Course Announcements

Course Enrollment Available online

The Tri-College Course Guide contains current enrollment information for all courses it lists. After you've found a course in the Guide, click on the specific course link to see a detail box including "CUR ENR" (current enrollment) listed under "Additional Course Info". Note: the Instructor decides whether a course is actually open or closed; current enrollment is provided only as a guide in assessing that potential.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - L - M - P - R - S - T - W

If no information appears under the department or program heading below, please see the departmental office.

Can't find the course on mySwarthmore or the Tri-co Guide?

Arabic: see Modern Languages and Literatures

 

Art (Art History & Studio Arts):

OPEN Art History courses
ARTH 002 The Western Tradition
ARTH 012 The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright
ARTH 072 Global History of Architecture
ARTH 164 Modernism in Paris and New York

CLOSED Art History courses
ARTH 035 Pictured Environments

 OPEN Studio Art courses
STUA 009 Sculpture: Clay Modeling

CLOSED Studio Art courses
STUA 001 Sec 01 Foundation Drawing
STUA 001 Sec 02 Foundation Drawing
STUA006 Beginning Photography
STUA 008 Oil Painting
STUA 010 Life Drawing
STUA 015 The Potter’s Wheel

ARTH 012: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright’s career straddled two centuries and changed the course of architecture. We will examine his buildings and writings, from the time of his association with Louis Sullivan to his last designs in Arizona, and consider Wright’s work in relation to the diverse currents of international modernism and American architecture. Special attention will also be given to his houses and his school at Taliesin.
Thomas Morton, Tues/Thurs 1:15-2:30, Beardsley 316

ARTH 035. Pictured Environments: Japanese Landscapes and Cityscapes
Through select case studies from the eleventh century to the present, this course examines how Japanese landscapes and cityscapes have been (re)constructed and (re)imagined in the pictorial field. We will explore the complex relations between place and representation and the role of artifacts in the production and preservation of cultural memory. Case studies will offer comparative insights into the ways forms and modes of presentation critically inform the efficacy of a given artifact within the contexts in which it was made and deployed. As part of the Fall 2013 BM360˚ course cluster “Perspectives on Sustainability: Disasters and Rebuilding in Japan” (brynmawr.edu/360/), this course will also explore visual responses to the 3.11.11 disaster that struck Northeastern Japan with a special emphasis on dialogues between the past and the present. The final project for the 360˚ course cluster will involve an exhibition featuring works in the Trico special collections and archives.
1 credit. Fall 2013. Sakomura.

ARTH 072: Global History of Architecture, part I
This course will provide an intensive introduction to the history of architecture, and its chronological and cultural spans are immense. We commence ca. 10,000 B.C.E. and end around 1250 C.E. and examine select works of architecture from diverse cultures around the world. In this course architecture is seen as a cultural product that   can only be understood in relation to the societal complexities within which the architecture was produced, used, and received. Certain themes--such as cultural interaction and exchange, transmission of architectural knowledge, architectural patronage, the conception of space, and the role of technology and materials--will be addressed throughout the course.
Thomas Morton, Tues/Thurs 9:55-11:10, Beardsley 316

Asian Studies:

Astronomy - see Physics and Astronomy

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Biology:

BIOL 111.  Frontiers in Developmental Biology
Though discussion of the primary literature and independent experimental studies, students will investigate current gaps in our understanding of animal development. Potential topics include; the interplay between embryonic development and evolution; how gene regulatory networks generate complex patterns of cell identity and; the ability of cells to interpret their environment using dynamic internal structures.
Prerequisites: BIOL 001 and 002  or the equivalent and  BIOL 024,
or permission of the instructor.
Natural sciences and engineering practicum.  Laboratory required.
2 credits.
Fall 2013. Davidson

BIOL 136. Molecular Ecology and Evolution
Understanding molecular techniques and analysis has become
increasingly important to researchers in the fields of ecology and
evolution. Through discussion of the primary literature, and
independent laboratory projects, students will explore how molecular
tools are being implemented in studies of biogeography, dispersal,
mating systems, biological diversity, and speciation. Depending on
interest, topics such as wildlife forensics, conservation genetics,
human migration, molecular clocks, and bioinformatics will also be
discussed.
One laboratory each week with continuing, independent laboratory projects.
Prerequisites: BIOL 010, 011, 018, or 111, or with permission of instructor.
Spring 2014. Formica

Black Studies:

Chemistry:

CHEM 10H Registration:

You cannot register for Chem 10H lab on line, please use a add/drop form.

CHEM 055. Physical Chemistry: Energy and Change
A quantitative approach to the role that energy and entropy play in chemical and biochemical systems. Topics include states of matter, the laws of thermodynamics, chemical equilibria, electrochemistry, the thermodynamics of solutions and phases and chemical kinetics/dynamics. Examples will be drawn from both real and ideal systems in chemistry and biochemistry.
Prerequisites: CHEM 010/010H/; PHYS 003, 004 (or 003, 004L, or 007, 008) and MATH 034 (or equivalent)..
1 credit.
Spring 2014. Newby

CHEM 056. Inorganic Chemistry
A study of the structure, bonding, and reactivity of inorganic compounds with emphasis on the transition metals. Included in the syllabus are discussions of crystal and ligand field theories, organometallic chemistry, and bioinorganic chemistry.
Prerequisite: Four prior semesters of college chemistry.
1 credit.
Spring 2014. Yatsunyk

CHEM 057. Advanced Integrated Experimental Chemistry
Integrated experimental projects incorporating analytical, inorganic, physical, and biochemistry methods.  
Two laboratory periods weekly.
Prerequisites:  CHEM 044; CHEM 056 must have already been completed or taken as a co-requisite.
Natural sciences and engineering practicum.
1 credit.
Spring 2014. Staff

Chinese - see Modern Languages and Literatures

Classics:

CLAS 023. Alexander and the Hellenistic World: Closed

Computer Science:

Dance:

Economics:

ECON 033. Financial Accounting: Closed

ECON 045. Labor Economics
Should the minimum wage be raised?  Why are unions less common in the US than Europe, and would US workers be better off with higher unionization?  This course will attempt to answer these questions using economic theories describing the supply of and demand for labor in the marketplace.  Unemployment, the minimum wage, immigration, unions, discrimination, wage inequality, the effect of schooling on earnings, and decisions that affect labor force participation (such as fertility and retirement) will all be discussed.  Theoretical models will be compared to the most up to date empirical findings to test the value of the models.
Prerequisite:  ECON 001.
1 credit.
Fall 2013. Christensen

Education:

New Courses for Fall 13

EDUC65: Classroom research for social change
In this course, students work with classroom teachers to explore the potential for classroom, school, and educational change through research.  Students will become part of an ongoing “professional community” of Philadelphia teachers who are exploring what constitutes teacher leadership, how teacher networks can contribute to individual and institutional development and renewal, and how locally based educational research can play a part in student, teacher, school and educational development.

EDUC 153: Latinos and Education.

Times to be announced --- Allard
This seminar explores the schooling experiences of Latinos in the U.S. from interdisciplinary perspectives, including sociology, history, anthropology, and linguistics. Course participants will engage with questions around educational quality and access, language and culture, immigration and demographic change, curriculum and pedagogy, and community activism in relation to the education of Latinos. Students will study asset-based approaches to research and teaching and will use one or more of these research methodologies in a collaborative, community-based research project in and for a local Latino-serving school.
Prerequisites: Ed 53 or Ed 68
2 credits.

English Literature:

ENGL 009J. First-Year Seminar: Revolution and Revolt
What makes a revolution?  How is it won or lost—and who decides?  This course investigates the literature of rebellion from the late eighteenth century’s “Age of Revolution” to the Arab Spring and Occupy movements.  We will read the work of visionary radicals, slave insurrectionists, communists, anarchists, feminists, and more, asking how their writing both interprets the memory of previous revolutions and imagines possibilities beyond them.
Writing course.
1 credit.
Fall 2013. Cohen

ENGL 009K. First-Year Seminar: The Image of the City
Americans have imagined the modern city as an engine of capitalism and of culture, as a place of beauty and a battlefield, and as a symbol of modernity and of its decline. Drawing on fiction, poetry, photography, and film, we will consider some of the ways in which Americans have represented urban spaces and cultures, particularly in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia. Authors to include Wright, Baldwin, Levine, Jacobs, and Whitman.
Writing course.
1 credit.
Fall 2013. Leary

 ENGL 057B. Geographical Imagination in Postbellum Literature
This class explores representations of national space after the Civil War, in Reconstruction accounts of national dismemberment and reunification; the literature of expansion in the west and Caribbean; and movements in regionalism and environmental writing. What connections exist between the space of “home” and the frontier, the warfront, and the city? And how are the nation’s “underdeveloped” spaces—the slum, the south, the Indian reservation—represented in a period of rapid modernization and industrialization? Authors to include Chesnutt, Crane, Twain, Zitkala-Sa, Jewett, Riis, Harper, and Marti.
1 credit.
Fall 2013. Leary

 ENGL 060. Early African American Print Cultures*
African American literature has traditionally been defined in terms of authorship, but how might we expand this definition to consider editing, illustration, printing, circulation, and reading?  And how might this expanded definition change our understanding of the field?  This course will examine a wide variety of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century African American print culture, including poetry, sermons, manifestos, newspapers, slave narratives, and novels. 
1 credit.
Fall 2013. Cohen

Engineering:

 

Environmental Studies:

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Film and Media Studies:

 

Gender and Sexuality Studies:

 

 

History:

Closed
HIST 125. Fascist Europe
HIST 140. The Colonial Encounter in Africa

All othere History courses are open

Interpretation Theory:

 

Latin American Studies:

LASC 005. Introduction to Latin American Studies TU-TH 2:40: 3:55 enrollment 15
This course is intended to provide an introduction to the major concepts, issues, and debates in the field of Hispanic/Latin@ Studies. It is informed by an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Hispanic/Latin@ communities in the United States, namely those of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Caribbean, Central American and South American origin. The course presents a basic intellectual map for understanding both the similarities and the differences between contemporary Hispanic/Latin@ communities, i.e., what internal and external, separating and unifying forces affect them. Some of the main organizing themes include: the politics of labeling and subsequent questions of identity; immigration, migration, and communities formation histories; gender; race and racial constructions; language/bilingualism; educational experiences; media representation; labor markets; and demographic trends. The third and briefest part of the course will build upon the previous sections by asking how the history and current status of Latinos might influence their near-term future, under various assumptions.
1 credit.
Fall 2013. Machuca-Galvez

LASC 025. Wednesdays 2:40: 3:55 enrollment 15
The Latin American Religious Arena – This course explores distinct historical, socio-cultural contexts, political and economic processes in which historical varieties of Catholicism have emerged in Latin America. Understanding religion as generative, this course will examine the foundations, theological themes, and processes of pre-Hispanic indigenous practices, Spanish Colonial Catholicism, the public role of the Catholic Church in struggles for justice and human rights in the 1960-1990 period expressed by Liberation Theology, the recent growth of Protestantism with a focus on Pentecostalism, the “end of revolutionary utopias,” the contemporary praxis of Catholicism, the public emergence of native spiritualities, and diaspora religions of the Caribbean, Brazil and Latinos in the U.S.A.
1 credit.
Fall 2013. Machuca-Galvez

Japanese - see Modern Languages and Literatures

 

Latin-see Classics

Linguistics:

Fall 2013

LING 032. International Perspectives on Deafness
This course introduces students to the range of ways in which deafness and Deaf people are categorized internationally - by medical personnel, by hearing people, and by Deaf communities. We begin with references to Deafness and Deaf people in ancient times and trace changing attitudes to Deafness, signed languages and Deafhood up until contemporary times. We also explore the notion of Deaf culture and community and consider the objective symbols and behavioural norms of this culture. This course introduces a continuum of perspectives of Deafness, and examines the range of practical and political implications of these views. We also consider the range of implications that this can have on a Deaf person's self-image. A range of views from Deaf deafened and hard of hearing people which have been pre-recorded are shared over the course of this module. This module also considers different ways of being Deaf in the modern world. A particular focus is given to the ways that Deaf women are presented and viewed in historical and contemporary communities. We also look at the relationship between the developed and the developing worlds, with special emphasis on the European experience of Deafness. In a European context, data from the European Commission funded (Leonardo da Vinci) SIGNALL I, SIGNALL II, SIGNALL 3 and Medisigns projects are drawn on ( www.signallproject.com ). As signed language use is a defining feature of what it means to be a member of a Deaf community, we will also touch on some key sociolinguistic elements of identity (e.g. gendered language use, regional variation in signed languages, bilingualism in deaf communities).
Students who are interested in taking this course in the spring 13 semester, please see or email( tfernal1) Ted Fernald in the Linguistics Department office.

Literature - see Modern Languages and Literatures

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Mathematics and Statistics:

Math 59: Topics in Discrete Math, Fall, 2013
This course will be an introduction to the theory of error correcting codes.
We start with binary linear codes, the Hamming distance, nearest neighbor
decoding, and the Hamming codes, which can detect and correct a single
error. We then see how to construct a double-error-correcting BCH code.
Next will be the Hadamard and Golay codes, which are nonlinear. Some
study of finite fields then leads to cyclic codes and t-error-correcting BCH
codes. Other topics may include the connection between block designs and
codes, Reed-Solomon codes, and Reed-Muller codes. The prerequisite for
this course is successful completion of a linear algebra course (Math 27 or
28) and an interest in proofs and theorems.

MATH 075. Advanced Topics in Geometry: Computational Geometry and Topology
This course is an introduction to the relatively new fields of computational geometry and computational topology. Topics are likely to include polygons, linkages, convex geometry, triangulations and other geometric structures for finite point sets, Voronoi diagrams, dissections, the topology of graphs and surfaces, configuration spaces, and origami. For more information, please see:

http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/dshimam1/Math075F2013.pdf

Prerequisites: At least one of MATH 055, MATH 063, MATH 067, or MATH 069. MATH 063 recommended especially.

Modern Languages and Literature:

Arabic:

Chinese:

French:

FREN 077: Caribbean and African Literature and Culture in Translation
(cross-listed with LITR 077F & eligible for BLST program)
Through close reading and discussion of African and Caribbean texts, originally written in French, we will examine the " re/wri/gh/t/ing" of the local and national pre/ post/colonial H/h/istories. The emphasis will be on some cultural, social and racial issues and on their rendering in distinct literary forms: language, rhythm, influences, ruptures, etc. The theoretical readings of CLR James, F. Fanon, A. and S. Césaire, E.Glissant, among others, will guide our analysis. There will be a 1/2 credit French attachment for French reading students.
1 credit. Rice-Maximin.

German:

New GERMAN Course
GMST 20: Verlorene Unschuld: literarische und filmische Jugendporträts
This course will explore representations of youth and coming-of-age in literature and film of the German-speaking world. We will read both canonical and non-canonical texts beginning in the eighteenth century and extending into the twenty-first that engage with themes of love, education and crisis. What do these narratives reveal about national, cultural and individual identity formation during early stages of maturity? How are these narratives shaped by various political and historical contexts? In addition to works by authors such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Frank Wedekind, Ingeborg Bachmann, Bernhard Schlink, and Jana Hensel, we will also examine key theoretical texts and films that focus on narratives of youth.
1 credit. Wegener.
 
Japanese:

JPNS 035/LITR 035J. Narratives of Disaster and Rebuilding in Japan (Eligible for Asian Studies and Environmental Studies.)
This course will explore documentary and fictional representations of the modern Japanese landscape and cityscape in crisis, with special attention to the role of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster as a catalyst for change in contemporary Japan. Documentaries and fictionalizations of the 2011 “triple disaster” reignited debates over cultural trauma and the ethics of representing disaster. Through the study of literature, film, and critical discourse, we will examine the historical and cultural implications of such famous 20th Century disaster narratives as Godzilla and Japan Sinks, as well as the latest writing and films from Japan, in the context of public debates about safety, sustainability, and social change after the March 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster.
The course is a part of the BMC 360o course cluster “Perspectives on Sustainability: Disasters and Rebuilding in Japan.” The final project for the 360˚ course cluster will involve an exhibition utilizing objects and texts in the Trico special collections and archives. Readings and discussions will be in English. Course enrollment is limited; priority for registration will be given to 360o students and Japanese and Asian Studies majors and minors.
1 credit. Gardener.

Literature:

New LITR Course
LITR 006G/First Year Seminar: Exploring the Boundaries of Travel Writing
This first-year seminar examines the formation of cultural identity through the lens of mobility and travel. The specific focus of this course will enable students to grapple with topics related to transcultural encounter and representations of otherness. Students will be asked to engage in critical readings of texts that complicate traditional notions of travel. They will also develop a keen perception of how spatial dynamics and historical contexts shape the perspectives from which travel is narrated. Works included in the course are colonial texts, narratives of exile and Holocaust deportation, literary road trips and documentary travelogue films.
1 credit. Wegener

Russian:

New RUSSIAN Courses
RUSS 086. Nature and Industry in Russian Literature and Culture
(Cross-Listed as LITR 086R) From pre-Christian religion and folklore based in forest, steppe and tundra and the enduring role of peasant culture to today’s Neo-Pagans,
Russian culture has been closely bound to nature, developing sustainable agricultural practices, honoring “Moist Mother Earth” and (even sophisticated city dwellers) heading out to gather berries and mushrooms. But the Soviet era pursued science-fictional plans to redesign whole landscapes, make rivers flow backwards and even revolutionize plant genetics (Trofim Lysenko). In practice, such projects led to a shrinking Aral Sea, massive pollution of industrial and agricultural sites, and the worst nuclear disaster in human history (Chernobyl) – at great human cost. Writers have both supported industrial transformation and resisted industrialization. This course will trace the evolution of these elements of Russian culture, focusing on expressions of ideology in literature.No knowledge of Russian is necessary, but students with the language may do some reading in the original.
1 credit. Staff.

Spanish:

New SPANISH course

SPAN 052. Imaginarios culturales caribeños
This course will explore the Hispanic Caribbean experience through food, sports and music.  Their artistic and literary representations offer vital insights into the political, economic, and cultural history of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, as into the experiences of Spanish-Caribbean diasporic communities.  This thematic approach will offer rich material for reflection on representations of patriarchy, gender roles, sexuality, race, and class in the popular culture of these island societies.
1 credit.
Fall 2013. Valdez

SPAN 80. Los hijos de la Malinche: representaciones culturales de la Revolución Mexicana: CLOSED
This course will examine the representations of the Mexican Revolution in novels, short stories, essays, theatre, films, and corridos by Mexican authors and artists. We will pay attention to the complexity of perspectives generated by this sociopolitical upheaval, whose legacy has been riddled with ambivalence. The objective is to gain a critical understanding of how and why the Revolution became such a fundamental part of Mexican identity and culture. Topics include: political disenchantment, solitude, class division, gender roles, national myths, and identity construction.
Eligible for LASC credit.
1 credit.  
Fall 2013. Buiza

Music:

Peace Studies:

 

Philosophy:

Physical Education:

Physics and Astronomy:

ASTR 006. Introductory Cosmology

New Course
This half-credit class is designed to give students who are excited about cosmology, and comfortable with physics and math, a short introduction to the subject. We will use a textbook that is usually used in Astro 16, our sophomore classes for prospective majors. The reading has some simple differential and integral calculus and one or two straight-forward differential equations. Though the class has no official pre-requisites, some exposure to single-variable differential and integral calculus is required. Students concurrently taking Math 25 or higher will have an adequate mathematical background, and high-school calculus will generally be sufficient. Similarly, there are no official physics pre-requisites, but some exposure to basic physics, especially mechanics, gravity, and the properties of light, are required, even if only in high school. No prior, specific knowledge of astronomy is presumed, the important properties of galaxies will be introduced as needed. Astro 6 is suitable for many first-year students concurrently taking Physics 5 and also for sophomores concurrently taking Astro 16. Those two groups are the target audience, but the class should be appropriate for other students, too.

The subject of cosmology has seen stunning advances in the precision of measurements and in theoretical understanding in the last two decades. The basic framework for understanding the properties of the Universe as a whole is general relativity, but significant understanding can be gained and quantitative detail can be put into context without doing GR calculations or derivations. We will discuss GR at the beginning, but we will not do quantitative calculations with it. We will use the Friedmann equation (which is a consequence of GR but can be derived classically) to understand the history and fate of the Universe, in the context of the standard hot big bang model. We will focus on observational evidence for this model: the expansion of the Universe, the cosmic microwave background, and big-bang nucleosynthesis. And we will explore more recent observational measurements of the properties of dark matter and dark energy as well as the growth of structure in the Universe.

0.5 credits, meets second-half of the semester
Fall 2013 David Cohen

Political Science:

Fall 2013 Changes

POLS 001. Political Theory (not a W for fall 2013)
Tu Th 9:55-11:10 Trotter 303 (Staff)

POLS 011. Anc Pol Th: Plato-Michiavelli
Tu Th 1:15-2:30 (C Halpern)

Psychology:

 

 

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Religion:

RELG 109. Afro-Atlantic Religions
This seminar explores the historical experiences of the millions of persons who worship African divinities in the West. We will consider the following questions: How were these religions and their communities created? How have they survived? How are African-based traditions perpetuated through ritual, song, dance, drumming, and healing practices? Special attention will be given to Yoruba religion and its New World offspring, Santeria, Voodoo and Candomblé.
Eligible for BLST or LAS credit.
2 credits. Chireau

 

              

Russian - see Modern Languages and Literatures

 

Sociology and Anthropology:

Fall 2013 Changes
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology has changed the labeling of its courses to reflect the discipline that the course is anchored in, thus courses taught by anthropologist will be coded as ANTH and course taught by a sociologist will be coded SOCI.

We will still have the SOAN designation for joint classes and the thesis.
These changes do not have any implications for the number and distribution of courses that a student might take in our department.
3/19/13

Open
ANTH 002D FYS: Culture & Gender(T)   Open to Freshmen
ANTH 020J Dance and Diaspora (W) (cross-listed w/ DAN 025A)Controlled by Dance
ANTH 021D Anthropology of Art & Aesthetics
ANTH 043E Culture, Health, Illness (T)    
ANTH 072C Memory, History, Nation (T)   
ANTH095 IndependentStudy                         
Permission of the Instructor
Closed
ANTH 009C. Cultures of the Middle East (W)
ANTH 112. Cities, Spaces, & Power (T)

New Course Fall 2013
SOAN 040I  Race and Place: T/R 2:40- 3:55pm Kohl 202
Using Philadelphia neighborhoods as our site of study, this course will
analyze the relationship between race/ethnicity and spatial inequality,
emphasizing the institutions, processes, and mechanisms that shape the lives
of urban dwellers. We will survey major theoretical approaches and empirical
investigations of racial and ethnic stratification in cities,their
concomitant policy considerations, and the impact at the local level in
Philadelphia. Professor Nina Johnson

Open
SOAN 001A Intro: Anthropology & Sociology
SOAN 030P Introduction to GIS(M) Controlled by POLS
SOAN 096 Thesis    
SOAN 097 Thesis(W) 
SOAN 180 Senior Honor Thesis  

Open
SOCI 004B FYS: Intro ContemSoc Thought (T) Open to Freshmen   
SOCI 006H Soc Problems of Phila
(cross-listed w/ EDUC 074)
SOCI025BTransforming Conflict                    
SOCI 036D IntroFld: Qualitative Methods (M)
SOCI 040H  SecurityandDefense                                        
SOCI 040I Race and Place 
SOCI 048D  Sociology of Humor  
SOCI 095 Independent Study                                     

                                        

Spanish - see Modern Languages and Literatures

 

Statistics -  see Mathematics and Statistics

Theater: