2021-2022 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Courses
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IMED 3210 - Digital Storytelling
This course begins with a review of traditional storytelling and literary development including classic quest literature and the hero’s journey. Students will then apply classical techniques to the development of virtual worlds, and interactive media both through non-linear narrative and 3D deployment of literary creations.
Anticipated Terms Offered: spring
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IMED 3220 - Game Prototyping
Game prototyping is about designing, programming, and testing game or interactive media ideas fast, and with as little effort as possible, while gaining knowledge about what does and does not work in every aspect of the game product, such as the game system, control, visuals, audio, and resulting theme. Students will create a few very focused (video) game prototypes using a variety of engines and frameworks, thereby gaining a better understanding of what makes games appealing, and how game mechanics, systems, audiovisuals, and a variety of player experiences can be designed and iteratively improved by means of rapid prototyping and playtesting.
Prerequisites: one Design Studio course (IMED 3200, 3210, 3230, 3240)
Anticipated Terms Offered: spring
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IMED 3230 - UX/UI Design
An introduction to the main areas of user experience (UX)/user interface (UI) design. Topics covered include theory and practice of human-computer interaction (HCI) and the development of user interfaces (UI), interactive design (IxD), user-centered design (UCD), and design thinking process. Students will work in teams and create UX deliverables.
Prerequisites: IMED 3000 - Interactive Media Seminar I
Anticipated Terms Offered: spring
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IMED 3240 - Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
This course is an advanced level exploration focusing on the virtual reality experience as it applies to interactive development, covering the history of VR approaches, practical applications, typical challenges, and current trends in gaming. This course specifically explores the use of VR headsets, as well as other newly developed input devices, for the purposes of creating engaging, immersive interactive experiences. Both the technical and design side of working within this medium will be addressed.
Anticipated Terms Offered: fall
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IMED 3300 - Interactive Media Entrepreneurship
Specifically focused on the video game industry, students learn and practice techniques for design thinking and for ideating new ventures, including the processes of business planning, financing, and capital formation. Students will embark on an exploration of both commercial and nonprofit entity models, their governance/organizational structures, and funding mechanisms. Students explore and shape innovative creative ideas, learn how to develop and mold them into feasible forms, and build business plans for their new enterprises.
Prerequisites: IMED 3100 - Interactive Media Seminar II
Anticipated Terms Offered: fall
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IMED 3950 - Independent Study
With their faculty advisor’s permission, MFA students may pursue an independent study. Student must submit a proposal that identifies the work to be undertaken and the deliverables that the advisor approves. May be repeated for credit.
Anticipated Terms Offered: varies
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IMED 3999 - Interactive Media Praxis
Students will complete their culminating project which they will present and exhibit. Students will work to develop their professional portfolio, project documentation, resumes, and artist statements.
Prerequisites: To be taken in students’ last semester of program
Anticipated Terms Offered: fall/spring
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INTL 1560 - History of Russia to 1861
A study of Russia from the Kievan period to the emancipation of 1861 with special attention to such topics as the Byzantine influence, Westernization, technological development, art and literature, and the Russian revolutionary tradition. Emphasis is on societal and cultural evolution, as well as essential political problems.
Anticipated Terms Offered: n/a
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INTL 2010 - Change Comes to the Village
This course will examine the disruptive impact of sudden changedriven by many factors including war, resource extraction and population pressureon traditional societies. Some societies have found ways of adapting aspects of the modern world to ways of life that have remained essentially unchanged for thousands of years, while others have all but collapsed. Students will look at specific examples of how change has affected traditional cultures in Afghanistan, Nepal and Alaska.
Anticipated Terms Offered: varies
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JAPN 102 - Elementary Japanese II
Second half of elementary Japanese. Continues the focus on developing basic language skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Course Designation/Attribute: LP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every spring
Placement Guidelines
Please visit the Department of Language, Literature and Culture for the language placement guidelines.
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JAPN 103 - Intermediate Japanese
A continuation of first-year Japanese, emphasizes mastery of more complex grammatical forms, increased oral proficiency, and cultural competence.
Primary emphasis is on building critical vocabulary and understanding Japanese speaking patterns.
Prerequisites: JAPN 102 or permission.
Course Designation/Attribute: LP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every fall
Placement Guidelines
Please visit the Department of Language, Literature and Culture for the language placement guidelines.
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JAPN 104 - Intermediate Japanese II
Consolidates basic language skills for students who have completed JAPN 103 or its equivalent. Further extends vocabulary and key language structures, such as honorific and humble expressions, to provide a solid foundation for language proficiency. Emphasizes development of language skills in cultural context.
Prerequisites: JAPN 103 or placement
Course Designation/Attribute: LP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every spring
Placement Guidelines
Please visit the Department of Language, Literature and Culture for the language placement guidelines.
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JAPN 190 - Japanese Women Writers
Explores Japanese poetry and prose in translation, from the literary tradition of 10th- through 11th-century Japan, through the reawakening of women writers in the early modern period to contemporary writers popular both in Japan and abroad. Emphasis is on the cultural context of author and audience and the changing role of women in Japanese society.
Prerequisites: IDND 018 or VE placement
Course Designation/Attribute: VE
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year
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JAPN 220 - Remaking Japan: Hollywood and Japanese Cinema
Hollywood remakes of Japanese films constitute their own genre. But what are the politics, profit motives, and visual substitutions common to the production and dissemination of American remakes of Japanese originals? This course is designed to foster deeper understandings of these issues as related to the art of remaking and to direct those understandings toward rigorous analyses of films as texts and critical examinations of the medium as a tool of social representation.
Prerequisites: IDND 018 or VE Placement
Course Designation/Attribute: DI, VE
Anticipated Terms Offered: Bi-annually
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JAPN 280 - Memory and National Identity in Post-War Japanese Fiction and Film
This seminar will explore Japanese literature and film from 1945 to the present as a response to dramatic and total defeat in World War Two. What is the legacy of WW2 for Japanese cultural production? How has the memory of the war shaped the themes of novels, manga, film and other forms of artistic expression? How has post-war literature both reflected and transformed issues of national identity? What do these works reveal about modern, and post-modern, Japanese constructions of the self? From atomic desert to economic powerhouse, we will consider the cultural context of post-war trauma and subjugation, of war guilt and its denial, of affluence and anomie: the long shadow cast by World War Two.
Course Designation/Attribute: DI
Anticipated Terms Offered: bi-annually
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JAPN 299 - Directed Study
Undergraduates, typically juniors and seniors, construct an independent study course on a topic approved and directed by a faculty member. Offered for variable credit. May be repeatable for credit.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester
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JS 117 - Reading the Narratives of the Hebrew Bible
The first half of the Hebrew Bible-the books of Genesis through Kings-is a central text of Western culture. But how are these texts to be read? As history, myth, religious program, foundation of Judaism, foundation of Christianity? Using the tools of comparative ancient Near eastern languages and cultures, the history of religion, literary analysis, and folklore, we will explore the Bible’s many faces, and try to show how the answer to the question is close to “all of the above.” We will also view the texts through the window of later interpretation among Jews and Christians, and see how many generations came to view themselves and their own story through the ones presented in the Bible. Fulfills the Historical Perspective requirement.
Course Designation/Attribute: HP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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JS 118 - Introduction to the Hebrew Bible II: Prophecy and Poetry
A close reading (in English) of the poetic portions of the Hebrew Bible, from Isaiah through the Writings. The prophetic revolution in Israel is evaluated: its roots, as well as its impact on its own society and later social and cultural criticism in the West. The artistry of biblical poetry is analyzed, along with the thematics of piety, despair, resignation and eroticism that are found in such books as the Psalms and the Song of Songs. Finally, books of a more philosophical bent (Ecclesiastes, Job), which question the earlier assumptions of biblical faith, are read. As in JS 117 , emphasis is placed in the influence of the Bible on later thinking in the West.
Course Designation/Attribute: VP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year
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JS 125 - Changing Images of King David
The biblical David is one of those figures like King Arthur, Faust, and Don Juan, whose persona has fascinated people through the ages. In turn, he has been transformed by their portrayals of him. In this course, we will first do a close reading of the gripping book of Samuel and other biblical texts, using historical and literary tools to gauge David’s complex personality as presented in the Bible. Then, utilizing post-biblical legend (Jewish, Christian, and Muslim), medieval and Renaissance art, and more recent literature and film, we will see how later generations came to shape him in their own image, embodying the problems of political power, the depths of inner religious life, and the universal hopes for a transformed world.
Course Designation/Attribute: VP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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JS 130 - Suffering and Evil in Jewish Tradition
A central problem in Western religious thought is theodicy: how to explain the existence of suffering and evil in a world ruled by a supposedly benevolent God. Examines a variety of Jewish sources on the problem, which propose a wide variety of answers. Central are the biblical book of Job and its interpretations through the centuries; at the other end of history, responses to the Holocaust are considered.
Course Designation/Attribute: VP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year
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JS 174 - The Jewish Experience
Surveys history of the Jewish community and the development of Judaism from the era of Alexander the Great (c. 325 B.C.E.) to the present. Examines the major political, religious, social and economic trends of each period as they affected the Jewish community and the development of Judaism. Emphasizes elements of change and continuity, as well as interaction of the Jewish community with the larger culture and community. Fulfills the Historical Perspective.
Course Designation/Attribute: HP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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JS 298 - Internship
Academic experience taking place in the field with an opportunity to earn credit. Application must be submitted to Career Services for their approval. Student needs to find a faculty member sponsor.
Anticipated Terms Offered: varies
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JS 299 - Directed Study
Undergraduates, typically juniors and seniors, construct an independent study course on a topic approved and directed by a faculty member. Offered for variable credit. May be repeatable for credit.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester
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LALS 298 - Internship
An Academic internship is a practical work experience with an academic component that enables a student to gain knowledge and skills within an organization, industry, or functional area that reflects the student’s academic and professional interests.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall/Spring
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LALS 299 - Directed Study
Undergraduates, typically juniors and seniors, construct an independent study course on a topic approved and directed by a faculty member. Offered for variable credit. May be repeatable for credit.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester
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LAS 038 - Trial Advocacy
This course teaches the fundamentals of the trial of a case in a court of law. The students are expected to prepare and deliver oral presentations, simulated openings, closings and witness examinations during the semester. The culmination of the course is a series of trials in which the students are the attorneys and witnesses. This course is a prerequisite for participating on Clark’s Intercollegiate Mock Trial Team.
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LAS 039 - Advanced Trial Advocacy I
This course involves the participation of two teams of Clark University students in the American Mock Trial Association tournaments. The tournaments require each team to prepare and try four cases against other colleges and universities using students as attorneys and witnesses.
Prerequisites: LAS 038 is a prerequisite to this class.
Anticipated Terms Offered: yearly
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LAS 040 - Advanced Trial Advocacy II
A continuation of LAS 039 . This course involves the participation of two teams of Clark University students in the American Mock Trial Association tournaments. The tournaments require each team to prepare and try four cases against other colleges and universities using students as attorneys and witnesses.
Prerequisites: LAS 039
Anticipated Terms Offered: n/a
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LAS 041 - Advanced Trial Advocacy III
A continuation of LAS 040 . This course involves the participation of two teams of Clark University students in the American Mock Trial Association tournaments. The tournaments require each team to prepare and try four cases against other colleges and universities using students as attorneys and witnesses.
Prerequisites: LAS 040
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered Every Spring
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LAS 042 - Advanced Trial Advocacy IV
A continuation of LAS 041 . This course involves the participation of two teams of Clark University students in the American Mock Trial Association tournaments. The tournaments require each team to prepare and try four cases against other colleges and universities using students as attorneys and witnesses.
Prerequisites: LAS 041
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered Every Spring
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LAS 298 - Internship
An Academic internship is a practical work experience with an academic component that enables a student to gain knowledge and skills within an organization, industry, or functional area that reflects the student’s academic and professional interests.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall/Spring
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LAS 299 - Directed Study
Undergraduates, typically juniors and seniors, construct an independent study course on a topic approved and directed by a faculty member. Offered for variable credit. May be repeatable for credit.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester
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LAT 102 - Introductory Latin II
Second half of Introductory Latin. Continues the focus on developing basic language skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Prerequisites: LAT 101
Course Designation/Attribute: LP
Anticipated Terms Offered: n/a
Placement Guidelines
Please visit the Department of Language, Literature and Culture for the language placement guidelines.
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LAT 103 - Intermediate Latin
Reviews the basics of Latin grammar and important syntactical constructions through the close reading of an introductory selection of Roman prose and/or poetry. Investigation of relevant archeological and artistic material will supplement the Latin text in building a comprehensive picture of the artistic and political culture of Rome and its empire.
Course Designation/Attribute: LP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually
Placement Guidelines
Please visit the Department of Language, Literature and Culture for the language placement guidelines.
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LAT 299 - Supervised Reading in Philosophical Latin
A close reading of selected philosophical texts in Latin.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every semester
Placement Guidelines
Please visit the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures for the language placement guidelines.
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MATH 011 - College Math: Applied
This course is designed to develop a fundamental grounding in mathematical skills for Statistics and other related courses. At the satisfactory completion of this course, students should be able to: Perform operations with integers; determine the order of operations; perform different operations with fractions; convert fractions, decimals and percent; use exponent rules; simplify square roots; solve and graph linear equations in one variable; solve inequalities; find the slope of a line; use binomial expansion and the pascal triangle; use properties of logarithms; find the mean, mode, and median; calculate the standard deviation of a sample; solve basic probability problems; define a normal distribution; find z-scores and x scores; use z-score tables; find probabilities using z-score tables.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Every
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MATH 101 - Concepts in Elementary Mathematics I
This is a two-semester sequence designed for students interested in teaching elementary and middle school levels. The importance of mathematics education at the elementary school level cannot be emphasized enough. This is where the stage is set for a child’s future success or failure in mathematics and the sciences. Proper mathematics instruction unifies different aspects of education such as listening and reading comprehension, oral and written expression, logical and critical thinking, problem solving skills, focusing on a task and developing work ethics and discipline. In teaching mathematics, an elementary school teacher faces great challenges. First, the developmental level of the students imposes natural restrictions on what can be taught and when. Second, mathematics can be understood only when a certain logical sequence is followed, when the knowledge is gradually built up, and constantly used and reinforced until it becomes “second nature”. Third, a child has to be given the proper tools to succeed, in order to keep the level of frustration to a minimum. Although this course touches on all these different aspects of teaching mathematics, the emphasis is on understanding the main ideas of elementary mathematics, the logic behind the algorithms, the development of mathematical intuition, the proper sequencing of the topics, and the understanding of how mathematical concepts fit together, what they are based on and where they lead.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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MATH 112 - The Mathematics of Voting and Social Choice
Who should have won the 2000 Presidential Election? Should there be multiple rounds of voting to determine the winner in an election? Can we determine how a voting system can be manipulated? While these questions are of interest to many social scientists, a mathematical perspective can also offer deep insights. In this course, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various types of voting systems, as well as issues related to polling and gerrymandering, and to “representation” more broadly. The main objective will be to convince you that no voting system can ever be truly “fair,” and to understand why that is the case. No background in mathematics is required other than some familiarity with basic logic and with symbols and variables; in particular, there is no calculus in this course. Therefore, students whose primary interest is in the social sciences or the humanities are absolutely welcome and encouraged to attend. Formally MATH 127
Course Designation/Attribute: GP, DI
Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall 2021
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MATH 119 - Precalculus Mathematics
Intended for students who plan to go on to calculus. MATH 119 is to be used, when necessary, as preparation for MATH 120 or MATH 124 and does not satisfy any requirement of either the major or the minor in mathematics or computer science. Students should have a solid grasp of elementary algebra. Covers more advanced algebraic techniques (linear and nonlinear inequalities, quadratic equations, linear systems) and gives a rigorous look at elementary functions (polynomial, exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric).
Prerequisites: A suitable score on the mathematics placement test.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every semester
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MATH 120 - Calculus I
Calculus is essential for majors in biology, chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, physics, and environmental science and policy. Part I includes functions, limits, continuity, differentiation of algebraic and trigonometric functions, mean-value theorem and various applications. Part II includes Riemann sums and integrals, techniques and applications of integration, improper integrals, transcendental functions (logarithms, exponential functions and inverse trigonometric functions). sequences and series. Though not all results are derived rigorously, care is taken to distinguish intuitive arguments from rigorous proofs. MATH 120 and MATH 121 - Calculus II fulfill the formal-analysis requirement.
Prerequisites: Prerequisite for Math 120: appropriate score on the mathematics placement test or passing grade in MATH 119 .
Prerequisite for Math 121: a passing grade in Math 120.
Course Designation/Attribute: FA
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every Fall (120,) and Spring (121)
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MATH 123 - Introduction to Statistics
Math 123 is a one semester introduction to statistics. Topics will include basic probability, discrete and continuous random variables, the Central Limit Theorem, sampling distributions for normal populations, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, the chi-squared test, and simple linear regression. Students will use R software to explore these ideas on actual data. Students will work with statistical models that occur in the natural and social sciences.
Prerequisites: MATH 121 - Calculus II or MATH 125 - Honors Calculus II (concurrent enrollment is allowed)
Course Designation/Attribute: FA
Anticipated Terms Offered: Each Semester
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MATH 125 - Honors Calculus II
See MATH 124 .
Prerequisites: A passing grade in MATH 124.
Course Designation/Attribute: FA
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every Fall (124) and Spring (125).
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MATH 126 - Number Theory
Introduces number theory and trains students to understand mathematical reasoning and to write proofs. Includes the unique factorization of integers as products of primes, the Euclidean algorithm, Diophantine equations, congruences, Fermat’s theorem and Euler’s theorem (and some applications: calendar problems, magic squares, cryptology).
Prerequisites: MATH 120 or MATH 124
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered periodically
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MATH 130 - Linear Algebra
A requirement for mathematics and physics majors; highly recommended for all computer-science majors. Topics include systems of linear equations and their solutions, matrices and matrix algebra, inverse matrices; determinants and permutations; real n-dimensional vector spaces, abstract vector spaces and their axioms, linear transformations; inner products (dot products), orthogonality, cross products, and their geometric applications; subspaces, linear independence, bases for vector spaces, dimension, matrix rank; eigenvectors, eigenvalues, matrix diagonalization. Some applications of linear algebra will be discussed, such as computer graphics, Kirchoff’s laws, linear regression (least squares), Fourier series, or differential equations.
Prerequisites: MATH 121 or MATH 125 .
Course Designation/Attribute: FA
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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MATH 131 - Multivariate Calculus
A continuation of calculus (MATH 120 , MATH 121 , or MATH 124 , MATH 125 ). Multivariate calculus uses linear algebra to extend the important concepts of single-variable calculus to higher-dimensional settings. Topics include scalar-valued and vector-valued functions, graphs, level sets, limits and continuity; partial derivatives, gradients, tangent planes, differentiability, total derivatives, directional derivatives; paths, velocity, acceleration, arclength, curvature, vector fields, divergence, curl; extrema, Hessians; multiple integrals, change of variables, Jacobians; line integrals, Green’s theorem; surface integrals, Stokes’ theorem, and Gauss’s theorem.
Prerequisites: MATH 121 or MATH 125 or MATH 130 .
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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MATH 133 - Mathematical Modeling
Mathematical models are fundamental for understanding, predicting, and decision-making in almost every field. The goal of this course is to enable students to build mathematical models of real-world phenomena, analyze them, and make predictions about their behavior. A variety of models will be addressed with examples taken from natural and social sciences such as biology, chemistry, economics, and physics. Students are expected to actively engage in the modeling process by showing understanding and questioning the models constituents and extrapolating the presented examples to other situations. This course is project based. By the end of this course students are expected to present a report on their project with a focus on describing the modeling procedure and an analysis of the extent to which their model is accurate and its limitations.
Prerequisites: MATH 121 - Calculus II or MATH 125 - Honors Calculus II
Course Designation/Attribute: POP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Spring
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MATH 172 - Introduction to Modern Analysis
Modern analysis provides a language and unifying framework for theories encountered throughout mathematics. In this course, students learn to understand, formulate and prove mathematical statements. Ideas first encountered in calculus-convergence, completeness and integration-are studied in depth. Other topics include metric spaces, normed spaces, compactness and measure theory (Lebesgue integration). Required for mathematics majors by the junior year, and earlier if possible.
Prerequisites: MATH 121 or MATH 125 .
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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MATH 201 - Proseminar in Mathematics
Senior undergraduates study and speak on topics in mathematics to become acquainted with diverse subjects, learn to research known topics, practice presenting mathematics to peers, and present their research areas. Possible topics include: category theory, knot theory, automorphic forms, topos theory, low-dimensional topology, class field theory, group representation theory, and dynamical systems. This is a capstone course in mathematics.
Spring 2021
Geometric Analysis lies at the intersection of developments in differential geometry, partial differential equations, and modern physics. This advanced undergraduate course is an introduction to this field with applications to mathematical general relativity. The framework of this course is Riemannian geometry, Lorentzian geometry, and geometric differential equations, e.g., Einstein equations. We study special Lorentzian manifolds (i.e., spacetimes) that correspond to the cosmological universe and black holes in general relativity. Finally, we define geometric quantities related to energy in general relativity and review the proof of positive energy theorem for special spacetimes.
Prerequisites: 130 (Linear Algebra) and Math 131 (Multivariable Calculus) are formal prerequisites. Familiarity with Math 230 (Differential Geometry) is also recommended but not required.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered periodically
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MATH 214 - Modern Analysis
Ideas introduced in MATH 172 are developed and applied to scientific models. Topics include Hilbert spaces, Lp spaces, Fourier series, Weierstrass approximation theorems and linear operators.
Prerequisites: MATH 120 and MATH 130 and MATH 172 .
Course Designation/Attribute: NA
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year
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MATH 216 - Functions of a Complex Variable
Designed for undergraduate science and mathematics majors. Includes Cauchy’s theorem, power series, Laurent series, the residue theorem, harmonic functions and physical applications, such as problems in two-dimensional flow. An introduction to Riemann surfaces if time permits.
Prerequisites: MATH 131 and MATH 172 or permission
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered periodically
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MATH 217 - Probability and Statistics
An introduction to probability theory and mathematical statistics that emphasizes the probabilistic foundations required to understand probability models and statistical methods. Topics covered will include the probability axioms, basic combinatorics, random variables and their probability distributions, mathematical expectation and common families of probability distributions.
Prerequisites: MATH 130 , MATH 131
Course Designation/Attribute: N/A
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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MATH 218 - Topics in Statistics
The emphasis of this course is to develop the fundamental statistical concepts of inference and hypothesis testing from a classical perspective using the tools of probability theory. Topics investigated include sampling and sample distributions, graphical data analysis, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing and an introduction to Bayesian inference.
Prerequisites: MATH 217
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year
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MATH 219 - Linear Models
A course in linear regression analysis which explores statistical methods for modeling a linear functional relationship between a response variable and one or more predictor variables. First the underlying theory for simple regression models involving one response and one predictor variable is developed, and then the results are extended to the case of one response variable and multiple predictor variables (multiple regression). Underlying model assumptions are explored and the implications of their violation. Besides the development of the statistical theory, we will emphasize the practical application of the theory to real world examples.
Prerequisites: MATH 217
Course Designation/Attribute: NA
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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MATH 220 - Introduction to Stochastic Modeling
Stochastic processes considered in this course are collections of random variables indexed by a time parameter. These processes are used to model the dynamics of random events over time. Our focus is on Markov chains in discrete and continuous time, which form a widely used and relatively simple class of stochastic processes. The Markov property basically says that the future random behavior depends only on the current state of the process, and not on its past. These processes are used in a wide range of fields such as physics, chemistry, information sciences, queuing theory, statistics, economics and finance, social sciences, mathematical biology, and many more. This course is not only well suited for math majors but also for students in other fields with a background in probability and an interest in modeling.
Poisson processes which model events that occur continuously and independently of each other form a particular class of continuous time Markov processes. Examples include such diverse phenomena as the radioactive decay of atoms and telephone calls arriving at a call center. The probability distribution of the waiting time until the next occurrence of an event in a Poisson process is an exponential distribution. The generalization of waiting time to arbitrary distribution leads to the notion of renewal processes, which are often more realistic but harder to analyze. We will use these processes to model problems in a variety of fields, depending on students’ interests.
Prerequisites:
Anticipated Terms Offered: Every other Spring
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MATH 225 - Modern Algebra I
In the 19th century, Kummer introduced “ideal numbers” to salvage unique factorization of integers into primes (which breaks down in some rings of algebraic integers). This course discusses unique factorization and the modern theory of rings and their ideals, emphasizing Euclidean domains. Other algebraic structures (groups, fields) also are introduced. Required for all mathematics majors.
Prerequisites: MATH 120 MATH 130 .
Course Designation/Attribute: NA
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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MATH 228 - Topology
This course continues the study (begun in MATH 131 and MATH 172 ) of the topological properties of subsets of Euclidean space, developing algebraic tools like homology (the proper context for Stokes’ theorem from MATH 131 ) and fundamental groups, with an emphasis on finite simplicial complexes. Further topics may include knot theory and topological modeling in psychology.
Prerequisites: MATH 131 and MATH 172 , or permission.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year
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MATH 230 - Differential Geometry
Spaces such as curves and surfaces, along with their higher dimensional generalization, the manifold, are studied in this course. Local properties, defined initially in the vicinity of a point, are examined along with global ones, which concern the space as a whole. A main theme is the interplay between the notion of distance, and that of curvature. The latter comes in many forms, such as the Gauss curvature, mean curvature and principal curvatures, all related instances of a multifaceted concept. The techniques used in this study have their origin in Calculus, especially Multivariable Calculus. Differential Geometry is renowned for its applications in Physics, most notably General Relativity. In its modern form it has been utilized in many other disciplines, ranging from Architecture to Economics. Some of these will be touched upon if time permits.
Prerequisites: MATH 130 - Linear Algebra , MATH 131 - Multivariate Calculus , MATH 172
Course Designation/Attribute: NA
Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall
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MATH 244 - Differential Equations
Most ordinary differential equations occurring in mathematical models of physical, chemical and biological phenomena cannot be solved analytically. Numerical integrations do not lead to a desired result without qualitative analysis of the behavior of the equation’s solutions. This course studies the flows of scalar and planar ordinary differential equations. Stability and bifurcation are discussed.
Prerequisites: MATH 130
Course Designation/Attribute: NA
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year
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MATH 297 - Honors
Readings and research for students in the honors program.
Anticipated Terms Offered: each semester
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MATH 299 - Directed Study
Undergraduates, typically juniors and seniors, construct an independent study course on a topic approved and directed by a faculty member. Offered for variable credit. May be repeatable for credit.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Every Semester
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MATH 1000 - Algebra
This Algebra course is designed to strengthen and deepen students’ understanding of basic algebraic concepts. In Algebra, we work towards finding solutions to equations by solving for variables. In this course, we will emphasize how algebra topics connect to higher-level math and review how these concepts are applied in real-life situations. Topics covered in this course include inequalities, polynomials, rational, exponential and logarithmic functions, conics, and systems of equations.
Anticipated Terms Offered: fall
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MATH 1010 - Introduction to Mathematics I
An individually paced course designed primarily to develop proficiency with the concepts of introductory mathematics and algebra needed for future course work. Once areas have been mastered in a test-free environment, more advanced topics–from such areas as trigonometry and precalculus–are considered.
Anticipated Terms Offered: varied
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MATH 1020 - Introduction to Mathematics II
An individually paced course designed primarily to develop proficiency with the concepts of introductory mathematics and algebra needed for future course work. Once areas have been mastered in a test-free environment, more advanced topics–from such areas as trigonometry and precalculus–are considered. Prerequisite: Introduction to Mathematics I.
Prerequisites: Introduction to Mathematics I.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Varied
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MATH 1030 - Introduction to Mathematics III
An individually paced course designed primarily to develop proficiency with the concepts of introductory mathematics and algebra needed for future course work. Once areas have been mastered in a test-free environment, more advanced topicsfrom such areas as trigonometry and precalculusare considered. Prerequiste: Introduction to Mathematics II.
Prerequisites: Introduction to Mathematics II.
Anticipated Terms Offered: varied
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MATH 1110 - Precalculus
This course will combine algebra and trigonometry topics to prepare you for Calculus I. This course will strengthen and solidify your algebra knowledge by diving deeper into concepts such as quadratic equations, functions, and polynomials. The trigonometry topics that you will learn will help you solve right and oblique triangles and use these concepts in real-life applications.
Prerequisites: MATH 1000 Algebra
Anticipated Terms Offered: fall
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MATH 1140 - Discrete Mathematics
This course is designed to provide students with the necessary background to understand the foundational mathematical concepts used in computer science and other technology related fields. This course focuses on elementary logic, proofs, sets, relations, functions, combinatorics, Boolean Algebra and their applications in computer science.
Prerequisites: MATH 1000 Algebra
Anticipated Terms Offered: spring
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MATH 1150 - Statistics
This is an introductory course in statistics that encompasses descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics aims to summarize and present data quantitatively using multiple methods such as graphs, measures of central tendency, and measures of variability. In inferential statistics, concepts and methods used to make inferences about populations using sample data are reviewed. Topics in this course include probability distributions, estimating population parameters, testing hypothesis, and linear regression and correlation. (Formally MATH 1470)
Prerequisites: MATH 1000 Algebra
Course Designation/Attribute: FA (summer only)
Anticipated Terms Offered: fall
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MATH 1200 - Calculus I
Calculus is the mathematics study of continuous change and it is composed of two main categories: the study of differential calculus which we cover in Calculus I and integral calculus to be covered in Calculus II. In Calculus I, we will focus on instantaneous rates of change and the slope of curves and how these topics are used in the world around us. Other topics include limits and their properties, differentiation, logarithmic and exponential functions, and integration.
Prerequisites: MATH 1110 - Precalculus or MATH 119
Course Designation/Attribute: FA (summer only)
Anticipated Terms Offered: -
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MATH 2200 - Calculus II
Calculus is the mathematics study of continuous change and it is composed of two main categories: the study of differential calculus which is covered in Calculus I, and integral Calculus, covered in Calculus II. In Calculus II, we will focus on different integration techniques to determine arc lengths, surface area, and center of mass and their applications in the world around us. Other topics include applications of the definite integral, sequences and series, techniques of integration and improper integrals.
Prerequisites: MATH 1200 - Calculus I or permission of the instructor.
Anticipated Terms Offered: spring
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MBB 101 - Introduction to Bioinformatics
This course will provide an applied introduction to bioinformatics, computational biology, and comparative genomics. Students will work in research teams to analyze DNA and RNA sequence data from public databases within a LINUX environment. Teams will research the biology of sequenced organisms, evaluate methodologies, as well as plan and carry out computational analysis to test hypotheses.
Prerequisites: BIOL 101 (or AP Biology)
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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MBB 120 - Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems
With new high throughput experimental techniques leading to large data sets of increased quality, mathematical and computational modeling approaches have become an integral part of modern biology. This course aims to provide students interested in the interface between biology and mathematics with an integrated multidisciplinary foundation. Topics will incorporate areas of biology such as genomics, molecular biology, ecology, development, evolutionary biology, and epidemiology. The mathematical approaches we will use to study these areas will include discrete and continuous dynamical models, probability models and parameter estimation algorithms.
Prerequisites: MBB 110 or MATH 120 or MATH 124 and BIOL 101
Anticipated Terms Offered: Spring
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MCA 010 - What Do Advertisements Want?
In this course students will reflect on what makes advertisements effective and also problematic. Class will involve a combination of interactive lectures, workshops, and presentations, as students think critically and creatively about this cultural discourse.
Prerequisites: VE Placement Required
Course Designation/Attribute: VE
Anticipated Terms Offered: Periodically
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MCA 101 - Introduction to the Theory, History & Analysis of Media
The study and production of Media can rightly be viewed as the quintessential liberal arts focus for the 21st century, and it remains an innately interdisciplinary venture. Media, Culture & the Arts (MCA) allows students to engage with histories and theories of media informed by philosophical, artistic, and technological traditions, while learning to produce creative works that interrogate these traditions. The term “media,” here, is understood in a very broad sense, including print, photography, film, sound & music, television, digital media, and other forms of visual art, both traditional and contemporary.
MCA101 is an introduction to critical theory, cultural studies, and media history, designed to both support and define students’ interdisciplinary work in the major and beyond. In the course, we engage in a series of media-focused case studies, employing influential theoretical approaches such as structuralism and post-structuralism, ideological analysis and psychoanalysis, feminist and queer theory, critical race theory, theories of post-colonialism and globality, and media and technology studies. Our approach emphasizes the study of media texts in their historical, economic, social, and political contexts. We examine cultural formations created and disseminated on many scales, by individuals as well as media by industries, and the ways in which these forms of communication resonate in everyday life, on personal, local, national, and global levels.
Prerequisites:
Corequisites: Students wishing to major in MCA should take a Media Production Workshop alongside MCA 101. Consult the MCA major requirements for a list of qualifying courses.
Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall
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MCA 116 - Sex in the 90s: Pre-Y2K Media and Culture
In the 1990s, everywhere one turned one’s head and cocked an ear sex was being pictured and it was being discussed. This was true of media’s most popular genres and forms. The “battle of the sexes,” aka men and women’s debates around sex and its significance, waged across the decades’ dozens of romantic comedies. Meanwhile Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Soderbergh, 1989) explored men and women’s fears around sex, intimacy, and the suffocating norms of wedded monogamy, paving the way at independent film festivals for the New Queer Cinema film movement. On TV, gay characters, once only bit parts and the butts of jokes, were coming out en masse, from Ellen Morgan, Ellen DeGeneres’ character on the sitcom Ellen (1994-98), to Willow Rosenberg, Buffy’s nerdy best friend on the supernatural teen series Buffy (1997-2003). Mid-decade, AIDS finally became a matter of substantive national discourse. And the decade closed with a highly sensationalized presidential sex scandal taking the budding 24-hour news cycle by storm. This course delves into this historical and cultural context and studies it by way of some of its most popular and controversial media texts, including films, TV series, music videos, and videogames. While students are expected to leave the class more knowledgeable about “sex in the 90s,” the subject provides a thematic stomping ground for an introduction to media and cultural studies. Students will read canonical texts in the field, including Stuart Hall’s “Encoding/Decoding” and Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” and scholarly works that apply key ideas from such theory to the study of 90s media and culture.
Prerequisites: VE Placement or IDND 018
Course Designation/Attribute: VE
Anticipated Terms Offered: periodically
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MCA 218 - Meme Culture and Comedy Theory
Internet Memes are an unavoidable, arguably quintessential form of contemporary digital culture, in which repetition and variation produce desire, enjoyment, and optimally laughter. But memes have also emerged as a dark political force, used in calculated ways to inculcate viewers, build ideological consensus, and (arguably) to sway elections. What are memes doing for us in 2020 and how did we get here? This course directs a psychoanalytic lens at postmillennial “meme culture” in order not only to understand our love for memes as a communication medium, but also to understand the nature of human subjectivity vis-à-vis humor, jokes, and laughter. The tradeoff of this course is that students will be enabled to investigate a subject of daily interest to them-internet memes-but will also be required to read difficult works of critical theory, and to probe the pre-history of memes in such forms as Victorian postcards, 1970s CB culture, and standup comedy. Daily readings, weekly essays, and a final research project.
Prerequisites: MCA 101 or permission
Anticipated Terms Offered: bi annually
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MCA 224 - The Ethics and the Aesthetics of the Sublime in Art and Society
Why do some artworks and experiences overwhelm us, yet also move us so deeply? In the18th century philosophers, critics, and artists gave such experiences a name: “the sublime.”When we experience the sublime we experience something as great, as physically massive, as cognitively difficult to grasp, or even as posing a danger. The sublime draws us in as it pushes us away, and is both uplifting and terrifying. From the 18th century onward fascination with the sublime has been translated through the arts, often with distinctly political resonances. In the twentieth century, under the impact of historical events, technological developments and the later post-modernism, the sublime found new realms of expression. This class builds on a critical study of theories of the sublime to explore how artworks, especially those involving music, from different eras have engaged this extraordinary aesthetic. Formally PHIL 224.
Prerequisites: One PHIL or MUSC course or MCA 101
Course Designation/Attribute: VP
Anticipated Terms Offered: bi-annually
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MCA 281 - Urban Community Journalism
This class represents a melding of practical and academic approaches to journalism and combines the knowledge on the street with the knowledge of the academy and high level journalism. Students will connect regularly to the local community and produce publishable products.
After several weeks devoted to reporting skills, this class will turn its focus to the city of Worcester and the Telegram and Gazette newspaper as representatives of urban America and urban journalism. The class will meet four or five times at the newspaper (transportation provided) to speak with the editors and reporters in business, criminal justice, sports, and the arts.
As part of their work, students will write two stories based on their reporting on the Worcester community, with the aim of publishing them in the Telegram and Gazette. Note that this part of the course will require time off campus (again, transportation will be provided).
Course Designation/Attribute: POP
Anticipated Terms Offered: bi-annually
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MCA 282 - Radio Journalism and Podcasting in the Arts and Beyond
Since it began sending news and entertainment over the airways a century ago, radio has proved the most resilient medium on the planet. Audio broadcasting still attracts audiences today, whether in the many shows from National Public Radio or the more recent profusion of online podcasts on almost every subject.
In this course, students will learn how to create and broadcast their own radio stories and audio podcasts-including how to interview, write, record, edit, voice, and produce high quality products. The course will also focus on team and individual projects that turn out creative radio shows and more personalized podcasts built around the interests and talents of the students creating them.
While there will be ample opportunity to focus on arts and culture, almost any other area will be fair game as well.
Course Designation/Attribute: POP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Annually
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MCA 283 - Arts Journalism-Reporting & Reviewing the Arts and Culture
Arts journalism has long occupied a prominent place among newspapers and magazines, radio and television, and more recently the online world. While news and sports reports mainly give the reader/listener/viewer information, stories and reviews in the arts usually provide their consumers with enlightenment-an understanding of what’s involved in the creative process, the people doing the creating, and, in the case of reviews, how the finished products present themselves.
In this course, your writing will do exactly that kind of writing as you explore the range of the arts on the Clark campus and in the community beyond. You will visit arts venues around Worcester and spend time with reporters and editors at the Telegram and Gazette.
Course Designation/Attribute: POP
Anticipated Terms Offered: Every other spring semester
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MCA 285 - New Media, Youth Action & Social Change
This course explores the ways in which global communications has been restructured and redefined as a result of the democratization of new media technologies. We will be dealing with the theoretical, practical, social, cultural and ideological shifts in the field of global (and local) emerging technologies, with a special focus on internet technologies and its impact on youth action and social change. The class material will feature case-studies from diverse countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, Europe and Australia to compare, contrast and analyze the connection between such emerging media, youth activism and social change. The unique narratives that emerge from these diverse regions in the context of emerging technologies as a social force will be explored. The extent to which this shift supports the democratization of the multi-media sphere and how it has redefined the ethical and applied futures of the field of communication will be critically examined. A holistic goal of this course is to broaden your understanding of this phenomenon—to learn how to tie the global with local, theory with praxis.
Prerequisites: CSAC 101 (or COMM 101)
Anticipated Terms Offered: bi-annually
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MCA 290 - MediaNOW!
Media Now! Theory into Practice is an interdisciplinary senior capstone course in Media Culture & the Arts that provides a forum for students to synthesize knowledge gained throughout the major, and to apply what they have learned. It is a space that provides seniors the opportunity to showcase the endeavors mattering to them most - research, media production, leadership activities - and to prepare for a life in media after college. Every student will be required to plan and carry to completion a signature project in close consultation with the course instructor. For a student with a production orientation, this might be a performance, a graphic novel or an art opening. For students with an historical or analytic bent, an academic research project is another possibility. And, depending on one’s goals, the work might include a focused off-campus apprenticeship/work experience. The culmination of this course will be the planning of and participation in the MCA Graduation Symposium, an event that will provide student presenters and audience members a chance to actively engage with creative work and scholarship in all aspects: work inside and outside the classroom, in communities around Main South, and scholarly and creative pursuits in various forms.
Prerequisites: MCA seniors
Anticipated Terms Offered: annually
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MCA 297 - Honors
Readings and research for students in the honors program. May be repeatable for credit.
Anticipated Terms Offered: varies
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MGMT 100 - The Art and Science of Management
This course is designed to encourage students to consider how business is embedded into the larger society. It will introduce students to basic management skills and the context in which they are applied. Whether a person is working in a complex organization, such as a bank, university, high-tech firm, hospital or manufacturer; participating in a student-run activity; volunteering for a local nonprofit; or working a summer job-management skills are necessary. For management majors and minors, the course provides an introduction to the topics they will study in greater depth in their future course work. For students not majoring in management, it provides an opportunity to learn basic skills that will be helpful in their current and future activities in organizations. The course structure includes readings, lecture, service learning, case analyses, role plays and experiential exercises. The course involves considerable interaction between the professor and students, and among students, because the practice of management is about people working with, listening to, and respecting people who have different backgrounds, experiences and opinions. This class fulfills the Verbal Expression requirement.
Prerequisites: VE Placement or IDND 018
Course Designation/Attribute: VE
Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year
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