Course Description: Students will read and discuss articles from the semi-popular scientific press (e.g. American Scientist, Discover, Geotimes, Natural History, Scientific American) related to topics of current interest in the physical sciences. Each registered student will make at least one presentation of an article and will lead the discussion that follows. Departmental faculty and one or two speakers from outside the Westfield State University community will be invited to speak each semester.

Grading and Assignments: Students will be graded based on attendance, participation in the discussion period following each seminar, and on the seminar that the student presents.

An article relevant to each seminar will be placed on reserve in the library. Students are expected to read the article prior to the presentation.

Attendance: Students are expected to attend class and arrive on time. Any absence from a seminar will result in a decrease in the student's grade (50% of a student's grade will be distributed over all of the class meeting periods), and seminars cannot be made up. Of course, extenuating circumstances will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Office hours: Monday 2:30-3:30, Wednesday 11:15-12:15, and Friday 11:15-12:15. Available by appointment too.

Additional Resources:
The schedule for the seminar series will be posted on the class web site http://www.westfield.ma.edu/cmasi/current_topics/current_topics.html

Academic Honesty: Students are encouraged to work together while learning, but grades are based on individual achievement. Thus, any work that a student submits for a grade must be that student's work. Academic honesty is important, and academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. If an instance of academic dishonesty is uncovered, the student(s) in question may receive a 0 for the assignment or fail the class altogether.