All Courses

Department Abbreviation: XAMERSTUD 10

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the Historical Studies or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: American culture and cultural change, with attention to the multicultural basis of American society and emphasis on the need for multiple methods of analysis. The course will consistently draw on the arts, material culture, and various fields affecting cultural production and meaning. Those areas include literature, film, history, architecture, history of art, religion, music, engineering, environmental studies, anthropology, politics, economics.

Class Description: Making in America - By focusing on the concept of “making” as a practice, a process, and a theory of meaning, this course provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of America. We will look at the historical, political, economic, and cultural meanings of “making” in the U.S as expressed and experienced in literature, popular culture, material culture, and the built environment.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XAGRS 10A

Prerequisite: None; however, this is a writing- and reading-intensive course, and your writing skills should exceed the College Writing course level

Satisfies: Either the Arts and Literature, Historical Studies, or Philosophy and Values breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Study of the major developments, achievements, and contradictions in Greek culture from the Bronze Age to the 4th century BCE. Key works of literature, history, and philosophy (read in English translation) will be examined in their political and social context, and in relation both to other ancient Mediterranean cultures and to subsequent developments in Western civilization.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XANTHRO 1

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the Biological Science or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: An introductory course providing a comprehensive introduction to the field of Biological Anthropology. It is a study of the processes and products of human evolution. Topics we will cover include evolutionary history and theory, systematics, genetics, primate behavior and ecology, comparative primate anatomy, the primate fossil record with emphasis on the human lineage, human variation and adaptation, the origins of culture, and human biocultural evolution.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XART 98

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Electives do not fulfill University or breadth requirements, but are great opportunities to enrich your schedule in areas you find interesting.

Course Description: Directed Group Study. The subject matter will vary from semester to semester and will be taught by the facilitator. Topics to be related to Art Practice.

Class Description: This is an entry course in the language, processes, and media of visual art. Course work will be organized around weekly lectures and studio problems that will introduce students to the nature of art making and visual thinking.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XASAMST 20A

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the Historical Studies or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Examine critical aspects of Asian-American histories and experiences from 1848 to the present. Gain a historical framework for a basic understanding of the experiences of the major Asian-American groups and an analytical foundation for comparative analyses. You will understand national and international factors that have an impact on migration and related policies; intersecting issues of race, class and gender relations; interclass conflicts between labor and capital; and intraclass conflicts as evidenced by labor agitation against Asian migration and resettlement. Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XASAMST R2B

Prerequisite: Completion of both the UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement and the first-half (Part A) of the Reading and Composition requirement

Satisfies: The second-half (Part B) of the reading and composition requirement if completed with a C- or better

Course Description: This course examines literary works by Asian American, African American, Chicano, and Native American writers in their political and social contexts, focusing on similarities and differences between the experiences of ethnic minorities in the U.S. Emphasis is on literary interpretation and sustained analytical writing.

Fall 2023 Section

Asian American Studies R2B—Section 1 *Online*

Literature of Settler Colonialism, from Hawai'i to Palestine (FPF Thread: Social Justice)

This writing-intensive course explores the history and legacies of settler colonialism through a comparative study of Palestinian and Hawaiian literature. We will examine the connections between the regions—similarities and distinctions between the histories and experiences of those under occupation—and address questions of land, indigeneity, law, displacement, diaspora, community and kinship, art, and the environment. We will read primarily poetry, but also memoir and fiction, and discuss visual and performance as well as film.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XCOLWRI R1A

Prerequisite: Only for students who have not passed the UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam or have not satisfied the Entry-Level Writing requirement.

Satisfies: Both the UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement and the first-half (Part A) of the Reading and Composition requirement if completed with a C- or better

Course Description: An intensive, accelerated course satisfying concurrently the requirements of the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement and the first half of Reading and Composition. Readings will include imaginative, expository and argumentative texts representative of the range of those encountered in the undergraduate curriculum and will feature authors from diverse social and cultural backgrounds and perspectives. Instruction in writing a range of discourse forms and in the revision of papers.

Fall 2023 Sections

College Writing R1A—Section 1 *Online*

Berkeley and The Bay (FPF Thread: California)

In our class, we will use personal experience and our fiction and nonfiction readings about the Bay Area to question the role of place in our lives. We will read authors of many different perspectives in order to establish our own confident academic voices, and we will value the process of writing alongside its products.

College Writing R1A—Section 2 *Online*

Consciousness, Self-Understanding, and Belonging: Finding Our Way in the Digital Expanse (FPF Thread: Citizenship)

This course will examine how successive waves of technological change have influenced how people construct their identities. We will consider how historically recent developments have led to the daily use of technologies that increasingly mediate how we achieve self-understanding and find affiliation with others. What are the implications for belonging and consciousness? The means of creating personal meaning and belonging as we await the emergence of artificial general intelligence will be regularly discussed.

College Writing R1A—Section 3, Section 4 *Online*

Poetic Justice in Popular Music (FPF Thread: Social Justice)

Using the Allen Ginsberg method of social engagement: positivity, inclusivity, and empathy, students will explore social justice themes in popular music. We'll look at and discuss music for social change through the lens of resistance to power structures, as well as the role of musicians in social justice movements. As Western music has welcomed global perspectives in contemporary composition, the door has opened to new and ever-changing forms. With that in mind, we will redefine what “poetic justice” means in popular music today, and what the term says, politically, artistically, socially, and psychologically. We’ll think critically, analyzing music as well as what writers are saying about music and musicians.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XCOMLIT R1A

Prerequisite: Completion of the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement or UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam

Satisfies: The first-half (Part A) of the Reading and Composition requirement if completed with a C- or better.

Course Description: Expository writing based on analysis of selected masterpieces of ancient and modern literature. You will come to understand the readings through class discussion and writing and revising papers that analyze the readings in academic argument form. Learn to read and write at the analytical and critical levels required at Berkeley.

Fall 2023 Sections

Comparative Literature R1A—Section 1, Section 2

Lost & Found in the American City

As cultural, political, and economic centers, cities can foster connection, creativity, and belonging. What is lost or pushed into possible oblivion in and by the city? We’ll explore the landscapes of four of America’s most iconic cities—New York, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Los Angeles—and consider the ways in which urban spaces are experienced, constructed, and imagined as spaces where some get lost, others found.

Comparative Literature R1A—Section 3

An Exploration of Classic Literature

When we say that a work of literature is a “classic,” we mean that it has a special status in a culture: it is widely recognized as excellent or important, and its power to interest and delight endures. In this writing-intensive course, we will strengthen your language skills and powers of analysis while exploring classics of different periods, cultures, and genres. Authors may include Elizabeth Bishop, James Joyce, Yasunari Kawabata, Katherine Mansfield, and Leo Tolstoy.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XEPS 20

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Physical Science breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Introduction to earthquakes, their causes and effects. General discussion of basic principles and methods of seismology and geological tectonics, distribution of earthquakes in space and time, effects of earthquakes, and earthquake hazard and risk, with particular emphasis on the situation in California.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XEPS 80

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Physical Science breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: This course focuses on the processes on and in the earth that shape the environment. Humanity's use of land and oceans is examined based on an understanding of these processes.

Class Description: This introductory level course focuses on geologic events, such as earthquakes and floods, which impact civilization. We will examine these forces and others to understand their causes and the best ways to mitigate and/or adjust to them. We will also assess human impacts on the geologic environment, such as pollution related to groundwater and global climate change.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XENGLIS R1A

Prerequisite: Completion of the UC Entry-level Writing Requirement

Satisfies: The first-half (Part A) of the Reading and Composition requirement if completed with a C- or better.

Course Description: Training in writing expository prose. Instruction in expository writing in conjunction with reading literature.

Fall 2023 Sections

English R1A—Section 1

The American City - From Segregation to Climate Change (FPF Thread: Social Justice)

The American city is an incredibly complex and dynamic organism—and the subject of a great body of literature, both fiction and non-fiction. This course will trace and critically engage how American urban development has been written about from the late nineteenth century to today. We will follow how writers have addressed the dramatic changes that American urban spaces underwent from the progressive era, turn-of-the-century segregation, and the experience of the Great Migration to redlining, white flight, and suburbanization in the wake of the New Deal. Studying metropolitan areas across the nation—from New York City to the Bay Area and from Chicago to New Orleans—this course asks students to write critically about urban development from the battles over “urban renewal” and the anti-eviction campaigns of the Civil Rights era to the impact of 1970s neoliberal policies, the “war on drugs” and militarized policing, and the urban uprisings of the early 1990s. We will end this semester by studying how writers address the impact that hyper-gentrification and climate chaos (from disaster capitalism to grassroots organizing) have on American cities today.

English R1A—Section 2

Other Californias (FPF Thread: California)

While much of America has held to a myth of California as a place of constant change and innovation, a place to remake one’s life, a canon of California literature has been quite stable until recently. In this course, we read outside this canon to explore various myths and realities of the many peoples who live in this geographic region. We will critically read across genres—fiction, memoir, nonfiction, poetry, films, serial drama—from diverse perspectives and experiences, and we’ll examine how the literary imagination creates and recreates historical consciousness, contemporaneous conflicts, and projected futures.

English R1A—Section 3, Section 4

A Critical History of the Bay Area (FPF Threads: California and Social Justice)

We’ll read various authors from around the Bay Area to gain a deeper understanding of the space we all will live and work in members of the UC Berkeley community.

English R1A—Section 5

Writing in the Natural Sciences

“Think like a scientist. Write like a poet.” In this course, we will explore a variety of texts produced by natural science experts (e.g., scholarly articles and popular science essays) and compose a variety of genres, including an annotated bibliography, literature review, 60-second podcast, and popular science article.

English R1A—Section 6, Section 7

China in the Global Imagination (FPF Thread: Citizenship)

TBA

English R1A—Section 10 *Online*

Voices from the Margins (FPF Thread: Social Justice)

In this course, we'll explore the importance of hearing from voices that have historically been silenced. For years, we have read about marginalized groups through the voices of authors who do not share the background they're writing about. While analyzing works from authors who themselves are part of the community they write about, we'll explore themes of racism, ableism, poverty, mental health, and gender and sexual identity.

English R1A—Section 14, Section 15

Explorers, Monsters, and Magicians (FPF Thread: Social Justice)

This class will help you develop sharp writing and thinking skills that you’ll use throughout college and beyond. Discover your voice by writing about texts that ask and answer questions like: What powers or risks go with living as an explorer, an outsider, or even a monster? How far should we go for the dreams and inventions we create?

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XENGLIS R1B

Prerequisite: Completion of both the UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement and the first-half (Part A) of the Reading and Composition requirement

Satisfies: The second-half (Part B) of the reading and composition requirement if completed with a C- or better

Course Description: Training in writing expository prose. Further instruction in expository writing in conjunction with reading literature.

Fall 2023 Sections

English R1B—Section 1, Section 6

Exploring Social Justice through Literature (FPF Thread: Social Justice)

This will be a reading- and writing-intensive course where we will read three literary texts to examine how literature can be a vehicle for social justice. How are ideas of justice influenced by specific historical moments? What visions of a just life does literature provide? How might the different emotions that literature evokes in its readers help to promote social justice?

English R1B—Section 2

Narrative and Medicine (FPF Thread: Social Justice)

In this course, we will investigate social justice issues related to healthcare in the United States by reading and analyzing autobiographies about birth, cancer, and the practice of medicine. Additionally, students will learn how to effectively gather research materials and incorporate secondary sources in their writing to strengthen their argumentative positions.

English R1B—Section 3

Things Fall Apart

We will read and discuss three novels about historical conditions that cause cultures to collapse and individuals to experience personal crisis. The settings include a traditional Nigerian village, a racially segregated Midwestern town, and a loose community of Native Americans living in contemporary Oakland. We will focus on learning how to analyze literary texts attentively and how to write persuasively.

English R1B—Section 4, Section 5

Dystopian/Utopian Fictions (FPF Thread: California and Social Justice)

What can literature teach us about utopian and dystopian elements in our own contemporary moment? How does literature help us identify the qualities, values, and skills we may use to help our families, communities, and planet survive and flourish in difficult times?

English R1B—Section 7 *Online*

Crisis and Catharsis (FPF Thread: Social Justice)

Humans need stories almost as much as we need food, especially when we’re growing up. Stories can be fun or romantic. But many memorable works of fiction capture tragedies, personal or historical, better than nonfiction can. This class will explore how writers imaginatively transform personal crises into stories that inspire us, even if they disturb us.

English R1B—Section 8 *Online*

Life on the Hyphen (FPF Threads: Citizenship and Social Justice)

In this course, we read texts by Toni Morrison, Kiran Desai and Chang-rae Lee to better understand the complexities of life in the Americas as we balance our lives on the hyphen as “-American.” This course develops your critical thinking and writing skills along with research techniques.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XESPM 15

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the Biological Sciences or Physical Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Introduction to the science underlying biological and physical environmental problems, including water and air quality, global change, energy, ecosystem services, introduced and endangered species, water supply, solid waste, human population, and interaction of technical, social, and political approaches to environmental management.

Schedule of Classes

Also Fulfills AC Requirement

Department Abbreviation: XESPM 50AC

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Both the American Cultures requirement and either the Historical Studies, Philosophy and Values, or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: An introduction to how culture affects the way we use and manage fire, wildland and urban forests, rangelands, parks and preserves, and croplands in America. The basic concepts and tools for evaluating the role of culture in resource use and management are introduced and used to examine the experience of American cultural groups in the development and management of western natural resources.

Schedule of Classes

Also Fulfills AC Requirement

Department Abbreviation: XETHSTD 21AC

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Both the American Cultures requirement and either the Historical Studies or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Examine the historical experiences of European immigrants, African Americans and Latinos, emphasizing the themes of migration and economic change since the late-19th century. You will also learn about the experiences of Asian Americans, Native Americans and recently arrived immigrants in the context of the course themes. Throughout the course, discuss intragroup differences such as gender, socioeconomic stratification and cultural variation.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XFILM 50

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Arts and Literature breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: This course examines how California has figured in the cinematic imagination as an industrial center and as a landscape of fantasy, site for the formulation and revision of national mythologies regarding the American West. We will assemble a cinematic history of the state—from the founding of the Spanish missions to the 21st century—while asking how filmmakers from D. W. Griffith to P. T. Anderson figure the California landscape as both wasteland and promised land, iconic backdrop for the examination of American national identity and politics, the construction of gender, and narratives of racial and class struggle. Texts will address the history of the state, the history of the film industry therein, and formal, narrative, and ideological analyses of the films that structure the course.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XFILM R1B

Prerequisite: Completion of both the UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement and the first-half (Part A) of the Reading and Composition requirement

Satisfies: The second-half (Part B) of the reading and composition requirement if completed with a C- or better

Course Description: Intensive argumentative writing stimulated through selected readings, films, and class discussion.

Fall 2023 Section

Film R1B—Section 1

Stardom, Spectatorship, and Difference

This class interrogates the relationships between stars and their social contexts. What does it mean to present an “image” of oneself? How can that “image” be read onscreen? The class will engage a wide range of critical texts that focus on the history of the “art of personality” with a particular emphasis on the history of film stardom, including how stars circulate in society, how spectators respond to representations of stardom, how forms of social difference inform this spectatorship, and how the phenomenon of stardom has changed from the 19th century to the digital era.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XGWS 10

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Get an introduction to questions and concepts in gender and women's studies. Critically study the formation of gender and its intersections with other relations of power, such as sexuality, racialization, class, religion and age. Questions are addressed within the context of a transnational world. Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week.

Schedule of Classes

Also Fulfills AC Requirement

Department Abbreviation: XGWS 50AC

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Both the American Cultures requirement and the Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: A multi-disciplinary course designed to provide students with an opportunity to work with faculty investigating the topic gender in American culture.

Class Description: The course problematizes "gendered" identity constructs by analyzing writings by Native American, African American and Indian American women writers. We take into cognizance origin, movement, gender, class, and race as these stories speak of exclusion and exploitation. From there we also examine these stories as they cut across cultures and contexts to give form or transform identity politics.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XGEOG 4

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the International Studies or the Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: Historical and contemporary cultural-environmental patterns. The development and spread of cultural adaptations, human use of resources, transformation and creation of human environments.

Class Description: Refugees, Climate Change, and Human Rights—This course examines the reasons behind the movement of people across national boundaries on a significant scale in the context of civil wars, fear of persecution, climate change, economic crises, armed conflict, collapsing and fragile states, natural disasters, violations of human rights, and the threat of terrorism and generalized violence. It also explores climate-related human mobility, migration, and displacement as responses to climatic and environmental changes.

Schedule of Classes

Also fulfills AC Requirement

Department Abbreviation: XGEOG 50AC

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Social and Behavioral Sciences, American Cultures

Course Description: California had been called "the great exception" and "America, only more so." Yet few of us pay attention to its distinctive traits and to its effects beyond our borders. California may be "a state of mind," but it is also the most dynamic place in the most powerful country in the world, and would be the 8th largest economy if it were a country. Its wealth has been built on mining, agriculture, industry, trade, and finance. Natural abundance and geographic advantage have played their parts, but the state's greatest resource has been its wealth and diversity of people, who have made it a center of technological and cultural innovation from Hollywood to Silicon Valley. Yet California has a dark side of exploitation and racialization.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XGLOBAL 10B

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: Global Studies 10B serves as an introduction to the Global Studies curriculum. Global Studies 10B introduces students to global issues through the lens of the humanities, such as art, literature, film, and culture. The topic of Global Studies 10B will vary from year to year, depending on the instructor. Students in each iteration of this course will learn about salient global interactions from a variety of cultural perspectives.

Class Description: Media and cinema in global cultures - In this course, we will study media and cinema as everyday stories deepening our relationship with global cultures and flows. We will study closely how visual storytelling affects our understanding of race, gender, health, immigration, justice, and other related issues in global cultures and politics.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XHISTOR 30

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the Historical Studies, Philosophy and Values, or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Science as we know it is the product of a historical process. In this course, we will explore the emergence of its concepts, practices, goals, and cognitive authority by surveying its roots in their social and cultural setting. We will trace the development of conceptions of the natural world from antiquity through the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment and up to the modern age. All the sciences fall within our purview, from their early forms up to today.

Schedule of Classes

This course fulfills the American History requirement, as well as the American Cultures Requirement

Department Abbreviation: XHISTOR 7B

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Both the American Cultures requirement and either the Historical Studies or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade. It also fulfills the American History requirement.

Course Description: Examine the experiences and conflicts that comprise American society's history. You will be exposed to a wide range of historical actors and dialogues in order to understand the past, from the perspective of the men and women who experienced it and to gain some insight into the daily lives of Americans: work and leisure, cultures and ideologies, relations with one another, and the political and economic system under which they lived. Lectures and readings focus on the complex interplay among political, economic and cultural interests, and will examine, in particular depth, race relations, the laboring classes, reform movements, the interior of American lives, the changing conditions for success and survival in the culture Americans were shaping, and the emerging role of the United States as a world power.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XINTEGB 31

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Biological Science breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: Learn about the principles of evolution biology as they relate to animal behavior and behavioral ecology with a broad coverage of animal groups. This course is designed for those not specializing in biology. Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XINTEGB 33

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Biological Science breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: In this lecture course, focus on dinosaurs from their appearance to extinction. Learn about the dinosaur skeleton, reconstructing dinosaurs, basic principles of evolution, classification and adaptation, and a survey of dinosaur types. You consider dinosaur reproduction, the question of dinosaur endothermy and the origin of birds. You also survey the other animals that coexisted with the dinosaurs to build a picture of the Mesozoic world. Lectures are often illustrated with slides.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XMATH 10A

Examples of Intended Majors: Integrative Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology, other life sciences

Prerequisite: Three and one-half years of high school math, including trigonometry and analytic geometry, plus a satisfactory grade in one of the following: CEEB MAT test, an AP test, the UC/CSU math diagnostic test or Math 32. It is strongly recommended that you take 1A only if you have already completed precalculus.

Satisfies: Quantitative Reasoning requirement if completed with a grade of C- or better. Some majors have specific grade requirements. Math 10A is required to continue on to Math 10B.

Course Description: Intended for majors in the life sciences. Introduction to differential and integral calculus of functions of one variable, ordinary differential equations, and matrix algebra and systems of linear equations.

Class Description: The first of a two-semester sequence of introductory college-level mathematics, covering topics in calculus, statistics and combinatorics. Primarily intended for life science majors, with many examples and applications from this context. Topics covered include mathematical modeling with functions, differential and integral calculus of functions of one variable, ordinary differential equations, matrix algebra, and systems of linear equations.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XMATH 16A

Examples of Intended Majors: Business Administration (Haas), Architecture, Economics, Public Health, Environmental Sciences

Prerequisite: Three years of high school mathematics, including trigonometry, plus a satisfactory grade in one of the following: CEEB MAT test, an AP test, the UC/CSU math diagnostic exam or Math 32. It is strongly recommended that you take 16A only if you have already completed precalculus. Students will not receive credit for 16A after taking 1A. Two units of Math 16A may be used to remove a deficient grade in Math 1A.

Satisfies: Quantitative Reasoning requirement if completed with a grade of C− or better. Some majors have specific grade requirements. Math 16A (or equivalent) is required to continue on to Math 16B.

Course Description: Math 16A covers much of the same basic topics as Math 1A, but does not include in-depth calculus and does not prepare you to continue on to Match 53 or 54. Math 16A introduces integration, the fundamental theorem of calculus, areas in the plane and other applications of the definite integral. This course is intended for students in the life and social sciences whose programs require only one year of calculus.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XMATH 1A

Examples of Intended Majors: Physical Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Sciences, Molecular and Cell Biology, Economics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology, Statistics

Prerequisite: Three-and-a-half years of high school mathematics, including trigonometry and analytic geometry, plus a satisfactory grade in one of the following: CEEB MAT test, an AP test, the UC/CSU math diagnostic test or Math 32. It is strongly recommended that you take 1A only if you have already completed precalculus.

Satisfies: Quantitative Reasoning requirement if completed with a grade of C- or better. Some majors have specific grade requirements. Math 1A (or equivalent) is required to continue on to Math 1B.

Course Description: Math 1A covers the topics of calculus of one variable, mainly with derivatives, and applications such as graphing and optimization. It introduces the idea of integration and applications such as volumes of revolution. Students are expected to understand some theorems and their proofs. This rigorous course emphasizes conceptual understanding and is intended for students in engineering and physical sciences.

Topics Covered: Intuitive and precise limit definitions, continuity, definition of the derivative, shortcut rules for finding derivatives, product rule, quotient rule, chain rule, implicit differentiation, related rates, linear approximations and differentials, mean value theorem, L'Hopital's rule, curve sketching, optimization, Newton's Method, definition of Riemann integral, Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (Parts 1 and 2), natural logarithm defined as an integral, area between two curves, volumes of solids of revolution.

Skills Needed:

• Facility with a scientific calculator or graphing calculator may be required
  • Ability to determine the value of a complicated expression using a scientific or graphing calculator
• Facility with fractions
  • Ability to simplify rational expressions and solve rational equations
• Facility with algebra
  • Ability to solve linear equations
  • Ability to solve quadratic equations by factoring, completing the square and using the quadratic formula
  • Ability to solve a linear system of equations
• Facility with graphing
  • Ability to identify and plot points on the Cartesian plane
  • Ability to graph lines
• Facility with exponential and logarithmic functions
  • Familiarity with e and natural logarithms
  • Ability to simplify expressions containing logarithms
  • Ability to solve logarithmic equations
    • Ability to graph exponential and logarithmic functions
• Facility with trigonometry
  • Familiarity with radian measure
  • Ability to compute trigonometric functions of simple angles
  • Ability to use the Pythagorean Theorem
  • Ability to solve triangle using the Law of Sines or the Law of Cosines
  • Knowledge of addition formula for sine and cosine

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XMATH 1B

Examples of Intended Majors: Physical Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Sciences, Molecular and Cell Biology, Economics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology, Statistics

Prerequisite: Math 1A or equivalent coursework; please check Assist.org or with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to make sure your coursework is equivalent to UC Berkeley's Math 1A.

Satisfies: Quantitative Reasoning requirement if completed with a grade of C- or better. Some majors have specific grade requirements. Math 1B is required to continue on to Math 53 or 54, and is recommended to continue on to Math 55.

Course Description: Math 1B is a continuation of Math 1A. It involves integration techniques and applications and introduces infinite series and first- and second-order differential equations and their uses. It is intended for students with majors in engineering, math and some sciences.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XMATH 32

Examples of Intended Majors: Any major that requires Math 16A or Math 1A

Prerequisite: Three years of high school mathematics and at least a score of 560 on the SAT I Math portion. Email fpf@berkeley.edu if you need to take math but have scored below a 560 on the SAT I.

Satisfies: Quantitative Reasoning requirement if completed with a grade of C− or better. Some majors have specific grade requirements.

Course Description: This course is designed for students who wish to prepare for calculus. It covers exponential and logarithmic functions, trigonometry, complex numbers, binomial theorem, conics and analytic geometry. Three hours of lecture and two hours of discussion per week.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XMCELLB 32

Prerequisite: One year of high school or college chemistry

Satisfies: Biological Science breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: You gain a comprehensive introduction to human cell biology by concentrating on basic mechanisms underlying human life processes, including cells and membranes; nerve and muscle function; cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and gastrointestinal physiology; and metabolism, endocrinology and reproduction.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XMUSIC 26AC

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Arts and Literature breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: This course offers an introductory look at the diverse musical cultures of the U.S. We will learn about a variety of musical practices—particularly those resulting from cross-cultural interactions—that contribute to the rich multiplicity of cultural practices in the United States. Because of the vast array of people and cultures in the U.S., this course necessarily presents only a selection of traditions. Rather than an exhaustive survey, we will focus on several key themes and voices within a broader history, with emphasis on popular and folk genres. Students will investigate the role of music makers in shaping and affecting society, explore musical and social principles that increase individual agency while affirming group bonds, celebrate the diversity of contributions of a variety of cultures within the United States, and examine how applied musical practices work to empower their participants. Students will also practice active listening skills and develop a technical music vocabulary applicable to various performance genres and styles, to engage in critical listening and analysis.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XMUSIC 27

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Arts and Literature breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: Devoted to the development of listening skills, and a survey of major forms and types of Western art music.

Class Description: Music 27 explores the world of art music, mostly but not exclusively from the Western tradition. By the end of the semester you will be familiar with the main outlines of Western art music, beginning with the Middle Ages and concluding nearly 1000 years later with today's music.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XPHILOS 2

Prerequisite: None; however, this is a writing- and reading-intensive course, and students' writing skills should exceed the College Writing course level.

Satisfies: Either the Philosophy and Values or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: Is there anything to be said in a principled way about “right” and “wrong” action? Is there some conception of “the good” that governs how we should conduct our lives and justifies our moral practices? In virtue of what is it possible that we are free to be held accountable for our deeds?

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XPHILOS 3

Prerequisite: None; however, this is a writing- and reading-intensive course, and students' writing skills should exceed the College Writing course level.

Satisfies: Philosophy and Values breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: What is the nature of the mind and consciousness? What can we know about the existence of other minds and their contents? What is the relation between mental entities and physical entities? Is the mind just the brain, or is the mind immaterial? We will be examining major issues in the philosophy of mind and some issues in epistemology.

Schedule of Classes

This course also fulfills the American Institutions requirement.

Department Abbreviation: XPOLSCI 1

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade.

Course Description: An introductory analysis of the structure and operations of the American political system, primarily at the national level.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XPOLSCI 2

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the International Studies or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: This course aims to furnish students with the tools needed to study politics and society in comparative perspective, by introducing concepts and methods of comparative analysis and examining core assumptions about human nature that underpin social scientists’ thinking. We will investigate the variety of political regimes under which people live around the world, and consider the factors that influence which type of political regime prevails in particular national settings.

Class Description: Who has the right to hold power in society? Is there a “recipe” for economic development? Is democracy inappropriate, or impossible, within some cultural contexts? What can ordinary people do to bring about political change? PS2 will address these questions, giving you an introduction to the dynamics of political and economic development within various countries around the world.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XPSYCH 1

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: This course allows students to explore the field of psychology. It is designed to provide a historical and structural overview of the field. Upon completion, student will be prepared for future courses, having developed both the skill set and knowledge base that is expected.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XRHETOR 2

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Electives do not fulfill University or breadth requirements, but are great opportunities to enrich your schedule in areas you find interesting.

Course Description: Basic principles of rhetoric as applied to the criticism and practice of public speaking.

Class Description: Gain help in establishing and developing basic competence in the skills required for effective oral presentations, whether prepared in advance or spontaneous. You cover formulating a clear communicative intent, basic principles of communication and theories of persuasion, organization of presentation material, delivery, use of visual aids and response to audience questions. You make six different oral presentations during the term, with ample opportunity for ungraded practice and coaching prior to evaluation.

Schedule of Classes

Also fulfills AC Requirement

Department Abbreviation: XSOCIOL 3AC

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Both the American Cultures requirement and the Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Comparing the experience of three out of five ethnic groups (i.e., African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanos/Latinos, European Americans and Native Americans), you examine historically how each people entered American society and built communities and transformed their cultures in the process. Gain an introduction to the sociological perspective; characteristic methods of research; and key concepts such as culture, community, class, race, social change and social movements. Three hours of lecture per week.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XSEASIA R5A

Prerequisite: Completion of the UC Entry-Level Writing Requirement or UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam

Satisfies: The first-half (Part A) of the Reading and Composition requirement if completed with a C- or better

Course Description: This course is devoted to a study of selected literary texts set in various regions of Southeast Asia. The readings will include works by foreign authors who lived and traveled in Southeast Asia and translations of works by Southeast Asian writers. These texts will be used to make comparisons and observations with which to characterize coloniality, nationalism, and postcoloniality.

Fall 2023 Section

South and Southeast Asian Studies R5A—Section 1

Environmental justice in South Asian literature (FPF Thread: Social Justice)

This course approaches the core question of environmental justice through close reading and discussion of diverse literary and cinematic texts from South Asia. In the current crisis of climate change and rising awareness of many intersecting forms of social injustice, how can we begin to listen and learn from diverse perspectives on environmental justice? We will read works written in English and translated from Mundari, Hindi, Bangla, and other languages.

Schedule of Classes

Department Abbreviation: XSTAT 2

Examples of Intended Majors: Psychology, Political Economy, Development Studies, Legal Studies, Nutritional Science: Dietetics, Nutritional Science: Physiology and Metabolism

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Quantitative Reasoning requirement if completed with a grade of C− or better. Some majors have specific grade requirements. Stat 2 does NOT fulfill prerequisites for the economics major, statistics major or the Haas Undergraduate Business Program.

Course Description: This course introduces basic concepts of probability and statistical inference and covers standard methods for making inferences about populations from information contained in sample data: the methods used in sample surveys, opinion polls, research studies and industry.

Schedule of Classes