Fall 2011 Course Descriptions

MLA 500.001 - Seminar on the Human Condition

Registration Call Number: (CRN) 61083
Instructor: Ted Uldricks, Ph.D (Professor of History)
Mondays, 6:00-8:30pm
3 graduate credit hours
New Hall 118

The gateway seminar for the Master of Liberal Arts Program, MLA 500 is an introduction to interdisciplinary studies at the graduate level and offers an opportunity to examine topics that address our fundamental human nature from a multitude of perspectives—intimate and immediate as well as analytical and more removed—and to develop scholarly skills (research, writing, analytical thinking).

Instructor Ted Uldricks: Eduation: A.B. Univ. of Calif., Berkeley; Ph.D. Indiana University; Research specialty: Soviet foreign policy; Founding director of the MLA program.

ENG 520.002 - Seminar on the Human Experience: A Prose Workshop: Fiction & Creative Non-fiction

Registration Call Number: (CRN) 61082
Instructor: Tommy Hays, MFA (MLA Core Faculty)
Wednesdays, 6:00-8:30pm
3 graduate credit hours
New Hall 132

This class will provide structure, support and constructive criticism for students who are interested in writing fiction or creative nonfiction. Students may have a project in mind or one they’re already at work on, but that is not required. In fact, part of what students may accomplish is discovering and tapping into creative veins from which to write. In that regard, we will do some in-class writing exercises.

Each student will submit short stories, novel excerpts or creative nonfiction during the semester, which I will respond to at length in writing, and which we as a class will discuss. Over time, as we learn what to look for and how to read like a writer, the class will become a community of supportive and insightful critics. I will also meet individually with students to discuss their writing. And finally, we will read and discuss works by accomplished writers to heighten our awareness of craft so that we might avail ourselves of the many possible approaches to our own work.

Instructor Tommy Hays: Tommy Hays’ latest novel, The Pleasure Was Mine, was chosen for the 2008 One City, One Book community-read in Greensboro, NC and was also chosen for the Amazing Read – Greenville, SC’s first community-wide reading of a single book. The Pleasure Was Mine was read on National Public Radio’s “Radio Reader” hosted by Dick Estell and South Carolina ETV-Radio’s “Southern Read”. It was also a Finalist for the SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) 2006 Fiction Award. Tommy has written two other novels -- Sam’s Crossing and In the Family Way, a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and winner of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award. He is Executive Director of the Great Smokies Writing Program and a Lecturer in the Master of Liberal Arts Program at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, he received his BA in English from Furman University and graduated from the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife and two children.

MLA 520.001 – Seminar on The Human Experience: Environmental Literature & Media

Registration Call Number: (CRN) 61153
Instructor: Gerard Voos, Ph.D (MLA Core Faculty)
Thursdays, 6:00-8:30pm
3 graduate credit hours
THIS COURSE WILL NOW BE OFFERED ON-CAMPUS, WITH ON-CAMPUS TUITION/FEES APPLIED.
Karpen Hall 033

Students will be provided an in-depth introduction into environmental literature through the reading of the works of writers such as: Henry Thoreau, Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard, John McPhee, and Aldo Leopold. These authors provide not only a sense of place in their writings, but also a message, sometimes sublime, other times screamed at the top of their literary lungs, about the state of their world.

The media portion of the course will be characterized by documentary and mainstream films, video clips, still photography, paintings and other artistic media dealing with environmental and nature-related topics. As with the mentioned authors, representative media will range from a subtle portrayal of an environmental theme to explicit declarations of an appreciation for the natural world.

Each class period will include a discussion of the week’s reading assignment and presentation and discussion of environmental media in one or more of the forms listed above. Assignments will include at least one major written assignment and one class presentation.

Authors that will be covered include: Annie Dillard, Barry Lopez, Terry Tempest Williams, Aldo Leopold, Edward Abbey, Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Mary Austin, John McPhee, Rick Bass, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, Bill Mckibben, and David Quammen

Instructor Gerard Voos: Dr. Gerard Voos is the Associate Director of the MLA Program and Director of the Office of Sponsored Scholarship and Programs at UNC Asheville. He received his doctorate in soil ecology from the University of Rhode Island, a Master of Science degree in soil science from Colorado State University, and his BS in agronomy from the University of Kentucky. He also received a post-doctoral fellowship in biogeochemistry at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in Aiken, SC. At UNC Asheville, he has taught Climate and Culture, A Sustainable Culture, and Environmental Literature & Media in the MLA program; and Environmental Literature, and Energy and Society to undergraduates in the Environmental Studies Department. Dr. Voos is professionally and personally interested in sustainability issues. In addition to publishing and presenting research findings, he also has published general interest articles in web, trade and regional publications on subjects ranging from wine, fox hunting, golf, and the Vietnam War.

MLA 540.001 – Seminar on the Individual & Society: Images of Upheaval: Where Art Meets Politics in 20th Century America

Registration Call Number: (CRN) 61084
Instructor: Holly Iglesias, Ph.D (MLA Core Faculty)
Tuesdays, 6:00-8:30pm
3 graduate credit hours
Carmichael Hall 102

The course examines the confluence of two major influences on the character of the 20th century in the United States—technology (advances in photography and filmmaking fueling the growth of mass media) and social unrest (racism, immigration, cycles of economic boom and bust). Because visual imagery became increasingly pervasive at the same time that major social upheavals were taking place, photography and film were soon utilized as instruments of social change. One of the most powerful examples of this was created during the Great Depression by the Farm Security Administration (FSA), when the federal government subsidized photographers and filmmakers "to show Americans to America" and gain support for relief programs.

Instructor Holly Iglesias: Holly Iglesias earned a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Humanities from Florida State University and an Master of Arts in History from the University of Miami. She is the author of "Souvenirs of a Shrunken World" (Kore Press, fall, 2008), a poetry collection, and "Boxing Inside the Box: Women’s Prose Poetry" (Quale Press, 2004), a critical study. "Angles of Approach," another poetry collection, will be published by White Pine Press in the fall of 2010. She is a 2011 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry and has been the recipient of fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council, the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Edward F. Albee Foundation. Her teaching interests include American studies, documentary studies and a creative/scholarly approach to history through poetry and to poetry through archival photographs and ephemera.

MLA 560.001 – Seminar on Science & Human Values: Astronomy & Cosmology

Registration Call Number: (CRN) 61087
Instructor: Randy Booker, Ph.D. (Professor of Physics)
Mondays, 6:00-8:30pm
3 graduate credit hours
Carmichael Hall 102

This course will explore the historical, cultural, philosophical and scientific sides of the development of astronomy and cosmology. The course will span a wide period from ancient astronomy through the present. One goal of the course is to understand how science progresses. The course will show the impact that advances in the other sciences (such as biology, geology, physics and chemistry) have had on our understanding of the universe. The course will emphasize how the type of astronomy we practice, our understanding of both the universe and our position in it are a product of the type of society we live in and of social change. We will study the relationship that exists between society and science, and between society and individual scientists. We will examine the contributions of astronomy not only to scientific understanding but to society and culture as well. This course does NOT require a science or math background.

The course format will be primarily class discussions concerning topics raised in the readings. There will also be several video presentations as well as mini-lectures from time to time.

Instructor Randy Booker: Randy Booker has been teaching at UNC Asheville since 1986 and has been teaching in the MLA Program since 1991. He teaches the popular MLA 560 Astronomy and Cosmology class. He has served on the MLA Graduate Council off and on since 1991. He is currently serving as Chair of the Graduate Council during 2010-2011, and he has served as Chair of the Graduate Council many times over the past years. He is a member of the UNC Asheville Physics Department, where he served as Chair from 2000 - 2010. He teaches UNC Asheville undergraduate courses in introductory Astronomy, Modern Physics, Thermal Physics and upper-level courses in Astronomy for the Astronomy Minor. He received the UNC Asheville Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. His research interests are in radio astronomy, the study of the interstellar medium, the microwave spectra of molecules and new energy sources based on hydrogen technology.

CCS 560.001 – Climate Change & Society: Decision Modeling and Statistics

Registration Call Number: (CRN) 61079
Instructor: Steve Patch, Ph.D. (Professor of Mathematics)
Wednesdays, 6:00-8:30pm
3 graduate credit hours
Karpen Hall 033

We will learn how to use analysis of data to represent facts, guide decisions and test opinions in managing systems and processes. A goal is for students to be able to understand and communicate the information necessary for making sound decisions based on data in the presence of uncertainty. There will be a focus on examples and methodology related to the study of climate change and its impacts. For example, by the end of the course students should be able to understand and communicate the statistical reasoning used in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. We will use statistical packages to conduct statistical analyses of real data associated with climate change.

Prerequisites: One undergraduate statistics class, or enrollment in CCS 571 for Fall 2011.

Instructor Steve Patch:

Professor of Mathematics

B.A., University of Connecticut

M.S., Ph.D., Clemson University

CCS 571: CCS Statistics Workshop

Registration Call Number: (CRN) 61080
Instructor: Steve Patch, Ph.D. (Professor of Mathematics)
Saturday, August 20 and Saturday, August 27 - 9am to 3pm each day
1 graduate credit hour
Carmichael Hall 131

  This basic statistics refresher will be offered to satisfy the prerequisite for CCS 560: Decision Modeling & Statistics; or provide a refresher for students enrolled in CCS 560 who have taken a statistics class in the past.

MLA 572: Directed Readings & Research

Registration Call Number: (CRN) 61307
Instructor: Holly Iglesias, Ph.D. (MLA Core Faculty)
Individual meetings with instructor; 3 class meetings (times TBD by instructor in consultation with enrolled students)
2 graduate credit hours
Prerequisite: Successful completion of 6 hours in the MLA Program

MLA 572 provides direction and focus in research for students who have completed introductory coursework. The topic and methodology are individualized as students follow a course of directed reading that helps them to narrow an interdisciplinary theme down to a research topic. Each student will, with guidance, review the current literature and create an annotated bibliograph that describes and evalutes recent scholarship on the topic.

Instructor Holly Iglesias: Holly Iglesias earned a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Humanities from Florida State University and an Master of Arts in History from the University of Miami. She is the author of "Souvenirs of a Shrunken World" (Kore Press, fall, 2008), a poetry collection, and "Boxing Inside the Box: Women’s Prose Poetry" (Quale Press, 2004), a critical study. "Angles of Approach," another poetry collection, will be published by White Pine Press in the fall of 2010. She is a 2011 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry and has been the recipient of fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council, the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Edward F. Albee Foundation. Her teaching interests include American studies, documentary studies and a creative/scholarly approach to history through poetry and to poetry through archival photographs and ephemera.

MLA 610: Tutorial Option/Independent Study

Individual study under the supervision of a faculty member, or cross-listing with an undergraduate course for graduate credit with a separate syllabus with graduate-level work expectations. Topics are chosen after consultation between student, graduate advisor, and faculty member. Course may be repeated as subject matter changes for a total of 6 hours of credit.

Please contact your faculty advisor as soon as possible if you are interested in pursuing a tutorial/independent study.

Tutorial Request Form can be downloaded from the Current Student section of the MLA website: http://mla.unca.edu/forms.

MLA 680.001: The Project Seminar

Registration Call Number: (CRN) 61088
Instructor: Deborah James, Ph.D. (Professor of Literature and Language)
Thursdays, 6:00-8:30pm
3 graduate credits
Karpen Hall 232
Prerequisite: Successful completion of MLA 670 & 24 credit hours in the MLA Program

This seminar is dedicated to the completion of a capstone scholarly research project under the direction of a project advisor and project seminar instructor. Typically the project takes the form of a major research paper (40-50 pages), but alternatives, including creative projects in the arts or literature are permitted with the concurrence of the advisor and project seminar instructor. Drafts are presented and defended in the seminar, and final projects are due before the end of the semester. No extensions are allowed; those who do not complete the project must retake the seminar in the following year. (Grading S/U).

Instructor Deborah (Dee) James: “Anything you have the imagination to dream up and the energy to carry out, someone at UNC Asheville will let you do.” That truth has made my life at UNC Asheville, even during my undergraduate days here, rich, challenging and sometimes frustrating, but always fascinating and full.

My interest in stories—yours, mine, ours—is at the heart of my teaching. I believe that searching for and giving expression to our stories will help us discover and better understand ourselves and others. As a teacher of writing, I try to help my students give voice to the stories they are a part of as well as the stories they find around them. I believe that searching out those stories and using them to communicate ideas is an effective means for developing analytical skills as much as creative skills. My training and interest in ethnography has underscored the importance of the relationship between academic inquiry and story. In the effort to search out stories and to craft them, my students also refine their skills of observation and communication. My work as a teacher of writing and literature is further shaped by my commitment to the liberal arts, seeking out connections in unexpected places, alert to complexity and contradiction. Likewise my scholarship and service to the department and the university are driven by my goals as a teacher and informed by my understanding of a liberal arts education.

A significant part of my understanding of liberal arts drives my participation in developing and helping sustain an inclusive community. My intellectual interests are mirrored in the work I do here. Besides teaching in the Department of Literature and Language, I am the director of the first-year Writing Program and an instructor in the Africana Studies Program, directed by Dr. Agya Boakye-Boaten.