English

This course addresses various topics in German and European 20th century history: different political ideas, systems, and movements, as well as social and cultural developments. The course compares and contrasts the German variety of these phenomena with other European varieties. Two major themes are the struggles between democracy and dictatorship, and capitalism and communism, which played out through the 20th century. The course connects these essentially ideological struggles to the two World Wars and the ensuing "Cold War," to memories of trauma, to the history of everyday life, pop culture, and gender, and to the experience of youth and immigrants in Germany. Through analyses of the interconnections and distinctions between all these aspects, the course provides participants with a better understanding of German society today.

This interdisciplinary course examines historical and current social movements in Paris against social and economic disenfranchisement and discrimination based on citizenship, migratory status, racialization, gender, and sexuality. It introduces a wide range of activist tools and historical and current struggles for the access to health, education, and labor rights and against police violence, detention, and incarceration. The course introduces and reflects on a variety of ways of documenting social justice and injustice in France, ranging from documentary film and photography; reports and investigations led by state agencies and non-profit organizations and networks; and museography and artistic expressions. Through urban walks, the course explores spaces of disenfranchisement and gentrification and pays attention to official and non-official memory work, such as monuments, graffiti, and street art in the Parisian city-scape that contribute to commemorate of render invisible specific struggles for social justice.

The course offers the opportunity to explore traditional Chinese medicine through a survey of Chinese medical culture in its dynamic formation and transformation. The first half of the course provides a historical overview of Chinese medicine shaped by philosophy, natural science, religion, while influenced by political and social forces for 2,000 years. The second half provides a study of the theoretical foundation and practical aspects of Chinese medicine, which is opened to influence from western medicine and impact from modernity. The course examines the globalization of Chinese medicine, focusing on transregional connections and cultural negotiations with the world.

The basic principles of volcanology are covered in this course including the journey of magma from source to surface plus the general processes that control eruptions and dispersal of erupted products. It also covers the principles of eruption monitoring as well as volcano-climate.

This course examines how animal behavior is shaped by evolution. Students consider a wide variety of the problems that animals have to face, including how to find sufficient food, how to avoid predation and how to choose a mate. Using examples from across the animal kingdom, students attempt to explain many of the key puzzles of life. For example, how do parents decide how much food to give to each offspring, and how much to save for themselves? Why might animals forego reproduction and instead help to raise the offspring of others? How do animals communicate, and what determines the form of the signals they use? Evolutionary theory allows us to make and test predictions about these and other questions. By comparing the behavior of different species, and using controlled field and laboratory experiments, students are able to find solutions to many problems raised by the study of animal behavior.