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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?

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?

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.

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.

The 2006 film Pursuit of Happyness, an unabashed celebration of the American Dream, was enthusiastically embraced by Chinese audiences. It seems that the pursuit of happiness has become truly globalized, even as the American Dream is slipping away for many. Are Americans still convinced that their conception of happiness is a self-evident truth and a universal gospel? Is there anything that Americans might learn about what it means to live a good life from not only the distant past, but also cultures in which happiness is envisioned and sought after very differently? This course takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the question of happiness and invites undergraduate students to reflect on its relationship to virtue, wisdom, health, love, pleasure, prosperity, justice, and solidarity. Giving equal weight to Chinese and Western sources, it seeks to defamiliarize some of the most deeply held ideas and values in American society through the lens of crosscultural inquiry. During the summer, students will read a selection of novels, memoirs, and reflections by philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists. In September, we will review these texts and place them alongside movies, short fiction, news stories, and social commentary while we interrogate the chimera of happiness. In addition, we will experiment with meditation, short-form life writing (including mock-obituaries!), and service-learning. (Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center)

American democracy is increasingly polarized and dysfunctional. Levels of public trust in the Congress and politicians are at virtually all-time lows, and so is the ability of members of different parties to work together in Washington, D.C., and in many state capitols, to find solutions to our major public policy problems. Much is written about the growing polarization of American society, yet public opinion polling suggests that the public is not as bitterly divided as the political class. [This is a SOPHOMORE COLLEGE course. Visit soco.stanford.edu for full details.]

The 2006 film Pursuit of Happyness, an unabashed celebration of the American Dream, was enthusiastically embraced by Chinese audiences. It seems that the pursuit of happiness has become truly globalized, even as the American Dream is slipping away for many. Are Americans still convinced that their conception of happiness is a self-evident truth and a universal gospel? Is there anything that Americans might learn about what it means to live a good life from not only the distant past, but also cultures in which happiness is envisioned and sought after very differently? This course takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the question of happiness and invites undergraduate students to reflect on its relationship to virtue, wisdom, health, love, pleasure, prosperity, justice, and solidarity. Giving equal weight to Chinese and Western sources, it seeks to defamiliarize some of the most deeply held ideas and values in American society through the lens of crosscultural inquiry. During the summer, students will read a selection of novels, memoirs, and reflections by philosophers, psychologists, and sociologists. In September, we will review these texts and place them alongside movies, short fiction, news stories, and social commentary while we interrogate the chimera of happiness. In addition, we will experiment with meditation, short-form life writing (including mock-obituaries!), and service-learning. (Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center)

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.

"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.

The world is filled with electronic devices! There seem to be more and more all the time. Wouldn't it be cool to hack and build stuff? Bend electronics to your will? Cloud connect your own stuff? Dream It, Build It is a great place to start. Designed for folks with no experience, it will take you from zero to capable in short order. We will show you some of the worst kept secrets of how things are built and help you build stuff of your own. We'll start out with some basics about how to build things, how to measure things, how to hook stuff together and end up being able to make cloud-connected gizmos. [This is a SOPHOMORE COLLEGE course. Visit soco.stanford.edu for full details.]