Unique Number: 47590 Instructor: Saxena, P

Unique Number: 47590 Instructor: Saxena, P. Day/Time: Tuesdays 11:00 am – 12:00 noon Location: PAI 5.42 Seminar Title: Blood Cancers Seminar Description: Hematologic (blood) malignancies include cancers of the bone marrow, blood, and lymphatic system. Some of the most common blood cancers are: the leukemias (acute and chronic), multiple myeloma, and the lymphomas (Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s). This seminar course will discuss basic concepts of these cancers, their clinical presentation and diagnosis, and both current and potential treatments. Seminar Format: We will discuss key scientific articles / case studies that enhance our understanding of the different types of blood cancers. Students will be given the opportunity to learn more in depth about one of these cancers over the semester. Starting mid-semester students will present their findings in a 15-20 minute power point presentation to the class. Presentations should be such that someone with a high school education can comprehend the main concepts and ideas presented. Each week two students will present their findings and the other students will participate in a discussion. Every student will have the opportunity to read and discuss all the articles and work in detail on one cancer type for the presentation.

Unique Number: 47595 Instructor: Schnyer, R. Day/Time: Tuesdays 10:00 am – 11:00 am Location: WCH 1.108 Seminar Title: Mindfulness & The Art of Attention: Changing the brain by transforming the mind Seminar Description: Mindfulness—often described as the process of attending to whatever is arising in the present moment, in a particular way, on purpose and without judgement—has gained great popularity in the past decade and has been increasingly integrated into contemporary society from education to private industry, to health care. Mindfulness involves self-regulation of attention and orientation of experience, which enables the cultivation of a different relationship with ourselves and the challenges we face. In this seminar, while developing a mindfulness practice, we will explore the neural and behavioral effects of mindfulness, the cultural, historical and philosophical foundations, and its modern application.

Unique Number: 47600 Instructor: Carlson, C. Day/Time: Tuesdays 1:00 – 2:00 pm Location: PAI 5.42 Seminar Title: The Science of Happiness and Well-Being Seminar Description: This seminar will provide a survey of the emerging field of Positive Psychology, a relatively recent movement representing the perspective that the science of psychology can be utilized not only to reduce human suffering, but also to enhance our potential. As defined by Christopher Peterson, “Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life worth living. It is a call for psychological science and practice to be as concerned with strength as with weakness; as interested in building the best things in life as in repairing the worst; and as concerned with making the lives of normal people fulfilling as with healing pathology.” How can science inform such seemingly ephemeral topics such as what it means to live a life that is happy, fulfilled, and good? Should we try to increase happiness and, if so, how? We will explore topics including character strengths and virtues, the happiness “set point”, positive emotion, flourishing, motivation and goal setting, and evolutionary, economic, and cultural perspectives on happiness and well-being.

Class format will utilize both didactic and interactive components. Students will complete outside-of- class exercises designed (and supported by research) to increase happiness, and be expected to actively participate in class presentation and discussion.

Unique Number: 47605 Instructor: Saxena, I. Day/Time: Wednesdays 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm Location: WCH 1.108 Seminar Title: From laboratory bench to the smart phone: Communicating research in the life sciences to the general public Seminar Description: Hundreds of research articles are published in scientific journals every day, with a majority of these articles targeted to a very specific section of the scientific community, and yet many of these articles mention a much wider significance of the research in terms of its basic and applied value. Research in the life sciences provides answers to a number of fundamental questions about the structures, processes, and interactions in the living world, and although many of the results may add information to something that is known, in some cases completely unexpected findings and novel results are obtained. Some of these unexpected findings or novel results may be publicized in the media and this is about as much of the scientific activity that many in the general public come across. At the same time, there may be some very interesting experiments and results that do not come to the attention of the general public.

In this course, recent scientific articles that enhance our understanding of a fundamental biological structure or process, or those that may have an application to human health will be discussed. Furthermore, each student will select a specific research article and present it in a format where it can be disseminated and understood by the general public. Every student will have the opportunity to read and discuss all the articles and work in detail on one article for the presentation.

Unique Number: 47610 Instructor: Roberts-Miller, P. Day/Time: Tuesdays 2:00 – 3:00 pm Location: PAI 5.42 Seminar Title: Demagoguery Seminar Description: In this seminar, we'll talk about demagoguery, and how we might think of the term in ways that make it more than just a "devil term." We'll talk about some famous (e.g., Adolf Hitler) and less famous (e.g., Madison Grant) demagogues, and about what happens in a culture of demagoguery.

Unique Number: 47615 Instructor: Johnson, A. Day/Time: Wednesdays 1:00 – 2:00 pm Location: PAI 5.42 Seminar Title: Genetic Manipulation of Genomes Seminar Description: The class will explore contemporary techniques of genome manipulation and their implications. This can be very broad ranging, from Gene Drives to eradicate mosquito species, CRISPR- mediated gene editing in humans, whole organism cloning and genetically modified organisms in agriculture.

Unique Number: 47620 Instructor: Vick, J. Day/Time: Thursdays 2:00 – 3:00 pm Location: WCH 1.108 Seminar Title: Challenging problems and creative ideas in science and mathematics Seminar Description: In this seminar we will explore a wide range of questions drawn from different fields, with particular emphasis on the individuals involved and the ways they communicated their insight. Some of these will be in print, but most will be in the form of video, featuring either the researchers themselves or others who have a special talent for exposition. Our goal will be to understand some deep and complex questions and to observe the ways they are expressed by experts in the discipline. The weekly sessions will be a combination of video and discussion. Students will share in the analysis.

Unique Number: 47625 Instructor: Laude, D. Day/Time: Wednesdays 2:00 – 3:00 pm Location: WCH 1.110 Seminar Title: Living forever (or at least a very long time) Seminar Description: I was having lunch with a very successful former Dean’s Scholar and I asked him what he was doing now, and he mentioned an interest in projects related to life extension—the idea of slowing or reversing the aging process. And I asked how long he was going to live. And he didn’t bat an eye, he said, “135”. I wanted to scoff but this guy is smarter than me and serious. And I decided to do an honors seminar on the topic of life extension. I want to look at it from an experimental biogerontology perspective but also a “the singularity is near” perspective in which advances in artificial intelligence permit a reexamination of what it means to be human. I’d like the discussions to move beyond the technical to include bioethical and social/cultural/political discussions of the implications of nobody ever dying again. I haven’t found a single book that takes on all of this without bending too far in one direction, but if I do, I will make it the source material for the course. I’d much prefer students representing an array of biology, CS, technology, and social science perspectives to participate in the conversation.

Unique Number: 47630 Instructor: Sitz, G. Day/Time: Wednesdays 11:00 am – 12:00 noon Location: WCH 1.108 Seminar Title: Fermi Problems Seminar Description: Enrico Fermi was famous for, among other things, frequently posing questions that required rapid, back-of-the-envelope calculations combined with synthesizing knowledge from a variety of areas to arrive at an order of magnitude answer quickly. The typical example is “how many piano tuners are there in the city of Chicago?'' Fermi was also renowned for his ability to come up with accurate answers. In this semester we will have a Fermi question each week. The class will be broken up into teams of 3 or 4 and teams will have 30 minutes to come up with an answer at which point the whole class will discuss results, methods, assumptions, etc. Unique Number: 47640 Instructor: Mauk, M. Day/Time: Thursdays 4:00 – 5:00 pm Location: WCH 1.108 Seminar Title: Minds, Brains and Computers: Can a machine have a mind? Seminar Description: We will use the single question – could a machine have a human-like mind? – as a launching point to discuss topics such as 1) philosophy of mind, 2) artificial intelligence, 3) newsy items such as Watson and the blue brain project, and 4) the use of computer simulations in neuroscience research (computational neuroscience).

Unique Number: 47645 Instructor: McClelland, B. Day/Time: Mondays 1:00 – 2:00 pm Location: WCH 1.108 Seminar Title: Domestication of Animals: Genetics, Evolution, Behavior, and Ethics Seminar Description: Humans have had a long mutually beneficial relationship with domestic animals. We will be reading an article from the popular press each week and discuss questions such as: How do animals become domesticated? Why can some animal species become domesticated and others not? What is the evidence for domestication in the fossil record? How do domesticated animals differ genetically and behaviorally from wild ancestors? Is it ethical to raise domestic animals for human consumption? The discussions will be thought-provoking, entertaining, and enlightening.