Freshman Seminars Fall 2008

This requirement ensures that all first year students entering H&SS have a small-group course experience
in their first year. These seminars consist of substantive academic content drawn from the faculty ’s
expertise, as well as providing a supportive environment for the enhancement of academic skills. Required
of all first year H&SS students (to be completed in the first year) according to assignment by the AAC
Academic Advisor. If not placed into a seminar in the fall, a spring seminar is to be registered by the
student on Freshman OLR day.

Fall 2008 only

36-149, FAIR GAME? Standardized testing in America
Standardized testing is ubiquitous in America. For a long time its most visible form was college admissions
testing like the SAT, ACT and (for graduate school) GRE. We will begin by asking what (if any) value
standardized admissions tests have. Then, depending on the interests of the class, we will explore other
areas of standardized testing, such as public school accountability (No Child Left Behind Act of 2002),
university accountability (e.g. Spellings Commission, US Dept of Education), and social surveys like the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

73-101, Capitalism, Poverty and Labor Capitalism, Poverty and Labor
Taught collaboratively by professors in Economics and Literary Studies, this course takes a long historical
view, from two different disciplinary perspectives, of labor markets and how poverty is defined, from the
early years of English capitalism up to the present global economy. Students will learn how economists
think about wage labor and poverty, as well as learning some of the cultural history of labor and its evil
twin, poverty. They will learn how to analyze and interpret complex literary texts, how to analyze and
compare different economic theories of labor and poverty, and how to understand both literature and
theory in their historical and cultural contexts.

76-144, Art as an Investigation of the Self and the World
This course is designed to consider art as an investigation of the self and the world. In a 2005 presidential
address to the Society of American Archivists, Randall C. Jimerson reminded his colleagues, "archives
are not neutral or objective." Jimerson’s concerns regarding these repositories of collective memory
echoed previous undertakings of archivists, historians, and writers as varied as George Orwell and
George Lucas. In this course we will examine the inherent power dynamics of the collection process while
engaging in the art of writing. Through a series of rigorous creative writing exercises in poetry and prose,
we will mine newspapers, used bookstores, online audio exhibits, and personal artifacts to draft several
new works. Students will compose weekly annotations or responses to texts, and will submit a creative
project at the end of the course.

76-145, Capitalism, Poverty and Labor
Taught collaboratively by professors in Economics and Literary Studies, this course takes a long historical
view, from two different disciplinary perspectives, of labor markets and how poverty is defined, from the
early years of English capitalism up to the present global economy. Students will learn how economists
think about wage labor and poverty, as well as learning some of the cultural history of labor and its evil
twin, poverty. They will learn how to analyze and interpret complex literary texts, how to analyze and
compare different economic theories of labor and poverty, and how to understand both literature and
theory in their historical and cultural contexts.

79-153, Religion and Violence
Why has religion so often been associated with violence? How can groups divided by religion achieve
tolerance and respect for one another? In this course we will approach such questions by studying three
historical situations: the wars of religion in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Northern Ireland conflict, and
the contemporary problem of Islamic militancy.

80-115, Voting Theory and Presidential Politics
We review basic voting theory, particularly its relationship to contemporary game theory, and address
some applications to the ongoing US Presidential election. We will have a class project to assist
members of the CMU campus with on- line voter registration and absentee voting.

82-180, Matisse and Picasso: Friends or Foes
Picasso and Matisse: Artistic Friends or Foes? Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were arguably the
greatest of the 20th century Europeans artists. Opinions are divided as to which was the greatest. They
first met in Paris in 1906 and continued their contact - sometimes personal, sometimes via friends, dealers
and collectors, sometimes by spying on each other’s work from that moment until Matisse’s death in 1954.
Much has been written about their relationship, their influence on each other and whether or not they were
really friends or foes. This course will examine closely the work of each of these two masters within the
context of 20th century European art. It will look at them individually and comparatively, studying their
paintings, sculpture, work in clay and glass as well as their personal relationship. Readings will include
personal testimony from those who knew them well, traditional art history texts, several catalogues from
major exhibits that compared their work and several videos from these exhibits. Students will be expected
to become familiar with the major contributions each of these artists made to 20th century art as well as to
the cultural milieu in which they lived and worked.

85-121, How Children Learn Mathematics
People usually think of mathematics as something that children learn in school, but they actually begin to
learn it in the first months of life. In this course, we examine both the early understanding of numbers that
children acquire during infancy and the preschool period, and the more advanced understanding of math
that they acquire at school. Among the areas of mathematical development that we will consider are
counting, arithmetic , estimation, problem solving, fractions , and algebra. Mathematical development
provides a window into children's learning in general, and we will also focus on broad issues in learning,
such as why older children usually learn more effectively than younger ones; how learning of different
subjects, such as math and reading, are related to each other; and why children in some countries, such
as Japan, learn math more effectively than children in other countries, such as the U. S.
In this course we will explore psychological and philosophical ideas about consciousness, including
perceptual consciousness, unconsciousness, sleeping & dreaming, entheogens, flow states and selfconsciousness.
Several exercises will involve charting your own experiences and examining them in light
of these ideas, along with speakers and field trips, including one involving mindfulness and Buddhist
meditation.

88-111, Human Rights and Global Politics
The purpose of the seminar is to study human rights from different dimensions. First, we will examine the
meaning of the term and the issues associated with defining the human rights field. What are these rights?
What is their origin? Secondly, we will examine which rights/issues have been raised in the contemporary
international political system and the responses from major international actors such as the United States,
the Western European countries, International Organizations, and the NGO's such as Amnesty
International. The central issue here is one of answers and policies toward human rights abuses/issues.
Finally, we will analyze a number of case studies. Some case studies will be presented in the lectures,
some will be discussed by the students. Students will be asked to do research and report on a case of
human rights abuses looking not only at the issue or conflict that has led to those abuses, but also

Proposed H&SS Freshman Seminars Spring 2009

This requirement ensures that all first year students entering H&SS have a small-group course experience
in their first year. These seminars consist of substantive academic content drawn from the faculty’s
expertise, as well as providing a supportive environment for the enhancement of academic skills. Required
of all first year H&SS students (to be completed in the first year) according to assignment by the AAC
Academic Advisor. If not placed into a seminar in the fall, a spring seminar is to be registered by the
student on Freshman OLR day.

36-149, FAIR GAME? Standardized testing in America
Standardized testing is ubiquitous in America. For a long time its most visible form was college admissions
testing like the SAT, ACT and (for graduate school) GRE. We will begin by asking what (if any) value
standardized admissions tests have. Then, depending on the interests of the class, we will explore other
areas of standardized testing, such as public school accountability (No Child Left Behind Act of 2002),
university accountability (e.g. Spellings Commission, US Dept of Education), and social surveys like the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

67-170, Puzzles, Games, and Problem Solving
This freshman seminar explores critical thinking and problem solving via puzzle-based learning. Through
classroom discussions and brainstorming sessions we will examine a range of puzzles, brain teasers,
and games. What general problem solving strategies can we learn from the way we solve these
examples? A theme of the seminar will be to distill and discuss heuristics for tackling these type of
problems. Intertwined with this discussion we will also contrast the nature of heuristic problem solving in
humans and computers.

73-101, Capitalism, Poverty and Labor Capitalism, Poverty and Labor
Taught collaboratively by professors in Economics and Literary Studies, this course takes a long historical
view, from two different disciplinary perspectives, of labor markets and how poverty is defined, from the
early years of English capitalism up to the present global economy. Students will learn how economists
think about wage labor and poverty, as well as learning some of the cultural history of labor and its evil
twin, poverty. They will learn how to analyze and interpret complex literary texts, how to analyze and
compare different economic theories of labor and poverty, and how to understand both literature and
theory in their historical and cultural contexts.

76-143, Representing Pittsburgh
This course will look at historical and contemporary Pittsburgh through the eyes of writers, film-makers,
and poets. What are the roots of this city? How has the city changed over time? We'll look at the life and
death of the Steel industry, race relations, the current economy, and the various mythologies that create
the identity of the city. Students will be asked to go out into the field as researchers and write or film their
own representations of the city.

79-157, Feast and Famine
This course focuses on problems of food shortages and famine in the context of population systems. We
use the historical record from the European past to show how population systems functioned to keep
resources and needs in balance, and how they often failed. This requires that we understand customs and
practices regarding the family, marriage, migration, and reproduction as well as patterns of mortality. We
study the basics of T.R. Malthus’s theory of population, and see whether and how his work sheds light on
population history over the long-term. We compare findings on Western Europe with societies in other
regions of the world in both past and present. Topics include studying: the relation between economic and
demographic systems; the actual histories of “demographic catastrophes” such as epidemics and famines
(including the Irish famine of the 1840s); newer theories of how and why famines happen; and current
concerns about global food markets.

82-179, The Faust Legend at Home and Abroad
Since the sixteenth century, the name of Faust (a German magician believed to be in league with the devil)
has nurtured a vigorous strain of legend and literature that has flourished in Europe, Russia and the USA.
This course introduces students to the basic outlines of the Faust story, and examines some of its many
manifestations in novels, plays, operas and films. On the assumption that cultures reveal something
distinctive about themselves by the particular way in which they adapt the legend, this course aims to
discover how and why these Faustian works of art respond and contribute to the social, political and
historical context in which they are produced.

82-186, Introduction to Russian Culture
This course will deal with important cultural achievements of the Russian people in different areas. The
main focus will be on the analysis of relationships between Russian and Western cultural traditions. The
topics chosen for analysis are significant for Russian cultural history. Class discussions will help
students in understanding and appreciating some specific ways and achievements in the development of
Russian popular culture. Distinctive aspects of Russian high culture will also be highlighted, especially
through art and music. The course will include secondary readings, primary documents, and films.

85-117, Assessing Carnegie Mellon Education
How good is your Carnegie Mellon education? In what ways is it excellent? In what ways can it be
improved? These are questions you will be asked to address in this course. To answer these questions,
you will design and conduct projects assessing a variety of aspect of Carnegie Mellon education. In
preparation for these projects, the course will provide an introduction to educational assessment research
and training in the use of assessment tools such as questionnaires and focus groups. Classroom
presentations and a final written project report will be required.

88-117, Social Dilemmas, from Overpopulation to Global Warming
Social dilemmas are situations in which a number of people make simultaneous choices between what is
roughly termed "cooperative" versus "non-cooperative" behavior where the individual payoffs for the noncooperative
choice are always higher than for the non-cooperative choice - no matter what other people
involved in the decision do. Yet universal cooperation is preferred to universal non-cooperation by all the
people making choices. For example, in a very simple game of two or more people, players may choose
between receiving a payoff of $2 for themselves with a fine of $1 to each other player versus giving $2 to
each of the other. Clearly, if everyone chose to give away the $2, all would be better off than if everyone
chose $2 at the cost of a $1 fine to each of the other players. Nevertheless, each player is better off
making the (non-cooperative) choice of receiving $2 at the expense of a $1 to each other player, no matter
what the other players decide. The first part of the seminar will be devoted to reading the classic
theoretical arguments about social dilemmas, and to the surveying some of the empirical findings of social
psychologists such as Dawes about what variables other than payoff changes might enhance the
probability of cooperative choices, e.g., "identification with the group". After becoming familiar with the
theoretical and empirical literature, the members of the seminar will be asked to give presentations
concerning either their own ideas or the ideas of some other theorist or investigator about how to enhance
the incidence of cooperative choice. Each member of the seminar will be expected to lead one session
presenting such ideas and to write a term paper about them.