Over the next week, we’re going to feature a couple of colleges in the Vermont area that are teaching courses this upcoming Spring Semester that stuck out as we looked through the course lists. There’s a lot of variety to the courses here, ranging from new digital technologies, to looking at speculative fiction as a genre to foreign policy for other countries around the world. There’s a facinating range of things to learn.
Obviously, admission to these courses are going to depend on your student status, but if you’re looking for an excuse to go back to school, it’s worth talking with their respective admissions departments and seeing what you have to do to sign up.
Today, we’re looking at Middlebury College. In addition to the founding of the Quidditch craze, Middlebury is a reputable school located in Middlebury, Vermont, known for its Business and political science programs. Here’s a couple of courses that we’d sign up for:
Middlebury College
AMST 0225 Gothic and Horror
From their course catalog: This course examines the forms and meanings of the Gothic and horror over the last 250 years in the West. How have effects of fright, terror, or awe been achieved over this span and why do audiences find such effects attractive? Our purpose will be to understand the generic structures of horror and their evolution in tandem with broader cultural changes. Course materials will include fiction, film, readings in the theory of horror, architecture, visual arts, and electronic media.
AMST 0375 The History of Urban America (Spring 2011)
From their course catalog: “The magnification of all the dimensions of life,” writes Lewis Mumford, ” . . . has been the supreme office of the city in history.” Mumford’s appraisal of the mission of the city can be debated, but the importance of the city to civilization cannot be denied. This course traces the rise of the city in America from the colonial era to the present. It explores why Americans have huddled in concentrated settlements and the consequences of that clustering. Special attention will be given to the growth of the industrial city of the late 19th century and the modern metropolis of the 20th century.
BIOL 0314 Molecular Genetics
From their course catalog: This course will focus on the structure and function of nucleic acids in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Lectures will center on molecular mechanisms of mutation, transposition, and recombination, the regulation of gene expression, and gene control in development, immune diversity and carcinogenesis. Readings from the primary literature will complement the textbook and classroom discussions. The laboratory will provide training in both classic and contemporary molecular-genetic techniques including nucleic acid isolation and purification, cloning, electroporation, nick-translation, Southern/Northern blotting, DNA sequencing, PCR and RT-PCR.
CSCI 0200 Mathematical Foundations of Computing
From their course catalog: In this course we will provide an introduction to the mathematical foundations of computer science, with an emphasis on formal reasoning. Topics will include propositional and predicate logic, sets, functions, and relations; basic number theory; mathematical induction and other proof methods; combinatorics, probability, and recurrence relations; graph theory; and models of computation.
ECON 0499 Experimental Economics
From their course catalog: We examine how people actually behave given economic incentives. Rather than learning economic models of behavior (e.g., consumption, investment, production) students in this class learn how to test these and other models using the experimental lab. Topics include: How and why do markets work? Do people act collectively to provide public goods? What are the determinants of bargaining outcomes?
ECON 0428 Population Growth and the Global Future (Fall 2010)
From their course catalog: This course will show how economic analysis can be used to assess the impact of rapid population growth on economic development, the environment, and economic inequality. It will analyze the rapid “graying” of the industrialized countries and their struggle to cope with international migration. It will assess the causes of urban decay in the North and the explosive growth of cities in the South. The course will consider household-level decision-making processes; the effects of changing family structures; and the need to improve the status of women.
PHYS 0202 Quantum Physics and Applications
From their course catalog: This course introduces quantum theory and statistical mechanics, and explores the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, the Schrödinger wave equation, and wave mechanics. These techniques are then applied to atomic, molecular, nuclear, and elementary particle systems.
The call is out — the call of Dr. Jonas Prida, that is — for proposals for Weird Lovecraft: H.P. Lovecraft, Weird Tales, and the American Horror Canon, a pop culture conference held at the College of St. Joseph in Rutland, Vermont. As the circular elaborates:
Geek Mountain State 