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ACCT 179 LSIC: Financial Literacy: Emphasis
on Women’s Issues
Betsy Mayes
ANTH 179 LSIC: Zen Anthropology John Wood
ATMS 179 LSIC: Weather and Society Christopher
Godfrey
BIOL 179 LSIC: The Impact of Cell Biology and Biotechnology
in our Lives
Ted Meigs
BIOL 179 LSIC: Fundamentals of Evolution Mike
Stuart
CHEM 179 LSIC: The History of Science George
Heard
CHEM 179 LSIC: Chemical Agents and Weapons of
Mass Destruction
Keith Krumpe
CHEM 179 LSIC: Careers and Ethics in 21st Century
Health Care Bert Holmes
CHEM 179 LSIC: “Bad” Science Fiction
Charles James
CLAS 179 LSIC: Ancient and Modern Sophie Mills
CSCI 179 LSIC: 3D Modeling and the WWW Rebecca
Bruce
ECON 179 LSIC: What’s For Dinner?
Shirley Browning
ECON 179 LSIC: Global Poverty: Will the Poor Always
Be With Us?
Robert Tatum
EDUC 179 LSIC: Feeing the Natural Teacher Brenda
Hopper
EDUC 179 LSIC: Education: Promise and Betrayal
Janet Bowman
ENVR 179 LSIC: Natural History of the Southern
Appalachians Brandi Fariss
HIST 179 LSIC: The Civil Rights Movement Sarah
Judson
HON 179 LSIC: Creating Your Life Path: Exploring
Majors, Minors, and Careers
Eileen Buecher
HON 179 LSIC: Nanotechnology: Science, Society,
and Hype Jason Schmeltzer
HON 179 LSIC: Persia > Iran: History, Culture,
and Change Lora Holland
HON 179 LSIC: Our Histories: Autobiography in
American History
Ellen Pearson
HWP 179 LSIC: 21st Century Health Care Careers Barry
Fox
LIT 179 LSIC: Martin Luther King Merritt
Moseley
LS 179 LSIC: Gandhi and King Cathy Whitlock
LS 179 LSIC: Finding Your Voice Calvin Kelly
LS 179 LSIC: Four Great Minds: Bach, Franklin,
Jefferson, Newton Noah Allen
MATH 179 LSIC: Math and Reality: Math for Understanding
Social Issues
Dot Sulock
MMAS 179 LSIC: 3D Modeling and the WWW Susan
Reiser
MUSC 179 LSIC: Music: Culture and Context David
Wilken
PHIL 179 LSIC: Philosophy: Love and Wisdom
Duane Davis
POLS 179 LSIC: Why Can’t We Just Get Along?
Bill Sabo
PSYC 179 LSIC: A Different America: Being Young,
African American and Latino Joseph Berryhill
PSYC 179 LSIC: The Generative Brain:
The effects of brain circuitry and injury on thought and behavior.
Michael Neelon
WMST 179 LSIC: Vagina Dialogues Jane Hartsfield
Course Descriptions:
ACCT 179 LSIC: Financial Literacy: Emphasis
on Women’s Issues
Betsy Mayes
Understanding the basics of personal and professional financial resource
management is a necessary background for effective entry into the modern
work world. With more women in the workplace, more women who are single
parents, more women delaying marriage or making a decision to remain
single, financial literacy is a necessity. Women will be making decisions
on investing, retirement planning and housing. They will have to deal
with taxes, consumer credit and insurance. This course is designed to
provide the necessary background in a supportive context even as it
introduces students to the UNCA campus and the Asheville area.
Betsy Mayes is a lecturer in Accounting in the Department of Management
and Accountancy. She is a CPA and regularly teaches Financial Accounting
and Individual Income Taxation and Taxation of Corporations and Partnerships.
ANTH 179 LSIC: Zen Anthropology John
Wood
Zen and Anthropology are different—Zen is a type of religion from
one part of the world; Anthropology is a type of science from another.
But there are remarkable family resemblances between them. Both are,
in a sense, methods for learning about humanity. Both ask practitioners
to pay attention to the here and now. Both ask practitioners to be accepting
of other forms of life. Both recognize that reality changes, and that
our task as human beings is to try to understand those changes and come
to terms with them. Drawing on Zen and Anthropological texts, the colloquium
explores what these different methods teach us about our common humanity.
John Wood is Associate Professor of Anthropology.
ATMS 179 LSIC: Weather and Society
Christopher Godfrey
Interpreting and effectively communicating potential threats from our
environment requires a basic understanding of both the scientific principles
governing our atmosphere and the complexities involved in making policy
decisions. By examining current environmental concerns from a multidisciplinary
perspective, students will discover the challenges involved in addressing
scientific issues in our society. Topics include the mechanics of the
atmospheric greenhouse effect in the context of global warming, the
ozone hole, an overview of hurricanes and the government response to
Hurricane Katrina, environmental risk assessment, and National Weather
Service watches and warnings.
Dr. Godfrey grew up in central Maine and earned a B.S. degree in
atmospheric science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He furthered
his education by earning M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in meteorology at the
University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. His research interests include
land surface modeling and meteorological observations. While in graduate
school, he taught an undergraduate course in severe and unusual weather,
participated in the Weather and Society Integrated Studies workshop,
and worked on several weather-related field projects.
BIOL 179 LSIC: The Impact of Cell Biology
and Biotechnology in our Lives
Ted Meigs
Scientists have made enormous strides in understanding the function
of cells and the molecules that comprise them. Cancers and other diseases
have been traced to seemingly innocuous changes in these cellular molecules.
The field of biotechnology is providing researchers with tiny molecular
tools that are facilitating the development of strategies for correcting
such cellular flaws, genetic tests for predicting a person’s likelihood
for developing certain health conditions, an numerous other valuable
innovations. The course will introduce students to various ways our
society’s medical, agricultural, economic, and political institutions
are impacted by cell biology and biotechnology. Topics will include
stem cell research, cloning of organisms, molecular engineering or pest-resistant
crops, gene patents, confidentiality of personal genetic information,
use of biotechnology in forensics, and molecular cancer therapies.
Thomas Meigs is Assistant Professor of Biology.
BIOL
179 LSIC: Fundamentals of Evolution Mike Stuart
An exploration of the concepts of biological evolution based on an
overview of naturally occurring phenomena leading to change over time.
We will examine basic ecological patterns and discuss possible mechanisms
by which these observable patterns have arisen. We will also examine
the historical development these concepts, and how they have been
abused by misapplication within the context of human societies.
Dr. Stuart came to UNCA with applied experience in the zoological
field and in captive husbandry of wild animals as Assistant Director
of the Monroe, Louisiana Zoo and Manager of the Duke University Primate
Center. He received his doctorate at NC State University. His research
interests are the ecological interactions between parasites and hosts.
He has worked on projects as diverse as parasites of lizards in Arizona
and New Mexico, parasites of endangered primates (lemurs in Madagascar,
woolly spider monkeys in Brazil, and mantled howling monkeys in Costa
Rica), parasites of box turtles in North Carolina, and Hantavirus
in Oklahoma rodents. He is presently using both his field and laboratory
experience trying to improve laboratory teaching with preparation
of specimens impregnated with a plastic polymer.
CHEM 179 LSIC: The History of Science
George Heard
An investigation of several laws of science that are taught in introductory
classes in Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Mathematics, including
the history of the people behind the laws, the experiments they carried
out and the difficulties their research faced before being accepted.
This course will involve an examination of the scientific method and
the role of cultural, political, and economic climate on research.
Topics include pre-Industrial revolution scientists (Gabriel Fahrenheit,
Johannes Kepler, Robert Boyle, Jacques Charles), post-Industrial revolution
scientists (Alfred Noble, John Dalton, Gregor Mendel, Amadeo Avogadro),
the discovery of sub-nuclear particles (Robert Millikan, Marie Curie,
J.J. Thomson, James Chadwick) and European scientists influenced by
the war (Fritz Haber, Niels Bohr, Peter Debye).
George Heard is Assistant Professor of Chemistry.
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.
CHEM 179 LSIC: “Bad” Science
Fiction Charles James
The principles of Chemistry, Physics and Biology are illustrated using
examples of their violation in the science fiction and monster movies
of the 30’s through the 90’s. Examples will mostly come
from the Japanese and American cinema such as: Invasion of the Body
Snatchers, the Godzilla movies, Gamera movie, It Conquered the World
and Reptilicus. Principles covered will include Newton’s Three
Laws, Molecular structure, Chemical Change, Conservation of matter,
Potential Energy: Mechanical, Chemical and Nuclear, Thermodynamics
and rates of chemical change.
Charles James is Associate Professor of Chemistry.
CLAS
179 LSIC: Ancient and Modern Sophie Mills
Basic themes using ancient texts and modern fiction and non-fiction
provide clear connections to every student’s college experiences
forms the basis for this course. You will explore such themes as home,
strange places, my wants versus yours, family, sex, drugs, religion,
and democracy.
Sophie Mills is Professor and Chair of Classics.
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.
ECON
179 LSIC: What’s For Dinner? Shirley Browning
This course will examine the transition to college life and learning,
reflecting on a sense of community with emphasis on the image of “the
American community – small town USA” (reading Bryson’s
“Lost Continent”) . The major focus of the course will
be built around Michael Pollan’s book Omnivore’s Dilemma.
Students will consider how we as a society produce food, prepare it,
process it, consume it and the implications for human health; the
environment; our sense of community, and interpersonal relationships.
Major exercises will include researching a menu and preparing a meal
(and eating it!) as well as writing a report on the experience and
findings. (No serious cooking experience required.)
Shirley Browning is Professor of Economics. Currently, his teaching
interests include environmental economics, micro- and macro-economics
and the senior seminar in Humanities. He has extensive experience
in university administration and service, as well as being a long
time Rotarian. Professor Browning has a farm background and pursues
ongoing farm activity. Having been at UNCA for many years he has considerable
understanding of the institution, its mission and opportunities and
challenges for students. Two of his major hobbies are collecting old
Volvos and spoiling his grandchildren!
ECON
179 LSIC: Global Poverty: Will the Poor Always Be With Us?
Robert Tatum
According to the World Bank, approximately 1.25 billion people subsist
on less than $1 per day, and some 2.8 billion people live on less
than $2 per day. This course explores what it means to be poor and
what factors have contributed to global income inequality. The course
then examines some of the grand strategies that have been proposed
for governments, international organizations, and charities to significantly
reduce the level of world poverty. Although the course focuses on
various causes and possible collective actions to reduce poverty,
students will have the opportunity to research other aspects of poverty
as well.
Robert Tatum joined the UNC-Asheville faculty in fall 2004. He
has a Bachelors degree in economics from Centre College and a Masters
and PhD in economics from Indiana University. His research and teaching
interests include macroeconomics and international economics. Before
coming UNC Asheville, Rob taught at Denison University in Granville,
Ohio. In summer 2007, he is studying sustainable development in Brazil
through the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program.
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.
EDUC
179 LSIC: Education: Promise and Betrayal Janet Bowman
Few areas of American life are as important to society as education.
The original promise was that all were entitled to a fair chance to
develop one’s individual power of mind and spirit to the utmost.
Though this was the original promise, it did not truly include all.
However, with the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education
decision, it was hoped that social justice would prevail. This colloquium
will be organized under three main headings: Education of African
Americans in the United States before Brown; Schooling since the Brown
v. Board of Education decision; and The inextricable link between
educational opportunity and social justice. Interviews with students,
parents, teachers, and administrators will be conducted to ascertain
the belief/understanding about life in local schools. Participation
in this colloquium will require the student to be an active participant
in a series of discussions that could alter career choices.
Bowman is new to the campus this year. She is a Tuskegee University
graduate, with a BS in Chemistry/Education and MS in Nutrition/Biochemistry.
Upon graduating from Tuskegee, she received a scholarship to attend
the University of California at Berkeley. Her studies there resulted
in the ABD in Nutrition/Biochemistry and the Ph.D. in Education Administration.
ENVR
179 LSIC: Natural History of the Southern Appalachians Brandi
Fariss
This course will explore the flora, fauna, and landscape of the southern
Appalachians through selected readings, field trips, hikes, and lab
activities. Assignments will include a series of creative essays written
about topics explored in class, and an individual art project that
uses natural materials collected locally.
Brandie Fariss is Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies.
HIST
179 LSIC: The Civil Rights Movement Sarah Judson
This class examines some of the main themes and events of the Post
World War II civil rights movement. We will read historical texts,
memoirs, fiction, and primary sources in our examination of this complex
struggle for black freedom and human rights. Students will research
and write papers that examine in more depth specific elements and
individuals from this period.
Dr. Sarah Judson specializes in African American history, US Women’s
history and Southern history. Her scholarship examines African American
and white women’s political activism in the early twentieth century
New South. She also has special interests in the Black Power Movement
and women’s civil rights activism.
HON
179 LSIC: Creating your life path: Exploring majors, minors, and careers
Eileen Buecher
Using the text The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
and other readings, students will have the opportunity to learn about
themselves, uncover their gifts and talents, and explore majors and
careers that will help them apply these gifts and talents. The format
of the class will include group discussions, written reflections, experiential
activities, guest speakers, and creative out-of-class assignments. Honors
students interested in any major are welcome to register for this class.
The focus will be on creating a life plan based on self-knowledge and
exploring the various opportunities and resources to help one realize
his/her life path.
Eileen Buecher has been serving as the Career Center Director for
UNC Asheville students and alumni since February 2005. She has over
17 years experience in working at university and college career centers;
including Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate
School for Public and International Affairs, and liberal arts institutions
such as Chatham College and Berry College. Eileen also is an avid supporter
of the Leukemia and Lymphoma’s Team in Training Program. She is
currently serving as the Asheville Chapter’s Century Cycling Coach
and has completed three century rides, three marathons, and three triathlons
for the TNT program, as well as raised about $30,000 in the past 10
years for patient care and research.
HON 179 LSIC: Nanotechnology:
Science, Society, and Hype
Jason Schmeltzer
Over the last ten years, the field of nanotechnology has rapidly emerged
from the “fringes” of science and engineering to a prominent
position in mainstream research. Spanning biology, chemistry, physics,
materials science, and many engineering disciplines, nanotechnology
has been touted by many of its supporters as a “revolution”
and “panacea” for many of today’s problems. However,
much of the lay public views this burgeoning field with skepticism and
fear. This course explores the history and evolution of nanoscience
over the past half-century, discusses the fundamental principles of
nanotechnology, introduces recently developed goods and services of
nanotechnology, and investigates the impact of nanoscience on public
opinion and pop culture. Comprehension of nanoscience is assessed through
the writing of reports, reviews, and essays about course topics.
Jason Schmeltzer completed a Ph.D. in 2003 from Purdue University,
where he studied the surface chemistries of semiconducting and metallic
nanoparticles. In 2005 he joined UNCA as a Lecturer in the Department
of Chemistry, where he currently serves as the coordinator of CHEM 111,
the General Chemistry Laboratory. In addition to nanoscience, Schmeltzer
maintains a firm interest in science education, public perception and
misconception of scientific findings, and science and pseudoscience
“hype”.
HON
179 LSIC: Persia > Iran: History, Culture, and Change Lora
Holland
Persia has captured Western imagination since the time of Cyrus the
Great, whose dreams of empire ushered in one of the first conflicts
between East and West. This course explores selected topics in Persia’s
long and colorful history and diverse cultures from the ancient and
medieval periods to the present-day Islamic Republic of Iran in an
attempt to gain an informed understanding of it and at the same time
dispel some stereotypes about this fascinating place. Topics will
include the ancient Persian Empire, its contacts with the Greeks (including
the Battle of Thermopylae that is featured in the movie 300), especially
Alexander the Great (also recently featured in American cinema), the
Muslim conquest, the great medieval epics and poetry, the modern monarchical
era, the shift from Persia to Iran in 1935, and finally, the Islamic
Revolution in 1979. Students will also gain insights into modern day
life in Iran through its geography, religions, arts, including Iranian
cinema, food, and language and literature.
Dr. Lora Holland is an Assistant Professor in the Classics Department.
She did her undergraduate work at the University of Texas at Austin,
and received her Master’s degree from the University of Michigan
at Ann Arbor. She has traveled widely in Europe, and has studied at
both the American Academy in Rome, and the American School of Classical
Studies at Athens. She completed her PhD in 2002 at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her primary area of research is
ancient Roman and Greek religion, but she has a long-standing interest
in the history and culture of Persia, and enjoys modern Iranian cuisine
and cinema. She hopes that offering this course will be in some way
inspire Honors program students to make a contribution to world peace
and cultural understanding through knowledge.
HON 179 LSIC: Our Histories: Autobiography in American History
Ellen Pearson
This course will examine the life stories of Americans from the colonial
period to the 20th century. We will use a broad definition of autobiography
that includes other forms of personal narratives: memoirs, diaries,
journals, and captivity narratives, among other forms. Our subjects
will be Americans, such as Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass,
as well as ordinary Americans who were placed in extraordinary circumstances
– or who led rather ordinary lives. Through these narratives
we will examine the constructions of identity and cultural meanings
of history and memory within the context of American history.
Ellen Pearson is an Assistant Professor in the History Department.
She holds a Ph.D. in Early American History from The Johns Hopkins
University, and has taught American History, Native American History,
Public History, and Colonial Latin American History at UNC-Asheville
for four years. Her particular interests are early American cultural
history, particularly the law, formation of identities, and the natural
landscape
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: Martin Luther King Merritt Moseley
This will be a study of Dr. King’s life; his writings and speeches;
and the historical context for his life and work. I think it will
help to tie together the ACT in Asheville Day; the summer reading
book if, as I hope, it is related to issues of class in America; and
our service-learning activities, which will be a key part of the class.
I also hope to arrange a weekend trip to Atlanta to visit the historic
site, Dr. King’s house and church, etc. I will probably try
to coordinate this with Cathy Whitlock, who is doing an LSIC on a
very similar topic.
Merritt Moseley was born and reared in Alabama; he received B.A.,
M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English, the last two from UNC Chapel Hill.
He has taught at UNC Asheville since 1978 and, in addition to his
teaching, served the university as Director of Freshman English, Director
of International Studies, Director of the Humanities Program, Chair
of the Literature Department, Dean of Faculty Development, Director
of the University Honors Program, and Key Center Professor. His publications
are mostly in recent British and post-colonial literature, but he
is interested in recent history and politics as well as ancient history,
religion and thought. In April, 1968, he was part of a student vigil
organized in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King.
LS 179 LSIC: Gandhi and King
Cathy Whitlock
An in-depth examination of the lives and philosophies of both King
and Gandhi. Using biographies, novels, film and field trips, we will
explore the successes, difficulties, and controversies surrounding
their respective movements. We will also compare their philosophy
of nonviolent resistance with other forms of pacifism and with just
war theory.
Cathy Whitlock is a lecturer in the math department who also teaches
Hum 414.
LS
179 LSIC: Finding Your Voice Calvin Kelly
Welcome to Finding Your Voice! You will find that this course overlaps
with a number of disciplines (Anthropology, Philosophy, Sociology
and Communications) and Psychology sub-disciplines of personality
and cognition. As the study of situational and personal/interpretative
factors that influence an individual’s social behavior, Finding
Your Voice will reveal a great deal about the complexity of issues
at work in our relationships (with self and others) and social situations.
Regardless of your intended major and career goals, Finding Your Voice
will benefit your understanding of human nature and improve your interactions
with others.
Calvin A. Kelly, PhD. currently serves as the Director for Campus
Life at UNC Asheville. Prior to arriving to the University 18 months
ago, he was a member of the Psychology Faculty at Dillard University
in New Orleans. There he taught a variety of Psychology courses including
but not limited to Abnormal Psychology, Developmental Psychology and
Personality. His areas of interest include identity formation, childhood
development, and issues of abuse and neglect involving children and
adults.
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.
MATH 179 LSIC: Math and Reality:
Math for Understanding Social Issues
Dot Sulock
In this colloquium we will use math to understand complex contemporary
issues such as peak oil, global warming, AIDS/HIV, weapons of mass
destruction, renewable energy, famine, income inequity, and terrorism,
along with personal finance and art. Our approach will explore a range
of social issues and contexts using mathematical perspectives.
Dot Sulock is a math teacher interested in social justice issues,
especially the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. She
also teaches widely in the liberal arts curriculum at UNC Asheville,
including Hum 124: The Ancient World, Hum 414: The Individual in the
Contemporary World, and The Nuclear Dilemma. She also maintains the
website www.teachingnonproliferation.org, which she encourages you
to check out.
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.
MUSC 179 LSIC: Music: Culture and Context
David Wilken
This course will examine the theoretical, historical, cultural, and
aesthetic influences on music, including classical, jazz, rock, folk
and world styles.
David Wilken is Coordinator of Jazz Studies at UNCA. In addition to
teaching courses in jazz he also teaches world music, low brass and
composition and arranging. He has earned degrees from Illinois Wesleyan
University, DePaul University, and Ball State University.
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.
POLS 179 LSIC: Why can't we just get along?
It seems relatively simple, people can accomplish more working together
than they can on their own. Even when people are not overtly cooperating,
they are likely to get more done successfully when they stay out of
each other’s way and avoid working at cross purposes. If these
statements are correct, and they seem self-evident, then human progress
will be enhanced when people cooperate instead of quarreling and fighting.
So why then don’t people just work together for their common benefit;
why don’t they get along when it is so obviously in their interest
to do so? This is a perennial question that intrigues those who study
political science, a discipline that explores how people manage to live
together and resolve conflict so they can address common problems. POLS
179 explores several answers to the problem. At the heart of these views
is the matter of choice. Whether people cooperate for their mutual benefit
or not depends on the choices they make. These choices are influenced
by a variety of forces and rationalized or defended according to different
ideological premises. Our discussion will center around two fundamentally
different ways of thinking about people, how they relate to the world
around them, and the forces which shape individual decisions. One perspective
holds that human goodness is a product of the community while the alternate
view argues that since people are free and independent entities capable
of reasoning for themselves, human progress is best served by letting
them pursue their own interests. As we examine these perspectives, we
will try to determine their consequences for our ability to cooperate
with other people and evaluate their potential contributions to creating
a society capable of functioning effectively and morally.
Bill Sabo is Professor and Interim Chair of Political Science.
PSYC
179 LSIC: A Different America: Being Young, African American and Latino
Joseph Berryhill
In this course, we will read and write creative non-fiction. Creative
non-fiction is a genre in which writers tell a true story with techniques
often associated with fiction, such as scenes, dialogue, and intricate
descriptions. We’ll read books that detail the life of Cedric
Jennings, an African American teenager from inner-city Washington,
D.C., who aspires to attend an elite university, and Enrique, a Honduran
youth who makes an arduous journey in an attempt to be reunited with
his mother, who moved to North Carolina after not being able to support
her family in Honduras. (The latter book, Enrique’s Journey,
is also available in Spanish for those who would prefer to read it
in that language.) Their stories and others will allow us to explore
the experience of being a young person of color in the United States.
We also will use their stories, as well as other sources, to examine
the mechanics of good writing and storytelling. Throughout the semester,
students will write their own essays, which may be based on a service-learning
project in the Asheville community or some other true experience.
I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism and economics from
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Among other endeavors
after graduation, I spent four years as a newspaper reporter covering
higher education. Then, after some unfortunate and fortunate events,
I became a volunteer at an orphanage in southern Mexico, where I spent
three years teaching English and caring for children. That led to
my interest in child clinical psychology, in which I earned a doctorate
from the University of South Carolina. Now a clinical and community
psychologist, I primarily do research with children who face disadvantages
such as poverty and examine ways to create environments that can instill
more hope in their lives.
PSYC
179 LSIC: The Generative Brain: The effects of brain circuitry and injury
on thought and behavior
Michael Neelon
This course will explore: what happens to perception and cognition when
the brain has been damaged (e.g., effects of head injuries, stroke,
illness), and possible methods for addressing these conditions (e.g.,
brain-computer interfaces); how the brain itself adapts to such insults,
as well as throughout our lives to normal learning events (i.e., brain
plasticity); and the brain areas and functions that underlie those rare
circumstances when individuals possess unusual mental abilities (e.g.,
savants). As part of these topics, basic principles of brain anatomy
and function will also be covered.
Michael Neelon received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin
– Madison in experimental psychology, studying the effect of attention
on the perception of dynamic auditory and visual stimuli. After completing
his degree, Dr. Neelon pursued post-doctoral training investigating
how selective attention modulates auditory responses recorded from electrodes
implanted on the cortex of epilepsy-surgery patients. Since arriving
at UNC-Asheville, Dr. Neelon’s teaching has focused on exploring
the relationship brain and behavior.
WMST
179 LSIC: Vagina Dialogues Jane Hartsfield
This colloquium offers an introduction to female sexuality. The course
will begin by exploring the biology, neurophysiology and history of
female sexuality. We will then see how various disciplines like history,
philosophy, dance, humanities, drama, classical art, and anthropology
view and impact female sexuality. We will conclude with an examination
of current issues related to female sexuality. The course will include
guest speakers from various disciplines on campus as well as panel
discussion involving both faculty and community leaders.
Jane Hartsfield is an assistant professor of mathematics. She
received her BS in classical languages and political science from
Columbus College in 1978. She then attended graduate school at the
University of Georgia earning the MA and MAMS degrees in pure and
applied mathematics. She worked in industry for 18 years in software
engineering, management, and sales for companies like IBM, TSYS, and
BEA Systems. When she got tired of the corporate rat-race, she entered
graduate school at Rice University where she earned a PhD in computational
and applied mathematics. Her area of research is computational neuroscience,
particularly cellular memory modeling. She is co-director of the Greek
Experience study abroad program and coordinates the Greek Experience
ILS Cluster. She teaches statistics, math modeling, computational
neuroscience, and history of science and math.
