Sample a class

Attend an undergraduate class and get a feel for what it’s like to be a UW student. See the list of available classes below. Don’t forget to register for a guided tour and admission presentation.

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A Life Worth Living: Meaning, Morals and Money

Investigates how to create meaning in religious and humanistic traditions, how to develop ethical traditions that enable trust and a thriving social order, and the relationship between money and meaning. Students ask what makes life worth living and discover sources of meaning and ethical maxims, as well as tools to navigate decision-making and fashion a flourishing life.

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Animal Behavior

Introduces important concepts and empirical findings in animal behavior. Emphasizes evolutionary and mechanistic approaches to understanding diversity and complexity of behavior. Topics include communication, mating, migration, and sociality.

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Appreciation of Architecture II

Historical survey of global architecture and built environments with reference to environmental, technological, and socio-cultural contexts, from 1400 to the present. Intended for non-majors.

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Biopsychology

Examines the biological basis of behavior, the nervous system, how it works to control behavior and sense the world, and what happens when it malfunctions. Topics include learning and memory, development, sex, drugs, sleep, the senses, emotions, and mental disorders.

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Black Feminist Art and Performance

Explores how black artists from around the world create work that engages with feminist concerns about identity and power. Covers artists working in a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, photography, new media, dance, and performance. Assignments are built to develop skills in experiencing and interpreting art, and provide creative outlets of producing knowledge about that art.

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Business, Government, and Society

Political, social, and legal environment of business. Critical managerial issues from historical, theoretical, ethical perspectives; their impact on organization. Corporate political power, boards of directors, capitalism, industrial policy, business ethics and social responsibility, alternative corporate roles in society.

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Climate and Climate Change

The nature of the global climate system. Factors influencing climate including interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, solid earth, and biosphere. Stability and sensitivity of climate system. Global warming, ozone depletion, and other human influences. Intended for nonmajors.

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Climate Governance: How Individuals, Communities, NGOs, Firms, and Governments Can Solve the Climate Crisis

Examines climate change, its causes and impacts (on ecosystems, water availability, extreme weather, communities, health, and food) globally, nationally, and locally. Surveys its solutions (mitigation, adaptation, migration, and just transition), actors that implement them (governments, firms, NGOs, activists, communities, individuals) and approaches they use (regulation, markets, planning, innovation, social movements, behavioral change).

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Comparative Law and Legal Cultures

Explores global issues of comparative law, societies, politics, courts, and cultures. Introduces theories and methods of comparing legal settings internationally and understating diverse responses to law. Covers what is comparative law; families of law; history of comparative law; judicial review; legal cultures; rights consciousness; and regulation.

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Cultural Interactions in an Interdependent World

Introduces a critical approach to governance, violence, and development. Students learn key concepts of cultural theory to understand how the world is socially constructed. Learning how to use interpretive methods, students acquire new understandings of the varied approaches through which social scientists confront global challenges.

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Current Topics in Psychology – Introduction to Health Psychology

Topics of current interest, such as the psychology of happiness, psychology of friendship, technology and relationships, and developments in brain and behavior science. Choice of topics depends on instructor and class interest.

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Digital Circuits and Systems

Overview of digital computer systems. Covers logic, Boolean algebra, combinational and sequential circuits and logic design; programmable logic devices; and the design and operation of digital computers, including ALU, memory, and I/O. Weekly laboratories.

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Dinosaurs

Biology, behavior, ecology, evolution, and extinction of dinosaurs, and a history of their exploration. With dinosaurs as focal point, course also introduces the student to how hypotheses in geological and paleobiological science are formulated and tested.

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Economics of Fisheries and Oceans

Examines how and why people and businesses make choices that lead to over-fishing, hypoxic zones, and oil spills in aquatic environments. Applies economic principles to understand how alternative policies might change these decisions, and how distributional effects influence politically feasible solutions.

Note: There will be occasional dates in which class will not meet due to exams or Professor travel. Be mindful that if you would like to attend class you may need to be flexible.

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Electromagnetism

Covers the basic principles of electromagnetism and experiments in these topics for physical science and engineering majors.

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Existentialism and Film

What makes life worth living? Is morality just a convenient fiction? What is the nature of the human condition? Is God dead, or just playing hard to get? Investigates the works of several existentialist philosophers, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Beauvoir, and uses their works to interpret and analyze the philosophical content of angst-ridden cinema of the French New Wave and Hollywood film noir.

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First-Year Korean

Elementary speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in modern Korean. Open only to students with no formal or informal background in the language. Third in a sequence of three.

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Foundational Skills for Data Science

Introduces fundamental tools, technologies, and skills necessary to transform data into knowledge, including data manipulation, analysis, and visualization, as well as version control and programming languages used in data programming. Students learn to work with real data, and reflect on the power and perils of using data to inform.

Note: This course is very technical and will likely go far beyond any level of high school statistics. Additionally, Professor Toomet would prefer that attendees did not talk to him before class.

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Foundations of Computing I

Examines fundamentals of logic, set theory, induction, and algebraic structures with applications to computing; finite state machines; and limits of computability.

Note: Professor Zatloukal would prefer that you not introduce yourself before class, and instead just find a seat. There is limited time after the previous course in the room and before CSE 311, and he does not have time to both set up and talk with you.

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Free Will, Nature, and Nurture in Politics and Society

Examines beliefs and actions in politics and other domains from the standpoint of free will, nature, and nurture. Compares political science to other disciplines in explaining why people think and act as they do.

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Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering

Introduction to electrical engineering. Basic circuit and systems concepts. Mathematical models of components. Kirchhoff's laws. Resistors, sources, capacitors, inductors, and operational amplifiers. Solution of first and second order linear differential equations associated with basic circuit forms.

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Fundamentals of Managerial Accounting

Covers application of basic costing concepts and tools for planning, control, and strategic decision making. Concentrates on information useful to enterprise managers. May not be repeated.

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Gender and Sport

Considers the relationship between sports and society. Focuses on how sports shape cultural ideas of masculinity and femininity. Examines how assumptions about professional and amateur athletes reflect and challenge social norms about gender, sexuality, race, and class. Other topics include student athletes, the business of sport, and non-normative athletic bodies.

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General Chemistry

For science and engineering majors. Atomic nature of matter, quantum mechanics, ionic and covalent bonding, molecular geometry, stoichiometry, solution stoichiometry, kinetics, and gas laws. Includes laboratory.

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Global Warming: Understanding the Issues

Presents a broad overview of the science of global warming. Includes the causes, evidence, and societal and environmental impacts from the last century. Recounts future climate projections and societal decisions that influence greenhouse gas emission scenarios and our ability to adapt to climate change. Presents ways to identify disinformation versus correct science.

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Greek and Roman Mythology

Principal myths found in classical and later literature.

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Happiness

How can lives be fulfilling, joyful, and meaningful? Through reading, discussion, and hands-on activities, explores the theme that happiness stems from social connections and contribution to something larger than oneself. Also explores practical strategies for nurturing personal happiness by improving social and emotional health.

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Heat, Fluids and Electricity and Magnetism

Principles of heat, fluids, and electromagnetism using algebra-based modeling with an emphasis on applications in life sciences.

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History of Television

Covers issues, problems, and themes in the history of television. Topic may include changes in television styles and representational forms, television's historical relationship with other media, transitions from broadcast to satellite through cable and digital distribution, and television's changing audiences.

Content Note: On 4/22/24 and onward, this course will stream premium cable Television that is more explicit (ie The Sopranos and Breaking Bad). Be mindful when you attend.

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Hurricanes and Thunderstorms: Their Science and Impact

Explores the science, history, and impacts of thunderstorms and hurricanes. Includes basic processes responsible for thunderstorms and hurricanes and for the lightning, hail, high winds, and storm surges that accompany them. Presents significant historical examples, along with the impact on human activities, strategies for personal safety, and societal adaptation.

Note: There are occasional quizzes within this class time, date undetermined. If you intend to attend this course on a quiz day, you may be unable to sit in.

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Intermediate Data Programming

Intermediate data programming. Topics include writing programs that manipulate different types of data; leveraging the growing ecosystem of tools and libraries for data programming; writing programs that are both efficient and elegant; and writing medium-scale programs (100 to 200 lines).

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Introduction to Accounting and Financial Reporting

Nature and social setting of accounting; uses of accounting information; introduction of basic accounting concepts and procedures; interpretation of financial statements.

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Introduction to American Deaf Culture

Covers topics in Deaf culture, history, education, sociology, language, legal issues, art and literature, sensory variety and politics, audism, assistive technological devices, Deafhood, Deaf Blind, Deaf identity and intersections of diversity within the Deaf community, and other special topics analyzed from the Deaf culture worldview.

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Introduction to American Politics

Institutions and politics in the American political system. Ways of thinking about how significant problems, crises, and conflicts of American society are resolved politically.

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Introduction to Asian American Studies

Provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Examines issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality, immigration/migration, citizenship, labor, racialization, exclusion, social and political activism and social movements, family, community-building, war, imperialism, sovereignty, (post) colonialisms, transnationalism, culture, and creative expressions.

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Introduction to Computer Programming I

Introduction to computer programming for students without previous programming experience. Students write programs to express algorithmic thinking and solve computational problems motivated by modern societal and scientific needs. Includes procedural programming constructs (methods), control structures (loops, conditionals), and standard data types, including arrays.

Note: Please talk to the instructor before class to introduce yourself and discuss background. He would love to talk with you!

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Introduction to Computer Programming II

Computer programming for students with some previous programming experience. Emphasizes program design, style, and decomposition. Uses data structures (e.g., lists, dictionaries, sets) to solve computational problems motivated by modern societal and scientific needs. Introduces data abstraction and interface versus implementation.

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Introduction to Early Childhood and Family Studies

Explores current practices, programs, and research in the field of early childhood and family studies. Topics include: child development, early childhood education, parenting and family support, mental health, poverty, and other risk factors. Requires a community-based learning experience commitment of at least 3 hours per week.

Note: There will be occasional undetermined dates in which this course will not meet due to group project work days and professor travel. If you plan to attend, be mindful you may have to be flexible.

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Introduction to Folklore Studies

Folkloristics combines the methods and ideas of Literature Studies and Anthropology. Folktales (fairy tales), legends, jokes, songs, proverbs, customs and other forms of traditional culture are studied together with the living people and communities who perform and adapt them. Students learn the folklorist's methods of fieldwork (participant observation), ethnography, comparative analysis, and interpretation.

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Introduction to Geology and Societal Impacts

Introduction to the processes, materials and structures that shape Earth. Emphasizes the dynamic nature of the earth's tectonic system and its relationship to physical features, volcanism, earthquakes, minerals and rocks and geologic structures. The course emphasizes the intrinsic relationship between human societies and geologic processes, hazards and resources.

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Introduction to Global Business 

Prepares students to understand the most important aspects of the international political economy. Emphasis on the important relationships among nations and business and economic institutions that influence students' performances as managers, consumers, and citizens.

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Introduction to Linguistics

Language as the fundamental characteristic of the human species; diversity and complexity of human languages; phonological and grammatical analysis; dimensions of language use; and language acquisition and historical language change.

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Introduction to Logic

Elementary symbolic logic. The development, application, and theoretical properties of an artificial symbolic language designed to provide a clear representation of the logical structure of deductive arguments.

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Introduction to Microeconomics

Analysis of markets: consumer demand, production, exchange, the price system, resource allocation, government intervention.

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Introduction to Neuroscience

Provides a broad introduction to the study of brain function in humans and other animals. Emphasizes how circuits within the brain process sensory information and generate complex movements.

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Introduction to Public Speaking

Designed to increase competence in public speaking and the critique of public speaking. Emphasizes choice and organization of material, sound reasoning, audience analysis, and delivery.

Note: Please talk to the instructor, Professor McGarrity, before class to introduce yourself and discuss context. He would love to chat with you!

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Introduction to Statistical Methods

Survey of principles of data analysis and their applications for management problems. Elementary techniques of classification, summarization, and visual display of data. Applications of probability models for inference and decision making are illustrated through examples.

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Introduction to the Geography of Health and Healthcare

Concepts of health from a geographical viewpoint, including human-environment relations, development, geographical patterns of disease, and health systems in developed and developing countries.

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Introduction to Visualization and Computer-Aided Design

Methods of depicting three-dimensional objects and communicating design information. Development of three-dimensional skills through freehand sketching and computer-aided design using parametric solid modeling.

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Introductory Biology 2

For students intending to take advanced courses in the biological sciences or enroll in preprofessional programs. Metabolism and energetics, structure and function of biomolecules, cell structure and function, animal development. Second course in a three-quarter series (BIOL 180, BIOL 200, BIOL 220).

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Introductory Biology 3

For students intending to take advanced courses in the biological sciences or enroll in preprofessional programs. Animal physiology, plant development and physiology. Final course in a three-quarter series (BIOL 180, BIOL 200, BIOL 220).

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Kinematics and Dynamics

Kinematics of particles, systems of particles, and rigid bodies; moving reference frames; kinetics of particles, systems of particles, and rigid bodies; equilibrium, energy, linear momentum, angular momentum.

Note: This is an advanced course compared to high school physics.

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Late Middle Ages

Disintegration of the medieval order under the impact of the national state, the secularization of society, and the decline of the church. Movements of reform and revolution. The culture of late gothic Europe.

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Marine Evolutionary Biology

Emphasizes geobiological patterns of marine evolutionary biology environment; processes of evolution; marine prokaryote and eukaryote diversity; and applications of evolutionary principles to ocean change, and conservation and management of marine biodiversity.

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Mechanics

Basic principles of mechanics and experiments in mechanics for physical science and engineering majors.

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Natural Hazards and Disasters

Examines a range of natural hazards and their impact on society, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, floods, wildfire, and landslides. Focuses on the causes of these extreme events, how they unfold, their differential effects on communities, and how to make society more resilient to natural hazards.

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Nutrition for Today

Examines the role of nutrition in health, wellness, and prevention of chronic disease. Topics include nutrients and nutritional needs across the lifespan, food safety, food security, wellness, body weight regulation, eating disorders, sports nutrition, and prevention of chronic disease.

Note: Eating Disorders will be discussed on 5/20, and thus the content may be triggering and will not be suitable for minors. Please use caution.

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Organic Chemistry

Third course for students planning to take three quarters of organic chemistry. Polyfunctional compounds and natural products, lipids, carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Includes introduction to membranes, enzyme mechanisms, prosthetic groups, macromolecular conformations and supramolecular architecture.

Note: This course has occasional exams, date undetermined. If you plan on attending this course during a day when there is a test, you may be unable to attend.

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Perspectives on Film: Introduction

Introduction to film form, style, and techniques. Examples from silent film and from contemporary film.

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Perspectives on Media: Critical Concepts

Provides an introduction to media studies, with particular attention to critical concepts including, but not limited to, audience studies, formal analysis, and ideological critique. Specific media analyzed varies.

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Persuasion or Manipulation? The Ethics and Psychology of Influence

Influence is everywhere, from job interviews to social media. When is influence effective? When is it respectful persuasion vs. immoral deception? Is using psychological insight manipulative or just good people skills? How do biases shape persuasion, and how should we navigate them? Examines the psychology of persuasion through an ethical lens. Assessments focus on real-world applications, helping people improve as persuaders.

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Principles of Archaeology

Techniques, methods, and goals of archaeological research. Excavation and dating of archaeological materials. General problems encountered in explaining archaeological phenomena.

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Principles of Biological Anthropology

Evolution and adaptation of the human species. Evidence from fossil record and living populations of monkeys, apes, and humans. Interrelationships between human physical and cultural variation and environment; role of natural selection in shaping our evolutionary past, present, and future.

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Race, Ethnicity, and Education

Focuses on critical social and political dimensions of race and ethnicity as they relate to issues and practices of pedagogy and power in American education. Considers schooling as sites at which contemporary politics of diversity play out amidst increasingly diverse demographics of students, teachers, and parents.

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Space and Space Travel

Explores the sun, solar storms, observations from space and from Earth; Earth's space environment, radiation belts and hazards, plasma storms and auroras, rockets and propulsion, human exploration efforts, societal impact, planetary systems and resources, and project highlighting space and its exploration. Open to non-majors.

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Survey of Native Art of the Pacific Northwest Coast

Surveys indigenous art of the Pacific Northwest Coast from the Columbia River in the south to Southeast Alaska in the north and from ancient through contemporary times. Focuses on the historical and cultural contexts of the art and the stylistic differences between tribal and individual artists' styles.

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Survey of Physiology

Human physiology, for non-majors and health sciences students.

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Survey of Sociology

Human interaction, social institutions, social stratification, socialization, deviance, social control, social and cultural change. Course content may vary, depending upon instructor.

Note: This class is far from the heart of campus. Few undergraduate courses are taught here. It may take a while to walk here.

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The Diversity of Human Sexuality

Considers biological, psychological, and socio-cultural determinants of human sexuality and sexual behavior, and how their interaction leads to diverse expressions of sexuality, sexual bonding, gender orientation, reproductive strategies, and physical and psychological sexual development. Topics include cultural appraisal of sexuality, sexual health and reproduction (pregnancy, contraception, abortion), and sexual abuse and assault.

Note: This course reviews potentially sensitive content. Be mindful to use caution with which course you visit.

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The Making of the 21st Century

Provides a historical understanding of the twentieth century and major global issues today. Focuses on interdisciplinary social science theories, methods, and information relating to global processes and on developing analytical and writing skills to engage complex questions of causation and effects of global events and forces.

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Waves, Light, and Heat

Explores oscillatory motion, electromagnetic waves, optics, waves in matter, fluids, thermodynamics, and related experiments for physical science and engineering majors.

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Waves, Optics, Atoms and Nuclei

Principles of waves, optics, atoms, and nuclei using algebra-based modeling with an emphasis on applications in life sciences.

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Wildlife in the Modern World

Covers major wildlife conservation issues in North America. Some global issues are also treated. Examples of topics include the conservation of large predators, effects of toxic chemicals on wildlife, old-growth wildlife, conservation of marine wildlife, recovery of the bald eagle, and gray wolf.

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