HOORAY!

Good news, everybody! The Honors Science Course descriptions for Fall 2013 are finally updated on the UHP website course listings page. View them all here.

Looking for one more credit to round out your fall schedule? Think iPhones and Google Glass are the bee’s knees? Wondering if bees really DO have knees?

Well look no further than the new one credit course being offered by CCAS this fall. Fridays from 2:30-3:20, some of GW’s best physics, math, and other STEM professors will offer a course on “Research in Science.”

In this course, students will develop an appreciation for research by analyzing and discussing models of creativity and innovation, learning to write scientific-style articles, learning about research programs at GW and the larger research community, gaining scientific literature search skills, and writing their own proposals for summer projects with research groups at GW and elsewhere. This course is primarily for freshmen and selected sophomores who have the aptitude, curiosity, and motivation to explore the nature of science and scientific research. The co-requisite for the course is enrollment in at least one introductory STEM course.

Students in RIS learn about great ideas and discoveries in science from selected readings and class discussions. Readings will come from The Discoveries and selected articles from sources such as Scientific American, Physics Today, and The New York Times Science sections. Students will be encouraged to attend seminars by researchers in the DC area at places like NASA, the Smithsonian, and local universities.

Science! She did it, and so can you!

Research in Science
CCAS 2190:11
Professor Gerry Feldman
Monroe Hall B33
Friday 2:30-3:20
CRN: 57318

Hannah Wendling enjoying the delightful DC weather.

Hello! I’m Hannah; a senior in CCAS majoring in Art History, and minoring in Religion and French. I’m from Columbus, Ohio (Cleveland too) and cannot believe that this is my last year at GW. I joined the Honors Program as a Sophomore Admit and have loved my time here. From the food, to the advising, to the professors you cannot go wrong. My hobbies include ice cream, various GW jobs, making pancakes with Provost Lerman each month, and adventuring in DC (usually to find art and more food). This city and program are fabulous, and I would love to talk about any of it!

If you want to get in touch with Hannah, email uhpspa@gwu.edu!

Kerry Lanzo, SPA and UHP student staff extraordinaire!

Hi there! My name is Kerry, and I am a junior in the Elliott School majoring in International Affairs and History. I hail from Towson, MD but spent most of high school in Andover, Massachusetts. I not only have the honor of being a SPA, but I also work in the front office of UHP, so I am primed to answer any questions you could have. Honors has absolutely shown me the benefit of a liberal arts education, and while science is not necessarily my thing, I have some great memories and a great relationship with all of my UHP professors. Honors has really become my home base on campus, literally and figuratively, and there is nothing like plopping down on the couch with some free coffee to chat and work between classes. When not hanging around the Townhouse or editing Origins papers, I am a total foodie on a college-student budget, and love swapping recipes and hosting dinner parties!

If you want to get in touch with Kerry, email uhpspa@gwu.edu!

Monuments and bowties – just an average day for Thom.

Hi, how are you? Take a seat, get a nice cup of coffee. Let’s talk, just you and me. Let me introduce myself. I’m Thom Josephson. Oh, you want more? (Or maybe you don’t) Well, I’m a junior in CCAS with majors in Economics and Political Science. I am from Ipswich Massachusetts. East Coast, Best Coast! I am, full disclosure, abroad in the fall. Sad face. But it’s in Paris! Anyways, I swim, run, and just generally exercise. I thoroughly enjoy DC and GW. I enjoy movies and making bad jokes. I am terrible at idioms. I watch too much TV, despise reading fiction, and wear bowties. The UHP has given me so much, from an appreciation to philosophy to people with whom to argue about philosophy. It’s a wonderful program, which you’ll know, by the time I’m back from abroad.

If you want to get in touch with Thom, email uhpspa@gwu.edu!

The gerbils that spin the wheels of the Internet are on vacation, and we’re unable to post our science course descriptions on our website! Dang gerbils.

But fear not, the remaining science course descriptions are posted here for your reading pleasure. For the rest of the course descriptions, see our website.

1033:MV and 1033:MV1 with LaTisha Hammond
Biology
Fulfills: CCAS: Natural/Physical Science with Lab; GWSB: Science; SEAS: Elective; ESIA: Science

Biofuels, GMO foods, food allergies, gene therapy, honeybees, coral reef health. At first glance this may be a seemingly random string of topics, but a common thread throughout them all is biology, and all require some understanding of biological concepts to understand their implications and make informed decisions about them. In this course we will explore biological concepts through the lens of contemporary issues in biology as they relate to society and everyday life. This course will serve as an introduction to the fundamentals of biology and the nature of science. Topics to be covered include cells and molecules, genetics, physiology, ecology and evolution as they relate to the more complex and nuanced biological issues of disease, food sources, organism interactions, sustainability, and climate change, to name a few. Lab exercises will introduce biological techniques for studying these topics. Students will engage in the process of science in an effort to increase their scientific literacy. Students will be expected to take an active role in the class, where we will explore these topics through lecture, discussion, debate, experimentation, data analysis, writing, and group projects.

1033:MV2 with Carly Jordan
Science in the media: Investigating claims about your health
Fulfills: CCAS: Natural/Physical Science with Lab; GWSB: Science; SEAS: Elective; ESIA: Science; equivalent to Bio 1005

Every day we hear all sorts of claims about how to live a healthy life. From what to eat to whether or not to get a vaccine or take a certain drug, we are constantly bombarded with advice about how to live our lives. Who do you listen to? How do you know if the claims you hear are true? In this course, you will develop science literacy and critical thinking skills necessary to make sense of the information you encounter every day. You will learn quantitative skills and basic statistics that will help you interpret data. The major project in this course will be to find a claim and investigate its validity. You will determine the legitimacy of its makers, learn where to find primary sources to support or refute the claim, propose additional studies to help clarify confusing information, and create a dissemination piece to share your understanding with your peers. In this course, we will analyze serious medical claims and silly urban legends, but we will do it all using sound logic and the scientific method. At the end of the semester, you will be armed with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about your health.

1033:MV3 with J. Houston Miller
Capital Climate Initiative
Fulfills: CCAS: Natural/Physical Science with Lab; GWSB: Science; SEAS: Elective; ESIA: Science

This course will be a continuation of an effort begun in Fall 2011 through the UHP to bring climate change awareness to the GW campus by deploying greenhouse gas sensors on the GW campuses and displaying this information visually at the sensors, at kiosks around campus, and on the internet (http://realclimategw.org). Students will develop hands-on experience with NDIR sensor technology (look it up!), microcontrollers, web design, and programming, and will also be expected to write extensively for the web page setting a context for our measurements. We will also work collaboratively with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center who is partnered with GW on the deployment of a world-wide network of greenhouse gas sensors using laser heterodyne radiometry (Whew! Better look that up, too!). Although this is nominally a continuation of an on-going effort, students will be required to bring fresh ideas and perspectives to all aspects of the project; an approach that should lead to both more robust technology and enhanced visibility for our efforts.
Leave your self-doubt and techno-phobia at home. You will learn that you can not only do all of the above, but you will probably have a pretty good time doing it.

Jack Keenan, rocking out.

Hello friends, my name is Jack Keenan. I am a sophomore from South Jersey studying in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences as well as the GW School of Business, majoring in Economics and Finance. I absolutely love everything about the Honors Program at GW, and I really do enjoy telling others why it is such a wonderful program! In my free time, I enjoy playing all genres of music (my favorite is jazz) on my guitar, performing in musicals, and speculating in the stock market. Go G-Dub!

If you want to get in touch with Jack, email uhpspa@gwu.edu!

With this smiling face, who wouldn’t want to hang out with Kaley?

Hi there! My name is Kaley and I am a sophomore in the School of Business, majoring in Business Administration with an undeclared concentration. I am from New City, New York.

You all should know that am I completely in love with the honors program and could undoubtedly write numerous pages about how wonderful I think the program is, but I’m not supposed to do that. So instead, I will just tell you that the honors program is my favorite part of my GW experience because I have taken fantastic classes with amazing professors, had fun opportunities for events such as a free trip to the Newseum, made life-long best friends with my honors peeps, and I pretty much wake up every morning filled with bubbly joy over how happy I am to be a part of an incredible program and community. In addition to the honors program, I also love animals (especially dogs!), exploring DC, trying new foods, and reppin’ my GW pride 24/7. I am always up for making new friends so don’t hesitate to approach me!

If you want to get in touch with Kaley, email uhpspa@gwu.edu!

Jess Burnell CCAS ’14 studying abroad in Paris!

Hi everyone! My name is Jessica and I am a senior in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences majoring in econ and minoring in history. I’m originally from a tiny town near Cleveland, Ohio. I was a member of GW Mock Trial my first two years here, and have been a SPA since the program’s inception at the beginning of my sophomore year. This year I’m also serving as SPA’s Communications Chair! The Honors Program is absolutely one of my favorite things about GW. Because of the UHP I’ve been able to take amazing classes, get awesome letters of recommendation, had the ability to get involved in undergraduate research, and met people who are now some of my closest friends. I love the Chicago Bears. It’s pop, not soda. My family has way more cats back home in Ohio than would be considered reasonable. My weaknesses include cupcakes and Benedict Cumberbatch. My spirit animal is Josh Lyman.

If you want to get in touch with Jess, email uhpspa@gwu.edu!

Ali will go get a smoothie with you anytime!

Hi all! I’m Ali, a senior in the Elliott School of International Affairs, with a major in International Affairs and a concentration in Asia. I hail from South Windsor, which is a small town in Connecticut. I studied abroad last fall in China and had an amazing experience, and I highly encourage everyone to study abroad at one point – it’ll change your life. I love reading, writing, going on the internet, cooking and eating, watching TV (my current favorite shows are Fringe and Elementary), and generally being secretly geeky about numerous things. I’m extremely glad that I applied for the UHP; my favorite professors and courses have been in the program!

If you want to get in touch with Ali, email uhpspa@gwu.edu!