PENN SUMMER - University of Pennsylvania

allowed it to function as an unusual kind of “public sphere” in which
contemporary debates about race, class, gender, and sexuality are
represented through visual and narrative forms. In this course we
will examine the sitcom from institutional, aesthetic, and historical
perspectives so as to understand its role in the negotiation of cultural
change. Students will watch episodes of The Odd Couple, Leave It to
Beaver, All in the Family, The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Friends and other
sitcoms and read work in television scholarship.
ClaSSiCal STUDieS
ClsT 185 910 MTWr 1:00pm–2:45pm labuff
Ancient Greek Political Thought: Past and
Present
Fulfills History & Tradition Sector, Cross-Cultural Analysis Course
The way in which the Greeks understood and expressed their political
institutions, activities, and challenges has deeply impressed
our own conception of politics. This course will trace the history of
this ancient heritage from its inception to today, first through a close
analysis of key texts from Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Polybius,
and then by considering several important moments in the reception
of the Greek political tradition, from the Renaissance and American
Revolution to the crisis of modernity and the Neo-Conservative
Movement. We evaluate the relationship between distant and recent
past as well as the influence of both on our own day.
ClsT 200 936 Tr 4:30pm–6:30pm struck
Greek and Roman Mythology
This course is delivered in a fully online format in order to allow more
flexibility for LPS students. Class sessions are offered through a course
website and include live lectures and interactive discussions through both
direct messaging and voice over internet. Between classes, the learning
experience is extended through assignments, threaded discussions and
office hours. For additional information, please visit www.sas.upenn.edu/
lps/online. Online course fee: $60.
Fulfills Arts & Letters Sector / Crosslisted with: COML 200 936, FOLK 200 936
Myths are traditional stories that have endured many years. Some of
them have to do with events of great importance, such as the founding
of a nation. Others tell the stories of great heroes and heroines
and their exploits and courage in the face of adversity. Still others
are simple tales about otherwise unremarkable people who get into
trouble or do some great deed. What are we to make of all these tales,
and why do people seem to like to hear them? This course will focus
on the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as a few contemporary
American ones, as a way of exploring the nature of myth and
the function it plays for individuals, societies, and nations. We will
also pay some attention to the way the Greeks and Romans themselves
understood their own myths. Are myths subtle codes that contain
some universal truth? Are they a window on the deep recesses of
a particular culture? Are they entertaining stories that people like to
tell over and over? Are they a set of blinders that all of us wear, though
we do not realize it? Investigate these questions through a variety of
topics creation of the universe between gods and mortals, religion
and family, sex, love, madness, and death.
CoMMUniCaTionS
CoMM 237 910 TBa Martinez
Health Communication
An examination of the influence of public health communication on
health behavior. The course considers: intervention programs addressing
behaviors related to cancer, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS,
drug use, obesity and others; theories of health behavior change; issues
in the design of effective health communication programs; concerns
about the portrayal of health and medicine on mass media.
CoMM 300 910 MW 1:00pm–4:10pm Crocco
Public Space, Public Life
Public space as a communicative arena. Historical aspects, varieties
of public space, public space as a cultural signifier, how public space
facilitates or hinders common life, public space as a component of
democracy.
eConoMiCS
eCon 001 910 MTWr 10:40am–12:15pm staff
Introduction to Economics: Microeconomics
Fulfills Society Sector
Introduction to economic analysis and its application. Theory of supply
and demand, costs and revenues of the firm under perfect competition,
monopoly and oligopoly, pricing of factors of production,
income distribution, and theory of international trade.
eCon 002 910 MTWr 1:00pm–2:35pm staff
Introduction to Economics: Macroeconomics
Prerequisite(s): ECON 001 / Fulfills Society Sector
Introduction to economic analysis and its application. An examination
of a market economy to provide an understanding of how the
size and composition of national output are determined. Elements
of monetary and fiscal policy, international trade, economic development,
and comparative economic systems.
eCon 101 910 MTWr 2:40pm–4:15pm staff
Intermediate Microeconomics
Prerequisite(s): ECON 001, 002; MATH 104 AND MATH 114 OR 115
Theories of consumer behavior, demand, production, costs, the firm
in various market contexts, factor employment, factor incomes, elementary
general equilibrium, and welfare.
eCon 103 910 MTWr 9:00am–10:35am staff
Statistics for Economists
Prerequisite(s): ECON 001, 002; MATH 104 AND MATH 114 OR 115
The course focuses on elementary probability and inferential statistical
techniques. The course begins with a survey of basic descriptive
statistics and data sources and then covers elementary probability
theory, sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, correlation, and
regression. The course focuses on practical issues involved in the
substantive interpretation of economic data using the techniques of
statistical inference. For this reason empirical case studies that apply
the techniques to real-life data are stressed and discussed throughout
the course, and students are required to perform several statistical
analyses of their own.
SUMMER SESSIOn I • MAY 24–JULY 2, 2010 17