IS 364: The Atomic Era
Summer 2002 (5/21-6/20)
Syllabus
| Classroom: | Peck Hall 0312 | |||||
| Time: | TR: 12-4:30 | |||||
| Instructors: | Belinda Carstens-Wickham Foreign Languages and Literature |
Art Braundmeirer Physics |
Hugh Barlow Sociology |
|||
| Office: | PH 2327 | SL 2315 | PH 1206 | |||
| Office Hours: | Available before and after class | Call for appointment | Call for appointment | |||
Course Text:
Rental: The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes and selected readings
In this course we will examine the interplay between cultural, social, historical and political events and the development of the atomic bomb as a paradigm for exploring issues relating science to society. The course will review the scientific breakthroughs in Europe during the early 1900's and the parallel social and political developments in the Weimar Republic following the First World War. We will examine how rising anti-Semitism led to the emigration of scientists from Europe to America and the role of these immigrants in the development of the atomic bomb. We will also discuss the decision to drop the bomb, its aftermath and current issues relating to the atomic era.
- Attend class regularly
- Complete reading assignments and participate in class discussion
- Class presentations of readings and written summary
- Complete quizzes, lowest grade will be dropped
| Class Assignments: homework, class participation | 15% |
| Quizzes | 40% |
| Final Exam | 35% |
Make-up exams will only be given under special circumstances. If you cannot take the exams on the day specified, you must speak to the instructors before the exam. If you miss the exam due to an emergency, you must contact the instructors as soon as possible.
Tentative Syllabus:
| Week 1 | May 21 | Introduction: syllabus, specialties (Belinda, Art, Hugh),
Interdisciplinary Perspectives Video: Ultimate Power: The Race Sociological Imagination: (Hugh) Great Names of the Atomic Era (Belinda) Read Chapter 1 |
| May 23 | Discuss Chapter 1 Great Names (Art) Physics at the Dawn of the 20th Century: Art History of the Atom Foundation of Germany (Belinda) |
|
| Week 2 | May 28 | Quiz (Art) Chapter Presentations German Education and Physics Centers (Belinda) Birth of Quantum Mechanics: Video, Science Odyssey, Early Nuclear Physics (Art) Weimar Germany: History and Culture (Belinda) |
| May 30 | Quiz (Belinda) Chapter Presentations Chapter 7, Exodus, 168 Weimar History and Culture (Belinda) Rise of Hitler (Hugh) Propaganda, Video, Faces of the Enemy, The Eternal Jew, The Holocaust, Genocide, video; Kitty Goes to Auschwitz (Hugh) |
|
| Week 3 | June 4 | Quiz (Belinda) Chapter Presentations The Holocaust (Hugh) Emigration to America (Belinda) Family Experiences (Belinda) |
| June 6 | Quiz (Hugh) Chapter Presentations Nuclear Physics and Splitting of the Atom Building Toward The Bomb (types of bombs) Manhattan Project (Art) Chapter 13, The New World, 394; Chapter 14, Physics and the Desert Country, 443 Video: Half Lives Guest Speaker: Don Ames |
|
| Week 4 | June 11 |
Quiz (Art) |
| June 13 | Chapter Presentations The Decision to Drop the Bomb (Hugh, Belinda) Hiroshima and Nagasaki: video footage Video: Enola Gay Survivor Testimony John Hershey's Hiroshima--Books on Tape Chapter 19, Tongues of Fire, 679, everyone |
|
| Week 5 | June 18 | Chapter Presentations Effects of a nuclear attack on St. Louis (Hugh) Guest Lecture: Denise DeGarmo, Political Science: Nuclear Proliferation, 2pm Living in the nuclear age, video, The Super Bomb Epilogue, 749, everyone |
| June 20 | Effects of radiation, health issues: Art Review: Video Final Exam |
URL: http://www.siue.edu/~bcarste/IS364.html
Published By: Belinda Carstens-Wickham bcarste@siue.edu
Created By: Faculty Technology Center lmillio@siue.edu
Last Update: May 21, 2002 by Faculty Technology Center