ENROLL

Marty Baylor, Jason Decker, Julia Strand

If you had to explain to a blind person the nature of color, how would you describe it? Is it a property of objects, oscillations of an electric field, a feature of how the eye generates electrochemical signals to send to the brain, or perhaps a property of the experiences themselves? This team-taught course takes  a multidisciplinary approach to color, drawing from physics, psychology, and philosophy. We will explore topics such as the nature of light, visual anatomy, the process by which light is converted to a neural code, color mixing, linguistic differences in color processing, and how color leads us to confront the tension that sometimes exists between appearance and reality.

Prerequisite: Any introductory PHIL or PSYC course higher than 110 or any term of introductory PHYS course higher than 130 (PHYS 131 and 151 or 152 or a 10 week introductory course)

Marty Baylor

An extensive study of a specific topic in physics, culminating in a 60-minute presentation during winter or spring term and a 7500 word paper. Students may arrange to complete the bulk of their work during winter or spring term (Physics 400, 6 credits), or divide their effort between terms (Physics 400, winter, 3 credits; Physics 400, spring, 3 credits).