First-Year Seminars

Instructor(s): Mary Pattillo

Description:

Writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) wrote the following about her time at Barnard College in the 1920s: “Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock surged upon, overcome by a creamy sea. I am surged upon and overswept, but through it all, I remain myself.” A College Seminar gives students the tools to manage the “surge” of college, both socioemotionally and academically. You have left the familiarity of your families, neighborhoods, friends, and high schools to enter a new context, one with new forms of diversity, hierarchy, division, and opportunity for connection. Even though she was writing 100 years ago, Hurston is still an awesome guide as you navigate issues of race, gender, class, and academic belonging at Northwestern.

The goal of the class is to give you the tools to manage the surges of college while maintaining yourself, even as you also change. Some topics we will explore include: privilege, politics, love, friendship, curiosity, perseverance, work, and community. Hurston’s vast body of work will be the basis for our reflections, analysis, and writing.

Instructor(s): Brian Libgober

Description:

Complex societies require systems for settling private conflicts and, in so doing, producing civil justice. In recent years, scholars have documented a profound, multi-dimensional crisis in the basic infrastructure of providing civil justice, with particular flash points including eviction, child welfare, and debt collection. Our course will explore how the civil justice system has reached this state of crisis, the consequences of this crisis for social and economic inequality, and how and why the political system has struggled to arrive at policy solutions. We will also discuss prospects for reform to civil justice and draw connections and contrasts to the criminal justice system.

The course aims to give students a familiarity with how social scientists think about thorny policy issues crossing many substantive areas.

Instructor(s): Ryan Platte

Description:

In this course we will examine, and learn how to write about, the role of Ancient Greece and Rome in American film and culture. Preliminary steps in this study will involve introductions to various historic eras of the ancient Greco-Roman world as well as important elements of ancient culture. Our emphasis will, however, not be analysis of antiquity itself but rather of recent American engagement with that antiquity, particularly in film. We will examine not just how antiquity perseveres in American culture, but how popular art creatively and critically engages with inherited Classical traditions. We will also consider engagement with Classical antiquity in some non-cinematic media as well, such as the graphic novel and even the architecture of the city of Chicago.

In addition to the scholarly elements of this course, it will also serve as an introduction to college life itself. We will learn about specific resources on campus that exist to enable student success as well as discuss student well-being and personal success strategies. Your instructor will be your academic advisor this term and this will incorporate advising related activities to help students succeed not only in this class but at the university generally.

Instructor(s): Tracy Hodgson

Description: Do animals think? Are they self-aware? How can we humans ever hope to find out? Topics for exploration and discussion include: The evolution of cognition; the history and current state of research on animal thinking; how studies of animal thinking may help us better understand human cognition.

Instructor(s): Chris Bush

Description:

In 1909, a group of Italian poets and artists calling themselves futurists published a manifesto announcing a violent attack on not just the current standards for art, but on seemingly every aspect of their society. The following decades saw a tidal wave of —isms that similarly sought to transform the world through radically new forms of art: Orphism, stridentism, expressionism, suprematism, surrealism . . . dozens and dozens of movements sprang up not only in Europe, but around the world.

In this course you will be introduced to the art and the politics of some of the most influential of these early twentieth-century movements, including Italian futurism (which eventually became allied with Italian fascism), négritude (a Black anti-colonial movement that originated in the French-speaking world), anthrophagy (a Brazilian movement that tried to revalue negative stereotypes about its country), and surrealism.

Beyond considering these movements as literary and art history, we will focus on the ongoing relevance of the questions they raised: can art and politics work together? Could they be separated even if we wanted them to be? Does radical change call for radical art? How do we distinguish art from other kinds of objects, or literature from other kinds of texts? How should we think about the ethics of cultural appropriation and reappropriation? How do we deal with good art by bad people—or bad art by people we think are good? In addition to the historical material (from mostly the 1910s–1930s), we will discuss additional examples up to the present.

No prior knowledge of the topic is required or assumed. Assessment will be based primarily on participation and regular short assignments. All readings and other course materials will be provided via Canvas.

Instructor(s): Marcelo Vinces

Description:

Biology is the study of life and living organisms. Like all the natural sciences, it is concerned with describing, predicting and understanding natural phenomena based on evidence from observation and experimentation. But like all human activities, it does not exist in objective isolation, but rather within a societal context. This course aims to contextualize the study of biology towards a better understanding of how social and cultural histories and dynamics have had a profound effect on biological research, and how social, political and economic forces can strongly influence the impact of scientific breakthroughs.

Topics we will cover, among others: the role of subjectivity in science (the good and the bad); the cultural, political and societal barriers to reaping the benefits of biological research; the role of communications in the field of biology; and select biological topics including evolution, cancer and infectious disease. You will learn from press articles, academic literature, and non-fiction general-audience books.

This seminar is a liberal arts course in Biology and will thus touch on all the foundational disciplines of the Weinberg College curriculum: natural sciences, social and behavioral sciences, empirical and deductive reasoning, historical studies, ethical and evaluative thinking, and even literature and the arts.

Instructor(s): Almaz Mesghina

Description:

Race is something that is constructed and something that constricts us. The field of psychology is responsible for both, but also has solutions for both. This class considers blackness and psychology from four perspectives: 1) How psychology has helped create the notion of race, 2) How psychology has treated black minds and bodies historically, 3) How psychology has ignored the diversity of black identity and experiences, and 4) How all of these show up in the modern, everyday interactions we have.

Through course readings, discussions, and written assignments, we will develop and apply an understanding of how psychology makes blackness, and the psychological implications of a race-aware society. We’ll also learn how to read, critique, and write psychological research. Course readings will include journal articles, videos, and book chapters.

There is no required textbook. Because this is a College Seminar, we will also develop and apply an understanding of how to be effective, healthy college students. We will do this by reading psychology research articles and engaging in candid discussion to adopt the evidence-based strategies for thriving at Northwestern.

Instructor(s): Shelby Hatch

Description: In earlier times, “The Green” referred to a literal green space in the center of a town or village where residents would gather for public events. These events might be social or political in nature. In current parlance, we often use the word “green” to refer to something environmentally benign, and this includes the practice of “green chemistry.” In this course, we will blend these dualities of “green” by communicating chemistry on the metaphorical green through essays, podcasts, 1-minute documentaries, and presentations. The course will culminate with a “Chemistry on the Green” event on campus.

Instructor(s): Melissa Rosenzweig

Description:

This first year seminar has two objectives: (a) to teach you about environmental justice and environmental justice movements in Chicago, and (b) to assist you in acclimating to college life and work.

The first part of the course will cover the history of the environmental justice movement in the US, including some of the movement’s main objectives, and review community case studies both successful and unsuccessful. In the second half of the class, we will focus on environmental justice movements in the Chicago area. We will rely on articles, field trips and guest speakers to get an on-the-ground grasp of EJ movements in Chicagoland.

Instructor(s): Sherwin Ovid

Description: How has color informed artistic practice over time? In this seminar students will explore the principles of how color can be used and combined while analyzing its influences on human perception, emotion, and behavior. Students learn about color systems, psychology, harmony, and interactions through both theoretical study and practical application through design and collage projects. The intended aim is to develop a strong foundation in color vocabulary and visual communication. Formal studies in color will be an entry point into learning about the cultural and sociological aspects of how color plays out in broader society and the value judgments that shape contemporary and historical dialogues about this topic.

Instructor(s): Max Sinitsyn

Description: We will learn about the concepts of equity and economic efficiency, using very basic economic frameworks to think about them. We will focus on the equity-efficiency tradeoff present in policymaking and discuss the philosophical merits of economic and social policies that affect our everyday lives.

Instructor(s): Sandy Zabell

Description: Cryptology is the science of secret writing, or more generally secure communication. We will discuss classical methods of cryptography, followed by the use of the German Enigma machine and other systems during World War II, and end by discussing modern cryptosystems such as RSA and PGP, digital signatures, and their use in internet security.

Instructor(s): Maayan Hilel

Description:

This course introduces students to the History of Everyday Life, a methodological approach that shifts attention from elites, institutions, and major political events to the daily practices, routines, and social spaces of ordinary people. Applying this lens to Israel/Palestine offers distinctive insights into a region typically understood through conflict-centered narratives. By attending to the daily, the habitual, and the seemingly mundane, this course explores how Jews, Muslims, Christians, and others experienced work, family, religion, fashion, food, leisure, consumption, and sexuality, and how their daily choices and experiences shaped broader social, cultural, and political developments.

Through primary sources, ethnographic accounts, visual materials, and scholarly readings, students will investigate how everyday life both reflected and shaped social change and cultural creativity in Palestine and Israel from the late Ottoman period to the present. As a first-year seminar, this course will also guide students through their transition to Northwestern, helping them navigate available resources and develop essential studying skills that will set them up for success in the Humanities and beyond.

Instructor(s): Morgan Thompson

Description:

Through technologies like smartphones, social media, and Large Language Models, we produce digital traces of our everyday lives. Most of this data is collected and analyzed by governments, businesses, and scientists who use algorithms and data analytics to make decisions that impact our lives. There are two broad narratives about the societal implications of big data and technology. On one hand, technologies can improve health, increase access to education, produce economic efficiency and growth, and stimulate more green energy projects. On the other hand, when governments or companies use algorithms and machine learning to supplement or even supplant human decision-making, fundamental values like responsibility, fairness, and authenticity may be at risk. Will Big Data and machine learning usher in a new age of enlightenment and prosperity or undermine our values and result in an erosion of autonomy, self-determination, and workers’ rights?

In addition to the academic content, this College Seminar will focus on improving the critical reading, thinking, and time-management skills that will serve you well in your future Northwestern courses. We will also focus on setting and evaluating your own academic goals for the quarter. This seminar may serve as a space of social and advising support to aid in your transition to university and the increased academic expectations of college-level work. We will discuss grades and perfectionism, resources for help during challenges, unwritten professional norms in professor-student interactions, maintaining academic integrity, and identifying credible sources.

Instructor(s): Brady Clark

Description:

When academics discuss communication, they tend to focus on ideal uses of language involving cooperative, honest, helpful, and trustworthy speakers. Real-world communication is not like this at all. This seminar examines communication in our non-ideal world. Our primary focus will be several forms of deceptive communication: lying, misleading, and bullshitting. We will explore a wide range of topics: What are the linguistic cues to deceptive communication, if any? Does lying necessarily involve deception? Why is there so much bullshit in contemporary political speech? Is online misinformation a problem? If it is, how should we address it? Do chatbots lie and bullshit?

Our goal will be to figure out what tools and concepts we need to understand the varieties of deception that characterize human language interaction.

Instructor(s): Deborah Rosenberg

Description: What do we do about a world that doesn't conform to our expectations? Do we set out to mold reality to our vision or accept it as it is? How do we forge ahead with our dreams if others do not share our values or goals? Cervantes' Don Quixote tackles these big questions in ways that are both moving and funny as it narrates the adventures of the bedraggled hero--a man driven mad by reading too many fantasy novels--and his earthy sidekick Sancho Panza. The novel contains themes that resonate with our lives today, exploring not only what it means to write--and read--fiction but also asking us to evaluate what kind of person we want to be in the world. In our class, we'll read the novel closely and debate how its essential questions can shape our personal choices moving forward. We will read the novel in English; no prior knowledge of Spanish or Spanish literature is required.

Instructor(s): Paola Zamperini

Description:

The course will explore the world of dreams in pre-modern, modern, and, if time allows it, contemporary Chinese literature and culture. Beginning with Daoist and Buddhist sources, and proceeding in a chronological fashion, we will navigate the dreamscapes mapped by traditional oneiromancy, philosophy, poetry, drama, fiction, all the way to contemporary theatrical and cinematic discourse. What do dreams mean? How does their language intersect with the language of faith, desire, gender, politics, power and fear? How similar and how different are our dreaming brains today from those of Chinese philosophers that lived three thousand years ago? Do cultural differences make us dream different dreams? These are just some of the questions that we will try to answer together during the course of the quarter. In order to do so, we will look at the semantic, religious and aesthetic function of dreams in the changing world of Chinese culture, connecting our findings to recent discoveries in the fields of contemporary psychology, psychoanalysis and neuroscience. Where possible, we will also engage in comparison with dream-related practices and traditions in other Asian contexts, such as those of India and Tibet

Acquisition of knowledge about the study of dreams and dream culture in the field of Chinese studies in particular, and that of Asian studies and dream science in general. This will mean exposure to primary sources (in English(and for those students able to, in the original) produced by Chinese and other Asian authors, as well as to related secondary sources.

Acquisition of an appreciation of the variance of expressions of dream culture and literature past and present, in China and beyond, at the national, regional, and global levels.

Understanding the effects of cultural, political, social, and economic forces on dream culture, its representation and evolution in any given culture, past and present.

Growth as independent researchers and writers in the field of Chinese studies, Asian humanities, and interdisciplinary research and scholarship.

Instructor(s): James O'Laughlin

Description:

Imagining worlds gone wrong, dystopian stories plunge us into places that may seem not only unthinkable but also troublingly familiar. We'll explore a number of questions about these worlds: how do the people in them understand why things are the way they are? What stories about the past do these worlds rely on? What exactly is dystopian about these worlds, as imagined? How do the people in these worlds envision the future? What about their ways of thinking or about their practices challenges the dystopian? How do these dystopian worlds compare with worlds we already know, or with the way things were when these stories were written?

Short stories and novels may include (among others) the following: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, "Friday Black"; Heather Lindsley, "Just Do It"; Sarah Langan, "Independence Day"; Ray Bradbury, "The Pedestrian"; Ted Chiang, “Understand”; Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery"; Ursula K. Le Guin, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"; Kenan Orhan, "The Beyoglu Municipality Waste Management Orchestra”; N.K. Jemison, “Walking Awake”; Robert Silverberg, "Caught in the Organ Draft”; Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, Never Let Me Go.

Instructor(s): Jonas Jin

Description: We will learn about the concepts of equity and economic efficiency, using very basic economic frameworks to think about them. We will focus on the equity-efficiency tradeoff present in policymaking and discuss the philosophical merits of economic and social policies that affect our everyday lives.

Instructor(s): Sean Ebels Duggan

Description:

This course, designed for students with and without physics, mathematics, or philosophical background, is about discoveries in physics and logic, and how they affected, and were affected by, philosophy. It also will tell a story about a beautiful friendship, brilliant people doing selfish things, evil people doing terrible things, and tragic endings.

Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity of 1905 and 1915 reshaped physics and how we thought about our knowledge of the world. Kurt Gödel’s incompleteness theorems of 1931 did something similar to thinking about mathematics more generally. After Einstein and Gödel became friends in Princeton, Gödel provided solutions to Einstein’s equations that show, at least theoretically, the possibility of a certain kind of time travel. Those are the discoveries and the friendship. We will examine all of these, and the selfish, terrible, and tragic parts, through engagement with history, philosophical and scientific texts, and even a little poetry. Along the way we’ll reflect on what habits foster doing our best work (in a healthy way).

Instructor(s): Nate Stern

Description:

Quantum technology is escaping the laboratory and beginning to reshape the modern world. Scientists and engineers are translating the strange rules of quantum mechanics, such as uncertainty, superposition, and entanglement, into new technologies, from powerful new computers to sensors that could transform medicine, navigation, and national security. This shift raises major questions: What happens to digital privacy if quantum computers threaten modern encryption? How should societies govern technologies that could alter security, infrastructure, and the global balance of power? In this interdisciplinary, discussion-based seminar, designed for students with no prior background in physics, we will use accessible readings and case studies to understand the core concepts of quantum physics while bypassing advanced math.

Together, we will ask how strange ideas about nature become powerful technologies and how societies should respond to them, then develop our own frameworks for responsibly bounding uncertainty in the Quantum Age.

Instructor(s): Sarah Brown

Description:

Ever wonder how a TikTok becomes an action or how a conversation sparks a movement? In this course, we'll explore how our ideals of justice and equity aren't just abstract concepts—they're alive in our daily choices and interactions.

Behind every protest sign, every viral hashtag, and every community organizing effort lies both sophisticated theoretical frameworks AND practical skills developed through generations of activism. One doesn't work without the other.

As we navigate this first-year seminar together, you'll discover the false boundary between what's "personal" (your self-care practices, learning styles, and individual growth) and what's "political" (the values and systems you engage with). In truth they are inseparable—and understanding this connection is power.

Instructor(s): Penny Deutscher

Description:

This writing seminar provides an overview to the role of reproductive politics in historical and contemporary feminist philosophy and theory, with a focus both on rights claims, and activist experiments with paradigms beyond the language of rights. Taking as our starting point the end of the (federal) constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. in 2022, we consider arguments concerning its significance within North American law and politics. We also engage trans-border and further perspectives contributed by an international outlook. The course offers an introduction to a cross-disciplinary area of study: we will encounter arguments from a range of fields such as legal studies, political and media theory, Black studies and decolonial thought, history, philosophical theories of biopower, and activist dimensions.

We will consider the development in both national and trans-national contexts of different paradigms including intersectionality, reproductive justice, the politics of collective care, and the plural activisms of Latin America's "green wave" movements.

Instructor(s): Aaron Miller

Description:

Recently ideas about the "paleo-lifestyle" have begun to be spread in popular culture, often with prescriptions about how modern humans should conduct their lives in order to achieve better health and well-being. This course will survey some of these "paleo" recommendations and popular conceptions of our ancestors. These popular conceptions will be viewed critically against the evidence for what our ancestors actually did and what, if anything, it means for people living in the modern era.

Some of the included topics will include dietary recommendations, exercise/barefoot running, childcare and feeding practices, and pathogen exposure/immune function.

Instructor(s): Lydia Barnett

Description:

What happens when we include animals in the way we tell history? How can history help us understand the way we relate to animals today? Together we will learn and discuss the variety of ways that humans have conceptualized their relationships with non-human animals in different cultures and different moments in time: as pets, workers, property, food, commodities, test subjects, memes, pests, zoo animals, conservation targets, and companions of all stripes.

This course is also a workshop where you will acquire the basic research methods of history and ethnography. Students will conduct field research on campus and in Chicago as well as historical research in local archives in order to discover and interrogate human-animal relationships past and present. The course culminates in a research project on animals in Northwestern’s history using the visual and documentary records held in Northwestern University Archives.

Instructor(s): Michelle Driscoll

Description: Biology is astonishingly complex - what are the rules that govern how biology works? How does an embryo know what to grow into? Why is it that cats need lungs but ants don't? We will explore these and many more questions to understand the physical rules that direct biology. Students will learn what we do and do not understand about the physics of life, and will explore current research in this young and rapidly evolving field.

Instructor(s): Charly Yarnoff

Description:

We live in a time when hostility toward immigrants has made many Americans forget that, as Barack Obama said, “We are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too." This hostility has obscured the complex reality of the lives of immigrants. In this course, we will study fiction and poetry by immigrants and their children in order to understand that complex reality. We will explore such questions as: How do social attitudes and institutions impact the lives of immigrants as they seek to pursue the "American Dream"? What happens to the relationships between parents and children through the process of acculturation into American society? How do differences in national origin connect with other differences, particularly gender, race, ethnicity, and class?

In this course, you will develop: (1) your understanding of the diverse experiences of immigrants and their children; (2) your ability to read closely and critically, considering multiple ways of interpreting literary works and supporting those interpretations with evidence from the text; (3) effective strategies for planning, drafting, revising papers; (4) your ability to use and offer constructive feedback on writing; (5) skills and knowledge that enable you to take advantage of the resources available at Northwestern.

Instructor(s): Elizabeth Lenaghan

Description:

What if boredom isn't the enemy we think it is? In our age of constant connectivity and endless stimulation, this college seminar challenges students to reconsider one of our most avoided experiences. Through an eclectic mix of readings, discussions, and hands-on experiments, we'll explore boredom as both cultural phenomenon and personal experience. Topics range from the mundane to the profound: waiting in line, social media scrolling, reality television, meditation traditions, the neuroscience of attention, "boring" art and literature, slow food movements, digital detox culture, and the creative potential of empty time.

In exploring these topics, you will engage with contemporary writers and thinkers alongside classic texts, but more importantly, you will conduct your own investigations—from deliberate disconnection experiments to mindful observation exercises. Through traditional academic writing, creative projects, and reflective practices, you will develop critical thinking skills while learning to sit with discomfort and discover what emerges in the spaces between stimulation. This seminar serves as both intellectual exploration and practical training in the lost art of being present, preparing students for deeper engagement with their academic and personal lives.

Instructor(s): Lisa Del Torto

Description: This seminar explores language as part of our everyday social experience. We’ll consider such questions as: What’s the difference between a language and a dialect? Why do some people think you have an accent while others think you don't? Has your own language changed since you came to Northwestern? What patterns govern the conversations we have, and how do we create social relationships, communities, and identities in those conversations? Why do some of us mix multiple languages? Is it, like, ok for me to, like, use like so much? What about um or ya know? Students will formulate and consider their own questions about language and social life in papers and presentations.

Instructor(s): Elvia Mendoza

Description:

This freshman seminar examines how Latines in the United States use creative expression—film, literature, painting, and other visual arts—to tell stories, challenge dominant narratives, shape cultural identity, and reclaim space for Latinx voices. We will engage with films, short fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, and visual art to analyze how Latinx artists transform personal and collective experiences into creative forms of storytelling.

Key themes include identity and belonging, migration and diaspora, language and bilingual expression, family and memory, gender and sexuality, and resistance and activism. We will approach art as more than an aesthetic practice by emphasizing its role as testimony, cultural preservation, and political intervention, while exploring how meaning shifts from page to screen to image. Students will also experiment with different art forms to deepen understanding and strengthen critical thinking.

Instructor(s): Domenic DeSocio

Description:

This course offers a study of Berlin, Germany's world-famous role as a major center of contemporary dance music (techno, house, disco) and nightclub culture. Beginning in the 1990s with the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Berlin, the city quickly became home to cutting-edge DJs, party planners, club owners, and dancers, including notorious clubs like Tresor and Berghain. Coming together, they pioneered new ways to express oneself and connect with one another through music and dance.

This course examines many aspects of this culture, from the unique genres of music and how DJs create music to the technology of sound, the experience of dancing and of clubs as spaces, and the politics of belonging, representation, and identity on the dance floor, in particular its complicated exchanges with Black communities and music in Chicago and Detroit, the birthplaces of this music. We also will consider the social, cultural, and political implications of nightlife and dance music as a site of community-building, friendship, and love within contemporary Western society, especially for queer communities.

As a College Seminar, the course will introduce you to college life and the essential, but mostly unwritten, rules, expectations, resources, and habits for you to succeed as a student. This "hidden curriculum" will include topics such as time management, emotional health, academic integrity and the mechanics of citation, and how to seek help.

Our assignments will include a variety of small, weekly writing assignments and short summative, comparative, and analytic essays to begin your familiarization with college writing. There will also be an experiential component to the course involving events with DJs in which you will talk about practical topics such as the work of DJing and making music and the politics and logistics of dance.

Instructor(s): Kathleen Carmichael

Description:

Ever since Pentheus's fatal decision to spy on the revels of Dionysus, audiences have had a guilty fascination with the spectacle of addiction—a fascination which crosses not only centuries but disciplines, captivating scientists, policymakers, philosophers, artists, and laypeople alike. This class will trace the evolution of literary representations of addiction across several centuries, from classical depictions of god-induced madness, through the Gothic narratives such as Stevenson\'s Jekyll and Hyde, temperance classics such as Ten Nights in a Barroom (whose impact has often been compared to that of Uncle Tom\'s Cabin), to the twentieth- and twenty-first century comedies and confessionals that make the bestseller lists today. Through these readings and related critical texts, we will examine the ways that such literature provides a staging ground for public controversy and emerging theories about the artistic, cultural, ethical, and scientific significance and ramifications of addiction.

Course readings/viewing will include works of fiction, journalism, and writings from the natural and social sciences as well as popular films. We will also consider practical topics such as how University library resources and experts can help students locate and evaluate key sources and develop authoritative arguments.

Instructor(s): Ricardo Court

Description: Together we will explore the making of the first great political scientist of the modern age starting with a close reading of his secret diplomatic communications, his villainous guidebook The Prince, his licentious play The Mandrake, ending with his resigned (and some say cynical) later histories. So much of our exploration of the inner workings of states and regimes begins with Machiavelli, who raised ire and admiration, no less for his willingness to say out loud what others whispered, than for the temerity to show what makes power work.

Instructor(s): Boris Tsygan

Description:

How does a mathematical idea get transformed into an application? How did we start by trying to solve a simple equation in integers and end up with sophisticated cryptography? Or by trying to solve the same equation in complex numbers and end up with laws of motion of a quantum string? Or by trying to solve a system of linear equations in two variables and end up with quantum computing, Google search algorithm, game theory, and much more? How a puzzle in an East Prussian newspaper started a process that led to advances in new states of matter and genome sequencing merely three hundred years later?

We will explore how the most basic questions of mathematics set us up on the path from geometry to algebra and back and back again, and how unexpected applications arise in the process. We will also learn about people and stories behind those ideas. Only minimal knowledge of mathematics is expected.

Instructor(s): Ben Gorvine

Description:

While those going into the field of mental health typically think about it as a “helping profession”, there is much more than meets the eye when it comes to the psychological, economic, and political forces that have defined the development of the field. The purpose of this course is to explore some of the historical psychological, economic, and political factors that have shaped the field as it exists today.

Before delving into the specifics of the mental health field, the course will begin with a brief detour and explore the important and provocative concept of “choice overload”, along with a consideration of the mental health consequences of choice. Then we will briefly shift to an exploration of the role of state mental hospitals in the U.S. in the early to mid-20th century, and we will examine the political forces that drove the de-institutionalization movement of the 1970s and 1980s, with additional consideration of the contemporary implications of the closing of state hospitals.

Finally, the course will focus on the evolution of psychotherapy in the modern marketplace, as well as the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (now in its 5thedition), with a particular focus on some of the problems that have emerged from the disease-based framework utilized in the manual. The notion of ‘psychiatric imperialism’, and the impact of capitalism, racism, and colonialism on mental distress will also be explored. Along the way, we will explore the history of psychotropic medications, as well as critiques of the pharmaceutical industry, the health insurance industry, and modern psychiatry. Some of these themes will also be explored through analysis of popular films and other media.

Instructor(s): David Smith

Description: For many, music serves a valuable function in everyday life. Music can serve as a mode of artistic expression, a method of relaxation, a means of influencing mood, and an avenue toward transcendence. This course will focus on the human experience of music by integrating research and theory from cognitive, social, developmental, and perceptual psychology. Special attention will be given to topics such as the development of musical expertise, the effect of music on cognition, effective music teaching, and the cultural significance of music.

Instructor(s): Liz Trubey

Description: Why go to college? To become educated? To stay up all night thinking deep thoughts? To prepare for a career? To party? Is college a straight and narrow path through requirements and electives to graduation, or is the story more complicated, more open-ended? What happens when the story ends at graduation? Does attending college even matter today? The stories we tell about the college experience shape our expectations and our experiences at a university – as do current debates about the value of an arts and sciences education. 

Instructor(s): Doug Kiel

Description:

In 1893, Thomas Edison unveiled the kinetoscope and allowed audience members to glimpse the Hopi Snake Dance by peeking into the device\'s viewing window. Since the birth of the motion picture, films portraying Native Americans (often with non-Native actors in redface) have drawn upon earlier frontier mythology, art, literature, and Wild West performances. These depictions in film have embedded romanticized and stereotyped ideas about Native Americans in the imaginations of audiences throughout the United States and around the world. In this course, we will critically examine representations of Native Americans in film and TV, ranging from the origins of the motion picture industry to the works of contemporary Indigenous filmmakers who challenge earlier paradigms.

We will reflect upon revisionist narratives, Indigenous aesthetics and storytelling techniques, reflexivity, and parody. Throughout the quarter, we will view and discuss ethnographic, documentary, and narrative media.

Instructor(s): Michele Zugnoni

Description: Embark on a captivating exploration of heroic journeys, including your own journey into Northwestern University. In this course, we'll examine bestselling novels and blockbuster movies. Through immersive discussions, written analyses, and interactive activities, we'll unravel the archetypal stages of the hero's journey - from the call to adventure to the ultimate showdown with destiny. More than an academic pursuit, this seminar is a call to adventure, an invitation to embark on your own heroic odyssey. In this course, you'll craft your own hero's journey narrative, exploring themes of courage, resilience, and personal growth as they apply to your journey into college. The hero's journey you create will become a time capsule - your professor will email it back to you in four years so you can relive the heroic journey you took during your first quarter at Northwestern.

Instructor(s): Gerry Cadava

Description:

The second Trump administration has leveraged federal government agencies in novel ways to police immigrant communities in the United States. But policing immigrants has been fundamental to U.S. history since the nineteenth century, even before there was such a thing as federal immigration policy. By “policing,” I mean restrictive immigration policies, immigration enforcement by immigration agents including the Border Patrol, the detention of immigrants by state or federal police, vigilante actions against immigrants, and other forms of surveillance and punishment.

The broader conversation we’ll have—an important one in this year marking the 250th anniversary of our country—is how the policing of immigration is a critical part of how we decide who gets to be, and who does not get to be, an American.

Instructor(s): Scott Ogawa

Description: We will read Steven Pinker's Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress and use it to discuss the sources and ramifications of Progress, broadly defined. Focus will nevertheless be placed on economic progress, especially in recent centuries. Additional readings, topics, and discussion will be based on student interests and input. And as this is 2026 and this course is about progress, how could we possibly not talk about what may be the greatest innovation of our lifetime (or maybe ever?): Computers that are capable of thinking -- or perhaps not. Either way, we will discuss A.I.

Instructor(s): Robert Ward

Description:

Welcome to "Race and Technology: Being Human in the Post-Racial United States". This course is designed to introduce and prepare you for college life at Northwestern University. The primary goal is to equip you with the academic skills necessary for success, including identifying and utilizing essential university resources. This course will focus on three interconnected themes: race, college writing, and the impact of technological advances such as generative AI and social media on each. We will explore how power, class, and technology influence the performance of race, ethnicity, and culture. Racial ideology, a complex and integral part of the American experience, will be examined through storytelling, academic articles, news items, personal experiences, and research data. We will also explore how modern technological advances shape our collective thinking and relationships. We will address critical questions such as: How do social media, search engines, and generative AI alter our perceptions of the world? Can technological developments in late capitalism help level the social playing field and end segregation? Should technology serve the best interests of all citizens in society?

Reading, writing, and research are the pillars of this course, with a special focus on the role of technology, particularly generative AI, in these practices. While we will cover the fundamentals of crafting a strong research paper or project, we will also critically reflect on the ethical and efficient use of AI tools like ChatGPT. An essential component of the class will be to discuss, assess, and evaluate what generative AI can and cannot support, and how to determine fair and ethical use of such technologies. Join us as we navigate these complex and nuanced issues, developing the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in your undergraduate journey and beyond.

Instructor(s): Curdy Averill

Description: This creative reading and creative writing course will focus on developing an imagination more deeply tuned to the environment, the physical landscape, we daily inhabit. Class will begin with a brief historical overview of how our relationship to nature has been shaped and expressed by writers from the past, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Henry David Thoreau, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. We’ll then turn to contemporary poets who possess an eco-centric aesthetic, such as Camille Dungy, Ross Gay, Jane Hirshfield, Linda Hogan, Lorine Niedecker, and Alice Oswald. Through observation, research, guided prompts, and creative writing, students will explore through a personal lens the landscape they come from, as well as the Lake Michigan shoreline, the Northwestern campus, Evanston, and Chicago. 

Instructor(s): Veronica Berns

Description: In this seminar, we will delve into the world of chemistry research, exploring not only the processes that unfold within the laboratory but also the key decision-makers driving innovation. Through engaging readings, discussions, and presentations, you will have the opportunity to meet some of the chemists at Northwestern who illuminate their methodologies in tackling significant questions about our world. This course also emphasizes the importance of effective scientific communication. Whether articulating the nuanced technicalities of an experiment to peers or elucidating the broader implications of a study to the public, adept communication is indispensable for scientists. You will sharpen your communication skills, tailoring scientific narratives to suit diverse audiences and to achieve various objectives.

Instructor(s): Michał Wilczewski

Description:

Brothels, bathhouses, and backrooms—take a tour through the sexual underworld of Eastern Europe. In "Sex and the Slavic World," we uncover the more salacious parts of history that no one dare talk about, covering the history of sexuality in Eastern Europe starting in the mid 19th century. We will cover such topics as fin de siècle culture and sexual decadence; the medicalization of sexuality; prostitution and sex-trafficking; sex reform and sexology; the World Wars and sexuality; gender and sexuality under state socialism, and representations of queerness in the 20th century.

Additionally, as a College Seminar, this course will help students develop the tools they need to help them transition to college life including creating healthy study habits, nurturing meaningful relationships, and gaining awareness of the so-called "hidden curriculum.”

Instructor(s): Tony Chen

Description:

This course explores the idea that the extreme level of political polarization and economic inequality that prevails in our own time can be traced to the conflicts and dilemmas of the "long 1970s." In addition to exploring primary sources from the period, including film and television, students will read an interdisciplinary selection of monographs, book chapters, and journal articles. Grades will be based on class discussion as well as a combination of short and long writing assignments.

This course aims to help students develop their reading, writing, and oral communication skills. It also aims to introduce them to the ways that sociologists and other social scientists think about inequality and polarization. Lastly, it strives to help students develop some basic intuitions for thinking about how certain features of contemporary society may be rooted in the developments and events of the recent past.

Instructor(s): Caitlin Fitz

Description: The American Revolution: a war waged by high-minded gentlemen in wigs. Or was it? This course explores the conflict in all its messy (and surprisingly manure-smeared) reality, particularly its fraught relationship to democracy, settler colonialism, human bondage, and human freedom. Especially because this class convenes on the eve of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we will also consider the Revolution as a touchstone in modern-day culture wars, from Supreme Court originalism to the 1619 Project to the Hamilton musical.

Instructor(s): Will Reno

Description: This course surveys the changing American strategies in the conduct of warfare since the end of the Cold War in 1989. The course opens with a consideration of the massive military buildup and assault on Iraq in 1991. The American military presence in that region never went away. This presence provides us with a framework for analyzing the changing character of warfare. Consideration of the Iraq War (2003-2011) focuses on the development of counterinsurgency and the emergence of multi-domain warfare (i.e., political warfare, information warfare, etc.) and increased reliance on low-profile Special Operations Forces. Our attention then turns to recent challenges of hybrid warfare (i.e., hacking and fake news and their roles in conflicts), and the advent of flexible responses such as increased American reliance on drones and contractors in the conduct of warfare. The course ends with the consideration of several emerging American war-fighting strategies.

Instructor(s): Peter Carroll

Description:

Tibet is an ethnic autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. This status recognizes the distinctive cultural and political heritage of Tibet but nonetheless affirms Tibet as an integral part of China. Tibet was "Peacefully Liberated" by the People's Liberation Army in 1950-1951. Previously, the Republican and Qing imperial states variously claimed sovereignty or suzerainty over Tibet. Many Tibetans, whether living in Tibet or abroad, contest the historical and moral legitimacy of this rule, or question the particular arrangements that govern the place of Tibet, Tibetan people, and Tibetan language and culture as part of China's mosaic of fifty-six ethnic groups. The Dalai Lama (a Buddhist spiritual leader), and foreign supporters as diverse as Bjork and Paris Hilton, have made "Free Tibet" a familiar slogan and social cause. Within China such sentiments are commonly viewed as a serious attack on national integrity.

This course examines competing claims regarding the national status of Tibet in light of the historically complex cultural and political relationships between Tibet and China. We will focus on the specifics of 20th c. Chinese and Tibetan nationalisms and probe the nature of nations and nationalism generally. As a famous essay we will study asks, "What is a nation?" We will also consider the relevance of history-based nationalist arguments concerning religious freedom, cultural autonomy, modern progress, and the nature of complex, multi-cultural nations, such as China (or, for that matter, the USA).

Instructor(s): Matt Hurtgen

Description: Despite massive external changes, Earth's surface has remained suitable for life for most of its history. For instance, the sun emitted about 30% less heat energy when the Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago, and calculations suggest that the Earth's surface should have remained frozen until approximately 2 billion years ago. However, geologic evidence supports the existence of liquid water and life since at least 3.8 billion years ago. This seminar will explore the Gaia hypothesis, developed by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, which asserts that the Earth functions as a self-regulating system, with life playing a central role in sustaining the planet's habitability.

Instructor(s): Megan Geigner

Description: The Great American Graphic Novel explores the representation of the multiple perspectives of the American experience and US history through popular graphic novels. The central question of this seminar is: How do graphic novels and comics illustrate American identity? Through a robust reading schedule (comics read fast, so we can read many of them!), we will encounter unique and varied views on the themes of religion, (dis)ability, immigration, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age, and citizenship, and how those ideas have changed conceptions of Americanness over time. Students will enhance their reading of examples of multiple subgenres of the form-superhero comics, graphic nonfiction, web comics, and all ages comics-with scholarly, journalistic, and popular culture criticism. This seminar transitions students into college-level inquiry and into being conscientious and ethical members of a learning community composed of diverse perspectives. Students will demonstrate their new knowledge about graphic novels and comics and American identity through drafting and revising journal entries, analytical papers, and creative assignments.

Instructor(s): Glenn Sucich

Description:

Depictions of “hell” have differed dramatically throughout history. In the Hebrew Bible, for instance, the underworld, or Sheol, is represented as a neutral place where all people, the wicked and the righteous, go after death. By contrast, the New Testament describes hell as a place reserved exclusively for the wicked, where the “Devil and his angels” are made to suffer “eternal fire” (Matt 25:41). Similar differences can be found in later texts as well. The physical hell of Dante’s Inferno, with its descending rings and fantastical torments, is far different from the internal, personal hell from which Satan and others suffer in Milton’s Paradise Lost. For Dante, hell is a physical place; for Milton, it is a psychological state. Why?

One of the main purposes of this course is to hone your close reading and writing skills by examining the ways in which interpretations of hell and its inhabitants reflect the religious, political, and intellectual ferment of particular cultures, at particular moments in history. Along the way, this course will also introduce you to ideas about how to learn and thrive in college, as well as to help you become more familiar with Weinberg College, Northwestern University, and the support resources available on campus.

Instructor(s): Sarah Taylor

Description:

What does it mean that, across history and cultures, girls and young women so often seek confidence, purpose, and self-knowledge through their relationships with horses?

Marking the Year of the Horse, this seminar explores the enduring and often misunderstood figure of the “horse girl,” from ancient myth to contemporary digital culture. Across societies, this figure appears repeatedly as a seeker on a journey. Horses become companions in quests for courage, belonging, meaning, independence, and self-discovery. In an era often defined by screens, isolation, and fragmented attention, the horse girl story points toward a different set of values: trust, presence, compassion, companionship, and connection across worlds and species.

We will examine horse-centered girls and women across mythology, religion, folklore, history, literature, film, and social media. Students encounter horse goddesses and prophetic riders from traditions around the world, including Amazons, Viking Valkyries, and sacred horses associated with visions, omens, and destiny. Historical figures such as Lady Godiva, Joan of Arc, Annie Oakley, and Queen Elizabeth II demonstrate the cultural power of horse women across centuries. We will also study the remarkable mounted archers and eagle hunters of Mongolia, the Mexican escaramuzas, famous cowgirls, along with iconic fictional horse heroines.

Moving into contemporary culture, the seminar examines “horse girl aesthetics” and the resurgence of equestrian imagery in fashion, music, and digital media, from the visual world surrounding Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter era to influential equestrian media accounts. Through cultural analysis, we ask why horses continue to capture the imagination today and why they remain powerful symbols of authenticity, confidence, beauty, and spiritual connection.

Readings will include memoir, cultural criticism, ethnography, fiction, and media analysis, including sociologist Jean Halley’s Horse Crazy: Girls and the Lives of Horses, Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist Sarah Maslin Nir’s Horse Crazy: The Story of a Woman and a World in Love With an Animal, and Melissa Holbrook Pierson’s Dark Horses and Black Beauties, alongside documentary film. We will also revisit classic adolescent horse texts and place them within larger conversations about moral imagination, independence, and the search for purpose.

The seminar places particular emphasis on writing as a mode of thinking and discovery. Students will develop analytical, research-based writing projects, while cultivating writing that explores curiosity, insight, and intellectual risk. Weekly meetings will include in-class writing designed to sharpen analytical skills and critical thinking. Course plans (pending funding) are to include virtual visits from nationally recognized horsewomen as well as a local field visit to observe a natural horsemanship trainer who leads equine-based leadership programs for girls and young women. [Instructor recommends watching seasons 1 & 2 of the Canadian horse drama series, "Heartland," over the summer. Course not recommended for students allergic to equines.]

Instructor(s): Karen Alter

Description:

This seminar will investigate different ideas about what the rule of law is, and different realities of how the rule of law operates. It is a comparative legal systems seminar, with an international dimension. Given the broad sense that the rule of law is a critical element of good governance, international actors have become rule of law promotors. Is the rule of law something that outsiders can help to create or improve? Can one create a rule of law if governments or powerful actors refuse to subordinate themselves to the rule of law? How do those actors committed to the rule of law try to balance the aspiration of a rule of law and the political reality that governments and powerful actors have a variety of ways to resist?

Participants will be divided into five country groups: South Africa, India, Colombia, China and the United States. All of these countries have constitutions and supreme courts, and all face rule of law challenges. The comparison will allow us to consider the variety of challenges that exist, and the country perspective will help us to consider what, if anything, outside actors can do to support the rule of law.

Instructor(s): Christine Percheski

Description:

Why are some people healthier than others? Why do life expectancies differ so dramatically across communities and cultures, even when average incomes are similar? Beyond individual choices about diet, exercise, smoking, and lifestyle, a wide range of social forces shape our health and wellbeing. This course explores how the communities we live in, the social roles we occupy, and the relationships we maintain all influence how long and how well we live.

We will examine the implications of the social roots of health for public policies aimed at improving collective wellbeing and consider how this knowledge can inform our own lives. Course materials draw from scholarly research as well as popular culture. Students from across Weinberg — whether their interests lie in medicine, global health, sociology, anthropology, political science, or gender and sexuality studies — will find the questions raised in this class both challenging and relevant.

Instructor(s): Chad Horne

Description: In the social contract tradition in political philosophy, exemplified by theorists like Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, the idea of the "state of nature" plays an important role. The state of nature refers to the condition of human beings prior to the development of formal political institutions. For social contract theorists, the justification of political authority hinges on the state's ability to solve the problems that befall us in our natural, pre-political condition. Perhaps needless to say, there have been some developments in our understanding of non-state societies since the heyday of the social contract tradition some three hundred years ago. In this seminar, we will read the classic social contract theorists alongside recent work from anthropologists, historians, and political scientists. Our aim will be to better understand the pre-political condition of our species and to explore the moral and political implications of that condition for us today.

Instructor(s): Richard Walker

Description: In this seminar we will survey various topics in politics, philosophy and economics. Exactly what we end up covering will depend a little on what most interests the group, but provisional topics include alternative voting mechanisms, Rawls' theory of justice, the ethics of nationalism, the economic effects of immigration, how economists and regular people think about risk and uncertainty, prediction markets and the wisdom of crowds, the pros and cons of a basic income policy, behavioural economics, and the evolution of "moral" behaviour. The aim is to find interesting things to read, talk and write about.

Instructor(s): Zavier Nunn

Description:

Who counts as a man or a woman—and who decides? Trans history reveals that the boundaries between man and woman, male and female, masculine and feminine are porous and unstable, and that they shift across time and place. This seminar examines “boundary figures” (trans people, cross-dressers, intersex people) to illuminate the borders of gender and sex, while also exploring the many ways of being in the world that those borders fail to capture. Rather than treating these figures as anomalies, trans history emphasizes their significance: the margins, it turns out, tell us everything about the center.

We will read primary sources, diaries, and short stories, engage with cutting-edge scholarship, watch documentaries, and build the analytical tools historians use to read the past on its own terms.

Instructor(s): Abby Barefoot

Description:

This course broadly provides a cultural analysis of true crime and pop culture. In particular, we'll uncover why true crime stories seem to go viral (and why certain folks enjoy devouring these narratives). We will think intersectionally, analyzing how race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, and citizenship shape concepts of "victimhood" and "criminality," as well as make certain true crime narratives more "popular" than others.

Finally, we will develop a robust theoretical toolkit, combining an interdisciplinary range of perspectives from feminist anti-violence studies, critical criminology, literary criticism, and creative non-fiction journalism.

Instructor(s): Jeff Rice

Description: Whether it be the rise of communism at American Universities in the 1930s, the support for civil rights and opposition to the Vietnam War in the 60s or the myriads of political conflicts in today's university culture, what makes the college campus such an attractive space for protest. Is this compatible with a positive definition of higher education or at odds? This class will discuss the goal of education, the importance of freedom, and the provocative slogans such as "woke", "politically correct" and "diversity".

Instructor(s): Bill Savage

Description: This College Seminar will introduce you to key Chicago texts and important aspects of life at Northwestern. We will discuss poetry, fiction, and film about the city, and we will also explore the authenticity politics of Chicago-style hot dogs (no ketchup?) and pizza (deep dish v. tavern-cut?) at local Evanston eateries. The course will be structured around a multi-layered and building analysis of Edward Hopper’s iconic 1942 painting Nighthawks (set in New York, but part of the Art Institute of Chicago’s permanent collection, so an honorary Chicago text). Our discussions about literary and cinematic representations of Chicago (realistic and mythic) will be interwoven with thoughtful advising conversations about the challenges and opportunities you will encounter as you join the Northwestern community.

Instructor(s): Katherine Gesmundo

Description:

Over the past 20 years, nanotechnology has been a booming area of research in chemistry, biology, physics, engineering, and medicine. Modern techniques have allowed scientists to better study small materials, and the nanotech we read about in science fiction novels can now become real products found in our world. In this seminar, we will discuss what is so special about the size range of 1-100 nm (the nanoscale) and why particles of this size have such a unique niche in nature and technology. We will explore the properties of these materials and why quantum mechanical effects allow for this scale to be so important.

Discussions of medicines, electronics, catalysts, additives, and imaging agents that include nanoparticles will allow us to explore the wide range of current directions of nanotechnology. As we look to future applications, we will debate the implications of these materials on the environment, human health, and safety. Regulatory bodies in the United States and around the globe have discussed the ethical and social impact of nanomaterials, and we will investigate their role is assuring the nanomaterials we use leave a positive impact on the world.

Instructor(s): Katrina Quisumbing King

Description:

Today, the United States is confronting questions about who is a U.S. citizen and what criteria should make one eligible for citizenship. The Trump administration has pushed for abolishing birthright citizenship, claiming it is a "magnet for illegal immigration." These are not new debates or questions. Indeed, the root of recent legal debates stems from the end of the U.S. Civil War, when the country redefined the terms of citizenship. The 14th Amendment guaranteed equal citizenship to all those under the jurisdiction of the United States.

This discussion-based seminar is an introduction to the social scientific and historical study of U.S. citizenship. Students will learn the history behind granting citizenship to anyone born in the United States. They explore the history of U.S. citizenship law and learn about the interests and justifications for narrower and more capacious definitions of citizenship. What are the exceptions to birthright citizenship in the United States? How are decisions about and definitions of rights and membership related to ideas of race? Overall, this course will address how the United States has drawn boundaries of membership in racial terms and explore what this means for envisioning future possibilities.

This course is a college seminar. This means that in addition to introducing a specific topic, the course will help support your transition to college life. The course is aimed at improving your academic development and skills.

At the end of this class, students should understand the arguments made for and against birthright citizenship over the course of U.S. history. They should be able to explain in what ways citizenship reflects ideas of belonging. Students should be to identify the justifications for boundary-making in today's debates over citizenship and migration. In addition to providing an introduction to citizenship, this course will help students develop their critical thinking and communication skills. They should develop a sense of ownership over and community in their learning.