> fall 2004
Computer Science 50. Introduction to Computer Science I
Introduction to the intellectual
enterprises of computer science. Algorithms: their design,
specification, and analysis. Software development: problem
decomposition, abstraction, data structures, implementation, debugging,
testing. Architecture of computers: low-level data representation and
instruction processing. Computer systems: programming languages,
compilers, operating systems. Computers in the real world: networks,
security and cryptography, artificial intelligence, social issues.
Laboratory exercises include extensive programming in the C language.
[Final project site available
here.]
Psychology 13. Cognitive Psychology
An introduction to the study of human cognition.
Topics include perception, attention, memory, categorization, language,
and consciousness. We will consider how human thought processes are
organized, how they affect our everyday behavior, and the biological
mechanisms that underlie them.
Science B-29. Evolution of Human Nature
Human biology and behavior are considered in a broad
evolutionary context, showing how the facts of development, physiology,
neurobiology, reproduction, cognition, and especially behavior are informed
by evolutionary theory and comparative evidence. Field and experimental data
on other species are introduced with the aim of illuminating human behavior.
Behavior is traced from its evolutionary function as adaptation, through its
physiological basis and associated psychological mechanisms, to its
expression. The role of ecology and social life in shaping human behavior is
examined through the use of ethnographies and cross-cultural materials on a
variety of human cultures. Topics include basic genetics, neural and
neuroendocrine systems, behavioral development, sex differences, kinship and
mating systems, ecology, language, and cognition.
Spanish A. Beginning Spanish
A complete basic course for students with little or no
knowledge of Spanish. Initial emphasis on speaking, and, in the spring term,
more emphasis on reading and writing, introducing Hispanic culture through
texts by García Lorca, Neruda, and others; and use of computer, video,
and film materials. After Spanish A, students should be able to engage in
everyday conversation with native speakers, and read straightforward texts,
both fiction and non-fiction, with relative ease.
> spring 2005
Computer Science 51. Introduction to Computer Science II
Abstraction and design in computation. Topics include:
Functional and object-oriented styles of programming; software engineering in
the small; implementation of a language interpreter. Goal: understanding how
to design large programs to make them readable, maintainable, efficient, and
elegant. Exercises in LISP (Scheme) and C++.
Freshman Seminar 22k: Can Machines Think? The Turing Test and the Possibility
of Natural-Language Interaction with Computers
FS22k is a discussion-based course concerning the
philosophical, linguistic, and computational issues surrounding the question
of machine intelligence and the possibility of natural-language interaction
with computers.
Expository Writing 20. Expository Writing
Aims to improve each student’s ability to
discover and reason about evidence through the medium of essays. All sections
give students practice in formulating questions; analyzing both primary and
secondary sources, and properly acknowledging them; supporting arguments with
strong and detailed evidence; and shaping clear, lively essays. All sections
emphasize revision.
Spanish A. Beginning Spanish
(Continuation of Fall course)
> fall 2005
Computer Science 101. Digital Systems Construction
A computer science synthesis that starts with Nand
gates and ends with applications. Students will build a general-purpose
hardware platform using a simple hardware description language, then develop a
compiler for a simple object-based language, and build a mini OS. Finally,
they will play and develop interactive games like Pong and Tetris on the
platform. All the necessary computer science knowledge is covered in the
course; the only prerequisite is some programming experience.
Computer Science 121. Introduction to Formal Systems and Computation
General introduction to formal systems and the theory
of computation. Elementary treatment of automata, formal languages,
computability, uncomputability, computational complexity,
NP–completeness, and mathematical logic.
Applied Mathematics 21a. Mathematical Methods in the Sciences
Complex numbers. Multivariate calculus: partial
differentiation, directional derivatives, techniques of integration and
multiple integration. Vectors: dot and cross products, parameterized curves,
line and surface integrals. Vector calculus: gradient, divergence and curl,
Green’s, Stokes’ and Gauss’ theorems, including orthogonal
curvilinear coordinates. Applications in electrical and mechanical
engineering.
Religion 11. World Religions: Diversity and Dialogue
An introduction to five of the world’s religious
traditions—Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian and Muslim—through
the lens of modern adherents and interpreters. How do people in each tradition
articulate their faith in the context of the modern world and its forms of
globalization? How do they think about the challenges of religious pluralism?
This course investigates questions of religious difference and introduces
critical problems of interpretation in the study of religion.
> spring 2006
Computer Science 152. Principles of Programming Languages
Intellectual tools needed to design, evaluate, and
choose programming languages. Historical influences on language design. Case
studies, reinforced by programming exercises. Advanced languages, abstraction
mechanisms. Includes functional, object-oriented, and logic paradigms. Focuses
on practice, but covers formal topics crucial for intellectual rigor: abstract
syntax, lambda calculus, type systems, and dynamic semantics. Grounding
sufficient to read professional literature.
General Education 157. Intelligence, Command, and Control: Conference
Course
Examines evolution of the missions, tools, structure,
and performance of US intelligence agencies from the National Security Act
(1947) to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (2004). Impact
of shifting perceptions of threats to the US on the categorization of
activities as intelligence v. law enforcement, civilian v. military, strategic
v. tactical, local v. state v. national, or governmental v. private.
History of Science 175. Madness and Medicine: Themes in the History of
Psychiatry
An attempt to integrate the history of medical thought
on the nature of madness and the madman with recent historiography on the
social history of psychiatry and its institutions. Topics include the birth of
the asylum, the challenge of “moral therapy,” madness and the
brain, madness from the patient’s point of view, the “discovery of
the unconscious,” schizophrenia, and the antipsychiatry movement.
> spring 2007
Computer Science 199r. Special Topics in Computer Science
Topic focus for 2007: Privacy and Technology. Case
studies of areas in which there are perceived conflicts between individual
privacy and computer technology. Which of these conflicts are real? Which
could reasonably be addressed through changes in policy and technology? Areas
include RFID, surveillance, biometrics, data aggregation and data mining.
Engineering Sciences 50. Introduction to Electrical Engineering
A discussion of topics of central importance to the
fields of electronics, communications and intelligent systems. The material
concerns both the qualitative and quantitative analysis, as well as laboratory
experiments and computer simulations. Examples of topics to be discussed range
from relatively simple modules such as analog amplifiers and digital adders,
to complex devices such as cell-phones and their supporting infrastructure.
Applied Mathematics 21b. Mathematical Methods in the Sciences
Linear algebra: matrices, determinants, eigenvalues,
eigenvectors, Markov processes. Optimization and least-squares analysis.
Ordinary differential equations. Infinite series and Fourier series.
Orthogonality and completeness. Introduction to partial differential
equations. Applications in electrical and mechanical engineering.
Literature and Arts C-25. The Medieval Stage
Case studies of major plays from medieval Europe
(mainly France and England) and how they were staged in their original
settings (churches, marketplaces, streets). Examines theater as worship and
revelry in monasteries and cathedrals, as an expression of emerging town
culture, and as a mass medium of religious instruction. Explores the
architecture of theater spaces, different stage types, the
“theater” of medieval art, and the role of music. Illustrated
lectures.
> fall 2007
Computer Science 175. Computer Graphics
The computational aspects of computer graphics.
Two major themes are image rendering (viewing transformations, clipping,
visible-surface processing, raster algorithms, reflection models, lighting
models, surface shading, antialiasing, ray tracing, radiosity, and volume
rendering) and scene modeling (modeling transformations, curves and surfaces,
texture mapping, data-amplification techniques, constructive solid geometry,
scalar- and vector-field data, and animation). Ancillary topics include color
compression, image compression, image compositing, graphical user interfaces,
and special machine architectures for computer graphics. [Final project site
available
here.]
History of Science 189v. History of Software and Networks
20th century history of the differentiation of hardware
and software and the rise of networked, distributed forms of computing.
Theories of information society and network society. The role of intellectual
property, regulation and forms of organization and coordination in the
development of information technologies.
Moral Reasoning 33. Issues in Ethics
Is pleasure the only ultimate good? Are
individuals’ preferences the only basis for assessing the quality of
their lives? What makes acts wrong? Is moral blame applicable only to agents
who have free will? Should we accept moral relativism? Readings mainly from
contemporary philosophers.
English 120. Introduction to Shakespeare
A selection from Shakespeare’s plays — comedies, tragedies,
histories, and romance — giving an overview of his development as a
dramatist and engaging in intensive reading of some of the most important
plays, notably Hamlet and King Lear. Emphasis will be divided
between questions concerning performance and the literary qualities that make
Shakespeare the most celebrated author ever.
> spring 2008
Computer Science 179. Design of Usable Interactive Systems
Usability and design as keys to successful technology. Covers user observation
techniques, needs assessment, low and high fidelity prototyping, usability
testing methods, as well as design best practices. Focuses on understanding
and applying the lessons of human interaction to the design of usable systems;
will also look at lessons to be learned from less usable systems. The course
centers on a semester-long design project, with classes mixing studio and
seminar formats. [Project site available
here.]
Computer Science 124. Data Structures and Algorithms
Design and analysis of efficient algorithms and data structures. Algorithm
design methods, graph algorithms, approximation algorithms, and randomized
algorithms are covered.
Linguistics 110. Introduction to Linguistics
An introduction to contemporary linguistic theory and methods of linguistic
analysis: phonetic transcription, phonological, morphological, and syntactic
analysis, and methods in comparative and historical linguistics. Some
psycholinguistic aspects of language will also be examined. The discussion
will draw on data from a wide variety of languages.
Foreign Cultures 84. Tokyo
Tokyo has been one of the world’s great metropolitan centers since the 17th
century, both the urban hub of Japanese society and culture, and the
intersection between Japanese domestic society and trends of global influence.
This course examines trajectories of change in Tokyo’s urban culture,
lifestyles, social structure, and spatial environment across the city’s
history, using ethnography, history, literature, diaries, architecture,
photography, art, cartography, animation, film, and the Internet to explore
Tokyo as an urban culture in comparative perspectives drawn from anthropology,
history, and other social sciences.
Literature and Arts B-85. American Musicals and American Culture
During much of the 20th century, the Broadway musical stood at the center of
American culture, producing tunes and tales that became the hits of their day.
It commented — wittily, satirically, relentlessly — on the ever-shifting social
and political landscape, with subjects ranging from new immigrants to poverty,
power, westward expansion, and issues of race. This course explores the
musical artistry and cultural resonances of a cluster of iconic Broadway
musicals on stage and screen, including Shuffle Along, Show Boat,
Stormy Weather, The Cradle Will Rock, Oklahoma!, and
Pacific Overtures. Readings focus on primary sources drawn from
Harvard’s illustrious Theatre Collection.