University Bulletin (2011-2012)

SOC 97bj Group Readings and Research
Beginning in week 3 of the JBS, students will work in pairs in one of six county field sites. In collaboration with students from the University of Mississippi and other local colleges and universities, as well as with local community partners, JBS students will undertake interviews, archival research, and content analysis of digitally-recorded community proceedings. This field work will be supervised by Brandeis faculty and graduate assistants as well as by Winter Institute staff, and each JBS student will be required to attend a weekly individual debriefing session. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Cunningham

SOC 156aj Social Change in American Communities
[ ss ]
Provides a theoretical foundation for understanding social movement dynamics, with a particular emphasis on the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. Topics will include modes of civil rights organizing, the mobilization of social, cultural, and material resources, the development of strategic and tactical repertoires, determinants of individual participation, and varieties of anti-civil rights enforcement. The central aim is to provide a historically-contextualized and theoretically-informed sense of the trajectory of the civil rights struggle in the U.S. South. We will pay particular attention to sources of local variation, to understand the interplay among community-level contexts, individual action, and socio-political legacies. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Cunningham

SOC 182aj Applied Research Methods
[ ss wi ]
Provides hands-on training in social science research methodology. It assumes no prior knowledge of the research process, and covers issues related to research design, data collection, and causal analysis within the context of a large-scale collaborative research project. Covers both quantitative and qualitative approaches, including statistical, comparative-historical, interview, and archival methods. Students approach their methodological work as a member of a “research team,” with responsibility over a component of the class’ broader project. Requires students to coordinate their efforts with colleagues and community partners to identify research questions, define the data necessary to answer those questions, gather and code that data, and begin the process of analysis. A component of the class will employ the statistical software package SPSS, which students can download for free from the LTS website. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Cunningham

AMST 102aj Environment, Social Justice, and Empowerment
[ oc ss wi ]
Yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation.
This community-engaged course involves students first-hand in the legal, policy, science, history and social impacts of current environmental health issues challenging individuals and families and communities today, with a particular focus on low-income, immigrant communities and the profound and unique roles played by women. Students will engage directly in the topics through field trips, visiting speakers and discussions with stakeholders themselves. They also will address the issues by assisting low income residents in Waltham at the Tenant Advocacy Clinic, and collaborating in projects with EPA, DEP and local organizations such as Healthy Waltham, the Waltham Family School, Waltham Family YMCA, Jewish Family and Children's Service, Joseph Smith Community Health Center and others. Offered ast part of JBS program.
Ms. Goldin

BISC 6bj Environmental Health
[ sn ]
Does NOT meet requirements for the major in biology. Yields six semester-hour credits towards rate of work and graduation.
An introduction to the science and tools of environmental health, giving students hands-on skills to explore directly current issues experienced by local communities. Students will become familiar with the environmental health paradigm, the conceptual model of the field, including underlying principles of hazard identification, exposure assessment, toxicology, risk assessment, and characterization and interpretation of epidemiological studies. Offered as part of JBS program.
Ms. Goldin and Mr. Stewart

ENVS 89aj Environmental Internship
[ oc ]
JBS students may do a fall internship related to the issues addressed in the JBS. The environmental studies internship provides the opportunity for students to experience firsthand actual environmental challenges in government, industry, public interest organizations and scientific research institutions. Students tackle current environmental issues alongside professionals in the environmental field, experiencing the real-life context and application of their course work. Weekly on-line discussion forums will provide perspective and a substantive basis for the internship experience, and students will present their work at the semi-annual Environmental Internship Symposium. Internship placements are individually tailored to support each student's academic goals and experience. Offered as part of JBS program.
Ms. Goldin

ENVS 98aj Independent Study
Students explore in depth a topic directly related to their internship. In collaboration with the instructor, students develop a reading list and research questions, and write a series of short papers as well as a final paper. Offered as part of JBS program.
Ms. Goldin

ENVS 102aj Field Research and Study Methods: Environmental Health
[ ss ]
Comprises the skills and methods component of the four-course Environmental Health and Justice JBS. Students will be trained in environmental health study design, sampling methodology, field research and equipment techniques, data interpretation, statistical analysis, risk communication and presentation. The course will equip students to design and carry out a semester-long environmental health research study integral to the themes of Environmental Health and Justice JBS. Offered as part of JBS program.
Ms. Goldin and Mr. Stewart

ENG 49aj Scriptwriting for the Short Film
[ hum ]
Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Students will be selected after the submission of a sample of writing, preferably four to seven pages. Please refer to the Schedule of Classes for submission formats and deadlines within registration periods. Offered as part of JBS program.
Addresses many facets of writing screenplays for short films (under eight pages). Students develop two to three scripts through creative exercises, rewriting, and critiques. Supplementary screenings and reading focuses on the particulars of short fiction and cinematic writing.
Staff

FILM 110aj Film Production I
[ ca ss ]
An introduction to the basic principles and techniques of fictional narrative motion picture production. Each student will produce three short films. The films will emphasize dramatic development and creative storytelling through image composition, camera movement, editing, and sound. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Weinberg

FILM 110bj Motion Picture Editing
[ ss ]
Students will develop visual literacy through a study of the editor's role in cinematic storytelling. The course provides an overview of the craft's history and theory and offers practical training in editing digital video with Final Cut Pro. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Dellelo

COSI 89aj Research Internship
Full-time internship with at least 300 hours from August to December. Students blog about their internship, comment on classmates blog entries and write papers about their internship and its role in the world. Offered as part of JBS program.
Staff

COSI 98aj Independent Study
Read scholarly articles related to web services, mobile applications, and cloud computing. Requires a final paper ideally related to student's internship. Offered as part of JBS program.
Staff

COSI 152aj Web Application Programming
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: COSI 11a, 12b, and 21a.
An introduction to web programming that covers the fundamental languages and tools, including HTML/CSS for page layout, javascript/ajax for client-side integration, and server-side programming in Java, Ruby, and SQL. The course also discusses security, scaling/optimization, and multi-tier architectures. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Hickey

COSI 152bj Web App Development for Social Networks
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: COSI 11a, 12b.
Covers advanced topics in web architecture, such as system security, scaling and deployment, advanced REST concepts and others. We will also create a taxonomy of social networking systems to determine the role of each facet of such systems in their design and operation. Usually offered every second year. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Hickey

COSI 153aj Mobile Application Development
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: COSI 11a, 12b, and 21b.
An introduction to the design and analysis of mobile applications that covers the architecture of mobile devices, APIs for graphical user interfaces on mobile devices, location-aware computing, social networking. Also covers the theory and practice of space and time optimization for these relatively snall and slow devices. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Hickey

COSI 153bj Mobile Game Design
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: COSI 11a, 12b.
An introduction to the design, implementation, testing and analysis of mobile games including the architecture of 2D and 3D games, interaction with mobile input/output devices, networking for multi-person games, and mechanisms for marketing, distributing, and maintaining mobile games. Usually offered every second year. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Hickey

COSI 154aj The JBS Incubator
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: COSI 11a, 12b, and 21a.
An introduction to software engineering for web and mobile applications. Covers agile programming techniques, rapid prototyping, source control paradigms, effective software documentation, design of effective APIs, software testing and analysis, software licensing, with an introduction to business plans for software entrepreneurs. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Hickey

COSI 210aj Independent Study
Read scholarly articles related to web services, mobile applications, and cloud computing. Requires a final paper ideally related to student's internship.
Staff

COSI 293aj Research Internship
Full-time internship with at least 300 hours from August to December. Students blog about their internship, comment on classmates blog entries and write papers about their internship and its role in the world.
Staff

Please see the program page for full details.

IGS/LGLS 180a The Spirit of International Law
[ ss ]
Course to be taught at Brandeis program in The Hague.
This course provides a broad survey of international law--how it aspires to peace, justice, and human rights; and how it meets the hard realities of a complex world. Building on direct contact with international tribunals, the course considers social, cultural, political, and economic factors shaping global justice, along with the impact of legal values on nations, regions, and communities. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Gaskins

IGS/LGLS 185b Advocacy in the International Criminal Court
[ ss ]
Course to be taught at Brandeis program in The Hague.
After setting the historical and critical framework for international criminal law, this course features intensive workshops with advocates and officials of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, in cooperation with the University of Leiden. Sessions will include moot court exercises and discussions with judges from the major international tribunals. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Gaskins

Also includes a practicum component and direct enrollment course at the University of Leiden. Please see the program page for full details.

IGS/LGLS 128b Networks of Global Justice
[ ss ]
Course to be taught at Brandeis program in The Hague.
Compares constitutional practices in the United States; the reformed communist nations of Eastern Europe; and the modernizing nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Focuses on the creation and evolution of constitutional structures, problems of federation and ethnicity, and protection of fundamental rights. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

IGS/LGLS 180a The Spirit of International Law
[ ss ]
Course to be taught at Brandeis program in The Hague.
This course provides a broad survey of international law--how it aspires to peace, justice, and human rights; and how it meets the hard realities of a complex world. Building on direct contact with international tribunals, the course considers social, cultural, political, and economic factors shaping global justice, along with the impact of legal values on nations, regions, and communities. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Gaskins