TYP Courses
Students in the TYP take five courses per semester. Four of those courses, referred to as "TYP Courses" are exclusive to students in the TYP. The fifth class is a Brandeis undergraduate course, which students choose in consultation with their TYP Advisor. To help you anticipate the types of material presented in the TYP, and the workload, we have provided the following examples of descriptions and syllabi for TYP courses this semester and that have been taught in the past.
Biology (Fall 2008)
TYP Biology will give students a basic introduction to the life sciences. We will cover the basic biology concepts of genes, natural selection, and the cell. We will also learn about biotechnology, medicine, and biomedical research in the world today. Each student and we will use these core concepts to help him or her to develop a deep understanding of an underserved disease that primarily affects the poorest Americans. At the end of class, the students will make a poster presentation to Doctors, PhD scientists, and members of the Brandeis community about these diseases and how we might go about fighting them.
>> See course syllabus (Word doc)
Math 1: Introduction to Quantitative Reasoning (Fall 2008)
The course will begin with a brief review of basic algebra, including calculations with fractions, exponents, linear equalities and inequalities, and polynomials. Following this review the course will focus on numerical, logical, and statistical reasoning. The overall goal of Math 1a is to help students become critical thinkers by using the fundamentals of algebra and data analysis in real world applications.
>> See course syllabus (Word doc)
Writing 1: In the News: Exploring Victorian Periodicals (Fall 2008)
Living in the 21st century, we have access to entertainment and information about the world around us from the internet, tv, radio, newspapers and magazines. While some of these technologies were not available to our nineteenth-century counterparts, access to the news was an important part of their every day lives. Periodicals (magazines or journals coming out weekly or monthly) not only reported on current events, but also included practical information, fiction, poetry, advertisements and illustrations. In this writing class we will use Victorian periodicals as the focus of our writing. The main goal of this course will be to introduce students to the writing life and prepare them to write in college and beyond. We will try a lot of different writing styles and techniques to find the ones that are most successful for each student. We will become a community of writers helping each other improve.
>> See course syllabus (Word doc)
Writing 2 (Fall 2008)
This class introduces students to academic reading and writing. The course will facilitate students' transition into the intellectual life of Brandeis University by helping them acquire the necessary skills and experience of successful academic reading and writing. The course will build on students’ existing strengths and interests to create capable and independent academic readers and writers. With its small size and emphases on critical reading and writing, the course is designed for TYP students.
Students will focus on text analysis, revisions, group collaboration, and independent research. In addition to specific writing techniques, students will also develop techniques of brainstorming, self-editing and other writing skills, which are important both for their academic life and life after college.
Students will also read, analyze critically, and discuss texts from the fields of international relations. Topics include war and ethnic conflict, the United Nations and multilateralism, non-state actors in world politics etc.
Status, Power, and Social Justice (Spring 2008)
Designed to provide students with an introduction to several key principles of sociological analysis. This course represents the first half of a year-long curriculum designed to provide students with the opportunity to think critically about issues of status, power and social justice. We will be using the "sociological imagination" to understand
· The ways in which individual-level decisions, attitudes and actions are informed by, and also inform, broader social forces;
· The mechanisms through which systemic/institutionalized power structures reproduce societal inequalities; and
· The processes through which individuals and groups may either act to sustain status quo power dynamics, or challenge social institutions and systems to effect change in the interest of social justice.
>> See course syllabus (Word doc)