Honors Courses: Fall 2025

Professor Evan Schneider, Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 to 2:15 p.m.; Tuesdays noon to 12:50 p.m.

This course will be an introduction to astronomy and astrophysics. The 4-credit honors course will consists of all aspects of the 3-credit course, including lectures and homework with additional problems tailored for this course. ASTRON 0413 includes an additional 50-minute class session each week. In these extra sessions, basic topics will be covered in more detail than in ASTRON 0113. These extra sessions will also involve significant problem solving and discussions of the derivations of fundamental results in astronomy and astrophysics.

Professor Barry Mitnick, Mondays and Wednesdays 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

Market Manipulations is a course about the forms of market failure and the generalizations we can draw to understand market behavior in the future. The course compares financial panics in U.S. business history: 1792, 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893/95, 1907, 1929, and 2008. How can we generalize to understand future panics? We look at major forms of market scams, including bubbles (Tulipomania, South Sea Bubble, Dot Con Bubble), Ponzi schemes, and typical behaviors of con artists (e.g., Gregor MacGregor) and generalize their common patterns. We consider the origin of the modern business firm (joint stock trading company) as the solution to the general agency problems of managing risk and providing assurance. We examine how Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Westinghouse built their companies, seeking monopoly, and identify the "monopolist's playlist," generalizations about patterns of monopoly-building. These tactics surprisingly remain as relevant today as they were during what Mark Twain called the "Gilded Age." We shift to the Progressive Era, and pushback. Coxey's Army was the first march on Washington, anticipating the New Deal 40 years later. The "stunt journalists" and "muckrakers," including Nellie Bly, Jacob Riis, Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, and Ray Stannard Baker, sought to influence repair of market defects via journalistic investigation. We look at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 and the career of Frances Perkins. We review causes of the Crash of 1929/Great Depression. Thus, this course is highly unusual in using events in business history to generalize about our expectations of business behavior today and in the future.

Professor Barry Mitnick, Mondays and Wednesdays 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Financial crises, the Covid 19 pandemic, and numerous recent events in industries as diverse as children's products, airliners, and citrus fruits have highlighted the increasing interdependence of business and government, as well as the means by which business gains strategic benefits from government regulation. The course begins with extended case studies on the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in 2023 and on the financial crisis that some call "the great recession" (and which someday may be called "The Panic of 2008," parallel to the other major financial panics in U.S. business history). The course compares public and private organizations, describes the regulatory system in the U.S., reviews the administrative procedures and performance of regulatory agencies, considers and assesses traditional as well as modern designs for regulation, and examines both regulatory failure patterns and the means by which firms gain strategic, competitive advantage through shaping government decisions and programs. In examining techniques of lobbying, the course focuses on the U.S. setting and identifies both effective and ineffective methods of lobbying. The course also covers issues management and crisis management. By the end of the course, students should have obtained a good working knowledge of the U.S. regulatory system, major instruments of regulation, and the typical interactive patterns of regulators and regulated parties. The course emphasizes current, real-world cases; it does not use "canned" published cases. Thus, this class both analyzes how the regulatory system works and uses current events in that system to generate deeper understanding of regulatory behavior in the U.S.

Professor Kiersten Maryott, TBA

Professor Laura Ainsley, TBA 

Professor Eugene Wagner, Lecture section on Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., Lab sections on Wednesdays  8 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. or Tuesdays 1 p.m. to 4:50 p.m

Chemistry 0710 and 0720 comprise a two-term introduction to the fundamental properties of matter. The courses emphasize the fundamental principles of chemistry as exemplified by applications to industrial and environmental chemistry. Chemistry 0710 covers stoichiometry, electronic structure of atoms and molecules, periodic behavior, theories of bonding, and spectroscopy.

Professor Paul Floreancing, Lecture section on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.; Recitation section on Tuesdays from noon to 12:50 p.m.

An introduction to theory and practice of organic chemistry through study of structural principles, reaction mechanisms, and synthesis leading toward end of second term, when complex molecules of biological interest are discussed. Basic goals of course are to develop appreciation and skill in methods of molecular analysis which have made organic chemistry such a powerful intellectual discipline. Course will prepare student for work in advanced topics of organic chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering and health related sciences.

Professor John Ramirez, Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

This is an intermediate programming course that focuses on programming via an object-oriented paradigm. Students entering CMPINF 0401 are expected to have some previous concepts and then focus on object-oriented programming, including classes, encapsulation and abstraction, inheritance, polymorphism and interfaces. Some introductory data structures and algorithms will also be covered in this course.This class is a programming-intensive course, and students will be expected to complete several non-trivial programming projects throughout the term.

Professor Nicholas Farnan, Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.

The purpose of this course is to give an introduction and insight into designing and implementing video games. This course questions the nature, intent, and motivation of games and how to construct a compelling experience for users. It is a project-based course, with a final project being to make a game with a small team.

Professor James Maloy, Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30 to 3:45

This course surveys the development of economic thought from post-Renaissance times through the early 20th Century. The primary objective of the course is to understand the intellectual foundations of modern economic theory and understand how economic philosophy evolved through-and alongside-history. The course will focus on 1) the origins of modern economic thought during the Renaissance and Reformation, 2) English mercantilism, 3) key pre-Smith writers such as Hobbes, Locke, Petty, Cantillon, Law and the French Physiocrats, 4) the classical model of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, 5) early classical theorists, particularly Ricardo, Mill and Malthus, 6) the 19th century emergence of neoclassical economics--marginal analysis and optimization , 7) the Austrian school, 8) Walrasian general equilibrium, 9) the early 20th Century Cambridge School, and 10) the emergence of Keynesianism as a challenge to classical orthodoxy.

Professor Jennifer Keating, Tuesdays and Thursdays 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

This course prepares students to critically examine the intersections between digital devices and human life. Covering topics such as the relationship between computers and humans, surveillance, big data, and interactivity and games, we question what it means to be human in a space of pervasive digitality.

TO BE ANNOUNCED

A course directed toward development of basic skills in recording engineering through expanded understanding of the science and engineering of music. The course will use the music engineering laboratory (MEL) located in Benedum Hall. The MEL is a state of the art sound recording facility with research and educational capabilities for sound recording and music engineering. Topics covered: recording engineering (microphones, amplifiers, and mixing, filtering, special effects), mathematical basis of sound and music (acoustics, speech and singing, hearing, pitch, stereo perception), musical instrument function (mechanical and electronic).

Professor Irene Mena Lora, Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 to 5:50 p.m.

In this course, we will learn basic programming skills using MATLAB and C. In addition, we will address teamwork and professional integrity, both important aspects of engineering. This is a team-based, hands-on course, in which most of our class time will be spent working in teams to develop programs, solve problems, and participate in discussions, using what we learn in the course.

Professor Irene Mena Lora, Mondays and Wednesdays 4 to 5:50 p.m.

In this course, we will learn basic programming skills using MATLAB and C. In addition, we will address teamwork and professional integrity, both important aspects of engineering. This is a team-based, hands-on course, in which most of our class time will be spent working in teams to develop programs, solve problems, and participate in discussions, using what we learn in the course.

Professor Abigail Caroll, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.

Climate change poses a critical challenge for the global community, with increasing impacts on food security, water resources, human health, ecosystem diversity, and energy, among others. A fundamental step towards developing climate change solutions is the ability to recognize, understand, and communicate its causes and impacts. This course offers a multi-disciplinary approach to learning about climate change that both develops the science and enables the students to build ongoing interactions with the broader community, setting them up to be "Climate Science Ambassadors." The course will cover the evidence supporting anthropogenic climate change, future climate projections, and the development of climate policy related to adaptation and mitigation strategies. Students will engage in active and collaborative learning exercises, integrate data analysis projects using physical and social climate science data, and develop written and oral communication techniques through workshops with local journalists and political and social scientists. Students from this course will be invited to participate in the Dietrich School Climate and Global Change Center to access resources and mentorship on science communication. This course requires no previous background in climate science. Honors students will be given enrollment priority.

Professor Diego Holstein, Thursdays from 2:30 to 5 p.m. 

This course offers a venue to explore a large variety of political regimes frequently bounded together in the professional literature under the conceptual umbrella of "dictatorship." After gaining an introductory overview and acquiring a conceptual toolkit we will systematically scrutinize the trajectories, structures, and policies of some twenty political regimes throughout the world aiming to identify their commonalities and singularities. These findings will allow us to search for shared patters, identify types of political regimes, establish comparisons and connections between them, and understand every regime within a wider global context.

Professor Robert Ruck, Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 to 2:15 p.m.

The course will survey the history of sports, focusing primarily on the 20th century. We will balance consideration of professional sports with that of the games the people play. We will look both at the impact of television as well as the new fitness (revolution). Topics considered will include women in sports, the commercialization of culture and collegiate sports. A major focus will be the role in sports in Pittsburgh in the past 50 years.

Professor John Boonstra, Wednesdays 2 to 4:25 p.m.

This course will examine Europe's post-war xenophobic, racist and exclusionary policies. We will use memoirs, photo-journalism, film and interviews to understand recent discrimination against refugees, guest workers, Jews, linguistic and religious minorities. We will also put the question into scholarly context, as we examine how historians, sociologists, psychologists and anthropologists try to understand the way in which Europeans construct the categories of "us" and the "others".

Professor Elizabeth Archibald, Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.

The Black Death, the great epidemic of 1347-1350's was the most profound epidemiological-ecological crisis Europe had ever experienced. Between 30 and 70% of the population of the western world vanished. In the wake of this demographic disaster economic, psychological, social, literary and even artistic processes were profoundly altered. This epidemic can be traced through extensive primary sources ranging from literature to art history - from population statistics through village desertions. This course will introduce these data and examine the consequences of the Black Death.

Professor Raja Adal, Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 to 2:15 p.m. 

The history of Japan since 1800. This course stresses the modernization and economic development of Japan into the industrial giant it has become today. It also investigates the major by-product of that development, World War II, and the events that led to the war.

Professor Josh Cannon, Fridays 2 to 2:50 p.m. 

In this seminar, students will learn foundational research concepts, applicable to any discipline, while also learning how to navigate the world of undergraduate research. Course topics range from identifying a faculty research mentor to developing a research project proposal students can use to pursue research opportunities in their area of interest the Frederick Honors College.

Professor David Hornyak, Professor Nicola Foote, Thursdays noon to 12:50 p.m.

This is the first course in a two-semester informational seminar sequence for first-year Chancellor Scholars. Students will gain a better understanding of an issue from a multi-disciplinary perspective through discussions with faculty and experiential learning activities. Students will also learn about the services, functions, policies, and opportunities available through the David C. Frederick Honors College.

Professor Josh Cannon, Mondays 4:30 to 5:20 p.m.

This seminar is restricted to students who received a Frederick Honors College Research Fellowship.

Professor Brian Williams, Ralia Adams, Wednesdays 3 to 3:50 p.m.

Professor Bryan Schultz, Fridays from noon to 12:50 p.m.

This is a 1-credit, multi-disciplinary research-based course aimed at providing a clearinghouse for research and training on the long-term effects of out-migration from Appalachian communities. The research is based on facilitating collaboration with community partners in Fayette County in Pennsylvania. This course will provide students with the tools they need to begin the co-creation of knowledge with community partners in a way that centers community self-determination and research ethics. Participation in this course is by permission only. Contact one of these faculty members if you wish to join the course: Michael Glass (glass@pitt.edu), Kristin Kanthak (kanthak@pitt.edu), or David Sanchez (david.sanchez@pitt.edu).

Professor Brian Williams, Steven Anderson. To be arranged.

Professor Ron Idoko, Mondays from 3 to 5:30 p.m.

This is the first part of a two-semester sequence for students participating in the Justice and Equity Honors Network (JEHN), which is a consortium of honors colleges in the United States whose students examine issues of justice and equity in depth and in context. Through high-level thinking and self-critical analysis, students will identify and create new definitions and new understandings of the principles necessary for achieving equity. They will inquire, research, and collaborate across academic disciplines, across communities, and across geographic regions.

Professor Samantha Balbier, Fridays to 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

This is the first part of a two-semester sequence for students participating in the Elsie Hillman Honors Scholars Program, which connects entrepreneurial and creative students with regional community partners to join an existing project or develop a student and agency-led project that addresses issues important to the organization and reflects the social commitment of Elsie Hillman. Through a structured and collaborative process, the student will work closely with their community agency and mentor to develop a project, product, or conduct research.

Professor Josh Cannon

This course is restricted to students participating in the Martinson Applied Projects program (MAPs). Students participating in the MAPs program work on applied projects during the academic year, led by a Pitt research mentor. Students meet regularly with their project lead each week to identify a project-specific deliverable.

Professor David Hornyak

Undergraduates pursuing the bachelor of philosophy degree through the honors college may register for this course only after their thesis proposal has been approved and they have been admitted to honors college candidacy.

Professor Josh Cannon

Undergraduate students pursuing the Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) degree through the David C. Frederick Honors College enroll in this course after their application is approved and they have been admitted to BPhil degree candidacy.

Professor Lina Insana, Tuesdays and Thursdays 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. 

This class explores how migration has shaped Italy from its Unification in the late 1800s until the present day, and how the experience of migration¿from, within, and to Italy¿has been reflected in culture. How did Italian writers and artists represent the emigration of approximately 14 million Italians between 1880 and the start of WWI? How has this presence of ¿Italians in the world¿ shaped global perceptions of Italian identity? How have internal migrations from Southern to Northern Italy sustained or disrupted the project of unifying the Italian nation over time? What kind of receiving culture has Italy been for more contemporary migrants from Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Asia? What role does immigration to Italy have in contemporary Italian and European politics? This course is taught in Italian.

Professor Hilla Nehushtan, Tuesdays 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Jews are not only the "People of the Book," but also a people whose books are deeply concerned with the body. This course examines the body as a religious site to explore key questions about humanity, holiness, gender, sexuality, identity, otherness, community, tradition, and health. We will approach religion as a human phenomenon, studying Jewish bodily practices-rituals, commandments, and cultural behaviors-through critical historical and sociological lenses. These practices reflect Judaism's diversity across time and space. We will consider both historical and contemporary Jewish experiences of the body, covering such topics as food, sexuality, reproduction, queerness, health, and death. Questions we will discuss in this course include: How do Jewish practices shape ideas of the body, and conceptions of the body shape Jewish practice? How do Jewish bodily practices engage with scientific developments? How do Jewish cultures imagine bodies that are hungry, pleasured, gendered, transgendered, sexual, transgressive, differently-abled, well, sick, and mortal? All of these issues and more come into play when we shift our attention from the image of Jews as a textual community to the ways that Jews have understood and managed their embodied selves.

Professor Jeffrey Wheeler, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 10 to 10:50 a.m.

An enriched version of MATH 0220/0230. Course will cover same topics but in greater depth and with more challenging problems, computer experimentation and applications using maple. This course is intended for honors students.

Professor George Sparling, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:20 to 7 p.m.

The aim of this course is to develop the capacity to solve mathematical problems involving a substantial element of ingenuity and perseverance. Training will involve the study of problems from previous Putnam competitions, for which this course can be regarded as a useful preparation. An attempt will be made to look for unifying mathematical ideas. General strategies for solving problems will also be discussed.

Professor Roman Fedorov, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 2 to 2:50 p.m.

An introduction to computational and theoretical aspects of linear algebra. Syllabus includes Gaussian elimination, matrix algebra, triangular factorization, vector spaces, linear independence, basis, dimension, orthogonality, inner product, gram-Schmidt, singular value decomposition, determinants, eigenvalues, matrix exponentials, unitary matrices, similarity, positive definiteness, minimum principles, finite elements, norm and condition number, computation of Eigen values, iterative solutions of linear systems, linear inequalities, simplex method.

Professor Debra Artim, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 1 to 2:15 p.m.

This honors course examines the anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology of the central and peripheral divisions of the nervous system. Specific topics include neruonal function, synaptic transmission, sensory processing, movement, sleep and wakefulness, hunger, thirst, caloric and body fluid homeostasis, recovery of function after brain damage, and various neurological and psychiatric disorders. Course includes in-depth discussions of original research articles presented in the general lectures.

Professor Erika Fanselow, Sections Vary

This is an honors course that deals with issues of how we can understand the function of the human brain through the study of neurological diseases. The manifestations of selected neurological diseases are presented and discussed in the context of how they can be analyzed and understood through application of the findings from basic research in neuroscience.

Professor Judy Cameron, Mondays and Wednesdays 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Students will learn strategies for giving presentations about science to both a scientific audience and a public audience. Topics covered will include 1) how to engage our audience, 2) the art of breaking down your message, 3) tips to make clear, interesting slides, and 4) pointers on presentation style. All audiences want to learn interesting new scientific information, and have it delivered as a good story in an understandable manner by a personable, easy to approach person. Communication skills, including knowing your audience and why they are interested in the information you are speaking about, how to translate scientific jargon into understandable concepts for the public, and how to keep the audience engaged will be discussed. Pointers will be given on answering questions, being conversational, and conveying the "big picture". Students will give a number of presentations in this course and learn to receive and give feedback effectively.

Professor Erika Fanselow, Fridays 1 to 4 p.m.

This honors course supplements the material in the companion lecture course, NROSCI 1011, in two ways. In the initial laboratory portion of the course, human and animal brain tissue will be examined to provide students a first-hand knowledge of the structures that make up the brain and spinal cord. Subsequently, major journal articles that were key in establishing the scientific principles discussed in NROSCI 1011 will be reviewed. This portion of the course will allow students to gain insights into the methods that neuroscientists use to learn about the nervous system. This is a three credit course and will count as an advance elective for majors.

Professor Jill Demirci, Tuesdays noon to 12:50 p.m.

Using a flexible format, this course is designed to provide beginning nursing students with an overview of the David C. Frederick Honors College and the honors track within the school of nursing. The purpose of this course is to facilitate the students' exposure to the David C. Frederick Honors College environment, and to acquaint them with the opportunities and resources that are available to promote success in the honors track in the school of nursing.

Professor David Sanchez, Grant Martsolf, Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.

Aristotle wrote that "Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence." The modern west, however, is facing a happiness crisis. We are experiencing historic levels of depression, anxiety, and lack of meaning. Cultures around the world and throughout history have had a lot to say about the nature of happiness. In this interdisciplinary class, we explore different conceptions of happiness and work to develop a capacious definition of happiness as "human flourishing." We then turn our attention to the pre-conditions necessary to promote human flourishing and survey how various disciplines might be oriented toward the flourishing person. We conclude the course by reflecting on the course material to help students reflect on their own lives and how they might construct flourishing lives in college and beyond.

Professor Jill Demirci, Professor Yurun Cai

This capstone curriculum provides the student with mentored practical application of the research process from inception through dissemination. The capstone is designed to allow an active, participatory role in the mentor's program of research. The goal is to develop, under supervision, competencies necessary for the development, implementation, analysis and dissemination of scholarly research. This will be accomplished through the construction and implementation of a research practicum plan in congruence with mentor's and student's research interests.

Professor Richard Henker, Mondays 1 to 3:50 p.m.

This course is designed to provide the undergraduate nursing student with an understanding of the role of the nurse anesthetist as an advanced practice nurse. Emphasis will be placed on exploring 1) the advanced practice role as a nurse anesthetist, 2) health care policies affecting nurse anesthesia practice, and 3) evidence based practice in nurse anesthesia practice. Students will describe the opportunities and barriers for nurse anesthetists in a variety of practice settings. Students will also explore the implications of health care policies at the national, state and local level on practice.

Professor Kerry Empey

The course provides undergraduates and PharmD students the opportunity to participate in systematic, hypothesis-driven research bridging bench to bedside in pharmaceutical or pharmacy-focused research. Students are guided through the research process under direct mentorship from an expert in development of problem-solving and other skills in research.

Professor Patrick Gallagher, Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.

This is an introductory course on energy. The course will describe both qualitatively and quantitively energy use, energy generation, and sources of energy. In this course, we will explore potential energy sources and the limitations of potential energy sources for specific practical applications. The course will also describe many of the basic physical considerations related to climate change as this phenomenon has now become intimately connected with energy use.

Professor David Nero, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 11 to 11:50 a.m.

This is the first term of a two-term honors version of the physics 0104-0105-0106 sequence. This term deals with mechanics, waves and thermodynamics.

Professor Donna Naples, Tuesdays and Thursdays 1 to 3:50 p.m. 

This honors laboratory course provides an introduction to the scientific questions and techniques in modern physical measurements, including exposure to various current experimental puzzles and accomplishments, hands-on experience with research grade equipment and microcomputer-controlled data acquisition interfaces, data analysis (and simple data analysis programs), prior preparation for data taking, and error estimation.

Professor Ahmed Ghuman, Mondays 3 to 4:30 p.m., Recitation sections varies

The purpose of this course is to teach undergraduate students skills for having resilience in the face of commonly experienced stressors and difficulties. Stated simply, resilience is the ability to both survive and thrive. Resilience is not only about your ability to positively adapt in the face of adverse or challenging circumstances (that is, survive), but it is also about learning the positive skills, strategies and routines that enable you to live a happy, fulfilling, and successful life (in other words, thrive). This course will provide you with a personalized set of strategies and skills for self-care and optimize your academic and social experiences while at the University of Pittsburgh and beyond.

Professor Kristin Kanthak, Mondays 6 to 8:30 p.m.

This course is, quite generally, designed to provide students with a basic working knowledge of the basic goals of the constitutional framers, giving students an understanding of the purposes of the American political system; the essential structures (or institutions) within the American political system, the behavior (broadly defined) of the actors within the American political system, the purpose and performance of the linkage institutions in the United States (possibly including political parties, elections, and interest groups); and the types of policies that are often produced by a system with the characteristics of those found in the United States. Depending on the interests, area of expertise, and inclinations of the particular instructor, some of these may be emphasized more heavily than others.

Professor Hilla Nehushtan, Tuesdays 6 to 8:30 p.m. 

Jews are not only the "People of the Book," but also a people whose books are deeply concerned with the body. This course examines the body as a religious site to explore key questions about humanity, holiness, gender, sexuality, identity, otherness, community, tradition, and health. We will approach religion as a human phenomenon, studying Jewish bodily practices-rituals, commandments, and cultural behaviors-through critical historical and sociological lenses. These practices reflect Judaism's diversity across time and space. We will consider both historical and contemporary Jewish experiences of the body, covering such topics as food, sexuality, reproduction, queerness, health, and death. Questions we will discuss in this course include: How do Jewish practices shape ideas of the body, and conceptions of the body shape Jewish practice? How do Jewish bodily practices engage with scientific developments? How do Jewish cultures imagine bodies that are hungry, pleasured, gendered, transgendered, sexual, transgressive, differently-abled, well, sick, and mortal? All of these issues and more come into play when we shift our attention from the image of Jews as a textual community to the ways that Jews have understood and managed their embodied selves.

Professor Jonathan Weinkle, Thursdays 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Medical ethics courses (such as Pitt's "Morality and Medicine") focus on critical analysis of societal questions such as abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering, allocation of scarce resources such as organs for transplant, and the opioid crisis. There is no doubt these questions need to be addressed. However, I contend there is a "micro-ethics" of medicine thousands of individual interactions between healers (meaning any persons involved in delivering some part of a person's healthcare) and the people they care for. Their words, actions, demeanor, and the built environment in which they work can all contribute to, or detract from, the ultimate well-being and humanity of the person receiving the care. In this course, we will discuss these "micro-ethics" in detail, beginning with the religious and philosophical underpinnings of what it means to be well and what it means to be human. We will then look at how two individuals in relationship can work towards healing through listening, questioning, speaking, and communicating non-verbally. We will examine how placing those individuals in the context of a system of overlapping relationships affects their interaction. We will assess the impact of different factors about the healer, the person seeking healing, and their shared environment that detract from their relationship. Finally, we will propose and critique ways of strengthening that relationship both within the existing environment of the US healthcare system in 20 and by altering that environment.

Professor Margarita Creamer, Mondays noon to 2:30 p.m.

In this course, students will get a taste (sometimes literally) of lived, religious diversity in the city of Pittsburgh. In this experiential course, students will have a chance to visit some of the sites that Pittsburghers have made sacred, and learn more about the lives of religious Pittsburghers, past and present. In the process, students will learn about scholarly concepts like "urban religion," "lived religion," and "material religion," and how to apply those ideas to the sacred spaces, objects, foods, and rituals of Pittsburgh.

Professor Loleda Moman, Tuesdays and Thursdays 4 to 5:15 p.m.

Explores social work in terms of what the profession seeks (its goals); what it does to achieve those goals (its direct practice methods); which principles are to be reflected in all professional social work activity (its values and ethics); how the profession evolved (its history); which social issues are of particular concern to social workers (its special mission re: poverty, racism, sexism, among others); what types of agencies/services involve professional social workers (its fields of practice); and how effective is professional social work (its evaluative systems). This is a service learning course and requires 45 hours of volunteer service as part of the course.

Professor Catherine Greeno, Tuesdays 8 to 10:50 p.m.

This course is oriented to the reader and user of social work research. Using standard methodology texts and actual research studies, the lectures and discussions are designed to enable students to read and assess studies relevant to social work practice. In this process, the development and conduct of social research, as it applies to the issues and concerns of social work practice, is described and analyzed.

Professor Brooke Rawls, Mondays and Wednesdays 4:30 to 5:45 p.m.

Engages students in the study of child welfare, its historical roots, the services provided to families and children, the problems and policy issues in the current child welfare system and culturally competent practice. The study will focus on the etiology, rationale for service, and the current and future provision of services, with emphasis given to legislative mandates for service.

Professor Ruth Mihalyi, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays noon to 12:50 p.m.

This course is an intensive introduction to statistical methods. It is designed for students who want to do data analysis and to study further ideas in applied statistics beyond this course. The topics covered include descriptive statistics, elementary probability, random sampling, controlled experiments, hypothesis testing, regression and the analysis of variance. Emphasis will be placed on the statistical reasoning underlying the methods. Students will also become proficient at the use of a statistical software package.

Professor Judy Cameron, Nikolas Siapoutis, Wednesdays 6 to 8:30 p.m.

This is a course that introduces students to the various aspects of big data science --- data visualization and analytics, engaging communities in using big data, and the ethics and equitable access to big data. The course will be co-taught by faculty with expertise in these various areas. Big Data Science is becoming increasingly relevant as big data is everywhere and its use is impacting almost every aspect of modern life. This is a "hands-on" learning experience as university students taking the course will also serve as mentors for teams of high school students in a local big data competition, The Pittsburgh DataJam (see http://pghdataworks.org to learn about the Pittsburgh DataJam).