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The tiny remote islands of Galápagos have played a large and central role in the study of evolution. Not surprisingly, they have also become central to the study of conservation. The fascinating adaptations of organisms to the unique ecosystems of the archipelago have left them particularly vulnerable to human-induced changes underway in the islands today. But did you know that Galápagos is also an important proving ground for new approaches to environmental education, both for the people who live in the islands as well as for those who visit them? <br><br>Drawing on lessons learned in Galapagos from Darwin's time to the present, this seminar explores evolution, conservation, and education in the Galápagos Archipelago. Using case-study material on tortoises, iguanas, finches, endemic plants and more, we will explore current theory and debate about adaptation, sexual selection, speciation, adaptive radiation, and other topics in evolution. Similarly, we will explore the special challenges Galápagos poses today for conservation, owing to both its unusual biota and the increasing impact of human activity in the archipelago. Relatedly, we will consider case studies of environmental education in the islands, involving residents as well as tourists, asking what can be done to make these efforts more effective?<br><br>This course includes, at no additional cost to students, an intensive eleven-day expedition to Galápagos to observe firsthand many of the issues and outcomes discussed in class. A chartered ship will serve as our floating classroom, dormitory, and dining hall as we work our way around the archipelago to visit as many as ten islands. For this portion of the class, undergraduates will be joined by a group of Stanford alumni and friends in a format called a Stanford "Field Seminar." Because our class time on campus is limited to one week before travel, students will be required to complete all course readings over the summer. Both on campus and in South America, the course emphasizes student contributions and presentations. Students will be asked to lead discussions and carry out literature research about the Galápagos related to key themes of the class. The final assignment for the seminar is to complete a seven- to ten-page paper on an approved topic of your choice related to one or more of the areas of evolution, conservation and education in Galapagos today, and to present the main findings of that paper in a joint seminar of undergrads and alumni as we travel in Galápagos.

This course explores the intersecting vectors of fashion, art and modernity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (roughly, 1865-1965). Making use of primary sources -- from couture clothing to period fashion journals and relevant works of art on campus and in Bay Area museum collections -- students will examine the historical foundations of the fashion system in France and the United States, enabling them to approach and understand the contemporary nexus of art, fashion, branding and celebrity culture from an informed and critically engaged perspective.

Monterey Bay is home to the nation¿s largest marine sanctuary and also home to Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station. This course, based at Hopkins, explores the spectacular biology of Monterey Bay and the artistic and political history of the region. We will conduct investigations across all of these contexts toward an inclusive understanding of ¿place¿, ultimately to lead us to explore our own lives in relation to the natural world, historical and cultural milieu, and the direction of our individual life path.n The location at the entry point to the Big Sur Coast of California provides a unique outdoor laboratory in which to study the biology of the bay and the adjacent coastal lands. It is also an area with a deep cultural, literary and artistic history. We will meet marine biologists, experts in the literary history of Cannery Row and the writings of John Steinbeck, local artists and photographers, experts in the neuroscience of creativity, as well as people who are very much involved in the forces and fluxes that steer modern culture. This rich and immersive approach provides students a rare opportunity to reflect on their relationships to nature, culture, and their own individual goals.nThe course emphasizes interactions and discussions. We will be together all of the time, either at our base at the Belden House in Pacific Grove, hiking and camping in Big Sur¿s pristine Big Creek Reserve on the rocky coast, and traveling to the Tassajara Mountain Zen Center in the Ventana wilderness for several days. This is not an ordinary academic experience, instead it is an adventure of a personal, intellectual, spiritual and physical kind. We welcome people with wide interests; artists, poets, writers, engineers, scientists and musicians. Mostly we invite people with an open mind and a sense of adventure. nStudents are expected to have read the several books provided as introductory material before the course begins, and each is also expected to become our local expert in an area such as plant identification, bird identification, poetry, weather prediction, photography, history, ethnography, etc. The course requires an individual research project of your choice on a topic related to the general theme. Final reports will be presented at the last meeting of the group and may involve any medium, including written, oral, and performance media.n Note: This course will be held at the Hopkins Marine Station in the Monterey region, and housing will be provided nearby. Transportation from campus to the housing site will be provided once students arrive to campus on Monday, September 4 (Labor Day). Transportation to campus from the Belden House in Pacific Grove will be provided on Saturday, September 23.

There is growing interest in the intersection of art and science, whether from artists adapting technology to suit their visions or from scientists and engineers seeking to explain various visual effects. To take advantage of possible creative sparks at the art/science interface, it is necessary for fuzzies and techies to have some knowledge of the language used by the other side. This interface will be explored through examining approaches used by an artist and an engineer in the context of the materials science of cultural objects. In-class lectures, hands-on studio practice, and field trips will be used to illustrate these different perspectives. At the heart of the scientific approach is the notion that a cultural object, e.g., a painting, is a physical entity comprising materials with different physical properties and different responses to environmental stresses presented by light, heat, and water. In support of this outlook, in-class lectures and discussions will focus on the basic concepts of color, optics, mechanics, composite structures, and response of the object to environmental stress, and we will visit Bay Area museums to see how artists employ such techniques. The hands-on studio experience is designed to increase students' confidence and develop their appreciation of differences in materials. It is not necessary to have any artistic training, only a willingness to experiment. The in-class studio projects will include working with line and shadow; color, binders, and mordants; global sources of pigments; substrates and writing; and material failure. Students will make one technical presentation on a topic in one of the five areas relevant to a painting: color, optics, mechanics, composites, and stress response. In addition, they will prepare one essay on the issues surrounding the intersection of art and science. Finally, they will complete a project related to one of the thematic areas covered in the hands-on studio sessions and make a final oral presentation describing their project.

What makes for a good life in a zoo? For that matter, what makes a good zoo? The psychological and physical wellbeing of the animals? The contribution to research, conservation, and education? The guest experience? Students will learn first-hand how animal welfare science provides an evidence-based approach to optimize and balance each of these demands so that "good welfare is good business." Through a unique experience at San Francisco Zoo students will learn how to apply principles of animal behavior to design environmental enrichments which benefit both the animals and the complex mission of a zoo. Students will be guided through the process of assessing an exhibit from the point of view of the animal's behavior and wellbeing, educational opportunities, and guest experience; developing an enrichment plan; designing and building enrichments for the animals; interacting with the public as docents; and assessing the overall effectiveness of a new enrichment; before finally presenting their work at a "mini-conference." The course will be taught with an emphasis on self-guided learning, student-led class time, hands-on experience, and service-learning. Most days will begin with students presenting what they have learned the previous day to the class, followed by student-led discussion, preparation time for the day's activities, and then time out in the zoo. The course will be taught by Dr. Garner (whose introductory seminar in Animal Behavior is strongly recommended, though not required) and Dr. Watters (Vice President of Animal Wellness and Animal Behavior, San Francisco Zoological Society). [This is a SOPHOMORE COLLEGE course. Visit soco.stanford.edu for full details.]

Social inequality is a feature of all advanced industrial societies. However, some societies have more inequality than others, and some types of inequality are more prominent in some societies than in others. Inequality in the United States is greater than in many other industrialized nations and has increased dramatically in the past forty years. Economic inequality, for example, is greater today than any time since the 1920s. Growing public awareness of this inequality has sparked a vigorous debate among politicians and public protests in city streets; some that have turned violent. The Occupy Movement was driven largely by resentment against the growing concentration of economic privilege within a small segment of society. Inequality was a prominent theme in the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. Despite these debates and protests, there is no consensus about whether anything should be done to stem this trend. This class will focus on three domains of inequality in the United States: social class, gender, and racial inequality. The assigned reading and discussions will examine theories and research about the origins of social inequality; how inequality and poverty is reproduced over time; the consequences of inequality and poverty; and what might be done to reduce inequality and poverty in American society. Students will be expected to help lead and participate in class discussions, and to complete a weekly assignment based on the readings. nnIn addition to the in-class instruction, students will have an opportunity to engage in public service activities directly related to poverty and inequality. Students will work with the Director of Community Engaged Learning (DCEL) from the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity who will assist with their participation in activities connected with social service agencies in the area, including agencies that deal with homelessness, food insecurity, and other needs.

The title of this course is the title of one of the books that will be required summer reading. The course will introduce modern finance theory and cover a wide range of financial instruments: stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, mortgage back securities, etc. Historical returns on different asset classes will be examined. The efficient market hypothesis and the case for and against index funds will be discussed. The course for 2015 will examine the ongoing policies to stimulate the economy, including the quantitative easing policy of the Federal Reserve. There will be coverage of global financial markets. We will try to reconcile the long-run return on stocks, bonds, and money market instruments with the capital asset pricing model. We will try to connect financial markets with the problems of the real economy including the entitlement programs. We will talk with venture capitalists, Federal Reserve officials, hedge fund and mutual fund managers, and those who manage large institutional endowments. Students will be expected to write a short paper and make an oral presentation to the class. A wide range of topics will be acceptable, including market regulation, the introduction of new financial instruments, the functioning of commodity futures markets, and evaluations of the federal government intervention in financial markets. Sophomore College Course: Application required, due noon, April 7, 2015. Apply at http://soco.stanford.edu.

"last night a DJ saved my life" --Indeep (1982 song) In a moment that has been widely described being defined by "remix culture," what might we learn from the traditions and practices of the artists who gave us the remix? This course looks at the DJ as an crucial figure, a rhetor even, who influences both US and world culture and examines the DJ's practices as writing practices. From there we ask how other kinds of writing--public, academic, creative--can be informed by DJs and DJ culture. We will study specific practices like scratching, remixing, and the mixtape as well as different approaches and spaces in which DJs have shaped culture, from disco to Hip Hop to world music, from radio DJs to party DJs to beat-juggling and turntablism. In addition to our readings, viewings and work in class, participants in the course will be able to participate in a DJ workshop introducing basic techniques like mixing, and will attend at least 1 live DJ set in San Francisco or Oakland. The course will make turntables and a DJ controller available for students to work on mixes and DJ techniques live, in class.

Recently, The New York Times and the National Geographic have hailed the "new face of America" as young, global, and hybrid. The NY Times gave this demographic a name: Generation E.A. (Ethnically Ambiguous). Our course examines the political and aesthetic implications of Generation E.A., and the hot new vogue for all things mixed. Galvanized by the 2000 census with its "mark one or more" (MOOM) racial option, dozens of organizations, websites, affinity and advocacy groups, modeling and casting agencies, television pilots, magazines, and journals--all focused on multi-racial/multi-cultural experiences--have emerged in the last few years. We will analyze representations of mixed race and multiculturalism in law, literature, history, art, performance, film, comedy, and popular culture. These cultural and legal events are changing the way we talk and think about race. Importantly, our seminar also broadens this discussion beyond race, exploring how crossings of the color-line so often intersect with other aspects of experience related to gender, religion, culture, or class. Field trips, films, communal lunches, and interactive assignments help us explore the current controversies over mixed-race identification and, more generally, the expressive and political possibilities for representing complex identities. Requirements include three two- to three-page analytical writing assignments, a presentation that can include an optional artistic or media component, and a final group-designed project. If you are a citizen of the 21st century, this class is for and about you.

Who doesn't love going to a play: sitting in the darkened theater, an anonymous member of the audience waiting to be entertained, charmed, and challenged? But how many of us know enough about the details of the plays, their interpretation, their production, and acting itself, to allow us to appreciate fully the theatrical experience? In this seminar, we will spend 13 days in Ashland, Oregon, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), where we will attend these plays: Shakespeare's Henry V, Othello, Love's Labour's Lost, and Romeo and Juliet; the world premiere of Mary Kathryn Nagle's Mannahatta; Kate Hamill's Sense and Sensibility, based on Jane Austen's novel; Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein¿s Oklahoma!; the world premiere of Idris Goodwin's The Way the Mountain Moved; Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's Snow in Midsummer, based on the classical Chinese drama The Injustice to Dou Yi That Moved Heaven and Earth by Guan Hanquing; and Lauren Gunderson's The Book of Will. (To read more about these productions, go to www.osfashland.org). We will also spend time backstage, meeting with actors, designers, and artistic and administrative directors of OSF. Students will read the plays before the seminar begins. In Ashland, they will produce staged readings and design a final paper based on one of the productions. These reviews will be delivered to the group and turned in on Thursday, September 20.nnNote: This seminar will convene in Ashland on Monday, September 3, and will adjourn to Stanford on Sunday, September 16. Students must arrive in Ashland by 4:00 p.m. on September 3. Room and board in Ashland and transportation to Stanford will be provided and paid for by the program.

Since at least World War II, the San Francisco Bay Area has served as a center for LGBTQ life in the United States. It emerged early as a place where queer people could congregate and interact more freely, but it also was frequently at the vanguard when it came to organizing around issues of gender and sexuality. At the same time, as some queer communities of the Bay Area have done extremely well, others have continued to have to struggle for their rights, their place and their say. This course explores the genesis and legacy of different queer communities and explores their impact on Bay Area culture. Topics discussed will include the Beats, lesbian separatism, the response to AIDS, the relationship between different LGBTQ communities and the police, trans activism, prostitution and sex worker rights. The course combines literature, art and poetry of seven decades with historical documents, as well as local visits and walking tours. nThe last third of the course allows students to pursue archival or oral history research projects, as students unearth their own stories of queer San Francisco.

Are you interested in all things French? Do you want to increase your French proficiency through an intense immersion program right here at Stanford? The answer is "French Immersion: Contemporary Issues in the French-Speaking World," a course designed to help students move towards greater linguistic and cultural competence. French Immersion is intended for students who have completed the equivalent of a year of French. In this class you will gain the cultural, historical, and linguistic knowledge necessary for taking future advanced French courses. You will enhance your French proficiency through intensive lessons and interaction in the target language. The content will include film, literature, news videos, and songs that reflect the cultural and social realities that the French-speaking world faces today. You will gain a deeper understanding of French and Francophone cultural products and practices through the exploration of a variety of topics such as art, fashion, cuisine in current French society. The course will include a range of in-class activities, organized off-campus excursions, a cooking workshop, art projects, and more, all in French!

The tiny remote islands of Galápagos have played a large and central role in the study of evolution. Not surprisingly, they have also become central to the study of conservation. The fascinating adaptations of organisms to the unique ecosystems of the archipelago have left them particularly vulnerable to human-induced changes underway in the islands today. But did you know that Galápagos is also an important proving ground for new approaches to environmental education, both for the people who live in the islands as well as for those who visit them? <br><br>Drawing on lessons learned in Galapagos from Darwin's time to the present, this seminar explores evolution, conservation, and education in the Galápagos Archipelago. Using case-study material on tortoises, iguanas, finches, endemic plants and more, we will explore current theory and debate about adaptation, sexual selection, speciation, adaptive radiation, and other topics in evolution. Similarly, we will explore the special challenges Galápagos poses today for conservation, owing to both its unusual biota and the increasing impact of human activity in the archipelago. Relatedly, we will consider case studies of environmental education in the islands, involving residents as well as tourists, asking what can be done to make these efforts more effective?<br><br>This course includes, at no additional cost to students, an intensive eleven-day expedition to Galápagos to observe firsthand many of the issues and outcomes discussed in class. A chartered ship will serve as our floating classroom, dormitory, and dining hall as we work our way around the archipelago to visit as many as ten islands. For this portion of the class, undergraduates will be joined by a group of Stanford alumni and friends in a format called a Stanford "Field Seminar." Because our class time on campus is limited to one week before travel, students will be required to complete all course readings over the summer. Both on campus and in South America, the course emphasizes student contributions and presentations. Students will be asked to lead discussions and carry out literature research about the Galápagos related to key themes of the class. The final assignment for the seminar is to complete a seven- to ten-page paper on an approved topic of your choice related to one or more of the areas of evolution, conservation and education in Galapagos today, and to present the main findings of that paper in a joint seminar of undergrads and alumni as we travel in Galápagos.

Wallace Stegner described our national parks as America's "best idea...absolutely American, absolutely democratic." But our parks are just a small part of the nation's public lands, which also include national monuments, national forests, wildernesses, wildlife refuges, recreation areas, and wild and scenic rivers. The federal government owns almost a quarter of the United States and almost twice that much of the West, peaking at an astounding 84.9 percent of Nevada. Since the founding of the Republic, Americans have argued over the best uses and management of the federal public lands--even disagreeing whether the federal government should continue to own them. These debates have grown more intense under the Trump Administration. Many of the conflicts focus on the types and intensity of uses to which federal lands should be put. Should wildlife refuges be open for petroleum development? Should national parks allow hunting, snowmobiles, and other off-road vehicles? In other cases, private landowners complain about spillovers from neighboring public lands. Ranchers in the West, for example, long have complained about federal protection of wolves and wild horses. These public land debates can be heated and even deadly. In 2016, armed militants occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon to protest federal ownership; the occupation ultimately led to the shooting death of one of the militants. We will begin at Stanford with several classes on the history and politics of the federal public lands, as well as an evaluation of the competing visions for their use. We then will travel to Utah to visit key public lands, meet with government officials and stakeholders on all sides of the issues, and study conflicts first hand. Utah is the perfect state for this intensive field experience. Outside of Nevada, Utah has the largest percentage of federal public lands (64.9%). It is home to five magnificent national parks. Yet Utah also has been home in recent years to a new Sagebrush Rebellion, battling against federal ownership and protection of the public domain. Utah has been the central focus of President Trump's efforts to reverse the orders of previous presidents who protected large swaths of public lands, including Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, from development by declaring them national monuments. Students will complete assigned readings on the public lands over the summer. Once on campus, each student will choose a current public-land controversy to research and analyze. Students will write 6-8 page papers and present their findings to the class in the last week of the course.

Viruses are unique biological entities that resemble both living and inanimate objects. Despite their simple structure they include some of the most devastating and ubiquitous causes of human disease. The compelling nature of this topic is illustrated by the recent Ebola epidemic, which emerged coincident with the last time this class was offered. From smallpox to measles to HIV to the common cold, viruses have literally changed the course of human history and impacted evolution. They have also been important experimental tools for probing the molecular nature of key biological processes, and they have been utilized in many key discoveries and Nobel Prize-winning research programs. In books, movies, newspapers, and electronic feeds, viruses continue to make the news on a daily basis. Using contemporary media, content experts, model building, interactive sessions, and field trips, we will explore the essential nature of viruses, what makes them unique, how they are classified, how they cause disease, key molecular processes, breakthroughs in prevention and treatment, current efforts in trying to eradicate viruses, and cultural iconography pertaining to viruses. In short, this seminar is intended to go viral. Sophomore College course, applications required, due at noon on April 5, 2016. Apply at http://soco.stanford.edu .

Our understanding of warfare often derives from the lofty perspective of political leaders and generals: what were their objectives and what strategies were developed to meet them? This top-down perspective slights the experience of the actual combatants and non-combatants caught in the crossfire. This course focuses on the complexity of the process by which strategy is translated into tactical decisions by the officers and foot soldiers and on what actually occurs on the field of battle. We will visit Washington, DC, and meet with national security officials and members of non-government organizations there. In addition, we will spend a day visiting the battlefields of Gettysburg (July 1863) in Pennsylvania, and the Little Bighorn (June 1876) in Montana. The course's battlefield tours are based on the "staff rides" developed by the Prussian Army in the mid-1800s and employed by the U.S. Army since the early 1900s. While at Stanford, students will conduct extensive research on individual participants at Gettysburg and Little Bighorn. Then, as we walk through the battlefield sites, students will brief the group on their subjects' experience of battle and on why they made the decisions they did. Why did Lt. General Longstreet oppose the Confederate attack on the Union Army at Gettysburg? What was the experience of a military surgeon on a Civil War battlefield? What role did just war principles or law play in the treatment of enemy fighters and civilians? Why did Custer divide his 7th Cavalry troops as they approached the Little Bighorn River? What was the role of Lakota Sioux women after a battle? The final part of the class covers contemporary military conflicts discussing what the US public, political leaders, and military commanders have learned (and not learned) from the past. The course is open to students from a range of disciplines; an interest in the topic is the only prerequisite.

Social inequality is a feature of all advanced industrial societies. However, some societies have more inequality than others, and some types of inequality are more prominent in some societies than in others. Inequality in the United States is greater than in many other industrialized nations and has increased dramatically in the past forty years. Economic inequality, for example, is greater today than any time since the 1920s. Growing public awareness of this inequality has sparked a vigorous debate among politicians and public protests in city streets; some that have turned violent. The Occupy Movement was driven largely by resentment against the growing concentration of economic privilege within a small segment of society. Inequality was a prominent theme in the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. Despite these debates and protests, there is no consensus about whether anything should be done to stem this trend. This class will focus on three domains of inequality in the United States: social class, gender, and racial inequality. The assigned reading and discussions will examine theories and research about the origins of social inequality; how inequality and poverty is reproduced over time; the consequences of inequality and poverty; and what might be done to reduce inequality and poverty in American society. Students will be expected to help lead and participate in class discussions, and to complete a weekly assignment based on the readings. nnIn addition to the in-class instruction, students will have an opportunity to engage in public service activities directly related to poverty and inequality. Students will work with the Director of Community Engaged Learning (DCEL) from the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity who will assist with their participation in activities connected with social service agencies in the area, including agencies that deal with homelessness, food insecurity, and other needs.

Wouldn't it be great if you could quickly increase your Spanish proficiency through an intensive immersion experience right here at Stanford? Wouldn't you love to gain the cultural and historical knowledge necessary to begin taking film, literature, and culture courses generally reserved for advanced students? This intensive Spanish immersion course is designed to help students who have completed a year of Spanish to move forward quickly toward greater linguistic and cultural competence. After a year of Spanish, students tend to be able to handle straightforward interactions related to basic needs and personal information, but they generally lack the ability to handle more abstract discussions or to combine short utterances into longer presentations of their ideas. Most students likewise have little knowledge of the rich and complex history that surrounds the Spanish language or the central role that Spanish has played in the cultural, artistic, and political life of California. In this course, a team of experienced instructors will help students improve their Spanish through intensive lessons that incorporate film, literature, and social issues. Through a focused discussion of the themes of immigration and democracy in Spain, Latin America, and the United States, as well as excursions and guest lectures by Stanford faculty and community leaders, this course will immerse students in Spanish and help them to gain advanced proficiency much more quickly.