1) Introduction to the US Health Care System (Professor Rachael Petitti, University of New Haven). Course description: A comprehensive overview of the basic structures and operations of the U.S. healthcare system. This course includes the historical origins and current social and political contexts in which health care is provided.

2) Poetry Seminar (Professor Chris Schlegel, University of New Haven). Course description: This course introduces students to the writing and reading of poetry in English (or English translation). Emphasis is on structure––what does it mean to place language in containers, to free it from them, to use it as a raw material? We will read poetry from across time periods, composed in various styles; we will also do exercises in class, develop them between meetings, and share our pieces in workshops, where all will offer their thoughts. No previous experience with poetry required.

3) Russia: Empire and Communism (Professor Bradley Woodworth, University of New Haven). Course description: Analysis of the major political, economic, social and cultural transformations that took place in the last half century of tsarist rule in Russia and in the Soviet Union. Emphasis is placed on the crisis of autocratic rule in the late empire, the emergence of the Soviet Union in the cauldron of World War I, the influence of a diverse, multiethnic population on both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, the nature of the radical and often violent experiment that was Soviet rule, the role of the Soviet Union in World War II and in the Cold War, and the ultimately revolutionary policies of Mikhail Gorbachev. Post-Soviet Russia and the Soviet successor states are also examined.

4) Chemistry of Food and Cooking (Professor Anastasia Saar, Yale University). Course description: This course will cover the basic principles of atoms and molecules and molecular structures and interactions. We will focus on how molecular properties and interaction change during the cooking process, as well as discuss chemical processes and energy exchange in cooking.

5) The Enlightenment and the Emergence of the Modern World (Professor Michael Printy, Yale University). Course description: The Enlightenment is said to have given birth to democracy, human rights, feminism, emancipation, and secularism—in short, to the characteristic strivings of Western modernity. Yet it has also been attacked for paving the way for totalitarianism, scientific racism, Eurocentric “universalism,” and modern bureaucratic genocide. In this course we will study key texts and ideas from the Enlightenment, placing them in their historical and social context of the eighteenth century. We will look at revolutions in thinking about history, economy, society, science, government, and religion. How did the mind of the Enlightenment seek to shape the future of European society?

6) Principles of Communication (Professor Cindy Wolfe Boynton, University of New Haven). Course description: The ability to communicate is the most fundamental skill needed to thrive in our society. It is essential to expressing joy and sorrow, to voicing thoughts and ideas, imparting knowledge, advocating, persuading, participating in our democracy and connecting with the larger community around us. This course will address verbal and nonverbal communication, identity, culture, and listening. Students will have the chance to structure, organize, develop, and present information in multiple settings, including through interviews, group discussions and elevator pitches.

7) Close Reading for Craft: Multi-Genre Writers' Workshop (Professor Sarah Mahurin, Yale University). Course description: This 1-credit workshop course will ask students to engage with literary material across four genres – fiction, poetry, memoir, drama – and to wrestle with questions of audience, diction, tone, and voice. Students will encounter different literary styles, strategies and structures, and will apply those elements in their own work. As students sharpen their writing – and as they workshop the writing of their classmates – they will engage with, emulate, and modify the texts of their literary forbearers, in a system we call “close reading for craft.”

1) Thinking Historically about the Scientific Revolution (Professor Alicia Petersen, Yale University). Course description: The concept of a “Scientific Revolution” is typically used to describe the birth of “modern science,” bringing to mind famous figures like Galileo or Isaac Newton and important inventions like gunpowder or the printing press. However, limiting our knowledge of this period to figures like Newton overlooks the complex and diverse network of scientific practitioners who were active at this time. By contrast, this course will offer a deep dive into science and medicine in Europe and its colonies from 1500-1700. It will highlight the scientific and medical knowledge being made outside of the university by groups like artists and artisans in Europe or indigenous medical practitioners in colonial spaces. It will also consider how aspects of scientific practice that remain controversial today—such as the relationship between science and religion or science’s connections to empire and racism—were at play from 1500-1700.

2) Principles of Communication (Professor Nancy Quintanilla, University of New Haven). The ability to communicate is the most fundamental skill needed to thrive in our society. It is essential to expressing joy and sorrow, voicing thoughts and ideas, imparting knowledge, advocating, persuading, participating in our democracy and connecting with the larger community around us.  This course will address verbal and nonverbal communication, identity, culture, and listening.  Students will have the chance to structure, organize, develop, and present information in multiple settings, including interviews, group discussions, elevator pitches, and social media.

3) Philosophies of the World (Professor Douglas Ficek, University of New Haven). Course description: Philosophy is often presented as a uniquely Western phenomenon, but it’s really a global and universal one.  In this course, students engage with philosophical texts from around the world (African, Chinese, Indian, Latin American, and/or Native American) and increase their cultural and philosophical literacy.

4) Literature and the Future (Professor R. John Williams, Yale University). Course description: This course offers a survey of literature’s role in anticipating and constructing potential “futures” from ancient times through the Enlightenment and on into the twentieth century. Questions explored in this course will include: What do we mean by “futurity”? What does it mean to “anticipate” the future? How have authors attempted to make sense of the philosophical complexities of multiple futures? What unique qualities does literature offer in anticipating or imagining the myriad of possible futures? Analyzing the longer history of literary “futurism,” this course explores what literature can tell us about this most human need: to understand what’s coming and how to respond to it.

5) Introduction to Psychology (Professor Melissa Whitson, University of New Haven). Course description: This course is designed to introduce you to the field of psychology. It is intended to increase your understanding the study of human behavior (i.e. psychology) as a scientific discipline. It is an introductory course that will survey a wide range of issues and concepts in psychology, including: biological basis for behavior, development, learning, and personality development as they relate to normal and deviant behavior.