The 'Prince' highlights the Spring 2003 course offerings

ART 371

: American Art and Modernism (John Wilmerding) Wilmerding's lectures are not to be missed. Especially if you're wary of taking an art class, Wilmerding's scholarly approach relates the art to the history, literature and social trends of the period, making the class accessible to all who enroll.

AST 203

: The Universe (Neil Tyson, Michael Strauss, John Gott) A great QR for those who don't think in numbers, or letters and symbols acting as numbers. Also, you'll learn all about the constellations to spice up those romantic nights under the stars.

COM 404

: Literature Across Languages: The East European Novel of the 20th Century(Caryl Emerson) Emerson transports students with her masterful prose to the countries of Eastern Europe not only through commentary on the assigned novels, but through stories of the time in which they were written.

DAN 209

: Introduction to Movement (Ze'eva Cohen) This course combines the things you're used to from a humanities class — papers, reading, etc. — with the active components of dancing and choreographing. One learns as much about movement and the working of the body as one would in anatomy classes.

ELE 391

: The Wireless Revolution: Telecommunications for the 21st Century (Harold Poor) CEOs and industry leaders speak about the revolution in wireless technology. The material is applicable to current times.

ELE 491/ORF 491

: High-Tech Entrepreneurship (Ed Zschau) Don't let the number scare you. It's an interactive class and moderate workload and provides interesting material about starting your own company. Final project includes either writing a business plan or interviewing people at a startup and finding out what makes it work.

ENG 365

: Topics in American Literature: The American Short Story (Elaine Showalter) The lectures, reading and paper assignments for this class are all stellar. You read Hemingway one week and selections from The New Yorker the next — the reading always provoked dynamic discussions.

HIS 343/CLA 343

: The Civilization of the Early Middle Ages (Peter Brown) The professor uses sound effects to make the lectures more interesting. Going to lecture was more like story time than lecture. We had to learn about crazy stuff, but he made it more about understanding history than just learning history.

ENG 334

: Literature of the Fin de Siecle (Jeff Nunokawa) Nunokawa paused in the middle an ENG 202 lecture a couple years ago, looked down and unabashedly zipped his fly. That's the style of Nunokawa, who is perhaps the University's most animated lecturer.

MUS 262/AAS 262

: Evolution of Jazz Styles (Anthony Branker) Professor Branker is a jazz aficionado, leading the jazz ensemble, performing with his own band in New York clubs and drawing students from all years and musical backgrounds to his lectures.

POL 316

: Civil Liberties(Robert George) If courses could be dubbed "guts," this course could be called a "grunt" — one that's hard work but worth it. It's both fun and frustrating forcing you to think on your opinions regarding abortion, pornography and separation of church and state. George is one of the few conservative professors at Princeton and plays devil's advocate to liberal viewpoints.

REL 251

: The New Testament and Christian Origins (John Gager) Commonly known as "Faith-busters," Gager's famed class is not for those who are unwilling to reexamine their conceptions of early Christian history. Rather than portraying a unified community of believers clear on what Jesus had taught them, Gager guides students through the history that improbably spawned the world's largest religion.

VIS 342

: The Cinema from World War II until the Present (P. A. Sitney) If you ever had the nagging feeling that "Titanic" is a bad movie, Sitney will academically confirm your suspicions. If you've never had the opportunity to explore the untapped resource of 185 Nassau St., VIS 342 is your chance to sit in the Jimmy Stewart Theater every week and view some of the best films.

WWS 320/MOL 320

: Human Genetics, Reproduction, and Public Policy (Lee Silver) It's relevant to many current ethical issues in biology and medicine. Lectures are great, and the class is extremely organized.

Other notable courses:

EEB 338/LAS 351: Tropical Biology (Donald Windsor) EEB 346: Biology of Coral Reefs (Daniel Rubenstein) CWR 202: Creative Writing, Poetry (Staff) JWS 315/WOM 315: The Family in Jewish Tradition (Ruth Westheimer) REL 313: Pragmatism and Religion: James and Dewey (Eddie Glaude) HUM 449: The Craft of Foreign Correspondence (Serge Schmemann) ENG 311: Shakespeare II (Thomas Roche)