The following message is official and has been approved by the appropriate authorities to be posted to this list. This list is for the specific purpose of sending emails out to MCB students from the MCB Undergraduate Affairs Office. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following courses have open seats. If you're looking for a class to satisfy the following breadth requirements PS, AL, SBS or American Cultures or just looking for a great course, check out the courses at http://lsdiscovery.berkeley.edu.
Letters & Science C70U: Introduction to General Astronomy Alex Filippenko MWF 3:00-4:00, Wheeler Auditorium, 4 units, CCN: 51965 Also listed as Astronomy C10 This course is designed to provide, for both non-science and science majors, a description of the fantastic Universe in which we live. We cover the structure and evolution of planets, stars, galaxies, and the cosmos as a whole, gaining insights into amazing objects like quasars, exploding stars, neutron stars, and black holes. Recent newsworthy events such as the detection of planets around other stars, the possible evidence of primitive life on Mars, and the discovery of gravitationally repulsive "dark energy" are also featured. Major themes include our origins (such the origin of the chemical elements, stars, planets, and life), the methods by which astronomers investigate and eventually understand various aspects of the Universe, the scientific unification of many seemingly disparate phenomena, and the excitement felt by astronomers doing ground-breaking research on some of the most far-out topics imaginable. This course will inspire students to become more inquisitive about the world around them, and will develop their skills in arriving at conclusions based on logical, physical reasoning. Satisfies the Physical Science Breadth Requirement. L&S 120A: Crime, Detection, and Punishment in Literature and Film Linda Rugg TuTh 3:30-5:00, 110 Barrows Hall, 4 units, CCN: 52079 Also listed as Scandinavian 150 The literature and film traditions regarding crime and its detection are both an enormously popular form of recreation for audiences around the world and a fascinating subject for closer analysis. Often seen as "popular" or "trivial" or strictly "generic," crime fiction and films in fact reveal varying cultural attitudes toward deep philosophical questions regarding morality, the individual and society, personal freedom and control, and concepts of value. They also reveal how literary texts employ strategies and trajectories to create doubt, knowledge, and suspense in the reader. Why are these narratives so popular? What is their history and function? How do they work? We will begin with the 13th century Icelandic Saga of Gisli and look at such "serious" literary works as tales of Edgar Allen Poe and Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. And we will explore the boundary between the "merely" popular/formulaic and the literary by examining works by Eugene Sue (of Paris), Arthur Conan Doyle (of London), film noir, and the thriller. Doyle's Sherlock Holmes will bring us to discussions of the figure of the detective, who appears in various cultural incarnations from Great Britain to France to Sweden to China. The art of suspense and its creation in words and images will occupy us, as well as a look at the role of the mutilated and murdered body in the aesthetic and detective imagination. The medium of cinema has been perhaps one of the most significant realms of play for the crime genre, with photographic representation highlighting the horrors of the murdered body and cinematic editing perfecting the art of tension. We will view and analyze The Hound of the Baskervilles (after reading the Conan Doyle novel), Fritz Lang's M: A City Searches for a Murderer, a Hitchcock film, Roman Polanski's Chinatown, the stylish French policier film Diva, and the Norwegian neo-noir thriller Insomnia. Some short theoretical readings will round out the syllabus. L&S C170AC: Crossroads of Earth Resources and Society George Brimhall TuTh 2:00-3:30, 60 Evans Hall, 4 units, CCN: 52085 Also listed as Earth and Planetary Science 170AC America currently faces a crossroads in resource policy. Contradictions between the materialistic American lifestyle, the limitations of the earth to provide for our needs, and the present foreign policies in the Middle East have polarized political discourse to a point of stalemate. What lessons can be learned about equitable treatment of people of different cultures by a superpower in need of resources from a retrospective of the injustice, dispossession, and internment of ethnic groups and warfare in the West? We will explore the peoples of the West through lectures, documentary and popular films, and an optional overnight field trip to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Each student is expected to conceive his or her own vision quest outlining in poster format a plan for a decade of personal and collective actions that might help propel American society along a path of cultural harmony while continuing to support its material and energy needs with environmentally-sound practices. Poster talks are presented at a weekend class symposium. Satisfies the Physical Science or Social and Behavioral Sciences Breadth Requirement and the American Cultures Requirement ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The above message does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the MCB Department, its student clubs, or UC Berkeley. TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS LIST, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe mcb-infoline" in the message body. Please send questions or comments to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For a list of upcoming events and information about the student clubs: MCBcDNA http://mcb.berkeley.edu/groups/mcbcdna/ mcbUSA http://mcb.berkeley.edu/groups/mcbusa/
