Letter of invitation to incoming students

To incoming students:

Unity of Science (I-121/I222) is a year-long, interdisciplinary introduction to the sciences. Our instructors include two or three faculty from biology, chemistry, geology, physics, math or philosophy, and me, a biologist, as well as various guest lecturers.

The interdisciplinary character of this course, and the fact that it extends over an entire year, offers some exciting advantages and opportunities. We will have time to explore some of the most basic ideas of science the nature of light and matter, and how they interact in sufficient depth that you will be able to experience their great explanatory power in many contexts: how the biosphere lives off sunlight, how we perceive light and color, and how we can use light to learn something about what the universe was like billions of years ago. Without presuming any particular background on the part of the students, Unity of Science presents material that goes beyond that normally done in high school; however, we seek to place scientific knowledge in a broad (and, we hope, intellectually stimulating) context.

Completing both semesters of Unity of Science is an excellent way for a non-science student to complete her science distribution requirement, but we think that is not the only use for this course. If you think you might want to major or minor in a science (or do pre-med), but are not yet committed to a particular field, you will find that this is an efficient way to learn about several different departments. If you are fascinated by the interconnections between things, this course will be of great interest to you, no matter what field you concentrate in.

If you have any questions about Unity of Science, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Hoping to meet you in September,
Katherine Dorfman
Director of Laboratories
Unity of Science
Telephone: 413-538-2516
Fax: 413-538-2239