Liberal Studies II courses offered by the Department
LS2 103. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND
NATIONAL SECURITY 3
In the second half of the twentieth century, the United States accelerated
its dependence upon science and technology in the service of national security.
Starting with World War II, basic research, technological achievement, and
public policy have delivered nuclear weapons, radar, ballistic missiles, satellite
surveillance, and many other technologies that have renewed the means and definition
of national security. In the late 1980s, the nation departed the Cold War and
moved on to a new international order, still influenced heavily by technological
accomplishment. Now our nation encounters new challenges in the definition
of national security. Nonproliferation of
nuclear weapons, environmental safety, and technological
competitiveness are examples of challenges that summon new means for assuring
national security. Beginning with nuclear weapons, this course explores several
examples of scientific and technological achievements that serve national security
and
examines the public policy that guides and supports the role of these achievements.
Prerequisites: QR1 and EN103.
R. DeSieno, Mathematics and Computer Science
LS2 157. COMPUTERS, ETHICS, AND SOCIETY 3
The intrusion of computers into almost every aspect of our modern lives raises
many interesting and difficult ethical, legal, and social issues. By examining
some aspects of computer science and some specific incidents and circumstances
(such as the 1988 “Internet worm” incident, the 1988 stock market
crash, the Strategic Defense Initiative, and the F.B.I. National Crime Information
Center), the course will provide a better understanding of how computers work,
the impact they have on human lives, the many difficult issues which they raise,
and finally the limitations which society, in turn, puts on their further
development.
G. Effinger, Mathematics and Computer Science
LS2 189. THE SEARCH FOR SYMMETRY AND PATTERN 3
This course examines the role and significance of symmetry and pattern in diverse
domains of nature and of human endeavor. It is surprising how broad a variety
of disciplines share a common canon of criteria for a “good” design:
repetition, harmony, and
variety. The study of examples from the earth and the heavens, from human visual
and auditory art, from language and literature, and from rhetoric and reasoning
will show symmetry (or a lack of it) as a crucial component of form and content.
D. Hurwitz, Mathematics and Computer Science
LS2 192. THE CHAOTIC UNIVERSE 3
A careful study of chaos theory and of discrete dynamical systems is made in
an interdisciplinary setting, requiring a background of only high school
algebra. The ultimate goal of the course is to get to a working definition
of chaotic behavior, and to understand the reasons why chaotic behavior is
so pervasive
in our world. Indeed chaotic behavior is inherent in population dynamics, in
the weather, in the stock market, and in the motion of the planets in our solar
system, to cite just a few instances of its occurrence. Secondary goals include
looking at the reasons why chaotic behavior was neglected by the scientific
community until recently, and using discrete dynamical systems as a window
to understanding the more complicated continuous dynamical systems. Prerequisite:
QR1. (Fulfills QR2 requirement).
D. Vella, Mathematics and Computer Science
LS2 207. SEEDS OF CHANGE 4
A broad survey of the role of the social, economic, political, cultural, nutritional,
and environmental factors that influence the food choices of individuals
and societies in different parts of the world at different times in history.
Topics such as the global interdependence of food production and distribution,
the environmental impact of changes in food as a tool to enforce religious
and political beliefs, the world wide effect of the introduction of modern
food technology, etc. will be addressed through analysis of specific case
studies.
U. Bray, Mathematics and Computer Science; V. Narasimhan, Chemistry
LS2 214. MATH AND ART OF ESCHER 3
An examination of the mathematical ideas inherent in the work of the graphic
artist M. C. Escher. Two central aspects of Escher's art are geometry and
symmetry. The course explores the relationship between Escher's art and the
underlying mathematical themes and considers the artist's success at achieving
a visual representation of mathematical ideas. Prerequisite: QR1. (Fulfills
QR2 requirement).
M. Hofmann, Mathematics and Computer Science