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The article reports on the pioneering project, "Courses by Newspapers," that offers lectures from distinguished scholars through the pages of about 200 daily and weekly newspapers. It begins its second year with a new course keyed to the American Bicentennial, "In Search of the American Dream," which offers 18 lectures.

The article presents information on the Fundamentals of Engineering Design course taught at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The engineering problems are fanciful, but the purpose is to teach students how to design original solutions to biomedical challenges. Richard A. Foulds, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, teaches the course with Bruno Mantilla, a lecturer. Each group of three or four builds a robot out of a Lego Mindstorm kit, which includes plastic building blocks, gears, motors, sensors, and a box with a processor that can be programmed from a personal computer. Usually the students design robots that operate with a combination of programmed actions and remote control by a human operator. Each group then submits several short papers and makes an oral presentation.

Presents a course syllabus for college students created by professor Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt at the Indiana University School of Law. Information on the role-playing game of a fictitious Labor law; Impact of the course on students; Assignments for students.

Reports that the University of California-Berkeley officials suspended a student-run course on male sexuality in February 2002, after reading a report from 'The Daily Californian.' Activities reported by the paper, which included sexual activities of students and instructors; Comment from Ian Bach, a student instructor, on the course.

The author offers advice on designing online courses as opposed to those meeting face-to-face. He recommends not using multiple-choice tests online but grading on the quality of course assignments, such as major papers, and contributions to asynchronous threaded discussions. He notes that many students are averse to contacting the professor, and that working in groups creates imbalances in workloads. He recommends individual assignments which give very specific requirements for completion.

Presents an article which stresses the importance of some educational technologies to teaching. Ability of students to recognize the difference between a quality institution and one that is just drifting; Increase in substitution of transfer credits from study-abroad programs and summer courses at community colleges; Resistance of professors to educational technology.

Profiles Maria Dixon, a communication professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Educational background; Information on a dissertation written in 1979; Details of a communication course that Dixon wanted to teach her students.

Researchers are analyzing the courses students take in order to understand how Covid-19 could spread on campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the development of course curricula at the University of Phoenix in Arizona. Details on the method of curriculum development at the university; Effect of the number of students at the university on curriculum development; Involvement of curriculum developer Cal Alford and instructional designer Stacey Barrett in the development of the curriculum.

Describes a tutorial program at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, which pairs teams up two students and one professor. History of the program in the late 1980s; Description of a typical session of James B. Wood's tutorial on World War II; Description of the student-faculty interaction caused by the programs.

The article presents news briefs related to higher education in the U.S. A report found that Deborah Crowder, a manager in the department of African and Afro-American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, provided fake courses for the university's football and basketball players. A U.S. federal appeals court ruled on a case regarding the Georgia State University library's electronic reserves (e-reserves) system. The American Studies Association discussed its academic boycott of Israel.

The article focuses on the students' response to the course "Girl Culture/Power," taught by Elizabeth J. Chin as visiting professor of cultural anthropology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, in the wake of recent lacrosse team scandal at the university. When she arrived in the cultural anthropology department at Duke University in January 2006, she was aware of the fact that the department has become increasingly politicized. There were 25 students in her class at the university. The race and class dynamics in the classroom were both complex and unacknowledged. Her classroom boiled over with resentment, misperceptions, defensiveness, and anger on the issue of charge of rape and assault against an African American woman by the members of the lacrosse team. The lacrosse scandal uncovered many ugly facts about team members' behavior. It also revealed that the worlds occupied by most students at Duke were deeply divided by race and class. Students knew little about the lives of their peers in different circles. She gave her students tools to examine their own lives and tried to keep her course going while helping her students get through the scandal. She offered them a new option for a final project. During the project, students mixed of different culture and race showed excitement and passion. The papers they wrote were insightful and honest. Many acknowledged having ignored their own privilege. Others admitted that they had avoided their more-privileged peers.

The article focuses on the "Appetite for Design," course at the Pratt Institute, New York. It teaches history and theory of restaurant design and invites students to dine with designers at seven New York eateries that reflect a range of styles and cuisines. There are assignments for students. Each student writes two papers, an analysis of one designer's philosophy and a review of how successfully the design of a particular restaurant evokes its cuisine.

The article presents information on the course "Geological Disaster Prevention" conducted at the State University of New York in Buffalo. The course is part of Buffalo's new emphasis on research into "extreme events," an area it has invested in since September 11, 2001. All students participate in small-group discussions, give oral reports, and write a final paper on Hurricane Katrina's formation, impact, and aftermath. Students do fieldwork at Ellicott Creek--which runs through the campus--to predict the probability of flooding. Graduate students give PowerPoint presentations and design posters on disasters such as the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan and the 1998 mudflow at Casita Volcano in Nicaragua, to highlight which methods were effective in dealing with certain disasters.

This article focuses on the education course "Urban Connections: Columbus Behind the Scenes," held by Ohio Dominican University. Only two sessions meet in the classroom; the rest are at local institutions, from the Columbus Museum of Art to a landfill. The aim is to teach students how individual organizations and the city of Columbus function, as well as to encourage "lifelong learning" and civic engagement. Jill C. Dardig, a professor of education and creator of the course, said that students get backstage tours of each organization and meet with its leaders to learn about the history, mission, and operations of each site. At Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, students met with the chief executive, chief financial officer, and marketing representatives of the chain, which started in Columbus. At the art museum, students met with a curator and an education director. Then they saw much of the collection, including where works not on display are stored.

Presents an overview of a course of study being offered at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Remarks from Henry Adams and Joel Langer, joint professors for the course, about the curriculum; Feedback from a student; Reference materials that can be used in the study of the curriculum.

Presents information on class Mechanical Engineering 624 at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, which teaches students on failure analysis and accident reconstruction. Required reading; Assignments.

Features the Life on Mars course at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Goals of the course; Books included in the syllabus; Activities included in the syllabus.

Provides the syllabus for the New York Union College course, 'Construction for Humanity,' taught by Ashraf M. Ghaly and Steven D. Sargent. Combination of engineering and liberal arts in the course; Books which the students were required to read; Assignments given to the students.

How to use movie trailers, social media, and other nontraditional forms of rhetoric to improve student writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Guttman Community College in New York City, which enrolls primarily first-generation and low-income college students. Topics discussed include the college's structured program for first year students, the relationship between the college's first-year retention rate and its two-year graduation rate, and the academic and social support that is given to students of the college.

Presents an article on the reuse of lesson plans in college teaching in the U.S. Advantages and disadvantages of recycling lesson plans; Way of dealing with burnout and comfort; Reason for making an occasional overhaul in courses.

Reports on the move of some universities and colleges in the U.S. to improve their writing courses. Reason for the move; List of the universities that improved their courses; Replacement of graduate students by lecturers as teachers of the courses.

Reports the design and display of a billboard by a freshman writing course at Davidson College, North Carolina. How the billboard design was the idea of Alan Michael Parker, the teacher of the course; Description of the billboard; Comments on a Web site for discussing the billboard; Support of the president of Davidson College, Robert F. Vagt, for the idea.

The article examines how more colleges and universities are promoting creativity in their curricula to address world issues and career opportunities. It states that many schools have attempted to explore the practical, societal, and personal values of creative thinking so that students can potentially solve social problems such as climate change, income inequality, and health care costs while also remaining aware that students will likely change careers or work in fields not yet in existence. Particular attention is given to initiatives at schools such as Stanford University, Adrian College, and the University of Kentucky. Philosophical and psychological concepts of creativity as a thought process are also discussed.

The article reports on an academic course offered at Birmingham-Southern College in 2009 focusing on the cultural history of Southern U.S. barbecue cookery. Details are given describing the geographical and cultural research studied by four students, highlighting their 17-day road trip within the course and its prominence in several local news outlets.

The article describes a multidisciplinary educational program studying the properties of chocolate. Led by Southwestern University professor Romi L. Burk, the course traversed several fields of study, including history, biology, and chemistry. The article describes how students studied chocolate's use in post-war Germany, its anti-oxidant properties, and how it can be classified to illustrate principles in evolutionary biology. The article discusses various assignments students' were given, such as creating a piece of art with chocolate, developing a marketing plan for a chocolate product, and writing evolutionary stories tracing out aspects of the cacao plant in order to illustrate concepts like adaptation, natural selection, and fitness.

The article presents information on the global studies certificate program at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania. former University Center for International Studies director William I. Brustein explains that all students should be globally competent. He explains that students select a region of the world on which to focus after taking a required introductory course. Concentrations within the program include global health, international conflict/conflict resolution, and sustainable development. Students generally select a concentration that supplements their major course of study and work with an advisor to design their global course of study.

The article focuses on a class entitled "Comics and Culture" which is offered at Juniata College in Pennsylvania. The class is taught by history professor, David C. Hsiung with Jay S. Hosler, an associate professor of biology and a comic-book artist. Students use comic books as their sources and explore the ways superheroes reflect history, values and culture. Hostler comments that the artwork of the comic books itself is also discussed. Some of the books from the course's reading list include the book "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art" by Scott McCloud. An overview of the course assignments is provided.

The article presents information on the course "Technology in the Service of Espionage," which is being taught at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. Kristie Macrakis, associate professor of the history of science at the University, leads this course of 30 students, mostly science majors. Macrakis focuses on a wide range of technology and techniques, like coded writing, disguises, and spy planes. Coded writing employs tools like invisible ink, which can be something as simple as lemon juice or as complicated as the secret chemical ink, which Macrakis has helped re-create, used by the Stasi, the former East Germany's secret service. In one class, students re-enacted one of the pivotal incidents of World War II. The Nazis had a machine called the Enigma, which created a code that was practically unbreakable. In the course, students read chapters from nine books, including "The Great Game: The Myth and Reality of Espionage," by Frederick Hitz, and "Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA," by Antonio J. Mendez.

The article focuses on the preponderance of pigs in the history books of schools in America. Sixteenth-century buccaneers are reported to be named after the boucans or grills, on which they smoked the meat of stolen pigs. Swine, brought to America from Europe by early settlers, were the cause of fights over personal property between British colonists and their American Indian neighbors. Upton Sinclair's muckraking novel The Jungle, about the Chicago stockyards,resulted in the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. In the early 19th century, Cincinnati was the world's pork-processing capital and gained as a commercial center. Further, pigs were are alleged to be prominent at a prominent moment in Cincinnati's economic history. Indeed, it was there that assembly-line production models were pioneered as meatpackers made the butchering process more efficient by dividing it into discrete tasks-an approach that attracted the attention of the young Henry Ford. Furthermore, students take a midterm exam and write research papers on the history of pigs. They are divided into competing teams for special projects like designing a hypothetical exhibit on pigs for Cincinnati's history museum.

This article reports that Jay R. Clarkson, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Iowa, has created a course on pornography for this fall. However, he wasn't expecting political opposition, even if he put a mock "Censored" on the syllabus to spice things up a bit. Christopher Rants, the Iowa Speaker of the House, stated that public funds should not go to that sort of course. It is informed that the course, for upperclassmen in Iowa's communications-studies department, was quickly oversubscribed, with 35 students registered and many more turned away.

Presents information on the American Indigenous Women class being handled by professor Devon A. Mihesuah at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Course description of the American Indigenous Women; Response of students to the course content; Benefits of the course to students.

Provides information on a course suggested by English professor Amy Smith for college students to find the real city beneath the stereotype through answering the question of how things come together to make a city and how people transform a space into a place. Reason for Smith to choose Buffalo, New York in the course; Readings suggested for students; Types of presentation that students can choose from.

Presents information on the challenges faced by language and literature professors during the annual meeting of the Modern Language Association in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2005. Average length of a doctorate course in English language; Purpose of the meeting; Comparison between the Similarities between the conference and an appointment with a doctor.

Presents information on the Steel Rails to Urban Trails: Environmental Issues in Pittsburgh course offered at Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Activities involved in the course; Significance of the course to the environmental history of Pittsburgh; Ways by which students are introduced to the environmental aspects of the city.

Provides information on the course Television Histories as Collective Memory at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Scope of the course; Reaction of students to the course; Classifications of students who take the course.

Comments on topics included in the course syllabus of history learning in the U.S. Skepticism on the election of William Jennings Bryan as president in U.S. history; Failures of inventor Nikola Tesla; Shortcomings of prominent individuals to qualify as losers in their field.

Describes the course 'Contemporary Propaganda' taught by English professor Tom Huckin at the University of Utah. Main focus of the course; Feature of the course that students like most; Books and assignments required.

Provides information on how online teaching is conducted. Age range of students; Habits that interfere with learning; Quality of the experience.

Provides information on the electronic critique laboratory course at the University of Detroit Mercy in Michigan. Scope of the course; List of required readings; Assignments given to students of the course.

The article presents a discussion between Michael Berube, a professor of literature at Pennsylvania State University at University Park and author of "What's Liberal About the Liberal Arts?," and David Horowitz, author of "The Professors." The two authors have been engaged in a highly publicized literary feud for years, constantly deriding each other's politics and educational philosophy. Topics discussed during their conversation include college courses focusing on gender and sexuality and their political views.

The article focuses on the need for improvement in the quality of education offered by universities in China. As the Chinese government rushes to meet the demand for education in the country of 1.3 billion people, it has doubled its investment in China's 2,000 colleges and universities to an estimated $11.6 billion during the five-year period ending in 2004. However, despite the extensive expansion in the scope of higher education, academic quality has not made such a great leap forward. Students and professors alike complain of a lifeless academic culture, wherein students are fed theoretical, not practical knowledge.

Describes a mathematics course offered at Saint Louis University in Missouri. Focus of the lesson; Required books for reading; Recommended assignments.

Presents information on the course titled `Agriculture and the American Midwest: Literature and the Environment' offered at the Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Way of ensuring that the freshmen understand the realities of agriculture; List of recommended books for the course; Assignment for the students.

Explores the syllabus of professor Eric Schocket of Hampshire College for his Humanities, Arts and Cultural studies. Role of his students in selecting the texts/novels to be included in the American literary canon; Reading list.

Presents the syllabus for a course titled 'Presidential Campaign 2000: Inside the War Room and the News Room,' which is being taught at American University in Washington, D.C. by Leonard Steinhorn. Aim of the course which is to get beyond the hype that defines Washington politics; Hopes of Steinhorn to bring the media into the classroom; Reading list and assignments.

Reports the frequency with which colleges are teaching studio art and drawing online. How the students' work is critiqued using digital media; Online drawing course at the University of Idaho in Moscow; Advantages of being able to mark up a digital copy of a student's drawing; Details of the class.

Discusses the objective of 'The Big Money: America's Ambivalence About Wealth,' a class offered at Princeton University in the American Studies department. Reading list which includes 'The Big Money,' by John Dos Passos, 'The Great Gatsby,' by F. Scott Fitzgerald and others; Assignments; Reasons for offering the course; Comments by professor Marcia Y. Cantarella.

Discusses the author's experience teaching a continuing education class at New York University in New York City. Homosexuality and race as two subjects the class dealt with; How the subject of homosexuality divided the class; Relevance of the issue in light of the murder of Wyoming University student Matthew Shepard; Questions that were asked by the class; How the students reacted to their homework assignments; How the students papers showed how uncomfortable the students were with the subject.