Binghamton University Scholars Program
Course Offerings
Winter and Spring 2011
Professor William Ziegler, Director
Spring 2011
SCHL 280C The Science and Politics of Climate Change and Global Warming
(4 cr. hrs.)
Instructor: Professor Peter Knuepfer, Environmental Studies
Monday and Wednesday 4:40-6:05
General Education: C - Composition, G - Global Interdependencies
Climate change and global warming—happening? Caused by people? This course
explores the science behind the question and the politics behind the solutions—or lack
thereof. How clear is the science, and how the science can/should/could does/does
not drive policy. Readings and other material covered will include sections of the
report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; the film “An Inconvenient
Truth” (about Al Gore and his presentation) along with commentaries pro and con;
Bjorn Lomborg's "Skeptical Environmentalist" with commentaries; two opposing
novels, Michael Crichton's "State of Fear", Tom Pollock and Jack Seybold "The
Rising: Journeys in the Wake of Global Warming"; selections from Tim Flannery’s
“The Weather Makers”; and shorter selections as well as Web sites. We will evaluate
scientific information and its uncertainty, see how people on all sides use uncertainty
and certainty to support their positions, evaluate how the science is driving policy,
and examine how Western development, coupled with its influence on the “lesserdeveloped” world, has led to the situation we currently face. Most of the course will
involve seminar-style discussions of readings and film(s). Grading will be based on
short written commentaries on the readings will be coupled with oral presentations,
plus group projects with a written report.
SCHL280D Ghosts in American Culture (4 cr. hrs.)
Instructor: Professor Libby Tucker, English
Tuesday and Thursday 2:50-4:15
General Education: C – Composition
We will analyze the significance of ghosts in American folklore and literature, with
attention to Native American, European American, African American, and Asian
American traditions. Excerpts of films will supplement class discussions. Students
will do field and library research in preparing group prensetations to be given at the
end of the semester.
Format: discussion. Three short papers and one longer one. Oral group presentation.
Texts: Weinstock, Spectral America; Kingston, Woman Warrior; Silko, Ceremony;
Groff, Monsters of Templeton; Tucker, Haunted Halls
SCHL280H Philanthropy, Nonprofit Organizations and Civil Society (4 cr. hrs.)
Instructor: Professor David Cambell, CCPA Public Administration
Wednesday 1:40-4:40
General Education: J - Joined Composition and Oral Communication
Note: This course will be held only once per week in the Downtown Center.
Also Note: Scholars students will give away real money; $10,000 to the
organization(s) chosen by the Scholars during the semester.
If you had $10,000 to change the world, how would you spend it? In some ways,
philanthropists ask this question every day. This course offers students the chance to
reflect and act on the philanthropist’s question by making grants totaling $10,000 to
nonprofit organizations in our community. From Andrew Carnegie’s commitment to
build libraries in the early 20th century to Bill and Melinda Gates’ current efforts to
eradicate disease in Africa, philanthropists have played an important role in the
development of civil society. Yet many students are unfamiliar with philanthropy and
the nonprofit organizations they fund. This course introduces students to philanthropy
and the nonprofit sector by giving them a hands-on opportunity to become
grantmakers. Students enrolled in the class will select an issue area for funding (such
as the environment, youth services or immigration) and evaluate and recommend
organizations to receive grants. Class members will decide collectively which
organizations they will support. Course content will facilitate student grantmaking
decisions. Course topics include: Historic and current leaders in philanthropy and the
nonprofit sector, the size and scope of the nonprofit sector, defining community needs
and philanthropy’s role in addressing them, and how leaders in philanthropy and
nonprofit organizations collaborate to accomplish shared goals.
SCHL280J Evolutionary Psychology (4 cr. hrs.)
Instructor: Professor Joseph Morrissey, Psychology
Wednesday 11:00-2:00
General Education: TBA (tentatively identified as N – Social Science)
Evolutionary psychology (EP) explains psychological traits—such as memory,
perception, or language—as adaptations, that is, as the functional products of natural
selection or sexual selection. Adaptationist thinking about physiological mechanisms,
such as the heart, lungs, and immune system, is common in evolutionary biology.
Evolutionary psychology applies the same thinking to psychology. Modern
evolutionary psychologists argue that much of human behavior is generated by
psychological adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral
environments. Other adaptations, according to EP, might include the abilities to infer
others' emotions, to discern kin from non-kin, to identify and prefer healthier mates,
to cooperate with others, and so on.
Evolutionary psychologists see those behaviors and emotions that are nearly
universal, such as fear of spiders and snakes, as more likely to reflect evolved
adaptations. Evolved psychological adaptations (such as the ability to learn a
language) interact with cultural inputs to produce specific behaviors (e.g., the specific
language learned). This view is contrary to the idea that human mental faculties are
general-purpose learning mechanisms.
SCHL 227: Leadership and Achieving Goals - (1 Credit Hour)
Note: SCHL 227 will only be offered in the Spring semester of each academic
year. This course will not be offered in the Fall semester.
Section 50 Mary Davis, Scholars Graduate Assistant - Wednesday 12:00-1:00
Section 51 Milton Chester, Assistant Dean of Students, Director - Student Conduct
Office – Tuesday 4:25-5:25
Section 52 Instructor Mary Davis, Scholars Graduate Assistant - Thursday 1:10-2:10
Section 54 Instructor Brianna Riis, Scholars Grad. Assistant -Wednesday 10:50-11:50
Binghamton Scholars students will learn and develop powerful new strategies for
tackling solving open-ended design problems. Solving design problems in a team
format will enable students to develop both their leadership and teamwork skills. The
development of both critical and creative thinking skills is addressed. A formal design
methodology shall be introduced which consists of the following seven universal
design principles:

Acceptance

Definition of the problem

Analysis or breaking up the problem into smaller parts

Brainstorming or ideation (i.e. searching for alternatives)

Idea selection

Idea implementation

Evaluation of the solution
Students will work to identify, analyze, design, implement, and participate in a
leadership service project. The project may involve activities that take place off
campus. Each section of the course will work on separate projects. Projects are
typically not announced until the first week of classes.
There will be two (2) oral presentations assigned. The first will describe the problem
to be solved and the approach to be taken by the team. The second will occur at the
end of the term and describe the implemented solution and evaluate the effectiveness
of the result. In addition, a final report will be required which documents the entire
experience.
Oral presentation I
Oral presentation II
Final Report
10 %
20 %
50 %
Text: (optional)
The Universal Traveler: A Soft-Systems Guide to Creativity, Problem-Solving, and the
Process of Reaching Goals, Don Koberg, Jim Bagnall, Crisp Publications.
Winter Session 2011
Distance Learning Course
SCHL280E: The Universe Story: A New Epic of Evolution (4 cr. hrs.)
Instructor: Professor George Catalano, Bioengineering
General Education: C- Composition, H - Humanities
This course will use Blackboard extensively. The format is one of Distance Learning
so there will be no official class meetings. All correspondence will be electronically
through Blackboard as well.
Physicist Brian Swimme and cultural historian Thomas Berry in The Universe Story
have offered a new story of evolution which synthesizes a vast body of knowledge
and hypothesis from the fields of astronomy, physics, biology, anthropology, and
history. They have sought to provide a concise but comprehensive story of the
development and evolution of the universe, the earth, and humanity taking an
inclusive perspective that views the entire universe as a continually developing,
interconnected community. Berry went on to claim in Dream for the Earth that we
have now entered a time of ecological devastation primarily because we suffer from
the lack of a comprehensive story. Most of our great stories reach only as far back as
recorded history and concern only humans. With the mass extinction of species and
current changes in global climate, scientists around the planet agree that the Cenozoic
Era is ending. Our species determines, directly and indirectly, the fate of all life on the
planet. Berry argues that it is crucial that we regain a sense of our role in the Earth
community. We shall consider the arguments put forth by Swimme and Berry as well
as examine the writings of Edward O. Wilson and arguments made by proponents of
deep ecology.
Course Objectives: By the end of the course, students will be able to:
 Understand the new story of the Universe as an unfolding, ongoing process
 Compare and contrast the implications for the new story of the Universe and
more traditional views in the West
 Construct a new understanding of our roles(s) in the epic of evolution and
consider the implications for environmental stewardship/responsibility
 Reflect on the importance of the fundamental processes of the Universe
(differentiation, subjectivity and community) and explore the significance of
these processes in their own individual lives
Required Texts





The Universe Story : From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era--A Celebration of
the Unfolding of the Cosmos, Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, HarperOne, 1994.
Dream of the Earth, Thomas Berry, Sierra Club, 2006.
Biophilia, Edward Wilson, Harvard University Press, 1984.
The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the 21st Century, Thomas Berry,
Columbia University Press, 2009
Deep Ecology for the 21st Century, George Sessions, Shambala Press, 1994.
Course Administration:
 Reflection papers (5 @100 points each)
 Final exam
500
500
1000