Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

  • CAS PY 895: Seminar: Special Topics in Theoretical Physics
    Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Theoretical research topics include general relativity, quantum field theory, high energy and particle physics, phase transitions, renormalization group, laser physics, kinetic equations, biophysics, computational physics, and selected topics in mathematical physics.
  • CAS PY 896: Seminar: Special Topics in Theoretical Physics
    Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Theoretical research topics include general relativity, quantum field theory, high energy and particle physics, phase transitions, renormalization group, laser physics, kinetic equations, biophysics, computational physics, and selected topics in mathematical physics.
  • CAS PY 897: Seminar: Special Topics in Experimental Physics
    Surface physics; intermediate energy nuclear physics experiments; low temperature techniques; liquid and solid helium; and magnetism at low temperatures. Raman effect, gels, and biophysics. High-energy physics experimental techniques.
  • CAS PY 898: Seminar: Special Topics in Experimental Physics
    Surface physics; intermediate energy nuclear physics experiments; low temperature techniques, liquid and solid helium, and magnetism at low temperatures. Raman effect, gels, and biophysics. High-energy physics experimental techniques.
  • CAS PY 901: Research in Physics 1
    RES IN PHYS 1
  • CAS PY 902: Research in Physics
    RES IN PHYS 2
  • CAS PY 909: Directed Study in Physics
    DS IN PHYSICS 1
  • CAS PY 910: Directed Study in Physics
    DS IN PHYSICS 2
  • CAS PY 961: Scholarly Methods in Physics 1
    Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - Introduction to scholarly methods in physics teaching and research: effective STEM instructional techniques; successful oral and written presentations; reading and reporting scientific literature; ethical obligations in physics teaching and research; career paths in physics. Required of first-semester doctoral students.
  • CAS PY 980: Physics Graduate Independent Study
    Physics Grad Independent Study and Research course
  • CAS RN 601: Varieties of Early Christianity
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: At least one prior course in biblical or New Testament literature reco mmended. - Surveys the many different and often competing forms of Christianity that arose and flourished in the second to the seventh century. Topics covered include martyrs, apocalypticism, Hell, Gnostics, prophecy, magical texts, angels and demons, and the various meanings of Christ. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Social Inquiry I
  • CAS RN 612: Buddhism in America
    The transplantation and transformation of Buddhism in the United States. Time period ranges from the 18th century to the present, but the emphasis is on contemporary developments, including the new Asian immigration, Jewish Buddhism, feminization, and engaged Buddhism. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS RN 616: Modern Islam
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR120) - Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - Challenges students to sociologically evaluate the concept of meritocracy, its origins, its societal implications, and contemporary adoption as an ideal worth striving for. Reviews empirical research on perceptions around and explanations of social inequality. Explores how beliefs about inequality are mobilized in class and racial conflict and in what ways people's beliefs are or aren't likely to change. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Social Inquiry I, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Social Inquiry I
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS RN 622: History of Judaism
    This class surveys Jewish history from the classical period to modern times. It covers: the destruction of the 1st Temple; the encounter with Hellenism; the Roman period; the destruction of the 2nd Temple; the rise and influence of rabbinic Judaism; the medieval era under Muslim and Christian rule; medieval antisemitism; Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah); and philosophy (Maimonides). For the modern era we will discuss: the Renaissance; the Reformation; the complex issue of Emancipation; coming to America; the growth of American Judaism; religious reform; modern antisemitism; and Zionism. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS RN 626: Jewish Mysticism
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (CAS WR 120 or equivalent) - This course explores the rich world of Jewish Mysticism from its earliest roots to its contemporary expressions in the 21st century. We look at the interaction between Jewish mystics and major western schools of thought such as Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, and Sufism. The course also introduces students to the Kabbalistic tradition and its various historical manifestations. No prior knowledge of Hebrew or other themes in Jewish studies required. Effective Spring 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • Aesthetic Exploration
    • Teamwork/Collaboration
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS RN 628: Modern Judaism
    Encounters between Judaism and modernity from the Renaissance and Reformation; the Spanish expulsion and creation of Jewish centers in the New World; emancipation and its consequences; assimilation, Reform Judaism, Zionism, the American Jewish community, non-European communities, Jewish global migration, and modern antisemitism. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS RN 637: Gender, Sexuality, and Judaism
    Explores the role of gender and sexuality in Judaism and Jewish experience, historically and in the present. Subjects include constructions of masculinity and femininity, attitudes toward (and uses of) the body and sexuality, gendered nature of religious practice and authority.
  • CAS RN 638: Philosophy and Mysticism: Jewish and Islamic Perspectives
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120). - A thematic introduction to mysticism and philosophy, with a focus on the dynamics of religious experience. Readings will be drawn from medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy; Sufi mysticism and philosophy; Kabbalah, Sufi poetry, Hebrew poetry from the Golden Age of Muslim Spain. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings, Writing-Intensive Course.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS RN 640: The Quran
    The emergence of the Quran as a major religious text, its structure and literary features, its principle themes and places within the religious and intellectual life of the Muslim community. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Ethical Reasoning, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Ethical Reasoning
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS RN 641: Islamic Mysticism: Sufism
    Rise and development of the mystical movement in early Islam; analysis of the thought of leading Sufi brotherhoods, their organization, liturgy, and religious life; the impact of Sufism on classical and postclassical Islam.