21H.112 The American Revolution (MIT)
This course is concerned primarily with the revolutionary origins of American government. Topics covered include: English and American backgrounds of the Revolution; issues and arguments in the Anglo-American conflict; colonial resistance and the beginnings of republicanism; the Revolutionary War; constitution writing for the states and nation; and effects of the American Revolution. Readings emphasize documents from the period--pamphlets, correspondence, the minutes or resolutions of resistance
21H.101 American History to 1865 (MIT)
This course focuses on a basic history of American social, economic, and political development from the colonial period through the Civil War. The colonial heritages of Spanish and British America; the American Revolution and its impact; the establishment and growth of the new nation; and the Civil War, its background, character, and impact are examined. Readings include writings of the period by Winthrop, Paine, Jefferson, Madison, W. H. Garrison, G. Fitzhugh, H. B. Stowe, and Lincoln.
STS.001 Technology in American History (MIT)
This course will consider the ways in which technology, broadly defined, has contributed to the building of American society from colonial times to the present. This course has three primary goals: to train students to ask critical questions of both technology and the broader American culture of which it is a part; to provide an historical perspective with which to frame and address such questions; and to encourage students to be neither blind critics of new technologies, nor blind advocates for
21L.420 Literary Studies: The Legacy of England (MIT)
Topic: The English sense of humor. This course examines English literature across genre and historical periods. It is designed for students who want to study English literature or writing in some depth, or to know more about English literary culture and history. Students will also learn about the relationships between literary themes, forms, and conventions and the times in which they were produced. Materials include: Medieval tales, riddles, and character sketches; Renaissance lyrics and a play
21W.756 Writing and Reading Poems (MIT)
This course is an examination of the formal structural and textual variety in poetry. Students engage in extensive practice in the making of poems and the analysis of both students' manuscripts and 20th-century poetry. The course attempts to make relevant the traditional elements of poetry and their contemporary alternatives. There are weekly writing assignments, including some exercises in prosody.
STS.310 History of Science (MIT)
This seminar explores recent historiographical approaches within the history of science. Students will read a wide variety of studies covering topics from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries, from the physical sciences to natural history and medicine. Emphasis will be placed on: deciphering different theoretical approaches; the pros and cons of different research questions, subjects, and sources of evidence; and what makes for good and interesting history of science.
21H.418 From Print to Digital: Technologies of the Word, 1450-Present (MIT)
There has been much discussion in recent years, on this campus and elsewhere, about the death of the book. Digitization and various forms of electronic media, some critics say, are rendering the printed text as obsolete as the writing quill. In this subject, we will examine the claims for and against the demise of the book, but we will also supplement these arguments with an historical perspective they lack: we will examine texts, printing technologies, and reading communities from roughly 1450
STS.042J Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman: Physics in the 20th Century (MIT)
This class explores the changing roles of physics and physicists during the 20th century. Topics range from relativity theory and quantum mechanics to high-energy physics and cosmology. The course also examines the development of modern physics within shifting institutional, cultural, and political contexts, such as physics in Imperial Britain, Nazi Germany, U.S. efforts during World War II, and physicists' roles during the Cold War.
11.001J Introduction to Urban Design and Development (MIT)
This course examines the evolving structure of cities and the way that cities, suburbs, and metropolitan areas can be designed and developed. Boston and other American cities are studied to see how physical, social, political and economic forces interact to shape and reshape cities over time.
21L.705 Major Authors: After the Masterpiece: Novels by Melville, Twain, Faulkner, and Morrison (MIT
This seminar provides intensive study of exciting texts by four influential American authors. In studying paired works, we can enrich our sense of each author's distinctive methods, get a deeper sense of the development of their careers, and shake up our preconceptions about what makes an author or a work "great." Students will get an opportunity to research an author in depth, as well as making broader comparisons across the syllabus.
Little-Known Aspects of Human Migration: An interview with Susan Martin
A daughter of immigrants, Dr. Susan Martin sees historical patterns in the strong feelings surrounding immigration that can make our own era sound much like the late 1800s and early 1900s.
11.016J The Once and Future City (MIT)
What is a city? What shapes it? How does its history influence future development? How do physical form and institutions vary from city to city and how are these differences significant? How are cities changing and what is their future? This course will explore these and other questions, with emphasis upon twentieth-century American cities. A major focus will be on the physical form of cities - from downtown and inner-city to suburb and edge city - and the processes that shape them.
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Health Assessment and Promotion
This course focuses on the complete health assessment, the nursing process, and its relationship to the prevention and early detection of disease in clients across the life span. This course introduces processes of health assessment: interviewing, history-taking, and physical assessment. Dominant models, theories and perspectives are used to explain health behavior are considered in relation to evidence-based health promotion and health education strategies. Students are also expected to identif
Proselytism and Religious Freedom: The Political Implications of Proselytism (with Al-Marayati, Daug
In the context of a globalizing world marked by the freer flow of people and ideas, proselytism has become increasingly controversial. On March 3, 2010, the Berkley Center sponsored a day-long symposium on proselytism and religious freedom in the 21st century. Experts from a variety of scholarly and policy fields investigated the theological, legal, and political implications of the missionary impulse.
24.960 Syntactic Models (MIT)
This course presents a comparison of different proposed architectures for the syntax module of grammar. The subject traces several themes across a wide variety of approaches, with emphasis on testable differences among models. Models discussed include ancient and medieval proposals, structuralism, early generative grammar, generative semantics, government-binding theory/minimalism, LFG, HPSG, TAG, functionalist perspectives and others.
Ellis on American Creation and the Founding
Joseph Ellis, of Mt. Holyoke College and author of American Creation, talks about the triumphs and tragedies of the founding of the United States. His goal in the book and in this podcast is to tell a story for grownups rather than for children, where the Founders are neither saints nor evil white, patriarchal slave-holding demons. It is a nuanced story of triumph--a military victory over a seemingly unbeatable vastly more experienced army, the creation of the first geographically large republic
Higgs on the Great Depression
Robert Higgs, of the Independent Institute, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the effect of World War II on the American economy. Using survey results, financial data, and the pattern of investment in the 1930s, Higgs argues that New Deal policies created a climate of uncertainty that prolonged the Great Depression. Using consumption data, he argues that prosperity did not return during wartime, but rather after the war when government interventi
17.245 The Supreme Court, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights (MIT)
This course introduces students to the work of the Supreme Court and to the main outlines of American constitutional law, with an emphasis on the development of American ideas about civil rights. The goal of the course is to provide students with a framework for understanding the major constitutional controversies of the present day through a reading of landmark Supreme Court cases and the public debates they have generated. The principal topics are civil liberties in wartime, race relations, pr
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