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Brown University
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Providence, RI 02912
Phone: (401) 863-7900
2009 Course Catalog
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Currently Displaying: 3-Week Courses (56)
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Techniques in DNA-Based Biotechnology (BI901-3A)
Program: Pre-College
The development of powerful tools in molecular biology has led to an explosion in our understanding of genes and the factors controlling their expression. Illuminating research,... (more »)
Financial Markets and Investments (EC901-3B)
Program: Pre-College
This course first examines types and operations of US financial markets and institutions. Attention is given to financial concepts, investment theories, market practices and government... (more »)
Introduction to Bio-Medical Science: Cells, Tissues and Organs (BI916-3A)
Program: Pre-College
While some would say "substance over form," in this course the substance IS form: that of the vertebrate body. We will focus on the four tissues that represent the body's building... (more »)
So You Think You Want to Be a Doctor: An Introduction to Medicine (BI903-3A)
Program: Pre-College
So you think you want to be a doctor? This course is designed to help you answer that question by letting you see the practice of medicine firsthand, giving you a taste of what... (more »)
Literature and Film (EL904-3A)
Program: Pre-College
In this course we'll consider a series of thematically related books and movies, and carefully examine how structural elements -- from syntax to editing -- function to create works... (more »)
Culture and Human Behavior (AN901-3A )
Program: Pre-College
This course is an introduction to the theories and concepts as well as the research methods employed by anthropologists. The primary goal will be to challenge our assumptions about... (more »)
A Comprehensive Study of Music: Performance and Theory (MU901-3A)
Program: Pre-College
The best way to learn the basics of music is through participation in a variety of musical activities. This course offers a unique opportunity to combine in one course a comprehensive... (more »)
International Financial Markets and Investments (EC902-3A)
Program: Pre-College
This course first examines the operations of global financial markets and institutions. These markets include foreign exchange markets, international money markets, international... (more »)
Survey of Art History: Italian Renaissance to Present (HA900-3A)
Program: Pre-College
The course introduces major movements in Western art from around 1400 to the present. A brief overview of the techniques of visual analysis will be followed with a period by period... (more »)
An Introduction to Ancient Egypt (EG906-3B)
Program: Pre-College
The civilization of ancient Egypt has provided us with some of the most renowned and enduring cultural treasures including the pyramids of Giza and the tombs in the Valley of the... (more »)
Introduction to the Global Business Environment (EC900-3B)
Program: Pre-College
This course will familiarize students with the dynamic nature and global reach of the contemporary business enterprise. Course participants will study the nature, opportunities... (more »)
Introduction to Psychology and Human Behavior (PY900-3A)
Program: Pre-College
In this class we will define the scope of psychology and explore some of its most interesting and relevant topics. For example, in what ways does our evolutionary history influence... (more »)
Designing Mobile Machines: Robot Rover Derby (EN900-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Robot Rover Derby is our framework for you having an experience of what it is like to be an engineer.
Engineers design useful or desirable objects, using scientific principles,... (more »)
Introducing The Craft of Journalism (EL913-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Ever wonder what it takes to be a journalist? In this class -taught by Tracy Breton, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The Providence Journal - you will learn what goes into... (more »)
Themes from Existentialism (PL904-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Based on Brown's most popular philosophy course, this course explores some of the central themes of existentialism. Existentialist philosophy is distinguished by its focus on issues... (more »)
How a Nation's Economy Works: An Introduction to Macroeconomics (EC910-3A)
Program: Pre-College
One out of four workers lost a job during the Great Depression. How could this happen in the absence of war or any natural disaster, with all the production possibilities in place?... (more »)
How the Legal System Works: Anatomy of a Case (PS913-3B)
Program: Pre-College
What happens from the time a person brings a problem to a lawyer to the time that there is an ultimate resolution of a legal dispute? This workshop will trace that process, using... (more »)
Brain Basics: From Biology to Behavior (BN900-3B)
Program: Pre-College
The study of the brain as a biological structure is very different from the study of any other organ in the body. The cells that make up the brain, neurons, share many of the... (more »)
Introduction to Biochemistry (BI927-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Proceeding from the foundation laid by basic coursework in biology and chemistry, this course will allow students to view living systems at the cellular and molecular levels. ... (more »)
Science, Perception and Reality (PL902-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Modern science throws light on many of the perennial questions of philosophy, sometimes seeming to confirm or refute old answers and sometimes suggesting new ones. Are sensory... (more »)
Critical Thinking About Human Behavior (PY901-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Why do many people believe in palm reading, alien abductions, past-life regression therapy, and ghosts? Can what you see in an inkblot reveal hidden aspects of your personality?... (more »)
Genetics and Human Behavior (PY906-3B)
Program: Pre-College
The completion of the Human Genome Project may be the most important scientific achievement of our lifetime, but how much can genes tell us about complex human behavior? How much... (more »)
Drawing the Human Figure (VA902-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Drawing from a live model, or figure drawing, is an art form that dates back to ancient times, and is still practiced today. Generations of young artists have found working with... (more »)
Techniques in DNA-Based Biotechnology (BI901-3B)
Program: Pre-College
The development of powerful tools in molecular biology has led to an explosion in our understanding of genes and the factors controlling their expression. Illuminating research,... (more »)
Creative Writing: Script and Stage (TA903-3B)
Program: Pre-College
How do you write a play or film script? What's different about writing for the dramatic media, as distinct from developing a short story, poem, or novel? Scripts are strange... (more »)
An Introduction to Game Theory (EC905-3A)
Program: Pre-College
The award-winning film “A Beautiful Mind” introduced many people to the life of the Nobel Prize winning economist John Nash, but what about the theory that won him... (more »)
Cryptography (MA906-3A)
Program: Pre-College
This course will cover the history of cryptography from ancient times to the present day. We begin by discussing the simple Caesar-shift cipher and go on to more sophisticated... (more »)
Research Techniques in Biomedical Fields (BI917-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Doctors work to treat diseases but scientists work to cure them. Have you ever wondered about the work that goes on behind the scenes in Medicine? Do you want to find out what... (more »)
Do You Want to Be an Engineer? (EN903-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Do you ever wonder how things that you use every day work? Do you like to take things apart? Do you like to fix things? Do you wonder how people make iPods, how humans can travel... (more »)
From I Love Lucy to Lost: Television and American Culture (AC902-3A)
Program: Pre-College
In this course, we will study how television reflects and shapes American culture, from its beginnings as focal point of family life in the suburban 1950s to its current status... (more »)
The Body: An Introduction to Human Anatomy and Physiology (BI905-3B)
Program: Pre-College
This course will explore the structure and function of the human body. Lectures will follow a systemic approach, which means that the structure and function of the human body... (more »)
Giants of Philosophy (PL906-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Take a guided tour through works by some of the greatest thinkers of all time: Plato, Aristotle, Rene Descartes, John Locke, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx,... (more »)
An Introduction to Philosophy (PL913-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Philosophy focuses around questions we all think about, and which can evidently only be answered by thinking rather than by observing or experimenting or acting. Can we know anything?... (more »)
Exploring the Interface of Nanotechnology and Biology (EN901-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Imagine being part of the next great technological revolution that will virtually change almost every aspect of your life! Nanotechnology studies the creation, methods, and application... (more »)
Digital Video Production (VA901-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Digital video production is for budding movie-makers with an emphasis on experimentation in the use of the video medium. The primary goal of the course will be to serve as a foundation... (more »)
The Art of the Film (MS900-3B)
Program: Pre-College
In "The Art of the Film" we will examine the dramatic and psychological effects of the techniques used in filmmaking and television, and some of the central developments in film's... (more »)
History in Fact, History in Film: WWII-1980 (HI903-3A)
Program: Pre-College
How did the Cold War shape American culture and politics? Who gets to tell the story of Vietnam? Was racism just a Southern problem? Did sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll ruin the... (more »)
The Quantized World: An Introduction to the Amazing and yet Bizarre Theory of Quantum Mechanics (PH900-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Classical Newtonian Mechanics succeeds in describing the macroscopic world around us. Yet, it terribly fails when it comes to describing the world at the atomic and subatomic scales.... (more »)
The Secrets of Learning and Memory (BN901-3A)
Program: Pre-College
The most intensely studied topic of brain research has been learning and memory, which has captivated the interest of scientists ever since the processes underlying it were accidentally... (more »)
Number Theory: An Introduction to Higher Mathematics (MA903-3B)
Program: Pre-College
The whole numbers are the foundation of all of mathematics. Everything we count, everything we measure, everything we quantify depends on them. They have been studied intensely... (more »)
Engineering Biomedical Systems (BI920-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Human life expectancy has risen dramatically over the last century due to rapid advances in medicine. The progress of medicine, in turn, can be attributed to the increased scientific... (more »)
Ethical Dilemmas in Foreign Policy (PS908-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Foreign policy decision-making is rarely morally neutral or ethically unproblematic. More often than not, foreign policy decision-makers struggle with complex moral questions in... (more »)
Introduction to Music Production (MU900-3B)
Program: Pre-College
"Introduction to Music Production" will provide hands-on study of recording studio techniques and aesthetics. Students will create original studio work while developing listening... (more »)
Building a Better Mouse Trap: An Introduction to Design (VA903-3A)
Program: Pre-College
How do the clothes you wear convey to others who you are? How do the objects you own reflect your values? We are all a part of a material culture made up of designed objects,... (more »)
Stem Cells, Cloning, Regenerative Medicine: Changing the Face of Biology (BI912-3A)
Program: Pre-College
This lecture/laboratory course will introduce students to basic stem cell theory and laboratory techniques. Topics covered in lecture will include embryonic and adult stem cells,... (more »)
Music & Society: From Beethoven to Britney Spears (HI906-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Have you every thought academically about the music we listen to? This course explores the relationship between pieces of music and the societies which produce them. We will... (more »)
Writing About Writing: Short Stories from the Americas (EL908-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Are you interested in literature, but aren’t sure how to write about literature? Do you want to make a smooth transition between high school and college level reading and... (more »)
First Aid for the Medicine Cabinet (BI904-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Greater than 99.9% of medical interventions involve the administration of a drug.
Are you or the people you care about, taking drugs without understanding what or why?... (more »)
Electronic Music (MU902-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Electronic Music explores how advancements in technology give rise to musical styles, such as techno, hip-hop, progressive rock, industrial, and synthpop. Students gain an understanding... (more »)
Nature vs. Nurture: Genes and Environment in Human Biology (BI922-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Why are people born near the equator more likely to be lactose intolerant? How does the legacy of the Irish Potato Famine impact the obesity epidemic today? Why haven’t deadly... (more »)
Literature of the Fantastic (EL925-3A)
Program: Pre-College
In this course, students will hone their analytical skills with close readings of some of the most thrillingly strange narratives of the last two centuries. By foregrounding the... (more »)
Environmental Ethics (PL911-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Environmental ethics is a subfield of philosophy that asks what our moral obligations are with regard to the environment. This course is divided into two halves. In the first... (more »)
A-Bombs, Milkshakes and Love-Ins: Decades of Change in America, 1940-1970 (HI918-3A)
Program: Pre-College
What do nuclear weapons have to do with the nuclear family? How does Playboy magazine connect with women's liberation? How does Nagasaki relate to Vietnam? What does FDR have to... (more »)
Writing the Academic Essay (EL902-3B)
Program: Pre-College
Emphasizing how to analyze and argue, this course is designed to help you meet the challenges of academic writing. You will learn how to generate, focus, organize, and develop... (more »)
America and the World in the 21st Century: Challenges and Challengers (PS906-3B)
Program: Pre-College
What role will the United States play in world politics in the coming years and decades? What role should it play? Will the United States retain its position as the preeminent... (more »)
Writing the Academic Essay (EL902-3A)
Program: Pre-College
Emphasizing how to analyze and argue, this course is designed to help you meet the challenges of academic writing. You will learn how to generate, focus, organize, and develop... (more »)