LSIC 379

Transfer Student Colloquia

BIOL 379            LSIC:  Bats                        Chris Nicolay

With around 1000 different species, bats are one of the most fascinating and diverse groups of mammals on the planet.  The class reviews the evolutionary adaptations that characterize bats as an order, and explores the many different ways of being a bat.  Students are required to conduct extensive research into primary scientific literature, and will collaborate on a larger study of mating systems in leaf-nosed bats, thereby participating in the entire process of publishing a scientific article.  Beyond basic biology, we will consider human perspectives and misconceptions regarding bats and other animals, and investigate the roots of mythologies related to particular animals.  The class also will delve into the different realms of sensory information experienced by animals, and consider how different animals experience the world.  Areas where bats and humans intersect, from habitat destruction to disease, are emphasized throughout the semester as we attempt to find solutions to the conflicting needs of humans and other animals. 

Chris Nicolay is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology.  He is a comparative anatomist, with much of his scientific research devoted to adaptations of the skulls and tongues in bats, especially nectar-feeding species and vampire bats. 

 

CHEM 379   LSIC: Interdisciplinary Research and Sustainability            John Stevens

Interdisciplinary research is one of the most productive and inspiring of human pursuits that provides a format for conversations and connections that lead to new knowledge.  This course will explore collaborations, the role of the academe, the role of intellectual capital in the intellectual community and the larger society. Community Sustainability research projects will be developed.  The course will feature discussions, student presentations on their own research, and guest lectures by local and regional professionals whose intellectual drive and passion inspire them to excellence in the public and private sector through involvement in business, government, non-profits and the academe.  The final portion of the course will expose students to the real world of funding by challenging them to develop and write a proposal.

John Stevens is Professor of Chemistry.

 

CHEM 379            LSIC: Nanotechnology—Science, Society, and Hype
Jason Schmeltzer
Over the last fifteen 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 his 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”.
CSCI 379  Databases for Everything—Charles Massey
Databases are tools for thinking about and organizing data which are essential, relevant, and useful. In this course MS Access will be used in a hands-on, computer laboratory setting. We will create various databases that will use data that is easily collected and compiled from our campus environment.
Charles Massey has been with the UNCA Computer Science Department for 25 years after 20 years of teaching Mathematics in several other institutions. Most of his non-UNCA work has been in the area of design, implementation and maintaining databases for local non-profit organizations. It gives him great pleasure to create a simple yet powerful database application that greatly increases the productivity and reduces repetitive work of an organization.

CSCI 379            LSIC: Elementary Virtual Worlds            Dean Brock

Although the creation of virtual worlds, such as Simcity, is certainly beyond the reach of most people, recently developed software packages do allow pre-college students to make elementary virtual worlds.  The best known of these is Alice, developed at Carnegie-Mellon under the leadership of Randy Pausch.  In this course, we will compare a few programs for developing elementary virtual worlds and see if this really is an effective way to teach K12 students about the real world. 

Dean Brock is received his Ph.D. at MIT where he learned about Logo, one of the first attempts to teach children mathematics through programming.  He is chair of the UNCA Computer Science department and also teaches courses in the UNCA/NCSU Engineering programming.  He is interested in interfacing computers to the real world.  He keeps hoping that his kids will get hooked on Alice or Scratch and start creating their own virtual worlds.

GERM 379             LSIC: Germany: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow            Henry Stern
 
The course will explore the main cultural, historical, political, and social issues confronting the Federal Republic of Germany today. Students will be prepared for discussion of the major issues through an exploration of the German past, including the evolution of the German state, Germany through the 2 world wars, post-war Germany and its reentering the western community, and future prospects for a nation prosperous and progressive yet beset with problems threatening the well-being of the state. To provide students with sufficient historical background the first 2 weeks will be devoted to the early stages of development—pre-Hohenstaufen, Hohenstaufen, Hohenzollern and Hapsburg dynasties. The course will be both Writing Intensive and Information Literacy Intensive (many, possibly most, sources of information will come from the Internet).

Henry Stern is Professor of German in the Department of Foreign Languages

HWP 379            LSIC: Eureka!  Inventors and Inventions/Researchers and Discoveries                        Barry Fox

This course will focus on significant individuals and inventions from history and the current period.  A significant part of the course will involve research into the inventive process and written descriptions of an actual invention conceived by the student.  Depending on the class composition, student teams may work jointly on the research and writing portion of the invention.  Students will make presentations to the class on materials they have developed from their own outside research.  Video tape materials will be used to emphasize key areas of invention and related individuals.  An emphasis on health related inventions and discoveries and the individuals connected with them will be made.   Other inventions and discoveries not related to health will be included in the course as well.    Examples from both invention and discovery will be utilized to focus on diversity, cultural and governmental issues in the United States and elsewhere in the world.   This is a writing and information intensive course and each student will be expected to prepare several papers during the semester based on their personal research, experience and knowledge.

Mr. Fox is a lecturer in the Health and Wellness Promotion Department and is the Coordinator for the UNCA Pre-Health Professions Program. Mr. Fox earned his BS from Memphis State University in 1966 and his MPH degree from UNC CH School of Public Health in 1982.   He conducts clinical internships for UNCA junior and senior students preparing for and pursuing careers in health care

LIT 379            LSIC: Vegas, Baby!                        Gary Ettari

This course is taught as a urban studies course, and its main objectives are to instruct and encourage students to see geographical sites as reflections of current literary, social and environmental issues.  In order to do this as effectively as possible, the course will be taught in three sections.  Course themes will include Las Vegas in Literature and Film, Las Vegas and Society, and Las Vegas and Gender.  Students will explore these themes through non-fiction, literature, and film.

Gary Ettari is an Assistant Professor in the Literature and Language Department whose teaching and scholarship focus on the literature of the English Renaissance.  He regularly teaches the Shakespeare seminar (LIT 485), Literature of the Renaissance and Enlightenment (LIT 322) as well as HUM 214. 

LIT 379                        LSIC: Questions of Travel            Lori Horvitz

Why do some of us choose to travel to unknown parts of the world?  Do we take to the road to find ourselves? To reinvent ourselves?  Via an examination of road narratives (as represented in literature and film), we will consider issues relating to travel: socio-economic, political, historical, cultural and artistic. Readings will include Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia and Andrew Pham’s Catfish and Mandala.

Lori Horvitz, Associate Professor of Literature and Language, teaches courses in creative writing, literature, women’s studies and the Arts and Ideas program. Along with an interest in teaching and writing about travel, she has traveled through Russia, China, Mexico, and all parts of Europe. She’s a native New Yorker and has taught at UNCA since 1999.

 

MATH 379              LSIC: Chaos and Fractals            Mark McClure

Chaos theory and fractal geometry are two active, visual, and exciting parts of contemporary
mathematics. In this colloquium, we'll explore these topics on the computer, learn the history behind their origin, and delve into the mathematics behind them. Note that while this is contemporary mathematics, much of it is accessible with just a little algebraic background through the computational power of the computer.

Mark McClure is Associate Professor of Mathematics

 

MATH 379            LSIC: History, Art, and Social Science  Viewed through the Prism of Mathematics                         Bob Spicuzza 

Students taking this class will analyze various aspects of history within a mathematical context. Potential topics include voting theory in the framework of Simpson paradox, how debt can be viewed through exponential compounding, understanding large numbers, risk/reward analysis of Iran developing nuclear weapons, and resources modeling. Some students may wish to investigate why certain art forms are pleasing and often used in architectural design. Possible exercises might be to create art and music forms using prescribed mathematical constructs. One mathematical tool that will be used is MathematicaÒ. This program has an extensive graphing capability, which can only be describe as elegant and stunning in appearance. MathematicaÒ also has an extensive set on online databases which will be explored.

Bob Spicuzza is a physicist by academic training and is an instructor in Mathematics at UNCA.  Current interests are Statistics, Stellar Evolution, MathematicaÒ, and the raising of diary goats.
  

MGMT 379 Changing the World            Mary Lynn Manns
Leading change is hard; just ask anyone who has tried. Yet, any person with a good idea has the potential to make that idea a reality if s/he knows effective change management strategies. This course will examine how leaders throughout history have been visionaries of ideas and made changes happen in many different situations and organizations. The goal is to equip students with the strategies they need to become successful leaders of change in their personal and professional lives.

Mary Lynn Manns, Ph.D., is on the faculty in the Department of Management & Accountancy.  She is the author of the book:  Fearless Change:  Patterns for Introducing New Ideas.  She has taught classes and has done numerous presentations throughout the world on the topic of leading change.  She is a firm believer in the power of university students to change the world!

MGMT 379            LSIC: The US Health Care System—An Integrative Approach           
Don Lisnerski

The Course is designed to familiarize students with the U.S. Health Care System and its strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the effects of a variety of intellectual disciplines and health care will be examined. Students, working in teams, will have the opportunity to recommend a variety of approaches to “fix” the present health care system.

Dr. Lisnerski holds a B.S. in Management from the State University at Buffalo and received his Masters and Doctoral Degrees from the School of Public Health in Chapel Hill, NC. He worked in a variety of health care settings prior to coming to UNCA in 1982.

MGMT 379              LSIC: From Graduation On: Life Skills            Dan Hinchliffe

After you graduate, you will need to know many “things” that are not traditionally taught in the classroom.  These “things” will allow you to survive.  They include, and are not limited to, “How to Buy a House?”, “What is Insurance and What Kinds do I Need?”, “How Much does a Baby Cost?”, “How to Budget?”, “How to Invest?”, “What Legal Documents are Needed?” and others.  The goal is to make this one of the most useful courses for the rest of your life…it is more important to know what to do with your money than how much you make…it is important to be prepared for life’s experiences rather than for you to learn after the experience.  Experts from the community will be involved in some of the presentations.

Dan Hinchliffe joined the Department of Management and Accountancy in 2007. His experience includes 27 years of corporate and 14 years of teaching in the classroom. He primarily teaches accounting courses that include financial, cost, systems, and audit. His teaching career began at Florida Atlantic University (25,000 students).  The students elected him Accounting Professor of the Year and the faculty and administration presented him with the Outstanding Award for Contributions in Undergraduate Teaching. 

PHIL 379            LSIC: Issues in War and Peace                        Melissa Burchard

In this course we will consider the problem of human aggression and violence and what these seem to lead to. Starting with a psychological/anthropological approach to explaining human aggression, we will ask why it seems to be the case that humans are so frequently and regularly violent. Then we will look more closely at certain types of violence that are in the contemporary spotlight: war, torture, and terrorism. For a hopeful conclusion to the course, we’ll examine some possibilities for re-orienting our culture toward peace.

 Melissa Burchard is an associate professor of philosophy. She teaches and writes on topics such as violence, both political and individual, sexual ethics, and the construction of identity. Although she often teaches on very serious subjects, she also likes to have fun in class. 

PHYS 379            LSIC: International Astronomy from Galileo to Today            Judy Beck

In 1609, Galileo made the first astronomical observations with a telescope, and launched a new era of understanding the Universe. The “International Year of Astronomy 2009” is a global celebration of the 400th anniversary of this event, with the vision to "help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery.” (http://www.astronomy2009.org/)  In this colloquium, we will join in the international celebration of astronomy, with an emphasis on observational astronomy.  Students will construct their own simple telescopes, participate in astronomical observations, and learn about astronomical observatories around the world. We will examine the contributions of astronomy not only to scientific understanding but to society and culture as well.

Judy Beck is a faculty member in the Department of Physics and the science licensure coordinator for the Department of Education. She is spending 2008 on professional development leave in La Serena, Chile, home to several international observatories and astounding night skies. She is teaching and collaborating with colleagues in the department of Physics at the University of La Serena in the area of physics and astronomy education, and participating in outreach activities.