Course goals

By taking this course, students will...

• develop a "scientific literacy" of some of the most pressing issues facing the human condition today;

• become familiar with some of the major scientific issues that will affect our society within the next several decades;

• gain a greater appreciation of how science can inform policies that will shape our society;

• recognize some of the limits of our knowledge when predicting how modern technology will affect the human condition.

Student learning objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to...

• describe the major natural and anthropogenic factors that can influence our climate, and have a general sense of our level of scientific understanding of each;

• assess, propose and debate possible societal responses to a changing climate;

• employ qualitative and quantitative arguments to address issues of resource conservation and the pursuit of alternative energy technologies;

• demonstrate understanding of global/national trends in resource consumption, and describe and evaluate how society might adapt as technology allows;

• describe and evaluate the possible concerns and possible benefits of genetically modified food;

• describe the risks posed by emerging infectious disease, chronic disease, drug-resistant disease, and climate-mediated disease, and provide informed argument for how scientific research may be incorporated into a societal response;

• describe the underlying technologies and debate the potential risks and achievable benefits of genetic engineering;

• describe the underlying technologies and debate the potential risks and achievable benefits of emerging nano-scale technologies;

• describe the underlying technologies and discoveries of modern space research, and construct reasoned argument for how knowledge gained from space exploration may impact the human condition;

• describe the underlying technologies and the time scales of the risks posed by various weapons of mass destruction;

• describe how human health may be impacted by toxic materials, and describe what factors contribute to toxicity;

• describe the potential benefits of green design, and construct reasoned argument how green design can actually be achieved;

• describe how science is revealing the connections between our brains and our perception and behavior, and understand the significance and implications of this knowledge;

• demonstrate understanding of the qualities that can distinguish science from pseudoscience in examples of popular advertising and media.

Textbooks, readings and materials

Students do not have to purchase any reading material for this course. All required readings will be posted as PDFs or made otherwise accessible through the course website on Canvas.

Course readings will include book chapters, government reports, articles from peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Science, Nature), mass-market science periodicals (e.g. Scientific American), and recent articles in the popular press. To comply with "Fair Use" copyright guidelines, students will need to authenticate with a Pratt userid and password to gain access to readings.

Projects, papers, assignments

• Readings (available on Canvas) are to be read BEFORE coming to class.

• A reading report is due each week ON THE DAY BEFORE CLASS. You will complete these reports within Canvas in response to the provided questions. Reading reports will cover the main ideas of the assigned reading, and will help to frame the context for the upcoming lecture and in-class activities. Reading reports may also include a question or two as a followup from the previous week's lecture; they may also include questions which will develop the skills necessary for completion of the semester-long term-paper assignment (discussed below).

• Participation is heavily weighted in this course. Assessment of participation is based upon structured in-class activities (such as weekly "Do Now" exercises that will begin each class; occasional group debates and presentations; small group discussions), contribution to classroom discussion, as well as general preparedness and attentiveness.

• You are expected to develop a term paper/project over the course of the semester. Intermediate deadlines for this assignment will help to assure that you are on-schedule toward its completion: A topic introduction and annotated research bibliography will be due via Canvas roughly 1/2 and 2/3rds of the way through the semester, respectively, as marked on the course schedule; both of these assignments will receive feedback which will help guide you as you complete the term assignment. The term paper/project must demonstrate appropriate use of information resources, and a facility with the technical and stylistic expectations of college-level writing for all written materials. The paper/project must demonstrate conceptual understanding beyond what was covered in the class lecture and the required reading, and must also demonstrate "higher-level thinking"-- e.g. synthesis, analysis and critique of appropriate information resources. Expectations and assessment guidelines will be posted on the course Canvas site in advance of the due date. Portions of in-class time in Weeks 3 and 5 will be devoted to the development of the skills necessary to complete the assignment. Reading report assignments throughout the semester may also be utilized to highlight crucial skills necessary for the development of the term paper/project.

• A comprehensive final exam will be given in class during the last week of the semester.

Assessment and grading

Final course letter grades are based on 100%–90% for A-range, 89%–80% for B-range, etc.

• 10% Participation (including written "Do Now" exercises and other in-class activities)

• 30% Reading reports

• 30% Term paper/project assignment 

  • 5 points - Topic introduction draft 

  • 5 points - Annotated research bibliography draft

  • 20 points - Final version of the paper/project

• 30% Final exam

There are NO opportunities for extra credit.

Regarding the course workload...

As a 3-credit lecture/seminar course at an accredited, U.S. degree-granting institution, you are expected to devote 6 hours per week to the course in addition to the three hours per week in class. This out-of-class time will be dedicated to course reading assignments (approximately 1--2 hours for careful reading), written Reading Reports (approximately 1--2 hours for well-composed answers), work on the components of the Term Paper/Project assignment (1 hour per week recommended), post-class review of weekly learning objectives and lecture slides (1 hour per week recommended). By following this recommended schedule of 6 hours per week outside of class, it should be entirely possible to avoid a pile-up of work around major deadlines.