The world has never been more complex than it is today at the beginning of the new millenium. With two major world wars, the last century has gone down in world history as the bloodiest, ending predictably in tangible and often enduring spates of political, religious, cultural and ethnic wars and violence that have produced millions of deaths as well as human displacements and sufferings of unimaginable proportions. Massive refugee movements take place daily in and across war-torn areas such as Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Rwanda, the Indian subcontinent, Congo, Eritrea, Angola, etc. Some Western countries, including the United States, open their doors annually to millions of displaced peoples. Buffalo has emerged in the past few years as a major hosting city for displaced peoples, most of whom are understandably Africans, given the historical fact of the continuous presence at UB of a large concentration of Africans and people of African descent, such as Caribbeans. There are today between 3,500 and 5000 African refugees in Buffalo alone.

As a result of the primordial role played by the United States in the global political economy, negotiating the complexities of our modernity implies first for us as Americans an urgent understanding of the regional and global cultural, political and economic dynamics at work in other societies beyond our own immediate geo-political boundaries. And with the ever-rising influx of displaced peoples in American societies, muticulturalism, as it is traditionally conceived and taught in American institutions of higher learning, may no longer be an appropriate academic tool for an adequate understanding of the psycho-social and cultural challenges faced by displaced peoples, most of whom arrive at our doors heavily battered and traumatized by residual vissicitudes associated with wars and some other natural disasters like famine. This proposal highlights the contributions that a course anchored in an academic context of cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary dialogue can make to an understanding of the refugee world, and by implication, the immense intellectual and humanistic benefits accruing therefrom to our students as partners in research formulation and implementation.

Fostering for our students the recognition of the linkages and interrelationships among different disciplinary knowledges constitues the main academic objective of this course, which is taught by Professor Christian Onikepe. Through the conscious application of a synthetic pedagogic approach, the course will encourage creative initiatives in learning, service, theoretical and applied research involving diverse experiences of disciplinary and interdisciplinary skills and methods.

Tapping into the quasi-unexamined Buffalo African refugee world provides the pretext for engaging students in a community linked research whose focus -- knowing so as to be known -- brings immediately to their attention a world of social, economic, cultural, and political disparities in dire need of a series of restorative responses extending, hopefully, across the three basic platforms identified by the course as constituting the cardinal foci of student intellectual activity: engaging in meaningful research through learning and serving. By serving (i.e, interviewing, listening to, and sharing with) these displaced persons, students are encouraged to reflect on their findings during regular class meetings. Research findings should ideally generate probable answers to the following questions: who are these refugees (demographics, national origins, linguistic and religious affiliations, etc.)?; what are their stories and journeys like from there to here?; what challenges have they had to face since arriving at Buffalo?; what are their aspirations, in addition to the freedoms guaranteed by their host country?; how freely have those freedoms been given?; what recommendations and solutions can the course proffer in the light of the problematics encountered? The research component is essentially a group work.

This course is a senior chemistry course requiring familiarity with instrumental chemical analysis (CHE 413) and physical chemistry (CHE 319-320 or equivalent). It is a suitable course for advanced chemistry, chemical engineering, civil engineering, environmental studies and geology students interested in the approaches and methodology utilized in environmental analytical chemistry. Topics covered include statistical analysis of environmental data and experimental design (sampling), thermodynamics of pollutant movement, methodology for atmospheric, water based and solid phase pollutants, and risk assessment. A team/group based field and laboratory project constitutes a major portion of the course work.

This course incorporates the analysis, creation, and critique of a particular website, and of web-based multimedia for a variety of communication purposes. This course is a real-world, hands on, special topic for those who have excelled in DMS 221 - Web Design. Topics covered include, but are not limited to, interface design, graphics design, usability testing, typography, functionality, information design, and information architecture, which will be utilized in depth. Students will build a professional-quality web site for a chosen client with guidance through all parts of the design and development processes. There will be no formal classes, and meetings will be predominately held online and at the client site. Because this is a production-oriented course, students will be expected to spend substantial out-of-class time working on the computer and in groups. Prior excellent web design and html experience is required, and students should have access to a PC or MAC computer, and internet access, at all times.

The purpose of this class is to conduct an environmental audit of a public building as a public service to the community. In the past, we have conducted audits of Buffalo City Hall, the Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo's Hutchinson Central Technical High School (known to everyone simply as Hutch Tech) and Amherst Central Senior High School. This summer, we received a grant to conduct an energy audit of Yosemite National Park; as part of our training, we audited the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site on Delaware Avenue. This semester, we plan to conduct our audit at the historic Butler Mansion on North Street and Delaware Avenue, which has just recently been made available for the use of the UB School of Management (and is now called the Jacobs Executive Development Center - JEDC). On the one hand, this is an opportunity to learn first-hand about the environmental impacts of large buildings and institutions. On the other hand, this is an opportunity to put into practice what you have learned in your previous courses, and to gain valuable on-the-job experience. If we are asked to continue in the University-National Park Energy Partnership Program (UNPEPP), some of the students enrolled in this class will be selected for an all-expense paid trip to one of our spectacular National Parks next summer.

The course is structured like an internship, because most of your time will be spent on-site conducting your surveys, talking to building staff, and solving problems. You may also need to spend time downtown meeting consultants and building officials, and doing research in the libraries. This is not unlike most work assignments on the job: You are given a task to do; you are expected to produce a quality product, but you never really know what you are getting yourself into until you start. This semester, we will focus most of our efforts on energy issues, but we may take on other issues, depending on the interests of the class, such as recycling and solid waste, procurement and purchasing, water, food services, pollution prevention and hazardous materials, etc.

We create something new each semester that can be a win-win situation for you, UB, and the environment. Our goal is to provide a high quality audit report that meets the needs of our "client," the managers of the JEDC in this case. In that sense, this class differs from every other class, since you do not submit your final report to me as the instructor, but to the agency whose building we are auditing. This increases your responsibility. Students are required to take considerable initiative, to work closely and cooperatively with the members of your team, and to shoulder the responsibility for the outcome of this project. We will work together to solve problems as they arise, and we will be available every step of the way to provide you with guidance and support. Also, the four students who conducted the Yosemite audit will be available to help you. Your efforts this semester will be similar to theirs this summer, and they should be a good resource for you. In addition, we are fortunate to have access to the expertise of several local professionals, including Walter Simpson, UB's Energy Officer, and Mr. Dennis Frank, President of Energy Advantage, Inc.

For senior Anthropology majors; others by instructor's permission

Projects will be available on Refugee acculturation at Vive la Casa in Buffalo and on paranormal beliefs at the Center for Inquiry, Amherst. The course will focus on students' chosen research. As time permits, we will consider other problems, as stated in the general course description:

Drawing from anthropological theory and practice, we will look closely at some of the problems that deeply concern people today, including: social/economic problems in the inner city, and the suburbs, and the rural areas; the family (including "family values"), gender relations, other social relations; public education and the schools; ecological considerations in the capitalist market system; treatment of the elderly; child abuse & neglect; violence; drug addiction, alcoholism, compulsive gambling, and other addictions; incest; homosexuality and homophobia; racism; anti-Semitism; xenophobia; "hate-crimes;" alternative religions, alternative medicine, "New Age" ideologies; "cults;" militant protest movements (e.g. "militias"); "gangsta rap;" youth gangs; satanism and other folkloric fears; religious fundamentalism; others. We will consider the unique contributions anthropology can make to understanding many of these social issues.

Some salient theories in cultural anthropology will be reviewed. Principles of scientific inquiry and anthropological research methodology will be emphasized, to assist students in constructing and conducting individual research projects. At least one class will be held at the UGL, conducted by a Librarian, on library resources for the social sciences.

Requirements include:

• regular attendance and participation
• a short paper early in the semester
• completion of readings from assigned materials which, with theoretical material presented in class, will form the basis for
• a mid-term test; and a semester-long project of original research to be
• presented orally to the seminar, and
• submitted in writing by the end of the semester.

Assignments will be made from required materials, including

• Ferraro, Gary, Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective. 4th ed. Wadsworth/Thompson Learning, 2001.
• some supplementary materials will be required or recommended.

Satisfies the practicum requirement for the major. Recommended for students applying to graduate programs in anthropology.

In this course, taught by Professor Maureen Jameson, undergraduates will work as a team on a web design and implementation project. Our client will be the Special Education Department of the Buffalo Public School system. All students will share responsibility for the success of the project, and will work according to their talents or interests in any of several areas -- interviewing client representatives (school officials, district administrators, parents), designing the architecture of the site, designing the look and feel of the site, usability testing, organization of the actual information to be made available through the site (federal info, state info, independent sources of info, collections of links), preparation of special features to make the info more accessible to the buffalo population (translations into the major foreign languages spoken by Buffalo residents, how-to videos, videos of greetings from relevant officials, etc.), and finally publicizing the site and establishing this work as a viable model for later similar collaborations between university students and the community.

This seminar will focus on developing public service outreach projects in collaboration with the community. Two project areas will be explored and team based projects will be developed by student teams with the community and faculty. The course is based on the Community Linked Interdisciplinary Research Program in CAS (www.clir.buffalo.edu), emphasizing course introductions into complex research areas for future undergraduate or graduate research and training options.

The two project areas that will be explored in this course will be environmental issues in the local region and science education techniques for elementary and middle school curricula.

Environmental problems in western New York often involve a complex relationship between members of a neighborhood or community residents, government agencies established to serve and protect the public, industry or former industrial sites and local elected government. The NYS Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has a group of environmental lawyers and investigators who pursue responses to community inquiries. Jane Cameron, a local OAG lawyer specializing in community environmental problems, will lead a group of students in researching an existing problem by collecting background information, researching history and local government documents, working with community groups on public communication and other issues. This work will complement Professor Gardella's existing efforts in community based environmental chemical analysis (www.buffalo.edu/~gardella/caai.htm), by moving toward a new area of historical and documentary research.

A second project area of interest is the development of hands on science demonstrations and their implementation with students in after school science programs in local elementary or middle schools. A team will be developed of students who will partner with a local after school science program. New hands on science exercises will be developed to follow the science curriculum; and enhance 'homework help' with regular, engaging scientific projects.

Students interested in pursuing interdisciplinary work in environment or in potential teaching careers will benefit from developing projects from the course.

Creating theatre is what this course is all about. Using exhibits at the Buffalo Museum of Science both as inspiration and backdrop, students will function as an artistic production team -- inventing, writing, designing and producing a theatrical event that will be presented at the Science Museum. Science museums around the world are in the forefront of the museum theatre movement. Whether it's a vaudeville routine on the concept of Pi, a musical on the tropical rain forest or a comedy about the Universe, theatre is a powerful way to educate and entertain.

Museum Theatre is an interdisciplinary method of creating effective and entertaining educational experiences in a wide variety of institutions, from historic villages to art museums to science and natural history museums. Though this course will introduce students to the field of arts in education and the role of education in a museum, our main focus will be on Museum Theatre - what it is, how it is being used in museums around the world and how we can put it into practice. Students from all departments and disciplines are welcome. This extraordinary opportunity is made possible by the participation of the Buffalo Museum of Science and funding from the College of Arts and Sciences Community Linked Interdisciplinary Research.