THIS COURSE IS OPEN *ONLY* TO INCOMING STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE INTENSIVE FRESHMAN SEMINAR (IFS) PROGRAM IN AUGUST 2024.

Are you an avid sports fan? Do you want to improve your Excel skills and learn new ways to analyze more kinds of data? Then this course is for you!

Data analytics has transformed team sports over the last twenty years: baseball teams don’t bunt as much as they once did, football teams are more likely to wait until the fourth down to score, hockey teams pull their goalies earlier. Teams also make hiring decisions on different criteria: consider Khris Middleton’s big contract with the Milwaukee Bucks or Liverpool’s appointment of Jürgen Klopp as manager (even though his time in that role at Mainz had not been covered with glory).

Data analytics has also transformed sports betting. Many people today sell their picks: should you buy them? Should you try to sell your own?

Examples and problem sets in this course will be taken from sports, but the techniques you learn are applicable to any kind of data analysis. We will use Excel but no prior experience with it is required—just a desire to learn. We will spend most class sessions working through chapters of my Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts use Mathematics and discussing current sporting events (NCAA brackets, MLB playoffs, etc.). You may work in groups of up to three on the homework assignments. Pick your team carefully!

THIS CLASS MEETS DURING THE THIRTEEN WEEK SESSION.

What does it mean to be grateful? And how can we live more grateful lives? Many people believe in the benefits of gratitude yet struggle with being grateful. This course will address interdisciplinary perspectives on gratitude. You will learn how philosophers have defined gratitude, how gratitude is expressed differently across culture, what facilitates and inhibits gratitude, as well as the latest scientific research on gratitude. This class will also include a practical component in which you will engage in activities to cultivate gratitude in your life.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Europe—for over four decades divided by the “iron curtain” between the Eastern Bloc controlled by the Soviet Union and the so-called “West”—unified. Together with this unification came the violent breakdown of previously homogenized communist societies. The suppressed minorities—ethnic, gender, sexual, religious, etc.—began to claim their voice and place in the new realities of postcommunist countries. One of these countries was Poland, ethnically the most heterogenous European country before WWII and presumably the most homogenous one by the time communism collapsed.

In this course, we will investigate the emergence of minorities in postcommunist Poland. We will discuss the social and political construction of “otherness” and its cultural representations in the new capitalist order. We will reflect not only on the historically conditioned minorities but also on the imaginary minorities and imaginary otherness that nevertheless became a real force in reshaping Polish culture. We will talk about the Jewish revival on the territories where the Holocaust wiped out almost the entire Jewish population, the emergence of German and Roma minorities, the intense struggle for visibility and civic rights by the LGBTQ communities, vibrant feminist movements, and so on.  We will analyze various materials: films, novels, political debates, artistic performances, graffiti, music, and civic dissent to see how minorities forge new postcommunist identities.

Above class meets with SLAV-P 365 and SLAV-P 565.

This course studies literary and artistic strategies of responding to the conditions of foreign occupation, colonization, and genocide. We will discuss the role of culture in times of historical, social, and ideological upheavals, and the capability of culture to both oppose and normalize sociopolitical pressures. Special attention will be given to the existential dimension of war and freedom and to the analysis of various ways literature and the arts represent the perspective of an individual. The course examines these issues in the context of Polish culture. Course materials include literary texts, films, and reproductions of visual artworks. Knowledge of Polish language and culture is not required.

Above class meets with SLAV-P 363 and SLAV-P 563

What is a nation and how does it come into existence? What role do literature and the arts play in creating and contesting national myths and identities? This course introduces literary study within the context and theme of Czech nationalism and identity. We will be looking at Czech literature and culture from the 19^th century to World War II, emphasizing Czech national identity as reflected in literature, art, music, and film. How does a nation rebuild and (re) define itself through its literature and arts after centuries of occupation and subjugation and erasure. The course examines these issues in the context of Czech culture. Course materials include literary texts, films, and reproductions of visual artworks.

Above class meets with SLAV-C 363 and SLAV-C 563.

Fundamental aspects of human experience include remembering the past, choosing in the present, and planning for the future.  Do non-human animals remember the past, choose in the present, and plan for the future?  Are people unique among all other animals in their cognitive processes? What do non-human animals know about the world?  How do they come to know this information?  What are the similarities and differences between this knowledge in animals and people? This course will explore the field of comparative cognition, the scientific study of cognitive capacities of animals.  Topics include: perception, attention, memory, spatial cognition, timing, counting, conceptualization/categorization; tool fabrication and use; problem solving; and social cognition.  Case studies will focus on episodic memory, mental time travel, metacognition, and theory of mind.

The term water resources refers to natural waters (vapor, liquid, or solid) that occur on the Earth and that are of potential use to humans. The Earth has over 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water. However, 97% of this is saline seawater. A dependable supply of water is critical to sustaining life but this resource is increasingly at risk because of growing competition among domestic, industrial-commercial, agricultural, and environmental needs.  Students will become conversant on the topic of water resources as well as develop an understanding of the key concepts in sustainability and systems thinking.

THIS CLASS MEETS SECOND EIGHT WEEKS, FULLY ONLINE

Quantum theory is the best theory we have of microscopic things, but it is also extremely hard to understand what exactly the theory is saying. We will begin this course by describing a few simple quantum experiments to see just why the theory is so strange, and then we will begin to look more closely at the formalism of the theory and at the philosophical puzzles raised by its interpretations. After suggesting several solutions, we shall adopt a more instrumental view, on which these puzzles may be considered an important resource that, if harnessed, may have some surprising implications on the way we manipulate information and perform computations. Along the way, we will learn how to think critically and carefully about science and scientific theories, and how to approach a given problem from several different philosophical angles. The course will have both lecture and discussion. There will be weekly writing assignments of 1 page each (30%), three small quizzes (30%), a final project (20%) and a final multiple-choice exam (20%). The final exam is a necessary requirement for the final grade. It will be waived for the 2 students with the best final presentation!

This course will be fully online, so you can pace yourself with its recorded lectures to meet the few evaluation milestones during the 8 weeks (Writing Assignments, 3 quizzes and final exam – all of which will be held with open notes). In addition, in person and/or zoom meetings will be held once a week to discuss the material, answer questions, and mentor students for the final project.

THIS CLASS MEETS FOR THIRTEEN WEEKS

Every day, billions of people interact with information technologies on the internet and
contribute to a world of valuable information. But the human brain simply cannot fathom
the quantity of data generated daily. The term “big data” refers to data that is so large, fast,
or complex that it’s difficult or impossible to process using traditional methods. We are
living in a historic moment where big data and artificial intelligence are shaping many parts
of society, and automated society is on the not-so-distant horizon. Therefore, we must
make such technologies compatible with the core human values. In organizational settings,
the focus on big data in society should look beyond the extraordinary volume of information
in order to assess the value that organizations can extract from such data. This course was
featured in the Indiana University Journal of Undergraduate Research:

 Learning what the buzzwords mean: Big data and AI in the Hutton Honors College

In this seminar-style, discussion-oriented course, students will learn to think and decide on
their own in the likely future scenarios that involve data-related, potentially ethically
challenging situations. With that goal in mind, this course introduces students to new social
and ethical challenges arising from the use of data in various work contexts. Topics include
Big data uses in healthcare, education, business, law enforcement (e.g., predictive
policing), and politics (e.g., microtargeting). The course also provides students with an
understanding of the moral roles/rules and ethical dilemmas involved in the uses of big
data. We will discuss various technical and societal approaches to tackling such challenges.

By the end of this course, students will understand the following:

• The role of big data in organizational decision-making
• How the integration of big data is changing the culture, structure, and work practices of
  complex organizations
• Social, political, legal, and organizational impacts of big data
• How to develop mature stances regarding big data ethics