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Introductory Colloquia

Fall, 2006

Click on the course to read about it!


ANTH 179 LSIC: Anthropology for a Small Planet - Heidi Kelley


ATMS 179 LSIC: Society and Weather - Doug Miller

BIOL 179 LSIC: Insects-The Small Majority - Tim Forrest

BIOL 179. LSIC: Plants in Our World - David Clarke

CHEM 179 LSIC: Chemical Agents and Weapons of Mass Destruction - Keith Krumpe

CLAS 179 LSIC: Ancient Gardens - Dorothy Dvorsky-Rohner

CLAS 179 LSIC: The Muse of Ridicule-Irony and Satire - Brian Hook

CSCI 179 LSIC: 3D Modeling and the WWW - Rebecca Bruce

DRAM 179 LSIC: The History of Clothing - Ida Bostian

DRAM 179 LSIC: Art, Combat, and the Way of the Warrior - Robert Berls

ECON 179 LSIC: The Economics of Rock and Roll - Chris Bell

EDUC 179 LSIC: Freeing the Natural Teacher - Brenda Hopper

ENVR 179 LSIC: Environmental Leadership - Dee Eggers

FREN 179 LSIC: Cultural Misunderstanding: The French-American Experience Cathy Pons

HIST 179 LSIC: The Beginnings of Wisdom - Grant Hardy

HON 179 LSIC: Technology and the Environment - Kevin Moorhead

HON 179 LSIC: The Hero's Journey - Scott Walters

HON 179 LSIC: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - Merritt Moseley

HON 179 LSIC: Technology, Culture and the Myth of Progress - Edward Katz

HWP 179 LSIC: 21st Century Health Care Careers - Barry Fox

LIT 179 LSIC: What Is Israel? - Rick Chess

LS 179 LSIC: What About Race: Black and White - Mary Alm

LS 179 LSIC: Four Great Minds: Bach, Franklin, Jefferson, Newton - Noah Allen

LS 179 LSIC: Numbers and Sense - Pat McClellan

MATH 179 LSIC: [R]evolutionary Thinking - Ed Johnson

MATH 179 LSIC: Optimization: The Mathematical Pursuit of Superlatives - Greg Boudreaux

MCOM 179 LSIC: Digital Photography in Journalism and Commercial Media -Wade Hobgood

MGMT 179 LSIC: Managing Terrorism in Today's Environment - Robert Yearout

MGMT 179 LSIC: Leadership Through Film - Brian Schaffer

MGMT 179 LSIC: Critiquing the U. S. Health Care System - Don Lisnerski

MMAS 179 LSIC: 3D Modeling and the WWW - Susan Reiser

MMAS 179 LSIC: Decoding Visual Culture Mary - Anna LaFratta

PHIL 179 LSIC: Philosophy: Love and Wisdom - Duane Davis

PHYS 179 LSIC: Black Holes and Time Warps Randy Booker

WMST 179 LSIC: Women and the Environment - Tracey Rizzo



Course Descriptions:

ANTH 179 LSIC: Anthropology for a Small Planet - Heidi Kelley

As citizens of the world, what draws us together? What forces divide us? What we can do to engage in good world citizenship? Using the insights of cultural anthropology, we will attempt to craft answers to these questions. We will read ethnographies (descriptions of life in other cultures) about the experiences of Shiite villagers in southern Iraq, West Africans living with malnutrition, children dwelling in a tunnel between Mexico and the United States, and a Hmong-American family coping with the intersections of their indigenous belief system and the American medical community's beliefs. We will also learn to read popular press accounts and view documentary films with an anthropological lens. Heidi Kelley is an associate professor of anthropology and the Director of Liberal Arts Learning and Disability Services at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. She has two main field sites: Galicia, the northwesternmost region in Spain, and the United States, investigating the culture of stroke. Her current teaching and research interests include: gender, disability, psychological and medical anthropology, family, religion, regional and national identity, Spain and Portugal (and more widely, Europe), Latin America, and Latino communities in the U.S. She is also interested in using the techniques of poetry and fiction to express ethnographic truths.

ATMS 179 LSIC: Society and Weather - Doug Miller

This course will focus on Vilhelm Bjerknes, the so-called “Father of Modern Meteorology”, and how political conditions forced him to seek a career outside of theoretical physics and into the new applied physics field of meteorology. We will follow his career as an atmospheric scientist and focus on how the contributions of Vilhelm and those of his students to the field of meteorology were shaped by economic and political events within Norway, Europe, and the world. The “backbone” of the course will be the book, “Appropriating the Weather: Vilhelm Bjerknes and the Construction of a Modern Meteorology” written by Robert Marc Friedman. Students will be responsible for reading this book and for researching the economic conditions arising from the agricultural, industrial, and technological capabilities of the early 1900's as well as the political conditions in place that were laying the foundation for the onset of World War I. It is hoped that the students will gain a new appreciation for the link between the conditions of a society and how society utilizes the sciences to meet its needs arising out of these conditions. Doug Miller has have been an Associate Professor in the Atmospheric Sciences Department at UNC Asheville since July 2004. He received my M.S. Degree from the University of Washington in December 1990 and his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1996. Other than teaching, he likes to spend time running computer weather forecast models to learn more about interesting weather events and how forecasts of these events might be improved. Outside of life on the UNCA campus, he likes to “wrassle” with his four children and teach himself new “chops” on his drumset.

BIOL 179 LSIC: Insects-The Small Majority - Tim Forrest


Insects are the most diverse group of animals on earth. They occupy and dominate every terrestrial niche and their presence impacts nearly every organism on the planet. Thus, their study is a venture into understanding the biology of our world. This course explores the amazing world of insects, investigates their ecology, examines their interactions with humans and discusses the impact insects have on our science, history, and culture. Tim Forrest came to UNCA in 1996 and is now an Associate Professor of Biology. He received his MS and PhD from the University of Florida in Entomology. Tim was a Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University in Neurobiology and Behavior and a Research Scientist for the National Center for Physical Acoustics at the University of Mississippi. He teaches courses in Animal Behavior, Entomology and Invertebrate Zoology and his research Interests include insect behavioral ecology and animal communication.

BIOL 179. LSIC: Plants in Our World - David Clarke

Students will be instructed in theoretical and applied topics in introductory botany as an introduction to form, function, and process in biological systems. Current issues, including environmental and ecological topics; nutrition, biotechnology and agriculture; plant products such as herbal medicines and drugs; and biological diversity will be presented from a perspective that emphasizes fundamental concepts in science as well as the method of scientific inquiry yet also stresses the social issues that arise from our relationship to cultivated and native plants. A lecture format will be supplemented by frequent outdoor activities that take advantage of plant diversity on campus, at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, and in local, high quality natural areas of the Southern Applachians. The course will also help orient new students toward opportunities in both outdoor recreation and with community environmental organizations. Clarke an associate professor in Biology and has taught this course previously (fall 2004). It is similar to Biology 110 (Plants and Humans), but is modified to serve the needs of freshman colloquia students, rather than the general population of students that enroll in Bio 110 to fulfill ILSN and Cluster requirements. Clarke has extensive experience teaching biology to non-majors.

CHEM 179 LSIC: Chemical Agents and Weapons of Mass Destruction - Keith Krumpe

Chemical Agents and weapons of mass destruction have become a routine topic on the evening news. What exactly are they? How do they work? How have they evolved? Answers to these and other questions will be the focus of this course. Dr. Krumpe is Chair of the Department of Chemistry. He has been a longtime leader in the Integrative Liberal Studies Program.

CHEM 179 LSIC: Careers and Ethics in 21st Century Health Care - Bert Holmes

This course considers the changing nature of careers in health professions. Recent advances in medicine and science and the moral implications those advancements have raised will be discussed. Dr. Holmes is the Phillip G. Carson Distinguished Professor in Physical Science. He has been a long-time participant in the Liberal Studies Introductory Colloquium Program.

CLAS 179 LSIC: Ancient Gardens - Dorothy Dvorsky-Rohner

Students in this course will study and research of the household garden as it supported the everyday needs of a family in Greece and Rome, along other fabled gardens such as “The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.” Students will also research plants used in antiquity for food, drink, utensils, medicine, and beauty. They will consult with the Public Grounds office for their appropriateness for our climate and placement by New Hall. Individual research by students will provide a list of plants, an appropriate layout based on ancient design, and plant the garden under the guidance and direction of the Public Grounds office and a master gardener from Asheville. Students interested in Botany, Classical antiquity, ancient gardens, gardening in general, garden art and design, and who like to work outside will enjoy this course. The purpose of the course is to create a project which gives ownership to the students of this campus in that their hard work and study will have created a special place of beauty and interest. Secondly, the students will find our common humanity with the ancients as they reflect upon and study a universal and timeless occupation, gardening. My interest in ancient gardens began with my research on frescoes of Crete and the cultic practices of Dionysus, the god of wine. Gardens are central to the domestic landscape of antiquity as well as civic and public space. As an archaeologist and Classicist, plants, production systems and uses of plant products have always been a part of my research focus. Understanding the gardens and their products which the ancients produced not only provides to us a new window through which to view the ancients but also brings to us the universality of plant and garden importance as it relates to our humanity no matter what age.

CLAS 179 LSIC: The Muse of Ridicule-Irony and Satire - Brian Hook

Irony may be a method of writing, a critical approach to art, a world-view, even an entire life (Socrates comes to mind). Irony may serve as an essential part of cleverness and wit, but critics have seen irony as something perverse, even dangerous: a culturally destabilizing dynamic that undermines without any offering anything in return. In such a view, irony serves as a wedge between ourselves and serious conviction. Others are not so sure that destabilizing authority is such a bad thing or that the critical distance of irony is unhealthy. The “death of irony” was heralded after 9/11, and we will examine the role, and the appropriateness, of irony and satire in our current world. In this course we will talk about irony in its simplest forms-in simple sentences-and in its more complex and ambiguous extensions. We will pay special attention to one form that regularly employs irony, namely, satire, and discuss it as a literary genre and as an evaluative approach. Texts under consideration include: Sophocles, Oedipus the King; Plato, Symposium; Juvenal's Satires (w/ Samuel Johnson's adaptions of 3 and 10); Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel; Pope, The Dunciad; Swift, “A Modest Proposal”, Gulliver's Travels; Flannery O' Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”; Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49; David Foster Wallace; and others. We will include film, TV, and music in our study: we will read The Onion online and watch “The Daily Show.” I will also assign attacks and defenses of irony in “culture.” There are quite a few book length secondary studies of irony (Booth, Muecke, Hutcheon) and satire (Kernan, Bogel) from which I will draw. Brian S. Hook (Ph.D. Duke 1992) is assistant professor in the department of Classics. His undergraduate degrees are in English and Greek. Dr. Hook's current research is focused on Roman satire, particularly Juvenal. He spends most of his other time with his family.

CSCI 179 LSIC: 3D Modeling and the WWW - Rebecca Bruce

This course will introduce students to the 3D design and modeling of physical systems. The material presented will be a synergistic combination of computer graphics, engineering and information technology. Students will create 3D models of Rube Goldberg machines, imaginative but working machines created from an array of everyday objects. Students will display their machines via three dimensional interactive websites, simulations and animations. This is a "hands-on" course, all concepts will be introduced in an interactive lab/lecture environment. After working as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry, Rebecca Bruce entered the Ph.D. program in Computer Science at New Mexico State University where she began a research program in Natural Language Processing, the application of computers to the understanding of Human Speech. Rebecca Bruce began work at UNCA in 1998 where she is an Associate Professor of Computer Science. She also serves as Associate Director of the NCSU/UNCA Engineering Program.

DRAM 179 LSIC: The History of Clothing - Ida Bostian

This colloquium will explore the history of clothing from early man to present day and how political climate influences clothing. This will be Ida's third year here at UNCA in the Drama Department as the costume designer. She comes to us from NC State University, where she was the costumer for three years. Before that she worked in professional theatre out of Nashville, TN. She is happy to be back in the mountains of NC where she belongs.

DRAM 179 LSIC: Art, Combat, and the Way of the Warrior - Robert Berls

Art, Combat, and the Way of the Warrior will take examples of philosophy, art, armor, and weapons of several different cultures and compare them to our lives today. The course will expand upon the unifying themes of warrior philosophy and compare them with modern US, Western, Eastern, and Global themes of war, honor and survival. The students will be expected to participate in physical activity and training, exploration of oneself, service to the community, and what the idea of self means within their world view. Through exploration of many different cultures, the student should gain an understanding of diversity and how it expands one's view of the world. Robert Berls has an M.F.A. from Michigan State University in Production Design and is currently serving as the Scene Designer/Technical Director for the Drama Department at UNCA. He has also spent 6 years training in many styles of combat and is currently the stage combat instructor for the Drama Department.

ECON 179 LSIC: The Economics of Rock and Roll - Chris Bell

An introduction to economics and industrial organization through study of the rock & roll music industry. Topics include demand (by music fans) and supply (by artists and recording companies), market structure (including pure competition and monopoly), production (of recordings), technological substitution (of DJ's for live bands), contracts and contracting (between artists and recording companies) and issues related to the internet, entrepreneurship and race & gender. Bell has both a personal and professional interest in the Rock & Roll music industry. His primary professional training is in industrial organization, a subfield of economics whose focus is describing and understanding the nature of the different types of firms, markets and industries. He began listening to Rock & Roll music in 1967. By happy coincidence he grew up in Albany, California, five minutes from Berkeley and twenty from San Francisco. Among his paper route customers were Tom and John Foggerty, key members of the band Credence Clearwater Revival. Sadly, his band, Chris Bell and his Burned Out Shells, lasted only one gig!

EDUC 179 LSIC: Feeing the Natural Teacher - Brenda Hopper

This course is designed to assist first-year Teaching Fellows into the academic and social system of higher education. It provides an opportunity to explore beliefs about teaching and learning with emphasis on writing, exploration of self, school service and an introduction to the field of public education. Learning opportunities are provided through discussions, lecture/group interactions, teacher interviews, research on current issues in public education and reflections on readings and K-6 public school tutoring experiences. Brenda Hopper is Director of the UNCA Teaching Fellows program and lecturer in the Education Department. Her past experience includes work in the public schools and with the NC State Department.

ENVR 179 LSIC: Environmental Leadership - Dee Eggers

This course is targeted toward students who are 1) interested in making a positive difference in environmental quality and 2) want to develop their leadership skills. We will engage in several activities designed to stimulate reflective learning, personal growth, connection to environment, team-building, and communication. Students will write informal reflective pieces on an ongoing basis throughout the semester. As well, students will write formal papers and engage in peer-evaluation of each other's draft papers. This class will be demanding, fun and rewarding. Dr. Eggers teaches introductory environmental science and advanced courses in environmental policy and management, the greening of industry, public speaking, and Humanities 414. She innovates frequently in class, using many types of opportunities for learning and demonstrating knowledge.

FREN 179 LSIC: Cultural Misunderstanding: The French-American Experience Cathy Pons

Americans and the French have much in common historically, culturally and socially. Our countries have maintained close relations since the time of the American Revolution, but sometimes those relations can become strained. Raymonde Carroll, an anthropologist and a U.S. citizen of French origin, offers a framework for understanding the source of conflicts large and small between peoples of our two countries. In this course we will examine various themes of everyday life – friendship, the family, manners, privacy issues – and discover how our learned cultural perspectives influence our cross cultural interactions. Knowledge of the French language is not necessary to enroll. Cathy Pons is Associate Professor of French.

HIST 179 LSIC: The Beginnings of Wisdom - Grant Hardy

In this course we will investigate the opening chapters of sacred texts from a number of world religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Daoism, and Buddhism. Readings will include selections form Genesis, Mark, the Qur'an, the Daodejing, and the Lotus Sutra. The approach will be multidisciplinary, using the tools of history, literature, and religious studies. Professor Hardy received his Ph.D. from Yale in Chinese Language and Literature and has taught Asian history at UNCA since 1994. He has long been interested in the study of religion. His undergraduate major was Ancient Greek, he regularly teaches a course on the history of Buddhism, and he recently published the first academic edition of the Book of Mormon.

HON 179 LSIC: Technology and the Environment - Kevin Moorhead

Technology has transformed our lives and the environment. The environmental costs associated with technology are rarely considered during development or distribution. This course will examine the environmental costs associated with some of the most widely used technological advances over the past century, including the automobile, telephone, television, computers and genetic engineering. Kevin Moorhead is Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Science.

HON 179 LSIC: The Hero's Journey - Scott Walters

Freshmen are beginning their own hero's journey, both as students and as adults. In this course, students will learn the basic outline of the hero's journey as described by Joseph Campbell, and also explore the different hero archetypes as described by Carol Pearson. We will then explore this structure and these archetypes as they appear in films, novels, short stories, and plays. Students will also begin to think about the shape and direction of their own journey. Dr. Walters is Associate Professor of Drama and Director of UNCA's Arts and Ideas Program.

HON 179 LSIC: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - Merritt Moseley

This class combines several different areas of study. It is a Liberal Studies Introductory Colloquium, one of a large number of such classes at UNCA which share common aims, all focused on providing successful transition for new students to liberal arts study at the university level. It is a colloquium: the name means “talking together” or “conversation” and that is what we will be doing in class. And in addition to these orientational and developmental aims, it has a particular area of study, the nature of love; our attention to this topic will, I hope, be interesting in itself and also serve as an introduction to the kind of analysis and use of texts characteristic of liberal arts study. Finally, it is writing intensive, which means that you will do a considerable amount of writing, which will be assessed and perhaps rewritten. Students read a home-made anthology of readings about love, Plato's Symposium, a Victorian novel and a recent play; in addition, they share their own ideas about love. We also attended to the representation of love in popular music, films, etc. It is a topic that is important; familiar (at least in theory) to everyone; and productive of good analysis. I've been teaching at UNC Asheville since 1978, teaching mostly in Literature and Language classes and Humanities. Administrative: I've been Director of Humanities, chair (one year) of Literature, Dean of Faculty Development, Director of the University Honors Program and, now, Key Center Professor. I've taught FYE classes (as they used to be called) and LSIC for about six years, including What We Talk About When We Talk About Love three times already. I'm committed to using the LSIC classes not only as introductions to liberal study and academic enterprises, but as ways to get my students engaged, in the broadest possible way, with the university and the community, and each other. I like advising freshmen.

HON 179 LSIC: Technology, Culture and the Myth of Progress - Edward Katz

This seminar will focus on the ways in which we understand, represent and construct our ideas about technology and what it means to live in a culture of progress. We will explore how technological and other advances shape how we conceive of humanity and the human condition. Using literature, non-fiction, film and other materials, we will examine both the possibilities and problems that emerge out of a progress-oriented and technological worldview. Dr. Edward Katz received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester. He has taught composition, literature and the humanities at UNC Asheville since 1992. As an undergraduate he studied Psychology, receiving his B.S. from Michigan State University in 1980, and English, earning a B.A. from the University of Washington in 1986. He is currently the Associate Vice Chancellor for University Programs, in the Office of Academic Affairs. Katz has written articles and presented papers on eighteenth-century poetry, enlightenment ideas, and general education reform. He is excited about teaching this colloquium because of his interests in technology and culture, and because he enjoys working with freshmen. His other interests include long-distance running, gardening, and spending time with his family.

HWP 179 LSIC: 21st Century Health Care Careers - Barry Fox

This course will present freshmen students who have both expressed and demonstrated a genuine desire to enter a health care profession direct contact with various professions and professionals. Contacts will be in the classroom and as possible, in health care settings. The class will be scheduled so that students may attend the Hippocrates Forum. The class will follow a similar pattern currently used in Pre-Health Professions for advanced students gaining experiences for their health career school applications. Other resources such as audio, video and guest speakers will be used. My career, until beginning with UNCA as an adjunct in the late 1990s was in public health and health education. I received my MPH degree from UNC CH School of Public Health in 1983. I had worked in public health in Memphis, Tennessee and Asheville for about 15 years.

LIT 179 LSIC: What Is Israel? - Rick Chess

In this class, we'll study the modern State of Israel, from the beginning of settlement by the early Zionists in the late 19th century to the present. We'll consider a wide range of topics, including history, religion, culture and arts, language, politics, and technology. We'll read historical documents, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. We'll view films and look at slides of works of visual art. We'll also have guest speakers, including a workshop led by Josefa Briant, an Israeli living in Asheville and a former dancer with Israel's premiere modern dance company, the Bat Sheva Dance Company. We'll do a lot of writing, scholarly and creative. Rick Chess is a Professor of Literature and Language. He serves as the Director of both the Center for Jewish Studies and the Creative Writing Program. Chess was the 2002 recipient of Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

LS 179 LSIC: What About Race: Black and White - Mary Alm

LS 179- is offered as a Learning Community. Students enrolled in this colloquia will also be enrolled in LANG 120-XXX. Student will encounter the concept of privilege and use it when interrogating the role of race in their lives. We'll look into diversity issues on the UNCA campus and in Asheville. I plan to collaborate with Deborah Miles and the Center for Diversity Education in planning and offering this course. This course will be taught as a learning community with Dr. Dee James's LANG 120 course: students should enroll in both courses. Mary Alm is Director of the UNCA Writing Center. She has a long history of teaching first-year students and has taught courses in composition for many years.

LS 179 LSIC: Four Great Minds: Bach, Franklin, Jefferson, Newton - Noah Allen

Rarely do creativity and genius collide. In the cases of the four scholars, Sir Isaac Newton, Thomas Jefferson, Johann Sebastian Bach and Benjamin Franklin, not only did creativity and genius collide, but their synergy yielded a veritable explosion of art, science and passion. The purpose of this course is to explore the events that shaped the lives of the scholars, and to briefly examine their output noting major historical events and their effect on the arts & sciences of then and now. Dr. Noah Allen received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a concentration in biophysical and computational chemistry. While he has undergraduate degrees in chemistry and biology, he also holds an undergraduate degree in music from North Carolina School of the Arts where he was an organ student and Kenan Fellow. He continued his studies in harpsichord and organ at the Royal College of Musicians in London, studying harpsichord and chamber music with Christopher Hogwood. Dr. Allen spent several years touring with piccolo trumpet player Anita Cirba, and giving masterclasses on baroque performance practice. He is still an active organist, and harpsichordist, but due to his academic pursuits in science, no longer has time for recitals.

LS 179 LSIC: Numbers and Sense - Pat McClellan

What is a number? How did different cultures develop numeration systems? How do numbers and statistics affect modern culture and decision-making? Using class discussions, projects, and presentations, this course will examine these questions and other issues as we study the impact of number systems on the evolution of ancient and modern cultures. Pat McClellan is Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Services and Lecturer in Mathematics.

MATH 179 LSIC: [R]evolutionary Thinking - Ed Johnson

The objective of the course is to survey the effect of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection on modern thought. The course will begin by examining Darwin's discovery of the underlying algorithmic nature of evolution within its historical context. Students will then move on to selected topics exploring the implications of simple algorithm as a creator of great complexity to the history of ideas. Topics could include artificial intelligence, fractal geometry, complexity theory, evolution of human intelligence or language, or the place for the Creator within the context of this new paradigm. The students will explore the topics through excerpts of original source readings and classroom discussion. The students will have the opportunity to explore wider implications such as social Darwinism and the creation-evolution debate through individual writings. The course will be writing intensive and interdisciplinary. Edward Johnson is an alumnus of UNCA, graduating in 1996. He received an MS in Mathematics from the University of South Carolina in 1998 and has taught at UNCA since 2000. His interests outside mathematics are varied; likely due to the influence of his undergraduate liberal arts education. He has long followed evolutionary theory, its widespread applications, and its controversies.

MATH 179 LSIC: Optimization: The Mathematical Pursuit of Superlatives - Greg Boudreaux

In today's society, we are inundated with messages that promise, if you use a certain product, that you will obtain the highest grades, have the smoothest skin and shiniest hair, lose the most weight, or gain the most muscle. The manufacturers further claim that you will achieve these results with the least amount of work and in the shortest possible time. This is mirrored in mathematics, where this topic, called optimization, often plays a central role. Requiring only a high school background in algebra and trigonometry, this course will be devoted to the mathematical pursuit of superlatives. I was born and raised in New Orleans and received my B.S. in Mathematics there, at Loyola University. I lived just outside New York City for almost two years and in the Los Angeles area for over 6 years before returning to Louisiana to pursue my Ph.D. in Mathematics (completed in 2001). I like creating new mathematics, writing, growing carnivorous plants and hiking. When I moved to Asheville in 2001, imagine my surprise when I discovered a colony of carnivorous plants growing in the mountains of North Carolina while hiking!

MCOM 179 LSIC: Digital Photography in Journalism and Commercial Media -Wade Hobgood

This course will introduce students to the principles of photojournalism, including the use of images as a research tool, basic aesthetics and ethics. This is a Writing Intensive course and the writing assignments will require students to produce essays illustrated with original photographs. Wade Hobgood is a new faculty member in the Department of Mass Communication, most recently having worked at the North Carolina Schpool of the Arts.

MGMT 179 LSIC: Managing Terrorism in Today's Environment - Robert Yearout

Students will become familiar with the three principal elements of unconventional warfare (guerrilla warfare, physiological warfare, and terrorism). This phase of the class will require selected readings from principal source documents, film clips, and classroom discussions. The second phase of the class will delve more deeply into terrorism itself. The terrorist's goals and desired responses in modern environment will include discussions on weapons of mass destruction. Other topics such as the use of mass media and distinguishing what is and what is not terrorism will be examined. Students will read selected portions of classical terrorist cases that were successful and those that failed. Selected assassination, specific selected targets of military importance, and random indiscriminate attacks on the population at large will be discussed in terms of desired response. Students will be evaluated based on their journal entries, written assignments, quizzes, and oral presentations. From time to time, we will join for discussion with Dr Keith Krumpe's CHEM 179 class, which focuses on Chemical Agents and Weapons of Mass Destruction. Dr. Yearout is Professor of Management and Accountancy.

MGMT 179 LSIC: Leadership Through Film - Brian Schaffer

Through the study of film, this course is designed to explore the question, “What is it that makes someone a leader?” Students will examine various leadership theories such as trait theory, behavioral theory, contingency theory, charisma, methods of influence, and other appropriate areas of leadership study. By examining the lives of various leaders in film, students will develop an analysis of the key themes and traits that capture the essence of the individual being studied. Brian Schaffer is Assistant Professor of Management and Accountancy. Gerry Goertz, from UNCA’s Office of Leadership Programs, will serve as an assistant instructor for this course.

MGMT 179 LSIC: Critiquing the U. S. Health Care System - Don Lisnerski

Viewing the US Health Care System's major deficiencies and discussing possible alternative ways for improvement. Areas to be discussed will include the effects of managed care,
accessibility to care, effects of health behaviors, financing and other areas depending on time and the interest of the students. Don Lisnerski is Professor of Management. He earned his BS in Business Administration and Management from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and both his MS and PhD in Public Health-Health Administration at the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of more than 20 journal and proceedings articles.

MMAS 179 LSIC: 3D Modeling and the WWW - Susan Reiser

This course will introduce students to the 3D design and modeling of physical systems. The material presented will be a synergistic combination of computer graphics, engineering and information technology. Students will create 3D models of Rube Goldberg machines, imaginative but working machines created from an array of everyday objects. Students will display their machines via three dimensional interactive websites, simulations and animations. This is a "hands-on" course, all concepts will be introduced in an interactive lab/lecture environment. Susan Reiser has a private sector background in software development and network support. In addition to her corporate work, she has developed visualization applications for an electrophysiology lab at Duke. She has a BS in Computer Science from Duke with a concentration in zoology, and an MS in Computer Science from the University of South Carolina. Her interests are in the fields of computer graphics, image processing, visualization, and human computer interaction. Susan Reiser has been an instructor of Computer Science at UNCA since 1994. She also serves as the Assistant Director of the Multimedia Arts and Sciences program.

MMAS 179 LSIC: Decoding Visual Culture Mary - Anna LaFratta

This course explores visual messages that are pervasive in our culture. It examines the structure, presentation, and the interactivity of the components of messages and their meanings. Design is presented as an important vehicle for analyzing these modes of communication, and provides the skills necessary to construct your own visual messages. Course assignments are a combination of reading, discussion, writing and creative project using the computer and imaging and authoring software. No previous experience in computers, art or design is required. Mary Anna LaFratta received her Master of Fine Arts in Design and Visual Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to teaching at UNCA she taught art, design, computer graphics, digital video production, and two-dimensional animation. Currently she is an Assistant Professor in Multimedia Arts and Sciences and teaches courses in design, web page and interactive design.

PHIL 179 LSIC: Philosophy: Love and Wisdom - Duane Davis

Philosophy literally means the love of wisdom; but how are love and wisdom related?  There are surely many types of love.  What is this strange love we call philosophy?  How is it related to other kinds of love?  What are the limits of this love, or of any love?  Who sets those limits and why?  How are the essential structures of culture and society related to love?  This course is designed as an introduction to philosophy through these interesting and important questions.  We will look carefully at several texts from the history of philosophy to see how some people have tried to answer these questions about love through philosophy in very diverse styles and manners.  Our readings will include works by Plato, St. Augustine, Heloise and Abelard, Kierkegaard, Sigmund Freud, Cynthia Willett, and Martin Dillon.  There are no prerequisites other than patience, intelligence, good will, a tolerance for different perspectives, and a keen desire to encounter some interesting ideas from some of the most important figures in Western thought.  These thinkers’ works will challenge our most important beliefs and ideals, and demand that we offer explanations for our beliefs.  In this sense, this course is an introduction to thinking rigorously about our own ideas about love more than an introduction to a bunch of other people’s ideas, even though we will almost always be speaking of them and their works.  When we think along with them, their ideas are very much alive.  Likewise, we become animated by seriously engaging with their thoughts.  Philosophy, properly approached, is not so abstract….

Dr. Duane H. Davis is Associate Professor of Philosophy at UNCA.  He came to UNCA in 1998.  He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from The Pennsylvania State University in 1992.  His publications are mostly about contemporary French philosophy, existentialism, and political philosophy in the Continental philosophical tradition.  He has been invited to lecture at universities in France, Italy, England, Wales, Ireland, Denmark, Canada, and Throiughout the United States.  Dr. Davis is passionate about teaching.  He has especially enjoyed working with first year students throughout his career.  He also enjoys reading poetry and plays, fine food, fine wines, baseball, NASCAR [yes, NASCAR!], and writing songs. 


PHYS 179 LSIC: Black Holes and Time Warps Randy Booker

This course investigates the most bizarre objects in outer space – black holes. We will study how scientists have viewed black holes over the past 100 years, from their prediction that they exist from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, to being shown by Einstein that they can’t exist, to their acceptance in theory, to finally the experimental proof that black holes do in fact exist. We’ll study the strange properties of black holes, all with no mathematical pre-requisites needed for the course. We’ll ask what it might be like to take a trip to a black hole or to live near one in a space colony. Even more bizarre is the possibility of wormholes and time travel as two black holes connect to form a time warp. Do time warps really exist? Randy Booker received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Rice University in 1979. He served in the Peace Corps from 1979-1981, teaching high school math and science in Kenya, Africa. He received his Masters degree in Physics from Duke University in 1983 and his Ph.D. degree in Physics from Duke University in 1986. He has taught Physics and Astronomy courses at UNCA since 1986. He received the UNCA Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992 and has served as Chair of the Department of Physics at UNCA since 2000. His research interests include a broad range, from studying the interstellar medium of our galaxy using radio astronomy to investigating new sources of non-polluting power in collaboration with Blacklight Power of New Jersey.

WMST 179 LSIC: Women and the Environment - Tracey Rizzo

In this interdisciplinary survey, students will be introduced to ecofeminist philosophy in practice, locating theories of women's proximity to nature in activist movements and back-to-the land communities. This experiential course will include visits to Earthaven Ecovillage near Black Mountain where students will perform service projects and participate in workshops on wild plants and women's earth-based rituals. I taught this course two years ago with great success which included a productive on-going partnership with Earthaven (I was invited to serve on their Learning Center board); a summer undergraduate research project with one of the students; the ascendancy of one of the students to leadership of the campus women's organization, Feminist Collective; and certainly not least, a conference paper I presented at National Women's Studies last June and which is now the basis for an article for The Journal of Experiential Education.