The Physics of Science Fiction 

Professor: Dr. Harold M. ButnerWhat impact does changing the sky have on a society? What would happen to your world if energy was hard to produce, or if it was inexhaustible? What would life be like if space travel was inexpensive? These changes often are the...

Monuments and National Identity

Professor David EhrenpreisWhy do more than five million visitors and countless school groups seek out the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC each year? Why did Martin Luther King give his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial? And why did the...

The Science and Ethics of Human-Subject Experimentation

Professor: Dr. Mark MattsonAlthough amazing knowledge can be gained from human-subject experimentation, why is it so highly regulated?  The history behind it is complex.  For instance, following World War II the United States offered amnesty to enemy medical personnel...

3D Printing Real-World Solutions

Professors: Dr. Joi Merritt & Jamie Calcagno-Roach How can we make our oceans healthier? How can we use new technologies to solve real world problems? Could 3D printing be the answer? 3D printing has been used to develop products and processes. Such products range...

Social Change and the Personal Narrative in the 20th and 21st Century

 Professor: Dr. Kristen McCleary. This course approaches the twentieth century through the prism of social change. How does social change happen? What have been some of the most dramatic social changes over the last century? How do those changes still impact today’s...