2011-2012 Bulletin – PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University

200
EESC W4885 The chemistry of continental
waters
3 pts. Lect: 3. Offered in alternate years.
Recommended preparation: a solid background in
basic chemistry. Introduction to geochemical cycles
involving the atmosphere, land, and biosphere;
chemistry of precipitation, weathering reactions,
rivers, lakes, estuaries, and groundwaters; stable
isotopes and radioactive tracers of transport
processes in continental waters.
EESC W4924 Introduction to atmospheric
chemistry
3 pts. Lect: 3. Offered in alternate years. Not
offered in 2011–2012.
A survey of trace gas photochemistry important
in the Earth’s atmosphere. Major topics are
composition, including biogenic and anthropogenic
inputs, and chemical processes, including
reaction kinetics and photochemistry. Specific
applications to tropospheric air quality, including
smog, acid rain, and stratospheric ozone, including
the Antarctic ozone hole, are covered, with an
emphasis on the response to anthropogenic
pollutants and climate change.
EESC W4925x Principles of physical
oceanography
3 pts. Lect: 3. Professor Gordon.
Recommended preparation: a solid background
in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Physical
properties of seawater, water masses and their
distribution, sea-air interaction influence on the ocean
structure, basic ocean circulation pattern, relation of
diffusion and advection with respect to distribution
of ocean properties, ocean tides and waves,
turbulence, and introduction to ocean dynamics.
EESC W4926y Principles of chemical
oceanography
3 pts. Offered in alternate years. Not offered in
2011–2012.
Recommended preparation: Solid background
in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Factors
controlling the concentration and distribution
of dissolved chemical species within the sea.
Application of tracer and natural radioisotope
methods to large-scale mixing of the ocean, the
geological record preserved in marine sediments,
the role of ocean processes in the global carbon
cycle, and biogeochemical processes influencing
the distribution and fate of elements in the ocean.
EESC W4930y Earth’s oceans and
atmosphere
3 pts. Lect: 3. Offered in alternate years.
Professor Gordon.
Recommended preparation: a good background
in the physical sciences. Physical properties of
water and air. Overview of the stratification and
circulation of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere and
their governing processes; ocean-atmosphere
interaction; resultant climate system; natural and
anthropogenic forced climate change.
EESC W4947y Plate tectonics
3 pts. Lect: 3. Professor Abers.
Prerequisite: physical geology. Prepares students
for research and oral exams with cross-disciplinary
analysis of the plate-tectonic cycle. Driving
forces and mantle convection, plate kinematics,
magmatism, structure, thermal and chemical
evolution of mid-ocean ridges and subduction
zones, continental rifts and collisions, and hot spots.
Includes literature readings of great debates, and
emphasizes integration of geophysical, geological
and geochemical observations and processes.
EESC W4949x Introduction to seismology
3 pts. Lect: 3. Offered in alternate years. Not
offered in 2011–2012.
Prerequisites: elementary college physics and
mathematics (including calculus). Basic methods
of seismogram analysis. Classification of seismic
waves and elementary theory of body waves
and normal modes. Elementary aspects of
seismic prospecting, earthquake source theory,
instrumentation, discrimination between explosions
and earthquakes, inversion of seismic data to infer
Earth structure, earthquake engineering, earthquake
insurance and hazards mitigation, estimation of
seismic risk, and earthquake prediction.
Humanities and Social
Sciences
For listings of additional courses of
interest to engineering students, consult
the bulletins of Columbia College; the
School of General Studies; the Graduate
School of Architecture, Planning, and
Preservation; the Graduate School of
Business; and the Graduate School of
Arts and Sciences.
COCI C1101x-C1102y Introduction to
contemporary civilization
4 pts. Lect: 4. Instructor to be announced.
Taught by members of the Departments of
Anthropology, Classics, English and Comparative
Literature, French, German, History, Middle East
and Asian Languages and Cultures, Philosophy,
Political Science, Religion, Slavic Languages,
and Sociology; and members of the Society of
Fellows. A study in their historical context of major
contributions to the intellectual traditions that
underpin contemporary civilization. Emphasis is
on the history of political, social, and philosophical
thought. Students are expected to write at least
three papers to complete two examinations, and to
participate actively in class discussions.
ECON W1105x and y Principles of economics
4 pts. Professors Desai, Musatti, and Salanie.
Corequisites: ECON W1155 recitation section
with the same instructor. How a market economy
determines the relative prices of goods, factors of
production, and the allocation of resources and
the circumstances under which it does it efficiently.
Why such an economy has fluctuations and how
they may be controlled. Recitation section required.
ENGL C1010x or y University writing
3 pts. Members of the faculty.
Teaches general techniques and strategies for
academic reading and writing. Students read and
discuss a range of published essays, complete
regular reading and writing exercises, write several
longer essays, and undertake a collaborative
research and writing project designed by the class.
Students placed in C1010 whose names fall in the
first part of the alphabet must take the course in
the fall. Students whose names fall in the second
part of the alphabet take the course in the spring.
The alphabet will be split somewhere between K
and O. The exact place for the split will be posted
before fall registration.
Global Core
The Global Core requirement consists of courses
that examine areas not the primary focus
of Literature Humanities and Contemporary
Civilization and that, like other Core courses,
are broadly introductory, interdisciplinary, and
temporally or spatially expansive. Courses in
the Global Core are organized around a set of
primary texts or artifacts, which may range from
texts of literate traditions to media (e.g. film),
ritual performances or oral sources, produced in
the regions of the world in question. Global Core
courses fall into two categories: those that focus
on a specific culture or civilization, tracing its
appearance and/or existence across a significant
span of time and sometimes across more than
one present-day country or region; and those
that address several world settings or cultures
comparatively (and may include Europe and
the West), in terms of a common theme, a set
of analytic questions, or interactions between
different world regions. Students must complete
two courses from the Global Core List of Approved
Courses for a letter grade.
HUMA C1001x-C1002y Masterpieces of
Western literature and philosophy
4 pts. Lect: 4. Instructor to be announced.
Taught by members of the Departments of
Classics, English and Comparative Literature,
French, German, Italian, Middle East and Asian
Languages and Cultures, Philosophy, Religion,
Slavic Languages, and Spanish; and members of
the Society of Fellows in the Humanities. Major
works by over twenty authors, ranging in time,
theme, and genre from Homer to Virginia Woolf.
Students are expected to write at least two papers,
to complete two examinations each semester, and
to participate actively in class discussions.
HUMA W1121x or y Masterpieces of
Western art
3 pts. Lect: 3. Instructor to be announced.
Discussion and analysis of the artistic qualities
and significance of selected works of painting,
sculpture, and architecture from the Parthenon in
Athens to works of the 20th century.
HUMA W1123x or y Masterpieces of
Western music
3 pts. Lect: 3. Instructor to be announced.
Popularly known as “Music Hum,” this course aims
to instill in students a basic comprehension of the
many forms of the Western musical imagination.
The course involves students actively in the
engineering 2011–2012