Global Arc

Structural principles and bonding theories are discussed for the various classes of inorganic and organometallic compounds. The topics include an introduction to group theory, vibrational spectroscopy, molecular orbital theory, electronic structure of d-orbitals, and ligand field theory. Additional topics will include reactions of coordination compounds and organometallic species, kinetic mechanistic analysis, and homogeneous catalysis systems. Prerequisites: CHM 301 and 302 or CHM 301 and 304 or equivalent are required. Note: CHM 337 does not provide adequate preparation for this course. Three lectures, one preceptorial.

Structural principles and bonding theories are discussed for various classes of main group inorganic and transition metal coordination compounds. The topics include an introduction to group theory, vibrational spectroscopy, molecular orbital theory, electronic structure of d-orbitals, and ligand field theory. Additional topics will include topics in the areas of solid-state chemistry, inorganic materials chemistry, and nanoscience. Prerequisites: CHM 301 and 302 or CHM 301 and 304 or equivalent are required. Note: CHM 337 does not provide adequate preparation for this course. Three lectures, one preceptorial.

A detailed review of recent successes and failures in the discovery of new drugs. Therapeutic areas to be discussed include: HIV, oncology, asthma, Alzheimer's Disease, antibiotics, diabetes, and neglected diseases (malaria, TB, human African Trypaonosomiasis). Case studies presented by leading pharmaceutical scientists will complement discussions of the functional steps required to select a target, indentify a new chemical entity, and get it to patients. Emphasizes the integration of the molecular sciences and the role of chemistry in inventing and producing important new medicines. Two 90-minute lectures, one class.

"What is a Classic?" asks what goes into the making of a classic text. It focuses on four, monumental poems from the ancient Mediterranean and Near East: Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, and Gilgamesh, which are discussed through comparison across traditions, ranging as far as Chinese poetry. Students will consider possible definitions and constituents of a classic, while also reflecting on the processes of chance, valorization, and exclusion that go into the formation of a canon. Topics will include transmission, commentary, translation, religion, race, colonization, empire, and world literature.

The origins and nature of English vocabulary, from proto-Indo-European prehistory to current slang. Emphasis on the Greek and Latin component of English vocabulary, including technical terminology (medical/scientific, legal, and humanistic). Related topics: the alphabet and English spelling, slang and jargon, social and regional variation, vocabulary changes in progress, the "national language'' debate. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

Stylish, seductive, surreptitious, and scorned, the ubiquitous art of persuasion will be the focus of this course. We will first approach rhetoric through the classical tradition, learning to recognize basic figures of speech and thought with an eye towards identifying what is persuasive and why. We will then consider how rhetoric continues to thrive, despite abundant moral and philosophical attacks, in public self-presentation, whether of household products, of politicians, or institutions such as Princeton.

A study of classical myths in their cultural context and in their wider application to abiding human concerns (such as creation, generation, sex and gender, identity, heroic experience, death, and transformations). A variety of approaches for understanding the mythic imagination and symbol formation through literature, art, and film. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

An introduction to Roman culture emphasizing tensions within Roman imperial ideology, the course explores attitudes toward issues such as gender and sexuality, conspicuous consumption, and ethnicity through the works of authors such as Petronius, Lucan, and Tacitus. It also considers the role of cinematic representations of ancient Rome in 20th-century America. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

In the age of self-help books and memoirs, one wonders, can we really change? Can writing offer us the hope of transformation? Of conversion? How do you publish the "self"? Can literary genres serve as models for how to live one's life? We will confront such questions through the fictions and philosophies of the past; through historical figures such as Socrates and St. Augustine and the fictive characters of drama and the novel. Weekly theoretical readings on the self and narratology will also urge us to explore the boundaries of literature and philosophy and to seriously consider how we enact narratives of change in our daily lives.

A formative episode in Western civilization: the Greeks from the rise of the city-state, through the conflict between Athens and Sparta, to the emergence of Macedon in the fourth century B.C. Emphasis on cultural history, political thought, and the development of techniques of historical interpretation through analysis of original sources (Herodotus, Thucydides, and others). Two lectures, one preceptorial.