UCSD vs. Itself

Before I rank all the classes I have ever taken at UCSD from Fall Quarter 2008 to Fall Quarter 2010, I need to provide a description of each and every one of them, so here goes!

CSE 3: Fluency/Information Technology:    Introduces the concepts and skills necessary to effectively use information technology. Includes basic concepts and some practical skills with computer and networks. Prerequisite: none.

PHIL 10: Introduction to Logic:  Basic concepts and techniques in both informal and formal logic and reasoning, including a discussion of argument, inference, proof, and common fallacies, and an introduction to the syntax, semantics, and proof method in sentential (propositional) logic. (May be used to fulfill general-education requirements for Warren and Eleanor Roosevelt Colleges.)

WCWP 10A: The Writing Course A:   A workshop course in reading and writing required of all Warren College students. The course emphasizes argumentation and critical writing based on sources. (Letter grade only.) Prerequisites: satisfaction of the university entry level writing requirement and must be a Warren College student.

STPA 35: Society and the Sea: Introduction to the oceans and their relationship to humankind. Selected topics include ocean-related science, engineering, research, economics, and international relations (emphasizing countries of the Pacific Rim); living and nonliving resources; coastal zone management; military and social aspects; and the sea in weather and climate. Prerequisite: none. (F)

WCWP 10B. The Writing Course B (4) A workshop course in reading and writing required of all Warren College students who have completed 10A. The course continues the emphasis on argumentation and critical writing based on sources. (Letter grade only.) Prerequisites: completion of WCWP 10A and must be a Warren College student.

MAE 05. Quantitative Computer Skills (4) Introductory course for non-engineering majors. Use of computers in solving problems; applications from life sciences, physical sciences, and engineering. Students run existing computer programs and complete some programming in BASIC. Prerequisite: none.

COGS 3. An Introduction to Computing (4) A practical introduction to computers and how you can use their power. Designed for undergraduates in the social sciences. Topics include: basic operations of personal computers (MAC, PC), UNIX, word processing, e-mail, spreadsheets, and creating web pages using the World Wide Web. No previous background in computing required.

HIUS 157. American Women, American Womanhood 1870 to Present This course explores the making of the ideology of womanhood in modern America and the diversity of American women’s experience from 1870 to the present. Topics include the suffrage movement, the struggle for reproductive rights and the ERA; immigrant and working-class women, women’s work, and labor organization; education, the modern feminist movement and the contemporary politics of reproduction, including abortion and surrogate motherhood. Prerequisite: upper-division standing. +

COGN 20. Introduction to Communication (4)An historical introduction to the development of the means of human communication, from language and early symbols through the introduction of writing, printing, and electronic media, to today’s digital and multimedia revolution. Examines the effect of communications media on human activity, and the historical forces that shape their development and use. Offered fall and spring quarters.

COGN 21. Methods of Media Production (4)This course explores fundamental technical and social constraints shaping media production. We read film and television as texts by considering history, theory, genre and practical technique. COGN 22 and COGN 21 taken concurrently strongly recommended. COGN 22 is required for students interested in advanced communication production in media courses. Majors must enroll for a letter grade.

COGN 22. Methods of Media Production Lab (2)In groups in lab students work hands-on with video and new media equipment, exploring fundamental technical constraints shaping media production. COGN 21 and COGN 22 strongly recommended concurrently. COGN 22 is required for students interested in advanced communication production courses. Majors must enroll for a letter grade. Prerequisite: COGN 21 (may be taken concurrently).

HIEU 105. The Early Christian Church (4)A study of the origin and development of early Christian thought, literature, and institution from the New Testament period to the Council of Chalcedon. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor. +

POLI 27: Ethics and Society (4) (Same as Phil. 27) An examination of ethical principles (e.g., utilitarianism, individual rights, etc.) and their social and political applications to contemporary issues such as abortion, environmental protection, and affirmative action. Ethical principles will also be applied to moral dilemmas familiar in government, law, business, and the professions. Satisfies the Warren College ethics and society requirement. Prerequisites: CAT 2 and 3, DOC 2 and 3, MCWP 40 and 50, Hum. 1 and 2, MMW 2 and 3, WCWP 10A-B, or WARR 11A-B.

HILD2A: A year-long lower-division course that will provide students with a background in United States history from colonial times to the present, concentrating on social, economic, and political developments. (Satisfies Muir College humanities requirement and American History and Institutions requirement.)

COHI 100: Introduction to Communication and the Individual (4) An introduction to theories of human mental processes which emphasizes the central role of mediation. The course covers methods of research that permit the study of mind in relation to different media and contexts of use. The traditional notion of media effects is critically examined in a number of important domains, including television, film, writing, and oral language. Prerequisite: COGN 20 or HDP 1, or consent of instructor. Offered spring quarter.

HIUS 101. The American Revolution (4)Causes and consequences of the revolution: intellectual and social change, the problems of the new nation, the Constitution, and the origins of political parties. Prerequisite: upper-division standing. +

HIUS 151. American Legal History since 1865 (4)The history of American law and legal institutions. This course examines race relations and law, the rise of big business, the origins of the modern welfare state during the Great Depression, the crisis of civil liberties produced by two world wars and McCarthyism, and the Constitutional revolution wrought by the Warren Court. HIUS 150 is not a prerequisite for HIUS 151.Prerequisite: upper-division standing.

LTTH 115. Introduction to Critical Theory (4)A critical review of major contemporary theories of the nature of literature, its sociocultural function, and appropriate modes of evaluation.

COCU 100. Introduction to Communication and Culture (4) Processes of communication shape and are shaped by the cultures within which they occur. This course emphasizes the ways in which cultural understandings are constructed and transmitted via the variety of communication media available to members. A wide range of cultural contexts are sampled, and the different ways that available communication technologies (language, writing, electronic media) influence the cultural organization of people’s lives are analyzed. Prerequisite:COGN 20, or HDP 1, or consent of instructor. Offered winter quarter.

COHI 134. Language and Human Communication (4) This course examines the interaction of language and culture in human communication. Beginning with language evolution, the course then discusses a broad range of human languages including indigenous languages, sign languages, and hybrid languages spoken in urban centers.Prerequisite: COHI 100 or consent of instructor.

HIEU 117A. Greece and the Balkans in the Age of Nationalism (4) This course examines the history of Greece and the Balkans (1683–1914). Topics covered: social and economic development in the eighteenth century, nationalism, independence wars, state-nation formation, interstate relations, the Eastern Question, rural society, urbanization, emigration, and the Balkan Wars. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

HIUS 150. American Legal History to 1865 (4) The history of American law and legal institutions. This quarter focuses on crime and punishment in the colonial era, the emergence of theories of popular sovereignty, the forging of the Constitution and American federalism, the relationship between law and economic change, and the crisis of slavery and Union. Prerequisite: upper-division standing. +

COSF 100. Introduction to Communication as a Social Force (4)A critical overview of areas of macro communication and analysis, with special emphasis on the development of communication institutions, including broadcasting, common carriers, and information industries. Questions regarding power, ideology, and the public interest are addressed. Prerequisite: COGN 20. Offered fall quarter.

COCU 178. American Television in the 1970s (4)Course will explore the politics and culture of the 1970s through the lens of network television programming and the decade’s most provocative sitcoms, dramas, variety shows, and news features. Students will analyze television episodes and read relevant media studies scholarship. Prerequisite: COCU 100 or consent of instructor.

COCU 141C. Media and Technology: Disability (4)Cultural and historical ways of defining and understanding disability relative to communication and assistive technologies, including the impact of digital technologies and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Use of audiovisual texts and writings from fields including science and technology studies, and cultural studies. Prerequisite: COSF 100 or COCU 100 or COHI 100 or consent of instructor.

COHI 128. Mobile Communications (4)Movement is central to our lives. This course draws on the latest research into how we travel, trade, and move. Diverse topics will be covered including kids in cars, the New York subway, and theories of mobility. Prerequisites: COHI 100 or consent of instructor.

HISC 104. History of Popular Science (4)Historical aspects of the popularization of science. The changing relation between expert science and popular understanding. The reciprocal impact of scientific discoveries and theories, and popular conceptions of the natural world. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

HISC 111. The Atomic Bomb and the Atomic Age (4)Development of nuclear science and weapons—1930s to present—including the discovery of radioactivity and fission, the Manhattan project, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and end of WWII, the H-bomb, and legacies of nuclear proliferation, environmental damage, and radioactive waste. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

COCU 177. Computer Game Studies (4) Course considers computer games both as media and as sites of communication. Games are studied through hands-on play and texts from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Course encompasses commercial, academic, and independent games. Writing papers, analyzing games required.

COSF 126. The Information Age: In Fact and Fiction (4) Analysis of the forces propelling the “Information Age.” An examination of the differential benefits and costs, and a discussion of the presentation in the general media of the Information Age.

HIEU 101A. Ancient Greek Civilization (4) The social, political, and cultural history of the ancient Greek world from the earliest settlements to the empire of Alexander the Great (c. 2000–323 B.C.).

COCU 125. How to Read a Film (4) This course increases our awareness of the ways we interpret or make understandings from movies to enrich and increase the means by which one can enjoy and comprehend movies. We will talk about movies, explore a range of methods/approaches to film interpretation.

COGN 175. Advanced Topics in Communication: General (2) Specialized study in general communication with topics to be determined by the instructor, for any given quarter. May be repeated for credit.

HIEU 118. Americanization in Europe (4) Examines problems surrounding the transfer of American culture, values, and styles to Europe in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Topics may include: consumer society, popular culture, commercial and business practices, “McDonaldization,” political and military influence, democratization, and resistance to Americanization. Students may not receive credit for both HIEU 117S and HIEU 118.

HIUS 131. Cultural History from the Civil War to the Present (4) This course will focus on the transformation of work and leisure and the development of consumer culture. Students will consider connections between culture, class relations, gender ideology, and politics. Topics will include labor radicalism, Taylorism, the development of organized sports, the rise of department stores, the transformation of middle-class sexual morality, the growth of commercial entertainment, and the culture of the cold war.

LTEN 110. The Renaissance: Themes and Issues (4) Major literary works of the Renaissance, an exciting period of social and cultural transformation in England as elsewhere in Europe. Topics may include a central theme (e.g., humanism, reformation, revolution), a genre (e.g., pastoral), or comparison with other arts and sciences.

COGN 150. Senior Seminar in Communication (4) This course examines in detail some topic in the field of communication, bringing to bear several of the approaches and perspectives introduced in the basic communication curriculum. Seminars will be limited to twenty-five students and class participation is stressed. A research paper is required.

COMT 100. Nonlinear/Digital Editing (4) Prepare students to edit on nonlinear editing facilities and introduce aesthetic theories of editing: time code editing, time line editing on the Media 100, digital storage and digitization of audio and video, compression, resolution, and draft mode editing.

Linguistics/Vietnamese for Vietnamese Speakers (LIHL) 114 (4) For students who already comprehend informal spoken Vietnamese but wish to improve their communicative and sociocultural competence and their analytic understanding. Language functions for oral communication, reading, writing, and culture; dialect and language style differences; structure and history of Vietnamese. Some speaking ability in Vietnamese recommended.

POLI 113A. East Asian Thought in Comparative Perspective (4) This course examines the major traditions of East Asian thought in comparative perspective. Topics include Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and contemporary nationalist and East Asian political thought. Throughout, focused comparisons and contrasts will be made between western and eastern thought.

POLI 120A. Political Development of Western Europe (4) An examination of various paths of European political development through consideration of the conflicts that shaped these political systems: the commercialization of agriculture; religion and the role of the church; the army and the state bureaucracy; and industrialization. Stress will be on alternative paradigms and on theorists.

HIUS 159/ETHN 131. Social and Economic History of the Southwest II (4) (Cross-listed as Ethnic Studies 131.) This course examines the history of the American Southwest from the U.S.-Mexican War in 1846–48 to the present, focusing on immigration, racial and ethnic conflict, and the growth of Chicano national identity.

LTIT 115. Medieval Studies (4)

Studies in medieval culture and thought with focus on one of the “three crowns” of Italian literature: Dante, Boccaccio, or Petrarca. May be repeated for credit when course content varies.

I will rate on three criteria: easiness, how interesting it is, and how much I learned.

Easiness (Easy to Hard):

Easy:

1. POLI 113A: Victor Magagna
2. POLI 120A: Victor Magagna
3. COGN 175: Sustainability Resource Center
4. LTTH 115: Stephanie Jed
5. LTEN 110: Stephanie Jed
6. LTIT 115: Stephanie Jed
7. MAE 5: Carl Gibson
8. CSE 3: Susan Marx
9. COGS 3: Mary Boyle
10. PHIL 10: Patricia Churchland
11. STPA 35: Carl Gibson
12. COCU 141C: Lisa Cartwright
13. HISC 104: William Clark
14. HISC 111: William Clark
15. COMT 100: Dan Marticino
16. HIUS 159: David Gutirrez
17. HILD 2A: Ryan Jordan
18. HIUS 101: Ryan Jordan
19. HIEU 105: David Miano
20. HIEU 101A: David Miano
21. COHI 100: Barry Brown
22. COCU 178: David Serlin
23. COGN 20: Patrick Anderson
24. COSF 100: Nadine Kozak
25. COSF 126: Nadine Kozak
26. COGN 21: Zeinabu Davis
27. COGN 22: ———-

Medium:

1. HIUS 157: Rebecca Plant
2. POLI 27: Sam Rickless
3. HIUS 151: Michael Belknap
4. HIEU 118: Patrick Patterson
5. HIUS 131: Rachel Klein
6. HIEU 117A: Thomas Gallant
7. HIUS 150: Michael Belknap
8. COCU 125 – Denise McKenna
9. COHI 128: Barry Brown
10. COGU 177: William Huber
11. COGN 150: Camille Campion

WTF:

1. LIHL 114: Kimloan Hill
2. WCWP 10B: Mary Reid
3. WCWP 10A: Charlie Kurth
4. COCU 100: Elana Zilberg
5. COHI 134: Michael Selder

Amount of Interest (Very to Bored):

Very Interested:

1. COCU 178: David Serlin
2. COMT100: Dan Marticino
3. COCU 125 – Denise McKenna
4. HISC 104: William Clark
5. COCU 141C: Lisa Cartwright
6. POLI 27: Sam Rickless
7. HIEU 105: David Miano
8. HIEU 101A: David Miano
9. HIUS 151: Michael Belknap
10. COSF 100: Nadine Kozak
11. CSE 3: Susan Marx
12. COGS 3: Mary Boyle
13. PHIL 10: Patricia Churchland
14. COGN 20: Patrick Anderson
15. COGN 150: Camille Campion

Mildly Interested:

1. COHI 100: Barry Brown
2. MAE 5: Carl Gibson
3. HIUS 157: Rebecca Plant
4. COGN 21: Zeinabu Davis
5. COGN 22: ———-
6. HIEU 117A: Thomas Gallant
7. HIUS 150: Michael Belknap
8. LIHL 114: Kimloan Hill
9. COHI 128: Barry Brown
10. HISC 111: William Clark
11. COCU 177: William Huber
12. HIEU 131: Rachel Klein
13. COGN 175: Sustainability Research Center
14. HIEU 118: Patrick Patterson

Bored:

1. POLI 113A: Victor Magagna
2. POLI 120A: Victor Magagna
3. HILD 2A: Ryan Jordan
4. HIUS 101: Ryan Jordan
5. WCWP 10A: Charlie Kurth
6. STPA 35: Carl Gibson
7. WCWP 10B: Mary Reid
8. COSF 126: Nadine Kozak
9. LTTH 115: Stephanie Jed
10. LTEN 110: Stephanie Jed
11. LTIT 115: Stephanie Jed
12. COCU 100: Elana Zilberg
13. COHI 134: Michael Selder
14. HIUS 149: David Gutierrez

How Much I learned (A lot to Nothing.)

A Lot:

1. COCU 178: David Serlin
2. HIEU 118: Patrick Patterson
3. HISC 104: William Clark
4. COCU 141C: Lisa Cartwright
5. POLI 27: Sam Rickless
6. HIEU 105: David Miano
7. HIEU 101A: David Miano
8. HIUS 151: Michael Belknap
9. HIUS 131: Rachel Klein
10. COSF 100: Nadine Kozak
11. COSF 126: Nadine Kozak
12. COGN 150: Camille Campion
13. COHI 100: Barry Brown
14. HIUS 157: Rebecca Plant
15. COCU 125: Denise McKenna
16. COMT 100: Dan Marticino
17. COGN 21: Zeinabu Davis
18. COGN 22: ———-
19. HIEU 117A: Thomas Gallant
20. HIUS 150: Michael Belknap
21. COHI 128: Barry Brown
22. HISC 111: William Clark

A Little:

1. HILD 2A: Ryan Jordan
2. HIUS 101: Ryan Jordan
3. CSE 3: Susan Marx
4. COGS 3: Mary Boyle
5. PHIL 10: Patricia Churchland
6. COGN 20: Patrick Anderson
7. MAE 5: Carl Gibson
8. COCU 177: William Huber
9. COGN 175: Sustainability Resource Center

Nothing Of Use:

1. LTTH 115: Stephanie Jed
2. LTEN 110: Stephanie Jed
3. LTIT 115: Stephanie Jed
4. POLI 113A: Victor Magagna
5. POLI 120A: Victor Magagna
6. STPA 35: Carl Gibson
7. COHI 134: Michael Selder
8. COCU 100: Elana Zilberg
9. WCWP 10A: Charlie Kurth
10. WCWP 10B: Mary Reid
11. HIUS 159: David Gutierrez