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This seminar will be focused on the ethical challenges that are encountered in sport. We will focus on the moral and political issues that affect the world of sport and which athletes, coaches, sports commentators and fans are faced with. For instance, we will ask questions such as: what is a fair game (the ethics of effort, merit, success)? Is it ethical to train people to use violence (the ethics of martial arts)? Are divisions by gender categories justified and what should we think of gender testing? Is the use of animals in sport ever justified? Which forms of performance enhancements are acceptable in sport (the ethics of drug use and enhancements through technologies)? Should we ban sports that damage the players¿ health? Does society owe social support to people who hurt themselves while practicing extreme sports? nnThe class will be structured around small group discussions and exercises as well as brief lectures to introduce key moral and political concepts (such as fairness, equality, freedom, justice, exploitation, etc.). I will also bring guests speakers who are involved in a sport activity at Stanford or who have worked on sports as part of their academic careers. By the end of the seminar, students will have a good understanding of the various ethical challenges that surround the world of sport. They will be able to critically discuss sport activities, norms, modes of assessments and policies (on campus and beyond). They will also be prepared to apply the critical ethical thinking that they will have deployed onto other topics than sports. They will have been introduced to the normative approach to social issues, which consists in asking how things should be rather than describing how things are. They will be prepared to take more advanced classes in ethics, political theory, as well as moral and political philosophy.

What sets quantum information apart from its classical counterpart is that it can be encoded non-locally, woven into correlations among multiple qubits in a phenomenon known as ¿entanglement.¿ Will discuss paradigms for harnessing entanglement to solve hitherto intractable computational problems or to push the precision of sensors to their fundamental quantum mechanical limits. Will also examine challenges that physicists and engineers are tackling in the laboratory today to enable the quantum technologies of the future.

Preference to freshmen. The course will begin with a description of the current standard models of gravitation, cosmology, and elementary particle physics. We will then focus on frontiers of current understanding including investigations of very early universe cosmology, string theory, and the physics of black holes.

Preference to freshmen. Explores the quantum and classical properties of light from stars, lasers and other sources. Includes modern applications ranging from gravity wave interferometers to x-ray lasers.

Understanding the complex world around us quantitatively, using order of magnitude estimates and dimensional analysis. Starting from a handful of fundamental constants of Nature, one can estimate complex quantities such as cosmological length and time scales, size of the atom, height of Mount Everest, speed of tsunami, energy density of fuels and climate effects. Through these examples students learn the art of deductive thinking, fundamental principles of science and the beautiful unity of nature.

Preference to freshmen. Current topics at the frontier of modern physics. This course provides an in-depth examination of two of the biggest physics discoveries of the 21st century: that of the Higgs boson and Dark Energy. Through studying these discoveries we will explore the big questions driving modern particle physics, the study of nature's most fundamental pieces, and cosmology, the study of the evolution and nature of the universe. Questions such as: What is the universe made of? What are the most fundamental particles and how do they interact with each other? What can we learn about the history of the universe and what does it tell us about it's future? We will learn about the tools scientists use to study these questions such as the Large Hadron Collider and the Hubble Space Telescope. We will also learn to convey these complex topics in engaging and diverse terms to the general public through writing and reading assignments, oral presentations, and multimedia projects. The syllabus includes a tour of SLAC, the site of many major 20th century particle discoveries, and a virtual visit of the control room of the ATLAS experiment at CERN amongst other activities. No prior knowledge of physics is necessary; all voices are welcome to contribute to the discussion about these big ideas. Learning Goals: By the end of the quarter you will be able to explain the major questions that drive particle physics and cosmology to your friends and peers. You will understand how scientists study the impossibly small and impossibly large and be able to convey this knowledge in clear and concise terms.

Richard Feynman has famously said, Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds. A closer look at key moments in the history of physics, however, reveals a different picture. Contrary to the misconception that philosophy has nothing to offer to science in general, and physics in particular, watershed moments in the development of physics were inspired and motivated by deeply held philosophical principles. Similarly, important developments in physics have generated important and difficult philosophical questions. In this sophomore seminar we will explore three significant moments in the development of physics surrounding the works of Newton, Einstein, and Bohr. We will analyze the relationship between the prevailing philosophical views they espoused and the physics they produced. How did Newton come to the view of absolute and fixed space and time? What led Einstein to reject the notion of a fixed space and time and propose a relativistic, and even dynamic space-time? What is Bohr's influential doctrine of complementary, and why did several generations of physicists believe it to be an adequate philosophical response to quantum mechanics? We will see that the relationship between philosophy and physics is more similar to the relationship between mathematics and physics where progress in one area is often preceded and followed by progress in the second.

the seminar will normally meet for two hours, but after three seminars there will be lab sessions to acquaint students with basic quantitative methods and major social science databases. After every election the commentariat promulgates a story line to explain the results. Typically later analysis shows the media story line to be wrong (eg. "values voters" in 2004). Participants in this seminar will analyze the results of the 2016 elections. The seminar is about ANALYSIS, not ideology. Some familiarity with quantitative methods is a prerequisite.

Preference to sophomores. The role of law in promoting social order. What is the rule of law? How does it differ from the rule of men? What institutions best support the rule of law? Is a state needed to ensure that laws are enforced? Should victims be allowed to avenge wrongs? What is the relationship between justice and mercy?