Autumn Quarter 2024 Natural Science courses
-This is for informational purposes only. Class times, areas of inquiry/degree requirements, fees, and course descriptions may change. Check the time schedule for course times and days BEFORE enrolling in any course.
-Always refresh your degree audit after registering for courses or changing your schedule.
For more A&H courses, use the Time Schedule: http://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/
Anthropology
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/anthro.html
Anth 210 – Intro to Environmental Anthropology (5 credits)
Introduction to human/environment interactions from various anthropological perspectives. Intellectual history of anthropological approaches to environment, emphasizing the mutual interconnectedness of people and nature. Survey of evolutionary models; cultural ecology; systems approaches; indigenous knowledge; ethnoecology; nature and the state; political ecology; ecofeminism; and environmentalism.
Astronomy
http://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/astro.html
ASTR 101A – Astronomy (5 credits)
$5 course fee
RSN credit
Introduction to the universe, with emphasis on conceptual, as contrasted with mathematical, comprehension. Modern theories, observations; ideas concerning nature, evolution of galaxies; quasars, stars, black holes, planets, solar system. Not open for credit to students who have taken 102 or 301; not open to upper-division students majoring in physical sciences or engineering.
ASTR 101B – Astronomy (5 credits)
To be arranged. Online group start course.
RSN credit
Introduction to the universe, with emphasis on conceptual, as contrasted with mathematical, comprehension. Modern theories, observations; ideas concerning nature, evolution of galaxies; quasars, stars, black holes, planets, solar system. Not open for credit to students who have taken 102 or 301; not open to upper-division students majoring in physical sciences or engineering.
ASTR 102 – Intro to Astronomy (5 credits)
RSN credit
$5 course fee
Emphasis on mathematical and physical comprehension of nature, the sun, stars, galaxies, and cosmology. Designed for students who have had algebra and trigonometry and high school or introductory-level college physics. Cannot be taken for credit in combination with ASTR 101 or ASTR 301.
ASTR 150A – The Planets (5 credits)
$5 course fee
RSN credit
For liberal arts and beginning science students. Survey of the planets of the solar system, with emphases on recent space exploration of the planets and on the comparative evolution of the Earth and the other planets.
ASTR 150E – The Planets (5 credits)
To be arranged. Online group start course.
RSN credit
For liberal arts and beginning science students. Survey of the planets of the solar system, with emphases on recent space exploration of the planets and on the comparative evolution of the Earth and the other planets.
Atmospheric Sciences
http://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/atmos.html
ATM S 101A – Weather (5 credits)
Students learn the essentials about weather, including basic concepts on how to read the sky, and how to interpret weather information and forecasts from a variety of sources. Covers origin and structure of the atmosphere, wind, rain, and snow storms, and other major weather features, as well as how weather forecasts are made and evaluated.
ATM S 101C – Weather (5 credits)
Online. Go to Time Schedule for details.
ATM S 111 – Global Warming: Understanding the Issues (5 credits)
Presents a broad overview of the science of global warming. Includes the causes, evidence, and societal and environmental impacts from the last century. Recounts future climate projections and societal decisions that influence greenhouse gas emission scenarios and our ability to adapt to climate change. Presents ways to identify disinformation versus correct science.
ATM S 211 – Climate Change (5 credits)
The nature of the global climate system. Factors influencing climate including interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, solid earth, and biosphere. Stability and sensitivity of climate system. Global warming, ozone depletion, and other human influences. Intended for nonmajors.
ATM S 220 – Exploring the Atmospheric Sciences (1 credit)
Focuses on current research in the atmospheric sciences and the related implications for public health, business, and environmental policy. Credit/no-credit only.
Chid
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/chid.html
Chid 444 – Eye + Mind (5 credits)
Investigates life as an emergent phenomenon across the disciplines of biophilosophy, art, art history, literary criticism, and information studies with an emphasis on interdisciplinary methods. Addresses key issues in phenomenology, social theory, contemporary bioart, and complexity studies. Throughout the quarter we will ask questions such as: What do art and science have in common? What is an emergent phenomenon? What is special about living things?
Epidemiology
http://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/epidem.html
EPI 220 – STIs: Causes and Consequences (5 credits)
Examines the causes and consequences of sexually transmitted infections (STI). Discusses strategies to prevent STI with a focus on sexual and reproductive health. Explores new advances in STI epidemiology, treatment, and public health control. No pre-reqs.
EPI 221 – Maternal and Child Health: A Population Health Approach (5 credits)
Provides a public health perspective of maternal and child health. Includes information on indicators of maternal, infant, and child health; risk factors for pregnancy complications, infant and child morbidity and mortality; and impact of maternal and child health on life course disease risk. No pre-reqs.
Earth and Space Sciences
http://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/ess.html
ESS 100 – Dinosaurs (2 credits)
Biology, behavior, ecology, evolution, and extinction of dinosaurs, and a history of their exploration. With dinosaurs as focal point, course also introduces the student to how hypotheses in geological and paleobiological science are formulated and tested.
ESS 101 - Intro to Geology and Societal Impacts (5 credits)
$25 course fee
Go to time schedule for details on optional writing credit.
Introduction to the processes, materials and structures that shape Earth. Emphasizes the dynamic nature of the earth's tectonic system and its relationship to physical features, volcanism, earthquakes, minerals and rocks and geologic structures. The course emphasizes the intrinsic relationship between human societies and geologic processes, hazards and resources. Not open for credit to students who have taken ESS 210. Optional field trips. No prerequisite classes required.
ESS 101 B - Intro to Geology and Societal Impacts (5 credits)
$7 course fee
Lecture to be arranged. Go to time schedule for details.
Introduction to the processes, materials and structures that shape Earth. Emphasizes the dynamic nature of the earth's tectonic system and its relationship to physical features, volcanism, earthquakes, minerals and rocks and geologic structures. The course emphasizes the intrinsic relationship between human societies and geologic processes, hazards and resources. Not open for credit to students who have taken ESS 210. Optional field trips. No prerequisite classes required.
ESS 102A – Space and Space Travel (5 credits)
$20 course fee
Writing credit
Explores powering the sun, making of space weather conditions, observations from space and from Earth, Earth’s space environment, radiation belts and hazards, plasma storms and auroras, electron beams, spacecraft requirements, tooling up for manned exploration. Open to non-science majors.
ESS 105 – Natural Hazards and Disasters (3 credits)
Examines a range of natural hazards and their impact on society, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, floods, wildfire, and landslides. Focuses on the causes of these extreme events, how they unfold, their differential effects on communities, and how to make society more resilient to natural hazards.
ESS 106 – Living with Volcanoes (3 credits)
Explores volcanoes and volcanic eruptions on Earth and in the solar system. Examines how volcanoes work and how they affect the environment, life, and human societies. Illustrates principles using local examples of recent volcanism and ancient examples of mega-eruptions. Evaluates the possibility of predicting future eruptions.
ESS 230A – Rivers and Beaches (3 credits)
$30 course fee
Introduction to Earth surface environments, the processes that shape them, how humans affect them and are affected by them. Field trips examine mountains, rivers, deltas/estuaries, beaches, and environments beyond. Focuses on linkages between these environments to illustrate coupling between landscapes and seascapes. Offered jointly with OCEAN 230.
ESS 230B – Rivers and Beaches (5 credits)
5 credit section for Rivers and Beaches. Go to time schedule for details.
$50 course fee
Environmental Studies
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/envst.html
Envir 100 –Intro to Environmental Studies (5 credits)
Diversity credit. Service Learning.
Examines the ethical, political, social, and scientific dimensions of environmental issues. Integrates knowledge from different disciplines while evaluating environmental problems at various scales. Uses an environmental justice lens to examine the ways problems are concentrated in some communities while providing opportunities to practice environmental communication and collaboration across disciplines.
Envir 240 – The Urban Farm (5 credits)
Introduces implications of and approaches to sustainability through models of sustainability, history of sustainability movements, and sustainability in action. Explores how our personal choices can affect broader change towards sustainability. Examines personal and global aspects of sustainability through issues such as food, energy, waste, water, population, consumption, design, and well-being.
Environmental Health
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/envh.html
Env H 111 – Exploring Environment and Health Connections (3 credits)
Introduction to environmental health concepts. Examines current events to illustrate and better appreciate the relationship between environment and health and to explore whether an environmental condition is or is not an important threat to health. Emphasizes the roles of environmental scientists and related professionals.
ENV H 311 – Intro to Environmental Health (3 credits)
Relationship of people to their environment, how it affects their physical well-being and what they can do to influence the quality of the environment and to enhance the protection of their health. Emphasis on environmental factors involved in transmission of communicable diseases and hazards due to exposure to chemical and physical materials in our environment.
Environmental Science and Resource Management
http://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/esrm.html
ESRM 101 – Forests and Society (5 credits)
Survey course focused on trees and the urban canopy within the city of Seattle. This course will cover the geologic and ecological origins of Puget Sound ecosystems with emphasis on the human dimensions of these ecosystems both historically and currently withing urban forests. Topics will include the many ways ecosystems support human health and well-being, the impacts of colonization, urbanization and social policies on ecosystem fragmentation, and connections between disparities in canopy cover and human health. Students will focus on economic and environmental issues in urban forestry, and explore the development of just and equitable solutions for increasing tree canopy cover for the protection of communities most impacted by the changing climate. Students will utilize in-field engagement with urban trees of Seattle to understand critical nature-based solutions for mitigating the impact of a changing climate.
ESRM 150 – Wildlife in the Modern World (5 credits)
Covers major wildlife conservation issues in North America. Some global issues are also treated. Examples of topics include the conservation of large predators, effects of toxic chemicals on wildlife, old-growth wildlife, conservation of marine wildlife, recovery of the bald eagle, and gray wolf.
Informatics
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/info.html
Info 103 – Social Media, Ethics, and Automation (5 credits)
Explores ethical concerns involving automation on social media platforms. Students learn about social media phenomena (e.g., viral memes, parasocial relationships, harassment campaigns), experiment with computer programs (e.g., bots, data mining programs, recommendation algorithms), and apply ethics frameworks (e.g., Taoism, virtue ethics, Ubuntu ethics). No prior programming experience assumed.
Nutritional Science
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/nutrit.html
NUTR 141 – Intro to Foods (5 credits)
Examines how foods are used by different people and cultures to deliver nutrients and energy. Explores the evolution of the global food supply, food preparation techniques, food patterns, and eating habits as they relate to diets, nutrition, and personal and public health.
NUTR 200 – Nutrition for Today ( 4 credits)
Examines the role of nutrition in health, wellness, and prevention of chronic disease. Topics include nutrients and nutritional needs across the lifespan, food safety, food security, wellness, body weight regulation, eating disorders, sports nutrition, and prevention of chronic disease. May not be taken for credit if credit earned in NUTR 300.
NUTR 302 – Food Systems I: Harvest to Health (5 credits)
Examines the many facets of the modern food supply from production and processing to distribution, marketing, and retail. Systems approach to foods studies considers geopolitical, agricultural, environmental, social, and economic factors along the pathway from harvest to health. Prerequisite: NUTR 200.
Oceanography
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/ocean.html
Ocean 102 – The Changing Oceans (5 credits)
To be arranged. Go to time schedule for details.
Explores case studies on how the ocean drives our planet's climate system and how humans have altered marine and coastal environments. Students consider societal factors affecting progress in marine science, changing popular attitudes toward the oceans, and key current policy implications of marine science. All students welcome!
Philosophy
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/phil.html
Phil 120 – Intro to Logic (5 credits)
RSN credit
Elementary symbolic logic. The development, application, and theoretical properties of an artificial symbolic language designed to provide a clear representation of the logical structure of deductive arguments.
Psychology
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/psych.html
Psych 202 – Biopsychology (5 credits)
Examines the biological basis of behavior, the nervous system, how it works to control behavior and sense the world, and what happens when it malfunctions. Topics include learning and memory, development, sex, drugs, sleep, the senses, emotions, and mental disorders. Prerequisite: PSYCH 101.
Statistics
https://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/AUT2024/stat.html
Stat 220 – Principles of Statistical Reasoning (5 credits)
RSN credit
Introduces statistical reasoning. Focuses primarily on the what and why rather than the how. Helps students gain an understanding of the rationale behind many statistical methods, as well as an appreciation of the use and misuse of statistics. Encourages and requires critical thinking. Students may receive credit for only one of Stat 220, Stat 221, Stat 311, and Econ 311.
Stat 221 – Statistical Concepts and Methods for the Social Sciences (5 credits)
RSN credit
Develops statistical literacy. Examines objectives and pitfalls of statistical studies; study designs, data analysis, inference; graphical and numerical summaries of numerical and categorical data; correlation and regression; and estimation, confidence intervals, and significance tests. Emphasizes social science examples and cases. Students may receive credit for only one of Stat 220, Stat 221, Stat 311, and Econ 311.