The Program
The College of Arts and Sciences is delighted to announce the second year of the Pavilion Seminars Program. Aimed at 3rd and 4th year students, these seminars will focus on big topics with enduring relevance across disciplines. All will be taught by distinguished faculty in the College. All will feature innovative pedagogical practices as well as a substantial writing component. (Note: all Pavilion Seminars will satisfy the Second Writing Requirement; but, by design, none can be used to satisfy requirements for any major). All are intended to bring together, in the context of the Lawn’s Pavilions, a limited number of students from varied majors and intellectual backgrounds for stimulating discussion of vital questions of ethics, human nature, politics, aesthetics, nature, law, space, and survival – very much in keeping with Jefferson’s original plans for the University and the Lawn.
Enrollment will, in every case, be by instructor permission through SIS, so that the 15 students in each seminar can be drawn from multiple majors. You can find the classes in SIS under PAVS 4500; sign up for the permission list for the class in which you are interested, and answer the question posed. Note that you can add your name to a permission list before your enrollment appointment!
For a complete listing of classes see: http://college.
The two specific classes offered under this program that we think would be of potential interest to prehealth students are:
Quenching our Thirst: Water, Health, and Society (Prof. Rebecca Dillingham, School of Medicine/Center for Global Health)
Water covers about 70% of the earth’s surface, but less than 1% of it is accessible for human use. 884 million people lack access to clean water. Ten percent of the global burden of disease is attributed to poor access to water and sanitation. Critical shortages of drinking water are expected by 2025. Water supply, quality, and distribution locally and globally are critical global health issues. The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Without reliable access to clean water, individual and community health and well-being decline rapidly. In this seminar, we will analyze the intersections between water and health. We will read historical accounts of water supply and sanitation systems from centuries past and analyze the who, how, and why of the choices and investments made then. We will examine the physical, social, and economic impacts of differential access to and quality of water today through lenses provided by experts from medicine, economics, politics, and anthropology. We will assess the available data about today’s global water supplies and how they may change going forward relative to evolving demographics and usage patterns. We will learn about and critique current strategies to improve access to and quality of water locally and globally with help from guest lecturers who are experienced planners, economists, and engineers. Seminar activities will include substantial reading and two focused writing assignments as well as a photo project and field trips to a local water treatment site, to a stream restoration project, and to an engineering laboratory. No knowledge of the subject is pre-supposed; students from science and non-science majors are welcomed.
Water covers about 70% of the earth’s surface, but less than 1% of it is accessible for human use. 884 million people lack access to clean water. Ten percent of the global burden of disease is attributed to poor access to water and sanitation. Critical shortages of drinking water are expected by 2025. Water supply, quality, and distribution locally and globally are critical global health issues. The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Without reliable access to clean water, individual and community health and well-being decline rapidly. In this seminar, we will analyze the intersections between water and health. We will read historical accounts of water supply and sanitation systems from centuries past and analyze the who, how, and why of the choices and investments made then. We will examine the physical, social, and economic impacts of differential access to and quality of water today through lenses provided by experts from medicine, economics, politics, and anthropology. We will assess the available data about today’s global water supplies and how they may change going forward relative to evolving demographics and usage patterns. We will learn about and critique current strategies to improve access to and quality of water locally and globally with help from guest lecturers who are experienced planners, economists, and engineers. Seminar activities will include substantial reading and two focused writing assignments as well as a photo project and field trips to a local water treatment site, to a stream restoration project, and to an engineering laboratory. No knowledge of the subject is pre-supposed; students from science and non-science majors are welcomed.
Nutrition in a Changing World (Prof. Manuel Lerdau)
Humans need to eat; this truth has informed all societies since they arose. A bagel from Bodos or a Greenberries croissant tastes pretty different from the gruel and biscuits consumed on the Lawn in the 1800s. But human nutritional needs are still essentially the same. This class examines human nutrition in the context of environmental, cultural, technological, and social changes that are occurring across the Earth's surface. These changes alter the number of people the Earth can support and the qualities of the lives people can lead. From rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, to potatoes with firefly genes, to supertankers that can move thousands of tons of fruit across the Pacific in days, to the rise of the Golden Arches as a symbol more recognizable than most national flags, we are seeing dramatic shifts in the foods we produce and consume. This seminar will focus on large scale phenomena such as transportation, cultural exchange, genetic engineering, and climate change in the context of how they affect the demand for food, the production of food, and food quality. The class will also consider aspects of environmental and social sustainability and human health. Topics will include what we need to eat, (post-) Modern Genetics, the rise of red meat across the globe, transport and storage of food, fast food and faster lives, urbanization and food availability, obesity across cultures, classes, and ages, and healthful diets and social justice. The class will combine traditional seminar-based protocols - reading, discussion and the writing of one long and two short papers - with more active learning experiences, such as experiments with food storage, surveys of local food sources such as restaurants and grocery stores, cooking experiments, and a workshop with the university and local community on child nutrition. There will also be field trips and visits to local farms, stores, and food providers. Students from the Humanities, Social Sciences, and/or Natural Sciences are welcome to enroll. There are no pre-requisites.
Humans need to eat; this truth has informed all societies since they arose. A bagel from Bodos or a Greenberries croissant tastes pretty different from the gruel and biscuits consumed on the Lawn in the 1800s. But human nutritional needs are still essentially the same. This class examines human nutrition in the context of environmental, cultural, technological, and social changes that are occurring across the Earth's surface. These changes alter the number of people the Earth can support and the qualities of the lives people can lead. From rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, to potatoes with firefly genes, to supertankers that can move thousands of tons of fruit across the Pacific in days, to the rise of the Golden Arches as a symbol more recognizable than most national flags, we are seeing dramatic shifts in the foods we produce and consume. This seminar will focus on large scale phenomena such as transportation, cultural exchange, genetic engineering, and climate change in the context of how they affect the demand for food, the production of food, and food quality. The class will also consider aspects of environmental and social sustainability and human health. Topics will include what we need to eat, (post-) Modern Genetics, the rise of red meat across the globe, transport and storage of food, fast food and faster lives, urbanization and food availability, obesity across cultures, classes, and ages, and healthful diets and social justice. The class will combine traditional seminar-based protocols - reading, discussion and the writing of one long and two short papers - with more active learning experiences, such as experiments with food storage, surveys of local food sources such as restaurants and grocery stores, cooking experiments, and a workshop with the university and local community on child nutrition. There will also be field trips and visits to local farms, stores, and food providers. Students from the Humanities, Social Sciences, and/or Natural Sciences are welcome to enroll. There are no pre-requisites.
