Discovery Seminars are courses designed to foster interaction between students and faculty, encouraging meaningful discussions in small groups. Students will have the chance to build relationships with faculty, gain insight into different academic fields, and delve into intriguing new subjects. Seminars showcase the diverse array of opportunities awaiting you at UCSB, spanning various majors and undergraduate research endeavors.
Faculty members interested in sharing their knowledge through a Discovery Seminar can find more information here.
Types of Discovery Seminars
Discovery Seminars for First-Year Students
INT 86AA-ZZ
Seminar subjects vary each quarter and draw on the research and teaching interests of faculty from across campus.
- One unit
- Lower-division
- Typically meets one hour each week
- Limited to 20 students, or 11 students if a field trip is involved
- Taught by one faculty member
Discovery Seminars for Transfer Students
INT 186AA-ZZ
Designed for transfer students, these seminars are led by faculty experts in the subjects they research and teach.
- One unit
- Upper-division
- Typically meets one hour each week
- Limited to 20 students, or 11 students if a field trip is involved
- Taught by one faculty member
Discovery+ Seminars
INT 87AA-ZZ & INT 187AA-ZZ
Discovery+ Seminars are co-taught by two faculty, exploring a theme or subject from multiple perspectives.
- Two units
- Lower-division & upper-division options
- Typically meet two hours each week
- Limited to 30 or 40 students
- Taught by two faculty members
Enrollment Information:
- Enrollment Information: All first-year students regardless of their college or major are eligible to enroll in lower-division Discovery Seminars. Transfer students are eligible to enroll in upper-division Discovery Seminars.
- Grading Option: Courses are taken for Pass/Not Passed credit so grades do not affect a student’s GPA.
- Unit Limitations: Students are limited to taking three Discovery Seminars during their time at UCSB. Discovery Seminars offered by the Freshman Summer Start Program also apply to this maximum. No seminars with the same suffix (AA-ZZ) may be repeated.
- Finals Week Information: Discovery Seminars do not have finals assigned during Finals Week. Any final exam will be administered during the final class meeting for these seminars.
- Registration Details: Courses are listed and enrollment is completed on GOLD. For detailed information, review the Discovery Seminar list for a specific quarter listed above. Students with transfer units or AP test credits may need an approval code to enroll.
Contact Kate Von Der Lieth at kvonderlieth@ucsb.edu for questions or to request an enrollment code.
Faculty members,
Interested in sharing your knowledge and passion with students? Get more information about offering a Discovery Seminar!
Discover exciting new topics each quarter by exploring the lists here.
Expand the lists for course descriptions and professor bios. Seminar offerings change each quarter and this list will be updated quarterly.
Winter 2026 Discovery Seminars for TRANSFER students
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: Writing Program
- Instructor: Peter Huk
- Instructor Email: phuk@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Mondays 10:00-10:50 in South Hall 1432
- Enroll Code: 62042
Course Description: This seminar will introduce students to a number of issues impacting the formerly-incarcerated student population at UCSB. It will also cover a brief historical overview of the prison industrial complex, a study of select debates on federal and state policies, and a review of literature, journalism, and art issuing from the carceral community within the United States. Students will learn about qualitative and quantitative research being generated within the fields of Sociology, Psychology, Education, and Writing Studies. Melissa Ortiz, the assistant director of Gaucho Underground Scholars, and Majid Mohammad, graduate student in Physics, will provide their perspectives and expertise as they co-facilitate discussions throughout the quarter.
Bio: Peter Huk teaches a variety of writing classes, such as Writing for Global Careers, Writing for Film, and Writing for the Humanities. His pedagogy and research interests include contemplative inquiry and reflection in the writing classroom, and representation in documentary film. He serves as chair of the Prison Literacies and Pedagogies Standing Group of the Conference on College Composition and Communication since 2024.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Instructor: Faye Walker
- Instructor Email: fayewalker@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 12:00-12:50 in ELLSN 2816 *This seminar has a field trip
- Enroll Code: 60244
Course Description: Thin-skinned. Temperamental. Complex. Such is the vitis vinifera grape variety Pinot Noir. This sought-after fruit demands exact, specific circumstances in order to thrive. In particular, the cool viticultural regions of Santa Barbara are an ideal fit. The high cost of maintaining Pinot Noir vineyards means that all production decisions are important. The aim of this course is to scientifically link growing conditions, agricultural interventions, and winemaking processes to the profile of local Pinot Noirs. In honor of 21 years since the release of the novel and movie Sideways, we will examine how its praise of SB Pinot Noir has affected consumers and winemakers alike.
Bio: Faye Walker teaches modern biochemical methods in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Her publications appear in peer-reviewed journals, textbooks, patents, and newsletters. She has worked in the chemical trade under international conglomerates and small start-ups—always with an eye for applications that promote human health and wellness. A lifetime of training in the liberal arts and the technical sciences has given her an appreciation for the production and consumption of man-made beverages as a universal aspect of culture and cultivation.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: Spanish & Portuguese
- Instructor: Nathalie Bragadir
- Instructor Email: nbragadir@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Thursday 3:00-3:50 in HSSB 1223
- Enroll Code: 60269
Course Description: Can one truly return home? In this seminar, we will reflect on constructions of the patria and the home; on migrations, exile, and trauma; possible and impossible returns; personal returns and returns in the place of others; memory, nostalgia, recognition, alienation, and the uncanny. Beginning with the disillusionment of the classic homecoming of Odysseus, we then read the divergent perspectives on the return home of Hölderlin, Nabokov, and Camus, among others. We explore homecomings through the lens of gender, colonialism, immigration, and dictatorship in Latin America, a region whose history is marked by arrival, departure and forced separation. We conclude the course with the diasporic travel between the United States and the Caribbean, where the constant shuttling movement destabilizes the notion of home and belonging. Much of our discussions will be dedicated to understanding the myriad ways in which these journeyers have imagined themselves, their nations, and their communities through literature, film, and in daily life.
Bio: Nathalie Bragadir holds a B.A. in Spanish and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, a M.A. in Romance Languages from Boston University and a Ph.D. in Hispanic Language and Literature from New York University. She taught Spanish and Latin American literature and culture courses in the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures at the University of Southern California for seven years before becoming a lecturer at UCSB. Her research interests include Caribbean, Atlantic, Hispaniola and Border Studies.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: Classics
- Instructor: Annie K. Lamar
- Instructor Email: aklamar@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 1:00-1:50 in HSSB 1223
- Enroll Code: 62034
Course Description: This seminar introduces students to the Python programming language and the basic principles of computational humanities research. Students will learn how to implement a variety of data-scientific methods ranging from statistical analysis to word embeddings. Through practice and provided examples, students will also learn how to preprocess texts and datasets, interpret computational evidence, and effectively incorporate data-driven analysis into humanistic arguments. No prior experience with coding is required or expected.
Bio: Annie K. Lamar specializes in low-resource computational linguistics with special interests in ancient Mediterranean languages and studies. Recent projects include geospatial approaches to catastrophe narratives from the Mediterranean, new approaches to measuring variability in vector spaces across differently resourced languages, and contributions to computational humanities toolkits.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: Communication
- Instructor: Renee Houston
- Instructor Email: rhouston@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 9:00-9:50 in HSSB 1206
- Enroll Code: 60285
Course Description:
Learn how to identify your interests, apply for internships, and prepare for your professional future during this ten-week seminar. Designed for Communication third-year students, this course is designed to help you apply for, and gain, a summer internship. By providing actionable knowledge and resources, you’ll develop internship-ready cover letters, resumes, and a LinkedIn profile. Plus, we’ll help you track your progress and prepare for successful interviews. Students will benefit from multiple guest lectures where past interns and industry experts share their strategies for securing internships. Don’t miss out on gaining essential skills to land your dream internship. For sophomores and juniors only.
Bio: Renee Houston ( Ph.D., The Florida State University) is an engaged communication teacher/scholar focused on developing stigma-based approaches to understanding social identity inequities that inform psychological and communication theory as well as organizational policy and practice. She’s also interested in identifying and implementing organizational practices that support employee empowerment, collaboration, and healthy work lives. Because her work engages the community, she’s committed to social learning practices that decenter expertise and create space for open, respectful, and collaborative solutions. As a lifelong advocate of whole-person approaches, Renee’s courses focus on exploring emotion, work-life and well-being, alternative organizing, and social identities in organizational contexts. Using a social learning approach to teaching she seeks to bring voice, connection, and justice to her students that inspires them to seek their life's purpose with skills, confidence, and joy.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery+
- Department: Writing Program
- Instructor: Paul Rogers and Linda Adler-Kassner
- Instructor Email: paulrogers@ucsb.edu, ladler@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Thursday 3:00-4:50 in ILP 3310
- Enroll Code: 60293
Course Description: “Design thinking” means working backward from a goal through processes, testing ideas, and consulting with users. “Writing” is both a process and a product that people use to make meaning. In this seminar, we’ll bring these two things together and explore how to use writing as design. We’ll explore how writing helps us understand possibilities and limitations, make connections, and shape worlds, all while working toward something we want to change in courses, communities, or professional lives. Along the way, you’ll gain a set of practical design tools to frame problems, generate ideas, and prototype solutions you can carry into your future.
Bio: Paul Rogers is Associate Professor of Writing Studies at UCSB and Director of the UCSB Writing Program.
Linda Adler-Kassner is Professor of Writing Studies and Associate Vice Chancellor of Teaching and Learning
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery+
- Department: History and French and Italian; Comparative Literature
- Instructor: Bradford Bouley and Claudio Fogu
- Instructor Email: bouley@ucsb.edu cfogu@frit.ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 10:00-11:50 in GIRV 1119
- Enroll Code: 60301
Course Description: This seminar will focus on storytelling and the genre of "microhistory" in understanding the past. Microhistory has as its goal the recovery of daily life and experiences of those who had tended to be ignored by traditional historiography--e.g. peasants, women, and slaves. Through focusing on a specific story, event, or set of documents, proponents of microhistory argue that the individual experience can open a window into a wider understanding of the past. This seminar will focus on fascinating microhistories-- e.g. a heretical miller, a daring impostor--but also give students the chance to write their own stories.
Bio: Brad Bouley is an associate professor of history at the University of California Santa Barbara where he teaches courses in the histories of science, religion, and early modern Europe. He recently completed a monograph entitled The Barberini Butchers: Meat, Murder, and Warfare in Early Modern Italy, which should be out this year with the University of Pennsylvania Press. Bouley's first book, Pious Postmortems, considered the role of anatomy and medicine in canonizations. He is currently working on the next project, which treats deafness and disability in early modern Italy, especially as it relates to the contested succession of the elite Farnese family.
Claudio Fogu is the current Director of the Italian Program. His research interests include the relationship between Italian modernism and mass culture, and the philosophy of history, especially in relation to the development of visual and digital culture. A cultural-intellectual historian by training, he is the author of The Historic Imaginary: Politics of Hstory in Fascist Italy (2003) and of co-editor of The Fishing Net and the Spider Web: Mediterranean Imaginaries and the Making of Italians (2020). He has co-edited three collective publications dealing with issues of history and theory: The Politics of Memory in Postwar Europe (2007), Probing the Ethics of Holocaust Culture (2016), and Metahistory’s Fortieth (2019).
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery+
- Department: Writing Program
- Instructor: Matt Breece & Martha Webber
- Instructor Email: mbreece@ucsb.edu, mwebber@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Mondays 9:00-10:50 in PHELP 1444
- Enroll Code: 62372
Course Description: Before social media, short self-published printed magazines called “zines” shared independent and often alternative viewpoints about anything from 1930s science fiction fandom, 1980s punk rock, or even everyday cooking. They creatively foster identity, community, and culture. In this seminar, you’ll explore examples of zines through online databases and our library’s zine archive. You’ll hear from zinesters through podcasts and short readings. Most importantly, you’ll practice handmade and digital zine making to enter a zine scene. By the end of the quarter, you’ll compose your own zine. No previous crafting experience needed and zine making materials provided.
Bio: Matt Breece teaches Writing 2 and 50, the engineering sequence Writing 2E and 50E, 105M: Multimedia Writing, and 107T: Technical Writing. He has a PhD in Rhetoric and Writing from UT Austin. His research and teaching interests include multimodal pedagogy, technical communication, writing in the disciplines, accessibility and inclusive design, rhetorical theory, ethics, and digital rhetorics.
Martha Webber teaches a number of lower and upper division writing courses at UCSB. She has a PhD in English with a specialization in Writing Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (and even an AA in Fashion Design). Her research on nonprofit organizations and literacy sponsorship has been published in Reflections: A Journal of Community-Engaged Writing and Rhetoric. Her creative writing, including short humor, has appeared in journals including Slackjaw, Paper Darts, and Bending Genres.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery+
- Department: Writing Program and PBS
- Instructor: Ellen O'Connell Whittet and Nicole Albada
- Instructor Email: whittet@writing.ucsb.edu, nicole.albada@psych.ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 9:00-10:50 in PHELP1440
- Enroll Code: 60319
Course Description: This seminar explores the science of autobiographical memory and its impact on psychological outcomes, alongside the craft of life writing. Students will examine how memories are reconstructed to serve the self, study the narrative choices of established writers, and build their own storytelling tools. Through writing, peer review, and psychological research, we’ll analyze how stories reflect personality and behavior. By reading empirical studies and coding narratives, participants will gain insight into the motives behind storytelling, ultimately developing their own voice and narrative style for more impactful, meaningful storytelling.
Bio: Ellen O'Connell Whittet- I received my BA in Literature and French from UC Santa Barbara, and then earned my MFA in nonfiction writing from Sarah Lawrence College, with an emphasis on memoir and oral history. I have been teaching at UCSB since 2011, and have published essays and journalism all over, including New York Magazine's The Cut, Vogue, Time, The Paris Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Buzzfeed. I am the author of a memoir, What You Become in Flight (Melville House 2020) and a forthcoming novel, Book of Hours (Dzanc, 2026). My research interests include trauma-informed pedagogy, art writing, and the intersection of journalism and creative writing. I teach classes in the Writing Program and CCS Literature & Writing in journalism, memoir, service learning, writing about visual arts and humanities, and publishing. I will be teaching you the Art behind autobiographical storytelling.
Nicole Albada - I am an Associate Teaching Professor in the PBS Department. I received my BS in Psychology from the University of Florida. I continued at the University of Florida, earning my PhD in Developmental Psychology, with an emphasis on adult development and aging. I am the director of the Thinking About Life Experiences (TALE) Lab, which explores why and how people remember events from their life, the implications of sharing autobiographical stories with others, and the links between remembering the personal past and psychosocial well-being across adulthood and cultures. I am also the Director of Education and Outreach for the Center for Aging and Longevity Studies (CALS). I teach mostly research methods and statistics for psychology pre-majors. I will be teaching you about the Science behind autobiographical remembering and storytelling.
Winter 2026 Discovery Seminars for FIRST-YEAR Students
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Theater and Dance
- Instructor: Irwin Appel
- Instructor Email: irwinappel@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesdays 5:00-5:50 in TD-W 2517
- Enroll Code: 62638
Course Description: Do you struggle to understand Shakespeare? In this seminar we will focus on a close reading of Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” speech, going deep into its mystery and complexity. Taught by a professional actor and director, this seminar is a chance to both understand Shakespeare on a more personal level and to discover what makes a play like Hamlet truly come alive.
Bio: Irwin Appel is Professor of Theater and a professional director, actor, and composer/sound designer, having worked and performed at theaters throughout the US and Europe. He is the founder and artistic director of Naked Shakes, producing Shakespeare’s plays at UCSB and nationally and internationally since 2006. He has performed and/or led workshops and presentations about Naked Shakes throughout the US and in China, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Armenia, Switzerland, Bahamas and the UK. He is a graduate of Princeton University and the Juilliard School.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Spanish and Portuguese
- Instructor: Silvia Bermúdez
- Instructor Email: bermudez@spanport.ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Thursday 2:00-3:50 in HSSB 1233 *This seminar will meet for the first 5 weeks of the quarter
- Enroll Code: 62000
Course Description: Spanish women artists, despite their significant contributions, have been overshadowed by contemporary figures such as Picasso and Dalí. Our Discovery Seminar offers a unique exploration of a lesser-known aspect of Spanish art and culture. Within their historical, political, and artistic contexts, students will explore the imaginative work of well-recognized personalities such as Maruja Mallo (1902-1995), Roser Bru (1923-2021), Lucinda Urrusti (1929-2023), Marta Palau (1934-2022), and Mar Caldas (1964).
Bio: Silvia Bermúdez is Professor of literature and Iberian Studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese where she teaches courses on modern and contemporary Spanish literary and cultural history, popular music studies, and feminist studies.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Music
- Instructor: Janet Bourne
- Instructor Email: jbourne@music.ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Monday 10:00-10:50 in HSSB 1233
- Enroll Code: 62018
Course Description: Using the popular podcast "If Books Could Kill" as a jumping off point, this seminar looks at how to spot misinformation, bias, misleading graphics and data, and evaluate claims made in best-selling books. How can you figure out if a claim is misleading or not? What kind of evidence is strong? What are the biases involved? This seminar will not only help you spot misleading information published in popular presses, but also hopefully help you not make the same mistakes. Students will listen to specific podcast episodes and complete supplementary readings designed to help them go deeper.
Bio: Janet Bourne is interested in who is listening and, from a cognitive perspective, why listeners find certain interpretations of music intuitive. Her research interests include analogy, metaphor and music, cognition behind listening, modes of listening, topic theory, schema theory, narrative and associations, music theory pedagogy, and representations of gender, race, and ability in film music. In terms of repertoire, she focuses on postmillennial Hollywood film music and Austro-Germanic music of the long eighteenth-century. Combining traditional music-theoretic tools with concepts and methodologies from cognitive science, she runs (and founded) the UCSB Music Cognition Lab. She has publications in Music Theory Online, Oxford Handbook of Cinematic Listening (winner of 2023 publication award from SMT’s Film and Multimedia Interest Group), Music Analysis, and Film: Studying the Score, Norton Guide to Teaching Music Theory, Frontiers in Neuroscience, Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy, among others. She has presented her research at regional, national, and international conferences, including the Society for Music Theory and the Society for Music Perception and Cognition. Her book Who Listens? Experience, Cognition, and Musical Meaning is out with Oxford University Press as part of the Oxford Studies in Music Theory series. It describes a cognitively-based framework for analyzing music from the perspective of different listeners and various modes of listening. She is also obsessed with the podcast If Books Could Kill.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Instructor: Mattanjah de Vries
- Instructor Email: devries@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Friday 12:00-12:50 in PSB-N 4606
- Enroll Code: 26310
Course Description: A Gallup Poll shows that 76% of Americans don’t fully support the theory of evolution. Should there be stickers on biology books, warning that evolution is only a theory? Should we worry about climate change or is that a hoax? Is alternate medicine just quackery or is it systematically suppressed by the mainstream medical establishment? Is intelligent design covered up by biologists? Are vaccines dangerous? Science appears to be doubted and beleaguered from many sides. What do the courts have to say? Explore the history and philosophy of science. Be skeptical and decide whether science can be trusted.
Bio: Mattanjah de Vries is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. His research uses advanced laser techniques to study the chemistry that may have led to the origin of life and to study topics in cultural heritage science, Examples include the properties of pigments in precious paintings and traces of food residues in archaeological pottery. His teaching includes classes on environmental chemistry, analytical chemistry, and photochemistry.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Writing Program
- Instructor: Tymoteusz (Tym) Chajdas
- Instructor Email: tchajdas@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 1:00-1:50 in HSSB 1211
- Enroll Code: 60186
Course Description: In today’s digital world, information is constantly filtered, manipulated, and shared, reshaping our understanding of truth as well as political and commercial power. This seminar dives into the "truth war," examining how fake news and algorithms influence global politics, social movements, and public opinion. Through real-world case studies and critical debates, students will explore the ethical challenges of information sharing, media manipulation and algorithmic control. Whether you’re studying media, political science, technology, business, or ethics, this seminar equips you with the tools to critically assess how digital media shape global power and personal decision-making.
Bio: Dr. Tym Chajdas teaches a range of courses in the Professional Writing Minor spanning strategic communication, journalism, and academic writing. He is also a Lead Researcher at Harvard in Tech, Harvard University’s technology group. His interdisciplinary work bridges global studies, development, critical infrastructure research, cultural studies, and political communication. Dr. Chajdas' professional experience includes roles in journalism, media, and strategic advisory at organizations such as ITV Wales, Polish Radio, Nature Publishing Group, and Boston Consulting Group.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Theater and Dance
- Instructor: William Davies King
- Instructor Email: king@theaterdance.ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Wednesday 5:00-5:50 in TD-W 2517
- Enroll Code: 60194
Course Description: Study of diverse aspects of personal collecting: its psychology, history, sociology, economics, and artistic application. How does personal collecting differ from and sometimes intersect with institutional collecting? How does personal collecting function as a dimension of one’s life story? How does one’s life story relate to the material values of American society and culture? How does collecting differ from hoarding or maximalism? How is collecting—and ownership, more generally—developing in the present moment? Using readings, demonstrations, and practical exercises, the course will look at these questions.
Bio: William Davies King is Emeritus Professor of Theater, but alongside his important career as a theater historian, he is a lifelong collector. In 2008, he published Collections of Nothing, part essay and part memoir about becoming a collector of much stuff, which he provocatively calls "nothing." He has also written plays about collecting and has devised two trial versions of a Museum of Nothing Much. He is currently writing a new book about collecting, with the working title: Having Had: Thinking Through Collecting.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Music Composition, College of Creative Studies
- Instructor: Andrew Watts
- Instructor Email: aawatts@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Fridays from 10:00-10:50 in SSMS 1304
- Enroll Code: 60202
Course Description: This seminar offers an academic exploration into the intersection of technology and identity. This course examines how photography, digital editing, and artificial intelligence shape self-representation and perception. Students will develop skills in capturing and editing images, while critically analyzing AI's role in redefining reality and self. The seminar culminates in creating a personal portfolio, reflecting each student's technical proficiency and philosophical insights on authenticity in the digital era. This course is an invitation to engage with the evolving narrative of self in our technologically advanced world.
Bio: Andrew A. Watts is a composer of chamber, symphonic, multimedia, and electro-acoustic works regularly performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. His compositions have been premiered at world-renowned venues such as Burning Man, Ravinia, Boston's Jordan Hall, Darmstadt, and the Holywell Music Room. Watts has written for many of today’s top new music groups, including Dal Niente, Ekmeles, Proton Bern, Distractfold, RAGE Thormbones, Splinter Reeds, Quince, and Line Upon Line. Recently, Watts premiered an open instrumentation quartet, A Strobe Fractures Obsidian Night, which utilizes AI-generated video and multichannel audio. He completed his D.M.A. in Composition at Stanford University, received his master's with distinction from the University of Oxford, and his bachelor's with academic honors from the New England Conservatory. He has been a featured composer at the MATA Festival, impuls Academy, Rainy Days Festival, Delian Academy, Young Composers Meeting, Cheltenham Music Festival, Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, Composit Festival, Ostrava Days Institute, highSCORE Festival, Wellesley Composers Conference, Etchings Festival, Fresh Inc. Festival, New Music on the Point, and Atlantic Music Festival. Watts is currently on the Music Composition faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Instructor: Morgan Gainer
- Instructor Email: mjgainer@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Friday 2:00-2:50 in GIRV 1106 *This seminar has a field trip and lab component
- Enroll Code: 62380
Course Description: This seminar will explore the connections between fundamental principles of chemistry and food we love to cook and eat. We will gain hands on experience implementing these principles into food preparation in class and on a field trip to a local kitchen. Topics such as periodic trends, intramolecular forces, chemical and physical change, and the chemistry of sugars will be explored. No prior experience with chemistry (or cooking!) is required.
Bio: I am an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. I love learning and teaching about how food and cooking can be understood through the lens of chemistry.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Computer Science
- Instructor: Maryam Majedi
- Instructor Email: majedi@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesdays 4:00-4:50 in GIRV 2124
- Enroll Code: 26377
Course Description: As students begin their journey in STEM fields, it's essential to recognize that technical skills alone are not enough. This course introduces first-year students to the ethical complexities embedded in scientific and technological endeavors. Students will explore how some designs and innovations can inadvertently impact society, perpetuate biases, and lead to unintended consequences if ethical considerations are overlooked.
Through interactive discussions, case studies, and real-world examples, students will learn to identify and address ethical challenges such as privacy violations, discrimination, and inequality in technical design. This course encourages students to think critically about their roles as future engineers, scientists, and technologists, highlighting the importance of responsible decision-making that promotes inclusivity and fairness.
Bio: Dr. Maryam Majedi joined the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as an Assistant Teaching Professor in 2023. She completed a teaching stream postdoc at the University of Toronto, where she worked with the Embedded Ethics Education Initiative (E3I) team and introduced the first ethics modules for CS courses in Canada.
Dr. Majedi earned her Ph.D. in Data Privacy at the University of Calgary. Her Ph.D. work presents a novel privacy policy modeling technique. Prior to her Ph.D., she earned a Master of Science degree in High-Performance Scientific Computing from the University of New Brunswick. Dr. Majedi also completed a fellowship in Medical Innovation at Western University.
Dr. Majedi's research primarily revolves around Embedded Ethics and Data Privacy. She explores the intersection of computer science and ethical considerations, aiming to develop modules that facilitate the integration of ethics and data privacy principles into computer science education.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
- Instructor: Miriam Thompson
- Instructor Email: miriameadyt@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Monday 3:00-3:50 in HSSB 1223
- Enroll Code: 62026
Course Description: Colleges and universities are beacons of higher learning, free inquiry, diversity of thought, intellectual creativity, and discovery. This academic landscape provides students with opportunities to acquire new skills, gain exposure to different ideas, and learn from different perspectives. Meaningful learning happens when students explore viewpoints that are different from their own because it allows them to acquire new information, which expands their scope of understanding. Nonetheless, many people tend to engage in binary thinking (i.e., seeing people with shared viewpoints as “all good” and others with different viewpoints as “all bad”), which may prevent them from being open to different viewpoints. Many of these individuals reside in echo chambers where their similarly held beliefs are reinforced, insulating them from dissenting opinions.
In that regard, why do we develop strong belief systems? Why do we feel defensive when our beliefs are questioned or challenged? Why is it hard to hear perspectives that differ from our own? These questions will guide students as they engage in critical thinking, viewpoint diversity, and respectful dialogue. Students will be asked to reflect on their own perspectives or beliefs and will consider what influenced their stance on these matters. In particular, students will be exposed students to a range perspectives and issues that are: less known (e.g., the struggles of men and boys), novel (e.g., Theory of Racelessness), ill-founded (e.g., “jensenism”), pseudoscientific (e.g., phrenology), controversial (e.g., criticism of DEI programming), and questionable (e.g., re-evaluation of social emotional learning programs for children and adolescents).
Each week, students will read, watch, or listen to something that challenges their beliefs on a particular issue or introduces them to a different perspective.
This course is intended to help students to conduct a more critical, thoughtful examination of the content they consume. This course also aims to inspire viewpoint diversity, critical thinking, and civil disagreement.
Bio: Dr. Miriam Eady Thompson is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. She is also a licensed psychologist, Nationally Certified School Psychologist, and the Director of Mind and Behavior Assessment Clinic (MBAC) at UCSB. As a teaching professor and assessment clinic director, Dr. Thompson trains graduate students in the ethical administration of standardized psychological assessments. She primarily teaches assessment courses on personality, neuropsychological, psychoeducational, and cognitive functioning. Dr. Thompson’s greatest source of fulfillment comes from teaching, training, and interacting with students
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: chemical engineering
- Instructor: Todd Squires
- Instructor Email: tsquires@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Friday 9:00-10:50 in 570 1200 *This seminar meet for the first 5 weeks of the quarter
- Enroll Code: 26435
- Day - Time - Room: Friday 1:00-2:50 in 570 1200 *This seminar meet for the first 5 weeks of the quarter
- Enroll Code: 26443
Course Description: Each of you has used shampoo and toothpaste almost every day of your life (I hope), yet have you ever stopped to think about how incredible these products are? Why does shampoo flow as slow as honey, but spread into your hair so much more easily (and less painfully)? How can hand sanitizer pump out of the bottle, but sit in a little pile on your hand until you spread it? Come learn how these products work by making your own in lab! Current plans are to do shampoo, hand sanitizer, moisturizing lotion, and lip balm.
Bio: Todd Squires has been a Professor of UCSB Chemical Engineering since 2005, and is faculty advisor for UCSB's student chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. He earned undergraduate degrees in Physics and Russian Language and Literature at UCLA in 1995, and his PhD in Physics from Harvard in 2002. His research involves "complex fluids", with applications in consumer products, the function and dysfunction of lung surfactants, and water treatment membranes. He has two kids in college and one in elementary school, which has helped him understand both how exciting -- and how stressful -- the transition to college can be.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery+
- Department: Spanish and Portuguese
- Instructor: Jorge Luis Castillo and Eloi Grasset
- Instructor Email: castillo@ucsb.edu, eloigrasset@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Mondays 2:00 to 3:50 in PHELP 1445
- Enroll Code: 62398
Course Description: Hammer Film Productions was founded in 1934. The company is best known for a series of Gothic horror films made between 1957 and 1976. It featured classic horror characters such as Baron Frankenstein, Count Dracula, The Mummy and the Wolf Man, re-introduced to audiences in vivid color for the first time. During its heyday, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. Yet Hammer Films also ventured successfully in other genres such as Science-Fiction, War Films, Historical Dramas, Comedies, and Contemporary Thrillers. Hammer's films were considered low brow entertainment back in its day, but its films were immensely popular, not just because of the graphic violence shown on screen but because they made explicit the hitherto concealed sexual subtexts of Gothic horror. The seminar is an overview/reading of classic Hammer Films, with an emphasis on the horror genre plus some Hammer influenced horror films as points of comparison.
Bio: Jorge Luis Castillo is a Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A prize-winning fiction writer, he is the author of the short-story collections La vida vulgar y otros relatos (2004, PEN Club of Puerto Rico Award), La virgen de los boleros (2015, PEN Club Award), and the forthcoming Todo es olvido y otros relatos (Isla Negra Editores, 2025). His fiction interlaces memory, exile, history, and identity across Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States.
As a scholar, Castillo has published widely on Latin American literature, with particular focus on poetry, narrative, and performance studies. At UCSB he teaches courses on authors such as Rubén Darío, Jorge Luis Borges, and contemporary Nicaraguan poets, as well as thematic seminars on Latin American poetry and short fiction. He is a corresponding member of the Academia Nicaragüense de la Lengua.
Eloi Grasset is is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He teaches courses on Iberian cultures, literatures, and visual media, with recent offerings on topics such as soccer in the Hispanic world, Almodóvar’s Spain, Barcelona’s urban imagination, everyday life under Franco, and food culture in Spain. He is the author of La trama mortal. Pere Gimferrer y la política de la literatura (1962–1985) (The Mortal Plot: Pere Gimferrer and the Politics of Literature), the first in-depth study of Gimferrer’s pivotal role in reshaping Spain and Catalonia’s cultural field from the late Franco regime to the democratic transition. His current book project, Food Culture and Political Ideologies in 20th-Century Catalonia, explores how culinary practices and discourses helped construct the Catalan national imaginary.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery+
- Department: Writing Program
- Instructor: Baron Haber & Ken Hiltner
- Instructor Email: baronhaber@ucsb.edu, hiltner@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 12:00-1:50 in ILP 4207
- Enroll Code: 62109
Course Description: This discovery seminar explores the youth climate movement, with hopes that you will feel inspired to join it. We will read texts, watch movies, and listen to podcasts about (and by) activists from the rising generation to study their fight to transform the systems that drive climate change. To make these global issues local, the seminar will look at the history of climate activism at UCSB. We will also examine diversity and inclusion within the climate movement, considering topics like environmental justice and environmental racism. Students will create public-facing texts to promote climate action.
Bio: Baron Haber is a Lecturer for the UCSB Writing Program, specializing in teaching about sustainability. He received his PhD in English from UCSB, and also holds his MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His research about environmental justice within Global Anglophone literature has appeared in the journals darkmatter and ARIEL.
Ken Hiltner is a professor of the environmental humanities at UCSB. He is the author of three books (Milton and Ecology, What Else is Pastoral, and Writing a New Environmental Era: Moving Forward to Nature), a range of articles, and has edited three additional books. In addition to the UCSB, Ken has taught at Harvard, where he received his Ph.D., and at Princeton University, where he served for a year as the Currie C. and Thomas A. Barron Visiting Professor in the Environment and Humanities at Princeton's Environmental Institute (PEI). Ken was the founding Director of both UCSB’s Literature and the Environment Center and the Environmental Humanities Initiative. Currently, he is the faculty Co-chair of the Chancellor’s Sustainability Committee, Chair of UCSB’s Sustainable Transportation Committee, and Director of the T. A. Barron Environmental Leadership Program. On a personal note, prior to becoming a professor, for two decades Ken made his living as a furniture.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery+
- Department: MCDB
- Instructor: Matthieu Louis
- Instructor Email: mlouis@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 10:00-11:50 in BSIF 1217
- Enroll Code: 60327
Course Description: This introductory course explores the intersection between gastronomy and neuroscience, focusing on the principles underlying food perception. Through hands-on experiments, we reveal the molecular and cellular mechanisms that shape our senses of taste and smell. For instance, we will examine the genetic basis that makes cilantro taste delightful to some and soapy to others. By understanding multi-sensory integration, we will discuss why it is a secret weapon for any skilled cook. During the whole class, theory is presented through interactive demonstrations, offering a practical approach to understanding flavor science. Guest lectures by other faculty and professionals will provide complementary perspectives on this interdisciplinary field. Additionally, the course covers basics of experimental design, data analysis and hypothesis testing.
Bio: Dr. Louis received his BA/MA in Theoretical Physics from the Free University of Brussels (Belgium). For his PhD research, he was a pre-doctoral fellow of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI). He graduated in Systems Biology from the University of Cambridge. His doctoral thesis focused on modeling the function of a gene regulatory network during Drosophila development. During the completion of his thesis, Dr. Louis became increasingly interested in the function of neural networks. He joined the laboratory of Leslie Vosshall at the Rockefeller University where he studied the mechanisms underlying the detection of olfactory signals in the Drosophila larva. At end of his post-doctoral training, Dr. Louis became a junior Group Leader at the EMBL-CRG Systems Biology Unit of the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona (Spain). As an independent investigator, he worked on delineating how orientation decisions emerge from neural computations carried out by the larval brain. Since Summer 2016, he is a faculty at the University of California Santa Barbara.
Discover exciting new topics each quarter by exploring the lists here.
Expand the lists for course descriptions and professor bios. Seminar offerings change each quarter and this list will be updated quarterly.
Fall 2025 Discovery Seminars for TRANSFER students
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: chemistry and biochemistry
- Instructor: Vanessa Woods
- Instructor Email: vwoods@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 12:00-12:50 in HSSB 1223 *This seminar will meet for 5 various Monday's through the quarter in HSSB 1223 at UCSB, and then last two weeks of the quarter. Please note that 6 hours of this seminar will be off campus at the K-12 schools and at various times volunteering with SciTrek. You will sign up for the time that works best for your schedule.
- Enroll Code: 61119
Course Description: With the SciTrek team including Dr. Woods you will get to work the SciTrek science outreach program. Through this course you will refine your abilities to think critically and to develop your mentoring skills. The outreach brings university students into local classrooms (this class will focus largely on Junior High and High School classes) to help facilitate authentic science experiences for the student across a diverse set of topics such as math, biology, chemistry, and physics. The outreach does not require that you be a STEM major.
Bio: Vanessa Woods is an Associate Teaching Professor in Psychological and Brain Sciences at UCSB. Vanessa earned a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, and has taught and conducted research on inclusive pedagogies in higher education at diverse institutions since 2009. Her research focus is on effective teaching practices and student success, with projects looking at, creating equity in college classrooms, transfer student success, and K-12 science interest & identity to understand the STEM college/career pipeline.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
- Instructor: Shane Jimerson
- Instructor Email: Jimerson@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 12:00-12:50 in ED 1203
- Enroll Code: 63370
Course Description: The central aim of this seminar is to provide students with information and insights regarding the professional domain of school psychology. School psychologists have expertise in mental health, learning, and behavior, to help youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. This seminar introduces how school psychologists collaborate with families, teachers, school administrators, and others to create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments. May the force be with you! Apply online at https://ucsbeducation.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0OKiD2D10EBEVzE
Bio: Professor Shane Jimerson is a nationally certified school psychologist, and recent President of both National and International School Psychology organizations. Dr. Jimerson has received numerous awards for his scholarship focused on understanding and promoting the social, emotional, behavioral, academic, and mental health of children. You can learn more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_R._Jimerson
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: Exercise & Sport Studies
- Instructor: Amy Jamieson
- Instructor Email: amyjam@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Wednesdays 8:00 - 8:50 in Recen 2128 and 9:00-9:50 in RobGym 1430 *This seminar will meet the first 5 weeks
- Enroll Code: 27714
Course Description: Students will explore concepts of personal fitness and Personal Training. Students will receive basic instruction in exercise science and perform practical application of goal setting, exercise development, and program design. The course information will allow students to explore the field of fitness and wellness with an emphasis on exercise development and program design.
Bio: Amy Jamieson is a professor and industry leader in the promotion of health, wellness, and exercise prescription. She currently teaches in the Department of Exercise & Sport Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. Amy has been actively involved in the field of exercise science as a lecturer and role model at UCSB for over twenty years. During this time she has trained hundreds of fitness professionals, developed curriculum, supervised student interns and fitness instructors, and served on numerous campus and community committees. Amy is active on the national and international stage as an annual presenter and attendee at various national and international wellness & fitness conferences. Professor Jamieson is board-certified in Nutrition through AASDN; Personal Training and Performance through NASM and Fitness Instruction through Schwinn and ACE. She is also a Certified ACE Health Coach and an ACE master instructor for the accredited program. Amy has become a leader in the growth and development of online education at UC Santa Barbara and the UC system. Professor Jamieson is well recognized as innovative and forward-thinking and therefore is the recipient of numerous educational grants.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: Linguistics/EMS
- Instructor: Ingrid Bowman
- Instructor Email: ibowman@linguistics.ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Wednesday 3:00-4:50 in GIRV 2124 *This seminar will meet for the first 5 weeks
- Enroll Code: 64477
Course Description: How can you become part of an existing community? How can a mentor help you find your way?
This course is designed for transfer students to learn about and engage in mentorship defined as evidence-based practices for reciprocal growth. The design of this seminar includes learning about different mentoring approaches and opportunities on the UC campus and in the community. You will design your own mentorship roadmap.
Bio: Ingrid Bowman has been a Continuing Lecturer in the EMS program, Department of Linguistics, for nearly fifteen years. Passionate about strengthening campus community, she founded and led a collaborative faculty mentoring project for three UC campuses called Here’s my IDEA. She has also co-authored presentations, an article and book chapter about a nationwide online mentoring project for writing instructors.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: French and Italian
- Instructor: Carla Borromeo
- Instructor Email: borromeo@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Wednesday - 1:00-1:50 in HSSB 1207
- Enroll Code: 27730
Course Description: Italian Pop culture is a cultural phenomenon completely and intrinsically linked to the modern Italian society, permeating every aspect of Italian everyday life.
Italian pop culture represents the creative aspect of the mass, influencing trends and desires of a large portion of the population.
Although Italian Pop culture started in the XX century, it continues to evolve and transform itself, thanks to the advancement of modern technology, globalization and homologation consumption, influencing various sectors (music, style and fashion, food, movies and television, technology, shopping habits, art and language.)
This course will help students to discover the different aspects of Italian Pop culture and the new current tendencies which, in many cases, are completely different from the stereotype of the typical idea of the Italian and Italian culture.
In the course many different guest speakers will talk about their expertise in each sector. Each speaker is in a stretto rapporto with the modern Italian culture. The goal of this course is for those who are already familiar with the traditional Italian culture to further their knowledge of Italian pop culture. It is also for those completely new to Italian traditions, habits, etc... to get a glimpse of Italians and Italian-ness, and maybe consider to embark on a path of studying the Italian language and culture.
Bio: Lectuer in the French and Italian Department
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: English
- Instructor: Heather Blurton
- Instructor Email: heatherblurton@english.ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Wednesday 2:00-2:50 in HSSB 1231
- Enroll Code: 66829
Course Description: From Ovid to Dungeons and Dragons, the werewolf has long history in literature, film, and games. The werewolf, that is, a man who transforms into a wolf, embodies themes of transformation, sexuality, and the relationship between humans and beasts, good and evil. This class will survey short werewolf fiction, including Ovid's "Metamorphoses," Marie de France's medieval "Bisclavret," witch-hunting manuals, Angela Carter's feminist rewritings in "The Bloody Chamber," classic movies and role-playing games.
Bio: Heather Blurton teaches medieval literature in the English Department. She is also interested in the cultural history of monsters.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: Environmental Studies
- Instructor: Iris Holzer
- Instructor Email: irisholzer@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Monday 5:00-6:50 in HSSB 2201 *This seminar has a field trip
- Monday, October 6, 5 pm - 6:50 pm (classroom)
- Saturday, October 11, 8 am - 5 pm (field trip)
- Monday, October 13, 5 pm - 6:50 pm (classroom)
- Enroll Code: 63396
Course Description: Soils are the dynamic skin of the Earth, where a multitude of chemical, physical, and biological processes come together to support human health, agriculture, thriving ecosystems, and complex landscapes. This seminar will introduce transfer students to the diverse discipline of soil science, with a focus on viewing local soils during a Saturday field trip. Our meeting before the field trip will cover field safety, set community expectations, and provide an overview of our local Central Coast soils and their formation. Students will have opportunities to reflect on the intersections of soils with their other interests or desired career paths.
Bio: Hi everyone! My name is Iris Holzer (she/her), and I am an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Environmental Studies Program, where I specialize in soils and environmental chemistry. I’m originally from Mississippi and Missouri, but I came to California for college and got my B.A. in Geology from Scripps College. I completed my Ph.D. in Soils & Biogeochemistry at UC Davis in 2023, where I studied rock weathering in the soils of agricultural and natural systems. My primary areas of focus are elemental cycling in soils, soil formation, and enhanced rock weathering for carbon removal. I'm happiest digging or doing field work, and I'm committed to fostering supportive, safe, and engaging field experiences for students at every stage.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery
- Department: MCDB
- Instructor: Brooke Gardner
- Instructor Email: brookegardner@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Friday 3:00-3:50 in ILP 4103
- Enroll Code: 62901
Course Description: This course, meant for pre-biology transfer students, will discuss how biochemistry concepts and approaches presented in the MCDB 108A - Biochemistry of Macromolecules course are used in research on campus. In addition to reading and discussing scientific articles related to research on campus, we will discuss how to get involved in research, graduate school, and summer research opportunities.
Bio: Dr. Gardner received her BA in Biochemistry from Middlebury College and her PhD in Biochemistry from UC San Francisco in the lab of Dr. Peter Walter. As a Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley, Dr. Gardner worked in Dr. Andreas Martin’s lab investigating the role of AAA-ATPase motor proteins in peroxisome biogenesis. She joined the MCDB faculty at UC Santa Barbara in 2019.
- Seminar Type: Transfer Discovery+
- Department: Writing
- Instructor: Katie Baillargeon & Kevin Rutherford
- Instructor Email: baillargeon@ucsb.edu, kjr@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Wednesday 2:00-3:50 in NH 1111
- Enroll Code: 57067
Course Description: From Resident Evil and Amnesia to The Haunting of Hill House and Cabin in the Woods, stories centering on haunted spaces are a staple of the horror genre. This seminar explores multiple media about crossing horrifying thresholds and considers how they each reflect contemporaneous societal concerns and mores.
Bio: Katie Baillargeon has a PhD in Musicology from UCSB and has taught in the Writing Program since 2008. Several years ago, while re-watching “The Exorcist” she questioned why she even likes such a, well, horrific genre, so she now teaches a humanities writing course with a horror theme. She’s the only one in her house who enjoys scary movies and she detests walking down the hallway in the dark after watching one by herself.
Kevin Rutherford is a digital rhetorician by day, horror aficionado by night, who frequently wonders who among his friends would survive a zombie apocalypse. (He imagines he would probably be the first to die.)
Fall 2025 Discovery Seminars for FIRST-YEAR Students
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Art
- Instructor: Kip Fulbeck
- Instructor Email: fulbeck@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesdays 9:00-10:50 in ARTS 1237 *This seminar will meet the first 5 weeks
- Enroll Code: 57000
Course Description: Examining how we create our own identities gives us cheat codes for navigating the outside world. In this interactive and fun workshop, students will view work by visiting spoken word artists, performers, and filmmakers, as well as engage in lively discussions pertinent to their phase in life as new college students.
Bio: Artist Kip Fulbeck teaches as a Distinguished Professor at UCSB. He has exhibited worldwide and has been featured on CNN, MTV, The New York Times, The TODAY Show, and various NPR programs. He is the author of six books and the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award and Faculty Diversity Award.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: French and Italian
- Instructor: Tiziana de Simone
- Instructor Email: desimone@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Wednesday 9:00-9:50 in GIRV 1108
- Enroll Code: 61390
Course Description: This seminar explores the significant contributions of Italian scientists across various fields, from physics and medicine to astronomy and engineering. Focusing on historical figures like Galileo Galilei, Enrico Fermi, and Rita Levi-Montalcini we will highlight their groundbreaking discoveries and the lasting impact of their work on global scientific progress. Through discussions and research, the seminar will underscore the importance of collaboration, curiosity, and perseverance in advancing scientific knowledge.
Bio: Tiziana de Simone is a Continuing Lecturer in Italian Studies and has joined the French and Italian Department at UCSB in 2000. She has taught traditional and hybrid lower-division Italian courses, including Italian conversation courses, for over 22 years at UCSB. Before that, she worked as a Lecturer in the Chemistry Department and as a researcher in the Materials Department at UCSB. Tiziana graduated from the University of Naples “Federico II” in Chemistry, completing a Master's thesis on synthesizing and characterizing new adhesives in the Materials Department at UCSB. Her research led to many publications in scientific journals.
She has always been enthusiastic about teaching complex concepts effectively and simply. Her first job as an educator was through the Upward Bound program at UCSB, where she taught underprivileged high school students and encouraged them to continue with their college education. Tiziana is passionate about enriching her methodology and teaching skills through new technologies and has participated in many workshops and symposia. She was recently chosen for the Center for Innovative Teaching, Research, and Learning Symposia (2021-23), where she participated in weekly seminars focusing on teaching equity and engaging technologies. She combined her background in science with her passion for teaching the Italian language with a presentation focused on how our brain learns and applies a new language.
She is passionate about books, music, dogs, art, hiking, and the ocean and loves bringing Southern Italian culture and traditions into her classes. As an authentic Southern Italian, she also enjoys cooking for and entertaining friends with the Italian dishes she grew up with.
She has volunteered at the Mission in Santa Barbara and in many local elementary and high schools, where she organized monthly meetings with local speakers to help students envision their career paths.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Theater and Dance
- Instructor: William Davies King
- Instructor Email: king@theaterdance.ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Wednesday 5:00-5:50 in TD-W 2517
- Enroll Code: 61226
Course Description: Study of diverse aspects of personal collecting: its psychology, history, sociology, economics, and artistic application. How does personal collecting differ from and sometimes intersect with institutional collecting? How does personal collecting function as a dimension of one’s life story? How does one’s life story relate to the material values of American society and culture? How does collecting differ from hoarding or maximalism? How is collecting—and ownership, more generally—developing in the present moment? Using readings, demonstrations, and practical exercises, the course will look at these questions.
Bio: William Davies King is Emeritus Professor of Theater, but alongside his important career as a theater historian, he is a lifelong collector. In 2008, he published Collections of Nothing, part essay and part memoir about becoming a collector of much stuff, which he provocatively calls "nothing." He has also written plays about collecting and has devised two trial versions of a Museum of Nothing Much. He is currently writing a new book about collecting, with the working title: Having Had: Thinking Through Collecting.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Center for Innovative Teaching, Research, and Learning
- Instructor: Nathan Emery
- Instructor Email: nemery@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Wednesday 12:00-12:50 in ILP 4211
- Enroll Code: 27383
Course Description: A critical component of science is how you approach and think about concepts and problems. In this course, students will explore many ways of thinking that are practiced by scientists from across STEM disciplines. The frameworks and mindsets that we cover will help students learn scientific concepts and skills in current and future courses. Additionally, this course seeks to help students be prepared for interacting in a world full of data and scientific information.
Bio: Nathan Emery, is the Associate Director of STEM Education in CITRAL and has a PhD from the EEMB department. He has expertise in Biology Education and Plant Ecology. He has taught several courses at UCSB in the past and enjoys working with students on how the process of science works.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Music Composition, College of Creative Studies
- Instructor: Andrew Watts
- Instructor Email: aawatts@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Fridays from 10:00-10:50 in SSMS 1304
- Enroll Code: 27409
Course Description: This seminar offers an academic exploration into the intersection of technology and identity. This course examines how photography, digital editing, and artificial intelligence shape self-representation and perception. Students will develop skills in capturing and editing images, while critically analyzing AI's role in redefining reality and self. The seminar culminates in creating a personal portfolio, reflecting each student's technical proficiency and philosophical insights on authenticity in the digital era. This course is an invitation to engage with the evolving narrative of self in our technologically advanced world.
Bio: Andrew A. Watts is a composer of chamber, symphonic, multimedia, and electro-acoustic works regularly performed throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. His compositions have been premiered at world-renowned venues such as Burning Man, Ravinia, Boston's Jordan Hall, Darmstadt, and the Holywell Music Room. Watts has written for many of today’s top new music groups, including Dal Niente, Ekmeles, Proton Bern, Distractfold, RAGE Thormbones, Splinter Reeds, Quince, and Line Upon Line. Recently, Watts premiered an open instrumentation quartet, A Strobe Fractures Obsidian Night, which utilizes AI-generated video and multichannel audio. He completed his D.M.A. in Composition at Stanford University, received his master's with distinction from the University of Oxford, and his bachelor's with academic honors from the New England Conservatory. He has been a featured composer at the MATA Festival, impuls Academy, Rainy Days Festival, Delian Academy, Young Composers Meeting, Cheltenham Music Festival, Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, Composit Festival, Ostrava Days Institute, highSCORE Festival, Wellesley Composers Conference, Etchings Festival, Fresh Inc. Festival, New Music on the Point, and Atlantic Music Festival. Watts is currently on the Music Composition faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Computer Science
- Instructor: Maryam Majedi
- Instructor Email: majedi@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 4:00-4:50 in GIRV 2124
- Enroll Code: 63362
Course Description: As students begin their journey in STEM fields, it's essential to recognize that technical skills alone are not enough. This course introduces first-year students to the ethical complexities embedded in scientific and technological endeavors. Students will explore how some designs and innovations can inadvertently impact society, perpetuate biases, and lead to unintended consequences if ethical considerations are overlooked.
Through interactive discussions, case studies, and real-world examples, students will learn to identify and address ethical challenges such as privacy violations, discrimination, and inequality in technical design. This course encourages students to think critically about their roles as future engineers, scientists, and technologists, highlighting the importance of responsible decision-making that promotes inclusivity and fairness.
Bio: Dr. Maryam Majedi joined the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as an Assistant Teaching Professor in 2023. She completed a teaching stream postdoc at the University of Toronto, where she worked with the Embedded Ethics Education Initiative (E3I) team and introduced the first ethics modules for CS courses in Canada. Dr. Majedi earned her Ph.D. in data privacy at the University of Calgary. Her Ph.D. work presents a novel privacy policy modeling technique. Prior to her Ph.D., she earned a Master of Science degree in High-Performance Scientific Computing from the University of New Brunswick. Dr. Majedi also completed a fellowship in Medical Innovation at Western University.
Dr. Majedi's research primarily revolves around Embedded Ethics and Data Privacy. She explores the intersection of computer science and ethical considerations, aiming to develop modules that facilitate the integration of ethics and data privacy principles into computer science education.
- Seminar Type: First Year Discovery
- Department: Writing Program
- Instructor: Tymoteusz (Tym) Chajdas
- Instructor Email: tchajdas@ucsb.edu
- Day - Time - Room: Tuesday 1:00-1:50 in GIRV 2124
- Enroll Code:
Course Description: In today’s digital world, information is constantly filtered, manipulated, and shared, reshaping our understanding of truth as well as political and commercial power. This seminar dives into the "truth war," examining how fake news and algorithms influence global politics, social movements, and public opinion. Through real-world case studies and critical debates, students will explore the ethical challenges of information sharing, media manipulation and algorithmic control. Whether you’re studying media, political science, technology, business, or ethics, this seminar equips you with the tools to critically assess how digital media shape global power and personal decision-making.
Bio: Dr. Tym Chajdas teaches a range of courses in the Professional Writing Minor spanning strategic communication, journalism, and academic writing. He is also a Lead Researcher at Harvard in Tech, Harvard University’s technology group. His interdisciplinary work bridges global studies, development, critical infrastructure research, cultural studies, and political communication. Dr. Chajdas' professional experience includes roles in journalism, media, and strategic advisory at organizations such as ITV Wales, Polish Radio, Nature Publishing Group, and Boston Consulting Group.