(465) ASIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
(269) GENERAL HONORS - MEDICINE
(467) OPERATIONS AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
David Stern (Ph.D., Harvard, Comparative Literature, 1980), is professor of Post-Biblical and Medieval Hebrew Literature in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. His primary field of research is early Biblical commentary, and he is generally interested in the history of literary interpretation and criticism, ancient and modern, and its relationship to imaginative and other types of literature.
An introduction to the history, concepts, and methods of the anthropological study of early man using archaeological illustrations to indicate the relationships of archaeological interpretation with cultural and physical anthropology. More explicitly, this course provides an introduction to world archaeology from the earliest artifacts, circa 2 million years ago, to the establishment of the earliest cities and states in both Old and New Worlds (4th millennium BC/BCE to the 1st millennium AD/CE). Within this chronological framework, issues of method, interpretation and theory are introduced and evaluated critically, with strong emphasis upon how and when these have changed and developed: i.e., how our perceptions of the past have changed and continue to change as new evidence accumulates, new analytical methods are developed, and new theoretical perspectives are devised.
Napoleon was the first great visual propagandist of the modern state, and the imagery that advanced, consolidated, and eventually undermined his power as the ruler of France will be the central focus of this course.
Napoleon directly employed some of the greatest late 18th and early 19th century artists--David, Gros, Ingres, Canova--to produce imagery that would affirm the legitimacy of his journey from the "Corsican upstart" of the post-revolutionary era to his reign as Emperor of France. We will study the subtleties, contradictions, and contexts of their paintings and sculptures. We will also consider how Napoleon--sometimes in complicity with his retainers, sometimes in opposition to them--used this imagery not simply to represent his reign as he envisioned it. Rather, he used imagery to generate political change. He was one of the first leaders to understand that the visualization of a desired result (for instance, commissioning a picture of a successful military campaign when in fact it had been a dismal failure) could actually produce a groundswell of support for future political decisions, even in the face of contradictory military and medical evidence.
The study of Napoleon demands an immersion in the entire visual culture of his era. We will consider Napoleon's earliest portraits--which are often not as adulatory as they appear, as as well as the caricatures they inspired. We will look at the later, classicized representations of Napoleon as a great warrior and statesman, and the equivocal documentation of his military campaigns. We will also examine Napoleon's own designs for the heraldry, ceremonial costumes, architectural decorations and ritual objects used in his coronation as emperor. His need to control all details of the "look" of his reign extended beyond his own bodily presentation to the dress of both his wives and all their retainers. We will also analyze the representations inspired by Napoleon in exile, and by the relocation of his body for a state burial at the Invalides. Finally, we will consider the critical fortunes of Napoleon's image and reputation as they have filtered into both popular and high culture. Caricatures and advertising images of Napoleon still surface frequently, and important works in other media--Abel Gance's epic silent film Napoleon, for example--have been inspired by the contradictions between his image and his actions.
The course should appeal to those with interests in art history, history, political science, communications and gender studies. Some experience in either art history or European history is preferred. The course is geared to juniors and seniors, although interested students can contact the instructor for special permission, if size permits. The seminar is limited to 15 students and will meet on Thursday afternoons in the Jaffe Building at 1:30 pm. Students will be expected to make at least one slide presentation and produce a full-length research paper on a topic chosen together with the professor.
This is an intensive introductory lecture and laboratory course which emphasizes how recent advances in molecular biology have revolutionized our understanding of how cells and organisms function. We will show how modern molecular biology developed from and reinforces principles of biology established by the traditional approaches of genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, and the study of evolution. Contemporary molecular paradigms involving recombinant DNA, gene action, evolution, human disease, and biotechnology will be discussed.
Yoshitaka Suyama (Ph.D., Kansas State University, 1960) is professor of biology. After graduating from Kyoto University in Japan, he came to the United States for graduate research. Before coming to Penn in 1964, he spent a year of postdoctoral research at Yale and three years as assistant research biologist at the University of California, San Diego. His research focuses on the nuclear control mechanisms of the biogenesis and molecular biology of mitochondria in protozoa.
What do the ancient Greek comedian Aristophanes, the Roman satirist Juvenal, Howard Stern and Snoop Doggy Dogg have in common? Many things, in fact; but they are all fundamentally united by an authorial stance that constantly threatens to offend prevailing social norms, whether it be through obscenity, violence or bigotry. This course will examine our conceptions of art (including literary, visual and musical media) that are deemed by certain communities to transgress the boundaries of taste and convention. It juxtaposes modern notions of artistic transgression, and the criteria used to evaluate such material, with the production of and discourse about transgressive art in classical antiquity. Students will consider, among other things, why communities feel compelled to repudiate some forms of art, while turning others into "classics." This course will be affiliated with a teacher and class at the University City High School, just down the street from Penn at 36th and Lancaster Aves, under the auspices of Penn's Center for Community Partnerships. Several years ago I taught a course that also tried to compare ancient and modern cultures, entitled "Community, Neighborhood and Family in Ancient Athens and Modern Philadelphia." The first time I offered this, my students and I worked with a group of middle school students. For a full description of our experiences there, click here to see a copy of an article I wrote about the class in 1994.
CLST 314-401. Roman Law and Society. Distribution II: History &
Tradition.
cross-listed ANCH 314-401, HIST 314-401.
MW 3-4:30
This course seeks to introduce the student not only to the basic elements
of the Roman law, but also to its interpretation and practice. The
function of the law in its social context will be studied by the
consideration of documented historical cases such as homicide, a disputed
sale, and a divorce settlement. The application of the basic legal
principles wil be studied by the analysis of 'mock' cases.
Brent Shaw (Ph.D., Cambridge University, 1978) is professor of Classical Studies and Chair of the Graduate Group in Ancient History. His research interests include the history of the family and the population history of the Roman society. He is also interested in the nature of cultural integration in the Roman Empire, and specifically the difficulties presented by Christians . The related problems of civil violence and disorder have provoked some of his interests in Roman law.
(113) COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
COML 057-401. Great Books of Judaism. Distribution III. Arts and Letters.
cross-listed AMES 151-401, JWST 151-401, RELS 027-401.
TR 10:30-12
Stern
This course provides an introduction to economic analysis and its applications. The operation of the market economy will be examined to see how the size and composition of national output are determined. Economic tools will be used to analyze such issues as unemployment, inflation and international trade.
ECON 112-301. Topics in Economic Theory. Distribution I: Society.
TR 10:30-12
Mailath
An introduction to game theory and its applications to economic analysis. The course will provide a theoretical overview of modern game theory, emphasizing common themes in the analysis of strategic behavior in different social science contexts. The economic applications will be drawn from different areas including trade, corporate strategy and public policy.
Although Shakespeare's plays are usually studied as high canonical literature, they were originally written as playscripts, designed for the entertainment of a disorderly, socially heterogeneous crowd and for the financial profit of the players. This course will attempt to resituate the plays in their original theatrical setting. There will be one or two hour-exams, one or two short papers, and a final exam. There may be unannounced quizzes on the reading assignments. In addition, students are expected to meet in study groups for approximately six hours a week, outside of class. This course is designed for Benjamin Franklin Scholars. Other students will be admitted only with the instructor's permission.
ENGL 393-401. Topics in Literature: South African Writing since
1970: Literature, Apartheid, and Democracy.
Distribution III: Arts and Letters.
TR 9-10:30
Barnard
This course will introduce students to South African literature (poetry, drama, novels, short stories, and films) from around the time of the Soweto riots until the present. The concerns raised by this body of writing, produced during a period of intense political struggle, are by no means parochial: the readings should be compelling to anyone interested in the relationship between literature and politics. Lecture/discussion classes will address such issues as: the responsibility of the writer in a situation of political crisis; the representation of torture and the ethics of narrative; the politics of (social and geographical) place; shifting conceptions of "nation" and "nationalism"; the intersections of race and gender; the problems of confession, truth, and reconciliation; the appropriateness of the term "postcolonial" in the South African context; and the prospects for a post-apartheid literature and culture.
Readings may include: Achmat Dangor and Michael Chapman, eds. VOICES FROM WITHIN: BLACK POETRY FROM SOUTHERN AFRICA; Mbongeni Ngema and Percy Mtwa, WOZA ALBERT!; Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona, THE ISLAND and SIZWE BANSI IS DEAD; J.M. Coetzee, WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS, LIFE AND TIMES OF MICHAEL K, and AGE OF IRON; Mtutuzeli Matshoba, CALL ME NOT A MAN; Ellen Kuzwayo, CALL ME WOMAN; Nadine Gordimer, SOMETHING OUT THERE; Jeremy Cronin, INSIDE; Ahmed Essop, HAJJI MUSA AND THE HINDU FIRE-WALKER, Zakes Mda, WAYS OF DYING; and Chris van Wyk, THE YEAR OF THE TAPE WORM. We will also see a number of films, including MAPANTSULA and CITY LOVERS. While no specialist background is needed, it might be advisable to read Allister Sparks's engaging books, THE MIND OF SOUTH AFRICA and TOMORROW IS ANOTHER COUNTRY as background for the course.
This course will involve a detailed analysis of urban environmental issues. Field trips will be utilized.
Robert F. Giegengack (Ph.D. Yale University, 1968) is professor of geology and co-director of the Institute of Environmental Studies. He is a member of the Education Advisory Council of the SEA Education Association and the Yellowstone-Bighorn Research Association. Dr. Giegengack is the recipient of both the Lindback Award and the Ira Abrams Memorial Award, given to recognize distinguished teaching.
The purpose of this course is to develop an analytical framework to understand macroeconomics and policies in the context of a developed open economy. Although the objective of the course is to better understand policies and their operation, the course is analytical, not descriptive. The first part of the course extends the ideas and arguments developed in Econ 1 and 2; the analysis is both more sophisticated and developed in the context of a global economy. The second part of the course develops the monetary sector in considerable detail, examining how a complex financial system operates and affects the supply and demand for money, and thus the level of interest rates. The last part of the course is devoted to using the analytical framework developed in the first two parts to study phenomena such as the determination of wages and inflation, stabilization policies, the trade and federal deficits, etc. The course is conducted like a seminar. It is presumed that the students will have read all the materials before class. The class time will be devoted to a critical examination of these materials, not to lectures by the instructor. There will be two mid-term examinations and a final examination. (The last will probably be a take-home examination.) Students will also be required to write a term paper.
IMPORTANT: Permission to enroll in this class is needed for all students. Students must attend the first day of class to complete an application (applications will not be distributed until then). Students should register for another 101 course in case they are not accepted. Decisions will be made by the second class meeting.
Jamshed Ghandhi was born in India and educated in India, Switzerland, the United States and England, receiving a Ph.D. in economics from Cambridge. He taught at the universities of Manchester, Cambridge and Wharton, and was visiting professor at the American University of Beirut. He has a non-academic appointment as advisor on capital markets at the World Bank. He is currently consultant to the Capital Market Board, Turkey, and the Finance Ministry, Portugal, on development of their financial systems; the OECD on capital markets; Central Bank of Turkey and Citibank-Latino on manpower development programs. He is also a member of the European Community Committee on Financial Change.
Research and study under the direction of a faculty sponsor.
Research is an important part of an undergraduate career. Students should consult with faculty, department advisors, the BFS Research Directory and PennExpertise to gain ideas and insights, as well as to identify possible projects and sponsors. Students are encouraged to discuss their research ideas with the GH advising staff. Since research takes planning, students should begin well in advance. Research proposals must be completed and turned in to the General Honors office three days before the last day of Add. Proposal forms are available now.
GENH 205-301. Search for Post Modernist Self. General Requirement III:
Arts & Letters.
W 3-6
Permission of
department required.
What is this elusive entity called the "self", the "individual"? When was it born? How does it relate today to the notion of "community"? How can one be both a "self" and at the same time a member of a community?
Chaim Potok was born and raised in New York City. He received a BA summa cum laude in English literature from Yeshiva University, an M.H.L. and Rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. He served as a United States Army chaplain in Korea with a front-line medical battalion and an engineer combat battalion. He has been writing fiction since the age of sixteen and is widely known for his novels, The Chosen (Edward Lewis Wallant Award), The Promise (Athenaeum Prize), My Name is Asher Lev, In the Beginning, The Book of Lights, and Davita's Harp. His novel, The Gift of Asher Lev, published in May 1990, won the National Jewish Book Award for fiction. He is also the author of Wanderings: Chaim Potok's History of the Jews, and of numerous articles, short stories, and reviews. His plays, Out of the Depths and Sins of the Father, received their premiere productions in Philadelphia in 1990. His latest novel is The Gates of November. He is also author of I Am the Clay.
This course is concerned with the examination of the interactions between human beings, their organs and cells, and various infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Both the biological and societal factors influencing these interactions will be studied.
Helen Davies (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1960) is professor of microbiology in the School of Medicine. She is recipient of the Lindback Award and has been designated one of the two Distinguished Basic Science Educator Awardees in the School of Medicine. Prof. Davies is the author of more than seventy papers in the areas of bacterial bioenergetics, infectious diseases, enzyme kinetics, bacterial infections, discrimination in higher education, and affirmative action for women and minority groups.
GMED 073-303. Selected Topics in Medicine: Cancer
M 2-5
This will be a seminar course considering cancer as a problem, from the molecular to the psycho-socio-economic level. Topics will include the biology and biochemistry of cancer cells; environmental and genetic factors in causation; epidemiology and geography; natural history of common human cancers with problems in prevention, case findings and treatment; and social and political aspects of cancer research and care.
Peter Nowell (M.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1952) is professor of pathology at the School of Medicine. His research is represented in over 300 publications dealing with various aspects of cancer, particularly the basic mechanisms of abnormal growth (e.g. oncogenes, chromosomal abnormalities). He has served as chairman of the department of pathology, and as director of the Cancer Center, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Nature: From Columbus in the 15th century through the revolutions of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, waves of Europeans washed over the Americas in search of land, treasure, and souls to save. Spain, France, and England were the principal players. For them, the Americas were truly a "new world." But, of course, they were not the first to arrive in the Americas. They had to contend with indigenous populations ranging from quasi-nomadic peoples in New France (Canada) to the dense civilizations of the Aztecs and the Incas further south, all of whom had been in the Americas for thousands of years. To the Europeans, these were truly "new" peoples, whose customs and cultures were often radically different from anything known to westerners. How did these Europeans respond to the "Indians," as they were called?
This course will examine the ways in which generations of Europeans represented and described the indigenous peoples of the New World. In particular, it will focus on the separate approaches taken by the three major European powers to establishing imperial sovereign in the Americas and on the ways in which those approaches yielded distinctive visions of native peoples. The ceremonial formalisms of the Spanish contrast markedly with the self-consciously muted garden symbolisms of the English. How do these very different approaches relate to actual relationships that developed between Europeans and native peoples?
The experiences of the Europeans in the New World during this period (16th-18th centuries) were in many ways decisive: the issues, problems, and dilemmas they confronted and constructed remain with us today. The course will attempt to cast light on the historical dimensions of current debates about pluralism and diversity in the Americas.
Readings: Readings will concentrate on primary sources and include selections from a variety of travelers, chroniclers, scholars, and writers, including: Columbus, Bernal Diaz, Cortes, Las Casas, Garcilaso el Inca, John Eliot, the Mathers, Walter Raleigh, Shakespeare, the French Jesuits, Jean de Lery, Montaigne, the AbbE Raynaud, and others. In addition, the course will consider non-textual forms evidence such as maps and iconographic representations.
Michael Ryan (Special Collections & History) and John Pollack (Special Collections & English) will teach this course jointly. Michael Ryan has a PhD in History with a specialty in early modern European Intellectual History. He taught at U of Chicago and Stanford before coming to Penn. Interests are in the history of books and reading; early European colonialism; the history (and future) of utopia; and literary canons. He has also headed rare books and manuscript collections at Stanford and currently at Penn.
HIST 212-301. Cold War. Distribution II: History and Tradition
T 3-6
Trachtenberg
This course is designed to give students an opportunity to do real historical work on great power politics in the period from the end of World War II to 1990. The bulk of the course will be devoted to preparing you for this kind of work. We will read a number of books and documents and discuss them in class. The aim of these discussions is to draw out the specific historical problems that we would like to answer, and also to get at the general question of how historical work in this area should be done. The last part of the semester will be devoted mainly to the students' own research projects.
HIST 214-301. Reform in the 60s. Distribution II: History & Tradition.
R 2-5
Hackney
This course will examine the history of the 1960's with special attention given to the social protest movements and the challenges to traditional values that marked the period. For our purposes, the Sixties extend from the Brown decision in 1954 to Watergate twenty years later.
Sheldon Hackney received his Ph.D. in American History from Yale University in 1965. He is former President of the University of Pennsylvania. His main field is the history of the American South in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and he has special interests in social protest and reform movements and in the social and cultural basis of politics.
HIST 214-302. Emergence of Modern America. Distribution II:
History & Tradtion.
T 2-5
Katz
This seminar focuses on the emergence of America as an urban, industrial, and multiethnic society between the early nineteenth century and the 1930s. Major topics include: work, class, and mobility; race and ethnicity; family and life course; and social policy and social institutions. Requirements include reading one book each week and short papers.
HIST 214-401. University-Comm. Relations. Distribution
II: History & Tradition.
W 2-5
American cities are increasingly pathological. Can we reverse that condition? Can American universities reinvent themselves and help spark an Urban Renaissance in the 21st century? Can Penn realize in practice Ben Franklin's vision of a world-class cosmopolitan civic university in a world-class cosmopolitan city? Specifically, what should Penn do to try to realize in the 21st century Franklin's grand 18th century vision of the Good University in the Good Society? Those are the basic questions the seminar addresses. To answer them, the seminar makes several assumptions: 1) "Knowledge is power" to do good; 2) universities now constitute the primary institutions responsible for advancing knowledge to the furthest possible limits; 3) if American universities act on those assumptions, they can learn how to reinvent themselves and how to integrate the production and use of knowledge for the progressive "betterment of the human condition." Are those assumptions warranted? To test their validity and to provide undergraduates with an opportunity to develop their capacities to think critically and creatively, students in the seminar will: 1) identify a specific West Philadelphia/Philadelphia problem which engages them morally and intellectually; 2) write a seminar paper specifying what Penn can realistically do to help solve that problem or why it is unrealistic to imagine that Penn can develop the knowledge needed to help solve it. As this "mission statement" suggests, the seminar makes another key assumption: Penn undergraduates can significantly help educate themselves by seriously studying societal problems. Students interested in testing that assumption are invited to apply for admission.
This course will be team-taught by Dr. Ira Harkavy, director of the Center for Community Partnerships, and assistant to the president of the University; and by Dr. Lee Benson, Emeritus Professor of History.
HIST 314-401. Roman Law & Society. Distribution II: History &
Tradition.
cross-listed ANCH 314-401, CLST 314-401.
MW 3-4:30
Shaw
The first part of this course will inquire into the nature of law and the legal process, the second part will introduce the law of contracts, and the last will cover some of the basic principles of international law.
The purpose of this course is to bring together decision-making in socio-economic field and in literature. In literature there are wonderful examples in which the heroes of the books make their own decisions. In these examples, the authors not only bring new sophisticated analytical parameters, but also use a variety of artistic means directed toward developing the imagination of the reader. Unfortunately, the methods used are far from being analytical; the modern analytical methods for decision-making developed in the socio-economic field are not used. The course proposed here would encompass socio-economic examples of decision-making conceptions, along with literature. The course must give a clear synthesis of analytic and artistic methods of thinking, which is important in connection with new situations. This course can be crucial in instructing aesthetically educated students who are pragmatically oriented. Finally, the students will better understand the value of nonpragmatic categories of art and their priceless role in the developing of their intellect and decision-making abilities.
Aron J. Katsenelinboigen was born in the Soviet Union. He graduated from Moscow State Economic Institute and obtained a Doctor of Sciences degree in Economics. He has worked in the USSR Academy of Sciences and was promoted to head of the Department of Complex Systems at the Central Economic Mathematical Institute. He also taught mathematical economics at Moscow State University. Since his emigration to the United States, Prof. Katsenelinboigen has been a visiting lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the Social Systems Department and then the Decision Sciences Department as a professor. Prof. Katsenelinboigen is the author of fifteen books, nine of which were published in the United States. More than sixty articles of the author have been published, but only in western countries. His current research is concerned primarily with the category of indeterminism and the aesthetic method.
Vera Zubarev was born in the former Soviet Union. She graduated from Odessa University and obtained her masters degree in literature. Six years ago Vera emigrated to the USA. She was admitted to the doctoral program at the Slavic Department, University of Pennsylvania, and in 1994 she defended her doctoral thesis. She continues to teach Russian language at the University of Pennsylvania. In the last years Vera published several books in poetry, and a book in literary theory, A Systems Approach to Literature: Mythopoetics of Chekhov's Four Major Plays (Greenwood Press, 1997). Her current interests concern the linkage between literature and business in the frame of her research on literary problems.
This is the first semester of a small-section three-semester sequence in introductory physics for well-prepared students. Topics will include classical laws of motion, interaction between particles, conservation laws and symmetry principles, rigid body motion, wave motion, and kinetic theory and thermodynamics.
This course will be taught by Fay Ajzenberg-Selove, professor of physics.
Increasingly noninvasive measures of human brain activity are being used in cognitive science to supplement traditional dependent measures in testing hypotheses about cognitive mechanisms and processes. This course will consist of 4-5 predetermined experiments in which event-related cortical Potential (ERPs) are used in well-established paradigms in Visual/Auditory Perception, Memory, Language and Action. Background material on the nature and measurement of ERPs, and in the specific content area of each experiment will be given as needed.
This seminar explores the conditions under which women become politically active and the relevance of gender to forms of activism, organizational practices, and choice of issues. Contemporary and historical case studies will examine women's activism in feminist and anti-feminist movements and organizations, in single sex-organizations devoted to a broad range of goals, and mixed-gender movements, including civil rights and trade unions.
URBS 220-302. Emergence of Modern America. Distribution II: History &
Tradtion.
Cross-listed: HIST 214-302.
T 2-5
Katz