Dancing Backwards and in Heels: American Women Dramatists

American dramatists have been exploring a great variety of subjects and styles in the last forty years. Women’s plays, in particular, are being recognized and produced more than ever before in this country. You will explore the careers and plays of such writers as Marie Irene Fornes, Tina Howe, Marsha Norman, Wendy Wasserstein, Adrienne Kennedy, Emily Mann, and Paula Vogel. You’ll use a journal to record your impressions of the reading and discussion, and you’ll write a culminating paper of a subject of interest to you.

The Dying Profession: Comparing Medical Profession Cross-Nationally

Is medicine dying as a profession? How is the professional power of physicians developed in different kinds of societies? Are the forms taken to strengthen or limit professional power different in societies with different contrasting political economies? Is state power central in the analysis of professional power? What is the relationship between the state and the medical profession and where are doctors better off? In this tutorial, we will examine the changing status of the medical profession in six countries: the United States, Britain, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada. We will explore the extent to which nation-states have singled out the profession guilds for control. Readings will include McKinley and Hafferty The Changing Medical Profession, Krause's Death of the Guilds, and OECD's Internal Markets in the Making.

African and American Writings in French: Why French?
(Also listed as BWS)

French motion pictures began in 1905 with the appropriately named Lumière brothers and have continued to enlighten, instruct, delight, and amuse audiences throughout the world. Interested students will view videotapes and French films that are part of the Modern Foreign Language Department Library and the University library’s audio-visual holdings. You’ll concentrate on such directors as the Lumières, Jean Renoir, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, and recent directors. We will also study some French critical literature of film, including essays by French film makers themselves. There will be short reports on such topics as continuing themes in films, heroes and heroines, or the use of history.

French Film

French motion pictures began in 1905 with the appropriately named Lumière brothers and have continued to enlighten, instruct, delight, and amuse audiences throughout the world. Interested students will view videotapes and French films that are part of the Modern Foreign Language Department Library and the University library’s audio-visual holdings. You’ll concentrate on such directors as the Lumières, Jean Renoir, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, and recent directors. We will also study some French critical literature of film, including essays by French film makers themselves. There will be short reports on such topics as continuing themes in films, heroes and heroines, or the use of history.

Bacteria, Birds, and the Degradation of Feathers: Environmental, Microbial, and Evolutionary Biology

Have you ever untangled a chickadee from a mist net or held a molting goldfinch in your hand? Have you ever cultured bacteria from the feathers of a wild bird or stained bacteria and looked at them under a light microscope? Or a scanning electron microscope? Have you ever wondered where fungi that produce antibiotics come from or why they produce them? This tutorial will introduce you to field work with birds, laboratory work with bacteria and fungi, and help you explore unanswered questions about birds and the microorganisms found in their plumage. Burtt and Ichida (Auk 116: 364-372, 1999) isolated strains of Bacillus licheniformis, a common soil bacterium, from the plumage of birds. These strains secrete an enzyme called keratinase that degrades feathers on the bird (Burtt, Wee, Irvine, and Ichida. Ohio Birds and Natural History 2:47-55, 2000). More recently we have found that other bacteria and fungi are also able to degrade feathers. Furthermore, many of the microorganisms inhabiting the plumage secrete chemicals that inhibit or kill competing microorganisms. What we have discovered is a microecosystem within the plumage, which has the potential to influence the behavioral ecology and evolution of birds (Burtt and Ichida. Condor 106: 681-686. 2004; Acta Zoologica Sinica 52 (Supplement): 131-135.  2006.) and the dispersal of bacteria and fungi carried in the plumage of migrating birds.

You will work with junior/senior research student mentors and us to explore:

• the biology of B. licheniformis and other microorganisms that occur on feathers
• their impact on the plumage, health, and survival of birds
• the dispersal of microorganisms carried by birds that migrate between their tropical wintering quarters and their northern breeding territories

You’ll have opportunities to work in the field sampling bacteria from the plumage of wild birds as part of our ecological studies (breakfast and lunch [prepared by Dr. Burtt] are a traditional part of these days) and to work in the laboratory culturing bacteria and fungi as part of our studies of its microbial interactions with each other and with the bird. Each student will conduct a research project as part of the tutorial and will write a scientific paper and report on the results at a student or professional research conference.

To Divide or Not to Divide? An Analysis of Cell Division Mutants in Worms

The microscopic free-living soil nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, is a model organism for students in development and genetics. In this tutorial, you’ll learn the basics of working with these “worms.” You will be examining a C.elegans mutant(s) that is defective in cell division and early developmental processes. The characterization will involve genetic crosses, with the goal of establishing the chromosomal location of the mutant gene. In addition, you will characterize the defects you see in the mutant, using several types of microscopy, including time-lapse videomicroscopy and immunofluorescence microscopy. Other avenues of investigation are possible also, depending on your interests. The main objective of the tutorial is to give you hands-on experience in the lab—learning techniques and planning and conducting experiments.  You’ll also read and discuss relevant scientific material and learn and practice some conventions of scientific writing.

Gene Circuits

Eukaryotic messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are spliced into multiple products in a regulated way. This phenomenon, called alternative splicing, is used by cells to create a diverse set of proteins from a relatively small number of genes. My lab is interested in the genes that are alternatively spliced in eukaryotic cells. We are especially interested in a molecular pathway that destroys specific kinds of mutant RNAs. This pathway, called mRNA surveillance, has many known regulatory functions in the cell. For example, it has been shown that the mRNA surveillance pathway is used by some proteins in an auto-regulatory loop that works at the level of alternative splicing of the pre-mRNA. The goal of research in my lab is to better understand the biological significance of the mRNA surveillance pathway in controlling gene expression using the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe as model organisms. Students working in my lab will assist in the analysis and characterization of the genes in these organisms that are always degraded by the mRNA surveillance pathway. Using S. pombe and C. elegans, I hope to determine how targets of their pathway are different from those transcripts not subject to mRNA surveillance, and to identify novel regulatory mechanisms related to the stability of these molecules. There are a variety of different projects currently ongoing and many more awaiting motivated and enthusiastic young scientists. All projects in my lab make use of modern molecular and biochemical techniques including PCR and RT-PCR, 5' RACE (Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends), DNA sequencing, non-isotopic northern analysis, and bioinformatics approaches.

Sports, Ethics, and Culture

This tutorial explores ethics as applied to amateur, professional, collegiate, and Olympic sport. Topics include competition, cheating, doping, violence, gender equity, and amateurism. Writing is optional.

The Politics of American Health Care

This tutorial will involve the student in an examination of the long-standing, complex relationships between the American political system and the delivery of health care services. We begin with readings and discussion focused on the social, economic, and political aspects of the U.S. health care system, historically and in the current period. This opening section emphasizes an examination of the medical profession, hospitals, the public health sector, and health insurance plans. The focus then shifts to contemporary health policy issues such as the Medicare program, the Medicaid program, and pharmaceuticals. We’ll place particular emphasis on the roles interest groups, Congress, the Presidency, federal and state administrative agencies, and public opinion play in conflicts over government health policy, and the nature of the overall U.S. health care system.

The Science of Subliminal Messages

Subliminal messages have a storied past in both scientific psychology and the popular media. During the past 50 years, the possibility of being persuaded outside of awareness has been exploited for commercial gain, debunked as pseudoscience, banned by state legislatures, and misunderstood by the lay population. In this tutorial we will examine the popular perception of subliminal messages and contrast it with a modern scientific understanding of what exactly subliminal stimuli can and cannot do. After we read  popular accounts of subliminal persuasion, we will segue into primary source reading from scientific journals and culminate with a team-based research project investigating some aspect of subliminal processing. Simultaneous enrollment in Psychology 110 is strongly recommended.

Time

Time. Everyone knows what it is, but nobody can define it. We won’t succeed in defining time in this tutorial either, but we will investigate many attributes and associations of time: how time has been measured throughout history, time as a fourth dimension, time dilation, the arrow of time, the history of time, the reversibility of time, time travel, and time perception.

Independence Abroad: Mark Twain

Growing up on the site of the Missouri Compromise, Mark Twain developed an independent spirit that represented the best part of the emerging American identity. He was a bundle of contradictions—a staunch democrat often feared by his children, a quintessential American who spent much of his life abroad, a harsh critic of wealth and privilege who socialized with steel magnates and European royalty, a denouncer of religion whose best friend was a minister, a poor student who became one of the country’s greatest and most renowned writers. But what remained consistent was a sharp critical intelligence guided by strong principles of equality and ordinary human decency. In this tutorial, we’ll investigate how Twain looked at his own country and others through the lens of his identity and experience as an American.

African and American Writings in French: Why French?
(Also listed as BWS)

French motion pictures began in 1905 with the appropriately named Lumière brothers and have continued to enlighten, instruct, delight, and amuse audiences throughout the world. Interested students will view videotapes and French films that are part of the Modern Foreign Language Department Library and the University library’s audio-visual holdings. You’ll concentrate on such directors as the Lumières, Jean Renoir, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, and recent directors. We will also study some French critical literature of film, including essays by French film makers themselves. There will be short reports on such topics as continuing themes in films, heroes and heroines, or the use of history.

That’s a Good Story—and It’s French: French Popular Literature

Les Misérables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Three Musketeers, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast—and more. The French idea of a good story has also been an American one. In this tutorial, you’ll explore pieces of literature from France that have found a secure place in international popular literature. We’ll look at story lines, themes, social history, and attitudes in these works, which make them sturdy candidates for stage, screen, and the literature of our childhoods and fantasies. Readings will be in English and French.

Plant Signal Transduction

Plant seeds are amazing structures that can protect the embryonic plant for hundreds of years, but as soon as germination begins, the plant is fully committed to living or dying wherever it finds itself. To aid the young seedling in becoming rooted and established, plants perceive cues from their surroundings and adjust their growth direction and rate accordingly. Some of the signals perceived by plants include gravity, light, and moisture levels. In this tutorial, we will investigate how plants sense these cues and convert them into signals that result in growth responses. Students will learn how to isolate plant DNA, perform PCR using that DNA, and confirm PCR products using gel electrophoresis. Students will use computer image analysis to collect data on the growth of plants with mutations in genes important in signal sensing and growth responses. You’ll also monitor gene expression in plants using confocal microscopy. Along the way, you will gain valuable experience in laboratory techniques, including the cultivation of plants, tissue culture, media preparation; and basic recombinant DNA techniques. No previous experience is necessary or expected.

Bacteria, Birds, and the Degradation of Feathers: Environmental, Microbial, and Evolutionary Biology

Have you ever untangled a chickadee from a mist net or held a molting goldfinch in your hand? Have you ever cultured bacteria from the feathers of a wild bird or stained bacteria and looked at them under a light microscope? Or a scanning electron microscope? Have you ever wondered where fungi that produce antibiotics come from or why they produce them? This tutorial will introduce you to field work with birds, laboratory work with bacteria and fungi, and help you explore unanswered questions about birds and the microorganisms found in their plumage. Burtt and Ichida (Auk 116: 364-372, 1999) isolated strains of Bacillus licheniformis, a common soil bacterium, from the plumage of birds. These strains secrete an enzyme called keratinase that degrades feathers on the bird (Burtt, Wee, Irvine, and Ichida. Ohio Birds and Natural History 2:47-55, 2000). More recently we have found that other bacteria and fungi are also able to degrade feathers. Furthermore, many of the microorganisms inhabiting the plumage secrete chemicals that inhibit or kill competing microorganisms. What we have discovered is a microecosystem within the plumage, which has the potential to influence the behavioral ecology and evolution of birds ((Burtt and Ichida. Condor 106: 681-686. 2004; Acta Zoologica Sinica 52 (Supplement): 131-135.  2006.) and the dispersal of bacteria and fungi carried in the plumage of migrating birds.

You will work with junior/senior research student mentors and us to explore:

• the biology of B. licheniformis and other microorganisms that occur on feathers
• their impact on the plumage, health, and survival of birds
• the dispersal of microorganisms carried by birds that migrate between their tropical wintering quarters and their northern breeding territories

You’ll have opportunities to work in the field sampling bacteria from the plumage of wild birds as part of our ecological studies (breakfast and lunch [prepared by Dr. Burtt] are a traditional part of these days) and to work in the laboratory culturing bacteria and fungi as part of our studies of its microbial interactions with each other and with the bird. Each student will conduct a research project as part of the tutorial and will write a scientific paper and report on the results at a student or professional research conference.

Wildlife Parasitology

It is widely believed that parasitic organisms outnumber free-living organisms. A truly amazing variety of life cycle strategies, morphological structures, and genetic adaptations has evolved in parasites to ensure their survival in the host. The purpose of this tutorial is to explore this variety by working with parasites acquired from local wildlife. Students will be able to extract parasites from a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate hosts and will learn about diagnostic methods in parasitology. In the context of the scientific method, students will be expected to propose and to test hypotheses dealing with phylogeny, host specificity, and other aspects dealing with animal parasitism based on the parasites available from their original collections. Results from laboratory work will be combined with a literature review.

Why Size Matters in the Lives of Animals

Animals range in size over many orders of magnitude, and differences in size even among otherwise similar organisms produce important and surprising consequences for structure and function. Many of the consequences, and constraints, are the result of physical laws. Allometry, the science and math of scaling, helps us model the effects of scaling on the anatomy and physiology of animals. Using a mix of discussion, experiment, exercises, and lecture, we’ll examine the relationships between size and a lot of exciting variables: shape, metabolic rate, heat loss, oxygen transport, ability to migrate—and even how high an animal can jump.

Young Adults in Times of War

What are the effects of war on young people—those caught in the midst of war and those making decisions about war? The experiences of young adults in times of war, as portrayed in selected literature, is the focus of this tutorial. Through our shared readings and small group discussions, we will consider how war and its complexities affect humans, particularly the costs involved and choices made by young protagonists. We will trace universal themes that transcend the decades and specific individuals involved in various conflicts. Through our group and individual readings of novels, we will explore multiple perspectives and diverse settings. We will use selected nonfiction and poetry to compare and contrast with works of fiction and consider what literature is and how its literary elements shape our responses. Students will participate in weekly discussions based on their written responses to shared reading. A final project will involve more extensive, independent reading of a choice novel, culminating in a final paper and presentation.

The Politics of American Health Care

This tutorial will involve the student in an examination of the long-standing, complex relationships between the American political system and the delivery of health care services. We begin with readings and discussion focused on the social, economic, and political aspects of the U.S. health care system, historically and in the current period. This opening section emphasizes an examination of the medical profession, hospitals, the public health sector, and health insurance plans. The focus then shifts to contemporary health policy issues such as the Medicare program, the Medicaid program, and pharmaceuticals. We’ll place particular emphasis on the roles interest groups, Congress, the Presidency, federal and state administrative agencies, and public opinion play in conflicts over government health policy, and the nature of the overall U.S. health care system.

The Organization of Human Memory

How is knowledge stored, organized, and retrieved by the human memory system? Why can we recognize much information we cannot recall? What factors distort our memories? How accurately can we monitor the functioning of our own memory processes? In this tutorial, you’ll explore current and past research related to these and other questions. You’ll read selections from the primary research literature, participate in weekly discussions, conduct an empirical research investigation to explore a question on human memory, and write a paper on that project.

Alcohol Abuse: Extent, Origins, Treatment, and Prevention

Alcohol abuse is a worldwide health problem. In this tutorial, you will explore the dimensions of this problem, including the definitions of alcohol abuse and dependence, their epidemiology, and physical and social consequences. We will explore causal theories including the disease concept of alcoholism and its alternatives. Finally, we will examine the effectiveness of various treatment and prevention efforts to reduce alcohol abuse. Students will read texts, primary sources, and complete a special project in an area of interest.

The Effects of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents

In this course, we’ll examine the effects of exposure to violent media—including television, movies, spectator sports, comic books/graphic novels, toys, music, music videos, video games, MMORPGS—on child and adolescent development. We’ll begin by reviewing theories as to the causes of aggressive behavior and then examine the degree to which American youth are exposed to violent images and sounds. We will discuss the basis of the appeal of violent forms of entertainment and the look at the data about the effects of each separate medium. All students will read one or two textbooks in common, present summaries of journal articles to others in the group, and jointly conduct a group research project on some aspect of media violence. Prerequisite PSYC 110 and permission of the instructor.