The God Particle: Scientific Discovery and Its Impact on Human Existence
James Kang Hoon Lee, Theology
James Quick, Research and Graduate Studies
Ryszard Stroynowski, Physics
About the Course
This course will look at the way the U.S. solved the knotty problem of allowing religion to flourish even in the public square without imposing religion on anyone. The route taken was different from the standard solutions developed in England and in France. In reality the U.S. invented what is called a civil religion. One potential benefit of this solution is that it can create space for most major religions to flourish, even though both secularists and some religious believers have raised vehement objections. There are signs that these objections are beginning to bite, but it is not clear that they will really change the deep place of civil religion in the U.S.
About the Professor
Billy Abraham is an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor. He joined the Perkins School of Theology faculty in 1987. Billy’s teaching interests include religious epistemology, John Wesley, doctrine of revelation, systematic theology, philosophy of religion and evangelism. His areas of research are Wesleyan and Methodist theology, Cardinal Newman, renewal movements in Christianity, ecclesiology, divine revelation and theological education.
The End of the World as We Know It? Comparing the U.S. and E.U. Financial Crises
Michael L. Davis, Business
About the Course
In the world as we knew it in the United States, easy credit supplied by a shadowy network of financial institutions made homeownership seem easy and profitable. In the world as we knew it in Europe, easy credit supplied by a very public network of commercial banks and other lenders facilitated a massive expansion of the public sector. Those worlds have ended. This course will ask why those worlds developed, why they collapsed and what may happen as a consequence.
Such questions are, of course, easier to ask than to answer. Indeed, some will argue that trying to find common roots behind a disaster created by a dollar-denominated burst of private debt and a disaster created by a euro-denominated burst of public debt is a foolish endeavor. This course will encourage such foolishness.
About the Professor
Mike Davis is a clinical professor of strategy, entrepreneurship and business economics in the Cox School of Business. He specializes in areas concerning the economy and the economic effects on industry and has recently been referenced in the media concerning employment numbers and economic recovery. Mike can address the long-term economic implications of the BP oil spill – will taxpayers eventually feel the pinch? He can also address the potential hazards of ethanol vehicles. Mike earned a B.S. from the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 1975 and a Ph.D. from SMU in 1983.
Is Money the Root of All Evil? Politics and Financial Transparency
Rita Kirk, Ethics and Communication
About the Course
The Supreme Court in the landmark Citizens United decision ruled that the government could not restrict political expenditures by corporations and unions. This loosed what has become known as Super PACs, which permit these PACs to accept unlimited contributions from either individuals or organizations such as unions and corporations as long as they are making expenditures independently of the candidates. While upholding First Amendment guarantees, the ruling has been criticized for opening the door to money-politics on a scale previously unimagined. This course explores the claims and counterclaims of this ruling as it focuses on the ethics, responsible use and potential harms of undisclosed financial bankrolling of political campaigns.
About the Professor
Rita Kirk is the director of the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility and a professor in the Division of Communication Studies in Meadows School of the Arts. She is an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and a Meadows Distinguished Teaching Professor. Rita also holds the M Award for teaching from the SMU student body. Her research is in the area of political campaign communication, focusing on emergent technologies, the development of public arguments and hate speech. She and her research partner, Dan Schill, serve as dial test analysts for CNN during the presidential primaries and also have served as analysts for a wide range of media organizations. During the summer months, she serves as the director of the SMU-in-London program.
2012 Elections and the Supreme Court
Joseph F. Kobylka, Political Science
J. Matthew Wilson, Political Science
About the Course
American elections are often influenced by major decisions of the Supreme Court, and they are in turn hugely important in shaping the Court’s composition. 2012 is no exception, with major decisions on healthcare, religious freedom, immigration and affirmative action likely to roil the waters, and with the ideological balance of the Court potentially up for grabs in the years to come. We will take a look both at the role that any controversial Court decisions might play in the 2012 presidential and senatorial elections, and at how their outcomes might affect the Court itself going forward.
About the Professors
Joe Kobylka is an associate professor of political science in Dedman College. An Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and inaugural member of SMU’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers, his teaching and research interests are in constitutional law, judicial politics and American political thought. He has published three books and more than 20 articles and book chapters. The Teaching Company published his lecture series "Cycles of American Political Thought," and he was a featured interview on PBS’s "The Supreme Court." For his teaching and service to SMU, he has been recognized with the M Award, the Willis M. Tate Award (twice), Rotunda Outstanding Professor (four times), Distinguished University Citizen Award, H.O.P.E. Distinguished Professor and the Deshner Award, among others. In 2011, he was named H.O.P.E. Professor of the Year.
Matthew Wilson is an associate professor of political science in Dedman College. His research, which has appeared in a range of books and scholarly journals, focuses on public opinion, elections, representation and religion and politics, both in the United States and abroad. He has received research grants from the American Political Science Association, the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and the Sam Taylor Foundation of the United Methodist Church, and his teaching has been honored with awards from the SMU Department of Residence Life and the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility. He routinely serves as a commentator on political affairs for local, national and international media outlets.
Dying for Clean Water
Andrew N. Quicksall, Environmental Science
About the Course
Access to clean drinking water has been linked to most major causes of death in the developing world. Here we will make those connections and describe types and expressions of contamination. We will follow with the complexities of root causes of contamination and end with possible solutions. SMU field research examples from Cambodia, Bangladesh, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda will be discussed.
About the Professor
Andrew Quicksall is the J. Lindsay Embrey Trustee Assistant Professor of Environmental Science. He holds a joint appointment with the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences and his home department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His research interests are elemental partitioning between solids and solutions, mechanisms of toxic metal sequestration and developing world water supplies. He recently submitted a report to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on water quality issues and remediation recommendation in representative countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Andrew received his Ph.D. from Dartmouth College and held a Visiting Assistant Professor position at the University of Notre Dame before joining SMU in 2010.
Geothermal Energy: The Next Hot Resource
Maria C. Richards, Earth Sciences
About the Course
Geothermal energy systems can range from your own backyard to oil/gas fields to volcanic zones. Learn the basics of rock mechanics and fluid flow, about available technologies and where geothermal power is expected to deliver renewable energy for the United States. You’ll be exploring on Google Earth for your own geothermal resources by the end of class.
About the Professor
Maria Richards is the SMU Geothermal Laboratory Coordinator and researcher in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College. She and faculty member David Blackwell focus on geothermal resources and energy development. Projects vary from computer-generated, temperature-depth maps for Google.org to exploring the active volcanic island of Pagan in the Northern Mariana Islands for a geothermal system. Currently her concentration is on the conversion of shut-in oil/gas wells into geothermal energy producers. Publications include the Texas Geothermal Assessment and the Geothermal Map of North America. Maria received an M.S. in physical geography from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a B.S. in environmental geography from Michigan State University.
Law After CSI
Meghan J. Ryan, Law
About the Course
The CSI television franchise has opened up the world of forensic evidence to the general public, making common an embryonic understanding of DNA analysis and other scientific breakthroughs of the last few decades. In this class, we will delve into the scientific foundations of evidence such as fingerprints, DNA and brain scans, and assess their reliability and significance. We will then examine how new scientific evidence has affected judges and jurors in the criminal justice system, as well as the larger criminal justice landscape.
About the Professor
Meghan Ryan is an assistant professor in Dedman School of Law. Meghan received her A.B., magna cum laude, in chemistry from Harvard University in 2002. In 2005, she earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and received the American Law Institute-American Bar Association Scholarship and Leadership Award. She was a member of both the Minnesota Law Review and the Minnesota Journal of Global Trade. After graduation, Meghan clerked for the Honorable Roger L. Wollman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. She also worked as an associate in the trial group at the Minneapolis-based law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where she focused her practice on commercial and intellectual property litigation. Prior to joining the SMU faculty, Meghan taught criminal law, advanced criminal procedure and sales at the University of Minnesota Law School. Her current research focuses on the Supreme Court's evolving standards of decency jurisprudence and the impact of evolving technology on criminal procedural norms. Meghan teaches and writes in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, torts and law and science.
The Secret to Running Speed: Physics, Biology or Yellow Yams?
Peter G. Weyand, Applied Physiology and Biomechanics
About the Course
This class will consider contemporary scientific explanations for the gait mechanics that humans and other terrestrial species select for performance outcomes such as speed, fuel economy and endurance. Answers from modern science will be contrasted with myths and widespread popular beliefs, including those introduced by Christopher McDougall’s best-selling book, Born to Run.
About the Professor
Peter Weyand is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness. His research focuses on the physiology and biomechanics of human and animal movement. Peter’s experience prior to joining the SMU faculty includes having directed research at the Concord Field Station of the Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Department of Harvard University. His research subjects have included antelope, coyotes, emus, rheas, humans and other species. More recently, Peter and his colleagues conducted experiments on double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius prior to his successful Olympic eligibility appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. Mr. Pistorius is expected to be the first amputee track athlete to qualify and compete in the able-bodied Olympic games. Peter received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia and a B.A. from Bates College.