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Tufts College Experience

Available Courses - Summer 2023

Please note: Course Meeting Times/Modality and Availability are subject to change.

For a live Course Listing, please visit the link here.


 

 

Pre-College Hallmark Courses

More information on the Summer 2023 Pre-College Hallmark Courses can be found here.

Chemistry

General Chemistry II with Lab

1:00PM - 5:00 PM T,Th

Chemical kinetics and thermodynamics, physical and chemical equilibria, aqueous equilibria (acid-base, precipitation, and complex formation), electrochemistry, introduction to organic chemistry (families of organic compounds, basic stereochemistry, and nomenclature). Additional topics may include environmental, nuclear, coordination chemistry; chemistry of selected elements; and introduction to biological chemistry. 

Organic Chemistry II

9:30AM - 11:30 AM M,T,W,Th

Continuation of CHEM 51. Structure, properties, and reactions of alkenes, alkynes, conjugated unsaturated systems and aromatic compounds. Radical reactions. Mechanisms, retrosynthetic analysis and synthetic strategy. Additional topics such as the chemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids, and nucleic acids. Two 75-minute lectures, one recitation. One course. (Note: The laboratory course, CHEM 54, is normally taken concurrently with CHEM 52.) Prerequisites: CHEM 51.

Chinese

Intermediate Chinese II

6:00PM - 8:00PM M,T,W,Th

Continuation of CHNS 0003 (Intermediate Chinese I). Emphasis on basic vocabulary and structures, conversation, reading, and writing. Supplemented by laboratory drills. Prerequisite: CHNS 0003 or equivalent. Students may not earn credit for CHNS 4 if CHNS 03/4 has already been taken.

Classics

Paradoxes and Dilemmas

6:00PM - 9:30PM T,Th

(Cross-listed as PHIL 40) Introduction to fundamental themes in logic, epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. Paradoxes and dilemmas are frequently associated with moments of crisis and groundbreaking developments in the history of philosophy, as they lead to questions about basic presuppositions. Analysis of famous cases in the history of Western thought from Antiquity to the present including Meno’s paradox (knowledge), Zeno’s paradoxes (space, time, motion, and the infinite), the Euthyphro dilemma (justification), the liar paradox (truth), the Heap (vagueness), the Ship of Theseus (identity), Antigone (moral conflict), the voting paradox (choice), and the prisoner’s dilemma (action).

Classical Mythology

Asynchronous

Exploration of the world of Greco-Roman mythology and its intersections with art, ideology, and ritual. Examination of the stories of the gods and heroes as cognitive tools for interrogating the essential questions of being human: justice and morality, fate and identity, humor and heroism, suffering and triumph, and the meaning of life. Focus on how ancient myth has remained a powerful source of inspiration for millennia, informing the art and narratives of the Renaissance to the present.

 

War & Diplomacy Ancient Wrld.

Asynchronous

Introduction to the complex and intersecting practices of warfare and diplomacy in the ancient world from the organizations of states in the Near East to the fall of Constantinople: c.3200 BCE to 1453 CE. Exploration of the role of social ideology and religion in shaping how the Egyptians, Assyrians, Hittites, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and others negotiated formal and informal interstate contact and exchange. There are no prerequisites. 

Community Health

Special Topics

Asynchronous 

Special Topics In Community Health. Introduction to selected contemporary problems in community health.

Economics

Principles Economics

Asynchronous

An introduction to the fundamentals of microeconomic and macroeconomic analysis. Topics covered in microeconomics include (1) how markets determine composition and pricing of outputs and inputs, and (2) the behavior of individual consumers and businesses in response to market forces. Topics covered in macroeconomics include (1) the determinants of economic growth, and (2) the effects of fiscal and monetary policy on unemployment, inflation, and capacity utilization.

Principles Financial Accounting

10:15 AM - 12:15 PM T,W,Th

Principles of finance from the perspective of the corporation. Topics include an overview of capital and money markets, short- and long-term sources of finance, issues in selecting equity vs. debt, capital budgeting, costs vs. risks of various instruments, and appropriate uses of particular types of finance. Prerequisites: EC 0005, or EC 0003, or consent.

Intermediate Micro Econmics Theory

9:00AM - 11:15 AM T,W,Th

The theory of price determination and resource allocation in a private enterprise economy, analysis of consumer and producer choices, influences of market structure, and the interrelationship of product prices and factor incomes. Required of all economics majors who have not completed Economics 17 or 203. Prerequisites: Economics 5 or Economics 8; and Mathematics 32 or above.

 

Education

Special Topics: Liberty, Power, & Citizenship

Time Not Specified (TBA)

Educational problems of interest and value to the individual student investigated under the supervision of a member of the department. Please see departmental website for specific details. Recommendations: Open only to advanced students with permission of instructor.

English

Expository Writing

9:00AM - 12:30PM T,Th

Explores the principles of effective written communication and provides intensive practice in writing various types of expository prose, especially analysis and persuasion. Examines essays by contemporary and earlier authors as instances of the range and versatility of standard written English.

Creative Writing: Fiction

9:00 AM - 12:30 PM M,W

This course is an introduction to fiction writing. Our mission through the term will be to examine and practice the craft that underpins a well-made short story. Often we will come together as a workshop, where we will help a writer to see the range of possibility in his or her work. Other activities will include weekly readings from an anthology of contemporary fiction—to take apart, to study as potential models—and exercises that will allow for further practice of various fictional techniques. Of the two longer stories you write, one will be substantively revised. In a larger sense you will have the opportunity to find both your creative voice and the stories you need to tell. By delving into the craft of fiction writing, we will look to uncover a measure of its mystery and art

Creative Writing: Journalism

1:30PM - 5:00PM M,W

(Cross-listed w/FMS 30) A course open to all interested students who want practice and instruction in journalism in a workshop situation. Open to all who have completed the College Writing Requirement. Each section is limited to fifteen students. Pre-requisites: ENG 1 and 2 or completion of the College Writing Requirement

 

Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner

9:00AM - 12:30PM M,W

A study of major novels, focusing on the authors' careers and creative lives and on the environments -- cultural and psychological -- that influenced their work.

History

European History Since 1815

6:00 - 9:30 PM M,W

The forces that shaped and characterized the history of Eastern and Western Europe from the Congress of Vienna into the contemporary era. Topics include nationalism, ethnic consciousness, the Industrial Revolution, political ideologies, the development of nation-states, Great Power diplomacy, the impact of the "Eastern Question," the disruptions of the First and Second World Wars, and the current conditions of the European states.

Advanced Special Topic: World of Islam

1:30PM - 4:00PM  M,W

Formation and spread of Islamic civilization from the prophet Muhammad to present. Founding of Islam, formation of Islamic institutions and culture. Spread of Islam through conquest and trade. Islamic communities and states in Africa, East and Southeast Asia, Europe, and America. 

History of Art & Architecture

Renaissance Venice

6:00 - 9:30 PM M,W

(Cross-listed w/ FAH 134) Painting, sculpture, and architecture in the "most serene republic" of Venice, 1400-1600. Elite patrons, confraternal piety, wealth from the Levant, and a taste for pleasure provide some framing contexts for Venetian subject matter ranging from altarpieces to sensuous female nudes. Artists to be considered include Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Sansovino, Palladio, and Tintoretto. (May be taken at 100 level with consent; see below.)

Contemp Art Since 1960

6:00 - 9:30 PM T,Th

(Cross-listed as FAH 0155) Major art movements in Europe and America from the 1960s through the early 2000s. Discussions of the major works of avant-garde art and its criticism, from Abstract Expressionism through the postmodern practices of conceptual art, feminist art, performance art, and site-specific installation art. Analysis of works of art in terms of formal issues, the art-critical debates in which they were produced, and their importance for current art production. (May be taken at 100 level with consent; see below.)

Philosophy

Philosophy and Film

Time not specified (TBA)

Introduction to the study of film as a philosophical medium. Centers on film's capacity to bring out the ethical dimensions of the problem of distinguishing reality from illusion. A classic or contemporary film paired with a philosophical text each week.

Introduction to Philosophy

9:00 AM - 12:30 PM T,Th

The major types of philosophical thought and the central problems of philosophy are presented through study of some classic texts of the great philosophers.

Aesthetics

1:30 - 5:00 PM T,Th

A survey of some fundamental problems in the philosophy of art: the nature of aesthetic judgment; the task of criticism, formalism, and formalist criticism; the idea of antiart; the concept of quality in a work of art; modernist vs. traditional art. The course will include writings in contemporary philosophy and criticism as well as works by philosophers such as Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, and Heidegger.

Special Topics: Existentialism

6:00 - 9:30 PM T,Th

What is the meaning of life? Why is there anything at all? What should we do? Questions like these are the focus of the existentialist tradition. This course is a study of that tradition, focusing on Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, as well as several contemporary writers. We will explore accounts of why the universe exists, why each of us human beings exists, what the meaning of life is, how we can live our lives meaningfully, how we should feel about death, and what we should do with our lives, distinguishing an existentialist’s approach to these questions from other approaches. In addition to works of philosophy, our readings will be drawn from plays, novels and nonfiction works outside philosophy.

Music

Origins of Electronic Music: 1890-1980

Asynchronous

The history and technology of electronic music starting from its beginnings in the age of Edison and Bell, to the dawn of the digital era. Topics include composers' search for new sounds; technological developments enabling the electronic creation and manipulation of sounds; inventors of new instruments and compositional techniques; and development of schools of electronic music in various cultures in North America, Europe, and Asia. Emphasis on listening to and analyzing important works, viewing and reading interviews with composers and inventors, and hands-on sound manipulation using modern simulations of historical electronic-music tools.

Nutrition

Human Nutrition

Asynchronous

To provide an understanding of basic nutrition science to non-science majors and students with a limited scientific background. Students will become familiar with: the principles of diet planning, government standards, and food labeling; the biological functions and food sources of each nutrient; energy balance, weight management, and physical activity; the role of nutrition in chronic disease development; nutrition throughout the life cycle; food safety issues; and current nutrition-related controversies.

Physics

Wanders in Space: Exploration and Discovery (AST)

6:00PM - 9:30PM  T,Th

Space-age exploration of the planets and their moons; human landings on the moon; robot landings on Venus and Mars; liquid hydrogen and helium rain; planetary rings; asteroids and comets; thermonuclear reactions in the Sun; solar oscillations; the million-degree solar corona; the solar wind; solar effects; the greenhouse effect; ozone depletion and global warming.

Introduction Physics I with Lab

9:30 - 10:20 AM T,Th or 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM M,T,W,Th

Principles and concepts of classical mechanics; heat; fluids; thermodynamics. Lectures, recitations, laboratories. Algebra, non-calculus based.

Physics I and 11 With Shared lab

3:30 - 6:00 PM M,W

Laboratory associated with Introduction to Physics I.

Physics 2 and 12 With Shared Lab

3:30 - 6:00 PM T, or 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM W, or  7:00 - 9:30 PM W,  or 3:30 - 6:00 PM Th

Laboratory associated with Introduction to Physics II and General Physics II.

Introduction to Physics II with Lab

11:30 AM - 1:15 PM M,T,W,Th or 2:30 - 3:20 PM T,Th

Continuation of PHY 001. Principles and concepts of electricity and magnetism, properties of waves, light, sound, atomic physics, nuclear and particle physics. Lectures, recitations, laboratories. Algebra, non-calculus based.

General Physics II With Lab

11:30 AM - 1:30 PM M,T,W,Th or 2:30 - 3:20 PM T,Th

Continuation of PHY 0011. Principles of electricity and magnetism, waves, sound, and light. Lectures, recitations, laboratories. Calculus based.

Psychology

Introduction to Psychology

6:00PM - 9:30PM M,W

Systematic survey of the field of psychology, covering important general principles in the topics of psychological development, sensory processes, perception, motivation, emotion, learning, thinking, intelligence, aptitudes, social problems, and personality.

Psychopathology

6:00PM - 9:30PM T,Th

An introduction to the scientific study of major psychological and behavioral syndromes – including psychotic, mood, anxiety, personality, and substance use disorders – with an emphasis on assessment, symptoms, prevalence, possible causes, and treatment approaches.

Social Psychology

Time not specified (TBA)

(Cross-listed as CVS 35) How situations and the people around us influence our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Aggression, attitudes, attraction, attribution, conformity, group processes, helping behavior, non-verbal behavior, self-knowledge, social cognition, social influence, and stereotypes and prejudice. Applications of social psychological concepts to topics such as health, intergroup relations, and law.

Perception

9:00AM - 12:30PM M,W

Processes that transform physical energy (e.g., light, sound, heat) into psychological experiences (e.g., seeing objects, hearing music, feeling warmth). Emphasis on visual perception; topics such as speech perception and active touch will also be covered. Special issues include development of perceptual abilities, perception in animals, pathologies of perception, and perception's role in art.

Engineering Psychology

Time not specified (TBA)

(Cross-listed as ENP 53). Survey of the applied areas of psychology that have proven useful in the design of equipment for human use and in the design of human-machine systems. Emphasis on how humans process information and how psychological science can further inform each stage of information processing.

Romance Studies

Elementary French II

4:00PM - 5:00PM T

A continuation of French 001. Advances the study of basic grammar structures, fosters the development of vocabulary, and broadens the range of situations in which the student can understand and impart information. Multimedia materials provide the cultural context for linguistic activities. Online lab work is required. Conducted in French. Recommendations: French 001 or consent.

Elementary Spanish II

5:00 - 6:00 PM T,Th

Continuation of Spanish 001. The course advances and completes the study of basic grammar and vocabulary. It provides the linguistic skills and cultural information needed in a broad range of situations met when studying, working, or traveling in a Spanish-speaking country. Course conducted in Spanish. Each week, this course has two required synchronous Zoom sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00-6:00 PM.

Intermediate Spanish II

6:00 - 7:15 PM M,W,Th

Develops Spanish language proficiency sufficient for conversations on practical and cultural topics and current events. Class discussions, compositions, and journaling to increase vocabulary and awareness of Spanish-speaking cultures. Continuing grammar review. Conducted in Spanish. Prerequisite: Spanish 0003 or consent

Composition & Conversation II: Mexico y Los Mexicanos

6:30 - 9:30 PM M,W

Continued advanced grammar review begun in Spanish 021 with emphasis on written and oral expression. Compositions, oral reports and class discussions based on literary texts, films, and topics of general interest. Required weekly recitation session. Conducted in Spanish. Recommendations: Spanish 0021 Composition & Conversation I, SPN 0005 Intermediate Spanish for Heritage Speakers, or consent.

Russian

Elementary Russian

9:00 - 11:00AM M,T,W,Th

Continued introduction to the fundamentals of Russian. Focus on developing active speaking, reading, and listening skills. Students gain a solid understanding of Russian grammar and develop basic writing skills. Upon completion of the course, students can talk about their families and hometowns, biographies and plans for the future, and make purchases and order food. Students learn about Russian culture through short readings, songs, and videos. Recommended: Russian 1 or placement exam and permission of instructor. Students may not earn credit for RUS 02 if RUS 01/2 has already been taken.

Sociology

Special Topics: Sociology of Emotions

9:00AM - 12:30PM T,Th

 

Please see department website for detailed information.

Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

Public Speaking

6:00 - 9:30 PM M,W

Introductory course exploring the fundamentals of clear, confident, and effective communication in one-on-one and group settings. Development of tension management skills, good breathing habits, awareness of body language, and the ability to engage an audience through a series of practical exercises. Specific vocal work focuses on tone, variety of pitch, rate, volume, and articulation.

Costume Technology

6:00PM - 9:30PM M,W

An exploration of materials, equipment, and methods of costume construction. Topics include period pattern research and development, construction techniques, fabric treatments, mask making, and costume prop design. Lab fee.

Tufts Gordon Institute

Communication Skills

1:00PM - 5:00PM  M

Development of effective communications skills across a range of personal and professional scenarios, interpersonal communication, networking, and best practices in both verbal and non-verbal communications. Written communication skills for developing formal reports, drafting emails, and using social media.

Living Life with Purpose

Time not specified (TBA)

Holistic view of a human life. Work-life balance, mindfulness, personal ethics, physical and mental health, setting achievable and meaningful goals, and developing the skills of personal effectiveness. How to contribute to global society with an ethical mindset and cultural sensitivity.

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Intro to Queer Studies

1:30 - 5:00 PM M,W

Introduction to the interdisciplinary field of queer studies through an examination of key texts and practices. Course will interrogate notions of normality; binary systems of sex, gender, and sexuality; and cultural representations of personhood, citizenship and family. It will examine the application of queer theory in fields such as economics, anthropology, literature, cultural studies, and film studies. Of particular concern will be ways gender and sexuality intersect with race, ethnicity, nationality, and class.