17.40 American Foreign Policy: Past, Present, and Future (MIT)
The mission for this course is to explain and evaluate past and present United States policies. What caused the United States' past involvement in foreign wars and interventions? Were the results of U.S. policies good or bad? Would other policies have better served the U.S. and/or the wider world? Were the beliefs that guided U.S. policy true or false? If false, what explains these misperceptions? General theories that bear on the causes and consequences of American policy will be applied to exp
21F.302 French II (MIT)
21F.302/352 is the second part of an introductory course to the French language and culture with an emphasis on the acquisition of vocabulary and grammatical concepts through active communication. The course is conducted entirely in French and students interact in French with their classmates from the very beginning. They also receive exposure to the language via a variety of authentic sources such as the Internet, audio, video and printed materials which help them develop cultural awareness as
21F.311 Introduction to French Culture (MIT)
Ce cours est une introduction à la culture et la société françaises depuis la Révolution, mais surtout à partir du Second Empire. Nous tacherons de cerner ce qui définit la singularité francaise dans une perspective historique. Nous commencerons avec la notion "d'exception francaise" et de ce qui la constitue depuis la Révolution (La République, L'Universalisme, La Laicité, etc.) Nous explorerons l'impact de l
4.493 Emergent Materials II (MIT)
This course will focus on providing students with the tools needed to practice responsible architecture in a contemporary context. It will familiarize students with the materials currently used in responsible practice, as well as the material properties most relevant to assembly. The course will also introduce students to materials that are untested but hold promise for future usage. Finally, the course will challenge students to refine their understanding of responsible or sustainable design pr
21F.301 French I (MIT)
21F.301/351 offers an introduction to the French language and culture with an emphasis on the acquisition of vocabulary and grammatical concepts through active communication. The course is conducted entirely in French, and students interact in French with their classmates from the very beginning. They also receive exposure to the language via a variety of authentic sources such as the Internet, audio, video and printed materials which help them develop cultural awareness as well as linguistic pr
The History of Leadership Impacting Intelligence Analysis, Bascom "Dit" Talley
Bascom "Dit" Talley, faculty advisor and academic coordinator for the Master's Degree in Intelligence Analysis for the Division of Public Safety Leadership at the Johns Hopkins School of Education, discusses the importance of students studying the history of leadership and using it to inform them in contemporary decision making.
21F.404 German IV (MIT)
This course focuses on development of interpretive skills, using literary texts (B. Brecht, S. Zweig) and contemporary media texts (film, TV broadcasts, Web materials). The emphasis is on discussion and exploration of cultural topics in their current social, political, and historical context via hypermedia documentaries. It also covers further refinement of oral and written expression and expansion of communicative competence in practical everyday situations.
Christopher & Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - What the Bible Teaches us About Robotics
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is renowned as the architect of the idea of "flow" in creative work, and recognized as one of the world's leading researchers on positive psychology. His son, Christopher, works at the intersection of new technologies, media, and the arts. He currently directs the MIT Media Lab's Computing Culture group, as well as the MIT Center for Future Civic Media.
A featured event of the "Play makes life worth living" theme semester collaboration with support from Arts Engine, Un
21H.104J Riots, Strikes, and Conspiracies in American History (MIT)
This course uses readings and discussions to focus on a series of short-term events that shed light on American politics, culture, and social organization. It emphasizes finding ways to make sense of these complicated, highly traumatic events, and on using them to understand larger processes of change in American history. The class also gives students experience with primary documentation research through a term paper assignment.
21L.705 Masterworks in American Short Fiction (MIT)
For some reason, American literature (like French, Irish, and Russian, among others) has been especially productive in major works in fictional forms shorter than the novel. Our task in this course will be to survey that field, by looking at particular moments of high accomplishment. We will, in addition, consider some of the ways in which literary formulae can be used and varied, and some of the impacts of elements of narrative construction.
11.948 The Politics of Reconstructing Iraq (MIT)
This course is being offered in conjunction with the colloquium The Politics of Reconstructing Iraq, which is sponsored by MIT’s Center for International Studies and Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Fundamentally, the course focuses on contemporary post-conflict countries (or in-conflict countries) and the role of planning and reconstruction in building nations, mitigating conflicts, reshaping the social, spatial, geopolitical, and political life, and determining the country&rsquo
Global Warming: Science and the Message
When you hear the words "Climate Change", what do you think of - last week's, thunderstorm, or something longer-term? Do you think the media gives credence to climate change deniers?
In this video Dr Ben Newell from UNSW's School of Psychology talks about the difficulties for climate scientists in cutting through misconception and misinformation to get their messages across.
Dr Newell has written a paper on the Psychology of Global Warming with Professor Andy Pitman of the UNSW Climate Chang
12.517 Dynamics of Complex Systems: Biological and Environmental Coevolution Preceding the Cambrian
This seminar will focus on dynamical change in biogeochemical cycles accompanying early animal evolution -- beginning with the time of the earliest known microscopic animal fossils (~600 million years ago) and culminating (~100 million years later) with the rapid diversification of marine animals known as the "Cambrian explosion." Recent work indicates that this period of intense biological evolution was both a cause and an effect of changes in global biogeochemical cycles. W
21H.912 The World Since 1492 (MIT)
This class offers a look into the last five hundred years of world history. Rather than attempt an exhaustive chronology of everything that has occurred on the globe since 1492 - an impossible task for a lifetime, let alone a single semester - we will be focusing on certain geographic areas at specific times, in order to highlight a particular historical problem or to examine the roots of processes that have had an enormous impact on the contemporary world.
21H.447 Nazi Germany and the Holocaust (MIT)
The rise and fall of National Socialism is one of the most intensively-studied topics in European history. Nevertheless, after more than half a century, popular views of Nazism in the media and among the public remain simplistic-essentialized by equal parts fascination and horror. Adolf Hitler, for instance, is often portrayed as an evil genius of supernatural ability; while the Nazi state is similarly imagined to have held absolute power over every aspect of its subjects' lives. Such characteri
21H.433 The Age of Reason: Europe in the 18th and 19th Centuries (MIT)
Has there ever been an "Age of Reason?" In the western tradition, one might make claims for various moments during Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. In this class, however, we will focus on the two and a half centuries between 1600 and 1850, a period when insights first developed in the natural sciences and mathematics were seized upon by social theorists, institutional reformers and political revolutionaries who sought to change themselves and the society in which they lived. Thr
Small Number Counts To 100
This short animation movie is a math education resource based on Aboriginal culture. For more information, visit: http://www.math.sfu.ca/~vjungic/SmallNumber.html
Written by Veselin Jungic, SFU, and Mark McLean, UBC
Inspired by narrations from Rena Sinclair of the Siksika Nation
Voice: Dexter Anakson of the Cree Nation - Piapot First Nation Band
Illustrator: Simon Roy, Victoria, B.C.
Sound: David Brigden, SFU
Music and Animation: Andy Gavel, SFU
Producer: Veselin Jungic, SFU
Director: Andy Gave
Hidden Williamsburg
The backyards of Williamsburg's finest homes tell the story of a separate society. Author Mike Olmert reads the architecture of outbuildings.
21F.402 German II (MIT)
In this course students are exposed to history and culture of German-speaking countries through audio, video, and Web materials. It focuses on the expansion of basic communication skills and further development of linguistic competency, and includes the review and completion of basic grammar, building of vocabulary, and practice in writing short essays. Students will also read short literary texts.
Study Finds Commercial Organic Farms Have Better Fruit and Soi
PULLMAN, Wash.—Side-by-side comparisons of organic and conventional strawberry farms and their fruit found the organic farms produced more flavorful and nutritious berries while leaving the soil healthier and more genetically diverse.
"Our findings have global implications and advance what we know about the sustainability benefits of organic farming systems," said John Reganold, Washington State University Regents professor of soil science and lead author of a paper published today in the peer
