[bioundgrd] Fwd: Spring 2013 undergraduate seminars

[Janice Chang]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Holly B Sweet <hbsweet at MIT.EDU>
> Date: December 10, 2012 11:56:29 AM EST
> Subject: Spring 2013 undergraduate seminars: please forward to your students
> 
> Dear Colleagues:
>  
> These seminars are open to all students at MIT – please forward to your students.  Thanks.
> Holly Sweet (hbsweet at mit.edu), Experimental Study Group
>  
> ***************************************************************************************
> Spring 2013 Undergraduate Seminars– sponsored by ESG but open to all MIT and Wellesley students
>  
> ES.010 Chemistry of Sports (6 p/f units)
> Instructors: Dr. Patti Christie (patti at mit.edu) & Steve Lyons
> Time and location:  Wednesdays 3-5 in 24-619
> This seminar is an exciting way for students to study and apply chemistry knowledge to the improvement of their biological systems. We will be focusing on three sports (swimming, cycling and running), with a slight emphasis on running. There will be both a classroom and laboratory component to the seminar. The classroom component will introduce the students to the chemistry of their own biological systems. We will look at nutrition (to understand how to fuel and rebuild your body), anatomy and physiology (to better build your system), and how the body can be improved (or hurt) through physical activities. We will examine the chemistry of sports equipment including swimming (wetsuit and swimsuit manufacture), bicycling (including a field trip to a bicycle shop), and running (how running shoes are manufactured). We will also look at ways your body deals with exercise through building up and repair of muscles, improvement in lung and cardiovascular capacity, the chemistry of supplements and their effectiveness, and how we can use this knowledge to improve our physical fitness.  The two components to the laboratory portion of the class are the running study and training for and completing a triathlon. The students can earn up to 2 PE points during the term if they attend the supervised Triathlon training workouts. The students can also earn some PE points by completing the Mooseman Triathlon in NH in early June. Upon completion of the running study, participants will own a new pair of Newton running shoes and a heart rate monitor.
> 
> ES.S10 Introduction to Psychopharmacology (6 p/f units)
> Instructor: Zak Fallows (zakf at mit.edu), (staff supervisor Dr. Patti Christie – patti at mit.edu)
> Time and location:  Mondays 7-9 p.m, Room 24-618
> 
> From Abilify to Zyrtec, the world is full of interesting drugs. Did you know that Viagra might help alleviate jet lag, or that the chemical warfare agents BZ and VX are antidotes for one another? This class teaches students the basics of pharmacology. The approach is very multidisciplinary, some days we talk about the fluid dynamics of inhaled general anesthetics and the physics majors get a chance to shine, other days we discuss the impact of patent law on drug development. The structure of the class interleaves basic concepts with specific examples and entertaining tangents, so it is not loaded with boring abstract theory at the beginning. In the first class we learn what a receptor and neurotransmitter are, and we immediately use this new vocabulary to discuss caffeine.
> 
> ES.S11 Fiber Seminar (6 p/f units)
> Instructor: Debra Slocum (dslocum at mac.com)
> Time and location:  Thursdays 3-5, Room 24-619
>  
> Ever wondered how your clothes were made or what they are made of?   New England is full of cities and towns where textiles where the major product for many years, where in fact, advances in textile machinery became the driving engine for the transition from an agricultural economy to and industrial economy.  We will look at fibers, where they come from, how they are processed, and why different fibers are used for certain processes.  We will also look at the history of fiber processing.  Then we will actually take raw fibers and process them into yarn and either weave or knit them into something fun and useful.
>  
> ES.S40:  To Narnia and Back: The Life and Works of C.S. Lewis (6 p/f units)
> Instructor: Justin White ’15 (jwhitej at mit.edu) (staff supervisor:  Dr. Holly Sweet – hbsweet at mit.edu)
> Time and location:  Mondays 7-9 p.m. in 24-622
> Clive Staples Lewis was a 20th century scholar and novelist responsible for a variety of different writings. From his fantasy series, the Chronicles of Narnia, to his science fiction “Space Trilogy”, to his more formal essays, such as the Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis has been challenging the minds of his readers for the past 80 years. In this seminar we will examine the life of C.S. Lewis and some of his writings with the intention of thought-provoking discussion.  Readings and discussion will be supplemented by the movie Shadowlands (the story of the life of C.S. Lewis).
>  
> ES. S60 The Art and Science of Happiness (6 p/f units)
> Instructor: Dr. Holly Sweet (hbsweet at mit.edu)
> Time and location: Tuesdays 3-5 in 24-619
>  
> In the seminar we will look at current theories on happiness and positive psychology as well as practical implications of those theories for our own lives. We will explore the concept of happiness, different cultural definitions of happiness, and the connection between happiness, optimism, and meaning. Time will be spent on sources of unhappiness particularly applicable to undergraduates (such as academic failure and social rejection) and how to help turn those crises into opportunities for growth. Weekly class discussions will be supplemented with speakers, movie clips, in-class exercises, surveys, and student presentations on a topic of their choosing. Readings will include excerpts from The Art of Happiness, Stumbling into Happiness, The Geography of Bliss, and Learned Optimism.
>  
> ES.S61 Introduction to Trading (6 p/f units)
>  
> Instructors: Hrishikesh Joshi ’13, Ted Hilk ’13, Thiago Vieira ’13, He Huang ’14, Aakanksha Sarda ‘ 14
> & Youyang Gu ’15 (faculty supervisor:  Professor Alex Slocum –slocum at mit.edu)
> Time and location: Mondays 7-9 p.m. in 3-442
>  
> The goal of this seminar is to teach students trading fundamentals and strategies not commonly taught in business or finance classes. Our class will help prepare students for future full-time jobs and internships. At the end of the term, students will be able to understand the basics of trading and exchanges, discuss markets fluently, generate models using Excel, and, most importantly, be able to create their own trading strategies.
>  
>  
> ES.S71 Producing  Educational Videos (9 p/f units)
> Instructors:  Dave Custer (custer at mit.edu) &  Graham Ramsay (ramsay at mit.edu)
> Time and location: Mondays 3-5 p.m. in 24-619
>  
> This seminar provides students with an opportunity to produce educational videos. This seminar teaches the skills required to conceive, plan, script, shoot, and edit video content to teach elements of MIT’s GIR curriculum. Using these skills, each student will create a short (5-10 minute) video that concisely explains and contextualizes specific problems in physics, math, chemistry, biology, or the humanities. The resulting videos present these problems through compelling use of illustrations, demonstrations, animations, and commentary—all from the student’s perspective. The video production experience empowers students to communicate their GIR expertise to broad communities of learners.
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