Contextures | Tangents | Math

CONTEXTURES

Free At Last? Being Black in White America | Hip-Hop, Poetry, and Resistance | Listening, Thinking, Acting | Human Rights in Global Contexts

TEXTURES
Free At Last? Being Black In White America

IDS 2202-101 Call # 13385
MWF 9:00-9:50
IDS 2202-102 Call # 13386
MWF 10:00-10:50

Dr. Betsy Beaulieu
LLR 263
English/Humanities W, CD

Is American truly a place of equality and opportunity, the “land of the free” that our Founding Fathers envisioned? And what, exactly, does it mean to be “free”? This course will take as its subject the African American experience, from slavery to the present. Beginning with the Middle Passage, we will investigate how African Americans have struggled to claim both individual and collective identity in a country that has refused to grant them full citizenship. We will look particularly at civil rights – for instance, the right to marry, have a family, and nurture and protect that family; the right to read; the right to equal education and legal protection, the right to vote, the right to choose where to live and where to work. We will also consider the roles that conventional gender expectations, European standards of beauty, and Black stereotypes (for example, the mammy figure and the Black athlete) play in shaping Black identity.

The legacy of slavery and how it continues to play out today has a profound influence on Black and white Americans. Against the backdrop of the dominant culture – white America – we will listen to Black voices as they narrate their struggles, frustrations, joys, sorrows, and triumphs through works of literature and film.

Reading will include:

Douglass, Frederick, Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
Jacobs, Harriet, Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl
Gaines, Ernest, A Lesson Before Dying
Wilson, August, Fences
Hansberry, Lorraine, A Raisin in the Sun
Howard-Pitney, David, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and ’60
Morrison, Toni, The Bluest Eye
Neely, Barbara, Blanche on the Lam
Naylor, Gloria, The Women of Brewster Place

Films will include:

Amistad
Places in the Heart
The Untold Story of Emmett Till
Driving Miss Daisy
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
X
Bamboozled.

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TEXTURES
Hip-Hop, Poetry, and Resistance

IDS 2202-103 Call # 13387
MWF 9:00-9:50
IDS 2202-104 Call # 13388
MWF 10:00-10:50

Ms. Katie Adams
LLR 365
English/Humanities, W, CD

This course will explore the new wave of activism around the Prison Industrial Complex, private prisons, and the commodification of prisoners in U.S. history, politics, and consumerism. The roots of Hip-Hop music, culture and activism were developed in prison narratives, the experience of prison, mass incarceration, and the history of penology and criminal justice issues in U.S. culture/ politics. Over 80 percent of Hip-Hop consumers are young, white, and upper middle class people. While black people only make up 10 to 13 percent of the U.S. population, they represent over 50 percent of our prison population. These numbers, and the racial and class discrepancies they reveal, will serve as a vehicle to explore issues around race, class, work, human rights (or civil rights), and the political movements that have climbed over prison walls and out onto the streets. This political and poetic explication will have special focus on the new, young, urban activist movements that center around prison issues, but that cross lines into other movements/ issues (including but not limited to post 911 fall out and anti-imperialist work that at it’s center, examines the commercialization (or commodification) of human suffering, or the relationship between consumerism, activism and human rights violations. Texts will include music, movies, poetry and prose. Projects for this course will have an interdisciplinary, creative and social action/ service learning emphases.

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TEXTURES
Listening, Thinking, Acting

IDS 2202-105 Call # 13989
MWF 9:00-9:50
IDS 2202-106 Call # 13990
MWF 10:00-10:50

David Huntley
LLR 221
English/Humanities W, CD

What do Freakonomics, Listening to the Land, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Cynthia’s Contexts have in common? In this configuration of Contextures (Contexts plus Textures sections 105 or 106), you will be encouraged to, and given the tools for, challenging assumptions, conventional wisdom, and many other accepted beliefs and explanations for “the way things are.” Are “experts” deserving of this title, and how can we distinguish between those who really know and those who simply want us to think and believe what they say without question?

In Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (Dubner graduated from Appalachian in the early 80’s) explore such assumptions as the relative danger of guns and backyard swimming pools and encourage readers to look closely at the hidden side of everything. This book is an irreverent romp through conventional wisdom and those who espouse it, playful but at the same time making us aware of the powerful and pervasive forces constantly trying to manipulate us.

Derrick Jensen recognizes that Americans are members of the most destructive culture ever to exist and asks the question, “Why do we act as we do?” Listening to the Land is a collection of the conversational responses to this question, from militant environmentalists, economists, theologians, indigenous philosophers, artists, old hippies, academics, and folks who can’t be classified. Thoughtful, eloquent, and often brutally honest, these responses make us examine how we live and why, what we believe in and how we came to these beliefs without question, and suggestions for shedding some of our cultural restrictions and expectations.

Robert Pirsig said that Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance contains very little Zen and not much on motorcycle maintenance either. So what’s it about? The subtitle, “An Inquiry into Values,” gives us a better idea. Draped loosely on the chronology of a motorcycle journey across the country, Pirsig examines technology, quality, his former “madness” and current “sanity,” and the philosophical basis for the way we think. After 31 years, this book won’t go away—it continues to sell around the world (100,000 plus copies per year)—and after you’ve read it you’ll be inspired and haunted by it, you’ll read it again, you’ll talk about it, you’ll encourage others to read it, and it won’t go away.

These three books form the academic basis for the course. You’ll read, think, discuss, and write about what you’ve read—what else do you expect from a college course with a Writing designator? But you’ll also be mentally and physically active beyond these books, taking journeys to places designed to help you learn where you are.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Exemplary attendance
Completion of all reading assignments
Reading response papers throughout the semester
Individual and group projects
Final project and presentation

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CONTEXTS
HUMAN RIGHTS IN GLOBAL CONTEXTS
Universal Human Rights, Intro & Chapter 1

IDS 2202-107 Call # 13391
Dr. Cynthia A. Wood
MWF 11:00-1:50
History/Social Science

DESCRIPTION:
This interdisciplinary course will explore the meaning, politics, history and practical significance of human rights, with special attention to issues raised by globalization, culture, and resistance. In addition to basic institutional and historical facts, we will address many conceptual questions, such as: What are human rights? In what ways has this definition been contested and why? How are rights represented and does this matter? How has globalization altered these debates? These conceptual issues will be applied to case studies that illustrate debates in the human rights arena, such as torture, food security, gender, sexuality, prisons, and children’s rights. For the final project, students will work in groups on a case of their choosing, to be presented to the class.

READINGS FROM (TENTATIVE LIST):
Jack Donnelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice
Alison Brysk (ed), Globalization and Human Rights
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na‘im (ed), Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Kerry Kennedy and Eddie Adams, Speak Truth to Power
Human Rights Watch, World Report 2005
Darrell Huff, How to Lie with Statistics
Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps

FYI:
All Wataugans will take Contexts together in a variety of formats similar to the Utopia class for the fall. Contexts is linked to a section of Textures, forming the spring core known as Contextures. This linking allows you to connect and apply information from one class to the other.

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TANGENTS

TANGENT
CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS

Dr. Leighton R. Scott
IDS 2205-101 Call # 13392
MW 3:30-4:45
221 LLR
Social Science MC

About Leighton Scott:
Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies PhD, History; Ruling Council of The International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations; Former holder of the coveted Red Chili award in ratemyprofessors.com. Office: 132 LLC (828) 262-2443 scottlr@asu.edu leighton.scott@adelphia.com

THE COURSE
Saddam Hussein flew the 767 which made the first hit on the World Trade Center, 9/11, and Osama bin Laden flew the second, right? Ah, you won’t fall for that. Good.

So who did these things? More important, what sort of people are the self-appointed enemies of America? Who was Mohammed Atta? An easy question. Harder, who is or was the bloody, now bloodied, Khalid Sheik Mohammed? (Alum. of NC State)

This course will take a ground level approach to the topic of “The Clash of Civilizations,” q.v., Google, for starters, as eminent scholars like Samuel Huntington and Bernard Lewis call it, controversially.

Why is the Clash a “Dangerous Idea,” to some people? Just “Politically Incorrect” to others? Merely academic to still others?

Who were or are these guys? Hint: they aren’t backward Bedouins dressed as women in the Bazaar, with bombs in their birkas. Some wear Calvins and study engineering at NC State or drink vodka and study aeronautics in Ft. Lauderdale.

What are “civilizations,” anyway and by the way, and which one are WE Americans a part of, assuming there are several?

There are indeed “sleeper cells” of friends and affiliates in the USA and closer than you might think. They are watched by the FBI, but not always listed in the TIME Almanac.

Is the Pentagon’s Grand Strategy sort of like – “The War on Terror”? Why don’t we call that war a war anymore?

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TANGENT
The New Yorker

IDS 2205-102 Call # 13393
TR 2:00-3:15

Dr. Leighton R. Scott
LLR 221
Humanities/Literature Credit CD

NEW YORKER is: life and literature based on the magazine of that name. Students get semester-subscription for about $12.50 (total course cost); company sends free videotapes, reprints. Magazine has been the definer of the best in American culture; extraordinary artistic nonfiction: Susan Faludi, John McPhee, Paul Theroux; prize-winning fiction: Joyce Carol Oates, Thom Jones, Alice Munro, Annie Proulx; cartoons and reviews
(by Terrence Rafferty, John Updike, Calvin Trillin).

Excellent background information on 2001 terrorism by America's star investigative reporter Seymour Hersh. And you can bet your bottom that all of it won't be over for a long, long, time. Even longer than that. You can learn to write like a pro by studying this magazine. (You can learn everything about Texas truckstops; Miami; Madagascar; N.Y. clubs, anyway.) Best if you are a serious lit-student; maybe do some writing?

METHODS OF EVALUATION:
Class discussion and essays. Quizzes if necessary; none, if not--but they're usually necessary. If quizzing is necessary, you should know that your grade may depend 65% on it and other ways I have of determining you've done the work. Plan to attend virtually all the classes, having read well enough to retain and discuss the material. Look at a few copies of the magazine if you're not familiar with it. Don't take the course just because it's cheap. That could cost you 3 credit hours of tuition, and that ain't cheap!

GOALS, OBJECTIVES:
Understanding and expressing oneself on literature; art (incl. cartoons); public affairs -- such as the current clash of civilizations now termed "war on terrorism"; and even magazine advertising. Ability to differentiate fiction and nonfiction and what the authors are trying to do. Understand what is funny; analyze humor.

PRIMARY TEXT:
THE NEW YORKER magazine; $12.33 for semester-subscription (as of October) when ordered through the instructor. Each student must own a semester subscription. Secondary: some classic older articles and stories, plus secondary sources -- articles about the NEW YORKER.

ATTENDANCE:
Attendance is required, except for two unexcused absences. Each further costs a half letter grade. But the ONLY attendance which really counts for grading is participatory attendance (as in life itself; Woody Allen doesn't know anything).

SCHEDULE: There isn't one, or rather it conforms to what they send us.

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TANGENT

POLITICS, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT: REVISITING NATURE AS SOCIAL SPACE
IDS 1105-103 Call # 13394

Mr. Chuck Smith
TR 11:00-12:15
LLR 221
Social Science Credit

This course will take an inter- and cross-disciplinary look at the interaction and intersection of politics, technology, and nature in global society. Drawing primarily from the social sciences, we will explore different conceptions of nature by reviewing and critiquing various strains of environmentalism. In so doing, we will seek some understanding as to why environmentalists, as practitioners of a new philosophy and politics, seem at many points divided and at other times unified.

Some questions considered include what is "nature" or "natural"? Is it possible to construct an inclusive environmental ethic(s)? Are humans inside or outside of nature? Is "environmentalism" a novel phenomenon or is it rooted in older social philosophy? Are science and technology positive paths toward understanding and or manipulating the natural environment and how does this fit into the larger concept of “sustainability”?

LIKELY READINGS:
David Pepper, Modern Environmentalism
Vandana Shiva, selected writings
Richard White. The Organic Machine
Michael Pollan, Second Nature or Botany of Desire

Thoreau's Walden (excerpts)
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations (excerpts)
Thomas Malthus and Karl Marx

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TANGENT
ADDICTIONS
IDS 2205-104 Call # 13395

Dr. Pete Reichle
LLR 221
Social Science credit

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is an examination of the history and use of drugs and of addictions including legal and illegal substances, habits and behaviors which may be both healthy and unhealthy. Substance addiction will include stimulants, depressants, over-the-counter and prescription drugs, narcotics, nicotine, caffeine, hallucinogens, marijuana. Eating disorders, work addiction, sexual addiction, sport addiction, etc. will also be examined. This will be accomplished through a variety of teaching methods looking at the various dimensions of health: physical, social, mental, emotional, spiritual/intuitive. Students will design, implement and evaluate a basic drug and health use survey for campus distribution.

TEXTS
Ray, Oakley & Ksir, Charles. Drugs, Society, And Human Behavior. 10th Ed. Paper. 2003. McGraw-Hill.
Weil, Andrew. The Natural Mind. 1986. Paper. Houghton Mifflin.
Brochures from the American Statistical Association including:
“What is a Survey”, “How to Plan a Survey”, “How to Collect Survey Data”, “Judging the Quality of a Survey”, etc.

METHODS OF EVALUATION
Tests: from class material, handouts, text, etc.
mid-term 30%
final 30%
Questionnaire and data analysis 20%
Short reports: AA meeting, film presentations 10%
Attendance and participation: 10%

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TANGENT
Relationships And Community
IDS 2205-105 Call # 13396
TR 12:30-1:45

Dr. Pete Reichle
LLR 221
Social Science credit

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course is a study of a variety of human relationships ranging from birth to death. Emphasis will be placed on practical situations and how individuals may improve communication in relationships. Examples of the various types of relationships and case histories to be examined are: friend/buddy/roommate; romantic; love; sexual/erotic; sibling; parental. These relationships may vary between being very brief or long term, intense or superficial. Pain, loss, unfinished business and growth in relationships will be explored. Students will be asked to read, synthesize and analyze a variety of material and conduct marriage, divorce and family interviews/studies.

METHODS OF EVALUATION
Tests: from class material, handouts, readings, text, etc.:
mid-term: 15%
final - in class: 15%
Book critiques: 30%
Autobiography: 10%
Marriage and Divorce interviews: 15%
Attendance and participation: 15%

TEXTS
Casarjian, Robin. Forgiveness. 1992. Bantam.
Dale, Orren; Smith, Rebecca; Norlin, Julia; Chess, Wayne. Human Behavior And The Social Environment: Social Systsems Theory.   2006. Allyn & Bacon.
Garrett, Annette Marie. Garrett’s Interviewing, It’s Principles And Methods. 1995. Manticore Publishers.
Peck, M. Scott. The Road Less Traveled. 25th Anniversy ed. 2002. Simon & Schuster.
Satir, Virginia. The New Peoplemaking. 1988. Science & Behavior.
National Council of Family Relations (NCFR) two journals: JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY And FAMILY RELATIONS.

WARNING
The material in this class and its presentation may cause the line between professional and personal (objective/subjective) to blur, particularly when issues may arouse strong emotions. This is one of several paradoxes of the class (others might be community interests vs self interests, helping others to change by accepting them as they are.) It is helpful for each of us to learn where the line is between what one shares with no one, what one shares with a few, what one shares with many. At NO TIME will a student be expected to share personal issues. Your instructor will present material from an academic and professional point of view.

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TANGENT
From Bologna to Boone:
Universities, Colleges, and Students, 1300-present
IDS 2205-106 Call # 13397

Dr. Joseph J. Gonzalez
LLR 365
Social Science CD

Have you ever wondered where Watauga College came from? In this course, you will discover the origins of Watauga College, founded in 1972, and the modern, American university.

We will begin in Bologna, Italy, the location of the first “university,” an idea that spread across Europe as societies urbanized and governments centralized. We will also study the American university, from small colleges, often rooted in religious traditions, to our system of research and comprehensive universities, of which Appalachian is a fine example.

Following our introduction to universities, we will explore the history of educational experiments in America, focusing on residential colleges. At the same time, we will learn a variety of research methods, understanding how to interview subjects and use archives, with the intention of preserving the history of Watauga on a website. Later in the term, we will visit other residential colleges in the East, sharing Watauga’s history and methods, and gathering ideas. We will conclude the semester with presentations to Watauga faculty and the university community (e.g., the “Celebration of Student Research and Creative Endeavors” in April).

By necessity, this course will emphasize collaborative learning; students will work together, gathering archival material and interviews, planning research trips, and preparing presentations.

Assigned texts may include:
Lucas, Christopher J. American Higher Education: A History.
Trow, Katherine. Habits of Mind: The Experimental College Program at Berkeley.

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TANGENT
Hollywood Theology: Jewish and Christian Themes in Blockbuster Movies
IDS 2205-107 Call # 13398
MW 3:30-4:45

Dr. Bud Gerber
LLR 263
Humanities CD

PURPOSES:
To acquaint students with the long history of Hollywood's participation in the work of doing "public theology"--i.e., contributing to discussions on the nature of God, divine law, sin, judgment, doubt, sacrifice, redemption, the destiny of humanity, and the end of time.
To focus on particular films that invoke the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, directly and indirectly.
To show how theologians attempt to interrelate and systematize the central convictions of their faiths.
To teach the student how better to notice, "read," and reflect upon the theological (and anti-theological) elements that structure an important body of filmic texts.

POSSIBLE TEXTS:
The New Oxford Annotated Bible
Joseph Rabbi Telushkin, The Book of Jewish Values
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Electronic Reserve Readings

REQUIREMENTS:
The student will have excellent attendance in both class and "viewing labs"; will come prepared to discuss films and the short daily reading assignments; and will keep a portfolio which informally reflects on classes, films, key ideas, and reading assignments.

UNITS OF STUDY:
Beginning to Speak about God: Hollywood engages in lots of "God-talk"--what are we to make of this? Possible films: "Bruce Almighty," "The Third Miracle," "It's a Wonderful Life"
Deliverance: Moses, Jesus, and their relationship in Jewish and Christian biblical and theological texts: Possible films: "The Ten Commandments," "Prince of Egypt," "Jesus of Montreal," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "The Passion of the Christ"
Temple, Church and the Moral Life: Possible films: "Crimes and Misdemeanors," "Breaking the Waves," "Changing Lanes," "Dead Man Walking," "The Chosen," "Places in the Heart."
End Games--Personal and Civilizational: Possible Films: "Schindler's List," "Flatliners," "Leaving Las Vegas," "The Seventh Seal." Did the Holocaust signal the ultimate death of "Judeo-Christian Civilization"? What is meant by "bodily resurrection"? What really lasts in the long scheme of things? Are biblical texts "predictive"?

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MOVEMENT, the ARTS, and METAPHOR
IDS 2205-108 Call # 13399

Ms. Patience Perry
T 3:30-6:00
The Great Hall, LLA
Humanities/Fine Arts MC

Overview
This class will explore the mind/body connection through the expressive arts, movement, and group counseling process. The innate and transformative powers of metaphor and creativity are investigated. A holistic approach to health that integrates the Mental, Physical, Spiritual, and Emotional Self will be discussed. We will draw upon African, Ayurvedic, Native American, and Taoist principles as well as the Expressive Arts. Therefore, this class incorporates various art forms and disciplines including the visual arts, dance, drama, poetry, music, ecology, psychology, and philosophy. Aspects of this class may be therapeutic, but do not constitute clinical group therapy. Students will, however, be asked to speak their truths and share in vulnerable ways in the context of verbal discussion, writing, art making, and dance.

Requirements

Students are required to attend all classes since the methodology of this course is largely experiential. Likewise, positive intentions and confidentiality shall be maintained.
Students shall complete assigned readings prior to their scheduled class and bring required objects and assignments.
Students will keep a portfolio of their in-class and out-of-class work throughout the semester.
Students will submit a personal Self-Care Plan and evaluate that plan at the conclusion of the semester.
Students will type a 2-4 page Midterm Reflection Paper, written in personal narrative format.
Each student will demonstrate a Version of Self (5 minute, in-class presentation) during the closing ritual.

Evaluation
Class participation/ Attendance (50%)
Dream Journal (10%)
Self-Care Plan and Rubric (10%)
Self-Care Evaluation (10%)
Reflection Paper (10%)
In-Class Presentation (10%)
Total 100%

Videotaping and Photography
Your written permission is requested to take photos and/or videos of in-class process. The intent of this collection is both to build evidence in my professional portfolio and to have digital material to work with for the final class and closing ritual. Thank you in advance for sharing your consent to digital documentation.

Reading List (course will include excerpts from the following):
Barks, C. & Moyne, J. Open Secrets: Versions of Rumi. Putney, VT: Threshold Books (1984).
Bosnak, R. Little Course in Dreams. Boston: Shambala (1985).
Chopra, D. Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide. New York: Harmony Books (1991).
Coelho, P. The Alchemist. San Francisco: Harper Books (2003).
Fischer, A. Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service of Life. Albany: State University of New York Press (2002).
Gibran, K. The Prophet. New York: Alfred A. Knopf (2000).
Halprin, A. Dance as a Healing Art: Returning to Health through Movement and
Imagery. Mendocino, CA: LifeRhythm Books (2000).
Lame Deer, J. & Erodes, R. LameDeer: Seeker of Visions. New York: Washington Square Press (1972).
Janson, H.W. The History of Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc (1991).
Shah, I. The Way of the Sufi. Arkana, England: Penguin Books (1990).
Storm, H. Seven Arrows. New York: Ballentine Books (1972).
Tsu, L. Tao Te Ching. Feng, G. & English, J. (Trans.). New York: Vintage Books (1989).

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TANGENT
Future Shock
IDS 2205-109 Call # 13400
M 5:00-8:00

Dr. Michael Wilson
LLR 263
Social Science, CD

This course will examine the history and practice of prognostication, and future extrapolation of current trends in various fields of endeavor. Note that much of this proposal material is adapted from existing futurist studies web sites.

Philosophical Goals:

To provide students with a stronger sense of how the past has shaped the present, and will continue to shape the future
To help students better understand, selectively predict, and (in the future) guide accelerating developments in science and technology, and improve their impact on society.
To encourage students to speculate about the unexpected variables that can affect a seemingly straightforward chain of cause-and-effect, and thus to consider their own culture and assumptions in a complex and multidisciplinary fashion, while at the same time developing their ability to efficiently narrow their analytical focus in order to produce structured results.
To encourage a proactive, “future shaping” attitude toward the future, as opposed to a reactive, “future shock” attitude, thus encouraging students to think about the personal choices they make in an accelerating world.
To encourage students to keep an observant eye towards the unexpected events and innovations that may change human society in paradigmatic ways
To encourage critical thinking and expression of ideas
To encourage imaginative, speculative thinking in terms of brainstorming

Pedagogical Plan:

Students may take a mid-term and final examination
Students will produce one analytical paper of 8-10 pages, tracing the influence of one social trend, technological innovation, etc., from the past on present day society.
Students will produce two speculative papers of 4-5 pages, predicting the future trends or influences upon society of one real or imagined social trend, innovation, etc. Each of these papers will be in two different fields of study (i.e. both cannot be medical, etc.)
Students will work in teams to produce brainstorm maps, future wheels, etc., for their final projects
Choosing one of these two topics, students will produce a final project of 12-15 pages, developing their ideas at greater length, anticipating possible counter-arguments, etc.

The primary text will be the splendid little volume Looking down the Road: A Systems Approach to Futures Studies. Non-fiction texts may include excerpts from Global Trends 2005, Seizing the Future, Which World?, Next: Trends for the Near Future, The World Ahead, Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the Twenty-First Century, The Transparent Society, The Coming Democracy, In Over Our Heads, The Best of the Best and so on.

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MATH

Introduction to Mathematics

MATH 1010-109
Dr. Sarah Greenwald
TR 2:00-3:15 Walker 314
M 4:00-5:50 Walker 205
Call # 13494
ND, W, C Designators

This section of MAT 1010 is designed for Watauga College students. You'll receive full general education math credit while developing a liberal arts appreciation of mathematics. While parts of the class are similar to other Mat 1010s, it differs from other sections via an interdisciplinary and thematically linked format.

OBJECTIVES:
Develop mathematical common sense, problem solving skills, critical thinking skills, research techniques, and communication skills.

FORMAT:
We will begin the course with a style of doing mathematics familiar to many students, by working with formulas from a textbook and then applying these formulas to interesting real life financial problems (for example, when buying a new car, should you take the rebate or the low interest rate option?).

In the next segment we'll analyze a number of statistical techniques to develop statistical common sense, using this in the context of real life problems (ex., how should we interpret opinion polls?).

In the third segment we'll examine the way mathematicians do research and the kinds of problems they work on, like Fermat's Last Theorem. You'll see that many mathematicians struggle with math in ways that you might, and that there are many diverse styles among successful mathematicians.

In the final segment you'll become a mathematician with the geometry of the earth and universe as your field of study.

REQUIRED RESOURCES:
Heart of Mathematics: An Invitation to Effective Thinking (rental text)
How Do You Know? Using Math to Make Decisions (purchased text)
Scientific calculator that can do powers (y^x or x^y or ^ symbol)
3-Ring Binder to store handouts (from class, lab, or on the Web)
Access to a web-browser and to campus pipeline twice a week

GRADING:
Participation (20%)
Weekly lab projects (35%)
Major topic exams, presentations, and/or papers (20%)
Final exam (25%)

THIS SECTION OF MAT 1010 WILL COUNT TOWARD YOUR TOTAL HOURS IN WATAUGA

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SPRING 2006 COURSES

CONTEXTURES

TANGENTS

MATH

Introduction to Mathematics