This course introduces students to the workflows and techniques for journalistic reporting using data. In many traditional forms of journalism, reporters rely mostly on interviews and anecdotes to create stories. But in a world filled with misinformation—where the very foundations of trust have been shaken—audiences expect more. This course will cover using data for both research and reporting, as well as communicating stories with data. Data has become ubiquitous and accessible in recent years. Data analysis skills are now part of the standard repertoire for many journalists. By its nature, data is based on evidence and observations. But like all evidence, it needs context and interpretation. Course credit for the summer minor.

This course will introduce students to concepts and techniques for effective communication of scientific findings, both within the scientific community and to the general public. Students will be exposed to a variety of formats, including systematic observations in field journals, proposals, conference presentations, seminars, journal articles, popular science writing, and interviews. Students can expect to gain a sense of confidence in writing and public speaking about research. Direct language is valued in scientific writing, but creative approaches to style and structure will be emphasized.

SUMMER 2025: Emotions are not the opposite of thought, nor of rationality, we have learned from the latest research in psychology. Sociologists, political scientists and historians have recently developed critical tools for studying the importance of emotions for explaining major social and cultural changes. Through examples from modern Western history and the present day, this course examines how selves learn to navigate emotions, tame or excise the dangerous ones, and steer them into socially acceptable forms of public and private life. These forms include: liberal democratic citizenship, the corporate workplace, nationalist and populist politics in Europe and the US, international diplomacy, the humanitarianism of international NGOs, and contemporary trends in music and popular culture.

DISC is an immersive five-week program that explores an interdisciplinary and multi-scalar approach to planning and design of the built environment. Through seminars and lectures, studio workshop sessions, site analysis and fieldwork, students will engage in the discourse of urban innovation, and develop creative solutions to tackle the pressing challenges cities are facing today. This 4-unit course can only be taken in addition to ENV DES 8 and cannot stand on its own.

This course focuses on the social and personal meaning of disability and chronic illness. We will explore definitions and conceptual models for the study of disability, the history of disabled people, bio-ethical perspectives, the depiction of disability in literature and the arts, public attitudes, and legal and social policies. The course will investigate the interaction of disability with social factors such as gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and class. The course is for students with and without disabilities, and may be of special interest to students preparing for careers in the health professions, education, law, architecture, social work, or gerontology.

This course introduces students to the intersecting crises of eviction, displacement, and gentrification through data-driven analysis. Using the U.S. Census and R programming, you’ll learn to quantify racial inequality, track segregation patterns, and map gentrification’s impact on vulnerable communities. Through weekly lectures, coding labs, and interactive online modules, we’ll explore how housing precarity disproportionately affects marginalized groups while building practical skills in R and data visualization. By term’s end, you’ll create dynamic maps and interactive dashboards that reveal hidden stories behind eviction trends, rent burden disparities, and neighborhood change – equipping you to communicate complex social issues through both sociological theory and cutting-edge data tools. Designed for beginners in coding, this fully online course emphasizes real-world applications, with case studies ranging from urban displacement in coastal cities to rural housing instability.

The United States operates under the constraints imposed by a written constitution. We will explore the ways in which the Constitution affects the relationship between us as individuals and the state. We will focus on the 14th Amendment’s commands that the state provide us all equal protection of the laws, and that it not encroach on our substantive, fundamental rights without due process of the law.

By exploring four different popular genres—detective fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and romance—we will explore what makes these genres “popular” and in what ways they produce their mass appeal. Is popular fiction simply light leisure reading for the public, or does it have "literary" merit beneath the generic formulas? How do popular fictional works play an integral role in helping us understand the dynamics of gender, science, and politics of the era?

Cultural, psychological, and biological aspects of the definitions, causes, symptoms, and treatment of illness. Comparative study of medical systems, practitioners, and patients.

Cultural, psychological, and biological aspects of the definitions, causes, symptoms, and treatment of illness. Comparative study of medical systems, practitioners, and patients.