program to learn about articulatory, acoustic, and auditory
China in the early People’s Republic, his devastating experi- phonetics. In other words, we will learn how sounds are ar-
mentation with rapid economic transformation during the ticulated, what the physical correlates of these articulations
Great Leap Forward, his deification during the Cultural Revo- are, and how these sounds are perceived. Much of the quar-
AUTUMN

lution, and the repercussions of his death in 1976. This course ter will be spent examining the variability of speech within
will be of general interest to anyone curious about modern and across speakers.
Chinese history and Chinese Communism, as well as to those
interested in this fascinating historical figure. No prior knowl-
Meghan Sumner is an assistant professor
edge of Chinese history is necessary.
of linguistics specializing in phonetics. She
received her PhD in linguistics from Stony
Thomas S. Mullaney received his PhD from Brook University in 2003, after which she
Columbia University in 2006 and joined the was a National Research Service Award Fel-
Stanford faculty as assistant professor of low with Arthur Samuel for three years. Pro-
modern Chinese history. Mullaney’s forth- fessor Sumner’s main research interest is
coming book examines China’s “Ethnic Clas- the perception and representation of pho-
sification Project,” by which the Communist netic variation in spoken words. Specifically, she is interested
state decided which minority groups would in how listeners generalize new or non-native acoustic cues
be officially recognized. He is currently in learning, how information in the speech signal is mapped
working on two book projects. The first examines China’s eth- onto lexical representations, and how we all understand each
nic majority, the Han, technically the largest ethnic group in other with the amazing amount of variation found in the
the world, and the second is a global history of the Chinese speech signal.
typewriter.

26
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
LINGUISTICS 83N MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 12N

Translation The Jet Engine


F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-SocSci F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
TTh 2:15p–3:45p; 200-015 MWF 9:00a–9:50a; 360-361A

What is a translation? The increased need for translations in Prerequisite: High-school physics
the modern world is due to factors such as tourism and ter-
rorism, localization and globalization, diplomacy and treaties, S tudents in this class will learn how jet engines work, in-
cluding a detailed description of jet engine components and
law and religion, and literature and science. How to meet this
an introduction to the analytical techniques required to un-
need? Are different kinds of translations needed for different
derstand them. Introductions to thermodynamics, fluid me-
purposes? What makes one translation better than another?
chanics, combustion, advanced materials, heat transfer, and
Why are some texts more difficult to translate than others?
control systems in the context of advanced jet engine devel-
Can some of this work be done by machines? Are there things
opment will be included. The seminar will also entail visits to
that cannot be said in some languages? Special attention will
research laboratories, partial disassembly of jet and rocket
be given to recent developments in machine translation and,
engines, and operation of a small turbojet.

AUTUMN
more generally, to the role that computers are likely to play in
multilingual communication in the future.
John Eaton conducts research and teaches
on fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and ex-
Martin Kay (MA, Trinity College, Cambridge,
perimental methods, with much of his work
1961) was responsible for introducing the
being funded by the world’s leading gas-
notion of chart parsing in computational
turbine manufacturers. He began his inter-
linguistics and the notion of unification in
est in experimental fluid mechanics in ju-
linguistics generally. With Ron Kaplan, he
nior high school, when he tested model
pioneered finite-state morphology. He has
airplanes and surfboard components in
been a longtime contributor to, and critic
homemade wind and water tunnels. He earned all of his de-
of, work on machine translation. Permanent
grees at Stanford and remembers fondly the day he took over
chair of the International Committee on Computational Lin-
his first real wind tunnel during his junior year. He continues
guistics, Professor Kay was until recently a research fellow at
to develop advanced flow measurement facilities including,
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). He holds honorary doctor-
recently, the use of magnetic resonance imaging to study
ates from the universities of Gothenburg, Sweden and Ge-
neva, Switzerland, and is a professor of linguistics at Stanford complex flows not predictable by computer simulation.
and the University of the Saarland, in Germany. Professor Eaton lives on campus with his wife and enjoys
almost any sport that is water-based. He swims, bikes, and
surfs regularly, and water-skis as often as his schedule allows.
He is a rabid fan of Stanford sports.

27
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 26N MUSIC 11N

Think Like a Designer A View from the Podium: The Art of


Conducting
F, SEM | 3 Units | S/NC
F 1:15p–3:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum
TTh 3:15p–4:45p; Braun 106
This seminar will introduce students to techniques that are
used by designers to create highly innovative solutions to
wicked problems that cross domains. The project-based class
This class will reveal the art of conducting: how conductors
interpret the music, realize their vision through the rehearsal
will emphasize approaches to problem identification and
process, and communicate with the orchestra and the audi-
problem solving. Along with a survey of tools such as need
ence. Conducting is often seen as a kind of magic but is ac-
finding, structured brainstorming, synthesis, rapid prototyp-
tually based on effective human communication skills. This
ing, and visual communication, the class will include field
course will focus on a conductor’s communication with the
trips to a local design firm, a robotics lab, and a prototyping
orchestra, but we also will apply these lessons to other fields
lab. A secondary goal of the seminar is to introduce students
of endeavor.
to the pleasures of creative design and hands-on develop-
Orchestras did not always have conductors, and this sem-
AUTUMN

ment of tangible solutions.


inar will begin by tracing the reasons for the emergence of
professional conductors. We will follow their growing impor-
Bill Burnett is a consulting assistant profes- tance to music-making to the present era. We will examine in
sor and the executive director of Stanford’s detail the conductor’s role in leading an orchestra and watch
innovative Product Design program. One of this process at a Stanford Symphony rehearsal. By watching
the earliest interdepartmental majors, this videotapes of such master conductors as Arturo Toscanini,
undergraduate and graduate degree Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, and others, we will
program combines curriculum from the examine how conductors shape the music to their personal
Departments of Mechanical Engineering vision. We will also go inside a conductor’s head to learn the
and Art to produce human-centered, process of music-making by studying several examples from
values-driven designers. A graduate of the program, Profes- the symphonic literature. Once they conceive this vision of
sor Burnett has designed a wide range of products, from the music, conductors must convey this to the orchestra,
award-winning Apple PowerBooks to the original Star Wars and we will learn how they use gestures, words, and body
action figures. He holds a number of mechanical and design language to do this. Conducting, in essence, is leadership;
patents and awards for a variety of products including the it requires vision, communication, and people skills. We will
first slate computer. His research and teaching are focused on conclude by discussing how some of the lessons of conduct-
enhancing human creativity and technology innovation. In ing can be applied in other professions.
the design program, he teaches the senior capstone project
class, called “The Designer’s Voice,” and a somewhat mystical
industrial design class called “Formgiving.” Formgiving is as Jindong Cai is a conductor, recording artist,
much a guided meditation and values clarification exercise and writer, and director of orchestral stud-
as it is a class about design. One student said that learning ies in the Music Department. He studied
design this way was like learning to use “the Force.” Professor with conductors Bernstein, Gerhard Samu-
Burnett could not have said it any better. el, and others, held assistant conducting
positions, and has had many guest conduct-
ing appearances in the United States and
China. He has also appeared with major
Chinese orchestras including the Shanghai Symphony. Pro-
fessor Cai has recorded with Centaur Records and Vienna
Modern Masters, and has co-written articles with Sheila Mel-
vin in the New York Times. His new book is Rhapsody in Red:
How Western Classical Music Became Chinese.

28
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
MUSIC 38N PHILOSOPHY 15N

Singing Early Music Freedom, Community, and Morality


F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, EC-EthicReas
TTh 3:15p–4:05p; Braun 105 MWF 10:00a–11:15a; 420-245

Prerequisite: No prior knowledge of early music required.


I n this seminar we will examine the idea of individual free-
I f you love to sing, this course is for you! We will explore mu-
dom and its relation to human community, on the one hand,
and the demands of morality, on the other. Does the freedom
sic of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance (ca. 1400-1600), of the individual conflict with the demands of human com-
a time when many of the best and most respected musicians munity, society, and morality? Or, as some philosophers have
were singers. You will discover French songs of ravishing
maintained, does the freedom of the individual rather find its
beauty with graceful, long-limbed melodic lines; Italian mad-
highest expression in a moral community or society of other
rigals in which the music responds directly – sometimes even
human beings? We shall examine the diverse answers given
violently – to the text; and Latin-texted sacred music, usually
to these questions by Albert Camus, John Stuart Mill, Jean-
for four voices, in which each melodic line is equally compel-
Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant. Camus, a representa-
ling. The composers whose music we shall study (e.g., Du Fay,

AUTUMN
tive of modern existentialism, sees an irremediable conflict
Josquin, and Marenzio) are perhaps less famous today than between the individual and society; Mill, a representative of
visual artists of the period such as Leonardo da Vinci and Mi-
19th-century liberalism, sees a tension that can be resolved;
chelangelo, but their artistic creations are no less stunning.
Rousseau, a representative of the classical social contract tra-
Along the way, we will learn about the historical contexts for
dition, holds that true individual freedom can only be real-
the pieces we perform and analyze their aesthetic qualities.
ized in the right kind of political society; while Kant, who was
We will also come face to face with music manuscripts that
greatly influenced by Rousseau, believes that what he calls
date back more than 500 years. But the main thrust of the
freedom or autonomy is the very foundation for the principles
course will be in making music ourselves. (Most of our class of morality. The written work will consist of four short (2–4-
meetings will take place in Stanford’s resonant Memorial page) papers, one on each of the four philosophers. Class at-
Church.) The class will culminate in a concert devoted to the tendance and participation, based on study questions on the
pieces we have studied, to be performed by the students.
reading distributed in advance, are also required.

Jesse Rodin, assistant professor of music, Michael Friedman is a professor of philoso-


received his BA in music from the University phy and the Fredrick P. Rehmus Family Pro-
of Pennsylvania and his PhD in musicology fessor of Humanities. His work focuses on
from Harvard. He joined Stanford’s faculty Kant; the philosophy of science; the history
in 2007. His research focuses on music of of 20th-century philosophy, including the
the Renaissance, particularly that of the interaction between philosophy and the
Franco-Flemish composer Josquin des Prez exact sciences from Kant through the logi-
(ca. 1450-1521) and his contemporaries. He cal empiricists; prospects for a post-Kuhnian
is also active as a performer, both as a singer of early music philosophy of science in light of these developments; and
and as director of the Boston-based vocal octet Cut Circle, a the relationship between analytic and continental traditions
professional ensemble specializing in music of the 15th and in the early 20th century. His publications on these topics in-
16th centuries. clude Foundations of Space-Time Theories: Relativistic Physics
and the Philosophy of Science; Kant and the Exact Sciences; Re-
considering Logical Positivism; A Parting of the Ways: Carnap,
Cassirer, and Heidegger; Dynamics of Reason: The 1999 Kant
Lectures at Stanford University; Immanuel Kant: Metaphysical
Foundations of Natural Science; and The Kantian Legacy in
Nineteenth-Century Science.

29
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
PHYSICS 45N PHYSICS 83N

Advanced Topics in Light and Heat Physics in the 21st Century


F, SEM | 1 Unit | S/NC F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci
Th 3:15p–4:45p; Hewlett 102 TTh 2:15p–3:30p; Hewlett 103

Prerequisite: Advanced Placement physics, concurrent enroll-


ment in Physics 45, or consent of instructor.
This course will explore recent ideas and developments in
particle physics and cosmology. This is an exciting time in these
This course gives students the chance to study some inter- fields because, in this decade, theories addressing fundamen-
tal questions will be tested by direct observation. The Large
esting phenomena associated with the concepts of light, op- Hadron Collider (LHC), a huge particle accelerator near Gene-
tics, and thermal physics covered in Physics 45. The weekly va, will produce the first collisions in October 2009, allowing
interactive seminar will discuss a variety of topics with exam- physicists to observe the smallest known particles, revolution-
ples chosen from optical phenomena and weather, thermo- izing our understanding of the world residing deeply within
dynamics and heat in the home, and, especially, optics and atoms as well as the vastness of the universe. Additionally, the
radiation as applied to astrophysics and cosmology. The ma- Planck satellite, launched in May 2009, will be a major source
terial will be roughly parallel to the syllabus of Physics 45.
AUTUMN

of information on cosmology, which we need to test theo-


ries of the early universe and the origin of cosmic structure.
Roger W. Romani joined the Department We will discuss some major problems in physics: What are the
of Physics in 1991 from Princeton and fundamental constituents of matter? What are symmetries,
Caltech and is a member of the Kavli Insti- and what role do they play in nature? Can there be more than
tute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmolo- three spatial dimensions? What happened at the beginning
gy and of the Astronomy Program. His of time in the universe? We will develop an appreciation of
research has a necrotic bent, concentrating how the theories are tested experimentally. Our work will in-
on dead stars such as black holes and neu- volve discussion, reading, and writing on topics of current re-
tron stars, but he also studies dark matter search in cosmology and elementary-particle physics includ-
and dark energy and their cosmological effects. Claiming that ing the creation and evolution of the universe, the Big Bang
he “has never met a photon he didn’t like,” Romani comple- theory of cosmology, fundamental forces and particles of
ments his theoretical work with observations at space- and nature, grand unified theories, supersymmetry, superstring
ground-based telescope facilities. He serves on a number of theory, and new dimensions.
telescope boards and is a councilor for the High Energy Astro-
physics Division of the American Astronomical Society. Away Renata Kallosh received her BS from Mos-
from the Varian Physics building he swims with the Stanford cow State University and PhD from Lebedev
Masters team and is a vocalist in several area ensembles. Institute of the Academy of Sciences. She
started her career at the Lebedev Institute
and later became an associate at the Divi-
sion of Theoretical Physics at the European
Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN),
in Geneva. Since 1990, she is a professor of
physics in Stanford’s Physics Department (and, by courtesy, in
the Department of Mathematics). She was involved in the de-
sign of an attractor mechanism for studying black holes, of-
fering a significant contribution to understanding string
theory and supergravity, and is also an expert in elementary
particle physics and supersymmetry. Currently she is study-
ing observable dark energy and its meaning for theoretical
physics. She was invited to give the prestigious Coxeter lec-
tures at the Fields Institute at the University of Toronto, won
an Alexander von Humboldt award, and recently was a visit-
ing professor at the Yukawa Institute in Kyoto, Japan.

30
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
POLITICAL SCIENCE 22N PSYCHOLOGY 12N

Inequality and American Democracy Self-Theories


F, SEM | 5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-SocSci
MW 2:15-3:45; 200-305 MW 12:50p–2:05p; 420-419

F or thirty years or more, inequality has grown in American A re high achievers just smarter than others? Are leaders
society as the distance between the richest and poorest seg- born rather than made? Are great athletes simply naturals?
ments of the population has grown substantially. What effect In this seminar we will explore the contribution of nature
does this inequality have on American society? Can democ- (talent) and nurture (experience, effort) to people’s achieve-
racy be sustained under such circumstances? ment. We will discuss new research that highlights the role of
We’ll examine the lives of the poorest Americans with nurture. That is, we will examine evidence that our brains are
a specific emphasis on how the day-to- day circumstances malleable—that intelligence can be taught and increased
of minimum-wage workers can be socially and economi- even in adulthood, and that genius stems as much from dedi-
cally perilous. We’ll explore the relationship of resources to cation as from talent.
political activity and power, examining the degree to which We will read and discuss research showing that people

AUTUMN
social, economic, and educational inequality disadvantage who believe their abilities are fixed are less likely to take on
some citizens’ hopes of influencing the political system and challenges, put out effort, and cope well with setbacks than
extracting favorable policy outcomes. Are these Americans are people who believe that their abilities can be developed.
aware of these systematic disadvantages? If so, we must ask We will see how people with the belief that abilities can be
what effect this has on their support for and attachment to developed have an advantage in academics, business, sports,
the political system. If not, we need to understand the social and personal relationships. We will use this research to ad-
forces that obscure the political effects of disadvantage from dress such questions as why so many very bright students
those suffering them, especially religious identity, populism, stop working hard when the material becomes difficult, are
and anti-intellectualism. afraid to make mistakes, can’t take feedback without becom-
The course will be primarily reading and seminar discus- ing defensive or discouraged, or have an inordinate need for
sion. Each week, students will explore different aspects of praise and rewards.
each element described above through an important read- How are these self-theories learned? To answer this ques-
ing and a narrowly designed research task that will simul- tion, we will examine work that shows the effects of praise on
taneously enhance the student’s factual grasp of the social self-theories. We will also read about how self-theories can be
phenomena at issue while at the same time introduce them changed to improve performance in school and in the work-
to question-driven research as an engine of learning. place. The last weeks of the quarter will be spent presenting
and discussing student projects.
Gary M. Segura is a professor of American
politics and chair of Chicano/a Studies in Carol S. Dweck, is the Lewis and Virginia
the Center for Comparative Studies in Race Eaton Professor of Psychology. Her re-
and Ethnicity. He received his PhD in Amer- search focuses on why people succeed
ican politics and political philosophy from and how to foster their success. More spe-
the University of Illinois in 1992. His work cifically, her work has demonstrated the
focuses on issues of political representation, role of mindsets and self-conceptions in
and currently is focusing on the accessibility motivation, and has illuminated how
of government and politics to America’s growing Latino mi- praise for intelligence can undermine mo-
nority, as well as a book-length project on the links between tivation and learning. Professor Dweck has also held profes-
casualties in international conflict and domestic politics. sorships at Columbia and Harvard, has lectured all over the
Among his most recent publications are “The Mobilizing world, and has been elected to the American Academy of
Effect of Majority-Minority Districts on Latino Turnout” (2004) Arts and Sciences. Her work has been prominently featured
and “Su Casa Es Nuestra Casa: Latino Politics Research and in many national publications, and she has appeared on To-
the Development of American Political Science,” (2007), both day, Good Morning America, and 20/20. Her most recent book
in the American Political Science Review. Segura was one of is Mindset.
the co-Principal Investigator of the Latino National Survey, in
2006, and is the co-Principal Investigator of the “Spanish
Translation and Latino Over-sample in the 2008 American
National Election Study,” the first ever expansion of the ANES
into systematic Spanish interviewing and over-sampling of
Latino voters.

31
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
PSYCHOLOGY 25N PSYCHOLOGY 26N

Psychology, Inequality, and the Language Acquisition: Exploring the


American Dream Minds of Children
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only
MW 2:15p–3:30p; 420-419 M 3:15p–5:05p; 380-380D

What role do psychological factors play in perpetrating in- The capacity for language is in some sense in our genes, an
equality despite legal prohibitions? How can psychologically extraordinary competence distinguishing humans from oth-
wise reforms promote equal opportunity? Topics include er species. Yet there is ardent debate about the role of biolo-
school achievement, prejudice and discrimination, social gy in guiding language acquisition. Does language develop-
class, and race/ethnicity. ment follow an innate “bioprogram,” or does it build on more
general, cognitive abilities, strongly influenced by early expe-
Greg Walton is an assistant professor in the rience? Psycholinguists are interested in the complex mental
Psychology Department. He received a BA processes underlying language use and in how communica-
tive competence develops in very young language learners.
AUTUMN

in philosophy from Stanford and a PhD in


social psychology from Yale. His research Already in the first months of life, even before they under-
examines the role of social belonging in ac- stand that words have meanings, infants become specialists
ademic motivation and achievement, and in the speech sounds of their native language, learning skills
the origins of and remedies for group differ- essential to the listening and speaking abilities that develop
ences in academic achievement. One hour- so dramatically in the second year. This seminar explores
long intervention he conducted raised the grades of ethnic biological and experiential influences on the emergence of
minority college students even years later. In addition to his linguistic ability as children begin to learn a first language.
academic research, he served for a year as a Congressional Students will also gain experience with some of the experi-
Fellow in the office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) mental methods researchers use to explore infants’ mental
in the United States Senate, where he worked primarily on processes and early social understanding. Discussions of
issues relating to children and education. theory and research will be enriched with visits to Stanford
laboratories and by group projects involving observations of
very young language learners.

Anne Fernald graduated from Swarthmore


College and, after living in Germany for sev-
eral years, did her doctoral work in develop-
mental psychology and psycholinguistics at
the University of Oregon. She runs a re-
search laboratory in the psychology depart-
ment that focuses on language acquisition,
and she is involved with Stanford’s interdis-
ciplinary programs in human biology and symbolic systems.
Her teaching, mentoring, and service to undergraduate edu-
cation have been honored with Stanford’s Dinkelspiel Award
and ASSU and Hoagland prizes for outstanding teaching, and
the Cox Medal for mentoring undergraduates in research.

32
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 16N SOCIOLOGY 46N

The Story of Human Virtues Race, Ethnic, and National Identities:


Imagined Communities
F, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
MW 3:15p–4:30p; 360-361A
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-SocSci
TTh 3:15p–4:05p; 420-245
P lato’s and Aristotle’s masterful discussions of the human
virtues—justice, bravery, temperance, generosity, wisdom,
and friendship—became the foundation for much of Mus-
How are new identities created and legitimized? What does
it mean to try on a different identity? National groups and
lim, Jewish, Christian, and secular ethical thought. Medieval ethnic groups are so large that one individual can know only
and modern thinkers in these traditions appropriated the an infinitesimal fraction of other group members. What ex-
Greeks’ ideas to fit their own worldviews and religious out- plains the seeming coherence of groups? If identities are a
looks. Seeking to construct coherent ethical systems, they product of the imagination, why are people willing to fight
drew simultaneously on Greek thought and their own ethical and die for them?
philosophies. In doing so, they transformed Greek ideas and This seminar will require careful reading, consistent class
reframed and recast their own religious heritages. The story participation, a few short papers, and one class presentation

AUTUMN
of the conceptualization of human virtues, therefore, is one (based on that week’s reading assignment), but no exams.
of adaptation, cross-pollination, and the fusion of ideas in the The class syllabus, reading list, and supplementary materials
course of the past 2,000 years.
can be found at www.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe.
We begin with readings in Greek philosophy, particularly
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, and then move on to selected
authors from the abovementioned traditions. Michael J. Rosenfeld, an associate profes-
sor of sociology, received his PhD from the
University of Chicago, then joined Stan-
Behnam Sadeghi is a professor of religious ford’s faculty in 2000. He studies race, eth-
studies. He received his PhD in Near Eastern nicity, immigration, assimilation, and in-
studies from Princeton. He specializes in the termarriage, and on these topics recently
early centuries of Islamic religion and teach- published The Age of Independence: Inter-
es courses on pre-modern intellectual his- racial Unions, Same-Sex Unions, and the
tory. He has done research on the early his- Changing American Family. In 2007–08 he won the Dean’s
tory of the Qur’ân, the hadith literature, and Award for Distinguished Teaching. He currently is studying
early legal debates about women in the the development of children raised by same-sex couples and
public sphere. His doctoral dissertation examined methods the ways in which people meet their future mates. In a former
of textual interpretation in the Hanafi school of law in the life, he was a freelance writer and political organizer. If he
pre-modern period. Professor Sadeghi has taught the IHUM looks tired, it is because he has two small children at home
course Approaching Religion (covering early Islam), and whose energy is boundless.
courses on pre-modern theology, pre-modern law, and the
early history of the Qur’ân.

33
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
IBERIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN CULTURES 114N STATISTICS 47N

Lyric Poetry Breaking the Code?


F, SEM | 3-5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Math
MWF 9:00a–9:50a; 260-001 MW 4:15p–5:30p; 300-300

Prerequisite: Fluency in Spanish is required.


C ryptography has been used for millennia for secret com-
This course offers an introduction to the basic elements munication. Nowadays, it is widely used for secure commu-
nication over the Internet. Its counterpart, cryptanalysis, or
and expressive devices of lyric poetry: multidimensional lan- code-breaking, has been around just slightly less time than
guage, denotation, connotation, image, metaphor, symbol, cryptography. The earliest cryptanalysts used statistical
allegory, paradox, irony, meaning, idea, rhythm, and meter.
tools to decrypt encoded messages by uncovering recur-
These elements will be studied in a selection of representa-
ring patterns in the encrypted messages. More recently, such
tive poems of outstanding poets of Spain and Latin America
frequency-analysis tools have been used to analyze biblical
of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Gustavo Adolfo
texts to unravel the “Bible code,” as well as to detect genes in
Bécquer, Rosalía de Castro, Rubén Darío, Miguel de Unamu-
the human genome.
no, Antonio Machado, Federico García Lorca, Pablo Neruda,
AUTUMN

This seminar will begin with a brief overview of various


and Gabriela Mistral. codes and ciphers. Then, we will discuss some basic statis-
This course is on a topic of general interest, but it is tical tools that have proved useful for code-breaking. Using
aimed at students with considerable Spanish language simple computer programs, students will apply these tools to
competence. The treatment of poetry here will draw upon break simple codes and to explore the application to various
competency acquired from advanced language courses, and
kinds of data. Students will be introduced to the basic prob-
grammatical knowledge will lead naturally to interesting sty-
ability tools needed as the course progresses.
listic study. Both English and Spanish (and poems in English
and Spanish) will be used.
Susan P. Holmes is an associate professor
of statistics and associate director of the
Michael P. Predmore received his under-
Mathematical and Computational Sciences
graduate degree in liberal arts at Swarth-
interdisciplinary program. She is past chair
more College. He went on to earn his MA
of the computing section of the American
and PhD in Spanish literature (major) and
Statistical Association (ASA), and program
Latin American history (minor) at the Uni-
chair for the ASA section on statistical com-
versity of Washington before joining the
puting. Her main area of interest is comput-
Spanish and Portuguese faculty at Stanford
er intensive methods in multivariate statistics, especially the
in 1986. His teaching and research center
bootstrap. She works on computational biology, phyloge-
on 19th- and 20th-century Spanish poetry. He is particularly
netic analysis of DNA sequences, and multivariate statistics
interested in situating this poetry within a lyric tradition
applied to microarray techniques.
which stretches from English and German Romanticism to
the European avant-garde of the first two decades of the
20th century. He also studies the major works and move-
ments of modern Spanish literature within the democratic
tradition of Spanish liberalism (19th-century lyric poetry and
realist novels, the generation of 1898, the generation of 1927,
and the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath). He has written
several books and editions on the poetry of Antonio Macha-
do and Juan Ramón Jiménez, as well as numerous articles on
the works of Ramón del Valle-Inclán and other major figures
of the Hispanic world.

34
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
AMERICAN STUDIES 114N BIOCHEMISTRY 118Q

Visions of the 1960s Genomics and Medicine


S, SEM | 5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, EC-AmerCul S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
TTh 3:15p–5:05p; 160-314 TTh 4:15p–5:45p; 160-127

This course offers an introduction to the ideas, sensibility, Prerequisite: BioSci 41 or HumBio 2A would be useful but is not
required. We assume high- school-level knowledge of DNA, RNA,
and (to a lesser degree) politics of the American 1960s. Top-
and protein structure.
ics will include the early 1960s vision of a “Beloved Commu-
nity”; varieties of racial, generational, and feminist dissent;
the meaning of the “counterculture”; and current interpretive I n this seminar we will investigate the kind of knowledge we
perspectives of the 1960s. We will give some attention to film have gained from sequencing the human genome and the
and music as well as to articles and books. Likely readings are implications of such knowledge for medicine and biomedi-
Stewart and Judith Albert, eds., The Sixties Papers, plus selec- cal research. We will study novel diagnoses and treatment of
tions by Todd Gitlin, Norman Mailer, Sara Evans, Alice Walker, disease including gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and ratio-
Tom Wolfe, Martin Luther King, Jr., Herbert Marcuse, and oth- nal drug design. We will also discuss the ethical implications

AUTUMN
ers. We will also view and discuss at least two films – probably of stem cell therapy and other uses of genetic information
The Graduate and a documentary such as Winter Soldier. including consumer genomic analysis. The course will be of
interest to students who plan to major in biology or human
biology, especially premedical students and biology majors
Richard Gillam is coordinator of the Ameri- who use molecular biology methods. It will also be of interest
can Studies Program. He has won Stanford’s to future business or law students interested in privacy, intel-
Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in lectual property rights, and other societal issues such as in-
Teaching as well as an ASSU Teaching surance and health care policy. Homework will include using
Award. His publications include the book genome and disease databases to determine the function of
Power in Postwar America and articles, most- genes involved in a particular disease and understanding the
ly dealing with American intellectual and basis for that disease, its diagnosis, and potential treatments.
cultural history, in American Quarterly, Further information is available at http://biochem118.stan-
American Scholar, Gettysburg Review, The Public Historian, ford.edu/.
Theory and Society, and elsewhere. His musical tastes favor
Bob Dylan, and he tends to sympathize with the early rather
than the late 1960s. Douglas Brutlag, who also teaches compu-
tational molecular biology (http://bio-
chem218.stanford.edu/), is professor
emeritus of biochemistry and, by courtesy,
of medicine. Professor Brutlag has worked
with the National Institutes of Health Gen-
Bank database and the National Library of
Medicine, and he founded a biotechnology
software company.

35
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 60Q CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 70Q

Environmental Regulation and Policy Masters of Disaster


S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci
M 2:15p–5:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location Th 2:15p–5:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location

Prerequisites: High-school physics and chemistry. Prerequisite: High-school physics and chemistry or above is
desirable.
S tudents will learn how environmental policy and regula-
tion are formulated in the United States, with an emphasis This seminar explores disasters that can be traced to failures
on how scientific research is incorporated into the decisions. in the design process. Engineers, artisans, politicians, lawyers,
Although the emphasis is on the United States, we compare and scientists all contribute to the final design of products
and contrast environmental policy formulation in the Euro- that enter the stream of commerce. Despite every attempt
pean Union, as well as in the developing world, with a focus to optimize a design, they sometimes fail. Whether it is a de-
on China. fect in an automobile, a train, a plane, a building, or a medi-
Environmental issues such as air quality, greenhouse cal product, a failure has its roots in an oversight in adhering
gas regulation, genetically modified organisms, sustainabil- to the design process. In this class, students form teams to
AUTUMN

ity, and waste disposal are considered, and policy issues such analyze real disasters and design new products presumably
as the precautionary principle, the role of public notification, free from the potential for disastrous results. Learning from
and the balance of stakeholder interest will be introduced. the disasters of the past, one can avoid the disasters of the
We will discuss the science and engineering aspects of these future. This seminar is open to students interested in science,
issues, followed by an analysis of how the science is used in engineering, politics, and law.
policy and regulatory decisions. Questions concerning the
proper use of science and engineering (such as media pre- Channing Robertson is a chemical engi-
sentation), scientific and technical literacy in the public, and neer. He has testified as an expert witness in
emotional reactions, are also addressed. We explore current several of the largest U.S. tort cases involv-
environmental policy and regulatory issues and discuss alter- ing toxic materials and has been responsi-
native models for formulation of policy. Nontechnical issues ble for determining release rates of hazard-
that affect the formation of regulations and policy, including ous substances from environmentally
political and economic forces, are also considered. compromised sites. He also serves on a Na-
tional Academy of Sciences panel that seeks
Channing Robertson is a chemical engi- to identify how interactions among science, technology, and
neer. He has testified as an expert witness in the law relate to complex litigation and violation of environ-
several of the largest United States tort cas- mental regulations. Professor Robertson is the Yumi and Ya-
es involving toxic materials and has been sunori Kaneko Family University Fellow in Undergraduate
responsible for determining release rates of Education.
hazardous substances from environmental-
ly compromised sites. He also serves on a John Moalli is a vice president at Exponent
National Academy of Sciences panel that Failure Analysis in nearby Menlo Park. Dr.
seeks to identify how interactions among science, technolo- Moalli obtained his PhD from the Depart-
gy, and the law relate to complex litigation and violation of ment of Materials Science at MIT, and has
environmental regulations. Professor Robertson is the Yumi focused his career on the analysis and in-
and Yasunori Kaneko Family University Fellow in Undergrad- vestigation of engineering failures. He has
uate Education. written a book, several book chapters, and a
number of papers that address issues relat-
Shari Libicki received her PhD in chemical ed to failure analysis and the use of the design process to pre-
engineering from Stanford. She did research vent failures. His goal is to bring his real-world forensic engi-
at a pharmaceutical company and then neering and design experience to Stanford students.
worked for the U.S. State Department nego-
tiating international science treaties. She is
a principal in ENVIRON Corp., a consulting
firm that applies scientific research to envi-
ronmental issues.

36
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 44Q CLASSICS (CLASSART) 21Q

Critical Thinking and Career Skills Eight Great Archaeological Sites in


Europe
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only
MW 4:15p–6:05p; M class in Y2E2 253; W class with CEE 258 in
S, SEM | 3-5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, WRITE-2
Thornton 110.
MWF 10:00a–10:50a; 20-22K

This class is designed to help students develop and practice Prerequisite: PWR 1.
their critical thinking skills. Students will actively participate
in case studies, class exercises, field trips, and negotiations This course is an encounter with eight archaeological sites in
in ambiguous situations requiring creative thinking. Many Europe. Key resources (plans, photographs, video, and selec-
of the case studies are based on the thirty-year work experi- tions from publications) are available online and in Shanks’s
ence of the instructor as well as on his involvement in on- lab as the basis for exploration of each archaeological site
going business arbitrations. Subjects covered will include through its excavation, features, and finds, and arguments
the environment, energy, global climate change, selecting over the site’s interpretation and place in the archaeologi-
relevant careers, financial and ethical stress, and student- cal history of Europe. The course draws on the skill sets that

AUTUMN
selected topics. (A separate application will be required prior are the focus of the IHUM fall quarter sequence and the an-
to the first class to determine appropriate subject matter for cient history and anthropology courses in the winter/spring
this group of applicants). Students will work with the above sequence. It is a taster for Stanford’s interdepartmental Ar-
subjects in one session per week and then participate in a chaeology Program but is open to anyone simply interested
joint weekly seminar (CEE258) in which about eighty indus- in archaeology.
try representatives will discuss their careers, what matters to The eight sites to be studied are Stonehenge, England
them, and why. Each week students will go to a hosted din- (stones in a prehistoric landscape); Knossos, Crete (a laby-
ner with these industry people to discuss issues relevant to rinthine palace of the Aegean Bronze Age); Dunstanburgh
their career and life. Students in groups of four or five will also Castle, England (feudal lords, landscape, and the archaeol-
be invited to have dinner with Professor and Mrs. Clough to ogy of medieval England); Housesteads Roman fort, England
continue these discussions. (a bleak outpost on Hadrian’s Wall, at the empire’s northern
edge); Namforsen, Sweden (islands of prehistoric rock carv-
Russell G. Clough joined the Stanford fac- ings); Gavrinis, France (megaliths, ritual, and ceremony in
ulty in 1994 after 30 years of construction prehistoric Brittany); Olympia, Greece (sanctuary of Zeus
experience. He earned a BS and MS in civil and wonder of the ancient world); and Tel El Amarna, Egypt
engineering from Stanford after growing (city of the heretical pharaoh Akhenaten). These sites will be
up in a construction family and serving in studied to introduce the latest archaeological and anthropo-
the United States Marine Corps. He has logical thought and raise deep questions about our under-
worked as a laborer, equipment operator, standing of ancient societies, as well as the way we study and
engineer, project manager, and operations represent them.
manager for various companies. For 10 years, he owned and This course fulfills the second quarter of the Writing and
operated a construction company that specialized in digging Rhetoric Requirement and emphasizes digitally-facilitated
wine caves. His interest at Stanford has been to develop case oral and multimedia presentation.
studies to improve students’ thinking and relationship skills
needed in the real world. His classes emphasize the impor- Michael Shanks is a professor of classics
tance of engineering fundamentals, cost and money issues, and, by courtesy, of cultural and social an-
ethics, leadership, and personality challenges in business. He thropology. His teaching and research focus
maintains contact with industry through consulting work on Mediterranean archaeology, the theory
and serves on a number of dispute-review boards. He is a and philosophy of design, and heritage and
registered California civil, geotechnical, and safety engineer. the place of the past in the present. His
books include Classical Archaeology: Experi-
ences of the Discipline; Art and the Early Greek
City State; Theatre/ Archaeology (with Mike Pearson); Experi-
encing the Past: On the Character of Archaeology; Re-Construct-
ing Archaeology; and Social Theory and Archaeology (the last
two with Chris Tilley).

37
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 41Q COMPARATIVE MEDICINE 87Q

Ethnicity and Literature Introduction to the Mouse in Biomedical


Research
S, SEM | 3-5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, EC-AmerCul
TTh 2:15p–3:45p; Terman 399
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
W 3:15p–5:05p; Medical Center, Edwards Building, R358

How does a universal literary form accommodate (or not)


the specifics of ethnic experience? This course is designed to This seminar is an introduction to the laboratory mouse, one
introduce the concept of ethnicity by examining how people of the most widely used models for biomedical research. We
who are deemed ethnic have expressed their identities in lit- will explore the natural history and origin of the laboratory
erary texts. We will read novels from the United States, the mouse, its relationship to its wild cousins, and the history and
Middle East, Jamaica, and other locales. These readings will uses of some common laboratory mice. We will also analyze
be complemented by films, video documentaries, and inter- some common research models (transgenic mice, knock-out
views. The instructor will present critical materials, but the and knock-in mice, cloning, and immunodeficient mice) and
main format of the course will be discussion. The seminar will their uses in the understanding and treatment of human
include one short midterm essay and a final essay. diseases. In addition to attending lectures, each student will
AUTUMN

read and discuss scientific papers and present a paper that


David Palumbo-Liu is a professor of com- uses the mouse as a model for the study of a human disease.
parative literature. He has written exten- There will be at least one laboratory, where students will be
sively on race, ethnicity, and literature and introduced to commonly used mouse strains and mouse
is especially interested in how these issues handling techniques. Students interested in biomedical re-
affect culture, society, and individual iden- search, medicine, or veterinary medicine will benefit from
tity. Professor Palumbo-Liu has taught at this seminar.
Stanford for 19 years. He enjoys the oppor-
tunity that introductory seminars give him Claude Nagamine is an assistant professor
to work closely with students. in the Department of Comparative Medi-
cine, where his duties include veterinary
service, research, and teaching. He received
his PhD at UC-Davis and his DVM at the Uni-
versity of Tennessee, Knoxville. Prior to en-
tering veterinary school he was an assistant
professor of cell biology at the Vanderbilt
University School of Medicine. He completed a laboratory
animal medicine residency at MIT in 2007 and became a dip-
lomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medi-
cine in 2008. His research interests include the molecular ge-
netics of mammalian sex determination and mouse infectious
diseases. He joined the Stanford faculty in 2008 and is direc-
tor of the Rodent Health Surveillance Program, the Diagnos-
tic Laboratory, and the Mouse Cryopreservation/Rederiva-
tion Service in the Department of Comparative Medicine.

38
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
DRAMA 180Q DRAMA 189Q

Noam Chomsky: The Drama of Mapping and Wrapping the Body


Resistance
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, EC-Gender
M 2:15p–5:05p; MemAud 126
S, SEM | 3-5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
W 3:15p–6:05p; MemAud 125
Humans throughout the centuries and in all cultures have
This seminar focuses on the ideas of Noam Chomsky, pro- covered, reshaped, and decorated their bodies. Clothes may
cloak the uncertainties and insecurities of an era while high-
fessor of linguistics and philosophy (retired) at MIT, and dedi- lighting its desires and aspirations. This course will explore
cated activist who has spent his life challenging the reign- such concepts as status and class, academic and athletic dress,
ing political and economic paradigms by which the United external and internal body reshaping, modesty and immod-
States is ruled. After discussing his revolutionary model for esty, piercing and tattoos, cross-dressing and drag, uniforms,
linguistics (concentrating on the possible link between lan- the changing concepts of gender (both gay and straight),
guage and freedom), we will address Chomsky’s work on U.S. shifting erogenous zones, and the sexology of the shoe and
foreign policy (in Southeast Asia, Indonesia and East Timor, foot. In concealing and revealing, clothes selectively present
Central America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East); the

AUTUMN
the body in all of its possibilities and can be considered as
media (“manufacturing consent”); “terrorism”; ideology and the “furniture of the mind.” The class will include slides, class
culture; student/popular movements; the “new world order” presentations, videos, and possibly a one-day field trip to the
(at home and abroad); and the importance of resistance. Mission District of San Francisco.
Chomsky’s work will provide a useful mode of analysis as
students explore their own ways of understanding (and chal-
lenging) the political, economic, and social forces that shape William Eddelman has taught in the areas
our lives. This seminar would best suit students who have an of theatrical design, theater, art and cultural
interest in current events and a desire to make future current history, design aesthetics and dramatic lit-
events more humane. erature. His PhD dissertation on 17th- and
18th-century Italian opera design was re-
searched during two years in Venice as a
Rush Rehm, professor of drama and clas- Fulbright scholar. He has designed sets and
sics, works extensively in the area of Greek costumes for several theater companies in
tragedy. His books include Aeschylus’ Orest- the San Francisco Bay Area and taught at the Stanford Berlin
eia: A Theatre Version; Greek Tragic Theatre; Center. Professor Eddelman (now emeritus) lives in San Fran-
Marriage to Death: The Conflation of Wed- cisco in an 1880s Victorian and is on the board of the Museum
ding and Funeral Rituals in Greek Tragedy; of Performance and Design (formerly The San Francisco Per-
The Play of Space: Spatial Transformation in forming Arts Library and Museum). He is an expert on con-
Greek Tragedy; and Radical Theatre: Greek temporary international scenic and costume design and is
Tragedy and the Modern World. He teaches courses on dra- assembling research collections for the museum on costume
matic literature of various periods and teaches acting and and international design. His interests include the cultural
directing to drama students. history of American musical theater and the psychology of
dress. He travels frequently and uses these opportunities to
explore international arts and cultures.

39
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
FEMINIST STUDIES 191Q HISTORY 84Q

Writing Women’s Lives The American Empire in the Middle East


S, DIAL | 2 Units | Letter Grade Only
since the Cold War: Afghanistan, Iraq,
T 3:15p–4:45p; 90-92Q and Israel/Palestine
Prerequisite: A willingness to stretch and experiment with writ- S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-SocSci, EC-GlobalCom
ing skills. Students with a good background in prose literature TTh 12:35p–2:05p; 60-118
and writing (not necessarily creative writing) will probably find
the course most interesting.
S tudents in the course will critically engage questions
This dialogue focuses on prose about the lives of women in such as: What were the traditional objectives of U.S. policy
in the Middle East since the end of World War II? What forc-
different cultures and generations. Students will read a novel
es shape(d) U.S. policy towards the Middle East? Did those
and some short stories, as well as micro-narratives (fiction
interests and the means employed to pursue them change
and memoir). Among the readings are Under the Feet of Je-
substantially after the demise of the Soviet Union? What has
sus, by Helena María Viramontes, and Short Takes, edited by
been the impact of U.S. policy on the region itself? The three
Judith Kitchen. We also will be reading narratives written by
AUTUMN

principal cases to be examined are Afghanistan, Iraq, and Is-


students from the class. The course is designed to offer soph-
rael/Palestine.
omores a chance to explore creative writing and reading in
This course is structured around discussion of readings
the context of a small, supportive, and provocative group of
and films. There will be only occasional impromptu short lec-
young writers. It requires strong voices from all participants.
tures. Students are expected to read all the assigned readings
Students will write short exercises as well one longer one.
before class and be prepared to participate actively in discus-
Each participant will produce new, polished work for class
sions.
assignments, using such tools as research, memory, imagina-
tion, and metaphor.
Joel Beinin is the Donald J. McLachlan Pro-
fessor of History and has taught Middle East
Valerie Miner is the award-winning author
history at Stanford since 1983, including a
of 13 books. Her latest novel, After Eden, was
broad range of courses from the rise of Is-
published in 2007. Other novels include
lam to the present. He has lived and worked
Range of Light, A Walking Fire, Winter’s Edge,
for extended periods in Israel and Egypt
Blood Sisters, All Good Women, Movement: A
and traveled broadly throughout the Mid-
Novel in Stories, and Murder in the English
dle East and North Africa. He received his
Department. Her short fiction includes
PhD from the University of Michigan in 1982, his MA from
Abundant Light, The Night Singers, and Tres-
Harvard in 1974, and his BA from Princeton in 1970. His re-
passing. She also has composed a collection of essays entitled
search and writing focus on modern and contemporary
Rumors from the Cauldron: Selected Essays, Reviews and Re-
Egypt, Israel, Palestine, the Arab-Israeli conflict, political Is-
portage. In 2002, The Low Road: A Scottish Family Memoir, was
lam, and U.S. policy in the Middle East. Beinin has written or
a finalist for the PEN USA Creative Nonfiction award. Abun-
edited eight books, most recently Workers and Peasants in the
dant Light was a 2005 fiction finalist for the Lambda Literary
Modern Middle East and The Struggle for Sovereignty: Palestine
Awards. Professor Miner has won fellowships and awards
and Israel, 1993-2005, co-edited with Rebecca Stein. His arti-
from the Rockefeller Foundation, the McKnight Foundation,
cles have been published in many daily newspapers, maga-
the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Founda-
zines, and leading scholarly journals, and he has appeared on
tion, the Heinz Foundation, the Australia Council Literary Arts
TV and radio programs throughout North America, and in
Board, and numerous other agencies. She has held Fulbright
France, Egypt, Singapore, and Australia. He has for many
fellowships to Tunisia, Indonesia, and India. She has taught
years served as an editor and contributing editor of Middle
for over 25 years and is currently an artist-in-residence and
East Report, published by the Middle East Research and Infor-
consulting professor at Stanford. She won a 1999 Distin-
mation Project (MERIP). In 2001-02 he served as president of
guished Teaching Award from the University of Minnesota,
the Middle East Studies Association of North America.
where she was professor of English. Her website is www.val-
erieminer.com.

40
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
HUMAN BIOLOGY 84Q HUMAN BIOLOGY 90Q

Social Justice, Responsibility, and Contemporary Issues in Human


Health Experimentation
S, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | WRITE-2
T 6:15p–9:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location M 6:15a–8:30p; 80-113

Reducing health disparities among different segments of Prerequisite: PWR 1.


the U.S. population is one of the principal goals of the federal
government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The use of human subjects to validate advances in medicine
(CDC). This course will explore the importance of this goal by is becoming increasingly common. This seminar examines
addressing a variety of questions. What evidence do we have the basic principles currently used for the protection of sub-
that health disparities exist in the United States? When is a jects, particularly in terms of informed consent and protec-
health disparity unjust? How do we assign responsibility for tion of privacy. Ethical issues relating to compensatory mech-
maintaining or recovering good health? Which arrangements anisms for inherent risks will be discussed in the context of
should a just society adopt to protect and restore the health current and past practices. We will place these considerations

AUTUMN
of its citizens? How do local community health organizations in a historical perspective and examine the development of
address health disparities? mechanisms for safeguarding the privacy and integrity of
The course will draw from multiple disciplines including the individual. We will examine classic examples of use and
the philosophy of justice, epidemiological research, psycho- abuse of human experimentation during medieval, Nazi, and
logical theories of responsibility, and the experiences of local modern times. Particular emphasis will be placed on the use
health professionals. of elite athletes in current experimentation programs. Rel-
A community-based learning component will involve site evant questions regarding pharmacological interventions to
visits to local health agencies and reflection activities to inte- enhance human performance will be discussed in the gener-
grate information gleaned from these visits with classroom al context of biomedical investigations. The seminar will fea-
discussions. At the end of the quarter, the class will work in ture guest speakers who are performing human experiments
partnership with a local agency to develop and conduct a or are involved in the process of approving such trials.
community event aimed at reducing health disparities. This course fulfills the second quarter of the Writing and
Rhetoric Requirement and emphasizes digitally-facilitated
oral and multimedia presentation.
Catherine A. Heaney is on the faculty in
the department of psychology and the
Stanford Prevention Research Center. She Christos E. Constantinou was born and
has extensive experience working with raised in Limassol, Cyprus, where he at-
community health agencies to prevent dis- tended kindergarten and grade school in
ease and promote health. Her research has the village of St. Yiannis, in the Troodos
made scholarly contributions in three areas: mountains. He received his undergraduate
investigating psychosocial factors at the education in electrical engineering in Lon-
worksite that are associated with health and disease; devel- don, where he also met his wife, Janet. Con-
oping and evaluating occupational safety and health inter- stantinou subsequently came to California
ventions that address psychosocial and behavioral risk fac- to work in Stanford’s Department of Radiology as a research
tors; and bridging the gaps between theory, research, and assistant. He enrolled at Stanford to study biomedical engi-
practice in health education. She has won several awards for neering, and he graduated with an MS in 1968 and a PhD in
her research investigating the deleterious effects of occupa- 1973. Professor Constantinou joined the faculty of the De-
tional stress on health. partment of Urology in 1977. His research interests include
clinical applications of physiological and pharmacological
systems, image processing, multimedia techniques in teach-
ing, and ethics in biomedical research. He has been a fresh-
man adivsor for the last 19 years, and he taught two classes in
the original Freshman Sophomore Seminars series: “Study of
Biological Time” and “Brain-Computer Engineering.” He and
Janet live on campus and have two grown children; one
graduated from UC–Berkeley, and the other from Stanford.

41
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
HUMAN BIOLOGY 91Q HUMAN BIOLOGY 99Q

Neuroethology: The Neural Control of Becoming a Doctor: Readings from


Behavior Medical School, Medical Training, and
Medical Practice
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-NatSci
W 3:15p–5:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only
Th 2:15p–4:05p; 160-326
Prerequisite: Knowledge of basic biological principles.

A nimal behavior can provide significant insights into the This seminar will introduce students considering medicine
evolution of behavioral adaptations. Understanding how as a career to the experience of medical school, residency
such behavior is controlled by the nervous system, however, training in medicine and surgery, and the practice of medi-
presents a significant challenge. Through discussion and cri- cine. Readings by and about doctors (including William Car-
tique of original research papers, this seminar will analyze los Williams, Robert Coles, Perri Klass, W. Somerset Maugham,
the origins and development of the study of animal behavior Sinclair Lewis, and Leo Tolstoy) will be supplemented by the
and what we know about the neural basis of animal behavior. professor’s 29 years of experience working as a cardiac sur-
AUTUMN

Students will read original scientific articles, write critiques, geon, training surgical residents, and teaching medical stu-
and make regular presentations. dents.
An important part of the course will be frank discussions
Russell Fernald is a professor of biology of topics not often brought to the attention of prospective
and the Benjamin Scott Crocker Professor of doctors, such as how to pick a medical school and a residen-
Human Biology. He joined the Stanford fac- cy, how medicine will affect family life (especially important
ulty in 1991 from the University of Oregon, for those who want time off to have children), and the dif-
where he was a founding member and di- ferences between surgical and medical specialties. We will
rector of the Institute for Neuroscience. His also consider advantages and disadvantages of various types
research focuses on how social behavior in- of careers in medicine, such as academic teaching, pure re-
fluences the brain. Professor Fernald has search, and clinical practice as a part of a group, HMO, hospi-
been awarded Stanford’s Bing Prize for innovation in teach- tal staff, or private practice.
ing, the Cox Medal for contributions to research by under-
graduates, and the Dinkelspiel Award for distinctive contri- Lawrence Zaroff has had three careers fol-
butions to undergraduate education. For his research on how lowing his residency and two years in the
behavior influences the brain, he was awarded a Jacob Javits U.S. Army Surgical Research Unit. He fo-
Award from the National Institutes of Health. In 2003, Profes- cused for 29 years on cardiac surgery, in-
sor Fernald was named the Mimi and Peter Haas University cluding a stint as director of the cardiac sur-
Fellow in Undergraduate Education. In 2004, he was awarded gical research laboratory at Harvard. There
the Rank Prize for his contributions to optoelectronics and his work centered on the development of
vision. the demand pacemaker. He spent the next
10 years concentrating on climbing, and did a first ascent of
Chulu West, a 22,000-foot peak on the Nepal-Tibet border. His
third life has been at Stanford, where he received a PhD in
2000, and where he teaches courses in medical humanities to
undergraduates and medical students. He is also a senior re-
search scholar with the Center for Biomedical Ethics and
writes for the science section of the New York Times.

42
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
LAW (LAWGEN) 110Q MANAGEMENT SCIENCE & ENGINEERING 22Q

Criminal Justice and the Criminal Courts The Flaw of Averages


S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only S, SEM | 3 Units | S/NC
M 4:15p–6:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location MW 8:30a–9:45a; Terman m33

This course is an introduction to the American criminal “The only certainty is that nothing is certain.”
Pliny the Elder, Roman scholar, 23-79 AD
justice system through the lens of the criminal courts. The
course focuses on the structures and theories at play in the
criminal court system, emphasizing court procedures, con- A s the financial meltdown of 2008 has demonstrated, Pliny
stitutional guarantees, and the trial process. The role of in- is still pretty much on target two millennia later. Unfortunate-
dividual agents – the police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, ly, the most common way to deal with uncertainties today is
judges, probation officers, and corrections officials – will be still to replace them with single “best guess” or average num-
examined. Where appropriate, readings and discussions will bers. This leads to a fallacy as fundamental as the belief that
identify relationships between the criminal court system and the earth is flat, known as the Flaw of Averages. It states, in
larger issues of race and class disparities, the role of incar- effect, that plans based on average assumptions are wrong
on average.

AUTUMN
ceration as an approach to punishment generally, and other
areas of general social interest. Students are expected to at- Recently new paradigms in computer simulation, data
tend each class and be prepared to discuss the questions list- structures, and management protocols have led to the prac-
ed in the syllabus. There will be four short-answer take-home tice of probability management, which has been applied
assignments and one final take-home essay exam. Grades at Shell and Merck & Co. as a cure for the Flaw of Averages.
will be based on class participation (30%), short-answer take- In 2008, Oracle, SAS Institute, Frontline Systems and others
home assignments (10% each), and final take-home essay standardized the DIST 1.0 data type for representing prob-
exam (30%). Students will be permitted to collaborate on all ability distributions. Together, these advances are changing
take-home assignments, including the final essay exam, but our perception of uncertainty as profoundly as the light bulb
each submitted assignment must reflect the student’s own changed our perception of darkness. This course shows how.
work.
Sam Savage, who has been at Stanford
Kara Dansky is the executive director of since 1990, is a professor (consulting) in the
the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, where management science and engineering de-
she teaches the law school’s criminal law partment. Previously, he taught at the Uni-
externship seminar as well as research sem- versity of Chicago Graduate School of Busi-
inars on sentencing law and policy and di- ness, where he developed the idea of an
version courts. She coordinates symposia, “algebraic curtain” and developed award-
conferences, and speaker series; advises winning software to bring analytical tools
policy-makers on a wide range of criminal to managers in an algebra-free environment. His most recent
justice issues, including corrections and sentencing reform book, The Flaw of Averages (2009), is a study of the fallacies
and the creation of a sentencing commission for California; that arise in business and science when single numbers (usu-
and helps students prepare for careers in criminal law and ally averages) are used to represent uncertain outcomes. Dr.
criminal justice policy. A leading voice on criminal law and Savage is a frequent consultant and expert witness on uncer-
criminal justice policy issues, Ms. Dansky has worked as a staff tainty and risk, and he has published widely in professional
attorney at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third journals.
Circuit and as a law clerk to the Honorable Martha Vazquez at
the United States District Court of New Mexico. Before join-
ing Stanford, she served as a staff attorney for the Society of
Counsel Representing Accused Persons in Seattle, Washing-
ton.

43
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 18Q MEDICINE 88Q

Teamology: Creative Teams and Dilemmas in Current Medical Practice


Individual Development
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci
T 2:15p–4:05p; 360-361A
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only
T 2:15p–4:05p; 360-361A
This seminar, taught by two practicing physicians, introduc-
By carefully managing and matching individual strengths es issues confronting contemporary medical practitioners.
We will explore the social, political, scientific, and economic
to necessary tasks, a psychologically diverse team can be
much more creative than any of its members alone. This forces that influence medical practice. We will investigate
seminar explores, intellectually and experientially, the range current crises in medicine, examining topics such as spiraling
of personality types and consciousness levels formulated by costs, the increased number of people with impaired access
Freud’s associate C.G. Jung. Over the past decade, this knowl- to health care, and the disillusionment many Americans feel
edge has been used to form and manage national champion toward the health-care system. We will also discuss the at-
engineering design teams in the Mechanical Engineering De- tempts by government and private medical insurers to con-
partment’s Program in Design. trol costs through managed care and health maintenance
AUTUMN

Students will first learn which roles on a problem-solving organizations, and the effects of these plans on patients
team best suit their individual characteristics. Then, they will and physicians. Medical education and how it has affected
form teams and learn how to deal with and develop their less the practice of medicine will be studied, as well as alterna-
conscious, even repressed, abilities by tolerating, cooperating tive health care, preventive medicine, the doctor-patient re-
with, and valuing teammates creative in those areas. Every- lationship, and the paradox of health in America: why do so
one will be on two teams. One team will consist of members many people who are so healthy feel so unhealthy? A portion
with similar personalities who will share experiences about of the course will include a few hours observing the instruc-
their common consciousness levels and preferred team roles. tors in their medical practices.
The second team will be composed of diverse personalities
who will study their cooperative and oppositional interac- Jeffrey Croke is a clinical adjunct associate
tions to promote self-awareness, personal development, and professor at Stanford’s medical school and a
conflict-resolution skills. physician internist at the Palo Alto Medical
Foundation, where his practice focuses on
Douglass Wilde is professor emeritus of preventive cardiology. Dr. Croke has been
mechanical and chemical engineering. He named one of the “Best Doctors” in America,
was educated at Carnegie Mellon, the Uni- as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area and
versity of Washington, and UC–Berkeley. In Silicon Valley. He lives with his wife and two
addition to 32 years on the Stanford faculty children in nearby Half Moon Bay, where they enjoy hiking,
and teaching at the University of Texas and bicycling, gardening, and other outdoor activities.
Yale, he has seven years of industrial and
military experience. Recently, he has intro- Henry W. Jones is a clinical adjunct profes-
duced the use of personality questionnaires to guide the sor at Stanford’s medical school and an in-
composition of student design teams, thereby tripling the ternist at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
number of teams receiving national awards. With colleagues A recipient of both the Russell V. Lee Teach-
Bernard Roth and Rolf Faste, he has conducted 10 two-week ing Award and the Henry J. Kaiser Award for
creativity workshops for engineering design professors. In Excellence in Clinical Teaching, Dr. Jones
addition to his new book, Teamology, Professor Wilde has was named one of the “Best Bay Area Doc-
published four books on optimization and has received priz- tors” in 1992 and 1997 by San Francisco Fo-
es from the Operations Research Society of America, the cus magazine.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Ameri-
can Institute of Industrial Engineering.

44
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
MEDICINE 93Q PATHOLOGY 103Q

The AIDS Epidemic: Biology, Behavior, Lymphocyte Migration


and Global Responses
S, DIAL | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
W 4:15p–6:00p; CCSR4205
S, SEM | 3 Units | S/NC
T 6:30p–8:30p; See Axess or SIS website for location
To participate in immune surveillance and the development
Prerequisite: A basic familiarity with international AIDS issues of inflammation, lymphocytes must exit the blood stream
and concepts; students with experience in HIV prevention, care, and enter tissues. This process, known as lymphocyte migra-
or research programs are preferred. tion, involves a complex series of adhesion, activation, and
diapedesis events. We will discuss the cellular mechanisms
The acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and hu- that are involved in lymphocyte migration. The major play-
man immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic is profoundly ers include (1) lymphocyte adhesion molecules that inter-
affecting human health throughout the world. The discovery act with their counter-receptors on blood vessel endothelia
of the causative agent and an understanding of the transmis- cells, and (2) a variety of molecules, including cytokines and
sion of HIV have fueled a quest for prevention, treatments, chemokines, which attract or activate lymphocytes. The role

AUTUMN
and a vaccine. This seminar will introduce the important of these molecules in the development of human diseases
discoveries in biology, biotechnology, epidemiology, and such as asthma, type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis will
medicine of the past 20 years. Beginning with hypotheses be emphasized.
about the origins of HIV as a human disease, we will discuss
the spread of AIDS and HIV; investigate the social, political, Sara Michie, a professor of pathology, splits
and economic consequences of the epidemic; and critically her work time between teaching, immunol-
examine the current national and global responses. Experts ogy research, and diagnostic anatomic pa-
from the Stanford community will share their perspectives thology. In her leisure time, she enjoys
with students, who will be asked to read and critique scien- sports, especially surfing and basketball.
tific papers, literary works, and social commentaries on the Most important, Professor Michie is 100
epidemic. percent Texan and proud of it.

David Katzenstein is a professor of medi-


cine in the Division of Infectious Disease
and Geographic Medicine at Stanford’s
School of Medicine. Professor Katzenstein’s
experience in Africa began over 20 years
ago, with his appointment as a lecturer at
the University of Zimbabwe. He is part of
the HIV Prevention Network, a collaborative
group that develops and tests the safety and efficacy of clini-
cal trials for preventing HIV in Africa and around the world.
Professor Katzenstein has received several honors, including
the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award for out-
standing physician-scientists.

45
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
PEDIATRICS 111Q POLITICAL SCIENCE 24Q

Issues of Race and Ethnicity in the Law & Order


Health of Children
S, SEM | 3-4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
Th 2:15p–4:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location
S, SEM | 3-4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
Th 2:15p–4:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location
Why, when most of us need a new computer, do we buy or
This course introduces students to medicine and pediat- borrow one? Why don’t we steal one?
Mostly we don’t because we are decent people who
rics from a public health perspective. We will identify several
racial/ethnic subgroups of children considered to be at risk, wouldn’t do that sort of thing. But partly, we don’t because
and, within that framework, show how different methods are stealing computers is against the law, and thieves who get
employed to unmask health issues that need to be addressed caught end up in jail.
from a health and/or public policy perspective. Students will This course will examine how law works to get us to re-
discuss determinants of health, review literature, formulate spect other people’s rights. What is law, and where does it
their own research questions, and develop their own ideas come from? Why do we obey some laws, but not others?
for changes in public policy or action through advocacy. The What is the relation of law to justice? to mercy?
AUTUMN

course is designed to encourage students considering ca- To help answer these questions, we’ll look at a range of
reers in health care, to expose students to what doctors do, sources, from the classics of political theory to court cases,
to introduce disparities in health care, and to demonstrate novels, and movies.
that personal values can be translated into personal suc-
cess and also benefit the common good. The course features Andrew Rutten, trained as an economist,
guest speakers with experience in child research, advocacy, teaches constitutional law and American
and policy. politics. He is interested in how rules shape
our everyday lives, and especially in why
Anthony E. Burgos is an assistant professor bad rules persist. He has written on the use
of pediatrics and medical director of the of rules among such different groups as
Well Baby Nursery at Lucile Packard Chil- economists, American revolutionaries, and
dren’s Hospital. He received his bachelor’s wandering cattle-herders in Kenya.
degree in human biology at Stanford, medi-
cal doctorate at UC-San Diego, and master’s
degree in public health from UC-Berkeley.
He came back to Stanford for residency
training and a postdoctoral fellowship in academic pediat-
rics. In addition to his teaching and clinical work, Professor
Burgos has worked with ePocrates and BiliTool, Inc. to create
electronic media for physicians.

46
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
PSYCHOLOGY 7Q SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY 101Q

Language Understanding by Children Technology in Contemporary Society


and Adults
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-SocSci
M 3:15p–5:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only
M 3:15p–5:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location
This seminar introduces students to the dynamic field of
How do we first learn to find meanings in strings of speech science, technology, and society (STS). We will study science
and technology and their relationship, distinctive features
sounds? Understanding spoken language requires the rapid
integration of acoustic information with linguistic knowledge of these potent forces in the current era, and how they have
and with conceptual knowledge based on experience with transformed and been affected by contemporary society.
how things happen in the world. Psycholinguists investigate Case studies will be explored that illustrate important social,
the complex mental processes underlying language compre- cultural, ethical, and aesthetic issues raised by recent scientif-
hension and production, and how these impressive abilities ic and technological developments, especially in information
are acquired. In this seminar we explore research on the early technology and biotechnology, primarily in the United States.
development of language understanding, using laboratory Along the way, we will examine noteworthy influences of sci-

AUTUMN
methods to reveal how very young children begin to make ence and technology on aspects of contemporary society in-
sense of speech. We will also consider research on bilingual cluding work, leisure, ethics, art, and international relations.
learning by children and adults, asking why it is so much eas- Reversing the arrow of influence, we will also explore how
ier to learn a first language in infancy than to learn a second contemporary society influences scientific and technologi-
language later in life. Discussions of theory and research are cal activities and products. Through the course, students will
enriched with observations of preschool children and visits develop the vital ability to think clearly, critically-analytically,
to Stanford laboratories to learn more about research tech- insightfully, and responsibly about controversial issues of sci-
niques. ence and technology in contemporary society.

Anne Fernald graduated from Swarthmore Robert McGinn is professor of manage-


College and, after living in Germany for sev- ment science and engineering, director of
eral years, did her doctoral work in develop- the STS Program, and associate director of
mental psychology and psycholinguistics at the France-Stanford Center for Interdisci-
the University of Oregon. She runs a re- plinary Studies. Apart from a year at Bell
search laboratory in the Psychology Depart- Laboratories in 1978-79, Professor McGinn
ment that focuses on language acquisition, has been at Stanford since 1971. He has
and she is involved with Stanford’s interdis- published a number of works in his two
ciplinary programs in human biology and symbolic systems. specialties (technology in society; and ethics, science, and
Her teaching, mentoring, and service to undergraduate edu- technology), including Science, Technology, and Society, and
cation have been honored with Stanford’s Dinkelspiel Award essays in journals such as Technology and Culture, Science and
and ASSU and Hoagland prizes for outstanding teaching, and Engineering Ethics, Professional Ethics, and Nanoethics. Profes-
the Cox Medal for mentoring undergraduates in research. sor McGinn has abiding interests in the cultures of France, It-
aly, Spain, and Germany; the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche;
classical music and opera; and the art of conductor Carlos
Kleiber.

47
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES (SLAVGEN) 77Q SOCIOLOGY 45Q

Russia’s Weird Classic: Nikolai Gogol Understanding Race and Ethnicity in


American Society
S, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
W 2:15p–4:30p; 160-332
S, SEM | 3-4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-SocSci
Th 3:15p–5:05p; 260-311A
This seminar investigates the works and life of Nikolai
Gogol, the most eccentric of Russian authors and the founder
of what is dubbed Fantastic Realism. Our investigation will
I n this seminar we will explore the many meanings of race
in American society, ranging from the way race affects per-
be based on close reading of works written in various genres sonal identity to its influence on lifelong social and economic
and created in various stages of Gogol’s literary career. This well-being. Students will be assigned weekly readings for
study provides a perspective on the relationship between discussion. The readings will present theories and concepts
Romanticism and Realism in Russian literature, and between that social scientists use to study contemporary racial and
the popular Ukrainian culture and the “high” Russian and ethnic relations, as well as current research in the field. Stu-
Western European traditions in Gogol’s oeuvre. The seminar dents also will be asked to explore how race and ethnicity
traces Gogol’s influences on subsequent Russian literature, are expressed in everyday life. This assignment will require
AUTUMN

especially Dostoevsky, and investigates the impact of his students to pay close attention to the ways in which racial
work on 20th-century modernist literature, painting, theater, themes are reflected in popular print and film media and cov-
music, and art, including Vladimir Nabokov, literature of the ered in news reporting. Students will be challenged to speak
absurd, Dmitry Shostakovich, and Marc Chagall. We will re- candidly about sensitive topics in ways intended to foster
view the main critical interpretations of Gogol. The seminar greater understanding and sensitivity toward personal and
is intended for students interested in literature and literary social differences. The topics to be explored include a brief
studies. historical overview of race in America, race and violence, race
and socioeconomic well-being, and the future of race rela-
Lazar Fleishman received his PhD from the tions in America. Students will be expected to complete a
University of Latvia, Riga, and was a faculty written assignment each week and give at least one short
member of the Hebrew University in Jerusa- oral presentation during the quarter.
lem for 11 years. He has been professor of
Slavic languages and literatures at Stanford Matthew Snipp is a professor of sociology
since 1985 and has been a visiting professor and the director of the Center for Compara-
at Harvard, UC–Berkeley, and Yale. Professor tive Studies of Race and Ethnicity. He re-
Fleishman is the author of numerous books ceived his PhD from the University of Wis-
and scholarly articles, and he is an international authority on consin and has been a research fellow at the
Boris Pasternak. Census Bureau and Stanford’s Center for
Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
His research focuses primarily on the racial
and ethnic demography of American society, especially the
demography of the American Indian population. Professor
Snipp has served as an advisor to the Census Bureau, Centers
for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics, and
the President’s Initiative on Race.

48
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
SPECIAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM 198Q IBERIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN CULTURES 193Q

Modern Greece in Film and Literature Spaces and Voices of Brazil through
Films
S, SEM | 5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom
M 1:15p–3:05p; See Axess or SIS website for location S, SEM | 3-5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom
T 3:15p–5:05p; EncinaW 101
The vitality and vibrancy of Hellenic culture and the Aegean
landscape and the distinctive character of Greek myths and
oral poetry are familiar to many of us, yet the world of con-
The way a country is perceived and defines itself is the result
of many complex forces. National identity involves the repro-
temporary Greece is uncharted terrain. In this course, we will duction of social relations and intricate social constructions
explore the culture of modern Greece and of the new gen- on the part of those who live there and those who see the
erations of Greeks who are negotiating the twin influences country from a distance. Although Brazil’s cultural identity
of European modernism and ancient Greek civilization. Films has changed throughout times, the country has conserved
and documentaries, as well as readings from prominent writ- some clear and pervasive defining traits. This course is an in-
ers and poets, will provide the framework for discussion and troduction to the history, culture, politics, and artistic produc-
analysis of cultural highlights. Our study will include films by tion of Brazil as seen through feature films, documentaries,

AUTUMN
Kakoyannis, Dassin, Boulmetis, Scorsese, and others, as well and complementary readings. Starting with the Brazilian Hol-
as selected readings from Kazantzakis, Eugenides, Samarakis, lywood icon Carmen Miranda and Franklin Roosevelt’s Good
Halo, the work of two Nobel Laureates, Giorgos Seferis and Od- Neighbor policy, the course moves through several spaces,
ysseus Elytis, and other Greek and Greek American writers. analyzing how they reflect and produce diverse mental con-
structions/perceptions of Brazil. Based on movies portraying
Eva Prionas holds a PhD in education from the large cities in the Southeast and favelas (shanty towns),
Stanford, as well as advanced degrees in the coffee plantations of São Paulo, the Amazon basin, and
classics and literature from Stanford and the the underdeveloped northeastern region, we will examine
National University of Athens, Greece. She is the voices of street children, rubber tappers, indigenous peo-
a lecturer of Greek language, culture, and ples, African Brazilians, socialist urban guerrillas, Japanese
literature, and is coordinator of the Special immigrants, and factory workers. Our goal is to lead students
Language Program. Her work focuses on to a comprehensive understanding of the forces that have
the development and implementation of shaped the multicultural reality of contemporary Brazil.
innovative technologies and methods that enhance the
teaching and learning of the less commonly taught languag- Lyris Wiedemann has been the director of
es and cultures. the Portuguese language program at Stan-
ford since 1996. Dr. Wiedemann earned a
BA in Romance languages and MA in the
teaching of languages and literature in her
native Brazil; she then received an MA in lin-
guistics and PhD in education (applied lin-
guistics) from Stanford. She was a professor
of Portuguese and linguistics at two major Brazilian universi-
ties and taught at UC–Berkeley for nine years. She is a co-ed-
itor of two readers of research on the teaching and acquisi-
tion of Portuguese for speakers of Spanish, and has been
publishing consistently in this field. In 2005, she was awarded
the prestigious Baker Fellowship by Middlebury College.

49
WINTER COURSES

Application must be submitted via the web at


introsems.stanford.edu

Application Deadline for Winter Quarter is


Monday, November 30 at 12:00 noon

50
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS 113N ANTHROPOLOGY 22N

Structures: Why Things Don’t (and Ethnographies of North America: An


Sometimes Do) Fall Down Introduction to Cultural and Social
Anthropology
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci
MW 12:50p–2:05p
F, SEM | 3-4 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-SocSci
MW 1:15p–3:05p
S tructures keep things up and keep things in. Using a wide
range of examples, we will examine how various structures
created by nature or built by humans perform these tasks.
What is culture? Do people in North America have it? Where
does this idea come from? How have Americans historically
We will study nature’s structures, from micro-organisms
understood the differences between and among its citizens?
to large vertebrae, answering such questions as how trees
What is race and ethnicity? What roles have nationalism and
stand up, why living humans can stand while cadavers can-
colonization played in shaping American identities? How do
not, and why snakes don’t kink but garden hoses do. We
Americans conceptualize the nonmaterial world? How are
will also study how buildings have been built, from ancient
science and religion located as ideological constructs? What
dwellings to modern skyscrapers, and why some centuries-
is globalization? What role do media and consumerism play
old structures stay up while others collapse. The structures
in shaping personal, familial, and national identities?
of spacecraft and airplanes will be examined to see how they
Some of the most important issues facing human societ-
work and sometimes fail (e.g., Challenger, Columbia, Comet
ies today result from differences in ideology, economic and
jet aircraft). We will investigate how boats from ancient times
political power, gender, identity, and the unpredictable pro-
to present-day America’s Cup sailboats have been built, how
cesses of globalization. Cultural and social anthropology can
the latter win or break, how sports equipment has been made
provide us with a language, a methodology, and a means of
including modern skis and snowboards, and how composite
examining and communicating these complex subjects of
materials are used to make a structure light and strong. We
inquiry. This class uses the methods and modes of ethno-
will also look at biomedical devices, including bone replace-
graphic study in an examination of American culture. Ethno-
ments and cardiovascular stents.
graphic materials range from the function of secrecy in Zuni,
New Mexico to the economics of hustling in Harlem; from
George Springer is the Paul Pigott Profes- the construction of whiteness in Detroit to the ethnography
sor of Engineering in aeronautics and astro-

WINTER
of Silicon Valley families. Each of these narratives provides a
nautics and professor, by courtesy, of me- window into the various ways in which Americans approach
chanical engineering and civil engineering. the subjects of time and space, the sacred and the profane,
Prior to joining Stanford in 1983, he served and the construction of class, race, and gender. Students will
on the faculties of MIT and the University of not be required to have any previous knowledge, just curios-
Michigan. His research focuses on the de- ity and an open mind.
sign of aircraft and spacecraft structures,
sporting equipment, and biomedical devices. He has been a
Michael Wilcox is an assistant professor of
consultant to NASA, the Air Force, the Navy, major aerospace
anthropology. His research interests include
and automotive companies, and America’s Cup syndicates,
early colonial or contact-period interactions
served as senior technical adviser to Hexcel, the largest man-
between Europeans and Native Americans;
ufacturer of composite materials, and is on the academic
the production of narratives of contact,
technical advisory panel of Golf Digest. He has been a tank
conquest, and colonization; and contempo-
commander, played ice hockey, and raced sailboats for a liv-
rary Native American culture, history, and
ing, and he now plays lousy golf.
identity. Since his arrival from Harvard (PhD
2001), Professor Wilcox has worked to facilitate communica-
tion and scholarly interaction between contemporary Native
Americans, anthropologists, and archaeologists. His first
book, The Pueblo Revolt and the Mythology of Contact, repre-
sents a sharp departure from traditional accounts of contact,
colonization, and disappearance for Native Americans. Pro-
fessor Wilcox and his wife, Julie, serve as resident fellows in
Murray House.

51
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
BIOLOGY 14N BIOLOGY 37N

Plants and Civilization Green Revolution and Plant


Biotechnology
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci
TTh 11:00a–11:50a
F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
MWF 11:00a–11:50a
This course is an introduction to the role of plants in the af-
fairs of society through time. The goal is to increase our under-
standing of the central roles that plants play in providing the
F eeding ever-growing populations is a constant challenge.
In the second half of the 20th century, the breeding of im-
goods and services that have shaped our civilization. We will proved varieties, combined with the use of chemical fertiliz-
explore how plants provide goods that humans have sought, ers and pesticides, led to the crop yield increases labeled the
modified, and cultivated, and we will investigate how these Green Revolution. New technologies in genetic engineering
activities have caused famine, wars, and the restructuring of are expected to bring the second green revolution. This semi-
human societies and the natural biotic world. The course will nar will examine the challenge of meeting current and future
include lectures and group discussions. Students will make global food needs without further damaging the fragile envi-
oral and written reports and take a final written examination. ronment, a challenge that will require innovative effort from
Class demonstrations and field trips will be included. scientists and society.

Harold Mooney is the Paul S. Achilles Pro- Zhiyong Wang is an assistant professor, by
fessor in Environmental Biology. He current- courtesy, in the Biology Department. He re-
ly is researching the impacts of global ceived his PhD in molecular, cell and devel-
change on terrestrial ecosystems, the global opmental biology from UCLA. Dr. Wang’s
impact of invasive species, and the ecosys- research group uses molecular genetics and
tem functioning of biodiversity. He served as proteomics to investigate how growth and
president of the Ecological Society during development are regulated by steroids and
1988–89 and as president of the American other hormones in plants. Dr. Wang is also
Institute of Biological Sciences in 1993. He is secretary gen- affiliated with the Department of Plant Biology at the Carne-
eral of the International Council of Scientific Unions and a gie Institution for Science, located on the Stanford campus.
member of the American Philosophical Society, National
WINTER

Academy of Sciences, and American Academy of Arts and Sci-


ences. Professor Mooney’s personal interests include traveling
and field trips to observe the wonders of natural and managed
ecosystems. He is particularly interested in the natural and
cultural diversity of Sonoma County, where he has a farm.

52
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 48N CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 80N

Organizing Global Projects The Art of Structural Engineering


F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
TTh 1:15p–3:05p TTh 1:15p–3:05p

A ll organizations attempt to execute strategic and tacti- This course will introduce students to the history of mod-
cal initiatives through portfolios of projects, many of which ern bridges, buildings, and other large-scale structures. Basic
fail to achieve intended objectives. This class highlights the principles of structural engineering and structural form will
challenges associated with planning and managing private, be illustrated through case studies. We will analyze structural
governmental and non-profit/NGO global projects; it teaches forms by calculating their efficiency, considering their econ-
theory, methods, and tools to enhance global project out- omy, and evaluating their elegance. Students will participate
comes. Student teams model, analyze, and advise real-world, in a field trip to a Bay Area landmark, make a short presen-
cross-cultural teams engaged in global projects. tation on a structure of interest to them, and participate in
Past students in this seminar have observed, modeled, hands-on exercises including building and testing a model
simulated, and advised project teams including a non-profit bridge. The goal of the course is to develop an understand-
micro-lender in Latin America, the California high-speed rail ing and appreciation of modern structures, the social context
project, a complex software implementation project, an Am- in which they are built, and the art of structural engineering.
azonian rain forest canopy ecotourism project, and a Global Students from all backgrounds are welcome.
Heritage Fund cultural restoration project.
Opportunities exist for CEE48N graduates to participate Sarah Billington, associate professor of
in research in the Collaboratory for Research on Global Proj- structural engineering, joined Stanford in
ects; see http://crgp.stanford.edu. During the 2008 sum- 2003 after five years on the faculty at Cor-
mer, two graduates from this class conducted collaborative nell. She received her BSE from Princeton
research on agencies involved in promoting private partici- and her MS and PhD from the University of
pation in infrastructure development at the Indian Institute Texas at Austin. Her research and teaching
of Technology Madras, in Chennai. During summer 2009, a involve the design and behavior of struc-
class graduate conducted research on alternative low-cost tures, with an emphasis on experimental
housing technologies and assembly methods in Tanzania. and numerical evaluation of durable and sustainable con-

WINTER
Both projects were sponsored by CRGP and funded by VPUE struction materials. As a consulting structural engineer, she
grants. participated in the design of various tall buildings in Chicago
and London as well as in airport renovations in Baltimore and
Raymond Levitt is professor of civil and en- Boston. She spends her free time with her husband and their
vironmental engineering and a senior fel- two children.
low at the Woods Institute for the Environ-
ment. He serves as director of Stanford’s
Collaboratory for Research on Global Proj-
ects and as academic director of the Stan-
ford Advanced Project Management Execu-
tive Program. Professor Levitt’s Virtual
Design Team research group develops new organization the-
ory and computational models to design work processes and
organizations for enterprises engaged in fast-paced, complex
projects. His current research focuses on the special chal-
lenges of executing global infrastructure projects involving
participants from multiple national backgrounds. He was a
co-founder, and has served as a director of Design Power,
Inc., Vité Corporation, and Visual Network Design, Inc.

53
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
CHEMISTRY 26N COMPARATIVE MEDICINE 81N

The What, Why, How, and Wow of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology
Nanotechnology of Mammals
F, SEM | 5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci
See Axess or SIS website for day and time W 3:15p–5:05p

What is nanotechnology? Why is it a new and exciting field? Note: Animal dissection will be required.
What impact will it have on society and on our daily lives?
This freshman seminar will present an introduction to
This course is an introduction to common laboratory, do-
mestic, and exotic mammals. Using a comparative approach,
nanotechnology. We will discuss basic science at the nano-
we will investigate the unique adaptations of species in terms
scale, its difference from molecular and macroscopic scales,
of their morphological, anatomical, and behavioral charac-
and its implications and applications. We will learn about
teristics. We will study how these species interact with their
important developments in nanotechnology in the past two
own and other species, including humans.
decades, from imaging and moving single atoms on surfaces
to killing cancer cells with nanoscale tools and gadgets.
Nanotechnology is highly interdisciplinary and crosses Donna M. Bouley is a professor of compar-
many fields. We will talk about the critical roles chemistry ative medicine and the director of necropsy
plays in shaping nanotechnology, in making molecules, services in the Stanford School of Medicine.
nanoparticles, nanocrystals, nanotubes, and nanowires us- She received her DVM in 1985 from the Uni-
ing the so called bottom up approach. We will also talk about versity of Tennessee, College of Veterinary
top-down approaches in making small structures and ma- Medicine, Knoxville, and worked for three
terials using tiny tools, ‘pens’, ‘pencils’ and ‘cutters’. We will years in private practice before returning to
discuss why small things differ from their large counterparts the University of Tennessee for graduate
in physical properties, an important aspect that arises from school and pathology residency training. She received her
the basic principles of quantum mechanics. These new and PhD in experimental and comparative medicine in 1995. She
exotic properties have been a main motivation for making then joined the faculty of Texas A&M College of Veterinary
these nano structures and materials for both basic studies Medicine, became board-certified by the American College
as well as real world applications, including nanoelectronics of Veterinary Pathologists, and came to Stanford in 1997.
WINTER

and nanomedicine. In addition to readings and discussion, Professor Bouley is the pathologist for the research-ani-
we will go into the lab to see how to make nanocrystals and mal facility and provides clinical services to Stanford animal
learn how to “‘see”’ things nearly one-millionth the size of that users in many departments. She is co-investigator in numer-
of a human hair. ous studies with the radiologists who work on MRI-guided
ultrasound and cryosurgery cancer treatments in animal
models. She also works with investigators on studies using
Hongjie Dai received his BS from Tsinghua
transgenic mice and with faculty in microbiology and im-
University, his MS from Columbia, and his
munology on studies of host-pathogen interactions. She has
PhD from Harvard. After postdoctoral work
become the primary adviser to undergraduates interested in
with Richard E. Smalley at Rice University,
careers in veterinary medicine and biomedical research. In
he joined the faculty of the Chemistry De-
her spare time, she enjoys jogging with her dog Gimley, bik-
partment at Stanford, where he is currently
ing, and dancing.
the Jackson-Wood Professor of Chemistry.
He has received prestigious awards for his
work on nanoscience including the APS James McGroddy
Prize for 2006, the Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics in
2004, the American Chemical Society Pure Chemistry Award
in 2002, and election to the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences in 2009.
Hongjie Dai’s research group has developed chemical
vapor deposition synthesis of carbon nanotubes, including
in deterministic synthesis of nanotubes on surfaces for inte-
gration into high quality devices for molecular electronics,
quantum transport and other mesoscopic physics studies.
Most recently, Dai’s group extended into biological areas by
interfacing carbon nanotubes with biological systems for
novel nanobiotechnology applications

54
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
DRAMA 17N, CHICANA/O STUDIES 160N, CSRE 160N ECONOMICS 20N

Salt of the Earth: The Docudrama in The Economy and Economics of Ancient
América Greece
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, EC-AmerCul F, SEM | 2 Units | Letter Grade Only
MW 1:15p–3:05p TTh 3:15p–5:05p

This seminar is an introduction to “Docudrama”, a form of A ncient Greek culture is the foundation of Western culture,
factually based, politically-motivated, dramatic writing (film and yet the two differ in very significant ways, so much so
and theater), related to the Chicano/a and Latino/a expe- that ancient Greek culture is actually closer to Eastern culture
rience, providing a social critique of current or historical in many respects. From this foundation for understanding
events through creative documentation and dramatization. the cultural background for Athens of the fifth and fourth
The 1954 Black listed film, Salt of the Earth, will serve as the centuries BC, we will examine the the strengths and weak-
point of departure for examining the more than half-century nesses of Athenian democracy.
of Latino/a-oriented Docudrama that followed. Additional We will also discuss the Athenian economy of the fourth
sources include Chicano/a and Latino/a texts, Brecht, Teatro century BC. It was a highly developed market economy
Campesino, and Culture Clash. Students will create a short equipped with advanced manufacturing and banking sec-
original docudrama at the quarter’s end. tors. And yet, it was of a much smaller scale than a modern
capitalist economy and therefore can provide a useful prac-
Cherríe Moraga is a poet, playwright, and tice ground in which students can learn about the interrela-
essayist, and the co-editor of This Bridge tionship of various sectors of the economy.
Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women Finally, students will learn about the economic ideas of
of Color. She is the author of numerous Plato, Aristotle, and Xenophon. Although the word econom-
plays, including Shadow of a Man and Wat- ics is of a Greek origin, there was no separate academic dis-
sonville: Some Place Not Here (the former cipline called economics in the days of Plato and Aristotle.
won the Fund for New American Plays Instead, it was a part of ethics. Students should critically ex-
Award in 1991 and the latter in 1995), and amine the pros and cons of modern economics, which has
Heroes and Saints & Other Plays (which earned the PEN West purported to establish itself as a modern science by ridding
itself of every normative consideration. The ethical theory

WINTER
Award for Drama in 1992). Her plays have been anthologized
in numerous collections and were published by West End of Plato and Aristotle may be said to be person-centered as
Press in a three-volume series of collected works. Her most opposed to action-centered, characteristic of many modern
recently collected nonfiction writings include The Last Gen- theories, including utilitarianism. The class will address the
eration; Waiting in the Wings: Portrait of a Queer Motherhood; pros and cons of utilitarianism in the light of these ethical
and a new expanded edition of Loving in the War Years, re- theories.
published in 2000. She received a National Endowment for
the Arts Theatre Playwrights’ Fellowship in 1993 and is an Takeshi Amemiya is Edward Ames Ed-
artist-in-residence in the Drama Department. monds Professor of Economics Emeritus. He
has taught graduate econometrics since
1964 and sophomore seminars and under-
graduate courses on the economy and eco-
nomics of ancient Greece since 1999. He is
the author of Economy and Economics of An-
cient Greece (Routledge, 2007). He and his
wife, Yoshiko, are Japanese citizens, but their two children
and three grandchildren are American citizens.

55
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 60N, GEOPHYSICS 60N ENGLISH 75N

Man versus Nature: Coping with Poetry and Environment


Disasters Using Space Technology
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
MW 1:15p–3:05p
F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
See Axess or SIS website for day and time
This course stems from a question: Can poetry save the
Natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, earth? Our question mark asks and suggests a lot. Could po-
ems really save the earth? We shouldn’t rule that out. With
hurricanes, and fires affect the lives of thousands of people
their joys of wordplay, vocal melody, shaping, and imagery,
worldwide every day. A recent single earthquake off Sumatra
nature poems can quicken awareness and bolster respect,
killed almost 200,000 people. Hurricane Katrina flooded New
freshening and sharpening our consciousness of this ravaged
Orleans and displaced hundreds of thousands. Really large di-
resilient planet, this primordial biosystem of sea and earth
sasters such as asteroid impacts have periodically obliterated
where homo sapiens is so recent a presence. And conscious-
many species of life on Earth. Over the last 20 years, develop-
ness breeds conscience. The poetry of nature has always in-
ments in spaceborne imaging technology have made it pos-
teracted with the nature of poetry. We’ll now be asking how
sible to respond quickly to the threat of such disasters. In ad-
poems can reveal our spirited yet charged interactions with
dition, new understanding of the physical processes involved
nonhuman nature — our stake in our surroundings.
allows us to anticipate and mitigate the consequences of nat-
These questions will also generate a sampling of British
ural disasters. This course will explore these new tools, how
and American poetry, as well as fresh techniques for the read-
they are applied to natural disasters, and how the remotely
ing of poems. What is actually happening in a poem when
sensed data are manipulated and analyzed. Some class time
its environmental imprint and impetus touch us? When, for
will be devoted to computer manipulation of remote-sens-
example, Hopkins sees the Earth “seared with trade” yet finds
ing data. Students will be introduced to current research, du-
“the dearest freshness deep down things”? Starting from
plicate some of the data-analysis procedures, and prepare a
Native American songs, haiku, and Psalms, we’ll revisit the
report on a selected disaster using space technology. We will
Romantics (William and Dorothy Wordsworth, John Keats,
emphasize discussion of the basic scientific issues. Also, we
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Clare), early Americans (Walt
will consider political and social consequences and costs of
Whitman, Emily Dickinson), on through Gerard Manley Hop-
disaster mitigation and how scientific knowledge affects pol-
kins, William Butler Yeats, Robert Frost, William Carlos Wil-
icy. There are no specific prerequisites, but students should
WINTER

liams, then Robinson Jeffers, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Eliza-


be comfortable running pre-existing computer applications.
beth Bishop, Denise Levertov, and our contemporaries (A.
R. Ammons, W. S. Merwin, Galway Kinnell, Ted Hughes, Gary
Howard Zebker holds joint faculty appoint-
Snyder). We’ll listen to the poets’ voices, examine illuminating
ments in geophysics and electrical engi-
images, walk up to a 200-year-old chestnut tree in the hills,
neering, and his research addresses radar
and an environmental poet will visit the class. You’ll also be
remote sensing in its various forms. Most of
able to share your own environmental poems.
his work focuses on scientific studies of the
Earth and planets such as examining the
Earth’s crustal deformation from earth- John Felstiner’s lifelong love for poetry
quakes and volcanoes, studying the polar plus a mounting sense of environmental ur-
regions and their influence on the world’s climate, and map- gency gave rise to his most recent book,
ping the surfaces of planets and moons in the solar system. Can Poetry Save the Earth? / A Field Guide to
His research group also addresses engineering issues arising Nature Poems. He has chosen this course for
in the design and use of satellite radar systems, including his last term at Stanford. During 45 years he
signal processing, design, and analysis; atmospheric electro- also taught at the University of Chile, the
magnetic (EM) propagation and correction; and very high- Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Yale.
speed networking and data-serving using next-generation His books, which have won many prizes, include Translating
Internet. Neruda: The Way to Macchu Picchu; Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor,
Jew; Selected Poems and Prose of Paul Celan, and a Norton an-
thology, Jewish American Literature. Other concerns have
been stateside vis-à-vis combatant poetry from the Vietnam
era, the revelatory process of literary translation, and creative
resistance—poetry, art, and music from the Holocaust.

56
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
ENGLISH 86N GERMAN STUDIES (GERGEN) 104N

American Hauntings Resistance Writings in Nazi Germany


F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum
TTh 2:15p–3:45p TTh 11:00a–12:50p

The United States, a famous cultural geographer once wrote, D eveloping the courage to do what is right and maintain-
should be the country least hospitable to ghosts: “It does not ing the strength to resist evil in the face of personal persecu-
believe in the sanctity of the past. The nation has its face to tion are fundamental human dilemmas. Many who lived in
the future.” Of course, contradicting this tidy theory are the Nazi Germany had neither the courage, the intellectual and/
hosts upon hosts of ghosts that have defiantly, insistently in- or spiritual means, nor the strength to speak or act against
habited American literature and landscape from the time of the evil with which they were confronted. But some did pos-
the Puritans to the present. In this seminar we will explore sess courage and strength, and they serve as touchstones
the cultural, psychological, social, and political dynamics of for understanding the best of the human spirit during the
hauntings in American literature, including ghost stories and worst of times. This course focuses on documents gener-
other instances of supernatural, emotional, or mental posses- ated by nonmilitary resistance groups during the period of
sion, from the early national period to the late 20th century. National Socialism. Letters, essays, diaries, and statements on
Authors include Charles Brockden Brown, Washington Irving, ethics from the Bonhoeffer and Scholl families form the core
Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charlotte Perkins Gil- of the readings. The resistance novel, Every Man Dies Alone,
man, Charles Chesnutt, Henry James, Stephen King, Maxine by Hans Fallada, is also included. Texts will be read as histori-
Hong Kingston, and Toni Morrison. cal documents, reflections of German thought, statements of
conscience, attempts to maintain normal relationships with
Judith Richardson joined the Stanford others in the face of great risk, as poetic works, and as guides
English Department after receiving her PhD for the development of an ethical life.
in American Studies from Harvard in 2001.
The author of Possessions: The History and Elizabeth Bernhardt was assigned Kafka’s
Uses of Haunting in the Hudson Valley, she The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung) in
teaches a range of courses on American lit- the first week of her first quarter of college
erature including classes on American German. “As I struggled to read that first lit-

WINTER
women writers, early American literature, erary text in German,” she says, “I kept
and the literature of American cities. She is currently working wondering why there seemed to be such
on a study of plant life in 19th-century American culture. mismatches between and among the lan-
guage that I knew, what the “plot” of the
story seemed to be, and the images of German culture that I
had constructed. That first week of college actually set the
research agenda for my career in German Studies and in Ap-
plied Linguistics.” Professor Bernhardt still is interested in the
question of how one comes to understand in a second lan-
guage and how one learns to use that understanding, both
linguistic and conceptual in nature, with speakers of German.
In her view, the cultures and institutions of German-speaking
peoples presents the most interesting dilemma of the 20th
century, and learning German is really the only authentic way
to access understandings of that dilemma.
Professor Bernhardt is director of the Stanford Language
Center. She continues to write and research issues of lan-
guage acquisition and comprehension. She is also professor
of German Studies, a role which gives her, she reports, the
opportunity to re-experience each day exactly the material
that engaged her from the beginning of her studies.

57
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
HISTORY 122Q HISTORY 42N

Crime, Punishment, and Rebellion in Science, Medicine, and Empire


Early Modern Russia
F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-SocSci
MW 1:15p–3:05p
F, SEM | 5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
TTh 12:35p–2:05p
England, France, Spain, and Holland all secured vast colonial
Early modern Russia – the era from Ivan the Terrible to Pe- holdings by way of new markets in coffee, tea, sugar cane,
pepper, nutmeg, cotton, ipecacuanha, and other profitable
ter the Great and Catherine the Great (the 16th through 18th
plants. Colonial sciences and medicines were important mili-
centuries) – was a violent place. The violence that we see in
tarily and strategically for positioning emerging nation states
the forms of rising crime and banditry, harsher forms of cor-
in global struggles for land and resources. This class explores
poral and capital punishment, and bloody rebellions was in
the global exchange of medicines, knowledge, technologies,
great part a response to the rising demands that the state
flora, peoples, and disease within French, British, and Dutch
placed on society. In this, Russia was comparable to early
empires in the 18th-century Atlantic world.
modern Europe, since in these centuries across the European
Key questions for this seminar include: Whose knowledge
plain, including Russia, ambitious monarchs were pursuing
is embedded in the use of these plants – that of Amerindians,
the early modern state-building project, a process of empire-
African slaves in the Americas, or European voyagers? How
building and military reform that required higher taxation
did disease travel and influence European colonization of
and more stringent social control.
tropical lands? What is the political economy of nature? How
We will examine the many forms in which violence
did racism arise, and what is its relationship to colonialism?
erupted in early modern Russia. We will explore causes, delve
We will consider primarily French, British, and Dutch in-
into the “moral economy” of violence and rebellion, and ana-
terests in the 18th-century Atlantic world, but will also take
lyze the symbolism of public executions. We’ll read law codes
examples from India, North and South America, and else-
about the criminal law, court cases in English translation, and
where as needed. We will read key primary and secondary
studies of rebellions in the “Time of Troubles” and in Cathe-
texts on voyaging, colonialism, science, slavery, and environ-
rine the Great’s time. We’ll also explore in depth the violence
mental exchange. Students are asked to direct classroom dis-
engendered by religious dissidents in the name of “true faith”
cussion, write a 10-page paper, and present their findings to
in the late 17th century. Our goal will be to understand the
the class.
social values that shaped and moderated violence in Russia,
WINTER

as well as the stresses created by the rise of the early modern


state. Londa Schiebinger is the John L. Hinds
Professor of History of Science, and the Bar-
bara D. Finberg Director of the Michelle R.
Nancy Kollmann has taught at Stanford
Clayman Institute for Gender Research at
since 1982 and is a specialist in the early
Stanford. She is a leading international ex-
modern history of Russia and Eastern Eu-
pert on gender in science from the 18th
rope. Her research focuses on issues of pow-
century to the present. Her books include:
er, politics, and society in Russia in the 16th
The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins
and 17th centuries. Her most recent book
of Modern Science; Nature’s Body: Gender in the Making of Mod-
looks at the code of honor in Muscovy: how
ern Science; Has Feminism Changed Science?; and Gendered In-
ordinary people used lawsuits to protect
novations in Science and Engineering.
their honor from insult, and how the state used concepts of
honor as one way to integrate the realm. She is currently
working on the practice of criminal law in Russia and the
problem of violence as a strategy of governance.

58
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
HISTORY 48N MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 14N

African History through Literature and How Stuff is Made


Film
F, SEM | 3 Units | S/NC
T 2:15p–5:05p
F, SEM | 4-5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
TTh 12:35p–2:05p
This seminar will investigate the design and engineering of
This seminar uses literary and cinematic works as a win- products and processes. We will examine a variety of com-
mercial products and their supply chain and life-cycles. We
dow into the history of sub-Saharan Africa. We will explore
will discuss a range of serial, continuous, and batch fabrica-
the difficulty of using artistic works as historical sources and
tion processes as well as material selection, cost, and process
the value of art as both a representation of the past and an
trade-off aspects of different products. Students will be ex-
artifact of the past. We will consider premodern traditions
posed to the basics of fabrication processes for forming mate-
of political narrative, art in the era of the slave trade, the im-
rials into products and will examine life-cycle issues through
pact of colonialism on African intellectuals, the political uses
machine shop and dissection activities. We will also examine
of art by nationalists, and the struggle to represent rapidly
the product cycle and processes through factory tours. Stu-
changing social and cultural norms. Works include novels by
dents will have the opportunity to research the engineering
Amadou Hampate Ba, Ngugi wa Thiongo, J.M. Coetzee, Tsitsi
aspects of any commercial product and its processes. The
Dangarembga, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and films by
seminar will include field trips to local manufacturing facili-
Ousmane Sembene and Moussa Sene Absa and the Ameri-
ties, requiring some timing flexibility.
can film Hotel Rwanda. Students will submit short (one-page)
ungraded reading responses each week to help seed our dis-
cussions. In addition, students will write three short papers Beth Pruitt received a PhD in mechanical
(four to eight pages) on the works discussed in class and will engineering from Stanford in 2002. Her re-
have an opportunity for very brief research into films or nov- search interests are in the area of microma-
els of their choosing. Guidelines for reading responses and chined sensors for system monitoring and
for each paper will be provided in class. modeling, development of novel processes
and devices for measuring nanoscale me-
chanical behavior, and the analysis, design,
Sean Hanretta is an assistant professor of
and control of integrated electromechani-
history. He received his PhD from the Uni-

WINTER
cal systems. She is particularly interested in the biomedical
versity of Wisconsin-Madison and has been
applications of nanofabricated devices with the goal of de-
carrying out research on African history for
veloping diagnostic tools, measurement and analysis sys-
15 years. He is interested in the history of
tems, and reliable manufacture methods.
religious practice and belief in West Africa
and has mostly specialized in the history of
Islam in that region. His book, Islam and So-
cial Change in French West Africa: History of an Emancipatory
Community, addressed issues of gender dynamics, slavery,
memory, and colonial rule as seen through the experiences
of a mystical Sufi community. His current work focuses on
changing wedding and funeral practices in Ghana and their
relationship to the development industry. He has taught in
Stanford’s IHUM program and is interested in helping stu-
dents explore the past through non-traditional means, such
as in his course on “History without Documents.”

59
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 25N MUSIC 17N

Climate Change—Fact or Fancy? The Operas of Mozart


F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum
TTh 2:15p–3:30p MW 11:00a–12:30p

Prerequisites: High-school physics, chemistry, and biology.


F our of Mozart’s mature operas have held the stage con-
tinuously since their premieres: The Abduction from the Sera-
M uch has been said and written about global warming and glio, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and The Magic Flute.
climate change. One set of voices contends that anthropo- These are the earliest works in the operatic repertoire never
genic activities are not causing global warming, while anoth- to go out of fashion. What accounts for this extraordinary
er set argues that these activities are responsible for a global staying power? This course will engage students in a close
warming that will result in significant climate change. This reading of selected operas, paying attention to the history of
seminar will examine the scientific arguments pro and con their composition, performance, and reception, and to their
regarding global warming and climate change, and the po- changing significance from Mozart’s time to ours.
tential consequences of increased demand for energy. Stu-
dents will be encouraged to critically examine the arguments
supporting both viewpoints. Karol Berger is the Osgood Hooker Profes-
sor in the Fine Arts (musicology). He has an
MPhil and PhD from Yale. His special fields
C. T. (Tom) Bowman received his under- of interest are history of music theory and
graduate education in mechanical engi- aesthetics, music of the Renaissance, and
neering at the Carnegie Institute of Tech- Austro-German music from Bach through
nology and his graduate education in Mahler. His books include Theories of Chro-
aerospace and mechanical sciences at Princ- matic and Enharmonic Music in Late 16th-
eton. Before joining the faculty of the Stan- Century Italy; Musica Ficta, which received the Otto Kinkeldey
ford Mechanical Engineering Department, Award from the American Musicological Society for best mu-
he was a senior research scientist at United sicological book of the year; A Theory of Art; and, most recent-
Technologies Research Center, where he worked on prob- ly, Bach’s Cycle, Mozart’s Arrow: an Essay on the Origins of Musi-
lems related to combustion chemistry and pollutant emis- cal Modernity, which received the Marjorie Weston Emerson
WINTER

sions from gas turbines. Professor Bowman’s research is in the Award of the Mozart Society of America for the best scholarly
areas of combustion, pollution control, and active combus- work on Mozart published in English in 2007. Professor Berg-
tion control. He is the author of over 90 journal articles and er has also published widely in scholarly journals and won
three book chapters on these topics. Professor Bowman many fellowships and awards, including a National Endow-
teaches courses in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, energy ment for the Humanities fellowship, a research fellowship at
systems, and combustion. He is chairman of the Thermosci- the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, an American
ences Group in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Council of Learned Societies fellowship, and the 1995 Alfred
Jurzykowski Foundation Award for outstanding creative
achievement.

60
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
MUSIC 39N PHILOSOPHY 11N

The Beatles Skepticism


F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
TTh 11:00a–12:30p TTh 12:50p–2:05p

The course is an examination of the music of the Beatles Traditionally, philosophers have called into question gen-
with special attention to the Beatles’ many and varied contri- eral assumptions taken for granted in everyday life or in the
butions as musical innovators and experimentalists. We will course of normal scientific inquiry. Some such questions con-
explore the Beatles’ artistic antecedents, their subsequent cern the limits and possibility of knowledge. Can we know
musical influence, and their cultural impact; the emergence whether there is an external reality independent of our
of the “supergroup” identity and the development of new minds? Do we have ultimately solid grounds to believe in
modes of musical production and practices in collabora- the laws of nature formulated according to our best scientific
tive songwriting; notions of commoditization, questions of methods? Do logic and mathematics constitute knowledge?
uniqueness and originality, and the perceived boundary of Is there any knowledge that can be grounded independent-
art and pop worlds as they pertain to and were redefined by ly of our experience (a priori knowledge)? Epistemological
the Beatles; and speculations on the exportation and appro- skepticism is the philosophical point of view that argues for
priation of an African-American cultural legacy. Finally, we negative answers to such questions. Different forms of skepti-
will confront a question infrequently posed: What is medio- cism have recurred throughout the history of philosophy, but
cre about the Beatles? epistemological skepticism became especially prominent in
The music of the Beatles will be examined in chronologi- the early modern period. We will discuss skeptical questions
cal order, thereby mapping the narrative arc of their recording and answers as formulated by central philosophers of the
career and highlighting their stylistic evolution and develop- 17th and 18th centuries (René Descartes and David Hume)
ing aesthetic. Using the Beatles’ music as our principle text, and will examine the views on skepticism of some philoso-
the course has a central music appreciation component that phers of the 20th century, in particular Ludwig Wittgenstein.
aspires to deepen basic listening skills. It is therefore suitable
for students with no musical background or familiarity with Graciela De Pierris, an associate professor
the Beatles, as well as for more experienced students. Bio- of philosophy, is a native of Argentina. She
graphical and analytical readings will supplement the class graduated from the Universidad Nacional

WINTER
discourse, as will self-guided listening sessions. Students will de La Plata, Argentina, before pursuing
have the opportunity to make a presentation on a selected graduate study at UC–Berkeley, where she
song at a final symposium. received her MA and PhD in philosophy.
She has published articles in Análisis Filosó-
Mark Applebaum is a composer of experi- fico, The Canadian Journal of Philosophy,
mental music, a jazz pianist, and a builder of Diálogos, Journal of the History of Philosophy, Manuscrito,
sound-sculptures. His solo, chamber, choral, Nous, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophy and Phenom-
orchestral, operatic, and electronic music enological Research, Revista Latinoamericana de Filosofía, and
compositions have been performed Synthese. She is writing a book on skepticism, naturalism, a
throughout the United States, Europe, Afri- priori knowledge, and causation as related to the philosophy
ca, and Asia. Professor Applebaum has re- of David Hume.
ceived commissions from the Merce Cun-
ningham Dance Company, the American Composers Forum,
the Vienna Modern Festival, Zeitgeist, and the Paul Dresher
Ensemble, among others. His recordings—Mousetrap Music;
The Janus ReMixes: Exercises in Auto-Plundering; The Apple
Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree; Intellectual Property; Catfish; Mar-
tian Anthropology; Disciplines; 56 1/2 ft.; The Bible Without God;
and Asylum—are available on the Innova and Tzadik labels. In
2003, Professor Applebaum received Stanford’s Gores Award
for Excellence in Teaching. He earned his PhD from UC–San
Diego, received the American Music Center’s Stephen Albert
Prize, and served as the Dayton-Hudson Visiting Artist at Car-
leton College.

61
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
PHYSICS 18N PHYSICS 41N

Revolution in Concepts of the Cosmos Mechanics: Insights, Applications, and


Advances
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci
MW 4:15p–5:30p F, SEM | 1 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
Th 2:15p–3:45p
Prerequisite: High-school physics and a strong desire to better
understand the universe. Corequisite: Physics 41 or Advanced Placement.

O ur concept of the cosmos has undergone repeated revolu- This seminar expands on the subject matter presented in
tions, from the introduction of the Copernican heliocentric Physics 41 to include applications of mechanics in everyday
model to Edwin Hubble’s discovery of the expansion of the life and the solar system, and on advanced topics such as tid-
universe. As a seminar, we will jointly explore the intellectual al forces, gyroscopic effects, fractal dimensions, and chaos.
history of these revolutions of the cosmos as well as their One lecture will be spent in an immersive visualization labo-
broad scientific basis. Today, cosmology is in the midst of a ratory exploring orbital dynamics, the Milky Way galaxy, and
new revolution due to recent discoveries that the expansion events leading to the formation of structure shortly after the
of the universe is actually accelerating under the influence Big Bang.
of a mysterious dark energy and that the universe is filled
with an equally mysterious dark matter. Despite these mys-
teries, the Big Bang itself is now firmly established, and in Tom Abel was born and raised in Germany.
this seminar we shall trace the history of the universe from He holds a PhD from the University of Mu-
the Big Bang to the formation of the Earth. We will follow the nich (2000). He held research appointments
life cycle of stars from birth to death, and the creation of the at the National Center for Super-Computing
atoms that make life on Earth possible. Both historical and Applications at the University of Illinois, the
recent cosmological observations, and their connections to Center for Astrophysics at Harvard, the Insti-
laboratory experiments in particle physics, will be topics for tute of Astronomy at the University of Cam-
this seminar. We will include one night of observations at the bridge, and was a professor in the Depart-
Stanford Observatory. ment of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Penn State University
before joining the newly established Kavli Institute for Parti-
cle-Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) at Stanford in 2004.
WINTER

Aaron Roodman is an associate professor Professor Abel’s main research interests are the formation of
in the Department of Particle Physics and the first luminous objects in the universe, the role of these
Astrophysics at SLAC National Accelerator objects in chemical enrichment and cosmological reioniza-
Laboratory. He received his BS from Caltech tion, and galaxies in general. More information can be found
and his PhD from the University of Chicago, at http://TomAbel.org.
where he studied the decay of the W boson
at the Fermilab Tevatron. His research has
focused primarily on matter-antimatter
asymmetries, and he played a leading role in constructing
the crystal calorimeter for the KTeV experiment that made
the first conclusive measurement of a matter-antimatter
asymmetry due to particle decay amplitudes. He came to
Stanford to join the BaBar experiment, and has led the mea-
surement of the asymmetries occurring in several rare, or
“penguin” mediated, B meson decay channels. At BaBaR he
also championed the use of the “blind analysis” technique.
Recently his research interests have turned to cosmology and
the study of dark energy with the proposed SNAP space tele-
scope.

62
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
PHYSICS 87N POLITICAL SCIENCE 36N

The Physics of One: Nanoscale Science Lotteries


and Technology
F, SEM | 3-4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci See Axess or SIS website for day and time
MW 2:15p–3:45p
This course introduces students to the theory and practice
Prerequisite: High-school physics. of decision-making by lottery: tossing coins, drawing straws,
and the like. While lotteries might at first blush sound too
F or the first time, several frontiers of physics-based research frivolous to use in real decision-making, they have been used
are reaching a previously unimaginable limit: the discrete- in many times and places to make vitally important decisions.
ness of nature. Applying new technologies in the explora- In the United States, for example, men have been drafted into
tion of progressively extreme physical regimes, researchers the army by lot, and citizens are still selected for jury duty in
can now access the single quanta of matter and energy that the same way. And there have been strong arguments made
provide the fundamental ingredients of the natural world in defense of these practices, although the practices have
around us. In our macroscopic existence, for example, we can been subjected to strong critiques as well.
measure electric charge, see light, feel magnetic forces, and In this course, students will explore the various advan-
observe life and death. Remarkably, the individual constitu- tages and disadvantages that lotteries offer when used as
ents of all these elements are now being accessed and ma- part of decision-making. In particular, they will be exposed to
nipulated in state-of-the-art experiments. The list includes the relationship, both pro and con, between lotteries and dis-
single electrons, single photons, single atoms and molecules, tributive justice. They will see how the resulting arguments
single magnetic flux quanta, single energy levels, single spins, for and against lotteries play out in real public policy debates
single vibrational modes, single proteins, and single strands in areas relating to education, housing, medical care, and po-
of DNA. Breakthroughs in these fields have captivated prac- litical office. And they will apply the knowledge they gain to a
ticing scientists, engineers, and the public at large. Born class research project focusing on Stanford’s Housing Draw.
from this fascination is a new arena: nanoscale science and
technology, the study of matter at or below the nanometer- Peter Stone is an assistant professor of po-
length scale. litical science at Stanford. He has published
This course will provide an accessible survey of contem- articles on lotteries in such journals as Jour-

WINTER
porary interdisciplinary research in nanoscience and nano- nal of Political Philosophy, Journal of Theo-
technology, exploring the manipulation—one at a time—of retical Politics, Political Theory, and Social
nature’s fundamental building blocks. It will be of interest to Theory and Practice. He is currently complet-
students contemplating work or research in these areas and ing a book on the same subject. His teach-
to students who want general exposure to this cutting-edge ing interests include theories of justice, ra-
field now critical to our understanding of nature. tional choice theory, democratic theory, and the philosophy
of social science. He has a website at http://stanford.
Hari Manoharan worked as a research sci- edu/~pstone/.
entist at IBM after earning his PhD at Princ-
eton. He joined Stanford’s physics faculty in
2001, and also holds courtesy appointments
in electrical engineering and materials sci-
ence and engineering. Professor Manoha-
ran has received worldwide recognition for
his achievements in nanoscience and cor-
related systems. He was profiled by U.S. News & World Report
in its selection of Innovators of 2001. Awards include an Al-
fred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship, a Career Award by the
National Science Foundation, a Young Investigator Award by
the Office of Naval Research, and the Presidential Early Career
Award for Scientists and Engineers.

63
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
PSYCHOLOGY 14N PSYCHOLOGY 27N

Race and Crime The Psychology of Prejudice


F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 3 Units | S/NC
TTh 11:00a–12:30p MW 11:00a–12:30p

This course focuses on race, crime and punishment in the This seminar will examine social psychological theories and
United States. We will read and discuss theoretical and em- research on stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and rac-
pirical research on policing, sentencing, and incarceration. ism. A variety of social psychological perspectives will be
Readings will be drawn from a number of disciplines includ- investigated, including those emphasizing personologic,
ing psychology, sociology, criminology, economics and legal cognitive, motivational, and sociocultural contributions to
studies. prejudice. Emphasis will be placed on applying each ap-
proach to our understanding of educational and occupa-
Jennifer L. Eberhardt is an associate pro- tional contexts and to investigating the implications of this
fessor in the department of psychology. She research for efforts to reduce prejudice and discrimination.
received her PhD from Harvard University in
1993. Her primary research interests include Joseph Brown received his BS in physics
stereotyping, prejudice, and stigma. Eber- from Southwest Texas State University and a
hardt’s most recent research examines the ScM in biomedical engineering from Brown
nature of racial categories, with a focus on University. After working for IBM he was ad-
the social psychological implications of mitted to the PhD program in psychology at
viewing race as a natural category (rather than as a socially Stanford. His graduate work focused on the
created category) and the link between racial stereotyping influence of stereotypes and prejudice on
and racial categorization. the intellectual identities and performance
of minorities and women. After receiving his doctorate in
2000, he taught at the University of Washington. In January
2003 he returned to Stanford to work on graduate diversity in
the School of Humanities and Sciences. He also lectures in the
Department of Psychology.
WINTER

64
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 15N SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES 13N

The History of Immortality Russia and the Russian Experience


F, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum F, SEM | 3-4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum
MW 12:50p–2:05p TTh 2:15p–4:05p

I f there are limits to the imagination, death is not one of This course is an introduction to Russia – our sense of it, its
them. This course explores how the afterlife has been imag- geography, and its language and alphabet. We survey all of
ined over the centuries by important religious thinkers and Russian history: the Golden Age of Kiev; the Tatar/Mongols
writers, including the authors of the Bible, the Greek bard and the Golden Horde; the rise of Moscow and Ivan the Terri-
Homer, the philosophers Plato and Marcus Aurelius, the rab- ble; the Time of Troubles and rise of the Romanovs; Peter the
bis of the Talmud, the medieval poet Dante, Shakespeare, and Great; Moscow versus Petersburg; Catherine the Great and
a few contemporary writers. With their help, we will confront the Enlightenment; Aleksander I and Napoleon; the reforms
one of the most difficult aspects of life – our fear of death and of Aleksander II; Lenin and radicalization; the Revolution(s)
oblivion – but our goal is also to understand the power of and Civil War; the rise of Stalin and the Terror; World War II;
thought and literature to move beyond the confines of ordi- the death of Stalin and its aftermath; and the decline of Com-
nary experience. munism. Readings from Russian literature will include short
stories or excerpts from Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky,
Steven Weitzman received a BA from UC- Chekhov, and Bulgakov.
Berkeley in 1987 and a PhD from Harvard in
1993 in the field of Near Eastern languages Richard Schupbach has been at Stanford
and civilizations. Before coming to Stanford, for more than 20 years. He received his BA
he was a faculty member of Indiana Univer- from Yale in Russian studies and his MA and
sity’s Religious Studies Department. PhD from UCLA in Slavic linguistics. At Stan-
Professor Weitzman is a scholar of the ford he has taught Russian language cours-
Hebrew Bible and early Jewish texts like es and mixed language/linguistics courses
the Dead Sea Scrolls, much of his work focusing on literary for undergraduate and graduate students.
and religious practice in the centuries following the biblical Such courses have concerned everything
period. Drawing heavily on comparative evidence from an- from pronunciation and grammar to history of the language

WINTER
cient Near Eastern, Greek and Roman literature, his research and humor in Russian literature. His scholarly interests focus
has sought to rethink the relationship between texts and on modern Russian, particularly changes in the production of
contexts in the Hebrew Bible/early Judaism and to pose new new vocabulary and grammar. His hobbies include recre-
questions about ritual, religious violence, early Jewish liter- ational running and identifying and collecting edible wild
ary practice, and the history of biblical interpretation. mushrooms. He is married and has two children, a daughter
Professor Weitzman’s first book, Song and Story in Bibli- attending UC–Davis and a son working on Sesame Street.
cal Narrative, was the winner of the Gustave O. Arlt Prize for
Outstanding Scholarship in the Humanities. Subsequent
books include Surviving Sacrilege; Religion and the Self in An-
tiquity (edited with David Brakke and Michael Satlow); and
The Jews: a History (with John Efron, Matthias Lehmann, and
Joshua Holo). His current projects include a biography of
King Solomon.

65
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
CHEMISTRY 25Q, DRAMA 25N CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 31Q

Science-in-Theatre: A New Genre? Accessing Architecture Through


Drawing
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
M 6:00p–9:00p
S, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci
MW 3:15p–5:15p
Note: First class meeting will be held on Monday, January 4 in
the Stauffer-I Organic Chemistry Building. Subsequent class
This course assumes some prior experience in drawing or the de-
meetings will be held on Mondays at the instructor’s San Fran-
sire to make a serious commitment to learning how to draw.
cisco home. Dinner will be provided. Interested students should
confirm that their schedule will accommodate necessary travel
time to and from class. I n today’s architecture, buildings are becoming more and
more spatially complex, as evidenced by such exemplars as
S cientists operate within a type of tribal culture where rules,
Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Draw-
ing architecture is a way to obtain a deeper understanding of
mores, and idiosyncrasies are not taught through specific
the intricacies and subtleties that characterize outstanding
lectures or books but, rather, are acquired through a form of
contemporary buildings. In this seminar, students will learn
intellectual osmosis in a mentor-disciple relationship. Is that
how to draw freehand perspectives and to construct conven-
also the reason why, until recently, scientists were hardly ever
tional architectural drawings such as plans, elevations, and
“normal” characters in plays other than being represented
sections. Students will draw with charcoal, pencil, colored
as Frankensteins or nerds? But during the past dozen years,
pencil, and felt-tip pens. Once basic skills in drawing are ac-
more and more intellectually challenging plays have ap-
quired, students will have the opportunity to apply what they
peared on the Anglo-American theatre scene in which scien-
have learned to a simple architectural design project.
tific behavior and even science are presented accurately. Has
this happened because of didactic motivation on the part of
some playwrights or because the intrinsic theatricality of sci- John Barton is the director of Stanford’s
ence and its metaphoric significance has been recognized? Architectural Design Program. He is an
These issues will be discussed and partially viewed (via vid- award-winning local architect who earned
eos in the instructor’s San Francisco home) through an ex- bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architec-
amination of a number of plays, some of which were written ture from UC–Berkeley. He combines teach-
by the instructor. A short play-writing experiment will also be ing and an active professional practice with
WINTER

conducted. significant community service, including


election to the Palo Alto City Council and
two terms on the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of
Carl Djerassi is a writer and professor of
Education.
chemistry emeritus at Stanford. He is one of
the few American scientists to have been
awarded both the National Medal of Sci-
ence (for the first synthesis of a steroid oral
contraceptive – the Pill) and the National
Medal of Technology. He is also a member
of the National Academy of Sciences and
the recipient of numerous other awards and honorary de-
grees. Most of his novels (Cantor’s Dilemma; The Bourbaki
Gambit; Marx, Deceased; Menachem’s Seed; NO), short stories
(The Futurist and Other Stories), autobiography (The Pill, Pygmy
Chimps, and Degas’ Horse), and a memoir (This Man’s Pill: Re-
flections on the 50th Birthday of the Pill) were written in Lon-
don, where he resides for part of each year. He has written
eight plays, which have cumulatively been translated into 15
languages and also published in book form as well as broad-
cast by the BBC World Service, NPR, and the West German
and other radio services. His most recent book is the prose
docudrama Four Jews on Parnassus—a conversation: Benja-
min, Adorno, Scholem, Schönberg, excerpts of which will be
performed at Stanford in February 2010.

66
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
COMMUNICATION 118Q ENGLISH 80Q

Theories of Film Practice All the World’s a Stage: Dramatic


Realism on the Threshold of the
S, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only | WRITE-2
TTh 1:15p–3:05p Modern World

Prerequisite: PWR 1. S, SEM | 4-5 Units | Letter Grade Only


TTh 3:15p–4:45p
When we think about movies, we typically concentrate
on stars, story, and images. Theoreticians have concerned Witness the relationship between heightened dramatic
themselves with interpreting what appears on the screen, realism and unprecedented historical, scientific, and cul-
frequently from a philosophical or literary perspective. tural changes occurring in the early modern world, a defin-
In this seminar, we will take another approach. We will ing moment in explorations of uncharted realms of the self,
look at theories from the humanities, social sciences, and the world, the universe, and artistic form. Readings include
from filmmakers themselves, to help us understand the Shakespeare’s Othello, John Donne’s dramatic poetry, and
thinking that underlies the processes of filmmaking. Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Students will examine how these
This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric and other texts point readers and viewers toward the mod-
Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize written, oral, and ern world through mind-bending experiments in the art of
multimedia presentation. perspective. Selected film adaptations, art, and modern lit-
erature will be included.
Henry Breitrose, an emeritus professor of
communication, established Stanford’s Helen Brooks earned a joint PhD in English
graduate program in documentary film and and Humanities at Stanford in 1980. Her
video production in 1965. He is a New York publications include studies on John Don-
native and was educated at the University ne, St. Ignatius Loyola, early modern poetry,
of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, and and Adrienne Rich’s modern “re-vision” of
Stanford. In addition to his teaching and re- Donne’s poetry. She has served as a contrib-
search, he was the founding general editor uting editor for The Variorum Edition of the
of the Cambridge University Press series Cambridge Studies Poetry of John Donne, The Holy Sonnets, vol.

WINTER
in Film, and is vice president of the International Association 7. Her teaching includes courses on Shakespeare, Donne, Re-
of Film and Television Schools. Professor Breitrose has been a naissance/early modern poetry, Renaissance/early modern
visiting professor at the London School of Economics; the intellectual and cultural history, and theoretical approaches
Australian Film, Television, and Radio School; the Beijing to literature. Other research and teaching interests include
Broadcasting Institute; and the Institute of Journalism of the interdisciplinarity, narratology, new historicism, reception
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He also has been a visit- theory, gender studies, science/technology/mathematics
ing fellow at the East-West Center and the Christensen Visit- and literature, and modern poetry and drama. She was elect-
ing Research Fellow at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford. He has ed as an officer and executive board member of the John
written on media history, documentary film, attitude change, Donne Society in 2005 and was appointed to the editorial ad-
and health communication. Currently, he is working on a visory board of a new academic journal, Forum on Public Poli-
study of the history of the idea of the documentary. cy. She has received the Dinkelspiel Award for Outstanding
Contributions to Undergraduate Education at Stanford.

67
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
ENGLISH 84Q ENGLISH 87N

Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield: Graphic Narratives: Word, Image, Sound,


A Victorian Reading Silence
S, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only | WRITE-2 S, SEM | 4-5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, WRITE-2
MW 3:15p–5:05p MW 1:15p–3:05p

Prerequisite: PWR 1. Prerequisite: PWR 1.


The publication of a major Dickens novel was an event in
the English-speaking world, particularly in Britain. The first This seminar will address the transformation from “funnies”
number of David Copperfield came out just after Dickens’s to “comics” and now to “graphic novels and “graphic narra-
breakthrough into social criticism with Dombey and Son and tives,” asking how the definitions, representations, and repu-
just before the radically experimental Bleak House. In his late tation of this genre have changed over the last century and
30s, the author was also undergoing a time of personal re- examining the current explosion of interest in and produc-
evaluation and unaccustomed introspection. Over the 19 tion of such works. We will also read/view a number of works
months during which David Copperfield was published, the by such artists as Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi, Lynda Bar-
public pored over the new novel, number by number, as it ry, Joe Sacco, Alison Bechdel, Chris Ware, Gene Yang, and Gil-
became, as always with Dickens, one of the consuming popu- bert Hernandez. Participants in the seminar will work toward
lar topics of the day. From the publication of its first number a major project that might, for example, examine the work of
in May 1849, to its final double number in November 1850, one writer of graphic narrative, analyze the role of concepts
David Copperfield became part of the everyday lives of people such as gender, race, or class in one or more works, explore
who lived in a complicated time and who were bombarded, the transformation of a graphic novel into film, or analyze the
as perhaps no population had ever been, with information use of some component of graphic narratives, such as sound
about that complicated world. or color.
The comic masterpiece of the most popular novelist of Since this course fulfills the second quarter of the Writ-
his time, the sentimental favorite of Queen Victoria and of the ing and Rhetoric Requirement, students will not only write
author himself, this fictionalized autobiography tells the story extensively about their research but also make several formal
of a difficult coming of age in the threatening world of early presentations based on that research.
industrialized England. We will be reading the work in serial
WINTER

numbers, replicating as closely as possible the experience of Andrea A. Lunsford, professor of English
Victorian readers. Students will be responsible for research- and director of the Stanford Program in
ing the political, cultural, and historical context in which this Writing and Rhetoric, has taught courses in
novel appeared.. Each student will choose a contemporary writing history and theory, rhetoric, and
Victorian issue, research primary and secondary documents, women in the history of rhetoric and writ-
share the results with the class, and write a final paper. Stu- ing. She is also on the faculty of the Bread
dents will also collaborate on the presentation of a series of Loaf School of English. Professor Lunsford’s
dramatic Victorian readings from Dickens’s work. interests include rhetorical theory, gender
This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric and rhetoric, collaboration, cultures of writing, style, and
Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and multime- technologies of writing. Books she has written or edited in-
dia presentation. clude: The Everyday Writer; Essays on Classical Rhetoric and
Modern Discourse; Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives
Linda Paulson received her PhD in com- on Collaborative Writing; Reclaiming Rhetorica: Women in the
parative literature from UCLA. She has History of Rhetoric; Everything’s an Argument; Crossing Border-
taught at Stanford since 1985. Her research lands: Composition and Postcolonial Studies; and, most recent-
focuses on the Victorian social novel and on ly, The Sage Handbook of Rhetorical Studies.
the development of a British woman’s novel
from Jane Austen to Doris Lessing. In 1989,
she received Stanford’s Dinkelspiel Award
for Distinctive Contributions to Undergrad-
uate Education. She frequently lectures for Stanford Travel/
Study groups in England and France. She has been taking
Stanford undergraduates to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
since 1995.

68
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
FEMINIST STUDIES 188N GENETICS 109Q, BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS 109Q

Imagining Women: Writers in Print and Genomics: A Technical and Cultural


in Person Revolution
S, SEM | 4-5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, EC-Gender, S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | WRITE-2
WRITE-2 TTh 2:30p–4:30p
MW 2:15p–4:05p
Prerequisite: PWR 1. Although a previous or concurrent course in
Prerequisite: PWR 1. Students who will benefit most from the biology is helpful, the course will introduce the basic biological
course are those who enter it with an enjoyment of literature background required, assuming a good understanding of high-
and a curiosity about writing and the diverse lives of contem- school biology.
porary women.
This course is designed to introduce students to the prin-
This seminar is designed to introduce students to the live- ciples and promise of genomics. The sequencing of the hu-
ly world of contemporary literature through the reading of man genome is one of the great scientific achievements of
recent texts and through intimate conversations with the the past century. It has been accompanied by sequencing
authors. The authors will include Stanford faculty as well as the genomes of many other organisms, including disease-
other nationally known writers including Patricia Powell, causing pathogens and animals that are used for laboratory
Marianne Villanueva, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Cherríe studies. It has also led to expectations about personalized
Moraga, Eavan Boland, Elizabeth Tallent, and Jewelle Gomez. medicine in which personal genetic data are used to make
Each author will speak briefly about her book and her writing decisions about health care. This course will introduce the
life. Then we will open the session to questions and discus- basic concepts of genomics, the accompanying trend in bi-
sions with the students. Students will analyze seminar pre- ology toward high-throughput methods of data collection,
sentations and have the opportunity for both analytical and and the rise of computational approaches to analysis of data.
creative writing experiences. The course will end with a focus We will review scientific issues related to pharmacogenom-
on the students’ writings. ics, consumer genetics, genetically modified food, compara-
This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric tive genomics, population genomics, gene therapy, and stem
Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize lively, professional cell science. We will also discuss the social, ethical, and eco-
oral presentation. nomic implications of genomic science. Students will end the

WINTER
quarter with an independent project, an in-depth analysis of
some area covered in the course.
Valerie Miner is the award-winning author This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric
of 13 books. Her novels include After Eden, Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and multime-
Range of Light, A Walking Fire, Winter’s Edge, dia presentation.
Blood Sisters, All Good Women, Movement: A
Novel in Stories, and Murder in the English De-
partment. Her short fiction books include Russ Altman is a professor of bioengineer-
Abundant Light, The Night Singers, and Tres- ing, genetics, and medicine. He is chair of
passing. Her collection of essays is Rumors the Department of Bioengineering and di-
from the Cauldron: Selected Essays, Reviews and Reportage. In rects Stanford’s Biomedical Informatics
2002, The Low Road: A Scottish Family Memoir was a finalist for Training Program. His research focuses on
the PEN USA creative nonfiction award. Abundant Light was a bioinformatics, which uses information
2005 fiction finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards. technology to solve research problems in
biology and medicine. One of his main in-
terest areas is pharmacogenomics, the study of how variation
in human genes leads to variation in people’s responses to
drugs. Professor Altman received both his PhD in medical in-
formation sciences (now biomedical informatics) and his MD
from Stanford.

69
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
GEOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 43Q GEOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 55Q

Environmental Problems The California Gold Rush: Geologic


Background and Environmental Impact
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-NatSci
W 6:00p–9:00p
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci, WRITE-2
TTh 2:15p–3:30p
This course is for students interested in understanding the
components of multidisciplinary environmental problems Prerequisite: PWR 1. Preference to students who have completed
and in identifying ethical questions often associated with an introductory geology course.
decision-making in the regulatory arena. Students will lead
and participate in discussions on environmental issues such The California Gold Rush of 1848–49 resulted in the largest
as groundwater contamination from point and nonpoint mass migration in American history. This seminar will inves-
sources, cumulative watershed effects related to timber and tigate (1) the geologic processes that led to concentration of
mining practices, acid rain, subsurface disposal of nuclear gold in the river gravels and rocks of the Mother Lode region
waste, slope stability, and oil-tanker spills. of California; (2) methods of mining and ore extraction; (3)
the environmental impact of the population increase and
Keith Loague earned his BS from the Uni- mining operations, including the effects of placer mining
versity of Michigan and MSc and PhD from on the landscape, rivers, and fisheries, and the impact of the
the University of British Columbia. After concentration of arsenic and mercury in surface sediments
time as an assistant professor at the Univer- and soils due to hard-rock mining and milling operations;
sity of Hawai’i and associate professor at and (4) the social, cultural, and economic consequences of
UC–Berkeley, he joined Stanford’s Geologi- the Gold Rush. Requirements for the course include short es-
cal and Environmental Sciences Depart- says and geologic maps, a research paper, and a formal oral
ment in 1994. In 2000, he was awarded the presentation.
Hoagland Prize in recognition of teaching excellence in un- This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric
dergraduate education. Professor Loague’s research focuses Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and multime-
on the combined field characterization and physics-based dia presentation.
numerical simulation of surface and near-surface hydrologic
processes. He conducts field-scale experiments and uses sto- Dennis Bird, raised in the Mother Lode re-
WINTER

chastic-conceptual modeling techniques to address topics gion of California, has a lifelong interest in
such as rainfall runoff, induced landscape evolution, and the the California Gold Rush. A graduate of UC–
hydrogeologic fate of synthetic organic chemicals originat- Berkeley, he has taught geochemistry at
ing from nonpoint sources. Stanford for 27 years. His research focuses
on the chemical and physical processes re-
lated to water-rock reaction in the Earth’s
crust, and the geologic consequences of
life’s metabolic processes. His research group investigates the
properties of solution-mineral reactions to predict the nature
of elemental mass transfer by reactive fluids. Recent efforts
focus on the environmental geochemistry of chromium and
arsenic, geologic CO2 sequestration, and paleoclimate prox-
ies preserved in volcanic ash in Greenland and Iceland. His
geobiology research focuses on the geologic consequences
of photosynthesis on early Earth, specifically processes lead-
ing to the rise of continents, and the effects of synpandemic
fire suppression and reforestation in tropical America on at-
mospheric CO2 during the European conquest.

70
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
GERMAN STUDIES 120Q, COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 50Q HEALTH RESEARCH AND POLICY 89Q

Is God Dead? Introduction to Cross-Cultural Issues in


Medicine
S, SEM | 3-5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum
MW 2:15p–3:30p
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | EC-AmerCul
M 1:15p–3:05p
Prerequisite: Basic German reading knowledge, equivalent of
first-year college- level.
The purpose of this seminar is twofold. First, the course will
The nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Ni- provide insight on how cultural differences are of practical
etzsche notoriously declared that God is dead, and his as- concern to the future physician. Second, the seminar is de-
sertion became a focal point for debates about religion and signed to teach cross-cultural medical competencies needed
secularization in modern culture. Yet religion turns out to be to effectively serve diverse populations in the medical set-
more durable than Nietzsche thought. This seminar explores a ting. We will critically analyze the impact of cultural back-
range of modern German responses to religious faith through ground in the doctor-patient consultation and in the health
examinations of different genres of literary and philosophical care system at large. The course will introduce students to
texts. We look at examples of fiction, such as Hermann Hesse’s the field of sociology of health by examining key concepts
account of Buddhism in Siddhartha. We also examine religion such as ethnicity, immigration, health care service expecta-
in poetry through texts that range from lyric verse to hymns tions, and language barriers.
and prayers. Poems by Friedrich Hölderlin and Heinrich Heine
demonstrate the connection between secularization and a Irene Corso received her PhD in sociology
new mythology; Rainer Maria Rilke and Conrad Weiss explore of education from Stanford. As a senior lec-
Catholic theological categories in verse; Rudolf Alexander turer in the Department of Health Research
Schroeder contributes to the renewal of the Protestant hymn and Policy, her areas of expertise include
in his devotional poetry; and Nelly Sachs integrates elements teaching cross-cultural competencies to fu-
of Jewish mysticism into her post-Holocaust verse. In selec- ture health care providers, second-language
tions from Theodor Haecker’s journals we examine a Chris- instruction, and curriculum development.
tian condemnation of the Nazi regime. We also look at the She also conducts project evaluations in
modern German philosophical tradition concerned with re- the fields of health care delivery and patient satisfaction, and
ligion and culture and will read selections from authors such

WINTER
international medicine. Dr. Corso thoroughly enjoys serving
as Martin Buber and Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. The as a student adviser and as a mentor and spending time with
goals of the course include building participants’ capacity to her family.
work with challenging German-language texts, enhancing
their capacity to interpret literature and bring conceptual
questions to bear on literary texts, and strengthening their
intellectual approaches to spiritual questions.

Russell A. Berman is the Walter A. Haas


Professor in the Humanities. He received his
BA from Harvard in 1972 and his PhD from
Washington University in 1979, when he
joined the faculty at Stanford. He has been
awarded fellowships from the National En-
dowment for the Humanities and the pres-
tigious Alexander von Humboldt Founda-
tion and was honored by the German government, which
presented him with the Federal Officer’s Service Cross. Pro-
fessor Berman’s interests range widely, including the modern
novel, poetry, film, the history of journalism and the mass
media, as well as comparisons between German, French, and
American literature. His published work includes treatments
of many periods in German cultural history, including the
Nazi era and German unification. Two of his books, The Rise of
the Modern German Novel and Enlightenment or Empire won
the German Studies Association Award.

71
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
HISTORY 48Q HUMAN BIOLOGY 97Q , ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY 97Q

South Africa: Contested Transitions Sport, Exercise, and Health: Exploring


Sports Medicine
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom
T 2:15p–4:05p
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | WRITE-2
W 3:15p–5:05p
The inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president in 1994
marked the end of a way of life for South Africa. Or did it? Prerequisite: PWR 1.
Most South Africans finally became citizens in their own
country, and their new constitution guaranteed equality,
S ports medicine is a clinical specialty that spans musculo-
skeletal injuries, rehabilitation, medical illnesses that result
promising redress for injustices of the past. The imagination
from sport participation, exercise to improve health and
and resilience that characterized opposition to minority rule
functional capacity, and human performance. The clinical
could now be turned to reconstruction and development. Yet
practice of sports medicine aims to balance health and ethi-
much remained the same. Laws, administrative rules, com-
cal concerns with the demands inherent in sport. For many,
mon practices, and interpersonal expectations all reflected
sports medicine is understood to be a specialized service pro-
the legacy of discrimination and racism.
vided to elite athletes. While sports medicine had its origins
Reconstructing South Africa requires confronting sharply
in providing care to elite and professional athletes, medical
contested transitions. How, for example, should government
advances developed in treating these athletes can also exert
be organized? Will the new local authorities facilitate popular
a profound effect on the nature and quality of care provided
participation or entrench elite privilege? What are the roots
to the broader, noncompetitive community. The most pow-
of the current situation, and how do they shape future pos-
erful contribution from sports medicine has yet to be made:
sibilities? These and related questions will frame our explora-
the public-health mandate to harvest the knowledge and
tion of South Africa’s social history, especially efforts to create
resources associated with the medical care of elite athletes
a nonracist, nonsexist, democratic society.
on behalf of a much broader population. Topics covered in
this seminar include musculoskeletal injuries, medical condi-
Joel Samoff, with a background in history,
tions associated with sport and exercise, exercise and health,
political science, and education, studies and
ethics, coaching, women’s issues, and human performance.
teaches about development and underde-
The material presented will involve actual cases, lectures, de-
velopment, primarily focused on Africa. He
bates, presentations, and discussion. An emphasis is placed
WINTER

has been a faculty member at the Universi-


on critical thinking.
ties of Michigan and Zambia, and has taught This course is designed to fulfill the second quarter Writ-
in Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, ing and Rhetoric requirement and will emphasize oral and
and Zimbabwe. Concerned with public pol- multimedia presentation.
icy, research, and links between the two, he works with inter-
national agencies involved in African education. He has
worked with UNESCO to coordinate analyses of aid-funded Gordon Matheson grew up in Canada and
education research in Africa. He has studied education policy received his MD from the University of Cal-
making in South Africa, and, in 2005, was awarded an honor- gary and PhD from the University of British
ary doctorate by the University of Pretoria. Affiliated with Columbia. Recruited to Stanford in 1994 to
Stanford’s African Studies Center, Professor Samoff has di- develop the Sports Medicine Program, he is
rected several summer seminars on South Africa, both at now a professor of sports medicine in the
Stanford and in Cape Town. Among his publications are a co- Orthopaedic Surgery Department and di-
edited book on microcomputers in Africa and two articles: rector of the Sports Medicine Center. Dr.
“Chaos and Certainty in Development” and “Education for All Matheson is former chief of the Division of Sports Medicine in
in Africa: Still a Distant Dream.” the Medical School. He has been a team physician for the
Olympic games and in the National Hockey League. Dr.
Matheson founded the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine and
was editor-in-chief of The Physician and Sportsmedicine.

72
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 92Q MEDICINE 86Q

International Environmental Policy Seeing the Heart


S, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC S, DIAL | 2 Units | S/NC
MW 9:30a–10:45a W 3:15p–4:45p

This seminar is an introduction to the science, economics, The purpose of this course is to introduce students to bio-
and politics of international environmental policy. The cur- medical technology, science, clinical medicine, and public
rent set of negotiations on global climate change will be policy through the topic of cardiovascular imaging. Cardio-
used as a case study throughout the course, although 10 vascular disease remains the number one health problem
international environmental issues also will be covered in in the United States. At the same time, we are seeing rapid
some depth. The interested student will not need any pre- progress in cardiovascular imaging technology, which is
requisites to participate in the course. Lectures and course revolutionizing the practice of medicine. There are now in-
materials will be self-contained, and similar to material the vasive and noninvasive techniques to detect heart disease at
instructor has used in briefing international negotiators and its earliest stages – to literally see inside the heart and blood
the United States Congress. We will, however, integrate mate- vessels. We are also continuing to learn about the biology
rial more comprehensively than has been possible in policy of cardiovascular disease, which may allow for more sophis-
briefings on individual dimensions of the problems and their ticated molecular imaging, while we face the public policy
potential solutions. challenges of how to screen for early disease and pay for ever
more expensive medical tests.
John P. Weyant is professor of manage- This seminar will combine class discussions with hands-
ment science and engineering, director of on laboratory and clinical experiences. Specifically, we will
the Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) and dep- discuss the common forms of heart disease, how they devel-
uty director of the Precourt Institute for En- op, and why they affect so many people; introduce the wide
ergy Efficiency at Stanford. He is also a se- range of imaging technologies that are in use or develop-
nior fellow of the Freeman Spogli Institute ment for diagnosing heart disease (e.g., ultrasound, CT, MRI,
for International Studies and the Woods In- PET, optical); visit numerous imaging centers in Stanford and
stitute for the Environment at Stanford. at Stanford Hospital (e.g., echo lab, cath/angio lab, MRI and
Weyant has been a convening lead author or lead author for CT scanners, molecular imaging center); and discuss the fu-

WINTER
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for ture of cardiovascular imaging and whether we can develop
chapters on integrated assessment, greenhouse gas mitiga- a cost-effective public screening program.
tion, integrated climate impacts, and sustainable develop-
ment, and most recently served as a review editor for the cli- Michael McConnell is an associate profes-
mate change mitigation working group of the IPCC’s fourth sor and co-director of noninvasive imaging
assessment report. He has been active in the debate on cli- in the division of cardiovascular medicine.
mate change policy through the Department of State, the He received his BS and MS in bioelectrical
Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection engineering from MIT and his MD from
Agency. In California, he is a member of the California Air Re- Stanford. His clinical and research interest is
sources Board’s Economic and Technology Advancement Ad- in developing imaging technology to im-
visory Committee (ETAAC), which is charged with making prove the detection and treatment of car-
recommendations for technology policies to help implement diovascular disease, particularly at earlier stages. He divides
AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Weyant was his time between clinical cardiology and imaging research,
awarded the United States Association for Energy Economics’ with projects ranging from cells to animals to patients, as
2008 Adelmann-Frankel award for unique and innovative well as teaching in cardiovascular physiology and molecular
contributions to the field of energy economics. He was hon- imaging.
ored in 2007 as a major contributor to the Nobel Peace Prize
awarded to the IPCC.

73
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
MEDICINE 87Q, HUMAN BIOLOGY 87Q MEDICINE 108Q

Women and Aging Human Rights and Health


S, SEM | 5 Units | Letter Grade Only | EC-Gender S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
TTh 1:15p–3:05p M 1:15p–3:05p

This course introduces students to a broad range of top- This course is an introduction to issues in human rights and
ics affecting women as they age. Topics include biology and health. We will begin by focusing on the history of human
diseases of aging, demographics and politics of aging, re- rights law, and then have lectures and discussions on topics
lationships and sexuality, wise women and grandmothers, such as the health status of refugees and internally displaced
lifestyles, and exercise. Course materials come from sources persons; child labor; trafficking in women and children; tor-
reflecting class, culture, ethnic, and lifestyle diversity among ture; poverty, the environment, and health; access to clean
aging women, including memoirs, poetry, scientific articles, water; domestic violence and sexual assault; and internation-
public policy, art, and film. Course requirements include al availability of drugs. International conventions on human
short papers, class presentations, and a service-learning rights will be reviewed as background for social and political
project. Students write interim reports and a final paper on changes that could improve the health of groups and indi-
their participation in a service-learning experience with older viduals.
women. Students may have opportunities to observe at sites
where human rights and health are daily issues. These op-
Carol Winograd, an associate professor of portunities may include observing a medical evaluation of
medicine, emerita, has done research and a political-asylum seeker who was tortured, attending immi-
taught in the field of aging since the 1970s. gration court to observe an asylum case, or attending family
Her research and publication topics include court to observe a domestic-violence case. These experienc-
frail, hospitalized elders, impaired mobility, es will require student initiative in scheduling and travel.
targeting criteria for geriatric interventions,
and predicators of functional decline. As Ami Laws, an associate professor of medi-
the clinical director of the Geriatric Research cine, has worked in the area of interpersonal
Education and Clinical Center at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs violence and health for almost 10 years, in-
Hospital for more than 10 years, she was instrumental in es- cluding three years as medical director at
WINTER

tablishing an academic geriatric program with strong clinical Survivors International (SI) in San Francisco,
teaching and research components. a resource and treatment center for victims
Professor Winograd has served as chair of the public pol- of torture. At SI, Professor Laws conducted
icy committee and as a member of the board of directors of forensic medical evaluations for persons
the American Geriatrics Society. In addition to advising stu- applying for political asylum on the basis of torture. She
dents, she also teaches an interdisciplinary course entitled works with immigration attorneys on torture cases and fre-
Design for Agile Aging. Her own life experience and profes- quently testifies in court as an expert witness. Professor
sional expertise come together in this seminar. Laws’s 1997 survey of over 200 Sikh men and women in Pun-
jab, India, who reported torture or other human-rights viola-
tions by police during periods of unrest there was published
in the journal Health and Human Rights. She conducts schol-
arly and clinical work on the medical problems of women
who were sexually assaulted in childhood and serves on the
Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council Professional
Subcommittee. Professor Laws frequently lectures to health
care professionals on domestic violence.

74
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES 76Q PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES 78Q

Temperament and Creativity in Mood Mental Health in Collegiate Athletes


Disorders
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
S, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only | WRITE-2 M 9:00a–11:00a
W 3:00p–5:00p
This course will focus on developmental, psychological, and
Prerequisite: PWR 1. performance issues in elite collegiate athletics. We will cover
a range of topics that are important to both male and female
D espite the disabling and often lethal effects of mental ill- student athletes and can help them understand and flourish
ness, high numbers of individuals who suffer from depres- in their environment. Topics include the transition to Stan-
sion, bipolar disorder, and related problems are nonethe- ford, time management, optimizing mental toughness and
less productively creative, an association that has become competitiveness, coping with injuries, and preparing for the
embedded in Western cultural notions of mad geniuses and future. The course will use the problem-oriented approach
artistic temperaments. This course will cover current psycho- employed in medical schools. Students will read material
logical research, neurobiological research, and assessment of about each week’s topic area; this will serve as the jumping-
mood, temperament, and creativity. off point for discussion and guided independent research.
This course fulfills the second quarter of the Writing and Each class will include presentations by Dr. Steiner of that
Rhetoric Requirement and will emphasize concise written day’s topic. Students will briefly present material they have
and oral communications, participation in discussions, and researched and then discuss questions that arose during the
the performance and evaluation of multimedia presenta- research. A strong emphasis is placed on class participation.
tions.
Hans Steiner, professor of psychiatry emer-
Terence Ketter is a professor of psychiatry itus, is an international expert on human
and behavioral sciences, and chief of the development and developmental ap-
medical school’s Bipolar Disorders Clinic. He proaches to psychopathology. He is espe-
obtained his medical degree from the Uni- cially interested in disorders of aggression,
versity of Toronto, did internship and resi- eating, anxiety, and mood. He has published
dence training in psychiatry at UC–San over 500 papers, books, and abstracts, and

WINTER
Francisco, and had a fellowship in brain im- has received numerous awards for his re-
aging and psychopharmacology research search and teaching. He regularly provides keynote address-
at the Biological Psychiatry Branch of the National Institutes es to professional and lay organizations in the United States,
of Mental Health. Professor Ketter’s research includes the use Europe, Asia, and Australia.
of brain imaging methods such as positron emission tomog-
raphy (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and mag-
netic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to understand the neu-
robiology of mood disorders and to develop treatments for
patients with bipolar disorders. He also researches the use of
novel medications and combinations of medications to treat
bipolar disorders. His research in these areas has been pub-
lished extensively. He serves on the editorial boards of 13 sci-
entific journals and on the advisory boards of numerous bio-
technology and mental health organizations.

75
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
PSYCHIATRY 81Q RADIOLOGY 72Q

Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Fluorescence Imaging in Living Cells


Africa: The Impact of the AIDS Pandemic
S, DIAL | 2 Units | S/NC
See Axess or SIS website for day and time
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
MW 4:15p–6:05p
Prerequisite: Chemistry 35, and general knowledge of proteins
and DNA
This course will discuss the nature of the AIDS pandemic,
issues around testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS, and the The purpose of this seminar is to teach students the basic
current status of behavioral intervention and biological ap- principles of fluorescent probes and their applications for
proaches. We will discuss aspects of the geopolitical history live-cell imaging. General classes of fluorescent probes will
of this area and attempt to understand the status of the cur- be covered together with fluorescence mechanisms. This
rent governments and how policies inhibit, delay, or are in- seminar will also discuss strategies and methods for live cell
effective in treating HIV/AIDS and addressing the needs of labeling and imaging of specific proteins. Examples of appli-
vulnerable children. cations of fluorescence imaging will also be presented. This
Ninety percent of all children worldwide who are HIV+ seminar will give students experience in fluorescence imag-
are in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, 90 percent of all chil- ing research and cutting-edge techniques. Readings will in-
dren worldwide whose death is attributable to AIDS are clude current reviews and key articles from the fluorescence
found here, as are 90 percent of children worldwide who are imaging field.
orphaned by parents dying of AIDS. This highlights why sub-
Saharan Africa is the focus of such intense international effort
Jianghong Rao is an assistant professor of
to reduce HIV transmission and to provide treatment for and
radiology and by courtesy, chemistry, and
protect children made vulnerable by the AIDS pandemic.
on the faculty in the programs of molecular
We will examine the effect of stigma, culture, and re-
imaging, biophysics, and cancer biology.
sources/interventions on the psychosocial well-being of
His research focuses on combining physical,
these children. Representatives from international NGOs will
chemical, and biological tools to develop
speak to the class about their efforts in this region and ex-
novel imaging strategies and new molecu-
plain why these efforts are largely directed to small commu-
lar probes for monitoring specific biological
nity projects to provide support and developmentally appro-
WINTER

targets in physiological settings. He received his PhD in


priate housing. The class is required for students in summer
chemistry from Harvard, and, after postdoctoral studies at
service work with our collaborating facilities or in programs
UC–San Diego, he joined the Stanford faculty in 2004. He es-
caring for vulnerable children. However, students enrolled in
pecially enjoys spending time with his young daughter.
this class have no obligation to participate in summer service
work in sub-Saharan Africa.

Brent Solvason is associate professor in the


Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral
Sciences, assistant director of the Psychop-
harmacology Clinic and the Depression Re-
search Clinic, and medical director for the
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Service. He
is the principal investigator or co-investiga-
tor on clinical trials studying treatment- re-
sistant depression using cutting-edge brain stimulation tech-
nologies, and for studies on antidepressants.

Daryn Reicherter, MD is a clinical faculty member in the


Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He is the
mental health director for several programs that serve the
homeless population in the mid-Peninsula area. He works
clinically with traumatized refugees from diverse regions of
the world now living in the Bay Area. Over the last three years
he has worked with Dr. Solvason in Indonesia with orphans
and vulnerable children affected by the Indian Ocean tsu-
nami of 2004.

76
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
SURGERY 69Q SURGERY 70Q

It’s All in Your Head: Understanding Surgical Anatomy of the Hand: From
Diversity, Development, and Rodin to Reconstruction
Deformities of the Face
S, DIAL | 2 Units | S/NC
S, SEM | 3-4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | WRITE-2 See Axess or SIS website for day and time
TTh 10:00a–11:30a
The surgical anatomy of the hand is extremely complex in
Prerequisite: PWR 1. Preference to students who have completed terms of structure and function. This course will explore the
either an Advanced Placement high-school biology course or a anatomy of the hand in several different contexts: its rep-
university-level biology course. resentation in art forms, the historical development of the
study of hand anatomy, current operative techniques for re-
N o region of our anatomy more powerfully conveys our construction, advances in tissue engineering, and the future
moods and emotions than our face, nor elicits more profound of hand transplantation.
reactions when disease or genetic disorders leave behind a The course will be based on a series of lectures tracing in-
disfigurement. In recent years, remarkable strides have been vestigations into the anatomy of the hand over the centuries.
made toward unraveling the mechanisms that control how A syllabus of reading materials will be distributed. The course
the face is patterned. We will examine new work from evo- will include a visit to the Rodin collection of hand sculptures
lutionary and molecular biologists who have tackled a per- at the Cantor Art Museum, anatomic dissections on a cadaver
plexing matter that stumped even Darwin, namely, how are upper extremity, lectures on hand reconstruction, tours of
variations in facial form actually elicited? The insights aren’t tissue engineering research laboratories, and tutorials inside
just applicable to the beak of a finch, either. Remarkably, the the operating room to observe actual hand reconstruction
same mechanisms that sculpt the bird beak are involved in procedures.
forming fish heads. Other new advances in the field of cran-
iofacial biology are actually predicated on clinical observa-
James Chang is a professor of plastic sur-
tions garnered since the time of Aristotle. For millennia, we
gery and orthopedic surgery and chief of
have vigilantly scrutinized and cataloged facial deformities,
the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive
but only in the last decade have we finally found clues as to
Surgery at Stanford. Dr. Chang has a BAS
how tissues and molecules interact to form the face. We also

WINTER
from Stanford. He spent a year as a lecturer
need to ponder anew how differences in facial anatomy can
in English at the Beijing University of Sci-
profoundly affect an individual’s self-perception and his or
ence and Technology in Beijing. He gradu-
her acceptance by our beauty-conscious society.
ated from Yale Medical School and then
This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric
completed a residency at Stanford.
(Write-2) requirement and will emphasize oral and multime-
His research interests include modulation of Transform-
dia presentation.
ing Growth Factor-Beta in scarless flexor tendon wound heal-
ing and tissue engineered flexor tendon grafts for hand re-
Jill Helms, an associate professor in the de- construction. Dr. Chang is the recipient of numerous grants.
partment of plastic and reconstructive sur- He is an associate editor for Journal of Hand Surgery, Annals
gery, came to Stanford from UC–San Fran- of Plastic Surgery, Hand, and Microsurgery, and also research
cisco, where she was the director of the director for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.
Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory. Dr. Chang’s surgical interests are in reconstructive sur-
She has a clinical degree and a PhD, and her gery of the hand and extremities including microsurgical
research focuses on the genetic, cellular, reconstruction. He also has interest in pediatric hand and
and molecular basis for birth defects of the microsurgery, post-oncologic head and neck reconstruction,
head and the skeleton. Her clinical interests center on devel- and lower extremity reconstruction.
oping better techniques for the diagnosis, prevention, and He is married to Dr. Harriet Walker Roeder, a psychiatrist.
treatment of birth defects in children. She divides her time They live on the Stanford campus with their three daughters,
between research, teaching, learning, and mentoring stu- Julia, Kathleen, and Cecilia. In his spare time, he enjoys travel-
dents in the medical and dental sciences related to craniofa- ing, running marathons, fly fishing, watching baseball, and
cial biology. following his daughters’ sports teams.
Bo Liu, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of
Surgery, received a PhD in oral pathology in 2003 from Peking
University, and, previously, a dental degree from the same uni-
versity. For four years she was a postdoctoral research fellow
at the Center for Oral Biology at the University of Rochester.

77
SPRING COURSES

Application must be submitted via the web at


introsems.stanford.edu

Application Deadline for Spring Quarter is


Friday, March 5 at 12:00 noon

78
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
ASIAN LANGUAGES 70N BIOLOGY 13N

Marvelous Creatures: Animals and Environmental Problems and Solutions


Humans in Chinese Literature
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-NatSci
TTh 2:15p–3:45p
F, SEM | 3-4 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum
TTh 3:15p–4:30p
This seminar is designed to allow students to gain the un-
Chinese literature teems with animal characters: monkeys, derstanding that every educated person should have of envi-
ronmental problems, the driving forces that cause them, and
snakes, foxes, wolves, dogs, and birds, to name a few. Mythi-
how science works. Reading and discussions will be designed
cal, charming, wily, amorous, or mischievous, these memo-
to allow students to detect the pseudoscience that is fre-
rable creatures are potent symbols of cultural values and
quently offered on environmental issues. Students will read
dynamic sites of changing human aspirations. In this course,
articles by leading environmental scientists and statements
we will read novels and short stories as well as view films
from the leading scientific organizations as well as analyze
that feature an array of marvelous creatures from later impe-
materials from sources such as the editorial pages of the Wall
rial times to the contemporary era. We will ask what animal
Street Journal. One text for the course will be Paul and Anne
imageries and metaphors can tell us about the Chinese and
Ehrlich’s One with Nineveh. Emphasis will be on global issues
how they relate to the world – natural, supernatural, and hu-
and underlying causes (overpopulation, overconsumption,
man – across the centuries.
use of faulty technologies, and maldistribution of power)
rather than on symptoms. Students will analyze differing
Haiyan Lee received her PhD in East Asian views and discuss possible solutions. Each will give seminar
Literature from Cornell. She taught at Cor- presentations, lead seminar discussions, and write several
nell, the University of Colorado at Boulder, short documented letters or position papers designed for
Harvard, and the University of Hong Kong policy makers.
before joining the Stanford faculty in 2009.
Her book, Revolution of the Heart: A Geneal-
When Paul Ehrlich wants relaxation, he
ogy of Love in China, 1900-1950, is a critical
goes to Colorado, Costa Rica, Borneo, or
genealogy of the idea of “love” (qing) in
some such place (usually with colleagues
modern Chinese literary and cultural history. It was awarded
and graduate students from Stanford’s Cen-
the Association for Asian Studies 2009 Joseph Levenson Prize
ter for Conservation Biology) to research
for the best English-language academic book on post-1900
ways to conserve Earth’s dwindling biologi-
China. Her research and teaching interests range from litera-
cal diversity and to enjoy the beauty of
ture, film, and mass media to history and philosophy. She has
birds, butterflies, and coral-reef fish. Much
written on such topics as love, emotion, sexuality, gender,
of the rest of the time he spends analyzing the human pre-
beauty, ideology, loyalty, and betrayal. She also occasionally
dicament and trying—largely unsuccessfully—to alert deci-
writes blogs on popular culture, such as this one on Kung Fu
sion makers to its dimensions. He has published more than
Panda. http://thechinabeat.blogspot.com/2008/07/kung-
30 books and hundreds of articles in this area. His work has
fu-panda-go-home.html.
earned him membership in academies and many honors, in-
cluding the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences (given explicitly as a substitute for the Nobel Prize in
fields not eligible for a Nobel). He is the recipient of the 2001
Eminent Ecologist Award from the Ecological Society of

SPRING
America, an award given annually to a senior ecologist for
sustained and distinguished contributions to ecology and
biological sciences.

79
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
BIOLOGY 16N BIOLOGY 26N

Island Ecology Maintenance of the Genome


F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-NatSci F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-NatSci
MWF 12:50p–2:05p TTh 3:15p–4:30p

Prerequisite: A strong technical background is not assumed; Prerequisite: High-school biology; Advanced Placement in biol-
familiarity with island ecosystems will be welcome. This course ogy, chemistry, or physics.
will culminate with a one-week field trip to Hawai’i immediately
after final exams in June. Student room, board, and travel ex- The precious blueprint for life is entrusted to the genomic
penses will be covered by the Wrigley Fund. DNA molecules in all living cells. Multiple strategies have
evolved to prevent the deleterious consequences of endog-
If you know any place well, you know something about the enous DNA alterations and damage from radiation or geno-
world. If your place is an island, in some senses it is a world toxic chemicals in the environment. This seminar will reveal
in itself. We can learn a great deal about evolution, ecology, the remarkable systems that scan cellular DNA for alterations
conservation biology, human-land interactions, and ecosys- and make repairs to ensure genomic stability. Deficiencies
tems by studying islands, and this seminar will explore how in DNA repair have been implicated in many hereditary dis-
to do that. Discussions will emphasize the ecosystems of the eases involving developmental defects, premature aging,
Hawaiian Islands, asking how Hawaiian climate, geology, and/or predisposition to cancer. An understanding of DNA
organisms, and societies work and how they can serve as a repair mechanisms is particularly important for advances in
model for how the world works. the fields of cancer biology, neurobiology, and gerontology.
The course structure includes background readings and in-
Peter Vitousek is Clifford G. Morrison Pro- troductory lectures, followed by the opportunity for students
fessor of Population and Resources Studies to give presentations and lead class discussions on relevant
in the Department of Biology. His research topics of their choosing. There are no written exams, but a
includes studies of basic controls on ecosys- short term paper is required.
tem structure and function, and analyses of
global environmental change caused by Philip Hanawalt is a pioneer in the fields of
human activity. He was born and raised in DNA replication and repair, having co-dis-
Hawai’i, where most of his research is now covered the now ubiquitous process of ex-
centered, but he has also worked in Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, cision repair 45 years ago at Stanford. More
and the continental United States. He is involved in conserva- recently, he and his students discovered
tion-related activities in Hawai’i in cooperation with state and transcription-coupled DNA repair, by which
federal agencies and private landowners. One facet of this expressed genes are more efficiently re-
work is the preservation of alala, the Hawaiian crow, the most paired than silent domains of the genome.
endangered bird in the United States His research employing undergraduate students includes
working with cultured mammalian cells, bacteria, and in vitro
systems. Professor Hanawalt has won the Peter and Helen
Bing award for Distinguished Teaching at Stanford, an Excel-
lence in Teaching Award from the Northern California chap-
ter of Phi Beta Kappa, and the Student Mentoring Award from
the Environmental Mutagen Society, for which he has also
SPRING

served as president. He held an Outstanding Investigator


Grant from the National Cancer Institute for many years, and
he has been elected to both the National Academy of Sci-
ences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

80
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
BIOLOGY 33N BIOLOGY 39N

Conservation Science and Practice Networks in Biology


F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-NatSci F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
MW 2:15p–3:45p F 10:00a–11:50a

U ntil the next big asteroid hits Earth, the future of life will N etworks are everywhere: friendship links on Facebook,
depend much more on humanity than on any other force. airline routes, power grids, the Internet, highway systems.
What kinds of plants, animals, and microorganisms will exist The list goes on and on. Biology is no exception; food chains,
over the coming decades and centuries? Which most merit protein interaction maps, and metabolic pathways are all
protection, and what is the scientific basis for deciding? How examples of networks. Despite their ubiquity, the study of
can the values of nature be integrated into the decisions of in- networks in the biological world started only about a decade
dividuals, communities, corporations, and governments? This ago. Exploration and exploitation of network analysis in bio-
seminar will explore conservation science and practice today. logical systems is only in its infancy. In this course, we will
We will span a wide range of places and goals, from saving explore networks in biology and the approaches people are
pandas and purifying drinking water to alleviating poverty using to study them through discussions and presentations
and restoring cultural connections to nature. Throughout, of original research papers.
we will assess the prospects for making conservation main-
stream, economically attractive, and commonplace around Sue Rhee is a staff scientist at the Depart-
the world. ment of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution
for Science, located on the Stanford cam-
Gretchen Daily is professor in the Biology pus. She received her BA in biology at
Department, director of the Center for Con- Swarthmore College and a PhD in biologi-
servation Biology, and senior fellow at the cal sciences at Stanford. After 10 years of
Woods Institute for the Environment. In wet-lab research, she switched to bioinfor-
2005-06, she was named the Stanford Par- matics and helped create several world-re-
ents University Fellow in Undergraduate nowned databases that are accessed by tens of thousands of
Education. Professor Daily and her research researchers. After 10 years of dry-lab research, she recently
group have ongoing projects in China, Co- transitioned into a semi-dry state, where she combines de-
lombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Hawai’i, Kenya, and Tur- velopment of computational models and experimental vali-
key. She is one of the leaders of a Stanford partnership with dation of the models on the bench. Her main subject of study
the Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund to align is a model plant called arabidopsis thaliana, and her long-
economic forces with conservation in ways you can help in- term goal is to uncover the mysteries of how plants process
vent. information from their environment to reprogram their
growth and development.

SPRING

81
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
CHEMISTRY 24N CLASSICS (CLASSGEN) 24N

Nutrition and History Sappho, Erotic Poetess of Lesbos


F, SEM | 2 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 4-5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum, EC-Gender
W 2:15p–4:00p MW 1:15p–2:45p

This seminar will examine the biochemical basis of the nutri- S appho, the archaic poet from the Greek island of Lesbos,
tional deficiencies and environmental toxins that have influ- has probably been the most influential female poet in West-
enced human history. Each topic will begin with a chemical ern civilization, although her life remains an intriguing enig-
description of the agent and discussion of its physiological ma. In this class we will read all of Sappho’s surviving frag-
action, followed by consideration of the sociological, political, ments in English and discuss all aspects of her poetry as well
and economic consequences of its effects on human popula- as the traditions referring to, or fantasizing about, her much
tions. Possible topics are vitamins (deficiency diseases such disputed life. We will examine the various ways in which Sap-
as rickets and scurvy, evolution of skin pigmentation), miner- pho’s poetry and legend have inspired not only female au-
als (iron and calcium deficiencies, selenium and arsenic toxic- thors but also great male poets such as Swinburne, Baude-
ity), organic toxins (ergot, botulinium, ptomaines), starvation laire, and Pound. We will see and analyze the many paintings
(carbohydrate metabolism, galactosidases, glucosidases), inspired by Sappho in both ancient and modern times and
and metabolic variants that predispose to disease (porphyria, will listen to the various composers who attempted to put her
favism, phenylketonuria). Students will prepare written and poetry into music. We will also investigate the rich heritage of
oral reports. Students might research the historical aspects of writings concerning Sappho and her circle, from ancient to
an agent, such as those listed above, for which the instructor contemporary times, focusing on those periods when schol-
will have presented chemistry and physiology. ars have debated about the interpretation of her poetry. No
previous knowledge of Greek poetry or culture is required.
Wray H. Huestis is a professor of chemistry. Her research
concerns the structure and function of cell membranes, fo- Anastasia-Erasmia Peponi, an acting as-
cusing on lipid metabolism and organization, protein struc- sociate professor in the Classics Depart-
ture, and membrane fusion mechanisms. She received a PhD ment, received her PhD from Aristotle Uni-
in biophysics and chemistry from the California Institute of versity of Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1992. Her
Technology. She was the recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Foun- areas of interest are Greek aesthetics, lyric
dation Fellowship and a Stanford Dean’s Award for Excellence as a verbal and visual genre, and dance in
in Teaching. Greek antiquity. She is currently preparing
two books, Frontiers of Pleasure: Models of
Aesthetic Response in Archaic and Classical Thought and Dis-
course and Dance in Greece.
SPRING

82
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
COMPUTER SCIENCE 26N COMPUTER SCIENCE 73N

Motion Planning for Robots, Digital Business on the Information Highways


Actors, and Other Moving Objects
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci, WRITE-2
ThF 4:15-5:05 and 2:15p–4:05p
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
MW 9:30a–10:45a
Prerequisite: PWR 1.
Prerequisite: Some computer programming experience (in any
language); while this need not be extensive, some is necessary This course will focus on the use of the Internet for scientific
for understanding computer representations and algorithms. and commercial communication. Enough technology will
be presented to give students a sense of the possible, which
Have you ever wondered how a robot arm can manipulate pitfalls exist, and what are the most likely directions for the
parts without colliding with its environment, or how many future. For instance, buyers lose inspection of goods but gain
maneuvers it takes to park a car in a tight spot, or how char- access to the entire world market, and impressive encryption
acters in computer games can avoid running into obstacles technology can protect crooks as well as legitimate business-
or each other, or how molecules change shapes over time to es. The balance point between preserving an open society
perform vital biological functions? This seminar will introduce and maintaining protection from snoopers, competitors, and
motion planning theory and computational approaches: marketers is in flux. Students will prepare webpages that rep-
how to represent, simulate, and plan motions in a computer. resent a business or that can teach others about such topics.
Intriguing algorithms, representations, and applications will This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric
be addressed, along with terminology and concepts for read- Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and multime-
ing motion planning research literature. In addition to those dia presentation.
listed above, problems will include: how to assemble a prod-
uct from individual parts; how a multi-limbed robot (e.g., a Gio Wiederhold, emeritus professor of
humanoid robot) can navigate on rough terrain; how robots computer science, medicine, and electrical
can perform some surgical procedures. For those students engineering, is active in the application of
who so wish, there will be opportunities to do a program- knowledge-based techniques to database
ming project. For others, assignments will include readings, management, information systems, secure
in-class presentations, and/or solving problem sets. information management, and software
construction and maintenance. After earn-
Jean-Claude Latombe graduated from the ing an aeronautical engineering degree in
University of Grenoble, where he also got Holland and undergoing 16 years of industrial experience in
his PhD. He joined Stanford in 1987. Since the United States, he earned a PhD in medical information
then, the goal of his research has been to science at UC–San Francisco and joined the Stanford faculty
create autonomous agents that sense, plan, in 1976. During 1991-94 he was a program manager at
and act in real and/or virtual worlds. Most of DARPA, originator of the Internet.
his work focuses on representing, sensing,
planning, controlling, and rendering mo- Avron Barr and Shirley Tessler are long-
tions of physical objects (robots, digital humans, molecules, time members of the Stanford community.
etc.) He has been working on multiple applied projects, in Mr. Barr wrote the four-volume Handbook of
mobile robotics, robotic surgery, graphic animation, and Artificial Intelligence while a graduate stu-
pharmaceutical drug design. He has also co-founded three dent in computer science in the 1970s. Ms.

SPRING
startups in France, Singapore, and the United States. Tessler has an MBA from Wharton, and
Since joining Stanford, Professor LaTombe has climbed worked in banking and corporate finance
a number of high mountains in South America (Peru, Bolivia, before coming to Stanford to study com-
and Ecuador), as well as in Nepal and Central Asia. He also puter science. Currently, they are focused
loves rock climbing, ice climbing, and randonnée ski. on developing international standards for
eLearning and investigating intellectual
property valuation issues.

83
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
DRAMA 15N ECONOMICS 17N

Screening the Stage Energy, the Environment, and the


Economy
F, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only
MW 1:15p–3:05p
F, SEM | 2 Units | Letter Grade Only
MW 7:00p–9:00p
This seminar will look at various stage plays that have been
adapted for film to consider the differences in narrative, scene, Prerequisite: Economics 1A.
character, and the effects of star actors, as well as evidence of
audience and expectation in each medium. Texts will include This course will examine the intimate relationship between
Look Back in Anger, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Raisin in the environmental quality and the production and consumption
Sun, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Mel Gibson’s 1990 Hamlet, of energy. A major source of frustration to promoters of envi-
Closer, and Doubt. ronmentally-friendly energy production and consumption is
the inability of these energy sources to displace conventional
Alice Rayner teaches dramatic literature sources to a sufficient extent to achieve tangible environ-
and theory in the Drama Department. Her mental benefits. Is this outcome the result of a level playing
interests include the phenomenology of field for conventional versus alternative energy sources? Are
theater as well as comedy, genre theory, conventional energy sources the most efficient way to meet
and rhetoric. She has taught freshman sem- the world’s energy needs at least cost, including the nega-
inars on the multiple variations of Hamlet. tive environmental impacts that are not currently explicitly
Published books include Comic Persuasion; priced?
To Act, To Do, To Perform: Drama and the Phe- We will assess the economic efficiency and political
nomenology of Action, which begins with Hamlet; and Ghosts: economy implications of a number of topics in energy and
Death’s Double and the Phenomena of Theatre. environmental economics. These include the Strategic Petro-
leum Reserve (SPR), congestion pricing for urban traffic, the
“smart” transmission grid for electricity, nuclear energy and
waste, the real cost of renewable energy, corporate average
fuel efficiency (CAFÉ) and low-carbon fuel standards (LCFS),
energy efficiency investments, greenhouse gas emissions
(GHG) control, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
Readings will explain the economics and engineering behind
these topics, and class discussions will elaborate.

Frank Wolak is the Holbrook Working Pro-


fessor of Commodity Price Studies in the
Economics Department at Stanford. He re-
ceived his undergraduate degree from Rice
University, and an MS in applied mathemat-
ics and PhD in economics from Harvard. His
fields of research are energy and environ-
mental economics. He specializes in the
study of privatization, competition, and regulation in both
SPRING

energy and network industries such as electricity, telecom-


munications, water supply, natural gas, and postal delivery
services. Since April 1998 he has been chairman of the Mar-
ket Surveillance Committee (MSC) of the California Indepen-
dent System Operator for the state’s electricity supply indus-
try. In this capacity, he has testified numerous times at the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and at vari-
ous committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representa-
tives and California Senate and Assembly on issues relating
to energy and environmental issues.

84
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 23N ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 24N

Imaging: From the Atom to the Universe Incentives Mechanisms for Societal
Networks
F, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci
TTh 7:00p–8:15p
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
See Axess or SIS website for day and time
I n this seminar, students will explore various forms of imag-
ing through hands-on experimentation and field trips. The Societal networks are associated with some of society’s most
material will range from natural vision systems (human and common functions such as road systems, public transporta-
animal) and basic scientific instruments (the microscope and tion, and recycling. The efficient operation of such networks
telescope) to state-of-the-art systems such as the atomic requires that users behave responsibly and observe proper
force microscope, the digital camera, holographs, nuclear etiquette when sharing common resources. It is important
magnetic imaging, sonar and gravitational wave imaging, that the rules governing societal networks be chosen so as
and the Hubble Space telescope. to align individual interests with the greater social good.
Students will acquire a basic understanding of imaging This course is about the use of monetary incentives to
systems through exposure to the underlying physical prin- promote good behavior in societal networks. Examples in-
ciples, experiments, and contact with real devices and sys- clude incentivizing people to drive at less congested times,
tems in the classroom, elsewhere on campus, and through to use public transportation, and to recycle more active-
field trips. The instructors will present formal material and ly. The class has three parts: (1) background in the relevant
then will engage students in interactive discussion and ex- economic theory; (2) designing incentive mechanisms for
periments. We will challenge students to think about com- decongesting road traffic and improving recycling; and (3)
plex problems in fundamental ways and stimulate them to field experiments to promote recycling. In the field experi-
be creative in their approach to solving problems. Our ulti- ments, students will offer recyclers various monetary rewards
mate goal is to teach students how to extract the essence (as determined by an algorithm) and record the response of
from complex information. the recyclers.

Lambertus Hesselink is a professor in elec- Balaji Prabhakar is an associate professor


trical engineering, aeronautics and astro- of electrical engineering and computer sci-
nautics, and applied physics. He has re- ence. He is interested in network algorithms,
ceived numerous awards for his research in scaleable methods for network perfor-
ultra-high-density optical data storage, mance monitoring and simulation, wireless
nano-optics, digital imaging, and optical (imaging) sensor networks, stochastic net-
communication components. He founded work theory and information theory. He has
Siros Technologies, Inc., and co-founded designed algorithms for switching, routing,
Senvid, Inc., both focused on the development of commer- bandwidth partitioning, load balancing, and web caching.
cial optical systems and Internet products. Professor Prabhakar has been a Terman Fellow at Stanford
and a fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. He has received
Yuzuru Takashima is a postdoctoral re- the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, the
searcher in the Department of Electrical En- Erlang Prize from the INFORMS Applied Probability Society,
gineering. His work has focused on optical and the Rollo Davidson Prize, awarded to young scientists for
engineering and science. He has 10 years of their contributions to probability and its applications.

SPRING
extensive experience as an optical engineer
in lens designs for industrial imaging sys-
tems. Currently, he and Professor Hesselink
are researching cutting-edge optical data
storage systems using holograms of nano- to submicro me-
ter scale, as well as nanometer scale material processing us-
ing femtosecond lasers.

85
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
ENGLISH 53N ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE 39N

Aesthetic Taste and Gastronomy The Carbon Cycle: Reducing Your Impact
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci
TTh 1:15p–3:05p TTh 3:15p–4:05p

This seminar provides a jaunt through the worlds of aes- S ince the industrial revolution man has fundamentally per-
thetic taste and gastronomy as defined by 18th-century Brit- turbed the carbon cycle through the burning of fossil fuels.
ish essayists and their 19th-century heirs from England and As a result, the Earth will and is undergoing fundamental
France. The focus is on the development of middle-class taste changes in global climate, many of which will impact your
(both figurative and foody) as well as manners, snobbery, and life. Focus is on the long- and short-term carbon cycle and
sensibility. how as an individual you may shrink your carbon footprint.
There will be outside readings, class discussion and student
Denise Gigante is an associate professor of oral presentations. Classes will be held at the Stanford Com-
English literature specializing in the 18th munity Farm, weather permitting.
and 19th centuries, and is completing a
book entitled After Taste: The Aesthetics of C. Page Chamberlain received his PhD in
Romantic Eating, and editing another called geology and geophysics from Harvard in
Eating Romanticism: Writing between Appe- 1985. He was a professor at Dartmouth Col-
tite and Taste, 1770–1830. Her theoretical lege for 14 years before moving to Stanford
interest in the topic of eating has also in- in 2001. His research is in the broad area of
spired several essays soon to be published in scholarly jour- isotope biogeochemistry, and it focuses on
nals, including “Milton’s Aesthetics of Eating” and “Keats’s a wide variety of problems such as the link
Ample Palate.” Her published work includes recent articles on between climate and the origin of moun-
“ugliness” in Frankenstein, Victorian poetics, and the ques- tainous regions, the relationship between surface processes
tion of critical self-creation. Her books include Taste: A Literary and tectonics, the chemical weathering of rocks, and isotopic
History; Gusto: Essential Writings in Nineteenth-Century Gas- studies of bird migration and the paleoecology of California
tronomy; The Great Age of the English Essay: An Anthology; and condors. He has worked extensively in the northern Appala-
Life: Organic Form and Romanticism. She received her PhD chians, Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Tibet and the Hima-
from Princeton and her BA from Yale. layas, and the Southern Alps of New Zealand.
SPRING

86
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
GERMAN STUDIES 123N GEOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 39N

The Brothers Grimm and Their Fairy Forensic Geoscience: CSI Stanford
Tales
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci
TTh 1:15p–3:05p
F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, WIM
TTh 4:15p–5:30p
This seminar will focus on the geological principles, ma-
Prerequisite: German 3 or equivalent. terials, and techniques that have proven indispensable to
modern criminal investigations. Forensic geoscience and the
When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published the Kinder- application of scientific principles to crime-solving were first
und Hausmärchen in 1812, they could not have known how popularized in the fictional work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
many editions it would go through, the many languages it through his character Sherlock Holmes. Today, modern crimi-
would be translated into, or the many ways the stories would nal investigations increasingly rely on the technological tools
be interpreted. This course will hardly be definitive, but we used by geoscientists and their knowledge-base of earth
will read, hear, and see some of the versions and revisions of materials and properties. Television shows have popularized
the tales and reactions to them (printed, painted, sketched, the field of forensic science and the use of geologic evidence.
taped, and filmed). Class will be taught in German, with read- In reality, the “smoking gun” is often less decisive and more
ings in German. We will focus on a wide range of questions. challenging to obtain.
Who were the Grimms? In what cultural context did they col- This course will provide an introduction to basic earth
lect their fairy tales? From whom did they get the stories? materials, their origin and variability, and the different ways
How have the tales been received in different cultures at in which they can serve as evidence in criminal cases and
different times? Do the tales encourage any specific values other types of investigations. Basic principles in geoscience—
(“the moral of the story is...”)? How have they served or not including geochemistry—which form the basis of modern
served the interests of the German state(s), present and past? forensic investigations will be introduced and discussed
We will also look at interpretations from different theoreti- throughout the class. Techniques for identifying materials and
cal perspectives (e.g., feminist and psychoanalytic). Required their composition will also be introduced, including scanning
coursework includes four short papers in German and pos- electron microscopy (SEM) and the elemental analysis using
sible participation in small-scale dramatizations. mass spectrometry. The class will use case-based simulated
forensic exercises and the local environments of the Stanford
Orrin (Rob) Robinson received his BA in campus and greater Bay Area. Local field trips and multiple
psychology at Stanford (1968) and returned case summaries will be required.
after getting a PhD in linguistics (1972) at
Cornell and teaching German for a year at Kate Maher is an assistant professor of geo-
UC–Berkeley. He lived for 15 years in Stan- logical and environmental sciences. Her re-
ford dorms as a resident fellow and is still a search uses isotopic and geochemical varia-
faculty associate with the German theme tions to trace a variety of environmental
house, Haus Mitteleuropa. Professor Robin- processes and their impact on the quality of
son has done research in general and Germanic linguistics the natural systems that we rely upon. These
and has published works on theoretical phonology (the for- processes include the fingerprinting of con-
mal structure of sound systems), the history and dialectology taminant sources using isotopic variations
of various Germanic languages, and Old High German syn- and the interactions between minerals and waters in soils,
tax. His current research includes the question of which data ground waters, and marine environments.

SPRING
count as data when describing the language known as Mod-
ern “Standard” German.

87
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
GEOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 40N HISTORY 6N

Diamonds Utopia: History of Nowhere Land


F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-NatSci F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum
TTh 1:15p–3:05p MW 12:50p–2:05p

D iamond, one of nature’s most spectacular creations, has What would the perfect society be? How would work be
been blessed with a unique set of properties. In this seminar, organized, and education, honor and profit be distributed?
we approach this fascinating mineral from a variety of direc- How would children be raised, and who would govern? Such
tions. Throughout human history, diamonds have served as questions have engaged philosophers, revolutionaries, and
powerful symbols of perfection, wealth, power, beauty, love, dreamers in every historical age. This course examines uto-
and eternity. We explore the history of diamonds as valuable pian literature from ancient Greece through the modern age,
gem stones, discuss diamond prospecting and mining, and focusing on the early modern period.
delve into the often-tragic politics behind the international
diamond trade. On a planetary time scale, the chemical and Laura Stokes completed her PhD at the
physical properties of individual diamonds provide clues University of Virginia in 2006. Her disserta-
that help geologists understand the nature of Earth’s deep tion, “Demons of Urban Reform,” examines
interior and the origins of our solar system. Since they are the origins of witchcraft prosecution in
extremely tough, persisting through billions of years under 15th-century Europe against the backdrop
hostile environments in our planet and in meteorites, we are of a general rise in the prosecution of crime
able to investigate how diamonds record information about and other measures of social control. In the
the conditions under which they formed. Finally, we will look process she has investigated the relation-
at diamond as an über-material. It is the hardest substance ship between witchcraft and sodomy persecutions as well as
known to humankind and also possesses the highest ther- the interplay between the unregulated development of judi-
mal conductivity of any known material; in fact, it leaves the cial torture and innovations within witchcraft prosecution.
runners-up in the dust. These and other exceptional qualities Her research plans include a social history of greed in the age
make diamond an ideal material for many industrial and re- of the Reformation. Professor Stokes has been at Stanford
search applications, the development of which is limited only since 2007.
by the high price of diamonds, the shortage of large natural
specimens, and the boundaries of our imagination. In this
seminar we examine the efforts of scientists to improve upon
nature, investigating cutting-edge methods for synthesizing
single-crystal diamond on a commercial scale, which could
potentially usher in a new diamond age to follow our current
age of silicon.

Wendy Mao is an assistant professor with a


joint appointment in the Department of
Geological and Environmental Sciences on
campus and on the Photon Science Faculty
at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Labo-
ratory. Her research focuses on the behavior
SPRING

of materials under compression. She uses


diamonds to squeeze samples to high pres-
sures and studies the dramatic changes that are induced. This
work has application to understanding Earth and planetary
interiors and developing new hydrogen-storage materials.

88
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
HISTORY 36N HISTORY 62N

Gay Autobiography The Atomic Bomb in Policy and History


F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, EC-Gender F, SEM | 5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-SocSci
TTh 1:15p–3:05p T 3:15p–6:05p

We will read six autobiographical texts and view three films. Emphasizing declassified files from World War II and pub-
“Gay autobiography” means an autobiography in which the lished interpretations, this seminar will address a seeming-
story of the author’s sexual experience and identity is a central ly simple set of questions. Why did the United States drop
concern, not just an autobiography by an author who hap- atomic bombs on Japanese cities in August 1945? Were there
pens to be gay. Among the films we’ll consider is Brokeback viable alternatives, and, if so, why were they not pursued?
Mountain. Our discussions will be directed at three issues: (1) What did the 1945 use of atomic bombs mean then and lat-
Identity: to what extent do our writers view their sexual ori- er? These questions will lead us to ask how postwar interpret-
entation as a deep, inalterable, and defining characteristic? ers, including World War II officials, explained and justified or
(2) Gender: do these writers link their sexual orientation to criticized the bombings, and why. Using approaches from
“gender deviance,” i.e., effeminacy in men and mannishness history, international relations, American studies, political
in women, or do they argue that sexual orientation and gen- science, and ethics, we will investigate these questions and
der style are separate matters? (3) Solidarity: how much do their answers; the underlying conceptions; and the roles of
these writers identify with others who share their sexual situ- evidence, logic, models of explanation, ethical values, and
ation? What politics follow from their circumstances? Every cultural/social influences in the continuing dialogue on the
student will be expected to write a 10-page autobiographical atomic bomb. We will analyze the issues from multiple per-
essay. spectives, asking why and how various answers were devel-
oped, scrutinized, and reformulated; why certain facts were
Paul Robinson is the Richard W. Lyman Pro- accepted or rejected in this process; and how the atomic
fessor in the Humanities. Since 1967, he has bombings have been understood.
been in the History Department, where he
teaches courses on modern European Barton J. Bernstein is a professor of history
thought and culture. He has received Stan- and former director of the American stud-
ford’s Dinkelspiel Award for Distinctive Con- ies, international relations, and internation-
tributions to Undergraduate Education. al policy studies programs. He is also in-
Among his books are The Freudian Left; The volved in the peace studies course and the
Modernization of Sex; Opera and Ideas; Freud and His Critics; history of science program. He writes and
and Gay Lives: Homosexual Autobiography from John Adding- lectures on World War II and postwar U.S.
ton Symonds to Paul Monette. He is a member of the American foreign and domestic policy, addressing
Academy of Arts and Sciences. such subjects as the use of the atomic bomb, the early Cold
War, the Korean War, the Cuban missile crisis, universities and
defense, the roles of scientists in weaponry, and the chang-
ing shape of politics. Professor Bernstein served as an advisor
to the Smithsonian’s exhibit, and in his research has gathered
many unpublished, declassified materials on the develop-
ment and 1945 use of atomic bombs.

SPRING

89
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
IBERIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN CULTURES 117N MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 70N

Film, Nation, Latinidad Building the Future: Invention and


Innovation with Engineering Materials
F, SEM | 3-4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
MW 12:35p–2:05p
F, SEM | 5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci, WRITE-2
TTh 1:15p–3:05p
The literal and figurative nations of Spain, Mexico, and
Latina/o U.S.A. have been intertwined for centuries through Prerequisite: PWR 1.
overlapping histories of conquest, colonization, diasporic mi-
grations, and cultural production and exchange. This course Without semiconductors, there would have been no high-
will explore how filmmakers from these countries have ex- tech revolution. Without steel, there would not have been an
panded, troubled, contested, parodied, or otherwise inter- Industrial Revolution. Had the World Trade Center been made
rogated questions about nationalism, citizenship, identity, of other materials, it might have survived. The overwhelming
and even the very idea of “nation” itself. How does something technological importance of materials in the development
we call a nation come to be? What does it mean to be a citi- of human civilization is so evident that we commonly use
zen? Who gets excluded from these categories, under what names such as the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age to
circumstances, and by what means? Which formal elements describe entire epochs of human development. Today may
make the medium of film ideally suited for participating in be called the Information Age, but it really is the Silicon Age.
this dialogue within and across borders? Films may include This course will explore the nature and structures of materials
Amores perros (Alejandro González Iñárritu), Carne trémula in the solid state, the pivotal role of materials in the develop-
(Pedro Almodovar), El jardín del Edén (María Novaro), Lone ment of new technologies, and the limitations of materials
Star (John Sayles), The Spirit of the Beehive (Víctor Erice), Mi as seen in everyday life. Course work will involve readings,
Familia (Gregory Nava), Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de reports on assigned reading, discussions, problem sets, field
Mayo, and Señorita Extraviada (Lourdes Portillo). trips, and formal presentations of small-group projects.
This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric
Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano is an associate Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and multime-
professor of Spanish and Portuguese. Be- dia presentation.
fore joining the Stanford faculty in 1994,
she worked at the University of Washington John C. Bravman earned his BS (1979), MS
for 20 years after having earned two BA de- (1981), and PhD (1984) from Stanford in ma-
grees, in comparative literature and Ger- terials science and engineering. He is vice
man, from that university and a PhD in provost for undergraduate education, a
Spanish from Harvard. Her area of special- professor of materials science and engi-
ization is Chicana/o cultural studies, with an emphasis on neering, and dean of the Freshman-Sopho-
gender, race, and sexuality. Most of her courses look at ques- more College at Sterling Quad. He has also
tions of identity in writing, visual art, film and video, and the- served as senior associate dean for student
ater and performance. affairs for the School of Engineering and as acting vice pro-
vost for student affairs. In recognition of his excellence in
teaching, Professor Bravman has received several awards, in-
cluding a Gores Award, Stanford’s highest honor for teaching.
He has been a freshman adviser or resident fellow every year
for the past 24 years. In his spare time, Professor Bravman en-
SPRING

joys photography, cooking, and discussing politics and eco-


nomics.

90
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
MUSIC 16N, GERMAN STUDIES (GERLIT) 16N NEUROLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCES 67N

Music, Myth, and Modernity: Wagner’s Intracellular Trafficking and


Ring Cycle and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord Neurodegeneration
of the Rings
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
TTh 5:30p–7:00p
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom
TTh 3:15p–4:45p
Prerequisite: High-school biology.
Prerequisite: Preference given to students who have read the
Tolkien books and/or have some musical background.
This course is an introduction to cell biology of degenera-
tive diseases. The seminar will build from basic cell structures
and functions, through essential elements of the intracel-
Richard Wagner’s operatic cycle The Ring of the Nibelung and lular trafficking system that maintains exchanges of materi-
J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings share many als and information inside the cells, to clinical features and
mythic themes and sources well beyond the evil power- pathologies of neurodegenerative diseases. We will also in-
wielding ring at the axis of both plots. Peopled by a similar troduce basic techniques for examining cellular/subcellular
cast of humans, dwarves, elves, dragons, and other mythic structures, especially cytoskeletons, and discuss functional
beings, both epics trace a heroic journey-quest through an insights generated from structural exploration. A hands-on
archaic fantasy landscape. Wagner’s cycle was conceived in laboratory opportunity will be considered for students to
the same historical context as Karl Marx’s Communist Mani- perform microscopic examination on cells and visualize in-
festo and premiered in the early years of the new German tracellular trafficking.
empire. Tolkien’s was influenced by the author’s experiences This course is categorized as a research-based seminar,
in World War I and Britain’s struggle against Hitler’s Germa- and students may also have the opportunity to continue
ny. Both works reflect an emerging awareness of the threat their research in projects after the course is completed.
posed by the Industrial Revolution to nature and society in
the modern West. Both raise questions about the afterlife of
mythic heroes and pagan or pantheistic spirituality in Chris- Yanmin Yang, associate professor, received
tian-European culture. her MD from Fudan University Medical
This course highlights the interaction of Norse, Ger- School in China and her PhD in cell and mo-
manic, and Anglo-Saxon mythic traditions and modern cul- lecular biology from the Max-Delbrueck
tural concerns, focusing on the role of musical motives and Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin,
characterization in Wagner’s operas and in Peter Jackson’s Germany. Since 2000 she has taught in the
film version of Tolkien’s trilogy. How does music profile the Department of Neurology and Neurological
mythic struggle of good and evil, old and new, divine and Sciences at Stanford. The research in her
human in retelling these myths in the modern mediums of laboratory centers on molecular mechanisms underlying
opera and film? How do Wagner’s and Tolkien’s epics enact neurodegeneration, especially related to cytoskeletal func-
the universal “monomyth” (as Joseph Campbell called it) of tion and organization.
the heroic quest? How does the interaction of plot, character,
image, and music in the operas and the films relate to other
multi-media mythologies, from the Star Wars series to myth-
and fantasy-based video games?

Thomas S. Grey, professor of music, has

SPRING
been at Stanford since 1990. He attended
high school in Connecticut, college at Dart-
mouth, and graduate school in music at
UC–Berkeley. As a musicologist, Professor
Grey has worked on Wagner and 19th-cen-
tury German music and opera for many
years. Well before that, he read all the Tolk-
ien books four times. He looks forward to bringing these in-
terests together in this seminar.

91
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
PHILOSOPHY 9N PHYSICS 43N

Philosophical Classics of the 20th Understanding Electromagnetics


Century Phenomena
F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum F, SEM | 1 Unit | Ltr-CR/NC
MW 9:00-10:15 M 3:15p–4:45p

In this class we will read and discuss some of the last centu- Corequisite: This seminar can be taken concurrently with
Physics 43. It is also an excellent course for students who are
ry’s best and most influential philosophical writings. Our top-
using Advanced Placement credit to place out of Physics 43.
ics will include ethics (what is the nature of right and wrong?),
language (how do meaning, reference, and truth arise in the
natural world?), science (can science claim objectively accu- Electricity and magnetism affect our lives in many ways. At
rate descriptions of reality?), existence (are there things that the most basic level, the electric force is responsible for bind-
don’t exist?), and the mind (could robots ever be conscious?). ing electrons in atoms. On a more human scale, the electri-
Authors will include Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, cal power distribution system is an essential part of our lives.
Rudolf Carnap, Willard Quine, Thomas Kuhn, John Rawls and Electricity and magnetism are also responsible for interest-
Saul Kripke. The readings typically will not be long, but they ing natural phenomena such as lightning and the northern
often will be difficult. In addition to closely reading and as- lights. Humans are extending the strength of magnetic fields
sessing these works, we will get a general sense of the lay of with technologies such as superconducting magnets, used in
the land in contemporary philosophy. top research facilities. In this seminar, we will explore applica-
tions of electricity and magnetism to everyday phenomena
and to topics in current physics research. We will tour local
Mark Crimmins received his undergradu- facilities where high-power devices are fabricated and used.
ate degree from Princeton and his graduate This seminar will reinforce the concepts covered in Physics 43
education at Stanford. His specialties include by applying them to interesting examples and applications.
philosophy of language, philosophy of mind,
metaphysics, and philosophical logic. He
has taught at Cornell and the University of Robert Laughlin is a professor of physics at
Michigan, and is returning to Stanford after Stanford and a research physicist at the
more than a decade away. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In
addition to being a co-recipient of the 1998
Nobel Prize in physics, he has received nu-
merous other awards for his pioneering
work, including membership in the Nation-
al Academy of Sciences. Professor Laughlin’s
current research is primarily in high-temperature supercon-
ductivity theory. Recent work includes model studies of
doped Mott insulators, computation of spectroscopic quanti-
ties—optical conductivity, magnetic susceptibility, photo-
emission—from first principles, and development of new
mathematical methods based on the fractional quantum Hall
effect. These include use of condensed matter lattice gauge
theories, use of quasiparticles carrying fractional quantum
SPRING

numbers, and application of conventional Feynman rules to


systems containing both. Other interests include the theory
of metals, localization, and quantum chaos.

92
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
PHYSICS 80N POLITICAL SCIENCE 16N

The Technical Aspects of Photography The Politics of Economic Development


F, SEM | 3 Units | S/NC F, SEM | 5 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-SocSci, WRITE-2
See Axess or SIS website for day and time 1:15p–2:05p See Axess or SIS website for day and time

Prerequisites: High-school physics; a good background in pho- Prerequisite: PWR 1.


tography.
Why are some countries rich and others poor? What ex-
This course will focus on how cameras record photographic plains the policies that governments adopt, and how do
images, both on film and electronically, and on aspects of the those policies affect economic performance? We will use
photographic process that are technical but which the pho- tools from political science and economics to explore these
tographer must understand to use cameras effectively. We important questions.
will discuss camera types and their advantages, how lenses This course is a research-based seminar. Students will
work and their limitations, camera shutters, light meters learn about research methods in political science and eco-
and the proper exposure of film, film types, depth of focus, nomics and will collaborate with the instructor to design and
control of the focal plane, and perspective, as well as special investigate research questions. Students may have the op-
strategies for macro and night photography. Students will be portunity to continue their research after the course is com-
introduced to view- and range-finder technical cameras and pleted.
encouraged to exploit the flexibility of these formats to take This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric
photographs around campus and on photo excursions. Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and multime-
No darkroom work will be involved. Instead, the exposed dia presentation.
film will be professionally developed, and students will then
scan their images into Photoshop CS4 using the scanning Michael Tomz is an associate professor of
equipment supplied. Students will learn how to manipulate political science. He holds a master’s degree
their images in Photoshop, including adjustment of contrast, from Oxford, where he was a Marshall
brightness, hue, and color, as well as how to correct for image Scholar, and a PhD from Harvard. Tomz has
shortcomings, such as key-stoning (perspective), dodging, been a fellow at the Center for Advanced
and burning. Finally, the images will be printed on special pa- Study in the Behavioral Sciences and a visit-
per using Epson 3800 eight-color printers. In addition, a tech- ing scholar at the International Monetary
nical studio camera (4-by-5-inch film format) will be available Fund. He has written about international
in the photo room for the technically inclined. trade and finance, and about politics and economics in Latin
America and the United States. He has also developed statis-
Douglas Osheroff grew up in western tical software. His current research areas include international
Washington, where, by age 10, he learned relations, public opinion, and elections. Professor Tomz is a
photography from his father. He did his un- recipient of the Dean’s Award for distinguished teaching and
dergraduate work at Caltech, went to Cor- the Cox Medal for faculty excellence in fostering undergradu-
nell for graduate study in physics, and then ate research.
worked for 15 years at Bell Laboratories,
studying the unusual behavior of matter
near absolute zero. He came to Stanford in
1987 when his wife was offered a job at Genentech. In 1996,

SPRING
he shared the Nobel Prize in physics for work he did as a grad-
uate student at Cornell, and his Nobel lecture included pho-
tographs he took as a graduate student of the apparatus used
in that work. Professor Osheroff combines two of his hobbies,
photography and hiking, and he seldom travels far without a
camera.

93
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
POLITICAL SCIENCE 48N PSYCHOLOGY 17N

Muslim Integration into France Language and Society: How Languages


Shape Lives
F, SEM | 5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
See Axess or SIS website for day and time
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-SocSci
TTh 1:15p–2:30p
The specter of Islamized societies haunts Europe. Fears of
a fifth column of terrorism and a challenge by a population
of religious fanatics to a largely secularized continent are re-
D o the languages we speak shape the ways we think, the
way we feel, and the way we live our lives? Do people who
current in political dialogue from Spain to Austria. Yet little is
speak different languages think differently? Does learning
known as to whether these worries are a result of everyday
new languages change the way we think? What role does
xenophobia common to all situations of foreign immigration
language play in politics, law, and religion? We will look at the
or whether certain immigrants from the Middle East, Turkey,
role that language has in the minds of individuals, as well in
South Asia and Africa face special challenges because of
whole societies. The course readings will track breaking news
their Islamic heritage. The professor of this freshman seminar
stories about language and society. Class discussion will seek
collected survey and experimental data in France over the
to discover a scientific basis for engaging these broad issues.
course of the 2008-09 academic year to help answer these
questions. Students in the seminar will read a variety of claims
about this immigrant population and then put those claims Lera Boroditsky, an assistant professor of
to statistical test with the newly acquired data. Students will cognitive psychology, recently arrived from
be introduced to the European political context as well as MIT, where she was on the faculty in the De-
to basic skills in data analysis. They will be evaluated based partment of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
upon seminar participation and a final paper that combines Professor Boroditsky’s research centers on
readings in French political discourse and data analysis to the relationships between mind, world, and
test the validity of conjectures and claims in that literature. language; the role of language in cognition;
(Reading knowledge of French and statistical skills are not the acquisition of language and meaning;
prerequisites). and the mechanisms through which individuals and societies
acquire and construct knowledge. She has conducted re-
search in countries all over the world including China, Greece,
David D. Laitin is the James T. Watkins IV
Turkey, India, Germany, Russia, Spain, Croatia, Indonesia,
and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Sci-
Chile, Peru, Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Holland. She also runs
ence. He received his BA from Swarthmore
a satellite research laboratory in Java, Indonesia.
and his PhD from UC–Berkeley. He has con-
ducted field research on issues of language,
religion, and politics in Somalia, Yorubaland
(Nigeria), Catalonia (Spain), and Estonia. His
latest book is Identity in Formation: The Rus-
sian-Speaking Populations in the Near Abroad. Recently, most-
ly in collaboration with his Stanford colleague James Fearon,
he has published papers on ethnic violence, terrorism, sui-
cide attacks, and the sources of civil wars since World War II.
SPRING

94
FRESHMAN FRESHMAN
PSYCHOLOGY 23N RELIGIOUS STUDIES 10N

Aping: Imitation, Control, and the The Problem of God: From Aquinas to
Development of the Human Mind the New Atheism
F, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC F, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only
MW 11:00a–12:15p See Axess or SIS website for day and time

A childhood that prolongs our state of stimulus-bound O n my wall stands a framed cover of Time magazine from
helplessness beyond that of animals is the price human be- April 1966. Three large words in red stand out against a black
ings pay for the benefits of shared cognitive structures. This background: “Is God Dead?” Inside this issue: an in-depth ar-
seminar will explore how such structures enable social col- ticle on the “secularization” of Western societies, prognostica-
laboration, language, and the transmission and sharing of tions about the withering away of belief in God, and a report
knowledge. Sources include psychological data from animals about a curious group of university theologians profess-
and humans and recent discoveries in neuroscience. ing a Christianity post mortum dei and eager to officiate at
God’s funeral. Fast-forward 20 years: Ronald Reagan is in of-
Michael Ramscar is an assistant professor fice, Pat Robertson is busy organizing the Christian coalition,
of cognitive psychology. He studied philos- and the now familiar “culture wars” are in full swing. At their
ophy as an undergraduate, and then com- center are claims about God: God’s existence, God’s nature,
puter science and electronic engineering at God’s revelation, God’s creation, God’s will for humanity, God
the master’s level, prior to doing his gradu- this, God that….Fast-forward another 20 years: newspapers,
ate research in artificial intelligence and magazines, and the new medium known as the World Wide
cognitive science at Edinburgh University. Web are awash in articles and blogs about “the New Atheism”
Professor Ramscar’s research focuses on the represented by a group of intellectuals—Sam Harris, Christo-
way people represent a world of things—from abstract ideas pher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Daniel Dennett—whose
to faces—in memory, and on language-learning in children strident assaults upon belief in God and the persistence of
and adults. religion have put them on best-seller lists. If God is dead, his
ghost apparently is still haunting us. How can we understand
these developments? How new are such criticisms of “the-
ism”? What has the concept “God” meant to serious minds in
the past? And what point or function might belief in God have
in the modern/postmodern world? Through examination of
contemporary and classical theological and anti-theological
literature, this course will explore the intelligibility of theistic
belief at the beginning of the 21st century.

Brent Sockness holds an MA in Religious


Studies and PhD in Theology from the Uni-
versity of Chicago. His teaching focuses on
Christian thought and ethics since the Euro-
pean Enlightenment. His research concen-
trates on German theology and philosophy

SPRING
of religion in the 19th century, most recent-
ly the thought of Friedrich Schleiermacher.
Professor Sockness serves on the steering committees of the
programs in Ethics in Society and Interdisciplinary Studies in
the Humanities.

95
FRESHMAN SOPHOMORE
SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES (DLCL) 70N ANESTHESIA 70Q

From Vampires to Bathroom Walls: The Psychosocial and Economic


Folklore and Literature Ramifications of Critical Illness
F, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, WRITE-2 S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
MW 9:00a–10:30a W 7:00p–9:00p

Prerequisite: PWR 1.
This seminar examines the impact of critical illness on pa-
tients and their family members, and the psychological and
In the early 19 th
century, some Europeans started seeing socioeconomic influences that affect the subsequent course
the stories and songs of illiterate peasants as “folklore” that of hospitalization. The weekly sessions and readings will
needed to be collected, preserved, and perhaps transformed challenge students’ preconceived notions about the disease
into new literature, art, and music. The folktales of European course of critically ill patients, and, it is hoped, reveal the dif-
peasants such as the Balkan legends of vampires continue ficulties involved in the decision-making process for both the
to inspire artists today. Meanwhile, the idea of folklore has health care professionals and the patients’ families and loved
expanded to include the shared practices or utterances of ones as various medical challenges arise. Some of the top-
any group of people who share at least one linking factor: ics we will cover are conventional views of death and dying;
Soviet political jokes, Northern California schoolchildren’s the epidemiology of critical illness; trends of inpatient health
counting-out rhymes, even latrinalia (the anonymous wall- care in the United States; grief, coping skills, and cultural
writings of public bathroom users). We will read folktales variations; cardiopulmonary resuscitation; health econom-
and songs, riddles and jokes, and poems, stories, and plays ics and the cost of an intensive care unit (ICU); international
based on them, drawn from German, English, Russian, Ro- perspectives; euthanasia/withdrawal of care; palliative care
manian, Yiddish, and other sources, and we will think about and hospice care; advanced directives and legal aspects of
how folklorists and writers have understood the connections medical catastrophe; family meetings, including psychoso-
between the oral and the written. We will read fundamen- cial dynamics; emotional ramifications of medical decisions;
tal theoretical essays by Jacob Grimm, James Frazer, Sig- the sick role; and rounds in the ICU.
mund Freud, and others, to understand what people have
believed we can learn from folklore. At the same time, each
student will also collect living folklore from a group of their Ludwig Lin earned his BS in biological sci-
own choosing and work to analyze and present it both orally ences from Stanford, with Distinction, in
and on paper. Class will be interactive. In each class one or 1990, and his MD from the UC–San Francisco
more students will report orally; requirements include two medical school in 1994. He completed a
oral reports and a research paper. Two goals are for students residency in anesthesiology as well as a fel-
to understand how conceptions of folklore have influenced lowship in critical care medicine at UCSF, and
our own culture and to develop a sophisticated understand- served on the faculty of the UCSF School of
ing of the connections between spoken and written words. Medicine from 1998 to 2005. He joined the
This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Stanford Medical School faculty in 2007. Prior research inter-
Rhetoric Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and ests included cell biology and immunology, and sepsis and its
multimedia presentation. acid-base disturbances. His current interests include studying
ways to improve the processes for communication between
medical trainees and the families of critically ill patients.
Gabriella Safran, an assistant professor of
Slavic languages and literature, is the au-
SPRING

thor of a book entitled Rewriting the Jew: As-


similation Narratives in the Russian Empire
(2000), which received several awards, in-
cluding the National Jewish Book Award
(East European Studies Division) and the
Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Studies
in Slavic Languages and Literatures. In 2001, she and Stanford
history professor Steven Zipperstein organized a conference
on the Russian and Yiddish writer, ethnographer, and revolu-
tionary S. Ansky. Currently, they are editing a collection of
articles about him. During the 2002-03 academic year, Profes-
sor Safran participated in a research seminar at the Center for
Advanced Judaic Studies of the University of Pennsylvania,
where she was working on a literary biography of S. Ansky.

96
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
ANESTHESIA 113Q BIOENGINEERING 70Q

Disease-Oriented Approach to Human Medical Device Innovation


Physiology
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
See Axess or SIS website for day and time
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
See Axess or SIS website for day and time
This course highlights the development process for com-
Prerequisite: An interest in how the human body works in health monly used medical devices in the fields of interventional
and disease. cardiology, cardiac surgery, and general and robotic surgery,
among others. Prominent physicians and inventors will de-
This seminar will focus on the physiology of major organ liver guest lectures to introduce students to several medical
systems, elaborating on their function in health and disease. specialties and the innovations that have transformed them.
We will begin our discussion of each system by describing Successful entrepreneurs will offer advice in identifying clini-
commonly occurring diseases and using them to gain in- cal needs and discuss how to develop devices to address
sight into the physiology and pathophysiology of organ these needs. Finally, venture capitalists will talk about the
function. We will discuss the role of the system in the normal fundamentals of evaluating new medical device opportuni-
healthy person, how it is altered in disease, and therapeutic ties. There will be field trips to medical-device companies and
approaches to normalizing the pathophysiologic state. Cur- assignments to challenge students to design and build inno-
rent therapies and those under investigation will be covered. vative medical devices. No previous engineering training is
Systems and diseases to be discussed include the cardiovas- required.
cular system (myocardial infarction, trauma and infection
leading to shock), central nervous system (stroke, concus- Joe Mandato is a lecturer in bioengineer-
sion, cerebral hemorrhage, spinal-cord trauma, meningitis), ing and a general partner and managing
pulmonary (pneumonia, asthma, emphysema), renal (kidney director of De Novo Ventures, a local ven-
failure), and hepatic (cirrhosis, hepatitis). For the final assign- ture firm investing in the life sciences. Be-
ment, students will be presented a disease state and will fore working at De Novo, he was an entre-
be expected to describe the pathophysiology involved and preneur and served in a variety of executive
provide information regarding therapeutic options. Grading positions in the medical device industry. He
will be based on seminar participation and the final paper. has also co-founded or been involved in the
Visits to operating rooms at Stanford Medical Center will be development of several well- known companies including
included. Align Technologies and Guidant Corporation.

Myer “Mike” Rosenthal is emeritus profes-


sor of anesthesia, medicine, and surgery. He Ryan Pierce worked as a medical product
came to Stanford in 1975 to establish a crit- designer at The Foundry, Concentric Medi-
ical-care medicine program and to direct cal, and Ventus Medical before joining De
the adult intensive-care unit, positions he Novo Ventures in 2008. He holds mechani-
held until 1997. Currently, he teaches anes- cal engineering degrees from MIT and Stan-
thesia in Stanford’s operating rooms. The ford, and an MBA from Harvard Business
fellowship program he established in 1976 School.
has educated nearly 100 critical-care physicians, many of
whom have remained in academic practice and become

SPRING
leaders in this subspecialty.
Professor Rosenthal’s principal academic interests are
in pulmonary and renal insufficiency and the pathophysiol-
ogy and treatment of shock. He lectures in physiology and
pharmacology, and his teaching has won awards both at
Stanford and nationally, including the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the American Society of Critical Care Anesthe-
siologists. Professor Rosenthal and his wife live on campus
and have three children, all Stanford graduates. In addition to
his medical work, he has been involved in Stanford’s athletic
programs, including as founder of the Stanford Water Polo
Foundation.

97
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
BIOLOGY 27N CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 80Q

Nature and Nurture in Brain Art, Chemistry, and Madness:


Development The Science of Art Materials
S, Sem | 3 Units | S/NC S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci
Th 2:15–5:05p TTh 2:15p–3:05p

The brain consists of billions of neurons that are precisely Prerequisite: Chemistry 33 or high school chemistry.
interconnected in circuits that ultimately underlie our ability
to think, behave, and perceive the world around us. During This class focuses on the materials science of painting and
development, these neurons are born, migrate into position, calligraphy and covers the chemistry of natural and synthetic
and extend axons over long distances to contact appropriate pigments in a series of historical palettes: the Earth palette
target cells, wiring themselves into a particular circuit. The of paleolithic times, the Egyptian palette, the Greco-Roman
wiring of the brain is influenced by innate, genetically driven palette, the medieval European palette, the Renaissance pal-
processes and by life experiences. This course will examine ette, and the synthetic palette. Paintings are analyzed as me-
the biological mechanisms that guide the development of chanical structures, from the support and ground through
neuronal circuits in animal model systems and humans. We the action of the binder to the final varnish coating. Scan-
will also explore the relative influences of nature and nurture ning electron microscopy images are used to emphasize the
on neural development. Our readings from the primary sci- composite nature of paints and paper. Analytical techniques
entific literature will be the focus for class discussion. used in art conservation, restoration, and the determination
of the provenance of a piece of art are discussed. Woven
throughout the class are discussions on the inherent health
Susan McConnell is the Susan B. Ford Pro- hazards of many classes of pigments and solvents used by
fessor of Biology. She received her PhD in artists. The class includes two weekly lectures and a lab pe-
neurobiology from Harvard and did post- riod devoted to demonstrations and hands-on activity. Top-
doctoral work at the Stanford School of ics include stretching a cotton canvas, application of gesso
Medicine before joining the faculty in the ground, grinding of pigments, preparation of egg tempera
Department of Biology. Her research focus- paint, preparation of bamboo and quill pens, gilding and il-
es on how young neurons in the brain ac- lumination, and paper making.
quire an identity that defines which con-
nections the cells will form during development. She has
found that signals sent between young nerve cells provide Curtis W. Frank has been a faculty member
instructions that are essential for normal fate determination. in chemical engineering since 1976, having
These studies are providing critical insights into the process previously worked at Sandia National Labo-
of how a complex assembly of nerve cells wires itself up dur- ratories. He is the director and co-founder
ing development. of the Stanford Center on Polymer Interfac-
es and Macromolecular Assemblies. His re-
search interests focus on the chemistry and
physics of soft materials, including poly-
mers, hydrogels, nanocomposites, phospholipids, and pro-
teins as applied to the development of artificial corneas and
lab-on-a-chip sensors.
SPRING

Sara Loesch-Frank has an MA in art educa-


tion from the University of New Mexico. She
has taught calligraphy and related art forms
privately as well as in the public schools and
community colleges. Her work has been ex-
hibited locally and nationally. She has won
first-place awards at the San Mateo and
Santa Clara county fairs and was chosen as
the Cupertino Artist of the Year in 1997.

98
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING 46Q COMPARATIVE LITERATURE 11Q

Fail Your Way to Success Shakespeare, Playing, Gender


S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-EngrAppSci S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, EC-Gender
TTh 3:15p–4:45p TTh 1:15p–2:30p

This class will examine minor personal failures, devastating We will study some of the best- and lesser-known plays of
engineering disasters, and leadership lessons to help stu- Shakespeare, considering them against the background of
dents understand how failures can be turned into successes. early modern Europe and the New World. As the title sug-
Students will experience how their own personalities and gests, the seminar will focus on theatrical and other kinds
willingness to take risks influence the way they approach of “playing,” including what Hamlet, within a vexed political
challenging problems. The class exercises are based on the and theatrical context, termed the “purpose of playing,” and
professor’s 30 years of experience as a business owner and on ambiguities of gender and “playing gender” in particu-
construction engineer. Class discussions, field trips, case lar, with consideration of the historical shift through which
studies, and guest speakers will apply to the students’ day- collaborative plays became a single author’s works and ulti-
to-day interactions as well as to their future careers. The les- mately produced the figure of the Bard himself. The seminar’s
sons learned will compel the students to redefine their previ- overview of gender and gender performances will engage
ous notions of what it means to fail. At least three Tuesday topics relating to transvestism, both in and out of the the-
or Thursday entire-afternoon field trips to local construction ater, medical and other discussions of sex changes from fe-
sites will be required. male to male (and their unnatural reverse), hermaphrodites,
and fascination with the monstrous. The seminar will include
Russell G. Clough joined the Stanford fac- detailed study of The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, As
ulty in 1994 after 30 years of construction You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Antony and Cleopatra,
experience. He earned a BS and MS in civil Othello, and other plays.
engineering from Stanford after growing
up in a construction family and serving in Patricia Parker taught in Tanzania, at the
the United States Marine Corps. He has University of Toronto, and as a visiting pro-
worked as a laborer, equipment operator, fessor at UC–Berkeley before coming to
engineer, project manager, and operations Stanford in 1986. Her works include Shake-
manager for various companies. For 10 years, he owned and speare from the Margins; Women, “Race” and
operated a construction company that specialized in digging Writing in the Early Modern Period; Literary
wine caves. His interest at Stanford has been to develop case Fat Ladies: Rhetoric, Gender, Property; Ines-
studies to improve students’ thinking and relationship skills. capable Romance, and other mixtures of
His classes emphasize the importance of engineering funda- work and play, both individual and collaborative. Currently
mentals, cost and money issues, ethics, leadership, and per- embarked on several new books on gender and race in early
sonality challenges in business. He maintains contact with modern Europe and the New World, as well as on Shake-
industry through consulting work and serves on a number of speare, she is also editing a new Arden edition of A Midsum-
dispute-review boards. He is a registered California civil, geo- mer Night’s Dream and a new Norton edition of Much Ado
technical, and safety engineer. About Nothing. She has been invited to deliver the Gaus Sem-
inars at Princeton, given Shakespeare’s Birthday Lecture at
the Folger Shakespeare Library, studied at the École Normale
in Paris, received Guggenheim and National Endowment for

SPRING
the Humanities fellowships, and qualified as a scuba diver.
She is also the general editor of a major new international
Shakespeare encyclopedia.

99
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
COMPARATIVE MEDICINE 84Q ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE 57Q

Globally Emerging Zoonotic Diseases Climate Change from the Past to the
Future
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC
W 3:15p–5:05p S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr/CR/NC
See Axess or SIS website for day and time
Recommended: An interest in the study of medicine (veterinary
and/or human) and epidemiology.
The Earth is undergoing rapid climate change as a result of
This seminar provides an introduction to cross-species, in- anthropogenic loading of the atmosphere with greenhouse
gases. Our understanding of the effects of global warming
fectious diseases that are currently having an impact on both
veterinary and human health around the world. We will ex- come from (1) numeric models that attempt to predict how
plore some of the mechanisms of disease, epidemiology, and climate will respond to the expected increase of greenhouse
the underlying diagnostic, treatment, and control principles gases, and (2) studies of paleoclimate during times in Earth’s
associated with these select pathogens. Students will be ex- history when greenhouse gas concentrations were elevat-
pected to participate in class discussion and will have a final ed with respect to current concentrations. These two ap-
“mystery disease” project to present to the class. proaches do not always agree as to how the Earth responds
to increases in greenhouse gases. This course examines the
predicted scenarios of climate models and how they com-
Stephen Felt is an assistant professor in the pare to known hyperthermal events in the Earth’s history.
Department of Comparative Medicine. He is The course will examine the interactions and feedbacks
the university attending veterinarian and among the Earth’s biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and
also performs clinical veterinary care, bio- lithosphere. Topics include the long- and short-term carbon
medical research, and teaching. Before ar- cycle, the coupled biogeochemical cycles affected by and
riving at Stanford, he was stationed over- controlling climate change, and how the biosphere responds
seas as a U.S. Army Veterinary Corps Officer, to climate change. We will also discuss possible remediation
in which capacity he participated in a vari- strategies.
ety of disease outbreak investigations in Asia and Africa and
served as a veterinary consultant to the World Health Organi-
zation. Professor Felt earned his DVM from the University of C. Page Chamberlain received his PhD in
Wisconsin and his MPH from the Uniformed Services Univer- geology and geophysics from Harvard in
sity. He is a diplomate of both the American College of Vet- 1985. He was a professor at Dartmouth Col-
erinary Preventive Medicine and the American College of lege for 14 years before moving to Stanford
Laboratory Animal Medicine. in 2001. His research is in the broad area of
isotope biogeochemistry, and it focuses on
a wide variety of problems such as the link
between climate and the origin of moun-
tainous regions, the relationship between surface processes
and tectonics, the chemical weathering of rocks, and isotopic
studies of bird migration and the paleoecology of California
condors. He has worked extensively in the northern Appala-
chians, Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, Tibet and the Hima-
layas, and the Southern Alps of New Zealand.
SPRING

100
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
GERMAN STUDIES (GERGEN) 122Q HISTORY 20Q

The Culture of Pessimism in 19th- and Russia in the Early Modern European
20th-Century Europe Imagination
S, SEM | 3-5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum S, SEM | 5 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom, WRITE-2
MW 12:15p–2:05p TTh 2:15p–3:45p

Whether based on faith in divine providence or in the power Prerequisite: PWR 1.


of human reason, European culture long relied on a narrative
of inexorable human progress. However, starting in the 19th D uring the early modern centuries (1500–1800), Europeans
century, this triumphalist narrative was shadowed by an- worked out an image of Europe that in many ways lasts to
other tradition that rejected any such providential trust. This this day. In their ideal view, European society was free, civi-
course will trace the pessimistic tradition in Europe in a num- lized, democratic, rational, and clean. A principal way they
ber of arenas—literature, philosophy, history, anthropology, formulated this image was by describing other societies in
and psychology—and seek to distinguish pessimism in the contrast to Europe. This was the great Age of Exploration, dur-
fields of morality, culture, and intellectual life. We will move ing which diplomats, merchants, learned travelers, and curi-
from Giacomo Leopardi, via Arthur Schopenhauer, Comte de ous tourists wrote treatises and diaries about exotic peoples
Lautréamont, and T. S. Eliot, to Sigmund Freud, Oswald Spen- around the world. We will read such accounts of Russia from
gler, and E.M. Cioran, surveying different justifications of and the Renaissance to the Enlightenment with an eye to how
conclusions drawn from pessimism. What is the relationship they constructed a positive image of Europe and, conversely,
between pessimism and irrationalism? Is pessimism inescap- a negative stereotype of Russia. We will analyze an Oxford
ably bound up with a certain quietism, or can pessimism intellectual’s view of politics in Ivan the Terrible’s Russia, a
ground action? And what do critiques of pessimism in 19th- German diplomat’s observation of Peter the Great’s reforms,
century philosophy and literature look like? the perspective of a British tourist in Catherine the Great’s St.
Petersburg, and other accounts. We will also read theoretical
works about the genre of travel literature, its transformations,
Adrian Daub is an assistant professor of and its persistent tropes about Russia.
German Studies who specializes in the in- Class will be interactive. In each class we will discuss an
tersections of philosophy, literature, and assigned reading of a primary source and, in addition, one
the arts in 19th-century Germany. He has or more students will present a report. Requirements include
published a book on cultural perceptions of two oral reports and a research paper on a primary-source
four-hand piano playing in 19th-century reading. Some of our goals are for students to more fully un-
Europe, as well as articles on German Ro- derstand the self-identity Europeans worked out in the early
manticism, fin-de-siècle opera, and post-war modern period, to develop their analytical ability regarding
German fiction. He is currently completing a book on Ger- historical sources, and to gain experience in research, writing,
man thought on marriage from Kant to Nietzsche. and oral communication.
This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric
Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and multime-
dia presentation.

Nancy Kollmann has taught at Stanford


since 1982 and is a specialist in the early

SPRING
modern history of Russia and Eastern Eu-
rope. Her research focuses on issues of pow-
er, politics, and society in Russia in the 16th
and 17th centuries. Her most recent book
looks at the code of honor in Muscovy, how
ordinary people used lawsuits to protect
their honor from insult, and how the state used concepts of
honor as one way to integrate the realm. She is currently
working on the practice of criminal law in Russia and the
problem of violence as a strategy of governance.

101
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
HISTORY 30Q HUMAN BIOLOGY 86Q

English Society Through Fiction Love as a Force for Social Justice


S, SEM | 4 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-Hum S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only
W 3:15p–5:05p M 3:15p–5:05p

The course will attempt to assess the nature of English soci- This course will explore the concept of love as a force for
ety from the 18th to the 20th centuries through the reading social justice and action and as the inspiration for service
of six novels ranging from Joseph Fielding’s Joseph Andrews and the application of knowledge to positive social justice.
to Evelyn Waugh’s A Handful of Dust. The assigned Broadview Biological, psychological, religious, and social perspectives of
editions of four of the texts, Joseph Andrews, Mansfield Park, love will be discussed, drawing on the expertise of people
Middlemarch and Hard Times, contain contemporary docu- from a variety of disciplines. In the course of the quarter, the
ments that we will also read to provide a sense of the times following topics will be addressed: kinds of love/definitions;
and the historical context of the novels. There are also three love and the biology of the brain; love as mutual empower-
assigned very brief histories of Britain, 1688-2000. ment and a social force; love as a basic concept of religious
beliefs (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism);
Peter Stansky is the Frances and Charles and poetic and literary expressions of love as a social force.
Field Professor of History, Emeritus. He has One of the goals of the class is to provide students with some
taught modern English history at Stanford knowledge of the literature of love, as well as a sense of the
for many years. In his teaching and writing importance of love as a key phenomenon in creating commu-
he has a particular interest in the relation of nity, connection, and functional societies among humans.
works of fiction to their society, and the
ways they reflect the values of the world Anne Firth Murray, a New Zealander, was
from which they come, and how that soci- educated at the University of California and
ety changed as Britain became both a more democratic and New York University in economics, public
more powerful state. administration, and political science, focus-
ing on international health policy and wom-
en’s reproductive health. For 25 years she
has worked in philanthropy, serving as staff,
board member, and consultant to many
foundations. From 1978 to 1987 she directed the environ-
ment and international population programs of the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She is the founding president
of the Global Fund for Women, which provides funds interna-
tionally to seed, strengthen, and link groups committed to
women’s well-being. She is a scholar-practitioner at the Union
Institute and a consulting professor in human biology at
Stanford. She serves on boards of nonprofit organizations in-
cluding Changemakers (a progressive public foundation),
Commonweal, Grassroots Alliance for Community Education
(a group supporting HIV/AIDS education in East Africa), Hes-
perian Foundation, and Unniti Foundation (a group support-
SPRING

ing women and girls in India). Professor Murray’s personal


interests include gardening, beekeeping, and writing. She
has one daughter, who is an attorney in California.

102
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 93Q MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 159Q
ENGINEERING 159Q
Nuclear Weapons, Energy, Proliferation,
and Terrorism Japanese Companies and Japanese
Society
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-EngrAppSci
T 2:15p–5:05p S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only | DB-SocSci
W 6:00p–7:50p
Recommended: A course in economics, engineering, interna-
tional relations or physical science. J apanese technology has been regarded as leading the world
in many areas (e.g., microelectronics, consumer electronics,
What are nuclear weapons, and what do they do? Why are steel). On the other hand, many innovations originate in the
they different from other weapons? What drives the prolif- West, particularly in the United States (e.g., microprocessors,
eration of nuclear weapons? Why do countries want nuclear computers). This course explores the role the research labo-
weapons? What are the prospects for eliminating them? What ratory plays in typical Japanese companies and examines the
about Iran and North Korea? What are the risks of nuclear ter- importance of innovation versus product development. We
rorism? What is a “dirty” bomb? What is radioactivity? What will study the structure of a Japanese company from the per-
role does nuclear energy play? Will it help combat global spective of Japanese society. This will lead us to examine the
climate change, and how will it affect nuclear proliferation? underlying philosophy of the research environment, the ex-
These and related questions will be discussed by the instruc- pectations placed on individual researchers to achieve com-
tor, the students, and other presenters. Discussions will ex- pany goals, and possible changes in the lifetime employment
amine realistic options in the tradeoff between the benefits system. Recently, the great American research laboratories
and risks of nuclear technology. (e.g., Bell Labs, IBM Research) have been dismantled in favor
of more practical development. Some Japanese companies,
Siegfried Hecker is visiting professor at the by contrast, have invested in research institutions while main-
Center for International Security and Coop- taining their product-development laboratories. As the Japa-
eration. He is also director emeritus of the nese economy experiences recession, the balance of these
Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he philosophies is being reconsidered. Local representatives of
served as director from 1986 through 1997. Japanese companies such as Sony and NEC will be invited
His current research interests include nucle- to class to help us learn about the attitudes of Japanese re-
ar materials and plutonium science, nuclear searchers and the relationship between Japanese companies
nonproliferation and nuclear terrorism, the and Japanese society.
role of nuclear weapons in international security, and the re-
lationship between nuclear energy and nuclear proliferation. Robert Sinclair was born in Liverpool, Unit-
He works closely with the United States National Academies ed Kingdom, and educated at Cambridge
on problems of international security and threat reduction. University. He came to the United States as
He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a postdoctoral scientist in 1973 at UC–
a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Berkeley and joined the Stanford faculty in
serves on numerous advisory committees on international 1977. His research focuses on electron mi-
security. croscopy of processes relevant to micro-
electronics and computer hard-disk tech-
nologies. Professor Sinclair has worked at Matsushita
Corporation and has done collaborative research with Kobe

SPRING
Steel Co. and Hitachi. In 1997, he was the Stanford Center for
Technology and Innovation professor at Stanford’s Kyoto
campus, where he led a group of students studying the role
of research in Japanese companies.

103
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
MATHEMATICS 88Q MEDICINE 70Q

The Mathematics of the Rubik’s Cube Cancer and the Immune System
S, SEM | 3 Units | Letter Grade Only S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | WRITE-2
See Axess or SIS website for day and time W 3:15p–5:05p

This seminar will introduce students to group theory, an im- Prerequisite: PWR 1. High-school biology preferred but not re-
quired.
portant branch of algebra. Important topics in group theory
that can be illustrated with the Rubik’s Cube include sub-
groups, homomorphisms and quotient groups; cyclic, sym- The idea that the immune system is capable of recognizing
metric, and alternating groups; conjugation, commutators, malignant cells is conceptually important and possibly thera-
and Sylow subgroups. There will also be an opportunity to peutically useful. This seminar will examine both the myth
use the free, open source, mathematical software Sage to in- and fact surrounding this possibility. We will explore in detail
vestigate the Cube. We will talk about using the mathematical the biological basis and function of the various effector arms
and computational tools we develop to find ways of solving of the immune system and how these mechanisms might be
the Cube. We may also talk about how to fine-tune for such used to investigate the biological basis and potential therapy
special situations as speed solving and blindfold solving. of cancer. We will rely on textbook readings as well as on pri-
mary literature. The course will be organized around presen-
tations by the instructor and student presentations. Evalua-
Matthew Kahle first encountered the Ru- tion will be based on the presentation, a written paper, and
bik’s Cube when he was 8 years old and is participation in discussion. The objectives will be to increase
sure that it influenced him to grow up to be our understanding of how the immune system functions, as
a mathematician. He has been a postdoc- well as to obtain insights into the biology of cancer. It is also
toral fellow at Stanford since 2007, and en- hoped that students will gain skill in exploring a topic of in-
joys living in the Bay Area. When not doing terest in depth and confidence in their abilities to participate
math or playing with Rubik’s Cubes, he en- in discussion and to present a topic to the group.
joys meditation, running, and cooking and This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric
eating spicy vegetarian food. Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and multime-
dia presentation.

Robert S. Negrin is a professor of medicine.


His primary clinical interest is in bone-mar-
row transplantation, and his research inter-
est is in cellular immunology. He directs two
laboratories: a clinical laboratory that pro-
cesses all of the bone marrow and periph-
eral blood samples used therapeutically,
and a research laboratory. He graduated
from UC-Berkeley, attended graduate school at the University
of Wisconsin at Madison, and graduated from Harvard Medi-
cal School. He has been on the Stanford faculty since 1990.
SPRING

104
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
MEDICINE 83Q MUSIC 13Q

Scientific, Ethical, Legal, and Social Classical Music and Politics: Western
Dimensions of Stem Cell Research Music in Modern China
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, EC-GlobalCom
TTh 2:15p–3:45p TTh 3:15p–4:45p

Prerequisite: A class in high-school science or AP biology.


Western classical music first came to China 400 years ago.
Since its arrival, it has almost always served a non-musical
The stem cell has dominated popular awareness of science purpose: missionaries used it to convert, emperors to impress,
like the atom bomb did a generation ago. No area of science intellectuals to change, and Communists as a propaganda
holds such promise for treating disease and improving hu- tool. Western music has become so closely intertwined with
man lives as does stem cell research. But no area of science Chinese politics that the two are sometimes hard to separate.
causes such fundamental ethical concern and ferocious po- This seminar will survey the history of Western music in China
litical conflict. and its close association with domestic politics and interna-
This class will examine some of the ethical, legal, social, tional diplomacy.
and economic dimensions of stem cell research, ranging We will begin our survey with the arrival in the 1580s of
from the landmark discovery of human embryonic stem cells the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci, who began a long tradition of
to the uneven and changing international landscape of pub- Western music performance and study in the Forbidden City.
lic policy. We begin with the basics: how stem cells work, their We will then go to the post-Opium War era when China’s first
role in the development and upkeep of the human body, and symphony orchestra was created by foreigners in Shanghai,
current and future uses in medicine. and the nation’s first conservatory was founded, giving birth
New science often provokes a redefinition of ethical to the first generation of Chinese classical musicians. When
and political standards. Stem cells have reignited the debate China was engulfed in World War II, many musicians began
about the moral status of an embryo, and new laws and poli- to use music as a tool for spreading Marxist propaganda. A
cies are being created to govern the new technology. We will great debate over the function of classical music in society
discuss the question at the heart of the debate: how, as a so- erupted after the founding of the People’s Republic of China
ciety, do we balance our responsibilities to the unborn and in 1949, and we will examine the arguments on both sides.
the sick? We will also explore the Soviet influence in China’s music ed-
The course will explore pressing issues at the intersec- ucation and performance system. The connection between
tion of science and society, such as the creation of human- music and politics reached an extreme in the Cultural Revo-
animal hybrids, notions of justice in intellectual property law, lution, when all Western music was banned and many clas-
distribution of health care in regenerative medicine, and the sical musicians were tortured and jailed. We will explore the
major ethical frameworks defining the debate. Unique to the musical destruction of this era and the creation of the eight
course are modules addressing the clinical and business as- revolutionary model operas. Since the music conservatories
pects of stem cell therapies. The teaching team represents reopened in 1977, a new generation of Chinese musicians
several faculty spanning two universities including schools has emerged.
of medicine, law, and business.

Jindong Cai is a conductor, recording art-


Christopher Thomas Scott is director of ist, and writer, and director of orchestral
the Program on Stem Cells in Society, a se- studies in the Music Department. He stud-
nior research scholar in the Center for Bio-

SPRING
ied with conductors Leonard Bernstein,
medical Ethics, and an associate fellow at Gerhard Samuel, and others, held assistant
King’s College, London. He directs courses conducting positions, and has had many
on stem cell biology, teaching tracks on bi- guest conducting appearances in the Unit-
ology, policy, and ethics. His research inter- ed States and China. He has also appeared
ests focus on the social, economic, political, with major Chinese orchestras including the Shanghai Sym-
and ethical dimensions of regenerative medicine. He is the phony. Professor Cai has recorded with Centaur Records and
founding CEO of The Stem Cell Advisors, Inc., and is a staff Vienna Modern Masters, and has co-written articles with
editor at Nature Biotechnology. Formerly, he was the assistant Sheila Melvin in the New York Times. His new book is Rhapso-
vice chancellor at UC–San Francisco and the founding execu- dy in Red: How Western Classical Music Became Chinese.
tive editor of the award-winning Acumen Journal of Life Sci-
ences. He is the author of Stem Cell Now: An Introduction to the
Coming Medical Revolution.

105
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
MUSIC 17Q NEUROSURGERY 70Q

Perspectives in North American Taiko Experimental Stroke


S, SEM | 4 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | DB-Hum, EC-AmerCul S, DIAL | 2 Units | S/NC
M 2:15p–4:05p See Axess or SIS website for day and time

N orth American taiko, here to refer to the performance- The purpose of this seminar is to teach students laboratory
ensemble drumming using the taiko, or Japanese drum, is a methodologies for studying stroke, the main advances in
newcomer to the American music scene. Emergence of the stroke research over the past two decades, and future direc-
first North American taiko groups coincided with increased tions for this research. This seminar will discuss cellular and
activism in the Japanese American community, and to some molecular mechanisms of neuronal death and survival in the
it is symbolic of Japanese American identity. To others, North brain after a stroke, including necrosis, apoptosis, inflamma-
American taiko is associated with Japanese American Bud- tion, and cell signaling pathways. In addition, we will discuss
dhism, and to yet others, taiko is a performance art rooted experimental tools for stroke treatment, such as gene ther-
in Japan. In this course, we will explore the musical, cultural, apy, cell therapy, hypothermia, preconditioning, postcondi-
historical, and political perspectives of taiko through drum- tioning, and pharmacological treatments.
ming (hands-on experience), readings, class discussion, and Importantly, this course will give students first-hand ex-
workshops. With taiko as the focal point, we will learn about perience in stroke research. Students will have an opportu-
Japanese music and Japanese American history and explore nity to learn how stroke models are created in the laboratory,
relations between performance, cultural expression, com- and explore some cutting-edge techniques. This seminar will
munity, and identity. No prior experience with taiko is neces- also discuss the gaps and barriers between clinical transla-
sary. tion and laboratory research. Readings will include current
The instructors for this course are faculty co-advisors for reviews and key original articles from the experimental stroke
Stanford Taiko and have been invited presenters at the North field.
American taiko conference.
Heng Zhao is a research assistant professor
Stephen Sano is an associate professor of in the department of neurosurgery. His re-
music and the director of choral studies. In search interest is to explore novel neuro-
addition to his appointment at Stanford, protectants that have potential for clinical
Professor Sano is in frequent demand as a translation, and to study the underlying cel-
master-class teacher, conductor, and adju- lular and molecular mechanisms. His lab is
dicator in choral music. He has conducted the first to demonstrate that ischemic post-
festival, honor, and collegiate choirs from conditioning reduces infarction after stroke,
20 states as well as professional and colle- and that remote preconditioning protects against focal isch-
giate choirs from England, Australia, and Japan. Outside of emia in rats. He received his postdoctoral training from Stan-
choral music and conducting, his musical interests include ki ford. He received his PhD from Nihon University, School of
ho’alu (Hawaiian slack key guitar), the music of Queen Medicine in Tokyo, Japan, and his BS and MS from the West
Lili’uokalani, and North American taiko. China University of Medical Sciences in Chengdu, China.

Linda Uyechi is a lecturer in taiko in the Mu-


sic Department. She was a charter member
SPRING

of Stanford Taiko and has performed as a


member of San Jose Taiko. She has a PhD in
linguistics from Stanford. Her research inter-
ests include the phonology of American
Sign Language, language in the Asian Amer-
ican community, and North American taiko.

106
SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE
PATHOLOGY 105Q PSYCHIATRY 72Q

Final Analysis: The Autopsy as a Tool of Traumatic Stress


Medical Inquiry
S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | WRITE-2
See Axess or SIS website for day and time
S, SEM | 3 Units | S/NC
See Axess or SIS website for day and time
Prerequisite: PWR 1
Prerequisite: Hepatitis-B vaccination is required. No prior experi-
ence in human anatomy or medicine is expected. Preference will This course is designed for students who are interested in
be given to non-pre-meds. Applications for this course are due the effects of traumatic events and ways to alleviate their
by the winter-quarter deadline. psychosocial impact. Events to be discussed will include the
Oakland/Berkeley firestorm, childhood sexual abuse, the Jew-
This seminar is based on review of patient medical histories ish Holocaust, military combat, rape, cancer, and the attacks
of September 11, 2001. Readings will address resilience fac-
and examination of formalin-fixed and unfixed tissues from
tors that protect individuals from adverse effects, and we will
autopsy, concentrating on one unknown case each session.
consider alternative interventions for helping people in the
The seminar format is student-directed problem-solving;
aftermath of traumatic events. Each student will do weekly
students will develop their own learning objectives for each
readings, write weekly reactions to the readings, participate
new case (every other week), and during the ensuing weeks,
in class discussions and writing assignments, prepare a 10-
they will explore new sources of information and learn how
12-page paper, and give a 15-minute oral report.
to present their findings. Learning objectives will include
This course fulfills the second quarter of the Writing and
an appreciation for human physiology and anatomy, the ef-
Rhetoric Requirement and will emphasize oral and multime-
fects of disease on normal structure and function, strategies
dia presentation.
of therapy and management, and the ethics of patient care.
The first session will provide an orientation to the case-based
method, patient confidentiality, and health-safety require- Cheryl Koopman is an associate professor
ments. (research) in the medical school’s depart-
ment of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
Professor Koopman’s primary research goal
Andrew Connolly is a pathologist at Stan-
is to contribute to knowledge of psychoso-
ford Hospital who teaches medical students
cial interventions that maximize health and
and residents; performs autopsies; and pur-
quality of life, especially among persons
sues research in vascular biology. He earned
facing traumatic life events such as war, ma-
his BA from Princeton, MD from Harvard,
jor disasters, or serious medical illness. She has over 200 pub-
PhD from UCSF, and was on the faculty at
lications on these and related subjects. She is a member of
Harvard Medical School before coming to
the Sub-Saharan Orphans and Vulnerable Children Working
Stanford Medical School in 2004.
Group at Stanford and recently served as president of the In-
ternational Society of Political Psychology.

SPRING

107
SOPHOMORE
SURGERY 68Q

Current Concepts in Transplantation


S, SEM | 3 Units | Ltr-CR/NC | WRITE-2
Th 2:15p–3:45p

Prerequisite: PWR 1. Advanced Placement biology, Biology


41/42, or Human Biology 2A/3A is recommended.

Will tissues and organs be grown in a laboratory for trans-


plantation to humans? This may or may not be science fic-
tion. A severe shortage of donor organs and tissues has led
to some novel solutions to save lives. This course will cover
the biological aspects of cell and organ transplantation, in-
cluding many issues that arise in the popular media. We will
discuss the diseases for which transplantation is a treatment,
the state of the art in human transplantation, transplanta-
tion of animal tissue into humans (xeno-transplantation),
development of new tissue and organs in the laboratory
(tissue engineering and cloning), and the development of
new drugs and biological strategies to promote long-term
survival of the tissue or organ (tolerance). The course will be
team-taught and will include readings from the popular and
scientific literature, discussions, and presentations. Research
opportunities will be available.
This course fulfills the second-level Writing and Rhetoric
Requirement (Write-2) and will emphasize oral and multime-
dia presentation.

Olivia Martinez, an associate professor of


surgery, was born and raised in East Los An-
geles and graduated from the University of
Southern California. She received her PhD
from UC–Berkeley and joined the Stanford
faculty in 1995. Professor Martinez’s re-
search team studies the role of the immune
system in graft rejection and the develop-
ment of lymphomas in transplant recipients. Her leisure in-
terests include sports, music, and gardening.

Sheri Krams is an associate professor of


surgery and on the faculty in the immunol-
SPRING

ogy program. Her research focuses on natu-


ral killer cell interactions in transplantation
and modulation of apoptotic pathways. She
is originally from New York and received her
PhD in immunology from UC–Davis. After
postdoctoral studies at UC–San Francisco,
she joined the Stanford faculty in 1995. She especially enjoys
spending time with her two young children.

108
Faculty Index

A D H
Abel, Tom 62 Dai, Hongjie 54 Hanawalt, Philip 80
Altman, Russ 69 Daily, Gretchen 81 Hanretta, Sean 59
Amemiya, Takeshi 55 Dansky, Kara 43 Heaney, Catherine A. 41
Andersen, Hans C. 16 Daub, Adrian 101 Hecker, Siegfried 103
Applebaum, Mark 61 De Pierris, Graciela 61 Helms, Jill 77
Dill, David L. 19 Hesselink, Lambertus 85

B Djerassi, Carl 66 Hobbs, Allyson 25

Barr, Avron 83 Dweck, Carol S. 31 Holmes, Susan P. 34

Barton, John 66 Huestis, Wray H. 82

Barton, Kathryn 14 E
Beinin, Joel 40 Eaton, John 27 J
Berger, Karol 60 Eberhardt, Jennifer L. 64 Jones, Henry W. 44
Berman, Russell A. 71 Ebron, Paulla 12
Bernhardt, Elizabeth 57 Eddelman, William 39 K
Bernstein, Barton J. 89 Ehrlich, Paul 79 Kahle, Matthew 104
Billington, Sarah 53 Enge, Per 12 Kallosh, Renata 30
Bird, Dennis 70 Katzenstein, David 45
Boroditsky, Lera 94 F Kay, Martin 27
Bouley, Donna M. 54 Felstiner, John 56 Ketter, Terence 75
Bowman, C.T. (Tom) 60 Felt, Stephen 100 Kollmann, Nancy 58, 101
Bravman, John C. 90 Fernald, Anne 32, 47 Koopman, Cheryl 107
Breitrose, Henry 67 Fernald, Russell 42 Krams, Sheri 108
Brooks, Helen 67 Fields, Kenneth Wayne 23
Brown, Joseph 64 Fleishman, Lazar 48 L
Brutlag, Douglas 35 Fox, John D. 13 Laitin, David D. 94
Buc, Philippe 25 Frank, Curtis W. 98 Latombe, Jean-Claude 83
Burgos, Anthony E. 46 Freed, Amy 20 Laughlin, Robert 92
Burnett, Bill 28 Friedman, Michael 29 Laws, Ami 74
Lee, Haiyan 79
C G Lee, Thomas H. 21
Cai, Jindong 28, 105 Geballe, Theodore H. 13 Levitt, Raymond 53
Caldeira, Ken 24 Gigante, Denise 86 Libicki, Shari 36
Carter, Steven D. 13 Gillam, Richard 35 Lin, Ludwig 96
Chamberlain, C. Page 86, 100 Grey, Thomas S. 91 Liu, Bo 77
Chang, James 77 Grossman, Arthur 15 Loague, Keith 70
Clough, Russell G. 37, 99 Loesch-Frank, Sara 98
Connolly, Andrew 107 Lunsford, Andrea A. 68
Constantinou, Christos E. 41
Corso, Irene 71
Crimmins, Mark 92
Croke, Jeffrey 44
Faculty Index 109
M R T
MaCurdy, Thomas 20 Ramscar, Michael 95 Takashima, Yuzuru 85
Maher, Kate 87 Rao, Jianghong 76 Tallent, Elizabeth 24
Mandato, Joe 97 Rayner, Alice 84 Tessler, Shirley 83
Manoharan, Hari 63 Rehm, Rush 16, 39 Tomz, Michael 93
Mao, Wendy 88 Reicherter, Daryn 76
Martinez, Olivia 108 Rhee, Sue 81 U
Martin, Richard 17 Richardson, Judith 57 Uyechi, Linda 106
Matheson, Gordon 72 Robertson, Channing 36
McConnell, Michael 73 Robinson, Orrin (Rob) 87
V
McConnell, Susan 98 Robinson, Paul 89
Vitousek, Peter 80
McGinn, Robert 47 Rodin, Jesse 29
Michie, Sara 45 Romani, Roger W. 30
Miner, Valerie 40, 69 Roodman, Aaron 62 W
Moalli, John 36 Rosenfeld, Michael J. 33 Walbot, Virginia 14

Mooney, Harold 52 Rosenthal, Myer “Mike” 97 Walton, Greg 32

Moraga, Cherríe 55 Rovee, Christopher 22 Wang, Zhiyong 52

Moya, Paula M. L. 23 Rutten, Andrew 46 Weitzman, Steven 65

Mullaney, Thomas S. 26 Weyant, John P. 73

Murray, Anne Firth 102 Wiedemann, Lyris 49


S
Wiederhold, Gio 83
Sadeghi, Behnam 33
Wilcox, Michael 51
N Safran, Gabriella 96
Wilde, Douglass 44
Nagamine, Claude 38 Saller, Richard 18
Winograd, Carol 74
Negrin, Robert S. 104 Samoff, Joel 72
Winograd, Terry 19
Netz, Reviel 17 Sano, Stephen 106
Wolak, Frank 84
Savage, Sam 43
Wong, H.-S. Philip 22
O Schiebinger, Londa 58

Osheroff, Douglas 93 Schupbach, Richard 65


Scott, Christopher Thomas 105 Y
Segura, Gary M. 31 Yang, Yanmin 91
P Yarbro-Bejerano, Yvonne 90
Shanks, Michael 37
Palumbo-Liu, David 38
Shoham, Yoav 18
Parker, Patricia 99
Sinclair, Robert 103 Z
Paulson, Linda 68
Snipp, Matthew 48 Zaroff, Lawrence 42
Peponi, Anastasia-Erasmia 82
Sockness, Brent 95 Zebker, Howard 56
Peumans, Peter 21
Solvason, Brent 76 Zhao, Heng 106
Pierce, Ryan 97
Springer, George 51
Prabhakar, Balaji 85
Stanksy, Peter 102
Predmore, Michael P. 34
Steiner, Hans 75
Prionas, Eva 49
Stokes, Laura 88
Pruitt, Beth 59
Stone, Peter 63
Sumner, Meghan 26
Swartz, James 15

110 Faculty Index


Course Index
A View from the Podium: The Art of Conducting 28 Current Concepts in Transplantation 108

Accessing Architecture Through Drawing 66 Diamonds 88

Advanced Topics in Light and Heat 30 Digital Dilemmas 19

Aesthetic Taste and Gastronomy 86 Dilemmas in Current Medical Practice 44

African American Women’s Lives 25 Disease-Oriented Approach to Human Physiology 97

African History through Literature and Film 59 Dramatic Tensions: Theater and the Marketplace 20
All the World’s a Stage: Dramatic Realism on the Threshold Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe 37
of the Modern World 67
Energy and the Environment on the Back of an Envelope 24
American Hauntings 57
Energy Choices for the 21st Century 13
Antigone: From Ancient Democracy to Contemporary Dissent 16
Energy, the Environment, and the Economy 84
Aping: Imitation, Control, and the Development of the
Human Mind 95 English Society Through Fiction 102
Around the World in Seventeen Syllables: Haiku in Japan, the
Environmental Problems 70
United States, and the (Digital) World 13
Environmental Problems and Solutions 79
Art, Chemistry, and Madness: The Science of Art Materials 98
Environmental Regulation and Policy 36
Becoming a Doctor: Readings from Medical School, Medical
Training, and Medical Practice 42 Eros in Modern American Poetry 23
Biotechnology in Everyday Life 14
Ethnicity and Literature 38
Breaking the Code? 34
Ethnographies of North America: An Introduction to Cultural
British Romanticism and Poetic Form 22 and Social Anthropology 51

Building the Future: Invention and Innovation with Experimental Stroke 106
Engineering Materials 90
Fail Your Way to Success 99
Business on the Information Highways 83
Film, Nation, Latinidad 90
Can Machines Know? Can Machines Feel? 18
Final Analysis: The Autopsy as a Tool of Medical Inquiry 107
Cancer and the Immune System 104
Fluorescence Imaging in Living Cells 76
Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield: A Victorian Reading 68
Forensic Geoscience: CSI Stanford 87
Climate Change—Fact or Fancy? 60
Freedom, Community, and Morality 29
Climate Change from the Past to the Future 100
From Vampires to Bathroom Walls: Folklore and Literature 96
Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of Mammals 54
Gay Autobiography 89
Computers and the Open Society 19
Genomics and Medicine 35
Conservation Science and Practice 81
Genomics: A Technical and Cultural Revolution 69
Contemporary Issues in Human Experimentation 41

Contemporary Women Writers of Fiction 24 Globally Emerging Zoonotic Diseases 100

Crime, Punishment, and Rebellion in Early Modern Russia 58 Graphic Narratives: Word, Image, Sound, Silence 68

Criminal Justice and the Criminal Courts 43 Green Revolution and Plant Biotechnology 52

Critical Thinking and Career Skills 37 Growing Up in America 23

Course Index 111


Hacking Things 21 Mechanics: Insights, Applications, and Advances 62

How Stuff is Made 59 Medical Device Innovation 97

Human Rights and Health 74 Mental Health in Collegiate Athletes 75

Hunger 14 Modern Greece in Film and Literature 49

Imaging: From the Atom to the Universe 85 Motion Planning for Robots, Digital Actors, and Other
Moving Objects 83
Imagining Women: Writers in Print and in Person 69
Music, Myth, and Modernity: Wagner’s Ring Cycle and
Incentives Mechanisms for Societal Networks 85 J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings 91
Inequality and American Democracy 31 Muslim Integration into France 94
Innovation with Engineering Materials 90 Nature and Nurture in Brain Development 98
International Environmental Policy 73 Networks in Biology 81
Intracellular Trafficking and Neurodegeneration 91 Neuroethology: The Neural Control of Behavior 42
Introduction to Cross-Cultural Issues in Medicine 71 Noam Chomsky: The Drama of Resistance 39
Introduction to the Mouse in Biomedical Research 38 Nuclear Weapons, Energy, Proliferation, and Terrorism 103
Is God Dead? 71 Nutrition and History 82
Island Ecology 80 Organizing Global Projects 53
Issues of Race and Ethnicity in the Health of Children 46 Perspectives in North American Taiko 106
It’s All in Your Head: Understanding Diversity, Development, Philosophical Classics of the 20th Century 92
and Deformities of the Face 77
Photosynthesis: From Basic Mechanisms to Biofuels 15
Japanese Companies and Japanese Society 103
Physics in the 21st Century 30
Language Acquisition: Exploring the Minds of Children 32
Plants and Civilization 52
Language and Society: How Languages Shape Lives 94
Poetry and Environment 56
Language Understanding by Children and Adults 47
Psychology, Inequality, and the American Dream 32
Law & Order 46
Race and Crime 64
Lotteries 63
Race, Ethnic, and National Identities: Imagined Communities 33
Love as a Force for Social Justice 102
Renewable Energy for a Sustainable World 15
Lymphocyte Migration 45
Resistance Writings in Nazi Germany 57
Lyric Poetry 34
Revolution in Concepts of the Cosmos 62
Maintenance of the Genome 80
Russia and the Russian Experience 65
Man versus Nature: Coping with Disasters Using Space
Russia in the Early Modern European Imagination 101
Technology 56
Russia’s Weird Classic: Nikolai Gogol 48
Mao Zedong: The Man Who Would Become China 26
Salt of the Earth: The Docudrama in América 55
Mapping and Wrapping the Body 39
Sappho, Erotic Poetess of Lesbos 82
Marvelous Creatures: Animals and Humans in Chinese
Literature 79 Science in the News 16

Masters of Disaster 36 Science, Medicine, and Empire 58

112 Course Index


Science-in-Theatre: A New Genre? 66 The Global Positioning System: Where on Earth Are We, and
What Time Is it? 12
Scientific, Ethical, Legal, and Social Dimensions of Stem Cell
Research 105 The History of Immortality 65

Screening the Stage 84 The Jet Engine 27

Seeing the Heart 73 The Mathematics of the Rubik’s Cube 104

Self-Theories 31 The Operas of Mozart 60

Shakespeare, Playing, Gender 99 The Physics of One: Nanoscale Science and Technology 63

Singing Early Music 29 The Politics of Economic Development 93

Skepticism 61 The Problem of God: From Aquinas to the New Atheism 95

Slavery and Rebellion in Ancient Rome: Spartacus in Legend The Psychology of Prejudice 64
and History 18
The Psychosocial and Economic Ramifications of Critical
Social Justice, Responsibility, and Health 41 Illness 96

South Africa: Contested Transitions 72 The Spell of Orpheus 17

Spaces and Voices of Brazil through Films 49 The Story of Human Virtues 33

Sport, Exercise, and Health: Exploring Sports Medicine 72 The Technical Aspects of Photography 93

Structures: Why Things Don’t (and Sometimes Do) Fall Down 51 The What, Why, How, and Wow of Nanotechnology 54

Surgical Anatomy of the Hand: From Rodin to Reconstruction 77 Theories of Film Practice 67

Teamology: Creative Teams and Individual Development 44 Things about Stuff 21

Technologies of Civilization: Writing, Numbers, Money 17 Think Like a Designer 28

Technology in Contemporary Society 47 Translation 27

Temperament and Creativity in Mood Disorders 75 Traumatic Stress 107

The AIDS Epidemic: Biology, Behavior, and Global Responses 45 Understanding Electromagnetics Phenomena 92

The American Empire in the Middle East since the Cold War: Understanding Our Welfare System 20
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel/Palestine 40
Understanding Race and Ethnicity in American Society 48
The Anthropology of Globalization 12
Utopia: History of Nowhere Land 88
The Art of Structural Engineering 53
Visions of the 1960s 35
The Atomic Bomb in Policy and History 89
Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Impact of the
The Beatles 61 AIDS Pandemic 76
The Brothers Grimm and Their Fairy Tales 87 What Is Nanotechnology? 22
The California Gold Rush: Geologic Background and Whatís Your Accent? Investigations in Acoustic Phonetics 26
Environmental Impact 70
Women and Aging 74
The Carbon Cycle: Reducing Your Impact 86
Writing Women’s Lives 40
The Crusades 25

The Culture of Pessimism in 19th- and 20th-Century Europe 101

The Economy and Economics of Ancient Greece 55

The Flaw of Averages 43

Course Index 113


Department/Program Index

Aeronautics and Astronautics 12, 51 Health Research and Policy 71

African and African American Studies 25 History 25, 26, 40, 58, 59, 72, 88, 89, 101, 102

American Studies 35 Human Biology 41, 42, 72, 102

Anesthesia 96, 97 Iberian & Latin American Cultures 34, 49, 90

Anthropology 12, 51 Law 43

Applied Physics 13 Linguistics 26, 27

Asian Languages 13, 79 Management Science and Engineering 43, 73 103

Biochemistry 35 Materials Science and Engineering 90, 103

Bioengineering 97 Mathematics 104

Biology 14, 15, 52, 79, 80, 81, 98 Mechanical Engineering 27, 28, 44, 59, 60

Biomedical Informatics 69 Medicine 44, 45, 73, 74, 104, 105

Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity 55 Music 28, 29, 60, 61, 91, 105, 106

Chemical Engineering 15, 36, 98 Neurology and Neurosciences 91

Chemistry 16, 54, 66, 82 Neurosurgery 106

Civil and Environmental Engineering 37, 53, 66, 99 Orthopedic Surgery 72

Classics 16, 17,18, 37, 82 Pathology 45, 107

Communication 67 Pediatrics 46

Comparative Literature 38, 99 Philosophy 29, 61, 92

Comparative Medicine 38, 54, 100 Physics 30, 62, 63, 92, 93

Computer Science 18, 19, 83 Political Science 31, 46, 63, 93, 94

Drama 16, 20, 39, 55, 66, 84 Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences 75, 76, 107

Economics 20, 55, 84 Psychology 31, 32, 47, 64, 94, 95

Electrical Engineering 21, 22, 56, 85 Radiology 76

Engineering 103 Religious Studies 33, 65, 95

English 22, 23, 24, 56, 57, 67, 68, 86 Science, Technology and Society 47

Environmental Earth System Scence 24, 86, 100 Slavic Languages and Literatures 48, 65, 96

Feminist Studies 40, 69 Sociology 33, 48

Genetics 69 Stanford Language Center 49

Geological and Environmental Sciences 70, 87, 88 Statistics 34

Geophysics 56 Surgery 77, 108

German Studies 57, 71, 87, 101

114 Department/Program Index


GER Index Materials Science & Engineering 70N
Building the Future: Invention and Innovation with
* Courses listed in multiple departments.
Engineering Materials 90

Mechanical Engineering 12N


Disciplinary Breadth: The Jet Engine 27
Engineering and Applied Sciences
Management Science & Engineering 93Q
Aeronautics and Astronautics 113N
Nuclear Weapons, Energy, Proliferation, and Terrorism 103
Structures: Why Things Don’t (and Sometimes Do) Fall Down 51

Aeronautics and Astronautics 115N


The Global Positioning System: Where on Earth Are We, and Disciplinary Breadth: Humanities
What Time Is It? 12 American Studies 114N
Visions of the 1960s 35
Applied Physics 79N
Energy Options for the 21st Century 13 Asian Languages 70N
Marvelous Creatures: Animals and Humans in Chinese
Biochemistry 118Q
Literature 79
Genomics and Medicine 35
Asian Languages (JAPANGEN) 75N
Chemical Engineering 35N
Around the World in Seventeen Syllables: Haiku in Japan,
Renewable Energy for a Sustainable World 15
the United States, and the (Digital) World 13
Chemical Engineering 60Q
Classics (CLASSART) 21Q
Environmental Regulation and Policy 36
Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe 37
Chemical Engineering 70Q
Classics (CLASSGEN) 24N
Masters of Disaster 36
Sappho, Erotic Poetess of Lesbos 82
Chemical Engineering 80Q
Classics 6N (CLASSGEN), Drama 12N*
Art, Chemistry, and Madness: The Science of Art
Antigone: From Ancient Democracy to Contemporary Dissent 16
Materials 98
Comparative Literature 11Q
Civil and Environmental Engineering 31Q
Shakespeare, Playing, Gender 99
Accessing Architecture Through Drawing 66
Comparative Literature 41Q
Civil and Environmental Engineering 46Q
Ethnicity and Literature 38
Fail Your Way to Success 99
Comparative Literature 50Q, German Studies 120Q*
Civil and Environmental Engineering 80N
Is God Dead? 71
The Art of Structural Engineering 53
Drama 11N
Computer Science 21N
Dramatic Tensions: Theater and the Marketplace 20
Can Machines Know? Can Machines Feel? 18
Drama 17N, Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity 160N*
Computer Science 26N
Salt of the Earth: The Docudrama in América 55
Motion Planning for Robots, Digital Actors, and Other
Moving Objects 83 Drama 180Q
Noam Chomsky: The Drama of Resistance 39
Computer Science 73N
Business on the Information Highways 83 Drama 189Q
Mapping and Wrapping the Body 39
Computer Science 74N
Digital Dilemmas 19 English 53N
Aesthetic Taste and Gastronomy 86
Electrical Engineering 14N
Things about Stuff 21 English 61N
British Romanticism and Poetic Form 22
Electrical Engineering 21N
What Is Nanotechnology? 22 English 62N
Eros in Modern American Poetry 23
Electrical Engineering 23N
Imaging: From the Atom to the Universe 85 English 64N
Growing Up in America 23
Electrical Engineering 60N, Geophysics 60N*
Man versus Nature: Coping with Disasters Using Space
Technology 56 GER Index 115
English 65N Philosophy 15N
Contemporary Women Writers of Fiction 24 Freedom, Community, and Morality 29

English 87N Philosophy 9N


Graphic Narratives: Word, Image, Sound, Silence 68 Philosophical Classics of the 20th Century 92

Feminist Studies 188N Religious Studies 15N


Imagining Women: Writers in Print and in Person 69 The History of Immortality 65

German Studies (GERGEN) 104N Religious Studies 16N


Resistance Writings in Nazi Germany 57 The Story of Human Virtues 33

German Studies (GERGEN) 122Q Slavic Languages & Literatures 13N


The Culture of Pessimism in 19th- and 20th-Century Europe 101 Russia and the Russian Experience 65

German Studies 123N Slavic Languages & Literatures 70N


The Brothers Grimm and Their Fairy Tales 87 From Vampires to Bathroom Walls: Folklore and Literature 96

History 20Q Slavic Languages & Literatures (SLAVGEN) 77Q


Russia in the Early Modern European Imagination 101 Russia’s Wierd Classic: Nikolai Gogol 48

History 22N Special Language Program 198Q


Crime, Punishment, and Rebellion in Early Modern Russia 58 Modern Greece in Film and Literature 49

History 30Q
English Society Through Fiction 102
Disciplinary Breadth: Mathematics
History 36N
Gay Autobiography 89 Statistics 47N
Breaking the Code? 34
History 48N
African History through Literature and Film 59

History 48Q Disciplinary Breadth: Natural Sciences


South Africa: Contested Transitions 72
Biology 11N
History 54N, African & African American Studies 54N* Biotechnology in Everyday Life 14
African-American Women’s Lives 25
Biology 13N
History 6N Environmental Problems and Solutions 79
Utopia: History of Nowhere Land 88
Biology 14N
Iberian and Latin American Cultures 193Q Plants and Civilization 52
Spaces and Voices of Brazil Through Films 49
Biology 16N
Music 11N Island Ecology 80
A View from the Podium: The Art of Conducting 28
Biology 26N
Music 13Q Maintenance of the Genome 80
Classical Music and Politics: Western Music in Modern China 105
Biology 33N
Music 16N, German Studies (GERLIT) 16N* Conservation Science and Practice 81
Music, Myth, and Modernity: Wagner’s Ring Cycle and
Biology 34N
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings 91
Hunger 14
Music 17N
Chemistry 26N
The Operas of Mozart 60
The What, Why, How and Wow’s of Nanotechnology 54
Music 17Q
Comparative Medicine 81N
Perspectives in North American Taiko 106
Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of Mammals 54
Music 38N
Environmental Earth System Science 37N
Singing Early Music 29
Energy and the Environment on the Back of an Envelope 24
Philosophy 11N
Environmental Earth System Science 39N
Skepticism 61
The Carbon Cycle: Reducing Your Impact 87

116 GER Index


Geological & Environmental Science 39N Science, Technology, & Society 101Q
Forensic Geoscience: CSI Stanford 87 Technology in Contemporary Society 47

Geological & Environmental Science 40N Sociology 45Q


Diamonds 88 Understanding Race and Ethnicity in American Society 48

Geological & Environmental Science 43Q Sociology 46Q


Environmental Problems 70 Race, Ethnic, and National Identities: Imagined Communities 33

Geological & Environmental Science 55Q


The California Gold Rush: Geologic Background and
Environmental Impact 70 Education for Citizenship: American Cultures
American Studies 144N
Human Biology 91Q Visions of the 1960s 35
Neuroethology: The Neural Control of Behavior 42
Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity 160N, Drama 17N*
Physics 18N Salt of the Earth: The Docudrama in América 55
Revolution in Concepts of the Cosmos 62
Comparative Literature 41Q
Physics 83N Ethnicity and Literature 38
Physics in the 21st Century 30
Health Research and Policy 89Q
Physics 87N Introduction to Cross-Cultural Issues in Medicine 71
The Physics of One: Nanoscale Science and Technology 63
Music 17Q
Perspectives in North American Taiko 106

Disciplinary Breadth: Social Sciences


Anthropology 21N Education for Citizenship: Global Community
The Anthropology of Globalization 12
History 20Q
Anthropology 22N Russia in the Early Modern European Imagination 101
Ethnographies of North America: An Introduction to Cultural
History 48Q
and Social Anthropology 51
South Africa: Contested Transitions 72
History 42N
History 84Q
Science, Medicine, and Empire 58
The American Empire in the Middle East since the Cold War:
History 62N Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel/Palestine 40
The Atomic Bomb in Policy and History 89
Iberian & Latin American Cultures 193Q
History 84Q Spaces and Voices of Brazil Through Films 49
The American Empire in the Middle East since the Cold War:
Music 13Q
Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel/Palestine 40
Classical Music and Politics: Western Music in Modern China 105
History 91N
Music 16N, German Studies (GERLIT) 16N*
Mao Zedong: The Man Who Would Become China 26
Music, Myth, and Modernity: Wagner’s Ring Cycle and
Linguistics 5N J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings 91
What’s your accent? Investigations in Acoustic Phonetics 26
Special Language Program 198Q
Linguistics 83N Modern Greece in Film and Literature 49
Translation 27

Materials Science & Engineering 159Q, Engineering 159Q*


Japanese Companies and Japanese Society 103

Political Science 16N


The Politics of Economic Development 93

Psychology 12N
Self-Theories 31

Psychology 17N
Language and Society: How Languages Shape Lives 94

GER Index 117


Write-2 Index
Education for Citizenship: Gender Studies
Classics (CLASSART) 21Q
Classics (CLASSGEN) 24N
Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe 37
Sappho, Erotic Poetess of Lesbos 82
Communication 118Q
Classics (CLASSGEN) 6N, Drama 12N*
Theories of Film Practice 6
Antigone: From Ancient Democracy to Contemporary Dissent 16

Comparative Literature 11Q Computer Science 73N


Shakespeare, Playing, Gender 99 Business on the Information Highways 83

Medicine 87Q, Human Biology 87Q* Department of Medicine 70Q


Women and Aging 74 Cancer and the Immune System 104

Drama 189Q
English 84Q
Mapping and Wrapping the Body 39
Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield: A Victorian Reading 68
Feminist Studies 188N
English 87N
Imagining Women: Writers in Print and in Person 69
Graphic Narratives: Word, Image, Sound, Silence 68
History 36N
Feminist Studies 188N
Gay Autobiography 89
Imagining Women: Writers in Print and in Person 69

Genetics 109Q, Biomedical Informatics 109Q*


Education for Citizenship: Ethical Reasoning Genomics: A Technical and Cultural Revolution 69
Philosophy15N
Freedom, Community, and Morality 29 Geological & Environmental Sciences 55Q
The California Gold Rush: Geologic Background and
Environmental Impact 70

History 20Q
Russia in the Early Modern European Imagination 101

Human Biology 90Q


Contemporary Issues in Human Experimentation 41

Human Biology 97Q, Orthopedic Surgery 97Q*


Sport, Exercise, and Health: Exploring Sports Medicine 72

Materials Science & Engineering 70N


Building the Future: Invention and Innovation with
Engineering Materials 90

Political Science 16N


The Politics of Economic Development 93

Psychiatry & Behavioral Science 72Q


Traumatic Stress 107

Psychiatry & Behavioral Science 76Q


Temperament and Creativity in Mood Disorders 75

Slavic Languages & Literatures 70N


From Vampires to Bathroom Walls: Folklore and Literature 96

Surgery 68Q
Current Concepts in Transplantation 108

Surgery 69Q
It’s All in Your Head: Understanding Diversity,
Development, and Deformities of the Face 77
118 GER Index
Identify your intellectural interests
Stanford Introductory Seminars Course Selection Worksheet
As you read the course descriptions, make note of any that intrigue you on this worksheet. Use this page to brainstorm about what
seminars you might want to take, and also more generally about what directions seem most appealing to you at this point in your
academic career. Share this list with your academic advisor, family members, or friends. They may be able to help you see patterns
and determine directions to explore.
For each class, take note of which questions and aspects catch your attention. Consider what your background is in the sub-
ject, what you could contribute to the class, and why you might want to take it. These notes will be helpful when you decide which
courses to apply to and while preparing your answers to the application questions.

Qtr Title and Instructor Dept/Cat # What Intrigues Me My Background Why I’m Interested

Questions? http://introsems.stanford.edu t Phone: (650) 723-2631 t Email: introsems@stanford.edu

Course Selection Worksheet 119


120
Please submit this form via the web.
SIS Application Form for Autumn Quarter Courses, 2009-10
Please submit this form via the web, if possible, at http://introsems.stanford.edu. You may
also submit this form in person or by mail to Stanford Introductory Studies, Sweet Hall, 3rd
Floor, Stanford, CA 94305-3069; or by fax to (650) 723-0631. All applications will receive
equal consideration. All students will have access to the web when they arrive on campus.

Autumn Quarter Deadline: Friday, September 4, 12:00 noon


Please check
Completed applications will be distributed to faculty to select students for admission.
Axess (http://axess.
Please type or print clearly. You may apply to up to three classes per quarter, but must
stanford.edu), the
submit a separate application for each and rank all three.
Time Schedule, or
introsems.stanford.edu
Course title for changes in
course information
Professor(s) and for the most
up-to-date day,
Your name SU ID time, and location
information for
Freshman, Sophomore, or Transfer (circle one)
the current quarter.
Did you attend Sophomore College? yes no

Stanford email (if known) Phone


Any Questions?
P.O. Box or local address (if known) Stanford Introductory
Studies Office
Stanford Residence 3rd floor
Sweet Hall
Stanford, CA 94305-3069
Please list the title of the Introductory Seminar to which you are applying and rank your
phone: (650) 723-2631
preference (first, second, third). You may apply to up to three, but must fill out a separate
application for each. fax: (650) 723-0631

e-mail:
introsems@stanford.edu

Describe any experiences you have had or courses you have taken (at college or in high web:
school) which relate to the subject of your seminar. http://introsems.stanford.edu

Why do you want to participate in this Introductory Seminar?

Note: A few seminars may have an additional course-specific question. See website for more details.

121
Lee West, editor

Marie Ochi-Jacobs and Teresa Nguyen,


administrative support

Lina Yamaguchi, designer

Ruth MacKay, copyeditor

Photo Credits: Edward O’Neill,


L.A. Cicero/courtesy of Stanford News Service
Stanford Introductory Studies
Sweet Hall, 3rd Floor PRIORITY MAIL
Stanford University U.S. POSTAGE
Stanford, California 94305-3069 PAID
PERMIT NO. 90
SANTA CLARA, CA

APPLICATION
DEADLINES:
Autumn Quarter
Noon Friday,
September 4, 2009

Winter Quarter
Noon, Monday,
November 30, 2009

Spring Quarter
Noon, Friday,
March 5, 2010

THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PROVOST FOR UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION, STANFORD UNIVERSITY

You might also like