Vassar Moodle SIS Test
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No
No
Three 50-minute periods and one 50-minute discussion session.
First six-week course.
Two 75-minute periods.
Open only to freshmen; satisfies the college requirement for a Freshman Writing Seminar.
No
Two 75-minute periods. Prerequisite(s): This course is one of three prerequisite pathway courses for AFRS 200.
Three 50-minute periods, plus one drill period per week.
Available courses
All life requires the transformation of energy, from plant growth to animal behavior. The focus of this course is to delve into the flow of energy through different levels of biological systems, from within cells to the biosphere. At a cellular level, we examine how and why eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms transform energy. We then shift to a population and community level to explore how energy is transferred between organisms, starting with photosynthesis in autotrophs (e.g., food webs and trophic interactions). At an ecosystem level, we discuss the flow of energy in biogeochemical cycles and the implications for energy flow in the biosphere under global change.
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No
Three 50-minute periods and one 50-minute discussion session.
- Teacher: Mary Ellen Czesak
- Teacher: Timothy Lampasona
A survey of the rich tradition of Russian cinematic science fiction, from mainstream entertainment to the philosophical masterpieces of Andrei Tarkovsky. Subjects include futuristic fantasies of the 1920s and 1930s, scientific experiments gone astray, post-apocalyptic visions, space travel and journeys of the mind, intergalactic romance and humorous takes on the genre.
Taught in English.
First six-week course.
Two 75-minute periods.
- Teacher: Dan Ungurianu
The cultural "encounter with the West" is a major theme in modern Arabic literature and culture. In this course, we read and discuss an array of novels, novellas, and short stories that depict personal and collective histories of encounters between Arab and African postcolonial subjects and the West, both at home and in the diaspora. We analyze a selection of documentary and feature films by North African and Middle East directors that dramatize this encounter and explore its consequences. The course familiarizes students with persistent orientalist and colonialist representations of Arab and Islamic otherness in Western literary and cultural discourses. Students develop a better understanding of the region's cultural complexity and its unresolved relationship to a Western global modernity that it contests and admires simultaneously. The readings include critical excerpts from Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, and literary works by such authors as Assia Djebar and Tayeb Salih, among others.
Open only to freshmen; satisfies the college requirement for a Freshman Writing Seminar.
No
Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods. Prerequisite(s): This course is one of three prerequisite pathway courses for AFRS 200.
This course is an elementary level course offered during fall semester only. The course builds basic skills in Modern Standard Arabic, the language spoken, read, and understood by educated Arabs throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and other parts of the world. No prior experience in Arabic is necessary. The course focuses on building students' abilities to (1) communicate successfully basic biographical information: name, place of residence, family members, and daily life activities, using memorized material; (2) understand speech dealing with areas of practical need such as highly standardized messages, phrases, or instructions, such as memorized greetings, pleasantries, leave taking, very basic questions and answers related to immediate need or personal information; (3) derive meaning from short, non-complex texts that convey basic information for which there is contextual or extra-linguistic support; (4) manage successfully a number of uncomplicated communicative tasks in straightforward social situations, such as giving basic personal information, and describing basic objects, a limited number of activities, preferences, and immediate needs. Tagreed Al-Haddad, Mootacem Mhiri.
Students who did not complete AFRS 106 may enroll in AFRS 107, if they demonstrate equivalent knowledge by a placement test.
Three 50-minute periods, plus one drill period per week.
- Teacher: Tagreed Al-Haddad