Freshman Seminar Program
Winter Quarter 2019 Enrollment Information
Freshman Seminars are open first to all freshman including first-year freshman with sophomore standing during the freshman enrollment period. Incoming freshmen with sophomore standing should use the campus Course Pre-Authorization system to be cleared to enroll in a seminar and then use WebReg to enroll in seminars during your enrollment time.
Early enrollment is encouraged due to the small class size.
Visit the Schedule of Classes to see enrollments (select all departments and 87.) Use WebReg to enroll in seminars during your enrollment period.
Sophomores may enroll directly in freshman seminars by using WebReg after the freshman enrollment period and if seats are available.
Please use the campus Course Pre-Authorization system if you have an enrollment question.
Please use the Virtual Advising Center, VAC to contact the advisor of the department or program offering the seminar for all non-enrollment questions.
Department of Anthropology
Discover Anthropology
ANTH 87 A00
Section ID:
Semendeferi, Ekaterini (
ksemende@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
The seminar introduces students to the various disciplines within anthropology, library and laboratory resources, faculty research and mentoring opportunities in the department.
Esperanto & the Anthropology of Language
ANTH 87 C00
Section ID:
Jordan, David (
dkjordan@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
As the only artificial language in widespread spoken use, Esperanto can provide a window into linguistic, social, and cultural aspects of language in general. This class provides an overview both of Esperanto and of the anthropology of language.
The Anthropology of Sriracha
ANTH 87 D00
Section ID:
Kang, Byung (
kbyung@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
In this course, we explore the history and anthropology of Sriracha as a case study of uniquely American food that comes together in relation to broader geopolitical forces. Topics will include: Foods indigenous to the Americas, "traditional" cooking, the global trade in food, "ethnic restaurants", and Asian Fusion. We conclude with student presentations on a contemporary food product or trend of their choosing.
The Aztecs
ANTH 87 B00
Section ID:
Jordan, David (
dkjordan@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Origins and evolution of pre-Columbian Aztec society and culture. Sources are a mix of archaeological findings and early colonial writings.
Division of Biological Sciences
Earth's Fragile Biosphere
BILD 87 B00
Section ID:
Saier, Milton (
msaier@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This freshman seminar will focus on all environmental issues including global warming, human population growth, stratospheric ozone depletion, effects of pollution on human and biosphere health, and many other topics. Students will be asked to organize a short presentation or a class discussion on a topic of interest to them.
The Philosophy of Science and the Science of the Supernatural
BILD 87 A00
Section ID:
Saier, Milton (
msaier@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This freshman seminar will focus on many aspect of philosophy, science, and religion, including Creation stories versus the Big Bang, Human Paranormal Phenomena, Epigenetic control of phenotypes, Out of Body experiences, Communication by mental telepathy, and many other topics. Students will be asked to organize a short presentation or a class discussion on a topic of interest to them.
Department of Cognitive Science
How Minds and Groups Make Religion and Superstition
COGS 87 A00
Section ID:
Deak, Gedeon (
deak@cogsci.ucsd.edu)
Location: CSB 180
Mondays, 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Why do humans, individually and in groups, attribute natural events to supernatural agents? How does the human brain accept religious beliefs, even in the face of contradictory evidence? We will examine how cognitive, developmental, and cultural factors work together to cause humans to believe in the supernatural.
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Neural Networks as Models of the Mind
CSE 87 A00
Section ID:
Cottrell, Gary (
gary@ucsd.edu)
Location: EBU3B B230
Wednesdays, 9:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Seminar will meet weeks 1-6
We investigate how neural networks can be used to model how we see, read, remember, and learn. We use simple demonstration programs that implement these models. We teach a neural network to recognize faces, facial expressions, and gender. We also get some insight into the latest trends in neural networks, Deep Learning.
Critical Gender Studies
Are Prisons Obsolete?
CGS 87 A00
Section ID:
Hankins, Joseph (
jdhankins@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Are Prisons Obsolete? In her book by the same title, Angela Davis argues that they are: that prisons, as a means of fostering healthy societies, fail. This seminar will examine the rise of prisons in the United States, their relationship with slavery and ongoing racial control, how they rely on sexual and gender violence, and the ways in which people resist the logic of incarceration and instead build other systems of social support that are making prisons obsolete.
Education Studies
Learning Computer Science -- The Teaching Opportunity
EDS 87 A00
Section ID:
Simon, Elizabeth (
esimon@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Why does everyone need to know how computers work? How can we use knowledge of how brains work and how people learn to support students in learning how to program? How do we support students with diverse backgrounds in learning to think computationally? This seminar is for those interested in how to teach computing.
Eleanor Roosevelt College
God, Satan, and the Desert - $95 field trip fee required
ERC 87 A00
Section ID: 951902
Herbst, Matthew (
mtherbst@ucsd.edu)
Location: ERC 115
Mondays, 3:00 p.m. to 3:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet Camping trip will be a weeknd in February
This seminar offers an introduction to cultural and religious perspectives on the desert, which has been viewed as a cursed wasteland, but also as source of enlightenment. This course includes a weekend trip in the desert . Website: http://ucsdherbst.org/wilderness-seminars/
Film Studies
Banned films
FILM 87 D00
Section ID:
Rahimi, Babak (
brahimi@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar examines the relationship between law, politics and cinema and why governments have banned certain films throughout history. We will examine films such as This is Not a Film, Sweetness of Spirit, Battleship Potemkin, LAge dOr, The Bohemian Girl, Clockwork Orange, Goldfinger and others.
Banned films
FILM 87 D00
Section ID:
Rahimi, Babak (
brahimi@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar examines the relationship between law, politics and cinema and why governments have banned certain films throughout history. We will examine films such as This is Not a Film, Sweetness of Spirit, Battleship Potemkin, LAge dOr, The Bohemian Girl, Clockwork Orange, Goldfinger and others.
Cult Films of 1950s-2000s
FILM 87 A00
Section ID:
Havis, Allan (
ahavis@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Cursory look at enigmatic cult film classics from 1950 to today. Basic aesthetics and ideas of cult films will be celebrated. Films will probably include PSYCHO, THE WICKER MAN, ROAD WARRIOR, BLADE RUNNER, DELICATESSEN, RUN LOLA RUN, HAROLD & MAUDE.
Fantasy, Sci Fi, & Horror the Last 60 Years
FILM 87 B00
Section ID:
Havis, Allan (
ahavis@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
An entertaining and analytical survey from the 1950s to today of memorable and strange feature films probably including THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, PSYCHO, RUN LOLA RUN, ROAD WARRIOR, BLADE RUNNER, METROPOLIS, DARK CITY, and THE RING. Technical achievement, visual power, and personal nuance will be emphasized.
What Film Could Teach Us About Life
FILM 87 C00
Section ID:
Rahimi, Babak (
brahimi@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar is about how film can reflect and change our lives. We will discuss movies such as: I Love you, Beth Cooper,American Beauty, Sliding doors, Seventh Seal, Happiness, La Dolce Vita, Taste of Cherry, Do the Right Thing, Christmas Story and others.
Department of History
Ming China in Short Stories
HITO 87 A00
Section ID:
Schneewind, Sarah (
sschneewind@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
We will read dramatic and amusing short stories from the Ming period (1368-1644) along with short scholarly articles related to them, and discuss what they reveal about Chinese society, government, religion, economy, and ideology. We will meet emperors, officials, and beggars; wives, prostitutes, and go-betweens; monks, nuns, and Daoist mystics; and gods and ghosts.
Department of Literature
Dystopia in Film and Literature
LTWL 87 A00
Section ID:
Lampert-Weissig, Lisa (
llampert@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
George Orwell’s dystopian classic, 1984, recently shot to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list. What does this novel, written in 1949, have to say to us today? We will explore political, environmental, and technological dystopias in works such as Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Butler’s The Parable of the Talents, Collins’ The Hunger Games, and the UK television series Black Mirror.
Vampires in Literature and Film
LTWL 87 B00
Section ID:
Lampert-Weissig, Lisa (
llampert@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
We will examine the portrayal of vampires in a series of films ranging from Murnau's 1922 classic Nosferatu to the shows like True Blood and the Vampire Diaries. How has the representation of vampires changed over the years? Students will watch the films outside of class to prepare for our discussions. Visit http://talesofthenight.com for more information.
Department of Mathematics
Math in the Movies
MATH 87 A00
Section ID:
Bunch, James (
jbunch@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Does studying math lead to mental instability and madness, or to social awkwardness and nerdiness? We will view four films and discuss the portrayal of math and mathematicians in them.
Department of Music
Anatomy of the Groove
MUS 87 A00
Section ID:
Dresser, Mark (
mdresser@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
The groove is a multi-dimensional musical device, a propulsive rhythmic feel or sense of swing that is found internationally. The course will examine these different musical and social perspectives through listening, reading, discussing, collecting, and creating grooves. No previous musical knowledge is required.
Department of Physics
Introduction to LaTeX: typeset your own science/engineering papers
PHYS 87 A00
Section ID:
Grinstein, Benjamin (
bgrinstein@ucsd.edu)
Location: MYR-A 4623
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
LaTeX is the standard mark-up language for professional typesetting of scientific and engineering documents (from papers to books). This is a hands on seminar, covering from LaTeX and editor installation to producing a document with tables, figures and equations. Students have a choice to work on their laptops or use computers in the computer lab.
Thinking Like a Physicist
PHYS 87 B00
Section ID:
Murphy, Thomas (
tmurphy@ucsd.edu)
Location: MYR-A 2623
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar views the world around us through a quantitative lens, fearlessly estimating and approximating our way to a big-picture understanding of our physical world. Topics include the energy challenge, everyday life phenomena, personal physical performance, and more.
Department of Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Climate change science: the IPCC process
SIO 87 A00
Section ID:
Talley, Lynne (
ltalley@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides the international consensus synthesis of findings about climate change: observations, forcings, attribution, and prediction. SIO has many observational and some modeling programs that contribute to the IPCC. We will examine the IPCC process, its findings, its most recent activities, and include visits to SIO lab facilities that have contributed to IPCC science.
Sustainable Landscapes
SIO 87 C00
Section ID:
Willenbring, Jane (
jwillenbring@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
A major objective of human civilization has been to make nature less hazardous and more predictable. Often this involves direct manipulation of the landscape on which we depend: agriculture and irrigation, dams and levees, and fire suppression and timber harvesting, for example. Coast lines, river banks and desert dunes are artificially held in place in attempts to force the dynamic landscape to be static.
Treasures of the Earth: Minerals, Crystals, and Gems
SIO 87 B00
Section ID:
Cook, Geoffrey (
gwcook@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Spectacular specimens and multimedia presentations will introduce students to nature's geologic treasures. Using the mineral kingdom as a platform, students will learn about the fascinating processes and products of the Earth and will gain awareness of their societal importance.
Department of Sociology
Globalization and the exploitation of childhood
SOCI 87 A00
Section ID:
Evans, Ivan (
ievans@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This course examines the evolution of the idea of “childhood” and focuses on the mistreatment of childhood in an era that simultaneously presents children as objects of intense affection while tolerating the often intense abuse of children on a global scale. An examination of slavery, child soldiers, sexual slavery and prostitution, and the sexualization of children in pop culture raises important questions about societal values and the treatment of children in both developing and developed coun
Seeing the Invisible: How Gender and Sexuality Shape Opportunity
SOCI 87 B00
Section ID:
Blair-Loy, Mary (
mblairloy@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
Today does everyone in the U.S. have a similar chance to create the life they want? This seminar explores social scientific research on how schools and workplaces continue to provide different opportunities to people based on their gender and sexual identity.
Department of Theatre & Dance
Dance Movement Exploration
TDGE 87 A00
Section ID:
Rincon, Patricia (
princon@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
An introduction to dance movement and understanding your body; a contemporary approach to dancing and its many genres as an expressive medium and form of communication. No dance training necessary. Prerequisites: none
Warren College
Drugs for Bugs: From High-throughput Technology to New Discovery
WARR 87 A00
Section ID:
Debnath, Anjan (
adebnath@ucsd.edu)
Location:
TBA
Date and Time:
TBA
Meeting Dates:
TBA
This seminar will introduce students to recent progress in drug development for protozoan parasitic diseases. We will discuss different parasitic diseases, use of high-throughput technology and various other attempts by the parasitology research community to create effective drugs for these diseases.
Space Physiology and Exploration (meeting location is at the School of Medicine)
WARR 87 B00
Section ID:
Hargens, Alan (
ahargens@ucsd.edu)
Location: MET 215
Mondays, 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Seminar will meet Weeks 1-10
Space Physiology and Exploration will include physiologic adaptations to gravity and adaptations to the microgravity of spaceflight for cardiovascular, bone, muscle and other physiologic systems. Countermeasures to maintain health of astronauts will include radiation protection and various forms of artificial gravity such as centrifugation. Meeting Location: Medical Education and Telemedicine (MET) Building here on the School of Medicine campus in La Jolla.